Shrimp Tagine

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Okay, I’m not gonna lie. This one is a little bit of work.

But if you put on some good tunes and pour yourself a beverage, you’ll get through it. And at the end you will have a rich, delicious mess of goodness in your bowl. This is a riff on Moroccan tagines, but we’re not using the traditional tagine clay pot and we’re not slow braising a leg or neck of lamb until it’s falling off the bone (which, by the way, would be a wonderful thing to do). Instead, we’re using fresh caught Mexican white shrimp, which has a rich flavor and very firm flesh, so it just gets a quick dunk in the pot for the last few minutes of cooking.

Everything else is pretty close to the classical Moroccan dish. Layers of sliced vegetables, a rich tomato sauce, olives and preserved lemons, all stewed together into something so rich and decadent and aromatic that you caint hardly stand it.

So, lets get started!

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What you need: (there’s more stuff after the marinade, so, don’t miss that…)

For the marinade:

A pound and a half of fresh, or thawed frozen shrimp. This is an excellent time to use Trader Joe’s red Argentine shrimp if you’ve got it.

A handful of chopped cilantro

A handful of chopped parsley

Tbs of sweet paprika

generous pinch of saffron threads, crumbled

TBS minced ginger

1/3 cup of olive oil

Juice from a large lemon

salt and pepper (generous)

Mix these ingredients in a large bowl, then add the shrimp and stir until coated. Refrigerate the shrimp for two hours or more. I like to put the shrimp into a large ziplock bag, squeeze the air out, and zip it shut. Takes up less room, and ensures everything gets in good contact with the marinade.

For the sauce:

Three pounds of plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped.

(I used fresh tomatoes from the farmer’s market, but it was a giant pain in the ass to peel and seed and chop them. Much simpler to open two 28 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes, and every bit as good if you ask me.)

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed.

2 tbs cumin

salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium sauce pan on a medium flame, simmer the chopped tomatoes, garlic, and cumin until the tomatoes break down and turn from sharp smelling to mellow, about ten or fifteen minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, or leave on a low flame while you prep and chop the veggies.

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The Veggies:

Four or five good sized carrots, peeled and sliced.

Two sweet onions, sliced.

Four fist sized red potatoes, mandolined or sliced thin.

One red, one green, one yellow bell pepper, sliced thin.

One half preserved lemon*, peel only, chopped or sliced thin

Half cup (or more)- (okay, more.) A cup if you can pitted green olives, sliced or chopped. I used Lucques, which were wonderful.

*A note on the preserved lemons. See that jar of artichoke hearts? Those are my lemons. What you do is simple, but it takes a few weeks before you can use them. Slice up a couple of lemons, enough to fill the container you’re using. The small jar I had held a couple of lemons. If you use a quart jar you’ll never run out but you’ll use six or eight lemons. Anyway, fill the jar with lemons and as you put them in, pack kosher salt over them. Fill jar with lemons and salt and refrigerate. In three or four weeks they’ll be ready. When you use them, cut away the flesh and just use the peels. Chop them up or slice them fine. The flavor they impart to a dish is incomparable- bright and alive with lemony goodness. They are absolutely essential to this recipe, so don’t make this until your lemons are ready or if you have a fancypants market that carries preserved lemons you can use store bought. I just don’t have anywhere local that carries them. I guess you could order them online, too.

Also, once my lemons are started, I throw in a few new slices every time I use the preserved lemons. I use them infrequently, so by the time I pull the jar out again, whatever I put in before are ready to go.

They are like homemade kimchi. Once you get used to having them around, you’ll want always to have them on hand.

Okay, on we go:

Here’s how she goes:

Put in the carrots.

Salt and pepper the carrots and add the onions.

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Salt and pepper the onions and add the potatoes.

Salt and pepper the potatoes  and add the peppers.

Cover with the tomato sauce.

Hell, yes.

Now, set your stockpot under a medium flame and cover it, letting the veggies cook until softened, about twenty minutes or so. Longer is okay, shorter isn’t so much. If the sauce is thick and you’re worried about the carrots scorching, add a quarter cup of water. It won’t hurt anything.

Once the veggies have cooked , you can add the olives and preserved lemons in a single layer on top of the tomatoes.

Now your shrimps go in.

Medium flame, let it bubble away, covered, until the shrimp curl up and turn pink. Should be just a few minutes. Don’t let them overcook or they’ll get too tough. Once they pink up, remove the shrimp and put ’em in a bowl or plate. Let the tagine cook, uncovered, until the juices have mostly evaporated, about five or ten minutes. At this point, I peeled the piping hot shrimp because my woman don’t like shrimps with the shells on. I do that for her out of love. You might enjoy peeling them at the table, one at a time, as you eat them from your bowl, which is more in the spirit of the Moroccan ideal.

A note about love while I’m on the topic. This meal involves a lot of prep, and how you go about it is essential if you want this thing to turn out right. You should be thinking of whoever you are cooking for all the while you are chopping and peeling and mixing together. This is true even if you are cooking only for yourself, in fact, probably even more true. You should imagine your beloved tasting each morsel, each tender shrimp, each vivid little chunk of preserved lemon, each bitter green olive, each sweet onion and soft, buttery potato. Cook with love. Keep it right up there in the front of your mind.

Believe me, you can taste it.

Okay, to plate, just stir up the tagine and fill a bowl with the vegetables and sauce. Top with some of the shrimp. Serve with a nice crusty loaf of bread to sop up the juices. You could have a salad of arugula and figs and almonds if you absolutely had to, but this is fine standing alone.

Trust and believe that.

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This recipe is pretty forgiving when it comes to amounts of everything. Use what’s to hand and make up the difference somewhere else. And use this as a jumping off point. You could add a lot more heat with red pepper flakes and some jalapenos, and then cut the heat back with some honey. Add a handful or two of dates or golden raisins. Add some garbanzos. Figs. Do the long, slow braise of some cheap cut of meat. Use chicken thighs one time, or turkey legs. Goat, if you’ve got it. Lamb. Add more cumin and turmeric.

The main thing is the love.

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That is all.

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Namaste.

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Buchons Au Thon, roasted potatoes, and roasted sweet corn with lime chili garlic butter.

 

 

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So, these little buchons au thon. Something my wife usually makes for me because I love them so damn much. They’re from Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life.

They are super duper easy, and taste both sublime and sleazy. I bought her a extra big muffin pan so when she makes them the next time she can make more. They are great with a simple salad for lunch or dinner, or I bet they’d be fantastic on a toasted english muffin for breakfast.

 

Here’s how to do them:

 

Ingredients:

11 ounces canned (water-packed) chunk-light or solid albacore tuna, drained
2 cups finely grated or shredded Gruyere cheese
2/3 cup creme fraiche
5 tablespoons tomato paste
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 tbs chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 14 wells of a extra big-size muffin tin with nonstick cooking oil spray.

Place the tuna in a medium mixing bowl; use a fork to break up pieces any larger than a dime. Add the cheese, creme fraiche, tomato paste, eggs, onion, parsley and salt, stirring to thoroughly combine. (The mixture will be a soft orange-pink color.)

Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin wells. Use water to fill any empty wells halfway full to prevent those wells from scorching. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops and edges of the bouchons are set.

Carefully pour the water out of the muffin wells, then dislodge the bouchons by running a rounded knife around the inside edges of their wells. Let them sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then carefully extract them and transfer to individual plates (2 for each portion).

They will collapse a bit as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

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Seriously, damn good eats.

 

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The corn was broiled in the Grillevator with the husks on for half an hour. The husks caught on fire and the corn kernels seared and charred nicely. While that was cooking, I melted 3 tbs of butter in a little dish and added a minced clove of garlic, juice and zest of one lime, salt, pepper, and cayenne and let that mix and meld together. For the last few minutes of cooking, I took the corn out, tore off the burned husks, rinsed the ears quickly under cold water and rubbed off any silk or charred husk, then slathered them in the butter mixture and put them back in for four or five minutes.

 

Holy crap for crap, batman!  Tasted just like summer.

 

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Roasted potatoes are small yellow or reds, chopped into one inch squares, slathered in olive oil, salted and peppered, and baked high and hot at 425 for 45 mins. Shook up and flipped a few times as they go.

 

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It were good.

 

 

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Namaste.

 

 

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Ezra’s Calamari & Farmer’s Market Carrots with cumin

 

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The woman on the verge got these for us at  the farmer’s market.

 

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And I had these squids from Pier 46 just laying around.

 

 

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Sundays are my day for sharpening my knives.

 

 

So I was good to go.

 

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Wash the carrots. Scrub them.

 

Scrub them.

 

Lip them. Lip my Stockings!

 

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Are they beautiful?

 

Hell yes, they are.

 

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Oven at 425, slathering in oil, salted, peppered, cumined.

 

half hour or so.

 

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

 

 

 

Cleaned and drained calamari.

 

Check.

 

2 cups flour, salt, pepper, thyme, cumin.

 

Check.

 

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Bread them bitches.

 

 

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Fry ’em up.

 

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Drain them on a paper shopping bag.

 

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Serve on a bed of greens, drizzled with lemon. Put out a bowl of garlic aioli and a bowl of sweet chili dipping sauce.

 

Have at it.

 

 

 

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It makes a hell of a mess in a small kitchen.

 

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But it tastes like angels fucking.

 

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Namaste.

 

 

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Shrimp Risotto with Shiitake Mushrooms

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simple. delicious. deadly.

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Just sear your shrimp and shiitakes in a stick of butter for a couple of minutes, with garlic and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Take that off the flame, set it aside, then add the juices to a stockpot and saute 2 cups of arborio rice for two minutes with a chopped onion.

 

Heat five cups of chicken stock and a cup of white wine and add that a cup at a time to the rice, stirring constantly for about twenty minutes.

Add some parmesan.

As much as you want.

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When it’s ready, the broth is all absorbed, then stir the shrimp and shiitakes back in, sprinkle on some parsley or cilantro, grind pepper over it, and serve.

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Et, voila.

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Namaste.

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Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

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• 5 ounces trader joe’s red argentine shrimp, deveined, butterflied.
• one package of trader joe’s dried mushroom medley.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 12 dried lily buds* (sometimes called golden needles)
• 1/2 cup canned sliced bamboo shoots*, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide strips (from an 8-oz can)
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 4 cups chicken broth
• a block of firm tofu, rinsed and drained, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens
• 2 tablespoons fresh whole cilantro leaves

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Soak mushrooms in 3 cups boiling-hot water in another bowl (water should cover mushrooms),until softened, about 30 minutes. Cut out and discard stems from mushrooms, then squeeze excess liquid from caps into bowl and thinly slice caps. Remove mushrooms from bowl, reserving liquid, and trim off any hard nubs. . Stir together 3/4 cup mushroom-soaking liquid (discard remainder) with cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, soak lily buds in about 1 cup warm water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain. Trim off tough tips of lily buds. Cut lily buds in half crosswise, then tear each half lengthwise into 2 or 3 shreds.

Cover bamboo shoots with cold water by 2 inches in a small saucepan, then bring just to a boil (to remove bitterness) and drain in a sieve.

Stir together vinegars, light soy sauce, sugar, and salt in another small bowl.

Heat a wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Pour peanut oil down side of wok, then swirl oil, tilting wok to coat sides. Add shrimp and stir-fry about 1 minute, then add mushrooms, tree ears, lily buds, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry 1 minute.

Add broth and bring to a boil, then add tofu. Return to a boil and add vinegar mixture. Stir cornstarch mixture, then add to broth and return to a boil, stirring. (Liquid will thicken.) Reduce heat to moderate and simmer 1 minute.

Beat eggs with a fork and add a few drops of sesame oil. Add eggs to soup in a thin stream, stirring slowly in one direction with a spoon. Stir in white pepper, then drizzle in remaining sesame oil and divide among 6 to 8 bowls. Sprinkle with scallions and cilantro before serving.

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Holy crap for crap!

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This was seriously, seriously good. The perfect soup base, with the ground white pepper providing all of the warmth. Not really heat, just warmth. I never thought I could cook a meal without onions, ginger, or garlic, but this has none of them and is still amazingly savory and delicious.

One of the very best soups I’ve ever eaten.

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I think I’m going to go get another bowl of it right now.

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Also, seriously easy to do vegan, just skip the shrimp.

Or go the other way, and use pork or chicken or both.

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Next time I catch cold I am making one hundred gallons of this and I’m dropping in a tablespoon of sambal olek into every bowl I eat.

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Go make this, right fucking now.

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Namaste.

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Portuguese style pork and clams with chorizo and potatoes

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Another one from Suzanne Goins’ Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

 

This one kept me in the kitchen from eight in the morning until four pm. Then I took the dog for a walk on the beach for an hour and came back and put it all together and served it up.

I learned how to confit. I didn’t have three quarts of rendered duck fat, or pork fat, so I cheated and confitted the pork loin in olive oil. Just cubed up the pork loin (after marinading it in garlic, white wine, red pepper, and paprika for a few hours) and spread it out in one layer in a dutch oven, then covered it in olive oil and let it cook in the oven at 300 for two hours or so. Then pulled it out and chilled it. Then, right before serving I pulled it out and fried up the cubes again, so they were crispy on the outside and meltingly gooey on the inside. And broiled potatoes, cubed up and fried again with the pork.

 

Chorizo and roasted tomatoes, onions and white wine and butter simmered for a while, then a pound or two of clams.

 

Then you just ladle the clams and chorizo into big, wide bowls. Spoon the pork and potatoes over the top. Serve with crusty bread and a bottle of some earthy wine.

 

 

 

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Something new for dessert, too.

 

Caramelized bread pudding with chocolate and cinnamon.

 

Woot.

 

 

Under that caramelized crust is a rich custard and at the very bottom is a layer of melted dark chocolate.

 

Oh.

My.

God.

 

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I am a slut.

 

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Namaste.

 

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Yesterday my mom loaned me her library copy of Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Supper at Lucques. *   So, for dinner tonight we started out with Avocado and Citrus salad with green olives.

cut the hearts out of some oranges or tangerines, a lime or two, and mix with a tablespoon of minced shallots, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar, another of lemon juice, a quarter cup of olive oil, a half cup of pitted good green olives, and some micro greens or frisee or watercress. mix it all up and then spoon it over a half of an avocado, sliced and salted and peppered. add a few drops of sriracha for color. serve on a big, chilled, white plate.

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The main course was grilled mahi-mahi in a lemon-zest, thyme, salt and pepper rub. Seared quick and served over a bed of arugula, with a roasted beet salad and horseradish creme fraiche.

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Shit, it were good enough.

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For dessert, mango sorbet with a blackberry sauce and mint garnish.

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Even the wild woman of borneo ate it all up and called it good.

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Well, shit howdy.

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I am fallen in love with good cooking. I never did think it could happen to me.

But, damn.

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What I think I might be good at is looking at something and just knowing it will be good to eat. I hardly ever make a recipe that isn’t any good. If it looks good to me, it usually tastes pretty damn wonderful.

I don’t know.

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I am having a hell of a time at it, regardless.

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Namaste.

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Cooking with Ezra

So, Ezra is one of my bigtime influences in cooking. Besides making the most delicious meals, he also makes the best movies about cooking. And the best custom bicycles. And takes the best photos of his dog and his wife and the world around him.

If you watch these short films and then make what he makes and then eat it you will be happier than you were before, I guarantee it.

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And, you know,

Namaste.

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Food

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So, this weekend was, for me, all about cooking and eating. When we were not taking Yolie’s mom to the hospital to be checked out for a possible heart-attack, or buying diapers for the grandbaby, or going to office Christmas parties, I was in the kitchen, cooking.

Moqueca de Peixe is a Brazilian fish stew that starts with sweated onions, garlic, and bell peppers, adds some chicken broth and coconut milk, and a bunch of shrimp, tilapia, and cod, along with serranos and cilantro. Mushrooms. tomatoes.

I served it over bowls of orzo, with crusty bread, butter, and a big bottle of red wine.

It were good enough.

After that, though, we had to pack up my mother in law and take her to the hospital. Indigestion disguised as a myocardial infarction.

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Today, while Yolie tended to her mother at the hospital, I stayed home and made my interpretation of David Chang’s Momofuku pork buns.

Instead of roasted pork-belly, which is hard to come by here, I made a Chinese-style pulled pork in the slow cooker. I made his steamed buns from scratch and served them with some ginger-garlic roasted green beans. Quick-pickled cucumbers, ginger-scallion sauce, and sriracha.

Fuck me running.

Even the wild woman of Borneo ate her fill, and gave me a big thumbs up. For a human who mostly survives on goldfish crackers, it was a ringing endorsement.

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It could be I enjoy spending the day in the kitchen even more than hitting people.

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We have not a single Christmas decoration up yet, and aim to keep it that way.

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That grandchild undoes us all.

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Namaste.

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