Category Archives: cooks

cooks, sides, small bites

Mediterranean Relish

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Last month, we bought a grill and entered a whole new world of outdoor cooking.  While searching our chest freezer for grillable items, I came across lamb hot dogs and lamb kielbasa from a family friend with a farm.  It seemed a shame to top lamb sausage with the usual ball-game ketchup and yellow mustard combo, so I sorted through the jars in our fridge and threw together a condiment with a little class.  It went with the sausage so well, I’ve already made it a few times.

Lamb Kielbasa and Fiddleheads

Mediterranean Relish

  • Black dry-cured olives
  • Red onion
  • Capers
  • Roasted red peppers – I  used jalapenos, but a less spicy alternative might be better
  • Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Dice the olives, onion, and red peppers into approximately 1/4 inch pieces.  Mix with the capers and add lemon juice to taste if desired.  Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the sausage.

I think mint or basil would make a tasty addition – what would you add?

breakfast, cooks

Poached Egg Dishes

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A poached egg is like a choice piece of jewelry; it has the ability to make a normal dish luxurious. The contrast between ethereal white and thick orange yolk is sensual. (But if you’ve had one, you already know that.)

Eggs Benedict Fall Veggie Hash
L: Smoked salmon eggs benedict

R: Fall veggie hash (sweet potatoes, acorn squash, onions, leeks, garlic, sage) topped with an egg

If you enjoy poached eggs but have never made one, try. The first few may not be perfect, but after a bit of practice, you’ll be ready to host a top-notch brunch (maybe for mother’s day?)  Speaking of mothers, mine can poach eggs very well. I’m sure I called her a few times trying to remember her tricks – but now I’m confident enough to make 6-8 at a time.  After coffee.

Sunday Brunch Veggie Benedict

L: Winter vegetables (romanesco cauliflower, napa cabbage, carrots, garlic, chili) in a lightly seasoned broth, topped with a poached egg.  Inspired by a breakfast at Nick’s on Broadway, a great place for egg-spiration.

R: Fall vegetables (delicata squash, onions, garlic, carrots, mild radishes, peppers, tomato) with sriracha hollandaise

There are step-by-step instructions for egg poaching on Simply Recipes.  My method is similar.  I don’t time my eggs, instead testing the egg with a very timid poke, and I err on the early side when removing the eggs, especially if they are headed for a warmed dish in the oven. I use a large skimmer from Ikea to remove each egg and gently shake off excess water.

Don’t forget that poached eggs can be great for dinner as well: on a hearty salad, bean stew, warm lentil salad… How do you like yours?

cooks, salads

Caesar Salad

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I developed a Caesar Salad habit when we first participated in a CSA, as a response to the bounty of lettuce, farm fresh eggs, and my spring salad cravings.

My favorite Caesar recipe is in Arthur Schwartz’s Cooking in a Small Kitchen (a cookbook I love so much, it’s losing pages). I adapt the recipe to use a blender jar – it’s quicker, and extra dressing can simply be stored in the jar.

CSA Caesar

Caesar Dressing
Adapted from Cooking in a Small Kitchen by Arthur Schwartz

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce (I use Tabasco brand)
  • 1.5 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 4 anchovy filets
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 raw egg*

Combine all ingredients in a blender jar. Blend until creamy, about 30 seconds.

Toss dressing with romaine lettuce. Lately I’ve been skipping the croutons and just topping with thick shavings of Parmesan, which I make with my favorite OXO vegetable peeler.

* I don’t, as he does, coddle the egg. If you are wary of raw eggs, you can coddle an egg by boiling water, turning off the heat, and placing the egg – with the shell still on – in the water for a minute.

cooks, desserts

Mexican Cannolis

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What dessert could possibly fit with tonight’s chicken tomatillo enchiladas and use the rest of our Narragansett Creamery ricotta? My mind immediately jumped to “Mexican Cannolis”, and rather than search for a recipe, I decided to improvise. The result was so delicious, I had to document it here! Please let me know if you try it.

I used a disk of Abuelita Mexican drinking chocolate for this recipe. These disks contain sugar, so they sweeten the filling nicely. I happen to have a lot of Abuelita on hand, but if I didn’t, I’d might have opted for the Chocolate Mexicano discs made by Taza in Somerville, MA.

Abuelita
Abuelita by Mike Fischer, from Flickr

Mexican Cannolis
Serves 2

  • 2 corn tortillas
  • cooking spray or oil
  • 3/4 cup ricotta (I recommend Narragansett Creamery)
  • 3 tbs whipping cream
  • 1 disc of Mexican drinking chocolate, like Abuelita or Taza
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • a dash of ground cayenne (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Place corn tortillas on a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil. Mix cinnamon with sugar and sprinkle on the tortillas.

Chop the chocolate into pieces smaller than petite peas. Usually, since the chocolate is sugary, you’ll get a lot of chocolate ‘sand’ when you’re chopping – that’s great. Mix the chocolate into the ricotta until very well combined. Whip the cream and fold into the ricotta mixture.

Bake the tortillas for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a minute or two. Top each with half the ricotta mixture and gently shape into a taco or cannoli shell. (Ours were a good consistency – soft enough to bite, crunchy enough to conjure a cannoli).

cooks, meals

Irish Dinner

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This St. Patrick’s day, we were on a plane to Kansas. Today, a half month later, I finally got around to cooking our belated Irish dinner. I tried two new recipes that were definitely worth repeating.

Irish Dinner

cooks, uncategorized, vegetables

CSA Longing

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For the last two years, we’ve participated in Zephyr Farm’s CSA.  If you’re not familiar with a CSA, it stands for “Community Supported Agriculture” and is basically a vegetable subscription.   Ours started mid-June and ran through the end of October.


Pickups from the beginning of the season (6/22/2010) and end of the season (9.15.09)

I looked forward to my Tuesday pickups, when I’d walk down the street with my IKEA bag and come back with an Iron Chef-like challenge to imagine a week of dishes with the bag’s contents.  Every second week, we got the most delicious assortment of multi-colored eggs.

This year, we won’t be doing the CSA.  We moved to a new neighborhood, and since J works late and I take the bus, it would be very hard for us to pick up our weekly allotment.  Instead, we’ll be putting aside money to spend at the Saturday farmers’ market, which is luckily in walking distance.  I’ll miss it – maybe one day we’ll be able to join again.

cooks, meals

Halloween 2009 Menu

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Halloween is a favorite holiday in this house, so we hosted a dinner party last night – 8 spooky courses!  One of the advantages of this menu was that much of it could be prepared ahead, so we didn’t have to stay hidden in the kitchen for long.

Halloween 2009
The table setting, my favorite chef with 3 Liter Duvel, and Escargot

Aperitif: Unicum (drank out of test tubes)
Snack: BBQ Spiced Meal Worms

1: Chouriço Assado -Chouriço set aflame in a terracotta dish (ours is shaped like a pig)
Duvel – we got a GIANT 3 liter bottle!

2: Escargot
White Wine

3: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
White Wine

4: Blood Red Romaine Caesar Salad
White Wine

– Intermezzo Spoon of Rhubarb Sorbet –

5: Black (squid ink) fettuccine with lemon and caviar
White Wine

6: Roasted spindly carrots and squash
Red Wine

7: Steak Tartare
Red Wine

8: Chocolate Ganache Mini-Tartlets with white chocolate tombstones
Port

– Coffee –

cooks

Regifting

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I got a funny call the other day – my mom, sounding slightly alarmed, asked me if I had time to talk.  She said she’d gotten a call about something I’d written in my blog.  My first thought was “Someone is still reading my blog?” and my second, “Did I accidentally write something offensive?”

It turned out that in my post about Indian Cauliflower I mentioned that I’d gotten a spice kit/cookbook that a family friend didn’t want.  The only problem was, the kit was a gift from his daughter, then he gave it to my mom, and then she gave it to me.  And all three of them read the blog post.

At least everyone got a good laugh out of it, and I’m still enthusiastic about the gift, even if it wasn’t for me!

cooks, sides, vegetables

Indian Cauliflower

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Cauliflower is like a blank canvas which takes beautifully to strong flavors. I like it roasted with bold spices, in a soup with blue cheese, raw with spicy hummus. Recently I discovered this Indian recipe in an out-of-print book called “Cooking with the Spices of India”. A family friend gave me the book, which came with a box of spices, because he wasn’t so fond of Indian food. I’m very happy he thought of me!

This recipe is out of this world. It might sound involved, but after you make it once, you’ll find it’s totally worth it (and not actually that complicated).

Panch Phoran is a spice mixture composed of fenugreek, nigella seed, mustard seed, fennel seed, and cumin seed.

Cauliflower

Braised Cauliflower with Panch Phoran Yogurt Sauce

  • 1 small onion, peeled and coarsely copped
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • a 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup lowfat yogurt
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 head cauliflower (about 2 lbs), separated into bite sized florets
  • 3 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 green cardamom pods
  • a ¾ inch piece cinnamon
  • 1 tsp panch phoran
  • salt, to taste
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

In a blender, combine the onion, garlic, ginger and 2 tbs of cold water. Puree and transfer half of the paste to a large bowl with the yogurt, salt and sugar. Stir to combine. Mix in the cauliflower florets, turn the florets in the marinade to coat thoroughly and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Add the cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon and panch phoran, stir and allow the spices to sizzle and pop, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining half of the garlic-ginger puree and stir for 2 more minutes. Add the cauliflower-yogurt mixture and cook for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let the cauliflower simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and finish cooking until the cauliflower is tender, about 12-15 minutes. Check for salt, stir in the cilantro and transfer to a serving dish.

breakfast, cooks

Muesli

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What is Muesli?  For many people, it’s the lonely imported box of oats and dried fruit at the end of the cereal aisle.  But I’ve always known it as a real treat – a mixture with oats and yogurt that my mom would make on weekend mornings.

Muesli was popularized by a Swiss physician at the turn of the 20th century as part of his regimen for healthier eating.  It’s one of my favorite power breakfasts, perfect after the gym or before a long day.

Muesli
Muesli made with dried figs and cherries

Muesli (makes 2 small or 1 large serving)

Vary the amounts based on your mood – I often use an apple per person and very little of the other ingredients, making it more of a breakfast fruit salad.

  • 1 apple, cored but not peeled
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup yogurt
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1/3 cup oatmeal or granola
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts, such as almonds or pecans
  • 1/4 cup dried fruit, such as raisins or dried cherries

Grate the apple using a box grater and toss with lemon juice.  Stir in yogurt and add honey to taste.  Mix in remaining ingredients. If you prefer softer oats, allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes before serving.