Linguine with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Egg

Deep in the stage of packing and planning my big move, and very tired, but really feeling like having something homey and comforting to relax with tonight.

Asparagus with pasta is one of my favorite springtime/summertime thing as long as it's not too hot to cook. Hey! I'm solving that problem by moving to a place of All Time AC! I add wild mushrooms if I've had enough foresight to swing by the funky Asian market, or if not, the supermarket version. Fortunately, supermarkets are offering more mushroom variety these days. In another 20 years, who knows, maybe psychedelic ones?

This dish is topped with an egg which is one of the best dish-finishing moves ever. Very few things are not improved by having a lovely egg with runny yolk tossed on top at the end. Colonel, I'll cook your eggs a little long, you non-appreciator of runny yolks. Your dish will still be improved but not as it might have been.

I served this with a simple salad of arugula, heats of palm and parmesan with a lemon dressing. If you've never tried hearts of palm, please do. They are like artichoke hearts without all the bother!

Mangia!

Linguine with Asparagus and Egg

Adapted from Epicurious

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound linguine or fettuccine
2 large shallots, sliced

1 large bunch thin asparagus (1 pound), ends trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. oyster mushrooms, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce), plus more for serving (optional)

4 large eggs

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to large saute pan and add shallots. Saute for a few minutes and add asparagus. Continue sauteing for a few minutes, then add mushrooms and continue sauteing for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid when pasta is finished and drain pasta.  Add butter and Parmesan to vegetables. Toss until butter is melted, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.

While pasta is cooking, in a large straight-sided skillet, heat remaining olive oil and butter. Crack each egg into a small bowl and gently pour into skillet. Cook until whites are set and yolks are runny, 4 minutes. Transfer eggs to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

To serve, divide pasta among four bowls, top each serving with an egg, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan if desired.

Pork Fest Weekend - Dish 2 - Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce

I love the slow cooker. And I really love this terrific cookbook I came across several years back. Several steps up from the average slow cooker cookbook in my opinion.

This yummy pork dish is actually shown on the cover, and that cover shot was the reason I was drawn to this book in the first place. I have made this dish over and over again, and that history is reflected in the splatters on the pages. I kick it up a bit by adding some Sriracha, an extra red bell pepper and cilantro for topping.

It's one of those dishes that makes everyone jealous when you bring it in to work and heat it up fro lunch. I think the Colonel will love doing that one day when I'm in my - let's see, how did he phrase that? - sexy Mrs. Cleaver mode.

Mangia!

Mine doesn't quite look like the cover, but then again
I don't have a food stylist

Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

2 to 3 pounds boneless pork roast, chopped into large hunks

3 red peppers, cut into 1 inch strips

1⁄2 cup teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Sriracha

1⁄4 cup creamy peanut butter

1⁄2 cup green onion, chopped




1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1⁄4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

2 limes, cut into wedges

Coat a slow cooker with cooking spray. Place the pork into the cooker. Pour the teriyaki sauce, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and garlic over the pork.

Cover and cook on low until the pork is tender (4-5hours). Remove the pork from the cooker, and whisk in the peanut butter until smooth. Chop the pork into large bite-sized pieces and then put it back into the cooker. Put the pepper in and stir to coat.

Cook for 60 minutes until the pork is very tender and the peppers are just tender.

Serve in bowls over rice with green onions, cilantro, peanuts and limes for garnish.

Pork Fest Weekend - Dish 1 - Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas - Olé

I have been drooling over this recipe for weeks now. As luck would have it, boneless pork roast was on sale at the store, so I picked up two, each between 2 and 3 pounds.

Tonight, the pork stars in crispy carnitas, with all the fixings: queso cotija, green onion, radishes, cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, sour cream (I went with yogurt) and salsa. And yes, my new favorite: La Tortilla Factory's soft fluffy flour tortillas!

Most carnitas recipes seem overly laborious, and use a variety of ingredients as varied as oranges, milk, sweetened condensed milk (???), frying in lard, etc., etc., etc. This recipe makes it a potentially an any-old-night meal, with little prep, lots of unattended cooking and a fairly quick browning at the end. Couple the non-heat producing method of slow cooking along with fresh, crisp, cool toppings, and this is good summer eats!

Tomorrow: Slow Cooker Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce.

Mangia!

CRISPY SLOW COOKER CARNITAS
Adapted from Gimme Some Oven

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

1 (2-3 lb.) lean boneless pork roast, excess fat trimmed, cut into 3-inch chunks

8 oz. beer

1 large white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp chipotle powder (or 1 chipotle in adobo sauce)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the pork and sear on each side until browned (about 2 minutes per side). Transfer pork to the slow cooker. Pour the beer into the skillet and deglaze the pan, scraping with a spoon to get all the good brown stuff.

Add remaining ingredients, and give the mixture a careful stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours until the pork is completely tender and shreds easily with a fork.

Once the pork is cooked, preheat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Use a fork to shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, spray the skillet with cooking spray and then use a slotted spoon to transfer it in batches to the skillet, spreading it out evenly in a single layer. Reserve the remaining broth from the slow cooker.

Sear for about 3 minutes, or until the edges of the pork begin crisping up. Carefully toss the pork. Then ladle about 1/4 cup of the remaining slow cooker broth over the pork. Cook for an additional 3 minutes to get the meat more crispy. Then remove and ladle an additional 1/4 cup of broth over the crispy pork.

Repeat with the remaining pork.

Healthy Mid-week Recipe - Grilled Quinoa Cobb Salad with Pancetta

The Zero Point soup might finally be paying off! Down a few pounds! Yeay me!!

Lest the celebration start and food slacker habits take back over, it's Healthy Mid-week Recipe time! 

Quinoa is everywhere and it's very trendy. It's an ancient grain and it adapts well to a variety of preparations. Salads are the most common, but you can use it to make breakfast porridge, veggie burgers, and lots more. Use it instead of rice with stir fries or in burritos. Wonder food! I am not a shill for the quinoa industry.

This salad includes grilled veggies, for extra flavor and well, because, summer. You could skip the pancetta and eggs and make it vegetarian and vegan respectively. But when you're being so virtuous, why not pork products???

Mangia!

Grilled Quinoa Cobb Salad with Pancetta

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Decorative versus Jackson Pollock plating

2 cups quinoa

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

1 garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

2 bunches scallions

2 pints cherry tomatoes

2 avocados, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup mint leaves

1 cup Italian parsley leaves

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

4 oz. pancetta, chopped

1/2 cup chopped toasted pistachios

Flaky sea salt

Bring quinoa, 1 tsp. kosher salt, and 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender, 8–10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let sit 15 minutes. Fluff quinoa with a fork; transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, whisk oil, lemon juice, thyme and garlic in a small bowl.  While quinoa is cooking, fry pancetta over medium to medium high heat until fat is rendered and crispy, about 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside on paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Drizzle ½ of dressing over warm quinoa and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Prepare a grill or stove top grill pan for medium-high heat. Grill scallions and tomatoes in a grill basket, turning occasionally, until charred in spots and tomatoes begin to split, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and slice scallions into 1" pieces.

Toss the parsley and mint leaves with 1/2 of the remaining dressing.

Spoon quinoa onto a platter and top with scallions, tomatoes, avocado, eggs, parsley, mint, pancetta and pistachios. You may do this decoratively or go full Jackson Pollock on it. Drizzle with remaining dressing and sprinkle with sea salt.

Grilled Quail, Tuscan Style and Lemon Thyme Cranberry Beans

I was looking for squash blossom recipes in Marcella Hazan's Marcella's Italian Kitchen, and came across a recipe for grilled quail with sage and garlic. Time to use up the frozen quail from the funky Asian market!

Mystery beans

The same day I bought the quail, I came across some really stunning beans, kind of a mottled red and green. Not sure what to call these beans. The farmer told me, and I promptly forgot, but she didn't say cranberry beans. The pods look like cranberry beans even though the beans inside are not as mottled red and pink as some of the photos I've seen online.

I marinated the birds overnight.

Mangia!


Grilled Quail, Tuscan Style

 6 quail

 Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic

15 to 20 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

Start wood or charcoal fire or preheat gas grill or broiler.

Cut along each side of the breastbone of each bird, then straight down through where thigh meets body to get 2 semi-boneless halves from each bird. (Don't worry if skin holding thigh and drumstick together separates.) Combine with all other ingredients in bowl or heavy plastic bag and stir or shake to coat. If time allows, marinate for an hour or so.

Grill quail, turning as needed, until browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Lemon Thyme Cranberry (or Mystery) Beans

1 lb fresh cranberry beans, shelled ( about 1 1/2 cups shelled)

6 garlic cloves, whole

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp red hot pepper flakes (or to taste)

1/2 tsp fresh thyme

2 cups water

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

Zest of a lemon

In a deep skillet, cook garlic in olive oil at medium heat. Tilt the pan so all the oil goes to one side of the pan and the garlic cooks evenly.  Cook for about 6 minutes or until it starts to get a slight golden color.

Add red hot pepper flakes and thyme and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden.

Add shelled beans, mixing well so the beans get evenly coated with the oil and cook for 3-4 minutes

Add water, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil for about 5 minutes uncovered.

Turn down the heat and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes or until beans are tender but not mushy.

Toss with lemon zest.

My Baby Is Back. My Baby Who Is A Serial Killer Who Eats People - Homage to Hannibal - Beef Liver With Parsley, Onions and Lemon

You know you want it, grrrrrrrl

Hannibal Season 3 is here! It's here! Sharpen your blades! I will get around to Lomo Saltado from Season 2, but I didn't want to heat up the place with the oven for the fries, so settled on beef liver. I saw it the other day at the funky Asian market.

I admit, I had a little trouble envisioning Mads as the Sexiest Man in Denmark at the beginning of S1. I think it was the hair, because I completely fell for his characterization, gray matter and uber-cool wardrobe from the get go. Even when he'd wear PLAID. The man did for plaid what bacon does to salad. Or maybe it was an Anthony Hopkins block. Not in a "Silence of the Lambs is sacred" way, but I do have it pretty bad for Sir Tony. But Fannibals everywhere were having dreams about him. It only took a few episodes and then I started to swoon.

Salute

I hate, hate, hate Bedelia Du Maurier for stealing away with my Baby, and seemingly becoming completely fluent in Italian in days. Or at least fluent enough to order two bottles of wine wherever she goes. I deserve the tub in the palazzo and the white truffle more!!! But I love whoever named her for the great writer Daphne. Fans of the movie Rebecca know who she is, but did you know she also wrote the short story that Hitch-Hold-The-Cock filmed as The Birds? And did you just love the movie Hitchcock??? I mean, hello, Dame Helen and Sir Anthony? See, my friends? We have squared the circle! You know, with the Hitchcock/Hannibal reference? Get it? No? Ok, never mind.

Back to Daphne briefly...she also wrote a story called Don't Look Now, which was made into a movie in the early 70s, with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. It is a great flick and well known for a sex scene controversy that reached Last Tango In Paris altitude. Cunnilingus in cinema? Is it just me, or did it take a long time afterward to have the media burst over that particular sex act again in Blue Valentine? In Hollywood, not only do ladies get disrespected when they age, they also can't have decent foreplay. Harrumph!

Whoa, we went Six Degrees from Mads and Tony and Daphne and Donald all the way to Kiefer Sutherland?? Christ, Flatliners???? Yup, Bacon.

Is there going to be any food any time soon?

Oh, yeah, Hannibal. Liver. OK, I'd never made beef liver on my own, only with Grandma. When I craved liver, I usually made chicken livers or bought liverwurst or pate. Hoity Toity! So, it turns out my liver slicing skills are not up to snuff. Next time, I will take more care around arteries and connective tissue. There were a few pieces that I just chopped fine and made sort of a country pate-ish mash post-cooking. Yummy, but not pretty.

In this recipe I was hooked by the parsley and lemon. Onions are a big duh, but I had a great big bunch of parsley from the farmers market spree, and I always have lemon. This was very yummy, but next time, I'd add pancetta and do a gremolata for topping. And of course be more meticulous with my prep. I served this with simple sauteed greens with garlic and crushed red pepper, which in this case was Lacinato kale and red chard.

Mangia!

Beef Liver With Parsley-Onions & Lemon

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Italian Classics “Sautéed Calf’s Liver and Onions”

Ingredients:

2 large onions, sliced thin

3 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee (Use ghee. Who's got time to make clarified butter??)

1 pound of calf, beef, or lamb liver, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

1/2 cup parsley, minced

salt & pepper

NOTE: If you don’t have ghee, use all coconut oil or your preferred fat.

Directions:

Place 1 tablespoon ghee in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. When it shimmers, add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix with a wooden spoon so the onions are evenly coated in the fat; sauté about 5 minutes until they release their juice. Reduce heat to medium and cook until browned and soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the onions to a bowl and save for later.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon coconut oil; heat until shimmering.

Sprinkle the liver generously with salt and pepper, then lay the pieces flat in the pan in a single layer. Try to leave a little breathing room around them and cook in two batches, if necessary. Cook undisturbed for 60-90 seconds, until the first side is browned around the edges. Flip each piece with tongs and cook the second side, 60-90 seconds, until browned on the edges. Remove the liver to a plate while you finish the onions.

Place 1 tablespoon ghee in the hot pan, along with the cooked onions, parsley, and lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon and sauté until hot.

To serve, place the liver on a plate and mound the caramelized parsley-onions on top. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Fettucine with Zucchini Blossom Sauce

Quartered and ready for duty

Farmers market redux....ahhhh, squash blossom season!

Most people fry them, and they are delectable that way, but I like looking for new ways to use them. I have stuffed them with ricotta, garlic and Parmesan, just like to some frying recipes, but eaten them as is, raw. They are delicate and beautiful. 

In looking through my cookbooks, I couldn't find inspiration. Suzanne Goin let me down by only mentioning them ONCE in her two great books, Sunday Suppers at Lucques and the AOC Cookbook. In that one mention, it was a typical fried treatment but with a green Romesco sauce to go along. Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy, which is so beautiful it could be a coffee table book (if I had a coffee table) was slightly different, offering a frittata, but I just didn't feel like a bunch of egg custard. Marcella Hazan fries them, and so on, and so on.

But on The Interwebs, I found a lovely pasta dish. It really hit the spot. It's basically mirepoix in a stock reduction with a little egg yolk to enrich it. A green salad along side is probably all you need, or go sans salad. I doubled the recipe to use a pound of pasta and have leftovers galore. I went with fettucine.

Mangia!

Pappardelle with Zucchini Blossom Sauce

Adapted Giuliano Bugialli’s Bugialli on Pasta

 Good-tasting olive oil

1 Tbs unsalted butter

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

Leaves from 10 sprigs Italian parsley, finely chopped

12 zucchini blossoms, quartered from stem to tip

Salt

6 saffron threads

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably homemade (see note above)

1 egg yolk

½ lb. pappardelle

Pecorino Romano, finely grated

Put a large pot of salted water over high heat; this will be your pasta pot.

In a large skillet, warm a splash of olive oil and the butter over medium heat. Add the red onion, celery, carrot, and Italian parsley, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent. Add the zucchini blossoms, a pinch or two of salt, and the saffron, and stir gently to mix. Add about ¾ cup of broth, and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rest of the broth a splash or two at a time, taking about 5-8 minutes to add it all. Stir frequently. Allow the sauce to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and only a thin film of thickened broth remains in the pan. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk slightly with a fork.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until tender but al dente. When the pasta is almost ready, place the zucchini blossom sauce back over medium heat. Use a small measuring cup to scoop up about 3 Tbs of pasta water and, whisking constantly with a fork, gradually add the hot water to the egg yolk: together, they should make a loose, pale yellow liquid. Pour this mixture into the sauce in the skillet, stirring well. Using tongs or a spider, scoop the finished pasta from its pot into the skillet, and toss with the sauce over medium heat for about 30 seconds.

Serve, topped with grated Pecorino.

Crispy Tofu with Eggplant, Purple Spring Onions and Oyster Mushrooms

Not my batches. At the farmer's market, you pick up
the ones that wouldn't win the beauty contest that
national chains seem to think we require of produce.
They're just as tasty. I got ahead of the camera in my prep.

Hit the local farmer's market Thursday. Found some really beautiful purple spring onions, the ones that look like scallions on steroids, and lovely Japanese eggplant. The farmer's market is held in the parking lot of the funky Asian market where I like to shop, so I picked up some firm tofu inside and oyster mushrooms and darn near got some nice-looking beef liver. Maybe later this weekend?

They also regularly carry frozen quail, so there's another treat for the weekend.

Crispy tofu

So, it's stir fry time!  I went with my standard stir fry sauce. I crisped the tofu in little cubes first, then removed to drain, then stir fried the onions for a few minutes, followed by the eggplant for a few minutes, then tossed in the mushrooms and the sauce. The tofu goes in at the end for a minute to blend. Garnish with cilantro (it's a very brown dish otherwise and the herb adds some earthy freshness) and serve with rice.

Mangia!

Crispy Tofu with Eggplant, Purple Spring Onions and Oyster Mushrooms

Sauce
2 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce

2 tbsp. Tamari

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns
1 tbsp. Sriracha

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1” piece ginger minced

2 garlic cloves minced

1 package firm tofu, cut into 1/4" cubes
2 bunches (10 to 12 total) purple spring onions, root end and stalk ends removed, skinned, large ones cut in quarters, smaller ones in half or left whole
2 Japanese eggplants, halved and sliced 1/2" to 3/4" thick with skin left on
10 oz. oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped

Good sized handful of cilantro, chopped

Heat a couple of tablespoons peanut oil in wok or deep sided heavy skillet over high heat. When oil is hot, add tofu, spreading out to a single layer. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Check for browning. I like to have some good browning but more along the lines of a slightly darker blonde roux. Toss the cubes around for the next few minutes or so to get all sides browned. Remove to paper towel-lined plate.

Add onions to skillet or wok and stir fry for a few minutes. Add eggplants and continue stir frying for a few minutes more. add the mushrooms and the sauce and continue to fry for a few minutes. Add tofu and stir for a minute or so to combine.

Serve topped with cilantro alongside rice of your choice.