Fish Stew, or a Naive Bouillabaise

1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped crosswise on the bias, 1/4 in. pieces
fennel, equal to celery, chopped similarly
4 medium carrots, diced to 1/4. in pieces
1 large parsnip, diced to 1/4 in. pieces
4 cloves garlic, sliced very thinly lengthwise
1/4 tsp. curry paste
4-5 canned tomatoes, finely chopped
1-2 cups, tomato juice
water
good tablespoon spicy mustard
red pepper flakes to taste
red wine vinegar (sherry vinegar would be great) to taste
Seafood, any kind would be good, esp. fish like snapper, cod, etc.
1 small potato, riced
3-4 tblsp chopped parsley
2-4 tblsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onion, carrot, parsnip, celery, fennel until translucent. Add red pepper, curry paste and garlic and saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and tomato juice and enough water to make the desired amount of soup. Add mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper to approximate a well seasoned broth (more of all this will be added at the end, to taste). Cover and simmer until carrots and parsnip are perfectly tender. Add seafood and cook until just done. Remove from heat and add riced potato to thicken the stew. Add parsley. Add butter and emulsify into the stew. Don't skip this step, dear health-conscious reader. Adjust seasoning.

Nakatomi Towers Blend: Competition Chili

Made a good showing; it did not win, though.

1 beef chuck roast (2-3 lbs), cut into half-inch cubes
1 large white onion, sliced
tblsp or so, flour
1/4 c. chili powder
2 tblsp cumin
chicken or beef stock
3 or 4 poblano peppers
1 jalepeno pepper
3 canned tomatoes, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
half cup chopped cilantro
juice from two limes
fresh oregano, chopped
salt and pepper

Brown beef thoroughly, working in batches if necessary. Remove beef from pot and reserve. Add onions and sweat. Add chili powder, cumin and flour (to thicken stew), followed shortly by reserved beef, tomatoes, and stock. (Enough stock to just cover meat.) Chili should be the correct dark-red color by now; if not, then add more chili powder. Fire-roast all the peppers, then peel and chop them into bite-size strips adding them to the stew. Braise for several hours over low heat (275-300 in oven), until beef is completely tender. While stew is still hot, but not boiling, add garlic, cilantro, oregano, and lime juice.

Original Pancake House-ish Pancakes

• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk (105-115 degrees F)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar (or 1/4 cup malt powder)
• 2 large eggs - lightly beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder

NOTE: This recipe must be made the night before, at minimum. The morning before would be ideal.

Mix together all ingredients except eggs, butter and baking powder. All ingredients should be at least at room temperature or a bit warmer. Mix the ingredients in a bowl about 6 qt size, or about 3x larger than the volume of batter.

Keep this batter, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature--not warm like you would for bread dough. You want it to rise slowly. After a couple hours, the batter will begin rising. After it at least doubles in volume, stir it down.

The next day, beat in the eggs, the melted butter, and 1 tsp of baking powder (stirring the batter will cause it to deflate; the baking powder will restore some of that rise). You may need to adjust the consistency of the batter, most likely with a few tablespoons of water, although if the batter is too runny, you can add a spoonful or 3 of flour.

Cook as you would regular pancakes on a greased skillet or griddle until golden (approx 2-3 minutes on each side.)

French Bread

The most successful recipe by far, so far:

3 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
2 tsp. kosher salt

makes two medium size french loaves

In standing mixer, add flour, yeast and salt. Mix on low to combine. Add water and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Let dough rest for five minutes. With bread hook, mix for about two minutes. Let rest another five minutes, then mix for two minutes more. Dough should be kneaded thoroughly and should not be sticky. Let rise for an hour or two, until at least doubled in size. After rising, punch down the dough, then lightly knead and shape into two french loaves* or one boule, being careful not to add too much flour. Let rise for another half hour or so. Bake at 450, making sure to throw a half cup of water into the oven with the bread for steam. Bread is done when it reaches 205 degrees.

*Pull dough into two pieces. Strech each piece into a rectangle shape, fold edges lengthwise to meet in the middle. Punch down the overlap, then fold the edges lengthwise again to meet in the middle and make a tight seal. This will be the bottom of the loaf. Cut slashes into the bread top, ala french bread.

Ratatouille

This one makes itself. Tonight I used zucchini, yellow squash, canned tomato, onion, mushrooms, red and green peppers, nicoise olives, and garlic. A nice addition was orange juice, lemon juice and plenty of olive oil.

Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Peas

For the gnocchi:

three small potatoes, riced
one cup flour
one egg
drizzle truffle oil
salt

For the sauce:

eight ounce package mushrooms, coarsely chopped
half an onion
3/4 cup peas
butter
dollop of sour cream
drizzle of truffle oil
salt and pepper

Rice the potatoes onto a floured surface. Dust flour over the potatoes. Make a well for the egg, salt, and truffle oil, and knead until just combined. (Overmixing makes tough dough.) Roll dough into ropes and cut into inch shapes. Make into gnocchi shapes with a fork and set aside on floured pan. Gnocci cooks in about two or three minutes.

Cook mushrooms in very hot olive oil. Set aside when cooked, and reduce heat to medium. Sautee the onion until well softened, then add back the mushrooms. Add peas, butter, cooked gnocchi, truffle oil. When sauce comes together a bit, turn off heat and add the cream.

This was my adaptation of this recipe:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Truffled-Gnocchi-with-Peas-and-Chanterelles

Pancakes:

(modified from my brother's recipe)

1 1/4 cup flour
heaping tblsp baking powder
heaping tblsp sugar
pinch of salt
2 tblsp melted butter
tsp or so of oil
one egg, seperated
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
pinch yeast

Mix together dry ingredients. Whip egg white into a light froth, then add buttermilk, butter, oil, egg yolk, and yeast. Mix all ingredients together and stir until combined. Leave aside for thirty minutes to an hour, them make em.