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0 June 9, 2013 Food

Savory Cheddar-Pecan Cookies with Sriracha Pepper Jelly

I have one more treat from The Southern Vegetarian that I’d like to share with you – savory cheddar pecan cookies, served with a spicy sriracha pepper jelly. The first time I flipped through the book, these were the thing that most caught my eye. The combination is quite Southern, and also so crave-ably moreish that I couldn’t resist making a batch with all the bits and bobs of cheddar that had built up in my fridge. The cookies taste a lot like cheese straws, and they would be the perfect little appetizer for a cocktail party.

If you don’t have any cocktail parties on the horizon (aka, you’re me), I also happen to think that these are the perfect thing to nibble on with a glass of wine while curled up and watching TV. Which brings me to the reason I’m posting these today: tonight is quite possibly the most important TV event all year, the Game of Thrones finale. Brace yourself for full dorking out: last week’s episode was nuts!! I legitimately have been thinking about it all week long (and I know the internet in general has been having a grand old time with it). I’m actually anxious about tonight’s episode (although I did get this Game of Thrones themed beer to make me feel better), which makes me feel a bit foolish, but HBO/George R.R. Martin are really killing it. And even worse, after tonight’s episode, I have to wait an entire 10 months for the next season. At least this year we’ll have three seasons to re-watch instead of just two. And no, I don’t read the books: honestly, I’m afraid it would ruin the show for me. Please don’t judge me for just writing that.

And since I’ve already gone down the path of admitting embarrassing facts about myself, you might also find me eating a plate of these during The Bachelorette tomorrow. No shame.

Savory Cheddar-Pecan Cookies

Adapted slightly from The Southern Vegetarian. Makes about 16 cookies.

1 c. whole pecans, toasted
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 TBS butter, cut into 4 pieces
6 TBS water, chilled

Place the toasted pecans, flour, salt, and pepper in a food processor and run until finely ground. Empty into a bowl.
Add the cheddar cheese and the butter to the bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to blend the ingredients until the cheese is broken up and the dough is slightly crumbly. Add the cold water 1 TBS at a time, pulling the dough in from the edges with a fork between additions, until the dough just comes together when squeezed.
Gather the dough into a ball and roll into a log about 7 inches long. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes (to harden it before slicing). If you’re freezing the dough for longer than this, you will need to thaw it slightly before slicing.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice the chilled dough into 1/4 inch slices, placing on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned, then transfer to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Sriracha Pepper Jelly

Adapted from The Southern Vegetarian. Makes 1/2 pint.

Note: The original recipe says that the natural pectin in the lemon helps the jelly gel without any added pectin, but made this way, my jelly was definitely more of a sauce. If you’d like a thicker jelly, add 2 tsp pectin to the other ingredients before bringing to a boil.

1 c. turbinado sugar
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 red bell pepper, de-stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 TBS sriracha
peel of 1 lemon (use a vegetable peeler)
2 tsp pectin (optional, see headnote)

In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar, vinegar, red pepper, sriracha, lemon peel, and pectin. Place over low heat. Stir constantly as you gradually increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Pour the jelly into a clean, pre-warmed half-pint jar. Let cool, stirring occasionally to re-distribute the chopped pepper. Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

0 June 6, 2013 Cookbook

Book Club: The Southern Vegetarian // Crispy Eggplant Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread

Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence, the folks behind The Chubby Vegetarian, do some seriously creative things with vegetables. Think Baked Potato Skins with Smoked Coconut Bacon, BBQ Eggplant, Tomato Pie and Pimento Cheese, and Italian-Style Eggplant Sausages to get your mind moving in the right direction. The Chubby Vegetarian was one of the first blogs I stumbled upon back in the day and it is continually a source of inspiration, so when I saw that they were publishing a book, The Southern Vegetarian, I knew that I’d have to check it out.

The food served up in The Southern Vegetarian is loaded with classic, All-American appeal. Not every recipe is particularly Southern – sloppy Joes, meatballs, and bran muffins all fall pretty solidly into the general American food category in my mind – but the ones that are bring me straight back to the rich, saucy, flavorful dishes I enjoyed while living in North Carolina. Except, all the meat has disappeared – and I don’t think you’ll miss it. Need proof? How does this menu sound to you: Bourbon with Basil and Lemonade Granita, Okra Fritters with Creole Mushroom Sauce, Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Eggplant, and Grilled Peach Ice Cream? Southern through and through, packed with spice and flavor, and fruits and vegetables are doing all the hard work. Plus, as you flip through the book thinking about whipping up a menu like this, you’ll find a photograph with every single recipe – always a good thing!

Unlike many of the vegetarian cookbooks I find myself gravitating toward, The Southern Vegetarian is not about keeping vegetables raw or barely processed and making them the only thing on the plate – i.e., you’re not going to find a lot of veggie and whole grain salads or gluten-free vegan raw breakfast bowls. Much more frequently, you’ll find that vegetables have simply infiltrated a dish where you would be expecting meat, and all the other rich flavors are still in play. In some cases, this means using tofu, seitan, and other meat substitutes as a replacement for the main component of a classic dish, like using seitan in a Vegetarian “Chicken” Pot Pie. Since I’m not a vegetarian, but simply enjoy cooking with vegetables, this is not my favorite type of recipe – if I want chicken pot pie, I’m just going to have chicken pot pie. However, other times, the way they accomplish meat replacement is genius, like using sausage spices to give eggplant that same smoky flavor, or using liquid smoke, hot sauce, and Worcestershire to make a convincing vegetarian gumbo.

Although they aren’t particularly Southern, I made these crispy eggplant sandwiches as a test recipe and they were seriously delicious, in a very satisfying, comfort food sort of way. I also made some (much more Southern) savory cheddar-pecan cookies with spicy pepper jelly, which were great as well, but for now let’s focus on the sandwiches. I chose to go the super homemade route with these – homemade tomato sauce, homemade breadcrumbs, even homemade ricotta (out of necessity!) – and they came out amazing, but I have the feeling they’d be just as good using mostly store-bought ingredients. And if that were the route you chose, you’d have an easy, satisfying, flavorful and balanced dinner to serve in under forty minutes. The eggplant really does get quite crispy, and the roasted garlic and ricotta spread makes the meal feel richer than it really is. As a bonus, making this recipe taught me a new, quick way to roast garlic – dry roast individual cloves in a hot skillet while still in their papery skins. Worked like a charm!

A quick note about the ricotta – when I opened the fancy high-end ricotta I had in the fridge while making this recipe, I gave it a whiff and quickly tossed it in the trash. Going back to the store wasn’t an option, but I happened to have all the ingredients you need to make ricotta (milk, heavy cream, vinegar, and salt) on hand, so I decided to go for it. It came out better than the cheap stuff I get at the store but not as good as the expensive stuff I get out the store – it was sweet and mild but a teeny bit rubberry. Although making ricotta from heavy cream and milk feels a little bit wasteful (ricotta is usually a byproduct of making a different cheese – it is made from the leftover acidified whey), it was definitely a great quick fix.

The bottom line: The Southern Vegetarian turns vegetables into serious omfort food. The recipes included here are rich, saucy, and flavorful, and will be definite crowd pleasers, especially in true vegetarian households. Non-vegetarians looking to increase their vegetable intake will also find recipes of interest, but they may not appreciate the classic meat recipe “re-dos” as much as vegetarians will.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of The Southern Vegetarian from Thomas Nelson. I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Crispy Eggplant Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread

Adapted slightly from The Southern Vegetarian. Serves 4-5.

3 c. torn pieces of fresh French bread
1 TBS Italian seasoning mix (or 1 tsp dried parsley + 1 tsp dried oregano + 1/2 tsp garlic powder + 1/2 tsp salt)
1 medium globe eggplant
salt and pepper
1/2 c. flour
2 large eggs, beaten
olive oil
4-5 ciabatta rolls
1 c. arugula
1 c. warm tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 c. roasted garlic and ricotta spread (see below)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place French bread pieces and Italian seasoning in a food processor and pulse until the bread has broken down into fine crumbs. Pour onto a dinner plate and set aside.
Wash the eggplant and remove the stem ends. Slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper.
Set up two bowls next to the breadcrumb plate – one with the flour and one with the beaten eggs. Dredge each eggplant slice in the flour, tapping off the excess, then dip in the eggs, then coat with breadcrumbs. Place on a baking tray. Drizzle with a small amount of oil (about 1/8 of a teaspoon per slice).
Bake eggplant for 15 minutes, then flip each slice over and drizzle the opposite side with olive oil. Bake for another 15 minutes then remove from the oven. Coating should be golden brown and crispy.
To assemble the sandwiches, place a handful of arugula leaves on top of the bottom bun, then cover with 2-3 slices of eggplant. Drizzle a spoonful of the warm tomato sauce on top of the eggplant and sprinkle 2 TBS of parmesan cheese on top. Spread the garlic and ricotta mixture on the top bun, then close the sandwich and serve.

Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread

Recipe adapted slightly from The Southern Vegetarian. Makes about 1 cup.

5 cloves of garlic, skin left on
1 c. whole milk ricotta, homemade (see below) or store bought
1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Place the garlic cloves with their skin on in a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast, flipping occasionally, until skins have started to blacken and garlic is fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Let them cool, then remove the skins – the inside of the clove should be soft and roasted.
In a small bowl, mash the roasted garlic cloves with a fork, then mix with the ricotta and the parmesan. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Easy Homemade Ricotta

Adapted from Anne Burrell via The Food Network. Makes about 1 cup.

2 c. skim milk
1 c. heavy cream
1 TBS distilled white vinegar
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix the milk, heavy cream, vinegar, and salt together in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring infrequently just to ensure that nothing is sticking to the bottom or sides of the pot. Once the milk has reached a simmer, simmer for 1-2 minutes – curds will form continuously as you simmer the milk.
Place a sieve or strainer lined with damp cheesecloth over a large bowl. Pour the curds and whey into the strainer, and let drain for 15 minutes. After it has drained and cooled to a point where it is comfortable to touch, gently squeeze out any remaining whey from the ricotta. Unmold from the cheesecloth and serve, or store in the fridge.

1 May 31, 2013 Current Feature 2

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Originally, I was planning on making last night’s recipe the last one I posted for rhubarb week. But once I started looking, I just couldn’t stop finding recipes I wanted to make! Then, in an email exchange with Linda, she mentioned the rhubarb ginger crumb bars she was planning on posting soon, and I immediately remembered these amazing rhubarb ginger bars I made a few summers ago. I had to share them. They have a ginger-flavored shortbread crust that’s buttery and crumbly, and a tangy, pink filling reminiscent of lemon squares (which are one of my favorite desserts). They stay a little soft on top, so they’re not the easiest to transport, but that didn’t stop me from bringing some to work in a tupperware – a squished rhubarb bar still tastes absolutely delicious.

So this is the last (and in my opinion, the best) official recipe of rhubarb week – but if I’m being honest, I’m only stopping because I ran out of rhubarb. I’m hoping to replenish my stocks at the garden this weekend to make a special dessert for Sunday dinner, but I promise I’ll give you guys a little bit of a break and mix things up around here – we’re moving on to Southern food, some more inspiration from our Italy trip, and a few new summer cookbooks. Until then, have a great weekend!

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Four: Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice

Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Adapted slightly from Two Spoons. Makes about 16 bars.

1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 c. chopped rhubarb (about 4-5 medium sized stalks)
10 TBS sugar, divided
3 eggs
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, beat together room temperature butter and brown sugar until mixture is smooth. Stir in flour and ground ginger. Dough will be slightly crumbly. Press into the prepared pan and place in freezer until oven is preheated. Bake crust for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
In a medium saucepan, combine rhubarb and 5 TBS of the sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until rhubarb is soft and juices are syrupy, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a food processor. Let cool so it’s no longer hot to the touch.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and remaining 5 TBS of sugar until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in lemon juice, then stir in cooled rhubarb puree. Sift in cornstarch and whisk to combine. Pour rhubarb puree over crust.
Lower oven temperature to 320°F. Bake rhubarb bars for 20-25 minutes, until filling is set. Refrigerate until cold and serve chilled.

12 May 30, 2013 Beef

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice

So we’ve had a little rhubarb cocktail, we’ve folded it into a whipped custard for dessert, and we’ve looked at all the amazing things other bloggers are cooking up with it – now let’s talk a little more about rhubarb as a plant and as a culinary ingredient. Since it’s one of the earliest “fruits” ready for harvest, rhubarb is usually heralded as a spring ingredient, but really it keeps growing all summer, and certainly stays tasty through September. I use “fruit” in quotations since it’s not technically a fruit, although in the U.S. it’s regulated as such, but a member of the knotweed family, which also includes sorrel and buckwheat.

In cool climates, growing rhubarb is surprisingly easy. It pops out of the ground in early March, and quickly proceeds to become a huge leafy giant. Some varieties always stay green, while others ripen over time to that gorgeous deep red most people expect. Usually, the stalks we harvest in our garden are red partway through but still greenish towards the top – this is totally fine, and they still taste delicious. To harvest rhubarb, reach your hand down to the base of a stalk, inserting a finger a little way into the ground right against the stem, and give a little twist-and-tug to pull the rhubarb stalk up from its base. It should come out fairly easily. Make sure you cut off and discard the leaves – they’re poisonous (to both people and some bugs – it has even been used in insecticides!).

In the United States in particular, rhubarb is known for it’s use in sweet dishes, and I would venture to guess that most people don’t really encounter it beyond its appearance in strawberry-rhubarb pie. So well loved are rhubarb pies that rhubarb is also known simply as “pie plant.” Beyond the classic strawberry-rhubarb pairing, rhubarb also goes well with cinnamon, orange, honey, and cream, all of which are typically thought of as sweet ingredients. However, if you dig back into rhubarb’s history, you’ll find recipes from its places of origin – China, Russia, Mongolia, and other parts of Central Asia – that use these pairings in savory dishes. I was fascinated to learn from Vegetable Literacy that before sugar was plentiful, rhubarb was actually used as a detoxifier and curative herb. It was during this same general time period that rhubarb was considered a luxury good, included in lists of trade goods side by side with rubies, diamonds, silks, and satins.

Inspired by all this history, I decided to try out one of these savory rhubarb recipes, this Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice. While Persia/Iran isn’t technically part of Central Asia, it’s right on the border and certainly shares some culinary heritage with the region. Although this is admittedly not the most photogenic of recipes, I really enjoyed the flavors at play in this dish. It’s quite sour, but I thought the rhubarb gave it a lot of depth and character. That being said, as written, I found that the ratio of rhubarb to beef was a little high for my taste, so I’ve shared it here with a little less rhubarb than the original called for. This recipe is a bit adventurous and might not be the best thing to serve a picky eater, but if you like Middle-Eastern food and intense flavors (or you have a bumper crop of rhubarb), definitely give it a try.

Please note: Some of this information came from Vegetable Literacy, a cookbook that also provides a bit of a garden/history/culinary education! I also used information from Wikipedia.

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice (Khoresht-e Rivas)

Adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Serves 2-3.

3 TBS butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb. lean stew beef, cubed
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
3/4 c. short grain brown rice
2/3 lb. fresh rhubarb stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c. chopped flat leaf parsley

Heat 2 TBS of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the onion and saute until golden, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Add the cinnamon and allspice and stir to coat the beef – cook 1-2 minutes longer, until fragrant.
Add water to cover the beef and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until meat is tender. Check water periodically and add more to keep beef covered and prevent burning. When it is nearing serving time, allow most of the water to evaporate so that the sauce is thick.
While the beef is cooking, prepare the rice. Add the rice and 1 1/2 c. of cold water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to low, cover saucepan, and simmer rice, covered, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
Ten minutes before you are ready to serve the meal, heat the remaining 1 TBS butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the sliced rhubarb and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes, then sprinkle with lemon juice and cook 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat and add rhubarb to beef. Stir in chopped parsley. Cook entire mixture for 2 minutes longer, then remove from heat and serve over rice.

1 May 29, 2013 Food

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Around the Blogs

Obviously one week isn’t enough time to fully explore all the possibilities for using any particular ingredient, no matter how much I commit to cooking that week. But there are lots of other talented bloggers out there cooking with and blogging about rhubarb at this time of year, and they have plenty of delicious-sounding rhubarb recipes to share. Below are six of the most creative, not to mention most beautifully photographed, recipes using this pretty pink vegetable that have come across my radar recently. (As a side note, all of these blogs are beautiful and well-written spaces that you should check out whether or not you’re in the mood for rhubarb.)

Danish Buttermilk & Rhubarb Summer Bowl from A Tasty Love Story

I was fascinated to read Josephine’s post about koldskål, a Scandinavian summer treat she describes as falling somewhere in between ice cream and yogurt. Once she continued to explain that it’s made from pretty much all of my favorite dairy products – buttermilk, yogurt, heavy cream, and egg yolks – and flavored with sugar, lemon, and vanilla, then served with “sweet butter biscuits,” I was drooling. Her twist on this summertime specialty includes a drizzle of fresh rhubarb syrup and a bowl full of fresh red berries.

Quinoa Porridge with Almond Milk, Rhubarb, Apple, Nuts, and Coconut from Finger Fork Knife

I am definitely a fan of breakfast porridges. Although simple cream of wheat served with butter and sugar will probably always be my favorite, I occasionally dabble in healthier recipes, and Kate’s Quinoa and Rhubarb breakfast bowl just moved to the top of my list. Not only is this recipe packed with healthy and filling ingredients – quinoa, nut milk, fresh fruit, nuts, coconut, and yogurt – it also sounds amazingly flavorful. The rhubarb is cooked down with orange and ginger, the quinoa is cooked in milk and cinnamon, and it’s all topped off with plenty of crunchies and a drizzle of honey. I’ve added all the ingredients to my shopping list for next week – just saying.

Indian-Style Sweet-and-Sour Pickled Rhubarb from A Brown Table

Most rhubarb recipes published these days are some form of dessert or sweet drink, but rhubarb can definitely hold its own in savory preparations as well. Nik’s sweet-and-sour rhubarb pickles are a perfect example – they take a week to age, but when you open up your jar you’ll have a sweet-tart condiment filled with the flavors of ginger, chili, cumin, turmeric, and fenugreek. Nik suggests using the pickles on sandwiches with roast lamb or beef, or in a simple bowl of rice and fish, and now that I’m thinking about it I can’t seem to get the idea of an Indian-spiced lamb burger with rhubarb pickles out of my head…

Strawberry Rhubarb Meringue Tartlets from Completely Delicious

A classic strawberry rhubarb pie is really one of the best uses of rhubarb there is, balancing sweet and sour and buttery for a nearly perfect spring dessert. But sometimes even classics can benefit from a little updating. These miniature pies from Annalise bring just enough novelty to the table with their pretty meringue topping. Plus, they’re so cute and little that it’s hard for me not to envision picking one up in my hands and taking a big bite (what a fun way to eat pie!).

Rhubarb Swirl Ice Pops from Hungry Girl por Vida

I have yet to give in to buying a popsicle mold (my kitchen is so full), but this might be the summer that does me in, especially if Cindy keeps posting delicious popsicle recipes like this one (and like these honeydew mint ones too!). Besides being pretty to look at, these make use of coconut milk for the base, which makes them that much more intriguing for me. Get me one of these and a sunny spot on a front porch and summer will be mine for the taking.

Strawberry Rhubarb Tiramisu from The Tart Tart

I love this fresh (and pretty!) take on tiramisu by Linda, via her friend Luzia. I’m imagining that between the ladyfingers, mascarpone cream, and sweetened fruit it almost tastes like an elegant strawberry shortcake – but with a healthy splash of booze to make it more grown up. Bonus: Linda just posted another delicious rhubarb recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Crumb Bars tonight… it’s also worth drooling over.

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Four: Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

2 May 28, 2013 Cookbook

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Rhubarb Custard Fool

Anytime I have a particular ingredient that I’m looking to use I have a few cookbooks that I immediately pull off the (overloaded) shelf for recipe inspiration. Lucid Food, The Modern Vegetarian, Vegetable Literacy, and of course, Nigel Slater’s Tender and Ripe are on that list, since they’re all books that use fresh produce as the star of their recipes. For a project like this, the Slater books in particular are a gold mine of inspiration – first of all, they’re organized by ingredient, making it pretty easy to flip through ways of using up strawberries or onions. Secondly, they’re gorgeous, with enticing photographs, whimsical writing, and homey recipes that make you want to run to the kitchen.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Ripe was the first place I turned when putting together my list of recipes for rhubarb week. Slater has eight rhubarb recipes included in the book, and seems to favor the pairings of rhubarb and cinnamon (like the cocktail I made yesterday! And kept drinking tonight…) and rhubarb and cream. I made his rhubarb and cinnamon polenta cake a little over a year ago, so this time I decided to go for the rhubarb and cream pairing, making this rhubarb custard fool with rhubarb syrup.

A fruit fool is an English dessert made by folding cooked fruit into a light custard or whipped cream. This particular fool recipe uses both custard and whipped cream, and is very light on the sugar, using only 3 TBS for 6 servings. It makes for a very different rhubarb eating experience – rather than the tangy sweet-tart flavor I’ve come to expect from rhubarb desserts, this simple dessert really focuses your palate on the mild taste and thick texture of the cream, and the bright sourness of the softened rhubarb. It’s a very restrained and elegant dessert. That being said, you fully have my permission to double the amount of sugar used in both the custard and the fruit if you have a sweet tooth as bad as mine (or if you’re just not feeling restrained). Since this made a big batch, I froze the leftovers to see how it translates into a semifreddo – I’ll let you know how that comes out, too.

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-Up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Four: Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Rhubarb Custard Fool

Recipe adapted slightly from Ripe. Serves 4-6.

Note: As written, this recipe is not very sweet. If you like sweeter desserts, increase the amount of sugar used in the custard to 2 TBS and use 4 TBS of sugar and 4 TBS of water in the rhubarb.

2 c. heavy cream, divided
2 egg yolks
3 TBS sugar, divided
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
14 oz. fresh rhubarb, leaves removed
3 TBS water

Make the custard: heat 1 cup of the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until it has just begun to simmer. Immediately remove from the heat. In a small, heatproof bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg yolks and 1 TBS of the sugar, until yolks are pale yellow. Pour the hot cream into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so to temper the eggs. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and return to medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl, and stir in vanilla. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Wash the rhubarb and slice into 1-inch lengths. Add the rhubarb, the water, and the remaining 2 TBS sugar to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately turn down the heat and simmer the rhubarb gently until it is soft but not collapsing, about 4-6 minutes. Gently remove the rhubarb from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a small bowl. Pour the leftover syrup into a separate small dish. Refrigerate both the fruit and the syrup until cool.
About half an hour before serving, whip the remaining 1 cup heavy cream until soft folds form. Fold in the chilled custard and the fruit. Spoon into glasses and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of the rhubarb syrup.

1 May 27, 2013 Drink

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer

Every year from May to October, I freak out a little bit about making the most of seasonal produce. And I don’t mean freak out in a good way – I mean I stress that I don’t get a chance to make every sweet corn recipe I bookmarked on a dreary February morning, and that cherries are only around for a few short weeks. This is probably a symptom of a larger aspect of my personality – the compulsive list-making aspect, most likely – but it seems like it should be an easy thing to resolve. So, this year, I’ll be taking a few different ingredients at their peak and dedicating an entire week to showcasing them on the blog. I’ll be making new recipes, talking about the way things grow, and sharing recipes from other bloggers. I think it will help me realize all the delicious ways that I am able to use fresh produce – and hopefully it will inspire you to make the most of the season as well.

First up: rhubarb. When I think spring, my mind usually jumps right to peas and fava beans and asparagus, but honestly, peas and fava beans aren’t really ready until mid-June in our climate, and I think local asparagus might be a myth (I’m exaggerating, but asparagus is not an easy plant to grow). Rhubarb, however, pokes its little pink stalks up as early as the end of March, and by June, it’s huge and bushy and ready to be used in all sorts of drinks and cakes and jams.

Trevor and I spent five hours this morning working in the garden – thinning plums, weeding strawberries, and digging squash hills. Our reward? Raiding the rhubarb patch, and leaving with three pounds of pretty red stalks to be used in all sorts of treats this week. Since we had a busy afternoon, the first recipe I’m sharing is a simple one, and the perfect thing for the end of a long and happy day – this Rhubarb and Prosecco Spritzer, spiked with a bit of honey, raspberries, and mint. It’s not too sweet and not too fruity, with just a hint of rhubarb’s tang and a pale pink color. It would make a gorgeous aperitif for a spring dinner party – or you could simply enjoy it on a sunny evening after a great long weekend.

Check back tomorrow for more rhubarb!

Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-Up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Four: Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer

Adapted from Lucid Food. Serves 4-6.

1/2 lb rhubarb (about 4-5 medium sized stalks), plus 1 stalk for garnish
1 cinnamon stick
honey, to taste
1 (750ml) bottle Prosecco, chilled
1/2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
4-6 sprigs mint

Wash the rhubarb and remove any leaves or brown spots. Slice the stalks into 2 inch lengths and place in a large saucepan with the cinnamon stick. Add water to cover by 1/2 an inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately lower heat and simmer rhubarb until fruit is soft and water is pink, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour liquid through a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth into a large heatproof bowl, squeezing the fruit pulp to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the fruit pulp and cinnamon stick. Stir honey into the warm liquid until it is sweet enough for your liking (I used about 3 TBS). Stir the honey until it is fully dissolved. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Place rhubarb liquid into your serving vessel. Add chilled prosecco and raspberries to the rhubarb liquid. Pour the drink into glasses, and garnish with a small piece of rhubarb and a sprig of mint. Serve chilled.

1 May 26, 2013 Beef

Sunday Dinner // Coffee-Chile Strip Steaks, Grilled Endives, Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

As you might imagine, I cook a lot. Like, a lot. Some weekends, I spend 4 or 5 hours each day in the kitchen, mixing batters, chopping veggies, frosting cupcakes, and styling photos. The output of my weekend cooking sprees becomes a hodgepodge of things – meals for the week, posts for the blog, and leftovers destined for the freezer. But this means that dinner is usually just that – a hodgepodge. I’ll defrost a container of soup and slice up some bread, or throw pasta on to boil to use up a batch of ratatouille, or I toss all the leftover cooked veggies and grains into a bowl, drizzle it with whatever sauce is currently in the fridge, and call it a night. And for the purpose of full disclosure, I have to admit that at least once a week, to the horror of my nurse roommate, dinner is a glass of red wine in front of the TV because even defrosting something seems like too much effort. It’s pretty rare that I actually sit down to a composed meal of the kind that I ate growing up – one with 3 or 4 different parts, a salad, a protein, a few sides, and dessert. On the one hand, I don’t really need to eat that way – I’m not trying to feed a family, and it’s usually just me eating, or Trevor will join me and we’ll cobble together our leftovers. On the other hand, it’s kind of nice to sit down to a real meal, one with parts that go together and that feels like dinner, not just eating. So I’m going to give Sunday dinners a try. Not every week. But once in a while.

Last Sunday, we broke out the grill. Grilling is one of those things that I really want to learn how to do, but I’m kind of afraid of doing it wrong and burning myself or ruining a pair of $20 steaks or, worst-case-scenario, exploding the grill by doing the gas wrong. I put learning how to grill on my summer bucket list last year, but definitely failed at achieving it. Last week, I made a little progress – I cleaned out the ashes and lit the coals, all under Trevor’s careful supervision. Then he took over. But I’m committed to it this year – I even have two grilling books sitting on my window bench, waiting to be reviewed.

What we put on the grill last week was a little bit indulgent for us – two beautiful grass-fed strip steaks, rubbed with a coffee-chile-brown sugar mixture and Belgian endives, dressed simply with olive oil and salt and grilled until charred and smoky. To go with it we had chimichurri sauce, crispy oven-roasted potatoes, and the most delicious, decadent ice cream I’ve ever had – sour cream ice cream with a strawberry-brown sugar swirl. It tastes like cheesecake with strawberry sauce but even smoother and creamier. It’s insane. And over-the-top rich, but I’ll absolutely be making it over and over again. We threw in a few beers and a cranberry margarita and it definitely felt like a real meal – a really nice start to the week. Given that we had several different dishes on our plate, it was surprisingly easy to put it all together. The steak, potatoes, and endives were all very simple and quick, the chimichurri only took a bit of chopping and stirring, and the ice cream was already made. Plus, everything was good. Really good. Sometimes simple is the best! Most of you probably already have plans for grilling tomorrow, but if you don’t, I definitely recommend all of these recipes.

The Menu

Coffee-and-Chile-Rubbed Strip Steaks – see below (from Food and Wine)
Chimichurri Sauce – see below (adapted from Food and Wine)
Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives – see below (adapted from Food and Wine)
Oven-Roasted Potatoes – see below
Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream – see below (adapted from The NY Times)

Coffee-and-Chile-Rubbed Strip Steaks

Recipe from Food and Wine. Serves 4.

2 TBS finely ground dark roast coffee
2 TBS chile powder
2 TBS dark brown sugar
1 TBS smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 TBS kosher salt
Four 10-oz strip steaks

In a small bowl, stir together the coffee, chile powder, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, and salt until evenly mixed. Rub the mixture on all sides of the steaks. Let steaks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Grill the steaks over moderate heat, turning once, until they are charred outside and medium-rare within, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce

Adapted from Food and Wine. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. white balsamic vinegar
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small shallot, peeled and finely minced
1/2 c. finely chopped parsley
1/4 c. finely chopped cilantro
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the vinegars, olive oil, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Stir in the shallot, parsley, cilantro, scallions, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let chimichurri rest at least 20 minutes before serving. Keep chilled.

Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives

Recipe from Food and Wine. Serves 4.

4 Belgian endives, sliced in half lengthwise
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Brush the endive halves with olive oil on both sides, then season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderate heat on a charcoal fire, turning occasionally, until charred and tender, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer endives to a platter and tent with foil. Let steam for 5 minutes, serve warm.

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4.

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. small red new potatoes
8 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
sea salt

Preheat oven to 425°F. Wash potatoes and cut into quarters, or halves if they are very small. Toss potatoes and garlic with olive oil and salt in a large roasting pan. Spread potatoes on the bottom of the pan – they should have enough room so that they are not touching one another. Roast for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown with crunchy edges, flipping with a spatula halfway through.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

Adapted from The NY Times. Makes about 5 cups.

1 c. sugar
9 egg yolks
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS brandy

In a large heat-proof bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/2 c. of sugar until smooth. Set aside.
In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together remaining 1/2 c. sugar, the heavy cream, and the milk. Heat over medium low heat, whisking all the while, until the mixture just reaches a simmer. Remove from the heat.
Slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot cream into the eggs in a thin stream, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so to keep them from scrambling. Pour yolk mixture back into saucepan with rest of cream, still whisking. Heat the custard over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take 7-10 minutes. After it begins to thicken, it will continue to thicken fairly quickly, so remove from heat about 30 seconds to 1 minute after it starts to thicken.
Strain custard through a sieve into a large, clean bowl, pushing through sieve with a spatula. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then whisk in sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt, whisking until smooth. Cover custard tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
About 1 hour prior to churning the ice cream, prepare the strawberries: Place the chopped strawberries and the brown sugar in a large frying pan and stir. Let sit for 15 minutes to allow the strawberry juices to release. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until berries are soft, and juices have evaporated enough to become syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in brandy. Transfer berries and syrup to a bowl and freeze for 20-30 minutes, until chilled but not frozen.
Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to directions. When the ice cream has reached a soft serve consistency, turn off the machine and fold in the chilled strawberry mixture so that there are streaks of berries. Freeze to further solidify.

0 May 25, 2013 Garden

The Spring Garden

March in the garden means bleached out days where the sun feels like a forgotten gift from another lifetime. It means anxiously checking the brown earth for signs of green, and battling the elements to provide your baby seedlings with what they’ll need to survive these first temperamental weeks. It means frozen fingers and standing in the mud, turning the ground over and over, and daydreaming of those seemingly far off first tastes of fresh peas.

1) The treehouse/wood-shed; 2) Trevor on pruning day; 3) Blank canvas; 4) Dormant fruit trees; 5) Turning over soil; 6) Last year’s straggler carrots; 7) Dad with the wheelbarrow; 8) Planting peas

April in the garden means the first signs of life and color, rhubarb poking it’s bright red nubs through the ground, blossoms erupting on cherry and apple trees, a world of hope held within each small spot of color that emerges from the gray winter world. The weather is still temperamental, and the glass enclosures you’ve built for your tomato starts aren’t enough to protect them from a few hard freezes. But it’s supposed to be spring, you think, staring, heartbroken, at the scraggly and desperate plants that a week ago were so green and full of promise. You know, though, that this is what spring means. Spring in New England.

1) Peach blossoms ready to open; 2) First signs of rhubarb; 3) Dad, enjoying the sun; 4) Planting broccoli; 5) Peas sprouts; 6) Transporting seedlings

May in the garden means a flush of green, and this year at least, a corresponding flush of rain. Heat-loving plants – tomatoes, peppers, eggplants – get a slow start, but the peas and beans and broccoli are tangled from growing so fast. Weeds are already waging their war on your precious plants, seemingly popping up overnight. Bugs, too, make their debut, and once again you are astonished at how quickly a forest of caterpillars can munch through leaves. Squishing the odd one here or there gives you an unreasonable amount of satisfaction. On the bright side, you can now harvest a few stalks of rhubarb, and it seems it will only be a few more weeks before you are lugging baskets full of fat pea pods into the kitchen for shucking.

1) Peas and fava beans; 2) The orchard in green; 3) Starts to be planted; 4) New grape growth

Last year was the first year we attempted gardening – you can read about it here, here and here. We started out small, with a 2’x8′ raised bed in my backyard, but quickly overran that space with a mess of too-small pots containing tomatoes, grapes, watermelon, and fruit trees, all fighting one another over the sunlight. At the end of last summer, we started working in the vegetable patch at my parent’s house, and my dad agreed to let us share the space with him this year. Now, most of our efforts are focused on that 20’x30′ vegetable garden, the dozen or so fruit tress up the hill, and the berry patch, with it’s productive rows of raspberries, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries. We’re there almost every weekend, with a full day’s worth of work cut out for us. I hope we don’t tire of it. And I hope that at least some of our plants do better than we expect – I think we started to learn last year not to expect too much when it comes to the fickle ways of gardening. And last, I’m excited to share all the adventures and food with you, here.

1 May 24, 2013 Breakfast

Book Club: Vegetarian Everyday // Quinoa, Cauliflower & Ramp Cakes, Flour-Free Banana & Coconut Pancakes

The blogger cookbook I’ve most looked forward to this spring is easily Vegetarian Everyday, the first book from David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl, the talented couple behind the blog Green Kitchen Stories. Green Kitchen Stories is a beautiful space. I love their photographic aesthetic – brightly saturated food on dusky blue-gray backgrounds, just a little bit of organized mess in each photo. And their recipes? Really healthy. Not healthy like when I say it – I usually mean something along the lines of “I didn’t put any cheese on this! It’s so healthy!” No, their recipes are packed with things that are good for you – and only things that are good for you. Yet somehow, they still manage to read as modern, flavorful and appealing, not boring, earthy-crunchy and flavorless.

I was so happy to see that both their high-quality recipes and beautiful photography are still present in their book. Add to this the clean, open layout and the thick, matte paper and it really is a beautiful book. It reminds me a lot of Heidi Swanson’s two recent books – Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Everyday. They have similar aesthetics and employ similar cooking styles and flavor combinations. Since Heidi’s books were extremely popular, I think this probably bodes well for Vegetarian Everyday.

The recipes included in this book are suitable for people of all dietary persuasions (well, I suppose not for ravenous carnivores) – a surprising number of them are both vegan and gluten-free, and they’re clearly marked as such with little “V” and “GF” buttons. I usually shy away from vegan and gluten-free recipes because, well, I love cheese and bread, but many of those included here are quite appealing to me – the Roasted Tomato and Chickpea Soup, the Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafels, and the Chocolate and Blackberry Milkshake, all vegan and gluten-free, will all be finding their way onto my table in the near future. For someone just transitioning to a healthier eating routine – whether that’s vegetarian, vegan, or gluten free – this book would be a good one to pick up. Not only are the recipes easy to make, and for the most part pretty quick, the first 30 pages of the book is full of useful information on building a whole foods pantry and basic cooking techinques – cooking fresh beans, sprouting grains, making homemade nut butters, etc.

So far I have tried two recipes from this book – the Flour-Free Banana and Coconut Pancakes, and the Quinoa and Cauliflower Cakes with Ramps. The pancakes, I’ll admit, did not completely meet my definition of pancakes. I was really excited about making them, thinking how great it would be to be able to eat pancakes every day, guilt free! But… I was expecting to eat pancakes, and these, while tasty and filling and quick to make on a work morning, were not quite pancakes. Close, but the texture wasn’t there for me. Still, I really like the idea, and I have a few thoughts for how I might tinker with them to satisfy my own tastes. The quinoa/cauliflower/ramp/feta cakes however, were super delicious. I loved feeling like I was eating something decadent but knowing that I was getting lots of veggies and proteins in. And again, they were really filling.

The bottom line: Vegetarian Everyday, from the talented couple behind the blog Green Kitchen Stories, is a beautiful book full of truly healthy recipes. Many of the recipes are not only vegetarian, but also gluten free and vegan, yet they are still appealing and flavorful. This book would be an excellent choice for someone just transitioning to a healthier lifestyle, as the recipes are simple and easy to make, and the beginning of the book provides a good introduction to wholesome pantry items and basic vegetarian/vegan cooking methods.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Vegetarian Everyday free of charge from Rizzoli, but I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Flour-Free Banana and Coconut Pancakes

Recipe from Vegetarian Everyday. Serves 3-4.

3 ripe bananas
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. shredded dried coconut, plus extra for sprinkling
1 c. fresh blueberries, plus extra for serving
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp coconut oil, for frying [butter is fine too]
2 TBS maple syrup or plain yogurt, for topping [I used leftover lilac-blackberry syrup]

Mash the bananas with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Add the eggs and coconut and stir to blend evenly. Stir in the blueberries and cinnamon, and set aside.
Heat the coconut oil or butter in a large skillet or on a griddle over medium heat. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake into the hot pan. The batter is fairly thin, so using an actual tablespoon to do these helps keep it from spreading too much. Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, flipping carefully (they’re a little fragile). Serve hot with extra blueberries and maple syrup.

Quinoa & Cauliflower Cakes with Ramps

Recipe from Vegetarian Everyday. Makes 12 cakes.

1 c. white quinoa
1 2/3 c. cauliflower florets, from one medium head of cauliflower
6-8 ramps, cleaned and coarsely chopped
4 large eggs
1 1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
3/4 c. rolled oats
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 TBS Ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil for frying

Combine 2 1/4 c. water, the quinoa, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, then cook for 15-20 minutes, until quinoa tails have unfurled. Drain and set aside.
Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until it has a rice-like texture. Scrape into a bowl and add the cooked quinoa, ramps, eggs, feta, oats, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until evenly combined. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour, to firm the mixture.
Form the mixture into small patties with your hands, squeezing out any excess liquid. Heat the Ghee or oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then add the patties a few at a time and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel. Serve warm or cold.