Mushroom Sauce for Pasta

Today, 30 April 2013, just back in Kabul, I found fresh mushrooms in the supermarket "Finest". This inspired me to do a pasta with a mushroom sauce.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 
2 medium onions, finely chopped 
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 cup plain yoghurt at room temperature, the sour Iranian yoghurt is great
     (at room temperature to avoid curdling)
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped 
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard or dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt   
fresh ground black pepper
pasta (spiral or bow tie)

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. 
• Add the onions and cook for 5-8 minutes or until they are soft and translucent. 
• Stir in the mushrooms, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms are reduced but still slightly plump.
• Remove pan from the heat.
• Stir in the yogurt, the lemon juice, parsley/cilantro, mustard and salt. 
• Return the pan to the stove and simmer the sauce without boiling, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes — or longer if you want a thicker sauce.
• Add fresh ground black pepper to taste.
• Serve over a spiral or bow-tie pasta.

Roasted Vegetables

My niece Tammy is a great cook, but has little time to indulge in cooking as she is running an Ice Cream Parlour, doing interior design and taking care of her precocious 5 year old daughter. Last week, when I visited (late April 2013), she threw together a great meal of roasted vegetables (potatoes and onions), roasted sausage, wilted spinach, salad of tomatoes and avocado pears, and lobster. Here is the very simple recipe for the roasted vegetables, which were delicious.

My niece Tammy and grand niece Carter

Baking potatoes
Onions
Zucchini
Carrots
Olive Oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper.
Sprigs of rosemary, sage or thyme (optional)
 

• Choose large potatoes, wash them, dry them, do not peel, and cut into large thin slabs.
• Several large onions, sliced into large chunks or wedges.
• This can also be done with zucchini, cut lengthwise into thin slabs.
• Or with carrots, really nice if you can get the large deeply coloured (red, yellow, purple ones), just cleaned, not sliced.
• Put vegetables into a roasting pan, dribble on olive oil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• For potatoes and zucchini slices, put them in a single layer. 
• For carrots, roll them in the olive oil and then season.
• Toss in the sprigs of herbs (optional)
• Roast, uncovered, at 350 F for about 40 minutes - less if you use a convection oven - until potatoes are golden, carrots and/or zucchini are tender, and onions are brown and crispy. You can roast them in a hotter oven (400 F) for shorter period of time - just watch that they don't burn. 
• Vegetables can be served hot or at room temperature. Simple and delicious.

Hawaiian Poke

My very good French friend Dominique, who just spent a year in Hawaii working with indigenous Hawaiians, sent me this recipe to post. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds excellent...a little bit like ceviche. As Dominique is now on her way to Peru, she may want to send me a Peruvian ceviche when she  is there and see how it compares.

Poke (pronounced poké) is served as munchies with a drink, with greens for a light lunch or before dinner as an appetizer.  It requires extra fresh fish, easily found on the islands of course! Most Poke are made with some variety of tuna fish. Here in Oahu they generally use white, red and yellow fin tuna (called Ahi). I am not sure what can be found elsewhere else but many people make poke with other types of fish because tuna is expensive. The fish needs to be sliced thick enough to cut into small cubes.

Now for the fun part:  you have to massage the slice of fish before cutting it. A Hawaiian massage is called “lomi-lomi”. It is gentle but deep and “souple”. (I recommend that you practice first on your partner before doing it on your fish.)

Choose a thick slice of extra fresh fish.

Cut it into small cubes (1 cm x 1 cm)

The Marinade: 

There are as many marinades/dressings as there are gourmet cooks and here, all cooks have their own secret recipes – but in general, the marinade is made of  water, oil and either soy sauce, vinegar or lime juice, plus spices, crushed nuts, fresh herbs etc…

Here are some of the recipes I tasted and can recommend!

1.  Sprinkle with soy sauce, sesame seed oil, Hawaiian chili peppers cut into tiny pieces (best fresh but dry is ok as long it is crushed) and Hawaiian salt (the pink one is best but black is fine as well). Add water - the quantity depends on the amount of fish you are using. Be aware that the salt and the soy sauce might make the marinade too salty for some people. The key is to serve poke in lettuce leaves. It also looks quite pretty served this way.

2. You can also make the marinade with olive oil, thyme, garlic, rosemary and plenty of lime juice. Crushed Hawaiian chili peppers add a welcome little kick. Add some water but not too much.

3. Sprinkle with crushed seaweed, salt and crushed macadamia nuts  --if macadamia nuts are not available, use crushed salted cashews -- plenty of freshly ground black pepper, sesame oil and balsamic vinegar. Do not use soy sauce with this marinade because of the high salt content of the nuts. Add water to make quite a liquid marinade (the seaweed will soak up much of it.

4. Crushed garlic, green onions sliced finely, Hawaiian chili peppers and plenty of lime juice. Add a bit of water, sesame seed oil and Hawaiian black salt (black is for the color combination but pink works just as well). This one is my favourite!

Present in a dish with lettuce or greens. Fresh baby spinach goes really well.

Pick at the Poke with a toothpick!

I think tequila might go really well with Poke but… it is hardly a Hawaiian drink and to tell you the truth I never tried!

Let me know how you like it!

German Potato Salad

Not good for the waist line but a great party salad.

6 potatoes (medium sized)

4 strips bacon

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped  celery

1 finely chopped dill pickle

¼ cup bullion

½ cup white wine vinegar

½  teaspoon salt

½  teaspoon sugar

⅛  teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon dried mustard

¼ cup chopped parsley or chives

• Without peeling, boil potatoes in a covered saucepan until tender. 
• Drain in a colander. 
• Peel the hot potatoes, cut into small pieces, and put into a large salad bowl. 
• While the potatoes are cooking, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from the pan, and crumble when cool enough to do so. 
• In the bacon fat, sauté the onion and celery. 
• Add the crumbled bacon and the sautéd onion and celery to the potatoes. Add the chopped dill pickle. 
• In a saucepan, combine the bullion, vinegar, salt, sugar, paprika and dried mustard, and bring to a boil. 
• Pour over the potatoes and stir gently. 
• Serve with the chopped parsley or chives.

Dan's Sweet and Sour Meat Balls

A 1960's California Recipe though I can't recall in which magazine I found this recipe. I used to make it often for parties during my student days in Los Angeles. Served with rice, it feeds 4-6 people, or it is a great appetizer along with others on a buffet table, but should be kept warm.

5 thin slices of white bread, cut into 3 inch cubes

½ cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 pounds ground beef, lean

1¼ teaspoon plus 1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

¼ cup regular all purpose flour

½ cup salad oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

¾ cup cold water

8 ounce can tomato sauce

¼ cup white vinegar

¼ cup sugar

½ cup sweet gherkins, in chunks

13½ ounce can pineapple chunks, drained

2 small green peppers, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced on the diagonal

1 pound jar whole crab apples

The meatballs, fried and ready to go into the sauce.

Made for my farewell party 23 May 2013 - with red pepper (not green) and without crab apples. The sweet gherkins were added after the photo was taken.

• In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, milk, and egg. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• With a fork, press together so that the bread is completely soaked.
• Add ground beef, 1¼  teaspoons salt, garlic salt and pepper. 
• Knead with your hands to mix well, and form into small meat balls, about 1½  inches in diameter. This amount of meat should make about 34 meat balls.
• One by one, roll the meat balls in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off excess flour and set aside.
• Heat the salad oil in a large heavy skillet and brown the meatballs in the oil, over a medium fire, until golden brown.
• Remove and drain on paper towelling.
• Remove oil and remaining fat from the skillet and add the cold water, tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, sweet gherkins and all but 6 chunks of pineapple, and mix well
• Bring the sauce to a boil, add meatballs, and reduce temperature so mixture simmers on low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring to ensure it does not burn.
• Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the chunks of green pepper and carrots over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
• Just before serving, adjust seasoning adding more salt if necessary and garnish the with the green pepper and carrots, the reserved chunks of pineapple and the whole crab apples.