Cooking Challenge Week 35 - Marinating - Bulgogi and Thai Cucumber Salad

It's a Neglected Cookbook Project double feature!  Both recipes are (slightly) adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection: Asian, which my brother and his wife gave to me for Christmas years ago.  It's a well-written, beautifully-photographed book, and yet somehow I never found myself cooking from it.

So a few weekends ago I picked it out of the NCP pile and starting leafing through.  Knowing the marinating challenge was coming up, these two just jumped right out at me.

I know the ingredient list for the bulgogi looks long, but the marinade and the sauce use mostly the same ingredients in different quantities, so it's really not that bad.

Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

Marinade

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 green onions, minced
• 1 tsp ginger paste (or finely chopped ginger)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp water

Sauce

•  1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp Sriracha chile sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp water

• 1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Make the marinade: Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with the sugar to form a rough paste.  (Alternately, if you don't have one, use a cutting board and the flat of a heavy knife to mash them together.)  Transfer the paste to a small bowl and add the remaining marinade ingredients, whisking well to combine.  Set aside.

Make the sauce just as you made the marinade, combining everything in another small bowl.  Refrigerate until needed.

Cut the beef across the grain as thin as you can manage (1/8" or less is ideal).   Placing the beef in the freezer for 30-45 minutes before slicing can help firm it up and make it easier to get thin slices.  (Mine actually weren't so good, I need to get my knives sharpened.)

Add the beef slices to the marinade and toss to mix.  Cover and refrigerate 1-3 hours.

Prepare a hot fire on a charcoal grill, or preheat a grill pan on the stove on high.  Brush the grill rack/pan with the canola oil.

Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry, discarding the marinade.  (I tried to get most of the sesame seeds off, afraid they'd burn, but really they didn't, so there's no need to be too fussy.)  Working in batches, arrange the beef in a single layer on the hot pan.  Sear, turning once, until crisp and browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.  Wipe down and re-oil the pan between batches if necessary.

Here, I served it over rice, drizzled with the sauce, with a side of...

Thai Cucumber Salad

• 2 lbs. cucumbers
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 red jalapeno or other fresh red chile, seeded and julienned
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

Peel the cucumbers, halve lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds.  Cut crosswise into 1/4" thick slices.  Place in a colander, sprinkle with 1 tsp of the salt, and toss to mix.  Set aside to drain for 1 hour, then pat the cucumbers dry.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, the remaining 1 tsp salt, and the rice vinegar.  Heat until the sugar and salt dissolve, about two minutes.   Set aside to cool.

To assemble the salad, in a large bowl combine the cucumbers, shallots, and chile.  Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over and toss well.  Garnish with the cilantro leaves, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Cooking Challenge Week 33 - Turn Something Boring into Something Great - Chipotle Mac 'n' Cheese

I think this might be the worst picture in the history of my blog, but, I realized, just as I was about to reheat the last chunk of leftovers for breakfast, that I hadn't gotten a picture.  If I were a pretentious artist, this would be titled "Spicy, 4:30 am."  So yeah, very little effort went into this awful picture.

But the dish? Not awful in the slightest.  In fact, it's the best non-standard mac 'n' cheese I've ever had.  Which is why it immediately came to mind for this challenge.

Here's the recipe, which, of course, I highly recommend you try.

Cooking Challenge Week 32 (Late!) - Corn - Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage and Pasta

Since I'm trying desperately to catch up to the current challenge, I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.  It's not the most attractive soup to try to photograph (pale yellow and fleshy pink?) but it's soooo tasty.

Let's get to that recipe, shall we?

Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage and Pasta
(adapted from The Cook's Encyclopaedia of Soup)

• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups canned or frozen corn kernels
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup small pasta shapes (I used penne because I had it, but I'd recommend something smaller)
• 4 oz smoked sausage, sliced
• oil

Seed and finely dice the green pepper.  In a small bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for 2 minutes.  Drain and rinse.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan with the corn, onion, celery, green pepper, and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

Add the milk, and season with salt and pepper.  Carefully puree half the soup in a blender and return to the pan, stirring to mix well with the remaining soup.  (Alternately, do what I did and use a hand blender to whiz the soup in the pan until it's partially pureed.  It's a lot safer, and it means fewer dishes to wash.)

Add the pasta and simmer for 10 minutes, until the pasta is al dente.  (Adjust this to the cook time of your specific pasta, if necessary.)

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a small saucepan and fry the smoked sausage quickly until warmed through and lightly browned, 2-3 minutes.  Stir into the soup, and serve.

Cooking Challenge Week 30 (Late!) - Burgers - Burger Trio

Yes, I'm aware there's four burgers, not three, but two of them are made the same way.

All the burgers have Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning worked into the meat before cooking.  This, in my husband's family, has become a verb:  "Do you want me to Montreal your burgers?"  (Hint:  "No" is never the right answer.)  Also, all four got sharp cheddar cheese on top after flipping.

My burger, on the right, is topped with diced red onions and green peppers.  When I saw how they went all over the place, I put them on the bottom bun of one of my husband's burgers, instead of on top, which made for easier eating.

Hubby's burger #2 was sprinkled liberally with cherry hot sauce.

Burger #3 has stone-ground mustard on the bottom bun and got a sunny-side-up egg on top.

And yes, we ate them with top buns.  But how would you see all the lovely variety if I'd taken the picture that way?

Cooking Challenge Week 29 (Late!) - Inspired by a Color - Burritos Blanco

They were supposed to be Burritos Verde, really, but both of my green elements turned out not-so-green.

They're made from chopped cooked chicken tossed with this fantastic tomatillo sauce, and cilantro-lime rice.  And they're delcious, even if they're not very green!

Cooking Challenge Week 26 (Late!) - Pizza - Bacon and Portobello Mushrooms on a Spent-Grain Crust

  

The general how-to is easy.  Be a homebrewer, have spent grain from your last batch of beer, and mix some in your favorite pizza crust recipe.

The actual how-to is a little more complicated.  I like this recipe, but a single batch isn't enough to cover my baking sheet, so I've taken to making a quadruple batch but only dividing the dough into thirds to get the right coverage.  (I freeze the other two for later.)  Judging by other spent-grain pizza crust recipes, they mostly use less than half as much grain by volume as flour, so I added 2/3 cup per 'batch', for a total of 2 2/3 cups grain.  The texture seemed good, I don't think it really needs more.

Top with sauce, cheese, and fixin's, and bake at 450 F for 16-18 minutes.

Cooking Challenge Week 25 - Regional - Pasties

They're huge, and they're delicious.  I'd never had one before, but who could turn down a giant butter pie crust filled with meat, potato, and onion?

I browsed through quite a few traditional recipes, both "originals" from Cornwall and the UP versions (that's Upper Peninsula to you non-Michiganders), and--surprise, surprise--none of them agreed on what was the true pasty.

So having absorbed all this pasty knowledge, I winged it based on what I like.

Avrienne's Pasties from the Thumb

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• half of a large onion, chopped
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• salt and pepper
• 2 pie crusts (I recommend this recipe, it's my favorite)
• milk

Make your pie crusts.  Most recipes call for the dough to chill before rolling out--that would be the time to chop the veggies and make the filling.

Also, preheat your oven to 400 F.

Crumble the ground beef into a large bowl, then add the onion and potatoes.  Season well with salt and pepper, then mix thoroughly with your hands.  Pat the mixture down firmly in the bowl, and divide in half with a knife.  (This will make sense in a minute here, I promise.)

(Wash your beefy hands!)

Roll out one of the pie crusts in a circle.  You're shooting for about 1/4" thick and hopefully at least 10" in diameter.  Take half of the beef mixture (which should mostly come out in one piece if you packed it well!) and place it on one side of the pie crust.  Fold the other side over to cover and seal well around the edge.  Transfer to a lightly-greased baking sheet.

Repeat with the other crust and the rest of the beef mixture.  Slash a few vents in the top of each, then brush the tops with a little milk.  Bake for 45 minutes, until the crusts are golden brown and the filling cooked through.  Cut in half to serve, unless you're actually a coal miner and need a whole one to yourself!

Cooking Challenge Week 24 - Berries - Raspberry Sausage and Cheese Grits

Having no fresh berries of any kind on sale last week, I resorted to raspberry preserves to make this wonderful recipe, which sounds a little strange but tastes fantastic.  My only change is to leave out the mushrooms, and only because I generally like mushroom flavor but not texture--I think this is fine with just the onion.  Also, I've made this with before with kielbasa, smoked pork sausage, and this time smoked turkey, and they're all just fine; anything with a good strong flavor that will balance the sweet preserves.

Cooking Challenge Week 22 - Tarts - Bacon and Red Pepper Quiche

I will jump at any excuse I can to make quiche, although I'm still working on getting my pie crusts to be pretty, as you can plainly see.

In past pastry posts, I've linked to a good shortening-based pie crust recipe; but this time, I was out of shortening.  I did have five sticks of butter in the freezer (buy butter on sale and freeze it!), so I tried smitten kitchen's all-butter crust.  I have to say, it was a lot easier to handle than my previous pie crusts, so I think I might very well be a butter convert now...

If the flavor profile here looks familiar, it is.  What can I say, they're delicious together!  I left out the onion here, though, because my bell pepper was huuuuuge and I didn't want the egg filling to overflow. 

Bacon and Red Pepper Quiche
(makes 2 9-inch tarts)

• 2 pie crusts from your preferred recipe
• 6 strips thick-cut bacon
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup Mexican-blend shredded cheese (cheddar would also be lovely)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper

Make your pie crusts.  While the dough is firming up in the fridge, proceed with the filling.

Also, get your oven preheating to 400 F.

Chop the bacon into 1 1/2" inch pieces.   Cook over medium heat until done but not super-crispy; remove bacon pieces with a slotted spoon or spatula as they look done, so none overcook while the others are finishing. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, and set aside.

When all the bacon is out, throw in the bell pepper and cook over low heat until tender, stirring often.  I like a little bit of char on mine, so I turned up the heat to medium-high for the last minute, but that's purely optional.

As the red pepper is cooking, roll out your two pie crusts and get them into your pie pans.  Dock well and blind-bake (ie, line with parchment or foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights) for 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven, carefully lift out the foil and let your weights cool off somewhere. 

Turn the oven down to 350 F.  (Do not forget this step!)

Divide the bacon, bell pepper, and cheese evenly between the two crusts.

In a small bowl (or preferably, a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, for easier pouring) whisk the eggs until well-blended.  Add the sour cream and whisk until there are no lumps; finally add the milk and whisk until smooth.  Season well with salt and pepper.

Divide the egg mixture between the two crusts and bake 30-35 minutes, until the edges are browned and the filling is set.  Allow to cool on wire racks 10 minutes before serving (for hot) or longer to nearly room temperature, which is quite nice on a hot summer night like tonight.

Refrigerate leftovers.  Also, this freezes incredibly well; I often freeze the second quiche whole.  To reheat from frozen, bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes, covering the edge of the crust with foil if necessary to prevent over-browning.

Bean and Broccoli Curry

I have been a fan of Indian food ever since I was introduced to it on my first trip to England.  My then-future husband took me down the street from his flat to a little curry house, and I fell in love.  With the food, that is, I was already in love with him.

I came home from that trip with no less than three cookbooks on Indian cuisine, and several years later, when two of his British friends hopped the pond to visit us, they brought another one with them as a thanks-for-having-us gift.  I'm still working my way through it, picking it up every few months to see what jumps out at me, begging to be made, and this latest is no disappointment.

Though, to be fair, I did modify it some, leaving out spices I can't get locally and relying on a pinch of curry powder to replace curry leaves, something that would shock a purist, I know.  I like authenticity, but I'm not so uptight that I will forgo making a dish just because one of the ingredients can't be had!  I also ended up adding broccoli to fill it out a bit.  I think it's a good addition--I've seen quite a few recipes from other cuisines that pair white beans and broccoli, and many, many curry recipes are prefaced with "use whatever vegetables you like/have on hand" so I wasn't too afraid to experiment.

Bean and Broccoli Curry
(adapted from Anjum's New Indian)

•  2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
• 5 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp mild curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder (or more to taste if you like it hot)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 lb broccoli, washed and cut into small florets
• 3 1/2 cups cooked cannellini (white/Great Northern) beans (that's about 2 cans, drained, if you don't cook from dry like I do)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the mustard seeds and fry until they begin to pop, then add the onion.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onion is soft and golden, 10-15 minutes.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook one minute more.

Add the salt and powdered spices and cook 30 seconds more, until fragrant.  Add the coconut milk, water, and broccoli.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes, until the broccoli is just tender.

Add the beans and simmer 5 minutes more to allow the flavors to marry.  Add the sugar and lemon juice.  If desired, mash some of the beans against the side of the pan, then stir them back in to thicken the curry.  Adjust the seasoning to taste, adding more salt, sugar, or lemon juice to balance the flavor.  Serve with rice or (my favorite) naan!

Cooking Challenge Week 17 - Childhood - Round Steak Special

My parents do know how to cook, but they don't do it much.  My dad has worked retail my entire life, and his hours have always been unusual and long, meaning he wasn't home for dinner often.  When I was old enough, my mom went back to work too, and often worked nights.  We were not a family that sat down to a lovingly home-cooked meal every weeknight--once or twice a week, if we were lucky.

So there aren't a lot of meals that mean childhood, or home, or even family to me.  Of the few there are, this is the best.

All through college, I missed this, and jumped at every chance I had to make it--mostly when I was visiting a friend's family on vacation and offered to take a turn in the kitchen.  It was always well-received.  Two different mothers told me I should bottle this sauce and make a fortune selling it.  (I don't think they realized how easy it is to make!)

The original 70's-era Campbell's recipe this is based on is lost to the mists of time.  I vaguely remember seeing a battered page torn from a magazine when I was very small, but I think it got lost one of the times we moved.  By then, my mother had decided how she liked it, what to leave out and what to add--she told me the original had kidney beans, which, even though I like beans, I simply cannot grasp!  I bet it would be good with cannellini beans instead of the beef, though...maybe I'll try that sometime when I can't find a good price on the beef.

So this is our family's version.  Whatever it was once called, it is now known only as Round Steak Special.

Round Steak Special
(makes 4 servings)

• 8 oz. wide egg noodles
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 large white (or sweet) onion, chopped
• 1 lb. bottom round steak
• 1 15-oz. can stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up (I open the can and use kitchen shears to cut them without having to drain first--no mess!)
• 1 can condensed Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup

Set water on to boil for the noodles, and cook the noodles according to the package directions.

Slice the round steak as thin as possible across the grain.  (Freezing the meat for 30 minutes before slicing can help.)  Cut the slices into 1 1/2 to 2-inch strips.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft and translucent.  Add the steak strips and cook until just browned.  Add the canned tomatoes and undiluted soup, and stir well to combine.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 10-12 minutes, until the beef is fully cooked.  (I usually cook until the noodles are done, then drain them and check the beef--almost always done at the same time!)

Check for seasoning at the end--because both the tomatoes and soup are relatively high in sodium, I usually don't feel the need to add any extra salt.

Ladle the meat and sauce over the noodles, and go to town!

Cooking Challenge Week 16 - Asparagus - Chicken Asparagus Pasta Salad

This was one of those lightning-flash inspirations.  I like asparagus just fine, now that I eat my green vegetables, which wasn't always true.  But aside from the deep-fried asparagus at Scottys when we visit my husband's parents during prime asparagus season....I really don't eat it much.  Looking though the few recipes I do have, the seasonings for asparagus sides always seemed to involve lemon, garlic, or both.  I didn't want to throw some token roasted asparagus next to a steak and squeeze a lemon over it.

When I realized I had another meal planned this week that needed chicken, so I was already dragging out my beloved pressure cooker, and I have lemon juice and olive oil and garlic and pasta all sitting around anyways...

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Salad

•  8 oz. uncooked small pasta shapes (like rotini, in my case)
• 1 lb. asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken

Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard

 In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend thoroughly with a whisk.  (Alternately, if you have a cocktail shaker, those work great for mixing viniagrettes too--thank you, Good Eats!)

Slice the asparagus spears into 1/2-inch pieces, and load into a steamer basket.  Steam over barely simmering water, covered, for five minutes--we're shooting for cooked but not mushy.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool while preparing pasta.

Then, cook the pasta in well-salted water according to package directions, as times will vary by pasta shape.  Drain, but do not rinse, and add to the asparagus.

Add the chopped chicken to that, then pour over the dressing and toss to coat everything.  Refrigerate until fully chilled before serving.

Cooking Challenge Week 12 - Cheese - Cheese 'n' Onion Gnocchi

My husband and I both have some German heritage, but my family never had a strong ethnic tradition in our cooking.  His, on the other hand, most certainly did.  Christmas isn't turkey or even ham at his house; it's roast and spaetzle.  Not that I mind!

When some of his family went on vacation to Germany to see the distant cousins, they discovered cheese-and-onion spaetzle, which their Oma never made for them growing up, because she didn't like cheese!  So we revived it in our family circle.

But we didn't have time to make the spaetzle this time around, so I pulled some of my homemade gnocchi out of the freezer.

In essence, it's simple: smother the starch of your choice (gnocchi/spaetzle/pasta...I wouldn't use rice) with a bechamel sauce flavored with strong cheese (a few generous handfuls of shredded cheddar jack, in this instance, though we've used straight cheddar and a cheddar/parmesan mix before with great success), then smother that with tons of caramelized onion.

To be fair, I obviously made too much sauce (about two and a half cups) for two servings of gnocchi--you can barely see the gnocchi!  One giant Vidalia onion was just about right, though.  I do love me some caramelized onion....

Potato Gnocchi

We are a gnocchi-loving household, and back in the days before we had to stick to a budget for our food, we bought them often.  Now, of course, I'm appalled at the notion of spending $4 or more for a tiny package that will make three servings at best.

I saw some homemade gnocchi at r/food over the weekend, realized I still had several pounds of russet potatoes from the huge bag that was on sale last week, and promptly decided it was time to be a gnocchi-loving household once more.

Gnocchi novices are often discouraged (myself included) by the flour/potato ratio problem:  no one set of numbers is correct, depending on how you cooked the potatoes, the moisture content of your flour, the humidity that day, etc.  Too much flour and the dough is hard to work and the gnocchi are dense and unappetizing; too little, and they disintegrate when you cook them.  Add to that the relatively labor-intensive process of forming them, and I'm not surprised more cooks don't make their own.

But it's totally worth it, when it works.  And practice does make perfect.

I'm giving the basic ratio that I've had the best luck with, per pound of potatoes.  But by all means, scale up to make a bigger batch depending on how many potatoes you have.  I made a two-pound batch, and because it is such an involved process, I recommend making at least that much and freezing what you don't need right away.

Potato Gnocchi

• 1 pound russet or other starchy potatoes, whole and unpeeled
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes and cook until fork-tender, 25-30 minutes depending on size.  (If you have any really giant potatoes, halve or quarter them first so they're all done at the same time.)

Drain and let cool just long enough to handle safely.  Peel and pass through a ricer or food mill.  (Don't have one?  Mash them, but don't over-mash or they'll go gummy on you.)

Beat the egg well and mix into the potato.  Add the flour and salt gradually, gently mixing it in with your hands, and stopping just as soon as the dough holds together well; you'll have some flour left to use for kneading and rolling.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board or countertop and knead just until smooth, 1-2 minutes; don't over-knead!  Cut the dough in half (or in larger batches, into quarters) and, working with one piece at a time, roll into a rope about 1/2" in diameter.  With scissors or a sharp knife, cut the rope into 3/4" pieces.  If desired (and I do recommend it) gently roll each piece against the board with a floured fork, to form ridges.

To cook immediately, drop the gnocchi in batches into boiling, salted water.  They're done about when they float to the surface and stay there, usually about 2 minutes.  Fish out each batch with a slotted spoon or a wire spider before adding more.  Serve immediately, or, alternately, drain and saute in butter to brown before adding a sauce.

To save for later, lay out the gnocchi on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper, making sure they don't touch.  Freeze just until firm (too long and they'd over-dry) before transferring to freezer bags or containers.  Boil them straight from frozen--they'll only take a minute or so longer.

I didn't start taking pictures until I had my first few all done.  Oops!  You don't need pictures to know how to boil potatoes, right?

Laid out for freezing.

All ready for quick meals in the future!

The ones we ate: cooked, drained, sauted in butter, topped with slow-cooker marinara and grated Romano cheese.

Cooking Challenge Week 8 - Slow Cooking - Chicken-Sausage Gumbo

In honor of Mardi Gras this week, I chose gumbo to go into my beloved crock pot.  I use it all the time, so the slow-cooking itself wasn't at all a challenge, just finding a new recipe to keep things interesting!

Hard to believe, I suppose, but for all the regional and ethnic food I've tried, I've never actually had gumbo.  Red beans and rice, sure, all the time, but never gumbo.  So while I knew my gumbo turned out tasty--which it certainly did--I had to rely on my husband to tell me if it tasted right.  His opinion?  A good base recipe, but not hot enough, and not spiced enough.  Next time, I'll try it with some creole seasoning, and more chili flakes!

One thing to note:  be careful with that roux!  I'm giving the recipe exactly as written, in terms of timing, but my roux browned much faster than anticipated--probably because I used a relatively thin-bottomed saucepan.  Trust your eyes and nose instead of the recipe; if it looks and smells done, it's done, even if it didn't need the full twenty minutes to cook.

Chicken-Sausage Gumbo
(from Better Homes and Gardens New Crockery Cooker Cookbook, 1987)

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cups water
• 12 oz. fully-cooked smoked sausage, halved lengthways and sliced
• 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• 1 10-oz. package frozen cut okra
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes (more to taste, if desired)
• hot cooked rice, to serve

For the roux, stir together the flour and oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until smooth.  Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Lower the heat to medium.  Cook and stir constantly another 15 minutes, until the roux is a dark copper-brown.  Set aside to cool while preparing the vegetables.

In a slow cooker (4 qt. or larger), combine the cooled roux and water.  Add the sausage, chicken, okra, onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes.  Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.  Makes 6 servings.

Baking Challenge Week 7 - Valentine's Day - Kheema Pot Pie

This week feels backwards, with my V-Day dessert being my cooking challenge entry, and my main dish being the baking entry--most of my baking entries, by their very nature, have been desserts!  But I just had to have those jello shots, and there's no possible way that could be construed as "baking", so I invented this new pot pie to fall in love with.

It's based on a favorite curry of mine, kheema (also spelled keema or qeema), a heavily-spiced Pakistani dish of ground meat, tomatoes, onions, and whatever other veggies you like, normally served with some sort of flatbread and plain yogurt.  It manages to be both exotic and comfort food at the same time, which I just love.

How did I come up with this idea?  I've seen a few curry pot pie recipes floating around, but they're all basically a normal chicken pot pie with curry powder added...which just doesn't do it for me.  Once I knew that I wanted a pie for my main dish, and that I didn't want chicken (we ate a lot of chicken last week), kheema was one of the first things that came to mind, because I make it with beef.  (It's more often made with lamb, but lamb is prohibitively expensive around here.  If you like lamb better and it's available, by all means, use it instead!)

I made the curry proper the day before, both because it's a rather long process from start to finish if you were to do it all the same day, and because I have yet to meet a curry that doesn't taste better reheated the next day.  It could certainly be done all in one go, but allow some time for the curry to cool before adding the egg and filling the crust.

The full recipe of kheema makes enough to fill two pies; if you don't want two pies, make half the recipe, or make the full recipe and freeze the unused half for later.  If you just want the curry and not the pie, skip the egg and pie crusts and scoop that stuff up with some naan or roti!

Kheema Pot Pie
(adapted from Curry Cuisine)

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and very finely diced
• 1 tsp hot red chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb. ground beef (or lamb)
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 egg, beaten, per pie
• Enough pastry for a double pie crust for each pie being made, either purchased or homemade (I like this recipe)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions over low heat, stirring often, until soft and golden brown.  Add the garlic, ginger paste, tomatoes, and potatoes and stir well.  Add the chili powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander, and salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the oil separates out.

Add the ground beef and stir to mix with the spice mixture.  Cover the pan and simmer over low heat 35 minutes.  Remove the lid and cook a further 8-10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Here, either refrigerate the curry overnight and continue the next day, or allow to cool somewhat before proceeding.  This would be a good time to make the pie crusts, if you're going homemade.

For each pie, mix one beaten egg with half the prepared curry.  Fill the bottom crust, smoothing the curry in an even layer.  Lay the top crust over, seal all around with a fork, and slash a few vents on top to allow steam to escape.  (The hearts are cute, but wholly unnecessary.  I did it to make the pie more lovey-dovey for the theme.)  Bake in a 375 F oven for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.  Rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Anniversary Dinner - Deep-Fried, Feta-Filled Meatballs with Two Sauces

For our first anniversary, we went out to eat, to the same restaurant we went for our rehearsal dinner.  Good times were had.

But around our second anniversary, we were suffering a budget crisis that forbade such things as eating out.  We decided instead to cook something fancy, something that would normally be outside our grocery budget, but still far cheaper than restaurant dinner for two.  (It was paella, and it was delicious.)  We had such fun that we decided it would be the new tradition, budget crisis or no.

This year's dish needs a little explaining.  First, a few years back we were big fans of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  (Not so much anymore, it's gone downhill a bit.)  But we got the cookbook, and we're big fans of the 'Greek' meatballs from the Monte Carlo Steakhouse.  We made them often, both for spaghetti and meatball subs.

Also because of Triple-D, we stopped in at Joe's Gizzard City on one of our cross-MI trips.  Everything they fry is fantastic--best onion rings I've ever had!--but we were really impressed the time I got deep-fried meatballs.  I had them with sweet and sour sauce, but my husband tried one and immediately said, "Why don't we do this with the Greek meatballs and have them with tzatziki?"

So we did.  And then a while later, we told his dad about it, who immediately said, "Those would be great with some feta in the middle!"

So here they are: deep-fried, feta-filled meatballs.

Served with a Hasselback potato, tzatziki sauce, and red bell pepper coulis.

Deep-Fried 'Greek' Meatballs
(adapted from the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives cookbook)

• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried mint
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs (plain or Italian-seasoned are both fine)
• 1 egg
• 2 oz feta cheese, cut into 1/4" dice
• olive oil for sauteing

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion, garlic, oregano, mint, and salt until the onion is soft.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the ground beef, bread crumbs, and egg.  Mix gently until well blended.

Break off 1 1/4" balls of meat mixture and form into flat, round patties between your hands.  Take a piece of feta and place it in the middle, then fold the edges of the patty around it and reshape the mixture into a ball.  Place on a baking sheet while you form the rest.  (If you have any feta left over after you're done, I'd recommend discarding it, unless you're really sure you never touched it with your contaminated hands.  I only had two pieces left, so I didn't mind tossing it.)

Heat more olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and add the meatballs in batches, handling them gently with tongs to turn them to brown all over.  As the meat cooks, it shrinks, so some of them may crack and expose the feta...but they're still delicious.  If any fall apart entirely, eat them now and don't bother to deep-fry them!

You can make them ahead of time and fridge them until you're ready to fry; or you can fry them soon after the initial cooking, just wait until they've cooled enough to handle before dipping them in the batter.  Your cooking time will be a little faster if you fry them while they're still warm.

For the fry batter:
(found somewhere out there on the internet...I wrote the recipe down on a scrap of paper, but not the source)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• vegetable oil for deep-frying

In a bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add the milk and water and blend well.

Heat the oil for frying in a large, heavy pot (I use my enameled dutch oven) to 350 F.  Dip each meatball in the batter, allow the excess to drip off for a few seconds, then place gently in the oil.  Fry in batches--how many you can manage at once depends upon your pot size.  Fry until deep golden, about 4-5 minutes (cold start) or 3-4 minutes (warm start).  I'd recommend cutting open a meatball from your first batch to check your time before starting the rest.

Remove them with a wire spider or a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels while cooking the rest.  Serve with some manner of delicious sauce, and tell your arteries to stop complaining!

Cooking Challenge Week 2 - Chinese - Braised Lemon Chicken

I had intended for this challenge to make one of two things: Spicy Tangerine Beef (one of the few non-Good Eats recipes I've ever used from any Food Network show) or barbeque pork buns, as I'm a huge dim sum fan.

To my dismay, none of the appropriate cuts of meat for either were on sale this week at my local grocery.  The beef, okay, that was a long shot, but I swear, some form of pig is always on sale.  And this week, it was tenderloin.  I'm not paying even sale tenderloin prices!

Chicken thighs, on the other hand, were $0.79/lb.  A few hours later, three pounds of chicken thighs became, courtesy of my new pressure cooker, eight cups of chicken stock and three cups of cooked chicken meat, which will probably be chicken salad in a few days.  The other two pounds found themselves first in a marinade, and then slowly braised in a rich lemon-ginger sauce.   That's a happy chicken.

Braised Lemon Chicken
(adapted from China the Beautiful Cookbook)

• 2 lbs chicken thighs, skinned
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• oil for shallow frying

 Place the chicken thighs in a resealable plastic bag or a shallow dish.  Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and lemon juice and add to the chicken; marinate at least an hour.  Remove the chicken and place on a rack to dry slightly; reserve the marinade.  Heat enough oil in a wok or skillet to fry the chicken pieces on both sides until golden.  Move the chicken to a dutch oven or other large saucepan.

For the sauce: 

• 2 cups chicken stock, or water
• 3 tsp ginger paste, or freshly shredded ginger root
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Add all sauce ingredients and reserved marinade to the chicken.  Heat just to boiling, then reduce to a simmer and cover.  Cook gently for one hour.

Remove the chicken from the sauce and debone, cutting or shredding the meat into bite-size pieces.  Meanwhile, boil the sauce rapidly to reduce.  When thickened, stir the chicken back into the sauce, and serve.