Happy 4th of July

Today's menu includes potato salad and grilled pork chops.  That's what the Founding Fathers ate after they mailed off the Declaration of Independence. True story.  Alright, it's not true. But it should be. 


Todays menu is Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa and the famous PsychoPants' Potato Salad.


Let's start with the potato salad. I've been a failure at making potato salad my entire life. My mother always made fabulous potato salad. Potatoes, mayo, mustard, onions, eggs, celery and a splash of vinegar. It seemed simple. She just tossed in this and that and in the end, it was great. It's not simple.  Not at all.  I've never been able to get the combination right. I've also learned that many people consider eggs in potato salad to be just wrong. 


Then enter PsychoPants into my life. Yes, I really know someone named PsychoPants. She's wonderful. And she makes rockin' potato salad. She shared this recipe with me one day when I was blathering on about my incompetence at making potato salad. She promised me that this would be a winner with my guests. She was right. She always is. 


The ingredients are straight forward. Potatoes (duh!), mayo, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, Italian parsley, shallot, salt and pepper. I sometimes use a mild onion instead of the shallot if I don't have one on hand. Which I obviously didn't today.

PyschoPants' Potato Salad 

3 pounds yukon gold potatoes cut into 3/4 to 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1 shallot minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
30 grinds black pepper
1/3 cup packed finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least a couple inches. Salt the water generously, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

In a mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Toss the potato chunks in the dressing and then toss in  the parsley.

Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa

Let's start with the salsa. The ingredients are: peaches, onion, cilantro, chipotle peppers, lime, salt and pepper.

First, peel the peaches.

And then cube them.

Dice the onion very small. I love dicing onions. I love it so much that I diced the whole darned onion. I'll be cooking something with diced onion tomorrow.

Then finely chop the cilantro.

Finally chop a couple of tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo. They were so spicy that they turned the picture orange. Now that's spicy.

Finally toss it all together. And add the juice of a half of lime.

Isn't that beautiful? It is a lovely combination of peachy sweetness with smoky chipotle, fresh cilantro and the crunch of onion. I'm seriously tempted to try it on ice cream. Or toast.  Or maybe a pork chop. Oh wait.

Oh yes, the pork chops. How could I forget? The ingredients are simple: pork chops, coriander, salt and pepper.

The only difficult thing about this recipe is grinding the coriander. I used a handy dandy coriander grinder. Otherwise known as a sauce pan. This takes a bit of arm strength, but after a few minutes you'll get the hang of it. 

Then you season the chops and press the ground coriander into it. It will look something like this.

Toss them on the grill or do what I do. Have your assistant toss them on the grill. It's way to hot for me to be outside fretting over a hot grill today. 

And there you have it. Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa and PsychoPants' Potato salad. It doesn't get much better than that. The Founding Fathers would want you to eat this.

The original recipe is from epicurious.com.

Cumin-Crusted Monster Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa

For salsa

• 3 ripe but firm peaches, unpeeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced (about 1/2 small onion)
• 2 tablespoons canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For pork chops

• 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds
• 6 pork rib chops, each about 1 1/2 inches thick (ask your butcher to cut them for you)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly coarse-ground black pepper

Make salsa
In medium bowl, toss together all ingredients. Transfer to serving dish and set aside.

Prepare grill
If using charcoal grill, open bottom vents. Light charcoal. Leaving about 1/4 of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so coals are about 3 times higher on opposite side.

If using gas grill, open hood, light all burners, and set on high. Close hood and preheat 10 minutes.

While grill is heating, coat chops
Using electric spice grinder, pulse cumin seeds 2 to 3 times to crack. (Alternatively, place seeds on cutting board and crush lightly with small sauté pan, using gentle rocking motion.) Rub chops with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and coat with cumin seeds, pressing firmly to adhere.

To cook chops using charcoal grill
Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Move chops to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.

To cook chops using gas grill
When grill is preheated, sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put chops above shut-off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cumin-Crusted-Monster-Pork-Chop-with-Peach-Chipotle-Salsa-238564#ixzz0sluk35FO

World Cup Salute to the Teams South of our Border

Yes, this is a cop out. I should really be doing something for Ghana. They deserve a salute. They really do. Their loss to Uruguay was nothing short of heart breaking. I tried really hard to find a Ghana recipe for today. I found several. Almost all had ingredients that aren't carried at Whole Foods. The others just didn't trip my trigger.  Someday I'll try one of the recipes for ground nut soup. Just not today.

After some research on Brazil, I saw some recipes that were "vera cruz style". Yes, Vera Cruz is in Mexico. But apparently it's style of making food has be somewhat adopted by some parts of South America. I understand why. I often make Fish Vera Cruz. It's a great weeknight meal. It goes together quickly and cooks in about 20 minutes. Pair it with couscous (you know my love of couscous) and you have a quick to the table, healthy, tasty dinner.

The ingredients: tomatoes, onion, capers, raisins, olives, Italian parsley, white fish - snapper, cod, etc.

First drain the tomatoes and reserve the juice.

Chop the onions and garlic. Here's my handy dandy tip for dicing an onion. 

First you make horizontal slices stopping short of the root end.

 Then make vertical slices.

Then just slice like you would normally. 

And viola, you have diced onion. Quick and easy. I learned this little trick one of the rare times I watched Rachel Ray. It makes dicing an onion quick and simple.

Add the onions and garlic to a frying pan with some olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, some reserved juice oregano, bay leaves and Italian parsley. Simmer over medium heat  until it thickens slightly. About 3 minutes. 

While that is cooking chop your olives. Then add olives, capers, raisins and remaining tomato juice.

Simmer for another 3- 4 minutes. It will thicken again. Then spread a couple of spoons of the sauce over the bottom of a baking dish.

Lay your fish in on top. Notice I don't really worry if the fish doesn't exactly lay out flat. It's ok for the thinner parts to overlap a little. The recipe says to salt the fish. I don't. With the capers and olives, there is plenty of salt in this dish.

The pour the rest of of sauce over the whole thing. Put it in the oven at 425 for 18 minutes.

I like to serve it over couscous...of course. The fish is always tender and the sauce is fabulous. Each bite is a symphony of savory, salty and sweet.

Here is the original recipe. I've modified it some. I add more raisins and more oregano. I also don't cut the sauce even when I use less fish. 

Red Snapper, Veracruz Style

Bon Appétit  | May 2003

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, well drained, juices reserved

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. chopped white onion

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

3 small bay leaves

T.  chopped fresh parsley

1 t. dried Mexican oregano

1/4 c. chopped pitted green olives

2 T. raisins

2 T. drained capers

6 4- to 5-ounce red snapper fillets or other white fish

Place drained tomatoes in medium bowl. Using potato masher, crush tomatoes to coarse puree. Drain again, reserving juices.

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir 30 seconds. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and cook 1 minute. Add bay leaves, parsley, oregano, and 1/4 cup reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Add olives, raisins, capers, and all remaining reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens again, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread 3 tablespoons sauce in bottom of 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange fish atop sauce. Sprinkle fish lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon remaining sauce over. Bake uncovered until fish is just opaque in center, about 18 minutes. Using long spatula, transfer fish with sauce to plates. 

World Cup Salute to the USA

I did not do an American recipe as I didn't want to jinx our men. But now that their World Cup 2010 appearance has entered into the history books, it's time to salute them. Great job men. You rocked it right up to the last second. This dish is for you!

What is a truly American dish? This is a much more difficult question to answer than I originally thought. Being a nation of immigrants, most of our traditional foods have roots in another country. If you don't believe me, check out the American cooking suggestions at Epicurious and read the comments. 

After some searching, I settled on making Jambalaya and corn bread. Is this a truly American dinner? Heck, I don't know. But it sounds good so I'm operating under the threat of a potential yellow card.

Andouille and Chicken Jambalaya

If you're looking for a Jambalaya recipe who would you turn to but Emeril. I found this recipe at emerils.com. Emeril's recipe serves 12. I cut it in half. I don't need 10 servings of Jambalaya lurking in the back of the refridgerator planning my demise.

The ingredients: rice, chicken, andouille sausage, chicken, onion, pepper, cayenne and bay leaves. Yes, I know those aren't andouille sausages. Due to a run on andouille at Whole Foods, I settled for spicy Italian sausage.

First heat a splash of vegetable oil in a dutch oven. Then add onions, bell peppers, a teaspoon of salt and a half of teaspoon of cayenne. Emeril says to use a cast iron dutch oven. I think what he really means is a Le Creuset dutch oven. He has one in every color. I bet the people at Le Creuset give him one every time he uses one on t.v. I would love a Le Creuset dutch oven. But I'd have to make the choice of buying the oven or buying food. Food wins every time. I used my good old aluminum dutch oven that my Mom gave me years ago. 

Yes, this is more than a half teaspoon of cayenne. I wanted it a little hotter. 

Brown the onions and peppers until they are carmamelized. The add the sliced sausage and cook for about 10 minutes.

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces, season with some salt and cayenne and add to the pot.

Brown the chicken for 10 minutes. Then stir in the rice. Add water and cover. Cook over medium heat for 30-35 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit in the covered pan for another 2-3 minutes. The lift the lid and let that spicy sweet steam greet your nose. It smells divine. Toss some chopped green onions on top and dinner is served.

The original recipe is at the bottom of this page.

Jalapeño Cornbread

I love cornbread. I would eat it at every meal if I could. My recipe file contains a number of different recipes. I use whatever one fits my mood at the moment. Today was definitely a jalapeño cornbread day. I have no idea where I originally got this recipe. If it is from you, let me know so I can give you credit. You deserve it. This stuff is ridiculous.

Ingredients: Corn meal, whole wheat flour, white flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, pepper, frozen corn, creamed corn, sour cream, eggs and diced jalapeños.

Mix the wet ingredients, corn, creamed corn and the jalapeños and the dry ingredients separately.

Then slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. My t-shirt is not dirty. I can't seem to wash a measuring cup without splashing water all over myself.

Stir ingredients until just moist. Don't over stir. Pour into a greased 9X9 baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 until a knife comes out clean.This cornbread is very moist. It's almost like eating a muffin. One that's loaded with jalapeños.

And here's our finished American meal.

Ok, that doesn't look all that appetizing. I have to work on the lighting in my kitchen. And my garnishing. And my choice of plates. But I don't have to work on my cooking. This was fabulous!

Andouille and Chicken Jambalaya

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped bell peppers

3 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne

1 pound andouille, chorizo, or other smoked sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

1 1/2 pounds boneless white and dark chicken meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 bay leaves

3 cups medium-grain white rice

6 cups water

1 cup chopped green onions

Heat the oil in a large cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1 teaspoon of the cayenne. Stirring often, brown the vegetables for about 20 minutes, or until they are caramelized and dark brown in color. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often for 10 to 15 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles.
 
Season the chicken with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon cayenne. Add the chicken and the bay leaves to the pot. Brown the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned particles.
 
Add the rice and stir for 2 to 3 minutes to coat evenly. Add the water, stir to combine, and cover. Cook over medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes, without stirring, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
 
Stir in the green onions and serve.
 
Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Jalapeño Corn Bread 

1 c. yellow cornmeal

¾ c. all purpose flour

¼ c. whole wheat four

1 t. baking powder

¾ t. salt

½ t. baking soda

Black pepper to taste

1 c. cream style corn

½ c. corn kernels

½ c. sour lean

½ c. milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 t.  packed brown sugar

2 minced jalapeno peppers

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Toss dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl
3. In another bowl, stir the creamed corn and remaining ingredients together until smooth. 
4. Add half the liquid mixture to the dry mixture stirring until just blended. Add remaining liquid mixture, stirring again until just blended.
5. Poor batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake until top is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  About 25 minutes.
7. Cools slightly in pan before cutting into squares.

Your reward for reading all the way to the end.

Dutch Oven Porn.

World Cup salute to Algeria

Yes, the US outplayed Algeria all match. But you have to appreciate a team that kept fighting right to the end. So today's food salute goes out to Algeria.

Most of the recipes I found in my research on Algerian food had couscous as the first item. I personally love couscous. It's so versatile. It's great as a cold salad or a hot side dish. However, making couscous didn't seem like much of a challenge so I did a little more research and found a recipe for El Ham Lahou which apparently translates as Sweet Lamb for Ramadan. It's a dish often eaten to break the fast during Ramadan. The recipe looked simple enough and all the ingredients were locally available. And best yet, it was eaten with couscous.

I admit that I'm not a lamb fan. It's not the taste as much as it is the memory of the little lambs I adopted when I was a kid.  I named them Brandy and Sunshine - it was the 60's after all. I've never been able to enjoy lamb since. Same thing with veal. However even though I had a pet pig as a kid, I've always loved bacon. I'm a big hypocrite.

So, today I faced my hypocrisy and cooked lamb. All because of Algeria.

The ingredients for this recipe are: lamb, butter, sugar, orange juice, prunes, raisins, almonds, salt and an apple. Actually it was supposed to be a pear, but after finding the pears rock hard at four grocery stores I settled on using an apple. The couscous is there because, well, it just sneaked in the picture.

First, melt 3 T. of better in a pan.

Next add the lamb and brown over a low heat. About 5 minutes.

The original recipe did not call for salt on the meat, but I salted it anyhow. Old habits are hard to break.

Next add 1/2 t. of cinnamon. 

Add three cups of water. Notice my canning jar measuring vessel. I really do own a glass measuring cup. Unfortunately it was trapped in the dishwasher. A canning jar works just as well.

And 1/4 c. of sugar. Or four tablespoons if you can't find your 1/4 c. measuring cup. Let this mixture cook over low heat for 40 minutes.

Notice the well used pan. This pan is a work horse and it looks like it.

After 40 minutes, add the raisins and prunes.

Then add the almonds. I chopped them. The original recipe didn't specify if the almonds should be whole, slivered or sliced. We bought whole, but once I looked at them it seemed that perhaps slivered would have been a better idea. I settled for roughly chopping them.

And, add the peeled and diced apple or pear.

Let the mixture simmer for another 15 minutes.

Then add 1/4 c. orange juice and stir in. The sauce will be fairly thick by this point and the orange juice will thin it out slightly.

And serve with buttered couscous.

This was absolutely wonderful. Sweet, but not overly so. It was ready to eat in less than an hour. I think I'll add a little cayenne for some spice next time I make it - and there will definitely be a next time.

Thank you Algeria!

El Ham Lahlou 

(Sweet Lamb For Ramadan)

Ingredients

·  2 1/2lbs lamb, cubed

·  3 T butter

·  1/2 t. ground cinnamon

·  3 cups water

·  1/4 cup sugar

·  15 prunes, soaked in water for one hour and then drained

·  2 T. raisins

·  2 T. almonds

·  1 pear, peeled and cubed

·  1/4 cup orange juice

Instructions

Melt the butter in a pan, add the lamb and saute over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the water, sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Cook in moderate heat for about 40 minutes. Add prunes, raisins, almonds and pear. Simmer for 15 more minutes. Add orange juice, mix well and serve.

Margarita’s International Recipes

http://www.marga.org/food/int/algeria/lamb.html