Savory + Aromatic Swedish Meatballs, Kind Of (TTH)

• 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon umami paste or anchovy paste
• 2 slices stale white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
• 4 ounces pork fatback, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill [Though it would work well in this, one tablespoon isn't enough to justify buying a bunch of dill]
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons store-bought low-sodium broth
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum or cornstarch (Missed my golden opportunity to buy xanthan gum for the first time]
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• Lingonberry jam (from iKEA or elsewhere) for serving [Nope]

Mise en place for the meatballs themselves.  Decidedly more than the number of ingredients in your average Swedish Meatball recipe and with different spices.  Apparently the traditional spices are nutmeg and allspice.  Forget fresh herbs, anchovies, and fatback; even onion and garlic.

Oh, by the way, you shred the white bread into tiny pieces and pour the milk over it.  It's like a panade?

Which seemingly isn't a popular enough usage of the term to have a page on wikipedia.  Interesting.

Cook onion, garlic, and salt until the onion softens.

Add spices and cook for another two minutes.  Add umami paste (Eh, just minced some anchovies even though that's not even the same thing as anchovy paste) and stir until combined.

Let cool.

Mix mixture with lamb and panade with a wooden spoon until roughly combined.

Add herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Overmixing is apparently an issue, but I made sure to season aggressively and yet avoid overdoing it while searing off pieces in a pan.

I did a good job.

Final mise en place.  The meatballs don't exactly stay spherical like that.

One is supposed to sear the meatballs just lightly until they begin to brown, but I wasn't paying as much attention as necessary on the first batch.  Didn't ruin it, but I learned my lesson.

 
Transfer the meatballs to a plate.  Add sherry and deglaze.  Cook until nearly evaporated.
Add meatballs back to the pot along with 3/4 cup of chicken broth.  Simmer until cooked through.
Mix xanthan gum (Damn, I should have totally bought some) with remaining 2 tablespoons chicken stock.  Push meatballs to one side of pan and whisk mixture into bubbling liquid.  Stir the meatballs back in and cook until sauced has thickened.

Season with sherry vinegar (I think it only needed that 1 tablespoon), lemon zest, salt and black pepper and...  It was awesome.  The most complex succulent Swedish meatballs I've ever had though there's not much to compare these to except Stouffer's and one trip to Ikea.  Dill makes so much sense, but it was still totally good without it.

Best Chicken Stew (CI)

from November & December 2013

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved crosswise and trimmed
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 pound chicken wings, halved at the joint
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 celery rib, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup dry white wine, plus extra for seasoning
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Arrange thighs on baking sheet and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Cover with saran wrap and set aside.

Mise en place.  I guess "party wings" are already separated at the joint.

Cook bacon over medium-low heat until fat renders and bacon browns.  Transfer bacon to bowl with slotted spoon.

Brown chicken wings and add to bowl with bacon.

Add aromatics and cook until dark fond develops on pan bottom.  Frankly, it's already got a nice dark fond.

Add wine, 1 cup broth, and soy sauce and reduce until liquid evaporates and vegetables sizzles again.

Add butter and stir until melted.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir to combine.

Gradually whisk in remaining 4 cups broth until smooth.  Add wings, potatoes and carrots and cook, uncovered for 30 minutes, in a 325 degree over.  Stir halfway.

Use spoon to draw gravy up sides of pot and scrape fond back into stew. Add chicken thighs and cook, uncovered, until chicken and vegetables are tender.
I pulled it out when the potatoes were tender and I had hit the 45 minutes mark.  I guess the carrots could have gone on for a little longer, but they were fine.  Remove chicken wings (the flavor's all cooked out of them) and season.

Deep, rich, soul-satisfying.  I wasn't sure beforehand how this would differ from my favorite ATK recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, but it was pretty awesome.  They're both chicken stews, but this one is much darker and richer in flavor.  This would be poor match with dumplings and I might not make this annually, but it still really, really good.

Also I tossed the remainder of a bag of frozen peas in for good measure.  I like peas in my chicken stews.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo (CI)

from Cook's Illustrated, February 2014

• 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled and deveined, shells reserved
• Salt
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry, and minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced pepperoncini, plus 1 teaspoon brine
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Tomatoes into colander set over bowl.  Pierce tomatoes with spatula and stir around to release juice.  Do not wash colander.

Mise en place.  The shrimp was tossed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering.  Cook shrimp shells until they begin to brown.

Add wine and let bubble away until reduced to 2 tablespoons.

Add reserved tomato juice and simmer to meld flavors.

Strain "stock" and discard shells.

Heat remaining oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and oregano over medium heat until garlic is straw-colored and fragrant.

Add anchovies and cook to the same effect.

Off heat, add tomatoes and mash with potato masher until coarsely pureed.  Stir reserved juice mixture in and return to medium-high heat.  Simmer until thickened.

 

Add shrimp and simmer gently until just cooked through.

Remove from heat.  Stir in basil, parsley, and pepperoncini and brine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

The shrimp fra diavolo can be served with salad and crusty bread, but spaghetti serves my purposes better.
The dish was pretty good and certainly not some straight-forward and pedestrian "rubbery seafood in spicy marinara."  The use of shrimp shells built a huge background of shrimp flavor that would've been impossible if it wasn't there.  Unless, of course, one overcooked the shrimp; which this dish avoided, except for when I went to reheat the leftovers.

Braised Lamb Shoulder with Tomato, Citrus, and Anchovy

from April Bloomfield's "A Girl and Her Pig"

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bone-in lamb shoulder (about 6 pounds), neck and rib bones removed
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 Dutch or other spicy long red chiles, pierced with a sharp knife
• 4 small celery stalks, cut into 1/2-ince pieces [Blanked on the fact that I had tossed the celery I had. When I got home from the store, I had zero desire to go back out again.]
• 1 garlic head, cloves separated, but not peeled
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 blood orange or small regular orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
• One 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, drained, trimmed, and squished with your hands
• 4 whole salt-packed anchovies, rinsed, soaked, and filleted [Another Bloomfield favorite.  Eh, I'll just use oil-packed ones.]
• About 1 1/2 cups dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

 
Mise en place.  Using boxed wine because I've heard it doesn't oxidize in a minute like the bottled stuff does.

 
Browning the lamb shoulder.  Okay, I realized the rib bones are still attached and I would've gotten more browning action if there were not.

 
It was bitch to muscle around the 4 1/2-pound shoulder around the pot, but here it is looking all pretty.  Bloomfield says to remove the shoulder to a plate and then cook the vegetables in there, but it was far easier for me to take that task over...

 
Into another pot.
Add carrots to the pot first.  Then the rest of the veggies but don't stir stem for ten minutes.  I guess, technically, the carrots are supposed to brown while the rest of the veggies steam; though I can't imagine a pot that would be used for this dish that wouldn't allow all the veggies to have some contact with the pot.  Afterwards, cook while stirring occasionally until the vegetables are all softening and browning.

 
Cut long strips of zest of the lemon and orange.  And this, the rosemary, anchovies, and tomatoes and cook for five more minutes to allow the flavors to marry.  Squeeze in the juices of the orange and 1/2 the lemon.

 
Return the shoulder to the pot.  (Or in my case dump the veggies in with the shoulder) Pour the wine and 1 1/2 cups water around the shoulder and bring the liquid to the simmer.
Some of the juices from the veggies splashed onto the shoulder as I poured it in, but I figured I was trying.

Cover the pot and begin to braise in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Lower the heat to 300 degrees and braise for 3 1/2 hours until the shoulder is very tender.  Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes.
It all smelled pretty amazing and first but less intense later.

Let the lamb rest for 10 minutes and then spoon off the fat from the top.  Which should amount to about 1/2 cup.

 

The finished shoulder with the meat pushed off the bone.

A pretty good dish though it didn't knock it out of the park.  The length of time it had to braise was killing me since I didn't start that part until somewhat after 10pm at night.  Wish I had bread around to mop up the broth when it first came out of the oven.