Cuban-Style Mojo Citrus Marinade & Cooking Sauce
I grocery shop for Victor's mom on Mondays. It's not a big deal - she's easy to shop for - but she does have a few things she wants that can only be gotten at the local Acme.
I am not crazy about Acme. They're a lot more expensive than other stores, for one, and even though they have remodeled, I still can't seem to get past what a dump it was when we first moved here.
But... Last week instead of doing my really quick run-in-and-run-out, I decided I needed to at least walk the store and give them another real chance. It's the holidays, and all. I was feeling slightly magnanimous, or something.
Up-and-down every aisle I went, looking at different products and mentally comparing prices with PathMark and Wegmans. For the most part, they were higher and I really wasn't finding a lot of things to put in that huge shopping cart I was pushing around.
I'm not a huge National Brand shopper and tend to zero in on store brands and regional items. One brand that seemed to be everywhere was "Culinary Circle." A quick look-up on the phone showed that it's the more upscale private label of Acme's parent company, SuperValu.
I noticed some simmer/stirfry-type sauces that looked interesting. One, in particular, was a Cuban-Style Mojo Citrus Marinade & Cooking Sauce. "Fresh citrus complement a blend of chiles and fresh garlic." Works for me!
Packaging is a lot and I liked the packaging. Price was reasonable. And lo and behold! No high-fructose corn syrup or other nasty ingredients! I bought a bottle. I don't buy a lot of bottled sauces because they're easy to make and most of them are loaded with chemicals and other franken-foods. But I do like to have a couple on the shelf for those nights when I'm feeling particularly lazy. Like tonight.
I have to say the sauce did not disappoint. It had a really nice cumin/chile flavor balanced with tangy citrus. I was actually surprised that it had a bit of heat. It's almost automatic that the first thing I need to do with bottled sauces is add something to kick it up a few notches. I didn't have to, tonight. It worked straight out of the bottle.
I stirfried chicken, celery, broccoli, added the sauce and then added some canned pineapple and an orange in segments.
Over rice.
I have a Mayan Fajita Marinade & Cooking Sauce in the cabinet. I think next week we may have to head to Central America!
Italian Sausage Polenta Pie
Our Monday La Cucina Pasta went on hiatus this week. Neither of us felt like actually cooking. I thought it would be nice to do something vaguely Italian and originally was thinking a baked pasta dish of sorts.
I needed a bit of inspiration and came across a fun recipe in my Mom's Cook Book - Italian-Sausage Polenta Pie. It fit the criterion for dinner tonight. Italian and baked in the oven. Plus I had all the ingredients.
That cook book is a lot of fun. It really is a snapshot into what cooking was like 45 years ago. Balsamic vinegar is unheard of. A convenience product is Bisquick. Someone really would make "Meat Loaf en Croute" using pie crust mix - and serve it or a special occasion.
Cooking - and eating - was a lot more fun and adventurous.
So on that fun and adventurous note, I followed the basic concept but added a few twists and turns. I had some homemade sauce in the freezer, so I didn't need to make the sauce from the recipe. I also added some mushrooms with the sausage and added a layer of cooked arugula in the middle.
And Mozzarella cheese.
It was perfectly ooey-gooey. And I only dirtied something like 4 pots to make a one-pot meal.
Mom would have been proud.
Chicken Parmigiana
There's something about a breaded chicken cutlet that just makes my tummy smile. I like them in just about any fashion or mode. Highly seasoned, simple with sauce, plain, fancy. With cheese, without. I'm not that picky. I like 'em.
But when a chicken cutlet gets hooked up with homemade sauce and slices of parmesan cheese under a blanket of melted mozzarella... well... my tummy does more than smile - and the rest of me is pretty happy, as well!
That was tonight's dinner. Served with ravioli and broccoli drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used the cheesy sauce in the pan for the ravioli. We waste nothing!
Very simple. Very quick. Very good.
I made a Pear and Raisin Pie for dessert tonight, too!
I bought a frozen crust.
More on that, later...
Clean-Out-The-Refrigerator Risotto
The end of the culinary week is here. Grocery shopping (and Pasta Monday!) is tomorrow. That means I should really use up the things that are in the house...
It's actually pretty easy to do. If it's hot out, I make salads. If it's cold, soups and casseroles. It's really nothing more than taking a disparate bunch of items and uniting them with a common item, be it a salad dressing, a spice, a broth, sauce, or gravy.
And yes, it really is that basic.
Risotto, at it's most basic form, is rice and liquid. Add some cheese. Add some vegetables. Add some meat or seafood. Add all of them. The end result is still rice and liquid - sometimes with stuff mixed in with it, as well.
And that is how I approached tonight's dinner.
I started by dicing a couple of carrots and about 8oz of mushrooms. Into my most-favorite Le Creuset braiser with a bit of olive oil. The pan is getting close to 30 years old. It is perfect for so many things, but it is stellar for risotto. It's flat-out one of my most favorite cooking utensils.
Next into the pan was about 10 ounces of diced ham. I added a pat of butter and a cup of Vialone Nano rice. I had heard that both Vialone Nano and Carnarioli rices were superior to arborio in making risotto, so I picked up a box of each to see. I've only used the Vialone Nano thus far, and yes, it's really good - but not worth three times the price of the arborio. Granted, I haven't made a classic risotto dish with it, yet, but my discerning palate isn't discerning three times the price.
I stirred the rice, cooked it until it was translucent, and then started adding broth. I made it the traditional way, adding a ladle of broth, letting it absorb, adding another... It took about 25 minutes. I added a cup of frozen peas, an ounce of grated parmesan, and a couple ounces of grated cotija cheese. As I said earlier, this was a clean-out-the-refrigerator dish.
It was all the things it was supposed to be... creamy and flavorful with lots of different textures. It was definitely a good cruise-into-fall dish.
Tomorrow is Pasta Monday. Victor has already made a fresh pasta - tagliatelle - for tomorrow's dinner.
Maybe I'll bake some bread.....
Moroccan Beef Meatball Tagine
I planned on making hamburgers tonight. Somewhere along the line, I got sidetracked.
Actually, my thought process was quite simple. Burgers mean potatoes, whether they be fries, chips, or salad. I didn't have any potatoes and wasn't about to leave the house to get one.
I had rice, couscous, polenta, and just about every other grain imaginable, so I thought I'd find something that would go with one of them.
A Bon Appetit magazine came to the rescue. A cold day calls for something saucy and out of the oven. Besides, I had most of the ingredients and figured I could fake it with the ones that were missing. I didn't have the spinach or any fresh cilantro. I added parsley and a pinch of coriander.
It worked.
The meatballs themselves were nice and spicy. The half-teaspoon of cayenne was a perfect amount. Anything more would have been too hot. I also added a bit of harissa paste to the sauce. The sauce was slightly sweet with a hint of heat that offset the meatballs perfectly.
I had couscous but decided on serving it over white rice. It would have gone well with anything!
Moroccan Beef Meatball Tagine
Meatballs:
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1/3 cup coarsely grated onion
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 large egg, beaten to blend
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Stew:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 1/2 cups chopped onions
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 2 cups 1/2-inch-thick carrot slices (cut on diagonal)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus additional for garnish
- 1 5-ounce package baby spinach leaves
preparation
For meatballs:
Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on sheet.
For stew:
Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté about 15 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, and saffron; stir 2 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and raisins.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring stew to simmer. Stir in carrots. Carefully add meatballs to stew; gently press into liquid to submerge. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro over. Cover pot; place in oven. Bake until meatballs are cooked through and carrots are tender, about 35 minutes. Sprinkle spinach over stew. Cover and bake until spinach wilts, about 5 minutes longer. Gently stir to mix in spinach, being careful not to break meatballs. Remove cinnamon sticks. Season tagine with salt and pepper. Spoon couscous into bowls; top with tagine. Garnish with cilantro and lemons.
Crispy Gnocchi with Peas and Bacon
This was a two-person-in-the-kitchen dinner! My favorite kind.
Victor was perusing the internet looking at different gnocchi ideas when he came across a recipe for Crispy Gnocchi with Fresh Peas and Bacon. The minute I heard about it (yesterday) I knew I had to have it (today.) I shopped on a Saturday afternoon - stood in line - just to bring home the bacon.
We're talkin' dedication. Or something.
It was worth standing in line. I'd do it again.What a great idea!
Victor used gnocchi he made and froze last month. The recipe is really simple - and you can cut back on the butter considerably!
Crispy Gnocchi with Peas and Bacon
- ¼ pound bacon or pancetta, diced (1 cup)
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cups shelled fresh peas (frozen works in a pinch)
- 12 fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (left whole)
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1lbs gnocchi fresh or frozen
For the sauce, cook the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 5 minutes. (Pour off some of the fat if your pork is especially greasy. You’ll want about 2 tablespoons of fat.) Add the shallot and garlic, sweat for 1 minute, and then add the lemon juice.
Increase the heat to medium, add the peas, and sauté just until the peas brighten in color. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the parsley and 2 tablespoons butter. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary, though you shouldn’t need much, if any, because the bacon adds a natural saltiness to the sauce. Turn off the heat and set aside while you sauté the gnocchi.
To finish the gnocchi, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate all of the gnocchi without crowding. When the butter becomes brown and fragrant, add the gnocchi to the pan and cook, turning as necessary, until they’re browned and crisp on all sides, 5 or 6 minutes.
Pour in the pea and bacon sauce, turning to coat. Add the remaining tablespoon butter, the parmesan, and the 2 tablespoons of water while turning the gnocchi. Allow the sauce ingredients to emulsify and form a silken coating, 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should cling to the gnocchi. Spoon the gnocchi and sauce into shallow bowls and serve immediately.
I made a swiss steak of sorts. Beef round steak sliced thin and pounded, floured, and sauteed with onion and mushrooms. A bit of beef broth and the final container of mushroom soup.
I covered it and put it into a 275° oven while Victor made the gnocchi.
So...
Did you notice the plate that tonight's dinner was on? It's from Teatro Zinzanni - a show that plays in Seattle and San Francisco.
The concept pretty much is a 5-course dinner served in a circus tent - and the diners being a part of the show. It's non-stop fun and possibly one of the best three hours you'll ever spend. It's fantastic.
They bill themselves as Love, Chaos, and Dinner. They are so right. We were so enthralled with everything that after the show, we went into the gift shop and bought 4 plates - two oval and two round. I think they were something like $40.00 a piece. We were flush back in those days.
Go to the website and click on the videos to see some of the show in action.
And then... if you're ever in San Francisco or Seattle - GO SEE IT!
Pico de Gallo
One of the things I picked up at Atlantic Spice on Saturday when we were up on The Cape was a bag of pico de gallo. Pico de gallo is generally a salsa of sorts, made with tomatoes, onions, peppers, lemon juice, cilantro... The ingredients vary from area to area and it can be firey hot or fruity mild.
The bag I bought was a blend of spices and seasonings. While I usually don't buy a lot of spice blends, I thought what the heck. Actually, I just think that I don't buy a lot of spice blends... when I opened the spice cabinet to figure out how I was going to fit yet another item in there, I noticed just how many spice blends I don't buy.
I can't believe how many I don't buy.
I decided I needed to do something vaguely Mexican tonight. I had chicken already cooked from the bird I cooked yesterday for the soup, pico de gallo spice... An idea started forming.
My first thought was to do something like a gordita or an El Salvadoran pupusa. (A woman I worked with years ago at San Francisco General Hospital made the best pupusas!!! Alicia, I miss you and your cooking!)
But... I made more of a tamale dough than a pupusa or gordita dough. Much softer and lighter.
So, I decided to make something open-faced.
I made the dough:
- 1 cup masa harina
- 1/3 cup lard
- 1 cup warm water
- pinch salt
The filling was:
- chicken
- pico de gallo
- roasted red peppers
- chopped green chiles
topped with:
- quesso fresco
- cotija
Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese. Salty and dry, it's like a Mexican version of parmesan.
The topless gorditas were very soft, so I put the tray in the 'fridge for an hour for them to firm up. I never would have gotten them off the pan at room temperature.
I fired up the griddle and browned them really well and then stuck the griddle under the broiler to melt the cheeses and heat everything through.
I topped them with salsa verde and a few sliced black olives.
It may not have been the most authentic of Mexican meals, but it definitely hit the spot! I can definitely see some variations on this theme!
Another Road to Morocco
Once upon a time I subscribed to a diet and nutrition magazine. I got the subscription because I read a copy in a Dr's office and it had a recipe for Pumpkin Polenta! (It was a hit. I've made it a couple of times.) But the magazine went totally digital and I lost interest - and kept a few of the printed recipes.
The recipe for the rice is a variation on a stuffed portobello mushroom recipe.
Moroccan Rice
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/2 cup chickpeas
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups cooked rice
In skillet, heat 1 tsp oil. Add spices and cook about 1 minute to get rid of the raw taste. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix well. Heat through.
The chicken was a variation on a recipe from an old Gourmet magazine.
Moroccan Lemon Chicken
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 small onion, sliced thin
- 3/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch cayenne pepper
- grated lemon zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 2 tsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/3 cup sliced olives
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup chick peas
Cook chicken in skillet until browned on both sides. Transfer chicken to a plate and reduce heat to moderate. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Add cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, and flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in broth, lemon juice and zest, olives, chickpeas, and honey.
Return chicken to pan and simmer, uncovered, until cooked through.
I think the locals would approve...
Ancho Pork Medallions
Another Cooking Light recipe!
I'm actually trying to be a good boy and maybe even drop a couple of pounds before the wedding. What I really want to do is lose all of the weight I gained after I quit smoking, but I'm thinking short-term goals are probably more realistic. A couple of pounds between now and October 14th.
I can do it.
Enter Cooking Light. Now... if you've picked up a copy of the magazine recently, you'll notice that some of their recipes really are anything but light. Lots of sugar, lots of butter... Granted, they are favorite ingredients of mine, but sometimes sugar and butter are actually unnecessary in a recipe. (Yes, you read that correctly!)
Just like the one I made tonight. It calls for a minuscule amount of sugar in the spice rub, but... since the recipe later calls for pepper jelly, I saw no reason to add it to the spice rub.
That being said, the dish came out stupendous! It is a definite keeper. It just rocked. Vaguely sweet and vaguely spicy, but lots and lots of flavor. The spices and the jelly really worked well together.
I followed the recipe pretty much as stated - except for the sugar in the spice mixture.
Ancho Pork Medallions
Pepper jelly and aromatic spices give your average pork tenderloin a bold new flavor. Serve with a spinach salad for a complete meal.
Other Time: 20 minutes minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 medallions)
- 1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
- 3/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 tablespoons jalapeño pepper jelly
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
1. Cut pork crosswise into 8 equal pieces. Combine chile powder and next 4 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl; rub evenly over both sides of pork. Combine jelly and lime juice; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork to pan; cook 1 minute on each side. Brush pork with half of jelly mixture; turn and brush with remaining jelly mixture. Cook 1 minute on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan; let stand 5 minutes before serving.
CALORIES 168 ; FAT 6.1g (sat 1.6g,mono 3.2g,poly 0.6g); CHOLESTEROL 63mg; CALCIUM 7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4.6g; SODIUM 363mg; PROTEIN 22.5g; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 1.2mg
The side dish was a fun one, too.
It was a bit of a clean out the refrigerator dish that went well with the pork.
Potatoes and Tomatoes with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
- 8 oz teeny potatoes
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 tbsp cilantro, minced
- 1 small jar Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Boil or steam potatoes until tender.
Saute green onions and mushrooms until lightly browned. Add tomatoes and cook. Add the chipotle sauce and cilantro. Add the potatoes and mix well.
Let simmer a few minutes and serve.
We pick up little sample jars of the sauces whenever we hit Cost Plus out west. It's a fun store with lots of fun products from all over the world. We've bought a lot of goodies there over the years, from furniture to dishware to Christmas ornaments and more. I first shopped with them a bazillion years ago when their only store was on Bay Street in San Francisco. A cavernous place where one could get lost for hours. Alas, they've become a slick almost-cookie-cutter store and have re-branded themselves as "Cost Plus World Market" but I can still drop a few bucks there, easily.
But back to the veggies...
The sauce is smokey but not spicy-hot so it went well with the vegetables and the pork spices.
I can see more of this in our future...
Thai Red Curry
I've been working on updating the recipe site all day. There are 866 posts dating back to November 2005 that need to be tagged and put into categories. Plus a couple hundred that have needed pictures re-associated with them.
I'm not even a quarter of the way through.
I needed a quickie dinner idea and stirfry was it!
I sliced up some beef top round and sauteed it with onion, peppers, and mushrooms, plus a couple of hot peppers from the garden.
I added a can of coconut milks and 2 tbsp of Red Thai Curry paste.
Instant dinner.
Now back to reformatting posts.....
Pollo Sofrito
I could eat pasta like we had last night every night 'til the end of my days. Unfortunately, if I ate it every night, the end of my days would be here a lot quicker than I want.
Time to regroup.
This is a bit of a clean-out-the-fridge dinner. I had a couple ears of corn that needed using up, plus some fresh tomatoes and some fresh peppers from the yard that were calling to me. And poached chicken from Saturday.
Throw it all together with some sofrito sauce and chopped green chiles and dinner was served!
Into the skillet went 6 chopped roma tomatoes with 2 ears of corn cut from the cob and 4 hot peppers, chopped. I simmered it for a few and then added a heaping teaspoon of cumin, a half-cup of sofrito sauce, a can of tomato sauce, a can of diced green chiles, and a bit of salt and pepper.
To make it all even better, I cooked a whole-grain rice medley of brown, mahogany, and black rices mixed with wild rice. Not exactly Mexican, but... It's a great blend.
The peppers from the yard were much spicier than the first few we picked. It wasn't OMG hot but it had a good kick to it.
It was one of those meals that will probably never be replicated, but it worked well, tonight.
Stuffed Zucchini
I had a big ol' zucchini from our neighbor that was just calling to be stuffed. I thought something simple, bround beef and a bit of cheese, some fresh herbs, would be a nice filling. And maybe some rice on the side...
But there was that basket of tomatoes...
I didn't want to make a tomato sauce, per se, but I did want to use some of them.
A recipe was born!
Stuffed Zucchini
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 5 plum tomatoes, sliced
- 8 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
- asiago cheese (slices and grated)
- 1 egg
- fresh herbs (basil, oregano, parsley)
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup rice
- 1 cup beef broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
- zucchini
Hollow out zucchini for stuffing, leaving 1/4" shell. Add 2 tbsp (approx) shredded asiago cheese to zucchini. Set aside.
Cook onion in a bit of olive oil until translucent. Add garlic, then ground beef. Cook. Remove half the beef/onion mixture and allow to cool, a bit. When cool, add 1 egg, salt, pepper, fresh herbs and mix well. Stuff into zucchini on top of cheese.
Meanwhile, add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and herbs to pan with ground beef. Cook well. Add red wine and continue cooking. Stir in rice, herbs, beef broth, and salt and pepepr. Bring to boil.
Place zucchini atop rice mixture, cover, reduce heat, and let cook about 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked through.
Remove cover, place sliced cheese atop zucchini and recover for cheese to melt.
Uncover and serve.
It really was an easy meal and came out pretty good. I probably could have seasoned the stuffing beef a bit more - maybe added some tomato paste or chopped olives, or something. It was good, but not spectacular.
The rice, on the other hand, was stellar! It more than made up for the blander zucchini filling - and once they were cut up, things all mixed together, anyway.
I have some couscous from Sardinia that I almost used for this, but decided I needed something a bit more special than stuffed zucchini.
More ideas to come.
And peach pie.