Food Pilgrimage

I love a good food party. There are a number of approaches: the first is the carefully planned, elegant dinner party. The second is the social/finger-food party. This second type is really good if you pick your food right. Crepes are good for this, as you can just have a bunch of fillings, like cheese, caramelized onions, veggies, chocolate, etc, and everyone can just go crazy. Taco parties can be similarly fun.

The final type of food party is the one I like most, but requires some like minded friends to be the most enjoyable. This is the food-pilgrimage. You go on a quest to find divine inspiration in the holy grounds of the farmers market, or the health foods store, the local cheese shop, or anywhere where people care passionately about the food they are selling. You go without premonition or preconception about what you are going to cook, the journey will tell you.

Today I went on a pilgramage with my flatmate Gabe, and we headed to the Ferney-Voltaire farmers market, and the local cheese shop. We bought the following: blood oranges, avocadoes, herloom tomatos, pasta with black truffle, local asparagus, chicken, and fresh bread. Some nice looking pears for a tart too. Oh and the cheese... We got some gruyer that I think we will use for a black trumpet mushroom cream sauce to serve with the chicken, asperegus and pasta. But then just as a treat, we also got a raw milk brie ripened with truffles inside! And a delicious blue cheese blue de le something or rather (Bleu d'Auvergne). It was creamy smooth and the right amount spicy/pungent, like a good stilton.

So we had a wonderful lunch of the fruit, bread and cheese, and coffee. Tonight we will feast! The last step of the food pilgrimage often involves figuring out how to cook everything, but I feel up to the challenge. I'm going to go for a run now, just to prepare my appetite, but I will let you all know how it goes!

Smoked ginger-wasabi pork and stuffed yellow peppers

Ah, the weather is warm and that means it's grilling season! Tonight's meal: smoked pork cutlets and stuffed pepper (also smoked).

I started with three smallish, thin pork cutlets. First, I rubbed some ginger-wasabi spice mix/meat rub onto the cutlets. If you don't happen to have access to a World Market, a mix of the following will probably cut it pretty close:

-mustard powder
-brown sugar
-salt
-garlic powder
-ginger
-pepper
-wasabi powder

After the rub had been applied, I stuck the cutlets in a plastic bag and drizzled a teaspoon or two each of white wine vinegar, olive oil, and maple syrup and mooshed the bag around a little before sealing and setting aside.

For the pepper stuffing, I started with about 2 inches of old baguette, sliced into 1-cm cubes (yeah, yeah, mixed units, I know). Then, I added some dried herbs (sage, savory, and rosemary) and onion powder plus salt, black pepper, and some red pepper flakes. As a binder, I used a a mixture of melted butter, melted cream cheese, and milk. After stirring it up, it didn't seem quite wet enough, so I added a splash of vinegar and white wine, which I think made the whole thing come together nicely (some egg probably would have been suitable here as well, but I didn't have one on hand). After soaking for a half-hour or so, into the hollowed-out yellow pepper it went!

I fired up the grill using some hardwood charcoal and a packet of smoke pellets. Both the pepper and the porks went onto the upper rack so as not to get too much direct cooking, as I was going for the slower smoke treatment. I let it cook for about half an hour with the top vent on the grill closed so as to trap the smoke in the cooking chamber. The end result was smoke-darkened but still juicy pork, and a deliciously browned stuffed pepper!

Sauerkraut Hotdish

Hey folks, it's been a while since anyone updated, so I thought I'd share a quick and easy recipe that's been a staple of my family for years: sauerkraut hotdish. Now, anyone who's not from the North Star State may not be familiar with the term hotdish. No, it doesn't have anything to do with a sizzling platter, it's just our way of saying casserole.

I'm not sure how popular casseroles are outside of the upper midwest, but back at the homestead, they're everywhere! So much so that my home ec class in high school had an entire unit on making them, where I learned the four parts of a casser- erm, hotdish. Of course, that was 12 or so years ago, so I forget exactly what the parts are, but I do know beyond a doubt that there's four of them! Probably something like:

-starch (rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.)
-binder (cheese, cream of X soup, sauce, etc.)
-meat
-vegetable

The typical way to make a hotdish is to blend the four parts together, add an optional topping (bread crumbs, cheese, etc.) and bake for about an hour. As you can see, the possibilities are pretty much limitless as far as experimentation goes.

Anyway, sauerkraut hotdish is wonderfully simple, consisting of:

-1 package wide egg (or eggless) noodles (10-16 oz, I think)
-1 lb sausage of your choice
-1 8 oz can sauerkraut
-black pepper to taste

Boil the pasta, cook the sausage (if necessary), then combine it all together! If the pasta has gotten cold you can reheat it on the stove or in the oven.

Now, I realize that this may not academically qualify as a hotdish (no binder, no baking, and sauerkraut kind of stretches the limit of the term vegetable), but I don't care. That's just what it's called, and anyone who disagrees with me can go make me a ham sandwich! If you're really hankering for a saucy hotdish, I suppose a light cream or cheese sauce can't do any harm.

Traditionally, the sausage used was homemade by my dad and his brothers -- it was a loose (no casing) ground-pork-based sausage with some mild seasonings and plenty of liquid smoke. In lieu of the good stuff, you can use I think pretty much any sausage you want. Most recently I used kielbasa, and it turned out great. Oh, and don't let the sauerkraut scare you off -- the rest of the dish dilutes the strong flavors that turn most people off of it. If you're still worried, try starting with 4 oz and adding more if necessary.

An Italian in Asia

So, I've been told that you can't have pasta everyday! Blasphemy, I know, but we'll humor them. Today's recipe is an Asian inspired stir fry, with a colorful mixture of vegetables and some delicious beef on the side. I served it over some rice, but Asian noodles could be substituted if desired.

So, lets get started:
RICE:

• 1 cup rice
• 3-4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 cups water (just under the 2 c line, actually)

Put the vinegar and oil in the pan, add the rice and stir it around. Heat it on medium high heat for ~1 minute, then add the water. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let it cook until most of the water is absorbed. (It should still be steaming, but you shouldn't see any liquid bubbling around, and the rice will appear moist.)

VEGGIES

• Vegetable Oil
• Toasted Sesame Oil
• 3 Cloves Garlic - Crushed
  
• 2/3 small onion (the rest of the onion will be used later)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp dried basil leaves
• 2/3 lb Chopped asparagus
  
• 1 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 2 handfuls frozen green beans
• 1 large handful frozen mixed chopped peppers
• Soy Sauce
• Rice Vinegar
• Sesame Seeds
• Sriracha, cayenne pepper, and black pepper to taste

1) In a large sauce pan, saute the garlic, onion, and basil in the mixture of oils (~3:1 vegetable:sesame).
2) Once the onion is translucent, add the vegetables and saute in the mixture.
3) Add enough soy sauce to almost cover the veggies.
4) Add in a few splashes of rice vinegar, the sesame seeds, Sriracha and peppers.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

BEEF

• Vegetable and sesame oil
  
• 1 medium piece of steak, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic - crushed
• the rest of the onion from previously
• 1-2 tsp. ground ginger
• Soy Sauce
• Rice Vinegar
• Sesame Seeds
• Sriracha

1) In the mixture of oils, saute the garlic, onion, sesame seeds and ginger.
2) Make sure the oil is really hot, and add the steak.
3) Once the steak has browned, add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha
4) Boil until the sauce has thickened.

And that's it! Take a deep breath and serve the veggies and beef over the rice. Enjoy!

Weekend sauces

One of my most common culinary experimentations is whipping up some sauce to put on sandwiches. The other night, we were having salmon burgers (breaded, frozen -- basically a fancier Filet'o'Fish). I wanted to zip things up a little, so I whipped up a creamy mustard-dill sauce to put on it:

some mayo
dried mustard (a generous amount)
a pinch of saffron threads, crushed
dried dill
black pepper
a few drops (or more) of lemon juice
a touch of horseradish
salt (optional)

I thought it added the perfect complement to the sandwich, especially with the arugula, tomato and yellow bell pepper slices that were also added. My wife declined to have any, as she doesn't care for horseradish (I thought I could sneak it by her, but her heightened sensory perceptions were far too sharp to allow that!). But I'm sure she would have agreed, right honey?

Also this weekend, I was let in on the recipe for the Heins family super-secret Easter ham sauce. Now, it's well-known in my family that the big secret behind the secret sauce is that there is, in fact, no standard recipe, but I wasn't really aware of the exact ingredients until yesterday. So at the risk of being left out of the collective wills of my relatives, here's the low-down:

Throw a glug or two of corn syrup into a sauce pan. Add some brown sugar and/or maple syrup and heat on low, stirring until dissolved. Add your favorite mustard a couple of squirts (or spoonfuls) at a time until the sweet-sour ratio is to your liking. Dry mustard and a dash of white wine vinegar can be used in a pinch. If you want, a sprinkle of cloves or nutmeg finishes the sauce nicely.

Chili or Why France Needs More Heat...

So I made chili last weekend with friends. I love chili, I like to serve it with cheese and tortilla chips (and sometimes with guac too, as you can see). The chili was very tasty, but not hot enough, the green chilis they have here are not like those used in southwest (nor south-asian) cooking... se la vie. On the bright side, in France I can enjoy my chili with a nice Cote de Rhone for about 1/4 of what one would spend in the states. Its not a bad pairing either, as you need something round and full to stand up to the chili.

Here is my preferred chili method:

Saute (or roast) peppers and onions in olive oil, with some whole cumin seeds. Add spices and garlic when the peppers and onions are a bit charred/browned. Add canned chopped tomatoes (with all the liquid) and a bit of rice. Cooking it this way makes the rice soak up the tomato and spices. Then add the canned beans, simmer for a few more minutes and I usually season to taste with salt, cider vinegar and molasses. I don't usually use much molasses (or vinegar), but it adds a special flavor. The chilis and spices are key. Poblanos or Anaheim peppers are both peppers that are not too spicy, like a more delicious bell pepper, if you can find them. Once again dried ancho pepper is sweet and a bit smokey, and mild. Habaneros are super spice, but are also delicious, with a tropical citrus flavor. These are my three favorite peppers.

Trifecta Chili

2 - 8 oz cans black beans

2 - 8 oz cans tomatoes

1/2 cup rice

1 large onion

1 red bell pepper

1-2 poblano peppers (or 1 green bell pepper and 1 small hot pepper)

1 habanero (seed unless your mouth is made of asbestos)

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons canola or olive oil

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

2 tablespoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons ancho pepper (or chili powder)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

soy sauce, cider vinegar, and molasses to taste

Pine Nut Caution

The risotto from a few days ago seems to have given me a mild case of Pine Mouth, where everything I eat has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Looking around at some blog comments, it seems like there's been a spate of complaints recently about the pine nuts from Trader Joe's, which is where I bought mine.

The cause hasn't been determined yet, but it doesn't appear to be related to pesticides or contaminants, and the effect seems to disappear after a few days. Not everyone is affected, either -- my wife ate the risotto and is doing fine. It seems to stem from certain strains of nuts that come from China or Korea, so I'm definitely sticking with nuts with European origins in the future.