Buttery oatmeal bread

Last Saturday I had my neighbors over for dinner, and I made a simple basil marinara sauce for pasta, along with some sausage and peppers. I also made this buttery yeasty bread, with oatmeal. This is really a dinner roll type dough, rich with lots of butter, but I wanted to make loaves instead of rolls. 

The key to this is, to make a dough that is so wet, that you can barely knead it, because you want the bread to be real moist inside. Here’s how I put this together. Remember, I never measure this stuff. Just guess. It’s only bread.

3/4 cup of oatmeal

3 cups of bread flour

8 tbs. of room temp butter

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup honey

2 tbs. yeast

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups of lukewarm water (approximate)

Pam cooking spray

Preparation

Place the oatmeal and one cup of the flour in your mixing bowl. Add the salt, honey, 3 tablespoons of butter and yeast, and mix that into a slurry. Let it sit in the mixing bowl for about twenty minutes, until it becomes frothy, as the yeast activates. 

Add the eggs, and, a half cup at a time, add the flour, and bring the dough together. Remember, you want a wet dough that is difficult to knead. Adjust with a little water or flour if necessary. Flour your hands and knead the dough for a minute or so.

Spray two bread pans with some cooking spray. Divide the dough in half, and set each half in a pan. Let those rise for at least thirty five minutes in a warm place.

When the dough has doubled in size and has expanded to cover the bottom of the bread pan, add two and a half tablespoons of butter, in pieces, on top of each loaf. Bake in the center of a 380º oven, until the bread is golden brown, about twenty minutes. When it looks almost ready, remove the bread from the pan, and finish it for about five minutes in the oven, on the rack. Let the bread cool for five minutes before slicing.

Serving

We served this bread with more butter, during our meal of pasta topped with a basil marinara sauce. We also had Italian sausage with peppers, and a huge tossed salad. I received lots of compliments on this bread.

All day spaghetti sauce

If you have the time, you  really can’t beat spaghetti sauce made with pork neck bones. The bones add a richness to the sauce that just shouts comfort food. There are lots of different ways to do this, but this method is one of my favorites. 

First the bones are roasted for a couple of hours. Next they simmer for hours to make a broth, and finally they merge with the tomatoes. I got lots of complements on the sauce, including a big one from myself. Here’s how I made it.

1-1/2 lb. of meaty pork neck bones

Cajun seasoning

Onion powder

Black pepper

Lots of water

2 tsp. thyme

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup of onion flakes

1 tsp. garlic powder

Adobo seasoning

6 oz. can of tomato paste

2 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup of red wine

Few dashes of Maggi seasoning

28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

Preparation

You’ll have to start cooking this sauce in the morning. Season the neck bones on all sides with lots of cajun seasoning, and a dusting of onion powder. Set them in an enameled dutch oven. Grind on some black pepper. Set the pot in a 350º oven. Let those roast for at least two hours.

When the bones have roasted, set the dutch oven on the stove and add enough water to cover the bones by a couple of inches.  Add the onion flakes, one teaspoon of thyme, a bay leaf, and a heavy sprinkle of adobo seasoning. Bring that to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer. Let that simmer, partially covered for at least three hours. Stir every so often as it simmers.

After three hours on the stove, the liquid will have reduced so the top of the bones are sticking out of the broth. Stir in the tomato paste, add a teaspoon of the basil, the oregano, marjoram, and the Italian seasoning. Stir to dissolve the paste, and add the wine. Let this simmer very gently for a couple more hours, but stir often.

By now you will notice that most of the meat has fallen off the bones, and the bones have separated. Use a set of  tongs to remove the bones from the sauce and pull of any remaining meat off the bones, to return to the sauce. Let this continue to simmer.

One half hour before serving, place the San Marzano tomatoes in a bowl, and break them up by squeezing them with your hand. Add those to the sauce, along with the remaining thyme and basil. Give the sauce several dashes of Maggi seasoning and stir. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. You don’t want to cook the flavor out of the tomatoes, so just bring it to a very light simmer for no more than thirty minutes.

Serving

We served this sauce over lots of thick spaghetti, along with a huge tossed salad, plenty of olives and some homemade bread. I was very pleased with this sauce.

East European style duck soup

Now that it is cold and snowy again, I love making huge pots of soup on Saturdays and Sundays. Once I serve it, I cover the pot, and out on the deck it goes to cool and freeze, ready for the next day. Last Saturday, I was making an East European style dinner. I made a veal paprikas, served over noodles, homemade cocktail rye bread, and this duck soup. 

Why is it called East European style? Actually, I don’t know if it really is. Certainly some of the ingredients aren’t traditional. Still, I kind of flavored it like some soups I’ve had at Polish or Bohemian restaurants. And, besides, if I was a farmer in Poland or Hungary, and I wanted to make a duck soup, this is how I would make it. So, you can rest assured that this is a genuine East European style duck soup. 

Whenever you have a roast chicken, duck, turkey, or even cornish hens, save the bones for soup. Here’s the recipe. When I make soup, I add in a lot of leftovers that I happen to have. That explains some of the ingredients. The lettuce was getting old, so I threw that in as well. 

1 duck carcass  with a little meat left on it. 

Lots of water

Onion flakes

1/2 tsp. oregano

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. peppercorns

Adobo seasoning

1 cup of pinto beans, soaked overnight

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 cups of chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup of leftover marinara sauce (or 15 oz. can of chopped tomatoes)

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. caraway seeds

1/2 lb. smoked Polish sausage

1-1/2 cups of cooked wild rice

6 large lasagna noodles, broken up

Worcestershire sauce

Maggi seasoning

Preparation

First you need to make a stock. This will be your morning chore, after breakfast. Place the duck carcass in a large stock pot. Add about a half cup of onion flakes, two bay leaves, a heavy sprinkle of adobo seasoning and about a half teaspoon each, of peppercorns and oregano. Bring that to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer gently for about two hours. Strain it into a large soup pot, and let the bones cool. 

Place the soup pot on the stove and start it simmering again. Add the rinsed beans, the chopped onion, celery and carrots. Chop and add the romaine lettuce, along with the caraway seeds. Pick through the bones from the stock, and pull all the meat off the bones. You’ll get about a cup or more meat, if you sift through it all. Dice and add the duck meat. Simmer partially covered.

When the soup has simmered for about an hour, add the leftover marinara sauce (or the canned diced tomatoes). Add the thyme and the wild rice. Chop and add the smoked sausage. Let this simmer for two more hours. By now it should start to get a little thicker. Taste and adjust the soup for salt and pepper. Splash on about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and then give it about a teaspoon of Maggi seasoning. Break up and add the lasagna noodles, and let this simmer for another half hour, stirring often. Taste and adjust one last time for seasoning, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

Last night, I just had a few bowls of this soup, along with a big tossed green salad, and sliced homemade cocktail rye. Any red wine will be good with this soup, or even beer for that matter.

Veal paprikas

I was looking for something interesting to cook for dinner last Saturday, and I went to the grocery for some inspiration. At first, no ideas hit me, and then when I saw they had veal blade steaks. I got a notion to try a Hungarian style Veal paprikas. It is a simple veal stew with onions, paprika and sour cream. I used Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream, which works just as well.

I had my neighbors over for dinner, and I got good reviews on this. It isn’t spicy at all, but well seasoned. Here’s how I made it.

3 lb. of veal blade steaks

3 tbs. lard (actually I used duck fat)

2 large onions, chopped 

2 tbs. Hungarian paprika

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup of sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 can of tomato paste

2 cups of chicken broth (actually I used duck stock)

Salt and fresh ground white pepper

2 cups of sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)

Maggi seasoning

Egg noodles, cooked and drained

Preparation

This takes a little time to cook, and will make the house smell real nice. Heat a large braising pan. Add the lard or duck fat and let it melt. Add the onions and stir. You want to cook the onions, stirring often, until they are golden brown. Don’t let them burn, but instead, gently let them caramelize and sweeten over lower heat. This will take about twenty minutes, so don’t rush it.

While the onions are doing their thing, cut the veal off the bones and into little cubes. When the onions are a beautiful golden brown, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the paprika. Stir that into the onions and fat for a minute, and then return the pan to the stove. Add the veal and stir. Cover and let that begin to cook. 

Add the tomato paste and stir well to mix it with the veal. Cover and let the moisture from the meat accumulate in the pan. After about ten minutes, add the mushrooms and peppers. Stir and cover. When they begin to soften, add enough broth to give the sauce a gravy thickness, and stir. Scrape up anything that stuck to the pan. Let this simmer, covered, for about fifteen minutes.

Taste and adjust for salt and pepper, and then stir in the sour cream or yogurt. Stir to blend it well. Cover and let that simmer a few minutes. Sprinkle on a few dashes of Maggi seasoning and stir. Turn off the heat, and let it rest, covered, while you cook the noodles.

Serving

We had the paprikas served over a big pile of noodles. I also served sauerkraut simmered with a little caraway. The meal started with an East European style duck soup, and I also served homemade cocktail rye bread. I opened a bottle of dry red wine from the Republic of Georgia to wash everything down.

Lamb tacos

When I arrived home Monday, I noticed that I had some lamb left on the bone, from Saturday’s roast lamb. I was in a lighter mood, and, since I had everything else I needed, I decided to make tacos. I don’t care for the hard shell tacos. I prefer to use regular corn tortillas to loosely hold everything together. 

This is a simple way to use up any leftover roast. As far as I am concerned, it is one of my favorite meals. The squeeze of fresh lime, is what makes this so bright and flavorful. Here’s how I put this together.

2 cups of slivered roast lamb

Olive oil

2 large jalapeños, sliced

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Adobo seasoning

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

6-8 corn tortillas, warmed

1 cup of sliced heirloom cherry tomatoes

1 lime cut into eighths

1/2 cup of crumbled Cotija cheese

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

Valentina Hot Sauce (I prefer the hotter black label)

Preparation

To make this, you want to start by cutting everything up, before you begin cooking. Heat two cast iron pans, one for warming the tortillas, and one for cooking the meat. Have the tomatoes, lime, cheese, and lettuce ready on a platter, and set it on the dinner table.

Now you are ready to cook. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the meat pan, and then add the chopped lamb. Stir, give that a minutes, and add the jalapeños. Stir, and let the peppers soften a bit, and then add the onion wedges.

Sprinkle on the cumin, oregano, and garlic powder, and then give a generous sprinkle of adobo seasoning. Stir and let all that sizzle for a few minutes to just soften the onions. When they are just getting soft, sprinkle on a splash or two of Worcestershire sauce. Stir as that sizzles off, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

Heat the corn tortillas, about fifteen seconds per side, on the scalding hot cast iron, and set them between two bread plates, and then set that on the table. Take a corn tortilla, and set it on your dinner plate. Add a few scoops of the lamb onions and peppers. Top that with some of the tomatoes, Cotija cheese, a squeeze of lime, and some lettuce. Sprinkle on some Valentina Hot Sauce, and you are ready. Just shape it into a U, and dig in. Along with this, a bowl of tortilla chips with a good salsa is nice. I opted for a ice cold Mexican beer to wash everything down.

Standing duck roast

On New Year’s Eve, I bought a frozen duck, which has been thawing in my fridge. On Sunday, I decided it was time to roast it. I’ve learned over the years, to cook duck nice and slow, so the meat isn’t greasy. 

I decided to try my poultry stand to roast the duck. Normally, I just set the duck in the cast iron and start roasting. By allowing the duck to sit upright, the stand lets the fat drain off as it cooks. It also allows the duck to roast more evenly, with more exposure to the air. If you don’t have a stand, just roast it in cast iron, and it will be fine. Here’s how I prepared it. 

1 duckling, around 4-1/2 lb. 

Poultry seasoning

Dill

Cajun seasoning

White pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup of onion flakes

Flour

Watet

Worcestershire sauce

Maggi Seasoning

Preparation

An hour before you plan on cooking, remove the duck from the packaging. Since most ducks are sold frozen, their is usually ice crystals inside, after it thaws. The giblets inside were still pretty icy. 

Remove the giblets to a pot, and set that in the fridge. Season the duck with some poultry seasoning, a little dill, and a sprinkle of cajun seasoning and white pepper. If you are using a stand,  set it in a large cast iron pan, and then set the duck over the dome, so that its legs rest and form a tripod with the dome. Give the duck a full hour at room temperature, before you start roasting.

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Add a quart or more of water to the saucepan with he giblets, and then add a bay leaf and the onion flakes. Sprinkle in a little dill and some more poultry seasoning. Bring that to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the giblets very lightly, uncovered, until they are needed for gravy.

Place the duck into the oven. Roasting time will vary, but somewhere between two, and two and a half hours, will work. Mine was perfect at two hours and fifteen minutes. When it is ready, the skin will be golden, crispy, and loose from the meat. Place the duck on a pie plate and keep warm, while you make gravy.

Now, after you remove the poultry stand,  you will have way more duck fat in the cast iron pan, than you need for gravy. Don’t waste the excess. Good, clear duck fat is a delicious cooking fat for chicken, potatoes, or dishes like jambalaya, or stew. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. 

Leave about an eighth inch of fat in the cast iron pan. Heat that up, while you chop the giblets from the broth. Add the giblets to the fat, and enough flour to make a wet slurry. Stir that for about a minute to cook the flour, and then add the giblet broth, a little at a time, to make the gravy. If needed, use extra water if there isn’t enough broth. Simmer the gravy, and add a splash of Worcestershire sauce, and a few drops of Maggi Seasoning. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

I served a duck breast and thigh, with a pile of mashed potatoes, and the giblet gravy. Next I added a pile of sauerkraut that was simmered with some caraway. Finally, some mixed vegetables and some homemade bread completed the meal. I opted for a cold German beer.