Falafel

1 cup dried Toor Dahl (split chick peas)
1 leek, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 jalapeño or Seranno pepper, cubed
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda

About 2 cups canola oil

Soak the beans in water for t least 4-6 hours.  Drain.  Place the beans, leek and carrot into a large food processor.  Pulse several times to start grinding the ingredients and mix together.  Add the jalapeño, garlic and cilantro and continue pulsing until you just achieve an even, but coarse and a bit crumbly meal, something like a couscous or a tabouleh salad.  Don't over process to form a paste.  Turn out to a mixing bowl and stir in the flour and baking soda.  Add a bit more flour if you need, to make a dough that will stick together when pressed in your hand.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Form about 16 small patties about 1/2-inch thick.  Heat oil in a deep skillet or shallow, wide pot (at least 6-inches in diameter).  test oil temperature with a tiny bit of falafel, which should dance and sizzle actively.  This should be about 350F.  Fry 3-4 falafel patties at a time - don't crowd or the oil temperature will plummet too much and make the falafel oily instead of very crispy.  Flip after about 2-3 minutes, and cook about another 2-2 minutes on the second side.  Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel.

Serve on top of a tabouleh salad, or inside halved pita breads, with diced cucumber, red onion and petite cournichon pickles.  Serve with a tahini sauce - or my favorite - a Moroccan chili yogurt sauce.

Makes 16 falafel, enough to serve 4-5.

Marrakesh Express Dilly Chili Sauce

1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Harissa, Moroccan red chili paste
1/2 tsp Ras el Hanout, Moroccan curry powder
1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh dill, minced (or 1 tsp dried)

Whisk all ingredients together.  Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld together.  Makes about 1/2 cup sauce.

Confetti Quinoa Tabouleh Salad

1/3 cup bulgur
1/4 cup white quinoa
1/4 red quinoa
1 cup water
1 fresh ripe tomato
1 cup parsley leaves, minced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/4 red onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1-2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar, as necessary
Zest of 1 lemon

Soak the bulgur in a bowl of water, completely covering the bulgur.   Rinse the quinoa and drain well in a fine mesh strainer.  Add to the water in a small pot and bring to a boil.  Add a dash of salt, stir, reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.  When the quinoa is cooked, gently fluff with a fork and turn into a wide bowl to cool off.  Drain the bulgur thoroughly and stir into the quinoa.

Finely dice the tomato, and drain the seeds away a bit.  Add the tomato and all remaining ingredients except the zest, into the bowl with the quinoa.  Fold gently to mix thoroughly.  Top with the lemon zest.

Makes a large bowl, about 4 cups.

Morrocan Lamb Tagine with Fennel Artichoke and Apricot

1 lb boneless lamb, cubed
1 bulb fennel
1 leek, cleaned and diced
6 oz. frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed
12 dried apricots
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp Ras el Hanout Moroccan seasoning
2 tsp Pimenton, smoked Spanish paprika
1 Tbsp Harissa, Moroccan chili sauce, or other chili sauce
About 1 cup water

Trim the stalks of the fennel, about 2-3 inches above the white base, depending on the size.  Slice the fennel about 1/4-inch thick, and then into 1/4-inch matchsticks.

Preheat oven to 375F.  Brown the lamb in a tagine or small Dutch Oven, in bit of olive oil, in batches, so that pieces are well separated. Set browned lamb aside in a bowl.  Add fennel to tagine and cook about 5 minutes to soften.  Add the artichokes and brown them up with the fennel another 5 minutes.

Return the lamb to the tagine or Dutch oven and stir in all the remaining ingredients.  Add enough water just to moisten the stew and help mix all the ingredients.  Cover and bake for an hour.  Stir tagine, recover and cook another 30-45 minutes, until lamb is very tender and splits with a fork.

Serve with couscous and lemon wedges.  Serves 4.

Salmon Tacos

1 lb salmon fillet, skinned
1 Tbsp chili powder

4 6-inch flour tortillas
1 cup guacamole
2 cups Orange Pico de gallo salsa

Sprinkle the chili powder evenly on both sides of the salmon.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Heat a tablespoon of canola oil in a non-stick skillet (I like to use a ceramic non-stick skillet so I can heat the pan very hot before adding the salmon).  Add the salmon and shake the pan as the salmon cooks on the first side for about 4-5 minutes.  Flip the salmon and cook on second side for another 4-5 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked through.  Remove salmon to a plate and flake with a fork, into coarse pieces.

Place tortillas on a plate.  Spread about 2 tablespoons guacamole on one half of each tortilla.  Evenly distribute the salmon on top of the guacamole on each tortilla.  Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of Pico de gallo salsa on top of the salmon on each tortilla, and fold the tortilla in half.  Spoon another 2-3 tablespoons of salsa on top of each folded tortilla.  Top with a dollop of sour cream and guacamole, and serve with lime wedges.

Makes four salmon tacos.

Orange Pico de Gallo Salsa

2 tomatoes, finely diced and drained
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño or Seranno chili pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, pushed through a press
Palmful fresh cilantro, minced
1 fresh navel orange, peeled and finely diced
Dash salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup olive oil

Toss all ingredients into a bowl and allow to Maserati together for at least half a hour.  Stir well before serving.

Makes about 3-4 cups.

Cassoulet de Poulet Express

Don't kid yourself - this is peasant food.  And good.  Let's see what we can make with what's lying around the farmhouse today.

My mother, a quintessential 'French Chef', would always make mention of "le vrais Cassoulet" - the real Cassoulet, that originated somewhere between Carcassonne and Toulouse in southern France.  I won't get into the argument of exactly where, or with exactly which ingredients.  Let's be realistic - I'm sure many farmhouse wives all over France cooked meats with beans and threw in what food was hauled in that day, or needed to be eaten before it went bad.  But over the years local recipes got famous as did the local sausages, et cetera. 

If you can get local sausage from Toulouse - great!  If you have duck confit - great!  If you have lamb necks - great!  Your in great shape to make Cassoulet de Toulouse.  Or, if not, try this one - Cassoulet de Poulet Express; a fairly quick study on a classic dish.  But whatever you do, make sure you follow the directions to push down the browned crust at least once, and reform another crust on top.  It's well worth the extra half hour for a thick delicious crust on top.
1 roaster chicken, cut up into 8-10 serving size pieces
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp rosemary
2 cans Great Northern  or Canellini beans, drained
3-4 links fresh Chorizo sausage, ½ lb
1/2 link kielbasa sausage, ½ lb
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine

½ cup Panko crumbs
½ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil

Sauté the chicken in a bit of olive oil in a large oven-going skillet with a top, or ideally an enameled Dutch oven.  You will have to brown the chicken in two batches, about 6-8 minutes per batch, setting the batches aside in a bowl as they are done.  Add the carrots, onion and celery into the skillet after the chicken is removed, and sauté for about 10 minutes, until the veggies begin to soften and caramelize a bit.  After about 5 minutes, mix in the garlic and rosemary.  Push veggies aside to also sauté the Chorizo sausage to brown a bit.  Slice the sausages into 2-inch pieces and return to the veggies.  Add the kielbasa.

Pour the tomatoes, broth and wine into the skillet or Dutch oven, and mix, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  If using a skillet, transfer to a 5-6 quart oven-going casserole dish.  Stir in the beans and then submerge the chicken pieces into the bean mixture.

Mix together the crumbs with the oil (I think your fingers are the best tool for this!).  Top with half of the bread crumbs and bake, covered, for half an hour.  Then push down the crust into the beans, and top with the other half of the crumbs.  Cook uncovered another half hour.

Serves 6-8.

Cook's note:  Canned or dried beans?  You'll hear arguments either way, but I find canned beans are very good indeed.  If you prefer, you could use about 1/2 lb dried beans, soaked overnight.  Drain them and cook them in a pressure cooker for 5 minutes at high pressure with a glug of olive oil and a bay leaf, or a teaspoon of poultry or Bayou seasoning.  Don’t add salt or you will toughen the beans.  Remove from heat and allow pressure to reduce naturally, about 10-15 minutes.  Alternately, cook the beans according to package directions, for about an hour and a half (I dislike this approach for the time and the energy wasted – if you are concerned, buy yourself a nice new pressure cooker, they are very safe!).

...and the sausages...  As I mention above, you can use what you have and/or like.  If you have Andouille sausage, you can use it.  Linguica - use it.  But because some of these sausages are already smoked, you don't necessarily need to saute them - you can add them with the kielbasa.  Otherwise use fresh Italian sausage - preferably hot!

Chicken Brinjal Curry

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large eggplant, cubed to 1-inch
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 small jalapeño pepper, minced
3 large fresh, ripe tomatoes
1 cup water
2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp favorite curry powder - or:
2 tsp powdered turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds

First cook the eggplant by tossing into a dry hot non-stick skillet (I use a ceramic non-stick skillet which can be heated very high when dry; not good for Teflon).  Toss well and when beginning to steam and sizzle a bit, add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and the garam masala  Continue cooking eggplant over medium heat, stirring often, but gently, to brown the sides but not to break down the cubes.  Set the browned eggplant aside in a bowl. 

In the same pan, gently heat the cumin and fennel seeds just to toast a minute or so, until fragrant.  Add a glug of canola oil and toss in the chicken.  Brown the chicken well on all sides and then add the powdered turmeric and fenugreek. If using your favorite curry powder instead of individual spices, add it now and cook another 2-3 minutes with the chicken.  Set the chicken aside in a bowl. 

Now caramelize the veggies in the same skillet.  Add a glug of canola oil and the onions, sweat them down and sauté for about 8-10 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeño and cook another 3-4 minutes until very fragrant.  Tip the onion mix into the bowl with the chicken.

Now finish with the tomatoes by heating the skillet to high.  Add a glug of canola oil and then toss in the tomatoes.  Let them sizzle and spit,  cooking off some of their liquid.  Stir from time to time, but not too often - you want the tomatoes to begin to caramelize.  After they brown up a bit, stir them down to form a purée.  Return the chicken, onions and eggplant to the dish and add the water.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, stir, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.  Add the butter and stir to melt. This enriches the sauce wonderfully.  Serve with rice. 

Serves 4.

Salmon-filled Cornmeal Crepe

Cornmeal crepes:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
Dash salt
Dash Herbes de Provence
1 Tbsp canola oil

Filling:
1 1/2 lb salmon fillet, skinned, and cut into 4 portions
About 6 cups fresh baby spinach
2 leek, cleaned and diced
1 lemon, quartered
1 cup pickled cabbage, or Italian pickled cauliflower, or chopped cabbage

cucumber avocado crema

Prepare the crepes by whisking together all the crepe ingredients, and allowing to sit 5 minutes.  Heat the largest non-stick skillet you have, and spray with oil.  Pour in a quarter of the crepe mixture from the center, rotating the pan carefully to form a thin, even layer of crepe in the pan.  Allow to dry and brown - check the bottom after the top dries, to see if it is nicely browned.  When it is browned, flip and cook about another minute.  Flip to a plate and keep warm in a 200F oven as you cook the three other crepes in the same manner.

Meanwhile sauté the leek in a tablespoon each of butter and olive oil.  Let the leek soften and just brown slightly. Heat a large non-stick skillet and spray with canola oil.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the salmon.  Gently cook the salmon until just browned on one side, about 3-4 minutes.  Carefully flip the salmon and cook another 3-4 minutes, or until just cooked through, and no longer.

Assemble the dish by laying a quarter of the spinach leaves evenly on the top half of each of the corn crepes.  Top with a salmon fillet, so that it just pokes out of the top of the crepe.  Divide the leek and the pickled cabbage on top of the salmon fillets.  Fold the bottom half of each crepe over the salmon and fold each side over.  Flip the crepes onto a serving plate.  Top each wrap with a bit of avocado crema and serve with lemon or lime wedges. 

Serves 4.

Tofu and Sweet Pepper Stir Fry

1 package extra firm tofu, cut into bite-sized sticks
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 head cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 carrots, thickly sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced on a bias
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2-inch fresh ginger, chopped

Sauce ingredients:
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 pale dry sherry
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp hot chili paste with garlic

1 Tbsp corn starch

Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.  pour about a tablespoon of the sauce into another small bowl and whisk together with the corn starch. 

Heat a few tablespoons canola or peanut oil in a wok until almost smoking.  Add the peppers, onion, cabbage, celery and carrots.  Stir fry for about 6-8 minutes, until the veggies are very hot and just beginning to soften.  Toss in the garlic and ginger and cook another minute or two.  Set veggies aside in a bowl.

Heat another tablespoon oil in the wok and stir fry the tofu until browned on all sides. Stir carefully so as not to break up the tofu pieces.  Return the veggies to the wok and fold everything carefully together, as the veggies re-heat.  Form a well in the center of the veggies with your spatula and pour in the sauce. Bring to a boil quickly and stir in the whisked corn starch mixture.  Toss the thickening sauce with the veggies gently together to mix well.

Tip stir fry into a serving platter and top with sesame seeds or sunflower seeds, or both.

Serves 4.

Ocean Perch Baked with Cherry Tomatoes and Summer Squash

1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb ocean perch fillet, cut into four portions
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence or Italian herbs
2-3 small yellow squash, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 pinto cherry or grape tomatoes
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp capers, drained

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Salt and pepper the fish on both sides.  Evenly dust the fish with the chili power, on both sides and sprinkle the herbs on top.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet until shimmering.  Toss in the squash and shake the pan to get an even layer of the squash.  Allow the squash to brown a bit, for about 3-4 minutes on high heat, shaking the pan gently, but not turning or stirring the squash.  Once one side has browned slightly, stir to flip the squash and cook the other side another minute or so.

Tip the squash into a large casserole dish.  Add a bit more oil if necessary to the same skillet, and add the shallot and tomatoes.  Shake the pan often, while the tomatoes cook, for about 5-6 minutes.  Add the garlic and capers and cook another minute or two. 

Meanwhile place the fish on top of the zucchini and top the fish with the tomato mixture.  Bake about 15 minutes, or just until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. 

Serve with cubed avocado and lime wedges, if desired.  Serves 4.

A Minestrone

1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Herbes de Provence, or Italian herbs
1 15-oz can whole tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
1 can small red beans or light red kidney beans, lightly drained
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/3 cup orzo
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Pimenton, Spanish smoked paprika
1/2 cup white wine
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup sliced green beans, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup frozen
1/4 cup pistachio and toasted walnut pesto, or other pesto

Sauté the onion, garlic, herbes and cumin in a bit of olive oil.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and raise the heat to sizzle the tomatoes.  Add a bit more oil of necessary.  Cook another 5 minutes, to begin to caramelize the tomatoes.  Add the sweet potatoes, cabbage, orzo, wine and broth and bring to a boil.  Stir and lower to a simmer, and cook for about 5-8 minutes, until the potatoes just begin to soften.  Add the cumin, pimenton, beans and the frozen veggies, and bring back to a boil.  Stir, reduce to a simmer and cook for another five minutes or so, until the sweet potatoes are just cooked, but not falling apart. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top soup with pesto.  This soup cries out for fresh baked biscuits, and Tabasco or other hot sauce.  Serves 4.

Cheddar Dill Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
8 Tbsp (1-stick) butter, cubed and very chilled
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450F.  Mix the four, sugar and salt together in a food processor.  Pulse in the butter, just until an even coarse mixture is formed.  Transfer dough to a mixing bowl.  Stir in the cheese, red pepper and dill.  Then stir in the milk just until incorporated.

Tip the batter out to a clean counter, dusted with flour.  Gently roll dough out to about 12x12-inch square.  Fold one third of one side over, and then fold other side over.  gently roll dough out to a 12x12-inch square again.  Repeat the rolling over and once again roll out to about a 12x12-inch square.   Cut out biscuits with a cutter or a glass.  Place on a well oiled baking sheet or one covered with parchment paper.  Using a pastry brush, glaze top of each biscuit with milk.  Bake about 12-15 minutes.

Makes 15-18 biscuits.