Spanish Ayes

I love paella although I make it all too infrequently. I guess it has something to do with getting enough people together to finish it in one sitting … since, due to its seafood content, it doesn’t keep. Let me first list the necessary ingredients: one small high-quality kielbasa (or chorizo), one good flavorful small chicken, a dozen mussels, a dozen littleneck clams, a pound of jumbo shrimp, a small jar of sliced pimento, a good-sized pinch of saffron, two cups of short-grain rice, a package of frozen Le Sueur peas, a half cup of good olive oil, a chopped up Spanish onion, four crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika, salt and pepper, lightly chopped Italian parsley, the wedges of one lemon, one cup of dry white wine, and two cups of water.

The process: Clean the shrimp and de-sand and clean the shellfish (soaking in cold water with a good handful of cornmeal). Then start with a paella pan (preferable) or a very large frying pan. Add the olive oil and heat it up. Cut the chicken up into 11 or 12 pieces (including cutting the breasts in two). Salt and pepper the chicken liberally. Fry the chicken until golden brown and place on a plate. Slice as much of the kielbasa or chorizo as is your taste (to me, kielbasa is preferable to chorizo) into ½ inch pieces and also fry it until slightly darkened. Also place this on a side dish.

Now to the remaining oil (augmented if need be) add the onion and garlic and sauté until transparent. Add the rice and cook until it gets a chalky white. Add the wine, water, saffron and paprika, stir briefly, and bring up to heat. Then stuff back the chicken and kielbasa into the rice and cover for about 15 minutes (or a little longer if uncovered). Next add the pimento, the peas and tuck in the shrimp, mussels and clams into the meat/rice mixture. Cook until the clams and mussels open (easier if covered) and the shrimp are pink. For a flourish you might top this off with a cut-up pre-steamed lobster. Take off the heat and sprinkle with the parsley and arrange the lemon wedges around the pan’s periphery.

Place on a good trivet in the center of the table next to a large pitcher of ice-cold, fruity red or white (my preference) sangria and a basket of crusty sour-dough baguette bread. This dish should easily feed (serving-oneself) eight to ten hungry people.

Sangria

Sangria can turn a mediocre wine (Two Buck Chuck?) into an afternoon treat with a gaggle of friends. And the more you drink, the better it tastes. It can be made with red wine or white … plain wine or sparkling, so please try all possibilities.

To keep with the theme, you might start with a bottle (or two) of white or red Spanish wine. Chilled is better since you need to add less ice. Pour into a large pitcher. Add a good two tablespoons of caster sugar (or ultra-fine sugar), three or four shot glasses of triple sec or Cointreau.  Squeeze in one sliced-up lemon, one sliced-up lime, one sliced-up orange (Valencia?), and maybe a few slices of fresh pineapple. Then, unless you are using a sparkling wine (Persico or even champagne?), add a good glass of seltzer or ginger ale (Vernor’s). Mix well and add enough ice to fill. Kick back and enjoy.

Then make another pitcher … and another.

One Potato, Two … Three Potatoes, Four …

Potato salad can be leaden and sticky … or light and tasty. I like the latter. Here is my take:

Boil four or five large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes in a copious amount of salted water. When fully cooked (use the fork test), drain out the water and, when just cool enough to handle, peel them and cut them into ½ to 1 inch cubes … placing them into a large colander to dry. While still warm, put them in a large bowl and pour a scant two tablespoons of good sharp cider vinegar over them ... or substitute the juice of half a lemon for half the vinegar. Now clean two celery stalks and two scallions and chop them into fine cubes somewhat smaller than the potatoes. Add this to the potatoes along with a palm full of capers, salt and pepper to taste, a good half cup of Hellman’s mayonnaise, and a heaping tablespoon of poppy seeds (or celery seeds or even caraway seeds, but poppy seeds are best).

Cover and place in the ice box (an Emeril affectation) until well chilled. Then and only then, mix well, being careful not to mash the potatoes (less likely when they are not warm). When ready to serve, if the potato salad is too congealed, add a few teaspoons of cold butter milk and mix lightly to loosen it up. Then grate a cleaned cold carrot on the top and serve with your favorite picnic favorites (fried chicken would be nice.)

Speaking of cold buttermilk ... it is one of the best thirst quenchers around.  Try drinking a glass of it on a hot summer afternoon and see for yourself.  This benefit was common knowlege to our grandparents but is gradually being forgotten.  Drinking bittermilk is also often looked down on because of the way it makes the glass look afterward ... and also because of its name.  Many believe buttermilk contains butter.  In fact, it is the opposite.  It is what remains after butter making.  Our grandparents knew this.  Few of us now do.

Stuffed Flank Steak

Start by cutting a large pocket into a good-sized flank steak (or in about four thick pork chops). Then make the following stuffing:

- Melt one half a stick of butter in a large frying pan (or in an equivalent amount of olive oil if you prefer)
- Finely chop and add two shallots
- Chop and add about four good sized mushrooms
- Include two tablespoons of bread crumbs or Panko
- Add one teaspoon of dried thyme and a few sprigs of chopped parsley
- Dice and add about five apricots
- Chop and add a handful of pistachio nuts (or pecans)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sauté and stir until well incorporated

Let this mixture cool and then stuff the flank steak (or pork chops), securing the opening(s) with a few toothpicks. In the same frying pan add some olive oil, salt and pepper the outside of the flank steak (or pork chops) and sauté it (them) to your preferred level of doneness. (Alternately, use your barbecue grill), When cooked, let stand five minutes and then cut the flank steak across the grain or serve the pork chops whole. In either case remove the toothpicks before serving.

Serve with a good potato salad or even mashed potatoes. (You can even make a little gravy for the mashed potatoes with the sauté pan drippings.)

Carrots Vichy

This is a very simple but very good side dish that is well received on holidays. Start by scraping and de-ending five or six medium size carrots. Then cross-cut them into very thin (1/16th inch) medallions (smaller than pictured). This should make about two or more cups of carrot slices. Next melt about ½ of a stick of butter in a large sauce pan. Into this melted butter finely grate one small onion or two large shallots. Sauté this until translucent. Next add about two tablespoons of flour and cook until a light brown roux is formed.

Then add the carrots, a good pinch of sugar, and enough water to cover. Stir well. Cook the carrots until fork-tender and most of the water is evaporated. You should have the consistency of a thin gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add about three grates of a fresh nutmeg. Stir well and finish with a few sprigs of chopped-up Italian parsley and serve immediately. Serves six to eight people.  Goes well with roast turkey, roast beef or baked ham.

For a variation on this recipe, you could substitute an equal amount of tiny baby carrots (even those fru-fru ones with part of the tender stems still attached). And, if you want the silky restaurant-like sheen on these carrots, use a smaller amount of arrowroot instead of the flour ... and don't cook the roux quite so long. (Believe it or not, you can even use powdered kudzu root instead of the arrowroot.)

New England Boiled Dinner

This is a great autumn dinner and it is so simple as to be embarrassing. My German grandparents used to call this a New England boiled dinner, but, since it doesn’t include corned beef or cabbage, I think it must be a variation on an old German dish. (Actually, it was called "supper" since it was often served by my grandmother on Sunday around 2 PM.  "Dinner" was a more modest meal served later that day ... often just a big apple turnover.)

First get a nice loin of pork (about 3 or 4 pounds) and rinse it well. Place it in a large pot (such as Le Creuset) of cold water and add about 5 allspice berries, 5 black peppercorns, and a bay leaf or two (a dried Polish mushroom or two would also be good). Cover and bring up to a rolling simmer. (Do not hard boil, it toughens the pork.) Cook on low heat, covered for about an hour before you add two or three packages of sauerkraut and four large Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters. If you are so inclined you might also add a few small peeled onions and cleaned and quartered carrots (not necessary though). Cook another half hour uncovered so that the moisture levels are adjusted downward. Finally add about 6 good quality hot dogs or knockwurst, recover the pot and steam them for another 15 minutes. (I like them to crack open.)

Serves 4 to 6 people. May I suggest that a serving might consist of 3 or 4 potato pieces which are then fork-mashed and buttered and peppered. Then cover with sauerkraut, a good piece of pork loin (should be falling-apart tender), and a hot dog or knockwurst. Add some good German or Polish mustard, some crusty seeded rye bread, and crack a cold German beer. Enjoy!

A Boston Legacy

Baked beans can be a sublime treat ... if prepared correctly.  First get yourself a real crockery bean pot (as above).  Then buy two packages of dried navy beans (they're cheap).  Next pour both packages of these beans into a copious amount of cold water ... sorting through them for small stones and damaged beans.  Change this water one or two times to remove all the dried-bean processing detritus.  Then cover and place them in a cool spot overnight.  In the morning change their water once again, drain them, and fill your bean pot to about 3/4ths full ... discarding the remainder.

Now add to this bean pot:
- one medium-sized onion, finely diced
- a teaspoon each of dried mustard and salt (It is actually safer to add the salt later in the cooking process ... in added water ...as this early addition can sometimes make the beans tough-skinned.)
- a good pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg ... and a small pinch of minced cloves and dried ginger
- a quarter cup each of black-strap molasses, ketchup, and dark-brown sugar
- a good splash of the juice (and spices) from a jar of sweet-mixed pickles

Next add cold water to this bean pot until the beans are just covered ... and stir well.  Cut a pound of sliced bacon in half (across the slices) and place one half part on top of the beans.  Place a small piece of aluminum foil on top of the bean pot before you replace the cover (to reduce its moisture loss).  Put the bean pot in a slow oven (about 250 degrees F. for six to eight hours ... checking every hour or so to keep its moisture content up.  You might be able to skip the last addition of water as you don't want the final result to be too juicy.

Serve with baked ham, knockwurst, or barbecue (chicken, pork, or beef brisket), a tossed salad, and crusty bread.

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