Mexican style beer braised pork

• Pork shoulder 
• lard 
• onion 
• garlic 
• dried chilis 
• coriander 
• cumin 
• salt, pepper 
• cinnamon 
• dash cloves 
• oregano 
• thyme 
• bay leaves 
• beer 
• orange 

1. Acquire a large chunk of pork, ideally with bone still in (for better flavor). Shoulder is good. Butt is probably also good, or any other large cut. 
2. Brown the pork on medium to high heat, using some lard if it's a really lean cut. Remove meat. 
3. In the same pot, reduce heat, add a little more lard if necessary, and saute chopped onion, garlic, chilis. 
4. When soft, add spices and continue to cook for another minute or two. 
5. Return meat to pot, add herbs (oregano and thyme), a whole bottle of beer, and a juiced orange. I usually just crush the orange flesh and throw all of it in there, minus peel. Top up with enough water to cover the meat about half way. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 
6. Simmer for at least 6 hours. Occasionally turn, and add more water as necessary. 
7. When the meat is tender enough to remove bones (after at least 4 or 5 hours), remove them, and continue cooking. 
8. When meat is falling apart, increase heat a bit until juice completely reduces and is soaked into the meat. Might have to pay some attention in this last 20 mins or so, stirring to prevent meat from burning. 
9. At this point, if you don't mind an extra step, you can slide the meat into the oven and broil it for a minute or two until it's crispy on top. Or maybe just continue to cook it on the stovetop in its own juices, until it gets crispy on the edges. This is the traditional last step for carnitas. I haven't tried it, yet, though, am usually too hungry to bother! 
10. Serve with corn tortillas (homemade is the *best*), fresh guac, salsa, and fresh cilantro.

Ethiopian recipes

I need to learn to make more Ethiopian food. So good! Found this little blog, maybe will give these a try: http://ethiopianfood.wordpress.com/recipes/ These look good, too: http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/recipes.html Also, nice looking spice mix: http://www.food.com/recipe/berbere-200366 Now just to find an injera supplier in Switzerland...

More fish soup

I've been making this one a lot lately...

Cod, salmon
Tiny shrimp

Butter
White wine

Leek
Yellow onion
Celery root (or celery stalk or celery seed)
Carrots

Thyme
Oregano
Parsley
Red chili
salt
pepper

Chopped tomato
Bay leaf
Optional: fresh chopped basil and cilantro
Wild rice, or Milk + flour for thickening
Lemon

Saute vegetables in butter (leek, onion, celery, carrots). Add spices and herbs and stir them in a bit so they soften. Add water, white wine, shrimp, tomato, and a bay leaf. If you feel like fresh basil and cilantro, add it now. If you're going with wild rice instead of milk, add the rice now, too. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer. *Secret ingredient alert*: a teaspoon of sugar at this point is surprisingly effective for bringing out the other flavors... shhhh!

Rice option: Let the rice cook until tender (30 mins or so).

Milk option: simmer for 30 mins or so to let veggies cook and flavors blend. Then mix a little flour in a glass with cold milk, and pour into soup to thicken. Simmer another few mins.

Final 5-10 mins: Add the salmon and cod, and let it gently poach just until cooked.

Remove from heat and serve with lots of lemon juice!

Palak paneer

This one requires getting ahold of some paneer: you can usually get it at international food stores (asian, indian, etc). I think I saw it at Trader Joe's once, too, so maybe it's becoming more mainstream in the States. :) 

• Oil for frying, or ghee 
• Paneer 
• Lots of greens + Mostly spinach + Optionally: mustard greens, fenugreek leaves + Optionally: fresh mint, fresh cilantro 
• Onions 
• Chilis 
• Ginger 
• Tomato 
• Garam masala (for example, like so.) 
• Coriander 
• Cumin 
• Yogurt or cream 
• Lemon 

Fry paneer in a little oil on high heat, until golden and kind of soft and spongy. If you've never fried paneer, don't be shy! It would probably burn before it melted, so don't worry about it melting all over your pan. Just turn up the heat and go at it. Make sure it gets soft on the inside and golden/crispy on the outside. You really don't want hard paneer. 

Remove paneer, turn down the heat, add a little more oil. Saute spices, onion, chili, ginger. *Pro tip*: optionally puree these in a food processor before adding to the pan. Makes for good texture and even flavor distribution. 

Once the other veggies are soft, add greens and chopped tomatoes and let them cook down to mush. Add a little yogurt or cream: enough to give it a good consistency, but not so you'd make it cream-based. At this point, you can puree it all to give it a smoother texture. 

Add salt, pepper, and any additional spices to taste. I usually find myself adding more garam masala at this point, and often extra cinnamon or extra chili powder. Just spice it until you like it. 

Add back the paneer, and let it all simmer a little longer to heat the cheese and let the flavors blend. 

Top with lots of generous squeezes of fresh lemon before serving. Serve with rice.

Lemon poppy seed cake

I don't usually like cake. But this turned out pretty good! Nice 'n' moist, and lemony. 

Wet

• 3/4 cup white sugar 
• 1 c butter 
• lots of vanilla 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• squirts of lemon juice 

Dry 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 tablespoons (30 grams) poppy seeds 
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 

Mix wet as usual, but be sure to: add eggs one at a time, and add the lemon juice after everything else is mixed together (to avoid curdling the dairy -- it also emulsifies, though, so that helps!). 

Mix together dry. Add dry to wet in batches, beating well. You can add the lemon zest to the dry first, or add it as a final step after everything is beaten together. 

Butter and flour a loaf pan. Bake 350 F / 175 C for 40 - 50 mins (time varies a lot. Just watch it!)

Chana Masala

• ghee 
• mustard seed 
• cumin seed 
• coriander 
• turmeric 
• black pepper 
• fennel seed (just a little bit - really) 
• onion 
• garlic 
• ginger 
• chilis 
• tomatoes (2 or 3) 
• chickpeas (a large can, or similar amount of pre-prepared) 
• lemon 
• fresh cilantro 

Dice the onion/ginger/garlic/chilis, or blend in a food processor. 

Bring ghee to medium-high heat. 

Add mustard and cumin seeds and let them saute a minute or two, until they're fragrant. 

Reduce heat and add the rest of the spices and the onion/ginger/garlic/chili mix. 

Cook until soft (but on a low enough heat that they're not caramelized). 

Add chopped tomatoes and chickpeas, simmer until tomatoes are cooked down, and mixture thickens a little. Remove from heat. 

Mix in lots of lemon juice (maybe a half or whole squeezed). 

Serve topped with lots of fresh cilantro. 

Tips: 

+ Use a lot of the onion/garlic/ginger/chilis. Like maybe a whole onion, half a garlic head, a small handful of chopped ginger. This and the tomatoes are your base, so don't be shy. Same for the spices. 

+ I prefer to eat this with rice. Steve likes roti. Take your pick! (maybe both!) 

+ Avoid canned tomatoes. I did this once, and it was... weird. Italian-Indian (and not in a good way!) 

+ Careful not to burn the spices when you first saute them. I burnt the mustard/cumin combo once, and whooo boy. 

+ Don't use too much fennel. ;) You can probably go to town with pretty much everything else, but that fennel is mighty powerful.

Ginger-molasses bars

Mmmm, chewy and gingery! These came out even better than anticipated. Like a brownie, but spicy! 

Wet: 

• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar 
• 2/3 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup molasses 
• Lots of ground ginger 
• Some cinnamon and cloves 
• Dash salt 
• Vanilla 
• 2 eggs 

Dry: 

• 1/2 c whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 almond meal (or more whole wheat, but the almonds are sooo good, believe me!) 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• a little lemon zest 

Mix wet, mix dry, mix together. 

Grease a 9x13 inch pan, pour, bake at 350F / 175C for 20 to 30 mins. 

I sprinkled the top with sugar before putting in the oven. 

Some ideas: 

+ Err on the side of undercooked, rather than over. 

+ It might be worth trying this at a higher temp for shorter time (say, 375F / 190C) to get a chewier edge. 

+ I bet fresh ginger in here would be tasty! Diced really fine, or pureed. Maybe candied ginger (tho that might be too sweet).

Brownies

Lovely chewy (not cakey) ones!

Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp...

• 115 g (8 tbs) unsalted butter
• 100 g (4 oz) dark, dark, dark chocolate. Like 85%. Or just unsweetened.
• About 250 g (1 to 1.5 cups) sugar
• Tiny bit of salt
• Couple teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 120 g (1 cup) flour
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
• Bunch of crushed walnuts (if desired, of course!)

Heat oven to 175 C (350 F). Butter a square pan, 20x20 cm (8x8 in).

In a small pot suspended over a larger pot of simmering water (a.k.a. double boiler), melt butter and chocolate. 

Remove pan from heat; cool slightly. Stir in sugar, salt, & vanilla. Mix in eggs one at a time until blended. 

Add flour & cocoa; mix/beat until smooth. Stir in nuts.

Scrape batter into pan; lick bowl and spoon. (Or offer them to someone you love.) Lick fingers. 

Bake at 175 C (350 F) until the place starts smelling amazing, and the brownies more or less pass the toothpick test (the toothpick shouldn't come out dry -- a few moist crumbs still sticking to it are a good thing!); i.e., about 35 minutes, although you can even start checking after 20 minutes, depending on if your pan is glass or metal. Whatever you do, don't overcook them!

Remove from oven. If you're the patient type, you can let them cool & cut them into squares.

Or you just stick a fork into the pan and burn your mouth (but it's worth it).

Goat milk yogurt quiche

This looks pretty incredible: http://www.redwoodhill.com/goat-milk-yogurt-and-cheese-quiche I'll try it next weekend and let y'all know how it comes out!

Icelandic recipes!

Just found this marvelous-looking blog of Icelandic recipes:

http://icecook.blogspot.com/

I want to make everything on it! Stay tuned for how the fish-potato pancakes turn out, or pickled herring, or fish in white sauce...