Posole

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Sunday Dinner – 4 March 2018

PosoleSeveral years ago, my friend Christopher was kind enough to send me his recipe for posole, a hearty stew of hominy and pork loin that originally comes to us from the Aztecs. I experimented with it some and finally arrived at a version that maximizes authentic flavor while paring down prep time and kitchen cleanup somewhat. There’s no doubt that Chris’ original, which creates the red sauce base from stock and powdered chilies, gives you a better opportunity to control the heat and flavor. I think it would also be interesting to slake my own maiz blanco at some point. But this version does quite nicely. In fact, when we sampled the authentic posole at our parish Día de la Independencia festival a couple years ago, Claudia commented that it tasted nearly identical to mine.

We started this Sunday morning with  2 pounds of boneless pork loin that she was kind enough to cut into cubes. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, and browned it awhile in a skillet.Then it went into the bottom of the crock pot and got covered with a large can of enchilada sauce. Next I added a couple of small chopped onions, four or five cloves of minced garlic, two teaspoons of oregano, three large drained cans of hominy, and one small can of chopped green chilis.

Some folks also like to add cayenne, but I’m cooking for some older folks whose constitutions prefer we leave it out. It turned out plenty spicy anyway. I used some chicken stock to deglaze the sauté pan and added it to the crock to make sure everything was swimming in liquid. I also seasoned with just a little salt and cracked black pepper.

After cooking on high for three or four hours, we checked for doneness and to adjust spices. The stew meat was tender, but the broth was pretty spicy, so we added another can of hominy, including its liquid. Part of the thing about this dish is the interaction of the starch from the corn and the fat from the pork creating a silky gravy consistency, so the canning liquid doesn’t hurt. I also added another teaspoon of oregano. We let it finish cooking for a total of 6 hours on high in the crock.

We had shredded cabbage, cilantro, (queso fresco for Claudia) and fresh limes to squeeze on top. We also served tomato wedges, green onions, avocado slices, and tortillas on the side.

There’s really not a single thing I’d change about this recipe. It’s rich, tasty comfort food that ought to find its way into everyone’s home.

We served Sayanca Malbec with this meal, which was decent and paired nicely, especially considering that it’s dirt cheap from Aldi’s. Micheladas would also have been a good choice. 🙂

Mrs. Noe mixed up a batch of her awesome Mexican Brownies for dessert, using coffee as the liquid, espresso chocolate chips, plus a little bit of cinnamon and cayenne for the kick.

Here’s what you’ll need to make the posole.

2 LBS Boneless Pork Loin, Cubed – or Chop Suey Meat
1 Large Onion
4 Cloves Garlic
4 (29 oz) Cans Maize Blanco
1 (28 oz) Can Enchilada Sauce
1 Small Can Chopped Green Chilis
2 t Dried Oregano
S & P To Taste

Brown the meat, add everything to a large crockpot and cook on high for 6 hours.

Serve with tortillas, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, sliced radishes, avocado, chopped onions, etc.

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Paella

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Sunday Dinner – 25 February 2018

paellaSanta brought me a paella pan for Christmas this year, and we’d been waiting for decent weather to give it a try. Although it’s still fairly cold here (in the mid 40s) the forecast for Sunday was clear so we figured it was as good a time as any. I seasoned the pan well on Saturday in anticipation.

I worked from another BTE recipe.

The broth started with a sauté of five cloves of pressed garlic in a little olive oil. After a minute or so, I added 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and a teaspoon and a half of paprika. Once that started to thicken and darken, in went a bottle of clam juice, 2/3 cup of sherry and 4 cups of chicken broth to boil for a bit.

Claudia had picked up some boneless and skinless chicken thighs from Aldi. They got seasoned with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper, and then grilled for about 7 minutes, and reserved.

Next, I got the pan good and hot on the Weber Genesis (all three main burners on high) and sautéed a chopped onion in a little olive oil. Then came a jar of roasted red peppers. After five or ten minutes, it was time to add the rice. There was no Bomba or Arborrio to be found here, so I used a medium grain rice from the Hispanic foods aisle at Jewel, pouring three cups over the onions and peppers, then mixing things together well, coating the rice with oil, and spreading it out evenly over the pan. The chicken pieces went around the perimeter, and the juices from the plate, plus the broth, went on top. Dollops of chorizo went on as well, and this cooked, with the grill cover down and the burners on medium, for maybe 15 minutes.

We used shrimp that had already been cooked, so they were added late in the process, along with a bag of frozen peas. I’d coated the shrimp with olive oil and seasoned with paprika, garlic, pepper and salt. From this point on, it was really just a matter of rotating the pan a quarter turn every five minutes or so to make sure things cooked evenly. Toward the end, I scraped a spoonful or two from the edge to check for seasoning and doneness.

We covered the pan with foil to rest a bit at table while enjoying a nice tossed salad, some toasted baguette slices, thin slices of Manchego cheese, olives and some small grilled red and yellow peppers that had been tossed with sherry and olive oil.

Claudia’s parents and Aunt Pat joined us again this week. Pat had eaten paella once while traveling with her daughter in Spain, and hadn’t been impressed, but she loved this batch. I honestly think that it was beginner’s luck that it turned out at all. My guess is that the main trick is to not stir the rice once you’ve added the cooking liquid. All of the ingredients were done properly, and there was a good socarrat on the bottom of the pan, which, similar to Persian tadig, is a hallmark of the dish.

We enjoyed the last bottle of Cariñena Garnacha that was in the cellar, with Pandora’s Flamenco channel streaming all afternoon to help the mood.

Claudia tried her hand at flan for the very first time as well, and it was exceptional. She used this recipe from The Spruce adding chocolate dipped espresso beans for garnish.

This meal is definitely a keeper. The only things I might change would be to use more onion, maybe add some whole garlic cloves, and perhaps add some clams (and more chorizo) to the paella. I didn’t keep precise notes on timing, so I hope we’ll be able to replicate the dish this summer. It would easily serve a dozen or more, so a party may be in order.

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Honey Garlic Chicken

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Sunday Dinner – 18 February 2018

Honey Garlic ChickenThis week we were attending a performance of The Hunchback of Notre Dame by our local theater group, so crock pot cookery was indicated. Claudia made Honey Garlic Chicken with potatoes, a side of steamed broccoli, a green salad and a nice apple crisp for dessert. We’ll eventually link to the full recipe, but for now I’ll just say that this was a meal worthy of Jim Harrison, in that it had 12 cloves of garlic in it.

We love cooking in the crock, and not just for the convenience. Although it may seem like a modern contrivance, cooking a variety of ingredients together at a low simmer for hours is a time honored technique that predates Rival by thousands of years. Whether fireside, on the hearth, on the range or in the oven, some of humankind’s very favorite meals are slow cooked in a closed pot.

The gravy for this dish, which used the strained drippings from the pot as the base, was absolutely delicious.

We drank a very nice Lodi Verdelho from Ana Diogo-Draper with this meal. The label says “fruit driven, well balanced, concentrated and bold.” All true. It stood up well to the deeply flavorful funkiness of the main dish.

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Valentine’s Day 2018 – Penne Alla Vodka

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Penne alla VodkaOur Valentine’s Day celebration came a day late this year, since Claudia was out of town for work on the 14th. I wanted to make something special to welcome her home.

I had prepared  Penne alla Vodka once before, and it had turned out badly, the typically clumsy boozy and hot mess that gave the dish a bad reputation. This time around, I used a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, and was determined to get it right.

Improvising a bit, instead of canned whole tomatoes, I used diced, blending up half of them to help form the clingy sauce. Otherwise I followed the recipe down to the last detail, and it yielded the promised results, sweet, tangy, spicy and creamy.

Since the BTE link above is behind a paywall, you can check out the recipe at Urban Drivel.

At first I was thinking about a simple green salad for the side dish, but did a little research and decided on Italian Peas with Mushrooms. I let this cook just a bit too long, but otherwise it was savory and delicious.

Claudia is the baker in our household. She’s an ace with cookies and confections of all sorts, and I rarely bake (other than simple boules and Irish Soda Bread). But I did try these 4 ingredient Red Velvet Cookies last year for Valentine’s Day and they turned out well, so I made them again this year. They will probably make an annual appearance just for novelty’s sake.

We drank our “house red” (Bota Nighthawk Black), which was a fine accompaniment, although a dry Chianti might have been even better.

We’ll definitely keep these dishes in our repertoire.

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New Food Project: Our Favorite Meals

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For several years now, Claudia and I have treated Sunday Dinner as an opportunity to experiment with regional cuisines from around the world, update retro classics, or simply revisit favorite family recipes. It’s an occasion to gather around the table with her parents (and, lately, Aunt Pat as well), enjoy some unique dishes and maybe try out some new wines. Friendly games of cribbage often follow dessert.

Certain meals have become traditions for particular seasons or dates on the calendar (Jambalaya for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, Saurbraten in October, etc.).

So, we’ve decided to start doing a little better job of remembering these memorable meals. We’ll be blogging photos, notes and links to recipes here, at least from time to time. Eventually we hope it will serve as our own personal cookbook of favorites.

Here’s some quick catching up for 2018 so far.

January 7th: Johnny Marzetti

I used a recipe from the Wall Street Journal for this. The wine was a Lodi cuvee, Sharon Weeks Cattoo Red.

January 14th: Salsiccia con Peperoni and Pasta

I grilled some mild Italian sausages along with onions and red bell peppers on the Weber Genesis to go with some rotini pasta and a mixed greens salad. Wine was F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Zinfandel.

January 21st: Big Night Timpano!

This is a dish that had intrigued me for years before I had the nerve to actually make it. The recipe comes from Cucina & Famiglia (from the Tucci Family). After preparing this several times now, I finally have it down. Claudia made a nice salad and antipasto platter to go along, and we drank a bottle of perhaps my favorite Italian wine Nespolino Sangiovese Rubicone from 2014.

January 28th: Burns Night Supper

Our annual feast of crock pot faux Haggis, Cock-a-leekie soup, and Cranachan. The wine was an elegant and classy David Akiyoshi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. But the star of the show was some Oban single malt Scotch. 🙂

February 4th: Greek Fest!

When we were in Steubenville, Ohio for the annual Dean Martin Festival years ago, it coincided with the Holy Trinity Church Greek Festival. We had Spanakopita and Moussaka for the very first time. Claudia found recipes and has since perfected them. I’ll post links or recipes once I find them. We drank a nice, inexpensive Spanish Garnacha from Volteo with this meal.

February 11th: Mardi Gras

This is another meal that Claudia prepares each year, including Jambalaya and bread pudding with Bourbon sauce. Recipes to come. We drank our last bottle of Chateuneuf du Pape, a 2012 Le Prince de Courthezon.

More To Come

That’s it for now. More to come as the year unfolds.

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Cedar Planked Salmon

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sunday-dinner-salmon-potatoes-asparagus

This week for Sunday Dinner we made the most of some beautiful CSA produce from Gray Farms.

I roasted some white and purple potatoes, and Mrs. Noe made a lovely vinaigrette with lots of incredibly delicious and pungent fresh basil. She made a nice green salad and I roasted asparagus and cooked salmon on cedar planks.

My process for potatoes on the grill is to cut them into relatively even sized pieces and soak them in water for awhile. After draining, into a bowl they go with a drizzle of olive oil plus some salt and pepper, and then into the microwave for about five minutes. At that point they’re ready for the heated plancha on the Genesis. This consistently turns out lovely potatoes – crunchy on the surface and creamy on the inside.

The asparagus simply roasted on a grill pan with oil and seasoning for twenty minutes or so.

I’d soaked two cedar planks for several hours, then got them starting right over the burners while the asparagus was cooking. When the planks started smoking and popping, they were turned over and the salmon placed on the scorched surface. We seasoned with dill, salt and pepper. They were done in under fifteen minutes.

cedar-planked-salmon-on-the-grill

We don’t have this meal often enough.

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Quiche!

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For a simple and delicious dish it’s hard to beat the classic French custard tart. Last weekend’s Wall Street Journal had an article about Quiche, and I didn’t wait long to make one.

Since this was a quick meal on a Tuesday evening, I used a frozen pie crust, and cooked it in the oven, but I hope to make my own pastry dough and bake one in the Weber Genesis soon.

We opted for Quiche Florentine instead of the more standard Quiche Lorraine, thinking that the spinach would be a bit more healthy than bacon. I chopped up a couple cups of fresh spinach and put them in the bottom of the crust, shredded a cup of Emmental Swiss on top, and then poured the custard mixture over it. Since I didn’t have whole milk, I used three eggs and 1 1/4 cups of skim, plus a little salt, pepper, Herbs de Provence and fresh grated nutmeg. It baked at 375 F for about 40 minutes. It turned out a little watery from the skim milk, so I’d definitely use whole next time and adjust the proportions to 2 eggs and 1 1/2 cup of the milk, which is how Julia Child’s recipe goes.

It was tasty, none the less. We served it with a mixed spring greens salad and a nice glass of Spanish Rosé, the perfect rustic and elemental meal for a summer weeknight.

Calling a dish “Florentine” or “à la Florentine” dates back to 16th Century France, by the way. Catherine de Médicis, from Florence, married the French Dauphine (heir to the throne), Henri. She brought her own cooks with her, and they brought spinach seeds, which had not been grown in France prior to their arrival. So “in the style of Florence” means “with spinach.”

The folks at WSJ Off Duty also made this podcast episode about Quiche which I thought was fun.

Make America quiche again.

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Jack Daniels Pork Chops With Apples

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This week for Sunday Dinner I cooked Jamie Purviance’s recipe for pork chops and apples with whiskey and mustard glaze. I increased the glaze recipe by half, since we were serving five instead of four.

The tarragon added to finish the apples is something I would not have thought to do, and it was delicious.

I also made Hasselback Potatoes at my wife’s request, which is one of our favorite sides.

hasselback-potatoes

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Farsi Chicken and Balal Corn

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Once upon a time, many years ago, I met a crazy man who gave me a great chicken recipe.

Richard had a Master’s Degree in English Literature, but had gone to work as an insurance agent. He was assigned to my employer’s accounts, so he sold me a life policy. He seemed perfectly normal. When we met for lunch so I could sign some papers, I casually mentioned that I was camping on the coming weekend, and foolishly mentioned the name of the campground.

That Friday evening, we were just lighting the campfire when he pulled into camp on a little Kawasaki 400, which he referred to as “the road iron.” He proceeded to drink heavily, eventually passing out in a lawn chair near the fire, but not before reciting long passages out of The Canterbury Tales from memory. Friends who arrived during the recitation were initially terrified, thinking that glossolalia had taken hold of him.

In any case, at some point he described this chicken recipe that became one of my favorites for the grill. First, the chicken pieces marinate in lemon juice for an hour or so, then they go into plain yoghurt overnight. When it’s time to cook, you wipe of the yoghurt, season simply with salt and pepper, and then grill as usual. This method produces tender, juicy chicken like no other I’ve ever tasted. It was my foolproof, go-to recipe for a decade or so, and everyone always loved it.

When my wife and I were first dating, I was so confident in the recipe that I bragged almost incessantly about it. “Some time I’ll have to grill the Farsi Chicken for you. It’s incredible. You’ll love it.” Unfortunately, after building up her expectations for weeks or months, when I finally cooked it for her I burned the chicken so badly that we may as well have just eaten the charcoal. I didn’t grill chicken of any sort for a long time afterwards, thinking that I was under some sort of jinx. The jinx was mysteriously broken when I learned to use a timer.

So for Sunday Dinner this week I made the Farsi Chicken again. Initially I looked for other Persian recipes as sides, settling on Balal corn and Tahdig rice. As it turned out, I decided that the rice was too much too attempt without a test run, and opted for another (non-Persian) rice recipe with savory mushrooms.

We also had some fennel from the CSA, and Claudia made an incredible salad with it and some mandarin oranges.

I still want to try the Tahdig at some point, and also the Persian method of dipping the roasting ears in salt water after grilling. We’d love to learn more about Persian cuisine in general too.

Before the meal I tipped my glass to Richard. I lost track of him long ago, but still imagine him burning up the backroads on the road iron, regaling and terrifying friends and strangers with recitations in Middle English and recipes from far off lands.

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Ribs for Fathers Day 2016

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plated-ribs-fathers-day-2016For Fathers Day this year I did another long cook. Our Jewel store had St. Louis Cut Spareribs on sale two racks for the price of one, so ribs it was.

I started the Weber Kettle early in the day, setting it up with ten unlit coals on each side of a foil pan filled about halfway with water. I added four or five lit coals to each side, along with some apple and hickory chunks. One bottom vent was wide open, one completely closed and one open about halfway. Top vent was wide open as well.

Once the temperature stabilized at around 250 F, I put the slabs on a rib rack over the drip pan. I’d seasoned them the night before with my usual rub recipe. From then on it was a matter of monitoring the temperature and spraying the ribs each hour with a mist of apple juice, cider vinegar and coffee. After three hours, I wrapped them in foil and moved them to the Genesis to finish.

kettle-smokingThere’s something magical and Zen-like about a long cook. The smell of the smoke and the sight of it wafting over the patio is an experience unto itself. It’s satisfying to know that you’ve acquired the skill necessary to maintain an even temperature over several hours of cooking, and the other fairly specific skills needed to turn out a perfect plate of ribs. The pace of the cook affords time for relaxation and proper anticipation of the delicious meal to come.

We’re in the Gray Farms CSA this year, and one of the cool things about it is that we get a lot of produce that we likely wouldn’t think to try otherwise. It’s like this lovely surprise package every week. This week, we had both turnips and collards, which neither of us had ever cooked before. We diced the turnips and roasted them on the plancha, and the collards we cooked in a Lodge cast iron Dutch Oven on the Genesis. I cooked up some onions and garlic in the pot for starters, then added the collards, a dried cayenne, some stock and a couple of smoked ham hocks and let them simmer for a long time.

These turned out really delicious and they’re something we’d definitely make again.

I also melted some Brie on a cedar plank with a little blackberry jam drizzled over the top for an appetizer.

It’s always a pleasure to cook for the folks on Sunday, but it was especially fun to do a full day of cooking for my wife’s dad on Fathers Day. Since my own father passed away when I was very young, I feel especially grateful to have a wonderful father-in-law in my life, and appreciate every chance we have to spend time with him.

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