The First Taste of Summer

I know, I know 3 months is kind of a long time to not update the blog. There has been lots of delicious cooking going on, just not enough time to photograph and write about it all! So I think it's best to ease back into things with a simple -- albeit delicious -- recipe.

After working in the garden for a good part of Memorial Day, I had a hankering for lettuce. Seeing as mine wouldn't be ready for awhile (and may never be if those darn rabbits don't stay away) I picked up some arugula and found a recipe for a salad that mixes oranges and radishes with this spicy green. It was ridiculously refreshing and made me feel a little less guilty about the side of baby back pork ribs that went with it. So ribs or no, be sure to give this salad a try!

Orange and Radish Salad with Arugula

5 teaspoons lime juice from 1 to 2 limes
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium oranges - remove peel and pith then cut into segments
5 radishes - cut into discs or bite-sized wedges
4 ounces baby arugula (about 4 cups)

Whisk together lime juice, mustard, coriander, salt and pepper to taste in bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually add oil until emulsion forms. Add oranges and radishes to dressing. Toss to coat. Plate arugula, top with oranges and radishes, drizzle dressing on top.

Serve with side of meat if you've been gardening all day and are really hungry.

A is for Apple

I came to the realization, a few weeks ago, that my old food processor was more duct tape than appliance. It served me well for the past decade; a gift from my sister after moving into my first apartment in college. And while I sometimes enjoy the rustic and time honored tradition of using a fork to cut butter into flour, I knew the food processor needed replacing. Good thing I just had a birthday! Enter my new KitchenAid -- 12 cups of food processing glory. I wanted to take this baby for a test spin and an Apple Galette from Cooks Illustrated (Sept 2007) caught my eye.

One additional piece of kitchen equipment that will make your life easier when dealing with apple dishes is an apple mill such as the one shown here. They're relatively inexpensive ($15-20) and in the time it would take me to manually peel an apple with a paring knife, I can have 5 apples peeled, spiral sliced, and cored with this device. The other great thing is that the apples are cut to uniform thickness, which makes for a more attractive final dish. If you have a lot of flat counters get a model with a suction cup base. If you have counters with overhangs, go for the C-clamp style (which I prefer as the suction cups tend of fall off after awhile -- but don't worry you can still hold it down securely with one hand).

Apple Galette

Although any apple will work in this recipe, a firm tart apple is best like a Granny Smith or Empire. If you don't have an apple mill, halve the peeled apples and then use a melon baller or paring knife to remove the core from each half. Make sure to cut the apples uniformly and no thicker than 1/8 inch, otherwise they will be hard to shingle. The dough can be made 1-2 days in advance although if it has chilled longer than 1 hour, let it stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to soften. If the dough becomes soft and sticky while being rolled, transfer it to a baking sheet and refrigerate it for 10 to 15 minutes. Check the bottom of the galette halfway through baking-it should be a light golden brown. If it is darker, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Serve with vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream, or creme fraiche (as seen below). This dish is sturdy enough to eat with your hands so go for it! Store leftovers (if you're lucky enough to have any) in plastic wrap for 2-3 days. 

Dough:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 5/8-inch cubes (1 1/2 sticks)

8-10 tablespoons ice water

Apple Filling:

1 1/2 pounds apples (3-4 medium or 4-5 small), see note above

2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 tablespoon water

Combine flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in food processor with three 1-second pulses. Scatter butter pieces over flour, pulse to cut butter into flour until butter pieces are size of large pebbles, about 1/2 inch, about six 1-second pulses.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon water over mixture and pulse once quickly to combine; repeat, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time and pulsing, until dough begins to form small curds that hold together when pinched with fingers (dough should look crumbly and should not form cohesive ball).

The following is a kneading technique called "fraisage" that helps to give the crust a flaky texture: Empty dough onto work surface and gather into rough rectangular mound about 12 inches long and 5 inches wide. Starting at farthest end, use heel of hand to smear small amount of dough against counter, pushing firmly down and away from you, to create a separate pile of dough (flattened pieces of dough should look shaggy). Continue process until all dough has been worked. Gather dough into rough 12 by 5-inch mound and repeat smearing process. Dough will not have to be smeared as much as first time and should form cohesive ball once entire portion is worked. Form dough into 4-inch square, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until cold and firm but still malleable, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

About 15 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, core, and halve apples. Cut apple halves lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Place dough on floured 16 by 12-inch piece of parchment paper and dust with more flour. Roll dough until it just overhangs all four sides of parchment and is about 1/8 inch thick, dusting top and bottom of dough and rolling pin with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Trim dough so edges are even with parchment paper.

Roll up 1 inch of each edge and pinch firmly to create 1/2-inch-thick border. Transfer dough and parchment to rimmed baking sheet.

Starting in one corner, shingle sliced apples to form even row across bottom of dough, overlapping each slice by about one-half. Continue to layer apples in rows, overlapping each row by half. Dot apples with butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Bake until bottom of tart is deep golden brown and apples have caramelized, 45 to 60 minutes.

While galette is cooking, combine apricot preserves and water in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium power until mixture begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Pass through fine-mesh strainer to remove any large apricot pieces. Brush baked galette with glaze and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into individual portions; devour.

Cakes of the Pan

Listening to A Prairie Home Companion this week, Garrison interviewed an elderly meteorologist who lives in northern Minnesota. Needless to say, most of the conversation revolved around the stoicism that subzero temperatures breed. It made me wonder if a stack of pancakes and bacon would have made the man a little more cheerful. I mean, is there a problem in the world that thick-cut smoked bacon can't solve? Seeing as eating only bacon for breakfast is generally frowned upon, I wanted to share with you the recipe I use for tangy and fluffy buttermilk pancakes. Don't be intimidated; if you can make pancakes from Bisquick, then you can master this recipe. The key is combining the ingredients in stages and then, at the end, mixing the wet and dry ingredients until just combined--I repeat DON'T OVERMIX! You want your batter to harbor pea-sized pockets of flour and leavening that, upon cooking, burst open and give your pancake lift.

Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

My favorite tool for cooking these pancakes is a cast iron skillet. It holds heat very well and, when treated properly, will be the best piece of non-stick cookware in your kitchen.  During cooking, rub 1/2 tsp. of oil inside the skillet every 2-3 pancakes. After a few, the residual oil in the towel will be sufficient to coat the surface. To clean cast iron, simply wipe out any cooked flecks of batter or oil with a paper towel -- never use soap! 

Makes 4-5 pancakes 

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk (plus an extra tablespoon or so if batter is too thick)
1 large egg , separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
vegetable oil (for brushing griddle)

Preheat oven to warm and heat griddle or cast iron skillet over strong medium-heat. 

Mix dry ingredients (flour through baking soda) in medium bowl. Pour buttermilk and milk into 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Whisk in egg white; mix yolk with melted butter, then stir into milk mixture. Dump wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once; whisk until just mixed.

Brush griddle generously with oil. When water splashed on surface confidently sizzles, pour batter, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time, onto griddle. When pancake bottoms are brown and top surface starts to bubble, 2 to 3 minutes, flip cakes and cook until remaining side has browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Hold pancakes in oven till ready to serve. Re-oil the skillet periodically.

November 26th--Turkey Friday

Everyone is well aware of "Black Friday," a day for bargain purchases. The best find though is not at Target, REI, or even Amazon.com. Instead, it's at your local grocery store; it contains all the orphan turkeys not lucky enough to find a home for Thanksgiving. These birds won't keep till Christmas so they're priced to move. And move you should!

This year, I was intrigued by a glazed turkey recipe in Cooks Illustrated. The turkey is butterflied (i.e. you rip out the backbone--a true test of the quality of your kitchen shears), roasted for a few hours, then basted with either a cranberry-molasses or apple-maple glaze. This recipe is a departure from my usual ritual, which begins with brining. The advantage of this recipe is that you can go from store to oven in only a few hours. I will say the meat is not as juicy as a brined bird, but it's still very acceptable. Perhaps what I like most about this recipe is the baking powder rub that goes on the outside of the bird which REALLY helps crisp up the skin in the oven. Since I only had one bird, I tried the cranberry-molasses glaze. If I did this again, I'd probably cut back on the amount of vinegar and mustard which I found overpowering.

If you'd like the recipe, it can be found in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Cooks Illustrated. Below, I offer a photographic summary of the day's labors.

Glazed Turkey with Cranberry-Molasses Glaze

Cranberries about to simmer in apple cider, ginger, and vinegar

The roasted bird...looks good doesn't it?

If you prefer dark meat, this cut is for you.

A tongue of sage for the potatoes.

Turkey isn't complete without potatoes and homemade gravy!

Giving Thanks for Root Vegetables

I am very thankful for yesterday; a day spent with amazing people AND amazing food. You know it was a feast because the number of desserts nearly outnumbered the number of main/side dishes! There was a fantastic apple coffecake, Cazuela pie, freeform fruit tart, and a parsnip spice cake. I wish I could post recipes for all of them but since I only made the latter that's what I'll share with you.

Often shoved into the corner of the produce section, parsnips look like albino carrots. Also like carrots they're root vegetables but perhaps a touch more bitter. Regardless, they can be transformed into an amazing cake with a little work. 

Parsnip Spice Cake with Maple Icing

The maple icing hardens very quickly and is NOT spreadable once it cools--so don't wait too long before applying it to the top of the cake. The cake is wonderful as a dessert or served at brunch alongside a strong tea like Earl Grey, to balance the icing's sweetness.

Cake:

1  pound  parsnips, peeled and sliced into 1 inch thick rounds.

1  cup  packed dark brown sugar

1/2  cup  granulated sugar

5  tablespoons butter, melted

1  teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2  cup apple juice

3  cups all-purpose flour

2  teaspoons baking soda

1  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1  teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2  teaspoon salt

3/4  cup 1% milk

Cooking spray

Icing:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2  cup 1% milk

2  tablespoons butter

1/4  teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped or whole pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°. Place the parsnip in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over medium heat 20 minutes or until tender then drain. While parsnips cook, toast pecans then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Place the drained parsnip, 1 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, add apple juice and mix well with a hand or stand mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup milk alternately to parsnip mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 inch pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, 2-3 hours. To speed up cooling: cool in pan for 10 min, then remove and cool cake on wire rack and return to pan or serving platter for icing.

To prepare icing, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer until slightly thick (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat with a mixer at medium speed until icing is smooth and only slightly warm. (Icing will continue to thicken as it cools.)

Working quickly, spread the icing over the top of the cake the layer and sprinkle with toasted pecans. Allow icing to cool to room temperature. For storage, cover cake with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Reheat slices in microwave (15-30 seconds) before serving.

Aloha Deliciousness

Autumn in Ann Arbor is synonymous with traffic jams and tailgating; courtesy of the Big House which sits half a mile from my apartment. It will soon be too cold to fire up the grill, but before that happened I wanted one last hoorah with the Webber. For some reason I was really in the mood for a teriyaki burger. Maybe it's the refrigerator full of Asian sauces I inherited or nostalgia over Sunday evening post-UPC trips to Red Robin with my sister's family; who knows. Regardless, give this a try before you pack away the grill for the season.

Teriyaki Burger with Grilled Pineapple

It's OK if you buy pre-ground beef to make these burgers...but if you've never had home-ground beef, you don't know what you're missing! The texture and flavor of the burger is orders of magnitude better than the stuff you buy. All you need to grind your own beef is a food processor. Alton Brown can walk you through the process (skip to 5:45 for the really relevant demonstration) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Lj-ZSVvWI&feature=related.

Ingredients

8 oz. chuck steak, trimmed, cut into 1.5 inch cubes

8 oz. sirloin, trimmed, cut into 1.5 inch cubes

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 c. chopped green onions

1 tbsp teriyaki sauce or soy sauce

1 tsp peeled fresh ginger, grated (a microplane works well)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 28 oz. can pineapple rings, drained well

Hamburger buns

Lettuce

Mayo

vegetable oil

Serves 3

1. Place trimmed and cut beef on parchment paper in freezer (DON'T FORGET ABOUT IT, LEST YOU END UP WITH BEEF-SICLES).

2. Remove beef from freezer (should be stiff but still pliable). Pulse approximately 1/3 of the meat in a food processor (1 second pulse, 10 times) and transfer to mixing bowl. Return any excessively large pieces to the processor and process with next batch of beef. Repeat until all meat has been processed. Pick out any gristle.

Omit steps 1-2 if using preground beef (wimp).

3. Combine beef through garlic, mixing well with hand. Form meat into 5 oz patties, making a depression in the center with your thumb (this will help prevent the burger from puffing up during cooking).

4. Place pineapple rings on paper towel and blot off any excess liquid. Transfer to plate and use 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil to lightly coat the rings.

5. Cook burger on grill, flipping once, to desired degree of wellness. Transfer to plate, cover with foil and let rest 5-10 minutes.

6. Sear pineapple rings on grill, 1-3 minutes per side. Toast buns on grill, apply mayo, assemble burger and devour.

Transforming Brunch Leftovers

I love a good leisurely weekend brunch. When faced with what to make, I usually go for either blueberry buttermilk pancakes or french toast. Well it just so happens that this past weekend I had the opportunity to cook on two different mornings. The first morning I satisfied my pancake/french toast craving and was left to consider what to make on the second. Surveying my kitchen I found half a loaf of challah bread (left over from the french toast), eggs, cheese and a sage plant (courtesy of some friends). The sage made me think savory and got me digging through my freezer. A few chilled fingers later, my hands emerged having located some ground pork. It was decided; this morning called for a skillet strata.

Skillet Strata with Sausage and Herbs

For a vegetarian alternative, use your favorite textured soy substitute in place of pork. Gruyére is also good in place of Cheddar. Don't trim the crust from the bread or the strata will be dense and eggy. A 10-inch skillet is also critical for obtaining the right thickness and texture.

6 large eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dry thyme)

1 tbsp fresh sage, minced (or 1 tsp dry)

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 medium onion, minced

8 oz raw pork

1/2 tsp salt

5-7 thick slices of day old bread (preferrably challah) cut into 1 inch cubes

Adjust oven rack to middle positon and heat to 425. Whisk the eggs, milk, thyme, sage and pepper together. Stir in cheese and set aside.

Melt butter in a 10-inch ovensafe and non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and salt and cook till softened 3-5 minutes. Add crumbled pork and cook till lightly browned, 5-7 minutes. Add the bread and using a spatula carefully fold the bread into the sausage/onion mixture until its evenly coated. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes till bread is lightly toasted.

Off the heat, add the egg mixture until well combined with the bread--make sure that cheese is evenly distributed! Gently press on the strata to help the bread soak up the egg mixture and bake till the edges and center are puffed and the edges have pulled away from the pan, about 12 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.