Bulgarian Shopska Salad

I mention Shopska Salad in my bio and several of you have e mailed me asking for the recipe. It is very similar to Greek Salad and many others of that region. It was all settled by the Thracian's and vegetarian food predominated in that world. The Bulgarians continue this tradition with meals beginning with vegetables and salads. There may be several courses of just vegetable dishes followed by a tiny bit of grilled meat or sausage. Bulgaria has some of the most beautiful farmland and produce seen anywhere in the world so eating vegetables is always a delight.

4 medium ripe tomatoes (never refrigerate tomatoes, it ruins the flavor and texture, they will ripen in a basket on the counter)

1 medium cucumber

1 sweet pepper

1 medium red onion

1/4 pound Bulgarian feta cheese

Olive oil

Lemon or Lime juice

I prefer the finely chopped version so I cut all the veggies into small pieces and stir together with the crumbled cheese. I add a touch of oil at a time and the juice of a lemon. It can be eaten right away or stored in the frig for up to several days. You can add parsley, black olives, even chopped watermelon and it is still a good thing.

Speaking of Bulgaria, they produce some very interesting wines. Not many are currently imported but if you in Eastern Europe skip Sofia and head to Plovdiv or Melnick and really get a chance to enjoy the Bulgarian cuisine and wine.

Grandma Ett's Swiss Steak

No worries, I am not about to use a packet of gravy mix. I just thought that is was very funny to find that there are folks who can't deal with making something so fundamentally simple.

My entire childhood my grandmother made savory variations of this dish, all delicious and all fundamentally the same despite the fact that the cuts of meat would change, tomatoes would change from fresh to canned, seasoning would vary, but there was always an undercurrent of flavor that made it taste like Grandma's. Part of it was love, the other part was dried onions. No kidding, in later years she used Lipton's onion soup and I won't use it. As a result I lost a bit of the essence and stopped making the dish.

I have come up with a solution (dried onions, no kidding that was it) and a delicious homage to my grandmother. This can be cooked in a slow dutch oven and is equally comfortable spending 6 to 8 hours in a crock pot. The gravy makes itself and if you can mash a potato and add a nice serving of veg you will have one of the ultimate comfort foods.

2 lbs grass fed bone in chuck (or quite frankly any tough cut with some fat and bone)
salt and pepper
Flour
olive oil
butter

Beat your meat with a mallet or hammer, add salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Beat it a second time and put into a hot pan or dutch oven with some olive oil and butter to brown.

2 large onions chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups strong red wine (Malbec is great for this)
2 cups STRONG beef stock
2 finely chopped medium carrots
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 cup dried onion flakes

Remove your brown beef to a plate or a crock pot if that is where you will finish it. Toss in the liquids to deglaze the pan and throw everything else in stir and simmer. Either put the beef back in and cover baking in a slow(225) oven for 6 to 7 hours or finish in crock pot.

Taste the reduced gravy before serving and adjust seasoning if neccesary.

The beef will be meltingly tender, the sauce made for mashed potatoes, rice or buttered noodles. The leftovers will taste even better, IF there are any.

Grandma food with attitude.

Drunken Pink Chicken

I have just been enjoying the drunken theme too much to discard it quite yet and this dish can be made in a hurry and is quite delicious.

8 chicken thighs (yes you can use breast just reduce the cooking time and the flavor, the thighs have so much more to offer from a culinary standpoint.)
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic diced
2 large carrots sliced
2 large ripe tomatoes chopped
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
olive oil
Salt
1 bottle good Rose wine (Many of the 2007's from France are a deal and really good.)

Salt the chicken and brown each piece in olive oil and set aside. Throw a little more oil in the pan and toss in the chopped onion, when very soft add the garlic, when the garlic begins to soften throw in the carrot and tomato and stir around a little.

Dump the whole mass in a 9x13 baking pan. Put the pan back on the heat and deglaze with the Rose, toss your seasoning in the wine, give it a little more salt. Turn off heat.

Carefully lay the chicken on the moist veg bed skin side up. Pour the wine over everything. It should reach almost to the top without submerging the chicken. Bake uncovered at 375 for one hour, 30 to 40 minutes for those awful dry frozen breasts you picked up at Sam's Club, Costco or Trader Joes that you are trying to use us in a way that hopefully won't be as tasteless as the last 5 dishes you made with them.

Because of the Paprika the chicken does pick up a pink tone and looks so pretty surrounded by spring vegetables. Asparagus is a great accompaniment.

M&I International Deli and Dinner

Oh Yea! It's exactly what it looks like, salted lard, delicous creamy salted lard. It can be eaten cold or warm with bread.

This is one of the many wonders available at the International Deli. Brighton Beach is a food mecca and this is one of my favorite places to shop. In addition to the lard we got pork belly, pickled tomatoes, Russian Rye and Turkish Pide, smoked fish, mushroom turnover, chopped liver, and some chocolate and poppyseed cake that were not as good as they looked. We lusted over sausages and caviar but opted to go to the fruit and veg market to put some health into our meal.

Next to the fruit and veg market we found really good almond candy (brittle) and some chocolates with wonderful fillings. The apricot was especially tasty.

You wouldn't think we would have been in the mood for dinner, but we went home and cooked.

S.O. made Taziki with shredded cucumber and loads of garlic, followed by a potato salad with cucumber and pickled tomato. Both totally delicous.

I had some baby artichokes so I boiled them until just barely tender, trimmed them and cut them in half and put them into an iced tea batter. Normally I would use beer but I was out of beer and the iced tea worked pretty well.

1/2 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 cup Flour

Enough iced tea to make a batter. I dumped that prepared baby artichokes in and let them rest until we were ready to fry. Pan fried in olive and peanut oil til crisp and served with a lemon may. Can we say delicous.

We served the breads with the warm pork belly and lard. If you have an aversion to salted lard, get over it. This is one of the most delicous things you can taste. Emeril says..."Pork fat rules" and he is right.

Finally I cooked a few baby lamb chops that had been marinated in a garlic balsamic paste. RARE!

With some Titarella Tempranillo Family Reserve, it was a good dinner.

No matter how long you have been married, or dating, or 'hanging out' may I reccomend 'date night' on a Saturday at home cooking together...it is a wonderful way to bond.