A Pot of Chili for a Day That's Chilly

For a hearty and satisfying dish to heat things up, a piping hot bowl of chili crowned with a blanket of melted cheese and a dollop of sour cream, and flanked by a pile of crisp tortilla chips, fits the bill.  Chili is requisite winter fare; and if you’re planning a Superbowl party, chili is a must at your halftime buffet.

The Spanish nomenclature of chili con carne translates to chili peppers with meat.  All chilies traditionally contained chili peppers, beef, onions and spices.  Variations of chili have evolved to include beans and tomatoes, chicken instead of beef or no meat at all.  These varied ingredient listings have led to heated controversy, each camp emphatically denouncing the next.   Chili’s United States debut transpired in Texas.  The Texas-style ‘bowl of red’ contains no beans and only chunks of beef are utilized as ground beef is forbidden.  If your tendency is to avoid controversial subjects of conversation such as religion, politics or taxes, either steer clear of big belt buckle, ten-gallon hat and cowboy boot clad individuals or else add chili to that list of taboo topics.  If, however, you are one of those brave gluttons for punishment, there are chili cook-off competitions that take place annually throughout the United States, where each participant firmly stands their ground as they boast to making the best “real” chili of all.

I find that such stringent rules of cooking accomplish little more than to stifle creativity and these ingredient police a threat to the inventions of new and exciting variations.  Luckily for us epicureans, they are in the minority.  Vegetarians now indulge in the spicy stew by omitting the meat and adding more beans and vegetables.  Green chili, or chili verde, is a very spicy Mexican version incorporating several varieties of green chilies including jalapenos, poblanos, serranos and even habaneros when an extra kick is desired.  Chili verde typically contains pork rather than beef, and no tomatoes.  White chili is a nice change of pace, substituting white beans for the usual red kidney and/or pinto beans, and containing chicken instead of beef; once again, no tomatoes.

Chili is usually presented with toppings and accompaniments.  Toppings can include cheese such as cheddar or Monterey Jack, sour cream, sliced jalapenos or chopped scallions.  Accompaniments usually come in the form of chips for dipping, tortilla chips or corn chips being the most-desired dippers.

I have finally come up with the perfect quick combination for a stellar chili, using two kinds of beans, two cheeses and chipotle chili powder.  It is very quick and easy to prepare, and it can stand alone as a one-dish meal washed down with a good beer or margarita.

Chili (6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped

2 lbs. ground beef

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup orange juice

½  cup tequila

1 cup beer

2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies

2 15-ounce cans chopped tomatoes, undrained

1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

Sour cream, for serving

Tortilla chips or corn chips, for serving

Cook onion, garlic and ground beef in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until all of the meat is browned.  Add the orange juice, tequila, beer, chilies, tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, and the spices.  Stir to combine and then bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine the two cheeses in a serving bowl.

Ladle chili into soup bowls.  Top each serving with cheese.  At the table, serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired, and serve chips alongside for dipping.

Chili, like most stews, tastes better the next day.  This is a perfect meal to prepare ahead for a busy evening later in the week.  Next time it’s blustery outside, start simmering the pot of chili on the stove just before your family is due home.  From the first spoonful, the heat as well as the spicy kick will instantly warm up everyone at your dinner table, because nothing chases the chillies away like a bowl of chili!

This Month's Flavor: Moroccan

As we continue to embrace the Mediterranean diet for all of its healthful and flavorful properties, Moroccan cuisine has seen a surge in popularity in recent years.  Spice blends now adorn the gourmet market shelves alongside jars of preserved lemons; tagine pots are now readily available for purchase in most upscale cookware shops and culinary magazines showcase recipes for this North African fare.

Scent is one of the first senses to detect a Moroccan dish being prepared, as the cuisine is loaded with spices which can include saffron, turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and paprika.  Ras el Hanout is a blend of spices, which is commonly used to season Moroccan dishes.  Herbs typically used in Moroccan cooking include cilantro and parsley.

Moroccan food makes use of nuts and such fruits as raisins, dates, apricots and preserved lemons.  Preserved lemons are simply lemons, usually Meyer lemons, which have been cut, heavily salted and then jarred with their own juice for four to six weeks.  Once rinsed and added to various dishes such as tagines, they impart a distinctive flavor that melds well with the spices.

The tagine has two definitions.  It is a thick pot, traditionally clay or earthenware, in the form of a base with a conical lid.  The ingredients simmer within the vessel, the condensation sliding down the interior of the lid to return to the pot, thus keeping the food moist.  It is traditionally used to make, well, a tagine, which is a Moroccan stew of meat or poultry, spices, preserved lemons and vegetables.  The stew is typically served with couscous, semolina pasta shaped like small granules.

Couscous is a staple throughout North Africa.  Ingredients added to the couscous vary from country to country, Moroccans favoring the use of saffron.  You can add any Mediterranean flare to season couscous, from chopped tomatoes to almonds and golden raisins to saffron and diced zucchini.  Couscous is a quick side dish that can be made as simply or as exotic as you crave.

Other Mediterranean touches to Moroccan cooking include olives, sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil.

Originating in neighboring Tunisia, harissa is a hot sauce made from hot chili peppers, spices and olive oil and is used as a condiment at the Moroccan table.

If you don’t have a tagine pot, a heavy Dutch oven with a lid will work just as well.  If you become completely taken with Moroccan food and wish to add to your cookware collection, Le Creuset now makes a tagine.  Alternatively, some shops have beautifully designed tagines in exotic patterns.  For my fellow Long Island foodie shoppers, one such store is called Loaves and Fishes, located in Bridgehampton, New York.  There are many recipes for chicken tagine, but they are all very similar, all using cilantro, parsley, onions, garlic, and the usual suspect list of spices and preserved lemons.  Some tagines add artichoke hearts, some call for olives.  Some include tomatoes and carrots, others throw chick peas into the mix. Some recipes call for both stovetop and oven cooking, others require no firing up of the oven at all.  The nice touch that I have come up with in my recipe is the addition of almond-stuffed green olives, which you can find at the olive bar of a well-stocked supermarket.

Chicken Tagine with Lemons and Almond-Stuffed Olives

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon paprika

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 whole preserved lemons, rinsed

8 chicken thighs (bone-in, skins on)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 bouquet of parsley and cilantro (stems with leaves) tied with kitchen string

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed

1 ½ cups chicken stock

½ pound almond-stuffed green olives

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 cup couscous

1 1/3 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

Combine the ginger, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, finely chopped onion, olive oil and garlic in a bowl or plastic sealable bag.  Add the chicken, mix to coat.  Marinate in the refrigerator over night.

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.  Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a tagine pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the contents from the marinade bowl or bag into the pot, scraping as much of the marinade spices into the pot as possible.  Stir for about two minutes, add the second chopped onion and stir for another minute.  Add the bouquet, saffron and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, cover, and place into the oven for 50 minutes.  Remove the pot from the oven, remove the chicken and arrange on a platter.  Add the lemons to the pot and boil the mixture over medium-high heat until reduced slightly.  Remove the bouquet, then stir in the olives and chopped cilantro and parsley.   Allow to cook for another five to ten minutes. 

Meanwhile, place the 1 1/3 cup chicken stock, 1 teaspoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in couscous, remove from heat, cover and allow to sit for five minutes.

Pour sauce over the chicken and serve with couscous.

The flavors of the sauce will permeate the couscous nicely, but again, you can make couscous interesting by adding any stir-ins that you come up with.  Dice some zucchini and allow it to steam with the couscous; or stir in some chopped sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir in some golden raisins and slivered almonds.  Whatever you choose, I personally am a big fan of saffron so I use it with any of these combinations.  Saffron is expensive, but it goes a long way.  You only need about a quarter of a teaspoon for the above couscous recipe.  It is easily found in thread form in the spice section of well-stocked supermarkets.  Now that you’ve been inspired, warm up your next dinner table with the aromatic and colorful palette that Moroccan cuisine has to offer.

Spoon Fed

There is nothing that warms the soul like the enticing aroma and taste of a piping hot bowl of soup when the wind is howling outside and the snowflakes are tumbling down like old man winter’s confetti.  From those first aromatic whiffs within the steam that swirls up from the simmering pot to that last spoonful from your dinner bowl, soup has the ability to envelope us in warmth.

Soup is essentially liquid, such as stock, in which vegetables are cooked, sometimes with meat or seafood, sometimes with pasta or rice.  The combination is ladled into bowls and often served with toppings such as croutons, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc.  Soup is often served as a first course, but can also stand in as a main entrée accompanied by a salad and/or bread.

A soup can be served in its basic form of liquid with the vegetables and other ingredients free-floating.  It can also be pureed in a blender for a thick consistency.  Some soups are silky smooth, such as bisques which are typically pureed seafood with cream.  Other soups are very chunky, such as chowders http://cattroianoathomeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/10/chowder-house-rules.html While most soups are served hot and best enjoyed on a bleak winter’s day, some variations are served cold and can be a refreshing summer repast.  Examples of chilled soups include vichyssoise, a French style thick creamy potato and leek soup, and gazpacho, a chunky Spanish tomato-based vegetable soup.

There are probably as many soup recipes as there are mouths to feed; every nation around the world celebrates their specialty.  The French have bouillabaisse, a fish soup originating in Marseille; and also that favorite made with beef broth and caramelized onions, served over bread and topped with melted gruyere cheese. The Italians have their vegetable soup that we all know as minestrone, as well as ribollita, and my personal favorite from Tuscany: the garlicky cannellini bean and escarole soup ladled over toasty bread.  Callaloo is savored in the Caribbean, as gumbo is a favorite Creole soup; the Russians serve their borscht and the Hungarians partake in goulash.  When dining on sushi, we often commence the meal with a bowl of Japanese miso soup.  Mulligatawny is an Indian-influenced curried soup, often made with lentils.  The northeastern United States makes the most of their coastal bounty with clam chowders and Maryland crab soup.  Thai restaurants feature tom yum, and who hasn’t ordered wonton soup when Chinese food is the order of the day?  I have only begun to scratch the surface here, as there are many, many more.  An even greater plethora of variety can stem from your very own kitchen.  All you need to start with is a stock, and then what gets added to that stock is only as limited as your imagination.

Soup is perhaps the most forgiving, and therefore easiest, concoction to create.  I cannot fathom why anyone would pause at the canned soup aisle of the supermarket.  Once I made a few homemade soups, I tried to sample a once-upon-a-time favorite canned soup and was disgusted.  The flavor was so artificial, what little flavor I could detect beyond the saltiness.  Canned soups rarely taste like the flavors boasted on the labels, as the excess of added salt and monosodium glutamate overwhelm the small percentage of vegetables or garlic that are actually contained, leaving a very over-processed flavor that’s really not so comforting.  While making your own stock is best when preparing a pot of soup, using a quality store-bought carton of stock is perfectly acceptable if time is not on your side.  I like Kitchen Basics brand stock because its all-natural ingredient list contains only what you would likely use if you made stock yourself, and nothing that you wouldn’t.  So if you have a little downtime on a Sunday afternoon, make a big pot of soup and then refrigerate it once it cools.  You will have soup for later in the week when you come home from the daily grind in need of some winter comfort fare, without needing the time then to prepare it.

Mediterranean Roasted Eggplant Soup

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 red onion, peeled, cut into eighths

6 garlic cloves, peeled

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper*

½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

Juice of 2 lemons

1 15-ounce can chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 32-ounce carton vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange the eggplant, red pepper, onion and garlic cloves in a single layer over a cookie sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables.  Sprinkle vegetables with salt, pepper and cayenne.  Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, tossing once halfway through roasting time, or until the vegetables have started to brown and are soft.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature.  Transfer the roasted vegetables and any accumulated juices to a blender.  Add the lemon juice, half of the chick peas and the stock.  Puree ingredients until thick and well blended.  Pour into a pot over medium heat and warm through, stirring in the remainder of the chick peas.  Serves 2-3.

I recommend serving this soup with pita chips; and a light sprinkling of crumbled imported feta cheese, or a dollop of sour cream, on top will make it special.

* Brian and I love spicy food – really spicy food.  If you’re squeamish with the spice, I would recommend cutting back the cayenne pepper to ¼ teaspoon.

Ingredient of the Month: The Chipotle Chili

I love spicy food.  I love spicy Thai coconut curries with a nice amount of chili paste to fire it up.  I love Mexican food, with its flavor-boosting chili peppers.  The perfect spicy food, regardless of ethnic heritage, must present a spiciness that simultaneously has great flavor, not just heat for the sake of ripping your esophagus as the consumed edible plunges into your belly.  One of the smoothest spicy additions to any southwestern and Mexican dish is the chipotle.

Chipotle chili peppers are hot.  They are actually jalapenos, which have been dried and smoked, and it is that smoky appeal that lends the perfect touch of flavor.  Most jalapenos that we see in supermarkets are green.  These are unripened jalapenos, harvested during the growing season.  Those left on the vine to ripen until the end of the growing season turn deep red; these are the chilies selected for the smoking box to become chipotle chilies.  The final product wears a very dark and wrinkled skin, resembling a huge reddish brown raisin.  Chihuahua - no, not your little dog - a northern part of Mexico, is where most chipotles are produced.

Chipotle chilies can be purchased dried.  They are also widely available either canned or jarred in adobo sauce, and chipotle chili powder can also be purchased.  Chipotles tend to have a slightly thick skin, so they are best utilized as an ingredient in stews, salsas and other dishes rather than consumed raw.  While you may crave the distinctive smoky flavor that chipotles impart into your dish, respect the heat.  These are hot; a little goes a long way, so add them gradually and taste as you add.  It is a cross that all of us epicureans must bear, that of tasting the food.  There is a reason most chefs never seem to stop growing; just as a cop must face a life of danger in a crime-ridden world, so too a cook must endure the ramifications of tasting their wares.  At least the latter has a more enjoyable time; save for the occasional sampling of a dish into which one too many hot peppers were heaped into the skillet.

The smoky allure of the chipotle is the perfect flavor enhancer for chilies, sauces, stews, soups and salsas.  In my November 2011 blog titled ‘Savor the Spud’ I shared my recipe for Smokey Chipotle Mashed Potatoes.  Combined with citrus flavors such as orange juice, and a couple of other ingredients such as garlic, a little stock and a finely chopped herb, that sweet-smoky-hot essence makes a wonderful glaze for duck or pork.  Any Mexican-influenced recipe that typically calls for some other pepper, try substituting the chipotle instead for a unique new twist on a classic.  Here I will pass along my variation on Chicken Mole in which I use chipotle chilies instead of the typical poblanos.  

CHICKEN MOLE WITH CHIPOTLE

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

1 cup white rice

3 cups water

½ teaspoon saffron

½ teaspoon salt

5-6 chicken thighs, with skin and bone

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 canned chipotles, chopped

1 ½ teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 tomato, chopped

2 tomatillos, cut into quarters

½ cup chicken stock

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

¼ cup raisins

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Place the slivered almonds in a small nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat.  Toast the almonds, tossing occasionally, until they have turned a light golden brown.  Remove from frying pan and set aside.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot.  Stir in the rice, the saffron and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and brown evenly on both sides.  Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.  Add the onion, garlic, chipotle, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and salt to the skillet.  Cook and stir for about a minute.  Next add the tomato, tomatillo, chicken stock, tomato sauce, raisins and cocoa powder.  Stir to combine, bring to a boil.  Return the chicken to the skillet, stir ingredients once more, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.   Remove the cover and simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.   Arrange the saffron rice on a serving platter.  Remove the cooked chicken and arrange on top of the rice.  Allow the sauce in the skillet to lightly boil for another five minutes, uncovered.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken, and then sprinkle with the toasted almonds.

Next time your dinner cravings lead you toward south of the border flavors, try substituting a chipotle, or two or three, for whatever other chili pepper the recipe calls for.  It will make a nice change of pace – and a perfect accompaniment for that margarita too!

Chocolate or Cheese?

Chocolate or cheese, what shall it be?  While that may present a choice to be made, the two options have a lot in common.  They are both irresistible.  They can both be enjoyed in their most basic forms. A platter of cheeses serves up a perfect palette for snacking, and a cube of chocolate from a chocolate shop sends the senses into blissful contentment.  I have childhood memories as a ten-year-old who, like any child on Christmas break from school in the northeast, would spend days outdoors in the snow with friends from the neighborhood.  I would come home for lunch, my favorite being a grilled Swiss cheese sandwich.  If an afternoon of sledding  was dragging on too long and Jack Frost was really threatening to bite my nose if I dallied any longer, I would be summoned indoors and presented with a cup of hot chocolate to chase away the chills.  Another very comforting way to consume these two basic foods is enjoyed straight from the melting pot.

Fondue, the past tense of the French verb ‘fondre’ meaning to melt, is prepared in a pot placed at the center of the table, the ingredients melted within. Diners around the table take up their long-stemmed forks and dip such edibles as cubes of bread, vegetables, fruits or chunks of pound cake into this communal pot.   Fondue originated in Switzerland and achieved popularity in North America throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Another surge in its popularity arose in the 1990’s, which led to the opening of fondue restaurants as well as an increase in the number of homes whose least-utilized kitchen cabinet houses a fondue pot likely presented as a gift on some Christmas of that decade.

This week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the first week of the winter season, a week typically more relaxing as the holiday festivities are winding down and many family members are home on vacations, this seems like an ideal opportunity to dust off that fondue pot and prepare a dining experience that is meant to be enjoyed together with family and friends.  And it’s a great way to get your finicky kids to eat their veggies and fruits!

The original Swiss fondue was cheese based, prepared by melting Gruyere or Emmentaler with the addition of white wine or Kirsch.  As with the evolution of most culinary presentations, these days anything goes.   One variation may include mushrooms in with the cheese, another might call for the addition of chopped tomatoes, and yet a spicy version would benefit from some red and green peppers and a chipotle chili.  Potatoes can be used for dipping, as can just about any cooked vegetable of choice.  Other cheeses may be used as well.  I once made a recipe using cheddar, stout and a bit of Dijon, and the dippers consisted of red new potatoes, Brussels sprouts, chunks of apples, and flowerettes of cauliflower.

Chocolate fondue is the simple combination of chocolate, cream and a flavored liquour.   This can be served with pound cake, fruits and even pretzel sticks.  The chocolate fountain which is now displayed in shops and on many a wedding banquet table is a spin off of sorts, where cookies and Twinkies are also provided for dipping in addition to the fruits.

There is another variation on fondue, called the fondue bourguignonne, in which cubes of raw beef are cooked in a pot of hot oil and then dipped into a variety of savory sauces.  I have seen variations on this theme on restaurant menus using lobster or shrimp.  No melting is involved here and therefore not a true fondue, however it will help to round out the meal for any carnivorous diners at your table.

Not sure which one to make?  Invite a couple of friends who also possess long-forgotten fondue pots.  Then you can enjoy a meal of all three styles, needing nothing more than a basic side salad and some good wine.  Alternatively - how is this for idyllic - get a fire roaring in the fireplace, light up the tree, and set up a late night snack with your significant other.  The glow emanating from the fireplace, the lights of the tree and the flame beneath the fondue pot will provide a relaxing, warming, shall we say romantic, ambiance.  Pour some moscado or port and try one of these two dessert fondues.  They couldn’t be easier and, hey, you still have until next week when your dieting resolutions kick in, so carpe diem and enjoy something sweet with your sweetie.

CHOCOLATE–ORANGE FONDUE

Ingredients:

4 ounces high quality semi sweet chocolate

2 ounces high quality unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons Cointreau

chunks of pound cake, sliced bananas, strawberries

Chop the chocolates.  Place a glass mixing bowl on top of a pot of boiling water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.  Gently melt the chocolate in the mixing bowl, stirring almost constantly.  Once all of the chocolate is melted and smooth, whisk in the cream and then stir in the Cointreau.  Transfer the mixture to a fondue pot.  Serve with the pound cake and/or fruits for dipping.

WHITE CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY FONDUE

Prepare in the same manner as above recipe, substituting a high quality white chocolate for the semi sweet and unsweetened chocolates, and substitute Chambord for the Cointreau.  In addition to the pound cake and the bananas, slices of Bosc pears would be a nice dipper here.

Feast of Seven Fishes

When Brian and I started dating, our first Christmas Eve together was spent with his family.  It was a big deal, I recall, with his parents bustling about the kitchen cooking up a storm.  Shrimps were peeled, pasta was boiled, and red 'gravy' was bubbling in another pot as slices of calamari awaited their final submersion into that savory sauce.  A white box from the bakery, still tied up with string, held the secret of the surprise dessert ending, and it seemed as though chocolates abounded in every corner of the room.  These were the final moments of preparation for the Christmas Eve Vigil dinner, also known as the Feast of Seven Fishes.  Most widely practiced by families of Italian heritage, this custom stems from the Catholic practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat until midnight strikes the start of  Christmas day.  During the final hours of this vigil that precedes the birth of Christ, families come together to celebrate the holiday and to dine on an elaborate meal of several seafood dishes, pasta and desserts.

After Brian's father passed, I made a declaration that we would continue this annual holiday tradition in our home every year, in honor of the man who so loved Christmas and who was so devoted to his family, who always went above and beyond to make the holiday enjoyable for all.  Most Italian-American families still practice this Christmas Eve repast, as is evidenced by the long lines which extend out the door of the fish markets and continue down the block.  It is the perfect venue for gathering the whole family together to celebrate Christmas, dine lavishly, socialize and exchange gifts.  There are a lot of theories depicting the significance of seven fishes, as opposed to three or thirty, such as the representation of seven apostles for example.  Very small families have scaled back and prepare an ultra-gourmet experience of three or four fishes, but I know many larger families push the fish dishes to nine or even more.

Preparing seven different dishes of seafood, plus the other usual suspects that comprise a meal such as a salad, pasta and desserts may sound overwhelming, but if you approach the meal planning in the same manner you would for any other dinner, the result is no different.  You need to start with an appetizer; how about homemade baked clams or oysters Rockefeller?  There's your first fish, done.  Next you'll need a first course.  Lobster bisque?  Cesar salad with shrimp? Another fish down.  The entrees and pastas follow next, and there are infinite dishes which incorporate the use of seafood, and you have five fishes to go into them.  Make an entree whose ingredient list calls for several specimens of seafood, such as a seafood gratin that I made three years ago which utilized shrimp, lobster, scallops and crab.  Cheating?  Keep the wine flowing and see to it that everybody is feeling very well fed and I assure you nobody will be counting after that.  Good thing, because fish just does not work in desserts!

Brian and I take turns each year on which one of us gets to choose the entree and set the tone of the meal.  Last year was my turn and I presented this wonderfully rich seafood stuffed manicotti.  Hmmm, wonder what he'll elect to prepare this year?

SEAFOOD STUFFED MANICOTTI

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 16 ounce can imported San Marzan plum tomatoes

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1 cup seafood broth

3/4 pound shrimp, cooked

3/4 pound lobster meat, cooked

1 cup shredded fontina cheese

1/4 cup butter

4 shallots, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup seafood broth

1 cup shredded fontina cheese

2 tablespoons brandy

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese

8 manicotti tubes

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms, stir and cook until soft.  Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon.  Add the parsley, basil and 1 cup seafood broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combined the shrimp and lobster and 1 cup of fontina cheese.  Set aside.  Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  Add the manicotti and cook until just al dente.  Drain well and set aside.

In another pot, melt the remaining 1/4 cup butter.  Add the shallots and cook until softened.  Add the flour, cook and stir until bubbly.  Slowly and gradually add the milk and the broth, stirring constantly, allowing the mixture to be thickened by the flour between each addition.    Remove from heat and add the remaining 1 cup of fontina, the brandy, nutmeg and pepper.  Stir until the cheese is melted and incorporated into the mixture.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread half of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a rectangular baking dish.  Stuff each manicotti with the seafood mixture.  Arrange the stuffed manicotti in a single layer row in the roasting dish on top of the tomato sauce.  Pour remaining tomato sauce around, not over, each manicotti.  Pour the white cheese sauce over the manicotti, right along the center.  Cover with the parmesan or romano cheese and bake for 25 minutes.

Other countries also celebrate the seafood vigil dining extravaganza on Christmas Eve, so the cuisine doesn't always have to be Italian.  It can be French or Spanish, for instance.  One year I went so far as to plan an entire New Orleans style dinner which included several Cajun appetizers with hurricane drinks, a seafood gumbo, a dessert of a bourbon-pecan yule log served with bananas and butter pecan ice cream, blues-style Christmas tunes on the stereo and holiday colored beads and golden brass instrument ornaments adorning the table.   It turned out fabulous and was a fun change of pace.  Whatever direction you take, enjoy the good food, the family moments and the holiday memories being created right in your home.  

To all of my readers, I wish every one of you and your families a very happy, safe and well-fed holiday.  Joyeux Noel, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas!