Braised Steak with Anchovies, Olives and Capers

Five years ago I took a look at the vintage cookbook The Meat & Potato Cuisine I Love in one of our TBT posts.



In that cookbook is a recipe for Braised Steak and Anchovies that I have always found intriguing. As it uses capers in addition to the anchovies it bears a certain resemblance to one of my favourite pasta dishes Pasta Puttanesca.



I thought that with some rejigging  I could make a version of the dish that adds olives and a bit of heat.



Ingredients:

Steaks about 1/2 inch to an inch thick. Sirloin, rib or round steak cuts all work well
Flour
Olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
Beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tin anchovy filets 1/2 a small jar to a full small  jar of capers
Green or black olives
Garlic powder
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
Red chili pepper flakes

To begin, lightly dust your steaks in flour. Season them liberally (or to taste) with salt, black pepper and garlic powder and let them sit at room temperature for half an hour.

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the steaks in it, around 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side.

When finished browning set the steaks aside, Do not clean out the pan.

Stirring as you go add the anchovies, olives, capers, onions garlic and chili pepper flakes (to taste...the more you add the hotter it gets) to the pan. Use the spatula to scrap the bottom of the pan and to mash the anchovies, and saute this whole mixture for approximately 5 minutes or until the onions are softened to your liking.

Add the steaks back to the pan and add the Worcestershire sauce and enough beef broth to almost just cover the steaks.

Bring the broth to a boil and then lower heat and simmer the steaks for around an hour and a half or until fork tender. The sauce will thicken and you want this.

 Serve with some rice or noodles and be sure to spoon lots of sauce, onion and olives over each steak. I also like to squirt a little lemon juice on each one.

This delicious dish goes very nicely with your favourite red wine and a baguette on the side.

Enjoy.

White Wine & Vinegar Chicken w. Olives, Capers & Garlic

Today we are going to make a chicken dish that is colourful and totally delicious. It is prepared by first seasoning the chicken and cooking it in the oven in vinegar and wine and then covering it with a sauce based around this as well as olives, capers and garlic.

I have adapted this recipe from one that originally appeared in the New York Times. 

To start you want to season your chicken for baking. For this recipe we used 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.



Seasoning Blend:

1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss your chicken in the olive oil. Place on a rimmed oven baking tray skin side up and then season with the turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper.

Once the seasoned chicken is in the tray, pour 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and 1/4 cup of dry white wine over and around the chicken.

Place in an oven preheated to 450 degrees and cook until done, 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the following ingredients together in a bowl.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 cups of crushed, pitted green olives.
1 small jar of capers
2 -3 cloves of grated garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil

Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven and place the chicken on a platter.

Then, without cleaning or draining it in anyway add the sauce ingredients to the tray with the juices and vinegar and wine from cooking.

Using a spatula gently stir everything together making sure to scrap up any pieces or bits attached to the pan.

After you have fully blended everything add a cup of chopped fresh parsley and stir in.

Pour all the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve.

This dish goes well with  rice or egg noodles as a side.

Enjoy.

Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs

Today we are going to take a look at a recipe for boneless, skinless chicken thighs that is truly delicious and that is in part inspired by Puttanesca-style pasta sauces.



This is made stove-top and can be done either in a large saucepan or in a Dutch Oven for larger quantities. We will be using a Dutch Oven and using measurements for making around 10-12 thighs.

First, season your chicken thighs liberally with black pepper and with sea salt to taste. Heat some olive oil over medium-high heat in your saucepan/Dutch Oven and then brown the thighs (in batches) for about 3 minutes a side.

Remove the thighs when browned and set aside on a platter.

Do not drain any of the remaining oil or juices. Add to it some more oil if needed, bring back to a sauteing heat and then add 8 minced cloves of garlic, 8 anchovy fillets, a teaspoon of red chili flakes (or to taste) and a small jar of capers. Stir constantly while trying to break-up and dissolve the anchovies and brown the garlic. This should take around 3-5 minutes.

When this is done, put the chicken back in the Dutch Oven, add enough chicken stock to just cover the chicken. Also add the juice of 1 lemon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer the chicken until done, normally around 30-40 minutes.

This is a tart and very flavourful chicken dish that pairs especially well with vinho verde or other chilled white wines.

I like to serve it on top of rice, in its sauce, with some sliced baguette style bread on the side.

Enjoy.

See also: Slow Cooker Seasoned Whole Chicken

See also: Sauteed Seasoned Chicken Breasts in a Garlic Mushroom Sauce

Smoked Salmon and Spaghetti with Capers

Delicious and really easy to make, today's recipe looks at a terrific way to use smoked salmon.


This dish works best with spaghetti, spagettini, linguine or fettuccine noodles. We used spaghetti. This recipe uses ingredients for around 500g of pasta.


Prepare the spaghetti according to package instructions to al dente or to taste.

When drained and rinsed, put in a large serving bowl and toss the spaghetti with  around 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter until the butter melts.

Add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and oregano or Italian seasoning to taste (I like to use around a tablespoon). Toss thoroughly. Then add 2 tablespoons of Keen's or Coleman's dry mustard powder and toss again.

Finally add one small jar of capers, drained of any liquid, and the smoked salmon.

Use as much smoked salmon as you want, and cut up in chunks or slices of whatever size you like. I like to chop a normal thin cut slice of smoked salmon into about three pieces for this.

Toss in the capers and smoked salmon so they are nicely and evenly distributed. Then add the juice of half a lemon and toss one final time.

Serve with more fresh ground pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

See also: Montreal Steak Spice Salmon Fillets

See also: Mediterranean "Taverna" Pasta Salad