Broccoli Crunch - from 101 Cookbooks

from 101 Cookbooks

(channy note: I used peanut butter instead of almond butter, and i candied some walnuts and pecans with balsamic, brown sugar, garlic powder, and cayenne)

The success of this salad hinges on the broccoli. Buy good-quality bright green broccoli with tight florets. Now that you have good broccoli, do your best not to overcook it - you don't want it turning to mush.

4 -5 cups tiny broccoli florets (and chopped stalks if you like)

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water

2 small crisp apples, cut into bit-sized pieces (if you aren't going to use the apples immediately, let them sit in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon)

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted or candied walnuts or almonds
1/3 cup pan-fried crunchy shallots*
chives (optional)

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt as you would pasta water. Boil the broccoli just long enough to take the raw edge of - 10 or 15 seconds. Drain and immerse it in cold water (or let cold water run over it). At this point, I like to spin the broccoli in a salad spinner to get the water off, but a few good knocks against the sink in a strainer can do the trick pretty well. Set aside.

Make the dressing by sprinkling the salt over the clove of garlic. Smash the clove and chop, smash and chop - turning it into a paste. In a small bowl whisk the salty garlic paste with the almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Add the hot water and whisk until light and creamy. Taste, make any adjustments and set aside.

In a large bowl gently toss the broccoli, apples, red onion, most of the shallots and nuts with a generous drizzle of the almond dressing. Turn out onto a platter and finish with the rest of the shallots and chives if you like. Serve family style.

Serves 4.

*Stir together the shallots, a splash of clarified butter (or olive oil) and big pinch of salt In a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about fifteen minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burn), and if needed turn down the heat. Remove from skillet and onto a paper towel to cool in a single layer where they will crisp up a bit.

Potatoes Braised in Butter and Sake

this recipe was recommended by my sister, and is from "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant." It's super simple, and really really tasty.

• 4 medium potatoes (starchy ones, like russet)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sake (filtered)
• 2 tbsp tamari or other soy sauce

1. Peel and chop potatoes into large chunks. Cover with water and boil until ender (about 10 min.) Drain.

2. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet. Add the potatoes and gently toss until each piece is coated with butter. Add the sake and cook on high heat, uncovered, stirring regularly, until the sake has almost evaporated. Add the tamari sauce. Lower the heat and continue to cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are covered with a thick, brown sauce.
Serve hot.

White Bean Soup

I made this soup the other night and it came out very nicely. I made it up as I went along, but based it on a leek and potato soup recipe....only I used beans instead of potatoes.

Ingredients:

3 cans of white beans (obviously using dried would work too, but that requires more planning)
3 large leeks, white and light green parts only
3 T butter
1/8 cup white wine
1 small white onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 carrots, chopped small
1-2 bay leaves
dash thyme
dash white pepper
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup milk
paprika to garnish

Directions:
Cut leeks and garlic into small pieces and put in large pot with the butter. Cook until the leeks are tender - it will smell really good. Add onion, tomato, carrot, wine, bay leaf. Cook for a few minutes, then add vegetable broth. Heat until simmering, then add beans, thyme, white pepper, black pepper and salt. Let simmer until carrots are tender. Pour soup into a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot and add milk. Heat again, then serve. Garnish with Hungarian paprika - the soup is a nice orange/pink color when it's all done.

Kyle liked this soup enough to have two helpings! So it must be good.

Poblano Eggplant Tart with Corn and Three Cheeses

I bought some beautiful poblanos and eggplants yesterday, and thought they'd make a delicious tart. In my fridge, I had chevre, a bit of ricotta, and some parmesan. I used frozen corn for some nice sweetness, and the yellow heirloom on my counter just begged to be in the mix. Voila!

Yeasted Tart Dough (recipe in previous entry)

3 Japanese eggplants
3 poblano peppers
3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 medium heirloon tomato

3 tablespoons chevre
2-3 tablespoons ricotta
1 big handful of grated parmesan

Prepare the tart dough.

Roast the eggplants and peppers (whole) until soft. Put in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to steam them out of their skins. When cool enough to handle, peel skins and discard. Discard pepper seeds (don't run the peppers under water to rinse, they will lose a lot of flavor). Chop eggplant and peppers into small pieces.

Lay the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer on the dough. Add peppers, eggplant, and corn.

Spoon on the chevre in small dollops. Cover with the parmesan. Thinly slice the tomato and lay the slices on top of the tart.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or so.

Yeasted tart Dough

This comes from the Greens Restaurant cookbook.

makes 1 9-inch tart

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 large egg, room temp
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons creme fraiche or unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. In a bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in the water then move it to a warm place while you gather the other ingredients.
2. If the egg is cold warm it in a bowl of hot water.
3. Combine the 1 cup of the flour, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
4. Break the egg into the middle of the well; add the softened butter; and pour in the yeast mixture which should be foamy with bubbles.
5. Mix with a wooden spoon to form a soft smooth dough. Dust it with flour and gather into a ball. Set it in a clean bowl and cover with cling film or a kitchen cloth.
6. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes to an hour).
7. Flatten the dough place it in the centre of a 10 inch tart ring and using either your knuckles or the heel of your hand press it out to the edge of the ring. Add only enough flour to keep it from sticking. If the dough shrinks back while you are shaping it cover it with a towel and leave it to relax for 20 minutes before you finish pressing it out.
8. It should be thin on the bottom and thicker at the sides, about 1/4 inch above the rim of the pan.
9. It can be filled immediately or refrigerated until needed. Once the tart is filled, bake in the middle of a 375 degree oven.

Vegetarian Gumbo

I modeled this gumbo after one that is made every tuesday at Food Front Co-op here in Portland.

Cooked brown rice for serving

2-3 tablespoons of roux (recipe below)
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 whole medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped

1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen okra, sliced
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes with their liquid
1 dried chipotle chili (or less, depending on your spice tolerance), rehydrated, drained, and
chopped
a few shakes of tabasco sauce
1-1/2 tsp gumbo filé powder (ground sassafras leaves)
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

2 links Field Roast Mexican Chipotle "sausage"
1 package seitan, sliced

Make the roux: Melt 4 tbsp butter in a saucepan. When fully melted, gradually incorporate 4 tbsp flour. Stir until thick and golden, adding flour as you see fit.

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper. Cook 5-7 minutes until soft.

Add tomatoes, okra, seitan, "sausage," thyme, filé powder, tabasco, and vegetable broth. Let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When the chipotle chili is fully rehydrated, chopped into little pieces and add. Take out the seeds for less heat. 1 chili + tabasco gave my gumbo a very strong kick.

Serve over brown rice. Serves 7-9

homemade sun-dried tomatoes

courtesy of ms. Lauren Baker who showed me how to make these the other night.
suuuuper easy and so good.

ingredients:
beautiful tomatoes - heirloom preferably, since they are prettier and taste good. long slices.
salt = joy of my life. lots (within reason)
olive oil. some
oven.

place tomatoes on a baking stone or tray. drizzle and sprinkle respectively, a healthy amount of olive oil and salt.
roast them for about 1.5 hours at 300F. They caramelize and get chewy and a bit syrupy. they are amazing.

put on salads. with pasta. on pizzas.