pressure-cooker baked beans

Same recipe as usual (I used butter as the fat, and a 50-50 mix of maple syrup and molasses as the sweet), just 30 minutes at full pressure in the pressure cooker instead of six hours in the oven. It worked! Full disclosure: I began with the parboil step, so the end-to-end time was a full hour. But still awesome.

tarte tatin

Thanks to Sandrine for taking the photos.

lentils and lamb and... pumpkin?

I sautéed a chopped half-onion, half-carrot, half-parsnip, and half-pepper along with a small lamb shank in lots of olive oil in my pressure cooker. I added half a cup of french green lentils, one cup water, and a tsp each of salt and cumin. Then, in a refrigerator-clearing move, I added the flesh from a small pumkin-like squash (the 'fuzz says its name starts with a "k").

I put the lid on and took the cooker to high pressure for 14 min and then let it cool down for 15 min. I opened the cooker, pulled the meat off the bone, chopped it, and stirred everything together into pumpkin-lamb dal. I added more salt, as usual. The 'fuzz made couscous to go with. Slightly sweet and very delicious!

black beans

The 'fuzz gave me a pressure cooker for my birthday and I am learning how to use it. I made great lentils and great vegetable stew, but bad beans. So I am trying again, with a very small quantity. Here's what I tried tonight:

• three rashers bacon, cut into small pieces
• one small onion, chopped
• one clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried black beans
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cumin

Fry onions and bacon for a few minutes, then add garlic and beans and water and cumin, bring to high pressure for 40 min, let cool off for 10 min. Add salt and pepper to taste.

They came out good. We ate some in quesadillas and ate some more mixed with corn and hot salsa. Next time I will make them with a lower bacon-to-bean ratio and a slightly lower water-to-bean ratio.

the flank steak was a hit

ML, N and T all loved this grilled flank steak last night and I made a promise to record the contents of my marinade, so here goes.

about (all measurements are approximate, as I didn't measure when I made it) 1/4 c Japanese soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, minced

I cut the steak in 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces on the bias (so the pieces had two thin edges) and marinated it in this mixture for about 4 hours in the refrigerator.  I removed it, dried off the steaks and let them sit  on the counter for about 1/2 hour.  Grill over high heat.

salvage the squash

I roasted a buttercup squash the other night and the result was pasty, dry and rejected by all.  Today that  squash got a second chance in this soup (loosely based on this recipe):

• 1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• pinch of curry powder
• touch of cayenne pepper
• 2 tart apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup sherry (I would not have though of this, but it is an excellent addition; like white wine in the carrot and ginger soup from Silver Palate cookbook)
• about 3 cups of chunks of roasted buttercup squash (which had been peeled before roasting)
• 6 cups chicken broth (I made this yesterday from chicken necks)
• apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the onion in the butter.  Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cayenne and cook for a minute.  Add apples and sherry, bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes.  Add squash and broth, bring to simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until everything is soft.  Puree and add water to correct consistancy.  Balance flavours with vinegar, salt and pepper.

The soup, she is good!

coconut curry soup with fish

I hadn't made enough food for supper tonight, so I whipped this up to fill in the corners.  ML loved it.

• 2 French shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp butter
• pinky finger sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• small pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 small zucchini, julienned
• about 200 g frozen haddock fillets
• about 1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
• juice of one lime
• handful of coriander leaves

Sweat the shallots and garlic in the butter.  Add curry powder and fry for a minute.  Add pepper, ginger, stock, coconut milk, carrot and zucchini and bring to a boil.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add fish and rice and return to boil.  Cover and simmer for about 10 minute until fish is cooked through and flakes apart.  Add salt to taste (about 1 tsp) and the lime juice and garnish with coriander.

I had baked some sweet potatoes in their jackets while making this soup (about an hour at 400 F) and found spoonfuls of the sweet potatoes complimented the soup well.

cod à l'espagnol

ML has been "jonesing" for white fish, so I made this tonight.  It's from "Cooking With Claudine" by Jacques Pépin, a book I am loving these days.

Mince a bunch of green onions and thinly slice 3 cloves of garlic.  In a deep skillet with a cover, sauté these briefly in about 1/4 cup of olive oil (not EVOO).  Add a zuccini and a green pepper diced medium and sauté for another minute.  Add about 4-5 peeled plum tomatoes seeded and cut in half inch strips, a big pinch of salt (about 1/2 tsp) and a small pinch of saffron (this is important).  Nestle 4 6 oz cod fillets (could be haddock or hake) in this preparation, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes until cod flake apart.  Season with pepper.  Plate and drizzle with EVOO.

The fish was a beautiful colour and everything was perfectly cooked.  The vegetables and cod release a lot of liquid which become a delicious broth.

lamb and beans, now with more prison

Following a suggestion of PMC, who (these days) is all about cooking below boiling and for a long time, I am attempting a remake of lamb and beans but with no par-boiling of the beans. This is all about one-step cooking. I put a lamb shank, a pound of dry white beans, a few glugs of olive oil, two split garlic cloves, some pepper, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and coarsely ground pepper into a bean pot. I more-than covered it all with water. I put it in a 200 F (90 C) oven. I am now going to wait 5 hours and see what I get! At or near the end I will have to add a lot of salt.

fresh-lime gimlet

Having run out of tequila, I figured on gin gimlet. Having run out of Rose's (tm) Lime Juice, I realized I had to go with fresh lime. I put a shot of gin and a handful of ice into a cocktail glass. I added the juice from half a lime, plus a tiny pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of maple syrup (yes, maple syrup). I let it sit for a minute and then poured it into a shaker. I shook it hard and let it rest for a few minutes and then shook it and strained it into the glass. I am pleased. I have an intuition that it is all about patience.