Christmas Posole

Posole soup is a Christmas tradition in Mexico and at my house too. All of my favorite Latin flavors in one big bowl, braised chicken, chili peppers, hominy, avocado and fresh cilantro. It is very easy to make and everyone can garnish there own soup with a choice of there favorite condiments like crispy fried tortillas, diced avocado and jalapenos.

Ingredients:

2 whole chicken legs, skin removed

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 quart water

2 cups canned hominy, drained

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a heavy pot saute the onion and garlic in a dash of vegetable oil.

2. Add the chili powder and saute one minute more.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for one hour.

4. Remove chicken legs and remove meat from bones, return to soup.

5. Check seasonings and adjust if necessary, ladle into preheated bowls.

To serve: have small bowls of fried tortillas strips, diced jalapenos, chopped cilantro, diced avocado, hot sauce available for guests to add to there soups.

Yield= 4

Chilaquiles for breakfast

Chilaquiles are a traditional Mexican dish often served as breakfast, it is a basic one pan scramble of corn tortillas, salsa, eggs and cheese. other ingredients can be added such as beans or chicken. I like it spicy with a lot of hot sauce, avocado and chopped cilantro.

Ingredients:
1 chicken leg, cooked and shredded
2 corn tortillas, torn into large pieces 2 ounce enchilada sauce or salsa
1 whole egg
1 pinch shredded cheese
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin
chopped cilantro

1. Saute the chicken, onions and tortilla's in a dash of oil.

2. Add the egg and scramble, when cooked add the sauce and the cheese.

3. Plate and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Yield= 1 Options: chorizo sausage, avocado, roasted chili peppers

Duck Ragu with Creamy Polenta

With the cold and rainy weather of this season, a comforting bowl of creamy polenta and tomato stewed duck sounds good. A brasied and shredded duck leg was added to sliced onions, garlic and tomatoes and after a hour of slow simmering it was spooned over creamy polenta, grated parmeasn can be added if desired.

Smoked Salmon on Potato Blini

I made a nice hor d'oeuvre of smoked salmon on a potato blini finished with a dollop of creme fresh and chives. They are fairly simple to make and good for the holiday parties. If they are made a little bigger they would make a nice first course or they can have the addition of caviar and be served with a glass of good champagne.

Potato blini
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked and mashed russet potatoes
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 whole egg
1/4 cup flour
dash kosher salt
whole milk as needed

Method:
1. In a bowl mix all ingredients with a wire whisk.
2. Add milk to mixture till it becomes a thin smooth batter.
3. Ladle one ounce of batter per pancake on a hot greased non stick pan.
4. When they start to dry on the edges, flip and finish cooking.
5. Assemble with smoked salmon, a dollop of creme fresh and a sprinkle of chopped chives.


Note: store bought smoked salmon can be used, sour cream can be used instead of creme fresh.

Pappardelle Pasta with Slow Brasied Pork

Nothing like a pot simmering on the stove during a cold winter day, I made a variation of the Italian classic, Pappardelle with wild boar. You just don't find wild boar to much in the market so I used domestic pork. The cubed pork is browned then slowly simmered in red wine and tomatoes till it is so tender that it falls apart, a basic fresh herb pasta is made and the pasta sheets are hand cut into thick ribbons which are cooked, drained then tossed in butter, to finish Parmesan cheese is grated and added. Its ready to eat in front of a warm fireplace with a nice glass of red wine.

Chicken and Bacon Hash with Avocado

I could eat this for breakfast every weekend, crispy diced potatoes fried in smoky bacon fat and tossed with chicken and onions, topped with rich and creamy avocado. Maybe with a fried egg and definitely a big splash of hot sauce. Can't wait till the weekend!

Asian Comfort in a Bowl

My young daughter was not feeling well today so I had the idea of making a chicken soup with won ton dumplings. I made a quick trip to the Clement street China town in San Francisco on the way home from work, I was lucky to find a parking space right in front of the New May Wah market. This store has everything and at good prices too. I had some of the ingredients at home so all I needed were a couple of chicken backs for the soup stock a chicken breast and a pack of won ton wrappers for the dumplings. With bags in the car and driving North over the Golden Gate bridge it is time to cook.

Ingredients:
2 chicken backs
1 knob ginger, crushed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stalk lemon grass, crushed
2 carrots, rough chop

2 quarts water
2 stalks celery, rough chop
1 chicken breast, boneless and skinless
1 dash soy sauce
1 Tablespoon fine sliced scallions
1 egg
Salt to taste

1. Make the soup broth with the chicken backs, 2 cloves garlic, half the ginger, celery, carrot, soy sauce, two quarts water.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook for an hour, check for seasoning and strain into another pot, keep at a simmer.
3. While the broth is cooking, make the won tons. In a food processor put the egg, chicken breast, one clove garlic, the other half of ginger, salt.
4. Pulse the chicken mixture till smooth.
5. Lay out the won ton wrappers and place a teaspoon on the chicken mixture in center of each wrapper, wet edge with water moistened finger and gather up the edges to make a dumpling.
6. To cook: add the dumplings to the simmering broth and cook for about five minutes, divide the broth and dumplings into bowls and garnish with the scallions.

Yield = 4 servings

Hot Chicken Sandwiches

There a lot of options on using leftovers from big holiday meals, I already cooked crispy bacon and chicken hash for breakfast this morning, now its lunch time and I had another idea, hot chicken sandwiches, First I toasted dinner rolls that were split in half, then I reheated some sliced chicken in the gravy, the hot chicken goes on the rolls then gravy gets poured all over.

Duck, Southwest Style

When chicken gets boring, give duck a try. I marinated duck breasts in fresh lime juice, garlic and chili powder for a few hours, then I scored the skin to help in rendering the fat when cooking, the breasts go skin side down into a saute pan with a low flame, after about twenty minutes of slow cooking I drain off the fat (save for another use, its very flavorful) I turn up the heat to crisp the skin, then flip over the breasts to finish cooking. I served the duck breast sliced and fanned out on a bed of slow braised black beans and with a dollop of fresh made guacamole. All I need are warm tortillas to make some duck tacos and you don't want to forget the hot sauce.

Flavors of Puerto Rico in Marin County

There is a popular Puerto Rican restaurant called "Sol Food"located in San Rafael, California, it started as a very small restaurant and a few years later a second bigger location opened up down the street. Its a Cool and funky place with lots of tropical plants and a neon lime green building that's hard to miss. The food is classic Puerto Rican with lots of slow simmered beans, rice, grilled meats and the famous fried plantains, which are served either sweet or with garlic and salt. Be sure to try the house made hot sauce, its so good they sell it.

Sol Food, 732 Fourth Street or 901 Lincoln Ave, San Rafael, California

Country Style Lentils with Sausage

The calender says its winter but kind of hard to believe when its so nice out, anyway in keeping with winter style meals I choose to make stewed lentils with sausage. I started with finely diced onion, celery and carrots sauteed with bacon and garlic, then I added lentils and chicken stock to cover, I simmered the vegetables and lentils till tender. With the lentils cooking I browned whole link edsausage and finish cooking them in the lentil stew. Check for seasoning and its done. I will make this again when its really cold out then it will be true comfort food.

Brussel Sprouts with Smoked Bacon

A lot of people don't like brussel sprouts because they have somewhat of a strong flavor. I have found that if you treat them like you would cabbage then you might like them better and bacon helps everything! I start by taking the sprouts and shaving them into thin slices using a mandolin, they can also be grated by using a box grater. Next saute thick slices of smoked bacon with sliced onions and garlic, when the bacon and onions are browned and the fat is rendered, add the brussel sprouts and saute till wilted and cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste and maybe add a splash of good balsamic vinegar to give a little sweetness and acidity. Give it a shot, I am sure that you will really like them.

Farmers Market BBQ Oyster's

I took a trip to the Marin County Sunday farmers market today and being a few days till the big thanksgiving holiday it was packed with people shopping for food. I found some nice Brussel sprouts from a farm in the half moon bay area (I will post a idea and recipe for those) At the market there was a huge tent of local seafood on ice, they had a big gas grill to BBQ oysters. Three large oysters for five dollars sounded like a great deal to me.They were simply cooked till they popped open and then basted with chopped fresh garlic and butter, chopped green onions were sprinkled on top to finish. they were really good with a splash of hot sauce.

Holiday Trial Run

I was thinking about what to do for dinner the other night, I knew I had a loaf of good quality bread at home to use up. I came up with doing a roasted double chicken breast filled with a basic bread and sausage stuffing. I served this with a side of roasted then mashed sweet potatoes. The first thing to do was to cube the bread and toast it in the oven, while this was going on, I diced garlic, celery and onion and lightly cooked it with a crumbled mild Italian sausage. The vegetable mixture was then mixed with the toasted bread cubes and fresh chopped rosemary. The chicken was place skin side down and the stuffing was spread down the center. Then the breast was rolled up and tied with heavy kitchen string, olive oil, salt and pepper all over and then into a preheated 350F oven, Cooked till the chicken reached a internal temperature of 175F. The chicken will take about 30-40 minutes to cook. For the sweet potato mash I took whole roasted sweet potatoes mixed with boiled russet potatoes which were mashed together and kept them warm. When the chicken is done, I placed it on a plate covered with foil to rest before cutting, at this time I make a simple sauce with the pan drippings, a dash of flour and a splash of white wine, I spooned this over the sliced chicken breast and the sweet potatoes.

Sunday Afternoon at the Races

When its a warm 80 degrees and the race track has one dollar admission, beers and hot dogs then its the place to be.Its not even close to four star dining, but the price is right and maybe a lucky horse pick will put those few dollars back in your pocket.