A Little Bit Burnt

Italian wedding soup

2012-02-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Italian wedding soup

It was snowing when we got up this morning - perfect day to make a pot of soup! I had flipped through Food and Wine's February issue and and was inspired by the recipe for Italian wedding soup. I used the recipe as a general guide and just kind of made my own version. Here's what I did:

The broth

1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 quarts chicken broth, or 1 quart plus 1 quart water, which is what I did since I only had one container of broth
5 oz. pkg. of fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
olive oil to saute vegetables

lots of little meatballs

The meatballs

1 lb. ground pork - you can use ground chicken or turkey if you like, or use italian sausage
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1 clove garlic, very finely minced, or you can use some garlic powder if you like
a large pinch of oregano, crumble as you add
1/3 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

In a large heavy pot or dutch oven, heat a generous swirl of olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic with a large pinch of salt and saute about 3-4 minutes. Add the carrots with another pinch of salt and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add your broth and another good pinch of salt and a generous sprinkle of pepper. Cover the pot and and bring to a boil. Taste the broth and season with more salt if needed. Add the orzo and let it cook for about 6 minutes.

In a large bowl, add all your meatball ingredients. With your hands, mix everything together well, but gently. Form into small meatballs, whatever size you prefer. I did meatballs that were a little smaller than a 1" diameter, about the size of the top joint of your thumb.

Add your meatballs to the soup and let them cook for at least 5 minutes. Make sure the orzo is cooked. Add the chopped baby spinach at the end and stir into the soup. Taste and add more salt or pepper if you like. Serve with a little grated parmigiano reggiano if you like, and a grind of black pepper.

Roasted eggplant with yogurt sauce

2012-02-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

This recipe is adapted from "Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce" from Yotam Ottelenghi's fantastic vegetarian cookbook Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi, with a few minor tweaks. If you've flipped through it, you'll recognize it as the cover recipe. It's a beautiful book with fantastic photographs and everything just looks and sounds so good.

Because I don't ever have cow milk or buttermilk on hand, and didn't want to pick up a whole thing of buttermilk just to make this, I whisked the greek yogurt with a little almond milk and a bit of lemon juice to give it a little tang. Feel free to use buttermilk or other combinations - I'm sure it'll be delicious!

I loved the author's description of how to get pomegranate seeds out. When I was a kid, getting a pomegranate every so often was a big treat since they're always a bit expensive, and they are just messy. After splitting your pomegranate in half horizontally (go around the circumference with a knife not too deep without cutting all the way through, then put your fingers in and pull apart), Ottolenghi describes the method by basically taking a rolling pin or a bit wooden spoon and, with the half cut wide down in the palm of your hand, tapping on it slowly at first and then increasing the speed and intensity until everything falls out! It's still a bit messy as you inevitably crush a few in the process and there's a little bright red juice splattering a bit so don't wear anything white and do it over a big bowl.

The recipe calls for a sprinkle of za'atar or zahatar at the end - if you haven't come across or used this before, I recommend giving it a try sometime. I love the combination of sesame seeds, sumac and thyme and I love just mixing it into some labne or really thick greek yogurt with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt to dip pita into or sometimes serve it with grilled fish or meat. I mix some right into the yogurt sauce here and sprinkle a little on top to serve.

The pomegranate seeds on top give the dish nice little bursts of sweetness and tartness, but if you can't find a pomegranate, feel free to skip - the dish is still delicious without them.

Adapted from Yotam Ottelenghi's Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi
Serves 3 as more of an entree (1 eggplant per person) or 6 as an appetizer

3 small to medium sized eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise
Olive oil for brushing the eggplant
salt and pepper
2 tsp. thyme leaves(or lemon thyme if you have it), plus a little more to sprinkle on at the end.
3/4 cup greek yogurt (6 oz. small container) or labne, Lebanese yogurt
1/3 cup milk of your choice (I use almond) plus 2 Tbsp. lemon juice OR 1/3 cup buttermilk, more if you want the sauce a little thinner
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
2 tsp. za'atar, 1 tsp. to mix into the yogurt sauce and 1 tsp. to sprinkle on top
Pomegranate seeds to garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice your eggplant in half and score each half with diagonal lines, not cutting through the eggplant, into a diamond pattern. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.

Brush generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and scatter some thyme leaves on top.

Roast them in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until they are tender and browned. Let them cool completely.

Whisk the yogurt, milk, lemon juice or buttermilk, 1 tsp. of the za'atar, salt, and garlic together, taste and adjust with more salt or lemon juice, or add more milk or buttermilk if you want a thinner consistency. Store covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Spoon the sauce over the eggplant halves. Sprinkle with the remaining tsp. of za'atar, pomegranate seeds and thyme leaves to garnish. Drizzle a little olive oil over them at the end.

Thit kho or pork stewed in caramel sauce

2012-01-30T05:06:00.000-08:00

Thit kho

Thit kho, or pork stewed in caramel sauce and coconut juice with some hard boiled eggs, is one of the most traditional Vietnamese dishes for Tet, the New Year. But you can make it anytime - it's the ultimate Vietnamese comfort food. Make a pot with lots of sauce to pour over your rice, and to dip lightly pickled bean sprouts or cabbage in - so delicious!

This dish is not for the faint of heart when it comes to some fatty pork - it's a special occasion, or every once in a while, dish, not one you can have too often :) You can pick off any big chunks of fat and skin and discard, but you really do need the fat to slow cook this down and have really rich, tender pork that has soaked up all the flavors of the caramel sauce, coconut juice, fish sauce and black pepper. Adding hard boiled eggs may seem strange if you're unfamiliar with Vietnamese food and with this dish, but they are delicious and it is always sad when the last of the eggs is gone. Serve this with rice and lightly pickled bean sprouts - click here for the recipe - or sliced cucumbers to help cut the richness and add a nice contrast.

1-1/2 lbs. boneless pork leg or shoulder with a good bit of fat and skin attached
6 eggs, hard boiled for 7 minutes, and peeled
1 can coconut juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tsp. black pepper, more to taste

Cut the meat into large chunks with some fat and skin attached.

In a large pot or enameled dutch oven, something light metal or enameled cast iron that is a light color, heat up the water over medium heat. Once it is simmering, add the sugar. Heat up the sugar carefully until it starts to darken until it's a dark caramel color. Add the coconut juice, fish sauce, pepper and the pieces of pork. Stir everything together well.

Cover and let everything simmer, turning the meat to make sure everything is covered in the caramel sauce. Let everything simmer about 1 hour, turning the meat a few times. Add the eggs and let them simmer with the pork for another 30 minutes or more until the meat is very tender. Taste the sauce, and add fish sauce or sugar to adjust the taste to your liking. Add more pepper if you like.

Thit kho simmering on the stove

Serve the pork and eggs with lots of sauce to dip pickled bean sprouts, or sliced cucumbers in and to pour over rice.

Dua gia or pickled bean sprouts

2012-01-30T05:05:00.000-08:00

Pickled bean sprouts

Pickled bean sprouts, or dua gia, it typically eaten with kho dishes, or meats or fish stewed in caramel sauce and fish sauce. At Tet, the Lunar New Year, it is served alongside thit kho, pork and eggs stewed in coconut juice, caramel sauce and fish sauce.

These are meant to be more quick pickles, and should be consumed within a few days of making them, though they are best within a few hours of being ready. Typically, this is made simply with bean sprouts and scallions, but you can also add thinly sliced pieces of pickled mustard leaves.

For the brine:

2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

Vegetables

1 lb. bean sprouts
4 - 5 scallions, cut into 2" lengths

Heat up the water and dissolve the sugar and salt in it. Add the vinegar and mix thoroughly. Add you vegetables and mix well. You'll need to mix the vegetables well a few times as the bean sprouts give up some of their liquid and shrink down. Let them soak at least 30 - 45 minutes or until you like the flavor - they should have a crisp, tangy flavor.

Drain and serve large amounts of the vegetables alongside your kho dishes.

Cha ca or salmon cakes with dill and cilantro

2012-01-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Cha ca

Chuc mung nam moi! Happy new year! Monday, January 23 is Tet, the Vietnamese (or Chinese or Lunar) New Year! This year is the year of the dragon!

I am missing my family this weekend, and decided Saturday morning that I wanted to go out and buy food to make for Tet. So Rick and I went out in the snow on Saturday morning to hit Chinatown and the Vietnamese grocery store over there on Grand near Chrystie, to pick up a few things.

I made these cha ca today for part of my spread for Tet. I have always loved cha ca, and there's something about dill and salmon that are so perfect together - check out this Vietnamese soup with salmon and dill sometime. I also made a few other dishes, recipes to follow :)

This is a multi-step process so plan accordingly. First, marinate the salmon a few hours or overnight. Then run through a food processor to make your paste. Then mix in your fresh herbs. Make your salmon patties and steam them for a few minutes. Then pan-fry them on each side. Slice to serve. This is great with a little Vietnamese dipping sauce, nuoc cham, and you can serve as part of a larger meal. You can also roll the slices up with some rice noodles and some fresh herbs in rice paper and dip in nuoc cham.

Makes about 18 patties about 3" in diameter

2-1/2 lbs. salmon fillet, skin removed, fish cut into 1" cubes
4-5 scallions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 eggs
1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) fish sauce
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1- 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped dill
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Vegetable or canola oil to fry

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in the fish sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, baking powder, cornstarch, and chopped scallions. Add the salmon cubes and mix well. Cover the let the fish marinade for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

In a food processor, run half of the garlic through. Add half of the salmon mixture and run through the processor until you have a nice paste. Scrape down the bowl a few times until the mixture is ready. It'll have a little bounce to it. Scrape it out into a bowl. Repeat with the second half of the garlic and the salmon mixture. Gently mix in the chopped dill and cilantro into the salmon paste.

Set up your steamer, filling the bottom about halfway with water and bring to a boil. Cut up some parchment paper into 18 x 3" squares. Set up your assembly area. Place a tray or large plate and set out some of the parchment squares. Set up a small bowl of water near your assembly area to help form the patties. With a large spoon, scoop up some of the salmon mixture and put it onto a parchment square. with one of our hands, dip your palm into the water and pat the scoop of mixture down to form a patty - it doesn't have to be perfect.

On the steamer tray, place several salmon patties down (still on top of their parchment squares), and make sure there is a little space in between each of them. Put the lid on top and steam for about 6 minutes. They'll be puffed and very light, almost whitish in color. Remove the patties and place on a plate or tray to cool down. Steam the rest of the patties. When they cool down, they'll become a little pinkish again and will deflate a little bit. In the picture below, the ones on the left have cooled down a bit and have regained some of their color. The ones on the right are fresh out of the steamer and are much lighter. As they cool down, they'll regain some color and drink down a bit.

Heat up a little vegetable or canola oil in a nonstick pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Remove the parchment squares and discard. Add some of the steamed patties without crowding the pan and brown for a few minutes on each side.

Cut into slices to serve. Serve as is, or with a little Vietnamese dipping sauce, nuoc cham. You can serve the cha ca as an appetizer, as part of a larger spread, or roll the slices up with some rice noodles and some fresh herbs in rice paper and dip in nuoc cham.

You can freeze some of them after they have been steamed and cooled down, wrapped in plastic and put into a freezer bag. Defrost and then pan fry another time to serve.

Cha gio or Vietnamese spring rolls or egg rolls

2012-01-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

cha gio

January 23, 2012 is Tet, or the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the dragon!

While you might be on a New Year's resolutions kick and are trying to eat healthy, here's a recipe for traditional cha gio, or the Vietnamese version of egg rolls or spring rolls. Vietnamese rolls are a bit different from Chinese ones. They are traditionally wrapped in rice paper rather than a wheat flour wrapper. The filling has meat, or sometimes a mix of pork and shrimp, veggies like carrot and sometimes jicama, cellophane noodles, and flavors of fish sauce.

This is a recipe you can make for party or gathering, or if you're feeling inspired by the Lunar New Year!

I like to make these pretty small instead of the big full-sized ones so they fry up quickly and you don't have to worry so much about whether or not they are cooked all the way through. Also, really traditional cha gio will use a rice paper wrapper as I use here, but it's pretty common to see them done with a Filipino lumpia wrapper, which is thinner than typical Chinese egg roll wrappers, is easy to use to make uniform, neatly wrapped rolls, and gives you a nice crisp outside. They stay crispier longer, and are also a little easier to work with and to fry without creating bubbles or spatters. But I really like the flavor of the rice paper wrapper, and it's also gluten-free if you're concerned about that. They don't get quite as crispy but you the flavor and texture is so good. You are welcome to use lumpia wrappers if you prefer.

Also, these are traditionally made with ground pork, and with crab or shrimp sometimes added to the mixture as well. I've made these with just ground pork, but you can use a combination, or could also try them with ground chicken or turkey if you like, though dark meat is probably better than white meat so they don't dry out.

I use these triangular rice paper wrappers, basically large circle wrappers that have been cut into quarters. They're great for making small cha gio that are about 2-3" long. You may not be able to find these as easily, so if not, you can use the small circle wrappers.

Once you roll up a few, you'll be amazed how quickly you can churn them out - I made about 50 of them in no time! And of course, if you have friends or family around and can get a little help, it will go even faster. I learned a little tip from Andrea Nguyen's fantastic Vietnamese cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen - add a little sugar to the water you use to rehydrate your rice paper wrappers to add a little color to your cha gio when frying them up.

Serve with lettuce, herbs like mint and cilantro, and nuoc cham dipping sauce, or serve as is if you like. You can also try my vegetarian dipping sauce, nuoc cham chay, made with soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Traditionally, cha gio are placed on a lettuce leaf with a few herbs placed on top, rolled up and dipped into nuoc cham.

Makes about 4 dozen smaller 2-3" inch long cha gio, or about 2 dozen larger ones

48 smaller triangle or quarter-circle rice paper sheets, small rice paper sheets, or for larger rolls, you can use 24 x 8" or 9" rice paper sheets
Warm water for soaking rice paper sheets
3 to 4 Tbsp. sugar
Peanut, corn or vegetable oil for frying

Filling:

1-1/2 lb. ground pork, or a mixture of ground pork and chopped up shrimp
2 -3 carrots, peeled, trimmed and grated on a box grater
1 bundle of cellophane noodles, soaked in hot water until they've softened a bit
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
4-5 scallions, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, stems removed, and finely chopped
4 - 5 wood ear mushrooms, soaked and finally chopped, or you can find dried thinly sliced mushrooms already - soak a few pinches of them
1 egg
3 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar

Preparation

Pork filling

Prep all your veggies. Soak, drain and prep the mushrooms and cellophane noodles. Cut the noodles into roughly 2" pieces. I just take a big scissors and start snipping away all over them - no need to be too careful here.

In a large bowl, beat the egg with the fish sauce, salt and pepper, and the 1 tsp. of sugar. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix to combine. Make a tiny patty and fry up or cook quickly in the microwave to taste. Adjust the seasoning if needed with more salt or fish sauce if you want it saltier, or a little more sugar if you like. Cook and taste a bit of the filling again until it is to your liking.

Pour your warm water into a large, shallow bowl that you can easily dip your rice paper into. Stir in the sugar and stir to dissolve.

Set up your work space - your bowl of filling mixture, the shallow bowl of water, the rice paper wrappers, a cutting board or other surface to roll up your spring rolls, and a large tray or platter to hold them as you complete each one.

Assembly

Dip each piece of rice paper into the water to moisten all over. Shake off the excess water and lay it flat on your work surface to soften. I usually do them two or three at a time. Here are your step-by-step instructions on assembling them:

Put a large spoon of filling on to the rice paper.

Roll up once from the bottom.

Fold one of the sides in.

Roll up from the bottom again.

Fold the other side in.

Roll up again until it's completely rolled up.

Repeat with the remaining rice sheets and filling mixture until all the filling is gone.

Frying

Set up a rack over a baking sheet and a metal colander over a plate, or a some paper towels or paper bag to soak up oil on the counter near where you are frying. In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat about 2 inches of oil over medium high heat. Heat the oil until it reaches 325 degrees F (use a frying thermometer). If you have a deep fryer, by all means, use it.

Add the rolls, with the seams down, into the oil a few rolls at a time until you have enough in the oil without them touching each other too much. Let the rolls fry until they are golden brown and crispy, and 7 - 10 minutes or so, turning them if necessary to cook evenly. Don't let the oil go over 350 degrees F, regulating the heat as necessary.

If large bubbles start to form, gently poke with a chopstick or something long to break. Use chopsticks or tongs to remove the rolls from the oil when they're done and set in the colander for a bit to drain or blot on paper towels or paper bags and then place on the wire rack to cool.

Do in batches, adding a little more oil if needed between batches and bringing the oil up to to 325, 350 again. Try to really stay on top of controlling the heat throughout the process. If the oil gets too hot, they'll start burning on the ends a bit before the insides are thoroughly cooked all the way through.

If making them ahead of time, you can gently refry them before serving. You can also gently reheat in the oven before serving, but they are best and crispiest when freshly fried. I don't mind them not super crispy and at room temperature if they were made a few hours before, but if you want to serve them at their crispiest, gently frying them before serving is the best way to go.

Serve with a plate of lettuce leaves, some cilantro, mint, and nuoc cham dipping sauce, or serve as is if you like. You can also try my vegetarian dipping sauce, nuoc cham chay, made with soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Sometimes it's nice to grate a little carrot, or finely julienne a little carrot, and add it to the nuoc cham, or you could also serve some Vietnamese pickles, or do chua alongside everything. You can also serve them with bun thit nuong - a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork over rice noodles, do chua, and everything else mentioned above.

Red lentil curry soup with carrots and butternut squash

2012-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

Red lentil curry soup with carrrots and butternut squash

This is a nice and healthy soup with a kick of curry flavors and spice! Perfect for everyone getting a healthy start to the new year, or any time you're craving a smooth and spicy soup. Carrots and butternut squash add even more beautiful orange color to the red lentils and sweet flavors to complement the curry. This is a great vegetarian or vegan soup, or feel free to use chicken broth or stock if you prefer. You can also add a little milk, or dairy alternative milk like almond or rice milk, to loosen it up and give that bit of milkiness or richness feeling. I like it a lot with a little almond milk stirred in at the end - the flavor of almond milk complements the soup really well.

I use a red curry paste, but you can experiment with different curry pastes or curry powders. Soak your red lentils for a few hours before cooking and it will really speed up the cooking process. When everything is really tender, puree the soup to your desired consistency, or do everything in a dice and make a chunky soup.

Makes about 12 servings (only about 250 calories a serving!)

2 lb. bag of carrots, trimmed and peeled if you like, and sliced crosswise into 1/2" coins, bigger carrots cut in half lengthwise too
1-1/2 lb. or so butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into similar sized pieces
1 large yellow or white onion, rough dice
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 lb. bag red lentils, soaked for 3 to 4 hours before using
4 Tbsp. red curry paste (half of a 4 oz. can), more to taste
2 Tbsp. kosher salt to start, more to taste
1 Tbsp. sugar, more to taste
2 (8 cups) stock or broth of your choice, or water, more as needed
1 Tbsp. olive oil or more to saute vegetables

In a large heavy pot or dutch oven, heat up olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic with a pinch of salt, and saute until fragrant and starting to soften. Add the curry paste and saute another minute. Add your carrots and squash and saute for a few more minutes.

Add your stock, broth or water and make sure it covers the veggies by about 2 inches, adding a little additional water or broth if needed. Drain the lentils and rinse quickly and add to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium or medium low and let it simmer until everything is cooked and quite tender.

Puree in batches in a blender (only filling up to half of the blender jar each time), or use an immersion blender and puree some, all, or to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust with salt or sugar as needed. If it's too thick, add a little more broth or water, or a cup or so of milk if you like (almond or rice or other alternative milks to keep it vegan).

Serve as is, with a sprinkle of sliced scallions, a squeeze of lemon or lime, or with a dollop of yogurt if you like. This freezes well if you want to freeze some of it for another time.

Baked beans

2012-01-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

Baked beans

Happy new year! So I have not posted in ages, but it's a new year, and I'm on break from grad school so I'm going to use this time to try to cook a bit more again! We just got back from visiting family and friends over the holidays and I felt like going through the pantry a bit to see what we had to cook for the week.

Baked beans are perfect for a day when you're holed up inside (we are watching the Rose Bowl - go Badgers!) and can have a pot of beans simmering on the stove for several hours. This is delicious as is, but you can also add bacon if you like, but I'm trying to be a teeny bit healthier :) Feel free to add bacon though - it will add a nice smokiness. Also, if you like them a little tangier, add a little more cider vinegar. You can also add more pepper to give it a little more kick.

Also, it will really depend on your beans, the type, how fresh or old they are, on how long it will take for them to get tender. It can take anywhere from 3-1/2 or 6 hours even so give yourself plenty of time, or plan on making them to serve the next day. You can also cook the beans with just water, bay leaf and the ham hock for the first 2 hours and then add all the rest of the ingredients to speed up the cooking process. The salt and vinegar and ketchup and everything will slow down the cooking time and will make it take longer to cook the beans.

You can cook your beans on the stovetop, or in the oven for the "baked" part of your baked beans :)

Baked beans
(makes about 8 servings)

1 lb. beans of your choice - pinto, roman, cranberry
1 ham hock, or Smithfield makes a package of three thin slices of ham hock - I used two slices and threw the other slice in the freezer for another time
1 Tbsp. veg or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 bay leaves
1-1/3 cup ketchup
2/3 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt, more to taste
1 tsp. ground pepper

Soak your beans with the ham hock overnight. When you are ready to cook everything together, drain, rinse and set aside.

In a heavy pot or dutch oven, heat up your oil over medium high heat. Add onions with a pinch of salt and saute for a few minutes. Add your garlic and saute with onions for a few more minutes.

Add the ingredients from the ketchup down and mix together. Add the beans and ham hock, and add enough water to cover the beans by about 1-1/2 inches. Bring everything to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to medium low and let everything simmer for about 3-1/2 hours or more (up to 5 or 6 hours) until beans are tender, stirring occasionally. You can also pop into an oven that’s been pre-heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and let the beans cook in the oven for similar time until beans are tender. Add a little more water if you need it. Taste and adjust seasoning - more vinegar if you want more tanginess, more pepper for a little more of a kick, more brown sugar if you like your beans sweeter.

If you want to add bacon, you could chop up about 1/2 lb. bacon and saute with onions and garlic, and then keep going.

First snow of the year in Brooklyn

2011-10-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

It snowed ALL DAY yesterday in Brooklyn - crazy! Big fat, wet snowflakes. It looked pretty messy out there - I did not leave the apartment :) Not a ton stuck around but this is what it looked like this morning afterwards when the sky was super blue, clear and sunny.

So, in honor of the snow, I made soup this morning.

Kale, sausage and cannellini bean soup

Kale, sausage and white bean soup - big pot :)

6 -7 cups chicken broth
1 pkg. italian sausage links - 5 or so
1 large bunch of kale (thick ribs removed), chopped - probably about 5 - 6 cups of chopped kale
2 cans cannellini, white beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
good pinch of red chili flakes
olive oil for sauteeing
salt to taste - start with 1-1/2 tsp. and go from there
Serve with cooked pasta of your choice - macaroni, shells, etc.

Heat up olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, chili flakes and sautee w/pinch of salt.

Add sausage links and brown on each side a few minutes.

Add kale and carefully stir in and let it start to wilt, add a sprinkle of salt, cook a few minutes.

Add beans, broth and a little more salt, and let everything come to a low boil.

Turn heat down and simmer until kale is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Remove sausage links and slice and add back to soup.

Serve with a little cooked pasta (stir pasta into soup or pour soup over a little pasta), and a drizzle of good olive oil and some grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino on top.

Apple muesli with dried fruit and coconut

2011-10-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

Apple muesli with dried fruit and coconut

Muesli is a cereal of rolled oats, fruits and nuts, softened or soaked in milk or liquid. Think of it as cold oatmeal! I was inspired to make this version after seeing a recipe in the recent issue of Food & Wine for an apple muesli with goji berries.

I use rolled oats, some oat bran, grated apples, some golden raisins, dried cranberries, and coconut chips soaked in unsweetened almond milk and then sweetened up with a little honey and cinnamon. So delicious! The grated apple really adds a nice sweetness and freshness to this.

You can really make muesli with any mix of fruits and nuts, liquids (the F&W recipe uses coconut water), and could also serve this topped with some additional fruit or chopped nuts.

1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup oat bran
1 - 1/2 cups almond milk or other milk of your choice
1 cup plain greek yogurt, or yogurt of your choice
2 apples, grated to the core (peeled or unpeeled is your choice, I leave them unpeeled)
1/3 cup coconut chips (big pieces of unsweetened dried coconut flakes)
3 Tbsp. golden raisins
3 Tbsp. dried cranberries
1/4 cup honey (4 Tbsp.)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Grate the apples into a bowl on the coarse side of a box grater. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together well. Taste and add more honey, cinnamon or salt to your own tastes. Let the muesli soak overnight in the refrigerator. Serve with additional fruit or coconut sprinkled on top if you like.

If you would like to use a sweetened fruit yogurt or vanilla yogurt, omit the honey at first and only add some if you feel it needs more sweetness.

Portugal vacation

2011-08-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a lovely six day trip to Portugal! I'm starting graduate school part-time in the fall, and wanted to take a quick trip before school started, so we settled on Lisbon because it was a pretty easy, direct flight from New York, and seemed like a place we could do in only six days.

We started in Cascais, a beach town about 40 minutes outside of Lisbon, then on to Lisbon, or Lisboa, and spent our last day with some new friends who took us up the coast a bit to see Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Europe, and then up to a small fishing village named Ericeira, which also gets a bit of tourists with their beaches.

Portugal is very picturesque with views of the water and the people are so nice. Also, most people seem to speak English very well, and given that it was August where there are a lot of European tourists everywhere, most menus had multiple language translations, so it was pretty easy for us to get around without knowing much Portuguese. We had lots of simply prepared and delicious seafood - grilled octopus, sardines, clams, fish, and of course, bacalhau several different ways. We also had a lot of great but cheap wine, tried the local cherry brandy, ginjinha and a bit of port.

And we met a lovely couple, Tito, a local chef, and Patricia, on our third night in Lisbon, who helped us order dinner, enjoy some local cheese, and then went out for a few drinks with us in the Bairro Alto. And, they were so amazingly nice, they offered to pick us up from our hotel and show us a bit of the coast outside of Lisbon on our last night in town! When does that ever happen? They were so nice, and told us all about Portuguese food, and things we should try and see.

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing trip where we didn't feel too much pressure to do tons of sight seeing. We had lots of great seafood, the weather was beautiful, and now, we are home facing a hurricane heading towards NYC!

Cascais

We went straight to Cascais after our overnight flight and managed to take a little nap, have a nice seafood lunch and a bottle of wine, and a bit of poolside sun.

Bacalhau con nata - bacalhau with potatoes and cream

Grilled squid with potatoes and cilantro

the lovely hotel pool overlooking the ocean

For dinner, we walked into town and found a little place in where we had mussels (mexilhoes) with tomatoes, peppers and onions, and then dourada, or sea bream, portuguese style with a similar sauce and served with potatoes of course. It was cooked whole and then filleted and served to us tableside.

tunnel to the beach

Now, on to the beach!

We walked along the beach and ducked into one of the many beachside casual restaurants, and had a really nice lunch of white wine, grilled sardines and an amazing grilled octopus. The only thing is, in Portugal, they do not clean the sardines and just grill them whole, so you have to push aside all the innards, which is a little unpleasant and bitter if you end up getting any into your bit of fish.

Rather than serving the grilled seafood with wedges of lemon, this serve the food with white wine vinegar and olive oil. The white wine vinegar was actually really nice over the sardines and octopus, and we may have to eat seafood that way more often.

grilled octopus with olive oil, onions and garlic, and of course a few potatoes

After a few hours on the beach, we walked around the town a bit, and went to see the Casa da Historias, a museum dedicated to artist Paula Rego. Her work is pretty interesting, and the museum was free, which was great.

kids skateboarding

We then walked to see the boca do inferno, or "hell's mouth," which was a bit unimpressive as the water was very calm that day. Apparently it is really interesting to see when the waves are crashing in.

We ended up having dinner at the sushi restaurant at the hotel, sushifashion, which was good, though not great. We got the sushi and sashimi combo - the sashimi was just salmon, tuna and some kind of white fish, the nigiri pieces were basically salmon, cooked shrimp, and a few pieces of a white fish, and then there were a few different kinds of rolls, which were actually all pretty tasty, and definitely not traditional. Would have loved more variety in the types of fish they had, but everything tasted good, and it was kind of a fun restaurant and good scene.

Lisboa/Lisbon

salada de polvo

On Saturday, we took our time about leaving and made our way to Lisboa on the train, which goes by some of the big sights in Belem.

We got settled at our hotel in the Avenida part of town, and then walked around to find some lunch around 3:30pm, which is actually a little difficult. Luckily, we stumbled into Restaurante Marisqueria Quebra Mar, which stays open between lunch and dinner, where we had some more great seafood - a tasty octopus salad, or salada de polvo, with olives and some pickled cauliflower and carrots that was similar to italian giardinera, a traditional dish of pork and clams called porco a alentejana, and prawns with olive oil and garlic.

We also started the meal with some hand sliced pata negra, a cured ham kind of like prosciutto, which was very nice, and of course, a bottle of wine. I can't figure out of pata negra in Portugal is the same as the very expensive pata negra from Spain, but given that Portugal has their local "black pig or pork", maybe not?

carne de porco a alentejana

It was a rainy day, so we were perfectly happy to go back to the hotel and take a nap.

the view of the Castelo from the Bairro Alto

We wanted to check out the Bairro Alto neighborhood that evening for dinner and drinks. We left to find some dinner around 10pm and headed that direction according to the map. Lisboa is a very hilly city, and it's hard to tell on a map where you're going to need to either take one of their trams or funiculars to get up the hill, or climb yourself up very steep hills, or where to take stairs to get up to the next level of town. We took the route that seemed the most direct and found ourselves looking up at a pretty steep and curvy street to get up to the Bairro Alto, which sits on top of a hill. People were lined up for the funicular, which just takes people up and down the hill, but we decided to walk it, thinking, how bad could it be? It's a little brutal but doable :)

We decided to try dinner at Cervejaria da Trindade, mentioned in both of our little guidebooks, and is the city's oldest beer hall. Both books warned that it's a bit touristy but a fun place and the food is still good. Well, the food was just okay, and portions were a bit dinky for the price compared to other places we had been.

We weren't starving so settled on just trying their salada de polvo, ocotopus salad, and a very traditional Portuguese dish called bacalhau a bras, shredded bacalhau with eggs and shredded potatoes - kind of a bacalhau hash mixed with scrambled eggs. The octopus salad was good, a little more subtle than the one we had earlier in the day, and the bacalhau dish was fine, but nothing memorable.

We then moved on to a wine bar where we watched a guy sing and play guitar, and had a bottle of vinho verde and a little dish of bacalhau salad, which was really lovely.

there are some great murals around town

On Sunday, though we had a bit of a late start, we managed to pack in a lot of the big things to do in Lisbon.

First, lunch at Ribadoura, where we had this stuffed crab starter, more of the bacalhau a bras, which was perfect for a brunch-like dish after a night of drinking wine, and then another dish of prawns with garlic.

We then started just walking around town and checking out the sights

A funicular to take you up the hill

View of the Castelo de Sao Jorge

Elevador de Santa Justa

Walking down the Baixa

Praca do Comercio

the Se - cathedral

Hello!

Castelo de Sao Jorge

Since we had ended up walking to see the Se and the Castelo, we walked around the Alfama - the old Moorish part of town that seems like a whole separate village from Lisbon. I didn't get a great picture to capture what is looks and feels like, but it's a tightly packed neighborhood of small, twisty streets and old stone stairs to get from one place to the next.

Many of the fado establishments are also in this area so we decided to just stay and see a fado show and get dinner. Fado means "fate" and is similar to Spanish flamenco without the dancing in some ways. It's raw, emotional singing, and most fado places are also restaurants where you have dinner and see the show.

We picked a place that looked cute, and saw three different singers perform. It was interesting to see, but the food was just okay, and we weren't so into the music that we wanted to stay all night.

The only memorable part of our meal was this dessert of fresh pineapple with port poured over it. The port goes surprisingly well with the pineapple and it was really delicious.

On our third day in Lisbon, we decided to do more walking around. We had thought about going out to Sintra to see the castles, but at this point in the trip, we just didn't care that much about the sights anymore! So, we just wanted to bum around, maybe shop a bit, sample more from the pastelerias, or pastry shops, and relax.

At lunch, we tried a version of feijoada, a bean and pork and sausage stew. This one was made with favas, which was nice.

the Rossio train station

View of the Convento do Carmo, which had been largely destroyed in the earthquake of 1755

Some of the tile-covered buildings around Lisbon

Parque Eduardo VII - not the most manicured park but still a pretty park to see views of the city

That evening, we went back to the Bairro Alto for dinner at Tasca do Manel, a fantastic, busy, cozy, lively restaurant serving great Portuguese food, and one of the only restaurants we went to on the trip that did not have english translation on the menu. A couple next to us had some grilled squid, which looked great and I really wanted to get it, so we were trying to figure out what it was on the menu.

The couple on the other side of us, saw that we were struggling a little bit with the menu, and leaned over and asked if we needed any help. They gave us a run down of everything on the menu, and recommended a few of the dishes to try. We settled on starting with the clams with cilantro, wine and garlic, or ameijoas a bulhao pato, the grilled squid, called lulas in Portuguese, and the local black pork, which was delicious and very rich tasting. It was served with a green sauce that I'm not quite sure what it was, but it was very nice. Our new friends Tito and Patricia also recommended a cheese to finish the meal, the queijo de azeitao, which was runny and delicious and served with a spoon. We all finished our wine, and they ordered a round of ginjinha, a cherry brandy. After that, we walked around the Bairro Alto and had a few beers, and a shot of something that basically translates to "kick in the crotch". The Bairro Alto had a bit of a Bourbon Street feel with people having drinks in the street and congregating in the streets in front of bars. Even though it was Tuesday night, there were tons of people out and about. It's August, so there are lots of Europeans on holiday roaming around. Wouldn't it be amazing to just get a month off in the summer from work?

Our final day in Lisbon started out a little slow after the previous evening, so we decided to try to get out to Belem to see the Torre de Belem, which we ended up skipping, the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (monastery), and the Coleccao Berardo, a modern and contemporary art museum housed in the Central Cultural de Belem.

Padro dos Descobrimentos

In front of the Coleccao Berardo in the Centro Cultural de Belem - that's water misting out to cool everyone down

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos

And some of the tasty treats we had that day:

shrimp filled pastry

Bacalhau fritters

We went to the fairly famous Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, Pasteis de Belem to pick up a few custard cream tarts, which are delicious.

pasteis de Belem or pastel de nata - not a great picture but declicious

Our new friends Tito and Patricial picked us up at the hotel and we drove up via a scenic route up the coast to see Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Europe, and then up to a small fishing village named Ericeira.

what a view

After the Cabo da Roca, we continued up the coast to Ericeira, a pretty fishing town on the coast with some beaches and cute restaurants and shops. We watched the sunset and then found a place for dinner.

watching the sunset

When we first sat down, we had fresh cheese that were in these little molds and were almost like a really soft, fresh mozzarella but much softer without any elasticity. We sliced it up a bit, and sprinkled a little salt and pepper over it and had a little bread. It was so good! We let Tito and Patricia order, and we had a very nice version of octopus salad, and then a tasty game sausage that was also breaded and crispy and was served with sauteed mushrooms. Those were followed by one of the many versions of arroz, or rice dishes with seafood, settling on one with monkfish and prawns, and then grilled or roasted bacalhau with olive oil and onions and some vegetables that was very nice. The wine was great, and we ended the meal with a little cheese and a little more ginjinha!

We had a very nice trip, and it was certainly made even more special making new friends and seeing a bit of the coast. We managed to bring home a little queijo de azeitao, which was a little milder than what we had at the restaurant, but still tasty. I only wish I had bought a few more cheeses to try to bring back!

the whole cheese

slice off the top and serve with spoon

Beef and potatoes, Vietnamese style

2011-08-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

This was a favorite growing up. The hardest thing about this dish is not picking on the potatoes while you're frying them so you actually have some for the final dish! If you like to pick on food as it's cooking, the way I do, add an extra potato for snacking.

Also, adding tomatoes was something my mom did but I don't know it it's typical. I think it adds a nice flavor and cuts the richness of the fried potatoes and beef a bit.

A note on the potatoes - you can double fry them, as a lot of people recommend for crispier fries. I don't bother but it's up to you.

Serve with rice as part of a meal, and it's nice to have some sliced cucumbers and another veggie or soup dish to round out the meal.

Beef and potatoes, Vietnamese style
3-6 servings

5-6 medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled
Peanut oil for frying
1 lb. flank, sirloin or top round steak
1 small yellow onion, sliced lengthwise into large slices
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 large tomato, cut into sixths or eighths, or 2 smaller roma tomatoes, quartered - approximately 2" pieces
3 tsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. Maggi seasoning sauce (if you don't have Maggi, increase soy sauce to 2 tsp. total)
1-1/2 tsp. corn starch
1-1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Put the beef in the freezer to firm up for slicing.
Slice potatoes in half lengthwise. Placing each half cut side down on your cutting board, slice each half crosswise into about 1/4" slices (half moons).
Rinse potatoes well and then place in a large bowl filled with cold water. Store in fridge for about an hour or longer.
Remove beef from freezer after about 1/2 hour. Slice against the grain into thin strips, about 1/4" thick.
In a bowl, combine the last six ingredients. Add beef and mix together well. Set aside to marinade.
When you are ready to fry, set up a sheet pan or a metal colander lined with a few layers of paper towels. Drain potatoes and dry off really well with paper towels.
If you'd like to double-fry the potatoes, heat about 1-1/2" oil in a large heavy pot or dutch oven and heat to about 325 degrees F over medium heat. Carefully add the potatoes, being careful not to overcrowd. Turn the heat up a little as the oil temperature will drop when you add the potatoes. Fry 7-9 min. until they start to turn golden. Remove with a spider and drain on your prepared sheet pan or colander. Turn the heat up a little and get the oil to about 350 degrees F. Gently pour the potatoes back into the oil and fry about 5 min. until they are golden brown. Put down fresh paper towels and remove potatoes and set on towels to drain. Sprinkle a little salt over them.
If you'd like to just fry once, heat the oil a little hotter to about 350, 375 degrees F and fry long enough to brown the potatoes evenly, about 8-10 minutes. Remove with a spider and drain off on your prepared sheet pan or colander. Sprinkle a little salt over them.
In a large skillet, heat about 1-1/2 Tbsp. oil over medium high heat. When hot, add half the onions and fry for a little bit, 15-30 seconds, and then add half the garlic and fry a little more. Push onions and garlic to one side of the pan.
Turn the heat up and add beef - this will take two batches. Try to cook beef in a single layer and don't overcrowd. Let the beef cook for about 1 minute and then flip the slices over and let cook another minute. Mix in onions and garlic and cook for another minute or so. Remove and put aside. Repeat steps 9 and 10 with the second batch.
Add tomatoes and stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add beef, garlic, and onions back in, and then you can either add the potatoes and mix everything all together, or put the potatoes on a serving platter and pour the beef and tomato mixture over them. Garnish with cilantro and grind some pepper over it.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice, a plate of sliced cucumbers and maybe another simple vegetable dish like steamed bok choy or broccoli, to round out the meal.

Turkey kofta

2011-07-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

Turkey kofta with labne seasoned with za'atar

This is an easy and delicious way to round out a spread of hummus, baba ghanouj and a nice, thick labne or yogurt. Kofta is a term in Middle Eastern and Lebanese dishes for spiced up meatballs, often kofta kebabs typically grilled on skewers, and usually made with ground beef or lamb. Here, I use some ground turkey that still works great with those Middle Eastern spices and cook them until golden brown in a cast iron pan, but feel free to sub with ground beef or lamb.

I use scallions instead of chopping up yellow or white onions, which adds a little splash of green to the meatballs - not authentic but tasty and it's nice to have a little fresh green taste. You could also add some chopped parsley. Za'atar seasoning is typically made up of ground sumac (the red stuff often sprinkled on the top of Middle Eastern grilled meats at a restaurant), sesame seeds and a combination of thyme, oregano or marjoram. I also add a little ras el hanout, which is a Moroccan spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, coriander, cloves, turmeric, allspice, and could contain even more spices. I love that sweet savory scent that cinnamon can add to spiced up dishes. If you can't find either of these, see the substitutions in the recipe below.

Serve with some labne, thick Middle Eastern/Lebanese yogurt, but if you can't find that (if you live in Brooklyn, get it at Sahadi's on Atlantic Ave.), use the thickest whole milk yogurt you can find, a good Greek yogurt will be fine (if you like, drain yogurt over a few sheets of cheesecloth in a sieve overnight before using it). Mix in a little za'atar spice mix into the labne, drizzle with a good olive oil and sprinkle a little za'atar on top to serve. You could also serve with more a tzatziki yogurt and cucumber kind of sauce too. I

I like to serve the kofta alongside labne, hummus, baba ghanouj, a little warm pita or flatbread, some sliced cucumbers and wedges of tomato for a simple meal, especially on hot summer nights when you don't want to cook a whole lot!

1 lb. ground turkey
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. za'atar (or equal parts of a combination of thyme, oregano, marjoram and sesame seeds, and if you somehow have sumac, add a bit of that too!)
1/2 Tbsp. raz el hanout (or 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. coriander)
1 tsp. ground cumin

Combine egg, breadcrumbs, scallions, garlic and all the spices in a large bowl. Add the ground turkey and lightly mix together - try not to overwork the meat.

Form into oval-shaped meatballs, more logs I guess, about 2-1/2" long, an inch or so thick. You should get about 12-15 depending on how big you make them. Flatten them a little bit.

In a heavy skilled or cast iron skillet, heat a little olive oil over medium high heat. Add several of your kofta meatballs into the skillet without overcrowding. Let them cook for about 4 minutes until nice and golden brown. Flip them and cook another 3-4 minutes until cooked through. If they start to brown too quickly turn the heat down a little.

If you want to grill them on skewers, once you have finished forming your ovals or logs, put them in the refrigerator for a while, maybe a half hour, to chill and firm up before grilling. Insert skewers (soak in a little water for a while before using) through them and cook on the grill for about 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through until they are cooked through.

Agua fresca

2011-07-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

Watermelon agua fresca

It's hot and steamy outside and the perfect antidote is a tall, cold glass of agua fresca!

Agua fresca (literally translated to "fresh water") is a very refreshing drink made of pureed melon, sugar and lime juice and is common in Mexico. It is typically made with watermelon, but you can also make it with cantaloupe. You can also add other fruits like ripe pineapple or mango.

Just blend up some diced and seeded melon, strain if you like or not, add a little sugar and a little lime or lemon juice. It's great on its own or add a little vodka for a refreshing cocktail!

6 cups diced and seeded watermelon or cantaloupe
1/4 cup sugar, more if you like
1/4 lime juice, more if you like
1 cup water

Puree all the melon. Strain if you like and return strained juice to the blender, or leave unstrained. Add sugar, lime juice and water and blend for a few seconds. Taste and adjust seasoning with sugar or lime juice to your own tastes. Pour into a pitcher and chill well before serving.

White cake with strawberries and cream

2011-06-22T05:13:00.000-07:00

I was throwing a friend a baby shower a few weeks ago and asked her what kind of cake she wanted - white cake with some kind of fruit was her request. I made this lovely white layer cake (thanks for helping Stephanie!), whipped up some cream, and served it with sliced strawberries and a strawberries and cream filling. I also made a batch of cupcakes too, though they got a little dark on the bottom - apparently I can burn stuff in other ovens besides my electric one at home!

Use whole milk to keep the cake moist, and make sure you beat the butter and sugar really well, as well as each addition of eggs, to keep the cake nice and light.

This recipe is for one 9" round or square pan, or a dozen cupcakes. Double for a layer cake, or triple if you want to add a dozen cupcakes too!

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your pan or use muffin liners if making cupcakes.

Beat the butter and sugar together for a while, 5 minutes or more, until it's very well incorporated and fluffy. Add the first egg and beat in well to incorporate, at least a minute or two. Add the second egg and beat in well.

Measure out the milk and vanilla and mix together. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix each addition lightly until everything is incorporated.

Bake for 40 minutes. If it's still a little runny in the middle, turn the heat down to 300 degrees and let it bake on the very top rack for another 10 minutes or so until it has set.

Let the cake/cakes/cupcakes cool before frosting or filling.

For the whipped cream and strawberries:

I used one quart of heavy cream and 1/2 cup of confectioner's (powdered) sugar to have enough whipped cream to make a strawberry and cream filling, frost a two layer cake, and frost a dozen cupcakes. I also had two larger containers of strawberries - enough for the filling, to decorate the top of the cake and cupcakes, and enough to pick on :) I didn't want my whipped cream to be too sweet but you can certainly add more sugar to suit your own tastes.

If you're using a stand mixer, switch to a whip attachment. Whip up a little heavy cream (make sure it's cold) until it's starting to thicken up and you get soft peaks. Add confectioner's sugar until you've reached your desired level of sweetness. Keep whipping until you have stiff peaks.

Slice up some strawberries fairly small for the filling, and mix together with some of the whipped cream. Put one cake layer onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with the strawberries and cream filling. Gently put the second layer on top of the filling. Frost the tops and sides of the cake, decorate with some sliced strawberries and enjoy!

If you're not serving right away, keep chilled in the fridge.

Braised baby artichokes

2011-06-14T04:27:00.000-07:00

Trimming artichokes can be a big pain, but baby artichokes are a little less tedious than the big ones I guess. These are first sauteed with some onions and garlic, then braised with a little white wine until tender. Top with some shavings of a good parmigiano reggiano and a grind of pepper. Serve as a simple side dish, or chop up the artichokes into smaller pieces and toss with israeli couscous or quinoa with some fresh herbs, a little olive oil and lemon juice or vingear of your choise, and maybe a little feta cheese for a grain side dish. You can also serve as part of a spread of antipasti.

To prepare your baby artichokes, first give them a good rinse. Prepare a large bowl of water, cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water, then add the lemon halves to the bowl. Snap off the outer layers of the artichoke petals until you get to the pale, yellowish green layers. Cut off the top third or so of the remaining artichoke, then trim the end of the stems and cut away the outer layer of the stems. Cut the artichokes in half and drop them into the bowl of lemon water as you trim each one. If they have any bit of the furry choke in the center, scoop out with a spoon - the baby ones shouldn't have much, but sometimes they have a little bit and you'll want to remove it.

Slice an onion into wedges and peel a few cloves of garlic and slice thinly. In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil over medium high heat, add the onions and garlic cloves and saute for a few minutes. Add the artichokes and saute for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of white wine and let it come to a simmer and let the artichokes braise for about 5 minutes until just tender. Add a handful of chopped parsley and stir in. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, a grind of black pepper, and a few shavings of a good parmigiano reggiano.

A vegetarian meal at Kajitsu

2011-06-06T05:20:00.000-07:00

Salad of cucumber, fiddlehead ferns and rikyu-fu

My brother was in town and we decided to finally give Kajitsu a try. I had been hearing about it for a while but just hadn't gotten there yet. They serve shojin cuisine, the cuisine of ancient Zen Buddhist monasteries and based on the Buddhist principle of not taking life, shojin cuisine is vegetarian. Kajitsu is a kaiseki restaurant, which means that the menu is all up to the chef based on what is good and seasonal. They offer two menus - the Kaze menu for $50 or the Hana menu for $70 and a few more courses. You can also add a sake pairing for about $30, which was lovely.

The meal was interesting and satisfying and I think even pretty die-hard meat lovers will still appreciate the meal. That said, it was a little uneven for me. Overall, I thought it was good but I guess not mind-blowing. A few dishes were really fantastic, and a few were a bit forgettable and frankly, a little bland. I appreciate subtleness but some of the dishes or components just did not have a ton of flavor.

The dining room is pretty stark and maybe that's the vibe they are going for, but it wasn't a very warm room, and there was no background music or anything so the obnoxious crew of people sitting a few feet away were obnoxious to everyone in the dining area. Also, we were seated at a table in the front of the restaurant that looked lovely but the surface had all this wood carving and was uneven. They give you a tray to put the dishes down on, but they put the drinks on a piece of paper on the table, and I managed to knock my glass of water and glass of sake over early in the meal.

It's definitely worth trying at least once. Given the price point, not sure we'll be rushing to go back, but I imagine the menu changes regularly so we could have a totally different experience another night and I'd be curious to try it again.

The menu:

Salad of Cucumber, Rikyu-Fu and Fiddlehead Fern - grated cucumber, celery, dark night carrot, pearl onion, glass noodles, wasabi, soy yuzu vinaigrette (pictured above) - I liked this a lot and it had great bright and clean flavors. I also loved the addition of the bit of glass noodles, which made it more interesting texture wise.
Clear Soup with Grilled Cabbage Ball, Leeks and Mitsuba - this might have been my favorite dish. It doesn't sound like much, but the cabbage was so sweet and the broth was really lovely.
Sushi with Green Tea Leaves and Pickled Green Plum, Baby Artichoke Agebitashi, Grated Fuji Apple and Onion, Purple Potato, Chilled English Pea Soup with Freeze Dried English Pea, Grated Ginger - all the components didn't really seem to go together and were really more stand alone kinds of things, and were okay but they were on the more too subtle side of things flavor-wise.

Housemade Soba with Dipping Sauce - snappy soba noodles and a tasty sauce that came with horseradish and scallions to mix in. I'm not a soba expert but I would guess this is a pretty good version.
White Asparagus Tempura with Shiso, Grilled Fresh Garbanzos, Nama-Fu with Morel Mushroom Sauce and Fresh Market Vegetables - this is another dish where all the components seem so disparate and don't really go together. I loved the white asparagus tempura with shiso, which is one of my favorite herbs. The accompanying sauce, which I don't recall what it was, was nice, but a few drops of lemon juice and the dipping salt really heightened the flavors. The grilled garbanzos were kind of a throwaway component too me- not much flavor and the garbanzos are small inside of the pod and just didn't really absorb any grilled flavor the way grilled whole favas do. The morel mushroom sauce and the baby vegetables were nice, but were too subtle for how flavorless the nama-fu was. I think if the nama-fu had been seasoned with just a touch of soy or salt on its own, it would have made a huge difference but because it was so bland, the sauce just wasn't enough for it. The texture of the nama-fu is dense and kind of gummy, which I didn't mind, but it may not be for everyone.

Steamed Rice with Diced Sunchokes and Fennel Puree, Crispy Chrysanthemum and Fennel Leaves, House-Made Pickles - this dish was pretty good, and I loved the fried chrysanthemum and fennel leaves on top. I grew up eating a soup made with chrysanthemum leaves and love the flavor. The rice was perfect and the pickles were tasty.
Yatsuhashi - Mochi, Azuki Bean Paste, Cardamom - this was a subtle but nice dessert and not too sweet, which I appreciate.
Matcha Tea with Candies by Kyoto Shioyoshiken - the tea was a really vibrant green and a little thick but had a great flavor. The little candies were just sugar really but pretty cute.

Rhubarb bars and rhubarb crisp

2011-05-31T04:35:00.000-07:00

Springtime also means rhubarb! I love the tanginess of rhubarb and much prefer it alone in desserts instead of being sweetened up with strawberry or other sweeter fruits. This is a pretty simple but terrific recipe for rhubarb bars, plus a bonus recipe to make a little bit of rhubarb crumble with any leftover rhubarb.

This recipe is for a 8"x8" square baking dish or pan - increase everything by 1/4 for a 9"x9" pan, or by half for a 9"x13" pan. I also like the tartness so if you prefer sweeter rhubarb desserts, you can increase the sugar a bit.

Crust:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 cup a.p. flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup confectioners' or powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, or 1-1/2 sticks butter

Topping:

3 cups rhubarb, chopped (a little less than a pound)
1/3 cup white or granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, powdered sugar and butter together - this is easiest by just getting your hands in there and working the butter through, bringing all the ingredients together into a dough. Press the dough into the bottom of your baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. It should be pale when it comes out.

In the same bowl, whisk your eggs, and then whisk in the rest of the topping ingredients, except the rhubarb. Add the rhubarb and stir well. Pour over the partially baked crust. Bake for another 35-40 minutes until it seems set and the rhubarb is tender. Poke at it in a few places - if it still seems runny or it just seems like it hasn't set yet, bake another 5 minutes or so and check again.

Once it's cool, cut into squares and serve. You can also sprinkle with a little powdered sugar if you like. I usually keep it in the refrigerator if it's not all going to be eaten right away.

Rhubarb crisp

If you have some rhubarb leftover, make a little rhubarb crisp too! Simply toss your leftover rhubarb with a little flour and sugar, put in a small baking dish or a few ramekins and make a little crumb topping for a rhubarb crisp. When I made these bars and this bonus rhubarb crisp, I had about 1.3 lbs. of fresh rhubarb, which gave me 3 cups for the bars and then about 1-1/2 cups for the crisp.

Rhubarb mixture:

1-1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. flour
small pinch of salt

Toss the ingredients together and then put in a small baking dish or a few ramekins.

Topping:

2 Tbsp. (1/4 stick) butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
a pinch of salt
3 Tbsp. rolled oats
3 Tbsp. a.p. flour

Mix together until you get a nice crumbly texture - best done with your hands in my opinion. Crumble enough of the topping over the rhubarb mixture to cover, but don't over do it - just discard whatever is leftover. Bake in a 350 degree oven alongside the rhubarb bars for about 25 minutes or more until the topping is nicely browned. Serve warm with a little ice cream if you like!

Scallops and monkfish liver over polenta and ramps

2011-05-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

I went to the farmers market last weekend and came home with a few scallops, a big piece of monkfish liver and a few bundles of ramps. The seafood vendor often has monkfish liver and I've eyed it several times but have never actually bought it or cooked it myself. I love getting the steamed, cold monkfish liver served in Japanese restaurants with some scallions, grated daikon and a ponzu sauce, so was curious. I talked with one of the folks working that morning and she said I could just cook it any way that I'd cook any other liver, pan-fried or sauteed.

When I got home, I decided to serve it all together. So, I made a basic polenta with a little cream cheese to add a little tang and creaminess, sauteed the ramps separately, pan-fried the monkfish liver, and then seared the scallops. It all made a lovely farmers market lunch!

Basic polenta:

1 cup medium to coarse round corn meal
3-1/2 cups water or broth
1/3 cup light or regular cream cheese, more if you like
1 Tbsp. butter
Salt to taste

Bring water to a boil in a medium heavy saucepan. Add a good pinch of salt, and then whisk in the polenta. Lower the heat to low and let simmer away until the polenta is cooked and tender, about 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the butter and cream cheese and stir in. Taste and adjust for salt.

Monkfish liver:

Soak the monkfish liver in water for at least an hour, changing the water a few times. Trim any veins or membrane pieces if there are any. Cut into two pieces if you like to make it easier to handle. Pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle a little salt over it. Heat up a little olive oil and butter in a small pan over medium high heat. Add the liver and cook for about 3 minutes. Put a lid on the pan, reduce heat to medium and cook for another 3 minutes. Flip the livers over and let brown for a few more minutes, and then again, put the lid on and cook another few minutes. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Scallops:

Try to buy fresh dry scallops if you can. Pat dry and sprinkle a little salt. Heat a little olive oil and butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add scallops and let them brown, undisturbed for two minutes. Flip and brown the other sides in the pan for another 2 to 3 minutes. They should be just cooked through, and almost a little rate in the middle.

Ramps:

Trim the ramps and cut into 1-1/2" pieces and saute in a pan with a little olive oil, season lightly with a little salt and pepper.

To serve, put a little polenta down on the plate, top with some of the sauteed ramps, a few scallops, and a few slices of monkfish liver. Top with some snipped chives if you like.

Rhubarb compote

2011-05-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb and mint compote over ice cream

Making rhubarb compote is a simple and delicious way to use rhubarb - just cook down chopped rhubarb with a little sugar, some spices if you like, and a tiny bit of water, or you could use red wine.

Spoon it over desserts like angel food cake, pound cakes, and ice cream or frozen yogurt.

It's also lovely for breakfast on an English muffin or over pancakes. You can also use it as a topping for a cheese plate over goat cheese, or spoon a little over some really good ricotta on served on crostini.

For a more savory use, put some of the compote in a bowl and add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, and serve over simply grilled, pan-fried or broiled pork chops, chicken or beef.

Rhubarb and ginger compote over pork chops

Here is a basic compote - then tweak by infusing one with a little mint, and the other with some fresh and crystallized ginger. Give them both a try!

Rhubarb compote - yields about 2 cups

1 lb. rhubarb, chopped - about 4 cups
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the water and sugars over medium high heat until it has come to a boil, and then stir in rhubarb. Reduce heat to somewhere around medium low and let simmer until it's the consistency you like. I like to let it reduce to more of a marmalade consistency - about 8-10 min. Let it cool down before refrigerating.

For a rhubarb and mint version, add a good handful of mint to the sugars and water and let it seep for a few minutes, bruising the leaves as you stir them around. Then remove the mind and add your rhubarb and simmer away. If you are serving it the same day, you can also add some chopped mint to the cooled compote - it would be lovely over shortcake or some other kind of cake.

For a rhubarb and ginger version, add a good 2-inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, sliced in half lengthwise and bruised a bit with the back of your knife, and then a few slices of crystallized ginger. If you like, you could finely chop the crystallized ginger and finely grate the fresh ginger.

Springtime pasta with ramps and peas

2011-05-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

Ramps!

Focaccia with ramps from Hot Bread Kitchen

It's spring and the season for ramps! We have been gobbling up ramps on the menu at restaurants, getting them pretty much whenever they've been offered - flatbread with ramps at DBGB, ramps over bresaola at Franny's, a lamb burger with sauteed ramps and ramp mayo at Burger and Barrel, ravioli with ramps and lemon at The John Dory, and softshell crab, tagliatelle and a tasty cocktail with ramps at Roman's. I've also gotten some delicious focaccia from Hot Bread Kitchen (a great nonprofit group that works with low-income immigrant women to learn skills to launch their own business making breads and baked goods) with ramps and cheese, and bought a bit to cook from our neighborhood farmers market too.
This is an easy dish inspired by the most recent edition of Canal House - Volume 6 The Grocery Store - there, they toss mezzi rigatoni with peas and scallions and then top with ricotta cheese. Here, I cut back on the scallions and add a bunch of ramps to the mix! Get a good ricotta if you can, or make it yourself - see my recipe here.

Springtime pasta with ramps and peas

1 lb. box mezzi rigatoni or pasta of your choice - penne would be an easy substitute here
1 lb. bag frozen peas, thawed, or similar weight of fresh peas if you prefer, blanched for a minute or two
2 small bunches of ramps, sliced into about 1/2" pieces
2 scallions, thinly sliced
8 oz. (1 cup), or more if you like!, good fresh ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbps. or more of butter, optional
salt and pepper to taste
good olive oil to drizzle on top
Snipped chives to garnish, optional

Get your pasta water going and cook pasta to al dente, reserving a cup of pasta cooking water.

While your pasta is going, heat up the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add your ramps and scallions with a good pinch of salt and pepper and saute until everything is just tender. Add your peas and heat through.

Drain your pasta, reserving some of the cooking water. Add pasta back to the pot with a little of the reserved pasta water, about 2/3 of your ramp/scallion/pea mixture, butter and mix together well, adding a little more of the pasta water if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to your liking. Pour out your pasta onto a big serving platter, or divide into individual portions, top with the ricotta and the reserved veggie mixture. Give it a little drizzle of good olive oil, a sprinkle of snipped chives and a little salt and pepper. You could probably also sub asparagus or other veggies for the peas - a great spring dish! And if you don't live in a part of the country where you can get ramps, increase the scallions and add a clove or two of chopped garlic.

A few foodie places I've been to lately

2011-05-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

Flatbread with ramps at DBGB

I don't know when the last time I wrote about a restaurant was, but I've been to a few foodie restaurants (Momofuku Ko! see the end of this post) in the last few months that were pretty fun! I've been on the road a bit so here are a few highlights, including a few places in New York. These are all iphone pics so they're not the greatest but the food was delicious!

Quinn's Pub - Seattle
I was in Seattle for work and went to dinner with a couple of folks at Quinn's Pub, a beer-centric gastropub. We started with the soft pretzel with welsh rarebit, the crispy pig face nuggets (delicious!), an excellent roasted beet salad, and the seared foie gras - I can't remember the details but it was over an almost gingerbread kind of thing - really nice. I then had the pan roasted trout served with a romesco sauce - a well-cooked butterflied trout with a rich and flavorful romesco on top. I can't remember what beer I tried, but it was pretty tasty. And maybe I've lived in big cities too long, but getting a draft of a local microbrew for only $5 seemed so crazy cheap! The restaurant was pretty casual and comfortable with a long bar, lots of beers on tap and by the bottle. The only strange thing was that there we were in the state of Washington, and they had no local wines on the menu! So I tried a glass of an Italian white with my trout, which was really nice but it still seemed so strange to not have local wine choices.

Naya - New York
This is a delicious Lebanese restaurant in Midtown East and a great place to go with a few other people to share lots of mezze (the appetizer and spreads part of the menu). We went a while back to celebrate a few birthdays with another couple, and the first thing to comment on is the space itself - very mod with a kind of futuristic vibe almost, it's kind of a long and narrow restaurant lined mostly with white booths that seat 2-4, and then an area in the back for larger parties. We had the fried kibbe (fried dumplings filled with ground beef and pine nuts), a pita that was filled with ground lamb called arayess lahme, the Lebanese sausage makanek, the hommus, baba ghannouj, halloumi cheese, the eggplant stuffed with a seasoned rice mixture and tomatoes, the batata harra or fried potatoes and an order of labne, really thick tangy yogurt. We basically just ordered a bunch of mezze, and they were all really well done, tasty and overall, it was a nice meal. We also tried a bottle of fairly cheap Lebanese wine on the menu and it was pretty decent.

Vancouver

Japa Dog!

I was only there for two days for work and wish I had had a week to eat! The first night, had an okay dinner at The Keg, a mini-chain of what I perceived to be fairly male -targeted restaurants with attractive waitresses and steaks. It was a beautiful day and we had hoped to sit outside but it was packed so we just sat inside. The crabcakes were lovely, as were the tempura snap peas and asparagus, but I had a pretty overcooked salmon dish so was glad I had ordered the crabcakes to start! I had a nice lunch at a restaurant that I honestly cannot remember the name of but it was on a cute street not far from Downtown Eastside where I had been visiting programs, and I had a delicious Spanish-influenced smoky calamari dish with olives and then a duck salad. I also ate at Japa Dog, Japanese-influenced hot dogs but went for the tonkatsu, so no hot dog at all but rather a fried piece of pork on a bun with sauce, an okonimiyaki sauce I think, and mayo. And the FRIES! They have these seasoned fries - butter and shoyu, the taste of popcorn butter and soy sauce together in a seasoning that is shaked on the fries - so good!

Longman and Eagle - Chicago
I made a quick stop through Chicago on my way back from the west coast and had dinner with my brother and his fiance and Longman and Eagle in Logan Square - I had been dying to try this place and was really looking forward to it. It's a really lovely restaurant - bustling and busy, casual and comfortable, a packed bar. It's another place that kind of runs along the lines of a gastropub - serious food and great drinking. And specialty cocktails were only $8 compared to places in New York, where we could easily spend $14 or more on a cocktail at one of the serious hand-crafted cocktails places. I was pretty tired since I had flown in from Vancouver early that morning so we also all split an espresso at the beginning of the meal, which was kind of funny, but I sure felt much better after it kicked in. As someone who drinks caffeine about once a year, it doesn't take much!

We decided to try most of the small plates - seared scallops with braised oxtail, black truffle gnocchi, celery root and butternut squash puree, then an interesting foie gras dish with chocolate, which was really interesting, but maybe the chocolate overpowered the foie a bit. We got the roasted marrow bones, which is always yummy, the pastrami cured sweetbreads which was served almost like a Reuben - sauerkraut, pumpernickel crumbs, thousand island dressing - I love sweetbreads and thought this also kind of overpowered them, but it was a tasty dish. Then we had the Maine lobster parfait with black trumpet mushrooms, parsnip puree, and bacon - so rich and good. Finally, we had the ricotta gnudi with butternut squash, brown butter and sage, which actually ended up being a crispy fried gnudi - a pleasant surprise - and the cauliflower entree with beluga lentils, golden raisins, pickled mango and cucumber raita. Overall, everything was good, it was a great place to go with people that want to share, but I actually thought a lot of the dishes were a little overwhelmed by the sauces and everything else going on.

Wasan - New York
Wasan's whole thing is to do seasonal Japanese food using as much local product as they can. I had read a review in the New York Times which highlighted a few things that sounded really interesting - cold cheese tofu, a dish of tofu mixed with cheese and tomato jelly, and the uni lover - we totally love uni so had to try! We did one prix fixe and then ordered a few other courses we were interested in. The cold cheese tofu thing was really interesting and pretty delicious. We also tried the foie gras rice, which was basically like a piece of sushi except with foie gras, the tortilla chip crusted shrimp and eggplant with garlic sauce, the beef we cooked on a hot stone at the table, and the hamachi jaws - deep fried yellowtail collar - so meaty and delicious! I think there was something else, but I can't remember what it was right now. Overall, an interesting meal with lots of different flavors. It was good, but I'm not sure we'll go back. It's not quite cheap enough to go on a whim and at that price point, there are just so many other restaurants in New York to check out. But it's definitely interesting and worth a try.

Sakagura - New York
The day after our meal at Wasan, we had more Japanese food with a friend in town (thanks Aaron!) at Sakagura, a Japanese izakaya with an extensive sake list in the basement of an office building near Grand Central. If you want to try a lot of different sakes, this is the place - probably the most extensive sake menu I have seen. The food ranged from more typical Japanese food to less traditional and bolder dishes. We started with the premium sashimi, which I can't remember what each fish was, but it was definitely one of the better sashimi experiences I've had - every one of them was delicious and really flavorful and just really nice, and it included a tasty mackerel and uni, which I love. We then had everything from agedashi tofu, one of my all-time faves, to jazzed up sashimis like the fluke carpaccio - fluke sashimi with olive oil, plum paste, salmon roe and shiso. We also had some heartier dishes like beef cooked on a hot stone or the buta kakuni - big fatty chunks of stewed pork, which was ok - more like a tamer version of Vietnamese caramelized, stewed pork, thit kho, but without the fish sauce - but I prefer the Vietnamese version. They offer different daily specials, which we tried a few of that night, including a cold, sliced duck breast that was pretty good. Overall, the food was decent and it's a fun place to share and try different things, though a little on the pricey side.

Piccolo - Minneapolis
I've written about Piccolo before - my sis cooks there! But this was only the second time I've had a chance to eat there. If you haven't heard of it and are going through Minneapolis, give it a try! Anthony Bourdain gave it a lotta love in No Reservations - the Heartland episode. Chef Doug Flicker and is team are doing a lot of really interesting things, and the menu changes seasonally. I went with my colleague while in Minneapolis for work and ended up having almost everything on the menu! For wine, we started with a carafe of white, and then had a lovely bottle of Barolo.

We started with a buttermilk panna cotta with truffled pears, the chopped liver with brioche and caperberries, grilled baby octopus (which could have used more char), agnolotti, scrambled eggs with pigs feet (probably my favorite), and Peruvian lantern scallop with salmon roe and hon shimeji mushrooms - a very pretty dish. Then on to the meats - porchetta and pork kidney and chestnuts, fried chicken egg (chicken formed into an egg) with a ham hock waffle, cipiolini onions and maple syrup, the lamb with molasses and black grape "olives" (great flavors but the lamb was just a bit tough), and the roasted pheasant with figs, cabbage and sesame. For dessert, we had the walnut cake with creme fraiche, and the Calabrian fig brownie with ice cream. It was a really fun meal full of lots of different and interesting flavors.

DBGB - New York

DBGB is Daniel Boulud's casual Lyonnais influenced tavern. They have great oysters, lots of great treats - pates, escargots, bone marrow, and some Lyonnais specialties like the tablier de sapeur, a square of tripe that's breaded and fried and served with a mustard sauce with a side of tomato and tripe salad - our favorite part was the tomato and tripe salad. The fried tripe could've been almost anything fried. And then there is a whole menu of sausage. We've been here a couple of times and have tried the canard, the duck sausage, the chipolata, which is a pork sausage over some potatoes with black truffle, the boudin basque, a blood sausage, and the beaujolais, pork sausage with mushrooms, lentils, and bacon. They're all pretty good. Last time we were there, we had a special of grilled flatbread with ramps, bacon and maybe ricotta cheese? It was delicious! We also had the rillettes de jamboneau provencal, which were okay but were pretty subtle and I think we were looking for more flavor. They also have some burger options, which are probably great but I haven't tried a burger there quite yet. We've always just sat in the large bar area and have never had a hard time getting a table there. The dining room looks kind of fun with the big booths.

Balaboosta - New York

I had a work lunch and wanted to try somewhere new within walking distance of my office in SoHo, so tried Balaboosta and really enjoyed it for lunch. The folks that own it also own the somewhat famous falafel place Taim. The lunch menu is definitely on the smaller, more limited side of things, but what we had was light and flavorful. The Mediterranean sampler had the usual suspects - hummus, babaganoush, roasted red peppers and pita seasoned with za'atar, all done well. Then I had the seared striped bass over a really lovely quinoa with bits of preserved lemon, chickpeas and dried cranberries - lots of great flavors. And we had a rich chocolate dessert that was a nice way to end the meal - it wasn't unique but was well-done.

Momofuku Ko - New York

Shaved foie gras at Momofuku Ko

My friend Stephanie snagged a hard to get Saturday night reservation at Momofuku Ko and I was the lucky friend that got to tag along! A friend of mine used to work for David Chang so I've tried a lot of the dishes at Momofuku Ssam Bar and Noodle Bar over the last few years. Rick and I have also really liked the food ad Ma Peche in Midtown, so Ko was the only Momofuku restaurant I hadn't tried yet. It only seats 12 people I think around the kitchen and we had the two seats on the short end near the entrance to the restaurant, which gave us a fantastic view because we were able to just look down the whole kitchen and see what everyone was doing, but also had a view of all the other diners.

We sat down and thought about drinks for about a second and decided, why not go ahead and do the drink pairing too - it's not like we were coming back anytime soon. The pairing is not cheap, but I'm so glad we did it because it added so much to the meal and the experience, and I just loved all the pairings - we had everything from a gin cocktail, to a few different kinds of sake, a beer, white and reds, sparkling wines and champagnes - everything was great and really made each course better. Of course I don't remember what went with what, and barely remember the details of what we ate, but here's a stab at it, and of course I'm way oversimplifying everything because I can't remember everything on the plate.

Starters included a crab waldorf salad, chicharrones/pork rinds, grilled mushroom - I want to say porcini?
Then there were the crudo dishes - raw scallop over maybe a pea or edamame puree, branzino with grapefruit. I don't really remember the order of the rest of the dishes, but they included a big hunk of halibut - lovely, but I honestly can't remember what else was on the plate so I guess it wasn't that memorable, soft-boiled egg with caviar, potato chips over some sweet and soft-cooked onions, a hearty fresh macaroni with a chorizo meat sauce, a braised or slow cooked lamb or beef that was served with a potato soup poured on top - good, but a little overly peppery that was a bit overpowering. Then the famous shaved foie gras over riesling gelee and lychees - so interesting and delicious! And the final meat dish was a lamb (or was it beef?) short rib that was cooked sous vide then crisped up, and served with ramps and spring onions. Desserts included some kind of ice cream with crispy milk and a rhubarb, pistachio and goat milk ice cream or panna cotta (I can't remember!). I wish I could show you more but this little pic of the shaved foie gras is the only pic my friend Stephanie managed to snap!

The highlights for me were the soft-boiled egg and the shaved foie gras, which I think are standbys on their menu. Overall, I didn't think it was a mind-blowing meal, but it was all well-done and a lot of fun. If you get a chance to go, just go all out and do the drink pairings. They really add so much to the meal and experience. And go with someone you'll have fun with and enjoy it - we did observe a couple across the way from us that did not look like they were having a good time or even were liking each other much and I'm sure they didn't fully enjoy or appreciate the meal. We, on the other hand, had a great time and managed to be the last people there :)

Purple scallions

2011-04-29T04:55:00.000-07:00

It's springtime and purple scallions, spring onions, ramps and other spring veggies are making their way into farmers markets. I bought several bunches of purple scallions last weekend at the farmers market in my neighborhood and tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and simply grilled them up on our indoor countertop grill. They are really sweet and fragrant!

Just a note - the purple layer seems to be just the outermost layer, so when trimming and cleaning these up, some of them lost their purple layer but they are still delicious! Serve them alongside almost anything - I served them as part of a big spread with a roasted fresh ham (basically a pork roast) and some other grilled vegetables including white asparagus and zucchini, and also served them with a simple Italian salsa verde with chopped parsley, chives, capers, lemon zest and good olive oil - click here for the recipe.

Miso noodle soup

2011-04-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Miso noodle soup

This is a great healthy way to use up leftover bits of things in the fridge!

I start out making a pot of miso soup, and throw in whatever I have - I had some leftover cooked whole wheat spaghetti, some roast chicken, a bunch of watercress, and some sauteed swiss chard and shallots in the fridge so in it all went!

You can sub soba or somen noodles or any other noodles really for the whole wheat spaghetti, and you can omit the chicken and instant dashi if you want to keep it vegetarian, and maybe add some tofu for protein. Mushrooms are a nice addition too if you have some.

3 to 4 cups cooked whole wheat spaghetti (6 -8oz. dry pasta), or noodles of your choice
6 cups water, chicken or veggie broth
2 little packets of instant dashi or hon dashi omit if you want to make this vegetarian
2 Tbsp. miso paste of your choice - I used a red miso, but you can also use sweet white miso, which will give it a lighter miso flavor
2 cups cooked greens or 4 cups fresh greens of your choice - swiss chard, spinach, kale or a combination
1 small bunch watercress, chopped - you can also omit and add more of whatever green you are using
3 thinly sliced scallions
Chopped cilantro to garnish

In a large pot, heat up your water or broth to a low boil. Add the instant dashi and miso paste and stir everything in until dissolved. If using fresh greens, add them now and simmer for a few minutes until just cooked through. Add the pasta or noodles, sitr together. Top with scallions and cilantro to serve.

Whole wheat penne with kale, bacon and caramelized onions

2011-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in ages! I had been doing a mostly vegan gluten-free detox for a little while so was eating very simply, and then have had some work travel. But I'm home this weekend, which is nice!

My little detox period gave me a bit of a bacon craving - cook up this tasty pasta dish when you're craving a little bacon, but add lots of healthy kale and whole wheat pasta. And if you want a veggie version, omit the bacon, and maybe add some grated smoked mozzarella to give it a little smokiness.

I cooked up some thick cut bacon, kale and caramelized a bunch of onions, adding a little apple cider too. I also browned some mushrooms I had sitting in the fridge and threw those in, and combined everything with some whole wheat pasta. I cooked up each of the components separately, starting with the bacon so I could use that bacon fat to cook up everything else!

1 lb. whole wheat penne or pasta of your choice, cooked to al dente
1 lb. thick cut bacon, sliced into 1" pieces
2 small bunches of Tuscan or lacinato kale, big stems removed, sliced crosswise
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple cider
1 package white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
a little cheese of your choice to top it off - I used a little crumbled ricotta salata here, but you could also grate a little parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano
Salt and pepper to taste

Get your pot of water boiling. Salt the water well and cook your pasta until al dente. Reserve a cup of the cooking water.

Cook up the bacon over medium heat to render a lot of the fat until the bacon is cooked. Remove the bacon and set aside. Set aside some of the bacon fat, leaving some behind for the next step. In the same skillet, brown the mushrooms, adding a little salt towards the end after they've browned. Remove and set aside. If the pan is looking a little dry, add a little more bacon fat or olive oil if you prefer. Add the kale and saute with a little salt until tender. Remove and set aside. Finally, cook up the onion with a little salt for about 5 minutes. Add the apple cider and simmer until the onions are tender and the cider has reduced a bit, another 5 minutes or so.

Add back the rest of the ingredients and the pasta, and then stir together. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper to your liking. If it's a little dry, add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve garnished with a little crumbled or grated cheese of your choice.

And for a heartier breakfast or brunch, serve some leftovers with a lightly fried egg on top - the runny yolk makes a lovely sauce.

Sauteed bamboo shoots

2011-03-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen fresh bamboo in the store like this?

Probably not, I would guess. This is the first time I've really noticed it so I guess it's possible I've seen it in Chinatown before. But we found this in a grocery store in the Flushing Chinatown, rather than in Manhattan or Brooklyn. If you can't find it whole like this, you may be able to find peeled bamboo soaked in water in a bucket somewhere in a Chinatown or Asian grocery store. And if you can't find that, then go ahead and used canned bamboo but blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes first to get the canned taste out. Try to use canned bamboo shoot tips though, which are basically what's pictured above but peeled. They are more tender and better than the canned sliced bamboo.

Saute sliced bamboo with onions and garlic and a touch of rice vinegar for a tasty veggie side or main dish and serve with rice of your choice.

2 cups or about 3/4 lb. sliced bamboo
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1-1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste
2 Tbsp. canola oil
Cilantro to garnish

If using a piece like the photograph above, slice off the outer leaves of the bamboo. Thinly slice the bamboo.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute for about two minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or so. Add the bamboo and scallions, sprinkle with salt, and saute until tender. Add the rice vinegar and let cook for another minute. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt or vinegar to your liking. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Broiled eggplant with miso glaze

2011-03-02T04:24:00.000-08:00

So I've been cooking up vegan dishes lately and have been using miso in a lot of different ways. Here's a nice miso glaze you can use on a variety of vegetables or tofu and works great on broiled eggplant.

This recipe will probably make more miso glaze than you need - try it on other roasted vegetables like roasted carrots or kabocha or other squash.

3 Japanese/Chinese eggplant - the long skinny kind - sliced in half lengthwise
4 Tbsp. white miso
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. water
2" piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp. mirin or sweet rice wine
Vegetable or canola oil to oil pan and brush on eggplant
Scallions, thinly sliced, to garnish

Preheat the broiler. Whisk the miso, rice vinegar, sesame oil, water, grated ginger, and mirin together.

Brush a little vegetable or canola oil on a baking sheet, or line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush with a little oil.

Place the eggplant slices cut side up on the baking sheet. Score the eggplant by making diagonal slices in two directions across the cut side surfaces.

Brush the eggplant with a little oil and broil them a few inches under the broiler for about 5 minutes until lightly browned.

Brush the eggplant with a little bit of the miso glaze and broil for a few more minutes until the eggplant is nice and browned. If you like, add a last light coat of glaze before serving. Sprinkle with sliced scallions to serve.

Cauliflower with Indian spices

2011-02-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

I was on the road a bit over the last few weeks and haven't cooked much or posted in a few weeks. I've been feeling the need to do a little detox and get back to eating a healthier again so I'm going on a little stretch of vegetarian and vegan cooking for a little while.

When it comes to Indian food, I always love the vegetarian dishes - okra, cauliflower, potatoes, spinach, lentils, eggplant, all kinds of veggies, all with lots of great spices and all completely satisfying without any trace of meat.

Here's an easy Indian-influenced dish to make at home - cauliflower cooked with carrots, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes, and seasoned with cumin seeds, curry powder and some fresh cilantro at the end.

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets, stemmy pieces peeled and cut into cubes roughly the same size
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" circles or half circles if the carrot is thicker
2 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with its juices
1/2 to 1 cup water, vegetable broth or chicken broth if you like
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. sambal olek or other ground chili paste - you could also use a fresh thinly sliced chili if you prefer
1 tsp. salt, more to taste
Cilantro to garnish
Plain yogurt, optional

Heat a large deep skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and toast for about a minute or so. Remove the seeds and set a side.

Put the skillet/pot back on the burner and add your oil. When it's hot, add the diced onions, carrots and garlic and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the curry powder and the toasted cumin seeds and stir in.

Add the cauliflower, can of diced tomatoes, salt, sambal olek, and 1/2 cup water or both. Cover and let everything simmer until the cauliflower is tender. Taste and add more salt to your own tastes. If you want it more saucy or brothy, add a little more water or broth.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with cooked basmati or other rice. Top with a spoonful of yogurt if you like.

Chicken or vegetarian chili

2011-02-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

First of all, chuc mung nam moi! Happy new year! February 3 marks the beginning of the year of the rabbit in the Chinese new year, or the year of the cat in the Vietnamese new year, also known as Tet. I wish you lots of happiness, good health and good fortune this year!

And the Super Bowl is coming up! My husband Rick is a Wisco boy and is of course unbelievably excited that the Green Bay Packers are in the Super Bowl tomorrow night. So in honor of the big game, here's a chili recipe for all those that like to make chili when watching football :) And if you're looking for a new wing recipe, try my sweet and spicy soy glazed chicken wings - easy to make under the broiler in your oven and so good!

I typically make chili with ground chicken, ground turkey or make vegetarian versions with bulgar wheat, which has a ground meat-like texture. You can use whatever combination of your vegetables - here, I used carrots, green peppers, and added some frozen corn towards the end just because I had some in the freezer. You can also use zucchini or squash, or mushrooms. I also like to use a combination of fresh onions and garlic and dried onion flakes and garlic powder.

Also, spice-wise, I don't like to go too hot but you can certainly add more heat to your own tastes. I always like that kind of sweet, savory thing to my chilis so I use a mix of cumin, chile powders, Mexican hot sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little unsweetened cocoa powder. I usually always have a few different kinds of salsa in the fridge so will often throw in a little - I really like ranchera salsa in chili- there's a nice smokiness and heat that's great.

And as with all chili, it tastes better the next day or next few days while the flavors develop.

8 servings or so

1 lb. ground chicken or turkey, or other meat if you prefer OR 3/4 cup uncooked bulgar wheat for vegetarian versions
4 small onions, diced
1 small head of garlic, cloves peeled and finely chopped
6 medium carrots, diced
6 stalks celery, diced
3 bell peppers, diced
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels, optional
1 small bunch scallions, thinly sliced, reserve some to top your chili when serving
2 x 14.5 oz. cans or a 29 oz. can beans of your choice - small red beans, kidney beans, pink beans, white beans, or a combination, rinsed and drained. I used small red beans here.
2 x 14.5 oz. cans or a 29 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups broth of your choice or water
1/4 cup ranchera salsa
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. ancho chile powder, or chile powder of your choice
2 Tbsp. Mexican hot sauce
2 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
1-1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt, more to taste
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. cinnamon

Garnishes:

Sour cream, crema, or plain yogurt
Shredded cheese of your choice
Chopped onions or sliced scallions

In a large heavy pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and saute for about 2 minutes or so. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Add carrots, celery and peppers and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the ground chicken or whatever ground meat you are using, breaking it up and cooking for about 3-4 minutes. If you're making a veggie version, skip this step. Add spices, hot sauce, and salsa and stir into (meat and) vegetables. Add tomatoes and beans, and your broth or water.

Bring to just a boil. If making a veggie version, add your bulgar wheat now and stir in. Reduce heat and let everything simmer until it's reduced to your desired consistency, and if using bulgar, when the bulgar is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Stir in scallions and frozen corn, if using, when it's just about ready, and serve after the corn is cooked through. Serve with whatever garnishes you like.

Mexican sopes

2011-01-26T04:46:00.000-08:00

Sopes filled with mashed beans, roast chicken and salsa verde

Sopes are kind of like small fat tortillas with the edges pinched up to hold your fillings. They are delicious and are crisp on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. You can fill them with whatever you like - mashed beans, any meat really, cheese, salsa, slices of avocado, and any combination of fillings. I like putting a layer of mashed beans on the bottom, then topping with cheese and salsa for a veggie version, or a little cooked chicken, chorizo or carnitas on top of the beans with a bit of salsa verde and cilantro. You could even do a breakfast or brunch dish and do some eggs and cheese, or huevos con chorizo (eggs scrambled with chorizo). If you're having a few people over, fry up a bunch of them and put out a table full of different fillings and condiments so every diner can top however they like!

Sopes are made in two steps - cooking first on a griddle or heavy skillet to just set and brown on each side, then while they are still warm, use your fingers to pinch up the edges all around to form a rim. Once you're done with the first part, you'll heat up a bit of oil and then quickly fry them until just crisp. You can keep them warm in a low heat oven until you're done frying up the whole batch and are ready to serve. Don't let them sit too long though - they may dry out a bit.

Sopes

The recipe below will yield 8 - 10 or so depending on how big you make them. You can easily double and triple the recipe to serve more people.

1 cup masa harina
1 Tbsp. flour (I use whole wheat but a.p. flour is fine)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup hot water - you won't use all of it but I like having plenty of water ready so I can keep adding it as needed

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add your water a little bit at a time, kneading the dough together until you have a nice soft, pliable dough. Roll the dough into golf ball - sized balls. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

If you have a tortilla press, it works great for flattening these out. Just press lightly and don't press them out too flat. I recommend getting a tortilla press anyway if you have room in your kitchen - I love making homemade tortillas - they are so easy to make and are delicious. And you can season them up with species however you like! Check out my post here on making your own homemade corn tortillas.

If you don't have one, no worries at all - just use your hands to flatten them out to about 1/4" thick and 2-3" across. Cover them as you make all of them until you're ready to cook them up.

First stage - browning on each side

Dip a little bit of paper towel into a little canola or vegetable oil and wipe over to coat a large griddle, cast iron skillet or heavy skillet and heat over medium heat. When your griddle or skillet is hot, put a few of your flattened sopes onto the hot skillet, however many can fit without touching. Cook for about a minute until they have just browned. Flip and cook the other side for another minute. Put them onto a platter.

While they are still pretty warm, use your fingers and pinch up the edges all around to form a rim. Cover until you're ready to fry. You can store them in the fridge, covered, if you are making them ahead and will be frying them up either later in the day or the next day.

Pinch up the edges

When you are ready to fry and serve, get all your toppings reheated and set out to assemble. If you're making a lot, go ahead and heat your oven to 200 degrees F so you can keep them warm as you fry all of them up. In a heavy skillet, cast iron skillet, or a heavy pot like a dutch oven, heat up about 1/2" canola or vegetable oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.

Frying up the sopes

Slide a few in and fry each side for about 30 seconds or so until browned. Remove them and drain on a layer of paper towels or on a rack. Keep them warm in the oven until you are done frying them all up and you're ready to serve. Or, if you're only making a few, don't worry too much about that. They don't don't stay crispy for too long anyway, so try to serve soon after you've finished frying everything up.

Fill them as you like - you can put a little salsa down, then a layer of beans, a little bit of meat, another little bit of salsa, and a bit of chopped cilantro or slices of onion or avocado, or any combination of fillings you like. You can use leftover roast chicken or pork (try my recipe for carnitas sometime), or cook up some meat with a little bit of canned tomatoes, chiles, onions, garlic, maybe a little cumin or chile powder and make a saucier filling like my braised chicken recipe.

Veggie with beans, cheese and salsa verde

Sweet and spicy soy glazed chicken wings

2011-01-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

Sweet and spicy soy glazed chicken wings

With such big NFL playoff games and the Super Bowl coming up, maybe you are hosting or attending a football party, or just want an excuse to eat all those foods that seem to be standards for football watching gatherings :) What's better than whipping up a bunch of chicken wings?

And yes, you can get them really crispy without frying them first! Chicken wings are easy to make in the oven and get really crispy under your broiler without the mess or calories of frying them. They do, however, spatter a bit and will probably cause a little bit of smoke in your kitchen, so be prepared and disable your smoke detector for a little while!

I've been making simple roasted chicken based on Thomas Keller's method in Bouchon for a while now - high heat, dry chicken simply seasoned with salt and pepper and that's it to get a beautiful crispy skin and moist chicken. So the same thing applies here for these simple chicken wings that are browned and crisped under the broiler - pat them dry, sprinkle some salt and pepper over them, and let them crisp up in the oven until cooked through the skin is nice and crispy.

The sweet and spicy soy glaze is made up of a bit of rice vinegar, chile flakes, honey and kecap manis, or Indonesian sweet soy sauce. If you can't find it, go ahead and use some regular soy sauce and add some brown sugar to your desired level of sweetness.

Crisp up the wings first under your broiler, then toss in the glaze right before serving. They are sweet, spicy, sticky and delicious!

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled depending on how many people you are serving. One pound of chicken wings is about 3 - 4 whole wings - I split them at the joints and serve as wingettes and drummettes, using the wing tip part for making chicken stock. But you can leave them whole if you prefer.

2 lbs. chicken wings, separated at the joints, wing tips reserved for another use or discarded
salt and pepper
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup kecap manis or soy sauce plus 2 to 3 Tbsp. brown sugar to taste

Preheat your broiler. Set a rack just a few inches under the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup later.

Separate your wings at the joints into three pieces - discard or reserve the wing tips for another use (like making chicken stock). Or, leave them whole if you prefer. Pat them dry and sprinkle kosher salt and freshly ground pepper all over them. Put them on your foil-lined baking sheet and put them under the broiler until browned and crispy, about 8 minutes. Take them out and flip them over and put them back under the broiler for another 7-8 minutes or so until they are nice and crispy all over. If you like, you can turn them back over and crisp up the other side again for another couple of minutes.

While they are cooking, heat up your rice vinegar in a small sauce pan and add your red pepper flakes and simmer for a minute or so. Whisk in your kecap manis, or soy sauce and brown sugar, and honey. Grind a bit of black pepper in, taste and adjust seasoning, adding more brown sugar or honey if you want more sweetness, or more soy if you want more saltiness. Simmer for another minute or so and remove from heat.

When your chicken wings are done, pour your soy glaze into a bowl and toss your wings in the sauce and put on a platter or serving dish topped with some sliced scallions or chopped chives to serve.

Torrisi Italian Specialties

2011-01-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Waiting outside in the cold at Torrisi Italian Specialties

Last night, on a really cold Friday night, we finally checked out Torrisi Italian Specialties and it was definitely one of the better meals we've had in New York. It's a sandwich place by day serving antipasti by the pound, sandwiches like chicken parm and house roasted turkey and I've heard the eggplant parm is great too, and then at night, it's a tiny restaurant with only about 20 seats I think. They have three seatings each night, don't take reservations, and people start lining up sometime after 5 to put their names in to snag a table. The $50 prix fixe menu changes daily with whatever the chefs/owners Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone want to cook that day. It made lots of best of 2010 lists and I've been curious about it, checking the menu occasionally whenever I thought about it just to see what they were cooking up that day.

On a whim yesterday, thinking about how cold it was out and that maybe the cold would deter a crazy line of people, I checked out the website to see what their menu was that day. I was intrigued by their "Sweetbreads Nha Trang" - indicating a Vietnamese take on sweetbreads. I emailed Rick to see if he wanted to check it out and we decided to brave the cold. We headed over there at about 5:30p and there were only a few people ahead of us but in about 5 minutes there were lots more behind us. They start taking reservations at 5:45p but I think with the cold, they felt bad making people wait outside so came out early and took people's names just a bit earlier.

They serve a few beers, a few wines by the glass, and a selection of bottles and half bottles of wine. We decided to go ahead and do the wine pairing, which started with a glass of sparkling wine they kept filled through all the antipasti dishes. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of all the wines they served but I thought they all went really well with everything - in addition to the sparkling wine, there was an albarino, the red was a cabernet sauvignon, there was another white and a lovely dessert wine.

The meal started with a fresh warm ball of mozzarella and a little piece of garlic herb bread - so simple and so good. Then some roasted cauliflower with a dried scallop vinaigrette (maybe those dried scallops from bins in Chinatown?) with olive oil and lemon came out. The next dish was a little thin, folded omelette with black beans, cilantro pesto and a bright tomato kind of thing underneath that really made the dish work, and then there was the sweetbreads Nha Trang - crisp and sauced nuggets of sweetbreads over a salad with lettuce, mint and onions similar to a Vietnamese goi, though it probably would have worked better with cabbage like a traditional goi than lettuce as the lettuce didn't have much texture to it. We overhead a waiter ask the table two tables over if anyone wanted the last of the sweetbreads, which they turned down - there were a few nuggets of goodness still sitting there and Rick joked with the waiter that if anyone else didn't want their sweetbreads to send them on over to our table!

The pasta dish was a fusilli with their "dirty" duck ragu - a ragu with braised duck and duck livers and probably some other duck organ meats chopped up in there. It was great and a nice little portion and I loved tasting the little bits of liver. They served this with an albarino that went nicely with it.

So the only option you have for the meal is which entree you want - we got one of each and liked them both. There was a pan-fried sole with a marsala sauce and thinly shaved fresh white mushrooms - it was really crispy with that hint of sweetness from the marsala, and it was scattered with some parsley, and celery leaves which added a nice freshness. I loved the scent of the celery leaves throughout the dish. The other entree was a few slices of seared duck breast over broccoli rabe. The skin was nice and crispy, the duck was cooked well, and I loved the broccoli rabe, though Rick doesn't quite share my love of the more bitter greens. He preferred the sole but still liked them both, and I'm not sure I could decide what was better - they were obviously so different.

After the entrees, we got a little lemon Italian ice, which was very refreshing, and then came the cookie plate. I'm not one that is so into cookies and all but they were all really fantastic - little Italian cookies and cannoli filled with ricotta and orange. The cannoli was probably definitely the best I have ever had, nice and crispy and the filling was lovely. The others included a butter or sugar cookie filled with hazelnut chocolate, those colored layered cake-like cookies with stripes of read and green and coated with a little chocolate, and few others. They all were all great and the dessert wine they served alongside them was really nice.

It sounds like there are some dishes they serve regularly - the New York Times review mentions the fusilli with dirty duck ragu and the duck with broccoli rabe and mulberry mustard, and reading through yelp reviews, I saw a few other dishes mentioned a few times by different people. I checked the menu today just to see what they were serving for dinner tonight - while the entrees sounded the same, all the antipasti and the pasta have already changed, including some octopus and tripe, probably some of our favorite foods. I can't say that I'm not tempted to go again so soon :)

Watercress salad with chayote, grapefruit and vanilla

2011-01-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Watercress salad with chayote, grapefruit and vanilla

This salad is inspired by one featured in The New Brooklyn Cookbook from Palo Santo restaurant. It is so bright and refreshing, and the vanilla adds a really interesting dimension to it. I've never had chayote raw before - it's similar to raw kohlrabi, and has a texture like a crisp apple but just isn't sweet like an apple.

The original recipe is for a more composed salad where there is a fairly equal ratio of watercress to chayote to grapefruit. I wanted to beef up the greens so made this more of a watercress salad with chayote and grapefruit. I also tweaked the dressing a bit and added a little lemon juice and honey to round out the flavors. Taste your dressing before adding honey - if your grapefruit is pretty sweet, you may not want to add more sweetness. I just felt like mine needed more, and also the lemon juice adds a little more brightness that maybe the grapefruit reduction loses after cooking.

Adapted from The New Brooklyn Cookbook and Palo Santo restaurant

1 bunch watercress, stems trimmed, larger stems removed, rinsed and spun dry
2 grapefruit, 1 juiced and 1 cut into segments (squeeze whatever juice you can from the remains into the saucepan)
1 chayote, halved, seed removed, and very thinly sliced (a mandoline works great) - if it's a little older and the skin isn't nice and smooth, go ahead and peel it
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 Tbsp. fresh squeeze lemon juice,
1 tsp. honey, more to taste
salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan over medium low to low heat, heat the grapefruit juice and the vanilla bean until it has reduced a bit, stirring regularly - I let it go for about 30 minutes. You can go longer if you prefer. Discard the vanilla bean and pour it into a small bowl and whisk in the olive oil, lemon juice and honey, and a little salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your own tastes.

Add the watercress, chayote slices and grapefruit in a large salad bowl, and add a little bit of the dressing and very gently toss. Taste and add more dressing as needed. You'll have more dressing than you need so you can reserve it for another day.

Chicken liver and herb spread

2011-01-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

Chicken liver and herb spread

So, this isn't really a pate as it omits the butter to save a few calories, and isn't a chopped liver because it doesn't have the chicken fat and chopped eggs in a typical chopped liver dish- so I'll just call it a chicken liver spread or an "almost" pate - similar flavors and technique, just without butter. I also added a lot of herbs so it makes it a little less traditional in its flavors, especially with the addition of chives, but I think the chives are really great in this, and taste great sprinkled on top too. But if you want to make it more of a traditional pate, you can omit the chives and sage, and just stick to thyme, and then add two sticks or 1 cup of good quality butter - it will of course add substantial fat and calories :)

Chicken liver crostini - with mayo and pancetta

Serve with a good crusty baguette, some good, toasted bread or make crostini, and, if you like, serve the spread over a little mayo and topped with a little pancetta or bacon as pictured here, inspired by the recipe from Franny's restaurant in Brooklyn published in The New Brooklyn Cookbook that came out this year. I made my own version of a chicken liver spread, inspired by one my sister made on Christmas Eve where she added some sauteed apples later to add more sweetness, and also taking a cue from the Franny's recipe by adding some anchovies. I loved the idea of adding a little mayo and topping it with pancetta (or bacon if you don't have pancetta) - and when you take a bite, it really makes you do an audible "mmmmm..." - it is so good!

1 lb. chicken livers, trimmed
1 large onion, diced
1 small apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
4 anchovy fillets
1 Tbsp. each of chopped: fresh sage, thyme, and chives
1/2 cup port (I used a tawny port) or sherry
1/2 cup Cognac, brandy or Scotch (I used Scotch b/c that is what we had)
Salt and pepper to taste

Soak your chicken livers in milk for a few hours. Drain them off and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat a few drizzles of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the livers and cook for a few minutes, about 3 to 4, and flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until they are cooked through but still a little pink in the middle. Remove the livers and set aside to cool. Add the port to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the bits in the pan and let the port reduce a little bit. Pour over the livers.

It may not be necessary, but if you still have some stuff hanging out in the pan, go ahead and wipe out the pan quick, and add a few drizzles of olive oil back to the pan. Add your onions with a sprinkle of salt and cook for a few minutes until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook for about 2 more minutes. Then add your garlic, chopped herbs, and anchovies and saute for just about another minute or so until all anchovies have fallen apart and disappeared (or "melted") into the mixture. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. Add your other 1/2 cup of booze, Cognac, brandy or Scotch, and deglaze the pan. Pour over the onion mixture.

When everything has cooled, put your chicken livers and onion mixture into a food processor and process it to your desired consistency - you can let it run for a little bit to get a smoother texture, or just pulse a few times for a chunkier texture. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper or a bit more port if you want a little more sweetness. You can serve as is, or refrigerate for later use. It works better at room temperature when serving so take it out of the fridge for a bit before serving later.

If you want to turn it into more of a pate, go ahead and add 2 sticks (or 1 cup) of a good quality butter by adding a few tablespoons of softened butter at a time to incorporate it into the mixture. Process until smooth and taste and adjust for seasoning. Then transfer to a few ramekins, jars or terrine molds and refrigerate at least overnight before serving.

Cooking again on NYE 2010 and New Year's Day 2011

2011-01-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Chicken liver crostini

Hope 2011 is off to a great start for everyone!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I haven't cooked much lately as December was just really busy! But over New Year's Eve and on New Year's Day, I definitely went a little crazy cooking up all kinds of treats for just Rick and me to celebrate the new year. It's actually the first NYE we've had at home just the two of us in a few years and it was really fun to just cook all day and night, and drink good wine :)

We went to Chinatown late in the morning to pick up some seafood and ingredients and picked up some scallops, a dozen clams, a couple of fresh sardines and chicken wings, as well as a pound of chicken livers and a bunch of veggies. We also ran out in the afternoon to buy a little bit of wine at The Greene Grape, one of our local wine shops - it was hoppin' with lots of people buying wine and bubbly for New Year's Eve - but the guys kept the line moving and it was fairly painless.

I had recently received The New Brooklyn Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from 31 Restaurants That Put Brooklyn on the Culinary Map by Melissa and Brendan Vaughan as a holiday gift (thanks Diana!) and so far I am loving it. The book is nicely done with great recipes and I love reading the background pieces on all the restaurants. It not only makes you want to try a bunch of the recipes at home, but is a good guide to checking out some of these restaurants. I've only been to a few of them so far, including a few faves like The General Greene, Franny's and Marlow and Sons, so it'll be fun to start making our way through the others.

Over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, I made three dishes inspired by recipes from the book with a few twists of my own (I'll do separate posts on how I made them once I've written them up):

Chicken liver crostini - I made my own chicken liver spread but loved the idea of serving it over a layer of mayo and topping it with pancetta!
Diver scallops with white bean puree, chorizo and pine nuts - with a few substitutions based on what I had at home
Chayote salad with grapefruit and vanilla - I used a lot less grapefruit and chayote so it was more of a watercress salad with slices of chayote and grapefruit. The grapefruit and vanilla dressing was lovely!

On New Year's Eve, we started with a bit of cheese to snack on and a nice bottle of red while I got the chicken livers going to make my version of a chicken liver spread. I also turned the broiler on and got the chicken wings going for my sweet and spicy soy glazed chicken wings. If you've never made wings in the oven under the broiler, try it sometime - easier and a bit healthier than frying them up and they get super crispy - check out the recipe. They do smoke up your oven a bit though, just a heads up.

I had only bought about a pound of chicken wings since it was just the two of us, which yielded 3 whole wings, which I split at the joints (and used the wing tips for chicken stock) - this was about the perfect amount for the two of us but we easily could've ripped through a bunch more of them if I had made more - super crispy, sticky, spicy and sweet in kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), rice vinegar, chile flakes and a bit of honey. Once we were done with those, we took a little break and drank a little more wine :)

Sweet and spicy chicken wings

Later on, we made chicken liver crostini, pictured at the beginning of this post - topped some toasted baguette with a thin layer of mayo, some of the chicken liver spread I had made earlier, and then a nice piece of pancetta on top and a sprinkle of snipped chives - this was so ridiculously good! You have to try it if you are into chicken livers and pate and all that.

We took another little break and after a bit, we got the broiler going again to cook up some fresh sardines. We've made them at home before, and it was fun to see Mark Bittman do a piece on them in the New York Times recently (click here for his recent article). So, taking a cue from his piece, I cooked ours up by stuffing some fresh thyme and slices of lemon in the cavities - it's amazing how much flavor gets into the sardines when you are literally only cooking them under the broiler for about 5 minutes or so! They were fantastic. If you buy fresh sardines in Chinatown, you will have to clean them yourself but they aren't too bad - check out my earlier post on fresh sardines (and razor clams) here. They don't really have much for scales but I do recommended just running a small knife gently along them to get any that might be there, especially closer to the head.

Broiled sardines with thyme and lemon

We were definitely getting stuffed but we still had clams in the fridge! I didn't want to risk leaving them overnight and we had only bought a dozen to begin with thinking it would just be a little dish. I cooked up a little chorizo and some garlic, threw in a bit of wine and some sherry, thyme and parsley, and dumped the clams in and we had our final dish for the evening. The chorizo was pretty salty but added some nice flavors. I would probably use less next time if I really wanted to sop up the broth later - we were too full to want any more bread so didn't really bother.

Clams with chorizo and herbs

Tofu chocolate pudding

And much later on, we ended the night with a little bit of tofu chocolate pudding (click here for the recipe) - make a double batch so you can eat it all week or weekend in small doses!

It was a fun and food and wine filled New Year's Eve, and it was nice to do some real cooking again! It may seem like we overdid it a little bit, but I didn't make much of any one thing - just small portions of several dishes. And really, the sardines and clams weren't much once you discarded the bones, heads and shells :)

On New Year's Day, we had a little more of that fantastic chicken liver spread (yum!) for lunch and I made the watercress salad with chayote, grapefruit and vanilla salad from The New Brooklyn Cookbook. It was so fresh and light, and just really nice. The bit of vanilla in the dressing was so interesting, and I ended up tweaking the dressing a bit by adding a little lemon juice and a little honey to give it a little more sweetness.

Watercress salad with chayote, grapefruit and vanilla

Scallops over swiss chard and white bean puree

We geared up to watch the Rose Bowl at home (unfortunately our Badgers lost) and giggled about the fact that rather than beer and brats, we were having scallops over white bean puree, again, inspired by the cookbook. I decided not to use the chorizo I had since it seemed a little too salty in the clam dish the night before so I just omitted it - next time I'll try a different kind of chorizo in this. I also subbed golden raisins and chopped Marcona almonds for the currants and pine nuts because that was what I had in my pantry, and subbed Swiss chard for the Tuscan kale, which I couldn't find at the store that day, but it was all really good together and while the chorizo would've been nice, it was still great without it, and a bit lighter. The fried shallots and lemon in the raisin and almond topping was great, and it was just a lovely dish with a nice glass of Sancerre! I made a very simple white bean puree with canned beans and kept the flavors minimal - just some olive oil, a little water to thin it out a little, and salt and pepper. It was great with everything else and I definitely think I'll be making it again as a base for something else another time, though maybe I'll try making the puree from dried beans next time.

So, I'll post some recipes as I write them up - stay tuned! Happy 2011!

Happy New Year! Ending 2010 with lots of good food!

2011-01-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone! I hope your 2011 is filled with lots of love, laughter and adventure!

I have not done much cooking at all lately! December just got so busy with things going on after work, seeing a few shows, and seeing friends. But, we did do some good eating over the holidays, both at some great restaurants and some great home-cooked meals with family and friends.

tablier de sapeur - or crispy tripe

Throughout the month of December, Rick and I tried a few restaurants we had been meaning to try for a little while - Marea, DBGB, and Ma Peche. We just got caught up on Top Chef All -Stars this weekend, and didn't realize that 2 out of the 3 were just featured on the show so it was fun to see them on TV after we had eaten at Marea and Ma Peche.

We went to DBGB, Daniel Boulud's more casual beer and sausage place, and loved it. It's a more casual and lively place. We started with some really great oysters and the Lyonnais-style crispy tripe, pictured here. It was basically a square of tripe, breaded and fried and then served with a tomato and tripe salad and a really great mustard. I don't know that we were expecting breaded and fried tripe, but together it all worked. The fried part of it could've been almost anything, but the tomato and tripe salad was lovely. We then had the country pork and chicken liver pate, ordered two of the sausages, the boudin basque, a blood and pigs head sausage over scallion mashed potatoes, and the beaujolais, a pork sausage with bacon, mushrooms and red wine and served over lentils. they were both terrific. Definitely check it out when you are in the mood for some sausage!

We went to Marea for our annual big splurge holiday dinner (we go to a nice dinner rather than buying each other gifts for the holidays) on the recommendation of friends who really raved about the crudos and pastas - they were really good. We decided to go ahead and do the prix fixe, four-course meal - we're not huge dessert people so opted to switch out one of the desserts for the ricci - crostini topped with sea urchin and lardo. It was really rich and terrific, though I think I prefer sea urchin cold served in sushi. We then each did a taste of 3 crudo - razor clams, a deep water snapper and the horse mackerel. The pasta dishes were good - we opted for the heavier options - fusilli with octopus and bone marrow and the agnolotti stuffed with veal and served with sweetbreads. The entree fish dishes were fine but overall a bit boring and forgettable - I had the John Dory with roasted sunchokes and blood sausage, and Rick got the scallops with chestnuts and porcini mushrooms. They were done well but overall were not all that memorable. And then we ended the meal with a dessert that was also fairly forgettable - it was some kind of tart with bits of grapefruit and a grapefruit sorbet that was ultimately a bit too bitter. We did like the little chocolates they brought out at the end of the meal. Overall, the wines were good, the room is a bit sterile and the crowd a bit stuffy, the crudo and pastas were good while the other dishes were a bit forgettable. It's a big splurge restaurant and overall, it was fine but we probably won't go back.

The night we got back to New York after the holidays, we trudged through the snow and slush to go to Ma Peche, David Chang's newer place in Midtown in the Chambers hotel that is billed as more of a French Vietnamese place, before stopping by Rick's office so he could pick up his computer. The food was great, though we probably boozed it up more than necessary and ended up blowing half the bill on drinks. We love starting meals with cocktails, but in New York, sometimes the prices for cocktails are kind of ridiculous and sure adds up quickly on the bill! But, it's still a fun way to start the meal :) We started with some oysters, the Burgundy snails and sausage and the crispy pigs head - both really great dishes, though I have to say, it reminded me a bit of eating at DBGB just a few weeks earlier. The snails were big and meaty, the sausage was really tasty and that bit of mustard on the dish was fantastic. The crispy pigs head was basically some fatty pork, formed into a patty, coated with sesame seeds and fried up, served over lentils and bits of apple. The pork wss really fatty but delicious! And then we split the cod in a coconut mussel broth, which was also really good, and the veggie sampler - a bit of the days three veggie sides - cabbage with slices of beef tongue, brussel sprouts in what is basically a strong on the fish sauce version of Vietnamese nuoc cham, the typical dipping sauce, and carrots with bone marrow - they were all really good. We ended with a bit of cheese and a glass of port and trudged back out into the snow with full bellies and a bit of a buzz feeling kinda great about living in New York!

Over the holidays, my momma really outdid herself cooking all my faves - pork stuffed bitter melon, thit kho or pork simmered in caramel sauce with hard boiled eggs, banh canh, a soup with thick noodles, bits of pork feet, pork, squid and shrimp, ca ri ga or Vietnamese curry (check out my recipe here), and of course pho with all the fixings! We also did a lau, or hot pot, night and my family gathered around the table and dipped slices of uncooked squid and beef and shrimp, and different veggies into a hot pot in the middle of the table, and then dipped the cooked foods into a sauce of fish sauce, pineapple and some shrimp paste, or mam tom. And then at the end, you have some of the now very rich and sweet broth with all the goodness of the food cooked in it with a little bit of noodle - so good and satisfying. I also made a bit of chocolate tofu pudding since my mom was curious about what it tasted like - you can see the recipe here.

My big, extended family gets together for Christmas Eve - there was a turkey and a ham, salad, sweet potatoes, Vietnamese blood sausage (my uncle makes it and it's fantastic!), there were some snacky things like cheese, my sister made a chicken liver pate, some mini quiches, dumplings, and then a pot of bo kho, a Vietnamese stew often referred to as a Vietnamese version of pot roast flavored with lemongrass, fish sauce, chunks of beef, carrots, onions, and then the not so pot roasty ingredient - chunks of slow-braised beef tendon, my fave part of the dish! And it's eaten with some baguette or french bread. My family gatherings typically include basically two meals - the main spread of food earlier on, and then there is always a pot of some kind of soup for your second meal before everyone goes home :)

Also, the day before the big Christmas Eve feast, my siblings and a few cousins went out to the new Hmong Village in St. Paul, an indoor market with shops and food stalls, to get lunch and try out a few versions of papaya salad and some Hmong sausage, and a few versions of laab/laarb, one with ground chicken, the other with beef and beef tripe. We also got some stuffed chicken wings, fried chicken feet, some chicken meatballs, and some fried taro and banana. We definitely tried some new flavors and it was fun to have a big group to try so many different things.

Christmas day we flew to Wisconsin to see my husband's family and sat down to a nice hearty dinner of ham, beets, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and asparagus. We also did what has become our annual pizza night after Christmas with Rick's family (I think this is the third year now) - his hometown has some great crispy thin crust pizza places - there's just something about those super thin and crispy pizzas, cut into little squares, that you just can't get in New York. Then we spent a night with our friends John and Amy and their girls and were treated to a lovely dinner of red pepper soup, braised beef short ribs, mashed potatoes and green beans.

We definitely did some hearty eating while in the Midwest for the holidays!

I'll post about all the great food we made at home on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in a bit - and now, it is back to the gym and eating a little lighter again! :)

Hope 2011 is filled with all kinds of great things for you and yours!

Quick pickled beets

2010-12-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

I love quick pickles - I don't do the whole canning thing as I don't have room for a large enough pot to have a proper canning system, and frankly, my tiny refrigerator gets filled up and cluttered up enough without having jars of pickles everywhere.

But quick pickles I love - pickles that are ready in a few hours or overnight and can be eaten up within a few days. Though it's not summer anymore, beets, radishes, carrots, cauliflower are all great options for making pickles through the fall and winter. Put some out for your holiday spreads!

1 bunch of beets - about 1-1/2 lbs., bulbs trimmed, you can use the greens for another use like a quick saute with a little garlic and olive oil a splash of good balsamic vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 c white vinegar
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. coriander seed
1 tsp. mustard seed
About 8 whole cloves

Boil your beets until just tender to the point that when you slide a knife it goes in but you start to feel a little resistance at the center - just a little resistance. Drain off the hot water and fill your pot with cold water and let them cool off. Slip off the outer peel of the beets. Cut each beet in half cross wise, and then each half into quarters or sixths depending on the size of the beets. Cut the smaller beets into just quarters or sixths. Put your beets into a large glass carafe or divide into 2 or 3 glass jars.

In a small sauce pan, heat up your vinegars to just a simmer, turn off the heat and add your sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. Add the remaining whole spices and stir well. Stir in your water. Fill up your jar/jars with the vinegar mixture to the top. Let everything cool down, put the lid/s on and refrigerate. Let the beets pickle overnight before serving. Eat them within a week or two.

Canal House Cooking Volume #5 - The Good Life

2010-12-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

I've been drooling over the most recent edition of Canal House Cooking, titled "The Good Life," ever since it arrived in the mail. If you haven't checked out the Canal House Cooking books by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton yet, you should check them out. The pictures are gorgeous, and all the recipes have a very no-nonsense approach to them. I love that they start out every edition with a section on cocktails and drinks called "it's always five o'clock somewhere." They put out three editions a year and are up to volume 5, and you can purchase a subscription to have each volume sent as they are published. I've loved every volume and even when they just talk about easy snacky kinds of things they like to eat and throw together, I always think they sound fantastic. The quick and easy recipes that are barely recipes are terrific too - frying eggs in pimenton, or Spanish smoked paprika is delicious and was the first thing I did after receiving this volume.

In "The Good Life," there are lot of just fun special occasion dishes, blinis, fried oysters, holiday roasts, a section on homemade sausages, and even some holiday cookies and treats. I can't wait to try the goose liver and pork terrine, the duck sausage with quatre epices, and the fresh ham with Madeira sauce sounds like something fun to make. And maybe, just maybe, I'll try the broiled pig feet crepes sometime - they sound so interesting and I actually love pig feet, and love that the authors describe this dish by saying "They are gutsy and completely delicious, but you have to love big flavors, like we do, to enjoy them."

This volume also opens with a short piece called "Christmas Eve" by Gabrielle Hamilton, Melissa Hamilton's sister and the owner and chef of Prune in New York - she's coming out with a book this year too, a memoir titled "Blood, Bones and Butter - The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef." In "Christmas Eve," she talks about making grilled cheese sandwiches and serving them with champagne - how fun! She also gives her tip to spread a thin layer of Hellman's mayonnaise on each slice of bread instead of butter as your cooking fat to make your grilled cheese sandwiches - I had never heard that before, and yes, it is amazing so give it a try if you haven't before. Pictured above is a delicious grilled cheese I made with the Hellmann's mayo trick, and filled with grated gouda and cheddar, a little country style dijon mustard, and some caramelized onions - so good!

So, check out these books sometime if you haven't yet, and if you're still looking for holiday gifts, they'd be great for anyone that loves cookbooks.

World AIDS Day and a recipe for coconut yellow pea soup

2010-12-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

December 1 is World AIDS Day and I just wanted to do a little public education before getting to today's recipe.

Many people here in the US don't think about HIV/AIDS as a domestic issue but it's still very much here with new HIV infection rates increasing in low-income communities, in women, young people, and still increasing in the gay, bisexual men and men who have sex with men (MSM) population.

Over 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV. People between the ages of 13-29 account for 1/3 of new HIV infections. 1 in 4 people living with HIV are women. AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death among black women ages 25 -34. In this country.

Globally, 33.3 million people are living with HIV. More than half of all those people are women. Young people between 15 and 24 account for over 40% of new infections. And 2.5 million children throughout the world are living with HIV.

Do you know your HIV status? To find out where you can get tested, go to www.hivtest.org. And please educate the people in your lives to practice safe sex!

So on to today's recipe:

I've been on a bit of a tear making soups lately - this is a pretty simple one with a few pantry staples and some cabbage, cauliflower, and a piece of ginger, and you could even make this without the veggies if you like and make it straight from the pantry. You can put it together pretty quickly after coming home from a long day at work - just get it going and kind of forget about it for a while. And a little while later, you can sit down to a nice, comforting hot bowl of soup! This has a pretty light curry flavor to it - if you want a stronger curry, go ahead and add more curry powder.

Makes about 8 servings

1 lb. bag of yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
2 quarts chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
4 inch piece of ginger, peeled and lightly bruised with the back of your knife
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 cups cabbage, roughly chopped
3 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 x 14.5 oz. can coconut milk
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 Tbsp. kosher salt, more to taste
Drizzle of olive oil

For the garnish

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted in a dry hot pan

In a large heavy pot or dutch oven, heat a good drizzle of olive oil over medium high heat. Add your onion and garlic and a pinch of salt and saute for a few minutes until onions are soft and everything is fragrant. Add the yellow split peas, broth or water, the piece of ginger, curry powder, and ground ginger and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt, coconut milk, and the cabbage and cauliflower and let them simmer until very tender, another 10-15 minutes.

Blend with an immersion blender, or carefully transfer soup to a blender or food processor in batches (making sure not to fill the blender jar more than half way) and blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunkier texture, blend to your desired texture. If it's too thick, add a little water and blend in to loosen it up. Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle in bowls and serve topped with the toasted coconut garnish.

When reheating leftovers, it has probably thickened up a bit sitting in the fridge. Just add a little water and stir it in well to loosen it up a little when reheating in a pot or in the microwave.

Radishes two ways - braised and quick pickled ginger radishes

2010-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

Radishes are still available at the farmers market and are pretty decent from the store most of the year. Here are two easy ways to use them that are both delicious and will add a little color and a little something different to your table and meal.

Braised radishes
Cooking radishes makes them sweet and tender and the taste and texture is so far from what you know of spicy, crunchy raw radishes. I cook braised radishes similar to butter braised carrots or parsnips and you can dress them similarly. If you've never had cooked radishes, try this sometime soon.

Serves 2-3 as a side dish

About a 1 lb. bunch of radishes, or 1 small bag of radishes from the supermarket, trimmed and halved, larger ones quartered
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Spanish smoked paprika or pimenton
1 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste
1 Tbsp. honey, more to taste

In a pan, heat up the butter and olive oil over medium high heat. Add the pimenton and stir until its well-incorporated. Add the radishes, salt and water and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Let the radishes simmer for about 10 min. Remove the lid and let them continue to simmer and the water will evaporate. The radishes will then start to brown a little bit in the remaining butter and oil. Add the honey and stir in well. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with a bit of freshly ground pepper.

Quick pickled ginger radishes
Serve these quick pickles as a side to anything really. They also go great with Asian food as is, or take some pickles out into a bowl and drizzle with a little soy sauce and a few twists of freshly ground pepper, stir and let them sit a few minutes - perfect for eating along with rice.

This makes enough to fill a typical mason jar.

1 small bunch of radishes, about 10 large radishes, trimmed and quartered
1/2 cup white vinegar, or rice vinegar
1/3 cup water
2 x 1" pieces of ginger, peeled, lightly bruised
8 whole peppercorns
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. sugar

This is my easy way to make some quick pickles. Put your radish quarters and pieces of ginger in your mason jar or glass jar. In a Pyrex glass measuring cup, add your vinegar, water, salt and sugar and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes until hot and almost boiling. Stir and dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the peppercorns and stir a bit.

Pour over the radishes until you have filled up the jar. Let it cool, twist on your cap and put them in the fridge and let them pickle for as little as 2 hours before serving, or let them sit overnight and refrigerate.

Eat them within a few days as they will start to lose their crunch.

Autumn couscous with roasted delicata squash

2010-11-16T05:03:00.000-08:00

Autumn squash are showing up everywhere at the farmers markets and fall is definitely here. Delicata squash is a really easy to cook, is pretty sweet and has thin skin you can eat so you don't even have to peel them. I like to slice them in rings and roast in the oven until they are a bit caramelized, seasoned simply with a little smoked paprika, chile powder and salt.

Serve with a side of tossed greens or salad, or as a side dish. You can also use them like you would use roasted butternut squash or similar orange fleshed squash and add them to a nice classic risotto, or a grain salad with couscous, farro or barley, or you can even chop them up a little after roasting and cook up with a little cheese and tortillas to make some squash quesadillas.

And of course, try them in this quick and tasty couscous with carrots, scallions, ricotta salata cheese (or you could use feta or goat cheese), and if you like, add a little sliced sausage or leftover chicken or roasted beef or pork even. Top with a little more crumbled cheese and some chopped marcona almonds - a great autumn dish!

For the delicata squash:

2 medium-sized delicata squash
1/2 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1/2 Tbsp. ancho chile powder
1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the smoked paprika, ancho chile powder and kosher salt together in a small bowl.

Scrub your squash and slice into approximately 1/2" to 3/4" slices. With a small spoon, scoop out the seeds and insides by inserting the spoon and just going around in a circle - it should be pretty easy to do.

On a large baking sheet (you can line with aluminum foil if you like for easy cleanup), drizzle a little olive oil. Add your slices of squash, and swish both sides of each piece through the olive oil, adding more olive oil if needed. Sprinkle the spice mix over the squash slices over both sides of each ring of squash. You may not need all of the spice mix - you can reserve for another use, like on roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Roast for 15 min., flip the pieces over and roast another 15 minutes. They should be soft and tender, nice and browned and caramelized on each side. If they are not quite tender yet, roast for a few more minutes.

For the couscous (makes about 3-4 servings):

3/4 cup whole wheat couscous, or couscous of your choice
3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
Optional - you can add some sausage or your choice, or add leftover cooked chicken or other meat
3 scallions, thinly sliced
roasted delicata squash from above, or sub with roasted butternut squash or squash of your choice
1/4 cup crumbled ricotta salata, or cheese if your choice (you might start with a little less if using a saltier cheese like feta)
Chopped marcona almonds, or sliced almonds, roasted pepitas or pumpkin seeds, or walnuts to garnish, optional

Heat up your water, olive oil, and salt in over medium high heat. When it comes to a boil, add your thinly sliced carrots, chorizo or sausage if using, white parts of the scallions, and let simmer for about 3 minutes. Add your couscous, stir together well, pop the lid on and remove from heat and let sit about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and then add the remaining scallions, the ricotta salata, the chopped squash, and mix together. Garnish with a little crumbled cheese and some chopped almonds or nuts.

Chicken posole

2010-11-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

Now that the weather is getting chillier, I've started craving soups more and more. I had recently roasted a pork shoulder for carnitas and we had tacos for a few meals. Something about the squeeze of lime and chopped cilantro made me crave posole, so even though we had been eating Mexican food for a few days, I still wanted those same flavors, but this time in soup.

Posole is comforting in the same way any good chicken soup is - rich, fragrant, chunky, and the cilantro and lime juice add a nice brightness and freshness. I like to cook chicken in chicken broth to make give the soup even more body. You can also boil pork neck bones, ribs or spareribs if you want to make a pork posole, or make the soup and instead of adding the poached chicken back, add some roasted pork shoulder if you have some leftover carnitas and let it simmer for a few minutes to incorporate into the soup. I did a little bit of both - some with chicken and some with my leftover pork.

I really like cumin so the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon. but if you aren't sure you love it that much, start with a teaspoon and you can always add more later.

Makes about 6 - 8 servings

4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water (or you can use more chicken broth if you like)
2 lbs. chicken legs, thighs, drumsticks (or meaty pork neck bones, ribs or spareribs if you want to make a pork posole)
1 x 29 oz. can or 2 x 14.5 oz. cans hominy, drained and rinsed
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano
1-1/2 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. Mexican hot sauce
1 Tbsp. kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, more to taste
Chopped cilantro and limes for serving

Salt and pepper your chicken (or pork) pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and saute for a minute. Add the chopped garlic, cumin, and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add your chicken pieces skin side down. Brown for a few minutes, and then flip over and brown the other side for a few minutes.

Turn the heat to medium and add the chicken broth and water and bring to just a slow boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 35 - 40 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked, skimming occasionally. Remove the chicken and set aside to let it cool down until you can handle it. Add your drained hominy to the broth and let it continue to simmer.

Back to the chicken, once it has cooled a bit, remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken. Add your shredded chicken and stir into the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, pepper or spices as needed. Skim most of the fat from the top of your broth - if you're not serving right away, you might consider cooling down your soup, refrigerating it, and then just scraping off the solid fat.

Serve with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro, and sliced scallions if you like, and lots of lime wedges so diners can add lime juice to their tastes. You can also serve with Mexican hot sauce in case some folks want to make their posole spicy. I also like to serve posole with a few heated corn tortillas to dip and eat with it, like you would serve bread with other kinds of soup.

Carnitas

2010-11-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

So I love tacos with any kind of pork, but especially love carnitas or roasted pork shoulder. It really doesn't take much work and you'll have enough pork for days. It's also a great dish for having people over - set up a taco bar with all kinds of fixings and everyone can serve themselves!

1 x 5 lb.-ish whole pork shoulder
2 cups chicken broth or water, more as needed
1 small head of garlic, cloves peeled, lightly smashed
2 onions, cut into large 8 wedges
5 or so dried chiles of your choice - I used dried Thai chiles that I had dried from fresh, but you could use guajillo or ancho chiles, or if you don't have whole chiles, go ahead and use a pinch of crushed red pepper
4 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. Mexican hot sauce
2 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
2 packets of Sazon cilantro and annatto, or cilantro con achiote

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

With a sharp knife, score the skin and then make deep vertical cuts into the pork shoulder all over, and shove bits of garlic into the slits. In a small bowl, mix the salt, cumin, oregano, and contents of the Sazon packets (this will give a little red coloring to the meat from the annatto seeds) together and then rub all over the pork shoulder, rubbing the salt mixture into the slits wherever you can.

In a large dutch oven, pour 2 cups of chicken broth or water in, add the pork shoulder, skin side down, and then scatter the dried chiles, dried onion flakes, any remaining garlic and onion wedges into the broth around the pork shoulder. Pop the lid on and put the dutch oven into the oven. Roast for 1 hour. Take it out and carefully flip the pork shoulder over, put the lid back on and roast another 1-1/2 hours. If the liquid is low, add a little more broth or water.

After the the 1 -1 1/2 hours is up, check it again and if most of the broth is gone, add just a little bit more broth or water to the bottom of the pot, remove the lid and then roast for another 30-45 minutes until the skin has browned, a lot of the fat has rendered, and the meat is tender and pulls off easily. If it's not quite there yet, let it go another 30 minutes and check and keep it going in the oven until the meat is pretty tender and pulls off easily.

Once your pork shoulder is roasted, let it cool a bit and then remove the skin and excess fat (if you're feeling inspired, make some chicharrones by cranking up the heat on the oven to about 450 degrees F, removing a lot of the layer of fat underneath the skin and then roasting the skin longer in the oven in a cast iron pan, flipping every once in a while, until crispy, and sprinkle a little salt over before serving), and pull apart the pork from the bone into bite-sized pieces or about 2" pieces, discarding any big chunks of fat or gristle or unappealing bits.

From here, you can either serve as is, which is still delicious, or, turn the oven up to 400 degrees F, mix all the pork and whatever liquid still remains and spread out in your dutch oven or on a large rimmed baking sheet if you like and put back in the oven and roast until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pork has gotten a bit crispy. Don't let the meat go too dry so watch it carefully, turning the pieces occasionally. You want a good mix of bits of crispy and not crispy pork.

Serve with corn tortillas (click here to try making your own corn tortillas) and a bit of chunky guacamole, pickled red onions (click here to make these), chopped cilantro, lime wedges, Mexican hot sauce and salsa verde.

PS - I make my guacamole with a lot of the same flavors - a little cumin, garlic, some chopped up pickled red onions, cilantro, lime juice, and a little Mexican hot sauce.

Bollito misto or boiled dinner

2010-11-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

I love just referring to this dish as boiled dinner, bollito misto in Italian. Sunday morning, I was putting together a grocery list and was trying to figure out what I could make so we'd have some easy dinners for the rest of the week, and I remembered boiled dinner, especially with all the great autumn produce everywhere.

Bollito misto, is basically an Italian boiled meat and vegetable dinner from the Piedmont/Piemonte region of Italy. For the meats, traditionally there is beef, capon or chicken, veal, tongue, cotechino or other sausage, pork, ham, or pork foot and calf's head. If you can find cotechino, definitely give it a try - it's a very tasty Italian pork sausage. There's an interesting article on it from about.com - check it out here - that describes it as a meal made of seven kinds of meat, seven vegetables and seven condiments. As I was just cooking for the two of us, I thought four meat elements was fine - I made this with beef chuck steaks, some beef neck bones, chicken thighs and drumsticks, and Italian sausage, which I served as both links, and then also made sausage-stuffed cabbage rolls, an idea I came across in Alice Waters' recipe for boiled dinner in "The Art of Simple Food." She called for making a filling of ground pork or chicken, chicken livers, and egg, which sounds lovely, but using Italian sausage is a bit easier and is pretty tasty.

the meats

I had five vegetable elements - carrots, rutabagas, leeks, cabbage and onions. It's a great autumn/winter dish that is so satisfying with all the root vegetables and fall and winter produce. You could also use cauliflower, parsnips, turnips, small potatoes, or do some greens like kale or spinach. I serve this with just one condiment - a nice and lively Italian salsa verde made with olive oil, parsley, capers, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice or vinegar (click here for the recipe). So good!

the vegetables

Most recipes call for cooking some things together, and some things separately but I try to make it all in one pot rather than multiple pots and in as few steps as possible. Boiled dinner sounds so simple but it does take a bit of work to make this tasty meal. It's all worth it in the end when you take a sip of that delicious and rich broth, and that bit of salsa verde over everything makes it all so good!

The first time I made this, I was still living in Chicago with my lovely kitchen and nice granite kitchen island with lots of room and prep space - making this in my tiny Brooklyn kitchen with very limited counter space is quite a bit more challenging! But it's a great meal that is worth all the effort and you'll probably be a little surprised at how good and satisfying it is when you finally sit down to a bowl. It's an impressive dish for company or makes great leftovers to gently reheat later.

I like to serve this as more of a soup, with a little bit of each of the meat and vegetable elements with a good bit of broth in the bowl to keep everything moist and to sop up with some good bread. You can also serve it with just a little broth to just moisten everything and serve the broth on it's own or save it for another use. Serve plenty of salsa verde so everyone can keep adding some as they go. And for other condiments, you can also serve it with a little good mustard, or mostarda if you can find it, an Italian candied fruit and mustard thing. Finally, serve a nice, crusty bread, like a rosemary olive oil one, or a nice Italian or even sourdough one, to sop up the delicious broth. Buon appetito!

Makes about 10 servings

3 lbs. beef chuck steak, short ribs or brisket - I used thinner chuck steaks with bones but use whatever cut you prefer
1 lb. beef neck bones, you can omit if you like
2-1/2 lbs. chicken legs
salt to season the meat
1 lb. Italian sausage links, or 1 package Johnsonville Italian sausage, 5 links
2-1/2 quarts, or about 10 cups chicken broth
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
2 carrots, peeled and cut in half
5 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
2 Tbsp. kosher salt, more to taste

Vegetables

2 lbs. carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into about 2 inch lengths
1 head of cabbage or savoy cabbage, about 3 lbs., outer leaves discarded, and then carefully remove 9 (or more if you want to use all of your sausage for cabbage rolls) leaves by cutting each one at the base and then trim the thick center rib from each cabbage leaf
2 - 2-1/2 lbs. rutabagas, peeled and cut into about 2 inch chunks, about 2 good-sized rutabagas
6 small leeks, trimmed, dark greens trimmed off, and cut into about 2 inch lengths, and then washed thoroughly
2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges

Season your beef and chicken with salt and pepper, the night before if you can, or at least a few hours before cooking - you could season the meat in the morning and start cooking after lunch so it's ready in time for dinner.

Decide how many cabbage rolls you want to make - plan on using about 1/3 of a link per roll so if you want to make 9 rolls, use 3 sausage links for the cabbage rolls, and then you can cook two whole links to slice and serve. If you want to serve all cabbage rolls and no slices of sausage, then cut off 15 cabbage leaves. And if you don't want to bother with cabbage rolls, skip it and just cook the sausage and slice up to serve. With the remaining cabbage, cut the head in half and save the other half for another use. With your half cabbage head, cut into large wedges.

Take the beef out and in a large heavy pot or dutch oven, drizzle a little olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the beef pieces and brown on all sides. Add the chicken broth, onion halves, the two carrot that were just cut in half, the garlic cloves, and 2 Tbsp. of kosher salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and let the beef cook until tender, probably about 2 hours or so. Taste the broth after the first hour and add more salt if needed. If you're using beef pieces with bones, cook until the meat comes off of the bone very easily and is very tender. Skim every so often but don't worry too much about it as we'll strain the broth at the end. When the beef is done, transfer to a platter and cover to keep warm and set aside for now.

Add your cabbage leaves to the pot and let them cook for about 2 minutes or so until they have softened and are fairly tender. Remove and set aside.

Give your broth a taste and if it takes bland, add a little more salt. Add the chicken and 2 or 3 sausage links (depending on your decision on how many cabbage rolls you want to make) and cook in the broth for about 30 minutes until done. Add a little bit of water or more chicken broth to make sure everything is covered by the broth. I found that I added probably at least 2 cups in making everything. Remove the chicken and sausage and set aside for now.

While the chicken is cooking, assemble your cabbage rolls. Open up your sausage links by running a knife down the length of the sausage. Lay a cabbage leaf on your flat surface and place about 1/3 of a link onto your leaf, about a third of the way down. Fold the ends in and roll up tight. Tie each one in the center with some kitchen string.

After you've removed your chicken and sausage links, add the cabbage rolls, carrots, rutabagas, leeks and any hardier vegetables you're using to the pot and cook about 30 minutes or so until the vegetables are pretty tender but not falling apart or mushy. Again, add a little water or more broth if you need some to cover everything. Transfer them to a platter and set aside. Add the onions and cabbage and simmer for about 10 minutes or so until tender and remove to the platter. If your pot isn't too crowded with the first addition of vegetables, you could let them cook for 20 minutes, and then add the onions and cabbage and then take everything out after another 10 minutes.

Strain your remaining broth through a really fine mesh strainer or a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into another pot or medium sauce pan. It might sound a little fussy but you'll probably have a fair amount of floaters in your broth, especially if you do use cuts of beef with a little bone - it really does make a difference to have a nice, clear and rich broth. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as needed - if it's too salty, add a little water, or add a little more salt if you think it needs it. Keep the broth heating over low on the stove.

Prep your cooked meats - remove beef from bones and slice beef into larger chunks or pieces, discard skin and bones from the chicken and tear chicken into larger pieces or bite-sized pieces, and slice the sausage links on the diagonal into about 6 slices or so. Place all your meets into a large shallow serving dish or bowl and ladle a little broth over it all to keep everything moist.

Serve bowls with a little bit of everything, or if serving to a group, put out the platters and bowls of meats and vegetables and let each diner choose what they want, and then spoon as much broth as each person likes over everything. You can either spoon just enough to moisten everything or you can serve a good bit of broth and serve it as more of a soup. Serve with salsa verde, and mustard and/or mostarda if you like, and a good crusty bread.

And if you've made this big pile of food for a small number of people, like I did for just me and Rick, store the meat elements and the vegetable elements in storage containers, and ladle a little broth over to keep everything moist. Store the remaining broth in a a separate container as it will become a more solid jellied broth after it cools down in the fridge so its easier to spoon out a little jellied broth if you don't have any meat or vegetables in the way. Gently reheat however much meat and vegetables you want to eat with a few spoons of the jellied broth over low heat on the stovetop or in a bowl in the microwave. Spoon over a little salsa verde and and serve with a little bread and enjoy!

Salsa verde

2010-11-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

Salsa verde is a bright and lively Italian sauce made of chopped parsley, capers, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper. There are lots of different versions - some are chunky, some call for pureeing everything with a little bread until smooth, and some versions call for the addition of chopped anchovies or cornichons. I prefer keeping it a little simple and just chopping up some parsley, garlic and capers and mixing it with lemon zest, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and good olive oil. It goes great over any boiled potatoes, poached fish or shrimp, or simply prepared meats or vegetables, like bollito misto, the Italian dish of boiled meats and vegetables.

Makes about 2 cups

about 1-1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (about 1 bunch)
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 Tbsp. capers, (if packed in salt, give them a rinse) chopped
1/2 Tbsp. salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. lemon juice or white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1-1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Chop up your parsley, capers and finely chop your garlic and put it in a bowl. Add your lemon zest, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and olive oil and mix well. Depending on how much parsley you ended up using, add more olive oil if you need to if it's too thick, or if you just want a looser sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt if needed, or add a little more olive oil if it tastes too salty depending on your capers. Let it set for a little bit before serving so the flavors come together. You can store this in the fridge for a few days.

Olive oil granola with coconut, cherries, golden raisins, pistachios and pecans

2010-10-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

The weather is cooler and I actually feel like baking. Granola is such an easy thing to make and the smells of cinnamon and brown sugar baking in the oven will make your kitchen smell amazing - you just have to be a little diligent about watching it and stirring it up every so often. I managed to burn one tray - oops! I had set the timer for 10 minutes, and this was probably the third time increment, had gone into my room to tidy up a bit and smelled the burnt sugar before the timer went off. I ran to the oven and checked, and the whole bottom of the bottom tray had burned black - so you just have to be on it because it can turn very quickly.

This granola is inspired by Early Bird Foods Jubilee granola with pistachios and dried cherries. Their granolas are pretty good and have a good bit of salt, which I love. I didn't have any pepitas or pumpkin seeds, which are great if you want to use them, but instead added golden raisins and pecans, since I love cherries and pecans together, as well as some flax seed to up the Omega-3s. I am obsessed with these large organic unsweetened coconut flakes from Let's Do Organic I found at Whole Foods - they are so good and I can't wait to put them into other dishes!

I like a lot of fruit as I make granola more for snacking than eating as a cereal, so if you like less fruit, you might start with a little less and add more as you go until you have the ratios you like. I've also made granola with sunflower seeds, which I didn't have this time, but they are a nice addition too.With spices, I used cinnamon and a bit of cardamom, which I had just used in making pumpkin bread recently. I like a good hint of salt in granola so this calls for 2-1/2 tsp. kosher salt.

So this recipe makes a lot - 13 cups or more - feel free to cut in half! I bought a small 18 oz. container of oats and decided I'd rather just use the whole thing rather than forget I have half a container of oats somewhere in the back of my pantry. If you want to make all of it, bring it to friends or family, or bring it in to work to share.

1 x 18 oz. container, or about 6-1/2 cups organic (or regular) old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups, raw pistachios
1-1/2 cups roughly chopped raw pecans
2-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup flax seeds
1-1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup, roughly chopped dried cherries
3/4 cup golden raisins

Olive oil and maple syrup

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom until all the spices and sugar are absorbed and distributed well. Add the oats, pistachios, pecans, flax seeds and coconut and gently stir.

Spread about 1/2 of the mixture onto two rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake in the two topmost rack levels for about 40-45 minutes. Take both trays out and stir up in 10 minute increments, rotating the trays each time, and bake until everything is golden and toasted. Transfer to another large tray and let it cool down, away from the heat. Repeat with the remaining half of the granola mixture and bake until toasted, and then cool down. You should have enough granola mixture for about 4 trays - if cutting the recipe in half, you'll probably be able to do this in one go in the oven with two trays.

When the granola is cool enough to handle, run your hands through it and break up any large clumps. Transfer the granola to a large bowl and add your dried cherries and raisins and mix to combine well.

Piperade

2010-10-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

I love piperade, a rustic Basque dish of onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. It's especially great with eggs poached right in it and makes a great brunch dish to entertain, or a nice dinner when you're by yourself and just want something delicious! A more traditional version would call for thinly sliced onions and peppers but I prefer dicing everything - you can do what you prefer. If you don't have good tomatoes or they're not in season anymore, you can still make a pretty great version with canned diced tomatoes.

Make a big pot and then use it for multiple things - over a pan-seared or grilled steak or pork chop or fish, or on its own with a little good bread, or cook a few eggs right into a pan of piperade for breakfast or brunch on the weekends. This week, as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I received two samples of Nature's Pride OvenClassics, which made great toast with our eggs this morning (pictured above) - the first was the oatmeal bread and the other was the whole wheat bread. They both toasted up really nicely to dip into our runny yolks and had a nice firm texture.

Makes about 5 cups

3 large red, orange or yellow, or a mixture of bell peppers, large dice
1-1/2 - 2 lbs. of tomatoes, cored and diced or 2 x 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes
4 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp. salt, more to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy pot or dutch oven and add your diced onions and a pinch of the salt and saute for about 3 minutes until they start to soften. Add the bell peppers and another pinch of salt and saute for another 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic and mix everything together.

Turn the heat to medium low, pop the lid on and let everything cook together for about 10 minute until everything is soft and tender. Add your tomatoes and let everything simmer with the lid off for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything has come together and a lot of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt if needed, or if it's pretty acidic, add a little sugar to balance it out. Let it cool and store in the fridge.

For eggs piperade:

Preheat your broiler. Take out a small pan if making just 1 or 2 eggs, or a 10" or larger skillet if you want to make 4. Put a good layer of piperade in your skillet and heat over medium heat until its hot and bubbling a little bit.

With the back of a spoon, make indentations for your eggs. Crack an egg into each indentation, sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the egg, pop a lid on the pan or skillet and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes until it has started to set. Put the pan or skillet under the broiler and broil for about a minute or two until the egg has set but it still soft and runny.

Serve the eggs piperade with a good bread, toast or a toasted English muffin for dipping into the yolk, or some fried or roasted potatoes too if you like.

You can also just heat up some piperade and spoon over a poached or egg over easy, or even softly scrambled eggs if you prefer.

Pumpkin bread

2010-10-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and it is pumpkin season! We had some friends coming over for brunch this morning so I decided to bake some pumpkin bread with cinnamon, cloves, freshly grated nutmeg, and a pinch of cardamom. The grated nutmeg gives it a nice little kick and the olive oil makes it pretty moist - and it smells so good while it's baking!

This recipe will produce a lot - I made a dozen muffins, a large loaf, a mini loaf, and filled a 9"x9" square dish/pan. You can easily halve or cut down to a third, but all I had was a 29 oz. can of pumpkin and wanted to use it all rather than tossing it or storing it in the fridge where I would be guaranteed to forget about it and have to toss it later anyway. So, this recipe is built around a typical 29 oz. can of pumpkin - you might as well make a lot while you have the oven going right? Bring in treats to work the next day or bring some to a friend. Or, you can also wrap well in plastic wrap and then foil and then in a good freezer bag and freeze for later.

with chocolate chips

Feel free to add things in like chocolate chips or nuts or raisins - I filled the loaf pan and then cake/brownie pan, and then added chocolate chips for the muffins and the little mini-loaf. My momma sometimes gets really into adding stuff and has added raisins, walnuts, crushed pineapple and chocolate chips - it's a little too much for me, but you can add a little bit of whatever inspires you. If you're feeling a little crazy, you could make a simple cream cheese frosting to top it off!

Burnt bottom again!

And, if yours burns on the bottom like mine did, just carefully slice it off with a good bread knife and pop it back in your pan and no one will know the difference! :) I think I have to fully accept that I will always burn the bottom of everything I bake in my stupid oven, but happy baking to you!

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour, or white whole wheat flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 - 1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg (all I had was whole nutmeg so I grated a whole one right into the bowl)
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom, optional - I love the scent of cardamom!
1 x 29 oz. can of pumpkin, about 3-1/2 cups
3 cups oil total - I used 2 cups olive oil and 1 cup vegetable oil because that is what I had but you could also use canola or sunflower oil
4 cups sugar
2-1/2 tsp. salt
9 large eggs

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Butter your loaf, cake or muffin pans, or use muffin liners for your muffin pan.

In a large mixing bow, mix together your flour, baking powder and soda, and cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

In a stand mixer bowl, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, start mixing your pumpkin, sugar, salt and oil on low until everything is just incorporated and then increase the speed to medium for a few minutes.

Turn your speed down to medium low and add your eggs one at a time while the mixer is going, mixing each one in well before the next one. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about a minute.

Turn it back to low and start incorporating your flour mixture. With the mixer going, start adding the flour mixture in 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides every once in a while, until all the flour is in and everything is just mixed well together. If you are adding anything in, add them now and gently mix in by hand.

Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins

Pour your batter into your prepared pans and smooth out the top. Set your timer for 50 minutes for a loaf pan, 40 minutes for a shallower cake pan and muffin tins, and bake until everything is browned and a cake tester inserted comes out clean. If it's not ready when the timer goes off, let it go another couple of minutes but keep checking it. When it's done, let it cool completely on a wire rack before serving so it doesn't fall apart, but if you're feeling impatient cut right into it, spread a little butter on while it's still warm and enjoy!