Pan de Plátano

When I was a junior in college, I studied abroad for six months in Santiago, Chile. I lived with a lively, loving family, the Castigliones, in a large rambling house with many hallways and many doors. In the middle of the home was an open, sun-drenched kitchen, and in the heart of the kitchen was Sra. Castigliona, mother to everyone who crossed her threshold, and matriarch of the family.

Sra. Castiglione had this inhuman ability of cooking exquisite multi-course meals for 10 to 15 people (her family plus whichever friends and neighbors coincidentally happened to be lingering at the time) with seemingly few ingredients, little hassle, and often limited time. The woman was a culinary genius. It was by observing her that I realized how intimate preparing food is - an act of careful creation meant to sate and nourish the bodies of the ones you love. I was fascinated.

Of course, at the time, I thought of myself as an enlightened feminist, and as such had purposefully refused to learn how to so much as fry an egg. I scoffed at the phantom man who might one day expect me to prepare his meals, barefoot in the kitchen - I thought I was being clever by nipping that nonsense in the bud.

Yeah, I was a little obnoxious.

The tangible vision of a summer pepper's bright skin, the sizzle of a sliced onion hitting a hot pan, the smell of fresh chopped cilantro, even better then just-cut grass...it was all as foreign as that new country. And I loved every second. I realized that to Sra. Castiglione, cooking was not an act of duty, but an act of love - love of food and love of family. She inspired me, and I've been trying to live up to her in the kitchen ever since.

I found out that Sra. Castiglione passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. I hadn't been in touch with her, but I was so saddened by her passing that I didn't cook for weeks. Now, whenever I bake her pan de plátanos, banana bread, and the warm, comforting waft fills the house, I think of her spirit, and I'm inspired by food all over again.


Ingredients

3 cups flour
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp, baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Mash bananas in a mixing bowl, then add the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add all the dry ingredients except the flour. Mix with spoon. Grdually add flour, mixing in as you go. Bake for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes - a knife should come out clean when the bread is ready.

To make two loaves, as Sra. Castiglione always did, double the recipe. Serve one sliced and warm with butter, and give the other as a gift to your friends or co-workers.

Until next time, Buen Provecho!
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Chicken Soup for the Cold

I've had the same "summer cold" for two weeks, and the day before yesterday, my poor Mr. Panza came down with it too.

Oh, how sad I was to leave off to work while my new husband lay miserable in bed, coughing and sniffling amongst the tissues and cough drops! So I made him some chicken soup to keep him company all day.

A quick note about this recipe: I wanted it to be not just about taste, but about restoration. I was reading the Herbal Drugstore in my utterly elusive gradual quest to become less chemical dependent (less processed foods, less synthetic materials, less gas), and saw that ginger and garlic have significant curative properties. So in other words, your breath will stink, but hey, you'll feel better.



1 1/2 cartons chicken broth (maybe 6 or 8 cups?)
2 cups water
1 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs, cooked and shredded
1/2 regular bag egg noodles
1/2 small head cabbage, shredded
1 med onion, roughly chopped
2 small carrots, cut into strips
2 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic, smashed (must be fresh, no powder!)
2 spoonfuls sliced ginger (must be fresh, no powder!)
1 lemon
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. chile pepper flakes
salt
pepper
thyme

Okay, this may sound gross, but to cook the chicken I boiled it in salted water in my cast iron. While it cooked, I chopped the veggies. When the chicken was cooked through, I set it aside on a plate, then poured out the water until approximately a couple cups was left. I added the chicken broth to that, then put it back on medium heat.

Next dump the bay leaves, all the vegetables, except for the ginger and garlic, and the noodles in the broth. Cut the lemon into quarters, juicing all of it into the broth and adding one of the quarter rinds for good measure. Raise the heat and shred the chicken while the broth comes to a boil. Once the broth is rolling, lower the heat, add the chicken, give the whole thing some solid grinds of salt and pepper and about a 1/2 tsp of thyme. Last add the garlic and ginger.

Once the noodles are done, the soup is ready for battling nasty man colds .

Until next time, Buen Provecho!

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Easy Chicken Tagine

I have been wanting to test drive my tagine for a while. Ever since we received it as a wedding present, it has been sitting prettily on top of our fridge, taunting me.

(taunting, silent taunting.)

I have a trial next week, so things at work have been pretty hectic, plus I had to work this weekend. Boo. So this recipe fulfills 3 important busy work week requirements:

1) It uses ingredients I already have in the kitchen since I didn't have time to buy lamb at the grocery store.

2) It makes 6-8 servings, plenty of leftovers for my honey and me, since I'll be at the office more often than not this week and won't have time to cook.

3) It's fast to prepare and easy to clean up.

Lovely, savory, and spicy. A hectic schedule does not necessarily equate "home cooked meal" with "Hamburger Helper." Just because you're stressed doesn't mean you can't take the time to smell the cumin and cinnamon is all I'm saying...


Ingredients
7 chicken thighs (boneless, skinned, cut in half and seasoned with salt and pepper)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 small onion, sliced into rings
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp anise seed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chile seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup oil (not olive oil)
salt and pepper
4 carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
3 small potatos, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
I also threw in some celery. I don't know if North Africans cook with celery, but it was there and I like celery.

Directions

(Disclaimer: I made this recipe from 3 or 4 different recipes I found online, and adjusted accordingly to my taste.)

Heat the oil in the tagine over a low heat and sauté the garlic and onions until glassy. Mix in the spices (or grind the spices in a small food processor then dump them in, like I did), then lay the chicken breasts on the bottom. Brown the chicken on both sides.

Spread the potatoes and veggies evenly around the chicken, add about 1 cup water. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or 3 episodes of Rescue Me.

When the vegetables are nearly cooked, arrange the tomato wedges over the top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the vegetables are done (I made some couscous and harissa, and cleaned up a bit during this time, about 20 minutes).

With the couscous and harissa, this dish was scrumptious. If I had some olives around, I would have used them as seasoning, and bought some crusty white bread to sop up the juices - the couscous just did not cut it.

I found this recipe for harissa online, and modified it a bit since I don't have a mesh colander and didn't want to go through the hassle of cleaning my blender:

Ingredients

½ cup of dried chili flakes
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove of garlic-peeled
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Place a small sauce pan over high heat and bring about 1 cup of water to a boil.

Remove from heat and add the chili flakes to the water - Let them steep for 5 minutes or so. Drain the flakes into a mesh colander (or squeeze the water out using a coffee press like I did). Blend the chili flakes and the rest of the ingredients into a blender (I used my countertop food processor) until the mixture resembles a smooth paste. Salt and pepper to taste.

Overall, a successful tagine christening!

Until next time, Buen Provecho!

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