Kitchen Science

Savory Watermelon Salad

2009-07-12T22:14:00.001-07:00

This is summery and scrumptious. With minimal pre-amble and vague proportions:

~2 cups watermelon, cubed
1/2 English cucumber, chunked
2 decent heirloom tomatoes, chunked
1 x-lg or 2 med avocados, chunked

dressing:
1 tbsp fresh mint, minced
1 tbsp chives, minced
~2 tbsp olive oil
~1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp fresh chevre (that's goat cheese)
salt & pepper to taste

This is pretty straightforward. My proportions are pretty inexact here, but it doesn't matter: follow your tongue! Use whatever herbs you have growing outside your front door or readily available, and just taste the dressing as you go. I thought about using a red wine vinegar but wasn't sure how that would jive with the chevre blended in ... will try it next time. The sweetness of the watermelon is really nice with the tang of the vinegar and goat cheese - num!

----

Here is the much more photogenic, less creamy inspiration for the above salad:

From the book, Pintxos, by Gerald Hirigoyen, which is full of delicious and beautiful Basque small-plates. More yum!

Skirt Steak MM!

2009-05-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this short and sweet.

Bought some skirt steak a couple nights ago that didn't make it into dinner, so yesterday I decided to marinate it in some yogurt for tonight. The yog gives the meat a nice tang and the cultures help to tenderize and break down the protein, or so they say. I also added some tumeric and dried sage, what the heck.

Tonight I sautee'd it up with a little salt, served with brown rice and broiled pencil asparagus with oil, salt, pepper and some shaved Reggiano. And man, that ish was GOOD! I highly recommend the yogurt treatment. It's great for just about any kind of meat, especially the ones that can toughen up, like goat or lamb.

Nom nom.

Butter(-milk)

2009-04-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

I recently used the Joy of Cooking's recipe for Irish-American Soda Bread as the foundation of a kitchen experiment. JoC is usually a great reference and an excellent starting-point for me. I rarely have all-out success with their recipes as-printed, but who wants to follow a recipe verbatim anyway?

What caught me this time was the following ingredients:

4 tbsp butter
2/3 c. buttermilk

The butter was meant to be melted and whipped into the buttermilk with an egg.

Now, buttermilk is the by-product of whipping cream into butter. So by adding melted butter to the buttermilk, aren't you just re-constituting the original heavy cream? Even the proportions look about right here.

So why?

DIY Mozzarella

2009-04-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

This took me 15 minutes to make (plus another 15 waiting for the cheese to chill), which fit in right after work and before taking the dog to the park, leaving me with fresh, handmade cheese to bring to Katie's for dinner. No Martha Stewart, but not bad, right?

The one caveat is that this recipe uses pre-made cheese curd, which can be hard to find. We are selling it right now at The Pasta Shop, but you can also make your own with the right materials (blog entry to follow, also see www.cheesemaking.com for supplies).

The quantity of curd is entirely up to you - how many balls do you want? How big do you like your balls? There is a lot of ball freedom here.

1. Cut your curd into 1" cubes.

2. Heat a big pot of very salty water (1/3 c. salt to 5 qts water) to just before boiling (170 degrees if you have a thermometer).

3. Put your curds in a large, shallow bowl. Pour ~6 cups of the hot water water over the curd and let it sit 2-4 minutes until the curd is warm all the way through, soft and malleable.

4. Pick up (with a spoon, because the water's hot) as much curd as you like - i.e. more curd for big balls, fewer cubes for small balls - and knead the curd between your hands until it is smooth and elastic. If you overwork it, the mozzarella will be kind of tough and squeaky, so a light touch is good.

5. When curd is ready, fold into a ball and squeeze the ends together.

6. Put cheese in an ice bath and start over with the next handful of curd

7. Call me and tell me how it is

Easy peasy.

Braised Short Ribs

2009-03-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Short ribs: delicious. Could eat 'em for days, not complain once. But somehow I had never cooked them myself, which I think is a by-product of doing little braising or meat roasts in general. In California, where produce is so versatile and so fresh, it's insanely easy to leave meat off the plate. And if it is on the plate, often it's just an ingredient - not a course or a meal. These kinds of meat adventures are special to me because they're so rare and unnecessary in this agricultural wonderland. So tonight, short ribs. Short ribs!

I work right next to Cafe Rouge in Berkeley. Their butcher is off the hook. The boys behind the counter are sweet and sometimes a little too cool for school, but their product is genuinely badass. I ate the best steak of the 2000's a few short weeks ago thanks to them (and Katie, and the cow). Also their beef jerky is no nonsense. Have you ever seen beef jerky with fat in it? Neither had I. It was AMAZING. But enough praise, this is about me and my food. Yesterday I decided the short ribs looked plump and rich and reasonably priced. I picked out a fatty (1.5#, 3-ribs) and for the rest of my 12-hour shift I was daydreaming about what I might do with it. My very own short ribs? This was more than a little intimidating; is there some powerful ingredient to the world's best short ribs that I didn't know about? Not being a meat roaster, naturally I would not know about this. Danger. Caution. Ribs.

What follows is an amalgam of the thoughts of Julia Child and numerous web references, except, I must point out, that of Mr. Wolfgang Puck. I can't respect any man who instructs the masses to spoon the fat off of their roast and "discard." Discard! There are uses for that fat! Why don't you cut back on the shitty potato chips and plastic chocolate, maybe eat a smaller portion and let yourself enjoy the miracle of fat. It worked for centuries. I thought about serving this solo with some toasted pain au levain, but settled on farro for its nutty flavor and delightful texture and farro-ness. If I had been more hungry, or if I were more than one person and needed more food, I would have tracked down some asparagus and fava beans, because man would that be good.

First Short Ribs

A fatty strip or two of short ribs from the best butcher you can find
2-3 tbsp ghee
1/2 yellow onion
3 carrots
4 stalks celery
3 fat cloves of garlic
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tbsp tomato paste, or sauce in a pinch (like my Puttanesca)
~1 cup red table wine (I used a cotes du rhone)
~4-6 cups broth of your choice

1 cup Farro

Preheat your oven to 300*F.

In a dutch oven or some other stove- and oven-savvy pot, melt your ghee over medium/medium-high heat. Did you know that Ghee doesn't scorch until 475 degrees or so? It is pure butterfat - clarified butter that's been boiled for hours. Ghee is my new favorite fat: the duck fat of 2009 if you will. You can use bacon fat instead if you've got it around, can't go wrong there. Any good fat will do. Dogs like the smell of fat, and if you're lucky your neighbor's dog will wander in to keep you company while you work, like this.

Sear the short ribs on all sides in the ghee. Take the meat out and let it rest on a plate, like this.

Then add the onions, carrots and celery to the fat and stir it up. Let these cook until the onions are getting clear, and add the garlic and rosemary. Stir and fry until these are fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and let it caramelize and get nice and sticky. When properly gummy and sweet-smelling, deglaze the pan with your red wine. Hop the ribs back in the pan and add enough broth so that they are covered or nearly-covered, depending on how much meat is in the pan. My one fatty strip of meat was a little lonely in its big pot, so rather than drown it in 8 cups of broth I let part of it stick out - no problem. Cover your pan and slide it into the warm oven.

Roast ~3 hours. The ribs should be easily forked, tender, loose and full of juicy, meaty flavor. And they were.

If you've never cooked farro, this is how I do it: boil way too much water, add the farro and simmer for ~15-20 mins, then drain dry like pasta. I suppose 2:1 proportions would work, like with rice, but I find that measuring isn't really necessary. Farro also makes an incredible breakfast when mixed with a little cream and honey and served with roasted stone fruit. Very incredible.

About halfway through making this dish, I realized I had done it before. With brisket. Braising is, to some extent, just braising. Even if you do it just twice in 28 years, it is a simple thing.

In the end, I remembered that there was chard in the fridge just begging to be wilted. I spooned a few tablespoons of fat and juice from the hot roast and sauteed the chard in that until wilty and fragrant. This was the best chard I have ever eaten in my life. There, I said it. Even Pullo was entranced by the aroma.

Nom nom!

Apple Pancakes

2009-02-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Deceptively simple and easy, perfectly fluffy and moist. If you only eat one meal on a rainy day, this should be it.

(Tilt head)

Serve it up with your favorite toppings (pictured here: apricot-orange marmalade and dollop of fresh whipped cream) and some mouth-smacking-good thick-cut bacon. These pancakes are so sweet and light they don't really need any topping, but I find a naked pancake entirely irresistible to toppings.

Apple Pancakes

Whisk together in a bowl:

1 1/2 c. flour
3 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Add:

4 tbsp. sweet butter, room temp

Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a fork, two butterknives, a pastry cutter, or whatever you like to use. I'm not sure why, but this step has made a big difference for me in the fluffiness of my pancakes. When the butter is in reasonably small bits, add:

1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
splash vanilla extract

Mix it all up well. Grate into the bowl:

1 apple

I used a Fuji, skin-on. If you're single like me and not planning on using all the batter at once, only add the apple to what you plan on cooking that day -- otherwise it will oxidize and get soggy. Fruit in pancake batter should always be fresh.

The rest is history, and if you don't know how to fry a pancake ... well, it's easy and you should try harder. I learned a secret from the tv-show "Dead Like Me" -- flip 'em before the bubbles burst, and they will be more springy and pleasantly pert. Don't burn 'em, or the insides will be moist and goopy. The apples keep these moist and fragrant .. enjoy!

Dangerous/Painful Potato Turnip Croquettes

2009-01-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

Adapted from a recipe for potato-turnip latkes which was much less of a pain in the ass and just about as tasty. When I made the latkes, the fat was not quite hot enough so they had a tendency to sog.

I had an amazing croquette experience at Tacubaya, so I thought I'd try to turn the delicious duck-fatty latkes into light fluffy duck-fatty croquettes for the perfect marriage of texture and flavor. The result: the world's best tater tots, with an incredibly light, moist, delicate filling and fantastic crispy crust. Unexpected results: an entire house filled with thick, fatty smoke; half of a kitchen spattered in greasy spots; multiple burns on self. I do not recommend making this at the same time as the Amazing Granola, which I did last night to my painful and burnt dismay.

If you've never cooked with duck fat before: what the hell are you waiting for?

Dangerous/Painful Potato Turnip Croquettes

4 medium russet potatoes
2 medium/small turnips
a few green or spring onions
Panko japanese breadcrumbs (the kind for tempura)
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
~1 cup duck fat (maybe a little more)

Quarter the potatoes and turnips and boil them until ready to mash. Drain well and mash 'em up in a big bowl with the chopped green onions, salt & pepper. Mix in the cream, being careful not to get the mixture too wet (My mistake #1).

Fill a shallow bowl with bread crumbs, and start spooning onto them small balls of potato/turnip mix -- I used the same 2-spoon technique that a lot of people use for drop cookies. Don't try to handle the croquettes too much in the breadcrumbs (my mistake #2), but try to coat them evenly. I ended up tossing the balls between both hands with the crumbs, which worked well but didn't squish the croquettes into useless paste as much as my first efforts.

Get your duck fat pretty damn hot - med. high heat until shimmery. If the fat isn't hot enough, the croquettes will be oily and soggy without a good crust. Fry the croquettes on as many sides as possible for maximum crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side if the oil is hot enough. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot with creme fraiche.

One problem with using Panko breadcrumbs .. or perhaps breadcrumbs in general .. is that some of them will undoubtedly flake off into the fat, where they burn to tiny tiny crisps. After about 15 minutes of boiling, smooshing and frying, while juggling my granola project at the same time, I turned around to see that the entire house was filled with noxious grey smoke. The dog was standing in the kitchen doorway with his feet apart, giving me a what-the-hell-are-you-doing look. By the time I was done, I collected a tiny mountain of the black crisps on one side of the pan. My hands, face and front were covered in tiny burns and my eyes and lungs stung from the smoke. Perhaps the whole experience wouldn't have been as overwhelming without the simul-baking of the granola (my mistake #3).

Amazing Granola

2009-01-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

This is adapted from the recipe in the cheese board's collective works for their "killer granola." The main difference is the absence of coconut and presence of many, many nuts and seeds in my version.

This is insanely easy to make. As someone who loves granola but is very picky about what should be in it, I love making my own and having it just my way. It keeps well in an airtight container, is cheap to make and easy to gift.

Measurements are approximate. Preheat oven to 325.

2 tbs butter
salt to taste
2 cups total chopped nuts: pecans, walnuts, almonds (or your favorites)
2 tsp honey
1/4 c. sugar of choice
dash of vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/4 c. sesame seeds
1/4 c. flax seeds

In a pan, melt the butter over pretty low heat. Add the salt and your nuts, stirring well to evenly coat them all, and bring the heat up just a bit. Toast the nuts until they are golden and beautiful, but keep a careful eye on them because they can burn quickly if your heat gets out of control. I burnt my first batch but it still tasted great. When the nuts are ready, add the honey and sugar and bring the heat back down to low until the sweeteners are melted and gooey. Kill the heat and add the vanilla.

Combine the oats and seeds in a big bowl, add the nut mixture and mix it all up like woah. Spread the mix evenly over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I *love* parchment paper) and bake for 15 minutes. Stir it around and redistribute at that point, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until it's all golden toasty. Let it cool completely on the hot pan, since it will continue to toast from the residual heat.

The nutty bits are the best part of this, so you can try to mix them in as much as possible (so that all of it becomes the best part of it), or you could deliberately leave big nut clusters. You could add raisins or coconut flakes, but I don't like either of these things in granola -- raisins get too chewy after baking and coconut is weird. I bet dried fruit could be mixed in after it cools (or while cooling perhaps?) if you just have to have fruit.

The Incredible Undescribable Wonders of an Excellent Olive Oil

2008-09-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, my friend Eva got married in southern France, in a small town called Maussane (where her husband is from). Her reception was in the moulin of a local olive oil producer -- Jean Marie Cornille -- a beautiful stone building surrounded by the small hills that mark the beginning of the French Alps (les Alpilles).

The day was incredible for a number of reasons; excellent weather, beautiful scenery, wonderful food, hilarious and friendly company, to name a few.

I bought a small bottle of the Cornille olive oil as a souvenir, which turned out to be a precious joy that I hadn't anticipated. The oil (http://www.moulin-cornille.com/us/huil-oliv.html), like most provencale olive oils, is light and incredibly herbacious. There are some with more peppery or grassy notes, but this one is smooth and buttery without being at all flat. The fruit is a blend of olives from la valee des baux de provence, an area that is also home to the "most beautiful village" in all of France, or something like that.

The village is cute. They have good candy and also good nearby vineyards w/ tasting rooms. Don't rely on the bus, or you might have to walk back to Maussane like we did -- through the olive groves. I didn't know then that I was to become so obsessed with this oil.

After running dry long ago, I decided it was time for more of the Maussane oil (http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=O-MAU, but the price has gone up). Yes, it is worth sending away to Ann Arbor for. Yes, it was worth $65 for a liter, and yes I would have paid $80 for it. Well, maybe...

If you use this oil in a dish with strong flavors, the result will probably be delicious but you'll lose all the subtlety of the oil. Because of this, and to get the most flavor out of my $65, I've been inspired to cook simple food that acts as the perfect vessel for my favorite oil. This morning I toasted a hearty, multigrain bread and drizzled it with olive oil and a pinch of fleur de sel - incredible. It's amazing what a couple of quality ingredients can do to a kitchen!

My dinner tonight was so exquisite I have to share it here, for whoever has the patience (or the love of olive oil) to read this far.

My new favorite meal:
-Farro pasta tossed in Maussane olive oil and crumbled parmigiano reggiano, with a pinch of salt. *
-Butter lettuce salad with the same olive oil, a splash of white cava vinegar, a pinch of salt and a few dry black olives.
-Dessert of dried dates.

I also opened a Neyer's Thieriot vineyard chardonnay -- a bright, minerally, full-bodied chard -- that came with my wine club a few months ago. Delightful with this light meal.

*Did I say light meal? I also fried two strips of bacon, on the side. What can I say, there was open bacon in the fridge and it would have gone bad... sometimes you have to take one for the team.

Cheers!

Panzanella Salad (fried bread salad)

2008-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is a forgiving recipe, and easy to adjust or improvise. The most important part is the bread ... everything else is a variable. It's a quick dinner for one (or side for two), and a great way to get the most out of fresh seasonal ingredients (like tomatoes!). Using quality oil/vinegar makes a big difference.

The proportions here are for one person (me) if this is your whole dinner, or two people if there is another dish.

4 slices stale french bread, cubed
~10 cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 bigger tomatoes) cut into smallish pieces
1 4-oz. ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed-ish
~8 leaves fresh basil, sliced thin or minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
~2-3 tbs olive oil
~1 tbs good quality balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt (truffle salt if you are hooked like me)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan (medium heat) and add the bread when hot. Toss to spread the oil and fry for about 5 minutes, tossing frequently. Keep a close eye on it to make sure the croutons don't burn. When crispy and golden, turn off the heat and set aside.

In a big bowl, mix the other ingredients. Add the bread just before serving and toss it all together.

There was a photo of this meal, but it no longer exists due to catastrophic camera difficulties. That's a story for another day...

Peach Jam, Peach Blackberry Jam and Plum Blackberry Coulis

2008-08-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

This is only sort of a recipe blog, because I have only a vague idea what the weight or proportions of my ingredients were. I also don't feel like writing about every little step -- if you're curious about that, look at last summer's jam posts. This is just a little note about jam, jamming, summer fruits and settling into a new kitchen. I moved about 5 weeks ago and this is the first big project I've done in my new kitchen, inspired by a $5 box of ripe peaches I saw on sale yesterday. The peach score was quickly followed up by some super-sweet blackberries from Monterey Market, which in turn was quickly succeeded by amazingly sweet, ripe golden plums from Rachel's backyard. It's a good thing that I have a hard time putting a good glass jar in the recycling -- and an even better thing that I insisted on bringing my stash with me from Santa Cruz. Today it came in handy.

Just Peach Jam/Peach Blackberry Jam
20 large peaches
6 or 7 lemons: zest and juice
900g "white" sugar*
about 10 blackberries

*how many cups is 900g? It was the sugar they sell at Trader Joe's -- the only thing I remember about the package was that it said 900g.

I started this last night by blanching the peaches to remove their skins and then crushing them with my hands to remove the pits and break them into smaller chunks (this is incredibly fun -- I highly recommend). Added the sugar, lemon zest and juice, then covered w/ parchment to sit in the fridge overnight. This afternoon I realized that it was a little too much to fit in my big pan, so I decided to do two batches and add a few blackberries to the second, smaller batch (hence only 10). I didn't want the blackberries to compete with the peaches, just to add a little extra color and flavor. These two jams were GORGEOUS. All-caps-gorgeous. The pre-cooled jam tasted marvelous, too.

Plum Blackberry Coulis
~20-30(?) small golden plums (3 or 4 pounds? the buggers were heavy with juice)
~1.5 cups turbonado sugar
2 lemons - juice and zest
remaining 12 or so blackberries

The plums were so ripe that this one didn't seem like it was going to set very well without cooking it waaaay down, so I settled for a slightly runny jam that is more like a coulis or sauce. It tasted great, but might be a little too runny for toast. I think this one would be great poured over vanilla ice cream or fresh ricotta.

Following Bay's advice, I took pictures this time. Too bad the internet isn't ready for scratch-n-sniff.

L-R: Peach, Peach Blackberry, Plum Blackberry (cooling upside-down)

Yam and Sweet Potato Fries

2008-08-03T12:42:00.001-07:00

This was our first attempt at making fries. For variety, we used two types of yams and some sweet potato too. We used three medium yams and one large sweet potato which yielded about 2 or 2.5 cups of fries (maybe even more, considering how many we ate while frying). The fries must first be cooked in hot water until they're about halfway done, and then deep fried until crisp. You'll want to have a frying basket and some brown paper grocery bags on hand, and about a 1/2 gallon of oil. Corn oil worked well for us.

To start, we washed our tubers and peeled off the eyes, remaining roots, and any thicker or yucky-looking skin. We cut them down to long strips, about 1/4 to a 1/5 inch thick, and about 3/4 inch wide. Next we parblanched the slices by placing them in a large pot and filling it with cold water to cover. We put the pot uncovered over a burner on high, and allowed to come to a gentle boil, which took approx. 20 minutes. We then flipped the bundle of fries so the fries on the bottom were moved to the top and vice versa to cook them evenly, allowing them to continue to boil until the slices became darker and more translucent, so they were about halfway cooked. Make sure they remain firm enough that they won't fall apart. This took about an additional 7 minutes. Meanwhile, we were heating the 1/2 gallon of corn oil for frying.

We drained the fries in a colander and left them there to cool, though we probably should have rinsed them in cold water and then set them out to dry on (paper) towels to soak up the extra moisture, as they started to get a little mushy and break apart in the colander. Best to remove excess moisture before you submerge them in oil to avoid spattering. We tested a fry or two in the oil to make sure it was hot enough, but generally, the oil should be ready once it starts to steam, but not smoke.

Before starting to fry, have the brown grocery bags ready to dump the fries on. These soak up the excess oil much better than paper towels. We placed the bags in the oven for about 15-20 seconds to sanitize them, since it was already heating for something else. These tricks come from my mother, who is from the South where they know how to deep fry.

We used a medium saucepan for the frying, so we had to do several batches. Don't fill the fry basket with fries or else they'll cook unevenly and the oil will bubble and spatter all over your kitchen. Submerge the fries completely and rotate with tongs while frying. The fries should be ready when they turn golden and seem crispy, which took us about 4-5 minutes.

Let the excess oil drip back into the pot before dumping the fries on the paper bags. There you can salt and pepper them (or use whatever other spices you might like), and dump them on a cookie sheet which you can stick in the oven at a low heat to keep them warm and crisp while the rest fry.

The end result was pretty delicious, and I think we could have used even more fries for the 5 people we were feeding. Mmm!

Chicken Pot-Pie Casserole with Biscuit Topping

2008-06-12T12:15:00.001-07:00

This dish was inspired by Tiffany's vegetarian version, which I don't have the recipe for but which was damn, damn good.

My version was inspired by two recipes: Just Chicken Pot Pie (America's Best Lost Recipes cookbook) and Buttermilk biscuits (Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook, Mollie Katzen). Both were adapted, and can be adapted further.

This is a pot-pie with no crust, baked in a casserole dish with chunks of biscuit on top for a crust-like effect. It takes a while to make/bake (an hour and a half including baking), but the result is a delicious, savory, incredibly popular meal that will feed a LOT of people. Or, four very hungry, greedy people. The quantities of most vegetables here are approximate, but this recipe is very forgiving if you use more or less of something. You could also omit the chicken and increase the amount of vegetables or use less butter, or substitute olive oil for the butter. The richness of this dish is part of what makes it so good, but the flavors of the vegetables and biscuit is enough for it to shine without the extra cheese and butter.

"Pie" Filling

~2 lbs chicken breast, no skin or bone

~3 carrots

an onion

~3 celery stalks

several summer squash

~4 cloves garlic

zest of one lemon

a few chopped green onions

salt and pepper to taste

2 c. broth

1/3 c. flour

1 stick butter

1 c. buttermilk

~1 c. gruyere cheese (to taste)

Biscuit Topping

2 c. flour (use half wheat/half unbleached if you like)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg, beaten, plus

enough buttermilk to bring the egg to 2/3 cup

1/3 c. melted butter

chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 400*F

Boil or roast chicken breasts, then shred the meat.

Melt the butter and sautee the onions until translucent, then add celery, carrots, squash all chopped finely (& other veggies that you like). Add green onions and garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the flour and stir until it gets a little toasty, about a minute. Add the broth, buttermilk and lemon zest, stir it and let simmer until the sauce starts to thicken, ~5 minutes. Add the chicken and season w/ salt and pepper. Turn off the heat.

Mix the dry ingredients for the biscuits in a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the combined egg/buttermilk in the well, and the melted butter. Stir until just combined, adding the onions when it is sort of half-mixed. Pat into a uniform, smooth ball.

Pour the veggie/chicken/saucy mix into a casserole pan and sprinkle with the grated cheese. The insane part of the original recipe (the "Just Chicken Pot Pie") was that it called for straining the vegetables out of the sauce and discarding them - which is truly insane. These veggies are goo-oo-ood. Cover with chunks of the biscuit dough, alternating biscuit with cheese if you like. Little pieces of dough will get crispy, larger chunks will get doughy and biscuity (I highly recommend the big chunks).

Bake for 40 minutes or until the biscuit topping is crispy. Cook 10 minutes, eat, then tell me how good it was!

20-hour Meat Roast

2008-03-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

The original recipe for this comes out of the book Heat, by Bill Buford. It's not a cookbook, but a book about food and cooking. The original recipe has five ingredients, including the meat, and it's spicy enough to melt your speak-hole off. This is slightly modified and a little less spicy.

"Peposo"
~2lbs meat (I used brisket; recipe calls for shank, which is hard to find)
1 bottle red wine (pref. chianti)
1 head garlic (peeled)
2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sea salt
1 sprig of marjoram
dash of nutmeg
juice and zest from a small lemon

The rest is easy: put ingredients in a pot. Cook in oven for a minimum of 8 hours, and a maximum of ... oh, I don't know, but 20 worked well for us. Start the oven at a high-ish temperature for the first hour (like 375), then bring it down to 200 for the remaining time. The meat will get stringy and fall apart when touched, and the wine turns into a light brown, meaty broth with lots of great flavor. This is especially good with crusty olive bread, and a glass of wine.

Almond Meyer Lemon Bread

2008-03-09T19:31:00.001-07:00

1 2/3 c. flour
1 c. almond meal/flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 stick (8 tbs) butter (soft/room temp)
zest and juice from 2 meyer lemons
1/2 c. milk

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the lemon zest and juice, and add one egg at a time - when I did this, the butter seemed to curdle a little (is that possible?), but it was no problem. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix, and add the milk and mix in as well. Transfer to buttered loaf pan, top with toasted almonds and bake at 350* for one hour or longer. Don't burn it, as I did mine, and you should have a sweet and tangy, crumbly delicious loaf!

Porridge Bread

2008-02-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

I bought a Porridge Bread at a local natural foods market, and it was so good that my housemates gobbled it up before I'd had very much of it. In an act of rebellion, I found a recipe online and have attempted to re-create the tasty bread at a cheaper price and larger volume. The recipe I used advertised a yield of 6 loaves, but I only got 3. The recipe here is modified from the one google turned up (less oil, less sugar, more grains, whole wheat flour in addition to white flour).

2 tbs dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tbs granulated sugar
2 cups porridge*
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses**
1 tbs salt
3 cups all purpose white flour
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil

*For the porridge, I used about 2/3 four-grain oat cereal (i.e. oatmeal) and 1/3 a mix of toasted buckwheat, red winter wheat berries and amaranth. I made a huge pot of it, used 2 cups for the bread, and served the rest up for the housemates with sugar and milk for a late-night oatmeal snack.

**My second time making this bread, I used honey instead of molasses. I think the full 1/2 cup of molasses is too much, but the honey has a really nice flavor which is more subtle. I haven't tried mixing the two, but that might be where the happy medium lies.

Mix the yeast with the sugar and warm water until it dissolves, then set aside until it gets foamy. Meanwhile, mix the porridge with the molasses, brown sugar, oil and salt, and add the yeast mixture when it's ready. Begin adding the flour one cup at a time, and finish by kneading the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, or as long as it takes for it to feel good. The dough might stay a little tacky because of all the grains, which is fine.

I let it rise overnight in the refrigerator (you could let it rise at room temp until doubled in size), then punched down the dough and broke it into 3 parts. Let it rise in pans (or in the round, if you want a round loaf) for another 2-3 hours, or until doubled in size again. Bake at 375*F for 30-40 minutes. The color is a rich, warm brown, with a sweet wheaty flavor from the grains and molasses. This is one of my favorite kinds of bread, wholesome and comforting, satisfying both the health nut and sweet tooth in me (who are so rarely on the same team).

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

2008-02-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

Simple and fresh. Takes a while to prep everything, but the payback is well worth it. I like to make a meal out of these alone, or they can be a salady side dish to something more substantial.

measurements are approximated, as I was very bad at keeping track of how much went into everything. The proportions are very fluid, especially for the peanut sauce and tempeh marinade, so keep tasting and stop when it's right for your palate.

Peanut Sauce
~1/2 cup peanut butter (I like unsalted, grind-yourself peanut butter)
~1/4 cup soy sauce or Ponzu
~1/4 cup rice vinegar
~2 tbs sesame oil
~1/4 cup sake or soju
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbs chili flakes
~1 tbs brown sugar

Mix it up. If it's too sweet, add more vinegar. If it's too tangy, add a little more sugar or peanut butter. I like it when it is just barely runny - it's easy to dip in, but not too thin.

Marinated Tempeh
1 square block of tempeh (~8oz?), sliced long and thin
~1/4 cup soy sauce or Ponzu
~1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbs oyster sauce *or* ~1 tbs brown sugar

Marinate as long as you can, then fry until the marinade is evaporated and cooked onto the tempeh.

Spring Rolls
about 20 rice paper wrappers (they keep well if there are leftovers)
~2 cups thin rice noodles or bean noodles, cooked or soaked
1 bunch cilantro, washed and de-stemmed
Marinated Tempeh (above)
2 carrots, shredded
1 or 2 cucumbers, sliced in half lengthwise and sliced thin
~1 cup sunflower or pea sprouts
~2 cups lettuce or salad mix, chopped
2 or 3 avocados, halved and sliced thin
optional: 1/3 lb prawns, steamed, shelled and sliced in half lengthwise

The formula is simple: soak a wrapper in warm water until it is soft enough to work with. Oversoaking will make it too delicate, so it might take a few tries to get the feel for it. Then, lay the wrapper on a plate and start adding small amounts of your toppings, like a tiny burrito. Begin by using less of everything that you think it needs, since small rolls are easier to wrap (and eat) than big ones. Start with a little noodles, some cilantro, a few strips of tempeh, some cucumber, shredded carrot and some sprouts. Try mixing and matching: shrimp rolls with avocado, tempeh rolls with cucumber, etc. I like it when each roll is a surprise. The fillings are entirely subjective to your tastes, so add to the list above and change things. Try mint instead of cilantro, try marinated tofu instead of tempeh, use arugula instead of pea sprouts - get creative. Making these is as much fun as eating them when you get into it!

As for the wrapping: some have a natural talent for wrapping presents, cheese in paper, burritos, spring rolls - and some don't. Be patient, don't go too fast, and aim for a tightly-wrapped result. If the wrapping is too loose, the filling will spill out as soon as you bite into it. On the flip side, pulling too tightly will tear the wrapper. Trial, error, and success!

Serve with the peanut sauce.

I made these rolls twice in three days because:
a) the peanut sauce is so damn good, and
b) they are a fresh, bright, healthy and filling way to brighten up a winter menu!
c) they are the perfect collaborative social dinner activity
d) the peanut sauce, again.

Poor Boy Stroganoff

2008-01-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

My friend Sally asked for this recipe, and after typing it into an email I figured I may as well paste it here for others to see - this dish is damn good.

A traditional Beef Stroganoff, as I understand it, is filet mignon with a creamy mushroom sauce, served over a bed of egg noodles. This version uses ground beef and mixes everything into a casserole form, making it easier on the budget to feed a hungry family. This recipe is adapted from the one in "America's Best Lost Recipes," published by the folks at Cook's Magazine. The original recipe is from one Carole Weinberger in Florida. The book is not bad, but focuses largely on sweeter recipes; the first two chapters are starters and entrees, and the following four chapters are dedicated to sweet things of various kinds. I wish it were a little more balanced in that respect, but the next time I'm making a dessert I might be grateful ...

This is the recipe as it's laid out in the book, but I've marked (with *) where I made a few adjustments. The first time I made it, I left out the grated cheese because it seemed so rich already, and it was still quite delicious.

Poor Boy Stroganoff

salt
8 oz. egg noodles
2 tbs butter (*I omitted this)
1 lb. lean ground beef (*I used chuck)
1 smallish onion, chopped fine (*coarse is good too, if you like more texture)
8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced (*I've used crimini, king oyster and shiitake mushrooms, quartered or in wide strips)
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbs flour
1 clove garlic, minced (*or 3-4 smallish cloves)
8 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine (*I used more like 1/2 cup the first time I made this - was good!)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (*or Asiago)
(*I add 2 chopped zucchini)
(*dash of cayenne pepper)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Place a big pot of water with 1 tbs salt over high heat (for the noodles). Cook the noodles 5-7 minutes and then drain and set aside (you can do this while you are preparing the sauce).

2. Heat a large (really large, since it will hold all your sauce) skillet over med-high heat, and add the butter. Cook the ground beef, breaking it into small pieces, until it's lightly browned all over. Transfer the beef to a plate lined w/ a paper towel. Keep about 2 tbs of the beef juice in the pan, and discard any extra (this step is why I omitted the butter - you get a little extra flavor from it, but you pour it out anyway! I thought this dish was rich enough w/o it).

3. Add the onion to the remaining beef fat, and cook until golden (~5 mins). Add the mushroom, zucchini, salt, pepper and cayenne, and cook until all are browned evenly.

4. Add the flour and cook for about a minute, until it starts to brown. Add the garlic and cook about 30 secs - 1 minute, careful not to burn it. Stir in the tomato sauce, wine, broth, and beef and bring to a simmer. Cook until it starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, and stir in the sour cream (yum!).

5. Bring out a large casserole dish and layer: sauce, noodles, sauce, noodles, sauce. This ensures the noodles don't stick to the bottom, and that they get sauce all mixed in with them. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the dish, if using. Bake about 20 minutes, or a little longer until the cheese is browned. Let it cool 5 minutes before serving, to thicken up.

One note: the first time I made this, I put the beef in a large bowl, poured the wine, tomato sauce, and broth over it and set it aside while I was cooking the vegetables. I think it helped to keep the beef moist, and to start mixing the flavors together. Using more mushrooms than called for also has a nice effect, if you're down for shrooms.

Sherried Mushrooms

2008-01-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is an appetizer that my dad makes from time to time, which is one of my favorite things to eat, hands down. The better the mushrooms and sherry that you use, the better the result will be. I've done this with crimini mushrooms before, and that was fine, but this is the perfect dish to try new shrooms: chantrelle, shiitake, oyster, porcini, chinese black, lion's mane, hedgehog, yellowfoot -- try them all. The only one I wouldn't recommend is enoki, as they are a little too fragile.

about two pounds assorted mushrooms (this time we used .5 lb each of chantrelle, black chantrelle, baby shitake and lion's mane)
olive oil or butter (we used truffle butter with shallots, for extra flavor)
salt
pepper
~1/2 cup sherry or port of your choice
~1/4 cup heavy cream

Brush your mushrooms and cut any especially large ones in half. Place a skillet over med-high heat, and add some butter or olive oil. When hot, add a couple handfuls of mushroom and stir just to coat with the oil. You want the mushrooms to cook thoroughly without stirring them very much. As they cook, move them to the edge of the pan and add another handful of raw mushrooms to the center of the pan. Do this until they're all cooked, adding more oil or butter as needed to keep them from burning. Add salt and pepper periodically, to taste. You can also add a pinch of herbes de provence and/or a bit of cayenne if you're feeling feisty.

The main idea is to cook most of the water out of the mushrooms so that you can replace it with tasty sherry. When all the mushrooms are cooked, add the sherry or port to the hot pan and cover immediately. Let simmer for five minutes or so, then check and add a little more sherry if needed. They should be wonderfully aromatic at this point, plump and moist. When the sherry is all absorbed, add the cream and toss the mushrooms in it. Cover and simmer for another five minutes or so. Finish with a little extra cracked pepper and serve over toast, crackers, eggs, endive, or any other vessel you can imagine. You can also try adding some chopped garlic with the last handful of raw mushrooms, but be careful that it doesn't burn.

A note about sherries (or ports, for that matter):
The best sherry for this dish is the one you would most like to sit down and have a glass of. Sherries vary from very dry to very sweet, and either works for this dish. The flavor of the mushrooms ultimately depends on the flavor of the sherry you use, so make sure it's one that you like the taste of. Personally, I like a sweet and nutty classic cream sherry, which I think complements the savory, umami taste of the mushrooms.

Ricotta Cherry Mousse

2008-01-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

Adapted from a recipe in Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

This is a naturally sweet dessert or brunch dish. Use the best ingredients you can muster: this is all about the taste of the ricotta, the cherries, and the subtle hints of orange, vanilla and rose. We made this for brunch on New Year's day, served with chocolate hazelnut torte after eggs with sherried mushrooms*, cheese and fresh bread. A good way to start any day or year!

16 oz. (2 cups) fresh ricotta cheese
~2 cups (or more, or less) pitted, halved fresh cherries
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp rosewater
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp orange zest (about 1/4 an orange, or less)
chopped, toasted almonds for garnish

Put the ricotta in a mixing bowl and whip for about 5 minutes with an electric mixer. I used a stand mixer, so I'm not sure how long this would take by hand. The idea is to get the cheese light and fluffy, although there will still be some curds. Add the honey slowly, and beat until incorporated. Do the same with the rosewater and vanilla. Fold in the cherries and orange zest. We used a little too much zest, and you couldn't smell the rosewater very much - play with these proportions as you like.

The original recipe recommends refrigerating the mousse for a few hours before serving, but we impatiently ate it right up and it was delicious. Sprinkle the chopped toasted almonds as a garnish at the last minute, so they don't get soggy.

*Sherried mushrooms: post to follow.

Fluffy Cheese Biscuits

2007-12-17T23:28:00.001-08:00

These biscuits are rich but light, and best right out of the oven. This recipe is lifted out of Paris Boulangerie Patisserie, a truly excellent collection of pastry recipes (by real French Patissiers) compiled by Linda Dannenberg. I added chopped flat-leaf parsley to half of the batter, which gave the biscuits a nice speckled look and a little more depth of flavor. The bakery I used to work at sold cheddar-chive variations of these biscuits, which were also exquisite.

6 tbs. butter, cut into small pieces
1 c. water
pinch of salt
pinch of white pepper (I used black pepper - was great)
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
2 c. coarsely grated gruyere cheese (~half a pound)
(~1/3 c. chopped parsley)

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Bring water, salt and butter to boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the flour and pepper with a wooden spoon (will be quite thick). Return to medium heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. At this point, the mix should be very thick and begin to form a film on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each one. After all the eggs are added, the batter has "the consistency of a thick mayonnaise" or a thick pancake batter. Add the cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the rolls (I forgot to do this). Add the herbs, if using, and mix in.

Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and sprinkle the reserved cheese on the rolls. They won't look like much on the tray, but they puff up impressively in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden.

Makes about 18 (delicious) rolls, or twice as many small rolls. If there are any leftover, toast them before re-serving as they are really better when warm. Once they've cooled, the moist fluffy interior gets a little spoungy, but toasting brings back their joie de vivre.

Nougat? (FAIL)

2007-12-15T18:19:00.001-08:00

I tried to make Italian Torrone (chewy nutty nougat) as a holiday favor this year. Now, I always thought of nougat as candy, but I never equated "making nougat" to "making candy," the latter of which is something I've never had any real desire to do. Candy making is messy, sticky, and fickle, as I understand it. So imagine my surprise when I'm 15 minutes into a recipe for Torrone and I realize - "crap, I'm making candy." I have pretty good luck with trying new recipes, in general, but this does not apply to the realm of candy. I have no success story, only a few words of advice:

1. WATCH your thermometer. The temperature doesn't rise steadily, but does so in occasional spikes. I turned my back on the syrup at the wrong time, and when I came back it had gone from 295 to 325 degrees, which brings me to number 2.
2. Don't BURN the syrup. It does not smell good, which means your candy will not smell good.
3. make COOKIES instead. Just a thought.

Maybe someday I'll give this another shot, but for now I think I'll buy my Torrone and save myself the 60 minute clean up!

Persimmon Jam

2007-12-13T16:16:00.001-08:00

As promised! I found the sugar proportions for this recipe on a website which claimed that Hachiya persimmons are bad for jam-making because heating them brings back the tannins (tannicity?). I had a dozen Hachiyas in the other room, so I took the sugar-to-fruit proportions but not the advice. The result: decidedly good!

6 smallish Hachiya persimmons - jelly soft (about 2.25 cups)
3/4c sugar
juice of one lemon
splash of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon

This was the easiest jam I've made yet.
First, stick a small plate in the freezer (do this in advance if you remember). Scoop out the persimmon pulp using Heather's spoon method (see previous post), and put in a pan with the other ingredients. Turn on med-high heat, meanwhile get your jars boiling in another pot. Once the persimmon pulp mix comes to a boil, stir constantly and keep the heat high for about ten minutes, or until the mix has expanded and shrunk back. When it seems to be getting nice and thick, grab your frozen plate and put a drop of the jam onto it, then turn the plate sideways: if the drop dribbles, put the plate back in the freezer keep boiling. Do this until the drop stays set on the plate when tilted, it might take a few tries and some extra cooking time. My mix took about 10 minutes of rapid boiling to get a good set. Pour the mix into your hot, boiled jars, screw the lids on reasonably tight and place them upside-down to cool. This recipe filled two 8-oz jars, plus a little extra for immediate snacking.

The tannic taste does come back a little bit when these persimmons are heated, but the result is smooth and sweet and not harsh at all. Rather than having a harsh stringent aftertaste, the jam has a mild tannic quality throughout. That said, it's a bit of a stretch to call it a tannic flavor though, and it really balances the sugar well. The cinnamon is a nice accent, although the vanilla does not shine through. Adding the vanilla at the end (after cooking) would protect that flavor a bit more.

Delicious!

Persimmon Bread

2007-12-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

This recipe is adapted from one that Google turned up. It had considerably less butter and sugar than some other recipes I found, and it could probably stand to have even less sugar in it ... or maybe use honey instead.

2c. unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1c. persimmon slices (two medium-small persimmons)
1c. sugar
1/2c. milk
2 eggs
1/4c. softened butter
1/2c. chopped toasted pecans
1/2c raisins (golden and thompson)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix together the dry ingredients, using what spices you like (the ones above are estimates of what I used) and sifting the baking soda/powder so it's not clumpy. A great trick for people who hate to sift: I use a small tea strainer, which is just the right size to sift a couple tsp of something quickly. Beat the eggs with the sugar and milk, and add the softened butter. Beat togther well, then mix into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the raisins and pecans and fold those in. Pour this into a buttered loaf pan and sprinkle a little extra sugar over it - it makes the top a little extra sweet and crunchy. The recipe I was working from called for 45 minutes in the oven, but my loaf took about 65 minutes total. The result was a little crunchy at the edges, but perfectly moist inside. If you were using a brownie pan instead of a loaf pan, 45 minutes might be just perfect.

A note about persimmons:
I'm really intrigued by persimmons. They are simultaneously beautiful, delicious, and quietly repellent all at once. I love the rich color, and the sweet apricoty taste when they are ripe, but I can't stand the stringent aftertaste of the acorn-shaped variety (Hachiya). These ones are great for baking, and also great for eating (when VERY soft) if you can stand the tannic aftertaste (I can't). I waited until I thought my persimmons were perhaps too ripe and even beginning to pucker, but they turned out to be just perfect. The non-astringent ones (Fuyu, or others) much less tannic and can be eaten sooner, but I've never baked with them. I'm not sure how a crisper, younger Fuyu persimmon would turn out in bread or pudding form - anyone else have experience with this?

Up next: Persimmon Jam!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie

2007-11-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

This pie uses fresh pumpkin, not canned. The recipe here is just for the filling, and fills about two standard pies or 1 1/2 extra-large ones. For the crust I used a ball of pastry dough that had been in the freezer for about three months; when I find the recipe for it I'll post it here too (it's quite good!). This would probably be great with the crust recipe Heather posted for her zucchini quiche, too.

Filling:
2 sugar pie pumpkins
1/2c heavy cream
1 1/2c milk
~3/4c brown sugar
4-5 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger (fresh would be incredible)
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

(the spices are to taste - use what you like, as much as you like, add what you like, subtract what you don't)

Cut the pumpkins in half and scoop out the seeds and strings, and save the seeds if you want to roast them or dry them for planting. Oil the cut edges and place them on a baking sheet. Roast at 350*F for about 45-50 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily w/ a fork. Wait for them to cool to just warm, then scoop out the flesh and discard the skins. I added the milk to the pulp and blended in small batches to get a puree (large batches just jam up the blender, the milk helps some with this). At this point I had a little under 4 cups of pumpkin puree - nearly enough for 2 pies, but I chose to make one large pie (the dish is 10 or 11 inches) and another dish of just pumpkin custard (no crust). Then you're ready to add the other ingredients (I used 5 eggs), mix up, pour into a pre-baked pie shell, and bake at 425*F for 20 minutes, then 375*F for another 20-30 minutes. Mine needed nearly 60 minutes of baking overall. It might be a good idea to cover the crust with foil for the second half, as mine got a little almost-burnt.

The results:
This is an excellent pie. The texture is smooth but more interesting than pie made from canned pumpkin, and it tastes more complex without being too squash-y. This amount of sugar was sort of my upper limit - it was a little sweeter than it needed to be, but not too sweet. I'd like to see how this turns out with honey used instead of brown sugar.

Question for crust pre-bakers:
Does anyone have a good method of keeping their pie crust flat while pre-baking? I've tried using parchment paper weighted with beans, rice, etc, and this always results in greasy, buttery crust bottom. Ideas?

Heather and Ellen's Egg Bake

2007-09-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

This is a fluffy, eggy casserole style dish. You can improvise whatever filling you like, as it is basically a rectangular quiche with no crust. This is the basic recipe as nabbed from Ellen & Heather's recipe box:

10 eggs
1 lb grated cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup butter
1 can green chiles (about a cup?)

Combine ingredients and pour into a buttered casserole dish, bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. This is super easy and super adaptable. Instead of green chiles I used sauteed red & yellow onions, red padron peppers and celery, and I layered some sliced tomatoes on top with some cheese on them. I also used only .75 lb of cheese and nixed the butter - the result was still tasty. I added saffron, which had questionable results.

Spinach and Pear Salad with Pecans, Feta & Mint

2007-08-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

So good. So, so good. This is an adapted version of this entry from Marth Rose Shulman's wonderful little book, Main-Dish Salads.

Salad:
~fresh spinach, baby or otherwise
~mixed greens (optional; if all that spinach is just too much sometimes!)
~fresh mint leaves (experiment with amounts as you wish; chopping large leaves into smaller pieces is recommended. if i had to say an amount: perhaps 7 or 8 leaves per plate. yum!)
~pears, washed, cored and sliced (bosc are usually best for this, but you can use bartlett, d'anjou, whatever! i never peel mine first, but i'm sure you can if you want to.)
~some red onion, very thinly sliced (the thinner the better! and not too much.)
~feta cheese, crumbled (any kind and amount you like; sometimes i don't have any feta, and the salad is still plenty delicious.)
~pecans (i highly recommend toasting them ahead of time. you can use a toaster oven or a frying pan. then break them up into small pieces, or leave them whole if you like! a handful per person or so.)

Wash all greens (including mint leaves) and dry, removing any stems or icky bits along the way. Place desired amount of foliage on plate(s). Add pear slices as desired, maybe like a quarter or a half of a pear per person. Throw down some feta, add a few sliced onions on top, and finish with the toasted pecans. Drizzle with dressing.

Dressing:
~2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
~1 Tbsp vinegar (i've used everything from balsamic to red wine to raspberry. all delicious. the book calls for sherry or champagne vinegar, neither of which i've ever owned. if you have them, by all means try them!)
~1 tsp mild-flavored honey (i usually up this to 2 tsp, but that's just me.)
~1/2 to 1 tsp dijon mustard to taste
~1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
~1/4 cup olive oil
~salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Throw everything in a clean jam jar, seal tightly, and shake. Alternatively, whisk everything together in a bowl. Add to salad as you see fit, and save any remaining! It's good for a few days, usually. Also delicious: add some fresh dill to the dressing. This is amazing when substituting grapefruit for the pears. But if you do that, leave the onions out. And um.... enjoy!
This salad is great with some baked garnet yams, mashed with a little lime juice. And a glass of Martinelli's! Okay, bye for now.

Zucchini Quiche with Basil

2007-08-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

...I found this recipe in a vegetarian cookbook, and it's one i've returned to many times (and altered a bit, here) when i feel like something yummy and home-made. Hope you like it!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Crust:
~1 stick of butter (chill ahead of time in freezer for awhile, if possible)
~3/4 cup whole wheat flour (pastry flour is ok)
~3/4 cup white flour (pastry flour is ok)
~salt as desired (<= 1 tsp)
~herbs, if you are feeling feisty (dried basil, thyme, etc.)
~few Tbsp of ice water, until dough holds.

So, okay- if you want to use a pre-made crust, that's cool. Also, if you already have a fabulous crust recipe of your own, use it! For those who have never made their own and wish to try, here is a very basic rundown: To begin, put a cup of ice water in the freezer, near your (hopefully) chilled butter. ;)
Sift together flours, salt, and optional herbs in a large bowl. Have a rolling pin and a clean space ready and dusted with flour for when you need to roll out the dough. Cut half of the butter up into small pieces, and, working quickly with your fingertips, combine the pieces into the flour, until it is all somewhat like crumbs. Add the rest of the butter and make sure to get all the flour from the bottom of the bowl! Try not to overwork the dough, which, i know, is way easier said than done. Now add the ice water, a Tbsp at a time, mixing a little in between, until the dough holds together in a ball, but is not wet. Place ball on floured surface, flour your hands, and press the edges inwards a bit and flatten the top just a bit. Now roll out the dough, from the center outwards, until it will fit your 9" round pie plate. Try to make sure it doesn't stick to the surface by flipping it a couple of times while rolling. Use as few rolls as possible! It is ok if there are small butter pieces left in the dough; they will incorporate while baking. We just don't want the dough to be tough by rolling it out for too long and making the flour glutens develop. Whew! Okay, now place the dough carefully in the pie plate, press it against the edges, and prick the bottom a few times with a fork. Weigh it down with beans, if you can (not absolutely necessary, though) and bake in the preheated oven for about ten minutes while you prepare the rest of the quiche. If it is done before everything else, that's fine (in my experience it usually is, in fact). Just take it out and place on a rack until you need it.

Filling:
~2 Tbsp olive oil
~red onion, sliced thinly (anywhere from a half to a whole onion, depending on preference)
~2-3 medium zucchini, sliced (the smaller and darker green they are, the better!)
~5-6 mushrooms, sliced (no need for fancy ones! crimini or button work great)
~spinach, if desired (i like to do this if i have some around. if frozen, thaw first, and if fresh, blanch in a little water until tender, then drain)

In a large frying pan, heat the oil, and add the onions. Saute until soft and aromatic, then add the zucchini and mushrooms. If you like, you may add a little herbs to the vegetables, such as dried basil, rosemary, or thyme, but it's not absolutely necessary ;) If using spinach as well, add towards the end. Stir occasionally for about 8-10 minutes. Try not to overcook- remember, these will be baking in the oven for an hour as well. While this is all cooking over a medium heat, put together the liquid ingredients.

~3 eggs
~1 cup milk (not sure if this recipe works with soymilk yet)
~1 tsp salt (or less, as the cheese will add saltiness)
~black pepper as desired

~grated cheese of your choice (romano, parmesan, gouda, swiss, etc.)
~crumbled feta
(i would say roughly a cup of cheese altogether; less is also fine, and more is okay too! experiment with cheese flavors as you like, and remember that it is definitely helpful to grate the cheese ahead of time.)
~fresh basil leaves, roughly a handful, rinsed and dried

Beat the eggs and milk together with the salt and pepper. Put some grated cheese on the bottom of the crust, then spoon in the vegetables from the pan. Add the feta and most of the rest of the grated cheese, and layer the fresh basil leaves on top of it all. Now, slowly pour the egg/milk mixture over everything (if there is too much liquid, leave a little out!). Top with the rest of the cheese, and more basil if you want; i always do ;)
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for about 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven (mine always cooks fast....) You want the crust to be golden brown, and the top as well. It should spring back a bit when you touch it, and smell delicious. Remove from oven, cool until you can't stand it anymore, and enjoy! Scrumptious with salad and a glass of soymilk. Or wine, if that's your fancy. So long!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Chicken and Cranberries

2007-08-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Our CSA gave us 7 large, shiny poblano peppers last week, and since our new veggies are arriving today we decided to stuff and roast these for dinner last night. We also had some leftover shredded chicken from the enchiladas we made the night before, which was already cooked and ready to mix into a stuffing. I've only done stuffed peppers in Vahid's kitchen, with him orchestrating the process, but it turned out to be easy to reproduce and adapt on my own.

First, cut the caps off of the poblanos, pull out the seeds, and save the tops to put back on once they're stuffed. Preheat the oven to 375F.

The stuffing could really be anything, but here's what I did: I sauteed half an onion and then added the shredded chicken and a few tablespoons of dried cranberries, and cooked until the berries began to warm up and release their aroma. Then I threw the mix into a bowl and added a can each of corn and black beans, and some chopped fresh cilantro, salt & pepper. Mix it all up, and try not to eat it all before stuffing.

The peppers ooze a bit while roasting, so we lined the baking dish with tin foil (turned out to be a good move!). Stuff the peppers with as much stuffing as you can cram in there, then fit the caps back on and rub the exteriors with olive oil. Roast for about half an hour, turning the peppers over once so they brown evenly.

We served this with spanish rice (yum!) and a simple salad of lettuce and cucumber with the leftover stuffing spattered on top. Easy, tasty, and a nice break from the usual. The cranberries were both sweet and tart, adding a nice contrast to the tastes of the peppers and chicken; I could imagine this working well with either dried currants or golden raising, too.

Peach Blueberry Jam with Vanilla

2007-08-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Chez Panisse Fruit (which arrived this week) and the peaches at the farmer's market, I made a Peach Blueberry Vanilla jam today. The aromas coming from this stuff as it cooked were incredible - enough to make you wish you could stand over the boiling pot for the rest of time. As the blueberry syrup thickened, it began to smell faintly like sweet potatoes, but maybe that was just me.

~2.75 lbs yellow peaches
.75 lbs blueberries
4 cups sugar
juice of 3 lemons
2 vanilla beans

I blanched the peaches for 1 minute, then cooled in ice water, to make them easier to peel. Cut into wedges and add 3 cups of the sugar, one vanilla bean and the juice of 2 of the lemons, bring to a simmer and then refrigerate overnight. Do the same with the blueberries and the remaining sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. The next day, boil the syrups (I did them separate, but I don't see what harm would come from combining them) until they pass the saucer test and then add the fruits and bring back to a boil. Boil together for a few minutes and then jar immediately. I used half-pint jars this time, and this recipe filled 7 of them. I also boiled the jars, because of Kyle's scary stories about botulism. I cut the vanilla beans into pieces and added them to each jar as a garnish.

This jam looks like it's going to be *incredible*. The smell of cooking peaches (esp. with vanilla) makes me wish I'd been making peach jam my whole life.

Mashed Potatoes with so much cream

2007-08-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

Late last night the urge struck to make something - anything - delicious, and we ended up settling on mashed potatoes. I had never made mashed potatoes before, but it turned out to be obscenely easy. We cut into chunks and boiled 10 small russets, and sauteed several cebollas de ribo verde (small white onions w/ green stems) in another pan. When the potatoes were cooked we drained them and mashed in a few tablespoons of butter, about 2 cups of heavy cream (...) and the cooked onions, as well as about 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano. Tiffany was appalled at the amount of cream, but those who didn't see how much went in ate away happily and without guilt - delicious!

Strawberry Preserves No. 2

2007-08-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Preserves No. 1 resulted in a runny mess that oozed all over my high hopes of perfect jam on the first try. I had 12 jars of soupy, wet syrup that you couldn't really call "jam". In desperation, I re-boiled and re-jarred the jam in two batches, and I got a much better result. This time I took a page out of housemate Paul's book and used diluted iodaphor to sanitize the jars after washing them. Paul brews beer from time to time, and this is a method he uses in his home-brewing which also works well for canning.

I strained the berries and set them aside, just boiling the syrup alone for what turned out to be ~20 minutes. I did this in 2 batches, to avoid the mess that resulted when I tried doing it all at once the first time. An important element of jam-making is using a pot that is at least 3 times bigger than the volume you're starting out with. The syrup, once it heats up, begins to get foamy and the foam expands at least this much.

The frozen saucer test (see S.P. No.1) turned out to be very helpful. It takes much longer than I had thought for the syrup to get to the no-dribbling point, but the result is a heavy, thick syrup that you can actually imagine jamming up quite nicely.

The syrup seems to have three significant stages while it's boiling:
1. it's liquid: it boils, but there is no foam
2. it begins to foam while you stir it (you should be stirring almost constantly), but when you stop stirring it goes back to a transparent liquid
3. it foams like crazy while stirred, and when you stop stirring it stays at roughly the same foamy volume (and might even keep expanding)

It's not until at least stage 3 that there's any hope of it passing the frozen saucer test. I let the syrup get to this point before I added the fruit back in because I didn't want to over-handle the berries. The next time I make this jam, I'll try to handle the berries even less. I was really hoping for a whole-fruit jam that is all about the berries in it, but this batch ended up getting a little more mushy than I care for. The yield after the first boiling/jarring was 12 scant pints, runny. After the second boil, this reduced to 7 full pints - incredible to think that 5 pints of water were boiled off!

Finally, the original recipe called for a smaller amount of mint, and commented that the mint didn't really shine through. Whatever I did here seems to have worked, because the aroma is definitely minty and the finish also has a hint of mint.

Tempeh Kale No.1

2007-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
8 oz tempeh, broken into small pieces
1 yellow onion (large), chopped
1/2 bunch each of parsley and cilantro, chopped
2 cups asst sweet peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

sauce: (measurements eyeballed)
4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp hot chili oil/paste
2 tbsp rice cooking wine
2 tsp soy sauce

saute onions first until clear, add tempeh and try to get it crispy. Season with salt & pepper at this point, and once the tempeh is crispy enough add the garlic, parsley, cilantro and peppers. Sautee for a couple minutes until the herbs become aromatic and sweaty, and then begin adding the ingredients for the sauce. Add the kale last, and cover so that it steams a little, stirring every couple minutes.

I served this with roasted rosemary potato wedges, and one of the housemates had three (3) helpings. It was pretty delicious, although not quite as good as Malabar's Tempeh Goreng. Saffron would have been excellent on the potatoes, too.

Strawberry Preserves No.1

2007-07-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

This would make a poor recipe for future use because these quantities are inaccurate and poorly conceived, but here goes:

~10lbs fresh strawberries, washed (& halved or quartered if large) - this was a full 6 quarts (24 cups)
9 cups turbinado sugar (the crystallized kind)
4 cups granulated sugar
juice of 5 lemons, plus some zest
two fistfuls of mint, washed and crushed (~60 leaves?)

Toss the berries with the sugar and lemon juice and let sit overnight. The recipes I used as guidelines (mostly Christine Ferber's strawberry-pepper-mint jam, Clotilde Dusoulier's adaptation of that recipe) all called for nearly as much sugar as berries, which seemed obscene to me so I tried this with slightly less sugar than berries. The potential downside of this is that there won't be enough sugar to properly preserve the fruit, since there is no pectin, so there's a risk of poorly preserved preserves. Maybe we'll eat it fast enough for this to not be a real problem. Most of this jam will be gifted out into the world anyway, so hopefully nobody is going to try to age it. On the other hand, the idea of sweet superb berries in the dead of winter is also a big draw, so hopefully my 2:1 berry:sugar ratio will be good enough for it to keep 6 months or so. Within a couple hours of being sugared, the berries surrender their juices and the mix starts to look like strawberry soup.

The next day, bring just to a simmer and then refrigerate overnight. I tried not to moosh the berries up too much while also stirring the sugar enough to keep it from caramelizing at the bottom of the pot. In fear of over-cooking the berries, I actually took them out of the pot just before the mix hit a simmer, and then let the juices simmer on their own for a minute or two. It began to get foamy, which I just stirred back in.

The third day, boil the syrup (w/o the fruit) for 10 or so minutes, add the fruit and mint and boil another 5 minutes. I left the kitchen at a bad time, and my jam boiled over, so I probably didn't boil the mix with the berries in it quite long enough. Once the berries were added it took several minutes to come back to a simmer, and when it did it started to expand ominously. I was supposed to do the Frozen Saucer Test to check if the jam would set, but I completely forgot (frozen saucer test: place drop of syrup on a saucer that's been in the freezer, tilt the saucer and see if the jam dribbles. if so, boil longer). I think the result is going to be a bit runny, but it should still taste wonderful and I'm not a fan of super-thick jams anyway.

Theoretically the jars are supposed to be boiled various times and sanitized and handled only by virgins, but I made a bold move and simply washed them vigorously by hand before canning. I set them to dry upside-down on a clean towel, hoping to minimize any teeny critters that would want to set up shop in a jam jar. Once filled (not quite full) with the preserves, I tightened the lids ("finger tight") and set them to cool upside-down on the same towel.

I wanted to work with a big batch for several reasons, mainly:
1. I wanted to pick a million strawberries,
2. strawberries are delicious,
3. if the result is good, I want to give the jam to a million people,
4. if the batch were too small, it would feel like a lot of work for little result.
As it turned out, the batch was a little too big to work with comfortably. The berries took up a lot of space in the fridge, were difficult to manage physically (imagine pouring 6 quarts of strawberry soup into pans and large bowls repeatedly), and the ultimate boiling-over that was my undoing could have been avoided if I wasn't trying to fit the fruit in a pot that was barely big enough. I think working with a recipe half this size would be ideal, in the future.

I have no idea how this will turn out. I will post an update when the jam is cool and has been sampled.