Cioppino, the Italian New Mexican way

When I first moved to New Mexico, my husband did all the cooking. He was a great fan of chili, and used to put chilis in everything. I was from the east coast, however, and not really used to that much spice. One day he put some green chili in a fish dish that he made, and I rebelled. "Can't we have ANYTHING without chili in it?" He said "OK", and from that day he ceased to put chili in anything. After about 2 weeks, I went to him like an addict needing a fix. "Can we please have something with chilis in it?" I asked sheepishly. "Sure!" Chilis were back, and I've relied upon them as a source of comfort (and vitamin C) ever since.

And so I'm dedicating this week's recipe to Bob. Sure, I got some ideas from epicurious.com "Grandfather's Cioppino" but in the spirit of the kind of cooking he taught me, I tweaked it according to whim and what I had on hand. You were right, Bob. Fish with chili is not such a bad idea after all.

2 TBS olive oil

1 large onion

3 celery stalks, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can crushed or diced tomatoes - I think mine was 14oz.

Fresh tomatoes, chunked. I had some grape tomatoes that needed using - about 1 1/2 C

1 C dry red wine

1 TBS red wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

a few vigorous shakes of dried oregano

a vigorous shake of ground cinnamon

1 TBS crushed red pepper flakes

1 whole red chili or jalapeno - kept whole.

2 C water

1 fish boullion cube (shhhhh! Don't tell the culinary cops!)

Fish: I used the following, approximately a big handful of each:

Albacore

Tilapia

Sea Bass

Shrimp

Bay Scallops

In a heavy stockpot over medium high heat, sautee onion, celery and garlic till the onion is translucent

Add the next 8 ingredients and stir, then reduce heat to medium

Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add water and boullion cube (or 2+ cups of homemade stock, if you have any and haven't run out as I did!) and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add fish, starting with the densest, heaviest fish first, and moving to the lightest fish last. In my case, I started with the tuna and sea bass and ended with the shrimp and scallops, as they only take about 3 minutes to cook.

This dish is great to make for parties. You can prepare everything but the fish ahead of time. The pot can be on the stove and kept warm until you sense your guests are ready for food. Turn the heat up under the pot, drop the fish in and voila! A spectacular meal, served with fresh sourdough or baguette slices.

This soup is my response to Alanna's Soup Month over at Veggie Venture. It seems that not all soups need be vegetarian for this event, so if you haven't yet "dished", please do!

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In Praise of Chilis

It's February and it's raining. If I were back in New Mexico, it would be snowing. Now this may sound crazy coming from someone in southern California, but I'd prefer the snow. Somehow, when those thick flakes come down and the world gets blanketed in quiet, you just know it's time to throw another log on the fire, put on some music, and head for the kitchen to make some chili.

We need to stop here, because I must tell you what I mean when I say "chili". People always ask me if I put beans in my chili. Or what kind of meat I use. But you see, to a New Mexican, chili isn't about beans. Or meat. It's about chili. And onions, of course. And some herbs and spices. But chili is something you add to meat. Or beans. It's a food in and of itself. So the only question, really, is "red or green?" That's what you'll be asked if you go to a restaurant in New Mexico.

People often ask me which one is hotter? The fact is, either one can set your hair on fire, or be as mild as a green pepper. Chilis come in all degrees of heat, in all colors, and with some subtle (and not so subtle) differences in flavors.

The beauty of this approach to making chili, is that when you've made a big pot of it, you can then add it to whatever you wish. If you have leftover chicken, you can make a chicken and chili stew. If you've got some ground beef or a steak you don't mind cutting into cubes, then you can make some chili with beef. You can ladel it over rice or beans, or wrap it in a thick tortilla. It's delicious. It warms you from the inside. And it's high in vitamin C, so it's excellent for fighting off those winter colds and flu.

So when you're done eating all those Valentines chocolates, when the flowers have become droopy, and the weather continues in relentless winter dreariness, consider the warmth and comfort of some chili.

I made green chili today. Red chili takes more work, and I had other things on my mind. When I lived in New Mexico, we used to wait for the trucks to come up from the town of Hatch - known for it's superior chili. Semi trucks would pull into the parking lots of various supermarkets, set up a large wire mesh, cylindrical drum over a gas burner and wait. In no time, there would be a line of people, buying green chilis by the bushel. They would empty the big burlap bag into the wire drum, fire up the burner and crank the large handle attached to the drum, rotating it. The chilis would tumble around inside this wire drum and get roasted. When the skins were black and crispy but the flesh still moist, the man would toss them into a giant black plastic garbage bag and tie it closed. You'd place the heavy bag on the floor of your car and drive home with the smell of warm chilis filling the air. When you opened the bag, the steam that had been trapped in the bag had caused the skins to pop off, making it easier to remove them. My husband and I would pour ourselves a glass of wine and spend the next few hours skinning chilis. After a couple of hours of this, we'd give up, and divide what was left into quart sized baggies and put them in the freezer with the skins on. When it came time to use them, we'd run them under hot water and the skins would pop off easily.

2 TBS oil

1 onion, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced.

1 TBS cumin (or more, to taste)

Several good shakes of dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste. (Yes, you may use black pepper in this dish!)

1 1/2 TBS butter (or substitute)

2 TBS flour

water

Chilis - roasted, skinned an chopped, seeds removed. Mostly.

What kind of chilis? How many? Well, for my chili tonight I used 2 anaheims (no heat at all - just flavor), 3 poblanos, and 2 yellow jalapenos. I roasted all of them on my gas grill (it only sprinkled a little), threw a plastic bag over them and brought them inside. By the time I got done chopping the onions, I was ready to peel the peppers.

In a heavy pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook till the onions are translucent. Add chili and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan. Make a "white sauce" by melting the butter into the pan, adding the flour, mixing well and adding water until it's the right consistency. Add the chili mixture to the sauce, reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Check the liquid level while it's cooking - you don't want it to dry out. Check and correct seasonings.

This evening, I happened to have a little bit of ground beef. I don't often eat beef, but about a half a pound of it made a fine amount to create an enchilada with the chili. I mixed the beef with onion, salt, pepper, and garlic and sauteed it in a pan. When it was done, I got out a flour tortilla and heated it directly on my gas stove, turning it often to make sure it didn't burn. I spread the beef, then the chili, then grated the little bit of cheddar cheese I had left over, rolled the tortilla up and turned it over, seam side down. I spooned some of the chili over the top, added some chopped lettuce and tomato, and dinner was served. Muy delicioso!

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Baba Ganouj

I love appetizers. In fact, I could easily make a meal of them and skip the entree. So when I was invited to a friend's birthday party and asked to bring an appetizer, I was delighted! A "mini meal"! I decided on something I hadn't made in many years - baba ganouj. I have an old cookbook called "A Book Of Middle Eastern Food", written by an Egyptian exile named Claudia Roden. Her description of the "smoky" taste of the eggplant combined with the strong taste of the tahini as "exciting and vulgarly seductive" drew me in to trying this dish many years ago. It has never disappointed me, and it proved to be a hit at the party.

Firm, ripe eggplant, and creamy, smooth tahini

Her recipe is for a large amount, and she states that "the ingredients are added almost entirely to taste, the harmony of flavors depending on the size and flavor of the eggplants used."

3 large eggplants

2-4 cloves of garlic, or to taste

salt

1/2 cup tahini or less, depending on the size of the eggplants

juice of 3 lemons, or more to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

a few black olives or 1 tomato, thinly sliced, to garnish

Cook the eggplants over charcoal or under a gas or electric broiler until the skin blankens and blisters. Peel and wash the eggplants, and squeeze out as much of the bitter juice as possible.

Crush the garlic cloves with salt. Mash the eggplants with a potato masher or fork (or food processor), then add the crushed garlic and a little more salt and mash till smooth (or puree in processor.)

Add tahini and lemon juice alternately, blending for a few seconds between each addition. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, garlic or tahini if you think it necessary and if you like, a little cumin.

Pour the cream into a bowl or a few smaller serving dishes. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and black olives, or with a few tomato slices. Serve as an appetizer with pita bread wedges.

In Chinese Medicine, eggplants are considered to be beneficial for the kidneys. As winter is considered to be the time of the kidneys, eggplant is a perfect winter food. Tahini can be found in grocery stores, sometimes near the peanut butter. It is made of sesame seeds, which are considered to be a "yin" tonic. In other words, they nourish the body's fluids. The mixture of eggplant with tahini is considered soothing, and can help insomnia and restlessness. Besides which, it just tastes so good!!

This post is my entry into the Weekend Herb Blogging Event hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen

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Carrot Ginger Soup

Jeff was cleaning out his refrigerator. Big bag of carrots - not really old, but not young, either. "Do you want these?" Well, I hate to see food thrown away, so of course I said yes. But what do you do with just under 2# of carrots? The only thing that made any sense to me was to make carrot ginger soup . I haven't had that in a long time, and I absolutely adore it! The color alone makes my mouth water!

So I started with onion and garlic - of course. A whole onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. I chopped them up and threw them into a large pot with about a tablespoon of my Earth Balance. (Butter, if your cholesterol levels can handle it.) When the onion had wilted and was translucent, I added the carrots - peeled and sliced - and the ginger - diced - and turned the heat down to simmer them for about 20 minutes.

Then I added a little over 5 cups of chicken stock - maybe closer to 6. (Not all of it had thawed before I added it, so it was hard to measure.) I brought it to a boil, then reduced the heat and simmered it for about a half an hour. Working with about a quarter of the mixture at a time, I blended the soup in my blender. (A food processerwould probably have done it more quickly and perhaps better, but the blender was in the front and the processer was in the back of the cabinet. So......)

When I had the whole batch blended, I put it back in the pot and turned the heat up a bit. Just when it started to simmer, I turned the heat off, added what I had left in my yogurt container - maybe a half a cup? - and whisked it in. Ahhhhh......That and a good levain bread from my local bakery (Bread & Cie), and I was in heaven!

From a health standpoint, everyone knows about carrots and vitamin A. But in Chinese medicine , the color and flavor of carrots (orange and sweet) make them beneficial for the digestive system. In the 5 element paradigm, the Spleen/Pancrease (translation here is "digestive system") is the Earth element, and the color associated with this element is yellow (or anything really close to it, like orange.) The flavor associated with it is sweet. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean cholcolate, but rather fruits and vegetables that are naturally sweet, such as carrots, butternut squash, (which could have made a terrific addition to this soup), oranges etc. So to benefit your digestive system, you need to incorporate things that are yellow or orange and naturally sweet.

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For those of you who haven't visited Susan over at Food Blogga , check out her site. Terrific recipes, great photos, wonderful writing!

Posole

There seems to be a debate as to whether posole is a soup or a stew. Most people here seem to think of it as a soup. In New Mexico, where I lived for 12 years, it's considered a stew. Posole has it's roots in Mexico, to be sure, where it is served as a soup. The soup is made with a special type of corn, which has been slaked (soaked) in a solution of lime. Treating corn with lime to remove the tough skins was probably a technique the early Meso-American cultures passed on to the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico. This corn, called posole, is the basis of a dish by the same name, which is made of hominy and pork.

Posole comes in several colors, depending upon the type of chili used. Some people use green chili. We always used red chili in New Mexico, but my husband told me that the first time he had posole, it was pure white. Pure white or not, the heat of the chilis used in that posole was enough to make one diner literally scream, and burst into a spontaneous sweat! So posole comes in the colors of the Mexican flag - red, white and green.

If you live in a place where you can obtain the dried, treated corn, you can start by soaking it overnight in water. You will want to change the water after a couple of hours, and then change it again in the morning when you wake up. Then you can cook it by bringing it to a boil in salted water, turning down the heat and simmering it for a couple of hours, or until the corn is soft. You will want to change the water once during the cooking.

Alternatively, you can buy a can of posole. They can be found in the Mexican food section of most grocery stores. (At least, here in the west they can. I don't know about the east coast. If someone wants to let me know, I'd be interested.) I've used them and found them to be an acceptable substitute.

You start by cubing some pork. You can use pork chops, a pork roast, or whatever version of pork you might have on hand. Depending upon the size of the can of posole you are using, you will need enough meat to have your final stew be slightly more than 1/3 pork to 2/3 hominy. If you wind up with half and half, that's fine.

Chop a large onion, and mince 3 cloves of garlic. Put some oil in a large, heavy pot and sautee the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent - about 3-4 minutes. Add the meat and cook on medium high heat, turning often. Reduce your heat and add red chili + powder * to taste. I never measure, but I'm assuming I use at LEAST a couple of tablespoons. But remember, I like my food spicy! So you might want to start out with less, depending upon the heat of your chili. You can always add more if it's too tame.

Stir the meat until it is coated with the chili, and then add about 2 cups of chicken broth, depending upon how much meat you've got. At this point, I throw in a healthy dash of oregano and a well rounded teaspoon of cumin powder, as well as some kosher salt. (Didn't all the early settlers have kosher salt?) If you are starting with the dried posole, you will want to add it before it's done cooking on it's own. If you've been cooking it for 45 minutes, you can add it at this point and let it finish it's cooking with the meat. You will also want to water - not the water you've been cooking it in (you want to make sure you don't have any of the lime in your final dish.) If you are using canned posole, you can cook the meat for about 40 minutes on it's own, before adding the posole. When you add the posole, remember to add water. If you want this to be a stew, add enough liquid to make it a stew, not a soup.

Cover and simmer on low for at least an hour and a half. I usually wind up cooking it for at LEAST an hour and 45 minutes, because I get busy doing something else. Or maybe because it just needs more time. No matter which version of hominy you use, it will need time to cook. Your nose will tell you when it's getting close to being ready. Test it by tasting a piece of the hominy. It should be soft enough to chew easily, but not mush. I don't think I ever ate it with avocado when I lived in New Mexico, but I recently started chopping some on top and I love it that way!

Posole is considered a dish that brings good luck. It's often eaten on New Year's eve, but it's also eaten any time one needs a little extra luck. Kind of a nice touch, don't you think?

*Red chili powder is not the same as the stuff they sell in grocery stores as "chili powder", which has things other than chili in it. I'm talking about the plain, dried red chili powder. I get mine from Hatch, New Mexico, which is famous for it's terrific chili. I try to take a vacation in the fall and drive to New Mexico, stopping off in Hatch to stock up on my chili. It's very rich in vitamin + C. Perhaps it was the early settler's secret to surviving the winter cold and flu season?

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For anyone not familiar with Fresh Approach Cooking , or MeleCotte , you should check them out. Rachael is one of the most talented food writers and food photographers in the blogosphere, and Pebbles has just joined in World Nutella Day. (Who can blame her?) Also, don't be shy. Visit Food Porn Watch . Great recipes, food events and food blogger map.

How to Stretch a Chicken, Part III

Well, it's now day 3 and all I have left is the carcass. Plus some leftover potatoes and carrots which I had roasted with the original chicken. So what to do? Well, I considered making chicken stock, which I usually do. But my freezer is stuffed with food and I wanted something warm. The obvious answer is chicken soup.

I'm assuming that most people reading a food blog have made chicken soup. (If this isn't the case for you, you can post a comment or email me at toni AT mission valley acu (one word) DOT com.) I made my stock with sea salt, and left all the little bits of chicken which came off the bones floating in the soup. After removing the bones, I added some fresh carrots and spinach which I had bought fresh, washed, par-boiled and frozen. If you've got leftover white beans or mushrooms, they'd be excellent in the soup. At the very end, I added the leftover potatoes and carrots, as well as some leftover butternut squash which I diced. I kept these in long enough for them to heat.

I love herbs, and use them in cooking all the time. I don't always think about which herbs I'll use in any particular recipe. I use my nose to decide that. Sometimes I'll just sniff the jars of herbs to decide which one smells like it would go with this particular dish. Since the chicken soup is kind of yellow in color, I'd be comfortable adding a touch of curry powder. A healthy dash of Hungarian paprika or red chili powder would also add some welcome heat in the winter. Or if you're in a different mood, you can add a dash of balsamic vinegar or squeeze some meyer lemon juice into the soup and add some fresh herbs. If you're feeling particularly cold, and maybe you have a runny nose, try adding some ginger to your soup. Ginger has wonderful warming properties, so it's great for when you're feeling cold. Not so good when you've got a fever.

Enjoy!

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Stretching a Chicken, Part II

OK, so now I've got part of a chicken breast, plus the rest of the carcass. (I ate the other leg/thigh with the veggies for lunch.) Don't want to get bored with this bird, after all! So I carved off the rest of the breast meat and cut it into chunks. I had gotten a large bag of dried shitake mushrooms and Costco not too long ago, and I had an onion in the fridge. This was beginning to look like the start of a stir-fry, so I bought a small bok choy to add some green to the dish.

Break the stems off about 2 large handfuls of dried, sliced shitake mushrooms (or more) and discard. If using fresh ones, you will want about 3/4 of a cup of sliced mushrooms. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly. (They are grown in manure, after all.) Soak the mushrooms in water while you prepare the rest.

Slice an onion (or 3/4 of one as I had in this case). If you have green onions, all the better. But I didn't, so I used what I had. Cut the base off the bok choy and wash the leaves thoroughly. Working with 2-3 leaves at a time, cut the stems in half or thirds lengthwise, depending upon their size. Then cut across the stems and leaves so that you have strips approximately 1/4" wide. (I'm guessing at this dimension, so don't obsess about it.)

Heat about 2TBS of oil in a pan. If you have a large wok, great! If not, you can use any large, heavy pan. The principle to remember here is "hot wok, cold oil". You don't want the oil breaking down from the heat before you get your food in the pan. So heat the pan first on medium- high, then add the oil. You will want your first ingredient coated with the oil by the time it heats up.

I used a combination of oils. I had some sesame oil, and I love the flavor of it. I don't agree with those who insist that you should only use a few drops of it to enhance the flavor of whatever other oil you use. I've never had anyone who complained that the sesame flavor overpowered the dish, and I used easily a tablespoon in this dish. Then I added a splash of hot pepper oil. (I told you I love chili!!) If you have peanut oil, that's always great in stir-fry dishes. If not, use what you have. The rest of the ingredients will add lots of good flavor.

To this oil mixture, add 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped, and about a half a tablespoon of ginger, grated or chopped. I prefer chopping it, but when I don't have time, I'll use the grated stuff in the jar. Then add the onions and stir. When the onions are almost caramel in color, add the bok choy and stir. At this point you can turn the heat down to medium. Add a splash of soy sauce and about a tablespoon of hoisin sauce. (You can buy this at most Asian markets). Keep stirring. When the bok choy leaves begin to wilt, add the mushrooms, along with the water you've soaked them in. Stir some more and add the chicken pieces. Reduce the heat and cover the pan. The dish should be ready to serve in about 5 minutes, when the chicken has heated through.

I served this dish with jasmine rice. There was enough of it for 4-5 people.

Tomorrow, I will finish with Part III.

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