When Annalena was younger, pot lucks seemed to be all the rage. Perhaps it was because we all KNEW we had less money then, or there was a different sensibility about dinner parties, who knows? In any event, to the extent Annalena remembers her past, she remembers those parties. You've been to the top, where there's one main dish, 26 pasta salads, and 19 plates of cookies.
Ah yes, indeed. Annalena did contribute to those imbalances herself, frequently bringing the cake elaborated upon in this entry. Why she stopped making it, is open to question. It is a good cake, a fun cake, and a popular one. Annalena should also tell you that according to the Greeks she knows, this is not authentic. Annalena got the dessert recipe from a woman who's last name is Theoharous. Dare one say "it's all Greek to me?" Seriously, when researching the recipe (as Annalena is wont to do), she found so many variations as to boggle the mind. So, this is hers. Make it if you like, or if you are inspired to look for others, please do. And tell me what you find, and make.
The interesting ingredient in this cake, is farina. Or, as we called it as children "Cream of Wheat." If you are of a certain age, you ate this. Annalena used to much prefer it to oatmeal, and was bribed with it occasionally. (Perhaps that is why it fell out of favor with Annalena: she doesn't much eat cooked breakfast cereal anymore. Oh well...).
Let us cook. You are going to need to preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan. Put this aside, and melt two sticks of unsalted butter. Let it cool a bit, and add 3/4 cup of sugar to it. Beat this VERY well. Five minutes is not too little time. Then, add five large eggs, and beat them in very well. Annalena prefers to add an extra egg yolk, but this is your call. You definitely should do it if you can only find medium eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, a cup of cream of wheat, or farina (and PLEASE. No instant cereal here, please), and 2 TABLESPOONS (you read that correctly) of baking powder. Stir this all into the egg/butter mixture, and then add a generous couple of teaspoons of vanilla.
You are going to have a yellowish, thick cereal like batter. Pour that into your pan, and smooth it out. Get it into the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes.
That wasn't hard, was it? Now, let's make syrup. Mix 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a saucepan, and let them heat for about fifteen minutes. Then, add the juice of one lemon, or even more. Indeed, Annalena likes to boil the syrup with the peel of one lemon as well, and then pull it out at the end. If you prefer the taste of oranges, use those. You could use blood oranges, which makes a very tasty, but somewhat ugly looking cake.
When the half hour has passed ,your cake will be light brown, and you will be intrigued by the texture. It is somewhat sandy, in a good way, and very light. It is rather sturdy though. This is not a cake that is going to collapse on you.
Fun part coming up. While the cake is hot, score it into small squares, or diagonals, or diamonds, whatever you like. Then, take the hot syrup and slowly pour it over the cake. It will get drunken up, but as you add more and more syrup, it will "imbibe" more slowly. It will all go in though.
Then let the beast sit and rest for a few hours. It's beter not to refrigerate this.
Annalena has been known to sit there with her slice, sucking the syrup out of it, because she is rather perverse. You may find yourself doing that as well.
Given the sweetness of the cake, you can feed LOTS of people with this. Annalena's source says 20, which must mean the Greeks she knows eat very little. Annalena thinks 12 servings or so. In any event, make it and see for yourself.
This is one for you, Jim Peck
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A bit of complexity: pomegranate braised lamb shanks
We speak, often, of the so-called "made in heaven" combinations, i.e, the foods that we just LOVE when they're together. Ripe tomato and basil comes to mind, maybe with mozzarella. Bacon and eggs. Ham and swiss. For some, chocolate and peanut butter, or banana and peanut butter, or the three. Think about it: you have some of them, that make you think "could there be anything better?"
What is interesting to Annalena, multicultural gal as she is, is that these combinations are all Western, and may not appeal to someone who's origins are Eastern. And if you asked for combinations of that type from someone who's origins are not in Europe or the United States, you might be surprised, and may even sit back in a bit of revulsion. Such are cultural favorites.
Annalena is thinking of this because of her fascination with "fertile crescent" or "mesopotamian" food, or whatever label you wish to call it. There seem to be a lot of lamb, and goat recipes in these cuisines, both of which are proteins that are dear to Annalena's taste buds. The cuts of lamb associate with these dishes, are not the usual ones we Westerners favor: you won't see many lamb chop or leg of lamb dishes in these cuisines, but you will see shanks, shoulder, and other tougher cuts of meat. And what you will see, over and over again... is pomegranate. And yes,this is another magical combination. Lamb and pomegranate are a wonderful marriage. And it was with this in mind, that Annalena was looking for a recipe for the famous New Year's party.
It was not difficult, but it WAS difficult to find something that did not have a Western "stamp" on it. Many chop recipes. Many leg of lamb recipes. Where, however, were the stews? The braises? Annalena came up empty. So, in her intrepid way, she figured "how bad good it be?" and took a recipe for chops, and adapted it for shanks.
It smelled good and apparently WAS good, as the Guyman and Annalena got nary a taste of it. Annalena presents the recipe here, and is making it for us next week. You should try it too.
THe only odd ingredient you will need, is pomegranate molasses. You may have to look around to find this, but it's available, and if all else fails, you can buy it on line. I would get a large bottle, because you will use it again.
And lamb shanks. Get smaller ones. No more than 3/4 to 1 pound each. That's actually a very small shank. These critters can go up to 2.5 pounds. That you don't want.
Let's make our marinade, which also serves as our braising liquid. Combine a half cup (measure, don't guess) of the molasses, and combine it with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a big tablespoon of fresh ginger, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon (best grade you can find), a couple of teapoons of ground cumin, a half tablespoon (or, 1.5 teaspoons ) of paprika. If you happen to have smoked paprika, use that. Half a a teaspoon of salt, and the same of pepper. Put this all in a dish, and mix it together. Smell it. You may swoon. It's that fragrant. Now, salt, and then add your shanks. GEt in there with your hands, and coat them well. You can now leave this out at room temperature, for 2-4 hours, or you can refrigerate it. If you refrigerate it, plan on a night , at the least.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325. Add about a half cup of water or broth to the marinating liquid, and stir everything together one more time. Then cover it tightly, put it in the oven, and get engrossed in a book. You're going to need to let these go for at least two hours, maybe longer, depending on how tender you want the meat, and how big the shanks are. Test after two hours. If it's close to falling off the bone, or falling off the bone, you're done.
The smell out of your kitchen while this is happening, is amazing. And when it's done, make yourself some couscous, and you've got a meal.
Now, there is a variation here, which you can try if you don't mind lots of smoke. If you want a browner type of dish, after the marination, try to get as much of the marinade off of the shanks as possible, heat up some oil, and brown the critters. This will create spattering, and black smoke, and you may thing "what the hell am I doing?" Bear with it. It will be good. But if you, as so many of us, are having some winter respiratory problems, a simple braise is fine. OR, you could brown the meat before you put it in the marinade. That is how I would do it next time.
Mesopotamian comfort food, with some wonderful, warm, spicy ingredients. The weather is cold outside. What could be nicer?
What is interesting to Annalena, multicultural gal as she is, is that these combinations are all Western, and may not appeal to someone who's origins are Eastern. And if you asked for combinations of that type from someone who's origins are not in Europe or the United States, you might be surprised, and may even sit back in a bit of revulsion. Such are cultural favorites.
Annalena is thinking of this because of her fascination with "fertile crescent" or "mesopotamian" food, or whatever label you wish to call it. There seem to be a lot of lamb, and goat recipes in these cuisines, both of which are proteins that are dear to Annalena's taste buds. The cuts of lamb associate with these dishes, are not the usual ones we Westerners favor: you won't see many lamb chop or leg of lamb dishes in these cuisines, but you will see shanks, shoulder, and other tougher cuts of meat. And what you will see, over and over again... is pomegranate. And yes,this is another magical combination. Lamb and pomegranate are a wonderful marriage. And it was with this in mind, that Annalena was looking for a recipe for the famous New Year's party.
It was not difficult, but it WAS difficult to find something that did not have a Western "stamp" on it. Many chop recipes. Many leg of lamb recipes. Where, however, were the stews? The braises? Annalena came up empty. So, in her intrepid way, she figured "how bad good it be?" and took a recipe for chops, and adapted it for shanks.
It smelled good and apparently WAS good, as the Guyman and Annalena got nary a taste of it. Annalena presents the recipe here, and is making it for us next week. You should try it too.
THe only odd ingredient you will need, is pomegranate molasses. You may have to look around to find this, but it's available, and if all else fails, you can buy it on line. I would get a large bottle, because you will use it again.
And lamb shanks. Get smaller ones. No more than 3/4 to 1 pound each. That's actually a very small shank. These critters can go up to 2.5 pounds. That you don't want.
Let's make our marinade, which also serves as our braising liquid. Combine a half cup (measure, don't guess) of the molasses, and combine it with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a big tablespoon of fresh ginger, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon (best grade you can find), a couple of teapoons of ground cumin, a half tablespoon (or, 1.5 teaspoons ) of paprika. If you happen to have smoked paprika, use that. Half a a teaspoon of salt, and the same of pepper. Put this all in a dish, and mix it together. Smell it. You may swoon. It's that fragrant. Now, salt, and then add your shanks. GEt in there with your hands, and coat them well. You can now leave this out at room temperature, for 2-4 hours, or you can refrigerate it. If you refrigerate it, plan on a night , at the least.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325. Add about a half cup of water or broth to the marinating liquid, and stir everything together one more time. Then cover it tightly, put it in the oven, and get engrossed in a book. You're going to need to let these go for at least two hours, maybe longer, depending on how tender you want the meat, and how big the shanks are. Test after two hours. If it's close to falling off the bone, or falling off the bone, you're done.
The smell out of your kitchen while this is happening, is amazing. And when it's done, make yourself some couscous, and you've got a meal.
Now, there is a variation here, which you can try if you don't mind lots of smoke. If you want a browner type of dish, after the marination, try to get as much of the marinade off of the shanks as possible, heat up some oil, and brown the critters. This will create spattering, and black smoke, and you may thing "what the hell am I doing?" Bear with it. It will be good. But if you, as so many of us, are having some winter respiratory problems, a simple braise is fine. OR, you could brown the meat before you put it in the marinade. That is how I would do it next time.
Mesopotamian comfort food, with some wonderful, warm, spicy ingredients. The weather is cold outside. What could be nicer?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Annalena revisits Nigella: glass noodles with shrimp
Ciao ragazzi! Primo, let Annalena tell you that she is gratified by the seemingly renewed interest in her musings. Absence certainly does seem to have made the heart grow fonder, as the "hits" on the two January entries have been rather large. Indeed, they are rivaling the "eating clean" entry on fish cookery, and while they will not ever catch the leader, which is braciole (who can figure), she is truly touched.
OK, enough sentimentality. Every year, Annalena and The Guyman give a New Year's Day party. Some choose to call it, and treat it, as a recovery party, others as a last fling before the rigors of January resolutions come in. Do not ask Annalena and The Guyman why they do it. The party, however, is always a big success, with much food cooked, and little left over. This year, of ten entries, prepared for from between 6-10 people, there was enough food left over for one large plate for the doorman. Hence, we continued our tradition of Chinese food for dinner on January 1.
Some of the dishes that appear on our table, are dishes we have eaten already, and others are new. Hence, in the first few weeks of the New Year, Annalena cooks the dishes that we have not eaten, a second time, so that we may try them. The beef stroganoff you have been reading about is one. This is another.
Regular readers of this blog know that Annalena is a very big fan of Ms. Nigella Lawson. To say that she loves her understates the case. To have access to Ms. Lawson's blog via facebook is a treat. And this recipe evolves therefrom.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Ms Lawson posted a recipe for turkey leftovers. It was a cold salad of glass noodles in a sweet and spicy sauce, and turkey. Well, Annalena is not a big fan of turkey, but she is a fan of glass noodles, and has been for years.
Do you know glass noodles? They are Asian, and they are part of a family of noodles which include bean sprout noodles, glass noodles, and some others. They are fine, very long, and have a pearlescent white color about them, when dry (homework assignment: use pearlescent in a sentence today or tomorrow, without referring to teeth, or noodles). In her early years, Annalena became familiar with them at a Cuban Chinese restaurant, located near Christopher Street. All of those wonderfully handsome young men (and older men), in their leather jackets, and their tight jeans... with their moustaches somewhat covered in glass noodles. Ah, it was a sight.
Oh dear. She's digressing to her past again. OK, back to the present. The wonderful thing about glass noodles, or bean noodles, is that to "cook" them, you put them in cold, or warm water, and let them sit. Seriously, that is all. One thing you SHOULD do, unless your significant one finds noodles in your moustache to be hot, is to break them in half, or even thirds, as they are truly long. Cover them with plenty of water, regardless of how you are using them, and let them sit.
For this recipe, Annalena used about 8 ounces, which is a LOT of noodles. Please feel free to cut the quantity in half.
You will need a sauce as well, and that sauce calls for an ingredient you should have in your home: Asian fish sauce, or , in Vietnamese, which is the type you will almost always find, "nam pla." There are Thai, and Phillipino and Chinese versions available, and if you can find them, please feel free to use them.
It is interesting that many cultures do have a sauce based on old, almost rotted fish. In the earliest of Latin cookbooks, Apecius speaks of "garum." Do not read a recipe for garum unless your stomach is in good shape. Worchester sauce is based on anchovies (or was), and so on, and so forth. In any event, buy yourself a bottle of this, because you will want to make this again.
While the noodles are soaking, combine 4 cloves of peeled, minced garlic, and 4 crushed chillies. Ms Lawson seeds them. Annalena did not. Please be aware of your heat tolerance, and proceed as such. If you do not have the whole chillies, use some flakes, but again, adjust the recipe. Four chillies will give a good tablespoons or so of flakes. The milder pepper flakes will be fine at that quantity, but if you have a variety that says HOT, cut it back. Now combine this with four tablespoons of fresh, minced ginger, and 4 tablespoons of the fish sauce. Add the juice of one lime, or one sour lemon or sour orange. Finally, add a half cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of fine sugar. NOT confectioner's sugar, mind you. Look for something called "caster sugar," which is also called "baker's sugar." You may also wish to use turbinado, or raw sugar. Stir it all togther. Let it sit for a few minutes, and taste.
Good, isn't it? If you want more heat/garlic/ginger/acid/sweet, this is your sauce. Go and do it.
Let the sauce be for a few minutes, and cook a pound of medium , shelled shrimp in boiling salted water. It will take less than five minutes for them to "pink up." Annalena likes the medium sized shrimp, which are really the "small" shrimp of the shrimp world. Drain them. And now....
Take the noodles out of their water. Give them a good shake. Put them in a bowl, and add just about three quarters of your sauce. Stir it together. The noodles will actually soak up some of this sauce, but most of it will be "locked" in between the noodles, which are very fine. Put the shrimp on top of that, and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
WHEW! That was hard work, wasn't it? Uh, no. And again, you have what is essentially a fat free, filling, tasty dish, for at least two of you, perhaps as many as four.
You will start using this sauce with everything, even fruit. Indeed, if you wanted to add sliced mangoes to your salad, do not let Annalena get in your way. Or, if you want to combine green papaya and ground pork, or sausage, well, have at it, ragazzi.
Go forth. Get this one under control, because tomorrow, to paraphrase Ms. Rupaul "you better WORK"
OK, enough sentimentality. Every year, Annalena and The Guyman give a New Year's Day party. Some choose to call it, and treat it, as a recovery party, others as a last fling before the rigors of January resolutions come in. Do not ask Annalena and The Guyman why they do it. The party, however, is always a big success, with much food cooked, and little left over. This year, of ten entries, prepared for from between 6-10 people, there was enough food left over for one large plate for the doorman. Hence, we continued our tradition of Chinese food for dinner on January 1.
Some of the dishes that appear on our table, are dishes we have eaten already, and others are new. Hence, in the first few weeks of the New Year, Annalena cooks the dishes that we have not eaten, a second time, so that we may try them. The beef stroganoff you have been reading about is one. This is another.
Regular readers of this blog know that Annalena is a very big fan of Ms. Nigella Lawson. To say that she loves her understates the case. To have access to Ms. Lawson's blog via facebook is a treat. And this recipe evolves therefrom.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Ms Lawson posted a recipe for turkey leftovers. It was a cold salad of glass noodles in a sweet and spicy sauce, and turkey. Well, Annalena is not a big fan of turkey, but she is a fan of glass noodles, and has been for years.
Do you know glass noodles? They are Asian, and they are part of a family of noodles which include bean sprout noodles, glass noodles, and some others. They are fine, very long, and have a pearlescent white color about them, when dry (homework assignment: use pearlescent in a sentence today or tomorrow, without referring to teeth, or noodles). In her early years, Annalena became familiar with them at a Cuban Chinese restaurant, located near Christopher Street. All of those wonderfully handsome young men (and older men), in their leather jackets, and their tight jeans... with their moustaches somewhat covered in glass noodles. Ah, it was a sight.
Oh dear. She's digressing to her past again. OK, back to the present. The wonderful thing about glass noodles, or bean noodles, is that to "cook" them, you put them in cold, or warm water, and let them sit. Seriously, that is all. One thing you SHOULD do, unless your significant one finds noodles in your moustache to be hot, is to break them in half, or even thirds, as they are truly long. Cover them with plenty of water, regardless of how you are using them, and let them sit.
For this recipe, Annalena used about 8 ounces, which is a LOT of noodles. Please feel free to cut the quantity in half.
You will need a sauce as well, and that sauce calls for an ingredient you should have in your home: Asian fish sauce, or , in Vietnamese, which is the type you will almost always find, "nam pla." There are Thai, and Phillipino and Chinese versions available, and if you can find them, please feel free to use them.
It is interesting that many cultures do have a sauce based on old, almost rotted fish. In the earliest of Latin cookbooks, Apecius speaks of "garum." Do not read a recipe for garum unless your stomach is in good shape. Worchester sauce is based on anchovies (or was), and so on, and so forth. In any event, buy yourself a bottle of this, because you will want to make this again.
While the noodles are soaking, combine 4 cloves of peeled, minced garlic, and 4 crushed chillies. Ms Lawson seeds them. Annalena did not. Please be aware of your heat tolerance, and proceed as such. If you do not have the whole chillies, use some flakes, but again, adjust the recipe. Four chillies will give a good tablespoons or so of flakes. The milder pepper flakes will be fine at that quantity, but if you have a variety that says HOT, cut it back. Now combine this with four tablespoons of fresh, minced ginger, and 4 tablespoons of the fish sauce. Add the juice of one lime, or one sour lemon or sour orange. Finally, add a half cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of fine sugar. NOT confectioner's sugar, mind you. Look for something called "caster sugar," which is also called "baker's sugar." You may also wish to use turbinado, or raw sugar. Stir it all togther. Let it sit for a few minutes, and taste.
Good, isn't it? If you want more heat/garlic/ginger/acid/sweet, this is your sauce. Go and do it.
Let the sauce be for a few minutes, and cook a pound of medium , shelled shrimp in boiling salted water. It will take less than five minutes for them to "pink up." Annalena likes the medium sized shrimp, which are really the "small" shrimp of the shrimp world. Drain them. And now....
Take the noodles out of their water. Give them a good shake. Put them in a bowl, and add just about three quarters of your sauce. Stir it together. The noodles will actually soak up some of this sauce, but most of it will be "locked" in between the noodles, which are very fine. Put the shrimp on top of that, and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
WHEW! That was hard work, wasn't it? Uh, no. And again, you have what is essentially a fat free, filling, tasty dish, for at least two of you, perhaps as many as four.
You will start using this sauce with everything, even fruit. Indeed, if you wanted to add sliced mangoes to your salad, do not let Annalena get in your way. Or, if you want to combine green papaya and ground pork, or sausage, well, have at it, ragazzi.
Go forth. Get this one under control, because tomorrow, to paraphrase Ms. Rupaul "you better WORK"
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Revisiting a classic: beef stroganoff
This is a dish that has been on Annalena's mind, for quite some time. She remembers a time, the 60s in fact, when this seemed to be all the rage. There was even a tv commercial, where each ingredient in the dish, was assigned an operatic voice. If Annalena remembers correctly, the beef was given the bass role, the onions, the tenor part (it was a dramatic tenor), while the mushrooms seemed to be the soubrette, and the sour cream, which was the object of the commercial, the soprano.
Does anyone else remember this silly commercial? Or is Annalena going battier than she already is? Her friend Sybil is one who may very well remember this, being a child of 60s tv as she is. We will have to caucus.
In any event, heaven knows why this came back to Annalena's addled mind, but she is glad it did. This is one of those dishes that you WANT to come home to. And if you can't, you can make it, in less than 30 minutes. Probably less if you buy the meat in cubes already, but we will come to that, ragazzi. It is hearty, and while Annalena cannot say that this is a light dish, it is comforting , and satisfying, in a way that we all want our food to be when it is about 25 degrees outside, snow is on the way, and we are all freezing. So, ragazzi, once you make this, the next chance you get, buy some extra meat, freeze it, and be ready for making this again.
Let's talk about the meat first. When Annalena first learned of this dish, the prescribed cut was sirloin tips. Perhaps this was a cut more common in the 60s than it is now. Annalena HAS found it, but not often, and frankly, is not that big a fan of the sirloin cut in general. It was chosen because one of the points of this dish is that it is quick to cook, and sirloin tips brown fantastically fast. In fact, with them, you could probably make the dish in 20 minutes; however, Annalena prefers her meat more robust (silenzio, ragazzi!), and prefers to use a cubed meat. Now, let's talk about this too. If you buy beef cubes, and you ask the butcher, or the sales person, "what cut is this," you will probably get a blank stair, or "stew meat." And if you ask "what is stew meat", you will get another stare. Stew meat can be shoulder. It can be leg. It can be any of the tougher, chewier cuts of meat. Essentially, what the butcher does not sell on Monday, becomes stew meat on Tuesday. And frankly, for most applications, this is fine. You will be "stewing" the meat for a long period of time, and the cooking will proceed in its merry way.
Stroganoff cooks quickly. It must. So, Annalena prefers to buy a roast, and cube it herself. Get a small one: about three pounds. You can use sirloin if you like it, but Annalena prefers the top or bottom round (again, silenzio!). As always, go for the grass fed meat. If you have time to prepare the cubes ahead of time, you should salt them and leave then in the fridge, after your large knife has gone to work and produced cubes of about an inch/inch and a half per side. When Annalena did this last week, it took less than ten minutes. Do not hurry and hurt yourself, but it will not take long.
For this much meat, slice a pound and a half of mushroom. The plain white ones are fine, the creminis, even better. You may also want to spend the extra money and save yourself some time, if you can find them presliced. Annalena decided to splurge with the extra buck and a half. A bit of diced onion, please. Maybe one medium sized one for this much meat. A total of 4 tablespoons of fat: equal amounts of butter, and of vegetable oil. Finally, two cups of sour cream. Use the full fat stuff, or the 2%. If you are going lower than that, you shouldn't be making beef stroganoff.
Now that you've gathered all your ingredients, melt the butter in the oil, and then add the beef cubes. Don't crowd the pan, and brown them thoroughly. You may want to check, after about 6-7 minutes of cooking (turning every two minutes), to see if the meat is done enough for you. It will cook quickly. When it's nice and browned, and cooked, remove it from the pan. Now add the onions and cook them in the drippings, just until they're soft. Put them aside with the beef (note that Annalena varies from orthodoxy here, and cooks the beef before the onions. She does this so that the beef does not burn from the hot fat). Now, add the sliced mushrooms. If they do not all fit at once, add them in portions. Let them sit for a minute or two, and then start stirring. You will be amazed, at how rapidly the mushrooms reduce, and the water goes off. Soon, you will be wondering what happened to all those mushrooms: the volume will drop by at least 2/3.
When your mushrooms have cooked, toss the beef and onions back in, and stir everything together. Now pour in that pint of sour cream. Turn off the heat, and stir it together. Taste it, and add salt if you like, or a big spoon of prepared mustard. You may also want to shower this with some chopped scallions, or some other bright green thing. Garlic greens seem to have been "discovered" by our local farmers market types who have greenhouses, and I would use this if you can find them.
Annalena dedicates this to her sister Sybil, because if there is anyone who remembers that silly commerical, it is Sybil. And if she doesn't, or pretends not to because she is too young, she will probaby re-cast it, singing all the parts.
Alla prossima, carini.
Does anyone else remember this silly commercial? Or is Annalena going battier than she already is? Her friend Sybil is one who may very well remember this, being a child of 60s tv as she is. We will have to caucus.
In any event, heaven knows why this came back to Annalena's addled mind, but she is glad it did. This is one of those dishes that you WANT to come home to. And if you can't, you can make it, in less than 30 minutes. Probably less if you buy the meat in cubes already, but we will come to that, ragazzi. It is hearty, and while Annalena cannot say that this is a light dish, it is comforting , and satisfying, in a way that we all want our food to be when it is about 25 degrees outside, snow is on the way, and we are all freezing. So, ragazzi, once you make this, the next chance you get, buy some extra meat, freeze it, and be ready for making this again.
Let's talk about the meat first. When Annalena first learned of this dish, the prescribed cut was sirloin tips. Perhaps this was a cut more common in the 60s than it is now. Annalena HAS found it, but not often, and frankly, is not that big a fan of the sirloin cut in general. It was chosen because one of the points of this dish is that it is quick to cook, and sirloin tips brown fantastically fast. In fact, with them, you could probably make the dish in 20 minutes; however, Annalena prefers her meat more robust (silenzio, ragazzi!), and prefers to use a cubed meat. Now, let's talk about this too. If you buy beef cubes, and you ask the butcher, or the sales person, "what cut is this," you will probably get a blank stair, or "stew meat." And if you ask "what is stew meat", you will get another stare. Stew meat can be shoulder. It can be leg. It can be any of the tougher, chewier cuts of meat. Essentially, what the butcher does not sell on Monday, becomes stew meat on Tuesday. And frankly, for most applications, this is fine. You will be "stewing" the meat for a long period of time, and the cooking will proceed in its merry way.
Stroganoff cooks quickly. It must. So, Annalena prefers to buy a roast, and cube it herself. Get a small one: about three pounds. You can use sirloin if you like it, but Annalena prefers the top or bottom round (again, silenzio!). As always, go for the grass fed meat. If you have time to prepare the cubes ahead of time, you should salt them and leave then in the fridge, after your large knife has gone to work and produced cubes of about an inch/inch and a half per side. When Annalena did this last week, it took less than ten minutes. Do not hurry and hurt yourself, but it will not take long.
For this much meat, slice a pound and a half of mushroom. The plain white ones are fine, the creminis, even better. You may also want to spend the extra money and save yourself some time, if you can find them presliced. Annalena decided to splurge with the extra buck and a half. A bit of diced onion, please. Maybe one medium sized one for this much meat. A total of 4 tablespoons of fat: equal amounts of butter, and of vegetable oil. Finally, two cups of sour cream. Use the full fat stuff, or the 2%. If you are going lower than that, you shouldn't be making beef stroganoff.
Now that you've gathered all your ingredients, melt the butter in the oil, and then add the beef cubes. Don't crowd the pan, and brown them thoroughly. You may want to check, after about 6-7 minutes of cooking (turning every two minutes), to see if the meat is done enough for you. It will cook quickly. When it's nice and browned, and cooked, remove it from the pan. Now add the onions and cook them in the drippings, just until they're soft. Put them aside with the beef (note that Annalena varies from orthodoxy here, and cooks the beef before the onions. She does this so that the beef does not burn from the hot fat). Now, add the sliced mushrooms. If they do not all fit at once, add them in portions. Let them sit for a minute or two, and then start stirring. You will be amazed, at how rapidly the mushrooms reduce, and the water goes off. Soon, you will be wondering what happened to all those mushrooms: the volume will drop by at least 2/3.
When your mushrooms have cooked, toss the beef and onions back in, and stir everything together. Now pour in that pint of sour cream. Turn off the heat, and stir it together. Taste it, and add salt if you like, or a big spoon of prepared mustard. You may also want to shower this with some chopped scallions, or some other bright green thing. Garlic greens seem to have been "discovered" by our local farmers market types who have greenhouses, and I would use this if you can find them.
Annalena dedicates this to her sister Sybil, because if there is anyone who remembers that silly commerical, it is Sybil. And if she doesn't, or pretends not to because she is too young, she will probaby re-cast it, singing all the parts.
Alla prossima, carini.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Back from hiatus with: pineapple roasted with orange juice and honey
Buon capo d'anno, ragazzi! Annalena has returned. She never really left (sort of like many ailments), as she checked for comments (NONE. Hmmmm. Are you reading???), or for requests for her return (NONE. Hmmmmm). The month of absence was, to be honest, the result of what she calls the combination marathon and sprint that is the end of the year for us. Let us face it: would it not be easier if we could split the triad of Thanksgiving , Christmas, New Year and have one of the holidays at a different point in the year, when we really need it? Just as we take a breath from Thanksgiving, the Christmas rush is upon us. All of you know, you were breathing hard for at least part of that six week period. None moreso, than those of us who cook, and those of us who play musical instruments. It is to the latter that Annalena bows her head. There is so little room for error in performance, that it makes cooking look easy. Yet, talk to musicians, and they will bow their heads to cooks. We understand each other. So, ragazzi, with the crush of holiday baking, the Thanksgiving dinner, the Christmas dinner, and the fabulous mess that is the New Year's day party of Annalena and the Guyman, plus work, workouts with the Paraguayan punisher, and so much else, Annalena was absent. At least from writing. But just like Evita, "I never wanted to."
In that time, however, Annalena was thinking of all of you. As recipes were made or tried out, she would think "is this for the gang?" Sometimes the answer was a resounding ABSOLUTELY NOT. Other times, it was "iffy," and then there were others that called out with certainty as things we should be making. And we will have three of those in succession, and as is the case with Annalena's groupings, we shall move from the simplest, to the most complex; however, none will be very complex.
This first one is a sweet, but as far as sweets go, it is a "good" sweet, involving no fat. That is right, dear reader, no fat. And a fruit which , in Annalena's experience, terrifies people, for reasons she cannot fathom. That is the pineapple. Let us see a show of hands: when is the last time any of you bought a pineapple?
Now, if you bought the pineapple to make pina coladas, please lower your hand.
Just as I thought. Well, you should change that. Many of you, I suspect, do not buy them because you are in the camp of "I don't know how to pick a good one." Well, modern science and modern marketing have eliminated what was, honestly, a real problem for years.
When Annalena was younger, there were all kinds of tricks for buying a ripe, sweet pineapple: pull a leaf out of the crown. Smell the bottom (no jokes, please). Squeeze it. Smell the top. And heaven knows, none worked consistently.
Some time ago, there was a breakthrough in pineapple genetics (Annalena kids you not. She follows these things), and there is now a pineapple on the market, called the "golden sweet." There has been litigation over it: Annalena kids you not. Google the words pineapple, and antitrust, and you will read of the long standing fight between Dole and Del Monte about this. In any event, the golden sweet pineapple is unfailingly reliable. If you see the name on the label, you can be certain it will be good. DO make sure that it is not buggy, or overripe (is there juice coming out of it). Buy one (they cost between 3 and 4 dollars each), and you will have a treat.
And Annalena will not countenance the "it's too difficult to prepare" excuse. This is how you clean a pineapple: turn it on its side, and make a vertical cut to take the leaves and a small amount of the fruit off. Now, turn it standing up, and with a large knife, cut down the plant, in segments, to remove the skin. If you have small amounts of skin left from the eyes, cut them out as well, but with practice, you will take enough off so that there is no issue.
You will have a naked pineapple, with an inedible core (at least most think it inedible. Annalena enjoys chewing on the fiber, but then again, she also chews on the strings from a tied roast). For this recipe, you have very easy ways to get rid of it, as you will now find out.
Clean not one, but two pineapples, as you were just directed. Put them aside ,while you squeeze enough oranges, or blood oranges, or tangerines, or any sweet citrus, to get a cup of juice. Annalena's original recipe called for regular oranges. She had plenty of blood oranges from the Citrus Bomb and the Citrus Stud, so she used those. Mix those with half a cup of honey.
Digression coming: some day, go to your market, talk to a honey purveyor, and ask to taste the different types. You will be astounded. Even if you HAVE a life. Use one that you like. Stir that honey into the citrus juice.
Now, remember those two pineapples? Well, standing them vertically, cut them into quarters. Observe them. The core is very apparent. Take a small knife, and cut it away, from each piece. Then, trisect the cleaned pineapple into long slices, and put it in with the juice mixture. Stir it all together and leave it out to marinate for 30 minutes. Turning it every now and then if you think about it.
That wasn't much work, was it? Plenty of words, but no effort. Are you welcoming me back yet?
Now, turn your oven to 450, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. You do need to do this, to keep the pineapple from burning too badly.
After the half hour, pull the fruit out of the juices, and spread them out over the two baking sheets. Don't let the slices overlap. Put them in the oven for ten minutes, but after five, reverse the sheets and turn them as well.
Meanwhile, if you are so inclined, pour the juices into a small pot, and raise the heat to high, reducing the juice to as thick a syrup as you like. After the pineapple has roasted for ten minutes, put it back in the bowl, pour the juices over it (or not) and serve it forth. And if you're not ready, it will hold, unrefrigerated, for a whole day. Refrigerate it afterwards.
In many parts of the world, as well as in colonial America, the pineapple was , and is, the symbol of hosptiality. That is why you will see the symbol over many threshholds, and on gates. Annalena is also told that, in Hawaii there is a legend that the spirit of grandmothers departed enters pinapples. Perhaps. That would explain how easy, and how good, this dessert is.
Welcome to 2012 everyone. Have a wonderful year. Get in contact with Annalena. And make this dessert
In that time, however, Annalena was thinking of all of you. As recipes were made or tried out, she would think "is this for the gang?" Sometimes the answer was a resounding ABSOLUTELY NOT. Other times, it was "iffy," and then there were others that called out with certainty as things we should be making. And we will have three of those in succession, and as is the case with Annalena's groupings, we shall move from the simplest, to the most complex; however, none will be very complex.
This first one is a sweet, but as far as sweets go, it is a "good" sweet, involving no fat. That is right, dear reader, no fat. And a fruit which , in Annalena's experience, terrifies people, for reasons she cannot fathom. That is the pineapple. Let us see a show of hands: when is the last time any of you bought a pineapple?
Now, if you bought the pineapple to make pina coladas, please lower your hand.
Just as I thought. Well, you should change that. Many of you, I suspect, do not buy them because you are in the camp of "I don't know how to pick a good one." Well, modern science and modern marketing have eliminated what was, honestly, a real problem for years.
When Annalena was younger, there were all kinds of tricks for buying a ripe, sweet pineapple: pull a leaf out of the crown. Smell the bottom (no jokes, please). Squeeze it. Smell the top. And heaven knows, none worked consistently.
Some time ago, there was a breakthrough in pineapple genetics (Annalena kids you not. She follows these things), and there is now a pineapple on the market, called the "golden sweet." There has been litigation over it: Annalena kids you not. Google the words pineapple, and antitrust, and you will read of the long standing fight between Dole and Del Monte about this. In any event, the golden sweet pineapple is unfailingly reliable. If you see the name on the label, you can be certain it will be good. DO make sure that it is not buggy, or overripe (is there juice coming out of it). Buy one (they cost between 3 and 4 dollars each), and you will have a treat.
And Annalena will not countenance the "it's too difficult to prepare" excuse. This is how you clean a pineapple: turn it on its side, and make a vertical cut to take the leaves and a small amount of the fruit off. Now, turn it standing up, and with a large knife, cut down the plant, in segments, to remove the skin. If you have small amounts of skin left from the eyes, cut them out as well, but with practice, you will take enough off so that there is no issue.
You will have a naked pineapple, with an inedible core (at least most think it inedible. Annalena enjoys chewing on the fiber, but then again, she also chews on the strings from a tied roast). For this recipe, you have very easy ways to get rid of it, as you will now find out.
Clean not one, but two pineapples, as you were just directed. Put them aside ,while you squeeze enough oranges, or blood oranges, or tangerines, or any sweet citrus, to get a cup of juice. Annalena's original recipe called for regular oranges. She had plenty of blood oranges from the Citrus Bomb and the Citrus Stud, so she used those. Mix those with half a cup of honey.
Digression coming: some day, go to your market, talk to a honey purveyor, and ask to taste the different types. You will be astounded. Even if you HAVE a life. Use one that you like. Stir that honey into the citrus juice.
Now, remember those two pineapples? Well, standing them vertically, cut them into quarters. Observe them. The core is very apparent. Take a small knife, and cut it away, from each piece. Then, trisect the cleaned pineapple into long slices, and put it in with the juice mixture. Stir it all together and leave it out to marinate for 30 minutes. Turning it every now and then if you think about it.
That wasn't much work, was it? Plenty of words, but no effort. Are you welcoming me back yet?
Now, turn your oven to 450, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. You do need to do this, to keep the pineapple from burning too badly.
After the half hour, pull the fruit out of the juices, and spread them out over the two baking sheets. Don't let the slices overlap. Put them in the oven for ten minutes, but after five, reverse the sheets and turn them as well.
Meanwhile, if you are so inclined, pour the juices into a small pot, and raise the heat to high, reducing the juice to as thick a syrup as you like. After the pineapple has roasted for ten minutes, put it back in the bowl, pour the juices over it (or not) and serve it forth. And if you're not ready, it will hold, unrefrigerated, for a whole day. Refrigerate it afterwards.
In many parts of the world, as well as in colonial America, the pineapple was , and is, the symbol of hosptiality. That is why you will see the symbol over many threshholds, and on gates. Annalena is also told that, in Hawaii there is a legend that the spirit of grandmothers departed enters pinapples. Perhaps. That would explain how easy, and how good, this dessert is.
Welcome to 2012 everyone. Have a wonderful year. Get in contact with Annalena. And make this dessert
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Christmas cookie for neecee: Cranberry oatmeal orange cookies
When Annalena was growning up, and working the many odd jobs that she did work, to pay for school, her books, her clothes, etc, she observed, and learned, a very interesting phenomenon, or cultural "trope" as some would say, that she hasn't seen out of her old neighborhood. Essentially, we would never call anyone by their real name. So, for example, there was a man who ran a lunch truck (the "roach coach" if you will). His name was Joe Natale, but we called him "Joey Lunch." Or, Tony, who ran the butcher, was "Tony meat." Annalena's own boss, who ran a gas station, and who had a perfectly respectable name, was nonetheless "Carmine Swag," because he sold merchandise which "fell off the truck" at the gas station. That kind of merchandise is, of course, "Swag." Annalena had her own name "Baby Teek." That's because her stepfather the Nazi sold a product that had the word "Tech" in it, which everyone pronounced "teek." The Nazi was "Mr Teek," and Annalena was "Baby Teek."
I do hope you are enjoying this story, because it is painful to recall, in many ways. In any event "neecee" is used to refer... to Annalena's niece, rather than give her full name.
Yes, Annalena does have family. What is left is not large, but it is there. She has an aunt, a sister, several cousins, two nieces and a nephew. We do not see each other at all, to be honest. She knows of the cousins through facebook. And one day, someone left a comment on this blog, with a story that sounded very, VERY familar. TOO familiar. A little digging and, yes... it was Annalena's niece, with food stories and interests and, as it turns out a food blog of her own. There's another foodie in the clan!
It would be interesting to sit down and try to figure out how the foodie gene ran in the family. Annalena's training in genetics would probably allow her to map this, and trail the gene, and perhaps even do some close analysis on where it will turn up next. In any event, it is heartening to know it is there. And if any of you want to connect to Neecee's blog, which is of interest to many of you - I KNOW it is- then ask, and I will have her contact you.
So, why do you have all of this? Well, neecee posted a comment, asking for a cookie recipe. It is one of my favorites. One I have been making, every year, since 1996. I always say I am going to make it again during the year, but I never do. Maybe other things take over. It is an easy cookie, one you can make lots of very quickly, and it is SO good. In fact, it may be Annalena's favorite cookie. So here we go.
The cookie is based on a very simple butter cookie base, to which many things can be added. In the article, from the late, lamented "Gourmet," about six variants were given of the basic cookie dough recipe. This was one of them.
You are going to need some dried cranberries. A cup of them. (Did you know that cranberries were one of the few fruits indigenous to North America, when the settlers arrived? They were called crainberries, because crains ate them. And that is a hint to you folks who forage: if you are unsure if something is good to eat, watch. The animals have learned what is good and what is not. And you must be careful and watch, with things that are bright, like cranberries. As a general rule a BRIGHT color, especially red, in wild food, is a warning that the thing is toxic).
OK, enough science. You need a cup of the dried cranberries, and the zest of one large orange. Also, 3/4 cup of old fashioned oats. None of this instant oatmeal stuff here.
That doesn't sound very fancy , does it? And for the cookie dough, you need 2 sticks of unsalted butter, soft , 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 large egg yolks, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a heaping 2 cups of flour.
Now that you have all the ingredients, let's talk about some options. You can soak the dried cranberries to make them softer, if you like. You will drain them, but they will retain some moisture, and this will result in a softer, paler cookie. Similarly, further on in this recipe, I will describe the option of some orange juice. Again, you can leave this out and get a crisper, browner cookie. If you add the orange juice, you get a stronger orange flavor, and a paler, softer cookie.
Start by combineing the sugar, butter, and salt in a mixer, and whip em until they're soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Now, lower the speed of your mixer, and add the flour.
When that's done, add the chopped cup of cranberries, whether you soaked them or not, the oats, the orange peel and combine them. IF you like, squeeze the juice of the orange into the dough, but you don't have to. Generally, I do not soften the cranberries, but I do add the orange juice.
You now have your cookie dough, except for one thing. Have some sugar available at your side. Preheat your oven to 350 and then form small balls of dough from the mass before you. 1/2-3/4 inch is about right. Lay them out on the baking sheet. You don't have to worry about spacing, because they will not spread too far. When you have a tray of unbaked balls, roll each one in the sugar, and then, take a glass, butter the bottom of it, dip it into sugar, and gently press the cookies just a bit. You're looking for something that is a little bigger than a quarter. Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes, again, going for a longer time, for browner, crispier cookies, and less for softer ones.
If you keep these cookies to the small size, you will get nearly 100 of them. IF they all get out of the kitchen, which is always a problem for Annalena.
The only thing you probably have to go and buy to make these, is the dried cranberries. And if you feel lazy, use raisins, or dried cherries, or whatever fruit you have around. If you went for things like blueberries, I would suggest changing the orange to lemon, or something like that. Raisins? Hmmmm. Maybe leave out the juice and put in a spoon of rum. (Another relative , should she see this, is probably saying "HELL YEAH!" to the rum idea). Frankly, if you were so inclined, you could put Grand Marnier instead of the orange juice, but then to be healthy, eat the orange.
I do hope you will make these cookies. They are really, REALLY good. And I'm glad that they're not everyone's favorite. MORE FOR ME!!!!
I do hope you are enjoying this story, because it is painful to recall, in many ways. In any event "neecee" is used to refer... to Annalena's niece, rather than give her full name.
Yes, Annalena does have family. What is left is not large, but it is there. She has an aunt, a sister, several cousins, two nieces and a nephew. We do not see each other at all, to be honest. She knows of the cousins through facebook. And one day, someone left a comment on this blog, with a story that sounded very, VERY familar. TOO familiar. A little digging and, yes... it was Annalena's niece, with food stories and interests and, as it turns out a food blog of her own. There's another foodie in the clan!
It would be interesting to sit down and try to figure out how the foodie gene ran in the family. Annalena's training in genetics would probably allow her to map this, and trail the gene, and perhaps even do some close analysis on where it will turn up next. In any event, it is heartening to know it is there. And if any of you want to connect to Neecee's blog, which is of interest to many of you - I KNOW it is- then ask, and I will have her contact you.
So, why do you have all of this? Well, neecee posted a comment, asking for a cookie recipe. It is one of my favorites. One I have been making, every year, since 1996. I always say I am going to make it again during the year, but I never do. Maybe other things take over. It is an easy cookie, one you can make lots of very quickly, and it is SO good. In fact, it may be Annalena's favorite cookie. So here we go.
The cookie is based on a very simple butter cookie base, to which many things can be added. In the article, from the late, lamented "Gourmet," about six variants were given of the basic cookie dough recipe. This was one of them.
You are going to need some dried cranberries. A cup of them. (Did you know that cranberries were one of the few fruits indigenous to North America, when the settlers arrived? They were called crainberries, because crains ate them. And that is a hint to you folks who forage: if you are unsure if something is good to eat, watch. The animals have learned what is good and what is not. And you must be careful and watch, with things that are bright, like cranberries. As a general rule a BRIGHT color, especially red, in wild food, is a warning that the thing is toxic).
OK, enough science. You need a cup of the dried cranberries, and the zest of one large orange. Also, 3/4 cup of old fashioned oats. None of this instant oatmeal stuff here.
That doesn't sound very fancy , does it? And for the cookie dough, you need 2 sticks of unsalted butter, soft , 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 large egg yolks, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a heaping 2 cups of flour.
Now that you have all the ingredients, let's talk about some options. You can soak the dried cranberries to make them softer, if you like. You will drain them, but they will retain some moisture, and this will result in a softer, paler cookie. Similarly, further on in this recipe, I will describe the option of some orange juice. Again, you can leave this out and get a crisper, browner cookie. If you add the orange juice, you get a stronger orange flavor, and a paler, softer cookie.
Start by combineing the sugar, butter, and salt in a mixer, and whip em until they're soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Now, lower the speed of your mixer, and add the flour.
When that's done, add the chopped cup of cranberries, whether you soaked them or not, the oats, the orange peel and combine them. IF you like, squeeze the juice of the orange into the dough, but you don't have to. Generally, I do not soften the cranberries, but I do add the orange juice.
You now have your cookie dough, except for one thing. Have some sugar available at your side. Preheat your oven to 350 and then form small balls of dough from the mass before you. 1/2-3/4 inch is about right. Lay them out on the baking sheet. You don't have to worry about spacing, because they will not spread too far. When you have a tray of unbaked balls, roll each one in the sugar, and then, take a glass, butter the bottom of it, dip it into sugar, and gently press the cookies just a bit. You're looking for something that is a little bigger than a quarter. Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes, again, going for a longer time, for browner, crispier cookies, and less for softer ones.
If you keep these cookies to the small size, you will get nearly 100 of them. IF they all get out of the kitchen, which is always a problem for Annalena.
The only thing you probably have to go and buy to make these, is the dried cranberries. And if you feel lazy, use raisins, or dried cherries, or whatever fruit you have around. If you went for things like blueberries, I would suggest changing the orange to lemon, or something like that. Raisins? Hmmmm. Maybe leave out the juice and put in a spoon of rum. (Another relative , should she see this, is probably saying "HELL YEAH!" to the rum idea). Frankly, if you were so inclined, you could put Grand Marnier instead of the orange juice, but then to be healthy, eat the orange.
I do hope you will make these cookies. They are really, REALLY good. And I'm glad that they're not everyone's favorite. MORE FOR ME!!!!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Annalena and the cannon (again): caldo verde
Ragazzi, you have undoubtedly read of my forays into "national" dishes: cassoulet. Red sauce. Paella. And so on. Annalena has made very few forays into one of her favorite cuisines, however, which is Portuguese. Why? It is difficult to say. In thinking about it, it is perhaps because to moi, Portuguese food has just enough of the element of "foreign" about it that makes it a bit unapproachable (Please know that when Annalena speaks of Portuguese food here, she speaks of IBERIAN Portuguese food. It is a gross oversimplification to say "Portuguese" and forget the food of Northern and Central Africa, Brazil, Goa, and the other regions where the Portuguese flag once flew). Some recent events, however, pushed Annalena to trying this one.
One of her favorite restaurants, Alfama, has reopened. She and the Guyman made a trip, caught up with good friends Miguel and Tarcisio (who's name I may have FINALLY spelled correctly), and had a fabulous meal. Our paper of record, however, did not agree with us.
Remember the scene in the movie "Spartacus" when dozens of people stood saying "I am Spartacus?" That is how Annalena felt as she and others started writing ripostes. They continue. Well, one of the dishes criticized in the negative review, was caldo verde, which is arguably the national dish of Portugal. And it is one that , in all of our visits, the Guyman and I have never eaten. I suspect it is because our hosts feel it is too "common" for sophisticated foodies.
Well, "sophisticated" hardly describes us. We do like to eat well, but I do not think of our tastes as sophisticated. In any event, with all of this in mind, Annalena began researching the recipe.
I wish I could write "OH MY GOD" in Portuguese. In the space of 30 minutes, I believe I found twenty recipes. All used the same ingredients. And... all were different. Very interesting and very challenging, since the number of ingredients... is four. Ultimately, isn't this what many "cannonical" dishes are about? A few ingredients, usually inexpensive ones at that, where the cook can improvise. She (and it is almost always a "she" with these dishes), improvises, based on what she has available, and produces a dish which all love.
Anyway, here is mine. And I dedicate this to my Kaley friend, Jason Nunan. Jason, make it. You will love it.
Here are the four ingredients: onions, potatoes, kale, and chorizo sausage. So it is not a vegetarian soup. Annalena spent some time thinking about how you could make it such. I suppose you could leave out the sausage, or put in a chipotle pepper or some adobo sauce, but I would be reluctant to call it caldo verde at that point.
No stock, just water. And plenty of salt. And olive oil. So, ragazzi, let's get to work.
First ,the prep. Peel and chop two large onions. While surgical precision is not necessary, you are not going to puree this soup, so try to eliminate the big pieces. Three pounds of potatoes. I used yukon golds. You can use any potato that you would use for mashing. Idahos, russets, etc, they'd all work. For this one, please avoid the "pretty potatoes" that have the blue or red flesh. Peel them (bigger potatoes are easier to peel, gang), and cube them roughly. A pound of chorizo. Good chorizo comes in a casing that you should remove. Slice it thinly. Finally, two nice, big bunches of kale. Strip the leaves from the stems, unless you have very tender stems at the tip. Chop the kale into strips.
You've now done just about all of your work. Put about three tablespoons of olive oil into a big soup pot (I mean BIG for this one), and add the chorizo. Fry it at medium until it is beginning to color, but try not to brown it. Then remove it from the pot. It will have left some of its flavoring in the oil. Add the onions, and saute' them, turning every now and then, until they go translucent, and they actually begin to give off a bit of liquid. Now, in go your potatoes, and water to cover. Taste this NOW. Insipid, eh? Yup. Season well. A talespoon is probably right, but that's... how many teaspoons? Ah, good . All of you who said three, pat yourself on the back. Add it by tablespoons and keep tasting. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat, and cook the potatoes until they are softening. This will probably take a while, since there are so many of them - maybe 30-45 minutes. When you can crush a cube by pressing a spoon against it, it's time to add the sausage, and cook for about ten minutes more. At this point, the potatoes should be soft enough so that, if you stir the soup, you see the potatoes disintegrate. If you're there, add the kale and stir it in. Alternatively, you can steam the kale in some hot water until it gets beautifully green. Either way, stir the greens into the soup, taste for salt, and....
Caldo verde! Lots of it.
This is a perfect soup for the weather we are having now. It's satisfying, it's really very inexpensive, it makes tons so you can bring people over, open up some RED wine, and have a lovely meal.
And yes, if you have a variant on this you would like to share, please do so. And be passionate about it, because passion motivates these cannonical dishes, as it should all of your cooking.
One of her favorite restaurants, Alfama, has reopened. She and the Guyman made a trip, caught up with good friends Miguel and Tarcisio (who's name I may have FINALLY spelled correctly), and had a fabulous meal. Our paper of record, however, did not agree with us.
Remember the scene in the movie "Spartacus" when dozens of people stood saying "I am Spartacus?" That is how Annalena felt as she and others started writing ripostes. They continue. Well, one of the dishes criticized in the negative review, was caldo verde, which is arguably the national dish of Portugal. And it is one that , in all of our visits, the Guyman and I have never eaten. I suspect it is because our hosts feel it is too "common" for sophisticated foodies.
Well, "sophisticated" hardly describes us. We do like to eat well, but I do not think of our tastes as sophisticated. In any event, with all of this in mind, Annalena began researching the recipe.
I wish I could write "OH MY GOD" in Portuguese. In the space of 30 minutes, I believe I found twenty recipes. All used the same ingredients. And... all were different. Very interesting and very challenging, since the number of ingredients... is four. Ultimately, isn't this what many "cannonical" dishes are about? A few ingredients, usually inexpensive ones at that, where the cook can improvise. She (and it is almost always a "she" with these dishes), improvises, based on what she has available, and produces a dish which all love.
Anyway, here is mine. And I dedicate this to my Kaley friend, Jason Nunan. Jason, make it. You will love it.
Here are the four ingredients: onions, potatoes, kale, and chorizo sausage. So it is not a vegetarian soup. Annalena spent some time thinking about how you could make it such. I suppose you could leave out the sausage, or put in a chipotle pepper or some adobo sauce, but I would be reluctant to call it caldo verde at that point.
No stock, just water. And plenty of salt. And olive oil. So, ragazzi, let's get to work.
First ,the prep. Peel and chop two large onions. While surgical precision is not necessary, you are not going to puree this soup, so try to eliminate the big pieces. Three pounds of potatoes. I used yukon golds. You can use any potato that you would use for mashing. Idahos, russets, etc, they'd all work. For this one, please avoid the "pretty potatoes" that have the blue or red flesh. Peel them (bigger potatoes are easier to peel, gang), and cube them roughly. A pound of chorizo. Good chorizo comes in a casing that you should remove. Slice it thinly. Finally, two nice, big bunches of kale. Strip the leaves from the stems, unless you have very tender stems at the tip. Chop the kale into strips.
You've now done just about all of your work. Put about three tablespoons of olive oil into a big soup pot (I mean BIG for this one), and add the chorizo. Fry it at medium until it is beginning to color, but try not to brown it. Then remove it from the pot. It will have left some of its flavoring in the oil. Add the onions, and saute' them, turning every now and then, until they go translucent, and they actually begin to give off a bit of liquid. Now, in go your potatoes, and water to cover. Taste this NOW. Insipid, eh? Yup. Season well. A talespoon is probably right, but that's... how many teaspoons? Ah, good . All of you who said three, pat yourself on the back. Add it by tablespoons and keep tasting. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat, and cook the potatoes until they are softening. This will probably take a while, since there are so many of them - maybe 30-45 minutes. When you can crush a cube by pressing a spoon against it, it's time to add the sausage, and cook for about ten minutes more. At this point, the potatoes should be soft enough so that, if you stir the soup, you see the potatoes disintegrate. If you're there, add the kale and stir it in. Alternatively, you can steam the kale in some hot water until it gets beautifully green. Either way, stir the greens into the soup, taste for salt, and....
Caldo verde! Lots of it.
This is a perfect soup for the weather we are having now. It's satisfying, it's really very inexpensive, it makes tons so you can bring people over, open up some RED wine, and have a lovely meal.
And yes, if you have a variant on this you would like to share, please do so. And be passionate about it, because passion motivates these cannonical dishes, as it should all of your cooking.
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