Foodies Anonymous

I worked at a Mexican restaurant for a couple of days once. I hated the experience, and I didn’t shed any tears when they closed down. The one good thing I learned there was how they made what they called ranch style pinto beans.  I play with the recipe every time I make it, and tonight I substituted the usual jalapeno with chipotle. I loved how the smokiness played off the bacon; so I decided to document it for posterity.  This makes a great side for carne asada or grilled chicken.

Ingredients

2 cans pinto beans*

1 tsp olive oil

1 slice bacon, small dice

1/4 cup yellow onion, small dice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp chipotle with adobe sauce, chopped (adjust according to how spicy you want the beans)

1/2 tsp caldo de pollo powder**

1/4 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

1. In a small pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add diced bacon and stir for a minute or two. Then add the onion and cook until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and chipotle and cook for about a minute more.

2. Discard the liquid from one of the cans of beans and add both cans to the pot. Stir in the bullion powder and cumin. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Garnish with chopped cilantro if you have any on hand.

Serves 4.

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*Yes, I use canned pinto beans. It’s a great convenience product and it allows you to make a pretty killer dish in 10-15 minutes instead of a few hours. Feel free to substitute homemade beans for even better results.

**You can find Knorr Caldo de Pollo in many markets in the ethnic food aisle, or with other brands of chicken bullion. This is a family staple for seasoning lots of dishes. If you want to class up the dish a little, replace the liquid from the beans with chicken stock.

So the other day a tri-tip roast was thrust upon me to cook for dinner. Now, normally I would use one of my favorite marinades and grill that bad boy, but I did not have necessary 4-8 hours of warning. So what to do?  Well I remembered a recipe I stumbled across years ago that consisted of a wet rub that only needed about half an hour of sitting time.  I gave it another look, and what do you know? It held up pretty well!

Equipment

grill or broiler

coffee/spice grinder or mortar and pestle

Ingredients

1 tsp espresso ground coffee

1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted

2 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 2 – 2 1/2 lb tri tip roast, trimmed

Procedure

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. If the fatty side has a lot of excess fat, trim the fat to your preference. The meat should sit at room temp for about 30 minutes to an hour so it’s not cold inside. This allows it to cook more evenly.

2. Prepare the rub ingredients. To toast the fennel seeds, put a skillet or pan on a medium burner and toast the seeds until they turn golden brown. Gently swirl the skillet while toasting to prevent scorching.  As for the coffee grounds, if you have regular coffee grounds and not the fine espresso, pulverize the grounds in the grinder or mortar until it is a finer powder.

3. Place the chopped rosemary, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper corns into the grinder or mortar and grind until course. Pour the contents into a small bowl and add the coffee (if you didn’t leave it in the grinder) and olive oil. Stir until the whole rub is moistened.

4. Smear the rub on both sides of the roast, and sit on a plate fat side down for 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes or so, preheat the grill to medium heat.

5. Place the meat on the prepared grill, fat side up. Cook about 10-12 minutes on each side for medium doneness. I prefer tri-tip closer to medium rare, but lots of people like it cooked more, so take as much time as you need.  While grilling, keep your eye on the flames especially when the fat side is down. The fat will cause flare ups and you don’t want to scorch the rub!

6. After both sides are done, remove from the grill and let the roast sit about 10-15 minutes. You can loosely cover the meat with foil if you wish.  This resting period is important because the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes, and the resting allows the juices to redistribute evenly.  If you get impatient and slice too soon, you’ll lose a lot of juices.  After resting, slice against the grain and serve.

Enjoy!

Today I felt like having a burger of some kind, but I didn’t want anything heavy. After rummaging through the freezer, I found a bag of frozen salmon fillets, and I knew what to do. I remembered a tasty recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook that I tried several years ago, and used what I had in the kitchen. The original recipe calls for scallions, which I didn’t have on hand. Instead I used about 5 very large chives that I picked from my garden. The taste is very similar, so you can use either one depending on what you have in your fridge, or if you prefer the smaller doses of oniony goodness that chives provide.

Serves: 2 – 4

Salmon Burger with Ginger and Spinach

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon fillets

2 cups baby spinach

3 green onions (or an equivalent handful of chives)

1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 egg white

1 tbsp soy sauce

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste (or 1/4 tsp if you don’t trust yourself)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Cut the salmon fillets into small dice, approximately 1/4″ cubes. This is the most time consuming part of this recipe, but your patience will be rewarded with a nice texture for the patties. If you try to mince it quickly or run it through a food processor, you’ll get something resembling a paste, instead of the lightly bound patties that will result. If you are unsure of how to do this, all you need to do is cut the fillets in half lengthwise, then cut into thin strips (like the size of french fries). From there, cut the strips into small cubes.

2. Next, cut the veggies. The spinach will be mixed in the patties, so a rough chop will do. If you’re not sure how small to go, I suggest treating it like cilantro (about nickel sized). Dice the onions (both white and green parts) into pieces around the same size as the salmon.

3. The final prep work will be grating the ginger (easy enough) and to beat the egg white with the soy sauce. You’ll probably want to heat your favorite 12″ non-stick skillet over medium heat about now. On to the show!

4. In a bowl, combine the salmon, spinach, onion, ginger, salt and pepper. Then mix in the egg white until it’s nice and sticky.

5. Once the oil is sufficiently hot in the pan (it should spread quickly on the bottom but not yet smoke), form a patty in your hand about a half inch thick and gently place (or plop) it into the pan. You’ll notice that it’s pretty loose, but that’s okay! This isn’t ground meat, so you just treat it delicately and pat it together with the spatula if some pieces fall away. I suggest cooking only 2 patties at a time because you want room to move around in the pan, plus you don’t want the oil to cool too much. Flip the patty over once, and cook a total of 6-7 minutes.

6. Place the cooked patties on a paper towel cook the next batch. These burgers are pretty flavorful on their own. I opted for a whole wheat bun and sliced roma tomatoes for garnish. You can also use pickled ginger as a condiment. Or maybe wasabi mayo would be good too?? Hmm I think I’ll try that next time!

Enjoy!

This is no ordinary mac ‘n cheese, which usually isn’t very cheesy. Most recipes will have you make a cheese sauce, which is basically a bechamel sauce (a thickened milk sauce) with cheese added to it. Not the most exciting stuff in the world, even with toasted breadcrumbs on top. This version has a 2:1 ratio of cheese to macaroni, and is very rich (eggs bind it, for crying out loud). It might not be the most healthy dish, but it’s guaranteed to make your cheese lovin’ friends happy!

I found a version of this recipe years ago on the web. The original calls for all sharp cheddar cheese, which is very good. I’ve tried many variations of cheese blends, but the most popular by far is this one with pepper jack and cheddar.

Serves: 4 – 6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. elbow macaroni or large shell macaroni

1/2 stick butter

1 can evaporated milk (or 1 cup cream mixed with 1/2 cup milk. You can adjust the cream/milk amounts according to how ‘healthy’ you want to dish to be.)

1 tsp. dry mustard, dissolved in a little water

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb. pepper jack cheese, grated

kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook the macaroni in salted water until it is not quite done, around 7 minutes. The pasta should be a little undercooked, but don’t worry, it will finish cooking later in the oven. Drain the pasta and transfer into a large, oven-proof bowl.

3. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix into the macaroni.

4. Add the milk, keeping about 1/3 reserved.

5. Add the mustard, eggs, and 3/4 of the cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

6. Place the bowl in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and stir well. Add a handful of cheese and some milk while doing this. Bake another 5 minutes and repeat this process until the sauce is smooth and creamy, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

I had the extended family over for Easter today, and what better way to celebrate than with some delicious lamb? This is my favorite preparation for lamb. Its pretty simple, and I can guarantee you that after you try this, most other recipes will pale in comparison. I’ve been making this for a few years now, and don’t bother with a recipe. So the measurements are estimated. Once you get this down, it’s easy to play with the amounts or even the types of herbs (you can try chives or thyme, for example) to make it your own.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 lamb racks, frenched (about 2 lb ea.)

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tbsp dijon mustard

Salt and pepper – to taste

Olive oil – as needed

Method.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Pat the lamb racks dry, and trim off any excess fat.

Normally markets sell the racks frenched, which means the last inch or two of the bones have been scraped clean of meat and fat. But often there’s still a fair amount of excess fat on the front of the rack, which is great for basting, but if there’s too much, you can’t really eat it. So I just try to leave a thin layer of fat for flavor.

Season both sides with salt and pepper.

3. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and the chopped herbs. Set aside.

Panko crumbs are my favorite type of crumbs to use for cooking. They’re light and crispy and give a great texture to dishes. If you don’t have access to an Asian market, you can often find bags in the Asian/Ethnic food aisle in larger supermarkets.

If you are unable or unwilling to use Panko, just get a few slices of fresh white bread (sourdough, french bread, or even english muffins also work well) and cut into large chunks. Put the bread in a food processor and pulse several times until you have course bread crumbs.

4. Place a heavy skillet on a medium-high burner and pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Working in batches, sear the lamb until well browned on each side, about 5-6 minutes total.

I prefer to use a stainless steel skillet for searing. Non-stick aren’t as good to use because 1) you’re not supposed to heat them beyond medium heat or you’ll damage the coating, and 2) you get better coloring using stainless steel. The meat may stick to the pan at first, but once cooked long enough, the meat will release.

The bonus of using stainless steel is that you will get those tasty brown bits stuck to the pan at the end, and you can use the same pan later for sauteeing some asparagus to go alongside the lamb.

5. Place the lamb racks on a sheet pan and smear the mustard on the meat and fat. You want to cover all the parts of the rack that you’re going to eat. Put enough mustard that will ensure the bread crumbs will stick, but not so much that the dijon overpowers everything.

6. Coat the racks with the bread crumb mixture, lightly pressing into the meat. Along with the lamb itself, this is the tastiest part of the dish, so I like to put a generous amount of crumbs on. Don’t forget to add some to the bottom of the lamb, because that’s where the thickest part of the meat is.

7. Roast for 15-20 minutes for medium rare. Yes, medium rare! This is the best way to serve lamb. Medium tastes good too (cook another 5 minutes or so), but anything more than that and the lamb is likely to dry out. Hey, you’re paying extra money for one of the best cuts of the lamb, so don’t wimp out and overcook the tender meat!

After removing from the oven, loosely tent the lamb with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. The lamb will continue to cook for a few minutes after you take it out of the oven, and resting it will allow the juices to settle before you carve.

To carve, simply run your chef’s knife between the bones while standing the racks up. You may hit a piece of the backbone near the bottom – just add a little more pressure to cut through.

Garnish with small sprigs of mint and/or rosemary.

This dish is great dinner to make during a busy week or whenever you want to make something that requires little prep work.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs*

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp capers

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup chopped parsley

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Prepare the chicken thighs. First, pat the pieces dry. You want to make the thighs approximately 1/4″ thick. To flatten them, use a mallet, a small skillet, a large can, or even the side of a chef’s knife. To avoid a making a mess, use a sheet of plastic wrap on the cutting board, and a second sheet on top of the piece of chicken. This will prevent splattering and help the flesh spread evenly as you take out the day’s frustration on your dinner.

After flattening each piece to the same thickness, season both sides of each thigh with salt and pepper.

Optional: If you want better coloring for the chicken (and a better sauce), dredge the thighs in all-purpose flour and shake loose.

2. Place a skillet on medium high heat. Avoid using a nonstick pan, because you want bits of the chicken to stick to pan as it cooks. Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. When the oil is sizzling, add the chicken and cook about 4 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and cook another 4 minutes. Remove the chicken onto a plate and tent loosely with foil.

If your pan is on the smallish side, saute the chicken in batches. If you try to do it all at once, the chicken may not cook as evenly, and it might be more difficult to get a good fond (the tasty brown bits that stick to the pan which become the basis of the sauce).

3. Reduce heat to medium low. Add the chopped shallots and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Then add the wine and lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Use your whisk or spoon to scrape up all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. (You really want to get it all loose to make the sauce good!) Simmer the liquids until reduced by half.

4. Add the capers and the chicken, including the juices that accumulated. Simmer for a couple of minutes and add half the parsley at the very end.

5. Remove the chicken from the pan again, and serve over a small bed of thin pasta noodles (optional). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the sauce over chicken and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Serves 4.

* If you want a healthier version of this dish, you can substitute boneless, skinless breasts for thighs. The breasts lack the stronger chicken flavor, but do have less fat. To flatten, follow the instructions above, though you should probably butterfly the breasts (cut them in half lengthwise, but not all the way through so the breast unfolds into a heart shape), or if you have really large breasts (chicken!!) you’re better off cutting them in half completely before pounding them. Reduce the initial cooking time by about a minute, since the meat isn’t as dense as the thighs.

For me, there are few things as satisfying on a cold, rainy day as a bowl of creamy soup. This is one of my favorite soups – the sweetness of the butternut squash is balanced with the subtle kick of ginger and jalepeno.

Ingredients:

3-4 tbsp. butter

3 celery stalks

2 large carrots

2 medium leeks

1 piece ginger root (about 1″)

1 jalepeno, seeded

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lb.)

1 qt. chicken or vegetable stock*

1/2 cup heavy cream

kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

toasted pecans for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Chop the carrots, celery and leeks, keeping the pieces roughly the same size, about 1/2″.

If you have not worked with leeks before, you need to know that cleaning them thoroughly is critical. Otherwise you risk getting a little mud in the soup. Sure, no one will notice because everything is pureed. But YOU will know, and you won’t be able to eat the soup later because you’ll be grossed out.

To clean, first trim the root end, about 1/4″. Then remove the thick leaves on the top, leaving the light green and white parts. Cut the leek lengthwise and rinse each half under cold running water. While rinsing, fan the leaves and run your fingers between them to remove trapped dirt. Pat or shake the leeks dry and proceed to chop them.

2. Seed and peel the jalepeno and ginger, respectively, and mince.

3. For the squash, the easiest way to peel it is with a Y peeler, or a good quality, swiveling peeler. Don’t bother with the 99 cent model, because it’s not going to work. If you have more faith in your knife skills, a good chef’s knife will remove the rind the fastest.

After peeling the squash, trim both ends, cutting about 1/2″ off the bottom to remove the seeds. Use a large metal spoon to scrape the stringy pulp from the cavity. Cut into cubes, approximately 1″ in size.

Note: You might want to wear latex gloves while handling the butternut squash because it will stain your hands orange, and can even hurt a little!

4. In a soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, leeks, celery, ginger, jalepeno, and thyme. Season liberally with salt, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

5. Add the squash, bay leaf and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are falling apart.

6. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the bay leaf. Working in batches, puree the mixture in a blender until smooth. It’s important not to take any shortcuts during this stage to ensure that your soup has the best consistency. Work in small batches, filling the container no more than 2/3. Cover the lid with a kitchen towel to prevent splashing; then start the blender on low and move to the highest speed, again to prevent splashing. (Hot soup spattering on your arms/face is really painful. Trust me. And wiping fluorescent orange soup from your walls/ceiling sucks. Trust me, I know.) Let the blender run for a few minutes before transferring to a new, clean pot.

Some people like to use wand blenders for pureeing because they’re so convenient. DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE. Although convenient, the wands cannot puree the soup as finely as the blender, and require you to take the extra step of straining the soup through fine sieve.
7. Return the pureed soup to low heat. Stir in the cream and allow to heat through without boiling. Check the consistency of the soup – you might need to add a cup of stock if it’s too thick (You can test this by using a spoon: dip the spoon into the soup, and watch how it rolls off the back of the spoon as you lift it. If it just sticks to the back, the soup needs to be thinned until it will roll off slowly.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

8. Chopped toasted pecans make a wonderful garnish for the soup. I mean, who doesn’t like toasted nuts? Plus, they add a little texture to the now smooth-as-silk puree you’ve made.

While the soup is simmering, chop about 1/4 cup pecans. You can toast them either in the oven or on stove top. If you use the oven, spread the pecans in a small pan and toast at 300F for about 5-7 minutes. For stove top, spread the pecans in a small skillet and toast over low heat, shaking occasionally to prevent burning. Sprinkle some of the nuts over each bowl.

* Stock is best to use, but low-sodium broth can be substituted. If neither are handy, you can still use regular bullion/base/broth, but you will want to dilute it significantly with water.

Serves 6 – 8.

I like to make these for special occasions. The custard is so rich and creamy, and the recipe is so simple, that you almost feel guilty when your guests shower you with praise!

Serves 6

2 cups heavy whipping cream*

2 tablespoons sugar

3 1/2 oz. Mexican chocolate**, finely chopped

5 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

For the Caramel Crust

2 tablespoons sugar

6 4-5 oz. ramekins

1. Preheat oven to 300F

2. Heat cream and 2 tbsp sugar, but do not boil. (So don’t walk away from the stove, because cleaning burnt cream from your stove sucks.) Remove from heat.

3. Add chocolate and whisk until it is completely dissolved.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar, then slowly add in the cream mixture while whisking constantly. (Take your time here. If you pour it all in at once, you might turn those yolks into scrambled eggs. Eww.)

5. Place the ramekins in a pan (13 x 9 should work), and divide the custard into the ramekins. Pour boiling water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the ramekins. (I forgot to tell you do this earlier. Sorry. Hopefully you read this ahead of time and got that water on the stove.) Bake for 40 minutes.

6. Remove ramekins from water bath and let the custards cool. Chill 4 – 6 hours, or overnight.

7. Just before service, sprinkle the remaining sugar, covering the custards. Caramelize the sugar with your trusty culinary torch. If you want to score bonus points with your guests, do this part in front of everyone, holding the custard in one hand, and the torch in the other. You’ll look like a real badass as you set fire to the dessert.

If you don’t have a torch (and you should really invest in one or ask for one for your birthday, because they’re so handy and give you an excuse to make creme brulee more often), you can caramelize the sugar under your broiler. Put the rack as close to the heating element as possible and cook until the sugar melts. But then you’ll have to return the ramekins back to the fridge for another hour or two to set the custards.

Serve immediately.

* If you can find it, try manufacturing cream instead. It has a higher percentage of fat than heavy cream, and creates a richer custard. Check Smart & Final for cartons.

** There are two common brands of Mexican chocolate found in supermarkets: Ibarra and Abuelita. If you use the latter brand, you may want to reduce the sugar a little for the custard because it tastes a bit sweeter.

Enjoy!