Stanislawa’s Gołabki (Stuffed Cabbage)

My mother would make this economic meal in the fall, when cabbage and tomatoes were available and inexpensive. Polish comfort food. Incidentally, “Gołabki” translates to “little pigeons.”

You will need a large container. The size depends on the size of the cabbage, but the pot or bucket must allow the cabbage to be completely covered with water. Most recently, I had an unusually gargantuan head of cabbage, so I had to boil two large pots of water and used a plastic garden bucket. Not exactly what they teach at the CIA, I imagine, but it worked nicely.

Ideally, make this one day ahead. It’s better reheated.

1 head of cabbage
1 lb. ground sirloin
2 cups of cooked rice
1 onion diced
2 heaping teaspoons chopped garlic
3 medium tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoon Salt
~1 teaspoon Pepper

Wash the head of cabbage and cut out the stem. Boil one or two pots of water. Again, it depends on how much water you need. Once the water is boiling, either place the cabbage into the pot or pour the water into the larger container (such as a bucket) and pour in the boiling water. Place something over the cabbage to weigh it down, so it’s somewhat submerged. Let the cabbage sit in the water for about 45 minutes to an hour so the leaves soften from the heat. Meanwhile . . .

Fry the diced onion in 2 T butter, until golden.

Beat the two eggs and combine with the ground beef and one teaspoon, each, of salt and ground black pepper. Add the fried onions and garlic. Knead until the egg and pepper are well incorporated into the beef. Next, add the cooked rice and knead to incorporate into the beef.

Remove the cabbage from the water. Drain the pot and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Heat it just enough so the butter melts and turn off the heat. Carefully remove the cabbage leaves; avoid tearing the leaves. Throw out the outer layer.  Place a large dollop of the beef mixture on a leaf and wrap the leaf around the meat. Arrange the bundles in the pot. Then add water until it almost covers them. Arrange slices of tomatoes over the top, and add about 1 teaspoons of salt and some additional black pepper. Sprinkle a bit of ground cloves over the top. Turn the heat up to high.  Once the water is rolling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1-1/2 hours.

Remove the gołabki and remove most of the water, leaving about two cups in the pot. Strain to remove the tomatoes. Reserve the tomatoes. Add the ground cloves and sour cream and whisk furiously for a couple of minutes. Using a flour sifter, add the flour and continue to whisk vigorously until you have a smooth sauce. (Alternatively, add 3T flour to ¼ cup of water and mix well until smooth; add to the water.”) Add the tomatoes and heat to thicken the sauce.

Place a pair of the cabbage rolls on a plate and ladle sauce over them. Pour the sauce over the gołabki and serve with bread and butter.

Note: Add lemon or vinegar if you prefer a sourer flavor.

Italian Sausage with Tomatoes & Beans with Polenta

Note: Make the polenta at least 5 hours ahead of time.

Polenta:  
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring 7 cups of water, with the salt added, to a boil. Gradually add 2 cups of yellow corn meal in a steady stream, stirring the entire time. Cook on moderate heat, stirring continuously until thick and stiff (about 10 minutes). Add one cup Parmesan and stir until well blended. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and fill with the polenta and chill for 5 hours. Turn our and slice. Fry in a heavy skillet in butter until slightly browned and crisp.

Stew:
2 teaspoons olive oil
7 links Italian sausage
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cans dices tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano, with some liquid drained (double the following spices if using plain canned tomatoes)
2 cans cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground rosemary
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
4 teaspoon oregano
1-1/2 T chopped garlic
1 Knorr’s vegetable bullion
Polenta (see recipe)
1/8 cup grated Parmesan

Remove one sausage from casing and break up into small pieces in a large non-stick skillet. Drizzle one teaspoon olive oil over the sausage and cook over medium heat (about 3 minutes). Add the remaining four sausages and brown for 3-4 minutes on each side (i.e. 6-8 minutes total). Add the wine and deglaze. Add the tomatoes and herbs; stir; cover and cook over lowest heat for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans, cover, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Arrange two slices of polenta on each plate, overlapping. Place one sausage on each plate and spoon tomato & beans over. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Serve with Italian bread or garlic toast.

Homemade Bratwurst No. 1

For New Year’s Eve 2012 we invited Mary Rose and Jens for dinner and decided to make homemade sausages. We made chorizo, chaurice and Italian sausage (see previous post about sausage making). We also wanted to make a German sausage. I scoured the internet for bratwurst recipes. I was surprised that none of the recipes I found matched . . . at all. In one case, a website had Bratwurst No. 1 and Bratwurst No. 2. The only common ingredient between the two recipes was pork shoulder and salt. I finally settled on the No. 1 recipe and added a few other spices (savory, allspice and marjoram).  Although the flavor of the product was nothing like the Sheboygan brats that we’re accustomed to buying in a store, this proved to be a very tasty sausage.

We used the cookie press again which works fine for small quantities. Also, I adjusted the Italian Sausage recipe and it turned out perfect. See the sausage making post for the updated recipe.

2 lbs. ground pork (ground to a hamburger consistency; medium coarse)
3/4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground dried coriander
2 teaspoons ground rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground dried rosemary
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon savory

Frontier Stew

During our recent trip to Albuquerque, MN to help Natalie find an apartment, we managed a day trip to Bandolier, Sante Fe and Taos.  The destination was really Taos, so that I could introduce Carolyn and Natalie to Michael’s Kitchen and Bakery, and, more importantly, to introduce them to the tamale plate.  It had been at least 15 years since I was last there, but it proved to be as good as I remember (except they now add shredded lettuce, which is an unnecessary garnish).  The very next day we had lunch at the Frontier Restaurant, in Albuqwerky.  I ordered a sampler plate and discovered that the enchilada was covered in the same, delicious gravy as the tamales at Michaels.  Except the call the gravy, “the stew.”  An internet search turned up the recipe and I made it for Natalie, Julia and Carolyn this evening.  The stew was served over home made refried beans (see recipe) and tamales from Costco, accompanied by a Lime Greem Salad.  I only wish I had remembered to wear one of my cowboy hats!

1 lb ground pork 
1 medium onion, chopped 
3 large cloves garlic, minced 
1 tablespoon oil, for frying 
3 tablespoons flour 
1 generous cup diced potatoes 
1/2 to 1 cup chopped green chile, to taste 
1 quart chicken stock 
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground pork and chopped onion, breaking apart pork into small pieces. When pork is no longer pink and onions are translucent, add garlic and cook for a minute or so. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of flour; stir to combine.

2. Add potatoes, the green chiles, and chicken stock. Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, until potatoes are just tender, 20-30 minutes.

Note 1:  Each batch of green chiles is different in both flavor and heat.  Test the chiles by tasting before beginning to cook.  The chiles I used had no heat at all, so I added one medium jalapeno to give the dish a bit of heat.

Note 2:  The Frontier Restaurant uses Hatch chiles, which I could not get.  I used a mild green chile that looks like a Hatch chile.

The Great Sausage Making Adventure of 2010

Above, home made Chaurice sausages.

The idea of making sausage has been floating around in my head for several years. In September, Carolyn and I had a pizza at a restaurant called Mojo Tapas in St. Louis, MO that had a chorizo sausage that was excellent.  I finally decided it was time that I made some sausage.  Fortunately, I had Carolyn to help.  I think this would be difficult, if not impossible to do alone.

Our project was hampered by the fact that we do not own a meat grinder with a sausage stuffing tube attachment.  Nor do we have the meat grinding attachment for the KitchenAid stand mixer.  Our only alternative was to have a butcher grind the meat for us.  Besides, we needed to buy hog casings anyway, so we headed to Zier’s Prime Meats in Wilmette. We bought a nearly 5 pound chunk of pork shoulder.  The butcher ground it to a consistency equal to typical ground beef used for hamburger.
The second problem, because we did not have the proper equipment, was how to stuff the ground meat into the hog casings.  I had researched sausage-making on the internet and found recommendations to use a cake decoration piping bag.  We happened to have several of these.

Finding recipes was easy (internet).  I realized that I could divide the ground pork and mix it with different herbs and spices to make several different types of sausage.  I decided on Italian Sausage, Spanish Chorizo, and a Creole sausage called Chaurice (which I had never had before).  I didn’t follow the recipes exactly, but rather, determined the proportions of herbs and spices based on a number of recipes.  Not exactly intuition . . . but guessing.

 
Above, hog casing soaking in water.  The casing comes on a strip of plastic to keep it organized.

The hog casing comes salted and has to be washed and soaked for 15 minutes in lukewarm (not hot) water.  (Don’t over soak).  Using the piping bag, with the largest tip we own, we made several Italian sausages. But it was difficult and the piping bag split.  The tip burst out of the next bag and we were frustrated, but Carolyn had the inspiration to try using her cookie press.  It worked like a charm.  We had some leftovers from stuffing and friend them up, right there and then, to sample the sausage. Of the three sausages we made, I liked the Chorizo; Carolyn preferred the Chaurice.  Unfortunately, the Italian was too salty (I reduced the salt by half in the recipe below).  The sausage turned out far better than expected.  Despite all the work and frustration, dare I say it . . . it was worth it.  The sausage tasted better and had a better consistency than any sausage we’ve had in a restaurant or bought at the grocery store.  Now I’m dreaming about bratwurst and Polish sausage!   --jb  December 30, 2010


Above:  I labeled the spices with a water based pen to keep track which was which

Note:  The hog casing broke several times.  I think that’s normal.  I think that the thickness of the casing is not perfectly consistent; it’s weak in places.  Simply take the meat and put it back into the stuffer
.
Spanish Chorizo
 
I read that Spanish Chorizo, made in Spain, is air-cured for up to four months in special high-ceilinged rooms. Some chorizo is smoked; some is not. This recipe does not call for smoking, but because it includes smoked paprika, the sausage has a smoky flavor that is not overpowering.  I didn’t have Aleppo pepper, so I took advice I found on the internet to substitute it with a 4 to 1 mixture of sweet Hungarian paprika and cayenne pepper.

Mix the first six ingredients together:

• Coarse salt: 2 teaspoons
• Garlic:  1/2 teaspoon
• Ground nutmeg: 3/4 teaspoon
• Brown sugar: 1 tablespoon
• Smoked paprika : 1 tablespoon
• Aleppo pepper substitute:  1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika plus ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Ground pork: 2 lb.

I spread the ground pork on a large cutting board to an even thickness of about 3/8” and evenly distributed the spices.  Then I turned half of the meat over on to the other half and used my fingers to massage the meat to thoroughly distribute the spices.  Lastly, fill casings.  Push the meat through the casing so you have about 2 inches of casing to tie off the end.  Next, cut the casing at the other end, several inches past the meat, so you have another loose end with which to tie.  Squeeze the meat toward the first tied end before tying the other end.


Above:  Ground pork spread just before applying the seasonings.

Chaurice (Creole Pork Sausage) 

• Ground pork: 2 lb.
• Salt: 2 teaspoons
• Ground cayenne: 1/8 teaspoon
• Powdered thyme: 1/2 teaspoon
• Chili powder: 2 teaspoons
• Hungarian sweet paprika: 1 tablespoon
• Ground black pepper: 3/4 teaspoon
• Onion powder: 1 teaspoon
• Garlic powder: 3/4 teaspoon
• Allspice: ¼ teaspoon
• Cumin: 1-1/2 teaspoons

 Italian Sausage 

• Ground pork: 2 lb.
• Salt: 2 teaspoon
• Black pepper (ground):  1-1/2 teaspoos
• Fennel seeds: 2 tablespoons
• Optional:  Crush red pepper flakes: 1/2 teaspoon (or as you like)

12-30-12 Update:  I adjusted the Italian Sausage recipe (above) with more salt and fennel than the initial recipe. Now it's perfect!  -jb

Ptaszki (Translation: Little Birds)

Also known, inelegantly but popularly, as Christmas Pork Rolls.  First prepared in 1982 while learning to cook and living in Madison, WI.  -jb

2 large pork tenderloins (will make approximately 20-26 ptaski)
   (tip: buy trimmed tenderloins; cost more but save time)
Bacon, cut strips in half, cross-wise
Green peppers, cleaned and sliced into ½” wide pieces
Onions, sliced into thick ¾” wide pieces
Pickles (Vlassic brand Polish style), spears, cut lengthwise in half and ends trimmed to 4” long (but reserve the pickle juice)
Hungarian Paprika
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder (see note 1)
Olive Oil
Reserved pickle juice
2 Knorr’s vegetable bullions

Special tools:
Waxed paper
Kitchen mallet
Spray bottle with tap water
large nylon cutting board
round toothpicks
two oven-proof 12” skillets (or work in two stages with one skillet and an oven-proof baking dish) 

Preparation:  Spread waxed paper over a 2’x4’ section of the kitchen counter.  You will be laying out the flattened medallions of pork on this area.  Spray the area with water and keep it moist to prevent the meat from sticking to the waxed paper. Also, cut off a dozen or more sections of waxed paper, 10” long.  You will use these to cover the meat as you pound it flat.  This minimizes splatter of small bits of meat.

Trim off any excess fat from the tenderloin. Cross cut the tenderloin on a slight diagonal, into 1” to 1¼” thick medallions.  Each tenderloin will yield about 12 medallions.

Spray the cutting board with water.  Place a medallion of pork on the cutting board and spray with water.  You want to keep the meat very moist as you work.  Cover the medallion with a piece of waxed paper and pound with the smooth side of the mallet. Carefully pound the medallion until very thin; about the thickness of shirtbox cardboard.  The resulting piece will be about 4” x 7”.  Spray the waxed paper layout area with water and set the meat, flat, on the wet surface.  Repeat until all the medallions are flattened and arranged in rows on the waxed paper.  Remember to spray often as you work to keep the meat moist.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle the meet with about 2-3 pinches of salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.  Place a slice of bacon over the each piece of meat.  Place a piece of green pepper, pickle and onion at the end closest to you, perpendicular to the length of the meat.  Have toothpicks ready.  Roll the meat, starting at the end with the green pepper-pickle-onion and spear with one or two toothpicks to hold the roll together.  Place on a plate to free up work space.  Repeat the instructions with the second tenderloin. 

Pour 5-6 tablespoons of oil into a 12” skillet, turn up heat to medium high and add ptaszki  to fill the skillet in one layer.  Brown on all sides (as best you can; the toothpicks are in the way).  If your skillet is not oven-proof, place the browned ptaszki into a large oven-proof baking dish.  Brown the remainder of ptaszki until all are browned.  Add 1/3 cup of pickle juice and sprinkle the rolls with a little Paprika.  Cover with aluminum foil and place into the oven.  Bake for 1-1/2 hours.

Gravy:  Pour the liquid from the baking dish into a skillet and add about ½ cup of water.  In a cup, add 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 3 tablespoons of cold water.  Mix thoroughly until smooth.  Set aside.  Add the Knorr’s vegetable bullion in the pan and dissolve, breaking it up with the back of a spatula.  Add black pepper, to taste.  Add the flour-water mixture and stir constantly while cooking over a moderate heat until thickened.  Season with salt, to taste.

Above, cutting medallions from a piece of tenderloin

Above, a medallion covered with a piece of waxed paper

A flattened medallion

All ingredients applied and ready to be rolled up.

Ptaszki, ready to be browned.

Browning in a cast iron skillet

Onion Burger

Rachel stay with us for the first time this weekend and we had a terrific time.  We met Natalie for lunch at Irazu, on Milwaukee Avenue, near Western.  Afterwards we went to Grant Park, planning to visit the Field Museum.  We arrived at 4:10 and learned that the last admittance was at 4:00 (!), so we went to see "The Bean."  Dinner at Mista Pizza.  Sunday morning Rachel help make a surprize breakfast for Carolyn (blueberry pancakes).  After breakfast we embarked on a bike ride through the NU campus.  It was hot!  And humid.  We turned on the lawn sprinkler for Rachel to cool off.  After lunch we went to visit Rachel's great grandmother.  We returned in time to make dinner, which consisted of an onion hamburger.  This was a first try, but everyone gave it a two thumbs up.

1 lb. ground beef, 7% fat
1.3 lb. ground beef, 20% fat
2 large onions, diced
Dubliner Irish cheese, diced into 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 12" skillet; spread to cover pan.  Set heat at medium high; add the diced onions and 2 tablespoons water.  Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes.  Stir, add another 2 tablespoons of water, cover and continue to cook.  Repeat for one hour.  Caramelize the onions; don't burn them.

Mix the beef together with the salt and cheese.  Add the caramelized onions and mix thoroughly.  The mixture will be fairly wet; not like a standard hamburger.  Form balls and squash into patty shape.  Grill on high heat; flip when underside is well cooked.  Serve on a toasted bun.

Swedish Meatballs

Every year, the weekend before Christmas, Carolyn and her daughters get together to make Swedish Meatballs.  I have a standing invitation to finely dice the onions and to get out of the kitchen so production can take place unimpeded. (12025013 update: I have been invited to roll meatballs too!) We’ve never actually counted, but the outcome must be about 200 meatballs.  The recipe is based on a recipe passed down by Carolyn’s mother, Martha.
5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons sage
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ginger
2-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup bread crumbs
¼ cup dried or fresh parsley
3 lbs. ground beef
1-1/2 lbs. ground pork
1 lb. ground veal
3 eggs
½ cup half & half 
2 medium yellow onions, very finely diced (about 3 cups)
Butter
Knorr’s vegetable or beef bullion
Mix the first 10 ingredients together and set aside. Mix the eggs, half+half and onions (the "wet ingredients"); set aside. Add a beef bullion, a half teaspoon of allspice, and a cup of water to a large pot.
Add all the meat to a large bowl and add the 10 dry ingredients, as well as the parsley. Mix, with your hands, until thoroughly blended. Add the wet ingredients to the meat and mix with your hands thoroughly.
Form the meatballs by rolling about one tablespoon of the meat between your palms. The meatballs should be small; no larger than 2.5 cm in diameter.
When you have about 20 meatballs ready, melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet and brown the meatballs over a medium heat, turning occasionally. Once well browned, remove to the large pot and add another 20 or so meatballs to the skillet(s). After all the meatballs have been browned, deglaze the skillet(s) with 1 cup of water and add the liquid to the meatballs. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until Christmas. After reheating, drain off most of the liquid and prepare a gravy with cornstarch.
Leftovers freeze nicely.



Yes, smell that butter!  

Albondigas

Carolyn and I first enjoyed albondigas (Mexican meatballs) at a restaurant on Lincoln Avenue.  We went back again and were stunned to find that they removed them from the menu.  Big mistake.  Soon they went out of business.  This recipe is the result of gathering information from a half dozen different recipes, with the hope of recreating the albondigas we enjoyed on Lincoln Avenue.  I first prepared this recipe for a Cinco de Mayo office lunch in 2006. This batch made 39 meatballs and required three baking dishes; enough for 19 servings!  It's a lot of work, but the albondigas freeze nicely and are great to have on hand.  Of course, you can always make 1/3 or 1/2 of the recipe.

Meatballs:

3 lbs. ground beef
3 lbs. ground pork
3-4 medium onion, finely diced
3 medium zucchini, peeled and finely diced
3 tablespoon dried oregano
5 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups plain, dried bread crumbs (I use a coarse variety)
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
6 large eggs
2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce:

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 to 8 canned chipotle chiles in adobo (7 oz can), stemmed and seeded (I used 10 the first time: too hot!  I used 5 the second time plus 1 T. of the adobo sauce; too mild.)  note: Add the adobo sauce.
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 can (28 oz.) tomato sauce
3 cups white rice (prepared makes about 6 cups)
1-1/4 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450 deg. F. and begin preparation of rice.

In large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients until well blended.   In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the cumin, salt and black pepper.  Add to the meat and mix well. 

With wet hands, shape meat into 2-1/2 inch balls and place into a 9” x 13” baking dish, spaced apart.  Bake until lightly browned; about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove seeds from the chipotle peppers and add to a blender or processor.  Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, oregano and cumin.  Puree until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine the puree, tomato sauce and rice.  Stir well.

When the meatballs are ready, spoon on the tomato-rice mixture, spreading it to fill the spaces between the meatballs.  Bake another 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and place meatballs, without the tomato-rice mixture, on warmed plates.  Add one cup of chicken broth to a baking dish and mix well.  Serve with the meatballs.

Dice the zucchini fine

Work in process . . . ready to combine with the sauce.

BBQ Ribs

I first made these ribs for a July 4, 2003 lunch for Carolyn, Natalie and Julia.  This year I served them for Carolyn’s birthday party, accompanied by White Trash Nachos, and Black Bean, Corn & Tomato Salsa.  As you can see in the photo, I like to cut the ribs up and serve them on a platter.

2 to 6 slabs of baby back pork ribs
Can of spray olive oil

Rib Rub

2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoons ground chipotle chili pepper

Basting Sauce

1-¾ cups apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Tabasco
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup (warmed, or it won’t mix)
2 tablespoons ketchup

Remove ribs from refrigerator and allow them to reach room temperature.

Spray ribs with oil and generously sprinkle with the dry rub.  Turn and repeat.  The point is to get as much of the rub mixture to stick as possible.  With the concave side facing down, spray the ribs with olive oil and apply another coating of rub.  And repeat a third time.

• Set the grill to high for 10 minutes
• Carefully place the ribs on the grill, concave side facing up. Reduce heat to lowest setting (on my DuKane grill this means turning the right burner off and setting the left burner to "low") and close cover. Cook 45 minutes.
• Open cover and baste. Carefully turn the ribs, baste this side, cover and cook another 30 minutes.
• Baste again. Cover, but this time keep the cover slightly open to vent some of the heat (about an inch or two). Cook another 30 minutes and baste.
• Again cover, leaving the lid slightly open and cook 20 minutes.

Remove from grill, cut into individual pieces and serve.  Wet sauce is optional.

Mustard, Herb and Garlic Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

Carolyn and I first prepared this dish for New Years Eve dinner (2001) accompanied by onion mashed potatoes, green beans, and caramelized shallots. It's a simple yet elegant entrée. The fresh herbs, I think, are essential. I doubt that the same flavor would emerge from dried herbs. -JB 1-7-2001.

I can't believe it's been eight years, but I prepared this for our dinner with Paul and Tom this past weekend at Killasonna Lodge. -JB 3-5-09


3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
black pepper
4 1/2 lb. beef tenderloins (fillet mignon), preferably cut from the thick end (ask butcher for "choice" rather than "select"; Black Angus if available)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2-1/2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
2-1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Mix the garlic, thyme, rosemary and mustard in a small bowl.

Season all sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Place 2-3 tablespoons of oil in an oven-proof skillet (cast iron is best) and brown the meat for five minutes. Generously coat the top of each filet with the mustard and herb mixture. Place in oven and roast for 30-40 minutes (or until meat thermometer inserted into center registers 125º F for medium-rare).

John & Carolyn's End of the Millennium Chili

There is a story that a friend of mine, Terry Jackson, told me about his entry into Pepper Construction Company's annual chili contest. Terry takes cooking seriously and he took the chili contest very seriously. He prepared for a week in advance. He bought pork shoulder, seasoned it lovingly and cooked it in a low oven for 8 or 10 hours. He bought a beef sirloin, salted it nicely and cooked it for 8 hours. And then he spent a couple of hours finely dicing the meat by hand before adding it to a pot with ground beef. His recipe listed an entire page of spices and seasoning. He literally spent days preparing the winning entry. On the contest day, Terry shmoozed with the judges and basked in a winner's confidence. A woman who decided, the night beforehand, to enter the contest, using ordinary hamburger, tomato sauce from a can and a package of chili seasoning won. Terry renamed his recipe "Loser's Chili." I still have it, but I can;t imagine undertaking to make it. Carolyn and I concocted the following relatively simple recipe in and make it at least a couple of times each winter. We made it a couple of night ago, but didn't have any smoked chipotle sauce, so I added another tablespoon of chili powder.

Serves 8 to 10

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, diced
All the cloves of a bulb of garlic, crushed
1-1/2 pounds ground round
1-1/2 pounds ground chuck
4 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoon smoked chipotle sauce
OR 1 tablespoon ground chipotle chili pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Liquid Smoke
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with added puree
(or any canned tomatoes plus a small can of tomato sauce)
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 can (14 oz.) black beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 tablespoon salt

Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat and add onions. Sauté onions over fairly high heat, stirring often, until they are translucent and starting to caramelize; about 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef and sauté until brown, breaking up meat with back of spoon; about 5 minutes.

Add all the spices and mix well. Mix in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, and beans (drained). Stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, 45 minutes. Thin with beer or chicken broth, if needed (unlikely).

Serve with cheddar goldfish crackers.

(Re-heat over low heat before serving, to prevent burning.)

Chicken & Sausage Stew

 

 
This is a hearty entrée with a complex flavors and chicken that falls off the bone. I like to use a cast iron skillet to brown the chicken and sausage because it does a better job browning than a standard skillet. But it's not essential. Any skillet will do. Don't over-cook the sausages while browning because they will cook further in the pot. You want them to remain juicy. It's certainly possible to make this dish without the sausage, which contributes a lot of unnecessary fat, but it admittedly tasty fat.

Rather than a cut-up whole chicken I often buy a package of 2 chicken breasts, with bone, skinned; a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs; and a package of chicken legs. Although more expensive to buy skinless pieces, it saves time. With this much chicken I increase the amount of other ingredients proportionately. The amounts are forgiving. Serves 6-8; great for left-overs.

6 medium red potatoes, halved (3 or 4 quartered potatoes, if using large)
1 cut-up chicken, skinned (or 6-7 legs and 6-7 boneless/skinless thighs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 green peppers, quartered and quartered again
3 red peppers, quartered and quartered again
1 or 2 lb. mushrooms, sliced (more is better)
6 links Italian sausage
1 large (red) onion, quartered and quartered again
½ bulb crushed garlic (or 2 tablespoons minced garlic)
2 vegetable bullion (Knorr’s)

Coating for chicken (mix well before coating):

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon dried, ground rosemary (or 1-1/2 T. fresh, ground)
3/4 teaspoon rubbed sage

Seasonings:

2 tablespoon oregano
2 vegetable bullion
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried, ground rosemary (or 1 T. fresh, ground)
2 teaspoon fennel
1/2 teaspoon salt

Using a paper towel, remove skin from the chicken pieces. Cut and pull off as much of the fat as possible. Using a large, sharp knife, cut each breast in half (cross-wise).

Coat chicken pieces and brown on all sides in the olive oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Remove to a plate. Add the sausages and brown. Remove and set aside with the chicken.

Add the onions and a couple tablespoons of water. Brown for 6-7 minutes.

Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in the bottom of a deep pot. Add to the pot, in the following order: the potatoes, mushrooms, any remaining coating, vegetable bullion, the garlic, chicken, sausage, seasonings, one half cup of water. Cook for 30 minutes on low heat, covered. Add the peppers and cook an additional 20-25 minutes, covered.

Serve with bread and red wine.

Breaded Pork Chops

My mother, and my various aunts, all seemed to make outstanding breaded pork chops. I recall that they used thin cut chops and make piles of them. I can remember eating six or seven at a time as a teenager. They were especially succulent because nobody bothered to remove the fat. It simply hid under the bread crumbs.

Before getting to the recipe, I have to tell you that all pork chops are not created equal. There are three principal pork chop cuts. The boneless pork chop, the rib cut pork chop and the loin cut pork chop. Let’s review the boneless chop first. Evidently boneless chops are made for people in a hurry because a piece of meat without a bone will cook more quickly. But there are two problems with this. First, you don’t want to cook pork chops quickly. They lose whatever moisture they had and they get tough. Second, you shouldn’t be using rib cut pork shops in the first place. The pork chop of choice is the loin cut pork chop. Visually, the difference between the two is that the loin cut chop looks somewhat like a small version of a T-bone steak. That is, there is a T-shaped bone (see photo above) with meat on each side. The smaller part is the tenderloin, which, as the name implies, is tender.

The secrets to good breaded chops, I think, are 1.) breading them twice, as explained below, and 2.) browning the chops and then slow cooking over a low heat.

Serves 4

4 loin cut pork chops, all fat removed.
Bread crumbs, plain
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Water

Mix three eggs in a bowl. Sprinkle one side of each pork chop with the five spices (think “moderate”). Use your judgment regarding relative quantities. Dredge each chop, seasoned face down, in bread crumbs. Sprinkle naked side of chop with the five spices, turn and dredge in bread crumbs, including edges.

With plenty of bread crumbs waiting, hold one chop by thick part of the T- bone and, dunk it in the eggs just long enough to coat it. Turn over, if necessary. Place in breadcrumbs, turn it over and on its’ edges to thoroughly and uniformly coat again.

Heat three tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over a moderately high heat. Arrange the chops in the skillet and brown. Flip to brown the other side. Reduce heat to low, add ¼” cup of water and cover. Cook for 1 hour. Add water to keep moist and to keep from burning.

Serve on warmed plate with potatoes, carrots and a green vegetable.

Bigos (A Polish Hunter's Stew)

When I first moved to Evanston in 1985, I lived on the first floor of a two flat. A quiet Jewish family lived upstairs. One Saturday morning our neighbor knocked on the front door and asked if I had noticed the strange odor in the hallway. I told him I had not, sniffed, and reported that I didn’t notice anything unusual. He returned to the apartment upstairs, shaking his head. On Sunday afternoon he knocked on our door again. This time he insisted that I step out into the hall. “You don’t smell that?” he asked incredulously, “It smells like some animal died out here.” I sniffed, several times, but could not perceive anything unusual. On Monday evening, there was a knock on the back door. When I opened it, our neighbor marched in and went straight to the stove. He pointed at the large, bubbly pot and triumphantly declared (picture Ralph Kramdon of the Honeymooners), “Ah ha! That’s what I’ve been smelling!” I sheepishly offered him a bowl, but he declined.

Bigos, considered to be the national dish of Poland, is a stew that once upon a time aristocratic hunters prepared for their guests. Ordinary Poles couldn’t afford to put so much meat into a dish! Traditionally bigos included game such as wild boar, pheasant, and/or venison. Today, the ingredients, sourced at the grocery store, are less romantic, but make a quite tasty, if somewhat pungent, dish nonetheless. Any kind of leftover meats or sausage, and even fowl, can be added and it simply improves the flavor. The longer it is cooked, the deeper, more complex and satisfying is the flavor. Bogos is typically served with rye bread and is traditionally served the day after Christmas. Who knows why. Polish cooks sometimes refer to choucroute as "bigos alzacki", and Alsatian cooks sometimes refer to bigos as "choucroute à la polonaise.” I prepared and documented this version on January 2, 1999. --jrb

3 quarts of Polish or German style sauerkraut (i.e. fermented cabbage; not merely cabbage with vinegar)
4 large onions, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 loin cut pork chops, meat trimmed from bone (see note 1)
1 lb. beef stew (beef chuck or sirloin), cut into ¾” pieces (see note 1)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
3 Knorr's vegetable bullion
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) of chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-3 dozen black peppercorns
2 carrots sliced into ¼” rounds
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (I also used two heaping tablespoons of Ligonberry preserves and/or apples)
8 oz. tomato sauce
12" of Polish sausage (Kielbasa Wiejska preferred, but any kind will do), sliced into ¼” thick medallions

Day 1: Saute onions in a 12” skillet in the olive oil on low-medium heat for one hour, turning often. Add a little water to keep it moist. Be careful not to burn. You want to caramelize the onions.

Drain and reserve liquid from 1 quart of kraut. Place all three quarts of kraut (including liquid from 2 quarts) into a large pot or Dutch oven. Cook for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Add the onions and the next seven ingredients (see note 1 below). Mix well and cook, covered, over low heat for 2 hours. Stir occasionally and add water when needed to keep the bigos fairly wet. Remove from stove and allow to cool.

Day 2: Heat up the bigos and cook, covered, for another 2 hours. Remove from stove and allow to cool.

Day 3: Heat up the bigos and add the carrots, tomato sauce and blueberries. Cook for 90 minutes (or more). Serve with rye bread and butter.

Note 1: Although you can put raw meat into the bigos, I brown the meat and I think it adds considerable flavor: I season the pork chops with some salt, pepper and garlic powder and brown the chops in a cast iron skillet in about 2T of olive oil (both sides). At the end, I add more olive oil and brown the beef stew over a fairly high heat. This will nicely brown the meat. Then I add about cup or more of chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Add the chops (I include the bones and fish them out later), the beef and the pan juices.

Note 2: You can compress the instructions for Day 2 and Day 3 into one day.

The ingredients above are a general guide. The recipe varies from family to family. You can add ham, prunes, apples, whole or cut up tomatoes, caraway seeds, chicken leftoevers, bacon, etc., etc. Traditionally, Poles include diced “boczek” (Polish pork belly, like salt pork or slab bacon), but I think this simply adds unnecessary fat. A final note: Bigos can be frozen.

"Bigos is no ordinary dish,
For it is aptly framed to meet your wish.
Founded upon good cabbage, sliced and sour,
Which, as men say, by its own zest and power
Melts in one's mouth, it settles in a pot
And its dewy bosom folds a lot
Of the best portions of selected meats;
Scullions parboil it then, until heat
Draws from its substance all the living juices,
And from the pot's edge, boiling fluid sluices
And all the air is fragrant with its scent."

from
Pan Tadeusz, by Adam Mickiewicz (1834)