Boring Beef and Peppers

Tired and uninspired.  That's me, tonight.

I had a bit of beef I wanted to use up, some bell peppers, and some mushrooms.  Pepper Steak over rice.  Quick, easy, basic.  Just what I'm looking for.  Except I was feeling exceptionally lazy.  And there, right on the shelf, was a bottle of Wegmans Caribbean Sauce just waiting for me to open it up.  The label held promise.  It said "Sweet and tangy with a kick".  Alas, it was zero for three.  No sweet. No tang.  No kick.  Bummer.

I don't buy a lot of bottled sauces because they usually have crap in them I'm not interested in eating - high fructose corn syrup for one - and a myriad of other frankenfood-garbage that has nothing to do with what my body recognises as nutrition.

The Wegmans sauce was one of only a couple that I saw with an ingredient list shorter than War and Peace.  And no HFCS.

It had an intriguing label from a store I like.  It looked good in the bottle.  I bought one.  And I was disappointed.  The problem with it is that it just doesn't have any flavor.  None.  Nada.  Zip.  I even added some Guamanian Boonie Pepper to no avail.

There was just no there there. And nothing "Caribbean" at all.  At the last minute I actually added a can of diced pineapple with the juice just to add some flavor.

So...  dinner did the trick.  It filled us up, but I won't be picking up any more bottled sauces.  I usually have better ingredients just sitting around the house - even when feeling exceptionally lazy.


Vaguely Chinese

The once cuisine I don't often cook from scratch is Chinese.  It's not as if I don't have the necessary ingredients - I'm just not that good at it.  It doesn't lend itself to my usual devil-may-care style of cooking.

And that's okay.  A doctored up bag of orange chicken will work in a pinch.  And tonight, I didn't even have to do that!

I was up to my ankles trying to find a problem with a website and next thing I know, Victor's calling me to dinner!  I love it!

He took the orange chicken and added red peppers, carrots, zucchini, and spiced up the sauce with sambal oelek.  Yum.

So the website still isn't 100%, but it's better.

And my stomach is smiling!


French Rustic Meatloaf

Meatloaf?!?  Did he say MEATLOAF?!?

Yes, I said meatloaf.  Victor's all-time favorite meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.  It's his birthday.  Who am I to argue?!?

However... meatloaf doesn't have to be boring - as tonight's dinner proved!

Back in December I found a recipe for a French Rustic Meatloaf that sounded intriguing...  Made with ground veal, ground pork, and ... chicken livers.

I've cooked long enough to know that many ingredients can simply blend into a dish and even powerfully-flavored items such as chicken livers can disappear, leaving an undefinable under-flavor that has nothing to do with its natural state.  And that is exactly what these chicken livers did, tonight.  They added a layer of richness that is totally unrecognizable as livers of any sort.  If you hate chicken livers you could make this and not even know they were in there.  Really.  And if you do make it - don't leave them out.  Really.  Trust me on this one.

A couple of hints for when you make this - and I really do believe that everyone should.   It's that good.

  1. It bakes at 475°.  Starting with a reasonably clean oven would help alleviate the billowing clouds of smoke I had in the house.
  2. Placing the loaf pan on a sheet pan to catch the over-spills will also help alleviate the billowing clouds of smoke.
  3. The recipe states 50-55 minutes to cook.  Mine took closer to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Rustic French Meatloaf

  • 1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a rustic loaf)
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 pound chicken livers, separated into lobes, trimmed, and rinsed
  • 3/4 pound ground pork
  • 3/4 pound ground veal
  • 1/4 cup chopped prunes
  • 1/4 cup shelled pistachios
  • 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Accompaniment: Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 475°F with rack in middle.

Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.

Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.

Purée livers in a blender, then transfer to a large bowl. Add pork, veal, prunes, pistachios, thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.

Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 81/2- by 41/2-inch glass loaf pan (see cooks note, below) and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165°F, 50 to 55 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Cover top of meatloaf with parsley before slicing.

Serve with:
buttered boiled potatoes

Cooks' note:
You can use a metal loaf pan, but the meatloaf will take about 15 minutes longer to cook.

I made some cheesy scalloped potatoes in place of the traditional mashed, but we did have the peas.  I can't totally mess with tradition!

This really was one of the better meatloafs I've ever had.  Totally nontraditional, yet comforting at the same time.

Tomorrow, in honor of its French ancestry, I'm going to bring home a baguette and some triple cream brie.  I think nontraditional meatloaf sandwiches are in order.

And in just a little while...

Birthday Cake.

Strawberry Cream.....


Birthday Weekend Part Trois

Many moons ago, I subscribed to Eating Well magazine.  I liked it so much I bought a cook book from them in 1991 or so.  I used to make one recipe in particular on a fairly regular basis: Northern-Style Shredded Beef With Tomatoes.  It's relatively easy to do and the meat can be used for just about anything - from tacos or burritos to just eating as a snack.

We did a kind of a burrito-with-taco-fillings tonight.  Not exactly traditional, but it was really, really good.

I don't follow the recipe verbatim, but this will give you a good idea of what you can do!

Northern-Style Shredded Beef With Tomatoes

  • 1 lb lean boneless beef chuck, well trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
  • 1 medium-sized onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 large scallions, chopped into 1/4" pieces
  • 2 ripe tomatoes. roasted or broiled, cored, peeled and chopped, or 1 15oz can tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 2-3 fresh hot green chilies (roughly 2-3 serrano chilies or 1-2 jalapeño chilies), stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
  • salt to taste

Bring 2 qts water to a boil in a large saucepan, add meat, then skim off any grayish foam that rises the first few minutes of simmering.  Slice half of the onion and halve 1 clove of garlic; add to the meat.  Partially cover and simmer over medium to medium-low heat until the meat is very tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  let the meat cool in the broth.  Strain the liquid and spoon off all the fat that rises to the top; set aside.  Finely shred the meat with your fingers, then dry with paper towels.

Dice remaining onion and garlic.  heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, add onions and shredded beef and cook, stirring frequently, for 8 to 10 minutes, until well browned.  Reduce the heat to medium, add garlic, scallions, tomatoes, and chilies, and cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes have softened, about 4 minutes.  Stir in 2/3 cup of the reserved broth, then simmer until the liquid has evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes.  Season with salt.

Makes enough for 10 tacos.  Serves 3 to 4 as a light main course.

I generally use maybe a 3"-4"-thick piece of eye of round and season the cooking water pretty well with onions, garlic, chipotles, cumin, basil, Mexican oregano... Canned tomatoes are easier (and much more flavorful) this time of year and substitute canned chipotles in adobo.  I like the smoky spiciness.

It can be played with and tweaked to whatever mood you're in!

I made a spicy everything-but-the-kitchen-sink rice, and had bowls of iceberg lettuce, black olives, avocado, diced tomato, shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream to add to the flour tortillas.

Brownies and ice cream later for dessert.

Since Victor's favorite meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas, tomorrow's Birthday Dinner is going to be a variation on that theme.

I found a recipe for a Rustic French Meatloaf that I'm going to try tomorrow.  Chicken livers in Meatloaf?!?  Eh.  Why not?!?


Out of Africa

It's no secret that I love flavorful-hot and spicy foods.  Schezuan, hot Indian or Thai curries, Ethiopian berberé (a woman I worked with at UCSF made it fresh for me!), hot and spicy Mexican chilis, boonie peppers from Guam (thanks, Jay!), and piri-piri from Mozambique, to name but a few.

They're all different.  All unique.

Tonight's meal started with some beef tips I had cut, marinated in the Mozambique piri-piri, vacuum-packed, and froze.  I picked up the piri-piri (which, literally means "chilly-chilly" in Swahili) at Cost Plus last time we were home.  (I also got lots of berberé that trip because Mewded is not around to make it for me, anymore.)  It has a nice kick.  Traditional recipes for the spice blend (piri-piri can either be the pepper itself or a spice blend or condiment) vary, but the addition of lemon is very common.

Homemade Piri-Piri Sauce

  • 10 red hot chiles (birds eye-type are best)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 T. finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 T. chopped parsley
  • 5 chopped garlic cloves
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil

Mash everything but oil in a food processor.  Slowly drizzle in oil.

It should keep - refrigerated - for a goodly amount of time.

So...  with spicy beef cubes as the main plate, and leftover chilled asparagus from yesterday, I decided we needed an accompanying rice.  Wishing to stay on the African continent, I typed in "Mozambique Rice" and didn't find much.  I started searching a little deeper and found Zanzibar Pilau.  Zanzibar is just north of Mozambique, so, at least I was in the right part of the world.

Unfortunately, the recipe was for a whole meal - and I really just wanted rice.

I improvised.

Here's the recipe I started with:

Zanzibar Pilau

The word pilau comes from the Persian word pilav or pilaw, which is also the origin of pilaf, as in "rice pilaf". The pilav rice cooking technique is found throughout the Middle East and West Asia (i.e., Turkey, India, Pakistan). It has been spread across Africa by the Arabs, and was brought by enslaved Africans to the Americas. It is especially common in the Caribbean and Southern United States. In West Africa and the Americas the name has become pearlu, perloo, perlau, plaw, et cetera. Whatever the name, it is rice, vegetables, and meat cooked in a seasoned broth. Here is the Swahili way to make this omnipresent rice dish. See also: Biriani.
women in the comoros

What you need

  • one-half teaspoon cumin seeds
  • one-half teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • several whole cloves ("cloves" not "cloves of garlic")
  • one cinnamon stick (or a few pinches ground cinnamon)
  • a few cardamom pods (or a few pinches ground cardamom)
  • oil for frying
  • several cloves of garlic
  • two teaspoons fresh ginger
  • three cups of rice (uncooked)
  • two to four onions, chopped
  • one to two pounds of meat (beef, chicken, mutton, fish, shrimp, or prawns), cut into bite-sized pieces
  • two to four tomatoes, chopped (or canned tomatoes)
  • two to four potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  • one apple, peeled and cut into slices (optional)
  • one cup raisins or sultanas (optional)

What you do

* Combine cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in a teacup, cover with warm water, stir, and set aside. (Cooking tip: The spices can be tied up in a small sack, like a tea bag, or can be put into a tea infuser before being placed in the warm water. This avoids having whole spices in the dish when it is served.)
* Pound the garlic and ginger together and set aside. Wash the rice, drain, and set aside.
* Heat oil in deep pot. Fry onions until clear. Stir. Add garlic and ginger. Continue stirring and frying until the flavors have mixed -- it should develop a nice aroma.
* Add the meat, stir and cook over high heat until meat is browned on the outside. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the meat and most of the onions, and set them aside. Add the rice and stir it thoroughly to coat each grain of rice with the oil. Add the spices and water. Stir. Wait five minutes. Add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for a few minutes. Stir occasionally.
* Check every few minutes to see if more water is needed and add water (or broth) as necessary. Stir as liquid is added. After ten minutes add the potatoes (and/or the optional apples or raisins) and the meat and onions. Keep covered, keep checking, add water if bottom of pot is dry. Continue cooking over low heat for ten more minutes.
* Remove pot from stove, keep covered. Place entire pot in warm oven for an additional ten to twenty minutes. All moisture should be absorbed by rice and potatoes should be tender. Serve hot.

I had seen several recipes out there including one that had coconut and mango, so I just combined them.

The Quick Version

I sliced a small onion and sauteed it in a pat of butter.  I then added about a half-teaspoon each of cumin, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom to the pot and cooked it all until it was really fragrant.  I then added 1 cup of whole grain brown rice  and coated it with the spices and onions.  Next went 2 cups of beef broth (since I was cooking beef) about 8 sliced sun-dried tomatoes, about a cup of cubed mango and a half-cup of shredded coconut.

Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

I know it worked well because Victor cleaned his plate!

We saved the leftovers and I am going to rework it into a rice salad tomorrow.

Yum.


Chipotle Chicken Sandwich

I feel like such a slacker.  I didn't bake the bread or hand-cut the french fries tonight.  Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow.

I had taken chicken out of the freezer this morning with no clear idea of what I was going to do with it.  This is a perfect example of why I don't plan or shop for meals in advance.  I just don't know on Monday what I'm going to want on Friday - or any other day of the week.  I keep plenty of ingredients in the house and let my taste buds take me where they want to go.  I would much rather open the 'fridge and see something and think "Gee, I need to use this - let me think of something" rather than opening the 'fridge and seeing the ingredients for chicken pot pie - and it's an unexpected 70° outside!  It may be pure delusion on my part, but it seems like I have more creative control this way.

So...  I had chicken and no clear idea of what I was going to do.

At some point this afternoon, I started thinking crepes, which lead to tortillas which lead to melted cheese and Mexican which lead to tonight's Mexican spiced chicken with chipotle mayonnaise sandwich on a baguette.  See how linear that thought process was?!?  From crepe to sandwich in mere seconds!

I sliced the chicken breasts into medallions and seasoned them with cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, and pepper.  I fried them in a splash of olive oil.

I made chipotle mayonnaise by adding a heaping teaspoon of adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo) to 1/4 cup of mayo.

I generously slathered the mayo on the baguette, added pequillo peppers, sliced avocado, the chicken, and jack and cheddar cheeses.  Under the broiler it went to melt the cheese, and dinner was served.

The fries were frozen bagged fries.  They were pretty good.  No nasty ingredients.

I know dinner was good because halfway through the meal, I had to get up and wash my hands - the napkins just weren't enough.

It was worth it.


Cassoulet and Apple Fig Coffee Cake

The Super Bowl is on TV.  I hate to admit it but I'm really not all that interested this year.  I'm not home for the first time in forever.  We used to fly home for my father's birthday - which just happened to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday.  A big party at my sister Eileen's house, lots of fun, food, laughter - and football pools.  No matter what, it was the one time of the year we knew we would all be together.   Pop's no longer with us and because we're flying home in a couple of months for my nieces wedding, we stayed east this year.  Right off the bat, I'm feeling the blah's.

And there are two teams playing that I really could not care less about.  Okay.  Not totally true.  I don't particularly want New Orleans to win, but I do want Indianapolis to lose.  I opened a hotel in Indianapolis circa 1988.  I pretty much dislike Indianapolis.  A lot.

So while others are having their football parties, I'm catching it peripherally.  It's on in the corner of the computer and it's on in the living room.

I decided to cook for the weather, not football tonight.  I soaked a pound of black  beans last night thinking I might make chili.  The chili morphed into a cassoulet of sorts.  Not a classic cassoulet by any means.  More just a homey slow-baked bean stew.

Kinda Cassoulet

  • 4 bacon slices, coarsely chopped
  • 1 lb beef, cubed
  • 1 lb pork, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp herbs d'Provence
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 1 lb black beans, soaked over night and cooked
  • 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 275°F.

Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot until wilted. Add onions and garlic. Add meats and brown.

Add brandy and simmer until almost evaporated. Add tomato paste and heat through. Stir in beans with about 2 cups cooking liquid, tomatoes with juices, and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil.

Cover pot and transfer to preheated oven and bake 2 hours.

I was going to make some beer bread but  got sidetracked with a project I'm working on for a friend... so we had the last of the Pugliese I made last week.  It worked.

And every dinner needs dessert, right?!?  Well... we think so!

Victor made an Apple and Fig Coffee Cake.  Not a coffee cake in the traditional sense of the word, but a cake with a cup of coffee in it!

Apple Fig Coffee Cake

  • 1 Tbsp instant coffee
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped figs
  • 2 medium apples
  • 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 c packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Cool. Peel, core, and shred the apples.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Combine egg, apples, melted butter, and coffee. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just till moistened.

Put it into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350°  for about an hour or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

I did stop what I was doing to watch The Who.  Roger can't hit those high notes anymore, but he does a pretty good job for being 66.  I was bummed that Pete Townsend didn't destroy his guitar at the end.  Oh well.

And as long as I'm ranting... Wasn't the Super Bowl - once upon a time - where they ran really cool, innovative commercials?  These things they've shown tonight are awful.


Mexican Mac & Cheese

I pulled some chorizo out of the freezer this morning with a vague idea of something spicy for dinner.  The only tangible was the sausage.  Everything else was open for inspiration.

Did I mention it's about a million degrees below zero?  Okay.  Not quite, but it was 12° when I left for work this morning.  It's the end of January and we've had it pretty easy thus far.  But I'm a west coast boy who will never - ever - get used to the cold.  I wanted something warm and soothing when I got home.  Macaroni and Cheese started calling my name early.  I thought I'd get a ham steak and do ham & mac & cheese with peas when the idea of a Mexican Mac & Cheese started formulating...

The more I thought of it, the more I wanted it.  Chorizo and tomatoes, jack and cheddar.

A recipe was born...

Mexican Mac & Cheese

  • 1/2 lb fresh chorizo
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • dash cayenne
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 2 cups shredded cheeses (cheddar, jack, whatever...)
  • tabasco sauce
  • worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 pound macaroni

Remove chorizo from casing and brown with onion and garlic.  Add spices and cook until very fragrant.  Add tomatoes.  Heat and set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add flour and stir until smooth.  Cook about 3-4 minutes.  Add milk and cook until thickened.  Add cheese, and a few drops of tabasco and worcestershire sauces.  Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Meanwhile, cook macaroni.

When done, mix drained macaroni with chorizo and tomatoes.  Add cheese sauce and mix well.

Place all in buttered casserole and top with buttered bread crumbs.

Bake at 350° for about an hour.

It was all the right things... rich, creamy, slightly spicy, crunchy topping.  Perfect comfort food for a freezing day.

I can't wait for Spring...


Instant Asian - Sorta

Of all the foods in all the world, Chinese is the one I am least comfortable cooking.

I can get my fingers around a lot of different cuisines, but Chinese has always alluded me.  Possibly (or probably) because it's the one type of food I virtually always ate out.  I remember my first experience with Chinese Food was in the mid-50s at a restaurant in San Francisco called Kwan's.  It was on Geary Blvd around Arguello.  My parents would take us there when there were only the three kids.  Mike would eat a hamburger, Judy wouldn't eat anything, and I ate anything put in front of me.

Over the ensuing 50+ years, I've really never had to cook Chinese.  When I worked at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, we had The Empress Room where I could gorge on gourmet Chinese offerings.  At home, I could pick up the phone and have Andy's Excellent Chow Mein delivered to the door.  And now I'm in the Philadelphia suburbs where nothing is convenient and the best Chinese food is just not dim sum from Yank Sing - or Andy's Excellent Chow Mein.  I'm spoiled.

So... I attempt a Chinese meal now and again, but let's face it - it just ain't San Francisco. I'm very spoiled.

Enter Frozen Food.

I don't buy a lot of frozen entrees.  In fact, I really don't buy any.  But I will pick up frozen Asian foods from time to time.    I have my standards and I have my exceptions.  Love the Assi store in North Wales.

Tonight, a doctored up bag of Chinese Chicken worked.  I added sauteed peppers, diced papayas (thawed, with the juice), and lots of Sambal Oelek.  It was a spicy and sweet dinner in a mere 20 minutes.

I do have a couple of Chinese cook books - and lord knows I have the spices and sauces necessary to do the job.  One of these days I'm just going to have to get serious.


Road to Morocco

My last paper copy of Today's Diet and Nutrition magazine arrived a couple of days ago.  (Unfortunately, they're going to an all-digital format next issue.  I like their recipes but I doubt I will be renewing my subscription.  I spend enough time in front of a computer without reading my magazines here, also!)  But I digress...

There are a score of recipes - Mardi Gras, Italian, French Country Cooking... But under "Healthy Rice Recipes was a recipe for "Moroccan Mushroom Caps".  I wasn't in the mood for stuffed portobello mushrooms, but the rice sounded pretty good.  With a few tweaks, it was the perfect side dish for a Moroccan Beef!

I picked up yet another full Australian beef tenderloin today.  Twenty bucks.  I can't pass up a price like that.  The quality is great, the taste is excellent.  I had new rolls of food bags for the FoodSaver.  I was set.

4 thick steaks, a roast, and "stew meat" went into the freezer.  A pound of cubes stayed out.

I started on the rice...

Moroccan Rice

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 small tomato, diced
  • 1/2 cup currants
  • 2 cups cooked rice
  • salt and pepper, to taste

In a skillet, heat the oil and then add the spices.  Add the tomatoes and currants, then the rice.  Mix well, check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Place in an oven-proof dish and bake, covered, about 20 minutes, at 350°.

I used my favorite whole grain black japonica and mahogany rice.

Then I started on the beef.  I really should have made these the other way around, because the beef takes longer because of all of the reducing.

Oh well.

Moroccan Beef

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb beef cubes
  • 1 small chopped onion
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 1/2 cup dry Sherry
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 18 figs

Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add meat to pot and brown. Transfer meat to bowl. Add onions and saute until wilted and lightly browned. Add spices and stir and cook 1 minute. Add wine and Sherry; boil until reduced to glaze, about 10 minutes.
Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and figs; stir to blend. Add beef and accumulated juices; bring back to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce is thick and beef is tender, stirring occasionally.

This was pretty good.  Victor went back for seconds - a sure sign that a meal is a hit.  And he has enough left over for a nice lunch, tomorrow.

The sauce was silky and thick and the combination of spices really hit the mark.  It was just hot enough, with the sweetness of the garam masala and the figs to offset the heat.  A cheaper cut of meat could be used, the simmering would tenderize just about anything.

Bob, Bing, and Dorothy never had it so good!


Not Quite Cajun

Last week I picked up a couple of andouille sausages.  I bought the Hartmann's brand at Wegmans.  I usually buy D'Artagnon brand, but... when in Rome and all that...

I sliced them up and threw them into the Le Creuset braiser with a splash of olive oil and a chopped onion.

I then added a can of (drained) roman beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and a cup of chicken broth.  When it came to a boil, I added about 3/4 cup of mahogany rice, and it went into a 350° oven for 45 minutes.  I did not need to add any other spices.  The andouille was nicely spicy-hot and flavorful.

And speaking of Le Creuset... I love that pan.  It's perfect for risotto or paella, or braising anything...

When Victor and I merged households lo, these many moons ago, he brought the Le Creuset, and the first of the Calphalon.  I had the KitchenAid Mixer and we both had the Wüsthof knives.  Ours was definitely a marriage made in the kitchen!

Almost all of this stuff is 23 to close to 30 years old.  I know that I got the mixer in 1987 at Service Merchandise in South San Francisco.  Victor started with the Le Creuset in 1980 or 81. He bought it at a store in Philadelphia called Bon Appetit.  Linda - of "Our Biannual Dinner with Linda and David" - was the manager there at the time and got him started on it and the knives.  Linda has always had good taste!

It's nice to know that we will never, ever have to buy another pot, pan, or knife so long as we both shall live!


Chicken Stirfry and Burnt Rice

Oh, how quickly the mighty fall...

Two days of gloating about how fabulous our last two dinners were and karma caught up to me.  Tonight, I burnt the rice.  Burnt.  Black-on-the-bottom-of-the-pot burnt.  Chisel-and-soak burnt.

Burnt.

It was really good mahogany rice, too.  Whole grain, not cheap, really nutritious, takes 45 minutes to cook.  I put it on the stove, put the flame up to high to bring it to a boil, walked out of the kitchen for a moment - and forgot all about it.  Victor walked into the kitchen 20 minutes later and the pot was boiled dry.  And burnt.

Fortunately, it was a good, heavy pot and with a bit of scraping and soaking, it's good as new.

So...  not wanting to wait another 45 minutes for rice to cook - we had white jasmine.

And a simple stirfry.  Chicken thighs, onions, mandarin oranges, and broccoli with a jarred orange sauce doctored up with sambal oelek for some heat.  I was afraid to try anything more complex.