Recipes with Meat, Poultry, Fish, etc.

For the carnivores among us…

Here are cookbooks by Pati, who is a wonderful chef (and a TV show):

The “buoyant and brainy Mexican cooking authority” (New York Times) and star of the three-time James Beard Award-winning PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table brings together iconic dishes that define the country’s cuisine:

• Pati Jinich Treasures Of The Mexican Table: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets
• Pati’s Mexican Table: The Secrets of Real Mexican Home Cooking
• Mexican Today: New and Rediscovered Recipes for Contemporary Kitchens

And a TV show, La Frontera with Pati Jinich on Amazon.

Chile Colorado

Ingredients

• 4 dried ancho, pasilla or mulato chiles
• 5 dried guajillo or New Mexican chiles
• 4 cups beef broth (you can use chicken or vegetable broth if using pork)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet (not smoked) paprika
• 2 ½ lbs stew meat, or cubed beef shoulder/pork butt roast*
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• 2-4 Tablespoons oil
• 1 bay leaf
• Juice from 1 small lime
• Cornstarch slurry (1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 Tablespoon water)

For serving (optional):

• Tortillas, corn or flour
• chopped fresh Cilantro for garnish
• Sliced radishes
• Mexican rice

Instructions

• Remove meat from the refrigerator and cut into ½ inch cubes. Set aside.
• Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles while rinsing them under cold water. Place chiles in a saucepan and cover with broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the meat. Season on all sides with salt and pepper and sprinkle with flour. Add oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the meat and cook until browned on both sides. Depending on the size of your pan, you will need to do this in a few batches to prevent overcrowding.
• Remove meat to a plate and set aside. Add onion to the pan and saute for several minutes.
• As the onions cook, pour the softened peppers and the broth into a blender. Add the sautéed onion and blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Return the browned beef (and accumulated juices) to the pot. Strain the chili sauce from the blender through a fine mesh strainer into the pot. Add oregano, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder, and stir well. Add the bay leaf.
• Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about an hour, or until the meat is very tender.
• Uncover and stir in lime juice and cornstarch slurry. Cook for a few more minutes, until the sauce has slightly thickened.
• Serve as a stew with tortillas for dipping and a side of Mexican rice and beans.

Cajun Honey Butter Sauce

This is good for poultry, seafood, and vegetables.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons water
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning with salt, such as Lawry’s
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Bring 2 tablespoons water to a simmer in a small skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to low. Whisk in 1 stick cold unsalted butter a tablespoon at a time, whisking until each piece is almost melted before adding the next. Do not let the butter boil or it will separate.
2. Whisk in 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Taste and whisk in more lemon juice as needed. Serve warm.

This is a fabulous recipe. Fabulous. Follow it exactly, or as closely as you can get, for a yummy dinner.

Capitol Hill Bean Soup

By Southern Living Test Kitchen 

Ingredients

• 1 lb. dried white navy beans, sorted of debris and rinsed
• 1 (about 1-lb.) ham bone or uncured ham hock (I use a smoked hock or smoked turkey.)
• 2 1/2 qts. water
• 1 large russet potato (about 8 oz.)
• 3 cups chopped celery (about 6 stalks)
• 3 cups chopped yellow onion (about 3 medium onions)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tsp. kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Soak beans: Place beans in a Dutch oven; add water to cover, and soak 8 hours or overnight. Drain beans. Return to Dutch oven.
2. Boil ham bone and beans: Add ham bone and water. Cover and bring to a boil over high; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 hour.
3. Cook potato: Rinse potato; pierce with a fork, and wrap potato in a paper towel. Microwave on HIGH until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes; peel and mash potato.
4. Add vegetables and seasoning: Stir potato, celery, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper into bean mixture; simmer over medium-low until beans are tender, about 1 hour.
5. Remove meat from bone: Remove ham bone from Dutch oven, and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard bone and fat; dice meat, and stir into bean mixture. Top each serving with chopped parsley.

Note: If you want to avoid some of the effects of eating the musical fruit, pour off the soaking water and rinse the beans thoroughly before moving on to the next step.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

NOTE: Read through this and assemble your ingredients before you start. I know I tend to ramble, and though this is easy, it can be easy to mess up!

Chop one medium white or yellow onion. Chunkily slice 2-3 medium to large carrots and 2 or 3 celery ribs. Mince 2 or 3 garlic cloves (if you like garlic) or use a tablespoon of garlic paste. Pour enough olive oil into a Dutch oven or large pot to cover the bottom and keep the vegetables from sticking. Cook the vegetables at low heat for 5 – 10 minutes until they are wilted and soft. The carrots might not cook as quickly if sliced too thickly, so make sure they are sliced very thin. Add 1- 2 quarts of chicken bone broth. You decide how much, depending on how much soup you want. Then add cooked chicken. You can use 2 or 3 cans of canned chicken broken up into small pieces (not the best choice but OK in a pinch) or shredded rotisserie chicken meat (I get my chicken from Costco then shred it). I use a whole chicken because this is chicken noodle soup, not noodle soup with chicken. I turn the heat to medium and cook for maybe another 10 minutes, then add 2 bags of wide egg noodles or other pasta, a good pinch of salt, and a small pinch of pepper. I get a good flavor when I use twice as much salt as pepper. Remember, the chicken bone broth has salt, so taste the soup before adding seasoning. You may not need to add much salt at all. Let this simmer on low until the noodles are done. Add some parsley, and a squeeze of lemon juice (just a tiny bit to brighten everything up). Dinner is ready!

If you want to make it spicier or more like chicken tortilla soup, add some or all of a can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. You know how spicy you like your food. Leave out the noodles and celery and add half of a can of tomato paste, a small can of whole-kernel corn, a can of low-sodium black beans, and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Season with a tablespoon each of cumin, chili powder, paprika, and double the garlic. Add your spices and vegetables early, and simmer for perhaps 20 minutes after you add the chicken. You don’t have to cook the onion and garlic in oil if you are short of time, but it will add extra flavor if you do. Then add corn tortillas that you have cut into strips, using them like you’d use noodles. I use perhaps 8 tortillas for 2 quarts of broth. You can fry them until they are crisp, then slice them into strips if you like that texture better.

Red Chili Chicken Enchiladas

• Extra virgin olive oil, corn oil, or peanut oil
• 12 corn tortillas
• 2 14-ounce cans red chile enchilada sauce, or 3 cups of homemade enchilada sauce
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
• 2 cups grated cheese (about 1/3 pound)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 5 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed in with 3 tablespoons of water to form a slurry
• 1 medium red onion, chopped, soaked in a mixture of 1/2 seasoned rice vinegar and 1/2 water
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce seasoned with salt and vinegar, no oil
• Sour cream
• Sliced avocados or guacamole

Method

Prepare the enchilada sauce: (if making homemade, otherwise use canned and skip to the next step). Heat the oil in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Stir in the chili powder and cayenne. Let cook only for half a minute (if longer the chili will burn), and add the water and tomato paste. Whisk until smooth.
Add the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and cornstarch slurry. Let come to a simmer and remove from heat. Taste for heat. If you want it spicier, add more chili powder or cayenne. Note that the tortillas and chicken will absorb some of the heat, so allow for that and let it be a little bit spicier than what you want in the finished dish. Mix in 1/4 cup of the sauce with the cooked chicken. Set aside.

Prepare the tortillas: Traditionally, one would dip the tortillas in some sauce and then lightly fry them in a little oil, and then roll them up. It’s a great way to infuse the tortillas with the chili sauce, but it’s really messy and many tortillas are not sturdy enough to handle this treatment without falling apart. So, instead, we soften the corn tortillas first, and then dip them in the sauce before rolling them. To soften them, and give them a little flavor from browning, I’ll show you my mother’s method for cooking the tortillas without using a lot of fat. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan to coat the pan. Place a tortilla in the skillet and heat for a few seconds, until the tortilla begin to show some air bubbles. Use a metal spatula to flip to the other side for a few more seconds. Then add another tortilla on top of the first to soak up some of the excess oil. Flip them both together and add yet another tortilla. Keep adding them wherever there seems to be some excess oil. The idea is to heat the tortillas and soften them with the minimum amount of oil. As the tortillas become soft and heated, remove them to a paper towel to soak up even more excess oil. When you find you need more oil in the pan, add it.

Assemble the enchiladas: Preheat the oven to 350°F. One by one, dip a tortilla in the enchilada sauce and place in a 9×13 Pyrex baking dish. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped chicken in each tortilla. Sprinkle with a little cheese. Roll up the tortilla. Place in the baking dish and repeat until all dozen of your tortillas are neatly placed in rows in the casserole dish. Cover the tortillas rolls with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese. I recall often eating these chicken enchiladas with very little cheese on them. (My mom, bless her soul, has no recollection of the chicken enchiladas without the sprinkled cheese. But she’s in her 80s and sometimes doesn’t remember these things. Or she remembers later and doesn’t remember that she ever forgot them in the first place. But heck, I’m in my 50s and my memory isn’t what it used to be either.)

Bake: Place in the oven and bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Use a metal spatula to serve. Serve with thinly sliced iceberg lettuce that has been seasoned with vinegar and salt (no oil), chopped red onions that have soaked for at least half an hour in vinegar and water, guacamole or avocado slices, and sour cream. Garnish with cilantro.

Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Ingredients

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup Chinese rice wine
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons red bean curd (Optional)
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (Optional)
• 2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins

Directions

• Gather all ingredients.
• Stir soy sauce, honey, ketchup, brown sugar, rice wine, hoisin sauce, red bean curd, and five-spice powder together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until just combined and slightly warm, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile, slice each pork tenderloin lengthwise into 1 1/2- to 2-inch-thick strips. Place pork strips in a large, resealable plastic bag.
• Pour marinade into the bag with the pork. Squeeze air from the bag, seal, and turn the bag a few times until pork is well coated. Marinate in the refrigerator, 2 hours to overnight.
• When ready to cook, preheat a charcoal grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Remove pork from marinade and shake to remove excess liquid. Set aside the remaining marinade for basting.
• Rake the hot coals into two equal piles on opposite sides of the charcoal grate. Add a small container of water to the grate. Place pork strips in the center of the grate for indirect cooking.
• Cook pork over indirect heat, turning regularly and basting as desired, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), 30 minutes or long