Instant Pot Tomatillo Pork and Bean Stew

This Sunday, come visit the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market between 10 am - 2 pm on the corner of Agate and 19th Ave. for fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm and pastured meat and poultry from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm. 

Camas Swale has gorgeous tomatillos on offering. I love searing them in a cast iron skillet to make a delicious roasted salsa with layers of flavor that belie the ease of preparation. The drizzly weather reminded me of another favorite tomatillo dish of pork and white bean stew, based on a Rick Bayless recipe and made in a slow cooker. Here I adapted it for an instant pot pressure cooker and incorporated a step of searing the tomatillos for extra flavor. I also incorporated some roasted Hatch green chiles that Market of Choice sold every Friday in August, but other roasted chiles would work fine. I served the stew over rice with corn tortillas and seared summer squash on the side and it was a huge hit with hungry kids after a long day of school and sports practice.

Instant Pot Tomatillo Pork and Bean Stew

serves eight and freezes well

1 lb tomatillos
6 garlic cloves
several green chiles of desired heat (e.g. 2 poblano, 1 hatch)
1 bunch cilantro
~3 lb pork shoulder
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt
2 cups white navy beans, soaked overnight in salted water
lime

1. Husk and rinse the tortillas. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high and sear the tomatillos whole until they are well charred. Transfer the tortillas to the insert pot of a pressure cooker. In the same skillet, sear the green chiles until charred, then remove to a bowl, cover with a plate, and allow to steam and cool. At the same time you can throw in the unpeeled garlic cloves and roast them until they start to blacken, then remove and cool. Peel the charred skin from the peppers, remove the seeds and membranes from the inside, and add to the pot. Peel the garlic and add to the pot. Rinse and roughly chop the cilantro and add to the pot. Use an immersion blender to blend the contents of the pot until smooth. Taste and season with salt and chile pepper if you would like more heat (or sear and blend in more green chiles). 

2. Cut the pork into 1 1/2 inch chunks and season well with salt. In the same skillet, add a little neutral oil to coat the pan and then sear the cubes of meat well on each side, working in batches so as not to overcrowd them. Transfer them to the pot and immerse in the tomatillo sauce. Turn on the pressure cooker and cook the meat in the tomatillo sauce for 30 minutes on high. Allow the pressure to release naturally. 

3. Drain the soaked beans and add them to the pot. Make sure they are completely submerged in liquid, and if not, add a cup or two of water (or reserved bean broth from a previous batch of beans). Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes and allow the the pressure to release naturally. Taste the sauce and add more salt and chile pepper as needed. Brighten with fresh lime juice. Serve with rice and tortillas.

This can also be cooked slow in a slow cooker or in low oven in a Dutch oven.

Pork Chops with Deviled Chard Stems and Chard Gratin

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market there will be fresh eggs and pastured chicken, beef, pork, and lamb from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm. Also you'll find fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm including melons and watermelons, tomatoes, tomatillos (try this roasted salsa), padron peppers, summer squash, sweet onions, and fresh herbs.

Our family let out a collective squeal of delight last week when we saw the first of Camas Swale's harvest of padron pepper, or what my son refers to as "lucky, unlucky peppers." My husband and I love their intense flavor when seared and salted, and our kids love to watch us eat them, since their variable spiciness level makes each new specimen a gamble.

Along with our padron peppers, we purchased colorful chard, sumptuous heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and sweet cucumbers from Camas Swale, and some thick boneless pork chops from Fair Valley Farm. 

I love the combination of pork with mustard, so I decided to make a mustardy garnish for our seared pork chops of roasted deviled chard stems. With the chard leaves, I made a variation on this zucchini gratin, but with the addition of a cheesy breadcrumb topping. It all made for another delicious midsummer Sunday evening farmers market feast.

Pork Chops with Deviled Chard Stems

roasted deviled chard stems
Swiss chard stems sliced from 1 bunch of chard and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small lemon
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
salt and pepper

seared and roasted pork chops
2 thick boneless pork chops
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Peel the lemon with a vegetable peeler and cut into thin strips. Juice the lemon into a medium bowl. Whisk in the mustard, olive oil, and honey. Stir in the chard pieces and lemon peel. Season with a little salt (depending on the saltiness of your mustard) and plenty of black pepper. Transfer to a small baking dish or oven safe skillet. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stems are fragrant and nicely browned on the edges.

3. Generously season the pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until it is very hot. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to coat the pan. Sear the pork chops at high temperature until nicely browned on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven and continue cooking for about five minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. 

4. Allow the cooked pork chops to rest for about ten minutes. Serve topped with the deviled chard stems.

Zucchini and Chard Gratin

1 bunch chard leaves, cut into 1 inch strips
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil 
1 medium zucchini, grated
2 eggs
100 g (scan 1/2 cup) crème fraîche (which you can make yourself, or use sour cream)
120 ml (1/2 cup) milk
1 cup bread crumbs
100 g (3.5 ounces) grated gruyère or aged cheddar cheese 
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On the stovetop, heat a pan over medium heat. Saute the diced onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil. When the onion is glassy, add the chard leaves. Cook the chard leaves for a couple of minutes until brightly colored but not yet wilted. Season with salt to taste and transfer to a 9x9 inch baking dish. Add the grated zucchini and mix.  

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then mix in the crème fraîche, milk, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the chard and zucchini in the baking dish. Cover with bread crumbs and then with the grated cheese.

6. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes until the gratin is nicely browned.

Roasted Lemon Soy Chicken Legs

The Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market is excited to announce that Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm have teamed up to bring you fresh eggs and pastured chicken, beef, pork, and lamb every week. Also at the market you'll find fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm including gorgeous heirloom tomatoes (make a pitcher of gazpacho for the hot days ahead), berries, honey and (new this week) melons.

In addition to whole chickens, Fog Hollow Farm offers parted breasts and legs. I purchased a package of legs last week, which I thawed for a few hours in a bowl of warm water and then tossed in a lemon and soy sauce marinade.

Dinner Sunday night was a delicious and easy Farmers Market feast of roasted chicken, kale chips (since the oven was on), fresh heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers and roasted onions with lemony pan juices over rice. 

Roasted Lemon Soy Chicken Legs

2 chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs, about 1.5 lb)
1 large lemon
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 large onion

1. Peel the lemon with a vegetable peeler and cut the peel into thin strips. Juice the lemon. In a glass bowl big enough to hold the chicken, combine the lemon juice and zest, soy sauce, olive oil, honey, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Cut the chicken legs to separate the drumsticks from the thighs, add them to the bowl and coat them well with the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 425. Cut the onion into about 16 wedges and arrange on the bottom of a baking pan or pie dish. Arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, on top of the onions, and drizzle over the marinade. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 35 minutes. The onions should char a little at the edges. 

3. Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest 10 minutes. Serve the chicken with the onions and pan juices.

Taiwanese Meat Ragu and Spring Vegetables

This Sunday is the first day of the eighth season of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market. Be sure to be on the corner of 19th and Agate between 10 and 2 to pick up organic vegetables from Camas Swale Farm, pastured meats from Fair Valley Farm, and fresh flowers from Tiger Lily Art company.

For your market purchases, here is a recipe for a Taiwanese meat ragu served on rice with roasted and fresh spring vegetables. This is a take on the Taiwanese dish lu rou fan, inspired by recipes from here and here and here. My sister and I both have an irrational love for this dish, which we'll order at a hole in the wall Taiwanese restaurant when I visit her in Chicago. I wanted to make a version that had the same flavors, but would be as easy as a slow roasted Bolognese sauce. I decided to skip the blanched pork belly, but use a base of caramelized shallots for a deep, rich flavor. 

And while I had the oven on low for the ragu, I also roasted some spring radishes and some collard greens (this recipe without the chorizo), which made a delicious accompaniment to the dish, along with some crunchy fresh carrots and cucumbers, a handful of cilantro, and a jammy egg. If you get to the market at 10 on Sunday, you can be eating this for dinner Sunday evening.

Taiwanese Meat Ragu

(serves eight and freezes well)

6 Asian shallots, sliced
2 Tbsp canola oil
8 large dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups boiling water
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp of five spice powder
1/4 cup regular soy sauce
1/4 cup dark soy sauce 
1/4 cup sweet rice wine

1. Start rehydrating the shiitake mushrooms in 2 cups boiling water. Heat a large Dutch oven or other oven-safe pan over medium heat. Add the canola oil and then the shallots and cook until they are deeply caramelized. Don't be afraid to let them sit and sear between stirring. 

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Chop the softened shiitake mushrooms and strain the rehydration water to remove any grit. 

3. Once the shallots are well caramelized, add the ground meat and cook through. Then add the garlic, brown sugar, and five spice powder and stir to dissolve. Then add the soy sauce, rice wine, and the reserved mushroom broth and bring to a simmer.

4. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook for two to three hours, allowing the liquid to reduce, the meat to become extremely silky, and a rich, roasted flavor to develop. Check on it occasionally and add a little water if it dries out too quickly. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. 

5. While the oven is on, roast some radishes, collard greens, or other vegetables to serve with the dish. Prepare a jammy egg for each diner by submerging into a small pot of boiling water and simmering for exactly 6 minutes before running under cold water. Cook a pot of rice.

6. Serve the ragu over rice with roasted and fresh vegetables, a jammy egg, and hot sauce on the side. Enjoy. 

Market Poster and Cumin Lamb from Lucky Peach

The start of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market's seventh season is just three weeks away. Please spread the word by downloading the market poster here and distributing it widely. 

In return for this favor, I'd like to share an addictively delicious recipe for cumin lamb from the recent Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes cookbook. The recipe calls for thinly sliced lamb, but we've been making it with ground lamb from market vender Fair Valley Farm and it's become a family favorite. Here I served it as a filling for lettuce wraps with these Sichuan green beans. For the lamb, you can dial back the amount of Sichuan peppercorns and chili flakes if serving spice-averse kids, but I recommend using all two tablespoons of cumin seeds, which may seem like a lot, but is perfect with the lamb and seared onion. Once you've tasted this, you'll want to keep a stash of Fair Valley Farm ground lamb in the freezer for when the craving strikes.

Cumin Lamb from Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes 

makes 2 to 4 servings

2 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns (we use 1 tsp for kids)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2-1 tsp chili flakes (we use 1/4 tsp for kids)
1 lb boneless lamb leg, thinly sliced, or ground
2 Tbsp neutral oil
2 cups thinly sliced white or yellow onions
1 cup sliced scallions, whites and greens
1 Tbsp sliced garlic
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp Shoaling wine or dry sherry
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro

1. Toast the cumin seeds and peppercorns in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pulse in a spice grinder or grind with a mortal and pestle, not too finely. Mix with the salt and chili flakes.

2. Toss the spice mixture with the meat to coat.

3. Heat a very large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the oil, and when it emits wisps of smoke, add the onions and cook, tossing, until translucent and slightly charred. Transfer the onions to a bowl.

4. Add the lamb and any residual spices to the pan. Cook, tossing, until the meat begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the scallions, garlic, soy sauce, and wine, and bring to a brisk simmer. After about 2 to 3 minutes, when the lamb is just cooked through and coated in sauce, return the onions to the pan and toss everything together. Remove from the heat and top with the cilantro. Serve hot.

Toad-in-the-Hole and Minty Peas

Getting back into our regimented school routine has been a bit rough after a couple of weeks of winter holidays with lazy mornings spent curl up together reading. Over the break, I read my kids one of my favorite childhood books, Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World (above is an illustration by Jill Bennett from the original edition). We were all especially captivated by Danny's father's description of his favorite childhood meal: "My mum could make toad-in-the-hole like nobody else in the world. She did it in an enormous pan with the Yorkshire pudding very brown and crisp on top and raised up in huge bubbly mountains. In between the mountains you could see the sausages half buried in the batter. Fantastic it was." We tried recreating the dish, based on this recipe from Five and Spice and it was a big hit. For a thoroughly British accompaniment, I made these minty peas from Nigel Slater. Although the dinner didn't involve any pheasant poaching, my son and I did venture down the dark and drizzly alleyway with a feeble flashlight to filch some unsuspecting mint.

Toad-in-the-Hole

adapted from Five and Spice

1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 lb breakfast sausages

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, flour, and salt and blend until smooth. You could also whisk these together in a bowl. Allow the batter to rest while you heat the oven and cook the sausages (ideally 30 minutes).

3. In a ovenproof pot, such as a cast iron Dutch oven, cook the sausages until they are browned on all sides. If there is a lot of fat release, pour some off, but you want about 2-4 Tbsp coating the pan. While the pot is still very hot, pour the batter over the sausages and immediately transfer the pot to the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes (meanwhile, make some minty peas). The toad-in-the-hole is done when it is puffy and golden and crisp around the edges. Do not open the oven before 20 minutes or the popover might deflate. Serve right away with mustard on the side and minty peas.

Minty Peas

adapted from Nigel Slater

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 package frozen peas
2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint
salt to taste
1 Tbsp water

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add the olive oil, then the shallots and stir for 30 seconds, then the peas, mint, salt, and water. Cover and cook for four minutes. Remove the top and simmer another 2 or 3 minutes, allowing the liquid to evaporate. Serve warm.

Turkey Mole Poblano

At this point Thanksgiving should be a distant memory. But if you still have some lingering turkey leftovers in your freezer, I can recommend a turkey mole poblano. The meditative process of roasting all the chiles, seeds, and nuts that go into this elaborate sauce can be an escape from the frenzy of the holiday season.

I always crave something spicy after the mild flavors of Thanksgiving fare, and we often make Mexican dishes with our turkey remains. This recipe for turkey mole poblano is from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. I also consulted Rick Bayless' recipe but wasn't quite up to all the straining involved. Instead I happily embraced the slight grittiness of the various purees (above from left to right: chocolate and corn tortillas, chiles and tomatoes, and nuts and seeds). The recipe made enough to freeze away a batch of sauce and still have plenty to drench our turkey leftovers. We dined on turkey mole tacos with a side salad of kale, roasted delicata squash, black beans, and avocado, as we started to discuss our Christmas wish lists. 

Turkey Mole Poblano

adapted from The Border Cookbook

Mole sauce (makes enough for two batches)

12 ounces whole dried red chiles (a combination of anchos and pasilla)

6 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup pepitas

3 Tbsp neutral oil such as canola

4 cups stock (turkey, chicken, or vegetable)

6 garlic cloves

14 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

2 stale corn tortillas, torn into pieces

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably Mexican)

1 tsp ground canela or other cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

shredded cooked turkey (3 cups for half of the sauce recipe)

1. Break the stems off the chiles and remove the seeds. Toast the chiles until fragrant in a large, heavy skillet, turning frequently, and transfer to a bowl. Cover with two cups of boiling water and allow to rehydrate.

2. In turn, toast the fennel seeds, cumin seeds, pepitas, and almonds until fragrant and transfer them to a blender. Then toast the garlic cloves until soft. When cool enough to handle, peel them and add to the blender. Add one cup of stock to the blender and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

3. Next add the rehydrated chiles to the blender, along with the fire roasted tomatoes, and 1 cup of the rehydration liquid from the chiles, strained through a strainer. Blend these until smooth and add them to the bowl with the nut and seed puree.

4. Add the quartered onion to the skillet and cook until slightly charred on all sides. Place these in the blender along with the corn tortilla, the chocolate, the cinnamon, and 1 cup broth. Blend until smooth and add to the bowl with the other purees.

5. Heat a deep Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil. Spoon in the sauce and fry while stirring continuously (it will splatter) for about ten minutes. Add the remaining broth and continue to cook for about 30 minutes. Depending on how much turkey you have, at this point you could reserve a portion of the sauce to freeze for a rainy day.  Add the shredded turkey and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Serve the turkey mole with warm tortillas, over rice, or bake into enchiladas. Enjoy. 

Rice Hot Pot

We've been eating a lot of rice hot pots lately, which are perfect for a drizzly midweek meal. Dolsot bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes to order in Korean restaurants, and I always feel so grateful to the chefs who prepare the selection of delectable toppings that are arranged so beautifully in the sizzling bowl of rice. Then I started playing around with heating up rice on the stovetop in stone bowls we'd bought for soup, and I realized that a rice hot pot can be infinitely flexible and an ingenious way to make the most of midweek leftovers and the bounty of our weekly Good Food Easy CSA share. 

The strategy is to cook up a big pot of brown rice or other grain over the weekend, or if you are really planning ahead, freeze meal-sized portions. Then search your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and assemble a selection of topping ingredients loosely around the five elements below (realizing of course, that every formula was meant to be broken, and many ingredients fit into more than one category). The bowl above, for example, contained Sweetwater Farm kale, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, and leftover Fair Valley Farm ham, with a side of kimchi. This is a short order chef type of meal with multiple burners going, but it can come together quickly. First rub a little sesame oil in individual stone bowls or a cast iron skillet, pack down a cup of rice for each serving, and start warming the bowls or skillet over low heat. Then prepare your toppings and pile them into the bowls or skillet as you go, ending with an egg on top.  

Some greens: quickly blanched, steamed, or sautéed, then tossed with a splash of sesame oil, and perhaps some sesame seeds.

Some protein: leftover ham, steak, chicken, quickly sautéed and finished with a splash of soy sauce and rice wine; baked or caramelized tofu; edamame beans; fried or poached egg.

Something umami: mushrooms, such as rehydrated shiitakes, quickly sautéed with a splash of soy.

Fresh and crunchy vegetables: shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, sliced radish.

Pickled vegetables: homemade kimchi, pickled chard stems, fermented green beans, refrigerator pickles. 

Rice Hot Pots

serves four

4 cups cooked brown rice
sesame oil
1 bunch kale (or chard or spinach)
1 cup cubed ham (or other meat or tofu or edamame beans)
canola oil
8 large dried shiitake mushrooms
1-2 carrots shredded (or 1 cucumber cut lengthwise into quarters and thinly sliced)
4 eggs
for garnish: kimchi, pickled vegetables, dried seaweed, sesame seeds, gochujang or sriracha sauce 

1. For 4 cups of cooked rice, use 2 cup dried rice. Rinse in a small mesh sieve, then place in a pot with 3 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered for about 30 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. You can cook this ahead of time.

2. Boil 1/2 cup water and pour over the dried shiitake mushrooms to rehydrate them.

3. I prepare a meal for four in two individual stone bowls (for the adults) and a cast iron skillet of toasted rice for the kids, who prefer their toppings separate, which leaves one burner for preparing the toppings. Rub about 1 tsp of sesame oil into each stone bowl or 2 tsp into the cast iron skillet. Start to warm the bowls and skillet over medium low flames. Pack one cup of rice per person into each bowl (two in the skillet). Keep them warming over low heat for about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the toppings, and a delicious toasted rice coating will form on the bottom. You should hear the rice sizzling and should smell it toasting. If you are nervous that it is burning, use a spatula to pry underneath and take a peak, and you can always turn it off, but not before you have a good layer of toasted rice.

4. Rinse and chop your greens. You could blanch them quickly in boiling water, steam them in the microwave with a splash of water, or quickly sauté them in another skillet. When they are tender, but not wilted, toss them with a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and layer them into one quadrant of the rice bowls or two opposite quadrants of the skillet. 

5. Cube the meat or tofu. In your working skillet, sauté the cubes over medium high heat in a little canola oil , and when they are hot, add 1 tsp each of soy sauce and rice wine. Cook until these evaporate and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

6. Slice the rehydrated mushroom. In your working skillet, sauté the mushroom slices over medium high heat, allowing the moisture to cook off, add 1 tsp soy sauce, cook down, and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

7. Turn the heat under your working skillet to low and crack in four eggs. While these are frying, prepare the crunchy fresh vegetable toppings and gather your pickled toppings. When the egg are cooked to the desired stage, transfer them to the top of each hot pot or skillet half and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

8. Carefully transfer the hot pots or skillet onto coasters on the table. Have people add desired crunchy fresh and pickled toppings and hot sauce. Enjoy.

Spicy Lamb Sausages

This Fathers Day at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a selection of pastured chicken and grass-fed lamb cuts from Fair Valley Farm.
Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm will have the following offerings: 

Fresh
Leeks, scallions, baby stalks of garlic and garlic whistles, also called scapes (try in pesto)
Strawberries, available by the flat for $32 (make some retro tapioca flamingo pudding)
Artichokes and fava beans (large and baby)
Baby beets, turnips, and kohlrabi (try these brown butter turnips)
New potatoes (make potato salad with yogurt and horse radish)
Cauliflower and broccoli
Carrots, summer squash, and cucumbers (try Vietnamese spring rolls)
Chard, collard greens, and kale (make chips)
Fresh herbs (basil, oregano, sage, thyme) plus home-grown lemon grass!!
Lettuce, including ready-to-eat bagged mix

Preserves
From Sweet Creek Foods:
Dill Pickles, Chili Dill Pickles, Bread 'N Butter Pickles, Pickle Relish
Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, & Raspberry Fruit Spreads
Enchilada Sauce and Salsa
From SLO Farm: Applesauce

Bean and Grains
Sweetwater Farm's polenta and cornmeal!
Assorted beans and grains from Camas Country Mill

For a Fathers Day or graduation celebration, I can highly recommend these spicy lamb sausages made with ground lamb from Fair Valley Farm. We had them last week with bread starter naan and grilled fava beans with sliced garlic whistles in place of the regular garlic.

These sausages also go wonderfully with mujaddara and spiced yogurt, shown below with an early attempt at no knead bread made with bread starter. This Sunday the whole family will be attending graduation in full academic regalia (or Harry Potter robes), and after teaching Bread 101, I think that I should wear an extra tassel of a head of wheat.

Spicy Lamb Sausages

adapted from David Tanis, makes 8 sausages

1 lb ground lamb

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds (from the inside of the green pods)
pinch cinnamon
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
several grindings of freshly ground black pepper
plenty of salt

1. Spice the ground lamb at least 2 hours before cooking or preferably overnight, to allow the flavors to blend. Use a spice mill or mortar and pestle to grind cumin, coriander,and cardamom seeds. In a mixing bowl combine the ground spices with the lamb, salt, cinnamon, paprika, and cayenne. Mix well with hands to incorporate. If you like, fry a little piece of the mixture in a small skillet, taste for seasoning and adjust salt. Refrigerate the spiced lab until you are ready to cook. Then form into 8 patties.

2. Light a charcoal grill or use a grill pan. The heat should be moderate. Grill sausages, in batches if necessary until just cooked through. Serve warm.

Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Meat Sauce

The arrival of spring break, after the neighborhood's buffeting with last month's ice storms and recent scary events, offers a welcome chance to decompress. For myself this took the form of slowly simmering a pot of Marcella Hazan's incomparable ragu alla bolognese.

Ragu recipes can elicit strong feelings and even commentary for beyond the grave, but for me this is unquestionably the quintessential version. Over the years, I've tweaked Hazan's recipe to accommodate a pound of ground beef and scaled up slightly the proportion of tomatoes (a convenient two large cans) and vegetables. This produces a plentiful pot of sauce with ample supplies to freeze for later, well worth doing after all of the hours of simmering down first the beef's milky bath and then its winey digestif. For this batch I used ground beef from Fair Valley Farm and a couple of quarts of frozen Sweetwater Farm tomatoes. With ingredients this good, the resulting ragu was particularly delicious, and the process of preparing it imbued the house with comforting smells and a sense of balance.

Marcella Hazan's Bolagnese Meat Sauce

(adapted slightly; makes about 5 pints of sauce, which can be frozen)

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 lb ground beef chuck
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup dry white wine (I use 1/2 cup dry vermouth)
2 28 ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes with their juices (or 2-3 quarts frozen peeled tomatoes)

1. Put the oil, butter, and chopped onion in a large heavy pot, such as a Dutch oven, and turn the heat on medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.

2. Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.

3. Add the milk, and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. At this point Hazan adds a tiny grating of nutmeg, but I omit this step because of my nutmeg aversion.

4.  Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all the ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. Add 1/2 cup water at a time if it begins to dry out (I've never had this problem). At the end, however, no water at all must be left and rye fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

5. Toss with cooked drained pasta and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

Mushroom Meatloaf with Sun Dried Tomato Glaze

The polar vortex has reached Eugene. Snow days, icy roads, and chilly temperatures call for staying put and cooking up comfort food. This meatloaf fits the bill, flavored with pungent mushrooms and fresh herbs, 
 

and topped with a homemade ketchup from sun dried tomatoes.

With cold winds howling outside, nothing could feel cozier than this classic American supper of meatloaf with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. 

But polar vortex or not, the day after baking meatloaf I am always reminded that its best justification is in sandwiches, piled high with spicy greens, or layered like pâté into decadent tofu banh mi.

Mushroom Meatloaf with Sun Dried Tomato Glaze

for the meatloaf
1/2 cup dried mushrooms
3/4 cup boiling water
1 medium shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small carrot, grated
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1 egg
several springs of fresh oregano, thyme, and sage
1 cup bread crumbs
plenty of salt and black pepper

glaze
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (not in oil)
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder or to taste
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
pinch of salt

1. Place the dried mushrooms in the boiling water to soften for at least 15 minutes. Heat a small skillet over medium low heat. Melt the butter and add the shallots. Cook until glassy, then add the grated carrot, and cook for another few minutes until the aromatics are soft. Reserve. Once the mushrooms are softened, chop them very finely and reserve the mushroom-flavored water. 

2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing its bottom and sides with olive oil. Put the ground meat in a large bowl and add a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Use your hands to mix. Combine in the egg. Then mix in the shallots and mushrooms. Pluck the fresh herb leaves from their stems and tear them into the mixture. Add the breadcrumbs and gently mix to combine. Now pour in the reserved mushroom-flavored water and gently incorporate into the mixture. Dump the meat mixture into the prepared loaf pan and gently pat down to even the top.

3. To prepare the glaze, combine the sun dried tomatoes and water in a small saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and chili powder, vinegar, and salt and simmer another minute until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool and the tomatoes to continue to soften for another 10 minutes or so. In a mini mixer, food processor, or blender, process the ingredients into a paste. Reserve.

3. Bake the meatloaf for 20 minutes at 300 degrees, rotating halfway through. Remove the meatloaf and spread over the glaze. Check the internal temperature, which should be about 100 degrees at this point. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the internal temperature is 140.  Cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.