Lamb and Tomatillo Stew

I invented this stew for my mother's birthday when I was an undergraduate. Since then, I have made a few variations on it: one involving tender cactus, another involving mixed beans. This time I decided to use potatoes and green tomatoes; I think it worked very nicely.

One thing to note is that it's very, very easy to heat the lamb too hot while stewing; if you do, it will end up tough. Bringing to a boil is the kiss of death. I haven't gotten this exactly right in quite a long time; if anyone has a trick, please do share.

This dish seems far and away best suited to the spring, when the early-season tomatoes are still green. But a close second is fall--cold enough at night to justify a soul-warming stew, but warm enough during the day that a cilantro-and-lemon combination would still be welcome.

An awful lot of chopping needs to go into this stew. Indeed, by the end, I broke down and used a mini-prep to prepare the herbs and the hot pepper.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 lbs green tomatoes, diced into 1/2" cubes
• 1 lb fresh tomatillos, husked and diced into 1/2" cubes
• 1 1/2 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4" cubes
  
• 1 1/2 lbs lamb, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup cilantro, finely minced
• 1 bunch scallions, finely minced
• 1 Annaheim pepper (or other chili), minced
  
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
  
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
  
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large soup pot, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add lamb and brown on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
2. Remove lamb and set aside. Add more olive oil if necessary; reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté onions and garlic, stirring constantly until beginning to turn golden, about 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the minced pepper and sauté for 2 minutes more.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomatillos, lemon juice and herbs; increase the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a just under a simmer, then reduce heat to very low (just below a simmer) and let cook, covered, for 1 hour.

NOTE: if your stew should accidentally reach a boil, quickly shut off heat and uncover. You may find that the lamb is already cooked through (it will cook through after only a couple of minutes at a boil); in that case, shut off the heat and allow to rest, covered, for another 30 minutes. This will tenderize the lamb somewhat.

Serve with a slice of avocado. Makes excellent leftovers.

Meat mina

This meat kugel is inspired by Sephardic recipes for mina con carne. If you avoid kitnyot on Passover, substitute sliced carrots or more spinach for the peas. You can use honey and vinegar in place of the extra sweet red wine; I just wanted to get the stuff used up!

Note that you want ordinary matzo for these sorts of things. Do not use whole wheat or egg matzo.

Again, by 'drained' spinach I mean really drained. It is necessary to squeeze out the water.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 matzos
• 1 lb. ground beef or lamb
• 1 yellow or Spanish onion, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 3 tbsp. extra sweet red wine (or 2 tbsp. vinegar + 1 tbsp. honey)
  
• 1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
  
• 6 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  
• 3 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Soak the matzos in water for 2 minutes, then immediately press between paper towels to drain away excess moisture. This will make them flexible but not soggy.
3. Coat a non-stick baking pan with 2 tbsp. oil, then cover the bottom with the matzos.
4. In a saucepan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil, then sauté the onions in the oil over medium-high heat until soft.
   
5. Add the ground meat and sauté together for 3-4 minutes. When the meat is almost cooked, add the tomato paste, wine, peas, spinach and raisins. Allow to cook for another minute or two on low heat.
6. In a separate bowl, beat eggs thoroughly. Combine with meat mixture and transfer to the pan with the matzos.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until top is golden.
   

Sausage with sweet and sour pears

Another gem from Rafael Pereira's tapas class. This has some of the fruit-and-wine flavors of sangria in a food context. This is a fine example of the kinds of foods that keep me from ever going strictly kosher. However, I think that this could be kosher-ified by replacing the sausage with a spicy beef meatball.

UPDATE 4/26/08: I tried this with apples and it was still quite tasty. Use crisp apples. Also, a clarification: do not peel the fruit. Finally, a thickener such as cornstarch is recommended. I have updated the recipe to reflect all three of these things.

UPDATE 6/29/08: I tried this with peaches and chourizo. Very delicious. Use somewhat under-ripe peaches so that they hold their shape. Also, when using a softer sausage like chourizo, consider cooking it in larger pieces and then cutting it into diagonals. This way, it will hold the shape that you cut much better.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs (1 package) linguica, sliced 30 degrees askew into 1/4" slices
• 1 cup sugar if using dry wine, or 1/2 cup sugar if using sweet wine
  
• 1 cup red wine vinegar (or 3/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar)
  
• 1 cup red wine (if using sweet wine, reduce the amount of sugar)
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 pears (Rafael used green; I prefer Bosc or Asian) or crisp apples, cored and cut up (not peeled)
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, wine and cinnamon in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and let simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. Add pears and let simmer, covered, for 20 more minutes.
4. Let this mixture sit out (at room temperature) overnight.
5. THE NEXT DAY, remove the pairs from the sauce and set aside.
6. Bring the sauce to a simmer; add the linguica and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
7. Remove the linguica to the container with the apples, keeping the liquid in the saucepan.
   
8. Stir the cornstarch into two tablespoons of water (or wine or vinegar, if you prefer), then stir this mixture into the sauce. Allow to thicken for a couple of minutes at low heat, stirring occasionally.
   
9. Pour the sauce over the linguica and apples and serve.

Salt Cod (Bacalao) Fritters

These delicious fritters came from Rafael Pereira's "Spanish Tapas" class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. His classes are highly recommended; I plan on taking more of them.

UPDATE 3/29/2008: I attempted to make these by sautéing instead of frying. Unfortunately, I found the fritters had the tendency to fall apart. I compensated by adding additional flour; this held them together but this created a 'flour pancake' taste that seemed ill-suited to the dish. I am going to experiment with corn-based strategies (corn flour? corn meal?) after Passover.

Rafael served them with an apple aioli; I plan on coming up with my own sweet aioli (perhaps a honey aioli?) before I post one here.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 lb. salt cod
* 3 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
* 2 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, minced
* 1 medium onion, minced
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/4 cup flour
* 2 tbsp. olive oil
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the salt cod for 8-12 hours in cold water, changing the water 3 times. Pat dry and mince.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium high skillet, then sauté the onions for 1 minute. Add the salt cod, cilantro, salt and pepper; sauté for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the mixture to the mashed potatoes. Gradually add the egg and the flour.
4. Refrigerate the mixture for one hour.
5. Heat vegetable oil for frying. Once hot, add heaping tablespoons to it, removing them after they have turned golden brown.

Serve immediately with aioli and Spanish red wine.

Olive and pecan tapenade

I have been taking a cooking class with Rafael Pereira, a very talented historian of Spanish and Latin-American cuisine, and one of his recipes (for olive pate) inspired me to create this recipe. In my opinion, this is best served with a dark, nutty bread or cracker, such as ak-mak crackers or whole-kernel pumpernickel bread.

You'll want to stay away from truly cheap-o, canned olives, but the simple olives you get in a jar are probably fine. Prepared with appropriate ingredients, this recipe is kosher (parve).

Serve with a fiery red wine such as a Rioja. It will bring out some of the subtler oils in the tapenade and expose qualities you never would have guessed were there.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz. green olives, pits removed
• 1 tin (2 oz) flat filets of anchovies, with oil
• 2 oz. pecans
• 3-4 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. dry thyme
• pinch of cumin

DIRECTIONS:

Puree all ingredients in a food processor.

Braised Rabbit in Wine Sauce

This dish makes me think of Spain: specifically, of Hemingway's elaborate descriptions of Spanish country food in For Whom The Bell Tolls. Maybe that's just me.

Anyways, I started with this hasenpfeffer recipe, sticking to it pretty closely, except with about twice the herbs and aromatics. It was delicious--seven people ate six pounds of rabbit, and no one saved room for dessert--but it was too tough, and I don't think the recipe did enough to tender up the meat.

So I've incorporated some steps from this coq au vin recipe, which uses the wine to soften the fibers of the meat overnight before braising. I have not yet tried it this way; expect updates.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5-6 lbs rabbit meat, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups flour, divided use
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
  
• 1 lb bacon, diced
• 2 medium Spanish onions (about 1 1/2 cups), finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bottle red wine (preferably Pinot Noir)
• 3 tbsp. black currant or blackberry preserves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place 1 cup of flour and the kosher salt into a zip-loc bag. Coat each piece of rabbit in this mixture and set aside.
   
2. In a deep metal skillet, sauté the bacon over medium-high heat until evenly browned, stirring often. Remove the bacon to a bowl but leave all the grease in the skillet.
3. Fry the rabbit pieces, browning them on each side, and then remove them to a covered casserole or dutch oven.
   
4. Sauté the onions and garlic over in what's left of the grease, adding a little butter or oil if needed. (It's OK if the pan's pretty gunked up at this point.)
5. Add 1 cup of wine to the skillet and gently scrape the sides with a plastic or wooden spatula. The cooked-on drippings should yield to your spatula as if by magic. (This is called deglazing the pot.)
   
6. Pour this into a bowl and combine with the rest of the wine, bacon, herbs, pepper, lemon juice, and preserves.
7. Pour liquid over the tabbit, cover and refrigerate overnight.
8. The next day, preheat the oven to 325.
9. Cook the rabbit in the dutch oven for about 2 hours, maintaining a very gentle simmer. You want the lowest heat you can get while still having the liquid bubble slightly.
10. Transfer the rabbit to a serving plate and cover it with foil to keep warm. Meanwhile, transfer the liquid to a saucepan.
11. Remove about a cup of the liquid and combine with 1/2 cup flour. Bring the rest of the liquid to a simmer and whisk in flour mixture gradually to avoid lumps.
    
12. Simmer the gravy for a few minutes, then transfer to a gravy bowl.

Serve immediately with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

PAIRINGS: Rabbit has an intense, almost spicy gaminess, so a robust red wine such as Pinot Noir is the obvious choice.

Chicken Marbella

This is simply my favorite main course to make in the whole world. Period. It is very loosely based on a recipe by the same name from The Silver Palate Cookbook, although I haven't seen the original recipe in three years, so it's probably nothing like it.

Anyways, this is the most delicious thing ever. And it's really easy to make. And it's wonderful left over.

INGREDIENTS

To marinate the chicken (24 hours in advance):

• 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 10 oz. dried fruit (prunes and apricots are good)
  
• 8 oz. (1/2 jar) green olives, with juice
• 2 oz. capers, with a little bit of juice (not all of it)
• Garlic, minced (I use about 8 cloves worth)
• 3 tbsp. za'atar or oregano
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 bay leaves
• Dash of lemon juice
• Plenty of fresh black pepper
  

For cooking:

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Toasted almond slices (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all the ingredients from the "marinating" section above (that is, everything but the brown sugar, white wine and almonds) in a big container and mix it all up. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Lay out the chicken pieces in a single layer in a baking dish. Spread the marinade (with the olives, fruit, etc.) evenly over the chicken.
4. Sprinkle the brown sugar and almond slices over the chicken.
5. Sprinkle the white wine over the chicken, so it moistens the brown sugar.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally. You can tell it's done when you poke one of the chicken thighs and the juice that comes out is golden colored.

Serve with white rice. Makes a great leftover.

PAIRINGS:

A more skillful sommelier would probably disagree with me, but I think that this can be done with either a bright, fruity red or a crisp white. The main thing is that you want a wine that's a bit tart, to play off the herbs and the sweetness of the dish. I've also done this with a hefeweizen, but I really think wine is the better choice.