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...
18 August 2008
08 August 2008
Peach Jam, Peach Blackberry Jam and Plum Blackberry Coulis
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)
03 August 2008
Yam and Sweet Potato Fries
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!
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!
12 June 2008
Chicken Pot-Pie Casserole with Biscuit Topping
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!
19 March 2008
20-hour Meat Roast
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.
"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.
09 March 2008
Almond Meyer Lemon Bread
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!
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!
06 February 2008
Porridge Bread
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).
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).
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