Poor Lady's Pho

I have recently become a member of a fabulous bulk retailer (who shall remain nameless) and took all three of my kids shopping there a couple of weeks ago.  We actually had a pretty good time, tooling around the store, trying samples and finding all of those "extras" that weren't on my original list.  One of the samples we stopped for was pre-made, frozen meatballs which were sold in either Pineapple-Teriyaki or Mango-Jalapeno flavor.  We opted for the pineapple version, since my kids aren't that big on spice, and stuck them in the freezer when we got home.  I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them until inspiration (in the form of cleaning out the fridge) struck. 

I had about 3/4 of a box of chicken stock in the fridge, along with a bunch of cilantro, a jalapeno and a few onions (from our garden!) that needed to be used up.  I asked my husband to grab a box of Thai rice noodles (wide, flat noodles, not unlike linguine) from the store and, when he got home, I set the frozen meatballs to simmer in the chicken stock (plus a cup or two of water).  After they came up to temp, I added soy sauce, hoisin sauce and the remnants of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce to the stock, stirred it around and let it continue to bubble away.  I boiled the noodles as per the package directions and, when they were tender, I rinsed them in cold water and drained them thoroughly.  I washed the cilantro, sliced the jalapeno and onion and grabbed some Thai basil from our garden.  I added a couple of wedges of lemon (I didn't have any limes) and we were good to go.  Everyone got a serving of noodles and meatballs (some with more broth than others) and could top it as they saw fit.  The kids mostly went plain Jane (one of them adding a teeny squeeze of lemon), but my husband and I loaded up on herbs, peppers and onions.  It was super tasty and everyone ate (almost) all of their dinner.....but.  But, the next day, both my husband and I were feeling distinctly queasy.  Could it have been the meatballs?  Possibly.  The kids felt fine and, in fact, finished off the meatballs the next day for lunch.  As for me, I love any and all kinds of pho (even my fake, multi-ethnic version), but I could not stomach the thought of eating any more of that meal.  I don't think I will be buying those meatballs again.....

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

I intended this to be a much longer post, but I am short on time as I am between family activities for the day.  We had my oldest's final softball games this morning and my younger daughter needs to be chauffeured to a birthday party in, like, 10 minutes, so this is going to be super fast with the recipe to follow. 

One of my favorite things to cook when I have few ideas, little inspiration and the need to clean a bunch of stuff out of the fridge is beans and rice.  I tend to dislike Cajun food, so I don't typically go for the red beans and rice variety, but I LOVE Cuban food, so I switch it up and reach for black beans, cilantro and tomatoes instead.  I use a pilaf (or even a bit of a risotto) method for cooking the rice - saute onions, garlic and peppers in oil, add rice in on top, saute until chalky and then add liquid to cook the rice grains.  After the rice is almost completely tender, I add drained and rinsed cans of no salt added black beans and whatever else I need to toss in to clear out the crisper drawer.  The other night, I used up a semi-manky poblano chile, onion and tomatoes in our Cuban-style black beans and rice.  (You can make it Southwestern-style black beans and rice by adding in frozen corn kernels or heck, you could make it Thai-style black beans and rice by subbing out jasmine or basmati rice for the brown rice I usually use, adding soy sauce or fish sauce....really, the possibilities are endless.)  So, I also made tostones (fried plantain slices) to go with the beans and rice, which is very Cuban indeed.  My kids, oddly enough, didn't love the plantains (How many bananas do we freaking eat every week?!), but my husband and I find them tasty and a good way to round out a very vegetarian meal.

Anyway, recipe on this is to follow when I have more time and look for a special post tomorrow for Mother's Day.  Until then....

Turkish "Pizza"

Man, was I in a bad mood last night.  We were taking down Christmas decorations and I was taking turns fighting with all three of my kids while my husband took a leisurely shower right before I needed to start dinner.  Now, this is not the best time of day in our house anyway - dinner preparations typically consist of my youngest child clinging to my leg, cry-screaming, while I try to chop, cook and plate food as fast as I possibly can.  (As a professionally trained chef, this is usually pretty fast, but it is still hard to do with a toddler making his unhappiness VERY loudly known.) Add the normal level of stress to my clutter-triggered OCD and late yesterday afternoon, our house and, more specifically, my kitchen and living room was not a very fun place to be.

Dinner last night was scheduled to be Turkish pizza (or pide, perhaps...I am not exactly sure).  The idea came from my husband randomly stumbling on a blog (http://mykitchenmoovement.squarespace.com/), when googling "squid ink" of all things.  (That one is another story.)  Anyway, this blog (complete with really amazing food photography) is apparently written by a man in Australia, who penned a series on what he cooked and fed himself and his child for a few days while his wife was away from home.  My husband thought most of it was pretty funny and found quite a few recipe ideas that he thought would be super tasty.  One of these recipes was this one for Turkish pizza: http://mykitchenmoovement.squarespace.com/recipes/2010/4/19/wife-away-day-4-pide-lahmajun.html.  I looked it over and, as is my way, took the basic idea and made it my own.

Pictured above is what I ultimately came up with.  I started by slicing a large yellow onion and sauteing it in olive oil until it began to brown nicely.  I then crumbled in a pound of ground lamb that I bought at my regular grocery store (though I have found really wonderful, locally sourced ground lamb at a nearby farmer's market as well).  I happened to have a Turkish seasoning blend (basically coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, oregano and paprika maybe?) that I got some time ago as a sample from my favorite spice company, so I added a liberal sprinkle of that when I had all of the meat spread out in the pan.  I cooked the meat and onions together until the meat was browned and the onions were well softened (almost confitted - the rendered lamb fat worked really well to finish cooking the onion slices).  I added two cloves of garlic that I had finely chopped and cooked for about 30 more seconds.  I turned the heat off and added four Roma tomatoes that I had stemmed, seeded and chopped.  (Also, just FYI - I season as I add food, so with each additional ingredient, I add a pinch of kosher salt and usually a twist of freshly ground black pepper.  I recommend cooking this way - flavors are enhanced and create a much more evenly seasoned final dish.)

As you can see, this little mixture was served in a crust of sorts.  I meant, before my no-good, very-bad mood set in, to make a standard pizza dough; I however, ran out of time and found a very easy recipe for an yeast-free dough online, which, again, I modified based on what I had on hand.  My recipe turned out as: 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2/3 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.  I mixed the dry ingredients in my standing mixer and, with the motor running, added the oil and water to form a shaggy and kind of sticky dough.  This I took out of the mixer, kneaded it a few times and split it in half to roll out two very thin, 13-inch or so oblong (read: "rustic") circles.  I placed each on a sheet of parchment paper and then on a baking sheet.

On each circle of dough, I heaped a large handful of organic baby spinach and then covered this offensive (to my younger daughter) vegetable with the lamb, onion and tomato mixture.  On one of the "pizzas", I added a seeded and thinly sliced jalapeno pepper, then I folded over the edges of each dough circle to form a kind of tart.  I placed both in a preheated 425 degree oven and baked them for about 30 minutes.  While they were baking, I made a sauce to serve with the "pizzas" - a little bit of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice, pinches of sea salt and ground coriander, with a little bit of water to thin it out.

The Turkish pizzas came out of the oven with a lightly golden brown crust flavored with the mingling juices of the tomatoes, lamb and spinach.  The tiny pieces of lamb nearer to the top of the "pizza" were a crispy, deep mahogany color and just so very delicious.  The lamb itself was tender, the veggies were infused with a warm, exotic spice and the jalapenos added a tasty punch of heat to a very savory dish.  The yogurt sauce cooled that heat without completely overpowering it and added a tang that cut through the fat of the lamb and the flaky crust surrounding it.  Man, was it good!  It was filling without being heavy and was "pizza" in a new and unique presentation.  Also...man, did it get rid of my bad mood!  Seriously, that is what good food can do for you - it just makes you feel better, body and soul.  Anyway, this one is definitely a repeat for us - the kids all ate it and my younger daughter even choked down her spinach without *too much* complaining.  That is a win in my house!  Until next time...