#32 - Rice and Beans

By Ryon - Our first recipe on the new house! Caitlin and I made the epic 1.2 mile journey across town to our new location by Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. While we were sad to leave our old house, we are very excited about our new place and the kitchen we now have. What an upgrade! We hope you will enjoy the food that comes out of here as much as we do.

The inspiration for this dish comes from our family vacations with the Gowans in Virgin Gorda in the late 90's. The only thing that rivaled the pristine beaches and breathtaking sunsets that we were privy to was the amazing food we had while we were there. Most of it was prepared by my father, naturally, but there were several memorable meals that did not come from his kitchen. This rice and beans recipe is an adaptation of a dish purchased from some locals who were selling meals from a stand on the beach.

I love rice and beans in any form, but the addition of nutmeg in this recipe gives it a very earthy and exotic flavor. Just be careful not to overdo it with the nutmeg because it is a very powerful spice. Also, be careful not to overcook the rice. It can give you a mushy final product. I made both mistakes here and, although it was still great, it was not anywhere close to the incredibly satisfying dish my dad makes.

I served my rice and beans up with BBQ chicken and a garden salad: a perfect summer meal. Even though I messed this one up, I'm still giving it a rating of "RHC" because this really is a simple recipe. Just make sure you pay attention to what you are doing.

Rating: RHC

#31 - Pannekoek

By Ryon - Chapin, my younger sister, is crazy about this dessert, and after one bite you will understand why. A traditional Afrikaner desert, pannekoek (pronounced PUNNA-cook) is much like a crepe and, like a crepe, can be filled with strawberries, blueberries, bananas, etc. The traditional method involves nothing of this sort, however. Simply cook the "pancake", sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, roll, squeeze lemon over it, and top with cinnamon and cream/ice cream. It is beautifully light and simple. A real crowd pleaser.

I chose to use strawberries this time around because they are my favorite addition to pannekoek. Get crazy and experiment with your favorite toppings.

Rating: SECCDI

#30 - Macaroni and Cheese

By Ryon - For much of my childhood, Mac 'n Cheese meant the stuff that you pour out of that little blue box, add lots of cheese powder, milk and butter to and voila!... you have a creamy, mixture of processed goodness! Don't get me wrong, I still think that stuff is delicious, but my palate has thankfully grown to appreciate the real thing. And this, my friends, is the real thing.

Yes, this recipe calls for making a roux and I'm always a little intimidated by the prospect of making a roux because I feel like it can be so easy to screw up (especially when it comes to gravy). Not to worry, the roux for this recipe is hard to screw up and is on the easy end of roux-making. Once that process is out of the way you can enjoy building the dish, which consists of layering breadcrumbs, pasta and cheese until you are left with a mountain of gooey deliciousness. Bake for 30 min at 350 and you're done.

We brought this over to Stephen and Jess' house for a dinner with them and Jess was very excited about it. Jess is a mostly-vegetarian, part-time cook, full-time mom of Italian heritage and she has a few opinions when it comes to anything involving macaroni. Apparently she's a huge fan of macaroni and cheese. I had no idea what I would think of this meal since the last time I had it was when I was a kid and I categorically refused to believe that anything was better than Kraft, but I'm happy to say that I think this exceeded both mine and Jess' expectations. It got demolished. Everyone raved about the little bit of kick that the cayenne pepper gives to this dish.

Our hosts looked at me like I had five heads when I used ketchup as a condiment, but I must say that my dad was on to something with this suggestion. It just works. Try it if you are not a mac n' cheese purist.

Rating: RHC

#27, #28 and #29 - Pork Loin Braised in Milk, Petit Pois, & Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin

By Ryon - Pork loin braised in milk, or just "milk pork", for as strange as it sounds is really an amazing dish. It reminds me of winter in VT, but for some reason I chose to do this on a warm spring day. I have not been choosing recipes to match the weather very well recently... I'll work on that from now on.

I had trouble finding a good piece of pork for this recipe. I know my dad likes to get a pork loin with a healthy portion of fat on it and this is so the meat does not dry out while you cook it. Unfortunately, I could not find such a piece, since supermarket butchers tend to cut most of the excess fat off, so the end product ended up a bit on the dry side. Besides that, I was pretty happy with how this turned out. Be aware that this is not a "set-it-and-forget-it" type of recipe, like a pot roast. You have to be sure to turn the pork loin often and scrape the bottom of the pot so that you do not burn the milk. But I was keeping myself busy in the kitchen during this time, so it was not a problem. The real trick to this is getting the milk to coagulate into the "small nut-brown clusters" that my dad refers to in the recipe. These little morsels of goodness are by far the best part and worth the effort you put in.

I was able to knock off two other recipes along with the milk pork: petit pois and scalloped potatoes au gratin. Now some of you may be asking: "Petit pois? Au Gratin? Ryon, stop speaking Spanish, I can't understand you." Well, it's French, you idiot, and "petit pois" means "small peas". I believe they are really just a baby version of your garden-type variety pea. They tend to be sweeter than their older brothers and, as an added benefit, you get to sound cultured and intelligent by speaking French while you're cooking. Abigail, my sister-in-law, loves these peas. Nothing fancy in this recipe. Just add mint, a pinch of sugar and butter. The mint really gives the peas an amazing flavor.

The scalloped potatoes au gratin may have been a poor choice ("Milk was a bad choice!") as the final side for this plate. In my mind, the milk pork was going to be awesome with the cheesy, heavy potatoes ("au gratin" is French for "with the grating" but in cooking translates into "with breadcrumbs and/or cheese"). And I was right... kind of. These two dishes were delicious together, but a bit too heavy. Caitlin and I could not move for a couple of hours after we ate.

In the end, this was a great meal but looking back I would have done a few thing differently. First, make sure you find yourself a fatty piece of pork so that it does not dry out. Second, be aware that the milk pork is a very rich dish and choose your sides accordingly. Thirdly, learn to speak French so you sound like a sweet dude (or dudette) while you're cooking.

Ratings:
Milk pork - RHC
Petit pois - SECCDI
Scalloped potatoes au gratin - SECCDI

#26 - Veggie Soup

By Ryon - This one is so easy... and so very good. I'm really not a big soup fan, let alone a veggie soup fan (seriously, why have soup when you can have a steak?), but this stuff is gooooooood. And good for you!
I think this soup was concocted years ago by my dad for my sister, Tanda, back in her vegetarian days. She has since fallen hard off that wagon and might now be a bigger carnivore than I am. Good work, sister of mine. :)
If you have an hour, can work a knife and have a large enough pot, you can make this soup. You can enjoy this right away and I suggest serving with a warm, crusty French or Italian bread. It also freezes very well for later enjoyment on a cold, rainy day.

Rating: SECCDI

# 24 and #25 - Vegetarian Lasagna and Caesar Salad

By Caitlin- This is one for the history books! I, Caitlin Marie Novero not only made an edible lasagna (and Ryon confirms this), but I also made a Caesar salad dressing and croutons...though I must mention that it took me three days to complete both recipes. Still, if I can handle these recipes, all of you out there can too.

One of the reasons it took me three days to complete the recipes was because I did not account for the time to cool the sauce. I started this recipe on a Sunday night, so after the sauce was done, it was far too late to let it cool before layering it with the pasta and cheese. It was at this point that I read "Best made a day ahead". So I decided to postpone our dinner until Monday night, and we had our good ole standby, chicken and veggie stirfry, for dinner instead. Monday night rolls around and I quickly learned that I did not account for all of the necessary time for baking. I read the recipe as far as the first 30 minutes of baking, so missed the additional 15 minutes without foil on and then 30 minutes of cooling before eating. Finally, on Tuesday night I had gotten everything under control and made a delicious meal, so we will call Sunday and Monday my prep work days.

I love Caesar salad. I was really excited to make this recipe, but I must warn all you other Caesar salad lovers it is a lot more intricate that the simplicity of the salad suggests. The croutons were simple: cubes of french bread tossed in garlic and olive oil with a pinch of salt. They did take a little longer to brown than anticipated, though I have already demonstrated my lack of foresight when it comes to time. I had a little more trouble with the dressing. I had decided to be all fancy and use the real anchovies from the can (instead of the Caitlin friendly sardine paste). So Ryon walks into the kitchen to hear the rhythmic "crunch, crunch, crunch" as I am "finely" chopping the little fish. Your response to reading this is likely the same as Ryon's..."Uh, Caitlin, why are the fish crunchy? Did you take the bones out?" Lo and behold, there are little TINY bones in sardines! Who knew? We spent the next 20 minutes trying to take the bones out. Next time = anchovy paste. After that disaster was somewhat averted, adding the lemons and the pepper was a breeze. Two days later...I tossed the lettuce in olive oil, while simultaneously plopping the egg in boiling water for a minute (this, my friends, is called coddling an egg). Then tossing the egg with the lettuce/oil, before pouring on the dressing and adding the croutons. A little bit of parm before serving immediately. Light, fresh, and delicious!

Ah, the lasagna. We are always looking to add more vegetarian recipes to our rotation, and this is a good hearty option that provides several meals worth of leftovers. First step, chop onions. Ok, I had a little trouble with this step because my hand was still in a cast. Ryon entered the kitchen to pieces of onions flying everywhere as I was doing the equivalent of karate chopping the onions with a butcher knife. He insisted on chopping the second onion. What a gentleman! Add the onions with the oil and all of the spices until the onions are see through, then add the crushed tomatoes. When the sauce is cooled, a day (or two) later, you then layer the sauce with the tomatoes and cheese. Now this is important. There are THREE layers total but only TWO layers of pasta. I did not read those instructions correctly so I ended up with three layers of pasta, making for a thick and heavy lasagna. I also had a little trouble spreading the ricotta out evenly, any thoughts on this? Still, this recipe appears to be particularly forgiving. Despite my mishaps I was still able to make a scrumtralescent dinner for two :o)

I learned a few things from this experience that I feel can be applicable to all future cooking endeavors:

Lesson #1 Read whole recipe before beginning
Lesson #2 Add up time before embarking on recipe
Lesson #3 Leave enough time to make the darn thing
Lesson #4 Make sure supervision is close by at all times, thanks Ryon!


Rating: SECCDI just barely :o)

#23 - Samoosas

By Ryon - You saw it here first. Samoosas are going to be a Christmas 2010 recipe, but I got the exclusive rights to the beta version of this (I may or may not have an inside connection).

Samosas are a popular snack in southern Asia and you will find them in many Indian restaurants. Samoosas (notice the extra "o"), according to my dad, are the South African version. Either way you pronounce it, these things are delicious. And while I did not have many of these during my travels in SA, there was a little Indian corner store that I stopped at my first night in London that made the best samosa I have ever had. I got three and called it dinner.

The filling is simple and quick. Just be sure to make this in advance to allow time for the filling to cool before constructing the samoosas. Really, the hardest part in making these is the pastry... and that is old hat for us now (see #6 for pie pastry). However, I must admit a bit of a cheat. I got these really handy-dandy pastry molds (see picture) for my birthday and this is the only reason my samoosas came out looking so nice. I can't imagine trying to put these together by hand. That would take a lot of practice.

The end product was both beautiful and delicious. The only thing I would change for next time is to make the crust a bit thinner. I will also probably play around with the filling a bit. Maybe lamb and potato? Sounds dalish...

Rating: RHC