The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Crispy Orange (and Meyer Lemon) Beef

 

I don't have a lot of photos for this one - actually there are only two - because Bill made this dish and I was doing other things at the time and wasn't able to hover over his shoulder (under it, really, since I'm nearly a foot shorter) to capture all the steps.  So you'll just have to use your imagination today.

The recipe comes from Food & Wine's Best of the Best, a cookbook I received recently as a Christmas gift from some friends of ours.  I've already posted a cookie recipe from it here, and who knows how many other recipes we'll try before it gets shelved and lost amid the other gazillion cookbooks.

But I digress.

The recipe comes from The Shun Lee Cookbook by Michael Tong and Elaine Louie.  Shun Lee is a restaurant in NY that's been around since the 1960's and, according to the notes, "played a pivotal role in introcuding Americans to the varied regional cuisines of China (from Sichuan, Hunan and Shanghai)...Today, almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States serves the dishes Shun Lee debuted over 40 years ago, like cold sesame noodles and chicken chow fun."

Well then!

Crispy Orange Beef is based on a Sichuan dish that was originally served cold and was "a somewhat chewy appetizer of fried, dried and shredded beef."  The version introduced at Shun Lee in 1971 is served hot and is flavorful and texturally interesting. 

Here's what you'll need to serve 4:

8 oz flank steak, cut into pieces 1 inch long, 1/4 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.  (I don't think Bill cut them exactly that way - they were thinner but wider.)

1  1/2 tsp baking soda

1 orange (we only had a clementine, which is smaller than an orange, so Bill used the clementine and a meyer lemon from my stash.)

Sauce...

2 T sugar

2 T rice wine or dry sherry (we used the sherry)

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

And also...

Vegetable oil, for passing through

1 cup cornstarch

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

3 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into half inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp dark sesame oil

1 T orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec)

1/4 tsp hot chile paste

And, here's what to do:

1.  Mix the flank steak, baking soda, and 3 T of water in a medium bowl.  Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  (The baking soda will tenderize the steak.)

2.  Using a vegetable peeler, remove the colored zest from the orange.  Cut the zest into thin strips about 1 inch long and set them aside.  Save the orange flesh for another use.

3.  To begin the sauce, mix the sugar, vinegar, rice wine (or sherry) soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl.  Set it aside.

4.  Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add enough vegetable oil to come about 1  1/2 inches up the sides of the wok, and heat it to 375 degrees F.  Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and egg white to the steak, and mix well to coat the steak with the batter.  (I think it should say to combine the cornstarch with the egg white and THEN add to the steak.  Just my opinion.)

5.  Add the flank steak to the oil, one piece at a time so it doesn't splash or stick together, and stir gently until it begins to look crispy, about 1 minute.  Using a wide wire-mesh strainer, transfer the steak to a colander to drain.  Using a fine-mesh strainer, remove any bits of fried batter from the wok.  (You'll probably need to cook the beef in a couple batches.)

6.  Reheat the oil to 375 degrees F., return the flank steak to the wok, and fry again until the beef is crispy all over, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a strainer to drain.  Discard all but one tablespoon of the oil from the wok.

7.  Return the wok with the oil to high heat.  Add the scallions, flank steak, sugar-vinegar mixture, orange zest, sesame oil, Grand Marnier, and hot chile paste.  Stir-fry until all of the ingredients are well-blended, about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

~~~

The book also suggests freezing the meat for half an hour to an hour before slicing in order to get uniformly thin pieces.  I've done that before for other recipes, and it does help.

Bill served this over rice, as you could probably tell from the first photo, and it was YUMMY.  Our only beef (sorry, couldn't help it) was that we'd have liked a bit more of the sauce.  Next time around we'll probably double that part of the recipe.  Julia liked it okay, but she isn't really a big meat eater (unless it's fish eyes) and Alex wasn't home, so he didn't get to try it.  Bill's not sure if Alex would have liked the citrusy aspect, but I think he would have enjoyed the dish. 

The orangy flavor is not overpowering at all, and it's balanced by the sherry and sesame oil and soy sauce, and the flavor of the twice-fried beef.  Texture-wise, the beef is crisp, not oily at all, and reminded me a bit of General Tso's chicken, for lack of a better example. 

We'll definitely make this again.  
 

Crispy Orange and Meyer Lemon Beef

 

I don't have a lot of photos for this one - actually there are only two - because Bill made this dish and I was doing other things at the time and wasn't able to hover over his shoulder (under it, really, since I'm nearly a foot shorter) to capture all the steps.  So you'll just have to use your imagination today.

The recipe comes from Food & Wine's Best of the Best, a cookbook I received recently as a Christmas gift from some friends of ours.  I've already posted a cookie recipe from it here, and who knows how many other recipes we'll try before it gets shelved and lost amid the other gazillion cookbooks.

But I digress.

The recipe comes from The Shun Lee Cookbook by Michael Tong and Elaine Louie.  Shun Lee is a restaurant in NY that's been around since the 1960's and, according to the notes, "played a pivotal role in introcuding Americans to the varied regional cuisines of China (from Sichuan, Hunan and Shanghai)...Today, almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States serves the dishes Shun Lee debuted over 40 years ago, like cold sesame noodles and chicken chow fun."

Well then!

Crispy Orange Beef is based on a Sichuan dish that was originally served cold and was "a somewhat chewy appetizer of fried, dried and shredded beef."  The version introduced at Shun Lee in 1971 is served hot and is flavorful and texturally interesting. 

Here's what you'll need to serve 4:

8 oz flank steak, cut into pieces 1 inch long, 1/4 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.  (I don't think Bill cut them exactly that way - they were thinner but wider.)

1  1/2 tsp baking soda

1 orange (we only had a clementine, which is smaller than an orange, so Bill used the clementine and a meyer lemon from my stash.)

Sauce...

2 T sugar

2 T rice wine or dry sherry (we used the sherry)

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

And also...

Vegetable oil, for passing through

1 cup cornstarch

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

3 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into half inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp dark sesame oil

1 T orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec)

1/4 tsp hot chile paste

And, here's what to do:

1.  Mix the flank steak, baking soda, and 3 T of water in a medium bowl.  Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  (The baking soda will tenderize the steak.)

2.  Using a vegetable peeler, remove the colored zest from the orange.  Cut the zest into thin strips about 1 inch long and set them aside.  Save the orange flesh for another use.

3.  To begin the sauce, mix the sugar, vinegar, rice wine (or sherry) soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl.  Set it aside.

4.  Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add enough vegetable oil to come about 1  1/2 inches up the sides of the wok, and heat it to 375 degrees F.  Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and egg white to the steak, and mix well to coat the steak with the batter.  (I think it should say to combine the cornstarch with the egg white and THEN add to the steak.  Just my opinion.)

5.  Add the flank steak to the oil, one piece at a time so it doesn't splash or stick together, and stir gently until it begins to look crispy, about 1 minute.  Using a wide wire-mesh strainer, transfer the steak to a colander to drain.  Using a fine-mesh strainer, remove any bits of fried batter from the wok.  (You'll probably need to cook the beef in a couple batches.)

6.  Reheat the oil to 375 degrees F., return the flank steak to the wok, and fry again until the beef is crispy all over, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a strainer to drain.  Discard all but one tablespoon of the oil from the wok.

7.  Return the wok with the oil to high heat.  Add the scallions, flank steak, sugar-vinegar mixture, orange zest, sesame oil, Grand Marnier, and hot chile paste.  Stir-fry until all of the ingredients are well-blended, about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

~~~

The book also suggests freezing the meat for half an hour to an hour before slicing in order to get uniformly thin pieces.  I've done that before for other recipes, and it does help.

Bill served this over rice, as you could probably tell from the first photo, and it was YUMMY.  Our only beef (sorry, couldn't help it) was that we'd have liked a bit more of the sauce.  Next time around we'll probably double that part of the recipe.  Julia liked it okay, but she isn't really a big meat eater (unless it's fish eyes) and Alex wasn't home, so he didn't get to try it.  Bill's not sure if Alex would have liked the citrusy aspect, but I think he would have enjoyed the dish. 

The orangy flavor is not overpowering at all, and it's balanced by the sherry and sesame oil and soy sauce, and the flavor of the twice-fried beef.  Texture-wise, the beef is crisp, not oily at all, and reminded me a bit of General Tso's chicken, for lack of a better example. 

We'll definitely make this again.  
 

 

 

I don't have a lot of photos for this one - actually there are only two - because Bill made this dish and I was doing other things at the time and wasn't able to hover over his shoulder (under it, really, since I'm nearly a foot shorter) to capture all the steps.  So you'll just have to use your imagination today.

The recipe comes from Food & Wine's Best of the Best, a cookbook I received recently as a Christmas gift from some friends of ours.  I've already posted a cookie recipe from it here, and who knows how many other recipes we'll try before it gets shelved and lost amid the other gazillion cookbooks.

But I digress.

The recipe comes from The Shun Lee Cookbook by Michael Tong and Elaine Louie.  Shun Lee is a restaurant in NY that's been around since the 1960's and, according to the notes, "played a pivotal role in introcuding Americans to the varied regional cuisines of China (from Sichuan, Hunan and Shanghai)...Today, almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States serves the dishes Shun Lee debuted over 40 years ago, like cold sesame noodles and chicken chow fun."

Well then!

Crispy Orange Beef is based on a Sichuan dish that was originally served cold and was "a somewhat chewy appetizer of fried, dried and shredded beef."  The version introduced at Shun Lee in 1971 is served hot and is flavorful and texturally interesting. 

Here's what you'll need to serve 4:

8 oz flank steak, cut into pieces 1 inch long, 1/4 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.  (I don't think Bill cut them exactly that way - they were thinner but wider.)

1  1/2 tsp baking soda

1 orange (we only had a clementine, which is smaller than an orange, so Bill used the clementine and a meyer lemon from my stash.)

Sauce...

2 T sugar

2 T rice wine or dry sherry (we used the sherry)

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

And also...

Vegetable oil, for passing through

1 cup cornstarch

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

3 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into half inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp dark sesame oil

1 T orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec)

1/4 tsp hot chile paste

And, here's what to do:

1.  Mix the flank steak, baking soda, and 3 T of water in a medium bowl.  Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  (The baking soda will tenderize the steak.)

2.  Using a vegetable peeler, remove the colored zest from the orange.  Cut the zest into thin strips about 1 inch long and set them aside.  Save the orange flesh for another use.

3.  To begin the sauce, mix the sugar, vinegar, rice wine (or sherry) soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl.  Set it aside.

4.  Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add enough vegetable oil to come about 1  1/2 inches up the sides of the wok, and heat it to 375 degrees F.  Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and egg white to the steak, and mix well to coat the steak with the batter.  (I think it should say to combine the cornstarch with the egg white and THEN add to the steak.  Just my opinion.)

5.  Add the flank steak to the oil, one piece at a time so it doesn't splash or stick together, and stir gently until it begins to look crispy, about 1 minute.  Using a wide wire-mesh strainer, transfer the steak to a colander to drain.  Using a fine-mesh strainer, remove any bits of fried batter from the wok.  (You'll probably need to cook the beef in a couple batches.)

6.  Reheat the oil to 375 degrees F., return the flank steak to the wok, and fry again until the beef is crispy all over, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a strainer to drain.  Discard all but one tablespoon of the oil from the wok.

7.  Return the wok with the oil to high heat.  Add the scallions, flank steak, sugar-vinegar mixture, orange zest, sesame oil, Grand Marnier, and hot chile paste.  Stir-fry until all of the ingredients are well-blended, about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

~~~

The book also suggests freezing the meat for half an hour to an hour before slicing in order to get uniformly thin pieces.  I've done that before for other recipes, and it does help.

Bill served this over rice, as you could probably tell from the first photo, and it was YUMMY.  Our only beef (sorry, couldn't help it) was that we'd have liked a bit more of the sauce.  Next time around we'll probably double that part of the recipe.  Julia liked it okay, but she isn't really a big meat eater (unless it's fish eyes) and Alex wasn't home, so he didn't get to try it.  Bill's not sure if Alex would have liked the citrusy aspect, but I think he would have enjoyed the dish. 

The orangy flavor is not overpowering at all, and it's balanced by the sherry and sesame oil and soy sauce, and the flavor of the twice-fried beef.  Texture-wise, the beef is crisp, not oily at all, and reminded me a bit of General Tso's chicken, for lack of a better example. 

We'll definitely make this again.  
 

I don't have a lot of photos for this one - actually there are only two - because Bill made this dish and I was doing other things at the time and wasn't able to hover over his shoulder (under it, really, since I'm nearly a foot shorter) to capture all the steps.  So you'll just have to use your imagination today.

The recipe comes from Food & Wine's Best of the Best, a cookbook I received recently as a Christmas gift from some friends of ours.  I've already posted a cookie recipe from it here, and who knows how many other recipes we'll try before it gets shelved and lost amid the other gazillion cookbooks.

But I digress.

The recipe comes from The Shun Lee Cookbook by Michael Tong and Elaine Louie.  Shun Lee is a restaurant in NY that's been around since the 1960's and, according to the notes, "played a pivotal role in introcuding Americans to the varied regional cuisines of China (from Sichuan, Hunan and Shanghai)...Today, almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States serves the dishes Shun Lee debuted over 40 years ago, like cold sesame noodles and chicken chow fun."

Well then!

Crispy Orange Beef is based on a Sichuan dish that was originally served cold and was "a somewhat chewy appetizer of fried, dried and shredded beef."  The version introduced at Shun Lee in 1971 is served hot and is flavorful and texturally interesting. 

Here's what you'll need to serve 4:

8 oz flank steak, cut into pieces 1 inch long, 1/4 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.  (I don't think Bill cut them exactly that way - they were thinner but wider.)

1  1/2 tsp baking soda

1 orange (we only had a clementine, which is smaller than an orange, so Bill used the clementine and a meyer lemon from my stash.)

Sauce...

2 T sugar

2 T rice wine or dry sherry (we used the sherry)

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

And also...

Vegetable oil, for passing through

1 cup cornstarch

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

3 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into half inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp dark sesame oil

1 T orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec)

1/4 tsp hot chile paste

And, here's what to do:

1.  Mix the flank steak, baking soda, and 3 T of water in a medium bowl.  Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  (The baking soda will tenderize the steak.)

2.  Using a vegetable peeler, remove the colored zest from the orange.  Cut the zest into thin strips about 1 inch long and set them aside.  Save the orange flesh for another use.

3.  To begin the sauce, mix the sugar, vinegar, rice wine (or sherry) soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl.  Set it aside.

4.  Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add enough vegetable oil to come about 1  1/2 inches up the sides of the wok, and heat it to 375 degrees F.  Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and egg white to the steak, and mix well to coat the steak with the batter.  (I think it should say to combine the cornstarch with the egg white and THEN add to the steak.  Just my opinion.)

5.  Add the flank steak to the oil, one piece at a time so it doesn't splash or stick together, and stir gently until it begins to look crispy, about 1 minute.  Using a wide wire-mesh strainer, transfer the steak to a colander to drain.  Using a fine-mesh strainer, remove any bits of fried batter from the wok.  (You'll probably need to cook the beef in a couple batches.)

6.  Reheat the oil to 375 degrees F., return the flank steak to the wok, and fry again until the beef is crispy all over, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a strainer to drain.  Discard all but one tablespoon of the oil from the wok.

7.  Return the wok with the oil to high heat.  Add the scallions, flank steak, sugar-vinegar mixture, orange zest, sesame oil, Grand Marnier, and hot chile paste.  Stir-fry until all of the ingredients are well-blended, about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

~~~

The book also suggests freezing the meat for half an hour to an hour before slicing in order to get uniformly thin pieces.  I've done that before for other recipes, and it does help.

Bill served this over rice, as you could probably tell from the first photo, and it was YUMMY.  Our only beef (sorry, couldn't help it) was that we'd have liked a bit more of the sauce.  Next time around we'll probably double that part of the recipe.  Julia liked it okay, but she isn't really a big meat eater (unless it's fish eyes) and Alex wasn't home, so he didn't get to try it.  Bill's not sure if Alex would have liked the citrusy aspect, but I think he would have enjoyed the dish. 

The orangy flavor is not overpowering at all, and it's balanced by the sherry and sesame oil and soy sauce, and the flavor of the twice-fried beef.  Texture-wise, the beef is crisp, not oily at all, and reminded me a bit of General Tso's chicken, for lack of a better example. 

We'll definitely make this again.  
 

Pork Loin Medallions With Apples, Onions and Herbs

 

I've been so mired in cookies for the past several weeks, I've been neglecting the rest of the menu, at least as far as posting is concerned.

We bought a package of pork tenderloins (2) at some point in December, and after much contemplation of possibilities, I went the medallion route.

(I don't have many process photos for this one - sorry!)

First, I sliced the tenderlions into inch-thick medallions.  I got 7 from each tenderlion.  I seasoned both sides of each medallion with salt and pepper, and then heated some oil in our biggest pan.  I set the heat on medium high, and then browned the medallions on both sides.  It took maybe a minute and a half to two minutes per side.  Then I removed the medallions and put them on a plate while I made a sauce.

I sliced an onion and then peeled and chopped up a granny smith apple which had the misfortune to be sitting on the counter as I looked around the kitchen for ideas. 

I softened the onions in the pan with a little butter (same pan I'd used for the medallions) and then added the apple pieces, a half a cup of apple juice, half a cup of chicken stock, and a splash of white wine.  I let this mixture cook down a bit and then added rosemary, sage, and salt and pepper to taste.  Once the onions and apple were nice and soft, and the liquid had cooked down somewhat, I placed the pork medallions back in the pan, lowered the heat, and kept the medallions in there just long enough to heat them through.  I turned them over once, so they'd warm up evenly and not dry out on top.  Toward the end, I added a splash of half 'n' half.

 

Now while all of that was under way, I took out a few baked potatoes that were in my fridge, sliced them into "medallions" similar to the pork (skin on), rubbed them lightly with oil and placed them on a pan in a 400 degree F oven.  I didn't write down how long they took to brown, but it wasn't critical, since they were already cooked through anyway.  I just kept an eye on them while the sauce was simmering, turned them over once they'd started browning on the bottom, and when the medallions were done, I took the potatoes out, too.

 

They were wonderfully crispy on the outside and still soft in the middle.  Kind of like big round steak fries.

To serve, I placed two potato medallions on a plate with a salad of mixed greens...

 

And then I placed a pork medallion on each potato and poured some of the pan sauce over the top.

 

And that was dinner.

Simple, quick, and delicious.  (Well, Alex didn't like the onions, but otherwise the meal was a e themsuccess for adults and children alike.)

The most important thing is not to overcook the pork.  Brown it quickly at the start, take it off the heat, then, when the sauce is done, just warm the medallions up before you serve.

And as far as the sauce goes, there's plenty of room to be creative, so have fun with it!

Enjoy.

   

Squash and Sauerbraten Wontons

 

We had leftovers to use up.  Leftover Sauerbraten from this year's Oktoberfest dinner...leftover butternut squash...well, okay, just those two.  And the butternut squash wasn't technically left over yet, as I'd only cooked it that day.  But I quibble and digress.

I really don't remember how this formulated itself in my mind, but suddenly I was thinking Hey!  I could combine the remaining butternut squash with the sauerbraten and maybe some onions and garlic and seasonings or something...and put little dollops of them in wonton wrappers and fry them!

And that's pretty much what I did.

But this time, for a change, I took notes on quantities so that I could share an actual recipe with you rather than just "so I threw in a bunch of this and some of that..." and trust that you'll have no trouble recreating it, if you wanted to do that.

Here's what I used:

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

2 cups sauerbraten, shredded and then chopped fine

roughly 3/4 cup of roasted, pureed butternut squash

salt to taste

1 package small round wonton wrappers

Simple enough, right?

Okay, you combine the garlic, shallot, sauerbraten and squash in a bowl, mix it together really well, and then taste it.  Add salt if needed. 

Get yourself a little dish of water and a few plates.

On a dry surface, place a few of the wonton wrappers and then dip your finger in the water and dampen the perimeter of the wonton circles.  This will help you seal the edges after you fill them.

Next, place about a teaspoonful - or less, even - of the filling mixture in the center of each wonton.

Carefully fold the wrapper in half so that the edges meet and you've got a semi-circle shape.  Gently press out any air surrounding the filling and press the edges of the wrapper together tightly. 

 

Place finished wontons on a plate, but don't pile them all on top of each other.  One layer per plate, pretty much. 

Try not to let the wontons get wet on the outside - they'll stick together and then tear when you try to pull them apart.

Continue in this manner until either the filling is used up or you have no more wrappers. 

Next, heat up some vegetable or peanut oil, as you'll be frying these.  If you've got a deep fryer of some kind, use that, otherwise fill a wide pot with enough oil so that you'll be able to completely submerge a batch of wontons.  Have a wide metal slotted spoon handy, and also a plate lined with several layers of paper towels.  And finally, put a platter or large bowl either in the warming drawer of your oven (if you have a warming drawer) or in a warm oven (about 200 degrees) - once your fried wontons have drained, you'll need to keep them warm, unless you've got people devouring them as soon as you produce them.  (And if they're doing that, they'll be burning their mouths, because the insides of the wontons will be extremely hot initially.  So shoo them away if you can.)

Heat the oil to about 360 degrees and then carefully place some of the wontons into the oil.  Don't drop them; the oil will splatter and burn you and stain your shirt.  Put in about a layer of wontons - so that as they come up to the surface they aren't crowded. 

It also helps if your slotted spoon is nearly as wide as the pot you're using.  Any air that's inside the wontons will expand when heated, and your wontons will puff up like little pillows.  The thing is, the pillows will be puffier on one side (whichever side is on top initially) and if you try to flip it over so it will cook evenly, the persnickety little thing will roll right back to the way it was before, dark, cooked wonton skin on the underside, and pale puffy wonton skin on top.  The best way to counteract that is to gently, with your big slotted spoon, press all the little wontons under the oil the whole time they're cooking, so that the oil can surround them and turn them golden brown evenly.

These little guys cook quickly.  When they're done, set them on your paper towel-topped plate for a minute or so to drain off excess oil, and then put them in your warm bowl.  Make sure the temperature of your oil is still hovering around 360 and put in your next batch of wontons.  Continue this routine until all of them are cooked. 

Now, since the filling is already safe to eat before you even put any in the wrappers, you don't have to be as concerned with making sure the wontons are cooked through.  But just in case you want to check anyway, go ahead and sample one.  BUT - remember I said they're extremely hot inside?  I meant it.  So put your sample wonton on a plate and cut it in half, let it cool a bit and THEN taste it.  Try not to taste them all, though.  You really should leave some for other people to eat.

While these little wontons are tasty on their own, it's nice to have a little something to dip them in, too.  I made three dipping sauces - just winging them as I went along really.  Oh, yes, and I brought ketchup to the table for the kids to use if necessary.  With Alex, it was necessary.

My little sauces were these:

#1 - I combined the contents of two packets of Chinese mustard and two of duck sauce (we save these when we get Chinese takeout.  Same with the soy sauce.).  If you have more, make more.  I only had two packets of the duck sauce, and the 1:1 ratio is very important (to me) so that was all I could make.

#2 - I put about....oh a third of a cup of mayo in a bowl, added...um...about a tablespoon of sriracha (asian chili garlic sauce) and...the juice of a third of a lemon, and some (couple teaspoons) honey.  Really, once the mayo went in, everything else was to taste, so if you want more of something or less of something, go for it. 

#3 - My husband picked out this salad dressing the other day...hang on, let me go look at the bottle...okay it's Amish Naturals Heritage Line Honey Lime Dressing.  I poured about a third of a cup of that in a bowl and added about...a tablespoon of horseradish.  Again - taste as you go.  Always.

All of the little sauces were yummy, but Bill and I both liked the mayo-based one the best.  Julia tried some, too, because she's going through a "I can eat spicy-hot things and it doesn't affect me in the least!" phase ever since Alex dared her to try some hot sauce Bill was using one evening.  She's a tough little cookie, that one.

Anyway - nearly all of the wontons were gone by the end of dinner - Bill got the rest for lunch the next day.  We had these with leftover red cabbage (I still need to post that recipe, don't I...) just so that there would be some non-fried, non-fatty component to the meal.

Of course, not everyone is going to have leftover sauerbraten and freshly roasted and pureed butternut squash AND wonton wrappers on hand all at the same time.  But that's not really what this recipe is about.  It's more of a think outside the box kind of lesson.  Combine things you wouldn't ordinarily think of combining.  Think about how this might taste in combination with that.  Will it need something else to completely balance the flavor?  The texture?  And so on.

Be creative.  Have fun.  And try not to burn your mouth.

Moussaka

Moussaka (moo-sa-KAH) is a delicious Greek dish of lamb and eggplant and tomatoes, topped with a light, fluffy custard.  My mom (and no, we're not Greek, we just like good food) used to make it when we were kids, and we loved it.  I have no idea why it's taken me this long to make it for my family.  But anyway - I've rectified that!

We had a nice little selection of eggplants - miniature dark purple-skinned ones, pale green, and long, skinny light purple Japanese ones.  I needed just a pound and a half, and the dark purple and pale green eggplants were plenty.  I'll do something else with the other ones.

Now, I could have sworn I had a recipe for Moussaka that I'd copied from my mother's recipe collection, but instead of looking through notebooks filled with recipes in my once-legible handwriting, I consulted a cookbook I've had for a long, long time, figuring that Moussaka would be found somewhere between the covers.

And I was right.

The book is Barron's Good Old Food by Irena Chalmers and Friends.  I bought this maybe 18-20 years ago (ugh!  that long!) when I worked for B. Dalton Booksellers.  It doesn't seem to be available in hardcover now, but I guess that doesn't really matter.  I do remember that I bought a copy for my mother as well as for myself.  And the reason was another recipe in the book - another meal my mom cooked now and then - Steak and Kidney Pie.  That sold me on the book.  I love Steak and Kidney Pie.  Hmmm...I should make that some time soon, too.

Back to the Moussaka.  Sure enough, there was a recipe for Moussaka in this book on page 76 (hardcover edition) - a mere 12 pages after the Steak and Kidney Pie recipe, incidentally.  I took a look through the ingredients, and yep, they sounded right.  I had everything on hand but the ground lamb.  I had some ground beef in the freezer, but you just CANNOT use beef in place of lamb.  It doesn't taste the same; it doesn't taste right, at least not for this dish.  So I bought lamb, and I was good to go. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 _^1/2 lbs eggplant

1/4 cup salt

3 T butter

2 small onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 _^1/2 lbs ground lamb

28-oz can whole tomatoes, drained, juice reserved

3 T tomato paste

1 tsp dried thyme (I used about a tablespoon of fresh)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I didn't use this much - it's just for frying the eggplant - I just brushed the griddle surface with oil for each batch)

3 eggs

1 cup light cream (I had heavy.  I used it.)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

You'll also need some kind of casserole dish.  I used a Pyrex 13" x 9" pan, but something deeper but not as wide and long would work nicely, too.  You'd get more layers out of the deal.  But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Here's what you do:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the eggplant lengthwise and spread the slices on paper towels.  Sprinkle with half the salt and let them drain for 10 to 15 minutes.  Turn the pieces over and repeat with the remaining salt.

Heat the butter in a large pan over moderate heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook until they are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. 

Add the lamb and continue to cook for about 10 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.

Chop the tomatoes coarsely and add them to the meat. 

Stir in the tomato paste, half the reserved tomato juice, the thyme, nutmeg and pepper.  Cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes.  Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Pat the eggplant slices dry with paper towels.  Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a large skillet, add a third of the eggplant slices and fry until golden brown on both sides.  Remove them from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Fry the remaining batches of eggplant slices in the same way.

Place alternate layers of meat

and eggplant in an ovenproof casserole, ending with a layer of eggplant. 

Cover and bake in the 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Whisk together the eggs and the cream in a small bowl.  Stir in the cheese. 

Remove the lid from the casserole and pour the egg mixture over the top of the moussaka. 

 

(Sorry about the blur - I was rushing a bit.)

Return it to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes, uncovered, until the topping is puffed and golden.

 

The whole family enjoyed this.  Well.  It took some time for Alex to fully appreciate the entire thing.  He picked the lamb out at first, but eventually discovered how wonderful it tastes when you have a bite with all the different components represented therein.  Julia liked the frothy custardy top part the best.  Bill had a couple helpings, and some for lunch the next day.  And me?  I could have eaten the whole thing all by myself.  Yes.  It's really that good.

Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

As I mentioned in my post about the giveaway I'm doing for Charlie Ayers' book (by the way - time's running out - contest entries are due by midnight, eastern standard time, TOMORROW - that's WEDNESDAY.  Just sayin.) that I was going to try out and post several recipes from the book.  I've already written up the Google Hot Sauce, which is fabulous.  So what next?

I picked the lamb burgers because I was pretty sure the whole family would like them (they did - actually, the word "love" came up a bunch of times) and because I haven't ever made LAMB burgers.  I've  made beef...bison...salmon...and veggie.  But not lamb.  And I love lamb.  So - that was that.  I made them for dinner last Friday night, along with the Broccoli Rabe and Cauliflower Gratin that I wrote about here.

Part of what makes these burgers interesting is the addition of ground cloves to the mix.  Not a flavor you're expecting, necessarily, but it works, along with the rest of the fixin's.  The other "fixin's" are the tzatziki sauce and the marinated (they're mildly pickled, actually) onions.  It's the whole flavor-fest of lamb and spice and cool and creamy and tangy/sweet that made these a hit.  (Well, replace the tzatziki and the red onions with a tomatoey condiment once described as a vegetable and you've got Alex's preferred version.)

So here we go.

Lamb Burgers, From Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers, pg. 199.

FOR THE BURGERS:

1 lb good-quality ground lamb

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cumin

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 T olive oil

4 artisan-style hard rolls

4 small handfuls of baby spinach leaves

FOR THE MARINATED ONIONS:

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp unrefined light brown sugar

FOR THE SAUCE:

2 inch piece of English cucumber, coarsley grated (I used American and cut more than two inches)

1/4 cup Greek-style plain yogurt

1/4 tsp minced garlic

2 T chopped fresh mint leaves

And here's what you do...

Put the lamb in a bowl and add the garlic, cloves, cumin, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Mix with your hands until well combined, then shape into four burgers.  (I made five slightly smaller ones because I didn't think my kids would eat the larger size.)

Chill until ready to cook.

Mix the red onion with the vinegar and sugar. 

Let marinate while you prepare the sauce.  Squeeze the cucumber to remove excess moisture, then mix with the yogurt, garlic, mint, and a little salt and pepper. 

Chill.

When ready to eat, heat a ridged cast-iron grill pan.  Sprinkle the burgers with a little kosher salt and brush with olive oil.  Cook the burgers until browned and cooked through, 3-4 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, split the rolls and toast them.  When the burgers are cooked, assemble your creation with baby spinach leaves, tzatziki sauce, and the drained marinated onions.

Done.  If you like lamb, I strongly suggest you give these a try.  They're pretty darn good.

Cornish Pasties

Comfort food at its finest.  Cornish Pasties (pronounced "PASS-tees") are simply meat pies you can hold in your hand to eat.  As I understand it, they probably originated in Cornwall, in the south of England, as something miners could bring with them for lunch, as they could not come out of the mine shaft mid-day.  The pasties were portable, and the filling would stay warm for hours.  And they can be made with other fillings, but traditionally it's cubed beef, potatoes and onions. 

My Dad's mother was from Cornwall, and came here when she was - if I'm remembering this correctly - sixteen, to live with her married sister.  Anyway, fast forward to after she was married and a mother, she would make these for my dad and his younger sister.

And then when my parents were married, she taught my mother to make them.  I use the word "taught" in a rather loose sense.  In the "For Days of Auld Lang Syne" compilation of recipes that my mother put together for me when I was engages, here's the story:

"Leek Pasties"

(my mother writes) - "This recipe was sent May 3, 1970 to us from...Grandmother Wilke, after they moved out west.  Their first intention was to locate in California but then opted for Arizona, where they stayed for a number of years.  This pasty was not the more readily made beef and potato one, but a variation from Cornwall."

In her (my grandmother's) words:  "Thought I'd start off and tell you about the leek pasty - You make that in one big one, so roll out pastry as big as you want.  (Usually a 9-10 inch pie plate).  Slice up a bunch of leeks into 1/4 inch slices (3-4 leeks).  Lay pastry into pie plate and add sliced leeks.  Beat together 2 eggs, some chopped ham or bacon then pour over leeks.  Cover with top layer of pastry.  Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes until nicely browned.  May be served hot or at room temperature."

That's the recipe.

Oddly enough, I don't remember having the leek version as a child - I remember the meat ones.  I remember my mother rolling out the dough, standing at her floating work island in the kitchen (actually it was the dishwasher - it had a thick cutting board on top and she used it for most of her baking projects- and it was on wheels, so when she needed it she could roll it into place closer to the sink and stove and fridge).  I also remember her chipping the potatoes - cutting them into little pieces as she made each pasty.  She made one for each of us, and cut slits in the top crust to form our initials.  This was also so that no one would get hers - she liked a bit of turnip in there besides the meat and potatoes. 

Pasties were often specifically dinner for Dad's birthday.  And the way I remember eating them was this - you'd slice open the top of the pasty, right around the curved part, just above the crimped edge.  Then you'd put some butter on each side, and pour a little milk on it.

Yeah, I can see some of you cringing.  Huh?  Pour milk on it?  No, it's not traditional.  But according to my father, when he was a boy, his mom did that to cool it down for him.  So that's how HE ate them, and that's kind of how we learned to.   But it's not required. 

To my horror, my husband puts ketchup on his.  I can't watch that.  Although I'm sure people put all sorts of things on them - HP sauce comes to mind.

The first time I made them on my own was for my father's birthday.  My mother wasn't available to do it that year, so I decided to do it myself.  And for some reason I was a nervous wreck about it.  But I was often a nervous wreck back then, so I guess it's not all that surprising.  But pasties are pretty forgiving things - and mine came out fine.

I made them last night for part of our dinner, and I must say they were the best ones I've ever made.  I don't know how that happened, but I'm not complaining.

Here's what you do:

Make the pastry dough.  Now, you can use any pastry dough recipe you want to use - whatever you're comfortable with. 

I wanted to make a lot of them, so I used the following:

4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1   1/2 cups chilled vegetable shortening, cut into approximately 1/2 inch cubes

8-12 (or more) T ice water (it will vary depending on the humidity in your kitchen, the time of year, the hour of the day, whether you part your hair on the right or the left, and so forth.)

Combine the flour and salt and either put them in a food processor (my new favorite way) or in a large bowl. 

Add the cubed shortening

and either pulse about 5 times in the processor or cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter or two knives or your hands.  You want the dough to have some lumps of shortening around the size of peas, and the rest to look look like coarse sand.

Next - add the water a little at a time.  If using the food processor, pour in a few tablespoons, then pulse.  Add another tablespoon or two, then pulse.  If you're working in a bowl, then drizzle in some water, and toss the flour/shortening mixture with a fork.  Then more water, then toss again.  The idea is to GENTLY incorporate JUST ENOUGH water to bind the flour/shortening mixture.  You don't want it soggy, you don't want it too dry, and you definitely don't want to overwork the dough because it will activate the glutens in the flour and the final product - the pie shell or pasty shell - will be tough.  For pies and so forth, and pasties, you want flaky and tender.

Once the dough JUST comes together, pat it into a ball, press down into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least half an hour.  While the dough is chilling, you can prepare the filling ingredients.

You will need:

About a pound of stew beef, either  cut in chunks or not.

   

4-5 medium red potatoes, or any other kind of potato you want.  You want about the same amount of potatoes as meat, once it's all cut up.

1 small onion

Salt and pepper

two egg yolks mixed with a tiny bit of water (to glaze the pasties with)

Cut the beef into small pieces - about 1/4 inch thick and about 1/2 inch to an inch wide.

Cut the potatoes into pieces about the same size as the beef, except you want them about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Dice up the onion into 1/4 inch pieces

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. 

Get out a couple of baking sheets and line them with parchment or foil.

Okay, now take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it, and cut it into eight equal pieces.  (They don't have to be perfect - just eyeball it.)

Roll out four of them into rough circles about 1/8" thick.

Place some potatoes on one half of each dough circle, leaving about 3/4 inch of an edge for sealing the pasty. 

Next, place some meat on top of that, and then a healthy sprinkling of onions.  Do all 4 this way, then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Now, carefully, fold the other half of the dough over the filling and press down along the edges to seal. 

Curl the dough over on itself to keep it sealed, or press with the tines of a fork, or crimp it - whatever you want to do to make it pretty. 

Place on one of the baking sheets.  Cut a few holes in the top with the tip of a knife to allow the steam to escape, and the brush with the egg wash.  Do the same with the other three you just made.

And now repeat the entire procedure with the other 4 pieces of dough and the rest of the filling ingredients and place on a second baking sheet.

Place sheets in the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes.  When the timer goes off, rotate the pans so all the pasties bake evenly.  Set for another 15 minutes, and then check again every five minutes or so if they still aren't done.  Pasties should be golden brown and steaming hot.

Serve with a salad if you want to.  Do the butter and milk thing - or not.  They're fine without that.  I added just a bit of butter because hey, it tastes good, it adds a bit more moisture to the crust, and because I'm a creature of habit.  But mostly because it tastes good.

Enjoy!

Mutton Kari (Lamb Curry)

What do you do when you have leftover lamb?  You make curry.

Actually, you really should buy lamb SOLELY for the purpose of making curry.  I know I should.  That's how this recipe is written, actually - it's to be made with raw lamb.  But.  We had about 3 pounds of lamb meat left, and we wanted to make a curry with some or all of it.  Bill took a look through a few cookbooks, and he liked the sound of this one, so this is what I made.

It's from Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook - and it's incredibly comprehensive.  She covers India, China, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesian, Korean, and more. 

This recipe for Mutton Kari, or Lamb Curry, calls for Garam Masala, a blend of toasted spices.  You can find the recipe I used here.

And though we used cooked lamb, I plan to make this again with raw.  The cook time in the recipe is for raw lamb - you cook the mixture for over an hour - and I think the flavors need all that time to blend together and soak into the lamb.  Just my two cents.

Here we go.  First - what you'll need:

2 T ghee or oil

2 large onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T finely chopped fresh ginger

2 T curry powder

3 tsp salt

2 T vinegar or lemon juice

3 large tomatoes, chopped

2 fresh chilies

2 T chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tsp garam masala (see here) 

3 lb boned shoulder of lamb

1 T chopped fresh coriander or mint leaves

Cut lamb into cubes.

(Okay, she's not cutting the lamb herself.  But she was most definitely helping.)   

Heat ghee (or oil) in a saucepan and gently fry onion, garlic and ginger until soft and golden.

Add curry powder, salt and vinegar, stir thoroughly.

   

Add lamb and cook, stirring constantly, until lamb is coated with the spice mixture.

Add tomato, chilies and mint.

(Okay, here's where I took a little detour.  Since the lamb was already cooked, I didn't want to put it in this early in the game.  So I just added the tomatoes and mint.  Also, I left the chilies out for now.  I made a separate curry sauce with the peppers, just for Bill and me, because they were too hot for the kids to eat.)

So this is the tomatoes and mint going into the onion and seasonings...

Cover and cook over low heat for 1  1/4 hours or until lamb is tender, stirring occasionally.  The tomatoes should provide enough liquid for the meat to cook in but, if necessary, add a little hot water, approximately half a cup, just enough to prevent meat from sticking to pan. 

(I cooked the mixture with the tomatoes and mint added for about 20-30 minutes, simmering with the lid on.  At that point, I ladled out some of it and put it in a small saucepan and added one of the chiles, seeds removed, and sliced thinly, to the mix. 

I let that simmer while I finished up the rest of the meal.)

Here's how the original onion mixture looked after simmering a while...

Add garam masala (and the lamb!!) and chopped coriander leaves for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.  (and I didn't get coriander - I'd planned to use the rest of the fresh mint - and then I forgot.  Sometimes I do that.)

I stirred all of that together and heated it gently until the lamb was warmed through.

I also added some coconut milk to the separate onion mixture that I'd added the chile pepper to.

I served the lamb over a blend of whole grain and wild rices, with some of the hotter curry sauce for Bill and me.

We both agreed that it was very good - but would be WAY better done without using leftover, already-been-cooked lamb.  So I will definitely be trying that some time.  And I'll let you know.

Slow Roasted Leg Of Lamb

Mmmm...can you smell it?  And the garlic?  And the rosemary?  The triumverate of deliciousness in springtime dinner-making.  If that makes sense.  Well, if you could smell it, it would.

And, of course, lamb doesn't have to just be a springtime thing.  But we often had lamb for Easter in my family, so in my mind, it IS a springtime thing.

Anyway, enough dithering.

I bought a 7.74 lb leg of lamb the other day and cooked it for dinner on Friday.  Ordinarily I would roast it at about 325 degrees F, but since slow-cooking roast beef has been such a success for the last few Christmas dinners, I thought I'd try the slow-cooking method with the lamb.

If I were to do this again, I'd either roast the garlic ahead of time, or cut it into much much thinner pieces before inserting the slices into little cuts in the meat.  The garlic didn't cook enough, and still had that kind of sharp taste garlic has when it's raw.

But other than that, everything else about it was great.

Here's what I did.

First, I peeled a bunch of garlic cloves.

Then I sliced them in half, lengthwise, and in quarters, depending on the size of the clove. 

Next, the leg.

I trimmed away a lot of the fat, very slowly and carefully.

Maybe not perfectly, but I got the job done.

Then, with a sharp little paring knife, I jabbed little openings in the lamb

and slid the garlic pieces in.

(sorry about the blur in that shot - I'd like a third arm at times like these)

Next thing to do, before the meat goes in the oven (which, by the way, go ahead and set for 225 F), is to sear the lamb in the same pan you'll be using to roast it.

Get the pan nice and hot first, and then gently lay the meat down. 

You should hear a great loud sizzle, and you should LEAVE THE MEAT ALONE for a good five minutes or so.  Don't keep checking it.  For one thing, if you aren't using a non-stick pan, and you keep trying to lift up the leg to check the brownness, if the meat isn't ready, it'll still stick to the pan and tear away from the rest of the leg.  You don't want that.  Best to leave it.  A trick I learned, I think it was from watching Sara Moulton on the Food Network, is to shake the pan now and then.  If the meat sticks to where it is, it's not ready.  If it slides around, go ahead and flip it over.

Now, you don't have the same problem with an non-stick pan, so just let it go for five minutes on high heat before you even think of checking it.  Let the heat do its job.

Before it goes into the oven, sprinkle generously with dried rosemary and salt and pepper.

You want to cook the meat til the internal temp (insert the thermometer into the thickest are of the meat, but don't touch the bone) should be 14o for rare, 160 for medium, and 185 for well done.

When the meat is cooked the way you want it (and keep in mind - the thinner areas will, of course, be more "done" than the thickest part - and if you want to eat shoe leather, go to a shoe store.  Just saying.), take it out of the oven and let it sit for 15-20 minutes so the juices can settle back into the meat.

We served ours with cous cous and fresh asparagus sauted in butter and lemon juice.

And I cooked our lamb rare/medium rare. 

Number one, we like it that way.  And number two, that's a big leg of lamb for two adults and two small children in one meal.  So we'll be doing something fabulous with the leftover lamb, and if it's rare-ish, then it can withstand a second cooking without becoming tough.

WARNING:

The smell will torment you while it cooks.

   

But it's well worth it.

Corned Beef Project: Day 9 - The Meal

Was it worth it?  Definitely.  I'll say that right off the bat. 

First off on Friday, I took a look at the packaged, pre-brined corned beef that I picked up for comparison purposes.  And then I looked up at the clock and realized I needed to get a move on.

"Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound...." Um...okay, this brisket was 4.74 lbs, so that means...um...about 4 hours.  Okay, we'll put that one in first.  I cut open the package and took a look at the contents.

Very pink, and rather fatty on that side, huh?  Into the pot it went

covered with water, lid on, burner on high to bring it to a boil, and then down to a simmer.

Once I'd got that started, I took a look at the briskets I'd brined.

Not as bright pink as the other one, but that's okay.  They're not gray, at least.

Time to check in with the magazine article....

Remove brisket from brine.  Rinse with cold running water.  (Can be made 2 days ahead.  Wrap corned beef in plastic, cover with foil, and refrigerate.)

I just covered them with plastic wrap and put them back in the fridge, since I'd be cooking them in a few hours.

Time to get everything else ready.

You'll need the following:

4 bay leaves

1 T coriander seeds

2 whole allspice

1 dried chile de arbol, broken in half (I used a dried Thai bird chile - we have tons of them.)

cheesecloth (we have some, somewhere.  I used a plain piece of muslin instead.)

1  12-oz bottle Guinness stout or other other stout or porter (I used a porter my husband made.  And I used 2  8-oz bottles, so a pint instead of 3/4 of a pint.)

12 baby turnips, trimmed, or 3 medium turnips or rutabagas, peeled, quartered (no baby turnips to be found.  I bought the smallest I could find and halved them.  I used 8.)

8 unpeeled medium white-skinned or red-skinned potatoes (about 3 lbs)

6 medium carrots, peeled (I cut them in half as well)

2 medium parsnips, peeled, cut into 2-inch lengths (I used 4.  I like parsnips.)

4 medium onions, peeled, halved through root ends

1  2-lb head of cabbage, quartered (For some reason, I doubled the amount of cabbage.  Not sure what I was thinking at the time.  Probably wasn't thinking at all.)

And here's what you do:

Place corned beef in very large wide pot. 

Add stout (or porter)

and enough water to cover by 1 inch.

   

Wrap cheesecloth around bay leaves, coriander seeds, allspice, and shile, enclosing completely, and tie with kitchen string to secure.  Add spice bag to pot with beef;

bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until beef is tender, about 2  1/4 hours.  Transfer beef to large baking sheet.

Okay - here's a picture of the pre-packaged corned beef when it came out of the pot...

And here's a picture of the ones I brined and cooked according to Bruce Aidell's recipes in Bon Appetit:

I covered both pans with foil and put them in a 200 degree oven to keep them warm.

Add turnips and all remaining vegetables to liquid in pot;

bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium and boil gently until all vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.  Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to baking sheet with beef.  Return beef to pot and rewarm 5 minutes.  (I didn't need to rewarm the beef, as it was already staying warm in the oven.)  Discard spice bag.

While the vegetables were cooking, I put out a few things for people to nosh on when they arrived.

Here we have an assortment of Carr's crackers, a piece of smoked Sockeye salmon, a wedge of Wensleydale cheese with cranberries, and a block of aged Irish cheddar. 

Bill also bought oysters - 2 dozen - but I was too busy chatting and then slurping down the oysters once he'd shucked them to take any pictures.  Sorry.

Cut beef against grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.  Arrange beef and vegetables on platter.  Serve with Horseradish Cream and Guinness Mustard.

Starting with the potato at twelve o'clock and going clockwise, we've got some of the cabbage, carrots, a half of a turnip, half an onion, the Guinness mustard, the corned beef (the one I brined), Horseradish cream, and parsnips.

People sampled both versions of the corned beef and based on verbal feedback and evidence when the table was cleared, everyone preferred the home-brined corned beef. 

 

It has a distinctive, more complex, spicier flavor than the pre-packaged one.  It was just more interesting to eat.  I'll definitely make this again.

To recap, here's a shot of everything I'd made for this meal:

Brining the Briskets

Irish Whiskey Soda Bread

Royal Hibernian Brown Loaf

Horseradish Cream, Guinness Mustard

Lemon Sponge Pie with Chocolate Pastry Crust

I heartily recommend making this corned beef some time.  Sure, it's too late to make it for this year's St. Patrick Day dinner, but so what?  It'll taste good any day of the week.

And the leftover beef (and you should plan on making enough so that you DO have leftovers) will be nice in sandwich form,

or, my family's favorite - as corned beef hash.

Come back later for that one!

Valentine's Day Ideas: Steak and Potatoes

This was one of my husband's suggestions.  And he grilled the steaks for the "photo shoot" aspect of this post.  Like most of our best meals - this one we cooked together.

First, the steaks.

Well, actually, let me back up and say ORIGINALLY, when I went shopping whatever day this was last week, I had planned to get duck breast for another meal idea I have for this series.  But the store I went to didn't have any, so I bought some steaks instead.  These were inch thick sirloin strip steaks, a little over half a pound each.  My husband had a rub already mixed from a previous grilling session, so he coated the steaks with that and let them stand while he started the grill.

Meanwhile, I got going on the other food.

First - had to get the potatoes going.  I cut up about 6 red potatoes - skins on, into cubes or chunks around an inch in size, give or take.

 

And I thawed some tarragon in olive oil that I'd frozen last fall.

I combined this with the potatoes, a bit more olive oil and some salt and pepper, and put the whole mixture in a 13 x 9 baking dish.

And I popped that pan, uncovered, into a preheated 400 degree oven.  You could use another kind of potato if you want to, or a different herb, or a blend.  Whatever you like.

Then I got out two packages of sliced, mixed mushrooms (again - use whatever you like in the mushroom dept.)

And I minced up a couple of shallots...

And I melted some butter in a pan.  I like the flavor of butter with mushrooms, rather than oil. 

In went the shallots and the mushrooms.  I raised the flame to medium high and put a lid on the pan for a couple of minutes to soften everything, then removed the lid and added in 3 cloves of garlic - whole, skins on.  Just for flavor.  I also poured in around half a cup of Marsala wine left from the cannoli I made recently.   Sprinkled on some salt and pepper, gave the mixture a good stir, turned the heat down to medium and let it all cook down. 

By the time the steaks were ready - let's see, the grill took about 20 minutes to get going and then the steaks cooked for a total of 14 minutes I think - this is how the mushroom mixture looked.

Before serving, I removed the garlic.  It hadn't cooked down enough to mash it in with everything else.

And while the mushrooms were cooking, I also made a salad of red leaf lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, orange bell pepper, cucumbers, and mung bean sprouts that we sprouted ourselves.  Oh, and some crumbled bleu cheese on top.

And when all this was nearly ready, the steaks came in the house and rested a bit.

And here's the end result:

Not bad at all.

Valentine's Day Ideas: Warm Honey-Mustard Tofu Salad

I know, you're thinking - Huh?  Tofu Salad?  For Valentine's Day?

Hey, I'm just writing about my own experiences and thoughts here.  And what can I say.  My husband and I both L-O-V-E, LOVE this dish.

It comes from the book The Smith & Hawken Gardeners' Community Cookbook, which was compiled and written by Victoria Wise, and, if I remember correctly, was a bridal shower gift from my sister's neighbor.

This recipe was contributed by one Matthew Marquis from Ohio, and he explains how he came up with this dish:

"When, as a college student, I needed an inexpensive, healthful, one-plate meal that was not pasta or rice I concocted this dish.  It has become my most widely requested garden recipe.  Even if you haven't cared for tofu before, try this and I guarantee it will change your mind.  And don't be shy or light-handed with the herbs."

Anyway, it had been a while since I made this, and I was thinking about it a few weeks ago, and thought it would be something different I could include in this "Valentine's Day Ideas" series.  It makes a good lunch or dinner.  For dinner, you could round it out with a baguette and a bottle of white wine - something crisp and light.

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large head butterhead, Boston, or Bibb lettuce, washed and spun dry.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound firm silken tofu, cut into half-inch cubes (I actually used more - the packages of tofu are usually 14 oz for some reason.  I bought and used two of them.)

1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram and cilantro

Freshly ground black pepper

1  1/2 tablespoons honey, preferably clover honey

 

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (and okay, in the picture, that's also the oil there)

And here's what you do:

1.  Place the lettuce leaves in a large serving bowl or platter and set aside.

2.  Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet until beginning to smoke.  Add the tofu cubes

and cook on medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.  (Actually, it took longer than 3 minutes, partly because the pan I started them out in was too small, and also because tofu has a lot of water in it which takes time to cook out.  And I was using nearly twice the tofu called for in the recipe.  But no matter - it still worked.

Add the green pepper and onion and stir to mix. 

Continue cooking until the pepper is well wilted, about 3 minutes.

3.  Turn off the heat, leaving the pan on the burner.  Add the herbs, black pepper to taste, honey, and mustard and stir vigorously to combine. 

While still warm, spoon the mixture over the lettuce leaves and serve right away.

Really - try it.  It's delicious.  You don't have to be a vegan or a vegetarian to like it, honest.  And one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because I like warm salads.  I like the contrast between hot and cold, and I like how the warmth of the tofu mixture wilts the lettuce a bit.  And the combination of flavors - the herbs (I used frozen-in-oil herbs from last summer's garden - basil, mostly, and I think some parsley), the honey and mustard, the textures - the soft tofu and the softened-but-still-firmer-than-the-tofu peppers and onions. 

It's just...yum.

Baby Buffalo Ball Sandwiches - Updated

Originally I used the Buffalo Balls recipe I'd posted years ago on my old blog.  The other night I made them without the Gimme Lean component - instead, I used 2 lbs of a blend of beef, pork and veal - sold as "Meatloaf Blend" or something like that - can't remember what was on the package.

Anyway, I used the 2 lbs of meat, about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, an egg, and a minced shallot.

Then I shaped this mixture into meatballs about an inch in diameter:

Then I browned them in a small bit of vegetable oil - didn't cook them all the way through, I just browned them on the outside.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pot big enough to contain all the meatballs with space left over, combine a stick of butter and two cups of hot sauce - I used Frank's Red Hot, but use whatever you like.

 

When the meatballs are all browned and the butter has melted, add the meatballs to the hot sauce.  If you need to, add some beef stock to the liquid so that the meatballs are all submerged.

Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through.  You can also put these in a crock pot on low and let them go.  The longer they sit in the sauce, the more heat they'll soak up.

When you're ready to serve them, place 3 in a small finger sandwich roll and top with crumbled bleu cheese.

Enjoy!

Chiles Rellenos

From Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless.  This book is a terrific introduction to Mexican cooking.  As the title indicates, the book focuses on a number of classic recipes in great depth, so you, the reader, can understand why the dish is made the way it is, what some of the regional differences are, and so forth. 

Chiles Rellenos - which simply means stuffed peppers - are a bit time-consuming, but well worth all the work involved, and rather impressive to serve.  This recipe is actually Chiles Rellenos de Picadillo en Caldillo de Jitomate, which translates as Classic Pork Picadillo-Stuffed Chiles in Tomato Broth.

For us, the coolest thing was the fact that we had, in the freezer, PLENTY of poblano peppers from the garden last summer, and we've just been waiting for the right opportunity to make this dish.  There's also a version in the book with just a cheese stuffing.  I'd like to make those, too, but this pork filling was delicious.  I had the last of the leftovers for breakfast yesterday, by the way. 

Anyway, on to the cooking.  Settle in - it's a long process.  But - well worth it!

First up - the ingredients:

3 T rich-tasting pork lard or vegetable oil.  (we used the lard - you can get it at most grocery stores, right near the butter.)

2 medium white onions, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

2  28-oz cans good-quality whole tomatoes in juice, undrained OR 3 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into large pieces

1 tsp cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican canela.  (we used what we had - regular plain ol' cinnamon)

1 tsp black pepper, preferably freshly ground

2 cups chicken or beef broth (we used chicken)

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1  1/2 lbs coarsely ground pork shoulder

1/2 cup raisins

1 T cider vinegar

salt

vegetable oil to a depth of 1 inch for frying. 

8 medium fresh poblano chiles, not twisted or deeply indented, preferably with long stems (okay, beggars can't be choosers - we used what we had in the freezer.  There were more than 8, but some were on the small side)

8   6-inch wooden skewers or 16 toothpicks

6 large eggs, cold

2 T all-purpose flour, plus about a cup for dredging the chiles

Sprigs of fresh cilantro, watercress or flat-leaf parsley for garnish (we didn't garnish; we were too hungry)

Okay, got all that?  Let's cook.

1.  The broth base and filling.  In a medium-large saucepan, heat the lard or oil over medium.  Add the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until they are very well browned, about 10 minutes.

(not there yet)

While the onions are cooking, puree the undrained canned tomatoes, or, if using fresh tomatoes, puree them with 2/3 cup water, using a blender of food processor and working in two batches if necessary.

When the onions are well-browned, raise the heat to medium-high and add the pureed tomatoes, cinnamon and pepper.  Stir regularly as the mixture boils briskly, reducing until it becomes the consistency of thick tomato sauce, about 25 minutes.

2.  The Tomato Broth.  Remove 2 cups of the tomato mixture and set aside.

Stir the chicken (or beef) broth into the mixture that remains.  Partially cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes or so, while you're preparing the filling and chiles.

3.  The Pork Picadillo Filling.  Set a large skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat.  Add the almonds and stir around until they color to a deep golden, about 2 minutes.  Remove.

(keep going - you want them more golden that those above.)

Crumble the pork into the skillet and fry, stirring often,

until thoroughly cooked (some of the edges should be browned and crispy), 10 to 15 minutes.  If the pork has rendered a lot of fat, drain it off.  Stir in the reserved 2 cups of tomato mixture, the raisins and vinegar.  Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture is very thick and homogeneous, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the almonds, then taste and season with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon.  Cool. 

4. Preparing the Chiles.  (* This isn't how we did ours.  Bill put our chiles under the broiler, which you can read about in the Green Sauce recipe that I posted yesterday.  But I'm printing the method from the book, because that's the way Chef Bayless wrote it.)

While the picadillo is cooking, pour 1 inch of oil into a deep heavy skillet or pot - the pot should be 12 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches deep for easiest maneuvering of the chiles - and set over medium to medium-high to heat to 350 degrees F.  In two batches, fry the chiles, turning them continually, for about 1 minute, until they are evenly blistered (they'll look uniformly light green, having lightened as they blister).  Drain on paper towels.  Remove the oil from the heat. 

When the chiles are cool enough to handle, rub off the blistered skins, then cut an incision in the side of each one, starting 1/2 inch below the stem end and continuing to within 1/2 inch of the tip.  One by one, work your index finger inside each chile and dislodge all the seeds clustered just below the stem.  Quickly rinse the seeds from inside the chiles, being careful not to rip or tear the opening any wider; rinse off any stray bits of skin.  Drain cut side down on paper towels.

(In this picture below, these are some of the chiles Bill had done under the broiler.  The skins have been removed, and the slits cut, but obviously the seeds are still there.)

5.  Stuffing the Chiles.  Stuff each well-drained chile with about 1/2 cup of the cooled pork filling,

then slightly overlap the two sides of the incision and pin them back together with a skewer or two toothpicks.  For the greatest ease in battering and frying, flatten the chiles slightly, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for about 1 hour to firm.

(* I had a bit of a challenge working with our chiles.  First of all, like I mentioned earlier, some were on the small side, so obviously I used less than a half cup of filling.  Second, structurally I think the chiles had been weakened by being in the freezer since summer.  They tore easily when Bill was cleaning them out, so some of my stuffed chiles actually had 3 toothpicks (actually I used broken skewers, since I couldn't find our toothpicks until yesterday) in order to hold all the filling in.)

6.  Battering and Frying the Chiles.  Reheat the oil to 350 degrees F.  (Actually, since we hadn't used the frying method to blister the chiles, I just used the pot of oil we had on the stove from a recent deep-frying project.)  Set up a try lined with several layers of paper towels.  Separate the eggs:  whites into the bowl of an electric mixer, yolks into a small bowl.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the whites and begin beating them on medium speed.  When they are beginning to look dry and hold a stiff peak but are not at all rigid, beat in the yolks two at a time until well incorporated.  Lastly, beat in the two tablespoons flour. 

(this should be a very light and frothy batter - soft and fluffy.)

Spread the 1 cup of flour on a plate.

One at a time, batter the first four chiles:  (we did 3 at a time - whatever fits in your pot of oil) Roll in the flour, shake off the excess, pick up by the stem, dip into the batter and quickly pull straight up out of the batter, then lay into the hot oil.  (If your kitchen is very warm, it's best to hold the remaining batter for the second round in the refrigerator.)  Once the first four chiles are in the oil, begin gently, gently basting them with spoonfuls of hot oil (this will help set the uncooked batter on top). 

When they're richly golden on the bottom, about 4 minutes, use one small metal spatula underneath and another one (or a spoon) on top to gently turn the chiles over.  Fry until the other side is richly golden, another 3 to 4 minutes.  Using the metal spatula, remove the chiles to the paper towels to drain. 

Repeat with the remaining chiles.

7.  Serving the Chiles.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  (Preheat while you're frying the chiles.)  Once all the fried chiles have cooled for at least 5 minutes, pick them up by carefully rolling each one onto one hand, then transfer to a baking sheet (lined with parchment if you wish, for extra ease at serving time).  Pull out the skewers by twisting them gently (like taking darts from a dart board).  Bake for 15 minutes to heat thoroughly, to render some of the absorbed oil and to crisp slightly.

Meanwhile, bring the tomato broth to a boil and check the consistency:  It should be similar to a brothy somato soup.  If it's too thick, thin with a little water or broth; if too thin, boil rapidly until thickened slightly.  Season it with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon.

Ladle about 1/2 cup of the broth into each of eight deep serving bowls (large soup bowls or pasta bowls are perfect here).  Nestle in one of the chiles, garnish with herb sprigs and get ready for a taste of real Mexico.

(* We didn't serve them in bowls - we just put them out on a tray and let people serve themselves.)

We ladled the sauce onto the chiles instead.  But regardless - what an amazing dish!  Flavor-wise, it's the small amount of cinnamon that really makes this taste special.  And texture-wise, the frothy egg batter gives you a soft, tender coating - it's not crunchy like fish & chips, for instance.  You're not making that sort of batter - separating the yolks from the whites and beating the whites first gives you a souffle batter instead - the result is comfort food at its most sublime.

So go on, set aside a chunk of time and make these.  You will not be sorry.

Recipe for Thai Spring Rolls

From Keo's Thai Cuisine, by Keo Sananikone.  I mentioned the Spring Rolls in this post earlier today.  Here's my version - slightly different but basically the same.  Mine are larger - like egg roll size - and the actual version has them smaller - little bite sized appetizers. 

These are the ingredients:

1/2 lb fresh ground pork

1/2 lb shrimp, chopped

10 dried Chinese black mushrooms (available in Asian markets and some grocery stores)

1 ounce bean threads (avail. in Asian markets and some grocery stores)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1/4 lb bean sprouts

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1-2 teaspoons fish sauce (Asian market or sometimes Asian section of grocery s tores)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

14-16 rice papers - round ones, medium size (about 8" in diameter) (found in Asian markets in greater variety - sometimes in grocery stores.  They're used for spring rolls and nime chow, among other things.)

6 cups oil for deep frying

Got all that?

Place the dried mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes to rehydrate.  Remove the stems and dice up the caps.

Soak the bean threads in warm water for 20 minutes as well.  Drain, and then cut them into roughly 1-inch lengths.  

Place the shrimp and pork in a large bowl.  Add mushrooms and bean threads once rehydrated and chopped up.  Add onion, carrot, bean sprouts, black pepper and fish sauce.  Mix well and let stand for fifteen minutes or so.

Place the teaspoon of sugar in the cup of lukewarm water to dissolve, then pour into a shallow pan wide enough for the rice paper to lay flat in it.  I used a small frying pan.

This is what the rice paper looks like when dry -

They're brittle and they crack easily.

Once you've got the sugar and water in a pan, place one of the pieces of rice paper in and submerge it. 

Let it sit for a few seconds, then remove it and place on a plate or other dry work surface.  Give it a minute or so to allow the rice paper to absorb the moisture.

Place some of the pork/shrimp mixture on the rice paper, like so:

Actually, this is a bad picture - the mixture should be closer to the edge of the rice paper, so mentally move this mixture closer to the bottom of the picture.  Now, fold up the bottom edge over the mixture, then fold over the right side and the left side - it's like making burritos and things like that - and then roll tightly to seal.

Continue until you've used up the pork/shrimp mixture.  When you're about halfway through the whole process, put the 6 cups of oil in a deep pot and set on a medium high flame.  If you've got a candy thermometer, attach it to the pan and keep an eye on the temperature.  You want to heat the oil to 375 degrees F.

Once you've got all the spring rolls made, assemble them and a few other things near the stove so you'll be all ready once the oil reaches temperature.  You'll need a large slotted spoon, two plates with several layers of paper towels, and the spring rolls and tongs.  Keep everything close by so you aren't dripping hot oil all over the place.

Once the oil is hot, carefully lower 4 of the spring rolls into the oil.  Don't splash them - the best way is to place one end in and lay the rest of the roll in gently.  Because of all the water in them, these will bubble up and make a lot of noise for a little while.  It's kind of fun.

Roll them over so they brown evenly.  This might be kind of difficult, as air pockets form inside the rolled rice paper and the rolls will stubbornly roll right back the way they were after you flip them so the pale side is down.  Don't give up.  Worse comes to worst, you can just hold them submerged in the oil until they cook evenly, but I don't like doing that because they seem to soak up too much oil that way.  It may take some trial and error.  But that's part of the adventure.

When they're golden brown, remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil into the pan before placing them on one of the plates with the paper towel layers.

Let them cool a bit and then slice one in half, just to make sure everything is cooked through.  Let it cool a bit more, and have a taste.  You've earned it.

Let the oil temperature come back up (if necessary) and then place 4-5 more rolls in and continue frying in batches until they're all done.  If necessary, keep warm in a low oven or a warming drawer until it's time to serve them.

~~~~~

The book suggests a Spring roll sauce, but this is the one we made -

1 cup hot water

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 T lime juice

1 T white vinegar

1 T fish sauce

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the hot water.

Combine with remaining ingredients.

~~~~~

And that's that.  The tighter you can roll them the better they fry - the loose ones tend to have bigger air bubbles.

And you don't have to use that sauce - you can use a hot sauce, soy sauce, whatever you want.  I used some of the green curry sauce that we had with the chicken at that same meal.

Give it a try - frying's fun!

Surfish and Turfish

I've been trying to dig out forgotten food items from the depths of the freezer so we can utilize them before they get freezer burn and become inedible.

I found a large square plastic container with something brown in it, so I figured I should thaw that just to see what it was about.  Turned out to be leftover beef stew. 

And Bill had mentioned that we had one remaining frozen bag of soft-shell clams in their broth, plus another bag of clam broth. 

So I thawed the bag with the clams in it and decided to make clam cakes to accompany the beef stew.  Weird combination, I know, but, well, sometimes that happens.

The clamcake recipe was Bill's mom's - it's written on a little torn-out page from a notebook; the fringes along one edge where it ripped through the spiral binding are discolored and raggedy looking.  The first part of the word "Clamcakes" is torn off - it's more like "lamcakes."

Clamcakes or lamcakes - they were pretty good.  And pretty simple.

First, in one bowl, whisk together 2  1/4 cups of flour and 4 teaspoons of baking powder.

In another bowl, combine 1  1/3 cups clam broth with 2 eggs.

Chop up the clams.  (Ours were already cooked.  Normally you'd use quahogs anyway, but hey, any port in a storm.  Or something like that.  Steamers worked just fine.)

Fill a large pot about a third to half way with vegetable oil and heat to 360 degrees F - 375 degrees F.

As the oil is heating up, combine the clam broth and egg with the flour and baking powder.  Whisk together to get rid of any lumps.  Then stir in the chopped clams.  Set aside until the oil has reached temperature.

Also, have a couple of plates ready with several layers of paper towels on them and some salt, and a large slotted metal spoon.

Here's how the batter will look after it has been sitting a few minutes:

When the oil is at the right temperature, get a large spoon (tablespoon or bigger), or, if you have it, a 2 tablespoon size measuring spoon.  Scoop up some of the batter with your big spoon and lower it to just above the surface of the hot oil.  Scrape the batter into the oil with another spoon.  Scoop 4-6 clamcakes-to-be into the oil.  You want them to have room to move around a bit, and you'll need move to turn them over so they brown evenly.

Here are some partway through the frying...

They're still too pale, but they're getting closer.  All those little straggly bits of batter can be scooped out and discarded. 

As they reach a dark golden color, take one out and cut it in half to make sure the batter has cooked all the way through.  If it has, pull the other clamcakes out and set them on one of the plates with the paper towels to drain.  Sprinkle right away with a little salt - it will stick better while they are still hot and a bit oily.  You can keep them warm in a low oven or under a dish towel.  You don't want to wrap them in foil - that will steam them and they'll lose their crispness.

Here's a tantalizing close-up of some of the finished ones from last night:

They go nicely with leftover beef stew.

OktoberFeast - Part 3 - the Sauerbraten

I've been posting about a dinner that my husband and I put together this past Saturday - a big selection of German menu items accompanied by a selection of German beers. 

You can see the menu and read Part 1 - the Sauerkraut - here, and Part 2 - the Onion Cake - here.

Today, I'm writing about the Sauerbraten.

Sauerbraten is basically pot roast that has been pickled for several days before it gets cooked.  Why is it pickled?  Sauerbraten is one of those marvelous dishes that transforms a cheap cut of meat into falling-apart, mouth-watering, fighting-over-the-last-shredded-bit bliss.  The perfect accompaniment is a generous serving of Spaetzle , which are bumpy little German noodles or dumplings.  We made them, too, and I'll post that recipe tomorrow or the next day.

But back to the beef portion of our story.

My husband made the Sauerbraten - he's made it once or twice before - and I'll be printing the recipe he uses.  However, I have to tell you, I wasn't sure I wanted to reference this specific recipe because of the baggage it brings to the table.

So I was going to type up another Sauerbraten recipe, from a different cookbook.  But that didn't sit well with me either.  So I deleted that original post (which was part of the Sauerkraut post,) and put it on the back burner for a while.

And then I decided, okay, I'm going to post the real recipe because it's the one we used, and I can't vouch for the other recipe, though I'm sure it's perfectly  good.  But still.  It's not the one we used. 

Why all the dancing around the point?  The cook who wrote the cookbook used to have a rather popular cooking show on public television...he was bearded and exuberant...and later on all sorts of ugliness and accusations bubbled up to the surface, and that was basically the end of his popularity and career.  This book was published a little before all of that, in 1990.   Its author died several years ago.

I don't want to post his name or the name of the cookbook, because I don't feel like dealing with any traffic that might reach me because of those particular words and that particular story.  So I'm not going to.  My blog.  My decision.

The recipe, however, is excellent, and should not be relegated to the recycle bin because of the author.

So now, without further confusion, we have

Sauerbraten (German Pickled Beef Roast)

You will need the following:

One 4-5 lb beef pot roast, with bone.  (Bill got two smaller nearly 3 lb pieces, and I don't think they had the bone, but it certainly didn't seem to ruin the meal at all.)

For the Marinade:

1  1/2 cups red wine vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped

8 black peppercorns

4 whole allspice (which I didn't realize we had, but I just checked, and Bill said we did)

4 whole cloves

2 bay leaves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Place the beef in a deep glass, earthenware, or stainless steel bowl. (We used the same crock we'd used for the Sauerkraut...I should probably take a picture of it, important member of the family that it is...)  Combine the marinade ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat to boiling over high heat.  Cool.  Pour the cool marinade over the meat, turning to coat all sides.  Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 days, turning the meat several times each day.

To Cook the Meat:

3 T peanut oil

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookie. (About 5 medium sized cookies)

Three to four hours before serving, drain the meat,

reserving the marinade,

and pat the meat dry with paper towels.

  Heat a large saucepan.  Add the oil.  Add the meat and brown on all sides, turning frequently, about 30 minutes.  (When you are browning meat, be patient.  Don't mess with it.  Just place the meat on a side, and leave it alone.  If you try pulling it off the pan and it doesn't want to go - leave it alone!  It's not browned enough yet.  You want a nice dark color on each side.  Just in case you were wondering....)

Remove the meat from the pan and reserve.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.  Saute the onion, celery, and carrot in the fat until tender, about 10 minutes. 

Return the meat to the pan.  Strain into the pan the marinade plus 1/2 cup water, discarding the marinade vegetables.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the meat is tender, 2  1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove the meat and keep warm.  Remove the marrow from the bone (if you had the bone in the meat to begin with.  If you didn't, then perhaps your wonderful spouse will get some beef marrow bones at the grocery store the morning you're going to cook all this, and she will roast the bones in the oven and scoop out the marrow for you to use later when you cook your Sauerbraten.)  and stir into the sauce.  Puree the liquid in the blender or food processor and strain into pan, adding the red wine.  Bring to a simmer and stir in the crumbs.  Simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thickened, a few minutes.

Slice and arrange the meat on a heated serving platter.  Serve hot with thickened sauce.  Garnish with chopped parsley.  (Okay, we didn't do the garnish.  And as far as slicing and arranging the meat?  Ha!  It's hard to slice something that just falls apart when you try to lift it from the pan.  Oh yes.  FALLS APART.)

This is just great with German Dumplings.  The gravy is perfect for the dumplings. 

And that's about it.  The German Dumplings are, of course, the Spaetzle, which, as I said earlier, will be the next recipe I post from this feast.

Below is the only picture I took of the whole spread of food out on a table.  It was snapped quickly and it didn't come out all that great, but whatever.  The sauerbraten is falling apart there on that red, rectangular platter in the front.  The gravy is in the white bowl to the right, and the spaetzle is in two bowls at the right front corner of the table.  My brother-in-law is helping himself to some in this picture.  Now, behind the platter of sauerbraten is a smaller glass bowl of sauerkraut, and behind that is the onion cake.  (All our time and energy went into preparing the food - then we just kind of threw it all on the table, stacked up some plates, and let everyone help themselves.  Very relaxed, everyone spread out through the house to eat.  Nothing fancy.  But no one left hungry.) 

We've decided we need to make sauerbraten a bit more often than once every several years.  It's way too good to go without for so long.  Same with the spaetzle, topped with some of the gravy from the sauerbraten...sigh.

Anyway, hope that made you want to pickle some beef and then cook it for a long time some time soon.  You won't regret it. 

Coming next, the Spaetzle....

Baked Pork Chops

This is an old family favorite.  I think I'm going to make it for dinner tomorrow night.  And serve it with baked potatoes...and maybe a baby spinach salad...

Anyway...here goes:

(This recipe serves 4...or 2 if one of them is a very hungry me.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the following in one bowl:  1/2 cup cracker crumbs, 1/2 t poultry seasoning, 1/8 t pepper, 1 t salt.

Combine, in another bowl, 1 egg, slightly beaten, and a tablespoon of water.

Dip 4 thick pork chops, one at a time, in the crumb mixture, then the egg mixture, then back in the crumb mixture, and set aside.

In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of shortening. 

Brown each of the pork chops on med high heat.  Remove from the pan and place in a baking dish.

Over low heat, blend a tablespoon of flour and a quarter teaspoon of salt with the remaining melted shortening in the pan.  If there isn't any, you can melt a little more shortening, or pour in a little vegetable oil.  You are making a roux here - the fat and flour mixture.  When the roux is smooth, whisk in a cup of milk and a cup of water.  Turn the heat up and continue stirring/whisking the mixture until it comes to a boil and thickens.

Pour this over the pork chops in the baking dish, cover the dish with foil, and bake for about 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.  Serve.

Two Pizzas

I made two pizzas tonight.

Here's what I did:

Took two 16 oz packages of store-bought pizza dough out of the fridge about a couple hours before my projected dinner time.  Set them out on a counter - still in their packages - to come to room temperature.

Then I got the toppings ready...

First pizza -

Chopped about 3 strips of bacon into 3/4 inch square pieces (approximately).  Cooked them over high heat in a large saute pan until they had rendered most of their fat and were crisp.  Took them out of the pan and set them on a few layers of paper towel on a plate. 

Next - dumped in about, oh, 8 cups of sliced onions.  (I'm guessing - I just used up what I had, which was maybe 8 to 10 small to medium onions.)  Sprinkled a little salt over them and stirred them all around to coat the onions with the bacon fat.  Turned the heat down to medium low and let them go, stirring every now and then, until they just started to caramelize - roughly a half an hour.

While the onions were cooking, I combined about a third to a half of a cup of crumbled feta cheese with about the same amount of ricotta cheese.  Set that aside with the bacon.

Preheated the oven to 450 degrees F.

Then I started working on the topping for pizza number two.

I combined about a third of a cup of basil pureed with olive oil (this had been in the freezer all ready to go from when we harvested all the basil a few weeks ago) - with 3 big fat cloves of garlic, minced.  And about a tablespoon (all I had left) of grated parmesan.  Set that aside.

Assembly:

Pizza number one:  I spread the dough out on the baking sheet.  Rubbed a little olive oil over the surface.  Dotted the top with blobs of the ricotta/feta mixture.  Topped that with about half of the caramelized onions, and then sprinkled the bits of bacon over the top.

Pizza number two:  I drizzled olive oil over the pizza dough (already stretched out and ready to go).  Then smeared the basil mixture on top, and dotted (my word of the day) with ricotta cheese and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

They both took about 25 minutes to cook.  Alex liked the basil pizza.  Julia liked both.  So did Bill and I.  Bill's been sick, so he had tea.  Alex and Julia had juice, and I had some pinot grigio...hang on, let me see which one...Carsasa - estate bottled in Italy...it's actually a pinot grigio/pinot blanc blend (51%/49%)...and oddly enough, I couldn't see the year anywhere on the bottle...I'll look again later.  Maybe it was hiding.

Anyway - that's what we had for dinner tonight.

Oh!  Almost forgot - I've put the other half of the caramelized onions in the freezer.  I figured they'd be nice to have on hand.  If we were planning to have, oh, steak tomorrow, I'd have kept them in the fridge...and I would have bought mushrooms while I was at the store today, too....

Buffalo Balls

(from my old blog...)

As I think I mentioned in a previous post, on Sunday I went to visit my sister and her family, and my parents, while my husband taught some guys how to brew an all-grain batch of beer.

Saturday night I made these meatballs for them to have for lunch on Sunday. According to Bill, they were a huge hit. Here is what I did:

First, the meatball ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 14 oz pkg of "Gimme Lean" sausage flavor (it's a meat substitute. Found, at least in my area, with things like tofu and the like in that section of the grocery store. There's also a ground beef flavor, but I wanted the flavor of sausage in addition to the ground beef. The other reason I like this stuff is that unlike real meat, it doesn't lose moisture. When you cook ground beef and spoon off the fat, the meat has a tendancy to be tough. The Gimme Lean products don't have any fat, so they stay moist. We use the ground beef variety for tacos.)
1 medium onion, minced
About 3/4 cup bread crumbs, and enough milk to moisten the crumbs
An egg
Salt and pepper

And you will also need:

A 14 oz can of beef broth
2 cups of any red hot sauce you like
1 stick of unsalted butter

Shredded cheddar cheese, blue cheese, torpedo rolls - to serve

I think that's everything. I didn't write it down at the time...

Anyway, put all the meatball ingredients together in a big bowl and, with your hands, squish it all together til it's pretty well combined. Form into balls somewhere between ping pong and golf in size, then flatten slightly. (I was making them at night, and I wanted them to cook faster. You don't really have to flatten them if you don't want to.)

When they're all shaped, heat a skillet and brown the meatballs on both sides (or all sides, if not flattened) but don't worry about cooking through - they'll do that later. Hold browned meatballs on another plate until all are browned. Put the browned meatballs back in the pan and add the can of beef broth. Cover and cook on low heat until the meatballs are cooked through. Shouldn't take very long.

In a separate pan, melt the butter and whisk in the red hot sauce. (* Must give credit here to Paula Deen, who has a show on the food network. This is the sauce from her recipe for Buffalo Wings, which are very good.

Anyway, pour the sauce in with the meatballs, once they're cooked, and heat through. Serve on rolls with shredded cheddar or crumbled blue cheese.

Or, if you're making these ahead as I did, when the meatballs are cooked through, remove them from the pan to cool, and whisk the buffalo sauce into the remaining broth in the pan. When it's all cooled, put the meatballs and sauce into the crock pot insert, cover, and refrigerate. I started the crock pot going the next morning around 7:00 and the guys at lunch around noon or one, I think. And there were even a few left over for me!
Posted by: Jayne / 1:16 PM