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Piadena (Griddled Flat bread from Romagna)

Published May 12, 2008 bread , Italian , Recipe 5 Comments
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When the Atkin’s diet became popular and low-carb was all the rage, flat bread began showing up everywhere. Any place there was a sandwich previously, there now was a wrap. They even showed up at my work’s cafeteria.

Personally, I don’t subscribe to the low-carb mythos. In reality, I’m only on the eat-what-I-want diet (this one is a lot of fun, you should try it out). But, I do like flat bread where appropriate (how can you say no to tacos?).

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew that I had to make it. It was simple enough to be lunch but interesting enough to not be a throw away meal.

And it was, on both counts. It’s a simple and fast recipe. But it’s also quite tasty. I dressed up mine with prosciutto, arugula, and olive oil. Angela went a bit less Italian and piled her’s with turkey, ham, and swiss cheese (and, for the curious, it really ended up being too much meat for her to eat). It also was good drizzled with honey later (credit goes to she-who-must-be-obeyed for discovering the combination).

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Piadena (Griddled Flatbread from Romagna)
Adapted from Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water, or more
1/4 cup milk, or more

  1. In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
  2. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil. Add most of the water and most of the milk.
  3. With a fork, slowly incorporate the flour into the liquid. Add the remaining water and milk to the bowl. Continuing mixing until it forms a dough. Add more water and milk if needed.
  4. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.
  5. Divide the dough into 6 pieces.
  6. Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over high-heat.
  7. Roll out one pieces of dough until it’s 1/8″ thick. Place the dough in the skillet or griddle. Cook for 30 seconds on one side, turn it over and cook for 30 more seconds. Remove from the skillet and set-aside. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  8. Stuff with meat or cheese or vegetables and serve immediately.

Makes 6 flat-breads.

Hot Italian Sausage

Published May 10, 2008 Charcuterie , Italian , Recipe , Sausage 13 Comments
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Sausage has a reputation as a pedestrian food. You eat it at a cook out, at a baseball game, or while camping. It’s something you eat to satiate your hunger, not because it’s good.

But why can’t sausage, in the words of Rodney Dangerfield, get no respect? When it’s good, it should. Most are based around pork with enough added fat that it isn’t dry. And you can do things with seasonings in a sausage that just wouldn’t work in a whole cut of meat.

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If you can’t tell, I rather like sausages. But every since I realized that some sausages from the grocery store contained high fructose corn syrup, I’ve decided to stick with the homemade variety. It doesn’t hurt that they taste significantly better. It’s also particularly rewarding to cook up a sausage and realize that you made it.

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While I tend to like authentic ethnic recipes whenever possible, this is much more Italian-American than Italian. I’m going to let it slide as it’s pretty tasty. When I make it again, I’d probably use less (or possibly no) coriander seeds. It dominates the flavor a bit too much for my taste. It’s particularly good when sautéed and served with good Dijon mustard and grilled onions.

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Hot Italian Sausage
Adapted from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

2 kg boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
225 grams pork belly, cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
100 grams pancetta, cut into 1 1/2″ cubes (optional)
40 grams kosher salt
32 grams sugar
16 grams fennel seeds, toasted
8 gram coriander seeds, toasted
16 grams smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
24 grams fresh oregano leaves, chopped
24 grams fresh basil leaves, chopped
12 grams red pepper flakes
6 grams coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 cups ice water, chilled
1/4 cup red wine vinegar, chilled
10 feet hog casings

  1. Combine all ingredients except water, vinegar, and casings in a large bowl. Toss to distribute the seasonings evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  2. Place the hog casings in a bowl of water and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Several hours before grinding, place the food grinder, mixer bowl, paddle attachment, and any other attachments in the freezer.
  4. Remove the meat mixture from the refrigerator and place in a bowl of ice and salt. Grind the mixture through the small die into the mixer bowl set in a bowl of ice and salt.
  5. Add the water and vinegar to the mixture. Beat the mixture with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 1 minute. Mix until the mixture is uniform. Refrigerate the bowl until ready to stuff.
  6. Sauté a small portion of the sausage in a small bit of oil and taste for seasoning.
  7. Remove the hog casings from the refrigerator and rinse both the inside and outside of the casings in running water.
  8. Setup the sausage stuffer using the largest stuffing attachment. Place meat in the sausage stuffer and turn on to low speed until the meat is just at the end of the attachment. Slide the opening in the casing onto the stuffer and then push the remaining casing onto the stuffer until there is about an inch hanging off. Tie off the end of the casings. Slowly push the meat mixture into the sausage stuffer while holding the casing and letting the meat fill it (this is a two person job). The speed is determined by the speed of the meat being putting into the stuffer not the speed of the mixer. When there is no more casing, tie it off and repeat this step with the remaining casing.
  9. Twist the sausage into 6 inch long segments and cut with shears.
  10. Cook the sausage to an internal temperature of 150ºF.

Makes 5 lbs. of sausage.

Rigatoni con Prosciutto, Pomodoro, Panna e Peperoncino (Rigatoni with Prosciutto, Tomato, Cream and Hot Chile Pepper)

Published May 7, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Recipe 1 Comment
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One can not have too many simple pasta recipes.

I’m certain that will one day be a universal truth. I find few things more satisfying than pasta. Doublely so when it’s uncomplicated.

I subscribe to the Italian idea that when eating pasta, it’s all about the pasta and not about the sauce. The sauce merely accents the natural flavor of the pasta, not overpowers it.

This recipe is almost too simple. The prosciutto is cooked slightly in butter to release its flavor into the sauce. Then, tomatoes and a bit of cream are added to make the actual sauce. It’s cooked quickly so that the fresh flavor of the tomatoes shows through. A little bit of red pepper gives it a little bit of bite. And it’s served with enough cheese for it to be noticed but not so much that it’s feature attraction.

I love recipes like this partially because they’re simple and fast but more so because the flavors meld together well. It’s balance and perfection.

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Rigatoni con Prosciutto, Pomodoro, Panna e Peperoncino (Rigatoni with Prosciutto, Tomato, Cream and Hot Chile Pepper)
Adapted from Trattoria Cooking: More than 200 authentic recipes from Italy’s family-style restaurants

4 tbsp butter
2 oz. prosciutto, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
28 oz. canned tomatoes run through a food mill
1/3 cup heavy cream
salt
1 lbs. rigatoni
1/2 cup grated parmesan

  1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 to 40 seconds.
  2. Add the tomatoes and cream to the skillet. Season with salt to taste. Cook uncovered at a low simmer for 7 to 8 minutes or until the sauce has a medium-thick consistency.
  3. Cook the rigatoni in boiling water for 1 minute less than the instructions list.
  4. Drain the rigatoni and place in the skillet. Simmer for 1 minute stirring to coat the rigatoni completely.
  5. Serve immediately with the cheese sprinkled on top.

Serves 4.

Black Raspberry Ice Cream

Published May 6, 2008 Dessert , Ice Cream , Recipe 30 Comments
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I like ice cream. I like ice cream a lot. And really, who doesn’t? Unlike many of you, my favorite flavor is a little bit more unusual. I don’t prefer chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. No, my favorite is black raspberry. It doesn’t hurt that it also goes well with chocolate (sprinkles or syrup).

There’s one disadvantage to liking black raspberry ice cream so much: it’s only available in the mid-Atlantic states. I have yet to figure out why exactly this is. The same brands that make black raspberry in Maryland don’t sell it in California (I’m looking at you Breyer’s). I couldn’t even find it in Upstate New York when I was in college.

For a long time, black raspberry ice cream was one of those things that I made sure to enjoy when I visited my parents (usually, steamed crabs are one of the others). However, one of our wedding presents was an ice cream maker.

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This only solved half of my problem as I had no idea where to buy black raspberries. In fact, I had never seen one. But, perusing the frozen foods aisle at Trader Joe’s, I noticed they sold them frozen! I finally had the last part of the equation.

And then the black raspberries sat in my freezer throughout the winter. Now that the warmer weather has come, I decided to indulge myself.

And I can’t believe I waited this long. After dinner, I’ve taken to eating directly out of the container with a bit of chocolate syrup drizzled on top.

The recipe I adapted from one for raspberry ice cream. It does come out a tad bit sour so it could use more sugar if you like desserts sweeter but that will decrease the prominence of the black raspberries. Served with chocolate syrup it’s pretty good as it is.

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Black Raspberry Ice Cream
Adapted from Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments

2 10 oz. bags of frozen black raspberries, defrosted
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice

  1. Run the black raspberries through a food mill fitted with a disc with the smallest holes to create raspberry purée.
  2. Warm the milk and 1 cup heavy cream in a medium saucepan.
  3. Pour the cream into a large bowl with a strainer over top.
  4. In a different bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly temper the warm milk into the egg yolks, then return the milk to the saucepan.
  5. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat until the mixture because thick enough to coat the back of a spatula.
  6. Pour the milk-egg mixture into the bowl of cream via the strainer.
  7. Mix the raspberry purée and lemon juice into the bowl.
  8. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until cold.
  9. Mix in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.

Roasted Cornish Game Hen

Published May 1, 2008 Chicken , Recipe 2 Comments
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Frequently found in grocery store freezer cases, Cornish game hens seem to be more exotic than they are. In reality, they’re just miniature chickens (sure to impress all the women out there who think everything smaller than normal is cute; I’m looking at you Angela).

This was the first time that I had ever had one. I had seen them numerous times in the freezer ghetto of the grocery store but had passed them by as being unfamiliar and possibly too much trouble for the benefit. I only deigned to buy one (well, two really as they come frozen in two packs) when they were on sale. And they promptly went into the freezer for longer than I want to admit.

Why did I choose to rescue them from their frozen entombment? Mainly I wanted to reclaim some freezer space.

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My first step after defrosting them is to figure out what to do with them. Unfortunately, despite my collection of cookbooks (which is either minimally sized or overly-large depending on which family member you ask), I was unable to find a recipe that really attracted me (or that I had all the ingredients for). So I decided to improvise. With a little bit of Gourmet and a little bit of Alton Brown as well as just general ideas, i think it turned out pretty well.

For a family of two, there are a number of advantage to the Cornish game hen: namely, one is enough food for two people (with a little left over to spoil our cats with). But, what really surprised me, was that it was good. The breast meat was moist and the thighs were tender. And, I should add, that this was without brining or pre-salting or any other extraordinary effort (or preparation as it’s normally called); from a frozen mass-produced bird.

I think, that in our household at least, Cornish game hens will become frequent visitors. I bet our cats will like that.

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Roasted Cornish Game Hen

1 Rock Cornish game hen
3 tbsp, softened
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 tbsp minced shallots
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp butter, softened (optional)

  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place two cast-iron frying pans into the oven.
  2. Spatchcock the game hen (cut out the backbone so the the game hen lays flat).
  3. Mix together the butter, thyme, and garlic to create an herb butter. Season it with salt and pepper.
  4. Rub the herb butter under the game hen skin on the breast and thighs. Rub the remaining herb butter onto the outside of the game hen. Season the game hen with additional salt and pepper.
  5. When the frying pans are hot, remove the frying pans from the oven. Place the game hen skin side up in one of the frying pans. Place the other frying pan on top of the game hen helping to flatten it. Return the frying pans with the game hen into the oven.
  6. Cook the game hen until its internal temperature reaches 160ºF about 25 minutes.
  7. Remove the frying pans from the oven. Remove the game hen from the frying pans and set aside, covered with aluminum foil.
  8. In the bottom frying pan, add the shallots and cook over medium heat about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock, scrapping up any browned bits. Bring to a boil and reduce until the sauce is thickened.
  9. Remove the aluminum foil and cut the game hen in half laterally.
  10. Serve each half with the sauce poured over it.

Serves 2.

Spaghetti alla Carrettiera (Spaghetti with Fried Bread Crumbs, Garlic, and Anchovies)

Published April 29, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Recipe , Uncategorized 11 Comments
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Some pasta dishes can only be described as strange. Perhaps I should explain that a bit better. There was a time when, to me, pasta meant tomato sauce (as further proof, I almost called it “spaghetti sauce”). And the tomato sauce came in a can and got mixed with sautéed ground beef. Then I discovered alfredo sauce and had multiple choices for my pasta. But, I then went to Italy and realized that there were nearly an infinite number of choices of pasta sauces. This is still the strangest.

I’m probably one of the three people in the United States who likes anchovies. I think they can add a unique flavor to foods. However, I’m still a bit hesitant about any food that tastes primarily of anchovies. And that’s what makes this strange.

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I was hesitant to even post this recipe here but, when I thought about it, I rather liked Spaghetti alla Carretiera. It’s strange but then again so am I (as my wife will most certainly corroborate) and I consider my strangeness to be an endearing quality. It’s the same with the pasta.

Yes, it tastes primarily of anchovies. But it’s not objectionable (well, it was to Angela but that’s beside the point). It’s different but that’s why I like it not in spite of it.

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Spaghetti alla Carrettiera (Spaghetti with Fried Bread Crumbs, Garlic, and Anchovies)
Adapted from Trattoria Cooking: More than 200 authentic recipes from Italy’s family-style restaurants

3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 large clove garlic, finely diced
1 salt-packed anchovy fillet
1/4 cup milk
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
1/2 lbs. spaghetti
1 tbsp finely diced fresh parsley

  1. De-bone the anchovy fillet and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Discard the milk and dry the anchovy well. Chop the anchovy.
  2. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water for 1 minute less than the directions. Drain the pasta and reserve at least 1 cup of cooking water.
  3. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring, for 5 to 10 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add the anchovies, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and stir for 20 seconds.
  5. When the pasta is finished, add 1/2 cup of pasta water to the skillet. Add the spaghetti to the skillet and bring to the simmer. Cook for 1 minute until the sauce is thick and coating the pasta well.
  6. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the parsley.
  7. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Chicken Bouillabaisse

Published April 23, 2008 Chicken , Recipe Leave a Comment
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When I’m looking at recipes, certain ones always stand out. Sometimes the whole premise of the recipe seems interesting. Some use an exotic ingredient. I always like those that involve using a part that’s discarded (frequently shells) to make a stock. Certain ingredients just look like they belong together even though I’ve never had them that way.

But some recipes appeal not for their sophistication but for their simplicity. A few accenting flavors allow enhance the main ingredient instead of fighting for attention with it. The sum of the ingredients is much more than their value separately.

These are the recipes and, in most cases, the flavors that appeal to me: simple pasta sauce, uncomplicated roast chicken, a simple steak cooked well. I don’t want my lamb to taste like beef or my pork to taste like chicken. I want lamb that tastes more like lamb and pork that tastes more like pork.

When I first saw this recipe, I made a mental bookmark about it. I hadn’t thought about it in awhile, in part because I had run out of chicken stock and hadn’t, until recently, had any time to make more. Now that I had the ingredients I needed as well as a cool day to fit the recipe.

The recipe is simple. There’s no need to even brown the chicken. It just simmers for an hour. Nothing more to it. While I have no evidence that it wouldn’t work well with non-fresh ingredients, I wouldn’t risk it. With such simple flavors, they need to be at their best.

The chicken was moist and flavorful. But what was best was the sauce. Dipping bread into it was close to divine.

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Chicken Bouillabaisse
Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant

1 chicken, quartered
2 cups sliced onion
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1 dried chili
1/4 cup vermouth
1/3 cup peeled and chopped fresh tomato
pinch of saffron threads
2 garlic cloves, coarsely diced
2 cups of chicken stock

  1. Trim any excess fat from the chicken, dry on paper towels, and season with salt.
  2. Place the onions and the olive oil in a large dutch oven along with several pinches of salt. Place over medium heat and cook until the onions are transparent and soft, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and chili, breaking up the chili. Add the vermouth and bring to the boil for 1 minute.
  4. Add the tomatoes, saffron, garlic, and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
  5. Add the chicken legs and thighs and return to a simmer. Slowly simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered, turning the meat once.
  6. Turn the chicken legs and thighs and add the chicken breasts. Slowly simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered, turning the meat once.
  7. Check the sauce for seasoning. Remove the chicken and boil down the sauce if needed.
  8. Serve the chicken with the sauce and fresh bread.

Serves 4.

Devil’s Food Cake

Published April 21, 2008 Cake , Chocolate , Dessert , Recipe 2 Comments
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When I was younger, there was a period of time where I was convinced I didn’t like cake. Sure, on my birthday, I’d have a birthday cake. I’d eat a piece because that’s what you do and it’s polite. But it never was particularly good.

I blame box cake mixes for this. Box cakes are always too dry and the canned icing is always too sweet. But my real problem with cake mixes is that they really don’t save that much effort. So I don’t have to mix together the dry ingredients? That takes me all of 30 seconds. And I need to use oil instead of butter? And this makes it better?

Maybe I’m unusual in that I usually have all the proper ingredients for a cake at home (although I did have to delay making this by one day because we were out of eggs). Maybe a modicum of effort is too much for the average person.

I read that one possible explanation for the poor initial sales of cake mixes was that powdered eggs were included and that a house wife wanted to contribute to the cake by adding the eggs herself. I’m not sure if I buy that explanation (if you look at the time when sales of cake mixes increased it corresponds particularly well with an increase in women working).

Usually, when I want to make a dessert, I either want something a bit more sophisticated than cake (excepting chocolate chip cookies because they’re just good). But every once-in-awhile, I really get a craving cake. Not something extraordinarily chocolatey. Nor an ornate texture. Just something simple and good.

Enter Devil’s Food Cake. This cake was exactly what I wanted (and even the chocolate hater liked it). It wasn’t chocolate overload. It was sweet overload. It was just a simple chocolate cake with a simple chocolate icing. And it was just about perfect at what it was.

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Devil’s Food Cake
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

12 tbsp butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
  2. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla until fluffy, several minutes.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.
  4. With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time. Make sure each egg is well incorporated before adding the next egg.
  5. With the mixer running on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour.
  6. Grease two 9-inch cake pans and pour half of the batter into each one. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
  7. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool. Remove the cakes from the cake pans and add the icing.

Chocolate Buttercream
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp salt
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp milk

  1. Using the medium power on the microwave, melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl about 3/4 of the way.
  2. In an electric mixer, beat together the butter and salt until the butter is fluffy.
  3. Add half of the confectioners’ sugar and beat slowly until it is well blended.
  4. Add the vanilla and half of the milk and beat until fluffy.
  5. Add the melted chocolate and beat until well mixed.
  6. Add the remaining sugar and milk and beat until fluffy.
  7. Ice the cake immediately.

Tagine Djaj Bi Zaytoun Wal Hamid (Tagine of Chicken with Preserved Lemon)

Published April 13, 2008 Chicken , moroccan , Recipe 1 Comment
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I think it’s finally time to come to the conclusion that not all food looks good. I suppose it’s a bit hard to make a yellow tinged chicken covered with a yellow sauce look appetizing, particularly in a picture. When I showed the picture to Angela, she agreed that it didn’t look good but did, without prompting, declare that it was good. So it at least has that going for it.

I had originally decided to preserve some lemons when citrus season first stated here in California. I didn’t really have a clue what I’d do with them but it seemed the right thing to do. Given the length of time they needed to mature, I had somewhat forgotten about them. They had been sitting in a mini-fridge that I use from time to time (it’s a good place to cool stock or for drying pancetta, for example).

For dinner the other night, I really wanted something different. I wanted something exotic but familiar, all at the same time. This recipe seemed a good fit, not least because I had all the ingredients that I needed.

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This recipe is apparently the classic Moroccan dish. Given my knowledge of Moroccan cooking (witness the Moroccan-style pork fiasco), I’ll have to trust the cookbook on that one. Despite my previous desicration of the cuisine of Morocco, I decided to modify the recipe. The original recipe had olives. I removed them partially because I don’t like them (as Will can attest, I’ve tried them multiple times and have yet to find any I like) and partially because I don’t have any. I also removed diced cilantro and parsley because I didn’t have any (our fresh produce stock was limited as we had been on vacation for a week and a half and the farmer’s market isn’t until Sunday).

I still think it turned out fairly well while still managing to be somewhat Moroccan (at least it wasn’t pork). It was pleasantly lemony without being overly tart. I’ll make it again when I want something exotic but familiar.

And, while it may seem like a good idea, don’t take a bite of preserved lemon right out of the container. I didn’t know anything could be quite that bitter and salty at the same time.

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Tagine Djaj Bi Zaytoun Wal Hamid (Tagine of Chicken with Preserved Lemon)
Adapted from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 chicken, cut into 6 pieces
salt and pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
peel of 1 preserved lemon, diced

  1. Heat the olive oil in a wide sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until softened, then add the garlic, saffron, and ginger.
  2. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pan. Pour in 1 1/4 cups water.
  3. Simmer, covered, turning occasionally for 15 minutes. Remove the breasts and cover with aluminum foil. Simmer for 25 more minutes. Return the breasts to the pan.
  4. Stir into the sauce the lemon juice and the preserved lemon peel. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces and simmer the sauce for additional time if the sauce is still too thin.
  5. Serve the chicken with the sauce on top.

Serves 4.


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Lemons Preserved in Salt and Lemon Juice
Adapted from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon

4 lemons
4 tbsp kosher salt
juice of 4 additional lemons

  1. Clean the lemons thoroughly. Cut the lemons into quarters while still leaving the quarters attached at the stem end. Place 1 tbsp of salt in the center of each lemon. Put in a non-reactive container and store in a cool place for 3 to 4 days.
  2. Press the lemons down in the container as much as possible and then add the lemon juice to cover them. Store in a cool place for 1 month.

Makes 4 preserved lemons.

Risi e Bisi

Published April 8, 2008 French , Italian , Recipe , Rice 4 Comments
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The entries on here always run at least several days behind when I actually make things. If I’m good, it’s only the night before. Other times, it may be weeks. I don’t think I’ve made it to a month before. But this time, I have an excuse! We were on vacation last week (in France and Germany). And I’d post pictures now but they’re still sitting on my camera. And there are lots of them to go through. The vacation was fun but has very little do with Risi e Bisi. Risi e Bisi is apparently a signature dish of Venice. While I’ve been in Venice, I didn’t try this there. It was the wrong time of the year (I was there in June which is not really pea season). So I have no idea how authentic this version is (outside of the claim from the title of the cookbook). I thought it was good but the real news is that Angela liked it. This is surprising because she a) doesn’t usually like risotto and b) doesn’t usually like green vegetables. So, apparently, I must really have a winner here. It’s typical of much Italian cooking in that it is rather understated. None of the flavors are particularly strong or overpowering. However, they end up well balanced without being bland.

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What really drew me to this recipe (outside of the fact that I’ve liked other cookbooks in the series), was the fact that it used the pea pods to make a stock. This actually ended up delaying me by a day for when I could make the risotto (I ended up making the pea pod stock a day in advance) but my experience is that anything that has a stock specifically made for it is better. It really helped for the flavor of the peas to permeate the entire risotto. You could, however, just replace the pea pod stock with 2 cups of meat broth. And, speaking of meat broth, I’ve found that at least for risotto, using a combination of chicken and beef stock produces a better flavor than either of them alone. This also applies to rice pilaf. And if you happen to have duck stuck lying around, try it in a simple risotto.

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Risi e Bisi Adapted from Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast 1 lbs. peas, shelled, pods reserved 4 cups meat broth (I used half chicken and half beef) 5 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 oz. pancetta, diced 3 tbsp diced Italian parsley 1 1/2 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup dry vermouth salt

  1. Rinse the pea pods in running water. Place the pods in a pot and cover with cold water by 3 inches. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for four hours. Then run the liquid and the pods through a food mill fitted with the fine disk. Combine with the meat stock and place over low heat to keep warm. Season with salt if needed.
  2. In a large skillet, melt 3 tbsp of the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and pancetta and sauté until the pancetta is browned and the onions are soft, about 4 minutes.
  3. Stir 1 tbsp parsley and the rice into the skillet. Cook the rice for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the vermouth and simmer until the alcohol has evaporated, about 3 minutes.
  5. Add a ladleful of the broth and the peas and stir regularly until most of the broth has been absorbed. Add more broth and continuing stirring until all of the broth is absorbed and the rice is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
  6. Remove the risotto from the heat. Season to taste with salt. Stir in the remaining butter and parsley.
  7. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.

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IMG_2074IMG_2052Sunset from Hazeltop Ridge Overlook
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