HAPPY SPRING!

Happy spring!

           Spring has arrived as I admire the bright blue and yellow primroses nestled in a blue and white container on my kitchen table. Unfortunately, the window behind them is filled with swirling snowflakes, our bane for this year’s March. The snowdrops, just barely peaking out their green shoots near my front walk, must be considering a judicious retreat until another day. We yearn for spring but living in Maine such yearning becomes a character-building exercise at this time of the year.

          Cooking and warm food becomes a cook’s way to mark time until the outdoors comes up with its yearly promise.

 

Creamy chicken pot/soup

          This recipe was adapted from Food and Wine.  Chop 2 carrots, 1 medium onion and thinly slice 2 celery stalks. Melt 2tbsp. butter in a large pot, whisk in 2 tbsp flour and cook with stirring on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden. Add the vegetables, ½ tsp. kosher salt and stir for 5-7 minutes on medium high heat. Stir in 2 thinly sliced large garlic cloves, 1 tsp. thyme leaves, ½ tsp. lemon pepper and ¼ cup chopped sundried tomatoes. Stir for 2 minutes, add ¾ cup dry white wine and cook to reduce to thick sauce.

          Add 4 cups low sodium chicken broth, 1 peeled diced potato and 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup frozen peas, 1/3 cup frozen corn and 1 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken meat and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Gently stir in ½ cup heavy cream and heat through without boiling. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with chopped parsley. Soup can be reheated

 

                           Baked chicken thighs with lentils and shitake

          This recipe is for a one pot meal if you have an oven proof pan with a lid, or individual steps can be carried out in a pan and pot and assembled in a baking dish with a cover. Rinse and cook 1 cup lentils for 20 minutes covered with water, ½ tsp. kosher salt and 4 cloves. Set aside. In a small bowl mix spice: 1 tbsp. smoked paprika, ½ tsp. turmeric, 1 tbsp. coriander, 2 tsp. cumin and ¼ tsp. cinnamon. Sauté 5 oz. sliced fresh shitake in 2 tbsp. butter, ½ tsp. salt for 5 minutes and stir in 1 tbsp. lemon juice and set aside.

          Wipe down 4 chicken thighs with skin and bone, rub with kosher salt and sprinkle with 1/3 of the spice mix, patting to adhere. Put skin side down in a cold pan with 3 tbsp. olive oil and cook on medium high for 15 minutes to brown the chicken. Set aside and pour off most of the fat.

In the same pan sauté ½ large chopped red onion for 5 minutes, stir in 5 chopped garlic cloves, ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes and 2 tbsp. tomato paste and cook with stirring for 2 minutes. Add 2 diced carrots and parsnips each, ½ tsp. kosher salt, 2 tbsp. lemon juice and ½ cup white wine. Cook for 3 minutes, add lentils with broth, 1 bay leaf, ½ cup water, the shitake and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in casserole, place chicken on top, cover tightly and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for 30 minutes more. Serve garnished with parsley.

Quesadillas are versatile for both lunch and dinner and can be easily assembled and cooked from ingredients in a well-stocked pantry and freezer.

                                         Black bean and ham quesadillas

Combine together: ½ cup diced ham, ¾ cups frozen corn kernels, 1 (15oz) can black beans drained and rinsed, ½ cup finely chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/3 cup chopped parsley, 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar or Jack cheese, ½ packet low salt Taco seasoning mix. Add ¼ cup sour cream or mayonnaise and mix thoroughly.

Spread a generous ¾ cup of the filling on half of a 10-inch flour tortilla, fold over the other half and press down to seal. Fry quesadillas in batches in 2 tbsp. olive oil on medium heat for 2-3 minutes to a side. Cut tortillas in wedges and serve with additional sour cream topped with some of the toasted corn that escapes during frying and basil or parsley leaves for garnish.

We may not be able to compete with Mark Twain who was claimed to have said “In spring I have counted 136 different kinds of weather in 24 hours”, but then we are still counting.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

BEEF SHORT RIBS FOR COMFORT

 

                                    Beef short ribs for comfort

           March has always been one of those unsettled months between the exuberant celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day and the dire warnings for the coming of the Ides of March. This year our prevailing embankments of snow add to the seasonal confusion and make us wish that the sleepy marmot had not been so dire in his angry predictions when awakened from his winter nap.

          Warm comforting food soothes our ambiguous moods as its fragrance fills our house in preparation.  Beef short ribs are a prime example of such a dish, as it’s slow cooking releases its richly tempting fragrance through hours of cooking. For slow cooking English type meaty short ribs are best. These are thick short pieces of meat with a single bone or boneless, in comparison to the long thin flanken ribs more suited for smoking or grilling.

                                          Red wine baked short ribs

          Salt and pepper 3 lb. of English type short ribs. Fry the ribs in batches in a Dutch oven on medium high heat in 2 tbsp. olive oil on all sides. Fry each batch for 6 minutes total with turning and set aside.

          Drain any excess fat from the pot and sauté previously chopped: 1 large onion, 2 celery stalks with leaves and 1 carrot for 8 minutes. Stir in 3 tbsp. double strength tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes to slightly caramelize the paste. Stir in 5-6 large, sliced garlic cloves, 2 tsp. thyme leaves, 1 bay leaf, 8 peppercorns, 1 star anise, 2 sprigs rosemary and 1 tsp. anchovy paste. Cook for 2 more minutes, stir in 3-4 cups red wine, 1 cup beef broth and 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar. Bring to boil, return meat to the Dutch oven and press down to cover with liquid. Add a bit of additional beef broth if needed.  Cover tightly and bake at 325 degrees for 3 ½ hours.

          Remove bay leaf, rosemary sprigs and star anise from the sauce. Most recipes at this point strain the sauce, but for a truly delicious, thickened sauce purée the vegetables and the sauce. Return the meat to the sauce and heat before serving. Serve with mashed potatoes or wide noodles and broccoli with Parmesan. Short ribs reheat well and make delicious leftover sandwiches.

                                              Rosemary roasted vegetables

          Roasted vegetables are an easy side for grilled meats, chicken or fish. Added herbs bring out the complexity of these different flavors. Whisk together 4 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 2 minced garlic cloves and stripped leaves from a 10–12-inch rosemary sprig.

          Toss with peeled and cut up vegetables: 1 large potato, 2 parsnips, 4-5 pieces of cauliflower and 1-2 carrots. Spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn the vegetables and roast for an additional 8-10 minutes.

                                                      Banana-Pecan bread

          Whenever I have leftover over-ripe bananas, I make this bread/coffee cake that freezes well for days with too little time to make dessert.

          Whisk together 2 ¾ cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. salt. In a large bowl using an electric mixer cream ½ cup butter with 1 and 1/3 cups sugar till fluffy. Beat in 3 eggs one at a time, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. lemon extract, 2 tbsp. half and half and 1 ½ cups mashed bananas. Add flour in 4 portions, mix thoroughly and then stir in 3/4 cup chopped pecans using a spoon. Divide between two 8x4 inch greased loaf pans. Smooth out the top and garnish with a row of pecan halves. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and turn out to complete cooling. Serve sliced at room temperature. Delicious with a splash of Vin Santo.

          As basketball fans look to the March Madness tournament, Emily Dickinson summarized it for everyone: “March is the month of expectation, the things we do not know.” Our positive and hopeful focus should remain on the word- ‘expectations’.

 

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

MYSTIQUE AND COMFORT OF PASTA

 

                            Mystique and comfort of pasta

 

          Pasta is one of those comfort foods that is equally at home on our cold winter days and easily transforms itself into a refreshing light meal in the summer. It’s origins go back 3,500 years in China and the ancient Etruscan civilization, current Italy. Marco Polo did not bring pasta to Italy from China, it originated in both locations probably because it tasted so good, was easy to cook and was amenable to many added flavors.

          Romans feasted on precursors of lasagna with sheets of stuffed dough and in 1154 an Arab geographer described “food of flour in form of threads” in Sicily, presumably sheets of dough cut in thin strips. Modern chefs are known for their signature dishes, such as ‘Fettucine Alfredo’, which now depicts pasta in a rich cream sauce. I still have a treasured old photograph from dinner at “Alfredo”, a small restaurant in Rome, where the original Alfredo was the chef. Todays landscape for pasta dishes has expanded to embrace a large variety of shapes and flavors in every cook’s repertoire.

                            Balsamic matriacini with mushrooms and sausage

          Cook matriacini (thick round noodles or wide pasta) for 10 minutes in boiling salted water and drain reserving ½ cup pasta water.

          Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large pan and sauté 8 oz sliced mushroom and ½ red onion chopped for 8 minutes and set aside. In the same pan crumble 6 oz. mild Italian sausage and brown for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 tbsp. double concentrated tomato paste, 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper, ¼ tsp. oregano, ½ tsp. thyme and 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar. Cook with stirring 2 minutes on medium low heat. Toss t with the mushrooms, pasta and ½ cup of the reserved pasta liquid. Cook for 2 minutes to mix thoroughly and heat. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a green salad on the side.

          Recent proliferation of recipes of pasta sauced with peanut butter piqued my curiosity. While most of us grew up with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter did not appear in the US until WWI, when it became a desirable source of easily digestible protein instead of meat. I was familiar with Satay sauce for meat made of ground peanuts and spices which is a historical mainstay in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, but in pasta?  Well, blending oriental noodles with a combination of spices and peanut butter was an interesting experiment with delicious results.

                                     Peanut butter-ginger-spiced udon

          Most recipes call for smooth peanut butter, but chunky works fine and gives a little extra crunch.         To prepare the sauce heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a small saucepan and sauté 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup chunky or smooth peanut butter and ¼ cup very hot water to make a thick paste.  Stir in 2 tbsp. light soy sauce, 2 tbsp. lime juice, 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp. Gochujang or hot chili garlic sauce and ¼ cup sour cream onion dip.

          Cook 14 oz udon noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse with hot water and return to the pot. Add in the sauce and heat on low heat with stirring for 2-3 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with chopped scallions, chopped roasted peanuts and black sesame seeds.

          Some frozen rhubarb and cranberries from the freezer provided a simple tart dessert to go with either pasta dish.

                                      Rhubarb-cranberry-raisin compote

          Combine 2 cups frozen 1–2-inch pieces of rhubarb, l cup cranberries, ½ cup raisins, 5 cloves and ½ cup water in a 3 qt. pot. Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes, stir in 1 cup sugar and cook for additional 5 minutes. Serve cold with a dab of ice cream.

          One of the joys of cooking is the wonderful continuing education of taste for both old and new ingredients found in compatible and tasty combinations.

 

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)