Roast Duck

We picked up a fresh 5 pound Fulton Valley duck from Guerra's this afternoon to roast on New Year's Day.   We followed Alton's directions for butterflying the duck, rubbing it with kosher salt, piercing the skin and placing it in the fridge uncovered on a broiling pan:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/roast-duck-with-oyster-dressing-recipe/index.html

Notes:

- Since we just picked up the duck, we'll only have around 24 hours to let it dry in the salt.

- We added crushed pink peppercorns.

- I used a little less kosher salt than the 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup).  I probably used only about 3 tablespoons.  I tried to put most of the salt on the skin side.

- I rendered the duck fat that I removed today by cutting up the fat into little bits and cooking it slowly with a little water.  I reserved the giblets for making duck stock later. 

Ginger Snaps

Based on the Alton Brown Recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ginger-snaps-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 9.5 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 7 ounces light brown sugar
  
• 5 ounces unsalted butter, sliced up and slightly melted
• 3 ounces molasses
• 1 large egg
• 4 to 5 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

DOUBLE BATCH

• 19 ounces all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon Maldon salt
• 14 ounces demerera sugar
  
• 10 ounces unsalted butter, sliced up and slightly melted
• 6 ounces molasses
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablepoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 
  

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon and ground clove.

Place the brown sugar, salt and butter into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat for a minute. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 350 degrees F.

With a teaspoon, drop the dough onto a parchment lined or buttered half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack or cutting board to cool completely.

Momofuku composed salad - king trumpet mushrooms...

We riffed on a Momofuku Ssaam Bar salad for lunch yesterday:

Pea sprouts

Pink radishes (should be sliced in crescents)

King trumpet mushrooms (sliced very thinly and sauteed in grapeseed oil - 2 minutes on one side, 2-3 on the other)

Pistachio oil to finish

Served with an omelette

Roasted Dinners

I've been roasting vegetables at temperatures ranging from 375 to 450 F.   I'm planning to compare roasting vegetables on parchment vs on a rack.

Later this week, we plan to roast whole young carrots, chopped parsnips, radishes, fingerling potatoes and delicata squash.   I'll take notes on roasting times and temperatures.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Quick Bread

I made this for Tim's birthday yesterday.  We picked up the ingredients from Rainbow in the morning and I performed this experiment right before we left for dinner (Marnee Thai) in the evening.  The house smelled wonderful.

• 
  
• Ingredients:
• 8 ounces sugar (golden brown)
• 3.25 ounces grapeseed oil (next time, try all butter or substitute olive oil)
• 0.75 ounces unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 12 ounces sugar pie pumpkin 
• (1 medium, seeded, coated in olive oil, and roasted at 375 for 50 minutes, peeled and pureed with stick blender)
• 12 ounces all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (2 grams)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (next time use Maldon)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (1 gram)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (65% Guittard)

Butter and flour one 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. 

Sift flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. 

Beat sugar and oil/butter in another large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. 

Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Do NOT over stir.  Mix in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 70 minutes, until nicely browned and fork inserted into dead center comes out clean.  (Next time, try adding a coat of butter to the top 10 minutes before done.

Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaf. Turn loaf out onto rack (or cutting board) and cool completely.

Additional notes:

- Preparing fresh sugar pie pumpkins takes a lot of extra time.  Consider saving extra roasted butternut or delicata squash from soup-making to do this.

- Grapeseed oil kept the bread moist but didn't add much flavor.  Next time consider using olive oil or all butter or an interesting nut oil.

- Banana nut bread will take a lot less time to prep.

- Consider making smaller loaves.  For the two of us, it's much too big.  Can make everything in the toaster oven if smaller.

- Keep the major ratios the same (flour, oils, sugar, filling).  Consider making it more sweet - honey? 

Goji Berry Chicken Soup

I used to call this Taiwanese Chicken Soup, since it was inspired by my Mom's Chinese herb chicken soup.  But it's been so thoroughly Californified that it needs a new name.  I recently discovered that those mysterious red herbs from the Chinese grocery that my mom gave me are just the same as the health food staple known to Americans as Goji Berries.  So I had Tim pick up a package of organic dried goji berries - and wow what a difference.  They taste wonderful straight from the package.

Ingredients:

2.35 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or chicken legs)

1 handful of dried goji berries

1 yellow beet

2 bunches of green onions (white parts chopped, green sections cut into long strips)

1/2 paper bag of shitake mushrooms (whole, rinsed)

1 large ginger root (peeled and sliced diagonally)

4 garlic cloves (smashed)

1 bunch of collard greens (stems removed and chopped)

kosher salt

ground black pepper

sesame oil

1 meyer lemon

Serve with:

green section of green onions.

Cook:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat sesame oil in french oven.  

Saute white part of green onions plus ginger with the first batch of chicken thighs.  Don't crowd the pan.  Saute until browned (about 12-14 minutes, flip half way through).  Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper while sauteing.  Saute second batch.  Don't let any bits on the pan burn.

Remove chicken.  Add water and lemon juice to deglaze.  Put back chicken.  Add mushrooms, garlic, goji berries, yellow beet, ground pepper, collard greens.  Bring to a boil, turn off heat.  

Place cast iron pot, covered, into the oven and leave it alone for 45 minutes.

Dinner party serving notes:

- After the soup is done, remove ginger and yellow beet and shred the chicken.

- Serve with a small bowl of rice.

Gujarati Curried Cauliflower

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Curried-Cauliflower-with-Tomatoes

I found most of the ingredients at Rainbow, except asafetida + hot paprika (pimente de la vera picante).  I substituted half regular paprika and half cayenne.  It tasted like it was missing something.  Also, it was a dry dish, not saucy.

Next time, I'll try the greek yogurt + okra recipe.  If okra isn't in season, I'll try it with cauliflower.  Cayenne isn't like paprika - next time I'll substitute half ancho chili.  I'll also pick up a little bit of fresher ground paprika.  Asafetida apparently has an odor similar to onion and garlic when cooked.  Next time, I'll include some onion and garlic (or shallots) in the dish.

Roast Chicken version 3

I roasted a chicken in the Granite Ware pot from Mom today.  A bargain at $9.99 from Meijer.  I coated the chicken with olive oil, mixed with salt, pepper, sage and a little lemon.  I filled the cavity with sage, onion, lemon and garlic.

It was a very small chicken - only about 2 1/2 lbs - so I overestimated how much time it would take to roast, covered.  At 375 F, it was almost done after only 45 minutes or so.  I put it back in the oven, uncovered, for another 7 minutes, and turned the heat up, so it slowly rose to 450.  The chicken was juicy but the skin never browned or crisped since I took the cover off too late.  And it didn't have enough salt or sage flavor.

Next time, I plan to roast it covered for only half the time.  I'll cover the chicken in kosher salt at least three hours before roasting, brush it off, and put sage and garlic under the skin.  Putting sage in the cavity didn't make a difference.  Perhaps the onion and lemon in the cavity did keep the chicken moist.

Roast Chicken + Butternut Squash Soup

Roast Chicken

(Brine by Shirley Corriher, Roast and stuff by Julia Child)

- 3.5 lb. Fulton Valley Farm chicken from Guerra's.

- Clean chicken and giblets

- Brine chicken:  Cover chicken in salt.  Put chicken in a pot and cover with water.  Put everything in the fridge for 3 hours. 

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

- Rub chicken with olive oil and pepper mixture.  Put on v-rack in orange pan.

- Stuff chicken cavity with 1 meyer lemon (thinly sliced), 1/4 red onion, handful of thyme.  Put leftover 1/4 of the red onion and thyme in the bottom of the pan.  (By mistake, I poured some water in the bottom of the pan.)

- Tie legs together with twine.  Turn bird breast side up.

- Roast for 15 minutes at 425 F.  Baste with drippings/olive oil.

- Lower temperature to 350F.

- Roast for about 1 hour (basting every 15 minutes), or until juices run clear.  An extra 7 minutes per extra pound.  

- Bittman doneness temperature:  breast 160F, thigh 165F.

Butternut Squash Soup

- Preheat oven to 400

- Cut 3 small butternut squash (4.5 lbs total) in half, slather in olive oil, bake cut side up for 35-40 minutes, remove the hollow bits, then bake the rest for another 10 minutes

- Meanwhile, cut 2 tart (granny smith) apples in half, core, and roast them cut side up for 30-35 minutes with the squash.

- Find your immersion blender

- Saute for 15 minutes in olive oil (in French oven):  chicken giblets (remove when browned), 1/2 chopped red onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 small bunch of chopped carrots, 1 dried bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, minced ginger.

- Remove bay leaf.

- Prepare 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, 1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- Skin and chop squash.  Chop apples with skin on.  Add them to the sauteed vegetables, and add water to cover.  Bring to a simmer and turn off heat.

- Blend everything thoroughly

- Bring temperature back up.  

- Add nutmeg, white pepper.

- Add milk or cream to taste.  (I don't add salt.)

Ingredients list:

3.5 lb. Fulton Valley Farm chicken

4.5 lb. butternut squash (3 small ones)

2 large granny smith apples

1 really small bunch of carrots

1 large red onion

1 small fresh ginger root from Rainbow

1 bunch of thyme from the garden

1 meyer lemon

milk and/or cream

garlic

1 dried bay leaf

whole nutmeg

cinnamon stick

olive oil

salt for brining

black pepper

white pepper

Butternut Squash Soup version 1

I finally took the immersion blender for a spin!  All those beautiful squash were asking to be blended into soup.  

I used Alton Brown's recipe for a base:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/squash-soup-recipe/index.html

Alterations:

- plus 1 medium red onion (chopped), one dried bay leaf, 3 cloves garlic - sauteed in olive oil for 10 minutes

- minus the honey

- double/triple the minced ginger

- add one roasted apple (chopped in half and roasted for 30 minutes) and a dash of cinnamon

- used 5 lbs of butternut squash (2 large ones - not very accurate Alton!!!), cut in half, covered in olive oil (not butter) and baked at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, removed the hollow ends and baked the rest for another 10 minutes.

- substituted water for one of the cups of vegetable stock

- substituted milk for some of the heavy cream

- added the pepper at the end

Notes for next time:

- use 2 large tart baked apples (peeled) instead of 1

- don't use vegetable stock - just add carrots and leek with the onion/etc - and then add salt to taste

- use milk only, not cream

- add more water (it was too thick)

- perhaps only buy 4 lbs of squash

- use only 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

- possibly use fried sage instead of ginger?

In other words, version 2 should look like this:

- Preheat oven to 400

- Cut 2 small butternut squash (4 lbs total) in half, slather in olive oil, bake cut side up for 30-40 minutes, remove the hollow bits, then bake the rest for another 10 minutes

- Meanwhile, cut 2 tart (granny smith) apples in half, core, and roast them cut side up for 3o minutes

- Find your immersion blender

- Saute for 15 minutes in olive oil (in French oven):  1 chopped red onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 bunch of chopped carrots, whole sage leaves and 1 bay leaf.  

- Remove sage and bay leaf.  Keep sage for garnish.

- Prepare 1/2 teaspoon of white/black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- Skin and chop squash and apples.  Add them to the sauteed vegetables, and add water to cover.  Bring to a simmer and turn off heat.

- Blend everything thoroughly

- Bring temperature back up.  Add milk, water, nutmeg, white/black pepper, salt to taste.

Roasted Dinner

Early Girl tomatoes (4-8 small ones, cut in half)

Maitake mushrooms (1/2 - 1 lb, sliced)

Red potatoes (2-4, diced into 1/8ths)

4 eggs

Coat vegetables in olive oil, salt & pepper

Roast tomatoes for 2 - 4 hours (250 - 350F) - see Orangette

Roast potatoes for 30 minutes (450F)

Roast mushrooms for 18 minutes (450F)

Have Tim saute two omelettes (Alton Brown method)

Roasted Halibut, Tomatillos & Eggplant

Tonight we roasted 

- halibut on a bed of scallions and gingergrass with soy sauce, ginger and garlic

- whole tomatillos and sliced eggplant, in olive oil, salt & pepper

450 degrees

Roasted Butterfish & Roasted Maitake Mushrooms

Shopping with Jane at our neighborhood greenmarket, we found maitake mushrooms at the Far West Fungi stand.

Turns out that both butterfish filets and mushrooms should be roasted at 450 degrees (20-24 minutes for fish, under 20 minutes for mushrooms).  Aw yeah!

See other roasted butterfish recipe.

Eggplant Basil Stir-fry + Roasted Butterfish

Aromatic sauce:

garlic  - 3 cloves, minced

ginger - large piece, minced

green onions - a bunch, white parts chopped

lemon - juice of one lemon, preferably meyer lemon

soy sauce

dried red chile pepper - broken in half, stem removed

Let aromatic sauce steep together

Vegetables:

japanese eggplant - 1 bias cut

baby bok choy - 2 sliced, separate leaves from stem portions

corn - removed from 2 cobs

shitake mushrooms - stems removed and sliced

basil - 1 bunch, chopped

Cook vegetables:

Bake eggplant in toaster oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes

Use 2/3 of the aromatic sauce, reserve 1/3

Fry on high heat eggplant and mushrooms, then bok choy stems, then corn and bok choy leaves.

At the end, add basil and ground black pepper

Cook fish:

Preheat oven to 450

Butterfish - 2 filets (about 1 lb)

Place 2 beds of parsley and chives in the orange Le Creuset baking pan

Put a filet on each bed

Score filets on the diagonal

Put aromatics into the slits, pour 1/3 of aromatic sauce over the fish

Cover fish with parsley and chives

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until fish is 150 degrees

Yellow Borscht

Ingredients:
2 bunches of yellow or orange beets, with greens

(or 6 beets w/o greens + a bunch of chard without the stems)
1 large spring onion
1 bunch of baby carrots (optional)
1 green garlic bulb
1 large leek (white section chopped)
8 roma tomatoes
6 gold potatoes
1 lemon (juiced)
1 chunk of parmesan rind
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper
olive oil

Serve with:
scallions
grated parmesan

Spring Stir-fry

Spring is here, and it's time to leave behind all the stews, soups and roasts. Summer fog will roll in soon enough, so we need to take advantage of this window of lovely weather and saute quick meals over the stovetop.

Stir-fry

Basic Ingredients:

1 large section of ginger root (peeled and minced)

1 small green garlic bulb

1-2 tsp. soy sauce

2 spring onion bulbs (quartered)

jalapeno olive oil

sesame oil

1 meyer lemon (juiced)

Other Ingredients:

1/2 package of firm tofu (cubed)

1 red bell pepper

oyster or shitake mushrooms

carrots

snow peas

tomatoes

asparagus

What's for dinner?

I've been keeping track of every book I've read since 2004. I might as well try to keep track of everything I've attempted to cook. I suppose that from now on this blog will serve as my list. Here's everything else (that I can think of) that Tim and I have attempted to prepare since the beginning of 2009:

Roasted whole fish with vegetables and sausage (Saveur)
Ancho chili-rubbed braised pork shoulder (A. Waters)
Panko-crusted pork chops
Bean chili (NYT)
Oshitake (NYT)
Lamb and lentil stew (NYT)
Assorted roasted vegetable experiments - potatoes, acorn squash, eggplant, etc.
Huevos rancheros
[Plus everything else posted on the site so far]

I keep a book journal to keep track of books I liked enough to recommend or gift to others and books I didn't like and shouldn't purchase or borrow again by accident. This cooking journal may have similar uses, but mostly I hope it will help me figure out what I want to make for dinner.

Sesame Beer Chicken

This is my favorite recipe from Mom, with a few twists.

Sesame Beer Chicken

Ingredients:

2-4 chicken legs

1/2 bottle IPA beer

1 handful of somen noodles (boiled for 2 minutes)

1 large ginger root (peeled and sliced)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

1 bunch green onions (white sections chopped, green sections reserved for garnish)

1 slice of bacon (or olive oil)

ground black pepper

Serve with:

sesame oil

lime slices

chopped green onion

raw bean sprouts or chopped red cabbage

Cook:

Brown bacon in cast iron french oven.  Remove bacon.  Brown chicken (11 minutes skin side down, 4 minutes skin side up).  Remove chicken.  Saute green onions, ginger and garlic for 8 minutes.  Deglaze with beer.  Add chicken, skin side up, in one layer.  Bring to a boil and skim foam.  Simmer for 4o minutes.

Roast Duck Breast

When I visited my parents in Michigan last year, Mom made an excellent roast duck.  I love duck, but Tim and I generally don't need a whole duck for just the two  of us, so sometimes we'll just share a roast duck breast.

Roast Duck Breast

Night before:

1 duck breast (crosshatch skin and then pierce all over with a knife, and then cover with salt and ground black pepper)

Cook:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Fry skin side down for 10 minutes on medium low heat in cast iron pan.

Flip over and bake for 10 minutes.

Let rest for 3 minutes, then slice thinly and serve with optional sauce.

Sauce:

Soak sundried tomatoes in hot water, drain and chop.

Deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar and sundried tomatoes.

Moroccan Chicken

I've never liked Bobby Flay as a Food Network celebrity, but after going to his (now closed) Spanish restaurant in the Flatiron District, I've recognized that the man can cook.  This recipe is informed by his Chicken and Chickpea Tagine recipe on the Food Network site.  (My favorite part of his recipe is where he tells you not to check on the food while it's in the oven.)

Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs (seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil the night before)

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. ras al hanout spice mix (plus an extra shake of cinnamon)

1 pinch of saffron (soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water)

1 can (16 oz.) of chickpeas

3/4 cup of raisins or chopped prunes

1 bay leaf

olive oil

Serve with:

chopped almonds

chopped parsley

Cook:

Preheat oven to 400F.  Heat oil in cast iron french oven.  Brown chicken legs skin side down for 11 minutes, skin side up 3 minutes.  Remove chicken and pour off fat.   Brown onions in olive oil in same pan for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic, spices and bay leaf and cook for 2 minutes.  Add saffron (in its water), tomatoes, chickpeas and dried fruit.  Deglaze with a little water.  Add back chicken (skin side up), all in one layer.  

Bake in oven, covered, for 40 minutes.  Don't check on it until the 40 minutes are over.

Notes:  

Try adding collard greens?

Fall Minestrone

This is the Alice Waters recipe that inspired me to cook again.  I've made a few adaptations to save time.

Fall Minestrone

Ingredients:

2 bunches of kale (deveined and chopped)

1 butternut squash (roasted whole at 350F for 25 minutes, peeled and chopped)

1 sprig of fresh sage

1 large yellow onion

1 bag of baby carrots or equivalent (chopped)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

1 large leek (white section chopped)

1 32 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes (drained and chopped)

1 chunk of parmesan rind

1 bay leaf

2 cans of cannellini beans (or 8 oz. dried beans, pre-cooked)

salt, ground black pepper

olive oil

Serve with:

lemon slices

grated parmesan

Heat oil in cast iron french oven.  Saute onions and carrots until softened (about 10 minutes).  Add garlic, sage, salt, pepper, cheese rind, bay leaf, leeks and cook another 10 minutes.  Deglaze with water, add tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Add kale and stir until wilted.  Add squash.  If the liquid doesn't cover the vegetables, add more water.

Simmer partly covered for 30 minutes (or bake covered at 375F for 30 minutes).  If using canned beans, add them during last 5 minutes.  Let soup rest for 10 minutes.

Notes:  This soup can be modified by replacing the sage with Moroccan spices (ras al hanout, cumin, cinnamon, saffron), replacing the butternut squash with sweet potatoes, or switching the beans with borlotti or vallartas.

Taiwanese Chicken Soup

Sometimes I cook because I want to eat something healthy, and sometimes I cook because I enjoy the process of cooking. But often I cook because I want to eat something that restaurants don't serve. In the winter, what I usually really need is good chicken soup, and often what I really want is Mom's Taiwanese herb chicken soup. Here's my California version of Mom's soup.

Taiwanese Chicken Soup

(revised on December 14, 2009)

Ingredients:

2.35 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or chicken legs)

1 handful of dried goji berries

2 bunches of green onions (white parts chopped, green sections cut into long strips)

1/2 paper bag of shitake mushrooms (whole, rinsed)

1 large ginger root (peeled and sliced diagonally)

4 garlic cloves (smashed)

1 bunch of collard greens (stems removed and chopped)

1 yellow beet

sea salt

ground black pepper

sesame oil

1 meyer lemon

Serve with:

green section of green onions.

Cook:

Heat oil in cast iron pot. Add chicken thighs, saute until browned (about 12-14 minutes, flip half way through) for each batch - probably 2 batches. Season with salt + ground black pepper while sauteing. Remove chicken.

Saute white part of green onions + ginger for 5 minutes. Add water + lemon juice to deglaze.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put back chicken. Add mushrooms, garlic, goji berries, ground pepper, collard greens. Add water to cover mixture. Bring to a boil, turn off heat.

Place cast iron pot, covered, into the oven and leave it alone for 45 minutes.

Dinner party serving notes:

- After the soup is done, remove ginger and yellow beet and shred the chicken.

- Serve with a small bowl of rice.

Pasta with Asparagus and Sundried Tomatoes

When we first moved to San Francisco, we were amazed by how good the produce was at our corner store.  The produce at the corner stores in New York was always limp and flavorless, so when we found good, fresh asparagus at our corner store in San Francisco in March, I came up with this recipe so that we could cook it twice a week.

Pasta with Asparagus and Sundried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

Dried pasta

1 bunch of asparagus (woody ends removed and broken into bits)

1 handful of sundried tomatoes (reconstituted in hot water for 10 minutes, drained and chopped)

2-4 dried red chili peppers

jalapeno olive oil

Serve with:

ground black pepper

shaved parmesan or aged gouda

Cook:

Boil water with salt and cook pasta.  

Heat oil in large pan.  Saute asparagus 4-6 minutes (depending on how thick they are) with tongs.  Add tomatoes, chili peppers.  Add pasta with a little of the pasta water. Toss and serve with ground black pepper and cheese.

Turkey Chili

Back when Tim and I lived in the Phid house, I used to make a huge vat of turkey chili every week or so.  It was the perfect dish for law students - we could eat it for a week or share it with our housemates.  Unfortunately, I couldn't remember much about the recipe.   I just remember that my "secret" ingredient was sherry.  I also couldn't remember if my turkey chili was any good.  So when I decided to make this dish again last week, I came up with a new recipe (borrowing heavily from Bon Appetit's 1997 Turkey Chili with White Beans recipe).

Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

0.5 lb. ground turkey

1 yellow onion (chopped)

a large bunch of baby carrots (chopped coarsely)

1 large head of cauliflower (chopped)

1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes (drained and chopped)

8 oz. dried Vallarta beans (pre-soaked for 6 hours, pre-cooked for 1.5 hours)

1/2 bottle of IPA beer

jalapeno olive oil

Spices and herbs:

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2-4 dried red chili peppers

2 tbsp. chopped dark chocolate (or 1 tbsp. cocoa powder)

1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chili pepper

1 tsp. ground ancho chili pepper

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried epazote (or oregano)

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Serve with:

fresh cilantro (chopped)

steamed corn

queso fresco or cheddar

red cabbage (chopped)

Cook:

Heat oil in large cast-iron pot.  Saute onions until light brown (10 minutes).  Add spices and herbs, stir.  Turn heat up to medium high.  Add ground turkey and stir until no longer pink. Add tomatoes, beer (and if using dried beans, add beans with bean cooking water).  Add cauliflower.  Add water if necessary to cover the mixture.  Bring to a boil, then simmer partly covered for 40 minutes.

Notes:  

Feel free to substitute the dried beans with 16 oz. of canned white beans, but don't add canned beans until the last 10 minutes of simmering.

If using dried beans, don't cook them completely separately, and don't add too many beans.

Don't add kale.  Don't add too much spice.  Don't use canned "fire-roasted" tomatoes.

Cioppino!

Updated on 6.26.2010

Fresh ingredients:
2 lbs of seafood (alaskan cod cut in pieces, bay scallops, calamari)
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1 fennel bulb (chopped)

1 lemon (peel + juice only)
2 lbs of roma tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic (smashed)
optional: yukon gold potatoes (chopped)

Pantry ingredients:

1 bay leaf
2 dried red chile peppers (stems removed and ground)
4 saffron threads
ground black pepper
2 cups white wine
olive oil
optional: 1 anchovy filet

Serve with:

1 loaf sourdough bread

Cook:
Saute onion, fennel bulb, lemon peel, bay leaf, garlic, chile peppers, ground pepper, saffron for 10 minutes in olive oil.

Deglaze with wine.

Add potatoes, tomatoes and water to cover. If not adding anchovy, add Maldon salt.

Simmer 10 minutes.

Add fish and simmer covered for 10-12 minutes. Add bay scallops + calamari and simmer uncovered for 2 minutes or less.