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Navarin Printanier (Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables)

Published February 23, 2008 French , Lamb , Recipe 2 Comments
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For those of you who were hoping for news of my demise, I hate to disappoint you. Instead, I spent the last 6 weeks or so working with a high school on our robot. We need to ship it last Tuesday (the 19th) and were working on it until 2:30 AM the night before. Given the amount of time and energy Angela and I put into this project (it’s all for the kids, it has nothing to do with the fact that robots are cool, really), we frequently ended up going out to eat instead of cooking. Even on the few nights that weren’t dedicated to robots (and it became fewer and fewer as time went on), we generally went out simply to save our sanity. And, for any who are curious, we compete March 21st and 22nd.

And, to make matters worse, I promptly got sick on Wednesday afternoon. Which brings us to today where, hopped up on decongestants, I was inspired to write a post because I watched Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie about food bloggers. So that’s why you get to read my incoherent, medicated thoughts.

If you saw the entries on Cooking Lessons and thought I had been replaced (that could probably have a positive effect on the readership here), those entries are being made by my wonderful wife (I need to win some brownie points). I wish I knew how to get the author to show up by each post but I can’t figure it out without changing the theme.

Now, back to the food, I made this lamb stew almost two weeks ago apparently (I had to look at the information on the photos to figure it out). In southern California, we are currently experiencing a semi-spring. It’s still cold enough to be winter (well, as cold as it gets during winter here) but the spring vegetables are showing up at the farmer’s markets.

So, of course, I make a stew that claims to be a spring stew but leave out the green beans (they aren’t in season yet) and use frozen peas (fresh aren’t in season). I’m doing a bang up job of eating seasonally. In any case, frozen peas are almost as good as fresh ones and I’m not entirely sure green beans would’ve worked well in the stew as it turned out.

Stew also is a bit of a misnomer. When I think of stew, I think of something that is primarily liquid with good-sized chunks of meat and vegetables in it. This “stew” consists of good-sized chunks of meat and vegetables with a little bit of liquid covering them. It was good, just not very stewy.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of cutting the lamb into slightly too small pieces. When it cooked, the lamb managed to dry out. So cut your pieces larger than I did.

The vegetables were the real stars of this dish. The root vegetables soaked up a lot of the flavors of the lamb (and stock) and were exquisite.

I should also note that the recipe for frozen peas is very good on its own. Good enough that Angela specifically asked for me to make it again (and we all know how much she loves vegetables).

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Navarin Printanier (Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1.5 lbs. stew meat, cut into 2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp flour
2 to 3 cups beef stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
a bouquet garni made up of 1 clove of garlic, 3 sprigs of thyme, and 1 bay leaf
6 peeled boiling potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
3 peeled carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
2 peeled parsnips, cut into bite sized pieces
8 peeled white onions
1 cup prepared frozen peas

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and then dry thoroughly on paper towels. Place a skillet over high heat and add the oil. Brown the lamb a few pieces at a time in the hot oil, then transfer to a dutch oven.
  3. Sprinkle the lamb with the sugar and then place in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes or until the sugar has begun to caramelize.
  4. Toss the meat with the flour and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, toss the meat, and then place in the oven for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until it has a light crust. Turn down the oven temperature to 350°F
  5. Pour out the fat from the skillet and add the stock. Bring the stock to a boil and deglaze the pan. Pour the stock into the dutch oven. Bring to a simmer in the dutch oven, then add the tomato paste and boquet garni. Stir to combine, return to a simmer, and then cover the dutch oven.
  6. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the chunks of lamb. Remove the dutch oven from the oven. Add the potatoes, carrot, parsnips, and onions to the dutch oven and mix well. Bring to a simmer on the stove top, cover, and return to the oven for one hour more.
  7. Remove the dutch oven from the oven. Add the peas. Check the sauce for seasoning. Bring the stew to a simmer for 1 minute.
  8. Serve with good bread.

Serves 3 to 4.


Prepared Frozen Peas
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp diced shallots
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch of pepper
1/4 cup beef stock

  1. Bring the butter, shallots, salt, pepper, and beef stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the peas, cover, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the peas are tender.
  2. Remove the lid and boil off any remaining liquid.

Makes 1 cup of peas.

Cooking Lesson 1: Burgers

Published February 22, 2008 Beef , Cooking Lessons , Recipe 3 Comments
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So, what to pick for my first recipe. I don’t want to choose something too easy (lasagna) or boring (breaded chicken breast). I thought of what I ate growing up: hamburgers. Every single time I went out for dinner at a new restaurant, I’d get a cheeseburger. I still love ’em to this day. Perfect first dish.

Consulted my books. Betty Crocker told me I could grill, broil, or pan fry my burgers. No place for a grill in our balcony-lacking 2nd floor apartment. Pan frying – eh. Broiling them would make me face my fear of the oven (once got burned pretty bad taking a cake out of the oven – been scared since). Julia and Alton didn’t present any other methods, just elaborated on them a bit.

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Betty thinks burgers should be broiled 6″ away from the element for 6 minutes per side. Julia, on the other hand, thinks broiling should only be chosen when it’s possible to cook the burgers one inch away from the element for a minute and a half per side. After a little measuring of our broiler’s three levels (3 1/4″, 4 3/4″, and 5 1/4″ from the element) I decided to trust Julia and her 1″ 1.5 minute combination.

If making my first non-boxed, non-canned, non-frozen, non-delivered meal in my life wasn’t hard enough…Matt had me grind the burger myself. It’s not all that hard but part of me really wanted to just grab a pound of ground chuck at the local butcher shop. But, I’ll admit, he was right. The burgers turned out really juicy though I think I’d prefer them to be a little more cooked through and browned.

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Juicy Broiled Burgers

Ingredients:
10 oz chuck roast
Salt and pepper

Equipment:
Meat grinder
Spatula
Broiler pan/tray

1. Place broiler pan/tray on top rack of broiler. Turn broiler on.

2. Cut meat into 3″ x 1″ by 1/2″ strips (small enough to fit into meat grinder).

3. Grind meat, alternating between fattier and leaner strips.

4. Salt and pepper ground meat as needed. “As needed” means more than you think if you have no sense for these things and less than you think if you do.

5. Form patties 3/4″ thick and approx 4″ in diameter. Make small indention in center to assure flat patties post-cooking.

6. Place patties on broiler pan/tray and cook 2 minutes per side. If adding cheese, add one minute before burgers are done.

Cajun Corn

Published February 11, 2008 Recipe , Side Dishes , Vegetables , Vegetarian 2 Comments
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Growing up, we usually had meals which featured a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. I usually liked the protein and starch well enough but, like most kids, I stayed away from the vegetables. At that point, I was what would could only kindly be described as a picky eater. The list of vegetables I’d eat was pretty limited. It didn’t help that about the only vegetable we ever seemed to eat was canned green beans.

I’ve gotten better about vegetables but I’m still significantly vegetable challenged. I like them enough but it’s rather frequent where I’m making dinner and can only muster enough effort for a protein and starch. To compound the problem, I don’t have that many different recipes for vegetables that I like. Vegetables must be cooked well for me to like them.

I don’t remember when I first started making this recipe. It was awhile ago. It’s pretty simple and doesn’t require a whole lot of effort. It’s easy to make along with something else. It also has strong flavors that go well with spicy foods.

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This time I tried something different: I used the Creole Seasoning recipe from the cookbook. In the past, I just used some Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning that I had purchased at some point in time. I suppose it might make me a bad person to use a premixed seasoning but it was easy and it was there.

I figured using a homemade spice blend would clearly be superior to the premixed variety. But I was wrong, sort of. The two different spice blends yield very different results. The Zatarain’s is spicier and saltier. The homemade spice blend has a smoky flavor and has the savory flavor of the herbs. I prefer the homemade spice blend but Angela liked the Zatarain’s. It’s still up in the air which I’ll use in the future. Most likely, I’ll use each at different times depending on what we’re eating it with.

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Cajun Corn
Adapted from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse

4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups frozen corn, defrosted
5 tsp Creole Seasoning
salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

  1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has stopped foaming, add the garlic and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the corn to the sauce pan and mix well.
  3. Add the Creole Seasoning and season with salt to taste. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes to allow the corn to heat through.
  4. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and stir in the parsley.
  5. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.


Creole Seasoning
Adapted from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse

1/2 cup paprika
1/2 cup powdered garlic
1/4 cup powdered onion
3 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/4 cup dried thyme
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp sugar

  1. Mix together all ingredients and place in a sealable container.

Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

Published February 1, 2008 Dessert , Fruit 2 Comments
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I realize it’s a bit strange to make sorbet in the middle of winter. But this is southern California and cold is a very relative concept around here (it was actually the recent rain that was bothering me).

However, winter also is lemon season (the fruit schedule from the farmer’s market claims that lemons are year round but I only see them in winter). I actually missed Meyer lemons the first time they appeared at the farmer’s market as I thought I had a bunch of lemons at home that were given to me by a coworker (turned out they were actually limes).

Angela and I were showing a friend of her family’s around and we went to Huntington Beach. It just so happened that they were having a farmer’s market that day and there was a vendor selling Meyer lemons. Given that I had passed them up the first time, I decided to snap them up while they were around.

Neither of us had had Meyer lemons before. They don’t really grow on the east coast (where ultimately we are from). I had, however, heard of their near-mythical flavor which is what drew me to them. It doesn’t hurt that Angela loves lemons.

While there are other lemon vehicles out there, none are quite as pure as sorbet. Plus I had a recipe for Meyer lemon sorbet. The sorbet is almost full proof to make. My only problem was I didn’t have quite enough for a full recipe.

The sorbet was quite good. I find the less bitter flavor of Meyer lemons to be significantly better than Eureka lemons. It was a cleaner flavor.

Angela thought that it could use to be a bit sweeter so you may want to add additional sugar in the future (and you think that’s a recipe note but it’s really a note to myself). I also think I’d replace the vodka with Limoncello next time.

And some kind soul left some home grown Meyer lemons in the kitchen area at work. I may have taken a few more than my fair share but I’ll put them to good use.

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Meyer Lemon Sorbet
Adapted from Room for Dessert
1 2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
2/3 cup Meyer lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1 tbsp vodka

  1. Place the water, sugar, and lemon zest in a small sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature.
  2. Stir in the lemon juice and vodka into the water mixture. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. Strain the mixture through a sieve and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place in the freezer until ready to serve.

Makes about 3 cups.

Fetuccini with Seared Scallops in a Lemon-Garlic Cream Sauce

Published January 29, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Recipe , Seafood 9 Comments
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Every week at the farmer’s market, I see the fish vendor. I always stop and look at chalkboard list of products and prices. The line almost always stretches around the back of his truck. My usual thought is that I don’t have enough cash to buy anything and, anyway, Angela doesn’t like fish so it’s not really worth it.

Before we left for the market, Angela had asked if we could have shrimp for dinner. I had some frozen shrimp in the freezer but they wouldn’t easily defrost in time and I don’t particularly relish force defrosting shrimp (although it can be done). So, when I came to the farmer’s market this week, and saw that not only was the fish vendor selling jumbo shrimp but that also his line was relatively short (and I had extra cash), I had to get in line and buy some.

A patron in line ahead of me ordered some scallops. In fact, he thought he was buying all the scallops: he wanted about 12 and that’s how many the vendor thought were left. Instead, the fish vendor had mis-estimated how many were left. So I decided that this week they were also going to be mine.

When I presented my acquisitions to Angela, she decided that the shrimp would wait until the next day and she wanted them seared in a cream sauce. I had never made such a dish but it sounded good to me so I thought I’d give it a try.

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I usually cook from recipes. Occasionally, I’ll try and improvise. Unfortunately, it’s usually a bit disappointing when I do. So I have an aversion to improvisation. Particularly when it comes to expensive ingredients as I don’t want to waste the money.

With this recipe (I wanted to say today but I made this on Sunday), I may have finally broken the streak. To be fair, this isn’t particularly complicated or difficult recipe. But I am pleased with it.

Neither the garlic nor the lemon are overpowering. It didn’t hurt that we had high quality scallops (better than frozen at least). And the sauce went well with the pasta.

Angela would have liked her scallops a bit more seared but it may require a switch to clarified butter to actually make that happen.

The serving range is a bit large as the two of us ate all of the recipe but it could easily be served to four if they aren’t particularly hungry. But it’s good enough for two to eat the entirety.

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Fetuccini with Seared Scallops in a Lemon-Garlic Cream Sauce

1 lbs. large scallops
salt and pepper
3 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine
1 cup heavy cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp diced Italian parsley
1 lbs. fresh fettuccini, preferably homemade

  1. Remove the small muscle attached to the scallop and discard. Dry the scallops in paper towels thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
  2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter has stopped foaming, add the scallops. Sear the scallops in the butter on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the scallops to a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
  3. Reduce heat of the skillet to medium and add the garlic. Sauté the garlic until it is golden, about 1 minute.
  4. Deglaze the skillet with the vermouth or wine. Increase heat to high and boil down the vermouth until it is reduced by half.
  5. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Simmer the heavy cream until it is thickened. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low.
  6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until it is just undercooked.
  7. Return the scallops to the skillet and add the parsley. Toss the sauce with the scallops until they are well coated.
  8. Remove the pasta from the boiling water and add it to the skillet.
  9. Increase heat to medium-high and cook for 1 minute more.
  10. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-4.

Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons (Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream)

Published January 25, 2008 Chicken , French , Recipe 5 Comments
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Ever have a dinner that is surprisingly good? This was one of them. I never have high hopes for anything based around a chicken breast. They’re frequently dry and tasteless. And, while I haven’t tried it, I’m sure that brining helps (yet another thing on my cooking to do list). But, when you get down to it, chicken breasts aren’t particularly exciting. In many ways, they’re the tofu of the meat eating world except they don’t readily take on other flavors as well.

Except, when I made Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons (I’ve been avoiding using the proper name as it’s a bit incongruous in a sentence), it was surprisingly good. It wasn’t a burst of flavor in your mouth but it was simple and it was good. The chicken wasn’t dry and had some good flavor but the sauce was very creamy and chickeny. It may not be something to serve to guests but it’s good for a weeknight meal.

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I was particularly fond of the mushrooms (Angela doesn’t like them; and she also complains that I only say she doesn’t like things; she did like the chicken, so there). If you look at the pictures, you’ll think I had only a few but I didn’t ladle the rest of them out of the skillet until after taking the pictures. By the time I was finished, there were more mushrooms than chicken.

I should say, however, if you prepare this recipe realize that I did use a smaller chicken that I got from the farmer’s market. The breasts themselves were pretty small, probably only several ounces each; so the times may be different if you use a larger chicken breast. I’d suggest cooking to temperature instead of time.

I’m a bit surprised by this recipe as it doesn’t involving browning the chicken. Normally, browning meat is important for the development of flavor but not in this recipe. And I can’t say I missed it. Given that the chicken breast is small, a greater proportion of the flavor comes from the sauce and from the chicken stock in the sauce.

Serve with Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet (Madame Cartet’s Potato Gratin).

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Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons (Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced shallots
1/4 lbs. mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp white vermouth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp parsley

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. Rub the chicken breasts with a small amount of the lemon juice and season with salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until it is foaming. Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes more. Season with salt.
  4. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet and roll them in the butter. Cover the skillet and place it in the oven. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165ºF.
  5. Remove the skillet from the oven and remove the chicken breasts from the skillet. Add the stock and vermouth to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the liquid is syrupy.
  6. Add the cream and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until the cream is thickened. Remove from the heat.
  7. Season with salt and lemon juice as needed. Stir in the parsley.
  8. Serve the chicken covered with the sauce and mushrooms.

Serves 2.

Tortellini Panna e Prosciutto (Tortellini with Cream and Prosciutto)

Published January 23, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Pork , Recipe 9 Comments
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In Italy, this was one of my favorite dishes to order. While I had never been to Italy before and I’m not of Italian decent, this was instantly comfort food, even though it was foreign to me. It didn’t hurt that it almost universally good.

The first time I tried my own hand at tortellini panna e prosciutto the tortellini were my undoing. I decided to be a perfectionist and measure the size of each tortellini. It would’ve helped to keep them all the same size if I could cut straight. It ended up taking an inordinate amount of time: I think it took about 2 hours just to form them.

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I would’ve been hesitant to make them again but they’re really good. I’ve managed to get my tortellini making time to about 1 hour but that’s still a significant investment of time and energy.

This is also probably not particularly good for you. The tortellini are filled with cheese. The sauce is similar to alfredo sauce but with prosciutto added. However, I probably burned enough calories making the tortellini.

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I’ve posted instructions for making pasta before. The tortellini recipe I use is basically the same that I use for cheese ravioli but in a different shape. You could also use fresh fettucini in place of the tortellini if you don’t want to invest as much time. It’s also sometimes served with peas (becoming tortellini panna, prosciutto e piselli) if you’d like it with a green vegetable.

I always try and make enough so that I’ll have left-overs for lunch the next day but for some reason we always manage to eat them all.

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Tortellini Panna e Prosciutto (Tortellini with Cream and Prosciutto)

Tortellini:
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tbsp diced Italian parsley
3 eggs
salt and pepper
2 cups all purpose flour

Sauce:
4 tbsp butter
4 oz. prosciutto
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan

  1. In a bowl, stir together the ricotta, parmesan, and parsley, attempting to break the ricotta into as small pieces as possible. Stir in one egg and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. Using the well method, mix the flour with the remaining 2 eggs to form a dough. Knead the dough briefly and then divide it into 4 pieces.
  3. Roll out 1 piece of dough to the thinest setting on a pasta machine. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into approximately 1 1/2″ squares. Discard any dough that is not approximately square. On each square, place about 1/4 tsp of the filling made previously. Fold each square in half by having two opposite corners meet, forming a isosceles triangle. Make sure that the dough forms a good seal. Pull the two corners of the triangle which form the longest side together to form the tortellini. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  4. Cook the tortellini in boiling salted water about 3 minutes or 1 minute after it floats.
  5. Melt the butter for the sauce in a large sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the prosciutto and sauté for about 4 minutes.
  6. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer and allow the cream to reduce. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
  7. When the pasta is done cooking, add the pasta to the sauce and cook for 1 minute more.
  8. Serve with additional grated parmesan.

Serves 2-3.

Rotkohl (Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon)

Published January 14, 2008 cabbage , German , Recipe , Vegetarian 1 Comment
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At some level, I’m quite in touch with my German heritage. Cabbage, whether braised or pickled, frequently graced our table while I was growing up.

As winter approaches and the farmer’s market thins out, I become drawn to the vegetables that are still available. Even in southern California we have seasonality with our produce (despite the fact that tomatoes are still available).

Angela dislikes cabbage and so it takes several weeks before I’m willing to indulge myself. It’s hard to make just a little bit of cabbage and it takes time to properly cook it. I also need to prepare myself for it.

My particular preference is for the red varieties. To me, they have a deeper flavor. I specifically remember having some outstanding braised red cabbage in Germany (as well as excellent sauerkraut); I barely remember any sausage or pork roast that I ate. That may give you some idea of my appreciation of good cabbage.

I bought this copy of Saveur in the airport to read on our flight to Florida for Christmas (and then our unexpected “vacation” in Milwaukee). While looking through it, I happened upon this recipe for braised red cabbage. And, then and there, I knew I’d have to make it for myself.

So what that it serves 6 to 8? I apparently will have to eat leftover cabbage for the next week (I found out today that it works pretty well stuffed into a pita with leftover pork and reheated). Sometimes dealing with the leftovers is worth the initial splurge.

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Rotkohl (Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon)
adapted from Saveur, December 2007

1 tbsp vegetable oil
6 slices of bacon, cut into lardons
1 tbsp sugar
1 yellow onion, diced
salt and pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and roughly choped
1/3 cup port
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 large head of red cabbage, cored and finely shredded
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup red currant jelly

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the sugar and cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the onions to the dutch oven and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in the apples, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until the apples are soft, about 8 minutes.
  5. Add the port, vinegar, and cabbage to the dutch oven. Stir to combine. Cover and cook until the cabbage is slightly wilted, about 7 minutes.
  6. Add the chicken and beef stock and season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to high to bring to a simmer. Cover, and decrease heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 1/4 hours until the cabbage is tender.
  7. Uncover and stir in the red current jelly. Season with salt and pepper and cook for4 to 5 minutes more.
  8. Serve with roast pork.

Serves 6 to 8.

Izgara Orkinoz (Seared Tuna with Lemon Dressing)

Published January 11, 2008 Fish , Seafood , Turkish 1 Comment
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Despite medical recommendations to the contrary, we don’t eat a lot of fish. Angela doesn’t particularly like it (but she does like sushi, go figure) and, because we never have it, I’m not particularly good at cooking it. It’s particularly sad as there’s an excellent fish merchant at our local farmers’ market (there’s almost a line of at least 10 people).

Tuna is about the only cooked fish that she will eat so every once in awhile I’ll buy some frozen tuna steaks. I buy the frozen ones as I don’t have the confidence level to justify the purchase of fresh.

There have been some rather horrifying results in the past. I tried to sear tuna but it ended up cooked on the outside and cold on the inside (and that’s why you allow it to come up to room temperature before cooking it). A “blackened” tuna recipe that used a rub that was so spicy it had to be scraped off the tuna to make it edible (I made that recipe for my at-the-time-future in-laws).

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So I’ve taken to being much more cautious about fish. I need recipes that are simple and not particularly exotic. So it would seem to be counterintuitive for me to make a Turkish tuna recipe.

And, while according to the cookbook, it’s a traditional Turkish recipe (and we know how well that worked out for me before), it really could be Greek or Italian or Californian.

I liked the lemon and olive oil flavor from the dressing. Angela did not. I did remember to remove the tuna from the refrigerator in advance so the middle was warm but, unfortunately, I overcooked the tuna. I didn’t make sure the skillet was adequately hot before adding the tuna so it took longer to sear. But, it was still good.

In fact, I may splurge on some fresh tuna and make this again.

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Izgara Orkinoz (Seared Tuna with Lemon Dressing)
Adapted from Arabesque

juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp diced Italian parsley
2 tuna steaks

  1. Mix together the lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, the Italian parsley to form the dressing. Season it with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. Remove the tuna steaks from the refrigerator at least 1/2 hour before cooking. Dry the tuna steaks on paper towels thoroughly. Season the tuna steaks with salt on both sides. Brush the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil on both sides of the tuna steaks.
  3. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until hot. Sear the tuna steaks for about 1 minute per side.
  4. Serve the tuna steaks with the dressing.

Serves 2.

Djaj Bil Assal (Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey)

Published January 7, 2008 Chicken , moroccan , Recipe 7 Comments
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To a certain extent, this is penance. For some reason, it never clicked that Moroccan-Style Pork Tenderloin couldn’t be Moroccan because of the pork. I was just looking for a new way to cook pork tenderloin.

But it made me wonder what Moroccan food was. Middle Eastern cuisine isn’t something that I’m intimately familiar with. The closest I’ve come is one of several Lebanese restaurants in the area. What I’ve had I’ve liked but Lebanon isn’t that geographically close to Morocco.

So my only connection to Moroccan food is through cookbooks and thankfully I’ve moved on from the one that directed me to Moroccan-styled Pork Tenderloin. I chose Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey because we had chicken on-hand and it seemed suitably exotic as well as not terribly difficult.

All of which were true. Chicken with cinnamon is an unusual flavor combination to my western taste buds. It’s not bad by far. It’s just different. I actually liked it even if I wouldn’t want to eat it every day. They honey added a pleasant sweetness without being overpowering. It also managed to caramelize significantly.

I did make a slight mistake when I made it. I originally missed the addition of the onions right after the white chicken meat is removed. I realized it about 10 minutes later when I went to turn the chicken. The onions were fully cooked but they didn’t manage to caramelize quite as much as was indicated in the original recipe. I didn’t notice that much of a difference but it may be even better with properly caramelized onions (hence the title).

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Djaj Bil Assal (Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey)
Adapted from Arabesque

1 lbs. pearl onions
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp vegetable oil
pinch of saffron threads
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 chicken, cut into pieces
salt and pepper
1 tbsp honey

  1. Blanch the pearl onions in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Once the onions are cool, peel them and cut off the root end.
  2. Dry the chicken with paper towels on all sides. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Sauté the diced onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Stir in the saffron, ginger, and cinnamon.
  5. Brown the chicken on both sides in the skillet, in batches if necessary. Return all the chicken to the skillet.
  6. Add 1 cup water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, turning the chicken once. Remove the white meat pieces of chicken to a side dish and add the peeled pearl onions. Cover again and simmer for 25 minutes, turning the chicken onces.
  7. Remove the chicken to a side dish. Stir the honey into the pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until the water has evaporated and the pearl onions have caramelized.
  8. Return the chicken to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is warmed through.
  9. Serve the chicken topped with the pearl onions and the sauce.

Serves 4.

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