she's just saying...

Fiddlehead!

I'm feeling very earthy and springlike today, though it appears to be snowing outside again. I just got a precious pound of fiddlehead ferns. Fiddleheads are tightly spiraled fern fronds, not yet unfurled. These alien-looking curls are only available for about two weeks in May - that's it, so if you haven't gotten any yet, you're out of luck.

They are a New England delicacy in my mind, but here they are in Oregon. I scored mine from the Agricultural Connections, a community-supported agricultural group here in Bend who have some adventurous vegetable offerings as well as the basic stuff.

People describe fiddleheads as tasting a bit like asparagus, but they really don't. They taste very green and deep and mysterious, with an addictive texture and crunch. Trim, rinse and blanch, then saute with butter, salt & pepper, a little lemon and maybe some garlic. I served them over angelhair (seemed fittingly delicate), and maybe ate too many last night.

I hear that warm weather has arrived elsewhere on earth, but here in the mountains, it's still a rumored event. The flowers and trees are doing their best and the late evening light is stirring up the animals, but it's still in the 50's most days. We're getting a little tired of it, but given the weather elsewhere I'm not complaining. I'll just eat my way to summer - I hear Paradise Farm Stand has morels again...

Not-mine Wonton Soup

This is straight from MichelleLB at PDXKnitterati. I'm making it tonight so will let you know how it goes!

Wonton Soup

¼ lb peeled deveined shrimp, (frozen thawed is fine, and size doesn’t matter since it will be ground)
¼ lb ground turkey breast
6 medium to large shiitake mushrooms (3 for filling and 3 sliced for soup)
1 can sliced water chestnuts (half for filling and half to go in soup)
1 stalk green onion
3 to 6 stalks bok choy (half goes into filling; other half goes into soup) I like baby or shanghai bok choy. If you use the smaller bok choy, 6 stalks; if you use the really big long stuff, 3 is plenty)
snow pea pods, amount of your choosing
1 egg
¼ tsp five spice powder
½ Tablespoon oyster sauce
1 package wonton wrappers
1 48 oz box reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups water

Start your broth, water, 3 sliced mushrooms in a large soup pot. This can heat while you prepare wontons; when it boils bring it down to a simmer.

I have a small food processor, so I chop things sequentially. This also lets me avoid chopping the vegetables too finely; we want some crunch!

Chop and place into a large bowl: the shrimp, turkey (already ground), 3 mushrooms, ½ can water chestnuts, half the bok choy, green onion. Combine eggs, 5 spice, and oyster sauce and add to bowl, Mix all ingredients well. (does it need a little more 5 spice? give it a sniff; it should smell divine. I tried to measure but had to guess because at first I had too much in my measuring spoon)

Fold wontons! I put a little less than a tablespoon of filling in each wonton. Fold on the diagonal, then use the back of your spoon to put a dab on the fold next to right side of the filling (on the outside), give a little twist and fold to bring the underside of the left side of the filling mound to the dab on the of the right side of the filling mound. Sounds confusing, I know. You can google it, but my way is different than the ones I found there. They all work.

Bring broth back to a boil. Add wontons and remaining water chestnuts. Cook for 4 minutes, reducing heat to medium when soup begins to boil again (don’t want to jostle the wontons too much and have them fall apart!). After 4 minutes, add the remaining bok choy (sliced in 1 inch pieces on the diagonal) and pea pods. If you have extra shrimp, now is the time to put them in the soup, too. Stir occasionally to get the vegetables down into the soup. Soup is ready in about 3 more minutes. Don’t overcook; it gets sloppy!

If this is more food than you need, you can store the extra filling in the fridge for a couple days, and make fresh wontons again.

Hey Michelle: Thanks for the recipe and the material for another blog post!

Cranberries go Tex-Mex

This is my all-time favorite cranberry sauce. I bring it to every Thanksgiving gathering, mostly for me. It adds a surprising and welcome contrast to the typical Tgiving menu, and goes great on cold turkey sandwiches as well. Warn the children, however - it's spicy.

TEX-MEX CRANBERRY SAUCE

INGREDIENTS: (approximate)
1 bag of cranberries
cup of sugar
cup of water
up to 1 chopped jalapeno, or about 1/4 cup canned, chopped
1-2 scallions, sliced
1+ tablespoon cilantro
1+ teaspoon cumin
2+ teaspoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, gently stir in all the other ingredients and modify heat to your taste. This keeps forever in the fridge.

Farm Stand Ratatouille

This is the time of year we get the best vegetables in Central Oregon. Stop at Paradise after work, grab all the ingredients and you've got a one-stop, one-pan meal.*

The traditional recipe for ratatouille calls for sauteing each vegetable separately, combining them and baking. But that's not going to happen around my house. So this more a description of how I cook vs. a recipe, and you should modify as you wish. 

1 eggplant  

1 big yellow onion

2-3 zucchini

3-4 tomatoes

a few cloves garlic

Herbs and such: parsley, pepper, lemon juice, capers, thyme, rosemary as you like 

Note: some people add bell peppers, but never in this blog...

Slice eggplant into 1 inch slices, salt both sides and drain in a colander for at least a 1/2 hour. (If you don't have time you can skip this step, but the eggplant will be mushier.)

Meanwhile, slice the onion and cut the slices in half and saute in olive oil in a large deep skillet for 15 minutes or so.  Add the garlic now so it doesn't burn.

Slice the zucchini in 3/4 inch rounds, cut them in half, add to onion.

By now the eggplant should be drained. Wipe the salt off and blot hard with paper towels, then chop into 1 inch cubes. Add to pan. Let the zucchini and eggplant cook for awhile before adding the tomatoes.

Slice the tomatoes in half, squeeze out the seeds, chop and add to the pan.

Let everything bubble along for a bit til it's the consistency you like. Add flavorings from above list as you like and serve!

The great thing about this dish is that it gets better in the next few days, it's great at room temperature, and goes with everything. I like it with couscous, or just good crusty bread, a little red wine and some fresh basil sprinkled on top.

*Olive oil, bread and wine not available at Paradise. Darn.

Gazzz-pacho!

(All vegetables from Paradise Farm Stand, of course)

Due to popular demand:

Quick Gazpacho

As usual, I take the easy way out - using the food processor (or a blender), not peeling anything. Make sure not to over-process. It shouldn't be veggie mush.

Process the following briefly and empty into a large bowl:

4-5 tomatoes - don't peel or seed
2 cucumbers, no need to peel
1 small sweet onion (can process this and garlic more thoroughly)
2-3 garlic cloves
2-4 sweet peppers (yes, even I use some - yellow/red/orange only, but you can use green)
small bunch of Italian parsley

Add quart of tomato juice.

Process the following and add:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
salt/pepper
dashes of hot pepper sauce to taste

That's it! Seriously. Serve with some chopped avocado and croutons as you wish. I actually freeze some and thaw it on a winter day when I'm dreaming of summer...

PS: a lot of recipes add diced bread to the processed veggies to add body. I don't see the need...

Weeknight Caesar

One of my go-to meals is Caesar Salad.

(BTW, it's one of my pet irritations to see Caesar spelled wrong on menus. So annoying.)

I've made CS since I was in college and it's always a hit. It's a 10-minute recipe, perfect for the casual-but-impressive spontaneous entertainment meal you want to be known for. So, in the spirit of giving back to my wonderful supportive readers, I'm sharing it here.

(This is actually the classic Caesar recipe - I just explain how to cut corners and make it quick.)

Quick-but-Authentic Caesar Salad

all amounts are approximate - adjust to your taste

• 3-4 anchovies, smashed, or 2 tsp anchovy paste
• 1 coddled egg (see note below)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon (or more - I like a lot of lemon)
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1tbsp garlic (I use jarred minced)
• salt and pepper

• head of romaine, ripped into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• croutons (optional)

Place first eight ingredients into a jar and shake hard. Pour over lettuce, add cheese and croutons. Serve with more salt/pepper. Done!

You can top with chicken, shrimp or salmon. 

Note: to coddle an egg: tuck it into bed with a blankie and a cup of tea. Or alternately, boil it for about a minute. When you crack it open, it should be just starting to emulsify - you'll need to mash up the whites a little. If you don't like to eat raw eggs, you could chop a soft-boiled egg, but it won't be the same. Can't help you here.

Note #2: We keep a mouli grater pre-loaded with parmesan in the fridge in a plastic bag. It's always ready to go for fresh grated parmesan.

Family memory: When Doctor Sister was pregnant and living in Princeton and I was in NYC, she'd beg me to come down on the train on the weekend to make Caesar salad to satisfy her anchovy craving. Funny.

Loose morels

Morels are a type of wild mushroom that grow in the Northwest in the spring. Their flavor is deep and mysterious and substantial, and they look really cool too, like little alien coneheads.

There's an underground culture of mushroom pickers here in Central Oregon who jealously guard their picking spots, so really it's easier to pick them down at our local farmstand. Adam gets them from a picker on his way back into town every day, and sells them dirt cheap. 

For some odd reason most morel recipes online involve saltine crackers, bread crumbs, or even corn flakes. All you need to do is saute them in butter or olive oil. You can add some shallots, parsley, garlic and lemon juice, a splash of white wine, serve them on toast or whatever. Or eat them with a fork right out of the pan.

The morels of the story

(Puns: the last refuge of lame writers.)

Beet Me, or, What I Did Last Night

Local alert: Richard's Produce Stand is closing down for the season Oct.15. (I asked Adam what I'm going to do all winter without him, and he said: "Eat citrus." It's going to be a long winter.) 

I'm already anticipating the produce withdrawal and it won't be pretty. So meanwhile I'm overbuying and it's a great time to do it as everything is at the peak of ripeness. I'm putting up sauteed tomato chunks and garlic, freezing peach slices, jarring peeled garlic cloves in olive oil* and making parsley salsa. And last night I roasted beets.

I've never cooked beets before due to memories of their canned weirdness, but they looked really cool at the produce stand and I felt adventurous. Plus, the New York Times decreed "Beets: the New Spinach" so I had to jump on the trendwagon.

I fired up the gas grill (with soaked wood chips for a nice smoky touch), tossed slices of unpeeled beets with olive oil/salt and slow-grilled them for 40 minutes or so, turning once. I also threw thick slices of onion and a head of garlic in foil on there just to be efficient. They all came out caramelized and smoky and really transformative.

Beets pair well with goat cheese to cut their sweetness and add a creamy tang, so I'm making a beet/arugula/chevre salad with vinaigrette to serve with crusty bread and pinot gris. Dinner's at seven.

the beetness of beets

*Note: storing garlic cloves in olive oil at room temperature is a perfect recipe for botulism. Refrigerate.

Zucchini risotto, a la Susan

 

 

I've made this a lot, as you can see

Note: This subject is now in the running with fowlwear as the highest searched phrase that leads innocents to my blog. So I'm republishing this with my sister's notes. Enjoy!

Henry will eat an entire pan of this, and that's at least a couple zucchini right there. Save this for when we actually have the warmth to grow something in Central Oregon and it turns out to be zucchini.

My sister Susan won a cooking contest with this recipe many years ago, and it is truly a winner. However, two of my sister's four major food groups are cream and butter (merlot and chocolate being the other two), so I've lightened and simplified her recipe. This is easily a work-night dinner, providing you have risotto rice and zucchini. Or a great side to anything. And it lasts and heats up great for leftovers.

Zucchini Risotto

Buy the real Arborio rice - even Safeway carries it now. And for the love of god, don't use Kraft parmesan. Though I know you don't, do you?

2 T butter (down from my sister's 6 T - if you want to go there, be my guest)
1 C Arborio rice
4+ cups chicken stock (free-range organic, of course)
1 egg yolk (I use the whole egg, actually)
1/4 cup half-&-half or milk (Susan's original calls for heavy cream - right!)
1 T olive oil - but who measures?
3 small zucchini, sliced thin or grated if easier
1/4 cup parmesan or more
2 lg garlic cloves (admission: I use jarred chopped garlic - nothing would get cooked here if I didn't)
1 bunch scallions or chopped onions or shallots - whichever
salt/pepper
1/2 c chopped ITALIAN parsley - don't ever use the frilly garnish kind - no flavor
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup or so of white wine - whatever you're drinking at the moment

So, if you've never made risotto before, it's way easier than its reputation.First, melt 2 T of the butter and the olive oil, add the onion and saute slowly.

(Mmmm, the smell of frying onions - guaranteed to make men go wild, if you're looking for that sort of thing.)

Once they're soft, throw in the garlic (so it doesn't burn), then all the rice, with a little more oil. I know, seems weird with no liquid, but that's risotto. Stir fry the rice for a few minutes, then add about a cup of broth. Traditionally, it should be hot, which you can do in a glass pyrex cup measure in the microwave. But you don't have to.

The key to risotto is to keep adding the broth as the rice sucks it up - it should never be dry or conversely, drowned. You do have to stir regularly, though not continuously as the books would say.

Now, my sister sautes the zucchini with garlic in a separate pan, but I don't because I'm all about one-pot meals. The cheater way is to add the zuke when the rice is almost done, along with the cream, egg and parmesan, lemon, wine, salt/pepper and parsley. I throw it all in together and it comes out fine.

You'll need to correct the rice with broth or hot water if it isn't done enough or is too dry. Cook til it's done. This is where my sister adds the additional 4 tablespoons of butter. Because it's not rich enough.

I'm realizing it's really hard to write recipes down when you cook intuitively. If you'd like a step-by-step explanation of risotto, you'll need to use a cookbook.

Notes from my sister:

"Oh, for heaven's sake-- one-quarter cup of heavy cream in a recipe with a quart of chicken stock isn't going to kill you. I won the cooking contest many years ago, when risotto was wildly ambitious. The reason you should saute the zucchini beforehand is that it holds its shape better. If you just add it raw (wrong! wrong!) it turns to mush and becomes one with the rice. There. The genie has spoken."

Cool and fresh and salmony

I made a fantastic pasta salad last night, and if I can keep typing in this offensive heat, I'll post the recipe.

I'm not normally a pasta salad fan. They're either too bland, too oily, too weird or too crunchy (I don't like raw broccoli or any kind of bell peppers, which show up in most of them.) They used to be really popular - I recall one memorable patio party with the girls where everybody brought pasta salad. Luckily I was serving margaritas, so it really didn't matter. I don't know if they still are the go-to potluck dish, as I don't go out anymore. And if I do, it's not to a potluck.

So anyway, the one I made last night was stunning, especially as I concocted it with Ingredients On Hand. Here's my ingredient list. I don't have any quantities as it depends on your particular I.O.H.

1. Curly pasta - I like gemelli, but whatever you have O.H.
2. Strips of gravlax or smoked salmon (I just happened to have some leftover gravlax in the fridge. Odd, really.)
3. Cucumbers, diced
4. The itty-bitty fresh mozzarella balls you can buy at Costco, or other fresh mozz, diced.
5. Scallions, sliced, with some of the green part
6. Parsley (pretty much the only thing I grew in the garden this year. You could use dill.)
7. Olive oil
8. Lemon juice
9. Salt and pepper

Whisk the last three ingredients into a vinaigrette, then toss it all up, gently.

I ran out of capers (I know! A kitchen disaster!) which would have added a bit more piquancy, but maybe they would have been overkill.

Anyway, yum.

Weeknight Pad Thai recipe

This is for the lovely Cindy, who I miss knitting with.

Melissa's Pad Thai

The "secret" ingredient in this is jarred Pad Thai sauce - it's the only way this recipe can be made on a school night. You're welcome to make your own, though it's not easy to find tamarind powder.

The p.t. sauce is also hard to come by - when you find it, buy a couple jars. You also need to get rice sticks (noodles) - it really doesn't work with wheat noodles.

Ingredients

package of rice noodles

sesame oil

peanut or other oil (not olive)

3 eggs

4 skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

(You could also use shrimp, beef or pork, or none of these)

package of firm or extra firm tofu

bunch of scallions, chopped

chopped garlic

pad thai sauce, 8 oz jar

bunch of cilantro, chopped

cup of alfalfa sprouts

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

lime wedges

Thai chili sauce (or similar hot stuff)

Soak the noodles in hot water for at least 1/2 hour (while you're prepping everything else). Chop the cilantro and peanuts while everything else is cooking.

Heat a tablespoon of each oil in a large wok or frying pan. Crack in the eggs and scramble into small pieces. Remove the eggs to a plate and throw in the chicken or other meat. Stir-fry til cooked through, remove to the egg plate or a separate one (this is a dish-intensive recipe). 

Add the scallions and tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces. Stir-fry til slightly browned, adding more oil if necessary. Add the garlic toward the end so it doesn't burn. Remove all to another bowl.

Drain the noodles - they should be softened but still firm. Throw them into the pan and stir in the pad thai sauce and a half of cup of hot water. Cover the pan and let them cook for awhile, til they're al dente.

Throw the egg, chicken/meat, tofu/scallion mixture, cilantro and sprouts into the noodles and incorporate as much as possible. (If the noodles are too sticky, I add a little rice vinegar, sesame oil or water.) 

Serve immediately, garnished with the peanuts, lime juice and chili sauce. I like to use chopsticks for authenticity and offer Thai beer.

Get someone else to do the dishes.

The people have spoken. And they said: "Lemon Tart."

I am here to do your bidding.  (Re-edited for clarity.)

This is an amalgam of several recipes, and is essentially a shortbread crust filled with lemon curd and baked. It's foolproof (see note about tools) and simpler than it looks. It's indescribably good. Impressive, too. Especially if you artfully drizzle fresh berry syrup over it, with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Or not.

So, go gather your ingredients and tools.

Crust
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon cream (I suppose you could use milk...)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up

Curd
7 egg yolks plus 2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup lemon zest
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons cream (or half & half if you must)

Tools
tart pan with removable bottom
nonreactive saucepan and wooden/silicone spoon

(I can't guarantee your results if you don't use the following, but they're not absolutely necessary:)

food processor
candy thermometer
pie weights (or dried beans/rice)
parchment paper (or foil)
microplane
mesh sieve 

Make the crust first, as it takes awhile to chill and pre-bake.

Pre-Baked Shortbread Crust

If you've never made piecrust before, start with a cookbook, as I'm keeping this short on technique.

Whisk the yolk, cream and vanilla together, set aside. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor to blend. Cut up the butter in pieces and drop in. Pulse or cut in to the size of cornmeal. Add the yolk stuff and blend until it forms a ball. If it's too dry, add a little bit of cream/milk a teaspoon at a time. Take it out, form into a ball, and chill for 20 minutes or so.

Take out the chilled dough and form the crust. I use the patting method so I don't have to get out the rolling pin, but you can roll if you want to. (Quick chorus of The B-52's here) Make sure to go up the sides of the pan.

Cut the parchment or foil to fit the tart pan including up the sides. Fill with pie weights or dried beans or rice.

Bake at 375 deg for 30 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake another 6-8 minutes til very lightly brown.

Curd

Juice and zest the lemons using a microplane or grater. Whisk the first four ingredients together briefly, then pour in a saucepan with the butter. Heat slowly, stirring constantly, until it gets saucy and registers 175 deg. on the candy thermometer. edited: Whoops! Forgot the cream. It gets stirred in now.

If you're really picky, strain the mixture first, then pour into the still-warm crust and bake at 375 deg. for about 10 minutes. You want the middle of the pie to still be a little jiggly.

Remove, cool for an hour or so. If you've baked it in advance, you can lay a piece of waxed paper right on the top to keep it nice.

Before serving, dust the top with confectioner's sugar through a sieve. Drizzle with berry sauce.Add little poufs of whipped cream, lemon twists, berries. Go wild.

Feel proud and enjoy.

Next up: Henry's favorite breakfasts...