Monday, May 30, 2011

Recipe 95: Saute'ed Ramps with Applewood Smoked Bacon

The challenge: 1)As a city girl, I needed to find ramps, they don't sell these in stores;-). Solution-Travel to visit friend in Ludington, search for ramps there, but without prior planning...2)Small town farm land meets big city gourmet...where do you find Applewood smoked bacon in Ludington? None of the farmer's are advertising. Since I didn't plan this recipe, I didn't pick up the bacon before hand.

The story: I was planning to stay home this weekend and garden, knit, read, cook and sleep. It sounded like a good plan. Jeri called me and asked me to come to Ludington to help her with some projects and visit. I decided to go, after only a little nudging. After all, spending the weekend with friends would be just a bit more fun, and the garden can go in when I have a little more cash flow. Maybe the weather will be better.

I get there Saturday afternoon, and after speckling her walls to prep for more paint, I ask if there is a good place to search for ramps around Ludington. Jeri then asks her dad, who sends us off to a two track that hasn't been plowed over, but has dips bigger than her car tires and a nice sand pit in the middle of the trail. This may bring back memories for some of you. To Jeri, this was the undercarriage cleaning provided courtesy of mother nature. As we wound through the trail and around and through dips and over the sand pit, she reminded me she hadn't yet told her car it was not a truck. I thought that a wise idea.

The directions were reasonable, and though it was late in the season and it has been quite rainy. So we dug up the ramps, kept some leaves-the ones that weren't too yellow or yucky. Then we took the ramps back to clean them off and separate them. We also picked some for Jeri's dad, to thank him for the directions. Of course, while there, I asked about sorrel, which I've cooked with, but gets expensive. I'll have to find some another time. Jeri's herb-expert friend, Maggie, could not locate sorrel at this time, so we'll have to look another day. Its not required for this recipe, anyways.

The next day, after visiting Jeri's church and Maggie's step-mother's birthday party in Manistee(in which I was invited back to the next party in early August, maybe even the 4th of July), we went searching for Applewood-smoked bacon. I felt bad about being exact, and after two stores, thought maybe I'd have to bring the ramps home to make it. Jeri and Maggie are not stopped that easily. Jeri called the local Meijer in Ludington to check if they had Applewood-Smoked bacon, not hardwood smoked. It was pricier than I planned, but it worked out, after we checked two other stores and found an interesting sage cheese that while quite good, would also make a great eery brain cover for a halloween dish or a fun St. Patrick's day cheese. I think this was at Best Choice. In the end, we went to five stores in two counties to find Applewood-smoked Bacon at Meijer. This time, I had two friends with me on the adventure, and neither one of them complained about this search. They're people I'm glad to call friends.

After calling other friends and letting Maggie have at it with barbecue sauce-co-conspired by Jeri, we had some excellent chicken on the barbecue and I don't care much for barbecue...I've just never had barbecue with Joyce's Black and Red Raspberry Homemade Jam before. Maggie's barbecue sauce will be posted on Blindly Dash later on Facebook. I put Jeri's nephew to work on the ramps first, but he didn't like onions and ended up with another kitchen duty. Being almost a teenager, we decided it was time he got an appreciation for what goes into a good feast while he normally plays video games.

I think I ended up making a double batch of this recipe which takes 6 oz applewood-smoked bacon(which smelled just incredible and added a nice sweetness) to 1# or so of ramps as well as the leaves, with salt and pepper to taste. It didn't need much salt and pepper. I sauteed the bacon, but probably added the ramps a little soon. I also realized I might not have had the heat high enough. The ramps didn't carmelize as quick as they were supposed to. Jeri did come into to help me with this part, as I began to lose patience after slicing ramps into quarter inch pieces, and forgetting that double the size often takes double the cooking time. She helped me to ensure the dish came out great, instead of just okay. Its good to have friends help. I'm sure I have forgotten some great funny detail, but that's what the comment section is for.

I will definitely make this recipe again, probably earlier in the Spring, likely with a little more planning. It wasn't the weekend I planned, but it was all the better for the unplanned and adventurous to take over for a bit.

Happy Ramp Searching, my friends!

Recipe 94: Rustic Blackberry Cobbler

The challenge: Feeling healthy enough to cook. I'd gotten another spring cold from walking in a cool, damp rain. After deciding James was cooking on Wednesday, I made simple chicken fajitas on Thursday. Having bought some blackberries fresh on the Friday or Saturday before, I decided they needed to be used soon. Fortunately, this was not a three hour dish. I also cheated with this recipe and picked up some frozen blackberries as I wasn't sure I had quite enough for this recipe.

So as I was making dinner, I began the berry prep and halved the recipe first off, I didn't have 4 full pints of blackberries, and there are only two of us. The standard recipe serves six to eight people. So I popped in two pints of blackberries, sugar, a little cornstarch, and a teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I've bought so many lemons, I think its just habit to walk into the store and pick up a lemon and pop it in the cart.

Once the berries were tossed and mixed with the juice thickener, I popped them into a 375 degree oven and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Then I began the pastry dough, all while subjecting James to a favorite old movie from high school that I had watched previously that week, _Used People_. You should like romances if you run out and rent this movie, or add it to your Netflix queue. For the biscuit part, I included flour, baking powder, salt, some cold unsalted butter and mixed with my hands until I formed course crumbs. I'm finding my hands work best for this, but I do not have a pastry blender to try, and I find I prefer to just get in there with my hands. Once I got to the coarse crumb texture I added some buttermilk and homemade vanilla(whiskey cured vanilla bean) and formed a dough, which I then rolled out and cut into rounds using a ramekin, it was handy and close to recommended two and a half inches.

When the berries were juiced and ready from the baking, I added the biscuits to the top and returned the dish to the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. After a few moments of letting the berries cool (15-20), I served them up in bowls and James thought they were good enough to take the entire dish home. He settled for seconds. I was kind enough to share the leftovers with him the next night for dessert.

It is still a little early for blackberries though, so they were a little tart, but I think I found that even in the frozen ones. I will definitely make this recipe again. I expect it will be with fresh blackberries and raspberries hand-picked from my backyard. James also put in a request for a blueberry recipe of this later in the summer. I have a strong feeling we'll be seeing this recipe again and often during the summer, though I've yet to update the Rhubarb-strawberry crisp and will play with berries in that recipe as well. It could be fun summer of berries;-).

Recipe 93: Poblano and Hatch Chile Stew

The challenge: Feeling up to blogging, and finding affordable recipes with farm fresh food during a cold spring. I've made one asparagas recipe and the other takes the expensive parmigiano-reggiano cheese. I'm thinking of substituting another parmesan, based out of Wisconsin, but I have to try it first. So, for this recipe, I did find poblano chiles, which I enjoy. Part of me gave up on finding hatch chiles and simply used anaheim. If I find hatch chiles later in the season(they are not from this region), I will add a comment to this post about how it turns out.

The recipe: I took a few poblano chiles and a couple of hatch chiles and roasted them in the oven(I'm becoming an old hat on roasting). The peppers then are coarsely chopped and set aside. The book recommends wearing gloves while handling chiles. If you do not wear gloves, wash your hands thoroughly when you finish handling chiles. And maybe this should go without saying, do not touch your face while handling the chiles. I managed it this time, but have had minor issues with this in the past. Enjoy your chiles safely;-).

Next you heat a bit of oil in a large sauce pan. Since I do not have a dishwasher, I used the soup pan. I added bell peppers, onions, and garlic and saute'ed for a few moments until the onions are golden brown and tender. Next, I added homemade chicken stock. (You can use water or vegetable stock instead). I like chicken flavor in my soups/stews when there is no other meat present.

With the water/stock, add the cubed potatoes, salt and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 45 minutes until the potato is tender. Once the potato is tender-tested by inserting a fork, I added the roasted, chopped chiles that had been set aside earlier. Then I cooked for another 20 minutes.

When the stew is ready to serve, add the cilantro, ladle the stew into bowls and serve right away with sour cream or creme fraiche. You can also serve it with tortilla chips. I used the sourcream and find it delicious.

I will definitely make this recipe again. And I apologize for the delay in posting it, which leaves out some of the fun details. However, I was not called away to a band concert or off to Ludington in the meantime. The trip to Ludington is coming soon, and involves ramp-hunting on a trail that gives your car an "undercarriage cleaning" as Jeri euphemistically suggested. I'm grateful she has a sense of humor. But that's another blog to come.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Recipe 92: Emeril's Homemade Mayonnaise

Almost as much of a stitch as the Garden Celery with Homemade Pimento Cheese, but not as much as its just a smidgen easier and slightly less interrupted. While grating the 8oz of cheese for the pimento dip, I realized I needed the cheese at room temperature, and eggs for the mayonnaise. I set the cheese aside, and went to get the eggs. On the way to get the eggs, my nephew reminded me of his concert in less than an hour a half hour away. I finished my errands, grabbed my knitting, sped(only a little) to the concert, and walked in as the instructor was still introducing the band and his reasons for picking Jukebox Sunday. Of course, my family was sitting in the front row. I joined them, situated my young nieces to make room for me, and sat down to hear them begin with Takin' Care of Business. I could hang out here. And now, as asked on the knitting page I'm on, when I'm not cooking or reading or knitting, I'm taking my knitting out in public so people see people knit(and we're not all old grandmas-that does crack me up).

I listened to the band, knit, and chatted quietly and shushed my nieces. Then I got home ten minutes before James(my boyfriend) had to leave for work. Then I went home and began to make the mayonnaise. The egg and egg yolk was supposed to be at room temperature-I see a pattern forming here. I finished grating the cheese, which does not go into the mayonnaise. So, back to the mayo.

I place the egg and egg yolk in the food processor, add 1 1/2 tsps of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a little dijon mustard, some minced garlic, kosher salt and a pinch of ground white pepper or cayenne pepper(more to taste). I pulsed to combine, then mixed the oils and prepared to pour into a running food processor in a thin, steady stream. I've never had a problem with the oil, but I've always managed to get it into mostly a thin, steady stream. This same note was on a Paula Deen recipe I once made. If you don't add the oil in a thin, steady stream both chefs inform me there will be problems. Emeril tells me the mayonnaise will break. While I'm not entirely certain what that means, I'm assuming separate; I'm not sure I want to find out.

I will only make this recipe again on an as needed basis. It makes a good mayonnaise, fresh is always better and worth the work, but I don't eat/use a lot of mayonnaise-now I need to find a use for the mayo.

Recipe 91: Garden Celery with Homemade Pimento Cheese

So, I bought the celery, the peppers, onion, and sharp cheddar cheese. I set the items out to work with on Sunday afternoon, and began to grate the cheddar cheese-1 small brick. As I'm grating, I review the apparently simple recipe and notice it mentions the cheese should be at room temperature and the bell pepper should be roasted. I also realize I need eggs for the homemade mayonnaise(blog to come) I need to make. I decided to pause grating the cheese and go get the eggs, after all the cheese is still cold.

On my way to the local grocery store to purchase eggs, my 11yo nephew texts me to ask if I'm coming to his band concert, nearly an hour away two towns over. I call him back to tell him I should be able to make it as soon as I finish some errands. I had probably mentioned before I would go, when it "may have been mentioned a month before" (at Easter). I actually enjoy his concerts. This one was Juke Box Sunday and began with Taking Care of Business by the High School Jazz Band, and ended with Queen with everyone on stage. I took my knitting and realized I needed quieter needles, but you could only hear them when the conductor/instructor was speaking, so I didn't knit while he was speaking. My nieces looked as if they wanted this item knit for them, but that could be another blog. Back to the recipe...after the concert.

I get home in time to see my boyfriend off to work, at his house, finish my facebook addiction, then go home to return to the cheese which I guarantee is at room temperature now. I'm glad it wasn't warmer out, I might've had to worry about spoilage.

I decide to make the mayonnaise, then return to grating the cheddar cheese. You could buy store-bought shredded cheddar, but I wanted the excuse to try the good stuff, and I like grating my own cheese. It usually has a better flavor. While I'm grating the cheese, I remember the red pepper needs to be roasted. I crank the electric oven to 450 degrees and begin roasting. I check it in two minutes, like the book tells me too, back on page 44, I'm supposed to be on page 152. Not yet, I didn't pre-heat the oven, thankfully(this time). Once the oven comes up to temp, I start trying to remember to turn the pepper every couple of minutes. Finally, its blistered and turning black-which tells me its about ready. I pulled it out of the oven, peeled the pepper, seeded it and minced this baby into something resembling minced pepper.

Now the real fun begins, there's only one way I know to get 2 teaspoons of grated red onion--you have to grate an onion. I sliced off a chunk, and began to grate it and was grateful when it was over. I'm not sure if I got the exact amount, but when grating onions, there comes a point when enough is enough;-). It was a little rough on the eyes.

Next, add a pinch of salt plus a dash, enough to taste, another pinch of Louisiana hot sauce, or two dashes, and a dash of cayenne pepper.

The instructions are quite simple: Combine all the ingredients except the celery in a medium bowl and stir to blend well. Refrigerate until slightly chilled.

To serve, trim the ends off and remove any extra fibrous strings, cut into skinny batons/wands for dipping, chilled.

Once it was done, I tasted it and it was pretty good. The next day, it tasted even better. Its still good a week later(the recipe says it will keep for two days). I had a slight chest cold last week, and had to wait until tonight when I felt up to eating cheese with mayonnaise again.

I will definitely make this recipe again, with the cheese already at room temperature, and hopefully not with a nephew's band concert in the middle of it. I must admit, the band concert rocked too.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Recipe 90: Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

The challenge: Finding the directions and roasting the red peppers while making a risotto. Next time, I know to make this recipe ahead of time. But the directions are pretty simple, and I thought the Note: was the directions. They were snuck in above it.

Pretty simple, I roasted two bell peppers that totaled nearly 1#. Then I toasted and slightly burned some pine nuts after the "risotto" was done. Pine nuts are expensive, so I tossed them in slightly burned. Fortunately, they are not as sensitive as sesame seeds. They still worked. I added red wine vinegar-which is centrally located on my new lazy-susan on my counter and works well for the organization phase of my kitchen. Then I added Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, fresh parsley, fresh basil leaves, lemon juice-again, fresh, some extra virgin olive oil(the good stuff), salt and pepper.

I then hit the pulse button on the food processor as directed and created a nice sauce for Recipe 89: Swiss Chard Boules filled with Lemon Barley "Risotto"

I will definitely make this recipe again, with the Swiss Chard Boules or even for a steak.

Recipe 89: Swiss Chard Boules Filled with Lemon Barley "Risotto"

The challenge: Making Barley "Risotto," and finding a good white wine; and convincing James he would like this recipe;-).

I began by blanching the Swiss Chard and spreading out over clean dry towels, and letting them dry while I prepared the risotto. I rendered the diced pancetta and managed not to eat it all-I have no willpower to keep from eating porkfat while I cook it. I'm sure some of you will find that hilarious, since I don't eat pork chops or pork loin if I can avoid it, and don't care much for ham...but add some fat or other ingredients into sausage or give me bacon and I can't stop myself;-). Go figure, I never claimed to make sense even to myself.

Next I added the shallot and swiss chard stems. After that cooked a few moments, I added the barley, salt and pepper and dry white wine. I found my homemade source for this one, and while the wine is not great, its not bad either. It worked for this recipe. Great thanks to Lauri of Salt River Winery for being willing to trade wine for empty bottles.

At this point, the Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp was ready to come out of the oven, so I set it on a trivet, and poured the chicken stock into the barley "risotto." I continued stirring for 45 minutes while adding the chicken stock a half cup at a time, and was somewhat amazed to watch the chicken stock be absorbed as the recipe said it would. I love when that happens. When the half hour hit, I realized I was having my face steamed, throughout this process and it smelled really good. I would eat just the lemon-barley "risotto." I hoped it would be just as good with the Swiss chard wrapping.

Somewhere during this time, I began working on the red pepper coleus(next recipe in this blog). I began roasting the peppers at 250-300 degrees and realized it was taking longer than it should. I flipped the page to check the recipe and realized I was supposed to roast at 450 degrees with a table spoon of olive oil included. I added it and adjusted the temp. and my oven became a smoky roast-master. As I added another half cup of chicken stock every 5-6 minutes I made sure to check the peppers and turn them.

Once the risotto was ready, I poured it into parchment paper in a baking pan and spread it out to help it cool. Then I worked on the coleus(sauce). About ten to fifteen minutes in, I realized I forgot to fold in the parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, so I pulled the cold "risotto" out of the freezer and tried to fold it in. I ended up sprinkling it on top, realizing it would half to get rolled in when I wrapped it in the Swiss chard.

Shortly, thereafter, I began rolling the boules with the risotto mix inside. Then I popped them in another baking dish 13x9. I only got 11 instead of 12, but I called it close enough and called James with the 25 minute warning. Then I sat down with a good book until the alarm went off to tell me to pull it out of the oven.

James did enjoy it, as did I. James threatened to eat the entire pan there. Fortunately, Barley is filling and I had dessert on hand. About three hours later, he did feel hungry again, and somewhere in there, when I pointed out that I made this all by myself, he said he got to take partial credit for having the good sense(or something like that) to buy me this particular cookbook.

I will definitely make this recipe again, especially on one of those chilly days when you don't want to turn the heat on and it needs to warm up outside.

Recipe 88: Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

The challenge: 1) Finding the Rhubarb Emeril claims announces the arrival of Spring! I did it, good firm rhubarb was at Ric's when I picked up the pancetta. I'm so glad I checked again (they didn't have any the day before). 2) Not eating the whole darned thing throughout the day today. I think the first challenge might be easier.

How to make it...dice the rhubarb, quarter the strawberries, mix them with 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 T. cornstarch and 2 tsps freshly squeezed lemon juice. Mix it all together and pop it into a lightly buttered deep dish pie plate or casserole pan(1 1/2-3 quart baking dish). While those flavors mingle, let the fun begin.

Now add all purpose flour and rolled oats in equal amounts, some packed light brown sugar, cold , unsalted butter cut up, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. The recipe calls for you to mix it in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Since this is still on my wish list, I tried my electric mixer. The butter didn't budge. I finally said forget this, set the mixer aside and dove in with both hands to from a crumbly crust.

When I got it about where I wanted it, I spread it over the strawberry-rhubarb mixture and popped the whole thing in the oven for 40 minutes while I began the next recipe, after washing my hands of course.

There is one more challenge in this recipe: I don't like rhubarb, not even straight out of the garden. I wasn't sure I would like it here. But I'm committed to trying each of these recipes, and I've heard so many people ooh and ahh over the strawberry rhubarb combination, that I thought this one might have a chance. So, i pulled it out of the oven, just before I began the semi-tricky part of the next recipe(sigh of relief here), and set it on the table with the intention of re-heating it before I served it to warm it.

I entirely forgot to re-heat it, James took his fork or spoon and cut his own piece as he was suggesting I wouldn't have any left over dinner to take for lunch next week. Then I tried it, and realized that I'll be making this recipe often(and I think you can get away with it for under $10, maybe), but its not entirely diet friendly. I'll be cutting down the sugars next time, to see how that works.

I will definitely make this recipe again. It might be worth for someone to buy the book for this, and the cheesy herb popovers;-), and a few other recipes I love;-)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Recipe 87: Escarole Soup

The challenge...mincing 10 cloves of garlic and chopping 1 large onion. Oh, and getting the soup into the fridge without spilling it down your pants(still hot) is considered a very good thing.

No matter how simple the recipe, I seem to find a way to keep things interesting. The soup itself-garlic-10 cloves, 1 large onion, 1/2 teaspoon or a full teaspoon of crushed red pepper, 8 cups of chicken stock/broth (I used half stock, half broth) wasn't great. However, its early in the season for lettuce, so this escarole was a little on the bitter side. Then again, that might be how its supposed to be. It sweetened up and mellowed out in the stock and garlic-or there was enough garlic to cover the bitterness.

I grated the pecorino-romano and parmigiano-reggiano cheeses to add in afterwords and topped with fresh parsley. Now its not just okay, its very good. I could see where the fresh chives would work very well in here-I need to grab some on the way home tonight.

It wasn't crave worthy, and other stories were slightly more interesting to tell first this morning at work. But, its made and its good. Maybe it will be better re-heated the second day. Just make sure there's room in the fridge when you go to put it in. I did spill a full quart of hot soup on myself and that wasn't fun. Of course, now I have to figure out how to clean this up and attend to the mild burning sensation I'm not discussing in polite company.

I was glad it was dark and the neighbors were likely in bed as I tossed the lettuce from the soup outside. I was also glad it didn't all fit into the container I spilled, but that came after the clean up. This way, I don't have to prep another side dish for dinner tonight. Here's hoping I don't attempt to clean the other half of my kitchen floor with soup;-). My mild burning sensation is fine now and allowed me to wear pants to work today, so enjoy a good laugh at my expense.

I will probably make this recipe again, when I next need to mop my kitchen floor;-).