Mole

Yet another backlog... And this doesn't even begin to cover my recent adventures in sourdough baking. But it's a start.


(June Supper Club: fruit and chocolate)
This was pretty close to what I had in my mind's palate, so I'm pretty happy with it. I combined approaches in a couple of different recipes I found online, one the Ancho and Chipotle Mole from Food and Wine, the other a "Oaxacan Black Mole" from fiery-foods.com. This wasn't overwhelmingly spicy, since I took out all of the chile seeds. If you like it hotter, you could reserve some of the seeds and toast/grind them in the manner of the dried spices, and adjust the heat to taste that way.

3 large dried Ancho chiles
1 large and 3-4 small dried Chipotle chiles

2 large fresh Pasilla (or Poblano) peppers... the large, shiny, dark green ones
2 red bell peppers

1 cinnamon stick (if you can get Mexican cinnamon, that's ideal... I just used what I had)
4-5 whole cloves
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 whole peppercorns

2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 small can tomato paste
8-10 smallish tomatillos
1 small ripe banana or plantain
10 garlic cloves
2 discs Ibarra Mexican chocolate
1 heaping tbsp cocoa

salt to taste

1. Preheat a gas broiler and broiler pan (or a gas grill).

2. Soak the dried chiles in about 2 cups of boiling water for about 30 mins. You may need to weight them down a bit so they don't just float to the top. (Save the soaking water in case you need to adjust the consistency of the mole.)

3. Remove the seeds and cores from the fresh peppers and cut into pieces that lay flat. Put them on the preheated broiler pan (or grill) skin side toward the flame. Broil or grill for 10 minutes, until the skin is charred. Remove the skin (this should be easy) and put them in a covered bowl to steam for a few minutes.

4. Toast the spices (cinnamon, cloves, cumin, sesame seeds and peppercorns) in a dry skillet until fragrant and golden brown. Be careful not to burn them... watch carefully and shake the pan. Grind in batches in a mortar or spice grinder.

5. Remove the tomatillo husks and puree the tomatillos, garlic and banana in a food processor. (You could also mince the garlic and add it to the onion once the onion starts to get translucent. Either way.)

6. Saute the onion and ground spices in the oil on medium-high heat until the onion is just beginning to brown. Add the tomato paste and saute another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatillo puree and cook until slightly reduced, about 5-10 minutes, stirring periodically. Remove from heat and add Ibarra chocolate discs and stir until melted.

7. Remove the stems and seeds from the soaking dried peppers, puree with the fresh peppers, and add to the pot.

8. Blend the mole in a blender (or with a hand blender) until smooth. (The food processor doesn't quite get it smooth enough.)

9. Add salt to taste (about a tsp). If it's not chocolatey enough, you can add some of the cocoa.

Slather on the sauce vector of your choice. This stuff should keep in the fridge for a few weeks at least.

Mojitos

(May Supper Club: Cinco de Mayo)
Yes, I know Cinco de Mayo is a _Mexican_ holiday celebrating a victory over the French. Yes, I know Mojitos are Cuban. I even (aak!) used a Mojito recipe from the very French (or, actually, Alsatian) Jean-Georges Vongerichten. People liked them anyway.

The definite favorite were the grapefruit Mojitos. These were pretty damn tasty.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pomelo-mint-mojito

For pitcher-quantities, here's my adaptation:
5 cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice from Whole Foods
1 1/2 cups golden rum
1 1/2 cups club soda
a bunch of mint leaves, chopped (I'd guess about 2/3- 3/4 cup)
about a cup of mango-tangerine sorbet (cause that's what I had in the freezer)

Put everything except the sorbet together and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Run it through a strainer to remove the mint pieces. Add the sorbet and dissolve. Add ice, and, if you like, serve with a garnish of mint leaves and lime wedges.

Regular Mojitos:
5 cups limeade (in the juice aisle at Whole Foods)
1 1/2 cups golden rum
1 1/2 cups club soda
mint leaves

Same deal as above, though you don't need the sorbet.

Ribollita

Adapted from Rogers/Gray Italian Country Cookbook.

This is basically vegetable soup with bread. It's hearty and yummy... good winter comfort food. I first had it when I was visiting my sister in Florence. Since the version in Rogers/Gray is vegan, I traditionally make it for my vegan friends, but I know the stuff I had in Florence had meat. If you're serving omnivores, you could definitely start this off with some pancetta, and then add maybe some ham or sausage.

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
most of a bunch of celery (orig recipe calls for 2 whole bunches... this seemed... excessive)
1 lb carrots, chopped
2 medium red onions, chopped (orig recipe calls for 4)
olive oil
1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, juices drained
couple of big bunches of dinosaur kale (the really dark green kind) and/or Swiss chard and/or finely chopped Savoy cabbage (orig recipe calls for 4 1/2 lbs, so kale/chard/cabbage should weigh about that, total)
3 cans of cannelini or borlotti beans, maybe some chick peas (orig recipe says cook your own, which you should feel free to do if that floats your boat)
1-2 loaves of day-old ciabatta
salt and pepper

This is a big soup, the orig recipe says for about 10 people. You'll need a BIG pot. My 13 quart stock pot is generous, but not overly so. So you may want to cut it back a bit.

1. Saute parsley, garlic, celery, carrots and onions in olive oil for a good 30 mins. Add the tomatoes (break them up into small pieces) and cook another 30 mins. Add the kale/chard/cabbage and 2 of the cans of beans and simmer another 30 mins.

2. Puree the last can of beans and add to the soup. Cover all with hot water. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper. You can make up to this point ahead.

3. To serve, add ripped up pieces of bread and simmer until the bread is soft and the soup is thick. Serve with good olive oil drizzled on top.

Holiday Open House Recipes

Someone jokingly suggested this last night, and I suppose it's yet another sign of this crazy world we live in that this seemed almost easier than emailing everyone all the recipes. I really did think that me getting a blog would be one of the signs of the apocalypse. (Hey... people now have RFID credit cards implanted in their arms, so perhaps the end is, in fact, near. But I digress.) I may even update it once in a while. Who knows. Watch this space...

By far the most requested recipe was the PISTACHIO DIP.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/crudites-with-creamy-pistachio-dip

I 'only' used 1 cup of creme fraiche. I also noticed a lot of olive oil breaking out of the emulsion... possibly because I didn't whisk it enough or because of the reduced amount of creme fraiche, but if I were making it again, I might only use 1/4 cup of olive oil. I also added about a tablespoon of the Champagne vinegar instead of draining it all out of the shallots. I made it a day ahead and it kept fine in the fridge.


3-LAYER VEGAN TERRINE:
(adapted from multiple sources)

Make each layer and spread into loaf pan lined with plastic wrap (or something) to make it easier to unmold it. The sun dried tomato layer was the firmest of the layers... If I were making it again, I'd make it the bottom layer (instead of the top) which means you'd need to make it last, since when you unmold it you turn it upside down. Be sure to refrigerate the finished thing for at least 3-4 hours before serving so that it can get firm enough to cooperate when you unmold it. Also... If you make the white bean layer first and set it aside, you probably wouldn't need to wash the cuisinart between layers.

Pesto Layer
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup silken tofu (recipe originally called for ricotta... that would be nice, too)
salt and pepper

Blend in cuisinart until smooth. I would add more basil and less parsley next time... I thought this could have been basil-ier. I also added 2-3 slices of toasted white bread to get it to a sturdier consistency.

White Bean Layer
2 15-ounce cans cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
thoroughly
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
2 garlic cloves, pressed
salt and pepper

Blend in cuisinart until smooth

Sun Dried Tomato Layer
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp sherry vinegar
4-5 slices toasted or stale white bread
1/2 cup walnuts (toasted... bake for about 5 mins at, say, 350)
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil (with the oil)
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper

Blend in cuisinart until smooth. You may need to add more bread or olive oil to get your desired consistency.

SMOKED SALMON CANAPE THINGS:

I used the filling from this recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mini-smoked-salmon-croque-monsieur, with a shallot added. Obviously, I didn't dip them in egg and fry them (that, like tempering chocolate, was the "there" to which I wasn't going to go for this particular event). I spread a bit on the cocktail rye, and then added additional grated cheese on top. This amount of filling used up about 1 1/4 loaves of cocktail rye. I also used Parrano instead of Gruyere this time.


I'm happy to share other recipes, too... these were specifically requested.

There. Now I have a blog, too.