Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Wonderfully light, laden with fresh produce, heavy on flavor with subtle heat and a bright citrus note.  Easy, one dish, make ahead meal that can be a weeknight staple or worthy enough for a dinner party.  After the holidays, a light vegetarian meal can be very alluring.  Cumin and coriander and smoked paprika tantalize your palate with flavors that aren't in your everyday menu.  Keeping your culinary creations exciting, yet healthy.  

Chef Mourad Lahlou, who has two restaurants in San Francisco, creates menus based on Moroccan  and North African cuisine, using the best produce California has to offer.  He inspired me to come up with a Vegetable Stew using the Moroccan flavor profile with easy, accessible ingredients that can be interchanged for ease in cooking in the home.  The Wall Street Journal ran an article on on Jan 3 2015 showcasing his Vegetable Tagine.  He topped his off with a poached egg, that cooks right in the Tagine, vegetable stew.  Brilliant!

Now, by no means does one have to follow my recipe exactly.  This is only guideline.  Use what is accessible to you.  Taste as you go. Very important!  For company add a cheese course, olives and some wonderful bread.  For everyday, add a salad and cornbread.  Be creative.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of olive oil

3 carrots, diced

2 celery, diced

2 mixed color peppers

1/4 pound of green beans, cut in one inch pieces

1 red onion, diced

3 yukon gold potatoes, diced in one inch pieces

2 turnips, diced in three quarter to one inch pieces

28 oz can of Tomatoes, diced with puree

1 orange, zested and juice reserved

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

1.5 teaspoon of coriander

1.5 teaspoon of cumin

4 tablespoons of tomato paste or 2 Tbsp. if paste is concentrated

3 teaspoons of brown sugar, light or dark

1.5 teaspoons of salt, more to taste

1/2 teaspoon of aleppo pepper or 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

and. . . 4 eggs

Serves:  4 

~ ~ ~

Dice your carrots, celery, red onion and mixed peppers.  Warm large dutch-oven over medium heat.  Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  When warm add carrots, celery, red onion, and mixed peppers, stirring from time to time.  Now, while that's sautéing, dice your potatoes and turnips and add to mixture in pot.

Measure out your spices, and zest and juice your orange.  Add your spices, salt, sugar, tomato paste to veggies, and stir constantly for one minute to prevent burning.  Now, deglaze with your juice.  Add your tomatoes and string beans.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer with lid on for one hour. Check to make sure all your vegetables are nice and tender.  Taste for seasonings and adjust.  If not serving, right away let cool down.  Then refrigerate when just warm, not piping hot.

When ready to serve, bring to a steady simmer.  Crack an egg into a cup, and make an indentation in the stew for the egg.  Repeat three times with each egg.  Cover and simmer till eggs are lightly poached about four to five minutes.  Sprinkle with smoked paprika.

Serving Suggestions:  Shredded Smoked Cheddar/Corn Bread

Swedish Apple Pie

Swedish Apple Pie

This dessert is the perfect ending for a holiday feast or a weekend treat.  You can easily throw this together with just a few ingredients.  No crust to roll out.  Serve this pie with fresh whipped lightly sweetened cream or vanilla ice cream.  This is sure to be a staple on your holiday table.

Simplicity is at the heart in this dessert.

Adapted recipe from Ella, an upstate NY, Lake George resident, friend of my Grandmother's.  Both were excellent cooks.

Ingredients:

Four good sized apples, peeled and sliced, 1/3 of an inch thick

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp of granulated/or sugar in the raw (preferably)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Use the butter wrapper to grease your pie plate.

Topping Ingredients.

Mixing of the topping.

Apples all ready to be covered.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Fill a nine inch pie plate two-thirds of the way with sliced apples.

Mix 2 Tbsp of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and sprinkle on the apples.

In a small bowl combine, 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of flour.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt, 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, lightly toasted, 1 egg, beaten and 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted.  Mix well.  Pour mixture over apples.  Use hands to lightly spread over all apple slices.

Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Serve slightly warm or room temperature with vanilla ice cream or fresh vanilla whipped cream!

Ready for the oven.

It should have nice bubbly sides, and a beautiful tan crust when finished.

Slow Roasted Salmon Fillet

Prepare this show-stopper entree with sheer simplicity. With just a few ingredients, you will produce silky, succulent salmon.

Just a few ingredients!

Your citrus rub will consist of lemon zest, wood-smoked Maldon sea salt, brown sugar and pepper.

Citrus Rub:  make in a spice grinder,  if available.

Ingredients: zest of 1-2 lemons, a tablespoon or two of sea salt flakes (wood-smoked preferably), plenty of ground pepper and a few teaspoons of brown sugar.  You can keep any extra, in the refrigerator and use to rub on chicken before roasting or sprinkled on vegetables.

Pat fish dry with a paper towel.  Drizzle with mild olive oil or avocado oil.   Sprinkle with citrus rub, and rub into fish.  Let sit on a foil lined, oiled, cookie sheet or grill pan.  Heat your oven to 275.

Sprinkle with dill sprigs, stem removed.  Garnish with lemon slices, and/or small tomatoes on the vine.  Place in the oven for close to 25 minutes.  This will obviously be dependent on the size.   A four pound side can take close to 35 minutes, whereas two one-pound pieces can be done in 25 min.

Look for 120 degrees in the thickest area of the fish.  This will be your sign.  You'll notice the tail end of the fish will be firm, while the center portion of the fish might remain slightly soft.  The juices will bubble up to the top of the fish, and the transparency will disappear.

Fully cooked.  Let sit five minutes before serving.

Just an example of a wonderful side dish to serve alongside.  Fresh Tabbouleh.

Stuffed Peppers

Big, beautiful summer peppers stuffed with ground poultry, smoked mozzarella and fresh basil.  Mixed with rice, seasonings and tomatoes to elevate this to a spectacular comfort food.  It's a healthy dish that is so well received with family and guests.  Easy to make ahead, and serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

This recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated.

Ingredients

1 lb of ground turkey or ground chicken
3/4 cup, approximately, of smoked mozzarella, shredded
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup of rice, uncooked
4 medium-large peppers or six if smaller
1/2 cup of grated cheese, Romano or Parmesan
fresh basil, cleaned, leaves torn
1 tbsp. of fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. of thyme if available, chopped (otherwise use 1/2 tsp. of dry)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
15-20 oz of chopped tomatoes
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, to make a sauce
breadcrumbs, preferably homemade
olive oil
salt, pepper, red Aleppo flakes if available

Directions

Prepare a large dutch-oven with plenty of water and one tbsp. of salt.

Clean peppers, slice the tops off with a serrated knife, 3/4-1 inch from the top.  Remove ribs and seeds. When water is boiling, drop peppers in for five minutes, with lid on.  Remove peppers and let drain on paper towel lined cookie sheet upside down, to continue steaming.

Now, add rice to boiling water.  Boil for 13 minutes at a medium boil.  Drain well in a mesh strainer, and lay out on a sheet pan to cool.

Warm a large skillet with 2 tbsp. of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Hold back a little onion and garlic for tomato sauce.   When ready, brown meat and onion, adding minced garlic during last minute of cooking.  Remove from heat, set aside in large bowl.  Add chopped tomatoes, and let cool.

While waiting for things to cool a bit.  Pre-heat the oven at 350.  Make your tomato sauce with the reserved onion and garlic, few basil leaves and crushed tomatoes.  Saute onion and garlic in two tbsp. of olive oil for three minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes, and basil.  Add a salt, pepper and a little sugar, let simmer for thirty minutes.

Prepare breadcrumbs, if using homemade.

Now, add cheeses and basil to meat mixture.  Add spoonfuls of rice until the mix looks plentiful.   You don't want the rice to overpower the mixture.  Add plenty of salt and pepper to taste,  to the mixture.  Be generous, the rice will soak up the seasonings.  Taste and recorrect.

Now, spoon the mix in the prepared peppers in a ovenproof baking dish with a little side for balance.

Be generous with mix.  Really pack it in the peppers.  Sprinkle tops with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle extra grated cheese, if desired.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake prepared peppers at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool, and serve with tomato sauce spooned around the pepper.

Cleaned Peppers, ready for the five minute simmer.

Browning the ground meat with the onion, and finish with rosemary and garlic.

Rice cooling on a sheet pan, after a 14 minute simmer in boiling water.

Beautiful, shredded smoked mozzarella.

All my ingredients, except the tomatoes, ready to mix.

Prepared Mixture, ready for stuffing.

Waiting for breadcrumbs.

Beautiful!!!

Thai Red Chicken Curry

Thai Red Chicken Curry

Simple, Easy and Quick

     Ingredients are slowly simmered in curry sauce that is made simply from commercially prepared curry paste, stock and coconut milk.  Spices, both dried and fresh, are simmered to authenticate and personalize your sauce.  Spices can include fresh ginger, kaffir dried lime leaves, either fresh or dried lemongrass.  Spices for garnishes will include basil, parsley and/or cilantro.  Below, I will tantalize you with an introductory curry dish made from chicken thighs or breast tenders with cauliflower and/or broccoli simmered in a mild red curry paste.  Let this be your first step into the vast world of curry.  Possibilities, are endless.  Robert Kanhi, chef, author and food consultant shared his simple method of putting together a weeknight curry in less than an hour in Fine Cooking April/May 2011.  Once you understand the method you can interchange ingredients creating your own recipes, such as mine below.  I prefer the Roasted Red Pepper Thai Chili Paste, it's a little milder in heat.

Ingredients for four:

1 1b Chicken, boneless, cut into bite size pieces, dark meat is preferable otherwise breast tenders is a good option

1 can lite Coconut milk

1 cup of low sodium all natural Chicken stock

2-3 Tbsp of Red Curry paste, depending on the heat level of your paste 

3 Tbsp of Fish Sauce

3 Tbsp of Light Brown Sugar

Juice of half of Lime or more to taste

3 Scallions, sliced thin

Broccoli or Cauliflower, 1/2 head total, broken into small florets

2 Shallots, minced or a yellow onion, sliced thin

1 red or yellow pepper, 1/2 inch sliced strips

3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal

3 oz or more of shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/2 inch

optional vegetables:  bamboo shoots, cut baby corn, bean sprouts or sliced water chestnuts

optional:  peanuts or cashews, whole or chopped

accompaniments:  rice, noodles, cornbread or banana bread


Directions:


Add coconut milk, which will appear to be separated, to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat.  Stir and reduce until the mixture comes together, and thickens slightly.  This will take a few minutes.  When the mixture begins to shine add your 2-3 Tbsp of red curry paste.  Whisk, and bring to a boil.

Add your bite size chicken pieces along with 3 Tbsp of fish sauce. and 3 Tbsp of light brown sugar, and 1 cup of low salt chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer till chicken is cooked thru, a few minutes.

Next, you will add Broccoli and/or Cauliflower, half head cut into florets.  Let simmer for two minutes or so, then add 3 peeled carrots which are cut into coins with one pepper, julienned.  After a few minutes add a minced shallot with 3 oz of shiitake mushrooms.  Simmer for a good five minutes.  The vegetables should be crisp tender, not at all mushy.

To finish add the juice of a half of lime.  Taste, and adjust seasoning.  Garnish with sliced scallions and peanuts or cashews.

As my starch, I will make a nice pot of rice to soak up all the rich flavors.

Lime, scallions and chopped herbs will garnish the final dish.

Finally, a sprinkle of peanuts, and homemade cornbread!