Filet of Sole in Lemon Butter: Sole Meunière

"Meunière" means "miller's wife" in French; thus, in culinary terminology, "to cook something in the style of the miller's wife;" that is, "to prepare food in a rustic way," which developed the more specific meaning of "to coat with flour and cook in butter and lemon juice." 

"Filet" is also spelled "fillet," with "fillet" being more common in modern English, although "filet" is still used at times.* This simple dish was certainly given a boost in the United States by Julia Child, who long had a television cooking show, which started well before the Food Network and a multitude of cooking shows became a regular part of television programming. This was the first dish she ate upon arriving in France in 1948, a time before she was even interested in becoming a cook.

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

4 sole fillets

1 teaspoon ground pepper (white or black pepper)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)

1/3 to 1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 to 3 tablespoons capers

1/4 cup chopped parsley

lemon slices or wedges for garnish 

Melt half of the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Put 1/3 cup flour on a plate or on some wax paper. Put each of the sole fillets into flour and press down a bit, then lightly rub the flour into the fish. Add some salt and pepper to both sides of the fillets and add the fillets to the skillet (you will likely only be able to do two fillets at a time). Saute the sole for about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove cooked fillets to a plate or platter. Add the remaining butter to the skillet over low heat, along with the lemon juice and the capers, stir and heat until the butter is totally melted and the sauce is well heated, then quickly add the chopped parsley and stir very briefly. Remove from the heat. Carefully put each sole fillet on its serving plate and put a couple of spoons full of the lemon butter and capers over the tops of the fillets (spread out the capers and parsley on the fillets). Garnish each plate with lemon slices or lemon wedges.

 

* For the history of "filet/fillet," here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/06/salmon-with-parsley-dill-pecorino-romano.html

Sole Meunière with sauteed mushrooms ...

WORD HISTORY:

Concoct (Concoction)-The main part of the prefixed word "concoct" is closely related to "cook" and to "kitchen," both Latin words borrowed into Germanic, and thus, English, and to "cuisine," another Latin-based word borrowed by English from French. The "con" part goes back to Indo European "kom," which meant, "beside, near, together," and this gave Latin both "con" and "com," with the idea of "together, with." The main part goes back to Indo European "pekwo," which seems to have meant "to ripen;" the notion being to prepare inedible raw food until it is 'ripe;' that is, ready to eat. This gave Old Italic "kekewo," and this gave Latin "coquere," meaning "to cook." The two parts gave Latin the verb "concoquere," meaning "to cook or boil together;" thus, "to prepare (usually of food, but also of thought; thus, ponder, to give extensive consideration to)," and further, "to digest" (food prepared for use by the body). The participle form of the verb was "concoctus," meaning "something made or prepared by combining ingredients or ideas," also, "digested." English borrowed the word from Latin in the 1500s, but the "digest" meaning has long since died out. The noun form "concoction" is from the Latin noun form "concoctio," which meant "things mixed together," but also, "digestion," and this Latin noun has the same history as the verb. As with the verb form, the noun was borrowed by English in the 1500s, but the "digestion" meaning didn't last long in English. Both the verb and the noun can be used in less than flattering ways in English (Examples: "Randy was late for the meeting, but he concocted some excuse for being late."  "The Bradleys served some concoction for dinner and I've been sick all day from it.")  

Mexican Warmed Chocolate Drink: Champurrado

This is a warm chocolate drink thickened with corn flour, which is finely ground just like all purpose flour. It is not the cornmeal used to make American cornbread or Italian polenta. You want to limit the amount of corn flour, or you'll end up with chocolate pudding, which isn't a bad dessert, but this is supposed to be a beverage. If the mixture gets too thick, thin it out with some warm milk. In more recent times, Mexican chocolate is pretty easily found in supermarkets (it may be in the Latino section) and it certainly is available in Latino shops and stores. I'm sure there are several brands, but in the U.S. I've commonly seen "Ibarra" and "Abuelita" (owned by Nestlé). The solid chocolate form comes in a hexagonal box, and the chocolate comes in discs or tablets of about 3 inches in diameter, divided into quarter sections. Piloncillo is whole cane sugar, brown in color, that comes in blocks, rounds or cones. It too is available in some supermarkets, but it is easily found in Latino shops. You can substitute brown sugar (I use dark brown sugar). 

 

Ingredients (2 servings):  

2 cups milk (I use canned evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk)

1 whole round of Mexican chocolate 

1 cinnamon stick of about 2 inches

2 tablespoons piloncillo or dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons corn flour

2/3 cup warm water

2 teaspoons grated dark chocolate 

In a heavy-bottomed pan add the milk, the Mexican chocolate, brown sugar/piloncillo and cinnamon stick over medium heat. Keep stirring to prevent any sticking, and you can certainly lower the heat too, if you'd like.When the chocolate and sugar are dissolved and mixed in, remove the cinnamon stick and take the chocolate mixture off of the heat. Whisk together the corn flour and warm water until smooth. Return the chocolate to medium heat, then whisking constantly, add the corn flour/water mixture to the chocolate, then add the vanilla extract and the pinch of cayenne pepper, whisking to mix well. When the mixture begins to lightly boil, reduce the heat to low. Continue whisking and cook over low heat until the chocolate thickens. Top each serving with a teaspoon of grated dark chocolate. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cranium-This word is related to "corn" (not the noun meaning "grain," but rather the noun meaning "thickened, hardened patch of skin"), a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French, to "corner," also Latin-derived and borrowed from French, and it is related to "hart" (male deer), "horn" and "hornet," all words from the Germanic roots of English. "Cranium" goes back to Indo European "ker," which meant "horn, head;" thus also, "top." This gave transliterated Greek "kara," meaning "head," also secondarily, "top." This gave Greek "kranion," which reversed the "a" and "r," and meant "upper section of the head, the skull, top of the head." This was borrowed by Latin as "cranium" meaning "skull." English borrowed the word in the early part of the 1400s as "craneum/cranium."   

Swiss Potato and Cheese Soufflé: Kartoffel und Käse Auflauf

German "Auflauf" means "casserole," in general, but it can also mean the more specific "soufflé," a type of casserole; and indeed, the dish uses egg whites to be "puffed up." It is often accompanied by watercress or garden cress. There are variations to the general recipe in Germany and Austria, where the potatoes aren't usually mashed, but rather sliced or diced, and other ingredients are often layered in as another type of casserole.

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped, then cooked in salted water
4 tablespoons flour
4 egg yolks
1 cup Gruyère, shredded
1 cup Pecorino Romano, grated or shredded (the Swiss often use "Sbrinz"*)
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
4 egg whites, whipped to peaks
2 tablespoons butter
oil or butter for the casserole/baking dish

Simmer the potatoes until tender. Drain the potatoes and mash with a potato masher or use a hand mixer. In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, flour, cheeses, nutmeg, salt, milk. When mixed, add the potatoes to the mixture and mix everything together, then fold in the egg whites. Butter or oil a casserole or baking dish, then add the potato mixture and smooth it out. Flake the 2 tablespoons of butter and top the casserole with the butter flakes. Bake at 325 F for 70 to 90 minutes, until set in the middle.

* "Sbrinz" is a hard cheese produced in central Switzerland from cow's milk. It is frequently used in place of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano by the Swiss, either of which can usually be more easily found in stores outside of Switzerland than Sbrinz. I use Pecorino. 

 

Swiss Potato and Cheese Soufflé with watercress ...

WORD HISTORY:

Wipe-This word is closely related to "whip," a word derived from the same Germanic source as "wipe," but seemingly borrowed by English from Dutch and Low German, and it is more distantly related to "waive" (to forgo legal claim or right to something), a word borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic, and to "vibrate," a Latin word borrowed by English from that language. "Wipe" goes back to Indo European "weip/weyp," which had the notion "to turn, to wind (long 'i'), to rotate, to shake." This gave Old Germanic "wipjan(an)," meaning "to move back and forth quickly," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wipian" meaning "to clean by rubbing with a back and forth or rotating motion." This then became "wipen," before the modern form. "Wipe" and "whip" are so closely related, it can be difficult to separate some other Germanic forms, but here are some relatives in some other Germanic languages: German has "wippen" (to move up and down; thus also, "bob, seesaw"), which was borrowed from Low German in the 1500s, but earlier, German had "wifan,"^ then "wifen," which meant "to move back and forth," but then also, "to rotate, to swing," Low German has "wippen," meaning "to move up and down," Dutch has "wippen" with the same meanings as German, except it also means "whip." 

^ A common difference between Low German, English, Frisian and Dutch versus German has been the change of "p" in those first languages to an "f" or "pf" in German; thus, English has "pipe," but German has "Pfeife," which shows both changes in one word. 

Persian Rice Pilaf & Chicken: Zereshk Polo Morgh

 

I've seen various recipes for this dish and they are all similar. Persian cooks often take their time and complete several steps in the preparation. Some people make more of the fruit and nut mixture and then  mix it throughout all of the rice, while others do as I've done here, and they put a small amount of the fruit and nuts mixed with some cooked rice on top of each serving or platter of cooked rice. The rice should not come out all sticky or clumped together, but rather more as individual grains. 

 

This is much more of a dinner than just a dish, so there's a lot going on here and I know it might look intimidating, but it really isn't difficult. Persians generally use barberries in this. Barberries are used in various parts of the world, and they are a tart berry from a type of evergreen bush. They are not terribly common in the United States, but they can be easily found online, if you want authenticity, or if you just want to try something new. I substituted dried sour cherries, but you can also use dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened) in addition to, or instead of, dried cherries and raisins. Persians often use skinless chicken, but you can use skin-on chicken (note: if I use skinless chicken in a particular recipe, I sometimes add the removed skin to cook alongside the skinless chicken to add flavor; I leave it in large enough pieces that it can be fished out, but if you are using skinless chicken for health concerns, that's a totally different matter). The red pepper isn't much, so it won't leave your mouth smoking. I use pistachios, but almonds (skins removed) can also be used as a substitute, or almonds can be used along with the pistachios. Saffron is an expensive spice from crocus flowers. If you don't have saffron and you don't care to buy it, you can substitute turmeric, in addition to the amount I already have in the recipe. The cardamom pods should be crushed or slit to allow the flavor of the seeds inside to easily be released.    

 

Ingredients:

 

4 whole chicken legs (that is the drumstick and thigh together)

2 cups basmati rice

6 cups water seasoned with 1 tablespoon salt to cook the rice initially

1/2 cup water to finish cooking the rice

1 teaspoon saffron in 1/4 cup hot water (divided use after soaking)

2 tablespoons olive oil + 2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped white or yellow onion

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

2 whole slightly crushed and opened cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 good pinch ground red pepper (Indian, cayenne or other)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons butter

1 heaping teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup shelled and lightly roasted pistachios

 

Soak the basmati rice in some cold water from the faucet while you do other things for the recipe. Grind the saffron into a powder. A mortar and pestle is good for this, but you can use a spice grinder. Put the saffron into a small cup and add 1/4 cup hot water, stir and let it sit while the rice finishes soaking. In a large skillet, add the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, pinch of ground red pepper, ground cinnamon, cardamom pods, ground turmeric and tomato paste; stir the spices and tomato paste to mix everything together well. Now snuggle the chicken pieces in among the onion/spice mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes, then keep turning the chicken pieces to coat them with the mixture. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, then add 1 cup chicken stock, stir, cover the skillet with a lid or foil, turn the heat to low and let cook until the chicken is done and tender, removing the cover/lid on occasion to stir and to turn the chicken pieces. Add 1/2 the saffron water, stir and let cook just like 3 minutes. In a pan, add 6 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt, bring to a full boil. While the water is coming to a boil, drain the soaking rice, and once the water is fully boiling, add the rice to the water. Cook for 6 minutes ONLY (taste a piece of rice, the rice should still have some firmness to it, the rice does NOT have to absorb all of the water at this stage the way we normally cook rice, so much of the water will be drained off). Pour the water and rice into a colander and once the hot water runs off, place the rice and colander under the faucet and let cold water run on it for a few minutes (this stops the cooking process for the rice). In the pan you just used, add the rice back in and 1/2 cup water over very low heat, cover. Let the rice finish cooking and absorbing all of the water (this time as we more typically cook rice). Remove from the heat, but put the lid back on, let the heaping rice sit covered for 15 minutes. While that is ongoing, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over low heat, add the dried cherries (barberries or dried cranberries), golden raisins, pistachios (I lightly dry roasted the pistachios briefly, but that's certainly optional), 1 heaping teaspoon sugar and the rest of the saffron water. Stir and toss the fruits and nuts in the sweetened mixture. Now add 5 tablespoons of the cooked rice to the fruit and nut mixture and stir and toss to mix everything together very well (the rice will take on the color of the sweetened mixture). Serve by placing some of the cooked white rice on each plate, then topping each with some of the fruit/nut/seasoned rice mixture. Place a whole chicken leg next to the rice dish and add a little of the chicken sauce over the chicken pieces.  

 

           

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cadence-This word is related to "chance" and to "case" (the noun form meaning, "the state or condition of something, something that happens;" as in, "in this case," "a court case," also the grammatical sense, "nominative case, accusative case, etc"), both words of Latin origin borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is related to "cadaver," a word borrowed by English from Latin. "Cadence" goes back to Indo European "khad/kad," which had the meaning, "to fall." This gave Latin "cadere," which meant, "to fall." A participle form of this verb, cadens, produced Latin "cadentia," meaning, "something that falls out, the falling out of dice (the action of such)." This passed into Italian as "cadenza," meaning "falling," but also, "the ending of a piece of music" (from the idea of "rising and falling of the rhythm and sound to end a song). This was taken by French (the basic form came from Latin, but with the extended meaning taken from Italian), and English borrowed the word in the late 1300s "seemingly" from French, but almost certainly with Italian (and perhaps Latin?) influence. It is possible that the borrowing was from Italian, but the spelling was then influenced by French. "Cadence" has since expanded the meaning to the rising and falling of one's voice in speech. 

Mexican Spiced Coffee: Café de Olla

"Piloncillo" is unrefined whole cane sugar that ranges from light brown to darker brown, but which is not colored by molasses. It is common in Mexico, but it is also known as "panela" in a number of other countries in Central and South America. It can be easily found under one of those names in Latino grocery stores or in supermarkets, especially where there are fairly large numbers of residents of Latino heritage. It is generally not very expensive. Understand, you don't have to have piloncillo or panela to make Mexican coffee, as brown sugar is a great substitute (note: brown sugar typically is regular sugar that has an added amount of molasses, which then of course gives it the brown color).

 

Ingredients (4 to 5):

 

6 1/4 cups water

6 tablespoons ground dark coffee

2 cinnamon sticks (about 2 1/2 to 3 inches each)

2 cloves

1 star anise

1/3 to 1/2 cup dark brown sugar or piloncillo 

(optional) frothed milk 

Bring the water to a boil in a pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and brown sugar or piloncillo. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add the coffee, stir, cover and cook for 4 to 6 minutes. Strain the coffee through a fine strainer. Top with some frothed milk, if desired.   

 

 With some frothed milk ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Burro-This word is distantly related to "pyre," a word of Greek derivation borrowed by Latin and borrowed by English from Latin, but with a likely reinforcement or even initial basis from Greek; it is also distantly related to "fire," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Burro" goes back to Indo European "paewr/pehwr," with the meaning "fire." This gave transliterated Greek "pyr," with the same meaning, which spawned Greek "pyrros/pyrrhos," which meant "flame-colored;" thus, "reddish or reddish-yellow in color;" thus also, "reddish-brown." This was borrowed by Latin as "burrus," meaning "reddish-brown," which gave Latin the noun "burricus," which meant "small horse," which was "borrico" in Latin-based Spanish, meaning "a donkey." English borrowed the word as "burro" in the late 1700s by way of American English of what are now the southwestern states.    

What's In A Name: Eugene, Jasmine

Eugene-This male name is from transliterated Greek "Eugenios," pretty much literally "good stock," but often translated as "well born."  This was taken by Latin as "Eugenius," and passed into French as "Eugène." behindthename.com says the name was not very common in western Europe until the time of Prinz Eugene of Savoy, who became well known in the latter part of the 1600s and the earlier 1700s. He was a military commander for the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) and for the Habsburg monarchy, although he had been born in Paris when Louis XIV was King of France. He was of French and Italian descent. He is a pretty famous person in German/Austrian history. "Apparently" the name made its way into English via Latin, French, and perhaps, German (?). The name in German is Eugen and is Eugenio in Italian. The female form in English is Eugenia and in French it is Eugénie, a name that became well known in the mid 1800s as it was the name of Napoleon III's wife (he was Napoleon's nephew and Emperor of France).  

 

Jasmine-This name is from the plant/flower (from the "olive" family), which has long been used to make perfume. It goes back to transliterated Persian* "yas(a)min," the name for the plant/flower, but where the word comes from is unknown. Arabic borrowed the word from Persian as transliterated "yasamin," and Old French borrowed the word originally as "jessemin," which then became "jasmin," and English borrowed the word in the 1570s. In spite of this information, exactly where English got the female given name usage is unclear, although the name has become rather popular in English and quite a number of other languages, including forms in Persian, Arabic, French. Certainly the use of plants and flowers for given names is quite common (think "Rose," Holly," "Lily" and "Daisy," and there are more). The name is sometimes spelled with a "Y" in place of the "J" in some languages (for instance, sometimes in Spanish as "Yasmin") and the name sometimes is spelled without the ending "e" in English.

I consulted the following for preparation of this article: 1) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940  2) "A World of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003 3) behindthename.com

* Persian is an Indo European language making it a relative of English, although further down the family tree. 

WORD HISTORY:

Cosmos-I'm going to say the ultimate origin of "cosmos" is unknown, although there have been some Indo European forms proposed, but there is no general consensus about any one form. "Cosmos" and "cosmetic" are close relatives. What is known about "cosmos" is that it goes back to transliterated Ancient Greek "kósmos," which meant, "order, arrangement;" thus also, "the universe" (seen as an arrangement or order); thus also, "decoration" (something added to give order to someone or something with the intent of improving its appearance). The famous Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras used "kósmos" as his word for the heavenly bodies and the universe. German scientist and thinker Alexander von Humboldt (he was from Berlin) used the Greek word used by Pythagoras and applied it to (then) modern times for his work "Kosmos," a multi-volume work published in the mid 1800s. English seems to have simply anglicized the word as "cosmos." English had taken the word in the 1100s (from Greek texts?), but it was very rarely used, "seemingly" even among academics. Humboldt's work appears to have been the catalyst for a re-borrowing, or a revival, of the word.