Erbazzone with turnip greens and pancetta

Had this for dinner the other night after seeing something like it on Lidia's Italy. I like this recipe because it's incredibly unfussy and even before it came out of the oven, it was clear that this would be a go-to recipe and a great way to make sheepish seasonal vegetables really sing.

It really came out as a less eggy quiche, or the vegetable filling inside a lasagna. it was phenomenal.

I will say, however, that when we had people over yesterday it was very humid out and the dough ust didn't end up that great. maybe i added too much water but i really doubt it. it just ended up kind of cakey and not crisp, and it didn't hold together in the same way as the first time i made it, so i wasn't able to roll it out superthin and it couldnt crisp. i'm going to play around with the dough and get some actual measurements of ingredients figured out. until then, some pictures:

Salsa Verde - quick, quick

Since discovering the mexican grocer, i've gone three times in less than a week. so far i've bought about 7 pounds of tomatillos just to make this salsa verde for the freezer. every time i make it, it disappears before i can squirrel away a batch or two for the deep freeze. 'well,' i said to myself sassily, 'just try and eat through a quadruple batch.'

I'm working my way through a bunch of recipes in Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican, and this one is a great kickoff recipe; it's super-easy and very very low maintenance (the whole thing takes about 30 minutes, so definitely doesn't need to be a weekend attempt). the hardest thing is pureeing the tomatillos, which is nothing more difficult than pressing the food processor button.


i really didn't know about this recipe, in that i questioned whether it would taste cohesive and balanced enough since it only cooks for about 20 minutes. from making tomato sauce and stock, i sometimes get it stuck in my head that something can only have flavor if it has been simmering for 3 hours. and while, yes, there's a lot of long-simmering required for mexican cooking, part of the freshness comes from quick blanching or short simmers. it was a good lesson, especially since the flavors of this recipe are both bright and meaty, a product of the quick method.

The recipe in the cookbook lists optional alternatives to ingredients (like a can of tomatillos), but i excluded the ones i didn't use and am just listing exactly what i did.




Salsa Verde

1 pound (11 medium) fresh tomatillos, husked and washed
5-6 sprigs fresh coriander, roughly chopped
3 jalapenos or 2 large ones (i carefully cut off as much stem as possible without cutting into the flesh. it's okay if a little bit of the top nub remains, just no woody stem. will help with processing later)
1 small onion, quartered
1 large garlic clove
1 Tbsp lard or vegetable oil
2 c broth (i used chicken)
Salt (depending on the saltiness of the broth)

1) boil the fresh tomatillos and chiles in salted water to cover until tender, 10 to 15 minutes; drain. (the tomatillos will leach their bright green color and will come out a little green pea soup-y, the jalapenos should be only sightly discolored.)


2) the puree: Place the tomatillos and jalapeno in a food processor or blender (i took one jalapeno and cut the top off, squeezing out the membrane and seeds, and returned flesh to processor. this will make a strong medium-heat salsa verde. if you want mild, or your enchilada filling has heat to it, feel free to de-seed all of your jalapenos). Add the cilantro, onion, and garlic. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds.


3) The sauce: heat the lard or vegetable oil in a medium-large skillet set over medium-high. When hot enough to make a drop of the puree sizzle sharply, pour it all in at once and stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, until darker and thicker. add the borth, let return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes. season with salt to taste.






For making enchiladas, this is what i do:

scoop enough salsa verde on to the bottom of the baking dish, just enough to cover lightly. roll up the enchiladas with whatever filling you'd like (i like finely diced zucchini, mushrooms, cooked potatoes and onions, sauteed and browned with chicken fat, with leftover chicken and a little cheese mixed in. i will staunchly insist you add some (not a lot) of cheese to the filling. it helps hold everything intact, like delicious glue. arrange very snugly, seam side down, on the baking dish and pour the remaining salsa verde over the middles of the enchiladas, leaving the sides of the tortillas unsmothered so they can crisp. crumble cheese overtop and spray cooking oil over the bare tortilla parts. scoop the remaining salsa verde around the sides.


bake in 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese starts to brown. turn the oven off and let sit for another five minutes or so. the residual heat will crisp up the cheese and let you get everything to the table while the enchiladas are hot.

tandoori chicken

I really think i was born in the wrong hemisphere.

When the weather is cold and sends you diving under the covers, i'm craving foods like grilled corn and crisp salads. i make a lot of quick soups. i grumble about the state of cucumbers and asparagus. i think the homiest things i want to make in the cold months are roast chicken and potatoes or creamed spinach.

now that spring is here and this weekend has been so warm, i'm spending this gorgeous day with my favorite lazy afternoon companions: dorie greenspan and thomas keller. i've pulled 'around my french table' and 'ad hoc at home' down from the cookbook shelves and what recipes do i run my fingers over contemplatively? why, the braised short ribs. the long-simmering pork shoulder with peach glaze. the beef stew that takes four days to make and requires two kinds of fresh stock. you know, stuff that you should be making to lift your spirits and warm your hands when it's snowing outside. when you run in from the cold and light the fireplace. not the kinds of foods you want to crave when it's so hot outside the fridge fogs up when you open it. not the kinds of foods that will make the place so stinking hot you have to sit for a while with a cold towel on your forehead if you stay in the kitchen for too long. which, by the way, happened at least a half dozen times last summer. memphis summer nights damn near killed me.

so i'm beginning to realize why andy comes home and is so exasperated when he sees the dutch oven come out on a day the air conditioning has been running nonstop. he knows what's coming; the main characters have just made their first appearance.
i'm slowly understanding how messed up my brain is. for some reason, i just always crave hot, stick-to-your-ribs, heavy dishes during the hottest days.
so this year i'm trying to compromise. trying. grilling outside with spice heat instead of heat stroke heat. see? compromise. baked beans that can cook for five hours outside in a crock pot with an extension cord. how brilliant you are, Julia! and that's just the beginning.


so to kick it off: tandoori chicken on the grill.
this is an america's test kitchen recipe that i've been excited about for a while. there haven't been any blow-your-socks-off indian restaurants in my life for a while, so i've been missing out on this charred, moist, super-flavorful chicken for a long time.



the tandoori paste was right on, and i loved how it stained my hands like henna. i think that with each new season i get so excited with new crops and ingredients to work with that i tend to slow down when the weather begins to change again, like i'm holding back my energy for the next season. i can already feel the mexican vibes flow through me this spring, so maybe i can mail-order some dried chiles and finally tackle some mole or tamales on my own.

without presumptions that i could improve upon an ATK recipe, i've made a few slight changes for cooking this on the grill instead of the oven. also, i know it's a pain to run out and buy a knob of fresh ginger instead of using powdered, but please do it. it lends a brightness that counters the deep, heavy spices and is really worth it. also, i got 3 small limes and it was more than enough for the recipe.

Tandoori Chicken

3 lbs chicken parts (1 3-lb chicken cut up), bone in and skin removed
4 T lime juice
1 c whole yogurt
2 tsp salt

Paste:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp chili powder (i used ancho chili powder for all but 1/8th tsp or so, where i added in some cayenne)
1 Tbsp garam marsala


Gash the chicken pieces on one side a few times with a sharp knife, 1/8 inch deep

Heat oil on medium. Add garlic and ginger and cook swiftly, not letting brown. Add other spices and cool for a minute to bloom.

Divide Paste into 2 bowls - one larger and one smaller. to the smaller bowl add 2 Tbsp lime juice and the yogurt.
To the larger bowl, add the remaining 2 Tbsp lime juice and 2 tsp salt. Add gashed chicken and really rub the paste all over, making sure to get into the cuts. let sit for 30 mins at room temp.

Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and mix. oil the grill to prevent sticking, though it'll still stick a bit because of the yogurt. grill should be set to 325 (med. low). place chicken scored side down.

grill for 20-25 minutes (until breast meat registers 125 degrees, thigh 130), then flip and turn grill to low and cook for another 10 minutes or so. if the chicken breast is closer to 160 before you flip, consider taking the breast meat off a little earlier than the rest of the pieces.
when done, meat should register 160 degrees at the breast and 175 for the dark meat. tent with foil for a few minutes before eating.

if you wanted to make a mint chutney with this, process mint, onion, lime juice and yogurt until smooth.

if you're doing this in the oven, the instructions are to bake @325 for 22 minutes, then turn oven broiler on and ensure rack is mid-low in the oven. flip chicken and finish cooking 8-10 minutes.

looooong post

okay seriously. tell me you would not want to open your lunch and see a little pastry with a freaking leaf on it.
how cute is that?? sometimes i just want to make two of me.

this recipe would probably make just under 2 cupcake trays, but i did one tray, some little stand-alone pocket pies (Canadian pocket pies), and made some traditional spanakopita triangles with defrosted phyllo dough (eaten before pictures could take photos).

Okay, I’m just going to tell you that this is a long post, and I’m going to give you detailed instructions to do some big-batch weekend cooking for your lunches.




also, let me tell you, i made this pocket pie dough after months of having it transposed on my computer. the good eats episode of pocket pies was very inspiring, however it took me until this week to actually get motivated enough to do it. I made the dough and rolled it out on one day, then went back and assembled on the second. it wasn't intentional, but it worked out better than if i just powered through and did everything in one day. it became very manageable. I used two recipes from the internet. One was the Good Eats pocket pie dough, and the other was the basic meat and tofu mixture. Feel free to refer to these instead of reading my yammering.


Let's talk about this dough, because it bears mentioning. i know that you have to grate frozen butter, but it goes no slower than grating cheese, and letting it sit in cold water actually helps you, so don't omit that step.
This dough is extremely user-friendly. it doesn't tear, it stretches out really thin without any problems, and really makes a great product. if you're getting antsy about working with (essentially) a cross between a pie and a pizza dough, have no fear! it's fail-safe and will not let you down. the result is the kind of dough you see in frozen chicken pot pies. i'm sure i could have gotten it flakier by throwing the cupcake tin in the fridge for 20 minutes before adding the spanakopita, but come on. they turned out great and i shouldn't tinker with Awesome.

now, a word about spanakopita. these little pies make a great filler for when you're trying to eat right and take some soup and a salad for lunch. You can just grab a couple out of the freezer that morning and by the time you’re ready to eat, they’re defrosted enough to throw in the microwave for 45 seconds, and they’re delicious with some sour cream or even Caesar dressing.
Also, throwing in one of these won't add a lot of fat or calories, and is LOADED with spinach, feta cheese, and the bread from the crust that, in reality, is not that fatty. i even added some leftover firm tofu (more on that later) that is completely perfect for this. it does not taste like you have tofu. everything else is savory and briny, that the tofu is nothing more than nutritious filler.
(sorry. i always feel like i have to give tofu credit where credit is due, because we haven't had the best working relationship. i have had horrible, disgusting things that someone swears you can't tell there's tofu in it, and then i feel all betrayed when i bite into it and the beginning tastes okay and then you have this sinking feeling that you have got to be polite and not spit it out loudly into their trash can. so i feel your pain. i PROMISE this tastes good.)


okay one more thing. a lot of the ingredients for the spanakopita cross over to the mini meatballs that i'm going to be posting on shortly. i'd recommend hammering out both these spanakopitas and the meatballs in one weekend, because two days of light work will yield enough for it to be worth it. i've split up the time over one prep night and one afternoon. Both days require at most two hours each. by splitting both things up, you're doing all of your chopping and prepping on one day and then you're basically assembling and cooking on the next. it's a good split, because to think of spending one day not only making the filling, but then doing something with it is very uninspiring.
and, if that little pep talk didn't work, i'm even going to make you a shopping list for both things.


this is a loose re-enactment of what i did:
overnight or when you come home from the grocery store
1. throw the spinach into a container and defrost in the fridge, get the butter in the freezer.

then, when you're ready to go:

1. defrost both packages of spinach in the microwave for 10 minutes or so, but maybe put them on a plate or something so spinach juice doesn’t leak out everywhere
2. follow the pocket pie dough recipe as follows:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt (big pinch. measuring isn't that necessary)
* 2 1/2 ounces of butter or about 6 tablespoons. i just approximated from the little measurements on the paper
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1 egg mixed with 1 to 2 teaspoons water for egg wash

3. combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
4. grate the butter into a cereal bowl with water, then add the butter, draining the water through your fingertips, into the mixing bowl.
5. quickly grab a clump of the mixture and squish between your fingers and thumb, letting the flour scour away at the bits of butter. working relatively quickly (you want the butter to stay cold, not warm with your fingers), make sure the mixture resembles something relatively consistent
6. make a well and add the milk and stir together, making sure you're moving the flour from the bottom to the top.
7. when it has just come together, empty everything onto a work surface with some flour and knead 10-20 times.
8. roll out to about a 1/2 inch thick (i did a little thinner, maybe 1/3 inch), and, using some kind of round cookie cutter or a mug or glass, cut out some rounds, putting them on a big piece of parchment paper or saran wrap as you go. roll the scraps together and cut the remaining few rounds out
9. wrap them up and put them in a container and then in the fridge overnight.

fillings:
10. get out two containers, both of the spinach packets from the microwave, the tofu, feta, 2 onions, oregano, pork and turkey meat.
11. dice the onions and add them to a heated pan with oil with salt and pepper.
12. As they’re cooking, give the spinach and tofu a good drain. You’re going to use about a package and a half for both things, all told. When you’ve squeezed the spinach out as much as you think is possible, wrap your little clump in a paper towel and squeeze around to really get every last drop out. If you don’t, it’ll get a little soggy and just won’t be as good as it could be.
12b. Do sort of the same thing with the tofu… it’ll get squishy but should retain most of its shape while you’re wringing it out.
Then break your spinach clumps up with your fingers as you’re dropping them into your bowl. One full spinach package goes in the spanakopita bowl, and a third of the second package goes into the second, meatball bowl.
12c. add the crumbled feta to the spanakopita bowl and put 1/3 of the tofu packet into each bowl.
(You’ll have 2/3 of your spinach container and 1/3 of a container of tofu left over to do with as you wish… might I suggest spinach pancakes or scrambled eggs?)
13. add half of the cooked onions to both containers once they’re translucent and cooked-looking.
14. add 2 eggs to your spanakopita container, generously salt and pepper. Add 1 egg to your meatball bowl
15. add nutmeg, oregano, lemon zest and juice of ½ the lemon to the spanakopita bowl, and the parmesan cheese if you have it. Mix it all together and put in the fridge until tomorrow.

Second container: meatball mixture
16. Firstly, you should have the following common ingredients already in your bowl: onion, egg, tofu, spinach, salt and pepper. To this, add in 1 cup of breadcrumbs and then about 2 tablespoons or so of milk to let the breadcrumbs soften up. Mix everything together and throw in seasoning salt or anything else you want to in here. It’s not necessary, but some people are kind of picky about their homemade meat mixtures. Put in the fridge until tomorrow.



Day 2:
17. Take out the dough and two mixtures, break an egg into a small container, get out a pastry brush and some flour, spray a muffin tin with some Pam or brush with melted butter. Set all of this stuff up around you so that you can roll the dough out and set into the muffin tins as you work. Turn your oven to 350.
18. put a clean dishtowel over your stacks of dough rounds, and flour the surface you’re going to be working on. Roll out your first round, and when you’ve given it a couple of once-overs, lay it over a muffin mold and gently fit it in. if it fills the bottom, goes up the sides with a little extra dough, it’s a perfect size.
19. when you’ve filled your muffin pan up, start spooning in your mixture, making sure to drain away any liquid that may be sitting on the bottom of the bowl. I fill about 2/3 of the way up, but you can always do more.
20. fold the excess dough towards the middle, then brush on the beaten egg and cook for 20-30 minutes. I think mine ended up taking about 25. They should be a nice golden brown, no wimpy beiges here. Gently slide in a knife or spatula between the pastry and mold. I waited until they were cool and transferred to a freezer bag.

Meatballs:
21. heat a pan on medium heat ( I used nonstick) with some oil and get an ice cream scoop, spoon, or something else that you can use to measure little mini meatballs with so that you get a consistent size.
18. add in your ground meats and mix everything together, being careful to not squeeze everything into oblivion.
19. once your mixture is ready to go, carry it over to the heated pan and start making your meatballs, adding them into the pan as you make them. I cook about 10-12 at a time, but mine were only about 2 inches in diameter.
20. Once you’ve got them all in, cover with a lid and let cook for 4 or 5 minutes and then flip and cook without a lid for another few. It’s really hard to overcook these… the tofu keeps them moist. When they’re done cooking, transfer them to a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper, then quickly wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add a little more oil, and repeat. When you’re finished, transfer the pan into the freezer for a couple of hours. I separated them into Ziploc baggies with 8-10 meatballs each, enough for two lunches or one dinner.

I’ll make a post about some ideas for sauces in a bit!

Birthday Meatcake

The cake is 1/3 ground lamb, 1/3 ground beef, and 1/3 ground pork.
the icing is mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes. there are bacon sprinkles on the sides, and there are star-shaped breaded and fried zucchini slices on stuck on the sides, too.
writing is in pea puree. it took for freaking ever.

lasagna, take one.

at someone's (ahem) request, i made some lasagna using wonton wrappers (the big ones) and ground turkey, and it turned out pretty well. it took a quick google search to see how common using those wonton wrappers are in place of fresh pasta.

we put it in a 375 degree oven for a little over half an hour. though everything was bubbly and tasty and whatnot, i don't think the wrappers could deal with the steam and sort of got a little mushy. you know the way lasagna usually is, where you can sort of bite into the noodles, and sometimes even separate them from the meat and fixin's? ours definitely was not that. it was tasty, but it might have been better at a higher temp. for a shorter amount of time, even just for the last half of cooking. i have a smaller loaf pan of lasagna that i froze, so i wonder if it makes a difference coming from frozen. might balance everything out.

finished product!!