Yesterday I bought a package of frozen shrimp at Krogers that said it was caught wild off the coast of Key West. I had noticed that all of the Chinese shrimp had been removed from the shelves several weeks ago and replaced with shrimp from Thailand. This is the first package of shrimp I have seen from the United States in recent memory. The interesting part is that it was being sold for the same price as the shrimp from Thailand. Hmm…
Recipes
One Local Summer Vegetable Salad: Recipe
Today is National Salad Day. Would I make that up? Actually I got several emails reminding me about it. I was going to post a vegetable salad when I realized, it was also an all local dish which fits nicely with the One Local Summer event where participants make one meal a week with local ingredients. It’s an early version of a recipe I made for my recipe development client. The vegetables–zucchini, corn, peppers and eggplant all came from Capay Organic, the lemon from Los Gatos and the olive oil from Napa. Voila! One local Summer Vegetable Salad. I served it with Sonoma lamb chops.
While the idea is to eat at least one local meal a week, I actually had another meal that was primarily local this week. Ok, the rice and spices weren’t but the Spicy Eggplant and Tomatoes dish had Capay Organic eggplant and Greenbrae backyard-grown tomatoes. Delicious stuff and so fresh tasting. I got the recipe from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, a terrific book written by local food writer and cooking instructor Ruta Kahate. Last week I posted an interview with Ruta over at Bay Area Bites. This week you can read my review of her book and see a recipe for a scrumptious beef curry.
The recipe for my One Local Summer Vegetable Salad is as easy as it is versatile. Serve it as a salad or a side dish. I could see adding some crumbled cheese to it and calling it a main dish, and any of the vegetables could be swapped out for something you prefer–tomatoes, patty pan squash, red onions, whatever you like. Change up the dressing too if you prefer something different.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
serves 4
2 Japanese eggplants
2 ears of corn
2 zucchini
2 bell peppers
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Dressing
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Cut and core the bell peppers into 1 – 2 inch pieces. Cut the zucchini and eggplants lengthwise into three strips then cut each strip into 1 -2 inch chunks. Toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill for 8 minutes over a charcoal grill or in a cast iron grill pan, turning once. Cook the corn on the grill for 20 minutes (husks will burn) then husk and slice kernels off the cob (or husk the cobs, wrap in foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes) Toss all vegetables with the dressing and warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
| READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my review of Ruta Kahate’s book 5 Spices, 50 Dishes |
One Local Summer Vegetable Salad: Recipe
I tried this dish last night and it was a great success. This dish took a lot more time than I normally spend on a side dish but my mother-in-law was bringing a honey baked ham. I had the time since they were going to be kayaking and fishing on the lake while I cooked. Fortunately I had a large grilling basket my wife gave me a few years ago. There are a lot of vegetables to cook. I prepared a hot grill to cook this dish. I combined these dishes with the always popular crispy oven baked potato slices. The combination of flavors was interesting. The garlic I add to the potato slices complemented the flavors in the ham and vegetable dish. I followed the vegetable recipe except I used fresh lime juice and I added a little bit of sun dried tomatoes. Adding those ingredients was a little bit inspiration and a little bit of cupboard cleaning but it worked. One young person proudly proclaimed to their mom that they ate all of the vegetables and she does not eat tomatoes.
Too Many Chefs: 7 Bean Soup from 10 cans
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Self, we need to make a full freaking gallon of soup that’ll be hearty, delicious, and vegetarian. And we need to do it lickety split.”? No? Really? Well it can be done, and I’m here to show you how to do it. This is a great soup to make if your intent is to have some now, and freeze a lot for later.I use canned beans for this soup because I find them more convenient that the dried beans. If you’re looking for the cheapest possible recipe, you could use dried beans, pick over them looking for dirt and rocks and shrunken children from a Rick Moranis movie, then boil the beans forever to get them tender. I find canned beans to be much much easier to deal with, though they do cost a little bit more and are heavy to carry home if you’re not driving.Yes, there are many who will decry the use of canned foods. Well, please feel free to grow ad pick the beans for this recipe yourself, but with the addition of some fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, onions), canned beans wok wonderfully here.The soup I present here has an Italianate seasoning scheme. You could easily adjust the herbs or substitute wine in for the sauce or add peppers to change the flavors. No matter what you do, adding a little epazote at the beginning or Beano at the end will help cut down on the gassiferous (is that a word?) tendencies of the beans.I use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in this recipe, but you can substitute a low sodium soy sauce. I like the flavor of Bragg’s better, and encourage you to give it a try.
My wife the Redhead suggests adding some bulgar to this recipe, which I may do next time, but we both also enjoy the soup as is.
7 Bean Soup from 10 Cans
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, diced small
2 carrots, diced small
1 large white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, mincedOne 15.5-oz can each ( I believe I used Goya for all) of:
chickpeas
pinto beans
black beans
small white beans
blackeyed peas
pigeon peas (find in Mexican ethnic grocery stores)
dark red kidney beans2 14-oz cans of Vegetable Broth (I used Swanson’s clear, which is a little salty, but cheap, cheap, cheap)
1 28 ounce can of fire roasted plum tomatoes (Muir Glen, in my case)
2 tablespoons dried oregano (yep, that’s a lot of oregano, but you have a GALLON of soup here, for Pete’s sake)
1/4 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or light soy sauce or to tasteIn a LARGE stock pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and sautée for three-five minutes until everything starts to soften.
Mash up the canned tomatoes then add them to the oil and vegetables. Add the beans, without draining and stir to combine well. Add the stock, oregano, and Bragg’s (or soy sauce) and stir well again.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer for 30 minutes before serving, stirring occasionally. Recipe makes a little over 1.25 gallons of soup. Eat what you like, freeze the rest – it microwaves well in small containers for lunch. Good with oyster crackers or crusty bread for dipping.
Too Many Chefs: 7 Bean Soup from 10 cans
I cleaned out the refrigerator and cupboard with this soup. I had five Roma tomatoes that I was looking to use in something. This was a fast and tasty solution.
Portabello & Sausage French Bread Pizza: Recipe
Last week on the Epicurious blog Tanya Steel wrote about serving a Proscuitto and Taleggio macaroni and cheese to a friend who it turned out, preferred the blue boxed verson. When I was little I enjoyed that mac and cheese that comes in a box too. But years later when I tried it again, I realized it wasn’t very good. The sauce made from powder was artificial tasting and the macaroni was pasty. As an adult there is no question, my tastes had changed.
The other packaged food I remember liking way back when, was Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza. I still remember how tasty that crunchy pizza was. Of course, if I tried it now I would probably not be as impressed, but as a 13 year old babysitter, it seemed like a very delicious treat.
I’d rather recreate what I loved about those french bread pizzas than be disappointed trying the original version. This recipe took a couple of tries to get right. It’s a little messy but also savory, crisp and cheesy. In other words, delicious! Once you have the technique down, you could probably make other versions too. I developed this recipe to go with an Argentinean Malbec.
Portabello & Sausage French Bread Pizza
4 to 6 Servings
1 loaf French bread
3 Italian sausages, hot or mild
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 cup red wine (Malbec is perfect)
2 large Portabello mushrooms
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 slices Provolone cheese, about 8 ounces
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice the bread lengthwise and in half so you have four equal portions. Place on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about five minutes then remove while preparing the topping. Meanwhile prepare the mushrooms by wiping clean with a paper towel and removing the stem. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside.
Remove casing from sausages and crumble into a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and continue cooking for another minute or two. Add the wine and stir the mixture then add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping up the bottom of the pan. Mushrooms will release their juices and turn brown. Cook another few minutes until mushrooms are cooked through. Take skillet off the heat and mix in the Parmesan cheese.
Spread the sausage and mushroom mixture evenly on top of the bread halves. Cut each slice of cheese in half and place on top. Bake for five to ten minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut each piece in thirds to serve.
Enjoy!
Determined
Some people are just determined to be… odd.
A man and woman came in yesterday for lunch, he wanted a Cobb salad. But he did not want chicken, bacon, avocado, or blue cheese. Which basically leaves egg and lettuce. To be helpful, his server suggested a less expensive alternative of a plain salad with egg. That made him mad. She apologized. He demanded she bring him the Cobb Salad.
The woman sitting across from him asked if we used clam juice in our clam chowder, and could she get a bowl without clams. Apparently she’s allergic to shellfish.
I am going to start a fund and pay people like this not to eat here.
Skillet Jambalaya
Finally on my second try at Skillet Jambalaya I think I got it right. I was real optimistic about this Cooks Illustrated recipe. My family has developed a real fondness for the Skillet Lasagna. Having spent eighteen years on the Gulf coast, we have also developed a fondness for Cajun food. The idea of a fresh and quicker approach to Jambalaya was very appealing.
I think this recipe is fine but I think my execution was much better the second time. It was not hard to see that the second dish was turning out much better. It looked and smelled delicious. Unwilling to leave good things alone, I decided to liven it up with a little Emeril’s Essence before serving. This worked well and complemented the natural flavors of the dish. However, I think l will toss a little Essence with the shrimp before cooking next time. Shrimp can be pretty bland. The only thing worse than bland shrimp is bland and overcooked shrimp. I am borrowing this technique for seasoning shrimp from Emeril’s recipe for Shrimp Étouffée. Each shrimp becomes a flavor burst.
Apple & cranberry crème brulée
Until a few years ago, my contact to cranberries was limited to a few occasions – I would have them as a compote with Wiener Schnitzel or fried camembert, or, much more frequently unfortunately, in the form of juice or compressed into tablets to combat cystitis. When we moved to the UK, I made my first turkey (which is not an Austrian tradition) and served it with a cranberry sauce, of course. And it was there that the relationship ended in a way – I never really thought of anything else I could do with them.
Last week, though, when I was wrecking my brain over what to serve at a dinner party, I remembered how I made an indulging rhubarb crème brulée a while back, surely I could adapt the recipe and turn it into something more seasonal?
A perfect, if unusual dessert for Christmas this is – a compote of apples and cranberries sitting underneath a creamy custard, seasonally spiced with cinnamon and cloves… and the inevitable burnt sugar crust on top.
I especially like this recipe because it isn’t too sweet (as many a crème brulée I’ve had in restaurants over the years): the custard uses minimal amounts of sugar and the cranberries add a subtle tartness that beautifully balances the taste. And paired with the fact that it is so easy to prepare and can be prepared well ahead of festivities, this is definitely a keeper for the Christmas season… and for once, I’d even choose this over a chocolate dessert! (Although I won’t give up the truffles with my coffee)
And if you need any excuse to be indulging in something so moreish, look at the health aspects: cranberries are rich in antioxidants and have anti-aging properties apparently – just make sure you consume them in moderation, you don’t want to end up as a whining toddler under the Christmas tree even though the amount of presents you’d get might be overly tempting ;-))
Apple & cranberry crème brulée
(yields 12 ramekins*)
30 g butter
3 apples (peeled & cored weight ca. 300 g)
200 g cranberries
100 g demerara (or other brown) sugar
450 ml fresh double cream
200 ml semi-skimmed milk
8 large egg yolks
100 g vanilla sugar
generous pinch ground cinnamon
generous pinch ground cloves
12 tsp caster sugar
Pre-heat oven to 140 C.
Cut the peeled and cored apples into small pieces (ca. 1-2 cm). Heat the butter in a pan, add the apples and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cranberries and sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes until the fruit is soft.
Meanwhile, gently heat the double cream and milk in a pot. Beat the egg yolks, sugar and spices until pale and creamy, ca. 5 minutes. When the cream is warm, pour gradually into the egg mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon. Skim off the foam that has built, as too many airbubbles will make it impossible to create a smooth sugar top.
Divide the fruit compote between the ramekins, then top with the custard, to approximately 5 mm under the rim.
Place the dishes in a deep baking tray and fill with boiling water, it should reach ca. 75% up the height of the ramekins.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes (keep checking that the water doesn’t completely evaporate), until just set and still slightly wobbly in the centre. If in danger of browning too much, loosely top with foil or baking parchment.
Take out of the water bath and leave to cool. You can make this up to 2 days in advance.
When ready to serve, dust with one tsp of sugar each so that the tops are evenly coated. Using a blow torch, caramelise the sugar and leave to stand until it has hardened before serving.
* My ramekins have a diameter of 10 cm and a height of 6 cm.
Link to Apple & cranberry crème brulée
This is one I am going to try but not for Thanksgiving. I have committed to making Tiramisu again. I have a blow torch I purchased earlier in the year for some far repairs so this should be fun. I cannot wait to see everyone’s face when I fire up the blow torch in the kitchen. Then again maybe I will do both.
My mother-in-law introduced me to crème brulée. She has served several versions of the basic recipe and I liked them all. Being a perfectionist she was dismayed. Caramelizing the sugar is very hard to do in the oven. The blow torch makes the job much easier.
Preserving Fresh Herbs
Preserving Fresh Herbs
Herbs almost as good as fresh in the dead of winter? Of course we should be thinking of those things right now, what with September just around the corner. Although I eat seasonal, an abundance of herbs during the…
Cheesecake Cupcakes – Cooking For Engineers
Cheesecake Cupcakes – Cooking For Engineers
A few years ago, a friend of mine showed me a way to get the cheesecake flavor and texture without taking several hours to bake and cool before serving. If you need to provide individually portioned snacks or dessert to a casual party or gathering, these simple cheesecakes are easy to make and disappear fast.
Read complete article…
Another great dish to take to a party. It is easy to make and can be eaten with just your fingers!
Cilantro Carrots with Cumin
This recipe looked interesting. The recipe idea and photo come from the Too Many Chefs website which is linked above. It took me sometime to look up the recipe at epicurious.com. Here is the link, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/1058.
For those who want the ingredients here they are:
2 pounds carrots, each cut into 2-inch-long pieces, then quartered lengthwise
6 tablespoons water(or orange juice)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
It is simple to prepare this dish. Cook the carrots until crisp tender in either water or orange juice. Drain off any excess water and transfer to a new bowl. Make a salad dressing with the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro. Toss the carrots with the dressing and let cool. Add cilantro before serving.
I made this yesterday to bring to a 4th of July cookout. The flavor is strong but interesting. The folks ate it without any prodding.