Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

It was cold and I wanted to make soup. Specifically, chicken and wild rice soup. I had never made it before, so I turned to teh innernets for a recipe. For whatever reason, everything I found had cream or milk in it. Why? Not everything needs to be corrupted by dairy (lactose intolerant here), so I made up my own recipe. I had wanted to use fresh thyme, but there was none to be found on our trip to the grocery store, and I didn't want to waste time and gas running around to find it. Instead, I picked up a jar of Litehouse Freeze Dried Poulty Herb Blend, which includes onions, sage, marjoram, spring onions, garlic, and rosemary in addition to thyme. (I realize I could use dried thyme, but I honestly hate the flavor.) The additional herbs made the soup smell like stuffing, and it tasted amazing.

Let me know if you try it. 

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" chunks

3 celery stalks, sliced

1 lb sliced button or cremini mushrooms 

Kosher salt

1 cup raw wild rice blend (I used Lundberg's Gourmet Wild Rice Blend)

6 cups chicken broth 

1 Tablespoon Litehouse Freeze Dried Poultry Herb Blend

Rotisserie chicken, as much or as little as you like, shredded

Chopped parsley

Add the olive oil to your favorite multi-quart soup pot and heat over medium heat. Add the vegetables and a pinch of kosher salt and cook, stirring once in a while, until the veg are starting to soften. Turn up the heat and add the rice, stirring to coat with oil and mingle with the vegetables. Toast for a minute or two until you can smell it, then add the chicken broth and poultry seasoning and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. 

Just before serving, stir in the chicken. Taste for seasoning and add salt and fresh ground black pepper. Sprinkle parsley on top of each bowl.

Serves 4.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Restaurant Review - Villagio Cafe

We have visited Villagio Cafe--a cute little Persian restaurant on York Road just a few blocks over the County Line--many times, so I was surprised to realize that I hadn't yet written about it. Several posts on NextDoor recommended the restaurant, and while that forum is generally a site that causes one to lose all faith in humanity, this was the rare piece of good advice. 

Villagio Cafe has a lot going for it: the food is excellent, the service is very good, and the prices are shockingly inexpensive. Plus, it's within walking distance from our house. 

chicken and beef koobideh kebabs with shirazi salad (front) lamb koobideh with rice (back)

There are plenty of kebabs on the menu: chicken, beef, and lamb shish kebabs which include peppers and onions; chicken and beef kebabs without the veg; and koobideh kebabs which are made with ground chicken, lamb, or beef mixed with onions and seasonings (similar to kofta, lule, and seekh kebabs). I can't stop eating the juicy and flavorful koobideh, so it's rare that I stray to the other types. Though I will say, there is so much onion in the koobideh, if I get carryout or bring home leftovers, I have to be prepared for not only my refrigerator to reek, but also the whole house when I warm them up. (Worth it. That's what scented candles are for.) The kebabs all come with insanely buttery basmati rice, lovely warm pita, and grilled tomato. Sometimes, however, I don't want the rice and exchange it for a side of shirazi salad, a simple combination of diced cucumber, tomato, onion, and parsley, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Villagio Cafe has six other rice dishes on their menu which can be substituted for the plain basmati for an upcharge; all are uniformly delicious.

tah dig topped with chicken fesenjan

As much as I enjoy the koobideh, I most often order their tah dig, or crispy rice, topped with a stew of chicken with walnuts and pomegranate known as fesenjan. (There is a possibly inauthentic but still tasty fesenjan recipe here on the blog.) It's not the most beautiful thing in the place, but I can't get enough of the buttery, salty, crispy goodness of the rice and the tangy richness of the stew. 

lamb shank with baghala polo

I also recommend their lamb shanks, which are stewed to extreme tenderness and accompanied by baghala polo, or rice with dill and fava beans. Honestly, there's nothing I've tried that I wouldn't order again, though I think that serving dolmas piping hot are a little weird. 

And now I have a craving for lamb koobideh, so if you'll excuse me....

Villagio Cafe

6805 York Rd, 

Baltimore, MD 21212
https://villagiocafe.com/

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Walnuts for Thom

While I enjoyed school, I can't say I was the best student. There were times that I made excellent grades, but I think that's mostly because the classes were too easy. I breezed through reading and whatever passed for English class in a Catholic grade school, doing well enough to earn me a spot in honors English at Catholic High. There it got much tougher. When we started talking about the pluperfect tense and diagramming sentences, my brain turned to mush. And sorry, but I found literature to be a bit of a snooze. The Red Badge of Courage. The Old Man and the Sea. Heart of Darkness. The Scarlett Letter. No thanks. Huckleberry Finn and Jane Eyre? Barf. My grossly underdeveloped prefrontal cortex was not up for the job. (Vocabulary, however, I grokked.) Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the subject matter, I managed to absorb many of the complexities of grammar. Proof? My living room bookshelf bears three well-written books with my name on the cover.

After the publication of each of those books, I wanted to thank the teacher who for two years stood in front of the 19 young women in my English class, attempting to instill in us his passion for Shakespeare and proper sentence construction. However, I had no idea where he was or how to contact him--though at some point after graduation I did have his home address and we corresponded by good old-fashioned postal mail. (This was the 1980s, people. I am old.) Recently I found a mention of him on Facebook and realized we have a friend in common. She was happy to share his contact information, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he looked forward to hearing from me. And now he reads this blog. (Hi, Thom!) 

When we met up a while back, I asked him if there was any particular subject he might like to see me cover on Minxeats, as I have been trying to post regularly again and am always up for suggestions. He said he went through the recipe directory and didn't see anything that specifically mentioned walnuts. While I do have a few walnut recipes here and there, most have been posted in the last few years, and I have not updated the directory in a very long time. I have linked some of those posts below. I also thought it might be nice to create a new recipe starring one of Thom's (and my) favorite nuts. 

Recipes on Minxeats using walnuts as a featured ingredient:

Salad with Warm Sausage Vinaigrette, Walnuts, and Goat Cheese (You could use another nut, but walnuts work best for me.)

Nutty Bars (Again, you could use other nuts, but why would you?)

Maple Walnut Biscotti (It's in the name, so absolutely essential!)

Muhammara (This is a delicious red pepper and walnut spread of Syrian origin.)

Savory Granola (While I might not eat it with milk, it's a great topping/garnish.)

Koresht-e Fesenjan (My take on the Persian walnut and pomegranate stew, with lamb.)

And now the new recipe. This is for you, Thom. 

Chicken with Walnut Pepper Sauce

I find myself making muhammara frequently, and the chicken fesenjan is my favorite order at Villagio Cafe, a Persian restaurant in my neighborhood. I've already included separate recipes for both muhammara and fesenjan, but I wanted to create a new dish using them as inspiration--a chicken dish with a walnut sauce that also features roasted red bell pepper, plus the pomegranate molasses common to both. 

Chicken thighs are one of my favorite proteins to cook. They cook relatively quickly, but can also be braised. They aren't as likely to dry out as chicken breasts <shudder>, and they have superior flavor. This recipe would work with both boneless and bone-in varieties, but would be best without skin. There's enough fatty richness in the walnuts. Besides, the skin would get soggy.

8 ounces (by weight) walnuts

Extra virgin olive oil

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Kosher salt

1 cup diced onion

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup chicken stock

1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and roughly chopped

1 large or two small 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon or more fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons or more pomegranate molasses*

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or Urfa Biber, or a pinch of cayenne

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Fresh soft herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint, chives) for garnish

Put a large skillet over medium heat and add the walnuts. Stirring frequently, cook until walnuts are golden and fragrant, 3-4 minutes. (Keep an eye on them--nuts can scorch easily.) Remove nuts to a bowl and allow to cool.

Wipe out the pan and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken, sprinkle with salt, and brown on both sides over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil, if necessary, the onions, and another pinch of salt. Cook onions until soft and beginning to brown, 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently. Add the cumin and stir well, allowing the spices to toast for a minute. Pour in the stock and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken back to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, covered, for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is simmering, make the sauce. If you used walnut halves, put them in a ziptop bag and bash them with a heavy object like a meat tenderizer until they are in small pieces. (This makes them easier to blend. If you used walnut pieces, you can skip this step.) Remove a couple tablespoons of walnut pieces and set aside for a garnish. Place the remaining walnuts, bell peppers, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor with the lemon juice and molasses and blend to a paste. It's ok if it's not totally smooth, you just don't want it chunky. Add the hot pepper and smoked paprika and season to taste with salt. Here's where your taste buds come in! Imagine you're going to eat this stuff on a piece of pita. Is it bland? Add more salt. Still not right? Add a little more lemon juice or molasses. I like my muhammara a little sweet, so I add a little bit of maple syrup. When it tastes great, like you want to eat it with a spoon, scrape the sauce into a bowl and set aside. 

After the chicken has simmered for half an hour, add the walnut red pepper paste and stir to blend the sauce with the liquid in the pan. Heat until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Taste. If the sauce needs more salt, add it. You could also add more cumin, lemon, pomegranate molasses, smoked paprika, pepper flakes, even garlic (use garlic powder at this point, as raw garlic won't have enough time to cook and lose its sharpness). 

Serve over basmati rice. Garnish with some of the reserved walnuts, chopped or torn herbs, and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, if using.

* Pomegranate molasses is a sweet-tart syrup made from the juice of fresh pomegranates. If you don't have pomegranate molasses, use equal parts balsamic vinegar and real maple syrup. Cranberry juice or grenadine--which is made with pomegranates--work, too, though the former can be quite tart and the latter is very sweet. As always, taste everything!

Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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What's Your Beef?

What’s Your Beef in the kitchen?! Throughout May, in celebration of National Beef Month, join our friends at Keystone Meats as they invite fans from all over the U.S. to vote daily on their biggest kitchen problem. Keystone is ready and willing to solve it with recipe-ready, all-natural beef. When you vote, you will be entered to win a year’s supply of Keystone Meats!

If you’ve got a beef in the kitchen, tell us about it! After years of headaches, vote on your biggest kitchen beef and you could win! https://keystonemeats.com/whats-your-beef-in-the-kitchen/

My personal beef: cooking in the summertime. I want to eat flavorful meals that come from my own kitchen, but don't require a lot of cooking. This means we default to cold things, like salads, sandwiches, and gazpacho. But with Keystone products, all of the heavy lifting has been done for us--we just need to embellish the meat. (No, that's not a euphemism.) Take this relatively lazy bibimbap. It involved making a sauce, warming the meat in said sauce, and serving it over rice with some veg. We have a rice cooker, so that part was a no-brainer, but if you don't, I won't tell if you buy pre-cooked microwave rice, or use leftovers from Chinese carry-out. In any case, none of it heated up the kitchen, and we had a super tasty dish that was both hearty and light in not a lot of time.

Easy Bibimbap
The sauce can be made a couple of days in advance. If you are only feeding 2 people, you can make half the sauce, or make the whole recipe and use it on something else, like roasted cauliflower or broccoli.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper bean paste)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 green onions, both white and green parts chopped

To serve:
2 14.5-ounce cans Keystone All Natural Beef
Cooked rice
Sliced cucumber
Shredded carrot
Baby spinach
More chopped scallions for garnish
Sesame seeds for garnish

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir. If you're making it in advance, keep it in a lidded container in the fridge until ready to use.

Put the beef (with juices) in a saucepan with the sauce. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat until about half the liquid has evaporated and is looking somewhat glossy. Remove from the heat.

Place a mound of rice in the bottom of a bowl (drizzle on some sesame oil, if you like). Top with a portion of the warm beef, and add piles of the cucumber, carrot, and spinach. Sprinkle on some scallions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

To eat, mix everything up with your chopstick (or fork) and enjoy.

Makes 4-5 servings.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala

Though not entirely authentic, chicken tikka masala is one of the western world's favorite Indian dishes. It's rich, buttery, and tomatoey--rather decadent, if you ask me. But also absolutely delicious. While it's easy to order Indian carry-out or even delivery these days, it's hard to tell if a restaurant's tikka masala sauce includes cashews. That really matters for someone like my brother, who has a nut allergy. And he just looooves chicken tikka masala. Many times he's ordered it only to find that he can't eat it. I end up with it, which is great for me and not so great for him.

Making tikka masala at home is probably the best solution, and I've found a recipe that tastes just like the restaurant version, doesn't contain nuts, and isn't all that complicated to make. Sure, it has multiple steps, but none are difficult. And all of the ingredients are easy to find. All of them are regularly in my pantry, and most should be in yours.

The original recipe makes 6 servings, so I cut it in half. This still made enough to feed two people twice, with a veggie side dish and naan or even flour tortillas to mop up the sauce. Taste the sauce before serving and add more garam masala or cumin if you think it needs a bit more spice (I did). I think next time I make this, I'll puree the sauce with a stick blender before adding the chicken.

Chicken Tikka Masala (adapted from Bon Appetit)

3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 ounces whole-milk yogurt (not Greek)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 teaspoons ghee (Indian clarified butter) or vegetable oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon dried pepper flakes
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus sprigs for garnish
Steamed basmati rice (for serving)

Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl. Combine yogurt, salt, and half of spice mixture in a zip top bag or large bowl; add chicken and turn to coat. Seal bag or cover bowl and refrigerate 4-6 hours. Refrigerate remaining spice mixture.

Heat ghee in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add onion, tomato paste, cardamom, and chiles and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste has darkened and onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining spice mixture and cook, stirring often, about 4 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer the mixture, stirring often and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes. Add cream and chopped cilantro. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and arrange chicken in a single layer. Broil for five minutes, until chicken starts to blacken in spots, flip pieces, and broil another 4-5 minutes. Chicken won't be cooked through. Cut it into small pieces, add to sauce, and simmer until it is cooked through, 8-10 minutes.

Serve with rice and cilantro garnish.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Sticky Rice

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on April 15, 2013.
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The last couple of times Mr Minx and I went out for sushi, I was disappointed. While both meals featured very fresh fish, they seemed bland overall. Mr Minx says we probably just ordered badly, but I think I was just ready for something completely different. So on a recent excursion to Fells Point, I decided Sticky Rice would be the ideal place for lunch.

The restaurant looks like a dive bar on the outside, and like a dive bar on the inside, albeit one with a beautiful wooden bar and bar back and a gussied-up gold-painted traditional pressed tin ceiling. The classic rock blaring in the background and basketball on the TV belies the menu of traditional and not-so-traditional sushi items.

We vacillated between an appetizer cheekily called "sticky balls" and its vegetarian cousin, "garden balls," before choosing the former. Made with a thin skin of tofu with a pocket cut into it, the balls are stuffed with tuna, crab, and rice flavored with Sriracha before being deep-fried until crisp and topped with scallions, wasabi dressing, eel sauce, and tobiko. They are unlike any inarizushi we've ever had in the past, and I must say - a vast improvement. (Inari skins are typically soaked in a sweet soy syrup before being stuffed with plain rice; I find them to be far too sweet.) We liked the delicate crispness of the tofu, and the balance between the spicy rice and the two sauces.

We also had two rolls. One was a special, the Scorpion roll, stuffed with fried soft shell crab, plus avocado and cucumber. The other was called "Drawn-N-Buttered," an inside-out roll with tempura shrimp, lump crab, cucumbers and scallions. Sounds fairly normal, but it was served with a garlic butter dip. Who knew that garlic butter was such a fine accompaniment to sushi? We found ourselves dipping both rolls into it. Our only quibble is that the butter might have been tastier if it were hot, or at least warm.

A nice touch: the carrots and greens on the platter were not merely a garnish but an actual salad topped with a bit of the usual tangy orange sushi restaurant dressing. It was a nice acid counterpoint to the richness of the butter sauce.

Sticky Rice proved a welcome respite from our sushi doldrums.

Sticky Rice
1634 Aliceanna Street
Baltimore, MD 21231



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Flashback Friday - Saffron Rice and Beans

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on December 4, 2012.

Here's another quick weekday recipe from Mr. Minx.

Probably half of the dinners I cook during the week are pieced together from leftovers. One of the things I always hated as a kid was when my mother would serve reheated leftovers in the same form as they were served originally. Nine times out of ten, the meal was a pale imitation of the original, so I always prefer to reinvent the leftovers into some other type of dish. Besides, there's almost never enough food left over to serve exactly the same way. Case in point, a meal I put together the other day.

When I opened the fridge, our leftover inventory consisted of a container of steamed rice, some tomato sauce, and four thin slices of pot roast that Minx had ordered at our favorite diner a few nights earlier. My usual plan when I'm confronted with rice is to do a Chinese-style fried rice dish, but we had eaten Chinese food the night before, so I thought about other cuisines that use rice. That's when paella popped into my head.

Of course, paella is way too complicated, and I didn't have all the ingredients for it anyway, but I thought by adding saffron to the rice, I could build on the paella inspiration. Digging through the pantry, I found a can of black beans and, in the freezer, our usual stash of frozen peas. Rice and beans are a classic, and saffron rice tastes great, so this could actually work. Cooked all together with onions and garlic, the dish was homey and comforting, while having a touch of the exotic thanks to the saffron. I sprinkled the chopped pot roast into the dish for meaty goodness, but the recipe below excludes the pot roast because a) not everyone will have leftover pot roast in the fridge; and b) the recipe works great as a vegetarian dish.

Saffron Rice and Beans

2 cups cooked rice
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of butter
A few strands of saffron bloomed in 1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
15 oz. can black beans
4 oz. tomato puree or tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen petite peas
salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro and scallion for garnish

Place a few strands of saffron in 1/2 cup of water to "bloom," or turn the water into a nice yellow color. While that's going on, open a can of black beans, dump them in a colander, and rinse the starch off under running water. With that prep work done, chop a medium onion and saute it in a pan with olive oil and melted butter. Once the onions are translucent, dump in the cooked rice and mix together. Add your garlic and the saffron water. Mix everything together well so that the rice takes on a yellow color. Add the tomato puree, and then add the black beans and the petite peas. Once everything is incorporated and heated through, season with salt, pepper, and the fresh oregano. Once on the plate, sprinkle some cilantro and chopped scallion on top for garnish.

Pumpkin Spice Everything!

When the weather gets a bit cooler, or even when it doesn't, I look forward to the flavors of fall. For some folks, that means pumpkin spice lattés. I enjoy one once in a while, sure, but there are other things to do with pumpkin besides turn it into a sweet treat with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. (A look at local grocery store shelves says differently, however, what with all the various pumpkin spice granola bars, yogurt, cereal, breakfast bars, pretzels, cookies, and cake. Giant Foods even has a store-branded pumpkin spice gouda cheese. Oh, and dairy butter. WTF?)

Canned pumpkin (which, apparently, in most cases, is actually butternut squash) is available all year long. Still, it seems most appropriate to eat it in the fall and winter. I'm not sure why - the flavor isn't heavy (unless of course you load it up with sweet spices). Why not have pumpkin soup in summer? Canned pumpkin is almost tomato-y in a savory dish, as it's not sweet, yet quite vegetal. In any case, it is fall right now, so this pumpkin risotto is seasonally appropriate. It has a creamy texture, which is emphasized by the cheese, but contains no cream. All that creaminess comes from stirring the rice, which releases starch into the cooking liquid. The seasoning is fairly mimimal, just some alliums, sage, and S&P, but you don't really need much more than. Please try not to give into the urge to add brown sugar and cinnamon to this dish.

I served this pumpkin risotto with pan-seared swordfish, but it would go equally well with pork chops or roast chicken, or another type of firm-fleshed fish. I also made a pumpkin seed sauce to put over the fish--pipian--but you can omit it and enjoy the pumpkin risotto all on its own.

Pumpkin Risotto

For pipian:
1/4 cup unsalted, shelled, pumpkin seeds
1 small jalapeno pepper, with seeds, cut into chunks
1 small handful cilantro
1 small yellow tomato or 1-2 tomatillos, cut into chunks
3 green onions, both white and green parts roughly chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 - 1 cup chicken stock
Pinch cumin
Salt
Pepitas for garnish

For risotto:
6 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Salt
1 cup arborio rice
1 large clove garlic, minced
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup solid-pack canned pumpkin puree
6 leaves fresh sage, finely minced
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Additional salt and pepper to taste

To make pipian: Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry sauce pot until they start to puff up. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then add to the jar of a food processor (a mini prep will do fine) and pulse until nuts are finely chopped. Add the jalapeno, cilantro, tomato, green onions, oil, and enough of the stock to blend into a fairly smooth puree. Pour the puree into the same pot you used to toast the nuts and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. The mixture will splatter a bit so be vigilant. Add the rest of the stock and cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Season with the cumin and salt to taste. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, and reserve. Don't wash the pot.

To make the risotto: Bring the stock to a simmer in the same saucepan you used for the pipian and allow it to simmer throughout the cook time.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and saute over medium-high until it begins to soften. Add the rice and stir well to coat each grain with the oil. Cook for a few minutes to toast the rice. Stir in the garlic. Add the wine and cook until evaporated.

Add one cup of the stock to the pan with the rice. Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, stirring regularly. Repeat with another cup of stock. After the third cup, stir in the pumpkin. Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is almost tender and the dish is still a bit loose. Stir in the sage, Parm, and butter, and season with the salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: Cook protein of your choice. Place risotto in a bowl, top with protein, and add a few spoonsful of pipian to the top. Garnish with additional pepitas, if desired.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Indonesian Fusion

The Indonesian dish, Gado Gado (literally "mix mix") is a potpourri of various ingredients served with a spicy peanut sauce.  Though traditionally a salad, I decided that gado gado would make a fine burrito filling. (Actually, pretty much anything and everything tastes pretty good wrapped up in a flour tortilla.) I was heavily inspired by the yummy bulgogi burritos I get from the KoCo Truck that parks in front of my office once a week. If that Korean dish of meat, rice, and fiery gochujang sauce can translate into a Cal-Mex favorite, why can't a favorite dish from another Asian nation?

My Gado Gado Burrito is cheap, filling, and easy. You really only have to make the peanut sauce. Leftover rice is fine, as are leftover veggies. You can use cold roast chicken in place of the tofu, if you want. Hate cilantro? Use basil or arugula. Use all three. Hate burritos? (Seriously? How can you hate burritos?) Then assemble all the ingredients in a bowl, top with the peanut sauce, and eat it as a salad. Allergic to peanuts? Sub in almond butter. Allergic to almonds, too? Well, then you should probably eat something else.

Gado Gado Burrito

For the peanut sauce:
1 tablespoon grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Oil
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons brown or palm sugar
1 cup coconut milk
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Hot sauce
Salt

For the burrito:
4 large eggs
2-3 small potatoes (I used heirloom All Blue potatoes, which is the purple color you see in the pic)
Burrito sized flour tortillas
1 cup cooked jasmine or basmati rice
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges and seasoned with salt
1 package baked tofu in plain, sesame ginger, or teriyaki flavor, cut into strips
Cilantro

To make the peanut sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook the ginger and garlic in a bit of oil until fragrant. Stir in the peanut butter and the brown sugar. Whisk in the coconut milk to thin the mixture, then season with the lime, soy, and fish sauce. Add your favorite hot sauce and additional salt to taste.

To make the burrito:  Bring a saucepot of water to a boil over high heat. With a slotted spoon, gently lower the eggs into the water. Set a timer for 7 minutes, and cook the eggs at a simmer. Prepare an ice bath by putting several ice cubes and cold water in a medium bowl. When the 7 minutes is up, gently remove the eggs to the ice bath and allow to cool completely before peeling.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Allow to cool, then peel and cut into small cubes. Set aside until ready to use.

Place a tortilla on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Nuke on high 30-45 seconds until the tortilla is hot and pliable. Top with a few spoonfuls of the rice, some tomato wedges, a few strips of tofu, one of the boiled eggs, cut in half, a couple spoonfuls of potato, and a healthy drizzle of the peanut sauce. Top with several sprigs of cilantro. Roll up, burrito style, then cut in half. Serve with additional peanut sauce for dipping.

Makes 2-4 depending on how generous you are with the fillings.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Crispy Glazed Tofu Bibimbap

Yes, yes, another recipe using that yummy Makrut lime leaf-infused maple syrup from Runamok. I can't help it - it's good stuff, and it gives a balancing sweetness to foods without adding any processed sugar. We've been trying to cut back on the white stuff this month, and maple syrup has really come in handy to curb our sugar cravings.

And it's also another crispy tofu recipe. It's getting so I don't even want to eat soft tofu anymore, because the crispy stuff is just so. damn. good. Seriously. (I know you don't believe me. Just try it.)

Crispy Glazed Tofu Bibimbap

1 14-oz box firm or extra firm tofu
Corn starch
Salt
Vegetable oil for frying
1 teaspoon gochujang
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Runamok Maple Makrut Lime leaf-infused maple syrup
Steamed rice
Slivered carrots
Cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into half moons
Sugar snap peas or snow peas, steamed
Soft-boiled eggs (optional, see recipe below)
Sesame oil
Chopped scallions

Remove the tofu from its carton and pat dry. Wrap in a double thickness of paper towels and place on a plate. Put another plate upside-down on top, then weight with a jar or can. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, changing the towels once or twice.

After the tofu has been pressed for several hours, remove the last application of wet towels and pat the tofu dry. Cut the block in thirds widthwise to make three approximately 5" square x 1/2" high slices. Cut each square in half to make 6 rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally to form 12 triangles.

Put several tablespoons of corn starch in a plastic zip top bag and add a big pinch of salt. Shake to combine. Add tofu pieces, one at a time, and coat with cornstarch. Pat off excess cornstarch and place each triangle on a dry plate.

Pour two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet and heat until a drop of water hisses and spits. Add the tofu in one layer. Cook until lightly browned on bottom, 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, turn the pieces (some will want to stick together - turn them together if that's the case, you can separate them later). Cook another 3-4 minutes. Flip again to get bottoms browner, then repeat. At the end of 15 or so minutes, your tofu should be nicely browned on both sides. Remove pieces to a paper towel-liked plate to drain.

In a small bowl, combine the gochujang, soy, and maple syrup. Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over one side of the tofu pieces, making sure to coat them thoroughly.

To serve: Place some steamed rice in a bowl. Top with pieces of tofu, carrots, cucumbers, peas, and halved eggs (if using). Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil, garnish with chopped scallion, and serve.

Soft-Boiled Eggs

2 large eggs

Put enough water in a saucepot to cover eggs plus a little more. (But don't add the eggs yet!) Bring the water to a rolling boil, then gently add the eggs using a slotted spoon or spider. Set your timer for 7 minutes.

While eggs are cooking, put cold water and some ice cubes in a bowl. When time is up, immediately remove the eggs from the pot of boiling water to the ice bath. Leave the eggs in the ice bath for several minutes, until well chilled.

Gently peel eggs. Cut in half and use as garnish. The whites should be solid, and the yolks runny.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Homemade Chicken Egg Foo Yung

I recently found a blog I really enjoy - The Woks of Life. It's written by a family of four Chinese Americans who clearly love food. The vast majority of their recipes are for Asian goodies, particularly Chinese, but there are also things like corn muffins, pancakes, chocolate cake, and fusion-y things like Buffalo chicken potstickers. The writing is chatty, and the photography is downright beautiful. I'm not big on blog posts that have a lot of photos, but I give these guys a pass.

What really struck me, besides the photos, is that the recipes were all accessible. Of course it helps that we have so many of the required Asian ingredients on hand already, but nothing seems un-do-able, even the recipes with multiple steps.

This recipe for egg foo yung is one of those multiple step dishes. I really needed to read the recipe twice before starting. The original calls for deep frying the egg patties, but pan frying is more my jam. Much less oil is needed, and a skillet does just as good a job as a wok, IMHO. The patties might not be as crisp or fluffy as those produced by deep frying, but honestly, I've only ever eaten egg foo yung that was drowning in gravy, so never realized it was supposed to be fluffy or crisp!

The only real issue I had with this dish was the seasoning. It needed more salt. The recipe calls for low sodium chicken stock in the gravy, along with an admonishment to not overseason it. But I found the patties to be fairly bland. There is no seasoning in them other than the soy sauce used in the chicken marinade, so I doubled that amount to 2 teaspoons. I also used regular chicken stock for the gravy and found that I needed to add a pinch more salt because it, too, was bland to my taste.

Also, my local grocery store did not have bean sprouts, so I substituted broccoli slaw. While not as tender as bean sprouts, the slaw did not detract from the dish in the least.

Leftover patties, btw, make for terrific breakfast sandwiches. Just warm one up, slap it between two pieces of lightly toasted bread with a bit of butter or mayo and voila! Instant omelette sandwich.

Chicken Egg Foo Yung, adapted from The Woks of Life

For the patties:
10 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into small cubes
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
Vegetable oil for frying
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
2 cups mung bean sprouts or shredded cabbage or broccoli slaw
6 large eggs
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
1 scallion, chopped
Sesame seeds (optional)

For the gravy (this makes a ton of gravy, so you could cut it by half):
1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon paprika
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
3 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Fresh ground white pepper
¼ cup cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup chicken stock
Salt, to taste

To make the patties: Mix the cubed chicken with the soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch until well combined, and set aside while you make the gravy.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick pan and add the marinated chicken. Sear for 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer back to the marinating bowl, and set aside to cool. Once cooled, add the onion and bean sprouts (or cabbage or broccoli slaw), the sesame oil, and second teaspoon of cornstarch. Stir to combine. Break the six eggs into the bowl with the chicken and fold the mixture together until everything is coated in egg, but the egg still looks somewhat un-homogenized.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pan you used to cook the chicken. Using a ladle, scoop three large dollops of the egg and chicken mixture into the hot oil, making sure they don't touch (if they do spread, use a wooden spoon to gently nudge errant egg back into place). If your pan isn't large enough for three, making two is fine - you'll just need to make three batches instead of two. Cover pan and cook over medium-high heat until the bottoms of the foo yung patties are nicely browned, about 4 minutes. Flip patties and brown the other side. Once cooked, remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain off some of the grease. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

To make the gravy: In a medium pot or saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to make a roux, and cook for 15-20 seconds. Stir in the turmeric, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Let fry for 15 seconds, and whisk in the chicken stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil and add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and freshly ground white pepper to taste. Mix the cornstarch with the ¼ cup of chicken stock until the cornstarch is completely dissolved, and whisk it a little at a time into the gravy. Add as much of the cornstarch slurry as needed to make the gravy thick enough to coat a spoon. (I used all of it.) Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce or salt to taste. Turn off the heat and cover pot until ready to serve. (I didn't have to rewarm the gravy, but if you wait to make your foo yung, you might have to.)

To serve: Place a foo yung patty on a plate and douse with gravy. Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve with plenty of white rice.

Serves 4-6



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Les Trois Petits Cochons

Les Trois Petits Cochons (the Three Little Pigs) specializes in charcuterie. While the name is fancy and French, TPC products--from dry sausage to fancier mousses, pâtés and terrines--can be found in grocery stores and specialty shops all over the U.S. The company offered to send us some samples, and while I would have loved to try their Pâté de Campagne, Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto (duck liver and pork mousse with Port) or the Terrine des Trois Rois (chicken and duck foie layered with Armagnac-marinated prunes), I was worried about shipping delicate meat products on a muggy late Spring day. So I opted for the much safer options of Saucisson Sec aux Cepes (air-dried sausage with porcini mushrooms) and Spanish chorizo, both of which can safely be stored at room temperature if not opened.

Dry sausages are such a versatile product. Both the chorizo and the saucisson sec are delicious on their own, eaten in slices or chunks as a snack, maybe with cheese or bread. We chopped 'em up and cooked them, too. Some chorizo, cut into tiny pieces and fried with yellow bell peppers, made a flavorful filling for an omelette flatbread sandwich. We also diced some of the saucisson sec and used it to flavor a very non-Asian version of fried rice that used tons of fresh herbs from our garden (that will come up in another post!)

Omelette Sandwich

About a 1 1/2" chunk cut from a Les Trois Petits Cochons Chorizo
1/4 yellow bell pepper
Olive oil
4 large eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Your choice of cheese, shredded
Fresh basil and chives
4 pieces buttered toast

Cut the sausage into small cubes and place in a large saute pan with the peppers and a bit of olive oil. Cook over medium high heat until the sausage starts to brown and release its fat, and the pepper softens, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Wipe out the pan and add a knob of butter to it while the heat is still off.

Beat the eggs with a little water. Season with salt and pepper and pour into the buttered pan. Turn the heat on to medium and cook the eggs until they start to look a little dry on the top. Using a spatula, flip the omelet. Immediately sprinkle on the cheese and add the peppers and chorizo. Flip half the omelette onto itself to make a half moon. Turn off the heat.

Cut the omelette in half with the edge of the spatula. Scoop one half onto each of two pieces of toast. Sprinkle with chives and basil. Top with other piece of toast.

Eat.

-------------------------------

In the Baltimore area, Les Trois Petits Cochons products can be found at Safeway, Whole Foods, and The Fresh Market. Not surprisingly, you can also get them at Amazon.com.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Flashback Friday - Khoresht-e Fesenjan

My version of the Persian dish, fesenjan, is inauthentic, perhaps, but still utterly delicious.

--Kathy

This post was originally published on November 5, 2008.
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Khoresht-e Fesenjan

We bought a pomegranate at the Superfresh the other day.  When I was a kid, my Uncle Frankie bought a pom every fall for my mother and me. He had done this since she was young, and after so many years of wrestling with the fruit, she let me mangle and eat most of it.  When Frankie died, in 1983, so did the annual tradition of red hands and stained kitchen table.  Nowadays, I slice open the fruit and rip it apart in a big bowl of cold water.  The arils sink to the bottom and the tissue-like membrane floats to the top, making the fruit a breeze to dismantle. Plus the water keeps my hands from getting stained.

The pomegranate sat on our kitchen counter for a few days when I was struck with the idea of making fesenjan, a Persian preparation featuring pomegranate and walnuts.  I had eaten a version with made with duck at the Orchard Market and Café many years ago and remembered enjoying it. We had a small half leg of lamb in the freezer, and I decided that would be the perfect protein to match with the tangy fruit and nut sauce.

I got Mr Minx to whip up some of his delicious pilaf (sautéed onions, broken capellini pasta, and leftover rice, flavored with saffron) as a go-with, and cooked some okra pods with various spices: mustard and cumin seeds, charnushka, coriander, salt and pepper.

The meat was deliciously tender.  I had cut off most of the fat but left all of the annoying silver skin and other connective tissue, which melted away during the long slow cooking.  The sauce was tangy and rich, with just enough spice flavor to keep it far away from the realm of ordinary lamb stew.  In short, it was delicious, and I would definitely make this dish again.  Perhaps I'll try chicken next time....

Lamb Fesenjan

Serves 6

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tblsp oil

2 lbs lamb, cut into cubes

1 tblsp flour

8oz walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup hot water

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

5 cardamom pods, crushed

1 tblsp honey (optional)

salt to taste

Sauté onion with turmeric and pepper in the oil until browned.  Remove from pot.  Add meat and brown on all sides.  Sprinkle meat with the flour and the chopped walnuts and sauté for a few minutes.  Add water, pomegranate juice, cardamom, and cinnamon and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer 2 hours or so until meat is very tender and the juices have thickened.  Add salt to taste and honey, if the pomegranate is too tart for you.  Conversely, if you want the dish to have more tart flavor, add lemon juice.

Serve with rice or pilaf.

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Jokers n Thieves

It took us a while to get to Jokers n Thieves. A media dinner had been scheduled a while back, but the curfew put the kibosh on that. Instead, we media types went in dribs and drabs on various weeknights; June 17th was our turn.

Formerly JD's Smokehouse, Jokers n Thieves is an attractive bar on the quieter side of Canton's O'Donnell square. Jesse Sandlin, who had most recently ruled the roost at Oliver Speck's and Vino Rosina, is running the kitchen and serving up quasi-lowcountry vittles with splashes of local color.

We started our meal with two drafts, a Southern Tier double IPA and Union Craft AM Gold (which had tasted strongly of coffee when I sampled it at the brewery but just tasted like beer at JnT) and a couple of appetizers. The "white trash tacos," (fried chicken, slaw, pickled jalapenos, queso) would be as comfortable in Dundalk as in the Carolinas. I thought they were perfect little bites, and appreciated that the fillings were encased in single corn tortillas, rather than doubles, which I think muffle the flavors a bit (and are better for juicy fillings).

We also had the poutine, a massive pile of fries covered in two kinds of cheese with little nubbins of fried chicken (the menu said smoked chicken, so I suppose they were out). This is a dish best served to a mob, as it's far too much for two people. It was salty and cheesy and would probably make a hell of a hangover helper with a fried egg or two on top.

I had seen photos of the soft crab waffle sandwich on Instagram, and determined that I HAD to have it. OMG, it was so good. Hands down it was the most tender soft shell I have ever eaten (and I've eaten so many of them in the past two weeks, you don't even know). The coating was crisp, but the crab was so plump and juicy underneath, I couldn't tell there was shell in it at all. And the accompaniments - house smoked bacon, green tomato, arugula, slaw - were perfect. The bacon was crisp and not too smoky, the tomato and slaw added just the right amount of both moisture and acid. And the waffle was really tasty. Of course, waffles get soggy fast and by the time I got to the second half of the sandwich, it was falling apart, but it was worth the mess.

Mr Minx opted for the 12-hour smoked brisket, which came elegantly presented as two toothsome slabs over a generous serving of slow cooked Carolina gold rice studded with bits of asparagus. It was nicely smoky and worked well with the bleu cheese butter on top. We also enjoyed the rice, which was not quite risotto, not quite congee. A bowl of it would be comforting on a cold winter morning. Or evening. Or afternoon.

We shared a dessert, the cornbread strawberry shortcake, comprising a nicely-crumbly, somewhat coarse-textured cornbread with sugar macerated stawberries and sweetened whipped cream. The edges of the cornbread had a little crunch, and the strawberries were just sweet enough. Really good.

So, only good things to say about Jokers n Thieves. The staff was incredibly nice, the food was really good, and we liked the ambiance of the place as well. I kinda hate that it's in Canton, because we'd prefer it to be closer to us, but we can't have it all.

If you're a fan of soft shells, GO NOW and get them while the getting is good. You won't regret it.





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Don't Let Paella Scare You

Paella seems like such a luxurious restaurant dish, doesn't it? Usually chock full of shellfish and meats and scented with saffron, this Spanish one-pot meal may be daunting to the home cook. But it really needn't be.

Making paella at home doesn't require any special culinary prowess. There are no fancy techniques involved. And while having a paella pan is a nice touch, you can make it in any large, shallow, flat-bottomed pan that's designed to be used on top of the stove. There are also some standard recipes for paella. The most famous, paella a la Valenciana, calls for chicken, chorizo, and several types of shellfish. But who is going to stop you from using completely different proteins? There is no Paella Police, and you won't get into any trouble if you don't feel like dealing with fresh, in-shell, shellfish, or if you'd prefer to use pork instead of chicken, or kielbasa instead of chorizo. Because it's going to be tasty anyway.

Now, I'm not advocating that you go crazy and stud your paella with chunks of tofu or tempeh or tuna (but hey, you can if you want--I won't be eating it). You also aren't stuck with using particular vegetables. Onion and garlic, of course, are the basis of any tasty savory dish, so they shouldn't be omitted, but you can use green beans, sugar snaps, or edamame in place of the peas, or add something else green, like the asparagus I put in mine. Artichoke hearts are great too, and fennel, but make sure to add these during the initial cooking.

As for seasoning, saffron is traditional, but if you don't have/can't afford saffron, don't worry about it (although it is delicious). If you don't have smoked paprika, use regular paprika. Stir in a handful of chopped parsley or cilantro at the end, even basil, if you have it. I used a bit of chipotle, too, because I wanted a little heat in the dish.

The only ingredient that you should be mindful of is the rice; it should be short grain. While special paella rice is hard to find, pretty much all supermarkets should have arborio (risotto) rice.

No matter what combination of protein and veg you use, follow these simple instructions and you'll have something delicious on your hands.

1. Brown the meat and remove from pan
2. Cook onions in fat rendered from meat
3. Add rice and saute for a few minutes
4. Add non-green veg, seasonings, and stock and return meat to pan
5. When rice is done, add green veg
6. Eat!

Easy Paella

Vegetable oil
4-8 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs
3-5 links Spanish chorizo (I used D'Artagnan brand, which is delish)
1 onion, chopped
1-1 1/2 cups paella rice, or other short grain rice
1-2 cups cherry tomato halves
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch saffron that has been soaking in a few tablespoons of hot tap water or stock (optional)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder or 1 chipotle in adobo (optional)
1 - 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3-5 cups chicken stock, plus more
1/4 - 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
6-10 stalks asparagus
Handful chopped parsley or cilantro (optional)

Heat up 17" paella pan or other very large flat-bottomed pan designed to be used on a stove top. If all you have is a 12" skillet, then use the smaller quantities of ingredients. Put a small splash of oil to the pan, just enough to keep the chicken skin from sticking as soon as it hits the pan. Add the chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook over medium heat until well-browned. Turn and brown on other side. While chicken is cooking, add the whole chorizo and turn them occasionally. When chicken is browned, remove all meat from the pan and set aside.

Wipe out some of the chicken fat from the pan, leaving 2 tablespoons or so. Add the onion and cook until softened and slightly brown, 6-8 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to coat with the fat. Cook for a few minutes, until rice is starting to get toasty, then add the tomatoes and garlic. Add the saffron, paprika, optional chipotle, and salt. Stir well to combine. Pour in the chicken stock, then put the chicken back in, skin side up. Slice the chorizo and scatter around the chicken.

If you're using a large paella pan that fits over two burners, put them both on low heat. Cook until broth has evaporated and rice is no longer crunchy, 20 minutes or so. If the broth is gone and the rice is still crunchy, add more broth. Don't stir the rice during this time; you want some of it to stick and brown on the bottom of the pan. This crunchy layer is called the socarrat and some think it's the tastiest part of a paella. Don't worry if yours doesn't form a socarrat--it will still be delicious.

When the rice is done, add the peas and tuck the asparagus down into the rice. Cook an additional 5-10 minutes, to cook the asparagus (and give the socarrat another chance to form).

It's important that the heat be on low or medium low - you don't want the rice to burn.

Serve a big scoop of rice and veg and chorizo and top with a chicken thigh per serving.  Garnish with green herbs.

Serves 4-8.



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Bo Ssam (ish)

My brother suggested I make a bo ssam for Easter dinner. Only he didn't really want bo ssam. He just wanted the pork butt. Bo ssam means "wrapped" or "packaged," so the real thing needs to be served with lettuce or cabbage leaves. But I didn't want to go through the trouble of washing and drying lettuce, so didn't even purchase it. Which is why this post has (ish) in the title. It's actually just Momofuku-style pork butt.

In any case, it was delicious. And it's amazing how much pork five people can put away. We decimated that thing in about 45 minutes. Sure, there was a giant Flintstonian bone in it, but we still managed to eat more than half the meat. Plus jarred kimchi and homemade brussels sprout kimchi and lots of rice. And dessert.

Oink.

Bo Ssam (ish) (adapted from Momofuku)

1 whole bone-in pork butt (8 to 10 pounds)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
5 tablespoons brown sugar

Put the butt into a foil lined baking pan just large enough to hold it (it should fit snugly). Combine the white sugar and salt and rub it all over the pork butt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Discard plastic wrap, make sure butt is skin-side-up in the pan, and roast for about 6 hours, until it's fork tender. Remove pork from the oven. The skin should be a crispy sheet at this point. Lift it; scrape out and discard any soft white fat still under the skin. Put the skin back down, schmear with the brown sugar, and put under the broiler until the sugar melts. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. If it does, no worries - just scrape off the burnt parts. The skin will still be edible and have a nice caramelly flavor to it.

Serve with white rice and kimchi. Make some dipping sauces if you are so inclined. A combination of miso, gochujang, and sherry vinegar loosened up with a bit of oil is nice. And if you want to eat it properly, have some lettuce or napa cabbage leaves available in which to wrap a bit of pork, some skin, kimchi, and sauce.

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Bosphorus Bistro

Several months back, the Minx purchased a Groupon for Bosphorus Bistro. I was curious to check the place out since I had never had Turkish food before and we had been happy with the pizza and sandwiches from their sister restaurant Toss. Also, Bosphorus Bistro is located only about 10 minutes from our home. Bad weather and other commitments prevented us from going for quite a while, but one sunny Saturday, we decided we had to head down York Road and try their wares.

The restaurant is quite dark with strings of lights along the walls to provide a soft glow. We were seated in one of the wood booths along the wall and settled in with the menu. Since our goal at any restaurant is to experience as many different items as possible, we decided to try the mixed mezze platter which allows you to choose four items from the appetizers list. We went with the pink sultan (mainly because the name intrigued us), baba ganoush, kisir, and dolma.

Mixed mezze platter with pink sultan, baba ganoush, kisir, and dolma

The pink sultan was a dip consisting of beets and garlic mixed in labne (yogurt-based cheese). I've never been a fan of beets, but the earthy flavor that normally turns me off seemed mitigated by the garlic and the creamy, tangy labne. I actually found myself enjoying it, especially when scooped onto the fresh pita bread. I'm also not crazy about eggplant, but I'm quite content to devour a well-prepared baba ganoush and the one served at Bosphorus was lemony and slightly smoky. Kisir was new to me: a blend of bulgar wheat, mint, onion, tomato, and pepper. The bulgar wheat gave the dip a hearty, nutty flavor while the other ingredients brought the familiar flavors of the Mediterranean. The tomato especially provided a refreshing brightness. The dolma were dense little packages of rice wrapped in grape leaves. I always love the soft texture of grape leaves.

Lamb Chops

For entrees, I order the lamb chops and Minx ordered the cizbiz kofta. My lamb chops were tender with just the right amount of sear and a fine grilled flavor. Minx's kofta were four savory lamb patties that also had a nice taste of the grill. My chops were herbacious and salty in a good way, while the Minx's cizbiz were well seasoned. Both dishes were served on a bed of buttery rice with mushrooms and a large amount of red and green chopped bell pepper scattered around the edge of the plate.

Cizbiz kofta

For someone who loves rice, I was happy to nom away on the generous portion of slightly sticky rice. However, the large quantity of bell pepper was unnecessary. Both the mushrooms and the peppers were undercooked, existing in that odd textural limbo between not quite crunchy and raw tasting, but not quite soft and sweet either. Minx and I felt that a smaller quantity of vegetables would be fine, especially if they were first finely chopped and/or roasted.

The owner greeted us at the door when we came in and he stopped by during our meal to see how we liked everything. We had a pleasant conversation and he seemed genuinely interested in our feedback about the food and the restaurant. Based on the number of customers who greeted him as they entered the restaurant, it's clear that he is building a clientele of diners who enjoy visiting the restaurant on a regular basis. We are also eager to go back and try some of their other Middle Eastern dishes.

Bosphorus Bistro
5716 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 323-0300





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