July 4th

Porchetta after roasting

So much to eat!

Porchetta

Ribs!

Brisket

Waiting for the fireworks

Every July 4th we have friends over for a feast on our deck. We eat, drink and then wait for sunset and the amazing display of illegal fireworks from all over the city. This year was especially amazing. We always get Brisket and Ribs with all of the sides from Bludso's Bar-b-que. Guests brought, deserts, vegetables, etc. It makes for a bountiful feast. We made a Porchetta this year. You can get the recipe for baking the Porchetta on our blog of Feb. 24, 2014. Click the date to get the recipe.

We purchased the porchetta at McCall's Meat and Fish. All we needed to do was to roast it all day. It was perfection.

We made several new dishes to accompany the Porchetta. Avocado-and-Cabbage Slaw is an Indian take on Cole-slaw. It was a hit. We would definitely make it again. It was a perfect accompaniment. We baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes, the small purple ones that are so naturally sweet they taste like dessert. Instead of the traditional Baked Beans Cathy made a Moroccan dish: Tagine Bel Homus (Tagine of Chickpeas). This was a big hit and I am sure we will be making it again. She individually peeled each Chickpea. In the future we will skip that step!

The entire night turned out to be a fun time for everyone. Food, drinks, fireworks, makes for a great party.

Avocado-and-Cabbage Slaw

SUVIR SARAN

When Suvir Saran’s mother tried this spicy, crunchy cabbage slaw at his restaurant Tapestry in New York City, she said, “Baba, this is the best chaat I’ve ever eaten!” While Saran didn’t intend to make over the traditional Indian snack, a dish with chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt and chutney, the crunch, spice and tang immediately elicit an iconic chaat. “There is nothing Indian about it, and yet, it’s entirely Indian,” says Saran. 

Ingredients

3         tablespoons fresh lime juice


2         tablespoons honey


1         tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger


2         teaspoons Sriracha


2         teaspoons soy sauce


2         teaspoons Asian fish sauce


1         teaspoon white wine vinegar


¾        teaspoon chaat masala

1/4      teaspoons ground cumin


Kosher salt

Pepper

1         pound green and/or red cabbage, cored and finely shredded

6         scallions, light green and white parts only, thinly sliced


1         pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved


½        cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped


¼        cup mint leaves, finely chopped


2         Hass avocados—peeled, pitted and diced, plus avocado slices for serving 


1         cup roasted salted cashews, chopped, plus more for garnish

Microgreens, for garnish


In a large bowl, whisk the lime juice with the honey, ginger, 
Sriracha, soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, chaat masala and cumin until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cabbage, scallions, tomatoes, cilantro, mint, diced avocados and the 1 cup of chopped cashews and toss to coat. Garnish with avocado slices, more chopped cashews and microgreens; serve.

Tagine Bel Homus

Tagine Of Chickpeas

Foods of Morocco

An alternative to tinned chickpeas is dried chickpeas; for this recipe use 1 cup, soaked overnight in cold water, drained and cooked with water to cover for 1 to 1.5 hours. if preferred, do not skin the chickpeas.

3       tablespoons olive oil

1       brown onion, chopped

1       garlic clove, finely chopped

1       teaspoon harissa, or to taste, or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
pepper

½      teaspoon paprika

¼      teaspoon ground ginger

½      teaspoon ground turmeric

1       teaspoon ground cumin

1      teaspoon ground cinnamon

14    oz tin chopped tomatoes

1       teaspoon superfine sugar

15     oz tins chickpeas

3       tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

2       tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves

SERVES 4

PUT the olive oil and onion in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the garlic, the harissa or cayenne pepper, and the spices and cook gently for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and sugar and season, to taste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

MEANWHILE, drain the chickpeas and put them in a large bowl with enough cold water to cover well. Lift up handfuls of chickpeas and rub them between your hands to loosen the skins. Run more water into the bowl, stir well and let the skins float to the top, then skim them off. Repeat until all the skins have been removed.

DRAIN the chickpeas again and stir them into the tomato mixture. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, adding a little more water if necessary. Stir through the parsley and coriander and season, to taste. Serve with crusty bread or with couscous.

Lamb with Saffron Rice

We grilled the Lamb and served them with Saffron Rice. This is a very good recipe. We started with a Nectarine, Spec and Burrata Salad.

Rozz Za’fran

Saffron Rice

The Foods of Morocco

Andalusian influence is obvious in this rice dish, which is popular in northern morocco. while Moroccans steam the rice - a lengthy process - the following uses the absorption method. a short or medium grain is the type used in morocco.

Wash the rice in a sieve until water runs clear, then drain well.

2-1/2    cups short-grain rice

2          tablespoons olive oil

¼         teaspoon ground saffron threads'

¾         oz butter

Over medium heat, heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the rice, stirring so that all the rice is coated evenly with oil. Add 3-2/3 cups water, the saffron and 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir well. Bring to the boil over high heat and boil for 1 minute.

i

Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until all the/water has been absorbed. Steam tunnels will form holes on the surface of the rice. Turn off heat, then leave the pan, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the butter and fluff lightly with a fork. Transfer to serving bowl. Saffron rice is used to accompany fish dishes but can be used as a substitute for couscous.

Beef Loc Lac

One of our favorite Vietnamese / Cambodian meat preparation  is Beef Loc Lac. We first encountered it at Newport Seafood. It is sometimes called Shaking Beef. We came across this recipe. It was good but not as good as Newport Seafood. I am glad we tried to make it.

Charles Phan's Bu Luc Lac (shaking beef) is a signature dish at The Slanted Door. Cubes of tender filet mignon are sautéed with red onions and a vinaigrette and then served with a salt and pepper dipping sauce over tender watercress. 

Shaking Beef

Serves 4

1 1⁄2 - 2 pounds filet mignon, fat trimmed and cut into 1 1⁄4-inch cubes 

1       teaspoons ground black pepper 

½      cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil 

1       cup thinly sliced red onion, preferably spring onions 

3       stalks green onion, trimmed and cut to 1-inch lengths 

1       tablespoon chopped garlic 

2       tablespoons unsalted butter

Stir-Fry Sauce

2 tablespoons white vinegar 

1⁄4 cup white granulated sugar 

1⁄4 cup light soy sauce 

1⁄4 cup fish sauce 

1 teaspoon cooking rice wine

Salt and Pepper Dipping Sauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1⁄4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice 

1 bunch watercress, washed

1.   Marinate meat 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon oil for about 2 hours. 

2.   Meanwhile, make the stir-fry sauce by combining the white vinegar, sugar, soy, fish sauce, and rice wine. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. 

3.   Divide the meat into two portions, and do the same with the onions. Heat 1⁄4 cup of oil in wok or large sauté pan over maximum heat. (Don't overload the pan, or the meat will not brown properly. You may need to divide the cooking into batches depending on your pan size and the strength of your cooking range.)

4.   When the oil begins to smoke, add the first batch of meat in one layer. Let a brown crust form, and turn to brown the other side. Browning should take 3-4 minutes.

5.   Add red onion, scallions, and garlic to the pan. Shake or stir ingredients in the pan for about 30 seconds.

6.   Add stir-fry sauce. Continue to shake or stir ingredients. 

7.   Add butter, and continue to cook and shake pan until butter melts. Remove from heat. Wash your pan and cook next batch. 

8.   Make lime dipping sauce by mixing together salt and pepper in a ramekin. Pour lime juice over salt pepper mixture. 

9.   Serve beef over watercress with lime dipping sauce.

Salmon Cakes

Frying the salmon cakes

We had left over Salmon and made a favorite: Salmon and Dill Fish Cakes. You can find the recipe on our blog of: June 4, 2012. It is an excellent recipe and a great way to prepare left-over salmon. They fried up perfectly!

Smoked Salmon

Salmon in the Egg

Mixed Mushroom in Donabe Pot

We love smoked salmon. We smoke it at a very low temperature in the egg. We got a beautiful Copper River Salmon filet from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We used the recipe for Honey-Cured, Smoked Salmon from Cooking with Fire and Smoke by Phillip Stephen Schulz. You can find the recipe in our blog of: Jan 15, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. This requires the salmon to be cooked low and slow in the egg.

With the salmon we served a Mixed Wild Mushroom Rice that we cooked in our Donabe pot.

Mixed Mushroom Rice Donabe

Kinoko Gohan

Torio

I love the earthy treat. I like to use a few kinds of mushrooms such as shiitake, king oyster, and shimeji. You can try with your choice of mushrooms. By adding sweet rice, the dish becomes nice and slightly chewy texture, but you can also make it only with short grain rice and it will taste very nice, too. For seasoning, I love white tamari, for its mellow and slightly sweet aroma, but you can substitute with regular soy sauce, too. For the cooking liquid, I used kombu & bonito dashi, but you can be creative with different kinds of stock. I have made it with chicken stock it was very nice, too!

Equipment

Double-lid donabe rice cooker, Kamado-san (3 rice-cup size)

Servings

4 - 5

Ingredients

1-1/2  rice cups (270 ml) short grain rice, rinsed

1         rice cup (180 ml) sweet rice, rinsed and drained (can substitute with short grain rice)

1-1/2  cups plus 2 tablespoons (total 390 ml) kombu and bonito dashi (can substitute with your choice of stock)

2         tablespoons sake

2         tablespoons white tamari (can substitute with soy sauce)

a pinch of sea salt

3 – 4  tablespoons peeled and very finely julienned fresh ginger

about 8 ounces (240 g) assorted mushrooms (shiitake, king oyster, and shimeji mushrooms are used in the photo), trimmed and cut into bite-size slices

Procedure

1.   Combine both kinds of rice, dashi, sake, and white tamari in Kamado-san. Let the rice soak for 20 minutes. Spread the ginger, then mushrooms over the rice.

2.   Cover Kamado-san with both lids and cook over medium-high heat for 13 - 15 minutes, or until 2 - 3 minutes after the steam starts puffing out of the top lid.

3.   Turn off the heat and let it stand for 20 minutes.

4.   Uncover and gently toss the contents with a rice paddle.

About The Measurements Used In Our Recipes

For rice measurement, traditional Japanese rice measurement is used.

1 rice-cup = 3/4 US cup = 180 ml

Other conversions (US to metric measures)

1 cup = 240 ml

1 inch (1") = 2.5 cm

1 ounce (1 oz) = 30 ml

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Tomahawk Pork Chop

What a Pork Chop!

Grilling on the Weber

Perfectly Charred

We love the Tomahawk Pork Chop at Chi Spacca Restaurant. We were at McCall's Meat and Fish and Nate let us know told us that he had Tomahawk Pork Chops, I had never seen them at the store before. We obviously had to buy one and grill it. We seasoned the Pork with Fennel Rub, just like they do at Chi Spacca.  Boy it was great!

Fish Steaks and Jeera Rice

We tried a new dishes from Nigel Slater's Real Fast Fish.  We didn't particular like either of the dishes. We thought the Broiled Spiced Fish Steaks were dry. The Jeera Rice was excellent. Oh well! 

Jeera Rice

Sanjeev Kapooir

Its versatility is unsung. There is not a dish that doesn’t taste great with a side of jeera rice. Cumin seeds and select whole spices sautéed in ghee add plenty of flavour to plain rice when cooked together. With a final garnish of fresh coriander leaves a plate of jeera rice served piping hot is the ideal form of comfort food. Have it with dal, sabzi, curry or just some yogurt and pickle – a jeera rice will always come through in satisfying your taste buds.

Basmati Rice 1 1/2 cups 

Cumin Seeds 2 teaspoons 

Ghee 1 1/2 tablespoons 

Bay leaf  1 

Black cardamom  1 

Cinnamon  2 two inch to cook 

Salt  to taste 

1.   Wash rice thoroughly and soak in water for half an hour. Drain. 

2.   Heat ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamom and cinnamon. When cumin seeds crackle, add the rice. Add salt to taste.

3.   Stir till ghee coats every grain of rice and it looks glossy. Add three cups of water. Bring to a boil. Stir once. Reduce heat to minimum and cover the pan with a lid. Leave a little gap, otherwise water will boil over.

4.   Rice will be done when holes appear on the surface and water has been completely absorbed. Fork the rice out onto a serving dish. This will separate each grain. Serve hot with any curry.

Broiled Spiced Fish Steaks

Nigel Fast Food

Nigel Slater

A dish born while trying to recreate a similar dish I had eaten in India. If “fish steaks” sound a little anonymous, it is quite deliberate. Use whatever fish you have at hand; cod, tuna, swordfish, and halibut are all fine, and frozen will do. Serve with a side dish of sliced sweet tomatoes.

For 4

1       slightly heaped teaspoon garam masala

1       onion, roughly chopped

3       large garlic cloves

1       inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated

½      teaspoon hot chili powder

juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon

1-1/4         cups plain yogurt

salt

freshly ground black pepper
4       fish steaks, about 1/2 pound each, and 1 inch thick

2       tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Put the garam masala, onion, garlic, and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Whizz. Add the chili powder, lime or lemon juice, and yogurt and mix slowly, on a low setting or with a spoon or
spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the fish steaks in a shallow dish and smother them with the marinade. Set aside for as long as you can, but 20 minutes will do.

Heat the broiler. Transfer the fish steaks to the broiler pan and cook for about 8 minutes, 4 inches away from the heat. Pull a little of the fish away from the bone, which is the test for doneness; if the fish resists it will need a couple of minutes longer. Eat hot, with a sprinkling of cilantro.