Cincinnati Chili

Yes, I'd heard of Cincinnati chili before but it sort of seemed disgusting to me.  I mean, come on now, chili on spaghetti with onions and cheese?  But who am I to criticize what other people eat.  I know people are pretty disgusted with the pics I post sometimes so....
It wasn't until someone gave me a can of Cincinnati chili to go with some high-end hot dogs I got a few years ago that I found out what all the hoop-la was about.
Now, I am completely hooked on Cincinnati chili to go on hot dogs.  It is perfect!  Especially if you are using G&G hot dog buns, which I know most of your aren't as they are a local thing.  But they are made just right to hold the chili in and have a great texture besides.   I hope you will make a batch of this and then freeze what you aren't going to use right away.  Or, even better, throw a hot dog party.   Your guests will be blown away!
Got this recipe from Joy of Cooking.  Tweak it a bit by adding a little more cayenne and let it cook down just a bit more to make it thicker.  You are going to love this!

Cincinnati Chili

In a large pot, bring to a boil
4 cups of water
Add:
2 pounds ground chuck
Stir until separated, reduce the heat to a simmer and add:
2 medium onions, finely chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, crushed
One 15-0z can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons ceder vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Stir in:
!0 pepper corns, ground
8 whole allspice berries, ground
8 whole cloves, ground
1 large bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, grated
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Cool uncovered and refrigerate overnight. Skim off fat before serving.

Nasi Goreng

A few years back, I got it into my head that I wanted to learn about Southeast Asian cooking after watching an episode of No Reservations on which Anthony Bourdain traveled to Laos.  So I was absolutely pleased to receive the book, Southeast Asian Food by Rosemary Brissenden.  However, my pleasure soon wore off as I looked through the recipes and 60+ pages in the beginning of the book on ingredients.  I think I made one simple recipe and put the book back on the shelf to collect dust until I got the ambition to crack it again or take to the Good Will, whatever came first....rsrs
Fast forward a few years when I meet a guy online from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.  Whenever I meet someone from another country (or even another US city) the conversation ultimately gets around to the subject of food.  (Usually, sooner than later.)  And this meeting was no different.  The first dishes my friend told me about were pretty exotic and would put more than just a few westerners off as they include dried whole anchovies.  I was a little put off at first as the fish were staring back at me.  Even so, the taste was absolutely delicious now I am completely hooked on Malaysian food.
OK, I know you are already thinking to yourself that Nasi Goreng is Indonesian and not Malaysian.  That may be true but it is eaten in Malaysia as well as is Indian food, Chinese food and the list goes on.  There are many many influences in Malaysian cuisine.
It took me a while to locate the Javanese soy sauce as 1.) it was not labeled as such and 2.) the people at the Southeast Asian markets I went to had never heard of it.  Luckily, someone was willing to go online and do a little research and find out what it was and, as luck would have it, locate it on the shelf.  (Now if he can only find me some Kerutut spice!)

A note about the rice.  The recipe I used does not specify what kind of rice to use but my friend in KL says to use Jasmine rice from Thailand.  The consistency is different than regular long grain rice so don't expect Chinese take-out style fried rice...  Expect something many times better!

Nasi Goreng

3 tablespoons (or more) vegetable oil
8 oz rump steak or chicken, cut into thin strips
3 cups cold rice
1 1/2 tablespoons Javanese soy sauce (sweet soy sauce, kecap manis)
1 1/2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
Fried onion flakes for garnish
1 fried egg per person
Shrimp crackers
Tomato slices
Cucumber slices

Spice Paste:|
4 medium red chilies, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and then chopped
1/2 teaspoon of shrimp paste or miso
2 cloves garlic
5 shallots sliced

Process the spice paste ingredients into a rough paste. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the paste for a few minutes. Add the beef and stir -fry until just cooked. Add the rice and mix well adding more oil if needed. Add the soy sauces and stir until all the rice is coated.
Serve with a fried egg (soft yolk) on each serving and the garnishes. Serve the crackers in a bowl for each person to serve himself.

Steak Parmigiano ala Erick

I love my friend, Erick.  But he can be a very frustrating person at times.  It took me over a year to even pry the simplest bean recipe out of him.  So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when he shared this recipe with me with hardly any prodding.  I will admit that it took us a while to figure out what everything is called in English.  (Although he speaks better English than anyone from Brazil that I know, Erick still lives in the Brazilian kitchen and a lot of ingredients and words for preparation are not known to him outside of his native Portuguese.)  It took us nearly a half hour to decide what cut of beef to use and what  the stuff made out of flour was called which turned out to be breadcrumbs. (Thanks God!)  Come to think of it, that bean recipe took a while to figure out, too...rsrs
I must say, though, that all of this was worth it and that I have to be a lot more diligent in my learning Portuguese.  So I hope, gentle home cook, that you will make the struggle we suffered that day be not in vain and make this soon.
Steak Parmigiano
1 lb bottom round steak, cut into 4 or 5 equal pieces
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten in a shallow pan
Dry, unflavored bread crumbs, spread on a plate
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut in thin slices
For the sauce:
16 oz passata (or 1 28-0z can plum tomatoes passed through a food mill.)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 dried chili, torn in two or 1/2 teaspoon of dried chili flakes (optional)
Salt to taste
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed

Start the sauce.
Put passata or tomato puree in a medium sauce pan along with the garlic, olive oil and chili (if using) and  heat to simmer.  Let simmer for about 25 minutes then add the sugar (if using) and salt to taste.  Remove from heat and add the whole basil leaves letting them steep for about 5 minutes.  Drain well through a sieve pressing with the back of a wooden spoon to make sure all the flavor comes out and scrape the underside of the sieve with a spatula.

Pound the living daylights out of the pieces of steak.  You want them thin and tender. I would use the dangerous side of the mallet as will as the flat one. (If you know your butcher, have him/her put them through the tenderizing machine they use for making minute steaks.)  Set aside.
Take the garlic and chop in coarsely and add the salt and, with the flat part of the knife, press the mixture firmly, pushing away to smear it on the cutting surface.  Do this several times to make a paste.
Rub the resulting paste on both sides of the steaks and set them aside.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Turn each steak in the egg yolks and then in the bread crumbs.
Fry in hot olive oil until brown on both sides.
Place in a baking pan and cover with the sauce and slices of mozzarella. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.   Let set a few minutes before serving.

Zucchini Quiche

First of all, I have to say that I am a sucker for a tasty picture even if I have no idea on how to make it.  This comes from joining groups from Italy and Brazil just to see the recipes and pictures of them and maybe try to make them myself.  As it often happens, though, I post a picture of something that looks good or interesting and am asked how to make it.  I hate to put up a pic and then say I have no idea and leave it at that.  In this case, an old friend from Michigan, Margaret Rogers-Miller, asked for the recipe and I told her I would translate from Italian (turns out it's in Portuguese, but small matter) and post it.   As it turns out, there are ingredients that are only available in Brazilian markets, something, I'm sure, that are lacking in the Battle Creek, Michigan area, most notably the boxed cream.  But not to be a quitter (I'm always up for a challenge in the kitchen) I have concocted what I think will work for this using substitutions.
I will not give a crust recipe here because I know a lot of people have their own and probably even more opt out for the ones in the dairy case.  If you are in the former group, I take my hat off to you and direct you to add two tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese to the pie dough.  (And not the stuff in the green can, either!!!!!!)
Also, grated zucchini is really full of water and my method of draining is to put it in a kitchen towel, roll it up and twist it at both ends over the sink forcing the water out.  And put some muscle into it!  (Pretend you're wringing the neck of an ex that you really detest....rsrsrs)

Zucchini Quiche


Crust for a 9-inch pie
3 small zucchini, grated and wrung dry
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup diced mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F
Place crust in a pie pan or torte pan with a removable bottom
Mix together all the ingredients except the parmesan cheese and pour into the crust smoothing out evenly.
Sprinkle with the parmesan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until top in brown and custard set.
Let cool before serving.

Citrus-Almond Poundcake

A few years ago when I was obsessed with pastry-baking, I went through my citrus phase.  Anything that had citrus included that could be classified as a dessert was fair game.  And if it had hazelnuts or almonds in it, that made it all the better.  So when I saw this offering from Mark Bittman in the food section of our local Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, I was jotting down a shopping list before I had a chance to even look through the entire recipe.
It was the ingredient halfway down the list that put the breaks on my enthusiasm.  Over a pound of almond paste.  Not cheap.  Unfortunately, I am.  I related my sorrow to a friend from Sicily who has more sense and kitchen ability than me who told me I could make my own.  Hmmmm  I hadn't thought about that before.  But it did seem more doable than shelling out big bucks for a tube of gold.  And a few tests later, I had a pretty decent recipe for almond paste down which I will include here.  If you have money to throw around and don't want to make your own, go ahead and buy it and while your at it, throw some of that cash my way.  Make sure you share this with your family, friends and people with whom you want to be friends.

Citrus-Almond Pound cake

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into cubes, plus more for pan
-flour for pan
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
3 cups plus
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 17-oz tube almond paste (or follow recipe below)
7 large eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350f. Butter and flour pan. Put lemon juice and orange juice and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar into a small sauce pan and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Put almond paste and remaining sugar in food processor and process until well combined. And butter and continue processing until light and fluffy. With the machine running, add eggs one at a time along with zest and vanilla, and continue to process until smooth.
3. Stop machine and add the flour, baking powder and salt, and pulse a few times, just until the dry ingredients are integrated.
Pour into pan and bake until golden about 1 hour and 10 min. Let cool slightly.
4. Pour the citrus syrup over the cake and let it set for about 30 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the cake releases from the pan easily.

Almond Paste

Grind 1 1/2 cups blanched almonds in the food processor for about 2 min, add 1 cup icing sugar and process until well-blended. Stir in 1 teaspoon almond extract and enough egg white to make it come together in a thick paste.

Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower

When I made my first recipes from Suvir Saran's first book, Indian Home Cooking, I knew I had struck gold.  They were more than I had hoped for.  Each was delicious and possessed the ability to transport me to another realm of tastes and aromas.
Now, years later, Suvir is still taking me on the culinary ride of my life in his newest book,  Masala Farm, a collection of stories, insights and recipes that carries the reader through the seasons of an upstate New York farm and feeds him on the way with a variety of treats from biscuits that would make any of my southern friends smile widely to a cauliflower recipe unlike any other I have ever tasted.
I have made Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower three times, so far.  The last time occurred this past Saturday when I made an Indian dinner for guests using all three of Suvir's books, Indian Home Cooking, American Masala and Masala Farm.  Next to the Haleem, a north Indian muslim dish that I must have and must have often, the dish my guests enjoyed most was the cauliflower with its rich sauce of tomatoes and garlic which glazed the vegetable already roasted in a coating of oil and spices.  This recipe really goes pretty quickly once you've started and will disappear from the serving dish once it's finished!
Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower


3 tablespoons canola oil
3 green cardamom pods
3 dried red chilies (optional)
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1- 2 1/2-3-pound head of cauliflower, cleaned and broken into medium florets
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a 9x11-inch baking dish with 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil and set aside.
Grind the cardamom, chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns in a coffee grinder until fine.
Mix the spices with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl.
Add the cauliflower, toss with the spiced oil and sprinkle with the salt.
Transfer to the baking dish and roast for 20 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, make the sauce.
Heat the oil and the black pepper in a large frying pan over medium-high heat for one minute. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring to avoid burning. Add ketchup and cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cayenne and salt.
Cook until the sauce thickens and becomes a deep red, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes.
After the cauliflower has roasted for 20 minutes, add sauce and stir to coat. Return to oven and roast for another 20-30 minutes, stirring half-way through the allotted time.

Hoppin' John

I cannot believe that this survived 25 years to see an anniversary issue put out after the flack it raised for its un-pc name and contents.  I only wish Mr. Mickler had survived as long to see it out as an e-book.  He would have been proud.
I have an original which was trashed by this white dude from plenty of use.
When I first got my copy I never dreamed that I would be reaching for it so many years later to draw from one of my favorite recipes in it for a cooking show.  But tomorrow never knows as the boogie guy from Liverpool once observed.
As we are just beginning the new year, I wanted to start my first show of the year talking about foods traditionally eaten on New Years Day and the first one that came to my mind was the southern favorite, Hoppin' John, a combination of black-eyed peas and rice which is supposed to bring good luck.  (If you want some monetary luck, serve a side of greens such as collards or mustard greens.  Even cabbage is acceptable.)
The recipe I use is pretty much based on one in the book called, "Charlyss's Black-Eyed Peas."  (One year I was so poor that I even put the fixings for these in a box and gave them as a gift at an Epiphany party I attended along with the recipe.)  Hope you don't wait until next New Years to try these.  Hey, you still have time to  serve them on Epiphany!!!

Hoppin' John

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, cooked and reserved
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 cups ham, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked rice
Hot sauce (optional)

Heat oil in a pot and add onions. Saute a few minutes then add parsley stirring it in to combine.
Lower heat to medium low, cover and cook stirring every few minutes until onions are tender.
Stir in ham, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 15 minutes.
Add black-eyed peas, season, and cover cooking for another 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Correct for seasoning and serve over rice with hot sauce to pass.