Sunday Night Supper Club: Spain

Sunday night supper club:  Our plan is once a month a group of friends gather for a potluck based on one country.   The first one was at the Speake's house.  The country:  Spain

Pollo al ajillo:  Chicken with garlic.  Place 1 tbsp sweet spanish paprika, 1 tbsp flour, salt and pepper in a ziplock.  Add 3 1/2 pounds chicken thighs.  Toss until chicken is evenly coated.  Leave in bag 30 minutes.  Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a pan. Add 15 bruised, but unpeeled, garlic cloves.  Saute 2 minutes.  Remove.  Add chicken and brown about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic back into the pan.  Saute 5 minutes until golden.  Add 1 bay leaf and 1/2 cup dry sherry. Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and cook 30 minutes.  Put on serving platter and sprinkle with 1 tbsp chopped parsley. (from spanish country kitchen)

Mary Beth brought the shrimp.

Gambas al Ajillo al Horno:  Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Peel and butterfly 1 pound shrimp.  Toss with 1 tsp chili flakes, 4 tbsp olive oil, 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves, 4 tbsp dry sherry.  Divide the shrimp between 4 small ovenproof dishes.  Cook for 6-8 minutes until pink and sizzling.  Sprinkle with 2 oz chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Connie and her mushroom toasts:  Slice 5 oz mushrooms.  Saute in olive oil.  Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp sherry.  Cover to cook out liquid, about 10 minutes.  Uncover and finish when liquid evaporates.  Slice a baguette and toast in 350 degree oven.  .  Aioli:  1 pint olive oil, 3 egg yolks, 8 cloves garlic, 2-3 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp coarse salt or to taste.  Smear toast with aioli, top with mushrooms and broil until aioli bubbles.

Scallop Ceviche:  Jennifer Erikson:  Rinse and clean 2 pounds bay scallops.  In large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups lime juice, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar, 1 minced garlic clove, and salt and pepper.  Add 2 finely diced serrano and1 finely diced red bell pepper, 1/4 finely diced sweet vidalia onion and 3 diced tomatoes to the marinade.  Add the scallops and gently stir.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Press down into the mixture so there is no air in between.  Place in refrigerator 1-2 hours.  Strain off most of liquid.  Pour ceviche into another bowl.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and mix in 3 tbsp chopped cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper.

The Werths

Moorish pork kabob:  Pork tenderloin 1 inch chunks.  Marinade:  olive oil, curry, coriander, cumin, lemon juice, salt.  Broil.  Delicious.  Mushrooms Ajillo (not picture) portabellas, lots of garlic, chicken broth, red wine, salt, pepper, paprika, lemon juice, red pepper flakes.   Baguette

Patatas brava de Wilson:  Peel and cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces.  Place in a large pot of water.  Bring to a boil.  Boil 1-2 minutes.  Fry potatoes until golden brown in 1/2 inch oil.  Aioli:  whisk 1 egg yolk, 5-6 minced garlic cloves, and 1/2 tsp lemon juice.  Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil slowly.  Red Sauce:  1 can tomato sauce,  1 tsp sugar, 1 chopped serrano pepper,  1 1/2 tsp red wine, salt and pepper.  Simmer all together for a bit.

Braised Pork from the Kingsleys:  1 6 pound pork shoulder roast.  Blend 1 tbsp spanish paprika, 2 tsp cumin, 5 garlic cloves, and 2 1/2 oz olive oil.  Coat pork with mixture.  Roast covered at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.  Slice 1 inch thick.Put back into pan with 14 oz can diced tomatoes, chicken stock to cover.  Place on stove and simmer until fork tender, about an hour.  Serve over rice.  Salt and pepper and fresh mint to taste.

Mary Beth and Anne

Mike O, Jennifer and Tim

Werths and McGaritys

McGarity's Flan:  Recipe still to come.

Tortilla Espanola:  Slice peeled potatoes and 1 onion about 1/6 inch thick.  Place 3 tbsp olive oil in pan.  Cook potatoes very slowly until tender, but not browned.  Beat 4 eggs in a bowl.  Add potatoes to eggs slowly to temper.  Season with salt and pepper.   Put back in pan.  Cook until eggs almost set.  Slide onto a plate.  Flip plate back into pan.  Cook another 5 minutes.  (More details on the Spain page)

Unfortunately, a lot of my photos were blurry, since I had my camera set to the food setting.  I will try to get pictures of all of the people and all of the food.  Next Month:  McGarity House, France

Thanksgiving dinner again

Roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sauteed kale

We used the pressure cooker for the potatoes and the kale.  The potatoes were much better this way than the previous blog.  Peel and cut 3 idaho potatoes into chunks.  Put water in the pressure cooker with a steamer basket.  Bring to pressure.  Cook 5 minutes.  Cool quickly.  Mash and add butter, olive oil and milk to taste.  Salt and pepper.

The kale was really good.  Tasted like we had braised slowly for hours.  Saute 2 chopped slices of bacon until crispy.  Remove.  Pour off most of bacon fat.  Saute one chopped onion and 3 garlic cloves, minced.  Add kale and bacon to the pot.  Add 2 cups chicken broth.  Bring to pressure.  Cook 5 minutes.  Cool quickly.

chili with pressure cooker black beans

Roast garlic in a dry hot cast iron skillet until blackened in spots and soft.

Ancho paste:  Stem 8 large dried ancho chilis and remove seeds.  Press flat in the hot skillet for a few seconds on each side and remove.  Place in hot water and let soak 30 minutes.  In a food processor,  put the garlic that was roasted, then peeled, 1 1/2 tsp mexican oregano, 1/8 tsp fresh ground cumin seed, 1/4 tsp freshly ground cloves, 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, 3/4 cup beef broth.  Puree.  Drain and add the chiles and  process until smooth.  Push through a sieve and season with salt.  (from Rick Bayless)

Soak black beans 4 hours.  Drain and rinse.  Put in pressure cooker, add water until beans are just covered.  Pressure cook 3 minutes.  Quickly cool and drain.

Heat 1 tsp bacon fat.  Add 1 1-2 pounds ground beef, 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped zucchini.  Cook until browned.  Drain fat.  (this was grass fed beef, so there was no fat in the pan).  Stir in the ancho paste and cook for a few minutes, stirring.  Add 2 cans tomatoes along with 1 1/2 cans water.  Bring to a simmer.  Simmer partially covered for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir in black beans and heat.  Season with salt and pepper.  This is my new favorite chili.

Pressure cooker marinara with sauted sausage and mushrooms

Tonight's pressure cooker recipe is for marinara.

Saute 1 chopped onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves.  Season with 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme and a couple of tablespoons chopped fresh parsley.  Deglaze pan with red wine.  Add 3 cans of tomatoes.  Puree with an immersion blender.  Season with red chili flakes, salt, pepper and about a tsp of sugar.  Cover pan.  Bring to pressure and cook for 30 minutes.  Cool quickly.  Salt, pepper and fresh parsley to taste.  (I often only cook marinara for about 30-45 minutes on the stovetop.  The pressure cooker gave it a taste and texture like it had been cooked much longer.)

Served with pasta.  Italian sausage cooked in a pan.  When done, remove sausage and pour off all but a thin layer of the grease.  Add a couple of shallots and sliced mushrooms.  Cook 1-2 minutes.  Add fresh parsley and salt.  Cook another minute.  Sam made a salad with greens and a parmesan dressing.  (Parmesan cheese, a dollop of mayo, olive oil, red wine vinegar, a dash of honey and salt and pepper)

Pressure cooker enchiladas and beans

Chicken and poblano enchiladas.   Chicken:   Brown one full chicken breast in a tbsp oil.  Add 2 cups water.  Cover and bring to pressure.  Cook 12 minutes.  Cool quickly.  Save broth.   Poblanos:  Roast 2 large poblanos under broiler until blackened.  Place in bag.  Peel and dice.  Sauce:  Roast 1 large tomato and 2 serrano peppers under broiler.  Add to food processor.  In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil.  Cook 1 chopped onion until softened.  Add 2 minced garlic cloves.  Add onions and garlic to tomato and puree.  In pan, heat 1 tbsp oil.  When hot, add tomato puree all at once.  Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1 cup chicken broth.  Simmer until thickened slightly, about 10-15 minutes.  Stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro.  Pull chicken off bone.  Add the poblanos, some cilantro and enough sauce to moisten.    Dip corn tortillas into sauce.  Fill with chicken mixture.  Put in casserole dish.  Cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Top with shredded cheese and cook until melted.

These refried beans are a result of overcooked adzuki beans.  I originally pressure cooked the soaked adzuki beans for 3 minutes.  They were still a little tough.  I pressure cooked them another 3 minutes and let it cool on its own.  This was too long.  They were pretty much mush.  Next time I would only cook another 1 minutes, then cool at once.  To make them refried beans I cooked 1/2 cup chorizo.  Add 1 chopped onion and a couple of minced garlic cloves.  Season with cumin, salt and ancho chili powder, a little oregano.  Add beans and cook for about 30 minutes.  Use an immersion blender to make smooth.

More pressure cooking

Ribollita:  I made this once before out of Saveur magazine.  It took a long time, and I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure why, since it sounds delicious.  This time I adapted a recipe from the Silver Spoon.  It was much better, although I am sure some sausage would make it even better, and definitely some garlic.  Here's the recipe:

   Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in the pressure cooker.  Add 1 chopped onion, celery stalk and 1 chopped and peeled carrot stick.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add 1 can of tomatoes, 1 tsp dried thyme, and 2 peeled and coarsely chopped potatoes.  Cook another minute.  A 1 bunch shredded kale and 1/2 cup dried navy beans (soaked for at least 4 hours).  Add enough water to cover.  Close pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook 15 minutes.  Let cool on it's own.  (Here the recipe calls for taking 4 slices of country style bread and putting it in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Pour the soup over the top.  Cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  This sounds good, but I wanted to be able to take it to work and heat it up in the microwave.  So I made croutons out of a baguette and olive oil to dip in the reheated soup.)

Jack decided this week would be taco week.  We can't quite leave the concept of one month at a time!  So I have tried a few ingredients in the pressure cooker.  Even had two pressure cookers going at one time.  I feel quite daring.

I pressure cooked 4 pounds of chicken quarters with a chopped carrot, celery stalk, onion and bay leaf and thyme, filled with enough water to almost cover.  I cooked it at 15 pounds pressure for 10 minutes, letting it cool on it's own.  Again, the chicken turned out incredibly tender and the broth is great.  I then cooked it in a pan with a chipotle-tomato salsa.  (Put 2 large tomatoes and 3 garlic cloves under the broiler til charred, about 6 minutes on each side.  Place in cuisinart.  Add 2-3 chopped chipotles in adobo.  Blend.  Add 1 scant tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and stir.)  Another night I add a fresh salsa to the chicken for a less smoky flavor. (Salsa:  Put 2 large tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves, and 3 serrano peppers under the broiler and cook until charred on both sides.  Put all in cuisinart and blend.    Add 1/2 chopped white onion that has been run under cold water, along with 1/4 chopped cilantro, 1 tsp each salt and sugar.  Stir.)


Black Beans:  Soak 2 cups for 4 hours.  Cook 2 slices chopped bacon.  Add 1 chopped onion and cook 3-4 minutes.  Add 4 garlic cloves, minced.  Season with ancho chili powder.  Add drained black beans and enough water to cover beans.   Heat over high heat til 15 pounds pressure.  Cook 4 minutes.  Allow to cool on it's own.  I was shocked how creamy these beans were.


Brown rice:  There are a ton of different recipes for rice.  Some say to put them in a bowl and cover them with water in the pan, a few others say to just cook them in the pan.  Placing them in a separate bowl seems like a pain so I didn't follow those directions.  Instead I did it this way:  Heat 1 tbsp oil in the cooker.  Add 1 chopped onion and saute.  Add 2 cups brown rice along with 3 cups water.  Cover and heat to pressure.  Cook 12 minutes.  Allow to cool on it's own.  I think I will try 13 minutes the next time.  Seemed like it could go just a bit longer.

Chorizo with potatoes:  I cooked the potatoes as in the previous post.  Peeled and diced.  Put 1 cup water in bottom of cooker.  Put potatoes in a steamer in the pot.  Cover and bring to pressure.  Cook 3 minutes.  Cool at once under cold water.  In a frying pan, cook about 1/2 cup chorizo.  If there is a lot of oil in the pan, drain.  Mine had hardly any oil so I added a little canola oil.  Put the potatoes in with the sausage and cook until browned.

Perfect Potatoes

Ok, so I might be going a little nuts with this pressure cooker.  I bought another one, smaller, so I have more options.  This morning I decided to pressure cook some potatoes. Here's what I did:

Wash and chop 3 medium sized red potatoes.  Put one cup water in the pressure cooker.  Place steamer basket in the cooker and put the potatoes in it.  Close the lid.  Turn heat to high.  When the regulator starts to rock, adjust the heat to keep it rocking steadily and set the timer for 3 minutes.  Place cooker in the sink and run cold water over until the pressure drops.  (This took about 30 sec.  At this point the potatoes are completely cooked.  The texture would be perfect to let them cool and make potato salad.)  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan.  Add the potatoes with salt, pepper, and parsley.  Let the potatoes brown.  These are the best potatoes I have ever made!

More tacos, pressure cooker chicken.

I love this pressure cooker.  It feels like magic every time I use it.

First make the chicken and broth.  Skin 4 chicken thighs and dredge in flour.  Brown in 1 tbsp olive oil in pressure cooker.  Add one chopped onion, 2 peeled and sliced carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks, 1 bay leaf, a little salt and thyme.  Add 1 quart water.  Bring to pressure and cook 10 minutes.  Let cool on its own.  Strain and save broth.  Shred chicken and set aside.

Now broil 6 tomatillos with 2 serranos until charred.  Put in food processor.   Saute 1 chopped onion in 1 tbsp oil for 10 min. Add 2 chopped garlic cloves and saute 1 minute.  Add to food processor and process.  Heat 1/2 tbsp oil.  Add tomatillo mixture and saute 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup chicken broth.  Stir and simmer, partially covered for 10 minutes.  Season with 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and salt.  Add 2 cups shredded kale and cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Add the shredded chicken and cook about 10 minutes longer.  Serve with corn tortillas and queso fresco.

Chicken Noodle Soup

The boys were home sick today from school, so I made chicken soup.  With the pressure cooker and the pasta roller it took about an hour.

Chicken Soup

First, prepare the pasta dough.  Put 1 1/4 cup flour in a pile in a bowl.  Made a well and add 1/8 tsp salt, 2 eggs, and 1/2 tsp olive oil.  Mix from center.  (I did this in the kitchenaid bowl)  Then put in in the kitchen aid with a dough hook and knead for 6 minutes.  Allow the dough to rest.

Remove the skin from 3 chicken thighs.  Dredge in flour.  Heat the pressure cooker, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Brown the chicken on both sides.  Remove chicken.  Add whatever vegetables you have, chopped.  I used an onion, 2 celery stalks, 1 large zucchini, 3 peeled carrots and about 5 cloves of garlic.  Salt and let cook for a minute or two.  Add chicken stock.  (I used a large ziplock full of turkey stock that was frozen after Thanksgiving).  Add the chicken back to the pot.  Bring to 15# pressure and cook for 10 minutes.  Let cool on it's own.

While the chicken is cooking, roll out the pasta.  I used the pasta roller.  I only went to #5.  This dough didn't want to go any thinner.  Then cut into ribbons.  Let dry a little.  When the lid comes off the pressure cooker, remove the chicken.  Bring back to a boil and add the noodles.  Shred the chicken and return to the pot.

Brisket tacos

Tonight I tried a brisket in the pressure cooker.  It wasn't all the way thawed, so I added 15 more minutes to the cooking time.

I seasoned the brisket with salt and pepper and seared it in the pressure cooker in a couple of tablespoons canola oil.  Then I added 2 cups tomato sauce, 1 cup beef broth, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp ancho chili powder, 1 tsp chipotle chili powder, 2 tbsp regular chili powder, 1 diced onion, a couple of minced garlic cloves and heated the pressure cooker until it reached 15 pounds of pressure.  I cooked it at that pressure for an hour and 15 minutes.  Let it cool on it's own.  Serve with diced tomato, onion, cilantro, queso fresco, and corn tortillas.

The brisket was tender, although a little dry.  The sauce ended up cooking too long.  If I did this again I would marinate the brisket first.  I would omit the tomato sauce and substitute a can of tomatoes.  I would increase the amount of beef broth to 2 cups.

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