So, this is a round-up of some meal highlights from the past week. One was amazing lasagna that my husband made; I’ll ask him for a guest post so we can come back to that another time.
The next is a glorious chicken/merguez/veggie stew in the slowccooker. It involved a batch of good frozen chicken stock, chicken thighs with bone and skin, great lamb merguez, 2 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 1 1 sweet potato, 4 carrots, and half of a giant onion. Cut the veg into chunks and get it into your crock pot with the meat and stock. Add in a bit more garlic paste than you think you need, a few good squirts of tomato paste, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and a touch of chili powder. If you want to throw in a can of chickpeas and/or mix up the veg, by all means, go for. Then turn it on low overnight, and awaken to a delectable smell which has you excited about dinner all day. Or turn it on in the morning, that works, too. For couscous I use a ratio of 2 3/4 water to 1 1/2 of grain. Boil the water (or stock, when I’m making a couscous salad), turn off heat, dump in the grain, cover. After 5-10 minutes, uncover and fluff. Serve with that gravy, veggies, and meat, and slurp heartily.
Another day was a simple steak taco. Get a large-ish decent but not indulgently pricy steak from a good butcher, if possible. Marinate it in scant amounts of garlic oil, Mexican oregano, and ground cumin, cinnamon, ancho, and chipotle, along with some sort of acid– I did a touch of apple cider vinegar, but lime would also be great. Let it sit for an hour or two. Sear it in a very lightly oiled cast iron pan on medium-high, 3-4 minutes per side depending on thickness. Pull it out and let it rest; drop frozen corn kernels into the pan to char them up. Prep the “Mexican pimento cheese” I’ve posted about before (http://nomasutra.com/index.php/2016/09/11/of-weeknight-dinners-asian-marinades-and-such/), and a batch of guacamole which I’ve also previously posted (http://nomasutra.com/index.php/2016/05/14/meximelt-someones-heart/). Let the corn cool a bit and add it to the cheese mix. Warm through corn tortillas in the cast iron pan on very low. Slice the steak against the grain. Slather the corn/cheese mix on the tortillas, add strips of steak, and top with some guac. It’s not tidy, but man is it yummy.
What to do with leftover guac if you manage to hang onto some? The next morning, make crispy bacon, and slather it with the guac on toast for gorgeous bacon sandwiches.
Speaking of bacon, in case I missed an easy recipe from last week, I also recommend salade liegoise. Boil potatoes, and over the hot water, steam some good frozen green beans (the long whole ones, not the cut up bits which tend to not retain any snap when heated). Cut bacon into small bits or use lardons, and cook till crispy. Set bacon aside, then reserve most of the grease. In a bit of it, saute chopped onion until soft. Add a bit more of the grease, some apple cider vinegar, a dollop of dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and a glug of half-and-half or heavy cream. Whisk through and cook for just a couple of minutes. Dress the rest of the ingredients with it. Happy nomming!