A Pot of Greens, Plus Cornbread from The Careless Cook

A Pot of Greens, Plus Cornbread from The Careless Cook

 

First off,  I have to put down my glass of wine, hold up my right hand and swear to tell the truth, something I don’t generally do because it complicates my already disordered life. 

 

This recipe is not all mine.  It’s my version of Eddie Hernandez’s recipe that he came up with decades ago, when one of his friends brought him a pile of fresh turnip greens.  Eddie is a happy, friendly restaurateur extraordinaire, who has owned several Mexican restaurants in the greater Atlanta area.  He’s really become acclimated to the southern style of cooking and his turnip greens are a good example, with Mexican flavors, but served in the southern fashion, the greens in their potlikker. 

 

Potlikker?  The broth you cooked the vegetables in.

 

But, you’re dying to know what The Careless Cook did differently.  The biggest difference is that I used cans of greens.  Now, Eddie runs a restaurant and when he cooks, he cooks massively and with great planning, so the time-to-cook (TTC) doesn’t matter.

 

I, on the other hand, had a significant other out for a 45 minute bike ride who would not show me a smile and be satisfied with a PBJ. (Pretty Bad Jumble)  Also, she’d mentioned cornbread on the way out the door.

 

First Cornbread Task:  Oven to 425ºF, oil an iron skillet and put it in the oven…..more to follow, but now let’s get back to the Greens.

In-Green-inents

 

3 cans of greens (refer to the photo to see what dusty cans I found in my pantry)

½ large tomato, seeded and diced

½ large onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 jalapeño, seeded, the ribs cut out, and diced

½ stick of butter (about 4 ounces)

32 ounce carton of chicken broth

salt and red pepper flakes to taste

fresh herbs to sprinkle on top - I used cilantro

 

Puttin’ It Teegether

 

Dump all three cans of greens in a colander and drain.  Set aside.

 

Melt the butter in a large pot.  I let mine brown just a little.  Toss in all the vegetables except the greens, and cook until the onions are limp.

 

Add the greens, stir, then pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and let the greens simmer while you make the cornbread.

 

Cornbread

 

Lots of variations, as you know.  This is the simple version to use when your significant other is on a bike ride and has high expectations and hunger pangs when she returns.

 

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

4 tablespoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used oat milk because that’s what I had!)

¼ cup vegetable oil

 

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix.  Make a well in the center and add the egg, milk, and oil.  Whisk only until the ingredients are mixed.

 

Pull the iron skillet out of the oven.  While others may know this, I will add a further instruction for my friend Daphne.  Don’t grab the skillet barehanded!

 

Put the batter in the skillet and return it to the oven.  My cornbread browned in 20 minutes.

 

I served the greens with some chopped herbs on top, plus a cut of cornbread and a glass of Pinot Gris.

 

Significant other expressed satisfaction bordering on happiness.

I raised a glass to Eddie Hernandez....who, by the way, has a fabulously interesting

cookbook that tells his story, from Mexico to now, along with a collection of recipes you're going to want to try!

 

Tasty and Hasty Pasta by The Careless Cook

Tasty and Hasty Pasta by The Careless Cook

 

Sometimes things just spring to mind.  No, not that.  I’m referring to food.  I’d just had a swim and was driving home when pasta did the springing.  My body was begging for some solid carbs with Italian flavors, accompanied of course by some Italian vino.

 

My water-soaked mind quickly reviewed the contents of the pantry, with a glimpse into the freezer section of the frig.

 

Had this, had that, had those other things. Good supply of fruit of the wine. All I was missing was pasta.  Could have been something of a show-stopper.

 

But, the show never stops for The Careless Cook!  My self-steering car automatically pulled into the parking lot of a friendly grocer.

 

A self-steering car?  You may well ponder.  Yes, I was steering it myself.  And I was lying about the friendly grocer.  It was a large supermarket chain; impersonal, but stocked with a vast array of what I was looking for. In seconds I was in and out and headed home. 

 

You see, meals don’t take a lot of planning, if you keep your kitchen well stocked with healthy supplies and your mind well supplied with a sense of culinary adventure.

 

I know my three faithful readers are all about adventure and I can see by their half empty wine glasses they’re ready to join me in the kitchen.

 

Let me top you off with another splash or two of a nice, silky smooth Primitivo. Salute! (Sal-ut-tey)

 

Tasty and Hasty Pasta From The Careless Cook

 

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

a package of sliced mushrooms

2 spring onions, sliced

1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in two

1 cup chopped, oil cured, sundried tomatoes

At least two big handfuls of fresh spinach

1 package of pasta (I used Mueller’s Lemon Pepper Rotini) I found that the short rounded pasta blends better when you’re not using a sauce.

Salt and pepper to taste

Italian seasoning to taste

Olive oil as needed

Grated Italian cheese and chopped cilantro for garnish

 

Puttin’ It Together

 

Boil the pasta according to package directions.

Sautee the sliced mushrooms in a little bit of oil, until they are lightly browned.

 

In a larger pan, cook the ground beef, breaking it up as much as you can.  When the beef is cooked add all the other ingredients except the spinach, but including the sautéed mushrooms, and cook until the cherry tomatoes are softened.  Add the spinach and continue to cook until the spinach is wilted.  Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pasta pot.  Slosh in a little olive oil and stir.

Add the cooked beef mélange to the pasta and stir.  Questo è tutto! That’s it!

Plate it, add the garnishes and slosh some more wine in the glasses!

No doubt you will be greeted with applause and a request for more wine.

 

 

  

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Quite a few recipes online for coq au vin meatballs.  And for those timid souls who treat recipes as scripture, I say, cast away your fear….best to sip some wine before you cast.   See, I view a recipe as merely a blank canvas, upon which the cook doth slap on the paint.

 

But, wait a sec.  Let’s chat briefly about the name coq au vin. The literal translation is rooster in wine.  Never heard of anyone using a rooster, but my knowledge of barnyards is sketchy at best.  Mostly, recipes call for chicken pieces, bone-in, root vegetables and wine. Traditional coq au vin uses a deep, rich Burgundy, but that varies depending on which French region you’re in.  In the Alsace, right across the Mosel River from Germany, Riesling is the wine of choice.  Mine, too, especially in the summer time.  Riesling has a brighter flavor and it’s that time a year to once again embrace the sunny days of summer.

 

The traditional recipe also calls for bacon (lardons) and garlic, neither of which I chose.  Why?  Because I didn’t have any bacon in my frig! But, I did have some patties of Jimmy Dean sausage.  And garlic?  On this fine, summer day, the flavor just didn’t appeal to me.  Then there’s the question of whole chicken pieces versus ground chicken that’s turned into meatballs.  And then when you add the extra ingredients to the ground chicken…. Ou la la, c’est magnifique!

 

I’m sure you’ll spot other twists and turns in my recipe that bypass the traditional, but as Rhett Butler famously said, “Frankly, my dear…..”

 

But, enough twaddle and prattle.  Let’s get straight to slapping the paint on the canvas.

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Les Ingrédients

 

1 lb ground chicken or turkey

1 egg

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

4 patties of Jimmy Dean regular sausage (or any other brand you favor or happen to have in the refrig)

½ sweet onion (or yellow onion) chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 handfuls of fresh spinach (For timid souls, don’t worry about the size of your hands.)

2 handfuls (about two cups) of mushrooms, sliced and chopped

1 ½ cups chicken broth (I used one of those cubes that good for 2 cups, but I used 1 1/2 cups to make it richer.)

2 tablespoons tomato paste (I buy it by the tube since many recipes call for only a tablespoon or two.)

1 cup Riesling wine (or another dry white wine)

a pat of butter and heaping teaspoon of rice flour (or corn starch) mashed together as a thickening agent

½ cup chopped parsley for garnish

½ cup sliced green onions for garnish

sweet potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise and baked (to accompany)

 

Mettre Ensemble (Putting it together)

 

Make the meatballs and heat the oven to 400ºF

 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan.  Add a little salt and pepper. Roll into tablespoon sized meatballs (should yield 15-20) and place them on the baking sheet.  Bake them about 20 minutes, turning once.

Hint:  Saves time if you bake the sweet potatoes as you bake the meatballs.

 

Make the Sauce

Fry the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks.  Turn down the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the rest of the vegetables, except for the spinach and the garnish.  Stir often.

 

Add the chicken broth and wine.  Cook until the vegetables are tender.

 

Add the baked meatballs and the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts.

Add the thickener if you wish.

 

Serve in a bowl beside the baked sweet potato. Add the garnish.

Voila!  Wasn’t that fun?  Wasn’t that easy? Don’t you want to celebrate by polishing off the rest of the Riesling? Yeah, me too!

 

 

Chili in a Hurry

Chili in a Hurry!

Everyone has got a chili recipe, some carried over from longtime family traditions.  I never mess with arguing against family traditions, in fact my family has a few….well, more than a few. Some of them I refuse to discuss. 

But, chili is special.  Sometimes chili-disagreements result in angry words, fisticuffs and gunfire. Cooks in Texas, claiming to be the home of ‘real’ chili, tell me chili does not have onions or beans, and when they say it, I hear the sounds of pistols cocking.  If I don’t argue, they continue to tell me that real chili is made with chunks of beef, cooked until the chunks fall apart and dang near melt.  I tell them, I’ve made chili exactly like that and it was heavenly!   Sometimes they offer to buy me a Lone Star Beer and sometimes they squint and say, “You ain’t from around here, are ya?”  It’s not really a question; it’s an accusation. 

Unfortunately, I did not have the honor of being born a Texan, and can’t be expected to faithfully abide by all the rules enforced between the Red River and the Rio Grande.  I beg forgiveness that my delicious quick chili is not only made with beans and onions and tomatoes, but I also make it with…..please don’t shoot me…..hamburger.

If this ticks you off as much as finding another man’s underwear in your wife’s closet, please do not read farther.  It ain’t my underwear and furthermore, this chili is delicious!

This chili is a Quickie-In-The-Kitchen, not a lingering romance with the cuisine south of the border, but sometimes a quickie does the trick.

Chili in a Hurry

2 lbs medium lean hamburger (82-90%)

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, sliced and diced

4 tablespoons chili powder (or more)

1 can beef stock (or more if the chili gets too thick)

2 died chipotle chilies (or pickled jalapeños, chopped)

   (chipotle has a smoky flavor, so if you don’t use chipotles, add a      dash or two of smoked paprika.)

1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic or other seasonings - undrained

1 can Mexican style diced tomatoes, or regular diced tomatoes and add

   more jalapeños – undrained

1 can dark kidney beans (or other beans of your choice)

1 heaping teaspoon masa or finely ground cornmeal

Several splashes of apple cider vinegar

Fry hamburger in a large pot, breaking up the meat as much as possible.  When the pink is gone, add the onions, garlic, and chili powder.  Stir and cook for two minutes or until onions are slightly wilted.  Now add beef stock, chilies, tomatoes, beans and a splash or two of vinegar.  Cook for 30 minutes over medium heat.  Careful not to let the chili boil dry. Add more beef stock if needed.

For presentation and taste, I sprinkled grated cheddar and chopped onion that had been marinated a few minutes in seasoned rice vinegar.

Served with crunchy fried tortillas.  I also oiled, salted, and baked fresh carrots and sliced green and yellow bell peppers. (400ºF)

For a final touch, I served peach cobbler for dessert, using my blueberry cobbler, no stir recipe, substituting chopped fresh peaches for blueberries: No Stir that's my cobbler

Now, grab a Mexican beer or two – I think I mean six packs.  This chili goes against several centuries of Mexican and Texan tradition….OK, call me a rebel.  But, this chili is so good, you’ll join the revolution!

Portuguese Stout Bread and other stuff

Porto, on the Riviera

Three way hors d'oeuvres

Portuguese Stout Bread and other stuff

Porto, Portugal, as we all know, is famous for it’s port wine, but I’m not going to write about port wine today. I’ll begin with something more practical. 

One of the things everyone talks about when they mount their donkeys and head toward the River Douro is the food.  Seafood.  Lots of it.  And, no doubt I’ll eventually write about the seafood food, but right now I want to give you a recipe you can use, even if seafood is a thousand miles away.

I found a darkish bread that’s not sweet, but solid like cake.  Throw in some walnuts and Robert é seu tio!  A little wine or sangria, a few olives and you have a buffet, even for snooty people you don’t like very much, but have to feed because they’re family.  Yes, they popped in unannounced just to rub in how unprepared you are.  Hahahaha….Vocé vai rir por último!  Vocé is pronounced as vo-say.  The rest are pronounced as written and you will have the last laugh!

Sangria

First let’s make the sangria.  Portuguese sangria is more fruity than sweet and all the more refreshing for it!  Simple, or as they say in Porto, Simples (sim-pleas).  Chunk some apples and oranges and a lemon and any other fruit you have handy.  Pour in a red or white wine that’s not too dry, but not sweet.  Best to make this a day or even two days ahead to let the flavors meld.  That’s it!

Olives

For the olives, grab some black olives that are cured in oil.  Chop up some garlic and mince some lemon rind.   Put it all together and leave it a day or more.  Olives that are oil packed too expensive, or not to your taste?  Ok, grab a jar of your favs, pour off the water, dry the olives (I use a paper towel), add some olive oil and the lemon rind bits and garlic bits.  Done!

This recipe is for the darker of the two breads

Portuguese Stout Bread (sometimes called Brazilian Bread)

4 ¼ cups whole wheat flour (you can use white flour, but whole wheat is richer)

2 teaspoons baking powder

5 teaspoons rolled oats

4 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher salt)

2 thick pats of unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon Maple syrup (use molasses if you must)

1 Big can (16 oz) of your favorite dark stout ale.  I used Murphy’s

1/3 Cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 375ºF or 190ºC and grease a large loaf pan with butter.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including the walnuts.

Put, the butter, Maple syrup and stout in a pan and heat until the butter melts.

Pour the stout mixture into the dry mixture and combine. Knead to fully combine all the dry ingredients.  Form into a loaf and place it in a pan.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, depending on your oven.  45 minutes was perfect for mine.

Tap on the loaf.  Sound hollow?  It’s done!

For hors d’oeuvres, cut the loaf into two-bite sized pieces, but tell your kin these are four-bite sizes, but not until after they pop the whole thing in their greedy mouths.  Then tell them polite pigs oink.

The good news is, after this polite and tasty repast, your good friends will fight for an invitation to come back again!