redacted recipes

Heirloom Tomato, Basil and Brie Bread Pudding

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, tomatoes have been the stars of the September CSA shares. In addition to the wonderful salsa I made with them, I was inspired by this fabulous-looking bread pudding recipe over at Pioneer Woman Cooks. I decided to take some liberties with the concept and to try to reproduce the flavors in a favorite pasta dish-- the very first recipe I ever made for Jack, in fact. I wondered if the marvelous mix of ripe tomatoes, basil, garlic and brie (marinated in good olive oil for the pasta dish) would translate well to a bread pudding bound together with eggs, yogurt and milk.

Result? A comforting dish, but not a very true translation of the flavors of the pasta recipe. Because the tomatoes, basil and garlic were baked (rather than gently warmed by hot pasta), the intensity of the flavors was muted. It was great comfort food and very tasty in it's own right, though, and I can live with that.

Why is there no photo of the finished product? Sadly, I just didn't get one good enough to show you.

Heirloom Tomato, Basil and Brie Bread Pudding
serves 6

8 slices stale French bread, cut into quarters
2 - 3 heirloom tomatoes, halved and thickly sliced
1 cup of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
1/2 pound of brie, rind removed, torn into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt, plain
Salt & Pepper

Combine the tomatoes, basil and garlic in a bowl and let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly oil a baking dish.

Toss the bread with the tomato, basil and garlic mixture and pour it into the baking dish. Scatter the pieces of brie over the top, and then gently fold it all together.

Whisk the eggs, yogurt, milk and salt and pepper together and pour it over the bread. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until set.

Wild and Brown Rice Stuffed Peppers

I love it when my produce and my pantry conspire present me with an obvious dish. This week's CSA share brought us bell peppers, onions, and corn (amongst other things), and as I was putting it all away the last of a block of feta cheese pretty  much leapt out of the refrigerator (along with a jar of peanut butter, but that's another story) and fell at my feet begging to be used.I don't particularly like raw bell peppers, though I adore them roasted, baked and fried, so I promised the feta I'd feature it with the peppers in a hot dish. Then I crammed all of the produce into the fridge and slammed the door and went off to the All Points West festival to see Radiohead.

As an aside, I have to say that I'm getting too damned old for outdoor all day music festivals. It was hot and a long walk from the train into Liberty State Park and it was a long wait for Radiohead, but worth it, as always. My two daughters were with us-- they grew up with Radiohead as background  music-- and very sweetly told their friends they would be hanging out with us for that part of the festival, even though I repeatedly told them I didn't mind if they chose not to. How nice is that?! At their age I'd have rather died than go to a rock concert with my parents.

It was a great show, but a long day and we didn't get home until about 1:00 AM, and I felt ruined on Sunday morning-- sore feet, aching back, and generally washed out.  It was the sort of day that begged for frequent naps and dinner delivered, but I couldn't ignore all that CSA produce and I'd made a promise to the feta.So I shuffled into the kitchen and took stock and then I curled up with a favorite cookbook, The New American Plate. I think I might have dozed off a little, but between naps I found a recipe for stuffed peppers which not only called for feta, but also for fresh corn. And onions! Three CSA items! It also required kidney beans and rice, which were in the cupboard. Perfect! I love it when everything comes together like that.

I adapted the amounts of the ingredients to make considerably more stuffing, as I knew I'd happily toss it into salads and eat it for lunch all week. Don't do what I did and forget to put the tops of the peppers back on before baking-- your kidney beans will go dark and burned-looking (they tasted fine, just looked ugly).

Peppers Stuffed with Rice, Beans and Feta

4 medium bell peppers
1 cup rice, cooked (I used a wild and brown rice mix)
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the rice and then let it cool.

Prepare the stuffing by mixing the rice with all of the ingredients (except the peppers, of course!). You can do this ahead of time and stick it in your refrigerator until you want to bake the peppers.

To assemble, preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Reserve the tops. Spoon the filling into the peppers, packing it lightly, and then replace the pepper tops. Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Pour about an inch of water around the bottom of the peppers. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes.

Cool as a Cucumber, Melon and Tomato Salad

In the damned dog days of summer when the air is heavy and sultry and the humidity is so high that walking down the street feels like a water aerobics class, you need food that soothes and cools-- and you definitely do NOT need to be dealing with a hot stove and oven.

My grandmother used to serve a side-dish of sliced cucumbers with ice cubes and a little vinegar. She also liked to chill melon and then serve it in large wedges with salt and pepper. Both these dishes provided instant relief from the heat in the height of summer, and they're a natural combined together.

Crunchy cukes with tomatoes and ripe, juicy melon make for a lovely cooling dish that will help you beat the heat and maybe make you feel a little bit less cranky about it all. This salad goes out to Beat the Heat, hosted by A Southern Grace.

Cool as a Cucumber, Melon and Tomato Salad

2 cups cantaloupe, cubed
1 cup cucumber, seeded and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes (or chopped tomato)
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
fresh ground black pepper,
a light sprinkle of sea salt
1/2 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
feta cheese, crumbled

Toss it all together and let meld for an hour or so in the refrigerator.

The Zucchini War: That Thing I Do

I like zucchini, I really do, but two pounds of zucchini every Saturday (who had this CSA idea anyway? I blame you, Tammy, just as you predicted I would) is a LOT of squash, let me tell you. I have tossed them into impromptu vegetable curries, hidden them in soups, made Peter M's Kourkouto, and even pickled the damned things. It's an ongoing battle. Luckily I have a fall-back thing I do to them (it isn't really a recipe, it's a thing) that is so tasty and so  more-ish that I forget I'm bitter as soon as I have the first bite.

I guess I should come up with a name for this thing and stop referring to it as "that thing I do," but the obvious name is just boring. I mean, "Broiled Zucchini Halves with Parmesan" is hardly exciting or catchy, but there you have it. That's what it is and I don't care how simple and boring it  might sound, I am telling you now, it's really, really good. You end up with a crunchy fabulous treat which is a great substitute for garlic bread, and which delivers the same sort of satisfaction, PLUS you get to feel virtuous for having added more veggies to your plate. You can also do this with yellow summer squash, as pictured, but I prefer zucchini.

Here's what you do:

Clean and slice some zucchini in half, lengthwise. If you have giant monster zukes, then slice them into quarters, also lengthwise. Place them on an oven-proof dish and sprinkle them liberally with freshly ground black pepper and salt.

If it's winter, and you already have something in your oven, pop them in and let them bake for about 10 minutes. You want to just barely cook them, and you want them to have some crunch left. If it's summer and hot and you have an non-air conditioned apartment you can use the microwave-- cook them two minutes at a time and check on them. It will take more or less time, depending on how many you're working with.

Once they are partially cooked, sprinkle them with a little bit of chopped garlic and then grate lots and lots of fresh parmesan over them. Stick them under your broiler until the cheese starts to bubble a bit and turn golden.

Then pick them up and eat them with your fingers. Yum.

Pink Pasta

Our CSA is now including beets in our share weekly and while I really love roasted beets in salad or paired with goat cheese, or served warm with dill, I must say my repertoire is in no way extensive enough to keep up with the quantities in my crisper.

As some of you may know, I was recently given a pasta machine and used it for the first time last week and now I'm on a roll (sorry, had to make the pun!). When I saw a gorgeous post from Inge at Vanielje Kitchen for beetroot pasta I knew I had to to try it. Sometimes things just come together in the nicest way.

I've learned a few things:

1) Making fettucini on a seriously hot and humid day is a challenge. There is no point in trying to make pretty nests, as everything just sticks to itself.

2) When the nests idea fails, having something ready to hang the strips of pasta from is wise. I ended up using plastic coat hangers! (Note to self: get some dowel rods for this purpose.)

3) Trying to deal with long strands of fettucini while answering a continuously ringing phone is insane. Turn off the phone next time.

It's difficult to outshine blazingly pink pasta, but the sauce recipe I used does just that. The sweet, earthy combination of beets with garlic, sage, blue cheese and cream had our eyes rolling back in our respective heads with pleasure.

And if you want to keep up with the pink theme, serve some Pink Lemonade Bars for dessert.

Beetroot Fettucini with Beets and Blue Cheese
pasta recipe adapted from Vanielje Kitchen and sauce from Ann Gunkel

Roast the beets:

Wash 6 medium-sized beets. Cut off the tops and wrap each in aluminum foil (drizzle olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt). Place in a shallow pan and bake at 400 F for 50-60 minutes. (If it's too hot to be using the oven, you can put the beets in a dish, drizzle with the olive oil and salt and then cover them with plastic wrap and microwave them for about 8 - 10 minutes.) Allow the beets to cool for 15 minutes or so and then using a paper towel, rub each beet to remove the skin.

Puree 2 of the beets in a blender and set aside. This will be used in the pasta dough.

Dice the remaining beets and place in a separate bowl. You'll be using them for the sauce.

Make the pasta:

2 cups "00" flour, plus more for work surface
2 large eggs, and 1 egg yolk, beaten
Pinch of salt
2 - 3 tablespoons pureed beets

Mound flour in center of a large work surface, and make a well in the middle. Pour the eggs into the well and add the salt and 2 large tablespoons of the pureed beet.

Using a fork, beat eggs--  slowly incorporating the flour, beginning with inner rim of well. When flour is incorporated, gather dough together to form a rounded mass. Begin kneading dough with the palms of your hands. If the dough seems too stiff you can add a little more of the pureed beet. If it seems too sticky, add more flour. Once it comes together scrape up any dried bits of dough and discard them.

Lightly flour the work surface and knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic-- about 15 - 20 minutes-- and then wrap it in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

To make the fettucini begin by dividing the dough into 4 equal pieces and patting them flat. Lightly flour them and cover them with plastic wrap. Pass the first piece of dough through the widest setting a couple of times, each time folding it in thirds before rolling it through again. Then continue rolling the dough, setting the machine one step smaller with every pass until you've reach setting 6.

Attach the pasta cutter to the machine and run the lengths of dough through it. Theoretically you can lightly coat your fettucini with flour and let it rest, but we hung our strips up to dry.

Reserve any of the pureed beet you have left-- you can add it to the pasta water later to help keep the pasta from fading too much during cooking.

Make the sauce:

The remaining 4 roasted beets
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup crumbled roquefort cheese
chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley for garnish
salt & pepper, to taste

Saute the onion, sage and garlic in the olive oil until tender. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and continue cooking to reduce by half. Add the beets, cream, stock, and salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large pot of water to boil, adding a heaping teaspoon of pureed beet. Put the pasta in to cook when the sauce is ready-- it will only take about three minutes. While the pasta is cooking, turn the heat down under the sauce, and add the roquefort, stirring it to incorporate.

Drain the pasta and place in a serving bowl. Pour the sauce over and toss. Garnish with parsley and a little more cheese, if desired.

First Thursdays: A Group Smackdown!

Michelle of Thursday Night Smackdown has invited all comers to jump into the ring with her by initiating a new monthly blog event called First Thursdays. Even though I'm kind of scared of her it sounded like fun, plus there's this scary dish I've been wanting to try forever, so... here we are.

I have to confess that I've broken the rules of Michelle's challenge, which CLEARLY stated we're to make a dish from our cookbook or magazine collection on the first Thursday of the month. I used an online recipe, and fortunately Michelle said she would let it go this time and didn't even swear at me. But I'm still scared of her.

I first saw ravioli filled with eggs yolks a few years ago on the egullet forum. I immediately added it to my list of things I ought to get around to trying and then ignored the whole idea for lack of a pasta machine. I managed to "forget" to buy a pasta machine forever, which went a long way toward justifying my neglect of the recipe, but then a friend went and gave me a damned machine.

But wait, I'd lost the recipe in the meantime, so I put finding it again on my list of things to get to and then ignored it. Reprieve! But the day of reckoning finally arrived last week while I was watching Martha Stewart, which I never, never do (and how this happened is a whole other story), and there was her guest, Odette Fada, demonstrating her recipe for Raviolo with Egg Yolk and  Truffle Butter.

Damn. The game was up,the stars aligned, and a smackdown scheduled.

Making the filling was easy enough-- it's just spinach, ricotta and parmesan. But the thing is, I'd never made my own pasta before. Ever.So first I was insecure about the texture of the dough (was it too dry? Were my CSA eggs too small and should I have added an extra to allow for that?). Then, when we started rolling the dough out, I wasn't at ALL prepared for how long the sheets of pasta were getting. The recipe instructed us to keep rolling out a single piece of dough until we'd reached the sixth setting. Now, honestly, by the time we got to the third setting, the piece was over three feet long already! Who has that much counter space?! So we cut it in half and then rolled each piece alternately, but then we had TWO  enormously long strips of pasta to contend with.  All to make four ravioli! At one point I seriously considered just hanging a piece around my neck like Christmas lights.

I will say that I experienced a real thrill as I watched a lump of dough become beautiful thin authentic-looking strips of pasta. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to try this?

Mid-post disclaimer: Michelle always takes photos of her Smackdown prep and of the meal as it comes together and I wanted to do that too, but I had my hands full of pasta and there was no way I could coordinate the camera at the same time.

Making the raviolo was kinda fun. You pipe a circle of the ricotta filling onto the pasta and then nestle an egg yolk inside the circle. Easy!

Another disclaimer: I could have stopped to take a photo at that point but I forgot, in my excitement at seeing it all start to come together.

Placing the second strip of pasta over the filling and trying to get air bubbles out before sealing it was not so easy. We definitely had air bubbles, which manifested just as soon as we dropped the ravioli into the boiling water.

They only cook for two minutes, so we had a mad scramble to clean up the area we'd rolled the pasta out on, which is also our designated photo opportunity location.

Last disclaimer: So you get two photos of the finished product which are basically exactly alike and I don't want to hear any complaints. I'll do better next time.

Fortunately Jack had started browning butter while I was assembling the raviolo, and we'd made a salad while the pasta dough was resting, so THAT was all ready and waiting.

Of course we had no truffles handy but we did have some truffle butter in the freezer and added a dollop to the browned butter for flavor.

End result? As Jack said, "Oh my giddy God these are good."

We'll make them again, with half the amount of dough. And I'd like to try smaller ones with quail egg yolks, too. I'm thinking they could be assembled an hour ahead of time and covered and refrigerated, so I could serve to friends with a little less in the way of rushing around. I mean, there's no way these babies get made to order in a restaurant, right?

In case you missed it the first time, click the link to find the recipe for Raviolo with Egg Yolk and  Truffle Butter. 

Heatwave Cooking: Slow Cooker Risotto

Yes, yes, I know that the only real way to make risotto is over the stove. I do it all winter long. But that was then and this is now. A very warm now, and anyway I told you all I was retiring the stove for the summer.

I had some beautiful asparagus to use up and I'm a little (possibly extremely) tired of salad. And besides, Lora Brody said it would work. Plus I wanted risotto and I was desperate. (But we had salad with it too, dammit!)

The recipe specified two hours in the slow cooker set on high. At one hour my risotto was looking close to done and was perfect half an hour later. At two hours (I was waiting for Jack to get home) it was the opposite of al dente. It tasted nice, but it was a bit soggy. Still, I'll be trying this again with a shorter cooking time. The notion of risotto in the height of summer without heating up the kitchen (or myself!) is one I find difficult to resist.

I substituted chopped leeks for shallots, as I had some needing to be used up, and decreased the amount of olive oil substantially.

Asparagus Risotto
serves 4

1 pound asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and minced
1 1/4 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
3-3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/2 or 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cut the asparagus into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces and blanch for about two minutes in boiling, salted water. Use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to a bowl of cold water, shocking it into a lovely bright  green color and stopping it from cooking. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil over medium heat, and saute the shallots (or sliced leeks!) until they have softened. Add the rice and stir until all of the grains are coated with the olive oil. Add the wine and scrap up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Transfer to the slow cooker and stir in the chicken broth and salt. Cover and cook on High for about 2 hours or until all liquid is absorbed. Just before serving, stir in the asparagus and cheese.

For those of you who haven't seen the new tastespotting clones, be sure to check out Food Gawker, Recipe Muncher, FP Daily and New Tastings!

Risotto Cakes

Last night I had no plans for dinner but lots of leftover risotto. I'd frozen some of it and refrigerated about 3 cups with the idea of trying out risotto cakes. There are a couple of methods for doing this. Some recipes advise adding egg yolks and beaten egg whites to room temperature risotto and then pouring the resulting batter onto griddle and cooking it just like you would pancakes. I decided to try another method:

Risotto Cakes

3 cups chilled risotto
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups coarse bread crumbs (I used store-bought, but you could make your own)
6 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350F. Form the chilled risotto into 8 patties using wet hands. Put the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls. Coat each risotto patty with flour, tapping off the excess, then egg (letting the excess drip off), and then bread crumbs, handling them very gently. Transfer the cakes to wax paper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot (but not smoking!), and then sauté 4 of the cakes, turning them over once, until browned (5 to 6 minutes total). Transfer the cakes to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and sauté the remaining 4 cakes in the same manner.

Depending on what sort of leftover risotto you're using, garnish appropriately. We happened to have Acorn Squash, Rosemary and Blue Cheese Risotto, so I sprinkled the cakes with crumbled blue cheese and fresh chopped rosemary.

Makes 4 side-dish servings or more than enough for 2 main meal servings. Serve with a salad and a big-bodied red wine.

Caprese Bites

I'm a tomato snob. Once the last of the summer tomatoes disappear I just don't buy any until the first local beauties reappear in late June or July. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Remember the first time you tasted a real tomato? Not one of those hard red-orange things stocked in the grocery store, but  a warm bursting with juices honest to goodness tomato. It's the memory of the real thing that steels my resolve all winter and stops me from buying pretenders.

Lately though, Anna, of Produce Stories, has been nudging me to try the locally grown hydroponic tomatoes on offer at the Greenmarket and last week the temptation was just too much to resist. While they are not the juicy treasures of high summer, they're many cuts above the usual hard and tasteless offerings in the grocery stores this time of year.

Keeping it simple is always wise if you have good ingredients. For these little previews of summer we used basil from our kitchen window herb garden, some very fine mozzarella di bufala, and a loaf of sourdough from the neighborhood bakery. This recipe goes out to Abby at Eat the Right Stuff for her Vegetables, Beautiful Vegetables event.

Caprese Bites

2 real tomatoes, cut into wedges
1-2 garlic cloves, cut in half
mozzarella di bufala
basil leaves
1-2 tb olive oil
slices of good bread
salt and pepper

Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them lightly under the broiler. Then turn the slices over and rub each one with the garlic. Lightly brush them with with olive oil and put them back under the broiler until just browned.

Lay a slice of  mozzerella on each slice, and then one or two basil leaves, topping with a tomato wedge. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste.

Gotta Try That! Serendipitous Taste of Spring

Don't you love it when you're browsing food blogs, see something you'd like to make, and realize you have all of the ingredients on hand? That's exactly what happened to me yesterday as I was wandering through Lydia's archives at The Perfect Pantry. There it was: a recipe for a simple asparagus tart in puff pastry. Even better, Lydia recommends a specific type of frozen puff pastry and it's the only brand I buy! Win!

This tart is a Martha Stewart Living recipe and man, is it good! So easy to make, so rich-tasting, so pretty. Thanks, Lydia!

Asparagus Gruyere Tart
from Everyday Food - Great fast Food, by Martha Stewart Living Magazine

1 sheet frozen puff pastry
2 cups (approx. 5-1/2 oz) gruyere, Emmental or swiss cheese, shredded
1-1/2 pounds medium asparagus
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a floured surface, roll pastry into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place the pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife score the dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce the dough inside the markings at half-inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pastry shell from the oven, and sprinkle with cheese. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over the cheese, alternating ends and tips. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

This post goes out to Bookmarked Recipes, a weekly event hosted by Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.