Bangers and Mash

  

  
Last night, I was at an Irish Bar and had bangers and mash for the first time.  Over the din of the folk singer ("there were green alligators and long neck geese..."), I asked the bar tender what was bangers and mash precisely.  He responded sausage and mashed potatoes with gravy and peas.  I signed up and soon found out why bangers and mash with a couple pints of ale is a treasure.  Sublime in its simpleness, just a few ingredients.  Perhaps reflective of my Midwestern roots where there are more Germans than Irish (can you say Brats from Wisconsin!), I had never had sausage with brown gravy.  There it was instead paired with sauerkraut, or more frequently in a bun with mustard.  The mashed potatoes provide a wonderful starch support, and while the picture above does not show them, peas, a traditional pairing in the gravy, provide a nice textural boost.  My bangers and mash came with 3 sausages and I could not finish them.  They were too rich, and my arteries probably would have burst anyway.  Which makes me think of pairing this with a decidedly new world healthier alternative.  I would suggest a chicken sausage, perhaps with apple inside.  They come in many varieties now and contain half the fat, which is a big deal considering how much we're talking here.  So next time you need some comfort food, try bangers and mash.  Serves 2.
     
Ingredients:
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 precooked sausages (beef, pork or chicken)
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup whole milk
salt/pepper
1 tbsp flour
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup frozen peas
     
Directions:
In a medium pot over high heat, add the potatoes and enough cold water to cover by an inch.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat if needed to avoid boiling over and boil for 12-15 minutes until fork tender.  While the potatoes are cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a medium fry pan over low heat and add the sausages, rolling periodically to brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.  In a small cup, melt 2 tbsp of butter 60-90 seconds in a microwave.  Add the milk and heat in the microwave a further 60 seconds.  When the potatoes are done, drain, and run through a ricer back into the cooking pot.  Stir in portions of the warmed butter milk mixture and stir briefly until achieving a desired mashed consistency, or if not using a ricer, mash the potatoes to a desired smoothness.  Season with salt and pepper as desired and cover to keep warm.  Melt the remaining butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Whisk in the butter and allow the roux to cook 1 minuted.  Add the beef stock and whisk the roux to mix.  Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken a minute.  Add the peas and simmer a few minutes more to cook them.  Season the gravy with salt and pepper as desired.  Plate the mash potatoes, lay the sausages on top and cover with the gravy and peas.
     

Pancetta and Pistachio Stuffed Chicken Breasts

  

    
What to do with boring chicken?  Chicken Piccata?  Been there.  Chicken Marsala?  Done that.  Chicken from India, Morocco, Spain?  Check, check, check.  Another strategy for anything is to make it taste like something else, and that can be achieved by stuffing it.  Stuffing something can impart both taste and texture, and once you learn its basics, you can apply it to all sorts of meats.  The other day at the supermarket I was thinking about stuffing a veal chop.  I have several recipes for that, but veal chops are a rare commodity at most markets.  I have recipes for stuffed pork chops, but I had pork for lunch on this day.  So, I decided to apply one of those recipes to chicken and the results were fabulous.  The stuffed pork chop recipes I have come mostly from La Cucina Italiana, an Italian cooking magazine to which I subscribe.  They each use pine nuts, garlic, parsley and a cheese.  Some include capers or olives, but I personally am a fan of neither.  Some of the cheeses they recommend I've never heard of, so I use fontina, which I find excellent for this purpose.  I also like to add a bacon taste and on this evening I opened the pancetta I like to keep on hand.  I was out of pine nuts, so substituted pistachios, which worked wonderfully.  Serves 2.
    
Ingredients:
4 slices of pancetta, diced
1/4 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic cloves, minced
2 skinless chicken breasts
salt/pepper
2 slices fontina cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock


Directions:
Slice the chicken breasts horizontally on the long end, but not all of the way through like a book, to open them.  Season with salt and pepper.  In a medium saute pan over medium heat, cook the diced pancetta until browned and remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel.  Turn the heat in the pan down to medium-low.  Mix the pistachios, parsley, garlic and cooked pancetta together and spoon half onto each of the open chicken breasts.  Add a slice of fontina to each breast on top of the mixture.  Close the chicken flaps and use toothpicks to fasten together.  If more oil is needed to saute the breasts then was rendered by the pancetta, add some olive oil to bring to 2 tbsp total.  When heated, add the chicken breasts, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn the chicken breasts, recover and cook another 5 minutes.  Uncover and test the chicken breasts to ensure cooke through, perhaps with a small cut with a knife.  If almost cooked, they can be removed to a plate and covered with foil to complete the last minute of cooking.  In the pan, add the chicken stock and deglaze the bits on the bottom, stirring to mix and bringing to a simmer.  Turn off the heat and swirl in a pat of butter if desired.  Remove the toothpicks from the chicken, plate and spoon the broth on top.
      

Beef Bourguignon

  

    
In sailing, no single action puts a boat far into the lead of a race.  Instead, a series of continuous, small actions of excellence allow the boat to achieve a slightly higher speed and gradually buildup a lead.  Constantly trimming the sails, adjusting the steering into the wind as the wind shifts, a clean mark rounding, even the time it took to clean the boat's keel before putting it to bed after the last sail, all add up to a winning effort. 
Similarly, the differences between beef stew and beef bourguignon are subtle, but make all the difference in elevating this dish from hearty to sublime.  Both dishes cook chunks of meat and vegetables with a thickened broth.  However, a series of small steps will make stew something special.  The first is marinating the meat.  Instead of just throwing those chuck chunks and chopped vegetables into the pot, marinate them overnight in red wine and the aromatic herbs.  Instead of just browning the meat in oil, first cook bacon that will be part of the stew, but also allow for browning the meat in bacon fat.  Also, cooking the stew in a combination of wine and stock, instead of just stock or water is a key ingredient.  Some also deglaze the browned bits with cognac.  It's these little things that will make your stew bourguignon and your tummy happy.  Serves 4.
    
Ingredients:
2 pounds of beef chuck or round, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 cups red wine, such as burgundy
1 bouquet garni
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 slices of bacon, chopped
salt/pepper
1/4 cup cognac
1 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp flour (or 2 tsp of corn starch mixed in 2 tbsp of cold water if needed to substitute)
2 cups beef stock
1/2 lb white mushrooms, sliced
1 cup peeled pearl onions
pinch sugar
    
Directions:
In a ziploc bag, add the beef, wine, bouquet garni, garlic, potato and carrots.  Seal and refrigerate several hours or overnight.  Empty the marinated mixture into a bowl and remove the beef to a separate plate.  Dry the meat with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  In a Dutch oven over medium-low, render the bacon.  Remove the bacon when crisp, leaving the bacon fat.  Add the beef to the pot and brown on all sides, approximately 10 minutes.  If using flour, sprinkle now over the beef and mix.  Deglaze the pot with the cognac, scraping up the browned bits and allowing the liquid to simmer down.  Add the stock, bacon, tomato paste and marinating liquid and bouquet garni (still reserving the vegetables), corn starch mixture if using and bring to a simmer.  Cover, turn the heat down and allow to simmer for up to an hour.  Add the reserved vegetables, mushrooms and pearl onions and simmer a further hour.  Remove the bouquet garni and add the sugar if needed to adjust the acidity.  Serve.
    

Roast Pork Tenderloin with a Balsamic Fig Sauce

  

  
The most important factor in fine cooking is fine ingredients.  That doesn't necessarily mean expensive ingredients, but it does mean fresh ingredients.  Fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, that is where quality will shine through.  Chefs oftentimes construct their recipes by what is fresh at the market that morning.  That thought, what was fresh and calling out to me at the market, gave me the idea to prepare a fig sauce.  It's not something I had done before, and I would never just go eat a fig.  But as with a cherry or pomegranate sauce for duck, I thought a fig sauce might be nice with pork, so I grabbed the package of figs that appeared at the market one day and this is the result.  The fig sauce recipe below is an amalgam of sources I consulted from Bon Appetit to Joy of Cooking to Martha Stewart.  A balsamic fig sauce sounded fun, and each was built on the combination of figs, a wine to deglaze, balsamic vinegar, and stock support.  I served this with cooked polenta, good itself and even better with this fig sauce on top.  Serves 2.
    
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pork tenderloin
salt/pepper
1 shallot, diced
1/3 cup port
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary
8 dried figs, quartered lengthwise
     
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.  Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper and brown all sides in the fry pan.  Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes or until an internal thermometer reads 150 degrees F.  
When the tenderloin is roasted, transfer to a plate and cover in foil to keep warm.  Return the fry pan to the stove top over low heat and soften the shallots for approximately 5 minutes.  Increase the heat to medium and add the port, scraping up any cooked bits to deglaze the pan.  Add the vinegar, sugar, stock, rosemary and figs and simmer for 5 minutes.  Spoon out 3 of the figs to a food processor and mince.  Return the minced figs to the sauce and allow to simmer a few minutes more.  Meanwhile, slice the tenderloin into 3/4" medallions and plate, spooning the fig sauce on top.  
      

Kaeng Phanaeng Kung (Shrimp Curry with Basil)

  

    
A friend recently told me that I make a lot of North African dishes, and that is true.  Moroccan tagines are a great way to whip up something quick, easy and exotic.  However, it was also a signal, at least from myself, that I need to explore and develop more.  For me, that means confronting my fear of authentic asian cuisine.  Fear is probably too strong a word, trepidation may be better, but it is that feeling in the face of something complex and poorly understood.  The last shrimp recipe I posted last week was very simple.  Coming from Portugal, it is easy to see why.  It contained ingredients that could survive on a ship for 6 months sailing back from the spice islands to Europe.  Basically, from a barrel of curry powder.
     
This recipe from The Food of Thailand: A Journey for Food Lovers represents the next step in my journey into the complexity and beauty of Asian cuisine.  In addition to our curry base, come not only coconut milk, but also fish sauce and palm sugar.  The latter is something for which brown sugar can substitute, but their is no substitute for Thai fish sauce.  While used sparingly, it adds layers of complexity impossible to find elsewhere.  This recipe also uses yellow curry paste instead of the more common green or red curries.  Yellow is my favorite because it contains the cumin and turmeric spices I love.  Red curry paste is also made from red peppers, but uses less coriander and includes galangal (ginger) and no cumin.  Green curry from green peppers instead of red will also include lime skin or leaves.  All that said, just go buy a jar of your favorite at the store, along with a little bottle of fish sauce.  Stick it in a shelf in your fridge and use it for dishes like this.  A further note, I like my dishes very "saucey" so that not only the meat and vegetables are coated, but the rice added to a bowl can soak up the broth.  If you don't need so much sauce, just cut the recipe in half.  Serves 2.
     
Ingredients:
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp yellow (or green or red) curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm (or brown) sugar
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
handful of sweet basil leaves, torn
    
Directions:
Heat the oil over medium heat in a saucepan or wok and stir fry the paste a minute or two to release the flavors.  Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and bell pepper and cook for a minute, mixing the ingredients fully and bringing them to a simmer.  Add the shrimp and cook a few minutes until the shrimp are cooked through.  Mix in the basil leaves if desired, or serve the dish and garnish by dropping the leaves on top.
    

Chicken with Almond and Egg Sauce

  

    
French cuisine has its luscious sauces, and certainly plenty of cuisines can be rich in texture and taste.  This sauce from Spain is luscious in a more rustic, hearty way.  The almonds provide both texture and work as a thickener.  The flavors come from the egg, garlic and saffron, all working in a subtle, and I dare say seductive way.  At a minimum, this is a wonderfully different way to prepare chicken.  Serves 2.
     
Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 cloves garlic
1 slice bread
1 tbsp chicken stock
1 pinch saffron
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
2 chicken breasts
salt/pepper
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup sherry
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1 pinch nutmeg
1 tbsp chopped parsely
      
Directions:
Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-low heat.  Add the almonds and saute a few minutes to brown to a golden color.  Add the garlic and saute 1 minute more.  Spoon out the mixture into a food processor.  In the same pan, saute the bread until golden.  Tear the cooked bread into chunks and add to the almond mixture.  Crush the saffron and mix with the 1 tbsp of chicken stock in a small bowl.  Add with the egg yolk to the almond bread mixture.  Blend the mixture briefly in the processor until a paste is formed.
Wipe out the pan and the remaining 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat.  Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and brown in the pan a few minutes on both sides.  Add the 3/4 cup stock, sherry, bay leaf and thyme, cover and simmer perhaps 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pan and stir in the paste, simmering a little to reheat and thicken.  Serve with the nutmeg and parsley sprinkled on top if desired.
    

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Golden Raisins

  

  
Many Moroccan dishes that that work with sweet broths of saffron and cinnamon such as lemon chicken or chicken, apricot and almond tagine will not also include cumin.  This recipe does both and carries it off beautifully.  That may be because its meat is lamb and not chicken.  Moroccan cooks may learn such rules at a young age, if such a rule does exist, but I learned of its ability last night and now I want to share with you.  The original recipe called for including potatoes and carrots and there is nothing to say you shouldn't, I just didn't feel like going there when I prepared this dish.  Maybe tagines in my mind are more restricted.  I also used golden raisins instead of traditional raisins.  They have a more delicate flavor.  As always, prepare the dish as you would like, starting with this base.  Serves 2
    
Ingredients:
1 lb lamb, in 1 inch cubes

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin
3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 tsp honey
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cilantro
2 shallots sliced
1 tbsp tomato paste
salt/pepper
2 cups chicken stock
pinch saffron
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 can chickpeas
1 cup cooked rice
    
Descriptions:
Mix together in a bowl the lamb, paprika, cumin, garlic, honey, 2 tbsp olive oil, and cilantro.  Allow to marinate from half an hour to overnight if desired.  Heat olive oil in a tagine or Dutch oven over low and cook shallots a few minutes to start softening.  Raise the heat to medium.  Add the lamb mixture and cook a few minutes to brown.  Stir in the tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the chicken stock and stir in the saffron.  Add the cinnamon stick, raisins and chickpeas and bring to a simmer.  Turn the heat down to simmer and cover.  After 30 minutes, uncover and if a thicker broth is desired, raise the heat and boil down to desired consistency.  Adjust the salt and pepper if desired and serve over rice.
    

Shrimp Curry

  

  
This is a plain recipe.  It does not include lemon grass, or ginger or any of a dozen other ingredients you might and should put into a seafood curry dish.  The reason I include it is for its very simplicity, and its ability to educate on the basics.  There are some cooking fundamentals that once learned, can provide the building blocks for a myriad of meals over a lifetime.  Take roux: it uses a 1:1 ratio of butter and flour.  For gravy, that can be expanded to 1:1:1 with 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp flour and 1 cup stock.  Of course, all sorts of good things can be added such as softening some shallots in the cooking fat, perhaps adding some garlic, deglazing the cooking pan with white wine, and then adding the stock and roux.  
    
This shrimp curry recipe helped me start to break down some of the basic mysteries surrounding curry.  I have a metal tin of it in the cupboard, but how much to use, and when?  This recipe uses the same 1:1 ratio with 1 tbsp of curry powder with a roux based on 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of flour mixed with one cup of liquid.  The original recipe called for that liquid to be divided equally between fish stock and cream.  I think substituting coconut milk for the cream would add an extra dimension, but that is the point.  From a base like this, you can add all of the additional aromatics and vegetables you like.  Experiment and enjoy.  Serves 2.
   
Ingredients:
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup fish stock
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt/pepper
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1/4 cilantro
1 cup rice, cooked
    
Directions:
Warm the oil in a medium saute pan over low heat.  Add the onions and bell pepper and saute until softened, approximately 8 minutes.  Stir in the curry powder and let cook 1 minute.  Stir in the fish stock and let simmer.  In a small pan, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour.  After a roux is formed, allow it to cook a further minute to cook off the flour taste.  Add the roux to the simmering stock and whisk to mix.  Add the cream and bring to a simmer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the shrimp and cover, cooking a further 4 minutes.  Mix in the cilantro and serve over rice.
   

Kheema Matar (Lamb with Peas)

     

  

Have you ever tried those Indian simmer sauces that come in a jar from the supermarket?  Some are pretty good and make a fast and easy way to prepare a meal.  However, they always seem to lack the multiple layers of flavor that are hard to replicate.  Likewise, many recipes that start with a tablespoon of curry power also just don't measure up to the real thing.  However, this recipe from The Food of India: A Journey for Food Lovers will not disappoint.  Amazingly, all of the ingredients can be found at the local supermarket (except for asafoetida, I'm not even sure what it is, but a pinch of it wasn't missed here), and should be part of your pantry of spices.  Similarly, ground lamb is showing up in more and more meat sections.  The next time you see some, grab it and make this recipe.  Serves 2.

    

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, chopped or 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup oil

1 bay leaf

1/2 lb ground lamb

1/2 tbsp tomato paste

1/8 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/8 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

     

Description:

Put the onion, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and process until finely chopped.  Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat.  Add the onion mixture and bay leaf and fry for 3-4 minutes.  Add the lamb and fry for 10 minutes, breaking up the meat and stirring occasionally.  Add the tomato paste, stir in and lower the heat to simmer.  Add the turmeric, chili powder, coriander and cumin, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add the yoghurt, salt and pepper, stir and cook for 5 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of water or more if desired for a looser consistency a little of the time and stir to absorb.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  With 5 minutes remaining, stir in the peas.  At the end, stir in the garam masala and chopped coriander.  Cook for a further minute and then serve with rice if desired.