While The Cat's Away...

...the Chef will play.  Sally spent the holiday weekend at an annual conference for her profession. So while she was gone, and I was house/cat/dog sitting,  I made some of the dishes that I love, which she's not particularly fond of.

Pork Sirloins with Tomatillo-Green Chile Sauce

Not a dish from a specific Latin culture, but it borrows heavily from Mexican cuisine. All my own invention.  As you'll see the sauce is good for other things too.

3 Pork Sirloins

3 large Tomatillos

1 small can Diced Green Chiles

1 Cubanelle chile or a seeded, deveined Anaheim, Poblano or similar mild chile

Cumin to taste

Pepper Medley to taste

Smoked Paprika to taste

1 Tbsp Masa Harina (corn flour) for thickening

Take the papery outer husk off of the tomatillos and slice them up fine. Remove the end from the cubanelle and chop into small pieces. In a small pot combine the tomatillos, and the chiles. Season with cumin and a grind or two of Pepper Medley. Simmer on low until everything is tender and falling apart -- about 15 minutes. Then add a dusting of the masa, and whisk to help thicken the sauce.

Meanwhile, oil your griddle or electric skillet and start frying the pork sirloins. Dust each side of the meat with cumin, smoked paprika and pepper. Fry on medium heat until just cooked through. I cover them with a skillet lid to help keep the moisture in. Nothing worse than dried out pork!

I served myself a sirloin steak with the sauce and a helping of Tropical Rice -- jasmine rice cooked with a packet of the Sazon Tropicaltm spice blend.

The sauce is also fabuloso on Chicken or firm white fish like Cod, Mahi mahi, Sea Bass, etc.

More Tomatillo-Green Chile Sauce Ideas

Breakfast Burrito

A couple tablespoons of leftover Tomatillo-Green Chile sauce stirred into a beaten egg and then scrambled makes a great Latin-flavored breakfast burrito. 

Chilaquiles

I discovered this dish in the village of San Franciso de Nayarit, Mexico quite a few years ago. Leftover tortillas and eggs scrambled together with a sauce or salsa (usually green not red) make a fabulous breakfast. Add pieces of cooked chicken for an excellent lunch dish, too.

Day old, or left-out-overnight tortillas are best. Cut or rip them into pieces and fry with some oil until some are nearly black, some are crispy, and others are still soft. Then pour beaten eggs overall and as they start to scramble, add some of the Tomatillo-Green Chile sauce and continue scrambling until done to your taste.

Ham & Cheese Cornbread

A great thing to do with leftover holiday ham. Manchego is a Spanish goat cheese, moderately hard. I happened to have just a small piece left. You could substitute a hard white cheddar.

1 box Jiffy tm Corn Muffin mix

1 Egg

1/3 cup Half & Half

2 cups cubed Ham

1/3 to 1/2 cup diced Manchego cheese*

Smoked Paprika for dusting

Combine the boxed mix with the half & half and the egg. Add the ham and stir to combine. Pour into a small loaf pan and tap to settle the mix. Dust with a little smoked paprika, then sprinkle the cheese dice on top and press the pieces into the surface. Bake 20-25 minutes @ 400 F.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I made this as a surprise dessert for Sally when she got home from her conference on Sunday.  As a kid, I  grew up with a huge rhubarb 'bush' in the backyard, and I've always loved the tart-sweet flavor of rhubarb sauce on ice cream or just in a bowl, plus rhubarb pie (with or without strawberries).

2 cups diced Rhubarb

2 cups quartered Strawberries

3 Tbsp Corn Starch

6 Tbsp AP Flour

1-1/2 cups Sugar - white, brown or mix

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Orange zest

1 prepared Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Mix the dry ingredients - corn starch, flour, sugar, vanilla and orange zest. To this add the cut fruit, toss to combine and let it sit for half an hour or so.

Pour the fruit into the pie crust. With the filled pie on a baking sheet, bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F and cook an additional 45 minutes. Rest the pie at least half an hour, so it sets up.  Better even if you can leave it until the next day before cutting. Can be garnished by additional halved strawberries and then topped with whipped cream for serving; or English style, topped with custard.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce

I had about a cup of cut strawberries and a cup of rhubarb pieces left, so I simmered them with 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, about 1/8 tsp cinnamon, juice of half a lemon and most of a cup of water. When the fruit was cooked (15 minutes or so), I mashed it with my Pampered Chef tm 5-blade masher (you could also spin it in a blender), then transferred the sauce to a screw top jar and stowed in the fridge when it cooled. Will make a fabulous topping for ice cream, pound cake, etc.

Pastitsio and Marmalade My Way

I discovered Pastitsio a couple weeks back, but didn't get a chance to try it until Saturday.  We sure liked it as an alternative to the typical tomato/red sauce lasagna recipes.  Spicing savoy dishes with cinnamon and nutmeg are uncommon in Western European/American fare, but very common from the Eastern Mediterranean into the Middle East.

Pastitsio

Often called "Greek Lasagna", Pastitsio belongs in the class of Baked Pasta dishes along with lasagna, baked ziti, etc. In this case, a layer of meat mixture between two layers of pasta, with a white sauce poured overall, then topped with cheese before baking.

Traditionally Pastitsio is made with ziti or similar small tube pasta to catch and hold the bechamel sauce. A couple years back, Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa from Food Network created a version using small shell pasta. My version combines small and large shells, and jar-ed alfredo sauce rather than making bechamel sauce from scratch.

16 ox box Large Shell pasta

8 oz Small Shell pasta

1-1/2 lbs Ground Sirloin - 90/10

2 jars Alfredo Sauce

1 White Onion, diced

1 tsp Cinnamon, ground

1 tsp Nutmeg, fresh ground

1/3 cup Panko or other bread crumbs

1/4 cup fresh Parsley, chopped

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata or similar olives,

1 14-16 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

8 oz shredded Parmesan (not the stuff in the round container)

8 oz Shredded Mixed Italian Cheese blend

Cook the pasta al dente to package directions. Brown the meat, remove from the pan; saute the onions in the same pan. Add the meat back, and add the tomatoes, spices, olives and parsley. Simmer about 15 minutes to marry the flavors. Add half of the bread crumbs to absorb the liquid remaining. Reserve.

When the pasta is cooked, drain, and then toss with one jar of the alfredo sauce. In a deep 9x13 baking dish, layer half of the pasta, then a thin layer of both cheeses, topped by the meat mixture. Add the rest of the pasta in a second layer. Pour the second jar of alfredo over the top and spread it out. Top with the remaining bread crumbs and cheese. Bake at 375-400F for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and crusty delicious. Let rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting, to make sure everything is set in nice layers.

Try it, you'll love it -- rich and meaty and unctuous.....  I can hardly wait for leftovers for dinner tonight!

Marmalade My Way

I've talked about this before -- a year ago or more -- so I thought I'd give you a sort of photo-tutorial on making marmalade from any citrus fruit, or combination of citrus fruits, in ten minutes.

First pick your citrus fruit -- either literally like we can here in Florida, or from a grocery display. Any citrus fruit will do -- Ugly Fruit, Pommelo, Pink or White Grapefruit, assorted Lemons and Limes, Loquat, Kumquat, etc.    Mango and Starfruit and some of our other tropical fruits unfortunately don't work with this method -- not enough pectin in the skin.   You can add up to, say, 25% non-citrus fruit -- I often add a starfruit to the blend -- but you may want to add a bit of extra skin for the added pectin.  I often freeze 'juiced-out' lemons for exactly that purpose.

For a pint you'll want a largish grapefruit, or a naval orange plus a lemon and a lime, or 2-3 oranges, or 5-6 lemons... you get the point.  A pint lasts most families a month or so.

The only other ingredient is sugar. White, light brown, dark brown, demerarra, piloncillo, it doesn't matter;  although darker sugars may not make as pretty marmalade. You can also use Splenda tm if you're diabetic or otherwise watching your sugar intake.

Chop your fruit into finger tip size pieces -- skin, pith, juice seeds and all. Here I used ordinary lemons.  The skin contains most of the pectin, which is what makes marmalade set up. Skin in the jam also give you that essential marmalade look.

Put the fruit in a blender or food processor and take it for a spin.

 Don't go for a puree; you want that "look" with the pea or small sized bits of rind.

Measure the proto-marm into a microwave-safe glass bowl. 

Don't use a plastic bowl unless you want to clean out the inside of your microwave! Trust me on that...  Add the same measure of sugar -- cup for cup, and stir to combine. Taste the result. Too tart, add a bit more sugar. Too sweet, add a bit more fruit.

Microwave the fruit/sugar mix on high for a total of 10 minutes. I usually do 5 and 5, and give things a stir in between.

CAREFULLY remove the scaldingly hot bowl from the microwave, and ladle the marmalade into screwtop jars -- Mason tm jars or washed out pickle jars or what-have-you. Taking the jar hot from a cycle in the dishwasher is probably the most sanitary and mold free; but at least wash and rinse the jar just before filling it.

Leave the filled jar set, covered with a tea towel or paper towel, until the jar cools to room temperature. Why?  To keep random airborne molds from settling in there and creating a science experiment for you!  Then seal the jar and store in the fridge. It will last a couple months in the fridge, or until you use it up, whichever happens first.

Cheeseburger Soup, Mother's Day & Fish Wellington

Several really tasty offerings for you this week.  Get busy and cook something wonderful!

Cheeseburger Soup

Holly told me about this dish, which she had in Tulsa a couple weeks ago. I found a lot of recipes, most of which had stuff it it that you or I never put in a cheeseburger. Things like carrots and celery and potatoes. WHAT??!! 

Then I found this recipe, which I've only tweaked a little. I substituted chopped tomato for tomato paste, real garlic and onion for powders, and cut back some of the cream. I've also added toasted hamburger buns, which give the soup some extra body and a topping.

4 Hamburger buns, cut into croutons and toasted/broiled

5 slices Bacon

1 lb Ground Sirloin

1 tsp Liquid Smoke

2 tbsp. Butter

32 oz. Beef Broth, low sodium

2 cloves Garlic

1/4 cup Onion, diced

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup diced Dill Pickle

2 tsp. Brown Mustard

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Chili Powder

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese - the sharper the better

1 cup Heavy Cream

Fry up the bacon, and reserve on paper towels. In the bacon grease, fry the ground beef like a giant patty (don't crumble it), getting lots of good hard crispy bits. Both sides.

Once beef is browned on both sides, transfer it and the fat to a pot. Move the beef to the sides of the pot and add 2 tbsp. of butter in the middle. Add the spices and mix them into the butter. Cook for about 30-45 seconds.

Mix in everything else (except croutons, bacon, cheese and cream). Cover and simmer 20 minutes on low heat. Add the cream and stir it in well.

Put a handful of croutons in each bowl, add the soup, and top with more croutons, bacon bits and shredded cheese.

Mother's Day Dinner

Holly flew in from D.C. for the weekend, to surprise her Mom and grandmas. Since she's not a fish eater, I changed the Fish Pie I was going to make, to a Steak & Mushroom Pie, with peas and pearl onions, topped by puff pastry. Sally already planned to make another of her Trifles for dessert.

Grandma Sheila had wanted shrimp in the fish pie I was going to make, so I decided to get some and make a simple appetizer.

Everglades Shrimp

12 nice large locally harvested Shrimp, peeled

1/4 tsp Everglades Seasoning tm

a splash of oil

Barbeque Sauce -- I used Sweet Baby Ray's Original tm

Saute the shrimp in a splash of oil and the seasoning, until they just turn pink. Remove from the heat and plate with a little BBQ sauce spooned over. How easy is that??

Beefy Pita Bites

Here's the simple beef appetizer I made for Holly.   I like the Toufayan tm brand Smart Pockets tm which are square pita pockets that make great sandwiches, DIY pita chips,  and things like this:

1/8 lb Deli Roast Beef, sliced thin

1/4 tsp Xato, a Catalonia version of Romesco sauce

1 Smart Pocket, halved

Heat the pocket 20 seconds in the microwave. Heat the beef similarly, to take the refrigerator chill off. Fold the meat into the pita halves, and add a dollop of the Xato. Plate and serve. Easy, huh?  Serves 1. 

Steak & Mushroom Pie

 Can't call this Cottage Pie -- Cottage Pie invariably has a "crust" of mashed potatoes.  Shepherd's Pie has lamb in it.  This is (not so) plain Steak & Mushroom Pie.

1-1/2 lbs steak diced

1/8 tsp Emeril's Steak Seasoning tm

1 bag Green Peas, frozen

1 box Pearl Onions, frozen

1 small can Beef Gravy (I used Bisto tm gravy crystals which can be hard to find but make better gravy)

1 sheet of Puff pastry

Cut the meat into 1" pieces, dust with the seasoning, and saute until barely browned. Cool. Cut each 1" piece into quarters. You want "bigger than ground beef, smaller than a thumb tip" pieces.

Place the meat in the pie dish. Thaw the peas and pearl onions and add them to the beef. Do not add the veggies while frozen, it will make things too watery. Stir to combine. Add about a quarter cup of gravy and stir again. Top the filling with the pastry. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes until GB&D. Slice and serve.

 

Sally's Trifle

She made this a month or so back with canned fruit. Check out the full description in my April 6th post Anglo-Indian Dishes.  This time I got fresh blackberries and raspberries and chose "Very Berry" and Raspberry -- blue and red -- gelatins.

Start by laying in the Ladyfingers round the edge. Mix up the first gelatin and let it sit in the fridge until it's just starting to firm up -- maybe ten minutes. Add the fruit, and pour carefully into the serving vessel so as not to disturb the Ladyfingers. Allow that layer to set up nice and firm.

Repeat with the second gelatin and fruit. When that's firmed up, make up the custard and pour over the top. Let it set up as well.  Add the whipped cream just before serving.

Mahi Wellington

I have a catering tomorrow night, and the main course the client chose really intrigued Sally. So she asked me to make a 'trial run' for us for dinner tonight.  This would work well with any firm white fish - Mahi mahi, Cod, Grouper, Monkfish, even Catfish.

Here's what I did, with the ingredients boosted to serve four:

1 lb Mahi mahi filets -- one large piece if you can find it, or 4 smaller pieces

1 oz Smoked Salmon -- the soft 'nova' or Scottish or Lox type, not the hard Pacific Northwest style.

Puff Pastry

Everglades Seasoning to taste

1 egg, beaten for egg-wash/glue.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Start thawing the puff pastry. One sheet should do. Pat the fish very dry, in fact, roll it up in paper towels for 15 minutes or so to get rid of as much liquid as you can.

If you have one large slab 'o fish, slice half way through the length and "stuff" the slice with the smoked salmon -- not much, a little goes a long way. If using smaller pieces, place bits of salmon between pairs of filets. Dust the white fish with Everglades Seasoning.

Carefully wrap the fish bundles in the puff pastry, trim around the edges, and seal with a dab of egg-wash. Place on a rack and bake for 30 minutes, until GB&D.

Shown below is dinner for two -- two 1/4 lb filets, 2/3 sheet of puff pastry, a few bits of smoked salmon.

 

Anglo-French Chicken, Tahini Fish & Falafel and Latin Pasta

When we were in Orlando, our friend Mel served us some tasty Chicken-in-Pastry that she got at her local Fresh Market.  Sally asked me to do something similar for yesterday's Mum Lunch, so here you are:

Anglo-French Chicken

Cordon Bleu meets its Waterloo with Wellington pastry! Chicken breast halves, ham and Swiss cheese, wrapped in puff pastry and baked until GB&D. For bigger eaters wrap an entire chicken breast. I made four rolls for lunch for three people. The leftover is being eaten by Sally for lunch twice this week.

2 Chicken Breasts, halved lengthwise

4 slices Ham

4 slices Swiss Cheese

Poultry Seasoning to taste

1 package Puff Pastry

1 egg, beaten, for wash

Preheat oven to 400F.

While the oven is preheating, thaw the pastry, unfold and roll it out a little. Cut into 4 pieces. In the center of each piece lay down a slice of ham and atop it a slice of the cheese. Dust the chicken pieces with poultry seasoning all around, then place a piece of chicken on each ham/cheese stack. Fold the pastry over and seal with the beaten egg. Place wrapped chicken bundles on a non-stick baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Bake 30 minutes until GB&D.

Served with new potatoes and my signature Ginger-Orange Carrot Ribbons.

Tahini Fish & Eggplant

Last week I said I was going to experiment with falafel, so I got some chickpea flour and researched a couple recipes. Along the way I found this Middle Eastern fish dish which sounded nice, so I made it for Friday's dinner. I served it with Mark I Falafel as the side dish. The fish was nice. The falafel... well, you'll see.

2 fish fillets

salt and black pepper to taste

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 tablespoons tahini paste

Juice of a lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Whisk together the tahini paste, lemon juice, lemon zest, yoghurt and garlic with 3 tablespoons of water until you have a smooth sauce. Then add the parsley and mix well.


Poach the fish on slices of lemon over a 1/4" of water, until just flaky. Plate and top with the warmed sauce.

Grilled eggplant slices are the second side dish.



Lemony Falafel

1 cup Garbanzo Flour

2+ Tbsp Parsley, fresh not dried, minced

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cumin, ground

1/2 tsp Coriander, ground

1 Lemon, juiced

1/3 cup warm water.

Combine the dry ingredients. Add parsley and stir to combine. Add the lemon juice. Slowly add the water, stirring as you go, to make a batter. Rest for 10 minutes.

Form into balls/cakes/patties and place on non-stick baking sheet. Broil 3-5 minutes per side until GB&D. Serve warm. May be re-heated. I made these in the afternoon to serve with dinner.

Not bad, but not great. More like a lemony hushpuppy than a 'real' falafel. As written, the recipe is just not very flavor-full. IMHO it needs double the amount of parsley and a TON of other flavors -- garlic, onion, double the cumin and coriander, etc. Maybe even some "curry powder" for a hint of a kick.

Next time I'll also try soaking and grinding my own chickpeas, as the texture of the flour is very fine and I'm accustomed to a 'larger grind'.

 

Green Chile Enchi-pasta

Lightning struck and the experiment was successful! Here's what I'll be eating for dinner at the boat this week.

1 lb ground Pork

1 tsp Cumin

1 pkt Sazon Tropical seasoning

8 oz mini-shell Pasta

1 can Green Chile Enchilada Sauce

1 can Green Chiles, diced

4 oz Cream Cheese

2 oz Mozarella, shredded

4 oz Crimini Mushrooms

1/2 Tomato, diced

1 cup shredded White Cheddar

Brown the pork with the cumin and Sazon mix. Cook the pasta al dente. Stir to combine the pork, pasta, and everything else except the cheddar. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick. Top with the white cheddar and bake at 350F for at least 30 minutes until bubbly and nice.