Parmesan Bread Pudding with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

Happy Easter, fans and visitors of N.T.! Instead of traditional spring holiday meals, featuring a baked ham or leg of lamb, I kept it a bit lighter this year. This bread pudding features cubes of country bread, tossed with garlicky sauteed broccoli rabe and a Parmesan-flavored custard. And just so we didn’t leave the Easter ham out altogether, the whole thing is topped with a few paper-thin slices of pancetta, Italy’s version of bacon. The bread cubes were soft and chewy and moist on the inside, and crusty and brown on the outside, and the whole thing was salty, cheesy and just slightly porky. To go with, I steamed some asparagus, a classic spring vegetable with a grassy green flavor, and drizzled some shallot vinaigrette on top.

Parmesan Bread Pudding with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 medium bunch broccoli rabe (rapini), trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more
• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 pound country-style white bread, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
• 6 thin slices pancetta (Italian bacon)

The assembled pudding, before going into the oven

Method

• Preheat oven to 350°. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir until garlic is softened, about 30 seconds. Add broccoli rabe; sea-son with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until wilted, about 2 minutes; let cool slightly
• Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoons pepper in a large bowl to blend. Add broccoli rabe mixture, bread, and 1/2 cup Parmesan; toss to combine. Transfer to a 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Top with pancetta and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan
• Bake pudding until puffed, browned in spots, and set in the center, 45-55 minutes

Enchiladas Suizas w/ Frijoles de Olla

I generally like to keep my posts varied in terms of cuisine, type of dish and difficulty of execution. And I know that now, 3 of my last 4 posts will have featured Mexican flavors. But if our cooking truly is a reflection of how we feel (and I think it is), then I have to be true to myself. And I’ve just been really into Mexican food lately. I eat at the same taqueria at least once a week, but even that was insufficient in satisfying my cravings, so I brought the fiesta home with me.

I love the comforting aspects of Mexican cuisine (when executed PROPERLY). The toothsome chew and intense corn flavor of a handmade tortilla; the porcine fattiness and crisp texture of perfectly fried carnitas or chicharrones; the complex, dried-fruit, nut and smoke flavors of various dried chiles; the mouth-coating body and silky texture of slow-simmered beans; the fresh-apple crispness and vegetal heat of a raw jalapeno. I could go on…

Today, I felt like making a dish I never order in restaurants, as I’m usually too tempted by other dishes. These enchiladas are called “Swiss” in Spanish because of their creamy sauce and cheesy topping. But they get a nice, (for lack of a better word) green flavor from roasted chiles, tomatillos and cilantro, my all-time favorite herb. For the filling, I took a shortcut and got pre-cooked, pre-shredded chicken from Safeway. I served these with a pot of pinto beans, simmered for 2 1/2 hours with a sliced white onion and some rendered bacon.

Enchiladas Suizas

Total Time: 1 1/2 hours

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lb. tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
• 2 serrano chiles, stemmed
• 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ tsp. cumin seeds, toasted
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 poblano chiles
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 8 6″ corn tortillas
• 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella

Method

• Arrange an oven rack 4″ from the broiler and heat broiler to high. Place tomatillos, serranos and poblanos on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil, turning as needed, until blackened all over, about 10 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes, peel and discard skins and roughly chop the poblanos. Transfer to a blender along with cilantro, sour cream, cumin, garlic and 1 cup boiling water; season with salt and pepper, and purée until smooth. Set enchilada sauce aside
• Heat a dry 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. One at a time, cook tortillas just until pliable, about 15 seconds per side. Transfer tortillas to a work surface. Place chicken in a bowl and toss with 1 cup enchilada sauce until evenly coated. Divide sauced chicken evenly among tortillas, and roll tortillas tightly around chicken. Pour about 1 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, and place tortilla rolls in dish, seam side down, creating one row down the center of the dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolls, and cover evenly with mozzarella
• Heat oven to 375°. Bake enchiladas until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted on top, 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool for 10 minutes before serving

My pot of beans, simmering away

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Here’s a dish that’s part of the staple diet of practically the entire world: rice and beans. It’s cheap, bountiful carbohydrates and proteins…and it can be pretty tasty and comforting, too. So this is Louisiana’s take on this winning combo, and it wouldn’t be cajun if it wasn’t jazzed up with cayenne pepper, thyme and garlic, and given a double dose of porky goodness courtesy of some bacon (in place of more authentic but hard-to-find Tasso ham) and some andouille, the smoky, spicy sausage synonymous with cajun food. It has to simmer on the stove for about 90 minutes, (and the beans should ideally brine overnight) but it’s really not that labor-intensive of a dish.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound small red beans, rinsed and picked over
• 4 slices bacon, sliced into lardons
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 ribs of celery, finely chopped
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 6 cups water
• 8 ounces andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, plus extra for seasoning
• Cooked white rice
• 3 scallions, white and green parts, sliced thin
• Hot sauce (optional)

Method

• Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well
• Heat bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and almost fully rendered, about 8 minutes. Add onion, green pepper, and celery; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme, paprika, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in beans, broth, and water; bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a high simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are just soft and liquid begins to thicken, 45-60 minutes
• Stir in sausage and 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar and cook until liquid is thick and beans are fully tender and creamy, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and additional red wine vinegar. Serve over rice, sprinkling with scallions and hot sauce, if desired

Tuscan White Bean Stew

Creamy, soft white beans in a savory, peppery broth with braised kale and mirepoix. I used pancetta, for some added salty, umami flavor, but for a vegetarian version, you can just leave it out…

Tuscan White Bean Stew

Total Time: Yield: 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/4″ strips
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 medium ribs celery, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
• 2 medium carrots, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
• 7-8 medium cloves garlic, minced (3 tablespoons)
• 4  cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 lb. dried cannellini beans, soaked for 12 hours, or 4 cans, rinsed and drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, or 1 pound frozen plum tomatoes
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• country bread (day-old ok) and extra clove garlic, for serving

Method

• In a large dutch oven, brown the bacon until crisp and fat is rendered 4-6 minutes; with a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a plate and reserve. Pour off all but about 2 Tbsp fat from the pan
• 
• Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the pan, and cook over medium heat until tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add bacon back to pan and stir to combine with vegetables. Add the chicken broth, water, beans, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the rosemary sprig and continue to simmer another 15 minutes. Remove rosemary and bay leaf, and add salt and pepper to taste

• To serve, toast a thick slice of bread and rub with a clove of garlic cut in half. Put bread in the bottom of a soup bowl, then sprinkle baby spinach leaves on top. Ladle soup over spinach and bread. Top with a healthy drizzle of olive oil, and serve

Shrimp (and Kale, and Bread) on the Barbie

When I’m cooking multiple dishes to be served as part of one meal, I like being able to oversee all them at once. It saves a lot of frantic energy to not have to run from stovetop to oven to grill, etc. So tonight, I felt like doing all three elements of dinner (protein, vegetable and starch) on the grill. Not only was it easy to supervise everything at once, but the common cooking method meant that each element had that similar smoky, grilled flavor, so everything complemented everything else.

On the menu: shrimp marinated in fish sauce and turmeric, grilled and served with a raw dipping sauce of lime, cilantro, garlic, ginger, chiles (typical Southeast Asian flavors, basically). It was bright, just spicy enough and complemented the lightly charred shrimp perfectly. To go with, kale that had been blanched, tossed with a garlic-chile oil, then grilled and tossed with lemon vinaigrette and, to ensure the dish’s success, crispy bacon lardons! Lastly, I made some thin cuts of sourdough batard, brushed them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and threw them on the grill with everything else, till they were nicely crispy and grill-marked, but still a little chewy in the middle. Healthy, tasty and ready in about an hour. What’s not to like?

Grilled Shrimp with Southeast Asian Dipping Sauce

Adapted from a recipe by Bon Appetit

Total Time: 50 min. (20 min. active)

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 18 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nuoc nam or nam pla), divided
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 30 cilantro sprigs, chopped
• 4 Fresno chiles (or other fresh red chile), stemmed
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 1″ pieces ginger, peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

Method

• Combine shrimp, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons oil, and turmeric in a large bowl; toss to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes, then thread shrimp onto skewers

• Purée 4 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons oil, cilantro, and remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until a coarse mixture forms; transfer dipping sauce to a small bowl and set aside

• Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to high. Shake excess liquid from shrimp and place shrimp on grill. Cook, turning once, until shrimp are charred and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve immediately with sauce

Grilled Kale with Garlic, Chiles and Bacon

Recipe from Food & Wine

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, thick stems cut out
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1 Fresno chile (or other fresh red chile), thinly sliced
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 thick slices of bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the kale until it is just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and lightly squeeze out the excess water. Blot the kale dry and transfer to a bowl. Add the vegetable oil, garlic and chile, season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat

• In a small skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp, 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels

• Light a grill on high heat. Grill the kale on a perforated grill pan, tossing occasionally, for about 6 minutes

• Transfer the kale to a bowl and immediately toss with the bacon, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt and serve immediately

 

El Cuatro de Julio

It’s become something of a tradition over the last five or so years for me to make (or just eat) hot dogs on every Fourth of July. I didn’t set out one year with this goal in mind; it just sort of happened naturally. But now, every year on our Independence Day, whether I’m grilling for a crowd or rolling a single sausage around in a frying pan on the stove for myself, it just isn’t a holiday until I’ve had my hot dog.

And I do love a good hot dog: the satisfying snap of a blistered natural casing, the salty, seasoned beef flavor, the smoky, pillowy  comfort of a nicely charred bun…all these things are essential to a proper dog in my book. Lately, though, I’ve been experimenting with more and more diverse toppings with which to accessorize my franks. Green onions and hoisin sauce. Sriracha mayo, cilantro and Asian slaw. Barbecue sauce, onions and cheddar cheese. Mayonnaise and french fries. Kimchi.

But I had never attempted the famed Sonoran Dog – popularized on travel shows like Food Wars and Bizarre Foods – and this Fourth of July seemed like the perfect opportunity. Found in Tuscon/Phoenix (but supposedly originating in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, Mexico) this hot dog is wrapped in bacon, griddled until golden-brown, and stuffed in a bun or bolillo roll with pinto beans, onion, tomato, cheese, mayo, and green chile sauce. If this doesn’t sound mind-blowingly delicious to you, then you’re reading the wrong blog.

The results were predictably amazing. I used canned refried beans to save time, but I made roasted tomatillo salsa from scratch (I have issues with jarred salsas.) I also mixed up a quick pico de gallo, with white onion, tomato, cilantro and lime juice. The mayo got thinned out and spiced up with a liberal dose of chipotle hot sauce. After that, it was just a matter of cooking the dogs slowly over a medium grill, then putting it all together.

I won’t say the Sonoran Dog will become a new tradition in and of itself, but this definitely won’t be the last one I eat.

Sonoran Dogs

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yields: 6 hot dogs

Ingredients

• 6 hot dogs
• 6 thin slices of bacon (thick-cut won’t stay wrapped around the dogs)
• 6 hot dog buns
• 1 can refried beans or whole pinto beans
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 white onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
• 1 c. green chile sauce or salsa verde (store-bought or homemade)
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1/4 c. mayonnaise, mixed with 1 tsp. chipotle hot sauce
• 1/2 c. shredded cheese (cheddar-jack, cotija, or other)

Method

• Wrap one piece of bacon around each hot dog

• Open can of beans and heat to a simmer. Keep warm on stove until ready to use
• Toss diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime juice together. Season with a little kosher salt and set aside

• Grill bacon-wrapped hot dogs over medium heat until bacon is crispy on all sides, but not burned. Make sure to turn the dogs often so that the hot dogs are heated through by the time the bacon crisps, about 12 minutes
• Assemble the hot dogs: put each hot dog in a bun (toasted is nice), spread chipotle mayo on buns, spoon beans, pico de gallo, salsa verde and cheese on top

Beer Can Chicken – Perfect Food Engineering, or Drunken Luck?

I love it when a single recipe combines a bunch of foods that I would thoroughly enjoy on their own and yields a final product even greater than the sum of its component parts. Garlicky, spice-rubbed roast chicken with crispy skin; bacon that is crisp but still offers a little chew; golden, malty beer…if these weren’t great enough on their own (and they are), there is a recipe that beautifully integrates these already near-perfect foods and manages to create a dish where they work together in delicious, drool-inspiring harmony.

I am talking about beer can chicken, a concept I’d like to believe was invented by some rowdy, rural Midwesterners–having spent some time in Minnesota, I know how much they like their beer–who had already consumed several cans of beer at a cookout before deciding it would be funny to shove the last half-consumed can up the ass-end of a whole chicken and stand it up like it was doing the poultry equivalent of a keg-stand. The idea to then cook it like this, still sitting atop the can in a kind of perverse vertical rotisserie style, would just be the (drunken) logical conclusion; a sort of farm-boy precursor to Epic Meal Time, in my mind.

I don’t know who actually invented the idea, but if it was, in fact, drunken party-goers, they managed to accidentally stumble upon some really great culinary engineering concepts. Putting an open beer inside the chicken cavity effectively causes beer steam to moisten and flavor the chicken from the inside out throughout the entire cooking process, so you’ll end up with incredibly juicy dark AND white meat. Second, draping slices of bacon outside the top of the bird means means that, as the chicken cooks, the rendered bacon fat will slowly drip down and coat the entire exterior, glazing the meat in a salty, porky sheen, locking the chicken’s natural moisture in, helping fry the skin to perfect crispiness, and leaving you with crunchy pieces of bacon to garnish your sliced chicken meat with.

This dish can be prepared in a skillet in an oven, but with summer rolling around, I’d suggest getting a six-pack (or two), some friends, and a grill so you can make and eat your beer can chicken outside. There’s less potential for spills/grease splatters and, besides, who doesn’t love to cook and eat outdoors? Have fun, guys!!!

Beer Can Chicken

Adapted from a recipe by Guy Fieri

Ingredients

• 1 (3 to 4-lb.) whole chicken
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 T. onion powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 T. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 (12-ounce) can of beer
• 1/2 pound bacon

Method

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels
• Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Rub 1/2 of the ingredients on inside cavity of chicken. Gently peel skin away from chicken and rub mixture into meat of chicken

• Place 1/3 of the bacon inside the chicken cavity and drape the remaining 2/3 of the bacon down the outside of the chicken. Attach the bacon to the chicken with toothpicks

• Open beer can, pour out about 1/2 cup (by which I mean, pour into a glass and drink it). Drop the garlic cloves into the beer can. Place chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer into the cavity. Place chicken, standing up, in large skillet

• Place chicken in the oven for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for another 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer