Boy Am I Work-fried Tonight - Midweek Veggie Use Up Stir-fry

After work, I looked balefully at the veggie bin, which took some effort because it was hidden under glorious containers of Bolognese-sauced penne and Portuguese Caldo Verde. I bought too much kale for the Caldo Verde and the Bolognese sauce recipe only required a few celery stalks, so we were facing impending Veggie Rot Doom in a day or two. I hate Veggie Rot Doom

It would be too easy to just heat up the leftovers and plop on the couch and Go Potato. But those are good veggies, and I was craving something green that wasn't in a soup base. Due to yet another of my Amazon Marketplace order quantity mishaps, I have a few packages of soba noodles left in cupboard, down from a case of twelve. Hmmm.....Asian noodles with veggies....and....YES! Huge jars of kimchi!!!!!!

Other than the veg, the rest was pure pantry and non-perishable fridge: kimchi, sesame oil, sesame seeds, black bean garlic sauce, Tamari and rice wine vinegar.

A very fatigued Mangia to ya!

Soba Noodles with Kale, Kimchi and Kelery (tee hee)

6 oz. soba noodles, 100% buckwheat 

1 tbsp. peanut oil

2 tsp. roasted sesame oil, plus one for soba noodles

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 stalks celery, cut on the bias into 1/2" slices

3 cups coarsely chopped kale

1/2 cup chopped kimchi

1 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce

2 tbsp. Tamari

1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain in colander, then rinse noodles under cold running water. Drain well, toss with 1 tsp. sesame oil and set aside.

Heat wok or deep saute pan over high heat for a few minutes, until almost smoking. Add the oils and wait a minute. Add celery to pot and stir fry a couple of minutes. Add the kale and garlic, and continue to stir fry for a couple of minutes more. You want to leave all veg a bit crunchy. Mix the black bean sauce, Tamari and vinegar and add to pot with kimchi. Toss to combine and heat. Add sesame seeds and combine. Remove from heat.

Toss veggie mixture with soba noodles and serve.

Get Ready For The Paparazzi - It's Oscar Time! It's Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce Time!

Ah, Cardiff Seaside Market! How Colonel Mustard and I miss you! And VG Donuts. Was it only a week ago? Picked up lovely Bob's Red Mill cannellini beans and terrific pappardelle whilst there. And those donuts! And monkey bread! Extra workouts for those sins.

Sunday is Oscar Day! Neil Patrick Harris will do a great job hosting, I think. He is very talented. I much enjoyed his rendition of Sugar Daddy from Hedwig And The Angry Inch at the Tonys, although that production did a punk rock version of what was originally a more soft rock/Country-ish version.  It's a carwash, ladies and gentlemen! I'll be your Venus on a chocolate clamshell, rising from a sea of marshmallow foam. Boy can sing!

That is probably my favorite song from that quirky musical. Another favorite is Wig In A Box. On nights like this, when the world's a bit amiss...I put on some makeup, some LaVerne Baker....

Yours truly is a big fan of the golden age of musicals, and can't really abide the Andrew Lloyd Webber era, but I make a modern musical exception for Hedwig, Little Shop of Horrors and Sondheim. Love, love, love Sweeney Todd. Ok, a little pause to appreciate Hedwig:

Sugar Daddy:

Wig: At the 3:00 minute mark, sharp eyes for the yellow portable Panasonic 8 track player that is exactly what I had at that time in time! First 8 track purchase: Book of Dreams.

None of this has anything to do with Bolognese sauce. But I wanted a nice, steaming dish of meaty comfort food for the Big Night of gown watching and speech-snooozing.

Of the films nominated for the big prize, I have only seen four: The Theory of Everything, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, and The Imitation Game. I believe it's a long shot, but would love to see The Imitation Game win. TIG is now the best film the Colonel and I have seen. Ah, distant, troubled and brilliant mathematicians. Can't get enough.

Bolognese is a great, meaty sauce. I kick up this Williams Sonoma recipe by adding ground veal to the ground beef, ground pork and pancetta that lend great flavor to this classic Italian sauce. I tossed it with wide pasta noodles known as pappardelle from the Seaside Market in Cardiff. Be sure to cook the pasta until it’s just al dente in lots of salted water—tender but still a bit chewy. You won’t need all of the sauce for this dish; freeze the rest to serve again with pasta or to use in lasagna. Or just eat with your hands, standing in front of the fridge at 2 AM in the morning, which is my current post-Oscars plan. Only at an earlier time.

I served it with a simple arugula salad and garlic bread.

Mangia!

Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

Adapted from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

3/4 lb. ground beef

3/4 lb. ground pork
3/4 lb. ground veal

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup milk

2 cans whole tomatoes, passed through a

  food mill, or just crushed with your clean hands as you add them

2 bay leaves

1 Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind (think of it as cheese bones)

1 lb. pappardelle, cooked until al dente and drained

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions:

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the ground beef and pork, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the ground meats, pancetta, milk, tomatoes, bay leaves and cheese rind. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Cover partially, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves and cheese rind.

Toss the pasta with about 3 cups of the sauce (reserve the remaining sauce for another use). Sprinkle cheese on top. Serve immediately and pass additional cheese alongside. Serves 4 to 6.

Detox From The Valentine's Weekend Excesses...Sort Of - Portuguese Caldo Verde with Cannellini Beans

It's really hard to argue the dish is a detox dish when it's loaded with yummy sausage, but, hey! My dish, my rules! Picked up some nice Bob's Red Mill cannellini beans at the Cardiff Seaside Market last weekend, and thought fondly of Mel and Sheryl London, my favorite happy hippies who eat a lot of beans and grains and probably shag a lot.

This is what happy hippies who eat a lot of
beans and shag a lot look like.

This recipe is essentially a sausage, kale and potato soup. Very simple but oh so good. I modified this a bit by adding some smoked paprika, crushed red pepper and two kinds of sausage. Great on a rainy day (granted, a San Diego, 70 degree rainy day...ok, it's not really rainy. Just sort of drizzly. Close enough.) Eat with some garlic bread.

Mangia!

Portuguese Caldo Verde with Cannellini Beans

Adapted from The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean (The Happy Hippies Who Shag Often Book)

5 or 6 medium Red Potatoes (or about 1 ½ pounds), unpeeled, cut into eighths

1 large Sweet Spanish onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves; finely chopped
10 cups Chicken Stock

1/4 tsp Black Pepper; freshly ground

3/4 lb Garlic sausage such as linguica or kielbasa, cooked as directed below
3/4 lb smoked sausage, chopped
2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. smoked paprika

12 cup Trimmed and coarsely chopped kale or collards

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cup Cooked dried cannellini (1 1/2 cup dried)

3/4 tsp Salt or to taste

Preparation

Soak 1 cup beans overnight in cold water (you’ll need about 4 times the volume of water to beans) and drain and rinse, cover with tap water by 2 to 3 inches, bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 45 minutes. Drain and set aside. For a quicker method, put beans in a pot covered by hot tap water by 2 to 3 inches, bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, and remove pot from heat. Let soak for an hour, drain and rinse.

Pierce the linguica sausage, cover with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil Then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to remove excess fat. Drain, discard the water, remove casing and chunk and reserve.

In a 7-quart Dutch oven, heat the oil, add the onions, garlic, crushed red pepper and smoked paprika and stir, sautéing for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and add the potatoes, stirring, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

While potatoes cook, heat a saute pan and brown the smoked sausage. Add to reserved linguica set aside.

Crush the potatoes lightly in the pot using a potato masher. Add the shredded greens and simmer for 15 minutes more. Add the cooked beans and reserved sausage and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot. The soup can be prepared a day or 2 in advance. Like most hearty soups or stews, the flavors intensify with time.

This Is No Vin Ordinaire - Suzanne Goin's Coq Au Vin With Bacon, Potato Puree, Cipollini Onions and Wild Mushrooms

One of the reviews I read when Goin's A.O.C Cookbook came out seemed to be complaining that her recipes are several pages long and have huge numbers of ingredients. It's definitely not weekday food, but the precision of those several-page-long instructions enables the decent home cook to turn out something truly fabulous and probably quite like it turns out at her restaurants.

The precision demystifies certain steps like making bacon lardons. Most folks who aren't foodies don't know what a lardon is, despite Mario Batali making them his cause. But voilà! Lardon solved below! She includes timing steps for the important task of making sure the oil in the pan is hot enough before you add things. She's PRECISE!

I selected Coq Au Vin for February 14. I love cooking with the Colonel because I can assign the onions to him! Kitchen serf! Although he does tend to get a little fancy when it comes to place settings. I have no table linens, but have some cute kitchen towels. Oh, look who showed up? Mr. Napkin Ring.

Serve with good crusty bread to sop up the juices. Mangia!

Coq Au Vin with Bacon, Potato Purée, Cipollini Onions, and Wild Mushrooms 

from The A.O.C. Cookbook by Suzanne Goin

6 chicken legs with thighs attached

2 tbsp. thyme leaves plus 4 springs

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley plus 3 sprigs

18 cipollini onions or 3 doz. pearl onions

5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

10 oz. slab applewood smoked bacon

1 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp. tomato paste

2 cups red wine

4 cups chicken stock

1 pound wild mushrooms, torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces (Goin calls for black trumpet, but I've never seen those here, went with a selection from Ralphs and some oyster shrooms from the funky Asian fish market nearby)
2 tbsp. butter

1 recipe Potato Puree (recipe follows)

Season chicken with 1 tbsp. thyme leaves and 2 tbsp. parsley. Marinate for at least 4 hours. Bring to room temperature for about an hour before cooking. Season with S & P.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the unpeeled cipollinis into quarters and toss them with 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1/2 tbsp. thyme leaves, S & P (if using pearl onions, don't cut them). Roast n a baking sheet for about 15 minutes, cool and slip off peels. Set aside.

Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Cut two thick 2 oz. pieces of bacon from the slab and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over high heat, add 2 tbsp. olive oil and wait for it to heat, about 1 minute. Add chicken legs skin side down and cook until browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Swirl the fat around the pan every so often. You may have to do this in batches so the legs aren't crowded. (You want them browned, not steamed. Very important!) Turn the legs over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to braising dish large enough to hold the legs in one layer.

Pour off some of the fat and return the heat to medium.Add onion, carrots, celery, dried porcinis, thyme sprigs, bay leaves and the two thick pieces of bacon. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes until vegetables are lightly caramelized. Add tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes, scraping pan with a wooden spoon. Add the red wine,turn up the heat to high and reduce by half. Add stock and bring to a boil.

Pour the broth and vegetables over the chicken, scraping any of the vegetables that fell on chicken back into the liquid. The liquid should not quite cover the chicken. Tuck parsley sprigs around the chicken and cover with a tight fitting lid. Braise in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, slice the bacon into 3/8" pieces. Stack the pieces into two piles and slice them crosswise into 3/8" rectangular lardons. Heat a large saute pan and add remaining olive oil and after a minute lardons. Saute over medium heat until crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.

Check the chicken for doneness by removing the lid carefully (steam) and piercing a piece with a paring knife. Meat should give easily but not be falling off the bone. (They're going to finish a bit more in the next step, don't worry) Turn oven up to 400 degrees.

Transfer chicken to baking sheet and return to oven to brown for about 10 minutes.

Strain broth into a sauce pan, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices. If necessary, reduce the broth over medium high heat to slightly thicken it, about 5 minutes.

Return bacon in pan to high heat. Wait two minutes and add butter. When it foams, add wild mushrooms, the remaining thyme, and salt. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until mushrooms are tender. Add the onions and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until onions are a little crispy.

Spoon potato puree into bowls and top with chicken. Ladle braising juices over. Add the remaining chopped parsley to the mushroom mixture and spoon it over the tops of the bowls.

Potato Puree

1 1/2 lb. Russet potatoes
1 1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
2 sticks butter
Salt

Place the potatoes, whole and unpeeled. Add 2 tbsp. salt and fill the pot with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to low, simmering for about 45 minutes. Check for doneness because one type of potato may be done before the other.

Drain them and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Heat the cream and milk together over medium heat, do not allow to boil or scald. When heated, take off heat. Peel cooled potatoes and pass them through a food mill or ricer. (Or you could just use a sieve or just mash them finely. I don't have room for a ricer or food mill. I ranted about this in the Short Ribs post. You can just mash them if you'd prefer. No one will tell.). Put the riced potatoes in heavy pot. Heat over medium heat a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, to dry them out a little. Add the butter, stirring constantly.

When all the butter has been incorporated, slowly stir in the cream mixture until you have a smooth puree. Taste for seasoning.

The Devil Made Me Do It - Suzanne Goin's Heavenly Devil's Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks

You should smell it!

Diva Goin's food is JUST SO GOOD! Heading into the Friday stretch with a dish I have made often. Yes, like all her recipes, it's involved, but JUST SO GOOD! I never would have come up with a vermouth, thyme, chile and onion marinade, but I am convinced some of these marinades and just simply rubbing the proteins with herbs and aromatics the night before is one of the keys to the fact that her food is JUST SO GOOD!

The leeks are killer. Just be sure to give them a good bath because they are sandy with all sorts of nooks and crannies for the sand to go. And did I mention that her food is JUST SO GOOD?!?!?

Leeks, the national symbol of Wales,
just out of the oven from Round 1.

I had Colonel Sous Chef chop up a bunch of herbs (his knife skills are improving) and we made garlic herb butter. We had gone shopping earlier and came home with some new household aids, and it just felt like a garlic herb butter kind of night after that. You could do a simple salad along side, or just kill off some of that leftover bread from the night before. And waddle contentedly away from the table later. JUST SO GOOD!

Mangia!

Devil’s Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks and Dijon Mustard

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Serves 6, or more if you have the kind of guests who only would want one thigh apiece.

12 chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat

1 cup thinly sliced onion

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon thyme leaves

2 chiles de arbol, thinly sliced on the diagonal

2 fresh bay leaves, thinly sliced, or 2 dried leaves, crumbled

3/4 cup dry vermouth

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup finely diced shallots

1/2 cup dijon mustard

1 extra-large egg

2 teaspoons chopped tarragon

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 cup chicken stock

Braised leeks (recipe below)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl with the sliced onion, 2 tablespoons thyme, chiles, bay leaves, and 1/4 cup vermouth. Using your hands, toss to coat the chicken well. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Devil's Chicken, out of the oven, leeks smelling heavenly

Place the breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Heat large saute pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons butter, and cook until it’s brown and smells nutty. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the brown butter over the breadcrumbs. Wait 1 minute, and then toss well with the parsley and 1 tablespoon thyme.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Return the saute pan to medium heat for 1 minute. Swirl in the remaining tablespoons butter, and when it foams, add the shallots and remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Saute about 2 minutes, until the shallots are translucent. Add the remaining 1/2 cup vermouth and reduce by half. Transfer to a bowl and let cool a few minutes. Whisk in the mustard, egg, chopped tarragon, and a pinch of black pepper.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, to bring it to room temperature. Discard the seasonings, and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. After 15 minutes, season the thighs well on both sides with salt and pepper.

Return the same saute pan to high heat for about 2 minutes. Swirl in the olive oil, and wait 1 minute. Place the chicken thighs in the pan, skin side down, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until the skin is a deep golden brown. Turn the thighs over and cook a minute or two on the other side. Place the chicken on the braised leeks. Turn off the heat and discard the fat. Add the chicken stock to the pan, and scrape with a wooden spoon to release the crispy bits stuck to the bottom. Pour the chicken stock over the braised leeks.

Toss the chicken thighs in the bowl with the mustard mixture, slathering them completely, and then rearrange them over the braised leeks. Spoon any remaining mustard mixture over the chicken thighs. Top each thigh with breadcrumbs, patting with your hands to make sure they get nicely coated. (You want lots of mustard mixture and lots of breadcrumbs.) Bake about 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. To check for doneness, piece the meat near the bone with a paring knife; when ready, the juices from the chicken will run clear.

Turn the oven up to 475°F and cook the chicken thighs another 10 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Serve in the baking dish, or transfer to a large warm platter.

Braised Leeks

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

6 large leeks

About 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (though I always skimp and use less)

1 cup sliced shallots

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove any bruised outer layers from the leeks. Trim off to the roots, leaving the root end intact. Trim the tops of the leeks on the diagonal, leaving 2 inches of the green part attached. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, and submerge in a large bowl of cold water to clean them. Shake the leeks well to dislodge the dirt stuck inside. Let them sit a few minutes, to allow any grit inside the layers to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Repeat the process until the water is clean. Place the leeks, cut side down, on a towel and pat dry completely.

Turn the leeks over so their cut sides are facing up, and season with 2 teaspoons salt and a few grindings of black pepper.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil, and wait 1 minute. Place the leeks in the pan, cut side down, being careful not to crowd them. (you will probably need to saute them in batches or in two pans. Add more olive oil to the pan as needed, for each batch.) Sear them 4 to 5 minutes, until they are golden brown. Season the backs of the leeks with salt and pepper, and turn them over to cook another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer them to a large gratin dish, lining them up, cut sides facing up. (Choose a baking dish or gratin dish that can go from oven to table and that will accommodate all the leeks and chick thighs, or use two smaller dishes.)

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into the pan and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, until the shallots are just beginning to color. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Add 1 1/2 cups stock, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Pour the liquid over the leeks. The stock should not quite cover them; add more stock if necessary.

Braise in the oven 30 minutes, until the leeks are tender when pierced. (This always takes longer in my oven, but is less to be concerned about if you’re going to top them with the chicken, in which case they’ll have plenty of additional baking time.)

Get Shorty - Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Puree, Swiss Chard and Horseradish Cream

She's got that Ali McGraw thing going on.
And damn, her food is JUST SO GOOD!

It's an all Suzanne Goin weekend! Goin is the chef/owner of Lucques and A.O.C Wine Bar and Restaurant in LA, and of several others. Her food is JUST SO GOOD! Colonel Mustard is here for a long Valentine's Day weekend. Kitchen help! Yahoo!

I don't go all gooey over 2/14, but it does seem like things should be kicked up a notch if you're eating in.

Cooking from Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques and her new The A.O.C Cookbook. All weekend! It's JUST SO GOOD!

Half the order, ready for its thyme and
pepper nap. Well done, Mike!

Short ribs tonight. Threw Mike the Meat Manager at the Ralphs into confusion about the whole "3 bone center cut" part yesterday, but when he explained how the ribs come in (usually a 5 rib piece, which is then broken down into the more common one rib cut you see in packages in the meat department), it seemed we had a means and ways. I swung by with my cookbook to show a pic anyway just to be sure and 5 minutes later he brought out two meaty, sweetie examples. Yup, give me 4 more just like those!

The potato puree will do double duty Saturday with Coq Au Vin. Serve with some good bread and maybe some garlic herb butter, or just good extra virgin olive oil and really good balsamic.

I have promised Mike a photo.

Mangia!

http://www.lucques.com/

http://www.aocwinebar.com/

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Puree, Swiss Chard, and Horseradish Cream

Chef: Suzanne Goin

Cookbook: Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Ingredients

• 6 beef short ribs, 14 to 16 ounces each (ask for 3 bone centercut)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, and 4 whole sprigs thyme
• 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 3 dozen small pearl onions
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1/3 cup diced carrot
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1½ cups port
• 2½ cups hearty red wine
• 6 cups beef or veal stock
• 4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
• 2 bunches Swiss chard, cleaned, center ribs removed

Potato purée (recipe follows)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ pounds russet potatoes
• 1½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• Kosher salt

Horseradish cream (recipe follows)

• ¾ cup creme fraiche
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Season the short ribs with 1 tablespoon thyme and the cracked black pepper. Use your hands to coat the meat well. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Take the short ribs out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking, to come to room temperature. After 30 minutes, season them generously on all sides with salt.

When you take the ribs out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Toss the pearl onions with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon thyme, ¾ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and roast them about 15 minutes, until tender. When they have cooled, slip off the skins with your fingers and set aside. Turn the oven down to 325°F.

When it’s time to cook the short ribs, heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 3 minutes. Pour in 3 tablespoons olive oil, and wait a minute or two, until the pan is very hot and almost smoking. Place the short ribs in the pan, and sear until they are nicely browned on all three meaty sides. Depending on the size of your pan, you might have to sear the meat in batches. Do not crowd the meat or get lazy or rushed at this step; it will take at least 15 minutes. When the ribs are nicely browned, transfer them to a braising pan. They should lie flat, bones standing up, in one layer.

Turn the heat down to medium, and add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the crusty bits in the pan. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables just begin to caramelize. Add the balsamic vinegar, port, and red wine. Turn the heat up to high, and reduce the liquid by half.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Pour the liquid over the short ribs, scraping any vegetables that have fallen on the ribs back into the liquid. The stock mixture should almost cover the ribs. Tuck the parsley sprigs in and around the meat. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and a tight-fitting lid if you have one. Braise in the oven for about 3 hours.

To check the meat for doneness, remove the lid and foil, being careful of the escaping steam, and pierce a short rib with a paring knife. When the meat is done, it will yield easily to a knife. Taste a piece if you are not sure.

Let the ribs rest 10 minutes in their juices, and then transfer them to a baking sheet.

Turn the oven up to 400°F.

Place the short ribs in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, to brown.

Strain the broth into a saucepan, pressing down on the vegetables with a ladle to extract all the juices. Skim the fat from the sauce and, if the broth seems thin, reduce it over medium-high heat to thicken slightly. Taste for seasoning.

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Tear the Swiss chard into large pieces. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to the pan, and stir in the cooked pearl onions. Add half the Swiss chard, and cook a minute or two, stirring the greens in the oil to help them wilt. Add a splash of water and the second half of the greens. Season with a heaping a teaspoon salt and a pinch of ground black pepper. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently, until the greens are tender.

Place the Swiss chard on a large warm platter, and arrange the short ribs on top. Spoon lots of braising juices over the ribs. Serve the hot potato purée and horseradish cream on the side.

Potato Puree:

Place the potatoes, whole and unpeeled, in a large sauce pot. Add 2 tablespoons salt and fill the pot with cold water. Bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat, turn down the heat to low, and simmer about 45 minutes, until tender. One type of potato may be done before the other, so check doneness and remove one variety first, if necessary.

(Ok, the rest of this is how Goin does it, and it's perfect. Except that I don't have a ricer or a food mill,  although I could use a sieve, and I just like my potatoes a little chunky and with skins included, so I did basically mashed potatoes with remaining ingredients. But if you feel like puree, c'est la vie)

When the potatoes are cooked through, strain them, and set them aside to cool for 10 minutes or so. Heat the cream and milk together in a small saucepan, then turn off the heat. When the potatoes have cooled, peel them and pass them through a food mill or potato ricer. Put the riced potatoes in a heavy-bottomed pan. Heat them over medium heat a few minutes, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, to dry them out a little. Add the butter slowly, stirring constantly. Season with 2½ teaspoons salt.

When all the butter has been incorporated, slowly stir in the warm cream mixture until you have a smooth purée. Taste for seasoning. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh tamis twice if you like.

Horseradish Cream:

Combine the crème fraîche and horseradish in a small bowl. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Taste for balance and seasoning.

Now When I Eat, Well Don't Think I'm A Nut, Don't Want No Fancy Brunch Dish, Just One Like Old King Tut's

He could'da won a Grammy, buried in his jammies....King Tut. Good old Steve Martin.

Lovin' over the oven!

Shakshuka, or Shakshouka, is a staple of Egyptian, Tunisian, Libyan, Algerian and Moroccan cuisine, and is very popular in Israel. For this weekend, it proves a very tasty way to help use up the abundance of Israeli tri-color pearl couscous on hand, a result of yet another mis-read of the quantity in an Amazon Marketplace order. I seem to make that mistake a lot. Hmm.

I keep throwing myself into peals of hysterical giggles over the name of the  dish. It sounds like the character of Sarah Palin in Game Change trying to learn to pronounce Mikheil Saakasvili's last name.

A cranberry mimosa sounds lovely right about now.

Mangia!

Saffron Shakshuka

Yahoo Food 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, peeled and minced

2 red peppers, cored, seeded, and rough chopped

1 – 2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped

6 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced

1/4 cup canned green chilies

1 quart whole, peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon spicy Hungarian paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (less if using a very salty feta)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed

5 threads saffron

Splash rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup goat’s milk feta (look, I don't know if what I used was from a goat. I got over it quickly.)

1/4 cup minced parsley

2 tablespoons minced chives

6 eggs

Yum!

Heat a large 3 or 4 quart skillet with 2 inch deep sides over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and
when hot, the onions. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the red pepper and poblano; continue to sauté for 4 minutes or so. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Next, stir in the canned chilies and the tomatoes and juice, crushing each whole tomato with your hand as you go. Stir in the salt, pepper, and spices. Bring mixture up to a gentle boil, and then turn heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the rice wine vinegar, feta, parsley, and chives. Check salt levels and adjust as needed.

Edge heat up to medium-low. Working one at a time, crack each egg into a small bowl, and then transfer the egg to the shakshuka by dipping it into the stew and giving it a careful tip. Repeat for each egg. Cover and allow eggs to poach for 6 – 8 minutes –– just until the whites have set up.

To serve, ladle into a bowl or spoon shakshuka over a grain, polenta, or rice. Garnish with a pinch of fresh herbs, a dash of paprika, and a sprinkle of feta.

Give Me Kimchi, Or Give Me....Kimchi with Smashed Potatoes and Savory Chicken!

This gal is all about pickles. In every, every form. Okra pickles? The hotter, the better! Turnip pickles at the Indian restaurant? More please! Israeli pickles from the Mediterranean market? Oh, yeah!

But then there is Kimchi. I still remember trying it for the first time at a local Korean BBQ joint decades ago. Love at first bite. Since then, I use it a lot. Bibimbap, of course, and as a relish along with Asian food, but in very pedestrian ways too. Like with scrambled eggs.

I have to go to the funky Asian fish market for Kimchi. Occasionally, I find it at Ralphs, but that's not reliable. I swung by there yesterday and picked up two big jars. I was in line FOREVER behind two elderly Korean ladies. They were eyeing me for some time and finally one of them smiles and asks if I like Kimchi. They giggled. I said I LOVE KIMCHI!!!!!! I put it in everything, even eggs. She said, yes, Kimchi omelet! That's how you do it! And translated for her friend. I then saw their gaze turn from mildly amused to respectful. Kimchi Cousins! Although when the lady said her companion made very good Kimchi, they edged slightly further away from me when I asked for her address.

Wow. Need to make Bibimbap. Soon.

But for now, a lovely, delicious offering of chicken thighs simply prepared and served with smashed potatoes mixed with Kimchi and greens. This is adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe. The only difference is I chose to wilt the greens slightly before adding them.

Mangia!

Roast Chicken and Kimchi Smashed Potatoes

Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fingerling or baby Yukon Gold potatoes

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

4 large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

2 garlic cloves, grated

1 16-ounce jar Napa cabbage kimchi, drained, 1/4 cup liquid reserved

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

4 cups trimmed bitter greens (such as mustard, mizuna, or arugula) ((I went with dandelion greens. The store was out of mustard greens))

Preheat oven to 450°. Toss potatoes and 1 tablespoon oil on a large rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, until browned in spots, 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub chicken with garlic and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken skin side down until golden brown and crisp, 8-10 minutes.

Arrange chicken skin side up on baking sheet among potatoes. Roast until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes longer.

Using a large spoon, lightly smash potatoes. Scatter kimchi over; roast until kimchi is warm, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk reserved kimchi liquid, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons oil in a small bowl.

Scatter greens over, drizzle with half of dressing, and toss gently. Divide among plates and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Spicy Spanish Chicken with Raisins and Olives - ­ ¡Olé!

Look at that showoff-y Spanish punctuation in the post title! Five years of education in a foreign language hasn't gone completely to waste! Kind of. Sort of. Not really.

For this dish, we turn to that world-renown Spanish cuisine expert: Rachel Ray. Nawwwww! Just pulling tu pierna. It is from Rachel Ray, and true to her trademark, if you have your prep act reasonably together, you can do it in 30 minutes.

It's a simple saute basically, with a bold flavor profile with complex layers, with sausage, smoked paprika, sweet raisins and salty, briny olives. I've made it frequently over the years.

The other RR dish I turn to again and again is Steak Pizziola with the Works. Beefy, pepperoni-y, mushroom-and-bell-peppery goodness! Promise to do that soon.

I served this with a simple salad of radicchio and Italian parsley leaves, tossed with a lemon vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan.

Mangia!


Spicy Spanish Chicken with Raisins and Olives
Adapted from Rachel Ray

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2" pieces (her recipe calls out for chicken breasts, but thighs are more chicken-y)
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
S and P
1 lb. andouille sausage, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
Good sized pinch crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1/2 cup dry sherry (Harvey's Bristol Cream: it's downright upright)
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup sliced green olives with pimientos
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp. olive oil. Season the chicken with S and P and 1/2 of the thyme. Brown the chicken and cook until almost cooked through (they'll finish with the rest of the dish at the end. Transfer to bowl. Add remaining oil, onion, sausage, celery, red pepper and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes or so until onions and celery are tender. Add sherry and cook until pan is nearly dry.

Add the stock, raisins, and remaining thyme. Add chicken after a couple of minutes and cook until only about 1/2 cup of liquid is left, about 3 or 4 more minutes. Add the olives, parsley and lemon juice and toss to combine.