World Peas

This moment when Spring melts into summer brings us a burst of peas, specifically garden peas also called English peas to differentiate them from their ancestor, the split pea used in South Asia for dhal.  
Seventeenth century Frenchmen (think petit pois), then eighteenth century Englishmen set themselves to breeding the plump soft pea in the pod from the hard lentil like legume they found all over India. Thomas Jefferson was so fascinated he joined the effort and is considered the original breeder of the garden pea in America.  

Like their progenitor, garden peas are nutritious: they have protein, fiber and hard to find vitamins. They're a lot more colorful and quicker to cook. They go with just about anything. And even kids like them, presented as smashed peas--traditional British nursery food. I included a recipe for smashed peas in my book Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking. Know when shopping 1 lb of pods yields 1 to 1¼ cups peas, which makes 2 servings.  
 
A word of advice: don't toss those pods in the garbage when the peas are out. They are remarkably flavorful. Boil them up in some salted water for 15 minutes. Then remove them with a slotted spoon  and save that flavored water for a risotto, paella, to cook your peas, to cook pasta. You won't regret this extra little step.

Here are a few ways to enjoy peas right now.
I already posted a paella recipe last time because paella makes a great home for peas. In Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, I included an old southern Italian recipe for petit pasta with fresh peas, the very small pasta meant to look like rosary beads.
   
Garden Pea "Hummus"

 

I have to put hummus in quotes because it is actually the Arabic word for chickpea  although it's become in America the word for any mashed dip dish. I have posted this before and do it again because it's a keeper recipe you can use again and again. It goes to a picnic or potluck or on a boat. It spreads nicely on toast or crackers or in a pita pocket for a sandwich.  It's pureed enough to be baby food and to dip carrots and cucumbers into.
 
2 cups shelled peas (more or less 1 lb shelled peas) 
2 bunches fresh green onions, roots off and stalks trimmed (do not remove all the stalk) 
1 clove garlic, minced 
3 tbsp olive oil 
1/3 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley 
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, another 2 tbsp for garnishing 
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste 
Sea Salt to your taste 
4 oz creamy soft unflavored goat cheese 
1/2 cup cooked cannellini (white) beans, drained 
pinch of nutmeg

Chop the scallions coarsely.

In a medium/large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium flame. Add scallions and garlic and sauté 1 minute or until scallions start to soften. Be careful not to burn garlic. Lower heat if necessary. Add the shelled peas and shake the pan. If it's too dry and they want to stick add another tbsp olive oil. Add 1/2 cup water and cook over medium heat 3-4 minutes until peas start to soften. Add the parsley and cook another minute. The peas should be soft but not soggy or losing color. Drain off any excess water and pour the contents of the pan into a food processor. (if you have an immersion blender you can keep the peas in the pot, okay). Add the mint, salt, pepper, goat cheese and beans. Quickly puree into a thick paste. If it's too thick, add a tbsp or two of olive oil. Sprinkle on a pinch of nutmeg.

That's it. You can serve this with or on sliced cucumbers--a very cooling dish. You can spread more creamy goat cheese on a slice of baguette and top it with a smear of the pea hummus and a sprinkling of chopped mint leaves. You can use this to fill radicchio leaves--the lower half or smear it on a lavash, top with mascarpone and salmon roe, then roll up the lavash into a large cigar. Now cut it into serving size pieces. In a pinch you can just stick a spoon in and enjoy all the freshness of spring.

Pea Fritters

There are several versions of these fried patties. You either smash up the peas into a paste or you leave them loose. This is not totally mashed peas with bacon version and it makes a lovely vegetarian lunch served with mint based raita (raita/tsatsiki the yogurt  and cucumber condiment is made with dill or mint), or a tomato feta salad.

18 ounces fresh green peas

4 1/2 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese

3 large eggs, beaten

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, and lemon wedges for serving (cut after zesting)

3/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Optional: 1 tablespoons Israeli za'atar

1/2 tsp mild chili like Aleppo pepper or chipotle

2/3 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup packed mint leaves, finely chopped

7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

About 3 1/3 cups corn or safflower oil, for frying

Smash the peas in a food processor so they are coarsely crushed. Put them in a large a mixing bowl. Stir in the ricotta, eggs, lemon zest, salt, a good grind of pepper, optionally the za'atar, ground chili, flour and baking powder. Mixing until they are blended. Gently fold in the mint and feta.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Line a plate with paper towels.

With a large flattish spoon, make large balls you flatten into patties or make patties about 2” wide. Fry as many as fit in one layer in the pan 3 to 4 minutes, then with tongs, turn them and brown evenly. Use a slotted spatula to transfer them to the lined plate while you cook the remaining batch.

Serve warm, with lemon wedges and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Pea Pudding
If you have time for a few steps toward something unusual and glamorous, this is for you. It brightens a meal of grilled meats or chicken. It's also a vegetarian centerpiece.  
serves 8 
2 lbs shelled peas: steamed until soft, drained and puréed 
6 oz butter, melted 
1 tsp salt 
4 eggs, separated 
¼ lb grated Jack or Fontina cheese 
¼ cup sugar 
1½ tsp baking powder 
½ cup flour (cake if you have it) 
2 tsp dried mint, crushed or 1 tbsp fresh 
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350º. 
Beat egg yolks until thick and whisk in sugar. Alternately whisk in flour and melted butter. Stir in smashed peas, salt and cheese. Blend well. Stir in baking powder.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until very stiff and fold into pea mix. Pour into a buttered Charlotte mold or pudding dish, set it on a baking sheet and fill that sheet with ¼” water. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Unmold to serve with lime wedges and dill.


Risi e bisi

This (rice and peas) is the traditional Spring risotto dish of Northern Italy although some gourmets claim it's more a soup than a risotto.   They also argue over whether or not it should contain pancetta. You can choose. You can make it either way to your taste and be correct. You will also find different recipes for a pea risotto.
  serves 4-5

2 lbs peas in the pod
1 tbsp unbleached flour
1 tsp coarse salt
1 med celery stalk, cleaned
10 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves only
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz pancetta or other unsmoked bacon, in tiny pieces: Optional
1/2 c dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
3 c beef stock or veg stock
2 c Arborio or similar Italian rice
To serve: 3 tbsp unsalted butter
scant 1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Shell the peas. Fill a bowl with enough cold water to cover them and stir the flour into the water. Add the peas and let them soak 30 min. Meanwhile wash the pods, put them in a large pot with 4 c water and the coarse grained salt. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook 50-60 minutes.

Drain and rinse the peas. Finely chop the celery and parsley together on a board.
In a med saucepan/pot, heat the butter with the oil until the butter is melted. Add the pancetta and sauté over med/low heat 5 min. Add the celery/parsley mix and cook 5 more minutes. Stir in the peas and continue cooking 5 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to your taste, then the wine. Cover the pan and simmer 20 minutes. The peas should be cooked but firm. Remove from heat but let pot stand covered.

Remove the pea pods from the cooking water. Add the beef broth and heat toward boiling.
Into a large heavy covered casserole, carefully pour the juices from the pea pan. Over med/high heat bring them to a boil and quickly stir in the rice. Sauté 3 min. Now start ladling one ladle at a time the hot peapod broth into the casserole, stirring so the rice absorbs it. Keep ladling once the rice absorbs the last and continue until almost all the liquid in gone except 1/4 c. Add the peas and pancetta to the rice with the last broth mixture. Taste and adjust salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Blend and serve immediately.
        
Salmon peas and potato salad 
This was my tribute to Maine's July 4 when traditionally everybody celebrated the sea and land arrival of spawning salmon, fresh peas and new potatoes.  I put them all together in a composed salad and it was a big hit. I also allowed people to choose between fresh poached or smoked salmon
serves 4

8-10 new potatoes: red bliss or Yukon gold, scrubbed and boiled until al dente (not mushy), drained and cut into bite-sized pieces 
4 slices smoked salmon or 1/3 lb cooked fresh salmon, cut into bite sized pieces 
1 cup (from 1lb in pod) cooked fresh peas (steamed 3 minutes in salted water with a sprig of mint) 
1 tbsp fresh dill, minced 
1 tsp celery seed 
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste 
2 tsp capers, without juice 
1 sm red onion, peeled and minced (you can substitute 5 scallions but you'll lose a color in the bowl) 
Salt to your taste (be careful as the capers and smoked salmon may be salty) 
Combine all the above in a serving bowl.

Dressing
1 tsp sherry or balsamic vinegar 
1 tbsp plain Greek (thick and not watery) yogurt 
pinch of salt 
3 tbsp mayonnaise 
1 tsp ketchup
Whisk together and blend into the potato salad.
Top with 1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced and serve or refrigerate covered until ready to serve.


Tagliatelle with peas and proscuitto 
This is a relatively quick to throw together meal right now.It's especially delicious and soul warming if you make your own noodles.

Serves 4

1  lb tagliatelle pasta
1/2 lb fresh peas in the pod
1/4 c olive oil plus extra for drizzling
1 garlic clove, crushed
handful of mint, freshly chopped
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
8 slices prosciutto or for vegetarians 1/2 lb soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a medium pan of salted water to the boil. Add the peas and cook for 2–3 minutes. Drain and plunge into iced water. Set aside.Heat the olive oil in a pan over a low heat and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add the drained peas and cook 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook fresh tagliatelle 3–4 minutes, until al dente. Dried will take longer: see package for   instructions.

Drain the pasta and add to the pea mixture. Toss well, then season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the chopped mint and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and mix in pieces of the prosciutto, or scatter the goat’s cheese, and serve.

Aloo Mataar

This is the Indian/Nepali way with English peas: mixed in with potatoes and chilies. It's a side dish in a meal. 
serves 4

3 medium boiled potatoes 
3/4 cup green peas 
2 tbsp corn, mustard or safflower oil 
1 tsp cumin seeds 
1" fresh ginger peeled and smashed into a paste
3 garlic cloves peeled and smashed and minced
1 green chili, minced
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt or to your taste
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves

Peel the potatoes and cut into bite size pieces.
In a small bowl, mix ginger, garlic, green chili, coriander, fennel seed, turmeric, and paprika with ¼ cup of water.
Heat oil in a saucepan. (Test heat by adding 1 cumin seed. If tit cracks right away, the oil is ready.) Add all cumin seeds, once they crack, add the spice mix in the bowl. Cook about one minute or until spices start to separate from the oil. Add green peas plus half a cup of water. Cook 3 minutes or until peas are tender.
Add potatoes and salt. Mix and try when you do to mash a few piece of potato to make the sauce thicken.
Add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil then lower heat to medium and cook about 5 minutes to release all flavors. Add garam masala, chopped cilantro and tomatoes. Blend gently and continue cooking on low heat until gravy comes to boil. Cover pot and turn off heat. Let sit 10 minutes. Then it's ready to serve!

 

 

Another Primo One Pot Meal

Paella for some is a big deal Spanish dish fussily made for a special occasion. For the Spanish themselves, it's just another way to make dinner. Paella started as a peasant dish that let the cook throw into one pot whatever was on hand, so there is not one rigid recipe or version. It's said the original Valencia dish to gain fame contained rabbit and still does, not the seafood Americans think paella has to be made from. In other words, paella is the perfect meal for cleaning out your refrigerator.  (The photos here show my most recent effort: vegetarian paella because I was out of chorizo.)       

If you know history, you know for centuries much of Spain was part of the Arab Empire--Al Andaluz. So it should not surprise you to learn  paella is simply Spanish for pilaf or what east of Arabia is called pilau. Or that the American version of this partially fried rice is jambalaya. Call it what you will, it is always a hearty meal of yummy stuff braised in rice. In other words, a fabulous one pot dinner.  

It does help to have the right pot. But you can improvise. Shallow, round and flat should be the key descriptions of what you choose to use. Round and flat spreads the ingredients out. Shallow facilitates fast cooking but also that most precious part of paella, socarrat. The Spanish actually have a special word for the rice that gets crisp and brown on the bottom of the pan--like Persian tahdig, and usually make sure it goes to the most honored person at the table.  For the cook, the best part of socarrat is how it occurs specifically because once you put all the ingredients into the pan, you are supposed to do nothing to disturb them and that means: do not rush in to try to keep the rice from sticking to the pan. Paella is relaxing to cook! 

The key ingredient, of course, is the rice: paella rice is short grain, round and medium starchy. It is much quicker to cook than the Italian rices (arborio, carnali) used for risotto. Another special feature is how it absorbs three times its volume in water while the average rice grain  absorbs only twice its volume. So, it absorbs more flavor. And best of all those swollen grains do not get mushy and clump together.  Bomba rice, the variety grown in Valencia, is widely sold as "paella" rice. Calasparra rice grown in the town of that name is also perfect. If you can't easily find either of these, just go for the CalRose short grain rice. 

The other key ingredient here because it is the only spice and the source of glamorous golden color is saffron. A pinch elevates any paella to the sublime.       

Ingredients to go into the saffron rice can be whatever you want. It always helps to make onion the first among them. The Spanish use a lot of bell peppers, red and green. They (and I) like peas. And artichoke hearts (which come in cans).  I usually chop in what's left of a leek and love to include celery for the sweetness it adds. I've been known to toss in a leftover cauliflower clump or two, a few chopped up green beans (aka string beans), and a bit of parsnip. Broccoli is too strong for this.    

Carnivores can add slices of chorizo to be authentic or pepperoni to be close. These will flavor a mostly vegetarian version magnificently, so you can stop there. I usually do because I try to keep a stick of chorizo on hand for this quick meal. The next step would be chicken thighs, one per person. Then shrimp or prawns.  If you want the full monty, mussels and clams on top.  Instead of chicken, shrimp and prawns, you can use rabbit. There is no right or wrong here. Except no meatballs or beef please.

So what to do?
Chop the onion and thinly slice the chorizo. Thinly cover the bottom of what pot you've got with olive oil, heat it up and sauté the onions and chorizo about 3 minutes to soften the onions.   

If you are using chicken, put it in skin side down and brown it so it gets crisp. Then flip it over. Add sliced leeks, large bite size chunks of bell peppers, diced celery, thin disks of parsnips, small chunks of cauliflower and stir to blend. Cook 2 minutes just to soften these vegetables. Add peas (1/3 -1/2 c per person), green beans, shrimp or prawns.  Add 1/3 c rice for every person. Add a pinch of saffron, the size of that pinch depending on how much paella you are cooking. Now add 1 1/3 c vegetable or chicken broth or water for every 1/3 c of rice.  Season with salt. Over high heat bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and let it boil until the liquid is almost gone. Cut the heat and let it steam dry before serving.

If you are using clams and mussels, clean them and when the liquid is half gone from the pot spread them around the top. Put foil over the pot and let them steam the rest of the way. They should be fully opened in the end.  

SERVING NOTE: The Spanish usually do not include tomatoes in paella because they are likely to serve paella with tomato salad or pan de tomate.  I have also served it to myself in quarantine with a cucumber, red onion and cherry tomato salad.

   

   

Primo One Pot Meals

Since you liked the one-pot pasta option, and quarantine has made everybody so insanely busy, they don't want to wash dishes on top of homeschooling, home working and schedule management, here are more premium one-pot meals to brighten a stay in the great indoors.  

Since it's Ramadan, let's start with the traditional Middle Eastern favorite for people who have to pray all day and can't cook or wash dishes:
Harira

This is the Moroccan version. It's astonishingly hearty and tasty. It's radically simple: you just put everything--and there are a pile of ingredients--in one pot and cook it up. It takes a while but you do not have to tend it. Go do something else and let it be. It also tastes better the next day.
serves 6

1 1/4 lb stewing lamb or beef cut into 1" cubes
2 tsp ground cumin
1 lg onion, diced
1 lg bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, diced
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground coriander
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c green lentils
1 qt beef broth
1 qt water
1 tsp salt or more to your taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 c tomato paste
1/2 tsp harissa (this is the local hot sauce)
1 1/2 c water
The last four items are for the "roux" that will thicken the stew at the end. Combine them in a bowl or cup with a pouring spout and whisk together until smooth. Set aside.

Lightly coat the bottom of a large heavy gauge casserole with olive oil and heat it over medium flame. Add the meat and cumin and sauté 3-5 minutes to brown the meat. Toss in the onions and stir. Add 1/2 of the cilantro, all the parsley, celery, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, coriander, 1 tsp of caraway, chickpeas, lentils, broth and water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 1 hour. Strain off the foam at the top.
Slowly pour in the tomato mixture, stirring to blend. Add salt and the remaining caraway plus a little more black pepper. If the stew looks like the liquid is drying up too soon, add another 1/2 c water or broth. Simmer 30 minutes. Strain off the foam at the top.

Ladle into bowls. Squirt with lemon juice, add chopped cilantro and serve with fresh dates and flatbread. (I sometimes cut the dates up at serving time and throw them in the soup bowls.)
 

Crete Fisherman's Stew
The Mediterranean fisherman throw their right off the boat catch and their potatoes in a pot, fire it up and have a delicious meal in no time. They use a local fleshy white fish, turbot. You can use halibut or sea bass, branzino, even thick slabs of haddock.
Serves 4

2 1/4 lbs medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 turbot (around 4 lbs), scaled, gutted and cut into 5 pieces, including the head
1 1/2 c tomatoes, chopped
2 celery sticks
4 bay leaves
Salt
1 2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3 c water
Juice of 2 lemons
Parsley leaves
4 langoustines or prawns or a small lobster in pieces

Use a lidded saucepan that will fit the potatoes snugly in a single layer at the bottom of the pan. After adding the potatoes, add the fish, followed by the tomatoes, celery, bay leaves, salt, olive oil and water. The liquid will only partly cover the fish. Put the saucepan over a high heat and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and continue to boil another 20 minutes. Shake the pan every so often, but never stir the contents.

 Before you turn the soup off, make sure the potatoes are soft. Add the lemon juice and parsley leaves, then give the pan a final shake. Turn off the heat, add the langoustines or prawns or lobster parts and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.
 

To serve, use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the fish to shallow bowls. Divide the soup and potatoes into bowls. Add a langoustine or prawn to each bowl. Serve with toasted baguette or warm pita.

Arroz con Pollo

This is the famous, beloved Spanish, and also Cuban --the version here, dish of sauteed chicken buried in rice made yellow by luxurious saffron. It's the simplest form of paella.

serves 4-6

1/4 c olive oil

1 lg onion, diced

2½-3 lbs chicken parts

1 green pepper, seeded & diced                             

juice of a lime                                        

2 c rice

3 garlic cloves, minced                          

4 c chicken stock

1 tsp ground chipotle chili or similar      

1 c tomatoes, diced (boxed okay)

1 tsp ground cumin                                

Salt and pepper to your taste

5 saffron threads

Marinate chicken in lime, garlic, cumin and chili 4-6 hours. In a large skillet or paella pan, heat oil. Brown chicken on both sides and remove from the pan. Sauté onion and green pepper 5 min. in the remaining oil. Stir in the rice to glaze with oil. Add the saffron. Arrange chicken over rice, skin side up. Add tomatoes, marinade, stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover the pan and cook 25-30 minutes until rice is fluffy and chicken tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro.  Serve with a tomato cucumber salad.

Pasta e fagioli (Macaroni and beans) 

This is one of my personal favorite comfort foods. Using canned beans speeds up the preparation with only a small loss of flavor. This version calls for ordinary macaroni or ditalini with cannellini (white) beans, but I've seen versions made with Roman (borlotti, cranberry) beans too. Use what you have on the shelf. Who cares? And btw, this is a rare Italian recipe that does not use garlic.

There is a historic debate, never settled, as to whether this is a soup or a pasta dish, meaning how dry should it be when served. However you want it to be works and tastes just fine. 

One more note: there is a Roman version known as pasta e ceci, macaroni and chickpeas. I posted the recipe during the winter. It looks like this:

Serves 4

1 cup dried white beans  (Great Northern, Cranberry, Cannellini)

1 sm yellow onion, diced

¼ tsp dried rosemary leaves

1/8 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

2 sm or 1 lg carrot, peeled and diced

1 lg celery stalk, diced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried sage leaves

1 cup chopped tomatoes in their juice (canned or boxed is okay)

4 cups vegetable or beef broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

¾ cup tubellini, ditalini, or some small pasta

handful arugula, chopped

½ cup freshly minced flat leaf parsley

parmesan cheese for garnish

Soak the beans overnight. Or if you're in a hurry, soak them in boiling water for two hours. Drain and rinse.

Line the bottom of a heavy gauge casserole or soup pot with the olive oil and warm it over medium heat. Add the onion, rosemary leaves and black pepper. Sauté over medium low heat until the onion is soft and golden. Add the carrots and celery and continue to sauté another five minutes so they start to soften. Add the oregano, sage and tomatoes in their juice. Stir to blend. Cook 7-8 minutes over low heat.

Add the beans and stir them in to the mix. Add the broth. Bring the pot to a boil. cover and immediately reduce heat to simmer. Cook 50-60 minutes until beans are tender. (NOTE: If you are using canned beans, drain them, add them and just cook 20 minutes.

Scoop out about 1/2-2/3 cup of the beans--veggies will come with them, that's okay, and puree them. Return to the pot to thicken the broth. Add salt to your taste.

Bring the pot to a boil again and add the pasta. Cook until pasta is done, about 10 minutes. Toss in the arugula and parsley and turn off the heat. Let it sit 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top of every bowl or plate.

 
Choucroute (Alsatian sauerkraut with sausage, bacon and potatoes)

The real deal, served as choucroute garni is quite complex. The pork fest is cooked in one pot, but nearly all day as various ingredients are added. I've made the long as well as my own short versions that depend on how much time and how many ingredients I have around. The point is just to cook together fresh sauerkraut (choucroute in French), potatoes, apples and various forms of pork (sausages, hot dogs, smoked bacon, pork belly). Then bring out the mustard and enjoy.  
serves 4 

2 tbsp veg oil or lard
1 lb pork belly, pancetta or other fatty cured pork 
2 med/lg onions, sliced into very thin rings
1/2 bottle dry white wine (cheap is fine but dry is vital)
1 c broth (veg or chicken or veal) or water
1/2 lb smoked bacon strips (cut into thirds)
2 lbs fresh sauerkraut
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves         
2 whole cloves 
10 juniper berries** (this is the traditional flavor but if you don't have them shift the palate with 1 tsp caraway seed) 
2 pork sausages (with fork holes punched in poach them a minute to leach out the fat you don't want) , cut in half
4 frankfurters or knockwurst
1 bratwurst
4 med boiling potatoes, peeled and halved
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced in thin wedges
 **These are often tied in cheesecloth with the whole cloves and whole garlic cloves. You can if you have the cloth and time. Otherwise stick them in and pull them to the side of the dinner plate when eating.

 In a large heavy gauge casserole pot, over med heat, fry the pork belly or whatever you are using in the oil/lard to get the fat into the pot. Then lower heat and add the onion. Sauté gently so it turns soft and golden.  Add the bacon and cook just 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and broth/water. Add the sauerkraut. Mix in the garlic, cloves, juniper berries or caraway seed. Nestle the poached pork sausages, frankfurters, bratwurst (cut in 4 pieces), potatoes and apples  in it. Season with salt and pepper remembering sauerkraut is cabbage cured in salt. Cover the casserole and cook on med/low heat 40 minutes. (This is an abbreviated version of the real deal.) All the meat should be well done. If it is not cook on til it is. 

When serving, make certain everyone gets equal potato, sausage, bacon and frankfurter. And bring out your best beer.                                              

Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup

not my photo

This is soul food you never forget, hearty beef and slurpy noodles fragrant with star anise and cinnamon.
Serves 6

1 lb. lean stewing beef, cut into one- inch cubes
2 lg. onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
5 lg. garlic cloves, peeled, lightly smashed and thinly sliced
1” fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into “quarter” sized disks
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole star anise
4 cups beef broth
5 cups water
salt to taste (this will depend on how salty the beef broth is)
1 tbsp. corn or safflower oil
1 tsp. hot chili sauce or paste (i often use the Vietnamese chili garlic sauce available in supermarkets)
½ lb. flat wide noodles (i often use pappardelle or Pennsylvania Dutch egg noodles)
1 bunch (10 oz) spinach leaves, rinsed and drained

Heat the oil in the bottom of a large soup pot or casserole over medium high heat. Brown the meat by quickly stir frying it for a minute or two. Add the chopped onion and sliced garlic and continue to stir fry another minute.  Add the ginger disks, stars anise and chili. Stir to blend with the meat.  Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for an hour or until the beef is very tender. At this point you can remove the soup from the heat, cool, cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.  Or you can skim off impurities and fat and continue.

When you are ready to serve, prepare the noodles in their own pot of boiling salted water, cooking until tender. Rinse and drain. Distribute them among 4-5 soup bowls.

While the noodles are cooking, remove the stars anise, cinnamon sticks and ginger disks from the beef soup. Add the spinach leaves on the top and bring back to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat. Taste for salt.
Ladle the soup over the noodles in the soup bowls and serve.

Kleftiko, Greek roast lamb with potatoes

I included this two weeks ago in the Spring Lamb post so please fine the recipe there.