Braised Red Cabbage with Chestnuts

2 strips thick-cut bacon (about 3 ounces) cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips1 medium onion, thinly sliced1 red cabbage head, about 2 pounds, quartered, tough core removed, quarters sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices1 large green tart apple1/2 cup apple cider vinegar2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar6 Tbsp sugar1/2 teaspoon salt, more to tasteFreshly ground pepper8 ounces canned or jarred roasted chestnuts (NOT water chestnuts), roughly chopped

1 Cook the bacon batons slowly in a large saut? pan (with cover) on medium low heat until most of the fat has rendered out, and the bacon is lightly browned, not crisp.

2 Add the sliced onions, increase the heat of the pan to medium high and cook, stirring often, until the onions have softened and lightly browned.

3 While the onions are cooking, peel the apple and cut it into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Once the onions are ready, add the sliced cabbage, chopped apple, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. Carefully toss to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan, lower the heat, and simmer until the cabbage is cooked through and soft, about 40 minutes.

4 Uncover the pan. Add the chopped roasted chestnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to boil off excess moisture for a few minutes.

Serve hot. Traditionally served with goose or roast pork.

Calamari Stewed with Tomatoes

You can buy frozen, cleaned squid in the freezer section of many grocery stores. Defrost by placing in refrigerator overnight, or in a bowl of ice water. This recipe does call for an anise-flavored liquor, which you can leave out if you want, but the dish will be better with it in.

1 Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and fennel. Stir to coat with oil and saut?, stirring occasionally, until it begins to color, about 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle some salt over it. Add the garlic cloves and tomato paste and stir well to combine. Cook this for another 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice.

2 Add the red wine, stir well, and increase the heat to high. Boil until the liquid is reduced by half.

3 Add the Sambuca or other anise-flavored liquor, and the crushed tomatoes. Stir in the calamari and bring the pot to a gentle simmer. Simmer for at least 1 hour. After an hour, taste a piece of calamari; It should be tender. If it?s not, keep simmering. Check for tenderness every 15 minutes afterward.

4 Once the calamari is tender, taste the stew for salt and pepper, adding if needed. Add the chopped parsley and fennel fronds. Stir well to combine and serve.

African Chicken Peanut Stew

Use chicken legs, thighs or wings for this recipe. They have more flavor and will hold up better with the flavors of the stew than breast meat.

1 Heat the vegetable oil in a large soup pot set over medium-high heat. Salt the chicken pieces well, pat them dry and brown them in the oil. Don't crowd the pot, so do this in batches. Set the chicken pieces aside as they brown.

2 Saut? the onions in the oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring often and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the ginger and garlic and saut? another 1-2 minutes, then add the sweet potatoes and stir well to combine.

3 Add the chicken, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, peanut butter, peanuts, coriander and cayenne and stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer and taste for salt, adding more if needed. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 90 minutes (check after an hour), or until the chicken meat easily falls off the bone and the sweet potatoes are tender.

4 Remove the chicken pieces and set them in a bowl to cool, until cool enough to touch. Remove and discard the skin if you want, or chop it and put it back into the pot. Shred the meat off the bones and put the meat back in the pot.

5 Adjust the seasonings for salt and cayenne, then add as much black pepper as you think you can stand?the stew should be peppery. Stir in the cilantro and serve by itself, or with simple steamed rice.

Beef Bourguignon

We are using shiitake mushrooms for the fresh mushrooms in this recipe, even though they are not traditionally used for this dish, because they are just so meaty and good. Feel free to use any fresh mushroom you'd like. If you don't have access to salt pork, you can use bacon, but simmer it first for 8 minutes in water, then drain and rinse, to remove its smokiness. A word on salt. Salt pork is salty. Be sparing with salt as you make this dish until the end, when you can adjust. Commercial beef stock is also salty, so you very well may have enough salt for the dish just from these two sources.

1 If you are using them, pour 1 cup of boiling water over the dried porcini mushrooms and allow them to rehydrate for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and chop coarsely. Pour the soaking water through a paper towel (to remove any dirt or debris) into a bowl and set aside.

2 In a large saut? pan, pour enough water to cover the bottom by about 1/8 inch. Over medium heat, cook the salt pork in the pan until the water evaporates, stirring occasionally. Once the water is gone, reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook the salt pork until much of the fat has rendered out of it. Add a tablespoon of butter and continue to cook the salt pork unti the pieces are browned and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the salt pork pieces to a large Dutch oven or other large, thick-bottomed, lidded pot.

3 Increase the heat to medium-high. Working in batches so that you do not crowd the pan, brown the beef. Leaving space around each piece of sizzling meat ensures that it browns and does not steam. Don't move the pieces of beef in the pan until they get a good sear, then turn them so they can get browned on another side. Take your time. This will take 15-25 minutes, depending on how large a saut? pan you have. Once browned, remove the beef from the saut? pan and place in the Dutch oven with the salt pork.

4 When all the beef has browned, add the shallots, the one chopped carrot, and the chopped porcini mushrooms if using. Stir in the pot to remove any browned, stuck-on bits in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic and the tomato paste. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

5 Add the brandy and stir to combine. Boil down by half, then add the strained mushroom soaking water (if using). Scrape any remaining browned bits off the bottom of the saut? pan and pour the contents of the pan into the Dutch oven.

6 To the Dutch oven add the bottle of wine and enough beef stock to almost cover the beef; the beef pieces should be barely poking up out of the liquid. Add the parsley, bay leaves, thyme and cloves. Cover and bring to a bare simmer; there should be very few bubbles, if any at all, just steam. After 1 hour, add the second carrot, peeled and cut into chunks of 1-2 inches. Continue cooking for another hour, or until the beef is tender.

7 Meanwhile, trim the tough stems off the shiitake, cremini, or button mushrooms and slice into 2-3 large pieces; small mushrooms leave whole. Prepare the pearl onions. Boil them in their skins for 4-5 minutes. Drain and submerge in a bowl of ice water. Slice the tips and root ends off the onions and slip off the outer skins.

8 When the beef is tender, use tongs to remove all the beef and the chunks of carrots; set aside in a bowl. Strain the contents of the Dutch oven through a fine-meshed sieve set over a medium pot. This will be the sauce. Boil the sauce down, tasting frequently. If it begins to taste too salty, turn off the heat. Otherwise, boil down until you have about 3 cups. Turn off the heat.

9 Heat a large saut? pan over high heat and add the mushrooms. Dry saut? the mushrooms over high heat, shaking the pan and stirring often, until they release their water, about 4-5 minutes. Add the pearl onions and 3 tablespoons butter and toss to combine. Sprinkle salt over the onions and mushrooms. Saut? until the onions begin to brown. Remove from heat.

10 Returning to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and whisk in the beurre manie. Whisk in a third of the paste, wait for it to incorporate into the sauce, then add another third of the beurre manie, and so on. Do not let this boil, but allow it to simmer very gently for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of brandy. Taste for salt and add some if needed.

11 To serve, coat the beef, carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions with the sauce and serve with potatoes, egg noodles or lots of crusty bread.

Feast of the Seven Fishes

Ever heard of the Feast of the Seven Fishes? Hank explains:

Growing up in New Jersey among so many Italians, I thought every Italian family celebrated Christmas Eve with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a tidal wave of seafood dishes each featuring a different fish or shellfish. But as I grew up and met more Italians from other parts of the Old Country, I learned that the Feast is a very Southern Italian tradition. Regional or no, I love the idea of feasting on the ocean's bounty as a warm up to the heavy roasts of Christmas Day.

Every family has its own menu, but there are a few dishes that almost always appear: Smoked eel was a big one when I lived on Long Island, as was stewed or fried baccala, salt cod. Calamari or octopus was a constant, and crab or lobster was common as well. Some families served huge piles of fried smelt, others pasta with anchovies. West Coast Italians served up cioppino, a seafood stew that can often have seven fishes in one bowl.

Why seven? No one really knows. Some say it is for the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, others say it symbolizes the church's Seven Virtues: faith, hope, charity, temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice.

Cinnamon Snap Cookies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1/4 teaspoon ground cloves12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature2/3 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/4 cup honey1 large eggextra sugar and ground cinnamon for coating

1 Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

2 Beat the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the honey, egg, and vanilla extract and beat for another minute on medium until well incorporated. Be sure to pause halfway through to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

3 Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and mix until they are incorporated into the dough and the dough is smooth.

4 Lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough into two equal parts. Lightly roll them out into logs about 2-inches in diameter. Place them on pieces of plastic wrap and wrap them up and carefully smooth the logs out. Place in the freezer and chill at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

5 Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside a small bowl and add some cinnamon and sugar in whatever proportions you enjoy best (I find 1/4 cup of sugar to a teaspoon of cinnamon is perfect for me, but taste and go with what works for you).

6 Slice the dough into 1/4-inch rounds with a sharp knife. Take each round and press one side into the cinnamon sugar you mixed earlier. Place the dough round sugar-side up. Give the cookies plenty of space as they will spread when they bake.

7 Bake for 10-13 minutes or until a dark golden-brown. Be sure to watch them very carefully after 10 minutes as they can burn very quickly. The cookies will puff up a bit and remain soft once out of the oven. Don't worry as they will become crisp as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cooking Brazilian Feijoada

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add ¾ cup of chopped onion, green onions, and garlic; cook and stir about 4 minutes. Pour in the soaked beans and fill with enough water to cover beans by 3 inches. Bring to a boil for 2 hours. Place ham hocks in smaller pot with ¼ cup of the chopped onion. Cover with water and simmer about 1 hour. Drain and add to the beans.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Place ham, bacon, and remaining onion in a baking dish. Bake 15 minutes. Drain the bacon and ham mixture, and add to the beans. Season with bay leaves, coriander, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes more. Stir in chopped cilantro and parsley just before serving.

Delicious Oysters Cooking Techniques

Browse through the aquariums at the seafood markets in Lei Yu Mun in Hong Kong, or at seafood restaurants in Guangzhou and Qingdao, you will find a plethora of shellfish display. There are abalones from Dalian, geoduck from Canada, scallops from Japan and oysters from America. All to satisfy the growing appetite for fresh seafood in China as the population becomes more affluent. Fortunately shellfish farming is one industry that is sustainable. Some shellfish farming, like oyster farming can even restore the environment. For this reason I’ve decided to highlight oysters for my rather late post in support of Jacqueline Church’s 4th Annual Teach a Man to Fish Sustainable Seafood Event.

October is National Seafood Month, but environmentally concerned organizations are calling it National Sustainable Seafood Month to raise awareness of responsible seafood consumption in order to maintain our oceans’ balance. Every year my friend Jacqueline Church hosts this bloggers event where sustainable seafood is highlighted in blog posts. This year Jackie hopes to attract more bloggers to participate and I am once again contributing.

The recipe I selected is Crispy Fried Oysters. It is a very popular way of serving fresh juicy oysters in many parts of China. These crisp fritters are often accompanied by salt spiced with five-spice or Sichuan peppercorn, or sometime sweet and sour sauce.

The key to this dish is to use a light and fluffy batter to enclose the succulent oysters. I started with a beer batter recipe for fish and chips. After experimenting with a few variations of the batter I concluded that the addition of a little cornstarch to the flour creates a perfect puffed crunchy shell. I also replaced the beer with water so as not to impart a yeasty flavor.

Choose meaty east coast oysters such as Blue Point or Wellfleet for this recipe. Genuine Blue Point oysters were harvested from the Great South Bay of Long Island. Mark Kurlansky wrote in The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
that according to legend, oysterman Joseph Avery first marketed these oysters as Bluepoints to New Yorkers around 1815. The branding was so successful that soon all large oysters from the Great South Bay were similarly marketed. These large juicy and briny oysters maintain a tender texture when cooked. Making them the best choice for fried oysters.

Traditionally the oysters are par-boiled before being battered and deep-fried. But I feel the pre-cooking makes the oysters dry. So instead I am recommending that the oysters merely be patted dry before being dredged in flour and batter. The result is a delicious morsel of tender flavorful oyster hiding under a crispy airy crust.

Given that oysters are now sustainably farmed and readily available in the market, we can enjoy this delicious delicacy guilt free. So go ahead and try my recipe and impress your guests.

Preparation time: 40 minutesRapid cooking time: 10 minutes12 fresh Blue Point oysters1/4 cup all purpose flour1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion for garnishVegetable oil for deep frying1 cup all purpose flour1/4 cup cornstarch1 egg1 cup water1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns1 tablespoon saltShuck all the oysters and keep refrigerated in their liquor until ready to cook. In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder. Beat the egg in a small bowl until frothy. Add the egg to the flour mixture and mix. Slowly add the water to the flour mixture until all the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix. Don’t worry if the batter is still slightly lumpy. Set aside and let it rest for about 30 minutes.Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a frying pan over medium heat until fragrant. About ten minutes. Be sure not to burnt the peppercorns. Grind the peppercorns in a spice mill or a blender until completely pulverized. Combine the ground Sichuan peppercorn with the salt and set aside.Heat the vegetable oil in a wok to about 300 F, or a drop of batter should brown in about one minute. When ready to deep fry drain the oysters thoroughly six at a time. Pat dry on a piece of paper towel then roll them in the dry flour. Then dredge them in the batter making sure they are completely coated. Slowly put the battered oysters in the hot oil and fry them for about two minutes or until golden brown. Turn them over half way through.Drain the oysters on paper towels. Serve them hot with the Sichuan peppercorn salt as condiment.

Cooking Techniques for Swedish Coffee Bread

It's best to start with whole cardamom pods - peel the pods (helps to crush them first) to release the seeds. Crush the seeds with a mortar and pestle or use a rolling pin to grind them.

1 Put milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until steamy (but not boiling). Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and sugar until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in yeast mixture and egg.

2 Mix in salt and cardamom. Slowly add in 2 cups of the flour. After the first two cups of flour gradually add more flour until a soft dough starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3 Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes until smooth, OR use a dough hook in a stand-up mixer and knead the dough that way for 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from being too sticky. Note that the dough should remain soft, so take care not to add too much flour.

4 Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean tea-towel or with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

At this point you can make a simple braided bread if you want (2 loaves), by punching the dough down, dividing the dough in half, and then dividing each half into three equal parts, rolling the dough pieces into ropes, braiding them, and tucking the ends under. Or you can get more fancy, which is what we've done here, with a filling, and forming the dough into a wreath shape. The following directions are for the wreath form.

5 Press the dough down to deflate it a bit. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Take one part (saving the other for wreath number 2) and use your fingers to spread it into a 8-inch by 16-inch rectangle on a lightly floured, clean, flat surface. If you are having difficulty getting the dough to keep its shape, just do what you can and let it sit for 5 minutes before trying again. Like pizza dough, the dough needs time to relax while you are forming it. Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving at least a half inch border on the edges so the dough will stick together when rolled. Mix together the brown and white sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the dough with half of the mixture (saving the other half for the second batch of dough). Sprinkle on more fillings, as you like, such as raisins, slivered almonds, or almond paste. You could even sprinkle on some cream cheese for a creamier filling.

6 Carefully roll the dough up lengthwise, with the seam on the bottom. Carefully transfer to a greased baking sheet. Form a circle with the dough on the baking sheet, connecting the ends together.

7 Using scissors, cut most of the way through the dough, cutting on a slant. Work your way around the dough circle. After each cut, pull out the dough segment either to the right or to the left, alternating as you go around the circle. The dough circle will look like a wreath when you are done.

Repeat steps 5, 7, and 8 with the rest of the dough, to form a second wreath.

8 Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm area for a second rise. Let rise for about 40 minutes to an hour; the dough should again puff up in size.

9 Preheat the oven to 350?F. Whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Use a pastry brush to brush over the dough. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes of baking, if the top is getting well browned, tent with some aluminum foil.

10 Remove from oven and let cool completely. Whisk together powdered sugar and water to create a final glaze (optional). Add more water if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny. Drizzle the glaze in a back and forth motion over the pastry.

Makes 2 wreaths.

Cooking Techniques for Broccoli Cheese Casserole

2 pounds broccoli, stems removed (can use vegetable peeler to peel, then slice and eat like celery), large florets cut, yielding about 8 cups of broccoli floretsSalt for blanching water2 strips of thick-cut bacon (about 2 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch wide strips1/3 cup all purpose flour5 eggs, beaten1/2 cup cream1 cup whole milk2 to 3 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper (1 to 2 teaspoons if using fine ground black pepper)1/2 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons Dijon mustard8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 Tbsp salt for 2 quarts of water). Add the broccoli florets and boil for 3-5 minutes or until just tender enough so that a fork can easily pierce the floret, but still firm. Strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

2 While the water in step one is coming to a boil, cook the bacon pieces on medium heat in a frying pan until lightly browned, but not crisp. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Set aside.

3 Preheat oven to 425?F. Butter a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. In a bowl, whisk the eggs into the flour, then whisk in the cream and milk. Add the black pepper (more or less to taste), salt, and mustard. Mix in about a third of the cheese.

4 Place the parboiled broccoli florets in the casserole dish, sprinkling about a third of the cheese over the broccoli florets as you lay them down. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over the broccoli. Pour the egg, cream, milk, cheese mixture over the broccoli, moving the broccoli pieces a bit so that the mixture gets into all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the casserole with the remaining cheese.

5 Bake for 25-40 minutes, or until set. Once the top has browned, you may want to tent with aluminum foil to keep from burning.

Serves 5 as a main course, 10 as a side.

Cooking Cream Cheese Pecan Cookies

You could easily use walnuts, pistachios, or cashews in place of the pecans.

1 Preheat the oven to 350?F. Coarsely chop 1 1/2 cups of the pecans and spread them on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until the nuts are fragrant. Set aside to cool.

2 Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl.

3 Beat together the butter and cream cheese in an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat for another minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour and salt until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the toasted pecans.

4 Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide the dough in half. Roughly shape each half into a 8-inch log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer until firm, about 4 hours, but overnight is best. The dough can sit in the freezer for up to two weeks and about a month if wrapped and then placed in an airtight container.

5 Preheat the oven to 350?F with racks on the upper and lower thirds. Finely chop the remaining 1 1/2 cups of pecans. Unwrap one of the logs of dough and roll in the pecans. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space 1-inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats.

6 Bake cookies for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are a lightly golden. Rotate the cookies halfway through to ensure even baking. Let cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.