Teriyaki Chicken

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Deanne

Growing up we ate a lot of teriyaki chicken. I’d say I was partly to blame for this phenomenon. I loved teriyaki chicken. Nevermind that we’d already had it earlier in the week, when it showed up for dinner again, it was an exciting occasion. On Saturday mornings while grocery shopping with my dad I’d happily grab a bottle teriyaki marinade off the shelf, regardless of whether it was on the list. More marinade just meant more teriyaki chicken, right? It was a beautiful thing right up until the minute I hated teriyaki chicken and never wanted to eat it again.

I had a bad habit of doing this too-much-of-a-good-thing as a teenager too. I took a tomato and pickle sandwich (with mayo) to school almost everyday in high school and now the thought of one is still a little repulsive. I also listened to the soundtrack from Rent over the course of a 20 hour flight. I still know all the words even though I haven’t listened to the music in over a decade – although I did go see the movie version which was both painful and kind of nostalgically wonderful. But recently I starting getting into teriyaki chicken again, only not the kind that comes with a bottle.

Let’s be clear – I have nothing against bottled marinade as a category. But when the craving for teriyaki chicken started I was woefully unprepared. I mean, I’d hated the stuff for years and hadn’t planned on going back to it. And then I discovered that teriyaki marinade is basically two ingredients, ingredients that I almost always have in the pantry. How could I go back to buying pre-made marinade when I knew all the ingredients were already in my house?

I’m not saying I’ll go back to my multiple times a week chicken teriyaki habit (and sorry Mom, for spilling the beans that you indulged me for so long), but its managed to work its way back into my heart, and into my dinner rotation. As for those tomato and pickle sandwiches, I think we’re through for good.

Last year we ate: Potato Bread

Teriyaki Chicken
Makes enough for 4

1 3-4 lb chicken, cut into 6 pieces, or 3-4 lbs of chicken breasts or thighs (or a combination)*
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (you can substitute sherry here, which I sometimes do; they’re both sweetened cooking wine)
1 tbs honey
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 inch piece of ginger, cut into 1/4 inch or thinner slices (no need to peel it)
1/4 cup orange juice (optional)**

In a large container, or a ziploc bag, combine the soy sauce, mirin, honey, garlic, ginger, and orange juice (if using). Sprinkle the teaspoon of salt over the chicken pieces and then add them to the marinade. Cover the container or close the bag and place in the marinating chicken into the fridge for at least 8 hours and no more than two days to soak up the flavor.

When you’re ready to cook preheat a grill to medium or set the oven for 450F. If using the oven, put the chicken onto a rack set over a foiled lined sheet so air can circulate all around it while it cooks. When the grill or oven is preheated, cook the chicken until any dark meat is 165F and white meat is 140F. This may mean taking different parts out at different times. In the oven it should take about 20-25 minutes for white meat and 30-40 minutes for dark meat. On the grill it should take 15-20 minutes for white meat and 25-30 for dark meat. Be sure to turn the pieces often on the grill so avoid burning. The marinade is sweet which means it’s more likely to burn a bit on a hot grill – as you can see in the pictures. Still delicious, just not as pretty.

You can eat the chicken immediately or eat it as leftovers for up to a week, cold, hot, or just warmed up a bit. If I’m feeling extra productive I may boil the marinade down into a salty-sweet sauce to put over rice or vegetables too, but that’s just a bonus.

*Call me a snob but I prefer dark meat to light and bone-in skin-on meat, especially for roasting like in this recipe. But when you make it at home, make it the way you like.

**If I have a fresh orange, I’ll squeeze it in here but if I don’t then I leave it out. It’s delicious either way.

Huevos Rancheros

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Deanne

The same weekend that I spent making quiche for a large group, my friend Jesse was in charge of the second day of breakfast. I obsessively planned, spent an afternoon prepping, and basically hovered over the task of breakfast. Jesse arrived with several bags of ingredients and a basic plan: breakfast would be huevos rancheros. Never mind that he hadn’t actually made them before and certainly never for a crowd. He’d eaten huevos rancheros and had some idea of what went into it which was enough for him. He polled people on what should be included, enlisted some others to help, and then went for it bright and early on a Sunday morning while we all shuffled sleepily into the kitchen.

He set up a few stations and got multiple pans simmering on the stove. The tortillas warmed in the oven and there were bowls of toppings and additions for a customizable breakfast experience. Then he started handing out plates of fried eggs on lightly crisped tortillas, with or without beans, and adorned with salsa and cheese. We piled the already high plates with avocados, cilantro, more cheese, more salsa. And then it was mostly quiet in the kitchen while everyone stuffed their faces savored breakfast.

Ok, so there was a bit more cleanup given the number of plates and bowls that were used to give everyone a personal breakfast, but it reminded me that sharing meals doesn’t need to mean planning down to the last second. That’s not to say my next group breakfast will be huevos rancheros, or at least, they won’t be the kind he made, with individually fried eggs. While wanting to recreate this breakfast while still being too lazy to fry four eggs, I hit upon the idea to just poach the eggs in salsa. After all, huevos rancheros are mostly about the eggs and salsa so I simplified the time it takes to make and combine the two main ingredients.

The best part about eggs-poached-in-tomato recipes, like Middle-Eastern ‘Shakshouka’ and Italian ‘Eggs in Purgatory,’ is that they are dead simple to scale up or down. I would make this for two or twelve (with a big enough pan) and even for one, like I did when I shot the photos for this post. It all takes the same amount of time. The end result is just as delicious as it was on that Saturday morning, just without as much chaos. Or at least breakfast (or dinner) doesn’t add to the chaos.

Last year we ate: Lemon Bars

Huevos Rancheros

Ok, here’s the thing. Poaching eggs in tomato sauce is infinitely easier than doing it with sub-boiling water because the eggs take longer to cook in the sauce so you have a bigger window to get them out of the pan and you don’t have to worry about whether they’ll hold together. But since this is so much easier, I felt bad just giving a recipe for dropping eggs into a pan of salsa. So I’m giving you a homemade salsa recipe too. Would this be just as good with brand name salsa? Absolutely. Think of it as a suggestion, not a necessity.

Ranchero Salsa
Adapted from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

Makes about 2 1/2 cups of salsa.

2-3 dried chiles – use Anaheim, New Mexico, or Ancho, or a combination
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes (or use a 14 oz can and halve the other ingredients)
1/2 a yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, in case your chiles aren’t hot enough)

Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat and add the dried chiles. Toast the chiles, turning them often, until they darken a bit in color. This should take about 5-8 minutes. Remove them from the pan (turn off the heat) and let them cool on a counter or cutting board until they are cool enough to handle. At this point you can cut the chiles open and remove the seeds if you want to reduce the spiciness a bit. Then rip the chiles into about 1 inch pieces and put them in the bowl of a food processer or blender.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the chiles and then process or blend the sauce until it’s the texture you want. It can be chunkier or smoother – I prefer a pretty smooth sauce. Then pour the sauce back into the skillet you used to toast the chiles – or use another pan if the sauce won’t fit. Put it back over medium heat and cook the sauce for about 10 minutes until it has been bubbling for a minute or two. That will cook out the raw onion/garlic flavor. Taste it to see if it needs more salt. At this point you can serve it hot or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.

Huevos Rancheros

1 tbs oil for every few tortillas.
1-2 tortillas per person (depending on the size of your tortillas)
Up to 1/4 cup cheese per person – something melty like cheddar or jack cheese
1/2 cup ranchero salsa per person
1-2 eggs per person
Toppings – chopped cilantro, chopped chiles, extra cheese, chopped raw onion*, guacamole, whatever you might have in the fridge

In a nonreactive pan (I prefer nonstick), heat up the oil over medium heat. Add the tortillas a few at a time and fry them for a few minutes on each side, until they pick up some brown spots but before they brown all over – you want them to still be tender, not crunchy. If you’re making this for a crowd, fry the tortillas 2 or 3 at at time and then remove them to foil-lined baking sheet in an oven set for 200F. When you remove the tortillas from the pan, sprinkle them with the cheese right away so it can melt a bit from the heat of the tortilla – it will also melt more when the eggs and salsa are poured on.

Using the same pan, heat up the salsa in an even layer over medium high heat (you may need a little more than a 1/2 cup if you’re only making this for one, or just use a smaller pan). Once the salsa is bubbling a little, turn the heat down to medium low and crack in the eggs. Try to make sure they don’t overlap too much and keep them separate if possible. Then let them cook in the sauce for about 3 minutes. At this point the whites should be partly set but the tops of the whites will still be a little runny. Cover the pan for about 2 minutes and then remove the lid – this should be enough time to cook the whites without overcooking the yolk. If you’re nervous about not having a runny yolk, check the eggs at the one minute mark to see if they’re ready.

When the eggs are done, use a serving spoon to scoop out some salsa and egg together and place them on the tortillas. I generally like two eggs and two tortillas for a meal and just one for a snack. Then top them however you like and eat them while they’re hot. The finished dish won’t keep in the fridge but you can prep everything ahead of time and store it in the fridge for a few days (longer for the salsa). It’s also a great way to use up stale tortillas – they fry up beautifully.

*If you choose to go the chopped raw onion route I would highly recommend putting the onions in a mesh strainer and running them under hot water for a minute or two and then drying them before you serve them. That way you’ll still get the raw onion flavor but without the pervasive bite that makes you taste onion for hours.

Strawberry Cake

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Deanne

I could have also called this one “the process of recipe development.” It’s one of the most frequent questions I get; how do I come up with recipes? Well this one was a doozy and it was also a great way to explain how ideas move from my brain to my plate, which is not always a smooth process. At the end of this maybe you’ll be inspired to start making your own recipes or maybe you’ll decide that it’s too much work. Either way, I promise there will be cake.

This particular idea started with Looking At Pictures On The Internet which is where at least half of my ideas come from. I found a particularly enticing one for strawberry cake which is where the problem began. The recipe had boxed cake mix and strawberry gelatin. I’m all for a boxed mix when you’re on a time crunch – because let’s face it, they are easy and delicious – but if I’m going to learn to make a strawberry cake I want to learn how to make it, and then take shortcuts later if I choose. Unfortunately, it appeared that this was, in fact, how strawberry cake is made. The recipes I looked at all included strawberry gelatin and at that point, even a homemade cake recipe with gelatin would not do. No, I needed to figure out how to make strawberry cake with real strawberries.

That meant learning how cakes work. Yes, really. After some wonderful help from Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio I figured out some general proportions and then started playing around. I tried different forms of strawberry, milk and no milk, flour combinations, and finally settled on something similar to a regular yellow cake but with strawberry puree instead of milk and some extra fun additions to make a jammy pink cake that was somewhere between a pound cake and a traditional yellow cake in texture. Success? Well, I made two cakes on Friday and had no cakes left on Sunday. You be the judge.

One of these beauties graced a crawfish boil and only a quarter of it survived which is especially impressive given the 70 pounds of crawfish that were consumed during the day. The other got a thick layer of meringue frosting and barely survived a birthday party. The leftovers were demolished at a picnic. Was it worth all the time I spent figuring it out? I personally never got sick of watching the surprise on people’s faces when the cake actually tasted like strawberry. But if that’s not your cup of tea, well, here’s the recipe.

Last year we ate: Melted Leeks

Strawberry Cake
With help from Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio

Makes one 2-inch high and 10-inch round cake or one 9 by 13 pan of 1-inch high cake

Ok, a few words about this cake. There are three things that lift this cake: creaming the butter and sugar, beating the eggs, and adding baking powder. It’s what allows this strawberry-full batter to get a little rise although it’s not necessarily fluffy. Also, if your batter looks sort of like a melted strawberry shortcake ice cream bar when you’re done mixing, you’ve done something right. Awesome.

You might also notice that I baked this at 325 while most cake recipes call for 350. The hotter your oven, the quicker the cake will rise but if it rises before the batter begins to solidify you’ll end up with a sunken cake or you might also end up with a domed one if the middle rises faster than the edges. Many recipes suggest you can avoid that by lowering the oven temperature and baking for longer. I usually just start with a lower oven so I get a nice flat cake.

1 lb strawberries
1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered strawberry (from 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries)**
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs (at room temperature, this is important for adding lift)

Wash and stem the strawberries and then puree them in a food processor or blender until smooth – you could strain out the seeds but I generally leave them. Then add the milk to the strawberry puree and set it aside. You could also just buy strawberry puree but if you do, make sure it’s the kind that is only strawberry, nothing else added.

Preheat the oven to 325F and line a 10-inch cake pan or a 9 by 13 baking dish with foil of parchment paper to make it easier to get the cake out of the pan. Then grease the foil/paper well with butter. In a medium bowl combine the flours, baking powder, salt, and strawberry powder. Stir well and then set the bowl aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if you’re using a hand mixer) cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, until it’s really light and airy. If your butter isn’t room temperature it will take a few minutes extra to combine. You may need to scrape the bowl and beater one just to make sure all the butter is evenly incorporated.

Once the butter and sugar are fully combined, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium high until fully incorporated. Once the eggs are all in, turn the speed down to low. Pour in about a third of the flour mixture and beat until just combined, then add a third of the strawberry and milk mix. Continue to alternate until both are gone, then mix on low until everything is just incorporated. Don’t overmix and if you’re worried about doing that, stir the last addition of strawberry in using a spatula rather than the machine.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake it for 35-45 minutes, or until the top has golden brown spots and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then take it out and let it cool to room temperature on a rack.

If you plan to frost it, make sure it is completely cool before you start. But a thin layer of strawberry jam is just as good as a pile of frosting; at least, in my experience. Refrigerate any leftovers since this is a moist cake and could spoil. It’s best eaten within a few days of baking but you could also wrap a cake up and stick it in the freezer. Just keep in mind that once it defrosts it will be a bit denser.

* No cake flour? It does add some lightness to the cake but if you don’t have any just use 1/2 cup of all purpose flour instead. No problem.
** I powdered the strawberries using my spice grinder but they fall apart pretty easily. A plastic bag and a rolling pin should also get the pieces small enough. Keep in mind that the powder will clump a bit because of the sweetness in the strawberries. Just stir it into the flour to avoid clumping.

Roast Beef Salad

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Deanne

On Friday night we sat on the living room floor and played video games. We left the dishes unwashed and the laundry unfolded. We didn’t tidy up. Instead we rummaged through a box of random cords and wires to find the game controller that would let us play Super Mario Bros 3. Several hours were spent trying (and failing) to rescue the Princess, stomping goombas (or getting stomped), enjoying side-scrolling graphics. Dinner was also served on the floor, out of one big bowl, a salad version of a roast beef sandwich that we oohed and aahed over. Let me repeat that: our night of video games included salad for dinner and we were excited about it.

This wasn’t a sort of nod to acting like adults while we spent the evening playing Super Mario. The salad was the reward for winning a level and the consolation after someone (cough *me* cough) failed to make a jump for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t a wimpy mix of greens with some dressing and a few pieces of tomato. This was a dinner salad, the real thing, a meal you could eat and still be full a few hours later. Did I mention this is the salad equivalent of a roast beef sandwich?

I suppose now you might be wondering why there needs to be a salad equivalent of a sandwich. Well… brace yourself. I’m not really a fan of homemade sandwiches. Cue the disbelief and shocked expressions. It’s not that I dislike sandwiches as a genre. I just find that often sandwiches, especially ones you make yourself to take to work for lunch, are often, lacking. It’s the bread. Sandwich bread is just not that good. Unless you make it yourself, in which case it’s probably excellent. But sliced bread is generally not that great, either dull and flavorless or stale by the time you open your lunch.

This is still all the things that are good about a roast beef sandwich just without the sandwich part. It’s juicy roast beef and tangy pickles and creamy horseradish dressing. And then also some lettuce and whatever vegetables happen to be around and maybe some feta cheese that would otherwise go bad.

We polished off the salad in between rounds of jumping on koopas and spitting out fireballs. When there wasn’t enough to get on a fork we picked at it with our fingers and commented on how good it was. It was the kind of perfect that you only get at the end of an ordinary day. Just us, a video game, and this salad.

Last year we ate: Pimento Mac and Cheese

Roast Beef Salad
Makes enough for two as a meal

1 head lettuce
8 ounces roast beef, shredded with your hands*
1/2 cup chopped pickles
2 cups chopped vegetables – leftover roasted veggies, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, scallions, whatever you think would be good
1/4 cup crumbled feta (optional)
1/4 cup mayo
2 tbs olive oil
2+ tbs grated horseradish (I like it more spicy, up to 4 tbs, you might not)
Salt and pepper to season the greens

Combine the mayo, oil, and horseradish in a small bowl. The longer you let it sit, the stronger the horseradish flavor. You should let it sit at least 20 minutes, at least while you prepare the other ingredients so that the flavors can meld.

Tear or chop the lettuce into pieces and then combine it with the rest of the ingredients besides the dressing. Season the salad with a little salt and pepper and then dress it to your liking. Serve immediately or the greens will wilt – if you want to serve it later leave the dressing off until it’s time to eat.

*To make this I generally buy deli roast beef and if you cut roast beef slices with a knife the pieces are a bit too regular and the texture is a bit weird. You could also roast some meat and use the leftovers in which case, well done you.

Broiled Radishes

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Deanne

I’m not generally one to encourage more work when less will do. If a recipe can be simplified – fewer ingredients, one less bowl, cutting out steps – I’m for it, and have usually already done it. That also means not cooking things if they are just as enjoyable freshly washed and eaten raw. But for these radishes, I’ll make an exception.

I wouldn’t have thought to try broiling – or in any way cooking – radishes if it hadn’t been for an otherwise unmemorable restaurant meal. I don’t remember where it was or what we ate other than tiny buttered and roasted radishes. They were sweet and rich and a little spicy; I kept stealing them off Jeff’s plate when I finished mine. And then I consigned them to one of those things that are great in a restaurant but not so good at home. And then I told myself that was stupid and just made them.

In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t much more complicated than just serving raw radishes with bread and butter (which you should also do, delicious) but it is truly surprising which when it comes to food isn’t something I come across often. I’m not saying go crazy and start braising celery or frying cucumbers; some things are best left alone. But broiled radishes are a whole new way to experience something that, let’s be honest, is a little boring and often gets forgotten. This is not boring; that’s certainly worth a little extra effort.

Last year we ate: Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie

Broiled Radishes

Before you dive right in and make these (Although you could, of course, dive right in without knowing. It might be more exciting.) let me give you an idea of what cooked radishes taste like. They’re still a little spicy, horseradish-y, almost like a mild turnip. The butter is rich and the miso is sweet and salty which makes these incredibly easy to eat, one after the other.

2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons miso
2 bunches radishes
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Turn on the broiler (to hi, if yours has multiple settings) and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. In a medium bowl (large enough to fit the radishes), mix the softened butter and miso together. Set the bowl aside.

Wash the radishes and remove the stems, then spread them on the pan and sprinkle with salt. Broiled them for about 10 minutes or until they start to brown a bit on the bottoms (this will be faster if you use foil).

Once the radishes are just starting to brown on the bottoms and have a little give, take them out and dump them into the bowl with the miso butter. Give it a good stir and then dump the radishes back onto the pan. Return it to the broiler for another 5 minutes, giving it a good shake about halfway through to allow the radishes to cook evenly. When they’re a little soft and deep brown in spots, take them out and turn off the broiler. Serve them hot, either immediately, or reheated within the next week. These are really best either warm or hot since when they’re cold the butter solidifies again.

Mango and Brie Paninis

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Deanne

This was a close one. I almost let April pass by without a grilled cheese recipe. For those of you keeping track at home, April is national grilled cheese month and in fact there’s a grilled cheese day somewhere in the 30 days of this month. And, as we’ve established, I get a kick out of celebrating fake food-related holidays. Plus, who doesn’t love grilled cheese? Sure, it’s the second to last day of the month but at least we can say we got this one in, right?

About this sandwich: you may have noticed it’s not called mango and brie grilled cheese. That’s because I didn’t come up with it myself.

My college had a small cafe that, aside from coffee and pastries, also had a rotating menu of vegetarian lunch items that it served during the week. Some were good and some were only good if you were a vegetarian, but on the day they served mango and brie paninis the line started early and lasted until they inevitably sold out a few hours later. I ate my fair share of them, especially considering that they only were around one day a month.

What made them so amazing? Maybe the fruit and cheese combination or the fact that it was my first exposure to sweet and savory grilled cheese. Maybe it’s the caramelized onions, which are phenomenal, or the slippery mango slices, that get a little caramelized on the edges. Maybe it’s just that grilled cheese is so good. Before I had the forehead-realization that I could make these at home, it had been years since I was around for mango-and-brie-panini day. Turns out that it’s just as good at home, not to mention that there’s no line and you can have two if you want to.

If you are something of a grilled cheese purist, this might be a bit of a stretch. There’s a lot going on in this sandwich and a fair amount of it isn’t cheese. But the end result is gooey and melty and golden brown on the outside. The edges are crispy and it’s really messy when you bite in. It was worth the wait.

Last year we ate: Turmeric Pickled Cauliflower

Mango and Brie Panini Grilled Cheese

Makes two sandwiches

1 mango, sliced
1/4 lb brie, cut into spreadable wedges or slices
1/4 cup caramelized onions – from 2 onions*
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tbs mango chutney – pick one that’s mostly smooth
Bread of your choice – white bread slices, rolls, or pieces of a bakery loaf; just pick something soft and squishy
Butter – about 2 tbs for coating the bread slices

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and the chutney. If the cream cheese isn’t soft enough you’ll end up with some pieces of cream cheese that won’t combine which, while a little unappealing looking, is fine for the sandwiches.

Spread one side of the bread with the cream cheese mixture and top with the caramelized onions. On the other side of the bread, lay down the brie slices and press the mangos into the cheese. Sandwich the two halves together and butter the outsides of the bread.

Heat a pan over medium heat and if you have it, heat a second cast iron pan to use as a press (or use a panini maker if you have one). Place the sandwiches in the pan and fry for 3-5 minutes, until the bread is toasty and brown. Flip the sandwiches and place the second pan on top to press them down. Cook about another 5 minutes until the second side is brown and the cheese is gooey.

This is a messy sandwich but there are two ways to cut down on the gooey-ness. You can hollow out the bready inside of a roll (only on one side) to create a little pocket for the mango and cheese. Or you can use large slices of bread and leave a half-inch border around the edges so the filling to spread into as it melts. I opt for just a messy sandwich and a big napkin.

*If you do caramelize just two onions you’ll have some leftovers from the sandwiches. Not a bad thing

Wordless Weekend – Cooking from Ad Hoc

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Deanne

Scenes from a night cooking out of the Ad Hoc Cookbook

Asparagus Pesto

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Deanne

It’s only the middle of April but we’re deep into asparagus season around here. For the past month, our weekly CSA box has included a bundle of the elusive green stalks. The first week, I roasted it with just oil and salt and the second week I did the same. But I don’t particularly enjoy repeat meals. Eating the same thing, even for two weeks, is boring to me. So it was time for a change. Last year when this “problem” came up, I pickled it (We can pickle that? Anyone? Just watch the video). This year I went looking for something different.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Just when I started thinking that maybe I should consider doing something else with the weekly asparagus bunch, the New York Times posted a whole bunch of asparagus recipes. The picture of asparagus pesto caught my eye and that was that. It could be nothing else. And oh, it was a good choice.

Before you ask, no I didn’t actually look any farther than the picture. This isn’t so much an adaptation of the NY Times recipe as much as a dish inspired by the article. Which is fine since when I went back to check the “recipe” is more of a method. Whatever, it’s still delicious.

What is it about asparagus that is so lovely? Sometimes I wonder if it would be so popular if it were available year round. Asparagus tastes pretty grassy, very green, which normally means “healthy” and therefore unpopular. But the beginning of the season is always exciting. It becomes a topic of conversation, “Asparagus is back!” By the end of the I’m usually pretty sick of it and almost glad to see it go. Yes, I feel a little guilty about that, as if I’m supposed to appreciate it more. In a few weeks I’ll probably be pushing it on friends in an effort to get rid of it. But for now, a bowl of pasta with a vibrantly green asparagus sauce is just what I’m looking for. After all, it is the taste of spring.

Last year we ate: Limoncello

Asparagus pesto *
Inspired by Mark Bittman’s article in The New York Times

Makes about one cup of pesto

Just like any pesto, this one is customizable to what you like. Less nuts, more cheese, no garlic, add some lemon. Taste it as you go so that you can make the pesto that you love best.

1 lb asparagus, woody stems removed and spears cut into 3 inch lengths
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Fill a pot large enough to fit a steamer basket or colander inside (whatever pot you use for steaming vegetables) with about two inches of water and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Place the asparagus in a steamer or colander and put it over the boiling water so the water doesn’t touch the vegetables. Steam the asparagus for about 10 minutes or until it is dark green and tender. Covering it will speed up the steaming process.

Once the asparagus is steamed add it to a food processor or blender with the oil, cheese, nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper. Blend or process it until smooth. You may need to work in batches if, like me, you only have a mini appliance. When the sauce is smooth enough for you, taste it and adjust any seasonings as needed. Then serve it immediately over pasta, toast, or grilled meat, or store it in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can eat it cold but I think the flavor is best warm or at room temperature.

* My original instructions for this say “Blend. Eat.” It’s not really much more complicated than that.

Chocolate Sorbet

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Deanne

Sometimes you just need a hug. Last week was pretty much like that except that people I needed to hug all live on the East Coast, near or in the city of Boston. There’s a lot to love about living in San Francisco but when tragic things happen, the distance between the coasts feel even bigger. It’s made me homesick for New England and wishing I could find a better way to show people out there how much I love them. So this chocolate sorbet will have to do. After all, food is an expression of love. This is my love letter to Boston.

This sorbet is for you.

But before I raise your expectations: this is not chocolate ice cream. I’m not actually a big fan of that, mostly because I don’t think chocolate ice cream really tastes like chocolate. All the dairy gets in the way and what you end up with is this muddled milky chocolatey flavor which is just not as good as the real stuff. If I’m eating chocolate I want it to be dark and rich; I want to good stuff. You probably do too, right? This is the good stuff. It’s essentially a mix of hot chocolate and actual chocolate, melted together and frozen into someone scoopable. It’s for people who wish chocolate ice cream tasted more like chocolate.

There’s an amazing local chocolate maker in San Francisco called Tcho and when I made this sorbet this time around, I was inspired by my favorite of their chocolates. It’s a “citrus” flavored one but without lemon. Their chocolate is pure cacao and sugar with the flavor coming from the beans themselves. I used actual lemon but the point is the same: chocolate and lemon make a wonderful pairing. I’m sure you know about chocolate and coffee, chocolate and nuts, chocolate and berries, even chocolate and orange. The lemon is just as good albeit less well known when used sparingly. The citrusy tang with the fruitiness of good chocolate – it’s a whole new thing and a delicious one at that.

Chocolate is a good thing and this sorbet is certainly a good way to say “I love you” – although the words themselves are just as good. It’s not a cure-all but it’s still a little salve for what ails you. A sweet pick me up after a hard week. As much as I’d like to, I can’t reach through the screen and share this with you. But if I could I’d be at the front door, with open arms. And a pint full of ice cream.

Last year we ate: Kiwi Chutney

Chocolate Sorbet
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop, by David Leibovitz

Makes about a quart of sorbet

Lemon and chocolate is my thing but maybe yours is nuts and chocolate, in which case substitute almond extract for the lemon. Or maybe you like berries so use a spoonful of jam. What about coffee? Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the second batch of water.

Sorbet doesn’t have as much fat as ice cream and it has more water which means it freezes harder than ice cream will. You might want to let it sit out for a few minutes before scooping it.

2 cups water, divided
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
6 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped *
Zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp lemon flavor

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Put the pan over medium-high heat and bring the ingredients to a boil. Let it boil for about a minute, whisking continuously, until everything is melted. Then remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Continue to whisk until the chocolate is melted.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup water, the lemon juice, zest, and lemon flavor to the chocolate and stir to combine. Then chill the mixture thoroughly before freezing it in your ice cream maker. Alternatively you could pour the chocolate sorbet base into ice cube molds or other small containers and freeze it, then put the small amount of frozen sorbet into a food processor and process until smooth. It won’t get rid of all the ice crystals but it isn’t a bad way to make sorbet or ice cream without an ice cream maker.

To prevent the finished sorbet from getting freezer burned, put a piece of parchment over the sorbet in the container so that it isn’t exposed to air. It should keep in the freezer for at least a month, if it lasts that long.

*Chocolate chips often have stabilizers in them to help them hold their shape after baking so I wouldn’t recommend using them here. Get a good bar of chocolate and chop it up.

Tomatillo Salsa

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Deanne

Around here, there are more taquerias than you can shake a stick at. You can walk almost any direction from my front door and hit at least one within 10 minutes, either a traditional brick and mortar or one of the many taco trucks that set up shop in the neighborhood. People choose favorites based on any number of factors. I judge taquerias by their salsa.

Most places have the same selection of salsas to choose from after you get your burrito or tacos or whatever. There’s a mild bright red ranchero-style sauce, a deeper red and smoky chipotle version, and a green salsa. It’s this last one I always dip into first, not because I like salsa verde but because I love tomatillo salsa. I’m always hoping the sweet/savory/tangy flavor of those funny paper wrapped fruits will be what I find. More often it’s the heat of green chiles seasoned with disappointment.

Who knows how this Massachusetts kid came to love tomatillo salsa because we sure didn’t have it where I grew up. There was one taqueria I knew of in Boston and I only discovered that in high school; before that my Mexican food was all El Paso and Tostidos inspired. But someone I fell for tomatillos which look like a tomato but taste like something else entirely. I supposed what rhubarb is to berries, tomatillo is to vegetables. It’s a little sweet and tart and it cannot be eaten raw. But cooked with onions and spices into a salsa it’s a pretty perfect accompaniment to your homemade tacos. Or, you know, your take out burrito.

I can’t let this post close without mentioning the tragedy that happened earlier this week at the Boston Marathon. Marathon Monday is important all over the state, even to those of us who lived out in the suburbs. It was a day off school for one thing. My dad used to work near the starting line and I know people who live, or have lived, near various points of the race. I even know a few people who have run Boston although thankfully none of them were participating this year. Monday’s events broke my heart, not only because of how much pain it caused that city I love, but also because of how proud I was to see Bostonians rise to meet the challenge and support people who were hurt, physically or otherwise, by the attack. I may be a West Coaster now but Boston is always in my heart.

Last year we ate: Cranberry Fudge

Tomatillo Salsa
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Alright, so back to this salsa. You have two choices for how to put it together depending on your preferences. If you like a chunky salsa then chop everything up into a medium dice so that the final product will have some texture. But a) I am lazy and b) I like a smoother salsa so I just roughly chopped it and then blended everything after cooking. Either way works just fine.

1-2 tbs oil
1 pound tomatillos (You can find these in Whole Foods but also much cheaper in a local Mexican or South American grocery store if you have one), peeled, washed, and chopped
1 tbs kosher salt, divided
2 small or 1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup pickled jalapenos or 2-3 fresh jalapenos *
1 tbs freshly ground cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
Juice of 1-2 limes

Place a large non-reactive frying pan (try stainless steel) over medium heat and add the oil. Give it a few minutes to warm up and then add the tomatillos and onions along with a 1/2 tablespoon of the salt. Cook it over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatillos start to break down and turn a duller green and the onions are very soft. Add the jalapenos and cumin and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the peppers have softened too. Taste to see if it needs more salt.

Take the salsa off the heat and add the cilantro and juice of one lime juice and taste again for seasoning. You can add the rest of the lime juice and more salt if you think it needs more. At this point you can blend the salsa to make it smoother or just leave it chunky. Kept in a sealed contained in the fridge, the salsa should keep for up to two weeks. Eat it on just about everything.

* I pickled a bunch of jalapenos last summer when I got a bag super cheap at a farmer’s market. But you could just as easily use fresh ones. The heat is in the seeds and the ribs inside the pepper so if you prefer less heat, simply remove those things before chopping up the jalapeno.

Impromptu Kitchen

Making the most of what you already have