What's cooking?

Tonight it is chili I that I saw in Penzey's Christmas catalog. It sounds interesting as it has good lean stew meat, honey, cinnamon, lots of bell peppers and ginger as part of the ingredients list. It is almost done and is excellent and different, with a bit of tweaking from me; such as using red, yellow and green bells, and the addition of Hatch Chili peppers. It was interesting when I was putting it together and added the wide array of spices, then the honey. The honey just seemed to explode the odors of the spices. Serving with an olive oil, rosemary french bread round.

I'm putting together another recipe from the cookbook I'm working through. Interesting but easy. Get some flank steak and a head of cauliflower. Coat the flank steak with berbere -- an Ethiopian spice that I learned about in a Moroccan cookbook. A tablespoon per pound, more or less. Fry the steak just until browned. Then put into a slow cooker. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Mix in some minced garlic and salt and dump in on top of the beef. Close it up and "roast" for about 5 hours on high or until the meat is tender. This stuff is smelling great -- berbere is actually a mixture of spices, and I can see why Mourad appropriated it from the Ethiopian repertoire.

I'm putting together another recipe from the cookbook I'm working through. Interesting but easy. Get some flank steak and a head of cauliflower. Coat the flank steak with berbere -- an Ethiopian spice that I learned about in a Moroccan cookbook. A tablespoon per pound, more or less. Fry the steak just until browned. Then put into a slow cooker. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Mix in some minced garlic and salt and dump in on top of the beef. Close it up and "roast" for about 5 hours on high or until the meat is tender. This stuff is smelling great -- berbere is actually a mixture of spices, and I can see why Mourad appropriated it from the Ethiopian repertoire.

This does sound great...let us know how the cauliflower holds up after the long cook time on high.

[Jenise]

No, good guess though. We're at Washington State University at Pullman, Washington, which is at the Idaho border about 100 miles south of Spokane.

Karen, the bad news is that the cauliflower got awfully soft. The good news is that it functions as a really delicious sauce, and I think that was the intention when they wrote the recipe. I am planning to make this again and I won't skimp on the cauliflower next time. We had a really big head but we are planning to make cauliflower kookoo for a Persian dinner with friends tomorrow night so I used less than half of the cauliflower. The soft spicy cauliflower (with lemon zest stirred in, don't think I said that) and a little extra berbere sprinkled on top, was a perfect foil to the meat. We also served everything with rice FWIW.

[Robin Garr]

Brussels sprouts incognito, "hiding in plain sight" by being shredded and stir-fried in butter and olive oil with onions and garlic, finished with a squirt of lemon juice and a garnish of chopped walnuts.

I love Brussels Sprouts made this way!

[Robin Garr]

I love Brussels Sprouts made this way!

It's like they're a whole new vegetable! Most important, the thin shreds cook evenly (and very fast). The one thing I usually don't like about B Sprouts cooked whole is that it's not easy - maybe not truly possible - to get the inside and outside all cooked just right. I know about cutting a deep X into the stem end, or even halfing them and cutting out the core, but I still like this approach. It doesn't take too long - I wasn't paying attention to the time, but I'm sure it didn't take more than 5 to 10 minutes, tops, to shred a whole pound.

Heinz, that first dish looks like two great ideas that should be two separate dishes. Would love the chicken with something like a fried rice or snow pea stir fry, and would love the pasta with sauteed shrimp, maybe with an chili element, but the combination seems a bit forced.

I had the thai dish "noodles with chicken and shrimps in mind" as I put together the ingredients for that dish. I thought it's not very unusual to combine meat and crawfish because there are well known dishes like "chicken Marengo" and "surf'n turf",

Heinz are you a professional chef? Your dishes are always so beautiful and look absolutely delicious!

No I'm not, cooking is just my hobby. Thank you for your kind comment.

Frank, did you find actual berbere somewhere? We made an Ethiopian lamb stew from a Food & Wine recipe that called for it, but couldn't find it. However, the people at Penzey's said their new mix, Peri Peri, was a substitute for berbere. It certainly added some kick to the stew.

I'm putting together another recipe from the cookbook I'm working through. Interesting but easy. Get some flank steak and a head of cauliflower. Coat the flank steak with berbere -- an Ethiopian spice that I learned about in a Moroccan cookbook. A tablespoon per pound, more or less. Fry the steak just until browned. Then put into a slow cooker. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Mix in some minced garlic and salt and dump in on top of the beef. Close it up and "roast" for about 5 hours on high or until the meat is tender. This stuff is smelling great -- berbere is actually a mixture of spices, and I can see why Mourad appropriated it from the Ethiopian repertoire.

Mike, my bottle of Berbere says it is from Zamouri Spices, and I think I got it via Amazon. Because Berbere is a blend of other spices, you can also find recipes around the web -- in my Mourad (Moroccan) cookbook there is a recipe for it. The problem is that you use entire tablespoons at a time, so it goes fast. Thanks for the tip that Peri Peri is similar.

Dinner this past Saturday was sambar and iddli.

Sunday dinner was Sichuan crispy beef threads with celery, carrot, and scallion.

-Paul W.

Tonight it is grilled ahi tuna, rubbed with evoo, a little chili powder, salt and pepper, then sliced. I'm sautéing red and gold bell peppers, sweet red onions, and garlic slivers. All this will go into some Mexican Bolillo rolls. For a side, I am making Robin's shredded Brussels Sprouts without the nuts, and onion; but adding the fresh lemon juice and a tiny bit of heavy cream (because I have it and need to use it
Right now I am using a lot of colorful bell peppers because they are so sweet and add lots of color to my food. All the color shows up nicely in my pictures.

[Jenise]

Hey, I've actually got food on the stove in my little home away from home! Have been dieting while away since I'm alone and disinclined to do much for myself beyond making salads, but I've found myself craving stuff like fried chicken late in the day because of what I believe is a protein craving. So today I have a pot of chicken stewing on the stove. It's one of my favorite foods on the planet, and its something I'll get up and snack on cold in the mornings. Doesn't take much to sate my hunger and I won't get the afternoon cravings I've been having. Sure smells good in here!

It was "clean the fridge" night at my house, and I invented a Mexican cabbage soup that we both loved. I knew I had to use up about a quarter head of cabbage -- so I sliced up an onion, a leek, a long carrot, some celery, and softened them in olive oil. I added 2 minced Jalapeño peppers (all of this stuff was just on hand) and some cilantro, and cooked the mix some more. Then added a can of chicken broth and the chopped cabbage. Oh, before everything, I cut 4 inches of Kielbasa into coins and browned them in the pan. So I re-added the Kielbasa coins to the cabbage step. Then just simmered until the cabbage cooked down.

Because I had put in Jalapeños, when I tasted it it made me think "Mexican" so I added some roasted cumin, a touch of oregano, some hot paprika, and finally a dash of chili powder. Frankly it was just delicious.

As a first course -- we had some lovely cooked Haricots, slender green beans, and I had a recipe for minted green beans with pine nuts. So I toasted some pine nuts and chopped some mint leaves, and used the zest and juice from half a lemon with some olive oil, and mixed everything together in a kind of salad. Very nice...

We have some good looking rib-eyes from a local ranch, which will be grilled and served with a big potato (which we share) sautéed mushrooms and a green salad with tomatoes from the Farmer's Market (yes, they still have tomatoes) blue cheese, green onions with a walnut vinaigrette.

NJ made some sourdough popovers to accompany dinner last nite. A fun change from the usual starch.

Pot roast tonight. Smells so good... and takes so long.

Jeff,
I don't think you necessarily want raw garlic in your mashed potatoes -- go for the roasted garlic. Rosted garlic is how I use up the garlic that looks as if it's about to sprout. I just cut off the tops, pour on a little olive oil, wrap in tin foil and roast in a very hot oven for about 40 minutes. The thing is, I usually always have it on hand. I squeeze it into a jar, cover with olive oil and a sprinkle of cracked pepper. When it's time to make garlic mashed potatoes, that jar is waiting for me in the fridge. I just scoop out a heaping tablespoon or so, olive oil and all, and whirl it all together with lots of butter and any cream needed for desired consistency. The flavor is unmistakably garlicky! Roasted garlic keeps well in olive oil at refrigerated temperatures. Hope you give that a try next time.

Thanks very much, Jo Ann. I like the wrap-in-foil approach and I agree that the flavor will be good.

My hesitancy with roasted garlic is that the recipe I know calls for trimming the base, then setting the head in a bit of broth in a loaf pan or some other smallish pan and baking it for a solid hour. Your way sounds much easier and, as it doesn't really take up much shelf space, can be cooked in an oven with other things.

While pot-roasting I did two heads. Smells so good. Now I just need an excuse -- really, any excuse at all -- to put garlic in something.

Thanks again, Jo Ann!

[Robin Garr]

Roasted veggie dinner with pumpkin, potatoes, onions nd fresh sage plus some chunks of LightLife Smart Sausages Smoked Style.

Pork lo mein.

-Paul W.

I'm putting together a bone-in loin pork chop (4) dish. Chops are browned (when I feel like it) topped with poultry seasoning, coarse sea salt and gr. pepper, then topped with thick slices of onion, and bell peppers, I like to use all colors. These are put into a 9x13 dish and you fill in the spaces with 3/4 cup of rice. Two cans of tomato sauce are mixed with 1 cup of red wine and this is poured over everything, put foil tightly over the dish and bake in the oven. Very tasty. This is being served with a cranberry, pecan salad, with mixed greens, and a dressing of shallot, garlic, soy, balsamic, apple cider vinegar, and evoo. Everything is mixed except for the evoo. The shallots and garlic are give time to marinate and the oil is mixed in prior to serving. Home made applesauce is also nice served on the side. We like it very cold.

[Jenise]

Last night was my first night cooking at home in over a month. Boy did it feel good to be back! Dinner was a salad of frisee tossed with a fresh raw pickled of jerusalem artichoke and garlic, olive oil and vinegar, followed by garlic-studded roast monkfish tiled over a pan sauce made from roma tomatoes, shallots, fennel, and herbs d'Provence with Israeli couscous cooked in chicken broth with a lot of black pepper on the side, all flavors built to showcase a really splendid 2005 Cotes du Rhone. Anyone who claims that red wine doesn't go with fish hasn't eaten a dish like this.