New York Times Polenta with Mushrooms

So I'm on a listserve for the New York Times Cooking column which means I routinely receive great photos for yummy looking food in my inbox. Like polenta with mushrooms. This recipe, although tasty enough, served to confirm the fact that polenta is not for me. It's corn mush in my books, basically because it's made of corn and it's mushy. Give me some sauteed mushrooms on toast any day.

Ingredients:

•          1 ¾ cups polenta or cornmeal
•          4 tablespoons unsalted butter, or to taste
•          1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, or to taste
•          ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
•          5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pats, divided
•          1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
•          8 ounces fresh mushrooms, wild or cultivated, sliced thin
•          1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
•          1 tablespoon soy sauce
•          1 tablespoon heavy cream
•          1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
•          Freshly ground black pepper

·     Methods: 

       Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover them with about 1/2 cup boiling water. Allow to steep for 20 minutes. Remove the rehydrated mushrooms, pat dry, then chop roughly. Reserve the mushroom stock.

       Make the polenta as per the directions on the package of cornmeal you have purchased. The NYTimes instructions were overly complex in my view. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan. Taste for seasoning. 

       Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan set over high heat until it has melted. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to sizzle without letting it brown. Add the fresh and reconstituted mushrooms and thyme to the pan, and sauté 3 to 4 minutes, turning until browned. Add about 1/4 cup of the mushroom stock to deglaze the surface, using a wooden spoon to scrape at the browned bits. Allow the stock to reduce by half, then turn the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, along with the soy sauce, cream and olive oil. Allow the  mixture to cook until it thickens a little. Taste for seasoning, adding black pepper, if desired. Put the polenta in a warmed bowl, then top with mushrooms and the sauce. Serve immediately

Chicken Marbella

Given it was mere days ago that I toured the picturesque Andalusian town of Marbella located on Spain's Costa del Sol, I thought it a perfect time to recycle this recipe. The version you see here is from the Silver Palate cookbook. This recipe generously feeds 10 to 12 but can easily be divided to make smaller amounts. Olé! 

Ingredients:

• 4 chickens, 2 ½ pounds each, quartered (or just a bunch of thighs)

• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic (to taste), peeled and finely pureed

• 1/8 cup of dried oregano

• ½ cup red wine vinegar

• ½ cup olive oil

• ½ cup pitted Spanish green olives

• ½ cup capers with a bit of juice

• 6 bay leaves

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup white wine

• ¼ cup Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

• 1 cup pitted prunes or dried apricots or ½ cup of both (dried mangoes are also an option)

• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Methods:
In a large bowl combine the chicken, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, olives, dried fruit, capers and bay leaves. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350º F. and arrange the chicken in a large shallow roasting pan in a single layer. Sprinkle chicken evenly with brown sugar and pour the white wine into the pan. Baste frequently during the baking process, which will take 50 – 60 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear from the thigh of the chicken when pierced with the end of a sharp knife. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, using a slotted spoon to capture the olives, capers and fruit to place on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley. The remaining juices can be placed in a sauce boat or pitcher. I served this dish with rice but couscous would be equally appropriate. Also good served at room temperature.

This recipe uses breasts and thighs. However, my sister-in-law uses smaller bite-sized pieces of chicken to make this meal easier to eat at a party where people may be dining while standing.

Roasted Baby Root Vegetables

This 'salad' is a slight variation of a recipe in Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Basically, I left out the quinoa that she put in. By the way, it was the first time I had tried roasting radishes....and hey, they're not just for raw veggie trays anymore.



I served this dish at room temperature but suspect it is equally good if served warm or cold.



Ingredients:

• 3 small shallots
• olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 pounds of mixed root vegetables ( I use baby turnips, radishes, potatoes and carrots)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus more for finishing
• 2 big pinches of coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• pepper

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the shallots and separate the cloves. Place the shallots in a square of aluminum foil, coat with olive oil, then wrap the foil around the cloves to create a packet and place it in the oven.

Arrange the rest of the vegetables in one layer on a baking sheet and coat them with olive oil. Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables into the oven with the packet of shallots and roast until tender and slightly caramelized. (Perhaps 30 minutes). 

Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside. Toss the cooked shallots into a blender along with the sherry and balsamic vinegars, and salt and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then spoon the vinaigrette over the vegetables. I finished the dish before serving with some drops of reduced balsamic vinegar. 

Sausage, spinach and parsley risotto

Sam Sifton of the New York Times  proposed this risotto as a good workday meal in the Cooking section of his esteemed paper. He suggested kale for the greenstuff, which I have revised to spinach. So, this was tasty. Not as tasty as my lemon risotto, but tasty nonetheless.

 Ingredients:

•         1 ½ pounds sweet or hot Italian sausage

•         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

•          ½ teaspoon kosher salt

•          Freshly ground black pepper to taste

•         5 to 6 cups chicken stock, ideally homemade

•          1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

•         1 large onion, peeled and diced

•          1 ½ cups Arborio rice

•          ½ cup dry white wine

•          ½ cup packed and roughly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

•         ½ of 1 lemon

•          2 cups baby spinach or kale leaves

•          ½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves

Methods:

After removing the skin of the sausages, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and saute it for about 10 minutes in a large heavy skillet in the olive oil. Remove the sausage from the pan, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. 

Pour the stock into a medium saucepan or pot, and bring it to a low simmer. While the stock heats, return the skillet to medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter foams, add the diced onion, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and translucent. Add the rice, and stir until it's well coated. Stir until translucent, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

Raise the heat under the rice to medium, and add the wine to the skillet. Stir until wine is absorbed, then reduce the heat slightly. Begin adding ladles full of hot broth to the rice, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook the rice until it is tender but slightly chewy, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. If additional liquid is needed, you can use boiling water. 

Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the cheese, sausage and baby spinach. Squeeze the lemon over the rice, and then mound the risotto on a large, warmed bowl. Scatter the parsley over the top, and serve immediately, with more grated Parmesan on the side.

Cabin Fever Frittata

Every February for the past many decades an antique show by the name of Cabin Fever rolls into town. After the feverish first few hours of the show, my husband and several friends manage to tear themselves away to break for brunch.

Frittata is a useful item for a brunch menu given it doesn't have to be served as soon as it is cooked, and in my experience, people (like my husband) are often late for brunch. The basic recipe of onion, eggs and milk can be modified in any number of ways by adding pretty much anything that appeals to you. For example, various shredded cheeses, diced fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cooked potatoes, cooked asparagus, cooked sausage, or fried bacon. The list of potential ingredients is endless.

Although the frittata is quick and easy to make, I was serving a number of items at brunch and so was getting a head start on food prep the night before the antique show. As such, I washed and sliced the leeks into small discs, covered the bowl, placed it in the fridge and went to bed. I left my husband's supper warming in the oven since he was eating late. When asked the next morning how he enjoyed his meal, he said it was lovely although he found the salad a bit odd and one dimensional. Since I had not made him a salad, I had no idea what he had consumed. His description of a bowlful of "green round things" did not clarify the matter. 

As it turns out my previous night's food prep had been for nought, since my husband had eaten the bowlful of raw leeks the night before. Apparently, with poppy seed dressing.

 Basic Frittata Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs

• 1/2 cup milk

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup of diced onions 

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

My Frittata Customization:
I used 10 eggs and slightly more milk. Used sauteed leeks rather than onions. My flavour additions were 140 grams of smoked Coho salmon, 130 grams of chevre, and about a quarter cups of chopped fresh dill weed.

Methods: 
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
In a 10-inch heatproof skillet (I used my trusty cast iron pan), saute the diced onion in the oil over a medium heat. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl (don't over whisk), then add the milk, salt and pepper. Stir the salmon, cheese and dill into the egg mixture, our into the ovenproof skillet, and cook on the stove for about 5 minutes until the edges of the frittata start to pull away from the pan. Place the frittata in the oven and cook for another 18 minutes, or until set. It can be eaten warm or at room temperature.

Gigot de Sept Heures... Yep, that's seven hour lamb

I've forgotten in which publication I found this recipe but I do know that its author is a fellow by the name of David McMillan. No one will ever accuse you of under cooking this lamb. A very tasty one-pot wonder.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups dry navy beans

• one 5 to 6 pound lamb leg

• 4 cloves garlic, 2 of which are sliced

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt

• pepper to taste

• 3 onions sliced

• 5 carrots cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 ribs of celery cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 bay leaves

• approximately 2 cups water

• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place the dry beans in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife cut slits in the lamb leg and insert the pieces of sliced garlic (2 cloves). Combine the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl and rub the resultant paste all over the lamb leg.

Place the remaining 2 garlic cloves and the vegetables in a roasting pan that is just larger than the leg. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves and about 1 cup of water to the pan. Place the leg of lamb on the vegetables and roast for 1 hour at 375 degrees F.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 280 degrees F. Drain the beans and add them to the bottom of the pan along with the tomato paste and return everything to the oven. Continue roasting for another 6 hours or so, checking to make sure the bottom of the pan does not dry out. Add water in half cup increments as necessary.  About halfway through the roasting, grasp the leg by its bone and flip it to ensure even browning. Continue roasting until the lamb is deeply browned on all sides and the beans are tender.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

This  is a slow-baked Italian breakfast cake that uses olive oil rather than butter as the fat. This cake has been described as "unctuous". That's a good thing.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup of sugar

• 3/4 of a cup of plain yogurt (not low-fat)

• finely grated zest of 3 lemons

•  3/4 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9-inch spring-form pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. In another larger bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick (5 minutes). Add yogurt and lemon zest and beat to combine. Add the oil in a steady stream to the mixture using a medium speed on your beater. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients until they are all incorporated into the batter. Pour the batter into the oiled pan and bake for 40-45 minutes on the middle rack of your oven, or until the centre of the cake 'springs back' when touched. Let cool completely on a rack before serving.


The cake does not require icing, however if  you would prefer to have an iced cake, this is the way to do it.....

Melt a 1/4 cup of butter. Add a 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the butter. With a hand held blender, add 4 cups of icing sugar to the lemon/butter mixture. Blend until smooth.

Really Retro - Creamed Salmon and Peas

I frequently make this dish at the cottage, a place at which I revert to making a lot of unusual dishes due either to lack of key ingredients, or a dearth of required tools. Don't get me wrong, the cottage  kitchen contains lots of gadgets, many more than I have in my own home kitchen in fact; it's just that many of them look like ancient instruments of torture.

My mother used to make creamed salmon and peas. Despite being old-fashioned, it's a very easy-to-make, very comforting form of comfort food. You'll note that I used a puff pastry base, which turned out totally weirdly because I didn't have a rolling pin to roll the pastry properly, but the salmon and peas are equally good when served on toast. My mother used to butter slices of crustless white bread and jam them into muffin tins, then toast these in the oven until they formed crispy 'cups' used to hold the creamy mixture. I would have done the same had I had anything other than whole wheat soda bread available to me. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of high quality salmon, drained 
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• about 1 and 1/2 cups of milk
• about a cup of frozen peas
• 4 pieces of puff pastry baked, or pre-made vol-au-vent shells, or buttered toast, or toast 'cups'

Methods:
Open the tin of salmon , drain it and place the contents in a bowl or on a board to remove any dark bits of skin or large bones. Chunk the salmon into large pieces. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the flour, stirring the flour into the butter with a whisk to make a roux. Cook the roux for several minutes stirring constantly, then add the salt , pepper,  and 1 cup of milk and stir over a medium-low heat until a sauce is formed. You have just made Béchamel sauce, BTW. 

The sauce is likely to be very thick, so continue to add milk in small quantities while stirring until the sauce is at your preferred consistency. Traditionally, one might heat the milk before adding it, but I never do and it always works. Add the peas to the sauce and stir until they have warmed through, then add the chunks of salmon, again stirring gently until the salmon is also warm. Check the seasoning and adjust as you wish. Place two pieces of toast (or whatever base you have chosen to use) on a plate and spoon on the creamed salmon and peas. This recipe serves two generously (or should I say comfortably). 

It's a roux.

The source of the salmon

Flank Steak Tacos

This is my take on a recipe for seared salmon tacos that I ripped out of the May 2015 edition of REALSIMPLE while at my hairdresser's. I'm not totally uncouth by the way, I did ask for permission before removing it from the magazine. 

So last night I served my husband half a seared flank steak and decided to keep the other half for these tacos. They had a nice crunch and were tasty, not spectacular, but definitely crunchy and tasty. Lunchworthy.   

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar

• leftover (rare) flank steak sliced thinly (about 12 ounces)

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (Sriracha is fine, and seemingly very trendy, but any hot sauce will do)

• 2 baby cucumbers sliced

• 1/4 cup sliced scallions

• 1/2 cup of raw julienned carrots

• a small amount of red cabbage finely sliced

• 6 small corn tortillas, warmed

Methods:
Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place in a 250 degree F. oven until warmed through. Alternatively, you can warm each tortilla individually in a skillet on the stove. Combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl. Pour half the dressing over the already cooked and sliced steak. Reserve the remaining dressing. Then combine the mayonnaise and hot sauce in a small bowl. Quickly re-heat the leftover steak in a non-stick skillet. Divide the steak, carrots, scallions and sliced cucumber and cabbage between the warmed tortillas. Spoon on as much of the spicy mayo as you prefer and drizzle with a smidge of the reserved dressing (or not). Then roll 'em up and serve. 

Tortillas ready to pop in the oven. They appear to be floating over the countertop towards the oven....that's what happens in my magical kitchen.
 

Now lunchworthy

Sylvia's Veggie Curry with Garlic Naan and Raita

My sister Sylvia is a masterful cook who creates recipes almost daily. I'm not sure why I'm the food blogger. The following is her version of veggie curry.

I: Ingredients for the Vegetable Curry:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

• 1 stalk celery, finely sliced

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp curry powder and 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp dried chili flakes

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size florets

• 2 more green vegetables of your choice, about 1 cup each, diced

• 1 large can diced tomatoes, do not drain

• 2 cups vegetable stock

• 1 cup red lentils

• 1 can chickpeas, drained

• 1 can full fat canned coconut milk

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

• Juice of one lime

• Salt and pepper

Methods:
Saute the onion, carrot and celery in coconut oil for 2-3 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add sweet potato, curry and chili flakes, then saute for another minute. Add the cauliflower, diced green vegetables, tomatoes, red lentils, chickpeas and broth. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. If using baby spinach as one of the green vegetables, add it at very end of cooking time since it takes nanoseconds to cook. Stir in the coconut milk and add salt and ground pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and let the curry stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and parsley.  Serve over basmati rice in warmed bowls with the raita (Indian yogurt dip) you made yourself, garlic naan bread and mango chutney. Then pat yourselves on the back.

II: Ingredients for the Raita:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt

• 1 cup shredded and drained cucumber

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

• fresh mint chopped or a teaspoon of Indian mint chutney

Methods: 
Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until use.

III: Ingredients for the Garlic Naan:

• 3 cups flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp yeast

• 2 tsp sugar

• 1/2 cup warm water (or more if you need it) 

• 1/2 cup pressed yogurt ( labneh)

• 2 tbsp melted butter

• 1 large cove garlic, grated

Methods: 

Mix together the water, sugar and yeast in a medium-sized bowl. Let stand 5 minutes until bubbly. Stir in the yogurt, melted butter and garlic. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, pour in the yogurt mixture  and stir well to form a soft dough. Knead 200 times (about 10 minutes), then place the dough in a warm spot, oiled and covered with damp tea towel. Allow the dough to rest for at least 1 hour until it is doubled in size. Then punch it down in the bowl. You can allow a second rise  and punch down if you wish. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll out into small oval discs. Pull gently to elongate each disc. Heat a large nonstick frying pan on the stove, then place the  naan in the hot pan for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles form in the dough. Turn over and cook about 2 minutes more. Crunchy dark spots on the naan are acceptable. Aim for crispy on outside, soft on inside. Brush with butter and keep warm in the oven until use. 

Make your own labneh (pressed yogurt) by placing a sieve lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Tie up the ends of the cheesecloth and let the yogurt drain overnight in the fridge. The next day you have a cheesecloth bag full of labneh.

Aggression Cookies

When I was a teenager, my sisters and I came upon a special recipe for very buttery oatmeal cookies. We thought it was hilariously funny that they were called aggression cookies, presumably because the dough is mixed together with your hands and you thereby release all of your pent-up aggression. Not sure why I found that so amusing. What can I say, it was a more innocent time of life. This recipe is drawn from my sister Sylvia's memory, which is better than mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups of softened butter

• 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar (half white sugar and half brown)

• 1 & 1/2 cups of flour

• 3 cups of oatmeal, or more if the dough is too sticky 

Cookies in progress....first as balls, then as flattened discs

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cover your baking sheets with parchment paper.  Dump the cookie ingredients together in a large bowl and get mixing with your hands. Feel the tension flow from your shoulders into the bowl. Hopefully, you won't get all tense again when you realize what a mess you've created. Anyway, roll walnut-sized cookies and space them a couple of inches apart on your baking sheets. Using the dampened bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, flatten each cookie somewhat. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking racks. These buttery cookies are delicate, so handle them carefully after baking.