Gravlax with Spicy Mustard Sauce

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This Swedish dish takes two days to make, but it’s well worth the effort. After curing, the gravlax is sliced as thinly as possible, placed on black bread, and served with a little of the mustard sauce spread over it.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/3 cup kosher salt

  • 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

  • 2 small bunches dill, coarsely chopped

  • ½ bunch chervil, chopped

  • 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

  • 1 bunch lemon balm, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons prepared hot mustard (with chiles)

  • 1 tablespoon mustard powder

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar

  • 4 tablespoons canola oil

  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

  • 2 salmon fillets, about 1 ½ pounds each

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, and pepper to make the sugar mixture. In another bowl, combine the dill, chervil, parsley, and lemon balm to make the herb mixture. In a third bowl combine the mustard, mustard powder, sugar, vinegar, oil, and dill to make the mustard sauce. Cover and refrigerate the mustard sauce.

Place 1 fillet skin side down in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle ½ the sugar mixture over the fillet, ½ of the herb mixture, the rest of the sugar mixture, and the rest of the herb mixture. Place the second fillet on top of the first, flesh to flesh, and wrap with plastic wrap. Place the wrapped fillets in a shallow pan and weigh them down with something heavy, like bricks covered in aluminum foil or a cast iron skillet.

Refrigerate for 24 hours, then flip the fillets, weigh them down, and refrigerated for another 24 hours. Serve with the mustard sauce.

 

Spiced Coconut Beef (Rendang)

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In Indonesia, this is the preferred method of cooking water buffalo, a fairly tough meat. Since they are scarce in Amsterdam, this recipe from Indrapura Restaurant features beef. It is served over rice. The chef at Indrapura notes: “Use mature coconuts. Taste before you add salt during the cooking.” To make coconut milk from scratch, grate the coconut and soak the flesh in hot water.

Ingredients

For the Spice Paste:

  • 20 shallots, peeled and chopped

  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled

  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

  • 1 small fresh piece of ginger, peeled

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 7 fresh red chiles, such as jalapeño, seeds and stems removed, chopped

  • Small amount of water, if needed

For the Rendang:

  • 3 pound chuck steak, cut into1-inch cubes

  • 8 cups coconut milk (unsweetened)

  • 2 lemon grass stalks, bruised

  • 1 whole tamarind pod

Instructions

In a blender or food processor, combine the ingredients for the spice paste and puree until smooth.

Place the beef and spice paste in a wok over high heat and saute for five minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the coconut milk has thickened.

Turn the heat down to low and cook until the oil comes out of what is left of the gravy, and stir continuously. Let the meat and spices fry in the oil until the color is deep, dark brown still stirring. The length of cooking process should be around 4 hours. Remove the lemon grass stalks and the tamarind pod before serving.

Venison Chili

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This is the universally favorite way to prepare venison. Venison is quite lean yet very flavorful. It makes a wonderful chili that doesn’t have a fatty flavor. The slow cooking, chiles, and seasonings tremove any wild taste the meat might have. It freezes beautifully, so double the recipe and freeze a batch for another evening meal. Substitute elk if you wish.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • 1 ½ pounds coarsely ground venison

  • 1 cup coarsely chopped onions

  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

  • ½ cup cooked, coarsely chopped bacon

  • 3 small jalapeño chiles, seeds and stems removed, finely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons ground New Mexican red chile

  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 12-ounce can beer, dark preferred

  • 1 12-ounce can tomato paste

  • 1 16-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Instructions

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and brown the venison. Add the onions, garlic, and cooked bacon. Stir in the peppers, chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt.

Add the beer, tomato paste, and stir in the drained beans. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to prevent burning and to combine flavors. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer the mixture for 20 to 30 minutes.

Southwestern Stuffed Red Bell Peppers with an Attitude

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The attitude comes from the green chiles–they definitely add the spice and heat for this otherwise ordinary dish. I like to stuff a small wedge of jalapeño Monterey jack cheese into the center of the pepper just before it’s finished cooking. That adds even more “attitude”!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef

  • 1 cup chopped onion

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

  • ½ cup chopped green chiles

  • 1 cup cooked rice

  • 1/8 teaspoon cumin powder

  • ½ teaspoon ground thyme

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground savory

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 5 large red bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, roasted over flames, skins removed

  • 5 small wedges of jalapeño Monterey jack cheese

Instructions

Brown the beef in a large skillet. Add the onion and the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Drain or blot off excess grease. Add one can of the tomato sauce, green chiles, rice, cumin, thyme, savory, salt, and pepper to the sauteed meat mixture and mix well.

Stuff the meat mixture into the bell peppers. Place the stuffed peppers in a shallow glass baking pan, so they are all stacked against each other and won’t fall over. Pour the second can of tomato sauce into the pan. Add enough water to bring the liquid depth up to ½ inch. Tent the peppers with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, basting the tops of the peppers with the tomato sauce base.

Add a wedge of the cheese into the center of each pepper when they are almost finished baking.

Nma Jim Jeaw Sauce

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As this is always a homemade concoction, recipes vary for both ingredients and amounts. The rule-of-thumb is “to taste.” A key element that all agree on is the difficult-to-make roasted, powdered rice which I‘ve yet to find on U.S. market shelves. To make it, sauté rice in lime juice until browned but still with a trace of moisture then grind into a medium powder. This condiment is used to spice up any dish. Try it over rice pilaf.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ tablespoons ground, roasted rice

  • 1 ½ tablespoons chile powder

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon tamarind sauce

  • ½ tablespoon sugar (palm sugar is best)

  • 1 shallot, peeled and sliced

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 1 cilantro root, minced (optional)

  • 1/4 cup water or more if needed

Instructions

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a blender and puree. Return the sauce to the bowl and place it in the regfrigerator for at least 3 hourse for the flavors to blend and the rice to soften. Garnish with minced parsley, mint, and spring onion.