Dateline: December 20, 2020 Slow Cooker Lamb Shoulder with Beans

In browsing through several different recipes for braised lamb, I decided to make an amalgam of several of them plus my own twists.

Ingredients

2 lbs lamb shoulder, either rolled, or in a single piece with or without bone

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped

1 large onion, chopped

Gravy Master (optional)

1/2 c white wine

1 tin anchovies

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 - 2 pints of good stock, preferably homemade

1/2 lb dried small white beans, pea or navy beans work well

1/2 preserved lemon, chopped

1 t ground cumin

1 t smoked paprika

Method

1.  Baste the lamb with Gravy Master and season with black pepper only.  Sear well on all sides.  If you use the instant pot, set it to saute, medium heat.

2.  Remove meat after searing, and deglaze the pan with the white wine.  Add onions, carrots, celery, anchovies, and garlic to the liquid.  Stir to combine.  Reduce liquid by at least half.  Cancel and set instant pot on slow cook mode for 5-6 hours

3.  Rinse the dried beans and add to the pan and place the seared lamb on top of the beans.  Add the stock to the pan, to a level that covers the beans by 2 inches.  Add the preserved lemon.  As the meat cooks, taste the broth and if needed add some salt.  It is very likely you will not need any, especially as the preserved lemon is also salty.

4.  Add the can of tomatoes and gently mix things together, sprinkle in the cumin and paprika.  Cover and allow to cook until the lamb is easily pierced by a fork.  

5.  Remove lamb from the pot.  Using a slotted spoon skim out veggies and place into a sauce strainer or colander over a large bowl.  Try to remove as much of the fat as possible along with the veggies, but leave the beans in the pot.  Defat the liquid, reserving the veggies.  In a deep narrow container, place the veggies and the defatted broth from the pot.  Using an immersion blender, blitz the contents of the container to emulsify the veggies, and pour the contents back into the pot.

6.  Remove any strings or netting from the lamb.  Cut the lamb into chunks, removing as much of the fat as possible.  If the meat is very tender, it will shred rather than cut, that's fine, just remove the fat from the shreds.

7.  Add the lamb back into the sauce and cover until dinner is ready.  Serve with either rice or couscous.

Nota Bene:  After 4.6 hours, my lamb was not very tender, so I used pressure cook for 10 minutes with 15 minutes natural release and quick release the balance.  The lamb cooked in the slow cooker for another hour or so.  The preserved lemon added so much to the dish.  If you do not have preserved lemons on hand, you can use orange peel from any thin skinned orange fruits, such as mandarin, tangerine, etc.  The lemon added a heady aroma and a delightful citrus back to the earthiness of the lamb.

No photos, sorry, it was brown, with flecks of white beans floating around in a dark brown sauce.  Not much to see, but it tasted wonderful.  Bill gave it 2 thumbs up, mostly because an animal died for his meal.

Dateline: December 18, 2020 Maple Baked Salmon

 I saw this recipe in the NYTCooking section, and decided after reading the comments, I would try it.  Maple Baked Salmon 

This is a really wonderful recipe for a marinade for the salmon.  I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it was perfect.  Even Bill liked it a little.  He hates mustard.  The maple helped on that front!

I had opened a bottle that just arrived from Last Bottle, a susumaniello.  This is a rare grape varietal that grows in Italy.  It is a lovely wine.  Last Bottle buys of lots of wines and then sells them via the internet. They are based in Napa, CA and have great deals on wine.  The difficulty is that once the lot is sold, you are out of luck.  Sometimes the wine comes around again, or another vintage shows up, but once they sell out, that is generally it.  I love them.  I have boxes and boxes of wine that I have ordered through them stashed around the house, as I am known to quip, "I don't have a drinking problem, I have a buying problem."

So the first glass of the wine led to another, which is why there are no photos of the meal, I only have a photo of the wine bottle!

Despite the wine consumption, the rest of the meal did get made.  We ate the lovely salmon with roasted corn with artichoke hearts and baked potatoes.  It was a two thumbs up from Bill.

Dateline: December 17, 2020 Greens and Beans

I had a fridge full of greens, collards, tuscan kale, and chard.  So I created a quick dish using the instant pot.

Ingredients

Collards

Tuscan kale

Swiss chard

Or any other leafy greens you have or like so that you have approximately 2.5 - 3 lbs all together

3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

1 onion, cut in half thru the root end and then sliced into half moons

1 leek, cleaned and sliced

1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced 

1 c white wine or stock of your choice

2 cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed, (I used pinto beans)

2 oz salt pork or bacon

1 preserved lemon

black pepper to taste

Method

1.  Dice up the salt pork or bacon and add to the heated instant pot on saute low temp.  Render as much fat as you can or want.

2.  After fat has rendered, add onions, leeks, and jalapeno to the instant pot.  Saute until softened, add the smashed and chopped garlic.  Be sure to get up any of the brown bits on the bottom of the pot.  Add the wine or stock to help in this endeavor.

3.  Chop up the preserved lemon and add to the pot.  Stir and add greens.  This amount of greens will fill a 6 qt pot.  Have no fear, stir it around as best you can, lid the pot and hit cancel.  Now choose pressure cook for 5 minutes.  Close the top.  When finished, quick release the pressure.  Hit cancel.

4.  Add the beans and stir to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add black pepper if jalapeno is not that hot.  If more liquid is needed, add another glug of wine or stock.  Put pot on warm setting until you are ready for dinner.

As Bill and I were sitting down to eat, I noticed that he wasn't too thrilled, he said that given all the green, he was not sure he would be happy.  Turns out, he did like it.  Would have preferred some animal died, but he ate 2 bowls worth!

It occurred to me that beans, greens, and garlic are part of my top five things that I love.   Once again, I am sure that in a previous life I was Tuscan!

The preserved lemon added so much to the dish.  A brightness, and depth of flavor that if it were not included, the dish would be sorely lacking in flavor.  I did not add any salt as the lemon and salt pork provided all that was necessary.

This could certainly be made on the stove top, but the timing would be different, the greens would never cook in 5 minutes, more like 15-20, depending on how you like your greens!

December 14, 2020 Sous Vide Strip Steak, Potatoes, and Salad

Since I have been baking cookies like a possessed demon woman, I closed the dinner kitchen a couple of nights.  I had ordered steaks, and had seasoned them and bagged them for sous vide and put them in the freezer.  You can go directly from freezer to sous vide without any worries, so that is what I did.

I set up the Joule for 129°F and set the time to 2 hrs 15 min.  I had my torch at the ready and also had a cast iron fry pan on the stovetop already.  Instead of just torching the steaks when they are removed from the water, I thought I would try a two-pronged attack.  I would heat the fry pan to scorching and torch only the top half of the steak, thereby getting both sides done at once.

The sear on the steaks was excellent, but the heat from the fry pan kept the beautiful pinkness from going end to end.  Small price to pay!

These steaks were enormous, and we only ate one that night.  The other was eaten by Bill for various other meals over the next day or two.

My friend Jeri taught me a trick for microwaving potatoes!  Wash them, and dry them, prick with a fork, and put them in a paper bag in the microwave for 10 minutes.  They come out fluffy and perfectly cooked every time.  You can do sweet potatoes this way as well, but they take less time start with 6 minutes and up it as needed.

The meal was rounded out with the crunchy salad and all said, it was a great way to start the week!

With the steak I opened a bottle of Barbaresco.  OMG!  This is a delicious wine.  Had a bit of age on it and drank really smoothly with a lovely mouth feel and sufficient tannins to stand up to the steak!

I really do love sous vide for steaks, you can never overcook them, depending on the strength of your torch, you can get a decent crust on them and the entire steak is perfectly cooked from side to side and end to end.  No raw bit or leathery bit to worry about.  Clean up is a breeze and so is setup.  

 

Dateline: December 12, 2020 Indian Redux

 Our buddy, Servet, was coming over for dinner and tasting weird beers.  What goes with beer, Indian Food!  I made Achari Chicken, Aloo Gobi, and Baingan Bharta.  Recipes came from Urvashi Pitre.  

The Baingan Bharta is an eggplant stew that is cooked down until the eggplant has broken down completely and it is finished with a dash of cream.  I can't say that it was the best that I have ever eaten, but it certainly held its own.

The Aloo Gobi is a mixture of cauliflower and potatoes with indian spices and some tomatoes.  I was totally happy with how it turned out.

The Achari Chicken, is from Hydrabadwallah website and is an absolute favorite of mine.  A go to chicken dish that never fails to please.

Of course, as we were tasting interesting, and some not so interesting beers and hard seltzers, I only took a photo of the chicken dish.

Dateline: December 9l 2020 Soy Marinated Chicken Thighs and Assorted Stir Fried Vegetables

The inspiration for tonight's dinner came at lunch.  I was eating some doctored ramen, and I added mandarin orange peels.  Why, I'm not sure, but it tasted great!

Out came the chicken thighs and I marinated them.  Cooked them first, then cleaned the wok and stir fried the veggies.  Added what was left of the marinade and a cup of brodo.  Voila!  Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Marinade

2 T dark soy sauce

1 T light soy sauce

1/2 t agave syrup

2 t cornstarch

1 t garlic powder

1 t sesame oil

1-2 T Shaoxing rice wine

2 drops orange flavoring

small handful of hot szechwan dried peppers

4 Skin On Chicken Thighs trimmed of excess fat.

Put all the ingredients except the chicken into a sealable plastic bag and squish it around to disperse the cornstarch.  Add thighs and massage the marinade into the meat side and seal the bag.  Marinate with flesh side down for 1-2 hours

Vegetables

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 shallots, peeled and sliced through the roots end

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

a good handful of dried mandarin orange skins, broken up into small pieces

1-2 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled, sliced into planks, and then into shreds

1 bunch broccoli rabe, cut into manageable pieces, trim stalks, if need be

1/2 large bell pepper, cut into strips and then halved

12 oz. green beans (I used a bag of microwave beans that I liberated and cut the beans in half)

1 cup brodo

small handful of garlic chives, cut into 1 inch lengths, for garnish

Method

1.  Heat wok, with oil of your choice, and remove the chicken from the marinade and let drip back into the bag and put into wok skin side down when pan is hot.  When skin releases from the pan, flip the thighs over.  Test temperature with an instant read thermometer.  You want the thighs near the bone to be at least 160 - 165° before pulling out of the pan.  Hold on the side.  You may want to cover the wok and after turning the thighs over, add a splash of water or broth and recover until temp is reached.

2.  Clean out wok and wipe dry.  Add more oil.  When oil is hot, add ginger and cook until softened, about 1 -2 minutes, then add peels and garlic.  When peels are softened, add shallots and carrots.  After they have been coated in the flavored oil, add in the rabe, peppers, and beans.  Stir fry until cooked through.  Add brodo, if using, and any remaining marinade. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.   Put the thighs back into the wok and cover for a few minutes until reheated through.  Add garlic chives and serve.

Here is the dish before adding the chives

Dinner, with garnish!

Dateline: December 7, 2020 Beans, Greens, and Other Things

I was really jonesing for some beans.  I know, that is a very weird thing to be longing for, but I can't help it.  I think I was Tuscan in a former life.  

I had a left over rotisserie chicken, but didn't want to deprive Bill of his brekkies.  So I went sort of vegetarian.  I did use some of the brodo that I made over the weekend.

I chopped up a leek, the half of onion from the other night, a handful of collard leaves, a couple of bok choy, garlic, and 2 cans of cannellini beans.  I separated the leaves from the stems with the collards, and sliced into ribbons and halved those along the rib line, then I also separated the leaves from the stems of the bok choy, and sliced the leaves in ribbons and chunked up the stems for crunch in the "stew".  I chopped 3 cloves of garlic roughly.

Into a large shallow lidded casserole I sauted the leeks and onions until softened, added the garlic and salt and pepper.  After a few more minutes, I threw in the stems and more salt and pepper along with some herbes de Provence.  Here is where the stupid thing happened, I know you were waiting for this!  I grabbed a bottle of open wine from the counter, never looking, assuming it was the open white... but no, it was the open red.  Glug glug glug into the casserole, no going back now!  I got the brodo out of the fridge and added 3 cups.  Lidded the pan, and let it go for a bit.  I dumped the greens and the 2 cans of drained and rinsed beans in, mixed it all up and tasted for seasoning.  All was good.  I let it go until the collards turned dark green and that was dinner.

The look of disappointment on Bill's face, was, well, priceless.  He would eat it, but stated, "I want animals to die for my plate."  Turns out, the concoction was quite good.  We each were going back to the dish for more.

Above are the leeks and onions softening and at right, is the bok choy stems prior to the red wine mishap.

Here are the chopped bok choy stems waiting to go into the "pool"

 Likewise, to the right are the chopped leaves of the collards and bok choy cut into ribbons

Below, the finished product with the red wine disaster!  Oh, I had a few veggies left over from the rotisserie chicken and threw those in as well.

Dateline: December 4, 2020 Chili Verde with Pork over Rice

I had a big chunk of pork shoulder that I had cut into 1/3 - 2/3 pieces, I used the 1/3 piece in an instant pot recipe on Tuesday.

Today, we are having Chili Verde.  I love Chili Verde.  The silkiness of the pork, the lusciousness of the sauce, wonderful.

Chili Verde with Pork

3 lbs pork shoulder, cut into chunks and trimmed of most of the fat

2 ancho chilis, seeded, stemmed, and split

1 dried jalapeno, seeded, stemmed, and split

1 lb tomatillos, peeled and cut through the equator

1 large onion, cut in half through the root end

4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

2 serrano chili peppers

1 lb tuscan kale, stripped and chopped into manageable pieces

1 qt good stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 T mexican oregano

1 T ground cumin

1 t ground coriander

1 t dried granulated shallot

1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped with accompanying sauce

Method

1.   Heat a cast iron comal or skillet, place anchos, jalapeno, and serranos on the comal.  Add the tomatillos cut side down, onion cut side down, and garlic cloves.  When peppers have become pliable and their color changes slightly, remove to a hot water soaking bath.  Use a cup or plate to totally submerge the toasted dried peppers.

2.  When the remaining vegetables have gotten some char, remove to the body of a blender and add soaked peppers, not soaking liquid.  Add 1 pint of broth and blitz until smooth; blender will break down garlic skins.  You may need to scrape down sides of blender and/or adjust the blades if things get hung up.  Pour contents of blender into a pan large enough to hold all the chunked up meat.  Add the kale, meat chunks, spices, chipotle pepper in adobo, salt and pepper.  I used an instant pot, you can do this in an instant pot, or in a dutch oven.

3.  Mix well and set instant pot to pressure cook, low pressure for 20 minutes.  After twenty minutes, use natural release and mix well.  Hit cancel.  

4.  Set instant pot to slow cook, 3.5 hours, low temp.  Leave lid of instant pot ajar to facilitate evaporation.

5.  Taste, adjust seasonings and reduce further if wanted using the saute function..

Dateline: December 3, 2020 Asian Fusion Mushroom Melange

I was in the Farmer's Market and saw these fabulous yellow oyster mushrooms at one of the stalls.  I bought a bag.  Yes, a paper bag filled with the mushrooms.  I now had to figure out what to do WITH those mushrooms as well as the 3 other kinds that were in the fridge at home!

I was going to attempt a moo sho mushroom recipe that I saw on NYTCooking site, but opted instead to free-hand it and put whatever I came up with over rice.

I had some dried cloud ear mushrooms, some sliced baby bellas, some gray oyster mushrooms, and some king mushrooms.  The cloud mushrooms got soaked and then sliced into thin strips, the king mushrooms got sliced lengthwise into 3 or 4 planks, and the oyster mushrooms were torn into bitesized chunks.  Add to the mix slivered ginger, crushed garlic, sliced serrano pepper, 1/2 onion, 1 leek, and leftover green beans.  The onions, garlic, ginger were first sauteed for a bit with a teaspoon of shrimp paste, then the mushrooms and serrano were added and mixed about, and finally a pint of mixed bone stock I made the day before.  (I labeled it Brodo!  It is really delicious and oh so gelatinous.)  I flavored it with some gochujang paste, some rice vinegar, green beans, and fish sauce.  An asian mishmash of flavors.  

It had a definite kick and both Bill and I were sniffling through dinner,  Thank goodness I made lots of rice!  The gochujang is sneaky, it starts out tasting sweetish, and then, wham, the heat hits full force.  Yum, pass the tissues, please.

The above photo is before the brodo went into the mix, and before gochujang.

Dinner ready and delicious.

Dateline: November 19, 2020 ROTOQ-360 Test Spin

I have been trolling and backing things on Kickstarter for a couple of months.  My backings range from pillows to exercise equipment.

A recent product was just delivered.  ROTOQ-360!  I have been doing the happy Homer dance.  In the box came the basic set, motor, stand and rotisserie spit, but wait, there's more, a circular cage, a shish kabob wheel, a sausage wheel, and a rectangular cage.  I am in heaven.

Tested it out a whole chicken on the grill.  

You can see the motor unit on the left, which is wound up prior to cooking.  There is a drip pan below the chicken, and then the frame which holds the motor and spit.

I learned some things during the test run.

1.  crank up the motor fully before the cook

2.  center the food on the spit to facilitate rotation

3.  do not truss the bird

4.  If it's cold out, it will take longer than you think.

The final product was beautifully crisped and browned and was perfectly cooked.  It was juicy and moist.  Just plain yummy.  I used my friend Lyn's suggested brussel sprouts recipe.

Brussel Sprouts with Marmite

Brussel Sprouts

2 T unsalted butter

2 t marmite or vegemite

salt and pepper

Method

1.  Halve the brussel sprouts and steam for 3-4 minutes.  Place on a towel to dry off a bit.

2.  Heat a large pan and add the sprouts.  Char them a bit on all sides.

3.  Add butter and marmite and swirl around the sprouts until they are all covered and cooked through completely.  Sprinkle with pepper.  

4.  Taste before salting as marmite or vegemite is quite salty.  You may not need any further salt.

These were really good.

Thank you, Lyn!