It’s been awhile since I just did a post sharing “what have we been eating”…. Also, I’ve been offering some online classes – and if you’re sitting there at home thinking, I’d love to take a cooking class, why not…? Italian, Peruvian, French, Argentine, and more. Simple or complicated. Demo or cook-along. Contact me and let’s set something up!
So, away we go.
Chicken – Broccoli – Zucchini. They were all there in the refrigerator. What to make? A beautiful soup packed with flavors of garlic, carrot, onion, chili, and mixed herbs. And we used the whole broccoli, stem and all. Finished with a touch of milk, and a little pasta thrown in to give it some starch.
A Mexican style soup of potatoes and swiss chard, flavored with onion, garlic, and chili. Simple and delicious. The classic soup adds cheese into the mix, but we decided to forgo that and keep it lighter. Couldn’t stop eating it!
This is one of my favorite, go-to recipes from Szechuan cuisine. Okay, the side of corn (flavored like Mexican elotes with lime, chili, and a little grated cheese) and simple mixed salad are not Szechuan. But the spareribs themselves – marinated and then lacquered in hot bean paste, garlic, Chinese five-spice, miso, and rice wine, are. An hour of marinating and then about half an hour in a hot oven, turning and brushing with more marinade regularly. Two racks of ribs were demolished in an afternoon.
Ham steaks. Not a slice of cured ham that you’re going to throw some pineapple and/or maraschino cherries on, or some other sort of sweet glaze. These were raw ham steaks, about an inch thick, cut right across the leg. A very cheap cut here – two huge steaks cost me a whopping 160 pesos, less than $3. Marinated in a puree of soy sauce, chopped pickled chilies, and just a splash of maple syrup, then seared in a pan and finished in the oven, regularly spooning the marinade over them. Accompanied by zapallitos redondos, our local green globe squash, and potatoes, roasted in the oven with olive oil, lemon zest, and garlic.
There’s only so long one can go without pizza. At least me. Henry doesn’t particularly like pizza, and he eschewed this, whipping up something simple with leftover rice and some eggs. For me, in this case, an un-sauced pizza, topped with a mix of mozzarella and gran pampeano cheese (our local version of grana padano), slices of tomato, mortadella, spicy smoked sausage, mushrooms, and some shaved endive. Happy camper!
As I said, classes are happening, and here, a quartet of my favorites recently.
A classic French garlic and wine pan chicken. And yes, that’s like eight garlic cloves for one chicken breast. They’re slowly cooked in butter, wine, and chicken stock until golden, along with the breast, and served over rice. The cloves end up melting in your mouth with just a subtle flavor of garlic, and the sauce reduces to a beautiful glaze.
From Italy, Umbria to narrow it down, a classic version of scallopine intensely flavored with garlic, mustard, anchovies, basil and mint – it’s one of my personal favorite ways to prepare a veal scallop. And on the side, bandeira, or “flag”, the tri-color of Italy with tomato, onion, and pepper, simply sauteed in olive oil with a little basil, salt, and pepper.
From here in Argentina, up in Salta, a classic style of empanadas. We made the dough, we made the filling, we put the two together, we put them in the oven, and we ate well!
And, the latest, a class in how to prepare sweetbreads, using two traditional French recipes. We did the whole preparation – soaking them, then poaching them, chilling them, pressing them. And then for one dish, braising them slowly in chicken stock and making a macedoine of vegetables – the French precursor to American “mixed vegetables”. For the other, sauteed in butter, then topped with a portobello mushroom duxelles, also made in class, some fresh breadcrumbs, and gratineed under the broiler.
Now, doesn’t that all get your tastebuds going? Seriously – I need to work! If you’re up for a class, get in touch!
