Poblano Mole

Mole...

I haven't had this in over 10 years...partly because I don't want to buy the jarred stuff (although I heard La Costena does a very decent job of it) partly because I don't have access to some of the key ingredients, and partly because it intimidates me a bit.

Lucky for me, the family and professional extensions of it were on a mission to bring me some ancho and pasilla chiles from the US, and oh did they succeed!!

Thank you Elena for the acquisition, Brother for the logistics, and Father for the organization.  These types of little things make me so ecstaticly retarded my own household doesn't get it, but I don't care, I'm making MOLE!!!

Before I get started, mole is a sauce you use over boiled chicken (or whatever other meat or enchiladas or eggs you desire).  The ingredient most talked about is chocolate, although it is not the most prominent ingredient.  Only a bit is used and it is for a balance of flavors, not sweet chocolatey, but full of depth and slightly bitter.  While prepping all the ingredients for my mole, a familiar feeling came over me.  The motions seemed natural with a type of déjà vu.. and then I realized why.  This recipe is conceived the way many Indian recipes are.  Several separate parts that come together in the end, and always with a side of rice and rotis (or tortilla in this case).  When I get my hands on some masa harina, I will be able to make my Mexican meals even more authentic.
Adapted from Homesick Texan

Makes 3.5 cups

Ingredients

Part 1 dry roast and grind:
1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup blanched almonds (I used ground almonds)

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anis

Part 2 fry soak and blend:
4 dried ancho/pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded

1 dried chile de arbol, stemmed and seeded

1 cup warm water ready in a bowl

2 Tbsp canola oil

Part 3 simmer and blend:
1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 large ripe tomato, blanched, peeled, and quartered

2 tomatillos (I subbed juice from 1/2 lime and 1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate.. sorry)

1/2 cup minced white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

Part 4 stir in:
1/4 cup raisins

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 oz (30g) 100% dark chocolate (or the darkest you can find)

1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
Directions
1.  In a wok dry roast the Part 1 ingredients until fragrant, then grind in a spice grinder and set aside.
2.  Using that same wok (why get more dishes dirty than you need to?) heat the oil from the Part 2  ingredients.  Add the dried chiles and fry for 2 minute on each side, then transfer to the bowl of warm water and let soak for at least 10 minutes.  This is to soften the chiles.  You can move on to the next step while you wait for the chiles to soften.  When you're ready, blend the chiles with their soaking water to form a thick lush dark reddish brown paste and set aside.
3.  In the oil still in the wok, sautée the onions and garlic from the Part 3 ingredients until translucent.
Add the stock, tomato, and tomatillo (if you are so lucky to find some) or tomatillo substitute and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  Blend it all together until there are no longer any bits and pieces.
4.  Stir in the ground spices and seeds from Part 1, and the chile paste from Part 2.  The sauce should thicken a bit.  Be careful not to have the heat on too high or it will bubble and pop in your face.  Stir well until all incorporated.
5.  Stir in the Part 4 ingredients until the chocolate melts.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.  Mine didn't need any adjusting.  The balance was just perfect.  If you're not using 100% chocolate, you might not need any sugar.

Now your mole sauce is done.  You can either pour it over some boiled or roasted chicken breast, or do as I did and simmer the chicken in the sauce just a few minutes before serving so the flavor seeps into the meat.  To use with eggs, take a bit of the mole and poach the eggs in it, kind of like shakshuka or even in the oven for mole shirred eggs!
This recipe yields enough for several servings of whatever you plan to do with it.  I may freeze some for a rainy day since I won't be able to make it again any time soon (no more chiles...)

I served mine sprinkled with more raisins and sesame seeds with a small salad and Mexirice.
I then poached some eggs in it the next day for fabulous results.  This is one of those things that tastes better the next day.  The eggs were not pretty enough to photograph, but this mole really pairs nicely with it!

Fresh Yeast

Fresh yeast is one of those things you try once, and you can never go back to the powder ever again.

It gives fluffy tasty results in anything.  It's also cheaper than the packaged stuff and freezes well, so there really is no excuse to not use it.  I freeze it in 10g portions and then melt it between my fingers into the sugar water when I'm ready to use it.
I've used it in man'ouché, naan, and now bagels.

These bagels continued expanding even after the boil!

The end result is always more satisfying and full of emotion.
Bagels will now be a regular thing at the house.  I pretty much got a standing ovation from my guests.  I used the original recipe but made 10 intend of 12 so they were just slightly bigger in size.  I also used actual malt syrup instead of molasses and less salt.  Plus I may be a little better at getting the toppings on there.
I didn't have enough flour, but next time I'm definitely doubling the recipe (since there already gone anyway) and having a bagel brunch at the house.
Who's in?

Ruby Red Pomelo Cookies

I'm having some sort of love affair with Florida ruby and pink pomelos.  I've been eating a half each morning with my goat milk and dried fruit oats and they just give me that morning buzz I now crave. It's a bit surprising to taste a pomelo while in Europe, where here the grapefruits are very sour, not too juicy, and kind of a punishment to eat on their own.  The Florida pomelos are reaching their season's end right now, but they are still incredibly juicy, not too bitter, sweetly acidic...but most importantly, are more of a blessing to eat on their own than any other fruit right now at this moment.  Apples and pears are great, don't get me wrong....but they certainly don't get me all buzzed up in the morning.

(As if I needed that)

So when I saw the Homesick Texan making cookies with her Texas grapefruit, I thought I might as well try making cookies with my Florida pomelos.

I did cut the sugar down by half.  She uses 1 1/2 cup which is just an enormous amount, so cut it down to 3/4 cup and they are still pretty sweet.

Yield 33 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (110g) room temperature butter

3/4 cup (185g) brown sugar

1 medium egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 1/2Tbsp + 1 Tbsp pomelo zest (1 1/2 pomelos)

3 Tbsp pomelo juice (1/4 pomelo)

2 cups (250g) flour (I used half white, half buckwheat)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

Handful walnuts (optional)

Directions

1.  Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.

2.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together, then add the egg and beat well until homogenous.

3.  Add the pomelo juice and 1 1/2 Tbsp of the zest and mix well.

4.  Ditch the whip and switch to a wooden spoon.  Add the dry ingredients little by little, while mixing until all incorporated.  The end result should not be dry and should stick to your fingers forcing you to lick the batter off. Oooh

5.  Chill the batter while you preheat the oven to 350°F 175°C.  If you chill the batter it will be easier to manipulate...but less will end up in your mouth.

6.  Take a tablespoon size amount of dough and plop it onto you cookie sheet.  This might be easier with an ice cream scooper.  I don't own one of those.  Sprinkle with a bit of the extra zest and top with a piece of walnut.  Keep about 2 inches of space around each one since they are going to expand.

7.  Bake for about 12 minutes or until they are just about to golden.  Remove and let cool on a wire rack until they set.

These are really wonderfully crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Not too overpowered with pomelo, but it's subtle tang is definitely there.
Intriguing!

Roasted Kohlrabi

That white veggie on the upper left corner of the photo is not potato, nor is it turnip.

That's kohlrabi.

That's my discovery of the week.  Nutrition-wise and taste-wise.  Raw it's like a cross between cabbage, jicama, and, green apple.  Cooked it's like a sweeter version of long white turnip.

Nutritionally it's like an upper.

I know I don't have much on the plate, but it's because I wanted to have some more tomorrow, and I kept another one to eat raw.. since it's so amazing that way.
Here I've done it in the same way as I did the roasted carrots and served them along side some sunny side up eggs over fresh spinach in orange marmelade dressing.
I love discovering new vegetables!

Spirelli'd Zucchini Linguine with Anchovies

There really are no words to describe this dinner.

Warm, fresh, filling, tart, happy, healthy...

I really didn't do much, but it worked out soooo well!

serves 1-2

Ingredients

1 large zucchini, spirelli'd into linguine

1 large handful fresh favas

2 handfuls fresh spinach, washed and torn

1 large handful cherry tomatoes, halved

2 small cloves garlic, grated and separated

juice from 1/2 lime

some marinated anchovies (I actually ate more than what was photographed)

sprinkle fleur de sel

lots of fresh cracked pepper

a drizzle of EVOO

a few shakes piment d'espelette

1 small sprig rosemary

sprinkle of parmesan for garnish

Directions

1.  Marinate the favas with half the lime juice and a drizzle of olive oil for a few minutes.

2.  While that is happening, toss the zucchini with half the garlic, the other half the lime juice, a sprinkle fleur de sel, some fresh pepper, a few shakes piment d'espelette, and a drizzle of olive oil.

3.  Heat a wok-like pan and add the favas with a bit of the juice.  Cook for a few minutes on high.

4.  Add a splash of olive oil and cook the spinach until it wilts.  Reserve the favas and spinach.

5.  On high heat, cook the spirelli'd zucchini.  I wanted mine al dente so I just tossed it around for a few minutes.

6.  Add the reserved veggies back into the pan along with the halved tomatoes, turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes.

Serve with marinated anchovies and a sprinkle of parmesan.

I love the hot/warm/cold mix of this.  The tomatoes were warm, but still raw, the anchovies cold, but being heated from the linguine underneath it.  It is just heaven when it comes together this way....

Cherry Tomato Rosemary Pizza

There are other things going on here than cherry tomatoes and rosemary, but those really are the 2 main stars of this pizza.

The rosemary was mixed with olive oil and a tsp of tomato paste as the base of the pizza rubbed onto the rolled out dough.  I was planning on adding some grated garlic on there but realized I didn't have any left.

Then I was able to top with roasted zucchini, bell pepper, mozzarella, turkey ham, and some halved yellow cherries.

Cooked that on the pizza stone highest oven temperature bottom rack for almost 10 minutes, then cracked 2 egg yolks (and one of them broke I really hate it when that happens) and cooked for another 2 minutes.

Verdict?

Awesome.  Always use fresh yeast and your whole life will be better.

I should have used more of my yellow cherries.  I was afraid they would make the pizza too watery, but they just dazzled on there like little jewels....

Tahini Almond Cookies with Dates

I play around with tahini cookies quite a bit.  I mix and match the nut powders by switching out almond for hazelnut, chestnut, pine nut, or even coconut.  I play around with the flours by adjusting quantities of white, whole wheat, and sometimes buckwheat.  I mix and match the spices.. cinnamon, cardamom, pain d'epices.  My toppings, however, usually stay the same.  Some with black sesame and some with white sesame.  I do this because at any given moment I can have several different types of cookies in my cookie jar (or cookie tupperware) and the toppings make them easily recognizeable.  My peanut butter cookies usually always have chopped peanuts as a topping.  My chili cookies usually sprinkled with cayenne and sugar.  My buckwheat cookies are always accompanied by poppy seeds.

Why am I going on and on about this?

I don't know, but this time, I wanted to try dates.  They fit the theme.  Tahini.. middle east (well, kind of) home of desert candy known as dates.  This could also work with figs, which also fit the theme.

Mmm figs.

It also gives me a reason to repost the recipe I use most often for tahini.

Yield 52 cookies

Ingredients:

140g all purpose flour

140g whole wheat flour (or just 1 cup of each)

70g (2.5oz) almond powder

100g (3.5oz) room temperature butter

150g (3/4 cup) cassonade or brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

200g (3/4 cup) tahini (I used Al Wadi)

toppings:

black sesame

white sesame

split pitted dates

Directions

1.  Sift together the flours, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then add the almond powder and mix well with your hands so everything is evenly distributed.  My almond powder is moist so it clumps together if I don't get my hands in there.  Set aside.

2.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together, then add the tahini and beat until smooth.  Mmm tahini.  You know if your tahini is top quality if it tastes good raw when you lick it off the spoon.  Make sure to stir it well before adding it.

3.  Get rid of your whip and switch to a wooden spoon.  Add the dry mixture little by little into the wet mixture until all incorporated.  The end result should be crumbly, but should come together if you pack it into a ball.  If your almond powder is not moist, you may need to add 1 Tbsp water or milk at this point just to help the dough come together.  Knead it well.

4.  Get your toppings ready.  I have a little saucer with white sesame, one with black, and a bowl of my split pitted dates.  Take a tablespoon sized amount of dough, make a ball with your hands, then dip it into one of the toppings and press it onto your cookie sheet to the shape you want.  Since there is no baking soda or egg in this recipe, the cookies will not expand or change shape while cooking.  For the dates, make sure you get enough dough on the inside of them before pressing them onto the cookie sheet.  This will avoid the dates falling off the cookie when they're done and thrown into the cookie jar.

5.  Bake for 175°C 350°F for about 20 minutes.  Carefully remove and let cool on a wire rack.

That.. is how to get a perfect tahini cookie!!

Cherry Tomato and Grilled Zucchini Quiche

I know it's not cherry tomato season, but I couldn't resist the buy 3 get one free at the local supermarket on these gorgeous yellow cherries.  I secretly tasted one and they are definitely gorged with sun sweetness and juicy.  What seasons?

The thing is, when you go nuts on things like cherry tomatoes that don't necessarily keep forever, you have to start being creative.

I started imagining them auto caramelizing in their juices, sort of like when you halve and slow roast them.. and how all this would be perfect with some griddles zucchini, bell pepper, and rosemary!

That is how this quiche was born.  When I cut it, the tomatoes fell out of place, but they were so "confites" in their juices that I almost thought I was eating mirabelles.

Ooh!

Ingredients

1 whole zucchini, sliced thickly, olive oiled, and grilled on the griddle
1 corne de boeuf bell pepper, halved seeded, olive oiled, and grilled on the griddle
large handful cherry tomatoes
1 handful fresh favas
small handful of whatever cheese you want to finish (I used camembert that was getting pretty smelly but goat cheese or feta would work very well here)
1 buckwheat thyme shortcrust (I subbed fresh rosemary for dried thyme)
3 eggs well beaten
1 Tbsp extra spicy mustard
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (I used goat)
small piece of fresh rosemary
pinch nutmeg
some flake salt/pepper
Directions
1.  Roll out the shortcrust and push it into a deep round baking dish.  Cover the edges with foil and lightly poke a fork into the base a few times.  Precook for 10 minutes at 400°F 200°C.  This will help the bottom cook and avoid the sides to overcook while the filling sets.
2.  While this is happening, beat the eggs very well.  This step is important for an airy quiche.  Beat in the cream, milk, then add the nutmeg, lots of pepper, a pinch of salt and the rosemary.
3.  When the shortcrust is finished precooking, remove the foil from the sides and start layering in the  good stuff.  Start with a layer of zucchini, then cheese, then bell pepper.  Find little areas to nestle in the whole cherries and top with whatever veggies or cheese you have left.
4.  Pour in the egg mixture.  In French they call that "appareil" which means apparatus or machine, which always makes me giggle... don't know why.
5.  Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F 180°C.  If the center is still a bit jiggly, that's ok.

6.  Remove and let sit for 15-20 minutes.  The center should set and the quiche should still be hot enough to eat.  Since we put cherry tomatoes in there whole, some of them may have exploded and let out their juice.  All that comes together just fine during the setting process.  This is the hardest part because it smells so good, looks so good, and you are soooooo hungry.

Serve as a side or appetizer.  I served mine with a batavia and beet salad and it was extra delicious.

This dish gave me a bonus recipe as well!
Since I had a bit of extra crust after fitting mine into the pie dish, I used it to make a mini tomato tart.
I used small ramekins and tossed some tomatoes with olive oil, fleur de sel, pepper and rosemary, and just folded the sides over as much as I could and cooked that at the same time as my quiche.

Look at that!
Since there was no egg mixture involved, the tomatoes slow cooked and filled the tart and the result was so delectably tart and sweet with the aroma of rosemary that I'll probably be doing this again on a larger scale.

Griddled Asparagus

After roasted asparagus, here is the exact same thing done on the griddle.
I love love love that it is spring and we now have spring veggies readily available, as well as remnants of winter veggies.
Here I have a sort of transition salad: griddled asparagus, zucchini, and long white turnips with some red oak leaf salad (feuille de chêne) and a poached egg.
I suppose the only winter vegetable in the lot is the turnip.
That baby does really well on the griddle too!
I don't know why I didn't heat up my plancha for this, but I like the way the house gets smokey and I did this in the morning, so it was a bit chilly outside.  This could definitely be done on a BBQ over foil or something, but I just love my griddle pan.
Ingredients
1 bunch (500g or 1 lb) fresh firm green asparagus, washed and stems peeled
1 Tbsp EVOO
a pinch of sea salt (fleur de sel)
a few cracks fresh black pepper
a few shakes piment d'espelette
juice from 1/2 lime
Directions
Toss it all together and griddle on high heat for about 3-4 minutes, turning to color.
The asparagus are done when they start getting a bit floppy and are nicely colored.  They will be slightly crunchy, but that's the best part of the whole deal.
I did the zucchini and turnip slices in exactly the same way, working in batches.

I wish I had more bunches of asparagus to nibble on tomorrow...

Veal Paupiettes in Roots and Mustard

Paupiettes are something I rarely cook, but when I do, I'm always in for a treat.

The thing about paupiettes is that you either make them yourself (which I didn't) or you buy good quality ones.  The concept of a paupiette is to have a beaten thin cutlet wrapped and tied around some sort of stuffing.  In France, that stuffing is usually meat based.  The inexpensive ones you can find are usually pork wrapped around a ground pork stuffing.  Sometimes you can find the Turkey/ground pork ones, but the best ones (in my opinion) are the Veal/ground veal ones.

When I can get a good deal on those, I usually go for them.

In this version, I decided to get them nicely colored, and then add some thinly sliced mushrooms, turnips, and carrots in some mustard.  This yielded a beautiful sauce that I decided to pair with tagliatelles al dente.

The result was very nice, delicate, and very French.. which is good once in a while because I do live in France after all...

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 good quality Veal Paupiettes

1 onion, thinly sliced into moon crescents

1 carrot, thinly sliced into half circles

1/2 long white turnip, thinly sliced into half circles (or 1 normal round turnip)

1 large handful mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tsp thyme

3 Tbsp extra strong mustard

1 cup water (as needed)

lots of freshly cracked black pepper

few pinces fleur de sel

1 Tbsp heavy cream

drizzle EVOO

some chopped parsley

Directions

1.  In a high edged heavy based pan, drizzle some olive oil and color the paupiettes until they are nicely golden on each side.  This may take about 10 minutes.  They should release a bit of juice, which is good.  Remove and set aside.

2.  Add the sliced onions with a sprinkle of fleur de sel into the pan and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add the carrot and turnip slices, thyme, and some pepper and cook, stirring for another 10 minutes.  Add a bit of water if it gets too dry.

4.  Stir in the mushrooms and mustard and cook, for another 5 minutes.

5.  Add the paupiettes in with half the water.  Cover and simmer while you prepare your pasta.  I let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, adding water if dry.

6.  About 5 minutes before serving, stir in the heavy cream, chopped parsley, and add more fresh cracked pepper.  Heat through, then taste and add salt if needed.  Mine were perfect at this point.

Serve over a bed of hot tagliatelles al dente with a bit of fresh chopped parsley on top.

Mustard really gives depth to all the other flavors.  Carrots and turnips are a perfect match to the veal and melt in your mouth with each twisted forkful.  It almost doesn't even need cream, I just added it because I like a bit of cream with pasta.

I'm gourmande like that...