This week with the pressure cooker

I've used the pressure cooker twice this week and I haven't blown up the house.  I am quite relieved!  The first time I cut up a bunch of vegetables and put in a couple cups of white beans (that I soaked overnight) with some chicken in the pressure cooker.  I started by sauteing the onions, then added everything else.  I have a 16 quart cooker and I was afraid I wouldn't have enough in it to make it work without scorching the bottom.  By the time I finished cutting vegetables the cooker was half full.  It took about 25 minutes to bring the pot up to 15 pounds of pressure.  I then cooked it at that pressure for 15 minutes, turned off the heat and let it cool down on it's own, which took another 15-20 minutes.  I was thinking it might have been just as fast in a regular pot.  But when I took the lid off everything was perfectly cooked, even the beans.  (Due to our cleanse, I didn't put any meat in the stew.  It would have been much better with a little bacon.)

Tonight, I did a healthy take on chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.  It was delicious.

Separate 1-2 heads of garlic into individual cloves, do not peel.  Blanch in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Strain and set aside.  Take the skin off of 3 pounds of chicken thighs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in the pressure cooker.  Brown the chicken, then remove from pan.  Add 1 chopped onion and saute for a minute.  Put the chicken back in the cooker.  Add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp oregano, the blanched, unpeeled garlic, and 1 bay leaf into the cooker.  Cover and bring to 15 pounds of pressure.  Cook 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and let cool on it's own.  Remove chicken and garlic cloves and reduce sauce.  Pour over chicken.

For the chicken, since the pot had less in it, it only took about 5 minutes to bring it to 15 pounds of pressure.  The cool down took about 5 minutes also.  Much quicker!

jacks thoughts

in the beggening i thought bad of one month at a time and that we wernt gonna make it but i have come to like it and am kinda sad to see it go. i got to try many new things and some say ive have tried more things than some adults. some months wanted to make me barf and ill admit that some thing in it were pretty freaken good and i would say and recomend that you try it and give your child the culturnay expertise of a adult! 

Sam's Thoughts

I think that this whole thing was cool in all but I'm looking forward to going back to how it was.  It was fun, but some of the months got boring and quite a few meals sucked.  My favorite month was either Korea or India. 

Thanks, SAM

The end of the year

I really can't believe we did this for an entire year.  I really enjoyed it and learned a ton.  I think Sanford and the boys were ready for this to be over.  I am going to the grocery store today for the first time this year and I feel a little lost.  When we started in January, I felt a little off at the grocery store.  There were certain things that I bought every time I went to the store.  Some things didn't change  - onions, garlic, tortillas, cheese, beans- but everything else did.  I have no idea what I am going to cook this week, except for tonight.  Roast chicken with a yogurt sauce, brown rice and broccoli.  This has always been a staple in our house, and I have missed it.  Also, after a rich, boozy holiday season, we are starting a little cleanse so we are going to focus on healthy foods.  Sanford is cringing at the word cleanse. 

This year instead of focusing on the foods of a particular country I want to focus on techniques.  I am not sure how much I will blog about it.  I have a new pressure cooker that I received for christmas.  I can't wait to use it.  I am not sure how to use it yet and I am a little scared of it.  I will try the brown rice in it tonight as well as some white beans.  I also got a clay cooking pot so I am excited to give that a try.  I also would like to work on bread making (I am a little jealous of the breads that my father-in-law is making).  I also am going to try canning this summer.  My best friend offered me a little garden plot in her yard this summer since the only things that grow on my tree covered land are wild mosses and ferns.

Thanks for all of your kind words and support this past year.

Jill

xinxim

Chicken, shrimp and peanut stew.  Marinate 4 cut up boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the juice of 1 lemon, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tsp salt,  1 tsp pepper in refrigerator for 30 minutes.  In a heavy saucepan heat 2 tsp peanut oil and cook chicken and 1 diced onion for about 10 minutes.  Add 1 cup chicken stock, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts (ground fine) and 1 minced serrano pepper.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Add 1 pound peeled shrimp.  Cook until shrimp cooked through.  Served with Brazilian rice (Wash 2 cups rice until water runs clear.  Saute 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves in 2 tbsp olive oil for 3 minutes.  Add rice and saute 3-5 min.  Add 4 cups water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.  Fluff)

 Both recipes were from Cooking the Brazilian Way.  This was much tastier than last night's.  Reminded us of Thai food.  Felt like it needed a little cilantro at the end.

Brazilian Pork Chops, black beans, kale and farofa

I'm not sure why my pictures are not uploading today.  I was able to upload an entire album in record time to facebook, but cannot upload 2 pictures here.  I will try at the end of the blog.  This meal wasn't very exciting.  The whole meal came from Cooking the Brazilian Way.  I'm not sure if the cause of the disappointment was my cooking, the recipe, or if this was how it was supposed to taste.  The pork chops were the one hit with the boys and me.

Farofa:  Saute 1 thinly sliced onion in 2 tbsp butter.  When soft add 1 lightly beaten egg, stirring constantly.  Add 1 1/2 cup manioc meal and cook until golden.  Add 1 tbsp minced parsley and 1 tsp salt.  Garnish with 6-8 sliced green olives with pimentos and cubed hard boiled egg.

Tutu a Mineira:  Mashed beans.  Place 3 cups rinsed canned black beans, 1/2 cup at a time in a food processor.  Mix until a smooth puree.  Add bean juice as needed to keep smooth.  In a saucepan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil.  Add 1 chopped onion and saute until soft.  Add 2 minced garlic cloves.  Add bean puree.  Slowly add 3/4 cup manoic flour, stirring constantly.  Cook over low heat 10-15 minutes.  Add more bean liquid as necessary.  (I ended up adding quite a bit of water since it seemed to seize up and develop an unappealing texture.

Couve a Mineira:  Collard Greens.  (I substituted Kale since I like it better and that is what was in the fridge).  Wash and slice the kale into ribbons.  Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a pan.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves.  Add the kale, salt, and pepper and saute about 4 minutes.

Costeletas de Porco:  Brazilian pork chops.  Mix the following in a shallow dish.  2 tbsp olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 minced serrano.  Add 4 lean pork chops.  Mix to coat.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.  Cook pork chops in a large skillet over med high heat until done.

This time the pictures worked.

Farofo

The rest of dinner

Argentina

We took a little side trip to Argentina while waiting for a cookbook from Brazil.  I just received the cookbook yesterday.  An entire cookbook devoted to Brazilian food.  I quickly turn to the "main dish" section.  What do I find?  Four entrees.  This is becoming a very difficult month.  We were going to stop at Christmas, but we will just take a little break for christmas eve and christmas day.  Christmas eve (now) we are headed to House of Chow for Peking Duck.  Tomorrow we will have butternut squash soup, followed by cassoulet and salad, cheese, and chocolate cake.  (We have had cassoulet every year with friends for Christmas since we moved back to Missouri, 13 years!)  Then we will finish Brazil before the new year.

Back to the Argentina, we rubbed salt, pepper and cayenne into the ribeyes.  Then we grilled them, along with thickly sliced tomatoes, marinating with a parsley-garlic chimichurri sauce.   We grilled the bread with garlic smashed in olive oil.  We served it all with a red-chile-cilantro chimichurri sauce.

Parsley-garlic chimichurri:  In a food processor add 1 cup packed parsley leaves, 4 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp paprika, salt and pepper to taste.  Process about 10 seconds.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/2 cup olive oil.  Allow to stand at room temp for one hour.   (From Essentials of Latin Cooking)

Red Chile-Cilantro chimichurri sauce:  In a food processor add 1/2 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves, 1/2 cup firmly packed parsley leaves, 2 tbsp chopped scallions, 2 tsp fresh lime juice, 2 tsp white vinegar, 2 crumbled bay leaves, 1/2 chopped jalepeno and salt and pepper.  Process about 10 sec.  Transfer to a bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil.  Allow to stand at room temp for one hour.  (From Essentials of Latin Cooking)