One of my favorite parts of summer is the fruit. I love fresh peaches, strawberries, blackberries. And with fresh fruit, comes fruit pies.
I find that a lot of people are intimidated by pie crusts, which always strikes me as funny. A good pie crust is no more difficult to make than a simple cookie recipe, and the buttery, flaky crust is what makes or breaks a pie for me. No store-bought cardboard-tasting crusts here, thanks, I'll make my own.
This is the recipe that my mother has used for years for pie crusts. It's remarkably easy, and I think it originally came from a Southern Living cookbook. It makes a single crust (just the bottom layer). If you want a double crusted pie (bottom and top) just double the recipe. Below the pie recipe, I've included the directions for setting a pie crust, which is the most important part of pie making that most people don't do. It involves crisping the outside of the pie crust, so that when you fill the pie with a liquid and bake it, the crust stays crisp instead of absorbing so much liquid that it turns to mush. More pie-makers than you would believe allow their crusts to turn all mushy because they neglect to set the pie properly, but it always tastes much nicer when the crust is still crisp, even on the bottom.
Simple Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening (you can substitute unsalted butter here, but I find that shortening makes a more flaky crust)
4 or 5 tbsp water
Stir together the flour and salt, mixing them thoroughly. Add the shortening, and cut it into the flour until the shortening is in pieces the size of small peas. Add the water one tbsp at a time, tossing the dough and mixing after each addition. After the fourth or fifth tbsp, the dough should suddenly assume the consistency of proper pie-crust, almost as if my magic. Stop adding water immediately; the goal is a dough that is moist and very faintly sticky, but never wet. Form your dough into a ball. It should stick to itself easily, but shouldn't stick to your hands if you've got the consistency right.
Flour a large flat surface lightly, and flour a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a round sheet, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. When the dough is properly thin, grab your pie dish. Fold the dough in half, the into quarters and lift it into the pie dish. Unfold it, and press it into the corners of the dish. There should be some crust that hangs over the edges. Trim this crust off with a paring knife, and use the resulting scraps to patch any holes, cracks, or thin areas of the crust. If you want to be artistic, you can flute your crust by pressing the edges between your fingers and repeating as you move around the pie-dish.
Set the crust by lightly beating one egg white with a tsp of cold water, then brushing this mixture over your crust. Poke holes all across the bottom of the crust, then refrigerate it for 30 minutes. These two steps will keep your crust flat while you bake it by preventing airpockets and hot-spots. Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 450F, then allow it to cool to room temperature before adding whatever liquid filling you've got in mind.
Very Important Note: Your pie crust will shrink as it sets or bakes. This means that when you trim the crust, you should not trim it too close to the pie-dish, or you will end up with a crust that is shorter than your dish. When in doubt err on the side of too long when it comes to trimming pies.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Ceasar Salad
Boy, I wrote that title and thought, 'Wow, it makes this salad sound fancy!' And to some degree, it is. This is a classy dish that just screams summer to me. Fresh, crunchy lettuce, plump little tomatoes, a tangy twist on classic Caesar dressing, and salmon pieces wrapped in a delicate Parmesan-breadcrumb crust make this a light, healthy meal that leaves you full but not stuffed. I don't think I've ever eaten a restaurant salad that left me with the same feeling of full flavour, but healthy calorie-count.
I'm not usually a salad person, but I had some lettuce languishing in my fridge after making burgers and gougeres, so one day when I needed something clean and light I thought I'd try to gussy it up into something that even my non-salad-eating self would like. Most of my original recipes happen this way, I think: I'll look into the fridge and think "Oh, that needs to be used before it goes bad. What sort of thing could I do with it that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store?" Laziness and thrift are the mothers of my culinary invention.
This particular gem was inspired by the lettuce I needed to use, and the fact that I'd frozen a salmon steak earlier in the month, so I had some salmon on hand. I'd thought about using chicken originally (and you could probably substitute chicken for salmon here and still have a great salad), but I didn't have any chicken on hand. It was late in the week, and I needed to get to the grocery. So salmon it was, and I think it ended up being a fortuitous choice. Chicken, while a nice all-purpose meat, can't rival salmon for both clean, healthy flavor and a certain classiness that salmon conveys. Salmon has long been my go-to meat when I need to feel like I'm being good, when I feel like I've eaten to much fried or cream-heavy stuff for a few days. Salmon is a palate cleanser, and pairing it with the refreshing salad makes for a really healthy, sort of Zen meal.
I will definitely make this one again, and I foresee it becoming a staple in my summer repertoire. As long as there are fresh veggies and swimsuit figures to consider, this salad is a great way for me to feel like I'm doing something good for myself, as well as good for my tastebuds!
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Caesar Salad
For the dressing:
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A scant 1/2 cup olive oil
About 1/2 - 1 tbsp finely chopped cooked salmon (I just microwave a small chunk off the salmon I'm about to cook anyway, then mince it with a sharp knife)
3 loves garlic, very finely chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups lightly packed Parmesan or Parmegiano-Reggiano, finely grated
Salt
Pepper
For the salmon nuggets:
1 lb salmon fillet (salmon steaks don't work so well for this, and fillets are cheaper anyway)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 cup plain or Italian fine, dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
For the salad (use your favorites here, obviously, but here's what I used):
Romaine lettuce
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
15 baby carrots, sliced into small circles
2 eggs, boiled and sliced into quarters
1 cucumber, sliced into circles
Begin by making the dressing. Combine the vinegar, oil, minced salmon, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkling of pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly. Add the egg and a few sprinkles of the cheese, whisk those in, and taste it. Add more salt or pepper as necessary. Add the lemon juice, and whisk that in. Taste it again, first by itself, then on a piece of your lettuce. Adjust the dressing to suit the taste of the lettuce -- if the lettuce is very sweet, it may be fine as is, but if the lettuce is a little old or minerally, you may want to add more lemon juice to pull out brightness, more garlic to spike up the fresh flavour a little if the lettuce is bland, or a pinch of sugar to mitigate the acid in the dressing if the lettuce runs toward the minerally. I usually just go with whatever my instinct is, and use a combination of the above techniques to achieve a balanced taste. The key is to add things slowly, so that you don't ruin the dressing. When in doubt, spoon a small amount into another cup, adjust that and taste it until you've got it right, then adjust the rest when you know what needs to be done. When you've got the dressing to your taste, whisk it once more for good measure and stick it in the fridge to chill out while you do the rest of the salad.
Next, make the salmon nuggets. Use a very sharp knife to remove the skin from your salmon fillet. Next, salt and pepper the fillet on both sides, then cut it into nugget-sized chunks. 1 - 1 1/2 inch squares is usually what I go for. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir this until completely combined. In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Dredge the salmon chunks in the egg, then coat them in the breadcrumb mixture. Set them in the pan to cook, turning them occasionally so that all side of the breadcrumbs get browned. Cook until salmon is done through (about 2 minutes per side, in my experience), then remove the chunks to a paper towel and allow them to drain. Not all of the chunks will fit in the saucepan at once (you don't want them to crowd each other overmuch, it will interfere with their browning process), so you'll probably have to do these in a few batches. When the salmon nuggets are finished, they can be put in an oven or toaster on 200F to keep warm while you prep the rest of the salad.
The final step is salad preparation. Assemble your lettuce into the bowl, and retrieve your dressing from the fridge. Drizzle the dressing very lightly over the lettuce, then toss to ensure that all lettuce pieces are covered in a thin film of dressing. Dust the whole thing with the remaining cheese (remember how you only used a few sprinkles earlier?), coating each piece of lettuce in a 'dust' of grated cheese. Add whatever other salad toppings you're using (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, croutons, etc), and pour any remaining cheese over the top. Place the salmon nuggets on top of the salad, and serve the remaining dressing alongside for people to spoon over the salad as they please.
Servings: 2-3, depending mostly on how much salmon everyone like to eat
I'm not usually a salad person, but I had some lettuce languishing in my fridge after making burgers and gougeres, so one day when I needed something clean and light I thought I'd try to gussy it up into something that even my non-salad-eating self would like. Most of my original recipes happen this way, I think: I'll look into the fridge and think "Oh, that needs to be used before it goes bad. What sort of thing could I do with it that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store?" Laziness and thrift are the mothers of my culinary invention.
This particular gem was inspired by the lettuce I needed to use, and the fact that I'd frozen a salmon steak earlier in the month, so I had some salmon on hand. I'd thought about using chicken originally (and you could probably substitute chicken for salmon here and still have a great salad), but I didn't have any chicken on hand. It was late in the week, and I needed to get to the grocery. So salmon it was, and I think it ended up being a fortuitous choice. Chicken, while a nice all-purpose meat, can't rival salmon for both clean, healthy flavor and a certain classiness that salmon conveys. Salmon has long been my go-to meat when I need to feel like I'm being good, when I feel like I've eaten to much fried or cream-heavy stuff for a few days. Salmon is a palate cleanser, and pairing it with the refreshing salad makes for a really healthy, sort of Zen meal.
I will definitely make this one again, and I foresee it becoming a staple in my summer repertoire. As long as there are fresh veggies and swimsuit figures to consider, this salad is a great way for me to feel like I'm doing something good for myself, as well as good for my tastebuds!
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Caesar Salad
For the dressing:
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A scant 1/2 cup olive oil
About 1/2 - 1 tbsp finely chopped cooked salmon (I just microwave a small chunk off the salmon I'm about to cook anyway, then mince it with a sharp knife)
3 loves garlic, very finely chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups lightly packed Parmesan or Parmegiano-Reggiano, finely grated
Salt
Pepper
For the salmon nuggets:
1 lb salmon fillet (salmon steaks don't work so well for this, and fillets are cheaper anyway)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 cup plain or Italian fine, dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
For the salad (use your favorites here, obviously, but here's what I used):
Romaine lettuce
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
15 baby carrots, sliced into small circles
2 eggs, boiled and sliced into quarters
1 cucumber, sliced into circles
Begin by making the dressing. Combine the vinegar, oil, minced salmon, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkling of pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly. Add the egg and a few sprinkles of the cheese, whisk those in, and taste it. Add more salt or pepper as necessary. Add the lemon juice, and whisk that in. Taste it again, first by itself, then on a piece of your lettuce. Adjust the dressing to suit the taste of the lettuce -- if the lettuce is very sweet, it may be fine as is, but if the lettuce is a little old or minerally, you may want to add more lemon juice to pull out brightness, more garlic to spike up the fresh flavour a little if the lettuce is bland, or a pinch of sugar to mitigate the acid in the dressing if the lettuce runs toward the minerally. I usually just go with whatever my instinct is, and use a combination of the above techniques to achieve a balanced taste. The key is to add things slowly, so that you don't ruin the dressing. When in doubt, spoon a small amount into another cup, adjust that and taste it until you've got it right, then adjust the rest when you know what needs to be done. When you've got the dressing to your taste, whisk it once more for good measure and stick it in the fridge to chill out while you do the rest of the salad.
Next, make the salmon nuggets. Use a very sharp knife to remove the skin from your salmon fillet. Next, salt and pepper the fillet on both sides, then cut it into nugget-sized chunks. 1 - 1 1/2 inch squares is usually what I go for. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir this until completely combined. In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Dredge the salmon chunks in the egg, then coat them in the breadcrumb mixture. Set them in the pan to cook, turning them occasionally so that all side of the breadcrumbs get browned. Cook until salmon is done through (about 2 minutes per side, in my experience), then remove the chunks to a paper towel and allow them to drain. Not all of the chunks will fit in the saucepan at once (you don't want them to crowd each other overmuch, it will interfere with their browning process), so you'll probably have to do these in a few batches. When the salmon nuggets are finished, they can be put in an oven or toaster on 200F to keep warm while you prep the rest of the salad.
The final step is salad preparation. Assemble your lettuce into the bowl, and retrieve your dressing from the fridge. Drizzle the dressing very lightly over the lettuce, then toss to ensure that all lettuce pieces are covered in a thin film of dressing. Dust the whole thing with the remaining cheese (remember how you only used a few sprinkles earlier?), coating each piece of lettuce in a 'dust' of grated cheese. Add whatever other salad toppings you're using (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, croutons, etc), and pour any remaining cheese over the top. Place the salmon nuggets on top of the salad, and serve the remaining dressing alongside for people to spoon over the salad as they please.
Servings: 2-3, depending mostly on how much salmon everyone like to eat
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT Style
Man, has it ever been a long time since I posted here! I'm not dead (yet), I'm just busy. And for me, busy usually means resorting to cold cuts and apples for all sorts of meals. Yesterday, I ate an apple for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and an apple and a turkey sandwich for dinner. You've no idea how much it pains me to admit that. I hate feeling uncreative.
The good news is, last weekend I managed to find time to test a new recipe, and it turned out splendidly. It's my take on Judy Rodgers's (of Zuni fame) recipe for gougeres. What, you ask, are gougeres? They're little cheesy puff pastries, like what might happen if you took a cheese biscuit and inflated it. They're also bite-sized, which was a nice change of pace for me. I love making whole meals out of appetizers. I always find myself tempted to eat too many if the appetizer is good, so turning them into a whole meal lets me combine this tendency with my love of interactive food. Appetizers are sort of interactive, right? You can eat them with your fingers, at least.
Anyway, where normal people would eat one or two gougeres for an appetizer, I eat seven or eight for a meal. And they're fabulous done this way: cheesy little puffs stuffed with the makings of a BLT, my all-time favorite sandwich. I took Judy's excellent recipe and toyed with it (as I'm wont to do), adding a Southern twist by incorporating pepperjack cheese into the puffs. You could probably also add pimentos, and do a riff on pimento cheese with these, which I think would be both clever and tasty. Maybe I'll try that next time I get a hankering for mini-sandwiches. You could also fiddle with the stuffings for these, and turn them into just about anything you need. Ham and scrambled eggs could be added for a breakfast sandwich (Yum! They're really good this way), or fill them with whatever you've got in your pantry. I just love BLTs, and these make a great little conduit for that passion.
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT style
For the gougere batter:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth (I know I always say use stock, but I used broth here, because this should really only be a hint of flavor, not a whole shebang)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (use the European kind if you can get it)
1 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Gruyere, grated
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, grated
To stuff the gougeres:
10-12 slices bacon
8 or so leaves Romaine lettuce, washed and de-stemmed
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the flour (yes, all at once) and stir with a wooden spoon or a very stiff spatula until the batter pulls away from the edges of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the batter cook for a few minutes, until it seems almost stiff and fairly shiny.
When it reaches the shiny stage, remove it from the heat and add an egg. Stir vigorously with the spoon or spatula until the egg is incorporated. At first, the egg will not seem to incorporate at all, but gradually, with lots of stirring, it can be coaxed into the batter to mix in completely. Have patience, and a strong stirring arm. It takes me five minutes or so of stirring to incorporate the egg. The batter will at first seem like slabs of slippery paste, but should eventually return to the sticky point once it's absorbed the egg.
Repeat this process for the other two eggs, stirring until each is completely mixed in before adding the next one. It's okay if the batter cools quite a bit during this process. Once you're done adding the eggs, season with pepper, then add all the cheese. Fold the cheese into the mix. Some of it should melt, but it's okay if you have pieces that don't. That makes it even better.
Using a large spoon, dollop the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 tbsp per gougere. They should come out looking like little mounds. These don't have to be perfect, pointy bits that stick off will just add a hint of crunch to them.
Bake your gougeres until they are golden-brown and and firm. In my oven, this took 30 minutes, but set your oven's timer for 20 and check them often after that so that they don't overcook. To check if they're done, remove a single gougere from the parchment and pry it open. The inside strands of dough should be tender and moist, but not mushy. If it's underdone, just stick it back together, put it back on the parchment, and bake for a few more minutes.
While the gougeres are cooking, get out a pan and your bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half, one 1/2 strip per gougere. When I'm making these to eat, I sually don't cook all the bacon at once. I only cook enough for the gougeres I'll eat at that meal, and leave the rest for when I eat the others later. Bacon always tastes best when cooked fresh. Cook the bacon in the pan over medium-high heat until crispy, turning once or twice to crisp all sides. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel.
Tear the lettuce into manageable pieces, about the same size as a cooked 1/2 slice of bacon. You'll want about two pieces of lettuce per gougere. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. You'll want 3 tomato halves per gougere.
To serve the gougeres, split them down the middle with a fork. Pack in a slice of bacon, two slices of lettuce, and three tomato halves, then close the top back down on the little sandwich. These are best when warm, so you can eat them fresh from the oven, or if you're eating them later, microwave a few for 30 seconds or so to warm them back up. As I said before, I recommend cooking the bacon fresh just before you eat the gougeres, so that it tastes best.
Servings: 20-25 gougeres
The good news is, last weekend I managed to find time to test a new recipe, and it turned out splendidly. It's my take on Judy Rodgers's (of Zuni fame) recipe for gougeres. What, you ask, are gougeres? They're little cheesy puff pastries, like what might happen if you took a cheese biscuit and inflated it. They're also bite-sized, which was a nice change of pace for me. I love making whole meals out of appetizers. I always find myself tempted to eat too many if the appetizer is good, so turning them into a whole meal lets me combine this tendency with my love of interactive food. Appetizers are sort of interactive, right? You can eat them with your fingers, at least.
Anyway, where normal people would eat one or two gougeres for an appetizer, I eat seven or eight for a meal. And they're fabulous done this way: cheesy little puffs stuffed with the makings of a BLT, my all-time favorite sandwich. I took Judy's excellent recipe and toyed with it (as I'm wont to do), adding a Southern twist by incorporating pepperjack cheese into the puffs. You could probably also add pimentos, and do a riff on pimento cheese with these, which I think would be both clever and tasty. Maybe I'll try that next time I get a hankering for mini-sandwiches. You could also fiddle with the stuffings for these, and turn them into just about anything you need. Ham and scrambled eggs could be added for a breakfast sandwich (Yum! They're really good this way), or fill them with whatever you've got in your pantry. I just love BLTs, and these make a great little conduit for that passion.
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT style
For the gougere batter:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth (I know I always say use stock, but I used broth here, because this should really only be a hint of flavor, not a whole shebang)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (use the European kind if you can get it)
1 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Gruyere, grated
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, grated
To stuff the gougeres:
10-12 slices bacon
8 or so leaves Romaine lettuce, washed and de-stemmed
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the flour (yes, all at once) and stir with a wooden spoon or a very stiff spatula until the batter pulls away from the edges of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the batter cook for a few minutes, until it seems almost stiff and fairly shiny.
When it reaches the shiny stage, remove it from the heat and add an egg. Stir vigorously with the spoon or spatula until the egg is incorporated. At first, the egg will not seem to incorporate at all, but gradually, with lots of stirring, it can be coaxed into the batter to mix in completely. Have patience, and a strong stirring arm. It takes me five minutes or so of stirring to incorporate the egg. The batter will at first seem like slabs of slippery paste, but should eventually return to the sticky point once it's absorbed the egg.
Repeat this process for the other two eggs, stirring until each is completely mixed in before adding the next one. It's okay if the batter cools quite a bit during this process. Once you're done adding the eggs, season with pepper, then add all the cheese. Fold the cheese into the mix. Some of it should melt, but it's okay if you have pieces that don't. That makes it even better.
Using a large spoon, dollop the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 tbsp per gougere. They should come out looking like little mounds. These don't have to be perfect, pointy bits that stick off will just add a hint of crunch to them.
Bake your gougeres until they are golden-brown and and firm. In my oven, this took 30 minutes, but set your oven's timer for 20 and check them often after that so that they don't overcook. To check if they're done, remove a single gougere from the parchment and pry it open. The inside strands of dough should be tender and moist, but not mushy. If it's underdone, just stick it back together, put it back on the parchment, and bake for a few more minutes.
While the gougeres are cooking, get out a pan and your bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half, one 1/2 strip per gougere. When I'm making these to eat, I sually don't cook all the bacon at once. I only cook enough for the gougeres I'll eat at that meal, and leave the rest for when I eat the others later. Bacon always tastes best when cooked fresh. Cook the bacon in the pan over medium-high heat until crispy, turning once or twice to crisp all sides. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel.
Tear the lettuce into manageable pieces, about the same size as a cooked 1/2 slice of bacon. You'll want about two pieces of lettuce per gougere. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. You'll want 3 tomato halves per gougere.
To serve the gougeres, split them down the middle with a fork. Pack in a slice of bacon, two slices of lettuce, and three tomato halves, then close the top back down on the little sandwich. These are best when warm, so you can eat them fresh from the oven, or if you're eating them later, microwave a few for 30 seconds or so to warm them back up. As I said before, I recommend cooking the bacon fresh just before you eat the gougeres, so that it tastes best.
Servings: 20-25 gougeres
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tomato-Egg Florentine Casserole
This is a pretty simple dish that tastes like comfort food to me, and uses stuff I almost always have on hand. The recipe is a liberal adaptation of one I got from Orangette here, and which she credits as her take on a recipe published in the Splendid Table Weeknight Kitchen. The Splendid Table recipe, in turn, was adapted from a recipe by the great Jacques Pepin in his home cook's staple, Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way. So this little dish took a convoluted route to my table. It's sort of like playing Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon with food. I'd like to see the original Pepin recipe now, since I'm betting my version in no way resembles his with this many sources between us.
Strange pedigree aside, the dish tastes good, and that's what's important, right? It works in a 'great tastes that go together great' kind of way. The classic Florentine combination of pasta, tomato, and spinach gets a pick-me-up from the flavour of egg and a crust of Gruyere. I haven't tried it this way yet, but I'd bet you could throw some gently sauted artichoke hearts in here too and it would be delicious. It's a forgiving kind of dish like that. Or, if you don't have the spinach, leave that out and it still works. That's how comfort food goes: it's for those days when the last thing you need is something going wrong in the kitchen.
Tomato-Egg Florentine Casserole
5 large eggs
2 handfuls (1-1 1/2 cups) short-cut pasta. I like rotini, but it doesn't really matter as long as you're not using spaghetti or something long like that.
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, roughly diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried thyme (don't get the fresh stuff, the spice-rack version works great)
1 14 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained
1/8 lb spinach (or half of the 1/4 bags my grocery carries)
1 cup grated gruyere
Salt
Pepper
Begin by putting the raw eggs in a pot, running enough water in the pot to cover them, then sitting them over medium-high heat until the water boils. When it boils, set a timer for 9 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat and carefully drain the hot water out. Run cold water over the eggs, drain that, run more cold water over the eggs, and throw in a handful of ice chips to cool the water further. Let the eggs sit there and cool while you work on the rest of the recipe.
While the eggs are coming to a boil, put another pot on to boil with water for the pasta. Salt the water, and when it boils (this should be approximately the same time as the eggs coming to boil) add the pasta. Cook the pasta for about five minutes, then drain it. You want the pasta slightly underdone, since it will absorb some juice when you bake the whole casserole.
While the pasta and eggs are cooking, set the oven to preheat to 400F.
Add the onions and olive oil to a large sauce pan, and cook over medium heat until the onions turn soft and translucent. Add the garlic and let that saute for about two minutes (I usually take the eggs and pasta off during this stage), then add the tomatoes and their juices. Use the side of your spatula or a wooden spoon to break apart the tomatoes into manageable pieces, and simmer the tomato-onion mixture for another two minutes. Add the thyme, and taste the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the whole tomato mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Gently fold in the spinach (you may need to do this in handfuls since the spinach takes up a lot of space before it wilts.
Now it's time to assemble the casserole. You should have the tomato-onion-spinach mixture, the cooled eggs, and the drained pasta. Grab the dish that you'll be using to bake the casserole. I use a souffle dish with tall sides, but a shorter and wider square casserole dish would probably work just as well. Slice the eggs into quarter wedges, and place them in the bottom of the dish. Pour the pasta into the same pan as the tomato-spinach mixture, and stir briefly to mix that all up. Pour the tomato-spinach-pasta mix over the eggs. On top of everything, sprinkle your cheese. I like to be generous with the cheese, and usually use more than the cup I've called for here.
Once the casserole is assembled, stick it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Next, crack the oven door and turn on the broiler on high for 4 minutes, to put a nice crust on the cheese. Serve immediately.
Servings: 6-8
Strange pedigree aside, the dish tastes good, and that's what's important, right? It works in a 'great tastes that go together great' kind of way. The classic Florentine combination of pasta, tomato, and spinach gets a pick-me-up from the flavour of egg and a crust of Gruyere. I haven't tried it this way yet, but I'd bet you could throw some gently sauted artichoke hearts in here too and it would be delicious. It's a forgiving kind of dish like that. Or, if you don't have the spinach, leave that out and it still works. That's how comfort food goes: it's for those days when the last thing you need is something going wrong in the kitchen.
Tomato-Egg Florentine Casserole
5 large eggs
2 handfuls (1-1 1/2 cups) short-cut pasta. I like rotini, but it doesn't really matter as long as you're not using spaghetti or something long like that.
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, roughly diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried thyme (don't get the fresh stuff, the spice-rack version works great)
1 14 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained
1/8 lb spinach (or half of the 1/4 bags my grocery carries)
1 cup grated gruyere
Salt
Pepper
Begin by putting the raw eggs in a pot, running enough water in the pot to cover them, then sitting them over medium-high heat until the water boils. When it boils, set a timer for 9 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat and carefully drain the hot water out. Run cold water over the eggs, drain that, run more cold water over the eggs, and throw in a handful of ice chips to cool the water further. Let the eggs sit there and cool while you work on the rest of the recipe.
While the eggs are coming to a boil, put another pot on to boil with water for the pasta. Salt the water, and when it boils (this should be approximately the same time as the eggs coming to boil) add the pasta. Cook the pasta for about five minutes, then drain it. You want the pasta slightly underdone, since it will absorb some juice when you bake the whole casserole.
While the pasta and eggs are cooking, set the oven to preheat to 400F.
Add the onions and olive oil to a large sauce pan, and cook over medium heat until the onions turn soft and translucent. Add the garlic and let that saute for about two minutes (I usually take the eggs and pasta off during this stage), then add the tomatoes and their juices. Use the side of your spatula or a wooden spoon to break apart the tomatoes into manageable pieces, and simmer the tomato-onion mixture for another two minutes. Add the thyme, and taste the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the whole tomato mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Gently fold in the spinach (you may need to do this in handfuls since the spinach takes up a lot of space before it wilts.
Now it's time to assemble the casserole. You should have the tomato-onion-spinach mixture, the cooled eggs, and the drained pasta. Grab the dish that you'll be using to bake the casserole. I use a souffle dish with tall sides, but a shorter and wider square casserole dish would probably work just as well. Slice the eggs into quarter wedges, and place them in the bottom of the dish. Pour the pasta into the same pan as the tomato-spinach mixture, and stir briefly to mix that all up. Pour the tomato-spinach-pasta mix over the eggs. On top of everything, sprinkle your cheese. I like to be generous with the cheese, and usually use more than the cup I've called for here.
Once the casserole is assembled, stick it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Next, crack the oven door and turn on the broiler on high for 4 minutes, to put a nice crust on the cheese. Serve immediately.
Servings: 6-8
Friday, April 18, 2008
Steamed Artichokes in Lemon Butter Sauce
I'm almost embarrassed to be posting this recipe, since it's not really even a recipe. It's just directions about how to cook an artichoke, which until recently I'd never done. But the last few weeks, I've been eating artichokes pretty frequently. They're just coming into season now: round and green and prickly. A single artichoke is more than enough for a meal for me, and it makes me feel like I'm being healthy (even though it's probably enough butter to negate any healthiness the artichoke may bring). They're also fun. I will always like veggies that I can eat with my fingers and not feel like I'm being uncouth. They're interactive food, and they're easier to interact with than, say, shrimp or oysters. All the fun, none of the hassle.
Steamed Artichokes in Lemon Butter Sauce
1 artichoke (pick your artichokes by how heavy they are, with tightly knit leaves)
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup white wine (just eyeball it)
Salt
Pepper
Steam the artichoke by cutting off the stem close as close to the artichoke as possible. Next, cut off the tip of the artichoke; the bits that are nothing but prickly and are at the end opposite the stem. This may be difficult; I usually use a serrated knife, and even then I may require kitchen shears to get the last few stubborn leaves off. A chef's knife (even a very sharp chef's knife) really doesn't cuts it when it comes to artichoke tips. Anyway, saw that off.
Boil a couple inches of water in a pot, and set a vegetable steamer on top of it. If you don't have a vegetable steamer (as I didn't for a long time), use an aluminum pie plate, turned upside down to sit in the water, and with lots of holes poked in the bottom to let the steam through. Set the artichoke tip-side down in the steamer, cover it, and let it steam over a low boil for 40 minutes or so. I wouldn't go over that, because over-steaming leaches out the flavours.
Towards the end of the steaming process, simmer the wine in a small saucepan, over medium heat, and melt the butter into it. Stir in the lemon juice, and let the whole thing simmer for a minute or so. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mine always needs quite a bit of salt. I add a little more than I think it needs and it turns out perfect, because artichokes taste really good with salt.
Serve without utensils, and pull the artichoke leaves one by one off the artichoke. Dip them in the sauce, and eat the meat off the underside of the leaves. When you get to the heart, cut out the feathery bits to leave only the base of the heart. That too can be eaten with the sauce.
Servings: 1
(Also? 20th recipe, whoo!)
Steamed Artichokes in Lemon Butter Sauce
1 artichoke (pick your artichokes by how heavy they are, with tightly knit leaves)
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup white wine (just eyeball it)
Salt
Pepper
Steam the artichoke by cutting off the stem close as close to the artichoke as possible. Next, cut off the tip of the artichoke; the bits that are nothing but prickly and are at the end opposite the stem. This may be difficult; I usually use a serrated knife, and even then I may require kitchen shears to get the last few stubborn leaves off. A chef's knife (even a very sharp chef's knife) really doesn't cuts it when it comes to artichoke tips. Anyway, saw that off.
Boil a couple inches of water in a pot, and set a vegetable steamer on top of it. If you don't have a vegetable steamer (as I didn't for a long time), use an aluminum pie plate, turned upside down to sit in the water, and with lots of holes poked in the bottom to let the steam through. Set the artichoke tip-side down in the steamer, cover it, and let it steam over a low boil for 40 minutes or so. I wouldn't go over that, because over-steaming leaches out the flavours.
Towards the end of the steaming process, simmer the wine in a small saucepan, over medium heat, and melt the butter into it. Stir in the lemon juice, and let the whole thing simmer for a minute or so. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mine always needs quite a bit of salt. I add a little more than I think it needs and it turns out perfect, because artichokes taste really good with salt.
Serve without utensils, and pull the artichoke leaves one by one off the artichoke. Dip them in the sauce, and eat the meat off the underside of the leaves. When you get to the heart, cut out the feathery bits to leave only the base of the heart. That too can be eaten with the sauce.
Servings: 1
(Also? 20th recipe, whoo!)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Potato-Pear Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
This recipe was designed to be served alongside pork tenderloin with pear glaze, and I'm pretty proud of it. It was a riff on something I saw on Top Chef, and it came out spectacularly well. The salad is a perfect combination of textures and flavours, and the dressing ties all of it together harmoniously, as well as going beautifully with the pork. I suppose I should expect it from a good chef, but this really is a beautifully balanced meal. I've been to fairly expensive restaurants that didn't show this much cohesiveness of flavour across a plate.
I recommend mixing the dressing first in this recipe, as it's something that can be done in advance then stuck in the fridge until it's needed. If you do this, microwave the dressing for 15-30 seconds to warm it a little before pouring it over the meat and salad; you don't want it to cool those down.
Potato-Pear Salad
3 medium russet potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 red pears (use the other half of the pear you used to make the pear glaze)
1/2 lb green beans, rinsed and snapped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 slices crispy bacon, pan fried then drained
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 350F. If you're doing this at the same time as the pork tenderloin, you can put them both in the oven at the same time.
In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper until all cubes are thoroughly coated. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with non-stick spray, then spread the potatoes onto it in an even single layer. Roast at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the largest potato chunks are soft all the way through, and the potatoes have begin to take on a golden crispness.
Towards the end of when the potatoes are roasting, blanch the green beans in salted water for about 5 minutes. The goal is crisp, but not raw. Err on the crisper side here. Drain the pot of beans, and add a handful of ice to the beans, then run water over them. This will shock the beans, which both softens them further and stops them from cooking. Once the beans have cooled, drain the pot again and remove any remaining chunks of ice. Reserve the beans.
While the beans are blanching, get out a small sauce pan, add a splash of olive oil, and saute the onion over medium heat until the white part turns translucent. Don't saute too much, you want to keep the pretty purple color. The goal is just to take a little of the bite out of the flavour here.
Dice the pears into 1/2 inch chucks, about the same size as the potatoes.
When the potatoes are done, taste one for seasoning and add salt if appropriate. They should taste a little like french fries. Dump the still-hot potatoes into a serving bowl, and add the pear, onion, and green beans. Crumble the bacon slices over the other ingredients, and toss the whole thing. Serve immediately, with dressing.
Note: it's important that the salad be the last thing you finish before you plate and serve the meal. If it's allowed to sit for too long, the pear juices will soften the crisp roasted outside of the potatoes, which detracts from the contrasting textures of the salad.
Servings: 6-8
Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
About 1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped as finely as you can get it. Use a spice grinder, if you've got one.
Salt
Pepper
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg yolks, and Dijon until homogeneous. Add olive oil slowly, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens a little. If in doubt, taste it. (Tasting constantly is good policy throughout making this dressing.)
Add the soy sauce, honey, and rosemary to the mixture, and whisk those in completely. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to season properly.
Refrigerate until needed, and whisk once more before drizzling over salad and meat just to make sure it's mixed.
Servings: I have no idea. It was plenty for 6-8 servings of meat and salad, though.
I recommend mixing the dressing first in this recipe, as it's something that can be done in advance then stuck in the fridge until it's needed. If you do this, microwave the dressing for 15-30 seconds to warm it a little before pouring it over the meat and salad; you don't want it to cool those down.
Potato-Pear Salad
3 medium russet potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 red pears (use the other half of the pear you used to make the pear glaze)
1/2 lb green beans, rinsed and snapped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 slices crispy bacon, pan fried then drained
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 350F. If you're doing this at the same time as the pork tenderloin, you can put them both in the oven at the same time.
In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper until all cubes are thoroughly coated. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with non-stick spray, then spread the potatoes onto it in an even single layer. Roast at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the largest potato chunks are soft all the way through, and the potatoes have begin to take on a golden crispness.
Towards the end of when the potatoes are roasting, blanch the green beans in salted water for about 5 minutes. The goal is crisp, but not raw. Err on the crisper side here. Drain the pot of beans, and add a handful of ice to the beans, then run water over them. This will shock the beans, which both softens them further and stops them from cooking. Once the beans have cooled, drain the pot again and remove any remaining chunks of ice. Reserve the beans.
While the beans are blanching, get out a small sauce pan, add a splash of olive oil, and saute the onion over medium heat until the white part turns translucent. Don't saute too much, you want to keep the pretty purple color. The goal is just to take a little of the bite out of the flavour here.
Dice the pears into 1/2 inch chucks, about the same size as the potatoes.
When the potatoes are done, taste one for seasoning and add salt if appropriate. They should taste a little like french fries. Dump the still-hot potatoes into a serving bowl, and add the pear, onion, and green beans. Crumble the bacon slices over the other ingredients, and toss the whole thing. Serve immediately, with dressing.
Note: it's important that the salad be the last thing you finish before you plate and serve the meal. If it's allowed to sit for too long, the pear juices will soften the crisp roasted outside of the potatoes, which detracts from the contrasting textures of the salad.
Servings: 6-8
Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
About 1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped as finely as you can get it. Use a spice grinder, if you've got one.
Salt
Pepper
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg yolks, and Dijon until homogeneous. Add olive oil slowly, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens a little. If in doubt, taste it. (Tasting constantly is good policy throughout making this dressing.)
Add the soy sauce, honey, and rosemary to the mixture, and whisk those in completely. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to season properly.
Refrigerate until needed, and whisk once more before drizzling over salad and meat just to make sure it's mixed.
Servings: I have no idea. It was plenty for 6-8 servings of meat and salad, though.
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
This is the first of two recipes that go together. There's pork tenderloins with pear glaze, and the side dish is a potato salad with pears and haricot vert. A splashy little sauce/dressing (which I've included with the salad recipe) ties it all together.
The idea for this dish is a riff on something I saw on Top Chef. Yes, I watch Top Chef. It is my weekly reality-show crack. I always sit there in the comfort of my living room, cat on my lap, popcorn by my side, and think, "Gosh, I could cook better than some of these people." But last week's top chef featured a recipe that was reputedly very good for pork tenderloins on the grill, and I found myself intrigued by the pear in the potato salad that the chef (Stephanie Izard) served alongside. So today I came up with this version, which needs no grill and includes a glaze for the pork loin. I am not a grill person, I loathe grills with a passion (so messy, so much cleanup, so finicky for the proper temperature!), so this is designed to grab the good flavors of the recipe in an oven.
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
Pork tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp olive oil
Pear Glaze:
1/2 red pear, core removed and very thinly sliced (save the other half to use in the salad)
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/4 large white onion, finely diced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 sprig rosemary, chopped very finely (use a spice grinder if you've got one)
Salt
Pepper
For the absolute best flavour, start a day early and salt the tenderloin. 1 tbsp salt for 4 lbs meat is a good rule of thumb. Let the tenderloin sit in the fridge overnight to absorb the salt.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Rinse the tenderloin and trim off any excess fat. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan (I use non-stick, it makes things easier) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated, drop in the tenderloin and brown it on all sides (less than 2 minutes per side is good). Transfer the browned tenderloin to a foil-lined roasting pan, and let it hang out there for a few minutes.
In the same saucepan that you used to brown the roast (there should still be a little olive oil in the bottom), add the diced onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Give that 2 or 3 minutes, then add the finely sliced pear, the butter, and the rosemary. Cook all of this together for about five minutes, until the butter is just beginning to brown and the pears are falling apart. Salt it gently (Emphasis on the gently. You don't want this too salty). Pour this glaze over the tenderloin, spreading the pear-onion bits evenly along the top.
Cook the tenderloin for an hour or so, turning every 20 minutes to prevent the top from drying out. The inside should be white and not give off pink juice when poked with a knife. When the tenderloin is finished, slice it into medallions and serve over Potato-Pear salad, covered lightly with the rosemary dressing from that recipe.
Servings: 6-8
The idea for this dish is a riff on something I saw on Top Chef. Yes, I watch Top Chef. It is my weekly reality-show crack. I always sit there in the comfort of my living room, cat on my lap, popcorn by my side, and think, "Gosh, I could cook better than some of these people." But last week's top chef featured a recipe that was reputedly very good for pork tenderloins on the grill, and I found myself intrigued by the pear in the potato salad that the chef (Stephanie Izard) served alongside. So today I came up with this version, which needs no grill and includes a glaze for the pork loin. I am not a grill person, I loathe grills with a passion (so messy, so much cleanup, so finicky for the proper temperature!), so this is designed to grab the good flavors of the recipe in an oven.
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
Pork tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp olive oil
Pear Glaze:
1/2 red pear, core removed and very thinly sliced (save the other half to use in the salad)
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/4 large white onion, finely diced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 sprig rosemary, chopped very finely (use a spice grinder if you've got one)
Salt
Pepper
For the absolute best flavour, start a day early and salt the tenderloin. 1 tbsp salt for 4 lbs meat is a good rule of thumb. Let the tenderloin sit in the fridge overnight to absorb the salt.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Rinse the tenderloin and trim off any excess fat. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan (I use non-stick, it makes things easier) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated, drop in the tenderloin and brown it on all sides (less than 2 minutes per side is good). Transfer the browned tenderloin to a foil-lined roasting pan, and let it hang out there for a few minutes.
In the same saucepan that you used to brown the roast (there should still be a little olive oil in the bottom), add the diced onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Give that 2 or 3 minutes, then add the finely sliced pear, the butter, and the rosemary. Cook all of this together for about five minutes, until the butter is just beginning to brown and the pears are falling apart. Salt it gently (Emphasis on the gently. You don't want this too salty). Pour this glaze over the tenderloin, spreading the pear-onion bits evenly along the top.
Cook the tenderloin for an hour or so, turning every 20 minutes to prevent the top from drying out. The inside should be white and not give off pink juice when poked with a knife. When the tenderloin is finished, slice it into medallions and serve over Potato-Pear salad, covered lightly with the rosemary dressing from that recipe.
Servings: 6-8
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)