Caldo gallego

Great soup from Galicia, in northwestern Spain. Usually calls for a variety of meats, but I used what I had on hand. Ended up a little heavy on the meat and light on the beans. But this still remains one of my favorites soups. Oh, and the homemade crusty bread was pretty good too.

1/4 pound dried white beans, presoaked (next time increase to 1/2 pound)
10 cups chicken stock (low salt or no salt)
1 ham hock
1 small onion, sliced
1 pound, approx., smoked pork neck bones (next time use something else)
4 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups chopped Swiss chard
freshly ground pepper

Simmer beans, stock, onion and meats, covered, in a large pot for approximately 1 1/2 hours, until beans are done. Add potatoes, chard and pepper, cook for about 20 minutes longer. Remove meat from bones and add back to the pot.

Pinchos morunos

1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless pork loin, cut in 1-inch cubes

Combine all ingredients except the pork and pour into a plastic freezer bag. Add pork, seal bag and squish together so all pork pieces are coated with marinade. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Remove pork from marinade and thread onto skewers. Grill over hot charcoal fire or under a broiler, turning once, until meat is just cooked but still juicy, about 10 minutes.

Fun with Frugality 2: Chicken

I’ve taken to buying whole chickens, which I either break down myself or roast whole to use the meat for various dishes. The latest, which we roasted, gave us these meals:
1. Jambalaya (using ½ pound assorted white and dark meat).
2. Burritos (diced white meat).
3. Chicken pot pie (white and dark mixed).
4. Used bones for stock, which went into jambalaya and a pot of beans.

Fun with Frugality 1: Ham

We bought a 10-pound ham last week and had a lot of fun thinking of things to do with it. Here’s a partial list.
1. Traditional ham dinner (with scalloped potatoes).
2. Stir-fried with veggies and tossed with noodles for a sort of pseudo chow mein.
3. Mac and cheese with ham and peas.
4. Jambalaya (chicken, andouille and ham).
5. Assorted sandwiches.
6. Still saving the bone for red beans and rice.

This is lovely

Salad Parador

I confess that I’m not sure about the concept of a warm salad. Why not just call it a vegetable side dish? Be that as it may, this was absolutely delicious. Part of that no doubt due to the fresh chard from my garden. I adapted this recipe from All Around the World Cookbook, by Sheila Lukins.

My changes: I used frozen haricots verts, a vine-ripened tomato (since I didn’t have any cherry tomatoes), and oil-marinated olives instead of brine-marinated.

Technically, the salad is supposed to be assembled on each individual plate, with greens first, then chard stems and beans, then tomatoes and shrimp and topped off by the olives. But since I live in a household of two and a half, I quartered the recipe and just ended up tossing everything together at the end and – yes – serving it as a side dish.

½ pound Swiss chard
extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic (about 1 clove)
2 oz. haricots verts (frozen)
kosher salt and course ground black pepper to taste
1 ripe tomato, seeds removed and roughly chopped
¼ pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ tsp dried thyme
2 ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp black olives (oil marinated, pitted and sliced into slivers)

Cut the stems from the leaves of Swiss chard. Slice the stems on the diagonal ½ inch thick. Cut the leaves into ¼-inch-thick slivers.

Heat a small amount of olive oil (1 tsp or so) in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add the Swiss chard stems and sauté to soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Heat some more olive oil in the skillet and add the haricots verts. Cook over medium heat until crisp-tender, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking, about 4 minutes. Add the beans to the Swiss chard stems and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat some more olive oil in the skillet and add the tomatoes, shrimp, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat, shaking the skilled and turning the shrimp once or twice, until the shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl and set aside.

Heat a little more oil in the skilled and add the Swiss chard leaves. Sauté, stirring constantly, until nicely wilted but still slightly crunchy, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Toss the leaves with the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Combine chard leaves with stems, beans, tomatoes, shrimp and olives.

Leftover Fishcakes

from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible
10 oz. leftover snapper, flaked
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 scallions, minced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, beaten
¾ cup dried bread crumbs
½ cup vegetable oil

Mix flaked fish, mashed potato, scallions, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and mustard together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide the mixture into 12 cakes. Place the flour in a small dish, the beaten egg in another, and the bread crumbs in a third dish. Roll each fishcake in the flour, then dip into the egg, and coat with the bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. In batches, add the cakes and cook about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve hot.

Comments: Not bad, but a little bland. I used snapper instead of the smoked haddock called for in the recipe. Also didn’t have scallions or fresh parsley on hand so I had to make do with dried.

Shrimp Jambalaya

2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 oz. smoked sausage, sliced
1 tsp. paprika
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Anaheim chili, seeded and chopped*
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces**
1/2 lb. peeled, raw medium shrimp
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/3 cup long-grain rice
2 1/3 cups chicken stock***
2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Salt and cayenne pepper

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the sausage and fry until lightly browned. Stir in the paprika.
Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then add the onion, chili, and celery. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned.

Add the chicken, shrimp, bay leaf, thyme, and oregano and fry over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and ½ teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is tender.****

Stir in the green onions and some cayenne pepper to taste. Serves 3-4 people.

*Recipe calls for green bell pepper and red chili pepper. I used an Anaheim because I didn’t like the look of the bell peppers and red chilies in the store today and I also didn’t want it to be too spicy.

**I sprinkled the chicken with kosher salt for some extra seasoning and also to compensate for the fact that I used salt-free chicken stock.

***I used a little too much chicken stock and ended up cooking the jambalaya longer than the recipe calls for.

****More like 20 minutes plus additional time to sit with the lid on.

Romesco sauce

From A New Way to Cook, by Sally Schneider

2 ancho chiles
20 blanched whole almonds
1 thick slice white peasant bread, crusts removed
¼ cup fruity extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
About ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Roasted Garlic Puree [Basically 3 whole heads garlic, roasted at 400 for about 40 minutes, then squeeze roasted garlic out of the skins and mash with a fork]
1 medium tomato
2 to 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Remove stems and seeds from ancho chiles and break into pieces. In a large heavy skillet, toast the chiles over moderate heat, turning occasionally with a spatula to prevent them from burning, until they begin to darken and smell pungent, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with about 1 cup boiling water. Let soak for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread the almonds on a baking sheet and roast, rearranging occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

While the almonds are roasting, brush the bread with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Place on a small baking sheet and toast till dry and golden. Slice one of the [raw] garlic cloves lengthwise in half and rub both sides of the bread with the cut sides of the garlic. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside; reserve the garlic. Drain the chiles and pat dry on paper towels.

In a food processor, finely chop the almonds, scraping the sides down occasionally. Break the bread into 1-inch pieces, add to the work bowl, and process to fine crumbs. Add the ancho chiles and garlic puree.

Slice the tomato crosswise in half. Squeeze out the juice and seeds and discard. Working directly over the work bowl, rub the cut sides across the large holes of a metal grater so that the flesh is coarsely grated but the skin remains intact in your hand. Discard the skin.

With the motor running, drizzle in all but 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil. Add the vinegar, cayenne, and pepper to taste, and transfer to a bowl.

In a mortar, mash the fresh garlic, including the cut clove, and ½ teaspoon salt to a paste. Stir into the sauce.

Just before serving, stir in the reserved 1 tablespoon oil, without totally incorporating it.