GRILLED LETTUCE SALAD

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

The slightly unusual food preparations continue to take place in our kitchen… After frying a boiled egg and roasting greens, I grilled some lettuce . This 3-minute preparation delivers a punch of flavor, leading the humble butter lettuce to its best performance. From the latest Fine Cooking magazine which, by the way, is an awesome issue, I’d love to make almost every recipe from it!

GRILLED BUTTER LETTUCE SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK-CHIVE DRESSING
(adapted from Fine Cooking #105)

1 butter lettuce, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/8 cup creme fraiche (I substituted sour cream)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs thinly sliced chives
1/2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil for the grill

Prepare a gas or charcoal grill at medium-high heat.

Whisk the buttermilk, creme fraiche, olive oil in a bowl. Add the chives, lemon juice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

Brush the grill with a light coating of vegetable oil, place the lettuce, cut side down, and grill for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the grilled lettuce to a serving plate, cut side up, and drizzle the dressing over it. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Sometimes the idea of washing, drying, slicing… the whole “prep work” associated with making a good salad makes me a bit tired. However, this recipe delivers a delicious, and quite elegant salad in – literally – 6 minutes. All you need is the most gorgeous, preferably organic butter lettuce available, and a few ingredients for the dressing. My beloved suggested adding a little blue cheese – “it will make it perfect”! – so, keep this in mind if you make it.

Grilling the lettuce intensifies its flavor, and changes the texture ever so slightly, making each bite have its own character: closer to the edge a bit smokey, a crisper and brighter taste as you indulge deeper. The buttermilk dressing is very flavorful – it will certainly go well over other roasted or steamed veggies. I can see myself grilling lettuce during the whole Summer!

22May2010

FARFALLE, FARFALLE

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

“Fahr-fah-lee.” I love this word! So uplifting, it makes me smile… In my next life I want to be Italian. 😉

This recipe comes from The Splendid Table, from which I recently posted another recipe . I don’t know about you, but even though I own a big collection of cookbooks, when I pick a recipe from one of them the chances are that I’ll make two or three in a row.

SWEET ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND GREENS OVER BOW-TIE PASTA
(from The Splendid Table)

5 qt salted water

For the roasted veggies
3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 big handfuls of escarole or spring mix of your choice
1/3 cup basil leaves, torn
16 large sage leaves, torn
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbs brown sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For pasta finish
1 pound bow-tie (farfalle) pasta
1/2 cup half and half
6 ounces asiago cheese

Turn the oven to 450F and bring water to boil. Toss all the ingredients for the roasted veggies in a big bowl, place them in a shallow roasting pan (preferably in a single layer), and place in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Toss the veggies around a couple of times during roasting.

Cook the pasta until al dente, drain in a colander. Once the squash is tender, turn the broiler on for a few minutes if you want to brown it slightly. The greens will be fully wilted, and almost crisp.

Scrape everything into a serving bowl, add the half and half, hot pasta and 1 cup of the cheese. Toss to blend, adjust seasoning, and serve, adding more cheese on top if you want.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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Comments: This preparation perked my interest for two reasons. First, anything that joins pasta and butternut squash turns me on, gastronomically speaking. 😉 Secondly, I was curious about roasting greens together with the squash, something I’d never done before. Since the same book had me frying a boiled egg with a happy ending, why not roast a few pieces of frisee?

We both loved this pasta – even leftovers next day were still tasty. To speed things up, I peeled and cut the squash early in the morning, so when we arrived from work all I had to do was put the pasta water to boil, turn on the oven and dinner was ready in 35 minutes. I gave myself a pat on the back!

Jump to the next page for a little story about butternut squash and the North Shore of Oahu….

Continue reading →

14May2010

A SIMPLE SALAD a la JACQUES PEPIN

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Of all “master chefs” in the cooking world, Jacques Pepin is my favorite. He is the kind of man I’d love to dine with: gentle, authentic, and down to earth. Reading his autobiography “The Apprentice”, made me appreciate him even more. Of course, his charming French accent is the icing on the cake. 😉

If his name wasn’t beneath this recipe, I wouldn’t have tried it because it seems a little strange. Who in their right mind would fry a hard boiled egg? Well, his mother did just that, during the hard years of the Second World War, and when I made it for our lunch, it was clear that her genes were the basis of Jacques’ skills in the kitchen: the apple didn’t fall far from the tree!

PAN-CRISPED DEVILED EGGS ON FRENCH LETTUCES
(adapted from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper)

2 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp chives, finely minced
1-2 Tbs milk
2 tsp yogurt
1 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil

Dressing
leftover egg yolk filling
3 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbs milk
2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Salad
mixed greens of your choice

Cut the boiled eggs in half lengthwise, remove the yolks and place them in a small bowl. Add all the ingredients for the filling, mashing it well to form a cream. Carefully fill each egg white half with the mixture, but do not overfill, make it exactly like the egg yolk would be. You will have excess filling that will be used as part of the dressing.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil on a non-stick pan, and add the egg halves, cut side down. Sautee for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Reserve.

Make a dressing by mixing well all the ingredients. To serve, place the salad greens on a plate or serving bowl, drizzle some of the dressing and mix. Place the sauteed eggs on top, sprinkle a little more dressing, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Some people dislike hard boiled eggs, or even fried eggs. I love them all. The only thing that turns me off is uncooked egg white floating on top of my sunny-side-up eggs. I hope that even a deviled-egg-hater might enjoy this preparation. The subtle crunchiness on the hard-cooked eggs gives it a bit of substance, making the salad seem more filling. The use of the excess egg yolk filling as part of the dressing is a brilliant touch. It’s a nice light lunch for those of you without high cholesterol issues (or with a prescription vial of a statin in the cupboard!).

For another tasty example of using sauteed hard boiled eggs, take a look at this post by Ilva, a proof that great cooks think alike! 😉

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10May2010

FLIRTING WITH ORZO

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

My Brazilian nature often predisposes me towards rice, but the more I cook orzo, the more I like it. It might be more versatile than rice, it cooks faster, and it’s absolutely fool proof, all of which adds to its charm. The inspiration for this recipe came from an old Fine Cooking magazine, but I simplified it quite a bit because the original seemed a tad too busy: too many flavors fighting for attention. This pared-down version was a winner!

ORZO WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH
(very loosely adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)

1 cup orzo
2 Tbs olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
8 oz spinach leaves, stemmed, and coarsely chopped
4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (or dried, reconstituted with hot water)
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
salt and pepper
parmiggiano-reggiano (optional)

Start cooking the orzo on a large pot with salted water (it should take around 9 minutes).
Heat the olive oil on a large skillet and saute the shallots, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms, saute until they start to get golden brown. Add the chopped spinach, cook until it begins to wilt. At this point, if the orzo is not cooked yet, turn the heat off and reserve.

When the orzo is almost cooked, remove 1/4 cup of the cooking water and reserve it. Turn the heat back to medium on the skillet with the spinach mix, squirt lemon juice and zest, season with salt and pepper. Drain the orzo and add it to the skillet, mixing well. Add some of the pasta water if necessary. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If desired, sprinkle parmiggiano-reggiano on top.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: For years I’ve made quick pan sauces for pasta with the cooking water and some sauteed veggies. Spinach is a constant player in such dishes, but this was the first time I chopped the leaves before sauteeing. Voila‘: it was much better! Somehow, even with baby spinach, the whole leaves had a tendency to clump instead of reaching a nice distribution. Live and learn. 😉

This was a quick dish to put together! It will drop into my regular rotation of meals for busy weeknights, keeping the orzo/spinach/lemon foundation and playing with other options: black olives, sundried tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper, artichoke hearts….

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26Apr2010

THOM LEONARD’S COUNTRY FRENCH BREAD

Posted in Breads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I live in a state of bread anxiety. On Thursdays I revive my sourdough starters and begin the tortuous process of choosing the bread to bake on the weekend. That evening you’ll find me on the sofa, surrounded by bread books, notebooks, pens, pencils, stickers, and close to a computer with multiple open tabs: The Fresh Loaf, Wild Yeast, Makanai, Dan Lepard, King Arthur, Northwest Sourdough… My beloved husband knows it’s useless to converse with with me when I’m in such a “bread daze,” and I can’t come out of it until I make my choice.

This weekend’s pick was an impressive loaf from Maggie Glezer’s book Artisan Baking. She ranks each of her recipes according to its level of difficulty, and this one forewarned “advanced” at the top of the page. But, that didn’t stop me, which ultimately resulted in quite a bit of pain for this baker.

THOM LEONARD’s COUNTRY FRENCH BREAD
(from Maggie Glezer’s Artisan Baking)

Make the levain on the evening before baking by mixing:

25 g fermented firm sourdough starter

140 g lukewarm water

140 g bread flour

Allow it to sit at room temperature for 12 hours, or until it has expanded and just started to sink in the center.

(click to enlarge)

On baking day:

Prepare the whole wheat component, by measuring 350g whole wheat flour and sifting it with a fine strainer. This will remove the large flakes of bran (you can use it to make muffins). Measure 250g of the sifted product, and start making the dough.

(click to enlarge)

250 g sifted whole wheat flour

750 g bread flour

30 g rye flour

660 g water

23 g salt

all of the levain made the previous evening

Add the three types of flour to the bowl of a large KitchenAid type mixer. Mix the water with the levain to dissolve it, and add it to the flours. Using the dough hook, mix it for 10-15 minutes, until the dough is very smooth and almost cleans the bowl. Add the salt and continue mixing for 5 more minutes.

(click to enlarge)

Place the dough in a very large bowl and let it rise for 3 hours, folding three times (at 30, 60, and 90 minutes). After the final folding, just leave it undisturbed for the final 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the container, form it into a ball and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten (that makes it easier to shape).

(click to enlarge)

Shape it into a large round loaf, and place it in a suitable container for proofing, lining it with a heavily floured linen, with the smooth side down. Proof at room temperature for 4 hours, or until an indentation made in the dough will not bounce back right away.

(click to enlarge)

Carefully transfer the bread to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, slash the surface and bake with an initial burst of steam, in a 450F oven. Bake it for 70 to 80 minutes, rotating the dough after 30 minutes, and reducing the temperature to 400F if it starts to get too dark. Allow it to cool on a rack for several hours before slicing it.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I had high expectations for this bread, because once the kneading was over and the fun part started (the folding!), the elasticity of the dough surprised me: gluten development at its best! The shaping went smoothly and the dough rose beautifully in my improvised banneton: a pasta colander, lined with my improvised baker’s linen. However, improvised is a dangerous word to use twice in the same description.

At the end of 4 hours, the dough was all airy, absolutely perfect! The oven was ready, with baking stones blazing hot, and I was on top of the world! As I inverted the dough on the parchment paper, I could not help but day dream… “When I submit this masterpiece to Susan for Yeastspotting, she’ll call me on the phone to personally compliment me!” …. “The Fresh Loaf will feature this bread on their front page, and leave it there for a year or two“…. “I’ll have my own show on PBS: Bread Baking with Sally“….

Then, reality interfered. The improvised baker’s linen would not peel off. It was stubbornly glued to my beautiful, airy, gorgeous dough. I screamed and howled in pain! As I was wrestling the fabric off, my beautiful, airy, gorgeous round loaf began to spread sideways and collapse right before my eyes! It was horrible: no glory for me, no phone call from Susan, no highlight on The Fresh Loaf, and definitely no show on PBS. Finally, with the dough threatening to slide off the baking sheet the linen came free and I rushed the loaf into the oven, without slashing, without steam, with just frantic moves and a few well chosen words that are unfit to print.

A major lesson learned: a 4.6 pound dough demands a perfect proofing environment, particularly for a 4 hour rise. Now, after helpful advice from the crowd at The Fresh Loaf, I’m seriously considering one of these.

Back to Thom Leonard’s country loaf. Aside from the top crust of my bread , which looked like the aftermath of Freddie Krueger, the crumb was open and the bread was incredibly flavorful. It’s a bread that begs to be in a Croque Monsieur! We shall comply shortly.

A bread that can survive the abuse I inflicted on this dough is worth saving in your personal repertoire. Try it. But do yourself a favor, and use the right tools for the job. You might just get that phone call from Susan….