Motely Crew in My Fridge

A head of cauliflower, a package of Canadian Bacon, a few eggs, and some cheese.  I love finding a recipe that incorporates a motley group of ingredients leftover in the fridge.  This one was a nice surprise a combination of quiche and souffle with virtually no hassle. This is a great one-dish meal for breakfast or brunch this weekend.

Cauliflower & Ham Crustless Quiche

Move over Chicken Soup I've got Avgolemono...

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup

During winter cold and flu season, nothing says comfort like Avgolemono.  Pronounced correctly:
"ah-vo-lemono" (the G is silent), this traditional Greek soup translates literally to "Egg-Lemon" and is so much more fun than your average chicken soup.

Its got your traditional chicken stock, but also eggs for some great protein, fresh lemon juice for a hit of Vitamin C and the fat grains of rice for substance - now you're talking about a cure!  I tried this soup for the first time at Bon-Vivant  cooking classes and immediately fell in love with the silky lemon brightness.  On a gray Seattle day when the rain is pouring, the mere color of this soup makes me happy.

Before you begin:
You're going to use a process called "tempering" the eggs.  This means you warm the eggs slowly to prevent curdling and then eventually cook them thoroughly in the hot soup.  To do this, you have to start with eggs that are at room temperature.  Leave them out on the counter for an hour or so - I promise they won't go bad! 

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add your rice.  Turn it down to a simmer like the recipe says and cook for about 15 min. until the rice is al dente. While the rice is cooking, begin beating the eggs until light yellow and frothy.  Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and continue beating.  Turn the heat down on the chicken broth/rice mixture so that it is no longer boiling and over salt it a bit.  Once you add the egg/lemon mixture it will taste perfect.  Remove some of the hot chicken broth and add it in a slow trickle into the egg/lemon mixture and continue beating at high speed.  The key is to do this very slowly so the eggs warm up without curdling.  Add at least 1 cup of the broth in total until the egg/lemon mixture feels warm to the touch.  Then slowly add this mixture back in to the hot soup. 

From this point on, stir the soup with a wooden spoon.  A metal spoon will react with the fresh lemon juice and you'll lose some of the brightness of flavor.  Continue heating on low until the soup is thick and hot but not boiling.  Serve immediately.

Recipe Riff:
I use Arborio rice, the kind used in risotto.  Its short and fat and really makes this soup feel hearty.
Bottled lemon juice will not give you the same lively flavor, use freshly squeezed lemons for this one.

Salmorejo a Spanish Delight!

It was 6pm on a sultry Tuesday evening, a clandestine meeting in a professional kitchen in Seville, and Willy Moya became my newest chefcrush.  Just look at this photo - its beautiful (the food or the chef? You decide).  Salmorejo with boiled egg, Serano ham, and dried strawberries - the brainchild of Chef Moya.    



Salmorejo with boiled egg, jamon, and dried strawberries





Chef Willy Moya of Poncio Restaurant

If you look up recipes for Salmorejo, you'll find it often confused with Gazpacho which is a thin, tomato-based, cold soup.  Totally different than Salmorejo which has fewer ingredients and is very thick and silky like a mousse.  Its meant to be more of a sauce used to embellish everything from meats to grilled vegetables.  This recipe is a little imprecise but go with the chaos because you can't go wrong here.

Salmorejo
2-3 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 small loaf of very dry/stale white bread (as dry as a cracker)

Chop or break the bread into cubes and place in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Place the tomotoes and garlic in a blender or food processor and blend until liquid.  Its important to salt the mixture at this point BEFORE the oil is added so the salt can dissolve.  Make sure this mixture is quite salty, you'll be adding bread later so it will become distributed more evenly as the sauce develops. Blend again to make sure the salt dissolves.  While the mixture is blending add the olive oil and continue blending well.

Strain the sauce through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and skins.  Strain the sauce over the dry bread so that it soaks the bread.  Stir to coat all the bread.  Cover and set aside or refrigerate for at least 30 min - 1 hour.

Place the sauce back into the food processor or blender and blend until very thick and smooth.

Serve:
There is no end to the ways you could serve this sauce.  We ate it strait from the bowl with a boiled egg, good ham, and dried strawberries.  I can't find dried strawberries in Seattle but I've used dried cherries and cranberries which are equally delicious.  Salmorejo is also fabulous over seared tuna, or as a sauce for any grilled meat or vegetables.  Be creative and share with me your own version!

***Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers Chef Reinvented, Becky Selengut, for coining the word "chefcrush" - I use it freely but she deserves the credit!

Mise en place

Pronounced "Meez-ahn Plahs" this isn't just a clever French phrase meaning "everything in its place" its a cooking philosophy that, if followed, will change your life.  Heck, its a great method for living life, but I digress!  Mise en place at first seems unnecessary and even fussy but it will make you prepared, confident, and effiicient in the kitchen.  Here are a couple of tips specific to the mise en place philosophy: 

1) Read the recipe ALL THE WAY THROUGH before you begin!  Nothing is worse than starting your dinner recipe and realizing the chicken should marinade overnight. 

2) Make sure you have the right tools- a pastry cutter and a potato masher are not the same tool.  Why do I know this?  Dry herbs and fresh herbs aren't as interchangable as you might think.

3) At the heart of mise en place philosophy is the prep work.  Chop everything ahead of time and have your ingredients measured and at your side before you begin cooking. 

     * Put each ingredient on a plate or in a bowl - combine ingredients that will be cooked at the same time 

     * Cover ingredients that need refrigeration and store them there until ready

     * To keep ingredients from drying out while you're prepping, place a damp paper towel over the dish

        you've stored them in

Here's a great example of mise en place in action for the Mushroom Soup recipe:

Soup - The Ultimate Comfort Food

Mushroom & Chestnut Soup

Let's face it, mushroom soup conjures up thoughts of that gelatinous, condensed stuff your mom put in 1980's casseroles. This is NOT that soup!  The leaves are falling, the air is chill, and the ingenious mixture of mushrooms and chestnuts make this a perfect comfort food.  The addition of celeriac, yes - celery root, will blow you away!  Never worked with celeriac?  Never fear!  If you've chopped a potato, you're ready to meet this tuber.  Its ugly, I won't deny it, but it provides the perfect flavoring for this soup without the stringy texture you associate with actual celery.  Simply cut the top and bottom and peel the skin to reveal a lovely firm, white root vegetable. 



Celeriac (Celery Root)

 

Chopped Celeriac



On to the chestnuts.  I use a bottled variety but have also used vacuum-packed in a box.  Both varieties can be found in the baking section of most grocery stores.  They don't taste great by themselves but add a nice richness to this soup.

Recipe Riff:

Alcohol: while this recipe calls for brandy in the soup and a grappa cream on top, I've made this many times without the alcohol and love the sober version.

Pancetta: substitute 4-6 slices of raw bacon, chopped

Shallots: substitute 1 medium yellow onion, chopped

Leave this soup a little chunky as the bits give a fabulous texture.

Serving:

Serve ith a sprig of thyme or sage leaf on top as mushroom soup can appear piqued by itself. Serve this soup as a first course to a chicken dinner or with a crusty loaf of bread and a lightly dressed green salad as a winter supper.

Mustard Glazed Tuna with Shallot Cream

Mustard Seared Tuna with Shallot Cream

If you've only tried the packed-in-water-and-canned variety, you've been missing out.  Tuna is delicious fresh or previously frozen and can now be found in most grocery stores. Its such a hearty fish, you only need a portion smaller than the palm of your hand to feel satisfied.  Fresh tuna can be marinaded in anything and really takes on the flavors of the dish.  I prefer it pink through the center as cooking it through can cause it to be dry.

Chinese Spinach - Courtesy of the Edmonds, WA Saturday Market

I paired this tuna dish with a side of wilted greens.  I saw this vibrant green and red spinach at the farmer's market and had to try it.  The end result turns very red but tastes fantastic.  The secret to any great green is bacon fat and vinegar.  The bacon fat adds flavor and the vinegar cuts the bitterness you associate with greens. 

Wilted Greens with Bacon and Vinegar 
2 large bunches of any green - kale, spinach, mustard greens, etc. washed with stems removed.
1/2 lb. thinly sliced bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water

Use a deep pan for this recipe as the spinach takes up a lot of room but will cook down quickly.  Fry the chopped bacon until crispy.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on a paper towel.  Using the existing bacon grease, saute the onions until soft and slightly caramelized.  The pan will be dark on the bottom.  Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom.  Put all the spinach in at once and stir to coat with onions and liquid.  Add the water and cover to steam on low for 2 min.  Once greens are wilted, remove from the heat and add the crispy bacon.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

The BEST cheesecake to ever grace my tongue!

Honey Ricotta Cheesecake

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

I am not a baker.  Baking requires too much chemistry, too much precision and I am much too impatient for it.  Before a concert in Seattle one night, we were trying to get into the very hip, very now, The Walrus and the Carpenter but they don't take reservations and we couldn't wait an hour.  (I've still heard great things about them!).  Instead we went around the corner to the less known, but equally fabulous Staple and Fancy where we were seated at the bar immediately.  At the bar, you get to see the action.  I love to watch the kitchen preparations the sweating, slicing, and saucing - we got to witness it all.  The Staple and Fancy had a great chef's tasting menu that they wouldn't (couldn't?) even describe to you because it was presented at the whim of the chef.  So we ordered and dug in.  The first "course" was actually seven dishes all fantastic on their own, but more fun because they exceeded expectations in sheer quantity.  The rest of the meal went well, everything great.  The crowning glory was dessert.  The most luscious, creamy, light, ricotta cheesecake I could imagine.  Topped with fresh figs and some kind of sauce I couldn't identify...balsamic reduction, perhaps? 

What I'm presenting here in no way replicates that experience but this recipe is a darn good substitute!  Its something different than the heavy cheesecake we're used to.  The crust is made of biscotti and the ricotta gives a light fluffy texture to this cheesecake.  Instead of figs, I used Ina Garten's balsamic strawberries recipe which is the most amazing find on its own.  You have no idea what strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper will do to your taste buds.  Try it!

Recipe Riff:

For the cheesecake crust I used 2 boxes of Nonni's Original Biscotti that I found in the cookie isle at Central Market.  The biscotti is essential but don't use anything covered in chocolate or flavored with coffee.

With Ina's Balsamic Strawberries, I used a much smaller amount:  1 pint strawberries, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 3 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.  These only last 3 days maximum in the refrigerator, but are good if you make them an hour in advance so they can marinade.