Shrimp & Grits with Roasted Tomato, Fennel, and Sausage

I could probably eat shrimp and grits every day of my life. Really. They are the best of all possible worlds: grits/polenta, sausage, and shrimp. Delicious. I've been looking for a great recipe for shrimp & grits, an old southern classic, for years. And thankfully, the NY Times came through. It's a bit of a multi-step process, but overall an easy recipe, one that is consistent every single time. Get ready to get some pots dirty, but your taste buds will thank you.

Total Time: 90 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the roasted tomato

8 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt

black pepper

For the fennel

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed fronds reserved and cut into thin wedges

2-3 cups chicken, vegetable, or shrimp broth, or water

1 tablespoon butter

salt

ground white pepper

For the Grits

1 cup coarse corn grits

salt

1 fresh bay leaf

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cream cheese

ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste

For the shrimp and assembly

1 tablespoon olive oil

20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 cup cooked smoked sausage or other smoked breakfast sausage

1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste

hot sauce

salt

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preparation

1. For the roasted tomato; heat oven to 450 degrees F. Toss tomato halves in a bowl with garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer, cut side up, to a baking sheet. Roasted until collapsed and lightly browned, 25-30 minutes and set aside.

2. For the fennel: in a small saucepan, combine the fennel, half of the reserved fronds, and just enough broth or water to cover. Add butter and season with salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low, and simmer until tender when pierced with a fork, 8-10 minutes. Transfer fennel to a plate, discard cooking fronds and reserve cooking liquid.

3. For the grits: Bring 4 cups of water or broth to a boil. Gradually mix in the grits, a little at a time. Constantly stir, incorporating the grits with the broth/water. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, and add the bay leaf halfway through cooking (grits should take 15-20 minutes with constant stirring). At the end of cooking, mix grits with butter, cream cheese, white pepper, lemon juice, and hot sauce. Adjust salt as needed. About 10-12 minutes before the grits are finished cooking, prepare the shrimp and assemble the dish.

4. For shrimp and assembly: Place a large saute pan over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the shrimp in a single layer. When they are seared on one side, about one minute, turn them to sear on the other side.

Add the fennel, sausage, roasted tomatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of the reserved fennel cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and season with lemon juice, hot sauce, and salt. If the mixture seems too dry, add more fennel cooking liquid as desired. Add chopped parsley and toss to mix.

To serve, place equal portions of grits on four rimmed plats or shallow soup plates. Divide the shrimp stew among the plates, garnish with remaining fennel fronds, and serve.

Steamed Salmon with Zucchini braised in Coconut Milk

Steamed Salmon with Zucchini braised in Coconut Milk 

Weirdly enough from Buzzfeed

Serves 2 

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 pound zucchini, cut in coins 1/2-inch thick
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 6-ounce skinless filets of salmon
chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large sauté pan (one with a lid, which you’ll need later) over medium heat. Add sliced onion, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has started to soften, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and aromatic, about 2 minutes more. Add zucchini, mix everything together. Cook, covered, until zucchini is soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and fish sauce to the pan, mix everything together, and increase the heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, until some of the liquid has evaporated and the zucchini is extremely soft, about 5 minutes. Stir the mixture to break down the soft zucchini a little bit.

2. Meanwhile, season the salmon liberally on all sides with salt and pepper. Place the filets on top of the zucchini mixture in the pan, making sure they’re not touching each other or the side of the pan. Cover the pan and cook until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes.

3. To serve, divide the zucchini mixture between two plates and top each with a salmon filet. If you want, garnish the plates with chopped cilantro.

Indian Tofu with Spinach

Ok, it may not be the prettiest thing you'll ever eat, but in my eyes this dish is the holy trinity of recipes.
It's fast.
It's healthy.
It's phenomenally delicious.

Adapted from the latest New York Times' Recipes for Health column (the entire newspaper has gone spinach-mad in the last week or so), this recipe has immediately become my favorite lunch and/or dinner. It's a one-pot dish that makes a fairly good stab at imitating some high class curries.
And did I mention it's good for you? Sure, you can add the authentic Indian paneer if you choose, but extra firm tofu certainly does the trick for me. Stir-fried for about 3 minutes or so, it gives just enough of a protein base to the dish to make it a satisfying main. Although Martha Schulman insists you should have it on top of noodles or something.
Bah.
Eat it on its own. And think of how much glorious iron you're getting from all the spinach you've eaten (I may use a bag of spinach just for myself...). You'll feel like Popeye afterwards.
Also, Schulman insists on using "drained yogurt" for this. It's completely unnecessary. I used low fat Greek yogurt and was happy as a clam.

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients

3/4 pound firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes (remember to drain and pat dry the tofu. The drier you make the tofu, the more it will hold its shape in the frying pan.)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup finely chopped shallot or red onion (I recommend using a whole red onion)

4 lengthwise slices peeled fresh ginger (2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick), coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 fresh red chile, chopped

2 whole dried red chilies, like Thai, cayenne or arbol

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, ground

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2-3 cardamom pods

1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach, stems trimmed at the end and washed in 2 changes of water, or 12 ounces baby spinach, rinsed

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Method

Drain the tofu on paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or a large, heavy lidded skillet and add the tofu. Stir-fry until golden brown and remove from the heat.

Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat in a wok or skillet and add the cumin seeds, and both the fresh and dried chilies. Cook, stirring, for about 15 seconds, or until the spices are fragrant and reddish-brown. Add the onion and ginger and stir-fry until it is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the coriander, salt, cayenne, cardamom pods, and turmeric, stir for about 10 seconds and add the spinach in batches, adding the next batch after the first batch wilts and stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze.

Stir in the tofu, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach is uniformly wilted and the tofu is warmed through.

Whisk the cornstarch into the yogurt. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

Soft Polenta with Braised Oxtails and Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

What exactly does one do with leftover oxtails?

Now, there's a question I hadn't expecting to be asking. And yet, there I was. Fresh off the thrill of making oxtail stock for French Onion soup, with a bowlful of slowly braised oxtails and nothing to do with them.

Because, I don't know about you, but oxtails are not usually in my culinary repertoire.

It seemed an absolute shame for these to go to waste, so I went hunting. It seems oxtails, being a cheaper cut of meat, are perfect for long braises and soup bases. Well, wonderful. But what if you were already serving an oxtail-based soup?

Well, as I've always said, there are few things polenta can't solve.

Turns out, oxtails are perfect companions for polenta. The softness of the meat after it's been stewing for 3 hours or so still has just enough bite to balance out the polenta. Add in a red wine sauce with mushrooms and you have yourself a hearty end of winter meal.

This, I should admit, was also my first attempt at a "proper" sauce. I usually have little time for them, but the oxtails needed a flavor boost to round out the polenta dish. The one I opted for was a basic red wine sauce with mushrooms and shallots but ended up being the perfect complement to the other two components. Yes, it takes a good hour to make the sauce ("as it should!" some people might say), but it's wonderfully complex and elevates the lowly polenta and oxtail to new haute cuisine heights.

Braised Oxtails

I don't recommend making these *purely* for this dish, as it takes about 2-3 hours of slow stewing. I used them as leftovers from my French Onion soup recipe, which started with a base of oxtail stock. Now, if you're interested in making oxtail stock (which you should be, as it's fabulous), see here for the recipe. 

And then, behold! You have braised oxtails, ready and willing for polenta purposes.

Otherwise, for this recipe, feel free to substitute roast chicken, pork, or beef as the meat topper to the dish. It's hard to go wrong. 

Soft Polenta

Makes about 4 cups (4-6 servings)

4 cups water

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Bring the water and butter to a boil in a large saucepan.

Pour in the cornmeal very slowly, whisking constantly.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the polenta is thick and comes away from the sides of the pan as it is stirred and the cornmeal has lost its raw taste, 30-40 minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan and the salt. Serve under the oxtails and red wine sauce. 

Red Wine Sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

8 ounces shallots, sliced (about 2 cups)

10-15 chestnut mushrooms, sliced thinly

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 750-ml bottle Pinot Noir or other dry red wine (see picture for my choice in cheap-o cooking wine) 

1 14-ounce can low-salt chicken broth

1 14-ounce can beef broth

2 fresh thyme sprigs

1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

1 Turkish bay leaf

1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon flour

Method 

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 12 minutes.  

Sprinkle sugar over; sauté until mixture is deep brown, about 4 minutes longer. 

Add vinegar; stir until liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. 

Add wine; boil until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. 

Add both broths, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer uncovered 35 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. 

Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer. (If you want a "pure" sauce, discard the solids at this point. I wanted the richness of the mushrooms and shallots with my polenta so I saved them to be added in at the end.)

Mix butter and flour in small bowl. 

Bring sauce to simmer over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in flour mixture. 

Cook until sauce is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 5 minutes. (Mix in the reserved solids, if desired, at this stage.)

(Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm over medium heat.)

Super Bowl Sunday: Stout and Bean Chili

Most people I know have views about chili. Do you use beans? How spicy should it be? Are tomatoes forbidden? Do you serve it with pasta (don't ask, I don't understand people from Cincinnati either)? Or maybe over rice (clearly a British invention that defies all sense of decency)? The Texans insist that it should be without vegetables, more Northern types insist of a garden-full in their pot.
Also, what about fixins'? Sour cream? Cheese? Mango chutney (shudder)?
It seems when cooking this dish, you're liable to offend *someone*.

Now, being a Southwesterner transplanted to the British Isles, I come from a "mixed background" when it comes to chili. As my family sadly didn't have a prized recipe, handed down from generation to generation, we experimented with a number of different varieties. Indeed, the most popular chili in our house was what some would call absolute sacrilege: lean turkey mince in a rich broth of white beans and barley.
It was delicious.

But when Super Bowl came around, and I found myself the lone American in the bunch, I realized I needed to step up to the chili challenge. The aim was to cook the best darn chili around, relying on the various regional traditions of the USA. It would be a hodge-podge, sure. But, hey, America is the mixing pot, after all. It's only fair that the chili should be as well.

So I went scouring. I was intrigued by Slate's bold claims of the "best chili recipe ever" (this was not to be the last claim of this kind...not by far). It insisted that black beans, chocolate, and stout were the magic ingredients to a superb chili. I was not inclined to disagree. But then it insisted on using tempeh as the base. Whoa there, fruits and nuts. If we're going to go the chili route, we'd best make it for the non-vegetarians among us.

Then there was Epicurious' "True Texas Chili" which seemed a fair bet. I liked its use of masa harina to  bulk out the broth. But there wasn't enough "stuff" in it. Meat and sauce were good, sure. But I wanted some beans. Some tomatoes. Something to give it more texture.

And, finally, there was the inimitable Bobby Flay, another whose views on chili should be respected. His was certainly an upmarket version (with cremas and avocado relish) which seemed a bit much for a football game. But his use of spices was to be commended.

And so, I took the best from each and created something that was an American mezcla. A little bit of Stout and chocolate. A little bit of Mexican chili spice. A little bit of Texan orthodoxy. It was a full day event, but it was worth it. The end result was a thick complex stew, perfect for game day. Although I ended up backing off my original intention to add more vegetables, I think this version could certainly stand up to more; certainly bell peppers, carrots, and potatoes.

Expatriate Patriots Chili


Ingredients
2 ounces dried, whole New Mexico (California), guajillo, or pasilla chiles, or a combination (6-8 chiles)

1  1/2 teaspoons ground cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 tablespoons lard, vegetable oil, or rendered beef suet

2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck, well-trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (to yield 2 pounds after trimming)

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 cups beef stock, or canned low-sodium beef broth, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons masa harina (corn tortilla flour)

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained

1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes

1 12-ounce bottle of stout

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano/1 teaspoon dried oregano/1 teaspoon chopped epazote

1 tablespoon firmly packed dark brown sugar, plus more as needed

1 ounce dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, plus more as needed

Optional Extras:
Sour cream
Lime wedges

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

grated cheddar cheese

Method


Place the chile sin a straight-sided large skillet over medium-low heat and gently toast the chiles until fragrant, 2-3 minutes per side. Don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter. Place the chiles in a bowl and cover them with very hot water and soak until soft, 15-45 minutes, turning once or twice.

Drain the chiles; split them and remove the stems and seeds (a brief rinse helps remove seeds, but don't wash away the flesh). Place the chiles in the bowl of a blend and add the cumin, black pepper, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/4 cup water. Puree the mixture, adding more water as needed until a smooth, slightly fluid paste forms (you want to remove all but the smallest pieces of skin). Set the chile paste aside.

Return skillet to medium-high heat and melt 2 tablespoons of the lard. When it begins to smoke, swirl skillet to coat and add half of the beef. Lightly brown on at least two sides, about 3 minutes per side, reducing the heat if the meat threatens to burn. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with 2 more tablespoons of lard and the remaining beef. Reserve.

Let the skillet cool slightly, and place it over medium-low heat. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of lard in the skillet; add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock, the remaining 2 cups water and gradually whisk in the masa harina to avoid lumps. Stir in the reserved chile paste, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula to loosen any browned bits. Add the kidney beans, black beans, stout, tomatoes, epazote/oregano. Add the reserved beef (and any juices in the bowl) and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain the barest possible simmer (just a few bubbles breaking the surface) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender but still somewhat firm and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of thickened but still liquid sauce surrounds the cubes of meat, about 2 hours.

Stir in the brown sugar, chocolate, and vinegar thoroughly and add more salt to taste; gently simmer 10 minutes more. At this point, it may look like there is excess sauce. Turn off the heat and let the chili stand for at least 30 minutes, during which time the meat will absorb about half of the remaining sauce in the skillet, leaving the meat bathed in a thick, somewhat fluid sauce. Stir in additional broth or water if the mixture seems too dry. If the mixture seems a bit loose and wet, allow it to simmer a bit more. Adjust the balance of flavors with a bit of additional salt, sugar, or vinegar, if you like.