Basic Stir Fry

Gourmet Magazine's Apple Pecan Cake

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, left at room temperature for 30 minutes
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

• Garnish:

  confectioners’ sugar

• Special Equipment:

  a 9-inch square baking pan

• Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat over to 350°F. Butter baking pan.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
• Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer (fitted with paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and applesauce, then scrape down sides of bowl (mixture will look curdled). At low speed, add flour mixture and mix, scraping down sides of bowl, just until flour is incorporated. Stir in pecans.
• Spread batter evenly in baking pan. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 30 minutes.
• Run a thin knife around sides of pan. Turn cake out of pan, if desired, and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Cook’s Note: The cake can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Turkey Sausage Stew

Frozen Bread Dough Pizza

I fought a pitched battle with the frozen bread dough: basically making every mistake in the book. The result, however, is this recipe which rivals even the best pizza out there: Dominos, Papa Murphys, the Luc...

1 loaf of frozen bread dough
anything else you want on the pizza

So, you take the frozen bread dough out IN THE MORNING, rub olive oil all over it, and then put it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and let it thaw/rise all day long.

Then, when it's risen you work with it and get it into a cookie sheet or whatever you want.

Cover it with whatever you want on your pizza: spinach, olives, sausage, garlic, a small Chevy truck, tomatoes (you can just use canned tomatoes drained of their juices), cheese. The sky is really the limit. OK, now let the pizza rest for about 1 hour (this will allow the crust to rise).

bake at 425 (get a thermostat for your oven, cuz most ovens are crazy when it comes to temperature. The pizza should be near the top of the oven, and should bake until everything is bubbly and stuff: maybe 30 minutes.... probably less.

Chicken and Rice

This is just as good as the Goya chicken and rice box dinners (which are pretty good). It's from the New York Times, although I made some changes to it:

DORA'S RICE WITH CHICKEN
Adapted from Dinorah E. Perez
Time: 1 1/2 hours

8 pieces of chicken (breasts, thighs or drumsticks)
4 cups water
1 cup Goya sofrito
oil
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 packet Sazon seasoning with coriander and annatto
Green olives
1 cup white white wine
peas
Salt
4 cups short-grain rice
bullion
salt and pepper

1. Fry the chicken in some oil. When it's brown add the ham and cook a little bit.

2. Add the sofrito and fry for a couple of minutes.

3. Drain the tomatoes out of the can and add those, reserving the liquid.

3. Add the rice an stir it all around.

4. Now add the olives, green peas, olives, sazon, salt, pepper. For 4 cups of rice you'll need about 6 cups of liquid, so add the reserved liquid from the tomatoes, the wine, water until you get to the right amount of liquid. Then bring to a boil and simmer until the rice is done. You can use bullion too, just make sure to dissolve it in the liquid first.

Red Beans and Rice

I cooked some version of this for many, many years on my birthday (with cornbread and fried catfish). The key to make it perfect so that it isn't bad.

1 pound red beans, soaked in water overnight
olive oil
3 ribs celery
1 green pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 T dried parsley flakes
1 T thyme
1 smoked turkey wing
cayenne pepper and/or hot sauce (to taste)
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
bullion (chicken or vegetable, as you wish)

Fry the onion, garlic, celery, and green pepper in the olive oil. Then, add the soaked red beans along with the other ingredients and simmer all day in the crock pot. Add water to cover... but if the beans soaked overnight they shouldn't need too much more water, so don't add more than just to cover. You may need to adjust the saltiness after a day of cooking. Take out the turkey wing and chop the meat up and discard the bone. Serve with white rice.

Chicken Adobo

Adobo is difficult to make cuz it only has a few ingredients: the secret to making it taste good is all in the technique.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Equal amounts apple cider vinegar and soy sauce, about 1/2 a cup each, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be
garlic
crushed peppercorns
water

Mix all the ingredients, and then add enough water to make sure the chicken is fully covered. Allow to marinate overnight, and then bring to a boil. When it's boiling, turn the heat down and let it cook uncovered for about 15 minutes. This will allow the vinegar to evaporate. Then, cover, and allow to cook until the chicken is fully cooked: about an hour. Serve with rice

Meatballs

For the meatballs:

nocoupons

• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
• 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• Vegetable oil
• Olive oil

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels.

Beef Stew

This is another meal good for the long nights in Duluth:
1 pound stew meat
6 Red Potatoes (you can also use barley. Just make sure not to add too much or it will absorb all the liquid)
4 Carrots
2 Onions
1 cup red wine
1 can of tomatoes
1 beef bullion cube

Just fry the meat and the carrots and onions. Then let sit in the crock-pot all day. You should not need to any extra water: the liquid from the red wine and tomatoes should be more than enough. You really don't need to serve this with anything -- and can actually add green beans or other vegetables as you wish.

Black Beans and Rice

This recipe is based on the one provided to the New York Times by Ruben Blades. I't's perfect alone, but also good with, as Blades says "a nice steak."

1 pound dried black beans(soaked overnight)
1 onion
1 tomato
1 green bell pepper
1 t dried cilantro
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T sugar
2 t soy sauce
2 t dried oregano
1/8 t lemon-pepper seasoning
1 clove garlic
1/4 pound baked ham
Sour cream and cilantro sprigs, for garnish.

Place the beans in a large, heavy pot, cover with water and simmer for four hours, adding some stock to cover the beans as the liquid is reduced. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until golden, then add the remaining ingredients except the ham, salt and garnishes. Simmer for three minutes, stirring. Stir the ham and the contents of the skillet into the beans. Simmer, covered, for two hours, stirring and adding more stock to cover the beans as necessary. 5. Season with salt and serve with sour cream and sprigs of cilantro.

Pigeon Peas and Rice

This goes really well with goat curry, or with Jerk chicken. It might also go well with pizza, ham sandwiches, a bottle of Gatorade and a Snickers bar. No problem, it's all copacetic.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Sofrito (this is one small bottle of Goya brand Sofrito, although you can also make it on your own)
2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 packet sazón
1 15-ounce can Pigeon Peas
salt and pepper

Heat up the olive oil and briefly fry the sofrito to get it tasty. Then, add everything else and bring to a boil. Cover, and let cook for about 1/2 an hour or so. You can also add more salt during the cooking process. Goes great with curry goat and jerk chicken.

Goat Curry

This is an excellent dish to cook as a way of surviving the cold northern climes of Duluth -- especially because you can put it in your crock pot and come home from the Great University on the Great Lake and eat Caribbean food.

Ingredients:
2 T curry powder
1 t Allspice
1 hot chili -- like a habanero
1 t Thyme
salt and pepper
1/4 cup vinegar
1 onion
garlic
1/2 cup water

Directions: Fry the goat, and then fry the onion and garlic in the same pan. Then, just add everything to the crock pot. That's it. You can also add some vegetables like peppers. Serve with rice, or Pigeon Peas and Rice.