Muffuletta Salad - Shrimp Macaroni Salad - Stuffed Pork Chops Braised in Apricot Nectar

The background:

This week is Administrative Assistant's Week and thanks to the organization skills of Donna Z, we attorneys put together a Really Nice Lunch.  Donna asked if I could do a side dish to go with the pizzas, and that gave me the idea of bringing in some cold salads. 

My first choice was Muffuletta Salad, which is similar to an Italian antipasto salad, and therefore would sing in the same key as the pizza.  I've made the olive salad to go on a Muffaletta Sandwich and I've also made Muffuletta Salad from a Rachael Ray recipe.  Working from both, and throwing in my own twists and turns, I developed a new Muffuletta Salad which was to die for. 

Just this past January, I was right across the street from Central Grocery, drinking chicory coffee and eating beignets at Cafe' DuMonde.  Unfortunately, it was like 31 degrees and 8:00 in the morning, we were on our way back out on the road, and there was no way we were going to be able to sample the original muffuletta, or even buy a jar of their olive salad.  Bummer!!  It seems whenever we are in New Orleans it is either too hot or too cold.  Of the two, I'll take too cold, because the restaurants and bars there just park their trash out front, and you can only imagine what the summer heat does to it.

Back to the Muffuletta Salad - You can eat it as is, or put it over chopped romaine lettuce, or even combine it with cooked macaroni for a great pasta salad.  I take my Muffuletta straight:

1 - 3 oz. bottle of stuffed green manzanilla olives, drained
same amount of black pitted olives (eyeball the amount), drained
1 - 16 oz. jar of Italian mix giardineira, drained (I use Mezzetta brand, and I halve any really large pieces of cauliflower and carrot slices)
1 - 12 oz. jar of quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained (I use Vigo brand)
2 large ribs of celery, chopped
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, patted dry and chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped/*-
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, patted dry and diced
1 tablespoon capers, rough chop
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
handful of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
8 - 12 oz. total Italian-style meats or sausage, diced small.  You should include some pepperoni, Genoa salami and/or Italian dry salami.  Also use some ham.  I happened to have a couple of ounces of capocollo, so I threw that in as well
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, uncut
season with kosher salt, black pepper, and about 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 - 8 oz. bottle of Ken's Steakhouse Dressing, Italian with Garlic and Asiago (Chef's Reserve)

Combine everything is a very large mixing bowl, and gently stir to coat with the dressing.  Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Next I decided on a Shrimp and Macaroni  Salad.  As I mentioned on the "regular" blog, I was inspired to make this after hearing about it from one of my cyber friends up north, who had made it for her family's enormous Easter buffet (they are Italian. There was a LOT of food.  She posted a picture, and I wanted to dive through the screen.)  So after some research, I landed on this recipe which I found interesting because of the addition of horseradish and ketchup.  Here's my adaptation - it makes about 4 pounds (pints?) of salad, and was so good, almost all of it went at our luncheon. 

3 cups of uncooked medium shell pasta, cooked according to package directions to the lower range of time, drained and doused with cold water.  I prefer Ronzoni brand for this,
1/2 medium sweet onion, finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 large stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 cups Hellman's mayonnaise (Best Foods, west of the Rockies)
3/4 cup sweet pickle relish (I use Vlasic Brand)
1/3 cup Heinz ketchup
2 tablespoons juice from the pickle relish (if you get some more pieces of relish in there, that's fine)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (I use Gold's, and for this, I use the one with beet juice added)
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
ground black pepper to taste
4 cups of frozen salad shrimp (I prefer Publix brand.  It comes in a 24 oz. bag and the shrimp are perfect for this salad), defrosted according to package directions

Make sure that the pasta and the shrimp are well-drained.  Use paper towels to pat dry if necessary.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the shrimp and the pasta.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Add the shrimp, and then fold the pasta into the mixture.  There will be plenty of dressing to coat the shrimp and the pasta.  Cover and chill at least 3 hours before serving.

Finally, the Stuffed Pork Chops Braised in Apricot Nectar.  This is surprisingly easy, and the pork stays very moist and tender:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
kosher salt, ground black pepper, sweet Hungarian paprika, a pinch of sugar
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
1 medium McIntosh apple, peeled and diced
1-2.5 oz. can Hidden Valley Salad Crispins
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 tablespoon Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup cooked, crumbled sausage (mild or spicy, your choice)  I happened to use Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Sausage Crumbles.  Worked very nicely.
3/4 cup extra sharp cheddar, shredded

4-5 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick ( I buy a bone-in loin and cut it myself.  Takes 5 minutes and saves $1.20 a pound)
Cajun-style seasoning of your choice.  Emeril's Essence works well.  I used Big Kevin's Bayou Blend.
1-9.6 oz. can apricot nectar
1-15.25 oz. can apricot halves, drained

Prepare the stuffing:  Saute the onion in the olive oil and butter over medium heat until soft and translucent.  Add the apple, and when it is slightly soft (not mushy) and fragrant, pour in the chicken stock to deglaze.  In a medium bowl, combine the contents of the salad crispins container with the onion and apple mixture, and mix gently to moisten all of the croutons.  Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, add the sage, parsley, sausage and the cheese and stir to combine.  Then with a sharp knife (I like a boning knife for this) carefully cut a deep pocket into each chop.  Divide the stuffing among the chops, and gently press close.  I don't bother closing the pocket with toothpicks, but you may like to do so.  Sprinkle both sides of each chop with the seasoning, and brown in additional olive oil in a medium-high pan.  As the chops are done, remove them to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Pour the apricot nectar over and around the chops, and then tightly cover the pan with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the pan, uncover, and add the apricot halves.  Cover and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.  Remove the pan one more time, uncover, and baste the chops.  Return the pan uncovered for another 15 minutes, then remove and check the internal temperature of the chop.  If it hits 160 degrees, you're done.  Don't overcook pork.  It becomes dry, stringy, and tasteless.

To degrease the sauce, remove the chops and apricot halves to another pan or serving dish, and place the pan with the sauce in the refrigerator.  When the fat has risen to the top and solidified, carefully remove it and discard.  Return the apricots to the sauce (I mash them slightly) and reheat the sauce.  Pour the hot sauce over the chops and serve.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

Bubbe's Charoses and More Hamantaschen

Bubbe was Jay Wheeler's wonderful mother, Joan, who passed away about a year ago.  I always looked forward to those times she visited her son's family here in Florida.  It was during one of those Passover visits that she shared her method for preparing charoses.

1 apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup walnut pieces, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons kosher for Passover wine

1 tablespoon sugar - do not add until you taste the mixture

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.  Taste for sweetness.  Add sugar, if desired. 

Whether or not you add sugar is going to depend on what kind of apple you use, what kind of kosher wine you use, and your own personal preferences.  Today I used a McIntosh apple, which is pretty sweet compared to a Granny Smith.  I used Manischewitz white concord wine, which is not as sweet as the one of the darker wines shown below:

When people think of kosher for Passover wine, they usually think of the concord grape, and that is what is generally used to make charoses.  You can use any wine you like, but again, taste before adding sugar.  You may not need it.

Bubbe's original recipe did not call for the ginger, but I like the combination of ginger and cinnamon, so I tweaked it a bit.  You don't have to use it if you are not fond of ginger.  I think it enhances the cinnamon, but your mileage may vary.

You can use the charoses now, but it does benefit from spending about an hour in the refrigerator.  Serve this with Passover matzoh and prepared horseradish, with or without beet juice added:

I personally recommend using the second from the left, which provides a nice sharp counterpoint to the charoses without blowing off the top of your head.  Since this is traditionally served as part of the Passover seder, no host wants their guests crying in their four cups of wine, and you might want to offer the one on the left as well.  Horseradish is also the condiment most closely associated with gefilte fish, so I would definitely offer both to guests.  If you want to know how to catch gefilte fish, click on this link.  Very informative  ;-)

Because I am not doing any major cooking today, I am taking the opportunity to use up the hamantaschen dough I prepared a while back.  I used up the mohn (poppy seed) filling on the last batch, so I opened up a can of the Solo Apricot Filling (Rob's favorite) and then tried two new fillings:  Dickenson's Lemon Curd and Nutella.   I can tell you that both of them work perfectly as hamantaschen fillings.  They don't leak like regular jam or preserves will do, and they taste incredible.

I'm not sure how I ended up with two recipe posts in the same day.  I think I mentioned I was mathematically-challenged, but I can usually count up to two.  Oy.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

Easter Breakfast and an Untraditional Easter Dinner: Kielbasa and Kraut - 4/24/11

It's all in the oven - this isn't so much a recipe as a cooking method.



The neat thing about this is everything was done at exactly the same time.

1 pkg. Pillsbury Grand Biscuits (today we had flaky buttermilk)
6 extra large eggs
6 teaspoons butter
1/2 pkg. precooked bacon
1 pkg. Canadian bacon
brown sugar
canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a muffin tin, place 1 teaspoon of butter in each of 6 cups.  Place in oven while preheating to melt.  Remove when melted, do not let the butter brown.

Place the biscuits in an ungreased pan or baking sheet and lay out the bacon and Canadian bacon in another pan.  Sprinkle some brown sugar over the Canadian bacon and drizzle a little canola oil around it (Canadian bacon is extremely lean).  Carefully crack open six eggs, placing each one on top of the melted butter in the pan.  Season the tops with a little kosher salt and black pepper.

Assuming you have two racks in your oven, place the bacon on the lower of the racks, and the biscuits and eggs on the higher rack.  Set your timer for 15 minutes.

And that's it.  Enjoy.

Kielbasa and Kraut

Okay, I admit this dish involves a leap of faith.  There are a lot of people who do not like sauerkraut, and the idea of combining it with sour cream is more than their palates can bear.  But if you like rustic dishes, you will enjoy this.  It is the antithesis of spicy, but it is extremely flavorful.  I've been making it for well over 35 years, with no complaints.

1 lb. Polska Kielbasa (I use Hillshire Farms), sliced
2 medium onions, halved and sliced
1-1 lb. can of  Bavarian-style sauerkraut, drained  (Silver Floss or Bush's brands are good)
kosher salt, cracked black pepper
caraway seeds
1 cup dairy sour cream (I use Breakstone)
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise (there is only one mayonnaise, and it is Hellman's)


I like Bavarian Style Sauerkraut for this recipe because it is a little more sweet-and-sour, and contains caraway seeds which add a great flavor to the finished dish.  I like caraway seeds so much, I add more of them.

Place the sliced onion in the botton of a large pan.  Cover with the slices of kielbasa.  Cover the pan and steam over medium-low heat until the onions are soft.  Remove the cover, and mix in the sauerkraut, salt, pepper, and additional caraway seeds to taste.  Heat through.

Just before serving, mix the sour cream with the mayonnaise to make a smooth sauce.  Add slowly to the pan with the kielbasa, stirring over low heat.  Add more pepper if necessary.  Be careful not to boil the mixture once you add the sour cream.



Serve with buttered egg noodles and a bowl of green peas.  Start with a salad of romaine, cucumber, tomato and onion, and some crusty bread and sweet butter.  Eat the Cadbury egg for dessert with a cup of hot, strong tea.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

New Brunswick Stew and Kevin's Corn Casserole - 4/22/11

This is just the result of my tweaking Paula Deen's recipe to my liking.  We won't speak of my other experiment, which involved two pages of ingredients.

New Brunswick Stew
1 rotisserie chicken, about 2 pounds, skin removed and discarded.  Remove the meat from the carcass and cut or tear into smaller pieces.

1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup sugar
2 - 16 oz. cans creamed corn
3/4 cup ketchup (I use Heinz)
3/4 cup prepared barbecue sauce (I use Sonny's Sweet Barbecue Sauce)
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt, black pepper, and celery salt to taste

Mix everything in a large pot.  Simmer slowly, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, stirring often.




Serve with white rice and corn bread or this corn casserole recipe which I got from my friend Kevin.  This recipe is a southern classic, so I have no idea who developed it or who should get the credit. 

1 box Jiffy corn bread mix

1 can of creamed corn

1 can of sweet corn, drained

1 egg

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 pint sour cream

¾ cup milk

Grated cheddar cheese and/or pepper jack cheese, to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish (or double the recipe and use a 9x13 inch baking dish.)  Combine all the ingredients, and mix well.  If you want, add some of the grated pepper jack cheese into the batter.  Bake for about an hour.  The batter will puff up nicely and then become firm, and the top should be golden brown.  Once it’s done, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top … it will melt on its own.

If you double the recipe, you can use another brand of corn bread mix, which comes in a larger (18-22 oz.) box.  I try to get one of the brands that makes a sweet or honey cornbread. True southerners shudder at the thought,  but hey, I'm the descendant of Russian Jews, and we put sugar in everything.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

Pesach Pescado Plaki (Passover Fish Plaki)

This recipe was inspired by the recipe for Fish Plaki that I found in one of my Greek cookbooks.  We were fortunate to be able to travel to Athens over the 2005 Thanksgiving holiday, and I can tell you it is impossible to get a bad meal in Greece.  It was a delicious vacation, and the sights were pretty incredible as well.

Cory and Mom at the Acropolis - November, 2005

Since tonight is the first night of Passover, I developed a dish which celebrated the flavors of the Mediterranean and the contents of my refrigerator, while comporting with the rules of Passover eating.  Matzoh makes an awesome stuffing, just as matzoh meal works better than breadcrumbs in making a delicious meatloaf.  You might remember the old commercial "you don't have to be Jewish to eat ..."  I can't remember if it was Jewish rye bread or Hebrew National hotdogs, but you get the idea.

To seed a tomato, cut in half crosswise and very gently squeeze out the seeds and liquid membrane

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup butter
2 large onions, halved crosswise and sliced
3 large stalks of celery, including leaves, roughly chopped
5-6 mini peppers (red, orange, yellow), chopped; if you like heat, you can substitute one small jalapeno for one mini pepper
2 carrots, chopped
5-6 large cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 very large or 2 large ripe tomato (preferably ugli or ugly ripe), seeded and chopped
a few drops of green (jalapeno) Tabasco sauce (entirely discretionary)
3 boards of regular Passover matzoh, broken into very small pieces
1 egg, at room temperature, beaten lightly

Kosher salt
Coarse black pepper
Cavender's Greek Seasoning
Dried oregano
Granulated Garlic
Paprika
Additional butter for pan

6-7 fillets tilapia

1/2 cup white wine

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and oil in a large saute pan.  Add the onions, and season with salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning.  I added a touch of sugar, but that's me. Saute the onions in the oil and butter until soft.  Add the celery, peppers, carrots, garlic, and tomato.  Simmer until liquid has been released and reduced.  Do not allow all of the liquid to evaporate.  Taste and adjust your seasonings, and if you are using the green Tabasco, add it now.

Add the broken matzoh to the vegetables, and stir to combine.  Check your seasoning again, and if you like, you can also add a little granulated garlic, oregano, and/or paprika in addition to the other spices.  Take the pan off the heat and let the stuffing cool a bit.  When it has cooled, quickly stir in the beaten egg. 

Grease a baking pan with butter.  Place the tilapia fillets in the pan and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, oregano, granulated garlic, and paprika.  If you have a little butter left from greasing the pan, use it to dot the fish.  Divide the stuffing equally on top of each fillet.  Pour the wine and lemon juice around and on the fillets, and sprinkle the stuffing with a little paprika.

Bake for 45 minutes until the stuffing is set and beginning to brown slightly, and the fish flakes easily.  As my son just told me, this is "fantastic" and "seder worthy."  High praise indeed.  I hope you enjoy it as much as he did.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth. 

The Tweak and Fiddle, or How to Make Perfect Mandelbrot (and Rugelach) in an Imperfect World - 4/16/11

I've been checking out recipes for mandelbrot across the vast topography of the Internet, as well as consulting my not-inconsiderable cookbook collection, and I am somewhat surprised by the variety of recipes for this simple cookie.  Ultimately, though, it seems to come down to sugar, oil, eggs, flour, and a flavoring extract.  That's it.  The rest is all lily-gilding as far as I am concerned.  That's not to say I haven't baked my share of gilded lilies, chock-full of chips, nuts, and every dried fruit known to man, but when it comes to authentic, I just have to say no.

I finally found two likely candidates on the Internet, compared them with a critical eye, observed the interesting differences in the proportions of essential ingredients, and then pretended I was in an old-style Chinese restaurant, choosing two from column A and one from column B.  This is an experiment, and as such, I cannot predict the outcome.  Update:  as expected, I had to tweak and fiddle, both with amounts and with methodology.  I am quite satisfied with the result, and hope you enjoy it as well.

Inspiration Nation 1972 Mandelbrot

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup corn or canola oil

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (if using the dried zest, also add 1/4 teaspoon pure orange extract)

2 teaspoons almond extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons half and half and sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or baking parchment.

First get your dry ingredients together.  Sift together the flour with the baking powder and set aside.  Using a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is thick and light.  On low, mix in the oil, the orange juice, orange zest, orange extract if using, and the almond extract until well combined.  Now add in the flour-baking powder mixture in thirds, mixing well after each addition.

Separate one-quarter of the dough, put it into a bowl, and stir the cocoa and cinnamon into it, using your hands to knead so that the dough is a uniform color.

At this point, you will notice that the cocoa dough is fairly stiff, but the vanilla dough is more the consistency of a batter.  Never fear, here is how you do it:  with a regular ice cream scoop, place two separate lines of four scoops of vanilla dough, leaving some vanilla dough unused.  Then with a smaller scoop, divide the cocoa dough in a line on top of the vanilla dough.  Also with the smaller scoop, divide the remaining vanilla dough on top of the cocoa. 

Now flour your hands and gently work the vanilla dough over and around the cocoa, flattening slightly and shaping the edges and ends into a loaf shape. Some of the cocoa dough will peak through, that's fine.  Brush the tops of each loaf with half and half, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and cut the rolls into 1/2 inch slices while still hot.  Spread the slices on the silpat and bake for five more minutes.  Remove from pan and place on wire racks to cool.

Incidentally, I just remembered that my brother's mother-in-law did not slice and bake the finished mandelbrot loaves; instead she presented a whole mandelbrot loaf which I could slice as I wished, to eat untoasted.  Try it both ways and see which you prefer.  To biscotti (double bake) or not biscotti ... that is the question.  Well, not for me, I'm leaving it whole and untoasted.

As Mo Rocca says, "the result is ... deliciousness."

The other recipe for today is tried and true, and that is Maida Heatter's recipe for rugelach.  The link will take you to the New York Times article from 1988.  Follow her recipe and you can't go wrong.  My adaptation is below:

Inspiration Nation Rugelach for the 21st Century

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 pound cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (I stir the flour with a whisk before measuring; that's all the sifting you need) 

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup currants or raisins (if using raisins, chop them into smaller pieces) 

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

2 tablespoons cream or half and half or milk

Prepare the pastry the night before you plan to bake the rugelach.

To make the pastry, put the butter and cream cheese into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a chopping blade.  Pulse the mixture until combined but not soupy.  Add the flour and pulse until a ball starts to form.  Spin the machine two or three times, then remove the dough.  It will be extremely sticky, so dust your hands with some flour to make handling it easier.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board. Flour your hands and gather the dough into a ball. Divide this into four equal pieces, then form four discs. Wrap each piece in waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or a piece of baking parchment. 

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for the filling and set aside.

"The spice must flow."

Place one ball of dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Begin rolling the dough, working around to keep the circle reasonably even. You can move the dough around by moving the waxed paper clockwise. Do not let the dough become warm. If it becomes sticky, remove the top piece of waxed paper, spinkle over some flour on both sides, then replace the waxed paper and continue rolling, turning the dough over occasionally to roll both sides. You are working towards a circle about 9 inches in diameter. Don't worry about a slighly uneven edge.

Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush the dough with a tablespoon of the melted butter. Sprinkle the dough all over with one-fourth (a scant 1/4 cup) of the sugar-spice mixture. Sprinkle with one-fourth of the currants or raisins and one-fourth of the pecans. Roll the rolling pin lightly over the top to press the filling slightly into the dough.

Using a long, sharp knife, cut the circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Roll each wedge jellyroll fashion, rolling from the outside toward the point. Do not be dismayed if some of the filling falls out. Place each roll, point side down, about one inch apart on the lined cookie sheet. 

With your fingers, brush the top of each rugelach with a little of the cream.  Sprinkle with a little sugar if you like. 

Place the cookie sheet on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake for  25 minutes. Preferably at mid-point during the baking, you should reverse the sheets top to bottom and front to back, to insure even browning. When the rugelach are done, remove them with a metal spatula and transfer them to racks to cool.

My son now wants to make baklava ... but that is another blog post.  First though, another Internet search.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

Inspiration Nation Southern Chicken Pot Pie - 4/13/11

This is easy to prepare ... comforting to eat ... pretty to look at. 

2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, halved and sliced
3 large chicken breast halves, total weight about 1 1/2 pounds, cut into one inch cubes
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
kosher salt, black pepper, Emeril's Essence
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1/4 cup sherry
1-1 lb. bag Publix frozen vegetable soup mix, defrosted in colander under hot running water
1 tube Grands Flaky Layers Honey Butter Biscuits (8 big biscuits)

4 individual oven to table crocks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First, take a leek:  Leeks look like green onions on steroids.  They are a cousin to onions, mild mannered and well behaved.  One thing about leeks, you really don't get the full benefit of the flavor raw, so they are always cooked.  They also tend to be sandy, so you will want to trim off the root end and the dark green leaves, cut the leek in half lengthwise, and run them under cold water.  Dry well with paper towels, then slice.

Melt the butter in a large pan, and when bubbly, add the sliced leeks.  Stir and cook until they soften.  Don't let them brown.  Remember to season them with salt and pepper while cooking.

Season the cubed chicken with salt, pepper, and Essence.  Add the chicken to the pan with the leeks and cook the chicken until no pink color remains. 

Strip the leaves from the thyme sprigs and add them to the pan.  Now add the flour to the pan, and stir to coat the chicken and leeks completely.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the flour no longer has a "raw" smell, and looks a little pasty (you've just made a roux.  Mazel tov!)  Combine the stock, cream, and sherry, and pour gradually into the pan, stirring after each addition.  When all the liquid is added, bring contents of pan to a boil, then lower heat slightly and keep stirring while the sauce bubbles and thickens.  Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning and sherry, if you like.  Stir the well-drained vegetables into the pan and heat everything together so it thickens.  Your sauce should look like it is somewhere between a medium and a thick bechamel.  Check your seasoning one more time, and adjust if necessary.

Carefully divide the hot chicken filling between the four crocks.  Each crock will be filled to within an inch of the top.  Don't overfill.  Open the biscuits, and cut each biscuit in half.  For each crock, take two of the biscuits (4 halves) and separate each half into two flaky layers.  Arrange on the top of the chicken filling.  When all the pot pies are complete, bake on the middle rack of a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the biscuit topping is firm and starting to brown.  Don't overbake or the filling will start to bubble up and leak out.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.

The Three Rs: Ribs, Risotto, Rutabagas and a Gar-Bonus

That's today's cooking ... I posted the sauce and rib recipes yesterday, and finished the dish today.

 

Risotto gets a bad rap for being fussy to prepare.  It is actually quite easy, and while you do have to pay close attention to it, the whole cooking process takes under a half hour, including the infamous stirring.  I find it relaxing to prepare, and comforting to eat.  While I have two cookbooks that are devoted just to risotto recipes, I usually rely on a basic recipe which is good all by itself.  The variations to risotto are completely personal and can be as simple as adding a cup of fresh peas or as complex as my curried seafood risotto, which I developed after eating the dish in Italy.

I also developed this recipe for risotto with broccoli that has been enhanced with garlic, olive oil, butter, and some toasty pine nuts for texture and added flavor, after finding I had a single lonesome box of defrosted chopped broccoli languishing in my refrigerator.  I always think of broccoli as an Italian vegetable, and like lamb, it has a natural affinity for garlic.

Inspiration Nation Risotto Marco Polo 

1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
4 cloves of peeled garlic, grated on a microplane
1 - 10 oz. box of frozen chopped broccoli, defrosted, drained

Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat until they take on some color and become fragrant.  Watch them carefully, as they will go from toasty to burnt in a second.  Take them off the heat before they darken too much, as they will continue to toast in the hot pan and from carryover heat.  Remove them from the pan onto a flat surface and let them cool.  Add the olive oil and butter to the pan, and when the butter is melted, add the garlic.  As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, stir in the broccoli.  Cook over medium low until broccoli is softened, then stir in the pine nuts.  Remove from the heat.

In the meantime ... begin the risotto.  This recipe demands a well-orchestrated mise en place, so gather all of your ingredients, read the recipe all the way through, and walk this way --->

1 cup Arborio rice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
About 4 cups (1-32 oz. carton) chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Place the chicken stock in a medium pot and heat just to the boiling point.  Keep it simmering on the stove.  If it seems to be evaporating, add a little water and reheat before using.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over low heat and add the onions.  Season onions with kosher salt and black pepper, and then saute until translucent.  Next, add the Arborio rice to the and stir to coat the grains with the oil.  Saute with the onions to toast each grain, between 5 and 7 minutes. 

Once the rice is lightly toasted, add the white wine and stir with a wooden spoon.  Always stir in the same direction.  Once the wine is mostly absorbed, add a standard sized ladle of stock to the pan, stirring occasionally until the stock is absorbed.  Continue adding the stock, one ladle at a time, until it is all absorbed and the rice is fully cooked but still a little chewy.  Stir in the butter, the cheese, and the cream.  Then stir in all of the broccoli-pine nut mixture.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Serve immediately.

If you are going to reheat any leftover risotto, place it into a microwave safe dish and stir in a little cream or half and half or even a little leftover stock.  Cover and reheat in the microwave on medium high, just until heated through.


Whipped Rutabagas with Bacon and Caraway

4-6 strips precooked bacon, diced, crisped a bit in a frying pan, and removed to a paper towel to drain
2 pounds yellow turnips (rutabagas) - I like to get 2 medium instead of one large rutabaga
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon sugar
kosher salt and coarse black pepper to taste
Sweet (Hungarian) paprika

Rutabagas have to be peeled and diced, and this is not an easy task without a santoku or chef's knife.  Cut off a slice from the top and from the bottom; place the rutabaga flat on the cutting board, then slice off the waxed peel from the top down.  Repeat around the entire rutabaga and trim off any peel you may have missed.

Cut the rutabaga into halves, and then cubes.  Be extremely careful when cutting up a rutabaga; it is too easy to cut yourself in the process.

Place the cubes in a pot and cover with water.  Heat to boiling over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until very tender, 25 to 30 minutes.  Drain well and place the rutabaga cubes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade.  Using the pulse button, process the turnips until chopped, then add the butter and sour cream and process until mixture is fluffy but still has a little texture to it.  Add in the sugar, caraway seeds, salt, pepper, and cooked bacon bits, and process a few seconds more.

Butter a medium sized casserole dish and transfer the mixture to the dish.  Sprinkle the top lightly with some paprika.  Before serving, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then bake the dish 20 minutes until hot.

Chick Peas with Chorizo (a side dish)

1-15 oz. can chick peas (garbanzos) drained, plus
1-7.75 oz. can of chick peas, drained
1-15 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes, drained well, with tomato pieces cut in half with kitchen scissors
1 dry chorizo sausage (these are purchased off the shelf, not the refrigerator case), casing removed and then diced small
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

In a medium frying pan, saute the chorizo in the olive oil until the chorizo starts to get crispy and releases its reddish oil into the pan.  Remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon and hold aside.  Add the onion to the pan with the oil, and sprinkle with salt and plenty of pepper.  Saute until edges of onion pieces start to brown, and then add the chick peas.  Heat the chick peas in the oil for a few minutes, and then carefully stir in the tomato pieces.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.