Spicy Deep Fried Sardines

I made this recipe last year, using frozen, somewhat larger sardines from Portugal http://cookinginsens.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/deep-fried-sardines/.  The ones I made today are tiny and straight out of the ocean from Fresh Paradise http://www.frischeparadies.eu/stores/stuttgart.html.  I think it made a difference.

Because of their size, I didn’t bother to head or gut them but just rinsed and fried them up brown and crispy.  Of course, the choice is yours. 

I am proud to say that the herbs and chillies came from my garden pots

Spicy Deep Fried Sardines

1 1/2 lb tiny, fresh sardines

1 cup flour

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Peanut oil

2 red chillies, sliced

2 cloves garlic, slivered

2 tbsp butter

3 handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, cilantro, dill, etc)

Dredge the sardines in a mixture of the flour and bread crumbs, then fry in the peanut oil until crispy and brown.  Drain on paper towels.

Saute the garlic and chillies in the butter until aromatic, remove from the flame, add the herbs and pour over the sardines.

Wine suggestion:  Cold Chablis

Regular Children

I used to hate grapefruit when I was growing up.  I think most kids do because to them it tastes bitter.  I started eating and enjoying grapefruit in my early 20s.  It had started to taste sweet, in a grapefruit kind of way.  I have a completely scientific explanation for this.

When regular children are young, their parents are usually obsessed with their nutrition and, in addition to milk products, feed them kilos of fruit and their juices.  By the time the parents get around to offering grapefruit the Body says “Step away from the grapefruit, kid, you’ve reached your fruit tolerance level.”  And the grapefruit tastes bitter.

On the other hand, as your body starts it’s down hill slide towards “old” (this begins in the 20s) the Body says, “You’d better stock up old girl, who knows where the time goes?  Here, eat this grapefruit.”  And the grapefruit tastes sweet.  The older I get, the more I love grapefruit.

Anyway,  the bitter thing only happens to regular children.  Other children, the irregular ones, will eat anything edible and some that are not quite.  This is because they don’t get tons of fruit and juices, or milk.  In fact, food is a problem.  Instead of wondering what they are eating for dinner, they wonder if they are eating that day.  ”I don’t want this grapefruit, it’s too bitter.” Said no Senegalese street child ever.  Everything tastes sweet.

So what’s the point?  I’m writing this because I’m supposed to be cleaning the upstairs and I’m procrastinating.  And science is fun!  So that’s why.

Sleepless in Stuttgart, I wondered if you could make cottage fries with sweet potatoes.  I fumbled for my iPad and searched;  well yes you can! http://www.cookingclub.com/Recipes/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8310/Sweet-Potato-Cottage-Fries and I did.  I put a poached egg on top

Sweet Potato Cottage Fries

2 sweet potatoes, cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

4 fresh garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 poached egg, optional

Heat the oil and butter in a skillet, then add the potatoes and saute, stirring, until the potatoes have almost reached your preferred color.  Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper then continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove from flame and toss in the parsley.  Top with poached egg if wanted.

Grilled Pork Roast with Peach Salsa

Another Gasuddin story.

When I first interviewed Gasuddin, I nearly didn’t hire him.  He was a small, whippy looking man with jet black, straight hair and the pencil thin mustache of an old time villain. You know, the kind that tied young girls to railroad tracks.  There was something a little bizarre about mustaches in Bangladesh; our houseman had a Hitler mustache that always made us feel a little uncomfortable.

Anyway, at the time of the interview Gasuddin was employed driving one of those decades old, Greyhound-like buses on the Dhaka-Chittagong route, over 130 miles of incredibly bad roads.  The bus left at sun-up and made it into Chittagong a little after dark, if lucky.  Gasuddin would have a quick meal, sleep for a few hours, load up the bus with passengers and in the wee hours of the morning, return to Dhaka.  He had driven this route for about 5 years every single day and you can understand why he was looking for a change and more money; it is criminal the way the fat cat owners of  taxis and buses pay their drivers, leading them to shake down passengers for extra money just to survive.  Knowing this, I was concerned about 1) his heretofore survival tactics 2) his most likely use of drugs to sustain him during those grueling and often bus-breaking-down-constantly trips.  Just as I was getting set to let him down easy, Gasuddin smiled.  He had the sweetest smile, like an innocent, happy child!  I was dazzled and he was hired.  I never had reason to regret my decision, although there was an adjustment period….

One day, Gasuddin dropped me off at the British Club for lunch with a friend and went on to run some errands for me.  Just as we were finishing up lunch, one of the waiters told me that my driver wanted to speak to me.  We had this huge, wine colored van and it was jam packed with Bangladeshis!  Totally bemused, I asked Gasuddin what in the world was going on!  He told me he had had an accident with a rickshaw driver and pointed out a barely visible scratch on the van.  Because of his excitement, I soothingly said that it wasn’t his fault and that there was no harm done.  Still upset, he insisted that the rickshaw driver should have to pay for the imaginary scratch.  “Yes, yes”, I soothed.  Standing next to Gasuddin was an emaciated, trembling man wringing his hands.

Me:  “Gasuddin, who is this man?”

Gasuddin:  “Rickshaw driver.”

Me:  “Where is his rickshaw?”

Gasuddin:  “I put locks on it and left it with a friend.”

Me:  “Okay….  But who are all these people?”

Gasuddin:  “Witnesses.  He should pay!”  Pointing his finger at the visibly terrified rickshaw driver.

Me:  “Yes, yes.”

Apparently, Gasuddin had arrested the rickshaw driver and all by standers, herded them into the van and brought the whole scene of the accident to the club, minus the rickshaw, for justice.

Taking him aside, I quietly reminded him that rickshaw drivers have no money, in fact they are very poor, not owning the rickshaws but renting them at a daily rate, scraping out a living for their families on the few cents profit they realize after paying the rent to the rickshaw owners.  I acknowledged that the rickshaw driver was in the wrong but the bottom line was that he should be pitied and not burdened with a debt he couldn’t possibly pay.

Then, in my Madame voice, I told him to put everybody back in the van, take them back to where he found them and to unlock the rickshaw driver’s rickshaw and give it to him with NO threats, eat some lunch and calm down!  I returned to the club, ordered a large glass of wine and spent some more time with my friend, not without laughter, discussing my driver Gasuddin, the dacoit (gangster) with the lovely smile.

I bought this pork roast, at a weak moment from the Kaufland supermarket.  You can tell that it’s not French from the slip-shod string job.  Little old French housewives can tie a rolled roast!  Heck, I can almost tie a rolled roast!

I also wasn’t satisfied with the meat quality.  It’s like they had a leftover scrap and decided to let the stock person, a butcher want to be, have a go at tying it into a roast-like shape while they went out for a smoke.  Then I, dummy of the first part, bought it.  If it wasn’t for honey mustard, this could have been a disaster.  Sigh.

Anyway, it tasted good and the peach salsa was excellent!

Grilled Pork Roast with Peach Salsa

Roast

1 rolled pork roast, about 2 lbs

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp coarse ground mustard

2 tbsp melted butter

Mix the honey, mustard and butter together, then poke the roast all over with a sharp knife and slather with the honey mixture, setting some aside for basting.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Grill the roast off flame at 400 F, top down for 1 3/4 – 2 hours, occasionally basting with reserved honey mustard mixture.

Salsa

4 small, firm peaches, peeled and cut into chunks

1 tiny purple onion, chopped

1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

1 bunch mint leaves, chopped

2-3 tbsp lime juice

1 serrano chilli, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp sugar

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Veal and Vegetable Ragout

I remember the first and last time I bought ground beef in Bangladesh.  Diplomatic housing was isolated in two neighborhoods outside of Dhaka city center, most likely for safety reasons.  Access to butchers, fishmongers, supermarkets and fresh vegetables was limited and unsatisfactory.

Comfortable with shopping in West African open markets, I decided to hop in the car with a friend and my driver (right hand drive) and explore Dhaka’s downtown market area.  The driver dropped us off at one of the gates to the central farmers’ market and left to park the car.  No exaggeration, we were in the market for about 3 minutes when the gate was slammed and we were in the middle of a full scale, bullet flying riot.  The full story is best told with numerous glasses of wine but it involved a daring rescue and 5 hours of body guarding by my surprisingly belligerent driver in a market tea shop.  Gasuddin; I’ll never forget him.  Last time I went to town.

But I was talking about ground beef.  So, the Dip neighborhood business sections included rows of tiny shops that sold everything from cloth to automotive parts.  I found a “butcher”  and squeezed into the shop.  Having reviewed my market Bangla (Bangladesh language), I was able to order a kilo of ground beef.  The smiling and friendly butcher chose a likely looking piece of beef and handed it to a little man standing at the side of the counter.  The little man retrieved a well-used, not too clean cutting board and knife, took everything outside to the sidewalk, squatted and began to mince the meat with the knife, occasionally swatting off a plague of flies.  Oh-My-God!  And it took a really long time, with the outside temperature akin to a wet and dripping hell.  This is why most foreigners do not go shopping but send the cooks and insist that all food is cooked until it is unrecognizable.  So what did I do?  For three years,  1) I never went shopping.  2) I never went in the kitchen while food was being prepared, preferring to give orders from the door and “step away”.  3) We ate out a lot and I averted my eyes when passing by the restaurant kitchen.  Sort of miserable for an enthusiastic cook but nothing lasts forever and we were never sick, although many Americans were

Now that I think of it, I have some really good Bangladeshi stories like “Gasuddin and the Rickshaw Driver”.  Next time.  I’ve got to finish this post and practice my accordion

I bought some mah-velous, grind while you watch, ground veal from the pristine hands of the butcher at Leclerc while I was in France.  So that’s why.

Veal and Vegetable Ragout

4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced

3 small or 1 big onion, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground veal

1 aubergine, cut into chunks

2 courgettes, cut into chunks

1/2 lb mushrooms, halved

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 can diced tomatoes

Saute the garlic, onion and bell pepper in the olive oil until the onions are just soft.  Add the veal and continue to saute until the meat is no longer pink.  Add the aubergine and saute for 3 minutes.  Add the courgettes and saute for another 3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the basil, oregano, salt, pepper and tomatoes, blending well, then simmer for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but still firm.

Grilled Lamb Roast with Asparagus

I bought this lamb roast at Fresh Paradise http://www.frischeparadies.eu/stores/stuttgart.html, assuming that it was a boneless roast because it was small and round.  However, there was a bone inside.  I only discovered it yesterday when I was intending to butterfly and marinate it.  Thanks meat guy!

Still, no biggie.  On the grill there is always off flame cooking, something that I have become an expert at.  (Never end your sentences with prepositions.)

When I moved to France and my husband went on to South Sudan, I discovered the importance of my husband :  1)  Workers do not respect women and usually rip them off with a sneer on their faces.  2)  Somebody needs to take care of the car, including gas and washing.  3) Charcoal fires are best made by husbands.  4) Herb gardens are a gift from him to you because they like him and not you.  After 37 years, I guess he’s a keeper

I first encountered the winter cucumber in France, in the winter, and I was not impressed.  I accused the French of many things that I can’t remember now but I’m sure that one of them was not knowing a cucumber when they grew one.  Years of knowledge later, I apologize.

Gratuitous Sunday salad picture.

Whenever I’m grilling lamb I think of tzatsiki and my friend Magdoulin.  Greek/Syrian/Sudanese, married to a Kuwaiti, she always likes to put lemon in everything.  She also says, “So that’s why”, for no particular reason.  I love that

These days, there is absolutely no way you can go through the market without buying asparagus!  Unless you’re a hater or something equally bizarre.

I bought a German grill pan for vegetables just so that I could show it to you.  And also, of course, because I am materialistic.  Simply grilled asparagus with salt, pepper, onions and olive oil.  Good food.

Meat.  One of life’s perks.

Grilled Lamb with Asparagus

Lamb

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp thyme, chopped

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3lb, bone in leg of lamb roast

Mix the garlic, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, cumin seeds and olive oil together.  Stab the lamb all over with a sharp knife, then rub in the marinade.  Refrigerate overnight.

Fire up the grill to maximum and brown the roast on all sides.  Turn off half the burners, put the roast on the cold side, put the top down and grill for about an hour.

Tzatziki

1 winter cucumber, halved, seeded and sliced

Salt

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp chopped mint

1/2 tsp black pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups Greek yogurt

Salt the cucumber slices and drain for 30 minutes.  Dry and set aside.  Put the garlic, mint, pepper and lemon juice in a food processor and blend for about 45 seconds.  Add the cucumber and pulse on and off until the cucumber is in small chunks.  Remove everything to a bowl and stir in the yogurt.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Asparagus

1 bunch of young, tender and marvelous asparagus spears, trimmed

3 small purple onions, cut into fourths

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients together and allow to settle for at least 30 minutes.  Grill in a vegetable grill pan until crisp tender.

Wine suggestion:  Jenny’s Rose.  Ask Roger http://stowell.wordpress.com/

Chicken Heart and Pepper Stir Fry

Often I buy meats, produce and condiments, without having a specific use for them, because I like the way they look.  This is part of the reason that I’m constantly in freezer, refrigerator and pantry trouble.  This wouldn’t be a problem if I were cooking for ten but, alas, I bought into the birth control propaganda in the 70′s and have never gotten over my love of pretty, especially if the colors are bright.  Most Asian dishes are bright, pretty and delicious.  So that’s why.

My husband seems to be going through a chicken innards phase.  No lover of those “nasty bits”, he surprised me by chowing down on seconds of the chicken liver chashushuli http://cookinginsens.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/georgian-chicken-liver-chashushuli-supreme/.  Further, you could have knocked me over with a dishrag when we were passing the poultry stall in the market and he asked if we were getting more livers and gizzards!  Well.  Opportunity banging on the door with both fists, I suggested that we also try some chicken hearts.  ”Okay!”, said my husband, probably fighting off some bizarre flu and fever.

Anyway.  I had some pointy mini bell peppers that, even though they were not suitable to be stuffed, I bought because they were pretty and in a little plastic cup.  Chicken hearts with mini peppers.  Fabulous!  I did add an extra half of a leftover red pepper because it was there and didn’t hurt.

 Chicken Heart and Pepper Stir Fry

1 lb chicken hearts, quartered vertically, rinsed and drained

2 small onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 inch fresh ginger, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

8 mini bell peppers, cut into coarse cubes

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into coarse cubes

2 tbsp sambal oelek

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sake

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 handful coarsely chopped cilantro

Wok the onion, garlic and ginger in the oils until the onion just starts to soften.  Add the chicken hearts and stir fry until just cooked.  Add the peppers and stir fry for about 2 minutes.  Stir in the sambal, sugar, salt, sake and soy sauce, then allow to bubble away for about 3 minutes.  Remove from the flame and stir in the cilantro.

Beverage suggestion:  Stolichnaya

Noix de Joues de Porc au Char Sui with Chaos Fried Rice

Pork cheeks.   Char sui pork cheeks.  It sounds better in French.  Tastes good in/on any tongue.   With recycled, fried California brown rice.  Frugal and lazy.  That’s how I feel today, lazy.  I never feel frugal, it just happens

I think the char sui cheek medallions would have been even better on a grill but I couldn’t be bothered.  I marinated them and plunked them into my roasting/rack pan.  They were delicious.

Must be the weather, maybe the latitude longitude or maybe the kitchen’s  feng shui needs adjustment.  I know the sink does.  Whatever.  I feel better already

Char Sui Pork Cheeks with Chaos Fried Rice

Pork

6 medallions of pork cheeks, about a pound

1/2 cup prepared char sui marinade

Put the pork in a zip lock bag with the marinade and massage, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Remove the pork from the bag, reserving marinade and place in a roasting pan with a rack.  Preheat the oven to 400 F, place the pan in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes, turning and basting with the reserved marinade every 15 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes, then slice.

Rice

2 shallots, coarsely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup snow peas, sliced into fourths

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp soy sauce

Hard boiled egg halves, optional

In a skillet, soften the shallots and pepper in the olive oil, then add the snow peas and continue to cook for 1 minute.  Add the rice and cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Shove everything to the side of the skillet, add the eggs, scramble, then mix the eggs into the rice.  Pour over the soy sauce and blend well.

Serve with egg halves if desired.