Vegetables

Fig and Tomato Salad with Blue Cheeses and Pine Nuts

I have to admit that I when I heard about this recipe I wasn’t completely sure that figs and tomatoes would make a good match.  Usually when I make a salad with figs, it’s on a bed of greens and a very light, fruity vinaigrette.  But hey, it’s tomato and fig season, and so an experiment was in order.  We’ve had a disappointing year as far as tomatoes go in the garden—some kind of blight has taken all but the smallest cherry tomatoes—so we had to buy the tomatoes for this salad, which also made me doubtful, since I’ve gotten used to strolling out the back door to pick them warm when it’s time to make something.

For this salad, we went the extra step and peeled the tomatoes—probably not strictly necessary, but a nice touch.  And we used two kinds of blue cheese—a classic French Roquefort and a local blue.  If you’re not a fan of blue cheeses, any tangy, crumbly cheese will do.  As in usual in our dishes, we aren’t strict about measurements—we were feeding four people, so we cut up what looked like enough tomatoes and figs for four.

The ingredients list went something like this:

Salad:

4 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
8 figs fresh figs, tips cut off, quartered
2 varieties blue cheese, crumbled

Handful of toasted pine nuts, cooled

Dressing:

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oi
Pinch salt, freshly ground pepper

A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only, whisked into the dressing at the last minute

And that’s it.  Assemble it on a platter in layers, starting with the tomatoes, then the figs, then adding the crumbled cheeses and pine nuts.  Drizzle the dressing over all just before serving.

I was wrong to doubt the tomato/fig combination.  We licked our plates. Our tomato sadness evaporated.  It tasted just the way summer is supposed to taste.

 

 

Spinach Lasagna with Fresh Basil

2016-01-22 13.46.25Someone in this house had some dental surgery and was limited to soft foods for a week or so. This is a great go-to comfort meal for when you want taste but can’t really chew. Or anytime, really. It’s good for dinner, good cold for breakfast, good heated up in a bowl for lunch. And it gets better every day.

Ingredients

  • 1 package lasagna noodles.  You want to use the whole package, because some of them will break, and this way you’ll have whole ones when it’s time to layer.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms (substitutions are ok, but I wouldn’t use anything but shiitake myself)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 3 cups fresh spinach
  • 3 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup grated Romano cheese
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 bunches fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 3 cups tomato pasta sauce—I don’t make this from scratch very often, so to entertain myself I’ll blend three different jar sauces
  • 5 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Bring a large pot of lightly salted and oiled water to a boil.
  • Blanch the spinach for a few minutes, and use a strainer to remove it. Drain, then squeeze out excess liquid. I do this with my hands; it’s fun. Chop spinach.
  • You can use the same water for cooking the noodles. Add lasagna noodles one at a time, so they don’t stick to each other. Don’t use instant lasagna noodles for this dish. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, then drain.
  • In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil until onions are tender. Drain excess liquid and cool.
  • Combine ricotta cheese, Romano cheese, spinach, salt, oregano, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Add cooled mushroom mixture. Beat for 1 minute. Lay 5 lasagna noodles in bottom of a 9 x1 3 inch baking dish. Spread one third of the cheese/spinach mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese on top. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce over cheese. Place fresh basil leaves on top of each layer.  Repeat layering 2 times.
  • Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour.
  • Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Cook uncovered, just until cheese is bubbling, about 10 more minutes.
  • Cool 15 minutes before serving.

The house mouth invalid said this was the best lasagna he’d ever eaten. I don’t know if that was the painkillers speaking, but I liked it too. (He’s back to real food now.)

Cauliflower cake

2015-03-08 19.50.13I bought the Plenty More cookbook, by genius chef Yotam Ottolenghi, on the basis of his recipe for cauliflower cake.  One look at the photo that accompanied the recipe, and I knew I had to make that cake.  It’s a bit weird, because not that long ago, I wouldn’t eat cauliflower in any form…something about it just, yuk.  And then, overnight, when I was in my fifties, my fifties, I fell in love with it.  I have no idea what happened. Maybe my taste buds finally grew up—my antipathy towards okra went away around then, too.

I’ve now made this cake several times, and while I like the original version, which is delicate and sublime, I need something a bit wilder, crunchier, more aggressive.  This is what’s so much fun about cooking—playing around, making mistakes, making something your own, having the confidence to trust your own palate, sometimes failing, sometimes improving.

What follows is the original recipe, with my changes (so far) in italics.  I’m not done with this recipe yet.

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower, outer leaves removed, broken into 1 1/4-inch/3-cm florets
1 medium red onion, peeled
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
7 eggs
1/2 cup basic leaves chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (or not–I don’t have a sifter)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon ground turmeric (or more, up to 1 tablespoon)
5 ounces coarsely grated Parmesan or another mature cheese
Salt and black pepper
Melted unsalted butter, for brushing
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds (make that 4 tablespoons, lightly toasted)
1 teaspoon nigella seeds  (4 tablespoons, lightly toasted)

1 very generous pinch peperoncino

 

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400°F

Place the cauliflower florets in a saucepan and add 1 teaspoon salt. Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes, until the florets are quite soft. They should break when pressed with a spoon. Drain and set aside in a colander to dry.  Or, roast the cauliflower florets at 350°F until they are beginning to brown around the edges.  They will have softened somewhat but will still retain a bit of crunch.

Cut 4 round slices off one end of the onion (each 1/4 inch thick) and set aside. Coarsely chop the rest of the onion and place in a small pan with the oil and rosemary. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until soft. (I like to reserve some of the onion and add them in at the last minute, so the onion mixture retains some texture.) Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Transfer the onion to a large bowl, add the eggs and basil, whisk well, and then add the flour, baking powder, turmeric, Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add the peperoncino.  Whisk until smooth before adding the cauliflower and stirring gently, trying not to break up the florets.

Line the base and sides of a 9 1/2-inch/24-cm spring-form cake pan with parchment paper. (I’m not very good at parchment paper, so I just line the bottom.) Brush the sides with melted butter, then mix together the sesame and nigella seeds and toss half of them around the inside of the pan so that they stick to the sides. Pour the cauliflower mixture into the pan, spreading it evenly, and arrange the reserved onion rings on top. Sprinkle the rest of the sesame and nigella seeds over everything.

Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set; a knife inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave for at least 20 minutes before serving. It needs to be served just warm, rather than hot, or at room temperature.  (Or cold from the fridge, for breakfast the next morning, held in your hand while you run out the door.)

Thoughts

This recipe seems infinitely adaptable.  My next go at it will involve experimenting with egg whites instead of whole eggs, adding even more crunch and spice, and trying to take it out of the somewhat “brunchy” place it holds in my head to something substantial enough to serve for dinner–in other words, I guess, making it less “ladylike” and more edgy.  Maybe a peppery red sauce?  Maybe some leeks along with those onions?  No matter what, though, it will always be beautiful to look at, just like the photo that grabbed me in the first place.

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Slow Roasted Salmon with Lemon Green Beans, Tomato Water and Basil Quinoa

Slow Roasted SalmonWith this meal, I was trying to think of inventive ways to use the fantastic heirloom tomatoes that we have from the garden.

I was making Canadian bacon and tomato sandwiches with fennel pollen mayo for lunch (that’s another post.) One of the tomatoes was so juicy it fell apart while I was trying to slice it. It still tasted amazing so I put the tomato and all the juice in a container and started pondering what could be done with it.

Tomato Water and Basil Quinoa

1/2 cup tomato water (I used the liquid left on the plate after slicing several tomatoes.)
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
3 pinches fleur de sel
5 grinds penja pepper

Put tomato water, vegetable stock and quinoa in a sauce pan and bring to a vigorous boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes until quinoa is tender but not mushy and the liquid is mostly absorbed.  Remove from heat and add the tomato, basil and seasoning.  Give it a stir and serve.

Lemon Green Beans

1 tbsp good butter
2 tbsp good olive oil
2 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove finely chopped
1 small shallot finely chopped
2 lbs fresh green beans
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grains of paradise

Blanch the green beans in boiling water for 3-4 minutes then put in an ice bath to stop the cooking.  Drain and set aside.  Put the butter and oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat.  When the butter melts stir it together with the oil and add the garlic and shallots.  Cook for 3 minutes or until they become fragrant and soft.  Add the green beans, brown sugar, lemon juice, then the salt, pepper and grains of paradise.  Toss together for a few minutes then keep warm on low heat until ready to serve.

Slow Roasted Salmon

1 2lb salmon fillet, skin on, scaled, pin bones removed
olive oil
gray salt
cayenne pepper
penja pepper (also known as “Pearl of Cameroon”)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Coat a shallow baking dish with olive oil and place the salmon in the dish, skin side down.  Season with salt, cayenne, and penja pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Place in the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes; the salmon will be just cooked through and medium rare–cook it a few more minutes if you like it medium.  Peel off the skin, which should come off easily.  Transfer to a serving plate and cover until serving.

All three of these dishes have about the same cooking time, so it’s pretty easy to have everything ready together.  Kate and Jack said these were the best green beans they had ever tasted.  I must admit, this whole meal was really delicious.  Try it and tell us about it.

Grilled vegetables and couscous for a crowd

Chip at the grill 2This week, ChickDudeFood went to visit friends on Cape Cod–friends who have 5 kids.  We weren’t the only houseguests–there was another parent there with his 3–and they’re vegetarians.  Well, in exchange for a beautiful place to stay on Herring Pond in Eastham, with our choice of kayaks and paddleboards and sailboats, what could we say?  “We’ll cook dinner tomorrow.”  Or, to be more accurate, I said that, and, to his great credit, Chip didn’t flinch.

Not everybody goes to the supermarket on the prettiest day of the summer, but there we were in the early afternoon, checking out the produce section.  Our original plan was to make a white miso marinade for the veggies–a really delicious and reliable recipe–but there was no miso of any kind in the resort market.  So here’s what we left with:

  • A bag of lemons–about 12 lemons
  • A bottle of good olive oil–about 4 cups
  • Fresh thyme
  • Fresh oregano
  • Crumbled goat cheese
  • Crumbled blue cheese
  • Grated romano cheese
  • Israeli large-grain couscous–enough to make a dozen portions
  • Vegetable stock–about 8 cups
  • 3 multigrain baguettes

And vegetables. Lots of them:

  • Onions
  • Eggplant
  • Zucchini
  • Asparagus
  • Yellow bell peppers
  • Red bell peppers
  • Poblano peppers
  • Portobello mushrooms

When we got back to the house, the music went on, and I started slicing while Chip got the marinade started.  (Note to selves:  from now on, when the ChickDudeFood show goes on the road, take good knives–and/or maybe the mandoline, if there’s going to be a crowd.  This was a bit of a slicing nightmare–it took a couple of hours to get everything ready.)

I cut the veggies lengthwise, except for the asparagus, mushrooms, and poblano peppers, which were left whole for easier handling on the grill.

There wasn’t a recipe for the marinade–and it ran out about ¾ of the way through the grilling.  Chip used the same ingredients and made it again…and it was different, of course, but just as good the second time.  Here’s a rough approximation of what he came up with:

Ingredients:

  • Lemon juice
  • Oil
  • Cayenne pepper (which was already on the shelves)
  • Brown sugar (ditto)
  • Garlic (ditto)
  • Fresh thyme
  • Fresh oregano
  • Freshly ground black pepper (we’re thankful that vacation houses are now often stocked with salt and pepper grinders.  It’s better when it’s fresh.)

Generally, a marinade will be 3 parts acid to 1 part oil, where a vinaigrette goes the other way–3 parts oil to 1 part acid.  This one was more on the vinaigrette side of things–but that’s ok, vinaigrettes make fine marinades, especially for vegetables.

Start with some oil, then squeeze a bunch of lemons to make lemon juice.  Add the lemon juice to taste, along with a couple of cloves of chopped or smashed garlic, pepper, thyme, oregano, cayenne (which adds a nice bit of heat) and a little bit of brown sugar (which takes the edge off the acidity.)  Keep tasting until you have something you (and your co-cook, if you have one) want to have more of.

We were short on time, and wanted a “make your own” presentation, so we didn’t really marinate the vegetables–instead, we took each vegetable and shook it up with the marinade and put it on the grill immediately.  As food came off the grill, it went onto its own platter and everything cooled to room temperature.

I made the couscous in advance (cooking it in the vegetable broth to add flavor) and kept it warm in the oven, along with the baguettes.

Presentation was simple:  everything on the table, followed by a free-or-all while everyone chose their favorite vegetables.  The poblanos turned out to be hotter than expected, and the cheese selection added variety.  Some people skipped the couscous and made veggie sandwiches with cheese.  Everybody had seconds.  It was gratifying to see so many vegetables welcomed by so many kids (8!) and nobody complained that there wasn’t any animal protein.

We also put out a green salad with summer tomatoes and cucumbers, with bottled dressing from the cupboard, but that was overkill. The grilled vegetables with couscous and cheese and baguettes–more than enough to go around–served eight kids, five adults, one au pair (who was very relieved she got the night off cooking)–and everyone was full and happy.  Chip and Michelle and I then went out to listen to NRBQ band members in their new incarnation, but that’s a post (with snarky remarks about how some drunken white people dance, or fail to dance) for another day.

Grilled veggies 1

Veggie Chili with Chocolate

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Not everybody builds a meal around a few pieces of chocolate, but here, it’s the secret ingredient in a chili that’s delicious, sustaining, and tastes good-for-you-but-not-in-a-preachy-kind-of-way.  Chip, the dude, is the master of this recipe that’s infinitely adapatable.  It feeds a lot of people for a lot of days, and gets more and more flavorful over time.

Ingredients:

1 onion

3 medium cloves

3 medium carrots

3 celery stalks

1 medium fennel bulb

2 medium zucchini

2 medium yellow squash(es)

8 oz shiitake mushrooms

8 oz portobello mushrooms

1 ear of fresh sweet corn

1 12oz can of black beans

1 12oz can of kidney beans

2 jalapeño peppers

2-3 serrano peppers

1 poblano pepper

1 fresno chili

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 tbs chili powder (multiple kinds)

1 tbs cumin

kosher salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

2-3 oz. dark dhocolate  (70% cacao or higher)

1 16oz can peeled San Marzano tomatoes

1 12oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

4 cups low sodium chicken stock

 

Prep: Cut the hot peppers and garlic into a fine dice. The onions and celery into a medium dice. The fennel, squash, bell pepper and mushrooms into bite size pieces.

In an 8 quart dutch oven, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat and add the diced onion and diced hot peppers. (Don’t add the bell peppers yet.) Let them cook for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes.

Now add the cumin and chili powder and stir. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the carrots, celery, fennel, squash, bell pepper and mushrooms. Season with a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Cook until they begin to soften, usually around 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a bubble. We use “no salt added” tomatoes so we can control the salt level. Crush the whole tomatoes with your hands as you add them. (It’s always fun to cook with your hands.)

When the tomatoes bubble add the chicken stock and bring to a bubble then reduce to a simmer. Add the beans and corn and cook for 6 minutes. Then stir in the chocolate and spinach. When the spinach is wilted cut the heat and stir in the cilantro. Add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

There are many ingredients in this dish that need to be chopped into bite size pieces or cut to a fine dice. It’s a great dish to show off, or help develop, your knife skills. You can use a mandoline if you have one. Watch your fingers!  We speak from direct, recent experience when we say this…

This recipe is very flavorful and spicy. You can adjust the number of serrano and jalapeño peppers but don’t leave them out. The multiple pepper combination gives the chili a broad range of flavors. The sugar in the carrots and the corn balance out the acid of the tomatoes. The chocolate smooths the sharp edges of the peppers.

The rule for chocolate in cooking is like the rule for cooking with wine–use something that you like.  In our house, that means the darker the better.  And resist the temptation to add just a little more. If you want more chocolate, have it afterwards.

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This is what we have in the pantry right now. It won’t last long.