IN MEMORY OF BASTILLE

My Yiayia's Pork Chops With Cumin and Oregano Rub.

This way of making pork chops is a tradition in my family. I've never seen it served anywhere else, therefore, I do indeed wonder about the origin of the recipe. It's something my grandmother and mother liked to cook in winter. I learned how to make it just by watching. 

The dominant seasoning in this recipe is cumin, so much so, that when I think of cumin I think of pork chops, and vice versa. Cumin has a smoky flavour and is a favourite spice in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Here, it's combined with Greek oregano, garlic, rosemary, and onions. The results are fragrant and delicious. 

These pork chops were made on a blisteringly cold January day. I broiled them indoors, in my warm kitchen. If you can brave the winter cold, fire up the grill and cook them outdoors. You will deserve an extra pork chop for your efforts.

I don't have specific measurements for the ingredients. I "eye" everything. However, remember that cumin has a strong flavour so don't use so much that it overpowers the dish. For cumin, it's best to have cumin seeds on hand and grind them as needed.

Here's what to do:

Wash and dry the pork chops. Rub both sides with a combination of lemon juice, olive oil, and a scant amount of Dijon mustard. 

In a bowl, combine freshly ground cumin, dried Greek oregano, fresh rosemary, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Sprinkle these seasonings on both sides of the pork chops. 

Slice an onion into rings. Place half of the rings on the bottom of a flat food storage container. Place the pork chops on top of the onions and cover them with the rest of the onion slices. Cover the container and let rest in the refrigerator for about four hours. 

Shake the onions off and broil or grill the pork chops. 

As the porks chops are cooking, slice an onion into rings. I a skillet, heat about two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion slices and cook, stirring often, until they are caramelised. 

Top each pork chop with caramelised onions and serve with lemon slices.

 

I like to serve these pork chops over rice cooked with pignoli nuts, however, grandmother served them plain, just with the caramelised onions and lemon. They were the first course for Sunday dinner. There were usually a lot of us around her table therefore, a second course was needed and appreciated!  

Well, those were the good old days when grandmother (or yiayia) ruled the kitchen. Today, when I cook, about ninety-five per cent of the time, I cook one-course meals. And I want to confess that the addition of Dijon mustard was my own idea. It's the only ingredient not found in grandmother's recipe. I don't think my yiayia liked to cook with mustard.  

Apple Streusel Cake

Ingredients for the batter:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
rind from one large lemon
2 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Ingredients for the fruit:

3 or 4 baking apples (enough to completely cover the batter)
Juice of one lemon

Ingredients for the streusel:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:

Have the ingredients at room temperature before beginning to make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a square pan or a round cake pan.

Make the streusel topping:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, almonds and ground cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

Prepare the fruit topping:

Peel the apples and cut them in quarters. Slice each quarter lengthwise into four pieces. Place the apples in a bowl, pour the lemon juice over them and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. The lemon juice will give a wonderful flavour to the apples and it will also prevent them from browning while the batter is being made.

Make the batter:

• Cream the butter. 
• Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. 
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla and lemon peel. 
• Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the flour in three batches, alternating with the milk and ending with the flour. Do not over-beat, beat only until combined.
• In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.
• Very gently, fold the egg whites into the batter in two additions. 
• Spread the batter onto the bottom of the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
• Arrange the apples evenly on the batter. 
• Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
•  Remove from the oven and let the cake cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HERBED BEEF AND VEGETABLE STEW FOR A COLD DAY!

This recipe serves eight people. It's nice for serving to a large crowd but if there is no crowd for dinner there will be an ample amount to provide leftovers for the next day's dinner. That's a good thing since stew tastes better the next day! The wine and herbs give lots of flavour to the stew and turn it into an irresistible meal for a cold day. 

A good way of preparing beef for stew is to let it sit in a plain rub for about an hour. Season the beef with salt, black pepper and oregano, cover well and set aside at room temperature for one hour. Once the hour is up you can either begin to cook it or let it chill in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. 

 

Ingredients for the stew:

• 2 lb cubed stew beef, such as bottom round roast. I have discovered that this cut of meat is excellent for stew and I find it preferable to chuck roast. 
• Salt, black pepper and oregano
• 6 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 leek, chopped, washed well, white and light green parts only
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup of good wine, and there is nothing wrong with using white wine when cooking beef stew
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cups chicken broth plus some extra on hand to add if the liquid evaporates to the point where the stew will start to get dry. I use chicken broth because if find it brings to the stew a lighter taste .
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 1 long sprig of rosemary
• some sprigs of parsley
• some kitchen twine
• 2 bay leaves
• one or two leaves from the green part of a leek (washed really well to get the sand off)
• 1 & 1/2 lb Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into pieces.
• 3 carrots, scrubbed well, left unpeeled, sliced into pieces
• 1 cup frozen flat Italian green beans (optional)
• 1 cup frozen peas

Directions:

• Make a bouquet garni: envelop the thyme, rosemary, and parsley with the green leek leaves, and tie them up with kitchen twine. 
• Make sure the meat is at room temperature.
• Trim the meat of fat and cut into 1 and 1/2 or 2-inch pieces.
• Season with salt, black pepper and oregano.
• Dredge in the flour.
• Preheat the oven to 300 F.
• In a Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and while mixing, sauté the onions, celery, and leek. Once the onions become translucent, mix in the garlic. Sauté for one minute. Remove from the pot and reserve. 
• Heat some more olive oil and brown the meat well on all sides. Make sure you do not overcrowd the meat because it will start boiling and steaming. What you want instead is browning, therefore you may need to cook the meat pieces in two batches. If needed, when cooking the second batch add some more oil to the pot. 
• When the meat is browned well, remove it from the pot, cover and set aside.
• Add the tomato paste, mix it around in the pan, then add the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Stir for about one minute.
• Add the wine and bay leaves. Stir to deglaze the pot as you allow the alcohol in the wine to cook off.
• Return the meat and the onion mixture to the pot. 
• Add the broth along with the bouquet garni.
• Season with salt and black pepper, bring to a simmer, cover, and place in the oven. 
• Cook for two hours.
• Remove from the oven, add the potatoes, carrots (and if using, the green beans). Mix well.
• Place back in the oven and cook for another half hour to forty-five minutes or until the potatoes are soft.   
• Ten minutes before the stew is finished add the peas and season with salt and pepper as needed.
• Remove and discard the bay leaves and bouquet garni.
• Plate the stew; ready to serve!  

This photo shows the version with the green beans. I also added extra tomato in this rendition, however it was not to my liking. I find that beef has a substantial enough taste to stand on its own, without tomatoes. But it's all a matter of individual taste, isn't it?

LINUS

This is Linus. A five and a half year old bichon frise who is very active and very affectionate. He also has a very healthy appetite. So it is fitting that there should be a post about him here, in a food related blog. He has watched me cook every recipe I've posted. He has even sampled some of them. Linus was kind enough to pose for the camera on Christmas day, 2009. With him was his very close and very best friend, Bastille. Linus hopes that everyone had a lovely Christmas, and he wishes a Happy New Year to all! Bastille concurs!

Bastille knows there's snow outside. On such days, she considers lounging by the fireplace a splendid passtime! This year we had a white Christmas. December snows are rare here in Philadelphia. We enjoyed the fire 'til the last few embers changed into ashes.

Bastille was feeling under the weather. The vet prescribed antibiotics, and she napped a lot. Bastille, get well soon! We love you very much!

Happy 2010 everyone!

HOLIDAY GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE WITH HOMEMADE CREAM SAUCE.

Green Bean Casserole is one of the most popular side dishes to grace people's tables, particularly during the holidays. In fact, it's a holiday standard. And it's comfort food. The original recipe was invented during the days when canned and processed foods were stars of the kitchen because they were, as advertised by the manufacturers, good tasting and convenient. One usually finds recipes for Green Bean Casserole that call for canned cream of mushroom soup and canned green beans. Alternately, some folks use fresh green beans in combination with canned soup. Yes, it's quick and easy, but just think how much better a green bean casserole will taste if made with homemade sauce! And there's definitely a trend out there of taking the original recipe and augmenting it with fresher, homemade ingredients. 

Look below at this add! Memories ... I wish I had a dollar (or five dollars, why not?) for each time I had opened a magazine to find the recipe in the picture below:

This is definitely a trip down memory lane. Such recipes announced the coming of the holidays!!! 

The original recipe has an unbelievably high sodium content. And does canned mushroom soup really taste as good as a homemade sauce? Perhaps the answer is subjective. Comfort food is comfort food for a reason, and people don't like their comfort food to be messed with. As for me, I tried making everything from scratch and I never looked back. For one thing, I love a homemade roux! So I riffed off the original recipe.

Here we have a recipe that replaces the canned soup for a flavourful roux containing fresh mushrooms. The green beans are fresh and the topping is made from panko breadcrumbs. *Scroll all the way down to find out who invented Green Bean Casserole!

Ingredients:

2 pounds green beans, halved if you like, ends trimmed

olive oil at the ready
1 onion chopped

1 large shallot or two small ones, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 tablespoons flour

Vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups of liquid: start with two cups heavy cream and add the liquid from the green beans. If you have less than three cups add some vegetable broth until you have the amount needed. 
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

salt and pepper to taste

panko topping: for ingredients, see below

Topping:

2 cups unseasoned Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter chopped in tiny pieces. This is easily done when the butter is cold. 
1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese

• Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Directions:

• Braise the green beans: In a Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and add the chopped onion. Cook until the onion is translucent. 
• Add the green beans, season with salt and pepper, and while stirring, cook for about three minutes. 
• Add enough broth to cover the green beans and bring to a boil. Add the parsley and one tablespoon of the thyme. Lower the heat, cover the pot and let cool for about 45 minutes or until desired doneness is reached. 
• Drain the green beans, reserving the cooking liquid if any is left. Set aside both green beans and cooking liquid. 
• In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, lower the heat and add the shallot(s). Cook stirring for about two minutes. 
• Add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and while stirring occasionally, sauté for about five minutes until the mushrooms release their moisture and their liquid begins to evaporate. 
• Add the butter and let melt. Add the flour and cook stirring the mixture for about one minute. Slowly add the three cups of liquid and bring to a boil stirring all the while until you have a thickened mixture.
• Add the Pecorino Romano cheese.
• Combine all the ingredients and arrange them in a baking dish, spreading them in an even layer.
• Sprinkle with the topping and bake at 400° F for about 20 minutes, until the cream is bubbly and the topping is crispy.
• This dish can be partially prepared one day ahead: cover the baking dish and refrigerate. The following day, bring the casserole to room temperature before baking. 

• But wait!!! Who invented the Green Bean Casserole recipe??? Her hand-written recipe card is in the archives of the National Inventors Hall of Fame!

The inventor was Dorcas Reilly (1926-2018), born in New Jersey, resident of Haddonfield New Jersey, graduate of Philadelphia's Drexel University, and employee at the home economics department of Campbell's test kitchens in Camden, New Jersey. Reilly eventually became manager of Cambell's test kitchens. That's her in the photograph below (November 2002), at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame, when she donated her recipe card.

Mrs Dorcas Reilly being honoured at the Inventor's Hall of Fame (2002). She was a pioneer in her field, going to work in the 1950s and managing full-time employment along with marriage and motherhood. 
 

Dorcas Reilly created green bean casserole in 1955 for an Associated Press feature about easy to make holiday dishes. She used ingredients that Americans tended to have on hand in the 1950s, such as green beans and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup. Another famous recipe of hers is the tuna noodle casserole. Which I love made with a homemade roux and topped with potato chips, yum!!! 

Post War America liked inexpensive, fuss-free recipes. A large number of women were entering the workforce and therefore depended on recipes featuring quick, easy to make meals. Convenience cooking, which included canned and frozen foods, became all the rage. How do working women manage their kitchens these days?