After a gorgeous, sunny fall in the bay area, cold weather hit for a few days this week. I bundled in sweaters and brought out the soup pot. Actually, even though it was sunny and warm last week I made a southwestern stew, so the soup pot hadn't been hibernating. There's just something satisfying about making a big pot of soup when it's cold outside. Last week I was browsing the Everyday Greens cookbook last week and was inspired by two stew recipes with similar vegetables (roasted butternut squash and red peppers), but with very different flavor profiles. One was heavily spiced with chiles, while the other relied on the natural flavors of the vegetables. After making the spiced stew last week, this week I used the same vegetables but with a different flavor profile.
For the non-spiced stew I used a sweet vegetable mix of onion, fennel, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, and roasted butternut squash, with some of the stock we make in batches and keep in the freezer. This was rounded out with chard roasted plum tomatoes and cannelli beans. About the plum tomatoes...the tomatoes were dense and thick skinned, better for cooking than for eating raw. I roasted halves face down with a little olive oil and salt on the exposed skins. The skin and innards of the tomatoes separated, and while the meat went into the stew pot, the skins made tasty snacking right off the roasting pan. It was sort of like eating potato skins with some tooth and salt, but with more flavor and less guilt.
The usual chopping, roasting and simmering ensued, and as the stew simmered the beans broke up to make a slightly thickened sauce. White wine, garlic and salt were the only spices, and the flavors of the vegetables merged beautifully. Next time I'll add some mushrooms as well; they would add a nice earthiness. The stew was great as it was, but also on the sweet side because of the peppers, fennel and squash. However, Aaron made pesto last month using the last of the sweet and lemon basil from the garden. He froze it in small portions so we have doses of lemon-basil pesto for the winter. We plopped a dollop on each bowl of stew, and the aroma and taste balanced the dish perfectly.
The stew was rounded out with a glass of petite syrah and a fire...perfect for the first real night of fall.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Chipotle-adobo puree
The puree packs a punch, both in flavor and spice level, so needs an easy hand. Happily, since I like spice, it can be used as a spread or topping as well as an ingredient. It’s made its way into breakfast a few times this week, and will star in dinner some evening soon with the pasillo peppers we picked up at the farmers' market this morning.
The southwestern stew is based on a recipe in Everyday Greens. Chopping, roasting and simmering ensued, though it only took about an hour. The sauce is what really makes this stew special. It’s a plantain and tomato base with garlic, cumin, ancho chiles and the chipotle-adobo puree. I used roasted butternut squash, green beans, onions, a yellow pepper, and the hominy for this version, but anything seasonal and with a sweet and savory mix will do. The colors are absolutely gorgeous.
Friday, October 23, 2009
End of summer vegetable stock
Friday, October 16, 2009
The antidote for travel
Aaron and I did an overnight trip to Phoenix this week. The hotel concierge recommended a chain, Z Tejas, nearby, for dinner. Actually, I asked where to get a good margarita and some food, it being one of those days when a good margarita was going to be the high point. The concierge made the recommendation with confidence, so it’s likely he’d done some research into margaritas. You have to appreciate expertise. Indeed, the margaritas were just fine, and Z Tejas has surprisingly good wild mushroom enchiladas that I’m going to have to try to recreate at some point.
Our travel schedule was such that we grabbed lunch on the run at Phoenix airport two days in a row. Vegetarian options are limited, so it was a bean burrito for me each day. We were feeling all the heavy carbs and salt by the time we got home.
Aaron’s antidote for travel was a broccoli rabe soup, inspired by a recipe in Sunset magazine. Simple, nourishing, and not a refried bean in sight. He used a vegetable stock flavored with julienned ginger and red jalapeno rings. The stock didn’t pick up much of the vegetable taste, just a hint, but he left the spices in to eat later. He added scallions, a lot of chopped broccoli rabe (stems, leaves and flowers all went in), fresh tofu. The recipe calls for ham which would give it salt, but instead he finished it with just a dash of soy sauce, and added a squeeze of lime for brightness. Every bite had a different flavor or density depending on what part of the broccoli or what spice was in it. Delicious.
Our travel schedule was such that we grabbed lunch on the run at Phoenix airport two days in a row. Vegetarian options are limited, so it was a bean burrito for me each day. We were feeling all the heavy carbs and salt by the time we got home.
Aaron’s antidote for travel was a broccoli rabe soup, inspired by a recipe in Sunset magazine. Simple, nourishing, and not a refried bean in sight. He used a vegetable stock flavored with julienned ginger and red jalapeno rings. The stock didn’t pick up much of the vegetable taste, just a hint, but he left the spices in to eat later. He added scallions, a lot of chopped broccoli rabe (stems, leaves and flowers all went in), fresh tofu. The recipe calls for ham which would give it salt, but instead he finished it with just a dash of soy sauce, and added a squeeze of lime for brightness. Every bite had a different flavor or density depending on what part of the broccoli or what spice was in it. Delicious.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Why Aaron is blogging
I started cooking when living on my own in college and realized that it was a lot less expensive to make my own spaghetti sauce from scratch than paying $1.00 for a little packet of spaghetti helper. It seemed a lot to pay for a little packet of spices and I still had to buy the hamburger, tomatoes and such. I read the label and figured out that for a small investment in some spices I could do the same thing for a lot less. You can do a lot with just salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, garlic, and tomatoes. Spaghetti sauce, stews, chili. Make a big pot and eat for a week. Beats going to McDonalds, even if a burger was only 50 cents then.
Learning to cook has always been easy. Food is a sensual experience, I love going to the market and seeing the produce or meats out on display. If I lived in Europe, France or Italy I would go to market each day. Lois buys for the week, I buy for the moment.
The problem is that cooking is easy, so I have fallen on bad habits. Cooking is so easy for me that I tend not to think about it in a really thoughtful way. Thus the blog. It is a way to focus on food, cooking, and the eating experience. Think about where my food comes from, how I prepare it, even how I eat it. Reflection is part of the learning process. So this is for me. If you get something out of it, that's cool too.
Learning to cook has always been easy. Food is a sensual experience, I love going to the market and seeing the produce or meats out on display. If I lived in Europe, France or Italy I would go to market each day. Lois buys for the week, I buy for the moment.
The problem is that cooking is easy, so I have fallen on bad habits. Cooking is so easy for me that I tend not to think about it in a really thoughtful way. Thus the blog. It is a way to focus on food, cooking, and the eating experience. Think about where my food comes from, how I prepare it, even how I eat it. Reflection is part of the learning process. So this is for me. If you get something out of it, that's cool too.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Stuffed chiles
A farmer at the Palo Alto market has a small table with just a few vegetables, including poblano chiles. I'm not sure how the economics work out for him because a bag of chiles costs just two dollars, so he must need to sell a lot of chiles to make the trip worth his while. Works for me, though. I had some stuffed chiles in Santa Fe a few years ago, but had never tried making my own, so when I saw the chiles in the market bought some on a whim.
I didn't follow a recipe, but just worked by taste. The plan was to roast and clean the chiles, make a stuffing of vegetables and starch separately, and then fill the chiles and bake to get everything hot. Fortunately, the first attempt worked well, which is always nice for a new recipe.
Roasting peppers seems like fussy work, but it's actually pretty quick to do, and fun because it's hands-on and goopy. Just char the peppers over the stove flame, let them steam in a covered bowl for 15 minutes, then scrape the skins off and squeeze out the seeds. I usually wear an iPod while I cook, and learned that I need to get the electronics set before scraping and seeding the chiles. Also, chopping onions makes my eyes tear, so when I made the stuffing I had to wipe my eyes. Poblanos aren't very hot as peppers go, but the oils left on my hands got in my eyes, which made the cooking experience extra special.
Every time I make filling it's a bit different based on what's in the house or the garden. The common elements are onions and corn (fresh or frozen), and I've added black beans, red peppers, chard, tomatoes (ripe and green), and carrots in various combination. It's like vegetable soup in that any mix of ingredients you like works just fine. Certainly winter or summer squash would work nicely. Use a healthy mix of smoked and sharp ground chile (chipotle, ancho, paprika, or whatever is on hand), cumin, oregano, and garlic for spice. A dab of tomato paste adds a nice depth of flavor, and cilantro is good if you have some on hand. Saute the onions and spices, then add the other vegetables and simmer in a cup or so of stock to cook through, and then throw in a handful of rice to soak up the liquid and cook it down. I add cheese, too, tasty but not necessary. The quantity of stuffing depends on how many chiles you're stuffing, but figure on about a cup of stuffing per chile. Leftover stuffing makes a great addition to a salad for lunch the next day, by the way.
When you clean the chiles you need to split them open to get to the seeds, so when it's time to stuff them just spoon some of the filling back into the opening. I overfill so they're nice and plump, then bake opening-side-up for 15 or 20 minutes to get everything heated through.
I tried using polenta rather than rice in one iteration, thinking it would be sort tamale-esque. The flavor worked, but it was a little heavy. Also, I made a yogurt-chile sauce the first time, but it wasn't needed because the stuffing was so flavorful. Usually I just finish by throwing some grated cheese on top after baking, which melts by the time the food gets to the plate.
I didn't follow a recipe, but just worked by taste. The plan was to roast and clean the chiles, make a stuffing of vegetables and starch separately, and then fill the chiles and bake to get everything hot. Fortunately, the first attempt worked well, which is always nice for a new recipe.
Roasting peppers seems like fussy work, but it's actually pretty quick to do, and fun because it's hands-on and goopy. Just char the peppers over the stove flame, let them steam in a covered bowl for 15 minutes, then scrape the skins off and squeeze out the seeds. I usually wear an iPod while I cook, and learned that I need to get the electronics set before scraping and seeding the chiles. Also, chopping onions makes my eyes tear, so when I made the stuffing I had to wipe my eyes. Poblanos aren't very hot as peppers go, but the oils left on my hands got in my eyes, which made the cooking experience extra special.
Every time I make filling it's a bit different based on what's in the house or the garden. The common elements are onions and corn (fresh or frozen), and I've added black beans, red peppers, chard, tomatoes (ripe and green), and carrots in various combination. It's like vegetable soup in that any mix of ingredients you like works just fine. Certainly winter or summer squash would work nicely. Use a healthy mix of smoked and sharp ground chile (chipotle, ancho, paprika, or whatever is on hand), cumin, oregano, and garlic for spice. A dab of tomato paste adds a nice depth of flavor, and cilantro is good if you have some on hand. Saute the onions and spices, then add the other vegetables and simmer in a cup or so of stock to cook through, and then throw in a handful of rice to soak up the liquid and cook it down. I add cheese, too, tasty but not necessary. The quantity of stuffing depends on how many chiles you're stuffing, but figure on about a cup of stuffing per chile. Leftover stuffing makes a great addition to a salad for lunch the next day, by the way.
When you clean the chiles you need to split them open to get to the seeds, so when it's time to stuff them just spoon some of the filling back into the opening. I overfill so they're nice and plump, then bake opening-side-up for 15 or 20 minutes to get everything heated through.
I tried using polenta rather than rice in one iteration, thinking it would be sort tamale-esque. The flavor worked, but it was a little heavy. Also, I made a yogurt-chile sauce the first time, but it wasn't needed because the stuffing was so flavorful. Usually I just finish by throwing some grated cheese on top after baking, which melts by the time the food gets to the plate.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Spaghetti Squash Gratin
I love pasta, however, Lois and I have been trying to keep to a low carb diet. Lois is lower than I am. We especially try to limit carbs for dinners.
At Sigona's vegie stand in Redwood City I saw a spaghetti squash and thought I could make something tasty for dinner. It's low carb and is a spaghetti like substance. Searching for recipes I found the ones that treated it like pasta to be either boring or too saucy (Spaghetti Squash Alfredo or Spaghetti Squash Marinara - no thanks).
The idea was to make something that preserved the texture of the squash and used some of the herbs from our garden. We have lemon basil that is needing to be used up before the first frost hits and a sage plant that is just begging me to do a pork roast (but that's another post).
I decided to do a gratin of spaghetti squash.
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds (this was a very strange spaghetti squash, the seeds had actually sprouted, I had never seen that before). Place the squash cut side down in a pan and add about a half inch of water. Place in oven and cooks for 30-45 minutes until a knife will easily penetrate.
Sauce:
1/2 red onion, fine dice
2-3 cloves garlic sliced thin
5-6 large sage leaves rough chopped
1/4 cup red pepper thin slices
1/2 cup fresh tomato rough chop
1/2 cup white wine
salt
a shake or two of peperoncini to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
On high heat get the oil hot, add the garlic and sage for about 30 seconds, then add the onions, peppers, and salt and cook until the onions are soft, add the tomato, wine and peperoncini. Cook until the tomatoes are incorporated and the liquid has reduced down to a thick sauce.
The idea here is to add a bit of tomato but not overpower the final dish with a heavy sauce.
When the spaghetti squash is soft, remove from the oven and using a fork scoop out the squash. The squash will come out in stringy bits, thus the name.
4 Cups cooked spaghetti squash
2 tbsp rough chopped sage
1/4 cup chopped lemon basil (regular basil is fine, but we had the lemon stuff)
3/4 cup grated parmesan reggiano
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
Put the cooked squash in a large saute pan and mix in the sauce, sage, basil, a little salt and a good grind of pepper. Heat and reduce out any liquid, this is a pretty dry mixture. Turn the heat off and mix in 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese. Put this into a greased 2 quart gratin pan. Cover with a mixture of the panko and remaining cheese.
About 30-40 minutes in the 375 oven until the top is brown.
Serve with a salad and you have dinner. I was really happy with the way this came out. There was a bit of heat from the peperoncini, and a great taste of sage with a little tomato to add some acidity. Not to much cheese so it was a lite dish with a lot of flavor.
Monday, I've got plans for the leftovers!
At Sigona's vegie stand in Redwood City I saw a spaghetti squash and thought I could make something tasty for dinner. It's low carb and is a spaghetti like substance. Searching for recipes I found the ones that treated it like pasta to be either boring or too saucy (Spaghetti Squash Alfredo or Spaghetti Squash Marinara - no thanks).
The idea was to make something that preserved the texture of the squash and used some of the herbs from our garden. We have lemon basil that is needing to be used up before the first frost hits and a sage plant that is just begging me to do a pork roast (but that's another post).
I decided to do a gratin of spaghetti squash.
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds (this was a very strange spaghetti squash, the seeds had actually sprouted, I had never seen that before). Place the squash cut side down in a pan and add about a half inch of water. Place in oven and cooks for 30-45 minutes until a knife will easily penetrate.
Sauce:
1/2 red onion, fine dice
2-3 cloves garlic sliced thin
5-6 large sage leaves rough chopped
1/4 cup red pepper thin slices
1/2 cup fresh tomato rough chop
1/2 cup white wine
salt
a shake or two of peperoncini to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
On high heat get the oil hot, add the garlic and sage for about 30 seconds, then add the onions, peppers, and salt and cook until the onions are soft, add the tomato, wine and peperoncini. Cook until the tomatoes are incorporated and the liquid has reduced down to a thick sauce.
The idea here is to add a bit of tomato but not overpower the final dish with a heavy sauce.
When the spaghetti squash is soft, remove from the oven and using a fork scoop out the squash. The squash will come out in stringy bits, thus the name.
4 Cups cooked spaghetti squash
2 tbsp rough chopped sage
1/4 cup chopped lemon basil (regular basil is fine, but we had the lemon stuff)
3/4 cup grated parmesan reggiano
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
Put the cooked squash in a large saute pan and mix in the sauce, sage, basil, a little salt and a good grind of pepper. Heat and reduce out any liquid, this is a pretty dry mixture. Turn the heat off and mix in 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese. Put this into a greased 2 quart gratin pan. Cover with a mixture of the panko and remaining cheese.
About 30-40 minutes in the 375 oven until the top is brown.
Serve with a salad and you have dinner. I was really happy with the way this came out. There was a bit of heat from the peperoncini, and a great taste of sage with a little tomato to add some acidity. Not to much cheese so it was a lite dish with a lot of flavor.
Monday, I've got plans for the leftovers!
Chocolate Tofu Bombs
A few months ago, Mark Bittman posted a recipe for chocolate pudding made with tofu on his blog. You need to suspend disbelief and try this -- it's really quite delicious. Your friends won't know they're eating tofu unless you tell them, and since it uses no cream you won't need to do as much penance at the gym the next day.
I like tofu a lot, more than chocolate, so was keen to try the recipe. Plus, Travis was coming for dinner and he's lactose intolerant, so the experiment was afoot. The chocolate-ness and consistency are great in the Bittman recipe, but it's too sweet for my taste. A few adjustments later, I've settled on proportions to my taste; the recipe follows. Travis has made this for friends, and I've used it as filling for tarts and pastries. Yesterday I made profiteroles, or as I call them, chocolate tofu bombs, for some friends.
1/2 cup water (or you could substitute coffee)
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. or so of bittersweet chocolate. (The recipe calls for 8 oz, but Scharffen Berger is sold in 9.5 oz blocks. Close enough.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pound silken tofu. (The brand of silken tofu that Whole Foods carries weighs a few ounces short of a pound. Close enough.)
Heat the water and completely dissolve the sugar in it. Then, melt the chocolate in it. Mix this in the food processor with the tofu and vanilla.
At this point, you can just go ahead and chill the pudding, or you can tinker with the flavoring. A bit of cinnamon and cayenne as Bittman suggests are quite good, though I use less spice than he does. I've also zested orange rind into the pudding, which is especially good when it's used as a layer in a tart or torte. Or, you can whisk it to get some air incorporated for a more mousse-like texture.
I used an almost plain version (no flavorings except vanilla and just a light touch of cinnamon) to make profiteroles, though if there had been any coffee made, would have used that instead of water. For the pastry shell, make a pate choux, which is an egg dough that is commonly used for eclairs. It's really simple and quick to whip up:
6 TBSP butter
1 cup water
a pinch of salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Bring the butter, water, salt and sugar to simmer, then turn off the heat. Stir in the flour all at once and keep stirring until it clumps into a ball, about a minute. Let this cool for a few minutes. Stir in the eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is fully incorporated. Cool the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour (or up to a day if you like).
Line a pan with parchment or silpat. Then, drop little teaspoons of dough, about the size of a grape, onto the sheets. I forgot how much this dough puffs up, so last night used mounds of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. The resulting pastries were about the size of a plum, so two or three bites. That's okay, but it can be a bit squishy to bite into once filled. The littler ones are single-bite size. Whatever size you like is fine, though.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Then, at the end of 20 minutes, turn off the heat in the oven and crack the door ajar a few inches. After 5 minutes, you can take the pastries out of the oven. The transition keeps them from collapsing.
You can fill the pastry by poking a little hole in the side, then piping the chocolate-tofu in with a pastry bag. Or, you can split it in half, fill like an oreo (or an eclair), and put the tops back on. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.
I like tofu a lot, more than chocolate, so was keen to try the recipe. Plus, Travis was coming for dinner and he's lactose intolerant, so the experiment was afoot. The chocolate-ness and consistency are great in the Bittman recipe, but it's too sweet for my taste. A few adjustments later, I've settled on proportions to my taste; the recipe follows. Travis has made this for friends, and I've used it as filling for tarts and pastries. Yesterday I made profiteroles, or as I call them, chocolate tofu bombs, for some friends.
1/2 cup water (or you could substitute coffee)
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. or so of bittersweet chocolate. (The recipe calls for 8 oz, but Scharffen Berger is sold in 9.5 oz blocks. Close enough.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pound silken tofu. (The brand of silken tofu that Whole Foods carries weighs a few ounces short of a pound. Close enough.)
Heat the water and completely dissolve the sugar in it. Then, melt the chocolate in it. Mix this in the food processor with the tofu and vanilla.
At this point, you can just go ahead and chill the pudding, or you can tinker with the flavoring. A bit of cinnamon and cayenne as Bittman suggests are quite good, though I use less spice than he does. I've also zested orange rind into the pudding, which is especially good when it's used as a layer in a tart or torte. Or, you can whisk it to get some air incorporated for a more mousse-like texture.
I used an almost plain version (no flavorings except vanilla and just a light touch of cinnamon) to make profiteroles, though if there had been any coffee made, would have used that instead of water. For the pastry shell, make a pate choux, which is an egg dough that is commonly used for eclairs. It's really simple and quick to whip up:
6 TBSP butter
1 cup water
a pinch of salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Bring the butter, water, salt and sugar to simmer, then turn off the heat. Stir in the flour all at once and keep stirring until it clumps into a ball, about a minute. Let this cool for a few minutes. Stir in the eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is fully incorporated. Cool the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour (or up to a day if you like).
Line a pan with parchment or silpat. Then, drop little teaspoons of dough, about the size of a grape, onto the sheets. I forgot how much this dough puffs up, so last night used mounds of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. The resulting pastries were about the size of a plum, so two or three bites. That's okay, but it can be a bit squishy to bite into once filled. The littler ones are single-bite size. Whatever size you like is fine, though.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Then, at the end of 20 minutes, turn off the heat in the oven and crack the door ajar a few inches. After 5 minutes, you can take the pastries out of the oven. The transition keeps them from collapsing.
You can fill the pastry by poking a little hole in the side, then piping the chocolate-tofu in with a pastry bag. Or, you can split it in half, fill like an oreo (or an eclair), and put the tops back on. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.
Why the blog?
I fiddle with recipe ideas, usually based on some kind of inspiration -- travel, an interesting dish in a restaurant, something that looked good in the store, or a recipe from a magazine or cookbook -- tempered by what's available in the markets (or the fridge) and what sounds good to eat that day. I'll work with an idea until I get distracted by a new idea. For example, last year we went to Paris, had a wonderful week that included a lot of time in charming cafes eating great food and drinking local wine. I was on a french cooking kick for about six months after that. The problem is that I'll making something really good, then forget what I did, so the blog is a journal to remind me of past efforts, kind of like the pile of recipes in the kitchen drawer. Also, Aaron's a great cook, so if I blog about something he makes that I really like, then perhaps he'll make it again. It's worth hoping.
About my cooking -- it's ovo-lacto vegetarian, heavy on the vegetables, and I try to eat healthily without getting bored. Any meat ideas you'll find here will come from guest postings. We're lucky enough to live in the bay area, with year-round access to fresh, seasonal produce, and with diversity of markets that offer foods and spices from many different regions and cuisines. It's foodie heaven here. The wine is great, too, but that's another post at some point.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment or send me posts.
About my cooking -- it's ovo-lacto vegetarian, heavy on the vegetables, and I try to eat healthily without getting bored. Any meat ideas you'll find here will come from guest postings. We're lucky enough to live in the bay area, with year-round access to fresh, seasonal produce, and with diversity of markets that offer foods and spices from many different regions and cuisines. It's foodie heaven here. The wine is great, too, but that's another post at some point.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment or send me posts.
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