This is a couple days after Halloween, but it’s taken me at least that long to recover. I just wanted to share Angela and my costume.
Beef with Cumin
Published October 18, 2009 Asian , Beef , Chinese 1 CommentTags: Beef, Chinese, food, Recipe
My mother-in-law was getting concerned that we weren’t eating because there was a gap in my posting here. But we’ve mainly been eating either things that were already posted (roast chicken , smoked chicken, pork chops, or corn pasta) or we’ve been eating things that it seems a bit silly to post (steak frites, quick pastas). But every once in-a-while I make something that is both good and
worth posting.
We’ve been enjoying the bounty of the local farmer’s markets too much over the past summer and early fall. The quality of the ingredients is so high that it seems like sacrilege to do anything more than just prepare the ingredients, whether meat or vegetable, as simply as possible. However, there are only so many roast chickens and steaks one can eat before they feel they need a little elaboration on the topic.
Which brings me to Beef with Cumin. I had seen reference to it online and, the pictures combined with the recipe intrigued me. In fact, it made me purchase flank steak especially to make it. However, flank steak is attractive enough to me that the first half of it went towards the aforementioned steak frites.
I was, however, determined to actually make the Beef with Cumin. And make it I did. Too many Sin0-American recipes are focused on hiding the flavor of the underlying ingredient, where meat, in particular, is interchangeable based on the dietary preferences of the diner (Sweet-and-Sour Chicken is a prime example). This is not one of those recipes. Beef is the predominant flavor. The cumin, the ginger, and the garlic all seek to complement the flavor of the beef. It is beef with cumin, not cumin with beef.
Beef with Cumin
Adapted from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province
12 oz. flank steak
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
2 fresh red chilies, seeds removed and diced
2-4 tsp dried red chili pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
salt
2 spring onions, green part only, sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 cup peanut oil
Marinade:
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
- Slice the beef across the grain into thin, bite-sized strips. Add the marinade ingredients and mix well. Allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the peanut oil in a wok to 275°F.
- Fry the beef in the peanut oil, stirring regularly, for one minute. Remove the beef from the oil and drain well.
- Pour off all but 3 tbsp of oil from the wok.
- Over high heat, stir fry the ginger, garlic, fresh chilies, dried red chili pepper, and cumin for 1 minute. Return the beef to the wok, reheat the beef, and then remove from the heat.
- Drain off any excess oil from the beef.
- Stir in the spring onions and sesame oil.
- Serve with steamed rice.
Serves 2-3.
Salsiccie di Lucania (Pork Sausage from Lucania)
Published September 29, 2009 Charcuterie , Pork , Recipe , Sausage Leave a CommentTags: food, Italian, Mario Batali, Pork, Recipe, Sausage
I have something of a love-hate relationship with my sausage stuffer. I adore sausage but, now that I have a sausage stuffer, I insist that whatever sausage we eat at home be homemade. There’s a certain amount of setup required to make sausages and I feel the need to make a large batch to make it worth the effort. Therefore, I ended up rolling the dice when trying a new recipe as to how they’ll turn out.
In this case, I knew I hit the jackpot as soon as I offered Angela a piece of the sample I used to check the seasoning. No words were needed. I could see the answer in her face. And while Angela likes sausage, her level of appreciation is not equivalent to my own. This sausage may have changed her mind.
I had been looking for a new Italian sausage recipe to use. My last attempt, while decent, had too much coriander seed for one. It just wasn’t quite right.
While this sausage can fill in for an “Italian sausage” (it is in fact a recipe of Italian extraction), it is not an Italian sausage in the traditional American sense. It doesn’t have the fennel seed which is almost the defining characteristics of such sausages. It does, however, have a lot of garlic and ginger to provide flavor. It’s a lot simpler but still tasty. It can also be used as a breakfast sausage in a pinch (actually the first way I cooked it).
When I have 5 lbs. of sausage in the freezer, I remember why I like to have a sausage stuffer. When viewing the cornucopia of sausages at a megamart (or even the farmer’s market for that matter), it’s hard to remember why I enjoy making my own. Part of it’s just enjoying making sausages with Angela, part of it’s the quality, and part of it is choosing exactly what I want in a sausage.
Salsiccie di Lucania (Pork Sausage from Lucania)
Adapted from Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home
12 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 oz. ginger, peeled and finely diced
6 oz. pancetta, chopped
5 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into 1″ pieces
1 lbs. pork fat, cut into 1″ pieces
tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp kosher salt
1 cup red wine
8 ft. pork sausage casings
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the red wine sausage casings. Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled.
- Place the bowl containing the meat in an ice bath. Grind the meat mixture through the smallest holes into another bowl in an ice bath.
- Add the wine to the mixture and beat with a paddle mixer at low speed for 1 minute.
- Cook a small portion of the sausage mixture in olive oil to verify seasoning. While cooking the sample sausage mixture, place the remaining sausage mixture in the refrigerator.
- Stuff the sausage mixture into the sausage casings. Twist into individual sausages.
Makes 6 lbs. sausages
Whiskey-Glazed Smoked Chicken
Published September 22, 2009 Charcuterie , Chicken , Recipe 1 CommentTags: barbecue, bbq, Chicken, food, Recipe, smoked
Last December, as we were getting the keys to our new house from our landlord, we walked in and there was a giant box sitting in the middle of the empty living room. It turns out that Angela bought me a smoker for Christmas. It just turned out that it arrived before we did.
I’ve used it a number of times since then and have mostly stuck to the “classics.” I’ve done pulled pork several times but I have trouble cooking it long enough to get it truly tender (I haven’t made myself get up earlier enough). The same issue came with brisket. But what truly shows the beauty of smoked meat is poultry. It’s not classic barbecue but chicken and turkey absorb the smoke beautifully. Not to mention the gorgeous exterior. I’m already planning to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving this year.
I decided to change things up slightly on this chicken. I usually smoke foods with hickory but I decided to give mesquite a try. I’ll gladly admit to be a novice smoker but there is a definitive difference between the hickory and the mesquite. The mesquite is a bit sharper and tangier in taste. While I don’t think it would work as well as hickory on pork, it adds a really nice bite to the chicken.
A smoker is really a bit of an extravagance but the more I use it, the more I know I wouldn’t want to live without it.
Whiskey-Glazed Smoked Chicken
Adapted from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Brine:
1 gallon/4 liters water
1 1/2 cups /350 g kosher salt
1/2 cup / 125 g sugar
8 tsp / 42 g pink salt
1 3-to-4 lbs. chicken, trussed
Glaze:
1 cup/250 milliliters whiskey
1/2 cup/125 milliliters maple syrup
1/4 packed cup/50 g dark brown sugar
pinch of cayenne pepper
- Combine all the brine ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator until cold. Place the chicken in the brine, weight it down, and brine it for 18 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse it under running water, dry it with paper towels, and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- An hour before smoking the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator.
- Hot smoke the chicken at 200ºF until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF, 3 to 4 hours.
- While the chicken is smoking, place all the glaze ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer until the glaze is reduced to 1 cup.
- An hour and a half into smoking the chicken, brush the chicken with some of the glaze.
- When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the smoker. Brush it with the remaining glaze and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Serves 4.
Uova in Purgatorio (Eggs in Purgatory)
Published September 15, 2009 Italian , Vegetarian Leave a Comment
It’s time to end my self-imposed exile. Summer was eventful. We traveled. We visited friends and family and friends and family visited us. We hosted several parties and attended a few. We ate good food at home and away. But now summer is over and it’s time to return to the rest of life.
If your summer garden is anything like mine, everything but the tomato plants have died of neglect. But, somehow, despite the almost vegicidal neglect, my tomato plants have not only grown they’ve thrived. In fact, they’ve thrived to the extent that it’s starting to become a problem: what to do with all those tomatoes?
This is one of our new favorite meals. It’s simple. It’s fast. It’s good. And it helps use up some tomatoes.
The first time I made this earlier this summer it instantly entered the rotation of frequently made dishes. It’s fast enough to be made after a late return home on a weeknight with a stop at a bakery for bread but it’s satisfying enough to make it more than worth the minimal level of effort. It becomes slightly more work to use fresh tomatoes but the taste makes it worthwhile.
Sometimes, with the plethora of ingredients available at easy reach, it’s hard to realize exactly how good something so simple can be. While I feel like I’m straining into hyperbole here, this is a truly satisfying meal in all its simplicity.
Uova in Purgatorio (Eggs in Purgatory)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced red onion
salt
1 tbsp diced garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 to 4 tomatoes, skinned and pureed or one 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
4 to 6 eggs (depends on the size of the eggs)
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook for a minute more.
- Add the pureed tomatoes, season with salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the tomato sauce thickens slightly, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Break the eggs into the tomato sauce. Season them with salt. Cover the skillet and poach the eggs in the tomato sauce 3 to 4 minutes, or until the whites are cooked through and the yolks are still runny.
- Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and crusty bread.
Serves 2.
Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
Published June 21, 2009 Fruit , Jam , Recipe 3 CommentsTags: canning, food, Jam, lemon, marmalade, strawberries, strawberry
I started making jam somewhat by accident. I originally bought a canner and associated tools so that I could get chicken stock out of the freezer and into jars. Last summer I decided to branch out and try my hand at making jam.
Making jam in southern California is more relaxed. There, strawberries are available virtually year round (I like to tell the story of asking in November when the last strawberries would be available and being told by the farmer that it was just the beginning of the winter crop). On the east coast, there’s a much tighter time period where fruit is available and it turns out that I almost ran out of strawberry season in which to make jam.
My mom used to make lots of jams and other canned goods when I was much younger but had gotten busy and fallen out of the habit. Given we were on the same side of the country now and that we were coming up to visit for father’s day anyway, we decided to do some strawberry jam making together.
So, this morning, we drove to a couple of farm stands. Mason-Dixon Farms was out of berries for the year (but did have some of the first eastern shore corn of the year) and Brown’s Orchards didn’t open for another 45 minutes. We decided to drive on for a bit because it was a beautiful morning and came across a sign proclaiming strawberries and pointing down a long driveway. At first we drove past, but a u-turn later, we followed the road long enough that we thought we might have passed it. But sitting in the back of a truck were several quarts of strawberries and a box to place money in. After we almost bought them out of strawberries, we headed back to Brown’s to pick up some of the blueberries that their sign promised.
We first made strawberry jam from a very simple recipe. Then we moved on to the strawberry lemon marmalade. I first stumbled across this last year as I bought more strawberries than the jam recipe I was using called for. Knowing Angela’s penchant for lemons, I decided to try my hand at marmalade. The fact that I made it again is description enough of how it turned out last year.
Credit to my wonderful wife for the photographs.
Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel
4 cups hulled and crushed strawberries (from about 2 quarts of whole strawberries)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 package regular powdered fruit pectin
6 cups granulated sugar
- Prepare canner, jars, and lids.
- In a sauce pan, place the lemon peel and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then boil for 5 minutes. Drain the lemon peel, discarding the water and reserving the peel.
- Place the crushed strawberries, lemon peel, and lemon juice in a large non-reactive pan. Stir in the pectin until it is well dissolved.
- Measure the sugar into a bowl.
- Bring the strawberry mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar all at once. While stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil that can’t be stirred down. Continue stirring and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
- Skim any foam off the top of the marmalade mixture.
- Carefully transfer the marmalade into the prepared jars, leaving a 1/4″ head room. Wipe the rims, add the lids, then screw it in place. Put the jars into the canner.
- Bring the canner to a full boil, then process for 10 minutes. Remove the canner from the heat, allow to set for 5 minutes, then open the lid and remove the jars. Allow the jars to cool overnight.
Makes about 8 jars.
Souvlaki kotopoulo (Chicken Souvlaki)
Published June 17, 2009 Chicken , Greek , Grilling Leave a CommentTags: Chicken, food, Greek, grill, Grilling, Recipe
Apparently I’m still on the once-a-month schedule. I hope to get a bit better about that.
When we lived in California, we were on a second floor apartment without a balcony. So, despite the near constant beautiful weather there, we couldn’t do any grilling. I’d be walking home and could only jealously smell the cooking meat where I had to go home into the stifling heat of an un-air-conditioned apartment. When we moved to Virginia, Angela and I each had a different requirement for our new home: she wanted a washer-and-dryer in-unit and I wanted some form of outdoor space. Luckily, we found a place where we both could be accommodated.
As soon as the weather turned this spring, we took the coupon Lowe’s had helpfully sent us in the mail and purchased a Weber grill. Alison came over and we grilled both Saturday and Sunday. Since then, we’ve dodged the frequent thunder storms to mostly grill hamburgers and steak.
I’ve only ventured into making Greek food a few times but Costco had a good deal on a Greek cookbook and I’ve always liked Greek restaurants. I figured chicken souvlaki would be a good starting point as it was familiar (eventhough I always get tempted by gyro’s when I eat at Greek restaurants).
When I went to turn the chicken for the first time, I knew it would be good when I saw the gorgeous color it had turned. It tasted just as good. I suggested making lamb souvlaki sometime in the future and Angela asked why I wouldn’t just make the chicken souvlaki again. Which is indeed a good question.
I almost wouldn’t recommend making this in a broiler. I doubt the broiler would do it justice. But it’s simple enough and good enough that I doubt it would turn out badly. If you’re willing to get the grill out on a weeknight (and honestly, how hard is it really?), this makes an excellent easy meal. I made this and even had time to make some homemade Tzaziki and pita bread.
Souvlaki kotopoulo (Chicken Souvlaki)
Adapted from Vefa’s Kitchen
1 3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 red onions, quartered and separated
2 tbsp lemon juice
- Mix together 3 tbsp olive oil, the oregano, and salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken and toss well. Cover and refrigerate over night.
- Prepare a medium-hot grill.
- Thread the chicken pieces onto four skewers, alternating chicken with onion slices.
- Combine the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil with the lemon juice and mix well.
- Grill the chicken, covered, turning once, until cooked through, about 10 minutes per side, basting with the lemon juice-olive oil mixture frequently.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes then serve with Tzatziki and pita bread.
Serves 4
Carnitas Caseras (Home Cooked Carnitas)
Published May 5, 2009 Mexican , Pork Leave a CommentTags: carnitas, food, Mexican, Recipe, tacos
It’s been awhile. It’s been quite awhile. I could blame it on a number of things but suffice to say that I’m back.
You may remember that we recently moved from southern California to northern Virginia. Unsurprisingly, northern Virginia isn’t exactly a mecca for Mexican food. My personal Mexican food of choice is carnitas and, unfortunately, the closest I’ve found so far in our new home is at Chipotle.
So I decided to make my own. These aren’t the more common carnitas found at taco stands around L.A. These aren’t cooked for the same length of time so they don’t easily get the shredded texture of taqueria carnitas.
Instead, they are rather quickly simmered in milk before cooking the liquid off. They’re reminiscent of an Italian recipe where pork is slowly cooked with milk.
They are quite flavorful; almost intense, as Angela described it, but at the same time mild. The salsa (in the pictures) almost overpowered the flavor of the carnitas and I omitted it for the remainder of my tacos. The only downside for me was that the texture was different than I was expecting. Something that shreds more easily would work better on tacos.
These cook quickly. Quick enough for a week night. They go well with homemade tortilla chips and salsa. The leftovers work well in quesadillas.
Carnitas Caseras (Home Cooked Carnitas)
Adapted from The Art of Mexican Cooking
4 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
3 lbs. bone-in pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
salt
4 sprigs of fresh marjoram
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns, crushed
1 orange, cut into eights
1 cup milk
- Dry the pork with paper towels and season with salt.
- Heat the lard in a wide, heavy pan until hot. Add the pork and fry until lightly golden, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes.
- Add the onions and cook until the meat is well browned, about 8 minutes more.
- Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the meat is cooked through and tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid, and increase the heat, cooking until all the liquid has been absorbed (there will still be a lot of fat remaining).
- Remove the meat from the pot and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice the meat into small pieces and serve with corn tortillas.
Serves 6 to 8.
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Published February 25, 2009 Italian , Pasta , Recipe 2 CommentsTags: bolognese, food, Italian, Pasta, Recipe
Angela and I have gone out to a restaurant for dinner on Valentine’s Day exactly once. From the crowded restaurant to the subpar, but expensive food, it was an experience that we didn’t want to repeat. So last year we went to our favorite pizza place. Given that Valentine’s Day was on a Saturday this year, I decided that I would make a special dinner for Angela. I decided on Tagliatelle alla Bolognese as it is one of Angela’s favorite foods. I made some bread and crème brûlée.
And then I went and ruined it by spilling hot chicken stock on my toe. I had taken advantage of the fact that I had to stay home to watch the sauce to make a large batch of chicken stock. All was going well until I was about to strain it. I cook the chicken stock in a stock pot with all the solids inside a pasta strainer. To get as much liquid out of the solids as possible, I had picked up the strainer and was trying to push any remaining liquid out. This is when tragedy struck. The strainer slipped out of my hands, sending chicken stock flying. Some of it flew up and landed on my sock-clad foot. I got the sock off as quickly as possible but the damage was already done.
My foot is finally starting to heal, a week and a half later. I’ve been forced to wear sandals and socks to work since then. It did, however, take my manager until yesterday to realize that I was wearing them and duly make fun of me. Apparently wearing orange toed socks makes it more conspicuous.
Luckily, I only ruined the romantic mood on Valentine’s Day and not the food itself. The bread and crème brûlée were done. All that was left was to make the fresh pasta and it helped take my mind off the pain. Angela can comment on the funny dance I did to distract myself further.
Bolognese sauce is deservedly one of the most classic Italian pasta sauces. The long cooking in milk and wine helps mellow the beef to almost be reminiscient of veal. It also helps mellow the normally acidic bite of tomato sauces. In many ways, however, it almost seems to be the anti-Italian pasta. It’s one of the few times in Italian cooking where the sauce is the star and the pasta merely the sideshow.
Despite my mishap, this was still the right choice for Valentine’s Day. It’s a special meal, taking a good bit of time. But that time and effort pays off in a dish that can only really be described in superlatives.
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
1/2 lbs ground beef
1/4 lbs ground pork
salt and pepper
1 cup whole milk
nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1 1/2 lbs. fresh tagliatelle (made with 3 eggs and 3 cups of flour)
grated parmigiano-reggiano
- Put the oil, 3 tbsp butter, and the onion in a large dutch oven and place over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring occassionally, until it has become transluscent.
- Add the celery and the carrot and cook for about 2 minutes more, stirring regularly.
- Add the ground beef and ground pork. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring the meat, until it loses its pink color.
- Add the milk and bring to a simmer. Cook at a low simmer until the milk has completely cooked away, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Add a pinch of nutmeg.
- Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Cook at a low simmer until the wine has completely cooked away, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook at the barest of simmers for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. If the sauce dries out, add 1/2 cup of water, whenever necessary.
- Cook the fresh pasta and toss it with the sauce, adding the final tablespoon of butter.
- Serve immediately with grated parmigiano-reggiano.
Serves 6.
Penne con le Zucchine Fritte, Piselli e Pomodori (Penne with Fried Zucchini, Peas, and Tomatoes)
Published February 12, 2009 Italian , Pasta , Recipe , Vegetarian 2 CommentsTags: food, Italian, Pasta, Recipe
When I announced to Angela what I was making for dinner last night, she was distinctly less than excited. In her defense, my motive for choosing this recipe was mainly that I had a zucchini that had been sitting in the fridge long enough that I had started to worry whether or not it had turned into a home for something else. Luckily for us it had not.
I say luckily as both Angela and I enjoyed it immensely. This pasta was significantly better than it had any right to be given its ingredients. It’s very simple and I always appreciate simple food but, looking at the recipe alone, I didn’t see anything that would differentiate it from the mass of other pasta recipes that have a base of tomatoes.
However, the distinct flavor of the fried zucchini slices makes the dish truly compelling. It provides a nice counterpoint to the acidity of the tomatoes. The peas are nice but mainly from a color and nutritional perspective.
But what will really keep me coming back to this recipe is how quick it is to make. The longest part of the preparation is waiting for the water to boil and then cooking the pasta. The sauce can be made entirely in the time that the pasta cooks. It also reheats the next day fairly well.
Penne con le Zucchine Fritte, Piselli e Pomodori (Penne with Fried Zucchini, Peas, and Tomatoes)
Adapted from Trattoria Cooking: More than 200 authentic recipes from Italy’s family-style restaurants
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4″ thick rounds
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, finely diced
salt and pepper
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp butter
1 lbs penne
1 cup grated Parmigiano Regiano
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne for one minute less than the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook until both sides are golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
- Add the garlic and stir briefly.
- Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until most of the tomato juice has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
- Add the peas and the butter and cook over low heat until the peas are warmed through, about 1 minute.
- Drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook for one minute over medium heat, stirring regularly. If the pasta is dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.
- Remove from the heat and stir in half of the parmigiano.
- Serve sprinkled with the remaining parmigiano.
Serves 4.
