Spanish dinner with Barbara

I didn't take any pictures last night, and all of the recipes from our dinner are found elsewhere in this blog.  We had gambas al jillo (which we added halved baby bellas), tomatoes in olive oil and balsamic, tortilla espanola, aioli, and a crusty baguette.  It was wonderful to see you last night Barbara!

Sausage pasta and Broccoli

Broccoli alla Romana (from Mediterranean Harvest):  Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan.  Add 1 minced garlic clove, after a few seconds add 2 pounds broccoli florets.  Toss until all broccoli is coated with oil.  Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth.  Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove broccoli when tender, then reduce wine and pour over broccoli.  (I actually like this better when you use less white wine and add some chicken broth and red pepper flakes.  But, I guess that makes it a different recipe.)

This is from Mario Batali.  A little reminiscent of hamburger helper, the Italian style.  Very homey, a hit with the kids.  Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.  Saute 1 minced onion.  Add 1 pound italian sausage, casings remove.  Cook 10 minutes.  Add 6 tbsp tomato paste.  Cook another 8 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup white wine.  Cook until reduced.  Add 1/2 cup whole milk.  Salt and pepper.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook 1 pound dried pasta ( I used small macaroni noodles) until al dente.  Remove 1 cup pasta water.  Drain noodles and add to sauce.  Toss, adding reserved pasta water as needed for correct consistency.  Top with grated parmesan.

Six minute Artichokes

Put 1 cup water, one chopped garlic clove, one chopped onion, a few sprigs of parsley and a bay leaf in a pressure cooker.  Pull off the hard outer leaves, cut 1 inch off of top and cut the bottom so that they sit flat.  Put steamer basket in pressure cooker.  Place artichokes in them upright, so that they don't touch the sides.  Cook for 6 minutes at high pressure.  Bring pressure down quickly.  If not tender, replace lid and cook another two minutes.  Serve with aioli, or mayo, and rose.

Just ate them.  Think I will start the timer when I close the pressure cooker rather than when it comes to full pressure.  I think they were slightly overdone.

Chicken with spinach and lentils, harissa and couscous

Harissa:  (from the New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook):  Rinse 12 New Mexico chilis, 2 Ancho chilis, and one chile de Arbol.  Cut tops off and dump out seeds.  Cover with hot water and let steep about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, toast 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp caraway seeds until fragrant.  Remove from heat.  Grind spices in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sea salt.  Add 5 roughly chopped garlic cloves.  Grind into the spices.  .  Drain the chiles and remove most of the seeds and membranes.  Use a spoon to remove the pulp from the chiles into the spices.  Grind it into the spices.  Stir in 1/4 cup olive oil, a tbsp at a time.  To store, put in glass jar.  Use a spoon to pat it down.  Cover with olive oil.

Chicken with Lentils and Spinach from Cooking Under Pressure.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in pressure cooker.  Add 1 large onion, chopped.  Cook 3-4 minutes.  Add 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds.  Cook 10 sec.  Add 1 1/4 cups lentils (rinsed), 2 pounds chicken parts, 3 1/2 cup water, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2/3 cups raisins (I used golden raisins) and 2 large whole peeled carrots.  Trim off the ends.  Cover and bring to pressure.  Cook 9 minutes.  Bring pressure down quickly.  Add 1 package defrosted spinach and 2 tsps grated ginger.  Cook another couple of minutes.  Serve with couscous.

Romesco

I made this romesco to go with grilled salmon, aioli, tomato salad, goat cheese crostini and tortilla espanola.  The recipe is adapted from Essentials of Mediterranean Cooking.  The recipe calls for ancho chilies.  It doesn't say if it's fresh or dried, so I assumed that it was for fresh.  I have never seen a fresh ancho chili in Columbia, but I did have a couple of poblanos in my fridge.  Researching later, I realize that an ancho is a dried poblano.  So the next time I would soak the dried ancho, then scrape out the pulp.   Nevertheless, it was delicious with the salmon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place ancho chilis in bowl, cover with bowling water and soak for 20 minutes.  Drain. Remove stem and seeds.  Scrape pulp with a spoon into a food processor.  (This would have worked with a dried ancho.  This did not work with a fresh poblano.  So I cooked the poblanos with the red peppers, peeled them, then chopped and put in the processor.

Roast one large tomato and 2 red bell peppers.  Roast the tomato for about 10 min, then the bell peppers for an additional 20 minutes.  Peel and put in processor.

In a small frying pan add 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute one slice coarse country bread, crust removed, until crunchy.  Break apart into food processor.  Then add 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1/4 cup blanched toasted almonds, 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts (skins removed), 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.  I also added one tsp of dried ancho powder.   Season with salt and pepper.  Process to a coarse puree.  Cover and refrigerate.  Bring to room temp before serving.

A year of Mediterranean...

I haven't been able to get the family into another year of One Month at a Time, until now.  This was even Sanford's idea!  We are going to devote a year to eating only Mediterranean food.  We are considering doing for every meal, but the boys are a little reluctant.  We will have to see how that evolves.  I also have a little apprehension due to my love of Mexican and Indian food.  We will have each of those once a month.  Once a month is terrifying to Sam and Jack since their breakfast using consists of a burrito with leftovers. 

I love this falafel recipe.  It is by far my favorite.  One thing about it is when I used canned chickpeas the consistency seemed just right, but when I pressure cooked some chickpeas first I had to add flour to the batter to make it a consistency to roll in flour.  The difference may be in the fact that I drained, then rinsed the canned ones but I only scooped the pressure cooked ones from their cooking liquid.  The recipes that follows is from food tv.com

Falafel:

In a food processor add 2 1/4 cups chickpeas, 3 chopped scallions, 1/4 cup each chopped parsley and cilantro, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 egg, juice of one lemon, 1 minced garlic clove.  Pulse.  Salt to taste.


Add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/3 cup flour.  Pulse to combine.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.


Roll falafels in flour and cook in about an inch of hot olive oil. 


For the Avgolemono I adapted a recipe from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Mediterranean Cooking.  I have been tempted to make this recipe before, but it was always long and involved.  I wasn't even sure how much I would like it to put that much work into it.  But this recipe was quite easy and quick, and I loved it.

Avgolemono:

Add 4 cups stock, 1 quartered onion and 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast on the bone, skinned into a pressure cooker.  Bring to pressure.  Cook 5 min.  Run under cold water to release the pressure.  Drain the stock into a bowl.  Shred the chicken into bite size pieces.  (the recipe calls for simmer the chicken in a regular pot for 20 minutes)


Over med high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add 1/2 cup chopped scallions, including green parts.  Saute 3-4 minutes.  Add 1/3 cup fresh dill (I used a tbsp of dried since I only had enough fresh dill for the tzatiki) and 3/4 cup long grain white rice.  Add the reserved broth from above.  Bring to a boil.  Partially cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.


Beat 2 eggs in a bowl.  Whisk in juice of 1-2 lemons (I used one).  Slowly whisk 1 cup of the broth and rice into the eggs, then add it back to the soup.  Cook, stirring, until thickened.  This took less than a minutes.  Add the shredded chicken and heat, being careful not to boil it.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with sliced scallions and a sprig of dill.

Sunday night supper club: Switzerland

Sammy Craker's crepes, powdered sugar and ligonberry Jam.  I think he might have mixed up his countries.  But it was a hit.

Chris and Jaime's cheese puffs.  Mmm

Radishes and cheese with a mustard vinaigrette from the Kingsleys.

Hogerty's lentils.

Another potato dish that I love.  Rosti from Andy Werth.  Andy:  please post the recipe.

Mary Beth and Pete made this, not sure of the name.  Macaroni noodles, with ground beef, cheese, and applesauce on the side.

Jennifer Erikson's tasty chocolate mouse with Pama.

This month's dinner was Swiss food because the tour ended in Switzerland on Sunday.  I like to also think it was for Fabian... I wasn't at this party very long so I only have a few pictures.  Not enough people pictures.  I also don't have a single recipe, so you all are responsible for adding your recipes in the comment section.  Thank you Chris and Jaime and Quinn for hosting!