Friday, February 09, 2007

Oxtail Soup X 2

Oxtails should be cheap, and used to be, but, like many meats that used to go under the name of the squeamishly obscurious "variety meats", they are now quite expensive. I won't even tell you what you have to pay for kosher ones around here, when and ifyou can find them. The good news is that you only need about a half pound for a big ol' pot of tasty soup. These are great soups for Pesach. I'm just saying... but it will be upon us before you know it.

I'm going to give two recipes for variations on this wonderful soup. Each of these should be good for 6-8 servings of soup. Both freeze well. Add the noodles later if you are going to freeze the East Meets West soup.


Traditional Oxtail Soup

1/2 lb oxtails
1 chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
2 stalks chopped celery
1 peeled turnip, chopped (optional)
garlic
parsely
olive oil
salt
pepper
2 bay leaves
thyme
1 tsp. kitchen bouquet, if you want a richer looking soup
1 big can pureed tomatoes or 1 box pomi tomatoes
water or boullion
1 cup of kosher red wine, like a sirah (if desired)

Get your butcher to cut the oxtails into 2" pieces and trim the excess fat from the tails. Heat the olive oil - some use butter, but I don't - and sauté the onions and garlic in the oil. When translucent, add the celery and carrots and parsely. Place the oxtails carefully in the oil and vegetable mixture and let brown evenly (this is what gives your soup a good color). Salt and pepper to taste and add a bit of thyme - about 1/4 tsp dry or to taste. Add water to cover and simmer for 1.5 hours. Yes, you could do this in a crock pot. Remove from the fire, strain and put the stock into the cold so that you can remove the fat more easily. If you want, you can stop at this point and come back to the soup later.

Remove the meat from the bones and return it to the stock. Bring to a simmer and add the tomatoes and wine. Adjust seasonings. If you like you can add more vegetables, barley or another grain, but it is delicious without any of these.

East Meets West Oxtail Soup

1/2 lb oxtails
1 chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
2 small pieces celery root (celeriac)
2 pieces bok choy
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 pkg. shirataki (soy) noodles
garlic
cilantro
ginger
peanut oil
dark soy sauce
vinegar (chinkiang is best, but rice will work)
salt
pepper
5 spice powder
1/2 c. kosher sherry (if desired)
More cilantro for garnish


Sauté 1 carrot, celery root, garlic, ginger, salt in a small amount of peanut oil. Add 2" pieces of oxtail and brown on all sides. Reduce heat add a good splash of dark soy sauce, vinegar and about a tsp of 5 spice powder. Cook for about 1.5 or until meat is read to fall of of the oxtails. Strain soup, remove meat and let stock cool. Defat.

Reheat the stock, add sliced bok choy, carrot. Let simmer until vegetables are soft and add noodles. If you like, add 1/2 cup of kosher sherry to the soup. If you freeze the soup, add the soy noodles before serving and just heat the noodles in the soup.

Couscous!


Couscous, little yellow grains of semolina, made from durum wheat, is a good source of protein with 100g of couscous giving just over 15g of protein and is a slow burning source of energy (a "medium" on the GI, for those who watch that kind of thing). It tastes a lot like bulghur but lighter and with a nutty taste - kind of a cross between pasta and wheat. Instant couscous takes about 10 minutes to make and is great either warm or as a salad.

Some couscous ideas:

*Couscous mixed with olives, cashews and cherry tomatoes
*Couscous with watercress, feta cheese and radish
*Mediterranean Pinenut Couscous salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and baby spinach
*Couscous with spinach and garbanzo beans, drizzled with yoghurt
*Roasted peppers stuffed with couscous, nuts, crasins and ground beef
*Couscous and almonds drizzled with fresh lemon juice
*Breakfast couscous made with whole milk, instead of water. Add honey or raisins, or splenda, if you like a sweet cereal.
*Couscous in soup is also excellent,

Couscous couldn't be easier to make. If you want to use it for a salad, just take a serving bowl and add the desired amount of couscous (I find that half a cup per person works well) and cover with boiling water. The aim is for all of the water to be absorbed, and for the couscous to swell, so I find it's usually better to add too much water than not enough, otherwise your couscous will not cook and will remain hard and crunchy. You can eat your couscous hot, or let it cool down and eat it in a salad, cold. One of the bonuses of couscous is the short preparation time - I make my salads in about 8 minutes in the morning, and I know I have a nutritious meal ready for lunch time.

A more traditional way is illustrated by the following recipe:

Couscous with veggies and almonds (Parve or Milchig)

1 red or orange or green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly
1 carrot, sliced thinly
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c slivered almonds or other nuts as desired
Chopped parsley or cilantro - if desired
Olive oil or butter - abt. 2 tblsp, but vary according to taste
Salt/pepper

Sauté the vegetables in the fat until the onions are translucent. Reduce heat.

add

1 cup of couscous

Stir with vegetables until the couscous becomes well-coated and there is a good, nutty smell from the pan.

add

1- 1 1/4 c. water, broth, wine, even OJ

Simmer until almost all of the water is absorbed on low heat, about 8 -10 minutes.

This is wonderful eaten warm, either by itself or as a side dish, and is great for a salad.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Ezpy's Cottage Cheese Pancakes



This isn't my own recipe, as is obvious from the title, but I like Ezpy's recipe quite a bit. These taste like sourdough pancakes - which are an acquired taste perhaps, but make a great switch from higher carb pancakes or something fun to try over pesach.

Ezpy's Cottage Cheese Pancakes:

Ingredients:
1 cup of cottage cheese (any kind -- I use J&J's 4% small curd)
4 eggs (3 if they're really jumbo)
1/4 cup of flour (this can be almond, or matzoh, if it's pesach,but is best with wheat)
2 tbsps of butter melted (can be salted)
Cinnamon (if desired; Ezpy likes LOTS of cinnamon)
Salt to taste
Milk to thin (optional)

Scoop the cottage cheese into a blender. Add 2 eggs and blend for about 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the blender. Add flour and 2 more eggs, blend for another 30 secs or so until pretty smooth. Add optional cinnamon and salt to taste. If batter is too thick and thinner is preferred, or to use as crepes, blend in milk to thin.

They cook just like regular pancakes on a oiled skillet. I use real maple syrup heated very hot so as to make it very thin and use less. That way I don't add too much sugar but to get the taste.

Winter Barley Recipe


I made a nice barley side dish the other night, mostly because I had a third of a big can of whole Italian tomatoes with basil left over from a pot roast. This can easily be made parve by using parve "beef" or mushroom boullion.

3/4 cup of quick cook or medium barley (depending on how much time you have - I use the slow stuff)
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
(one onion, finely chopped, if desired)
3/4 c beef stock or soup or boullion
3/4 c. canned tomatoes - any type you like
parsely
salt
pepper
lemon, if desired
garlic, if desired
Olive oil or butter

Sautée carrots, celery, (onion, garlic) briefly in small amount of oil, if you are using the slow cook barley. Cook until soft if you are using the 10 minute barley. Add parsley and barley and lemon and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, stock and spices and reduce heat for 45 minutes (for the slow kind) or 10 - 12 minutes for the quick barley.