Mushroom Galette

Meatless Fridays are here! If you're looking for something different and meatless, try this. This is from Taste of the South magazine and has a sophisticated taste and look without being difficult.

Mushroom Galette

Step 1:

2 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and softened, about 10 minutes.

All all else. Cook until aromatic, about 1 minute more. Drain any excess moisture.

Step 2:

1 cup whole-milk ricotta
1 cup shredded Gruyére cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 piecrust, whether packaged or homemade
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Gruyére, and salt.

Roll piecrust into a 9" circle or unroll packaged crust. Spread 1 cup cheese mixutre onto crust in a think layer, leaving a 1-1/2-inch border. Top with mushroom mixture and reamining Gruyére; gently fold edges of dough over filling.

Brush dough with egg; bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted, about 25 minutes.

Let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Broccoli-Cheddar Rice Casserole

From Taste of the South magazine comes this delicious meatless casserole. It was surprisingly satisfying for such a simple recipe.

Broccoli-Cheddar Rice Casserole

Makes 4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

2 cups water 1 cup long-grain rice, rinsed (OR 3 cups cooked rice, room temp)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 (8-ounce) package cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
¼ cup finely crushed buttery round crackers

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray an 11×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a 3-quart Dutch oven, bring 2 cups water to a boil over high heat. Add rice, stirring for 20 seconds. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook, without stirring, until moisture is completely absorbed and rice is tender, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff rice with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and moisture is released, 5 to 7 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 3 minutes more. Remove vegetables from skillet and place in a large bowl.

In same skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, until flour is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Cook, stirring constantly, until milk thickens, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in cream cheese until completely incorporated. Whisk in 2 cups Cheddar cheese, a small handful at a time, until completely incorporated. Pour cheese sauce over vegetable mixture. Add rice and stir to combine. Pour rice mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup Cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake until casserole is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover and increase oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle casserole with crushed crackers. Broil until cheese and crackers begin to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Corn Off the Cob

I was making fried chicken the other day (yes, I felt very Southern, farm family-ish). We were going to have corn on the cob (substituted at the last minute at the store when all the green beans had brown spots). At the last minute I realized that my one big pot was going to be used for the chicken so I had nothing big enough for corn on the cob.

However, I also knew all those frozen niblets were once on the cob. I'd read enough cookbooks to have a vague idea of how to cook that corn deliciously when it was off the cob. More than anything this tells me of my dependence on frozen corn, which I've found very unsatisfactory as of late.

I may switch to this until the corn on the cob is out of season.

The New Doubleday Cookbook (1985 - not so new now but a wonderfully dependable overall cookbook) had this dandy recipe which we all loved.

They called it Boiled Fresh Whole Kernel Corn but that name just doesn't cut it.

Corn Off the Cob

6-8 ears sweet corn, shucked
1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Cut corn from cob. Place in a saucepan with water and sugar, cover, and simmer 5-8 minutes until tender. Drain and season with salt, pepper, and butter.

Ginger-Turmeric Potatoes and Green Beans (Aloo Faliyan)

This is easy and absolutely delicious either at room temperature or hot. It does take a bit of chopping, but is totally worth it. From Milk Street: Tuesday Nights by Christopher Kimball.

GINGER-TURMERIC POTATOES AND GREEN BEANS
Serves 6
Start to Finish: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons yellow or brown mustard seeds
1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
12 ounces small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (don't use russet or starchy potatoes - they'll break down)
12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/3 cup cashews, toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 to 1 serrano, minced (optional)

In a large skillet over medium, heat oil until shimmering. Add shallot, ginger, mustard and cumin seeds, and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until shallot has softened and is just beginning to brown, abut 2 minutes.

Stir in turmeric, potatoes, green beans, salt and water. Then cover and cook until potatoes are just barely tender, bout 8 minutes. Uncover pan. If all of water has cooked off, add 1 to 2 tablespoons, then continue to cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender and pan is dry, another 2 to 5 minutes.

Off heat, stir in lemon juice. Season to taste with salt if needed. Fold in tomatoes, cashews, cilantro and optional serrano.

Ferrari (Pan-Fried Potatoes with Peanuts, Black Pepper, and Lemon Juice)

This is another side from Meera Sodha's Made In India. I feel like India gets forgotten when Americans learn about other cultures, which is a huge loss because it's a country with so many complex, amazing cultures and such a long history. Learning about Indian food is exciting for me, because it's so much more than most non-Indian Americans suspect.

Meera writes, "'Ferar' means 'to fast' by abstaining from certain foods, which a lot of Gujarati Hindus do on designated days throughout the year. Peanuts and potatoes are some of the things which can be eaten on a fast day, hence the creation of Ferrari."

I personally like that this dish can also be eaten by Catholics on Fridays, because this dish was so much more than I thought it would be. It's fast, easy, and its wonderfully flavorful and spiced.

2 oz peanuts, unsalted and unroasted
20 peppercorns (1/2 teaspoon)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
14 oz new potatoes, chopped into 1 1/4 inch cubes
1 fresh green chili, very finely chopped*
1 3/4 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 oz cilantro, chopped
1/2 lemon

*I used a jalapeno. I seeded mine because I'm a wimp. This did not make the dish bland, so if you're worried about too much heat, you should have no compunctions about seeding it.

Coarsely grind the peanuts using a food processor or mortar and pestle, remove, and set to one side, then grind the peppercorns in the same way.

Put the oil into a wide-bottomed frying pan on a medium heat. When it's hot, add the ground peppercorns and cumin seeds and, a minute later, the potatoes.

Stir-fry the potatoes for around 12 minutes, until they start to brown. Spear them with a knife to see if they're done (they will slide off easily if they are, and, if so, add the green chili, ginger, and salt. Continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes to cook the ginger and brown the potatoes.

When the potatoes are nicely brown, check the seasoning and transfer to a serving bowl. Scatter over the peanuts, add the cilantro, and squeeze over the lemon before serving.

Baked Masala Fries

I checked out a Meera Sodha book from the library in the hopes of expanding my culinary horizons to Indian food, and I'm not giving it back until I have to. Made In India is a wonderful introduction to many basic, mostly simple Indian recipes. These baked masala fries are easy and very good, as well as versatile. I say versatile because we actually made them with sweet potatoes instead of the suggested varieties, which changed them a little, but I would have loved them either way. Put some of these in the oven and they'll be ready by the time your spicy lamb burgers are done!

4 large potatoes (russets, Yukon Gold, or all-purpose)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Peel the potatoes and chop them into your perfect fries. I cut each potato into 3 pieces lengthways and 3 again to make 9 long fat fries from each one.

Put all the potatoes into a lidded saucepan, cover generously with cold water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and put the lid on the pan. Bring to a boil on a medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and fluffy around the edges.

Drain the potatoes in a sieve and shake them a bit to fluff up the edges, but be careful not to break them. These fluffy edges will turn into nice crispy ones later.

Put the oil into a roasting tray and put the tray into the oven for around 2 minutes to heat it. Take the tray out of the oven and carefully put the potatoes into the oil (lower them gently so the oil doesn't splash out), then coat the potatoes in it.

Put the tray back into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, shaking it a couple of times during the cooking time to turn the fries over. When you take them out they should be crispy and brown all over. If not, leave them in for a bit longer.

In a bowl, mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, the chili powder, and cumin, and sprinkle evenly over the fries.

Serve them as quickly as you can, while they're still hot!

Sauteed Mustard Greens with Garlic and Peanuts

From Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison, this was the recipe that taught me I like mustard greens! As Madison writes, you can use a mix of red and green mustards, or go with just one kind if you prefer.

8 heaping cups stemmed mustard greens (about 8 oz)
2 teaspoons roasted peanut oil
1 plump garlic clove, slivered
Sea salt
Few drops of soy sauce
A handful of roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Chop the mustard greens into large pieces and give them a rinse.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and then add the garlic. As soon as the garlic starts to sizzle, add the mustard greens and season with a few pinches of salt. Saute, turning the greens frequently, until the water from the leaves is largely gone and the leaves are tender. This should take about 5 minutes, depending on the plant. Add the soy sauce, cook for another minute, then toss with the peanuts and serve.

With soba: Toss the mustard greens with soba noodles and garnish with the peanuts
With smoke: Season the cooked greens with a few pinches of smoked salt
With tofu: Serve these garlicky greens with cubes of steamed tofu or golden friend tofu and season with red pepper flakes or a few pinches of shichimi togarashi (a Japanese seasoning blend that can be found at Japanese groceries or made at home)
With sesame: Instead of using peanut oil, cook the greens in light sesame oil, then toss with toasted sesame seeds and finish with a few drops of toasted sesame oil

Serves 1-2

Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus

This came from Cook's Country Best-Ever Recipes. It isn't the simplest recipe but it isn't that difficult and wow did we all love it.

We made a half recipe since there were just three of us, set the finished baking sheet on the table and, in time-honored asparagus eating style, plucked stalks to eat with our fingers during the meal.

The only adjustment we made was to ignore the note that thicker asparagus is better. We like thin and thin worked just fine in this recipe.

In an effort to not retype the entire thing, I picked up the rendition below from The Girl Who Ate Everything where you may see her photos of the different steps.


Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus
Serves 4-6 as a side dish

2 pounds (1/2-inch-thick) asparagus, trimmed
Salt and pepper
1-1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch cayenne
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon honey

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Using fork, poke holes up and down stalks of asparagus. Toss asparagus with ½ teaspoon salt and let stand for 30 minutes on a paper towel–lined baking sheet.
2. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup Parmesan, bread crumbs, butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne in bowl. Transfer half of bread-crumb mixture to shallow dish and reserve remaining mixture. Dividing the crumbs for two phases of dipping eliminates the problem of a soggy coating.
3. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites and honey on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Scrape into 13 by 9-inch baking dish and toss asparagus in mixture.
5. Working 1 spear at a time, dredge half of asparagus in bread crumbs and transfer to baking sheet. Refill shallow dish with reserved bread-crumb mixture and repeat with remaining half of asparagus.
6. Bake asparagus until just beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup Parmesan and continue to bake until cheese is melted and bread crumbs are golden brown, 4 to 8 minutes. Transfer to platter. Serve.

Notes
This works best with thicker asparagus. If using thinner asparagus, adjust your baking times.

Green Beans Dijon

This is from a yellowing scrap of paper I tore from the WSJ weekend section some time ago. I'd stuck it in How to Cook Without a Book since it looked as if it could be adapted to one for steam/sauteing vegetables. It turns out, however, that I simply boiled up the green beans and followed the recipe.

I was afraid that much Dijon would be overwhelming but the cream and cumin worked wonders in gentling it to very palatable levels. Simply delicious and very easy.

Note: the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of butter but the Dijon broke up when I followed that method. I threw it out and began again using cream instead of butter. So that's how I tell it below.

Green Beans Dijon

2 tablespoons cream
1/4 cup Dijon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound freshly cooked green beans

Gently heat cream, Dijon, and cumin in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk to combine. When mixture is hot, turn off heat and add green beans, stirring gently until all the beans are coated. Serve warm. 3-4 servings.

Summertime and Corn Salad is Easy

Full disclosure: I haven't made this recipe.

However, my mother did and everyone she shared it with is complimenting it to high heaven. Her palate (not to mention all those others) is good enough for me. I will be making this one soon.

Mom really liked the unusual cooking method for the corn and highly recommends it. She also shocked the corn in ice water after cooking, and used whole tomatoes which she blanched, peeled and chopped.
This is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe which I somehow have not encountered before but definitely will be exploring, especially since I came across this Mexican Tomato and Corn Salad which looks like something I'm definitely going to try also (mmm, cilantro!).

Summer Corn Salad
Serves 4

6 ears of corn, shucked
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned* fresh basil leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When boiling, add one tablespoon sugar and one tablespoon vinegar. Add the cobs of corn to the pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Cover the pot, remove from the heat and let the corn sit for 10 minutes. Remove the corn from the pot. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.

Toss the kernels in a medium bowl with the red onions, tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve cold or at room temperature.

*Note: To julienne the fresh basil, stack 4-5 basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up to make a long tube of basil. Slice every 1/8-inch down the length of the basil roll and as the basil unfurls, it will be sliced into thin long strips. The corn could also be grilled to turn this simple salad into a grilled version. This salad is very adaptable - you can increase the corn, add a few cloves of finely minced garlic, flat leaf parsley, and/or julienned baby spinach (in place of the basil). Go crazy!

Cooking the Books: Green Beans with Ginger

In my personal challenge to "cook the books" and work my way through cookbooks I own, I've been a bit lax in moving on. Some is because I've been busy, but some is because I "discovered" a cookbook that is so good I keep choosing "just one more" recipe before moving on to another book.

It's the 1973 classic, Introduction to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey, which I see that Knopf republished in 2011. These days anyone interested in Indian cooking knows that Jaffrey has written many cookbooks. Back in the day, though, she wrote the book almost in self defense as she told the story in the introduction. An actress in New York, she would have people over to dinner or throw parties and invariably was asked for the recipes for the delicious fare. Finally, she decided it was easier to write a cookbook than keep jotting down recipes on scraps of paper, some of which got passed on so many times that she wound up attending a party where every dish had been prepared from her recipes. The hostess said that the recipes "seem to be floating around."

The result was a gift to anyone who ever wanted to cook "real" Indian food at home. One of the things that I appreciate most is that it was written in the 1970s when no one expected you to always have access to whole or exotic spices, to grind them by hand, and so forth, which can be quite daunting these days when reading cookbooks that don't allow anything but the most authentic methods. These never sacrifice flavor but are realistic in what the average cook may have on hand (or be willing to put time into). You may also notice the age of the book when you see ingredients like "Chinese parsley." No one at the time (at least in Kansas, I can tell you) had ever heard of cilantro.

 I have used it once or twice before and can't say why I never pursued it further. My recent addiction began before Easter, when we had a couple over to watch Monsoon Wedding and cooked Indian food to make it a theme evening. Even our Easter dinner featured grilled lamb and green beans from this book.

It is those green beans that I share with you now. They were a bit hit and I myself just couldn't get over how different they were from any green bean I'd ever tasted. And how delicious ...

Note: I didn't use cilantro because we had a guest who doesn't like it. As someone who used to dislike cilantro's flavor, I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone (for me, it tasted very soapy). I'm quite glad that my taste changed and I now love cilantro.

Green Beans with Ginger

Serves 4-6

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans
A piece of ginger, about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 fresh hot green chili (optional), washed and sliced very fine
3 tablespoons chopped Chinese parsley (fresh coriander greens or cilantro)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1-1/4 teaspoons garam masala (I used garam masala from Penzeys, but that may be very different from Jaffrey's intention ... I give her recipe below)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (or to taste)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Wash the beans. Trim the ends. Slice them into fine rounds about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. (This takes a while, so it is best to sit down somewhere with a chopping board and sharp knife and do about 8 beans at a time.) When all the beans are chopped, set aside in a bowl.

Put the ginger in the blender with 3 tablespoons of water and blend at high speed until it is a smooth paste. (I grate the ginger by hand, but do add the 3 tablespoons of water when continuing with the recipe below.)

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. While it is heating, pour in paste from the blender and add turmeric. Fry, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, then add the sliced green chilies and the parsley (cilantro), and after another minute, put in the green beans and continue cooking and stirring for about a minute. Add the cumin, coriander, 1 teaspoon of the garam masala, lemon juice, salt, and 3 tablespoons of wate. Cover skillet, turn flame very low, and let beans cook slowly for about 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

To serve: these beans can easily be cooked in advance and reheated. Serve them in a warm dish, with 1/4 teaspoon garam masala sprinkled on top.



Garam Masala

To make about a cupful you will need:

25 cardamom pods (use seeds only)
1/2 cup whole black peppercorns
1/3 cup whole cumin seeds
1/4 cup whole coriander seeds
3 sticks of cinnamon, each about 3 inches long
4-6 whole cloves

Combine all ingredients and grind very fine, using an electric blender or a coffee grinder. (If you want to make your garam masala less hot, decrease the amount of black peppercorns and increase the cumin proportionately.) Store in a tightly covered container, away from sunlight and dampness. If carefully stored, this garam masala can be kept for a couple of months.

Stir-Fried Spinach

In my brief flirtation with a local produce co-op (one morning constitutes "brief" doesn't it?), I received a lot of fresh produce that I normally don't get. I did like that part of it.

It made me cook fresh green beans and discover that all those people who always assured me in recipes that frozen green beans are "just as good" were lying. Lying.

Those fresh beans, even though limp and characterless when I washed, topped, and tailed them, turned somehow silky, toothsome, and subtly flavored.

Emboldened and needing to produce some space in my refrigerator, I pulled out the two pounds of fresh spinach and my go-to vegetable cookbook, Irene Kuos' The Key to Chinese Cooking. I saw that probably about 20 years ago I had noted it "great" and "great" it remained. Rose took enough for two small bites and then quickly took a much larger helping. Tom had seconds.

Again, I had been a victim of those cookbook authors who have been assuring me that frozen spinach is just as good as fresh. This was soft, shiny, vividly green, and had a silky texture (somehow different from that of the beans) and was a mild, nutty flavor thanks to the sesame oil.

Here's how you can make it for yourself. The brief parboiling helps prevent it from turning watery but be sure to really squeeze the water out of it afterward. A little sugar is added to remove that puckery aftertaste that spinach can have. It isn't sweet and does the trick nicely. A good deal of oil is needed to give it luster and a smooth texture. Don't reduce it until you've tried this one as written.

Stir-Fried Spinach

2 pounds spinach
4 tablespoons oil
2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed and peeled
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Wash the spinach well (mine took 7 washes). If it has roots, sepaarate them and cut into 2 or 4 pieces -- they are extremely sweet and succulent. Chop stems if long.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add the spinach, and stir to submerge it. When the water begins to boil again, in about a minute, pour the spinach into a colander and spray with cold water to stop the cooking. press down lightly to extract excess water.

Heat a wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until hot; add the oil, swirl, and heat bout 30 seconds til hot. Toss the garlic cloves and press them again the pan a few times. Add the spinach and poke and shake to separate the mass; then stir in fast turning motions to coat it with oil. Sprinkle in the salt and sugar and stir briskly for about 1 minute. Add the sesame oil, give a few fast turns, and pour into a hot serving dish, discarding the garlic.

The "Funny Bone" in Our Thanksgiving Menu

Here's an idea I'm going to try this year, based on a recipe in (of all places) the Wall Street Journal.

Bake 4 medium sweet potatoes. Whip with a can of coconut milk and 2 t. of brown sugar.

I can play around with sweet potato recipes because only Rose will try them and she's not married to any particular way of fixing them since I've always goofed around with them.

Ok, it's just a touch more complicated, so here's the actual recipe. I'm making a half recipe. At least I think I am. It's darned hard to tell what "medium" is in sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes Kittichai

Serves 8
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 65 to 80 minutes

8 medium sweet potatoes
2 cups coconut milk, approximately
1 tablespoon light brown sugar (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

• Set the sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. After 20 minutes, perforate the potatoes in several places to prevent bursting. They are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork all the way through their thickest part.
  
  
• Let cool, then peel. Cut up roughly and process two or three at a time until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan.
  
  
• Bring the coconut milk to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the cinnamon stick and, if you are using it, the brown sugar. Strain and whisk into the sweet potato purée. (We think the brown sugar distracts from the suave and original mixture of sweet potato and coconut milk. Without it, the purée is truer to its vegetable roots, so to speak.) Add the coconut milk a cup at a time until you get the consistency you like. We use the whole amount, which yields an unctuous but light purée, with a consistency similar to Chef Joël Robuchon's legendary butter-rich mashed potatoes.
  
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and reheat just before serving.

Pecan Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

This is from Cook's Illustrated and I made it last year for the first time. Scrum-diddily-umptious!

Serves 8 to 12

Topping
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (very cold), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Potatoes
3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes), peeled, halved lengthwise, and halves cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch


1. For the Topping: Whisk brown sugar and flour in small bowl. Add butter, and toss to coat; pinch between fingertips until mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir chopped pecans into mixture; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. In large pot or Dutch oven of boiling water, parboil sweet potato slices over high heat until they are bright orange and the point of a paring knife easily pierces but does not break apart a few slices, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain potatoes well and turn into buttered 13-x 9-inch baking dish.

3. Whisk melted butter, honey, molasses, ginger, salt, and cayenne in small bowl; set aside. Mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water in small bowl until totally smooth, then whisk into butter mixture; pour over sweet potatoes and toss to coat well.

4. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until liquid is bubbly, about 50 minutes. Remove foil, stir potatoes gently, sprinkle cold topping mixture over potatoes, and bake until topping is crisp and dark golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Cool slightly and serve hot or at room temperature.

Tags:Food

Okra Anyone?

I love okra but the rest of my family does not so I sadly exist okra-less. However, my good friend, Marcia, sent me this recipe that looks so different from any I have seen that I am going to try it and see if the much longed for "okra conversion" could happen.

I've been shopping at the farmer's stands at the farmer's market and buying only little okra...the larger ones are too tough....little new 'taters...and noonday, vidalia, or 10/15 small onions.

OKRA, NEW POTOTOES, AND ONIONS

Equal parts of all of the above.

Microwave the washed potatoes until 3/4 cooked, about 7 minutes, cool enough to be able to slice.

Wash and chop the okra, removing only the stem end.

Slice onions thinly.

Put enough olive oil in iron skillet to cover the bottom. Medium heat.

Fry all of the veggies starting first with the okra, add the potatoes after you have turned the okra once, add the onions after the first two veggies have been turned and stirred together.

Salt and pepper after all ingredients are in pan. It may be necessary to add a little more oil as the dish is cooking. Serve as soon as all veggies are cooked and a little crusty.

Marcia notes:
I like to add a couple of pieces of uncooked, chopped bacon with the potatoes as it is cooking for a great flavor! We also like a little garlic salt. Enjoy!

This is NOT a slimy okra dish. My kids loved it even when they were little and they all serve it to their families as a favorite Mom dish now!

Spinach Balls

It doesn't get much better or easier than this recipe from The New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill. A friend of mine bakes these and then keeps a bag of them in the freezer so she always has them on hand. I baked these the day before Easter, refrigerated them, and then brushed them with a bit of melted butter before warming them in the oven. They are a hit whenever you serve them.

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup plain Pepperidge Farm stuffing
1/2 onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor or by hand until well blended.

Form mixture into bite-size balls and place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375° until heated through, 20-25 minutes. Serves 4. (The spinach balls can be frozen on the baking sheet. Defrost for 20 minutes before baking as above.)

Hill Country Broccoli Salad

How about something really green for Saint Patrick's Day? Even better, let's make it really simple too so that you can toss it together after having a couple of green beers.

This is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Texas Home Cooking by Cheryl and Bill Jamison. This a crowd pleaser and couldn't be easier. I recently took a double batch of this salad to a CRHP retreat where we were providing lunch and it disappeared in no time.

I use broccoli flowerets and stems in this. I just peel the stems and dice them up. For the olives I have used everything from pimiento-stuffed to fancy olive mixes. It is really flexible. You might not think this looks like enough dressing but it is not supposed to be really creamy. Just be sure to add some salt to pop the flavor.

Serves 4

3 cups (about 1/2 pound) chopped fresh broccoli
1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients, including a generous grind of black pepper. Refrigerate the salad, covered, for a couple of hours. Serve the salad chilld. The salad keeps for 2 days.

Vinegar-Slithered Green Cabbage

After wading through all that cabbage information, here is the pay-off. This is the first cabbage I ever had that I liked. Not too hard to achieve, considering that my mother cooked vegetables the old-fashioned way ... boiled to death.

From The Key to Chinese Cooking by Irene Kuo
Serves 4 or more

1 small head green cabbage, about 1 pound
3 tablespoons oil
4 dried red chili peppers

Sauce:
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry

Remove the cabbage's tough outer leaves and cut off the stem. Quarter the cabbage and cut out the core. Cut the leaves into pieces about 1 inch square, toss in a colander to separate, and then rinse and drain (do not rinse and drain until shortly before the stir-frying).

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.

Heat a wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until hot. Add the oil, turn heat low, and toss in the peppers. Press and turn them in the oil until they are deep red -- do not let them blacken since they won't look as pretty with the cabbage. Then turn heat high, scatter in the cabbage, and stir and flip for about 2 minutes in the hot oil.

Add the sauce and stir in folding motions for 30 seconds; then pour into a hot serving dish.

Spinach and Tofu Paneer

This is for Alicia. It isn't exactly what she wanted but I discovered that out of my 154 cookbooks (I actually stopped to count them ... shocking number!), I have only 3 Indian cookbooks and neither had it. However, I did have this recipe that sounds pretty close from This Can't Be Tofu by Deborah Madison. Also using tofu sounds a lot easier than coming up with fresh Indian cheese. I really detest "vegetarian" cookbooks but this one grabbed me when it came out. It was riveting and made me believe I actually could cook and enjoy tofu. Too bad I've never put that to the test by making a recipe from it. This might be the one that breaks that barrier. I will include Madison's introduction because it explains why I thought Alicia might like the recipe.

For a long time it seemed to me that there was more than a superficial resemblance between the white Indian cheese called paneer and tofu. When I finally made the classic Indian dish of spinach and paneer using tofu, it tasted amazingly at home in the cumin, ginger, and chile-laced sauce. There's a little going back and forth between the skillet and a food processor but this is an easy dish to make. I serve it over rice with a sprinkling of toasted black sesame seeds.

1 carton firm or soft tofu
Salt
1 large bunch spinach, stems discarded, leaves well washed
1 jalapeño, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 serrano chile, coarsely chopped (I would seed this too)
1-inch knob ginger, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons ghee, butter, or vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon, plus a pinch, nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup yogurt

Dice the tofu into pieces about the size of a sugar cube or a little smaller. Bring 6 cups water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon salt and lower the heat to a simmer. Add the tofu, turn off the heat, and leave for 4 or 5 minutes pour into a colander to drain. (If you've used soft tofu, remove it with a slotted spoon.) Set aside.

Steam the spinach until wilted, then remove it to a cutting board and chop. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water.

Put the chiles, ginger, garlic, and onion in a food processor, and process until finely chopped. Heat the ghee or butter in a nonstick skillet, add the onion mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

Add 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, nutmeg, cayenne, and 1 cup water. Simmer for 5 minutes, then return the mixture to the food processor, add the spinach, and puree.

Return the mixture to the skillet, add the half-and-half and the tofu, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt. Serve over basmati rice.

Spinach, Spinach Everywhere

Once again from the inspired kitchen of my friend, Marcia:

I threw a dish together tonight that turned out pretty well. Put a little olive oil in a nonstick heavy skillet and saute' half a sweet onion. When translucent, add a full package of baby spinach and stir occasionally until just wilted....then crumble a bit of feta over the top and add fresh ground pepper...um, um good....oh serve immediately while hot....we loved it. with a little smoked salmon on crackers and a little glass of blas du blanc.

Sounds great and it made me remember one of my all time favorite quickie spinach recipes from Trattoria Cooking.

Spinach with Cream and Parmesan

2 pounds fresh spinach, stems and bruised leaves discarded, or two 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of any water
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup heavy cream (I prefer half-and-half)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano
Salt to taste

If using fresh, wash the spinach thoroughly under cold running water. Bring a large saucepan halfway full of water to a boil over medium heat, then add the spinach and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking. Drain the spinach and squeeze out any excess water.

Heat the butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. When it begins to foam, add the cream and bring it to a gentle boil. Add the spinach and parmigiano and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted and the cream is almost all reduced, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot, next to grilled or roasted meat.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This is not nearly as healthy as Marcia's recipe but all of this spinach talk got me rooting through the freezer. Naturally, not a bit of spinach was to be found. Just one more thing to add to my grocery list.