I’m not a food blogger. I like to eat, and I’m good at that, but writing about eating is a whole different skill set. A skill set I have not worked very hard at developing. And don’t get me started on food photography. I’m not even a beginner at beginning to learn that…
Also, food blogs often irritate me (that’s a whole other post), and kill my motivation to write. So, I’m way behind on a very fun and worthwhile side of this project. I’d love to say that I’ve turned some kind of corner, but who knows…the proof is in the blog posts, right? Onward and upwards.
Albania! You have REALLY GOOD food!
For those of you who haven’t been introduced, please meet your new favorite comfort food: Tavë Kosi. Simple, but rich, it has all the flavors you want during the colder months. I’ve been making this on the regular for quite some time now and it’s a favorite in my house; I was notified recently that after Peasant’s Cabbage and Bacon from Poland, this is my spouse’s top pick from this blog adventure.
2lb boned lamb shoulder, cut into 2in cubes ( I use beef, actually. Don’t tell anyone)
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp dried oregano
4.5 tbsp long-grain rice, rinsed
3.5 tbsp plain flour
2.5 cups Greek-style yogurt
4 eggs, beaten ( I used 5 this time. Why not?)
freshly grated nutmeg, to finish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Heat 4.5 tbsp of the butter and the olive oil in a large lidded pan over a high heat. Brown the meat in batches, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper.
Return all the meat to the pan. Add the garlic, oregano and 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered with a lid, for about 45–60 minutes until the lamb is tender.
Stir in the rice, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 3 litre/5¼ pint earthenware or other ovenproof dish.
Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and make a roux, cook for 2 minutes, then take off the heat. Add the yogurt and mix well, then return to the heat and cook gently for a couple of minutes. Take off the heat, add the beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce over the lamb and rice mixture, grate fresh nutmeg on top and bake for 40–45 minutes until starting to turn golden-brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. I serve it along with a simple salad with cucumbers and a light lemon vinaigrette.
I am a bit of an obsessive about lists, so I love this time of year. Lists of presents to buy, places to go, gifts to ship, and my very, very favorite: goals for 2018. I love that!
I don’t feel bad if I don’t conquer that last list right away; I look at resolutions for the new year ahead as pleasant aspirations, not mountains to conquer. Even if I never quite hit the actual mark, I’ll have made some forward progress in my life nonetheless. My biggest challenge is to not over-commit; I get so enthusiastic about all of the things I would love to do, and the delight of that fresh start of a new calendar…I want to tackle everything!
Not a good idea, of course, so I’m publicly proclaiming my intention to focus on…FOOD.
More specifically, cooking for The Global Reader. Despite the very best intentions, I’m exiting 2017 18 countries behind – kind of dilutes the power of my tagline, doesn’t it?
“Reading (and eating) my way around the world super slowly and out of sync” just doesn’t have a compelling ring to it…
So. Time to tackle the backlog. I’m going to invite people over to help me cook, photograph, and eat all of the good things waiting on my attention.
Global Sunday Suppers!
Here’s a list of the countries we’ll be working through over the first half of 2018:
That’s a lot, but because I am who I am, I’ll also wrap up a list of recipes from a British Monarchy Cooking class I took last year, and possibly an Ancient Roman dinner, and a Harry Potter-inspired menu as well. I hope to add more fun stuff like those to my cooking experiences, so if you happen to have a time period/literary character/movie/anything you’d like to tackle…let me know. Let’s cook all of the things!
Introducing a whole new side trip for this blog: a cookbook club! In truth, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been cooking with this great group of people for over two years now, and it’s one of the great pleasures of my life. The culinary experience of our little gang ranges from professional chefs, to enthused hobbyists (hello!), to a some very busy moms who love to have an excuse to cook up a storm once in awhile. We embrace whatever everyone brings to the table, because it is all good.
Cookbook Club! (image by The Global Reader)We meet once every other month, and hosting duties rotate. The current host picks the cookbook, and then everyone selects their dish or dishes from there. It’s a great system, and we are clicking along nicely with the format. We’ve also started to add more informal dinners on the off-months, but that’s a post for another time…
This month, the cookbook was My Paris Kitchen, by David Lebovitz. If you’ve caught any of the of the hype around this book, go ahead and believe it because it is EXCELLENT.
The first dish I brought to the party: Chicken with Mustard. Straight-forward ingredients, relaxing to cook, so good to eat; this is a keeper.
Chicken with Mustard (adapted from My Paris Kitchen)
Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika ( I used smoked)
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
8 pieces dark-meat, bone-in, skin-on chicken (separate thighs and drumsticks; 4 to 5 pounds total) ( I used boneless thighs, since I knew some folks prefer that)
1 cup diced smoked thick-cut bacon
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme) I used dry
2 to 3 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream ( I used heavy cream)
Warm water (optional)
Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or chives, for garnish
Directions
Mix 1/2 cup of the Dijon mustard in a bowl with the paprika, a few generous grinds of pepper and the salt. Toss the chicken pieces in the mustard mixture, lifting the skin and rubbing some of the mixture underneath. Note: I had a combo of drumsticks, and then boneless thighs. I knew that a few of our group preferred chicken off the bone (as does my husband), so I wanted to see how that would go. Tastes just as good!
Line a plate with a few layers of paper towel. Heat a large, wide skillet with a cover, or a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat until it is almost smoking. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until it has crisped and browned and most of its fat has rendered. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces to the lined plate. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.
Add the onion and stir to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, until the onion is softened and mostly translucent. Stir in the thyme; cook for a few minutes, until fragrant, then use a spatula to scrape the contents of the skillet into a large bowl.
Return the skillet or Dutch oven to medium-high heat; once it’s quite hot, add the chicken pieces skin side down; if they don’t fit, work in two batches, adding oil as needed. Cook until well-browned on the bottom, then turn the pieces over and cook to achieve good color on the second side; this might take 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the onion.
Pour the wine into the pan to deglaze it, keeping clear of the steam that rises. Use a firm spatula to quickly dislodge any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. (This is the key to the whole dish. Get all of that browned up goodness into the sauce!)
Return all of the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet or Dutch oven and add the onion mixture and bacon. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over a few times during cooking. To check for doneness, insert the sharp tip of a knife into the meat next to the thigh bone; if the meat is still pink, cook for a few more minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the skillet or Dutch oven from the heat. Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, the mustard seed and the crème fraîche or heavy cream to form a sauce. If it seems too thick, stir in a little warm water.
Sprinkle chopped parsley or chives over the top. Serve hot.
Chicken with Mustard from My Paris Kitchen (image by The Global Reader)
I also made the Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse. Hello! SO GOOD! I’m sort of sad to know that I can make this, because now I always will and there’s no chance of ever being skinny again. Oh well!
I’m just going to link out to Epicurious for this one, since my photos of the mousse are terrifying. Note to self: chocolate doesn’t look awesome just flatly photographed on a white plate. One note before I send you on your way: I made this twice, once with semisweet chocolate, and then with bittersweet. Both are fantastic, but I recommend the latter. The mousse is already very sweet with the caramel sauce; you don’t need the extra sugar at all.
I’m just getting started with a really fun online class, A History of Royal Food and Feasting, a collaboration between University of Reading and Historic Royal Palaces.
I’ve been a history nerd most of my life, and I’ve always had a very soft spot for those most rowdy of English monarchs, the Tudors. All those good stories…and as luck would have it, the first week of this course is focused on foods that appeared on the tables of Henry VIII, so I’ve been super excited to dive right in.
The lesson focused on a savory cheese tart that was one of the first dishes served right after Lent, because it’s loaded with goodies folks had been denied for 40 days: cheese, cream, butter, eggs. You know, the stuff of life.
Very easy to make, and so tasty. It certainly isn’t low-calorie, but it is the definition of respecting high-quality ingredients in a very clean, simple way. This will be going into the regular rotation at my humble home…
1/3 pound Cheddar cheese (I used a really good Welsh Cheddar)
1/2 cup cream
1 medium sized egg
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste ( I wanted this to be peppery, so I used a couple big pinches)
For the pastry case
1 package frozen deep-dish pie crust (2 crusts), thawed
Egg yolks for glazing
Instructions:
Chop or shred the cheese and then pound in a mortar
Add cream, egg and butter and mix together to make a thick cream (about the consistency of Cottage Cheese – add more cream if too dry, more cheese if too wet)
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Butter a 9 or 10 inch tart pan
Roll out your bottom crust, and press into prepared tart pan
Fill with cheese, cream, egg and butter mixture
Roll out the second crust, a bit thinner this time then fold out as a lid.
Seal and glaze with egg yolks
Bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes, or until golden
Allow to cool a little and serve
I served it with a simple salad of lettuce and mint (herbs were commonly used in salads during that period), dressed with oil and vinegar. I also put a little cherry ginger jam on the side of the tart. We learned in our class that Henry was particularly fond of fruit jellies and jams, and cherries and ginger were ingredients commonly encountered at his court. I also just got back from a trip to Northern Michigan (cherries everywhere!) and was thrilled to come across this wonderful stuff from a company called Cherry Stop while I was there. You should get some; nicely gingery, and not too sweet.
A serving of the tart with cherry ginger jam on the side, and a simple salad (Image by The Global Reader)
And to finish this up, I have to toss in some pics from my recent trip to Hampton Court.
An overcast, blustery day in late January. Hardly anyone there. My husband and I just wondered around, taking it all in. We even got to be alone with this crackling fire for a few minutes. Total and complete bliss.
Kitchen fireplace at Hampton Court (image by The Global Reader)
And finally, where Henry and his most honored quests would dine: The Great Hall. A tart very similar to this was probably served there!
The Great Hall of Hampton Court (image by The Global Reader)
The Global Reader 