Farro Salad with Squid and Choizo

With a Yuzu and Roasted Poblano Sauce:


1 cup farro
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion
2 ounces dry chorizo
3/4 pound cleaned squid cut 1/4 rounds

Salt
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped marjoram
1 roasted poblano chili
2 tablespoons yuzu juice
1 clove garlic




Bring a large saucepan with chicken stock and wine to boil.
Add farro, cover and simmer for 45 mins.
Transfer to serving bowl.
In large skillet, heat 2 tbs olive oil. Add onions and cook
until soft. about 2 min. Stir in chorizo and cook until sizzling.
Add squid and cook until white about 2 mins. Season with salt.
Add squid to farro along with the cherry tomatoes, parsley and
marjoram. Add roasted poblano and yuzu sauce.
To make Yuzu sauce:
Roast 1 poblano chili , skin and roughly chop. Add 2 tbls yuzu juice and
1 chopped clove of garlic. 1 tbls olive oil. Tabasco and salt to taste.
Blend in blender until smooth



AU PIF.....A French term I read the other day which means "by instinct". It struck a cord with me because that is how I cook. I think all of us have good instincts. We just have to trust them.

We have all tasted amazing food. Whether we are traveling and we are eating in a secretive little cafe or in a Michelin star restaurant. Or, we whip something up at home and it is fabulous. It's true that sometimes my instincts are wrong and a dish doesn't turn out. But for the most part it does.

This was a dish that sounded good in theory and Voila!! It didn't turn out good it turned out great! I very rarely cook from a recipe. Just like I never shop from a list. Trust your own instincts. Buy what looks great and combine them in a way that you think will work well together.


The earthiness of the Farro, which I cooked in chicken stock and red wine. The rustic taste of the dry chorizo (which was from the http://www.fattedcalf.com/) a great Charcuterie in Napa and San Fransisco area in California. Along with the brininess of the squid made this dish very well balanced. I made a roasted poblano and yuzu sauce that had a little heat from some added Tabasco to mix in. This was just what the dish needed to bring everything together..Smoke, citrus and heat.

YUM... A nice Shiraz and a loaf of warm bread and your in Provence. Who wouldn't want to be in Provence???


Enjoy!