Lou's Most Excellent Sweety Leeks

Need a different side? Here you go. Works well with anything (assuming you like what's in this to start with). Leeks are filthy veggies - always loaded with dirt n' shit. Make sure you clean 'em (I'll tell you how).

3 large leeks
8 pieces of raw okra, sliced into ¼ inch slices
¼ fennel bulb, sliced very thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS fresh ginger, finely minced
1 TBS minced parsley
1 cup Gewurztraminer wine
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Clean the leeks. Take each leek and cut the bottom ½ inch off then go ½ inch into the green end and cut the leaves off. Discard the bottom and top. Halve each leek longitudinally. Discard the outer layer and rinse the leek under cool water, fanning it, to remove all the dirt.

Slice the leeks very thin, as thin as you can without slicing your finger tips off (which shouldn't happen if you know how to chop, but I do this wrong all the time).

In a medium non-stick skillet, over medium heat add the olive oil and warm to shimmer. Add the okra and sauté for about 3 minutes, tossing to keep even. Add in the garlic and ginger and saute for 30 more seconds, then throw in all the leeks with about 2 TSP of sea salt. Toss to mix and reduce heat to medium-low. Toss every-so-often to keep the cooking even over the course of 5 minutes. Add half the wine to the mix and continue to cook for five more minutes, then add the rest of the wine and cook for 2 - 3 more minutes, until the leeks are tender. Add in the parsley and serve immediately.

I topped off some halibut on mashed cauliflower with this mixture. Pretty good.

Lou's Most Excellent Spicy Poached Pears

Unfortunately, this is the only pic I got off it: Jim's last bite. And it was hell forcing him to sit still while I took this. Not to mention we were both lit like the sun.

This is loosely based on LME Poached Pears. Kind'a.

- Instead of red wine, use a white (Gewurztraminer preferred)

- Cut the pears in half and decore with a melon baller

- Add 4 dried Thai chilies to the poaching

- Prior to serving, take the pear halves and brown in a pan with browned butter for a few minutes

- Serve only with whipped cream - that's all you need.

Delish.

Lou's Most Excellent Complexity Syrup

Simple syrup = 1 cup sugar + 1 cup water.

Complex syrup = see below.

It's complex but incredibly simple. This is a variation on the syrup used in the LME Poached Pear recipe but is likely more versatile.

Reason being is that you start with a sweet(er) wine.

I used this as a base for some whip cream tossed with strawberries. Quarter your berries and whip up the cream just before you get stiff peaks - you want to avoid stiff peaks here. Add about a TBS of Complex Syrup per ½ cup of cream whipped and gently mix in. Toss in the berries and you have a fantastic dessert. You can also use this:

- On other fruits
- As a sub for balsamic vinegar in salads
- On a cheese plate to complement heavy, stinky cheeses

3 cups red, sweet dessert wine (Port, etc.)
1 cup cold water
3 TBS honey
1 bay leaf
6 cloves
1 TBS whole black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
2 TSP fresh ground nutmeg

Add all the ingredients to a small pot and bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Once there, reduce heat to medium and gently boil until the contents have half evaporated.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into another pot. Bring back to a boil like before, then reduce to medium.

Once the liquid is nearly 80% reduced, keep an eye on it as it may erupt out of the pot. If this is happening, it means you're almost done so turn down the heat to medium-low. Reduce further until it's almost all foamy. When you remove it from the heat you should have a syrup left, and only about 3 TBS.

Cool prior to use. A little goes a long way too.

Lou's Most Excellent (Adult) Chicken & Rice

The reasons why our mothers made chicken and rice - that classic cream o'mushroom + rice + chicken mix - are simple. It was quick, easy, and could cheaply feed an army of hungry kids.

It's a guilty pleasure to us all, still. No one wants to admit they love White Trash Cuisine but this dish is one of the hallmarks.

I was mouth-agape/appalled at Paula Deen's take on this. No where does she have fresh anything (except the onion) and to top it all off, you use precooked chicken in it. To her credit, though, to give her dish some pseudofresh crunch she adds in water chestnuts...canned, of course. It's probably the only thing with crunch that comes in a can but I thought it was a neat addition. Still, welcome to the sad state (or future) of American cooking.

This one here, folks, is good enough to feed to guests and doesn't take too much work. You'll need a very large pan for this, either a roasting pan or a 10 x 15. This will not fit in a 9 x 13.

And yes, it still uses canned soup.

1 eight-part cut whole chicken*
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can Progresso Creamy Mushroom Soup
1 can Campbell's Condensed (of course) Cream of Celery Soup
2 cups Jasmine rice
1½ cups dry white wine
10 Shitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced into ½" strips
8 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
4 rutabagas, peeled and cut into ½" cubes
6 parsley sprigs, leaves minced
2 thyme sprigs, leaves minced
3 ounces sliced water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
1 TBS butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

* You can buy whole chickens precut if you want to save time.

Preheat your oven to 325.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken parts. Generously salt and pepper the pieces. In a large skillet add the butter and heat to medium high. Brown the chicken parts, 2 - 3 at a time, for about 3 minutes each or until the skin has browned. For the legs brown each side. Set pieces aside.

[If you notice in my picture, the leg bone near the ankle is exposed. You can do this by cutting a ring around the ankle of the leg prior to cooking with a very sharp knife so you cut through the tough, white tendons. What results is a big, mega-tender, meltingly delicious ball of chicken meat on the end of the bone.]

In a large bowl add the two soups together, the parsley and thyme, and 10 ounces of water (one Campbell's can). Stir to mix and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium and add about 1 TBS of olive oil and the onions. Saute for about 8 minutes, until the onions are nicely yellowed and near translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds, then add the rice and stir to mix for two minutes.

Add the white wine and simmer an additional two minutes and then the carrots, rutabagas, water chestnuts. Saute one more minute and then add the soup mixture. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.

Lightly butter the roasting pan. Pour in the rice/soup mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Set the chicken pieces, skin side up, on top of the rice with the larger pieces toward the ends of the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.

Voila.

[Or, in Deenish, "VOH-WAH LAH!"]

Lou's Most Excellent Mushmozz Chicken

Man I wish I could remember how I made this. I waited a week to write it up and what a mistake that was. It came together real quick.

If I were to do it again here's what I'd base it on:

- Brined chicken breast, but only brined with salt and garlic.
- Smoked mozzarella cheese
- Plum tomato, seeds removed, diced into dime sized bits
- Marinated mushrooms from the olive bar at Whole Foods, about 4oz.
- White wine (vino verdhe used here)
- Papardelle pasta
- Chiffoned basil
- Parmesan cheese

Pepper the chicken breasts and sear the chicken in about 2 TBS of olive oil. Remove the breasts then add the tomatoes and a splash of wine, saute for about 30 seconds and remove the tomatoes.

Begin cooking the pasta in boiling salted water.

Add about 2 TBS of the oil from the mushrooms to the pan, bring up to medium heat, then add 1 TBS of flour. Stir with a whisk to make a roux. Do this for about 2 minutes, until it bubbles profusely.

Add about 1 cup of wine to the roux and mix. Add the mushrooms. Return the chicken breasts to the pan, coat with sauce, and then top each with a generous portion of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Add any remaining tomatoes to the pan. Cover the pan to melt the cheese.

Drain the pasta when al dente and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Remove the chicken from the pan and plate; add the pasta to the pan and toss to mix. If necessary, add the pasta water to thin the sauce. Plate the pasta and add shaved Parmesan as desired.

It was pretty damned good...I should'a paid a little more attention.

Lou's Most Excellent Spaghetti Carbonara

Too many people mess with this dish up by adding additional ingredients, like cream and onion. I’ll eat it, hell, I’ll even order it knowing that it may come out not like mine unless I know in advance it has peas in it. WTF is that all about?

I’m a big fan of fresh pasta except here. The preparation can be a bit tough on delicate pasta so dried works best because it has a higher crunch factor. Also, fresh pasta takes on a lot more water than dried and can wind up becoming gummy here.

I’m always one for adding more stuff to everything I make…except this. Carbonara shouldn’t be fucked with and everyone loves my carbonara and that’s the proof. Try this recipe and you’ll see why. Proof to my obsession with this dish? My old roommate in grad school (Liz) and I tried to coteam on making carbonara and we got into a huge fight about it. There wasn’t enough bacon and I flat out didn’t want to help her because of that reason alone. Happily we laugh about it today. But…well…still…never mind….

This recipe happens quickly, like restaurant kitchen quickly. Assuming no distractions you can easily have this done in 15 minutes or less (once you have the water boiling) from start to finish.

1 pound spaghetti
½ pound of pancetta (substitute thick cut bacon if unavailable)
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 large eggs, room temperature
¼ cup dry white wine
¾ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 TBS fresh grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
2 TSP minced parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Extra Parmesan for serving, if desired

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil according to the pasta directions. You will cook the noodles to al dente, which is critical to great carbonara. Start cooking the pasta when you’re ready to proceed below.

Heat the 2 TBS of olive oil in a skillet over medium/medium-high heat. While heating, cut the pancetta into dime sized chunks. Add the garlic cloves and pancetta and cook until browned; discard the garlic. Drain the oil, reduce heat to medium and add the wine. Simmer until the wine is cooked into the meat, about 5 minutes.

While pancetta is cooking, in a very large bowl scramble the eggs. Add the cheeses, parsley, and 5 – 8 cranks of fresh ground pepper. Mix thoroughly.

By this time your pasta should be near al dente. When ready, QUICKLY drain and then pour the pasta – still a little wet – into the cheese/egg mixture. With salad tongs quickly toss – don’t stir – the mixture together; the egg mix should start to coddle. Sprinkle the pancetta over and toss together.

Serve immediately on warmed plates.

If using pancetta instead of bacon you may need to add a little more salt. Also, if you don’t have Pecorino-Romano you can do without; just add more Parmesan. The trade off is you won’t have the flavor bite one should get with carbonara – it should sting your nose just a little with some pungent aroma in the steam rising off the plate. That bite, along with the bite of the al dente pasta and crisp pancetta, is what makes this great dish.

But it’s still great without.

Lou's Most Excellent 750ml Wine Stew

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, ‘Hearty Beef Stew’

Make this stew in a large, heavy-bottomed soup kettle measuring at least ten inches in diameter. If the kettle is any smaller, you may need to cook the meat in three - four batches rather than two.

Also, this recipe takes just about all day to cook. If having it for dinner you’ll need to start around 10ish.

Why a whole bottle? I think I was on my second bottle while making the original and wound up adding all of said second bottle instead of one cup...accidently. I wouldn't call it a discovery of superglue moment but I think it ranks up there. I make a thicker roux to compensate for the thinness so you still get something hearty.

The short ribs are a nice little addition. Call them a bonus for folks that get one as they just melt in your mouth.

Maybe.

4 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
3 beef short ribs (optional)
1 TBS kosher salt
1 TBS fresh, coarse ground black pepper
5 TBS vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped into half rings
5 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS tomato paste
6 TBS unbleached all-purpose flour
1 bottle (750ml) red wine (preferably cheap cab sauvignon, cab franc, or camenere)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 TSB dried thyme
8 small boiling potatoes , peeled and quartered
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 cup frozen peas (6 ounces), thawed
3 TBS minced fresh parsley leaves

Heat oven to 225 degrees. Place beef cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat in large oven proof, nonreactive soup kettle or Dutch oven; add beef to kettle in two to three separate batches. Brown meat (and short ribs, if using) on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch, adding more oil if needed. Set meat aside.

Add ~2 TBS oil and onions to now empty Dutch oven; sauté over medium heat until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste; continue to sauté about 30 seconds longer. Stir in flour; cook until pasty and lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add stock, bay leaves, and thyme and stir until thickened and bits on bottom of pan mixed in too; bring to simmer. Add wine, bring to simmer, then add meat and remaining juices; return to simmer. Cover and place in oven; simmer undisturbed for about 4 hours.

Remove from oven, add potatoes and carrots, cover, and return to oven. Simmer about 2 hours. Add peas and allow to stand 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, adjust seasonings, and serve.

[Can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated up to 3 days.]