Blood Mary Cocktail Bites

Finished in-tact celery ribs 

This is adapted from Time Ferriss' The Four Hour Chef.  His recipe uses a thickener called agar agar which I do not typically keep in my kitchen and would have to go a bit far afield to acquire, so I use the more easily found unflavored gelatin.

Agar agar is a vegetarian thickener, whereas gelatin is an animal byproduct, one reason to choose agar agar instead of gelatin if that's your thing.  Agar agar evidently sets up with a more solid, toothier, less jiggly texture than gelatin too (I think this is the reason Ferriss uses it...the section in the book on hunting game and cooking it in the field suggests to me that he's not a vegetarian LOL)  It may also set up somewhat more quickly than gelatin, but I've never actually used it so that's speculation based on what I read on the interwebs when I was trying to figure out whether I could successfully substitute gelatin for the agar agar.

I don't know what the exact conversion from agar agar to gelatin (or vice versa) should be, but I know 1 packet of Knox gelatin thickens 1 cup of liquid so that's what I used (the OR calls for 2 tsp of agar agar to thicken approximately 3/4 cup of liquid).

So my execution notes...
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The BEST vegetarian chili

Pictured with biscuits

I'm no stranger to vegetarian cooking.  I routinely incorporate vegetarian and vegan meals into our dinner rotations...in fact, one of my kids will only reliably eat vegetables when accompanied by tofu (or hidden in a smoothie, in which I have also used tofu).  I have a long-standing history of sneaking vegetarian proteins into meals without telling my soy-phobic audience (bad Daughter-In-Law, bad!)  I have happily tried cooking with nearly every meat substitute and vegetarian protein readily available at my grocery store, everything from tofu and tempeh to Fakin' and Garden Burgers and (oddest of all IMHO) Texturized Vegetable Protein.

But I do not like vegetarian chili.

I have tried many a recipe...the ones that use frozen-then-thawed shredded tofu as a meat substitute, the ones that use TVP, the ones that refuse to even try to sub anything in for the meat and go all-out with beans and vegetables.  They all lack something, well, *meaty*.  The texture, the depth of flavor, the way the tomatoes and spices of the chili play together...it just doesn't quite work as well without meat.

And then I saw the recent Cook's Illustrated issue (December 2012).  I adore Cook's Illustrated.  Geeky and science-y and culinarily outstanding all at once.  They have dedicated most of a 2-page spread to explaining why their newly developed Best Vegetarian Chili Recipe Ever works, but the important part is...it does work.  It makes the thing that meat does to chili happen but without the meat.  It also makes a vat of chili, which naturally makes it an ideal make-ahead sort of affair.

It's a good thing it makes so much (and that you can freeze some for another day) because, like everything Cook's Illustrated does, there are a lot of little steps that lead you to the perfection they offer.  Aggravating, but absolutely necessary.  The one step you could probably skip is toasted and grinding your own dry chile pods.  In fact, they suggest substituting 1/4 cup ancho chile powder for the at-home roasted-ground chiles if you don't want to do that step.  But everything else...grinding dry shiitake mushrooms, toasting and grinding walnuts, cooking a blend of dried beans from scratch...necessary.

They recommend a mixture of earthy beans (pintos, kidney, black beans) and creamy beans (navy, great northern).  I used navy and pintos in equal parts.  I also used 2 pasilla peppers and 2 sandia peppers (instead of ancho and New Mexico) because those are the dry peppers I have in my pantry, but next time I'll just use chile powder.

CI recommends cooking the chili in the oven to avoid having to stir the beans.  I think it just makes it take longer and produces a thinner chili than I like, so I'll be doing it on the stovetop from now on.

The recipe below is rewritten to streamline the steps and make the ingredient list make more sense to me LOL  I *hate* it when the ingredients are listed in a different order than you use them, so I've regrouped them into clusters that get added/handled all at once.  I also think this makes a LOT more than the 6-8 servings CI suggests, hence the range of servings.

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Saffron Chili

Dratnabbit, I made this chili the other night and forgot to take any pictures!  It *looks* like regular ol' chili, so you're really not missing much in the visual aid department, but what really sets it apart is the flavor and aroma that the saffron brings and we don't have smell-o-blog technology any way.

This is an adaptation of another Frugal Gourmet recipe.  I halve the recipe b/c I'm only feeding a small army, not a huge one, and do a lot of the steps differently to keep from making every single pot I own dirty. 

The recipe calls for 2 spendy ingredients...shallots and saffron.  They really are worth it here.  If you don't want to splurge on both, substitute red onion for the shallots, but you must, must, must have saffron for this recipe to be anything but plain ol' chili.  A small pinch goes a long way and really does shine through.  Other ideas for using saffron include: Saffron cornbread, Scalloped Potatoes and Saffron Griddlecakes. 

For prep-ahead/make-ahead instructions...to prep ahead, chop the shallots/onion and garlic and combine.  Stir saffron into broth.  Measure out spices.  That's about all you need to do.  You can ofc make this entirely ahead to reheat (in a crockpot, perhaps) or freeze.  I served this chili same-day and froze the leftovers for another meal of chili stroganoff (2 cups chili melted with 8 oz. cream cheese and served with bread and veggies for dipping). 

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Low-carb Bang Bang Shrimp 'n' Chicken

Taking a favorite dish and tweaking it for my family's dietary needs. 

The original of this dish comes from the Bonefish Grill restaurant chain.  The copycat recipe I've worked with for some years now is ridiculously easy to prepare and slap-yo-mama good.  But it's pretty high in carbs between the Sweet Chili Sauce in the dressing and the cornstarch coating on the shrimp (about 43 g carb v. 9g in my recipe, per calculations from SparkRecipes.com).  So I'm setting out to make it much more diabetic-friendly and making a variation to serve those who have food sensitivities to shrimp.

As much as I care about my family and want to cook as healthfully as possible for them, I must confess that what really kicked me into gear about revamping this recipe was how hard it is to find the blasted Sweet Chili Sauce.  I really didn't want to have to make a special trip to an international grocery store 15 miles away for this one ingredient.  Boy was I glad to find out that you can make it at home, and moreover that you can make it sugar-free.  Thank you interwebs and shesimmers.com (original recipe)! 

I didn't search exhaustively for almond flour to use as a low-carb cornstarch substitute, but I know it's out there.  I used whole raw almonds ground finely in the food processor.  The result was a more textural crunch-coat on the shrimp and chicken than what you'll get if you use a superfine starch like cornstarch or commercially milled almond flour.  It was still good, but be aware of the difference in the final dish.

Lastly, the best way to avoid cross-contamination for folks with food sensitivities is to not prepare the problem food in the first place.  BUT since shrimp was on our menu, I did all the chicken-handling before even touching the shrimp (well, actually my husband did all the protein-wrangling this time).  So the chicken got cut, dredged and fried before doing the same with the shrimp.  They were plated on separate serving platters and handled with separate cooking and serving utensils. 

Sorry the "final plate" picture is of leftovers, but you're lucky there's a picture at all since what you see is all that was left!

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Fresh salsas

A great way to spice up a plain ol' baked chicken breast, sauteed pork chop or grilled burger.  You can make these on the weekend, and serve them all week as a finishing sauce for simple, quick dishes or just as a "filler" side dish.  And look! it's another way to use zucchini! 

Patience and attention to detail will be rewarded here...a very fine dice makes the difference between a sauce and a coarse salad.  Sharp knives are a help, too.

Blanching the onion takes a bit of the bite out of the salsa, but feel free to leave them unblanched if you like a rawer flavor.  You can also choose how hot to make your salsas...if you like a hotter mix, use serranos or jalapenos, but if you want a milder dish, use poblanos or cubanelles.

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Piri Piri Chicken

This was meant to be a one-off recipe...some friends (thank you again, Jason and Michelle) had gifted us some homemade piri piri (a lightly spicy pepper and oil condiment) that I needed to use up.  I marinated 2 spatchcocked whole chickens in it, grilled one, roasted another, and thought I was done with that.  Well, it turned out to be the best chicken we had ever had, so I was obligated to get the piri piri recipe from our friends and make more. 

I can't vouch for freezer-stability of this recipe for more than 2 weeks...there's a pretty high concentration of acid in the piri piri marinade which could begin to have a negative effective on meat quality after some point (how long? I dunno), but I can attest to 2 weeks' worth of frozen marination resulting in uber-tasty results.

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Pork Adovado

This is a recipe adapted from the Frugal Gourmet for a chile-garlic-oregano marinade that looks crazy hot, but can be adjusted to suit your taste preferences.  How you apply the marinade to the meat also dials the heat up or down.  So no worries!

I used to use 3 dry ancho/pasilla chiles, 3 dry jalapeno/chipotle chiles and 1 dry habanero chile pod.  These days with the kiddos, I err on the milder side and use 4 anchos and 2-3 chipotles.  I also used to marinate thinly sliced loin chops so more marinade could work into the meat, but I tend to marinate whole cuts of pork now.  You can also choose to cook the meat in the marinade (hotter) or drain it off before cooking (milder).

Marinated pork shoulder makes an awesome crockpot meal.  If you marinate a loin roast, I'd cook that one in the oven.  Chicken would also be fantastic with this marinade.
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A sauce I use to make enchiladas

I hesitate to label this recipe "enchilada sauce" because there may be a very specific expectation of what "enchilada sauce" will be like.  This recipe certainly claims no regional authencitiy.  So instead, this is a recipe for "sauce I use to make enchiladas", as well as a number of other southwestern/Mexican type of recipes. 

Cocoa and chiles are an ancient flavor combination, so I'm not just being weird with that addition.  It's hard to know exactly what kind of heat you'll get from your chiles, so you may want to taste the sauce every few minutes and pull the chiles out before it's finished simmering.  If you wind up making a sauce that blows your tastebuds off your tongue, just cut the finished product with some canned plain tomato sauce.  It will have a brighter, "raw"-er tomato flavor but you won't have chile-burn from your finished dish.

I'd freeze this in 2-3 cup portions for enchiladas or to make tacos, or use the whole batch for a pan of Tex-Mex lasagne.

Sauce I use to make enchiladas

Makes 5-6 cups

2 dried mild chiles, such as Sandia or ancho (more if you like it hotter)

2 tsp each whole cuminseed and coriander seed

1/4 cup canola oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp oregano

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp cocoa powder

pinch of cinnamon

4 15-oz cans diced tomatoes,  undrained

1 can water

Cut the stems off the chiles and shake out as many seeds as you can.  Leave the chiles whole.  Toast the chiles and whole spices over medium heat in a heavy saucepan (about 5 minutes), shaking the pan and turning the chiles occasionally. 

Add the oil, and saute the onions, garlic and tomato paste over medium heat until the tomato paste browns (about 5 minutes).  It will look like you've screwed up and burned it, but you haven't!  If it looks slightly burned, you've done it right.  Add the remaining spices, including cocoa powder, and saute for another minute or two. 

Add the tomatoes and water.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low.  Simmer 30 minutes, uncovered.  Remove the chiles and bay leaves.  Blend with an immersion blender or in batches in a stand blender or food processor.

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Watermelon Gazpacho

Ohmygosh, I am ready for summer!  When watermelon is plentiful, try this make-ahead and freezeable soup. 

The original Food & Wine recipe calls for a crab salad of sorts to go with the soup, but 1) ick and 2) the crab salad isn't prep-ahead friendly. 

The original recipe also calls for fresh lemongrass, but 1) puh-lease, I live in the Midwest and it's not something we find at the local Kroger and 2) it's a pain to work with anyway.  You can get tubes of lemongrass puree in the produce section of my grocery stores, so that's what I use.  Freeze the leftover puree in ice cube trays or a zip-top bag for other recipes.

Watermelon Gazpacho (makes 4 servings)

5 cups coarsely chopped seeded watermelon
2-3 tbsp lemongrass puree
3 tbsp finely chopped shallot
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 1/2 tbsp mild olive oil
1 small hot green chile, such as Thai or serrano, finely chopped (seeded or not, depending on your preference)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice, or to taste
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Puree the watermelon in a blender or food processor and transfer to a bowl (don't wash out the blender).

Cook lemongrass, shallots, ginger, and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat until golden, about 5 minutes.  Add about 1/3 of the watermelon puree and simmer over medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. 

Allow to cook slightly, then carefully transfer to the blender or food processor.  Add chile, lime juice and salt and blend until smooth.  Add remaining watermelon puree and blend.  Strain soup through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on and discarding any solids.  Chill soup at least 2 hours before serving. Pin It

Posole

I’m pretty sure I’m committing heresy, but I mix red and green ingredients in my posole.  Gasp!  I also include vegetables which is something my husband’s new Mexico-raised grandmother never did.  Inauthentic, but so good!

I have a tile from a store in New Mexico with a recipe for posole on it that has 6 ingredients: pork, onion, garlic, hominy, chile pods and salt.  My recipe is slightly more complicated than that.  It’s an adaptation of a vegetarian three-sisters sort of recipe that calls for beans and squash in addition to the characteristic hominy.  I use meat (beef  back ribs, short ribs, pork shoulder, pork sirloin roast) instead of beans and beef broth, but keep the extra veggies and seasonings.

This recipe, like most chilis, soups and stews, has a variety of stopping points and can accommodate your schedule beautifully.  Today, I chopped, measured and grouped in the morning to cook in the evening.  You can also chop and measure ingredients and freeze them as a meal kit.  You can also cook this dish entirely in advance and freeze it, so that all you have to do with it is thaw and warm it.  Though chiles are notorious for getting hotter with freezing, so consider yourself warned!

As for handling the broth if you intend to prep-ahead and freeze a kit…you’ve got three choices.  1) Use canned/boxed broth, just label the can or box and store it on the pantry shelf to pull when you do the posole.  2) Freeze homemade (or store-bought) broth in ice cube trays and portion out about 1 quart of cubes to include in the freezer kit (1 standard ice cube tray holds about 2 cups of liquid).  This is a good method if you’re prepping several meals ahead that require broth, though it will take up more room in the freezer.  3) Use granules or bouillon cubes and add the appropriate amount to the squash/chile component.  When you cook, add 1 quart of water.  This saves a lot of freezer room.

Posole (serves 6-8)

3 dried Sandia chile pods (or other mild dried chile, such as ancho or pasilla)
1 tbsp oil
2 lbs. bone-in pork shoulder cut into cubes, beef ribs, short ribs
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry oregano
1 acorn squash (or other small winter squash), peeled and coarsely chopped
½ cup salsa verde (store-bought is fine, I just happen to have homemade)
2 15-oz. cans hominy, drained
4 cups beef stock (or 2 tsp. granules or 2 cubes bouillon + 1 quart water)

Accompaniments: chopped cilantro, diced avocado, sliced green onions, diced tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, corn bread

Cut the stems off the chiles and shake out the seeds.  Reconstitute them in hot water for about 1 hour.  Coarsely chop them and set aside.

If freezing a meal kit, combine the chopped onion, garlic, celery, and spices in one vacu-seal or zip-top bag.  Combine the chiles, squash and bouillon (if using) into another bag.  Double-bag the meat and place into a larger bag with the two ingredient bags and freeze.  Make sure to label the hominy cans, salsa verde and beef broth (if using) for storage in the pantry.

When ready to cook, sear the meat in the oil in a large pot until well-browned on all sides.  Set meat aside to cool slightly.  If using ribs, cut the ribs into serving pieces.  (Today I'm using a cut of pork that the local farm processor labels "loin end roast".)

Saute the onion, garlic, celery and spices until soft, adding more oil if necessary.  Add the chiles and squash and stir until combined.  Add the broth, salsa verde and hominy and simmer 1 ½-2 hours.  Add any desired garnishes to serve.

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