BEET Salad

the shaved beet salad is the best, but here's another interesting beef salad... this one has the beets roasted, and you save the roasting juices for the dressing.

• roast a few beets that have been rubbed with olive oil in a tin foil pouch at 350 for about an hour. remove from oven, let them cool. save the juice that ran into the bottom of the foil packet.
  
• when beets are cool, rub the skin off. the skin should slippidy slide right off. cube the beets into bite size pieces.
  
• make a dressing: mash some garlic, add some lemon juice, and drizzle in the beet juice as you mix. taste, season with salt and pepper, and add more olive oil as needed.
• dress your beet cubes with dressing. toss.
• put dressed beet cubes on a bed of greens. we used arugula. dress the greens beforehand if you'd like. we added some edible flowers and shaved fennel because we had it around. you can also sprinkle some shaved parm or goat cheese on top.
  

CHICKEN PITAS with cool CUCUMBER TZATZIKI

instead of chicken, you can use lamb or shrimp or just veggies. treat them all the same as the chicken below.


For filling:

• a few chicken breasts or tenders, cut into strips and skewered. sprinkle with salt and pepper. let skewers soak in a bath of olive oil and lemon juice for 15 minutes. discard bath afterward.
  
• a bunch of veg. onions, squash, zucchinis--anything. let veg soak in a bath of olive oil and lemon juice for 15 minutes.
• fresh tomato, quartered.
• fresh onion, sliced.

for cool cucumber tzatziki:

• grated cucumber. use a cheese grater and shred a whole cucumber skin and all. put the grated cuc in a strainer, sprinkle with salt, and leave. the salt will remove much of the water from the cuc. after 30 minutes or so, use you hangs and squeeze out more liquid... you want the cucumber to be as dry as possible.
  
• add cucumber to 1 cup yogurt. greek yogurt if you can find it (it's less liquidy and better). But plain yogurt is ok too.
• to that, add 2 cloved minced or smashed garlic, juice of 1 or 2 lemons, salt and pepper, and olive oil. taste it and balance the flavors till you like it.

after grilling chicken and veg over a hot fire, assemble all the above in a warm grilled pita (see photo).

ENCHILADAS ESPECIALES - Cremosas de Pollo

This is from Rick Bayless, one of the best mexican cooks. we were looking to make enchiladas, and these are epic with the leftover rotisserie chicken and creamy green sauce.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 2 fresh poblano chiles
• 1 cup (lightly packed) roughly chopped spinach leaves. or chard, or arugula. any dark leafy green for the sauce.
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• Salt

FILLING

• 3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (I usually use a rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken)
• 12 corn tortillas
• A little vegetable oil for brushing or spraying totillas
• About 1 cup Mexican melting cheese (Chihuahua, quesadilla, asadero or the like) or Monterey Jack, brick or mild cheddar
• A little chopped cilantro for garnish

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DIRECTIONS

1. Make the Sauce. Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all side, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes under the broiler. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and, when handleable, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem. Quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin. Roughly chop and put in a blender jar. Add the spinach.

In a medium (3-quart) saucepan, combine the milk and broth, set over medium-low heat to warm.

In a large (4-quart) saucepan, melt the butter (or heat the oil) over medium. Add the garlic and cook for a minute to release its aroma, then add the flour and stir the mixture for a minute. Raise the heat to medium-high. Pour in the warm broth mixture and whisk constantly until the sauce boils. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Pour half the hot sauce into the blender with the chiles and spinach. Cover loosely (I remove the center part of the lid, secure the lid, then drape a cloth over the whole thing) and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining sauce. Taste and season with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons.

2. Finish the Enchiladas. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of each of four to six 9-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the chicken.

Lay half of the tortillas out on a baking sheet and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil; top each tortilla with another one and brush or spray those with oil. Bake just to warm through and soften, about 3 minutes. Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.

Working quickly so that the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken up in each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dish(es). Douse evenly with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 20 minutes. Garnish with the cilantro and serve without hesitation.

LAMB AND BEEF BOLOGNESE

What's fun is having lots of people over for dinner. what's not fun is working to make that all happen. what's also not fun is having your friends watch you while you slave over the burners, serving them some feast. so this recipe is one solution to making things fun... it's made all before hand (except the pasta), and it's very easy. it's also very good on cold nights.

Serve with a few bottles of red wine and lots of bread for sopping up the juices. the perfect sunday dinner.

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound lamb
salt
pepper
1 cup milk
1 glass red wine
2 28-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes, drained and smooshed with hands


Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or big pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook until all have softened. 8 minutes. Add the garlic go for about 30 seconds. Add the beef and lamb, breaking it apart with your spoon and cooking until it is just browned. move it around so it gets brown, and doesn't just stew in the liquid and get soggy. Season with salt and pepper.

add milk and bring it up. continue until the milk has reduced completely and very little liquid remains. add wine and simmer again until reduced completely.

add the canned tomatoes to the pot and stir. cover and cook on medium for at least 2 and up to 6 hours. for the last 30, remove the lid to allow any excess liquid to evaporate and reduce the sauce. it sound be chunky, not soupy.

Serve over spaghetti or linguine.

WISDOM

This, and 19 other drops of wisdom here.

TAPA: Pan Seared Spicy Shrimp with Ginger, Garlic, Lemon on Soaked Bread

You can sort of huck this plate out there, and let everyone dig in with their fingers. the bread, all soggy with oil & butter & garlic, is amazing. serve as an app, or as a casual main with a salad. drink with cold white wine... it's spicy.

INGREDIENTS:

about 1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 stick butter
a piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, peeled & diced
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled & diced
a few pinches red pepper flakes
16-20 large shrimp, peeled with tails left on
2 lemons
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
salt & pepper, to taste
1 French baguette, sliced & lightly toasted

PREP

Heat a frying pan over high heat. When hot, add half the olive oil, butter, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes and shrimp. Give pan a shake. Cook until shrimp turns bright pink, about 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to low and add the juice of one lemon, parsley, and the rest of the olive oil. Remove from heat, toss, and taste. Add more lemon juice or olive oil as needed, then season with salt and pepper. Serve over a bed of bread, letting the bread soak up all the juices and sauce.