Wow - between vacation and prepping for my upcoming Yoga Teacher Training, I've fallen behind on my blogging.
Hopefully I'll have some more tasty recipes and random stray thoughts coming soon, but in the meantime I wanted to let you know about a wonderful interview I heard on NPR today with Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA.
Alice Waters was at the vanguard of the "local, sustainable" food movement. Over the past 40 years she has cultivated partnerships with local farmers, ranchers and other providers who are all passionate about fresh, seasonal, organic food. She has also started a foundation to bring healthful, local food to schoolchildren with a program called "Edible Schoolyards."
While I do enjoy the convenience and cost-effectiveness of shopping at large supermarkets, I do try to support local growers at farmer's markets and other shops that source locally. Honestly, I could really do more along those lines - convenience usually wins out - but I want to make an effort to do better in that area. One thing I do, though, is do most of my shopping around the perimeter of the store, and only get 20-30% of my groceries from the aisles. Even then, I try to focus on ingredients rather than prepared foods. The perimeter of the store is where the fresh produce, meats, cheeses, dairy and even baked goods are usually kept. I focus on the aisles where you find rice, beans, canned tomatoes, pasta, etc. Things that you use to MAKE delicious dishes. I would say that only about 5% of my grocery cart is filled with prepared foods, and usually "snack" or "dessert" things like ice cream, chips or sometimes a particularly yummy looking cake.
There's a difference in the way you relate to food when you take the time to gather it thoughtfully and with intention, even if "gathering" it means taking your time to choose the freshest, juiciest apple from the entire bin of apples in front of you. The food stops being a disposable commodity designed to fill your belly, and takes on the quality of being something that nourishes you or your loved ones. When you actually meet and chat with the person who grew the apple at your local market, though, you develop a reverence and respect for the food, and take time to lovingly prepare it.
I hope you take the time to listen to the interview linked above - it may change the way you think about food forever.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Zucchini Noodles with Mushrooms and Pesto
Most of my favorite meals happen as the result of me looking in my fridge and seeing what kinds of leftovers and unused (but still fresh!) produce I have on hand. A few days ago, I had some leftover pesto sauce, some sliced portabella mushrooms and some zucchini. Add in some garlic and onions, and you have a light, healthy, nutritious meal.
Zucchini Noodles with Mushrooms and Pesto
1/2 cup Basic Pesto Sauce
3-4 medium zucchini
1 cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms (or any other mushroom you have)
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
salt
olive oil
Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Start by slicing zucchini into Zucchini Noodles with a mandoline slicer. In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Toss in garlic, sliced onion and a bit of salt and cook till soft and onion is becoming translucent. Increase heat to medium high, and add in mushrooms and sautee until tender (2-3 minutes). Add in Zucchini Noodles and CAREFULLY sautee until tender (5 minutes). REMEMBER: NEVER handle your zucchini roughly! Add in Pesto Sauce and toss till thoroughly coated. Adjust salt and serve, topping with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.
Zucchini Noodles with Mushrooms and Pesto
1/2 cup Basic Pesto Sauce
3-4 medium zucchini
1 cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms (or any other mushroom you have)
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
salt
Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Start by slicing zucchini into Zucchini Noodles with a mandoline slicer. In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Toss in garlic, sliced onion and a bit of salt and cook till soft and onion is becoming translucent. Increase heat to medium high, and add in mushrooms and sautee until tender (2-3 minutes). Add in Zucchini Noodles and CAREFULLY sautee until tender (5 minutes). REMEMBER: NEVER handle your zucchini roughly! Add in Pesto Sauce and toss till thoroughly coated. Adjust salt and serve, topping with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.
Zucchini Noodles
Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables. It's a great workhorse and can be used in a variety of different cuisines as a main course, as a side dish, in a stir fry, fried, sliced, diced, sauteed, roasted, grilled, steamed. The list is endless. One of my favorite ways to use zucchini is as a substitute for noodles either in a side dish or as a main course. This does require a special tool called a mandoline (and not one of those 8-stringed instruments you find in folk, bluegrass and Godfather music. My mandoline slicer is over 10 years old, cost about $25 at the time, and isn't fancy, but it gets the job done!
Zucchini Noodles
3-4 medium zucchini, washed (you could peel the skin off if you'd like, but I prefer to leave it on.)
Fit the mandoline slicer with the small julienne blade.
Cut the ends off the zucchini, and lay it, lengthways, on the mandoline. Place the hand guard on top of the zucchini, and in smooth, even strokes, run the zucchini over the julienne blades.
The result will be long, thin strips of zucchini about the size of spaghetti.
Zucchini noodles can be added raw to salads, cooked into an omelette, steamed or sauteed in a bit of oil till they are soft and used as a substitute for pasta. Be careful, though, as the zucchini can easily break into small bits if handled roughly. And NOBODY's zucchini should ever be handled too roughly!
Zucchini Noodles
3-4 medium zucchini, washed (you could peel the skin off if you'd like, but I prefer to leave it on.)
Fit the mandoline slicer with the small julienne blade.
Spicy Peanut Sauce
Spicy Peanut Sauce
I posted this as part of a recipe, then realized that it would be good to include it as a stand-alone. After all, Spicy Peanut Sauce can be used in a variety of dishes like stir frys, noodles, chicken wings, lettuce wraps, etc. Spicy Peanut Sauce rocks.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter (I used creamy JIF)
1/4 cup soy sauce
zest and juice of 1/2 lime (may increase this to taste)
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
Sriracha chili sauce (to taste)
In a saucepan heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook scallions, garlic and ginger, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer, stirring. Simmer sauce, stirring, until smooth and cool to room temperature. Sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. If sauce is too thick after chilling, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water until sauce reaches desired consistency.
I posted this as part of a recipe, then realized that it would be good to include it as a stand-alone. After all, Spicy Peanut Sauce can be used in a variety of dishes like stir frys, noodles, chicken wings, lettuce wraps, etc. Spicy Peanut Sauce rocks.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter (I used creamy JIF)
1/4 cup soy sauce
zest and juice of 1/2 lime (may increase this to taste)
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
Sriracha chili sauce (to taste)
In a saucepan heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook scallions, garlic and ginger, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer, stirring. Simmer sauce, stirring, until smooth and cool to room temperature. Sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. If sauce is too thick after chilling, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Pesto Cream Sauce
This is fabulous over ravioli, tortellini, and just about any other filled pasta.
Pesto Cream Sauce
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Basic Pesto Sauce (without cheese added)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add pesto sauce and stir until butter and sauce are blended. Slowly add heavy cream, stirring frequently until pesto is mixed in with cream, and steam begins to appear (do NOT boil cream!). Slowly add parmesan cheese until it melts and sauce thickens. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. More cream may be added if sauce gets too thick, or more cheese can be added if you like sauce a bit thicker.
Pesto Cream Sauce
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Basic Pesto Sauce (without cheese added)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add pesto sauce and stir until butter and sauce are blended. Slowly add heavy cream, stirring frequently until pesto is mixed in with cream, and steam begins to appear (do NOT boil cream!). Slowly add parmesan cheese until it melts and sauce thickens. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. More cream may be added if sauce gets too thick, or more cheese can be added if you like sauce a bit thicker.
Pesto Basics
Many of us remember significant firsts in our lives - first car, first girl/boyfriend, first...well...you get the idea. I remember my first taste of pesto as if it's yesterday. It was when I worked for Houlihan's Olde Place restaurant back in the early '80's. We had a pizza on the menu which featured pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce, along with artichoke hearts, black olives, tomatos, slivered almonds and a few ingredients I'm forgetting. But, like Macho Grande, I'll never be over that pesto. Herbacious, garlicky, nutty...I was hooked. I mistakenly tried to make it with dried basil once. Once.
Basic Pesto Sauce
Place basil, garlic (start with about 1/2) and nuts in food processor and blend, adding oil slowly, until it forms a liquid-y paste (when you stop blending, a little bit of the oil should begin to pool). Add salt and pepper to taste, and more garlic if you wish. Remove to bowl, and fold in parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings.
HINT: I usually wait to add cheese until after I toss the sauce with pasta, otherwise the cheese will melt and get clumpy. Also, pesto freezes well, but not if the cheese is already added in.
For the more Adventurous:
For a "crudo style" pesto, instead of using a food processor, finely chop the basil, crush the garlic and nuts together in a mortar and pestle, and then mix all ingredients together in bowl, adding oil bit by bit.
Basic Pesto Sauce
- 3 cups FRESH basil leaves (stems removed), rinsed and dried
- 2-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Place basil, garlic (start with about 1/2) and nuts in food processor and blend, adding oil slowly, until it forms a liquid-y paste (when you stop blending, a little bit of the oil should begin to pool). Add salt and pepper to taste, and more garlic if you wish. Remove to bowl, and fold in parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings.
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| (photo from Google Images) |
HINT: I usually wait to add cheese until after I toss the sauce with pasta, otherwise the cheese will melt and get clumpy. Also, pesto freezes well, but not if the cheese is already added in.
For the more Adventurous:
For a "crudo style" pesto, instead of using a food processor, finely chop the basil, crush the garlic and nuts together in a mortar and pestle, and then mix all ingredients together in bowl, adding oil bit by bit.
Monday, July 25, 2011
My First Cooking Class
This past Thursday, I attended my first cooking class at Kiss Z Cook, a local store that specializes in offering "tools and techniques for the home cook." I intentionally signed up for their Vegetarian Class to see if I could learn some new techniques or get new ideas for some tasty vegetarian meals. The classes are normally around $75 for a two hour class. All tools and ingredients are supplied for you, there is a staff on hand to do the clean up, and the class is led by a local professional chef. After finishing the meal, everyone sits down and eats what they've just created.
Not knowing what to expect, I got there early. It immediately struck me how hot it was - makes sense, given that we're going to be in an industrial kitchen - but I immediately questioned my sanity for doing this on one of the hottest days of the year (this was during the recent heat wave). I also was a little surprised that the dining area wasn't air conditioned.
Before class, the students are offered water or iced tea, or we could purchase beer or wine. Some people came with friends or spouses, others, like myself, were flying solo.
We were led into the kitchen by the chef, a very affable gentleman named Dwight, and were told that we would be sharing the stations in groups of 3 or 4. Each station was supplied with recipes, a basket of produce, cutting boards, knives and an assortment of bowls and measuring utensils. There is a 4 burner stove and oven at each station as well. In the back of the room is the "common kitchen" where the students could find other pantry items, herbs, stock, etc. to be used in their preparations.
I was grouped with another guy who had taken one other class here, and who seemed to have some cooking experience, and two women who were also both first-timers like me. One of the women was a VERY inexperienced cook, and the other woman seemed like she is the primary cook in her house. We were instructed to look at the recipes, and decide who was going to be cooking what. There were three recipes - grilled eggplant with a vinaigrette, spinach salad with sauteed red pepper and asparagus, and wild mushroom risotto. I was psyched. I've never made risotto, and have always wanted to learn how!
Chef Dwight asked us to all gather around the main teaching station at the front of the room so that he could explain where things were, some tips on strategy, and to demonstrate some basic knife techniques, and how he wanted the vegetables to be cut. He made a special point of noting that he wanted to personally approve our mince of the garlic. He showed us basic onion dicing, and a GREAT technique for breaking down a red pepper that I hope to implement. Then he returned us to our stations.
We all gathered and discussed who would work on what. I mentioned that I'd never done risotto before, and would love to work on that, but for some reason the more experienced woman in our group said that she would do the risotto since she'd made it before. WTF?!? This is a cooking CLASS, not a COMPETITION. I came here to learn something. "You mince the garlic and do the grilled eggplant," she commanded. I didn't want to be a PITA, but I did say that I would really prefer to work on the risotto since I mince garlic and grill eggplant all the time. "You can watch me when I'm making it," she informed me. I was PISSED but decided that digging in my heels on this would just make me look bad, so I grabbed the garlic and started mincing.
I should mention that Chef Dwight wasn't kidding when he said that he was very specific on his garlic mince. I got it as small as I thought I could, called him over to check it, and was told that it still wasn't small enough. So, I minced some more. Finally, after several more passes over the garlic I got the approval. I was relieved to see that others had to redo their mince as well.
The other guy who was in our group was pleasant enough, but kept wanting to chat about what I did for a living, who did most of the cooking in our house, etc. He also kept calling the chef over to check every little thing that he did. The less experienced woman in our group didn't want to do a lot of cooking, instead she hovered over each of us trying to see what we were doing. She did take over sautéing the red pepper and asparagus. She couldn't understand why it wasn't browning, and I suggested that she let the veggies cook a bit between stirs.
Finally, the time to make the risotto came. Having been busy mincing and grilling, I hadn't been able to observe the prep for the risotto, so I just assumed that "I've made it before" lady had actually read the recipe and understood what she was doing. I immediately realized that not only had she not read through the recipe completely, but that she hadn't even made sure all of her prep was complete.
I also realized that the risotto was not really going to be vegetarian as it was being made with chicken stock. Another "WTF?!?"
So, risotto-woman cooked off the mushrooms, transferred them to a plate, then tossed the rice into the skillet to begin to cook it. She then started asking us what she was supposed to do next at each step. Totally understandable that she needed someone to prompt her on a recipe that requires a little timing, but she was completely lost. Chef Dwight came over to assist, and the risotto ended up coming out fine.
We all sat down to eat, and I must say that the food came out pretty tasty. That said, overall I was a bit disappointed in the experience, and not just because of my difficulty with my cooking partners. In some ways, it really wasn't their fault.
While Chef Dwight provided some guidance on basic knife techniques, and a good tip on how to determine if a grill is heated to medium, medium high or high, there was very little actual instruction. He circled the room, and jumped in whenever we needed him to, but I would have liked it if he would have been demonstrating as we cooked. At one point I asked him to check the flavor on a vinaigrette that I prepared, and he declined. I had tasted it myself, and thought it was missing something, but without some guidance, I didn't learn what it was.
I will say that having the clean-up taken care of was a bonus, and Chef Dwight clearly knows what he is doing. He has a good personality for the job as he has a lot of people calling for his help all the time, and he moves around the room with ease. I just wish there were more teaching and instruction. Except for a couple of prep tips, I really didn't learn much.
Not knowing what to expect, I got there early. It immediately struck me how hot it was - makes sense, given that we're going to be in an industrial kitchen - but I immediately questioned my sanity for doing this on one of the hottest days of the year (this was during the recent heat wave). I also was a little surprised that the dining area wasn't air conditioned.
Before class, the students are offered water or iced tea, or we could purchase beer or wine. Some people came with friends or spouses, others, like myself, were flying solo.
We were led into the kitchen by the chef, a very affable gentleman named Dwight, and were told that we would be sharing the stations in groups of 3 or 4. Each station was supplied with recipes, a basket of produce, cutting boards, knives and an assortment of bowls and measuring utensils. There is a 4 burner stove and oven at each station as well. In the back of the room is the "common kitchen" where the students could find other pantry items, herbs, stock, etc. to be used in their preparations.
I was grouped with another guy who had taken one other class here, and who seemed to have some cooking experience, and two women who were also both first-timers like me. One of the women was a VERY inexperienced cook, and the other woman seemed like she is the primary cook in her house. We were instructed to look at the recipes, and decide who was going to be cooking what. There were three recipes - grilled eggplant with a vinaigrette, spinach salad with sauteed red pepper and asparagus, and wild mushroom risotto. I was psyched. I've never made risotto, and have always wanted to learn how!
Chef Dwight asked us to all gather around the main teaching station at the front of the room so that he could explain where things were, some tips on strategy, and to demonstrate some basic knife techniques, and how he wanted the vegetables to be cut. He made a special point of noting that he wanted to personally approve our mince of the garlic. He showed us basic onion dicing, and a GREAT technique for breaking down a red pepper that I hope to implement. Then he returned us to our stations.
We all gathered and discussed who would work on what. I mentioned that I'd never done risotto before, and would love to work on that, but for some reason the more experienced woman in our group said that she would do the risotto since she'd made it before. WTF?!? This is a cooking CLASS, not a COMPETITION. I came here to learn something. "You mince the garlic and do the grilled eggplant," she commanded. I didn't want to be a PITA, but I did say that I would really prefer to work on the risotto since I mince garlic and grill eggplant all the time. "You can watch me when I'm making it," she informed me. I was PISSED but decided that digging in my heels on this would just make me look bad, so I grabbed the garlic and started mincing.
I should mention that Chef Dwight wasn't kidding when he said that he was very specific on his garlic mince. I got it as small as I thought I could, called him over to check it, and was told that it still wasn't small enough. So, I minced some more. Finally, after several more passes over the garlic I got the approval. I was relieved to see that others had to redo their mince as well.
The other guy who was in our group was pleasant enough, but kept wanting to chat about what I did for a living, who did most of the cooking in our house, etc. He also kept calling the chef over to check every little thing that he did. The less experienced woman in our group didn't want to do a lot of cooking, instead she hovered over each of us trying to see what we were doing. She did take over sautéing the red pepper and asparagus. She couldn't understand why it wasn't browning, and I suggested that she let the veggies cook a bit between stirs.
Finally, the time to make the risotto came. Having been busy mincing and grilling, I hadn't been able to observe the prep for the risotto, so I just assumed that "I've made it before" lady had actually read the recipe and understood what she was doing. I immediately realized that not only had she not read through the recipe completely, but that she hadn't even made sure all of her prep was complete.
I also realized that the risotto was not really going to be vegetarian as it was being made with chicken stock. Another "WTF?!?"
So, risotto-woman cooked off the mushrooms, transferred them to a plate, then tossed the rice into the skillet to begin to cook it. She then started asking us what she was supposed to do next at each step. Totally understandable that she needed someone to prompt her on a recipe that requires a little timing, but she was completely lost. Chef Dwight came over to assist, and the risotto ended up coming out fine.
We all sat down to eat, and I must say that the food came out pretty tasty. That said, overall I was a bit disappointed in the experience, and not just because of my difficulty with my cooking partners. In some ways, it really wasn't their fault.
While Chef Dwight provided some guidance on basic knife techniques, and a good tip on how to determine if a grill is heated to medium, medium high or high, there was very little actual instruction. He circled the room, and jumped in whenever we needed him to, but I would have liked it if he would have been demonstrating as we cooked. At one point I asked him to check the flavor on a vinaigrette that I prepared, and he declined. I had tasted it myself, and thought it was missing something, but without some guidance, I didn't learn what it was.
I will say that having the clean-up taken care of was a bonus, and Chef Dwight clearly knows what he is doing. He has a good personality for the job as he has a lot of people calling for his help all the time, and he moves around the room with ease. I just wish there were more teaching and instruction. Except for a couple of prep tips, I really didn't learn much.
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