A Peruvian Cinco de Mayo: Lomo Saltado!

 

A long day of celebrating Cinco de Mayo (just kidding) called for a great Latin American meal to cap it off!  A classic during my trip to Peru is Lomo Saltado, beef stir fry with french fries. A delicious and flavorful dish with Asian influences (it is served over white rice and uses soy), this dish is includes beef sirloin in vinegar, soy sauce and aji spice, and stir fried with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. It is traditionally served with homemade French Fries that look more like potato wedges.
Its combination of both cultures makes it very popular.

Papadam in the house

John was grubbin'

Sasha was diggin' it too

A side of homemade guacamole!

Chicken and Peppers Panini

 

Came home for lunch pretty hungry, and decided to make a nice, hearty panini on sourdough!  This one included roasted chicken breast, cheese, avocado, poblano peppers, and red bell pepper/ ancho chili jam.

I grilled it on the George Forman panini griller, and it was ready to go in no time.  All the flavors really came through: the flavorful, roasted peppers, the soft avocado, and the sweet jam all went well with the chicken.  An instant classic.

Pizza, Pt. 2

Part of a spectacular no-knead method that my mom and I discovered from Jim Lahey's book "My Pizza", this pizza was easily the best I've ever had.  The secret, as Lahey makes clear, is a superb crust-- crispy, yet doughy, and a little blackened along the edges.  We used his pizza making recipe and used his inspiration for toppings as well, although we added some of our own desired toppings.

Homemade pork sausage, fennel and onion

Stracciatella, arugula, basil, and  onion

Stracciatella, olives, sun dried tomatoes

The same pork sausage, olive, and onion

Grilled Fish and Peruvian Corn Purée, Spring Salad

The sun is out and it's time to use the grill! A perfect night for grilling outside, we decided to have grilled bluefish over a tasty Peruvian corn purée.  This dish would also go well with swordfish, mahi mahi, or halibut.  The corn purée was delicious and sweet; perfect with the bluefish.   We decided it could have been a little more grainy and less puréed, and could also use a little less cilantro to let the corn flavor come out.  Overall a fine, fun dish, and it was great to be grilling again.  We also grilled zucchini and peppers.  The spring salad-- a Cuban recipe which included grilled pineapple, avocado, and cabbage-- was fantastic.  Great way to start out the season!

Serves 4
Ingredients
4 fish fillets of choice
4 fresh corn cobs, or about a pound of frozen corn
2 cups water
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
1/4 t ground cumin
2 t chili sauce
40g/1.5 oz flour
salt and ground black pepper
lime halves to serve

How to Make
Slice the kernels off the corn cobs, or use frozen corn, and blend them with half the water in a blender of food processor.  Don't blend to a pulp; let a little texture remain throughout.  Put in a bowl and set aside.

Put the cilantro in the blender with half the remaining water and blend to a pureé.

Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in a deep pan and fry the onion until golden.  Add the stock cubes, cumin, chili sauce and remaining water. Stir until stock cubes have dissolved.

Add the blended corn and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid the mixture sticking.  Stir in the coriander purée and cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat.  Pour into a serving dish and keep warm.

Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper and grill.  Serve immediately over the corn purée and a lime half.

Bluefish, pinneaple, zuchini and peppers

Avocado and Grilled Pineapple Salad
Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
approx. 6 cups of mixed greens, watercress, and/or arugula
half a pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into inch thick pieces
1 Tbsp sugar
2 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp cider vinegar or fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 large avocado
1/4 of an onion, thinly slivered lengthwise
small handful of red cabbage, thinly slivered

1. Get the pineapple grilling.

2. Prepare the greens.  Place greens in a colander and rinse under cold water, discarding tough stems. Pat dry with paper towels.

3. Prepare the dressing Place garlic, olive oil, vinegar or lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Taste for seasoning and set aside.

4. Cut avocado in half lengthwise around the pit and remove pit, then slice into 1 inch wide wedges.  Remove with spoon.

5. Assemble the salad. Place greens in medium sized bowl and toss with half the dressing. Arrange on a large platter. Add the pineapple and avocado to the same bowl and toss with the rest of the dressing. Mound the pineapple and avocado over the bed of watercress. Garnish with slivers of onion and cabbage and serve.

Chicken Parmesian

Chicken Parm is a classic shovel-in, comfort-food here at the Freedman house.  Solid protein, real good after a workout or a run.  Really simple too!


How to Make: 
(preheat oven to 375)

Slice desired amount of chicken breast the long way in thin slices.  Cut of the fatty parts.

Now get three bowls-- one with flour, one with about three beaten eggs, and one with breadcrumbs. You can season the breadcrumbs with oregano, salt n pepper, and/or garlic salt.  Then dip each piece of chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Be sure to cover it, and don't be afraid to really press it down in the breadcrumbs to cover it

Heat a medium-sized pan with some oil.  When hot put the chicken on, careful not to let the pieces touch. Turn it over using tongs when one side looks crispy and cooked.

Now we are going to finish it in the oven to cook the inside, esp. if the pieces are thick, and avoid burning the sides. We're also going to put on the sauce and cheese.  So pour on top some tomato sauce and then shredded cheese of choice as desired. We also put on some prosciutto (note the order: prosciutto, sauce, then cheese).  Then pop in the oven at 375 degrees. After a bit cut into a thick piece and make sure its done.

Serve her with some pasta of choice, some broccoli/greens and/or a salad.  Real good.  I ate like 4 pieces.

Mongolian Lamb

This recipe was fun to make, a traditional Mongolian dish served with rice and bok choy.   Just like any stir fry all the work is in the preparation.  It didn't come out as flavorful as we had hoped, even with all the soy, garlic and spices.  Stay tuned for some even better recipes!

Best Pizza I've Ever Had

 Recipe to come!

Mmmmmmm....

Pan-Fried Pumpkin Gnocchi

An elegant, rich, but grub-worthy dish that will surprisingly-quickly fulfill your dinner needs. Its so simple but so rich and flavorful, and the browned butter sage balsamic adds the perfect sweet tang to counterbalance the rich gnocchi. Remember, its not meant to be a "sauce".

Note that the secret to gnocchi is to have a light hand in the mixing. Overworking the dough will result in chewy, tough gnocchi.  Use a spatula to mix the dough and then your fingertips to just turn the dough a few times to incorporate the rest of the flour.


Although you may want to make more, this recipe serves 3 (or one, if you're Adam):

Ingredients
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, extra for garnish
1 large egg yoke
1 t lemon zest, extra for garnish
1t kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
1 cup flour, plus more for dusting
3 T butter, divided
2 T olive oil, divided
2 T balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs fresh sage, more for garnish

How to Make
1. Combine ricotta, pumpkin, parmesan, yolk, zest and salt in large bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle half of flour on mixture. Gently turn with spatula a few times to incorporate. Sprinkle remaining flour on top of mixture. Gently knead with your fingertips, just bringing together the mixture until flour is incorporated through. This should take a minute or two, be sure not to over-knead.
2. Dust a clean, dry surface with a generous sprinkling of flour. Divide dough into 4 parts. Take one part and roll into a long 1" diameter log. Tip: roll from the inside out, don't be afraid of it. Cut gnocchi into 1" pieces.
3. Heat a large frying pan or saute pan with 1 T of butter and 1 T olive oil. When hot, add a few gnocchi-- enough to cover surface but not touch each other. Fry on medium heat for 1-2 minutes, turn and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove gnocchi with tongs.
4. Simultaneously, on another pan over medium heat, add 2 T butter and 1 T olive oil. When hot add fresh sage. Let sage brown and sizzle, but not burn, for a couple of minutes until very fragrant. Smells delicious. Remove the sage and discard or keep to eat. Add balsamic vinegar to the pan and whisk. Let simmer on low for 1 minute and pour over the gnocchi.
5. Serve with shaved parmesan and a sage leaf for garnish.

Apple Walnut Pancakes with Cinnamon Sour Cream

After another 10 inch snowstorm and another snow day, I was in the mood for a hearty, fatty breakfast before going out to shovel.  Bacon, and some mean apple-walnut pancakes with cinnamon sour cream on top did the trick.  It took some time to make, but the sweet-yet-subtle-pancakes, a dollop of the sour cream, a drizzle of maple syrup, and some good Neiman-Ranch thick cut bacon satisfied my craving for a fattening pre-shovel breakfast.

So, let's make sixteen 3 1/2 inch pancakes:

Ingredients for Pancakes

1 1/4 cups flour1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted, melted butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 apples, peeled and cored, one cut into very fine dice and one coarsely grated
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

How to Make
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.  Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix with the whisk, stopping when everything is just combined. The batter may be a bit lumpy. Gently add the apples and walnuts.
2. Lightly butter (we use clarified butter) the skillet and preheat over medium heat.
3. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet for each pancake, allowing space for spreading, and use a spatula or the back of your spoon to lightly press the batter into rounds.  I suggest making them small and thin-ish so that the middle gets cooked.  When the bottoms are golden and the tops are bubbly, flip 'em over and cook until the other sides are lightly brown. Serve immediately, make however many you want! I suggest saving any leftover batter for another day.

Cinnamon Sour Cream
Makes one scrumptious batch (you may wanna make two!)

1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix.  Add a dollop on top of your pancakes!

Vatapa!

Vatapa! Brazilian Seafood Stew with Coconut, Nuts and Spices

A specialty of the Bahia region of Brazil, this dish, while having a lengthy list of ingredients, is pretty easy to actually make.  You can also make Vatapa with chicken or other meats.  Basically you prepare all the ingredients, cook and then puree them in a food processor, and then cook the seafood in the sauce.  What I liked about this dish was the variety of ingredients- coconut, nuts, ginger, coriander, dried shrimp, hot chilis, annotto-  all under native Brazilian, African, and Portuguese influence.  The flavors really come together to produce an exotic, yet familiar dish that is not-too-rich, but delicious!

Ingredients:

seafood: 2-4 lbs. of either shrimp, squid, scallops, monkfish, catfish, etc.
we used 1 lb shrimp, 1 lb scallops, and 1/2 lb squid

2 medium onions, chopped
2 T garlic, chopped
2 cups tomatoes- peeled and chopped or canned (although we only used one cup)
2-3 T fresh coriander, chopped

1.5-2 cups coconut milk
1/4-1/2 cup peanuts, lightly roasted
1/4 cup almonds, lightly roasted
1/4 cup cashews, lightly roasted
2-3 T dried shrimp
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 T fresh ginger, grated
1 t chopped fresh hot pepper, add more to taste as you go along
2 T palm oil, or vegetable oil with annotto or paprika
fresh coriander leaves for garnish, as well as lemon, salt and pepper

How to make: 
Clean all seafood, cutting into small 2-3 inch pieces. Slice cleaned squid into calamari rings, leave tentacles whole. Clean shrimp by removing shell and vein. Cut in half lengthwise if very large.

Sautee onions in the olive oil. Add garlic and sautee gently.  Add tomatoes and just a little water to make it thicker. Add coriander and salt to taste. Simmer 10 minutes and reserve.

Grind nuts and dried shrimp in a spice grinder or food processor. Combine in processor with coconut milk, bread, ginger, chili and the reserved mixture from above (yup, you put it all in). Puree.


Add more coconut milk or nuts to achieve desired creamy consistency. Simmer 10 minutes. It should be thicker than you will want it to be in the end. The seafood will give off enough liquid to thin it down.

Add the largest pieces of seafood to simmering stew first. When they are partially cooked, stir in the shrimp, then scalloped, then when almost done, add ssquid.  Be careful not to over cook. Add palm oil/ colored oil at the end, if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, lemon juice and chilis. Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves.

This can be prepared several hours ahead and reheated, and the base can be made ahead for up to 2 days (the flavors will even come out more likely). If it tightens up add more coconut milk or water to thin.


Serve over rice, with greens of choice (we steamed some broccolini).

The rents loved it!

Asian Appetizers- Superbowl Night!

Felt like having some fun and making some interesting apps for the Superbowl! I was going to bring it some for the gang, but ended up eating most of it at home. The coconut shrimp was fun and delicious- a nice fried, battery app that I was craving. Used "Ginger Peoples" sauce for dipping. Fresh roles were very good too- the fresh mint and basil were key here, and I could have used even more mango, but very refreshing and tasty. The chicken satay was excellent- a great marinade, and when you take a bite with the peanut sauce you are in heaven. We also made some Asian wings for the game- because what's a Superbowl without wings?


Fresh Rolls
Makes about 10 rolls

Ingredients:
round rice paper wrappers, available at Whole Foods or Asian markets
rice vermicelli noodles
a small/medium sized bowl of each:
1 thinly sliced mango
thinly julienned carrot
thinly sliced scallions
thinly sliced red peppers
cilantro, mint and basil
(optional) cooked shrimp

How to make:
Cook the noodles according to package. Lay out ingredients in bowls, including cooked noodles.  Optional cooked shrimp in another bowl.  Then have out a bowl of warm water that will soften the rice papers.  

Put paper in water for about ten seconds and then put on a plate, careful not to damage it too much.  To make a roll, put ingredients in center of roll and not too close to the edges.  Start with noodles and put in the rest of ingredients according to preference.  

To roll, fold in edges, then using thumbs and forefingers, roll one side toward the other, as if you were making a burrito.  Make it nice and tight.  If it breaks, just soften another wrapper and use that.


Coconut Shrimp
4 servings

ingredients:
1 lb. pealed and deveined shrimp
corn starch
eggs
dried coconut
dipping sauce- recommended Ginger Peoples “Sweet Ginger Chili” sauce

How to make:
Put out 3 bowls, one with ample corn starch, one with a beaten egg, and one with dried & sweetened coconut shreddings.  Dip the shrimp in corn starch, then the egg, then the coconut.  Be sure to cover the shrimp fully each time you dip.  It will become glue-like and will absorb the coconut.  Feel free to dip it again in the egg and then the coconut to make it an extra-crispy batter (recommended).

Heat a couple inches of vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  When the oil is hot, put a few shrimp on.  Turn over when the outside is brown and crispy.  Watch carefully because the sugar and the coconut make them burn.  


Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
4 servings,16 pieces of boneless chicken breast

Ingredients for Marinade:
2 T curry powder
2 T butter
1 cup coconut milk
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t chopped garlic
1 T chopped coriander roots

Stir and let chicken sit in marinade for a few hours

Peanut Sauce:
¼ cup peanut butter (natural, no sugar added)
1 T maple syrup
2 T soy sauce or tamari
1 T rice vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
½ T red pepper flakes
about ¼ hot water to thin sauce

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or blender and mix well. May take some effort to dissolve all peanut butter into water, but eventually it will dissolve.

To Cook Satay:
Preheat broiler or grill.  Thread the strips of chicken on skewers and broil, turning until just done. Be careful not to overlook. Serve with peanut sauce.

Thai Green Curry

A light, healthy, incredibly tasty and easy Thai meal! It was so good I kept getting more servings. I loved the sauce-- light, sweet, coconutty-- and the way the taste of the lime leaves came out. It was so simple, but so good.


Green Curry with Chicken and Veggies over Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1.5 pound chicken slice (we like a lot of chicken)
6 kaffir lime leaves
Vegetables of choice: bell pepper, spinach, onion, broccoli, eggplant, etc
We used orange peppers, spinach, onion, and broccolini on the side
Sauce:
6 T Green curry paste
14 0z. coconut milk
¼ cup fish sauce
2.5 T sugar

Combine chicken with sauce ingredients and bring to slow boil. Continue to simmer the chicken in the sauce until it has cooked (an interested method that makes the chicken surprisingly moist and tender) for about 8 min. 
Then add prepared vegetables and lime leaves, and finally garnish with basil before serving.  

Kale Salad
A delicious and healthy side for a meal. We like our kale. Can make many different varieties of kale salad.

How to make:
1 head of lachinato kale (AKA dinosaur kale)
Wash and thinly slice into thin ribbons, dry with salad spinner
Add 1 T olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of honey, and salt and pepper, then massage it in a bowl
Add toasted/ chopped nuts of choice, such as walnuts, almonds
We added spiced nuts, apples, and hemp seeds!