Spring... really

Yes, it is still technically spring, no matter how many days in a row it’s been over 100F.

I can hardly believe that I have not yet posted one of my long time favorite recipes, Shrimp and Asparagus.  There is still some good California asparagus in the markets, use that if you can.  The asparagus from Mexico is usually OK, and skip it if you can only get asparagus from Peru.  During the fall and winter months, you can substitute sugar or snap peas.  And as long as I am being a snob on food sources, I would also like to suggest skipping any non – American (or Canadian) shrimp.  There are lots of problems with farm raised shrimp from Asia (both environmental and health issues), as well as environmental issues with non-North American wild shrimp.  Unfortunately, the only place I have been able to buy US-sourced shrimp is Whole Foods.  Buy frozen raw shrimp (medium to large size) in the shell.  Thaw in a colander by running some water over them (on and off, takes about 15 minutes).  Or, if you are the type to plan ahead, you can thaw in the refrigerator.

Back to the goodness of this dish…. It’s great to serve for company – a very nice looking dish, and except for the 5 minutes it takes to cook, you can do all the prep work ahead of time.  I generally serve with rice. 

Sesame Shrimp and Asparagus

4 - 6 servings
Time: 20 minutes

1 1/2 pounds asparagus
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 cup oil
2 small onions, sliced
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and cleaned
4 teaspoons soy sauce

Trim asparagus and cut into 2-inch pieces.  Set aside.  In large skillet, toast sesame seeds over medium heat until golden, stirring and shake occasionally.  Remove seeds and set aside.  Add oil to skillet.  Over medium heat, stir-fry asparagus, onions, and shrimp until shrimp turn pink and vegetables are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.  Stir in seeds and soy sauce. 

Hawaii Trip

View from house at Puekea Ranch
We are back from the Big Island (Hawaii), were we had a fabulous time eating, snorkeling, hiking, and reading.  We rented a house in Hawi, a bit off the beaten path – not everywhere can you go to the annual “Trash Bash” to celebrate Earth Day. We will certainly consider the rental path on any future trips, especially where you have such an abundance of good markets with local food. Our house was really nice; it is part of an old property called Puakea Ranch (which was part of the Parker Ranch for a while). There are 3 rental houses plus the ranch manager’s home.  Emily the cow wonders around and provided almost daily entertainment. 

Bounty from orgainic farm visits
I posted a long review on Chowhound about our food adventures, including having Ashley Lueders with Safari Chefs set up 2 tours at organic farms in Hawi, then come to our house and do a cooking lesson us (what a treat!).

 Snorkeling

Snorkeling was quite fantastic; we ended up going out 3 times Kohala Divers.  The first time in, a pod of dolphins swam up just as got into the water.  There were lots of fish (including big schools of reef fish), and one little turtle.  The next time, we saw lots of turtles (at a spot called the turtle cleaning station, where turtles come and fish eat the algae off their shells), plus Moray eels (2 kinds – zebra stripe and the normal one) on both stops! 

Zebra strip morray eel
We also saw a big reef shark – we were following a turtle, kind of heading back to the boat, and about 30 feet down was a 5 foot reef shark.  The divers were just coming back, so we had a good reference on size.  On our 3rd trip (our last day there), we *only*  saw turtles, plus lots of fish, and some cool coral.  When we win the lottery, I want to move to Puako Bay, near where the turtle cleaning station is, so I could snorkel and sea kayak from my house.   Meanwhile, I will just try to recommend Kohala Divers , everyone on the staff was really nice, understood the local spots, and took care of you (including double counting to make sure everyone was back on the boat).

Beach at end of Pololu Valley
Our first hike was Pololu Valley. The trail head is at the end of the road (same one that Hawi is on), where we hiked down to a beach.

Beach at Waipio Valley, view from trailhead

We also hiked Waipio Valley (1000 feet up/down in a mile) which is where the road picks up at the other end.  Call us wimps, but we did not hike between them (our neighbor, who runs 10 hour Ironmans and used to live on the big island, said “it’s a tough hike”).  We also did the nature loop Kalopa State Park, a rain forest they are trying to return to native plants, plus a couple of other historic parks on the coast.

Ferns, moss, and other in the rain forest

Reading: its been a lot time since I have read so many books in a couple of weeks. But in addition to the long (but no stops!) flight, we had a few rainy days. Reads included The Lovely Bones, Asta in the Wings (this month’s book club book), and Daemon. Plus I am most of the way through another LONG book.  I’ll try to do some book blogs soon!

We "twittered" throughout the vacation, you can see more of a day-by-day view from both Roy and me (Firecooked).  I even posted a youtube (for the first time) of the cow trying to get into the hammock.
Too quickly I’m back in the normal routine (well, I quit working at 4:45 for a glass of wine and macadamia nuts!), but I do appreciate how nice it is where we live (and glad the cool weather is holding for a bit).  But its surprising how bright the light is here with 1-digit humidity!   Check out more pictures here.     Aloha!

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.

Desert Botanical Garden

One of my favorite “tourist” destinations in Phoenix is the Desert Botanical Garden, and this spring they have a really wonderful exhibition Chihuly: The Nature of Glass.  There are incredible, large works all throughout the garden, interspersed with the cactus and other plantings (including the pond out to one end).  The best way to describe is a few pictures:

These might look like marbles, but they are really large, the boat is life size.

It can be hard to tell where the cactus stop and glass starts..

Inside the new cactus garden...

Yes, a little strange.

The one inside display.

In addition to the glass, the butterfly tent is open.  I was not able to make reservations today to visit either today or tomorrow (Saturday or Sunday), and next weekend is the plant sale…  Plan ahead, and best bet is to visit weekdays (we went on a Thur a few weeks ago, and even then, it was pretty busy).  But don't miss it!

And yet more ways to cook greens

Believe it or not, I’m not tired of eating greens even with 3 big bunches of greens ever week (last week it was arugula, spinach, and beet greens… plus romaine lettuce and baby lettuce mix).  There are just so many things to do with them. I am doing better on using the beet greens than the beets!
I love quiche, and used to make quiche the normal way with a pie dough crust, and then always put spinach in the eggs (aka Quiche Lorraine).  But pie dough (as wonderful as it is) has a lot of butter, which is not a big deal if you are eating a small sliver, but I like about a quarter of the pie for dinner (which, using my pie crust recipe, would be 1½ tablespoons of butter), which is why I tried this recipe.  I was a bit hesitant because it looks weird (flour and bread crumbs… no egg and just a bit of oil to hold it together?), I really did not think it would work, but I trust the recipe book I adopted it from...   The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking). I have made it several times, and it’s always come out great (even the leftovers).

One last note – it’s easy to make the bread crumbs.  Use the crust and end pieces from whole wheat sandwich bread – let dry on the counter for a couple of days (break into chunks to make sure they are really dry) and put them in a plastic bag until you are ready to use (like in a month or two).  If you are really channeling your depression era grandmother, you will use the plastic bag the bread came it.  When ready to use, just crush them (a rolling pin while they are still in the bag works great).

EDIT: Better way to make bread crumbs:  cut bread (any kind, stale is fine) into chunks, and put into food processor.  Process in bursts until broken up into crumbs.  Place crumbs on parchment lined sheet pan, place into a low oven (275F, convection if you have it) until dry but not browned. Check every 10 minutes and toss the crumbs (I think it takes 20-30 minutes).  Store excess crumbs in the freezer.

Spinach Crusted Quiche

Crust part:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
¾ lb fresh spinach or other greens, finely minced
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup flour
¾ cup dry bread crumbs
Fresh nutmeg
Heat oven to 375F.  Lightly oil a 9 – 10 inch pie or quiche pan.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the spinach and salt, saute over medium high heat until the spinach is limp.  Add a bit of water if it’s too dry.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pat into the oiled pie pan.  Use a fork at first, and then your fingers to mold the crust.

Prebake for 25 minutes.  No need to cool before adding filling.

Quiche Part:

Layer the following in the crust:

Cheese:  ¼  pound or a bit more (grated).  I like Swiss types, like Jarlsburg or Gruyere.

Meat (optional): ¼ lb or so of ham or prosciutto, or a bit of bacon, or leftover chicken.

Vegetables: 1 cup or bit more.  onions, mushrooms (need to sauté first), asparagus or broccoli (lightly steamed), and/or chopped red peppers, plus herbs as desired.

Custard: 3 eggs plus 1 cup milk (can use regular milk, half and half, unsweetened soy milk, low fat milk or a mix), whisked together.  Pour evenly over the filling.

Cook for 35 minutes or until firm. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.  Can be served any temperature.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate is to Valentine's day like turkey is to Thanksgiving... so I thought I would share one of my favorite (and easiest) chocolate recipe.  It's my basic chocolate sauce, good for ice cream and great for Angle Food Cake (and Angle Food cake is to my birthday like wings are to the Super bowl).

To make this, you just need chocolate, a dairy product, and an optional extra flavor. For chocolate, something like Scharffen Berger bittersweet or semi sweet is best, but;chocolate chips work fine. I figure about an ounce or so for 2 servings.  Next is a dairy product, half and half is best, but you can use cream, milk, even soy milk. And finally is an extra flavor, like Grand Mariner, Cognac, vanilla, or a bit of espresso.  This scales easily for more people.

Start by putting the chocolate in microwave proof bowl:

Then add the half and half, about this much:

Then microwave until it starts to boil:

For a small batch like this, it only takes 30 seconds or so.Take it out... the chocolate won't be all melted yet:

But start to stir, and it should turn into a nice, dark sauce:

Optional at this point is to add something like Cognac or Amaretto (what ever would be nice with what you are putting it on), just a teaspoon or so. Or you can add a bit of vanilla, or some espresso.

Finally, serve. For ice cream, one of us likes some chocolate sauce on the ice cream.... the other likes a little ice cream with her chocolate sauce. Works perfectly!

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.