Lou's Most Excellent Orzo & Ouzo

Judy and I were talking about the glories of the classic rice with cream of mushroom soup combo our moms used to make. I had a head of broccoli, mushrooms, and other stuff laying around. I didn’t feel like making rice but I had some orzo. Close enough.

The Ouzo in the “duxelles” started as an accident. While sipping Sambuca making this the dog did something that made me cough and simultaneously go into bad dog discipline mode. In doing so I accidently spit a mouthful of Sambuca into the duxelles. It became a perfect match. Also, no worries about having a black licorice flavored concoction here - it tones done the earthiness a bit while adding some sweet.

Also, these “duxelles” are my quick and simple take on traditional duxelles. I would not sub these duxelles for ones you’d use in a beef wellington. Plus, with the spit and all….

8oz your favorite mushrooms, stems removed
½ medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 head of broccoli florettes
¾ cup uncooked orzo
½ cup of heavy cream or half and half
1 TBS minced parsley
Ouzo, Sambuca, Pastis, Raki or some other anise flavored liquor (saliva optional)
Unsalted butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper


In a large pot of salted boiling water, add the broccoli florettes and blanch for about 2 minutes. Drain, run under cold water until cooled, and set aside.

At the same time cook the orzo according to the package directions minus two minutes. Drain, run under cold water, dump into cold water and set aside.

Making the “duxelles.” In a food processor add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and 1 TBS of olive oil. Puree until the paste appears like refried beans with absolutely no chunks, about 1.5 minutes or longer. You may have to stop the processor at times to push down the sides.

Place the puree in a non stick pan, add 4 cranks of a pepper grinder, two pinches of kosher salt, and set over medium-low heat for about 8 – 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so with a rubber spatula. [The point here is to get rid of the excess liquid in the duxelles, not cook them. If the duxelles begin to change color your heat is too high.]

When you’re able to move your spatula across the bottom of the pan and the duxelles stay separated, add 2 TBS (the equivalent of a mouthful) of Ouzo. Mix well and place the duxelles into a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large pan add 2 TBS of butter over medium high heat and drain the orzo well, running your fingers through it to encourage more water to come out. When better begins to bubble add the orzo. Sauté until orzo begins to lightly brown then add the broccoli. Sauté an additional 4 – 5 minutes. Add cream, mix well, then add duxelles and stir to mix for about 2 - 3 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Lou's Most Excellent Pork & Broccoli Pasta

For a quick, weeknight meal if you've got the sauce - or any sauce - made or in a jar. Inspired from the book "Urban Italian."

3 cups of Lou's Most Excellent Tomato Gravy
1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
1 can of chickpeas
1/2 pound broccoli rabe florettes
1 handful of fresh basil leaves
1 TSP fennel seed, coarsely ground in mortar & pestle or spice grinder
1 TSP or more, red pepper flakes
1/4 pound thin cut salami, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Grated parmesan cheese
Penne pasta, rotini, rigatoni, or some other tube pasta.

In a sauce pan add ~ 3 TBS olive oil and two minced cloves of garlic. Saute over medium heat until the garlic starts to sizzle, about 30 seconds. Add the sausage and saute until done, breaking the meat up into small, dime sized pieces while cooking.

While this is cooking drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid, and add 2/3 of the peas to a blender and all the liquid. "Liquify" for one minute.

Add LME Gravy, basil and fennel seed and bring to a gentle boil. Add chickpea puree and cover reducing the heat to simmer.

Blanch the broccoli rabe florettes in boiling salted water for 60 seconds, drain, and cold shock into an ice water bath. Drain well and set aside.

Begin cooking pasta.

In a frying pan add 2 TBS olive oil and remaining garlic. Add salami pieces and cook until just a little crispy, then add florettes, remaining chickpeas, and red pepper flakes. Saute on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Drain pasta quickly and return to the pot or a new bowl.* Add one large ladle - about 1/2 cup - of sauce and toss.

Serve pasta with pork sauce and top with cooked florettes. Add Parmesan as desired.

* If using long noodles like spaghetti, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. After draining, add back this water to the pasta before tossing with the sauce.

Lou's Most Excellent Chicken n' Rice

It’s such a bummer that when grilling season starts in the spring (correction: it never “stops,” it just slows down in the winter) many of those oven dishes that you reacquaint yourself over the winter months disappear.

I’m a fan of white trashy recipes, such as the classic Chicken & Rice made, of course, with Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom (or Broccoli) soup glop. The whole thing is perhaps four ingredients: chicken parts, instant rice, soup/glop mix, and maybe a canned veggie thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately I’ve grown up a bit.

So the other night I decided to give this a shot but I was grilling my chicken. Some would instantaneously say, “You’re screwed, dude. The chicken has to cook with the rice.” Au contraire mon ami. Here’s my version that’s fresher, tastier, and perhaps a bit healthier (no can of mystery glop here). It’s some work but it’s excellent. And you still get to grill your chicken.

1 whole chicken, quartered, brined in LME Chicken Brine
1 cup Jasmine rice
Chicken broth, at least 2 cups
2 small heads of broccoli, cut into florettes
2 TBS unsalted butter
¼ cup dry white wine
8 button mushrooms, stems removed, cut into eighths.
½ medium yellow onion, grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TBS parsley, minced
2 cups milk (1% will work)
1 TBS flour
1 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Grill chicken when you’re ready – this recipe will take about 45 minutes so if you put your chicken on indirect heat on the grill when you start this you’ll be done in time.

Blanch the broccoli florettes for 2 minutes in salted boiling water, drain, and cool under tap water. Set aside.

Bring 1.75 cups of chicken broth to a boil, add the rice, stir to mix and resume to boil. When boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook undisturbed for 20 minutes.

In a small skillet over medium heat add 1 TBS of butter and melt. Add the mushrooms, a big pinch of salt, 5 cranks of fresh pepper and lightly sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the onion and parsley, sauté an additional ~3 minutes, then add garlic and continue for 30 more seconds. Add the wine and simmer off. Remove mix from pan and reserve the pan to make the Béchamel.

Béchamel sauce. This is one of those things that you have to know how to do as a cook. It’s a foundation: here it is. In the pan you cooked the mushrooms add 1 TBS of butter, melt over medium heat, then add 1 TBS of flour. Stir and bring to paste that bubbles. Add 1 cup of milk and stir to mix. This will thicken up to creamy, albeit somewhat tasteless, sauce. Voila: you’ve made a “light” Béchamel sauce. A medium sauce would be 2 TBS each of butter and flour and thick would be 3 TBS each.

Transfer the rice (should be done by now) to a large bowl. Add the Béchamel, mushrooms, and three big pinches of salt and mix. Then toss in the broccoli.

In an 8x8 pan add half of the mix and sprinkle ½ cup of the cheese. Top off with remaining mix and cheese, pour 1 cup of milk over this, cover and set in the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes covered then 10 uncovered.

Fin.

This may not be as salty as some would like so if “something’s” missing, add some salt.