patrickamory

My photos aren't going to be as appetizing as Xilimmns's, but anyway I tried out three new dishes tonight. Pressure-cooked chickpeas for hummus: Leeks "à la grecque" from Jane Grigson's Good Things: And robirdstx's chicken pot pie:

Here is my Texan friend's recipe for beans borrachos. I've made it several times and it's always a huge hit. FRIJOLES BORRACHOS 2 poblano chiles ¼ pound of chicharron, cut into small pieces 4 slices of bacon, cut into in small pieces 1 small onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, minced 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes in juice 2 cups good dried beans such as pintos, cooked, with their cooking liquid Salt Dark beer Cilantro 1. Roast, peel, cut poblanos into small pieces. 2. Put bacon into medium sauce pan, fry in medium heat, stirring regularly until bacon is crisp, about 3 minutes. Throw in chicharron. Then put in onion. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent. Then put in garlic, stir one minute. Add chiles, cook for 2 minutes. Then the whole can of tomatoes with juice. Cook 3-4 minutes. 3. Dump beans in with liquid. And then dump in a dark beer or two -- like say, Negra Modelo -- to cover. Bring up to a nice temperature, then turn it down to medium-low and simmer for at least 15 minutes. Right before serving, stir in cilantro to taste.

Prawncrackers - yes, there is no way in the world that recipe will come out looking like that! I suspect some serious post-processing, the use of kashmiri red chiles, food colouring, or worse... I joined the fried rice wagon tonight.

Stunning photography as always Prawncrackers... also those dumplings are remarkably uniform in size and shape.

dcarch - you made the hearts as planned! Bruce - oh man those tacos look gorgeous - and fairly straightforward as well. Is that Diana Kennedy? Do you make your own tortillas?

Dejah aaggghhh fresh green peppercorns! So jealous. You're in Canada right? You can source them there in midwinter?

Right, but presumably the beans were cooked before the beer was added... the beer would have gone in during the baking process which is the second part.

Hi rotuts - that's a long green chile on top! The medium-hot Indian kind. The recipe is from Camellia Panjabi, you can find it online here: http://www.frontiercoop.com/store.php?Screen=recipe&recipe=1623 A couple of notes... the 3 cloves garlic need to be minced of course. The heat at the start of the recipe should be medium-high, going down to medium when the dry spices are added. I used 1 tsp grated fresh turmeric in place of the 1/2 tsp dry, and added it with the ginger rather than the dry spices. Finally, frozen grated coconut will yield a better result than canned. Tomatoes are bad this time of year in the Northeast, so I added a good squeeze of good tomato paste. For fat, I used vegetable oil, but did the tadka with ghee.

This is my take on Texas red, though if properly executed it will come out a rich, dark chocolatey brown. No chocolate, sugar, beer or coffee is needed - all these flavors will emerge from the combination of the roasted dried chiles and browned, braised beef. The suet and beef broth are critical. Like all chilis, this one is best refrigerated and served the next day. For chili powder: 6 dried ancho chiles 4 dried pasilla chiles 4 dried cascabel chiles 4-6 dried chiles de arbol For chile: 1/4 cup suet (beef kidney fat) 1 1/2 lb first cut brisket, trimmed of all fat and cut into 1/8" cubes 1 lb ground beef 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 serrano chile, minced 1 6-oz. can tomato paste (containing only tomatoes and salt) 1 cup thick beef stock, preferably homemade 3 1/2 tbs chili powder (above) 1 tbs cumin seeds, toasted and ground 3 anchovies, crumbled by hand dried Mexican oregano water 1-2 tbs salt dried pequin chiles Make the chile powder. Roast each of the chile types separately over medium heat in a large cast-iron pan until thoroughly dry and brittle and slightly colored. Keep the pan moving so that the chiles don't scorch. If necessary, heat the hard-to-dry anchos in a 250-degree oven for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then remove the seeds and interior walls and break into 1/2" pieces. Grind in a clean spice grinder, in batches if necessary. Place powder in bowl and mix thoroughly. Reserve 3 1/2 tbs for chile, and place the rest in a tightly sealed glass jar in a dark place for future use. Heat half the suet in a large cast-iron frying pan over high heat. Brown the brisket in batches, allowing the pieces to sit undisturbed long enough to develop a real brown crust. Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon. Now do the same for the ground beef, breaking up any lumps with the back of the slotted spoon. Add the rest of the suet to whatever remains in the pan and soften the onion over medium heat (4-6 minutes). Add the garlic and serrano and brown, stirring (2 minutes). Move the contents of the pan to the edges and add the tomato paste to the center. Brown it, stirring, for 3-4 minutes. Add chili powder, ground cumin, anchovies, 1 tablespoon of the salt, a crumbled handful of Mexican oregano, and stock. Bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom. Transfer contents to a heavy pot such as a dutch oven, and add water to just cover the meat. Stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, uncovered, 3-4 hours. Keep an eye on the pot and add extra hot water as needed to keep the beef barely covered (if some pieces stick above the liquid this is not a problem). The chili should thicken rapidly and stay thick - you can add masa harina if necessary but it probably will not be needed. You want to keep the meat moist but not drowned - only add the bare minimum of water. Taste after the first hour and crumble some pequins into the chili for extra heat if desired. In the last hour and half hour adjust for salt - you may need as much more as an extra tablespoon. Keep in mind that the final flavor will be very concentrated. When done, remove from heat. Serve warm, or better, allow to cool, refrigerate, and reheat to serve the next day.

How was that General Tso's chicken Bruce??

Malabar shrimp curry:

nice chili scubadoo. Soba, that scrambled egg open-faced sandwich with lumpfish roe looks yummy. Were you thinking smørrebrod?

I love the Finnish Ruis bread from Nordic Breads. And would love to try to make it at home. The one downside about buying it is that it lasts for 24 hours, max (they suggested freezing it - the results were not great). If I could make this at home I would be a happy camper.

Chili

Gorgeous gumbo Paul

Love that place. They didn't get rid of the amazing old neon sign did they??

mm that is off the hook

Went Western. Sour cream noodle bake:

Love drunken beans and make them semi-frequently.

rotuts, it's the "soup with vegetables and meatballs (yuan zi tang)". Calls for a large quantity of chicken stock.

Amazing looking Persian food Jason, especially the blackish-green gormeh sabzi (exactly the right color). Spinach soup with pork meatballs, based on a recipe from the new Fuchsia Dunlop book:

Papardelle with meatballs

I love the butter and onion sauce. I use Lurpak and Danicoop. But time seems to be the most important ingredient. (P.S. FrogPrincesse that is a lovely photo....)

That looks really good, Dejah. Did you brine plums yourself, or are they a prepared product?

I've made the cabbage with dried shrimp, and the vegetable soup with pork meatballs. Both delicious.