November 24, 2009
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, November 20, 2009 at 11:25 AM
[Photograph: Kerry Saretsky]
Read more about this recipe here.
- makes about 2/3 cup -
Ingredients
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup toasted blanched and slivered almonds
2 2-ounce cans flat anchovy filets in olive oil, drained
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Procedure
Obliterate the garlic in a mini food processor. Then pulse the almonds until they are in a rubble. Add the anchovies, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil and black pepper. Run the machine until it is an anchovy paste.
Posted by Kristen Swensson, November 16, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!
[Photograph: Kristen Swensson]
My love affair with avocados began only recently, after many years of pointed avoidance. I thought their fat content was too high; they argued their health benefits more than made up for it. I thought they were expensive; they went on sale. I thought their color and inherent squishiness were kind of gross; they told me I was being a jerk.
Guac is the stuff of life.
Then, guacamole leapt onto my radar, and everything changed for the better. Guac is the stuff of life, see, and it's impossible to hate on any ingredient composing the stuff of life. I still have some concerns about the dip's fat, sure, but they're addressed easily enough with a few vegetables. Padding the guac with produce adds both texture and bulk, and does so inexpensively.
This Tomatillo Guacamole is a slightly tweaked All Recipes dish. I made it twice, and found it a tad too tangy the first time. So, for the second attempt, I dropped one of the tomatillos, added cilantro, and subbed a jalapeno in for red pepper flakes. A smaller dice helped to smooth things out as well. The result was about of quart of stellar, lighter guacamole, clocking in at 89 calories, 7.5 grams of fat, and 4.8 grams of fiber per serving.
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Posted by MichaelNatkin, November 4, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Note: Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious drops by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire.
[Photograph: Michael Natkin]
If you just looked at the picture and didn't read the title, you probably just thought this was hummus, right? Wrong! While they look superficially similar, hummus is made primarily of chickpeas, while tahina is a puree of sesame seeds seasoned with lemon juice and garlic.
Hummus is well-known in the west, inspiring frightful variations with textures comparable to drywall cement, while tahina's praises go unsung. Which is a shame, because it is easy to throw together, delicious, and very nutritious.
To make matters more confusing, tahina can also be spelled tehineh or tehina, and its main ingredient is tahini. All you have to keep in mind is that tahini is just the pureed raw sesame seeds, while tahina is the prepared sauce.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, October 28, 2009 at 12:45 PM
"Drummond says she's caught her guests stuffing these little guys into their purses."
[Flickr: nonelvis]
Jalapeño poppers have no redeeming nutritional value, no cult following (at least not one I am aware of), and aren't exactly the classiest of foods. But I love them, shamelessly. I have been known to make secret late-night pilgrimages to the Jack in the Box drive-thru solely to obtain these nasty little treats (with extra ranch dressing, of course). I'm even guilty of buying the frozen supermarket version in dire times.
So you can only imagine my joy when I found the first recipe in Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks was for BBQ Jalapeño Poppers. For years I'd been wanting to make them at home and now was my chance! And the best part, this recipe doesn't force you to choose between stuffing the poppers with either cream cheese or cheddar—it calls for both.
Armed with a bag of jalapeños, a pound of bacon, blocks of cheddar and cream cheese, I headed into the kitchen. Throwing caution to the wind, I halved and seeded my peppers without the protective aid of rubber gloves. Sure, my fingers tingled a bit, but I'll chalk it up to nervous excitement. I mixed the cheeses and scallions, stuffed the peppers and lovingly wrapped each one in bacon.
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Posted by Kerry Saretsky, October 20, 2009 at 7:00 PM
[Photographs: Kerry Saretsky]
They say you eat first with your eyes. I love the contrast of these ingredients: black pumpernickel baguette, salty Manchego, sweet-tart orange-tangerine marmalade, crunchy hazelnuts, and black Himalayan salt. Not only do the orange and black provide the required spooky contrast, but the salty and sweet flavors play against each other for a really surprising and triumphant combination. Happy Halloween!
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Posted by Kristen Swensson, October 19, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!
[Photograph: Kristen Swensson]
Football season is never easy for healthy eaters. Every Sunday, we're confronted by smorgasbords that'd make Tony Siragusa blush. And during gamedays filled with KFC Famous Bowls and Cadillac Pimento Cheese Balls, it helps to have alternatives that a.) don't include a cup of mayonnaise, and b.) are identifiable as food.
Let's cut to the chase, then: there's only one problem with Giada DeLaurentiis' Spinach and Cannellini Bean Dip, and that is you will never, ever want to stop eating it. It is the 1972 Dolphins of dips. It's right up there with Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Spread, which is the highest honor one can bestow on a dip.
Each one-third of a cup serving comes out to 87 calories, 2.7 grams of fat, and 3.7 grams of fiber, making it lighter than hummus and only a single Weight Watchers point. One could call it a touchdown.
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Posted by MichaelNatkin, October 7, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Note: Serious Eater Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious drops by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire.
[Photograph: Michael Natkin]
If you grew tomatoes this year, chances are you've still got a few green ones sulking on the vines. You've been holding out hopes that they are going to ripen. Time to face the truth, and today's recipe will ease the pain.
Southerners long ago figured out that green tomatoes, lightly breaded and pan-fried, have a delicious tang that you will look forward to. You might even find yourself sneaking a few in August next year. Smoky, spicy mayo is my favorite companion for fried green tomatoes.
This version has one surprising ingredient: tomato leaves. I know, I know. You think they are toxic. Harold McGee says think again, which is good enough for me, though you can of course omit them and increase the parsley if you are really concerned. Personally, I find the smell of tomato leaves completely intoxicating, so I love the chance to infuse a bit into my sauce.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, September 25, 2009 at 5:45 PM
"There's a difference between the pleasantly doughy boiled dumpling and the chewier, semi-translucent steamed dumpling."
I may be from Shanghai, but I think I make some pretty mean dumplings for a Southern gal. From buns, bread, and noodles, the Northern Chinese are adept at manipulating flour and water in a way that Southerners, being rice-eating folk, are not. So it wasn't until I traveled to Beijing that I began to understand the fine craft of dumplings.
Living in the capital, I probably consumed hundreds of dumplings in the course of three months. Over time I began to distinguish the merely good from the truly exceptional.
An exceptional dumpling fulfills two criteria: first, a supple, slightly chewy skin that ranges from delicately thin to heartily medium-thick. Second, a filling that's appropriately juicy, derived from the broth of meat or the liquid of vegetables.
Too many Chinese establishments use fat as a substitute rather than a complement to flavor. Over the course of a meal, the fat overload becomes more and more apparent. By making dumplings at home, you can control the proportions in your filling and experiment with the dough until you find a thickness you like.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, September 25, 2009 at 10:59 AM
- serves 20 appetizer portions -
Published with permission from Joan Nathan.
Ingredients
3 pounds fish fillets (whitefish and pike, 1 1/2 pounds each)
4 medium Bermuda onions, peeled and diced (about 2 pounds)
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups cold water
6 tablespoon matzah meal
1 tablespoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
2 large carrots, peeled
Parsley for garnish
Procedure
1. Have your fish store grind the fillets or grind them yourself in a food processor or meat grinder. Do not puree, but grind fine.
2. Sauté the diced onions in the oil until soft and transparent but not brown. Cool.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer place the fish, onions, eggs, water, matzah meal, salt, white pepper, and sugar. Beat at medium speed for 15 minutes. Grate in the carrots and mix well.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased 12-cup bundt pan. Smooth the top with a spatula and bake in a preheated 325 °F oven for 1 hour in a larger pan filled with 2 inches water.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and continue baking for 1 hour or until the center is solid. Cook for 5 minutes and then invert onto a flat serving plate.
6. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Slice as you would a torte and serve as an appetizer, garnished with parsley and served with red horseradish sauce. Leftovers keep for up to five days.
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, September 25, 2009 at 10:58 AM
- serves about 6 -
Published with permission from Arthur Schwartz.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeño pepper (with or without seeds, depending on how hot you want it)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 to 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet, on its skin and in one piece approximately 8-inches long and 8-inches wide
Procedure
1. In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the salmon.
2. Assemble the dish at least 2 1/2 hours before serving and as much as 12 hours: With a very sharp, long-bladed knife, slice the salmon as thin as possible, working at a sharp diagonal and cutting in the same direction as the grain of the fish—in other words, the way smoked salmon is usually sliced. Discard the skin.
3. Arrange half the salmon slices in one layer (they may be very slightly overlapping) in a large, shallow serving dish or 9- by 12-inch glass (or stainless steel) baking (or roasting) pan.
4. Drizzle on half the sauce.
5. Cover with the rest of the salmon slices and spread with the remaining sauce.
6. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
7. Serve with wedges of lime, if desired, and thinly sliced white toast or black bread.
Posted by MichaelNatkin, September 23, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Serious Eater Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious drops by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire.
[Photograph: Michael Natkin]
Keftes de prasa are de rigeur at most holiday celebrations on the Sephardic side of my family. Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Hannukah--it doesn't matter. Any excuse is good enough reason to enjoy these simple leek fritters. Not much more than leeks, eggs, and breadcrumbs, they are deceptively delicious and addictive. Almost like latkes but with leeks instead of potatoes.
Like latkes, they are great fun at a celebration, but after sitting out for too long, they lose that perfect crispness that makes fried food really special. If you make them for a small group and serve them fresh from the pan, I guarantee your guests will be begging for a return invitation.
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Posted by Andrea Lynn, September 23, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat.
[Flickr: swanksalot]
[Photograph: Andrea Lynn]
Who doesn't love classic Buffalo-style chicken wings? Especially when football season beckons. During my days doing restaurant work, when the dinner service was finished, I was responsible for cooking up hot wings—it was the midnight snack of choice. All you need is a fryer, chicken wings, Frank’s Hot Sauce, and butter.
But what if you don’t have a fryer (or grill, for that matter)? Can’t my oven and broiler churn out hot wings nearly as good? I make no qualms about my love for Sriracha, so I decided to skip the Frank’s and go all-Sriracha for my wing sauce. A little sprinkle of Sichuan peppercorns and soy sauce added to the Asian flair of the dish, which turned out to be exactly what I was craving. The oven cooked the chicken, while the broiler helped infuse the sauce into the wings and crisp them up. What are your favorite ways to spice up hot wings?
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Posted by Caroline Russock, September 22, 2009 at 1:45 PM
At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, sometimes I enjoy the cocktail hour snacks that I have assembled before a dinner party more than the dinner itself. As a home cook I am incapable of making a simple dinner for a few people. Even the most casual dinner invitation that I extend eventually turns into a big to-do. There's the menu-planning, the shopping for food and complementary wines, the last-minute whirlwind cleaning of the house, the setting of the table, and oh, and the cooking.
There is a moment, usually an hour or so before people start arriving, that I lay out a spread of snacks because I know that no matter how well I have scheduled, dinner will never be on the table when I planned it to be. These little bites act as a reassurance to me: Everyone will be occupied with food and drink, and I can continue my dinner preparations at a more leisurely pace. Having a decent spread of hors d'oeuvres is priceless—it will instantly alleviate whatever real or imagined dinner-party stress you might be suffering from.
And the greater the spread of hors d'oeuvres, the more time you have to make sure that the rest of your meal is prefect. This recipe for Smoked Trout Spread adapted from Gourmet Today by Ruth Reichl and John Willoughby will have your guests occupied indefinitely. Serve it with cocktails and no one will be even the slightest bit concerned with when the actual meal is going to hit the table. I whipped this one up the other night, and it was magical. It's simply smoked trout puréed with a generous amount of butter, lemon, and dill. The recipe recommends serving with with whole-grain crackers, but I found that those mini loaves of pumpernickel bread are an even better match.
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As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Gourmet Today to give away this week. Enter to win here »
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Posted by Chichi Wang, September 22, 2009 at 9:30 AM
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
When we think of eating organs, we imagine the red, glossy innards of various beasts and fowl. The skin, however, the largest organ of them all, is a boon for the cook and meat lover. When stewed, skin adds body and gelatin to the stock; when baked or fried, its crisp qualities are incomparable.
I'd never worked before with such a large section of pig skin; usually my forays into skin involve some kind of poultry. The swath of pig skin I purchased was at least three feet in length and a foot across. With just a thin layer of fat attached, the skin was supple and white with a pale-pink suggestion of meat on its underside. I was struck with the strangest inclination to wrap it around myself like a shawl.
Instead, I salted the skin and left it to cure in the refrigerator for five days, following directions for "Pork Scratchings" in Fergus Henderson's Beyond Nose to Tail. With his typical flair, Henderson pronounces the crisped pieces of skin to be "a most steadying nibble." Salted, soaked, and stewed in fat, the skin puffed up in the oven to a golden-brown hue. Crisper and chewier than typical pork cracklings or chicharrones, the skin was an addictive snack as well as a meaty topping for potatoes and soup--a steadying nibble, indeed.
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Posted by MichaelNatkin, September 2, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Note: Serious Eater Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious drops by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire. This week's dish will make you the popular kid at the Labor Day bash.
Want to be a hero at your Labor Day barbecue? Gotcha covered. Show up with a plate of deviled eggs. You can never make too many and I'll bet you a dollar they will be gone in minutes.
I didn't stray too far from the traditional seasonings though I couldn't resist using smoked paprika and making the mayonnaise from scratch for some additional flavor. Sumac (the Middle Eastern spice, not the notoriously skin-irritating weed) also makes an attractive garnish but if you don't have any, more paprika will be just fine.
If you are against eating raw eggs for safety reasons, or just want to make this a little quicker, feel free to use a good prepackaged mayonnaise instead. The flavor of homemade mayo, however, is incomparable, and once you know how to whip it up, you can flavor it so many different ways.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, August 19, 2009 at 5:00 PM
The following recipe is from the August 19 edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
I always keep a few emergency cans of tuna in my cupboard—their presence reassures me that no matter how bare the fridge is, there is always something to eat. A can of olive oil-packed tuna plus a few capers and olives mixed with a little bit of mayo and mustard makes a simple tuna salad that is one of my standard solo meals. It might not be the most exciting thing to eat, but it's something that I've always really enjoyed.
Deborah Madison has taken these ingredients and transformed them into something a little more elegant with this Tuna Spread with Capers from her new book What We Eat When We Are Alone. By blending all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy, the elements of a simple tuna salad are transformed into a fish pâté. Sounds pretty fancy, right? I'd never think about feeding my guests tuna sandwiches, but I'd be more than pleased to serve this spread with some flat breads or crackers during cocktail hour.
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Posted by Carolyn Cope, August 18, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Note: If you're a CSA member or gardener, you're probably all too familiar with the phenomenon of having too much X, Y, or Z (zucchini seems to be the culprit right now). This post marks the debut of Carolyn Cope's Crisper Whisperer column in which the author helps us cook through the surplus with ease. Please join us in giving Carolyn a warm welcome! --AK
Photographs by Carolyn Cope
Look, I love my CSA as much as the next girl. In fact, I run my CSA--so you might say I love it even a smidge more than most. Unadulterated local veg holds a special place in my heart for all the same reasons it probably does in yours. But have you noticed what your seemingly innocent produce has been up to recently? It's become an overnight success, that's what. And like any other fledgling celebrity, it's wreaking some havoc along the way.
Zucchini is the Brangelina of seasonal produce. It reproduces like mad and is inherently and unabashedly plural.
For the most part, your farm share has kept its knickers on and refrained from driving under the influence (although of course you do see the odd story of brandy-soaked peach flambés from time to time, and there's more after the break on why that zucchini is having babies with everyone in sight). No, your local veg's unbranded brand of mayhem is subtler than all that, but it's ultimately more destructive. Those plants have wrapped their sly little tendrils around the collective consciousness and brainwashed us all into near-total submission.
Think about it. When was the last time you heard a friend--intelligent, opinionated individuals though your friends undoubtedly are--dare utter a word against The Veg? It's become so altogether unhip to do so, you simply haven't heard it at all. Even when farmers' markets and CSA shares runneth over with fuzzy squash, New Zealand spinach, and salad burnet, everyone just smiles, nods and acts like they're about to go home and whip up the loveliest stir-fry you've ever tasted in five minutes flat. That's not normal, people--and more important, it's just not true.
The truth looks more like this.
A guiltily discarded turnip, left to decompose in the fridge through too many late nights at work, beats like a tell-tale heart under the floorboards of Apartment 6B's dreams. Three flights up, an otherwise reasonable 9E will look you straight in the eyes and say she used last week's share of horseradish in homemade cocktail sauce. Only after a few glasses of wine will she admit to having thrown it away. In your trash.
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Posted by MichaelNatkin, August 12, 2009 at 2:15 PM
Note: Please welcome Serious Eater Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious. He will be dropping by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire. This week, a savory tart. Take it away, Michael!
Most of my home-cooked meals tend to be both relatively easy and healthy--but this tart is definitely an exception. No getting around it, this is a bit of work and on the rich side. I think it's best served as a three-bite appetizer, where you can really enjoy the big flavors of the caramelized onions, smoked paprika, and blue cheese. I improvised it for an annual block party, and let's just say the entire sheet pan was gone in about 15 minutes.
I call for cabrales, a traditional Spanish cheese because it goes well with the smoked paprika, but you could just as easily use gorgonzola or another blue cheese of your choice.
The recipe will give you enough dough to fill a standard jelly roll pan, rolled out rather thin. You can also cut the recipe in half, roll it out thicker and bake in a 9-inch tart pan to serve in wedges. This sort of tart is best served warm or at room temperature after it sets up a little bit. You don't want to eat it piping hot from the oven.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, August 3, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Shiitake mushrooms. Photograph by marcelo träsel on Flickr
Let me begin by saying that I love pâté. Mousses, terrines, galantines, rillettes, even the ubiquitous liverwurst. Give me some toast points and a few cornichons and I am in heaven.
So what am I doing writing about pâté during a week of vegetarian recipes? Well, this Creamy Mushroom Pâté is the closest approximation to a spreadable meat in Carol Gelles' 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes—minus the liver, of course.
Gellles has succeeded in creating a spread that rivals a meat-based pâté in both its rich deliciousness and calorie count. If you've ever tried making charcuterie at home you know this is no small undertaking. This mushroom pâté came together in about 15 minutes, hours less then my last attempt at a pork terrine. The wild mushrooms have an earthy unctuousness made all the more decadent by a healthy (or not) dose of butter, plenty of cream cheese, and heavy cream. In addition to the fresh parsley, I swapped the dried savory for some fresh thyme. This imparted the pâté with a wonderful herby freshness. Don't go crazy finely chopping the mushrooms—I've found that leaving the pieces slightly chunky lends a wonderful texture to the finished pâté.
Win '100 Best Vegetarian Recipes'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes to give away this week. Enter to win here »
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 19, 2009 at 9:12 AM
A frisée aux lardons salad is one of my favorite bacon-and-egg combinations. I know I bore my friends when I order it just about every time I go to the quintessential New York downtown brasserie Balthazar (where the exemplary cooking is done by the talented co-chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson), but I don't care. This recipe, adapted from the beautiful and useful Balthazar Cookbook, is easy to make and seriously delicious.
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