Tuna Poke - A Hawaiian Delight Brought to CT!

This with Tostitos scoops - let the yum begin!

Last night (wrote this last Monday), as part of our Sunday Family Dinner, daughter Brynnly made one of our very favorite appy's - tuna poke (btw, ~poke~ rhymes with ~okay~). Though it's never the same taste twice, each time it's a delightful combination of flavors that "speak" to the tastebuds. 

All amounts revolve around the amount of tuna you are "pokeing" - which literally means "to cut cross-wise into pieces" - and how much of the other ingredients you want to add. While mayonnaise isn't part of her mixture every time, always included in Brynnly's poke are tuna of course, avocados, onions, jalapenos, ginger, soy sauce, lime or lemon juice and Frank's Louisiana hot sauce. Before last night, toasted sesame seed oil would have also been on that list, but as we didn't have a speck of it in the house (a gross over-sight on my part), it came off the list as our poke was over-the-top delicious! Here's what Brynnly threw together last night:

Please note that all seasonings are to your taste.

the essentials:

1/2 lb. Ahi tuna - sushi grade, cut into strips, strips cut in pieces

1 avocado, cut length-wise, then into pieces

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

the seasonings: 

2 or so T. hoisin sauce
2 or so T. soy sauce
2 or so T. mayonnaise
Frank's Louisiana hot sauce, to taste
1/2+ fresh lime, squeezed
2 t. ground ginger or equivalent fresh grated ginger
1 T.++ "Victoria Taylor's Toasted Sesame Ginger"
BumHot/cayenne pepper to taste

Mix all and taste to correct seasonings. 

Serve in a lovely bowl with Tostitos Scoops on the side.

Grated orange, lemon or lime rind is a lovely addition, as is toasted sesame oil, plain toasted sesame seeds, green onions/scallions, chopped cucumbers or radishes- the possibilities are endless. The choice is yours!

~~~

Yum!

'till we feast again!

xoabb

Fresh Chanterelles over Fettuccine - Another MumBum Delight!

Chanterelle & fettuccine deliciousness, ready to serve family-style

During our 2016 summer sojourn to see my parents in Columbia, MO, there occurred a chanterelle mushroom frenzy, the likes of which we had never seen before or since. I'm sure in the 30 plus years mom and dad have lived on their 50 acres that there have been other years prior to 2016 where there has been a good harvest, but we hadn't discovered chanterelles yet, so have no idea if there was. A shame! The Summer of 2016, there was no way you could miss them, they were so plentiful - and everywhere! In the two summers since, it was so dry in COMO the chanterelles didn't have a chance to grow. We couldn't find even one, and, boy, did we spend a lot of time looking! We're hoping this August 2019 brings good growing weather because we all miss those fresh chanterelles like crazy! This dish was served along with the chiles rellenos that was posted yesterday.

1 - 2 T. olive oil
1 C. chopped yellow onion
2 - 3 t. minced garlic (to taste)
4 T. unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
1 lb. fresh chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned (a dry pastry brush works well)
salt (to taste)
8 - 10 oz. fettuccine
3 T. Amontillado sherry
1 1/2 C. heavy/whipping cream
BumHot to taste (mom & dad's homegrown, dehydrated, ground red pepper mix)
salt & fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated or shaved, to taste
parsley, chopped, for garnish if desired

Slice the bigger mushrooms into large pieces, about 1 1/2" x 1/2"; quarter the medium-size ones and leave the small ones whole - they should all be similar in size. Set aside. 

Add oil to a large skillet that's over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute until it is soft and light golden, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the butter, mushrooms and salt to the skillet and saute, stirring occasionally, until until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.

The sauteing chanterelles

Add the sherry to the skillet, bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until alcohol is evaporated. Add the cream, bring to a boil , then reduce heat just to keep warm. 

Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine in well-salted water according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the fettuccine to the sauce, and toss to combine all the flavors, rewarm and reduce the sauce as needed. As the pasta sits, some of the sauce will be absorbed, so add some of the reserved cooking water to loosen it to the desired consistence (if needed). Season with the pepper and toss again. Taste and correct seasonings. 

Serve at once on individual plates or family style (like above photo), garnished with some cheese and the parsley. Serve with more cheese on the side. 

A very VERY large just harvested chanterelle

Yum! 

'till we feast again!

xoabb

Chiles Rellenos - a MumBum Delight

Done! Now the yum begins!

My mom, as you know, was one hell of a cook - an amateur chef by today's definition, as she had no professional training. Her mom, both grandmothers and various other family members taught her not only the basics, but also a bunch of wonderful, lasting family recipes that are used to this day. Then she just took off from there - a natural gourmet in the kitchen! She could devise recipes out of nothing, glorious food out of odd ingredients, redo recipes until they suited her, and just come up with things that no one else could. 

In this particular case, she decided that traditional fried chilies rellenos were ok, but the over-riding taste was grease/fat, even though they were loaded with all kinds of flavorful goodness. SO! She took it upon herself to revise the typical, classic deep fried chilis rellenos...she decided they needed to be baked! Since tasting mom's baked dish many many years ago, I can't order them in any restaurant, ever, because they're always fried! (Yes, I ask.) And that really takes away from what their flavors should be. Once you've tasted baked, you'll never be able to tolerate fried again.

Whenever we have these for dinner, there's a whole lotta dinner table trading going on! There are those of us who like spicy and those of us that like mild, and the thing with poblanos is you can never tell until you have had a bite what the hot level is. Though they're never blisteringly hot, some have a lot of heat while others don't. So, we trade around the table until everyone has the hot or not hot level they want. Fun!

The last time I shared this meal with mom and family (summer of 2016) we also had oven-fried zucchini, dipped as the poblanos are, (you can see those above, next to the poblanos), chanterelles over creamy fettuccine (posted here on 1/22/19) and fresh tomatoes & cucumbers from their garden. What a beauteous meal!

2 poblano chiles per person

Mexican white cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, cut in strips

flour

eggs

grape seed or vegetable oil

bread crumbs, plain - regular or panko

Preheat oven to 350º.

Using a butane-type hand-held torch (Wal-Mart, about $7.00 each), scorch/blister all the skin on the peppers, one by one. After each is scorched, put them in a paper bag so they can steam. When all have been scorched, remove them one by one and scraped off their skin with the edge of a paring knife. I do this under cold running water, tho purists say the peppers should never touch water. I say hmph! Pat them dry. Using a pair of thin-bladed scissors or a paring knife, make a slit in the side of the pepper that faces up. Carefully remove the seeds and any membrane they are clinging to. Fill the pepper with cheese. Not too full, but just enough. 

Beat together the egg(s) (1 egg per 1 or 2 peppers) with a tablespoon or so of oil. Carefully roll the pepper in flour, then in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs. Place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, that's been sprayed with Pam. If baking zucchini slices as well, follow above flour/egg/bread crumb routine. Bake all for about 1/2 hour.  Serve and swoon!

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!

xoabb 

Sweet & Sour Pork

Sprinkle with soy sauce and bite into deliciousness!

On of my favorite Chinese food dishes is sweet & sour pork. However, I grew up in the Midwest in the '60's and my exposure to Chinese take-out was quite limited, partially because we lived outside the city limits at the time, Chinese take-out restaurants were few and far between in Columbia, MO, and delivery non-existent. A lot also had to do with the fact that my parents (and both sets of grandparents) had huge gardens that supplied not only most of our seasonal food, but was canned/frozen/dried for non-seasonal consumption. 

Eventually, when I was just about ready to head off to college, a very up-scale Chinese restaurant opened and I remember eating there with my family once or twice. Can't remember what I had, but I know it was several steps above your typical take-out. 

Funnily, I was exposed to Japanese cooking over the years as mom brought back cooking ideas from her and dad's time in Japan after dad was through serving in the Korean war, and there were several times we had Japanese exchange students visiting (don't think they lived with us...can't remember) and they would cook us a traditional Japanese dinner. 

When I went to college, I became good friends with Janelle our freshman year. During later college years, Janelle lived in an apartment and that was great, because she was quite the cook!  Sweet & sour pork was one of her specialties - and it was delicious! The recipe below is a bit of her original (40 years on!) recipe, a lot of it comes from a recipe I found on a favorite website of mine The Spruce Eats, and a I was making this with our friend, Alex, who had cooked in the food industry for at least 10 years and really knows his food and how to cook it a lot came from him.

I've always stir-fried the pork that has been cut in strips, but this time I followed The Spruce Eats instructions to chunk the pork, coat it and deep-fry it. Not as healthy, but man, was it good!

This is fantastically tasty!

Amounts and colors of peppers are to your taste, onions as well. 

for the pork and it's marinade: 

2 - 2 1/2 lbs. pork, cut into chunks (I used boneless chops)

4 T. soy sauce

2 T. rice vinegar

1/2 t. Chinese 5-spice powder, or substitute with (what I did): 1/4 t. each of ground ginger, ground cloves & ground cinnamon

1/2 t. white pepper

2 t. garlic powder or 4 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 T. corn starch

2 T. white flour

Combine all ingredients through eggs in a ziploc bag and shake to mix well. In a small container, combine the egg, corn starch and flour and mix well - a stick blender does the trick nicely. Mix this into the marinating pork and shake and turn bag so pork is evenly coated with all the ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, shaking every once in a while. 

~~~~~~~~

for the sweet & sour sauce: 

1 C. water

1/2 C. Heinz catsup

1/3 C. rice vinegar in a 1/2 C. measuring cup

cider vinegar to the top of the 1/2 C. measuring cup of rice vinegar

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 heaping T. corn starch mixed with 1 T. water

cayenne to taste

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and mix well before you turn on the stove heat. Once heat is on, stirring constantly, bring sauce to a boil then turn heat down and simmer until sauce is thickened. Set aside. 

~~~~~~~

for the deep-fry and final stir-fry: 

3 or so C. oil to deep-fry the pork (I used a Fry Daddy)

2 T. additional cooking oil for the stir-fry

3 cloves garlic, coarse chopped

1 medium onion, coarse chopped

1 red pepper, coarse chopped

1 1/2 green pepper, coarse chopped

1 fresh, cored pineapple, each ring cut into at least 8 chunks

soy sauce, to taste

2 C. basmati rice, cooked according to package directions

soy sauce for the table

Heat the Fry Daddy and when hot, slide the pork chunks in (in batches) and deep-fry till golden brown, but not cooked through, about 3 minutes. Line a plate or sheet with some paper towels and let pork drain there when done. Set aside.

Heat some oil in a wok or large skillet (what I used) and add the garlic and onion. Stir-fry for a minute or two and add the peppers, pineapple and pork. Mix all together and pour on all the sweet & sour sauce. Cook until pork is done, the veggies cook through and the pineapple hot. Serve over hot basmati rice w/soy sauce on the table. 

all that deliciousness just before the s&s sauce is added

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!

xoabb 

Moroccan Stew - YUM!

A delicious-looking Moroccan treat with pitiful-looking naan bread...(sigh)

One of my two wonderful, lovely daughters died four years ago, and, other than simply putting edible food on a table I just stopped cooking. The last few months have seen a renewal in my cooking desires. Maybe it's because it's an honor to cook in Remy's memory, maybe because it's simply that I've managed to move on from complete devastation to lingering, but manageable devastation. I'll always cook in honor of my daughter (and my mom, Mary - one of the best amateur chefs that ever lived), and I now want to do that once again! I'll never be the cooks they both were, but I'll damn well try!

I found this recipe online (of course!) at ambitiouskitchen.com. Though I followed it somewhat, I deviated because I didn't have some ingredients and changed a few others. Pretty sure most folks do this, so, even though it's someone else's recipe, it's changed. Oh dear.


Use vegetable stock and this is a vegetarian/vegan delight.

oil, grape seed or olive, for sauteing

1 medium onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

3 carrots, slice length-wise and chopped

2 or so t. cumin

2 or so t. cinnamon

1 or so t. tumeric

1/4 or so t. cayenne

1 13 oz. box crushed tomatoes

3/4 can tomato paste

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

4 C. or so chicken bone broth (or chicken stock)

1 box pre-chunked butternut squash

1 C. lentils (I used Umbrian lentils - it's what I had)

1 15 oz. can (Sclafani - my favorite brand) chick peas/garbanzo beans

salt to taste

black ground pepper to taste

fresh juice of 1/2 large lemon (important)

chopped parsley for garnish

stewing in the pot...

Heat oil in a soup pot and add onions, garlic and carrots. Cook until all is looking slightly done. Stir in spices and saute until spices are releasing their flavors/fragrance. Add everything through the salt and simmer for about 20 - 30 minutes until the squash and lentils are done. Stir in the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Taste and correct seasonings,

Serve with warm Moroccan flat bread, naan or pita bread. A dollop of plain Greek yogurt would be good.

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!

xoabb 

Cannellini & Escarole (Beans & Greens)

Bean & Greens, in this case, escarole

One of our mom's very favorite things was a big skillet of cannellini beans and greens. While she didn't much care what greens she used - she loved them all - my very favorite is escarole. Stew Leonard's has recently begun carrying 9 oz. bags of triple-washed torn escarole, which, along with their canned beans, makes a delicious side dish that's easy-peasy!

Again, a throw 'n go - use whatever amounts you want:

First skillet:
1 - 2 T. extra virgin olive oil

9 oz. escarole, cleaned and torn (any amount, really)

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil and add the escarole. Saute, about 10 minutes, tossing often, until escarole is wilted and done. 

Second skillet:
1 - 2 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can cannellini beans (2 cans if you want)

BumHot (our family's dried hot pepper mix) or cayenne to taste

salt to taste

chicken stock if needed

Heat oil and add garlic. Saute until garlic is beginning to brown. Dump can of beans, liquid included, into the skillet. Stir and cook until all looks creamy. Add chicken stock if and when needed. Simmer about 10 minutes. Dump beans into the escarole skillet and stir all together, cooking a few more minutes. Taste and correct seasonings. Add more chicken stock if desired. Lemon zest would be nice as well. 

This is a wonderful left over! 

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!

xoabb 

Flavors of Mexico Chicken Soup

Forgot the tortilla chips...and the chopped parsley/cilantro...

My sis, Care, has been with our dad for the last month or so as she had to have foot surgery and needed one-story living...and she lives in a 3-story town house. A few weeks after her surgery, she felt good enough to stand long enough to make the above soup. The first time, she followed this recipe to a T. And both she and dad decided it wasn't nearly spicy or flavorful enough. We're a family of spicy food lovers! Give us BumHot, cayenne, etc. and we're happy! The second time she made it, she decided to follow the basics of the original recipe and then add her own twists. Instead of 2 T. of a McCormick's taco seasoning packet, she added a packet and a half. She also added two fresh, chopped jalapeno peppers, seeds and all, and a can of black beans. The results were spicy and delicious! 

I made the soup for the first time last night. Followed Carrie's deviations and then instead of McCormick's taco seasoning (because, much to my surprise and then dismay, there were none in my pantry), I used Penzey's bold taco seasonings. Good! My jalapeno peppers weren't nearly as spicy as the two Care used (you never can know how spicy/mild they'll be), but, overall, the soup was delicious! 

This soup is very forgiving as amounts are totally up to your personal preferences. Add what veggies and beans you want, seasoning amounts you want, etc. If you're on Weight Watchers Flexible Points system, this is just about a zero points recipe. The potatoes are the only thing that have points, and they're easily either not used, or eaten around, and there are so few of them, I don't even know if they'd count anyway! 

I didn't have 2 cans of black beans, so used one can black and one can cannellini beans. 

Delicious! 

All amounts are to taste: 

extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil for sauteeing

1 medium large onion, coarsely chopped

2 or so celery stalks, coarsely chopped

3 or so carrots, scrubbed, coarsely chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped, seeds and all
2 - 3 mini sweet peppers (any color), chopped

4 oz. can diced green chilis
15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (use 2 cans if desired)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

3 - 4 small white potatoes, washed and chunked

1 1/2 packets McCormicks taco seasoning or equivalent Penzey's bold taco seasoning

1 whole chicken breast, skin on, bone in (or use meat from a store rotisserie chicken, 4-6 C.)

1 32 oz. box organic chicken bone broth or stock

frozen corn

salt and black and cayenne pepper to taste

chopped parsley and/or cilantro

before the corn was added...

On the side: 

tortilla strips/coarsely crushed chips, avocado chunks, 
sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, etc.

Place chicken in a medium pot and cover with the chicken stock, adding water to cover chicken. Bring to a boil, then simmer until chicken is done. Set aside in the pot.

Heat oil in a large soup pot and add the chopped onion, celery, carrots and jalapenos. Stir and saute until veggies are softening. Drain the chicken stock into the soup pot and add all the other ingredients except the corn, s/p and chopped parsley/cilantro. Simmer for around 30 - 45 minutes to blend all the flavors. While that is simmering, shred the chicken breast (or pull the meat off your rotisseri chicken). Add the corn and simmer for 5 minutes more. Taste for seasioning and add salt, peppers to taste. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley/cilantro. Put other condiments on the table in bowls and serve! Enjoy! 

Inspired by a recipe on the website Dinner at the Zoo.

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!

xoabb