Chicken Cholent

I think I officially have enough blog traffic that my Jewish friends aren't the only ones reading! This means that I actually have to explain what cholent is. (This is very exciting.)

Cholent is what Ashkenazi Jews (from Eastern Europe) used to eat every Saturday for lunch. Sephardi Jews ate something similar, but they called it "Hamin" (which means "hot stuff" in Hebrew...funny, no?) We still make this today, and to my knowledge, little has changed in terms of the basic ingredients -- though every cook adds his or her special touch.

The key to cholent is cooking time. Because traditionally, no cooking is allowed on the Sabbath, people start cooking cholent by sundown Friday, and don't touch it until they're ready to eat it on Saturday for lunch. By Saturday afternoon, the watery, murkey pot-o-goodies is an entirely different animal: the barley has soaked up all the water and turned soft and supple; the meat (or, as here, chicken), having been braised for about 18 hours, falls off the bone unprodded. Potatoes have turned dark brown from steeping in chicken stock and whatever else is in the pot -- and the marrow in the bones is creamy, flavorful and delicious. Sound appealing?

Over the years, the basics of cholent have stayed the same (meat, potatoes, barley), but the little things change from chef to chef (and, in my case, from time to time). I find that meat sits in my stomach like a brick when I eat it on Saturday afternoon, so my new thing is subsituting chicken. Sometimes I add apricots and carrots, sometimes prunes or dates. Once I even did a tagine style and included preserved lemons. As for the liquid, I frequently add chili sauce or bbq sauce, which are both pretty common -- but anything will do.

The best part about cholent is that it only improves with age; leftovers are even thicker and more flavorful. I've included a recipe below, but that's really not necessary, for two reasons:

a) cholent is a method, not a recipe. Just throw some protein and carbs in a pot, cover with liquid, and cook forever.

b) my actual cholent recipe is someone else's prized posession, and it was given to me on strict condition that I never write it down, let alone pass it on. I wasn't even allowed to transcribe it as I heard the holy words uttered; I merely had to remember it as best I could, and try to replicate the recipe according to my (very flawed, very human) memory. You may not be surprised to know that he who gave me this recipe actually called it "Torah She-B'al Peh," or "Oral Law."

So that's that.

Cholent

serves lots.

1 whole chicken or many strips of flank steak

several potatoes or any kind, washed and quartered

a few cups of barley

a couple marrow bones, optional

salt and pepper

any or all of the following things and more: carrots, apricots, prunes, dates, raisins, gosh I don't know -- preserved lemons, olives, tomatoes, you name it.

Dump all this in the crock pot.

Cover with water by at least a couple inches or more.

Add any or all of the following sauces, if you wish: bbq, teriyaki, sweet chili sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce, etc.

Turn on high until boiling, then switch to low and leave it alone until ready to eat!

I should mention one note: some people stick balls of tinfoil between the actual crock pot and the heating device in which it sits, so as to avoid the burnt crust that forms at the bottom of the pot. I like burnt, so I leave well enough alone.

Happy Cholent!

delicata squash -- an addiction

Are you a squash hater? Please don't be. Squash get a bad rap among carnivores for being a lame substitute for meat; it gets boiled, mashed, sugared, buttered, and baked into squash soufflé, yet so many people refuse to eat it as is. Well, if butternut and acorn and spaghetti squashes don't do it for you, delicata is a wonderful last resort. It has a thinner flesh than other squash varieties, and the inside has a crevice running the length of the squash (as opposed to the small crevice at only one end of a butternut) that can be filled with all sorts of deliciousness. As for the flavor, it's simply remarkable. Delicata is buttery, nutty, and smooth.

My dad gets all the credit here; he introduced delicata squash to our family, and I'm pretty sure it was an instant hit. I find it's best prepared simply: my preference is to bake it plain, as my mom does and drizzle a lemon-garlic butter over top just before eating.

Delicata Squash
serves 2.
1 delicata squash, halved, seeds removed (and preserved...I'll post a recipe for roasted squash seeds soon)
half a lemon
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put squash halves, flesh-side down, in a pyrex or other baking pan.
Add water to the pan until 1/2 and inch of the squash is submerged.
Bake squash for half an hour, or until flesh is soft and a fork goes right through.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan. When it starts to sizzle, add garlic. Toast until garlic just starts to turn brown, and then remove from heat. Garlic will continue to toast.
When squash are ready, flip right-side up onto plates; drizzle with garlic butter, and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Tilapia en papillote, purple potatoes, chile verde sauce

Ok, lots of words in the title, I know, but it's not really all that complicated to make.

I was in a creative mood last night, and I'd just read a post from Elise at Simply Recipes describing a recipe for Chile Verde. Pig is pretty high on the treif list, but I love tomatillos, and hot peppers are my new favorite food, so I figured I'd take a stab at making the dish sans pork -- which basically amounts to a yummy and versatile green sauce. I made several adjustments which I've spelled out in the recipe (below).

Now, tilapia en papillote.

"En papillote" is French for "in paper." This cooking technique involves creating a steam packet out of parchment paper, which seals flavors and juices into whatever steams inside. I ususally layer a protein (fish, meat, tofu, even) with fruit and/or vegetables, spices, salt and pepper, and just a few dashes of sauce or scented oil, depending on the recipe. Last week, my mother served salmon en papillote with peaches, julienned carrots and red peppers, and a dash of sesame oil -- simple and absolutely delightful.

The technique is a very healthy way to cook: it requires no oil, and ingredients are cooked just to doneness, so that they retain most of their nutrients. It's also relatively easy and quick: Just place the fish on the parchment paper, top with the other elements (or place them beneath the fish), fold up, and bake in the oven. Finally, en papillote makes for a beautiful presentation, as the fish and all its accoutrements are unwrapped and plated tableside. I know, it sounds like a lot of fussing, but it's really not that bad. Think of it as a ziploc sip n' steam bag but it's cheaper because it's just a piece of paper. Plus, it won't leak dioxins into your dinner the way plastic does. One rule of thumb about en papillote cooking: everything you cook inside the paper must have more or less the same cooking time. This means that if you're including carrots, potatoes, or other starchy things that take a while to soften, you must slice them very thinly so that they will cook more quickly. When you make this (yes, you will make this), let me know how it goes.

Chile Verde Sauce
2 Anaheim (or other) chiles -- Elise uses jalapeños
3 tomatillos, husks removed and cleaned well
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic
salt
olive oil

Put tomatillos and garlic cloves under a broiler for about 12 minutes, until the tomatillos' skins are a browned and the flesh is soft. Remove, and allow to cool. Meanwhile, sauté the onions in the olive oil over low heat, until soft, translucent and caramelized.

Roast peppers naked on a gas stove (as seen above -- yowza!) until their entire skin is charred. Put in a peper bag and allow to steam for a couple minutes; then remove, run under water, and slide the skin right off, exposing the flesh of the pepper. chop coarsely.

Put the tomatillos in a blender and pulse. Add, then chiles, and season liberally with salt. Transfer to a bowl and store, covered, in the fridge for up to a week.

Tilapia en papillote with purple potatoes
serves 2.
2 filets of tilapia
2 pieces parchment paper, about three times the size of the filets
2 purple potatoes
1 lemon
salt and pepper
buckwheat honey

Lay tilapia filets in the center of the pieces of parchment paper.
Slice the potatoes VERY thinly (otherwise they will take longer to cook than the fish)
Slice the lemons. Stack the lemons and the potatoes in a domino-effect on top of the filet (I did them separately, but one may alternate them also for a more exciting presentation.) Alternatively, place the potatoes beneath the fish and the lemons on top.
Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle 1/2 a teaspoon (max!) of buckwheat honey atop each filet.
Wrap the filets as follows:(Like my elementary school drawings?)
Step 1: place fish in the center of paper with potatoes, lemons, salt, pepper and honey.
Step 2: fold the LONG sides of the paper over the fish toward the center so that they overlap.
Step 3: making sure that the paper stays overlapped, fold the short ends BENEATH the fish toward the center. In the finished packet, the fish should be resting on the two short sides of the paper (folded so that they're each in a double layer), keeping the packet closed.

Ok, that was the hard part. Now put the packets on a baking sheet, and insert into a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes. You may have to leave them in for 20, depending on the thickness of the filets. I always open my own to check it so that I don't serve anyone accidentally undercooked fish.

That's basically it: for this dish, I drizzled a bit of honey over the chile verde, then plated the fish atop the sauce, and garnished with a sliced pear to complement the acidity of the chile verde. I'd probably skip the honey on the chile next time, as it tends to overpower the flavor of the chile.

*Phew!* enjoy.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms with ricotta, cheddar, baby squash, sausage and chili

Being that it's summer and zucchini is in abundance, these little numbers have been popping up all over the place. I've been wanting to make these for quite some time now, but hadn't quite settled on a recipe for the filling. I've seen any number of variations, from plain white or cotija cheese to corn-laced ricotta to bread crumbs and monterey jack, but none quite fit my bill. I wanted a mix of vegetables, cheese and non-cheese protein (but since I keep kosher, I couldn't use meat). So ever since my Sunday trip to the farmers' market at Dupont Circle, the blossoms have been sitting untouched in my fridge.

When I got home last night and opened the fridge, there they were, staring at me. That was it, I decided. These babies won't last forever anyway -- might as well make use of them before they wilt and I lose my chance. I had a nice hunk of sweet ricotta in my fridge, and I decided to pair it with with some good Vermont cheddar, which I grated into the ricotta.

The other obvious inclusion was chili. I had two baby jalapeños, which I roasted over an open flame, steamed in a paper bag, and julienned.

Through the vegetable drawer I saw a couple baby squash that I had completely forgotten about; typical me. In keeping with that very trendy "____ two ways" concept, I decided to include the squash in my filling. But what else?

Enter Morningstar Farms, my best friend. Actually, we're going steady. I have at least four of their products a day -- two of the fake-bacon strips in the morning, and two of the sausage links sometime during the rest of the day. I've been addicted to these as long as I can remember, and the Safeway near my house has this automated coupon dispenser that coaxes you to try new things by giving you big coupons, then cutting the savings in half on your next coupon for the same item until you're addicted to buying it, regular price, from now on. That's how I got onto the bacon strips.

But I digress.

I actually thought that a somewhat spicy, smoky sausage would make a nice accompaniment to the richness of the cheese and bitter chili, and boy was I onto something, if I dare say so myself!

While I was sautéing the squash, I tossed in three sausage links. Once they had thawed, I roughly chopped them and tossed them, along with the squash, into the big cheese-chili bowl. I guess, in retrospect, I was also going for texture here, and the sausage added a much needed toothsome quality to the mixture. Did I really just use that word? That's such a restaurant critic word ... eek, sorry sorry.

So now I had an appetizing mush (if that makes any sense) of ricotta, cheddar, jalapeño, sautéed baby squash and fake sausage. mmmmm.

(Okay that pic is before I added the squash and sausage. Too much coordination required!)

I guess it was about this point when D asked me what was for dinner. She's got this skill of being totally not ready for dinner one second and being OH MY GOD FAMISHED the very next. By the time she's asking what's for dinner, she's way beyond the point of hungry and just dying to put food in her mouth. This clearly doesn't bode well for my cooking experiments, which take longer than, say, throwing together a deli sandwich.

...which is exactly what she did.

Now I was left with four squash blossoms, a bowl full of cheesy filling, half a pan of oil, and myself. Thank god I skipped the gym this morning. Wouldn't want to compensate for the thousands of calories I was about to consume, not one little bit.

It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. I cleaned the little green bugs off the blossoms (yea, make sure you do that...), stuffed each one with a hefty amount of filling (do not be afraid to overstuff them), and twisted the ends together in a lame attempt to keep the filling inside.

Next, I dunked each one in a bowl of half-and-half, then rolled each in a mixture of flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper. A quick bath into the deep-fryer (also known as my cast-iron skillet with an inch and a half of oil in it) and they'd be ready to eat....

Which I dutifully did. What's really nice about these is that if you like burnt things like I do, you can leave these in a little longer than a professional would, giving them a nice, crisp exterior and oozy, melty innards. Otherwise, leave them in the oil about 45 seconds per side, just until the flowers are warmed through.

Bon appetit!