Posted by Jeannette Ordas | July 28, 2010, 10:05 am | Permalink
Back in April I was just waiting for the day when our Community Sponsored Agriculture shares would begin. And now that we’re at the end of July, our shares have really started to take off. Every week we receive an email from our farmer Steven who fills us in on what we can expect in our bins. We share our allotment with another couple and the photo above and directly below depicts our half-share from last week. Pretty impressive, especially considering that we are only one month in.
This coming week we can expect broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, Chioggia beets, Italian parsley, Yukon Gold potatoes, Golden Globe turnips, summer squash and a couple heads of garlic. It’s a lot of produce, and while I’m still excited about every little thing that finds it’s way into my kitchen, I know I’ll soon be wondering what to do with all the bitter greens and summer squash!
Luckily, there are lots of food bloggers who also are navigating the ins and outs of their own CSA shares, and I’m always looking forward to hearing how they handle their haul.
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Posted by Jeannette Ordas | July 21, 2010, 8:30 am | Permalink
Sour cherries seem to be all the rage these days and getting your hands on some can be pretty tricky—unless you’re from Michigan (which seems to be a sour cherry nirvana). Ten years ago I lucked onto a bag found in the freezer section of my local co-op grocery store and I was instantly smitten. These frozen ruby jewels were so much better than the super-sour Dweebs (the superior cousin to the ubiquitous pint-sized candy, Nerds) that I sucked on until my tongue cracked. I’d stir a few sour cherries into yogurt for breakfast or just pop them frozen into my mouth as an icy, flavor-packed treat. I bought bag after bag until the co-op stopped carrying them. I panicked and was unable to find another source. I was hooked just as my city became a sour cherry wasteland.
Fast forward to summer 2009. On a whim I decided to type in “sour cherries” into Craigslist and a whole world opened up to me. Not only did I find others on the look out for sour (or pie) cherries, but I found notices from people selling them by the pound. After a few dead leads, I got a response from a guy who planned on making the 6 hour drive to Vancouver from the Okanagan. He gave me an intersection and told me to be on the lookout for a black SUV where he’d be selling the cherries out of the back of his truck. Meeting someone on a random corner in a semi-industrial part of town might seem a bit leary to some, but not to me. Instead, I strapped some sturdy panniers on my bike and set out to a street corner across town to meet my sour cherry dealer. I got there early, but a line-up of anxious buyers had already formed. Twenty dollars in my hand got me 5 pounds worth—a small price to pay. I also gave the guy my email address to put me on his sour cherry list and with that, my sour cherry hook-up was established.
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Posted by Louisa Shafia | July 19, 2010, 10:08 am | Permalink
As much as I love fava beans, I usually cook them only once or twice every summer. Why? Well, with a stringy, fibrous pod, and a thin membrane around each individual bean—both of which must be removed before eating—they’re more than a little difficult to prepare. Still, fresh fava beans are in season right now, and they’re a unique treat that comes around but once a year. Chefs and home cooks alike sing the praises of favas, but have you ever tried making them?
Imagine my delight when a friend suggested cooking the favas whole—pod and all—on the grill. It sounded like a great idea to this impatient cook who hates fussy recipes, so I tried it. The resulting dish was delicious and required a minimum amount of work on my part. After grilling, the pods were tender and edible, too, so I had twice the amount of food that I normally would have when making favas.
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Posted by Anna Bond | July 12, 2010, 8:27 am | Permalink
By “poaching,” I of course don’t mean stealing your neighbor’s backyard chickens like a fox in the night; rather, I mean the too-often maligned practice of cooking chicken (unfortunately usually boneless, skinless breasts) in barely simmering water, with the end product almost always used for chicken salad.
Poached chicken is good for so much more than salad: when done properly it’s very tender and—yes—flavorful, great as a filling for tacos or burritos, a protein-rich topping for your go-to green salad, a cold noodle dish, a last-minute addition to augment a crisper-clearing stir-fry, or even a pizza topping.
But those who won’t have chicken any way but roasted will protest: all the chicken’s flavor goes into the water! While some chicken flavor is lost to the liquid, the method allows for aromatics and spices to be added to the water, infusing the chicken with flavor; and the poaching water itself can be simmered with the picked-clean chicken bones into a quick stock that’s great for soups, bean dishes, or stews.
To poach chicken, simply place skinless chicken legs in a single layer in a wide saucepan, add a pinch of salt and a splash of vinegar along with your spices and aromatics, and add water just to cover. With flavoring, the sky’s really the limit, depending on your proclivity and your final use for the meat: recently I poached chicken with spring onion tops, dried birdseye red chilies, black peppercorns, bay leaves, and a 1” stick of cinnamon, and it was wonderful; I also love to add slices of fresh ginger, smashed garlic cloves, and other aromatic spices like coriander, cumin, or fennel seeds.
Bring the water to a boil and immediately turn down to the barest simmer (the water should only bubble once in awhile, not constantly), cover, and cook until chicken is done, about 20-25 minutes. Turn off heat and remove chicken from pan; quickly remove meat from bones using two forks, then your fingers once it’s cooled a little. Return bones to pan and bring liquid up to a boil; turn down heat and simmer, covered, about 20-30 more minutes (don’t let liquid reduce too much).
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Posted by Anna Bond | July 9, 2010, 10:26 am | Permalink
I love eating, thinking about, and making pickles of all stripes—I’ve read The Joy Of Pickling cover to cover several times—but this summer’s early-onslaught heat in Brooklyn has put me off the sterilizing, hot-packing, and sealing process of proper canned vinegar pickles, and it’s still a little early in the season for the best Kirby cucumbers for fermented crock pickles.
The solution—refrigerator pickles—is almost embarrassingly easy: simply pack your vegetables in jars along with spices, pour in your vinegar/water/salt brine solution, and refrigerate. In a day or four, you’ve got pickles.
I was extra-impatient for my pickles, so I used very thinly-sliced vegetables. I used my mandoline to get the cucumber slices uniformly thin (do as I say, not as I do: use the hand guard), and combined them in two pint jars with equally thin slices of halved spring onion and strips of a cored and seeded yellow middle-Eastern pepper. I added ¼ tsp fennel seeds, yellow mustard seeds, and pink peppercorns to each jar, then poured over my brine.
A handy rule for brine is a 2-to-1 proportion of vinegar and water, and about 1 ½ teaspoons salt per pint jar. For my two pint jars of pickles, I used ¾ cup vinegar, 1 ½ cups water, and 3 teaspoons salt.
Because I used such small slices, my pickles were ready in 24 hours—and perfect as an accompaniment with the delicious grilled locally-made sausages I shared at a late lunch with friends.
A note about vinegar: since the refrigerator pickles I make are totally raw, I use unpasteurized apple-cider vinegar for my brine. Unpasteurized, naturally fermented apple cider vinegar (the type sold with “the mother”) is loaded with beneficial bacteria and enzymes, and is great for digestion and the immune system.
Dula Notes shares a recipe for picnic-ready fresh refrigerator dill spears, spiced up with jalapenos and made fragrant with coriander seeds.
Refrigerator pickling isn’t just for cucumbers, though. White On Rice Couple offers a simple recipe for cooling, crunchy Vietnamese-style daikon-and-carrot pickles that uses rice vinegar and a little sugar to enhance the carrots’ natural sweetness.
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Posted by Jeannette Ordas | July 7, 2010, 8:49 am | Permalink
I love homemade ice cream because it’s easy to play with flavors and add-ins to make your own unique creation. My husband and I like to come up with names for our ice creams even before they become realities. For the past few years “Crazy Go Nuts” has been our elusive dream ice cream. I say a dream cream because we can never settle on the winning combination of flavor. My vote has always been for a cinnamon base filled with chocolate chunks, salty mixed nuts and a little espresso mixed-in for good measure. On the other hand, my husband wants bananas, chocolate, marshmallow and pistachios to be involved. I guess this summer we’ll just have to try out both versions and duke it out to find a winner.
To inspire crazy flavors and unique combos, I went into food blog territory to find some real life dream ice creams. For your upcoming bbq or gathering take a stray from the usual vanilla, chocolate and strawberry and put something new in your bowl.
Fake Ginger takes the idea of birthday cake and ice cream to a whole new level. Into a regular ice cream base goes some boxed yellow cake mix and a healthy amount of sprinkles.
Is your rhubarb plant overflowing with bounty? Then turn some of that goodness into ice cream. Diet, Dessert & Dogs creates a vegan ice cream with a coconut milk base laden with pink ribbons of rhurbarb swirl. She also subs in stevia for sugar for a natural sweet high.
The coffee crunch ice cream over at Whisk-Kid is perfect for any coffee fiend. The crunch factor comes from a homemade cocoa nib brittle. Yup, a cocoa nib brittle. I’m drooling already.
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Posted by Tim Mazurek | June 30, 2010, 8:50 am | Permalink
I always dreamed that Chicago would get a really exceptional bakery— a Tartine, a Rose Bakery, a Huckleberry even. My dream came true back in April when Sandra Holl opened Floriole Bakery & Cafe and forever changed the bakery scene in town.
Holl, who actually worked at Tartine for a couple of years after graduating from culinary school, arrived in Chicago in 2005 ready to start baking. Rather than join an established bakery or pastry department, she decided that she would try selling her own creations at Chicago’s famed Green City Market. Those first years were spent getting to know her customers and perfecting her own pastry repertoire. Like many Chicagoans, I grew to love her baked goods back in those early days at the farmers’ market. Where else could you buy a canelé in Chicago?! Not only was her product the best around, she and her staff were so kind and lovely that we all waited patiently in the long line that formed every week in front of their stall.
You can imagine the collective excitement when it was announced that Floriole was going to open a brick and mortar space and Chicagoans would be able to get these delicious sweets any day of the week. Free of the restrictions of Green City Market’s strict local and organic rules, Holl and her team have been able to expand their repertoire to include some exotics (to the Midwest) like lemons, coffee, chocolate, and nuts of all kinds. While the emphasis remains on local, organic, and high-quality ingredients, the expanded offerings have allowed the bakery to really soar. Each day the case is filled with a dazzling array of croissants, macaron, pots de crème, quick breads, cookies and cakes. In addition to all of the sweets, they also serve lunch in the form of tartines, sandwiches, quiches, and salads. At a recent lunch I enjoyed their version of the BLT (bacon, goat cheese, greens and date spread on house-made yeasted corn bread) with a side of a spicy carrot salad, a wonderful hibiscus iced tea, and a raspberry tart with rose hip pastry cream. These are the lunches that dreams are made of.
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Posted by Louisa Shafia | June 28, 2010, 9:12 am | Permalink
If you’ve ever made your own whipped cream, then you know that there aren’t many foods that taste better than this rich, versatile treat. It’s great on pies, cakes, pancakes, anything made of chocolate, even simple fresh fruit. Enhanced by a spoonful of confectioner’s sugar and a dash of vanilla extract, whipped cream is pretty hard to improve on, but I’ve been trying. With all of summer’s fragrant herbs in season, I’m experimenting with naturally flavored whipped creams, and the results have been sublime.
Flavoring whipped cream with an herb takes a few simple steps, and a bit of planning. First, decide when you want to serve your whipped cream, as you’ll need 8-24 hours of lead time before it can be made. Then, select which herb you’d like to use. The choice simply depends upon your taste: Lemon balm (pictured above), lemon verbena, mint, and lavender come to mind, but you can go further afield and choose herbs more commonly used in savory preparations, like thyme and rosemary. If you choose a more savory herb, you may want to increase the amount of sugar you put in the cream. Edible flowers with delicate flavors, such as violets, roses, chamomile, and honeysuckle work beautifully, too.
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Posted by Jeannette Ordas | June 25, 2010, 9:10 am | Permalink
I love pickles and on average you can find several different types of jars in my fridge from dills to pickled asparagus. I’m not fussy when it comes to that salty, mouth-puckering bite. But there’s no need to buy pickles from the store when it so easy to make “quickles” at home. Mix up a brine involving vinegar, sugar and salt along with extra flavorings (dill, cinnamon sticks, garlic, tarragon) and give your vegetables a soak. Let them rest for a few hours or overnight and you’ll have some tasty pickles as a result.
Below, I’ve got my recipe for some pickled red onions. These are easy and probably only take 10 minutes max to prep. The day after you make them is when they’re ready: they’ll lose their pungency but gain a beautiful sharpness from the vinegar and a mellow sweetness from the honey. You can hover about the fridge and just snack on them from the jar, but these are best when used as a condiment. They’re great with fish or pork tacos and stuffed into grilled cheese sandwiches, but I recently discovered that they play off of delivery pizza quite nicely.
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Posted by Amy and Jonny Seponara Sills | June 22, 2010, 9:04 am | Permalink
If you’ve ever been to a Mexican restaurant you’ve probably seen a molcajete—you might not have known what it was called, but you’ve definitely seen it sitting squatly on the counter surrounded by ripe avocados, limes and bunches of cilantro—and, if you made some wise selections from the menu, you will probably have eaten guacamole or salsa de molcajete. Deriving its name from the Nahautl (Aztec language) mulcazitl, a molcajete is basically an overgrown, stone-age mortar and pestle that is used in a variety of traditional Mexican preparations, including guacamoles, salsas and moles.
Used in exactly the same way that mortar and pestles are across the world, but with the additional element of gravelly volcanic rock, molcajetes give these traditional sauces their characteristic texture and flavor, the latter because they can never be fully cleaned and sanitized so they retain “seasoning” from past use. This news may scandalize us in the microbe-phobic USA, but 100 million Mexicans seem to do just fine on it, plus I’d take a delicious roasted tomato, chile and garlic salsa fresh from a molcajete over a jar of Pace picante sauce any day. (In a contest between molcajete and blender, the latter just can’t compete.)
The trick to successful use of a molcajete, should you have just returned from a visit to Mexico armed with a heavy momento, or stopped in at your local Mexican grocer and lugged one home, is to season it properly prior to first use. Just like a cast-iron skillet or a cast-iron wok, molcajete’s need to be prepared for use and then maintained occasionally throughout their lives in order to keep turning out drool-inducing guacamole for generations. However, as you would expect with most stone-age practices, seasoning a molcajete requires quite a bit of time and effort, things that we, in our post-modern lives, have in very short supply, so please reserve some time to do this, remembering that though it is kind of a pain, you’ll only have to do it once.
The idea behind seasoning is two-fold: firstly, it is to do a pre-grind of the molcajete and tecolote (the pestle) so that much of the top-layer of the stone that would otherwise end up as grit in your initial guacamole is ground away and disposed of, leaving a smoother surface; and secondly, to actually ’season’ the molcajete with flavors that will endure from usage to usage providing that inimitable essence every time.
So, give yourself at least 24 hours lead time before you’re going to want to actually make your first batch of guacamole or salsa de molcajete, and arming yourself with plenty of hot water, a coarse brush, a cup or more of dry rice, a small jug of water, about a cup of coarse rock or sea salt, a head of garlic, and some ground cumin and black pepper, proceed to washing your molcajete in the hot water (do not use any soap) giving it a light scrub with the brush. After leaving it to dry thoroughly—and remember volcanic rock (most molcajetes are made from basalt) absorbs water, so even when it’s dry on the surface it may still be damp inside—take a handful of dry rice and a splash of cold water and grind until rice turns grey and gritty, before disposing of it.
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Posted by Tim Mazurek | June 21, 2010, 9:03 am | Permalink
Croutons are good. My favorite croutons are the worst, most processed croutons that you find in chain restaurants or at salad bars: little crispy squares of preservatives and partially hydrogenated oils. They are a real guilty pleasure of mine. What can I say, I like crunch.
I was interested in making my own version of those delicious cubes of bread and found exactly what I was looking for in a recipe for Caesar salad in Fine Cooking magazine. These croutons are the real deal, and quite simple to make. As we settle into warmer weather and salads become more appealing, if for no other reason than keeping your kitchen cool, these croutons are good to have on hand for an impromptu salad that packs a little crunch. And no weird chemicals or preservatives! I think these would be equally good made with a whole grain bread, although less like the croutons I love.
Garlic-Butter Croutons (adapted from a Susie Middleton recipe at Fine Cooking)
4 large slices white sandwich bread (or whole grain), cut into 3/4- to 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
Kosher salt
Freshly Ground Black pepper
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.
Put the bread cubes on a large rimmed baking sheet. Melt the butter in a 1- to 2-quart sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, mashing it gently with the back of a wooden spoon, and raise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter is fragrant (the garlic may start to brown around the edges), 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic. Drizzle the butter over the bread cubes. Toss with your hands until the cubes are evenly coated. Spread them in a single layer and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake until the croutons are a deep golden-brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely. (You can store the croutons in an air-tight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 weeks.)
Posted by Anna Bond | June 15, 2010, 9:12 am | Permalink
Now that the heat of summer is firmly—exhaustingly, wiltingly—upon us, it’s time to ratchet up the game when it comes to salads, for those muggy, groggy days when turning on even a stove burner is too much.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not very creative when it comes to salads. I love to mix a variety of local lettuces, spicy greens, and fresh herbs (try a handful of whole parsley leaves for extra refreshing grassy flavor), but when it comes to dressing, I have only a few in regular rotation, of which this simple, flavorful shallot-Dijon vinaigrette is the top contender.
Since the heat cranked itself up and local lettuces have come into season, I’ve been making the same green salad with shallot-dijon vinaigrette, topped with hard-boiled eggs—with optional kalamata olives or sunflower seeds—for lunch or dinner nearly every day. Right now I’m using a mix of romaine and red oak lettuce, but it’s equally wonderful with mesclun mix, spicy mix, or even all arugula.
The protein-topping variations are endless: almonds, pan-fried marinated tempeh, leftover cooked chicken or steak, crab cakes, cold poached salmon. And I haven’t tried it yet, but from the moment I saw the recipe for fried olives on Serious Eats, I’ve been fantasizing about topping this salad with them.
But this versatile dressing doesn’t stop at greens! Make a simple, picnic-friendly bean salad by tossing it with cannellini beans, tuna (oil-packed is ideal), green or black olives, fresh black pepper and a few squeezes of lemon; liven things up with blanched green beans or snap peas, quick-sautéed and cooled diced zucchini, chopped fresh parsley, or a handful of whole-wheat penne or rotelle.
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Posted by Anna Bond | June 11, 2010, 9:11 am | Permalink
I don’t love oatmeal, but I do appreciate its value as a breakfast food. I usually add minced fresh ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, sesame seeds, pepitas, and a swirl of agave to my morning bowl to liven things up, but in brainstorming new oatmeal ideas a few weeks ago, I hit upon what’s become my new go-to recipe: substituting coconut milk for half the oats’ cooking water. Genius! The coconut milk adds flavor, body, and nutrition to an otherwise pedestrian breakfast. The Chic Life uses half regular milk along with coconut milk, as well as adding canned pumpkin into the mix and topping with toasted almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup, for this tasty-looking bowl.
Another go-to meal I’ve enhanced with coconut milk recently is curried red lentil dal. I adore red lentils – they have a terrific meaty flavor, and they cook so quickly – and the coconut milk’s richness makes this already-terrific dish feel more like a complete dinner when paired simply with rice or naan. Two Sisters, Two Suppers offers a version of this classic recipe that adds cauliflower, peas, and potatoes to round out the meal.
Coconut milk’s rich sweetness makes it a perfect pairing for summer treats. Get Sconed! suggests using coconut milk instead of dairy milk in iced coffee for a rich, refreshing treat.
And if you have an ice cream maker and a couple of cans of coconut milk (full-fat, please), you have non-dairy ice cream in a jiffy! Just thoroughly stir together the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, your favorite liquid sweetener (I love maple syrup for flavor, but agave would work just as nicely), and a flavoring—vanilla extract or ginger juice (made by grating ginger on a Microplane then squeezing it in cheesecloth or your fingers) are both terrific—throw the mix into your ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
While the health debate about coconut milk and coconut oil rages on (I’m squarely in coconut’s camp), there’s no arguing against its versatility and tastiness. Try adding coconut milk to a often-used recipe—or substituting it for regular milk—and you might end up with a delicious new favorite!
Posted by Jeannette Ordas | June 9, 2010, 8:29 am | Permalink
A tuna fish sandwich can bring memories of stinky bag lunches packed by a well-meaning mother. I remember in grade school being quite content with my tuna fish sandwiches…that is, until the reek factor was mentioned by one of my classmates. After that, I stuck with good ol’ ham and mustard. When I got older, I made friends with canned tuna thanks to a life-altering bite of a friend’s tuna melt. Add some melted cheese and I’m easily sold.
Canned tuna makes an excellent pantry staple as it’s versatile and can be used in different ways—it’s not just a filling for sandwiches. Mix together a can of tuna, some chickpeas and a simple vinaigrette and you’ve got yourself a great salad. Try adding a can to spaghetti with some lemon and breadcrumbs for a sophisticated yet simple meal. The variations you can try with a can of tuna are endless.
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Posted by Anna Bond | June 7, 2010, 8:47 am | Permalink
Wasn’t it only a few weeks ago we were overjoyed at the onset of spring? Now summer’s just around the corner, and local markets are abounding in berries, greens, asparagus, the season’s first peas…
But yet to arrive is everyone’s kitchen staple: garlic. While it’s easy enough to pick up held-over and shipped-in cloves at the grocery, the flavor of the local Rocambole garlic from NYC favorite Keith’s Organic Farm is tremendous: less pungent, with a slight vegetal sweetness that makes it somehow more “garlicky” than the more familiar supermarket varieties.
Garlic lovers who don’t want to wait can get their fix with garlic scapes – stalks that grow along with the bulbs—which came into vogue last year, aided by a widely-blogged recipe for garlic scape pesto (What Geeks Eat has a lovely version).
But for those of us who aren’t pesto fans, or who don’t own food processors, or who are just plain lazy (or all three!), there are some great alternative ways to enjoy this fleeting delight.
Lazy Smurf has a recipe for Thai fried rice with garlic scapes, punched up for serving with a squeeze of fresh lime and a minced green onion garnish; another Asian-inspired idea is this recipe for dry-fried scapes from A Bushel Of What, which adapts a Chinese-restaurant style spicy green bean preparation to scapes.
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