TORTILLA DE PAPAS

Tortilla de papas - serves 3 as a main course.

• 2 good-sized idaho potatoes, peeled, cut in quarters, and then sliced in 1/2" pieces
• 1/2 large onion, also cut more or less in 1/2" pieces
• lots of olive oil
• 5 large eggs
• salt and pepper

In a 12"pan (preferably cast iron or nonstick), heat 1/4 cp. of olive oil on high until it starts to shimmer.  Pour in the potatoes and onions, stir, and cover, and turn down the heat to medium-low.  Over the next 10 minutes, uncover and stir with a metal spatula several times, so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan - the potatoes may break up somewhat, no problem.  When they are cooked through - test with a fork - pour all of it into a colander in the sink and let the oil drain off.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork, add a half teaspoon salt and a generous sprinkling of pepper, and stir in the drained potatoes/onions.  Wipe out the pan completely, and add 2 TB of fresh oil and heat to shimmering again.  Give the potato/egg mixture another stir and pour it into the hot pan - it should sizzle.  Run the spatula around the edges a few times to let the liquid egg seep underneath.  Then turn the heat down to low and cover for 5 minutes (check the bottom after 3 to make sure it's not burning.)

When the bottom is golden brown, you are supposed to flip it by putting the cover on top, holding on to both sides, turning it all upside down inside the cover, etc. etc. but that can easily end up on the floor.  Another way to do it:  leave it the way it is and run the pan under the broiler - not too close to the elements - until it's golden on top and when you stick a knife in the middle you can see it's cooked through. IMPORTANT: keep checking so it doesn't burn! Now just turn onto a plate and serve.

LAST CALL, POLLO AL LIMÓN Y MOSTAZA (DESPITE PHOTO)

Last entry from the paísito!
This whole month has been an experiment in simple home cooking in reduced and temporary circumstances: a kitchen the size of a closet (the photo below shows everything but the refrigerator); a range so flimsy that it slid around every time you turned a dial; an oven with no temperature markings; thin dime-store pans (exception:  I brought one good 12" sauté pan); limited spices - paprika, red pepper flakes, thyme, salt & pepper; some basic staples (i.e. sugar, flour, cornmeal, mustard, olive oil.) But great access to fresh real food.  It's possible!

So what was still left in the fridge:  the broth from yesterday's chicken, a bunch of broccoli, 2 lemons, some white wine, an egg, some parsley and butter.  I went to my local butcher shop, above (there is one every few blocks; this one was called "Super Carnes" but they also have chicken) and got a whole boneless chicken breast.  That's all that was needed.

Pollo al limón y mostaza (for 2)

• 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal into slices about 1/2" thick (you could also use chicken tenderloins , or pre-sliced chicken scallopine for this - also can be pounded with a mallet - really any way you want to get fairly thin slices and medium sized pieces.)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water, in a wide soup bowl
• 1/4 cp. combined flour and fine cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper, spread in a plate
• 2 TB olive oil
• 4 TB butter
• 1/4 cp. white wine
• 1/2 cp. chicken broth or bouillon (if you use this, use only 1/2 cube)
• juice and rind of 1 lemon (cut up another lemon for garnish and added zing if you like)
• 1 TB mustard (optional - if you like mustard)
• chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• (recommended side dish:  some broccoli, cook over a steamer while you make this)

Place the bowl with the beaten egg and the plate with the flour/cornmeal next to the stove.  Place some paper towels on the counter, and heat the oven to warm with a serving plate in it.  Heat 2 TB olive oil and 2 TB butter in a nonstick or cast iron pan. When it's moderately hot, dip each piece of chicken, first on both sides in the flour mixture, and then both sides in the egg wash, and place it in the pan, where it will start to sizzle.  Do this until there is no more room, with at least 1/2" of space between pieces - depending on the size of the pan you may need more than one batch. Turn over each piece when one side is a rich golden brown, then take out when the other side has a matching color - should take about 4 minutes per side.  Drain for a few minutes on the paper towels, then put on the plate in the oven to keep warm.  

When they're all done, wipe the pan with the same paper towels (re-use!) and melt another TB of butter in it.  Add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce by half.  Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and rind, and mustard and whisk to blend - boil and reduce about 3 minutes more until it starts to thicken, taste to see if it needs salt and pepper.  Swirl in the remaining TB of butter.  This should be enough sauce to pour over the chicken pieces that have been warming in the oven, with some left over to season the steamed broccoli if you decided to do that too.  Sprinkle with parsley - mainly for looks.

GETTING CLOSE TO THE END AND USING IT UP: CHICKPEAS, CHICKEN, RED PEPPERS

We only have a few more dinners in the apartment - where I will so miss this view from our living room!
so now is a time to use up what we have in the refrigerator and/or freezer, which consists of:  a very large chicken leg, a few stems of celery, 2 carrots, a few onions, a can of chickpeas, 3 red peppers, some cooked butternut squash, parsley (and a few other things, of which more later.)

Also it was 90 degrees that day, so - chicken chickpea salad!  I do admit to looking around on the web for ideas, some credit to Jamie Oliver and Smitten Kitchen.

There is some oven work involved - actually done early in the day when I was working on my computer - mainly just being in the vicinity in case the gas blows out or something.
Prepare the chicken by putting it in a pan with the celery, a cut up carrot, some parsley stems, an onion cut in half, water to cover, and simmer, partly covered, about an hour.  Let cool in the broth and then take out, pull off the meat and cut into smallish pieces.  Set aside.  Strain the broth and save or freeze it for later - like money in the bank.

While you're doing that, prepare the red peppers by heating the oven to 425, washing them and dropping them in a baking dish, putting that in the oven for about 45 minutes, turning maybe once, until they are thoroughly soft and blackened in spots.  Take out and let cool.  When you have a few minutes, pull out the stems and seeds, and peel off the skin with your fingers - it should be very easy.  Rinse, cut into smallish pieces,  and put in a container for later.

Chickpea Chicken Roasted Red Pepper Salad, for 2:

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced, maybe rinsed in hot water if you think they're too harsh
• Cut up chicken - about a cup
• Cut up red pepper - about a cup
• Pieces of cooked butternut squash (if you have it)
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• some chopped parsley
• olive oil - 4 TB
• juice and rind of one lemon
• finely chopped garlic clove
• salt and pepper

In the bottom of a nice bowl, whisk together the last 4 for the dressing.  Then add all of the above and stir to combine,  That's it!  If I were at home, I would consider some mint and/or feta cheese, though that might complicate it too much.  Add a lettuce/watercress/tomato salad on the side and some great bread that you will have to get somewhere else than Uruguay (for some reason, thoroughly mediocre here - sort of like wonder bread disguised as a baguette.)

EVERYDAY RISOTTO AND EMERGENCY BROWNIES

Perhaps as a reaction to our visit to the Interactive Museum of Meat on Saturday, we needed to go vegetarian - though we did learn there that 85% of Uruguayan beef is grass-fed in what look to be the most delightful surroundings.

Risotto is about the easiest thing around once you get a feel for it, which only takes one or two tries, and you can be as inventive as you want.  This one with butternut squash seems to have just the right amount of sweetness and softness, and is the color of sunshine.



EVERYDAY RISOTTO
(Serves 2 as a main course)

• 1 cp. arborio or other risotto-style rice
• 1 cp. of peeled butternut squash cut into 1/2" chunks
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cp. white wine
• 4 cps. of water or chicken stock or water with 1 chicken bouillon cube in a pan on simmer
• 1 TB butter
• olive oil at hand
• 4 TB grated parmesan cheese (or more if you like it)
• 2 TB chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• salt and pepper

This does ask for your attention, but not for too long.

Put the butternut squash in the simmering water/broth and keep simmering on low - add salt and pepper to taste.  In a medium size deep saucepan, melt 1 TB butter with 1 TB olive oil, and add the chopped onion.  Saute on low for 10 minutes.  Rinse and drain the rice (there seems to be a reason to do this lately - something about chemicals?) and add it to the pan - stir it around for a few minutes.  Pour on the wine and let simmer about 2 more minutes.  By now the butternut squash in the other pot may be tender (and when it is, you can just take it out with a slotted spoon and set aside) but if not just leave it there.  Pour some of the water it's cooking in over the rice until it's completely covered with liquid, and stir.  If some of the squash falls in, no problem.  Now you'll just keep up this action about every 3 minutes - the water will be absorbed so you'll cover the rice with liquid again and stir - until after maybe about 20 minutes, the rice is as tender as you like it.  At this point, add all of the squash, and enough of the broth to keep the mixture fairly wet.  Drop in the other TB of butter, add the parmesan, and taste - add salt and pepper if you think it needs it.  Stir it some more and cover - let it rest for another 5 minutes - now sprinkle with the optional parsley and it's done.

Now sometimes (like when you are far from home) you absolutely need brownies, fast, and you may be far away from an American supermarket or US-style kitchen appliances.  This recipe doesn't need special ingredients or flavorings, or the right pan or even a readable oven temperature. I did have a cup measure, but probably you could eyeball it if you don't.  These may not be perfect, but they are forgiving and will give you what you want.

EMERGENCY BROWNIES

• 1 stick butter
• 2/3 cp. coursely chopped semi-sweet (this is because you probably can't get unsweetened) chocolate
• 1 1/3 cps. sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cp. flour
• 1/4 cp. walnuts (optional)
• dash of salt

Butter a 8" square pan.  If you don't have one, use something approximating that area - maybe a 9" round cake pan, or a rectangle.  Use those rusty math skills!  Preheat oven to 350.  If your oven has no dial, it's OK to guess.
Melt the butter and 1/3 cp. of the chopped chocolate in a pan over simmering water.  If you don't have a double boiler handy, just fill a saucepan about a half inch full of water, heat it, and put a smaller but higher pan inside it.  Take out when melted.  Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until slightly frothy.  If you don't have an electric mixer or even a whisk, two forks held in one hand will do nicely.   Pour the melted but cooled chocolate/butter into the eggs/sugar and stir to blend.  Lightly beat in the flour and salt until completely blended.  If you have walnuts, stir them in.  Pour into the buttered pan, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cp. chips.  Put in the oven to bake, and if you have no idea what the temperature is, just check after 15 minutes, and every 5 minutes thereafter, until your finger doesn't make an impression on the top - or a knife or toothpick stuck in the middle comes out relatively clean.  Cool on a rack if you have one - otherwise, it will still be fine.  This has been so casual a job that you might as well eat them right out of the pan.  Crisis averted!

FERIA (MARKET) DAY FILLETS

Somewhat gratefully back from the craziness of Buenos Aires to the calm of Montevideo, we arrived in time for the féria today.  In this photo you can't really see the glory of this completely ordinary street market - this is one stand of many -in a rather scruffy neighborhood, which is glorious partly through its ordinariness.  But nothing makes one want to cook as much as walking down this entire block, dedicated every week - probably for decades - to selling only real food: fruits, vegetables, cheese, eggs, fish, sometimes chicken, and well, yes, the occasional salami and jamón crudo (prosciutto.) There are weekly street markets all year long within a short walking distance of almost everyone in the city. We up north can only dream.  

Fillets paprikash with noodles (for 2-3)

• 1 lb. white fish fillets, not too thin - perhaps halibut, bass, orange roughy (whatever that is)? It won't matter which really, as long as it doesn't fall apart too easily.
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cp. tomato puree
• 1/4 cp. white wine
• 2" thin slice of orange rind
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 lb. spaghetti

Put a large pot of water on to boil - when it does, add some salt, break the spaghetti in half, throw it in, cook until done, drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.While it's cooking, chop the vegetables.  In a deep large saucepan, heat some some olive oil, and then the onion, sauté for 5 minutes.  Add the red pepper - 5 minutes more - then the chopped tomatoes and garlic - 5 minutes more.  Add the wine and let boil a minute or two - then add the puree, orange rind, spices, and 1 cup of water (with the optional 1/2 chicken bouillon cube.) Let simmer on low about 20 minutes until the peppers are soft and some of the liquid has evaporated.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Now you can turn off the burner if you want, and wait until 10 minutes before you're ready to eat.  At that point, bring back to a simmer and slide in the fish - cook until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes depending on how thick it is.  Actually, this is lovely just as is, a kind of soup (above left), or served over rice.  But the noodles make it heartier and add the perfect complementary texture.  So go ahead and add them and let them heat up for a few minutes, and sprinkle with the parsley.  The noodles will soak up almost all the liquid - just what you want.  Enjoy with a lettuce and arugula salad.  Then go out and watch another sunset.

ONE URUGUAYAN CHICKEN, TWO DINNERS

Just returned from the pampa uruguaya! Apologies for the delay in posting to all three of you who may be reading this. I was in Buenos Aires for a conference most of the week, and then one day later, we departed for a drive to Colonia de Sacramanto for the weekend - so only a few times in between for home cooking - which were so very welcome.  First, because one can only eat so much ham and cheese.  Here in the Rio de la Plata, in every eatery (see McD offerings at left) and on every menu there are ham and cheese empanadas, sandwiches, croissants, raviolis, sorrentinos (large round raviolis), tortillas (the Spanish egg kind), and just plain out there on a plate for breakfast.  Second, while I may have a somewhat free hand with cream and butter, and a fairly limitless one with olive oil, it doesn't have the increasingly bludgeoning effect of the inescapable restaurant fat quotient.  Except of course if that happens to come from a delectable slice of Chajá (below, right.)


I needed to make something quick the night before we left for Colonia, and then have something equally quick to make on Sunday evening when we came home.  So I went to the corner butcher (there seems to be one every few blocks) and asked him to cut up a chicken for me, which turned out to be a bird approximately the size of an ostrich.  But yours can be about 4 lbs.
Here's what you can do to make one dinner and the main part of another.  Slice about 1 lb. of the chicken off the bone and cut it into 2" pieces for the following recipe.  This can be a rough and ready job - it won't matter.  The rest of the chicken and bones - put it all into a large pot and cover it with water - add a cut up carrot, onion, rib of celery, maybe some parsley, don't worry if you don't have them all - and put it on the burner and bring to a simmer.  Cover partway, and let it simmer for up to 2 hours, while you make, and eat, the other dinner:

One-pan roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, and red onion - for 2 - roughly based on Ottolenghi's Chicken, Fennel and Clementines, manqué the fennel and clementines.
Preheat oven to 425 -

• 1 lb. of boneless chicken - can be white or dark, preferably dark - cut into 2" pieces.
• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes,  peeled and cut into 1" cubes
• 1 red onion, cut in half and sliced thickly 
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1/4 cp. orange juice
• juice and rind of 1 lemon
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper
• 1 tsp. sugar (brown sugar if you have it)
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• chopped parsley - optional

Mix the garlic, orange and lemon juice and rind, olive oil, salt and pepper, sugar, and thyme in the bottom of a medium sized roasting pan. Toss in the chicken, sweet potatoes and onion slices and mix well with your hands until everything is coated - everything should just fit closely together.  Put in the oven and bake for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until some things have browned, the liquid is syrupy, the potatoes are soft.  While baking, make a salad and slice some bread.  If you happen to have some ice cream and a container of dulce de leche around, why, there's your finale.

When you're done, don't forget that soup that's on the stove!  Let it cool and strain the broth into a refrigerator container.  Pick out the chicken parts and remove the meat - put that in another container. It will be ready in the refrigerator when you get back (will be fine for 5 days.)

Chicken noodle and vegetable soup - almost ready on your return - for 2

• Chicken broth and meat from above
• Whatever vegetables you might have around that you think will be good in here - just one of each, cut into 1/2" cubes or pieces - could be:
• zucchini
• sweet potato, peeled
• butternut squash, peeled
• carrot, peeled
• green beans
• frozen peas
• use your imagination or what's in the fridge
• 1/3 of a 1 lb.  box of pasta or noodles - cook them in boiling water until al dente, rinse with cold water and drain
• chopped parsley, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer on the stove in a good sized pot and season with salt and pepper to taste.  (If this was perhaps a not very tasty chicken, which we tend to have up north, and the broth is kind of blah, then you may want to add a bouillon cube.)  Throw in the vegetables and cook until they are soft.  Rinse the noodles and add them, and the cooked chicken pieces, letting everything heat up for a few minutes.  Scatter on the optional parsley.  This is comfort food, complete with aroma, just the ticket after traveling around.  Even more comfort?  If you happen to have stopped by one of the ubiquitous roadside bars on a Uruguayan highway and picked up a slice of homemade Chajá - there you go.

SUNSET, SOUP

This is apparently turning into a travel blog - not what you came for - but I promise there is a recipe after this amazing photo that I ACTUALLY TOOK 3 hours ago, because that's just what it looked like a block from our apartment.  It's not even touched by Instagram. Yesterday (Saturday) I had made soup for tonight, so we had plenty of time to hang out by the water.  

Last night we went to an excellent play, Tierra del Fuego, directed by my friend Maria Varela (librarian by day) and afterwards followed her and my other librarian friends to the exuberant and genuine Pacharan - Basque Society restaurant - which just started to fill up around 10 p.m., where we, exhausted by trying to keep up in Spanish until 1 a.m. with those hospitable and amazingly lively Uruguayas, girded ourselves with langostinos al ajillo, swimming in paprika-and-garlic-drenched oil.  This was a totally normal evening procedure.  How do they do it?

So about that soup - more like a stew.  Rather ordinary and maybe not so visually appealing (no photo) but a delicious meal nonetheless.  I had gone to the trouble of cooking the chickpeas - big mistake, as it turned out the ones I bought most likely had been on a shelf since 2004 and were still crunchy after 2 1/2 hours.

Chickpea, chicken, and vegetable stew (this recipe will serve 3 - easily doubled)
(You may notice that many elements are reappearing here - that's because we're trying to use up what's around and available and not buying too much that's new.  A good system - I really should do this more at home.)

• 2 cans rinsed and drained cooked chickpeas
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, cut into dice
• 1 red pepper, ditto
• 1 medium zucchini, ditto
• about 1/2 lb. green beans, in 1" pieces
• 1/4 cp. tomato puree
• 1 chicken bouillon cube (there it is again)
• 1/2 of a roast chicken, meat removed (just buy one, and use the rest for sandwiches.)
• paprika and thyme

Fry the bacon in a large deep saucepan, and when crisp, remove onto paper towels and pour out most of the fat.  Add a little olive oil and sauté the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic, carrot, and red pepper, and stir for another minute.  Now add the zucchini, green beans, tomato puree, bouillon (or just some salt), about a half teaspoon each of paprika and thyme, and water to generously cover everything.  Bring to a simmer, stir well, and cover the pan - simmer until everything is tender (no crunchy vegetables here).  Add the reserved bacon crisps, chickpeas and the chicken - and some water if it's too thick, though ultimately you don't want it too thin.  Keep simmering until everything is definitively soft and soupy.  Taste for salt and pepper - add some if needed.  

With salad and bread - that's about it.  Bought some adorable mini chocolate coated dulce de leche cookies from the Biarritz for dessert.

P.S.  Reminder:  what is even better is chocolate crepes filled with dulce de leche - will try that at home.

ÑOQUIS AS MODERATELY FAST FOOD

Did my first project interview today with the director of the library at the ORT business school. She spoke so fast that I have no idea whether my notes represent anything of what she said.  Am rethinking the project...

So it's comforting to think about something that I can do without trying really hard - making ñoquis (gnocchis in Italian).  I was inspired to learn to make them from an old telenovela we used to watch here called PH, where a 15-year-old troubled teenager in a halfway house often just started making them casually while engaged in heavy conversation with her fellow inmates.

Here's the thing:  there are many, many recipes for gnocchis, from renowned cooks, which contradict each other profoundly.  No eggs, 2 eggs, boil potatoes, bake potatoes, use Idahos, use Yukon Golds, a little flour, lots of flour, etc. etc.  I therefore think that they are just pretty flexible and can take whatever you give them, as long as you cook them right after you make them.  I know there is another recipe for them in here, and have heard a few complaints about it, but the ñoquis I made last night were lovely, so I'll just chronicle the experience.   And since I mistakenly erased the photo I took to prove how lovely in fact they were, here's one instead of the skating rink right outside our apartment where we go almost every evening to watch a scene of terrifyingly fast gleeful chaos.

So here's the recipe:
On the side, in a good sized saucepan (which will hold all the gnocchis ultimately) make (or pour) any simple tomato sauce you like - you'll need about 2 cups - I added a few TB of cream, too.   Let it simmer gently while you make the  gnocchis.  When it's the right consistency (not too thick),  just keep it warm on very low heat.

Ñoquis for 3 or 4, depending on what else is available.  This time I used:

• 4 medium sized boiling potatoes - NOT peeled
• 1/2 of a beaten egg
• 1 cp. flour
• salt and pepper
• parmesan for grating
• optional - chopped fresh parsley or basil

Put the potatoes in water to cover and bring to a simmer.  When they are cooked through - about 20 minutes, use a long skewer or thin knife to see if they are - but don't do this too often because you don't want them to get soggy.  Take them out and drain as soon as they are done.  

Put another pot of water on to boil - add about a tsp. salt.  Keep it quietly simmering on the stove.

When the potatoes have cooled a bit, peel them and grate them with the large holes on one of those metal graters (it's all I had - at home I would use a potato ricer - and it was just as good) over a bowl.  When that has cooled to lukewarm, add the 1/2 egg, some salt and pepper, and then the flour, about a 1/4 cp. at a time.  Mix with your hands.  At the end, the mixture should be smooth and should easily form a soft ball.  If it's still very sticky, you could add some more flour.  Test:  pinch off a marble-sized piece, roll it in your fingers, and drop it into the simmering water.  If it holds together and comes to the top in a few minutes, you're golden.  If not, try adding a little more flour. 

Now on a cool surface (marble, formica, wood, etc.) which you have sprinkled generously with flour, take about 1/3 of the dough, roll it into a long snaky shape about 3/4" thick.  With a sharp knife, cut it into 3/4" pieces, and keep them on a floured part of the surface, a little apart from each other - cutting them should take about a minute - and forget about the whole thing with the fork and the dimples - they're just fine the way they are.  Now just pick them up and drop them in the simmering water a few at a time until all of them are there, and give it a gentle stir with a wooden spoon.  At first they will sit at the bottom, but in a few minutes they'll rise to the top.  When they're all up there, pick them up a spoonful at a time - with a slotted spoon, letting the water drain off, and then gently lower them into the warm tomato sauce (remember that?) and stir them in carefully.  Do this two more times with the remaining dough. Now just grate some parmesan over the top and maybe sprinkle some fresh parsley or basil.

It may take you as long to read this recipe as it does to make these.   It's great to have this in your repertoire - you almost always have what you need in the house, and it's such a quick and comforting dinner.  We had it with a salad (por supuesto), roasted asparagus (just throw them in the oven with a little olive oil and salt), and for dessert, my favorite higos en almibar (figs in syrup) - which may not be sold anywhere else but here.

SABROSA Y SIN ESPINAS (Tasty without bones!)

Thursday just flew by and since it is now Friday I really can't tell you what happened.  It was grey and melancholy.  Many emails were written.  Many arrangements were made.  Many streets were traversed.  Some fine empanadas were bought nearby at the Taberna del Diablo, and consumed for lunch.  Reid got home from teaching at 10 p.m.  A tormenta (much better word for a storm) blew up, pounded the coast, shrieked in at the windows, felt apocalyptic.  What a good time for -




Crispy Fish La Pedrera

The family first tried this fish at a beach vacation 13 years ago in La Pedrera, Uruguay, in a shabby but picturesque old hotel with a cavernous and fairly empty dining room.  Later in our stay we made it regularly, with a fish called "brotola" - which according to this fish translation website, is called "Greater Forkbeard" in English. Probably you won't find that, but you can really use any fish you like.  Should be kind of thick - red snapper is a nice choice.

And here I wrote out the entire recipe for the fish, forgetting that it is already on this blog, namely on Tuesday, January 15, 2013.  Yet another exertion that dissolves into nothingness - sort of like cooking, actually. Thank goodness the zucchini isn't here, too - at least there will be something to offer.

Zucchini in Tomato Sauce Sao Paulo (yes, first made chez Andrews/Werner on the Avenida Paulista in 1984, although probably a standard in many places.)  The cool thing here are these little spherical zucchini called zapallitos - perfect for juggling.

• 3 medium zapallitos, or zucchini, cut in 1" cubes
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cp. tomato puree
• 3/4 cp. water
• 1/2 chicken bouillon cube
• handful of fresh basil, chopped.

This is very simple.  In a deepish saucepan, saute the onion in olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until soft and starting to color.  Add the garlic and chopped tomato and stir for another few minutes, until the tomato starts to break up.  Pour in the tomato puree, water and half of a chicken bouillon cube or packet and bring to a simmer.  Stir to dissolve the bouillon, and simmer uncovered until the zucchini is soft and much of the liquid has boiled away (but there should still be some left, so if there's danger of it disappearing, add a little water.)  Taste to see if it needs salt - if so add some and pepper too.  Then throw in the basil - done!

NOTE: on the use of bouillon cubes/packets.  Latin Americans use these like crazy, and I can see why.  They make things taste good!  At home one is more leery of processed food and corporate additives - and I agree with all that - so go ahead and substitute that specially hand-harvested sea salt.

BIRTHDAY FOOD

This (Wednesday) was my second birthday in Montevideo! But they do become agridulce after a certain age - let's not go there.  There was much to love about this one, though - long walk with Reid all the way to the Ciudad Vieja and halfway back - a stop at the modest but still impressive neighborhood feria - a relaxed ashtanga practice - and then
out to dinner at the atmospheric Terracota restaurant in the elegant Punta Carretas neighborhood, where multiple muy expensivo places were filling up at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night.  Despite the fancy images on the restaurant website, this is Uruguay, and the entrecote con papas fritas is the steak and fries of everywhere, which is, says Reid, part of its culinary greatness.

But the chorizo - well, this one (half gone before I could snap) made the 6-year wait worth it.  The wine - Uruguayan of course and not to be found outside its borders - had the impossible name of Mburucuyá and merited many more u's.  Also must be mentioned: a Mousse de Maracujá on a chocolate crust with maracujá syrup, which will have to be made someday - remind me.

OK - I know this is getting far away from the recipes I promised (that brotola sabrosa up there gets made tomorrow) but I have to send out image below which was painted on a wall by the Playa Ramirez.  This rather adorable but Disneyfied caterpillar is carrying, in the most natural way, his mate y termo - is, in fact, offering it to a friend.  Only those who have been in this unorthodox place could have the slightest idea what this means.

MEAT AND POTATOES AND CREAM

Is there an Uruguayan restaurant of any kind that doesn't serve steak and potatoes?  And I'm talking La Vegetariana.  If you can get a coffee you can get a bife to go with it.
Today was Tuesday, and we both did some work today, but couldn't resist the afternoon sunshine and so took off and rambled all along the Rambla (thus the name) a walkway that actually continues for 20 miles along the shoreline.  Along with a detour through our favorite Pocitos neighborhood, lined with art deco buildings, arching trees, fresh pasta shops, pharmacies, and many, many veterinary emporia. 

So we stopped on the way home to pick up some chops at one of the many, many carnecerías, and just pan-fried them them with sautéed onions and red peppers on the side - along with a version of Julia's Pommes de Terre Dauphinoises (which some of you readers will recall we watched the video of on Block Island, accompanied by loud groaning.)  I had some leftover cream and was just in the mood to use it.  Mainly so I can buy more: the cream is so thick and luscious it doesn't even need to be whipped, and just begs to be consumed.

Pommes de terres avec creme á la uruguaya

2 TB butter
5 potatoes
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup light cream (I mixed heavy cream with whole milk, which may still qualify as heavy cream in Pittsburgh)
1/2 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper
parchment paper or foil

Preheat oven to 425.  Melt the butter in a saucepan, and sauté the onions on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and paprika and sauté just one more minute.  While that's going, peel and slice the potatoes about 1/8" thick.  Generously butter a 12" round casserole or baking pan, and put one layer of potatoes in the bottom, slightly overlapping - sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Scatter 1/2 of the onion mixture over it, and add another layer of potatoes - salt and pepper again.  Scatter the rest of the onion mixture and then the last layer of potatoes.  Salt and pepper, and slowly pour the cream over it - it should come up about 3/4 of the sides.  Put in the over and lightly cover with a piece of parchment paper cut more or less to size (or foil if that's all you have.)  Bake for 15 minutes, take off the paper/foil and bake for about 15 minutes more, or even more if needed, until golden on top and tender throughout. This is not a diet dish.

SAVORY CHAUCHAS

Monday - not too inspirational - actually had to work today, advising the Tepper students in the other hemisphere on their research projects.  And then met up with a librarian friend at a cafe and walked the 20 blocks back along leafy streets with old houses.  No time to shop!
So we had some bacon, green beans, eggs, potatoes, red peppers, onions.  The green beans here - chauchas - are long and flat - and are best cooked until tender.  (Actually I like all green beans cooked that way - the raw taste of crisp-tender beans is a bit harsh and then there is so much chewing! See Michael Pollan's Cooked to learn how humans conquered the world through chewing less.)   Here's a way to make the chauchas so that they taste the way they do down here.

• 1 lb. green beans (flat ones if possible)
• 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/4 lb. bacon (or cubes of ham, which you just need to crisp up)
• 1 cube or packet of chicken bouillon (Knorr's here, Trader Joe's at home)

Wash and slice off the top of the green beans and then slice into 1" pieces.  Fry the bacon in a saucepan large enough to hold the beans. I brought a porcelain nonstick one in my suitcase - knowing that Uruguayan-issue pots and pans are a thin, sad lot - and so far it's just as good as the cast iron.  When the bacon is crisp, crumble and set aside, and pour out most of the bacon fat.  Now add the garlic, and stir a bit.  Throw on the cut-up beans, pour on water just to cover and bring to a boil.  Add the bouillon cube and stir until dissolved.  Cover and continue to simmer until the beans are almost done, then uncover, stir, and keep simmering until the beans are tender and the liquid is down to about 1/4 cp. (the whole effect needs a bit of sauce.)  Mix in the bacon, and taste before adding salt and pepper - will probably not need much if any salt.

Paired with a tortilla espanola (see recipe in 1/10/13 entry, and please forgive that awful photo,) a salad of course, and for dessert, Grandma Barbsie's cake (1/9/13) - replacing the toasted coconut with a thick smear of dulce de leche over the top.

HABAS (FAVA BEANS) FOUND AT FARMERS MARKET, RECALLING A LOST TIME

And here's another flashback to 1976, when we first had these cooked with garlic, tomatoes and bacon in the old estancia kitchen of Marysa's friend Liliane, who raised cattle in Buenos Aires Province.  We picked them first from her garden.  This sounds just like one of those obnoxious French cooking memoirs - forgive me - but it actually happened and I just have to record it.  Might as well get it all out there: during that stay I also was almost killed trying to ride a horse bareback, and spent afternoons sitting under a tree reading Proust.

So when yesterday at the féria I saw the most beautiful habas - not like the sad-looking bruised ones that turn up at Whole Foods and occasionally PennMac, I had to bring them home.  And today, after spending the day wandering around the the city's weekly enormous 10-block flea market, and the Dia del Patrimonio's open historic sites like the 19th century Club Uruguay (complete with gavotte,) we picked up some bacon at the Disco (Supermarket) and started shucking the beans.  It does take a lot to produce about a cup of those adorable little green kidneys.


Recipe -serves 4:
2 lbs. unshucked fava beans (about 2 cups of beans)
1/2 lb. sliced bacon, cut in 1" pieces.
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cp. tomato puree
2 tomatoes (Roma if possible) chopped
1/2 cp. dry white wine
salt and pepper

Saute the bacon pieces in a largish saucepan until crisp, crumble or chop, and set aside.  Pour out all the bacon fat except for 2 TB., add a few more TB of olive oil, and sauté the onion for 15 minutes over low heat until soft.  Add the garlic, then the tomatoes and tomato puree, and keep simmering for 5 more minutes.  Now add the wine and another 1/2 cup of water, and simmer for another 10 or so minutes, until the tomatoes have broken up and it all takes on a sauce-like consistency.  Add the habas and the bacon - and if the liquid has boiled away, and the habas aren't covered, you should add a little water until they are - and bring to a simmer again, and keep it going for another 10 minutes until the habas are tender.  Season with a good amount of salt and pepper.

To go along, I made a simple onion risotto (a million recipes abound, and I'll put one in later also), because I was in the mood for a somewhat soupy dinner, and that was easy to do on the stove at the same time - sautéing onions and stirring for this too - and the habas are basically Italian anyway.  They go together like the partners above, tastefully.

WE'RE BACK HERE AND ALSO IN MVD - INSPIRED BY EVERYTHING, INCLUDING A CAZUELA DE ABADEJO

I don't want everyone to sigh and go away (especially Eve), so I won't get misty about the joy of having landed again in Montevideo,  but when we walked into the old-fashioned, faded, modest, hearty Danubio Azul my first night (where I first tasted their typical Uruguayan cooking 38 years ago) I didn't cry but I did order the Cazuela de Abadejo.

So completely satisfying, yummy and hearty was it (and so jealous was Reid because he had ordered something else) that I promised to copy it the next night for our Yom Kippur break fast (although admittedly we caved in and had some empanadas at 2.)  So in the late afternoon, we stopped by the nearby neighborhood féria (farmers market) to get absolutely fresh ingredients - and make this very simple, fast, healthy, and really perfect dinner dish, and a typical Uruguayan one.

• 1 lb. fillets of abadejo (Google says it's pollock - really could be any filleted white fish without skin that is about an inch thick, cut in 2" pieces)
• 1 onion, coursely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1 red pepper (morrón), cut into 1" pieces
• 2 boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" squares
• about 10 green beans (the flat kind, called chauchas, though any kind will do) in 1" pieces
• 1 medium carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
• 1/3 cp. tomato puree
• 1/2 cp. white wine
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• chopped parsley - optional

In a large casserole dish, sauté the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the red pepper for another 5, then the garlic for one more.  Pour over the tomato puree and stir, and add the paprika (or pimentón if you prefer).  Add the white wine and bring to a simmer.  Throw in the potatoes, green beans, and carrot and pour on water to cover - here you can add (optional but it deepens the flavor) a chicken bouillon cube (here they are Knorr) or just salt lightly.  Cover partially and simmer until the potatoes and vegetables are quite tender - about 25 minutes?  Just test them after 20.  If it's still watery, take off the cover and let some liquid boil away.  Taste and correct for salt and pepper.  Now add the fish pieces and simmer just until they are cooked through - usually no more than 5 minutes - you'll see when they start to break up when you touch them with a spoon.  If you want to add the parsley, go ahead.  All done! Served in a bowl with bread along side and a salad (a typical one here just lettuce and watercress dressed with olive oil, vinegar, and salt.) Our bread was the long-remembered chale (challah) from the Panadería Biarritz on the calle 21.  We have maybe 20 more home-cooked dinners here but I don't think I can top this one for sheer simple satisfaction.

IS THIS CHINESE FOOD? WHATEVER, IT'S IDEAL FOR WEEKNIGHTS

I'm calling these Chinese, but how could they be, coming from an American Jewish kitchen in Pittsburgh? But ever since Reid and I became enlightened by the broccoli in oyster sauce at Joyce Chen's restaurant near MIT circa 1977 (everyone was rediscovering Chinese food beyond chow mein then) I have been trying to make something at home that at least tastes similar.  I have these two stir-fry recipes on badly stained cards in my old recipe box - they've been used a lot because they're delicious, fresh, and quick though wildly inauthentic - you'll see that they are basically 2 versions of the same thing, which I'm sure would outrage real Chinese cooks.

Before you start, put a pot of plain white rice on to cook alongside.

KUNG PAO CHICKEN (I have no idea if this is really Kung Pao Chicken, or even where it came from, but it's still yummy) (this is for 2 - double for more)

• 3/4 lb. boneless chicken, cut in 1" chunks
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• splash sherry and sesame oil
• 4 dried hot chiles, wiped clean (or 1/4 - could be more if you like - tsp. red pepper flakes)
• 3 green, red or yellow peppers, cut in 1" squares
• 1/4 cp. shelled peanuts
• 5 scallions, trimmed and sliced 
• Sauce - stir together:
• 3 TB soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch, first mixed with 1 TB water
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 TB sherry
• 1 tsp. sugar

(For all dishes like this, you'll want to have this all cut up or stirred together and at hand before you even turn on the stove.  That's actually what takes the most time - after that it's a whirlwind.)

Combine chicken with the soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry and sesame oil and stir until well mixed.  Heat about an inch of vegetable oil (I use canola) until VERY hot in a wok-shaped pan if you have it (uses less oil) but a regular frying pan is fine.  Throw in the chicken and stir fry pretty continuously for just 5 minutes or until cooked through.  Spoon out the chicken with a slotted spoon onto a plate, and discard all the oil except for a few tablespoons.  (If there is stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan, you will probably want to clean it and add fresh oil.)  

Heat the oil again, and first put in the chiles.  In a minute they will turn black - and you can take them out or leave them (but warn people not to eat them! If you use red pepper flakes, wait only a few seconds.)  Add the peppers, peanuts, and scallions and stir until cooked but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Pour on the sauce and bring to a boil while stirring - it will thicken.  Add cooked chicken and heat throughout.  Serve with the rice.  This actually tastes better when eaten with chopsticks.

CHICKEN WITH CABBAGE IN BEAN SAUCE

• 3/4 lb. boneless chicken, cut in 1" chunks
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB cornstarch
• splash sherry and sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 cps. of thinly sliced green cabbage
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• Sauce - stir together:
• 3 TB soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 TB (or less depending on whether it's hot and how you like it) Chinese bean sauce, which you get at a Chinese grocery, but you can probably find at Whole Foods.  The one I use looks like the jar at the top. Hot or not - you choose - I think hot is better in this dish. 
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch dissolve in 1 TB water

(This part same as above.)  Combine chicken with the soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry and sesame oil and stir until well mixed.  Heat about an inch of vegetable oil (I use canola) until VERY hot in a wok-shaped pan if you have it (uses less oil) but a regular frying pan is fine.  Throw in the chicken and stir fry pretty continuously for just 5 minutes or until cooked through.  Spoon out the chicken with a slotted spoon onto a plate, and discard all the oil except for a few tablespoons.  (If there is stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan, you will probably want to clean it and add fresh oil.)  

Heat the oil again, and put in the cabbage, ginger and garlic and stir.  Pour on a little water and cover for a few minutes to move it along without burning.  Uncover and see if the cabbage is just barely cooked. When it is, pour the sauce over and stir until it thickens.  Add the cooked chicken and heat throughout.  Serve with the rice. 

Of course in both of these you can substitute pork for the chicken, or tofu, or use different vegetables, etc. etc.  Then it will be even more inauthentic!  But your own.

One more thing:  as every dinner needs a salad, you can make a simple one of sliced cucumbers with scallions, salt, and a dash of sesame oil - or take a look through this absolutely brilliant and essential compilation of salads by (who else?) Mark Bittman, and pick any Asian one that strikes your fancy.  To the New York Times:  please never take this away!

HOW MANY CHOCOLATE CAKES DO WE NEED? AT LEAST THREE

Cake of enchantment, created by Tamara last week!

Inspired by that, but sticking to our more homely theme, here are three chocolate cake recipes from our family past, which are the home-style fairly fast kids' birthday kind - also lovable.  And maybe if we're lucky Tamara will send hers in too.

DECADENT CAKE:  Go-to birthday cake in the Andrews/Werner family.
(not decadent at all, really, but that's what they called it in the venerable Silver Palate cookbook, which in this house opens automatically to this page.  Slightly amended.)

• 1 cp. boiling water
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional)
• 2 cps. sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cp. yogurt (best if full fat)
• 2 cps. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour either a bundt cake pan or a 13x9" pan.

Pour boiling water over butter and chocolate and let stand until melted.  Stir in vanilla, almond extract, and sugar, then whisk in egg yolks, one at a time.  Separately, mix baking soda and yogurt thoroughly, and then whisk this into the chocolate mixture.  Sift flour and baking powder into the batter and mix thoroughly. 

Separately, beat egg whites with the salt until they hold a shape.  Fold them into the batter gently, a quarter at a time.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 - 45 minutes, checking at 30 minutes to see if the top bounces back when you touch it, and a toothpick or thin wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  When it does, it's done - cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then unmold.  Frost when it's perfectly cool.

Frosting:

• 2 TB unsalted butter
• 3/4 cp. semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 TB heavy cream
• 1 1/4 cps. sifted powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract (or 1 tsp. vanilla)

Put all of these in a heavy saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. Take off the heat and let cool until it thickens somewhat but is still warm and gooey.  Spread over the cake the way you like it.  


Next up:

:

NAN'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is the one my Nan always made for us, and always said "it didn't come out right!" and we always loved it of course.  It's here mainly for preservation as is Nan's fear-inspiring handwriting.

• 1/4 lb. sweet butter plus one piece (1 TB?) at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar scant
• 3 eggs separated (large probably)
• 1 2/3 cp. cake flour
• 3 sq. bitter (unsweetened) chocolate
• 1/2 cp. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt chocolate over hot water in double boiler.  Cream butter, add sugar, then egg yolks, and beat until smooth.  Add melted chocolate and stir.  Sift dry ingredients together and stir in, alternating with water.  Add vanilla.  Beat egg whites until just stiff and fold them in.  Bake in a greased tube pan for 40 min.  

Frosting:

• 3 TB butter softened
• 2 cps. confectioner sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 egg

Beat together and frost cake.

(A woman of few words - actually she was a woman of a crazy amount of words, but not about frosting.)

BUT IN THE END, THIS IS THE ONE EVERYONE WANTS:

MY SISTER-IN-LAW ALICE'S KILLER CAKE

• 6 oz. unsalted butter
• 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate chopped
• 6 eggs
• 3 cps. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 TB vanilla
• 1 1/2 cps. flour
• 1 1/2 cps. chocolate chips

Mix the cake by hand.  Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 9" round cake pans and line bottoms with wax or parchment paper.  

Melt butter and chocolate together over simmering water.  Cool to lukewarm.  In a large bowl, whisk together for one minute the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Whisk in the butter-sugar mixture.  Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 30-35 min. (Do not overbake - actually a cake tester should not come out clean.)  Cool on racks and remove from pans as soon as cooled.  (If you are not using it that day, these freeze well if wrapped closely.)

Frosting:

• 1 1/4 cps. sugar
• 2 TB instant coffee
• 1 cp. heavy cream
• 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 oz. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the sugar, coffee, and cream in a heavy deep saucepan.  Stirring, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 6 minutes without stirring.  Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate; stir until melted and blended in.  Add butter and vanilla and whisk well.  Chill until it begins to thicken and feels spreadable.  Spread some on top of one layer, cover with the other, and now cover the whole thing. 

At last, decadence.

SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN

It's Sunday - time to roast the chicken that will fill your house with a delicious smell so classic that its effect is primordial.

So it is important where you get the chicken, because that counts more than technique:  as Nigella Lawson says, it's almost embarrassingly easy to do this.  My go-to place for chickens is the East Liberty Farmer's Market - every Saturday morning - right from the farmers (the valiant Kennedy family) and, more amazing, the most inexpensive chicken in Pittsburgh.  (People complain that they run out early, but if you call and reserve one, you can show up as late as 10 and they'll have it all ready for you.)

• 1 chicken (roaster or fryer), 2 1/2 lbs to 3 1/2 lbs  (smaller one serves 2 - larger serves 4)
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• olive oil or soft butter
• kosher or other coarse salt
• some kind of herb that you like, dried or fresh (I have some rosemary in a pot outside that is somehow alive and well all winter long and has been there for years.)

Preheat oven to 425.
Any pan is OK (though not glass), and if you have a roasting rack, that will help - I use a little cheap one which looks like this and is fine.

Wash and dry the chicken, and sprinkle the inside with a tsp. of salt.  Put the smashed garlic and the herbs (either sprigs of fresh ones or a tsp. of dried) inside, and (optional - makes it look better) tie the legs together with string.  With your fingers, spread some olive oil or butter over the skin.

Put the chicken on the rack in the pan on its side, and set the timer for 20 minutes.  Now take it out and turn it on the other side (dishwashing gloves are a big help here) and roast another 20 minutes.  Take it out and turn it again, this time right side up.  (All the turning crisps the skin underneath.)  Put a little more butter or oil on the top side, turn the oven down to 350, and that's pretty much it, so you can go read a book or write a blog entry.   Don't get too involved though, since you will want to baste it every 20 minutes or so with the liquid in the pan. and turn it from back to front at least once.  If the top starts getting too brown, slide a piece of foil or baking parchment over it.  Timing doesn't have to be perfect:  I find 1 1/4 hrs. for the smaller and 2 hrs. for the larger chicken will do if you like it tender and falling apart, like I do.  You can tell it's done if, when you pierce the thigh with a knife (how savage, really) the juices run clear and not pink.  Or, use an instant thermometer - 165 degrees is safe.

Now the end game:  take it out of the oven and lift the chicken onto a plate and loosely cover - it should rest for 15 minutes. While that is happening, spoon off at least some of the liquid chicken fat floating on top of the liquid in the roasting pan, put the whole pan over a burner and pour in about a cup of white wine or chicken broth or a combination. Bring to a simmer and scrape up all the bits stuck to the bottom with a wooden spoon; boil down until it's a little thicker and more concentrated - there's your sauce!  If you're a perfectionist you can strain it.  Cut the chicken up and arrange it any way you like, spoon some sauce over the top and serve the rest on the side.  You are now in your own bistro.

Of course googling roast chicken will give you a million more ideas to jazz this up - but try it this way at least once, for its knockout simplicity.  And for the last 45 minutes, do consider roasting some potatoes alongside, either those tiny ones, or bigger ones cut into 1"cubes - just use another pan that you have spooned some of the chicken fat into (oh alright, olive oil is fine also.)