Crab and lobster chowder

5 potatoes, diced

2 cups white wine (i use a Rhine wine)

1 stick butter

2 ounces smoke cured bacon

1 cup leeks, diced

1 teaspoon tarragon

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup celery, diced

2 small lobsters, cooked

1 lb lump crap

2 cup half and half

1 cup dry potato flakes

1 teaspoon corn starch

cook the potatoes and leeks in butter till the potatoes are just brown

add the wine, tarragon, celery and paprika and reduce the heat to just a simmer

remove the lobster meat from the shell and set aside

take all the shells and put them in a separate pot with water and boil for 30 minutes

Add the remainder of the liquid to the pot with them potatoes and rinse once.

Brown and crisp the bacon and add to the pot

add half and half.

dissolve the corn starch in a teaspoon of water and add to the pot

Increase the heat and stir continually until the desired thickness is reached

add lobster and crab and serve.

Pork should with a different flair

I often combine methods and spices from different cultures that i have been exposed to.
An simple example is that i will often "toast" my spices the way i was taught to in Indian cooking.
This time i went a bit crazy, i did not want Pernil, but rather a traditional roast pork flavor.
Yet i wanted the tenderness that goes with a slow cooked pork.
The other thing i wished to incorporate was the flavor rum imparts to pork when used as a marinade.
You do not taste the rum, but something changes dramatically and it is something i love.

Pork Shoulder with apples

1 pork shoulder - remove layer of fat to make Chicharróns

6 cloves garlic, whole

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon parsley

1/4 teaspoon crushed hot pepper

2 cups rum

apple juice (~2 cups)

6 apples, cored, not peeled and halved

mix all of the dry ingredients together and set aside 1/2 half of it

make 6 deep cuts into the shoulder and place whole garlic in each one

place pork garlic slices down in a baking pan and pour the rum over it

place apples over it, covering the pork

rub the shoulder with the dry mix and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours

before cooking turn the pork over and rub with the remaining dry rub

Chicharróns are cut into strips and then pieces and placed in a separate baking dish not covered

begin cooking the pork covered with foil at 250 F for 4 hours

add apple juice to maintain moisture

Increase to 320 F for 2 hours

Remove the foil and increase oven temperature to 385 for 30 minutes

remove and serve with the apples

Chicharróns are ready at this time.

Fall cooking inspiration

As weather turns color and the colors begin to show on the leaves the inspiration in my cooking turns to my French/German roots, Alsatian to be correct.
So what first?
Going with a non-traditional sauce for ravioli, meaning not a red sauce.  Everything (save the ravioli, olive oil, wine and sausage) were out of the garden.

I shared my creation and they took a picture, cause i usually don't remember to take a picture!

1 Italian style squash (pale green, with a thick skin, but not hard) - peeled and roughly cut into 2 inch chunks
1 eggplant - peeled, soaked in salt water for 1 hour
5 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
2 inch sprig of Rosemary - finely diced
1 tablespoon of fresh oregano - roughly chopped
1/4 cup basil - roughly chopped
1 onion - roughly chopped
1 lbs Italian sausage
5 tomatoes - roughly chopped
2 red cayenne peppers
1 sweet red pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 5 inch stalks of celery - roughly chopped
4 cups rose wine
Olive oil to coat the pan
Store made frozen ravioli (i simply do not have to confidence yet to make it from scratch!)

Cook the sausage in a large pot coated with olive oil on high heat
when just brown, add onions and when just translucent add garlic and continue cooking on high for a minute, stirring constantly.
Add all the peppers, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, celery and spices.
Add the wine and reduce the heat to a slow simmer when it starts to boil.
Cover a cook for 1 hour.
Salt to taste

Cook the ravioli according to the directions, drain and plate ravioli with sausage on the side with the "vegetable stew/sauce" over the ravioli.
Grate a good Parmesan cheese over it.

More cooking tonight!

Simplicity

Thinking i am in a rut,
not being very "creative" with the food i serve;
i have a chance to eat as a neighbors.
Plain simple food is served:
rice, beans and a thin meat flavored with peppers and carrots and Latin spices.
It was good, really good and it dawned on me that this is how i have been cooking as of late;
I have been using very seasonal ingredients, cooking with flavor, but no flair.
Squash, peppers, tomatoes, peppers, spices from the garden.
There is nothing "special" or out of the box, but people are happy and full  at the end of a meal.
I forget that that is what cooking is and on occasions we do something that makes the ordinary special,
but i can not forget that the ordinary is also always special!

back to herbs

i use some herbs that are not tremendously common, sometimes.
Fenugreek is one and have had a difficult time finding it.
I would say the flavors pair well with Indian food, which i will cook at times.
Hard to find, but i found the seeds and so have been harvesting it and find that it is also better dried (more flavor) and so have dried my first batch.
Tarragon is more common, but i grew that also and now have a great batch of it; used with fish and poultry, i particularly like it with crab!
Cinnamon basil, smells more like a Thai basil and so that is what i use it with.
Leeks i have grown for the first time.
Fennel seed is a staple in my garden (and hard to get rid of) - teas, extracts and sausages are my main focus.
Marjoram, much like oregano, but used more in Mexican cooking.
Thyme, one of my favorites for poultry.
cilantro, parsley, rosemary, celery all make the appearance in my garden and the smells are marvelous to take in while walking.
Spearmint and peppermint also ten to take over as i brush past....
This fall is fun!

Italian Squash (Cucuzzi)

Two kinds shown here.  The long one is over 5 feet long (yes, i said that).    The skin is tough, sometimes, but it is edible so this belongs to the summer squash classification rather than a tough, heavy skin, which is winter squash.

 Traditionally served with a meatloaf filling,  i had to try something different and went with sausage.

1 long or 2 short squash

1 pound of sausage (in casing or without

toasted fennel seed

3 cloves garlic, sliced

fresh rosemary, minced fine.

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Parmesan

cheese to sprinkle on top

Cut the squash into 4 inch lengths and core out the seeds, leaving a hole for the sausage.

boil the squash separate from the seeds, adding a teaspoon of salt to the water.

Boil the squash seeds with the sausage (if in casing) and garlic, fennel and rosemary with one teaspoon salt.

Otherwise fry the sausage and add the fat to the seeds.

After bringing the squash to a boil and the squash has become slightly darker, remove it from the water.

discard the water.

continue reducing the squash seed liquid until there is less than 1/2 of liquid.

Stuff the squash with sausage and place in a baking pan.

Pore squash seeds and liquid into the pan and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes

Remove from the oven and serve with Parmesan cheese over top of the squash (either whole or halved)

What i cook when i am away, and some times at home also

Farmhouse Chicken Thighs

Why farmhouse you ask?  It is because when i go down to a farm in Virginia, i use only what is available to me from the farm (but i buy the chicken, so not to slaughter the egg layers)

4 chicken thighs (okay, i really like thigh meat best with the skin on)

1 inch stalk of rosemary, minced very fine

1 teaspoon of fresh oregano, minced

1/4 cup scallions

2 cups Sangria (the very cheap kind)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt to taste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup fresh peas, without pods

Add enough olive oil to a 2 quart cooking pot and add 1 teaspoon salt.

When the oil is hot from  high flame, add the thighs, shin down to brown them.

When brown add oregano, rosemary and black pepper and then turn the thighs skin side up.

Add the wine and allow it to reduce on  a simmer by reducing the heat.

Add carrots first and after 5 minutes add peas and scallions.

Reduce the wine till it becomes thick.

Taste the liquid and add more salt if needed

there is no need for flour because the fat from the chicken and the olive oil become an emulsion with the wine.

Serve with you favorite starch (i love roasted red potatoes with this.