Turkey Quesadillas with Sesame-Sweet Potato Mole Sauce

Normally, a good mole (pronounced 'MO-lay') takes a good hour or so to throw together. This came from a cookbook about pairing wine with food and the author cites Rick Bayless (god of Mexican cooking in America) as being the actual author of the mole recipe.

Aside from roasting the potatoes (which took 45 minutes at 440F), this is incredibly easy and quick to put together and the taste was out of this world. I seared off the turkey after having seasoned them with some salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne.

The fresh cilantro on top REALLY makes a difference and when I do this next time, I'll be sure to put a little more on it.

½ cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for oiling the pans and brushing the tortillas
2 medium onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, fresh or canned, roughly chopped
½ cup cilantro, chopped
½ cup parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth, plus more if necessary
2 large sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)
kosher salt
12 flour tortillas
1 ½ cups turkey pieces (cooked chicken or pork may be substituted), cooked, bite-sized pieces
5 ounces Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded

Place the sesame seeds in a small, heavy skillet and heat on medium, stirring, until browned and fragrant. Transfer to a small bowl to cool. Reserve 2 teaspoons of seeds for garnish.

In the same skillet, heat the oil on medium. Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until the onions are just soft, about 7 minutes.

Combine the sesame seeds minus the 2 reserved teaspoons, the onion mixture, cilantro, parsley, and 1 cup broth in a blender. Puree until very smooth. This may take several minutes. To test, rub a drop between two fingers. The mixture should be smooth, not gritty.

Add the cooked sweet potatoes and blend until the mixture is the consistency of applesauce, adding more broth if necessary. Add salt to taste. (The mole will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several days.)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the mole in a medium saucepan over low heat and gently warm while you prepare the quesadillas.

Lightly oil 2 baking sheets, and place 3 tortillas on each. Distribute the turkey pieces and cheese evenly on the 6 tortillas, and top with the remaining 6 tortillas. Brush the tops lightly with oil and cover with foil. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove the foil, press down on the tops of the tortillas with the back of a spatula to compact the melting cheese, and bake until the tortillas begin to brown slightly, about 4 minutes longer. Serve immediately, topped with the warm mole sauce and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.

A Mexican Christmas

Vanessa's mom spent three days or so producing DOZENS of homemade tamales, which were wonderful. I made a traditional soup called menudo (no, not the hit boy band from Puerto Rico!), which is made with tripe, hominy and spices. It all went down really well.


Mama Trevino's Tamales

TAMALE MEAT MIXTURE
6-8 pound pork roast
5 pound chicken

SPICES AND SEASONINGS
½ cup corn oil
6 tablespoons Gibhartds chili powder
3 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons salt

MASA
2 lbs. masa
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
3 tablespoons Gibhardts Chili Powder
3 tablespoons garlic powder

CORN SHUCKS
several corn shucks

COOK THE MEATS
Start with the pork roast. Cut the roast into fist size chunks. Put the chunks into a pan, and cover with water. Boil for about 2 1/2 hours or until it becomes really tender. After the meat is really tender, take it out of the broth to cool (save the broth, you will need it for the masa!)
After the roast chunks are cool enough to handle easily, shred them with your fingers. Try to remove and discard the fat as you go. There is no need to throw a lot of fat into the tamales. If you have cooked the roast chunks thoroughly, it will be easy to shred into small pieces with your fingers.

Cover the chicken with water in a large pot, and boil for 2 hours, or until the chicken is done and tender. Take the chicken out of the broth and allow the chicken to cool. (Save the broth as well!) Remove and discard the skin. Take the chicken meat off the bones and shred them into very small filaments. Discard any large chunks of fat.

Combine both meats in very large pan, and mix together. Make sure that the meats are thoroughly combined and mixed well. Add the spices and seasonings by mixing the oil and seasonings in a small pan and warm on the stove. Do not cook the oil and seasonings mix, but just gently warm on the stove.

When the oil and seasonings mix is warm, pour over the meat and mix with your hands until it is completely distributed through the meat. It takes a good 10 minutes to get the mixture completely uniform.

The meat is now finished. You should put the meat in the refrigerator covered until ready to make the tamales. Put both the chicken broth and roast broth into the refrigerator as well. You will need the broths when you make the masa.

MAKE THE MASA
Start with 2 pounds of the masa flour. Now, skim the fat off the broth that you saved from the pork and chicken we made earlier. Throw the fat away, and save the broth. Warm the broth from the pork and chicken up. Don't get it hot, just nice and warm. Now put the masa in a large bowl. Add the dry spices to the masa and mix until it is completely incorporated. Mix well, as you don't want a clump of spices in a tamale. Now add 2 cups of corn oil to the masa mixture. After adding the oil, begin to slowly work in 2 quarts of the warm chicken/pork broth, about a cup at a time. Work the mixture with your hands to make dough. If it is too dry, add enough warm water to get it right for spreading. It should be about like thick peanut butter. If it is too thin add more masa; if it is too thick, add more broth or warm water. Thick peanut butter is the consistency you are trying for.

Soak the shucks in a sink full of warm water for about 2 hours. You will need to carefully separate them when they get soft. Try to not tear or damage the corn shucks. It is easier to make the tamales if the shucks are in one piece.

ASSEMBLE THE TAMALES
After the corn shucks are soft, take some of them out of the water, shake the water off, lay them on the counter on a towel.

Pick up a shuck, lay it across the palm of your hand with the small end toward your fingers. scoop up about 1/2 cup of the masa dough with a spatula, and then smear it on the shuck. Cover about left 2/3 of the shuck with masa, leave 1/3 on the right uncovered. Similarly, cover the bottom 2/3 of the shuck, and leave the top 1/3 uncovered. You need to leave the top and side uncovered so you can fold it up later. Now, go to the next shuck and do the same, laying them out on the counter as you put the masa on them. When you have covered 5-10 of the shucks with masa, it is time to add the meat. Take about 1 tablespoon of meat mixture, and lay it on the masa about 1 in from the left edge.

Starting on the left side (the side where the Masa dough goes all the way to the edge), roll the tamale all the way to the right edge. Now, fold the top of the shuck over like an envelope and lay tamale on the counter with the fold on the under side. Roll the next one the same until all your shucks with masa on them are rolled. Keep repeating this entire process until all the tamales are built. You will have about 4 dozen or more.

COOK THE TAMALES
You need a very large pot that has something in the bottom to keep the tamales out of the water while they steam. Add about 3 pints of water to the pot, then start stacking the tamales upright until full. The envelope end of the tamale will be on the bottom, the open end of the tamale should be on top. Continue to fill the pot. The tamales need to pack tight enough that they do not fall over and begin to unfold. Cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for at least 2 hours. Check water several times and add more if it is getting low, you DON’T want to boil it dry; add more water as you need to.

When done, take one tamale out and leave it on the counter for about 5 minutes to test. Unwrap it and it should be firm, with no raw masa. When done, remove all the tamales and let them cool on the counter, then put in bags for the freezer. If eating right away, serve hot with some hot sauce.
Red Chile Tripe Soup with Fresh Garnishes (Menudo Rojo)

MENUDO
2 lbs. beef tripe
1 tablespoon salt
1 large lime, juiced
1 medium pig's foot, split lengthwise (see Ingredients in Cook's Notes)
1 lb. marrow bones, cut in 1-inch cross sections
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 medium chiles cascabeles nortenos or California/New Mexico chiles, dried, stemmed, seeded and deveined
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
1 teaspoon salt

FOR THE CONDIMENTS
2 small limes, quartered
½ cup onion, chopped
3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

TRIPE

Wash the tripe thoroughly in several changes of warm water. Place it in a large bowl, sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon salt and the lime juice; vigorously work the salt and lime into the tripe with a scrubbing motion. Let stand 30 minutes, then wash the tripe again in several changes of warm water. Slice the tripe into small pieces about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Place in a large kettle or stockpot, cover with several quarts of cold water, bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Pour into a colander set in the sink, let drain a minute, then return to the pan.

SIMMERING THE TRIPE
Add the cow's or pig's foot, the marrow bones and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and skim off the foam that rises during the first few minutes of cooking. Add half the garlic to the pot along with the onion and oregano; partially cover and simmer until the tripe is very tender, 2 to 3 hours.

CHILE FLAVORING AND FINAL PREPARATION
When the tripe is nearly tender, heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium. Tear the chiles into flat pieces and toast them a few at a time by laying them on the hot surface, pressing them flat with a metal spatula for several seconds, until they blister and color a little, then flipping them over and pressing down for a few seconds more. Place them in a small bowl, cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged, and soak 30 minutes.

Remove the cow's or pig's foot and all the marrow bones from the broth, then skim off any fat floating on top. If you wish, let the foot cool a little, then cut out and discard all the bone and cartilage, chop what remains into small pieces and return it to the pot.

Drain the chiles and place them in a blender jar with the remaining garlic and the ground cumin. Add 1/3 cup of the menudo broth, blend until smooth, then strain through a medium-mesh sieve into the pot. Season with salt, partially cover and simmer 30 minutes.

SERVING THE SOUP
When you are ready to serve, place the condiments in small bowls on the table. Serve large bowls of the steaming soup and pass the condiments for each guest to add to his or her liking.

VARIATION
Menudo with Hominy

Prepare (3/4 cup) dried field corn as Half-Cooked Hominy (or use a large can of hominy, drained, and you won't need to cook it beforehand). It using raw, simmer in 3 quarts water until nearly tender, about 3 hours. Add the blanched tripe, foot and bones, skim, add the flavorings, then cook slowly until the tripe is tender. Finish the soup as directed.

Spanish-Style Potato Omelette (Tortilla Espanola)

I would normally wait to post a blog until at least a few hours after making something. I have things to do, such as clearing the table off or doing dishes. Eventually, I'll get around to making the post...

Not so today. I have forsaken everything else to get this message out to the masses. This is the best Spanish tortilla I have ever made. It is also the best one I have ever eaten. In Spain, or wherever. If you have olive oil, eggs, a potato and an onion you can be off to the races with this one.

I will add my normal Spanish food disclaimer and say that, yes, some smoked Spanish paprika brings this to a whole new level. MAKE THIS NOW.

2 ¼ cups Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. Idaho potatoes, peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
2 teaspoons salt
1 Spanish onion, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
6 large eggs

Heat 2 cups of the olive oil in a saute pan over a medium flame. You'll know the oil is hot enough for frying (275 degrees) when a chunk of potato dropped in the oil jumps a little. Once the oil is hot enough, add the potato slices and fry on both sides until they are lightly browned and the edges are slightly crisp. This should take 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the potatoes, reserving the oil. Season the potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and set aside.

In another saute pan, heat all but 3 tablespoons of the reserved potato-cooking oil over a medium-low flame. Add the onion slices and cook until slightly browned, being careful not to burn them, around 8 minutes. Strain the onions and reserve.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them vigorously 3 or 4 times. The eggs should still keep much of their thick, gelatinous consistency. Add the potatoes and onions, plus the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and whisk together. Add the 3 tablespoons of reserved potato-cooking oil to a 6-inch saute pan, and place over a medium flame. When the oil begins to smoke slightly, add the egg mixture to the pan. As you pour in the eggs, shake the pan vigorously for 10 or 15 seconds to make sure the-eggs come together. Then cook for 30 seconds without shaking. Lower the heat and continue to cook for a few minutes. Flip the tortilla when the edges are cooked but the center is still wobbly. Place a plate over the pan and invert the pan and plate together so the tortilla winds up on the plate, raw side down. If the pan looks dry, add the remaining 1/4 cup of fresh oil. Return the tortilla to the pan by sliding it back in, raw side down. Continue cooking for another 60 seconds. Serve immediately.

Spanish Tapas

We decided to keep it low-key for Christmas Eve, since it was just Vanessa, her mom and I for dinner. I had spent all day making a traditional Mexican classic (menudo) which we will be having Christmas day.

The great thing about tapas is that they aren't terribly complicated, you can make a bunch of them (so you have a lot of different flavors working) and they're amazing and delicious.

We went with garlic prawns (gambas al ajillo) using some fresh, raw gulf shrimp. Don't even DREAM of making this with out the smoked Spanish paprika, which brings a nifty smokiness to anything it is used it. Also, do NOT use frozen or, God forbid, pre-cooked shrimp. This dish really deserves the freshest shrimp you can find.

Also, we did Catalan-Style Tomato Bread (pan con tomate), which can be found on any menu in Spain, in any region, at any restaurant. You could also melt a strip of manchego cheese on top when you bake it (as the recipe implies), but this time we did it without.

Also, we had a quickly assembled plate of manchego cheese, membrillo paste, some Spanish-style chorizo picante and some olives infused with chile.

To drink, Vanessa makes a wonderful Sangria which uses a bunch of berries. This is the sangria we keep coming back to and it has NEVER failed us. You could also dump a bottle of Spanish Cava in there to get the fizz going!

Manchego Cheese with Catalan Tomato Bread
2 large ripe tomatoes (about 1/4 pound)
4 slices rustic sourdough bread, toasted
Spanish extra-virgin olive oil to taste
Salt to taste
4 slices (about 2 ounces) Manchego cheese

The traditional way
Cut the tomatoes in half. Rub the open face of the tomatoes into the toast until the flesh is absorbed. Throwaway the skin. Drizzle the tomato-rubbed bread with olive oil-be as liberal with the oil as you like. Season to taste with salt. Place a slice of cheese on top, drizzle with a little more oil, and serve.

The modern way
Cut the tomatoes in half. Place a grater over a large mixing bowl. Rub the open face of the tomatoes onto the grater until all the flesh is grated. Throwaway the skin. Add the olive oil to the grated tomato (be liberal). Season to taste with salt. Spoon the tomato-oil mixture onto the toast. Place a slice of cheese on top, drizzle with a little more oil, and serve.

Spanish Shrimp in Garlic Sauce (Gambas al Ajillo)
¾ lbs. fresh medium shrimp
coarse salt to taste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 small hot dried red chili pepper, seeded and crumbled
¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Devein the shrimp by cutting through the back with the shell still on. Spread them open, but leave the shell attached. Salt lightly and reserve.

Heat the oil in an 8-inch flameproof earthenware casserole over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, and chili pepper, and cook, stirring, until the garlic just begins to turn golden. Immediately add the shrimp, paprika, and freshly ground black pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until the shrimp are just cooked through, being careful not to overcook.

Taste for seasoning, and sprinkle shrimp with coarse salt if desired. Discard the bay leaf, sprinkle with parsley, and serve very hot in the earthenware casserole, with crusty bread on the side.

Sangria
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sugar
4 strawberries, quartered
½ cup raspberries
½ cup blueberries
½ cup blackberries
8 slices peeled orange
2-½ cups dry red wine
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup Grand Marnier or Amaretto
¾ cup sparkling water (or a bottle of Cava!)

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine the fruit in a bowl. In a large pitcher, combine the sugar-water, wine, orange juice, and Grand Marnier. Add the fruit and stir gently to combine. (The sangria can be prepared ahead to this point and held in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours before serving.)

Just before serving, add the sparkling water to the pitcher. Serve the sangria in wineglasses.

Carrot and Cilantro Soup

This is one of Vanessa's favorite soups, and one she prepares rather well. She had high hopes of throwing this together last night, but wound up feeling dramatically under the weather. I picked up the slack and brought it home. Lovely, warm spices running through this. A good substitute for the spice mixture in here would be garam masala or, as I used, hot Madras curry powder (about 2 tablespoons).

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
800 g carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons paprika
1.25 liters chicken stock
½ cup yogurt, thick and natural
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and carrot and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add the bay leaf and spices and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, or until the carrot is tender. Cool slightly, then blend in batches in a food processor (or puree with a stick blender). Return to the saucepan and gently reheat. Season as necessary with salt and pepper.

Combine the coriander and yogurt in a bowl. Pour the soup into bowls and top with a dollop of the yogurt mixture. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Catfish with Fennel and Orange Salad

Vanessa and I went down to Edinburg, TX, which is about 15 minutes away from the Mexican border, to visit her Aunt Mary. Eventually, lunchtime came around and we really didn't have much of a plan together, so I offered to go grocery shopping to see what was good. We ran into some fresh Gulf catfish which looked suitable and I got to thinking about classic pairings with seafood: fennel and citrus.

The wrinkle is that Aunt Mary's oven and stove don't work. All she has is one little plug-in electric hot plate burner, which produces a staggeringly low amount of heat.

Fans of the blog know of my recent trials in BOQ in Dahlgren (see previous post entitled: EXTREME Cooking) and know that I have been training up to make it work in less-than-ideal situations.

The pan simply did not get hot enough to put a good sear (or any real color at all) on the catfish. That said, it did cook through and tasted wonderful. The fennel + citrus + seafood combination overcame my equipment shortcomings just fine.

CATFISH WITH A FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD

CATFISH
3 fillets of catfish, skinned and boned
olive oil
salt
lemon pepper

SALAD
olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 bulbs fennel, cored, sliced very thinly, small handful of fronds reserved
1 small bunch parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
2 oranges, peeled and segmented into supremes (google it!),
supremes set aside, juice squeezed out of what's left of the oranges and reserved

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. While it is getting hot, drizzle the catfish with olive oil, then season well with salt and lemon pepper.

Heat another skillet over medium heat. When hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and then the shallots and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have softened somewhat. Add the fennel and continue to saute until starting to soften up a bit. Reserve nine orange segments, and add the rest to the pan, along with the reserved orange juice, the parsley, some of the fennel fronds and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Saute for a few more minutes and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Take off the heat and set aside.

When you are ready to do the fish, put the fish in the other hot pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes, until the fish has browned some. Watch the color of the fish change as it cooks from the bottom up. When the color has moved 2/3 the way up the fish, flip it over and cook for another 30 seconds or so, then remove from the heat.

Put some fennel and orange salad down on a plate. Top with the fish, then top each fish fillet with three orange segments and a bit of fennel fronds. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Chettiar Aubergine Curry

I saw this made when I attended a masterclass at Benares in London. The thing that struck me most about it was that, in the end, we're just talking about eggplant and potato. You wouldn't normally associate these thing with creating a sexy dish. This was totally satisfying and a real testament to what can be done with humble ingredients.

8-10 baby aubergines (eegplant), or use 2 large ones, diced
3 medium potatoes
salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
5cm cassia bark or cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
8 curry leaves
2 large onions, finely chopped
1.5 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
10 dried red chillies, crushed
3 tablespoons toasted coriander seeds, crushed
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
400 milliliters coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Cut the baby aubergines in half lengthways. Cut the potatoes into wedges and par-boil in salted water for 8-10 minutes, then drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok or kadhai and saute the cassia or cinnamon, fennel seeds and curry leaves for a minute or two until they crackle. Add the onions and garlic, and saute until the onions are softened and browned, then add the crushed chillies and coriander seeds and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add the aubergines and potatoes, and cook for few minutes until the aubergines soften. Add the tomato, coconut milk, 100ml water and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the sauce has thickened.

Scatter with chopped coriander leaves to serve.

Vanessa's Truck Stop Chili

Vanessa normally handles the cocktails and wine selection. She does this VERY well, and it's the perfect compliment to my contribution, which is normally the cooking. Since being in Dahlgren, Vanessa has embraced the inner cook and yesterday, spent six hours making this chili. The topper was serving this to guests in our little room.

The chili was amazing! Smoky, rich and spicy... but not so spicy as to not taste everything in it. We were supposed to eat it again later in the week, but we ended up killing it. Chalk another one up for one-pot cooking!

¼ pound bacon
3 lbs. trimmed beef brisket, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 lb. onions, chopped
1-½ tablespoons ground cumin
3-½ tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika, smoked if available
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 can beef broth
1 can plum tomatoes in puree
1 dried chipotle chile

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon and reserve.

Over high heat, brown the beef in the bacon drippings left in the skillet and set the meat aside. Over medium heat, saute the onions in the remaining drippings for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Toast the cumin in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the toasted cumin, chili powder, paprika, ancho chile powder, oregano, black pepper, thyme, salt, and garlic to the cooked onions and saute for 1 minute. Crumble in the bacon, add the beef broth, 1 cup water, tomatoes, chiles, and the beef. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover partially, and simmer for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender, adding water as needed to maintain the desired consistency.

Spicy Pasta

Vanessa normally gets to sit around in our room while I am at school all day, which I'm betting is a real treat. Well, she decided to get to work in the "kitchen" (see last post for the explanation of the quotes). There are many tomato-based pasta sauces, but if you break it down, there's a few ingredients which are constant. This pasta was wonderful and goes to show that no matter how crappy your cooking facilities are, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BREAK DOWN AND BUY RAGU OR SOME OTHER CRAP. You can make a superior sauce on your own, with minimal effort, and it will be 1 zillion times better than some storebought garbage which was put in the jar back during the Clinton administration.

The sauce was lovely and spicy, and got a nice hint of sweetness from using the San Marzano tomatoes, which are great and grow near Naples.

olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 large can (28 oz.) chopped San Marzano tomatoes (Cento is a good brand)
500g pasta
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic and onions and saute until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the spices and stir through to combine. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. When it boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer, mostly covered with a lid, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

When the sauce is almost done, cook up a package (500g) of the pasta of your choice in boiling salted water according to package directions. Take a 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and add it to the sauce. Drain the rest of the pasta in a colander.

Put the pasta in the pot with the sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and spices. Serve with some grated Parmesan, or in our case, with some Parmesan that you cut very finely with a paring knife at an extreme angle to LOOK (sort of) like grated Parmesan.

No matter how you slice it, this was delicious.

EXTREME Cooking: Middle-of-Nowhere-Edition

Well... all good things must come to an end. Our 3+ year boondoggle, which included near-worldwide travel and living abroad, has finally truly come to an end. I am working again, albeit as a student, which has brought Vanessa and I to Dahlgren, Virginia. Look it up on Google Maps if you like. Go ahead and check out the satellite view, too, while you're at it so you can hopefully see just the kind of desolation we're dealing with out here.

Dahlgren is in the middle of nowhere. It was in the middle of nowhere the last time we were here in 2004, as well, so you can imagine how excited we were to come back. On the upside, we're less than an hour out of Washington DC (we'll be checking that out this weekend).

Meanwhile, we're staying in a Navy hotel of sorts. The room itself is actually pretty nice... it's a suite with a few rooms and plenty of room for the both of us and all of our stuff we brought with us. The rub is, our stay here will be nine weeks total (with a break for Christmas and New Year's). You might be asking yourself, "How the hell are you, unabashed foodies, going to survive out there with only a few Mom and Pop joints to eat at?"

Never fear. We have an enormous kitchen...
And loads of prep space....
So we decided that we were going to make this work. After all, I DID bring all of my spices with me. We have a fridge. I look at it as a challenge. The next few weeks (until late February) will chronicle our attempts at cooking in what is easily the most austere of kitchens. No oven. No blender. No water bath or immersion circulators. No food processors.

A two burner stove. One pot and a few skillets. Let's see what we can do.

Pan-Seared Ras-el-Hanout Rubbed Chicken Breasts with Spinach and a Balsamic Vinaigrette

CHICKEN
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ras-el-hanout

VINAIGRETTE
3 parts olive oil
1 part balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

SALAD
3 large handfuls spinach, rinsed and patted dry
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (if you're lucky enough to have a grater!)

For the chicken, combine all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least one hour. About 30 minutes before you want to cook, pull the chicken out and leave at room temperature.

Get a skillet going over high heat. When hot, place the chicken in the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes, until nice and golden brown. Flip over and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the heat down and cover the skillet and allow the chicken to cook for another 3-5 minutes until just cooked through.

Get the chicken out of the pan and let rest while you make the dressing (by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and stirring them up) and divide the spinach between two plates.

Cut the chicken across the grain on the bias and check for doneness. If not done, put back into the still hot pan for just a few seconds until done.

Put the chicken on the spinach and top with Parmesan and dressing to taste.

A Thanksgiving for the Space Age (Part II)

Well, as science predicted, the food turned out spectacularly. The turkey was super-moist and tasted of turkey. Easily the best turkey I've eaten. The stuffing was rich and flavorful. Vanessa's cranberry sauce rung a sharp, sweet note to counteract the richness of the meat. The gravy was amazing. I could go on, but you can just look for yourself.

Dessert was wholly my idea. I had help (by way of recipe) with the pumpkin cake portion. The rest of it was composed by me. I have to say that I was pleased with the wonderful, autumny flavors. Nice contrast of hot and cold, soft and crunchy.

Sous-Vide Thanksgiving Turkey, Sous-Vide Stuffing and Turkey Gravy

TURKEY STOCK
bones from the turkey carcass, chopped up into chunks
1 cup white wine
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrot, chopped
1 bay leaf
water, to cover

TURKEY
1 turkey
2 bunches sage
1 large bunch thyme
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 sticks butter, cut into 3 chunks each, divided use

STUFFING
275 g butter
350 g onion
240 g celery
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 cup sage, packed, roughly chopped
2 loaves whole wheat bread, medium dice
4 large eggs
400 g TURKEY STOCK
21 g salt
27 turns black pepper mill
1 handful dried prunes, chopped
1/2 cup Armagnac or other brandy or cognac (optional, but HIGHLY recommended)

GRAVY
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3 ladlefuls turkey stock
1 knob butter

TURKEY STOCK
Take the turkey carcass and bones that you butchered and place them in a super-hot pan with a bit of oil. Leave them alone. Try to burn them! Go ahead, Try! Whatever you do, don't shake the pan for at least 5 minutes. Wait until they brown, then move them around.

Deglaze the pan with wine... about a cup. Let the alcohol burn off and scrape the tasty bits off the bottom.

Meanwhile, you have cut up a good sized onion, 4 or 5 stalks of celery, some carrots, bay leaf, and sweat them in the pan briefly with the bones and wine. Then transfer all of that into a larger pot and cover with water. Let that simmer for the 3 hours that the turkey is cooking... or a bit longer. You want to reduce it by at least half. Strain through a chinois or fine mesh strainer and put in the fridge to cool.... I like to do that to remove the fat easily the next day, but you could also skim it off.

TURKEY
Heat a large pot of water to 170-175F.

Prepare two large freezer bags. Joint the turkey into 2 whole legs and two breast halves. Place the legs in one bag and the breasts in another. Add to each bag one small bunch of sage, 5-6 sprigs of thyme, 1 stick of butter and season generously with salt and pepper.

Place the freezer bags in the water and cook at 170-175F temperature for 2.5 to 3 hours, monitoring the water temperature, making sure it holds steady. Meanwhile, make the turkey stock.

When the time is up, remove the turkey from the bags into a bowl and wipe off excess fat. Place breasts and legs on a paper towel briefly to remove a bit of the fat. Get a pan ripping hot (smoking) with a bit of oil in the pan. Sear the sous-vide cooked turkey on there skin side down until golden brown. If your pan is hot enough this will happen faster than you think.... salt and pepper to taste. Slice breasts and present on platter. You now have tender, juicy turkey.

STUFFING
Sweat the butter, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme together over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

Dump the cooked onion and celery mix into a bowl with the bread, eggs, turkey stock, salt and pepper.

Now you have choices here... do you like it mushy with no big bits? get in there and work it with your hands. Like some crunchy bits and plan to broil or saute it at the last minute? then leave the bread a bit bigger. Like mushrooms? Cranberries? Add them now.

In either case, put it in a bag and into the water with the turkey... 2 to 3 hours. Remove from bag and either serve... or leave it in the fridge overnight and let it set up. Then slice and broil or saute to get it browned.


GRAVY
Make a roux... I do a simple butter and flour mix and cook it in a pan stirring constantly for 10 to 15 minutes -- a couple tablespoons of each should do it. After 10 minutes of cooking over high heat you want the consistency to be like sand in the beach when a wave comes up... if you draw a line in it with the back of your wooden spoon it should briefly leave a line then fill back in. Slowly it will turn brown... when it gets chestnut colored, it is time to add the stock.

If your roux is ripping hot, you will add cold stock... and watch out. This is the fireworks part. Stir vigorously adding a bit of stock... this will get super thick... add stock until you get a just slightly too watery consistency. Then simmer it down a bit until it thicken to your preferred consistency... add salt and pepper to taste. I strain mine through a mesh strainer once again just to make sure no lumps remain. I will sometimes add a bit of butter at the end as well just to give it a bit of sheen.

Cranberry-Grand Marnier Sauce

1 pound cranberries
½ cup sugar, plus more to taste
½ cup water
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier, to taste

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup had bubbled some. Add the cranberries and cook until they begin to pop; reduce the heat the low, stirring regularly.

After the cranberries have cooked for a few minutes (most of them have popped), add the Grand Marnier and continue to stir and cook for a few more minutes. Taste for balance of tartness, sweetness and booziness.

Serve warm or cold.

"Pumpkin" Cake with Cinnamon-Vanilla Ice Cream, Pecan Tuile and Salted Bourbon-Caramel Sauce

CAKE
1 Kabocha or butternut squash
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus a little for the pan
½ vanilla bean
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 ¾ cups heavy cream
3 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon honey

ICE CREAM
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
9 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

TUILE
15 g egg white
30 g ground pecans
25 g icing sugar
20 g flour
20 g butter, soft
crumbled pecans, to top

SAUCE
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup bourbon
1 splash heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 knob butter

CAKE
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and place on a baking sheet, cut side up. (Don't remove the seeds yet; they give extra flavor.) Cover with foil, and roast about 1 hour, until very tender. Let cool 10 minutes, and then scoop out the seeds and discard them. Puree the warm squash through a ricer or food mill and measure out 1 1/2 cups. (You can reheat any leftover puree, season it with salt, pepper, and butter, and eat it for dinner!)

Turn the oven down to 350°F.

Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 10-inch round cake pan. Brush the bottom of the pan with a little butter and then line it with the paper. Place the 8 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise down the center, and use a paring knife to scrape the seeds and pulp onto the butter. To make sure not to lose any of the seeds, run your vanilla-coated knife through the butter (don't use your fingers, because the seeds will stick to them). Add the vanilla pod to the pan, and cook the butter over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the butter browns and smells nutty. Remove the vanilla pod and discard.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add the salt. Make a well in the center. In another large bowl, whisk the reserved 1 1/2 cups squash puree, milk, 1/4 cup cream, eggs, and honey to combine. Pour the liquid into the well in the dry ingredients, and whisk until incorporated. Stir in the brown butter, scraping with a rubber spatula to make sure you get all the brown bits from the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 25 minutes, then remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top. Bake the cake another 45 minutes, until the topping is crisp and the cake has set. (The center of the cake will still be somewhat soft and won't pass the toothpick test.) Cool the cake on a rack for at least 15 minutes.

ICE CREAM
Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and, using a paring knife, scrape
the seeds and pulp into a medium saucepan. Add the vanilla pod, cinnamon, milk, half of the sugar and cream, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat, cover, and allow the flavors to infuse about 30 minutes.
Return the mixture to the stove, and bring it back to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When it boils, turn off the heat.


Whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar together in a bowl. Whisk a few tablespoons of the warm cream mixture into the yolks to temper them. Slowly, add another 1/4 cup or so of the warm cream, whisking constantly. At this point you can add the rest of the cream mixture in a slow steady stream, whisking all the time. Pour the mixture back into the pot, and return it to the stove.


Cook the custard over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently with
a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. The custard will
thicken, and when it's done it will coat the back of the spatula. Strain the mixture,
and chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Process in an ice cream maker
according to the manufacturer's instructions.

TUILE
Mix all the ingredients together, add in the egg white and stir till smooth. Spread out the mass in any shape or size you wish, place some crushed pecans on top for some crunch, bake them for 6-8 minutes at 350°F and cool.

SAUCE
Put the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves and starts to bubble. Add a splash of bourbon and continue to cook until the caramel goes thick, then add the salt and cream. Stir to incorporate. Cook and when thickened, pull off the heat then add the butter and whisk in until melted and combined.

FINISH
Cut the cake into six equal squares. Put into a warm oven to reheat. Place on a cold plate and put a quenelle of ice cream opposite. Put one end of the tuile in the ice cream and rest the other end on the cake. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

A Thanksgiving for the Space Age (Part I)

Let me start off by saying that, honestly, I hate turkey. Of all of the birds, I find it the most tasteless, probably due to its ridiculously low fat content. No, I would rather eat ANY other bird before I would choose turkey. On top of its genetic flaws, most people don't know how to cook it properly, and thus, it turns out dried out. But everyone is polite about it and washes each bite down with some water or wine and trudge their way through the rest of it until they collapse later, over-sated.

Not that great things can't be done with turkey leftovers. My issue is with the connection to tradition which precludes actually cooking a piece of meat properly. I mean, if you had an oven big enough, would you put a whole cow in there and expect it to come out which each part of the animal perfectly done? Of course not. So it goes with turkey.

The problem is the difference in cooking time between breasts and legs. The doneness temperature of turkey is 170F. The problem with the oven is that you have to crank it way higher (probably 400F) to get the turkey to 170F. Surely, you see the room for error here.

What if you could cook something in a medium that stayed a constant 170F? What if you could find a way to harness all of the aromas and flavor (and add some much needed fat into the equation), and ensure none of this would be lost from the turkey?

The method is called 'sous vide' (pronounced 'soo-veyed' (where 'veyed' is pronounced like 'keyed')). It is a French method that means 'under vacuum'. The idea is, if you vacuum seal everything in a bag, and cook it in a medium (water) heated to a precise temperature, two important things happen:

1) No aroma, juice or any other flavor is lost to the pan or the air, it all stays contained within the meat itself because it has nowhere else to go.

2) You cannot overcook the meat because the water (if you monitor it) will not rise above 170F, the perfect doneness temperature for turkey. The turkey, submerged in the liquid and surrounded by this liquid, cannot go higher than 170F.

This thanksgiving is inspired by the cooking of Grant Achatz, award winning chef of Alinea (currently ranked #10 in the world) in Chicago. I am happy to say that Vanessa and I will be eating there Sunday night! We are looking forward to it. You can google 'grant achatz thanksgiving' and it should come up with two videos which will walk you through how he does it.

It's pretty simple:

-break the turkey down into parts
-put them in bags with butter herbs, salt and pepper
-seal them up
-the stuffing goes into a bag, too!
-cook everything in a pot (or pots) of water at 170F for 3 hours.
-briefly brown the turkey off in a hot pan to crisp the skin
-serve

The next post will show the recipes and how it all turned out. Looking forward to it!

The Man Who Brought Pork Belly to Minnesota (and other delights)

Fans of the blog know that, while in England, we adopted quite the fascination with pork belly. It's just the best cut of pork around. Cheap. Delicious. IMPOSSIBLE to overcook. I could go on, but you have heard it all before.

Well, we've been talking about it ever since we've come back, and finally, we found a butcher shop who was willing to call someone and get their hands on it. We wound up with 14 pounds of bone-in, skin on pork belly for $27. If this cut had been broken down into a rack of ribs (which is on the bottom) and individual strips of bacon (which is what pork belly is, really, a big slab of bacon), the cost would probably quadruple. At least.

Anyhow, only a grandiose dinner would suffice for our pork victory, and with that much of it, we had to enlist the help of our great friends Molly and Roy. Vanessa and set about making what I believe to be a fantastic dinner.

Vanessa made the amuse bouche, a simple and delicious little number out of the prestigious French Laundry cookbook, and also made the dessert, a wonderfully rich and chocolate-y Toblerone souffle. The souffle recipe is by Alain Roux, a French culinary legend. Certainly among the more aggressive cooking attempts by Vanessa, and both turned out beautifully!

I took the pork belly and put it with a nice rutabaga puree, with a great, sweet, bourbon-y sauce. I could go on about the pork, but I'll say simply that a few people realized what they have been missing out on all these years with pork belly. Plus the little added treat of the ribs laying in what is quickly becoming my favorite sauce to accompany pork. I hope you give this all a try.


Amuse-Bouche: Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps with Goat Cheese Mousse

PARMESAN CRISPS
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE
6 ounces fresh goat cheese
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

FOR THE PARMESAN CRISPS:

Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (see Sources, page 315), or use a nonstick baking sheet. Place a 2 1/2" ring mold (see Sources, page 315) in one corner of the Silpat and fill it with 1 tablespoon of the grated cheese. Using your finger, spread the cheese into an even layer. Repeat to make 8 rounds, leaving at least 1 inch between them. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crisps are a rich golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for about 30 seconds to firm the crisps enough so you can remove them with a spatula. One by one, remove the crisps and gently press each one into a hollow in the egg carton to form a tulip shape. After a few minutes, remove the cooled crisps from the carton and make 8 more crisps.

FOR THE GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE:

Place the goat cheese in a food processor and process (depending on the cheese used, it may look smooth or crumbly). Pour 1/4 cup of the cream through the feed tube and continue to process until the mixture is smooth but will hold a shape when piped; if necessary, add a little more cream. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste and mix just to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The mousse can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days; let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes to soften slightly before piping.

Place the mousse in a plastic bag fitted with a medium star tip. Pipe 2-3 teaspoons of mousse into each Parmesan crisp and serve.

Main: Spice Rubbed and Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Swede Puree and Bourbon-Ancho Chile Sauce

PORK BELLY
7 pound pork belly, skin on, bone-in, skin scored
3 T small handful salt
3 T handful pepper
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T chipotle powder
1 T cumin

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Rub all of the salt and spices into the skin, making sure to work it into the scored skin. Put on a roasting rack inside of a roasting tray.

Roast for 3 hours. Reduce the temperature to 250F and roast for another 1-3 hours. It doesn't really matter... it will come out fine no matter what you do. This is the most forgiving piece of meat ever.

Swede (Rutabaga) Puree

2 large swede (rutabaga), peeled
1 small potato, peeled
100 g unsalted butter
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch cumin
salt and white pepper

Chop the swedes and potato into pieces of equal size so that they cook evenly, then place them in a suitable pan with just enough water to cover. Add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil and simmer until very soft.

Drain in a colander and press gently to squeeze out the excess water. Pass the mix through a vegetable moulis and then a fine drum sieve. The puree base can be stored in the fridge at this point until required.

Return the fine puree to a clean pan and slowly beat in the butter. Season with the salt,pepper, cinnamon and cumin.

Serve the puree straight away: if it is kept warm for too long the butter can split out of the mixture and spoil it.

Bourbon-Ancho Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 cups bourbon, plus 2 T
3 ancho chiles, soaked, seeded, and pureed
5 cups Enriched Chicken Stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thawed apple juice concentrate
8 black peppercorns
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
Kosher salt

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the 2 cups bourbon, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to a few tablespoons, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the ancho puree, stock, apple juice concentrate, peppercorns, and brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.

Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, return the mixture to the pan, and reduce over high heat to sauce consistency, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons bourbon, cook for 2 minutes, and season with salt. This can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.

FINISH THE MAIN

Pull the pork out of the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes or so, while you get the rest of the components together. After it has rested, cut away the top layer of ultra-crispy skin and cut into little strips. Go ahead and eat some, because you won't be able to resist it. Cut the rack of ribs away from the bottom away and cut into individual ribs.

Cut the pork belly into individual portions now. On a warmed plate, put a swoosh of warm swede puree, place a piece of pork belly on top. Top with some sauce and put some pieces of crispy skin on top.

With the rest of the sauce, put it into a bowl and put the pork ribs in it. Serve the plates to your amazed guests and leave the bowl of ribs on the table to pass around and eat by hand.

Dessert: Warm Toblerone Souffle

a little softened butter
75 g caster sugar, plus 30g for coating
200 g Toblerone, chopped
2 teaspoons plain (all-purpose) flour
7 egg whites

Brush the insides of four 3 1/4" ramekins, 1 1/2" deep, with softened butter. Put the 30g (2 1/2 tablespoons) of caster sugar in one of the dishes and rotate it to coat the inside thoroughly. Tip the excess sugar into the next dish and repeat, coating them all with sugar in
this way.

Put 140g (5 oz) of the Toblerone in a bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water isn't touching the base of the bowl. When it has melted, remove from the heat and stir in the flour.

Beat the egg whites with the 75g (6 1/2 tablespoons) of sugar until they form semi-firm peaks. Using a whisk, mix one-third of the whites into the melted Toblerone, then delicately fold in the rest with a spatula or a large metal spoon. Scatter the remaining chopped Toblerone over the surface and mix gently. Divide the mixture between the ramekin dishes. Smooth the surface with a palette knife (metal spatula) and use the tip of the knife to ease the mixture away from the edge of the dishes.

Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes in an oven preheated to 200C/400F. Serve immediately.

Chicken Marsala

This is an old favorite, which Vanessa had been dying to have for awhile. I had promised my brother and sister-in-law that I would cook some dinner for them when I came back home, and this was the dish we chose to make. I am happy to report that it turned out wonderfully.

Note: Pick a good marsala wine. I stand firmly against wines that label themselves as being a 'cooking wine'. A good rule of thumb is: don't cook with anything you wouldn't drink. It is advice which will serve you well.

We served this over a bed of spinach simply sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper and some pine nuts.

⅔ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon dried marjoram or oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seed, toasted and ground (see note)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, rinsed and patted dry
2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, chopped
8 ounces cremini or shiitake mushrooms, sliced (stem shiitakes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
1 ⅔ cups sweet Marsala wine
¾ cup low-salt chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus sprigs for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper, marjoram or oregano, and ground fennel. Stir to blend. Transfer to a pie plate. Coat both sides of the chicken breasts, shaking off the excess. Set aside on waxed paper.

In a large saute pan or skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over high heat until the surface shimmers. Add the chicken and brown on one side for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the chicken, using tongs, and cook on the second side until golden brown on the outside and opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

Heat the same pan, over medium heat, and saute the pancetta until crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.

Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and saute the mushrooms until they begin to brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and shallot and cook for 2 minutes. Add the Marsala and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, tomato paste, and pancetta. Simmer to reduce the sauce until thickened. Add the balsamic vinegar and juices accumulated on the plate holding the chicken. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the minced parsley.

Lamb Meatballs Stewed with Hot Tomatoes (Kefta)

We only have a few weeks at my parents' house, so we've been trying for a culinary tour of the world of sorts. We've done some Thai, Italian, Greek and Japanese (sushi - a big first for my Mom) so far.... this one has more of a North-African-meets-Middle- Eastern feel to it.

The recipe has a few components, and they all come from the Culinary Institute of America (the other CIA). I had to jack the harissa and cumin levels in the finished product to make the North African flavors pop...but then again I love cumin and spicy things. It went down a treat.

I just did a simple couscous done with butter melted into some hot chicken stock, with salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice and some parsley. Everything worked well together and was fragrant and delicious.

Harissa

4 ounces dried New Mexico chiles
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¾ teaspoons ground caraway
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon olive oil

Remove the stem and seeds from the chiles and place in a bowl. Add enough cold water to cover them and let them soak for 15 minutes. When the chiles are softened, drain them well and press to remove any excess water. Chop the chiles coarsely.

Transfer the chiles to a food processor and puree with the garlic, lemon juice, caraway, and coriander to a fine paste. Add the olive oil through the feed tube with the machine running until completely incorporated. Transfer the harissa to a jar and hold, covered, under refrigeration until ready to serve.

Tomato Sauce

2 cups whole plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons butter, sliced and chilled
salt and pepper
Puree the whole tomatoes in a food processor until a coarse paste forms. Transfer the tomatoes to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Add the tomato puree and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Scatter the sliced butter over the tomato sauce and swirl the pan until the butter is incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Lamb Meatballs Stewed with Hot Tomatoes (Kefta)

MEATBALLS
1 lb. ground lamb or beef
½ cup coarsely grated yellow onion
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon minced garlic
¾ teaspoons ground cumin
¾ teaspoons paprika
½ teaspoon minced ginger root
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon salt or as needed
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or as needed

DISH
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped yellow onion
¼ teaspoon HARISSA (shown above)
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 saffron threads, lightly crushed, optional
3 cups TOMATO SAUCE (shown above)

Combine the lamb or beef, grated onion, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, cumin, paprika, ginger root, cardamom, water, 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix by hand with a wooden spoon until slightly sticky. Chill at least 1 and up to 8 hours before shaping into oval meatballs about 1 inch in diameter.

Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the meatballs to the oil and cook, turning as necessary, until they are browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside.

Add the chopped onion, harissa, cumin, cinnamon, and saffron, if using, to the pan. Saute, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomato sauce to the pan, stirring well to dissolve any browned bits in the pan. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Return the meatballs to the sauce along with any juices they may have released. Simmer the meatballs over low heat until they are cooked through and the sauce is very flavorful, about 15 minutes.

Stir in the remaining cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at once on heated plates.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Soup

Nice, hearty soup here. Roasty and thick, the roasty flavors revealed themselves more and more as we went through it. I am sure it will improve after a night in the fridge. All you need is a drizzle of olive oil and a few twists of pepper.

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 cups peeled, cubed eggplant
1 yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 celery stalk, diced {about 1/2 cup}
1 carrot, diced (about 1/3 cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow or white potato, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
1 quart chicken broth
1 sprig fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tahini
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350·F. Wrap the garlic cloves in a square of aluminum foil. Combine the eggplant, onion, celery and carrot in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Place the garlic directly on the oven rack. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables. Cover the pan and roast 20 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to 400°F and roast until the eggplant and garlic are very soft, about 15 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic from its skin. Combine the roasted vegetables with the potato, broth, and thyme in a soup pot and simmer until the potatoes are tender enough to mash easily, about 25 minutes. Remove the thyme and discard. Add the tahini salt, pepper and lemon juice to the soup and whisk to combine the ingredients well. Simmer the soup, 2-3 minutes.

Puree the soup. Return it to medium heat and simmer, 5 minutes, or until reduced to the desired consistency. Season with the salt, pepper and/or lemon juice. Serve in heated bowls.

Buffalo Burgers with Goat Cheese, Mango Ketchup and Red Slaw with Grilled Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter, Fresh Lime and Queso Fresco

This recipe was originally written for buffalo, but when I rolled up into the supermarket, I saw that they had wagyu beef (AKA the highest quality beef in the world) for a mere $8.99 per pound. This was a no-brainer.

This is classic Bobby Flay cooking; bold flavors, a bit of heat and a nice balance between the rich (beef, goat cheese), the acidic (red slaw), sweet (mango ketchup) and spicy (mango ketchup). It really hits all corners of your mouth.

The corn has been done a few times, and I keep going back to it, escpecially since I was finally able to get ACTUAL queso fresco, instead of using feta or something.

Lots of oohs and ahhs over this one, and pretty easy to make.

Buffalo Burgers with Goat Cheese, Mango Ketchup and Red Slaw

MANGO KETCHUP
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon honey
1 pinch ground cloves
1 small habanero chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper

RED SLAW
1 large head red cabbage, finely shredded
3 cups red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

BUFFALO BURGERS
2 ½ pounds buffalo meat, finely ground
16 slices soft goat's cheese
olive oil, for brushing
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 hamburger buns

MANGO KETCHUP
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the cinnamon, allspice, honey, cloves, and habanero pepper, and cook an additional minute. Add the mango and continue cooking until softened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Place the mango mixture in the bowl of a food processor, add the mustard and vinegar, and process until smooth, Season with salt and pepper to taste. May be refrigerated for 1 day; serve at room temperature. Makes about 2 cups.

RED SLAW
Place the cabbage in a large bowl. Place the vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the honey and oil, and mix well. Pour the mixture over the cabbage, stir to combine, and season with salt, pepper, and poppy seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. May be refrigerated for 1 day; serve at room temperature.

BUFFALO BURGERS
Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to high.

Shape the meat into 8 burgers, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. (Don't overcook, because the longer you cook, the less juicy they well be.) About 30 seconds before the burgers are done, top each with 2 slices of goat cheese and close the cover to melt the cheese. Split the buns and toast on the grill, cut side down, until golden.

Serve on buns, topped with Mango Ketchup and Red Slaw.

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter, Fresh Lime and Queso Fresco

FOR THE GARLIC BUTTER
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE CORN
8 ears corn, silks removed but husks left on, soaked in cold water for at least 10 minutes
2 fresh limes, quartered
½ cup crumbled queso fresco or mild feta

GARLIC BUTTER
Combine the butter and garlic in a food processor or with a mixer until smooth. (To mix by hand, let the butter get very soft, then beat in the garlic, finely minced, with a large wooden spoon.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. (The garlic butter can be made in advance, covered, and kept refrigerated up to 2 days, or frozen for a week. Bring to cool room temperature before serving.)

CORN
Heat your grill to high.

Place the corn on the grill, close the grill hood, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until steamed through and hot but still crisp (test by carefully piercing with a knife). Unwrap the husks from the corn and immediately spread or brush with garlic butter.

Squeeze the limes on top and and sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia Pizza with Lots of Yummy Toppings

We did quite a bit of pizza back in the UK, but our pizza stone is now packed safely away with 95% of our other belongings. We had the jones for pizza and had to devise a new way.

We had not done focaccia for awhile and figured we could do it in a cast-iron skillet (which gets nice and hot) and top it with all kinds of good things. In this case, we topped it with prosciutto, asiago and smoked mozzarella cheeses, cherry peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and a mixture of sage, rosemary and thyme. A good pinch of sea salt and you're off to the races.

We did the recipe as shown below, but with 5 minutes left in the baking, we turned the broiler on, put the toppings on, and gave it another 5 minutes under the broiler to melt the cheese and stuff. It came out wonderfully!

3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
oil, for greasing

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Mix well to make a dough, adding a little more water if the mixture seems too dry.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. Punch down and knead the dough all a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and grease a baking sheet. Roll the dough to a circle 1/2" thick, transfer to the baking sheet and brush with remaining oil.

Halve the onion and chop it into thin slices. Press the slices lightly onto the dough, with the rosemary and sea salt. Using a finger, make deep indentations in the dough. Cover the surface with oiled plastic wrap, then let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the plastic wrap and bake the loaf for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve in slices or wedges.

Whole Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

As many of you may heave heard, I would choose a perfectly roasted chicken as my deathbed meal. The beauty is in the simplicity.

Thomas Keller's new book, Ad Hoc (which I have been using a bit lately), had this recipe which spoke to me right away. It is getting into autumn time and nothing beats roasted root vegetables. Except maybe a perfectly roasted chicken. But why decide? Put them BOTH into a cast iron skillet, and you're a little over an hour from paydirt.

One cool tip I learned doing this recipe is his technique for achieving crispy skin. Namely, leave the chicken out in the fridge, uncovered, for two days before you want to use it. This will dry the skin out prior to roasting, which aids dramatically in crisping it up. It's the first time trying this method and IT WORKS like crazy. I will be doing all chickens like this in the future.

As I've said before, it's worth getting a temperature probe for ANY meat cookery. Especially for this wonderful chicken!

4-4.5 pound chicken
salt and black pepper
6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
6 sprigs thyme
2 large leek
3 tennis ball-sized rutabaga (swede)
2 tennis ball-sized turnips
4 medium carrot, peeled, trimmed, cut in half
1 small yellow onion, trimmed (leaving root end in tact), and cut into quarters
8 small red-skinned potatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it comes to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Remove the neck and innards if they are still in the cavity of the chicken. Using a paring knife, cut out the wishbone from the chicken. (This will make it easier to carve the chicken.) Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper, add 3 of the garlic cloves and 5 sprigs of thyme, and massage the inside of the bird to infuse it with the flavors. Truss the chicken.

Cut off the dark green leaves from the top of the leeks. Trim off and discard any darkened outer layers. Trim the root ends, cutting around them in a 45 degree angle. Slit the leeks lengthways almost in half, starting 1/2 inch above the root ends. Rinse the leeks well under warm water.

Cut off both ends of the rutabagas, Stand the rutabagas on one end and cut away the skin, working from top to bottom and removing any tough outer layers. Cut into 3/4" wedges. Repeat with the turnips, cutting the wedges to match the rutabagas.

Combine all the vegetable and the remaining garlic cloves and thyme sprig in a large bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables in a large cast-iron skillet or a roasting pan.

Rub the remaining oil all over the chicken. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Make a nest on the center of the vegetables and nestle the chicken in it. Cut the butter into 4 or 5 pieces and place over the chicken breast.

Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400F and roast for an additional 45 minutes, or until the temperature registers 160F in the meatiest portions of the bird - thighs, and under the breast where the thigh meets the breast - and the juices run clear. If necessary, return the bird to the oven for more roasting; check every 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Just before serving, set the pan of vegetables over medium heat and reheat the vegetables, turning them and glazing them with the pan juices.

Cut the chicken into serving pieces, arrange over the vegetables, and serve.

Scallops with Pistachio, Parsnip Creme and Crispy Prosciutto

We just spent a much-too-short weekend with our great friends Dave and Karena out in San Francisco. It was a great trip in many respects, but the highlight was certainly our trip to The French Laundry. This was formerly the world's number one restaurant, and its chef, Thomas Keller, is widely regarded as America's best chef.

This was Dave and Karena's first real "world-class" restaurant experience, and Vanessa and I had been DYING to get in there for awhile now. Needless to say (but I'll say anyway), it was absolutely amazing and is easily in the top 2 meals I have ever eaten. Here is some photographic proof...
Anyhow, we're back now in San Antonio in what is to be our last week here until we head up to Minnesota for a few weeks. We bough Marcus Wareing's "Nutmeg & Custard" before we left the UK and spied this recipe in it. Wonderful, rich flavors at work here... sweet parsnips, meaty scallops, salty prosciutto, a bit of spice from the curry powder. Vanessa's mom was a fan and so were we.
PARSNIP CREME
15 g unsalted butter
2 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 pinch curry powder
½ teaspoon table salt
150 milliliters whole milk
1 tablespoon honey

SCALLOPS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large scallops, roe removed
¼ teaspoon curry powder
¼ teaspoon table salt

FINISH
4 rashers prosciutto
25 g pistachio nuts

Place the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat. When melted, add the parsnips, curry powder and salt. Cook gradually, coloring slightly, for 10 minutes. Add the milk and honey, and allow to simmer very gently until cooked through. Blend and pass through a fine sieve.

To cook the scallops, heat the oil in a heavy-based non-stick pan. When smoking, season the scallops with the curry powder and salt, then place them in the hot oil. Cook evenly all over, obtaining a nice golden color.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F or the grill to high. Place the prosciutto on a baking tray and bake or grill until crispy. Slice finely.

To serve, place a spoonful of the hot parsnip puree on each plate and drag your spoon through. Slice each scallop into three and lay on each plate. Sprinkle with the pistachio crumb and prosciutto strips and serve immediately.

Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

This is the most ridiculously, stupidly good thing I've made in awhile.

This is on the menu at World #15 restaurant St. John in London. The menu changes daily, but Chef Fergus Henderson has vowed that this dish will never come off the menu. We have eaten this there a few times, and it is Vanessa's favorite dish to eat there.

This restaurant is the most inconspicuous, non-flashy place. It is in the meat district (near Smithfields) and the building used to be a smokehouse. You walk in there, and it is all white cinderblock walls, no fuss, completely austere. The menu is wonderfully hearty, British food. Totally uncomplicated. This dish really encompasses what the restaurant is all about: good, simple, honest food.

The twist? They take the stuff no one else uses, and make wonderful dishes out of it. This recipe is the best reflection of this philosophy. And it's dirt cheap.

Serve this with a ridiculously expensive red wine.

MARROW
12 pieces middle veal marrowbone, 7-8cm

SALAD
1 bunch parsley, picked
2 shallot, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 handful capers

DRESSING
juice of 1 lemon
extra-virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt and black pepper

DISH
toast (preferably sourdough)
coarse sea salt

Put the bone marrow in an ovenproof frying pan and place in a hot oven (450F). The roasting process should take about 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the bone. You are looking for the marrow to be loose and giving, but not melted away, which it will do if left too long (traditionally the ends would be covered to prevent any seepage, bur I like the coloring and crispness at the end).

Mean while lightly chop your parsley, just enough to discipline it, mix it with the shallots and capers, and at the last moment, dress.

Here is a dish that should not be completely seasoned before leaving the kitchen rendering a last-minute seasoning unnecessary by the actual eater: this, especially in the case of coarse sea salt, gives texture and uplift at the moment of eating. My approach is to scrape the marrow from the bone onto the toast and season with coarse sea salt. Then a pinch of parsley salad on top of this and eat. Of course once you have your pile of bones, salad, toast, and salt it is 'liberty hall'.