Winter of Polish Food - Kiełbasa z Kiszoną Kapustą i Jęczmieniem

Since wintertime lends itself to heavier, sticks-to-your-ribs cuisine, I vowed to learn how to cook more Polish cuisine, and take inspiration from foods that I enjoyed through childhood and early-adulthood.

First up is smoked kiełbasa sausage with sauerkraut and barley. We usually didn't have barley to enjoy, since it takes a little lead-time and about an hour to cook, but enjoying it at various Polish restaurants inspired me to include it here. 

One cup of dried barley was picked over to eliminate any possible pebbles, then washed and soaked for several hours (I did four hours). 

An onion and several cloves of garlic are sauteed in a pan that has a lid, until translucent and fragrant. I added pre-cooked bacon for additional flavor, sauteed over medium heat until fragrant and the vegetables are translucent. Cut 2 smoked kiełbasa links into pieces and add to the pan to begin to brown. 

Add 1 bag (or two cans) sauerkraut with the brine. Drain the soaked barley and add into the pan, along with six cups of water and a tablespoon of caraway seeds and three bay leaves. Stir to combine and taste to adjust seasoning. 

Cover, bring to a boil, and when boiling, transfer to a 375F oven for one hour. Uncover for the final fifteen minutes of cooking to allow to thicken. 

Adjust seasoning before serving. Serve with prepared horseradish, if desired. 

Possible enhancements include adding chopped apple (dziękuję, Ciocia Basia!), dries fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots) or other meats (chicken tenders/thighs, pork chops, etc). 

Habanero and Sausage Pizza

It has been quite a while since I have indulged in a habanero pizza, so given the opportunity I thought I would have a treat. Along with the habanero, I added lots of chopped garlic, quartered grape tomatoes, sliced mini sweet peppers and spicy Italian sausage, and a sprinkle of my personal spice blend to give it that retro fennel-sausage flavor and aroma. I placed the tomatoes, habanero slices, and sausage chunks on top of the cheese, so they would receive direct heat from the oven and cook thoroughly. 

After 5 minutes on the 500F pizza steel, the sausage was mostly cooked, but I wanted a bit more browning... So I knocked the oven down to 425F for another 5 minutes, and it was perfectly done! Nicely well-done without being burned or charred, nice crisp crust! It's so good I may need to do it again tomorrow, combined with spinach and garlic and the spicy Italian sausage! 

Chicken Thighs with Pilaf, Green Beans, Zucchini, and Honey Butter Rolls

Soundtrack - Clock DVA Man-Amplified (1991)

Clock DVA started off in 1978, initially with an electronic sort of jazzy industrial music. In 1989 they released Buried Dreams as they changed to an electronic industrial/EBM (electronic body music) style, which spawned the club single The Hacker. 

Man-Amplified followed in 1992, continuing the industrial/EBM style, the album was themed around how human life could be augmented by machinery, i.e. TV's Six Million Dollar Man. I saw them in concert in 1992, and from the concert and some of the music press at the time, found that they were experimenting in altered states with synchronized music and repetitive video imagery, combined with subliminal messaging... 

It was an incredible concert experience, and now some of the videos used in that concert are now on YouTube for research and exploration. The video for The Hacker is a good start...

Man-Amplified is a great listening album, the driving beats keep manual tasks moving to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time. I look forward to their new releases, and check Amazon frequently for anything new. 

Chicken thighs were trimmed of excess fat and skin, seasoned with Lawry's seasoned salt, and browned skin-side down. 

Sliced onion was sauteed, remaining pilaf ingredients added - rice, couscous, garlic, sliced almonds, ripe olives, cannellini beans. Combined with some water and brought to a simmer before adding the chicken skin-side-up, and the lid. The pan was put in the oven to complete cooking along with the honey butter rolls, which were brushed with Pomegranate molasses and sprinkled with sliced almonds. 

Green beans were stir-fried with garlic, and the zucchini was sliced and stir-fried with cumin and sumac. 

Beverage of choice was a pour-tini (ingredients poured over an ice ball in the serving vessel) with freshly-squeezed lime juice, lime vodka, and Veev açai berry liquor, thinned out with unflavored vodka. 

Chicken was delicious, with the Lawry's seasoning giving a nice savory note, and the pilaf that the chicken cooked in also benefitted from the seasoning. 

All the different components of the pilaf provided lots of interest, the sliced almonds in particular gave a nice crunch and toasted almond flavor.

The stir-fried zucchini were sliced and seasoned with sumac and ground cumin, for a lovely tart and savory flavor. The green beans had a lovely toasted garlic flavor.

The honey butter rolls were brushed with pomegranate molasses and sprinkled with sliced almonds, the sweet and honey butter and pomegranate contrasted nicely with the savory, nutty almonds.

Great dinner, plus we have leftovers for another two dinners! 

Chicken kebap with an 80's soundtrack

Tavük (chicken) kebap, mushrooms, mini sweet peppers, "ancient" peppers stuffed with string cheese, pilav with cannellini beans, fideo pasta, sunflower seeds and sliced almonds...

All-80's soundtrack on noise-cancelling earbuds:

Prep - Re-Flex, Berlin

Grilling - Thompson Twins, Human League

Sitting in the sun, letting the waves of 40-year-old memories wash over me, an idyllic Saturday!

Chicken breast was cubed, then marinated in a mix of dijon mustard, lemon juice and zest, pomegranate molasses, olive oil... Then skewered and spiced with lemon pepper.

Ancient peppers are very sweet, stuffed with a stick of smoked string cheese and grilled.

Mini sweet peppers and mushrooms were skewered...

Veg was grilled first, cooked so quickly, and smelled incredibly fragrant!

Chicken kebap went onto the grill, and I kept rotating them so they would cook evenly, but took longer to get to 165F doneness than I thought. Gave me time for a few more 80's songs...

Pilav was a surprise - just sauteed onions and garlic, add the rice, fideo pasta, and rice... Dump in a can of cannellini beans, extra water, sunflower seeds, and sliced almonds, bring to a simmer and transfer to the 350F oven to finish.

When transferring to a serving bowl, I noticed entire pan bottom was covered in tahdig (crisped rice, a delicacy in Persian cuisine), so incredibly delicious!

Winter Chicken Thighs with Rice-a-Roni and Beans, Smashed Baby Potatoes, Broccoli, and Gravy

Soundtrack: 

Ministry, The Land of Rape and Honey, 1988

Ministry, Trax Box! disc 2, 2015

It's been a while since the last post, so I figured this site needed a bit of rework.

Lately I have been cooking with my noise-cancelling earbuds in, while listening to music from my collection for inspiration. Today started with Ministry's third album, 1988's The Land of Rape and Honey. Marking their departure from Twitch's industrial dance music (1986) into hardcore punk, TLoRaH is a violent album, aggressive music and lyrics with copious profanity and violent themes. Not an easy listen, but great for a background to a creative process such as cooking...

Trax Box! disc 2 contains early demo tracks, some never before released before, providing an audio trip back to 1983. Some are demo and alternate mixes of songs from album With Sympathy, but some are new (to this listener) songs in their 1983 New Wave style. Track "The Game is Over" is my standout, instantly transporting me back 41 years to that era... 

Anyway, back to the food. The chicken thighs were trimmed and briefly soaked in a lemon/garlic/rosemary/olive oil/oregano marinade, then roasted. 

The baby potatoes were boiled maybe 15 minutes until tender, then crushed on an oiled baking sheet, and roasted. 

Chicken Rice-a-Roni was enhanced with sauteed onion, garlic, and a can of canellini beans, brought to a simmer on the stove, then finished in the oven with the broccoli steaming in the rice mixture. 

When all had cooked, the chicken drippings had the fat mostly removed and concentrated, then a cornstarch slurry was added and cooked in to make lemony chicken gravy. 

I washed it all down with what is becoming my signature martini - a Lime Veev-tini: 1 part Veev acai berry liquor, 2 parts lime vodka, and 4 parts plain vodka, poured over an ice ball in a beverage glass.

Tasty and warming for a cold winter night!