Goat Cheese - Porcini Tamales

Goat cheese tamale with fig-lemon salsa

Here's one of the tamale recipes I made for Christmas: a moderately aged goat cheese wrapped in a porcini masa. The recipe is based on one from Tamales by Mark Miller, Stephen Pyles and John Sedlar. It's served with a tasty fig-lemon salsa. In the original recipe, the goat cheese is paired with a black olive masa (which sounds like another stellar combination) but I wanted to try the porcini one. It's not a powerful mushroom flavor, just an undercurrent of earthy nuttiness.

Wrapping tamales takes a bit of time and practice and it's nice to have extra hands to make the work go quickly. This recipe makes 8 tamales, so you won't be stuck wrapping forever even if you make them on your own. They are worth the effort.

This recipe calls for an aged goat cheese. I used a ripe Humboldt Fog® from Cypress Grove Chevre in Northern California. It's an earthy pungent cheese. You could use a milder goat cheese, one that isn't aged but it can be very sticky to work with. Also, the aged goat is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet fig salsa.

Brisket with Green Chiles

This recipe occurred to me when I had defrosted a brisket and found my crisper drawer filled with Hatch green chiles from my garden. Kind of a hybrid derived from my life: brisket for my Jewish New York upbringing, and green chiles for my adopted home in, nominally, the Southwest. Colorado isn't really what most people think of as the Southwest but parts of it were part of the original Spanish colony. Lots of old Hispanic influences. I'm a huge fan of Southwestern food. I worked at an incredible Southwestern restaurant, Zolo Grill, when I first made the switch from engineer to chef. Still love that food! If you ever find yourself in Boulder, check it out. It's still one of the best meals in town.

This is a slow cooker recipe because it's a great way to cook a brisket. Brisket is a tough cut. Lots and lots of fat and collagen. But, that's what makes it so very good. Though this is delicious the day it's made, it's even better if if you chill it overnight, and reheat it. Also gives you a chance to easily skim off the copious fat. Otherwise, it's kind of an oil slick!

Brisket with Green Chiles
(serves 6-8)

2 ¼ - 2 ½ pounds beef brisket, in one piece
1 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 large onions, sliced
6 large New Mexican green chiles, such as Hatch, roasted, peeled, and seeded
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon ground ancho chile
1 teaspoon ground mild Chimayo red chile
3 cups beef stock
2 large cloves garlic, sliced

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season brisket with frac12; the salt and frac12; the pepper. Brown in hot skillet. Remove to a 3-5 quart slow cooker. Add onion and chiles to skillet and cook until limp and browned. Add cumin and chile powder. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add 1 cup beef stock, and scrape up any browned bits in skillet. Pour the whole thing into the slow cooker, along with remaining salt, pepper, beef stock, and sliced garlic. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. To serve, slice or shred meat.

Southwestern Matzoh Ball Soup

Southwestern matzoh balls, jazzed up with some fresh chiles and julienned carrots

It's nearly Passover, friends. Now, being the unobservant Jew that I am, I have not cleaned out every speck of chometz (that would be bread-like products that aren't Kosher for Passover, and believe me, that definition is extremely broad). I did wash the floor today, which is pretty good in my house. I do believe in the restorative power of matzoh ball soup however. And after washing the floors, I need something restorative.

This is quite an old internet recipe, at least in terms of the age of the internet (it is not, however, the oldest one I have, which dates from 1982). This recipe came from rec.food.cooking which was the grand-daddy of internet recipe sites. It was a mishmash of people, with some definite likes and dislikes. Which led to some pretty interesting flaming but also a lot of interesting food.

This recipe is from Susan Hattie Steinsapir who was a frequent contributor to the group. I believe she lived in Southern California and she passed away at some point during the heyday of rec.food.cooking. But, she is not forgotten as I think about this lady I never met every Passover when I pull out her unorthodox version of matzoh ball soup.

Southwestern Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup
(serves 4)

A classic recipe from the days of rec.food.cooking with some enhancements from me. I added the black pepper and cumin. If the jalapeno is not very spicy, I like to add a teaspoon of very finely minced serrano chile or a pinch of ground dried chipotle chiles to spice things up a little. I also use tequila rather than vodka sometimes, for a little Nuevo American twist.

2 tablespoon Oil
2 large Egg
½ cup Matzoh Meal
1 teaspoon Salt
⅛ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
⅛ teaspoon Ground Cumin
2 tablespoon Finely Minced Onion
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Jalapeno
1 tablespoon Minced Red Pepper
2 tablespoon Tequila or Vodka
6 cups Chicken Broth
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, dill or parsley

Beat oil and eggs together. Add matzoh meal, salt, onion, jalapenos, red pepper and vodka. Stir to blend thoroughly. Refrigerate covered for 15 minutes.

Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat so that water is boiling gently. Drop 1" size matzoh balls (they will swell as they cook) into the water. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove and drain. At this point, you can chill the matzoh balls and reheat them in the chicken broth when you want to serve them.

Add the matzoh balls to chicken soup and simmer for 5 minutes (20 minutes, if chilled) before serving.

This recipe can be doubled but only use 3 eggs.

notes: This dish will serve 6 as part of a big Passover meal. By doubling the recipe and thereby decreasing the percentage of eggs, you end up with slightly denser matzoh balls. A single recipe results in very light and fluffy matzoh balls while a double recipe results in somewhat denser matzoh balls. This is based on personal observation making a double and single batch in the same day.

Link to PDF of Southwestern Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup