Bites and Pieces: West African Edition

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Fairlington Blade

I hosted a wine dinner on Saturday. It was a bit too ambitious in that I picked 7 fishes as the theme, from the Italian tradition, and also did dishes from 7 . I cheated a bit on Antarctica—frozen yogurt. The trickiest one for planning was Africa. I know relatively little about African cooking (except Ethiopia). Fortunately, my wife went to West Africa (Mali) for her stint in the Peace Corps and knew exactly what to do. Yassa.

Yassa is a Senegalese dish, traditionally served with chicken (Poulet en Yassa). It also works very well with grilled fish. I tried it with swordfish, which was a good finish to the meal. The key ingredients are onions, lemon juice and peanut oil. One traditionally marinades the meat in the ingredients, but I think separating it works.

Ingredients

1 – 2 pounds of swordfish, cubed*

½ cup of peanut oil

 

Yassa Sauce

4 – 6 yellow onions, sliced

½ cup of lemon juice

½ cup of cider vinegar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon soy sauce (Maggi is traditional; soy works fine)

1 minced chili pepper (optional)

Pepper and salt to taste

  1. Combine all ingredients and let rest for at least 2 hours
  2. Cube the swordfish and set aside. If you have a favored preparation, go for it. A bit of salt, pepper, cumin and turmeric works with the flavors of this dish. Have fun!
  3. Heat the peanut oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan or dutch oven. Drain the onions, setting aside the marinade, and add to the pan. Cook over medium heat until softened (and possibly browned a bit). Add the reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Cook until the onions form a sauce
  4. Cook the fish however you like. I planned to grill it, but the coals had gone mostly dark by the time I was ready to cook the fish. I heated up a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil in a pan and seared it, then added the sauce.
  5. Combine the fish and sauce. Warm to combine. Serve over rice. 

*For those who have concerns about the mercury content of swordfish, the dish is made traditionally with sea bass (Poisson Yassa). Chicken breast or pork loin would also work.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces | Tagged: , | 9 Comments »

¡Hot Tamales!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a bites and pieces post, so I thought I’d offer up our annual party for making tamales. The singular is tamal, but even my Costa Rica born wife calls it a tamale. I think I’ve corrupted her.

Tamales are traditionally made in Latin America over Christmas. There’s a lot of work involved, so a family will make an enormous batch, many of which are given to neighbors and friends. My wife’s parents owned a small bakery in Heredia, a suburb of San José. Tamales brought to them were often dinner at that time of year as they were swamped with seasonal work at the bakery. I’ve continued that tradition by bringing tamales to my neighborhood wine shop. They too are swamped this time of year and the tamales are gratefully received.

Making tamales is quite an undertaking. It helps to have some like minded friends and a general to take charge. I’ve done a lot more cooking over the last ten years than my wife, but I’d say she has more the makings of a chef than I. This year, she largely demonstrated how to make the tamales for our crew and kept the process going. I worked as a prep cook for most of the day.

The recipe for our tamales derives from one of Keen’s aunts, Lijia. At the heart of tamales is the masa–liquid thickened with corn flour. We use Maseca, which is corn flour with lime (calcium hydroxide, not fruit juice). The twist for Lijia’s tamales is to use boiled and mashed potatoes in the masa. You get a somewhat softer texture than using just corn flour. One cooks chicken breasts in a lot of water, add the mashed potatoes, some condimento and cilantro. Condimento is a spice blend that generally has garlic powder, cumin, and a few other spices. We make our own as it’s fresher and has less salt (or MSG) than that from the store. Plus, you can’t find Costa Rican style condimento here.

My sole contribution was to upgrade the chicken and the stock. The original version called for boiling the chicken breasts for a long time to create the broth, then add everything else. There’s two problems with that approach. First off, chicken breasts don’t have a lot of flavor to add to the broth. Second, what little flavor they have is long gone once you’re done making the broth. I poach the chicken breasts and then make a stock.

We start with a dozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts and four whole chickens. Remove the breasts from the whole chickens and add to the others. Rinse, pat dry, and set aside. Remove the dark meat from the bones and set aside. I freeze it and use it for other recipes, especially curries. Use a cleaver to break up the bones and expose that lovely marrow. Roast the bones along with the back and wings (also cut up into 3” chunks with a cleaver). Roast the bones for about an hour at 350 degrees.

While the bones are roasting, bring a stockpot with two gallons of water up to a boil. Poach whole chicken breasts in a couple of gallons of water and set aside when nearly done. They’ll be cut up and sautéed later, so you needn’t worry about undercooking. Add the roasted bones to the poaching liquid and bring up to a simmer. Add a couple of quarts of chopped onions, celery, and carrots along with spices. This stock is a bit different from normal, so you’ll be using cilantro, cumin, and coriander. Simmer for 2 – 4 hours, strain, and set aside. As the great outdoors is an extended cooler in December, I strain everything into a big bowl, put back into the stock pot, and set outside for the night.

We’re only getting started. Peel a couple pounds of carrots and slice into match sticks. Do the same for some bell peppers. These will be sautéed later and added to the tamales.

Back to the chicken. Cut the chicken into half-inch pieces. Finely chop some carrots and the tops of the bell peppers. Finely mince a few cups worth of yellow onions. Heat up some oil in a frying pan, add one third of the minced veggies and onions, a couple of tablespoons and some achiote (used to color dishes in Latin America). Add the chicken breast pieces and stir fry until colored and fully cooked. Set aside and repeat. Do the same for the bell pepper and carrot match sticks.

The banana leaves will need to be prepared. Slice them into roughly 9” squares. Two are needed for each tamal. Avoid Goya brand (they were surprisingly bad). We went through 20 packages of prepared banana leaves. You might guess from the scale that we make a lot of tamales. We wound up using about a gallon of homemade turkey stock to supplement the broth (making 3 gallons in total) and wound up with over 150 tamales by the time we were done.

Now we make the masa. Take the chicken stock back from the porch and heat to a simmer. Add the riced potatoes and mix. Gradually add the corn flour (Maseca), and stir. You’ll want folks with some muscles and it’s going to get thick. Once it’s completely thickened (you’ll need a Latina to tell you when), take out to the table as you’re ready to make tamales.

At this point, you should have a honking big stock pot full of masa. There’s a big bowl of sautéed chicken breast chunks. There’s also a couple bowls of sautéed bell pepper and carrot match sticks. You’ll also have bowls of olives, capers, and raisins (we use craisins). Think Costco sized portions.

Now we’re ready to assemble the tamales. Put one banana leaf section on top of another, the smaller on top. Plop about a half cup of masa on them. Add two chunks of chicken, one on each end. Add a few match sticks of carrot and bell pepper. Put a few capers on one end, an olive or two, and some craisins. Wrap it up (you’ll need guidance) and set aside. Each pack has two tamales, set back to back and wrapped in twine. Hemp twine is in-effing-credible. Best stuff I’ve ever used.

Once the tamales are wrapped and tied, they need to be cooked. Fill as many pots as you have room for with tamales on their ends. Pour water into the pot until about halfway up the tamales. If you have a pot that’s taller than the tamales, you can stack a few on top and cover them. Boil/steam for about 45 minutes.

When it comes to eating the tamales, we microwave them and serve them with Salsa Lizano, a Costa Rican savory sauce. It’s the same type of sauce as Heinz 51.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, cooking | 2 Comments »

Bites and Pieces: After Thanksgiving Episode

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

Now that we have fridges stocked with lots of leftovers, it’s time to eat down the fridge. The Post recently ran a story on repurposing Thanksgiving leftovers.

Here are two ideas of mine. I like blueberry muffins and thought that cranberry sauce would work well. It does. I made a blueberry buttermilk muffin recipe (using up our remaining buttermilk in the process) and substituted the leftover cranberry sauce for blueberries. I didn’t quite have enough sauce, so tossed in some blueberries as well. It worked!

I’m a sucker for biscuits and gravy, frequently ordering it when we’re on road trips. I thought that this Thanksgiving themed variation might work. Reheat the stuffing in a toaster or microwave oven; reheat leftover gravy on the stove. Put a serving of stuffing on a plate, top with two eggs as you like, and cover with gravy. Voila!

Oh, we also make a turkey soup from the carcass. Take most of the meat off, make a big batch of stock, and use some with pastini or orzo, a bit of turkey, some chopped sweet potatoes and finish with cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. I also have three quarts of turkey stock in the freezer, for which I plan to make butternut squash risotto among other things.

Does anyone have favorite ways to use up their leftovers? Mind you, eating them is probably the preferred answer.

BB

Filed under: Bites and Pieces | 9 Comments »

Bites & Pieces: Open Thanksgiving Thread

Posted on November 17, 2012 by okiegirl

Today has been all about cranberries for me.  I’ve made and canned both cranberry chutney and cranberry salsa.  The chutney is a great condiment with Thanksgiving turkey, or for that matter with almost any other meat.  The salsa is an unusual treat if your tastebuds  like tart.

I’m way pumped about Thanksgiving (I’ve posted before that Thanksgiving is THE holiday in my family), but I really can’t do my other food assignments this far in advance.  My big flurry of activity will be next week.  Sigh, still experimenting with baked apple recipes.  Does anybody recommend a particularly good cinnamon?  I’m planning to visit the spice store on Monday.

What are everybody’s plans for the holiday?  And who has some good recipes to share?

Cranberry Chutney*

 Ingredients

  • 6 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, (1 1/2 pounds)
  • 2 cups raspberries and/or chopped apples
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups red-wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

Combine all ingredients except tender fruits or berries, e.g., raspberries, in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until the cranberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened somewhat, 10 to 15 minutes.  When reduced to a simmer, add tender fruits or berries.  Let cool completely. Ladle the chutney into clean jars and refrigerate.

Nutrition

Per tablespoon : 35 Calories; 0 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 0 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 9 g Carbohydrates; 0 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 58 mg Sodium; 15 mg Potassium

Exchanges: 1/2 other carbohydrate

 Makes about 5 C.  Refrigerate chutney in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

* Source:  Modified from www.eatingwell.com

Vickie’s Cranberry Salsa**

Ingredients

1 pkg fresh cranberries, chopped (use food processor)

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, drained

2/3 cup sugar

2 T finely chopped onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

¼ t salt

¼ t fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in large bowl.  Cover and chill for 2 hours to let flavors blend.  Store in refrigerator in jars.

**Source:  Physical therapist clinician in Oklahoma.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Brent’s Turkey on the Grill

Turkey in the Weber Kettle: While this will not work with stuffing inside the bird, and you won’t get gravy from it, the turkey comes out juicy and there is a great smoky flavor.  The best part is that it frees up the kitchen for other stuff.

Here is how we do it.  Basically the recipe from Weber.

Turkey preparation is easy – take out the neck and giblets ad.  Rub the outside with olive oil and then sprinkle with kosher salt and coarse black pepper.

Put a foil pan from the supermarket in the center of the grill. Put around 20 briquettes of charcoal on each side and light.  Be sure to place the grate such that the spaces on each side are over the charcoal.  Take a paper towel and pour some olive oil on it and oil the grate.  Once the coals are gray, put the turkey on the grate and place the cover over the grill.  Open the vents.  Add 8 briquettes per side every 45 minutes until the turkey is done (180 degrees in the thigh).  You should have a nice crispy skin, with a tender, smoky inside.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Zinfandel

I once had an open-minded Mormon ask me for this recipe when I assured him that most of the alcohol cooks off.  You’ve inspired me to make if for our Thanksgiving feast this year, okie!

  • 1 3/4 cups Zinfandel
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 6 whole allspice
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 3X1-inch strip orange peel
  • 1 12-oz bag cranberries

Combine all ingredients except cranberries in medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, about 10 minutes.  Strain syrup into large saucepan.  Add cranberries to syrup and cook over medium heat until berries burst, about 6 minutes.  Cool.  Transfer sauce to medium bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until cold.  Can be made up to 1 week ahead.  Keep refrigerated.  Makes about 3 cups.

–Michigoose

Betty Crocker’s Very Basic Stuffing

You remember that cookbook I told you about?  This is the stuffing recipe from it, and it’s still my favorite.  I add more sage than the recipe calls for, but other than that haven’t changed a thing.

  • 2 loaves of bread, cubed
  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup finely minced onion
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped celery (leaves and stalks)
  • 2 tbl salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbl sage

Use 2  – 4 day old bread and cut off the crusts.  Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet, then add the onion and cook until yellow, stirring occasionally.  Stir in some of the bread to soak up the butter, then turn into a bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients.  Add turkey broth to desired moistness; at this point you can either stuff the turkey or cover and cook in a 350 degree oven.

–Michigoose

MiA’s annual TG contribution – I think I posted here last year – but here it is:

Mark’s Apple Cranberry Currant Pie

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 1 hour to cool
MAKES: 8 [adult male or teenager] servings

1/4 cup Gran Marnier [or brandy, if you are short on the good stuff]
1/4 cup currants [look like tiny raisins – you could use raisins in a pinch but they are not the same]
1 cup fresh [or thawed frozen] cranberries [I find fresh make a tarter pie – I am OK with tart]
About 3/4 cup granulated FRUCTOSE [a lot of apple pie recipes call for a cup or more of sugar – fructose is sweeter and way lower on the glycemic index]
1/2 cup tapioca flour [I never use cornstarch in a fruit pie]
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 oz 1/2+1/2
6 cups sliced/chopped Granny Smith apples [about 2 1/4 lb]. I like the skin on for this pie – it’s more “rustic”.
2×9-inch pie pastry shells – I either make my own or buy really great shells at Central Market. When I make my own it is in no way unusual.

1. In a small bowl, combine Gran Marnier and currants. Cover and let stand until currants are plump, at least 1 hour. [Sometimes I cheat and do not soak this long. No biggie. The plumpness of currants is mainly a texture deal]

2. Chop/slice apples, skin on, using a mix of techniques for slices and chunks. If there will be a delay between prep and oven, put the 6 cups of apples in a big bowl and add a little OJ to keep them from browning. LATER YOU MUST THOROUGHLY DRAIN AND PAT DRY THE APPLES! My grandmother taught me the OJ instead of lemon juice trick about 52 years ago.

3. Sort cranberries and discard any that are bruised or decayed. Rinse and drain berries.

4. In a large bowl, mix fructose, tapioca flour, nutmeg, and salt. With a slotted spoon, lift currants from Gran Marnier ; reserve Gran Marnier. Add currants, cranberries, and chopped apples to fructose mixture and mix well. Taste and add more fructose if desired. Pour filling into unbaked pie pastry in pan. Cut hole pattern in top crust. Mix 1/2+1/2 with reserved Gran Marnier and cinnamon and brush liberally on pie crust. Carefully braid foil around pie’s edge to keep pie from from crisping-burning on crust edge that overlaps the pan during baking. [Later, pass off the tiny pieces of foil that some guest finds in the crust edge as “healthy mineral”. :-)]

5. Bake on the bottom rack of a 375° oven until juices bubble around edges and through top holes, 55 to 65 minutes. If pie browns too quickly – check after 30 minutes – cover loosely with foil.

6. Set pie, uncovered, on a rack until cool to touch, at least 1 hour.

Two Contributions by the Fairlington Blade

Mushroom Thyme Gravy

Note: this came from the Food52 website. Good enough that I didn’t bother bringing out the regular gravy. That’s all for me. Muahahahaha

1/3 cup dried mushrooms
2 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoon minced shallot
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup light cream
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1. Bring vegetable stock to a boil. In a small bowl pour stock over mushrooms. Let soak for 20 minutes.
2. Remove mushrooms from bowl, setting the stock aside for later. Mince or thinly slice the mushrooms.
3. In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Add the minced shallot and saute for 5 minutes over medium heat until softened.
4. Add the flour to the butter/shallot mixture stirring constantly. Cook for a 2 minutes.
5. Gradually add the reserved vegetable stock, atirring well to incorporate. Cook over medium heat until thickened.
6. Add the reserved mushrooms, soy sauce, cream, sherry & thyme. Cook for a few more minutes until heated through and thickened to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Roasted Beets with Grapefruit Glaze

The glaze is sourced from Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without. I prefer using bunches of beets with the greens still attached. This is a particularly colorful dish if you use a few different colors.

2 – 3 pounds of beets
2 large pink grapefruit
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

1. Spray small roasting pan or bread pan with vegetable oil (or toss beets with vegetable oil). Rinse beets, cut off leaves (but leave stem on), and put in pan. Cover with aluminum foil and put in 350 degree oven for about an hour. The cooking time depends upon the size.
2. Take out the beets and let them cool. Remove skins with your hands. Cut into 1 inch chunks. Set aside.
3. Juice grapefruit and strain to get one cup of juice.
4. Add maple syrup and vinegar to juice
5. Put cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add juice mixture and cook until thickened.
6. Combine beets with glaze. If using multicolored beets, keep them separate and then add everything together when serving.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, Thanksgiving | 27 Comments »

Bites & Pieces, Chili Edition

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Michigoose

I don’t care if you get yours pre-packaged from Costco, lets hear about your best chili recipes.  Stick a recipe in and I’ll worry about getting us all formatted by next Sunday (the 11th).  Stick a recipe in any way–I may edit for formatting as the day goes on, but I’m busy shoveling snow.  🙂  And how timely!  It went from 72 and sunny on Thursday to four inches about a foot of snow outside as I type.  Definitely chili weather. . .

Michigoose’s White Bean and Chicken Chili

This is really a trip down memory lane, as I haven’t made this in several years.  I think the amount of chili powder is underestimated, so go with what you think is best.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups white beans
  • 3 chicken breasts
  • 1 medium white onion, chopped
  • 6 Tbl garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 cans chicken stock
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 cups nonfat plain yogurt

Method

Soak bean overnight, rinsing several times.  Cook beans in water seasoned with salt and pepper, half of the garlic, and Emeril Lagasse’s Essence (recipe follows).

Brown onion in olive oil.  Add the remaining garlic and brown.

Dice chicken and place in a ziplock bag with salt, pepper and Essence; shake to coat.   Add to onions/garlic and brown.

Drain beans and add to the pot along with the remaining ingredients.  Simmer 2 – 3 hours covered, then uncover and simmer another 1 – 2 hours to thicken.  Serve with grated cheese.

Emeril Lagasse’s Essence

My Dad claims he’d eat this on ice cream if he ate ice cream, but I think that’s going a bit far.  It is my spice blend of choice, though, and I use it on about everything and anything.

  • 2 1/2 tbl paprika
  • 2 tbl garlic powder
  • 1 tbl black pepper
  • 1 tbl onion powder
  • 1 tbl cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbl dried oregano
  • 1 tbl dried thyme
  • 2 tbl salt (optional)

I make mine without the salt so that I can salt the food separately.  Yields about 1/2 cup of spice mixture.

Michigoose’s Sometimes It Doesn’t Matter How Bad You Cook Chili (You still get the guy)

Back in the day, my Mom was given Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book (Revised and Enlarged) at a “kitchen” wedding shower; when I graduated from college and moved out on my own I persuaded her into giving it to me (and it was a tough sell, as it was her “go to” cookbook–I think I had to get her an updated copy if I remember right).  This recipe is on page 277 of that edition of the cookbook and is one of the first things I ever fixed for Brian; our tastebuds got a lot better over the years, but we still had this right around our wedding anniversary every year.  I can think of several things I’d change in this recipe, but sometimes it’s fun to see a classic in all its glory!

“Zesty ‘south of the border’ specialty”!

Brown in 3 tbsp hot fat. . .

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 1/4 cups minced onion

Add and cook 10 min. . .

  • 2 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans (no. 2 can)
  • 1 1/2 cups condensed tomato soup

Make into a paste and blend in. . .

  • 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp salt

Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, 45 min.  Serve hot. . . with crackers or hot Fried Corn Meal Mush (p 293).

(“Zesty” it said–wow, how times have changed!)

Okie’s Vegetarian Sweet Potato-Black Bean Chili [Source:  www.eatingwell.com]

Ingredients [Makes about 4 cups]

  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1 1/3 cups water
  • 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and potato and cook, stirring often, until the onion is slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro.

Nutrition — And remember that both sweet potatoes and black beans are considered “superfoods”

Per 2 cup serving : 374 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 4 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 67 g Carbohydrates; 14 g Protein; 15 g Fiber; 699 mg Sodium; 603 mg Potassium

Exchanges: 4 starch, 1 1/2 vegetable, 1 fat

Mark’s Chili (No Beans)

For me, there is chili or chili and beans.

This is chili:
Step 1
2 lbs – “chili grind” beef chuck (you should have the butcher trim extra fat from chuck, or substitute round)
2 tsp – cooking oil/olive oil + “pam”
1 tbsp – Wick Fowler 2 Alarm chili powder
2 tsp – chopped garlic

After browning meat in big skillet [use a little oil and pam], (skim or drain excess fat and then) put the browned meat into a three quart heavy saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and simmer [10 min.] . Simmering is done on low-medium heat on most stove tops.
Prepare Step 2 during the 10 minute simmer.

Step 2
1 – 8 oz can of tomato sauce or home prepared sauce
1 – big can of beef broth or real beef broth
1/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion Texas A&M1015Y or [Granex (Vidalia, Maui Maui or NoonDay)]
1 tsp – chopped garlic
8 oz – bottled or distilled or filtered water
1 tbsp – WF 2 Alarm chili powder
2 – serrano peppers
1/2 tsp – salt

Combine seasonings except the serrano peppers and add to beef mixture. Float the 2 serrano peppers on top of the mixture. Bring to a boil and hold for 3 minutes, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Then remove the floating serrano peppers.

Taste the mixture after an hour.
Correction to your personal taste stage!

Have handy:
a little bit of chopped onion, a little bit of chopped garlic, more 2 Alarm chili powder, red pepper, a little cumin, salt, and [optionally] a little bit of brown sugar. Also more bottled water, of course. I personally never use the sugar, but a little bit is ok for most people. Do not overdo sugar or you will make a hopeless, disgusting mess.
GUESS HOW MUCH OF EACH YOU NEED TO CORRECT THE SEASONING AND USE LESS THAN YOUR GUESS FOR EACH.
THIS will be your first correction simmer.
If necessary do a second “correction to your personal taste stage”.

Simmer for 10 minutes.
Let stand for 40 minutes

Addendum: if you are not using a low sodium broth you might skip any salt until the correction stage. Canned beef broth can be really salty.

Geanie Tilley’s Chili Verde

Hello All, from OK here. Just thought perhaps a nice Chili Verde might also come in handy with the cooler weather. I have so many recipes going back decades but I find this Chili Verde recipe, from La Bola (Mexican restaurant), Denver CO (as printed in the 1978 Colorado Cache Cookbook by the Junior League of Denver) to be the “poster child” of chili verde recipes.

Makes 3 quarts
2 ½ lbs port roast (fresh shoulder preferred)
1 lb pork soup bones
44 ounces canned tomatoes (28-ounce and 16-ounce cans)
23 ounces tomato sauce (15-ounce and 16-ounce cans)
1 tbs garlic powder
28 ounces hot water (3 ½ cups)
21 ounces diced green chili strips (Ortega brand preferred, 3 7-ounce cans)
¾ – 1 ounce diced hot peppers (Ortega brand preferred, ¼ of a 3 ½ ounce can)
1 tbs sugar
1 ½ tbs salt

Cut pork into ½ inch squares and with the port bones, fry over low heat until brown and the meat is slightly dry. If pork is very fat, pour off all but 4 or 5 tablespoons of the grease.

Using a colander, strain tomatoes into an 8 qt saucepan and coarsely chop tomatoes.

Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, hot water and cooked pork and bones in the same saucepan.

Bring to a rapid boil and continue boiling for 20 minutes.

Add spices, chopped hot peppers and chopped chili strips.
Continue boiling another 20 minutes.

Finish by cooking on medium heat until desired thickness, usually about another 20 minutes.

Remove bones and serve.

Note: May be kept refrigerated for a week or frozen for 3 months. Use to cover burritos, chili rellenos and most other Mexican favorites.

Also can melt an equal amount of grated sharp Cheddar cheese and the chili verde for a fantastic chili con queso dip.

ENJOY!

I am from Ohio and we often serve our chili over spaghetti.  Almost every divey diner has Chili-Mac on the menu, which is chili over spaghetti with cheddar cheese and chopped onion on top.  There is a famous chili place in Cincinnati called Skyline Chili.  This is a take on their recipe.  The allspice and cinnamon give this a distinctly different flavor from traditional chili recipes.

Brent’s Cincinati Chili Recipe

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 2 chopped onions
  • 1 qt water
  • 1 16 oz can tomatoes
  • 1.5 tsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp worstershire
  • 1 tbs chil powder
  • 1 tbs cumin
  • 2 tsp allspice
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 can kidney beans

Brown the meat, pour off the grease and then add all the ingredients and simmer for 3 hours or more.  Test for heat and add chili powder as necessary.

Serve over spaghetti with chopped onion and grated cheddar cheese.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces | Tagged: | 31 Comments »

Bites and Pieces: Roll Those Oats

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

Oatmeal Oatmeal is my go to breakfast for the family. It cooks while I’m getting lunches or coffee ready, it’s happily eaten, and it’s a substantial breakfast. I tend to wake up about 20 – 30 minutes before the boys on school days, so that gives me enough time to make a basic oatmeal. I like to make it creamy, so I start it off cold and use half milk and half water.

Basic Oatmeal

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk
1 cup water
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thick. Primo likes his sweetened with blueberries and pecans on top. Secondo just goes for maple syrup. I stir some maple syrup in before serving so that it’s not just on top (and a bit sweeter than Primo realizes). For Keen, I serve it in a low soup bowl with blueberries around the edge of the oatmeal, pecans sprinkled on top, maple syrup around the edges and a bit more on top.

Porridge

Better known here as steel cut or Irish oatmeal, this is worth the time. It takes the better part of an hour, so works if I’m a bit sleepless and wake up way too early. We tried a slow cooker recipe once, but didn’t like the results. To do it right, you have to take the time and stir it. It’s also good for a weekend breakfast if I don’t feel like making pancakes or waffles.

1 cup steel cut oats
~4 cups water (or 2 cups each of water and milk)
1/4 tsp. salt or to taste

Bring the liquid up to a near boil and gradually stir in the oats. Bring up to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 – 40 minutes or until you get the consistency you like. I make mine thick and creamy.

Steel cut oats are variable. We generally buy ours from Trader Joe’s, which calls for a 4 to 1 ratio. I’ve seen higher and lower ratios and different cooking methods, so trust what’s on the box. The steelcut oats have a slightly nutty flavor to them and a bit more chew to the texture. Once made, I serve the oatmeal as with the regular kind. That is, until recently.

Oatmeal Brûlée

Doodles is a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky, that specializes in breakfast. We stopped there on our last trip between DC and KC. One of their dishes is a bruleed steel cut oats. Basically, oatmeal with a sugar crust. I tried making it myself this weekend, as we’re at my parents and they don’t have maple syrup. Lacking a torch, I caramelized the sugar by heating it in a small pot until it melted and poured the syrup on top of the oatmeal. It worked beautifully. I figured I’d split a large bowl with Keen, but one of my sons became interested. Despite already having had a bowl of oatmeal, he polished off half the remainder.

Savory Oatmeal

For all that, you think I’d love oatmeal. Humphrey Bogart once summed up my feelings about hot breakfast cereals. If me and the boys wanted to eat mucilage, we would have ordered mucilage. I used to think it was an issue with texture, but that can’t be the case. I love risotto, which is Italian for mucilage. Then it hit me. It’s not the texture, but it’s sweetness combined with the texture. I started experimenting with savory oatmeal. I’ve haven’t had a chance to experiment much, but like what I’ve tried. For my first effort, I stirred in some leftover tomato sauce and some sriracha, then topped with grated parmesan cheese and a bit of fresh cracked pepper. Voila! Oatmeal that I enjoyed. Another effort is to mix in some chopped herbs and parseley and top with cheese. I think I’ll try bacon and eggs next. Break up crispy bacon and stir into oatmeal, top with a sunny side up egg. Perhaps a bit of cheddar cheese on top.

Savory oatmeal is not a terribly original concept. I’ve eaten something similar at Café Aurora, an Eritrean restaurant in Alexandria. GA’AT is an Eritrean porridge made from barley, bran, whole wheat flour lightly roasted porridge served with melted butter, spiced red pepper and side yogurt. Here’s a few other takes on the idea.

Olga Berman

Serious Eats

Mark Bittman

So, how do you roll with your oats?

BB

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, food | 2 Comments »

Chili

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Michigoose

Just to give EVERYBODY a head’s up, I’m going to create a post for us that will go up next Sunday with chili recipes.  Mark and okie talking about Mark’s chili got me started, and as I read back through previous Bites and Pieces posts I was reminded that everyone has posted great recipes at one time or another.  I’ve got two that I’m going to post; a white bean/chicken chili, and the one that is a throwback to our childhoods (and you’ll be surprised where it came from).  Don’t worry about formatting in the post, I’ll do my best to make us all look coherent, just stick your recipe in there.  I’m going to schedule it for Sunday at noon EST, and hopefully it’ll have enough recipes to get us through this winter’s weekends!

Filed under: Bites and Pieces | 2 Comments »

Bites and Pieces: Macaroni and Cheese

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

Comfort food doesn’t get any more comforting than macaroni and cheese. Millions of harried parents crack open a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese and have an easy dinner that they know will be gobbled. I once ran into a financial emergency in graduate school. I miscalculated my expenses and ran out of money before I ran out of month. [How quaint. Someone in his mid-20s without a credit card.] I sold a text book and made plans to eat mac & cheese for a week. Not content with boxes, I bought a pound of dry macraoni, a block of Velveeta, and a few additions such as a can of diced green chiles.

Fifteen years later, I was introduced to a better approach. My girlfriend’s room mate used to work at the New England Conservatory of music. There would often been left-over (good) cheese from receptions, which she would use to make the mac and cheese recipe from Best Recipe, a complication of favorites from Cooks Illustrated. Their recipe is adapted from John Thorne’s book Simple Cooking. I’ve been making a slightly tweaked version of it ever since.

Home made macaroni and cheese usually consists of pouring a Mornay sauce (white sauce with cheese) over cooked macaroni, possibly topped with toasted bread crumbs. Good, but not necessarily rich. I like rich. This one is akin to a custard, so it is thickened with eggs, not flour. Here is the base recipe:

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1 can of evaporated milk (or 1 ½ cups of milk)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground pepper (black is fine, though white is nice for color)

¼ teaspoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon dried mustard, dissolved in 1 teaspoon of water

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces (half an inch or so is fine)

12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

8 ounces of dry macaroni

Method

  1. Bring two quarts of water to a boil, add macroni and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until not quite done (it finishes cooking later).
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and combine with one cup of milk, salt, pepper, hot sauce and mustard. Shred the cheese.
  3. Pour macaroni into a colander to drain. Return to pot and toss with butter. Turn burn to medium and add the egg & milk mixture and 8 ounces of cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Gradually add the remaining milk and cheese, stirring until the mixture thickens.
  4. Top with bread crumbs if you like. Did I forget to mention the bread crumbs?

The original recipe calls for evaporated milk, which makes a terrific sauce, but one very high in fat. I think whole milk works fine. You could probably use 2%, but I wouldn’t go lower in fat content. When I first used regular milk, my sauce took ages to thicken. I’ve found that I can obtain the right texture by undercooking the macaroni and stirring under medium high heat. You can also get away with dropping down to two or three tablespoons of butter. Don’t go underboard, though. CI later published a low fat version of the recipe, which just goes to prove that some things don’t work.

Variations

I’ve recently started varying the recipe a bit, mainly with the spicing. I was at my brother’s lake house in July and spotted some KC Masterpiece barbeque sauce. I replaced the spices with BBQ sauce to taste, probably about about a quarter cup. It was a hit. Another time, I tried using a teaspoon five spice powder instead of the mustard. It gave the dish a subtle twist.

The Competition

Post your favorite recipe in the comments section or email me and I’ll add it to the main post. Perhaps we can do a mac and cheese cook-off!

BB

Michigoose’s contributions:

Stove-Top Mac-n-Cheese

from Alton Brown

Ingredients

1/2 lb elbow macaroni

4 T butter

2 eggs

6 oz evaporated milk

1/2 t hot sauce (I like to use Cholulu Sauce)

1 t kosher salt

3/4 t dry mustard

10 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I usually use a mixture of cheeses here, much like FB’s girlfriend’s roommate)

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain.  return to the pot and melt in the butter.  Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper to taste and mustard.  Stir into the pasta and add the cheese.  Over low heat continue to stir until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Very, Very Bad for you Baked Macaroni and Cheese

from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

12 oz wide egg noodles

2 cups heavy cream

2 1/2 cups whole milk

2 t flour

2 cups grated Fontina cheese (packed)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (packed)

3/4 cup shredded mozarella

4 oz pancetta, diced and cooked crisp

2 T Italian parsley, chopped

Italian bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and butter a 13 x 9″ baking dish and set aside.

Cook the noodles until tender but still firm; drain well.  Whisk the cream, milk, and flour in a large bowl, then stir in half of each of the cheeses, the pancetta and the parsley.  Add the noodles and toss to coat.

Pour the noodle mixture into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, then dust with bread crumbs.

Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese and crumbs on top begin to brown, about 20 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Michigoose’s Dad’s Macaroni and Cheese Supreme

I never actually got to eat mac and cheese when I was growing up unless it was at somebody else’s house.  My Dad had developed a serious aversion to it after he and my Mom had to eat it for weeks on end when they were first married and still poor college students.  After working on his own recipe for several years he finally developed one he could eat.  And like all my Dad’s recipe’s, it’s very, very involved!

Ingredients

1 cup macaroni, cooked and drained

1 1/2 T butter

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 T flour

3/4 cup skim milk

3/4 cup ham, fully cooked and cubed

1/4 t dry mustard

1 dash ground black pepper

1/4 t salt (he uses table salt, so adjust if you use something else)

1/2 t Worcestershire sauce

1 dash hot sauce (here he undoubtedly means Tabasco)

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 T butter

2 T green pepper, chopped (I think he means a jalapeno here)

Heat oven to 375 degrees; cook macaroni to al dente, drain and set aside.

Melt butter over medium heat and saute onions until light golden in color.  Add the mushrooms and saute another 4 minutes.  Add the flour and cook, whisking continuously, for 1 minute.  Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.

Stir the ham, mustard, pepper,salt, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, peas and cheese into the milk mixture and stir until the cheese is melted.

Toss together the sauce and macaroni, then spoon into a buttered baking dish.  Bake covered for 20 minutes.  Uncover, dot the top of the casserole with the remaining 2 T of butter and cover with bread crumbs.  Bake another 10 minutes.

Garnish with the pepper and serve.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, food, recipes | 19 Comments »

Bites & Pieces: ¡Ceviche!

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

Raw fish is eaten round the world. Sushi and sashimi from Japan, crudo and carpaccio from Italy, and Gravlax from Scandanavia to name a few. Hawaii has contributed poke, a kind of tuna tartare. I was first introduced to it at the Yardhouse in San Diego. The best I’ve ever had was at the East Coast Grill and Raw Bar. A friend of the owner had caught a tuna off Cape Cod the day before and so they were featuring it that night. Then there are the raw oysters that I happily slurp at Clyde’s for happy hour. Anything from Prince Edward Island is worth a taste.

Latin America’s contribution to the world of raw fish is ceviche. I was introduced to ceviche during my first visit to Costa Rica. My then girlfriend had never had a serious boyfriend before, so much of her family was curious about the gringo coming down for her brother’s wedding. My Spanish was minimal back then and I remember being reduced to saying ¡me encanta Costa Rica! as folks chatted with me at the end of the reception. All in all, a good trip. We were married one year later to the day.

Ceviche is distinct from sashimi, carpaccio or tartare in that the fish or shellfish is “cooked” in lime juice. Citric acid alters the chemical and physical properties of the proteins in the fish. This process of denaturation turns the flesh firm and opaque, as if it had been cooked with heat. One still needs to use high quality fish as the marinade is not the same as cooking. Then again, if I’m having a medium rare steak, it should be high quality meat.

For this post, my starter material is a book on ceviche from Guillermo Pernot. He had a great restaurant in Philadelphia (since closed) and is now with the group behind Cuba Libre. That’s a rum and coke with some lime juice.

Let’s start with basic ceviche. First, create the marinade. Half a cup of fresh lime juice, a quarter cup of orange juice, and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Fresh is key here, so juice them yourself. Next, cut up about a pound of fish into roughly quarter inch dice. Mahi mahi and red snapper are great choices. Tilapia is fine, if a bit bland. Let the fish marinate an hour or so and then add diced tomato, some minced onion or shallots, some minced cilanto, and some minced chiles (bell, jalapeño or Serrano peppers, depending upon your heat tolerance). If there’s something you think goes with this, enjoy! Serve with tortilla chips. Costa Ricans like to have a mix of ketchup and mayo on the side. I call it salsa tica and it’s good.

Shellfish is also good for making ceviche. If you’re worried about raw fish, parboil some prawns and cut them into small pieces. Shrimp cocktail from the South! Scallops make fantastic ceviche. Just toss whole bay scallops or sliced sea scallops into the marinade and let them sit for about 15 minutes.

Those are the basics. Now let’s get a bit fancy. I mentioned the Pernot book, which I should note is a gift of Natasha Bonilla, a family friend. The recipes are restaurant complicated, but I’ve tried a few at home and they rock. They’re also doable for the home cook. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hamachi Ceviche with Trio of Peppers Salad

This one looks great. There’s a fair amount of chopping involved, but it’s worth it. It’s terrific with an unoaked Chardonney. Heck, live a little and pick up a bottle of white Burgundy.

Citrus Dressing

½ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup fresh lime juice

½ cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil, infused with garlic*

2 tablespoons annatto oil*

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until emulsified and set aside.

*I take whole cloves of garlic, mash them slightly with the edge of a knife, and put on the stove over low heat. Let it go for about 15 minutes and then strain. Annato seeds are used to color oil. Traditionally, it’s made the same way that I make the garlic oil. Put the seeds in oil and heat up until colored. For this recipe, I can simply do everything in one batch. You can also find annatto seed powder, which simplifies the whole process. If all this seems a bit too much bother, use a flavored oil or neutral salad oil.

Assembling the ceviche

¾ pound skinless hamachi, sliced thinly (yellow fin tuna)

1 large, evenly shaped red bell pepper

1 large, evenly shaped yellow bell pepper

1 large poblano chile

1 cup of arugula sprouts or thinly sliced arugula

½ red onion, sliced very thin and rinsed under cold water

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the sliced fish with half the citrus dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Slice the top and bottom from the bell peppers. Cut open along one side and remove the seeds and the white membrane. [Pernot instructs one to remove the top layer of watery flesh from the inside as well, but I’d say that’s optional.] Slice each pepper into very thin strips—a mandoline is very helpful here. Do the same for the poblano chile.

Toss the peppers with the remaining citrus dressing. Lightly toss the fish, pepper mixture, arugula and red onion. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Arrange onto 6 chilled salad plates. [Oh, did I forget to mention that you were supposed to serve on chilled plates? Sorry about that.]

Bay Scallop Seviche with Blackened Tomatillo Truffle Sauce

This one will bring the house down. The ingredients are widely available and it is great for a crowd. Truffle oil is pricey, but a little goes a long ways. Trader Joe’s used to carry truffle oil, but no longer. I find it at World Market. Wine stores often carry some. For this dish, I think black truffle oil makes the most sense.

Let’s start with the plantain chips. You can buy them and they’re quite acceptable. Fresh is best, though. For this, you need green plantains. Cut off the ends, remove the skin and slice into planks. The best way I’ve found is to use a cheese slicer. It makes even plantain slices. Heat up a half inch or so of vegetable oil in a dutch oven or cast iron pan. Fry the slides and set them on paper towels to drain. Toss with a bit of salt.

Blackened Tomatillo Truffle Sauce

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed

½ pound ripe plum tomatoes

1 red onion, quartered and unpeeled

4 cachucha* chiles

1 jalapeño chile

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons truffle oil

salt & pepper to taste

There are two ways to cook the tomatillos, tomatoes, onion and chiles. Pernot does it on the stove top. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over med high and add the tomatillos, tomatoes, onion and chiles. Cook, tossing frequently, until the skins are blackened. I like to toss them all with the olive oil and use our toaster oven. I preheat it to 350, put the veggies on a tray, and then move it to broil until the skins blacken (about 10 minutes).

Once cooked, put them in a food processor and cool to room temperature. Add the cilantro and pulse briefly until the vegetables are chopped but still chunky. You can also put everything through a meat grinder. Finally, add the remaining ingredients, taste to check seasoning, and refrigerate.

*I don’t know where to get these either. It’s a native Cuban pepper that looks like a habañero, but has much less heat. I’m fond of Serrano peppers, so I just use 4 of them and skip the jalapeño. If you prefer to keep heat levels down, just use jalapeños.

Bay Scallop Ceviche

1 cup fresh lime juice

¼ cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoons finely diced red onion (or a lg. shallot)

1 tablespoon kosher (or sea) sallt

1 pound fresh bay scallops

Combine everything but the scallops in a nonreactive (stainless steel or enameled) bowl. Add the scallops and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerator for 24 hours.

Drain the marinade from the scallops and discard. Combine the scallops with most of the sauce and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. When ready to serve, drain the excess liquid and add the rest of the sauce. A great way to serve this is to put the ceviche onto spoons and top with some crumbled plantain chips. Serve accompanied with plantain chips.

Tuna Ceviche with Roasted Calabaza

This is a three level ceviche. The base is roasted calabaza, a squash. You can use butternut squash for this and do well. On top of the squash is a layer of tuna. You’ll want high quality stuff for this. When I can get bluefin tuna, this is what I make. Thie dish is topped with a peppercress salad (watercress works just fine).

OK. For the base. Have one pound of calabaza (or butternut squash), peeled and cut into half inch cubes. Seasons with salt and p\epper and toss with olive oil. Roast in an oven at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, shakng and tossing once or twice, until it’s browned and crusty on the outside. Remove from the oven, cover and chill.

Now the salad. Combine half a pound of peppercress (or watercress) leaves with a quarter cup each of lemon and lime juice, a tablespoon of pumpkin seed oil (you can find it at World Market), and some salt and pepper. I’d use a high quality nut oil as the first alternative and good EVOO as the second.

Last, the good stuff. Make an emulsion of a quarter cup each of olive oil, lemon juice, and lime juice, 2 tablespoons of pumpkin seed oil (or nut oil or more olive oil,. Reserve a quarter cup of this. To the rest, add a pound of diced, sushi grade ahi tuna. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I go light on salt and a bit heavy on pepper. The recipe calls for a quarter cup of pepitas, which can be found in Latin American markets.

Let’s put it all together. It helps to have a ring mold to do this. Make a half inch thick base of roasted squash, Put on top of this another half inch of the marinated tuna. Top with the salald and a bit of reserved emulsion.

It’s a fantastic fall dish.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, cooking, food, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »

Bites & Pieces, Fresh Tomatoes Edition

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Michigoose

I picked up my CSA bags this afternoon and found inside the most amazing beefsteak tomatoes.  This is one of the things I miss most about not having a garden–the tomatoes.  So along the way I stopped at a roadside stand and picked up some basil, and ran home to make myself an Insalta Caprese with the fresh mozzarella that I’d gotten over the weekend in just such hopes.  Ahhhhhhhhhh. . . the first tomato (4″ in diameter!) was as heavenly as hoped!

But what to do with the rest?  Here are three more of my favorite things to do with fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes, and will be dinner at Chez Michigoose for the next few days.

Tomatoes à la Provençale (the original, from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”)

Tomatoes about 3″ in diameter

Salt and pepper

1 – 2 cloves mashed garlic

3 Tbl minced shallots

4 Tbl minced basil and parsley (or parsley alone)

1/8 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp salt

Big pinch of pepper

1/4 cup EVOO

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1.  Cut the tomatoes in half and gently remove the juice and seeds.  Sprinkle the halves lightly with salt and pepper.

2.  Blend the remaining ingredients and correct seasoning.  Fill each half with a spoonful or two of filling, and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top.

3.  Arrange the tomatoes in a shallow, oiled roasting pan large enough to hold them in a single layer without crowding.  Place them in the upper third of an oven preheated to 400 degrees and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender but hold their shape and the bread crumb filling has browned lightly.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Herbs and Cheese (basically the above as modified by Karen Lee in “The Occasional Vegetarian”)

Tomatoes

EVOO

2 t chopped fresh oregano

2 t chopped fresh thyme

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup shredded gruyere or cheddar cheese (I usually use a tad more than this)

Salt and pepper

1.  Prep the tomatoes as above, and combine the rest of the ingredients.  Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon olive oil into each of the tomatoes halves, and then lightly fill the tomatoes.  I like to put extra cheese over the top, or you can simply spoon any extra filling over the top.  Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the tops of the tomatoes.

2.  Place the tomatoes on a lightly oiled baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and the cheese has melted, and then run under a broiler for about 30 seconds to brown the tops.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Swiss Chard, Rice, and Cheese (another Karen Lee recipe)

Especially for lms, since I know she loves her some Swiss chard

Tomatoes

salt

1 Tbl EVOO

1/4 cup chpped shallots

1 cup washed and chopped Swiss chard, tightly packed

1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (although recently I tried black rice with this and that’s also good)

1 Tbl soy sauce

2 Tbl oven-roasted pine nuts

1 Tbl chopped fresh oregano

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut a thin slice from the top of each tomato and scoop out the seeds and pulp.  Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with salt and turn them upside down on a roasting rack to drain while you make the stuffing.

3.  Heat a wok or cast-iron skillet over high heat for one minute and add the oil and shallots, turning the heat to low immediately.  Saute until the shallots are soft, 2 – 3 minutes.  Add the chard and saute until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes more.  Add the rice, soy sauce, pine nuts and oregano, stir to mix and remove from the heat.

4.  Stuff the tomatoes and place them in a shallow greased roasting pan with a little space between them.  Bake uncovered until the tomatoes are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

5.  Remove the pan from the oven and turn the oven to broil.  Sprinkle the cheese of the tops of the tomatoes and broil until the cheese has melted, 1 to 2 minutes.

Baked Tomato Slices with Goat Cheese (another Karen Lee, and my absolute favorite way to eat really excellent tomatoes other than just out of my hand off the vine)

Tomatoes

1 t EVOO

1/4 cup (or more) fresh goat cheese

1 – 2 Tbl skim milk

1 Tbl shredded fresh basil

1/4 t black pepper

1.  Take a thin slice off of the top and bottom of the tomatoes and set aside to snack on as you cook.  Cut each tomato into thick slices (1/2″ or so).  Place the slices on a baking pan lightly coated with the olive oil.

2.  Mash the cheese with enough milk to make a creamy mixture.  Mix in the basil, pepper, and salt to taste.

3.  Top the tomato slices with a heaping spoonful of the cheese mixture and spread slightly.  Bake until the cheese begins to turn golden and spread.

4.  Serve the tomatoes as they are, or place on a bed of watercress or (if you’re a good Liberal) arugula.  Optional:  sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds.  Can be served either warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy those garden-fresh tomatoes while they last–one of my favorite parts of summer!

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, Summer | Tagged: | 7 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »