eat/drink Archive

israeli couscous with hazelnuts & garbanzos

– March 31, 2011Posted in: eat/drink

Hello, you, who’s who?

Is it a garbanzo or is it a hazelnut? I can hardly tell. Israeli couscous, maybe I am obsessed with you right now.

You look so dang cute with those beans & nuts. I dunno, maybe I will just have to eat you all.

Okay, silly, yes. However, every time I make this salad that is the inner dialog. I made up this recipe in honor of some of my favorite Mediterranean flavors and because I love Israeli couscous, or pearl couscous. The shapes of the three main ingredients play off each other as various little spheres of delicious in a playground of simple delights.

That sounds like a good time, right? In preparing it, you toast each of the ingredients separately to creating another layer of rich visual and flavor complexity. The hazelnuts need to have their skins removed by roasting them, which intensifies & enriches their already rich nutty flavor.

Toasting the garbanzos reveals another layer of textural interests & creates a nutty flavor you would otherwise not find in the simple bean. Always, I love what happens when you caramelize pasta, so spectacular. With the similar shapes & caramelization, this preparation is not only super tasty; it becomes a sort of gustatory trompe l’oeil.

Each shape compliments each other & the shapes & colors of the beans & nuts replicate each other in a really sweet manner. It is a pretty dish & it is incredibly diverse. I have been making it a lot lately because it seems to suit many diets.

This little tasty trompe l’oeil salad is an excellent vegetarian main dish & is as beautiful as an element to a Mediterranean meal. Lamb. Yes. You, you are perfect with this.

I made it last week as an accompaniment to red wine vinegar & honey marinated lamb kebabs. Shut up! That was super tasty. Lately, I am also just really into couscous, Israeli couscous to be exact. The plump little hard wheat pasta pearls have such a satisfying texture.

Originally seen as a kid’s food in Israel, where it’s known as Ptitim or Ben-Gurion’s rice, I found this preparation to be a fun & playful way to honor its home roots.

Kids love shapes, adults love flavors, so it’s all there. A trick of the eye, a party in your mouth. I think you will love this.

(click here to print!)

Hazelnut Trompe L’oeil Couscous

or
Israeli Couscous with Hazelnuts & Garbanzos

what you need:
microplane is the only special tool

ingredients:
1 cup raw hazelnuts
2 Tbsp cooking oil, I prefer grapeseed for this
1 15 oz. can drained & rinsed garbanzo beans
2-3 cloves garlic
10 sprigs flat leaf parsley
1 lemon, zest, juice optional
1 cup pearl or Israeli couscous, whole wheat is nice also
2 cups very hot water or broth
sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper
plenty of excellent extra virgin olive oil

how to make it:
-preheat oven to 375°F
-peel & smash garlic cloves & mince very finely with salt
-remove parsley from stems & chop coarsely
-zest a lemon with a microplane, removing just the bright yellow, avoid the bitter white pith
-meanwhile, place hazelnuts on a cookie sheet & place in oven, toast for 10 minutes & set aside to cool
-once cool, roll the hazelnuts between the palms of your hands to remove the skins, lift up from pan & shake skins away & set aside to add to garbanzo mixture
-heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over a medium heat
-add cooking oil to pan until shimmery & hot
-add garbanzos to pan & spread across surface evenly, leave to toast without stirring for about 3 minutes, stir
-continue to cook this way until the garbanzos start to pop, add the hazelnuts & stir well
-add lemon zest, garlic & half of the parsley, stir well & cook all together for about 2-3 minutes, set aside
-place pan back on heat without cleaning it, put couscous into pan & toast over medium flame, stir often so the bits left from garbanzos doesn’t burn, you may want to decrease the flame
-toast pasta for about 2-4 minutes, add hot water or broth & bring to simmer, reduce flame to medium low or just to hold the simmer
-cover pan & simmer for 10-12 minutes
-remove from heat & stir in garbanzo garnish, season with salt & pepper to taste, add the rest of the parsley & coat with olive oil.
-if you prefer a little brighter flavor, add the juice of half the lemon & stir well
-serve warm or enjoy at room temperature

seasonal eating in a snowpocalypse

– February 8, 2011Posted in: eat/drink

Okay, here’s where eating seasonally gets rough.

Its winter.  As in, uber winter, Snowpocalypse 2011 winter.

It’s rough out there, and no, I am not going to ask for your sympathy because I was forced to eat my fro-yo at 45°F temperatures the other night, bbbrrr, poor me! (BTW: cookie dough bits, excellent addition to the frozen yogurt cup). My step-ish dad & step-ish brother drove to Texas the other day, it’s freaking 13° down there. What the? How is anything in season you ask?

Cold storage. Preservation. California. Florida. South & Central America.
The dead cold of winter is a good time of year to learn a new idea for some. I always love a new word or concept to dive into, don’t you? The dwindling end of winter is a great time to learn & practice: Foodshedding.

Those of you that read Omnivore’s Dilemma will have heard the term. It is often a hard concept to sell to people. It is sort of like how this woman on the radio yesterday when asked, “religiously speaking, is sex okay according to the bible?”

Her answer, “Let’s just say yes. Yes and No, but let’s say, Yes.”

I spend all year long touting the importance of eating locally. It’s the best way to ensure you are getting the most healthful fresh, and super-tasty-perfectly-ripe food, that’s the from the selfish Me standpoint. It’s also the best way to ensure you are supporting a diverse, active local economy. That’s the community me talking.

Nevertheless, in all honesty, it’s nearly impossible to eat 100%local. That’s why it’s called a Locavore Challenge. That’s why people write books about it, it is HARD. The main outcome from such an endeavour is appreciation. Depending on where you live, you will not have sugar, coffee, kiwi fruit, bananas, good wine, many herbs. And really, how long can you go without chocolate? Let us all be honest here.

The concept of foodshedding is to purchase wisely. To offset the carbon print of an imported good with the purchases of local goods. Or, as local as you can get. To purchase things in their natural season, even if the food is from the tropics.
To try and purchase organic, artisan, heirloom, and/or sustainably sourced items whenever possible. If given the choice of an American prosciutto or an Italian one, in winter, I’ll buy American. Because I am also purchasing bananas from Chile and apple butter from Washington and honey & dried beans from a local farm.

In foodshedding we don’t have to eschew our ideals to make it through the winter, we have to adjust our habits. Incorporate dried & preserved items, embrace the potato, relish in the citrus from our coastal counties, commit to eating tropical fruit only in their season, which is, thanks be to the harvest moon, in Winter.


(click here to print!)

Fruit: Vegetables: Meat & Seafood: Edible Miscellany:
bananas

citrus:
blood orange
Buddha hand
cara cara orange
clementine
grapefruit
kumquat
meyer lemon
navel orange
oroblanco
pomelos
tangerine
Valencia oranges

dried fruits

kiwi fruit
papaya

passion fruit
pineapples
star fruit

tropical fuit

 Beans: black & pinto

broccoli

brussels sprouts

cabbage: red, green & savoy

cardoon
carrot
celery root
chicories
daikon
endive
escarole

frisee
greens : collard, mustard
kale
kohlrabi
leeks
mâche
parsnips
potatoes
raddichio
radishes : black, french breakfast, red globe, watermelon
rappini (broccoli rabe)
rutabaga
salsify
sunchokes
squashes, winter : acorn, butternut, delicata, kabocha,etc.
sweet potatoes
turnips
yams

 bass: black sea, striped

bluefish
capon
caviar
clams
cod
crab, King & snow

flounder
lobster
mackerel, king
monkfish
mussels

oysters
paté
pollock
rabbit
sablefish (black cod)
scallops
sea bass
sea trout
sea urchin
shrimp
squid

smelt (Columbia river)

sole
veal shanks
weakfish

 buckwheat

canned goods

cold storage goods :
-apples
-pears
-carrots
-onions
-garlic

chestnuts

dried nuts & seeds
dried grains
dried  beans & legumes

nuts
nut oils
pickles & preserves

rosemary
truffles, black

great friends: grapefruit & vanilla, rosemary & almonds

– January 28, 2011Posted in: eat/drink

When we are lucky enough to have great friends.

We should make them delicious things, because sometimes words can’t express how much they mean to us. And sometimes, we should write them a letter.

Dear Vanilla Sugar,

Thank you for being a friend.
It’s true that we’ve  traveled down that road and back again.

You’re heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant. And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, or even just a few of us. You would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say, Thank you for being a friend.

Okay. So mostly I didn’t actually write that. Andrew Gold did for a really great t.v. show who’s name escapes me…you know, the one with all those plucky hilarious old ladies. The one where I am probably Gladys, a few of our friends are definitely Blanche; we won’t say, but will always secretly know who is Rose, and well, you’re definitely Dorothy.

Well, let’s just say if you updated your Facebook status that you were craving a good old fashioned spaghetti and meatball dinner, I’d braise  it for you, with delicious heritage meats in red wine & a slow cooked tomato sauce. And I’d make you a super fancy farmer’s market salad, brightly colored with carrots, watermelon radishes and a homemade herb yogurt dressing. And I’d make a winter fruit dessert worthy of many salivating daydreams.

Because you love fruit dessert. And I love you. You are a super amazing friend to me & have done things to support and look out for me that fill me with endless gratitude. You know, like the kind of gestures that sometimes actually make me tear up at how lovely you are. And at how you seem to find an endless wellspring of patience & appreciation.

You have listened to me so many hours and even when I was probably being a total jerk, you’ve been one of the most incredibly accepting, loving, inspiring friends I’ve had in a good long while. You make me want to be a better person, that’s such a gift. So, naturally I would want to spoil you for your birthday.

It seems the most nuanced friendships start with unlikely pairs, unexpected serendipitous dances of each other’s best & worst qualities. Qualities that become colorful and well rounded; no longer awkward, but instead become inspiring & supportive. Like how the almost metallic sting of my nature becomes a subtle structure to hold your robust floral acrobatics.

Great friendships like rosemary, almonds and sugar, how they find the most wonderful array of tones in each other. And sweet little ways to resurrect what was once a bad situation. Like the first time I overworked biscuits when I was younger, but now know that I can make them into flaky cookies and stack them with layers of good things.

Great flavors together are like great conversations. And isn’t that really why we love being around each other? To share all these great moments then sit in sated silence & rub our bellies. That, my friend, is what a great celebratory dinner is all about. So thank you for being a friend, and for inspiring such great meals in your honor.. I look forward to eating this dessert again soon.

All my Love,
Tangy Grapefruit

Double Decker Rosemary Almond Cookies &
Grapefruit Vanilla Custard

(with fresh whipped cream!)

(click here to print!)

what you need:
whisk
heavy bottomed sauce pan
heatproof spatula
maybe a fine mesh sieve
rolling pin
pastry brush
cookie sheet
a cold bowl & whisk for whipped cream

ingredients:
vanilla grapefruit custard:
¾ cup (vanilla) sugar*
2Tbsp cornstarch
¾ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1.5 tsp, see note below)*
4 large egg yolks
1 stick or ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

double decker rosemary almond (biscuit) cookies:**
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp raw sugar
2 tsp baking powder
7 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
¾ cup half & half or whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

topping & filling:
½ cup sliced almonds
1Tbsp  fresh rosemary, chopped finely
1Tbsp raw sugar
heavy cream to brush

fresh whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp van extract
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

how to make them:
start with the custard:
1.) whisk together the cornstarch & the sugar, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients
2.) add vanilla extract to the grapefruit juice in measuring cup, gently pour the juice mixture into the sugar & cornstarch, whisking from the center  to incorporate gradually while avoiding lumps
3.) put mixture into your heavy bottomed skillet, scraping it all from the sides of the bowl
4.) heat over a medium-low flame until bubbling & sugar starts to melt some
5.) place egg yolks into your mixing bowl, and whisk a few tablespoons full of the hot liquid in, gradually adding more while whisking until you have about half of the hot liquid in the bowl
6.) transfer egg yolk mixture back to the pan with the remaining liquid and bring back to heat over a medium-low flame, being sure to stir contantly and using your spatula or a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom & the edges of the pan to keep it from curdling. You will want to continue cooking this way until it has a nice even thick consistency, about 5-7 minutes
7.)remove from heat & transfer to a clean bowl
8.) sometimes you get a little bit of scrambled egg, it’s a sad story, but hopefully its just a little bit, and if so, strain through a fine mesh strainer into your bowl.
9.) cover by patting plastic wrap into the surface & chill in the fridge while you make the rest

now make the (biscuit) cookies:
preheat oven to 375°F
1.) combine the dry ingredients well
2.) cut the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers or a pastry knife, work the butter into the flour breaking it up into little bits about the size of peas & lentils
3.) create a well in the center & incorporate the cream & vanilla into the flour mixture until you have a cohesive dough.
4.) turn out onto a lightly floured surface & roll out about ¾ of an inch thick. cut into two halves
5.) combine rosemary, sugar & slightly crushed sliced almonds
6.) brush dough with some cream & sprinkle half the almond mixture over one half of the dough, pressing it slightly in, layer the other half of the dough over
7.) cut into desired shapes, brush each top with cream & sprinkle a bit of the remaining rosemary almond mixture onto the individual cookies
8.) place on a cookie sheet & bake for about 10-15 minutes, rotating once during cooking time, basically until lightly browned on the edges & the bottom is a nice rich even brown
9.) allow to cool before serving

make some whipped cream!~
the magic of whipped cream comes with it being cold. Everything should be cold, the bowl, the whisk, the ingredients, so I like to pop it all in the fridge or freezer for a while before I start.
1.) dissolve powdered sugar in cream & add vanilla
2.) using a big whisk with lots of room for air, or an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip vigorously, stopping on occasion to stir everything together
3.) continue whisking & stirring until the cream holds a softly arching peak when you lift the whisk up from the bowl

notes:
*I always keep some vanilla sugar on hand to make pastries with & to serve with tea & coffee. It’s not because I am fancy, it’s because I buy vanilla beans & forget to use them  & they dry up, so rather than waste them, I break them up and put them in a jar with sugar, I am continually adding sugar to the jar & also continually adding vanilla beans. For this recipe I used the vanilla sugar and it gave an extra punch of vanilla floral flavor. If you have it use it, if not, you can add another half teaspoon of vanilla to the mix.
**This also works as a single layer cookie. But for some reason I just really needed to make this double decker. I just did, okay.

braised duck sandwich for your winter picnic

– January 13, 2011Posted in: eat/drink

This is a true story.
Duck is one of my favorite meats.

Though many people overcook it, but that is another story. Despite how the average person views duck, it is for eating any time, for any meal.

Say picnic time, in the winter-time. When it’s in season-time. This year I decided to make a concerted effort to add meat to my list of seasonal eating. And it brought me to the question of when to eat duck.  The natural season is in late fall and winter. SO that’s when I plan to eat it. And make things like sandwiches, stir fries & chili with it. Oh My.

My girlfriend tells me that sometimes I read too much into things. But I really do believe that a sandwich can be a political statement. A super fantastic political statement that will win you lots of friends. I mean, who wouldn’t love being political all the time if it always made your toes curl?

If we make food in its season, we are choosing to eat in a healthful manner that is far reaching. It reaches the family of the farmer, it reaches the chicken coops that go on a natural hiatus in winter, it reaches our belly that is cold and wants something warm and delicious.

If we eschew all the malarkey about “Eating Healthy” meaning eating only lean meats all year long and adopt the eating healthy that translates to eating sustainably, then duck should be all the rage. All winter long. Eating healthy is about eating in balance. And to me there is an element of health that includes wealth. Wealth in the form of sumptuous delicious wintry meat balanced with bright crisp vegetables. Which is why I served this sandwich with a kale, cabbage & fennel slaw.

If making a sandwich means helping biodiversity, then I want to eat all kinds of sandwiches. If we march into our butcher and insist on eating what is in season, then our dollars tell the story to our farmers and distributors that we want balance. Delicious, meaty, braised natural balance. And we are helping support a really delicious indoor picnic when we make this pulled duck leg sandwich with pickled onions and meyer lemon aioli.

Braised Duck & Meyer Lemon Aioli Sandwiches

(click here to print!)

what you need:
-excellent sandwich bread
-a handful of greens for each sandwich: lettuce, arugula, spinach, pea greens, you name it
-warm braised duck legs, meat pulled from the bone
-meyer lemon aioli
-pickled red onions
-a picnic blanket to keep you warm

Braised Duck Legs with Ginger, Spices & Fresh Orange

what you need:
sauté pan with high sides & tight fitting lid

ingredients:
2 whole duck legs
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp cayenne, optional
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

1 large navel orange, zest & juice
1 inch chunk fresh ginger, cut in slices
2 cloves garlic, just crushed & removed from skin
2- ½ inch slices of yellow onion & outer skin of half the onion
½ cup white wine
vegetable stock or water as needed

how to make it:
-mix together the cinnamon, cumin & allspice & optional cayenne. season duck legs with salt & pepper & massage into skin & meat, follow with seasoning blend.
-place pan over medium flame until surface is warm, place skin side down and sear. It should take about 15-20 minutes at least to draw out the fat, and be a deep dark brown. Tip pan and drain fat as needed.
-flip legs & sear second side about 5  minutes
-remove duck from pan & drain excess fat, save fat for later use
-saute ginger, garlic & onion for about one minute over medium high flame, add wine & juice of half the orange & scrape the cooked bits up into the liquid (deglaze)
-place duck back into pan, add juice & water or vegetable stock to come just up to 1/3 of the way up the side of the duck legs. bring to a simmer & cover with lid.
-cook at a steady bubble over a medium low to low flame for about 1.5 hours, rotate pan to keep heat evenly distributed
-remove lid & continue to simmer about 15-20 minutes, remove duck from pan, remove flavoring elements & lightly simmer juices to just thicken. Turn off heat.
-when cool to touch, remove skin & pull meat from bone, tea into pieces & place back in pan to simmer in remaining juices (if there is still meat on the bone, its great to use for a soup, so don’t pitch it out!)
-once meat is coated tender, about 5-10 minutes, turn off heat & cover to keep from drying out

Pickled Red Onions

what you need:
small sauce pan

ingredients:
half a small red onion, sliced 1/8-1/4 inch thick

1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
fresh cracked pepper
water to cover

how to make it:
-place sugar, salt, vinegar & a few turns of fresh cracked pepper into a small sauce pan & bring to a simmer over medium-low heat
-once sugar & salt has dissolved, add sliced onions to mixture, add water to just cover & simmer until bright fuchsia
-set aside to cool & drain to serve

Meyer Lemon Aioli

what you need:

a medium high sided mixing bowl
a whisk
a slightly damp kitchen towel*

ingredients:
1 large egg yolk
½ a Meyer lemon, zest & juice
splash white wine vinegar
dash hot sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, minced finely w/a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
¾ cup canola or grapeseed oil
¼ cup olive oil

how to make it:

-whisk together egg yolk, mustard, a squeeze of the lemon juice, all of the zest zest, garlic & a dash of hot sauce in a medium sized mixing bowl with a pinch of salt using a figure 8 motion until the ingredients are well blended & yolk begins to lighten
-gradually pour canola oil down the side of the bowl in a steady stream while you whisk constantly, if oil starts to separate, stop pouring & continue whisking until it comes back together, you may need to do this several times or you may not need to do it at all, just don’t let the oil get too separated or it will be virtually impossible to bring it all back together without adding another yolk
-continue adding oil gradually while continually whisking together & creating an emulsion
-taste the aioli for balance, add lemon juice if needed & a few turns of freshly cracked pepper
-finish aioli by gently whisking in the remaining quarter cup of olive oil.
-taste again & adjust seasoning by adding more hot sauce, lemon juice or Dijon
-to store for up to a week or so: put in a small container and press a piece of plastic wrap into the top of the aioli before sealing it with a lid, this will help prevent the formation of a skin

*sometimes its hard to get your bowl to stay steady, so take a slightly damp kitchen towel and twist it, then turn it into a ring, place it on your counter & cozy the bowl into your newly created slip proof aioli whisking collar. This frees your hands up for whisking & oil pouring. Voila.

taking back the holiday table: green bean casserole redux

– December 21, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

The Case of the Vexing Mr. Green Bean Casserole

Okay, so here’s the haps. Casseroles may just be the bane of my existence. They vex me. Especially vexing is the Ubiquitous Green Bean Casserole.

I know we all have certain nostalgia for the stuff. It’s always a bit too soggy, a bit too creamy, and wow, what’s that shade of green exactly called? Because of the strength & conviction of the power of nostalgia on our tongues, many of us claim to actually love the stuff. But let’s talk about this for a second. As a professional recipe developer and person obsessed with food & food history, I have these little fantasies:

The scene: a handful of men in a dimly light conference room, c. late 1940’s-early 1950’s, a corner office in a newly erected industrial park in New Jersey. Somewhere in the distance, the moos of a cow at a local farm (soon to be grazed by construction) can be heard through the grumble of machinery below.

The men in suits sit with the ease and confidence of recently minted millions and are being tended to by a steady stream of coiffed women shuffling in & out. Some in lab coats and some with notepads and smart sweater sets. The air is thick with cigarette & cigar smoke. Mr. French is hosting. Campbell & Del Monte are just here for the scotch and the laughs. This onion guy always has something he’s cooking up.

“Listen fellas, these girls have been working hard down in the kitchens & we think it’s high time to give the great folks of the United States something they can call their own. We want to give them a holiday classic. The Green Bean Casserole!
And a crispy onion topping is just the thing to make it feel special, you know, Intercontinental. We give them a dish they can make with just 3 cans: Campbell, your mushroom soup, well, let’s face it, the stuff’s no good, it needs a good dance partner. And Del Monte, your beans look like the fatigues our guys just left behind. But say we mix them altogether & top them with my new onions & we got a hit. A real piece of magic Americana style. Margie, bring in the casserole…”

Then cut to 2003,  picture me, in the back of a cab in New York, a young energized chef, ready to take on the world of New American Cuisine. Talking, as I often did, late on a Friday night coming home after my second job of the day, with my cab driver, swapping stories of our lives, ambitions. We pull up to my Brooklyn doorstep and a thick bellowing laugh as yet another cabbie delights himself in his elaborately accented voice: “Oh, American Food, so you make Casseroles!” Hahahaha….Vexed.

I love green beans. I love mushrooms. I love crispy onions. And I love them fresh. With all the hues of greens & earthy browns. A bright tone of sage & lemon. Its winter, it’s still a casserole, yes, let’s face it, if I showed up with sautéed green beans for a Christmas or Holiday meal, I’d be booed out of the place.

So, I have conceded, I will make a casserole. Admittedly, they are easy to transfer & easy to roll out to a table full of hungry bellies & slightly tipsy guests. And, yes, nostalgia has a grip on me too, it just doesn’t seem like a winter gathering without heaping spoonfuls of mushroomy, creamy green beans with crispy onions.

Though this year, allow me to implore you: try this two-pan dish rather than the 3 can one. It’s really very delicious. Even my South American flat mate that finds most American food too heavy, too processed, loves this casserole. I love this casserole. Save the cans for an emergency or to prop your kitchen door open while the wafts of real cooking fill your home with tasty promises of happy bellies.

American food is about so much more than casseroles and canned convenience; we have the best ingredients you can find in the world. So, free them from their canned demise & share a little love this year.  I, personally, cannot wait to take over the spot on the holiday spread this year with a newly designed classic. Green Bean Casserole, I love you.

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Leeks

(click here to print!)

what you need:
2 saute pans including one 10”-12” oven proof sauté pan-cast iron is perfect
(a small oval baker will do also)
micro-plane zester
citrus juicer

ingredients:
cooking oil (canola or grapeseed, preferably)
2 medium/large leeks-white & bright green, sliced on a bias
scant ½ cup oat bran or unseasoned breadcrumbs***
¼ tsp smoked or hot hungarian paprika
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, optional

1 lb green beans-tough ends snapped & cut into halves or thirds
½ medium/large yellow onion- peeled & thinly sliced

12 oz mushrooms, mixed is best, sliced or chopped coarsely*

1 cup vegetable stock
½ cup milk, cream, stock or milk substitute **
1 Tbsp fresh sage, thinly sliced (5-10 leaves)
1 lemon, zest only
half lemon, juice

sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper

how to make it:
prep the veges:
-start by making sure all of your veggies are super clean. Just snap off the tough end of the green bean where it connected to the stalk, you can leave the tail unless it looks gross.
-trim the ends off & slice the leek lengthwise & rinse under cold water to remove all the sand & silt, trim the top third of dark green & reserve for making stock
-slice the white & bright green portion of the leeks into 1/8-1/4” thick slices on the bias
-mushrooms don’t necessarily need to be cleaned in water, just wipe off any loose dirt & trim the base. If you are using a cluster style mushroom, just tear it into bite-sized pieces, for domestic button or crimini mushrooms, just trim the end of the stem to remove any browning bits, then slice about 1/8-1/4”
-using a microplane, zest the bright yellow part of the lemon, trying to leave the white bitter pith. Slice in half to juice

cooking instructions:
-preheat oven to 365°F
-heat the larger (oven-proof, if you have it) skillet over a medium-medium-high flame, when warm, add about 2 Tbsp of oil to heat, add sliced leeks & season gently with salt & freshly cracked pepper
-stir occasionally until leeks are browning & crispy
-once done, remove leeks, while reserving as much cooking oil as possible in pan
-quickly mix leeks together with the oat bran/bread crumbs, add paprika, thyme & season with salt & pepper, set aside
-in the same pan you cooked the leeks, add a tablespoon of cooking oil, if needed, pan should just have a light coating of oil, heat over medium flame & add mushrooms
-season with salt & pepper, add thyme
-saute by stirring only occasionally, if the mushrooms start to stick , just add a little (a few tablespoons at a time) water or stock or white wine if you have it handy, and stir to release the mushrooms, sauté mushrooms until they release their liquid and begin to brown, 10 or more minutes
-meanwhile, in the other sauté pan, heat 2Tbsp of cooking oil over medium flame, sauté the thinly sliced onions until tender, about 5 minutes.
-once translucent, add the green beans, season gently with salt & fresh cracked pepper & stir. Once they begin to turn bright, add a half cup of stock & cover the pan to steam, about 5 minutes.
-once mushrooms start to brown, add the lemon juice to pan & stir well so mushrooms evenly absorb. Add the other half cup of broth & simmer
-after the green beans are steamed & almost tender, they should still have a crispness to them, combine them in the oven-proof pan with the mushroom mixture, stir in lemon zest, sage & half cup of milk or cream, taste & adjust seasoning if needed
-if you are using a separate baking dish, you may want to gently coat it with cooking oil.
-sprinkle over with crispy leek mixture & bake for 15 minutes or until slightly browning on top.
-serve warm.

NOTES:
*MUSHROOMS: use fresh mushrooms you can find, I am lucky to have a mushroom guy at my farmer’s market that always has great mushrooms at a great price, though I have made this with a simple mixture of domestic white & crimini. If using grocery store selection, I would strongly urge you to add some shitakes to the mix because they add such great flavor.
**MILK: okay, the simple fact is, I can’t have very much dairy, it is really bad for me in particular, but I don’t want to keep you from your lactic loves, so go for it if your belly & sinuses are down with the dairy, I use unsweetened oat or almond milk & have best luck with oat, but its not mandatory
***BREADCRUMBS OR OAT-BRAN: I genuinely love oat bran. Its’ super good for your heart, it tastes delicious & you would never know its “healthy,” if you use breadcrumbs, please use high quality unseasoned

eating seasonally: late autumn, early winter

– December 2, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

Eating seasonally starts with knowing what’s in season.

Maybe it sounds like I am being redundant or saying this while looking down my perfectly nourished nose. Neither of these is the case.

It’s not as easy as it seems. When I first put myself up to the challenge of learning to eat with the seasons some decade ago, it became a wild ride in consternation, frustration & ultimately found myself feeling maddeningly bamboozled by my local grocers. I wanted to support diversity & the grand potential of our agricultural offerings and was greeted with a staggering display of sameness.

Your local grocery store chain may carry a seasonal display of butternut, acorn & spaghetti squashes, all arriving at the same week just after the Halloween pumpkins. And they are large. Uniformly so. The same large, stuffable squash specimen they will continue to be until they are cut-off by truckloads of strawberries in early spring. Too early, Spring. (there’s no such thing as a ripe strawberry in March, or at least, not in our hemisphere.)

It’s hard to know what is genuinely in season when year round we are entreated to the same array of: red bell pepper, green bell pepper; red cabbage, green cabbage; zucchini, asparagus: sometimes thin, sometimes thick; red apples, green apples.

Brown potatoes, red potatoes, sweet potatoes. Basically, that’s what you get, with the occasional variation. These variations usually accompanied with the springing up of paperboard signs telling you not to forget to reserve your turkey, your gefilte, your ham. It’s hard to know what is genuinely in season when our grocery stores have traded in the sometimes temperamental timeliness of nature with the rolling calendar of their advertising outputs.

When a person decides to try & eat seasonally, we are left trying to piece it all together with vague recollections of specific ingredients enjoyed some distant August ago. Or at the celebratory holiday spreads from Independence Day to Thanksgiving. However, really, many of us have been lead astray by a universe of grocery store mono-culture.

So, I guess, today I am here to say, don’t give up. If you’re even remotely genuinely interested in seasonal food, sustainabality, agricultural diversity, local food, the healthiest most delicious food available, whatever your motivation: don’t give up. There are trained chefs that don’t know what’s in season, I promise. Your local farmers market is the best place to start. Even if you can’t find one, which many of us cannot, use your dollars to support produce in season wherever you find it.

Below you’ll see a list I’ve compiled of seasonal foods. Just know that I am working with a broad guideline because we all live in wildly different regions & seasonality is known to change with even the teeniest microclimate. What is in season also has so much to do with what the farmers in your region practice, or shipping companies, it all depends. I don’t make judgments, I can attest to a great appreciation on occasion for kiwi fruit & exotic mango varieties.

I also happen to live in a state that has multiple growing seasons per year, so it can be a bit dizzying. Without the marching band precision of seasonal change, it can be hard to track the passage of time here in Southern California. Though, if we care to, we can trace the lineage of a year by the meals that grace our tables night to night, from month to month. Or at least, that is the sort of meal-driven utopia I am striving towards.

The table I have put together for what is in season for the next few weeks. Some things are hugely dependent on your region. Like say here, in California, we don’t have quince. I miss them. Stewed, poached, compoted & chutneyed, I miss that knobby fruit. Although, here have grapes. Actual grapes. Sweet delicious grapes for a few more weeks. And, did you know that meat has a season? It does. Turkey. Prime Example.

In any case, I hope this helps. And I would really love to hear from you what you see in season in your region & what you love to make with it all. We’re heading toward weeks/months with such lean offerings, we all need a little inspiration. Right now, my favorite thing from the list below is garlic mashed rutabaga & radicchio, charred then drizzled with honey & vinegar.

seasonality chart: late autumn/early winter

(click here to print!)

fruit:
apple
blood oranges
coconut
cranberries
dates
fig
grapefruit
grapes
meyer lemon
oroblanco
papaya
pears
persimmon
pomegranate
quince
tangerines		 vegetables :
bok choy
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
celery root
chanterelles
chicories
daikon
fennel
garlic
kale
leeks
mâche
mushrooms
onions
peppers
potatoes
pumpkin
raddichio
radishes
sweet potatoes
squashes
truffles		 meat & seafood:
capon
caviar
duck
eel
foie gras
game
herring
lobster
partridges
pheasant
quail
rabbit
shellfish
squab
swordfish
turkey
venison		 edible miscellany:
beans: green  & lima
black & pinto
buckwheat
chestnuts
garlic
lentils
most nuts
nut oils
maple syrup
rosemary
sage
savory
thyme
walnuts

salad for the thanksgiving hangover

– November 30, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

Holy gluttony, Pilgrims!

That was a lot of turkey. And stuffing. And cranberries. And greens.
And pie. My favorite pair of corduroys can’t take much more of this.

I was the lucky guest at three tables this year. One of them: a day-after leftovers table that introduced me to Brussels sprouts roasted with vanilla and pomegranate. What? Oh, heck, yes. Another was 30+person soiree of with a freaking delicious array of homemade food & a deep fried turkey. The official Thursday affair was a long table filling an entire room with 18 TDay orphans. All of us with family elsewhere came together and put on a stellar spread. I made so much gravy last week.

Yesterday, I ate the last bowl of turkey noodle soup. It was really quite delicious, even if it was my fourth bowl in two days. Having always been a devotee to the traditional turkey noodle soup with thick handmade egg noodles, this year I discovered that mustard spaetzle is the long lost lover of homemade turkey broth.

At some point during lunch yesterday, it dawned on me, mid-turkey spaetzle slurp, this Thanksgiving holiday season I have eaten: 3 turkeys, 4 different kinds of stuffing, 3 different mashed potatoes, 2 sweet potatoes, 3 cranberry sauces & 4 varieties of gravy. One of which was a vegan mushroom gravy that I hope to never cross paths with again. It was weird. It was not homemade, so I do not feel bad dissing it.

That, my friends, is a lot of food. So much food. Moreover, that is not counting the 4 different kinds of pie & 2 varieties of whipped cream. It is unending. I did love the favorable trend of Kale! I have had 3. Three different kinds of braised kale. I have somehow managed to beat my corduroys past their favorable habit of stretching throughout the day & they are now like dexterously acquiescing sausage casing. I ate too much. It hurts.

This is why today I am only eating salad. Thank you. I gathered up all the bits leftover from thanksgiving preparation & made a superfood salad full of greens & pomegranate seeds & the sweet aromatic crunch of fresh fennel. Kale & Brussels sprouts love citrus to help absorb all their super vitamins & minerals, so I used an orange left over from cranberry sauce preparation. This salad is making me happy. Very, very happy. Bright, crunchy, fresh.

My corduroys will be happy for it too. Hoping next time I put them on I won’t be insisting they stretch their cottony borders so much. Besides, I gotta make room for the Hanukah & Christmas chow downs this month!

crunchy greens & pomegranate salad

for 2-4 servings

what you need:
no special tools required

ingredients:
4 leaves curly kale
5 large Brussels sprouts
a large handful of arugula
a small handful of fresh parsley leaves or basil
1 small head of fennel
1 large or 2-3 small radishes
1 small pomegranate, seeds only
1 small crisp apple, cut into sticks
½ cup walnut pieces

for the dressing:
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
a few Tbsp of coarsely chopped fennel fronds
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
salt & freshly cracked pepper

how to make it:
-make the dressing:
~*pour juice & cider vinegar over fronds in a small bowl, season with salt & pepper & leave to steep for 15-45 minutes before whisking in oil to taste. Make sure to taste the vinaigrette as you are making it to check for balance between acid & oil, I prefer a tangier dressing

-clean & prepare all greens:
~*kale: remove the fibrous stalk & chop or slice into bite sized pieces.
~*brussels sprouts: trim bottom, cut in half through base & slice into 1/8-1/4 inch slices
~*arugula: chop coarsely if large, otherwise, leave whole
~*herbs: remove stems & coarsely chop
~*fennel: trim green stalks & reserve a few fronds, cut in half through base &  slice into 1/8-1/4 inch slices
~*radishes: trim & slice into 1/8-1/4 inch slices
-peel pomegranate & remove seeds
-cut apple away from core in ¼” slices & cut into sticks
-place all ingredients into a large bowl, scatter walnuts over & season with salt & pepper
-gradually add dressing to coat; taste as you go along

~*if you dare shove another piece of turkey in your gullet, it is an excellent addition to the salad.

apples & thyme: simple syrup

– November 23, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

I love savory sweet things.

I know, weird, right? One of my all time most memorable
eating experiences of my life is a scoop of tarragon gelato.

Sweet, without being cloying and just enough herbal to be complex. Perfection.
That excited me, really excited me. Shivered me to the nether regions of gustatory delights. Tarragon & Gelato. Shut up. Not possible…..oh yes. That is sort of how I feel about this here simple syrup.


You see, it all started like this:

N: Do you think thyme would be good in a mixed drink?
R: Totally! Have you ever heard of Farigoule? It’s a thyme liqueur. It’s kind of awesome
N: What do you think it would be good with?
R: Hmm….I dunno, let’s think what thyme is good with…

Apples.
Thyme is super good with apples. Thyme & Apples together in a sparkling drink are apparently the most dreamy thing for Autumn & Winter entertaining.

I have had many a roast stuffed with thyme & apples. A pork loin all rubbed with spices and tied up with a belly full of sautéed onions, apples & thyme. It’s porcine divine, a favorite fall dish. But sweet thyme. Um, why haven’t I done this before?

And can we talk about apple soda? Have you had this stuff? I freaking love it. I discovered as much one fortuitous picnic in Chicago. We picked up our drinks at a local bodega & with a basket full of roast pork sandwiches out in the car, Manzanita sol sodas seemed the best option. And, it was. The Best.

So here we have it, an apple thyme simple syrup. We made a cocktail with a dry Spanish Cava & a mocktail with sparkling cider & a splash of sparkling water. I have been making sodas out of it all week with just a shot of syrup & topped with soda water. It is also good as an addition to a vodka soda.

The flavor extraction works best if its allowed to steep for a few hours up to overnight, so make a batch in advance & pull it out for holiday entertaining. It’s delicious. After a couple of experiments we came to the conclusion that dried apples gave better apple face than fresh. The dried apples make the syrup considerably sweeter, so less is more, for sure. Thyme takes time to infuse, so allowing this to sit over night is the best way to go.

Apple Thyme Simple Syrup

ingredients:
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup filtered cold water
1 bunch of thyme or 20-25 stems
5 dried apple rings

how to make it:
-place all in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan & dissolve sugar over a medium heat
-swirl pan occasionally while sugar dissolves
-once dissolved, bring to a simmer for 5-7 minutes
-turn off heat, stir & steep for 15 minutes up to 45 minutes
-remove apples & most of thyme sprigs, place in a well sealed container & refrigerate
-this keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator

Apple Thyme Spritz

makes about 6 cocktails (depending on the size of your glasses)

what you need:
cocktail: champagne flutes
mocktail: pilsner glasses or tom collins glasses

ingredients:

cocktail:
apple thyme syrup
sparkling wine, I like to use a dry Spanish Cava
apple rings
sprigs of thyme for garnish

mocktail:
apple thyme syrup
sparkling apple cider
plain sparking mineral water
apple rings
sprigs of thyme for garnish

how to make it:
-make sure your ingredients are well chilled
-add 1 tbsp of syrup to each glass
-for cocktail: fill glass with cava up to three quarters full
-for mocktail: fill glass 2/3 full with apple cider & top with sparkling water
-garnish each drink with a sprig of thyme & an apple ring (they are delicious as an after cocktail treat!)

spiced nut & sweet potato casserole, for your turkey

– November 19, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

Oh, my! It’s thanksgiving next week!

If I were a judge at a pageant for holidays, I would have to crown
Thanksgiving & Passover as the co-queens of the World’s Best Holiday Parade.

I love a good holiday dedicated solely to eating, it’s true. Setting all politics aside (which I think is a good idea no matter what when it comes to conversation over the dinner table, but this is for another conversation) Thanksgiving is one of the only holidays we have dedicated solely to the tradition of sharing a meal. It’s harvest time, it’s gonna be winter soon & we’re going to be cold cold cold for months to come. So, let’s all hang out & eat some food!

Okay, but let’s be realistic here. Why do all Thanksgiving recipes have us putting sugar on our sweet potatoes? This is the real riveting politic. Why, when we have a veritable banquet of sugary delights waiting for our belly rubbing, slow moving priandal finale, do we need to sprinkle sugar & marshmallows all over a tuber with Sweet in it’s name? It’s beyond reason. I want my marshmallows in my rocky road brownies, and buttery brown sugar goodness in my pumpkin pie, thank you.

I love Autumn vegetables, rich in color & natural sweetness. While I do still love to indulge myself on cool nights with a butternut squash soaked in sweet cream butter & caramelized brown sugar, I find our fall vegetables to be already sweet enough. I want to taste the natural goodness of it, don’t you? For me, nothing says fall like roasty, toasty walnuts & pecans love sweet potatoes so much, you have to let them be together, forever.

This recipe is incidentally healthy, but whose counting? Most importantly, it is super tasty. It’s got a secret layer of scallions that get all steamy & bright between the rich, creamy sweet potatoes & a layer of lightly sweetened spiced nuts. One of the most fortuitous trends of the holiday season is the proliferation of spiced nuts at parties. I want them on everything, great big fistfuls of warm spicy nuts. Who knew.

You’re crazy &/or unfortunate if you don’t love a good mix of nuts with warm spices on it. It goes without saying then that I would want to dress up my favorite tuber with a heaping layer of them. It literally just tastes like the holidays, like autumnal love. Good gravy. I am starving thinking about this. I gotta go eat the leftovers. My second favorite part of a good Thanksgiving meal!

spiced nut & sweet potato casserole

ingredients:

for anyday 4 servings
8” x 8” or small oval baker

for entertaining 8 servings
9”x 13” or large oval baker

2 ½ -3 lb sweet potatoes
cooking oil

Mix together:
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice ¼ tsp ground cloves
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

¼ cup almond milk

2 Tbsp sesame seed oil

Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

2 whole scallions

¾ cup mixed pecan & walnut pieces, raw

2 Tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seed meats)
1 Tbsp maple syrup or dark honey*
salt & pepper

*for the Stevia lover in you: 1-2 drops extract w/ 1 Tbsp of sesame oil

5-6 lb sweet potatoes
cooking oil

Mix together:
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2  tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp or large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup almond milk

¼ cup sesame seed oil

Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

3-4 whole scallions

¾ cup pecan pieces, raw
¾ cup walnut pieces, raw

¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seed meats)
2 Tbsp maple syrup or dark honey*
salt & pepper


*for the Stevia lover in you: 2-4 drops extract w/2 Tbsp of sesame oil

what you need:
8”x 8” baking pan/9”x 13” baking pan
potato ricer or masher

how to make it:

-preheat oven to 400°F, rub potatoes lightly with cooking oil & either puncture with  a fork several times or score with a paring knife, i typically score in a long slash down the center or in a zig zag motion
-meanwhile, combine your spices & divide in half.
-combine the nuts & pumpkin seeds & sprinkle half the spice mixture over them & season with some salt & pepper, combine with syrup & set aside
-when oven is heated, bake potatoes on a lightly oiled or parchment lined cookie sheet for 45-60 minutes, until a paring knife slips easily to the center, all the potatoes will not bake at the same rate, so be sure to check them all separately at 45 minutes & take out the ones that are done & leave the others until they are done. when done, allow to cool on a baking rack
-trim scallions & slice whole scallions, white & green, on a thin bias
-reduce oven temperature to 350° F
-when potatoes are cool to touch, peel off the skin & mash the potatoes with the sesame oil, half the spices & almond milk, season to taste with salt & pepper, make sure all is well combined
-prepare baking pan by lightly brushing it with butter, cooking oil or spraying evenly with baking spray
-evenly spread the sweet potato mixture into pan, sprinkle the scallions over the whole surface evenly & lightly press them into the sweet potatoes
-sprinkle spiced nut mixture evenly over the whole pan
-bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until heated through & nuts are beginning to lightly brown

~*note: if you are making this in advance, prepare up to the point where you layer the nut mixture over, cover with plastic & set aside. You can refrigerate it this way overnight, just be sure to pull out the pan & let it come to room temperature, about 30 or so minutes, before you bake it to finish.

for anyday 4 servings
8” x 8” or small oval baker

homemade oat & almond milk

– November 16, 2010Posted in: eat/drink

Milk. You, bovine delicacy.

Oh. You. I really want to love you. I really do. But you keep on doing me wrong. I try to rectify our love.

But the fact of the matter is, you don’t love me back. I know you have tried. By making such wonders as 10 year cheddars and sweet puddles of burrata.  Milk mixed whole fat, half & half in my coffee making the most perfect shade of khaki.

I tried so hard to love you that I even dedicated over a year of my life to hocking your wares. I watched you transform yourself into an endless array artisan cheeses that I lovingly tended. Trimming, wrapping, trimming, breathing, presenting. I learned so much about culture, both dairy cultures & the human cultures that surround great cheeses.

I learned a lot, also, about how not good for this body milk does. My cholesterol: through the roof & up to astral universe. Digestion, eh, sluggish. Sinuses, wrecked. I can still feel the faint flutter of my cholesterol threatening from my arteries & the bloated belly that, you know, it’s just not cute.

I am not alone. There are a lot of us that don’t do dairy well. Let’s be honest, soy milk is not the best & only alternative. I just really don’t like the legume appeal of it in my coffee. I have come to love almond milk, though it curdles & separates too readily in hot liquids. And while I know this doesn’t mean it tastes bad, it just looks gross. I once had oat milk that I loved. Why not mix them? Why does no one do that?

Then I realized I always have these cravings to have a bowl of oatmeal. And it is always just that: A Bowl. I never finish the whole box. I decided to make my own oat milk, why not?  And you know what? I really, really like it.

It is a very versatile milk. You just have to want to work for it a bit. Its sort of a vegan-ified rite of passage, while I aspire one day to drink milk that I have myself procured from either a cow or goat, for now, I am happy to say I can make my milk from scratch.

Its incredibly healthy, also, but that is a mere bonus. Because it is made with rolled oats, it thickens nicely, so it works beautifully in recipes that straight soy or almond milk will not. I get my little almond & oats fix for my health. And I can save my lactic moments for a sumptuous piece of excellent cheese or a perfect scoop of gelato. Let’s face it, these are far better show of dairy power.

Sometimes I  make it every week, sometimes not so much, but when I do, I am very glad I did. This week I made it with cashews. Also, delicious. It takes a day to make & there is something very rewarding about it. I like that it doesn’t have any added sugars or creepy binders. And I like that it’s as satisfying to make as to drink.

I like that I can flavor it however I want to. I like that I don’t have to worry about how the cow was treated. I like that my heart is happy with it. I like that I get to have a delicious cup of coffee tomorrow morning with oat & almond milk. And maybe next week, I’ll have oat & pecan milk. Endless.

home-made oat milk

what you need:
pourable storage container
a good blender
fine mesh strainer
flexible spatula
patience

ingredients:
1 1/4 cup rolled oats, preferably organic
1/2 cup raw almonds (or cashew, or walnuts, or cooked brown rice, even)
3 cups cold, very clean, filtered water
optional:
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1 Tbsp agave, honey or maple
-cap-full of great vanilla

how to make it:
- if using any optional flavorings, dilute those in the water
-put oats & nuts in clean glass or re-usable plastic container
-pour cold, immaculate water over, and seal container
-leave to soak for 8-12 hours, if it is somewhere that it can get direct sunlight, cover it with a cloth to block light
-once soaked, use a slotted spoon to lift all of the solids into the workbowl of your blender
-puree on the highest setting, add a little liquid as needed, it is best to start with a thick sludgy texture so you can get it pureed fine enough, blend anywhere from 5-10 minutes in intervals, scraping sides & stirring as needed, until you get a thick wet puree
-gradually add water & blend until very viscous, almost like a pureed soup.
-over a medium bowl, strain the milk through a fine mesh strainer in batches, be sure to press firmly on the oats to get all of the liquid out.
-you can either discard the solids or eat them*
-adjust thickness of milk by adding water if it’s too thick.
-this will keep up to 5 days, refrigerated & sealed

* i have made the leftover solids into a breakfast cereal by simmering it for a few minutes with slivered almonds, some honey & milk over a medium-low heat for a few minutes. i have also dried it in a low oven & folded it into pancakes like oat flour. i store it in the fridge. it is also good dried used as a binder for turkey burgers. still experimenting with the stuff.

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