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.