WD: October 2004 Archives
It's been getting cool here (I love it), so I've been cooking the kind of warming, hearty dinners that fill the apartment with smells. It's been kind of frustrating, though, because for the last two nights I've made dinner but Todd works so late that he has to eat it warmed up or the next day for lunch. And I've been making stuff I think he'll like, so I hate to waste it on when he's not around. If I'd known he wasn't going to be home, I'd make a mushroom ragout.
Monday night was polenta night, which is like an easier version of mashed potatoes to me. I added lots of Parmesan and some heavy cream to make it rich. I had intended to saute sweet Italian turkey sausage with onions and peppers for the topping, but when I pulled out my pepper it had kind of a slimey goo on it. So it was sausage with tomatoes instead.
Last night I made a pork stew from the wine issue of Food and Wine, with orange and cumin. I followed Fran's advice of not crowding the pan and ended up with a nice, rich, meaty sauce that had a fresh taste of orange.
First I sauteed about a pound of pork cubes until it was browned, then I took it out of the bowl and added a small diced onion and one minced clove of garlic. Stirred that for a few minutes, until the onion was softened, then added the juice of one orange and reduced that. Added a couple cups of water, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and a bay leaf, brought it up to a boil, then put the pork back in. Simmered for 30 minutes, while I made some fragrant jasmine rice (my trick with the rice is to not simmer it the full amount of time, but turn the heat off for the last few minutes and let it sit to let carryover heat do the work). Then added a generous half cup of chickpeas to the stew, warmed them through, then grated in some orange rind and added a little more minced garlic.
During the simmering the sauce reduces and thickens a bit, but the rice is definitely a good soaker-upper under the stew. Todd said it smelled great when he came home (at 9:30!), but he had already eaten.
