Baking and cooking and too lazy to post

Sorry about not posting lately. I have just been lazy. Doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking and baking though. Last week I decided to make my own hamburger buns and they came out really well.



I also made another loaf of "No Knead" bread and it was my best yet. I think I got it down.



On Saturday friends were coming to dinner so I made one of my favorites. I have posted the recipe here before and I really urge you to give it a try.



Salt pork and chicken how can it be bad?

Saveur Cooks 
Authentic French
Pintade au Chou 
(Guinea Hen with Cabbage)

(When I went to go get a "Guinea Hen" the man at the meat department 
told me that it was no more than a small chicken. I was surprised but 
that is what I used)

1 2-1/2-3lb Guinea Hen (like I said, I used a small chicken)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

8 oz lean salt pork diced

2 medium yellow onions peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp butter

2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

12 new potatoes 

1 medium savoy cabbage, quartered, cored and cut into 1/4" wide strips 

1 12oz bottle of lager-style beer

1. Rub chicken inside and out with salt and pepper, then tie legs 
together with kitchen string

2. Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in the bottom of a pressure cooker over 
medium heat, add salt pork, and saute until brown and crisp, about 10 
min. Remove salt pork with a slotted spoon and set aside. Saute 
onions in salt pork fat until soft, about 20 minutes. Remove with a 
slotted spoon and set aside.

3. Add butter and remaining 1 tbsp oil to pressure cooker. Add 
chicken and brown all over, turning several times, for about 20 
minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add salt pork, onions, 
carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Pour beer over chicken and 
vegetables. Place lid on pressure cooker, close tightly, and process 
according to manufacturer's instructions at a pressure of 10lbs or on 
high for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes, and 
carefully open cover.



Sunday it was Superbowl and I had to make a token appetizer. I wasn't going to mention it, but Dr Food is addicted to this Rotel and Velveta cheese goo that he makes once a year on Superbowl day. It is a Texas thing from his childhood. Gives ME the willies. I made a crab and salsa thingy that was pretty good.



This salsa was fantastic and easy to make. Just a little roasting of vegetables and it is done in minutes.




Crab and Gruyere nachos with charred tomato salsa
adapted from Small Bites
Jennifer Joyce

1/2lb bag good quality corn tortilla chips
8 oz cooked fresh white crab meat
1 pickled jalapeno pepper, very thinly sliced (I used more)
1 small onion, finely diced
8oz Gruyere cheese, finely grated

Salsa
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 jalapenos
1 lb ripe plum tomatoes
1 red onion, thickly sliced
1 chipotle in adobo
small handful fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime

1. To make salsa, place the garlic cloves and Jalapenos in a nonstick frying pan and dry-fry over medium-high heat, stirring, until blackened on all sides. Remove from the heat and set the garlic aside. Place the peppers in a resealable plastic gag, seal, and leave for 5 minutes to steam. Scrape off the skins and take the seeds out. Peel the cooled garlic.

2. Meanwhile, heat the broiler to high. Spread out the tomatoes and onion on a large, nonstick baking sheet and broil for 6-7 minutes, until blackened. Transfer to a food processor with the garlic, peppers, chipotle in adobo, cilantro and salt. Pulse until you have a coarse-textured puree. Transfer to a bowl and add the lime juice and extra salt to taste, if necessary.

3. Preheat the oven to 400F. Spread the tortilla chips out on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with crab, pickled jalapeno, onion, and cheese. Bake for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately with the salsa.

I love middle eastern food.

I felt like cooking something Middle Eastern last night so Dr. Food and I decided to make this Fatteh Djaj. It is a layered chicken and yogurt casserole and boy it did not disappoint. I think I have found my new "Food crush".

It is pretty easy to make. It starts with boiling a chicken to get the meat and the stock. Since it was below freezing here we sped up the process to defat the stock.



Pretty convenient having your own walkin refrigerator/freezer.



Toasted up some pine nuts (skipped the pistachios because it only called for 2Tbl so I just added more of the pine nuts.



Toasted some pita (didn't make my own this time).




Topped with yogurt

So go ahead and make this and make believe you are in Lebanon or Syria. Wait, where did I put that hookah?

Layered Chicken And Yogurt Casserole (Fatteh Djaj)
“Flatbreads and Flavors” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid


3 Pounds roasting chicken
2 1/2 Quarts water
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
2 Inch cinnamon stick
1/4 Teaspoon cloves
1 Medium onion -- coarsely chopped
2 Large Sprigs fresh thyme
2 Cups plain yogurt
1 Cup long-grain white rice
4 Cloves garlic -- finely chopped
juice of one lemon
1 1/2 Teaspoons salt
4 Cups toasted pita
3/4 Cup mixed flat-leaf parsley and fresh mint -- finely chopped
3 Tablespoons pine nuts -- dry-roasted
2 Tablespoons unsalted pistachios -- coarsely chopped

Wash the chicken. Pull off the skin and trim off excess fat.

Place the cold water and chicken in a large soup pot. Add the
peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, onion, and thyme and bring to a boil
over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer gently, partially
covered, for 1 hour. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile place the yogurt in a sieve or colander lined with cheesecloth.
Let drain over a bowl for 1 hour to thicken.

Remove the chicken from the broth with tongs, and place the chicken on a
work surface. Let cool somewhat, then pull the chicken meat off the
bones, shredding it into bite-size pieces. Discard the bones. Strain the
broth and discard the solids. Pour 4 1/2 cups of the broth into a container and
place the broth in the refrigerator to cool (If you are in a rush, you can
skip this step and use the broth without defatting it). Set aside the
remainder of the broth in the refrigerator or freezer for another use.
(The recipe can be prepared ahead to this point and the chicken, broth,
and yogurt stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours).
Skim the fat off the surface of the cooled broth.

Rinse the rice thoroughly in cold water until the water runs clear, then
drain well. Place in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and add 2 1/4
cups of the defatted broth. Bring to a vigorous boil, then cover, reduce
the heat to very low, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meantime, combine the remainder of the defatted broth, the chopped garlic,
and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Add 1
teaspoon of the salt and simmer for 5 minutes. (If you have refrigerated
the chicken pieces, place them in the broth to rewarm). You are now ready
to assemble the fatteh.

Assemble the fatteh on a large shallow serving dish or platter. Leave 1
cup of the toasted pits in triangle-shaped pieces and break up the rest
into bite-sized pieces. Spread the broken pieces over the bottom of the
dish and lean the triangles up agains the sites, or if using a platter,
place around the edge. Pour two thirds of the garlic broth over the
crumpled bread. Spoon on the rices, spreading it evenly, then distribute
the chicken pieces evenly over the rice Pour the remainder of the broth
over the chicken.

Mix together the yogurt and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and spread
over the chicken. Scatter the chopped herbs over the yogurt, then
sprinkle on the pine nuts and chopped pistachios. Alternatively, you can
mix the chopped mint into the yogurt, leaving only the parsley and nuts
as top dressing. Serve immediately.

Chilaquiles rock!

Started off by making more injera for my pretend babies. I love these kids so much. I know they are my neighbors but I adore them. In exchange for the injera I got my first snowman made for me by Habtamu. He shared it with his sis too. So now when I open my front door this is what I see



This weekend was cold and I wanted something comforting. I have been dying for Mexican food and I must say that coming from California what passes for Mexican food here in New England doesn't cut it for me. Dr Food and I make our own. I wanted warm and gooey with cheese and crunch. I also love tomatillos and so this recipe was perfect.



Check out the color of this sauce. How can that not make you jump up and down and giggle.

Fried up some tortilla strips to go into this dish



Then there was cheese. I can't tell you how much I love cheese. Why oh why couldn't it take the place of fruit in the healthy rankings?



You put it all together and get this:



Dr. Food made some beans and it was a fantastic weekend splurge.



Chilaquiles
Daisy Martinez

Makes 6 servings For the sauce:

1 ½ pounds tomatillos
1 medium Spanish onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/3 cup (loosely packed) mint leaves
1 bunch cilantro, stems and all, very roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 jalapeño, cored and seeded
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons, or as needed, fine sea or kosher salt
3 cups shredded cooked chicken, turkey, pork, beef or whatever makes you happy
Ten 6-inch corn tortillas, cut into 2-inch wide strips
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan, manchego or cotijo cheese
Remove the papery covering from the tomatillos and cut out the cores. Cut the tomatillos into 2-inch or so chunks.

Blend the tomatillos at low speed until liquidy. Add the onion and blend until smooth. Add the mint and cilantro and blend until the herbs are finely chopped. Finally, add the jalapeno and garlic and blend until smooth. Pour the liquid into a heavy, medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then adjust the heat so the sauce is simmering.

Cook until the sauce is thickened slightly about 20 minutes. Set aside ½ cup sauce and stir the shredded chicken into the remaining sauce. Add 2 teaspoons salt or salt to taste.

Heat the oven to 350° F. Pour about ¼ inch of vegetable oil into a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Dip a corner of one of the tortilla strips into the oil; when it gives off a lively sizzle the oil is ready. Add as many of the tortilla strips as fit without overlapping to the pan. Fry the tortillas, turning once until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining tortilla strips.

Butter a deep (at least 2 ½ inches deep) 9 x 11-inch casserole/baking dish. Make a layer of the fried tortilla strips over the bottom. It doesn’t matter if the layer is perfectly even or not, just be sure to cover the bottom. Spoon half of the sauce and chicken over the tortillas. Top that with 1/3 cup each of the jack and Manchego or Parmesan cheese. Make another layer of the tortillas, sauce and cheeses. Top with another layer of tortillas and spread with the remaining sauce. Top with remaining cheeses.

Bake until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and the top layer of cheese is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Firemen rock and they can cook too!

It was a snowy day yesterday.



No sunny day with the top down and the wind blowing through anyones hair around here.

I decided a fire in the fireplace was the answer.



What to make for dinner? Something warm and comforting. So, I pawed through some cookbooks and found my Firehouse Foods-Cooking with San Francisco Firefighters. I have a soft spot for firefighters. Long ago they came to our aid when my daughter was in a life threatening accident. They filled my house and took over when I didn't know what to do. I love these men and women that are so competent.

When we lived in Northern California Dr Food and I won an auction that was a dinner at the firehouse that the firefighters cooked for 10 of us. They picked us up in a Limo and took us to the Fire Chiefs house where we had cocktails and snacks. We then went over to the firehouse where they cooked us an amazing dinner. We then got to play around with all the fire gear (I swear I was like a 5 year old) and got to see demonstrations and tour the firehouse. After that we took the limo to a jazz club and hung out with the fire chief.

So last night when I pulled out this recipe from this cookbook I thought of how thankful I am for these amazing professionals.
I didn't have a dalmation sitting by me but I did have my freckle face Saint Bernard by my side waiting for a tasty morsel to drop.



Chicken Giovacchini was the name of this dish and it was chicken with chicken liver and mushroom pilaf. It was really tasty.



Chicken Giovacchini
Firehouse Food

Chicken Liver and Mushroom Pilaf
3 Tbl butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
6 chicken livers (about 12 oz), chopped
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 C converted long-grain rice
3 C chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

Chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (about 3 lb total)
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 C dry sherry
1/4 C chopped parsley for garnish
1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges, for garnish

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350 F.

To prepare pilaf: In a large, heavy saucepan on Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken livers and mushrooms. Cook until the livers are lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the gains evenly in the butter. Add the broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil while stirring; cover and place in the oven. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the broth has been absorbed. Discard the bay leaves and stir in the cheese.

While the pilaf is cooking, prepare the chicken: With a meat pounder or heavy skillet, pound each chicken breast between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Mix the flour with the garlic salt, salt, and pepper on a plate. Dredge each chicken breast in mixture, shaking off excess.

Heat half of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook 3 of the chicken breasts until golden brown on each side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Pour half of the sherry over the chicken and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe the pan with a paper towel and repeat the process with the remaining 3 chicken breasts.

Serve the chicken breasts with the pilaf on the side and garnish each plate with chopped parsley and a lemon wedge.

I love you firefighters!

So simple yet so good!

I love Donna Hay. She takes basic ingredients and makes something that taste wonderful. So last nights dinner was Garlic Chickpeas with Cumin Fried Fish. It was a perfect weeknight dish.

Garlic chickpeas with cumin fried fish
Off the Shelf
Donna Hay

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 leeks, shredded
1 tablespoon shredded lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2x 400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Cumin fried fish:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 small red chilli, seeded and chopped – I didn’t have any at home
4 x 200g firm white-fleshed fish, cut into pieces
salt

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the oil, leeks and lemon zest, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes or until the leeks are golden and a little crisp. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Stir through the parsley and salt.

To cook the fish, heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, cumin and chilli and cook for 3 minutes. Add the fish to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until just cooked through.

Place the chickpeas on serving plates, place the fish on the side and serve with a lime wedge.

I see a lamb in our future for this weekend. I am staying off the pork for a while.

Feijoida I love you!

There are very few ethnic foods that we haven't tried our hand at. It was Sunday and it was COLD. What would be fun to make? We talked it over and decided to go with Brazilian food. We are lucky to live around lots of great Brazilian markets and restaurants here. There is a large population of Brazilian's so we have all the ingredients at our fingertips for once. I thought about Feijoida which I knew was the national dish there. I had a recipe from "Daisy Cooks" by Daisy Martinez.

I warn you that there is a LOT of pork products in this dish and it is heavy and high on calories, but once in a while you just have to go for it!

It calls for pig trotters so we headed over to the Brazilian market for pork belly, trotters, and slab bacon (I warned you).



Yummm pork belly



Slow cooking was the name of the game.



So added that with black beans and rice and some farofa and the meal was amazing.




I think my favorite part of Brazilian food is the Farofa but Dr Food would most certainly disagree with me.



I made this with sauteed onions and an egg scrambled up in there (ya know how I feel about eggs).

I recommend this dinner highly.

Feijoida
Daisy Martinez

Ingredients
2 trotters (pig's feet) split
1C white vinegar
1 1/2 one-pound bags black beans
1 smoked ham hock
3 bay leaves
3 leaves culantro or 1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/4 lbs slab bacon rind removed and cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 lbs pork belly, cut into about 4 pieces
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1 1/4lb andouille, chorizo, or any other pork sausage (spicy is good)

1. Place the trotters in a bowl large enough to hold them comfortably. Pour in enough cold water to cover them completely. Add the vinegar. Let stand 30 minutes or so, then drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water.

2. Put the trotters, beans, ham hock, bay leaves, and culantro in a large (at least 12 qts), heavy pot. Pour enough col water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to simmering. Skim off any foam that rises to the top as the beans cook. Cook for 1 hour.

3. Pour 1/2 C water over the bacon in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the water has evaporated and the bacon begins to cook in its fat. Lower the heat slightly and cook, turning, untiul the bacon is browned. Set the bacon aside, but leave the fat in the pan.

4. While the bacon is cooking, season the pork belly with salt and pepper. Once the bacon has been removed, add the pork belly pieces to the bacon fat and cook, turning often, until well browned on all sides, about 15 minutes.

5. Place the bacon, pork belly, and sausage in the pot after the beans have been cooking for 1 hour. Continue cooking until the beans and meats are tender, about 1 hour.

6. Transfer the meats to a carving board, cut them into slices, and arrange them on a platter. Spoon the beans into a serving bowl. White rice is a must with this dish.

Holy Smoke!

I had been begging for the Smoking Gun for quite some time. Dr. Food finally bought it for me for Xmas. What great fun. So last night I decided to smoke some salmon for dinner.

I simply seasoned it with some lemon pepper and a bit of olive oil and shoved it under the broiler. Then the smoking began!



It comes with shavings in hickory and applewood. We used the applewood.



It only takes 3 minutes and voila! Your fish, meat or anything else you can think of is smoked. It works great.



Can't wait to try it on more unusual things like cocktails and cheeses.

Another happy surprise was a package from my adorable kid Annie and my son in law Tim. They were in Spain and collected a Xmas gift there to send to me.



There was bee pollen (I used to feed it to Annie when she was a kid so it is kind of a "thing" with us), and honey, and saffron, and honey wine, and paella seasoning. When I opened the box it really smelled like Europe to me. What an incredible gift. I loved loved loved all of it!

and last but not least, I opened my email today and found that I had won something.



It was Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day Cookbook. Right up MY alley!