Provencal pork stew

I'm sure you all remember that, lately I've been cooking with tomatoes a lot, with homemade tomato sauce, to be precise. Ever since my coworker flooded the newsroom with beautifully ripe beefsteak tomatoes I've been making homemade tomato sauce like crazy and, subsequently, had to figure out ways to use it, other than using it as pasta sauce of course.


I found this recipe on Cooking Light's website. It caught my eye not only because it called for a lot of tomato sauce, but also because it called for other ingredients I love and had on hand: fennel, black olives and oregano. Well, I'm glad I tried it because it was amazing. I'm also glad I made a lot of it, so I had some leftovers to enjoy a couple of nights later, when I didn't feel like cooking. I love my new job but sometimes I'm really tired at night and I don't always feel like cooking. This stew keeps really well in the fridge... I'd even say it was better after two days!


PROVENCAL PORK STEW

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 4 cups sliced fennel bulb (about 2 bulbs)
• 3 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion (about 2 large)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup fat-free chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 3 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup niçoise olives
• 1/2 cup capers
• Chopped fresh oregano 

• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add fennel and onion; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Spoon fennel mixture into a large bowl.
• Place flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Dredge pork in flour, shaking off excess. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of pork mixture; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Add browned pork to fennel mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining pork mixture, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
• Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in pork mixture, broth, herbes de Provence, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until pork is just tender.
• Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and olives. Simmer 10 minutes or until pork is tender and sauce is thick. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Fish Provencal

                                       

I have not fallen off the edge of the Earth like some of you have kindly asked through e-mail and Facebook. I've not been crazy busy either, unless you count stalking a certain semi-famous Italian hip hop artist "being busy". Most people would call it acting like a teenager, I guess, and I don't blame them. That's exactly what I was doing. Because sometimes it's easier and it's definitely more fun than acting all grown up. It also makes you forgot about the rut you are in, if you know what I mean. I had such great expectations for 2011 and so far it hasn't really been that great of a year. Especially when it comes to finances. Being unemployed is killing me and, unfortunately, it greatly reflect on my cooking. I don't mean to sound like a big crybaby, but as I'm typing I'm drinking instant coffee and for lunch I'm going to have a homemade cream of cannellini bean (without the shrimp the recipe calls for), because that's all I can afford right now. 

This fish Provençal is the last "luxurious" recipe I've made a few days ago, before I had to start eating out of my pantry and paring up the most incredible foods (hello canned red kidney beans and ricotta!). It's a very easy, very gratifying dinner to make, although next time I will definitely pan sear the fish before putting it together with the sauce so it gets all nice and browned. Other than that, Cooking LIght has once more nailed a great recipe.

FISH PROVENCAL

From Cooking Light

• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 2  garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 1/2  cups  slivered onion
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 2  cups  chopped peeled plum tomato (about 4 tomatoes)
• 1 3/4  cups  thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 1 small bulb)
• 1  cup  dry white wine
• 1/3  cup  chopped fresh basil
• 1/4  cup  chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 1  tablespoon  tomato paste
• 1/8  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• 2  teaspoons  capers
• 1  bay leaf
• 1/2  cup  water
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 6  (6-ounce) halibut or cod fillets

Preheat oven to 450F.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, and add garlic. Cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly; add onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato and next 8 ingredients (tomato through bay leaf); cook for 10 minutes. Stir in water. 

Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper over fish; place fish on top of onion mixture. Wrap handle of skillet with foil; cover and bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Discard bay leaf.  

Chicken cordon bleu

This week was one of those weeks —one of those weeks when you barely have time to take a shower, let alone update your blog. I spent more than eight hours a day, every day, in the office, which isn't something that helps my sanity. And since I'm a reporter, I always feel that I should be out —you know— reporting. If you add the fact that the newsroom where I work is one of the noisiest places on earth, well you can imagine how "easy" it is to concetrate over there. I usually wear my noise canceling headphones and try to immerse myself in my indie rock nirvana but sometimes even that isn't enough to cut out the background noise so I just lose my mind a little (on the inside) and dream of the moment I'll be home with a beer in one hand and a martini in the other.

Also, I didn't cook much this past week because I was too broke to buy the ingredients —a very sad situation to be in at 29, but one that occurs every once in a while. So we lived out of the pantry, which thank god is well stocked, and had some "interesting" dinners. But since I got paid yesterday, here I am again, cooking away. This chicken dish is delicious and it's worth the pounding and the rolling. A suggestion: don't pound the chicken at 11 p.m. like we did. We got all our neighbors very concearned.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
From Cooking Light
1/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5  teaspoons  butter, melted
1  large garlic clove, minced
1/2  cup  dry breadcrumbs
1  tablespoon  grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1  teaspoon  paprika
4  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  dried oregano
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
4  thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
1/4  cup  (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.

Pork chops "Robert"

I have no clue who Robert is and my friend Google for once hasn't shed any light on my dilemma. I have been going through the "Mastering the art of French cooking" tome lately and the more I read it the less I believe I'll ever master said art, mainly because I usually leave the office between 6 and 7 p.m., which means that I don't have hours to dedicate to the preparation of my meals. Mastering the art of French cooking is a great book written -as Julia Child herself announces in the introduction- "for the servantless American cook". What good old Julia didn't take into account is that in 2009 the avarage American cook not only would be servantless, but would also be employed full-time, a detail that makes most of the recipes in the book impossible to make on a week day. Or at least it makes it impossible for me -Julie Powell did it so I guess it is technically possible. To make a long story short, I was going through the book the other day and I happened to find a recipe for cotes de porc Robert, a recipe that not only sounded yummy but also reasonably quick to make (I mean reasonably quick by 1950s standards, it takes about an hour). So I made it and I have to say it was the best pork chops I have had in a long time: slow-cooked, juicy and smothered in a savory tomato sauce. What else can one ask for?

PORK CHOPS ROBERT
For two

2 thick-cut, bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup minced onion
All-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup good quality chopped tomatoes out of a can
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon sage
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Fresh chopped basil

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper.Brown them in an oven-proof casserole over medium high heat. Remove from casserole and set aside. Brown the onions in some butter on low heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Sift flour over onions and cook for two minutes more.

Preheat oven to 300F.

Add canned tomatoes, sage, salt, wine and stock. Simmer for a few minutes. Add tomato paste, taste and adjust seasoning. Place cooked chops back in casserole and baste with tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes or until pork is done. Garnish with basil and serve immediately.

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

I know, the name of this recipe sounds kind of scary... and 40 cloves of garlic seem like a lot! But trust me, once the garlic is cooked it looses most of its pungent flavor and it ends up tasting... almost sweet, I would say. Anyway, I tried this recipe after seeing it in Cooking Light magazine -after changing it a bit to fit my taste. I guess that the original French recipe calls for a whole chicken, cut up in pieces, but I have finally ran out of the insane amount of whole chickens I had bought and frozen, so I used chicken breast instead. I was a little worried that the breasts would dry up, but they didn't. Actually they turned out perfect: juicy, tender and very tasty. The sauce is lovely mopped up with slices of French bread.

CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC
Makes 4 servings

2 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1 sprig rosemary
4 celery stalks, cut into 3 pieces
4 chicken breast halves
3/4 cup dry vermouth
Salt
Pepper
Dash of ground nutmeg
40 unpeeled garlic cloves

Combine first 4 ingredients in a 4-quart casserole. Arrange chicken over vegetables. Drizzle with vermouth; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Nestle garlic around chicken. Cover casserole with aluminum foil and casserole lid. Bake at 375° for 1 1/2 hours. Garnish with fresh tarragon, if desired; serve with French bread.

Ratatouille

We've all seen the movie. The Pixar cartoon about the cute little rat that wants to become a chef. I particularly enjoyed it, not only because I think Pixar movies are sheer genius, but also because the whole plot revolves around the relationship between chef and restaurant critic. Of course ever since I've seen the movie I've been obsessed with creating the perfect ratatouille, the French peasant dish that eventually wins over the heart of the -aparently heartless- restaurant critic. Last night I made a pretty good one, even though I say so myself. So here it is: the perfect side dish to make when you have a lot of vegetables sitting around the kitchen.

RATATOUILLE:

1 small eggplant (not those giant, flavorless ones, please...)
2 small zucchini
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 can of good quality chopped tomatoes, such as Del Monte
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh thyme
Fresh marjoram
Fresh oregano

Coarsely chop all the vegetables and mince the herbs.

In a large dutch oven pour a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and gently saute the sliced garlic and onions, until tender. Add eggplant and zucchini and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add bell pepper, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add minced herbs, cover and cook on low for 5 minutes more. Serve as a side dish or as a main course with slices of bread.