wagyu fajitas

So now we've finally got a picture of the fajitas, one of our regular dishes. I saw the wagyu skirt steak at the grocery store and decided to make some fajitas with it. The marinade I use is lime juice, soy sauce, chili powder, rice wine, and a bit of sugar. I roast and slice poblanos, slice some onions, then use a stir fry method to make the fajitas.  It's not entirely traditional, but it works.

 

Lemongrass Sea Bass

A couple of weeks ago I made a Joël Robuchon recipe that I've had on my to-do list for well over a year.   The recipe originally caught my attention because of the amount of lemongrass involved. I halved the recipe, so about 5 stalks went into it. 

I sautéed striped bass in lemongrass oil and served it with a lemongrass cream sauce, roasted tomatoes, blanched green garlic, and fried, julienned leeks. (I substituted green garlic for scallions because I had some on hand.)

It turned out well, we'll definitely make it again. The sauce was very good, the lemongrass came through nicely. I also liked this method for cooking tomatoes, quartered and baked with some olive oil and herbs.  They were sweet and had a nice, concentrated tomato flavor. I made them again the next day to serve with a roasted game hen and potatoes.

Bacon-wrapped Salmon

On monday we had bacon-wrapped salmon. We used a recipe that Chef Daniel Boulud presented on an episode of Martha Stewart's show. It was accompanied with a red wine sauce and celeriac purée.

The celeriac was cooked in milk with some thyme and garlic and mashed with some of the cooking liquid and some browned butter. It turned out well, although I might up the butter a little bit. (Or at least add some more milk solids to the butter before browning it.)  I left out the salsify because I couldn't find any. 

I considered not making the red wine sauce. I wasn't sure how well it'd go with the salmon, but Emily suggested I give the recipe a try as-is. It worked out well, although I wish I had reduced it bit more and left the shallots in the sauce. (I didn't read the recipe carefully enough and strained them out.) It's somewhat hard to see the sauce in the photo - I think it would have photographed better on a white plate, but my corelware plates don't have the thermal mass to keep the fish warm.  (We put some nicer plates on our wedding registry.)

Because the bacon was doubled on one side of the fish, the inside layer didn't crisp up to my liking, and I think the thickness kept the salmon from browning on the end.  I will make sure the doubled bacon is not on the presentation side next time.

Ratatouille

This was the weekend of ratatouille: I spent most of Saturday preparing for dinner Sunday night. I made two French Laundry dishes, one of which was derived from the classic french ratatouille dish. On Saturday night, we had Dan and Carmen over for a simple dinner - various sausages from Fatted Calf, a good french mustard, and the leftover ratatouille vegetables sautéed in olive oil. After that, we went to see Ratatouille. The movie was a lot of fun and very well done. The attention to detail was amazing. I'd definitely recommend it.

"Macaroni and Cheese"
Butter-poached Maine Lobster with Creamy Lobster Broth and Mascarpone-Enriched Orzo

The first course was lobster poached in butter served with with orzo in a lobster cream broth and a Parmesan crisp. The parmesan crisp was very easy to make. They lobster was briefly boiled yesterday, the meat removed from the shell and refrigerated, and then I spent a few hours were spent making a lobster broth, reducing it, adding cream, and reducing again. I added a some cooked orzo the next morning. I left out the coral oil, as I didn't have any lobster coral.

On Sunday, I reheated the broth, made up a batch of buerre monté, briefly poached the lobster and put it on warmed plates.

Roasted Guinea Fowl en Crépenette de Byaldi with Pan Jus

Imam Byaldi is a turkish dish which is a more refined version of the classic Ratatouille. In the movie, the byaldi is removed from the pan and artfully arranged on the plate. (And, according the recipe in the New York Times, served with a vinagrette.) The byaldi itself takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to cook, by the way.

On Saturday, I cut up a guinea fowl, reserved the breasts and boned-out thighs for the next day, and used the rest of the bird, along with some vegetables and chicken stock, to make a sauce. (Which also spent a good hour or so reducing.)

On Sunday, I placed a bit of the byaldi on each piece of breast and thigh, wrapped it in caul fat, seared it, and baked it. They were then sliced in half, and served on some of the remaining byaldi with some sauce on top.

The actual cooking on Sunday was a half hour at most, but I spent most of Saturday preparing. It was a lot of work, but a fun learning experience. Not something I'd do every weekend.

Braised Oxtail

One last fancy dinner before Emily is spoiled for good (we're going to French Laundry tonight). For this one I use Zuni Cafés braised oxtail recipe, my parmesan mashed potatoes, and some glazed baby carrots (per Keller's instructions for glazing vegetables). The inspiration for this meal was the carrots - I've seen pictures of baby carrots prepared this way, saw some in the farmer's market, and had to try it. There is a little bit of a disconnect between the potatoes (homey) and the carrots (fussy/cheffy). Turned potatoes would have matched better visually, but Emily wanted my mashed ones, and the cheese goes well with the rest of the dish anyway.

Onglet à la bordelaise (avec pommes frites!)

Once again, I made Thomas Keller's "bavette" recipe. This time I used onglet ("hanger steak") instead of skirt steak, cooked it for a little longer in both the browning stage and the oven stage, used a shallot and red wine marinade, and prepared the sauce à la minute. The fries turned out better this time. Most of them were perfectly done and crisp, and I was enjoyed them without ketchup.

(This would also be nice with a mixed green salad in lieu of fries.)

Roughly, the recipe is:

Cook a half cup or so of malbec (red wine) in a pan. Light it on fire and let the alcohol burn off. Add some minced shallots, a squeeze of lemon, and a good pinch of salt. Put it in a zip lock and cool in the freezer. Season the steak, add it to the bag, and put it in the fridge for at least a few hours.

Within an hour or two of dinner time, cut the fries from russet potatoes. Rinse them well, and blanch them in 320 degree vegetable oil for about 5 minutes. (They should be golden brown, no darker.)

Take out the steak, dry it off and let it warm to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat a couple of tablespoons of light olive oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add a tablespoon of butter and melt. Add the meat and brown, a couple of minutes per side, basting the meat with the butter/oil after you flip it. (Cook a bit longer for onglet, I flipped it a couple of times.)

Remove the meat to a small baking dish and cook 3-4 thinly sliced shallots in the same pan for a minute or two, then add a couple more tablespoons of butter, some thyme, and cook for a few more minutes to caramelize the shallots. Spoon the shallots on top of the meat and place it in the oven for 5-8 minutes.

Warm plates for serving.

Deglaze the skillet with a little of the red wine, reduce. Add some chicken or veal broth and reduce a little. Adjust the seasoning. This is your sauce, keep it warm somewhere.

Cook the fries at 375 degrees for a couple of minutes, remove to a drying rack and salt immediately.

Slice the meat against the grain. Plate next to the fries with shallots and sauce spooned on top of the meat.

Profiteroles

I finally got around to making cream puffs last night. I used Thomas Keller's recipe for the Pâtes à Choux. The dough came together rather easily, although it was a novel process for me. The tough part was piping the dough onto a baking pan, I ended up with more dough on my hands than on the pan. I'll have to dig up some instructions for using a piping bag.

I wanted a custard filling (Keller used ice cream), so I made up a batch of pot de crème, put one of them into a piping bag, and injected it into the cream puffs. I topped them with chocolate ganache.

I also made my largest batch of chicken stock this weekend, I wanted to use up all of the leftover chicken in the fridge, and ended up with at least 6 qt of stock.

Superbowl Sunday

We had a bit of an impromptu get-together for the Superbowl last Sunday. While my cassoulet was cooking, Emily and I tried to go the palace of fine arts to take some pictures. We figured it wouldn't be very crowded during the game. It turned out that a record-breaking ship was coming into port and there was no parking to be found in the area. So we returned home and joined Dan and Carmen to watch a bit of the game.

Carmen was making a turkey meatloaf in her slow cooker, so I brought down the cassoulet and made some mashed potatoes to round out the meal.

"Cassoulet"
Perhaps not a proper cassoulet, this was inspired by the classic french recipe and made from ingredients that I had on hand.

1 lb dried barlotti beans.
2 sprigs thyme
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, large dice
1 smoked ham hock, cut in 2" thick chunks
a couple of strips of bacon, diced
a bit of duck confit (I used two winglets)
1 litre of duck broth
a bit of parmesan rind (optional)

Rinse the beans and pick out any sketchy ones.

In a dutch oven on medium heat, cook the bacon in a little bit of oil, until crispy. Brown the cut edges of the ham hock. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or so to soften them up and brown them a little. Add the broth, thyme, parmesan, and beans and simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. Add water or broth as necessary to cover. About an hour or so into the simmering, add the duck confit.

Once the ham is falling apart and the beans are done, fish out the ham hock and duck, chop up the meat. Fish out the parmesan rind and thyme and discard.

At this point one should strain the beans and layer half the beans, the meat, and the rest of the beans and enough of the liquid to cover. I just stirred in the chopped up meat. I also cooked a bockwurst and hot dog in a bit of duck fat and cut it into 1" thick slices, but forgot to add it. (I remembered later, but Carmen doesn't eat veal.)

Put the dutch oven, uncovered in a 250 degree oven for a 3-6 hours. Every hour or so, gently break the crust that forms with a wooden spoon, so that wet beans come to the top. Add liquid as necessary. Leave a crust on top when it's time to serve. Bring the pot to the table and break the crust at the table.

At any point during the slow cooking, you can cool the pot and refrigerate it overnight. Bring it up to room temperature and cook it once again in the oven until it heats through and a crust is formed.

Oh and the stew/soup is quite tasty before the oven stage, so feel free to cut it short if you're in a hurry. (You can probably use roast or raw chicken in place of the duck and substitute chicken broth for duck if it's not available to you.)

Last Weekend

Last Saturday was a bit of a cooking marathon. I rendered the duck fat and used it to cook the duck confit, made stock out of the duck carcass, and braised the oxtail in red wine. And for dinner I made Chicken Cacciatora.

Sunday morning I made pancakes for breakfast, pizza margherita for lunch, and we had the oxtail with Dan and Carmen for dinner. I got the recipe from the Zuni book, but to chef it up a bit I turned and glazed some carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and pearl onions to go with the ribs (following the instructions from the Bouchon book). It turned out quite well, but I need a bit more practice turning and glazing vegetables.

Pot au Feu

Above is the "Pot au Feu" that I cooked last week. For the photo, I plated the serving with the bone on a white dish so the sauce would show up nicely. But the other serving, on the black dish, ended up being a bit better plated. Oh well. The meat and sauce was quite tasty, but the veggies were just so-so.

The recipe was rather fussy (or chefy), but it was a good learning experience. I learned some new knife techniques and got a better understanding about how dishes are built in restaurants, by preparing parts ahead of time. I'd definitely marinade with red wine again, but I think I'd try to get more of the flavor of the broth into the vegetables. My next beef dish will likely be the braised oxtail dish from the Zuni book. (I also have duck confit and Pâtes á Choux on my todo list, and I need to learn how to glaze vegetables.)



Last weekend I made the Zuni chicken again. I also tried my hand at Crème Brûlée using a propane torch and one of my mint Pots de Crème. And Sunday night I made a batch of cinnamon rolls using an Alton Brown recipe. They turned out quite well, although next time I'll spread them out a bit more and perhaps make a smaller batch. (I did tweak the instructions a little so I could make it in one night.)

Pots de Crème

Since I got back from Christmas vacation, I've made three batches of the Pots de Crème recipe from Thomas Keller's book, Bouchon. The first batch was split between chocolate and vanilla. The second was cinnamon, and last night I made a mint one.

Pots de Crème
This is a half batch of the recipe from Thomas Keller's book, Bouchon. The book has much more detailed instructions and highly recommended, but this should be enough to pull off the dish.

1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar

1. Combine cream, milk, and 2 1/2 tbsp sugar. Cut the pod in half, scrape in the vanilla seeds, and add the empty pod.
2. Bring to a simmer and make sure the sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from heat, cover, and let it steep for an hour.
4. Whisk the egg yolks and 2 tbsp sugar together.
5. Rewarm the liquid and strain it.
   
6. Slowly whisk the liquid into the yolks.
7. Gently stir the liquid. Then fill ramekins with the liquid.
8. Refrigerate for a day to let the flavors meld (optional).
9. Put the ramekins in a 9"x9" cake pan, fill with water 1/3-1/2 way up the side of the ramekins. Place the cake pan on a cookie sheet, to protect it from the heat.
10. Cook in a 300 degree oven for 45-55 min. (They should be set, but jiggle slightly. It'll take longer if they just came out of the fridge.)
11. Remove and place on a cooling rack
12. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, at most 3 days.

Chocolate
After step 5, gently warm the sauce and stir it into 3oz of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (about 55% cocoa). Gently stir until the chocolate melts.

Cinnamon
In step 1 add 4 cinnamon sticks and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Mint
In step 1 add a handful of mint leaves (about 1/4 oz).

Almond
In step 1 add 1/4 cup toasted, sliced almonds.

Christmas Vacation

Christmas vacation is now over. It was relaxing, although our schedule was very full this year.

We only stayed in Michigan for a week this year, so I didn't get a chance to see everyone I wanted to see. We had two Christmas events on my side of the family - one up north, in Harrison with my mom's parents, and our traditional Christmas get together. On Emily's side we also had two Christmas get-togethers - at Sheri's house and at the farm in Illinois.

I did find time to cook while I was in Michigan. On three different nights, I made the Murgh Korma, Roast Chicken, and Baked Orecchiette. I also helped on Christmas day by making some side dishes: my mashed potatoes, some green beans, and cucumber kimchee.

When I got back, I spent the remainder of my free time cooking and playing NWN2. I made the Zuni Chicken, both vanilla and chocolate Pots de Crème, Rosemary Focaccia, and Chimay Braised Short ribs.

The focaccia had been on my todo list for a while. I ended up rolling it out a bit too thick, so it turned out a bit tall. But it turned out quite well. I used the recipe from Jamie's Kitchen, but substituted milk for half of the water and threw in a couple tablespoons of olive oil and some minced rosemary. The texture was just right, the only issue was the thickness of the loaf.

The Pots de Crème were from the Bouchon book. The turned out quite well, the chocolate one was a little dense but smooth, a combination of the chocolate and perhaps cooking it a bit too long. The vanilla was light and silky. I have since made a cinnamon batch, and will do mint and cardamom versions eventually. Then I'll move on to Crème Caramel and Crème Brulée.

The Chimay braised short ribs were easy and tasty. We didn't get a photo, but I will be making it again. This sunday I'm planning on making the "pot au feu" from the French Laundry cookbook out of the remaining ribs.

French Onion Soup

A couple of Sunday's ago I got up and made French Onion soup. It was based mainly on a Michael Mina recipe that I found in Food and Wine. We liked it a lot, although Emily thought I was a little heavy handed with the onions. I'll reproduce my version below for posterity.

French Onion Soup

5 onions, sliced 1/4" thick
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 sprigs rosemary
2 cups beef stock
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine (I used a malbec)

Heat the butter in a dutch oven. Add the onions and bay leaves, cover and cook on high heat for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook until they are deeply brown. Stir occasionally. Add water as necessary to keep the onions from drying out. It should take an hour and a half.

Sprinkle on the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and reduce until it is almost gone. Add the stock and rosemary, simmer gently until reduced by a quarter.

Discard the whole herbs and season to taste. If some leaves broke off the rosemary, don't worry about it.

At this stage you can refrigerate or freeze the soup. When you're ready, reheat it.

Put it in small bowls. Add toasted baguette slices, sprinkle with cheese, and broil until the cheese is melted.

Woot

A lot has happened since the last post, between announcing my engagement, work, and finishing stuff on the house, I left out my blog.

On October 6th I proposed to Emily. She knew it was coming, but the ring was finished ahead of time, so I still managed to surprise her. The ring arriving early was unexpected. I had to move quickly to keep it a surprise, so the proposal wasn't as elaborate as I would have liked.

As you can see from my cooking calendar, we had chocolate gelato and champagne with Dan and Carmen, and Emily and I just had a caesar salad for dinner - neither of us were very hungry.

Last Friday we passed our final inspection on the house. One less thing for me to worry about. We still have painting to do, but the city is happy with the important stuff and all of our permits are closed out.

No food pictures for the last few weeks. I didn't make a lot of new dishes. Last weekend I tried to make fish stock, but the fishmonger didn't have the right bones for me. I did make about a gallon of chicken stock, however. Last monday, we had a classic french preparation of mussels. (Steamed with wine, butter, and cream.)

Last night I made "Midwestern Fajitas" – or perhaps I should call them Fajitas al Cacciatore (Hunter's Fajitas) – my usual fajita recipe made with venison flank steak. They didn't have the skirt steak that I usually use, so I figured that the venison flank would have a bit more flavor and be healthier than the beef. The steak was rather thin - like a butterflied beef flank steak - so I only cooked it for about 30-45 seconds per side. It turned out quite well. I'd definitely make it again.

Indian Redux

On friday we had pizza with Dan and Carmen, so I had to come up with something else to cook. Emily has been hinting that she wanted stuffed Naan so I decided to make one of those Southern Indian dipping sauces for it.

Tonight, I made the meat stuffed Naan, some paneer (fresh cheese) stuffed Naan, mango chutney, raita, rice, and Murgh Korma (a chicken curry). I hadn't made the cheese or the chicken dish before. Emily has declared the Korma to be her new favorite Indian dish, but that still may be second to the stuffed Naan. :)

Rasam (lentil soup)


This a nice lentil/tomato soup that can be served it's own with some cilantro and a dollop of sour cream or used as a dipping sauce for Naan.

1/4 cup tanish lentils (tuar dal)
1/4 cup red lentils (masoor dal)
4-5 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp tamarind extract
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp hing (aka asafoetida - I left it out)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp fennugreek seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 bunch cilantro (for garnish)

I usually use chunks of chicken, with bone in, and skin removed, cut into chunks. (Thighs and legs hacked in half, to get some of the marrow flavor into the sauce.)

Cook the lentils in water. Roast and grind the cumin and mustard seeds. Grind the fennugreek and fennel. Add the tomatoes and spices. Simmer for a while.

If you can get it, add 1/2 tsp of hing and a handful of curry leaves.

Adjust the seasoning with salt, tamarind extract, and garam masala.

To serve as a soup, garnish with cilantro, yogurt or sour cream, and maybe a squeeze of lime juice. For a dipping sauce, optionally puree the rasam.

Paneer Cheese

1 quart milk
2 tbsp lemon juice

Simmer the milk for about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice a little at time, while stirring, until the curds separate from the whey. Pour into a clean tea towel in a collander. Season to taste. Tie up the towel and hang it to drain for 10 min or so. Press it under a weight for an hour or so and then unwrap and refrigerate.


Murgh Korma

Adapted from Quick and Easy Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey.

1.5 pounds chicken pieces (with or without bones)
1/4 cup yogurt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 in cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 small tomatoes
1 in piece of ginger
5-6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 pinch saffron (optional)
garam masala

Mix the yogurt with the dry spices (corriander, ground cumin, and chili powder). Lightly whip the yogurt until it's smooth and use it to marinade the chicken. (From a half hour to 3 hours.)

Heat the cream in a microwave and add the saffron. (Be careful not to overheat or it will boil over.)

Mince the garlic and ginger and add a tablespoon of water.

Put the oil on high heat. Add the whole spices (cardamom, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf) and fry for 15 seconds or so. Add the onions and cook until they brown a bit. Add the garlic/ginger paste and fry for 30 sec or so. Add the tomatoes and fry. Add the chicken, its marinade, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally.

Uncover, add the cream mixture, and cook on high for 8 minutes or so, while stirring, until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garam masala.

Indian Night

Last Sunday we had Indian food. Drewes brothers didn't have any appropriate cuts of lamb on hand, so I used beef instead of lamb. We invited Dan and Carmen to join us, and played a board game afterwards. Instead of the usual dishes, I made Saag Ghosht, Naan stuffed with ground meat, and a couple of dipping sauces for the Naan.

Saag Gosht
From Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking.

1/4 tsp black peppercorns
6-7 cloves
2 bay leaves
6 cardamom pods
6 oz onions, finely chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 in cube of ginger, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp corriander, ground
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
2 tsp salt
5 tbsp yogurt, beaten
2 lb fresh spinach, finely chopped (or frozen)
2 lb lamb shoulder in 1in cubes (or beef chuck)
1/4 tsp garam masala

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the whole spices. Stir for a few seconds until they start to darken and become fragrant. Add the onions, and cook until they start to brown (5 minutes or so). Add the garlic and ginger and cook for half a minute. Add the cumin, corriander, cayenne. Add the meat and 1 tsp of salt. Cook for about a minute while stirring. Then add the yogurt, one tablespoon at a time. Stir in each tablespoon before adding the next. Add the spinach and another teaspoon of salt. Stir until the spinach wilts down. Cover tightly, turn the heat to low and simmer for about an hour and a half (two hours for beef) - until the meat is tender.

Remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium and simmer off most of the liquid. You should have a thick green sauce.

Add the garam masala, season to taste and serve.

Naan


Also from Indian Cooking. I stuffed it with the keema below and used Raita and Green Mango Chutney for dipping.

150 mL warm milk
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp dried active yeast
1 lb flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp oil
150 mL yogurt
1 large egg lightly beaten

Mix the milk, 1 tsp of sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let it sit until it starts to get fizzy.
Put the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Add 1 tsp sugar, the yeast mixture, the oil, yogurt and egg. Mix, knead, and form int a ball. Let it raise for an hour. Punch it down, roll into a tube, and cut into 6 balls.

Roll out each ball into a thin flat loaf (think pizza dough) and cook it in the oven. Jaffrey suggests your heaviest baking pan on the highest temperature. I used a pizza stone the first time I made this. This time, I used the flat side of a cast iron grill pan underneath a broiler. (If you have room, you could use the bottom of a large cast iron skillet.) Put the bread on the preheated surface, and cook until it turns golden brown. (It should take a few minutes, but keep an eye on it.)

To make the stuffed naan make an hole in the ball of dough and add a couple of tablespoons of the filling. Close up the hole, forming into a ball again, and roll out the bread as flat as you can get it without losing the filling.

Keema
This is the stuffing for the naan. It is an original recipe following Indian techniques. I ground the beef myself with a food processor. If you choose to do this, pulse it and be careful not to go too far, or you'll get beef paste.

1/2 lb ground lamb (or beef chuck)
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
2 tsp minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Put a skillet on medium-high heat. Add some oil and the onion and cook until they start to brown. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so. Add the dry spices and meat and cook. Season to taste with salt, pepper, cumin seeds, and cayenne. (This is designed to be a little spicy and earthy, to be balanced by the dipping sauces.)

Raita


This is adapted from Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey.

1 cup yogurt
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 handful mint, finely chopped
1/2 English cucumber, grated

Wisk the yogurt to lighten it up a bit, then wisk in the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning to taste. (The cayenne and cumin should be in the background, just a hint of bite and earthiness to accent the mint/yogurt.)

Fresh Green Mango Chutney


This recipe was adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's book, Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.

1 lb green mango, diced
1-2 jalapeños, minced
1" piece of fresh ginger, minced.
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp fennugreek seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp kalonji seeds (omitted - I don't know what they are)
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 tbsp sugar

Gind the seeds, chuck everything into a food processor. (I seeded the chilis, but left the membrane). Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Indian Rice


This also is my own recipe, and it varies each time I make it. Here is what I made last night.

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil
4 cloves
5 peppercorns
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 cup rice
1 1/2 cups water

Heat the butter and oil on medium or medium high heat, being careful not to burn the butter. (Don't worry if it browns a little.) Fry the whole spiced for about 30 seconds or so. They should make popping noises and smell fragrant. Add the rice and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the liquid and turmeric. Bring to a simmer. Give the pot one stir, cover and turn the heat to low. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off. Wait 5 minutes before removing the cover.

Garam Masala
This one also comes from Indian Cooking. You can buy it from a store, but it will not be as good. Garam Masala is frequently added to Indian dishes at the end of cooking.

1 tbsp cardamom
2" cinnamon
1 tsp black cumin seeds
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 nut nutmeg, grated

Grind in a spice grinder or mortar/pestle. Store in an airtight spice jar.

Catch up

It's been a couple of weeks since the previous post. In the meantime, I've moved my blog over to blogger so people can actually reply to my posts. My cooking exploits for the last few weeks:
The 26th and 27th marked a weekend of laying in supplies. In addition to making the Roast tenderloin and apricot/bourbon pork chops, I put together some cioppino stew base; made some homemade chicken broth and a simple red mole sauce out of it; and I made a batch of pizza crusts for Emily.

The next friday, we made the Cioppino for Dan and Carmen, and on the 8th I made my first attempt at seafood paella. It turned out well, but I didn't use enough liquid, so I had to add some halfway through and adjust the cooking accordingly. I used mussels, clams, squid, and chorizo for the Paella. The sofrito was tomatoes, red bell pepper, onions, etc, and there was a bit of white wine in there somewhere.

I couldn't bring myself to buying a Paella pan - they're cheap, but tricky to heat evenly; so I bought a nice, but much more expensive 12" All-Clad skillet to use instead. (It is enjoyable to cook with, since I got it, I also made chicken cacciatora and Fregula con Cocciola. For a lid, I either make a cartouche of wax paper or use the le Creuset lid, which happens to fit slightly below the top of the pan. I will post a recipe the next time I cook it, but I got the general technique from an article from Fine Cooking's web site. It is the best article I could find on the web, explaining the general philosophy, providing a recipe, and variations. (Don't miss the second page and a couple of links with details.)

Leftover Night

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had "leftovers" tonight. Which means we took the leftover stew base from our cioppino, added some tomatoes, saffron, a pinch of new mexico chile powder, and a bit of chicken broth. Cooked up some fregula pasta in it, and then a dozen clams. (We found a bonus clam in the stew, but Emily ate it before we got to the fregula part.) The result was quite tasty. Not quite as soupy as the version at La Ciccia, but very good.I'll add a photo when Emily puts it up on flickr. (She's busy backing up photos at the moment - 15 CDs so far.)

San Francisco Treat

On Monday we made Cioppino, a seafood stew which originated in San Francisco. We used a recipe from food network, substituting lobster for crab because of availability.

This was was the first time I've cooked mussels, scallops, clams, and lobster. The Cioppoino also included shrimp, which I've worked with before. I've cooked squid before too, but I left it out this time.

The stew base was made with a homemade fish stock that we put together on Sunday. The stew was very tasty by itself and would have made a very good meal with a can of white beans.

We decided to eat all of the meat, because we weren't sure how well cooked seafood keeps. There was some leftover broth, which we plan on cooking up with some Fregula (a toasted pasta similar to large cous-cous), saffron, and clams.

More pictures can be found in Emily's flickr collection.

I'd recommend making the stew base ahead of time, after which you can easily throw this together on a weeknight. (Otherwise, it'll take 30-45 min to put the base together.) Definitely serve with crusty bread, preferrable sourdough. And give your guests plenty of napkins or a nice, wet towel. Peeling shrimp, etc at the table can be messy. You could peel the seafood prior to serving, but that does take some of the fun out of it. :)

Steak Fajitas

And now, the steak fajita recipe. This started out as an Alton Brown recipe which mutated when I reproduced it from memory. We had this for Emily's birthday on thursday, then we used the leftovers, with a bit of cheese, to make cheesesteak sandwiches.
Rich pointed out that proper fajitas would not use soy sauce and would use poblanos rather than bell peppers. The version below is how I have been making them and is more asian in character than south-western. This is mainly because asian techniques are what I know well. (If you want to use poblanos, roast them first and don't use soy sauce - I think it will overwhelm the poblanos.)

Marinade

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oil
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp sugar
1 lb flank steak (or skirt steak)
2 tsp chili powder

Fajitas

1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 lb flank steak (or skirt steak)

Mix the marinade ingredients together, put the meat in the marinade, and let sit for a half hour to an hour. (Turning at least once.) Dry off the meat and reserve the marinade. Rub each side with chili powder, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat a large cast iron skillet on high heat. Add the flank steak, cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, add some oil to the skillet. Add the onions and cook them until they soften and color up a bit. Add the peppers and sprinkle with a little bit of chili powder. Fry for a minute or so. Add the marinade and cook down for a minute.
Pour the veggies on a plate. Slice the meat into thin slices against the grain and cut into 2 inch lengths. If the meat is too rare for your tastes, you can stir fry it in the pan briefly, but be careful not to overcook it. If you cook it past medium it will be chewy.
Serve with Mexican rice, black beans, pico de gallo, and tortillas.

Alton Brown's Chili Powder

3 ancho chilis
3 cascabel chiles
3 dried arbol chiles
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika

Roast the chiles and cumin seeds in a dry skillet. (10 sec / side for the chiles, be careful not to burn them) Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles. Put them in a blender and process into a powder. Store in an airtight container.