Anna Sultana's Cioppino & New Year Pork Roast & Lucky Foods For The New Year

Hard to believe, but 2018 is drawing to a close.

Hope it’s been a good year for you, and that 2019 will be an even better one!

Everyone has traditional Christmas recipes - as well as a few old favourites - so I didn’t post any new recipes. 

I posted Ma’s East Coast Seafood Chowder as a suggestion for other seniors who might like to simplify the seven fish for Christmas Eve tradition.

Over the past month over 12,000 of you dear folks have looked up recipes in this blog.

Thank you for visiting - I’m glad I could be of help.

I hope you, your friends and families enjoyed the festivities at your table.

There are also a few food traditions for New Year’s Eve and Day.

I’ve heard that some customs will even bring you wealth and luck.

Well, anyway, they’re a bit of fun and fine recipes for when folks gather to celebrate the coming year.

Eat poor on New Year’s and eat fat the rest of the year is something folks say in the southern United States, where they usually eat black-eyed peas, along with ham, greens, and cornbread on New Year’s Day in the hope that the meal will bring good luck and wealth. 

Greens represent the green bills, while peas and cornbread stands for coins and gold.

Lentils and beans also promise a shower of coins in the coming year. 

Along with American southerners, many other folks eat pork on New Year’s Day.

The thinking goes that pigs root around in a forward motion, so pork symbolizes progress for the coming year.

I know... practically all animals walk in a forward motion, but, for some reason, folks focused on pigs for this good luck custom.

If you’re planning to serve leftover turkey a side dish flavoured with pork, ham or sausage is fine.

A side dish of pork and beans, even if it’s canned, works just as well to get the New Year's luck mojo working.

The Pennsylvania Dutch have a similar pork recipe for success.

They don’t feature collared greens as the southerners do, but serve cabbage or sauerkraut with the pork to guarantee good luck and good fortune in the new year.

In Germany it’s believed that eating sauerkraut on New Year's Eve will bring blessings and wealth. 

Before the meal those seated wish each other as much goodness and money as the number of shreds of cabbage in the pot of sauerkraut.

It’s time to really shred that head of cabbage!

Fish symbolize abundance in the new year. Asians feast on whole fish to celebrate Lunar New year, while Europeans eat cod, herring, and carp. The silvery scales stand for coinage.

A few weeks ago I posted Ma’s recipe for East Coast Seafood Chowder.

It should bring some luck on New Year’s Eve, too.

Fruits and grains also have their place on New Year’s Eve:

People in Spain and Mexico eat 12 grapes at midnight for luck for in the new year. 

In Greece people throw pomegranates to the floor to release a flood of seeds that symbolize life and abundance.

A generous sprinkling of pomegranate seeds on a bowl of pudding should do the job, and is way less messy.

Extra long noodles are thought to bring long life if you eat them without breaking them in the middle, and rice is all about fertility and wealth.

And for dessert… ring shaped cakes and rounded sweet treats bring a full circle of luck to the eater.

Hope you made - or bought - some round cookies for Christmas and have a few left.

Hints:

Here’s an easy way to prepare A New Year Pork Roast

Preheat oven to 350º F 

Combine

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 Tablespoon dried sage

Rub the mixture over 

2 pound boneless pork loin roast

Place the meat in a baking pan or casserole. 

Surround the meat with 

4 Cups sauerkraut 

Cover and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour.

You want the internal temperature has reached 145º F 

Remove roast to a platter and surround with sauerkraut. 

Serve with cornbread and beans extra luck.

If you prefer shredded cabbage, sprinkle it with vinegar and dill.

About the timing for the pork roast:

Some roasts are on the squarish side, some are more like a long sausage. 

If your roast is on the long side, and you prefer it a bit pink, 40 to 45 minutes 

should be enough. 

Take it out after 40 minutes and check.

Back to the Seafood Chowder…

Next time you’re in your market take a peek at the bagged seafood mixtures.

One I often use has squid, shrimp, cuttlefish, octopus, mussels and clams.

Add some cubed cod - or if you really feel like celebrating, some lobster - and you’ll have the seven items needed for the Christmas Eve traditional dish.

You could also buy a box of bacon-wrapped scallops, heat and serve as an appetizer.

Seven fish - no problem.

About that bagged mix, the shrimp is on the tiny size.

Some larger shrimp tossed into the pot would add to the presentation.

                                   Cioppino

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator

about 1 1/4 pounds seafood: squid, shrimp, cuttlefish, octopus, mussels and clams

3/4 cup mussel meat (optional)

3/4 cup clam meat (optional)

4 ounces cod or lobster

8 large shrimp (optional)

1 pound box of mussels in wine

Finely chop

2 medium onions

Place in a large pot

1/4 cup olive oil

Heat over a medium low flame.

Add

the chopped onion

1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft.

Add

28 ounces canned diced tomatoes, undrained    
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Mix well. 

Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Stir in

the thawed seafood and mussels

Bring to a boil. 

Lower heat, cover and simmer 7 minutes or until mussels open. 

Remove the mussels that don’t open.

Ladle soup into bowls.

Sprinkle over each serving

chopped parsley (optional)

Serve with warm, crusty bread to sop up the broth.

Happy New Year!!

Anna Sultana’s East Coast Seafood Chowder

Back in December, 2010, I posted the recipe for Ma’s Fritto Misto di Pesce. Don’t bother with google translate - it’s a recipe for a mixed fix fry.

I posted it because I had written about Italian and Maltese Christmas customs.

One of these customs involves eating seven fishes on Christmas Eve.

Back in Malta and Sicily Christmas Eve, also known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes, was a night of seafood splendour.

Most of these holiday customs began when families were larger than they are today, and it wasn’t unusual to have about thirty people around the table.

So, you - and six of the other women - could each prepare one dish, each guest could scoop out one piece from each dish, and, wall-ah!, tradition was respected.

As the years went by and younger family members got busy with their own nuclear families, our parents’ generation made a few adjustments in their holiday menus.

They wanted to keep up the traditions, but there was a limit to how much they could eat, and could fit in their refrigerators.

The fried fish is a bit heavy on a senior’s stomach, so they turned to making chowders.

The leftover soup made a nice light supper for two on Christmas Day.

Ah, tradition…

Hints:

For a smokier flavour, replace the butter with 3 slices bacon, chopped, and brown before adding the vegetables.

Add 1/2 Cup chopped carrots, red bell pepper or corn kernels with onions for extra flavour, colour and nutrition.

Want it a bit spicier? Add a pinch of fish seasoning spice blend.

Want some heat? Add 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes with the seasonings.

This recipe can also be used as a base for a turkey or chicken chowder. Just replace dill with thyme and stir in 2 Cups diced cooked turkey or chicken instead of the seafood.

Curious about other traditional Christmas recipes? 

Here's a post with links for Christmas / Holiday Favourites.

Happy Holidays!!

                                   East Coast Seafood Chowder

Place in a large pot

1 Tablespoon butter

Melt butter over low heat.

Add

1/2 Cup celery, diced

3/4 Cup onions, diced

Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onions start to brown.

Deglaze the pan with

1/3 Cup white wine 

Scrape until liquid is reduced by half.

Stir in to form a thin paste

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Stir in 

3/4 Cup heavy cream

2 Cups milk

Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Add

1 teaspoon dried dill or dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper  

3/4 Cup yellow fleshed potatoes, diced

Cook until the potatoes are almost tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, place in another large pot 

2 Tablespoons butter

Melt butter over medium heat.

Add

3 ounces salmon, cut into chunks 

3 ounces halibut, cut into chunks

Cook until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.

Add

3 ounces lobster

3 ounces scallops

12 shrimp

12 scrubbed mussels

12 scrubbed clams

Once the clams and mussels have opened (discard any that did not open), transfer the seafood into the chowder base.

Simmer 3 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and place dill and a dab of butter on each serving (optional).

Serve with crusty rolls or bread.

Anna Sultana’s Fish Chowder, Lent, and the Winter Circle

Wednesday was quite a busy day.

It was both Valentine’s Day and the first day of Lent.

As Valentine’s Day celebrates love, I think that even the Pope would understand the importance of celebrating properly with your nearest and dearest.

Let’s not forget that St. Paul is known to have said that the greatest virtue is love.

Surely he would've said that it would be a sin to ignore SAINT Valentine’s Day.

And then there was Chinese New Year on Friday.

As your behaviour on New Year’s Day sets the tone for the whole year it was important to set the right tone for the next 12 months.

Joy is better than gloom, especially when you’re going to affect how a whole year is going to be.

So, of course, it was your duty to celebrate that day.

But now we’re looking at Lent.

Oh, well, that can include delicious food, too.

This post has recipes for Traditional Maltese food for Lent and Easter.

Lent is about penance, not self abuse.

Hints:

As soup is always best the second day, why not double the recipe?

You can have a second meal set for another day.

This soup works best with fish that has a bit of heft, such as cod, salmon or haddock.

If you’re using a fish that has bones and you're worried about the bones, you can remove the fish after it’s been cooked and pass through a sieve or whirr in a blender.

The bones in canned fish are safe to eat and don't have to be removed.

Perfect for when you're in a rush.

And who isn't?

To vary the flavour, you can chop 2 or 3 slices of bacon, and fry them instead of melting the butter.

Or you can fry the bacon pieces in the butter.

If you want the soup to have a even more richness, you can use 2 Cups cream instead of milk, or 1 Cup each of the milk and cream.

If you’d like a few other fish soup recipes, you could try

Anna Sultana's Aljotta - Fish Soup, Maltese Style

Anna Sultana's Aljotta - Fish Soup #2, Maltese Style

                        Fish Chowder 

Serves 6

Finely chop

1 onion

3 potatoes 

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

In a dutch oven melt

2 Tablespoons butter

Add

the finely chopped vegetables

Cook over a low heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

Add

2 Cups water

Cover and simmer until the vegetables are almost done, about 15 minutes.

Clean and cut into pieces

1 pound fish

Stir in

2 Cups milk

the prepared fish

1 Cup corn

Simmer until the fish is done. 

This could take 5 to 10 minutes, depending upon the texture of the fish.

The fish should flake and be opaque.

Add, according to your taste, about

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Serve hot with crackers or toast.

Bruschetta would also go nicely with this soup.

It toasts just as well if you use the broiler.

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

February 22  - The waxing gibbous Moon will be in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The “eye” of the Bull, the star Aldebaran, will be to the right of the Moon. Orion will be right below them.

February 23 - First Quarter Moon, 3:09 a.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon in the sky. One-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing, on its way to full.

February 24 - Look for the large waxing gibbous Moon inside the “Winter Circle,” a very large asterism that we sometimes call the Winter Hexagon.  

February 26 - the waxing gibbous moon will be located in front of Gemini, the Twins, Pollux and Castor.

February 27 - the Moon is at perigee, 9:47 a.m., its closest point to Earth in its orbit.

There’s no full Moon listed in this month’s post - normally, you’d see February’s full Snow Moon. To make up for it, we’ll have another double-Moon month in March!