Serves 2

Base
1 chicken thigh with skin and bone
1-inch fresh ginger with skin on, chop into quarter
1 cloves garlic
1 1/2” galanga root
1 tsp cardamon pods smashed in mortar and pestle.
1 bay leaf
1 tsp pepper corns
1 TBSP veg oil.

Brown the chicken and the above ingredients until the skin on the chicken is lightly brown and all the seasonings creates an aroma.

Stock
2 cups of chicken broth (canned)
2 scallions, cut in half.
1 6” peeled carrot

Add this to the base and bring to a slight boil, medium light heat and cook 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken and carrots and discard the rest. Strain the broth and set aside. Should be slightly less than 2 cups if measured. Clean the pot. Cut the carrot into small cubes. De-bone and de skin the chicken, cut into cubes.

Roux
1 cup flour
1 cup veg oil.
½ chopped onion
½ chopped red bell pepper
2 scallions rough chopped

In a clean pot mix oil and flour and fry while stirring on medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper and scallions and ¼ cup of the stock. Stir until the stock turns into gravy, add the rest of the stock. The roux will slightly thicken the stock. Add the following:

1-6” stick of spicy andouille sausage, cut into slices.
Chicken pieces
Cooked carrots pieces
Salt to taste
1 dash Shaoxing wine or white wine
1½ tsp turmeric powder
1½ tsp curry powder

Add everything but the curry and turmeric. Cook on medium low for 15 minutes. Add the turmeric and curry and cook another 10 minutes medium low. Serve over rice. You can always add cilantro and a little lime if you like. Thai basil also works in this dish.

As of 5/9/24

2 cups fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup olive oil
1 TSP lime juice
3 TBSP Sour cream
3 TBSP Kewpie (Japanese Mayo) or Mayo
¾ tsp honey
¾ tsp salt

Put all into a blender. Store in frig several hours before serving.

1 fresh Artichoke

Cup off the top of the artichoke, then cut the spiky tips off each leaf. Cut the stem leaving an inch of the stem. Rinse the artichoke under cold water. In a large pan fill with water and boil 30 to 40 minutes. Or you can steam it for 30 to 40 minutes. It is done when the leaves pull easily from the stem.

Cut off the stem flush with the artichoke. Pull a leaf, dip in the cilantro dressing, and eat. When the leaves are eaten, remove the choke (the fine, fuzzy hairlike filaments on top of the heart) with a spoon. The heart will remain. Cut the heart into squares and dip in the dressing and eat.

As of 4/20/24

Click on pic to enlarge.

Dry
1 cup oatmeal
1/8 cup toasted wheat germ (optional)
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped almonds
¼ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup flaked sweetened coconut
¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds

Wet
½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 TBSP butter
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Place the oatmeal in a dry pan and toast for 5 minutes at 325°. Remove and cool.
3. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.
4. In a saucepan melt the wet ingredients and whisk until blended.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and thoroughly mix.
6. In an 8X8 oven proof dish cut 2 8” pieces of parchment paper and layer cross ways the in the dish.
7. Add the granola mix to the dish and press flat.
8. Bake in 325° oven for 15 minutes. Let cool overnight as it will need time to harden.
9. Remove from the dish by the parchment paper and cut into bars.

As of 3/1/24

Click on pic to enlarge.

Serves 2

Fish
2 pieces of cod
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP OO
½ red onion – thinly sliced
Salt

Cheese Topping – Use whatever cheese you like – In a small bowl mix:
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 TBSP Gruyère cheese – grated
1 TBSP Romano cheese – grated
1 TBSP mozzarella – grated
1 tsp. freshly chopped parsley
1 clove garlic – grated

Veggies – Add whatever veggies you like:
1 Roma tomato chopped coarsely
1 zucchini – skinned and sliced on a mandolin
½ red onion – thinly sliced on a mandolin
½ large potato – skinned and cubed
Green bell pepper – thinly sliced

Fresh lemon juice
Fresh lemon wedges
½ cup dry white wine
S&P
Dried Herbs

3 hours before cooking, pat the fish dry. Brush with lemon juice. Brush with OO. Sprinkle salt. Top with sliced red onion. Place in a covered container and refrigerate for 3 hours to marinate.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Add the veggies to a large bowl. Add the OO, S&P, dried herbs and toss. Place in an oven safe cooking pan. I use a 2½ qt. CorningWare pan. Add the wine. Place in the oven and cook 1 hour.

Meanwhile, pat the fish dry and spoon on the cheese topping. Best cooked in a separate oval au gratin baking dish. 20 minutes before the veggies are cooked place the fish in the oven and cook 20 minutes or until the fish is cooked.

Serve with the lemon wedges on the side to squeeze over the fish.

2/17/24

I have made this dish several times before but I keep making adjustments.  This one I like b/c it brings me back to my roots in New Orleans’s for meat stuffing.  Instead of a Mirepoix (onion, carrot and celery), I went with the New Orleans Trinity of onions, celery and bell pepper.  This all comes back as a favorite of mine for stuffing green bell pepper or mirlitons (aka chayote squash).  Only with mirliton, I like to use ground lamb.  This substitute blend of Trinity offers a little more punch.  I have researched the origins of this dish (the way Grandma made it) but those left me little in want of just a little more flavor.  Don’t get me wrong.  Grandma’s is always good.

(Click on pic to enlarge)

1 head of cabbage
¼ Lb. ground beef
¼ Lb. ground veal
½ Lb. ground pork
Mirepoix:
½ onion finely chopped
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1 medium carrots grated
½ medium green pepper finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves minced

1 cup of cooked long grain rice
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs/panko
S&P
Sour Cream
Fresh dill
4 TBSP Butter (2 for the filling and 2 for the first sauce)
1 TBSP Olive oil
Two of these items. You will make 2 sauces, one for the over and one to serve:
1 15oz. can of stewed tomatoes (in celery, onion and green bell)
½ cup dry white wine
2 TBSP tomato paste (Mixed in the white wine)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Other:
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cabbage – Cut the core out of the center of the cabbage.  Place in at least a 7 Qt. pot half full of boiling water with the core side up.  Boil a couple of minutes and then gently remove the leaves with tongs and place on a tray, keep doing this until you have peeled all the biggest usable leaves and that the leaves are cooked but firm enough to roll.  Set aside to cool. With a knife shave the top main part of the rib off of the cabbage leaf to make the leaf flexible.

Rice – In the left over cabbage water cook rice 10 minutes and remove and drain. Run in cold water to stop cooking.

Chop the Mirepoix – Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bell pepper and 2 TBSP butter and chop in a food processor.

Filling – Mix the rice, meat, bread crumbs, mirepoix, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. I mixed it in a KitchenAid 3 minutes on stir setting with the mixing blade. Spoon ~ a third cup of filling and make a cylindrical meatball and place in a cabbage leaf.  Fold the top over tight then the sides and roll the cabbage and place in a 13×9 dish to set aside.

Sauce – Add 1 can stewed tomatoes, wine/tomato paste, chicken stock, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and place 1/2 at the bottom of a Dutch Oven. Note: The added chicken stock is there to boil and steam the rolls.

Cooking – Add the rolls in the pan. Cover with the rest of the sauce and a couple of cabbage leaves. Cook covered on 325° in the oven for 60 minutes. The idea is to cover the rolls so that they steam in the oven making the cabbage very tender and easy to cut with a fork. Check the rolls to make sure the cabbage is cooked. Remove the rolls into a cover cookware bowl. Let cool.

Place it in the frig overnight and reheat.

Serving Sauce – Make the sauce above again only do not add chicken stock. 

Plate, cover with serving sauce, sour cream and chopped fresh dill.

As of 1/28/24