Busy Nothings

Itasca State Park, near Bemidji, MN, is a great place to visit, especially during fall colors season.  I’ve been there many times and it is a truly beautiful place with the very cool attraction of the headwaters of the Mississipi River.  The first picture is the Observation Tower in the park (100 feet high) and the next two are pictures from that tower:

The next two are from the actual headwaters area (the lady is my Mom):

More pictures from the trip can be found here. 

I made an incredible vegetarian dish last night.  It was a risotto made with red wine instead of the traditional white topped with deeply flavored mushrooms glazed in red wine.  There are two very interesting things about this recipe: 1) It uses red wine instead of white and 2) It asks you to caramelize a little bit of sugar for the marmalade.  These two twists give this recipe a unique and absolutely fabulous flavor. 

First, about the wine: by using red wine, the wine flavor in the finished risotto was much stronger and fruitier.  In fact, it was vying with the chicken stock to be the dominant flavoring of the arborio rice.  And this isn’t a bad thing.  All of those nice wine flavors shone through beautifully and created a brightly flavored dish.  The only funny thing about using red wine is the final dish turns out sort of pink, which to me, just isn’t an appetizing color.

Second, the caramelization:  when making the glaze for the mushroooms, 2 T of sugar is dissolved in 1 T of water and set over medium heat until the mixture turns amber.  This is caramelizing the sugar and releases a multitude of flavors from the sugar.  Obviously, if you like to eat caramel, this is a step that you would enjoy.  Then the wine and vinegar is added and reduced.  The result is a very sweet and very complex glaze that made the mushroom marmalade jump off the plate with flavor.  I can’t tell you how good it was. 

I know this dish takes some time and a lot of dishes but it’s worth the work.  A few notes to help you along: 1) Make sure to garnish the dish with Parmesan or a like cheese; it adds creaminess and balances the dish out.  2)  The recipe says to stir the risotto constantly as you are adding the chicken stock but you can get away with sitrring every minute or so.  3)  Don’t feel compelled to use all of the chicken stock called for in the recipe.  If the rice is done, stop adding chicken stock.  Here’s what it looked like:

And here’s the recipe:

Red Wine Risotto with Mushroom “Marmalade”, from Food and Wine magazine 

For marmalade

3 T vegetable oil

3/4 pound fresh porcini, stemmed shitake, or portabella mushrooms-1/2 lb diced, 1/4 lb sliced

1 medium shallot, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

2 T sugar

1 T water

3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Amarone (I used Zinfandel)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 T unsalted butter

For risotto

5 cups chicken stock

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, minced

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 T unsalted butter

Parmesan cheese for topping

Make the marmalade:  In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 T of the vegetable oil.  Add the diced mushrooms; season with salt and pepper.  Cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, 5 minutes.  Unocver and cook, stirring, until browned.  Transfer the mushrooms to a plate.

In the same skillet, heat another 1 T vegetable oil.  Add the shallot and garlic and cook over low heat until softened, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked mushrooms.

In a small saucepan, simmer the sugar and water over moderate heat, washing down the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush if necessary, until amber, about 6 minutes.  Add the wine and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Add the vinegar and boil over high heat until reducedby half, 12 minutes.  Stir the mixture into the skillet and cook over moderate heat until the mushrooms are glazed, 3 minutes.  Season with salt.

In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 1 T of vegetable oil.  Add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat until tender and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Stir the mushrooms into the marmalade and swirl in the butter.  Cover and keep warm. 

For the Risotto:  In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer; cover and keep warm over low heat.  In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil.  Add the onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated.  Pour in about 1 cup of the hot stock or enough to cover the rice.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the stock has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.  Repeat, adding 1 cup of stock at a time and stirring until all of the stock has been absorbed.  The risotto is done when the rice is just cooked and suspended in the creamy sauce, about 25 minutes.  Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper. 

Spoon the risotto into bowls and top with the mushroom marmalade.  Shave a few slices of Parmesan cheese over the risotto and serve. 

I had a lazy dinner last night.  The steak recipe was really simple and the potatoes and zucchini took no real effort at all.  The potatoes were home fries and were good as usual.  The zucchini was simply cubed and then sauteed in olive oil with some salt and pepper.  And here’s the recipe for the steak:

Hellfire Steak, from How to Grill by Steve Raichlen

T-Bone steak(s)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Dry ground mustard

hot sauce of your choice

Season the steak(s) liberally with salt and pepper.  Then cover with a good deal of dry mustard and mash it into the steak with a fork.  Then douse with a good deal of hot sauce and rub it in with the fork.  Repeat with the other side of the steak and cook over a hot grill to the temperature of your choice. 

Here’s a picture of how I grilled my steak:

And here’s the final dish:

The steak was really interesting.  It was spicy as you would expect but not overwhelmingly so.  And when paired with the butteriness of the steak, it was a dynamite combination. 

This is a nice fall dessert:

Here’s the recipe: 

Apple Galette

For dough:

3 T sour cream, yogurt, or buttermilk

1/3 cup ice water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 to 8 pieces

Place all dry ingredients in a food processor and spin it a few times.  Then add the butter and pulse about 6 times.  The mixture should look chunky with various sizes of butter pieces.  Then, mix the sour cream and water and add it to the processor.  Pulse until just combined.  Put the dough on a floured surface just to bring it all together.  Then divide in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Then, on a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a circle about 1/8 inch thick.  Careful, the dough is sticky so pick it up a few times while you’re rolling to makes sure it isn’t sticking.  Place 1/2 of the cooled apple filling (recipe below) in the middle of the dough.  Fold up the sides (see how it looks in the picture), and then place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Repeat.  Brush the galette dough with water and sprinkle with sugar.  Dot the exposed apple mixture with butter and a little bit of honey.  Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Cool and serve. 

Apple Filling

2 T butter 

 1 1/2 pound apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1/4-1/2 cup sugar, depending on the tartness of your apples

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the apples are just barely tender.  Taste and adjust the sweetness, if needed.

I just really like this dough.  It is crispy and delicate and homey.  The cornmeal just adds such a nice touch to it.  You can also fill this galette with berries. 

I had the Falafel Combo at Cafe Aladdin for lunch.  It was falafels (fried chickpea balls) that were put into a large pita with lettuce, tomato, grilled potato, zucchini, cauliflower, and eggplant with a lemony yogurt sauce.  It was pretty tasty.  The falafels were crispy on the outside with a pleasant creaminess inside.  The yogurt sauce was flavorful and added a nice acidity to the sandwich.  Yet, there were some funny things about it.  The grilled cauliflower just seemed out of place and the grilled eggplant was so bitter that it was virtually inedible.  Unless you really like grilled vegetables, I would recommend to just get a plain falafel instead of the “combo”. 

Cafe Aladdin has two locations in Fargo:

530 6th Ave N (This is the location I went to.)

1609 32nd Ave S

The weather is definitely turning fall-like here in North Dakota and that means my favorite cold-weather dishes are back on the menu.  Last night, it was chicken parmigiana and tonight, it was Beef Pot Pie. 

 Beef Pot Pie

1 lb top round steak, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

4 cups frozen vegetable mix (carrots, corn, beans, peas)

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely chopped

olive oil

1/3 cup dry red wine

3 T flour

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried parsley

Southern Biscuits for topping (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss frozen vegetables in a little bit of olive oil and place on a baking sheet.  Roast until they begin to color.  In a large saute pan, drizzle in about 1 T of olive oil.  Add the onion and celery and saute until they begin to color slightly.  Remove to a bowl.  Add about 2 T of olive oil to the pan, and add the beef.  Season with salt and pepper and brown deeply on all sides.  Deglaze the pan with the red wine.  Cook until almost all the wine has evaporated.  Remove the beef and all juices in the pan to a bowl.

Put about another 1 T olive oil in the pan.  Put the carrots and celery back in the pan, add the parsley and thyme, and then add the flour.  Mix well and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the milk and broth and bring to a boil to thicken.  Add the roasted vegetables and beef with all juices.  Stir and taste.  Adjust any seasonings.  Top with the Southern Biscuits.  Brush the biscuits with butter.  Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Serve

Southern Biscuits, recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 T butter

2 T shortening

1 cup buttermilk

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don’t want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that’s life.)

The result should be flaky, tender biscuits atop a deeply flavored and complex blend of beef, vegetables and sauce.  It’s really delicious.  The only problem I had with this recipe is the top round was just a little tough.  Feel free to use a more tender cut of beef. 

I made Chicken Parmesan last night for three reasons, of which the third is the most important: 1)  I like it; 2) It’s a comfort food dish for me; and 3) I wanted to try out a new marinara sauce recipe that I saw on America’s Test Kitchen. 

The recipe is really interesting because the tomatoes are cooked without their juice for about 10 mintues.  This is different because usually, the tomatoes are only cooked in the can liquid.  Which means they are never cooked above 212 degrees.  Which means that they never have any chance to caramelize or even experience the Maillard reaction.  So by cooking the tomatoes first as dryly as you can, this recipe introduces a nice level of deepened flavor.  (Alton Brown tries a similar trick in this recipe.)  It was really a good marinara sauce and definitely worth trying at home.  Here’s the recipe:

Marinara Sauce, from America’s Test Kitchen

2 28 oz cans tomatoes

2 T olive oil 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/3 cup dry red wine

3 T chopped fresh basil

1 T olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

1-2 T sugar, if needed

Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender; see the related article “Do You Really Need a Hand Blender?”) and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare pork on the grill.  The recipe is really simple and the flavor it produces is complex, hearty, and unbelievably robust.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people eating this recipe for the first time say, “Wow!” or “Oooh, that’s good.”  The flavors really just jump off the plate.  I think it has a lot to do with the addition of msg to the marinade.  I admit I know nothing of the health dangers of msg but I know that this is the only recipe I use it in.  And I know that there is something about this recipe that makes it unbelievably tasty.  So I’m guessing the msg is adding something pretty good to the mix.  I suppose you could leave it out but if you’re like me and only use it for this recipe, surely such a small amount can’t hurt.   Here’s the recipe:

Chinese Pork Skewers

2 pork tenderloins, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Accent seasoning mix or msg

2 T sugar

dash garlic powder

2 tsp minced dried onion

3 T soy sauce

1/4 cup sherry

2 tsp ketchup

1/4 cup honey

1 T vegetable oil

Combine the salt, Accent, sugar, garlic powder, dried onion, soy sauce, sherry and ketchup in a gallon sized plastic bag.  Add the pork and let marinate for about an hour.  Remove the pork from the marinade while saving the marinade.  Place pork chunks on a skewer, leaving about 1/2 inch between chunks.

Grill, turning occasionally until just about done, basting with the reserved marinade.  Mix honey and vegetable oil together and baste skewers.  When cooked all the way through, remove and serve immediately. 

Here’s what my skewers looked like:

I served it with rice and a modified Caramelized Broccoli with Garlic.  (I added some soy sauce to the mix, it was really good.) 

This recipe also works really well with pork chops, which is, till now, the only way I’ve ever had this recipe.  If you do, though, increase the marination time to 2 hours.  This recipe was graciously given to me by Paul Carns, who, in turn, got the recipe from Jim Fullin.  You should really give it a try. 

Side dishes can sometimes steal the show.  Often they are just more sophisticated, balanced, and simply tastier than that big slab of meat on a plate.  This is the situation I faced at my latest dinner.  Here’s what it looked like:

The salmon was an insipid thing, hardly even worth mentioning.  Due to the fact I live in North Dakota (which by the way, holds the distinction of encompassing the geographic center of North America, which, to my estimation, means we are as far away from the sea as possible), there is little to be had for really good fish.  I had to settle for some farm-raised Chilean salmon which had almost no flavor at all.  My preparation didn’t help it either.  Just a simple rub of salt, pepper, coriander, and ground fennel seeds.  I thought there would be some flavor somewhere but there just wasn’t. 

However, the broccoli was excellent.  Here’s the recipe I used:

Caramelized Broccoli with Garlic, from Food and Wine magazine

3 T extra-virgin olive oil

2 heads of broccoli, about 1 1/4 pounds, stems peeled and heads halved lengthwise

1/2 cup water

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 T fresh lemon juice

In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 T of the olive oil.  Add the broccoli, cut side down, cover adn cook over moderate heat until richly browned on the bottom, about 8 minutes.  Add the water, cover and cook until the broccoli is just tender and the water has evaporated, about 7 minutes.  Add the remaining 1 T olive oil along with the garlic and the crushed red pepper and cook uncovered until the garlic is golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Season the broccoli with salt and pepper, drizzle with the lemon juice and serve. 

 I admit, I forgot the crushed red pepper and lemon juice but it was still really delicious.  The caramelized broccoli had just an ethereal sweetness to it, sweet but just so.  It not only added flavor but a wonderful texture contrast to the dish.  The garlic (which I didn’t brown because I think it turns bitter), added a wonderful creaminess to the dish.  This is definitely something I want to do again, maybe next time with all of the ingredients! 

UPDATED:  I have made this recipe again and have made one modification to it.  Instead of using lemon juice at the end, I used soy sauce.  It turned out really well.  The soy added a nice saltiness and tang while just perking up the whole dish with the acidity in it as well as it giving it a nice Asian feel.  That last fact, in turn, makes it a great side to Asian dishes. 

I’ve just finished reading  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossenini.  He is also the author of The Kite Runner.  Both books deal with ordinary Afghanis and their responses to the sweeping changes that have taken place in Afghanistan in the past 30 years.  They are both excellent reads. 

I simply want to encourage everyone to read this book.   A Thousand Splendid Suns paints such a vivid picture of the terrible lives lived by Afghani women.  And I mean terrible.  Apart from living under numerous regimes and governments and surviving in a war zone, they are abused and devalued and, under Taliban rule, forced to wear a burqa.  It was disheartening to imagine such lives filled with pain and loss and, for lack of a better word, discrmination (It just doesn’t seem to cover the depth of evilness towards women in this book.).  Yet, through all of this, the two women protagonists in the book still want to love and to be loved, want to bear and raise children, and want to build a better Afghanistan.   And hence, this is not a purely political book even with its horrifying descriptions of the consequences of the political changes in Afghanistan.  Instead, it is a book that aims for one thing above all else: to show the humanity of Afghani women.  I hope you find time to read it.