Monthly Archives: September 2012

What’s for Monday Night Dinner? Insalata di Farro

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It’s hard to let go of summer. That, plus I had a half bag of pearled farro staring me in the face that I had smuggled back from Italy.

Farro Perlato imported from Italy in small batches. In my suitcase

Farro is an ancient Italian grain that is high in protein and retains a nice chewy crunch when you cook it. It is similar to barley or spelt, but not exactly either. Go figure. I know it’s odd to bring back grains as a holiday souvenir, but real farro is hard to find stateside. And, as you know by now, I hate to let anything go to waste.

I also had a hodgepodge of veggies left over from Saturday’s CSA pick-up, so I decided to make a simple Insalata di Farro, or Farro Salad. It is reminiscent of any other type of grain salad, like quinoa or rice salads.

Not to brag, but  carnivorous Hubs deemed this vegetarian meal “quite good.”

Insalata di Farro with radishes, tomatoes, peppers and scallions

You’ll see the recipe below, but consider this a starting point. You can use any cooked or raw veggies that you may have on hand, and you can also add some cut up cheese or meat for additional protein. While we were in Tuscany, our neighbor Chiara prepared an Insalata di Farro  with mozzarella, chick peas, tomatoes and potatoes. Delish.

Ingredients:

1 cup farro
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice [can use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar if you don’t have any lemon]
1 – 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped roughly
4-6 radishes, thinly sliced
4 scallions, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped roughly
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Rinse farro well before use. Put in medium pot and add 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, salt well, and then let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. While the farro is cooking, you can chop up your veggies and make the dressing.

Chopped Veggies: Chef’s choice

Put lemon juice (or vinegar) in a small bowl and drizzle in olive oil while stirring to make the dressing. Add salt and pepper to dressing

Farro is ready when it has softened and the water has evaporated.

Almost ready: Farro on the stove

Keep an eye on it while it cooks. If the water absorbs too quickly and it’s not ready yet, you may need to add another 1/2 cup of water. Once it is ready, take it off the burner and fluff with fork. Let it cool. Once cooled, add to large bowl with the chopped veggies and dressing. Taste for seasoning. Garnish with chopped parsley or basil, if you like. A tavola!

Yield: 3-4 servings

Let the Odyssey Begin: Home Pickling

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With a bounty of Kirby cucumbers, what can you do but pickle?

All I can say is, it’s good to have a partner in this endeavor. And I was fortunate to have two: Hubs and my Cuisinart. No, Hubs is not in same category as Cuisinart, but you know what I mean. I had never made pickles before, so this was an adventure indeed. We decided on Bread & Butter Pickles for a few reasons:

  1. Hubs loves them
  2.  Can be made “refrigerator-style,” like Dan’s awesome pickled string beans. No need for serious canning experience, of which I have none
  3. Good value! We’ve been buying jars of these at the green market for $6 or $7

Truth be told, Hubs has got me hooked on these Bread & Butter Pickles, too. I am used to traditional sour dill pickles (maybe even a half-sour), which are the kind I grew up on.

We’d go downtown to the Lower East Side with my grandmother and buy them out of the barrel at Gus’s, back when the LES was still populated by discount merchants and Jewish delicatessens, not hipsters and cocktail bars.

Here’s what we did: We worked off of 2 recipes we found online: borrowing ingredients from Smitten Kitchen’s blog and  and technique from an old-school recipe on  A Way to Garden. I liked the fact that Smitten Kitchen used about 1/2 the sugar used in the old-school recipe. And, skipping to the chase, you would never know. These pickles are sweet and succulent at the same time; you’d never think they needed more sugar.

Ingredients: 

4 pounds cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick — “pickling” or kirby cucumbers work best here
4 bell peppers sliced lengthwise [ok to omit if you don’t have them on hand]
3 large onions, thinly sliced
1cup Diamond Kosher salt [Updated: Why Diamond? Read this first.]
2 cups sugar (1/2 cup per pound of cucumbers)
1 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar [Original recipe calls for less, but we were low on liquid, so I’d recommend more]
1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 tablespoon mustard seeds
4 tablespoon coriander seeds (if ground, use 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon celery seed

Instructions:

Use Cuisinart or mandoline to slice cucumbers and onions. It is definitely a time saver and worth the extra time afterwards  to wash all the piece parts of the equipment.

In a very large bowl, combine the cucumbers, peppers, onion and salt. Mix well. Cover the mixture with ice. Let stand at room temperature for two hours. In a large pot, bring sugar, vinegar and spices to a boil. Drain cucumbers and onions. Add to vinegar mixture and bring back to a boil.

Pickles in the pot: kirbies transformed in 5 minutes to pickle green color

Simmer for 5 minutes, then ladle them (with the liquid) into clean jars. Be careful as you are ladling boiling hot liquid into the jars. Hubs was particularly helpful in this step. As the jars cool, you should hear the light “pop” of the seal vacuuming tight. Once cooled, keep them in the fridge. They will keep quite well for six months or so.

Bread & Butter Pickles ready to go

Yield: 14 1/2 pint jars. Of course, I mis-placed a lid from one of the Ball glass jars at the end of the process and had to use an old jam container. Ah well.

A Very First World Problem: Veggie Overload CSA Pick-up 9/8/12

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Height of the season and everything is looking gorgeous. Generous June says to take as many tomatoes, cukes, eggplants, potatoes, onions, garlic and jalapeños as we can carry. Check it out

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I’m planning on:
– gazpacho
– bread and butter pickles (a first for me!)
-baba ghanoush (in homage to Dan Doern)

And not sure what else with this bounty. Stay tuned…

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How Timely: Mutant Red Grapes

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Would love to know what exactly happened to this mutant bunch of conventionally grown red grapes?

Mutant Conventionally Grown Red Grapes - sourced from Fresh Direct

Mutant Conventionally Grown Red Grapes – sourced from Fresh Direct

I have no clue how these grapes were cultivated, but something clearly went cataclysmically wrong here. The grapes are crammed up against one another, not dangling from the stems. And the main stem is totally gnarled.

Mutant Conventionally Grown Red Grapes – sourced from Fresh Direct – See main stem

It’s just plain weird and kinda scary. I ordered these grapes from Fresh Direct, a local online grocer. I bought these grapes because they were on sale (busted), foregoing organic for an attractive price point. What a nasty surprise I got, and oh so timely after the release of the Stanford study on organic food v conventional. Forgot more nutritious, I just want a bunch of grapes to look like a bunch of grapes!

I can’t wait to get back to the farm tomorrow. Wolfe Spring CSA, here I come!

I Never Thought Eating Organic Was More Nutritious per se…Did You?

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Stanford scientists published a much talked about study this week entitled, “Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review.” The conclusion of the study states, “The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

There has been a lot of talk about this because many folks are under the assumption that eating organic is more nutritious. The NY Times had an interesting piece on it as well. Here is a link to the article. I was honestly surprised to hear that. When I choose to purchase organic foods or products, it is for preventative reasons. I want to avoid the bad stuff, like pesticide residue and bacteria and who knows what else mentioned above. I also have a hidden hope that the produce will taste better, more like real fruits and vegetables should taste (not always the case). But, I have never thought that they’d be more vitamin and nutrient-laden.

If you buy organic, what is your motivation? I’m curious to hear.

Baby got Babah

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OK, OK, OK, I know Deblog is back but a promise is a promise. I made some of this from awesome WSF eggplants and it was a huge hit with some very recherché NYC types. You can get the tahini at most major supermarkets. If you are lucky enough to live in Brooklyn Heights or Cobble Hill, you can get it at Sahadi. Up here in the ‘shires. its available at Guidos and the gourmet shop on north Route 7 near the Kmart (no snickering you manhattanites out there) In mahn-hadtdtdun its available here and there. Its an important component so don’t try this at home without it. I’ve pdf’d the page from Claudia Roden’s The New Book Of Middle Eastern Cooking. Click on the word “baba” to see the recipe. Enjoy it with crostini, crackers, pita or on tomatoes.

Baba

Comfort Food, My Style: Sole Meuniere and Rice Pilaf

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We’ve been back from our trip for a few days, and I am still struggling with a spot of jetlag and general post-vacation malaise. I finally had the itch to cook today, but it had to be something easy, familiar and tasty.  Nothing to boost the spirit like 2 favorite go-to dishes for dinner, and also a guarantee of a no-complaint meal. It’s my version of comfort food, so disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer that this is NOT a particularly healthy, local or nutrient-dense meal. As an aside, I picked up the handy phrase nutrient-dense from my friend Tamara John Mannelly who recently launched a beautiful new foodie blog. Check it out. But now right now as you must continue to read this…

Last night’s menu consisted of a simplified Sole Meunière and a dummied-down Rice Pilaf. And, yes, both these dishes do create a monochromatic palate often associated with fried foods, but like I said, don’t judge. It’s comfort food.

Flounder Meuniere, Rice Pilaf and Heirloom Tomato Salad

In order to spice things up the light brown palette, I sliced up an heirloom tomato (drizzled with olive oil and sea salt) and added it to our plates for color. This one plate meal was delish and hit the spots. No complaints, only clean plates  – guaranteed.

Here’s what I did: prepared a large batch of brown rice earlier in the day, in a nod to nutritious eating, though I knew I’d be doctoring it up later. In a medium sized pan, I sauteed some scallions in a generous pour of olive oil, then added the pre-cooked brown rice, along with salt and pepper and sauteed for 3 or 4 minutes on medium heat. The rice gets a little crispy, and the olive oil and scallion give it a really nice flavor. You can saute red onion, yellow onion, or shallots (or a mix) in place of the scallion. I call this dummied-down Pilaf because it is simpler than a traditional Pilaf, both in preparation, as well as complexity of taste.

Simple Pilaf in the Pan

And here’s my recipe for “Sole” Meuniere. I actually used wild flounder, not sole, because I liked the looks of it on the fishmonger’s counter. You can prepare any thin, white fish fillet in this manner. It need not be the classic French “sole” which can be pricey and hard to find.

Sole Meuniere for 2

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 or 4 tablespoons of matzoh meal (or flour – I like matzoh meal because it has more texture than plain flour and my mom always uses it)
  • 1 teaspoon of savory dried herbs, like herbs de provence, or thyme, tarragon, or any other spice blend you may have on the shelf
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  • Small handful of fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish (no biggie if you don’t have any, but nice for color)
  • 2 fillets of sole (or any other fresh, thin white fish like flounder, tilapia, etc)

Instructions:

On a plate or a piece of waxed paper, mix matzoh meal or flour with dried herbs (you will dredge the fish fillets in this, so use whatever surface is easiest for you). Add healthy pinches of salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron or non-stick pan on medium high for 1-2 minutes until very hot. Then add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once butter melts, but before it turns brown, dredge fish fillets in matzoh meal/flour mixture and place in pan.

The olive oil/butter will spatter, so watch out. Depending on thickness of fillets, cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. You want to make sure that the fillets turn a nice light brown.

Flounder fillets on side 2 – almost ready

You can test doneness by sticking a fork into the fish. They are ready when you meet no resistance. Side 2 will take less than time than side 1. Once the fillets are ready, use a spatula to remove each one and place directly on serving plates. You are now going to make a quick sauce de-glazing the pan. Very simple, not to worry

Using the same frying pan, lower the heat from Medium-high to Medium or Low-Medium depending on your stove. Add the additional 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. It will splatter again (sorry!), but just step back and let the butter melt. Once melted, it should be safe to get closer to the stove again. Use your spatula to scrape the good bits n pieces from the pan and mix with the butter. Now add the lemon juice, let it sizzle again, mix with the spatula for 10 seconds and you’re ready to go.

Divide sauce between the two plates, pouring directly on the fillets. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top for garnish, if you have it. Serve with lemon wedges if you wish, just serve immediately.

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Like I said, this meal isn’t particularly healthy since it uses a LOT of butter and olive oil, but it is tasty, easy and rewarding. What’s your fave comfort food?

Guess who’s back?

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No, not the slim shady, just me, your fearless foodie writer. Back from my Italian adventures and eager to hit the keyboard. I’ll spend a few minutes sharing about my trip and then we can get back to business. And how can I not thank the tireless efforts of my fabulous guest blogger Dan Doern? Was he great, or what? If you didn’t get a chance you should check out some of his inventive recipes, like roasted edamame, or breakfast pizza. I hope Dan will continue to contribute to the blog.

The trip was great: lots of carbs and vino were consumed, few churches were visited, and I honestly didn’t hit the pots and pans once. I visited friends in the Alps, and then spent the rest of the trip at the Tuscan seaside. We took advantage of Italy’s love of children to bless restaurant owners and casual diners with our son’s vivacious presence at mealtimes, dinner included. And when we dined at home, it was a simple preparation, more assembly than anything else. This picture of Sam reaching on his tippy toes for freshly baked focaccia sums it up.

 

Sam reaching for freshly baked focaccia – San Vincenzo, Tuscany, Italy

I took advantage of the delicious, locally grown, seasonal fruits with daily pit stops at the nearby fruit stand to stock up on peaches, plums (from green to fuschia to purple)  like these,

Reine-Claude plums

 

grapes and tomatoes of every color, size and variety. And also made daily pilgrimages to local bakeries and focaccerie.

For lunch there was usually bruschetta (or crostini, a local version), insalata caprese, freshly baked focaccia and an assortment of local cheeses like pecorino and thoughtfully prepared meats and salamis. We did have pasta at home a few times, but only in it’s simplest form. I prepared some store-bought hand-made ravioli on a few occasions, drizzled with olive oil and grated parmigiano. But I don’t really count that as hitting the pots and pans. No sauces were cooked, no ovens were heated, and no recipes were used on this trip. And that was just fine.

So, stay tuned for more recipes and musings from yours truly. And let’s give it up for Dan – woot woot!

Life is Good

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I was fortunate enough to be asked to pickup another great haul from Wolfe Spring Farm this Labor Day weekend. It was a lovely bounty with awesome produce. Unfortunately, our house guests happened to get in the way of me photographing and blogging everything we did with the food. So……It started with a margarita made with fresh watermelon juice and WSF jalapeños. Its a delicious summer drink. After two of those I forgot all about the blog so don’t have any pics of that evening. Then, we made an awesome tomato salad with some fresh mozzarella, WSF tomatoes and some micro greens from Zinks farm down the road. Drizzle some white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and that’s it! Next, I made an improvised ratatouille with the WSF eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and a few other things. It came out really well and will be my lunch for the next few days. Perhaps I’ll add some chick peas.

Watermelon Jalapeño Margarita

Make some fresh watermelon juice. Muddle a jalapeño pepper or two in a cocktail shaker. Add lots of ice. Put in a splash of lime juice (about a half lime per serving) add tequila (we used Patron Silver because its so clean tasting and complements the watermelon but a smokier liquor could be interesting) and watermelon juice to your taste. Shake and serve up or over ice. Since I don’t have a pic, you’ll have to take my word for it – it was gorgeous to behold and drink.

The Haul. Artistic License Disclaimer: The peaches are not WSF and I neglected to put the raspberries in the photo.

Beautiful Sunflowers

It doesn’t get much better than this at the end of the summer………..