Good Morning, Bom Dia, Buon Giorno....

Most important. But favorite?

Growing up, breakfast was my least favorite meal of the day. "Cereal and eggs" was the answer to "What do we have?" which was the answer to "What do you want for breakfast?" Seriously, I didn't want anything for breakfast. I did not want to even think about food at that time of day. I wasn't hungry and didn't even want to think about food. I hated eggs and cereal was only good for the prize that was offered in the box. No, I'm afraid there was little that could have tempted my palate at that time of day.

I did say "little." Actually, if there were donuts or pancakes or waffles on the menu, I would be at the table in an instant! This was like getting dessert first thing of the day. Your day had to be good if it started out with dessert, no? For sausage and waffles, I would even have set and cleared the table! I still love all kinds of waffles from the wonderful yeast-raised ones with the crunchy coating of sugar that you find from the outside vendors in Brussels to the quick bread type that most of us are familiar with. (You may keep the frozen ones, thank you very much!)

The waffle recipe I am giving here comes from an old out-of-print cookbook called The Settlement Cookbook (The Way to a Man's Heart). I think I got the last edition some years ago when working in a bookstore in Westwood, an area in Los Angeles that is also home to UCLA.

I hope you'll try these and also keep an eye out in used bookstores for any editions of this book.

Sour Cream Waffles

1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs separated
2 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons of butter, melted

Sift dry ingredients. Beat egg whites until stiff (but not dry). Set aside.
Beat egg yolks, add sour cream and mix with dry ingredients just enough to blend. Add melted butter and fold in egg whites. Bake in waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Call them tortillas in Spain, frittatas in Italy or egg foo young in China, every culture has their own version of the omelet. And it seems to me that they originated as a vehicle for leftovers. I smidgen of this or that, a few eggs and a pan and you have an easy and inexpensive meal which is, at the same time, tasty. I think one of my favorite uses for leftover Calabrian spaghetti (or the recipe I have for something with that name) is in a frittata with some extra cheese thrown in.

Not the quintessential breakfast frittata. I think you may find this one a little more appropriate.

Potato Frittata

5 eggs
1 1/2 cups cold boiled or roast potatoes, cubed
1 cup fontina cheese, grated
1 onion, thinly sliced, sauteed until caramelized
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Beat eggs in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the oil.
Mix well.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Pour in egg mixture and lift sides of omelet as they become cooked. When the top is still a little undone, finish under broiler or turn over by placing a large plate over the top of the skillet, turning the skillet upside down, then sliding the omelet back into the skillet. You may need to add a little more oil to the skillet.

QF: Mushroom Soup

Although I did not get around to the Quick Fix segment of the show on Monday, I did want to give this recipe for mushroom soup which comes from The Gourmet Cookbook. Forget about the nasty stuff that comes in cans and goes in casseroles. This puts them to shame!

Fresh Mushroom Soup

2 cups half-and-half
1 thick slice of onion
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 pounds of mushrooms, brushed and thinly sliced
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock
1 small bay leaf
Salt
Pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring half-and-half just to the boil. Remove from heat and cover.
Heat butter in a pot until the foaming subsides and add the mushrooms and cook until golden. Add the onion and sprinkle with the flour and cook stirring for 2 minutes longer. Slowly add the stock, half-and-half, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
Discard onion and bay leaf and stir in lemon juice and serve.

Bolo de Chocolate Amargo

One of my favorite parts of learning a new language is translating recipes into English. I first attempt at this was several years ago when in Italy I decided to pick up food magazines and translate some recipes and try them out. Fun and deliciously rewarding.

My recent love affair with all things Brazilian naturally led me to learning Portuguese, Brazilian cuisine and that magic place where the two meet...the online Brazilian recipe sites.

Sharing pics from the sites with online friends has made me have to translate certain recipes whether I planned to eat them or not because of the requests. After I've teased and tempted with pictures, how can I deny?

Just a note here to my American friends: We are the only country in the world who has not converted to the metric system. Our stubborn determination to stick with an out-of-date system of measurement has not done our children any favors. (All recipes in other countries use the metric system with the rare exception when you will find a teaspoon or tablespoon.) You can start the revolution by purchasing a kitchen scales that measure both ounces and grams. Get an electric one. They aren't that expensive and you will use it more than you think. I have translated language and measurements. But, just sayin'.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Sauce

(Bolo de Chocolate Amargo)

Cake:

400 grams (14oz) dark chocolate, chopped

150 grams (1 stick and 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter

150 grams (about 1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar

5 eggs, separated

1/3 cup flour, measured after sifting

Syrup:

200 grams (7 oz) milk chocolate, chopped

100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) cream

20 grams (1 1/2) tablespoons unsalted butter

In a double boiler or a bowl set over (not in) simmering water, melt the dark chocolate, butter and icing sugar stirring until well blended. Remove and set aside.

Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks then stir in two tablespoons of the melted chocolate mixture. Stir in the rest of the chocolate mixture slowly and stir until well blended.

Fold in flour until completely incorporated.

Carefully fold in the beat egg whites until well incorporated.

Pour batter into a 9X13-inch (32cmX22cm) greased baking dish. Bake in a 350°F (180C) preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the top is dry and cracked. (It should be soft on the inside.)

Syrup:

Melt milk chocolate, cream and butter in a double boiler or bowl set over (not in) simmering water, stirring until well blended. Keep warm.

While still warm, cut cake into individual pieces and serve with the warm syrup poured over.

Halloween Show Recipes

Had a great time doing the show today. Halloween and fall always evoke wonderful images of growing up in the midwest. The colors red, yellow and orange bring with them memories of leaves turning colors, gourds, apples and pumpkins (the star fruit of the season!)

As a midwesterner, I was brought up to think of pumpkins as a vehicle for pies, cookies and quick breads. The idea of this symbol of Fall being used for anything savory was foreign to me as I'm sure it was to others those around me. The first thing I remember having in Michigan with pumpkin in it that didn't fall into the aforementioned categories was pumpkin empanadas, a treat I discovered while delivering produce to a Mexican market in Lansing during my short stint as a truck driver, and also one which I have included in the recipes from the show.

But I think since I have an entire Autumnal meal laid out for you, I think I should start with the soup course by sharing a Pumpkin Soup recipe by Chef David Barker, a fellow forum member at Jamie Oliver's website.

Pumpkin Soup

50g (3.5 tablespoons) butter
1 onion, chopped
1kg (2 lbs) pumpkin,de-seeded and cubed
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves (from my garden)
a glass of white wine
2 tablespoons double cream
900ml(3.5 cups) fresh organic chicken stock,hot
an old parmesan cheese rind! plus extra for shavings for garnish!

METHOD

First, melt the butter on a med-low heat, add the onion and pumpkin and cook for about 5 mins. Then add the garlic and the bay leaves and cook again, for another 5 mins.

Add the wine and let it bubble for a couple of mins to evaporate off the alcohol a bit!!! then add the stock and the parmesan rind (this is a good way to get some great flavour from a thing that you normally throw away)

Now increase the heat and boil the soup for 10 mins, or until the pumpkin is nice and soft. Then set aside to cool down slightly. When it has, remove the bay and rind...

Puree with a stick blender until really smooth. At his point you can loosen the soup up a little with water if it is too thick!

Stir in the cream and season well with salt and pepper, transfer the soup to a clean pan and heat til hot.

Ladle into warm bowls. Top each with a few thin shavings of parmesan and a good drizzle of a great, grassy, peppery good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Coming back to this part of the world, I have a rather interesting salad from the Cerrado area of Brazil, a massive area that covers several regions. I thought this was such an interesting use of pumpkin. Feel free to cut back on the amount of cinnamon if you wish. It does seem to dominate somewhat. But do try this interesting juxtaposition of fried balls of pumpkin with the coolness of the salad greens.

Savannah Salad with Fried Pumpkin

3 cups water
3 teaspoons salt
1 stick cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin balls (cut with a melon baller)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 cups Boston lettuce
1 cup watercress
1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashew nuts, crushed

Vinaigrette

2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a medium-size pan, boil water with salt and the cinnamon stick.
2. Cook 1/3 of the pumpkin balls at a time for 3 minutes. Strain and place them in a bowl of ice water. Strain again and allow the balls to dry. Repeat process with remaining pumpkin balls. Heal the olive oil in a heavy skillet and add the cinnamon and fry the pumpkin balls shaking the pan to see they don't stick. Remove and reserve.
3. For the vinaigrette, add the cinnamon to the warm skillet scraping the bottom. Add vinegar and salt and whisk in olive oil.
4. Toss the greens with half the dressing. Toss the pumpkin with 5 tablespoons of the dressing. Finally, mound the greens on a platter placing the pumpkins balls around and sprinkling with the crushed cashews.
Drizzle any remaining dressing on top and serve.

With the exception of Chef Suvir Saran's Pork Vindaloo from his first book, Indian Home Cooking, my favorite way to enjoy a long braising of pork comes from the Latin American kitchen and few are better than Pork and Pumpkin stew. Severed with warm tortillas and boiled rice, this is the ultimate Autumn comfort food!

Pork and Pumpkin Stew

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
a 14-ounce can tomatoes, including the juice
2 teaspoons dried sage
4 potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch kale, chopped
2 pounds sugar pumpkin cut into 1-inch pieces

In a heavy pot, heat oil and sear pork in batches until nicely caramelized. Remove to a plate and reserve. Add onion, saute until soft and add garlic stirring just until golden. Add tomatoes, breaking them up and return pork and simmer covered for 1 hour adding water if liquid if not sufficient.

Add potatoes and continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes. Add the kale and pumpkin and cooked covered stirring occasionally until pumpkin is tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve over rice with warm tortillas.

When I was in my early 20's, I drove a produce truck delivering fruits and vegetables to little markets around Michigan. One such market was a Latin American market in Lansing. It was there that I discovered Pumpkin Empanadas, a sort of turnover affair filled with sweetened spiced pumpkin. I believe there were 6 to a package and none to a package by the time I returned the truck to Battle Creek. I requested that particular route every week. I was so pleased when I found a recipe that rivaled those wonderful Mexican pastries I used to enjoy back in Michigan. Try these soon. They are just the thing to include in a Sunday brunch and just beg to be washed down with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate.

Pumpkin Empanadas

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cups cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup ice water
Pumpkin filling

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Stir together flour and sugar and work in butter with a pastry blender. Beat together egg yolk and the water add gradually to flour mixture and mix well.
3. Divide dough in half for easier handling and turn onto a lightly floured board. Roll each ball of dough out thin. Cut dough into 4-inch circles.
4. Fill each circle with approximately 1 tablespoon filling, fold in half, and pinch edges to seal; then flute the edges. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, brush the tops with the slightly beaten egg white, and bake for 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Filling

2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon anise seed or ground nutmeg

1. Place pumpkin, sugar and anise seed (or nutmeg)Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Cool.

Coq au vin, Milinciani a Canazzu and Lamb Stew

No matter what you call it or what you use in it, stew is the perfect comfort food for those short cold days, the perfect foil for tough cuts of meat and just the thing to make you smile and sigh at the end of the day.

Any culture that's had a tough bird to deal with has a version of chicken stew. One of my favorites is found in the Gourmet cookbook that came out about 10 or so years ago. Not for the diet-conscious, it contains a good amount of cream but is worth the splurge on a special occasion.

A more traditional version, Coq au vin (rooster in wine) comes to us from France and provides all the comfort one needs as well as all the praise the cook will get for serving this to guests.

Coq au Vin

1 chicken, cut up into pieces
4 ounces bacon
1/2 cup pearl onions
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Bouquet garni
4 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons brandy
2 cups red wine
Kneaded butter

Saute the bacon and onions in butter until browned. Add chicken, garlic, bouquet garni, and mushrooms and saute until golden with the lid on stirring occasionally.
Pour in 2 tablespoons of the brandy and flame.
Add the wine and simmer lively for 15 or 20 minutes.
Remove chicken and thicken sauce with the kneaded butter.
Add remaining brandy, heat through and serve over chicken.

1 chicken, cut up into pieces
4 ounces bacon
1/2 cup pearl onions
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Bouquet garni
4 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons brandy
2 cups red wine
Kneaded butter

Saute the bacon and onions in butter until browned. Add chicken, garlic, bouquet garni, and mushrooms and saute until golden with the lid on stirring occasionally.
Pour in 2 tablespoons of the brandy and flame.
Add the wine and simmer lively for 15 or 20 minutes.
Remove chicken and thicken sauce with the kneaded butter.
Add remaining brandy, heat through and serve over chicken.

1 chicken, cut up into pieces
4 ounces bacon
1/2 cup pearl onions
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Bouquet garni
4 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons brandy
2 cups red wine
Kneaded butter

Saute the bacon and onions in butter until browned. Add chicken, garlic, bouquet garni, and mushrooms and saute until golden with the lid on stirring occasionally.
Pour in 2 tablespoons of the brandy and flame.
Add the wine and simmer lively for 15 or 20 minutes.
Remove chicken and thicken sauce with the kneaded butter.
Add remaining brandy, heat through and serve over chicken.

6 tablespoon butter
1 cup flour

Blend together to make a smooth paste

I've often told the story of our first visit to Sicily. A long flight from San Francisco with layovers, it can take around 24 hours (or more) to get to Palermo where you haven't really experienced the proper welcome until you're luggage has been lost. We got the proper welcome. In addition to that, we were dropped off at a place out in the middle of nowhere by a man we had only just met. While waiting for him to come back to get us, we decided to do a little exploring in the countryside which, in no time, left us with mud up to our ankles. Using an outside pump, we washed our socks and shoes and prayed for them to dry before he returned which he did at about the same time we were pulling on still-damp socks and shoes.

Exhausted, cold, wet and famished, he staggered into his office to talk about looking at property, a subject that my battered mind couldn't get itself around at that time. When we finally stood up, stretched and said, "Well, boys, let's go and get a bite to eat," I was pulling my coat on when he pointed to a door which did not lead outside. It led to a darkened descending stairway which I though would be the last sight I would ever see. (Yes, a tired mind is susceptible...) What we found at the bottom of the stairs was a kitchen and a long table at which we were seated and poured out glasses of homemade wine.

As he walked to the stove, the real estate man, Franco, started talking about everyday things and pulled out vegetables, homemade passata, olive oil pressed from his father's olives and dried Calabrian chilies, an ingredient I haven't been without since. In no time he was dishing up a wonderful stew and passing a big bowl of dried pecorino to sprinkle over it. This welcome made me forget about wet feet and lost luggage. This was a warmth to transcend!

It was also a recipe to keep. I had purposely brought a note pad to jot down recipes I might find and was put to work sooner than I thought. Just a note about the peppers, I have found that looking for sweet peppers that are halfway between green and red provides a very different and delicious flavor to any dish where peppers are called for. If you can't locate them, go with regular red, or yellow, or orange...

Milinciani a Canazzu

(Eggplant stew)

Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large sweet red bell pepper, chopped
1 eggplant
1 Calbrian dried chili or dried chili flakes to taste
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, chopped
2 or 3 medium potatoes, sliced thick
Salt to taste
Pecorino
Saute onion, garlic, pepper, eggplant and chili in olive oil until vegetables are soft.
Add tomatoes and cook stirring for a few minutes.
Add potatoes and water if necessary cooking until potatoes are tender.
Season with salt and serve with grated pecorino.

Lamb stew is another of those concoctions that every culture has come up with. My most memorable is not made with a tough cut of lamb but with a milk-fed lamb that has not been allowed to mature beyond the age of one month assuring the diner with a tender succulence he won't find in any other lamb stew. Served only at Easter, this Roman preparation is so popular in the Eternal City that it is wise to pre-order your lamb or go very early in the morning on the Saturday before Easter (as I did) to assure your lamb is fresh and available. For the rest of us and the rest of the year, I offer a recipe from the old now-out-of-print Settlement Cookbook.

You should experiment with this by adding some thyme and additional vegetables of choice. I am offering the recipe as given in the book along with the one for baking powder dumplings, a must pairing!

Lamb Stew with Baking Powder Dumplings

1 pound lamb stew pieces
1 medium onion, chopped and divided into to portions
Oil
Salt and pepper
1 large potato, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
Baking Powder Dumplings (Recipe below)

Season lamb pieces with salt and pepper and brown well in the oil along with half the chopped onion.
Add boiling water to cover and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Add the rest of the vegetables and simmer,covered, for 1 additional hour adding dumplings and simmering another 15 minutes covered.

Baking Powder Dumplings

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 scant cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk and stir just to mix. Drop by spoonfuls into simmer stew. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

Moqueca de Camarão

Say the term "comfort food" and stew has to be in the top-ten of what first comes to mind.

I think of a long day that deserves a treat at the end of it. It can be a cold day in the Midwest, where I was raised, or just a busy day here in California that begs to be rewarded for just getting through it.

I've also known it as a welcoming gift when I first went to Sicily and it was prepared for us by the one of the first people we met. It was simple yet very memorable and I still love making it.

The stew pictured comes from the Bahia state of Brazil. It calls for dendê, a red palm oil that I highly recommend you searching out before you make this. It lends a flavor that is unique to the cuisine of the region and must be tasted in this dish to be really appreciated. I know that on a number of occasions I will say to make a recipe even if a certain ingredient isn't available. Not in this case, however. Dendê is as key an ingredient as the shrimp! If you do not live near a Brazilian market, no worries! Let the market come to you. amigofoods.com is a great source for all sorts of Latin American food products. In addition to dendê, they also carry mandioca torrada (toasted manioc flour), my ingredient of choice when making farofa. I hope you'll go out of your way to get these ingredients and experience these wonderful dishes for yourself.

Moqueca de Camarão

1 lb shrimp in shell, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 (14- to 15-oz) can tomatoes including juice, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
5 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon dendê (palm) oil

Toss shrimp with black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, garlic, and lime juice and marinate, covered and chilled, 20 minutes.
Cook onion and bell pepper in olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add cayenne, 1 tablespoon cilantro, and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes and simmer briskly, stirring, until mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil, then add shrimp mixture and cook, stirring, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in dendê oil and remaining 4 tablespoons cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with Brazilian style rice and farofa.

Brazilian style Rice

2 tablespoons oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup rice. long grain
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Rinse rice in several changes of water to remove starch and let drain in sieve. While rice is draining, saute onions in a pot until translucent.
Add rice and cook, stirring, until it turns a chalky color.
Add 1 1/2 cups water and the salt and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and cook with lid slightly ajar until water is evaporated.
Add remaining water and cook a few more minutes until water is gone and then turn off heat and cover undisturbed for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Farofa

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups toasted manioc flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in skillet and saute chopped garlic.
Let the flour pour slowly through your fingers into the skillet stirring it into the mixture.
When all the fat is absorbed, move it from one side of the skillet to the other making sure that it all gets toasted well.
Serve over beans or stew or meat.

Frango con Creme de Milho

As you can see, my interest in Brazilian food continues. And there is so much to be interested in! The food, like the culture, is very diverse. But one delicacy that shows up time and again is deep-fried food, something that appears in every culture, it seems, from Chinese to Italian.

This particular recipe turned up on both my Face Book and Twitter accounts from a Brazilian recipe site that has the best food pics around. They also do a lot of simple recipes that can be put together in minutes as well as a few more involved ones such as this is.

I did take liberties with the recipe, something I generally will never do until I've made per the instructions. I detest canned corn! I usually freeze corn every year and if I don't, I use only good quality frozen corn, something that is not too hard to come by. In every other way, I followed the recipe as if it were handed down from God himself. That being said, there are a few ways I will change the next time I make it.

The recipe calls for chicken breast, a cut which I think must be chosen for dishes that will be cooked quickly as it dries out in an instant. Since you want to make sure the filling is heated through completely, you must leave the fritter in the oil long enough for the heat to penetrate. Unfortunately, this can mean that the outer coating of white meat will get a little too dry.

On that account, I think I will use thigh meat the next time or perhaps experiment with ground turkey.

The other thing I may change will be to add some cheese to the sauce.

Also, the original recipe calls for molds for the filling. I just used regular muffin tin molds.

I hope you get around to make this.

Chicken Fritters with Cream of Corn

ingredients


½ cup milk
1 can of corn with water
1 tbsp butter
½ onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon flour
salt and chopped parsley to taste
2 pounds chicken breast, diced and then briefly pulsed in the food processor, seasoned with salt and pepper
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups coarsely crushed corn flakes


Creamed corn

1 - In a blender put ½ cup of milk and a can of corn with water and mix quickly (or function "pulse") leaving a few pieces of corn. Reserve.

2 - Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute
chopped onion until soft. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and cook for 1 minute.

3 - Add the reserved corn mixture and cook until slightly thickened. Season with salt and chopped parsley to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.

Assembly

4 - Take small patty molds coated with oil, line the bottom and sides with finely chopped chicken breast. In the center of the pan place the creamed corn and cover with a layer of chopped chicken breast. Place in freezer for 30 minutes to firm.


5 - Remove the chicken from the freezer molds, unmold and dip into eggwash and then in crushed cornflakes. Fry in hot oil until golden. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. Serve at once.