Burrito Filling

I have no idea whether or not this technically qualifies as a "burrito," but we made this tonight, wrapped it in a tortilla with some (reheated) canned re-fried beans, covered the wraps with shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce, and ate it.  It was delicious.

• 1/2 lb. fresh chorizo removed from skin
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

Saute the garlic, onions, and pepper in 2 Tbsp olive oil until tender.  Remove from pan and brown sausage.  When the sausage is thoroughly browned, add the tomatoes and de-glaze over high heat.  Return garlic, onions, and pepper to the pan and add the chili powder.  Continue cooking over high heat until most of the water from the tomatoes has evaporated and the mixture is fairly thick.  Add salt to taste (though if your chorizo is fairly salty and the canned tomatoes are not low sodium, salt is probably unnecessary).

Meatballs and Bell Pepper Sauce over Farro

We have been working on this dish for a few weeks and it is finally time to post it!  It was originally inspired by a Marcus Samuelsson recipe from his cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine.  We found the original, "Kofta Meatballs with Okra Tomato Sauce," a bit bland.  It was probably our fault for using frozen okra.  Anyway, discouraged by that experience we re-imagined the dish as lamb and beef meatballs with a Middle Eastern influenced pepper and tomato sauce over farro.

We rip off the tomato/pepper sauce from Oprah.  We use basically the same ingredients, but we saute the garlic and then add the pureed ingredients and heat it on low heat while we brown the meatballs.  When the meatballs were done browning we drain them and then add them to the sauce to finish cooking.

Roasting Peppers
For those of us who are urban dwellers, it's incredibly easy to roast peppers in the oven broiler.  Hopefully you have a broiler even if it's miniature like ours.  Just core the peppers, cut them in quarters, and then cut the tips off the quarters.  Press the quarters flat in a pan and put them in the broiler for about ten minutes.  It's a good idea to check them and turn them about halfway through for even roasting.  When the skins are blackened and blistered all over remove the peppers and let them cool a bit.  While they are still hot to the touch seal them in a plastic bag and let them sit for until they reach room temperature.  At this point they should be easy to peel.

Tomato Pepper Sauce

1 slice white sandwich bread, toasted and torn into pieces
1/2 cup walnuts
3 Tbsp. olive oil (for puree)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (for sauteeing garlic)
3 Tbsp. pomegranate juice
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 roasted red bell peppers
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 - 1 1/2 cup chicken stock

Use a food processor to chop the walnuts as finely as possible.  Then add the peeled roasted peppers, bread, tomatoes, olive oil, pomegranate juise, lemon juice, and seasoning. Puree the ingredients until they form a smooth, thick sauce.  Sautee the garlic in olive oil until it just starts to brown.  Add the puree and chicken stock and reduce heat to low.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Meatballs
1/2 lb. ground lamb
1/4 lb. ground beef
1 slice white bread, soaked in milk
4 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the ingredients thoroughly.  Form meatballs approximately 1 1/2 in. in diameter (will make about a dozen meatballs).  Brown the meatballs in olive oil over medium heat.  Drain on paper towels and then add to the sauce to finish cooking.

Farro
1 1/2 cup farro
3 cups water
2 tsp salt

Cook farro as you would brown rice.  Total cooking time is approximately 45 min.  Be sure to check the farro toward the end-the more you try it the more you will develop your own preference for doneness.

Serving
Serve the meatballs and sauce over the farro.  Garnish with parsley if desired.

S & I Smash the Mold

On March 5th the Upper West Side Supper Club 2011 competition entered a new phase.  S & I created an event of truly unprecedented quality and proportions.  With the help of a Sterno fireplace and a buxom waitress they created a pop-up haute restaurant.  The appetizers, which consisted of baked brie in pastry, shrimp wrapped in pancetta, and asparagus (wrapped in prosciutto, naturally!) were delicious.  The main course and contest entry was a beef and barley stew that scored particularly well in the prep cookery department (one diner wrote in a "5+").  Overall S & I took a decisive lead with 29.1 points.  (Apologies for the lack of pictures--I think they are in Italy right now.  I will post when they get back.)

Standings:

UWSSC Standings
R & E: 26.3
A & N: 27.0
S & I: 29.1

Lamb Stew at the Second Upper West Side Supper Club Event

Sad that I'm only blogging it more than a week on, but I can still remember the delicious sweetness of this hearty lamb stew accented with rosemary, thyme, parsnips, and pearl onions.  Our entry in the winter stew category was N's adaptation of a Julia Child (JC? WWJCD?) recipe.  Uncharacteristically bereft of bacon, JC develops the flavor in the lamb by browning it, coating it in flour, and braising it in its own juices for a while before adding the other ingredients.  N improved upon the original by cutting the number of potatoes drastically, boosting the liquid with some extra stock part way through braising, and increasing the amount of herbs.  The result not only avoided the dryness of the original, it was absolutely delectable in my opinion.  We were so excited about it my mother in law made her own version today (thank goodness she's not in the SC--it wouldn't be a fair fight).  Our fellow diners, however, only awarded us a 27.  I'm hoping that was on account of my salad: bitter greens tossed in a mustard vinaigrette with gorgonzola croutons.

UWSSC Standings
R & E: 26.3
A & N: 27.0

Upper West Side Supper Club Inaugural Dinner

The Upper West Side Supper club is a group of friends who love to get together to enjoy good food, improve our cooking skills, and engage in some friendly competition.  Last night we kicked off the 2011 season with a delicious entry in the Winter Stew category by E & R.  They set the bar high in the flavor and originality departments with a chicken tagine.  A scrumptious salad of arugula, beets, goat cheese, and walnuts started things off.  Their total score: 26.3.  Stay tuned as the other contestants make their Winter Stew entries.

Another Weeknight Invention

Here's a recent invention that turned out to be worth making again.

1 package (8 oz.) of quinoa linguine
Four mild Italian chicken sausages, sliced in thin rounds
1 large bunch of Swiss chard
1/2 cup of white cooking wine
10 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of pine nuts
2 Tbsp of capers (drained)
4 Tbsp olive oil

Cut the chard in thin strips and wash very thoroughly.  Heat about a Tbsp of oil in deep skillet or pan and gently sauté about 2/3 of the garlic plus all of the pine nuts until the garlic starts to stick.  Pour in about half the wine, scrape off the garlic, and add the chard.  Turn up the heat and stir periodically until the chard wilts.  Turn down to low and simmer under a cover until the chard stems are tender.

In the meantime, heat the water for the pasta and add 2 Tbsp of oil to another skillet.  When it gets hot, add the rest of the garlic and the sausage.  Sauté until the sausage is nicely browned, being careful not to burn the garlic.  When the sausage is done, pour in the rest of the wine and scrape off any sticky garlic.  Turn off the heat and let the sausage sit while the chard finishes.

Cook the pasta and when it is done the chard most likely will be too.  Toss the chard, sausage and linguine together, adding the last Tbsp of oil and the capers in the process.

Chicken Roulade with Fennel & Pine Nuts

I've posted here before about a tasty chicken roulade that I've made a couple of times.  As it includes both prosciutto and cheese, though, it was not appropriate for dinner at a Jewish friend's house.  This presented the perfect opportunity to challenge myself to come up with a new version of the chicken breast roulade.  As I had some pine nuts left over from making pesto last weekend I tried to think about a filling that I could include them in.  I ultimately struck on the idea of combining roasted fennel with the pine nuts and some capers to make the delicious incarnation below that I served over Israeli couscous tossed with sautéed crimini mushrooms and onions.

• 6 - 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 large fennel roots
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp capers
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper

Cut the fennel into pieces and place in a baking pan.  Toss in 1 - 2 Tbsp of olive oil about about 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar.  Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about thirty minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove the foil and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes to get some carmelization on the fennel.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees for baking the chicken.

When the fennel is cool, combine it with the pine nuts and capers in a food processor and process it into a paste.  Add salt a pepper to taste (it should be a little on the salty side as the chicken gets no other salt).  Beat the chicken breasts with a mallet to flatten them out (covering them with saran wrap or foil first helps to prevent flying bits of chicken).  With each chicken breast spread a 1/4 inch of the fennel and then gently roll it into the roulade shape.  If the roulade tends to fall open you can secure it with a grilling skewer or tie a piece of string around it.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes (be sure not to let the chicken dry out).