Nigella's Pork with Cider and Mustard Sauce

The other week I was on a "Nigella Express" kick. After making the Chicken and White Wine Sauce with Bacon, I tried this recipe that uses two things I love: Mustard and Cider!

We liked it, but it was a little too similar to the chicken to have had the following night. As with the chicken, in an attempt to make a little more sauce, I added cream cheese, though not as much as in the chicken. I've got a jar of pink peppercorns that I wish I would have thought of. It would have been a nice addition to add them, slightly crushed.

Like the book, I also served with gnocchi. I've only had gnocchi twice, once in Italy and the second at a local "authentic" Italian restaurant. The ones I used were store bought, imported from Italy, but left me feeling a little deflated. The ones I've had previously were like divine little pillows of potato bliss, while there were heavy and stogy. I'm not sure if this is to be expected, or if I had overcooked them? Anyway, I think I'll leave gnocchi to the experts!

Culinary Creations: London Broil and Mushrooms

One of my favorite ways to have beef is London Broil. When I was a little girl, my dad would marinate them over night, grill, then slice thinly. It was always a treat to have the left overs in a nice sturdy roll from the bakery, that would soak up the juices. Not only is it good value, but is the ideal summer food as once cooked, we usually get 2 or 3 meals. Recently, my local Whole Foods had ready marinated London Broil on sale, so how could I pass it up?

I did broil mine, for about 7 minutes per side. The mushrooms were crimini, also from Whole Foods. For the mushrooms, I halved them, sauteing them in olive oil, garlic, Herbs de Provence, and a splash of red wine. Once finished and the beef was sliced, I arranged them on a plate and poured the mushroom pan juices over the beef, finishing with some chopped basil and thyme.

For this kind of meal, I like to keep the side dishes light. We had a fresh baguette ~ heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt, garlic, chopped basil, chives, & thyme, and drizzled in olive oil ~ boiled golden beetroot drizzled in vinaigrette ~ mushrooms mentioned above ~ and kale sauteed in olive oil with garlic, sprinkle of sea salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. We also had a some large green olives stuffed with gorganzola cheese and applewood smoked cheese.

As for the left overs, we usually serve them again with the same sort of sides, chopped in a salad, or on a baguette for a steak sandwich.

Product Review: Patak's Coat & Cook! - Tikka

I bought this last October when we were in England. As it was due to expire in September, it seemed like a good idea to use it. Patak's make a good, reliable range of Indian cooking products. We can get some of the sauces in the US, but I had never seen this product here.

I coated two boneless chicken breasts with the paste and baked for 35 minutes at 350F. Ooh, now that I'm looking at this, it looks like a set of lungs that belonged to a chronic smoker!!!

In the end, I was only moderately happy with the results. No fault to Patak's, but I used the entire packet of paste on 2 pieces of chicken, when it probably was enough for 4. If I could change anything, I would coat the chicken, let the paste penetrate for 30 minutes to an hour, scrape the extra off, and cook as listed above. The taste was nice, so I would definitely try again. I served it with Indian spiced kale, and curried potato salad.

Culinary Creations: Fried Green Heaven

Last night, J made one of my favorite things: Fried Green Tomatoes! We also had this for the first time during our trip to Charleston. I don't eat a lot of fried foods, and never would have imagine being so enamored with them. The few places we tried them at all seemed to like serving them in the form of a "BLT". As they seemed to know what they were doing, who could argue? J is now a master at making them, and does so 3-4 times a year. We made them last night, and they made the perfect coupling with the left over peanut soup. When we make them, it is usually just for the two of us. Instead of halving the batter, we've taken to using the extra to make Fried Dill Pickle Chips! As dill pickles are my favorite food, it doesn't get any better than this for me...

* After slicing and and coating the tomatoes, J fries them in a small amount of oil for 3 minutes per side, on a medium-ish heat. The dill pickle chips take around 30 seconds per side. Through trial and error, we've found that Mount Olive's organic chips work best. They are a bit thicker so hold up well to the heat.

*Then drain on paper towels. Ahhh, look at that lovely golden color. I'm salivating!!!

* Paired with African Peanut Soup...

* Up close and personal. Good condiments are the key to completing this meal. For the BLT, I make a mayonnaise/hot sauce mixture. The Dill Pickle Chips are completed with a few dashed of Screamin' Dill Pickle Hot Sauce, that we picked up in Savannah.

Culinary Creations: African Peanut Soup

Two years ago we spent two weeks in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. I've been to Savannah several times before, so knew what to expect, but this was my first time in Charleston. We were both completely blown away by the food. We've done quite a bit of traveling, and have eaten in some amazing places, but the people of Charleston are truly privileged by what lies on their doorstep. It is my ideal "Food Heaven". After spending the first half of the week in the historical center of Charleston, we headed out to stay at the Inn at Middleton Place. There was a lovely restaurant, where the dining room is in a conservatory type setting, that serve traditional Low Country food with a modern twist. At lunch, they offer a three course meal, in which we chose the Peanut Soup for our first course. That proved to be a good choice, and we ended up having it twice. While the food is good there, it should be noted that they are a "dry county" on Sunday, so no alcohol what so ever. As no one mentioned it to us when making reservations, it was a bit of a surprise. James opted for juice of some sort and I ordered an "Arnold Palmer". Our server informed me that I couldn't have that as they didn't serve lemonade in the evenings... Ok? Anyway, here is a recipe that was similar to the soup we had there.

* Saute one large onion, chopped, in olive oil until just transparent. Then add one pound of chopped potatoes, 3 ribs of chopped celery, 1 chopped red pepper, 1 pound chopped carrots, 1 chopped tomato, 1 clove chopped garlic. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes.

* Next add 3 3/4 cups of vegetable stock, then 7 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter, and 2/3 cups of corn, followed by a few splashes of hot sauce (my recommendation will follow in a different post). You can add as little or much as you like, but I add about 5 splashes, then more after if needed. Mix until peanut butter is blended.

* Then bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Once vegetable are tender, you can use a hand blender to to puree part of the mixture and leave half chunky, or blend all for a smooth soup.

* We decided to puree just half of the soup, then garnished with with chopped, unsalted peanuts. While we really enjoyed it, we did puree the left overs, which we both agreed had a nicer taste.

The Inn at Middleton Place: http://www.theinnatmiddletonplace.com/content.asp?catID=6295
Middleton Place: http://www.middletonplace.org/

Nigella's Chicken with White Wine and Bacon Sauce

I was inspired by Jane's recent post to make Nigella's Chicken with White Wine and Bacon Sauce. Things were going well until I accidentally evaporated some of the sauce. To make up for it, I did a few variations:

1. First of all, I had decided to add some garlic, rosemary, and thyme. This was pre-chopped and in a bowl waiting to be added in at the end.
2. After my sauce had evaporated, I added another large splash of wine.
3. While it looked good, I felt that it was a little to thin and lacking something... CREAM! As I didn't have any cream, I used a trustworthy stand-by: Cream Cheese. I added one LARGE spoonful of whipped cream cheese and whisked it all together.
4. I then added the crumbled bacon to the saucepan, stirred, then returned the chicken to coat with the sauce.

It was really good. While it did have a slight yellow tinge, it is nowhere near as yellow as my photo. The color balance was off, and I can't be bothered to Photoshop it. The only complaint we had was the white wine I used. While it was good, it was a very floral/fruity wine and it needed something oakier to balance off the bacon. I used Ménage à Trois White, which would have been good without the bacon and with tarragon.

Here are a few things I might try adding in the future:

• Mushrooms
• Leeks
• Mustard
• Tarragon

As for the Butternut Squash (and this is more of a reminder for myself), I cooked it per the instructions in Nigella Express, only coating it in olive oil and then sprinkling it with sea salt, rosemary, thyme, and hot pepper flakes.

Culinary Creations: Goulash for Grown-Ups

OK, this isn't in fact Goulash at all, but if you were a kid in America, in your reality, it was. I suppose Beef & Macaroni would be a more appropriate name. That's exactly what the version I found in the freezer section of Whole Foods was called. For $2.99, they sell an organic version that is pretty good. The pasta is perfectly al dente, even after 3 minutes in the microwave. While this was a perfectly acceptable version of the childhood classic, and a good option for lunch, I decided to set out to make my own. It has been around 10 years since I’ve made this (I think the last time was when I was living in Wymondham around ’98), so I decided to make an adult version. It’s basically the same standard recipe everyone knows, with a few additions. Here is what I came up with:

• 1 pound ground beef (or buffalo, turkey, vegetarian crumbles)
• ½ Spanish onion, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• ½ green pepper, chopped
• Sprinkle of salt
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Dash crushed red pepper
• 1 small bay leaf
• Dash of dried oregano
• Dash of dried thyme
• 1 can (14 ½ oz) of diced tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 6 oz red wine
• 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni

1. Cook macaroni according to box.

2. Brown the ground beef on medium heat.

3. Before beef is completely brown, add the garlic, onion, carrot, green pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, bay leaf, oregano, and thyme. Continue to cook over medium heat until vegetables are softened.
4. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, Worcester sauce and gently simmer for at least ½ hour on low heat.5. Slowly stir in cooked macaroni, allowing the sauce to fill the pasta tubes. Allow to simmer 5 minutes on low.

6. To finish off, once in serving bowls, garnish with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped basil.

Serves 4.

The results weren't bad. I used buffalo instead of beef, and really welcomed the addition of red wine. Also, I had forgotten to buy a green pepper, so had to use red. In addition to the herbs mentioned, I added a little fresh rosemary. While you could serve it with crusty garlic bread and salad for dinner, mine is going into little containers for my lunch this week. It has been raining here for weeks, so this will make the perfect stay-in-the-office lunch time treat.