Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 30 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Lamb Loin with Couscous

My first real night of cooking in my apartment called for one of my favorite meats: lamb. “Real” as in I’m-home-alone-for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time and I-don’t-mind-any-minute-of-it kind of real. I stopped by the halal meat market in my neighborhood where I patiently waited for the lady to slice off the loin from the whole lamb into manageable chunks. I keep coming back to this store because the lamb is crazy cheap; I just have to deal with their Island Time and re-explain how I like the ribs with the long handle bones intact and accept the fact that when I ask for ground lamb, the response will always be: I don’t have time to ground meat right now, even though I’m the only one in the store. (I have since bought my own food grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.)

Look at that lamb though! They would easily cost more than $25 at Whole Foods but that lot cost me $12 here in Harlem. I don’t know enough about halal meat and still don’t know why it smells differently than, say, gourmet lamb meat from New Zealand, but they make a good meal every time.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds lamb loin, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-ounce box couscous
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
half a bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
a handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
a handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 tsps paprika
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt, oil

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Add the lamb, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add some of the lamb to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining lamb. Return the lamb to the pot along with the onion and carrots. Add the garlic, ginger, and zest and stir.
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, parsley, and olives.

The New York Times’ Bouillabaisse

I knew bouillabaisse had to be the first meal I make for the Dr. in my new apartment as soon as I saw Amanda Hesserâ€™s recap in the New York Times Magazine. But because he’s been cooking the first few days of my unpacking, I wanted to make it up to him and make an impressive version.

After work one day, I took the train from Connecticut all the way down to Grand Central Terminal where I stopped by Pescatore and splurged on fresh seafood. When I say splurged, I really mean splurged: a quarter pound of wild shrimp cost $12, two cod fillets were $13, a chunk of halibut was $16 and two more chunks of grouper were $14. I also walked by Penzeys and spent another $16 on a few strands of saffron. I have an educated guess that they were really stringed by some ladies in Spain where as the $3 jar I buy in Harlem isn’t really saffron, but safflower. A stop at Zaro’s got me my least expensive purchase of the early evening yet: $3 load of country bread.

Back at home, I was pretty impressed at what I unpacked. The cuts of fish were absolutely beautiful. I don’t spend as much money when I cook fish at home; I usually just buy a live swimming fish from Chinatown or a whole red snapper or branzino from Fairway or Whole Foods and I just broil them without any fuss. You may think it’s a waste to cook such good fish, but I actually tried this same recipe using frozen fish from Trader Joe’s and I must tell you that it really wasn’t the same. The frozen version was bland and the fish didn’t feel supple in my mouth. In fact, I had to season more to give the Trader Joe’s bouillabaisse some kind of taste. While the seafood broth carried the frozen version, I needed only a splash to bring out the natural flavors of the fresh seafood for the Pescatore version.

Now that I’ve had Pescatore seafood, I think Iâ€™ll be making more seafood dishes more often, even if it means an ache in my wallet once in a while.

Ingredients:
1 chunk of halibut fillet
2 fillets of cod
1 chunk of grouper fillet
1/4-pound of shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 cup of seafood broth
1/2 cup of white wine
1 small onion, thinly sliced
half a bag of baby carrots
2 pinches saffron
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil, salt, pepper
slices of country bread, toasted

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, carrot, saffron, bay leaf and half of the parsley. Sauté for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic to brown.
2. Add the fish, shrimp and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and toss for 10 minutes. Add the broth and wine, bring to a rapid simmer and cook until the fish is just cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning, adding more saffron, lemon juice, salt and pepper as desired. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Set a slice of toast in the bottom of a bowl and ladle in soup.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Beet Greens

I didn’t know that the apartment I bought came with a Korean cook. I can’t even begin to explain how it feels like to come home–your own home–from work with dinner ready at the table.

Uh-oh, I’m nesting!

I came home one night and the Dr. was already working in the kitchen. The beets were already roasted and out of the oven and the pasta was in the pot. When I saw him clean off the grit from the beet greens, I knew the roasted beets were for later. Iâ€™ve seen him do this before and it’s from him I learned not to waste food parts that most people throw away. I was excited for the next day’s lunch of beets, but I was even more hungry for the pasta with beet greens for dinner.

Iâ€™m not complaining. Best apartment ever!

Ingredients:
beet greens with stems from 2 bunches of beets, thoroughly washed, chopped in half
1 box of whole wheat spaghetti
a handful of golden raisins
1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsps balsamic vinegar
goat cheese
salt, oil

1. In a pot, boil some water and cook the pasta until al dente. You’re going to need some of that pasta water in steps 3 and 4. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and toast, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
3. Add garlic to remaining oil and cook until golden. Add onions until soft. Add balsamic vinegar and stir until most of it has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add beet stems, some pasta water, and a dash of salt. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until stems are tender.
4. Add raisins, then beet greens, while stirring with tongs until leaves are wilted. Do in small handfuls if you have a small skillet. Add a splash of pasta water and cover to cook the greens, about 2 minutes. Add olives, then the cooked pasta, just until liquid has thickened slightly. Sprinkle with pine nuts and add a dollop of goat cheese before serving.

Related post/s:
Don’t waste your carrot tops either

Chicken with Black Wild Rice

This dish may seem like a meal for spring but if you use a hardy green like kale, then it fits any blustery winter day. I used Lacinato kale, also known as black kale, because it barely needs some cooking. Toss it with snow peas and carrots, or any other vegetable you can eat raw, and you’re good to go. I used peanut oil to cook the chicken but you can certainly substitute it with whatever oil you use to cook your meats especially if you have an allergy. The key here is to keep your sauté pan hot while you continuously toss and mix the ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 cups of black wild rice
2 chicken breast fillets, cubed
1 bunch of Lacinato kale, chiffonade
a handful of snow peas
a handful of baby carrots, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
a splash of soy sauce
a splash of sherry vinegar
a splash of sesame oil
peanut oil
salt

1. In a large frying pan, heat some oil and cook chicken until no longer pink inside. Set aside in the pan and sauté onions until soft. Mix chicken and onions together and toss in the rest of the vegetables.
2. In the meantime, cook black wild rice per package instructions. Boil three cups of water per cup of rice. Simmer for 45 minutes. Drain rice and fluff.
3. Add the rice to the vegetables and keep sautéing to complete cooking the vegetables. Add a few splashes of sherry vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil and mix well. Season with salt.

Pork Tomatillo Soup

As much as I would like to take credit for this very satisfying soup, I’m unable to because I recreated it from memory after the Dr. made it this winter. I remember walking in his apartment and saying that his place smelled like Taco Mix, the taco stand in his neighborhood. Apparently, it was the best compliment I could have given because he was trying to make a Mexican soup he saw in Anthony Bourdain’s latest Mexico City episode. He replayed the show for me and all he could figure out was that the soup they were served for breakfast was green. The Dr. imagined a whole pork carnitas taco in soup form, so he went to work and boiled down pork with tomatillos, cilantro and lime juice. The finished product was so good, I could not help but ask for a third serving. When we came back from Colombia and I was lamenting about the cold weather, I made it myself. Funny how sometimes a snapshot from a TV show is enough to inspire you to cook.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized pork picnic
12 tomatillos, peeled from husks and quartered
2 bunches cilantro, thoroughly washed
2 Scotch bonnet peppers, halved, seeds removed
1 red onion, quartered
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 4 limes
salt

1. In a large stockpot, boil the pork picnic in enough water to keep it submerged. Add a generous amount of salt. When impurities float to the top, remove and discard. Lower the heat down to medium-low.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. Using a ladle strainer, try to get as much of the solids and transfer to a food processor. Purée and transfer back to the pot.
3. Cook for another hour or until pork is falling apart. Season with salt and lime juice to taste. It should be a good balance of saltiness and sourness. Serve with rice.