Taiwanese Squid: 3 Cup Squid

This is a stir-fry that really is more about the seasonings used in preparation and that are used more commonly for chicken, although squid is popular too. The "3 Cup" name is not to be taken literally as "a cup as a measurement," because it simply refers to the 3 liquid parts: sesame oil, rice wine, soy sauce."

You can buy squid cut into rings, or you can buy the cleaned "tubes" and cut them into rings or pieces yourself, and yes, you can buy some tentacles too, although I didn't buy any tentacles when I made the dish for the pictures in this article, even though I have used them in the past, and I used "tentacle" for the "Word History," see below.

 

If you choose to use "kecap (aka, ketjap) manis," it is a thick Indonesian soy sauce that is syrupy and sweet compared to the more commonly found soy sauces. Some supermarkets have it, but many Asian markets have it. My experience has been that it comes in taller bottles than what I'll call "regular" soy sauces. (Note: If you don't want to use kecap manis, you can mix regular soy sauce with sugar, which is what I did, even though I keep kecap manis on hand; see in the recipe). Shaoxing wine is a type of fermented rice wine made with yeast, and it is in some supermarkets and Asian grocery stores, but you can use other rice wine, like sake or mirin, but NOT rice vinegar. (Note: Mirin can be pretty sweet, so if you use mirin, skip using kecap manis, and use 2 1/2 tablespoons regular soy sauce with just 1 teaspoon, not tablespoon, of sugar mixed with it.) 

Serve with rice ...

 

Ingredients:  

12 to 16 ounces cut up squid

2 inch piece ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic,chopped

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar (or just use kecap manis and no sugar for this)

2 tablespoons rice wine (shaoxing, sake or mirin, but see note above about using mirin)

1 red or green chili, chopped (seeded if you prefer less heat)

1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with same amount of water

1/4 cup basil leaves (preferably Thai)

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil for frying

 

Have your ingredients ready to go before you start, as this dish doesn't take long to cook. Heat the vegetable or peanut oil in a skillet (or wok) over medium high heat, add the ginger and garlic, saute for 30 seconds, add the sesame oil and then, about 30 seconds later, the squid. Keep stirring the ingredients as they cook. After 1 minute, add the soy sauce, rice wine and the chopped chili, stirring continuously for another 1 minute. Add the cornstarch and water mixture, stir well, then add the basil and stir everything thoroughly for about 30 seconds, remove from heat and serve.

 

WORD HISTORY:

Tentacle-This word is related to "tender" (the verb form meaning "to hold out something to someone;" thus also, "to offer, to present to someone"), to "tend" (verb with the original meaning "to tilt toward a particular direction;" thus figuratively, "to have a preference toward something;" as in, "In winter, I tend to eat a lot of soup"), both Latin-derived words borrowed by English via French, and to the other verb "tend" (actually a shortened form of "attend," and meaning, "to give care or attention to someone or something"), another Latin-derived word, borrowed from French, but with Latin reinforcement, and to "tendon" (sinew, or connective band of tissue) a word borrowed from Latin (likely with some French reinforcement), which had it from Greek. "Tentacle" goes back to Indo European "ten," which had the notion "to stretch, to extend out, to draw out." This gave Latin "tendare," meaning, "to stretch out, to extend;" thus also, "to strive," "to go in a particular direction." This later gave Latin the noun "tentaculum," meaning "feeler, tentacle, hair-like fibers on some plants (carnivorous) that detect insects for consumption." English formed "tentacle" from the Latin word in the mid 1700s meaning, "long, highly flexible limb of some creatures, especially applied to squid and octopus."    

Turkish Stuffed Tomatoes

While you can certainly fix these tomatoes any time of year, naturally when you have access to good ripe tomatoes, it can make this dish especially tasty. I've made this a few times, but when I made it for the photos I took for this article (winter), there were not terribly good choices for the size of ripe tomatoes I really wanted, so I decided to go with somewhat larger tomatoes, but I only used three tomatoes, instead of four. I like the heat of chili peppers, but I used 2 chili peppers and it didn't really make the filling too hot. 

Similar recipes are used in parts of the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 large (baseball size) whole fresh tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 or 2 small chili peppers (according to heat preference), finely chopped

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley 

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

extra virgin olive oil for serving

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes, but keep the tops, scoop out the seeds and tough interior stem. Put the tomatoes into a baking dish, set aside. Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for 2 minutes, then add the ground lamb, and continue sauteing for about 5 minutes, breaking up any clumps of ground lamb as it cooks. Add the finely chopped chili pepper, pine nuts, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, black pepper and salt; then saute another 5 minutes, or until the lamb is cooked through, stirring the ingredients around periodically. Heat the oven to 350 F, and while the oven heats up, spoon the lamb mixture into the tomatoes and pack it down "somewhat lightly" (you don't want to pack it tightly) and replace the tops. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender (use a fork to pierce a tomato near the top, middle and bottom to see if it's done). The baking cooks the tomatoes and simply reheats the stuffing thoroughly. Serve with some extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek, but whatever you have) to drizzle over the tomatoes. 

 

The uncooked stuffed tomatoes ...

WORD HISTORY:

Shield-This word is related to "scale" (device for weighing), a word from Germanic, but in this case borrowed from Old Norse (a North Germanic language), and to "scale" (skin covering on fish and some animals), another word from Germanic, but this meaning was borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish, and to "shell" (covering for eggs and for certain sea or other creatures) a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Shield" goes back to Indo European "skel," which had the notion "to cut, to split, to chip." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skelduz," meaning "board, flat piece of wood cut from a larger piece to provide protection." This gave Old English "scield/scild," with the same meaning, and used figuratively simply to mean "protection." This then became "scheld/shild," before the modern form. The verb form goes back to "scildan," meaning "to protect with a shield, to protect," which spawned "gescildan," meaning "to use a shield for protection," but also, "to protect, to defend," and these joined to become "schelden/schilden," before the modern form. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German have "Schild," Dutch has "schild," West Frisian has "skyld," Danish and Norwegian have "skjold," Icelandic has "skjöldur" and Swedish has "sköld," and all of the words mean "shield providing protection in battle," but with figurative meanings, like their English relative. Standard German uses "der Schild" for "shield," although some dialects use "das Schild," and standard German uses "das Schild" for "sign," as many signs have long been in the shape of shields.    

Rob Roy Cocktail

This cocktail is named after Rob Roy MacGregor, seen by many Scots as a hero and a Robin Hood type, who was born in the 1600s when Scotland was an independent kingdom. In 1707, Scotland joined the United Kingdom, which continues to this day, although Scotland has its own government that has a good deal of control over many matters within Scotland. 

 

I'm not much for stirred or shaken cocktails, I prefer cocktails served over ice ("on the rocks," to those learning English), and I make Rob Roys for myself on the rocks, but for this I stirred it and strained it into a small wine glass. Now, using such a glass for this cocktail will likely get me banned from high society ... (Ahh, you've never been in high society, Randy). Don't let such silly "rules" dominate your life. Use what you have and don't let such absolute nonsense bother you. A martini glass/cocktail glass is considered "proper."

Ingredients:

2 parts scotch whiskey

1 part sweet vermouth

1 to 3 dashes angostura bitters

twist of orange peel (or lemon), in the glass or attached to the glass

In a mixing glass or even just another glass or a bowl, add the scotch, sweet vermouth and bitters, along with some ice. Stir for like 30 seconds, strain into whatever glass you use for serving. Rub the rim of the glass with the twist of orange peel or lemon peel, then add it to the cocktail. 

I know it isn't easy to see, but the orange peel IS IN THERE ...

WORD HISTORY:

Cadet (Caddie/Caddy)-"Cadet" is related to a good number of words, including, distantly, to "head," a word from the Germanic roots of English, to "cap," a long ago borrowing by Old Germanic from Latin, with Germanic passing it to its offspring, to the noun "cape," the garment, a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French, which had borrowed it from Occitan (a Latin-based language of the western Mediterranean region, which includes parts of modern Spain, France, Monaco and Italy), and also "cape," "a piece of land that juts into a body of water," another Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French, which had it directly from Latin, or "perhaps" via Occitan, and to "chapter," another Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French. "Cadet" goes back to Indo European "kauput," which meant "head." This gave its Italic/Latin offspring "caput," with the same meaning. This gave Latin the noun "capitulum," which literally meant "small head;" thus, "in the shape or form of a head," also, "the main divisions of texts." This later gave Latin the noun "capitellum," "a person of less status or position" (initially not particularly used in military terminology, rather mainly used within families for male children), also "a leader, chief" (of lesser status?). This gave Gascon, an Occitan language/dialect of southwestern France, "capdet," meaning, "a younger male of a noble family," and "young nobles serving at court with the purpose of learning to become military officers" (the oldest son being in line to succeed the father as head of the family). French took this as "cadet," with the meaning "young male noble," and also "seemingly" then expanded to "a younger male family member," apparently in a general sense, not necessarily from a noble family. Later in French, the meaning "student military officer, an officer in training," was added. English borrowed the word as "cadet" in the first part of the 1600s initially with the meaning "younger male family member (that is, "younger son," for a father, and "younger brother," from the perspective of the oldest son), and this was followed within a couple of decades by the meaning, "young gentlemen training to be military officers for a career." In Scotland, just before the mid 1600s, the term "cadet" was rendered as "caddie" in Scots English (in those times seen as a dialect, in modern times seen as a separate language) meaning "a student learning soldiering," but by the 1730s the term "caddie" was being used for "a person who performs errands for another, one who does odd jobs," and it seems by the mid 1800s (perhaps earlier?) the person who acted as a helper for a golfer (golf was invented in Scotland) was called a "caddie."  The spelling "caddy" seems to have developed in the very late 1800s. The additional meaning for "caddy/caddie" is "a device with wheels used to transport objects by pulling the device, rather than carrying the objects by hand."

Spaghetti with Scungilli Sauce

I must admit, scungilli is pretty expensive. "Conchiglia" (plural: "conchiglie") in standard Italian means "conch," and the word "scungilli" developed from Neapolitan (Naples) dialect "scuncigli" (singular: "scunciglio"), a term for the edible meat from a conch. A conch is a type of sea snail in a hard, often colorful and interestingly shaped shell. Its texture is similar to clams, in my opinion. Scungilli is sold in cans of about 30 ounces, with the sliced scungilli in a briny type of broth that is used in the preparation of this dish. One can costs about $30, and it can be found in "some" supermarket specialty sections, Italian grocery stores and online.

This dish is spicy, but naturally you can regulate the spiciness. Please don't be afraid of anchovies, as they will melt and then easily combine into the sauce, but they will NOT provide the strong taste like the first (and perhaps, last) bite of anchovy pizza you had in your life.    

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 can sliced scungilli in broth (about 30 ounce can), drained and broth retained separately

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 anchovies, chopped

2 small fresh red chili peppers, chopped, or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato

2 1/2 cups tomato puree 

1 cup scungilli broth (you probably won't need all of it)

1 teaspoon dried marjoram (or oregano)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper 

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound spaghetti

chopped parsley for garnish 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (or pan) over medium heat. Saute the garlic, chopped anchovies, chopped chili pepper (or chili flakes) and chopped fresh tomato. The anchovies will begin to dissolve, so keep stirring everything around. Saute these ingredients for about three minutes, then add the tomato puree, 1/2 cup of the scungilli broth, teaspoon of marjoram (or oregano), ground black pepper and salt. Bring the sauce to a steady, gentle simmer and adjust the temperature setting to maintain this simmer (I use "low"), cover with a lid or foil and gently simmer the sauce for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring the sauce every few minutes. Add and stir in the sliced scungilli, cover again and cook for 6 minutes, adding a little more of the scungilli broth, if the sauce is too thick, after 3 minutes. Remove the lid/foil and cook 2 or 3 minutes more. Garnish with chopped parsley. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions of the brand you buy. I often, but not always, use fresh spaghetti, so it only takes a couple of minutes to cook. 

 

  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Travel/Travail-"Travel" and "travail" are compounds and they are really the same word. "Travel" is by far the more common word in English; but in fact, "travail" actually entered English first. Relatives of the first part of the words are "three," "third" and "thirty,'' all words from the Germanic roots of English, and to "trivial," a Latin word borrowed from that language. The second part is related to "page" (the noun meaning 'sheet of paper'), "pact" and "pale" (the noun with the most common meaning "stake, a part of a fence"), all Latin words borrowed by English from French. "Travel/travail" goes back to Indo European "pag," which had the notion of "fasten, join." This gave Latin "tripalis," which meant "held or connected with three stakes." This gave Latin "trepalium" (initially as "tripalium"), "a device (seemingly) of three pales used for torture," which spawned the verb "tripaliare," meaning "to torture," used figuratively to mean, "to labor, to toil." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "travailler," which meant "to torture, to toil," and this spawned the noun "travail" meaning "labor, difficult work;" thus also, meaning, "hard journey." The noun was borrowed by English in the middle part of the 1200s meaning, "toil, labor;" thus also, "child birth." The verb was borrowed as "travailen" circa 1300 meaning "to toil, to labor," but by the mid 1300s the "hard or difficult journey" meaning had also been added, which by the late 1300s had simply come to mean "to journey," and the spelling had changed to "travelen," which dropped the 'en" ending as English began to conjugate verbs differently. The noun developed circa 1400 from the verb. "Travel" eventually overtook the native English word "faran" (also spelled "feran"), which came from the Germanic roots of English, although numerous forms of the native English word are still used; for example, "wayfare," "farewell," "farebox," "warfare," "fare" (price for travel, but other meanings too).  

Spanish Chorizo in Cider: Chorizo a la Sidra

This is a great and simple tapas dish. Tapas are snacks or appetizer type foods that comprise a whole segment of the Spanish food and beverage business. Spain is famous for its tapas bars; that is, bars that serve these snacks and appetizers to accompany your beverages.

Spanish hard cider (sidra) is a common drink in the Asturias region of northwest Spain, where apples are grown in an abundance of varieties.

 

Serve with crusty bread ...

Ingredients:

1 pound Spanish chorizo (preferably semi-cured)

1 1/2 cups Spanish hard cider

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, very thinly sliced

(optional) parsley for garnish

Cut the chorizo into about 1 inch pieces, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the chorizo pieces 5 to 6 minutes, turning the pieces often, then add the cider and the sliced garlic and bring it to a simmer and cook the chorizo until the cider begins to cook down, about 6 to 8 minutes (it may thicken up).

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cider-This word for "apple juice, both fermented and non fermented" (see further, below), goes back to transliterated Hebrew "sekar/sekhar," which meant "strong (that is, alcoholic) drink." Ancient Greek borrowed the word as transliterated "sikera," also meaning "strong drink." Latin borrowed this as "sicera," and Old French took this, seemingly initially as "cisdre," then as "cidre," which continued with the "strong drink" meaning, but also with the meaning "fermented apple or pear juice." English borrowed the word circa 1300, initially as "cidre," meaning "strong drink," but by the mid 1300s the "fermented fruit juice" meaning had also become more common, eventually becoming exclusive to "fermented apple juice." In England and Britain, carbonation was later often added, but in the U.S., the 1800s saw the "fermented apple juice" meaning also expanded to "non-fermented apple juice with some of the apple pulp." Also in the U.S., carbonated cider isn't as common as in the UK, and fermented apple cider is called "hard cider," with the non-fermented type simply called "apple cider." 

Pasta Dish From the Rome Area: Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Amatrice is a town in the Italian region of Lazio, the region of Rome, and the town is about 65 to 70 miles northeast of Rome. (Amatrice is pronounced like: ahm-ah-tree-chay) This rustic dish passed into the cuisine of Rome itself, where "seemingly" some Romans added onion and/or dry white wine to the original Amatrice ingredients (note: I don't use onion).

 

Guanciale (like gwahn-key-ahlay by some, like gwahn-chee-ahlay by others, I've heard both) is cured fatty pork jowl, unsmoked, it is not always easy to find, although if you live near an Italian grocery store or like ordering online, give it a try; otherwise, you can use pancetta (unsmoked, cured Italian pork belly/bacon), which is much easier to find. I don't recommend using regular bacon, because it is smoked, and that will give the dish a very different taste. This dish is not supposed to be smoky tasting at all. I like to often mix in some fresh tomatoes with canned tomatoes in a lot of dishes, so I've done that here, too. Bucatini is a spaghetti-type pasta with a hole in the middle. It is sort of like a drinking straw. If you can't find bucatini, you can certainly use spaghetti. The tough part to this recipe is initially cooking the bucatini in the water to a point that it is not quite done, because then it is added to the sauce to briefly cook some more. The best thing to do is to read the cooking instructions on the packaging of the bucatini you use to see the cooking time, but then to stop cooking the bucatini about two minutes before the recommended cooking time and then add the pasta to the recipe. By cooking the pasta in the sauce briefly, it has a chance to take on the flavors of the dish. 

Oh ... THIS IS SO GOOD!

Ingredients:

1 pound bucatini (or spaghetti)

2/3 cup chopped guanciale (or pancetta)

1 small red chili pepper, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes) 

1/4 cup dry white wine

6 or 8 grape tomatoes or 1 fresh roma tomato

1 can (14 to 15 ounces) of peeled whole tomatoes, crushed/squished by hand, with juice

1 small can (8 ounces) tomato sauce (I use the no added salt type)

2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano

good pinch only of salt

pasta water, if needed

Put 5 or 6 quarts of water with 1 heaping tablespoon of salt in a large pot; stir to mix in the salt. Begin gradually heating the water by putting the heat on medium. You don't want the water to boil too quickly, as you need to get the sauce started first. In a skillet over medium heat, add the chopped guanciale and immediately reduce the heat to low. Slowly render the fat from the guanciale, then add the chili pepper (or chili flakes) and the fresh tomato pieces, saute 2 minutes. (You can now turn the heat to high for the pot of water.) Back to the skillet, turn the heat to medium for the guanciale mixture, add the white wine and then the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce; stir to mix. Bring to a steady simmer, and adjust the heat to maintain that steady simmer for about 6 minutes. Stir in the grated pecorino romano and the pinch of salt. Meanwhile, when the pasta water boils, add the bucatini and cook until the bucatini is not quite tender; I'll say 6 to 7 minutes (this is the tricky part, as generally dried bucatini takes about 8 to 10 minutes to cook, and it will cook a bit longer in the sauce, so you don't want it completely cooked before you add it to the sauce. Check the cooking instructions on the bucatini packaging for cooking time and adjust your cooking time accordingly, if need be.) Remove the bucatini from the water (save some of the pasta cooking water) and add the bucatini to the sauce, mixing it into the sauce; if the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water a little at a time until the preferred consistency is reached. When the bucatini is tender, you've got it! You can serve with a little sprinkling of some more pecorino romano, if you'd like. And don't forget the wine!

 

Bucatini all'Amatriciana with a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo ...

WORD HISTORY:

Tenacity (tenacious)-"Tenacity" is related to quite a number of words, including to "tension," "tenant" and "tenure," Latin-derived words borrowed by English from French (with both "tenant" and "tenure" specifically from Anglo-French), to "tendon," a word of Greek origin borrowed by Latin and then borrowed by English from Latin. "Tenacity" goes back to Indo European "ten," which had the notion "to stretch, to extend out, to draw out." This gave Latin "tenere," meaning, "to grasp, to hold," which produced the adjective "tenax," meaning, relating to "holding fast or firmly, clinging persistently, steadfast," which gave Latin the noun "tenacitas," meaning "the act of holding fast, firmly, persistently, steadfastly." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "ténacité" and English borrowed the word in the early part of the 1400s, initially as "tenacite." The adjective "tenacious" was formed in English in the early 1600s from Latin "tenax" (see above), and with the "ious" suffix (meaning, "having the characteristics of, full of, with an abundance of") from French "ous" and "eux," both from Latin "osus," with the same basic meanings as listed for the English form. 

North German Sole Fillets: Seezungenfilets Büsumer Art

Büsum is a city of about 5000 on the North Sea coast of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. In more modern times, while standard German, Hochdeutsch, is the common language, the local language dating back to ancient times in this area is Low German.

 

Sole is a general name for certain related types of flatfish the world over, with some types especially common in the North Sea area of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the British Isles; and indeed, the type often caught in the shallow waters around Britain is  called "Dover sole," although Dover sole is also caught in parts of the Mediterranean and in the Bay of Biscay. The thing to remember is, all types of sole are flatfish, but not all flatfish are sole. When I was much younger, 'fillet (also 'filet') of sole' was a common dish of sole in a lemony butter and caper sauce. Fish and seafood are often pretty expensive, and such is the case with sole. If you can't find sole, you can use flounder, cod or snapper, and they are pretty good substitutes, but they ARE substitutes, not exactly like sole, although they are very similar in taste (mild), but not always in texture (sole is rather firm and flaky). In German the sole flatfish is called "Seezunge," literally "sea tongue," and yes, "See" and "Zunge" are close relatives of English "sea" and "tongue." As far as I know, North Sea brown shrimp are pretty much exclusive to Europe; at least in terms of easy availability and price. In Germany, these small brown shrimps are called "Krabben," which is the standard German word for "crabs" (singular: Krabbe), and the close relative of English "crab/crabs." You can easily substitute small cocktail shrimp (they're already shelled, cleaned and cooked; all they need is to be heated through) or you can cut medium or large shrimp into halves or thirds.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

1 1/2 pounds of sole fillets

6 tablespoons butter, divided use (more, if needed)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup finely chopped onion (best to use white onion, but I used red, as can be seen in the photos)

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups seafood stock

1/2 pound small shrimp (1 to 2 inches long, or 3 to 4 inch shrimp halved)

1/2 cup milk (I use evaporated canned milk)

1 tablespoon brandy

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

 

In a skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat, add the wine and finely chopped onion; cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add the fish fillets and cook until done (add more butter, a tablespoon at a time, if needed, and this is in addition to the amount I have in the ingredients above). Remove the fish to a plate/platter until you make the sauce (this is where the firmer texture of sole can help keep the fillets from breaking apart). Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter to the skillet (still over low heat), then add the flour and stir it into the butter, letting it cook about 90 seconds to take out the raw flour taste, but don't let it brown! Slowly add the seafood stock, stirring constantly to incorporate the flour mixture and begin to thicken the liquid. Bring to a simmer and let cook until thickened and smooth, then stir in the milk, followed by the brandy, stir well to mix it in. Add the shrimp and mix them into the sauce so that they heat up, which doesn't take long (keep the heat low or very low, do not boil!). Add the sole fillets to the sauce to reheat them. Serve the sole fillets topped with sauce and shrimp, and finished with some chopped parsley.  

 

I forgot to add the parsley to these ...

WORD HISTORY:

Sole-This is the noun, although English also has an adjective, meaning "one, single, alone," which is NOT related to the noun. The ultimate origin of "sole" is uncertain, but it is related to "soil," a word that is a merger of two different Latin words, one of which makes "soil" partially related to "sole." "Sole" goes back to the Latin noun "solum," which meant "ground, base, foundation, bottom." This gave the basis for the Latin noun "solea," meaning, "bottom of a shoe, a sandal (a flat type of footwear)," and from the sandal meaning came the meaning, "a type of flatfish." "Solea" came to be rendered as "sola," and Latin-based Old French had it as "sole," which seemingly was borrowed by English not long after the Normans arrived (as it is in late Old English), but only with the "sandal, bottom of the foot" meanings. The fish name was borrowed from French in the middle of the 1200s, and the meaning "bottom of a shoe or other footwear" began to be used in the latter part of the 1300s. English cousin, German, has "Sohle," which "seems" to have been borrowed by Old High German directly from Latin (in the 800s?). Low German has "Sahl."  

Chicken Fricassee

There are other dishes that pair "fricassee" and a type of meat for the name of the dish, with veal, turkey and rabbit being examples, but "Chicken Fricassee" is likely the best known and the most common.* Some people pronounce it like "frik-ah-see," others pronounce it as if "frik-ah-say." Probably because of chicken being used most often, "fricassee" is likely thought by many to have a light colored sauce, and I'll admit, that's what I think of when I think of fricassee, as that's how my grandmother made it when I was a little kid. But there are some recipes for chicken fricassee that are darker in color, and some are reddish, even downright red. It depends upon the culture behind any given recipe. I've seen German recipes that add juniper berries** or capers (chicken fricassee in German is "Hühnerfrikassee"), while Hungarians add paprika, which of course will add a somewhat red or orange tint to the sauce, and dishes derived from Spanish background may be much more red, as they may well contain both paprika and tomatoes, and some recipes do not use cream or milk at all. If I remember right, my grandmother made chicken fricassee with carrots, asparagus and peas. In those times canned peas were common in household pantries in the U.S., as they still are, but they were a dull green, or olive type color, and my grandmother used frozen peas, which were bright green, and with a much better taste. I use boneless chicken, but you certainly can use whole bone-in chicken pieces, if you prefer. As you'll see in the ingredient list, I actually use boneless chicken breast, but I also list one whole wing. This gives a little of the added taste of skin-on and bone-in chicken. Rice or noodles are commonly served with chicken fricassee, but myself, I'm a mashed potatoes guy, and the delicious sauce screams for mashed potatoes to me.

 

The history of this dish is rather obscure, although some, including myself, assume it to be of French origin, with the French sounding name adding support to that assumption; see "Word History," below.

Ingredients (5 to 6 servings):

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast + 1 whole skin-on wing

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil or canola oil)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used cremini mushrooms, but I've used white mushrooms at times over the years too)  

1/2 cup diced or small chopped carrot (smaller is better, as larger pieces naturally take longer to cook)

1/2 cup chopped asparagus (about 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces)

1 cup chopped white onion

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)

2 egg yolks, tempered with small amount of sauce

(optional) 1 or 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, divided to sprinkle on the individual servings 

 

Note on salt: I salt the chicken pieces with the 1 teaspoon of salt, but I don't add any other salt directly to the dish, as the chicken stock has salt. 

In a skillet add the butter and oil over medium heat. Salt and pepper the chicken. When the butter is melted, add the chicken pieces to the skillet and saute until the chicken starts to get a little browning to it (we're not cooking the chicken through, at this point). Remove the chicken to a plate or platter, then add the chopped onion to the skillet and saute for about 1 minute before adding the carrot; saute for about 3 minutes, turning and stirring the vegetables often, then add the mushrooms, and mix all of the vegetables together. After another 2 minutes, add the asparagus and saute another 2 minutes (always turning and mixing the veggies around). Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and mix it into the veggies and butter/oil. Now add the white wine and the chicken stock and mix everything together well, add the bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook at this level for another 2 minutes (that is after it starts to simmer), stirring a lot (the liquids should begin to thicken somewhat). Stir in the cream, then add the chicken pieces to the sauce and cook at a gentle simmer (adjust heat accordingly) until the chicken is tender (check the carrots too, as they can sometimes take some more cooking). Turn off the heat, or remove the pan from the heat. Add two egg yolks to a cup or a small bowl and use a spoon to break and beat the yolks briefly. Add a tablespoon of the sauce to the yolks and immediately beat it into the yolks, followed by another tablespoon of sauce with the same procedure, and then one more time of the same. GRADUALLY stir in the yolk mixture to the sauce, and keep stirring until the yolks are fully incorporated into the sauce. Remove the bay leaf. You can sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top of each serving, if desired.    

 

* I like Cajun Meatball Fricassee, too, and here's the link to the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2021/12/cajun-meatball-fricassee.html

 

** If you've never used juniper berries, they come from certain evergreen trees; thus, the "berries" are actually little "cones" from these trees, but they look a lot like blueberries, but dried. They are most famous for the flavor they give to gin, and they are not uncommon in certain dishes from German language and cultural regions, like Germany, Alsace (part of eastern France), Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, as well as in some Scandinavian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Polish recipes. The German name for "juniper berries" is "Wacholderbeeren." 

 

I had my "Chicken Fricassee" over mashed potatoes with some cottage cheese on the side ... 

 

 

 

When I fixed Chicken Fricassee this time, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces ... 

WORD HISTORY:

Fricassee (Quash)-The term "fricassee" is thought to be a combination of words, with the first part coming from the French verb "frire," meaning "to fry." Indeed, English borrowed "fry" from the Latin-derived French word. The second part of "fricassee" is presumed to be from French "casser," also spelled "quasser," which meant "to break up, to cut up." This part of the word is closely related to "quash," a word formed by the merging of two separate verb forms with similar meanings and even spellings, one that goes back to Indo European "kwet," which had the notion of "to shake, to shake up, to excite or agitate." This gave Latin the verb "quatere" with the same general meanings, and its participle "quassus," produced Latin "quassare," which meant "to shake violently, to shake forcefully." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "quasser," which was also spelled "casser," and with the same meaning as the Latin parent, but also, "to weaken, to break apart." This was borrowed by English within the first couple of decades of the 1300s as "quaschen/quashen," which then simply became "quash," with the meaning "to smash, to crush, to defeat completely," but its meaning was then also influenced by the second verb. The second verb goes back to Indo European "kes," with the general meaning of "to cut." This gave Latin the verb "carere," meaning "to separate, to be separated (from);" thus also, "to be without, to be lacking in," and this gave Latin the adjective "cassus," meaning "empty, void, hollow," and this produced the verb "cassare," later as "quassare," which meant "to nullify, to make or declare void," and this passed into Old French as "quasser," and also as "casser" (as with the first verb), with the "to nullify, to void" meaning, and it was often used in legalistic matters, which brought it into English in the mid 1200s, but by the late 1500s, the word began to be used for, "to suppress, to halt something," from the notion of "nullify," and it is this meaning that is best known in English today ... "to put down, to suppress, to put a firm stop to something."