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!
Sunday Dinner
Homemade meatballs, sausages, and pork loin, rigatoni, cheese, homemade Pane Siciliano, pepperoni bread, and Apple Cake.
We ate well, today!
We called Victor's mom, brother, and sister-in-law to come over for Sunday Dinner. It's a time for family to sit around the table for a few hours and eat. And talk. And eat. And eat. What a great tradition! We did the Irish version at my house when I was growing up. Different food, same concept. It really is a great tradition.
Today, it was cold, wet, and raining outside, so a big pot of sauce on the stove and a couple of loaves of bread and a cake in the ovens was the perfect way to get the day rolling!
Victor started off by making sauce. No two Italians make their sauce the same way. In fact, he doesn't even make it exactly the same way every time. Into the tomato sauce goes the browned meatballs and browned pork and sausage, red wine, garlic, all the basics. Suffice to say, it is always fabulous.
And while the sauce was simmering on the stove, I made bread. Pane Siciliano.
Last night I pulled out my beat-up old copy of The Italian Baker by Carol Field. I had planned on making her Pane Pugliese and it needs a biga, or starter. It's one of my most favorite breads. I was pulling the ingredients together when I turned the page and saw a recipe for Pane Siciliano. Something new. I actually had the semolina flour (shock!) and decided to give it a try.
Pane Siciliano
Makes 2 loaves
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp malt syrup
- 1 cup water, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups durum flour or semolina for pasta
- 1 cup plus 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 to 3 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
By hand:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil, malt, and 1 cup of water. Mix the flours and salt and whisk in 1 cup at a time into the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes, occasionally slamming the dough down vigorously to develop the gluten.
By mixer:
Stir the yeast into the 1 1/4 cups warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the oil and malt with the paddle; then add the flours and salt and mix until smooth. Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until; the dough is firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body, 4 to 5 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface.
First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough should be springy and blistered, but still soft and velvety.
Shaping and second rise. Punch the dough down, knead it briefly, and let it rest for 5 minutes. Flatten it with your forearm into a square. Rollit into a long, narrow rope, about 20 to 22 inches long. The dough should be so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope. Cut the dough in half and shape each into a loaf. (The book shows 3 classic shapes and illustrations; Mafalda, Occhi di Santa Lucia, and the baked Corona. I made the Santa Lucia.)
Place the loaves on floured parchment paper, peels sprinkled with corn meal, or oiled baking sheets. Brush the entire surface of each loaf with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds; pat the seeds very gently into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and then a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Baking. Thirty minutes before baking heat the oven with baking stones to 425°. Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal just before sliding the loaves onto them. Bake 10 minutes, spraying 3 times with water. Reduce the heat to 400° and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer. Cool on racks.
The final bread came out excellent, but I had to play with the dough a bit.
First off, it was way too dry. I know that there are a bazillion and one factors involved in making bread; the moisture content of the flour, the weather and humidity, yadda yadda yadda, but I had to add almost a half-cup of water to the dough. I finally worked it into a close approximation to what was described "firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body" but it never really had the elasticity I think it should have had from the description. Same with the forming of the dough. It rolled out well, but didn't have the "so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope" texture. It had some, but not what was being described.
Nonetheless, it came out great! It had that rich semolina flavor and fine texture.
Marie brought over Pepperoni Bread, so we had that as an appetizer along with some salame, provolone, garlic crackers...
It was pretty good!
We sat down to a big salad, the pane, the meats, and a bowl of rigatoni.
Enough food for a small army.
Just what Sunday Dinner is supposed to be.
And then it was coffee and Apple Cake.
Victor got the recipe from his cousin Nancy, years ago. It is really really good and I love it when he makes it!
Apple Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 5 large apples
Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and cut apples into small chunks. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture.
In a well-greased tube pan, pour alternate layers of batter and apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
Another great thing about this cake is it works well as a morning coffee cake as well as an evening dessert.
I see a great breakfast in my future!
Andouille and Beans
Andouille, chicken, beans, peppers, tomatoes... A pot of simmering wonderfulness in a mere 20 minutes!
I knew tonight was going to be a bean-and-andouille-something, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be until I finished cooking it. That's the way of it, sometimes. Tim's Create-A-Meal. It works. So did the andouille.
The beauty of andouille sausage is it doesn't need a lot of additional herbs and spices to make a dish flavorful. If you're using a good andouille, the sausage itself packs enough of a flavorful punch to carry a dish.
Of course, that doesn't mean you can't add to your hearts content, it just means you don't necessarily have to. I was almost restrained tonight. I didn't add any additional herbs, but I did add some additional flavor.
I had fried up a bunch of long Italian hot peppers on Monday and Victor had roasted a bunch of garlic. If it's in the 'fridge, it's fair game, Both came to dinner, tonight!
This was a throw-together recipe that I'll never really make exactly, again. It's a good base, though, for playing with and making your own.
Chicken, Andouille, and Beans
- 1 chicken breast, diced
- 2 andouille links, diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 2 cans pink beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 roasted red peppers, diced
- 6 fried Italian peppers, diced
- 4 cloves roasted garlic
- several shots Tabasco
- salt and pepper, to taste
Brown chicken and andouille in a bit of olive oil. Add tomatoes, beans, and remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and then simmer.
Check for seasonings and add additional Tabasco, and salt and pepper, as desired.
This is great as-is, or serve it up as you would red beans and rice - atop cooked white rice.
We had it with the rye bread I made the other day. In case you're wondering, it freezes great!
Tomorrow is going to be a bit of an Italian feast. Victor is going to make sauce and I'm going to make a Pane Siciliano - bread made with semolina flour.
Can't wait!
More Truffles
What do you do when you have truffle sauce left over from a previous dinner?!? Why... you rework it into a sauce for swiss steak, of course!
Last night was a melt-in-your-mouth-tender filet. Tonight was a pounded round steak. Both were greatly enhanced by that sauce.
Tonight I pounded and floured the steaks and browned them in a bit of olive oil. I removed them from the pan and added about 8 oz sliced mushrooms and browned them. A splash of red wine a splash of beef broth, and put the steaks back in to simmer while I did the carrots.
Out came the mandoline and in no time I had a mound of shoestring carrots. I steamed them a bit, drained them, and added a splash of honey, butter, dill, salt and pepper.
When the carrots were just about done and the potatoes mashed, I added the remainder of last night's truffle sauce to the simmering steaks, let it all get nice and hot, and dinner was served.
Filets and Truffles
All good things must come to an end.
This good thing was the truffles our dear friends Ann and Julie gave us when they visited a while ago. I had saved the last two - packed in arborio rice and vacuum-packed in a mason jar in the top corner of the 'fridge where it's the coldest.
As I popped the seal of the jar, the rich, earthy scent hit me. I was psyched!
There was roughly one cup of rice, so I did a very simple 2 cups mushroom stock and a pat of butter, with a pinch of salt. I added a half of a truffle, minced and cooked, covered, for 20 minutes.
I pan-seared the steaks (I got a deal on a whole Australian tenderloin) and set them aside in another pan and used the searing pan to make the truffle sauce. I finished the steaks off in a 425° oven for about 7 minutes. They were perfectly rare.
Truffle Sauce
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups mushroom stock
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 truffle, cut into match stick-sized pieces
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook shallots in pan used to sear steaks, adding a pat of butter or splash of olive oil, if necessary.
Add white wine and reduce to about a third, scraping up any fond in the pan. Add the mushroom stock and reduce down by half. Add the truffles and reduce heat to low.
Mix a few tablespoons of the liquid to the egg yolks to temper and then stir into the sauce. Cook until thickened. Do not boil!
Check for seasoning and add S&P as desired.
The rice was rich, the steaks tender and juicy, and the sauce velvety-smooth.
Thanks, Ann and Julie!
Blood Orange Chicken
I picked up a bag of blood oranges yesterday without a clear idea of what I wanted them for. They looked good, the price was right. I bought 'em.
They called to me all night and this morning I decided a blood orange chicken was just what we needed for dinner. And I was right!
Blood Orange Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- 3 blood oranges
- 2 pieces candied ginger, minced
- 3/4 cup sherry
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
- crushed ginger snaps
With veg peeler, peel thin strips of peel from 1 orange. Slice in thin strips. Set aside. Juice two oranges and separate the third into segments. Set aside.
Flour chicken breasts and brown in hot olive oil. Remove chicken and add sherry to pan. Reduce by about half.
Add juice and reduce by a third. Add chicken broth and bring to boil.
Add minced candied ginger and the orange peel strips, and then add chicken breasts back into pan.
Place pan in hot oven and bake about 30 minutes.
When chicken is done, remove from oven, Plate chicken. Add blood orange segments to pan and thicken pan juices with a bit of cornstarch mixed with cold water.
Spoon sauce over chicken and top with crushed ginger snaps.
I made whole grain black rice and :::drum roll, please::: canned creamed corn.
Yes, you read that correctly. Canned creamed corn. I was at the grocery store on Monday and saw it on sale for 39¢ a can. I bought two. I honestly can't remember the last time I had canned creamed corn. It's been a really long time. And it didn't disappoint. There's three kernels of macerated corn in a sauce of sugar and modified food starch. Not exactly high on the nutrition list, but what the hell. I need to fall off my soap box every now and again.
It's just one of those guilty pleasures.
We also had more of the rye bread. It lasted three days - not bad for a fresh loaf of bread.
We'll have real vegetables tomorrow.
Pork Roast, Rye Bread, and an Apple Tart
I decided it was time to do something a tad bit different tonight - a bone-in pork roast!
It's been a while.
The seasonings were pretty basic - garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. The fun twist cam in the pan - red wine and lingonberry concentrate! (Thank you, Ikea!!) I poured about a cup of wine and a half-cup of the lingonberry concentrate in the pan and used it to baste the pork as it was cooking.
I quartered a couple of potatoes and added them to the pork roast pan about half-way through the cooking. The pan juices made a perfect sauce.
And because I was at the grocery store today... I picked up a bag of rye flour. Which, of course, meant I had to make a loaf of rye bread.
Actually, I made two loaves. James Beard, again.
Rye Bread
- 1 pkg active dry yeast
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk combined with 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp softened butter
- 1 heaping tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 2 1/2 cups rye flour
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (or more, if needed)
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1 egg white beaten lightly with 2 tbsp water
Disolve the yeast and honey in the warm water and allow the mixture to proof for 4 or 5 minutes.
Combine the warm milk and warm water with the softened butter and add to the yeast mixture along with the salt and caraway seeds.
Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When you have addeed about 4 1/2 cups the dough will become difficult to stir and quite sticky, but continue to add the remaining flour a tablespoon at a time.
Scrape out the dough onto a floured board, and using a baker's scraper or a large metal spatula, scrape under the dough and fold the dough over. Continue to lift and fold, and with your free hand start pressing down and away from you on these folded areas, adding more flour as needed to dust your hands and to sprinkle the board.
After 2 or 3 minutes of this procedure you can eliminate the scraper.
Flour both hands and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is soft, velvety, and elastic.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well-buttered bowl, turning to coat with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area to double in bulk, which will take from 1 to 2 hours.
Punch down, turn out on a lightly floured board, and divide into two equal pieces.
Let the dough rest for 2 or 3 minutes, and then shape into two loaves, either free-form or for well-buttered 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pans.
If you are making free-form loaves allow them to rise, covered, on a buttered baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal until almost doubled in size, and then quickly invert them and brush with the egg and water mixture.
Otherwise, let the loaves rise, covered, in their pans until they have doubled in bulk and then brushing the tops with the egg white and water mixture.
Bake at 400° from 45 to 50 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped with the knuckles.
Cool thoroughly on racks before slicing.
Beard, like Julia Child, or many other cookbook writers, go into a lot of detail and tend to make things sound more complicated than they really are. This is a pretty easy bread to make.
And tasty, too!
Speaking of tasty...
Guess what Victor made for desert last night?!?
A bit of a free-form puff pastry with apples!
He rolled out a sheet of puff pastry, sauteed a couple of granny smith apples in butter, brown sugar and a bit of white sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. He sprinkled in a big teaspoon of flour to help thicken it all, and set it in the middle of the pastry, folded up the sides and into the oven it went - following the instructions on the puff pastry package.
Yumlicious!
A Loaf and a Bowl
A steaming bowl of soup and a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven. The perfect meal when it's 22° outside. Yes. twenty-two degrees. Of course, compared to some of our friends, it's downright balmy here.
All I can say is B-r-r-r-r-r. Well... I could say more, but this is a G-Rated Blog for the most part!
Victor made the soup today and I made the bread.
The soup was simple. Chicken thighs, diced and sauteed in olive oil, carrots, celery, and onions, also diced and sauteed. Into that went some diced mushrooms and a cup of white wine. He reduced the wine, added 2 quarts of chicken stock, and some salt and pepper.
No fancy herbs or spices. Very basic - and very good.
I did James Beard's basic French-style loaf. I can make that one in my sleep. I think it's time to get creative, again.
I've been out of whole wheat flour for a while now, but I think I'll pick some up tomorrow. Maybe some rye flour, as well! I really do like to get the bread-making gene active this time of year.
Not to mention just how inexpensive a loaf of bread and a pot of soup can be to make.
It's the only good thing about this time of the year. I hate the cold.
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.
Manicotti
Sometimes ya just know when something is going to work. This was one of those times.
I made a goodly amount of ragu last night knowing I wanted to make manicotti this week. This week ended up being tonight.
I took about 2 cups of the ragu and added about 3/4 cup ricotta and 1 egg and mixed it well.
I cooked the manicotti noodles and then stuffed them using a pastry bag. For grins and giggles, I put a small mozzarella ball into the middle of each one and filled from both ends.
I made a light white sauce with parmesan cheese and used it for the sauce. (2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, 2 cups milk, pinch salt, pinch pepper, maybe an ounce of grated parmesan.)
The manicotti went into a buttered casserole with a little sauce on the bottom and more on top, covered with foil, and baked at 350° for about 40 minutes.
Garlic bread and peas finished it off.
It was another plate-licker.
Sausage and Veal Ragu
There are times to be humble and there are times to just jump up and say "I Did Good". Tonight's dinner is definitely of the latter! I did good!
I had a pound of veal stew meat that I bought a while back with no particular recipe in mind. Today, I pulled it out of the freezer, deciding that the weather outside called for a stew of sorts.
Feeling a bit uninspired, I started going through old magazines (I've tossed most of them over the years but still have a few too many lying about...) and found a recipe for a pasta dish with a sausage and veal ragu. It wasn't the 'stew' I was looking for, but it was perfect for the weather.
Naturally, I didn't follow the recipe but used it as a base to make my own. I also used my homemade Italian Sausage.
And it worked. Really well.
Sausage and Veal Ragu
- 1 cup water
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 lb Italian sausages, casings removed
- 1 lb veal stew meat, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1 qt mushroom broth
- 2 cans diced tomatoes in juice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried sage
- pasta
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Soak mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water about 15 minutes. Strain soaking liquid through coffee filter into bowl. Coarsely chop mushrooms. Set liquid and mushrooms aside.
Sauté onion, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic until vegetables are tender but not brown.
Add sausage, breaking it up, and cook until brown; about 5 minutes.
Add veal and sauté until brown; about 5 minutes.
Add wine. Increase heat to high and boil until wine is almost evaporated, about 10 minutes.
Add brandy and continue reducing.
Add 2 cups mushroom broth; boil 15 or so minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add reserved mushroom liquid. Continue boiling until liquid is almost absorbed, about 10 minutes.
Mix in tomatoes with juices, bay leaves, sage, and porcini mushrooms. Bring to boil again and reduce until thick - about 20 minutes.
Add remaining 2 cups mushroom broth and simmer uncovered until sauce is very thick, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with papardelle or fettuccine.
I cooked up some fettuccine and served it all with the remainder of last nights bread. Victor licked his bowl clean.
I don't often make dishes that require constant reductions like this. This was easily 2 1/2 hours of boiling and simmering - but the flavors concentrated and intensified over and over and over. I could have just stood at the stove with a spoon.
I made a big batch because I am going to rework the leftovers into a stuffed manicotti dish either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Can't wait!