Slow Baked Pork Chili and Kirschwasser Strawberry Shortcake

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. The day before yesterday, I had pulled out a pork roast to defrost for dinner, and I had the strawberries from my CSA that I planned to make into strawberry shortcake. I did not have a plan for the roast. Then, I saw a post from a foodie friend on Facebook announcing that it was National Strawberry Day, and National Chili Day. I thought, OK, I have half of that covered. And, as the day was cold and rainy (by San Diego standards), it was a perfect day for chili.

I have fallen in love with doing my chili by slow baking it in an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I think it gets the best texture that way, and there is no danger of scorching the bottom. It also gets the flavors to meld  to perfection.

I had a two pound pork sirloin roast, It was very lean. I cut it into 3/4" cubes. I dredged it in flour seasoned with berbere (an Ethiopian spice mix) cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. I seared the pork pieces in small batches in a little vegetable oil in the bottom of my dutch oven.

After pulling out all the seared pork pieces,  I added diced onion and green and red bell peppers to the oil, and sweated them.  To that I added diced fresh tomatoes, a can of crushed tomatoes, and a little pinot noir. I brought that to a simmer, and let it cook for about 45 minutes, to reduce the liquid some.

I seasoned the chili with oregano, rosemary, dried cilantro, thyme, cumin, bay leaf, chili powder, pepper, and salt. I returned the pork to the pot, then put on the lid. I placed it into a 280 F oven, where it cooked slowly for three hours.

After three hours, the pork was tender, and just starting to fall apart. The flavors had melded beautifully.

Strawberry shortcake has always been a major comfort food for me. And, I mean real strawberry shortcake, not stale store bought sponge cake rounds. Proper shortcakes are scones or biscuits, maybe lightly sweetened.

It was a summer favorite my grandmother made. Sliced strawberries are macerated in a little sugar, to get them to release their own juices. The biscuits are soaked with lightly sweetened cream or half and half. It's a simple dessert, but one I adore.

In this case, I tried to elevate the dessert by adding a little kirschwasser to the strawberries and sugar as they macerated. I also added a little of the kirschwasser to the heavy cream, with a little sugar. I used a whisk to whip it until moderately thick, but stopped well before it reached even soft peaks.

For the biscuits, I used my basic scone recipe. The spouse had made them to take to work, and had more than she needed. She rolled them and cut them out, to the stage where they were ready to go into the oven. She then froze about half the batch. I pulled the frozen scones out, and placed them on an ungreased baking sheet. I baked them for 20 minutes in a 375 F oven, and they turned out just as nice as if they hadn't been frozen. This is actually good news for the business.

I thought the kirschwasser added a nice touch. We both enjoyed the dessert very much.

Slow Baked Pork Chili

Coating Flour:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. berbere powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

Chili:

2 lbs. pork sirloin roast, cut into 3/4" cubes

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

7 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 28 oz. can peeled crushed tomatoes

1 cup pinot noir

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried cilantro

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients for coating flour.

Heat oil in a large enameled cast iron dutch oven over medium to medium high heat. Toss pork pieces in coating flour, shaking off excess. Sear pork pieces in the oil until brown on all sides. Remove from dutch oven, set aside.

Add onion and bell peppers to oil, cook until softened. Add fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and wine. bring to a simmer, let cook for about 45 minutes, until somewhat reduced. Add herbs and spices, and return pork to the pot. Cover, place in a 280 F oven. Bake for three hours, until pork is tender.

Happy Eating!

A Trio of Medieval Stews

Yesterday I was responsible for a lunch for my local SCA  group. The person running the event wanted hearty stews. Turns out to have been a good choice, as it was a cold and rainy day. I apologize for no pictures, I'd intended to take pictures, but was so focused on getting service out that I forgot. I really need to remember to find someone to be responsible for photos.

I'd spent a little time looking for interesting winter stews. I like to try to do foods at least inspired by Medieval or Renaissance recipes. I'm most concerned with providing a delicious, filling, satisfying meal, but it is nice to support the atmosphere with food that is at least consistent with period.

I ended up going with three options. For the first, I went with a middle eastern lamb stew. I was inspired by this recipe.  It is based on a recipe from the Al-Bagdadi cookbook. My version had boneless leg of lamb cut into bite sized pieces, and simmered with cinnamon stick and fresh coriander. I made a spice mix of black pepper, long pepper, grains of paradise, and coriander seed. I used that mix to season the lamb. I added onion, leek, and carrot by way of vegetables. I added raisins and dried Turkish figs. The stew was also flavored with red wine vinegar and honey.

I wanted a poultry option for the second choice. I was inspired by this recipe. I thought it could easily be modified to a stew. I used a mix of boneless chicken thighs and breasts cut into bite sized pieces. I simmered the chicken in chicken stock and moscato. I added celery and onions, as well as dates and currants. I added a little sugar to balance the stew, and seasoned it with ground mace and fresh ground black pepper. About five minutes before service, I added orange supremes.

For the third choice, I wanted a vegan option. I found this recipe based on an ancient Greek recipe. I used red lentils, and added carrots, leeks, onions, and celery. It was flavored with a little red wine vinegar and honey. I provided a little olive oil and crushed coriander seed to garnish the stew, as desired.

I made sourdough rolls, multi-grain rolls, and gluten free scones by way of bread. Yeah, I know, modern scones are not in anyway period. They are, however, a way of providing a gluten free bread option that I feel confident will be tasty. Good gluten free bread is just difficult to do,

All three of these recipes came out the way I intended. The broth for the lamb was particularly tasty.

Recipes

Spice Mix for Lamb

4 long pepper pods

1 Tbsp. black peppercorns

2 tsp. grains of paradise

2 tsp. coriander seeds

Place all ingredients in a spice grinder. Grind to a fine powder.

Sikbaj (Lamb with Raisins and Figs)

2 lbs. lamb, cut into 3/4" cubes

1/2 onion, diced

1 leek, tough tops removed, diced

1/2 lb. carrots, diced

1 small bunch cilantro

1/2 cinnamon stick

3 oz. raisins

2 oz. Turkish figs, diced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp. Spice Mix for Lamb

salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add lamb, cooked until browned on all sides. Season with Spice Mix and salt. Add water to cover, add cinnamon stick and bunch of cilantro. Bring to a simmer, cook for one hour. 

Remove cinnamon and cilantro. Add vegetables and more Spice Mix and salt to taste. Simmer one hour. 

Add figs, raisins, vinegar, and honey. simmer one hour.

Adjust seasoning, serve.

Chicken with Oranges and Currants

2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts and thighs, cut into bite size pieces

1 pint chicken stock

1 pint moscato wine

1/2 stalk celery, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1 3/4 oz. dates, diced

2 oz. currants

2 1/2 oranges peeled, cut into supremes

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. ground mace

sugar to taste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add chicken, brown on all sides. Add stock and wine. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer one hour,

Add vegetables and dried fruit. Add mace. Simmer one hour.

Add sugar as necessary. Add orange segments. Simmer five minutes. Adjust seasoning as necessary, then serve.

Zeno's Lentil Stew

1 lb. red lentils, rinsed

1 quart vegetable stock

water as needed

1 leek, tough tops removed, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 lb. carrots, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp. honey

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil and crushed coriander for garnish

In a stock pot over medium heat, combine lentils and stock. Simmer until lentils are tender, about an hour. Add water as necessary to keep lentils covered. 

Add vegetables and simmer until tender. Add vinegar and honey. Season with salt and pepper.

Optionally, garnish a bowl of stew with a dollop of olive oil and a pinch of crushed coriander seeds.

Happy eating!

Outdoor Wedding Buffet

Last weekend, I was out camping with about 2500 of my closest friends at the Potrero War, a medieval and renaissance re-creation event. At the event, two people I care for got married, and they asked the spouse and I to help with the food. The spouse made pasta salads and desserts, which I may cover in another post, if I can get the recipes from her. She also provided sliced cheese, rolled cold cuts for deli platters, bought melons that were cut up, and cut up veggies for a veggie tray. She did the bulk of the work, because I had to be on site on Wednesday for other duties, and we wanted the food to be as fresh as possible.

I made two dishes. One was a Persian chicken, walnut, and pomegranate stew called fesenjan.  The recipe I used for inspiration can be found here. The stew is sautéed chicken flavored with onion, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and pomegranate molasses. It uses ground walnuts as a thickener. I prepared this at home, froze it, then it was thawed and reheated at the event.

To go with the fesenjan, I made rice, which I also froze and reheated at the event. For both the stew and the rice, I double bagged them in heavy duty freezer bags to be reheated by placing the bags in a large pot of boiling water.

I like this a lot. The walnuts add a great flavor, and the pomegranate molasses gives it a mildly tart, almost sweet and sour, taste that is quite different from most chicken dishes you'll run into.

I also made some stuffed dates. I worked from a recipe by a friend of the brides. There were stuffed
with a mixture of cream cheese, honey, ground pistachios, and cinnamon. I worked the mixture in my stand mixer until smooth and creamy, then placed it into a piping bag with a plain tip with an opening about the same size as the opening in the dates. One thing I will do next time is run the nuts through a colander to remove the largest pieces. I had my pastry tip clog a couple of times on a larger piece of pistachio. I piped the dates full of the mixture.

These turned out really nice. The creaminess of the filling contrasted well with the firm date.

Recipes

Fesenjan (Chicken, Pomegranate, and Walnut Stew)

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs and breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 medium white onion, diced
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup ground walnuts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt to taste

Add butter and oil to a skillet over medium to medium high heat. Sautéed chicken pieces until lightly browned on all sides. Chicken need not be fully cooked. Place in a stock pot..

Sweat onions in pan until translucent. Add to stock pot.

Use a little of the stock to deglaze the pan. Add to stock pot. Cover chicken with remaining stock.

Cook at a simmer for 20 minutes. Add pomegranate molasses and spices. Stir in walnuts. Simmer another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over long grain rice.

Stuffed Dates

5 lbs. pitted dates
16 oz. by wt. cream cheese
1/3 cup honey
1 cup ground pistachios
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, work cream cheese with a paddle until smooth. Add honey, work again until creamy.  Add sugar, nuts, cinnamon, and salt. Work for five minutes, or until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag with a plain tip that will just fit in the dates.

Pipe into each date until it is just full. Refrigerate dates until serving time.

Happy Eating!

Culinary Class: Asian Style Chicken Stew and Rice Pilaf

Yesterday was our penultimate cooking lab. Only one more left, in two weeks. Next week is our knife skills test. I plan to spend next Tuesday destroying carrots.

Anyway, we are continuing our survey of wet cooking methods. This time we covered stewing. Stewing generally involves cooking smaller portions of meat completely immersed in liquid.

For this class we made an Asian style stewed chicken. It was flavored with garlic, onion, ginger, vinegar, cilantro, and hot peppers. Slow cooking helped the chicken become permiated with the flavors, and become fall-off-the bone tender. The sauce was thickened at the end with a slurry of corn starch.

I think this may be my favorite recipe of the class so far.

To accompany the stew, we made a basic rice pilaf. In a pilaf, the rice grains are coated in fat so that they remain separate, and the rice as a whole is fluffy. The rice is sautéed fat until well coated. Water is added, and the pot covered. It is important to leave the pot alone at this point. The rice needs to be left alone for about 25 minutes. It can be finished either on the stove top, or in the oven.

We kept it simple, as we wanted the rice to accompany the stew, and not clash. It is flavored with a little garlic and onion. We used butter as the fat to fry the rice and coat the kernels.

We used parboiled rice. This rice is partially cooked, making the cooking time shorter, and there is less starch on the outside to gelatinize and make it sticky.

The rice came out perfect. It was a little al dente, and had not a hint of stickiness. It did a great job of soaking up the sauce from the chicken.

All recipes courtesy of Chef Joe Orate.

Recipes

Chef Joe's Ginger Chicken Stew

1 chicken cut into 10 pieces, skin removed
1 onion, rough chopped
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup diced celery
1 Thai chili, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, diced
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced cilantro
2 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. corn starch
2 cups water

In a heavy stew pot over medium heat, sweat onions, celery, and garlic. Add chicken pieces, lightly brown. Add stock, soy sauce, vinegar, chili, pepper, and ginger. Bring to a simmer. Cover, let cook one hour and fifteen minutes.

Combine corn starch and water, making sure there are no lumps.

Add cilantro to stew. Slowly stir in corn starch slurry, until sauce is desired thickness. You may not need all of the slurry. Cook for an additional two minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand five minutes.

Chef Joe's Basic Rice Pilaf

2 cups rice
1/4 cup minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 oz. by wt. butter
3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Sweat onions and garlic. Add rice, stir thoroughly until rice is well coated. Add water, and season to taste.

Cover, let cook undisturbed for 25 minutes.

Chicken Party Recipes Part 2

So this is the second set of recipes for the Chicken Party. The first four recipes are already up.

Ravioli with Hazelnut-Sage Chicken

1 9 oz. package fresh mini ravioli
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 + 3 tbsp. butter
12 fresh sage leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
salt and pepper to taste

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Drain when done, set aside.

While ravioli is cooking:

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Saute chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper. When browned, remove from pan. Add 3 tbsp. butter, sage, and lemon zest. Cook until sage is tender. Return chicken to pan, add ravioli. Toss, cook until everything is hot. Garnish with hazelnuts.

Maple-Pomegranate Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Skewers

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 4 inch pieces
6 green onions cut into 4 inch pieces
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. ginger

Soak bamboo or wooden skewers in water. Wrap chicken pieces in bacon, place on skewers with scallion pieces. Mix pomegranate molasses, maple syrup, and ginger. Grill skewers, brushing with glaze. Cook, turning frequently, until both chicken and bacon are done.

Sweet Pepper-Zucchini Slaw

3 medium zucchini, shredded
4 small sweet peppers, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 + 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pomegranate molasses
1/3 cup pomegranate flavored dried cranberries

Place shredded zucchini in a colander with 1 tsp. kosher salt. Let sit 10 minutes, then squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Mix  with peppers. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, and pomegranate molasses. Toss with peppers and zucchini. Chill. When served, garnish with dried cranberries.

Green Chili Chicken Stew

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
14 oz. chicken stock
1/4 cup corn meal
2 medium carrots, minced
2 ribs celery, minced
1 tbsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
6 4 inch diameter corn tortillas
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
canola oil to fry

Cut tortillas into thin strips. Place 1/2 inch oil in a frying pan. Heat to 370 degrees. Fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels, and set aside.

Place chicken, stock, and corn meal in a crock pot. Cook on high until chicken is done. Remove chicken, shred, and return to pot. Add cumin and carrots. Cook about an hour and a half. Add celery, cook until tender. Garnish with cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.