E. came for a collaborative dinner last night and made us beautiful wild-caught salmon. Here's the simple and delicious recipe:
Take four salmon fillets and slice them lengthwise into two thin halves (i.e. so that they can be stuffed). Spread half of each fillet with a mixture of sour cream and chives, top with sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and with the other half of the fillet. Season as desired (I imagine a little squeeze of lemon would be nice). Put each salmon "sandwich" in its own foil packet and bake at 360 for about 20 minutes.
We had one packet left over, so we flaked it up and tossed it with butter and campanelle and had salmon pasta. It was very, very good.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Antje's Beef
Well, I posted Enrico's recipe, so I'll post Antje's as well. It is very, very simple, and excruciatingly delicious. Here goes. . .
Take a thin cut of beef (1-2 lbs.) and pound it even thinner (to about 1/8" - 1/4"). Spread it thoroughly with good mustard and roll it up into a beef "jelly roll." Put the rolled up meat into a large pan on medium heat with a little bit of water in the bottom. Cook, covered, for hours and hours, adding just a bit of water as the pan dries out, and turning the meat, until there is a beautiful, thick brown gravy at the bottom of the pan and the meat is tender.
I would serve this with boiled potatoes and vinegar, though I think on the day in question, we ate strozzapreti!
Take a thin cut of beef (1-2 lbs.) and pound it even thinner (to about 1/8" - 1/4"). Spread it thoroughly with good mustard and roll it up into a beef "jelly roll." Put the rolled up meat into a large pan on medium heat with a little bit of water in the bottom. Cook, covered, for hours and hours, adding just a bit of water as the pan dries out, and turning the meat, until there is a beautiful, thick brown gravy at the bottom of the pan and the meat is tender.
I would serve this with boiled potatoes and vinegar, though I think on the day in question, we ate strozzapreti!
Strangolapreti
Way back in 2001, right after we moved to Berkeley, we met two international students, Enrico and Antje, with whom we enjoyed a few round-the-world dinners before they left after only a semester. Enrico's recipe was for strangolapreti (or strozzapreti, priest-chokers), lovely bready dumplings served in sage butter. We served them for the first time in years last night, and they were a great success.
Put on a large pot of water with salt to boil; put on a small pan of butter (about a stick) to melt. Defrost or blanch 300g. spinach; squeeze out all the water and chop finely, if desired. Crumb 2 panini worth (about 3 cups) of firm, slightly old white bread and wet it slightly with milk. Add two eggs, 2 tbsp. flour and a tsp. of salt to the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the spinach, mix well, and form the mixture firmly into 2" balls (about the size of a walnut). Add a dozen sage leaves or so to the melted butter, and fry them gently. Gently boil the strozzapreti, a few at a time, in the salted water until the dumplings rise to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon into a bowl coated with butter. When all the dumplings are done, pour the sage butter over top. Eat topped with grated parmesan.
Put on a large pot of water with salt to boil; put on a small pan of butter (about a stick) to melt. Defrost or blanch 300g. spinach; squeeze out all the water and chop finely, if desired. Crumb 2 panini worth (about 3 cups) of firm, slightly old white bread and wet it slightly with milk. Add two eggs, 2 tbsp. flour and a tsp. of salt to the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the spinach, mix well, and form the mixture firmly into 2" balls (about the size of a walnut). Add a dozen sage leaves or so to the melted butter, and fry them gently. Gently boil the strozzapreti, a few at a time, in the salted water until the dumplings rise to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon into a bowl coated with butter. When all the dumplings are done, pour the sage butter over top. Eat topped with grated parmesan.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Ful Medames
Way back in the fall of 2007, when I was speaking at my first "big" conference, P and I had dinner at a North-African restaurant just up the street from our hotel in Minneapolis.
Our (enormous) appetizer was a place of what they called "Fool Madame," and what I have more recently discovered is usually referred to as "ful medames." A few months ago, when we had our Moroccan chicken, I served this as an appetizer, and the guests scarfed it.
Since I've had requests for it since, here is my version, adapted from what we had in Minneapolis plus several on-line recipes.
Ful Medames
Soak 1.5 cups of dried beans (I use a mix of cranberry/borlotti and rosa) in water for a few hours or overnight. Pick over, drain and thoroughly rinse the beans until the water runs clear. Boil, just covered, until firm and mashable but not mushy. While the beans are cooking, mash a few cloves of garlic in a mortar and pestle with salt. Mix the garlic and salt with the juice of one or two lemons, 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. cumin or zataar.
Once the beans are cooked, gently crush 2/3 of them to a coarse paste. Stir in the remaining beans and the garlic mixture. Add more oil, salt and lemon juice for taste and texture; garnish with (I actually stir these next items in) finely chopped fresh tomatoes, white onions, scallions, mint and cilantro (these last three are optional, but lovely when possible).
This makes for an excellent, nutritious and hearty dip, which we serve with pita. Yum!
Our (enormous) appetizer was a place of what they called "Fool Madame," and what I have more recently discovered is usually referred to as "ful medames." A few months ago, when we had our Moroccan chicken, I served this as an appetizer, and the guests scarfed it.
Since I've had requests for it since, here is my version, adapted from what we had in Minneapolis plus several on-line recipes.
Ful Medames
Soak 1.5 cups of dried beans (I use a mix of cranberry/borlotti and rosa) in water for a few hours or overnight. Pick over, drain and thoroughly rinse the beans until the water runs clear. Boil, just covered, until firm and mashable but not mushy. While the beans are cooking, mash a few cloves of garlic in a mortar and pestle with salt. Mix the garlic and salt with the juice of one or two lemons, 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. cumin or zataar.
Once the beans are cooked, gently crush 2/3 of them to a coarse paste. Stir in the remaining beans and the garlic mixture. Add more oil, salt and lemon juice for taste and texture; garnish with (I actually stir these next items in) finely chopped fresh tomatoes, white onions, scallions, mint and cilantro (these last three are optional, but lovely when possible).
This makes for an excellent, nutritious and hearty dip, which we serve with pita. Yum!
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