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.

     

Rojoes a Cominho (Pork with Cumin, Lemon and Cilantro)

   

   

Hearty stews are wonderful to warm the soul on a cold winter day.  But sometimes something more interesting than a stew is needed to break cabin fever.  This recipe is also from Portugal and pairs the Portugese love of pork with ingredients they no doubt brought back during their age of exploration to the Spice Islands.  Cumin is one of my favorite spices, although I take lemon in moderation.  As always, adjust the proportions to suit your pallet.  When I cooked this recipe, again from the Williams-Sonoma Savoring Spain and Portugal cookbook, I followed the recipe's suggestion for lemon juice, but did not add the recommended lemon zest or slices.  Similarly, the original recipe called for 2 tsp of pepper which overwhlemed the dish for my taste.  Here, I suggest 1/2 a tsp.  I paired this with rice, and also added a flour and butter roux to thicken the sauce.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
7 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup dry white wine
2 lb pork sholder cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour

Directions:
In a bowl, stir together the cumin, garlic, pepper, salt, 4 tbsp of the cilantro, lemon juice and the wine.  Add the pork and mix to coat.  Put the pork and marinade mixture into a ziploc bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight. 
Drain the pork, reserving the marinade, and pat the meat dry.  In a heavy sauce pan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the pork and saute until brown all over, 8-10 minutes.  Add the reserved marinade and the stock, raising the heat if necessary, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.  In a small pan, melt the butter and then stir in the flour.  Allow the roux to cook a couple of minutes and then whisk into the stew.  Ensure that the stew remains at or returns to a simmer and cook for an additional 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.  Serve over cooked rice and sprinkle remaining cilantro on top of each serving.
   

Bife a Cebolada (Onion-Smothered Steak)

    

   

Portugal is a wonderful country.  Both its countryside and its food can be rustic in the best ways.  That means rolling hills of cork and olive trees, hilltop towns and castles, and simple meals of cheese and bread, hearty wines and meats.  That is where I wanted to be last weekend, and when I want to be someplace, cooking can take me there.  Steak with wine sauce is a traditional pairing, and Port wine conjours images of Portugal, but for me the onions of this recipe spoke to that rustic feeling, the golden color of light on a mediterranean afternoon, of leather and stone, cork and dust, clay roof tiles and olive oil.  Try this recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Savoring Spain and Portugal cookbook and see if it takes you there too.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 rib-eye steaks

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup port

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 

Directions:
Combine 1 tbsp of the vinegar, 1 tsp of the garlic, the paprika, and the salt and pepper and mix together to form a paste.  Rub the paste over both sides of the steaks and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.  In a frying pan over low heat, warm 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook the onions, stirring often, for 25 minutes until golden.  Add the remaining 1 tsp of garlic, tomato, the remaining 1 tbsp of vinegar, the bay leaf and port.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper if neeeded and stir in the parsely.
Season the steaks with salt and pepper.  In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tbsp of olive oil until almost smoking and add the steaks.  Cook on each side for 3-5 minutes per side, turning once.  Add the onion sauce and turn the steaks to coat.  Serve immediately.
   

Black Bean Couscous Cakes

  

  
What to do with leftover couscous?  Many times when making rice, orzo or couscous as a side I will have leftover portions.  Of course, you can just save them for a later meal.  But sometimes, you can transform a boring side into something new or even a new meal.  Earlier this week, I prepared a mango couscous mix to go with grilled fish.  I admit the idea for this recipe came from that box, which offered a recipe for black bean cakes.  While a bit of overzealous cleaning resulted in the loss of that specific recipe, making cakes out of couscous is a simple process involving egg and flour.  Most recipes also call for the addition of cilantro, and some lemon.  I added the black beans, and instead of lemon, added lime.  The picture above shows how I paired the cakes as a side with chicken, which I marinated in a chipotle lime marinade, but the cakes can serve as a meal themselves, perhaps with a salad.  Enjoy.
   
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked couscous
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 14-ounce can of black beans (or the whole can if desired)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp lime juice
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup olive oil
   
Directions:
In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the olive oil.  In a large nonstick pan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Form the couscous mixture into cakes of a few inches across.  They may be fragile at this stage, so they may require pressing each cake together around the edges and transferring it from a plate to the pan gently with a spatula.  Cook the cakes 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden.  Drain the cooked cakes on a paper towel.  Serve the cakes with a chutney if desired.
    

Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi with Mango Couscous and Papaya Chutney

Sounds complicated and involved - Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi with Mango Couscous and Papaya Chutney - but it doesn't have to be.  In true Semi-Homemade fashion, you can whip up exotic sounding dishes on a week night in no time flat.  Pan roasting a nice cut of fish requires exactly four things: a piece of fish, olive oil, a pan and a stove.  Mango couscous takes three:  a box of couscous with a pre-made mango flavoring mix, water and a pot.  Same for the chutney: a jar of chutney, water and a bowl.  Get the idea.  Sure, we can go to our Indian cookbooks on a weekend and make a home-made chutney, but even if we have the time, the right fresh fruits may not be in season.  The key, then, is just pairing the right store bought pre-mixed products for that occasional semi-homemade meal.  Use your creativity and personal preferences to put together your flavor combinations.  There are plenty of products available even at the most basic supermarkets.  Have fun, and enjoy.  Serves 2.
   
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper
2 mahi-mahi filets (or fish to taste such as salmon or red snapper)
1 box couscous with flavor mix included
1 jar chutney, such as papaya
1 tbsp water
   
Directions:
In a medium pot, prepare the couscous according to the directions on the box. While the couscous is steeping, heat olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat until smoking.  Season the fish filets on both sides with salt and pepper.  Saute until gold on both sides and the fish is cooked through, approximately 3 to 5 minutes on each side.  While the fish is cooking on its second side, spoon out a few tbsp of chutney into a bowl.  Add a tbsp of water, more or less as needed, to loosen the chutney into more of a sauce consistency.  When the fish is finished, transfer to plates and spoon some of the chutney sauce over each piece of fish.  Fluff the couscous in its pot and then serve a portion on each plate.
   

Pork Cutlets with a Mushroom Cognac Cream Sauce

      

     

Last summer, I visited Bonn, Germany on a work trip.  I very soon realized that the traditional, and for the most part only, cuisine of the area was a breaded cutlet with one of a few sauces, or an arm length link of sausage.  Each were good once, although I couldn't imagine of making a habit of such food as I was forced to do over the course of a week.  But in time, like most memories, one remembers only the good parts, and so, this past week I returned to thoughts of breaded cutlets with a mushroom cream sauce.  I don't remember whether I had a pork cutlet or a veal cutlet, that wasn't the important part.  The mushroom cream sauce was the inspiration which I fulfilled by recreating the dish in its form below.  It brought back a summer's night in a beer garden, Kolsch beer flowing, arteries clogging.  Once in a while, there's nothing like it.  Serves 2.

    

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter

2 boneless pork loin chops

salt/pepper

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

1 4-oz can sliced button mushrooms

1/4 cup cognac

1 cup cream

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp corn starch

1 tbsp water

    

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.  In a medium nonstick fry pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat.  Place the flour, eggs and bread crumbs each on a plate or in a bowl.  Cut the pork chops in half lengthwise to form two cutlets approximately 1/4 inch thick each.  If the chops are thicker, cut in thirds to make three cutlets per chop.  Season each chop with salt and pepper.  When the butter in the pan is bubbling, dredge 2 of the chops in the flour, shaking off the excess, then dredge in the eggs, then dredge in the breadcrumbs, ensuring all parts of the cutlets are coated.  Saute the cutlets on one side for a few minutes until golden, then turn and saute on the other side in the same manner.  When the cutlets are cooked, remove to a plate with a paper towel in the heated oven.  If the butter in the pan is overly browned and in danger of burning, wipe out the pan with a paper towel before adding and heating the second tbsp of butter.  Cook the second set of cutlets as before.

For the sauce, add the final 2 tbsp of butter to the pan along with the mushrooms.  Cook the mushrooms until softened and gently browned, approximately 5-8 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with the cognac, scraping up the brown bits from the pan.  Simmer down the cognac in half, then add the stock and cream, bringing to a gentle simmer.  If a thicker sauce is desired, mix the corn starch and cold water together in a small bowl and then add to the sauce, bringing the sauce back to a simmer and allowing to thicken.  Season the sauce as desired and serve over the cutlets.

   

Halibut and Fall Harvest Saute

   

   

The end of the year brings to a close the harvest and root vegetables that define fall cooking.  And so, last night I put that lonely butternut squash on the countertop and the old parsnip in the vegetable drawer out of their misery.  I shouldn't have waited, for this dish is tasty, easy and a good way to prepare fish.  Too often, we think of a piece of white fish and rice and the need for a sauce.  Dover sole cooked in butter can be nice, but hardly inspiring.  Likewise, a hearty fish stew can be involved and take time with different types of seafood and cooking times.  This meal combines the heartiness of a broth and root vegetables, along with a sauteed fish for a healthy meal.  I found it in Food & Wine, October 2004, and it serves faithfully every fall.  What's more, if you happen to cut up too many vegetables, just put the extras along with a diced leek in another pot and simmer with chicken stock for 20 minutes.  You'll have one of the best soups you've ever tasted.  Serves 2.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter

1 large shallot or half a small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup diced, peeled butternut squash

1 cup diced, peeled potato

1 small parsnip, peeled and diced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/4 cups low-salt chicken stock

1 tbsp olive oil

2 halibut fillets

salt/pepper

2 tbsp flour

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt 2 tbsp of butter over low heat.  Add the chopped shallot and garlic and cook until softened, abotu 3 miutes.  Add the squash, potato and turnip and cook over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the wine, thyme and bay leaf and cook a few minutes until the wine reduces by half.  Add the stock, cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until just smoking.  Season the halibut with salt and pepper and then dredge through the flour, shaking off excess.  Add the halibut and saute until golden, about 3 or 4 minutes per side.  Stir in the remaining tbsp of butter to the broth, serve into bowls, and place the halibut on top to serve.

Roman-Style Chicken

     

    

What to do with chicken?  The eternal question.  There are whole cookbooks devoted to chicken recipes, and I own a few of them.  This recipe, from Giada De Laurentiis, proposes braising browned chicken along with prosciutto and sweet bell peppers. Hard to go wrong there and it is quick and delicious.  Capers added at the end can send this dish in a direction of other traditional chicken preparations such as chicken piccata cooked with lemon and capers.  I switch things around, as should you, depending on how I'm feeling any given night.  For example, last night I did not add the recommended diced tomatoes.  No particular reason, just didn't feel like it.  Similarly, many times I will use just yellow peppers, which are a little sweeter than the red peppers Giada suggests adding.  Adding red with the yellow bell peppers make a nice visual presentation, but the taste will be a little different.  Again, up to you.  I do suggest one switch in the preparation order, which I think improves the dish.  Giada recommends browning the chicken first in just the hot olive oil and then cooking the bacon.  I recommend cooking the bacon and peppers along with the garlic first, and then browning the chicken in that fat combination.  You can imagine how much tastier that will be!  Serves 2.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

3 ounces prociutto, or 2 slices of bacon

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips

1 clove garlic

2 skinless chicken breasts pound to 1/2 flat

salt/pepper

1/4 cup wine

1/2 a 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tsp capers

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Descriptions:

Heat oil in a large saute pan over low heat and cook bacon, onions, and peppers until onions are softened and bacon is browned.  Add garlic and cook for a further minute.  Remove mixture with a slotted spoon to a plate, raise the heat to medium, season the chicken, add and cook a few minutes on each side until browned.  Remove the chicken to the same plate as the bacon mixture and add the wine to the pan, scraping up the browned bits to deglaze.  Return the chicken and bacon mixture to the pan and add the tomatoes, stock and spices.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes to finish the chicken cooking process.  Before serving, add the capers and parsley, stirring to combine.

Mustard-Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

   

    

Roast pork tenderloin always sounds so fancy to people, but it's really a very easy and quck meal to make, even on weeknights.  Just brown the meat in a pan and roast in a hot oven until it reaches 160 degrees.  After you've prepared this a few times, the challenge then becomes to do it a little differently each time.  Mustard is a go to for lamb, and can also go onto pork.  The flavor left is not "mustardy," but does enhance the meat and help whatever herbs you apply stick.  The easy herbs are any of the herbs de provence combination, either those premixed, or thyme, rosemary, etc.  I keep an herb garden for just such purposes.  But, seeking something more, I found this recipe from Martha Stewart's The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook:  The Original Classics.  Her recipe envisions a blackberry-mustard sauce.  I did go as far as adding blackberries, but I did follow her suggestions to add coriander, cumin and ginger to the spice rub mixture.  While my proportions below are not as agressive as Martha suggests, it still came out as a very tasty mid-week meal.  I also like to brown my tenderloin before roasting, which Martha has yet to discover.  I browned the tenderloin first and then slathered it with Dijon and the spice mixture before roasting.  Feel free to reverse the order and let me know how it works.  Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1  1 1/4-pound pork tenderloin

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp flour

Directions:
Preaheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and brown the tenderloin on all sides.  Meanwhile combine all of the spices, salt, pepper and sugar.  Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board and brush 1 tbsp of the Dijon onto the tenderloin.  Sprinkle the spice mixture onto the tenderloin and press to make it stick.  Return the tenderloin to the pan and roast in the oven.  Cook until the pork is 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 15 minutes or longer.  Transfer the cooked tenderloin to a cutting board and cover with foil to keep warm.  Return the pan to the stove top over medium heat and add the wine, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan to deglaze.  Reduce the wine a bit and then stir in the stock, reducing it by half, about 8 minutes.  If a thicker sauce is desired, mix the flour and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl and whisk into simmering stock.  After a couple minutes more, whisk in the mustard.  Slice pork into medalians and serve with sauce. 
      

"Weeds" with Sausage

   

    

The “weeds” in this sausage pasta dish are so named because of the shape of the pasta. I don’t know what kind of enormous weeds they have in Italy, but I agree with Mario Batali that this pasta looks more like an unraveled, twisted phone cord. Such coiled, hollow pasta is hard for me to fund in local stores, so he recommends fusilli or rotelle, although last night I used a a narrow ziti. The reason this recipe (and picture) from Mario’s Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home attracted me is that Italian sausage and spaghetti was one of my favorite comfort foods as a kid. However, I do not eat it so much anymore because the acid of the tomato sauce upsets my stomach somewhat. I am growing into the place Italians have been always, sauce based on things other than a heavy dose of tomato sauce as the Americans prefer. This sauce does start with a tomato paste base, but its liquid is provided from white wine and milk, along with some of the pasta cooking liquid. It is a wonderful sauce, still extremely easy, but deeper and more flavorful than any jarred sauce. Try it instead the next time you think of sausage and spaghetti.  Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 yellow onion

4 sweet Italian sausage links, removed from casing and broken into pieces

1/2 6-ounce can of tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup whole milk

salt/pepper

1/2 pound fusilli or rotelle

freshly grated Parmigiano

Directions:

In a 12- or 14-inch saute pan over low heat, melt the oil and butter and soften the onions for 6 to 8 minutes.  Increase the heat to medium, add the sasage and cook until very brown, about 10 minutes.  Drain most of the fat from the pan and add the tomato paste, stirring often, until a deep rust color, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine, stir, and boil down until almost evaoporated.  Stir in the milk, season with salt and pepper, and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta until al dente.  Scoop out 1/2 cup of pasta water and then drain the pasta.  Add the pasta to the sauce and toss.  Add some of the cooking water if desired to loosen the sauce.  Divide the pasta among bowls, top with grated Parmesan and serve.

   

Chicken Apricot and Almond Tagine

    

    
I may have mentioned that my favorite spice is cumin and Moroccans do use cumin and coriander in many of their recipes. However, they are famed for their sweet tooth and so many of their chicken recipes will instead use cinnamon and pair it with apricots or raisins, along with saffron and garlic. Either way, it can all go into a tagine, the traditional conical cooking vessel of Morocco which recirculates the cooking steam into the dish as it stews. I own a tagine, although mine is a Le Creuset enameled cast iron. No particular reason for that, I might have even bought it on sale at an outlet store. Even if you don’t own a tagine, you can still make wonderful Moroccan tagines with a Dutch oven or any kind of heavy pot. I make tagines with some frequency because they are easy, fun and quick, often times finishing in the time it takes to cook rice. While I know that the traditional Moroccan pairing is couscous, many times I will make rice instead. That’s just me and the beauty of cooking, make what you like and will enjoy most. The recipe below is from one of my Moroccan cookbooks, Traditional Flavors from Northern Africa: The Moroccan Collection, although all are very similar: start by browning the meat, then soften the onions and vegetables, then add the spices and stock, return the meat and simmer. Ten minutes active time and 30 minutes to a meal. Take that Rachel Ray! Serves 2.
     
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts
1/2 yellow oninon, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large pinch of saffron threads, crushed
1/3 cup slivered almonds
2/3 cup dried apricots
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
salt/pepper

Directions:
Heat oil in a tagine, Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat.  Add the chicken and brown on both sides.  Turn down the heat to low and transfer the chicken to a plate.  Cut the breasts into bite size pieces.  Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook until softened but not browned.  Stir in the cinnamon for 1 minute.  Add the saffron, almonds, apricots, stock and chicken.  Heat until the stock is just simmering then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Season to taste and serve with couscous or rice.
     

B'stilla - Moroccan Pigeon Pie

   

      

I was recently reminded of a meal I had in Morocco. Earlier on the second day of our trip, we had toured the massive Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and then driven up the coastline to Rabat, Morocco’s capitol. Evening approached as we walked from our hotel to the medina, which in Rabat is quite small. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed and our dining options seemed limited. However, we did come upon a Moroccan man dressed in a kaftan holding a single lantern. He stood in front of a sign indicating a restaurant, but there was no restaurant in site, only shuttered doors and vacant streets. He did not speak English and could not answer our questions. Instead, he beckoned for us to follow him. With hopes for dinner ahead, we left caution behind and followed this solitary light into the narrow, twisting alleys of the medina. All was dark and quiet around us as we walked, him in his padded shoes and flowing robe, us with only uncertainty. First right, then right again, a left and then a right. Where were we going?  Where was he taking us?  Then, finally a door where we stopped. With a knock a small portal opened - foreigners for dinner, would it be ours or theirs? 

    

With a small tip and thanks we stepped through the door and into another world. The first thing that encountered us was music, traditional drums and stringed instruments, then the warm light of a many lanterned interior, then colors of festooned fabrics and patterned rugs and pillows, then the din of fellow diners, a dozen or more sitting at tables throughout the space, enjoying their conversations and their meals. Finally, the smells of Moroccan spices and cooking: cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, and saffron. Relief was quickly replaced with indulgence in all that surrounded us. On this night I had bastila - Moroccan pigeon pie.  A traditional dish in a traditional setting, it found my pigeons under a sweet and savory crust with onions, almonds, egg, cinnamon and saffron. So why no recipe below? Well, I didn’t particularly like it. It was a little dry for my tastes and there’s not much meat on a pigeon! But, that was an evening that has inspired my Moroccan cooking countless times since. The sights, the sounds, the emotional trepidation and release, all of that can be recalled with our most basic sensory perceptions: smell and taste. It is thoughts like this that inspires me to cook, travel, and perhaps cook a chicken, apricot and almond tagine tonight!