Pollo guisados -- Stewed chickens, a Pinedo recipe

I have to admit that I love stews.  They are generally easy to fix, can contain a lot of flavors, feed a crowd, and can be made in advance.  This Pinedo recipe, on page 207, checks all those boxes.  

Her Recipe

My Translation

I also have to admit that I don't have any pigeons on hand, so I have to make this one with just chicken.  I noticed she didn't say to cut the birds up, but I assumed they were.  I chose to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs (a favorite).  But look at all the ingredients that make up the sauce!  

My Redaction

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 cloves garlic

7 ounces onion

1 1/4 pounds tomatoes

16 large, pitted black olives

4 ounces mushrooms

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups boiling water

1/8 cup fresh oregano leaves

olive oil for cooking

Everything but the chicken.  Its picture is further down. Not the olive oil, either.

First, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven.  I put enough in to lightly cover the bottom of pan once it was hot.

Add the chicken thighs and brown them over medium heat.  You can do this in batches if you want them to be more brown.  I did one batch.  Note:  I interpreted "half fried" as "brown them."  After they cooked on one side, I turned them to brown the other side.

While the meat is browning, chop the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, oregano, and mushrooms.  Also, slice the onions and olives.  I had a big bowl nearby and I placed each ingredient in the bowl once it was chopped or sliced.  Add the raisins, too.

Once the meat is browned, add all the ingredients from the bowl into the Dutch oven.  Stir them well.

Add the boiling water, salt, and pepper.  The sprinkle the flour over the top.  The goal is to avoid lumps and clumps of flour.  Stir well.

Bring the whole mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.  

Simmer over that low heat for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve by placing one thigh with a scoop (or two) of sauce over the top.

This is a bit crowded for standard browning, but I didn't worry about it.

Everything in the bowl, as viewed from the top.

The bowl, as viewed from the bottom, after added to the chicken.

Stirred well.  Note the herbs are not finely chopped.

Now it is everything.  See how the flour was sifted with no clumps?

Stirred and starting to bubble.

Ahh, done.

My Notes

Miss Pinedo suggested using flour or toast.  By that she probably meant toasted or dried bread crumbs, which is a time-honored method of thickening a liquid.  I chose flour because it was convenient, although I do have copious amounts of dried crumbs that I store in my freezer.  Either works.  I have learned that with stews, bread crumbs seem to make a more "gooey" sauce, meaning thicker with more body.

For my low heat, I used 1 or 2 out of 10 on my stove's settings.  I was looking for just a little bubbling in the middle; that's all.  Slow cooking will get the meat very tender.

I judged the amount of water to use by how high the level in the Dutch oven was -- it was almost as high as all the ingredients together.  And that was 2 cups.  

The house smelled so good while the stew was cooking, and continued to smell good afterwards.  Yum!

The Verdict

I kept the meal simple:  stewed chicken, toasted onion rolls, and wine.  Don't forget the wine!

The chicken was tender.  I never used the knife because the meat broke up easily with a fork.  The meat was not dry, either.  

The sauce:  Oh, the sauce!  Full of flavors, textures, and surprises.  My guest taster, who didn't know all that I put in it kept saying, "Are these raisins?" and "There are mushrooms!" and similar comments.  He loved all the ingredients he discerned while eating.  

Overall, we both loved the sauce.  It was complex in its flavor profile, but no one flavor stood out.  I consider that a win.  I got the balance right, even for the amount of salt and pepper.  The tomatoes cleared formed the basis of the sauce but it was not a "tomato-y" sauce.  It was fun to taste different ingredients along with a bite of chicken.

The toasted roll came in handy for sopping up the sauce once the meat was gone.  

My guest taster had seconds.  That is also a win!

Success!

The leftovers were just as good reheated.  

Did the flour really thicken the sauce?  I will say, "Probably not" but the long cooking with the lid off reduced the sauce and it did thicken up a little.  How much was from the flour, I cannot tell.  Would bread crumbs have been better?  I've used them in stews before and I think it would be thicker.  But with only one tablespoon, maybe not.

It just occurred to me that Miss Pinedo's tablespoons were probably two of ours - so it could have been thicker had I thought of that earlier.  I realized that after reviewing her table of weights and measures on page 274:  she said, "A tablespoon measures an exact ounce."  Our standardized tablespoons measure one-half ounce.  I need to keep that in mind for future experiments.

Schinkenfleckerln - Austrian Ham-and-Noodle Casserole

This is a casserole I have been making for 35 years, so technically it is a Most Favorite recipe.  But I did not want to wait until December to write this post.  So here it is!  Bonus Most Favorite!

I found it in my Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, published in 1980.  I've used this book so many times that the binding is cracking and pages are falling out.  I can't really say how "authentic" her recipes are -- they might have been adjusted for the American palate of the 1970s -- but they are fun to peruse and explore.

ISBN 0-394-50453-4

This recipe is on pages 154 - 155.  The book gives the English name of the recipe first, with the ethnic name after it in parentheses.  There is a guide in the back of the book (pg 350) on how to pronounce schinkenfleckerln:  shink-k'n-fleck-airl'n.  My mouth has fun trying to say "airl'n."

Schinkenfleckerln

8 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

2 cups diced fully cooked smoked ham (about 1/2 pound)

1/2 teaspoon caraway seed (optional)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Paprika

Drop noodles into 6 cups rapidly boiling salted water (4 teaspoons salt).  Heat to rapid boiling.  Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes.  Cover and remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes.  Drain.

Stir margarine and onion into noodles.  Stir eggs into sour cream.  Stir egg mixture, ham, caraway seed and pepper into noodles.  Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly in greased 2-quart casserole.  Pour noodle mixture into casserole.

Sprinkle with paprika.  Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until mixture is set, 40 to 45 minutes.

Serve from casserole or unmold onto heated platter.  To unmold, loosen edge of noodles around inside rim with knife.  Place inverted platter over casserole; invert noodles onto platter.  Garnish with parsley if desired.

Serves 4.

My Notes

There is no way I am adding 4 teaspoons of salt to the noodle water.  Adjust to suit your own tastes, but I used 1/2 teaspoon.  Note that the ham and butter already have salt in them.  

This was the '70s, so margarine. I used butter and always have.  It helps to slice the butter into thin slices then spread them over the hot noodles.  That way they melt easily and are distributed around the noodles well.

I have always used the wide egg noodles until today.  I had rotini in my cupboard and that is what I used.

The beaten eggs and sour cream combine to form the sauce for the casserole, so mix them well before adding to the noodles.  I add the sauce last.

I do not find the caraway seeds to be "optional."  "Mandatory" is my thought because I love their flavor.

I have never unmolded the casserole to serve it.  The breadcrumbs should help with that, but I don't know.  I still always butter the dish and spread the breadcrumbs on it before adding the noodles.

It is your choice on how much paprika to use.  When my family was young, I used just enough to add some color.  Now I use more because I like the flavor.

In order:  the cooked noodles.

Butter and onions added to the noodles.  Stir well.

One sauce to rule them all and in the oven, bind them.

With the ham and spices added.

Pour the sauce on last.

Stirred, not shaken.

I admit: those are not evenly distributed.  But the surface is covered enough to work.

I made that ceramic bowl!  (It has a lid, too.)  I was pleased it fit the recipe just right.

I used about that much paprika.  Ready for the oven.

The Verdict

It smells so good!

This is pure comfort food.  Serve it warm so the flavor of the ham and onion come through and the noodles give good support.  Be careful not to overcook it or it gets dry.

First helping.

I enjoy this every time I make it.  I wished I had added more caraway to this, and maybe a bit more pepper.  (Why does that make me think my tastebuds are getting old???)  

My guest taster thought it was fine but I got the sense he didn't think it was exceptional.  Just enjoyable.  He said he would eat it again if I fixed it.  One thing he noticed right away was the onion flavor.  You see, the onion is not precooked, so it has a bit of a tang and a distinct - but not strong - onion presence.  I think it surprised him because he is so used to the onions in a casserole being cooked before mixed in.

The next day we had some for lunch, and I think he liked it better.  He did add some seasoned salt to it, because he is more of a salt eater than I am.  I sure like it hot, not warm.  The flavors come through better and I did not want more seasoning this time.  Of course, casseroles are always better the next day, like stews.

Success!

In the 1990s, I tried making it more low fat.  My notes say that leaving out the butter worked well.  But translating the whole thing to low fat (by also substituting plain yogurt for the sour cream) was not a good idea.  You need some fat in it to keep it moist.

I have also tried it with cooked chunked breakfast sausage, which is a good substitute for ham.

Unless your table guests are big eaters, I would say this serves 6 to 8, not 4.

Showing off that casserole dish!

Albóndigas de frailes - Friar's Meatballs, a Pinedo recipe

I had two bone-in, large porkchops that needed to be cooked, and this Pinedo recipe looked very inviting.  I've had success with her meatball recipes before, so I felt confident that I could tackle this one.  I didn't make a large quantity, but I can see how this recipe would extend to do that.

Her Recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

1 pound pork, weighed after bones and gristle are removed
4 ounces onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme and some more
1/2 Tablespoon fresh mint and some more
1/2 Tablespoon fresh Italian oregano and some more
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley and some more
3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup flour

Fresh herbs!

Note that the herbs measurements are approximate, just to give a target for your cooking.

Start heating a large saucepan with water that is at least three inches deep.

Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, and herbs.

Grind the pork, onions, garlic, and herbs once through a meat grinder.  Then mix in the breadcrumbs and grind the whole mix again.

Add one beaten egg and mix well.  Melt one tablespoon of butter and mix it well into the meat mixture.

Form meatballs about two inches in diameter.  If the mixture is not sticking together well, consider adding more breadcrumbs if too wet or more liquid (an egg or butter or water) if too dry.

Put the meatballs, however many that can fit comfortably in the pan without being crowded, into the boiling water.  You will probably have to cook them in several batches.  Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer.  Gently stir them a few times while cooking.  After 10 to 12 minutes, remove the first batch with a slotted spoon; place in serving bowl.  Cook the next batch.  Keep cooking until all the meatballs are done.

While the meatballs are cooking, put flour, one egg yolk, and 1/2 cup cold water into a bowl and stir well.  If the bowl has a lid, shake it, too, to mix it.  

Once the meatballs are done, take 1 cup of broth that the meatballs were cooked in and put it in a small saucepan.  Bring it to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium, then, while whisking the broth briskly, start pouring in the water/flour/yolk mixture.  Keep the broth moving!  

The broth mixture should simmer now.  Add 1 tablespoon butter and a tablespoon or so of finely chopped herbs (a mixture).  Simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broth thickens.  Add salt to taste.  

To serve, pour some of the thickened broth over the top of the meatballs.  Put the rest of the broth into a pitcher and place on the table.

The first grind with the breadcrumbs sprinkled on top.

Breadcrumbs mixed in.  Ready for the second grind.

Second grind with butter and egg mixed in.

Meatballs achieved!

A gentle simmer, so they don't break apart.

About that much mixed, chopped herbs for the sauce.

Simmering the sauce to get it thick.  

Cooked meatballs.

Meatballs with sauce.

My Notes

I have a grinding attachment for my mixer, so this is convenient for me.  I suppose you could start with ground pork, finely chop the onions and garlic by hand or using a food processor, then mix in the rest.  The point is to have the meat so fine that everything sticks together well after being mixed.

The eleven meatballs I got were cooked in two batches (of five and of six).  I wasn't sure how long to cook them, especially because they first sank then rose to the surface after about four minutes.  But I checked their interior temperature with an instant read thermometer, and they were still pretty cold.  So I kept simmering them until the interior temp was about 160 degrees F, which took 10 to 12 minutes.  I think it would be hard to overcook them.

The amount of water I used to cook the meatballs was a lot, and I realized that I didn't want that much sauce for the meatballs and that the flavor would probably be weak if I used it all.  So I decided to use one cup of the broth.  That still made about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, which was a lot.  

My goal for the sauce was to make it thick and have an herbal taste.  Pinedo did not call for salt but I felt it needed it, so I mixed in 1/2 teaspoon and that was just right.

The Verdict

We wanted a light dinner so our meatballs and sauce went into our bowls along with some whipped sweet potatoes mixed with cardamom, mace, and a splash of cream.  And wine!  Don't forget the wine!

I was pleased to see that the meatballs were fully cooked into the middle.  They also stayed firm enough to hold their shape, even when being removed from the serving bowl into our eating bowls.

The amount of sauce on them for serving looked nice, but my guest taster and I both wanted more sauce while we were eating the meatballs.  We poured in small amounts from the pitcher of sauce as we ate.

The meatballs themselves were very tender, almost delicate.  They had a soft pork flavor enhanced by the herbs, onion, and garlic.  No one flavor was dominant.  I thought I could taste the herbs more than anything else and my guest taster thought the onion was stronger than the rest.  

The sauce was thick enough to stick to the meatballs (hooray!).  It had a stronger herbal flavor than the meatballs, which I wanted because I thought it should emphasize the herbal aspect of the meatballs.  Fortunately, it wasn't too strong.  I thought the balance was just right.

So, success!  Whew!  We had four meatballs each, so there were some leftover as well as sauce.  I think they would make a good evening snack when a full dinner wasn't wanted.

Twinkie Trifle - A Completely Silly Bit of Foodie Fun

I needed a dessert that went together quickly, where most of the prep could be done in advance, and would still appeal to a variety of eaters.

So I decided to revisit a dessert I did years ago, with a slightly different take:  a Twinkie Trifle.

Let's first define what an English trifle is:  "a traditional English layered dessert featuring sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in sherry or fruit juice, layered with custard, fruit (fresh or jelly), and topped with whipped cream, often garnished with nuts or cherries."

My American trifle used the iconic Twinkie, that golden sponge cake filled with a white cream center.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.

I bought a big box with 16 Twinkies in it, individually wrapped.  That was one prep step completed.

For a custard, I bought a big box of instant pudding; the flavor was chocolate fudge.  I mixed it with milk the day before I needed the dessert so it had time to set up in the refrigerator.  I used just a little less milk than the recipe called for to make sure it was thick.

I used fresh strawberries, sliced and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Again, I did this the day before the gathering.  The next day, the berries had released a lot juice, which was my goal.

Also the day before, I whipped heavy whipping cream with just a little bit of powdered sugar.

So all the prep was done, and just before I needed the dessert, I assembled it in a glass serving bowl.

The layers were:  Twinkies, pudding, strawberries, repeat all.  Then I spooned the whipped cream over the top and sprinkled sliced almonds.  The shape tilted inward, so I didn't fill the entire bowl as that would have been too much.

Pictures!

Bottom layer.

Pudding layer.

Fruit and whipped cream on top.  Did I forget to take a picture of just the fruit layer???

Nutty.

Notice that the second layer of Twinkies were broken up into smaller pieces than the first layer had them.

Some of my guest tasters don't consume alcohol, so I didn't sprinkle the Twinkies with anything.  

Once it was assembled, I served it up.

The Verdict

Despite my best efforts, it was pretty sweet.  It was fun to look at, brought laughter at the table because I used Twinkies, and we all tried it.

I liked it, especially with the strawberries.  The nuts were a nice touch, adding a crunch to an otherwise soft dessert.  Some of my guest tasters enjoyed it, too, although we were already pretty full from the preceeding dinner.

Success!

However, there were leftovers, which were so much better the next day.  I believe that the liquid from the fruit had soaked into the Twinkies overnight.  This seemed to even out the sweetness factor, making the entire dessert much better and appealing.  Success again!

Years ago, I made this with milk chocolate pudding and canned cherries.  I cooked the juice the cherries were in to thicken it with cornstarch and added a little sugar and orange liqueur.  Once that cooled, I put the cherries back into the juice.  I also sprinkled the Twinkies with a little orange liqueur.  I think I put some powdered ginger in the whipped cream, too.  That was also a fun and tasty dessert.

You can see this is a playful dessert that you can adjust to suit your tastes and preferences.  Use the concept of an English trifle to guide your choices.  Let me know what you did!

Pudin de Lolita, Lolita's Pudding -- a Pinedo recipe

On page 215 is this pudding, dedicated to Lolita.  I wish I knew who she was.  There are other puddings dedicated to other women, some of whom are clearly Encarnación Pinedo's nieces.  This could be to one of her nieces who was referred to by a nickname.  Or it could be to a family friend or cousin.  

What is intriuging about it is that it is a sweet pudding (one and a half pounds of sugar!!!) but it also has meat in it.  It reminds me of the old (early 1800s and prior) ante recipes.  They were originally designed to be served at the beginning of the meal (thus ante or "before") which did have meat and sugar in them.  Later they were declared to be desserts, and typically did not have meat in them.  Pinedo put several ante recipes in her book.  I made one previously, which you can view by clicking here:  Ante de Camote y Pina - A Luscious Dessert with Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple (pg 16).

The questions I had with this recipe are:  Exactly what kind of pudding is it?  She offered a variety of pudding styles, from boiled to steamed to baked to baked in a bain marie.  She mentioned using crumbled bread, so is it like a bread pudding?  But with the requirement of cream and eggs, presumably lots of them, I wondered if it were more like a baked custard.  I still don't know exactly what a "kettle cup" is, but I presume it is around what we call 2 cups or 16 ounces.  She said three kettle cups, which is six of our cups.  That is a lot of cream!  

I decided to create it as a custard pudding, with the eggs and cream being the major support and the other ingredients making it interesting.  I was very tempted to bake it in a bain marie, but decided she would have specified that if she felt it was important.  Puddings like this need to be baked in a very low oven so the custard doesn't curdle or cook up like scrambled eggs.  I also chose to interpret a kettle cup as one of our 8-ounce cups, at least at the beginning of making the recipe, until I saw how the thing was going together.  Then I would adjust as needed.

She did mention early in the pudding section that puddings should be put into shallow baking dishes.  Instructions noted!

Her recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

1 pound sliced almonds

1 1/2 pounds sugar

8 ounces chicken breast, already cooked

3 cups cream

1/2 ounce butter, melted

1/2 cup bread crumbs

6 large eggs, separated

For crumbs: I started with two 3-inch diameter rolls, broken open to dry, & pounded in the mortar.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Butter the inside of a large, shallow ceramic dish.  (See Notes.)

Chop the chicken breasts into about 1/4-inch pieces.  

In a large bowl, mix the cream and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the melted butter and mix well.

Separate the eggs.  Beat the yolks well and then mix them into the cream mixture.

Mix the bread crumbs into the cream mixture.

Mix the chicken and almonds into the cream mixture.  

Whip the egg whites to stiff.  Fold them into the cream mixture.

Fill the baking dish.  

Bake for 1 hour (see Notes), until the center jiggles when the pan is shaken but stops when the movement stops, and the top is browned.  

Let cool at least a little before serving.

Chopped chicken.

Cream, sugar, yolks, and breadcrumbs, all mixed.

With the chicken and almonds.

With whipped egg whites.  That is one full bowl!

My Notes

Instead of two chicken breasts as she specified, I decided the one really big one I had on hand would suffice.  I weighed it instead of counting the quantity.

The chicken breast was previously cooked on a grill after being rubbed with olive oil and ground black pepper.  There was not a lot of seasoning on the piece I chose, so I don't think the pepper influenced the flavor of the dish.

I did some reading in my Ratio book by Michael Ruhlman in order to get a sense of how many eggs were "necessary."  Believing this would be a custard-like dish, I decided to use 6 eggs for 3 cups of liquid, giving a ratio of 12 ounces eggs to 24 ounces cream.  Keep in mind that eggs are very carefully sized for us, whereas Señorita Pinedo made do with whatever eggs were available to her.  They could have been all different sizes.

I had no idea how much volume the recipe would make, so I ended up using two ceramic baking dishes; one held 2 1/2 liters and the other 2 liters.  It helped to use a ladle to move the batter into the dishes.  

I thought it was done after 45 minutes of cooking, but once I broke through the crust on the top, the middle looked liquid, so I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.  It is possible it was ready at 45 minutes -- it was browned and it certainly smelled good.  

Ready for the oven.  Two full baking dishes.

After 60 minutes of baking time.

The Verdict

Letting the pudding cool a little seemed to give it a chance to set up in the middle.

The browned top was a crunchy crust.

My first bite was ... interesting.  Wow, was it sweet!  But the flavor of the meat came through, which was intriguing when combined with the almonds and the sweet.

The custard I expected was more like the matrix which held together the chicken and almonds.  It was not dense; I suspect because of the whipped egg whites.  

It tooks a few bites before I really liked it.  My mouth had to adjust to the concept of meat and sweet.  But then I liked it.  The almonds added a nice crunch.  

It was sweet, as I said, and it was rich.  I will have more, as will my guest taster who was trying to guess all that was in it and thought there was some fruit in it.   He certainly enjoyed it.

In thinking about this blog post, I had trouble deciding if it was a dessert (but it had meat in it!) or a side dish (but it was sweet!).  My guest taster thought you could have it as either, depending on what you wanted for the meal.  I think that is good advice.  

I then shared this with two other guest tasters.  One, quite the foodie, thought it wasn't very sweet at all (I was astonished) and liked that because he doesn't really like sweet foods.  He also felt, at first, that it had undercooked bread in it but then later decided that wasn't it and it wasn't a problem.  He loved the nuts and how crunchy they were.  He was surprised to know there was meat in it.  

The other guest taster did not enjoy the food.  He felt his mouth was "conflicted" because of the meat and sweet combination.  It was "okay" but not something he would want to repeat.  But he did think that he could get used to it if he other opportunities to try it.

Success!

It was just as good warmed up the next day.  Maybe even better, as I got more of the custardy part in each spoonful.

I hope Lolita would be pleased with my result.

If I were to do this again, I would use half the amount of chicken and almonds, and I would use about 1/3 of the amount of sugar.  But I would still use the same amount of cream and eggs and bread crumbs because my mouth kept wanting more of that matrix around the meat and nuts.  I think changing the amount of butter is optional.

If I did this as a modern "upgrade," I would reduce the amount of sugar a lot, try using whole milk instead of cream, and consider using raisins as a delightful bit of chewy sweet.  But still use chicken, because I think it surprises people, and that is always fun.