Wagon Wheel Skillet Dinner

I love skillet dinners. They are a terrific way to get a home-cooked meal on the table with minimal cleaning up required, tend to be quick and easy to make, and are always well received. This Wagon Wheel Skillet Dinner hits all three of those points with ease. Of course, you can also use any other short pasta shape, but these rotelle seemed perfect to the southwest theme. If you like a saucier texture, more like a chili mac, feel free to double the salsa, or add a cup of crushed tomatoes.

This recipe relies heavily on the fresh chorizo for its seasoning, but you can always add additional cumin, chipotle, ancho, and Mexican oregano if your sausage is very mild.

Wagon Wheel Skillet Dinner

Serves 4

300 grams fresh Mexican-style chorizo
200 grams short pasta, such as rotelle/wagon wheel shape
2 cloves garlic
2 jalapeño peppers
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
250 mL frozen corn kernels/niblets (about a cup)
250 mL prepared tomato-based salsa, heat level of your choice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
500 mL water or chicken broth/stock, plus extra water if needed
225 grams cooked black beans (eg. a 400 gram can, drained)
1 red bell pepper
Tabasco pepper sauce to taste
Shredded cheese of your choice, to finish
Cilantro and/or avocado to garnish, if you like

Set a large skillet to warm on the lowest burner setting while you prepare the ingredients. Remove the chorizo from its casing and chop roughly. Mince or crush the garlic and set aside. Remove seeds from jalapeños and finely chop. Measure the cumin. Measure out the corn and the salsa. Drain the black beans in a sieve, and rinse them well if using canned ones. Measure the tomato paste. It's a time-saver to heat the stock or water, but not essential.

Turn up the heat under the skillet, and let it come up to medium-high. Add the chopped, skinless chorizo, and fry it in its own fat, stirring periodically, until the meat starts to turn golden brown (about six to eight minutes). Add the minced/crushed garlic and stir through. Add the jalapeños and the cumin and stir through. Cook and stir for about a minute, and then add the frozen corn kernels, and stir them through, too. Give them about a minute on their own, and then add the prepared salsa and the tomato paste, and stir through. You can immediately add the pasta and the broth or water, and stir everything carefully together.

Bring the mixture up to almost boiling, then cover the pan and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring periodically, until the pasta is tender. The length of time is really going to depend on which pasta you are using, so test the pasta as needed. While the pasta cooks, dice the red bell pepper and grate the cheese.

When the pasta is almost tender, add the drained black beans and the diced bell pepper, and stir through. Bring the temperature back up to a simmer, and if it is looking too dry (it should be just slightly saucy) add extra water - maybe half a cup or so, as needed, to get a pleasingly consistency. Reduce the heat again, and simmer for another five minutes to heat the peppers and beans through. Remove the lid and sprinkle Tabasco sauce over the skillet, and then gently stir it through. Turn the burner off. Taste the pasta to confirm that it is cooked through, and if necessary add 1/4 teaspoon salt (probably not necessary if you have used broth - it depends on the existing saltiness of the chorizo, the beans, and the salsa).



Sprinkle with cheese and cover briefly cover again to let the cheese melt. Serve with cilantro if you like (we were out, and so we served it with diced avocado to squeeze in an extra vegetable.



This dish heats up very well in the microwave (add a bit of extra cheese if you're feeling frisky) and so makes an excellent lunch.

Black Bean Soup

This is based on a Mayan recipe for a very simple black bean soup with big, striking flavours. It is easy to cook the beans the day before, and start from there. It is quite filling as a main dish, but half-sized portions make a terrific starter. The soup shown in the picture above includes finely diced ham, which is a purely optional add-in to a recipe that is otherwise completely plant-based.

Black Bean Soup

Serves 4

1 cup dried black beans (no need to soak)
water to cover beans
5 cups water (extra) or stock of your choice
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 teaspoon dried pequin (aka piquín) chiles, crushed
1 medium or large tomato, peeled, seeded & diced
1/2 teaspoon dried epazote
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup dry sherry
salt
Freshly ground black pepper
cilantro to garnish

Part 1 - Cook the beans

Rinse the beans well - you don't want grit or dust in your finished dish. Also give them a quick look-over to make sure there aren't any cunningly disguised little rocks in there - sometimes you find little tiny stones or other debris in dried beans.

Cover the rinsed beans with fresh water, up to about 5 centimetres above the beans. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the beans are quite tender, stirring occasionally. This can take as little as an hour or as long as two or two and a half hours, depending on how old your beans are. Play it by ear, but don't let the beans boil hard, or they will split and turn quite mushy. Most of the time, I find that dried black beans are ready in just one hour. Once the beans are tender, you can add a little salt - if you will be using stock in the second part, make sure you don't over-salt at this stage. You can also skip salt entirely until Part 2 and then adjust to taste. Note that if you have hard water (or beans of dubious age), a scant pinch of baking soda added to the water when you begin to cook the beans will help soften them more quickly. You can make the beans a day ahead, and then proceed from this point when you want to serve them. If you will be making the soup at a later date, allow the beans to cool and then refrigerate in their cooking liquid. Once they are completely cold, you can freeze them if you like.

Part 2 - Make the soup

If you are making the soup straight away after cooking the beans, you can prepare and sauté the vegetables while the beans simmer in Part 1 above. 

Remove two thirds of the beans to a blender or food processor and puree. If you have an immersion blender, you can certainly use it right in the pot, but in that case you will want to remove about a third of the whole beans before pureeing (they will be stirred back in later, after the vegetables are added).

In a medium frying pan, preheated over medium heat, heat the oil and sauté the finely chopped onion, chopped garlic, and the pequin chiles until the onion is soft. Add the prepared diced tomato, epazote and cumin and stir until well blended. Add the onion mixture to the black bean purée and purée the mixture again until as smooth as possible. Combine the whole beans and the puréed mixture in the soup pot and add the five cups of extra water (or stock) and simmer gently, stirring frequently until the soup thickens and its components integrate. This takes only about five to ten minutes, in my experience.

If you want an even heartier soup, you could at this point add smoked tofu, diced ham, or diced chicken, as you wish, and simmer gently to heat the new additions through, stirring frequently. Remove any thick stems from the epazote that might have escaped the food processor. Add the sherry and stir through. Taste the soup and add more salt if needed, and it's ready to serve. Add cilantro to individual servings, or substitute finely sliced green onion if preferred.

I like to serve this with crispy baked flour tortilla-crackers, and sometimes a drizzle of contrasting hot sauce to add brightness. You can also top the soup with a scoop of salsa (preferably not cold from the fridge).

The soup also freezes very well, as do the cooked beans from Part 1.

Calypso Potato Salad

Years ago, there used to be a tiny Trini restaurant called Roti Bistro on West 4th Avenue in Vancouver. It was there I was first introduced to soursop punch and peanut punch, and Caribbean lamb and goat curries. One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that they didn't adjust the food to accommodate the northern palate, so everything that was supposed to be hot was indeed fiery hot. Including, unexpectedly, the potato salad. Now, I have a pretty heat-resistant palate myself, and enjoy habaneros and other hot chiles without reserve, but on this particular day the curry was extremely hot, even for my tastes. No problem, I told myself, I'll just have a bit of this creamy-looking potato salad and OH MY GOD! IT'S HOTTER THAN THE CURRY! Thank goodness for that soursop punch.

The restaurant is long gone, sadly, but I was inspired by their blistering potato salad to make a version of it myself. It's not quite as intense as the original, but I think you'll find it to be very tasty indeed.

The potato salad is named after one of the key ingredients, Matouk's Calypso Sauce (which is made in Trinidad & Tobago), but you can substitute that with a fruity habanero sauce and a touch of curry powder. Please note that this is not a sponsored post. The rest of the seasoning for the salad is loosely based on jerk seasoning.

Calypso Potato Salad

Serves 6

3 pounds red skinned nugget potatoes
1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
1 tablespoon (15 ml) dry mustard
1–2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) fresh chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) turmeric
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled, halved
6 cornichons, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 habanero or scotch bonnet chiles, minced (seeds removed)
1/4 cup (60 ml) Matouk’s Calypso Sauce
Black pepper

Cut the potatoes in halves, or into bite-sized chunks if you have larger potatoes, and steam or simmer gently in lightly salted water until just tender. Drain potatoes and allow them to cool slightly in the colander.

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, dry mustard, chopped thyme, allspice, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and Calypso sauce in a medium bowl.

Separately, in a medium bowl, combine celery, cornichons, habaneros, and green onion. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Mash or sieve yolks finely, and mince the egg whites. Add both to the chopped vegetables.

Add the warm-but-not-hot potatoes to the spiced mayonnaise and immediately add the chopped vegetables and egg mixture on top of that. Fold gently with a spatula until the potatoes and vegetables are evenly coated. Garnish liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and extra green onion, if you like. A sprinkle of paprika or cayenne makes a pretty finish.

Allow the salad to rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving, to give the flavours a chance to meld.


Phad Kaphrao: Thai Holy Basil Stir fry

Until really recently, I thought that Thai Holy Basil was the same as the ubiquitous "Thai basil" which one receives in so many Southeast Asian dishes in Vancouver. However, they are indeed quite different. I was buying ingredients for summer rolls from my local Asian grocer, and grabbed a packet labeled Holy Basil without really looking at the leaves. Unsurprisingly, given that the owners of the shop are Thai, it turned out to be the real deal Holy Basil, and that was not what I had been looking for at all. Undaunted, I went online to learn a bit about the plant and how it differs from the Thai basil I was familiar with (which turns out to be a varietal of cinnamon basil).

This is the dish that I decided to make, once I understood what I had got my hands on: Thai Holy Basil & Pork Stir-fry, very lightly adapted from Woks of Life.

Holy Basil Stir fry (ผัดกะเพรา) is a popular dish across Thailand, and can be made with the protein of your choice. Recipes for chicken or pork abound, but I've also seen them for beef and for tofu, so I guess it's really up to you. Serve it over fragrant rice, maybe with a fried egg for the most common traditional presentation.

It is quick, it is easy (provided you can source the Holy Basil of course), and most importantly, it is delicious!

Phad Kaphrao Moo Sab: Holy Basil Stir Fry with Pork
ผัดกระเพราหมูสับ

Serves 4

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small yellow onion
7 cloves garlic
5 Thai bird chiles, or equivalent hot red chilies
500 grams ground pork
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons mushroom sauce (or oyster sauce)
⅓ cup chicken broth or water
1 bunch Holy Basil leaves (about 1 1/2 cups packed)

This dish comes together fast, so do all of your prep in advance. This is no time for chop-and-drop. Start by preparing the rice, which takes the longest to cook. While the rice cooks, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients, and when there is only about 15 minutes left for the rice, start cooking the stir fry.

Preheat a large skillet over the lowest heat setting.

Slice the onion (pole-to-pole) into moderately thin strips. Slice the garlic thinly. Slice the red chiles finely, first removing seeds if necessary. You can measure the sugar, fish sauce (I use one with added chiles), soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and mushroom (or oyster) sauce into the same prep bowl. Efficient! Measure out the water/broth. Strip the Holy Basil from its stems, but do not chop the leaves, not even the big ones.

Turn up the heat under the large skillet to medium, and give it a few seconds to come up to temperature. Add the canola oil and the sliced onion, garlic, and red chiles, and stir and fry them until the onion starts to turn translucent, about three to five minutes. Add the pork (I used a pork/beef blend, which is common in these parts), and break it up with your spatula/wooden spoon. Stir and fry the meat for a few minutes, but don't stir it quite constantly, so that the meat picks up a bit of golden colour from contact with the hot pan. This will take up to about five minutes, maybe a few minutes more depending how hot "medium" is on your stove. Once the meat has been lightly browned and there are no longer any pink showing, add the sauce mixture and the chicken broth (or water) and stir through. Continue to stir and fry until the liquid is evaporated/absorbed by the meat, and then add all of the Holy Basil leaves at once to the skillet.



Give them a moment to wilt, then stir them through. Stir and fry for about 30 seconds, and then serve with the hot fragrant rice (and a fried egg, if you've planned ahead that far).

Black Pepper Tofu

There are an awful lot of recipes out there for Black Pepper Tofu, it turns out. So why not one more? This version is adapted from a variety of internet sources, but primarily from Lazy Cat Kitchen. It is intense and delicious, with wonderful textures. Serve over rice or noodles, maybe with a nice bright green on the side (gai lan would be an excellent choice).

Black Pepper Tofu

Serves 4
Total Prep & Cooking Time: 45-60 minutes

For the fried tofu cubes
600 grams firm tofu, diced and pressed
2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
Cornstarch, as needed for dusting
4 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil, divided

Sauce & Assembly
1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce, plus extra to make 3 tablespoons (including the leftover from the tofu stage above)
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar (depending how tart you want the sauce)
2 tablespoons honey (brown rice syrup or coconut sugar for vegan)
125 mL (1/2 cup) water
2 level teaspoons cornstarch
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced (about 2 tablespoons of minced ginger)
1-2 hot chili peppers, sliced thinly
4 small green onions, sliced thinly
1 rounded tablespoon ground black pepper
Sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

The following instructions are for frying the tofu cubes, but you can bake them instead if you prefer.

Cut the tofu into large or medium dice – bite sized – and press between paper towels under a weighted cutting board for 15 minutes. Pour off and discard any liquid, and place tofu in a shallow bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons soy sauce over the tofu and very gently stir to coat. Drain the excess soy sauce and set aside to use in the sauce.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil heats, quickly and carefully roll about a quarter of the tofu cubes in cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Place them in the hot oil, well spaced out, and fry gently, turning each piece with tongs as needed to get a crisp golden brown crust on all sides. As each piece is done, (they basically finish in the order they were placed in the pan, remove it to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat (in the same oil) with the remaining tofu cubes, in batches, until they are all done. Remove the pan from the heat, pour off any remaining oil, and wipe the pan clean (carefully, because it’s hot) with a paper towel. Put the pan aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

If you are using whole peppercorns, grind them now (grinder or mortar and pestle), because it takes too long to get the amount you need at the point where you need to add it. Put the tablespoon of ground black pepper in a small dish and set aside.

Mix in a separate bowl or 500ml/2 cup measuring cup: soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and 125 mL (½ cup) of cool or room temperature water. Add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and stir until smooth. Prepare, in separate piles on your cutting board, the garlic, ginger, chilies, spring onions, and black pepper, and have them ready to go.

Return your skillet to medium-high heat, and add a tablespoon of oil along with the white parts of the spring onions, the ginger, and sliced chilies. Lower the heat to medium and fry for 2-3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the garlic and stir through for about 20 seconds.

Carefully stir the sauce bowl, because the cornstarch will drop to the bottom and you want it integrated. Once it is smooth, add the cornstarch slurry to the the vegetables in the skillet, and let it come to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. A flat-bottomed wooden spoon or wok tool is really good for this It will thicken almost immediately. Add the black pepper and then the fried tofu cubes and stir them through until the tofu cubes are coated in the sauce. Add the green parts of the spring onion and stir through quickly to integrate. Serve over rice or noodles, garnishing with sesame seeds if you like.

Mapo Nasu

I'm a big fan of Mapo Tofu, a Sichuan dish that integrates small cubes of tofu into a spicy (think Sichuan peppercorn) flavourful minced pork sauce (or, if you want to get old-school, integrates spicy pork sauce into cubes of tofu) and served atop rice. Whether you lean more heavily to the meat-side or the tofu-side, it's a delicious meal. But wait! There's more.

While classic Chinese Mapo Tofu is very popular in Japan, Mapo Nasu is a localization that substitutes the tofu with eggplant. As with the original, there are a lot of versions vying for position as the ur-recipe, but that just means you can be very flexible in your approach.

I recommend long, narrow East Asian type eggplants, here, rather than the Mediterranean type, as they are generally less seedy and less bitter. The ones I used here were super skinny Japanese eggplants, the diameter of bratwurst, but wider ones work just fine (and are a bit less fragile). You can choose to sauté the eggplant strips in hot oil instead of broiling them, if you prefer, but they do tend to fall apart a bit more that way.

Mapo Nasu

Serves 2-3

Total prep and cooking time: 20 - 30 minutes

1/2 lb. lean ground pork or beef
2 tablespoons dry sherry or vermouth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
300 grams Japanese eggplant
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Sauce ingredients
1 tablespoon fermented chile bean paste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste (optional)
2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon white pepper OR ground Sichuan pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup water

If you're serving this over rice, get it started first, as it can wait patiently if need be. Preheat the broiler with a rack set 15cm/6inches from the burner.

Combine the meat, sherry, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients up to the white pepper and set aside.

Slice the leafy ends off the eggplant(s) and quarter the eggplant lengthwise. Slice the long spears of eggplant into finger-lengths, and brush with sesame oil. Place skin-side-down in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil for 7 - 10 minutes or until slightly browned and blistered. Remove from oven and keep to one side.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the meat until evenly browned, breaking up any large clumps. Add the onion and cook until the onion turns translucent. Stir in the spicy sauce mixture until the meat is evenly coated. Add the eggplant and stir gently (you don't want to mash the tender pieces). Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly but gently, for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Serve over steamed rice with a green vegetable. May I suggest Kale Gomaae?

Chicken-Bacon-Jalapeño Popper Pasta

Whew, that's a mouthful! Really, it's just an extra fancy macaroni and cheese, because adding chicken, bacon, and peppers to tasty basic recipes is almost always a good idea. Best of all, the leftovers heat up beautifully for an indulgent lunch.

This recipe doesn't use actual jalapeño poppers, but it does use all the ingredients for them. Much easier than deep frying though! You can use any small pasta shape - elbow macaroni, mini bow-ties, mini penne (pictured), or small shells, but don't use the really tiny ones, such as stars or alphabets, as they need to be able to stand up to the chicken chunks.

Chicken-Bacon-Jalapeño Popper Pasta

Serves 4

15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter
300 grams (10 oz) chicken breast, cubed in bite-sized pieces
125 grams bacon lardons
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2-3 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
200 grams (.75 cup) evaporated milk, divided
500 mL (2 cups) water (preferably, recently boiled and still hot)
200 grams (1.5 cups) elbow macaroni (or similarly small pasta shape)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
3 shakes of Tabasco sauce
200 grams (1.5 cups) grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
100 grams spreadable cream cheese
6-10 pickled jalapeño pepper rings, roughly chopped
6 buttery crackers, such as Ritz or Club crackers, crushed into crumbs

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F with a rack in the middle. Lightly butter, oil, or grease a 2 litre (2 quart/11x7") casserole dish and put to one side.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, and add the cubed chicken breast. Give it a couple of stirs to lightly brown the outsides, and then remove the chicken pieces to a clean plate to stand by (the chicken won't be cooked through, but it will finish cooking in the oven). Without cleaning the saucepan, add the bacon lardons (this is just short, chunky pieces of bacon - feel free to chop up some thick-cut if you can't find lardons or slab bacon to make lardons from). Let the bacon sizzle and stir it about a for a couple of minutes until it renders about half of its fat, and then use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan (you can add them to the chicken plate).

Next, add the finely chopped onion and the garlic, and sauté until the onion turns translucent. You'll want to keep stirring so the onion bits don't stick to the fond left behind by the chicken and bacon, and turn the heat down if the edges start browning. Add the minced fresh jalapeños, and stir them for about 30 seconds. Leaving the onion, garlic, and peppers in the pot, add the water and 125 mL (1/2 cup) of the evaporated milk and bring to a boil (you can turn up the heat to medium high, once the liquid has been added). Add the salt and the macaroni, and cook (stirring frequently) until the macaroni is tender and the liquid is reduced to a small amount burbling up between the pieces of pasta. This should only take about 7 or 8 minutes.

Put the remaining 60 mL (1/4 cup) of evaporated milk in a small bowl with the Tabasco and the cornstarch. Stir until smooth. Add to the cooked macaroni and stir until the sauce begins to thicken – no more than a minute or two over high heat. Turn off the heat and add the 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, one handful at a time, stirring it in each time, and adding a tablespoon or two of room-temperature water if it gets too thick to comfortably stir. Once the cup of cheese has all been added, stir in the cream cheese and stir until it melts smoothly into the sauce.

Add the chicken and bacon back into the pasta pot, including any juices that might have pooled in the bottom of the plate. Add the minced pickled jalapeños now, and stir them in, too. Scrape the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish, and cover with the remaining cheddar cheese and then top with the crushed cracker crumbs.

Place in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Coconut Lime Chicken & Rice Skillet

I developed this recipe because I had a lot of jalapeños to use up, and because I love skillet dinners. It's not quite Caribbean, not quite Mexican, and not quite South East Asian, but it's extremely tasty and a very satisfying meal that takes just over an hour to get on the table - half of that time unattended.

We served this with a salsa fresca (pico de gallo) on the side, but any nice fresh salad would also do the trick. I'm pleased to report that the leftovers, if you're that lucky, also make an excellent filling for wraps - with or without the rice.

Coconut Lime Chicken & Rice Skillet

Serves 3-4

6-8 bone-in chicken parts, with skin
2 tablespoons coarse salt
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime, about 2 tablespoons
200 grams (1 cup, 7.05 oz) uncooked parboiled rice
165 mL (2/3 cup, 5.5 oz) canned coconut milk
4 large jalapeños
1 small onion
2-3 tablespoons shredded fine unsweetened coconut
2 cloves garlic
375 mL (1 3/4 cup, 12.5 oz) boiling water
1 small bunch cilantro, stems removed, chopped roughly (a generous handful)

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F.

Remove any excess skin and/or fat from the chicken with a sharp knife. Combine the lime zest with the coarse salt in order to make a seasoned rub. Massage the seasoned salt into the chicken on all sides, discarding the excess salt that falls off in the process. The tops of the chicken pieces should have a sparse but even coating of salt.

In a large (30cm/12") skillet or braising dish, lay the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin-side up. Place the dish in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, during which time you can prepare the other ingredients.

Finely dice the onion, and mince or press the garlic. De-seed the jalapeños, and finely dice one of them. Cut the remaining three jalapeños into rings and set aside until the final stages. Squeeze the juice from the lime. Rinse the rice under cool water until it runs clear.

After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven, and place the skillet on a moderately hot burner. Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the chicken pieces to a clean plate. Into the juices left behind in the emptied skillet, add the onion, garlic, and finely diced jalapeño. Sauté for about two minutes, until the onion softens and turns translucent. Add the rice, and stir it around to coat the grains in the onion and chicken fat mixture. Turn the burner off. Add the lime juice and stir through. Add the coconut and the coconut milk and stir through. Add the boiling water (carefully), and stir though, using a spatula to smooth the rice into an even layer beneath the liquid.

Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the chicken pieces back to the skillet, arranging the pieces in a single layer on top of the rice. The tops of the chicken pieces should not be covered by the cooking liquid, but the sides may be a little until the rice starts absorbing the liquid.

Place the full pan back in the oven, uncovered, on the middle or upper middle rack, and bake for another 30 minutes. You may wish to check it after 20-25 minutes, to make sure it's not drying out, but unless your oven is hot, it should be fine.

Remove the skillet from the oven, and scatter sliced jalapeños and cilantro over top if you're serving the whole dish at the table.

Distribute the chicken to the individual diner's plates, and stir the jalapeños and cilantro through the rice. before serving the rice.


If you would like to make this dish entirely stovetop, that's also manageable, but requires a bit more hands-on labour (and the skin won't be crispy): Sear the seasoned chicken breast on both sides, cooking for a total of about 10 minutes, and set aside. Proceed as above, but reduce the boiling water to 295 mL (10 oz) and instead of placing the assembled dish in the oven, bring the liquid to a gentle simmer on the stovetop and turn the burner to its lowest setting. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and move the skillet to a cool burner or heatproof pad and let sit undisturbed without ever lifting its lid for another 15 minutes. Serve as above, adding the sliced pepper rings and the cilantro and stirring it through the rice.

Stuffed Turkish Peppers & Sultan's Chickpea Pilaff

The long, pointed, bright green peppers used extensively in Turkish cuisine have quite a number of excellent uses. They are mild enough to chop into salads (while still being more interesting a flavour than green bell pepper), but can be added to pilaffs, stews, casseroles, and pasta dishes with a certain wild abandon. They also bake up beautifully when stuffed.

A lot of stuffed pepper recipes are based on (or incorporate) rice, or some other grain into the stuffing mixture. These peppers are so narrow, though, that I decided to make a filling that was just seasoned meat - lean, to account for minimal shrinkage in the oven - and serve the rice on the side.

Stuffed Turkish Peppers

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F, with a rack in the middle.

8-10 pointed Turkish peppers (such as Charleston/Çarliston Biber)

Prepare a mixture of meat and seasonings...you could use pretty much any meatball recipe you like, though. This is the one I used:

500 grams lean ground beef
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup parsley, divided

Wash the peppers and lay them on the cutting board. Slice off a strip along the top, going about halfway to two thirds of the way down each pepper, and use a spoon or paring knife to carefully remove as many of the seeds as possible. Take up about a tablespoon of the raw meatball mixture, and use your thumbs to push it into the hollow of each pepper pod, pressing the filling gently down into the pointed end as much as possible.



Lay the peppers in a shallow baking dish (or baking sheet with sides). Brush with a little canola oil to give them a sheen (optional).

I had more filling than peppers, so I simply made the remaining filling into some large meatballs, and placed them at the end of the tray full of peppers.

Bake the peppers, uncovered, for 30 minutes, and serve warm with yoghurt sauce, feta, and toasted pine nuts.



While the peppers are baking, you can make the pilaff and the yoghurt sauce (timing works best if you've already done the prep for the pilaff before putting the peppers in the oven, and toast the pine nuts):

Sultan's Chickpea Pilaff

Adapted from The Turkish Kitchen, by Ghillie Başan

Serves 4

200 grams (1 cup) basmati rice, washed
220 grams cooked chickpeas, rinsed (approximately 1 400 gram can, drained)
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, minced
300 mL (1.25 cups) chicken stock or broth (from concentrate is fine)
ground white pepper to taste

Rub the chickpeas and discard any skins. In a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the minced onion, and stir and cook until translucent but not browned. Add the rice, and stir it about so that each grain gets some of the butter on it. Add the chickpeas, broth, and a bit of white pepper (a 1/4 teaspoon should do it). As soon as the mixture is bubbling, turn the heat to the lowest setting, put the lid on the pot, and let cook undisturbed (no peeking!) for 15 minutes. Then, still without lifting the lid, remove the pan to a cool burner (or completely off the stove on a heatproof pad) and leave undisturbed for another 15 minutes. Then you can open the lid and fluff the rice up to redistribute the chickpeas throughout the rice (they have a tendency to migrate to the top of the pot).

Yoghurt Sauce

This is the same sauce that I use for Çılbır

150 grams plain thick yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (or dill, or mint)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

Stir together in a small bowl.

Assemble however best you see fit.

These heat up beautifully the next day, but are also delicious cold or at room temperature.

Çılbır: Turkish Poached Eggs in Yoghurt with Spiced Butter

I love a good breakfast, and Turkish culture really knows how to do it up as a feast. Menamen (scrambled eggs in pepper sauce) might be the best known (internationally) egg-based breakfast dish from Turkey, but by golly cilbir should be on everyone's list, too. Cilbir (anglicized somewhat from Çılbır) is pronounced, roughly, as CHILL-ber (like Wilbur, but, you know, chill).

What is it? Well, the beauty-base-zero version is poached eggs in garlicky yoghurt, drizzled with browned butter infused with chile flakes. There are a LOT of variations to be had, though - most of which appear to be placing the basic version on top of an additional element - kıyma, for example (fried seasoned ground meat), or sautéed spinach (like a Turkish version of eggs Florentine). This versatility explains why cilbir is eaten not only for breakfast, but for any other meal of the day.

Between the above description and the pictures, you probably don't need a recipe, but I'm going to give you one anyway:

Çılbır: Turkish Poached Eggs in Yoghurt

Serves 2

Yoghurt base

300 grams plain thick yoghurt
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or dill, or mint)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

2 - 4 Poached eggs

I'm going to assume you know how to poach eggs, and have a preferred method. If not, go ahead and google it, or even just fry your eggs sunny side up, or soft boil them (I won't tell)

Spiced Butter

2 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 teaspoon - 2 teaspoons Turkish pepper flakes (eg. Aleppo) or paprika, adjusting for the level of heat as desired


Assembly

Prepare the yoghurt base first, because you want it more room-temperature than fridge-cold. I take the yoghurt out of the fridge as soon as I get up, before I shower or make coffee, to let it warm up a bit. When you're ready to get cooking, combine the yoghurt base ingredients in a small bowl, and beat until everything is well integrated. Set aside for the flavours to mingle while you prepare the rest.

Warm a couple of bowls by filling them with hot water and letting them stand. You probably don't need to do this in the summer.

Prepare the spiced butter next. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. If you are using unsalted butter, add a tiny pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the butter boil and seethe until the water evaporates and the milk solids start to brown (alternatively, you can use ghee). Remove the butter from the heat, and add the chile flakes. I was using extra-hot oiled Pul Biber (Turkish chile flakes), so I didn't add a lot, but with a milder chile you can add quite a bit more (which does look very pretty). Let the butter and chile flakes infuse together while you prepare the eggs.

Prepare the eggs as you like - I poached mine in a skillet of bubbling water for 5 minutes, but your mileage may vary.

Just before the eggs are ready, take your warmed bowls (drained and dried) and add a generous spoonful of yoghurt base into the bottom of each. Use the spoon to swirl it out to cover the bottom of the bowl. When the eggs are ready, use a skimmer to lift them from the water, and place them in the bowls. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the desired amount of spiced butter over and around the egg(s). Serve at once with warm flatbread, and maybe some nice sliced vegetables and hummus.

Khichdi and Kheema

Khichdi (aka Khichri, and a number of other variations, खिचड़ी in Hindi) is a rice-and-pulse dish from India that is not only a vegetarian (vegan, in fact) staple, but also very likely the ur recipe for Kedgeree and possibly even Middle Eastern Koshary. It's been around for a long, long time, and is considered to be a very balanced meal on its own - even better, if you can serve it with condiments such as yoghurt or raita, chutney, or go all out for the famous Hyderabadi combination of khichdi, kheema, and khatta.

Kheema (aka keema, कीमा in Hindi) is essentially a simple, loose, ground meat gravy seasoned with accent vegetables and vigorous application of spices as pleases the cook. My kheema tends to vary quite wildly depending on what I have on hand, but is usually at least a bit spicy. Kheema is not generally by nature a vegetarian dish, but one could make it so by using the ground-meat substitute of your choice, or even simply finely minced vegetables. This one has a mixture of ground lamb and beef, as prepared by our local Turkish butcher. The recipe is below the recipe for the khichdi.

I didn't have the necessary sour ingredients on hand to make khatta, but we enjoyed the khichdi and kheema together.

There are different styles of Khichdi, ranging from the dry, pilau-like separate grains you see here to a more risotto-like dish, more of an extremely thick soup or congee than its drier pilau cousin. Because I was using a lentil that holds its shape very tenaciously, I decided to go with the drier style.

Khichdi can be made with any lentil, but this one is made with whole black urad dal - the same pulse that I use to make Kali Dal (black dal), and this dish is therefore Kali dal ki khichdi. Because the lentils give off a lot of dark colour when boiled, I discard the water used to boil the lentils, but if you don't mind a grey dish, you can certainly use the cooking water to also cook the rice.

Kali Dal Ki Khichdi

Serves 4

150 - 180 mL whole black urad dal, picked over and rinsed well
approximately 6 cups cooking water for the dal
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons oil or butter or ghee
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
1-3 dried red chilies, left whole OR 1 long fresh chili, seeded and chopped.
200 grams basmati rice
310 mL water for the rice, rinsed well

You don't need to soak the dal, but you can if you want to. You do need to wash them well, or your dish will be gritty.

In a moderately large pot, bring six cups (or so) of water to a boil. Add the well-rinsed dal, the cumin seeds, the chilies and the minced ginger, and let simmer gently for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time. The water will be very dark and murky looking. If your dal is a bit old, or you're not convinced of its freshness (mine was rescued from the back of the cupboard), a small pinch of baking soda can be added to the water to encourage the dal to soften nicely as it cooks.

When the dal is tender, drain through a colander, and set briefly aside while you get the rice going: in a medium pot, bring the rice-cooking water and the well-rinsed rice to the barest of bubbles rising to the surface. Add the oil or butter or ghee, the salt, and the drained dal, stir through, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat immediately to the lowest setting, and cook undisturbed (no peeking!) for 15 minutes. Transfer the pot to a cold burner (or pot holder) without lifting the lid, and set the timer again for 15 minutes. When the timer goes, you may open the pot and fluff up your rice with a fork or rice paddle.



You'll notice that the dal have congregated in the top third of the dish, so give it a nice fold with a paddle or spatula to disperse them throughout the rice. If you want to serve it in a tidy shape, you can pack it into a small bowl or measuring cup and upend onto the plate or bowl. Otherwise, just spoon it into a bowl and enjoy - with or without accompaniments.



Plain yoghurt is a very common side, and if the khichdi is being eaten on its own, you may want to consider a tempering made from heating a little mustard oil (or butter or ghee) in a small pan, and adding some chili flakes, swirling them about until fragrant, before pouring over the khichdi. Because we were serving this with kheema, we didn't do that extra step.

* * * * *

A note on kheema vegetables: One of the most popular and traditional vegetables to add to kheema is green peas. If you're not using the peppers and/or tomatoes.


Simple Kheema

Serves 4

500 grams ground beef and lamb (both or either)
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about a cup's worth)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
3-4 roma-type tomatoes, cored and seeded, sliced into strips
1-3 red or green hot peppers, cored and seeded, sliced into strips
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Water, as needed
1 teaspoon cornstarch or 1 tablespoon flour as a thickener (optional)
Cilantro to garnish (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the butter (or oil) over medium-high heat, and when it has melted and foamed out, add the ground meat. Stir and cook the meat, breaking it up with your spoon as you go (it can be as fine or coarsely broken up as you like) until it is thoroughly browned (not just no-longer-pink, you want some golden, flavourful searing on about half of it). Add the salt and the spices (except the garam masala) and stir through again. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger, and continue to stir and fry until the onions are translucent.

If you want a thicker gravy, choose either the cornstarch or wheat flour option (see instructions below) add it now and simmer for about 15 minutes. If you want a thinner gravy, simply add an extra half cup of water now simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the hot peppers and the tomatoes (if it looks like it needs more water to be a nice gravy texture, go ahead and add a little more), and cook a few minutes longer, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are just tender. Garnish with cilantro if you like.

Thickener Options:

Cornstarch: mix the teaspoon of cornstarch with a half-cup of room temperature or cold water, stir until smooth, and then add to the pan. Stir throughout, and watch it thicken the gravy as it comes up to a simmer.

Wheat flour: mix the tablespoon of flour with a cup of room temperature or cold water by shaking together in a tightly lidded cup. Pour the liquid into the pan and stir throughout, and watch it thicken the gravy as it comes up to a simmer.

Fiesta Tomato Soup

This is my take on tomato-rice soup, packing it with more vegetables, Mexican seasonings, and a couple of chile peppers for extra oomph, not to mention the added bonus of sinus-clearing properties. The name "Fiesta" comes from the finely diced colourful vegetables looking a bit like confetti. It's not actually a Mexican recipe, although it would probably work very well with a garnish of diced avocado and a squeeze of lime juice.

This is a moderately light soup, without any significant source of protein, but perfect for a light meal. If you wanted a slightly heartier version, I recommend adding a cup of cooked pinto beans. You could round out the meal with a toasted sandwich, but if you're wanting a lighter affair it's perfect with just a couple of crackers or hunk of bread (or tortilla) on the side.

You could add still more vegetables if you like - finely diced zucchini would be a good choice - and if you simply can't picture a vegetable soup without carrots, they'd be good here, too.

Fiesta Tomato Soup

Makes about 8 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels (or kernels cut from one fresh ear of corn)
1/2 bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow), diced
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
400 mL (1 1/2 cups) canned crushed tomatoes
500 mL (2 cups) vegetable stock or broth
500 mL (2 cups) water
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
100 grams (1/2 cup) parboiled rice, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or marjoram)
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
parsley or cilantro (optional)

There's nothing surprising about the method here - standard soup-making business. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and add the bay leaves. Add the onion and celery, and cook, stirring periodically, for about five or ten minutes until they vegetables become translucent. Add the garlic and the corn, and stir through again. When it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the vermouth and stir through again, scraping up any stuck bits. Right away you can add the crushed tomatoes, the cumin, oregano, and white pepper, and stir through.

Add the stock or broth and the water, and bring it up to a simmer. Stir in the bell pepper and jalapeño peppers. Taste the soup to see if you need to add any salt - I didn't add any, because my stock cube was quite salty, but add some if you think it needs it. The soup won't taste great yet, because it hasn't had time for the flavours to come together, so if it's a little thin at this point don't be disappointed.

Finally, add the well-rinsed rice. Parboiled is the best rice to use for this, because it doesn't turn to mush in longer cooking times. That characteristic makes parboiled rice a poor choice for congee, but an excellent choice for this soup, because the grains stay whole even after a spell in the freezer, if you make enough for leftovers. Stir the rice through, and turn the heat to low. Cook the soup for 15 minutes on the lowest setting, without lifting the lid, and then turn the heat off completely and leave it (still without lifting the lid) for another fifteen minutes. Don't worry, it's still going to be plenty hot. When the timer goes off, your soup is ready. Stir in a little parsley or cilantro, and start ladling it into bowls. The rice and the corn should be perfectly cooked but not mushy, and the soup will have thickened a bit.

If you're going to freeze the soup, cool it completely before putting in the fridge overnight, and then transfer to the freezer the next day.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

One of the quintessential dishes of Singaporean cuisine, Hainanese Chicken Rice is a bone-deep satisfying meal dished up everywhere from Hawker’s Markets to fancy restaurants. It is an excellent example of how ingredient repetition need not render a meal boring or feel repetitive - the ginger, sesame oil, and garlic are powerful flavours, but come across differently in each item on the finished plate.

This recipe serves 2-4 people (or more, if you double the rice), but in our house it is the start of a multi-meal whose leftovers evolve into two more dishes over the following days (see Multi-meal, at the bottom of this post).

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

Chicken
1 whole chicken (about 1.5 kg)
Fresh cool water to cover the chicken
2 teaspoons kosher salt plus extra for exfoliation (as described below)
5 cm chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 stalks green onions, cut into two-inch lengths
Basin of ice water
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (for after the chicken is cooked)

Rice
15 mL (1 tablespoon) chicken fat or canola oil
1 large clove garlic, minced or crushed
15 mL (1 tablespoon) minced fresh ginger
200 grams (1 cup) raw basmati rice, washed until the water runs clear
310 mL (1 1/4 cups) reserved chicken poaching broth
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 pinch kosher salt

Chile Sauce
15 mL (1 tablespoon) fresh lime juice
30 mL (2 tablespoons) reserved chicken poaching broth
10 mL (2 teaspoons) sugar
60 mL (4 tablespoons) Sriracha sauce
4 cloves garlic
30 mL (2 tablespoons) minced fresh ginger
a pinch of salt, to taste

To serve
Dark soy sauce (in a dish, or just the bottle)
Green onion, finely sliced on the bias
Cucumber, thinly sliced

First, you must exfoliate the chicken. Rinse the chicken inside and out and place on a clean plate. Use a small handful of kosher or pickling salt to gently massage the chicken all over, being careful not to tear the skin if possible. Rinse the salt away and stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and green onion pieces. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and add fresh cold water to cover (it’s okay if it doesn’t quite cover - the breast will still cook if it sticks up above the water level). Add salt. Cover and bring the pot just barely to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a bare simmer, checking from time to time. Simmer for about 40 minutes (less for smaller chickens).

While the chicken simmers, get your mise en place in order for the chile sauce and the rice. That means, mince the ginger for both the rice and the sauce, peel the garlic and set aside, and wash, wash, wash the rice in cool water until it runs clear. Set the rice aside in a strainer to drain. You can put the sauce ingredients all (except for the broth) into a blender cup now, if you like.

Once the chicken is cooked through, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Carefully lift the chicken from the broth (I lift it by inserting a wooden spoon into the centre and tilting it up so that the juices run out of the cavity) and into a basin of ice water to cool. You will need the broth for the rice, sauce, and side bowl of soup. I like to have my basin in the sink, so that I can and add more fresh cold water over the chicken to help the skin achieve the firm, springy texture associated with this dish, and I like to change the cold water once as it rests. Let the chicken rest in the cold water while you start cooking the rice. Remove any aromatics (ginger, green onion) from the broth, and return the pot of broth to the stove to stay warm over low heat.

Rice: You rice should by now have been rinsed and drained and is resting nearby in a sieve. Heat the chicken fat or canola oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the ginger and the garlic and pinch of salt, and stir fry until fragrant but not coloured. Add the sesame oil and then drained rice and stir to coat each grain with the fat and seasonings.

If you’re cooking the rice on the stovetop, add the 310 mL of hot poaching broth to the rice and stir it through. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Set the timer for 15 minutes, and when it rings remove the rice pot from the hot burner and, without lifting the lid, set it aside to rest somewhere for another 15 minutes. Fluff, and it's ready to serve.

If you’re cooking the rice in a rice cooker, use a spatula to scrape the rice/fat/seasoning mixture into the rice cooker, add the poaching broth, and then turn it on according to your rice cooker’s instructions.

While the rice is cooking, remove the chicken from its ice bath and pat dry with paper towels. Using your impeccably clean fingers, rub the outside of the chicken with the sesame oil, and let it stand until needed. Just before the rice is finished resting, carve the chicken for serving and arrange on plates, and then add the rice once it's ready. For a nice tidy dome of rice, pack it lightly into a measuring cup and overturn onto the plate. I find a 3/4-cup measure works perfectly, yielding 4 portions of rice from 200 grams (1 cup) of raw rice.

Chile Sauce: combine all chile sauce ingredients in a blender cup and process until smooth. Stick blenders work very well for this. The first time I made this, I didn’t have access to any mechanical means to puree it, so I simply finely chopped everything by hand. That also worked very nicely, but it was of course not a smooth sauce.

Soup: You should have several cups of the chicken-poaching broth available. Ladle into small bowls and garnish with some finely sliced green onion.

Serve the chicken and rice with cucumber slices, and a bowl of the soup on the side. Place the chile sauce and some dark soy sauce on the table for individuals to use at will.



Multi-meal

I mentioned at the start of this post that this is a multi-meal dish for our household of two (your mileage may vary, depending on your family size - for bigger families, you would want to have doubled the rice recipe above). This is what I do:

Finally, after you’ve eaten and had a little rest, strip the remaining chicken meat from the bones, and put in a container in the fridge. As for the bones, you can either discard them, or add them back into the soup pot and simmer them for another hour or so for a much stronger broth. Cool and strain the broth, and transfer to fridge/freezer friendly containers. Cool and refrigerate any leftover rice.

The next day, leftover rice and about half of the leftover chicken meat are converted into fried rice (this is an especially good use for any leftover skin!) with the addition of a little extra onion, ginger, garlic, beaten egg, low-sodium soy sauce, any any other vegetables you’ve got kicking around. (For fried rice technique, please see my post on fried rice, and adapt as necessary.) Serve with leftover chile sauce, if you have any.

The following day, the leftover broth (or some of it) is used to make congee, by adding some water, washed raw rice, and the remaining chicken meat (added at the very end). Serve with leftover chile sauce, if you have any.

Alternatively, you could stash all of the broth in the freezer and use that instead of water for the next time you want to make Hainanese Chicken Rice. Because, there will be a next time. If you have lots of broth, you can split the difference.

Three delicious meals from one master-meal.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Buffalo wings have run deliciously amok. What started out as a simple bar snack, has since become everything from pasta to dip to casserole to pizza, and gone through some interesting ingredient iterations: some folks swap out the blue cheese dressing for ranch, and some even switch the chicken with cauliflower. The configurations seem endless, and that's good news for those of us who love our hot sauce oriented food.

This particular pizza is a pretty stripped down version of the classic combination of Frank's Red Hot sauce, chicken, and blue cheese dressing. Because it's pizza, I've added a final layer of shredded mozzarella, just to tie it all together. I've dispensed with the traditional carrot and celery sticks, although you could either serve them alongside (which would be appropriate) or dice them finely and use them as a topping - but I think they would be a bit of a distraction there. So.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 Standard pizza

! batch pizza crust dough (see below)
125 mL (1/2 cup) creamy blue cheese dressing (or more to taste)
350 grams cooked, shredded chicken
60 mL (1/4 cup) Frank's Red Hot sauce (original)
1 tablespoon butter
200 grams shredded mozzarella

Dough

3/4 cup warm water (not hot)
1-2 teaspoons active dry yeast (use 1 tablespoon if you don't have the time to let it rise)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Approximately 2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Test the water by sticking your impeccably clean finger in it. If it's pleasantly warm, but not hot, you're good to go. If not, adjust as needed. Pour warm water into a medium sized mixing bowl. Sprinkle sugar and yeast over the water and let stand for about five minutes. The yeast will soften, and gradually start to foam up to the top of the water. This usually only takes a few minutes, but if your water is quite cool it might take a little longer. Once the yeast has gotten foamy, stir in the olive oil (or canola, if you don't have olive oil) and 1/2 cup of the flour.

Stir until combined into a sort of paste, and then beat vigorously for 100 strokes all in the same direction. It sounds silly, but this is the basis for a very smooth dough, and it doesn't actually take very long at all. A wooden spoon is ideal for the job. Once your mixture is smooth and silky-looking, add the salt and 1 cup of flour. Stir until the flour is mostly incorporated - it gets very stiff very quickly - and then turn out onto a clean counter to knead. Add more flour as you need it, if the dough seems sticky or wet.

Knead the dough briskly for about five minutes, or until it comes together in a satiny ball and is no longer sticky. Let the dough rest on the counter while you wash out the bowl that you started it in. Wash and dry the bowl, and spritz with a little oil. Place your dough into the bowl (turn it over once so that a little oil gets on the top) and cover with a towel while you prepare your toppings. The dough doesn't need to rise double in size (although it's fine if it does) but it should show some signs of life when you get back to it - be softer and a little risen.

Turn the oven on to preheat to 220°C / 450°F, with the rack placed in the middle. Prepare a pizza pan by sprinkling a generous amount of cornmeal in a thin layer over it, or lightly oiling.

Toppings

In a small skillet, heat the butter and hot sauce together and stir well to integrate (a whisk might help). Add the shredded chicken and toss/stir to thoroughly coat.

Press the dough out evenly on your pan. If the dough is still a bit tense, it might take a little longer, but this amount of dough will fit a full sized pizza pan. Just be patient and keep pressing it out, even if it tries to spring back, or let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. Once the dough is stretched to the full size of the pan, spread the blue cheese (or ranch, if you must) dressing evenly over it, leaving a little uncovered around the edge. Use a big spoon or your fingers to distribute the sauced up chicken over the dressing, and then add your mozzarella.



Slide the pan into your preheated oven and bake for at least 12 - 15 minutes (depending on your oven, maybe a little more), or until the crust is golden and delicious.

Slide pizza onto cutting board and pretend you're going to share. Put the rest of the bottle of Frank's Red Hot on the table...and try not to burn your mouth from devouring everything too quickly.

Note about foil: If you have cleverly put down a layer of foil in the bottom of your oven to protect it from drips, know that this is going to have a negative impact on the cooking time and browning of your pizza - especially the bottoms thereof. Put a baking sheet down there if you must, but foil really screws with the heat flow in an oven, and things take much longer to cook (and don't brown evenly). It might not affect other recipes, but it's terrible for pizza and pie crusts.



I added an extra perimeter of cheese and popped mine back in the oven for a couple of minutes, because it seemed like a good idea. It was. If you have some nice, mild, crumbly Danish blue cheese, that would go perfectly here.

Korean-Mexican Braised Short Ribs (and Bibimbap)

My first experience of Korean-Mexican fusion was a Korean Taco Truck in Vancouver a few years back. Almost immediately, curiosity overwhelmed confusion and I decided that this was something I really needed to try. So, I bellied up to the window and got myself an order of mixed tacos - Galbi (short rib) and Bulgogi (shredded beef). On the plate, it's easy to see why these two amazing cuisines can come together so deliciously, despite the huge geographical distance and cultural differences.

Since that first unexpected demonstration of fusion that really works, the combination of Korean and Mexican has shown up again and again, and it seems to get tastier each time. And then I received a package from some friends in Australia, which included a bottle of Chipotle Gochujang sauce from their local restaurant, Hispanic Mechanic.

Gochujang is an essential ingredient in Korean cuisine; a spicy, fermented chilli paste that is used either on its own and as a base for other sauces. The spiciness of this condiment predates New World peppers, with the heat in those earlier versions being likely provided by sancho (Zanthoxylum piperitum) and black pepper, although chillies have been used since at least the early 1600s. This particular fusion iteration relied on chipotle, a smoked, dried jalapeño pepper, and is more the texture of a thick Mexican-style hot sauce.

Now, I'm not gonna lie, the first date the sauce had in our house was with some pork neck steaks in a presentation that skewed neither east nor west (but was delicious), but after gawking at the Hispanic Mechanic menu, I was determined to hunt down some beef spare ribs. I wasn't able to find the thin, flanken cut that would be closer to what is used in a traditional Korean Galbi recipe, so I opted for braising rather than grilling - Galbijjim (갈비찜, Galbi Jjim, or Kalbi Jjim), more or less, rather than grilled Galbi. I'm looking forward to trying this sauce with pulled chicken, too.

Korean-Mexican Braised Short Ribs

1 kg Short ribs, browned in 1 Tablespoon peanut oil
5 fresh large shiitake, sliced in half (stems removed)
1/4 cup less sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
2 Tablespoons chipotle gochujang
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon honey
3 scallions
4 cloves garlic
2 cups beef or veal broth
1 inch ginger, chopped
3 red chiles, deseeded

Braise 3 hours in an oven preheated to 170°C (340°F), remove the meat from bone, shred, mix with some braising liquid. There may be some fatty bits, and you don't want to wholly discard those. Chop up some of it and mix it in with the meat and braising liquid. If you have a lot of fat, you won't want to use it all or it will be too rich. Thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms and set aside as a separate item.

And what did we do with this marvellous, meltingly tender and unctuous short rib meat? We made Bibimbap, of course.



Bibimbap (비빔밥) is Korean for "mixed rice" and is generally made by adding various toppings to a base of one of a number of different rice varieties. It is often served in a (very hot) heated stone bowl, but not always. There is a tremendous variation from one bibimbap to the next, as it is infinitely customizable depending on what toppings are available and/or selected, from all vegetarian, to a mixture of meat and vegetables, to raw egg (or egg yolk) added at the last minute (usually in the hot stone bowl versions). There is a wonderful array of different flavours and textures to enjoy.

For our Bibimbap, I went with plain, white, medium-grain rice, the shredded short rib meat and braised shiitake mushrooms, ginger-soy braised cabbage, sesame carrot, and an absolutely fantastic zucchini bokkeum (볶음, stir fry) that is good hot or cold and makes a terrific banchan (반찬, side dish). It will get its own post very soon (I note that banchan are normally served in the middle of the table, for diners to help themselves, but I couldn't resist putting it right in the bowl for the picture). Final garnish was shredded green onion, although if I'd had them at the time, I would have added Mexican pickled red onion. In fact, we made tacos from the remaining short rib meat a couple of days later, for which I whipped up a batch of the pickled onions expressly.

While there are an assortment of different sauces used as the finishing touch on a bowl of bibimbap (including, for example ssamjang, sesame sauce, citrus-soy, and a variety of spicy options, often based on gochujang) we went with more of the chipotle gochujang, which amplified the flavours used in the braising liquid.

Coliflor a la Huancaína: Cauliflower with Peruvian Spicy Cheese Sauce

Salsa a la Huancaína, a spicy, Peruvian, fresh cheese sauce made with yellow Ají Amarillo chiles, is normally served over cold, boiled potatoes. It is a very popular appetizer, and like many Peruvian dishes, is often served with hard boiled eggs and black olives as a garnish.

The sauce itself takes very little time to whip together if you are using jarred Ají Amarillo puree, as it requires no cooking - just a brief stint in the blender or food processor (you could, of course, go full traditional and use a mortar and pestle). I used an stick/immersion blender.

As you can see, I've served it over roasted cauliflower instead of potatoes. This is partly because I had some cauliflower that was in desperate need of use, and partly because the potatoes in my pantry had started to grow, taking them effectively out of the equation. But we know that cauliflower loves cheese, so it seemed like a pretty good alternative to the potato. And it was. You could of course use cold boiled potatoes - one medium potato per person. Because the cauliflower was warm, the sauce melted a bit, becoming a bit thinner than it would be otherwise.

Coliflor a la Huancaína: Cauliflower with Peruvian Spicy Cheese Sauce

(sauce adapted from Peru Delights)

Serves 6

Half a head of cauliflower, separated into florets, roasted and let cool to room temperature.

Salsa a la Huancaína

1/2 cup Aji Amarillo yellow hot pepper paste
1 cup evaporated milk (⬅︎ not sweetened condensed milk!)
4 soda crackers
1 cup queso fresco (or substitute 1 cup Ricotta Cheese and 30 grams Feta Cheese)

Garnish

3 boiled eggs, quartered
12 mild black olives
Parsley and/or lettuce (optional)

Scoop the cheese into the bowl of your food processor/blender (I used a stick blender for this, and it was fine). Break up the crackers over the cheese. Add the chile paste, and slowly pour in about half the milk. Start to process, adding more milk as necessary (you might not need it all, depending on your crackers and your cheese) until you get a smooth, yellow sauce thick enough to generously coat the cauliflower (or potato). It should not be as thick as bean dip, but able to flow a little when poured. If not using right away, cover tightly and refrigerate for up to two days.

Plate the cauliflower (you can place it on some lettuce, if you like, for presentation purposes) and spoon the sauce over each piece. Garnish with eggs, olives, parsley (if you like), and enjoy.

While this is traditionally an appetizer, we had it alongside some pork neck in an escabeche sauce, and a baked sweet potato.

Spicy Cauliflower & Ground Meat Skillet Dinner

This is quick, delicious, and oh-so-easy. We use habanero peppers, because we can get them more easily than we can jalapeños, but you can use any chile pepper you like, really. Kind of a cauliflower hash, as it were, but not so...hashy?

What it is, is very filling and satisfying. It's also low carb, if that interests you, or are just looking for something different from the cycle of potato-pasta-rice-bread that make the foundation of so many dinner calendars.

Spicy Cauliflower & Ground Meat Skillet Dinner
Adapted from Gluesticks & Gumdrops

Serves 2

1/2 large head of cauliflower, separated into small florets
250 grams ground beef or beef/pork mixture
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 large onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 habanero chile pepper, de-seeded
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or other powdered chile
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
60 grams cheddar cheese, grated
black pepper, to finish
cilantro, for garnish
Water, as needed

Do your mise en place first: separate the cauliflower, chop the onion, mince the garlic, grate the cheese, and de-seed the hot pepper (carefully). Wash and dry the coriander, and tear the leaves off of the thicker stems (you don't need the stem here).

Heat the canola oil in a large over medium-high temperature, and add the ground meat. If your meat is a bit fatty, you might not need the oil at all, or you might need to spoon a little off after it's fried. You want a bit of oil to thoroughly brown the meat, but not so much that it becomes greasy. If you are using lean meat, you shouldn't have to drain anything.

Break up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula as it fries, and let it get some nice golden brown colour before you add anything else. Don't just fry it until it loses the pink - you don't get good flavour from grey meat. When it is satisfactorily browned, add the onion and garlic, and stir through. When the onion turns translucent, add the chile pepper and the salt, cayenne, cumin seasonings. Stir and continue to fry until the onions are tender and a bit browned at the edges.

Add the cauliflower and stir it through, coating it with the spicy juices already in the skillet. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, and stir through again. Continue to cook and stir, adding splashes of water where necessary to keep the mixture loose an not burning, but not enough to make a gravy. You can also put a lid on and turn it to low for a few minutes to make sure the cauliflower gets cooked through to your satisfaction.

When the cauliflower is tender, it's time to finish. Scatter the grated cheddar evenly over the pan, and put a lid on for a few minutes - just long enough to melt the cheese. Use a wide spatula to lift sections from the pan onto the plate, trying to keep the cheese top-most if possible. Garnish with black pepper and cilantro. Devour.

You can of course use more cheese to make this an even more deluxe dish, but it's lovely the way it is, and perfect for someone looking for a lighter (but still satisfying) meal.

Not hot enough? You can always top it with the fiery hot sauce of your choice.

Gored Gored: Ethiopian Spiced Raw Beef

I am a big fan of Ethiopian cuisine. Its richly layered seasonings can be searingly spicy or pleasantly warm, but are always complex flavours borne of a long, unique culinary heritage.

I also like raw beef dishes, generally: carpaccio, tartar, kitfo (another Ethiopian dish, as it happens) are all wonderful, but the intense seasoning and the richness of the butter lift gored gored into a class of its own.

While I've eaten gored gored many times in restaurants, when I decided to make it myself, I found very few recipes to work from, and even fewer in English. I set about watching cooking videos on YouTube and scouring cookbooks, but there didn't really seem to be a consensus on any sort of master recipe, so I've constructed my own based on the bits of information that I've uncovered, as well as hands on (quite literally) analysis through consumption of versions prepared by professionals. The dish is not always served raw - sometimes it is lightly seared - but I prefer it raw.

This was a full on Ethiopian meal, with the other dishes being shiro wat (recipe still under development), okra stew with onions and tomatoes, and of course, injera - that wonderful Ethiopian flatbread that serves as a literal foundation upon which the other dishes are served, as well as the utensil with which to eat them. My injera really, really needs more practice, but the gored gored turned out beautifully.



Berbere spice mixtures can often be purchased pre-mixed, but if you can't find it, there's a link in the recipe below.

Gored Gored

Serves 4 - 6 (as part of a multi-dish meal)

225 gram piece of high quality raw beef, suitable for tartar
3-4 tablespoons warm Ethiopian spiced butter (Nit'r Q'ibe) (I used a modified version of this recipe from Saveur: I added a teaspoon of Berbere seasoning)
1 (extra) teaspoon Berbere seasoning (I used this recipe from Epicurious) You'll also need this to make the Awase seasoning
3-4 tablespoons Awase seasoning (I used this recipe from Markus Samuelsson)

Once you've gotten all of the seasonings sorted out, this dish is extremely simple. On your extremely clean cutting board, using a very sharp knife, cut the meat into small cubes. I cut mine very small, for the best spice-penetration, but it's normal to cut them a bit larger than this.

In a small serving bowl, add the Awase and the extra Berbere seasoning, and stir well to thoroughly coat all sides of each bit of meat. Add the warmed spiced butter, one tablespoon at a time, stirring completely through, until the meat has a glossy sheen.

You can keep any leftover gored gored until the next day, covered well in the fridge, and either sauté it for the next day (if you must), or warm it very gently over a low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, just until the butter loosens up and the meat approaches room temperature, and then swiftly plate to prevent it from cooking.