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    Wednesday, February 19th, 2014
    4:50 pm
    Aquel no era yo
    [No real spoilers here—it looks like I'm telling the ending, but the ending is shown in flashforwards right at the beginning.]

    I went to a showing of the Oscar-nominated short live-action fiction films at the ICA over the weekend. "Aquel no era yo (That wasn't Me)" seems a shoe-in for the Oscar, 'cause it seems like it was taken directly from the "How to Win an Oscar" guidebook. A child soldier from Africa (no country ever named, but, you know, Africa—one of those bad ones) rehabilitated by The West after having been rescued by a beautiful young do-gooder white woman. Chock full of harrowing violence, focused mostly on the violence against the white people, but socially relevant harrowing violence, so you can feel virtuous for watching it, along with horrified and thrilled.

    Though it was quite accomplished. It felt like a feature film that happened to be short (24 min)—which is also at least partly a criticism. Contrast it with "Just Before Losing Everything," about a woman leaving her abusive husband, which I think really makes use of the short-film form. Its 30 minutes shows events that take place over an hour or so, a short time out of a much longer story. She's taken her kids to the supermarket where she works, where she can use the phone and meet her sister; we see that a few people at work know her plan without having seen them discuss it, we see that everyone at work knows she has an abusive husband without having seen them ask "how did you get that black eye," we see that she doesn't get along with one of her coworkers without seeing what led to it. And it ends, not exactly abruptly or with a cliffhanger, but unexpectedly and with not much resolved. It's a much more daring use of the medium, using the fact that it's short to do interesting things—definitely not a short feature film, not a sitcom like "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?" not a comedy sketch like "The Voorman Problem" (other nominees). Making a short feature film is another play out of the "How to Win an Oscar" playbook—the people who vote for Oscars know feature films, and feel comfortable with them. A 24-minute feature film isn't going to unsettle them.
    Sunday, July 1st, 2012
    10:51 pm
    Iced Chai
    It took a while, because I don't make it all that often, but I finally converged on a recipe I like for chai. In particular, it took me a while to figure out that the right amount of coriander, found in many recipes, is none.

    • 14 2.5″ cinnamon sticks
    • 2.5 Tbs whole decorticated cardamon seeds
    • 2.5 Tbs whole allspice
    • 2 Tbs whole cloves
    • 1.5 tsp whole black pepper, lightly crushed
    • 8 cups cold water
    Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, and simmer covered 15 minutes.
    Remove from heat and add
    • zest of 1 orange (use a vegetable peeler; much less if grated)
    • 1.5 Tbs grated fresh ginger
    • 4 Tbs roasted chicory*
    • 1/3 cup honey
    and let sit 15 minutes, covered. Strain through fine mesh and let cool, covered; chill.
    This makes fairly strong chai, for adding quite a bit of milk to.

    *Instead of chicory, which gives a definite roasted/coffee-like flavor, I've also used tea, which is more traditional. I strongly recommend teabags, because the tea should go in as soon as it comes off heat, but should only steep 4 minutes: 4 teabags. I've more often used Celestial Seasonings "Caffeine Free Herbal Tea" (which is not decaffeinated black tea, but an herbal tea that tastes somewhat like black tea), 4 bags steeped only 90 seconds.
    Monday, February 6th, 2012
    6:28 pm
    LCFD Winter Weekend recipes
    I headed up the kitchen at LCFD's Winter Weekend at Senexet House last weekend, my first time heading up a kitchen cooking for a crowd. A few people asked for a few recipes—under the cut.

    Spinach-feta egg bakeCollapse )

    Blueberry-peach flummeryCollapse )

    Red lentil bisqueCollapse )

    Black bean spreadCollapse )

    Cheddar-corn egg bakeCollapse )

    Black bean stewCollapse )
    Thursday, November 24th, 2011
    9:36 pm
    Thanksgiving meal
    I've made a pretty set Thanksgiving meal when I've cooked for myself for a while now, seasonal for this part of the world. I like all of these individually, and really like them as a menu. A pretty plate, too.

    To whatever extent succotash is authentically Indian, it'd be made with dried corn and dried beans.
    Soak 2 c lima beans (I like large ones) in 8 c water with 4-1/2 tsp salt overnight. Drain; bring to boil in water to cover, cover pot, and transfer to 300° oven for 30 min to 2 hrs (depending partly on how old they are) until just tender. Drain and quickly cool to stop cooking.
    Soak 1-1/2 c dried posole (mote) in water overnight. Drain and cook in water to cover 1-2 hrs (depending partly on how old they are) until cooked through, adding 3/4 tsp salt toward the end; they won't get tender, but they'll stop being mealy. Drain. (This can be difficult to find in some places. It's often labeled mote pelado in Spanish; I believe anything labeled mote or posole will be right. "Hominy" may or may not be the same thing; maíz trillado isn't the same, nor is regular dried corn. Canned hominy would be the closest substitute.)
    Cook 2 onions, diced, 2 green peppers, diced, 3-4 Tbs oil, 1/2 tsp salt over med-high heat until well browned. Add a little water to deglaze the pan, along with 3-4 Tbs almond butter, and enough additional water to make a sauce. Stir in the posole, then fold in the beans. Taste for salt (or tamari) and pepper.
    From The Second Seasonal Political Palate with small variation.
    Growing up, my babysitter was a very good cook of typical midwestern food. Her butterbeans (large lima beans) were one of my favorites. I'm sure hers was made with saltpork, which I don't eat now, but almond butter adds a richness and savoriness that is reminiscent. Here's remembering Hazel.

    Butternut squash with ginger and garlic
    Peel 2 lbs butternut down to the orange flesh, and scoop out seeds; cut into 1/2" dice. Add to pot with water to not quite cover, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbs butter. Simmer, covered, until just tender, 4-10 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid, and spread out to quickly cool. Return liquid to pot along with 2 Tbs grated ginger, 2 Tbs pressed garlic, and 1 more Tbs butter. Boil down quickly until most of liquid is gone and it's syrupy-thick. Toss with the cooked squash. Best if it sits at least an hour for flavors to soak in before reheating.
    From Julia Child & More Company with small variation.

    Cranberry-orange relish
    Roughly chop 1 whole orange. Pulse in food processor until finely chopped but not pureed. (You may want to go through it to pull out larger chunks to add to next step.) Sort 12 oz cranberries and pulse in food processor until finely chopped but not pureed. Add to chopped orange along with 1/3-1/2 c honey and 1/4 tsp salt Best either immediately or after a day.
    Adapted from Joy of Cooking.
    Even a little salt interferes with the perception of bitterness; the salt greatly mellows this. I'm surprised the Joy recipe doesn't include it.

    Wilted cabbage salad
    Finely shred 2-1/4 lb red cabbage (quarter longitudinally, core, slice crosswise). Toss with 1 Tbs salt and let sit at least 6 hours, tossing occasionally. Rinse in two changes of water (add water to the bowl and drain in colander twice, don't just rinse in colander) and thoroughly dry (a salad spinner in several batches works well). Combine with about 1/6 onion, thinly sliced, 3-4 Tbs cider vinegar to taste, 2 Tbs dried dill, maybe more salt.
    Red cabbage behaves like litmus paper, changing color dramatically depending on acid/alkali. With the cider vinegar, it's very red/purple.
    This is new to my Thanksgiving menu; I happened to have some leftovers. But it's certainly seasonal, and its refreshingness works well with this menu.

    Variation: cumin instead of dill plus a little garlic is good too.
    Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
    3:53 pm
    Drained yogurt
    I haven't posted this earlier because it seems more like an ingredient than a recipe, but I do have a couple uses for it. I've started making well-drained yogurt and like it. Put a quart of full-fat yogurt (it doesn't seem to have to be great yogurt—I'm using my grocer's house brand—but full-fat definitely makes a big difference) in a dish towel in a colander and let drain (in the fridge) 6-10 hours; then put a saucer on top and a 1.5-2 lb weight on top of that and drain another couple hours. The result is thick enough to come off the towel in a few chunks. The whey that drains out can be used as yogurt or buttermilk in most baking, or makes a decent (if odd looking) lassi. Makes about 2.5 c drained yogurt and 1.5 c whey.

    What to do with it:
    The result is a kind of über-yogurt: really thick and rich; approaching cream cheese in texture but without cream cheese's heaviness. Toppings of various kinds work well. I've tried toasted pecans with maple syrup and rum, which was pretty good (though the tanginess of the yogurt wasn't quite right with that); orange juice concentrate is also nice. My favorite is a pineapple-ginger syrup: finely grate 1–1.5" fresh ginger and squeeze the juice into a cup, and add 12 oz pineapple juice concentrate (the frozen stuff, thawed). 3-4 spoonfuls of that over 2/3 cup of the drained yogurt, as desert or breakfast, is pretty spectacular.

    You can also use it where you might use sour cream. I'm not one of those people who thinks you can substitute yogurt for sour cream, but you can substitute this stuff for sour cream, and the result is even richer. (I don't know that I'd do it where the sour cream is standing nearly alone, the taste isn't the same, but if it's doctored up the mouthfeel makes it great.) I've made a topping for steamed or boiled potatoes with this yogurt, with mustard, garlic, and shoyu, that I like very much. (A bit less than half the fat of sour cream, if that matters to you.) I heated it in something and it didn't break, as sour cream can, though I should experiment with it more before making that a strong claim.

    That pineapple-ginger syrup, by the way, is pretty good other ways too. A fair amount added to seltzer makes a very nice soda, or a little added to iced tea, or spooned over fruit. I used it in a Thai-ish curry and liked it that way too.
    Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
    11:46 pm
    Savory biscotti
    Made for a friend's birthday, and for the Boston gender-free English country dance anniversary dance; a requested recipe.

    1¼ c all-purpose flour
    1½ c barley flour (or whole wheat pastry flour, but then you need to be careful not to overwork the dough)
    1 t coarsely ground black pepper
    1½ t salt
    1 t baking powder
    ¾ c grated romano cheese
    ½ c toasted pistachios (prettier if left whole)
    ½ t dried thyme
    ½ t dried oregano
    ¾ t dried basil
    2 Tbs (packed) minced fresh parsley
    ¼ c julienned marinated sun-dried tomatoes*
    2-3 T minced canned chipotle (1½ to 3 with adobo)—the higher amount is quite spicy
    4 large eggs, lightly beaten
    ¼ c olive oil, plus extra for brushing
    1/3 c vermouth or white wine or water [perhaps less; it's a pretty sticky dough, though not that difficult to roll out]
    paprika (preferably smoked)

    Preheat oven to 350F. Place two baking sheets together (for insulation) and line the top sheet with parchment paper.

    In large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, black pepper, salt, and baking powder. Add cheese, nuts, thyme, oregano, and basil, and stir together.

    Separately combine eggs, ¼ c oil, wine/water, chipotles, tomatoes, and parsley. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add the wet and stir to make a soft dough. Let sit a few minutes to firm up.

    Roll to shape into a log about 3" diameter (about 10" long). Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and dust with paprika.

    Bake 25-30 minutes until golden and slightly puffy. Remove from oven and set on rack to cool completely.

    Set oven to 325F. Slice cooled log on the bias into slices a bit wider than 1/4". Place flat on baking sheets and bake 12 minutes; turn each slice over and bake another 10 minutes, until barely colored.

    Transfer slices to cooling racks. Lower oven to 175F and crisp the biscotti on the racks, about 45 minutes. (They should not color further.)

    I think these are bit dry to eat by themselves, but they're very nice buttered, and they should be good with soup.

    *America's Test Kitchen likes Trader Joe's; best to get the halves and julienne them yourself.
    Friday, December 4th, 2009
    2:33 pm
    Freshly baked bran muffins
    Freshly baked because you can keep the batter in the fridge for a couple weeks, and bake them as wanted. Traditional in a lot of ways, though the apple juice concentrate (in place of buttermilk and sugar or honey) is my idea.
    Various people have told me they don't like bran muffins but they like these.

    Combine and allow to cool
    1 c boiling water
    1 c bran
    Whisk together
    2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
    2-1/2 t baking soda
    3/4 t salt
    Separately mix together (use a pretty large bowl: it can expand quite a bit when you add the other ingredients)
    2 eggs
    1/2 c oil
    2-1/4 c apple juice concentrate
    (the frozen stuff, thawed)
    Measure out
    2 (additional) c bran
    1-1/2 c raisins
    Stir the cooled bran into the wet mixture. Add the flour mixture; before completely mixed, fold in the dry bran and raisins. Cover and keep refrigerated.
    To make:
    Do not stir the batter—most of the rising has happened in the bowl, and stirring will deflate it. Fill greased muffin tins almost full (again, most of the rising has already happened), and bake at 400° about 20 minutes (start checking a little earlier), until springy. If you're not using all the cups in the tin, put a little water in the empty ones, for more even cooking and to avoid warping the tin.
    Makes about 40

    The above is more traditional, but I now replace the raisins with diced crystallized ginger (1 – 1-1/2 c, depending on how strong it is). "Baker's cut" is already diced, though difficult to find. I assume you could use other fruit juice concentrates or other dried fruit.
    I've used melted butter in place of the oil, and barely notice a difference—I now stick with oil.
    Sunday, June 8th, 2008
    1:57 pm
    Two bits of cleverness
    I cooked at Farm and Wilderness camp for a few days this week; Sam Arfer is head cook there and he invited me up for "skills week," cooking for 130 adults (with 6 cooks). They do real cooking there, no heating up frozen lasagna, and very good food. I had two while-cooking ideas I'm pleased with.

    I made scrambled tofu for breakfast, and I'd pressed (and crumbled) the tofu the night before so it wouldn't end up soupy. But by the time it had started to brown it was really too dry, even with a ton of caramelized onions—it'd be difficult to eat with a fork without it all falling off. I thought, with the help of one of the other cooks' suggestion of hummus, of tahini. Not enough to really be noticeable of itself, not enough to be in any way creamy, but enough to definitely improve the texture. Something I'd probably do at home too.

    The other bit of cleverness was in a coconut-milk sauce for stir-fry. I was looking for something sweet to add to it, and was considering applesauce. I was looking around the walk-in cooler for leftover applesauce and saw leftover canned pumpkin. It worked very well—a little sweetness, some earthiness, ideal amount of thickening. (This along with a bunch of other seasonings.) Definitely something I'll use the next time I make my quick-curry chickpeas. About 2 parts coconut milk to 1 part pumpkin puree.
    Friday, January 4th, 2008
    12:17 am
    Several snack-like things
    I found an interesting bowl as a holiday present for my brother and sister-in-law, and filled it with several different snacks:

    Candied pecans
    The candied pecans from below. (I ended up making 3 [double] batches, because I slightly burnt the first one, and needed an extra gift. I lost my nerve and undercooked the next two batches. This can be partially remedied by putting them in a low oven for quite a long time. They'll get un-sticky, but they'll never get crisp.)

    Chocolate peanut brittle
    This turned out quite different from what I intended, though I wasn't unhappy with it. It was supposed to be a thin layer of brittle with cocoa nibs floating in it and peanuts sticking up through it. But it's been too long since I've made peanut brittle and I didn't remember that the candy cools and seizes up after you add the room-temperature ingredients, so if you want it to pour you have to get it fully hot again. Also, I'd never done anything with cocoa nibs before, and I didn't know that they'll at least partially melt. Also, I used so many cocoa nibs that they were never going to be individually visible anyway. The result looked like a disaster—such large chunks that you'd surely damage your teeth trying to eat it. But the cocoa nibs acted like shortening in biscuits, making the brittle much less hard. (The brittle was nearly black from the nibs, which was not unattractive.) The result wasn't bad at all. I don't offer this as a recipe so much as an idea—using cocoa nibs in nut brittle, either just as an ingredient, or to "tenderize" it (not quite sure what to call it—the result is still entirely crisp/crunchy/brittle, just less hard).

    Candied orange peel & candied ginger
    I cheated on the candied ginger and bought it from Trader Joe's, then sliced it (knife dipped in hot water—you'll need to set the ginger aside to dry afterwards) to be about the same size as the orange peel. It'd been years since I made candied citrus peel too, so I forgot that it has to age for at least a couple weeks before you eat it, or you'll get a pretty objectionable and long-lasting bitter aftertaste.

    3 (organic, or at least unwaxed) oranges
    2 c sugar
    3 Tbs light corn syrup
    3/4 c water
    Cut the oranges into quarters and cut out most of the flesh (you don't have to be too obsessive at this point). Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain, cover with fresh cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender (about 15 minutes). Drain and dump into cold water. Remove the softer remaining innards with a spoon. Cut into 1/4" or so strips (and to a length that's similar to the ginger).
    Combine 1 cup of the sugar with the corn syrup and the water in a heavy pan. Stir over low heat until dissolved, then either a) brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in hot water, or b) cover the pan and simmer a few minutes so condensing water will wash down the pan sides (this option is a bit less reliable) (you're doing this to make sure there are no stray sugar crystals that might make the whole thing crystalize as it becomes supersaturated). Add the orange peel and cook over low heat, carefully stirring occasionally, until most of the syrup is absorbed. Cover and let stand overnight. Bring to a simmer again.
    On several layers of paper towels, spread the remaining cup of sugar. With a slotted spoon (if there's still syrup remaining), remove the peel and roll in the sugar. Transfer to a sheet of wax or parchment paper and let dry for several hours, turning occasionally.
    Either put this (mixed with about 2/3 the amount of candied ginger) in single layers separated by wax or parchment paper, or toss both with about 1-1/2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot. Store in an airtight container. Set aside for at least 2 weeks to mellow.
    (Taken with minimal alteration from 1997 Joy of Cooking.)

    Thai curried sliced almonds
    2-3 tsp Thai curry paste (I used red, Thai Kitchen*)
    3/4 tsp salt
    4-1/2 tsp oil
    2 c sliced almonds
    Lightly cook the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Put the almonds in a bowl and pour the spice mixture over; stir to combine. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, at 275° for 30 minutes. (If you start out with toasted sliced almonds, you can cut the time to about 15 minutes; if you use whole almonds bake at 300°.)
    The higher amount of curry paste is probably too spicy for snacking, but I meant them to go on salad, fish, etc. Even 2 tsp may be too spicy for eating out of hand.
    *Thai Kitchen is quite strong, which you really need for this recipe; a mild one will require so much that it'll do odd things to the texture. I've since used green to good effect as well.)

    Curried pecans
    2-1/2 Tbs olive oil
    1-1/2 Tbs curry powder (Anyone have a recommended one that's reasonably easy to find? Mine is Frontier Herbs, which is okay.)
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/8 tsp chipotle powder
    1/4 tsp smoked paprika
    1-1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
    2 c pecans
    Heat the first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan and cook gently for a couple minutes. Take off heat and add the Worcestershire. Pour over the pecans and stir to combine.
    Line a cookie sheet with several layers of paper towels or brown paper. Spread the pecans on the paper, and bake at 275° for 10 minutes. Transfer to fresh paper and bake another 10 minutes. Raise heat to 300°, transfer to fresh paper, and bake 4 minutes; stir and bake for 3 more minutes. Let cool.
    I'm sure you could use half a pureed canned chipotle instead of the powdered, or cayenne plus more smoked paprika.
    Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
    10:40 pm
    New Year's meal
    I have a pretty set meal that I've been cooking on New Year's Day for a long time now.

    I tend to shop for groceries several times a week (partly from spending my early adulthood without a car), and to expect to go the grocery store if I need something for that day's meal. A couple of days before New Year's many years ago I realized I'd have to decide ahead of time since the stores would be closed. I hadn't had black-eyed peas in a long time and decided on them, not remembering that they were traditional for New Year's Day—when I looked up some recipes, one mentioned the tradition, and I've stuck with it since.

    Of these three recipes, only the cornbread is even a little unusual, but I'll include all of them for completeness.

    Black-eyed peas and rice
    1-1/2 medium onions, chopped
    1/4 c olive oil
    2 cloves garlic, crushed
    1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
    7 cups water
    1-1/2 tsp salt
    1-3/4 c black-eyed peas (dried)
    1-1/4 c brown rice

    Saute the onions in the olive oil until lightly browned; add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook a few minutes more. Add the water and bring to a boil, then add the black-eyed peas and rice. Cook 45-55 minutes till tender.

    It's worth getting the peas from a store with a decent turnover; very old ones will take a lot longer to cook. Reasonably new ones will cook in about the same time as brown rice.

    1-1/2 medium onions, chopped
    1/4 c olive oil
    4 cloves garlic, crushed
    1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
    3 lbs greens* (weight includes stems)
    1 tsp salt
    2 Tbs shoyu

    Saute the onions in the olive oil until lightly browned; add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook a few minutes more. In the meantime, stem, wash, and coarsely chop the greens. Add the greens to the onions along with the salt and shoyu, and water to cover. It's fine to have plenty of water, it's good mixed with the peas & rice and the cornbread. Simmer 60-90 minutes, until very tender. Taste for shoyu/salt.

    Note that curly greens like kale take up a lot more room until they wilt. Just keep adding them to your pot (along with a smallish amount of water) and stirring until there's room for the next couple handfuls. Don't add water to cover till it's wilted.

    *Greens: I like kale. Supermarket collards are overwhelmed by the taste of the onions, chard gets too soft when cooked long, and the bitterness of mustard is the wrong symbolism for New Year's.

    Some years I've added some kind of smoky veggie "meat" to one or the other of these. (One year I added it to both, and they tasted too similar to one another). This year I added "sausage" to the greens after they'd finished cooking, so the greens still tasted of themselves—a better choice than adding it at the beginning.

    I don't know why I tried this recipe—everything about it suggests dry cornbread (not much fat, all cornmeal, hot pan) which I don't like. But it doesn't come out dry, and it's my favorite recipe. And the fact that it's all-cornmeal gives lots of taste.

    1 egg
    1/2 tsp salt
    2 Tbs olive oil
    1 c buttermilk*
    1 c cornmeal
    1/2 tsp baking soda

    Preheat oven to 425°, and put an 8- or 9-inch cast iron skillet in the oven; let it heat for at least 15 minutes. (If you don't have a cast iron skillet you can use an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan, but you won't get much crust.)

    Beat together the egg, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the oil, then add the buttermilk. Whisk together the cornmeal and baking soda. Add the buttermilk mixture and quickly whisk to combine. Remove the pan, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the hot pan and swirl it around, and pour in the batter. Return to oven for 12-15 minutes, until springy in the middle.

    *Buttermilk is best, but plain yogurt is an okay substitute.

    The black-eyed peas & rice and the greens recipe are slightly modified from The Political Palate, Bloodroot Collective, 1980 Sanguinaria. The cornbread recipe is slightly modified from Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook, Sarah Fritschner, 1996 Houghton Mifflin.
    Sunday, January 7th, 2007
    9:32 pm
    Kimchee salad
    A little less unseasonably warm today, but I'm still thinking warm-weather food. Any number of variants here, but one I just made that I'm quite happy with:

    1 lb kimchee
    1 lb coleslaw mix
    1 bunch scallions
    1 c peas or snow peas or snap peas
    1 c roasted peanuts
    Baked tofu:
          14 oz tofu
          3 Tbs shoyu
          1 Tbs sesame oil
          1 tsp dried ginger
          2 Tbs water

    Slice the kimchee so it's about the same shape as the coleslaw (I used nappa kimchee, but radish should be good too). Slice the scallions. Lightly cook the peas (if you use frozen English peas, you just need to run them under hot water) and slice if you use snow or snap peas. Press and bake the tofu as in the green bean recipe; cut into small strips; bake in a large shallow pan till it firms up. Mix all ingredients and taste. Don't use up all of an ingredient to start with in case you want to adjust proportions.

    With the tofu it works as a main dish, without it works as a salad.
    Sunday, July 9th, 2006
    12:25 pm
    Cold avocado soup
    Yet another requested recipe. Everything is pretty approximate.
    Serves 2.

    1 avocado
    1/2 c sour cream
    1 to 1-1/2 c ice water
    1 Tbs good soy sauce
    1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
    2 medium globe tomatoes or about 2/3 of a pint of grape tomatoes
    2 to 3 scallions

    Puree the avocado and sour cream along with a little of the water in a blender or food processor. Add the soy sauce, salt, and the rest of the water to your desired consistency. Taste for salt; it will need to be quite salty for the tomatoes. Dice the tomatoes and add to the soup; cut the scallions lengthwise and then slice thinly and add to the soup.

    You want this well chilled, but it should be served soon after making it--I suggest chilling it over ice water so it'll be quick, or I imagine you could use a few ice cubes in place of some of the water if you're using a blender. If you make this fairly thick, there will be enough air incorporated into the soup that even if you press plastic wrap onto the surface it will discolor and get old tasting if it sits a while; this is less of a problem if the soup is thin.

    The soy sauce is basically to add a rich/meaty character--I imagine you could use a mix of chicken (or vegetable) stock and water instead of soy sauce and water. One-third stock, two-thirds water would be my guess.

    I've made this with frozen avocados when fresh weren't available and it works, though there's enough citric & ascorbic acid added to them (to prevent browning) to be tasteable.
    Saturday, July 1st, 2006
    9:41 pm
    Glorious vichyssoise
    First, the 's' is pronounced. "Mayonnaise" isn't <may·oh·nay>, "hollandaise" isn't <hol·un·day>, and "vichyssoise" isn't <veesh·ee·swah>. The next waiter who incorrectly corrects me on this gets a fork in his thigh.

    Not that I order vichyssoise in restaurants any more--I've never had a proper vichyssoise in a restaurant. Which baffles me, it's about the easiest soup there is to make. The problem is, I'm not good at planning ahead unless I'm cooking for guests, and this is a soup that has to be chilled after cooking--so it's been a long time since I've made it.

    3 cups sliced leeks, thoroughly cleaned (or a mix of leek and onion)
    4 cups red potatoes, peeled and diced
    8 cups water (some of this could be chicken stock, but even if I ate chicken I'd use water)
    1 Tbs salt
    3/4 - 1 c heavy cream
    chives, snipped

    Put the first 4 ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer, partially covered, 50 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Purée--a fine food mill is best for this, a blender or stick blender is next; don't use a food processor, it'll turn glue-y. Taste for salt--because it's chilled it needs to be a little saltier than you'd think. Chill. Check the texture, you may want to add more cold water. Add the cream before serving and garnish with snipped chives. Glorious.
    Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
    7:55 pm
    Local vegetables!
    The farmers' markets have been open since the beginning of June here in Boston, but until this week they just had leafy things, which in the spring aren't enough different from the supermarket to get excited about (though they're great after the first frost), and rhubarb, which was rather pale. But I got local snap peas today! Snap peas are almost always good, but picked today (or maybe yesterday) they're one of my favorite foods. Here's how I made them, for me and a friend tonight:

    Snap peas, snapped
    A little oil
    A little salt

    Preheat oven to 550F (yes, really 550F). Toss the peas with the oil and salt in a roasting pan (single layer), and roast them till some of them have gotten a tiny bit brown, stirring once or twice--probably 3-5 minutes total. For maximum crispness, serve immediately, but they're also good cold. If not eating right away, cover them once cool--they tend to dry out.

    If your snap peas are a bit wan, you'll want to cook them a little longer at 500F. Farm fresh don't really need to be cooked at all, so brief in a really hot oven works fine. Older ones will be better a little more cooked.

    I cook green beans (especially early ones, later in the season they can be too tough for this method) and asparagus this way too.

    This I served with

    Cold shrimp soup
    2/3 lb shrimp (frozen is fine)
    3/4 to 1 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
    1/8 sweet onion, chopped (maybe start with less)
    1-1/2 Tbs dijon mustard
    2 tsp dry dill weed (if serving immediately, you'll probably want more)
    1 tsp sweetener
    1-1/2 to 2 c buttermilk
    1/3 c tart white wine, or a bit of lemon juice

    All measurements are quite approximate. If your shrimp are still frozen, run them through the food processor first till finely chopped, then add the next 5 ingredients and process till finely chopped. Add the buttermilk & wine and process again; taste for seasoning. Since almost all the ingredients start out cold you can serve it immediately, or it'll keep a day or so chilled. Serves 2 as a main course.

    A very good combination, the slight sweetness of both the shrimp and the snap peas, with the contrasting texture.
    Sunday, June 11th, 2006
    12:08 pm
    Cinnamon-Date Skones
    Not "scones," as the flavoring is about as authentic as blueberry bagels. But tasty. Another requested recipe.

    4 c whole wheat pastry flour (you could certainly try white, though I suspect the flavor would be a bit insipid; I've used barley flour and they taste good, but they're a bit crumbly)
    1/4 c dry sweetener (I use dried cane juice; if you use brown sugar you may want to mix it with the wet ingredients)
    1/4 c baking powder (yes, really that much)
    1 tsp salt
    2 tsp cinnamon
    1/4 lb butter (frozen or chilled, see below)
    1-1/3 c chopped dates, packed
    1-1/3 c chopped pecans
    1-3/4 c heavy cream
    1/4 c dark rum
    4 eggs

    Mix the first 5 ingredients.

    Cut in the butter however you normally would, then add the dates & pecans
    Add the dates to the dry ingredients and break up the clumps (the dates do tend to clump when you pack them), then add the pecans, and grate in the frozen butter (this is my preferred way of "cutting in" butter).

    Mix together the cream, rum, and eggs, and briefly stir them into the dry ingredients. Allow that to sit for a few minutes to firm up.

    Divide into 4 pieces, and shape each into a round 1-1/2" high; cut each round into fourths; place on a lightly greased baking sheet. This will keep, covered closely with plastic wrap, overnight in the fridge.

    Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes (that's a rough guess), till lightly brown and minimally springy. Rich enough to serve plain, or with processor-whipped cream (which is much thicker than other-whipped cream) or clotted cream or butter.
    Wednesday, May 10th, 2006
    8:13 pm
    Chipotle-sweet potato soup
    I had a request for this one too. Perhaps the highest ratio of goodness to effort of anything I make.

    1 medium onion, chopped
    olive oil
    1/2 tsp salt
    3 cloves garlic
    1 tsp dried ginger
    3 very large sweet potatoes, the redder the better, peeled and diced
    1 canned chipotle, minced, with adobo
    vegetable stock to just cover
    1 cup or so milk/soy milk [edit: a can of coconut milk is really good]
    tamari to taste
    1 large (approx 22 oz) can black beans, rinsed

    Saute the onion in the olive oil with the salt over medium-low heat till well softened. Add the garlic and ginger, and saute a few minutes more. And the sweet potatoes, chipotle, and vegetable stock. Simmer, partially covered, till the potatoes are very tender. Puree (a stick blender is easiest) and add milk to thin as you like. Taste for salt/tamari & heat (you can finely mince more chipotle or just use the adobo if you want more heat). Stir in the black beans and heat through.

    The extra canned chipotles: I put individual chipotles on plastic wrap and spoon their adobo over, and then freeze hard. Once they're frozen I wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.
    Sunday, March 26th, 2006
    1:00 am
    Polenta with chiles
    A friend asked for the recipe, so I figured I'd post it here.

    3 mild chiles (can certainly use more if you like).
    Bring to a boil
    2 c milk
    1/4 c water
    (use liquid from canned corn)
    1/2 tsp salt (a bit more if you don't use the canned corn liquid).
    Once that's boiling, combine (don't let it sit long)
    3/4 c cornmeal
    3/4 c cold water
    (use liquid from canned corn)
    and stir into the boiling milk. Stir continuously until it comes back to simmer and thickens; turn heat down and simmer 15 minutes (or longer), covered, stirring occasionally. (If you let the polenta cool it will solidify, so have everything else ready before you take it off the heat. It won't be harmed by cooking longer.) Just before taking it off heat, stir in
    1/2 c parmesan (or a bit more).
    Meanwhile, peel, seed, and chop the roasted chiles; chop
    2-3 canned chipotles (more if they're mild)
    and mix with the chiles.

    Layer in a greased casserole:
    polenta, chiles, and
    1 c corn (or a bit more)
    2/3 c chopped cilantro
    1/2 lb (2 c) shredded jack cheese
    1/2 c heavy cream
    (The layers I use, from the bottom up:
    a bit less than half of the polenta
    a bit more than half of the cheese
    a bit less than half of the cream
    the rest of the polenta
    the rest of the cheese
    the rest of the cream.)

    Bake 400° for 30 min, until well browned.

    The advantage of canned corn over frozen (I've tried both) is that the liquid is a good addition to the taste of the polenta. (You won't have a full cup, just use what you have and water for the rest.)
    I haven't described how to roast chiles here—I assume there are plenty of places on the web that will tell you how if you need it.
    I bet diced nopales would be a good substitute for the chiles—haven't tried it.

    An update: If you want this to come out at all solid, you'll need to let it cool (or chill) before you bake it. If you bake it immediately it'll come out very soupy. Still tasty, but a very different result.

    Another update: The cilantro really doesn't add much, as it loses almost all taste when cooked; I've been asked if it was spinach. Culantro would work, but I can rarely get it. Cilantro stems do keep some taste, but it's a lot of work to get enough. I know cilantro root stands up to cooking, but I wonder about the texture.

    Yet another update: I've realized there's more advantage to canned corn than just the juice—it's bred and processed to remain crisp with more cooking, especially if you choose one with 'crisp' in the label. Frozen corn tends to toughen in anything that gets baked.
    Saturday, January 28th, 2006
    12:58 pm
    Cheese pancakes
    I just made these; I'm amazed at how good they are. Another recipe that is even better than it looks. Only slightly modified from the current Gourmet.

    3/4 c chopped onion
    1/4 tsp salt
    olive oil
    1-1/2 c whole-milk cottage cheese (preferably small-curd)
    4 Tbs butter, melted
    1/4 tsp pepper
    3 eggs
    6 Tbs flour

    Cook the onion with the salt in olive oil over med-low heat till browned. Combine with remaining ingredients.

    Using a well-seasoned cast-iron or non-stick skillet and a bit of olive oil, cook 1/8-cup scoops of batter till somewhat browned on both sides.

    These have a nice slight crispness when served immediately, but unless you can serve them instantly they should keep in a warming oven as you finish cooking the batch.

    Along with a fruit salad, serves two hungry people or three more reasonable appetites.
    Monday, November 28th, 2005
    10:48 pm
    Candied pecans
    I haven't made these in a while, but I was just talking about them. I always make a double recipe.

    1 c pecans
    1/4 c dark rum
    1/4 c maple syrup
    2 Tbs butter
    1/8 tsp (or a bit more) salt

    Steep the pecans in the rum for at least 20 minutes.

    Combine pecans & rum, maple syrup, and butter. Cook over high heat about 10 minutes (if you have a light-weight pan, you'll probably have to user lower heat for longer to avoid burning), stirring frequently and then constantly, until liquid is gone and butter starts to be noticeably separate, and the syrup just starts to form threads between the nuts—this is a bit nerve wracking, as overdoing it will burn the butter or nuts, but undercooking will leave them gooey. (If you've cooked out the liquid, they will be dry once they cool.)

    Spread out onto a lightly greased cookie sheet (the more you spread them out, the less you'll have to break them apart after they cool), and sprinkle with salt while still hot (I like fairly salty with the sweet). Let cool completely before packing in an air-tight container.

    Slightly modified from The Common Ground Dessert Cookbook.
    Monday, November 7th, 2005
    6:05 pm
    Tofu with green beans and coconut sauce
    This is remarkably good—better than the sum of its parts. As I was tasting the sauce, etc., I thought I was going to be disappointed. I think it also gets better the next day (though it loses a lot of color).

    On first reading, this may look time consuming. But there's a lot of meanwhile time—while the tofu is pressing, while it's baking, while the onions are sweating.

    Press 16 oz firm tofu (put on a plate, cover with another plate, and weight with about 4 lbs [½ gallon container] for 20-30 minutes). Cut the tofu into cubes.

    Preheat oven to 375°. Combine 1 Tbs sesame oil, 2 Tbs shoyu, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp dry ginger, a few dashes hot sauce, 2 Tbs water. Grease a shallow baking dish. Add the tofu, pour the shoyu mixture over, and gently stir to coat. Bake, gently stirring occasionally (a silicone spatula works well), until liquid is mostly gone, about 25 minutes.

    Thinly slice 1 smallish onion. Cook in oil over low heat with ¼ tsp salt until thoroughly soft, 10-15 minutes—you may want to cook it covered, as you don't want it to dry and brown. (A wide skillet works best for this, for reducing later on.)

    Trim 1 lb green beans and cut into 2" pieces; slice 1 red bell pepper and cut into 2" pieces.

    Once the onions are soft (but not brown), turn heat up to medium and add 1 Tbs grated ginger, 1 Tbs minced garlic, ¼ tsp chili flakes; sauté a couple minutes.

    Add 1 can (14-15 oz) coconut milk, additional ½ tsp salt, 1 Tbs shoyu; bring to a boil. Add the green beans and quickly bring back to boil; simmer 2-3 minutes. Add the peppers and simmer another 6 minutes or so, until beans are just cooked through.

    Remove the beans and peppers with a slotted spoon, and quickly boil down the sauce till slightly thickened, reduced to about ¾ cup. Stir in about 1 Tbs lime juice; you may want to add a bit of sweetener or more salt.

    Serve the beans over the tofu, pour the sauce over that, and top with cilantro and chopped salted toasted cashews.

    You could serve this over rice noodles or rice, though it's not very strongly flavored—I liked it by itself.

    It's difficult to keep the green beans bright green; cooking them quickly and serving as soon as possible after they're cooked will help.

    Modified from Gourmet, Sept 2005
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