Hot and Sour!

It's cold. It's really cold. It's February out there. Usually, I have time to ease into it, but this year we skipped autumn and went directly to winter, and I am reeling from the shock. If you live in a genuinely cold climate, I don't know how you manage. I'm wearing socks to bed with two blankets a quilt and two cats. (I don't think the cats really help, but I can't convince them otherwise.)

Of course, I'm thinking about soup. There is nothing like soup when your feet feel like ice.

This is a hot and sour soup I've been considering for the past year. It's not authentic. It's a quick and dirty version of a hot and sour, but it's good.  I particularly like that it uses ingredients you can find in a regular supermarket. I'm sure it would be better if you used wood ear mushrooms instead of button mushrooms, but since it's a 45 minute drive to my closest Asian market, that makes this version just that little bit better.

It is also genuinely hot and sour. If you are used to the Americanized version of hot and sour, where they wave the vinegar bottle over it and give it a quick dash of pepper, this will be a revelation. You can, of course, reduce the amounts of vinegar and heat, and it will still be good, but the real full-bodied flavor is sinus-clearingly wonderful. 

And it only takes half an hour, start to finish. So you can start warming up even faster.

It looks almost as good as it tastes. 

Joanne Chang's Hot and Sour Soup

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 scallions, white and green parts, minced, plus more for garnish
8 ounces ground pork
4 cups store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 pound soft or firm tofu (not silken and not extra firm), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 or 5 medium button mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced (or substitute dried, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2/3 cup rice vinegar, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon sesame oil, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce, or to taste
2 large eggs
White or black pepper for garnish

starting with the pork

In the saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and pork and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute. You want to break up the pork into smaller pieces with a spoon, but don’t worry about breaking it down completely or cooking it through.

Add scallions, ginger and garlic

Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the tofu, mushrooms, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame oil, and Sriracha sauce and bring the soup back to a simmer over medium-high heat. Taste the soup. If you want it hotter, add more Sriracha sauce; if you want it more sour, add more vinegar.

pour in everything else

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. With the soup at a steady simmer, slowly whisk in the eggs so they form strands. Bring the soup back to a simmer. Divide the soup among 4 to 6 bowls and garnish each with a little sesame oil, scallion, and white or black pepper. Serve immediately. (Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The soup may take on a slightly different appearance, but it will taste just the same.)

Breakfast: Oeufs en Cocotte

Breakfast is often my least healthy meal of the day. I always want another 5 (20) minutes in bed, so it tends to be a rush to get out of the door on time.  Then I end up in line for an egg mcmuffin, or worse, making breakfast out of whatever is in the office vending machine. Jalapeno potato chips are not wonderful at 8 am.

spinach and bacon

Eggs are an easy, obvious answer. But one can get bored with scrambled eggs every day, So I started searching the web and I stumbled on oeufs en cocotte. Which is a fancy way of saying baked eggs.

The basic framework is you take a ramekin:

1. Put some savory things in the bottom, veggies, ham, what have you...
2. On top of this you put a dollop of yogurt, crème fraiche, sour cream, heavy cream. . . I once made a heavenly version using an herbed cheese spread.
3. Top it with an egg

Put this in a bain maire (a pan with water in it) in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes. You want it the egg to be softly set, and the yolk still runny. Essentially, you are creating a savory custard.

This makes a great breakfast, and a refined break from the ubiquitous scrambled eggs. A slice of toast is a nice addition, and useful for soaking up the last of the egg.

ready to go in the oven - cheese is not traditional, but what the heck?

Researching this on the web will give you many opinions. Some purists insists it should only be eggs and cream, others like loading it up. Some make it vegetarian, some use only meat, onions, no-onions, the variations are limited only to your imagination and the extent of your pantry.

I like it because it’s tasty, easy, and a great way to use up leftover vegetables (and there are always leftover vegetables). And since you can set up the ramekins ahead of time, you can prep an entire week’s worth of breakfasts in an under an hour.

The actual cooking is easy, because you don’t have to watch it, as you do with scrambled eggs and omelettes. You can do other things while it’s cooking.  For example, this was how I made breakfast this morning.

• Wake up, turn on the oven (bain marie is already in the oven, where I put it last night).
• Take a shower and dress.
• Pull a ramekin out of the fridge, drop in the yogurt and an egg and put it in the bain marie.
• Feed and water the cats, make the bed.
• Take the finished oeufs cocotte out of the oven, pour myself a cup of tea, sit down and eat.
• Put the dishes in the sink, find my shoes and head to work.

Fresh out of the oven. It tastes better than it looks. 

If you really want to make it fast, you can do it in the microwave, but there you have to be very careful with your timing, since microwaves will turn eggs into rubber very quickly. 

Election Day Recovery: Walnut Cake

Yesterday was election day. I left work early to vote. Afterwards, I spent about an hour and a half watching election coverage (i.e. wild speculations about the next two years based on what might or might not be happening, since the results weren't actually in). I got so annoyed that I turned off the television and went to do something productive. I baked a cake.

lovely golden egg yolks

If your candidate won, you'll want to celebrate. If s/he lost, you will need comforting. Either way, you will need cake. And this is an incredibly easy cake to make. It has 4 ingredients. It's only one layer and it doesn't need frosting. 

egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest

It's also an incredibly rich cake, so a little will go a long way. I recommend a cup of strong coffee with this. Or maybe some brandy. Elections can take a lot out of a person.

ready to go into the oven - a little streaky with egg whites

Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or Green, win or lose, we all need cake.

Post Election Walnut Cake

 - from Food 52

3/4 pound (340 grams) shelled walnuts

4 eggs, separated
1cup (225 grams) caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Pulverize the walnuts in a food processor until you have a coarse meal, the texture of sand.

Prepare a round 9-inch cake pan by lining it with parchment paper (or grease it with butter and lightly dust with flour or almond meal).

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. Add the lemon zest and walnut meal and stir to combine. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks. Fold the whites bit by bit into the walnut mixture until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake at 350º F (180º C) for about 50 minutes, or until the top is firm and browned nicely. Let cool before dusting with confectioners' sugar.

Normally, I would put it on a plate before dusting it with sugar, but I couldn't get it out of the pan.

Use parchment paper!  And doesn't it look like Pac Man?

Paleo Diet: Bacon Mayo

The weather has been so lovely that I haven’t wanted to spend more time indoors than I have to, so it has not been a week for adventurous cooking.  I’ve been subsisting on cold roast chicken and the apple/leek casserole that I’ve already covered.

But you can’t eat chicken at every meal, and I had some shrimp and veggies to use up, so I made a shrimp salad. Nothing terribly exciting, just a way of using veggies before they go bad, and I normally wouldn’t bother you with it. But shrimp salad usually has mayonnaise in it. I didn’t have any, and my paleo cookbook has a recipe for baconnaise – i.e. mayonnaise made with bacon fat.

Now, before you shudder and click away, remember that the classical version of mayonnaise is an emulsion of olive oil (fat), egg yolks, and lemon juice. Using bacon fat (which you have thriftily saved after cooking your bacon) is just replacing one fat with another.

And mayo is one of those things that is very easy to make. All it takes is one bowl and a whisk. Or in my case – a stick blender with a  whisk attachment.

I forgot to take pictures while I was making it, but it goes from being bright yellow runny goo (the egg yolks) to pale yellow and creamy. Flavor-wise, it’s not all that different from store bought mayo, the lemon is more forward, because I like lemon and added extra. The biggest difference is that when you refrigerate it, it goes hard, like butter. (That’s animal fats for you.)

Anyway, when I tried it on the shrimp salad, I made sure I added it to the shrimp when they were still hot, so the baconnaise would melt and coat the salad. 

Final verdict, not bad. But more of a science project than a recipe. Given a choice, I'd use olive oil and save the bacon fat for frying eggs. 

Baconnaise 

from the cookbook Practical Paleo

2 egg yolks

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

3/4 cup bacon fat, melted and cooled to room temperature

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice and mustard until blended and bright yellow. Add 1/4 cup of bacon fat to the yolk mixture, a few drops at a time, whisking constantly. Gradually add the remaining bacon fat in a slow stream, whisking constantly, until the mayonnaise is thick and light in color. 

Keeps for about a week.

Paleo diet: Zucchini pancakes

Last weekend, I made a decision I'd been putting off for about a year. It took all day, but I finally did it. I bought a car. Isn't it pretty?

And the wonderful thing is, I won't have to do this again for at least 10 years!  Car shopping is unpleasant, long, and expensive. I'd gotten used to not having a car payment, and now I've just added another payment plan into my life. Ouch.

shredded zucchini - ready to go

So in the spirit of economy, I offer zucchini pancakes. They are tasty, extremely easy, and quite cheap. They are also paleo approved. 

zucchini batter

Because there is very little flour in these, the batter (mostly beaten egg) tends to run all over. In the end, I got frustrated trying to cope with little pancakes and just dumped all the batter in the pan, making one big pancake, and then cutting it into wedges with the kitchen shears.

Originally I thought it looked like a sun, but now I think it's more of an amoeba

Either way, it makes a pleasant meal. Serve plain or with salsa. 

Zucchini Pancakes 

from Practical Paleo - serves two

3 large eggs

2 cups shredded zucchini 

1 tablespoon coconut flour

Coconut oil or bacon grease for frying

salt and pepper to taste

Beat the eggs with the coconut flour, salt and black pepper. Mix in the shredded zucchini until well combined.

Add about 1/8" of coconut oil to a large skillet over medium-low heat. Spoon the mixture into the mixture into the skillet in "cakes" that are approximately 4-6 inches in diameter.

Cook until they hold together, flipping as you would a standard pancake.

Roasted Radicchio and Shrimp

Isn't it odd that nobody admits to liking bitter things? Obviously, people must, because otherwise no-one would drink coffee or IPA. Bitterness is important. It adds depth and contrast. It tempers things that are overly sweet. It's why dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate.

Ready to go in the oven

And if you want a list of boring health reasons, look here:
Reasons to eat bitter greens

The recipe below uses radicchio, a famously bitter vegetable that I had never used before. The bitterness is supposed to be tempered by the salad dressing, and the salad dressing is a thing of beauty, I highly recommend it.

roasted radicchio

But the radicchio itself turned out to be too bitter for me. Maybe if you added some wedges of red cabbage into it, or used it only as a relish. I can see where (minus the shrimp) this might be great with a nice thick steak. But on its own, I just couldn't take it.

For those of you with stouter taste buds, the recipe is below.

Roasted Radicchio and Shrimp

2 small heads radicchio
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3 strips of bacon (about 3 ounces), cut into lardons
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 to 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons maple syrup (or to taste; see note in step 5)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley or chives

Heat the oven to 425°F.

To prep radicchio: Remove any wilted or bruised outer leaves, then cut the radicchio in half lengthwise through the core. Place the halves cut side down, then cut each half into four wedges, leaving the root end intact. In a large bowl, gently toss the wedges with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper. Place the wedges cut side down in a casserole dish—you want them to fit snugly in the pan. Let the radicchio marinate at room temperature while your oven is preheating.

To prep shrimp: Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper; then arrange on a baking sheet or casserole. (Note: Use separate pans for roasting the shrimp and radicchio because they’ll have different cooking times.)

To roast radicchio and shrimp: Roast the radicchio about 15 to 18 minutes, turning once, or until tender and the leaves are starting to caramelize and slightly wilt and crisp around the edges. When the radicchio is close to done, put in the shrimp. Cook the shrimp just until they’re pink and firm, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove both from the oven, and place the radicchio wedges on a cutting board. Chop them into bite-size pieces, and combine with shrimp in a large bowl.

To prepare warm bacon vinaigrette: In a large skillet cook the bacon in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over moderately high heat until it's rendered its fat and is starting to crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots and cook another minute, just to warm through and soften. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and cherry tomatoes. 

Add the vinaigrette to the radicchio and shrimp, and toss to combine. Place salad on large serving platter. Scatter the parsley or chives over the top and serve warm or at room temperature.

Soba Peanut Salad

I'm back! And I have lots to tell you and all sorts of pretty pictures, but it may take a few more days because it takes time to sort through 600+ pictures. (I wish I was exaggerating).  So by Friday, Monday at the latest, I will have some lovely shots of where I was last week.  In the meantime, there's salad.

Mint, scallions, and cucumber

Since it is nominally Autumn, I decided to make a somewhat heavier salad, with noodles. It's a transition towards heavier fare and also brings back some of the Japanese elements and flavors I was playing with earlier in the year.

This is a great salad to pack for lunch It's not drippy, because the noodles have absorbed the dressing, it's got protein and fat to make it filling, and the vegetables used are not the sort that wilt quickly, but maintain their crunch until lunchtime. I find it a little overly peanut-y, but that may just be me. I also think the 1/2 a lime for the whole dish is nowhere near enough. There should be a 1/4  lime per serving, at least.

I love the way the Japanese package noodles, so tidy.

From the pictures you will notice that I didn't use the spinach mentioned in the recipe, and this is because I didn't pay attention to the shopping list. But I had bean sprouts on hand, and I think they add a nice crunch.

This is a really tasty and easy salad, and it's something you could conceivably serve to vegans, if you have friends that swing that way. 

Soba Peanut Salad 

Serves 6 to 8

1 pound soba noodles

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup strong brewed black tea (regular or decaf)

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin

1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 lime

2 cups English or Persian cucumber, thinly sliced

5 ounces baby spinach

1/2 cup mint leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Cook the soba noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions. Be sure to give them a good stir every now and then, especially at the beginning, so that they don’t clump up. Drain, rinse with cold water, and transfer to large bowl. Toss with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. 

In the meantime, combine the olive oil, peanut butter, tea, garlic cloves, tamari or soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, and juice from 1/4 of the lime in a blender, then blend until smooth. Taste and add additional lime juice if desired. Pour the sauce over the warm noodles and toss to combine. The mixture will look quite soupy at this point, but the noodles will absorb the sauce as they chill. Refrigerate noodles for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours. 

Layer the scallions, cucumbers, spinach, mint, and peanuts over the noodles. At this point, the salad can be covered again and refrigerated for an additional 4 hours, or it can be tossed together with tongs and served.

Unexpected Dividends: Pesto

Last November, I got take out pho from my local Vietnamese place. If you've ever had pho, then you know it comes with a lot of extra greenery (usually basil, scallions and bean sprouts) to garnish the soup. I didn't use it all, so I put the remaining sprig of basil in a glass of water and forgot about it. 

This is what it looked like Saturday.

Not bad for leftovers, huh?

This much basil means pesto, lovely, garlicky, emerald green pesto.

A little thick, but you can always loosen it up with olive oil

The basil bush is now pruned and I have a cup of intensely flavored sauce to put on everything. Pesto is the wonder condiment. It's good on meat, on bread and on vegetables. Use it to liven up a sandwich or dress up some pasta. I like it on steak. The French make a version called  pistou and put it in soup to liven things up. 

That gets me thinking. Could you put pesto in pho? Then things would come full circle. I have to go order some soup.

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 

1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese 

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts (can sub walnuts)

3 garlic cloves, minced (about 3 teaspoons)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place the basil leaves and pine nuts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a several times. Add the garlic and Parmesan or Romano cheese and pulse several times more. Scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.

2. While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady small stream. Adding the olive oil slowly, while the processor is running, will help it emulsify and help keep the olive oil from separating. Occasionally stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor.

3. Stir in some salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Summer Salad #7: Lemon Caper Salad Dressing

For my summer of salads, I should include at least one dressing. There are many vegetables that I like as they are, (celery, radishes, carrots) but when blending disparate elements a good salad dressing is like the accessory that makes the outfit. It's the common element that ties everything together. And while there is a place for simple dressings (like oil and vinegar or just a squeeze of lemon with some salt) there's nothing I like better than an aggressive salad dressing. Give me garlic and acid and spice. Anchovies? Sure! Lemons? of course! Mustard and garlic? no problem. Blue cheese? bring it on.

So when I heard about April Bloomfield's Lemon Caper Dressing, I had to try it.

Wow. This dressing doesn't just have lemon juice, it has whole lemon segments. It has capers, shallots and hot mustard. This is a salad dressing to be reckoned with.

I tried it two ways, on lettuce and on roasted potatoes, as a take on German potato salad. While it's not bad on potatoes, I think it's much better on lettuce. The cool herbaceous quality of the greens works better with the sharpness of the dressing.

Ranch dressing is for wimps.

April Bloomfield's Lemon Caper Dressing

Makes about 1 cup

• 2 medium lemons
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons drained capers, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Segment the lemons over a bowl to catch the juices. Set aside.

Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a separate bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and stir well.

Add the lemon segments and toss gently to coat them without breaking them up. Use straightaway or chill in the fridge, covered, for up to an hour.

Summer Salad #6: Beet and Carrot Slaw

I have always loathed beets. They taste like dirt. Don't tell me how sweet they are. Sweet dirt is still dirt.

Who wouldn't want to cook with these?

But I want to like beets. They're cheap, they're nutritious, and they're so pretty. 

So every couple of years I try a new beet recipe, hoping that maybe there is a preparation that doesn't make me think of potting soil. 

Over the years, I have made boiled beets, roasted beets, pickled beets, beet salads, beet tarts with goat cheese (a particularly pretty recipe) and the only person to benefit from all this cooking has been my mother, the only member of my family who actually likes beets. 

This year, looking at the beets in the market, it occurred to me that I had never tried them raw.  It's not a totally crazy idea. Cooking can alter the taste of an ingredient a great deal. And judging from the internet (my Google search returned 719,000 results in 0.66 seconds) raw beet salads are popular. 

I read a lot of recipes, decided on an Asian version with lime and ginger, then realized that I had no lime juice and my ginger was moldy. So I winged it. 

I made a julienne of beets and carrots. And a fairly classic French vinaigrette: olive oil, salt, lemon juice and Dijon mustard, heavy on the mustard. Beets and carrots are both sweet, and I wanted a really zippy dressing to contrast that.

Not bad, and aren't the colors great?

And you know what? It's actually pretty good. Not my favorite salad ever, but it's got good crunch, the earthiness is not as overwhelming as with cooked beets and the assertive dressing tamps down the sweetness.  Plus, it really makes for an attractive plate. Nothing like a bright splash of magenta and orange to wake you up.

Beet and Carrot Slaw 
serves 4-6 people as a side

1 large beet (about 3/4 pound)
1 large carrot
Chopped parsley (optional)

Juice of 1 lemon (about a tablespoon)
large spoonful of Dijon mustard ( I used Grey Poupon)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt to taste

Shred or julienne the beet and carrots. If you want a softer salad, shred the vegetables. If you want a crisper bite, julienne them. Either way, a food processor or mandolin really come in handy here.

Mix up the dressing, and feel free to tinker with the amounts. I made it up as went along. Just make sure it's a fairly assertive dressing. I liked my initial dressing, but after I tried it on the beets I decided that it needed more mustard. It all comes down to your taste buds.

Notes:

• This salad would be a great time to use a mandolin. I didn't and my julienne is more like french fries. 
• Also, beets stain like crazy, so wear an apron and gloves. Either that or be prepared for a lot of "red-handed" jokes.
• And because beets stain everything they touch, leave the parsley (if you are using it) off until the last minute. The parsley takes on the red and begins to look brown, not a good look for a salad.

Summer Salad #5: No Cook Supper

Kind of a no-brainer recipe today. It’s too hot for real effort. 

I saw these in the grocery store last week and had to buy them.  I love these things. These are one of those canned foods that are actually good for you, high protein and full of Omega threes. A little high in sodium, but nothing’s perfect.

My mother always referred to these as “your father’s cans of smelly fish”, and they are. . . aromatic, but good things often are: garlic, onions, Indian food.  People pay a lot for cheese that smells like feet, and there is a Chinese delicacy called “stinky tofu” that is supposed to be as good as it is smelly. 

Kippered herring is not as smelly as caramelizing onions, and since they are already cooked, they make for a really fast dinner. In this case, under 5 minutes.

Tomato & Herring Salad

Slice a tomato or two. Open the can, drain it, and flake the fish onto the tomato.  Drizzle a little olive oil, sprinkle some vinegar (acid is key), and dinner is served.  You don’t even have to add salt, since the fish is salty already. If you are feeling like a tiny bit more effort, toss some parsley on it, but if you don’t have it, don’t bother.

This and a glass of wine made for a nice light supper, with only one plate to wash and no heating up the kitchen. 

Summer Salad #4: A Salad of Green Things

Every once in a while I read a fashion blog written by a woman who lives in England. She's been talking about leather t-shirts and summer sweaters. I don't know whether to be reassured that the entire planet isn't melting, or to resent her for living somewhere where summer evenings can actually be chilly.  

Instead, I've focused my energy on finding ways to trick myself into feeling cooler. Like salad. 

Cucumber, mint, avocado and lime

I found this recipe a year ago, when I was looking for something refreshing to serve with a roast chicken.  This really is wonderful, crunchy (cucumber), cool (mint), creamy (avocado), a little salty (feta), and the lime juice ties the whole thing together.  Actually, feel free to increase the lime juice, I doubled it and it did not overwhelm.

Okay, it's not the prettiest, but it tastes really good.

This is a wonderful thing on a hot day, and unlike lettuce, it doesn't wilt!

Cucumber, Avocado & Feta Salad

• 2 large cucumbers
• Salt
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 2 Tbsp lime juice and zest of 1 lime
• 4 ounces feta cheese, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pepper to taste 

1. Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut cucumbers into 1/2-inch pieces and put in a colander. Generously sprinkle with salt and let sit in the sink for 30 minutes to drain. This will prevent your salad from getting watery. Quickly rinse and blot dry with paper towel.
2. While cucumbers are draining, dice the avocados into 1/2-inch pieces and put into a salad bowl. Drizzle with lime juice and toss gently.
3. Wash and coarsely chop the mint.
4. In a bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice and lime zest to make dressing.
5. Add drained cucumbers, mint, feta cheese and dressing to the avocados and gently combine. Add pepper (or lemon pepper) to taste. Cover and let stand in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

This is so pretty.  I wish I liked it.

It's not bad, but ... Have you ever tried a recipe and immediately thought "This needs something?"

My first thought on tasting this was this really, really needs beef. I think it would be a wonderful side with a nice chunk of rare steak, but it just doesn't stand alone. At least not for me.

If you want the recipe, it's at a beautiful blog called Manger. Even if you don't want the recipe, check it out, it's gorgeous.

If you do make this:

• I'd reduce the amount of sugar. I find it a little sweet.
• Like any fruit tart, this creates a lot of liquid. You will be tempted to pour it off before turning the tart out of the pan. Don't.  The tomatoes will shift and you will have to redistribute them all, which is hot and picky work, almost guaranteed to result in burnt fingers.

Fig and Prosciutto Tart

Tarts are one of my favorite things to cook. Particularly savory tarts, because they make such wonderful leftovers. A slice of leftover tart makes a very tasty (and pack-able) lunch.  

For July 4th, after the bratwurst with hot mustard and sauerkraut (because tradition must be observed), I tried out this recipe for a savory tart. If you read it through, it's really just a fancy open-face ham and cheese sandwich. It's a little unusual in that it uses fig spread, so there is a touch of sweetness to it. But since many of the other ingredients are salty, the fig works to balance the flavors.

This makes a lovely light(ish) meal with a salad and glass of wine, and also works as an appetizer. 

Notes: 

• I was unable to find a real fig spread, so I used a fig and lemon jam. The main flavor of the jam was fig, so I thought a little lemon wouldn't hurt.
• The recipe has you pre-bake the tart shell. I did this, and the edges came out a little overly crisp. You may want to either skip that step, or reduce the amount of pre-baking time.

Fig and Prosciutto Tart

·         ½ medium red onion (sliced thin)

·         1 sprig thyme

·         1 T. olive oil

·         1 t. balsamic vinegar

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         1 sheet puff pastry

·         3 T. fig spread

·         3 ounces Serrano ham or prosciutto

·         4 ounces Manchego (sliced thin)

·         2-3 T. chopped toasted walnuts

1. Over low heat, sauté onion and thyme in olive oil 7-10 minutes or until lightly golden. Add balsamic vinegar and stir to coat for one minute. Remove from heat. Remove thyme sprig and season with salt and pepper to taste

2. Using a sharp knife, cut a one inch border around the pastry sheet.  Lay out puff pastry on a greased baking sheet or parchment covered baking sheet.  Prick the sheet at ½ inch intervals.  Bake crust for 10 minutes.

3. Spread crust with fig paste. Cover with prosciutto, followed by manchego slices. Top with onions and sprinkle evenly with toasted walnuts.

4. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden. Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs if desired.

Summer Salad #3: Herb Marinated Tomatoes

It's probably a little early for this recipe, as the really good tomatoes haven't arrived yet, but I was hungry and the store had tomatoes on sale. The recipe is simplicity itself, requiring nothing more than a sharp knife and time. It's better at room temperature, so if you can leave it out, that would be even better.

Herb-Marinated Tomatoes
4 large tomatoes
2 Tablespoons:
     -  Oregano
     -  Parsley
     -  Chives
     -  Thyme
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Parmesan, for garnish (optional)

1. Chop all the herbs and mince the garlic.
2. Combine in a bowl with the olive oil and salt. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

It does look a little like grass clippings, but bear with me. 

3. Slice the tomatoes about a 1/4 inch thick and place in a shallow, non-reactive, bowl or pan.
4. Spoon the herb and oil mixture over the tomatoes. Cover and leave for at least an hour.
5. Garnish with Parmesan (if you like) and eat!

Summer Salad #1

I've always felt that radishes, as a vegetable, are under-appreciated. They are carved and left on the edge of the plate as a garnish, or used as thin slivers to add crunch, but you almost never see them in the main role.

That ended this week, when I found the radish salad of my dreams. There is no lettuce to temper the radish's peppery bite. Instead, it ups the ante with garlic, capers, and anchovy.

The coolness of the radishes and the intense garlicky-ness of the dressing would be a wonderful counterpoint to a grilled steak. Technically, the recipe serves 4, though to be honest. I ate the entire salad for dinner by itself.  Eat with garlic-loving friends, or brush your teeth afterwards. This is a salad to frighten vampires.

Only one clove - but it packs a punch

And it is a snap to put together. I didn't time myself, but I was surprised at how quickly I was done. Definitely in the 20 minutes or under category.

Radish Salad with Anchovy Dressing

large bunch of radishes
1 teaspoon of capers
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 anchovy fillet (the kind that come packed in oil)
1 tablespoon parsley
salt to taste

Wash and trim radishes. Dry and cut into quarters.

Blend/crush the rest of the ingredients together in a mortar or in a small grinder until it forms a rough paste. Salt to taste, anchovies and capers are salty on their own, so be cautious.

Put dressing on radishes and serve.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

The Thanksgiving classic "sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping" was a dish so reviled by my parents that I never saw it.  It was spoken of, occasionally, as something to avoid at all costs; a culinary urban legend.  When I was 30, I finally had it at a friend's house and after one bite I understood why my parents hated it. It was bland and sweet. REALLY sweet. I could see it as pie filling, but not as a side dish.  

So it was a surprise when, while cleaning up my parent's yard, I pulled up a (dead) vine and discovered that they have been growing sweet potatoes. Not to eat, but as ground cover, because they liked the leaves. Since they had no intention of eating them, so I took some home as a challenge.

What to do with these things?

I searched the internets and found a lot of recipes emphasizing sweetness; many variations on the marshmallow casserole. Even the so-called savory dishes used cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. But after some digging, I found some more interesting flavors. A thai-inspired soup that I will have to try out later, and several takes on sweet potato gnocchi. 

I chose this recipe because I wanted dinner, not dessert, and instead of playing up the sweetness of the sweet potatoes, it had garlic and vinegar. And it had mushrooms. I love mushrooms.

Doesn't that look great? Not my picture, but my gnocchi really did 

look this good. I swear. I just couldn't find my camera.

Notes: 

• This is really rich. It says it serves four to six, but I only cooked half of the gnocchi and none of us could finish our plates. 
• Be careful when adding flour. You may not need all of it. My sweet potatoes were on the dry side, so I only used two cups of flour, but if yours are wetter, you may need more.
• The mushroom sauce is amazing. I may skip the gnocchi next time and just make the mushrooms. They were terrific.

Crispy Brown Butter Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Balsamic Caramelized Mushrooms + Goat Cheese

Recipe from: Half Baked Harvest

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Serving Size: 4-6

Ingredients

·         1 cup of mashed sweet potato

·         1 cup pureed burrata cheese or ricotta (use whole milk for best results, I used burrata chese)

·         2 large eggs

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         1/4 cup fresh parmesan, grated

·         3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Brown Butter Balsamic Sauce + Mushrooms

·         1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, sliced

·         6 tablespoons butter

·         2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

·         2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

·         2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped

·         1 teaspoon crushed red peper

·         1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

·         1/2 teaspoon pepper

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1.  Make the gnocchi. Mix the mashed sweet potato, pureed burrata or ricotta, eggs, salt and parmesan together in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of the flour and mix well with your hands. The dough should be very sticky. Add another half cup of flour and mix in. You want the dough to still be pretty sticky, but sturdy enough to shape into a ball. If it's not, keep adding a little flour at a time until you can get a soft dough that will be rollable.

2.  Spread some flour on a large work surface. Cut the dough log into four equal pieces. Take one piece and cut it in half. Roll the piece of dough into a snake about 1/2 inch thick, then cut it into pieces about the width of a fork. Dust the gnocchi with a little flour, then use one finger to push the gnocchi up onto the tines of a fork. Let the gnocchi drop back to the work surface. Doing this helps create ridges for the sauce to stick to, but you can skip it if you would like. Repeat this process with the other piece of dough and place the gnocchi on a large plate, cover and set aside.

3.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

4.  To make the mushroom and brown butter sauce. In a medium skillet over high heat, add 2 tablespoons butter. When the butter is melted, sprinkle in the mushrooms in a single layer. Don't stir them! Let them sizzle until they have caramelized on the bottom, about 2 minutes. When the bottoms are caramelized, toss them once and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Continue to cook without stirring for about 5 minutes. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Add the remaining butter and cook until it begins to brown. Once the butter is browned reduce the heat and add the garlic, thyme and rosemary and cook for about 10 seconds. Add the balsamic vinegar, and simmer until the mushrooms are glazed with the sauce. Then stir and remove the pan from the heat and slide the mushrooms and sauce off to the side.

5.  Now grab your gnocchi and add it to the salted boiling water. Boil the gnocchi until they float, then remove them with a slotted spoon and add them right into the skillet with the mushrooms/sauce. Return the skillet (with the mushrooms and gnocchi in it) back to medium heat. Let the gnocchi get crisp on one side for 2 minutes and then two minutes on the other, then stir gnocchi into the mushrooms. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with crumbled goat cheese on top.