Kitchen Gadget Girl Cooks

Recently, we hosted a dinner party and served a lovely (IMHO) variety of spring foods, including spring lamb stew with baby artichokes, Bibb lettuce and parsley salad with anchovy dressing, both after a white bean and sautéed greens crostini appetizer. For dessert, I served a tray of local cheeses including a very ripe Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery and my favorite goat cheese, Humboldt Fog.

Bibb and Parsley Salad with Anchovy Dressing
from Everyday Food

In a small bowl, with your immersion blender, mash two anchovy fillets together with 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, pinch of sugar, and salt & pepper to taste. Add to bowl with 1 head of Bibb or Boston lettuce, roughly torn, and 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley leaves.

Lamb Stew with Leeks and Artichokes

Both the lamb stew and the salad took advantage of the copious amounts of fresh parsley in my garden, so I submit this post as part of the Grow Your Own Roundup #40, hosted by House of Annie.

My trip this Sunday to the Farmer’s Market was awesome! Spring has definitely sprung and the variety was overwhelming. Every available stall was filled with a farmer, and I enjoyed just walking through and visiting with some of my favorites. Here is what I found:

From Coke Farm, organic broccoli rabe and celery root. Organic kiwi from Four Sisters Farm. Organic asparagus from Bounty of the Valley Farms in Salinas. And organic greens from Heirloom Organics. I also found some wonderful baby artichokes, which I hope to put to good use this week later this week, along with everything else. This is my menu plan for the week of Monday, March 8:

Sunday: Potato and green chili stew with lamb, Rancho Gordo Rio Zape beans, homemade tortillas

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Pasta with Asparagus Pesto, Lamb Mint meatballs

Wednesday: Greens with Cannellini Beans and Garlic, Celery Root Salad, roasted Salmon

Thursday: Leftovers, sautéed brocolli rabe

Friday: Dinner out to celebrate basketball end-of-season party

Saturday: Roast chicken with artichokes and caramelized lemon

What is on your menu plan this week? Any great ideas to share?

Hard to tell what the weather is going to be like this week, so I cannot tell if I am going to want comforting soups and stews, or grilled and fresh spring items. Oh well, how about a mix of both with Pancake Night thrown in for good measure. Here is my menu plan for the week of Monday, March 1:

Monday: Grilled pork chops, baked acorn and Delicata squash, steamed green veggie

Tuesday: Curry in a Hurry (from Pressure Perfect), brown rice, green veggie

Wednesday: Pancake Night

Thursday: Fish (whatever is fresh and local), bulgar and orzo pilaf, green veggie

Friday: Takeout and Movie Night

Pretty plain-jane this week. What is on your menu plan?

The Master’s Swim Team that I work out with has been having a big event this month, encouraging swimmers to swim 50,000 yards, or 100,000 yards, or whatever gigantic number of yards they desire. The idea is to reinvigorate your workout and challenge yourself.

Because of a cold and a little travel, I am going to make it to about 10,000 yards, or 250 laps. Not too bad, overall. But nothing compared to Mitchell, who is on track to complete 250,000 yards!

In addition to swimming, the team is also encouraged to bring in a can of food for every 200o yards, as a donation to a local food bank. I joke that my goal is 5 cans of food.

Leaving practice the other day, I looked over at the collection barrel for the food bank. It was great to see so much food, cans and packages, piled high. Even overflowing.

As I walked away, I had an internal discussion with myself about the kind of food that is donated during these drives. I saw cans of beans and stew, rice, and the ever-popular, ramen noodles.

I started to think that donating a package of ramen noodles ($.20 a piece, if you buy the big box from CostCo) can be a very inexpensive way to donate, with a seemingly large bang-for-the-buck. Cans of stew and soup make an easy meal, and canned beans are high in protein.

However, this is not the food we eat at home.

Lately, I have been avoiding buying beans in a can, since it is easy to cook them up in a pressure cooker and freeze some for later use. I also have concerns about the amount of sodium in canned goods, and still don’t completely understand the impact of BPA linings of food cans. Soup I make from scratch, generally from vegetables from our CSA, and the only time we eat ramen noodles is at swim meets in the summer!

And then, my struggle comes down to money. If I am going to give $10 to this food drive, am I going to seek out Massa Organics Rice ($4 for a 2 pounds bag) and buy two bags, or stick with grown-who-knows-where rice from the grocery store, and buy way more than 2 bags? If I buy beans, I can buy 10 for $10, if I stick with a generic brand, but if I want to buy organic, Eden Foods brand beans in BPA-free cans for $2.50 a pop from Whole Foods, which means only 4 cans for the food drive.

The other argument I have with myself is just because I eat this way, doesn’t mean everyone else does. Where is it my place to dictate my food preferences through donations. Why shouldn’t I just buy and donate the least expensive food items, with the greatest nutritional value. Who cares if it is local, organic or sustainable?

I guess I do.

So, my workaround for this great dilemma is to donate cash directly to the food bank. That way, everyone is happy. I can give the amount I feel comfortable with, and the food bank can purchase the items they really need, based on their clients requests. Win-win.

Have you had similar internal discussions? What have you decided to do?

This weekend’s Farmer’s Market was fabulous! At my favorite greens stand, I picked up a bag of baby beet greens and a pound of purple potatoes. At another organic stall, I found some fresh asparagus. And just next to that, baby artichokes from Castroville, the home of Artichokes!

Here is my menu plan for the week of February 22nd:

Monday: Roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Out to dinner after bball practice

Wednesday: White Bean Soup – I am still searching for a slow cooker recipe, any suggestions?

Thursday: Grilled lamb chops, Shaved-Artichoke and Parsley salad (I am going to leave out the serrano ham), bread

Friday: Something braised, I have just not figured out what yet. Might be short ribs, might be beef shanks. Stay tuned.

What is on your menu plan this week?

Last week I was invited to attend a cooking demonstration with Chef Tal Ronnen at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Chef Tal was on a book tour, promoting the conscious cook, a full color vegan cookbook published in October 2009. Chef Tal prepared vegan meals for Oprah’s 21-day vegan cleanse in the spring of 2008, and then catered Ellen deGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s vegan wedding (aside: have you seen Portia de Rossi in Better of Ted? Very funny!).

My initial reaction when receiving the invitation was to decline – I am not interested in vegan cooking, I like meat, and really consider myself an omnivore. However, I also like cooking with more vegetables and grains, and I was curious to learn more about incorporating those items into my recipes. Plus, I have always wanted to take a class at the California Culinary Academy. So, what the heck, let’s give it a try…

The class was held in one of the school’s classrooms, and included chefs-in-training as well as head chefs from the school. It was exciting to sit in the classroom with the presentation kitchen, including cameras. After a brief slide presentation, Chef Tal launched into his demonstration.

A few key elements of vegan cooking that he demonstrated included Cashew Cream, Nutritional Yeast Flakes, and meat analogs (fake-o meat for those carnivores among us). Chef Tal also used Earth Balance, a vegetable oil-based spread, a vegan butter substitute. We also had the opportunity to taste Gardein, a protein made from whole grains including quinoa and amaranth, and we watched as Chef Tal used a massive VitaMix to blend everything from Cashew Cream to soup.

“Chicken” scaloppini with shiitake sake sauce

My favorite recipe of the day was a Celery Root soup with Granny Smith apples, and one that I would probably make again. Check out the tip for adding salt to a pan as it heats, to create a non stick environment.

Celery root soup with granny smith apples

Sea salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium celery roots, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 quarts faux chicken or vegetable stock (try Better Than Bouillon brand)
1 bay leaf
1 cup thick Cashew Cream
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, very finely diced
Chive Oil (recipe follows)

Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and heat for 30 seconds, being careful not to let it smoke. This will create a nonstick effect.

Add the celery root, celery, and onion and sauté for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft but not brown. Add the stock and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the Cashew Cream and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender, cover the lid with a towel (the hot liquid tends to erupt), and blend on high. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls. Place a spoonful of the diced apple in the center of each serving, drizzle the Chive Oil around the apple, and serve.

Makes 6 servings

Chive oil

1 small bunch chives
½ cup canola oil
Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blanch the chives for 30 seconds in boiling water, then drain and chill in an ice bath. Drain, wrap the chives in a towel, and squeeze the moisture out. Place in a blender with the remaining ingredients and blend for 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Put the chive oil in a plastic squeeze bottle with a small opening or use a spoon for drizzling it on the soup.

Makes 1/2 cup

Cashew Cream

If you’ve thumbed through the recipes in The Conscious Cook, you’ve seen the ingredient “cashew cream” a few times. It’s a vegan-chef staple that stands in for dairy in a variety of ways. In the raw-food world, where it originated, it’s used in lots of desserts. When you cook with it, though, it can be so much more—from cheese filling in ravioli to heavy cream in soups. It can be stored 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen for up to 6 months (although after it’s defrosted it can be a bit lumpy, so it’s good to give it a spin in the blender to smooth it out before using it).

The trick when making cashew cream is to use raw cashews. They have no flavor of their own; they’re just a vessel for fat and creaminess. (It’s the roasting that brings out the familiar sweetness in cashews.) Because it has a nice fat content, cashew cream reduces in a pan even faster than heavy cream. (Soy milk, which some people use in vegan cooking, has no fat, so it doesn’t reduce into a thick sauce—it’s really not an alternative.)

For different applications, there are different consistencies—thick and regular. (I’ve also included a recipe for Whipped Cashew Cream, which is a great accompaniment to desserts.) Both are easy to make but not quick, because the cashews need to soak overnight. A shortcut is to put the cashews in a pot with water, bring them to a boil, then shut off the heat and let them soak for an hour. But this starts to leach out the sweetness, so you’re better off with the overnight method. Also, there’s at least one decent brand of store-bought nut cream, called Mimic Cream, which combines cashews and almonds; you can usually find it on the shelves or in the refrigerated section near the soy milk. Of course, nothing compares to homemade, and once you get used to it, there may be no turning back.

2 cups whole raw cashews (not pieces, which are often dry), rinsed very well under cold water

Put the cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water. Place them in a blender with enough fresh cold water to cover them by 1 inch. Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. Strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve.

To make thick cashew cream, which some of the recipes in this book call for, simply reduce the amount of water when they are placed in the blender, so that the water just slightly covers the cashews.

Makes about 2 1/4 cups thick cream or 3 1/2 cups regular cream
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus soaking overnight.

Recipes provided by Gardein and Chef Tal Ronnen.

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? Ever curious about how your vegetables are grown, the path your fruit takes to arrive at your table? Well, if you subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, you will never wonder again.

Since 2005, we have subscribed to a vegetable delivery service which provides locally grown, seasonal, organic vegetables, once a week. The box is always interesting, full of variety, and provides ample opportunity for experimenting.

For the last four years, we have subscribed to Two Small Farms vegetable box. And late in 2009, we added a subscription to Frog Hollow Farms for our locally grown and organic fruit. Let me tell you a little about both:

Two Small Farms is really two small farms – Mariquita Farms in Hollister, California, and High Ground Organics in Watsonville, California. Their CSA program runs from March through November, and you can sign up for 4 weeks, 9 weeks, or a full season. We go ahead and commit to the entire season, because of the price break, and when we find ourselves out of town or unable to take our box, we offer it to a friend or neighbor. My favorite part about Two Small Farms is the variety and quality of the produce. Each week they pack several things I am familiar with, and at least one or two items I would never have purchased if left to my own devices. This causes me to rethink my cooking and try new recipes, which is a great way to experience local and seasonal food.

Frog Hollow Farms in Brentwood, California, is mainly focused on stone fruits, including peaches, plums and cherries. But, they have a year-round CSA program and during the off-months, they pack their box with oranges, avocados, pomegranates and kitchen goodies to keep us happy. We started subscribing to them right in the middle of plum season, and have moved nicely through the winter with pears, apples and many varieties of citrus. Last week, our box had very juicy blood oranges and navel oranges, as well as kiwis and end-of-season apples. All organic, all very tasty.

Spring is a great time to think about joining a CSA. I highly recommend Two Small Farms and Frog Hollow Farms, but if you live outside the San Francisco Bay Area, you can check out Local Harvest for CSA, Farmer’s Markets and Co-ops in your area.

Last month, we learned to cook pasta the Italian way, at a cooking party to benefit our school. Our hostesses, Lucia and Susanna, from La Bottega in Menlo Park, created a thoughtful menu highlighting three pasta dishes from the north, center and south of Italy – Linguine al Pesto, Bucatini Casio e Pepe, and Caserecce alla Puttanesca. Served with wine, it was a lovely party.

Linguine al Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt
• 1 pound linguine pasta

Place garlic cloves and pine nuts in food processor and blend while slowly adding the olive oil and basil leaves. Process basil pesto until it forms a thick, smooth paste.

In a large stock pot, bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt, wait until it boils again, and then cook linguine until pasta is just done. Remove 1 cup of cooking water, set aside. Drain pasta and transfer to a bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon salt and grated Parmigiano to basil pesto, and toss with hot pasta. If pasta is dry, add a little of the reserved liquid. Serve.

Bucatini cacio e pepe

• 1 pound bucatini pasta (to be truly Roman you need bucatini, but feel free to use spaghetti if that is what is available)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup (packed) freshly grated Pecorino cheese
• Heaps of fresh ground black pepper

In a large stock pot, bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt, wait until it boils again, and then cook bucatini until pasta is just done.

While the pasta cooks, put Pecorino cheese along with a few tablespoons hot water from the boiling pasta into a blender, and blend until cheese is creamy. This is best done slowly and by spoonfuls to ensure you get the right consistency. When creamy, add the pepper. Yes, lots of pepper – un vero Romano would use a tablespoon.

Drain the pasta, and transfer to a bowl. Quickly pour the olive oil over the top, then mix, mix, mix to blend the cheese, pepper and oil. Serve.

Casereccie alla puttanesca

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 28 ounce can Italian tomatoes with juice
• Italian parsley
• Salt
• 1 pound Casarecce pasta
• 2 tablespoons capers in salt
• 10 to 15 Gaeta olives, pitted and halved (Kalamata are ok too)

Rinse capers well to remove salt. In a skillet, heat olive oil with garlic and a few sprigs parsley – cook until garlic is golden brown. Remove garlic and parsley and discard. Add olives, capers, tomatoes and salt to taste. Cook uncovered until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.

In a large stock pot, bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt, wait until it boils again, and then cook Casarecce until pasta is just done.

Drain pasta and pour into serving bowl. Pour sauce over the pasta and toss gently. Sprinkle with chopped, fresh parsley. Serve.

More rain is scheduled for this week, and with that, I definitely feel like comfort food. Yesterday, a few of us were chatting about our favorite way to cook vegetables, and roasting was by far the preferred method. Everything from brussel sprouts to sweet potatoes taste better when roasted with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. I mean, really, fat and salt, what could be better than that!

From my last trip to the Farmer’s Market, I discovered I still have a couple acorn squashes, a bag of mixed root vegetables ad carrots, and orach. Using those items, here is my menu plan for the week of Monday, February 8:

Monday: Roasted chicken with mixed root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas), sautéed orach

Tuesday: Dinner out after basketball, while I get to go eat dinner for Check Please! Bay Area!

Wednesday: Pizza for the kids

Thursday: Baked salmon, sautéd orach, roasted Delicata squash rings, steamed rice

Friday: Healthy Mac and Cheese (with acorn squash), salad

Saturday (we will be celebrating Valentine’s early): Sweet and spicy Asian pork shoulder, steamed rice, bok choy

What is on your menu plan this week? Any special Valentine’s Day plans?

Today’s mother-daughter Valentine’s Day party called for a little adult beverage. Something light. Something fruity. Something like Sangria.

Thanks to suggestions from Lisa and Peggy, I thought I would look up a recipe and see what I could pull together. I had a load of citrus from our Frog Hollow Farms CSA box this week, including very outstanding blood oranges. Together with lemons from my garden, I mixed this up in a jiffy and served over ice.

Sangria
inspired by recipe from All Recipes

• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 lemon, sliced into rounds
• 1 orange, sliced into rounds
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• 8 maraschino cherries
• carbonated water (optional)

Mix all ingredients, except carbonated water, in large pitcher. Chill until ready to serve (ideally overnight, although I chilled mine for 20 minutes and it was fine!). Serve over ice with carbonated water, if desired.

Note: This recipe is easily doubled. Like you needed me to tell you that.

This post submitted as part of Grow Your Own #39, hosted this month by House of Annie.