Sunday night supper club: Japan

Speake:  Japanese beef and scallion rolls:  (from Gourmet)  Blanch 12 small scallion, then put in ice bath.  Take 1 pound flank steak.  Cut on a 30 degree angle into 12 piece.  Pound until very thin.  Salt.  Roll the scallions in the flank steak.  Tie with kitchen twine.  Set aside.  Meanwhile mix 1/4 cup saki, 1/4 cup mirin, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar.  Pour over meat rolls and let marinate x 15 minutes, turning to coat.  Dry them and cook in 1 tbsp vegetable oil until browned on all sides.  Set aside.  Pour marinade into hot pan.  Reduce until syrupy.  Cut strings off of rolls and pour over rolls.

Mary Beth and Pete:  Tuna Poke. 

1.5 (+/-) lbs. sashimi grade tuna
2-2.5 avocados
Juice of 1.5-2 lemons
1.5 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes
3/4 cup chopped scallions
 
Combine in a bowl and refrigerate. Then put it on a

 pretty plate that someone left at your house, 

and let everyone stand around and "poke" your tuna. Delish!

Kingsleys salad, again recipe pending.

Sammy's marinated pork.  Again, no recipe.  There was a magical outcome when this pork and the Kingsley salad, along with some plain white were all mixed together.

The lovely Mary Beth.

Our gracious host, Pam

Sanford and Andy

Computer and Japanese food.

Miss Emma Kingsley

Mr. Finn Kinglsey

Beautiful Olive.

To finish, Pam made some wonderful tempura, including green bean, sweet potato, zucchini, and shrimp!

Dinners this week.

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The first dinner was roasted chicken with tahini sauce.  (This was right up my alley.  I have been loving these flavors)  The only complaint from my family was that I didn't make enough food.  The second night was spaghetti and meatballs.  I love my homemade noodles but sometimes I prefer the toothiness of dried pasta.  I read an article that suggested dried pasta with sauces that are tomato or olive oil based and fresh noodles with cream sauces.  Sounds like a good guideline.

Roast chicken with Tahini sauce (from Gourmet).

Season chicken (I used thighs and legs) with salt and pepper.  Brown in a cast iron skillet in a couple of tbsp olive oil.  Put in oven and roast for 30 minutes.  Tahini sauce:  In a little food processor mix 1/3 cup tahini, 1/3 cup water, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tsp sugar (or to taste) and salt to taste.  Process.  If too thick, add more water.  Set aside.

Serve chicken with roasted cauliflower (tossed with cumin, olive oil, salt and cooked at the same time as the chicken), tomatoes, and feta.  I used have added some seasoned chickpeas to the plate so everyone would have been a little more satisfied!

Spaghetti and meatballs.

I used buccatinni instead of spaghetti.  For the meatballs, a pound of ground pork and ground beef, some fresh toasted bread crumbs, a couple of eggs, some dried thyme, dried oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.  Mix.  Make into small meatballs. Bake 14 minutes at 350 degrees.  (Mine were a little dry, damn grass fed beef.  Next time I will add a little olive oil so I get a better brown!)

For the sauce I sauteed a couple of onions until soft.  Add 5 minced garlic cloves.  Season with whatever dried herbs you like.  I usually get a little herb happy, but that is the way I like it.  I use oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  I had some sundried tomato paste and anchovy paste, so I added a squirt of each.  Deglaze the pan with wine.  When the wine is gone add 3 cans tomatoes.  (Here's where I got spoiled last year.  I used plain old canned tomatoes from the grocery store.  The more expensive San Marzano tomatoes are well worth the extra money for tomato sauce.  I am never satisfied with my grocery store sauce any more).  Anyway, use a stick blender and make almost smooth.  Add some sugar and red pepper flakes to taste.  Simmer at least 20 minutes.  Add meatballs and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.  We served with garlic bread and salad.

Chicken and rice, Spanish style

Sanford has a difficult time calling this paella.  It is true that it doesn't have the depth of flavor that we got when we made paella last summer on the grill.  But this definitely was tasty.  And, it took less than an hour to make, which makes it perfect for a weeknight meal.  Sam loved it.  Jack thought it was "ok".  The recipe is from The Essentials of Mediterranean Cooking.  At the end, I will tell you how I will change it the next time I make it.

Chicken and rice

Put 4 saffron threads in 2 tbsp hot water and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil.  Cut 2 bone-in, skinned chicken breast into 8 pieces.  Brown in oil.  Remove.  Cut 1 link chorizo into half moons.  Brown for about 5 minutes.  Remove.  Add 1 chopped onion and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add 1 chopped tomato and some chopped ham.  (It called for serrano which we could find, so substituted coppa).  Cook another couple of minutes.  Add 2 cups arborio rice and stir.  Add saffron threads and hot water along with 4 cups chicken broth.  Season with salt and pepper and 1 tsp sweet paprika and stir.   Place chicken on top and sprinkle the chorizo on top, along with some 1 inch green beans, 2 cups chickpeas, 1/2 cup baby peas, and 1 chopped roasted red pepper.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave covered for another 10 minutes.  Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

The next time I will chop the chorizo into small diced pieces.  I will add the onion to it, not remove it so that it continues to flavor everything a little better.  I will also add 5-6 minced garlic cloves with the onions.  When I add the seasoning, I will add a little red pepper flakes.  Although it was tasty, it needed a little punch.

Pork CHops and Lamb chops

The pork chops were placed in a brine for a couple of days.  Then the lamb and pork chops were placed in a marinade consisting of olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and basil, and a tiny bit of fennel seed and red chili flakes, and a tad of rosemary.  They were left in a marinade for a couple of days, then grilled to perfection.  We served it with sliced tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, feta, olive oil and Isreali couscous.  To make the couscous we sauted some onion and squash until softened.  Add chopped garlic and the couscous.  Then add chicken broth and cook covered until tender.

Chicken "osso buco"

This is a take on osso buco, but made with chicken.  The original recipe is from Saveur magazine.  I, of course, made changes based on what I had in the house.  I wasn't pleased with it, so I made a few more changes.

chicken osso buco

Dredge 4 chicken thighs in flour.  Brown in 2 tbsp olive oil.  Remove.  Add 1 chopped onion, peeled and chopped carrot, and celery stalk.  Stir.  Add 8 cloves chopped garlic.  Stir.  Add 1 cup white wine.  Deglaze the pan.  Add 1 can tomatoes, pureed, and 4 cups chicken broth.  Add zest of one lemon plus juice from 1/2 lemon, couple of pinches of sugar, a bay leaf, 1 tsp each thyme, oregano and basil.  Stir.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer rapidly for 30-40 minutes.  Add chicken back to pan.  Cook at 325 until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile cook some penne (I used shells).  Add to cooked chicken.  Season with chopped parsley, chopped tomatoes and parmesan.

Samki Harra

I haven't posted too much over the past week.  Let's say it's been a week of unimpressive meals.  There was a roast chicken that I was excited about.  I minced garlic and onion and lemon together and put it under the skin.  Salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil in an pan with quartered onions and potatoes.  Simple, right?  No.  I overcrowded the pan.  I knew it when I was doing it, but I thought it might be ok.  It was fine, good even, but not memorable.  The next night, I minced leftovers and cooked it in a rice.  An old standby in the Speake house.  Boring.  Too much rice.  I am forgetting the rest of the week, which is not a good sign.  Then the weekend.  Housemade noodles with more leftover chicken in a creamy sauce, better.  Sanford made steaks and mashed potatoes Sunday.  Mediterranean?  Doubtful, but it was the first thing that really sounded good to him since he has been sick, so steak it was.  Monday, scallopini and mushroom risotto.  Always a family pleaser.  The pork cutlets were pounded, dredged in breadcrumbs seasoned with onion flakes, thyme, salt and pepper and cooked for 1-2 minutes on each side.  Jack and Sam's favorite.

So tonight, back to the cookbooks for something new and exciting.  I liked this recipe, but I think it needs a little tweaking.  I expected bigger flavors, so if you make it add more cilantro, more red pepper and cumin, more lemon.  This is from The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook

Lebanese Fish in a Cilantro-Chili Sauce

Process 1 cup walnuts in the food processor until almost a paste.  Set aside.

Dredge some fish fillets (i used cod) in flour and cook in a couple of tbsp olive oil for 3 min on each side.  Remove and set aside.

Add a couple more tbsp olive oil.  Add 1 large chopped onion and 4 chopped garlic cloves.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Add 1 cup chopped cilantro.  I didn't have quite a cup, so I added some dried coriander.  Stir.  Add 3 cups fish broth (I used lobster), 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes.  Cook gently for 15 minutes.  Add the fish back to the pot and cook another 10 minutes, until the fish flakes.

Remove fish.  Add the juice of one lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rice and a salad.