Turkey barley soup with noodles and lentils

After Thanksgiving dinner, the question becomes, what to do with the turkey carcass? My answer is soup!

Over the weekend, I went to work on the turkey carcass, first removing all the meat I could get off of it. Then I broke the carcass in half, put it in a stock pot, and made a big pot of turkey broth. 

Later I strained the broth into a soup pot, and started making this thick porridge. After the soup cooked down a little, I added in mashed rutabaga and carrots, some peas, and barley. I let the soup cook down so that it was nice and thick.

Here’s how I made the soup.

Stock

Turkey carcass

Lots of water

4 bay leaves

Half cup of onion flakes

3 stalks of celery, broken

Half teaspoon of celery seed

Half teaspoon of garlic powder

Soup

Lots of turkey stock

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

Quarter cup of onion flakes

1 bowl of turkey meat, cut from the carcass

1-1/2 cups of mashed rutabaga and carrots

Half cup of barley

Half cup of red lentils

1 cup of frozen peas

Teaspoon of oregano

Teaspoon of thyme

Adobo seasoning

Maggi Seasoning

Worcestershire sauce

1 cup of small pasta shells

Preparation

Now the secret to this soup is reducing the volume of liquid by long simmering, just about all day. Once you have the stock, in the soup pot, you won't be able to fit all the ingredients in the pot, so you cook the soup down, and add ingredients as it is reduced. You end up with a real thick porridge.

First make the stock. Pick all the meat off the carcass, and set that aside in the fridge. Break the carcass in half, set that in a large stock pot, and add water to completely cover the bones. Set that on the stove on high heat. Add the bay leaves, onion flakes,  broken celery stalks, the celery seed and garlic powder. Throw in a spec of salt too. Bring that to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for two hours. Strain the stock into a large soup pot.

Set the soup pot on the stove, bring the stock back to a simmer. My stock was almost to the top of the soup pot. I added  the celery, onion, onion flakes, thyme, oregano, and let that simmer for a half hour, uncovered. That gave me a little more room in the pot, so I added the lentils and barley. About a half hour later, I added the turkey meat, and the frozen peas. About a half hour later, I added the rutabaga and carrots. Stir well to mix that in. Continue simmering for another hour, but now stir every fifteen minutes or so, to keep stuff from sticking. 

Splash on several shakes of Maggi seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. Stir that in and taste. Start adding adobo seasoning (or plain salt) and adjust until the salt is right. Add the pasta shells, and simmer for a final half hour. By now the soup should be nice and thick. You are ready to serve.

Serving

Last night I had a large bowl of this porridge, along with a turkey sandwich made with homemade bread. My niece gave me an American micro-brewed Kolsch (a light German style beer), which went perfect with this.

Poblano peppers stuffed with smokey pork

I stopped at the Mexican market in West Chicago, on my way home from the office last week. I wanted to get the things I need for making burritos out of my leftover smoked pork. Then I saw the beautiful poblano peppers they had on sale. I did a quick change of recipe in my head, and picked up a few other ingredients. 

When I arrived home I started in on these. This came out great, and despite the way it sounds, it is very easy to make. Start to finish, I was eating in less than an hour from the time I pulled into the driveway. Here is how I prepared this dish.

3 poblano peppers

2 cups of smokey leftover roast pork, shredded

Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped fine

3 Tabasco peppers, sliced (or red pepper flakes)

Half teaspoon of cumin

Pinch of oregano

Worcestershire sauce

Soy sauce

Half pound of shredded Quesadilla cheese

PAM cooking spray

7 oz can of Mexican salsa (San Marcos)

Steamed rice

Preparation

Wash and place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet, under the broiler. Broil these so that the skin is charred and blistered on all sides. Place the peppers in a bowl just big enough to hold them, and cover it with a plate. Let those steam and cool.

Put your rice on to steam. Preheat the oven to 385º.  Shred the pork and set it in a bowl. Heat a medium oven proof skillet and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the onion and the thinly sliced hot peppers (or red pepper flakes). Stir and let that soften, but don’t brown the onions. As soon as the onions are softened, add the pork, the cumin and oregano. Stir that in. When everything is hot, sprinkle on a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of soy sauce. Stir for a minute, and turn off the heat. Place that into a medium bowl and stir to help it cool.

When the peppers have cooled enough to handle, gently peel off the charred skin. When it is most all off, slit the pepper down one side, open it up to remove the seeds and stem. Fold it back over, and do the same to the other peppers. By now the pork and onion mixture should have cooled to just warm. Add half of the Quesadilla cheese to it and stir.

Spray the skillet that cooked the meat with PAM. Lay one pepper in the skillet, open it, and spoon in the pork and cheese mixture. Fold the pepper closed, and turn it seam side down. Repeat with the other two peppers. Space the stuffed peppers evenly in the skillet, and spoon the leftover pork mixture around the peppers. Pour the can of Mexican salsa over the peppers, and sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Bake in the hot oven until the cheese is completely melted, about ten minutes. Finish under the broiler to brown the cheese.

Serving

Place a mound of steamed rice on your plate. Add a stuffed pepper or two, with lots of the sauce. Pick out a lively, citrusy white wine. Vinho Verde from Portugal is my favorite. Ring the dinner bell!

Minestrone soup with chicken

Saturday was a rainy day. I had wanted to unload my truck and get it cleaned up, but the rain put a damper on that. So, instead, I made soup. I made a stock from bones in the freezer, but the beans were canned. The chicken carcass I had in the freezer had lots of meat left on it. I used that to make the stock, and then cut the meat off the bones, and added that to the soup.

That night, my neighbors came over for dinner. I got pretty favorable reviews on this minestrone. It went real well with the lamb I roasted. Here is how I made the minestrone. 

1 meaty chicken carcass from roast chicken

Water

1/4 cup of onion flakes

3 bay leaves

4 stalks of celery, broken

1/2 tsp. adobo seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chicken bullion

Olive oil

1 large carrot, cubed

3 stalks of celery, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 serrano pepper, chopped

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. smoked paprika

15 oz. can of pinto beans

1 pound can of Blue Runner red beans

10 oz. can of RoTel tomatoes

1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables

Worcestershire sauce

Maggi seasoning

4 small branches of fresh rosemary

1 cup of small pasta shells

Preparation

For the stock, place the chicken carcass in a stock pot, and add enough water to completely cover the bones. Add the onion flakes, the broken celery, bay leaves, adobo seasoning, cumin, and the chicken bullion. Bring that to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for one hour.

Strain the stock. Remove all the meat from the bones, chop that and set aside. Heat a large soup pot and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the carrots, onion, sliced celery, garlic and serrano pepper. Stir and let that sweat down. Sprinkle on the thyme, oregano and smoked paprika. Once the onions have softened, add the chopped chicken. Let that gently cook for about five minutes and add the stock.

Bring the soup to a boil, and let it simmer uncovered, for about a half hour, to reduce the volume. Add the pinto beans, and then stir in the Blue Runner red beans. Stir well, and let that simmer for another half hour. Add the RoTel tomatoes, the mixed vegetables, a few dashes of the Worcestershire sauce, and a few more dashes of the Maggi seasoning. Simmer for another half hour, and add the rosemary branches and the pasta.  Simmer for a final half hour, but stir often, and keep the heat low, to avoid scorching. Taste and adjust the minestrone for salt, using adobo seasoning.

Serving

Serve big bowls of this soup, with some grated Parmesan cheese. We also had medium rare roast lamb, roasted potatoes, gravy, fresh homemade bread and lots of butter. A hearty Zinfandel would be best with this.

Chicago style Italian beef ... made with leftover roast beef

Last week, I did a beef roast, long and slow, over charcoal and wood, until it hit medium rare perfection. Even though I overate when I served it up for dinner, I still had a lot left. Another night I turned it into Chicago style Italian beef. 

Ok, I admit, I cheated. Italian beef is supposed to be braised so long that it almost falls apart, and the ‘juice’ is full of that great flavor. Instead, I started at 5:00, and by 6:15, I was eating a very good version of an Italian beef sandwich. 

This is a great way to use up leftover roast, and it came real close to the authentic flavor of ‘A beef with hot’. Here’s how I did it. The picture right below is just after I added the liquid, but before it was simmered and reduced.

At least a pound of medium rare roast beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

Olive oil

About a quart of water

1 tablespoon of beef bullion

Teaspoon of flour

Quarter cup of the brine from Peperoncini

2 teaspoons of oregano

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Quarter cup of onion flakes

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

Cajun seasoning

Adobo seasoning

Hearth baked hard rolls

Preparation

Heat a large skillet and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper strips. Let that start to sweat down. While that is cooking, slice the roast beef as thin as you can, and then cut the slices into strips. Add that to the skillet, along with the oregano, garlic powder, onion flakes, and smoked paprika. Sprinkle on the flour and stir until all the flour and seasonings are well distributed. Add the water, beef bullion, and the brine from a jar of Peperoncini pickled peppers. 

Bring that to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and very gently simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour. Taste and adjust the flavor with cajun and adobo seasoning. By now, the liquid should be reduced and very flavorful. You are ready to serve.

Serving

Slice open a few hearth baked hard rolls, and pile on the beef, peppers, and onions. Get some of the ‘juice’ with it. Give the beef a sprinkle of cajun seasoning, and top with some hot giardiniera. Pop open a little Italian red wine, and you are good to go!

Beef roasted over charcoal and wood

Sunday, I was enjoying the cool summer day. My first order of business was to mow two front lawns. It wasn’t even 70º yet, and that made for nice mowing weather. After that, I was in relax mode. Around noon, I lit the grill.  I had a four pound beef roast and I wanted to do that nice and slow on the grill. I set my chair out by the grill, and grabbed my Kindle. It made for a nice afternoon.

I served the beef, slice thin, with lots of gravy, which had a great smokey flavor. Here’s how I got it ready to serve.

Four pound beef roast

Cajun seasoning

Wondra gravy flour

Quarter teaspoon of oregano

Half teaspoon of smoked paprika

Adobo seasoning

Water

Preparation

Pick out a beef roast with a nice layer of fat on it. Place that in a oven proof pan, fat side up. Season it on all sides with a generous amount of cajun seasoning. Let that sit at room temperature for about an hour.

Prepare the grill by placing a large pile of charcoal on one side. Light the charcoal with a propane torch in a couple of places. Give that some time for the charcoal to get hot. While that is heating up, gather some hardwood branches. There is a dead apple tree just down the river from me, and I broke off a branch to supply flavor.

When the coals are hot, place the pan with the roast on the opposite side of the grill from the coals. Add a couple of hardwood sticks, and close the lid. My roast took about three hours to reach medium rare perfection. Cooking time will vary, as much by the shape of the roast, as it will by the heat of the fire. As it roasts, occasionally turn it. Every twenty minutes or so, add more hardwood sticks, to keep the smoke up, and if necessary, more charcoal. When an instant read thermometer just hits 120, bring the roast in.

Set the beef on a plate, in a warm place. Place the pan with the drippings on the stove over medium heat. Sprinkle on enough flour to almost absorb the fat. Add the oregano and smoked paprika. Stir that for a few minutes to cook the flour. Add water, a little at a time, to thin out the gravy. When you think you have the right thickness let it simmer a minute to see if it needs more water. Taste and adjust for salt with the adobo seasoning, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

Slice the beef nice and thin, and then pile several slices on a dinner plate. Add any juices from the cutting board over the sliced beef. I didn’t have potatoes, but I did bake some leftover pizza dough from Saturday, into a small loaf of bread. I put several slices of bread next to the beef, and covered them with gravy. I also had a salad and some grilled yellow crookneck squash to round out the meal. The wine was a nice Zinfandel.

Double decker sausage and garlic pizza

A couple of nights ago, I was in the mood for pizza, and had some Italian sausage. I went with an unusual twist, a double decker pizza. 

Basically this is a thin crust cheese pizza, set on top of a thin crust garlic and sausage pizza, with the two edges rolled together to make one stuffed pizza, and then baked. Here’s how I did it. Use any assortment of cheeses you like.

2 - 1/2 cups of flour

1-1/4 cups of water

Olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbs. yeast

8 oz. can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. of oregano, plus some more

Louisiana Hot Sauce

2 cups of Longhorn marble cheese, shredded

1 Italian sausage, broken up

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1-1/2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese

Fresh ground white pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Place the flour, water, salt, yeast, and about two tablespoons of olive oil in a mixing bowl. Use the dough hooks to bring the dough together. Adjust as needed, with a little extra flour or water. Knead the dough for a minute, divide it in half, and let it rest.

Place the tomato sauce in a small bowl, and add about a teaspoon of olive oil to it, along with two tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese. Add the oregano, and several shakes of Louisiana Hot Sauce, and stir to mix well.

Heat a small skillet and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the sausage, and stir. When the sausage is almost cooked through, add the chopped garlic. Stir until the garlic softens, and turn the heat off. 

Take the first half of the dough and work it into fourteen inch circle using your fingers, turning it over and flouring it as you do. Slide that into a pizza pan, which has been sprinkled with corn meal. Add two thirds of the pizza sauce to the dough. Spread it out, but leave the outer two inches uncovered. Add the sausage and garlic evenly over the sauce. Add the Longhorn cheese (or whatever you are using) along with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Now, work the remaining dough into a fourteen inch circle, the same way. Gently slide it over the top of the pizza. Roll the two edges of the dough up together, until you reach the start of the sauce. Add the remaining sauce to the top dough. Sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle a couple pinches of oregano over the cheese. Bake at 380º for about twenty minutes, until the cheese has turned golden brown. Remove the pizza to a cutting pan, and drizzle your best olive oil over the top of it. Grind on some white pepper, and wait at least five minutes before slicing.

Grilled steak fajita

On Saturday, I had a small group over for dinner and I made steak and chicken fajitas. I’m always amazed how I get so many compliments on my steak, when the dry rub is so simple. 

Saturday, I did a slightly different variation than my normal dry rub, but I received rave reviews on the fajitas. Here’s how I prepared them. The steaks I used were sold as ‘charcoal grilling steaks’ (Bistec Para Asar), and are found in many stores that have a Mexican-American customer base. Round steak will work too.

Two one pound steaks

Cajun seasoning

Adobo seasoning

Fresh ground white pepper

Soy sauce

2 red bell peppers, cut into strips

3 large jalapeño peppers, cut into strips

2 large onions, cut into strips

Maggi seasoning

2 limes, cut into wedges

Shredded cheese

Warmed flour and corn tortillas

Valentina Hot Sauce

Preparation

About two hours before dinner time, season the steaks with generous dusting of cajun seasoning, adobo seasoning, and fresh ground white pepper. Rub it in, and set the steaks in a single layer on a plate, and set the plate in the fridge. Let them rest for a couple of hours.

When it is time to start cooking, light a charcoal grill. I bordered my charcoal with inch thick applewood logs for extra flavor. Light the charcoal with a propane torch, and let the coals come to full heat. While the coals are warming up, remove the steaks from the refrigerator, and let them come to room temperature.

Grill the steaks until they are medium rare, and remove them from the coals.  As you turn the steaks over, splash on some soy sauce. Let them rest for five minutes before slicing. 

While that is resting, heat a large skillet on the stove, so it is real hot. add enough olive oil to the skillet to coat the bottom, and add the pepper and onion strips. Stir those until the onions just begin to soften. Splash the peppers and onions with some soy sauce, and a few shakes of Maggi seasoning. Slice the steaks thin, across the grain. 

Now you have a choice. You can either set the steak out like that (which I did on Saturday) or add the slices to the hot skillet of peppers and onions, (which I did, with leftover steak, on Sunday). Either way, set the steak and vegetables on the dinner table. 

Serving

You want to serve the steak and vegetables on your tortilla. Add some cheese, a generous amount of hot sauce, and squeeze a wedge of lime over it. Fold over, enjoy, and repeat until you fear a button will pop. Ice cold beer is perfect with fajitas.

Old fashioned spaghetti and meatballs

I spent most of the day yesterday, working around the house. Towards evening, I called a halt to my cleaning, and started on dinner. My neighbors were coming, and I started making spaghetti and meatballs. Just a simple old fashioned meal, but very tasty. I got rave reviews. Here’s what I did.

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground lamb

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 large shallot, finely minced

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. thyme

Fresh ground white pepper

Cajun seasoning

2 eggs

1/2 cup of flour

Olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 cans (28 oz.) San Marzano tomatoes

1/2 cup of torn basil leaves

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained

Preparation

An hour before you plan to cook, place the lamb and pork in a large bowl. Add the grated parmesan cheese, the minced shallots, along with smoked paprika and the thyme. Grind on some fresh ground white pepper, and give it a heavy sprinkle of cajun seasoning. Add the eggs, and use your hands to mix everything together.

Place the flour in a bowl, and season it with some cajun seasoning. Set a large broiler pan on the counter. Use your hands to form meatballs, about the size of a jumbo egg. Roll the meatball in the seasoned flour, and set it on the broiler pan. Repeat until all the meatballs are assembled. Set the meatballs in the fridge for at least a half hour to firm up.

Pre-heat the oven to 375º and set the tray of meatballs on the top rack. Let those bake until they are half cooked, about fifteen minutes.

Add enough olive oil to a large sauce pan, to coat the bottom. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Let that gently cook, without browning the garlic. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl, and use your hand to squeeze them apart. Add the tomatoes to the garlic, and stir. Bring that to a simmer and add the torn basil leaves. Let that simmer uncovered.

When the meatballs are just starting to brown, add them, along with any drippings, to the tomato sauce. Simmer the meatballs very gently in the tomato sauce, for at least thirty minutes, but leave the pot uncovered. When the sauce has reduced and thickened a little, you are ready to serve.

Serving

We had spaghetti and meatballs, along with homemade bread, a large tossed salad, and assorted cheeses and olives. Chianti is perfect with this meal.

Beef and pepper stir fry with spinach

The other day, I still had some roast beef left that I needed to use up. I was in the mood for a stir fry, so I figured why not. I used that with some peppers, onions, and some baby spinach. 

Now, you could just as easily do this with strips of round steak. I had rare roast beef, but the procedure is the same. I used both a bell pepper and a couple of jalapeños. I find that, when cooked, today’s store bought jalapeños aren’t any hotter than bells, but have a different flavor. Here’s how I made the stir fry.

A cup and a half of roast beef, cut into strips

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

1/4 of dry white wine

Soy sauce

Peanut oil

5 thin dried red hot chiles

2 stalks of celery, cut up

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

2 jalapeño peppers, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 tbs. dark molasses

2 cups of baby spinach leaves

Toasted sesame oil

1 cup of converted rice

2 cups of water

Adobo seasoning

Preparation

First order of business, is to put the rice on. For stir fries, I like Uncle Ben’s converted rice. Place that in a pot. Sprinkle on some adobo seasoning, and then add about a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Add the water, bring to a boil, simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about fifteen minutes.

While that is going on, chop everything up. Place the beef in a bowl, add the wine, a generous splash of soy sauce and the garlic. Stir to mix, and set aside. 

Heat your wok. (I remove the little round deflector from my gas range, and have the wok over a jet of flame.) Add a small puddle of peanut oil, and then add the beef and garlic. Stir that until all the beef is sizzling, and starting to brown, and all the liquid was boiled off. Remove the beef and garlic to a bowl, and set aside.

Add a spec more peanut oil to the wok, and add the dried chiles, along with the celery. Stir that for about a minute, and then add the pepper strips. Stir as that cooks for about a minute. Add the onion wedges and break them up as you stir fry. 

Once the onions just start to clarify, add the beef and garlic back in. Now add the molasses, and give this several shakes of soy sauce. Stir to mix well. Finally add the spinach leaves and stir until they just begin to wilt. Splash on a spec of toasted sesame oil, give it one final stir, and turn the flame off.

Serving

Place the rice in the center of the plate, and spoon the stir fried beef mixture all around the rice. Have soy sauce on the table (Hey, that’s what the blood pressure pill is for, right?) Even though this is a beef dish, I prefer a cold crisp white wine like Pinot Grigio, or even a German Riesling. I find red wine doesn’t match well with a spicy stir fry.

Broiled chicken, covered with tomato slices and cheese, then baked in tomato sauce

On Friday afternoon, when I arrived home, I was hungry and thinking of what to make. I was in the mood for Italian because I happened to be thinking of that nice Italian restaurant in Marquette Michigan, Casa Calabria. I love their pastas, especially their lasagna with meat sauce. It is smothered in cheese and a rich sauce. 

I decided to take the same approach with some chicken. This was a recipe that I kind of made up as I cooked, but it came out great. The juicy Campari tomatoes added lots of fresh flavor, and all the cheese sealed it in!

2 boneless chicken thighs, flattened out

Cajun seasoning

Adobo seasoning

Thyme

Garlic powder

2 large cloves of garlic, sliced

Worcestershire sauce

Oregano

2 Campari tomatoes, sliced

8 oz. can of no-salt-added tomato sauce

Quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese

2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese

Fresh ground white pepper

Preparation

This dish is a lot easier than it sounds. Use a sharp knife to open up the chicken thighs, so they lay flat. Season them on both sides with a sprinkling of cajun seasoning, adobo seasoning, garlic powder, and a little thyme. Set them on a cast iron pan, a fajita pan would be perfect. Broil the chicken until the top is nicely browned. 

Turn the chicken over, but before you set it back on the cast iron, place the garlic slices under both pieces of chicken. This way the garlic can flavor the chicken as it cooks on the hot iron, without burning. Broil until this side is also browned, and the chicken is almost cooked through. Turn the broiler off, and set the oven at 350º. 

Take the chicken thighs from the cast iron, and set them in an oven proof pie plate. Place the cooked garlic slices on top of the chicken. Cover the chicken with the tomato slices. Sprinkle on some white pepper, oregano and a little more thyme. Pour the tomato sauce all around the chicken. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese. Now add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese on top of each piece of chicken, and then do the same for the Mozzarella cheese. Grind on a little more white pepper.

Bake this until everything is bubbling and the cheese is melted and starting to brown, about twenty minutes. Let this rest about five minutes before serving.

Serving

Serve the smothered chicken thigh on a plate next to linguine tossed with Parmesan cheese and garlicky olive oil. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce over the chicken. Now just add a tossed salad, and a good bottle of Italian red wine, and ring the dinner bell!

Chicken gyros

The other day I made some more chicken gyros. So simple, yet so tasty. Thinly sliced chicken breast seared with garlic, and then finished off with thinly sliced onions. But, when you combine that with a pita, tomato and creamy goat milk yogurt, wow, what a feast. Here’s how to put this together. You could make this out of leftover cooked chicken too. Just skip the first part, and begin at slicing the chicken.

2 large chicken breasts

Olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

Cajun seasoning

Garlic powder

1 very large onion, halved and thinly sliced

Pita breads

2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

Greek style goat milk yogurt

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron pan until it is hot. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom, and add the chicken breasts. Sear them on both sides, and then move them to the center of the pan. Place a lid, that is large enough to cover the chicken but still small enough to fit inside the cast iron pan and touch the bottom, over the chicken. Let that cook until the chicken is just cooked through.

While that is going on, slice the tomatoes and set them on the table. Place the yogurt on the table as well.

Remove the cover and cut the chicken up into thin slices, right in the pan. Add the minced garlic and stir. Move the chicken together and cover once again. let that cook for about five minutes, stirring a couple of times. Spread the chicken out, give it a good sprinkle of the cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Add the sliced onions and stir. Let this cook, stirring almost constantly, until the onions just begin to clarify. You want the onions half way between cooked and raw. Turn off the heat, you are ready to serve.

Serving

Take the pita breads and heat them in the microwave until they are soft and warm. Place them on the table. To assemble the gyros, place a pita on your plate. Add two heaping tablespoons of yogurt to the pita. Now pile on the chicken. Top with several tomato slices, and if you like, a sprinkle of cajun seasoning. Have a napkin ready, because you’re gonna need it! Fold the pita into a ‘U’ and dig in. I also like a few pickled peppers on the side, and a cold crisp dry white wine.

Spinach and cheese pie

Friday night I enjoyed dinner with several friends from college. We had a delicious dinner of chicken with pesto and Mozzarella, a big salad, cheddar cheese bread, and I made a couple spinach pies to add to the dinner. 

I don’t know why, but these pies took about twice as long to bake as they usually do, and I was a little late as a result.  It turned out ok. The pies were well received and we had a great evening catching up, telling stories, and laughing. I had a couple of requests for the pie recipe, so here’s how I made them. 

This recipe is for one pie, but as long as you are making one, you might as well make two. For this pie, I find the store bought pie crust is perfect. It only goes on the bottom, and it isn’t really worth the effort to make just a bottom crust from scratch. Ok, I’m getting lazy in my advanced age. Let the pie crust come to room temperature before unrolling it.

Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust

3 tbs. butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 16 oz. bag of frozen chopped spinach

15 oz. Ricotta cheese

1/2 lb. shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan

1 cup of shredded sharp Italian Provolone - imported not domestic

3 large eggs beaten

Cajun seasoning

fresh ground pepper

Nutmeg for grating

Preparation

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet. Add the chopped onion and stir until the onions have softened, around three minutes. Add the spinach, a light sprinkle of cajun seasoning, and a little fresh ground white pepper. Cook, stirring until the spinach is hot and any water has evaporated. Grate on some nutmeg. Set aside.

Take a large mixing bowl and add the Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmesan, and that good imported Provolone cheese.  Now add the eggs and the spinach mixture. Stir to mix well.

Place a pie crust into a pie plate. So people don’t think you are a slob, crimp the edges of the pie crust so it looks halfway decent. Add the spinach mixture and spread it out uniformly in the pie. Grate a little nutmeg over the top of the pie. 

Bake the pie at 350º for about forty minutes until the top is nicely browned. Or, at least that is how it usually goes. For some reason, Friday's pies took about an hour and a half, before they were fully cooked. When the top is risen a bit, and it is nicely browned, you can remove it from the oven. Let the pie sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serving

We had this pie with chicken breasts cooked with pesto and Mozzarella, which was great, and I need to get the recipe. We also had a huge salad, bread and cheesecake for dessert. Oh, and lots of wine, beer and stories. Fun time!

Mexican style pork sandwiches

I still have lots of roast pork left from Saturday’s dinner. I made a pork sandwich on Sunday, just like it was a turkey sandwich, with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. On Sunday, I also made pasties with some of the pork. On Monday, it was more pasties. 

A couple of nights ago, I decided to make a Mexican style sandwiches. Ok, maybe these aren't authentically Mexican, but they were tasty. I admit, there isn’t much to this recipe. It goes together quickly.

If you want to avoid the heat, use bell peppers, and enchilada sauce instead of the jalapeños and Herdez salsa. I’m going to skip some of the measurements because, well, this is a sandwich. You’ll figure it out. This recipe is for two sandwiches.

Olive oil

A bunch of thin slices of roast pork

2 large jalapeños (or 1 bell) cut into strips

1 large shallot, sliced and minced

Thyme

Cajun seasoning

About a cup of Herdez 5 Chile Salsa

Large hamburger buns

Several slices of Cheddar cheese

Preparation

Pre heat the oven to 350º. Heat a large cast iron skillet and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the jalapeño strips and the minced shallots. Stir that and set a skillet lid, that just fits inside the cast iron pan (not on it), so it nests over the peppers and shallots. Let those steam a few minutes. Place two large hamburger buns in the oven to warm, and to crisp up the outside.

Thinly slice a bunch of roast pork, enough for two large sandwiches. When in doubt, slice some more. Evenly distribute the pork slices on top of the peppers, covering them completely, but together enough that the lid will still fit over the pork, and touch the bottom of the cast iron pan. Let the pork and vegetables steam for about five minutes, until they are piping hot.

Pour the Herdez salsa over the pork. Season it with a sprinkle of thyme and some cajun seasoning. Return the lid so the salsa gets to steam as well. Finally, stir it all together, and make sure all the pork slices are completely coated in the sauce.

Remove the hamburger buns from the oven and set them on an oven proof plate. Place a slice of cheddar on the bottom half of each bun. Pile half of the pork mixture on the cheese of the first bun. Get lots of sauce too. Place a slice of cheddar on that. Repeat with the second sandwich. Make sure all the sauce is on the sandwiches. Top the sandwiches with top half of the buns. Place the plate with the two sandwiches in the oven, so the cheese is completely melted, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

I served my sandwiches very simply, with a pickle wedge. I also made a huge tossed salad. I opened a bottle of ice cold Vinho Verde wine and sat down to a feast.

Roasted pork for Saturday dinner

I made a big pork roast and had the neighbors over for dinner on Saturday. I originally planned on doing the roast on my charcoal grill, but about the time I was going to light the grill, a combination of snow, sleet, and ice came blasting out of the sky, and I decided that the oven was the way to go.

The roast I had was a big bone-in sirloin roast that was actually in two pieces, packaged together. They fit perfectly in my blue enamel steel roasting pan. Once again, I should have invited all the families on the next block, because I had enough food for all of them. Here’s how I prepared the roast.

8-1/2 lb. bone in pork roast

Olive oil

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Cumin

Cajun seasoning

Thyme

Adobo seasoning

Wondra gravy flour

Water

Preparation

Set the roast in a roasting pan and rub it with olive oil all over. This roast came with one side mostly bone, so I set in in bone side down. Sprinkle onion powder  evenly on the top and sides of the pork. Repeat with a dusting of garlic powder, then cumin, and finally the cajun seasoning. Now sprinkle on lots of thyme. Finally, give it a sprinkle of adobo seasoning. Look at that. We haven’t even turned the oven on, and I already used most of the ingredients. Let the roast sit at room temperature for about an hour.

Pre heat the oven to 380º. Place the roast on the bottom rack of the oven. For a roast this size, it will take about three hours. With pork, I shoot for an internal temperature of 155º on my instant read thermometer. After the roast was in the oven for an hour, I placed a bunch of potatoes on the top rack, to bake.

When the roast reaches the right temp, remove it from the oven and set the roast on a platter in a warm place. Cover the roast with foil, and let it rest for about ten minutes. While that is resting, set the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat. Add enough flour to absorb most of the fat in the pan. Stir and cook the flour for a minute or two, and then start adding water, a little at a time, to make a gravy. After you hit the right gravy thickness, let it simmer for a minute or two and then adjust for salt and pepper. I also added a spec of cajun seasoning to the gravy.

Serving

We had a huge feast of roast pork, gravy, baked potatoes, green beans and almonds sautéed in butter, a big salad, a vegetable tray, and homemade bread. We also had ravioli and tomato sauce for the vegetarian neighbors. The beverage was German beer, and the conversation was lively.

Sautéed chicken with a Gorgonzola cream sauce

Last week I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home from the office. I wanted to pick something up for dinner, and I knew I needed some vegetables. 

Whole Foods is a little too pricy for my taste, but it is right on the way home and they have good stuff, so I stopped. I picked out the vegetables I needed, but nothing at the meat counter appealed to me, at least not at the prices they wanted for it. 

I tried to force myself to decide on something, and then remembered I had some chicken breasts in the freezer, so I skipped the meat counter, and wandered to the cheese section. I picked out a Spanish blue veined cheese and a unique Gorgonzola, that was almost like a Brie. 

On the way home, I got the idea for a Gorgonzola gravy. It turned out fantastic. Here’s how I prepared it.

2 bone-in chicken breasts

Olive oil

1/2 tsp. of cumin

Cajun seasoning

Fresh ground white pepper

1 large green onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced fine

1 cup of dry white wine

1/2 cup of heavy cream

2 tbs. of Gorgonzola cheese

Preparation

This would probably go better with shallots rather than the onion, but I didn’t come up with this idea until after I left the store, and I was out of shallots. 

Heat a small oven proof skillet and add enough olive oil to generously coat the bottom. Sear the chicken on both sides and then season it with the cumin, a heavy sprinkle of cajun seasoning and some fresh ground white pepper. Cover the skillet and lower the heat. Let the chicken cook about five minutes per side, to start cooking the center of the chicken.

Add the onion and the garlic, cover, and let that cook an additional five minutes. Add the wine, bring it to a boil, cover and simmer the chicken for about ten minutes. By now, the chicken should be thoroughly cooked and very moist inside. Set the chicken on a plate, and set that in a warm oven.

Add the cream to the skillet and bring that to a boil. Add the chunks of Gorgonzola and stir until the cheese melts. Taste and adjust for seasoning. I added a spec more cumin and some more white pepper. When it tastes perfect, you are ready to serve.

Serving

Serve the chicken smothered with the creamy gravy. Since I did the Whole Foods thing, I kept the rest of the meal very simple. I made a large tossed salad and set out a platter of fresh vegetables. I also set both cheeses I bought on the  table to nibble on.