Where I've Been...

Just in case anyone randomly checks this blog and wonders why nothing new ever gets posted, the answer is simple: laziness. Or, "exhaustion" might be a friendlier (if excessively dramatic) way of putting it... I started posting recipes here largely for my own benefit. I hate when I make a dish and it turns out perfectly, but a month later I have no idea what it was I had once done to make it so perfect. By posting recipes here with the actual amounts of ingredients that I use, I give myself a reference for future cooking (and, by having it online, I can access said recipes from anywhere). The problem with this is that in order to post the recipes for what I actually do, I have to measure the ingredients as I use them. Sometimes, like when I made batch after batch of hummus before arriving at what I consider to be the perfect recipe (the perfect Emily-style recipe, at least), I enjoy the process of tracking what I do and how the changes I make turn out. Most times, though, I cook as a break from using my brain so much at work, and what I enjoy most is just throwing a bunch of stuff together in semi-arbitrary amounts until the dish tastes the way I want it to.
For those reasons, I have every intention of posting recipes here again... but it's going to be when I'm a little less tuckered out from work stuff and life stuff, so it's bound to be erratic at best. Sorry about that.

Chicken and Asparagus in a Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce

It's starting to feel like spring around here, and when I sat down to menu-plan on Friday I knew instantly what I wanted to have for dinner to celebrate. This dish is extremely easy to make and comes together in ~15 minutes after the prep work is done. I like to do the prep in the morning when I'm in a putzing-around-in-the-kitchen mood (which is less likely to be there when dinner time sneaks up on me). The bright lemon and dill are perfect with the asparagus, making this a great (and actually really healthy) spring dish. I don't remember where I first saw the recipe that later became this, but I remember that they had you boil the crap out of your asparagus, so it was olive-green and mushy by the time you sat down to eat it. Not cool. You can simmer for a bit longer if you prefer, but I like to throw the asapargus in at the end for just long enough to heat through.

Chicken and Asparagus in a Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce
   1 teaspoon oil
   4 - 5 shallots, minced
   6 chicken breasts, cut crosswise into ½” wide strips
   2 8-ounce cans sliced water chestnuts, drained
   3 cups chicken broth
   zest from 4 lemons
   juice of 4 lemons (see note)
   4 - 6 tablespoons flour
   1 3/4 C fat free sour cream (or full-fat if you're in the mood)
   1 teaspoon sea salt
   3 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut on diagonal into 2” lengths
   1 cup chopped fresh dill

In a large nonstick pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat to high, then add the chicken and water chestnuts and cook, stirring frequently, until a majority of the chicken is turning opaque, about 4 minutes.

Combine the broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, sour cream, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Things will be looking pretty bland at this point:
Add asparagus to the skillet and simmer until just heated through. Stir in the dill and serve (over rice if desired).
Serves 6-8.

Note: The only juicer I ever use and, in my opinion, the greatest juicer ever invented, is the aluminum juicer pictured above from the good people at WearEver. You can pretty much only find them at eBay or antique stores, but I highly recommend that you run out and find one. You can thank me later.

Scorching Chile Chicken

This dish is definitely in my Top 5 Favorite Lunches. I make it ridiculously often (so much so that Stef used to tease me about it in Melbourne) but never seem to get tired of it. This dish also once magically cured Alicia when she was sick, so it apparently has medicinal value in addition to being very healthy. On top of all that, it's actually extremely easy to make (and not just in the Emily-style way...) despite the seemingly-long ingredient list. The only real prep is chopping 2 onions, a few cloves of garlic, and some chiles. The rest is just a matter of dumping stuff in a pot, then letting it cook slowly in the oven (or, slightly higher-maintenance, simmer on the stovetop...).

Everything in this recipe is very much "to taste," and I don't think I've ever had it taste the same way twice. I used Red Curry Paste for the first few years that I made this, but in Melbourne I ran out of Red Curry Paste and had to substitute Penang, only to discover that I love this dish even more that way... For this batch I used 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes, 6 serranos, and 6 red jalapeño chiles and it turned out rather scorching indeed.

Scorching Chile Chicken
   For Spice Paste (adjust for desired degree of “scorching”-ness):
      3 tablespoons tomato paste
      3 cloves garlic, minced
      4 - 12 serrano chilies, finely minced
      1 - 3 tablespoons crushed dried red chilie flakes
      2 tablespoons Penang curry paste or red curry paste
      2 teaspoons chile powder
      1 teaspoon paprika
      1 teaspoon salt
      1/2 teaspoon sugar
   For the Chicken and Sauce:
      1 tablespoon oil or chicken fat (chicken fat is vastly superior but not always readily available...)
      2 - 3 tablespoons cumin seeds
      2 onions, chopped
      4 bay leaves
      1 tablespoon ground coriander
      1.5 tablespoons ground cumin
      1/2 teaspoon turmeric
      2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes
      1 - 1 1/2 cups water
      6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
      1 tablespoon garam masala
   To Serve:
      Plain whole milk yogurt

Combine all ingredients for spice mix and set aside.
Heat oil in a large pot and toast the fry the cumin seeds 1 – 2 minutes. Add the onion and bay leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the spice paste and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and garam masala. Cover and simmer 25 – 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Alternately, pre-heat oven to 375°F and bake for 60-90 minutes. When the dish is finished cooking, I like to remove the chicken from the sauce and chop it into small bite-sized pieces, then return it to the sauce to soak up all that spicy goodness. Serve with yogurt to calm the burn.

Serves 6 generously.

Grilled Salmon Soft Tacos with Lime-Marinated Shrimp

I was having a bit of a Mexican food craving on Saturday, but also wanted something fresh and Spring-y to celebrate the (isolated) gorgeous day that was happening. Thus, I decided to grill up some salmon, marinate and grill some shrimp, make up a big batch of pico de gallo, make a variation on guacamole, and make a batch of corn tortillas to aid in the consumption of all of the above. This is hard stuff to write recipes for since it's really just throwing a bunch of stuff together until it tastes right, but here's an attempt. "Recipes" are given for each component, which can then be made into tacos:
or served without the tortillas as a relatively fancy-looking dish:

Salmon:
Season the salmon with salt and pepper, then grill until barely cooked through (or to your preferred doneness). I like to do the grilling all on just the skin side (or with the salmon on a piece of lightly-oiled foil if it's skinless) to remove the risk of any sticking-to-the-grill catastrophes. I prefer skin-on salmon, but Costco only sells skinless so I often end up going with that...

Shrimp:
Combine the zest of 3 limes with the juice of 1-2 limes, 3-4 tablespoons of minced cilantro stems, 3 cloves finely minced garlic, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon sea salt in a large zip-top bag. Add 2 pounds peeled deveined shrimp and allow to marinate for a few hours. Thread the shrimp onto skewers and grill until just cooked through.
Pico de Gallo:
Combine 5 large tomatoes (diced), 1 red onion (chopped), 3 serrano chilies (finely minced), with chopped cilantro and lime juice to taste.
Avocado Relish/Guacamole:
All components of this are carefully cut into small dice, but they're the exact ingredients I use when I make guacomole, in which case I just chop everything and mash it together with avocados. Either way is delicious, this way is just prettier: Wrap 2-4 serrano pepeprs in foil and roast in a 400°F oven until very soft. To remove the roasted pepper flesh I remove the stem and, starting at the tip, scrape the length of the pepper with the back of a knife. Nine times out of ten the flesh will pop out the stem end, leaving the skin behind. (When this doesn't work, you have to get in there a little more to remove the flesh from the skin.) Run your knife through the roasted chillies and set aside. Finely dice 1/4 of a red oinon and one large tomato, then combine in a bowl with ~2-4 tablespoons shredded cilantro, a sprinkle of sea salt, and roasted chillies and lime juice to taste. Toss these ingredients together thoroughly so that there will be less mixing to do once the more delicate avocados are in the bowl. Finely dice 3 large avocados and add to the bowl. Gently toss all ingredients together until well-combined (being careful not to mash the avocados) and season to taste with additional lime, chillies, and/or salt as needed.
Corn Tortillas:
I follow Rick Bayless's recipe exactly when I make tortillas, so I will just link to it here rather than trying to paraphrase. I had actually been having some trouble the last couple times I made tortillas (they weren't puffing like they used to) and after re-reading the recipe I realize it was because I'd been skipping the part about using two different temperatures of pans. I did it the way Mr. Bayless explains this time and had a 100% success rate with puffing.
Homemade tortillas are about a million times more delicious than store-bought and are fairly low-maintenance (once you have the tools). I highly recommend giving them a try when you get a chance.

Bun Cha and Ga Chanh Roti

These are the two dishes I make when I'm craving Vietnamese food. Both are extremely easy to make and really delicious. I usually serve the pork in a lettuce wrap or combine the lettuce wrap ingredients into a salad. I serve the chicken on its own so that the subtle lime leaf flavor remains the star of the dish. Both of these dishes are going to give you some serious charring on the grill (due to the palm sugar in the pork and the honey in the chicken marinade) so keep an eye on them as they cook.

Hanoi Grilled Pork (Bun Cha)
   For Pork:
      6 tablespoons palm sugar
      4 tablespoons fish sauce
      2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
      2 large shallots, finely chopped
      2 teaspoons salt
      2.5 pounds boneless pork loin, minced
   To Serve (See picture below):
      lettuce leaves, torn
      8 oz. bean sprouts
      julienned cucumber and carrot
      cilantro, basil, and mint leaves
      Dipping Sauce (combine fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chilies to taste)
Gently melt the 2 tablespoons of palm sugar with 3 tablespoons of the fish sauce in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring all the time. Allow to cool a little, then transfer the mixture to a bowl and combine with the garlic, shallot, 4 tablespoons palm sugar, the remaining fish sauce, and salt. Add the minced pork, mix thoroughly, then cover and leave to stand for 3 - 5 hours or, preferably, overnight.

Shape the minced pork into 12 flat patties, place them on a preheated grill and cook for 3 – 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

To serve, use lettuce leaves as a wrap and fill with pork, veggies and herbs then dip in the dipping sauce.

Serves 6.


Grilled Lime Chicken (Ga Chanh Roti)
   4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
   2 tablespoons clear honey
   2 tablespoons fish sauce
   2 green onions, chopped
   2 cloves garlic, chopped
   16 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
      salt and pepper

Mix the chicken in a bowl with the honey, fish sauce, and salt and pepper. Leave to stand.

In a small food processor or blender, mix the green onions, garlic, and lime leaves, adding a little water if necessary. Make sure the lime paste is completely smooth, then add to the chicken. Stir well then cover and marinate for at least 2 hours or, preferably, overnight.

Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and season with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated grill and cook until just cooked through.

Serves 4 - 6.

*****

By the way, in theory you could cook both dishes under the broiler in your oven, but in case you need proof of how much better I think these taste cooked with fire, this is what my grill looked like when I went out to start cooking:

Curried Chicken Soup with Carrots

I hadn't made this soup in a couple years, but I have a lot of carrots around lately for some reason and it reminded me how much I used to love this soup. It's extremely easy to make, extremely healthy, and has a really unique flavor (in a good way). This batch turned out better than I ever remember it tasting before, so I'm glad I wrote down approximately what I did so that I can replicate it in the future...

Curried Chicken Soup with Carrots
   1 teaspoon oil
   2 pounds sweet onions, chopped
   1.5 pounds carrots, chopped
   2 tablespoons curry powder
   1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
   1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
   1/4 teaspoon cayenne
   6 cups chicken stock
   1/4 cup flour
   6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces
      fresh cilantro leaves, to serve

Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat, then add the onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots soften and the onions begin to color (about 30 minutes). Add the spices (curry powder through cayenne) and stir to combine. Transfer about 2/3 of the mixture to a blender (can do more or less than this, depending on how many carrot chunks you want in your final soup) along with the flour and about 2 cups of the chicken stock, then blend until smooth. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the soup pot. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until the chicken starts to color. Add the mixture from the blender along with the remaining chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup is slightly thickened and the chicken is cooked through. Serve with fresh cilantro.

Serves 6.

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Arugula, Chicken, and Feta

This is an incredibly easy but really tasty pasta recipe. It started over at Epicurious, but my version involves a little less pasta and a lot more chicken and veggies (or fruit and greens, technically, I suppose). You can roast the tomatoes while you're doing other things earlier in the day, then get them heated up again while you cook the pasta and grill the chicken. When you add the 12 ounces of arugula to the pot and put your measly little 6 ounces of pasta on top, you will most likely think something is horribly wrong with the proportions. It does indeed look a bit ridiculous at first, but as the arugula wilts down when you toss the ingredients together, suddenly things come together and you end up with a well-balanced dish.

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Arugula, Chicken, and Feta
   4 pounds grape tomatoes
   1 - 4 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
   1 head of garlic, peeled and finely minced
   coarse sea salt
   olive oil
   6 grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
   6 ounces penne pasta
   6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat an oven to 475°F. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, toss the tomatoes with pepper flakes, garlic, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a splash of olive oil (I use about a teaspoon per baking sheet, but feel free to use more if you're an olive oil fan) and spread the tomatoes out into a single layer. Roast until starting to wrinkle and brown in spots. There should be some delicious juices accumulating on the parchment at this point, too.
This step can be done ahead. When you're ready to complete the dish, place the tomatoes (and accumulated juices) in the bottom of a large pot, then add the chopped grilled chicken. Place the pot over medium heat until the tomato juices start to simmer slightly. Reduce heat to low, then add the arugula to the pot but do not stir, and cover with a lid. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Add the pasta to the other ingredients. Don't worry about draining too thoroughly, as a little bit of pasta water will just help build the sauce. Crumble the feta into the pot, then begin stirring all ingredients together. Continue to stir until the arugula is wilted and all ingredients are well combined.

Serves 6.

Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry (Updated)

This is one of those cases where being forced to cook through adversity results in good things happening. I decided to make Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry last night because I was going to be making it with limited supplies after a long day at work and it doesn't require too many ingredients or much hands-on time...

As I got out my ingredients and started to prep, I immediately realized that I didn't have a pot nearly big enough to hold everything. (Typically everything goes in a huge pot together then into the oven to slowly cook while I do something else.) I decided my best bet was to cook the chicken separately in the oven while simmering the potatoes and cauliflower on the stove-top. This worked out really nicely, since the potatoes can be temperamental (sometimes they're done cooking in 30 minutes... sometimes they're not done after 2 hours...), making it difficult to avoid over-cooking the chicken. With this new method, I was able to boil the crap out of the potatoes while perfectly baking the chicken.

The only question now is why it took cooking in an under-equipped hotel kitchen to come up with this change... The chicken ends up so much more tender and flavorful cooked this way, resulting in a more flavorful dish overall. Before this meal I was getting a little fed up with my hotel room kitchen but, now that it forced me to improve upon one of my favorite dinners, it's not seeming so bad after all...

Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry (Take 2)
   1 tablespoon oil or chicken fat (chicken fat is best…)
   2 medium onions, chopped
   3 tablespoons ground coriander
   2-3 tablespoons ground cumin
   1.5 teaspoons turmeric
   0-3 teaspoons dried red-pepper flakes
   1 teaspoon salt
   6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
   2 medium heads of cauliflower, cored and broken into bite-sized pieces
   6-8 small potatoes (preferably Yukon Gold), cut into 1–inch dice
   1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes (not drained, crushed by hand)
   2 1/2 cups water, divided
   3/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more to serve
   2 cups frozen petite peas
   Plain yogurt (to serve)

Preheat the oven to 350̊ Fahrenheit.

Heat oil or chicken fat in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and starting to color. Meanwhile, combine the spices (coriander through salt) and stir to combine. Rub the chicken breasts with 2 - 3 tablespoons of the spice mixture to coat, then place in a single layer in a baking dish and add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the dish. Place in the oven and bake until the chicken is just cooked through. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, chop into bite-sized pieces.

Add the remaining spice mixture to the pot with the onions and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the everything is coated in the spice mixture and well-combined. Add the tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook at a fairly rapid boil, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 30-60 minutes. When potatoes are cooked and liquid is somewhat reduced, stir in the peas and cilantro and cook, stirring, until the peas are heated through, about 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and stir in the chicken (or, if you're lacking a big enough pot like I was, divide the vegetable mixture between serving bowls then distribute chicken evenly among the bowls).

Serve with yogurt, fresh cilantro, and additional red pepper flakes.

Serves 8.

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup

This is one of my favorite lunches. It manages to be light and fresh in summer while still feeling hearty and warming in winter. This recipe started out at Food & Wine but has gone through quite a bit of modification. I like it pretty spicy, so I tend to add a good bit of cayenne, but adjust that to your own taste. (Whenever I give a range of how much to add for any given spice, it's safe to assume I add the amount at the high end of that range...) We had ridiculous snow here today, and this was the perfect thing to have simmering on my stove as I sat under a blanket watching the snow fall... I used to make this with white-fleshed sweet potatoes, but I've had trouble finding those both in Melbourne and here in Burlington and I've found that the more common orange-fleshed sweet potatoes work out almost as well. If you like this soup, you may want to experiment with the two and see which you prefer.

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup
   2 medium onions, roughly chopped
   1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne
   1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
   1 tablespoon ground cumin
   2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
   5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces
   4 - 5 small zucchini, quartered length-wise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
   1 large sweet potato (~1 pound) cut into 1/4-inch dice
   1 14.5-ounce can petite-cut tomatoes (can substitute diced)
   4 cups chicken stock
   2 cups water
   1/2 cup raw couscous

Place a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the spices (cayenne through sea salt) and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to high and add the chicken, stirring to combine. Cook until the chicken just starts to turn opaque, then add the zucchini, sweet potato, tomatoes, chicken stock, and water. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 - 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked. Remove the pot from the heat and add the couscous. Stir to combine then allow to sit, covered, for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Chicken with Green Olives

This recipe started out as a Mark Bittman recipe, and is possibly the only recipe he's ever written to be overly complicated (since he is, after all, The Minimalist). There was this whole process of simmering the olives in boiling water, discarding that water, and repeating, which I guess was designed to make things not taste too much like olives or something... but it's called Chicken with Green Olives, and I love strong flavors so I prefer my way of making this dish in terms of flavor, and the increased ease of preparation is a bonus. (I didn't get a great picture of it because I have limited dishes here in my hotel and I wasn't originally planning to post this when I plated my dinner... I'll take a better picture next time I make this and post it here...)

Chicken with Green Olives
   2 large onions, roughly chopped
   4 cloves garlic, minced
   3 - 4 tablespoons minced ginger
   3 bay leaves
   2 tablespoon cumin
   2 teaspoon paprika
   1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
   2 cinnamon sticks (~3 inches each)
   1 teaspoon ground turmeric
   4 cups chicken stock, divided
   2 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs
   2 cups chili-garlic green olives (not stuffed), halved **
   3 teaspoons coarse sea salt, divided
   1 1/2 cups dry couscous
   1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
   juice of 1 lemon

Preheat an oven to 325º F. Place a large oven-safe pan over medium-high heat and add the onions. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until beginning to color and soften. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté another 5 minutes. Add the next 6 ingredients (bay leaves through turmeric) and stir to combine. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add 1 cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Add 2 more cups of stock and bring to a boil. Add the chicken, olives, and 2 teaspoons of sea salt to the pot and stir to combine, then bring to a simmer. Place the pot in the preheated oven and cook for about 1 hour.

While the chicken cooks (towards the end of the hour), prepare the couscous. Combine the remaining 1 cup of chicken stock with about 1/2 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of sea salt and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and immediately add the couscous. Cover and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and stir through 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro.

When the chicken is done cooking, remove the pan from the oven. Remove the chicken pieces from the sauce and roughly chop into approximately bite-sized pieces. Return the chicken to the sauce and stir in the lemon juice and remaining cilantro. Serve over a scoop of cilantro couscous.

Serves 6-8.

**If you can't find chili-garlic olives at your store, you can buy plain large green olives (pimento-stuffed is fine, just remove the pimentos when you halve the olives) and toss them with a generous amount of minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes the day before you want to make this dish, giving them the chance to marinate overnight.

Hummus Plate and Lamb Kofta Kebabs

One of the menu items over at McMenamins that my brother always used to order was the Hummus Plate. It occurred to us that it would be pretty easy to make this exact thing at home for a lot less money, and it soon became one of my favorite easy football-watching meals. Sometimes when I forget how delicious Hummus Plate is on its own I'll also throw together a batch of Lamb Kofta Kebabs to go with the veggies and homemade pitas (pita recipe is at the bottom of the post here), but honestly it's not necessary. Hummus Plate is also one of the few vegetarian-friendly dishes in my arsenal, so it comes in handy when my non-meat-eating friends drop by.

Both the hummus and kebabs below use a mixture I call my "Cumin Spice Mix" which is made by combining 3 tablespoons cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon very coarse sea salt, and 1 - 1.5 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. If using a finer salt, start with less than 1 tablespoon since you can always add more as needed in the recipes below. I also add a bit of this spice mix to some Greek yogurt to serve with the Kofta Kebabs in the pitas and use it pretty regularly for seasoning things like roasted potatoes or grilled summer squash.

Emily's Famous Hummus
   4 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained (liquid from 1 can reserved)
   6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   2 tablespoons olive oil
   2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
   ~6 tablespoons tahini

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, using reserved chickpea liquid to adjust consistency as needed.

Serves 8.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs
   1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
   1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
   1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   1 pound ground lamb
   2 pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and coarsely ground in a food processor

Using your hands, mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Make a small test patty from ~1 tablespoon of the meat mixture. Cook in a skillet and taste for seasoning (mixture as written above may need additional salt depending on your palette). When the seasoning is where you want it, shape the meat mixture onto metal skewers as below.
This takes a bit of practice. (The reason for using one part ground lamb with to the two parts lean leg of lamb is that the lean lamb on its own doesn't have enough fat to hold together well on the skewers, whereas if you use all pre-ground there is so much fat that you don't get to tell yourself you're eating something healthy...)
Preheat a gas grill and cook the skewers over relatively high heat until just done.

Serves 6.

Hummus Plate (with Optional Kofta Kebabs)
   1 batch Homemade Pita Bread
   1 batch Emily's Famous Hummus
   6 Roma tomatoes, diced
   1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
   1 red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced, then tossed with the juice of one lemon
   Crumbled feta cheese
   Kalamata olives
   1 batch Lamb Kofta Kebabs (optional)
   2 cups Greek Yogurt mixed with ~1 tablespoon Cumin Spice Mix (optional)

Combine ingredients in whatever way sounds good to you and enjoy.

Serves 8-10.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce

Pulled pork is fantastic for casual entertaining. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it's simple to make (despite the seemingly long ingredient list) and you can buy the meat for less than $1/pound. Below is a recipe for my version, along with the BBQ sauce I like to serve with it. The sauce is very vinegar-y, which is just how I like it... Because the Baked Beans I made ended up in the picture as well, I'll add that recipe at the end of this post. When making Pulled Pork Sandwiches, by the way, it's key to use the crappiest white bread buns you can find... Anything nicer (whole wheat, onion, sesame seed, etc.) ruins the aesthetic.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce
   Barbecue Sauce:
      1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
      6 tablespoons minced onion
      1 1/3 cups cider vinegar
      1 1/3 cups ketchup
      1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
      1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
      1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Dry Seasoning Rub:
      3 tablespoons coarsely ground pepper
      3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
      3 tablespoons paprika
      2 tablespoons salt
      1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Barbecue Mop:
      1 cup cider vinegar
      1/2 cup water
      1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
      1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
      1 tablespoon salt
      2 teaspoons vegetable oil
      1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Pork:
      8 - 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder (aka "picnic" or "butt")
      5 onions, cut lengthwise into eighths

   20 soft hamburger buns, warm

For the Barbecue Sauce:
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced to 2 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Sauce can be prepared 1 week ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For the Dry Seasoning Rub:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.)

For the Barbecue Mop:
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

For the Pork:
Make small cross-hatchets into the fat of the pork's rear in preparation for a dry rub seasoning. Rub your dry seasoning thoroughly along your pork, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Layer the the onions in the bottom of a relatively large roasting pan, sprinkling them with salt and pepper. Place your pork on the bed of onions and brush a bit of the mop mixture all over the top. Seal the pan tightly with foil before placing the pork in a 200°F oven for about 13 hours. Remove from oven. Once cool enough to handle, gently shred the pork by hand. This should be ridiculously easy if you followed the steps outlined above.

Serves ~15.



Easy Baked Beans with Bacon
   5 14-ounce cans small white beans (such as Navy Beans), rinsed and drained
   1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
   1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
   3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
   1 teaspoon salt
   8 ounces bacon, finely chopped
   1 large onion, minced

Preheat an oven to 400°F. In a 9" x 13" baking dish, combine the first 5 ingredients (beans through salt). In a large skillet, cook the bacon until most of the fat is rendered but bacon is not yet crispy. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat, then add the onion and cook until onion is softened and bacon is crispy. Add the bacon and onion mixture to the mixture in the 9" x 13" dish and stir to combine. Tent loosely with foil and bake until the the beans have absorbed most of the liquid, about 75 minutes.

Serves ~12.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding

This is one of my very favorite pork dinners. It's easy to make, rich, satisfying, and delicious. This sat in my pile of recipes I intended to try for probably 5 years before I made it for the first time (when a pile of fennel bulbs at Vic Market in Melbourne was too gorgeous to pass up). I use Fontal cheese (a French version of Fontina, apparently) because it was all I could find in Melbourne when I first made this and then it ended up being the only thing available when I was shopping for ingredients here, but the original recipe from Cooking Light calls for Fontina and I'm sure that would be delicious, too. Since both the bread pudding and pork roast at 350°F, you can start baking the bread pudding and then just throw the pork in the oven for the last 30 minutes or so. I've skipped the brining step before due to lack of time and this was still great, so if you run out of time to brine don't let that stop you from trying this...

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding
   1 cup sugar
   8 cups water
   1/4 cup kosher salt
   2.5 pounds pork tenderloin
   2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
   1 1/2 onions, thinly sliced
   7 garlic cloves, minced (divided)
   4 cups chicken broth
   1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (divided)
   9 ounces French bread or other firm white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
   1/2 cup shredded Fontal or Fontina cheese
   2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan (optional)
   1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds

Combine sugar, water, and salt in a large bowl, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Add pork; cover and brine 2 hours to overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced fennel, onion, and 4 cloves minced garlic. Sauté until golden brown (about 20 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add 1/4 cup broth and cook until liquid evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining broth and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and combine with the bread. Stir in Fontal or Fontina cheese. Spoon mixture into an 9" x 13" baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan (if using). Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown.
While bread pudding bakes, rinse pork and pat dry. Combine fennel seeds, 3 minced garlic cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub evenly over pork. Roast the pork at 350°F until a thermometer registers 140°F, about 20-30 minutes. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve with bread pudding.

Serves 6.