the garden experiments

It's already summer here in South Carolina, and that means fresh, local shrimp. And as you can see from the photo, the garden is going nuts. So, for me that meant a fresh Caesar salad with spiced shrimp. I'm not a fan of most Caesar salads at casual restaurants, because they are usually a sad combination of bottled dressing, bagged croutons, and cheap parm.  Add some overcooked shrimp to the equation and you are likely north of 10 bucks for something that is mediocre at best. Made from scratch with quality ingredients, and Caesar salad becomes something altogether different. I headed out to the garden and picked some romaine leaves, washed them, wrapped them in some paper towels, and tossed them in the fridge to crisp.

In my opinion, store-bought croutons are an abomination, and home made ones are very easy to do. I bought a small loaf of sour dough bread, removed the crusts, and cubed it into fairly large cubes. I also sliced up two cloves of garlic and put them in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

 about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven will begin to toast the bread

While the bread toasted in the oven, I threw together the dressing. It is traditional to toss the dressing ingredients one at a time with the romaine lettuce, but I just tossed everything into the blender to make things even easier. The blender will also emulsify the dressing more efficiently than a hand-toss, making a creamier dressing. For the two of us, I used one egg that I had boiled for one minute.  That will barely begin to set the white, making for a creamier dressing. To that I added the juice of one lemon, about a teaspoon of anchovy paste, a half a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.  Then I added about three tablespoons of olive oil and blended it all together, until I had a nice creamy dressing. What about the garlic? I sometimes find the taste of raw garlic a bit overwhelming, so I had a different plan to bring that classic flavor into the mix.  Once I had infused the oil with the garlic, I drained the oil into a hot pan to fry the croutons, and tossed the peeled shrimp with the garlic slices and a couple big pinches of red pepper flakes.

 it only takes about 30 minutes to infuse the shrimp with garlic and pepper

 in the mean time I fried the croutons in the hot garlic oil

Toasting the croutons in the oil took about 10 minutes, and I had fresh, crisp little cubes of bread. The shrimp cooks extremely quickly as well.  I lowered the heat under the same pan that I toasted the bread in, and sauteed the shrimp very gently, just until the were opaque, about 7 or 8 minutes.

  a gentle heat will assure both that the shrimp won't toughen 

and that the garlic won't burn

 Both the beauty and the danger of cooking seafood, particularly delicate shellfish like shrimp and scallops is that they can go from perfectly cooked to overcooked in less than a minute. Remember that they will continue to cook from residual heat, and take them off the fire as soon as they have just turned opaque.

From there, it's merely a matter of tossing the torn romaine with about 1/2 a cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, the shrimp, croutons, and the dressing, and you have a delicious, light summer dinner.

a refreshing, light mid-week dinner that is cheaper and likely

tastier than what you can get at your neighborhood restaurant

the lazy cook

I have been MIA for the past few weeks because we've had an early start on summer here, and that means a lot of tossing a steak or chop on the grill and fixing a simple side, like potato salad or pasta or greens.  And that makes for pretty boring blogging.  But...I'm posting a few pics of our little garden  Jim puts the veggies on steroids with Miracle Grow, and I am going  to have to do some serious cooking if I am going to keep up.  Some pics:

 rainbow chard, spinach, peas, two varieties of thyme, and chives

parsley, sage, chives, thyme, rosemary; peas and spinach in the background

squash, peppers, tomatoes, and romaine

I am going to be a very busy girl.  The romaine and chard need to be harvested and now.  So one of our first garden veggies made it into tonight's fish curry.

look at the monstrous size of that rainbow chard leaf--

I used just one for the curry

Tonight's curry had chard, onion, bunapi mushrooms, aromatics, talipia, and shrimp.  Which is the great thing about a curry--it can take in a great variety of flavors--what you have on hand.  There is no reason to squint over long, complicated recipes and scour Asian markets for exotic ingredients.  If you really want to make an authentic Indian or Thai curry, sure.  If you want to make Saturday night dinner, scour your fridge and the local supermarket.  The only fairly unusual ingredient I used tonight was bunapi mushrooms.  Those made the list because Whole Foods happens to carry them, and I love their silky texture and pretty shape.  When I'm in WF, I buy some, and figure something to do with them later.  So they were in the fridge.  At the grocery store today, talapia was on sale, and it looked good.  The shrimp were pricey, but local and fresh, so I bought just a few to up the interest in the dish.

grated lemon grass and ginger from the freezer and a dollop of curry paste,

 along with kaffir lime leaves I also keep in the freezer along with a frozen hot pepper

 from last year's garden, the mushrooms from the fridge;

onion and chard from this year's garden

Okay, I had to go to the store for the fish, but then I also had to go to the store for milk.  And, the idea for the curry actually happened at the store, when I saw that talipia was on sale.  It is always a good idea for a lazy cook to work backwards into a meal from what is on hand.  Much easier than spending an hour looking for a recipe, laboring over an ingredient list, and then falling to pieces when they're out of fresh fennel and curly endive, and the red snapper looks four days old.  Believe me, I have seen women standing at the fish counter, clutching their lists, eyes brimming with tears.  It is those moments that make the existence of hamburger helper possible.  It is wise to become the sort of cook, lazy or not, who laughs at the very idea of hamburger helper.  But I digress.

Curry is simple to make.  Everything goes into the pot.  I admit, not all at once if one wants superior results, but one pot nonetheless.  First a small glug of oil goes into a hot pan, then the aromatics--to bloom, which is chef-speak for "smell good"--then the veggies, in the order of how long they take to cook. Once the veggies wilt a bit, the liquid is next.  In this case that was coconut milk, but if you are counting calories it could have as easily been a little water, or canned tomatoes.  If your sauce of choice is yogurt, add that last over low heat, after everything including the fish is cooked.  It will separate, and make a very unappealing though perfectly edible sauce.

those blooming aromatics take just a minute or two to become fragrant

veggies into the pool--they're pretty before they wilt,

but they taste better after

coconut milk and then fish go in--fish a few minutes before the shrimp--

keep this on a low simmer and make sure the rice is cooked

Damn!  You forgot the rice.  No worries.  Just take the curry off the heat and cook the rice.  When the rice is done, reheat the curry for a minute or two, and serve.

oops; forgot the cilantro garnish. no matter, I added a handful

to the pot at the very end of the simmer, so the flavor was there

And that is the final word for lessons in being a lazy cook and a happy eater at the same time.  It doesn't matter that you forgot the final fillip of garnish or left the rolls in the oven until the smoke alarm went off.  Things will still taste good, and even if they don't, never apologize.  It just embarrasses others, and another meal is less than a day away.

when breakfast makes a simple, delicious dinner

I wanted something quick, easy and tasty the other night, so I started rifling around in the fridge.  I found wonderful farm-fresh eggs, which is a good start.  There was bacon, some fresh goat cheese, a couple of green onions, shitake mushrooms, and a bit of arugula that needed to be used.  What could be easier than an omelet and a lightly dressed salad for a weeknight meal?

 Goat cheese adds a creamy tang to an omelet

All that's really needed to make an omelet, of course, is eggs.  But I like to add half a tablespoon of cream, salt, pepper, and a few grates of nutmeg.

the egg mixture just before I beat the tar out of it

A whisk will get the job done, but I like the eggs to be fully incorporated, and to add a little air for lightness.  The local farm eggs I get from Whole Foods are worth every penny.  But there is one thing about very fresh eggs.  The whites resist incorporation.  So going after the mixture with an immersion blender, which is a very handy kitchen tool, mixes them in a trice.  It's also very handy to have to puree soups and blend sauces.

I started the bacon, just two slices cut into lardons, crisping in the pan.  Once they were crisp, I pulled them out, and I sauteed the mushrooms and green onions for a few minutes in the bacon fat.  

there's my mineral pan again--as you can see, it's getting been getting a work-out

Then I put in the greens just until they were wilted.  With a non-stick pan, which a well-maintained mineral pan is, the entire operation is a one-pan meal.  Though I love Julia Child's method of cooking omelets very fast over very high heat, it goes too fast if you are going to add a fair amount of filling.  So I kept the pan over medium heat.

the eggs begin to bubble and set immediately

For less than a minute, I lifted the edges of the omelet, and tilted the pan a little to let the uncooked eggs slip onto the pan's surface.  Then I laid the fillings across the omelet.

a quick fold, and dinner is ready

the warm omelet and a little salad of frisee and little

yellow plum tomatoes was a very satisfying dinner

I was surprised the the omelet had browned so much in such a short time, but I suppose it has something to do with the cooking properties of the pan.  The eggs weren't overcooked at all.  Makes me want to make a croque-madame sandwich, but I guess I'll save that for some other time.

shrimp fra diavolo

Italian for "brother devil", fra diavolo sauce is just about anything you want to make it, as long as it has some kick to it.  Wiki says, according to Mario Batali, it is an Italian American dish, rarely seen in Italy.  They don't know what they are missing.  It's a simple dish to make, full of fresh herbs, tomatoes (in my version) and spicy hot red pepper flakes.

I went to Whole Foods the other day, and they had some beautiful fresh South Carolina shrimp.  I was mourning the end of the supply of Honeycrisp apples, and so I decided to console myself with some of those shrimp, but they were pricy.  So I wasn't going to do a shrimp boil, turning pounds of spiced shrimp out onto a paper-covered table, as much as I'd like to.  I ended up with about 2/3 of a pound for two people.  Jim has a big appetite.  A half a pound would probably do for two if neither one of you is inclined to consume inordinate amounts of pasta.

The sauce has quite a few ingredients, but once they're assembled, it comes together in about a half an hour.  I used hot red pepper flakes; garlic; sliced shallots; chopped canned tomatoes; fresh oregano, basil and parsley; a little dry vermouth (my go-to for white wine in cooking); and dried linguine for the pasta.

Muir Glen fire roasted chopped tomatoes with no added salt

is one of my favorite pantry staples--not that I avoid salt,

I just like being in control of how much there is, and when it's added

The shrimp get tossed with the red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt, then get tossed in a sizzling skillet with a glug of olive oil.  I use tender loving care with shrimp, cooking them first just until they are barely done--beginning to turn pink and lose their translucence.  Perfectly cooked shrimp are a wonder.  Overcooked shrimp are rubber erasers.  I err on the side of caution.  Carry-over heat will continue to cook them when they come out of the skillet, and they will cook a little more when you toss them in the sauce and pasta to heat them up.

 shrimp are ready to come out of the pan when they are

just beginning to turn pink and opaque

The remainder of the sauce comes together while the shrimp rest.  I sauteed the sliced shallots for a few minutes, then added in the minced garlic.  I think the easiest ways to mince garlic in through a garlic press, or to grate it on a microplane grater.  Chopping garlic with a knife is a chore.  It sticks to the knife and the pieces are unevenly sized.  Besides, having a good garlic press will dissuade you from using that jarred stuff.  It just doesn't taste the same.  And, yes, I have a jar of chopped garlic in my fridge I have called on in emergencies, but it's so old I think it needs to be carbon-dated.

the aromatics take just a short saute

then in goes the about half a cup of wine, the tomatoes, 

and the oregano--use dried if you don't have fresh--and now's
the time to taste for salt

I have so much fresh oregano in my garden it boggles the mind.  It's like mint--it takes over, and I'm not sure it's the case in colder climates, but here in zone seven it grows all year long.

Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until it is just barely al dente--in other words, a little bit under-cooked.  And don't worry if the sauce seems a little thin.  Adding the slightly undercooked pasta to a slightly watery sauce is a great way to get very flavorful, perfectly cooked pasta.

The pasta, chopped parsley, and shrimp go in the sauce for 

a minute or two, to warm the shrimp and infuse the pasta with the sauce

I put the fresh basil on top, to be stirred in with the hot

pasta, so it stays as fresh as possible

No Parmesan on this dish, I suppose because the Titans of Italian cooking say no cheese with seafood.  But, hey, if you want a bit of parm, who's to know?  I adore Alfredo with crab, lobster or shrimp, and that's loaded with cheese.  But this dish is a lot healthier, easy to make, and satisfying to eat.  Ciao!

pan fired pork chops with greens and dressing

I've blogged about these thick-cut pork chops before, because Jim loves them, and they can vex me, trying to keep them succulent while still cooking them through.  I have stuffed them in the past with bread stuffing, or a combination of goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and greens.  But I have decided that splitting them to make a pocket for filling increases the risk of drying them out before the filling comes up to temp.  So last week, I pan-fried them, and made rainbow chard and a dressing on the side.  I started with a brine of salt, honey, orange juice, and bay leaf in water.  I brined the chops for about 4 hours, then seared them off in one of my beloved mineral pans.

these pans really put a beautiful sear on foods--

I don't understand why they aren't in every kitchen

I made the dressing on the side.  My plan was to use celery, toasted pecans, apples, sage, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, an egg, chicken broth, and some old bread that needed to be used.  The veggies got sauteed in a bit of butter until they were just beginning to soften.  Then everything got tossed together with an egg and enough chicken broth to make a soft dressing.

mise en place was not en place--I forgot the apple

everything ready to go, but where's the apple?

no worries, I just diced a granny smith, sauteed it in a little butter,

and mixed it into the stuffing right in the pan

I had some rainbow chard in the fridge, as well as some mushrooms and shallots.  Sounded like a perfect side for a Southern pork chop dinner.

it probably doesn't get much more Southern than this,

though I didn't have any fatback in the greens

wedding soup

Long a treat widely available up north and on the east coast, I assume because of the presence of Italian populations, wedding soup is something I haven't seen anywhere down south.  There are several different versions on various recipe websites, but I used to eat my favorite version in a dive restaurant in Erie, and I wanted to try to replicate, and improve on, the way they made it.

I started with the meatballs

I made a panade of a couple of slices of bread, some crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and about a half a cup of milk, all ground up in the food processor.  To that I added some sweet Italian sausage, mixed it all up, and rolled little meatballs about three quarters of an inch in diameter. Someone asked me how I keep the size so consistent--a small melon baller and a cup of water. Scoop a dollop of meat in the melon baller, round the top, and dump the little meatball on the baking sheet. After about every third meatball, swish the melon baller in the water, washing away residue that can make the meatballs stick.

rolling the little meatballs was a bit tedious, but I 

knew I would have enough to freeze some for later

The meatballs baked in a 350 oven in about twenty minutes.  For aromatics, I sauteed diced onion, and carrots cut into matchsticks.   The carrots could just as easily been diced, but I like the look of the matchsticks, and I don't care for big bites of cooked carrot.  Besides, I have a handy little tool that shaves the matchsticks right off the carrot.  It looks like a vegetable peeler with teeth.

I lightly sauteed the vegetable in olive oil before adding the broth

Sauteing the veggies first is really just habit.  They could have just as easily been simmered in the broth--the soup cooks long enough for them to soften.  For broth I used my new favorite, outside of homemade stock--Swanson no salt-added cooking stock.  It has a clean flavor, and I love being able to control the salt level myself.    Along with the broth, I added about a cup of vermouth, and a boneless, skinless chicken breast, which I cooked at a bare simmer, and took out as soon as it hit an internal temperature of 165.  Chicken breast can get tough and dry if it is cooked too long.  It took about 20 minutes to cook through.  I took the breast out of the stock, added about two cups of water to the broth, and added in a half a cup of orzo pasta--the little pasta shaped like grains of rice.  Any small pasta shape would work.  The addition of water assures that the pasta won't soak up all the broth.  I brought the heat up to medium hi, and while the pasta cooked, I shredded the chicken breast to be stirred in at the last minute.  As soon as the pasta was al dente, I stirred in a full bag of arugula.

looks like a lot of greens, but they cook down a lot--

spinach would work, too, but I like the spicy bite in arugula

The greens cook in about two minutes.  After they cooked down I added about a third of my meatballs, and the shredded chicken.  I tasted for salt, added a bit, and served.

this is a pretty soup hearty enough to make a meal

cioppino

Italian influenced seafood soup fits right in with my food goals for the new year.  I want foods with more veggies, more seafood, simple preparations, and big, bold flavors.  And seafood soup checks that list off in every aspect.  Veggies?  Check.  Tomatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers.

a quick saute of the veggies builds a base for the soup

I happened to have some cooked garden tomatoes from last summer in the freezer, though canned tomatoes would work as well.  But I have to admit that there is nothing quite like the flavor of home-grown tomatoes in January.  A little thyme, some dried tarragon, ground fennel seed, orange zest and juice, some red jalapeno, and a dash of salt and pepper rounded out the broth, which I thinned with a bit of seafood stock, available at most groceries.

tomato soup of the gods, slightly spicy with peppers, rich with vegetables,

and scented with orange and fennel

All I needed was some seafood to round things out.  I wanted some mussels, but the ones at the grocery didn't look that great, so I settled for scallops, shrimp, and flounder.  The beauty of cioppino is that what goes in just needs to be fresh.  Doesn't matter what it is.  Mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, crab.  Who cares?  Whatever looks good rules the day.  The end result?  A fragrant, rich, tomato broth brimming with tender seafood that takes just minutes to prepare.

the seafood poaches to perfection in the broth in just minutes over very low heat

praise for the braise

A braise does three things, particularly for the lazy cook.  It provides a nearly hands-off cooking method, lends tenderness to sometimes finicky large cuts of meat, and it makes its own sauce.  Jim loves pork, but pork sometimes frustrates me.  Either it is too fatty or not fatty enough, depending on the cut.  And it can become dry and flavorless, if it is overcooked.   So I was intrigued when I saw Debbie Mazar's husband Gabriella cooking a pork loin braised in milk the other day on the cooking channel.  A little research lead me to believe that they may have fudged the results a little on the show, because the traditional pork braised in milk results in an odd curdled sauce that I suspect is an acquired taste.  But I haven't had anything resembling a milk gravy in years, so I thought I would take a whirl at making my own version, hoping for a result similar to what I saw on the show--a tender sliced pork roast with a creamy, silky sauce.

My first departure was the cut of meat, but that was just the product of a poor selection of roasts at the grocery store, and no desire to tack a trip to another store onto my errands.  The store had one pork loin roast, and one pork butt roast.  The butt roast was a bit smaller, and looked better, so it won.  The result would be that the meat wouldn't be as pretty when sliced, and there would be more fat to contend with in the sauce.

the pork roast needs a heavy coating of salt and pepper, 

best added about an hour ahead of time

The braise starts with some oil to brown the roast, along with some aromatics.  In this case I used sage and rosemary that are still hanging around in the garden (very mild winter here so far) along with a few cloves of garlic, skins and all.  The sauce gets strained, so there's no need to get fussy with the herbs.

nothing could be simpler than tossing whole herbs in a pot

browning the pork roast is not necessary, but it does add

flavor and color

Once the pork was browned off, I added a cup of white wine, a couple cups of chicken stock, and the lid.  Then the pot went into a 275 degree oven to be neglected for the next two or three hours.  About 30 minutes before we wanted to eat, I quartered some baby dutch yellow potatoes (my current favorite for grilling and pan frying), some onion, sweet baby bell peppers, and a yellow squash.  I browned the potatoes a bit first, then just added in the rest of the veggies along with some salt and pepper.

 my mineral pan is starting to look like a real cook uses it--

the uglier it gets, the more non-stick it gets

I pulled the roast out of the oven, put it on a board to rest while the veggies cooked, and strained the braising liquid into a gravy separator, a ten dollar tool that is unsurpassed at getting excess fat out of pan drippings.  I think I've had mine for twenty years or more.  Once I got rid of the excess fat, I put the pan dripping back in the pot, and over high heat to reduce them a bit.  I made a slurry of a couple of teaspoons of flour and a cup or so of whole milk, cut the heat off under the reduced drippings, and added the slurry to the pot, stirring it and letting it simmer in the residual heat of the cast iron roaster.  The result was a delicious silky sauce for the roast.  If you want to cut the calories, just reduce the defatted drippings and call it a day.

a yummy dinner with the side benefit of tender pork left over 

for sandwiches

I love this soup

Pho.  It's my favorite soup.  The flavors are clean and enticing, it comes together in minutes, it is low in calories, high in interest, and satisfying any time of the year.  I like mine the best with beef, but chicken or shrimp are also excellent.  I haven't tried a vegetarian version, but I have no doubt it would be excellent.  Just for the record, there's no way my version is authentic, and I don't care.  It's tasty, easy to prepare, and gorgeous to look at.   My first experience with this soup was in a Lubbock, Texas defunct doughnut shop that an immigrant couple had converted into a Thai eatery.  The soup was delicious, cheap, and addictive.

It starts with beef broth that is infused with aromatics.  Here I used cinnamon sticks, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and galangal root, which is a spicier cousin of ginger.

infusing the broth with warm spices takes about fifteen minutes

This is an ideal soup for a busy weeknight.  While the broth infuses with the aromatics, the veggies can be prepped.  I use broccolini, green onion, bean sprouts, and hot red pepper along with very thin slices of beef.

that's cilantro in the far right corner--it goes in at the last minute

So, the drill is soak the rice noodles (oops, forgot to take a pic) in hot water while the broth is steeping with the aromatics.  Slice the veggies and meat, drain the aromatics out of the broth, and put the green onion, hot pepper, and brocollini in the pot.

once the brocollini turns bright green, add the soaked noodles,

the beef, and a drizzle of sesame oil if you have it

Everything will be cooked in about five minutes.  Season for taste with salt, and add the bean sprouts and cilantro.  Ladle everything into big bowls.  I like to garnish with chopped peanuts for flavor and crunch, which is certainly not traditional.  The upshot--a delicious soup in under 30 minutes.

yum--I love this soup

the boring chicken breast

There may be no edible canvas more blank than the boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Presented naked, it is a dieter's purgatory, big on pious self-deprivation and void of succulence and inspiration.  It is very easy to overcook, becoming somehow simultaneously like sawdust and rubber.

Which is why I am so attracted to it.  I consider it the gauntlet that has been thrown down before those who think themselves reasonably good cooks.  I long to make it taste good, exude juice and succulence, and attract the appetite of the most persnickety eaters. (Of course, that last bit won't happen, because I have not gone gluten-salt-fat-yeast-soy-dairy-wheat-meat-allium free.)  I have cooked chicken breast sous vide, simmered it, and stir fried it.  I have sauteed it, baked it, and fried it. I've beaten it with a mallet, stuffed it, smothered it, and drowned it in a brine.  So yesterday, I decided to go a little retro on it, and make a chicken cordon bleu.  The things I like about stuffing chicken breast with a filling are the flavor the filling brings to the meat, and the pretty presentation that results. 

slicing open the breasts like a book and pounding them thin isn't an exact science--

the tears and irregularities will disappear with cooking

Cordon bleu consists of layering thin chicken breasts with ham--in this case I used prosciutto-- and some sort of swiss cheese.  I had a bit of Gruyere and some baby swiss on hand, so I used that.  Spreading the chicken first with a bit of dijon mustard adds some additional flavor.

oops, I forgot the mustard, which I realized when I prepared to bread the rolls,

so I added the mustard to the beaten egg wash used to coat the rolls

A great hint for holding rolled chicken breast together is to roll them in plastic wrap, twist the ends tightly to create a cylinder, and place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set up.  No toothpicks required.

plastic wrap helps to make uniform rolls

breading setup--flour, seasoned with salt and pepper,

beaten egg, and panko breadcrumbs mixed with a bit of melted butter,

thyme, salt, and pepper

the stint in the freezer makes breading very easy

I like to cook chicken breasts at fairly low temperatures, in this case 325, which doesn't do much for browning, so I browned the rolls off in a lightly oiled skillet prior to baking them in the oven.  An alternative would be a short run under the broiler to brown the tops.

about a minute a side over medium heat browned things up nicely

in my beloved mineral pan

about 30 minutes in the oven produced lovely, well-cooked chicken--

though a little cheese oozed, it didn't affect the final dish

cordon bleu, served here with a little chicken jus, and 

green beans with mushrooms and garlic

I made the jus with a bit of chicken demi-glace, white wine, a little water, and a bit of agar agar to thicken it slightly and give it a silky body (salt and pepper, as well, of course).  Both the demi-glace and the agar agar are a couple of my favorite shortcut ingredients that I always have on hand.  

This old-school dish was delicious, moist, and tasty.