Cookbook Countdown: Chaco Chicken Chili

One last night with Pat Dailey's The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever. Tonight we had Chaco Chicken Chili (p75). The headnote suggests it can be make with leftover turkey, and Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer did the job.

Start by soaking a mixture of beans overnight. I used kidney and black beans because that's about all I found that would do. Sauté a chopped onion, two minced garlic cloves, and a couple of jalapeños (shh, mine were red instead of green). Then add a diced red bell pepper (in this case, mine was green), chili powder, ground cumin, and dried oregano. Stir for a minute, then add a can of diced tomatoes, a 12-oz bottle of beer, chopped cooked chicken or turkey, and the drain beans. (The recipe also called for some brown sugar, but I quailed at the idea of adding sugar to a chili.)

Close 'er up, bring to pressure, and cook for 15 minutes at pressure. Longer would have been better, since some of the beans were still a bit crunchy; not inedible mind you, but not the soft texture that that should have been. Taste and season with salt and cayenne. Chopped cilantro can be stirred in at serving time, but there was none at the store last week.

I come from the no-tomato school of chili-making, but this was a pretty darn good in spite of that.

I've learned a lot about cooking with my new pressure cooker in the last month and still have some recipes to try. I never did find a quick dessert, but that may be a fairly vain quest. We've especially enjoyed some of the stew-y things, like this chili and Madhur Jaffrey's recipes, where so much time is saved. We weren't too pleased with the bone-in chicken dishes. Some of them had very nice sauces, but the meat texture and flavor left a bit to be desired. Of all the books I looked at, I think Pat Dailey's The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever. and Victoria Wise's Pressure Cooker Gourmet will be the ones that stay on the shelf.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Now let's see what February brings. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Smothered Beef

Back to Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking for tonight's dinner. Our main dish was Smothered Lamb (or Pork or Beef) (p31). This is one of the few main dishes from this book that I've not yet made. Tonight I did the beef version using the pressure cooker.

This dish can be make with lamb, pork, or beef. I chose beef because we don't eat that much, and it's easy to find at the grocery. Cubes of beef for bourguignon (I think they're shoulder) are available with the pre-cut meat, so I don't have to ask at the counter. (As are cubes of pork shoulder. But there's nothing similar for lamb.)

Preparation starts by mixing the beef cubes in a large bowl with an onion, some ginger, a tomato, some cilantro (all finely chopped), a pair of green chilies cut into fine rings, ground turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin, yogurt, tomato paste, and salt. Then heat some oil in the pressure cooker and sauté four finely chopped cloves of garlic till golden. Stir in the seasoned meat*. Close the pressure cooker and cook at pressure for twenty minutes for beef. (Lamb and pork cook for only fifteen minutes.) Reduce the pressure quickly, remove the lid, and cook uncovered until the sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. Add lots of freshly ground black pepper, stir, and serve.

* Jaffrey has you add a half cup of water if you're cooking without the pressure cooker. I was worried about the lack of liquid, so I added a slog (maybe a short half a cup) of water. I ended up boiling that off at the end, so I expect I worried for nothing.

Cooked without the pressure cooker, this would have taken an hour and half. Again, we were impressed by such a delicious dish in such a short time.

(That's Jaffrey's Stir-Fried Cabbage with Fennel Seeds (p88) on the side.)

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Carrot Bisque with Vodka and Chervil

Dinner again from The Pressure Cooker Gourmet, by Victoria Wise. Today we had Carrot Bisque with Vodka and Chervil (p31). This, I think, is the kind of thing the pressure cooker excels at.

Start by sautéing a finely chopped onion in some butter. Then add four large, peeled and coarsely chopped carrots, some arborio rice, salt, freshly ground pepper*, chicken stock (Thanksgiving turkey stock again), and water. Close up the pressure cooker, bring to pressure over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for five minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the pan sit for ten minutes before releasing the remaining pressure. Letting food continue to cook while the pan sits off the heat is a new technique for me; I've seen in a couple of recipes lately.

* When I made this today, I was sure the recipe said black pepper, and that's what I used since the black pepper grinder always at hand. The only criticism I had of the finished soup was that the black flecks were too visible. Now I read again and see it actually says "freshly ground pepper, preferably white." It would be good if I could learn to overcome my expectations and read properly!

Purée the soup, then stir in a tablespoon of vodka and a tablespoon of chopped chervil. That's all there is to it. The soup was so simple, it's really hard to believe how good it was.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Quick Chicken with Garlic, Tarragon, and Red Wine

For today's pressure cooker meal, I turned to The Pressure Cooker Gourmet, by Victoria Wise.

Wise says that variations on this recipe appeared in her second cookbook and in her microwave cookbook. For this book, she turned it into a pressure cooker recipe. And it's decidedly a winner, so quick and easy it can be on the table within fifteen minutes.

You start by heating oil in the pressure cooker. Then you add boneless chicken thighs, salt and pepper them, and toss in the oil. (My thighs were skinless also; I used about 250g/8.8oz for two people, a half recipe.) Then you add a bunch of big garlic cloves halved, tarragon (dried or fresh), and one cup of red wine*. Close the pressure cooker and bring to pressure over high heat, about two minutes. (I see now that I misread this and cooked it for two minutes after coming to pressure; the dish did not suffer.) Then lower the heat to medium and cook two more minutes. Then remove from the heat and let it sit for two more minutes. Now release the pressure. Put the thighs on a serving platter (I put them directly onto the plates), then reduce the juices over hight heat for 2 minutes. Swirl in a chunk of butter and pour the sauce over the thighs.

* Because I was making a half recipe, this should have been a half cup of red wine. But the minimum amount of liquid in the pressure cooker is one cup. So I used the full amount and we had leftover sauce at the end.

This sounds so simple, but it was extra delicious. The only thing I might do is mash the garlic cloves to make the sauce smooth. Those melting soft half cloves were really nice.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Chocolate Pudding

I'm hoping to find a recipe for a fast and easy dessert from the pressure cooker. Tonight we had Chocolate Pudding (p205), from Patricia Phillips' Pressure Cooking is Pleasure Cooking. This was tasty, but more cake-like than pudding-like, and not definitely not fast to assemble.

The "pudding" is made very like a cake. First you cream together butter and sugar*, then add a beaten egg. Dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa) are sifted together. These are added alternately with milk.

* Because this is is a U.S. cook book, I cut the sugar from 3/4cup to 1/2cup. This is one of the few times when reducing the sugar wasn't actually necessary.

The batter goes in a buttered mold; I used the middle of my three nested Pyrex bowls. This is covered securely with aluminum foil. As advised in one of my pressure cooker books, I also used a long strip of folded foil placed under the bowl to help lift the bowl from the cooker.

This is cooked for 15 minutes at no pressure, just the steam escaping from the exhaust. Then for 25 minutes at pressure. Finally, you let the pressure drop of its own accord. A very cake-like "pudding" emerged.

Topped with a bit of cream, this was pretty tasty.  Not the pudding I expected from the title (if not from the ingredients and procedure), but still good.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Malay Curried Pork and Potatoes

More from Pat Dailey's The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever. Tonight there was Malay Curried Pork and Potatoes (p88). I seriously doubt this dish was anywhere close to authentic Malaysian, but it was still tasty.

First you make a finely chop shallots, garlic cloves, ginger, and lemongrass (thank you, staff blender) to make a paste. Fry this in the pressure cooker along with some red curry paste, sugar, ground cardamom, and cinnamon. Turn the heat up, add the pork and brown it. Then add some chicken stock (still working on that Thanksgiving turkey stock) and coconut milk. Close the pressure cooker, bring up to pressure, and cook for twelve minutes.

I served this over rice; this was probably a starch overload.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Saag Gohst

Tonight's dinner didn't come from a dedicated pressure cooker book, but from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking, which has several meat dishes that can be hurried along using a pressure cooker. This is one of my favorite Indian cooking books because everything can be done fairly quickly (within about thirty minutes), but a few of the recipes are quick only if you use the pressure cooker.

Tonight's dinner was Saag Gosht—Beef or Lamb with Spinach (p36). This is a dish I've made before, also with lamb, but without the pressure cooker. Tonight the one-hour cooking time without the pressure cooker was reduced to only 15 minutes under pressure, making it very fast for stewy dish with wonderfully tender meat.

I defrosted frozen spinach early in the day. To start the preparation, you whiz a coarsely chopped onion, two inches of ginger, and six to eight cloves of garlic. I used my staff mixer for this (what a wonderful gadget!), but a food processor would work fine. Spices are added in two groups, and I prepared these next. One dish with three bay leaves, ten cardamon pods, eight cloves, and four inches of cinnamon stick, another with salt, ground coriander, ground cumin, and cayenne.

Start by heating oil in the pressure cooker over high heat. Add the bay leaves and friends, stir, then add the onion mixture and cook over high heat for five minutes. Then stir in the meat (1-1/2-inch cubes of lamb), spinach, two cups of water, and the rest of the spices; cover and bring up to full pressure. Lower the heat so that it's PSSCH-ing along merrily and cook for fifteen minutes. Reduce the pressure quickly, then bring the contents to a boil again. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes, until the sauce is a bit reduced and thickened. I called it a one-dish meal served over rice. Yum!

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Afterthought: I very much liked that the pressure cooker saved forty-five minutes of cooking time for this dish, and will definitely look at similar recipes. It occurred to me later, though, that the house didn't have the wonderful smell of an Indian dinner, either during and after the cooking.

Cookbook Countdown: Ravioli with Gorgonzola and Sage Cream

Back to The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever again for an easy dinner, Ravioli with Gorgonzola and Sage Cream (p104).

The recipe asks for fresh cheese- or meat-filled ravioli. This week I found some ravioli filled with bacon, ricotta, and mozzarella (a new product), which seemed to cover both bases. The ravioli is cooked two minutes at pressure with chicken stock (still working on that Thanksgiving turkey stock), a minced garlic clove, and rubbed sage. (I used some chilly sage from the garden, finely minced, rather than stuff from a jar.) Release the pressure, remove the lid, add some cream, and boil uncovered till the liquid has slightly thickened, about two more minutes. Then reduce the heat, add some crumbled Gorgonzola and grated Parmesan and stir for a few minutes till the cheese has melted. Serve with extra Parmesan.

This was very tasty, but I'm not sure the using the pressure cooker added much to the experience. I could have cooked the ravioli in a regular pot and it would have been done in close to the same time. Nevertheless, it was a tasty main course. 

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Tuna Steaks with Sweet/Sour Onion Relish

We're back to The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever, by Pat Dailey. This was shopping day, so we had fresh fish. For tonight's dinner there was Tuna Steaks with Sweet/Sour Onion Relish (p64).

First you marinate half-inch thick tuna steaks in a mixture of dijon mustard, and orange juice, with pinches of tarragon, salt, and cayenne. While the tuna is soaking up flavor, sauté an onion in half-inch wedges and a small red bell pepper in half-inch strips in a bitter butter. When the onion starts to brown on the edges, stir a slog of balsamic vinegar with a tiny dab of honey. Then add orange juice and white wine. Lay the tuna steaks on top of this mixture, sprinkle with a bit of salt and cayenne, close the pressure cooker, and put it over high heat.

The instructions say to cook at pressure for 2-1/2 minutes for a slight pink center or 3 minutes for full cooked. Our steaks were fully cooked at 2-1/2 minutes, which is a shame, since we both like our tuna, not even pink, but red in the center.

The relish/sauce for the tuna was really tasty, the sweet of the cooked onions, bell peppers, and balsamic vinegar came together very nicely. I don't think I'll subject any more tuna steaks to the pressure cooker treatment, but I'd definitely consider making this sauce, maybe just in a skillet, to go with tuna steaks from the grill.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Peach Pudding

Dessert from the pressure cooker is an intriguing idea. I have marked a couple of recipes to try this month. Tonight I used one of my earliest pressure cooker cookbooks, Pressure Cooking is Pleasure Cooking, by Patricia Phillips.

I made Peach Pudding (p203). I didn't do the best job of this but it was quite tasty if not pretty. First of all, I neglected to butter the mold, so the pudding didn't come out in very good shape. 

And, I was a bit rushed putting it together and omitted the sugar and salt—oops. We served sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on at the table and it was fine. We used so little sugar that I'd guess that the sugar in the recipe could easily be reduced by half.

This pudding is quite easy to assemble. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. (I just stirred these together, overlooking the sugar and salt in my haste.) Cut in some butter. In a smaller bowl, beat two eggs lightly and add milk. Stir this into the flour mixture, then stir in sliced, canned peaches. Pour into a buttered mold. I used the middle of the three nested Pyrex bowls. It was slightly fuller than the 2/3 full recommended, but this turned out not to be a problem. Tightly cover the mold with aluminum foil. Place on a rack in the pressure cooker, add five cups of water, and close it up. 

A new technique to me, the pudding cooks for 15 minutes with no pressure, just letting the steam escape. Then you add the regulator or turn it to full pressure and let the dish cook for 30 minutes. Release the pressure quickly, remove the foil, and let the pudding stand before removing it from the bowl.

This is the pudding just out o the pressure cooker, which is in the sink on the right. On the left behind you can see the foil and the lid to the cooker. 

Since I neglected to butter the mold, the presentation wasn't pretty, but you don't eat the presentation, do you? It was very tasty. Two of us piggies ate half of what should serve 6-8.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Chicken with Leeks and Mustard Cream Sauce

Tonight's pressure cooker dinner was again from from The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever, Chicken with Leeks and Mustard Cream Sauce (p32). This was similar, but different, to the Garlic Lemon Chicken I made a week ago.

Again, I made a half recipe, with four thighs standing in for half a chicken. I did use all the leeks (I had some needing to be used) and made a whole recipe of sauce.

This recipe starts with browning some diced smoked bacon in the pressure cooker. I used smoked lardons, which are easier to get in France (and have a bit more "chew" since they're thicker). Remove them from the pan when they're done and brown the chicken pieces. Set these aside as they're done. Then soften a couple of chopped shallots in the pan, adding some white wine and dried rosemary after a minute or so. Boil the wine till it's reduced by half. Return the chicken and bacon to the pan, add chicken stock (actually Thanksgiving turkey stock tonight), and scatter one-inch segments from two leeks over the chicken. At this point you might cover the pan and put it all in the oven for half an hour or forty-five minutes. With the pressure cooker, you close the pot, set it to the lower pressure, put it over high heat to bring it to pressure, then cook for ten minutes after it gets to pressure. Release the pressure, and remove the chicken and leek, covering them to keep them warm. Whisk dijon mustard into the sauce (I thought some grainy mustard might be nice instead) and boil until the sauce has reduced by about a third, two to three minutes. Add a good slog of cream and boil until the sauce has thickened, about three more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve over the chicken.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Papillotes de Poisson aux Petits Légumes

Today was shopping day, so tonight there was fresh fish. In several of my pressure cooker books, there are similar recipes for fish cooked en papillote in the pressure cooker. Somehow cooking fish in a pressure cooker seemed a bit of a strange idea to me, so I wanted to see how it went.

I decided to use the recipe from the recipe book that came with my new pressure cooker. The photo on the cover is actually the photo used for Papillotes de Poisson aux Petits Légumes (p7), although it seems different in some particulars. The ingredients do not include star anise or celery or olives. But, what the heck, the point of this recipe is that it's really a technique and you can do whatever you want with it.

For each person you need a filet of fish (I used lieu noir) and about 50g of vegetables. I'm sure I had more than that amount. I included grated carrots, zucchini cut in strips, and a chopped shallot. I tossed these together with salt and pepper and a bit of a Tunisian spice mix from the cabinet. For each serving, make a bed of veggies on a piece of parchment paper. Lay a piece of fish on the veggie layer, sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Seal up in packets. (I use staples to close them, which is not very elegant, but works.) Put the packets on a steamer over three cups of water in the pressure cooker. Close it up, bring to pressure, and cook for eight minutes. Release the pressure and serve. 

I cut away the top part of the paper from each packet and then slid the fish onto the plate. In the photo you can see one unopened packet and one where the top part has been sloppily cut away. 

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Risotto with Porcini

Continuing with my home-grown Pressure Cooker Month, our main meal today was Risotto with Porcini, from Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure (p154), by Lorna Sass. The recipe says it serves six as an appetizer and four as a main course. I halved the recipe as a main course for two and that was a good portion.

This is another book I've had around for a while and, I discover, have actually used few times already. I have a couple of other books by Sass and my memory is that while they have some good recipes, she is afraid of spicy food. That's okay as long as you know. 

While dried porcini (cêpes) are soaking, slice up some leeks and garlic. When the mushrooms have soaked, left them from the liquid, rinse, drain, and chop coarsely. Pour the soaking liquid through a fine-meshed sieve, then add enough vegetable stock to make some more than twice the volume of rice you will use. (For my half recipe, I used 3/4 cup arborio rice and 1-3/4 cup liquid.) Sauté the leeks and garlic briefly in olive oil, then add the rice along with some dried oregano. Stir to coat the rice with the oil, then add the porcini-stock liquid and some salt. Close the pot, bring to pressure, and cook at high pressure for five minutes. 

I discovered that the sound my new rocker-less pressure cooker makes when it's at pressure is more like PSSS to my ear than PSCHHHT, so today's cooking went off much smoother than yesterday's without any burning action. The risotto was perfect.

One of the nice things about this risotto is that it's on the table in way less than 30 minutes with minimal effort. The first bit of the cooking is the same as a regular risotto, but once you've added the rice and oiled it down, you just add all the liquid, close the pot, and let it cook. That part is done is less than ten minutes where I wasn't standing there stirring in the stock ladleful by ladleful.

N.B.: A couple of people have expressed Fear of Pressure Cookers on yesterday's post. I have to admit I used to fall into that category, mostly, I expect, because I didn't grow up around one. They seemed a bit scary. Probably my mother had the same problem. On the other hand, Ed grew up with one and, when I met him, about the only cooking he did was pressuring vegetables into submission. His original pressure cooker is the we've recently retired.

I've learned that there's really not much that can go seriously wrong when you're pressure cooking. Modern pressure cookers (certainly all those from the last half of the 20C) are equipped with a plug that relieves the pressure if it should get dangerously high (which can happen if there's not enough liquid). No explosion, just a (rather startling) Pow! as the little rubber plug hits the ceiling. We've actually had this happen. 

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Garlic Lemon Chicken

About a year ago, we retired our old pressure with its warped bottom, and replaced it with a more modern one. For one reason or another I've hardly used this in the last months. I'd already planned to declare January Pressure Cooker Month and cook from my assortment of pressure cooker cookbooks. The lovely folks who run Cookbook Countdown were reading my mind when they suggested participants could cook from one or many cookbooks each month. So here I am, leaping in with my many.

To start off my month of pressure cooking, I chose Garlic Lemon Chicken, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2000. (Yes, it's been languishing in a stack for quite a while.) The recipe from The Best Pressure Cooker Cookbook Ever, by Pat Dailey (p34). The person who contributed the recipe recommended the book, so I bought myself a copy.

The result was very tasty and easy to assemble. Because there are only two of us and I didn't want to deal with leftovers, I made a half recipe with four largish thighs standing it for half a chicken. These are first browned in the pressure cooker. Then you add some small red potatoes, a lot of minced garlic, some dry white wine and chicken stock, the juice of a lemon, dried oregano, and a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. To be sure I had enough liquid for cooking, I used the full amount of liquid.

From this cookbook, I learned that chicken is best cooked at the lower pressure of your pressure cooker. Our old cooker didn't have that option, but now I can do this. The chicken takes 16 minutes at the lower pressure or 12 minutes a high pressure.

This being a new-fangled rocker-less pressure cooker, I haven't gotten hang of recognizing when it's up to pressure. The instructions say it makes a steady PSCHHHT (that's French) when it's up to pressure. I didn't especially notice a change from no noise to PSCHHHT, so I started timing a bit late. After a bit we both noticed the start of a burning smell, so I released the pressure. The chicken and potatoes were fine, but the sauce was a bit burnt on the bottom of the pan. It still tasted fine, if just a bit smoky. The chicken was perfectly cooked with a nice texture and taste.

I'm looking forward to trying out some more pressure cooker recipes and to getting the hang of hearing the PSCHHHT at proper time.

January starts a new year with Cookbook Countdown. Why don't you choose a book, or two, or more, from your cookbook shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Bistecca alla Fiorentina

One more dish from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy this month. Tonight's main course was Bisstecca alla Fiorentina—Broiled Marinated Steak (p69). We had this dish when we visited Lucca last year. (Yes, we had it in Lucca, not in Florence.)

This is basically a broiled chunk of beef, that's been marinated in a brew of olive oil, wine vinegar, parsley, garlic, and oregano. It should be a substantial chunk of beef, 2.5-3 pounds of T-bone, porterhouse, or sirloin steak, 1" thick, for four people. I bought two small, thickly cut chunks of beef for two people, not even a pound. Because my broiler pan got used earlier in the day and the clean-up crew hadn't yet taken care of that, I heated up a grill pan, and grilled the meat on that. Four minutes on one side and two-ish minutes on the other gave steaks not quite medium (a bit too done for me, but Ed liked it).

This is probably about as inauthentic a version of Bistecca all Fiorentina as you could get, but it tasted quite nice nevertheless.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Polenta Pasticciata—Polenta with Cream and Mushrooms

More from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Tonight's main course was Polenta Pasticciata—Polenta with Cream and Mushrooms (p22). For polenta lovers, this dish really falls in the realm of Comfort Food. The recipe is says it serves six, but it's unclear if this meant as a main dish or as a side dish. I served a half recipe as the main course for dinner, followed by a salad. We finished our portions, but thought it could have served 3 easily.

Early in the day, make the required amount of polenta and spread it in an 8" by 16" baking dish or sheet. (I used a 8" by 8" square dish for my half recipe.) Put this in fridge to set.

Make a bechamel (bescimella) sauce with butter, flour, milk, and cream. When this is thick, season with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan. Meanwhile, sauté some sliced mushrooms. I used about half and half pleurote gris/oesterzwammen/oyster mushrooms and shiitakes.

Now cut the slab of polenta in half. The larger size would be cut in half, giving two 8" by 8" squares. I cut my 8" square on the diagonal. Put one of the pieces in a casserole dish; top with half the mushrooms, then half the bechamel. Put the remaining bit on polenta on that, add the remaining mushrooms and bechamel. Top with a bit more grated Parmesan, then bake for 375F for 25-30 minutes. Cut into pieces are serve at once. Yum, a very pleasing dish. Even though it was very good, we thought it might be quite nice with some lardons (or chopped bacon, perhaps) sautéed with the mushrooms.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Scaloppine al Marsala&Pere Ripene

More from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Tonight's main course included Scallopine al Marsala—Sautéed Veal Scallops with Marsala Sauce (p65) and the Broccoli alla Romana—Broccoli Braised with White Wine (p35) that I've made before. For dessert, there were Pere Ripiene—Pears Stuffed with Gorgonzola Cheese (p89).

Veal Marsala is a classic dish and quite simple to make. The scallops are salt-and-peppered, dredged in flour then sautéed briefly in a mix of butter and olive oil. When they are brown, they're put aside; the fat is drained from the pan, which is then deglazed with dry marsala and chicken stock. The scallops are returned to the pan, then simmered in the sauce over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Put the scallops on hot plates or a platter, then boil the remaining sauce down until it's syrupy. Finish off with some soft butter, pour over the scallops, and serve. We don't have veal often, and this is a a favorite sort of way to do it.

The Gorgonzola Pears were good, but not a big hit. I really think I'd rather have slices of the fresh fruit with a chunk of cheese on the plate. For this dish, you peel the pears, then half them, hollow them out, and rub with lemon juice inside and out. (You are instructed to leave the stem on one of the halves, but one of my pears was a bit soft on the end, so I decapitated both of them.) The filling is a  mixture of Gorgonzola and butter. Stuff that in the hollows, put the halves back together, then roll in crushed walnuts (or pistachios or pine nuts). Chill, then serve.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Riso al Limone & Broccoli alla Romana

This month and year, I'm finishing off my three-year project of reading and cooking from the Time-Life Foods of the World series. The last book is Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Several dishes are on the plan for the rest of this month.

Tonight I roasted a chicken. For sides, I made half recipes of Riso al Limone (p20) and Broccoli alla Romana (p35). Both of these were fairly easy, tasty, and likely to be made again.

For the Riso al Limone, you start by boiling arborio rice (or one of its relatives) in ample water. The book asks for six quarts of water for one cup of rice. When the rice is done, after about 15 minutes, drain it. Then melt butter in a flameproof casserole. (I used the same pan I cooked the rice in and served in a warmed bowl). Stir in the rice, then stir in beaten eggs that have been mixed with grated Parmesan and lemon juice. (The recipe asked three eggs for the whole recipe; I used one egg for my half recipe. It was plenty rich.) Cook this for several minutes, then serve while the rice is still creamy. Very nice.

This book asks for "imported Italian rice" for all the rice recipes. This is perfect for risottos and such, but I'm not really sure if it's needed for this dish. I'll try it with long-grain rice next time. It might even be good with brown rice.

The Broccoli all Romana was also very good. You start by infusing some olive oil with finely chopped garlic. Add broccoli florets and stir to coat till they're glistening. Add white wine, salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Cooking this uncovered for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Then cover and simmer for another 15 minutes until the broccoli is tender. Remove the broccoli to a bowl or platter. Boil down the liquid if there's too much, then pour it over the broccoli.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Turkey Hash and Lacy-Edged Batty Cakes

Thanksgiving has passed and company has gone home. Time for one more meal from Time-Life Foods of the World American Cooking: Southern Style. We had Turkey Hash  (p14) with Lacy-Edged Batty Cakes (p14). These apparently go together to make a traditional Kentucky Derby breakfast.

I made half recipes of the hash and the batty cakes. The hash says it serves 6. The half recipe easily served two for dinner; three might have been a stretch unless accompanied by a big salad or some such.

To make the turkey hash, first sauté some onion and green bell pepper. When those are soft, add some sliced mushrooms; I used shiitakes, since that's what I had in the fridge. When the liquid from the shrooms has evaporated, stir in some flour, then some stock. (I used chicken stock from the freezer, since I haven't made my turkey stock yet.) When the stock boils and thickens slightly, stir in some turkey meat (I picked a selection of light and dark meat from my turkey carcass), chopped parsley, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. If it seems too dry, you can stir in spoonfuls of cream, but I didn't think this was necessary. Nothing fancy here, but plain good food.

The batty cakes are cornmeal pancakes. I can't say these were really successful, but they were certainly good enough to to serve as a base for the hash.

Stop by Cookbook Countdown to see what other folks are making from their November cookbook. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Shrimp Pilau

It was dinner from Time-Life Foods of the World American Cooking: Southern Style once again tonight. We had Shrimp Pilau (p29). Can't say I ever thought of this kind of dish as especially southern, but here it is.

Instead of fresh or canned tomatoes, I used some of the "purée" that I froze up from our summer crop. And I used lardons, which is easily available in France and always in the freezer, for the bacon bits. The lardons yielded only about a teaspoon of fat (European pigs seem to be much leaner than US ones), so I added another bit of olive oil before sautéing a pile of chopped onions. When the onions were soft, I added the rice, already rinsed, and stirred till it was well-coated with the oil. Then I added chicken stock (also from the freezer), along with Worcestershire sauce (the real one, carefully measured), ground mace, cayenne, and salt. (I added somewhat less salt than asked, and we found it it fine at the table. This is a bit surprising since I don't salt my chicken stock when I make it. So the recipe might be a bit salty.) This mixture is brought to a boil, then covered and baked at 350F for 30 minutes. Then the shrimp and bacon bits are stirred, covered, and baked another ten minutes. Out of the oven, the pot sits another ten minutes. Serve, sprinkled with chopped parsley, and enjoy!

The recipe says it should serve 4-6. I made a half recipe and we have at least one more full serving leftover, or maybe two smaller servings for lunch.

Stop by Cookbook Countdown to see what other folks are making from their November cookbook. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?