brunosdream

Pork tenderloin stuffed w/ Armagnac-soaked prunes and apricots, and sauteed crimini mushrooms; pan roasted w/ butternut squash and Granny Smith apples. Served w/ pan roasted baby potatoes, and merlot sauce w/ Italian black summer truffles.

To satisfy my craving for pork with peppers and onions…

Pork Rojo

Rojo sauce ingredients:

2 New Mexico chiles (rehydrated)

1 chipotle chile (rehydrated)

2 Fresno chiles (fresh)

4 cloves garlic (pressed)

1/4 cup small basil leaves (Thai and Genovese)

3/4 tablespoon dried oregano

3 Roma tomatoes (diced)

Procedure:

Puree’ all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

Pork Rojo ingredients:

2 pork tenderloins (approx. 2 1/2 pounds total weight)

4 bell peppers (3 orange, 1 red)

1 large yellow onion

10 ounces crimini mushrooms

Procedure:

1) Julienne the onion and bell peppers.

2) Slice the mushrooms.

3) Trim the tenderloins; slice each tenderloin in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise into large pieces.

4) In a large frying pan, brown pork pieces on all sides, then place in a bowl and spoon on some rojo sauce until all pork pieces are lightly coated. (Save remaining sauce for other uses)

5) Sauté the mushrooms, peppers and onions until mushrooms release their juices and onions start becoming translucent.

6) Return pork to the pan and simmer everything until liquid reduces by half (approx. 15 minutes).

7) Serve over brown rice.

Yield: Approx. 4 to 6 servings (depending on your hunger level)

Happy cooking!

Bruno

There was a frost warning here last night, so I figured it was best to pick some basil leaves just in case. I picked what I needed yesterday for my dinner pizza, and what was left over I chopped up to put in some mango salsa. The oregano was harvested today to be dried for upcoming recipes this fall and winter. 

It was good year for basil. I was able to make 3 medium jars of pesto, and a bowl of pistou in addition to picking some leaves occasionally for various dished I needed it for. 

The zinnias and other flowers loved the wet summer we had here in St. Louis. I love it that they’re continuing to bloom and providing some nice color to the browning scenery in my yard.

That’s it for now. I hope your gardens were bountiful too this year. 

Cheers!

Bruno

My brother and sister-in-law went mushroom hunting in the forest near their home and found some treasure! Here are a few photos of their outing:

Happy Hunting…

Bruno

When I’m running errands around town, I’ll occasionally drive by a Jamaican BBQ place called Mi Hungry, but I’ve yet to try their food. One thing for sure is it has made me crave some jerk chicken. To satisfy that craving, my most recent cooking project was, you guessed it, delicious, aromatic, roasted jerk chicken! After removing the backbone and flattening out the chicken, I rubbed jerk seasoning under the skin, then let it air dry, uncovered, in the fridge for 5 hours for a crispier skin. 45 minutes in a 425-degree Fahrenheit oven, and my bird was ready! Served w/ jasmine rice enhanced w/ some lime juice/zest, and a cooling red cabbage slaw … it was heaven on earth!!

One of these days, I’ll travel to Jamaica for the real deal. Until then, this will have to suffice.

Bon Appetit!

Bruno

P.S. – A Cotes du Rhone blanc was a nice pairing for this meal.

Every week during this pandemic, I have been doing a cooking project to feed my belly w/ good eats. Lately, because of the frigid weather I’ve been craving richer, heavier meals (think creamy pasta). The last few days have been spring-like, so my cravings have turned to lighter fare. One of my favorite ways to find new recipes is to look at images on the internet of what I’m craving, and if the image is mouth-watering, hopefully I’ll find a link to the recipe. Here’s a link to the original recipe by Gemma: Basque Roast Chicken (Chicken Basque Style Recipe) | Caribbean Green Living.

My add-ons, substitutions and omissions: I did not use the Noubess seasoning; substituted the whole chicken w/ 3 1/2 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; only used 6 cloves of garlic (pressed), and added 2 large carrots (sliced), and 3 jalapenos (quartered lengthwise and sliced). Total cooking time was 57 minutes. I loosely tented the chicken w/ foil after 30 minutes (removing the foil for the last 15 minutes) and turned on the broiler for the final 2 minutes. It was delicious served over fragrant jasmine rice.

Happy cooking!

Bruno

I decided to host Thanksgiving for a few friends this year. An unusual lasagna recipe caught my eyes, so I decided to give it a try for our holiday meal. I made a few slight variations from the original recipe, such as using shitake mushrooms, and parmesan instead of mozzarella. Also, I have two layers of the filling, instead of just one. The finished product was apparently a hit because my friends asked for the recipe. Sylvia Fountaine is the recipe creator. Click here for her original recipe: Polenta Lasagna with Smoky Red Pepper Sauce! – Feasting At Home.

For dessert, we enjoyed one of my favorite childhood treats, Apple Brown Betty, which was a perfect match for the Haut-Armagnac being poured. 

Here are a few pics of the food…

Happy Holidays!

Bruno

Fall has definitely arrived in St. Louis. It was a good day to break out the table top wood-fired oven and practice my cooking skills on a beautiful, chilly afternoon. I made calzones in a cast iron skillet for the first time, as well as a few pizzas. The calzones were filled w/ goat cheese, shitake mushrooms, roasted broccoli, orange bell pepper and garlic. The pizzas were topped w/ a San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, pesto and chunks of crispy pork jowl bacon. It was a fun and delicious way to spend Halloween afternoon w/ a couple of friends. 

Cheers!

Bruno 

We’ve had some major thunderstorms lately in St. Louis which have dumped tons of rain. The excessive water caused damage to the foliage on my tomato plants. If you enlarge the photograph you’ll see I had to trim off quite a lot of leaves. I’ve harvested the chard twice, made a big jar of pesto w/ the Genovese basil and have used some of the ripe jalapenos already too! This morning I picked the ripe tomatoes and more jalapenos to add to a shrimp and scallop pasta w/ pesto that is planned for tonight’s dinner. The oregano has been very productive this year, so I’ve dried some for future recipes. I’ve also snipped some fresh tarragon sprigs and added them to my red wine vinegar for a delicious herbal touch in vinaigrettes (something I learned from my mom).

Photos taken on July 24th:

Until next time…

Bruno

I’ve been cooking my way through some recipes from a cookbook on Mexican, South American and Caribbean food. The Cuban chicken casserole recipe sounded delicious. With the pureed corn topping and the combination of other ingredients that I really enjoy, I had to find out how the finished product would taste. Well, it tasted fantastic! The corn crust and raisins added a touch of sweetness to balance w/ all the savory ingredients. I will definitely be making this again! It will be a great dish to serve when I have a few friends over for dinner. 

The green bean recipe is something I put together to have a vegetable side that would pair up well w/ the casserole. 

Goes well w/ both a Vouvray from the Loire region of France or a Cotes du Rhone white that’s Viognier dominant. 

Cuban Chicken Casserole (adapted from The Complete Mexican, South American & Caribbean Cookbook by Milton, Fleetwood and Filippelli)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

1 pound chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

1 celery stalk (cut in large pieces)

2 carrots (cut in large pieces)

2 bay leaves

5 cloves 

10 black peppercorns

1 large yellow onion (medium dice)

2 tomatoes (medium dice)

2 hard-boiled eggs (chopped)

1/2 cup pitted green olives (chopped)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon bottled capers (drained)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt 

For the topping:

3 cups corn kernels (I used canned)

1 teaspoon sugar 

3 eggs (beaten)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter 

salt and black pepper

Procedure:

1) Cut chicken breasts in half and trim fat off thighs; Place bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns in cheesecloth pouch and tie closed.

2) Put chicken, spice pouch, celery and carrots in a large pot, cover w/ water and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove chicken from liquid and let cool before shredding. (You can save the poaching liquid, celery and carrots for soup).

3) Make the topping: Puree corn kernels in food processor. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat; stir in pureed corn and sugar, add salt to taste, then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and comes away from sides of the pan. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes then slowly stir in the eggs a little at a time. 

4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

5) Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook over medium heat until soft and translucent. Remove from heat. Fold in the hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives, capers, raisins, shredded chicken and red pepper flakes. Salt to taste. Make sure ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. 

6) Spoon the mixture into a deep 8 x 10 baking dish and press it down to level out. Spread the corn topping over the top of the mixture w/ a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown, rotating front to back halfway through the baking (it took about an hour in my oven for the topping to get nicely browned). Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes before serving. 

Yield: 6 servings

Garlicy Green Beans w/ Chives and Red Bell Pepper

Ingredients:

3/4 pounds green beans (ends trimmed if necessary)

1 red bell pepper (seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise)

3 large garlic cloves (pressed)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon fresh chives (cut into 1 inch pieces)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

Procedure:

1) Bring a pot of water to a boil and add green beans and cook for 5 minutes until beans are tender. Strain beans in a colander.

2) Over medium heat, melt butter in a large pan then add olive oil. 

3) Add the garlic and saute’ for 1 minute, then add the bell pepper, chives and oregano and saute’ until bell pepper softens (approx. 5 minutes). Add the green beans, continue to saute’ for another minute to warm the beans. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Yield: 3 servings

Please get vaccinated so we can get past this pandemic. To your health…

Bruno