Bacon, Corn, and Chili Soup

I am not big on planning my meals ahead.  I go to the farmers market and buy what looks good, and generally figure out day by day what I'm going to cook.  I've written about this before, but one of the tricks to making this work is knowing good substitutions.  This week I had corn from the farmers market we had not managed to eat.  Soup sounded good (apologies to my friends in Phoenix, but "summer soup" is not an oxymoron in Coronado). I almost always have bacon in the freezer (you can just cut pieces off the frozen chunk, start cooking it slowly to thaw), and an onion,  But I did not have any milk or jalapeno peppers to make the corn soup I wanted. I did have coconut milk, and chipotle chili flakes. So I thinned the coconut milk with water (its very rich, more so than even half and half), used the chili flakes, and it came out very nice. 

There is a level of confidence and experience needed to pull off substitutions.  Google is also a good help for some things.  I find that onions, shallots, and leeks are pretty interchangeable, buttermilk can be faked with yogurt or milk with lemon juice or vinegar added.  Red peppers can substitute for tomatoes (for some dishes, its best to roast the peppers first).  I try to think through -- what will the texture / moisture or fat level / heat level / sweetness / color be like?  How different will the flavor be, and will the different flavor be different good or different in a bad way? Then just taste as you go along.  And remember that salt, acid (like lemon juice) and hot sauce can fix a lot of things that aren't quite right.

And now I have half a can of coconut milk to use up.  I have rum, but not any pineapple juice...

Bacon, Corn, and Chili Soup 

Serves 2 as main or 4 as appetizer

1 teaspoon olive oil
4 slices (about 4 oz) bacon, cut in ½ inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 jalapeno chilies, minced or ¼ - ½ teaspoon chipotle chili flakes
Salt – about a ½ teaspoon or so to start
4 ears of corn, cut from the cob (or 4 cups of thawed, frozen corn)
1 cup of water
1 cup coconut milk
Black pepper, 3 or 4 good grinds
Hot sauce
Avocado or sour cream or yogurt to garnish, maybe a squeeze of lime
Chives or cilantro to garnish

In medium pot, cook the bacon in olive oil until crisp.  Remove bacon (but not the grease) from pan.  Add onions, garlic, and chilies to pan along with some salt.  Sauté until soft, 5 to 10 minutes.   Add corn from 3 of the ears along with the water, and cook for 5 minutes at a gentle boil.   Remove from heat, add milk, and blend with an immersion blender (or food processor if you like to do dishes).   Just blend a bit, still want some texture.

Add remaining corn and pepper.  Taste… add more salt and/or hot sauce as needed.  Heat back up to steaming (don’t boil) and serve with garnishes and reserved bacon.

Too busy to blog…

Seems I have been either seriously goofing off, or seriously working.  Either way, it doesn’t seem like I have had much time to blog, even though goofing off gives me so much blog material!

In the category of “goofing off”, I attended a cooking class held at Lavender, a French restaurant in Green Valley, AZ.  (This was just previous to the 2-day golf tournament I played with Mom, which …ahem… we won!   Please no sandbagging jokes).

Lavender’s is at the Green Valley Country Club, and is open to the public.  It is owned by a husband and wife, Chef Frederic and Graciela Lange. I was impressed by the huge kitchen, and always happy to find some place that is cooking interesting food (sometimes it seems hard to find a restaurant that even really cooks). They do a great job on simple food – like the lunches for the golf tournament.   I still have not tried them for dinner (but will soon), and hope that the meals reflect what we saw in class – good ingredients, honestly prepared.

Chef Frédéric Lange prepared an ambitious list of appetizers in the 1 ½ hour class:

Eggplant Dip
Truffle Calzone
Party Pizza
Croque Monsieur
Brie with Caramel and Nuts
Shrimp-stuffed cucumber

The eggplant dip was my favorite, and I now know how to easy it is to quickly cook large eggplants.   I like eggplant dips and occasionally make them when have friends over, they are a nice (and healthy) alternative to cheese and crackers, but have always struggled with cooking the eggplant.   The truffle calzone was just indulgent… mascarpone cheese and herbs and truffle oil.  And, even though I make pizza all the time, the pizza demonstration taught me a few new tricks.  Like AJ’s carries fresh yeast, and that you really don’t need to let the dough rise for an hour. That you really can put potatoes on a pizza, and that I need to use more liquid when I make my dough with the Kitchen Aid.  And another way to shape the pizza for serving small pieces for hors d'oeuvres.  The Croque Monsieur is French version a grilled ham and cheese, Chef Frederic jazzed it up with some thin slices of pear – and cooked in the oven which is a great way to do for a crowd.  The Brie with Caramel was fun to watch – mostly how to bring back caramel sauce from the brink of disaster (overcooking). 

In the end, the best part of the class was watching someone who is a master – do the simple things like smash garlic, use a mandolin and knife -- while sharing their knowledge in a fun (and tasty) way.   Chef did not have written recipes…  most of these are things that are simple and you can make up as you go.  Following is my interpretation of what he prepared, and hope I have not forgotten anything too important (also, I have not yet tested these in my kitchen, so if something seems strange or missing, call me).

Eggplant Dip

3 large eggplants
9 cloves garlic
Salt, pepper
¾ cup olive oil
2 cups roasted red peppers
Herbs to taste – basil, parsley, thyme, pesto if desired
Parmesan cheese

Slice eggplant in half the long way, leaving the stem on.  Score flesh in diamonds (3 to 4 cuts, through meat but not skin.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic, making sure to get down in the cuts.  Drizzle olive oil on top, again, getting down in the cuts.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F.  Put peppers on top, and bake another 5 minutes.  Eggplant should be soft.

Next remove the eggplant from the skin:  make small cut through the flesh near the stem. Hold by the stem, and with a large spoon, scoop out the flesh.  Best to do this on a plate to catch the juice.  Place everything in a large bowl.  Stir and mash with a fork, intention is to keep chunky (rustic).  Add herbs and parmesan cheese, stir, then taste for salt, add more if needed.  To serve, place in shallow bowl, add more cheese and a drizzle of oil on top.  Serve with toasted fresh bread (crostini).

Party Pizza

For the dough, the basic formula is 2 parts flour to 1 part liquid (water and oil).  You can also use dry yeast, but it will take less (my guess is ~ 2 full teaspoons based on my other recipe).

4 cups flour
1 ½ cup warm water
½ cup olive oil
30g fresh yeast
3 teaspoons kosher salt (less if table salt)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 425F.

Dissolve yeast in water.  Place flour in bowl of mixer, add remaining ingredients.  Mix using stand mixer with dough hook until it comes together in a ball, about 3 minutes total.  Cut into 3 pieces.  Let the dough rest while you prepare the toppings (about 30 minutes or so).

On a floured board, roll each piece into a long rectangle (as long as a big cookie sheet).  Put some olive oil on a large rimmed cooking sheet, place the dough on the oil.  Add the toppings (see below for ideas), and bake for 12-15 minutes.  Cheese should be melted, and if you look underneath, the bread will be brown.

Remove from the oven and place on a large cutting board.  Slice in half the long way, then crosswise into 2 inch pieces.

Toppings…

Bacon and Potato  (enough for one long pizza)

6 slices of good bacon
1 or 2 small potatoes (like Yukon gold)
Parmesan cheese (about a cup of finely grated)
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, herbs (thyme, parsley, basil, etc)

Chop the bacon in 1 inch pieces, and cook in a small amount of olive oil.  Cook until fat has started to render, but bacon is still soft (it will get crisp later when on the pizza).  Slice the potato (no need to peel) into very thin slices, preferably with a mandolin.  Do just before using so they don’t turn brown.   Put some olive oil on the pizza dough, then salt (optional – for me the bacon and cheese provided plenty of salt), pepper and herbs.  Put on some cheese, the bacon, potato slices, some more cheese.  Optional – add some of the bacon grease.  Bake as directed above.  Garnish with more herbs if desired.

Greek (enough for one long pizza)

I have made one change.  Chef put the basil on last, and in the oven it turned brown to black (just the nature of basil).  When I put basil on pizza’s, I always put it on first, just after the oil, and it stays green and keeps its flavor.

Cherry or Grape Tomatoes -- about a pint, sliced in half
Olives (Kalamata or your favorite) – half a cup, maybe more
½ Small red onion, sliced
Garlic, 3 cloves, smashed and chopped
Feta cheese, about 4 ounces, cut in chunks
Basil
Olive oil

Put some olive oil on the pizza dough.  Don’t salt – the feta cheese will add plenty of salt.  Put some roughly chopped basil and garlic on the oil, then layer on the tomoatoes, olives, onions, and feta cheese.  Bake as directed above, then add some more chopped basil on top.

Truffle Calzone

Pizza dough (probably about ½ of above recipe)
Mascarpone cheese, room temperature, about one cup
Herbs – Thyme, basil, parsley, other as desired
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Scant ¼ cup of truffle oil

Preheat oven to 425F

Roll half the dough into a 12 inch circle.  Place on oiled sheet pan.  Spread the cheese on the dough, leaving the outer inch of dough uncovered.  Top with herbs, cream and truffle oil.  Brush the outer edge with water.  Roll other half of the dough into a 12 inch circle and place on top. Crimp the edges.  Dock (make holes) with a fork.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Cut into wedges or squares to serve.

Croque Monsieur

Originally served as fast food in French bars and cafes.

Good quality whole grain bread
Ham (like black forest)
Cheese – preferably Gruyere or Emmentaler,
Bosque pear (needs to be firm, do not use a juicy pear) halved, cored and cut into thin slices
Spicy brown mustard
Butter (room temperature)

Spread each slice of bread with mustard.  Build sandwich in following order:   Ham, cheese, pear, cheese, ham.  Put butter on outside of each sandwich.  Place on sheet pan, and bake.  (I’m guessing on time and temperature, but I think 425 for 10 minutes… not sure if they turned them or not).  To serve as appetizer, cut into 6 - 8 squares, stick with a tooth pick in each square.  Place on a platter to serve.

Brie with Caramel and Pecans

2 cups sugar
½ cup water
½ a large round of brie cheese, cut into 2 quarters
Pecans, chopped and toasted

Make caramel sauce:  mix sugar and water, and place on heat.  Do not stir.  Bring to a boil.  Brush some water on the pan just above the sauce to prevent crystallization.  Cook until it starts to turn brown (~10 minutes) and remove from heat.  It will continue to brown (if it starts to get too brown, add some water… this will splatter).  Cool slightly.  Arrange brie on rimmed serving platter, put a couple of handfuls of nuts on top and pour caramel over top.  Place inverted bowl over the top, and let sit for an hour or so (this should soften the caramel).  Serve with crackers.

Greens, greens, and more greens

The CSA box continues to have lots of great greens.  This week included spinach (one that is very textured), chard, collard greens, and beets with nice greens.  Last week (pictured) was spinach, collard greens, kale, chard, and beets.   But we are getting through them. 

Last week’s spinach and beet greens went into pasta, along with the Italian turkey sausage, onions, and red peppers.  The chard was sauted (with garlic and red pepper flakes) and served with roasted chicken.

The kale (the whole head) was chopped and went into homemade chicken and noodle soup last Wednesday (using the bones from Sunday’s roasted chicken). 

Week before last there were scrambled eggs with mushrooms and spinach (and cheese).   We had not had my most favorite green, arugula, in a couple of weeks, but that I usually put into sandwiches or salads.
The plan for this week’s chard and beet greens will be to sauté with some garlic, then make a nest to bake some eggs in … I have seen this recipe in a couple of cookbooks, including one I got for Christmas: Olives and Oranges: Recipes and Flavor Secrets from Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and Beyond and Barbara Kingsolvers Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (ok, not a real cookbook, but the recipes by her daughter were the best part of the book).

And tonight, I made the collard greens (both last weeks and this – we had company).  I had never cooked these before, so why not try out on guests?  The “traditional” way to cook is to simmer a LONG time (like an hour or more) with a large amount of smoked pork product.  Since the main dish for tonight was an oven-braised pork shoulder, I figured that was enough pork.  More research revealed that it was possible to cook like other greens – a quick sauté with onions / shallots / garlic / red pepper flakes and/or bacon.  I choose to cook with just sliced red onion. Start by warming a bit of olive oil, cook the onions until they start to soften, then add shredded collard greens, sauté until dry, then add a bit of water and cook for about 5 minutes.  I finished with a bit of sherry vinegar.  They were good, a bit more chewy than spinach, but not bitter or too astringent.

Here is another (real) recipe for sautéed greens plus additional idea’s from one of my favorite food blogs, 101 Cookbooks.  My eye doctor  is quite pleased.