Stay at Stove Dad

Rabbit Stew with Sage and Bacon for Valentine's Day

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day, and if you’re the guy in the kitchen and you’re not eating out, you probably know in advance what you plan on cooking. And if you’ve been reading this blog for any time, and if you have any sense of your own, you have already done your shopping for the big night.

But if you haven’t yet gotten ready, I have a money-saving, potentially romance-saving tip: Make a rabbit stew, it’ll be far less expensive than eating out, and you’ll have a night you’ll always remember. I’ve written before about how crowd pleasing rabbit can be. Rabbit seems to get everybody excited. It sounds so exotic and sophisticated, but it’s really as easy to cook as chicken (at least almost), as easy to prepare (almost), and as tasty (more so).

The following rabbit-stew recipe is an old one, and I’m not sure where I found it. I first made it some fifteen years ago for two close friends, and then in an unintended coincidence, I made it for the same friends again just recently. I remembered it as delicious, and it was. It’s a combination of bacon and sage, with a dash of Balsamic vinegar over a base of chicken stock and white wine.

What I didn’t remember is how simple it is. It can be made in less time than it takes to pick out a Valentine’s Day card on Feb. 13^th.  And don’t fret if you don’t yet have a rabbit. Check with your local butcher, and if you don’t have one near where you live, D’Artagnan can ship you one overnight. You can do it. 

Rabbit Stew with Sage and Bacon

 

• 4 slices of bacon
• 3 or more garlic cloves
• 6 or more fresh sage leaves
• Flour for dredging (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 3lb rabbit, cut into pieces*
• ¼ cup olive or other vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup dry white wine

 

Chop the bacon in to small pieces.

Mince the garlic.

Chop the sage in to small pieces.

Combine the bacon, garlic, and sage, and mince again until nearly a paste.

Combine the flour and the salt and pepper and dredge the rabbit pieces in the flour

Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large casserole, and fry the rabbit until brown. Turn as necessary.

Remove the pieces as the brown. Don’t crowd the pan. Work in batches if necessary. Set pieces aside.

Drain off any excess oil, and add the bacon/garlic/sage mixture, and cook on moderate heat for about three minutes.

Add the Balsamic vinegar and wine, and simmer for about five minutes.

Add the rabbit and the stock, cover, and simmer for about forty-five minutes, stirring every so often and adding stock if necessary to keep the meat moist.

Remove the meat when it is tender and reduce the sauce.

Serve over couscous or rice, or with a piece of hearty bread.

 

*Cutting up a rabbit is easy. It’s just like cutting up a chicken, if a chicken had four legs. Cut the back ones off at the joint (always driving the knife through the knuckle of the joint; find it by moving the limb back and forth), and cut the front legs off the same way. Cut the legs in two at the joints. Take a cleaver, and hack the saddle (the long part with the backbone) into about three pieces. You can do it. 

A Little Advice

Here’s the thing about successfully cooking for your family: never stop doing it, no matter how busy you are working, socializing, helping the kids do their homework, watching sports, or hanging with your wife. Whatever it is you do with you life, make sure cooking is as a central part of it as breathing.

As I write this, I have a pot of stock on the stove that I’ve been trying to get into the freezer for the past week. Maybe when I finish this post, I’ll ladle it out into quart containers and finally put it away. Or maybe I’ll just stick it in the fridge again for a few days. I just boiled it, so it should be fine, either way. And someday I’ll be ecstatic to have the stock on hand.

How do I know? As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, there's nothing better than a fully stocked larder. This evening, I didn't have time to cook, and I was overjoyed to have leftover Harried Dad’s Aloo Gobi and roasted pork loin on hand. I had whipped up those things the night before, when I had a bit more time, and all I did was make a bit more (actually twice as much) as I needed. You can do it, too.

Quick and easy Aloo Gobi

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into 1 inch florets
• 1 potatoes, cut into small cubes
• 1 twenty-eight ounce can of peeled tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 2 tsp. coriander
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• 1 cup boiling water
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan.

When it is smoking, add the cumin seeds and cook for about twenty seconds.

Add the remaining spices and then the potatoes and cauliflower.

Stir to coat the vegetables with the spices.

Add the tomatoes and the water and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about twenty minutes.

Add the peas and cook until they are defrosted.

Serve and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Roast Pork Tenderloin

 

• Olive Oil
• A bit of Garam Masala, about a teaspoon
• A bit of mustard, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 pork tenderloins, about 2 lbs

Turn on the oven’s broiler.
Mix the olive oil and the spices and the mustard in a bowl.
Lay the pork on a roasting sheet and coat with the mixture.
Put the meat under the broiler for about ten minutes a side, until it browns.
Cook it to an internal temperature of about 150 degrees, which will leave a little pink but be safe to eat.

Note: This makes great, low-fat sandwiches when put on bread with caramelized onions.

Emotional Intelligence and Hibiscus Popsicles

In keeping with writing about unseasonal things, such as one-ingredient banana ice cream, I want to talk about popsicles. Santa Maria woke up recently and, at Pinta’s request, made a set of hibiscus ones. These ruby delights first came into our lives last summer, and they were something of a staple around the house.

When Santa Maria made them the other day, they filled the kitchen and much of the house with a luscious scent. The base is Celestial Seasoning’s Red Zinger tea, and she sweetens it with copious amounts of honey and sharpens it with tons of chopped fresh ginger. It perfumed the house as it cooled.

At the moment, I’m reading a fascinating book, Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence,” that I think should be required reading for every new (and not so new) parent (as well as for everyone else, for that matter). Goleman explains how our brains evolved, from the bottom up. First came the brain stem, atop the spinal cord, and then the olfactory lobe, “thin layers of neurons gathered to analyze smell,” an essential life skill for early humans, who didn’t have books or the Internet to tell them if something was “edible or toxic, sexually available, enemy or meal.”

After that the limbic system evolved around these cells, and with it the “rhinencephalon,” or “literally, the ‘nose brain,’ a part of the limbic wiring.” A little later on, we developed the amygdala, the center for emotion—and emotional memories—in the brain, and it was a key part of the evolving nose brain.

The relevant thing here is that the amygdala is one of the first parts of the infant brain to develop. And it is connected directly to the sense of smell. Therefore, I reason, any good scent of things cooking around the house will set a child off well in life with good memories.

As I inhaled the scent of the tea, I was brought instantly back to last summer, which, as I mentioned above is when we first starting having them around the house. My hope as I cook day in and day out, and fill the house with delicious aromas, is that I’m giving my children deep and happy memories to help them later in life. When I think of all the skills I’m supposed to be teaching them, this seems like one of the easiest.

Hibiscus Popsicles

• 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
• 5 “Red Zinger” tea bags
• Juice of a whole lemon
• ¼-1/2 cup honey, depending on taste: important note: when you freeze things they taste less sweet.
• 5 cups boiling water

Steep tea with all of the ingredients for half an hour

Remove tea bags

Cool the mixture

Pour into popsicle molds, and place in freezer

Allow at least four hours for the popsicles to freeze

Note: This will make far more than most popsicle holders can handle. The remainder makes the base of a mean cocktail when mixed with gin. And, as I realized with my recent illness, the leftover tea, without any gin, is a soothing and sweet, vitamin and nutrient filled elixir.

We Interrupt This Illness to Recap the Slow-Cooker Virtual Cooking Class

When I was at the doctor’s office on Thursday, he told me that the time to watch for fever is between 5 and 8 p.m., as that’s when it is typically the highest. I was relieved to learn this, because at 1 p.m. yesterday I was set to co-host The Motherhood’s web-based “Slow Cooker Game Day Recipes with George Duran” virtual cooking class. 

The class was fascinating, and I learned more than I expected. Duran demonstrated how to make Fiesta Chicken with Rice and Beans. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. The recipe, which came from Ready, Set, Eat, seemed mainly to consist of opening cans of things and throwing it the slow cooker, turning it on, and then coming back in seven or so hours. Duran even recommended doing it the night before it would be eaten, and sleeping while it cooked. It sounded good to me.

But using canned goods unsettled me just a bit. Sure, I use some canned things (peeled plum tomatoes, sardines, pumpkin), but I try to limit the amount of canned goods for two reasons. One is an unholy fear of processed foods and BPA, and the other is some kind of deeper psychological issue that associates reward with work—maybe it’s some kind of Catholic-guilt thing, but if I’m not chopping vegetables, stirring sauces, and otherwise sweating in the kitchen, I’m not really cooking.

Another suggestion unsettled me too: The first thing Duran suggested doing was to spray the inside of the slow cooker with PAM, to make the cleanup easy. I never use PAM, and my processed-foods paranoia—as well as my gut reaction—told me that it's a terrible idea to spray any chemical onto the food I'm eating.

Then, I looked up what PAM actually is. From what I can tell, it’s little more than canola oil, and I was wrong in thinking it would be bad for me. So I learned something I didn’t expect: that my attitudes might be holding me back a little (see, also, the guilt thing, above).

The rest of my co-hosts on the show had thoughtful, practical questions about using the slow cooker to feed their families. If you want to find out how to keep everything you make in one from tasting like stew (the trick is to sear the meats first), or how to cook seafood in one (throw the shrimp in after the dish is done), check out The Motherhood’s nifty summary. 

Under The Weather

A small cough has since turned into a big cough and a fever, so all I've been doing lately, besides coughing, is sleeping. I expect to be better soon, and hope to be back here by Monday. Enjoy the weekend, and the big game.

Super Simple Banana "Ice Cream"

When you cook as much as I do (and as often), you end up doing odd things, at odd times. It may be winter, but last weekend I made banana “ice cream.” I put it in quotes because it’s not really ice cream. Though it looks and tastes that way, it’s nothing but frozen bananas. Nothing else.

This recipe has been circulating on the Internet for a while now, and I apologize if you’ve seen it before. I first came across it last summer while on vacation in Montauk. We had some extra, quickly ripening bananas, and I thought I could use them up. Unfortunately, at that time, I did not read the recipe before throwing the whole bananas in the freezer. You don’t want to do that. You want to cut them into little slices, first.

Last weekend, I had two compelling reasons to make the banana “ice cream.” I had three nearly overripe bananas staring at me from the corner of the kitchen, and I had my brother, sister-in-law, and their son coming over for a morning visit. My nephew can’t eat wheat or dairy. I had made pancakes, but he wouldn’t be able to have any. I wanted to have a treat for him.

So this time, I read the recipe, and followed the very simple but important instructions. I sliced the bananas, put them on a plate, and stuck them in the freezer before my nephew and his parents arrived. When he got here, I was ready to try out the recipe.

I couldn’t believe that plain, frozen bananas could transform themselves into creamy soft “ice cream,” but that’s exactly what happened. I can’t say I really liked the results, but I know I’m in the minority. My nephew tried a taste, broke out into a huge smile, and said “Like it.” And as soon as his bowl was empty, he pointed at the blender and said, “more dat.”

One-Ingredient Banana “Ice Cream”

• 3 or more ripe bananas 
• 1 blender

Peel the bananas.

Cut them into small pieces, and spread them out on a plate.

Put the plate in the freezer for one to two hours.

Drop the frozen banana slices into a blender, and run it until the bananas magically transform into what looks like soft ice cream. It will happen, eventually. Just push the bananas down the side of the blender as you go.

Enjoy.

Slow-Cooker Virtual Cooking Class Coming Up

I get many nice notes in my inbox related to this blog. A recent message from a reader, Michele Hays, who commented on my post about the trouble I had getting my kids to eat my roasted red peppers, alerted me to a potentially helpful resource, It’s Not About Nutrition: The Art and Science of Teaching Kids to Eat Right. The blog is run by a sociologist named Dr. Dina R. Rose, and I know I’ll be spending some time reading it.

And the other day, I received a fun invitation from the folks behind The Motherhood. They’re putting on a virtual cooking class on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. called “Game Day and Slow Cooker Recipes,” and they asked me to co-host it.

I hope you can join me. We’ll be asking and answering questions about getting ready for the big game by firing up the slow cooker. I’m a great believer in getting the cooking done before kick off (as I did by making Frikadeller when the Giants triumphed over the Packers a few weeks ago) and the slow cooker is a great, hands-off tool for feeding a lot of folks.

My father-in-law has a slow cooker, and I’ve used it a couple of times. What tips do you have for using a slow cooker? And if you have any questions, send them my way, or jump into the class on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.

The Ups and Downs of Cooking

Cooking for a family can be a topsy-turvy affair. Sometimes things go horribly wrong, and I’m not talking about about spilled milk here. I’m talking something worse. Over the weekend, a certain someone, who might have been so proud of the roasted red peppers he made, brought to tears a certain daughter (who shall remain nameless, in hopes of protecting the innocent). All he wanted was for her to try it. Was that wrong? What about the "eating the rainbow philosophy" for raising healthy children? And don’t get me started on the whole “if they make it with you they’ll want to eat it with you” approach. She practically held the pepper in the flame when I was cooking it. Sheesh.

But there are also high points, such as this morning, when another daughter came trotting out of her bedroom and said “Yummy oatcakes,” as soon as she smelled the aroma from the kitchen. I knew then why it was I get up at 6 a.m. to get breakfast started. Whew.

Roasted Red Pepper Recipe for Arugula Salad

A year or so ago, I was making my winter quinoa salad—the one with sweet potato, red onion, and red pepper—just about every week. Lately, though, I haven’t been eating it as frequently. The last time I thought I was going to make the salad, I bought a red pepper and the rest of the ingredients, but I never got around to using them.

The red pepper sat in the fridge for weeks, and I saw it every time I opened the crisper. It sat there mocking me. Why did I really buy it? What was I thinking? What was I going to do with it?

A few days ago, shortly before it would have gone bad, I came up with an answer: I would roast it. A roasted pepper, marinated in oil and vinegar, is not only delicious, it will last a while on its own. I could buy time to find a use for it.

Roasting a pepper at home is very easy. You just put the pepper in the flame of the gas burner on your stove, either by standing it up on the stove itself, or by holding in the flame with a pair of tongs. Move the pepper around so it gets charred on every side. Once that’s done, put the pepper in either a brown bag or place it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Leave the pepper until it cools, at which point the skin will come off very easily. Rinse the pepper to get the seeds out and any little bits of skin that may remain. Slice the pepper into long narrow strips, and then marinate them in olive oil, vinegar, and a bit of oregano, or other herb.

The peppers will keep a few days, at least, in the fridge, and they’re great on their own, on a sandwich, or, as I discovered, in an arugula salad with shavings of Parmesan.  The sweetness of the pepper counteracts the tartness of the arugula, making it a colorful and perfectly balanced salad.

Go Giants! Game-Day Frikadeller Recipe

When I wrote earlier that I didn’t know where the time went last weekend, I wasn’t telling the whole story. A good part of it was spent watching the Giants overcome the Packers. And a good rest of the part of it was spent getting ready to watch the game.

This was a rare occasion. In my circle, I don’t have many football-watching friends (well, that’s not entirely true: one friend has repeatedly invited me to Giants Stadium to share his home-field tickets, but I’ve never gone). Last weekend, though, while in Lake Placid, I discovered that my friend E., as I’ll call her here, was my kind of football fan. She liked the game when it was playoff time. I don’t have the patience for regular season games (note to self: ask shrink about that), but when the end of the season is on the line, I’m there.

So we set out to tune into the Giants, but missed their triumph over the Atlanta Falcons because we were watching bobsledding practice (there are some things you can do in Lake Placid that you just can’t do anywhere else, at least not on the East Coast). Having failed to catch the Giants victory, we settled for the first half of the Broncos-Steelers contest. Clearly, our football-watching skills needed work, because the second half of that game was by far one of the most exciting finishes in playoff history (or so I subsequently read).

Still, we had fun, eating popcorn and guacamole and drinking beer. So, excited by the Giants’ excellent playing of late, I invited my friends back over for the most recent game, and I whipped up a batch of Frikadeller (Danish meatballs).

Football and Danish meatballs are not exactly a natural combination, but let me tell you, they are a great one. I was able to make the meatballs ahead of time, and keep them warm in the oven. This meant I was sipping a Corona on the couch while the game was on, and not standing in the kitchen.

I had never heard of Frikadeller before last year. I first came across them in Laurie David’s excellent book, “The Family Dinner.” The recipe comes from David’s personal chef, Kirstin Uhrenholdt; it was her grandmother’s. There are many nice things about them—kids love them, they’re easy to make, and they’re delicious being the top three. My friends and their son and my family gobbled them up—at half time, of course.

Game-Day Frikadeller

 

• 2/3 cup cold water
• ½ cup homemade, unseasoned breadcrumbs (or a little more, depending on how things go, how many visitors you have coming over)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar (or white wine, if that’s all you have)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 lbs ground turkey

 

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the turkey. Stir well until mixed together. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for about ten minutes, until the breadcrumbs absorb the liquid

Add the ground turkey to the bowl and mix well

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Oil a baking sheet and set it nearby.

Heat a large frying pan with some oil for frying.

Using a spoon and/or your hands, make small balls out of the mixture and place the mixture in the frying pan. Flatten the balls so the are no longer round, and are more oblong than circular.

Fry on one side until brown, and then flip.

When brown on both sides (more or less), remove the meatballs from the frying pan and slide them on the baking sheet.

Repeat until all the mixture is used up and you have a baking sheet full of meatballs.

Bake the meatballs in the oven for 20 minutes.

 

Serve with a hearty bread or some other starch (I made a variation on fried rice) and a vegetable (I made a salad).

Sufficient for 4 adults and 3 children easily. Also good the next day.