My Osso Buco with a Persian Twist

• Ingrediants: 
• 
  
• 6 osso buco
• salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 3/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 fresh thyme bundle
• 1-2 cups fresh green beans
• 
  
• Directions:

Season the osso buco generously with salt.

Coat a wide, flat pan generously with olive oil. Bring the pan to a high heat and add the osso buco to the pan and brown them very well on all sides.

In a food processor puree the onion, celery, fennel, and garlic to a coarse paste. When the osso buco is well browned on all sides, remove from the pan and reserve. Add the veggies to the pan with a pinch of crushed red pepper, season with salt, and brown them very well. Add the tomato paste and cook until it starts to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the wine and reduce by half.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Return the osso buco to the pan. Add water so the liquid becomes even with top of the meat. Taste the liquid and season with salt if needed. Add in the bay leaves and thyme bundle. . Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, and put the whole pan in the oven.

Cook for 1 hour. Pull the pan out of the oven and check the liquid level and the seasoning. Add more liquid, if needed, add the fresh green beans, cut to bite size pieces.  Return the pan to the oven, and cook for another hour.

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve with basmati rice

Cupcakes for Blake

Heat oven to 350.  This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

1.5 c flour
1 c sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil
1 c cold water

Combine ingredients and pour into lined muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes.  Check with toothpick to ensure completely baked.

Substitutions:

Vanilla Cake: Omit cocoa. Double the vanilla. Add 1/4 more cup flour.

Spice Cake: Omit cocoa. Add 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice. Add 1/4 more cup flour.

Orange Cake. Omit cocoa & vinegar. Use orange juice for the water. Add 1/4 more cup flour.

Lemon Cake: Omit cocoa. Use lemon juice for vinegar. Add 1 tsp lemon extract. Add 1/4 more cup flour.

Zereshk Polo (Rice with barberries)

Ingredients:
3 cups basmatti rice
1 1/2 cups zereshk
2 tbsp sugar
1 good pinch of saffron (smash saffron with a pinch of sugar and add 2 tablespoons hot water to dissolve it)
2 tbsp butter or oil (I like to use butter in this recipe)

Instructions: 
Cook rice until semi-soft (el dente). 
Pick over the zereshk and remove any steams or stones you may find.  Then soak in water for about 5-10 minutes.
In a skillet melt 1 tablespoon of  butter (or warm the oil) then add zereshk. Add sugar and give it a nice stir so that the zereshk is coated with butter and sugar.  It will start to plump up.   Add saffron water and let the zereshk absorb the liquid for about one minute. Turn off heat.
Add oil to the bottom of your pan, and place one layer of rice. Sprinkle a little salt on each layer.
Then, add some zereshk, and layer rice with zereshk.  
Repeat layers until the last layer is rice - reserve a little zereshk for later to decorate the top of your rice before serving it.
Cover and cook on high for 10 minutes, then reduce to medium for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Serve rice in a platter and top with the reserved zereshk.

Serve with chicken.  

Sunshine Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken cut in to pieces (breast, wing, thigh, leg), or 10 chicken legs
1 large onion
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp saffron
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions:
Rough chop onion and place in a baking pot (I like to use my dutch oven).  Add chicken on top. Season with salt and pepper. Add turmeric.
Add 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook for one hour (whole chicken) or half hour (chicken legs) or until chicken is cooked all the way through.
About 10 minutes into the cooking allowing the turmeric to coat the chicken and onions.
When chicken is done remove from the pot and keep in a place where it stays warm.
Smash saffron with a pinch of sugar.  Add 2 tablespoons hot water to allow saffron to dissolve.
Add the saffron water and lemon juice to a blender, remove the cooked onion from the pot with some of the juice from the chicken, place in a blender until the mixture is smooth.
Arrange chicken on a platter, and pour sauce over the chicken.  Let sit for 10 minutes before eating. 

Asian-ish Chicken

2 lbs  chicken, bone-in with skin

½ C. low sodium soy sauce 
1 T. hoisin sauce 
1 T. honey or sugar
2 T. chopped cilantro
2 T. chopped green onion
3 cloves minced garlic

This recipe is great on chicken --- we love to make it with wings for a party!
Put everything in a large zip lock bag, move chicken around until well coated, and marinate at least 4 hours or better if overnight.
Place just chicken in a shallow baking pan; toss the marinade, then in the oven at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.