Category: Dairy Free

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Coq au Vin and Spanish Spiced Onions

During Love and Romance weekend, we did another recipe – Coq Au Vin and Spanish Spiced Onions.  Now some would argue the two dishes would not work well together, but we found a happy compromise.  Instead of traditional wine, we used a mead that is sold at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, not far from our stage.  The taste was lighter than most Coq Au Vin recipes. 

Now, Coq au Vin is traditionally made with rooster but those are difficult to come by in the 21st century, so we used chicken.  This dish has been simplified for our use and modern palates, but I am sure that you will like it.

COQ AU VIN
Ingredients:
2 lbs. of chicken breasts, cut up to one each pieces.
6 cups of mead or sweet wine
1/2 lb bacon, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of chives, minced
1/2 cup thyme
1/4 cup of rosemary
1 tsp of orange zest
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by cooking the bacon on medium heat.  Once the fat has rendered and the bacon has begun to cook, add the chicken  to brown and add the garlic.  Once the chicken is thoroughly browned, add the mead and the herbs to the dish, holding off on the salt and pepper until the end.  Cover the dish and stir occassionally (every 5 – 7 minutes) until the chicken is done and pull off of the heat.

SPANISH SPICED ONIONS
Ingredients:
3 lbs. of onions, sliced
4 Tbsp of  butter
4 Tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of thyme
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper

Heat the oil and butter together and add the spices and herbs.  Keep stiring and slowly add the onions.  Stir continuously until the onions are thoroughly sweated and are translucent.  They should not be crisp.

Scoop the Coq au Vin onto the plate and surround with the Spanish Spiced Onions.  Serves 2-4.

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Italian Lamb with Risotto

This dish was performed in real time to an audience at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival on Sunday, August 21, 2011.  It ended up being the dinner for myself and my two assistants.  It’s taste was light and refreshing on a summer day and very easy to make.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

2 lbs of lamb cubed
1 whole lemon
1 tsp of orange zest
2 cups of lamb stock (veal or beef stock can be used instead)
2 cups Arborio rice (uncooked)
1 tsp of lemon basil, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
black pepper

Before beginning, remove the zest from the lemon and cut the lemon in half.  Once done, add olive oil to a hot pan and once heated, add the lamb to brown slightly, adding a teaspoon of the lemon zest.  Remove from the heat and put aside.  Put the rice in the hot pan with the fat from lamb and the leftover olive oil.  Lightly brown the rice to prepare the risotto.  Once toasted, begin adding the stock on medium heat while constantly stirring.  Add the juice from the lemon to the risotto.  Continue until both the rice has puffed up and a lot of the stock has evaporated.  Add the lamb and add the lemon and orange zest along with the lemon basil.  Reserve a half a teaspoon for garnish.  Continue to finish cooking the lamb and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve family style on a single plate or bowl and sprinkle the remaining zest on top as a garnish.  For the photo, I garnished the dish with small orange slices for additional color and served it hot.   Make enough for 4 people.

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Renaissance Magazine Article – Fish Stew

Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse, a traditional fish stew that originated from the port city of Marseille, is a soup containing various kinds of cooked fish, shellfish, and vegetables, and flavored with a variety of herbs and spices. Many French families created their own variation of this standard recipe by adding different vegetables (celery, zucchini, squash, etc.), as well as herbs and spices including garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel, and saffron. 

In earlier recipes, traditional bouillabaisse contained three kinds of fish, typically scorpion fish, sea robin, and the European conger and could include bream, turbot, monkfish, mullet, or silver hake. The dish would also traditionally include various shellfish and other seafood options including sea urchin, mussels, velvet crab, spider crab, or octopus.  More expensive versions would include langoustine or European lobster. Many of the fish and seafood options listed above can be difficult to find at a standard fish market or grocery store.

This particular dish can be made by substituting any local or regional fish or shellfish. The recipe below fairly represents the traditional dish with some modern twists.

INGREDIENTS
1 large leek, sliced
1 lb. of tomatoes skinned, seeds removed, and diced
4 medium cloves of garlic, minced
2 ribs of celery, diced with leaves intact
2 tb of chopped fresh parsley
1 medium bay leaf
1 tb green onion, finely chopped
1/8 tsp. of black pepper
2 tb olive oil
4 cups of chicken broth
2 medium potatoes or turnips, sliced
1 and ½ lbs. of white fish, cut into 2-inch pieces
¾ fillets of red snapper, cut into 2-inch pieces
12 small fresh clams
½ lbs. of medium shrimp (31-35/pound), shelled and deveined
1/8 tsp. of ground saffron or turmeric
½ lbs. of calamari, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
¼ lb. of medium scallops, washed and quartered (optional)

TECHNIQUE
In a large saucepan, sauté the leek and tomatoes in the olive oil with the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, and pepper for about 4 minutes on medium heat.   Add the clams to the mixture along with the optional calamari and scallops and continue to cook for three more minutes. 

Add the broth, potatoes or turnips, and the saffron or turmeric and cook for 5 more minutes.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat, adding the rest of the fish (not the shrimp) and simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes.  Add the shrimp and simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes.  Stir gently now and then, avoid breaking up the fish. Remove from the heat once the shrimp is done (bright pink and tender).  Remove the bay leaf and garnish with the green onion before serving.  Makes 16 cups.  

In Marseille, the broth is served as a starter course in a bowl containing the toasted bread and rouille, a mayonnaise made from olive oil, bread crumbs, garlic, saffron, and cayenne pepper.  The recipe for rouille is provided below for your benefit.

3 tb water
3/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette, crust removed)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 tb extra-virgin olive oil

Rouille is made by gently adding water over the bread crumbs in a bowl. Mash the garlic into a paste with sea salt and cayenne using a mortar and pestle or the flat edge of a knife. Add the moistened bread crumbs and mash into garlic paste. Add the olive oil in a gradually mashing and stirring vigorously with pestle until combined very well.

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Stuffed Trout with Lemon & Planked Trout

A fan of mine recently pointed out that I have not posted any fish or seafood dishes on my site.  My apologies; I’ve been distracted with the holidays, personal life, and my friend’s appearance on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America.

I have two favorite recipes both using trout:   Both dishes are easy to make, tasty, and low fat.  I really enjoy using trout as it is a mild tasting fish.  If it smells fishy, it may be past its prime.  Usually the high-end grocery stores carry fresh trout, but it is my experience one can buy fresh fish inexpensively by visiting an Asian market.

Although many professional chefs already know this, but many of my readers are not chefs, and, with the current economy, are finding ways to eat well without hurting the pocketbook.  I can buy fresh fish and seafood at Asian markets at a fraction of the cost at a seafood market or specialty store.  The exception to this suggestion are the coastline seafood markets.

For this recipe, you will need trout that is gutted and boned.  Although many stores can sell a fish that is dressed (innards removed), but many do not know how to bone a fish.  Before the recipe, I thought I would list directions on how to remove the bones of a fish prior to cooking.

  1. Place the cleaned and dressed fish on cutting surface.
  2. Hold the fish by the head (if the head is still attached; it doesn’t need to be) and slice into the fish behind the gill until you feel the knife touch backbone.
  3. Turn the knife so it’s flat against the backbone, touching the ribs. The edge should face the tail.
  4. Cut along the backbone through the fish from head to tail, under the fillet.
  5. Turn fish over and repeat. At this point two sets of bones will remain in the fillet.
  6. Cut away the rib cage bones, which will be visible, by sliding the edge of the knife between the rib bones and the meat of the fillet.
  7. Pull out the smaller set of bones, called pin bones, that run through the center of the fillet.
  8. Use your finger to feel for the pin bone tips sticking out of the fillet. Use tweezers or needle-nose pliers to grab the tips and pull them out.

After following the instructions above, your fish is ready to be cooked.  Not all recipes will call for deboning, but it will make the dish easier to eat.

Stuffed Trout with Lemon
4 pink trout, gutted and boned
1 fresh lemon
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of fresh parsley
Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)

Zest the lemon and pare away and discard the white pith of the lemon.   Slice the lemon and cut it up into small pits.  Mix the lemon and zest, garlic, parsley along with the salt and pepper.   Stuff each fish with some of the mixture and allow mixture to penetrate the fish prior to cooking (20 minutes).  Bake the fish for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Serve hot or cold.

Apart from red dot holographic sights, food is the best part of camping. The next recipe is fun for camping or cooking out on the grill.

Planked Trout alice2
Grill or campfire
4 pink trout, cleaned and dressed
1 fresh lemon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
4 Untreated oak or cedar planks (no more than a foot long and six inches wide)
Steel nails

Begin heating up the grill or start the campfire.

Zest and juice the lemon.  Add the minced garlic to the lemon juice.  While that sits for two minutes, slit the belly so that it goes from neck to tail and open the body cavity larger.  Using five nails, attach the the each fish to each board (one nail for the head, two nails for each side), this will open up the fish to expose the inside.

Using a spoon, drizzle the lemon juice and minced garlic mixture to the interior flesh of the fish and let it sit for 3 minutes.  Sprinkle fish with the lemon zest (reserving half of it for later), and sprinkle salt and pepper.

Place the planks so that the heat from the grill/fire can slow cook the trout.  The planks may have to be rotated 180 degrees for even cooking.  DO NOT LET THE PLANKS CATCH FIRE, as it will cause a loss of the fish.  Depending on the size of the fish, anywhere between 15-30 minutes, the fish should be done.  Serve with a nice white wine.

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Sausage Hash – Perfect side dish for Thanksgiving

This is the latest article from Renaissance Magazine.  It offers a great recipe for a side dish that is perfect for Thanksgiving that can be altered for the vegetarian family members.  Don’t let the name fool you, the vegetarian version is just as tasty.

Autumn is in full swing and soon the weather will cool and summon winter to come forth.  The fall and winter months herald several holidays that celebrate family, togetherness, and love.  The holidays also bring forth family feasts that help solidify relationships with family and friends.

As a child, my family’s holiday dinners usually consisted of the standard roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, and stuffing.  As an adult who likes to show off their culinary skills, I tend to cook less 20th century traditional recipes and cook more historical dishes; one of which is Sausage Hash.

Food image is credited to: Bill Moss, Moss Fotografica
Food image is credited to: Bill Moss, Moss Fotografica

This particular dish is a favorite among my family and friends and is extremely versatile and easy to make.  It can be used as a breakfast dish, a side item for a holiday dinner, or as an entrée.   During the holidays, I have been known to prepare this dish in mass quantities, package them up, and give them as gifts to my close friends, one of whom has been known to eat several pounds of this tasty treat in one setting.

This dish can also be altered for vegetarians or those who keep Kosher or Halal, as you will see from the recipe.

Ingredients:
Approximately 2 lbs of course ground country-style pork sausage or vegetarian sausage crumbles  (Morning Star Farms has a great product – if using the vegetarian sausage, 3 TB of olive oil will be needed)
1 large onion or 3 leeks (a mild onion flavored vegetable), diced
2 lbs of carrots, thick julienned (size of twig or finger, but not matchstick sized)
1 lb of sweet potatoes, peeled and thick julienned
3 lbs of red potatoes, thick julienned
4 gloved of garlic, minced
2 sprigs of rosemary
Fistful of fresh chives, minced and divided
Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)

Using a large pot, begin to sauté the sausage on medium heat to brown.  While sautéing, break the sausage up into smaller pieces and add the onions and the garlic.  The higher end sausage such as farm made, Amish made, or home made sausage is best, but standard course ground sausage may be used as well.  Avoid using Italian or spicy sausage blends as it alters the flavor.  Additional spices or hot sauces can be added after serving to suit individual tastes.   Instead of the pork-based sausage, vegetarians or those trying to cut back the fat content, can sauté the vegetarian sausage in the olive oil to brown.

When the sausage with the onions and garlic has begun to brown, add the carrots and potatoes, stirring occasionally.  If you notice the pan has a low fat content, add a cup of water to assist in the cooking process.  When the potatoes and the carrots are nearly tender, remove the rosemary from the stems and add half of the chives.  Continue stirring to blend the ingredients.   Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper to taste.   It is important that table salt is not used in this dish and only sea or Kosher salt is used.

When the vegetables are fork tender, pull off the heat while continuing to stir.  The left over chives should be used as a garnish sprinkled on top of the hash after serving.

This recipe can be duplicated as a vegetable hash by leaving out the meat or vegetarian sausage, and sautéing the same vegetables in the olive oil until fork tender.  This makes a colorful side dish for any family dinner or special event.