chicken mole and eggplant parmegiano

a request was made for chicken mole and i was pleased to oblige. i began by soaking mulato, oaxaca pasilla, ancho and new mexico green chiles in warm water. i then ground cinnamon, cloves and fennel seed as well as sesame seed, pepitas(shelled pumpkin seed) and almonds. the ground seeds, spices and nuts were set aside while i processed garlic and onion in the robot coupe. when the chiles were rehydrated i removed the stems and most of the seeds and processed them with the garlic and onion. i then added canned tomato and unsweetened chocolate and processed till smooth. the ground spice, seed and nut mixture was added and mixed in thoroughly. the mole base sat in the fridge for about 4 hours until it was time to cook the chicken. i put a thin coat of the mole base on the chicken before cooking in the oven. while the chicken cooked i heated up the mole base with chicken stock to thin it to a sauce consistency from a thick paste. when the chicken was done i added the cooking juices from the chicken to the sauce. the chicken went into a serving insert and into the steamtable to be topped with the sauce and chopped fresh cilantro. i served a choice of quinoa or rice, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and a green salad with the chicken. for dessert we had strawberry banana trifle. most if not all of the campers quite enjoyed their dinner. the heat from the chiles was there but not in your face and the chocolate gave the sauce and interesting edge.
tonight i made eggplant parmegiano with three cheeses. i grilled the eggplant before layering with mozzarella, feta and parmesan cheeses. i also made a simple tomato sauce with garlic fresh oregano thyme and italian parsley which i added to the eggplant layers. i had fresh basil and tomato slices for layering as well. i baked this for about an hour and a half. i made polenta to serve with the eggplant. instead of cooking the cornmeal in water i used milk instead as i read about this in one of my cookbooks. my goodness but the difference is incredible. the polenta was very light and actually fluffy. when i finished cooking the polenta on the stove i poured it into a pan and liberally sprinkled parmesan cheese over it before popping it into the oven for about fifteen minutes. both the eggplant and polenta dishes received a goodly amountof chopped parsley before service at 5:30. a yummy good dinner and i'm not so fond of eggplant!i got many good comments on dinner so i will likely make this dish again.

a new dressing this week

i made a new salad dressing this week, it is maple mustard sage. i started with about three tbsp of grainy dijon mustard and added about 1 1/2 cups of cider vinegar, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp dried rubbed sage leaves and then slowly added about 3 cups of canola oil and finished by adding about 1/2 cup of maple syrup. the feedback from the campers who dared to try it is very positive. i quite like it. i also made a cucumber salad using cider vinegar and maple syrup, very tasty indeed. so fresh and tangy sweet.
i used puff pasrty for the quiche on monday as my supplier seems to have run out of phylo dough. not to worry the puff pastry worked quite well. so well i will use it this coming week for the onion tart the pot roast and panang chicken were the most interesting dinners last week. the potroast went into a very slow oven with lots of onion, celery, carrots, garlic, pasilla chilis, chipotle morita chilis and fresh thyme,oregano and rosemary. all this was covered with v8 juice and slowcooked for 4 hours. oh so good and so tender. one fellow let me know at least three times how much he enjoyed that pot roast. the panang chicken began with the chicken pieces being smothered in the panang chili paste (bought in chinatown) for a few hours before being cooked. while the chicken cooked i sauteed onion, celery and sweet peppers, then added more chili paste and then coconut milk. simmer for a bit, add the chicken and fresh basil and mint leaves. serve with jasmine rice, splendid.
as for baking the chili brownies were sooo tasty. i used chipotle powder in the old reliable texas brownie recipe. i also added cinnamon to the mix. these brownies are more cakey than fudgy so i went ahead and pored chocolate icing over them as soon as they were out of the oven. well worth the calories for sure.
i have way too many avocados so served up some guacamole with enchiladas on wednesday. i made red and black bean filling for the tortillas. enchiladas are very popular with the campers.

it's july already!

well it was a week of old favourites with just two new recipes. the veg melts which i described in the previous post and camarones en pipian were the new recipes i cooked this week. the camarones en pipian recipe comes from " recipes from the regional cooks of mexico" by diane kennedy. camarones are shrimp and pipian are pumpkin seeds. the pumpkin seeds are the base of the sauce. the recipe calls for toasting the pumpkin seeds as well as the onion, garlic, and serrano chilis. i did toast the pumpkin seeds and the serrano chilis but sauteed till lightly browned the onion and garlic. the recipe called for fresh chilis but i just have dried chilis so that is why i roasted the chilis with the pumpkin seeds. once roasted or sauteed all went into a blendere with chicken stock as i didn't have shrimp stock or the means to make one. as well i added alot of fresh cilantro and a bit of butter. the sauce was fairly thick with a rich, zesty fresh taste. the shrimp already peeled and deveined were cooked till just done in the sauce, the shrimp were still crunchy. i finished the sauce with some sour cream and a dusting of ground de arbol chili. i will
definitely make this recipe again. next time making a shrimp stock and charring the onion and garlic. i think this sauce would taste very good with chicken or pork as well. one camper thought the sauce itself on rice would be very tasty.
i almost forgot the other new recipe. well an old recipe with a new twist. it was a brown rice bread recipe that i subbed in wild rice for the brown and added sunflower seeds and buckwheat flour. the ratio for buckwheat to bread flour was 1-5 as i just wanted a hint of buckwheat flavour. the sunseeds were for a bit more texture. i quite liked this bread. it was served alongside the pasta carbonara.
among the old favourites were menestra, a vegetarian dish from spain, with artichokes, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots and bell peppers seasoned with paprika, cayenne and sherry and garnished with egg slices and chopped parsley. i also made chunto, a spicy turkey stew from guatemala. the spicy comes from pasilla and pasilla de oaxaca chilis. the stew consists of onion, garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers along with the turkey i finished the dish with chopped mint and cilantro. very yummy.
the canada day cake became a reprise of the pouding chomeur which was quite apt as what could be more canadian than maple syrup pudding? although thte menu said pumpkin pie i ended up making pecan pie as it is one of my absolute favourite desserts.
the first of many barbecues on the beach happened on canada day. i served steak and baked potatoes along with the first corn on the cob for the season. les built a beautiful barbecue for me from a culvert that he sliced in two.i could easily cook for 75 folks on this barbecue.