Dateline: February 26, 2021 Osso Buco and Gremolata

Fresh Direct had a lovely sale on osso buco, so I bought 3 packages of it.  Each package held 2 nice pieces.

Firstly, I patted each piece dry after taking from the package, and tied each on up like a lovely package.  

This was a waste of my time, because as soon as they went into the dutch oven to brown, the strings came off, so, either I have to learn how to tie meat better, or I need to get thicker pieces so I can tie in 2 locations rather than 1 place.

The finished plate with polenta and gremolata

Osso Buco with Gremolata

Ingredients

6 veal shanks cut into 2 inch rounds

2 large carrots sliced into thick rounds (I will blitz this at the end to emulsify the sauce.  You can chop                              finely and no emulsification necessary)

4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch chunks, see above

1 large onion, cut into large dice, see above

3 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped, see above

1/2 bottle of drinkable white wine

1/2 can tomato paste

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juice

1 - 1.5 quarts of good chicken or beef stock, I used chicken as I prefer the lighter finished product

3 bay leaves

2 large sprigs of thyme

salt and pepper

1/4 c all purpose flour seasoned with salt, pepper and granulated garlic 

1 piece tangerine peel, left whole

Oil for browning

Method

1.  Dredge each shank in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess.  Why?  So it doesn't burn in the oil.  Heat oven to 350°F

2.  Heat a large dutch oven and add oil.  When hot, add shanks and brown well on all sides.  This will need to be done in batches.  Hold the browned shanks on a plate.

3.  After the browning is finished, clean out the pan with a paper towel held by tongs.  Why?  You don't want the burnt bits of flour in your sauce, nor do you want the oil that burned those bits.  There will be some fond on the bottom of the pan.  You want brown or dark brown fond, not black.  Try to get as much of the black up as you can.

4.  Add fresh oil and add onions, carrots, and celery and a pinch or two of salt and pepper.  Saute and use the veggies to help pull up the fond on the bottom of the pan.  Add the garlic.  When most of the fond has come up, there will be stubborn spots, then add the 1/2 bottle of white wine, I used Damn Good Chard, it is very drinkable and nicely buttery.  Really work to get up those stubborn spots of fond and let reduce until its syrupy.  Clear a space and add the tomatoes paste and cook until it has a brick color instead of dark red.  Mix into veggies well.  Add a splash more of wine to loosen things up and then add the tomatoes with their juice.  Stir well.  Add 1 qt chicken stock.  Mix well.

5.  Put the browned shanks on top of the veggies in a single layer, if possible.  Push down on them and add enough additional stock to cover, if needed.  Add the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and tangerine peel. Bring to a simmer and cover and place in a 350°F oven. 

6.  After 2 hours check on the shanks, they should be bubbling away nicely, lower temp to 300°F and recover.  In another hour, check again, shanks should be falling away from the bone. You want to keep those bones, there's good marrow eating in there!

beautiful silky sauce

7.  Remove pan from oven and turn oven off.  Remove shanks carefully from the pan to a separate clean plate or 2.  You want to keep them together as best as possible.  Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.  If any bones have come free, remove them as well.  Using a stick blender, blitz the veggies to get a lovely thick sauce.  Taste and adjust spices.  Carefully replace shanks into the blended sauce along with any juices and bits of veg that may have clung to them.  Cove the pan and return to the cooling oven until dinner time. 

carefully returned shanks 

Gremolata

Chop together a long of parsley, lemon zest, salt, and garlic until it forms a paste and squeeze a bit of lemon juice in and mix well.  Serve with the Osso Buco.

This is a paste that is heavily redolent of garlic.  It completes the meal.  The braise is mild and this gremolata really picks it up.  Very addictive, and does not store well.  So make only what you will use in that particular meal.

Dateline: February 23 - 24, 2021 EVERYTHING BAGELS

I have been wanting to make bagels and I finally, said, do it!

So on Feb. 23, I got out the bread flour, the bread salt, the high gluten flour, the whole wheat flour, diastatic malt powder, yeast and molasses and went to town.

I followed the article in the NYTimes, How to Make Bagels that was published a couple of weeks ago. The process is not difficult, it will take 2 days and a lot of space in your fridge overnight.  Luckily, I have an outdoor deck which served as a de facto fridge until I made dinner that night, which freed up room in the fridge for the 2 sheet pans of bagels waiting to be taken to paradise.

Pre initial rise

Post Rise, pre shaping

The shaping consisted of cutting the risen dough into 12 - 13 equal sized pieces, I made 13 4-ounced sized lumps.  Each lump was shaped into a ball and then after 5 minutes, rolled by hand into a cigar shape about 9 inches long.  The ends of the cigar should be tapered so that the width of the bagel is consistent.  Take the tapered ends and roll them under your palm with the dough around your knuckles for a few seconds so that the ends will stick to each other completing the round.

Put a sheet of parchment paper that has been lightly greased and place the bagel rounds on them, 6 to a sheet pan, so you will need to have 2 ready to go.  Cover the sheet pans with plastic wrap and cover with a dampened towel and put into the fridge, on the deck, for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.

Boiling and coating comes next.  I did not have malt syrup, but I did have diastatic malt powder and I used that instead with a tad of molasses for deepening the color of the boiling liquid to the color as described in the article.

I filled a bowl with 30 g of the assorted seeds and/or salt that were called for, I used black sesame, poppy, caraway, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and maldon salt.  I think next time I will used dried minced onion and garlic.

The boiling liquid comes to a boil, have a spider or skimmer near by because you will need to skim off the foam that is on the surface as the water boils.  I was able to get 4 bagels in the water bath at a time.  It's about 30 seconds a side and then they come out of the bath and are coated in the everything mixture.

These are then baked in a 450°F oven for 20-25 minutes.  What I found was that was too long, the first batch was in for 22 mins and came out very dark, the second batch was in for 20 mins and came out the same color.  I had convection on, so perhaps that makes a difference.  Maybe next time I will lower temp to 425 or 400 when I use convection.  

just out of the oven

blurry look at the crumb

The taste was divine and had a lovely chew to them.  As they got older, they got chewier and denser, so keep in mind there is no preservative in them, and therefore, they will not last as long as bakery ones.

It was a satisfying 2 day project and certainly kept me off the streets!

Dateline: February 23, 2021 Vegetarian Couscous Redux

I had been jonesing for that couscous dish again.  I had in mind some tweaks, and so, I did it.  The original recipe is a Melissa Clark Creamy chickpeas and pearl couscous .  This version used collards, tuscan kale, chickpeas, cannelloni beans, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, plum tomatoes, canned tomatoes, preserved lemon, garlic, shallot, red wine, balsamic vinegar, chicken stock, and of course, pearl couscous.

I started as Ms. Clark suggests, pre-roasting the tomatoes, shallots, wine, vinegar in a 450° F oven.  While that was going on, I chopped the collards and kale, preserved lemon, roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and heated the stock.  I then added in the couscous, greens, beans, lemon, peppers and tomatoes and the boiling stock.  Mixed well, covered with foil and back into the oven it went for about 20 minutes.

The feta got drained and chopped in the meantime and after the 20 or so minutes, it got added into the casserole and mixed in.  Foil was removed and it was back into the oven for a final cook.  I went a few minutes longer than suggested because there was a bit more soupiness as I didn't drain canned tomatoes and used more couscous than called for.  Final dusting of cilantro and dinner was done.  This was still delicious.

Dateline: February 22, 2021 Rotisserie Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

I had a very cute small chicken that needed cooking.  I wanted rotisserie chicken, so I stuffed the cavity with some fennel stalks and fronds and a tiny half onion left over from another night.  For the vegetation over which the chicken would slowly rotate I had some cubed up rutabaga, aforementioned fennel, onion, brussel sprouts, red bell peppers, carrots, and a couple of small white potatoes.  

Everything got chopped up and doused with olive oil, garlic, red finger pepper, and a chopped up preserved lime.  Yes, a preserved lime.  I tried out preserving citrus fruits other than lemons in saline solution and have limes and oranges sitting in the fridge.  The limes add a level of sourness that the preserved lemons do not.  In judicious amounts it will work.  Because I preserve mostly Meyer Lemons, the sharpness of the acid was a bit of a surprise when I tasted a tiny piece before dumping it into the veggies.  In the finished product, it did not overpower at all, in fact, it seemed to be a factor that pulled everything together a bit tighter.

As I was prepping things for the meal, I was also making chicken stock.  I read an article in Cook's Illustrated that discussed the differences between bone broth and stock.  Who knew, I have been making bone broth for 30+ years, OG hipster here!  It seems that the big difference is the amount of collagen that is present in the finished product.  Bone broth has lots of it, stock, not so much.  How do you know if you have collagen in your stock/broth, let it cool after cooking.  Does it set up, and look like Jello, you have a lot of collagen in that batch.  You can always cheat and add powdered collagen to a finished product to duplicate that particular umami-ness.

As a music history professor would tell us, "Label that digression in your notes".  Back to the chicken.

I rubbed it with some oil, and salted and peppered it, ran the skewer through, tightened the prongs and poked the end through the hole in the back of the oven.  I never had a built in rotisserie in an oven before, I will never be without one going forward.  I started the temp at 400° F for about 35 minutes, or until you could smell the chicken.  I lowered the temp to 350° F and added a cup of chicken bone broth to the sheet pan below.  Set the timer for another 30 minutes, and voila!   Chicken-y nirvana with unctuous roasted veggies with a touch of char to them.  It hit every bell for me!

Roasted Veggies

Rotisserie Chicken

Dateline: February 19, 2021 Sheet Pan Dinner #4, variations on a theme

Again, I didn't want the same old, same old.  Thursday, in our weekly call with Alan and Lyn, tajine came up.  Hmmmmm, I could do a variation on that theme.

Ingredients

6 boneless chicken thighs

2 T Tajine Spice Mix, divided.....see note/photo

4 medium Yukon Gold or other gold potato, cut into wedges

1 broccoli crown, cut into florets

1 tiny head of cabbage, the size of a navel orange, or equivalent amount from a larger head, cored and                  cut into 1 inch wedges

1 large onion, sliced

1 Yellow Bell pepper, any color will do, seeded, sliced into strips

1 Anaheim pepper, or other long narrow green or red pepper

1/2 Butternut squash, seeded and cut into wedges

1 c steamed string beans (leftover from the night before)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 c olive oil

1/2 red finger pepper or other hot pepper. sliced thinly

1/2 c white wine

1/2 c Castelvetrano olives, drained

pimenton - see note

sumac - see note

1 preserved lemon, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Method

1.  Sprinkle 1 T of the spice mixture on the chicken and rub it in well.  Keep to the side, or refrigerate.  Set oven to 400° F.

2.  Prep the veggies and place on a sheet pan and distribute them equally, mixing colors and textures.

3.  In a bowl, put olive oil, garlic, hot pepper, preserved lemon, olives, and 1 T Tajine Spice Mix.  Mix well and drizzle over the vegetables.  Lightly dust the top of the vegetables with pimenton, salt, pepper, and sumac.

4.  Place chicken thighs on top of the veggies and lightly coat with cooking spray or olive oil, pimenton and sumac.  Put in oven for about 30-40 minutes until thighs are cooked through and potatoes are soft.

Pre Oven 

Dressed in Cilantro

Note: 

Pimenton is Spanish Sweet Smoked Paprika

Sumac is a Mediterranean spice from the Sumac plant, it has a lemony flavor, you could sub zest and juice for it.

Tajine Spice Mix:

front of package

back of package

Dateline: February 18, 2021 Just for the Halibut (see what I did there)

 I had some very fresh halibut from FD that I wanted to cook.  I rooted around in the veggie bins and found some string beans, and the left over veggies from the night before....what was left of them.  Bill had finished off the broccoli, so it was just potatoes, bell pepper slices, and some onions or shallots.  But, I didn't just want the same old flavorings, I wanted something different....ROMESCO SAUCE!

A eureka moment.  Did I have everything....almonds, check, roasted red peppers, check, tomatoes, check, garlic, check, onions, check, pimenton, check....I was in business. 

I used a NYTCooking recipe from Florence Fabricant for the Romesco Sauce.  Naturally, I made a few changes as I always do.  I used white wine instead of water and used lots of piquillo peppers from a jar I had sitting around that really needed to be used.  I used my homemade red wine vinegar as well.

I blitzed the toasted almonds in the VitaMix for just a few seconds, didn't want almond butter!  I sauteed the onions and added garlic, peppers, vinegar, wine, and spices.  My tomatoes were canned that I scooped out trying not to take too much juice with them.  This then got added to the blender jar and after adding in a bit more of the tomato juice and some water, I got the blender to puree everything into loveliness.  And it tasted great, needed a bit more salt and pimenton, but other than that, delish.

For the veggies, I put them in a pan, added a few more potatoes and bell peppers and stuck it in the oven until I was ready to cook the fish.

The fish was 2 halibut fillets, about 8 oz. each, they were a beautiful white firm fish.  I rarely, if ever, have cooked halibut before.  I decided to gently pan fry in the cleaned pan from the romesco sauce.  I heated up some oil and patted the fish dry and then oiled with some olive oil and salted and peppered it.  I cooked presentation side first, that was the side without the skin for this dish.  Gently flipped the fish when it had started to become opaque about 1/2 of the way up the side of the fish.  After flipping, I shook the pan to keep the fish from sticking to the pan.  Sprinkled a bit of pimenton on top of the cooked side and waited until the opacity had climbed to the middle on the other side.

This was a delicious dinner.  The romesco sauce went beautifully with everything, veggies, taters, fish, you name it.  It was just plain YUM.

Dateline: February 17, 2021 Sous Vide Picanha and Baked Veggies

In my quest to create more room in the freezer, I grabbed a big hunk of picanha and decided to sous vide it.   

I seasoned the steak with a mixture of smoked salt, dried garlic, and ground pepper.  Bagged into a large vacuum bag and set up the sous vide rig.  As the steak was frozen still, I had to sous vide for 3 hours!  In the mean time, I set up the sheet pan with broccoli florets, fingerling potatoes, some chunked sweet potatoes and additional white potatoes.  I oiled them and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I added for good measure 1/3 of a yellow bell pepper and 1/2 an onion and scattered that over the veggies.  They went into a 350° F oven for just about an hour....when I started to smell the broccoli, I pulled it out and tented with foil for a few minutes.  I turned off the oven and stuck the pan with its foil into the slowly cooling oven.

When the steak was finished, I pulled it out of the water bath, patted it dry from the juices in the vacuum bag and then torched it on the fat side to crisp up the fat and give the meat a good look.  Without the torching, the meat is kind of grayish, and very unappealing.  After torching, it looks like a good steakhouse!

Sliced steak, quite rare

Baked veggies

I tried slicing the steak in two different directions to see which would be the more tender, and definitely slicing against the grain created a more tender thin slice, not that the steak was tough either way, but it was a little bit more tender in the across grain cuts.

The meal was rounded out with a winter salad of cukes, tomatoes, onions, and celery with a sherry vinegar and olive oil dressing.

Cooking sous vide is very easy and allows one to have a cocktail without screwing up the meal timing!  It is all about the cocktails, after all.  I am currently on a Manhattan or Boulevardier kick, depending on which Bourbon or Rye I am pouring.  I am very particular about my Manhattan or Boulevardier cocktails!

Dateline: February 16, 2021 Chorizo, Rice, and Black Beans

I needed to clear up some space in the freezer, so out came the homemade chorizo and then I had to figure out what to do with it.

As I didn't think about dinner until late afternoon, I pulled out the instant pot and decided to make some kind of stew-ish thing.  

Ingredients

1 lb chorizo, hopefully, homemade, broken into chunks

2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 14 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped 

1 c basmati rice

1 c water

2 T chili powder

1 t cumin powder

1 T smoked paprika

1 t mexican oregano

saffron threads, optional

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced with extra T of the sauce

1 chopped red finger pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  Heat Instant Pot and briefly saute the sausage to render some of its fat.  If the sausage was lean, which mine was, there is no need to drain out the fat.  Otherwise, remove as much fat as you can.  Add in onions, garlic, finger pepper, and a bit of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and cook until onions are translucent.

2.  Add in chipotle peppers and extra sauce, canned tomatoes, beans, chili powder, paprika, cumin, saffron, oregano, and option saffron, if using.  Stir to combine.  

3.  Adjust Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 20 minutes.  Allow to reduce pressure naturally for 5-8 minutes, then quick release.  Taste for seasoning.  Add rice and water and close the lid and adjust time for another 5 minutes of high pressure.  Allow to release naturally.  If you get a burn message, add more water and stir well.  The rice should absorb almost all of the liquid in the pot.

This was almost like a jambalaya, which was fitting as it was Fat Tuesday!

This was very spicy and addictive at that!  We both were blowing our noses but kept reaching for more.... the power of spice.  If your chorizo is not very spicy, add some more chipotle peppers to build the heat!

Dateline: February 15, 2021 Vegetarian Sheet-Pan #3

In rummaging through the pantry, I came across a box of Israeli couscous.  That then sent me on an expedition into what to do with it.  I came across Melissa Clark's Couscous with Feta Cheese on NYT Cooking.  Using it as a framework, I tweaked it, naturally, of course.  

I had a bunch of collard greens, which I sliced into ribbons after taking out the thick stem in the center.  I didn't have a pint of fresh cherry tomatoes, so I used 2 cans diced tomatoes and I added 1 red finger pepper chopped up, a couple of oil cured sun dried tomatoes, vegetable stock, 1 can chickpeas.

This is the set up before baking.  After the suggested time, I then added in the pearled couscous and stock and put it back in the oven again.  After the suggested time, it was still a bit soupy, so I returned to the oven again.  I pulled it out and then crumbled in the feta cheese, stirred, and returned to the oven again to melt/soften up the cheese.

Finished product with its garnish of cilantro.

This was a real keeper.  I was absolutely amazed at it.  It had the necessary spice for me, courtesy of the red finger pepper and I could hardly believe that it was vegetarian.  Not vegan because of the cheese, but that could be remedied easily by using tofu or other substitute.

Husband unit loved it.

Dateline: February 14, 2021 Ravioli with cheese and truffle filling

For my birthday, Bill promised me that he would make me a meal.  Today was the day!

I supervised, but he chopped onions, garlic, salad fixings, stirred the sauce and everything.  The meal was really great.  So great, that we ate all of it!

Sauce

1/4 a large onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic smashed, and chopped

2 t dried sage

1/2 t red pepper flakes

2 oz cream cheese

2 oz butter

2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

truffle oil, for finishing

Method

1.  While pasta boils, melt butter and oil in a pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta.  When melted, add in the onions and sweat for a few minutes, then add in the garlic, sage, and hot pepper flakes.  Add in the cream cheese and stir to incorporate.  If needed, add about 1/4 c of pasta cooking water to emulsify the ingredients.  Taste, and add salt and pepper.

2.  When pasta is finished, drain a bit, and dump into the pan along with any pasta water that is clinging to the pasta.  Mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce, then drizzle truffle oil over top and serve without stirring the oil in.

Nota Bene:  This was SOOOOOO good, I was deeply impressed with Bill and myself for coming up with the sauce recipe.

Dateline: February 13, 2021 Orange Beef with Broccoli

Our pseudo-son, Servet, came over for dinner last night.  He brought with him some fabulous treats!  A whole box of goodies from Murray's.  So there was duck prosciutto,  some bacon, some duck pate, some salamis, nudja, and too many more to remember.

We started our dinner with some of the treats, duck mousse pate, salami, nduja, brie, and crackers.  We easily could have made a dinner of that, but there was the marinating beef strips....

I used Sam Sifton's Orange Beef recipe, of course with a few tweaks.  As I knew I was going to add in some half steamed broccoli, I did not reduce the sauce much.  I also used my secret orange weapon, ground dried mandarin orange peels that I save up as I eat the mandarins every winter when they are in season and on sale!  And then I grind them up as needed.  I used about 1/4 c of the ground powder.  Instead of the jalapeno, I had some hot red finger peppers, so I chopped up one of those.  I increased the liquid measure by using 1/3 c instead of 1/4 c for all specified liquids because I was 1) using more beef than called for in recipe, 2) was going to be adding in some broccoli.

Another tweak was not using the egg, but using baking soda with the cornstarch for the beef strips.  I marinated them over night and they were velvety and oh so tender, even though it was chuck strips for fajitas!

After noshing mightily on the delicious treats, we hastily sat down to eat, voila!

Dateline: February 10, 2021 Another Lunar New Year Celebration: Ma La Shrimp and Mussels with Black Bean Sauce

 I had ordered from FD some Shrimp and Mussels, and was trying to figure out what to do with them when it hit me.....Gong Hei Fat Choy!

Another Lunar New Year Food Celebration

I used the Ma La Shrimp recipe and another Fuchsia Dunlop recipe for Clams in Black Bean Sauce.

I had the left over lotus root from yesterday, so that went into the Ma La Shrimp!

Fuchsia Dunlop's Clams In Black Bean Sauce

2 lb clams, in the shell....I subbed in mussels

3 T oil

2.5 T fermented black beans, rinsed and drained

2 t finely chopped ginger

1 T finely chopped garlic

1.5 fresh red chillies, cut into thin diagonal slices

3 T finely chopped bell pepper, she specifies green, I used yellow

2 T Shaoxing wine

1 t dark soy sauce

1 t light soy sauce

1 t cornstarch or potato starch dissolved in 2 T cold water

2 T finely chopped scallions

Method

1.  Rinse and debeard mussels, discard any that are open and/or have broken shells.  Pour 2 cups of water into a pot with a lid (that can hold all the mussels) and bring to a boil.

2.  When it comes to a rolling boil, add the mussels and put the lid on.  Every so often, open the lid and stir.  This should only take 3-5 minutes max for all the mussels to open.  Remove them to a separate bowl and save the liquid.

3.  In a wok, heat the oil and when hot add the black beans, ginger, garlic, chillies and bell pepper, stir fry until they smell wonderful.  Pour in 2/3 c of the mussel cooking liquid and bring to a boil.  Skim if necessary, then season with Shaoxing and soy sauces.  

3.  Stir the cornstarch or potato starch slurry and add to wok in 2 or 3 additions, using just enough to given the sauce the consistency of light cream.  Remove from heat, and add in the scallions and mussels.  Serve.

Likewise, I had the carrot ribbons and snow peas from last night as well.  I used a bit more of the mussel cooking liquid and more cornstarch slurry.

I keep trying, but mussels just don't really make me happy, I would have loved this with clams, but sadly, FD did not have any of the lovely little cockles that they often have.  Sigh, so Bill got to eat lots of mussels and I made due with the Ma La Shrimp.....Tee Hee, I think I came out the winner in this one!

Dateline: February 10, 2021 Chinese Hot Pot to Celebrate Lunar New Year a Bit Early

Bill and I went to Industry City yesterday to wander around the various stores that were there.  We went into Japanese Village and I saw some thinly sliced meats for shabu shabu and decided to do chinese hot pot for dinner.  I picked up some thinly sliced beef, round and rib eye, and also some thinly sliced Kurobuta pork loin as well.  I then searched the veggies and grabbed some lotus root, pre sliced, and some Enoki mushrooms.  I had other vegetation at home as well as the necessary spice for the hot pot flavoring.

I used Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe for hot pot broths.  One is based in a beef broth, the other in a chicken, but I made it vegetable broth.

    

                        

Left is the spicy one, right is the vegetable one with a few flecks of chopped garlic floating in it, as a small piece of tree ear mushroom that I had not removed!

HotPot Spicy Broth

1/4 c fermented black beans

1/3 c shaoxing wine or dry sherry

3 inch piece of ginger, unpeeled

1/4 c dried szechwan dried chili peppers

1/2 c peanut or vegetable oil

2/3 c beef drippings or lard

1/2 c doujiubang

3 quarts good beef stock

1 T rock sugar

1/3 c fermented glutinous rice wine

salt to taste

1 t whole szechwan pepper corns

Method

1.  Mash black beans with 1 T shaoxing wine either with mortar and pestle or in a food processor.  Wash ginger and slice into discs about the thickness of a coin.

2.  Snip all chili peppers in half with a scissor and knock out as many of the seeds as possible.  Heat 3 T oil in a wok over medium flame until it is hot, but not smoking and add the chiles and stir-fry until crisp and fragrant, but not burned.  They should sizzle gently in the wok.  Remove with a slotted spoon and remove oil to a bowl and clean wok.  

3.  Add beef drippings or lard to the wok along with the rest of the vegetable oil.  Melt the fats completely to about 250-300°F.  Add chili paste and stir fry for a minute or so until the oil is richly colored and fragrant.   Be careful not to burn this mixture.  Add mashed beans, and ginger and continue to stir fry.  Add in 1.5 quarts of the stock and bring to a boil.  The balance of the stock will be held in reserve to replenish the hot pot when necessary.

4.  When the liquid has come to a boil, add the rock sugar and the rest of the shaoxing wine, the fermented glutinous rice wine and salt, if necessary.  (Mine certainly did not need any additional salt).

5.  Add the reserved fried peppers and the szechwan pepper corns and simmer for another 15-20 minutes until it is delightfully spicy.

Plain HotPot Broth

3 quarts rich chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)

2 T shaoxing wine

salt to taste

1 ripe red tomato, halved

2 scallions, white part only, cut into 2 or three sections

Method

1.  Stir wine into the stock and season with salt to taste.  Pour about 2 quarts into the hotpot and use the rest to top up as needed.  Shortly before you are getting ready to eat, add the tomato and the scallions to the broth.

 

Meats used:

Thinly sliced ribeye, I tore these pieces in half

Thinly sliced round

Thinly sliced pork loin, I tore these pieces in half

Vegetables used:

2 potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, soaked in salted water

butternut squash, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, soaked in salted water

lotus root, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, soaked in salted water

4 carrots, peeled, using peeler cut into thin ribbons

large handful of snow peas

Enoki mushrooms, pulled into shreds

1/2 cabbage cut into chunks and split up into a couple of leaves in each chunk

broccoli florets

Dipping Sauces

Sesame paste mixed with fresh chopped garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil

Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp

Dark Soy Sauce with Black Vinegar and minced scallions

Dipping Sauces

Meats, beef above, pork below



The carrots and peas are at the top and the 
cabbage and root veggies at the bottom

Vegetation

Broths:  top is spicy and below is not

Both Bill and I were very happy with our early Lunar New Year Celebration.  Obviously, too much food, but the veggies will be used in other dishes going forward.

Dateline: February 7, 2021 SUPER BOWL: WILD BOAR CHILI

I had 5 lbs of wild boar in the freezer, how to use it?  Super Bowl Chili!  Make ahead, and serve next day.

Wild Boar Chili

Ingredients

5 lbs of cubed meat....pork, beef, chicken, turkey, bear, weasel, you get the idea

1/4 c flour, you may need more than this, just work in 1/4 c increments

1 t salt

1 t ground pepper

1 T sweet paprika

1 T chili powder

1/2 c vegetable oil or lard

2 small onions, halved

3 roma tomatoes halved

2 small heads of garlic, broken into cloves, not peeled

2 dried ancho chili pods

8-10 dried pasilla chili pods

2 chipotle chili pods

any other assortment of dried Mexican chilis that you have lying around, I had some pasilla negros and some aji as well as guajillos

Olive oil

2 red bell peppers

2 small golden beets, unpeeled, why?  For sweetness to counteract the dried chilis

1 medium onion, diced

14 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 T salt

1 T Mexican oregano

3 bay leaves

2 cans of the beans of your choice, drained and rinsed

1 bag frozen corn kernels

1 circle of mexican chocolate, I used Taza with guajillo pepper

unsweetened cocoa powder

Method

1.  Heat oven to 280°F.  Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chilis.  Heat a large cast iron frying pan, add the chilis and toast.  This will happen quickly, so have a bowl nearby to put them in.  You do not want to burn them!  They will be very bitter if that happens.   In the bowl with the toasted chilis, add enough water to cover and weight them down with a plate to keep them submerged until the water until they have softened up and are very pliable.  This can be left to soften while you complete the next step.

2.  In the same large cast iron frying pan, put the halved onions, halved tomatoes, beets, and garlic cloves into the pan dry.  Char them on all sides.  Take the skin off the garlic cloves.  Hold the beets to the side.  Do not add them to the blender.  Add the other charred veggies to a  blender jar.  It is best to put the juiciest things at the bottom of the jug, (tomatoes) you will add less water or chili soaking water.  Blitz to a smooth puree.  Empty blender in a large bowl.  

3.  While the veggies are charring, over an open flame, char the red bell peppers all over and hold aside until cool enough to scrap off the burnt skin.  Remove top stem and slice into thin strips, then halve the strips.  Remove the skin from the beets and chop into a smallish dice, chop the remaining onion into a dice as well.  Hold these veggies to the side.

4.  When the peppers are pliable, place in the blender jug, no need to clean it.  Add some of the soaking liquid, enough to get the blender working smoothly and really get them to a very smooth puree.  If you don't have a high powered blender, you will need to strain both purees to remove bits of skin, seeds, etc.  You want a silky smooth product.  Add the pureed chili peppers to the ground tomatoes, onions, and garlic.  Mix well.  If you don't have the powerful blender, strain the mixture into another bowl.  This is what provides the beautiful silkiness to the sauce.  Hold to the side.

5.  In a large plastic bag, add 1/4 c, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder.  Add about 1/4 of the meat and shake to coat.  Heat a large dutch oven and add half the oil and when hot, add the meat cubes that have been shaken to knock off a lot of the excess flour.  Brown in the oil working in batches, do all the meat that way.  As necessary add more oil, and replenish the flour mixture.  Hold the browned meat in another big bowl.  Yes, you will use quite a few large bowls.  

6.  When the meat is finished browning, use paper toweling to soak up remaining oil and any bits of burnt flour on the bottom.  Add a little bit of water to help scrap up any last bits.  Wipe the pot and add fresh oil.  Pour the strained sauce into the pot, mix well and cook for a bit, add the meat and any juices into the pan and mix well.  Bring to a simmer, add the sliced peppers, beets, onions and can of diced tomatoes.  Mix well.  Add salt, bay leaves, and oregano.  Mix well.  Taste the sauce.  Does it need more salt?  Mine certainly did!  If your sauce is bitter, let it cook a while with the beets.  That may do the trick.  Cover and put into the oven for 1 hour.

7.  After an hour, check on the mixture.  Stir and taste again.  If it is bitter, add about 1 T honey or agave syrup.  Stir well.  Put back in the oven for another hour.

8.  After second hour, taste again, mine needed more salt.  Add the 2 cans of beans and the chocolate circle and 2 T cocoa powder.  Stir well to melt chocolate and distribute the cocoa.  Put back into the oven with the lid ajar for another hour.

9.  Remove from the oven, taste again.  Adjust the seasonings.  Since it was very cold outside, I put the lidded dutch oven outside overnight.  I will remove the fat before reheating.  Add the frozen corn, mix in well, and reheat in oven until ready to eat.  

Nota Bene:  I know that this is a lot of ingredients and time.  But it is well worth it!  If there is any remaining sauce, freeze it!  It will do wonders for any other type of chili or sloppy joe type meal.

Dateline: February 4, 2021 Tofu 2 Ways

After a discussion with friends Alan and Lyn, I decided to make some Mapo Tofu.  I was rooting around in the pantry and found a package of tofu skins and thought, great, I'll make some bean curd skin rolls and we can enjoy a spicy dish and a not spicy dish.

I quickly got to work, found a recipe, and started chopping things madly.  Soaked the tree ear mushrooms, gave up looking for my dried shitake mushrooms and decided to chop other veg instead.  For the rolls I quickly prepared some slivered carrots, cabbage and cucumbers.  To the meat, I used beef, I added the requisite minced tree ears, garlic, ginger, cornstarch, sesame oil, shao xing wine, and soy sauce.  Stir like mad to combine and voila!  meat filling.  

Next, I opened the package of bean curd or tofu skins and realized that this was going to be a nightmare scenario.  The sheets were folded up onto themselves so that each "page" was multiple layers thick.  I dunked them in the warm water, fiddled with them, and tried to pry the layers apart.  This was not going to work at all.  So I had to go to plan B with this.  I decided to soak 2 pages and then just chop up the result and saute everything in the wok.

Mapo, I have written about many times.  Last night, I was pressed for time, AND hungry, so I went with the easiest method possible.  Stir fried the meat and ginger, added in 2 T of doujiabang sauce and then splashed on some soy, shaoxing, rice vinegar, and anything else I felt like throwing in.

Since I had some soaked tree ear mushrooms I threw them in and, well, that was a mistake.  I should have cut them into smaller pieces, instead I just hacked a large piece into quarters or sixths, and they were just too damn big and chewy.

Mapo Tofu

Deconstructed Tofu Skin Rolls

The combo was quite tasty, Bill was going back for more.  I was pretty happy with the deconstructed rolls, and would probably tweak that a bit more going forward, like, buying fresher bean curd skins and actually making the rolls!  But as an invented dinner save, it was pretty damn good.

Dateline: February 2, 2021 Chicken Thigh Sheet Pan Dinner #2

I had a bunch of broccoli, some shisito peppers, 1/2 a butternut squash and some carrots.....plus some chicken thighs.  What to do?

Option 1 - Tajine

Option 2 - Sheetpan

Feeling lazy, I took option 2.  I piled the chopped veggies into a sheet pan along with a sliced onion and mixed it with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  Added the chicken thighs on top and drizzled them with oil and salt and pepper, and popped it in the oven, 350°F for 30 minutes, rotated the pan, and set the timer for 15 more minutes.  Chicken was cooked, and veggies were nicely browned.

Yum!

Pre Cooking

 

Here is the finished product.  I was quite pleased with the results and will definitely play with this sort of thing again!

Dateline: February 1, 2021 Potluck Sausage Chili, or Freezer Diving

I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner.  I did know that I needed to make room in the freezer for more sausage, what else does one do during a snow storm.

I found a pound of loose sausage, turned out to be sage breakfast sausage, but never mind, and I found a container of Chili Colorado sauce saved from a previous meal.  

Perfect!  Dinner is a sausage chili stew with chickpeas and left over veggies from the sheet pan dinner the other night!

In the instant pot, I browned the sausage and then added in the frozen colorado sauce.  I opened a can of chickpeas and threw them in, liquid and all and closed the lid.  I set the pot to pressure cook for 8 minutes.  When time was up, I used quick release, and checked in on the contents.  I found some kale and collards in the fridge and added that to the pot along with the veggies from a previous meal.  Set the pot to slow cook and left a glass lid on it ajar to help thicken it up a bit.  

Finished product was far better than I thought it would be!  Yeah me!  Finished up the meal with some brown basmati rice, and Ta-Dah!  Speaking of finishing up, I drained the beautiful Barbaresco from an earlier dinner.  Delightful!

 

Dateline: January 31, 2021 Baked Salmon and Mushroom Risotto

I had about 1 lb of cremini mushrooms that needed to be used up.  Thank God I had stored them in a paper bag, or they would have been mush!

I cleaned and sliced the mushrooms, shopped up the shallots and garlic and soaked some dried cepes.  For the risotto stock, I used the mushroom soaking liquid and some mushroom powder that I used in addition to some hot water for some vegetable base.  

Mushroom Risotto

1 lb sliced mushrooms, your own choice or mixture

small handful of dried cepes or porchini mushrooms

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 large shallots, chopped fine, divided, one shallot will be used to top the salmon

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped fine

2 T white wine

1 cup arborio rice

3.5 cups water, divided

1 T vegetable soup base

1/2 package frozen peas

1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

2 T butter, divided

2 T half and half

truffle oil, optional

Method

1.  Heat 1/2 C water, I used the microwave and soak the dried mushroom using a spoon to keep as many of them below the water level as possible.  Heat the remaining 3 cups of water in a large measuring cup in the microwave and add the vegetable base to the very hot water.  Stir to dissolve the base completely.

Keep warm, or reheat in microwave.

2.  Heat a large casserole pan up and when hot add the olive oil and 1 T of the butter.  Add the shallots, salt and pepper and saute until translucent then add the smashed garlic.  Remove cepes from soaking liquid and add soaking liquid to the vegetable base.  Add cepes and mushrooms to saute pan.  Cook the mushrooms until they start to give off their water.  Add a splash of white wine to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3.  When the wine has evaporated, add the rice and saute until the grains become translucent.  Add a pinch or two of salt and start to ladle in 4 oz at a time the heated vegetable stock.   Only add additional stock when the previous one has been completely absorbed.  Stir constantly.  Add stock as necessary and take your time.  Risotto is an act of love, do not rush it.

4.  When most of the stock has been used, taste the rice, is it still crunchy, keep cooking, if it has softened, but is still al dente, then you are very close to being finished.  When the rice is cooked to your liking, add the reserved T of butter and the frozen peas.  Stir to melt them both into the rice.  Add the half and half along with the cheese, in parts, combining into the risotto.  

5.  Just before serving, drizzle with truffle oil.

Ah, risotto

A beautiful Chablis

Baked Salmon with Shallots

Ingredients

2 center cut salmon fillets, pin bones removed

1 finely chopped shallot

salt and pepper

Method

1.  Set oven to 400°F.  Prepare a baking dish by coating with cooking spray.  Dry off the fish and place skin side down in the baking dish.  Use olive oil or cooking spray on the fish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with the chopped shallots.

2.  When oven is hot, put the pan into the oven and set a timer for 5 minutes.  When time is up, rotate the pan and set timer for another 5 minutes.  Depending on how thick your fillets were, you may need some more time, or if you prefer your salmon more well done.  Then set the timer for another 3 - 5 minutes.  Remove and serve.