Valentine's Day - 2018

When I am home for Valentine's Day, I always try to make something a little extra special for dinner. This year was no exception, but because it is midweek and we are both working I didn't have all day to slave over the stove.
This dish was grilled romaine with roasted beets, diced red pepper, warm Israeli couscous all with a bitter orange dressing. Oh and we had some sous vide chicken thighs left over from a different dish, so added that too.
To make it vegetarian or vegan use oil instead of bacon and omit the chicken.
It did get the "We Can Serve This To People" appellation, so I guess madame liked it!

Ingredients - CousCous 

3 strips bacon cut into small pieces (for vegetarians, use olive oil instead of bacon)

1 small shallot diced finely

1/4 cup Israeli couscous

1/2t smoked paprika

1/2t sumac

1 medium carrot diced into 1/4" cubes. Size matters here for the speed of cooking

1/2 cup boiling water

Ingredients - The Dressing

4T bitter orange orange marmalade - jelly only, no peel strips

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup high quality olive oil (a finishing oil)

salt to taste - remember that in this dish there is bacon that is itself salty

Ingredients - The Rest

1/2 red pepper diced into 1/4" pieces

2 medium roasted beets diced into 1/4" pieces

1 cooked chicken thigh diced (optional - we happened to have one left over)

1 romaine lettuce heart halved lengthwise

Coarse salt

Pepper

Method - CousCous

Do the couscous first as it takes the longest. 

Gently render the bacon in a large saucier. When the bacon is rendered, add the shallot, couscous and spices. Cook over medium heat, stirring or shaking frequently for about a minute - until the couscous is lightly toasted. Add the carrots and boiling water. Cover and simmer until the water is absorbed. This is about 10 minutes. When the couscous is cooked,  turn off the heat and allow to stand until ready to serve (at room temperature)

Method - Dressing

In a large bowl whisk together the ingredients, ad let stand. Whisk again immediately before use.

Method - The Rest (And Final Assembly)

Grill the romaine on a medium/hot griddle - or over a gas/charcoal grill if you prefer. When it is slightly charred, transfer to an individual plate. Place the room temperature couscous on one corener of the plate. Some of the chicken on another corner. Dress the romaine with a teaspoon of dressing. Pile the diced red pepper and beets onto the romaine. Add 2 more teaspoons of dressing. Sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with a nice, crisp white wine.  In our case a South African Sauvignon Blanc.

Spicy Pecan Brittle

This was to be part of the dessert for a formal dinner - if it lasted that long.  Fortunately it did. It turned out a most tasty, more-ish candy with a perfect texture. Definitely will be made again. It does have a little butter so it is not vegan.

Ingredients

2t kosher salt

2t ground cinnamon

2t smoked paprika

pinch of cumin (fine ground)

pinch of cayenne (more to taste depending on heat of cayenne pepper and desire to store

2t baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1cup corn syrup (I used 2/3rds plain, and 1/3rd from Rockwall.)

1/2 cup water

8T (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups pecans (raw, roughly chopped)

1T Vanilla essence

Method

Warm a rimmed baking sheet in a 250 oven for about 30 minutes ahead of time.

Whisk together the salt, cinnamon, paprika and cayenne until well combined

In a sauce pan whisk together the sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla and bring to the boil (medium low). and heat to 300 degrees as measured by a candy thermometer (after about 15 minutes)..

Stir and remove from heat. Add the water and stir again.Add the butter and allow to dissolve. 

Put the pan back on heat with the thermometer visible. 

Add the chopped pecans and stir thoroughly.

Pour the brittle onto the warmed baking sheet and allow to cool (about 6 hours).

Break into small pieces and garnish appropriately.

Rotkohl - Allow lots of time

This sweet/sour red cabbage dish was part of a formal dinner party that we had last Saturday. It made enough for about 16 people as a side. The proportions are not exact (sadly) because there was some improvisation needed. But here it is approximately. You can tell by the color if you have enough vinegar.  The dish needs to stay bright red looking. If it goes too dark or faintly purple, there isn't enough acid.

Ingredients

1 head red cabbage (about 4lbs, shredded)

1 1/2 yellow onions (about 1lb) sliced thinly

2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced

8 cloves inside a spice bag to make them easy to find in the finished dish

3/4 cup rice wine vinegar (Ideally you would use apple cider vinegar and a bit less, but we were out!)

10 T sherry vinegar (optional n- unnecessary if using apple cider vinegar)

1/4 cup of sugar (to taste)

3 t kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot (these fit into a 7 quart dutch oven). Bring to a simmer gently. Cover and simmer for at least 90 minutes. By all means crack the lid and taste to make sure the balance is how you want it.

After 90 minutes, uncover and allow some of the liquid to evaporate (another 30 minutes). By this time the cabbage should have softened but should still be slightly firm.

Remove the spice bag and serve hot as a side dish with your main course.

Eggplant with orange juice and oil

A group of us were staying in an AirBnB in Buenos Aires. We were working together on a very cool project and staying in a very nice house. 5 bedrooms, plenty of bathrooms, pool, outdoor parilla (grill) and a well stocked kitchen. The challenge was always, "What shall we do about dinner?" Of course being in Argentina that was often answered by, "Let's go to..." (one of several nearby great restaurants serving hunks o' beast). This evening, though we decided to eat in.
My contribution was this dish - there is a plentiful supply of oranges here, so why not see what happens?
Note: The egg plant are not the usual globe (Italian) eggplants. These are thinner skinned and light purple in color.

Ingredients

Juice of 3 oranges

1/4 cup neutral oil

3 cloves garlic

1 t soy sauce

1/2t hot sauce

3 Chinese egg plant peeled and cut into 3/4" thick medallions

Salt to taste

Method

Combine the wet ingredients. Soak the egg plant slices in the wet mixture.  Pat them dry and grill over the coals until nicely marked and soft.

Place the slices on a warm platter and drizzle the marinade over the still warm egg plant. Toss lightly to incorporate the dressing.

Sprinkle coarse salt on top and serve hot or at room temperature. It's good either way.

A "Chopped" candidate

This evening's dinner felt like something out of the TV program "Chopped". A bunch of ingredients and a timer - make dinner. The ingredients this time were 1 butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, pepitas and goat cheese. There was some fresh oregano lying around too, and the usual pantry staples. Turned out absolutely delicious!

We used this recipe as one of the dishes in the knife sharpening party. Mostly because the butternut squash needs sharp blades.

It is better to toast the pepitas than to buy the ready toasted variety. Sometimes the pre-toasted pepitas can taste a little rancid.

Ingredients

1 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4" cubes

2T vegetable oil

5 sprigs of fresh oregano

12 cherry tomatoes

2 oz pepitas, toasted

2 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled (can substitute cambozola or even brie) 

Salt/pepper to taste

Method

Toast the pepitas in a hot skillet until they brown. This takes about 5-7 minutes. You could also do them in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes. Salt them liberally while still hot.

Pre-heat the oven to 450F. Toss the butternut squash pieces in the oil, then salt and pepper them liberally, adding the oregano. Spread the squash pieces over a rimmed baking sheet. Place them in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes add the tomatoes. Let cook for 10 minutes. Then add the pepitas. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the crumbled goat cheese (or other soft cheese if using) and place the pan back in the oven for the cheese to melt.

Serve piping hot with a nice red wine - in our case a Chianti.

Chicken Refrigerator Soup

A refrigerator soup is one where you have a whole bunch of stuff lying round, and need to use it up - in a potentially unusual way. This one was no exception. Wee were leaving for the weekend and needed to make dinner the night before. How we had the ingredients is a bit of a mystery. What happened to them was awesome.
I had bought too many chicken thighs a few days before. The packaging had me with 2 bone in, skin on chicken thighs left over. Also there was 3/4 of a red onion. That meant to me "make stock". So into  the stockpot went thee thighs, onion and water. Simmer for an hour (so the meat was still viable and the stock was OK (weird color because of the red onion, but tasty. Shredded the chicken (removed the skin, of course) and we now had the basis of a soup.
We had an acorn squash lying around and some celery, carrots, yellow onions, and red potatoes on the day that soup making was required. So how hard could it be? The bonus surprise was that the acorn squash cooked right down and thickened the soup all by itself. So no need to puree anything.
Start to finish 35 minutes.

Ingredients

1T neutral oil

1 small red onion diced

4 small carrots cut into 3/4" lengths

3 ribs celery sliced into 3/4" lengths

3 cups chicken stock (defatted)

Hot sauce to taste (we used our home made habanero vodka - aka secret ingredient)

4 medium red potatoes - quarered

1 acorn squash peeled, seeded and diced

Shredded meat from 2 cooked chicken thighs

2T crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened)

Salt/Pepper to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepot or dutch oven until shimmering. Add the onions, carrots, celery, turn the heat down and sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and hot sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the potatoes and squash. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes - until the potatoes are just cooked. As you stir the soup here, the squash will disintegrate, thickening the soup.

Add the chicken and peanut butter, stirring thoroughly until the peanut butter is fully incorporated. 

Serve piping hot with crunchy salt.   

OnePotChicken

A friend of ours had bariatric surgery recently. So he eats far less now than he used to. It's important that what he does eat is really tasty, healthy and nutritious. He doesn't want a lot of potatoes - he simply doesn't have the capacity for them any more. And no carbonation in anything - so no beer (or soda).
So the upshot was to make a one dish meal with chicken... But of course it needed to be amped up, so here goes. The ngredient list looks pretty intimidating, but I would imagine you would have most of the ingredients in the pantry. And yes we did "serve this to people" and Madame said we could!
And, full disclosure, I adapted this from a Serious Eats recipe - Thanks again Kenji

Ingredients

1T olive oil

9 chicken thighs (that's because 9 fit into my largest skillet!), bone in and skin on, seasoned with salt and pepper

8 oz bacon chopped into small pieces crosswise

1 large red onion (that's because we had a red onion - white or yellow would be fine too) diced

1 fennel bulb - diced in the same sized pieces as the oinion

1 head green cabbage shredded like you might for coleslaw

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2T coarse grained mustard

2t habanero vodka (aka secret ingredient)

3 cups chicken stock

2T white sugar

3 bay leaves

12 thyme sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 and position a rack in the middle. I used the convection bake setting, so it doesn't matter quite so much where the rack is. I had these potatoes (for Madame and me) salt baking on the middle shelf.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a 12" saute pan. Make sure it is shimmering and that there are little whiffs of smoke. Place the thighs SKIN SIDE DOWN into the hot pan. Do not cover with a lid, but do use a splatter guard if you have one. Leave over medium heat undisturbed for 8-10 minutes. The skin should brown and start to crisp up.

Once the chicken has browned, flip it over and cook on the other side for 3-5 minutes - just to get some color.

Transfer the chicken to a warm plate and add the bacon to the pan. The bacon will need to cook for 3-5 minutes. It crisps and darkens a bit.

Pour off most of the fat in the pan and then add the onion and fennel and cook until soft and very slightly brown. Again about 3-5 minutes.

Add the cabbage (it will look like the pot is overflowing, but it does wilt down sum. Keeping the pan on medium heat cook the cabbage until some of it gets a slight char. You will need to keep tossing it in the pan because there is so much of it. 

Add the vinegar, mustard, secret ingredient and deglaze the pan.

Add the chicken stock, thyme, bay leaves, and sugar and bring to a simmer.

Nestle the chicken skin side up in the simmering stock. It is vital that the skin of the chicken be above the liquid. 

Put the pan into the preheated oven and "bake" for 35-45 minutes. My instant read thermometer registered a scary 200. But the chicken was fine. Skin nice and crispy. Certainly any pathogens had been obliterated. 

To serve, place the chicken onto a serving platter or bowl. Cover with the cabbage and remaining liquid. Garnish with fennel fronds, and serve.

A bit of work for a Tuesday - total elapsed time about 75 minutes. But a good chunk of the time was spent with the dish in the oven.

Now I have some left overs for lunches. Except, of course, I forgot to take any to work today.

Asian Slaw

We were asked to bring a dish to a party last evening. We knew that there would be bbq at the party, so figured that some kind of a slaw would be a good dish to bring. Enter an Asian version inspired by my go to team at Serious Eats.

Note this takes well over an hour to make, but it is pretty low involvement

Ingredients - Dressing

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2T Soy sauce

1t toasted sesame oil (or chili sesame oil if you have it. If so reduce the amount of the following)

Some form of hot sauce - preferably one without vinegar. we used "Srirarcha" and habanero vodka.

2 cloves garlic (squished into a paste with a little salt)

2T freshly grated ginger

3T smooth, plain peanut butter (unsweetened)

Method - Dressing

If you measure the oil first and then use the same measuring cup for the honey, the honey flows out more easily. 

Whisk the oil, honey, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and spicy ingredients together. Stir in the garlic and ginger. Finally combine the peanut butter and stir/whisk until incorporated. Leave to stand for up to an hour to incorporate the flavors. Note that there is little salt in the dressing. The soy sauce provides some salt. The cabbage is salted in the next step. There is enough residual salt so it is not necessary to salt the dressing. The small amount of salt added to the garlic is to help with the making of the paste. So when you taste the dressing by itself,  it may seem under seasoned.

Ingredients - Slaw

1 head of green cabbage (about 2lbs) shredded

2T kosher salt

3 large, older carrots peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater

3 scallions white and light green parts sliced on the bias

1 red pepper cut into small dice

2 or 3 hot chiles (we used cayenne peppers) chopped very finely) (if desired)

8 oz packet of edamame cooked and chilled

4 oz roasted salted peanuts chopped roughly

Method - Slaw

Lay the cabbage in a strainer or colander and sprinkle with the kosher salt. This will draw out some of the water and keep the cabbage crisp. Leave this for about an hour to drain. Roll the drained cabbage in a kitchen towel and squeeze the water out. This may end up with 1/2 to 1 cup of water.

Combine the slaw ingredients (except the peanuts) in a large bowl. Add the dressing in 3 additions, mixing the slaw after each addition. This ensures that the coating will be even - no pockets of undressed cabbage.

Add the peanuts and mix the slaw for the last time.

Chill and serve within a couple of hours after mixing.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

We had visited a local farmers' market last weekend. One of the farmers had these really cute fairy tale eggplants. These are small, variegated eggplants - about 2 -3 inches in length. Very tender and delicious, with none of the bitterness associated with the more conventional Italian eggplants. They are best cooked roasted in a hot oven with some good oil and shallots. We also roasted cherry tomatoes and shishito peppers from the garden. At the same farmers' market, there was a stall selling interesting salad greens. So we bought some Mizuna for the salad. A lemon juice/rice wine vinegar based vinaigrette, grilled bread (home made that day, of course) and there was dinner. Yup it did get the "we can serve this to people" accolade, so I was pretty happy with the result.

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs fairy tale eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise

1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved pole to pole

1 large shallot, finely minced (divided use)

1 1/2 cups olive oil (divided use)

30 shishito peppers

1t dry mustard (e.g. Coleman's)

1/2t freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

1 head mizuna

2 slices country bread, brushed with olive oil and grilled

Juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 350 (fan assisted) or 375(conventional). Add 1/2 the chopped shallots to 1/4 cup of olive oil. Swirl to coat. Add the eggplants and shishitos. Place the tomatoes, eggplant (cut side up) and shishitos on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Make sure that all of the oil/shallot mixture is spread over the eggplants. Roast in the oven for 15-20  minutes until the eggplants are softened and slightly brown. The shishitos will cook slightly before the eggplants, so watch them carefully. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Meanwhile make a vinaigrette, combining the mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, remaining shallots, and remaining oil.

Spread the mizuna in a serving bowl and pile on the roasted vegetables. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the warmed vegetables  (you will use maybe 1/4 of the made up vinaigrette - save the rest for other salads). Hand the grilled bread separately.  Serve with a crisp white wine (in my case the "On the White Keys" from Arietta. Madame had a South African Sauvignon Blanc from Spier. 

Salads for the arayes

In this post, I described the amazing Lebanese sandwiches - arayes. To go with them we made a couple of salads. Water melons, tomatoes and local feta seemed to be the way to go. Home made yogurt, home grown mint made a good tzatziki. All in all pretty tasty. The dishes were:

Watermelon, watercress, feta and pistachio salad
Cucumber, tomato and onion salad
Tzatziki

The tzatziki quantities are approximate. Also, the tzatziki needs at least 2 hours in the refrigerator for the flavors to combine.

Ingredients - Watermelon salad

3 cups cubed watermelon (cubed like this)

1 bunch watercress

5 oz feta chopped into 1/4" cubes

1 cup pistachios, roughly chopped

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

6T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best finishing oil you have)

Coarse salt to taste

Method

Combine everything except the salt. Add the coarse salt just before serving, so that the juices don't run out of the melon.

Ingredients - Cucumber, onion, tomato salad

A few lettuce leaves 

3 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, 14" pieces

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 slice of white onion, 14" thick chopped finely

juice of 1/2 lemon

4T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (again the best that you have)

Coarse sea salt added just before serving.

Method

Line a salad bowl with the lettuce leaves. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion in a bowl, add the lemon juice. Just before serving, toss in some coarse salt and stir. Add to the serving bowl that has the lettuce leaves liner.

Ingredients - Tzatziki

3 cloves garlic - mashed to a paste

1 1/2 cups strained (Greek) yogurt

Handful of mint leaves chopped finely

3T white wine vinegar

1t tahini

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the best you have)

salt to taste

Method

Mix the garlic into the yogurt. Add the mint leaves, vinegar, tahini and oil. Stir throughly and check the seasoning. You may need to add a little salt. Chill for at least 2 hours.

We can serve this to chefdave

While on vacation with Dave Gilbert and friends this summer, he made a vegetable curry using Thai red curry paste. It was outstanding. Even better it was easy enough to add some kind of protein or filler to it and have a substantial meal. It was easy to do, so I thought a reprise would be in order.

Little did I know that there was an accolade from Madame that is even higher than "We can serve this to people". This dish garnered a "We can serve this to Chef Dave". So I figured it should be added here so I remember what we did.

Ingredients - Curry Base

1 can coconut cream (No, not sweetened coconut cream a la Coco Lopez)

2 small cans of Thai red curry paste

1 white onion, cut into spoon sized pieces pole to pole

2 cilantro bunches (stalks and leaves separate)

2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thinly

4 kaffir lime leaves sliced in to thin strips

1 can coconut milk

3T Fish sauce

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/3" cubes

2 lbs carrots cut into 1/3" cubes

2 large egg plants , peeled and diced into 1/3" cubes. Also dice the peeled trimmings into a very fine dice, they will thicken the dish.

Method - Curry Base

Skim the thickest cream from the can of coconut cream into a large Dutch oven. Heat over low heat until it breaks down and becomes oily. Immediately add the curry paste from the cans and stir while frying the paste. Add the onion, cilantro stalks, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves and sweat for about 10 minutes - until the onion has softened. add the remainder of the coconut cream can and all the coconut milk + the fish sauce. Stir until combined. Add the potatoes and the carrots and enough water just to cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes - until the potatoes are nearly cooked.

Meanwhile prepare the egg plant. After 10 minutes add the egg plant to the pot, stir to mix and simmer with the lid on for a few minutes (until the eggplant is cooked and the potatoes are soft, but not mushy). Some of the egg plant will disappear and thicken the liquid, while some will maintain integrity.

Serving/Finishing

Once the base is made,m it can be used to cook a variety of proteins. In the Bahamas, we used some of the fish that the guys caught in the afternoon. Also possible to use chicken, or if you want the full vegetarian experience, some soaked chick peas (garbanzo beans).

It is a matter of slicing the fish or chicken (about 4 oz per person) very thinly and immersing in the hot curry. The fish/chicken are cooked, by simmering in a matter of minutes.  If using chickpeas, the same approach is adopted, but no slicing. They take a little longer, especially if they are a bit firm to start with. No quantity is given here, but for 2 people, one small (14oz) can would work for 2 people.

Serve with a squeeze of lime juice and finely minced cilantro leaves.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

This was one of those warm Texas evenings, a bottle of rosé , pita chips and the great outdoors kinds of recipes. We had a few red peppers, some pine nuts, olives, capers, anchovies and "secret ingredient" lying around. So of course a dip was the answer. Served with an Argentinian rosé (Pinot Noir).  Bagel chips as an accompaniment and we had very happy tummies.
It turns out that there are quite a lot of ingredients in this. But we happened to have them all to hand.

Ingredients

3 Red Peppers - roasted and cut into pieces

1/2 cup pine nuts - toasted

2T olive oil (not extra virgin - it becomes bitter with the use of the immersion blender)

1 salt packed anchovy

6 Niçoise olives, pitted

1T capers rinsed and drained

1t Habanero vodka (aka secret ingredient). May substitute any hot pepper sauce, but if vinegared, reduce vinegar in overall recipe

2T Sherry vinegar

Salt to taste

Method

Place all the ingredients except the vinegar and salt into the immersion blender's beaker and pulse until almost smooth. Crunchy peanut butter texture is what you are aiming for.

Taste once the desired texture is attained. Add salt (if necessary) and sherry vinegar to taste.

Chill and serve with pita chips

One Dish Asparagus

Asparagus and Mushrooms - A Light Dinner

Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course

Time 15 minutes

Skill Easy

This dish came about because asparagus is so good this time of year - and we wanted a quick and easy one dish meal. Mushrooms and asparagus are a match made in heaven. Some shallots and a couple of eggs, oh my!

You can use plain white button mushrooms, creminis, shiitakes, or any other exotic mushrooms for this. Be careful of the woody stems of shiitake mushrooms though.

The clever bit of this recipe is that the liquid from the mushrooms steams the asparagus and the eggs. If using white mushrooms you probably won't have to add any water.

You can, of course add any herbs/spices that interest you. I think a little nutmeg would be nice. Could also see thyme (a natural complement to mushrooms) being a nice addition.

Ingredients

1 T neutral (I used olive) oil

1 Medium shallot diced very finely

12 oz Mushrooms (sliced) - 1/4" (5 mm) thick slices. Use the stems too, but see caution above

1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)

2T Dry sherry or white vermouth

3 T water (if necessary)

1 lb Fresh asparagus 1 1/2" (3 cm) pieces cut on the bias

2 - 4 whole chicken eggs

Salt/pepper to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a medium (8") skillet. I prefer not to use non-stick, but that is a preference. Add the shallots and sweat for a minute or 2 until they are translucent.

Add the mushrooms to the skillet and sprinkle a little salt over them to encourage them to release their liquid. cook briefly (3 or 4 mor minutes) until the mushrooms have wilted and given up some of their liquid.  Add the cayenne (if using) and stir to incorporate. Add the sherry or vermouth.

Place the asparagus stalks on top of the mushroom/shallot mixture and put a tight fitting lid onto the pan. Steam for 30 seconds. Add the asparagus tips and, again, place the lid on and steam for a further minute. Check the liquid and if the pan is looking dry, add up to 3T water.

Break the eggs and individually place the eggs on top of the asparagus. Keep the eggs well separated, The recipe will accept up to 4 eggs, but you may not want to do that many.

Place the lid back on the skillet and allow the contents to steam for 3 1/2 more minutes - until the egg whites are set and the yolks are the consistency you want. The asparagus will be just cooked

Remove the lid adjust the seasoning to your taste. Serve immediately, making sure that any juices in the bottom of the pan are scooped up and drizzled over the dish.

Brisket rub

We recently bought a new ceramic outdoor "grill". We have had a medium sized Big Green Egg for a while, and we also had a propane based gas grill next door to it. The propane just got to be too much of a pain, so we abandoned it and bought a Primo XL oval ceramic grill to put in its place. That means we can now do 2 whole beef briskets at a time - not that we need to very often. But at this time of the year it is necessary as we give briskets to the police, fire department, home owners' association security group, local TV stations and others. Also we do a big event on the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) where we always serve brisket and pork.

I had a half brisket left over after the pre-Christmas deliveries so I took it to work. At work there is a group of young (and therefore always hungry) developers who like nothing better than BBQ (especially free BBQ). The 7 lbs of meat disappeared in about 15 minutes. And then there was the inevitable question (by some of the non-apartment dwellers who maybe planned to smoke their own meat) what is in the rub? In my kitchen there are no secrets. So here's what I do. You may find the units a bit odd, because they are expressed in "parts" not in any specific base. A part could be a teaspoon, a tablespoon, a cup, a gallon or whatever. But please note, all these are volume measures. I didn't weigh any of them. Also this rub is very suitable for beef, but I don't use it on pork - it is far too intense for pork.

Ingredients - All By Volume

20 parts kosher salt

6 parts jaggery (indian sugar_ or dark soft brown sugar

2 parts paprika (smoked is better)

2 parts black pepper (finely ground

1 part ground cumin

1/2 part garlic powder

1/2 part onion powder

1/4 part cayenne pepper

Note: The fractional parts could be a bit confusing. I could have multiplied it out and ended up with 80 parts of kosher salt. Somehow that would have looked a bit daunting.

And no the ingredients aren't terribly precise.

GuacaTuna Redux

A while back (in 2009) I created a dish called Guacatuna. The idea was to replace the mayonnaise in tuna salad with mashed avocado. The texture was about the same, but the flavor was better. The mango added a little behind the scenes sweetness.

A couple of weeks I improvised on the idea and combined the avocado with a little mango - keying off this dish . Another success, I am pleased to say.

Ingredients

8oz Fresh Tuna

2 Avocados - flesh scooped out

1 mango - peeled and diced

2 pickling onions - minced (you could use 1/2 red onion, minced if you prefer)

1/2 habanero pepper

1/4 cup olive oil (you may not need all of it. It depends on the avocado)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely, Save some small leaves for garnish

a few cherry tomatoes halved

Pomegranate arils for garnish

salt/pepper to taste

coarse salt for crunch

Lettuce for serving, (Butter lettuce leaves or grilled romaine)

Method

Salt and pepper the tuna, then grill it over charcoal until the interior is light pink. Allow it to cool, and then flake into bite sized pieces.

Meanwhile, place the avocado, mango, habanero into the blender and pulse a few times. It will clog up, so thin with a little high quality olive oil. You want it to be smooth and the texture of mayonnaise.

Combine the tomatoes, cilantro, minced onion and tuna with the avocado mixture. Season the mixture to taste.

Serve on a bed of butter lettuce (or as we did with some grilled romaine). Garnish with the pomegranate and cilantro. Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt over the salad and serve immediately.

The wine that evening was the Spier Chenin Bland - which at < $10 per bottle is terrific value for a midweek supper.

Leeks, mushrooms, asparagus

I suppose this is one of those dishes where an exotic name (preferably in an obscure language) is appropriate. But I decided just to be prosaic. It's more one of those, "What do we have lying around?" kinds of dishes. It turned out well, and got the "We can serve this to people" accolade.
To get the asparagus to behave, I cooked the stem ends for a minute before adding the tips.

Ingredients

2T Unsalted butter

3 leeks, white and light green parts, rinsed, and chopped finely

6 oz mushrooms, sliced (We had some white and some cremini, so used both)

1 minced jalapeno pepper

12 oz fresh asparagus cut into 2" lengths

2 T Port (I would have preferred a medium dry sherry, but port was what I could find)

2T water

2 dozen cherry tomatoes, halved

salt/pepper to taste

Sea salt to sprinkle for extra crunch

Method

Melt the butter over low heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks and sweat them (adding a little salt) for 4 or 5 minutes, taking care not to brown them. Move the leeks to the edge of the pan, and place the mushrooms in the center, turning up the heat a bit. Cook the mushrooms until they have driven off most of their moisture. Combine the leeks and mushrooms, add the port and the asparagus stalks. Put the lid on the pan and steam gently for a minute or so. Add the water and the asparagus tips, steam for a further 2 minutes with the lid on the pan.

Turn off the heat and immediately add the cherry tomatoes. Stir to combine and serve.

We had this as a main course, but it would make an excellent side dish, perhaps in a warm salad, or as a bruschetta on grilled baguette slices. 

Mango and Avocado salad

A dinner party dish. It's all about the prep! It can be varied a bit too, depending on which accents you want. This time we used pomegranates - they are just coming back into season, it seems. Thanks Dana, for the prep.

Ingredients

1 large ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/3" chunks

1 shallot, finely diced

2 ripe avocados, peeled and cut into the same sized pieces as the mango

Juice of 2 limes (divided use)

1 Pomegranate (arils only)

High quality olive oil (amount varies depending on the ripeness of the fruit, but around 2T)

2 green lettuce leaves per person

1/2 cup roughly chopped roasted pistachios

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Ahead of time, prepare the mangoes, avocado, pomegranate and onion. Make sure you cover the avocado with the juice of one of the limes.

When ready to serve, combine the fruits and shallot into a bowl and add the juice of 1/2 the second lime. Add 1T of olive oil and taste - checking for consistency.  You may need more, so check carefully.

To plate, lay 2 lettuce leaves on the salad plate, spoon the salad mixture onto the leaves, sprinkle a little more olive oil over the dish, then top with the pistachios and add some coarse sea salt (for crunch). Grate a little pepper on each plate, and serve immediately. 

Lamb Shoulder Chops - Sous Vide and Grilled

It was dinner event time. We had a menu comprising an avocado/mango/pomegranate salad, lamb shoulder chops with salt baked potatoes, roasted tomatoes and roasted cauliflower. This was followed with lemon pots de creme.

This post is about the lamb chops. Shoulder chops are a bit awkward. The bones run in odd directions, but the flavor is fantastic. They can be a bit tough, so our old friends yogurt and sous-vide cooking come to the rescue.

Ingredients

2 cups plain yogurt

20 black peppercorns, lightly crushed

2t coriander seeds, lightly crushed

20 cardamom pods - seeds only, lightly crushed

5 inch piece of lemon grass - bruised

1t Szechuan pepper - bruised

3 cloves garlic, crushed

12 lamb shoulder chops (about 8lb)

Method

Combine the yogurt and spices in a small jug. Put the lam chops in vacuum bags (I used 3 bags, each with 4 chops). Divide the yogurt mixture evenly among the bags, Extract the air from the bags, and leave until ready

Set up the water circulator and water bath to a temperature of 134F (57C) and immerse the bagged chops for 4+ hours. This temperature get the chops to medium rare+. Shoulder meat needs to be a little more cooked than the tender lollipop chops.

The chops are finished on the grill. 

Heat the grill (we used the Big Green Egg) to a high temperature. Open the vacuum bags, and while still warm, pat the meat dry. Place the meat on the grill to brown - and get some slightly smoky flavor. 

Watermelon and Halloumi

We did a Mediterranean themed party, so who better to turn to for inspiration than Michael Symon. So while this is actually using a Cypriot cheese, it fit the bill nicely.  It is a pretty simple recipe, but it tasted outstanding. None left :-(

Refreshing, tangy, tasty and pretty. You can find the original here. I didn't change it up much.

Ingredients

1 small shallot, minced

1 medium clove garlic mashed

kosher salt

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 T honey

1/2 cup high quality, extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
4 T chopped mint

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

24 x 1" diameter 3/8" thick rounds cut from the core of a seedless watermelon
24 x 1" diameter 3/8 thick rounds of halloumi
2T vegetable oil
Rice flour/water slurry to coat the halloumi

Method

Mash the garlic with a little salt to make a paste. Place the shallot and garlic in a bowl. Add the vinegar and honey, Mix well. Whisk in the extra virgin olive oil. Add the almonds and mint, stir well.

Place the watermelon rounds in a single layer in the bottom of an 8x13 non reactive dish. Pour the mixed dressing over the watermelon. Allow to rest for at least an hour and up to 3.hours.

Coat the individual halloumi rounds with a little rice flour slurry. Heat up a cast iron pan over medium heat with the 2T of vegetable oil. Test temperature of pan with a few drops of water.

When hot enough, place the halloumi on the pan in a single layer. When you have laid out the last round, the first round will be ready to flip.

Once the halloumi rounds are cooked, remove from pan and place on top of the watermelon, serve immediately

Rhubarb

Rhubarb doesn't get as much visibility as it should here in Dallas, TX. When buying some yesterday I was asked by the cashier at the supermarket if it was like celery... But I digress.

It is a delicious stalk that needs very little attention - making it a great ingredient for smoothies, and pies - or for just plain snacking. And it is really simple to prepare.

Ingredients

2 1/2 lb Rhubarb, top and tailed, cut into 1" lengths

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar.

Method

Combine the rhubarb and sugar in a non-reactive sauce pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently until some of the juice has rendered out. Turn the heat down to low, put the lid on the pan and cook gently for about 15-20 minutes - until the rhubarb has softened.

Uses

Smoothie - equal volumes of chilled, prepared rhubarb (see above), Greek yogurt and ice. Blend until smooth. Add some strawberries if you want extra flavors

Pie filling - use the prepared rhubarb as a filling for a double crust pie or a simple crumble (crisp).

Eat out of hand. The sweet/tart taste of rhubarb makes a delicious snack on its own

Make a sauce to accompany pork. Perhaps add a dried plum to the prpared rhubarb, heat gently and puree.