Minestrone Soup

We found this recipe in an old classic Italian cookbook stashed in the kitchen of our new apartment. (This is an old post... just getting it up now... sorry.)

While the soup bubbled away, we snacked on rillettes d'oie with mustard and caperberries.

We ate the soup with grilled steaks (flatiron, blade, or paleron steaks) on the side.

Savory French Toast Breakfast

This is a nice brunch dish, and could also make a light lunch. Just soak thickly sliced sourdough bread in an egg, milk/sour cream/yogurt, cayenne pepper mixture. Then lightly fry, as you would french toast. Top with heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and arugula. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar & olive oil.

Basil Gazpacho

I made this a few weeks ago and, like most of what I've made lately, I took pictures but didn't have time to post. I think gazpacho is the ideal late summer dish. You get to take advantage of sweet, juicy, cheap tomatoes, and you don't even have to turn on the stove!

You'll need (serves 2-3):

about 2lbs ripe tomatoes, cored but not peeled or seeded

1 cucumber, peeled

1 large clove garlic

1 jalapeno

1t Worcestershire sauce

1t tabasco

1t red wine vinegar

1T olive oil

salt & pepper

basil for garnish

In a blender, combine all ingredients except for basil. Blend well. Refrigerate at least an hour. Serve garnished with basil.

Ocean Perch in Pastis Vegetable Sauce

Any firm white fish would pair beautifully with this intensely flavorful sauce, made of Pastis (Pernod, Ricard, or any anis-flavored liquor), fresh tomatoes, and sliced carrots, and cooked down until thick and substantial. Served with garlic toasts, this makes a healthy and easy one-pot meal. I served a simple gazpacho as a first course; that recipe to come, soon.

You'll need (serves 4):

4 filets of ocean perch or any firm white fish (even filet of sole would work here, since you don't move the fish around while cooking so it probably won't fall apart)

3 medium leeks, chopped (you should have about 1c chopped leeks)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 head garlic, crushed and sliced

2 jalapenos, chopped

1 dried chile

a mix of heirloom and cherry tomatoes, totalling about 1c, cut into large chunks

3/4c Ricard, Pastis, Pernod, etc.

1-2c chicken broth or water

1/2t saffron threads dissolved in 2T hot water (optional)

2T tomato paste

4 carrots, sliced

1/4c basil

1 loaf bread

good olive oil

Heat olive oil and saute leeks and onions until translucent. Add garlic and jalapenos, saute until garlic is fragrant. Add tomato paste and stir; cook until slightly caramelized. Add Pastis and bring to a boil; boil until reduced by 2/3 and aroma is no longer alcoholic. Add saffron, dried chile, tomatoes and broth. Reduce heat to low and cook until thick, about 30 minutes. Add carrots and cook another 20 minutes.

In the meantime, slice bread and fry slices until golden in olive oil. Salt and set aside.

10 minutes before serving, salt and pepper fish and lay on top of pan. Cover and steam until fish flakes, about 10 minutes. Serve with olive oil toasts.

Shrimp Ceviche with Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

This is a great meal to make when it's too hot to cook. The shared ingredients in the ceviche and soup bring them together nicely. If you don't want to use the stove at all, you can make the toasts in a toaster, but they're better fried in olive oil. The combination of ceviche, soup, and toasts is surprisingly substantial.

You'll need (serves 2):

for the gazpacho:

2lbs heirloom tomatoes

1 cucumber

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

small handful cilantro

1t worcesterchire sauce

1t red wine vinegar

a few dashes hot sauce

1 lime

for the ceviche:

1/2lb shrimp, preferably fresh

1 avocado

a dozen or so cherry tomatoes

1 jalapeno

small handful cilantro

2 limes

toasts:

a loaf of bread (we used Rosemary Pugliese)

2 cloves garlic

1/4 olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine all gazpacho ingredients and blend until smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper. Refrigerate.

Clean shrimp and chop roughly. Place in a small dish and cover with lime juice, salt, pepper and chopped jalapeno. Stir and let sit until shrimp turns opaque. Add tomatoes, avocado and chopped cilantro. Cover and refrigerate.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Crush garlic and saute in oil until fragrant. Remove cloves when brown. Fry bread until golden on each side.

Serve gazpacho with a dollop of ceviche in center and toasts (and extra ceviche!) on the side.

Summery Salmon Supper

I realize I've been a bad blogger lately, but I've been doing all sorts of cool things outside of the kitchen, like attending a pig roast on the beach on Tomales Bay (photos up when we find the camera cord).

I also went to visit family, and my sister and I cooked up some dinner to battle the LA heat. The whole meal came together in about an hour, and since the salmon was served at room temperature, it could wait until we were ready to eat. I didn't have my camera with me, so the photos aren't the best.

The menu: Pomegranate Salmon with Feta Tzatziki; Cousous with Mint and Almonds; Tomato Salad. For dessert, Blue and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Figs, roasted until bubbly.

Pomegranate Salmon with Feta Tzatziki

You'll need:

salmon -- 1/3-1/2lb per person

1T pomegranate molasses

5 cloves garlic, minced

1t cayenne

small handful of dill

3 Persian cucumbers

1c lebne or Greek-style yogurt (normal yogurt is ok too)

a good-sized chunk of feta

1 eggplant

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Remove pin bones from salmon with tweezers. Rub salmon with pomegranate molasses and 1t garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Slice eggplant into thin (1/4 inch) rounds. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil and lay eggplant rounds in one layer. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bake 15 minutes, until tender; flip and bake 5-7 minutes longer. The eggplant should be golden but not dark brown. Set aside.

Mince dill and chop cucumbers. Mix with lebne or yogurt. Add garlic. Add feta and mix until incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place baking dish in oven. When dish is hot, turn oven down to 275 degrees. Place salmon skin-side down on dish and return to oven for about 20 minutes, until just done-- salmon should still be pink in the middle, at its thickest part. Let cool.

Serve salmon on top of eggplant. Top with a dollop of tzatziki or serve sauce on the side.

Cousous with Mint and Almonds

You'll need:

1/3c couscous per person

slivered almonds

1 lemon

handful of mint

Make couscouse according to package directions (combine equal parts couscous and hot water; let sit, covered, for 5 minutes; then fluff with fork). Let couscous cool. Mix in slivered almonds, chopped mint, juice and zest of lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Salad

This isn't really a recipe; just combine halved cherry tomatoes (we got some really good heirloom ones at Trader Joe's, which is usually not the best place for produce), chopped avocado, red onion or scallion, olives (crush with the side of a chef's knife to remove the pit), chopped basil, salt and pepper. Dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil right before serving.

Blue and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Figs

Preheat broiler. Halve figs and stuff with a bit of cheese -- we made some with blue cheese, some with fresh goat cheese. Broil until bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Heirloom Tomato & Bread Salad

This is a wonderful way to highlight the first sweet heirlooms of the season, and it's a very easy salad to throw together. Make croutons by tossing bread cubes with olive oil and herbs (I used herbes de provence) and baking them in a 400 deg oven for 15-20 minutes (check frequently so they don't burn). Chop up some fresh tomatoes, red onion, avocado, radishes-- whatever else you want. At the last minute, toss it all together with balsamic vinegar & olive oil and, if you want, greens like arugula.

Warm Tomato Dressing

This is a nice change from the classic vinaigrette, and a great way to use up any over-ripe cherry tomatoes.

You'll need:

cherry tomatoes

olive oil

kosher salt & pepper

balsamic vinegar

Toss tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a small oven-proof dish or skillet at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until they pop.

Smash with balsamic vinegar.

I used this dressing on a salad of baby gem lettuce, roasted eggplant, radish, avocado, and feta cheese.

Extra Creamy Baked Ziti

I haven't posted in quite a while because I've been away, eating delicious things like Brazilian mariscada at Muqueca in Cambridge, dim sum at Perfect Team Corporation in Flushing, and a bucketful of creamy carbonara loaded with crispy bacon cubes for breakfast (yes, breakfast) at Prune in Manhattan. Since coming back to the Bay, I've been busy preparing to teach a new course, and have been making mostly old standbys that I've already posted or that don't particularly deserve a post.

But my latest rendition of Baked Ziti, based on my old recipe already featured here, might merit another posting. This time, I did a few things differently:

1. I made an enormous amount of bechamel, using an entire container (~4c) of 1% milk and copious amounts of mozzarella and parmesan. The result was an especially creamy, cheesy finished dish.

2. I used turkey sausage, which cuts down on the fat. I also browned the sausage meat separately and then drained it well in a strainer before mixing it with the tomato sauce I'd already prepared. Taking out the extra grease here helps the sauce stick to the pasta.

3. I mixed the pasta with the meat sauce, and put about half in the pan. Then topped that with half the cheese sauce; then the rest of the pasta & sauce, then the rest of the cheese sauce. Keeping the pasta and the bechamel separate is key here: it prevents the pasta from soaking up all the bechamel, so that the finished dish has distinct layers of cheesy goo. Yum.

Warm Caprese Sandwich

Although the weather staunchly refuses to admit that summer is near, I am starting to long for summer staples like fresh heirloom tomatoes, herbs and salads. I wanted a caprese salad today, and had all the ingredients ready, but the blustery wind made me crave a warm lunch. Here's what I put together. It was really good, both in flavor and texture-- the rich creamy mozzarella was offset nicely by the tangy, sweet tomatoes, and the radishes add a satisfying crunch.

You'll need:

1 handful cherry tomatoes

1t olive oil

1/2t salt

dried herbs, optional (I used herbed cooking salt)

1t balsamic vinegar

1 handful fresh basil leaves

4 slices fresh mozzarella

2 radishes

bread-- I used a "baguette piece", basically a small baguette roll, from the Cheeseboard

Cut tomatoes in half and cook in a small skillet over medium heat, along with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs/spices, for about 5 minutes, until wilted and mushy. Their liquid should start to thicken. In the meantime, cut basil into chiffonade and thinly slice radishes. When tomatoes are cooked, turn heat to high and add balsamic vinegar to deglaze. Cook 30 seconds until thick. Turn off heat and add basil.

Heat bread in oven, then slice in half.

Layer cheese and radishes.

Top with tomato mixture. Serve open-face.

Couscous & Sundried Tomato Salad

This is a great dish to bring to a potluck, because it's transportable, can easily be made vegan, and highlights any fresh summer flavors you care to include. It's also easy to make in enormous quantities. The recipe below fed two separate BBQs; adjust accordingly, but it stays good in the fridge for a day or two, longer if you don't use cucumber.

You'll need:

3c couscous

3c water

1t salt

2T butter or olive oil

1 jar sun dried tomatoes packed in oil

1 bunch mint

1 large or 2-3 small cucumbers

1 small red onion

feta cheese (optional)

1 large lemon (or 2 small)

olive oil

Boil water. Pour couscous into a large bowl; add butter or oil and salt. Pour boiling water on top. Stir and cover for 5 minutes. Remove cover and fluff well with a fork.

Chop mint (you can use a food processor) and set aside in serving bowl. Chop tomatoes, reserving their oil, or pour the whole jar into a food processor and process for a few seconds (you don't want a paste). Add tomatoes and their oil to serving bowl. By hand, finely chop cucumber and red onion and add to serving bowl. Add couscous a little at a time, stirring well with a fork to combine. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Toss to combine. Taste and season with more salt and pepper and lemon juice if necessary.

Top with feta cheese, if you want.

Stuffed Zucchini

This is my grandmother's recipe, except she doesn't use recipes, so it's an approximation. If you don't like zucchini you can stuff bell peppers, tomatoes, Italian eggplants, or pretty much any receptacle-shaped vegetable. This is also a lot easier than it looks.

You'll need:

6 zucchini (you can use the normal long ones but I like the round ones, because you can put more stuffing inside, and obviously the stuffing's the best part)

1 onion

2-3 cloves garlic

a few tomatoes or a 1/2c or so of tomato sauce

juice from 1/2 lemon

mint for garnish

stuffing:

1/2lb ground beef or lamb

1/3c white rice

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

a few tablespoons tomato sauce

spices-- I used tomato flakes & baharat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start with the stuffing. Chop onion & garlic. Saute in olive oil with spices-- cumin-based flavors are good here-- until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Pour cooked onion into a large bowl. Add raw meat. Rinse rice until it runs clear. Add rice. Add some olive oil and tomato sauce to moisten, and generously season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Chop the end of the zucchini (small end if you're using rounded ones) and remove the insides with a corer or a spoon. Discard insides. Don't cut all the way through to the other side. You should have zucchini shells now. Stuff them will the stuffing but don't fill all the way (the rice will expand).

Heat olive oil in a large skillet (the same you used for the onion is fine). Chop onion and garlic; saute until translucent. Add zucchinis to pan and oil if necessary; saute briefly on all sides. Add tomato sauce and a bit of water if sauce looks very thick. Add lemon juice.

If you have extra stuffing, make little meatballs and add them to the sauce too.

Cover pan and cook in oven until rice is done, about 45 minutes. You can reduce the sauce on the stovetop, uncovered, if necessary at the end.

Serve garnished with mint.

Morcilla-Stuffed Squid

Morcilla is Spanish-style blood sausage. It's meatier than boudin and has a coarser grind. The one we got (at The Spanish Table) was combined with rice, which makes a really nice, substantial stuffing mix. If this kind of thing scares you, you can easily make this recipe with normal bulk sausage.

You'll need (serves 2-3):

6 squid bodies, cleaned (remove inner cartiledge)

4 links morcilla or other sausage

1 onion, chopped

1/2T cumin

1t cayenne

1T paprika

1c red wine

for the sauce:

7 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

4 shallots, sliced

1T tomato paste

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1T paprika

In a large heavy skillet, heat some olive oil and saute the chopped onion until brown, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage from its casing and add it to the skillet, crumbling it up with your fingers as you add it. Stir to combine; add spices to taste. Deglaze with red wine and let simmer until almost dry. Taste and adjust spices. Remove from pan and let cool.

When the stuffing is cool enough to handle, stuff squid bodies (but don't stuff them too much-- they'll shrink quite a bit when they cook). Secure opening with toothpicks.

Add oil to skillet (same skillet-- don't clean it out) and brown stuffed squid lightly, about 5 min/side. Remove. Add sauce ingredients: onion, shallot, garlic. Let cook slowly over low heat until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring so garlic doesn't brown. Add tomato paste; let caramelize, then stir to combine. Add tomato sauce and paprika; return squid to pan. Add some chicken broth or water so that liquid comes halfway up squid. Let simmer about 45 minutes, until squid is tender (can be easily pierced with a fork).

leftovers, in the pan

cross-section of stuffed squid

Braised Calamari in Spicy Tomato Sauce

This is shockingly easy and cheap-- for some reason (probably because people don't know what to do with it), squid is pretty inexpensive, and most markets sell it pre-cleaned. You can play with the ingredients to create different flavor combinations-- this would be great with olives and red wine, for example.

You'll need (per person for a main course):

1 lb squid (calamari)
1c cherry tomatoes (or any other tomato. canned is fine too)
2T olive oil
5 cloves garlic, smashed
1 serrano chili, chopped (or red pepper flakes)
chopped fresh herbs (I used thyme and sage)
1T tomato paste
1-2T paprika (I used sweet; I'll probably try smoked next time, for more oomph)
1 1/2c white wine

Heat oil in skillet. Add tomatoes, garlic, chili, tomato paste and herbs. Saute, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes collapse and garlic turns golden. Add squid, salt and pepper, and paprika. Add wine and cook, uncovered, at a simmer for about 45 minutes, until sauce is thick and squid is tender. Serve with baguette.

Bechamel Baked Ziti

I've been a lazy blogger and cook lately. This is a lazy dish that can be put together while you're working at home, and can serve at least 8 people (or cut the recipe in half). I served this with a watermelon, feta & mint salad as the appetizer, and followed it with a simple arugula salad.

You'll need (serves 8-10):

1 1/2 packages ziti pasta

2lbs spicy Italian bulk sausage (I used Molinari)

5 shallots, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chile flakes

3T tomato paste

28oz can of plum tomatoes

10 roma tomatoes (this is optional, but oh so good)

1c dry red wine

1 bunch basil

1/3c butter

1/3c flour

3c milk

1 1/2c grated mozzarella cheese

1/2c grated cheddar

1c grated parmesan/romano blend

Halve tomatoes and roasted, seasoned, in a 400 degree oven. Let cool slightly; remove skin.

Brown sausage, pouring out fat as it accumlates. Deglaze pan with wine and cook until liquid is absorbed. Remove sausage from pan. Add olive oil or reserved fat. Fry shallots, garlic and chile flakes, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Return sausage to pan. Make a well in the middle; add tomato paste and saute until it browns slightly. Stir to combine with sausage.

Add canned and roasted tomatoes. Julienne basil and add half to the pan. Cook over low heat until sauce is thick and flavorful, about 1 hour. You probably don't want to add salt because sausage tends to be salty, but add pepper to taste.

In the meantime, cook the pasta. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mornay (Bechamel+cheese) sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour. Cook, whisking, over medium heat until golden brown. Add milk slowly and cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella and cheddar and half the parmesan. Combine 2/3 of this sauce with the finished meat sauce. Stir the rest of the parmesan into the remaining sauce and reserve.

Mix cooked pasta with the mornay/meat sauce. Pour into buttered gratin dish. Top with reserved mornay sauce.

Bake until set and top is golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. (This looks rather gooey and unphotogenic when hot, so the pictures are of cold leftovers.)

Amazing Sandwich

I don't normally post quick things I throw together for lunch like sandwiches and salads (with a few exceptions), but this sandwich was so amazing I had to tell someone about it (this blog started because I think my friends got sick of my thrice-daily reports on what I was eating). 

I used leftover chicken, sharp cheddar cheese, a few confit'd tomatoes, and a ton of avocado because I love avocado. I put all but the avocado between 2 slices of Ezekiel bread (Trader Joe's) and "grilled" it in my cast iron skillet, weighed down with another skillet and my fist, then flipped it so the cheese got all melty, the chicken and tomatoes heated up, and the bread was flat and toasty. Then I opened it, stuck in the avocado with some salt and pepper, and voila! Of course, like any good grilled cheese, I cut it in half on the diagonal.