Spanish Farro � An Ancient Recipe for an Ancient Grain

Spanish rice was one of the first recipes I made for my parents after returning home from my first semester at culinary school. Ironically, I didn�t learn the recipe in class, but rather at a Mexican restaurant I worked at part-time.

I don�t remember much from that job, or decade, but I�ll never forget how that rice was put together, and that�s exactly how we�re doing it here � except for one minor detail. We�re not using rice.  

I really love farro, and have used it in various rice preparations, always with great results. This was no exception, and maybe my favorite so far. This larger, meatier, �ancient� grain pairs perfect with the spices, and I find it even easier to cook perfectly than rice.

If you don�t have a pan like the one used in the video, simply prepare everything in a skillet. Once your broth starts to boil, transfer it into a 2-quart casserole dish, wrap with foil, and proceed as directed. Either way, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!  

Ingredients for 6 portions:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely diced onions

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons ancho chili powder, or other dried, ground chili

1 teaspoon chipotle

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup �pearled� farro, rinsed, drained well

2 cups chicken broth

- Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes, or until farro is just tender

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Eggplant Escabeche � The Second Best Way to Eat Eggplant

The best way to eat eggplant is fried, which I�ll hopefully prove to you one day with a video recipe. In the meantime, you�ll have to settle for the second best way, which is this eggplant escabeche. It�s cold, refreshing, vibrantly-flavored, and I�m guessing, very healthy. 

This was inspired by a visit to a restaurant in San Francisco called Lolinda, where Chef Alejandro Morgan serves a simple, but incredibly delicious Argentinian-style eggplant escabeche. I won�t go so far as to say it came out as good, but the noises of pleasure Michele made while eating this were very similar. 

If you didn�t get the #dotsnotslots reference, I explained how to tell a �male� from �female� eggplant in a old video, which involves looking for a dot shaped mark at the end, and not a slot shaped one. This indicates a �male,� which generally has less seeds.

By the way, �male� is in quotations because eggplants don�t actually have different genders, but apparently some are less pregnant than others. I�m certainly no expert when it comes to eggplant sex, but I�ll go with that until I hear otherwise. I really do hope you give this fabulous eggplant recipe a try soon. Enjoy! 

 
Ingredients for about 2 pints:
3/4 cup sliced roasted sweet and/or hot peppers
1 large eggplant, halved, cut in 1/4 slices
1 large zucchini, halved, cut in 1/4 slices
tossed with 2 tablespoons kosher salt 
1 cup white wine vinegar 
2/3 cup water 
1/2 cup olive oil 
2 cloves finely crushed garlic 
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
1 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano
1/4 cup reserved vinegar cooking liquid
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
.

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Fresh Tomato Gazpacho � Crumbled Stale Wet Bread Sold Separately

I feel kind of bad posting a recipe that leaves out what is arguably the most important ingredient, and such is the case with this gazpacho. This garden salad masquerading as a cold soup was originally a way for field hands to stretch their resources by crumbling up stale bread into a mixture of crushed tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Sorry, panzanella, but I�ve never been a big fan of the whole wet bread thing. Even versions I�ve had where the crumbs where completely pureed in, weren�t as pleasing to me as all-veg versions. Besides, some culinary traditions are simply leftover from a time when people had to do it that way, you know, so they wouldn�t starve to death. I call this the rutabaga syndrome.

Happily, most of us can now survive just fine without fortifying our gazpacho with such additions. Having said that, if you grew up eating that style, I�ll assume you think I�m insane for even suggesting there�s another way to make it, as you rightfully should.

Like I said in the video, this is not even worth trying unless you�re going to use some killer, end-of-summer, super-sweet tomatoes. After a long wait, we finally have some decent ones here in San Francisco. There just isn�t any substitute, so happy hunting, and I hope you find some so you give this a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 English cucumber, diced

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup minced green onion

1 large jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch dried oregano

cayenne to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pint �Sweet 100� cherry tomatoes

1 lime, juiced, or to taste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

chiffonade of fresh basil leaves or cilantro

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This Arroz Con Pollo Recipe (Chicken and Rice) Could Save Your Life

I wake up in a strange kitchen with no windows. I have no idea how I got there. All the doors are locked. I am alone. There is a note on a nearby table.

"You're to cook dinner for six people tonight, using anything in this fully stocked kitchen. You will not be told who'll be eating your food, or even what country you are in.

When it's ready, ring the bell on the table, and then lock yourself in the room at the back of the kitchen. There's a selection of old People Magazines for you to read while you wait.
If they enjoy your offering, you will wake up back in your San Francisco kitchen with no memory of this evening. If they do not like what you've made, you'll be terminated."

Well, that's just great � and I never even got to see the first season of Mad Men. Okay, so the preceding science fiction scenario is a little far-fetched, but if that were my predicament, what would I prepare? That's a no-brainer �Arroz Con Pollo, also known as Chicken and Rice.
Everybody likes chicken and rice. Just about every major culture has some sort of version of this archetypal recipe (by the way, people from minor cultures please save your emails). This is pure down-to-the-bone comfort food that I'm sure my mysterious captors would love. In fact, I'd bet my life on it. Enjoy!

Tech Note: This video recipe was filmed a while ago on my regular, non-awesome HD equipment. I used to think this stuff looked pretty good, but now, not so much.




Note: To see how I cut up a chicken into serving size pieces, watch this Buttermilk Fried Chicken video recipe!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut in serving pieces
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp smoked paprika
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/3 cup sliced green olives
2 tbsp capers
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt (or 1 1/2 tsp fine table salt)
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups white long grain rice
4 cups chicken broth

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The "Grilled Spring Chicken with Blood Orange and Rosemary" Polka - Perfect for Weddings!

I knew it was only a matter a time before I'd set a video recipe to the Chicken Dance. This spring and summer, millions of inebriated people will be joyously flapping their elbows, and bobbing their heads, to this tune at weddings all over the county. I have no problem with them, they're drunk, what do you expect? It's the sober ones that go out there to "get their Mick Jagger on," I wonder about. They really should know better! That's right, I'm talking to you Tom and Katie (see photo below).
Anyway, this video is a recipe for the game hen (aka Spring Chicken) I posted a picture of a few weeks ago. It was so delicious and beautiful I promised to film it the next time I made it, and I did. The key ingredient here is the erotic, exotic blood orange. They're Spanish in origin I believe, and add a wonderful sweet/tart flavor that's just perfect with the spicy chili sauce and aromatic rosemary.
I know what you're thinking, "this jerk just used another ingredient I can't buy where I live!" "So much for that $1,000 donation I was just about to send him�now I'm sending it to Ralph Nader instead." Hey, I don�t blame you. I'm sure it's frustrating trying to find some of the stuff I use. Sometimes I even make up fake ingredients to mess with you. But, when it comes to the blood orange, there is a solution.

Some dude named Jeff, suggested in a comment on the Game Recognize Game Hen post, that blood orange juice could be simulated with regular orange and a splash of pomegranate juice. Brilliant! In fact, it may be even better. Give this a try, and enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 game hens
2 tbsp olive oil
1 blood orange
1 tbsp Asian garlic chili sauce (hot)
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
6 sprigs rosemary leaves
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

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Garlic, Black Pepper, and Fennel-rubbed Flank Steak with Grilled Oranges - aka Party Steak!

You have to love the flank steak; so easy to cook, almost no trimming, relatively lean, and perfect for a party since it�s slight change in thickness from one end to the other allows for slices of medium rare and medium well off the same piece of meat. This very interesting recipe has something I always appreciate in a dish; it makes its own sauce. As you�ll see in the video recipe, we used the juice from some grilled oranges with the natural juices from the steak to create a fabulous looking, and tasting platter of beef.

While this dish may appear to be inspired by Italian or Spanish influences (which it is), it�s also a take on one of my favorite Chinese dishes; spicy orange beef. I love to grill flank steak with a highly flavored rub of garlic, fennel, salt and black pepper. I wondered what would happen if I added a little orange to the marinade, and then I got the idea to caramelize some orange halves on the grill, and squeeze the juice over the meat after it was cooked and sliced. It was an amazing combination, and one you must try. I did a recent video recipe with some orange and fennel grilled chicken thighs, that was very good, but this went to a whole new place. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 flank steak (about 2 pounds)
1 tbl fennel seeds
2 tbl black pepper
2 tsp salt
3 oranges
2 tbl olive oil
4 sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic
cayenne pepper to taste

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Broiled Salmon glazed with Romesco Sauce � aka Salmon glazed with �whatever�

Today�s video recipe will expose one of the great faux-gourmet tricks of all time. In the back of everyone�s refrigerator there is usually a collection of dressings, sauces and condiments. Many are almost gone, containing just a few tablespoons, yet you just couldn�t bring yourself to throw it away the last time you cleaned out the fridge. Thank goodness you didn�t! These last few spoons of �whatever� spread on some fresh wild salmon filets and then glazed under a hot broiler can produce some amazing �gourmet� results.

In this video recipe I used one of my favorite condiments, Romesco sauce, which is a spicy Spanish roasted red pepper and almond pesto type mixture. You may have seen me use this in a delicious stuffed summer squash recipe a while back. But, as you�ll hear me say in the clip, this can be done with almost anything; salad dressings like balsamic or lemon pepper, almost any aioli or mayo based sauce, any style bbq sauce, even pesto or olive tapenade will work. Since salmon goes so well with so many flavor profiles you have lots of options. The only thing to be careful with would be something that has a very high sugar content, which may burn before the salmon is cooked, since we are broiling the fish. If you do use something like a honey mustard dressing, you may want to cook it a little further away from the heat.

After watching this recipe, please, go out and buy some wild salmon (frozen is fine!) and go hunting in the back of your fridge. I would love to read your comments on what you found and used and how it came out. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 six ounce salmon filets
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbl of romesco sauce, or �whatever�
*broil under high heat for 6-10 minutes until sauce is glazed on and salmon is cooked

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