Chef J. Looney

Baba Ganoush? Hummus? Tapenade? All three can be found widely throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, and they vary pretty widely. The hallmark of all three of these is the same, though – good quality ingredients, simple preparation, and let the flavors speak for themselves. Not much spice or herb is used, as you’ll see, yet all three of these pack a whole lot of flavor.

Baba Ganoush
2 large eggplants, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons tahini

1/2 tablespoon coriander
Juice of 1 lemon

You can either oven roast the eggplant or cook it on the grill. If you’re oven roasting, brush both sides with a bit of olive oil and roast on a sheet tray for about 20 minutes at 350. If you’re grilling it, brush with olive oil and grill until it’s just starting to blacken around the edges.

once your eggplant is cooked, cut it into smaller pieces, about 2″ square, and throw it in the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend just until incorporated. add salt to taste.

Olive Tapenade
2 cups kalamata olives
1 cup green olives
2 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon olive oil

Put everything in a food processor and blend until roughly incorporated.

Hummus
2 cans garbanzo beans
2-3 cloves of garlic (I use 4-5, but I really like garlic)
1/4 cup tahini paste
2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Put the garbanzo beans, garlic and tahini in a food processor. While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until you reach the desired texture/creaminess.

I also add a squirt of lemon to mine, but Megan doesn’t approve of this. She adds a little chili powder to hers, which I like, but isn’t exactly authentic.

Serve all three of these with plenty of pita bread that has been brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, and toasted in a sautee pan or on a flat-top grill.

 Moroccan food? What exactly IS that?!

Yeah, I thought the same thing, but it’s really full of unique and complex flavors that are worth checking out the next time you’re feeling adventurous.

Adventurous? Well, you gotta consider that Morocco has been on the trade routes for spices for thousands of years, and consequently, they’ve got a little bit of everything. This recipe here has flavors blended from several different spices, and that’s rather pedestrian by Moroccan standards. Still, if you’re looking to see what African cuisine is like, a tajine is a good place to start.

First off, the tajine is both the cooking vessel and whats cooked in it. That pic of the food? That’s what’s inside. This one right here? That’s what the pot looks like. The handle stays cool during cooking, so it’s easy to lift the lid and give it a stir every once in awhile. Typically, this earthenware vessel would be placed directly over a flame for the heat source, but you can buy one that’ll work right on your stove top. If you’re not interested in spending $40 bucks on a pot you’ll only use once in a great while, a good heavy-bottom deep skillet will work just as well.

Secondly, I decided that since this recipe calls for some spices that plenty of people may not be familiar with, I’ve included links to the wikipedia entry for each of the spices used, hope this helps you in your efforts to expand your culinary/world view.

Chicken Tajine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
4-6 cloves garlic, smashed or minced
2-3 tablepsoons of roughly chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons moroccan adobo spice blend or ras el hanout (recipes follow)
2 large yellow onions, rough chopped
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup golden raisins
6 oranges, sectioned or cut into supremes
1 1/2 cups green or kalamata olives, preferrably pitted
3-4 cups chicken stock

Heat your pan over high heat. season the chicken with either the adobo or ras el hanout. Add the olive oil to the pan, and just as it starts to smoke, add the chicken. Move it around so that the chicken is in an even layer across the bottom of the pan, and then let it just sear for 2-3 minutes.

Once all sides of the chicken have been seared, reduce to medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. There should be a little moisture in the pan from the chicken, but add 1/4 cup of stock if necessary.

Cook until the onions clarify, then add the raisins, dates, and spices, stirring to mix thoroughly. Add half the stock, cover, and let simmer over medium heat for 10-12 minutes.

Add the apples, oranges, mint and cilantro and stir to mix thoroughly. Let simmer another 5 minutes.

Top with scallions and serve over couscous.

Couscous
2 cups couscous (I prefer toasted pearl couscous)
4 1/2 cups veal or dark chicken stock

Bring the stock to a simmer. Add the couscous and stock to a large bowl. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Adobo Marroqui spice blend
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon dehydrated lemon zest
1/2 tablepoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
1/4 tablepoon cinnamon

Ras el Hanout spice blend
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Generous pinch saffron threads

A quick note on spices: most of the spices in the adobo and ras el hanout can and should be toasted before grinding them fresh just before adding them to your mix and using them in the recipe. Toasting the spices makes an unbelievable difference in the intensity and depth of flavor, and should be done as often as possible to achieve maximum flavor.

Toasting is easy – add all the spices to a skillet and set over medium-high heat. Don’t walk away, your spices can burn in the blink of an eye. Stand right over it and keep the spices moving in the pan with a sautee motion or by stirring with a spoon. As soon as you see the first seeds start to darken and smoke, you’re there – take it off the heat, dump it into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind away. Try not to drool as the heavenly aroma surrounds you.

Spain is pretty much surrounded by water on four sides, so consequently, seafood is a pretty big part of their diet. Paella is traditionally made with several different kinds of shellfish and other seafood, and it’s really pretty much open to interpretation, so feel free to add or edit ingredients as you like.

Paella

Ingredients
1 pound tomatoes
9 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups converted rice
20 threads saffron
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped from sprigs
3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs and legs
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound crab meat
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 large spanish onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

Method
Quarter the tomatoes and run them across a cheese grater over a mixing bowl to scrape off all the flesh. Discard the skins. Set the juice and grated tomato aside.

Heat the stock in a saucepan over medium heat.

In a very large skillet, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil until rippling. Add the chicken and sear both sides, about 5 minutes each side. Move the chicken to the outside edges of the pan and add the onion and garlic. Sautee just until the onions begin to clarify. Add the peppers and sautee a few minutes more. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the tomatoes begin to darken, about 10 minutes. add the rice, saffron, paprika and rosemary, along with 4 cups of the broth and simmer. DO NOT stir the paella again. Add the shrimp and crab, along with another cup of broth, and continue simmering. Add the remaining broth a cup at a time as needed.

Remove from heat, and serve immediately.

I was recently asked what my favorite dessert was. I’m not really sure I have a single favorite, but Crème brûlée is right up near the top of the list – the smooth, rich, creamy custard, the crispy, caramelized sugar shell on top – it just doesn’t get much better.

The truth is, it’s not all that difficult to make, either. I know I’ve always said to adjust recipes to your liking, experiment, don’t be afraid to play a little, etc. DO NOT deviate from this recipe. I promise if you do you won’t be as happy with the recipe.

Crème brûlée

Ingredients
1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks

Method

You’ll need four 5-6 inch ramekins and a 9×12 pan.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Put the cream in a sauce pan over medium heat. While the cream is heating, slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out using the back of the knife. As soon as the cream starts to bubble around the edges, add the vanilla bean and the seeds, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cream from the heat, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let steep for 15-20 minutes.

While the cream is steeping, mix the egg yolks and the sugar in a metal or glass bowl. Whisk them together vigorously until the yolks are a very light yellow. Strain the vanilla bean from the cream, then slowly whisk the cream into the yolks. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently boiling water, forming a double boiler. Whisk the custard mixture slowly until it thickens, then remove from the heat and pour it through a strainer into the ramekins.

Place the ramekins inside the 9×12 pan and fill it with enough water to come half way up the side of the ramekin, and place it in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the custard is set. You can tell it’s set when it doesn’t jiggle when gently shaken.

Put the ramekins in the refrigerator for at least two hours, and preferably overnight.

Just before serving, put about a tablespoon full of sugar in each ramekin. Using a torch, melt the sugar. This is the easiest part odf the process to screw up, so here’s a few tips:
Spread the sugar in the ramekin as evenly as possible before you start to melt it.
Don’t use one of those tiny “culinary” torches you find at Target and Costco. Go to Home Depot and get a decent propane-fueled torch to use. It’ll caramelize the sugar faster and more evenly.
Make sure you get the sugar good and dark, don’t be afraid to get plenty of color on it.

Once the sugar is caramelized, put the ramekin back in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to set the sugar.

Serve with fresh berries, or whatever else you like.

Cuban cuisine? Does Cuba even HAVE cuisine?

Yes indeed, and it’s ridiculously tasty stuff.

Cuban food is influenced largely by Caribbean, African and Spanish flavors, techniques and spices – paprika, cumin, allspice, etc.

One key ingredient in much of Cuba’s cuisine is sofrito. It starts with a base of onions, tomatoes and garlic, but the variations are endless – add peppers, tomatillos, spices…whatever.  The purpose of sofrito is to add several layers of flavor all at once.

And sofrito is great for lots of different dishes. throw some in soups to kick up the flavor, marinate meats in it, it always add flavors to roasts, and is great in chili. This recipe makes about a gallon, and I usually freeze it in 1/2 cup ziploc snack bags for future use.

Sofrito
2 medium Spanish onions, cut into large chunks
3 to 4 Italian frying peppers or cubanelle peppers
8-10 tomatillos
16 to 20 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large bunch cilantro, washed
3 to 4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks
1 anaheim chile

Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. Now, sofrito purists will tell you that is has to be simmered or braised before it’s a true sofrito. I disagree with this entirely. At least the way I use it, it always gets cooked anyway, and why would I braise it just to leave all that flavor in the braising pot? I say throw it together raw, and let it cook and meld flavors in whatever dish you’re making as it cooks.

Now on to the good stuff, the meat!

Ropa Vieja (old clothes)
One 2 ¼ to 2 ½ pound chuck roast or two 1 ¼ pound flank steaks
kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Onion powder
3 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup Sofrito
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Two 8-ounce cans Spanish-style tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives
2 bay leaves
4 celery stalks, with leaves, cut into ¼-inch dice
3 medium carrots, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch dice

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Season both sides of the beef generously with salt, pepper and onion powder.

Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof, heavy skillet over high heat until rippling. Add the beef and cook it until well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.

Drain or spoon off most of the fat from the pan. Stir in the sofrito, 2 teaspoons salt, cumin, tomato sauce, water,  olives, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover the dish and bake until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork, about 3 hours. Let stand in the sauce until cool enough to handle.

Shred the meat coarsely by hand or using two forks. Return it to the sauce and add the celery and carrots. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.  Watch the liquid as it cooks, and add more broth or water as needed.

Tada. Enjoy.

Oh, and if I promised to post a recipe and you don’t see it here, just email me and let me know, I’m, happy to post whatever you like.