Ribs, French Style

Ok.  I lied.  This recipe came not from France, but from my open, semi-perverted, so-called mind.  But, I timidly admit, it is delicious and just the thing to slap in the oven at noon, or before you go to work and yank out to cheers and salutations when you get home.

I’m a big believer in simple is good, effortless is better.  Two caveats:  the food must be tasty and it must be nutritious.  Also healthy?  Well, that’s a moving target, depending on the expert and the latest fads science.

This recipe does have a bit of a French background, somewhat resembling cassoulet, which I wrote about earlier.  How do they differ?  This rib dish is meatier and spicier.

The Recipe

6-9 Country-style ribs  (ribs with half a pork chop attached)

Salt (lightly), pepper, white pepper, smoked paprika for the ribs

6-8 Strips lean bacon, chopped (see photo)

6-8 Inch piece of smoked sausage, sliced in rounds (see photo)

1 large onion, halved and sliced thinly (see photo)

3 Gloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

3 Small, or 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (see note on how to peel tomatoes)

3 Tablespoons minced parsley (2 for the dish and 1 for the breadcrumb topping)

3 Cans Cannellini Beans (or sub Great Northern Beans, or use a combo)

2 Cups (or more if needed) chicken broth, plus an extra spoonful of granulated or condensed broth.  I suggest LOW sodium as this dish can get too salty in a hurry.

1 Heaping cup of breadcrumbs

4 Tablespoons softened butter

Heat the oven to 225ºF.  (This is for the casserole. You will need a grill for the ribs.  I use a gas-fired grill, for simplicity)

First step is to put the seasoned ribs on the grill.  The idea is to brown them, not cook them through.  I like a little crust on mine. When they are crusty, take them off and set them aside.

Slice the onion, garlic and the smoked sausage.  Chop the bacon and mince the parsley. Peel, seed and chop the tomato.  Note on Peeling Tomatoes:  Put the tomatoes in the sink and slowly pour boiling water over them.  The peel will come off easily.

Sauté the onions and garlic until they are translucent.  In a separate pan, fry the bacon until the fat is rendered and the bacon is beginning to crisp.   With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and add it to the onion mixture.  Cook for 3-4 minutes longer.

Realize that nothing needs to be fully cooked.  It will stay in the oven for hours!

Add the smoked sausage and chopped tomato to the onion mixture and stir.  Now add two cans of beans, drained, and one can of beans un-drained.  Stir.  

Add the parsley and stir.

Add the chicken broth and taste.  You want a strong broth flavor and you want the broth to be slightly soupy, so the dish does not dry out.

Place the ribs in a large ovenproof pan.  Ladle the bean mixture over the ribs, then cover and place in the oven. On such a low heat you may leave the dish in the oven as long as you want.  I left mine for over six hours.

Half an hour before serving, mix a heaping cup of breadcrumbs with softened butter and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Stir well.

Take the casserole out of the oven, remove the lid, and sprinkle the buttered breadcrumbs over the casserole.

Return the uncovered casserole to the oven, and increase the oven temp to 350ºF.

Cook until the breadcrumbs have browned.

This will feed as many people as you have ribs.

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs Casserole

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs (another sensational low carb recipe)

No, you have not had sausage and eggs like this supremely delicious offering.  Not at Denny’s, not at McWhat’s it, not in Aunt Julie’s Emporium for Holistic Eating and Meditation, although, you will be thinking about this meal for a long time. 

The secret is an unusual ingredient, not in the same sense as pickled Madagascar squirrel, or Chinese wrinkled yeast, just something not normally found in culinary association with sausage and eggs.

This is a dish you’ll want to serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  At lunch and dinner, I like to add a cucumber salad.  And afterwards a medicinal brandy or two.

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

Grease an 8 inch X 8 inch (20 cm X 20 cm) baking pan (glass or metal)

¾ Pound (300 g) loose sausage (I make my own. See below)

6 slices sandwich size Swiss cheese

1 Ball of fresh mozzarella di bufala cheese (about 1/3 pound, 125 g)

5 Eggs

1 Cup unsweetened coconut milk (not coconut juice or cream) Be sure to mix this well before using. Often the top of the can is thick and the bottom watery.

1 Green bell pepper, diced

1 Yellow bell pepper, diced

½ Red onion, diced

Salt and pepper

1 Level teaspoon dried marjoram

1 Level teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence

½ Teaspoon ground sage

Red pepper flakes

Ready to cook?

If you’re not using a commercial sausage:  Put ¾ pound ground pork, or beef, or a mixture in a bowl.  Add salt, pepper, and the dried herbs.  Toss in 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and mix well. Not trying to make this HOT, just enough red pepper to put a slight tingle on the tongue. 

For either commercial or homemade versions, add a little oil to a frying pan and fry the sausage, breaking it up with a spatula as much as possible. When it has lost it’s color and beginning to brown, take it off the heat and set it aside. You want the sausage cooked, but still juicy.

In another frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil and fry the onion and bell peppers, only until wilted.  Set aside. (All you’re trying to do is cook the onion and peppers a little bit and also remove much of the water.)

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the coconut milk. Toss in salt and pepper to taste, along with just a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.  Mix well.

Putting It All Together in Three Layers:

Put only enough of the egg mixture in the baking pan to cover the bottom.  Sprinkle in 1/3 of the cooked sausage and peppers/onion mix.  Add more of the egg mixture, then more sausage and peppers/onions.  Lay the Swiss cheese slices to cover.  Add the remaining egg mixture.  Put the last of the sausage and peppers/onions on top.

Rip up the ball of mozzarella and scattered it evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until the center is firm and the top is beginning to brown. Hint:  just give the pan a little shake and you'll know if the center is firm.

Let the dish rest about ten minutes before serving.

Serve with Pinot Grigio, you wild man!  Even at breakfast?  Damn straight!

Eggplant, Beef, Tomato, and Mushroom Casserole

Time out from travel writing to share a recipe that will keep a fork in your hand, waiting for seconds.  But, of course if you’d rather just have something quick from McNugget…But, no, you’re particular, a connoisseur , even if you can’t spell the word and still drink wine straight from the bottle.  Perhaps I’m being too harsh and you’re really a jelly jar kind of drinker.

We all have our weaknesses.  My one and only failing is, when I cook, I cook too much.  Dinner for two morphs into a week of leftovers.  In this case, it doesn’t matter a whit.  I could eat this casserole everyday for a month and still have a lingering taste for more.

Eggplant With Beef, Tomato, and Mushrooms

2 large eggplants, cut into half-inch thick rounds

4 (or more) tablespoons olive oil

Couple of teaspoons of salt, or more

1 medium onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, thin sliced

1 lb freshly ground beef

2 cups fresh mushrooms, quartered

3 generous shakes of powdered cinnamon

black pepper to taste

1 (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes, pureed in a blender or food processor, juice and all

12 oz fresh (not shredded!) mozzarella, sliced

Some Hints:  I use fresh mozzarella, packaged whole and still in it’s juice. Yes, of course I drain it!  As for the ground beef, don’t settle for the packaged and compressed variety.  Get your butcher to grind some for you RIGHT NOW.  Whole, canned tomatoes taste better to me, so I use them instead of diced or canned tomato sauce.

Wipe a 9 x 12 baking dish with olive oil.

Preheat the broiler, slice the eggplants, paint them (both sides) with olive oil, dust them with salt and pepper and slip them in the oven.  When one side is lightly browned, flip the slices over and lightly brown the other side.  When they’re done, set them aside.  Change the oven setting from broil to 375ºF (190ºC).

Add olive oil to a pan, put in the diced onion and sliced garlic.  Stir until the onions are limp, but not brown.  Add the ground beef and stir, breaking it up until it looks grainy and is just barely cooked through.  Add the cinnamon, salt and pepper (to taste) and stir.  Stir in the quartered mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are barely beginning to soften.

Putting it all together:  Step 1.  Pour a third of the blended tomato sauce in the baking dish and spread it around.  Put a third of the eggplant slices on top, then a third of the meat.  Repeat until everything is used up, with an eggplant layer on top.

Cover the filled baking dish with foil, put it on a baking sheet with sides.  Add a cup of water to surround the baking dish, and slide everything into the oven. Bake for 90 minutes.  This is a sloppy dish and the baking sheet will catch any spills.

Step 2.  Take the baking pan and baking dish out of the oven, remove the foil and throw it away. Put the sliced mozzarella on top, and put everything back in the oven. Do not cover.  Leave it until the cheese is melted and just beginning to brown.

Serve with rice.

Caution:  Do not eat too much.  You will become fat and be all alone and miserable as you drink from your jelly jar.  Then you will also drink too much and forget if connoisseur begins with a C or a K.

Chicken Pot Pie - Inspired by True Events!

For me, chicken pot pie is a warm memory of my mother’s kitchen.  She always made it from scratch, but that was a different era, when almost everything, including socks and baseballs, was made from scratch.  I loved her version. Later, some evil person, cursed be his name, introduced me to the perversion of clotty, tasteless muck you find in the frozen food section. For years I wandered in culinary purgatory.

Then, one happy day, I was in a London pub and a friend ordered the pub’s version of chicken pot pie.  I silently mourned his unfortunate choice.

He took a forkful, licked his lips and smiled.  Unexpected.  I had already cleared a path for him to make a galloping exit toward the Gents.

He offered me a bite.  Years of disgust faded like the memory of the time I discovered the difference between super glue and lubricant.   This was a heavenly blend of creamy flavors, dotted with herbs and sealed in a joyously flaky crust.  At that moment I made a vow to bring joy to the world with a startling reintroduction of chicken pot pie, as it should be.  Light. Delicious. Amazingly satisfying.  Needing only a soft white wine to bring comfort to the masses.  My gift to the world.

For the crust:

2 ½ Cups all-purpose flour

½ Tablespoon Salt

½ Cup (1 Stick) of chilled butter

½ Cup shortening

4 Tablespoons ice water

Mix the flour and salt.  Using forks or a pastry cutter, cut the shortening and butter into the flour.  Sprinkle on the ice water.  (I normally do a bit of this and that, but the ice water should be measured, or the dough will be too soggy.)

After cutting in the flour and shortening

After adding the ice water

Note:  Do not use a food processor to make pie dough.  The butter and shortening will be cut in too finely and the crust will not be as flaky.

Press the dough out into a rough circle, cover it front and back with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

For the Filling:

4 large chicken breasts  (1 ¾ pounds) cut into bite sized chunks

2 Cups chicken broth, plus another heaping tablespoon of granulated chicken broth, or one of the small cups of concentrated, jellied chicken broth, to intensify the flavor

1 Cup dry white wine

4 Cups sliced mushrooms

1 large onion, cut in quarters and sliced thinly

1 ½ Cups celery, chopped, including the leaves

1 large carrot, split and chopped

3 Tablespoons of chopped fennel leaves or tarragon, or another fresh herb

6 ounces of soft white cheese (I used a neutral cheese.  Brie or       Camembert will work, but will give a different flavor.)

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Celery leaves add a lot of flavor

A very soft, neutral cheese

Heat the oven to 375ºF

In a large skillet (I used a 12 inch), add the butter, olive oil, wine, and one cup of chicken stock.  Next add a half-cup of celery and onion, plus the chicken.  Stir over medium heat.  (You want the chicken juice to remain, so do not use high heat.)  After 2-3 minutes, when the chicken has lost its pink color, add the remainder of the chicken stock, as well as the granulated chicken stock.  Stir and bring to a boil. 

As the mixture comes to a boil, add the mushrooms and remaining vegetables.  Sprinkle the fennel over the mixture and continue to cook and stir. Don’t worry if the skillet is full.  Vegetables cook down nicely.

When the chicken is cooked, stir in bits of the soft, white cheese.  When that is blended, remove the mixture from the heat, while you roll out the piecrust.

Put the chicken mixture in an oven proof baking dish and lay the rolled piecrust over the top.  With any excess dough, make crust decorations as desired, or as your wife insists. Remember to poke holes in the crust to allow steam to escape while it bakes.

Slide the chicken pot pie into the pre-heated oven and bake until the pie crust is golden.  About 35 minutes.

Serves 8 to 9 hungry folks.

I prefer hot chicken pot pie, but it is also good at room temperature.