recipe: green rice with mahi mahi

There is actually a reason I did not name this arroz verde… it is because, if I were going to do this as a true verde sauce, in my mind, should probably include some tomitillios, of which this recipe does not include (see my chili verde recipe). It is closer to perhaps a riz vert insomuch as it is built on a base of the color green and is rice based in a Delta cooking style. This version includes steaming the mahi mahi over the top of the cooking the rice. The fish (as well as some of the other ingreds) are interchangeable, as usual, but this was truly inspired by the fact that there were all these pretty colors of green in my fridge to draw from along with the fresh fish I picked up. I have fresh made veggie stock at home that has this great deep green brown color that came from some really nice veggies I had and has a brilliant flavor to help set the base flavors (being it was born out of them), but a fish stock or broth might work well too. I am not a huge okra fan, but it adds to the green, and it helps give the rice a nice, thick, sticky consistency. These are always the best reasons to invent new dishes and always my faves in the way they come out.

Poblano pepper
green bell pepper
yellow onion
garlic
jalapeno pepper
celery
okra
chicory
collard greens
brown rice
cilantro
mahi mahi
fresh cracked pepper (black and white corns if possible) and / or house seasoning
stock pot
veggie stock
butter

Chop all three pepper types, garlic, celery, onion and okra
Combine the veggies in the stock pot over low heat and sweat to combine flavors
While the flavors meld, coarsly chop the cilantro, collard, chicory (and/or other dark leafy greens)
Add a bit of butter to the pot and add the rice. All the rice to become translucent
Add stock to the rice, typically about a 2:1 ration, bring to a boil and back down to a low simmer.
Season with pepper, house seasonings.
Season both sides of the fish filets with house seasoning
Allow the rice to cook 15-20 minutes then add the chopped greens to the pot and mix.
Once the greens are integrated with the rice place the fish filets on top of the rice.
Add any additional liquid necessary at this point, cover and allow the filets to cook through and the rice to finish cooking until it is completely tender.
Remember, the rice should have a sticky and thick consistency around it, it should not be dry and separated.

I serve with a leaf or two of the greens on the play, with the rice then piled partly over and the fillet of fish offset on the rice, maybe a leaf or two of cilantro for good measure.

recipe: tea soup

I am home sick today, complete with the migraine, fever, body aches, congestion, the whole nine. The old adage about curing a cold with chicken soup I cannot attest to, but I do know that cooking does make me feel better. I took a look in the cupboard and decided to throw together this recipe that included a bunch of those home remedy ideas.

tea bags (i used both chai spiced black tea & English breakfast tea)
water
onion
bell pepper
celery
cilantro
garlic
ginger
flour
oil
ground cayenne pepper
kale (or other dark leafy green)
snap pea pods
mushroom (i used shitakke)
teryiaki sauce (or soy sauce)
lime juice
stock pot

Combine the flour and oil in the stock pot and begin a roux over low heat, allow it to darken to at a brick color.
Finely dice the onion, bell pepper and celery (reserve the celery leaves), garlic and if you are using fresh ginger that as well.
Add the diced veggies to the stock pot and allow them to soften over low heat until the onions become translucent, do not induce browning and allow the flavors to fully meld to form the base.
Add the water and stir the roux into it. Add the tea bags. Bring the water up to a boil and down to a simmer to allow the roux to begin to thicken the water and start the steeping process for the tea.
Season with the cayenne pepper if you want a little extra depth to the flavor of the soup, but do not over season as it’s not supposed to be spicy.
Chop the kale, cut the snap pea pods to bite size if they are large pods, julienne the mushrooms.
Allow the mixture to simmer about 10 minutes.
Add a 3:1 ratio of the teryiaki sauce and lime juice.
Add the rest of the veggies and allow them to cook until tender, introducing the dark greens first and working backwards to the mushrooms.
Finish with the chopped celery leaves and the cilantro.

recipe: tomato veggie chili

Ok, so there is a very Suburban Traditional version of the chili recipe that’s probably been floating around since the 50s. It is tomato based and I’m sure it probably came out of McCall’s or some similar magazine for aspiring non-regional cooks to spice up Friday night so it wasn’t always about meatloaf. Now, despite not being a native, I’ve read up on it enough to know that tomato chili is not authentic, plus I’ve been enough times to the Southwest to tasted the difference between the tomato, beef and bean version from a chili pepper flesh version.

However, that’s not to say, you cannot marry the old school of chili based in chili peppers and chili that is steep in the tomato regime, which is what this very vegetarian version seeks to do. Funny enough, the original Mexican chili recipes from what I understand were veggie stews anyhow, so the concept itself isn’t that far off. However, one could very easily make this using ground meat like my mom always did… perhaps another recipe for another time. This uses the pre-packaged veggie crumble available in most freezer sections, but hand chopped veggie burgers can work as a substitute. The tomatoes are the canned, diced kind, fresh can work too, if you have them available (I didn’t, sorry not Jersey Tomato season yet), either way, you have to get the liquids out, but for some reason canned actually works better because the skins are less prominent I think.

onion
bell pepper
celery
garlic
chipolte peppers
tomato (pressed, but hold the liquids too)
tomato paste
veggie crumble
dark red kidney beans
stock (mostly veggie, but beef, or perhaps pork can work too)
house seasoning
cumin
chili powder
dried rosemary
bay leaf
dried cilantro
stock pot

Finely dice the onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery and place in a stock pot over low heat
Sweat the veggies over low heat allowing their flavors to meld, season with the house season (it should contain some salt, if not add sea salt to aid in the sweating) keep stirring so nothing burns
Once the veggies are thoroughly sweat and just beginning to brown add the pressed chopped tomato and the diced chipolte, re-season with the house seasoning
Continue to work the mixture over low heat to continue melding the flavors, and keep stirring so nothing burns and add the dried rosemary and the bay leaf
Add the tomato juices and stock in equal parts (do not make over wet) and season with the chili power, cumin and house seasoning
Allow to simmer over low heat to let the flavors meld
Add the tomato paste (and adobo from the chipolte as necessary) After 20-30 minutes (minimum) or as the existing liquid has reduced by half add the kidney beans and cilantro after the mixture
Continue to simmer adding stock as necessary through the rest of the cooking process, re-season with house seasoning and/or chilli power as necessary

After it is fully simmered serve, the longer the better, short version could be as little as 30-40 minutes, long version 3-6 hours. For me today, I served it over huge dollop of grits with some chopped collards. Grits, you say! Yes, grits. Ok, a little irregular, or so seemingly, but trust me, it’s a great experience on this type of chili, I love chili’s served on unique tables, my rojo is over a corn bread, so since this is a veg dish this seemed like a tasty idea.

recipe: gumbo aux charise et okra

Cajun (Canadian outcasts from Acadia in the 1800s) and creole (the combination of French and Iberian and African descents) is as much a part of the American landscape of food as many of our traditional “other” dishes and influenced our cooking well beyond what most people understand or comprehend, yet often overlooked. Often thought as a niche style, these prolly laid more into what most dishes are and especially in Italian-American or German-American recipes that the original Italian or Germanic origins were when made here, and yet are oft’ written off because of heritage and idealism. The cajuns flight from no’reastern Canada redefined North American culture, and is NEVER taught, and by the time they settled in their Louisiana home they not only affected and effected culture, it is now almost impossible to define how they redefined original cooking styles than even some of their drawing sociological functions…

Ask me in a month about gumbo aux herbes… maybe, if i get enough prodding i’ll do that lentil version… for tonight though.. the French bouillabaisse divided among the Iberian trinity with local fish (the only way to REALLY do any dish) there’s no reason to really get all stupid about the idea. Speaking of Iberian, I was able to procure some wondeful fresh charise (chorizo sausage) and as one might do with andouile, I decided the fresh pork flavor was too good to not include (actually it was the inspiration…)

This is a quick, and dirty no’eners version of the concept, yeah, I know, but I am just that, a Jersey kid, and in the true form, I am cooking it at the concept of it’s devise, not by they creation of what restaurants are trying to give you, maybe this is more to the concept that helps you enjoy what i’ve always loved… i know there is tradition (and argument) about thickeners, it is winter and i’m going to use okra (backwards as I’m sure I will be told), but it is what I have and, of course, being good at making great roux for all other dishes that’s the true foundation of the stew…

flour
butter
onion
bell pepper
celery
garlic
okra
charise (chorizo sausage)
pork shoulder
chili powder
cumin
black pepper
stock pot

Chop coarsly the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, okra
In the stock pot combine the 1:1 combo of butter and flourand bring it together Add the chopped the veggies to the mixture
Season the meat with the
Once the roux begins to darken and take on a tan to redish color and the veggies are softened add the meat with chili powder, cumin, paprika, black pepper
Allow the meat to begin to sear and keep it moving among the roux and veggies
Once the pork and sausage have seared off add the beer to the mixture, reseason with the cumin, pepper, chili powder, crushed rosemary and pepper, add the bay leaf
Bring up to a boil and then immediately back down to a very very low simmer
Allow to simmer and reseason as necessary till the meat is almost ready to fall apart with a fork and the sauce is thick and rich from redection and the roux

recipe: stuporbowl faves

Normally, when you see the typical Super Bowl grub it is predictable finger foods that truly reflect the breath of diversity of culinary impressions that make up the breath of the American melting pot. For me, the Superbowl has always been a time to really bring out some unique and special creations which I adapt from year to year depending on what I’m typically cooking around that time and some of my more all-time faves blended together to share with my friends. Despite the lack of a big party this year, I would have broke out the following experiments to share among friends, I came back from my hike down at the Jersey Shore to bring together these dishes to enjoy during the game. These are comfort foods to me, and in as such, the represent some of my favorite interpretations of food as I enjoy it. During the game, I was sharing thoughts with my fellow blogger Bobby (you can see the eclectic conversation we had: http://nyphillycombine.wordpress.com/)

There are a couple of courses to the SB meal so scroll through them

Beer and Cheese Soup
Anyone can bust out the canned quesso or some cheese wiz and then try and ‘doctor it up’ into something, but why go though the hassle when you can have it done right the first time and really bring some flavor to the party. Besides… beer and cheese, c’mon you totally weren’t going to do that with the canned crap anyhow!

Ingreds:
butter
flour
milk (or heavy cream)
onion
garlic
chipolte pepper
celery
extra sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
beer (a nice amber lager or light ale works best)
stock (pork is preferable, beef will work too)
chorizo sausage (pref portuguese charise, however a linguica will work too)
soup pot

Tip:
the liquids are going to be done in parts so please note the beer will be used throughout the recipe to maintain consistency so the final amount will vary. The beer and stock when combine will be about 1:1 to 2:1 beer to stock. The creme should be about 2:1 to the beer and stock to creme (the creme really is just to help set the roux as the thickener like making cheese sauces)

How:
Very finely dice the onion, pepper, celery and garlic and dice the chroizo (cut small pieces not big slices)
Add the butter and the flour to the pot (1:1) and allow to begin to combine over low heat
Once combined add the veggies and continue to work the mixture until the veggies soften and the roux to begin to brown
Do not let the roux or the veggies burn, but allow the roux to get to between a dark blond and light brick color while the veggies begin to break down
Add chorizo and the creme and combine until the creme is integrated with the roux to form a mother sauce
Add the beer and stock mixture and the cheese and stir lightly to combine
Bring the mixture up to a boil and immediately back down to a simmer stirring constantly
Allow to simmer watching the consistency so it remains thick and rich, do not allow the mixture to burn to the bottom (heat is too high) or begin to chuck (heat might be too low)… add beer as necessary during simmering to maintain consistency.
When the soup is ready there should be almost no veggies left to feel in the soup (you can use a blender to thin them out if absolutely necessary) and it should be a creamy and rich combination with balanced flavors
Serve with finely chopped flat leaf parsley and additional grated cheese as desired

Note:
I actually have made this without the charise and with veggie stock, so it is possible to do it other ways, but the charise and pork stock make a nice pairing to the cheese. I’ve also done this with a blended cheese mixture, so feel free to experiment with the cheeses as long as they maintain the consistency of the soup.

Pork and Poblano Chili
Nachos ’supreme’ are so cliche and chili and chips can be pretty plain (besides, the kidney beans make the beer drinking guests fart more). This isn’t my chili verde recipe, but the color and the flavors will definitely turn more than a few heads and tantalize a few tastebuds who probably had one too many hamburger helpers lately.

Ingreds:
onion
poblano peppers
green jalipino or other hot pepper
celery
garlic
bay leaf
cubed pork (very small cubes)
andouile sausage
green chili powder (ancho or other red will work too)
cumin
white pepper
rosemary
beer (a nice amber lager or light ale works best)
olive oil
flour
stock pot

Tips:
because this is a poblano chili, you will need about 2:1 poblano to the rest of your veggies. it isn’t supposed to be super hot. Most poblanos are fairly mild so if you have a batch of mild ones, use the jalipino to give it some bit, otherwise, if you have good, bold polbanos, let them do their business alone. I strongly suggest charring the polblano too to bring out the earthy flavor and really give the dish some depth. Take the whole cooking process SLOW. Like most long cook meals, you can do 30 minutes cook time, but trust me, 3 hours is a much better minimum, set it up and after the first 15 minutes of cooking just check it at regular intervals and go about the rest of your business.

How:
Coarsely chop onion, poblano peppers, jalipino celery and garlic and place it in a large stock pot
1:1 oil and flour should be added to the pot and set the heat to medium, stirring constantly so the veggies begin to soften and the roux begins to form
Dust the pork with the cumin, white pepper, chili powder, crushed rosemary and white pepper
Once the roux begins to darken and take on a tan to redish color and the veggies are softened add the cubed pork and sliced sausage
Keep the whole mixure moving lightly and slowly sear off the pork and sausage
Once the pork and sausage have seared off add the beer to the mixture, reseason with the cumin, while pepper, chili powder, crushed rosemary and white pepper, add the bay leaf
Bring up to a boil and then immediately back down to a very very low simmer
Allow to simmer and reseason as necessary till the meat is almost ready to fall apart with a fork and the sauce is thick and rich from redection and the roux
Nicest to finally serve with chips and let people dig in or with collard lined bowls with shredded cheese, shredded poblano peppers and cilanro

Catfish Cakes
So, you wanted to serve chicken fingers. Ahem, lame! C’mon really? Deep fried, breaded chicken with a collage of lame “dipping” sauces? I’m not only Portuguese and grew up with spectacular codfish cakes, but I grew up in MD and have an inherent love of crab cakes. This recipe combines what I love of both into an invention that encompasses another great white fish for the experience. Trust me, it’ll turn a head and it’s not the greezy serve of those bock bocks you were gonna serve

What:
Catfish filets
whole black pepper corns
rosemary
cumin
garlic
house spice
cilantro
corn meal
large skillet

Tips:
Fresh, fresh, fresh… catfish can be realy cheap and not even the farm raised ones, but go with what you can get and it’ll really add to the experience the fresher it is. Also, for “dipping” sauces, there are a tonne of great ones, from a garlic and clarified butter, to a nice coarse ground mustard, to a chili paste, to molassase and then some… the house spice, which is a lynchpin in this recipe, could be anything from say a storebought blackening seasoning to your own personal house spice, but it is a mixture or combination of the flavors you “love” and that’s what is most important.

How:
Cut up the catfish filets into pieces (I strongly suggest not buying “catfish bits” on sale, you’ll spend too much time removing skin and “fat” and not enjoy the experience, trust me, nice fresh filets will go a long long way)
In your deep skillet put garlic, the bay leaf, rosemary and the pepper corns and bring up to a boil with water that covers at least 1/3 the depth
Once the aroma begins to exude, add the catfish filet and let it poach till it’s just about flaking
Set the fish aside and once “cooled” crumble it in a large mixing bown with rosemary, cumin, garlic, fresh cilantro and house spice to the corn meal and then coat the fish totally pressing it together against itself as necessary into palm sized balls
Keep the skillet super hot and then re-add the coated catfish
Do not let the catfish to burn to the dry skillet, keep the pan moving and the catfish searing over the high heat rolling through the pan
If necessary add a little bit of oil the the skillet to keep from burning and let the coating begin to brown before removing from heat

Note:
If necessary, you can add a nice heavy starchy mashed potato to the mixture, boil it cubed into small pieces with the fish and then mash it and combine it with the flaked fish at the same time as the spices before you hit the high heat. You may actually need a light coating of oil if you use the potato, but you’ll have to feel out your pan to decide. The potato will strech the same amount of fish twice as far, but do not over potato and for every one you add per big filet remember to reduce the corn meal by the same amount or you’ll have a dry starchy mess.

Hush Puppies
No no, not those shoes you hated as a kid, and i’m sure, if not positive that this recipe is probably a last choice but it’s designed to be a good pairing to the rest of these ideas… remember, i suck at making dough and other baking goods and I’m not typically a fryer guy either, but this, could be worth it, if you can figure out my stupidity

What:
1/2 cup finely grated veggies (onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic in “equal” parts)
flat leaf parsley
2 cups sifted fine stone ground corn meal
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
cold water
mixing bowl
deep skillet
oil

How:
fill skillet 1/2 deep with oil and bring up to under a simmer, no more than 375 degrees
Stir corn meal, sugar, soda together in mixing bowl
Add egg, shredded veggies and parsley and buttermilk and beat until frothy in mixing bowl
Pour wet ingreds into dry and stir lightly to mix in bowl
Add just enough of the cold water to make dough a good dropping – the dough should hold its shape in the palm of your hand
Drop by palmfulls into hot oil, keep turning until golden brown on all sides

Recipe: Cottage Pie

I’ve always been a huge fan of craftily prepared pub food – real pub food not the double deep fryer that some bars call an after-hours kitchen. After a couple of trips to “Irish Pubs” that left me somewhat flat on the food front I was craving one of those faves from the menu. Traditionally, Shepherds Pie is a lamb based dish and Cottage Pie is the beef version that in many American kitchens receives the misnomer Shepard’s Pie. None the less, apart from the protein component, they are essentially the same dish, cobbled together from leftovers.

Many recipes of American Shepard’s Pie call for ground or minced beef. This can certainly work, but so can stewed beef (which is what I used) or other beef leftovers. I’ll also note, in advance, this is my version of cooking it, not an attempt at recreating something authentic, so take some of the suggestions as being a loose interpretation of the original. I took a couple of liberties in the recipe strictly because it is a leftover meal and these were some of the leftovers I had on hand to work with.

beef
yellow onion
garlic
russet potatoes (or other high starch variety)
milk
egg
water
flour
butter
beef stock (about 1/2 cup per lb of meat)
carrots
peas
whole small pearl onions
* other veggies
skillet
stock pot
mixing bowl
oven safe deep sided dish (such as corningware)

* in my case, i used celery, bell pepper and cabbage greens

Preheat oven to 350
Coarsely dice the potato, carrots, yellow onion, garlic and any other veggies you need to dice
Begin a blond roux in the skillet by combining equal parts flour and butter and allowing them to come together over medium heat and keep the mixture regularly stirred, do not allow it to burn
Place the potato in a stock pot of water and bring to a boil.
As the potato cooks also blanch the carrots, whole pearl onions and any *other raw veggies you have that might need blanching (do not overcook them)
Once the carrots and *other veggies are blanched set them aside, it is good to chill them in ice water to stop the cooking process if you have the opportunity
Add the diced yellow onion and garlic to the skillet and begin to brown them while working the roux
Add the beef to the skillet, combine with the other elements and allow to begin to brown
Once the beef has taken to the heat, slowly add some beef stock and combine, allow the mixture to come to a boil and then back it off to a low simmer
While the skillet reduces the potato should be finished cooking, remove from the water (but retain the water) and allow to cool slightly
Place the potato in the mixing bowl and add the milk and begin to mash, add the egg during the mashing process and combine thoroughly but do not overwork the mixture
Set the mashed potato aside
Add some of the starchy water to the meat as necessary to achieve the right consistency. the meat and sauce should be thick and rich, not soupy and not dry.
Transfer the meat to the corning dish, then layer the veggies and then top with the mashed potato
Cover with the grated cheese and bake for 30-45 min depending on the size of the dish till it is warmed through and the cheese browns
Let stand 5 minutes or so to set and serve

RECIPE: crowded soup

When I (eric doormouse) was younger I always heard stories about the infamous crowded soup my grandmother used to make. She would collect the leftovers from the week (which is difficult to believe there would be any, considering my uncles and grandfather) and put them in a stock pot and make a big soup out of them so as to see nothing go to waste. It hardly requires a recipe when you think about it, so long as most of the leftovers make some kind of culinary sense with one another and could be construed as soup-worthy.

Although this is not exactly my grandmother’s recipe for a Crowded Sunday Soup, this is one of those recipes that changes a little bit every time I make it based on what veggies I have hanging around the place. In this case, it was time to use up a number of base veggies and the last bit of homemade stock I had left. This is the gist of what I used. The okra, a traditional African and later Mississippi Delta veggie that acts as a wonderful thickener for meals. Typically, I cook with the trinity (in Delta cooking the combo of onion, celery and bell pepper is a replacement for the more traditional miraquois of onion, celery and carrot) but in this case I combine a number of aeromatics to create the base flavor and build up from there. Once the base flavors are in and the stock is settled, the rest of the veggies are just a suggestion…

Also, I used leftover sugar ham in the dish, because pork typically makes everything better, however, eliminating it makes it a very nice vegitarian dish. I also actually made this in a crock pot on low after a quick saute of the base veggies, but the recipe is written the way I would do it over long cook in a heavy stock pot.

coarsly diced:
onion
bell pepper
anaheim pepper
celery
carrot
garlic
okra

sugar cured ham

shredded dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, mustard leaf, collard green, chicory, chard, etc.)
corn (frozen or cut fresh from the cob raw)
tomato (diced / sliced / crushed, fresh is best, though canned can work too)
squash (yellow summer, butternut, zucchini, etc.)
beans (red kidney, red pinto, black, black eyed pea, Cannellini, blue navy, etc. NOTE there is a difference in cooking using canned, frozen & dried!)
lentels (if you use ANY lentels you NEED to ensure there is enough extra liquid for the lentels since most are dried)

Stock (I prefer homemade veggie, but chicken or pork could work too)
water
olive oil
bay leaf
dried rosemary
tarragon
parsley
black pepper
paprika
Stock Pot

add a small amount of oil to the stock pot over medium heat
add the coarsly chopped veggies (peppers, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, okra) and simmer over medium heat so the veggies soften and the flavors begin to meld
add the dired rosemary and make sure to keep the veggies evenly cooking, do not allow them to over-carmalize as they saute

add the pork and allow it to meld with the rest of the flavors as you saute

add the stock and water, 2:1 ratio stock to water and allow to come to a simmer covered with the bay, black pepper, paprika and tarragon (dried, if fresh only add at the end or it’ll end up mushy grey leaves and taste like nothing)

after those flavors set, add the dark leafy greens, tomato, the lentils and re-season as necessary and allow to simmer

after those flavors set and the greens wilt and lentils become moist add the other veggies and allow to simmer, reseason (with the black pepper, paprika and tarragon etc) as neccessary. do not overcook the last group of veggies, as they will reduce to mush if you do

serve warm… sometimes, i like it with some flat leaf parsley and a hard cheese like parmeseano reggiano or pecorino romano grated on top