Category Archives: Dinner

15 December 2009
1 Comment
Dinner, Soups

Turkey Chili


Turkey Chili

I know that there are lots of die-hard beef chili fans out there, but I just don’t happen to be one of them.  Somehow, along the way, I managed to train my tastebuds to prefer the flavor of turkey and veggie-based chili, almost exclusively.  This is likely a throwback from my days of not eating meat, where I had to figure out how to make a few cans of cheap ingredients taste good enough to make me forget about what I either couldn’t afford or wasn’t eating at the time (i.e., beef).  As it turns out, a big bowl (or two) of this stuff can make you feel full and feel good about what you are putting into your belly. 
 
As the air turns colder and colder, this is one that I’ll be turning to over and over again, not least of all because I almost always have the ingredients in my freezer and pantry.  If you live anywhere like Chicago, there are some days when you race from the office to the train/bus and from there to your front door and still feel like the chill has taken over your whole body; the last thing you want to do after work is make a trip to the grocery to pick up something for dinner.  On nights like that, I don’t even want to bother ordering take out, since I know my food will be cold by the time I get it! 
 
This is another recipe that I encourage you to make your own – feel free to add or omit ingredients, and by all means, use beef instead of turkey, if that is to your taste.  With some good crackers, a feel-good movie, and a nice, seasonal brew, this will make you feel like your living room is the snuggliest place on earth.  Keep warm!

Turkey Chili

Tagged
7 October 2009
2 Comments
Dinner, Entertaining, Fish, Herbs, Weekdays, Weekends

Poachie Paks


Poor Christine, who loves to cook, is currently without an oven as she and Chuck renovate Edgewood Manor.  In the face of this kitchen deficiency, she’s been forced to creatively prepare delicious and healthful meals using her stovetop and a (rather substantial) toaster oven.  Because, like me, she loves to eat almost as much as she loves to cook, she’s come up with some real winning dishes, and some that are extremely appropriate for weeknight (read: easy) preparation.  She asked me to showcase one of her favorite new things, which is more of a method of cooking than anything:  Poachie Paks.

In French cooking, they call this method en papillote, which I think means, “in paper,” or “in envelope.”  Basically, you put all of the food you will eat in a meal onto a piece of parchment paper or aluminium foil, fold it closed, and seal it tightly.  If you are careful to make sure everything is the right size to cook at the same time, this method of cooking will serve you very well.  The prep work is the key; cook time can be very quick, depending on your ingredients.  

You can cook just about anything in a poachie pak, but I think fish, seafood, and vegetables are particularly good choices, because they cook so fast.  Martha Stewart has whole sections of her website devoted to cooking en papillote, so if you want some additional ideas, I would have a look there.  For me, I want everything to come out tasting fresh, but somehow connected as a composed dish; herbs and seasonings lend a strong hand in bringing everything together.  For the version I present here, dill and garlic both play a role in perfuming all of the ingredients.  It is probably just the basic physics of flavor, steam, and aroma, but I think there is a little magic that happens inside these little parcels when you put them in the oven.  Have a look at the before and after:

Poachie Pak Before

Poachie Pak Before

Poachie Pak After

Poachie Pak After

I don’t really know if I can write a full recipe for this, but here is how I put these together (for two poachie paks):  fold two large squares of parchment paper in half diagonally and place 2 to 3 layers of yukon gold potato slices (one medium potato sliced very thinly with a mandoline) on one side of each fold.  Season with salt, pepper and a little olive oil.  Then, layers go down like this, for each pak:  handful of spinach, three slices of lemon, few sprigs of dill, one salmon portion, then a mixture of chopped garlic and parsley, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon on top of the fish; scatter bay scallops around.  Seal poachie pak by folding over the free section and crimping the edges together.  Sometimes, this is enough to seal it, but I needed to use a stapler this time – maybe had a few too many ingredients?  Regardless, they were delicious.  If you have ideas of food combinations for future poachie paks, please share!

14 September 2009
3 Comments
Dinner, Soups, Weekends

My First Gumbo


GUMBO!

GUMBO!

I think my first taste of gumbo was a pretty pathetic version that came out of a Campbell’s soup can.  To be honest, I am not sure I have ever had a really good, authentic Gumbo in my life, in spite of loving all the great ingredients that go into it.  Recently, our friend Shua, who is in the cast of the touring company of the musical Mary Poppins came to stay with us on his way to Minneapolis.  Indicative of his strange and uprooted existence, he brought with him a cooler full of meat – most of which he ended up leaving with us.  Thanks, Shua!  Anyway, there is a big package of smoked sausages in our freezer right now and, since the Bun is not a big fan of sausages other than Italian, I started looking around for recipes in which they would not be the main ingredient.  There are several different varieties of smoked sausage, including Kielbasa from Poland and Andouille from French and Cajun cooking.  All of them seem to work well in soups.  Since I have been having a bit of a craving for Gumbo lately – a better version of the stuff that comes in the can – I figured it was time to take a first stab at it.

Anytime I go about making something popular for the very first time, I do the same thing:  consult several cookbooks and websites on the recipe, then come up with my own version in my head.  I know everyone probably thinks that their Gumbo is the best, and I am sure that there are great recipes out there, but I like to formulate something on my own.  Basically, this is indicative of my philosophy on cooking; memorize the basics, and then make something your own.  With more complicated things (like baking, which is more of a science), I follow a recipe to a T the first time.  With something like soup, where there is less room for disastrous error, I play it by ear.  That way, I know what to do the next time without consulting a book or the internet.  It is basically implementing the rule of learning by doing onto yourself.  Just be fearless and it works out with delicious results.  Trust yourself and your tastes!

Gumbo

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