Ragú Bianco, Italian “White” Meat Sauce for Pasta

I used to think Italian meat sauce for pasta was just what gets called “Bolognese,” more correctly “Ragú alla Bolognese,” after the northern Italian city of Bologna. It’s hearty and red and can be quite satisfying. (A recipe for that dish has long been in this blog.) But when I was in northern Italy several years ago, Cortona, in Tuscany, more specifically, I learned of another hearty meat sauce made with cream or milk rather than tomatoes. It is also called “ragú” (the Italian spelling of the French word for stew, ragoût), but is Ragú Bianco, or white ragú.

Ragú Bianco traditionally contains light-colored ground meat, particularly veal or pork. Here, good veal is hard to find and has ethical complexities plus expense. Pork is my favorite. But ground turkey or chicken can be used instead. The sauce often has a little cured pork cooked into it, like pancetta, bacon or even sausage.

A spice that is common, though used sparingly, in both the better-known red Bolognese meat sauce (Ragú Rosso) and white ragú is fennel. It gives a subtle, warm, faintly licorice-like essence. Both red and white ragú typically have wine cooked into them.

In Italy, the pasta for this ragú is generally an egg-containing flat pasta like taliatelle or fettucine or, wider yet, pappardelle. But, here, an easy-to-get short pasta that the sauce will cling to, like rigatoni or penne rigate, can also work.

With pasta in general I like the hearty sheep’s milk cheese, Pecorino Romano, no doubt due to my culinary exposure to Southern Italians when I was growing up. However, for northern Italian dishes, like ragú, the lighter and more elegant cow’s milk cheese Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) is preferred.

The recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta, to serve six or more. But leftovers make a great snack.

1 medium-small carrot, finely diced
1 medium stick celery, finely diced
2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely diced
1 strip of bacon or 2 thin slices of pancetta, finely diced
4 tablespoons olive oil (5 if not using bacon or pancetta)

1 pound ground pork, turkey or chicken

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon whole fennel seeds or ground fennel

1/8 teaspoon dry thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth, unsalted preferred
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup sour cream or heavy cream

1/4 cup milk

1 pound pasta (such as rigatoni or penne rigate)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

In a heavy pan, gently fry the diced vegetables and bacon or pancetta in the olive oil, stirring occasionally, until carrot is tender but not browning. 

Raise heat and stir in ground meat, breaking it up as it heats. Add herbs and spices, but not the salt When the raw meat color has fully changed, add wine and simmer several minutes. Then add chicken broth and salt and simmer 10 minutes, covered. Add sour cream or cream plus the milk. Simmer 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste and add salt if needed (this will depend on whether the bacon and/or the chicken broth were salty). Keep (or reheat) the sauce hot when cooking the pasta.

When sauce is done, cook pasta in a large amount of boiling lightly salted water, stirring frequently at the beginning, so pasta does not stick together. When just tender to the bite, drain pasta well in a colander, but do not rinse.

In large serving bowl, toss most of the heated sauce with the freshly cooked, drained pasta. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle generously with grated cheese.

Texas Enchiladas -- Pat’s Easy Specialty

I learned this Texas-Anglo enchilada dish during my Atlanta days from a friend who had grown up in Dallas. Pat, a professional woman and avid soccer player, professed to dislike cooking. She certainly disliked being fussy or spending unnecessary time in the kitchen. But her “go-to” guest dish, a Mexican-influenced, family favorite from her childhood, made Pat seem quite the chef.

Enchiladas, traditional in Mexico and the American Southwest, and a mainstay at Mexican-American restaurants, are basically tortillas wrapped around a filling and baked covered with a chile-containing sauce and cheese. Mexican enchiladas are typically made with corn tortillas. Pat’s use flour ones. And enchiladas would generally be baked covered with cheese plus a red or green chile sauce. Pat’s are covered with a dairy and cream soup mixture. In Mexico, white enchiladas, though infrequent, are made, though with corn tortillas. They are sometimes called  “Suizas” (meaning “Swiss-style”), indicating milk and cheese rather than red or green salsa.

Beer would be the drink for a dish like this in either Texas or Mexico, a lager type of beer, not a hoppy IPA. But a Chardonnay will work too.

The recipe serves a crowd, at least six people, generously. Leftovers are nice. A colorful vegetable, some avocado, and maybe a simple lettuce and tomato salad would be attractive accompaniments.

1 rotisserie chicken

1-1/2 teaspoons salt for chicken

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 (4-ounce) cans jalapeño peppers, diced or sliced

8 (8-9-inch – fajita size) flour tortillas

1 (10-1/2-ounce) can Campbell’s condensed cream of chicken soup (if unsalted, add extra 1/2 teaspoon salt)

1 soup-can’s volumn of water

1 soup-can’s volumn of milk

1/2 teaspoon salt for the sauce

12 ounces shredded Mexican-style cheese or mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Sour cream for serving

Cut meat off chicken. (Reserve skin and bones for broth for other uses.) Pull meat apart into long pieces. Sprinkle chicken evenly with the salt and pepper. Toss to mix.

Drain jalapeños. If slices, chop them coarsley.

Lightly oil a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish or pan. Set oven for 375 degrees.

Lay tortillas out on flat surface. Place chicken down the middle of each. Sprinkle evenly with canned chilies. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Roll up tortillas and arrange in a single layer in the pan, seam side down.

In bowl, whisk together condensed soup, water and milk, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spoon mixture evenly over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. (If desired, the casserole can be refrigerated at this point and baked closer to dinner time.)

Bake until thoroughly heated, bubbling and beginning to turn golden on top, 35-45  minutes.

Serve, accompanied with sour cream.

Chicken Alfredo Pasta

One of my grandkids’ favorite meals is “Chicken Alfredo,” a pasta dish that has evolved far from its origins. As a style, “alfredo” is an elastic, and much-abused, term in Italian-American cooking. And I am as happily guilty as anyone, making Pasta Alfredo with highlights as varied as lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes, peas, asparagus or even smoked salmon.

The original dish, a combination of fresh egg pasta, butter and cheese, dates to 1914, when ALFREDO di Lelio served what he called “Fettuccine ALFREDO” at his restaurant in Rome, “ALFREDO alla Scrofa.” Obviously he liked his name.

Cream, not part of the original, is now typical in the dish. Many chefs cook heavy cream down to make the sauce even richer. I use part half-and-half for a lighter version.

The recipe serves six. With both chicken and cream, the classic pairing wine would be a chardonnay.

2 cups 1/4-inch-cubed roasted chicken (can use freshly herb-roasted chicken breast)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine

1 cup (1/2 pint) half-and-half cream

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg                                                                                    

3/4 pound fettucini, or a short pasta like penne rigate
6 tablespoons grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving                                                                                                                                                                                          

Boil four quarts of water in large pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Keep hot. Prepare meat and other ingredients before cooking pasta. Have a large serving bowl ready for mixing the past and sauce as well as serving it.

In medium-sized pan over gentle heat, fry garlic in butter until softened but not browned. Add wine, half-and-half, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to simmer (not a boil), and simmer 4 minutes. Add chicken and heat just until it’s are hot. Remove from stove. Taste and add salt, if needed.

Meanwhile raise heat under pasta water. When it boils rapidly, add pasta and stir well for half a minute so it does not stick together. Boil, stirring occasionally, until pasta is just tender when you bite a piece. Drain in colander but do not shake out water. Transfer to large serving bowl.

Deviled Ham Spread

I fondly remember Underwood Deviled Ham from my childhood, from the small round can with the iconic perky little red devil on the label. It’s still available, but the Underwood Company, founded as an innovative food canning company by William Underwood in Boston in 1822, was bought by a series of other big food companies beginning in 1982. Underwood’s Deviled Ham was created in 1868 as a mixture of ground ham, mustard powder, and various other spices. The culinary term “deviled” typically connotes seasoned with mustard, hot and black pepper.

I’ve made my own deviled ham spread occasionally as a buffet appetizer, but most recently at a family gathering where my daughter Anna and I prepared a number of spreadable salads – chicken, tuna, egg, as well as deviled ham – for a luncheon served with artisanal breads and crackers. It reminded me of how easy this version of deviled ham is to make from ingredients available at the supermarket.

Here’s my recipe. It will serve six to eight or more people as part of a buffet meal, or can be made into sandwiches with or without lettuce. The recipe is easily multiplied to serve more people at a gathering. The spread should be made ahead, maybe the day before serving, and allowed to mellow and blend its flavors.

1/2 pound smoked ham  thinly sliced at the deli counter

4 teaspoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard (not yellow hot dog style)

3 teaspoons mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Finely mince the sliced ham, either on a cutting board with a chef’s knife or in a food processor (keep it a little coarse, not turned into a paste).

Combine the minced ham with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Cover and store the mixture in the refrigerator for a few hours, or preferably overnight. Mix well before serving in a shallow bowl.

Serve with interesting bread or low-salt crackers.

Gourmet (“Best Damn”) Sloppy Joes, to Feed a Crowd on the Cheap

With prices on beef rapidly rising, maybe it’s time to crank back out the casual dish that used to feed a lot of people for limited money. Its a fun dish I always liked, whether at the high school cafeteria or at home feeding a crowd.

“Sloppy Joes” emerged, obscurely, from Depression-era America as a way to season and stretch ground beef. It’s a sort of cheeseburger with all the fixings thrown together while cooking. Spooned onto a bun, the savory mixture is irregular and can drip a little as you eat it. Thus, I guess, the “sloppy.”

Decades ago, when my wife graduated from college and we had little money, Christina’s rich relation, the substantial Aunt Babby, came to the graduation and to our celebratory picnic after it. I served Sloppy Joes. Having grown up with Old Money in New York City, fed sumptuously by family servants and at classy restaurants, Babby announced gamely, “Well, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a Sloppy Joe before!” Returning vigorously for seconds, she declared, “Well, that’s the best damn Sloppy Joe I ever ate!”

Sloppy Joes combine hamburger (or ground turkey nowadays) with onions, ketchup, mustard, cheese and seasonings. I stretch it even further with bulgar wheat. They’re are served on hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls. Pickles, coleslaw or salad accompany the dish well. Sloppy Joes cry out for beer, especially at a picnic or tailgaiting. But hearty, not too pricey, red wines also do fine.

The recipe serves 6 people. Leftovers keep and reheat well.

1/3 cup bulgur wheat (available at whole food and health food stores)

1 pound ground beef (80 % lean or more) or ground turkey

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 small or 1/2 large carrot, grated

1 large bay leaf

1 medium-large clove garlic, minced or put through garlic press

5 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 tablespoons ketchup

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 1/4 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

5 teaspoons sugar

7 teaspoons cider vinegar

3 ounces cheddar cheese, cut in small cubes or grated

Soak the bulgur wheat in about 3 cups of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain in a sieve. Meanwhile, fry the meat in a heavy, non corrosive pot, breaking up the meat and stirring frequently. When the juices start to dry down, set the pot off the heat, make a cavity in the meat, and spoon out and discard the majority of grease. Return the meat to the heat and add the chopped onions. Stir frequently, cook until the onions are translucent. Add the grated carrot, bay leaf, and garlic. Cook over medium heat, covered, stirring from time to time, until the carrot bits are tender. Lower the heat, add the dry seasonings, and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add the tomato paste (or ketchup) and mustard. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for several minutes. Add the drained bulgur, and cook, stirring occasionally (the bulgur makes the mixture stick to the bottom a little), for 5-10 minutes, until the bulgur is tender when you bite it. Do not add water unless the mixture is very dry. Stir in the salt toward the end of this cooking. 

Add the sugar and vinegar, and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for several minutes. Taste and add salt if needed. Stir in the cheese, and heat, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted and no longer is stringy. Remove the bay leaf. Taste a final time and add salt if necessary. You can also add a little sugar or vinegar, to taste.

It’s best to make the Sloppy Joes a few hours or up to several days ahead of time, refrigerate, then reheat to serve. Check the salt before serving.

Serve on Kaiser rolls or burger buns, A little grated cheese can be served on top of the mixture, if desired. Accompany by coleslaw (or salad) and/or pickles.

Chopped Pork braised with Peaches, for Georgia

Prices are getting higher as we appear headed into inflation at the grocery store. It’s feeling once again like the recession we experienced in the early 2000s. That’s when I started my first recipe blog. I named it “Gourmetfauche,” which is French slang for the broke, or impoverished, gourmet. In it I used virtually no nice cuts of beef or lamb and no shrimp or salmon, except around St. Patrick’s Day (despite my Italian surname, I’m mostly Irish). There was plenty of ground meat and chicken thigh.

Right now I’m feeling like I did back then. And I created an inexpensive dinner dish with my adopted home state of Georgia in mind: braised chopped pork with peaches. It goes well with seasoned (“dinner”) grits and a green vegetable. It’s a little reminiscent of “Breakfast for Dinner,” since the pork is flavored like breakfast sausage.

I initially tried a barbecue-flavored pork with the peaches, but without the long moist smoking it wasn’t very successful or convincing with the chopped pork. So I switched the seasonings to resemble breakfast sausage. With grits, such as dinner grits (described elsewhere in this blog, July 30, 2023) or simply white breakfast grits, and a green vegetable, it makes an economical but tasty evening dinner. And it suggests, if not celebrates, Georgia.

The recipe serves four to six people. Accompany with seasoned grits plus a green vegetable. Salad would also accompany it well.

1 pound ground pork, not too fatty

1 large peach, peeled and stoned, finely chopped

1/4 small onion or a small shallot, finely chopped

1 hot pepper, finely chopped or 3/4 teaspoon crushed dry pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry thyme

1/2 teaspoon dry marjoram or savory

1 teaspoon salt

Parsley for garnish, minced or in small pieces

In a heavy pan, place pork, peach, onion or shallot, and all seasonings except salt. Heat and stir very frequently until the pork’s color fully changes. Add salt, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until tender. If the meat dries, add a little water. Taste and add salt if needed.

The dish can be served now, or refrigerated and reheated (microwave or stove top). Either sprinkle with minced parsley or place a few small pieces of parsley on top. Accompany with grits (fancier dinner grits or simpler breakfast grits) plus a green vegetable.

Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Herbs – Pollo alle Erbe

With fresh herbs lush in my garden right now, I was reminded of a delightful dish I first had many years ago in Tuscany outside Florence at the home of a college friend of my wife who had moved to Italy and married an Italian. Nancy cooked the dish while we talked and nibbled homegrown olives and oiled, garlic-rubbed bread. I remember that she sautéed the chicken in their own olive oil and deglazed the pan with local white wine. I can’t recall for sure if she finished the dish with cream, but I now do that. She probably didn’t use cream, which is not as common in Tuscan cooking as it is further north in Italy. More likely she finished the dish with grated Parmesan. But I’m sticking with cream.

She served the sautéed chicken with some sort of pasta. I also recall that she, her husband and I drank a light-bodied Chianti with dinner, that was made by a friend in their town.

For the chicken as I make it, a good accompaniment is a pasta or rice dish, or polenta or seasoned grits. A colorful vegetable like broccoli or asparagus goes well, as does a simple salad. At a fancy Italian dinner the salad would be served after the main course, but for a simpler meal, especially at home, the salad can be served with the main course. Italians would include bread freshly cut or torn off  the loaf to sop up the sauce.

A light-bodied red wine like Chianti or Pinot Noir or a fuller-bodied white wine like a Chardonnay or Viognier, in my opinion, pair nicely with this. Italians, especially at home, traditionally drink their wine from small tumblers rather than stem glasses.

The recipe serves six people, but leftovers are enjoyable.

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (2 large or 3 medium breast halves)

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch for the chicken

3 tablespoons (loosely packed) chopped fresh herbs (at least three of the following: chives, sage, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, mint)

4 tablespoons thinly sliced shallot or onion

1 medium clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced parsley for garnish

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon salt for the sauce, plus more to taste

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup water

Trim off fatty or tough parts from the chicken. Cut each breast piece lengthwise down the middle. Then slice each piece crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices. Mix sliced chicken well with the salt, pepper, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Coarsely chop an assortment of at least three fresh herbs to make a total of 3 tablespoons. If using heavier-flavored herbs like rosemary, marjoram or thyme, use a little less of them and more of the lighter-bodied herbs. Set aside.

Prepare the shallot or onion and the garlic. Set them aside. Mince parsley leaves and set aside 2 teaspoons of them for eventual garnish.

Heat a large frying pan to medium hot. Add olive oil, and as soon as it’s hot, add the marinated chicken and stir and fry it until the color has fully changed. Add the prepared herbs, shallot or onion,  garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir the chicken well and cook one more minute while stirring. Add wine and stir and fry for another minute to dry down a little.

Add the sour cream and water, stir well while continuing to fry until boiling and sour cream is well mixed in. Remove from heat. Taste the sauce and add a little salt if needed.

Serve with pasta, rice, polenta or grits. Sprinkle with minced parsley. 

Borscht – The beautiful beet soup

The classical “Russian” beet soup, borscht, is not actually Russian. Borscht was created in Ukraine in the 16th century, probably by Ukrainian Cossacks. It’s the beet variant of an earlier peasant soup of wild “hogweed,” from which the Ukrainian, and subsequently Russian, and our, name derives. In other words, that archetypal “Russian” soup actually came from the tough little country Russia is trying to take over. 

The Jewish version of borscht (Eastern European Jewry closely overlapped areas where the beet soup is made) usually omits meat. Mosaic Law forbids combining dairy – like borscht’s essential sour cream – and meat. Borscht was introduced to the US by Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews who migrated in large numbers from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia in the early 20th century. Thus borscht here is usually thought of as a fairly clear, simple vegetarian beet soup, even though in its native Ukraine the soup is substantially chunky and meaty.

Here, in support of  the beleaguered country where the soup originated, is a meaty Ukrainian-style borscht. I also suggest  how to prepare a non-meat version. Whichever way you make it, serve borscht with a generous dollop of sour cream, and maybe some fresh dill, to stir in as you savor the soup.

There is a culinary trick for making the soup as red as possible. The beets are cooked in the soup broth whole and unpeeled. Some color will leach into the broth, but cooking lightens it. When tender, the beets are removed, cooled, peeled and diced or grated to be re-added to the soup at the end. 

The recipe serves six to eight, but leftovers are great later. Serve hot in individual soup bowls, with a dollop of sour cream for diners stir in.

Ukrainian-Style Borscht, with Meat

1 to 1-1/2 pounds pork with bones, such as shoulder steak or shoulder “chops”

2 quarts water

1-1/2 pounds red beets

1/2 pound celery root (“celeriac”)

2 large carrots

1 medium-large onion

1/4 head red cabbage (green can be substituted)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dry thyme

3 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

5 tablespoons white or cider vinegar (5% acidity)

3 tablespoons sugar

Sour cream for serving

Sprigs of fresh dill (optional) for garnish

Cut the pork into large chunks and keep the bones. Bring meat and bones to a boil with the water in a soup pot, then allow to simmer.

Rinse the beets, then without peeling them, add them to the simmering meat. Saving both the peels and roots, peel the celeriac and cut off the entangled root sections. Rinse the peels and roots in a bowl of water, allowing any sand to settle to the bottom. Add the peels and roots to the simmering meat and beets to flavor the broth. Allow the pot to simmer, covered, for half an hour or more, depending on the size of the beets. With a toothpick pierce several beets to test for tenderness. When they are tender, remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Remove and save the meat and bones. Strain the broth into a bowl, and discard the celeriac peels and roots. Measure the broth and return it to the soup pot, and add enough water to make 2 quarts.

Cut the meat off the bones and cut it into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the cut-up meat to the broth. Discard the bones.

Cut the peeled celeriac into 1/4-inch cubes. Peel the carrots and cut then into 1/4-inch pieces. Peel the onion. Halve it then slice it 1/4-inch wide then cut the slices into 1/4-inch pieces. Add these three vegetables to the broth and bring it back to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the soup simmers. Skim off any foam that forms.  Add the pepper and thyme but not the salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, 10-12 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cut out the core of the cabbage, and cut cabbage first into 1/4-inch slices then crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Set aide. Peel the cooked beets and cut the beets into 1/4-inch cubes. Set aside separate from the cabbage.

When the simmering vegetables are tender, add the cut-up cabbage. Simmer it until it is becoming tender, 10 minutes or so. Add the salt, and simmer a few more minutes, until the cabbage is fully tender. Add the reserved, diced cooked beets plus the vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer one minute. Remove from the heat.

Skim off any foam from the surface. Taste the broth and several pieces of vegetable. Add a little salt if needed. Add a little more vinegar and/or sugar if needed to make it sweet-sour to your taste. The soup can be served now or, when cool, refrigerated and reheated later.

Serve hot in wide soup dishes. Place several tablespoons of sour cream in the center of each bowl of soup. If desired, place a sprig of dill on top of the sour cream.

Vegetarian Borscht

This version of the soup can be eaten hot or chilled. It is made without meat, but the “umami” quality is replaced by simmering in some mushrooms. Mushrooms, freshly gathered in the woods in summer, and dried mushrooms during the rest of the year, are common cooking ingredients in Eastern Europe.

Check the head notes at the start of the meat version of the soup, above. Follow that recipe, but omit the meat. Simmer the beets plus the celeriac peels and roots as above. Handle the beets as above, and strain out the celeriac peels and roots as above.

Add 1/2 pound of fresh mushrooms, either regular white or “Baby Bella,” cut into 1/4 inch dice to the other cubed vegetables in the recipe above.

Whether served hot or cold, add the sour cream to the soup bowls for diners to stir in.

Thai Spicy Pork (or Chicken) Dipping Sauce for Vegetables (Nam Prik Ong)

I learned about Nam Prik Ong, a classic northern Thai appetizer, from my sister in law, Nai, who is from Chiang Mai, where it is a specialty. This is a milder and simpler Bangkok version of the original dish, which in the north has the heavy flavor of toasted shrimp paste and can be incredibly hot. 

It’s a colorful, savory appetizer or snack and pulls a role reversal, in that meat garnishes vegetables. Crispy fried pork rinds and lumps of steamed sticky rice are traditionally dipped into the sauce as is raw cabbage, string beans, cucumbers, and small green eggplants. Slices of pineapple are also delightful for dipping. 

For simplicity I like serving it with Boston-type lettuce, plus fried pork rinds, the Mexican chicharron. The recipe serves six.

3/4 pound of pork or chicken breast (or ground pork or chicken)

1 large shallot, finely minced

2 medium-large cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon finely sliced then minced lemon grass (the fat part) (lemon grass is available

fresh at Asian groceries; if not available, simply omit from recipe)

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as canola or peanut

2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (available in cans at Asian groceries; store the

remainder in a plastic bag in the freezer)

1/4 teaspoon crushed dry red pepper or cayenne (optional)

18 grape tomatoes or 14 cherry tomatoes, chopped coarsely

3/4 cup water

4 teaspoons Asian fish sauce (available at Asian groceries)

1 teaspoon palm or brown sugar (palm sugar available at Asian groceries)

2 tablespoons lime (or lemon) juice

A large sprinkle of ground white or black pepper

Cilantro (coriander leaf) for garnish

Fried pork rinds for dipping (optional)

A few vegetables for dipping, small lettuce leaves, cucumber, string beans, cabbage, and (optionally) small Thai green eggplants and a few slices of pineapple

On a cutting board, trim away any tough parts from the meat. Slice the meat then chop it finely with a chef’s knife or cleaver. (Or use freshly ground meat.)  Finely mince the shallot, garlic and lemon grass together on cutting board (or pound them to a paste together in a mortar or chop them finely in a food processor with a little water).

In a frying pan or wok over medium-low heat, stir and fry oil and curry paste for a minute. Add shallot mixture and fry, scraping frequently, until shallot is translucent and starts to turn golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add meat and break it up. Raise the heat and fry mixture until meat color has changed. Add chopped tomatoes and fry for several minutes. Add the water, cover and simmer over low heat 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the excess liquid has dried. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar. Remove pan from the heat and add lime juice. After several minutes, taste the mixture and add salt if necessary to make it slightly salty. Let cool and spoon into a decorative bowl for serving. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves.

 Serve with lettuce leaves to stuff with the mixture, or more traditionally cut a bit of cabbage into several 3-inch wedges, cut off ends of beans, slice cucumber, eggplant, and pineapple, if used. Arrange vegetables in groups on a platter around the pot of sauce, along with pork rinds, if used, plus sprigs of cilantro.

 Chicken Shish Kebabs

Skewered kebabs evolved over many centuries from their origins among the nomadic Turkik peoples in Asia Minor. Shish kebabs once were simply chunks of lamb roasted near fire after seasoning and skewering onto a sharpened stick or iron rod or, more romantically, a Turkish warrior’s saber. They grew widely in sophistication and geographic reach.

The recipe serves six, but is easily multiplied for a summer party.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 medium clove of garlic

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 (or more) teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled is OK)

Skewers, metal or bamboo, flat metal skewers preferred

Basic Chicken Curry, with Potato

I don’t put many curry recipes in my food blog, despite curries being some of the most frequent cooking I do for family and business. My reasons are that the cooking procedures are generally complex, take a lot of time, and many fresh and dry seasonings are used that may not be in most non-Indian home kitchens. Typical curries that I make at the restaurant use 8 or more dry spices, plus fresh ginger, garlic and onion.

I mostly cook North Indian non-vegetarian and vegetarian dishes. That’s based on what I learned to love while living in Malaysia (including from cooking classes taught by a Sikh lady) plus working on a number of occasions in India and Pakistan, and eating extensively at Indian restaurants in the US and Asia..

But cooking with several college and medical student friends in Athens a while back who liked to cook as a hobby, I worked out a few recipes that minimized the steps and spices necessary yet still produce tasty and credible curries. Here’s one I found in my old file recently which makes an intensely flavored Punjabi-style chicken and potato curry. 

The recipe will serve six or more, accompanied by unsalted Basmati rice, a chutney or two, plus yogurt. (Recipes for a fresh tomato chutney and rice cooking methods can be found elsewhere in this blog.)

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh

2 teaspoons salt for chicken

1 teaspoon turmeric for chicken

1 very large onion

1/4 cup sunflower or canola oil

3/4 inch fresh ginger

1 large clove garlic

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons turmeric for spice mix

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt, for spice mix

2 medium potatoes

1 cup water

1/4 cup plain, whole milk yogurt

Chopped cilantro leaf for garnish.

Trim tough parts and excess fat (a little fat can remain) off the chicken thighs, then cut them cross-wise into 1-inch wide pieces. Mix well with the salt and turmeric. Set aside to marinate while doing the next steps.

Finely dice the onion. In a cooking pot over low heat, gently fry it in the oil, keeping the pot covered but stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot every 3-4 minutes, until golden.

While onions are frying, scrape the skin off the ginger piece and slice ginger very thinly. Add the garlic, peeled, and mince them together very finely on a cutting board, or pound them together till smooth in a mortar and pestle. Set this paste aside until needed.

Measure the dry spices plus the salt for the spice mix into a cup or bowl and set aside. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch chunks and place them in a bowl of water to prevent browning.

As the onions become well softened, and begin to take on a pale yellowish tint (this may take 30 minutes or more with the low heat recommended), stir in the ginger-garlic mixture and continue to fry the mixture 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the spice mixture and stir for another minute. Add the cup of water and let the mixture simmer a few minutes.

Add the potatoes, drained, raise the heat somewhat and simmer them 5 minutes, covered but stirring frequently.

Add marinated chicken and any juices. Stir and cook gently 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add yogurt and simmer five more minutes. Taste sauce and add salt if necessary. If the sauce is becoming dry, add a little water. Cut off a piece of potato and a piece of chicken and bite into each to test for doneness. Cook a little longer if either potatoes or chicken need it.

Serve now, or cool, refrigerate and reheat, stirring several times, either in a covered casserole in the microwave or in a pot on the stove top.

To serve, sprinkle with coarsely chopped cilantro. Accompany with unsalted rice, preferably Basmati, some yogurt and a chutney.

 Buffalo-Style Chicken Tenders, Roasted

I’ve rarely cooked with chicken tenders, but recently tried them for a lunch dish for several grandkids. Drawing on what I knew of Buffalo Chicken Wings, I made the tenders in more or less the same style, except that I seasoned the chicken pieces before cooking and didn’t deep fry them.

I initially tried pan frying the tenders, but it had to be done in two batches, and they stuck a little to the pan, making the surfaces a rough. Roasting them on a flat baking sheet in the oven is easier and makes more even-looking pieces, and they’re all cooked at the same time. However it means heating up the oven. Either way, the taste works well, and the kids loved them.

Frank’s RedHot cayenne pepper sauce is, reputedly, the particular sauce used on the original Buffalo Chicken Wings, and I like it. But Crystal or Louisiana brand hot sauce or Texas Pete hot sauce (made in North Carolina!) will work. There is always some butter in the sauce as it goes on the chicken.

Buffalo chicken is usually served with celery sticks, and a salad dressing to use as a dip. The dressing originally was chunky bleu cheese dressing, which was a typical salad dressing in the 1960s, when Buffalo Wings were created. But now it’s more likely to be Ranch, which is now the most popular.

The recipe serves six as a substantial snack. (Leftovers, cut up, make a nice addition to a mixed salad.)

1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

T/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon celery salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons sunflower or canola oil

1/4 teaspoon vinegar

2 tablespoons Frank’s “RedHot” or other American hot sauce

1 teaspoon butter

With a sharp knife, remove the tough tendon off each tender, by grasping it and sliding a sharp knife under it, so as to remove as little of the meat as possible. If one or more tenders are much larger than the others, cut them in half lengthwise on an angle so the pieces look more like the others.

In a bowl, mix the chicken well with the dry seasonings and cornstarch. Then mix in the oil and vinegar. Allow chicken an hour or more to season, mixing it occasionally, before cooking.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Smear some oil on a flat baking sheet, and lay out the chicken pieces so they are not touching. 

Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 8 minutes. Turn the pieces over with a spatula, and bake for 5 minutes more. Test for doneness by cutting part off one piece. The raw pink interior color should be gone. If not yet cooked, bake for another two minutes, Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a clean, wide mixing bowl.

Put the hot sauce and butter in a microwaveable cup and microwave for 30 seconds or until the butter is melted, Stir this sauce into the roasted chicken tenders to coat them well. Transfer chicken to a platter to serve.

If desired, accompany with celery sticks, and bleu cheese or Ranch dressing as a dip.

Chicken Salad made from Roasted Chicken Breast

A dish I’ve made for years somehow didn’t get onto this recipe blog. Perhaps that’s because it is nearly like the roasted chicken salad we make at the restaurant, which sells very well there. But I don’t expect that we will lose sales, or that some competitor will take advantage of our trade secrets, if I post the recipe.

The key to what we make is rubbing boneless, skinless chicken breast with seasonings and a little oil and roasting it. Then we chop it finely (in a food processor usually) and mix it with diced celery and green onion, mayonnaise, horseradish and lemon juice.

The finished product will keep for 6-7 days refrigerated. It makes outstanding sandwiches, for example on croissants and adding some thin-sliced cucumber or fresh spinach, or as an appetizer spread, or for topping a lunch salad.

The recipe makes enough for six good-sized sandwiches.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 3 medium breast halves)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon dry Herbes de Provence (or 1/4 teaspoon thyme plus 1/4 teaspoon oregano)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil or sunflower or canola oil

10-inch length of celery stalk

2 green onions, white and green parts

1/2 cup mayonnaise

5 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Trim off tough or fatty parts from the chicken. Place chicken pieces on flat baking sheet and sprinkle on both sides with the salt, herbs and black pepper. Drizzle oil onto the chicken.

Roast in a 350 degree (Fahrenheit) oven for ten minutes. Turn the pieces over and roast another ten minutes then turn pieces over again. Continue to roast, 5-10 minutes depending on thickness, until cooked: internal temperature of 165 degrees with a meat thermometer or no pink color when a piece of chicken is cut in half. Let cool.

On a clean cutting board, split the celery lengthwise into 1/8-inch wide strips. Cut them in half lengthwise. Line them up together and slice them across thinly with a chef’s knife to dice the celery. Place it in a mixing bowl. Remove the roots and bottom 1/4 inch of the green onions and cut off the tips of the green parts. Cut the onions in half in the middle. Line up the pieces and slice them very thinly. Add them to the celery. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice and horseradish. Mix well.

Add any pan juices from the chicken pan to the mixture in the bowl. Chop the chicken finely: cut into chunks then pulse it in a food processor, about half at a time, until well chopped, but not puréed or mushy. Alternatively, slice then chop the chicken, part at a time, on the cutting board, using the chef’s knife.

Add chopped chicken to the bowl and mix well until evenly moistened. Taste a bit, and add a little salt, if needed, to taste.

The flavors intensify as the chicken salad is allowed to sit for a while. Mix well one final time, and taste again for salt, adding a little if needed. Use now, or refrigerate in a covered container.