The chilli off

So, last night saw the inaugural residence chilli off, and a variety of the most weird and wonderful showed up with no two the same which was both frightening and impressive in the same mouthful. The whole chilli debate is still raging the day after, beans or no beans, chocolate, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary  and apricots all featured last night, but did they work? One of the most surprising was started barely an hour before we gathered, some went on the stove three days ago!

Here's my number, which humbly, was pretty awesome should I say so myself, the half beef classically prepared with the other half made up of the smoked pork made mine the champion, well in my house anyways! 

Serves 4-6

1 large onion or 2 banana shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Half a head of celery, finely chopped

2 chipotle chillis, deseeded or keep half with seeds if you like it spicy

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Olive oil, for frying

500g good quality minced sirloin of beef

300g pork belly, barbecued/smoked and minced

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 beef tomato, roughly chopped

400g chopped tinned tomatoes

2 tblsp tomato puree

100-200ml chicken or beef stock

3 tblsp tomato puree

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Salt and pepper

Handful of chives, chopped

200ml soured cream

Boiled rice, to serve

Sweat the onion, garlic, celery, chilli and thyme in 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan. At the same time, brown the mince in a separate pan over moderate heat in a little oil.

Add the dried spices to the onion mixture and cook until they release their aroma. Then stir in the beef and mix well. Add in the pork at this stage. Add the fresh and tinned tomatoes and leave to cook down a little for at least 30 minutes.

Pour in the chicken or beef stock and stir in tomato puree to taste. Drop the cinnamon and bay leaf in then bring to the boil and leave to simmer. Transfer this now to a slow oven, around 150c/300f, covered, for up to 2 hours, checking occasionally. Remove from the oven now that the sauce has thickened, add the kidney beans and leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes to allow the beans to soak up the flavours. Check for seasoning.

Mix the chives and soured cream together. To serve, spoon the chilli into the centre of a mound of rice, with the soured cream and chives in a separate bowl on the side. World champion material if ever I saw. This is the stuff you really want on your chilli dog...

The tomatoes are over, but I'm not over tomatoes

With the potential glut of tomatoes now that the fabulous season we've just been through is coming to a glorious close, here’s something that’ll please almost everybody for a while to come. Early season tomatoes have their best uses in fresh, lightly cooked tomato sauces for pasta or as a bruschetta topping for example. Some shallots, garlic and oregano helps to lift the youthful and maybe fairly underdeveloped flavours a bit.


Mid season brings us plant establishment, heavier sun and mature flavour - there's a period through July and August where during which little more than a pinch of good salt and a twist of pepper is often all that's needed to dress a fully ripe tomato. Now in their final scene, with the branches withering and the fruit seeming a little tougher skinned and drained of colour, this recipe for ketchup to take us into the next season does the trick.


This yields rather a lot, but it will keep for at least a month in a covered container in the fridge.


Proper tomato ketchup


5kg ripe tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp four spice mix
1½ tsp ground ginger
1½ tsp salt
4 tblsp icing sugar
1 tblsp white wine vinegar


Core the tomatoes and reserve the stems. Place the tomatoes in a pressure cooker and add water to a depth of 1cm. Bring the cooker to full pressure for 20 minutes and then allow to cool. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, slowly cook the tomatoes over a medium-low heat for about 45 minutes. Pass the tomatoes and liquid through a sieve, discarding the leftovers.


Add all the other ingredients, except the icing sugar, the vinegar and the stems, to the tomatoes. Place in a pan and simmer slowly over a low heat until it is reduced by half - this will take about 4 hours. Pass the mixture through a sieve again. Add the icing sugar, return to the pan and continue to reduce over a low heat until it reaches a ketchup-like consistency - this will take just over an hour.


Allow to cool, and then add the vinegar. Finally, place the reserved tomato stems into the ketchup mixture for a few hours to infuse it with the fresh vine odour - it’s important to do this after the mixture has cooled, as the vine aroma is destroyed by heat. Discard the stems before serving.

Ricotta salata

The Italian ricotta which we've come to know and love is typically made from the whey of either sheep, cow, goat and even buffalo milk. I'm still coming to terms with life in America where it is pretty much only ever made with the whey of cow's milk. The shame being that in my opinion the sheep's variety is the more interesting of the set with a nutty, slightly sweet finish, while the cow's tends to be blander and wetter, and therefore more neutral in cooking.

In the absence of fresh Italian ricotta being readily available here, I've taken a shine to the pressed, salted and dried variety of the cheese known as ricotta salata. A milky white firm cheese best used for grating or shaving, and a fine challenger to a good Pecorino Sardo.

The main reason for this urge to get passionate about all things ricotta came from a heated discussion around the kitchen table at www.przman.com earlier, and I bestowed the virtues of this much overlooked cheese to the point where todays lunch for me was inspired by it, determined by it and had an outstanding starring roll in it. The sharp salty cheese sat happily alongside some super ripe avocado, pastrami and proper wholegrain mustard on fresh warm sourdough and lunchtime for me was totally complete.

I have just enough left for a couple of plates of salad for dinner later tonight, so here's what I'm going to do with it, and the prz team can start bidding now for an invite!

Ricotta, courgette and pea shoot salad

Serves 2

A pretty, fresh salad to celebrate the late summer. Pea shoots are worth hunting down for their delicious leafy-pea flavour. Find them in whole food shops and some greengrocers, growing in punnets. Failing that, use rocket or watercress.

1 yellow courgette

1 green courgette

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tblsp freshly grated ricotta salata

Small handful of pea shoots

1 dessertspoon of fresh peas, lightly cooked (or use frozen)

1 strip of lemon zest, cut into fine threads

A few sprigs of fresh mint

For the dressing

6 tblsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp honey

6 mint leaves, chopped

Using a potato peeler, cut the courgettes lengthways into ribbons. Season with salt and pepper and toss in the olive oil. Mix the dressing ingredients and season with salt and black pepper.

Mingle the cheese with the courgettes, pea shoots, peas and lemon zest. Drizzle dressing over it and scatter with the mint sprigs. Serve without delay.

Be sure to sign up at www.przman.com to get the latest updates that will help you negotiate your next raise, make a meal that impresses your date, and keep you ahead of the game when it comes to the news men (and the women who love them) care about.

Vegetable tartlets with marinated anchovies

All the farmers markets now seem to be laden with pumpkins, apples and not much else really, and as our Summer sadly draws towards closure in the garden and the abundance of vegetables that once was now seems to be just the season stragglers. A few last hurrahs are needed before we finally turn over to our Autumnal harvest. This recipe is a fantastic use of a few late season vegetables if you still have them and easily serves 4 with a bit of hot bread and maybe a few bitter leaves tossed with lemon juice and olive oil on the side. Don't be afraid of swapping out ingredients to make use of what you have either in your garden or lurking at the back of your fridge, and the anchovies might not be for everybody, but they sure make a difference in the end result.

Pastry
100g flour
100g butter
100g parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg

Filling
2 tblsp olive oil
40g white onions, finely chopped
1 white leek, shredded
250g Swiss chard
250g baby spinach leaves
100g small broad beans
1 espelette pepper, finely chopped
2 tblsp fresh cream cheese
30 anchovy fillets
Juice of 1 lemon
Herbs to garnish

Heat the olive oil and gently fry the onions and leek. Add the Swiss chard, spinach, beans and herbs. Once the leaves are tender, strain the mixture and chop finely. Taste for seasoning. Mix with the cream cheese.

Marinate the anchovies in olive oil, the rest of the pepper and the lemon juice while you make the pastry.

Preheat oven to 170c/350f.

Beat together the flour and butter and stir in the Parmesan. Beat the egg in a separate bowl and stir into the flour mixture.

Form into four dough rounds and roll them out until about 3mm thick. Place into greased tart moulds on a baking tray and put in the oven. Cook for 20 mins and then allow to cool.

Fill the tarts with the vegetables, and pass back through the oven for a final 5 minutes then arrange the anchovies on top and decorate with a handful of ripped herbs.

Memories of Chiang Mai

Two of my most favourite people in the world have just spent a couple of days eating and drinking their way around Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. They seemed to find it amusing to keep me up to date with the occasional message or photo here and there to torture me in my obvious absence. Clearly unable to join them I was thrown into the mood for a good Pad Thai last night, and as I'm yet to discover a source of really good Thai food in DC yet (suggestions most welcome) I decided the best bet was to chuck one together at home. It's been more than 12 months since I was last in Thailand, but it has a smell you'll never forget. The fragrances attached to the food there is instantly recognisable and utterly forgettable, and I do recall the best Pad Thai I had was in Chiang Mai. If I had a bottle of Thai whisky I'd have rounded it off with a glass as they did (!) but anyway, this rather lengthy but totally worth it recipe is for Randal and Paula...

Pad Thai

Serves 2

25g tamarind paste
3/4 cup boiling water
2 tblsp fish sauce
2 tblsp palm sugar
1 tblsp rice wine vinegar
100g rice stick noodles
150g marinated tofu, recipe follows
1 to 2 tblsp peanut oil
1 cup chopped spring onions
2 tsp minced garlic
2 whole eggs, beaten
2 tsps salted cabbage
1 tblsp dried shrimp
75g bean sprouts, divided
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, divided
Freshly ground dried red chilli peppers, to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges

Place the tamarind paste in the boiling water and set aside while preparing the other ingredients.

Combine the fish sauce, palm sugar, and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the rice stick noodles in a mixing bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Once the other ingredients are measured out into separate bowls, drain the water from the noodles and set them aside. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch wide strips.

Add the tamarind paste to the sauce and stir to combine.

Place a wok over high heat. Once hot, add 1 tblsp of the peanut oil. Heat until it shimmers, then add the tofu. Cook the tofu until golden brown, moving constantly, for no longer than 1 minute. Remove the tofu from the pan to a small bowl and set aside.

If necessary, add some more peanut oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Add 2/3 of the spring onions and then the garlic, cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the eggs to the pan; once the eggs begin to set up, about 15 to 20 seconds, stir to scramble. Add the remaining ingredients in the following order and toss after each addition: noodles, sauce, cabbage, shrimp, and 2/3 of the bean sprouts and peanuts. Toss everything until heated through, but no longer than 1 to 2 minutes total. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining spring onions, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Serve immediately with the ground chilli peppers and lime wedges.

Marinated tofu

150g extra firm tofu
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Wrap the tofu firmly in a tea towel. Place the wrapped tofu into an 8-inch cake pan. Top with another cake pan and weigh down with a 5-pound weight. (Bags of dried beans or grains work well.) Place in refrigerator and press for 12 to 15 hours.

Place pressed tofu in a 2-cup container. Combine soy sauce and five-spice powder and pour over tofu. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once. Remove the tofu from the marinade and use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 days.

Pizza at home

Making your own dough, bringing it to life, feeling it growing in your hands. Picking the tomatoes and the herbs from the garden. Cooking that sauce out to the right consistency slowly and lovingly. Choosing the right cheese at the right time for the right reason. Put all this together with your oven cranked up as high as it'll go and I've fallen back in love with the home made pizza just one more time. Yesterday began with a wee debate over the onion over the shallot. Personally I love both of them, particularly now as when I was an obnoxious child I declared a hatred for the onion, my Gran fixed that by telling me everything I picked out of my food which looked like an onion was actually a leek. Of course I didn't mind leeks so I happily carried on eating while she happily kept feeding me onions. 


There is a time and a place for both, but yesterday the shallot got the edge. I wanted both them and a good quantity of garlic to form the base of my tomato sauce. The toms were sun warmed and perfect to eat as they were, but that extra sweetness only a slowly caramelised shallot can give off was what they needed to make a difference. A bit each of basil, thyme and oregano is all that was added, cooked for easily an hour just plopping away happily.

The tomatoes here are bang at the height of their season, and the varieties I'm pulling out of the garden quite outstanding. So much so that each and every meal this week so far has had to have a tom theme. Even out for dinner the other night I attempted to order a gnocchi dish with slow roasted tomatoes. The gnocchi never showed up and the waiter pretty much argued that I never placed the order in the first place, but that's a whole other story, and kind of confirms how much more satisfying it is when you take care of the cooking yourself. Anyhow, suffice to say, I'd be delighted to have the growing season last as long as possible this year, nowhere near to getting tomato fatigue just yet. 


So, last night was as simple as this. A couple of those toms, roughly cut up, lots of good quality salt flakes and fresh pepper, half a handful of ripped oregano leaves, a good hit of decent olive oil from the Italian place in Arlington and a bit of the pizza dough just smeared with the oil and oregano and slapped in the oven to form a kind of softish flat bread, ripped up and scattered over the salad like you would do croutons. Really so so simple but quite delicious if I do say so myself. 


Then the pizza. Pizza is simply exactly what you want it to be. The base isn't really so difficult, toppings are all about what your mood is. The key really is the heat, and the hotter you have your oven the better chances you have of a true result. 


The one that worked last night was as simple as this. The base - as thin as absolutely possible, even to the point of the dough tearing in a few places, adds to the charm. The sauce - thick and sweet, fresh and still warm from cooking, try not to fridge it, kills off that sunny glow they have when first picked. And the rest - which was a few slices of roasted portobello mushrooms, a few torn basil leaves and a sprinkling of parmesan, perfect.


Quickly, here's an easy pizza dough recipe which will take a maximum of 10 minutes out of your life, don't ever buy a pre cooked base ever again, you have been warned.


Pizza base
Makes enough for 4


500g strong bread flour
2 tsp dried yeast
2 tsp sugar
300 ml lukewarm water
1/2 tsp salt
4 tblsp olive oil


Mix the yeast, sugar and 50ml of the water in a jug, leave for 10 minutes to begin frothing up. Meanwhile, blend together the flour, salt, olive oil and remaining water, forming a dough by gradually drawing the flour into the liquid. Add the yeast water and continue to knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.


Place the ball of dough in a large clean bowl, cover with a damp cloth and place somewhere warm for about an hour until the dough has doubled 


Take the dough on a flour dusted surface and knead it again to push the air out. Ideally now is the time to use it, but will keep happily for a while wrapped tightly in cling film.

The meatball sub

There's this magical place in Arlington called the Italian Store where you really need some great local knowledge to find this one out. It's filled with the whole range of usuals from decent oils and vinegars through a reasonably authentic but simple cheese selection to a few banks of freezers offering a range of filled pastas. you can take this or leave it, but the whole reason for this place, and where all the fuss was, is their sandwich counter. That was exactly where all the noise, people, smells and activity was and I being in particularly safe hands through the whole process needn't have worried a bit. There is however a confusing quantity of varying subs, sandwiches and pizza flying out of this section, but it's the Philadelphia style subs, I have on very good authority,  are what it's all about. The fillings are all there to be had. A great selection of terrific looking prosciutto, sopressata and salami, plenty of the expected cheese offerings, and dressings, and even a few tomatoes and peppers to cut the meat and cheese duopoly. Seeing as I've never really come across the meatballs in sauce in bread thing before at close quarters, this it had to be - the Italian style meatball sub. My photo doesn't really do it justice, but that said, this is hardly the most photogenic food group going around, suffice to say, it never really stood a chance after the first bite.

Here's a quick meatballs in sauce recipe of mine. If you would, take these, split a submarine roll in half lengthwise and scrape out enough of the centre to create a hollow. Pack the meatballs in there and wrap tightly. Chill yourself a bottle of Californian Chardonnay from Columbia Valley, take all this outside, light a candle and talk rubbish for a couple of hours. it is a dinner option, honestly, needs nothing other than that really. 

Meatballs with spiced tomato sauce

Serves 6

The meatballs and tomato sauce freeze well, so I often double up the quantities to have a meal ready on stand-by for a hungry family. You can use a variety of herbs in the mince mixture; basil, thyme or rosemary also work well. This always used to be a basic with tagliatelle till I discovered the sub...

50g fresh breadcrumbs
100ml milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tblsp olive oil
500g each beef and pork mince
4 tblsp freshly grated parmesan
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Handful of sage and parsley, leaves finely chopped

For the tomato sauce

2 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tblsp tomato purée
800g chopped tomatoes
250ml dry white wine
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion for about 8 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and stir over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the cumin and chilli flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Stir in the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, white wine and seasoning, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until rich and thick.

While the sauce is simmering, prepare the meatballs. Put the breadcrumbs in a small bowl and add just enough milk to cover. Leave to soak. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in one tablespoon of the oil for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. When cold, stir in the breadcrumbs, along with the mince, parmesan, lemon zest and herbs. Season generously, then mix well.

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Shape the mince mixture into large meatballs. Heat the remaining oil in a sauté pan and brown the meatballs on all sides for about 5 minutes. Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish and place the meatballs on top. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.