Louisiana Piquant Shrimp

Louisiana Piquant Shrimp

I love South Louisiana. I love floating on the bayou and fishing.  I miss going down there with my son. I visited Pierre Part, LA seven years in a row and got to know several local people on these visits They have an interesting take on things. 

One day in particular, comes to mind. On this day, we were supposed to meet a local Cajun, a skinny fellow in his 60‘s with white hair and a long white beard. His name was Nolan and he was going to take us bass fishing. We were going to meet at a gas station and then head to his secret spot on the bayou. 

I got to where we were supposed to meet and waited about ten minutes past our meeting time before I decided to call the number I had for him. His wife answered. She explained that he was on his way. He was late because was half to the gas station he realized he forgot his GPS. 

Now, I’ve never met Nolan's wife, but you wouldn't know that from our conversation. She swore and exclaimed that she hates his damned GPS. She said, “I always knowed when I married this man forty years ago, that some day, he’d get hisself lost in the bayou. But then he buy that damned GPS, and now he always come home. Damned GPS ruins everything.” 

I didn’t know what to say, so I said “Yes Ma'am.”  Just then Nolan pulled into the lot, so I made a polite good-bye and we had a great afternoon fishing.

Just thinking about fishing in the bayou makes me hungry for seafood. I had some shrimp in the freezer, and this dish came to mind. 

Shrimp is about as versatile as food can get. I’ve had it fried, broiled, boiled, baked, grilled , stewed and even raw in sushi. I’ve even used it as bait to catch catfish. Shrimp is almost in the bacon category, in that it can make any meal better.

This is a spicy version of a dish that is called Shrimp Sauce Piquant in South Louisiana, which is served with rice. If you are not into hot, you can leave out some or all of the Serrano peppers and the cayenne. You should feel a little ashamed if you do, however.

3 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell pepper
3 Serrano peppers chopped
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground cayenne
1 tsp. thyme
olive oil
1 quart chicken stock
1 28 oz can ground tomatoes 

1 stick butter
2 lb. shrimp
cajun seasoning

Preparation

Heat a large braising pan over medium heat and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Add the onion, celery, peppers and garlic. Sauté until the onions start to clarify. Add in the salt, paprika, cayenne and thyme and stir. Cook gently for about ten minutes, but don’t let the garlic brown.

Add in the chicken stock and simmer gently for about 15 minutes to reduce the liquid. Add the ground tomatoes and simmer another 15 minutes, stirring often.

Meanwhile, in a different skillet, melt a stick of butter and add the shrimp. Sprinkle it generously with Cajun seasoning. Cover and cook until the shrimp is cooked. Pour the shrimp and butter into the tomato mixture. Simmer for another five minutes and your ready to serve it.

Serving

Ladle this shrimp sauce over a large pile of steamed rice. Have both Tabasco and Louisiana Hot Sauce available on the table. A hearty bowl of gumbo, a plate of carrot and celery sticks, a salad and some chicken fried steak will help you make a meal out of this. Don’t forget fresh baked bread. A dry Riesling will go with this, but I prefer cold beer with this instead. Have some cubed watermelon for dessert.

Norman’s Quick Pizza Sauce (and my favorite pizza)

Norman’s Quick Pizza Sauce (and my favorite pizza)

Several times since the flood, I've made pizzas for my new housemates. Anyone who knows me knows I love to make pizza. It is the one meal I make more than any other. You like pizza, don't you? Pizza has always been one of my favorite foods. I can eat it three or four times a week without tiring of it. I know because there are weeks when I have it that often. It seems like I’m always making pizza.

I don’t know how many times I have come home after work wondering what I was going to make for dinner. I’d scour the fridge and wouldn’t find much, just some cheese and a few slices of genoa salami, but that was enough. I’d whip up a batch of bread dough, shape it and assemble a simple pizza. By the time I change clothes, answered some email, and open a bottle of wine, my pizza would be ready.

I can’t think of a meal I enjoy more than pizza and wine. I was wondering, am I correct in thinking that a 16” pizza and a 750ml bottle of wine are single-serving portions? I hope so, because if not, I’m over-serving myself.

Here is the sauce I often use when I make pizza. It is not cooked ahead of time, and just takes a few minutes to throw together. As a bonus, I am including directions for my favorite pizza. 

You can substitute other thinly sliced Italian meats for the salami with equally good results. If you don’t have any of these, you can add some crisp bacon and it won’t be bad either. How can you go wrong?

Sauce ingredients

1 28 oz. can of ground tomatoes

1/4 cup of extra good olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed and minced very fine

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

Several grindings of black pepper

A couple of dashes of onion powder

1/4 white wine

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Dash of Tabasco

Preparation

Put all the ingredients in a bowl. I don't measure this stuff, I just guess. Just throw it in. Stir to mix well. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for about a half hour to blend the flavors.

My favorite pizza

Take some of my homemade pizza dough and form it into a pizza crust. Top the dough with a generous layer of this sauce. Spread it out evenly. Top the sauce with a layer of thinly sliced genoa salami. Top the pizza with layers of parmesan, provolone and mozzarella cheeses. If you have some asiago, add that too.

Hit the top of the pizza with fresh ground pepper, some oregano and a touch of red pepper flakes. Bake at 435º until golden brown, about 20 minutes. When you take the pizza out of the oven, pour a thin layer of your best olive oil over the top. Let the pizza stand for five minutes before slicing.

Serving

Along with this pizza, you want to serve a crisp romaine salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Put some Kalamata olives, feta cheese and some thinly sliced onions on the salad for good measure. Set out a plate with some carrots, celery and bell pepper strips. Open a good bottle of Chianti. Have some extra parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes to sprinkle on the pizza, just in case you need it. If you have room, serve a little fruit salad for dessert.

Gyros style pizza

Gyros style pizza

Do you ever have trouble sleeping at night? Normally I sleep like a baby and I can fall asleep almost instantly. I can easily sleep up to 12 hours at a stretch and do it soundly (not that I ever really have the time to do that). I count this as one of my blessings. 

A couple of years ago, however, I had a bad night. I guess the night before, I slept in a bad position and somehow pinched a nerve in my neck. All day long when I would turn my head or move my left shoulder in a certain way, a sharp pain would travel from my neck all the way down to my finger tips. That kind of thing has happened infrequently in the past and usually lasts a day or two.

The next night, when I went to bed, no matter how I positioned myself, my neck and shoulder were quite painful. I tried sleeping on my side and it was worse. If I laid on my back with my left arm positioned just so, the pain was reduced to a dull ache. When I coughed, the pain became briefly severe. I laid there and would doze off for about ten minutes or so until I would somehow move in my sleep and the pain would wake me up. I would then painfully drift off to sleep for a few more minutes.

Well, this went on for a couple of hours when all of a sudden Squeeky started getting sick. Damn! Now, not just my shoulder, but also Squeeky would wake me up (she got sick several times that night). This continued for a few more hours when Camper also got sick. What the hell! I got up again and cleaned that up and tried to painfully drift off to sleep. I was only able to sleep ten to fifteen minutes at a stretch when either the dogs or my shoulder woke me up. Then at 4:00 AM, Camper had an explosion of diarrhea on the bed next to me! Boy was I upset. By the time I had that cleaned up and the sheets and blankets in the hamper or the washing machine, I realized that by now, I was up for the day. At best, I got maybe two hours of sleep.

By the time I made it home from work that evening, I was beat. In the morning I was so frustrated that I skipped breakfast and then, during the day, I never got time for lunch. When I got home and surveyed my fridge for dinner possibilities. I eventually settled on this unusual pizza.

1 batch of Norman’s pizza dough (or a store bought crust if you must)

3 tomatoes, sliced

1/2 lb. rare roast lamb, sliced thin

1 large onion sliced thin

olive oil

oregano

garlic salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

crushed red pepper

Preparation

Roll out and shape the pizza dough as I have taught you to do in the past. You want at least a 14” oval. Layer the pizza with the tomato slices. Break up the onion slices and distribute them evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle them with oregano and garlic salt. Now add the sliced lamb evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle the lamb with the pepper and some olive oil and then cover everything with the cheese. I was in a bad mood, so I used the whole pound of cheese. You don't have to use it all if you don't want. Finally sprinkle the cheese with some crushed red pepper and oregano.

Bake the pizza at 425º for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. When the pizza is done, remove it to the counter and splash extra virgin olive oil over the top of it and let it sit five minutes before slicing.

Serving

Serve this pizza along with a large Greek salad and a good bottle of Greek or Italian red wine.  I found this meal will soothe the fatigue out of you. By your sixth slice, you’ll be feeling a lot better. I know I sure was!

Pasta With Braised Duck

Pasta With Braised Duck

I remember a couple of years ago, I bought a frozen duck. I was planning on roast duck for dinner. When I got home, I realized I didn’t buy a duckling, but a mature duck. They can be a little tough when they are roasted. I grabbed my braising pan for this.

This takes a little effort, but it is worth it. I’m always amazed by people who don’t venture beyond the familiar beef, chicken and pork. For many people, exotic would be having fish for dinner. Most people find anything beyond that, a little extreme. 

I can hear them now:

     Lamb? Nope, too gamey. 

     Turkey? It’s not Thanksgiving. 

     Cornish hens? Too cornish. 

     Quail? Yikes, no way! 

     Rabbit? Um, ... gag... No!

And here I am suggesting duck. I suppose there’s not much chance that you'll try this, is there? Well, if there ever was a recipe for trying duck, this is it. It takes a little time to prepare. Taking off the skin and cutting the meat off the duck takes patience, but I think it's worth the effort.

Many groceries carry frozen duck. If you are willing to venture out of your norman routine, give this a try. It is one of my favorites.

1 mature (stewing) duck 

2 large onions
water for stock
4 slices of bacon

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

14 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole 

1/2 cup of flour
Cajun seasoning

Poultry seasoning 

Thyme
1 tbs. wine vinegar 

1 cup red wine

1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms
1 can of tomato paste
Fresh rosemary, sage and oregano 

Wide noodle pasta like pappardelle

Preparation

The first thing you need to do to make this is to remove the skin from the duck using a sharp knife. (If you forgot to thaw out the duck, you’ll have to put it in the refrigerator and order take-out because you won't be making this tonight). 

After getting most of the skin off, separate the leg quarters and set them aside. Slice off the the breast meat and any other meat you can remove. Coarsely chop the meat and set that aside with the legs along with the giblets and keep cold.

Grab a stock pot and place the duck bones and the neck in it. Add a large onion cut in half. Add water, enough to cover the bones, along with a little thyme, cajun seasoning and poultry seasoning (not too much, about a half teaspoon each). Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat. Let it simmer for an hour. While that is simmering, go pick out a good book and read for about 45 minutes.

When the hour is almost up, heat you braising pan and cook the bacon. Remove the bacon, chop it and set it aside. Take a zip lock bag and to it add the flour and a teaspoon each, of Cajun and poultry seasoning. Shake the duck legs, breast meat, giblets and any other meat in the seasoned flour. Add these to the bacon fat. Brown the meat on all sides and remove.

Add the second onion, chopped, along with the two smashed/minced garlic cloves and let those cook down a minute. When the onion has softened, add the vinegar and wine. Scrape up anything that has stuck to the pan. Bring the wine to a boil and let it reduce for a couple of minutes. 

Now add the 14 whole garlic cloves, the shiitake mushrooms (halved). Add the tomato paste and stir to blend. Chop the giblets and add those along with the rest of the duck and the bacon. Add about 4 cups of the stock that you made, enough to cover the meat. Bring it all to a boil. Cover the pan and place it in a 325º oven for one hour.

After an hour, add about a palmful each of fresh rosemary, sage and oregano chopped. Remove the duck meat from the legs, chop it and return it to the sauce. You can return the leg bones back to the sauce too. I like to nibble on them. Cover and return the pan to the oven for another half hour. By that time the sauce should have thickened nicely. Take the sauce out of the oven and let it rest for about ten minutes. Cook the pasta while the duck sauce rests. 

Serving

Serve a large pile of the pasta, smothered in the duck mixture, on your plate. Grind some fresh ground black pepper over it and then give it a light sprinkling of Cajun seasoning. All you need now is a nice romaine salad, fresh bread and a good Petite Sirah. I dare you to eat this and then tell me you don’t like duck.

Pasta with Beef and Almonds

Pasta with Beef and Almonds

When does spring fever hit for you? For me, it starts around the time when March winds down into April. I start looking forward to fishing and camping up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. By the time May winds down, the longing hits me full force as I start packing the gear for my first camping trip of the year. It happens every year. 

Our 1986 fly-in camp in Canada.

The other day, I found my self looking at photos of some old camping and fishing trips. 

My dad doing a little dental work.

I spent a lot of time remembering a fly-in fishing trip we took in 1986, with my dad, his friends Jerry and Sonny as well as my brother Joe. We had a great time and boy, did we catch fish. 

A productive afternoon!

It was a fantastic trip. Jerry was always better at cooking fish than anyone else I've ever encountered.

Jerry's fried fish!

Soon I'll be loading up the truck for this year's first trip to the UP. I'll need my new housemates' help to move their stuff so I can get all my camping gear out of the closets. My housemates will take care of the house while I'm gone but they'll be on their own in the kitchen until I get back.

Well, after all this reminiscing, I was really in the mood for some of Jerry’s fried fish! I checked the freezer. Unfortunately, I didn't have any fish. All I found was some round steak, so I made do with what I had. This didn't satisfy my urge for fried fish, but it came out pretty good and it cooked up fast. Give it a try.

I was in the mood for fried fish, but this was pretty good!

1/4 cup of slivered almonds, coarsely chopped

Olive oil

Red pepper flakes

4 large garlic cloves, smashed and minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp thyme

1 lb. beef round steak, sliced into strips

1 Tsp. corn starch

1/2 cup dry sherry

3/4 cup sliced green olives with pimentos, sliced

1 lb. dried egg noodles cooked al dente 

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron skillet. Add olive oil to coat the bottom. In batches, brown the beef and remove to a plate. 

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and almonds to the pan. Stir until the garlic just starts to brown and add the beef back along with the chicken broth and thyme. Simmer for about ten minutes, and sprinkle a little fresh ground black pepper over it while it simmers.

Add the sliced olives. Dissolve the corn starch into the sherry and add that mixture to the sauce. Simmer and stir until the sauce starts to thicken.

Serving

Sitting around the fire after dinner.

Serve this sauce over egg noodles in a bowl. Add in a nice crisp salad, crusty bread with butter, steamed broccoli and then pick out a nice bottle of Merlot to wash everything down.

A Pizza I Thought I’d Never Make

A Pizza I Thought I’d Never Make

What can I say? Many times people tell me that I’m a stubborn old grouch. They have told me that I should be more flexible. The kindest way this feeling was expressed, was by one reader, who said I’m ‘set in my ways’. 

With food, I have a couple of hard fast rules. The cardinal rule is that ketchup should never be allowed on a hotdog. That’s not just an opinion, that’s moral certitude! Just ask any real Chicagoan. Ketchup on a hotdog is an outrage and a crime against humanity!  Another rule I’ve been pretty firm on is, no fruit on pizza.

Well, since the Great Lisle Flood of 2013, my next door neighbors are now my housemates. I try to do everything I can to make them feel at home. Last night I was making pizza for them. One was sausage, peppers and onions while the other was just cheese and sausage. We had enough ingredients for one more pizza, and they were unanimous. They wanted a Hawaiian Pizza.

I found myself in a moral quandary. While I never considered pineapple on a pizza to be a mortal sin (like ketchup on a hotdog), I’ve always felt it was a venial sin. Well, I hope it is a forgivable sin, because I fell from grace last night and made a pizza with fruit. Pray for me!

Dough

2-1/2 cups flour 

2 tbs. instant yeast 

1 tsp. sugar 

1 tsp. salt 

3 tbs. olive oil 

water

Sauce

1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup of extra good olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed and minced very fine

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

Several grindings of black pepper

A couple of dashes of onion powder

1/4 white wine

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Dash of Tabasco

Toppings

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

5 strips of thick bacon, cooked and chopped

1 medium onion, cut into strips

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 heaping cup of (oh dear!) pineapple

Red pepper flakes

Preparation

Put the tomatoes in a large bowl. Break them up with a knife and fork. Add the other sauce ingredients and stir to mix well. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for about a half hour to blend the flavors. You’ll have enough sauce for one or two more pizzas (hopefully without fruit).

For the dough, add the flour, sugar, olive oil, yeast and salt to your mixer bowl. Add enough water - a little at a time - to form the dough. Knead the dough for a few minutes and let it rise for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle some flour on to a very clean counter. Place the dough on the counter and using your finger tips on both hands, poke the dough to shape it. You want a circle about 17 inches. Take a large pizza pan (about 16”) and sprinkle on a generous layer of corn meal on it. Slide the your dough into the pan and roll the edges up to form a crust.

Add a nice layer of sauce and then add the parmesan cheese. If you have any other cheese laying around grate some of that on too. Spread the bacon out evenly over the sauce. Add the onion and bell pepper evenly over the pizza. 

Now layer on lots of mozzarella cheese. Add the (I can’t believe I’m saying this) pineapple on top of the cheese. Give everything a good sprinkle of red pepper flakes and place the pizza into a 450º oven. You want the cheese to be golden brown and the pineapple should be a little charred.

Serving

I had one piece to be polite and went back to my sausage pizza.

I did try a piece, but it is never going to be a favorite of mine. My housemates loved it. We had the Hawaiian pizza with two sausage pizzas, which I prefer. We also had a big fruit salad, plenty of wine and beer, and big bowls of smokey lentil soup. 

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Over the weekend I had a taste for some spicy, lime infused chicken but I ended up being too lazy to go to the store and get the chicken. You see, I had the house to myself on Sunday. I started out good. I ran with the dogs and then mowed the lawn. The problem began when I sat down by the fire with a book. I kind of grew roots and accomplished nothing from that point on and I just had soup for dinner.

Well, yesterday I stopped at the store on the way home from the office and purchased what I needed to make my spicy chicken. I used my housemates for the guinea pigs on this one since I’ve never made it before. I think it might have pushed their pain threshold a bit, with the hot peppers, but they ate it all up.

1 lb. chicken thighs, cut into strips

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 tbs. thinly sliced ginger

Cajun seasoning

Fish sauce

Juice of 4 limes

Red pepper flakes

Olive oil

5 Serrano peppers cut into strips

1 bell pepper cut into strips 

1 large onion cut into strips

Toasted Sesame oil

Preparation

Place the chicken, garlic, a sprinkle of cajun seasoning, a splash of fish sauce, a dash of red pepper flakes and half of the lime juice from three limes into a zip lock bag. Add a splash of olive oil to it. Let that sit for a half hour at room temperature.

Heat a wok until it is very hot. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom and then add the chicken mixture. Stir fry that until the chicken is cooked through and it is starting to brown. The liquid will sizzle off as it cooks. Remove the chicken to a bowl. 

Reheat the wok and then add a splash more of olive oil to it. Add the onions, hot peppers and bell peppers. Cook until the onions start to clarify. Add the chicken back in. Stir until everything is sizzling. Add the rest of the lime juice and another drizzle of fish sauce. Splash in a little toasted sesame oil stir and serve.

Serving

Serve your chicken over rice. Place a big pile of rice on a plate and spoon on the chicken. Have plenty of hot sauce and soy sauce available. You also want stir fried broccoli to go with this. Now all you need is some homemade bread and butter, some soup to start and a plate of cut up vegetables. Open an ice cold Vinho Verde to wash everything down. 

We also had a large bowl of chopped pineapple on the table. My housemates spooned pineapple over their chicken and swore it was a great addition. I tried it and it wasn't bad, but I prefer my pineapple as dessert and not as a topping for my spicy chicken. Give it a try and see what you think.

For dessert, serve a large fruit salad, chopped pineapple and some homemade cookies.

Pasta With Sausage and Neighbors

Pasta With Sausage and Neighbors

Since the Great Lisle Flood of 2013, I've been hosting a lot of big dinners with neighbors, some of whom are now housemates. I'm starting to enjoy cooking for a crowd again. It brings back memories of the 'old' neighborhood.

Back when I lived in Naperville, my house seemed to be the gathering place for the whole neighborhood. It was these frequent gatherings that evolved into Wednesday night dinners, where every Wednesday for over eight years, I hosted a large dinner. It got to the point that neighbors would gather every Wednesday, every Friday and, unexpectedly, on other nights. 

It did get out of hand at times. In fact, I recall one Saturday morning when my neighbor across the street approached me and said, “Bob mentioned that we all gathering for dinner at your house tonight.” I responded “Oh really, this is the first I’ve heard of it.” Next she asked “What can I bring?” I looked at her with a bemused look and responded, “How the hell should I know, go ask Bob!”

I guess I have a tendency to attract neighbors.

We ended up with about thirteen people over for dinner that night. As I recall, this was one of the pastas I served them. It goes together quickly and I kind of like it.

6 cloves garlic - sliced thin

1 onion - chopped 1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 lbs. hot Italian sausage

        cut into half inch sections

1-1/2 cups dry red wine

1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. white pepper
1 can San Marzano tomatoes - 28 oz.
3 tbs. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dry) 

1-1/2 cups pecorino romano - grated 

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 can cannellini beans - 15 oz.
1 lb. rigatoni

Preparation

Heat a large skillet, add the olive oil, onions and garlic. Sauté gently for 2 minutes. Add the sausage and red pepper flakes. Go ahead, add some more crushed red pepper, itʼs the right thing to do. Stir until the sausage looses its pink color and starts to brown.

Add the red wine and simmer until it is reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes, the thyme and the white pepper. Break up the tomatoes and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Add the chopped parsley and the cannellini beans. Simmer for about five minutes. 

Toss with the rigatoni, cooked al dente, and the grated cheese. If you want, hit it with a little Tabasco too. It canʼt hurt, right? Serve immediately.

Serving

Serve this with plenty of steamed broccoli, warm fresh-baked bread, a crisp tossed salad and a fine Chianti. A bowl of chicken soup wouldn’t hurt either. 

Seafood Chowder

Seafood Chowder

Go ahead and throw a few catfish chunks in too.

One of the disadvantages of living in the Chicago area is that Chicago is so far from the coasts. You can obtain just about any kind of fresh seafood you want in the area, but it is so darned expensive. Now, I’m not cheap ... ok, maybe I am, but that’s besides the point. What I’m getting at, is that I often find a recipe for a chowder or a gumbo that I’d love to try, but they instruct me to buy fresh clams, whole crabs, lobsters and several varieties of fresh fish. By the time I purchase all of that, I would have spent so much, that I might as well fly to Louisiana and order it from a restaurant. 

I do love it, however. In fact, whenever I am in South Louisiana, I order fresh seafood every day. I’ve gone whole weeks down there eating only creatures that live in water and the only air-breathing meat I consumed was in a turtle or alligator stew. When I’m there, I can’t get enough of it.

Lately, I’ve been adapting seafood recipes to use ingredients that I can easily afford in the Chicago metro area. Instead of fresh clams, I use canned, whole clams. I also make use of inexpensive frozen seafood. 

I’ve always loved spicy, tomato based chowders, think ‘Manhattan Style’. This version was adapted from chef Steve Sicinski’s recipe which I found in Food & Wine magazine (March 2011, page 38). I’ve provided the link in case you want to compare my version to his. 

Olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 dried ancho chilies, chopped without seeds

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 cup white wine

1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes

1 quart of vegetable broth

1 cup of cream

2 cans of (whole clams or chopped if you can’t find the whole), with their liquid

3 large potatoes, cubed

10 oz. frozen roasted corn

1-1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. thyme

1 lb. frozen tail-off deveined shrimp

1 lb. frozen seafood mix (the one I use is scallops shrimp and calamari)

salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste

Preparation

Heat a large Dutch oven and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add one of the chopped onions, two stalks of chopped celery and the chopped ancho peppers. Stir and cook until the onion starts to brown and then add the fennel seeds. Add the wine, canned tomatoes and the vegetable broth. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream.

Using a blender, purée the soup in batches and place it in a large bowl. Once all the soup has been puréed, rinse out the Dutch oven and wipe it dry. Add the canned clams and their liquid to the puréed soup and set the bowl aside.

Once again heat the Dutch oven and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Add the cubed potatoes and fry them until they are golden brown. Add the remaining chopped onion and celery along with the chopped bell pepper. Cook until the onions start to soften and add the roasted corn, smoked paprika and thyme. Stir for a few minutes more and then pour the puréed soup back in. Bring it to a boil and add the shrimp and seafood mix. Simmer another ten minutes, or until all the seafood is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Taste the chowder and add salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to adjust the seasoning. Turn off the heat and let it rest for ten minutes before serving.

Serving

This chowder is pretty versatile and will go as a first course with many entrées. One thing it needs, however, is freshly baked bread and butter. After that you can use your imagination. I suggest serving a chilled Vouvray with the chowder. 

Norman’s Roast Beef

Norman’s Roast Beef

All my life, roast beef has been a favorite of mine. I like my beef roasted rare and I like tons of gravy. I usually make so much gravy, that you should wear a life vest as you approach the gravy bowl, just in case.

Roast beef is an easy meal to prepare. All you need is an oven, or a charcoal grill set up for indirect heat, and it is almost foolproof. If, however, all you have is a campfire and a cast iron pan, it is more difficult. Until one fly-in fishing trip to Canada, with my dad and his friends, I would have said it was impossible to do over an open fire with only a cast iron pan. My dad proved me wrong.

Getting the fire ready

At the start of the fishing trip, my dad had a frozen beef roast in a cooler. A couple of days later it was thawed out and ready to cook. I remember that morning expressing my doubts to him. I said that he’d ruin the roast trying to do it in a fry pan over a campfire. He said not to worry, he had it under control.

Jerry and I were drinking beer and I didn't see how it was done

That afternoon, unfortunately, I didn’t watch how he did it. You see, I was fishing and drinking beer with his friend Jerry. I was astounded when he said dinner was ready. He served us rare roast beef with gravy and mashed potatoes. I know aluminum foil played a role, but I have no idea how he did it. Whatever he did, it came out perfect. The only thing missing was the wine. We made due with Canadian beer, and we over-served it to ourselves.

Anyways, here is how I make roast beef. I use an oven mostly, although, sometimes I do it in my wood-burning grill. Either way, the procedure is the same. When you pick out a roast, you want one with plenty of fat on it. It can even be one of those roasts tied with string, that’s ok. What it must have is fat. The fat is what will give you the gravy.

4 to 5 lb. beef roast
2 cloves of garlic, slivered olive oil
1 tbs. Cajun seasoning
1 tbs. white pepper
1 tbs. onion powder
flour
smoked paprika
salt and pepper

1/2 tsp. oregano
beef broth

Preparation

Rub the roast with the olive oil, all over. In a cup, mix the Cajun seasoning, white pepper and onion powder together and sprinkle and pat it in all over the roast. Set the roast in a roasting pan on a rack. You want the side with the most fat facing up.

With a sharp knife, make deep slits in the roast. As you pull the knife out, slide a sliver of garlic into the slit. You want to get several slivers of garlic into any area with fat, because the fat will render and carry the garlic flavor into the meat. Do this until all the garlic slivers are in the roast.

Place the roast in a 420º degree oven and after 10 minutes, turn it down to 375º. Now, I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you how long to roast it for. You see, the shape of the roast affects how long it takes. A long, thin roast will cook much quicker than a fat, compact roast. What you need is an instant read thermometer. You stick that into the thickest part of the roast and look for a temp of around 120º. When it reaches that, pull it out of the oven, place it on a carving platter, and tent it with foil for 15 minutes.

Now it is time to make the gravy. Place the roasting pan on the stove and turn the heat on medium high. Sprinkle flour into the fat until most of the fat is absorbed. You want the flour to be kind of a wet paste. Now sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano and smoked paprika. Stir and cook the flour for about three minutes. Start adding the beef broth, a cup at a time. After the broth is added, stir and bring it to a boil. Wait to add more until after it boils to see how thick it will be. Keep going until you have a nice gravy thickness.

Taste the gravy for seasoning and adjust it for salt and pepper. After you carve the roast (very, very thin please) add any juices form the roast back into the gravy.

Serving

Serving roast beef is very simple. Take a huge pile of thinly sliced beef and place that on the plate. Next to that, put a mountain of mashed potatoes. Smother both of them with gravy. Now add a large pile of mixed vegetables with butter. Finally add fresh homemade bread, a crisp salad and the best cabernet sauvignon you can afford. Now that’s a meal. Unplug the phone, lock the doors and have two or three helpings. It is the right thing to do.