Recipes for Grilled Salmon with Ancho Honey Porter Glaze and Bear Tooth Grill's "Recado" Chile Sauce

In June, four of Alaska’s best chefs met at a salmon cook-off. The winning dish? Grilled Salmon with Ancho Honey Porter Glaze created by Clayton Jones, Executive Chef of Anchorage’s Bear Tooth Grill.

Chef Clayton paired rich sockeye salmon with a glaze made of sweet honey, spicy chiles, and bitter Porter beer. The combination is inspired. Honey balances the heat and bitterness, but is used sparingly, leaving the glaze with plenty of lip-smacking spice. During the June cook-off, I watched tasters finish their portions and immediately get back in line for seconds and thirds. It wasn’t a surprise when Chef Clayton won.

This Saturday’s tasting and the June salmon cook-off are part of Trout Unlimited Alaska’s ongoing campaign to protect Bristol Bay wild salmon from large-scale mining. Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, employs thousands and provides a healthy, sustainable food source. To learn more about saving Bristol Bay salmon, go here.

Chef Clayton graciously shared his winning recipe.

Grilled Salmon with Ancho Honey Porter Glaze
Serves 4-6
Adapted from recipe by Clayton Jones, Executive Chef, Bear Tooth Grill, 1230 W. 27th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska
Cook-Off Winner, Savor Bristol Bay, Trout Unlimited, www.savebristolbay.org


Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


http://www.laurieconstantino.com/recipes-for-grilled-salmon-with-ancho-honey-porter-glaze-and-bear-tooth-grills-recado-chile-sauce/


Please click on over and visit my new site. Thank you!

Recipes for Swiss Chard Braised with Olives and Feta (Σέσκουλο με Ελιές και Φέτα) & Pancakes with Leftover Greens, Olives and Feta

Greens season is here. Gardens and farmers’ markets in Anchorage are filled with every type of cool weather green. Swiss chard, spinach, and kale are in their prime.


It’s also the season during which many Alaskans are doing hard duty out on the salmon grounds, making sure freezers are filled with fish for the upcoming winter.


The best reason to eat greens and salmon is they just plain taste good. Luckily, both are good for your health: greens because they’re high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber and salmon because it’s loaded with omega-3 fatty acids


Freshly caught salmon has so much flavor it doesn’t need anything more than salt, pepper, and a little time on the grill or cast-iron pan.  Swiss Chard Braised with Olives and Feta is a good accompaniment. The greens’ earthiness, when paired with salty olives and feta, balances fresh salmon’s richness.

Swiss Chard Braised with Olives and Feta (Σέσκουλο με Ελιές και Φέτα)
Serves 4
Any greens, wild or domesticated or, better yet, a mixture of greens, can be substituted for Swiss chard.  This is delicious made with plain Kalamata olives, but I prefer using Roasted Kalamata Olives. Dry-cured or salt-cured olives (such as those from Thassos) may be substituted, but be sure to taste them and use less than 1/2 cup if they’re strong flavored. Most Greeks squeeze a lemon wedge over braised greens; I like them better plain. Serve lemon wedges on the side so each eater can choose their own amount of lemon. Swiss Chard Braised with Olives and Feta goes well with grilled or pan-fried salmon and other simply cooked seafood.


2 large or 3 medium bunches Swiss chard (about 10-12 cups cleaned, chopped leaves)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Lemon wedges


Strip Swiss chard leaves from stems; reserve stems for another use.  Wash and roughly chop the leaves (don’t dry leaves; the clinging water helps cook them).

In a Dutch oven or deep sauté pan, sauté garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 30 seconds, being very careful not to burn the garlic. Stir in Swiss chard, olives, a liberal seasoning of black pepper, and a light seasoning of salt (olives and feta also add salt). Cover, turn heat down to low, and cook until chard is tender, but not falling apart. (The dish may be made ahead to this point and reheated just before serving.)

Remove chard and olives from pan with slotted spoon. Put in serving bowl along with the feta. Toss well.  Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Bonus Recipe

Pancakes with Leftover Greens, Olives and Feta
Makes 4-6 pancakes
Too lazy to make crepes, I mixed leftover Swiss Chard Braised with Olives and Feta into a simple batter and cooked it into pancakes. These cakes contain the same flavors as crepes, but can be mixed and cooked in less than 1/2 hour with a lot less hassle.  I served the savory pancakes with soft goat cheese, basil shreds, and thinly sliced prosciutto; they made a lovely lunch.


3/4 - 1 cup leftover greens, olives, and feta

3/4 – 1 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

1 egg

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Oil for griddle


Put leftover greens in a strainer set over a bowl, press down to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Measure the liquid and add enough milk to make one cup.  Whisk egg and half the milk mixture into flour. Whisk in remaining milk mixture. Whisk in greens and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat small amount of oil in a griddle or cast iron frying pan over medium heat.  When pan is hot, ladle in 1/2 cup batter, spreading it out to form a 7” circle. Cook it on one side until it’s dry around the edges and the underside is nicely browned when lifted. Flip and cook on the second side.  Repeat until all the batter is used.

Serve plain, with cheese, or with thinly sliced prosciutto or salami.

Recipe for Lemony Carrot Ginger Soup (Σούπα με Καρότα, Λεμόνι και Τζίντζερ)

I’m sick and tired of my refrigerator being filled to the gunnels. Something must be done; the situation is dire.

Condiments and ingredients with a permanent spot in the refrigerator are a big cause of the problem. Preserved lemons, sourdough starter, 3 kinds of olives, 10 kinds of hot sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, Asian sauces, capers, anchovies, jam, milk, cream, orange juice, eggs, and who knows what else; it all adds up.

Cheese and salumi are always available at our house. And since I buy them at Costco, the single best source of cheese in Anchorage, they come in big packages and take up too much space. There are also the cheeses we bring back from Greece; we freeze what we can, but some can’t be frozen. They’re squatting on valuable real estate in the back of the refrigerator.

Produce completes the trifecta of refrigerator hogs. We eat a lot of vegetables and they take up space. Make that lots of space. When our Full Circle Farm CSA box arrives every other week, I struggle to cram in everything that needs to be refrigerated. I don’t always succeed.

Don’t get me started on the leftovers. They live perpetually on the verge of hurling themselves on anyone who is so bold as to open the refrigerator door. It’s quite a thrill when a yogurt container full of soup jumps out, drenching you and spreading its liquid goodness far and wide on the kitchen floor.

I can’t take it anymore. I’m done. I’ve reached my limit. I need a second refrigerator and I need it soon. I’m officially in the market for a used refrigerator. If you know of anyone in Anchorage who wants to get rid of one, or anyone who knows of anyone who knows of anyone, please let me know. In the meantime, I’m working my way through the produce.

Next up, three bunches of carrots; it’s soup time. Although I make a great Moroccan Carrot and Chermoula Soup, I decided on Carrot Ginger Soup, a recipe from the website of Beth, my partner this month in Taste and Create. Taste and Create is an event created by Nicole from For the Love of Food in which food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook and review one recipe from their partner’s blog.

Although I loved the concept of Beth’s recipe, it included orange juice, a flavor I don’t care for in savory dishes. Instead, I used lemon peel and juice. It was a fortuitous substitution; lemon’s tartness pleasingly balanced the sweet carrots and cinnamon. I added sautéed onions to bring out the soup’s savory notes, and crystallized ginger for its multi-dimensional sweet heat.

Sweet-yet-tangy Carrot Ginger Soup was a delicious treat on a snowy winter evening, even though it made only the tiniest dent in my refrigerator problem. We enjoyed the soup with Celery and Olive Salad, and were impressed by how much flavor we found in a simple dinner of carrots and celery.

Lemony Carrot Ginger Soup (Σούπα με Καρότα, Λεμόνι και Τζίντζερ)
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter
The yogurt or cream stirred in at the end helps smooth out lemon’s sharp edges, but isn’t at all necessary. The soup tastes great without the dairy.

2 cups diced onions, 1/2” dice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel
2 Tbsp. minced crystallized ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup plain yogurt or cream (optional)

In a Dutch oven, sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until they soften and begin to turn golden. Stir in the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, lemon peel, ginger, and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Purée the soup with a stick blender (or in a blender or food processor) until it is very smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the lemon juice, and cook for five minutes. Taste and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, or lemon juice, as needed. If using yogurt or cream, stir it into the soup. Serve immediately.

Recipes for Oxtail Braised in Sherry & Oxtail Ravioli in Leek-Mushroom Broth

Yesterday the sun was shining and the temperature a balmy 15°F (-9°C).

I came in from my walk invigorated, but wanting something that would warm me from the inside out. Luckily, I had some leftover Oxtail Ravioli in Leek-Mushroom Broth, a remarkably delicious dish I’d made with leftover Oxtail Braised in Sherry.

As I’ve mentioned before, using leftovers as an ingredient is one of the easiest ways to create full-flavored food. Instead of eating the same dish twice in a row, try using all the flavors you worked hard to put in the original dish to create something new and exciting.

Although no longer the bargain it used to be, oxtail (actually, beef tail) is ideal for braising in sherry or other wine. The cartilage, marrow, and tendons in the tail dissolve into the braising liquid when oxtails are cooked long and slow. The meat becomes meltingly tender and the sauce rich and unctuous.

On a recent evening, we feasted on Oxtail Braised in Sherry. There were only two pieces of oxtail left over. That night, I lay in bed scheming and planning how best to use the luscious leftovers. I decided to stuff the meat into Oxtail Ravioli and to enrich the already wonderful braising liquid with earthy mushrooms and sweet leeks.

The next day, I hesitated. Making homemade ravioli seemed like too much of a hassle. But I didn’t have any other ideas, so I persevered and discovered, as I do anew each time I make ravioli, they are easy to make and way less trouble than I always anticipate.

The key to making ravioli is having the right equipment. The dough takes 2 minutes to make in a food processor. A pasta machine quickly rolls out perfect sheets of pasta. Because the machine can roll pasta so thinly, the resulting ravioli are light and tender. If you don’t have the equipment to make your own pasta, store-bought wonton or gyoza wrappers make tasty ravioli.

For another take on ravioli making with leftovers, check out Maria's recipe for Ravioli with Parsley-Pesto.

Oxtail Braised in Sherry
Serves 6 - 8
Oxtail is sold cut into 1” thick slices; buy the meatiest pieces you can find. You will inevitably have a few slices from the tail’s end that have no meat on them. Be sure and add these pieces to the stew; their cartilage adds richness to the broth. Oxtail is delicious braised in any kind of dry wine; I use sherry because I enjoy its subtle flavor. I like the soupy sauce this recipe makes, in part because it leaves me more sauce for playing with leftovers. However, if you want thicker sauce, remove the lid when the meat is done and cook the stew at a medium boil until the sauce is the thickness you prefer.

Braised Oxtail is a good recipe to make ahead. Refrigerating the cooked oxtail hardens any excess fat and makes it easier to remove. As with most braised meats, Oxtail Braised in Sherry freezes well. I make the full recipe, even though I’m cooking for 2, and freeze the leftovers in serving size containers. Other ways of using the leftovers are in Oxtail Ravioli (see recipe below) or for soup (cut up the meat, add it, diced leftover potatoes, and beef stock to the oxtail broth and vegetables, and simmer for 15 minutes).

6 pounds oxtail slices
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound diced thick-cut pancetta, 1/4” dice
4 cups diced onions, 1/2” dice
1 cup diced carrots, 1/2” dice
1 cup diced celery, 1/2” dice
1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic
1 750ml. bottle dry Sherry
2 cups beef stock
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted, juices included
3 bay leaves
Fresh parsley, minced, for garnish

Wash and dry the oxtails. Cut off as much fat as you can. Season the oxtails with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven and, cooking the oxtails in batches, thoroughly brown them on all sides. Remove the browned oxtails from the pot and set them aside.

Add the pancetta to the same pot and cook until it is nicely browned. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, seasoned lightly with freshly ground black pepper, and cook until the onions are translucent, being sure to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot as you cook the vegetables. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Stir the Sherry, beef stock, tomatoes, and bay leaves into the vegetables. Return the browned oxtails to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone. (The recipe may be made ahead to this point.)

Remove as much fat as possible from the sauce (a fat separator works well for this task or, if you have time, separate the meat and sauce and refrigerate to harden the fat, which makes it easier to remove from the liquid). If the oxtails have been refrigerated, cook over low heat until the sauce is liquid and the oxtails warmed through. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Sprinkle with minced fresh parsley and serve with boiled or roasted potatoes.

Oxtail Ravioli in Leek-Mushroom Broth
Serves 4 – 6 as a main course (makes 12 ravioli, 3 - 4” diameter)
I make this with leftover oxtail because its unctuousness is well-suited for ravioli. However, any leftover braised beef, such as pot roast or stew, may be used instead. Oxtail broth gels when cold, so you need to warm the leftovers to separate the liquids and solids. Use the oxtail liquids, supplemented with rich beef or chicken stock as needed, to make 4 cups of stock for the Leek-Mushroom Broth. Bone enough oxtails to make 1 cup of chopped meat; one large oxtail slice makes about this amount. You can substitute the vegetable-pancetta mix from the oxtails for up to half the meat. Ravioli freezes well uncooked, so if I’m making ravioli, I usually double the pasta and filling recipes so I can freeze some for another day. As for the truffle cheese and truffle oil, they add satisfying umami to the dish, but neither is necessary; the dish will be very tasty even without them. If you have access to wild mushrooms, by all means use them. Be sure to carefully rinse off any dirt that is trapped between the leeks' many layers.

Pasta:
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 large egg
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 Tbsp. water, if needed

Ravioli Filling:
1 cup chopped oxtail meat
3/4 cup grated sottocenere al tartufo (truffle cheese) or Italian fontina (about 4 ounces)

Leek-Mushroom Broth:
4 cups sliced cremini or wild mushrooms (about 1/2 pound), 3/8” slices
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. butter, divided
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. minced rosemary
4 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, 3/8” slices (2-3 leeks)
4 cups beef stock (or oxtail broth and beef stock to make 4 cups)
1 tsp. white truffle oil
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Make the Pasta: Put the flour, eggs, and salt in a food processor. Process until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the dough starts forming clumps. If the dough is too dry, add water in 1 Tbsp. increments and process again. Dump the dough out onto plastic wrap and knead for 1 minute, adding a small amount of flour if the dough is sticky. When you’re done, the dough should be smooth and firm. Divide the dough into two portions, wrap with plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. (The dough can be made ahead to this point.)

Run each portion of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine, starting with the thickest setting. Fold the dough in thirds as if folding a letter, turn it 45 degrees, and again run it through the thickest setting. Repeat the folding, turning, and rolling at least three more times, or until the dough is smooth and shiny. Lay the sheets of dough out on dish cloths while they're waiting their turn to be rolled.

Set the pasta machine at the next thinnest setting. Run the sheets of pasta through, dusting with flour as necessary. Continue reducing the setting of the pasta machine and running the pasta through until you reach the machine’s lowest setting. When the sheets of pasta become too long to comfortably handle, cut them into manageable lengths.

Form the Ravioli: Put 2 tsp. chopped meat on a sheet of pasta in clumps far enough apart so you can cut out 3”- 4” round ravioli. Top each clump with 1 tsp. truffle cheese or fontina. Brush water all around the pasta sheet where there isn’t stuffing (use a pastry brush for this task). Top with a second sheet of pasta. Press down to seal the top pasta sheet onto the bottom sheet, being careful to squeeze all the air out from around the stuffing. Cut out the ravioli and place them on a dishcloth while you boil water.

Cook the Ravioli: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil, then adjust the burner so the water boils slowly. Gently slide in the ravioli and cook until the pasta is tender, about 4 minutes. Remove the ravioli from the water with a slotted spoon and spread out on parchment paper while you make the Leek-Mushroom Broth.

Make the Leek-Mushroom Broth: Sauté the mushrooms, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in the olive oil and 2 Tbsp. butter until they’re well browned on all sides. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook, stirring regularly, for 2 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and seasonings from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Stir the leeks into the same pan, scraping up any browned bits on the pan’s bottom; add oil or butter, as needed. Sauté the leeks until they’re soft and tender. Stir in the stock, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Stir in the truffle oil, and gently add the cooked ravioli to the broth. Spoon some broth over the ravioli (I use a turkey baster for this task) and simmer until the ravioli are warmed through.

Serve: Divide the ravioli between 4 – 6 warmed pasta bowls. Divide the broth and vegetables between the bowls, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and serve immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for the 100th post celebration of Presto Pasta Nights, created and hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Bob in a Blanket

Recipe for Eggplant Clafoutis (Κλαφουτί με Μελιτζάνες)

(From Greece)

Eggplant Clafoutis: I saw the reference in my blog reader and quickly went to find the recipe. Alas, while TS and JS at Eating Club Vancouver came up with the idea, they deemed their recipe “A. Weird. Failure.”

Though Eating Club hated their recipe, the more I thought about Eggplant Clafoutis, the more I wanted it. My craving was timely; I had an embarrassment of eggplant riches. A sack of eggplant sat in a cool corner of the kitchen (eggplant shouldn't be refrigerated) and the plants in our garden remain productive.

After two nights of falling asleep to thoughts of Eggplant Clafoutis, I broke down and made it.

Clafoutis (klah-foo-TEE) is a simple-to-make, country dessert from France, in which fruit is baked in a custardy batter. There are a million and one different clafoutis recipes. I’ve tried many of them, some wonderfully delicious and others only pretty darn good. The best clafoutis is light-textured and not too sweet, allowing the flavor of the fruit to shine.

I’ve never made or tasted savory clafoutis before, and couldn’t find an actual Eggplant Clafoutis recipe. Instead of a recipe, I used basic principles of sweet clafoutis-making for my savory version. The first step was deciding how best to pre-cook the eggplant (Eating Club used uncooked eggplant, which they deemed a mistake). Because I planned on serving this dish as a light lunch, I didn’t want it to be oily.

As eggplant cooks know all too well, it soaks up oil like a sponge. This is because eggplant flesh has many tiny air pockets just waiting to fill up with oil. According to Harold McGee, America’s preeminent food scientist, “the absorptiveness of eggplant can be reduced by collapsing its spongy structure before frying. This is accomplished by precooking it – microwave works well – or by salting slices to draw out moisture from the cells and into the air pockets.” On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (2nd Rev. Ed.), Harold McGee, 2004. Based on personal experience, I agree with McGee that salting reduces, but doesn’t eliminate, eggplant’s sponge-like qualities.

While we’re on the subject of salting, some people recommend pre-salting eggplant to draw out its juices before cooking to remove alleged bitterness. Over the years, I’ve done repeated side-by-side tastings of salted and unsalted eggplant and have never detected bitterness in either version. It may be the bitterness meme is a holdover from days when eggplant was more bitter than it is today (McGee: “Farmers and plant breeders have worked for thousands of years to reduce the bitterness of … eggplants…”).

McGee says modern eggplants can turn bitter when they’re grown in dry conditions, which North American supermarket eggplants are not. Interestingly, McGee says salting doesn’t actually eliminate bitterness, but may reduce “our perception of the alkaloids” thus “suppress[ing] the sensation of bitterness.”

In any case, I rarely bother with pre-salting eggplant. The best ways to avoid oily eggplant are to “steam-fry,” oven-roast, or grill it. I use steam-frying for eggplant chunks, oven-roasting at high temperature for slices, and grilling whenever we have a fire going. To steam-fry, eggplant is briefly sautéed, which helps develop its flavor, and then steamed in a covered pan until the eggplant is fully cooked. I like letting steam-fried eggplant char a little as it cooks, the smokiness adds wonderful flavor to the finished dish.

Since I wanted chunked eggplant in the clafoutis, I steam-fried it. This worked well; it brought out eggplant’s subtle flavors that are sometimes masked by too much oil or tomato sauce. After spreading the cooked eggplant over the bottom of a springform pan, I topped it with cheese, sautéed onions, and a batter flavored with basil and garlic.

The finished dish was full of flavor, and slices of it, paired with a tomato and onion salad, made a delicious, warm from the oven, lunch. The next day I served Eggplant Clafoutis cold, cut into diamonds, as part of an appetizer table (mezedes – μεζέδες) and it disappeared quickly. Like its sweet siblings, savory clafoutis is equally good served warm or at room temperature.

This recipe for Eggplant Clafoutis was “A. Great. Success.” Many thanks to Eating Club Vancouver for the inspiration.

Eggplant Clafoutis (Κλαφουτί με Μελιτζάνες)
Serves 4 – 6 as a main course or 12 – 16 as an appetizer

Eggplant:
1 pound eggplant, peel left on and cut into 1” chunks
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Water

Clafoutis:
1 cup grated graviera, kasseri, or asiago cheese
2 cups diced onion, 1/2” dice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup strained yogurt
3 tbsp. minced fresh basil or mint
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Steam-Fry the Eggplant: Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the eggplant chunks, lightly season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and quickly stir the eggplant to brown it. When the eggplant starts sticking to the pan add 1/4 cup of water, stir to distribute, cover the pan, and reduce the heat to medium high. Let the eggplant steam until you can hear it sizzling (which means all the water has cooked off). Add 2 Tbsp. of water, stir to distribute, and cover the pan. Repeat until the eggplant is just cooked through. If the eggplant chars a little in between doses of water, all the better; the char adds good flavor to the finished dish.

Make the Clafoutis: Grease the bottom and sides of a 9” round springform pan or 9”x9” square pan (if you want to serve the clafoutis upside down, in addition to greasing the pan, line the bottom with greased waxed or parchment paper. Arrange the cooked eggplant on the bottom. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the eggplant.

Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the red pepper flakes, if using, and cook for one minute. Evenly distribute the onion over the grated cheese.

Sift the flour and whisk in 1/4 tsp. salt. Whisk in 1 cup milk, yogurt, basil, garlic, and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. Whisk in the eggs and remaining milk, and continue to whisk until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter over the ingredients in the pan.

Put the clafoutis on the preheated oven’s center rack. Bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until the clafoutis is puffed up and golden on top. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Zorra from Kochtopf.

Recipes for Sausage and Lentils with Spiced Figs & Crostini with Gorgonzola and Spiced Figs

It’s nearly August and the peas are just coming into bloom. Usually, we’d've been eating them for weeks, but this year the weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy. The local newspaper is referring to it as “the so-called summer of ‘08.”

Blame it on La Niña. When the ocean off Peru is 2 to 4 degrees lower than normal, as it has been this year, the “La Niña” weather pattern brings cool weather to Alaska.

Most food sold here comes from “outside,” the Alaska word for the world beyond our state. Walking through supermarket produce sections, full to the gunnels with summer fruits and vegetables, it’s clear that outsiders are enjoying summer weather.

Last week Costco had pallet-loads of fresh fruit from California, including the first figs of the season to arrive in Alaska. I’m a sucker for figs, and these were in perfect condition.

We ate them plain, stuffed with cheese, and wrapped in prosciutto. But with the final six figs, in honor of our “so-called summer,” I wanted to make something warming.

Time to pull out one of the recipes on my “must try someday” list: Sausages and Lentils with Spiced Figs from Diana Henry’s book Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons.

The combination of sausages, lentils, and spiced figs was wonderful. Even my husband, who typically doesn’t like fruit and meat together, thought the figs added terrific flavor to the dish. It was one of those meals where I actively enjoyed every bite.

The recipe made more figs than we could eat in one meal. The leftovers were a fortuitous kitchen bonus that I used to make Crostini with Gorgonzola and Spiced Figs.

The piquant flavor of blue cheese blended seamlessly with the spiced figs. It was so good I want always to keep a jar of spiced figs in the refrigerator for quick and easy last-minute appetizers. Each bite was a flavor revelation.

Sausages and Lentils with Spiced Figs
Serves 4
Adapted from Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley 2002)
Spiced figs enhance the flavors of earthy lentils and succulent sausage. Be sure to serve the figs in a bowl on the side, so diners can eat as many or as few as they like. Although I modified Diana’s sausage and lentil recipe for our palates (the below recipe is as modified), I followed her directions for the spiced figs. They were delicious, though next time I’ll simplify the recipe by using equal quantities of red and balsamic vinegars; sherry vinegar’s flavor is lost in the mix. Not all figs need to be peeled; I peel only when the fig skins are beat-up or unusually thick.

Spiced Figs:
12 – 15 fresh figs
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Sausages and Lentils:
3 pieces thick-cut bacon
4 bratwurst or other fresh pork sausages
2 cups diced onions (1/2” dice)
1/2 cup diced carrots (1/4” dice)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup small lentils, such as Puy or beluga
1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic
1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 cup white wine
3 - 4 cups chicken stock

Make the Spiced Figs: Peel the figs, if necessary, and cut them in half. Mix the vinegars, sugar, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the figs, cut side down and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, turn the figs over, and let them cool in the saucepan.

Make the Sausages and Lentils: Cut the bacon into thin, cross-cut strips. In a large pot, cook the bacon until it’s crispy. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Brown the sausages on all sides (there’s no need to cook them through) and remove to a plate.

In the same pan, sauté the onions and carrots, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in the bacon fat, being sure to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the onions soften and start to turn golden, stir in the lentils, garlic, and rosemary and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, 3 cups chicken stock, bacon, sausages, salt and freshly ground black pepper, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 – 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender but not mushy. If the lentils dry out as they cook, add the remaining stock. When the lentils are done, taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Serve immediately with the spiced figs in a bowl on the side.

Crostini with Gorgonzola and Spiced Figs
If you keep spiced figs as a refrigerator staple, this appetizer can be quickly put together for 2 or 20.

Thinly sliced artisan-style bread
Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
Spiced figs (see above recipe)

Lightly toast the bread and cut into 2" pieces. Spread it with gorgonzola. Top with a piece of spiced fig.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for My Legume Love Affair: Second Helping, an event created and hosted by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook. The deadline for legume entries is August 24.

Summer Doldrums with Recipe for Three Bean and Macaroni Salad with Green Olive Dressing (Φασόλια Σαλάτα με Μακαρονάκι Κοφτό και Πράσινες Ελιές)

I could come up with a million reasons why I haven’t been blogging. My computer died. Presidential politics captured my attention. Microsoft Vista is the spawn of hell.

All the excuses are true, but the real reason for my absence is that it’s summer in Alaska. The days are long, the garden is gorgeous, and I’m feeling lazy.

The worst part of not blogging is the resulting guilt keeps me from reading my friends’ blogs. Irrational? Definitely. When I was a kid I had to clean my room before I could go out with friends; I learned early that prevarication and deprivation go hand in hand. Now, my need to read favorite blogs has forced me back to the computer.

I'm also backlogged with recipes to write about. Naturally, since I have a giant backlog, I’m ignoring it and writing about the amazing bean and pasta salad I made two days ago.

Generally speaking, I hate pasta salads and think green olives are disgusting. I started making Three Bean and Macaroni Salad solely as a treat for my husband, planning not to eat any of it. But when I tasted the salad for seasoning, I loved it immediately. The dressing is uniquely tangy and delicious, while the beans and pasta balance the dressing’s strong flavors.

Summer Morsels

Our garden greens are growing like crazy and we’ve been enjoying their fresh flavors. I recently made Plasto, a Greek greens pie with cornbread crust, and enjoyed every bite. If you’re looking for an interesting greens recipe, I highly recommend it.

The salmon run has started and we’ve started restocking our freezer. Dukkah, an Egyptian spice mix, is great sprinkled over hot-off-the-grill salmon. I also use Dukkah to perk up salmon salad: crumble leftover salmon and mix it with minced onions, minced celery, minced garlic, a little mayonnaise, and a healthy dose of Dukkah. Delicious.

This weekend Costco was selling flats of perfectly ripe figs. Yesterday I quartered and wrapped them in prosciutto for a quick, easy, and addictively good appetizer. If I were alone, I’d have it for dinner.

Three-Bean and Macaroni Salad with Green Olive Dressing (Φασόλια Σαλάτα με Μακαρονάκι Κοφτό και Πράσινες Ελιές)
Serves 12
Adapted from Pasta & Co. By Request by Marcella Rosene (Sasquatch Books 1991)
A 10-ounce jar of green olives stuffed with jalapeños has about 25 olives in it. Since the salad is dressed with olive oil rather than mayonnaise, it’s a great salad for bringing to summer potlucks.

1/2 cup dry flageolet beans (or 10 ounces frozen shelled edamame beans)
1/2 cup dry cannellini beans (or 1 15-ounce can cannellini or great northern beans)
1/2 cup dry red kidney beans (or 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans)
2 tsp. salt
8 cloves garlic
40 jalapeño-stuffed green olives or a mixture of jalapeño and plain green olives
3 Tbsp. crushed dried oregano
1 Tbsp. crushed dried thyme
1/4 cup white wine vinegar plus 1-3 Tbsp. as needed
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced red onion, 1/8” dice
1 cup diced celery, 1/8” dice (preferably leaf celery)
1/2 pound tubetti, mini-penne, elbow macaroni, or other salad macaroni
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

If using dried beans, spread them out in a pan and inspect carefully, removing any pebbles or debris. Soak the three kinds of dried beans in cold water overnight. Drain the soaked beans and rinse with cold water. Add the soaked beans to a large pot of water, bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 2 tsp. salt and continue to simmer until the beans are tender but not mushy. When the beans are done, drain and put them in a large bowl.

If using canned beans, rinse well, drain, and put them in a large bowl. Thaw the edamame beans and add them to the bowl.

While the beans are cooking, pulse the garlic in a food processor to mince. Add the olives, oregano, thyme, and 1/4 cup vinegar, and pulse to mince the olives. Add the olive mix, olive oil, onion, and celery to the beans and mix well.

Bring a pot of salted water to a bowl, add the pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta, add it to the beans, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and mix well. Taste and add the remaining vinegar, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Serve at room temperature. If plating the salad, serve on a bed of greens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Heart of the Matter: Picnics hosted this month by Joanna of Joanna's Food.

Recipe: Cannelloni with Spinach Filling (Κανελόνια με Σπανάκι)

Last week I found a bag of cookbooks in my basement that I’d never read.

I’d bought the books last year at a thrift store two days before my head exploded. By the time I was up and cooking, I’d completely forgotten about the thrift store cookbook score. My recent discovery was a lovely Easter present. A new cookbook always puts me in a good mood, and here were five of them. A bonanza!

The first book I picked up was Michael Field’s Culinary Classics and Improvisations: Creative Leftovers Made from Main Course Masterpieces.

Michael Field was a successful concert pianist in the fifties and early sixties who had a passion for cooking. By 1964, that passion had become Field’s career. He got started by holding “socialite cooking classes in his Manhattan apartment.” Ultimately, he started a culinary school in New York City, wrote cookbooks and magazine articles, and was a consulting editor for the Time-Life Foods of the World series.

Field died in 1971 at age 56. Among the accomplishments cited in his Time magazine obituary are debunking “such myths as the need to wash mushrooms, devein shrimp and press garlic” and preaching the “imaginative use of leftovers.”

Field’s primary rule for using leftovers is the source of leftovers must be “of the highest quality.” To this end, Field provides classic recipes for roasted and braised meat, fish, and fowl. He uses the leftovers from these dishes for the remaining recipes.

For example, Field gives a recipe for Yankee Pot Roast, the leftovers of which can be used in his recipes for Pot Roast Pie with Braised White Onions and Mushrooms, Pirog of Beef, Bigos, Cannelloni with Beef and Spinach Filling, Pâté of Pot Roast, or Cold Braised Beef Vinaigrette.

Here’s my take on Field's Cannelloni:

Cannelloni with Spinach Filling (Κανελόνια με Σπανάκι)
Serves 4 (makes 8 cannelloni)
Adapted from Culinary Classics and Improvisations by Michael Field (Alfred A. Knopf 1967)
Cannelloni is a very flexible dish, and is a terrific way to use up leftovers. For stuffing, combine the spinach with sautéed mushrooms or leftover chicken, beef, pork, lamb, or roasted vegetables. It’s great with homemade pasta, but can also be made with plain crêpes or store-bought manicotti tubes. The tomato sauce may be made special for Cannelloni, but the dish tastes great with leftover or jarred sauce. I made my own pasta, hand-cutting noodles with the extra dough. The noodles are terrific in homemade chicken soup. Although Cannelloni may be made in one large pan, I like using individual gratin dishes for ease of serving and because it allows me to freeze assembled but unbaked cannelloni for future use.

Pasta (or substitute crêpes or purchased manicotti shells):
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. water

Cream Sauce:
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt

Filling:
1/2 pound cleaned, fresh spinach or 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed
1 cup diced onion, 1/8” dice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup finely chopped leftover roast meat or leftover roast vegetables (see vegetarian variation below)
1 Tbsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 egg

1 cup tomato pasta sauce, puréed (use your favorite tomato sauce recipe or a good quality jarred pasta sauce)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Make the Pasta: Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and process until the dough clumps together, adding water if necessary. The finished dough should be very stiff. Dump the dough out on a floured surface and knead for 2 – 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Following the manufacturer’s instructions, use a pasta machine to roll out the dough, half at a time, until the pasta has gone through the second to the last setting on the pasta machine. Let the pasta sheets dry for 10 minutes. Trim the edges and cut the pasta sheets into 5” lengths. You need 8 pasta rectangles. (NOTE: Cut the rest of the pasta into noodles, let them dry, and store in an air-tight container until ready to use.)

Cook the pasta rectangles in boiling, salted water until they are al dente. With a slotted spoon, lift out the pasta sheets and put them in a bowl of cold water. Dry the pasta rectangles by laying them out on paper towels.

Make the Cream Sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the cream in a slow stream, whisking rapidly and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Stir in the cayenne and salt, remove from the heat, and set aside until ready to use.

Make the Filling: Blanch the spinach in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the blanched (or thawed) spinach, and finely chop it. Put in a bowl.

Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion mix, meat, oregano, and parmesan to the filling and mix together thoroughly. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. Mix in the egg.

Assemble the Cannelloni: Preheat the oven to 375°F

Lay out 8 rectangles of pasta, evenly divide the filling between them, and roll them up. Spread a little white sauce in the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold all the cannelloni or 4 individual gratin dishes. Place the cannelloni in the pan seam side down and side by side. Cover the cannelloni with tomato sauce and then cover the tomato sauce with the remaining cream sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. (The recipe may be made ahead to this point and refrigerated or frozen.)

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling. Put under the broiler until the tops are nicely browned; watch carefully, it is easy to burn the cheese.

Vegetarian Cannelloni
For meat in the filling, substitute 2 1/2 cups diced mushrooms (1/4” dice). Sauté the mushrooms, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the mushrooms are nicely browned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Weekend Cookbook Challenge: Vintage Cookbooks hosted by Chocolate Moosey.

Recipe: Lamb and Leek Meatballs with Onion Egg-Lemon Sauce (Κεφτέδες με Πράσα και Αβγολέμονο)

I redeemed myself tonight. My sad story about an unfortunate lamb tagine has a happy ending.

Two days ago, after deciding the tagine was not worth eating, I’d rinsed off the meat and threw away every bit of the nasty sauce. I was left with tender chunks of leftover lamb.

Tonight I ground the lamb in a food processor, and mixed it with soft, sweet leeks to make luscious little meatballs. Paired with an oniony egg-lemon sauce, the meatballs made a delicious mid-week meal.

The egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono) has an unusual twist. Because the meatballs weren’t cooked in liquid, I didn’t have the broth necessary for making egg-lemon sauce. Rather than using plain chicken stock, I simmered stock with onions to boost the flavor, and used this as the foundation for the sauce. The result was surprisingly good, and paired particularly well with leek meatballs.

Although the meatballs could easily be made with raw ground lamb, they are a great way to use up leftover roast (or the remnants of tragic tagine). Since Easter dinner is just 10 days away, and we’ll no doubt have leftover lamb again soon, I invented the meatballs just in time.

Lamb and Leek Meatballs with Onion Egg-Lemon Sauce (Κεφτέδες με Πράσα και Αβγολέμονο)
Serves 4 (makes 20 1” meatballs)
The meatballs can be served on their own as an appetizer (without the egg-lemon sauce) or with tomato sauce instead of egg-lemon. They are a wonderful way to use up leftover roast lamb.

Meatballs:
3 cups diced leeks, 1/8” dice
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups leftover lamb, ground (or raw ground lamb)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
4 tsp. minced mint
2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 egg
Oil for frying the meatballs

Egg-Lemon Sauce (Avgolemono):
1 cup diced yellow onion, 1/4” dice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chicken stock
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Minced mint for garnish

Make the meatballs: Sauté the leeks in olive oil, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, over medium heat until the leeks are soft. Mix the leeks with the lamb, garlic, mint, oregano, and egg. Brown a sample of the meatball mix in olive oil, taste, and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, mint, or oregano to the meatball mix, as needed. Shape the mix into 1” balls, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, and fry half the meatballs until they are nicely browned on all sides. If you put too many meatballs in the pan at one time, they won’t brown properly; if you’re in a hurry, cook the meatballs in two frying pans. Drain on paper towels. (You can hold the meatballs in a 250°F oven for 15 minutes, if needed, while you make the sauce.)

Make the Egg-Lemon Sauce: Start the egg-lemon sauce while the meatballs are chilling in the refrigerator. Sauté the onion in olive oil, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Purée the onions and stock in a blender. Strain out the solids, pressing out as much liquid as possible.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are very thick. Add the lemon juice slowly while continuing to beat the eggs. Slowly beat in the onion-stock, and put the mixture in a saucepan.

When the meatballs are nearly done, or are keeping warm in a 250°F oven, cook the sauce over low heat until it thickens (this takes 3 - 5 minutes). Don’t let the sauce boil, or it will curdle. If the sauce is too thick for your taste, thin it out with a little chicken stock.

To Serve: Spoon a pool of egg-lemon sauce onto a plate, top with five meatballs, sprinkle with minced mint, and serve immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Leftover Tuesdays #13, hosted by Project Foodie.

Recipes: Steamed Alaska King Crab & Spinach with Garlic and Preserved Lemon

For the last five days, I’ve been celebrating my birthday. I’ve indulged myself, and been indulged by my friends and husband. My house looks ravaged (indulgence=no cleaning). My blog’s been neglected (indulgence=no writing).

Now it’s Monday, and time to pick up the pieces. The dishwasher’s humming, and a load of clothes is in the washer. I’ve taken out the crab shell laden garbage.


The crab shells are from one of my birthday indulgences: live Alaska king crab.

I’ve only ever seen live king crab in Alaska, which is a pity because it’s the best tasting seafood I’ve ever had in a life of searching out the world’s finest foods from the sea. When fresh, Alaska king crab tastes sweet and salty, with a firm, meaty texture. Frozen king crab legs don’t do justice to the glorious flavor of fresh king crab.

When I was young, we used to buy live king crab off the dock: $5 for small crabs (5-8 pounds) and $10 for large crabs (8-12 pounds). In those days, boiling up a mess of Alaska king crab was one of my favorite company dinners. That was before over-fishing threatened king crab stocks and king crab fishing became a highly regulated industry, as it is today.

Now we’re lucky to find live king crab and rarely pay less than $50 for one small crab. In the old days I used to cook with king crab as an ingredient (and still make crab cakes out of rare leftovers). Now, it’s so expensive that I only serve unadulterated crab, perhaps with a little melted butter on the side.

Steaming crabs is a recent innovation in our house. For years, I followed my mother’s lead and boiled live crab (guts and all, for better flavor). Then I read about a lobster taste test in which steamed lobsters beat out boiled, so decided to try steaming crab. As with the lobster I’d read about, steamed crab has better, more concentrated flavor than when it’s boiled. Call me a steaming convert.

After I cooked and cleaned the crab, I put it in the refrigerator to chill. That meant making space in my woefully overcrowded refrigerator. When I jerked the bag of Full Circle Farm spinach from where it was precariously balanced on the top shelf, a jar of preserved lemons came tumbling down on me.

Inspired by the falling jar of lemons, I added some to the spinach I was serving that night as a side dish. The tart, salty lemons were a wonderful addition to the earthy taste of spinach. This easy recipe is a keeper.

Steamed Alaska King Crab
Steaming crab couldn’t be easier. Put an inch or so of water in the bottom of a large stockpot, pop in a steamer, bring the water to a boil, put the live crab on the steamer, and steam it for 15 – 25 minutes, depending on the size of the crab. When the crab is cool, clean it by discarding the gills and innards. Separate the legs and break the body in half, using paper towels if needed to protect your hands from the spiny shells. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with little bowls of melted butter, and nut crackers or kitchen shears.

Spinach with Garlic and Preserved Lemon
Serves 4

2 large bunches of spinach
2 Tbsp. garlic
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. harissa or 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup minced preserved lemon peel (peel from 1 preserved lemon) or 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel (see NOTE)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Wash the spinach in two changes of water to remove all the grit. Remove and discard the stems and tear any large leaves into pieces.

Sauté the garlic, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil over medium heat until the garlic softens. Do not let the garlic brown. Stir in the harissa.

Add the spinach, and stir until it wilts (you may need to add the spinach a little at a time so it fits in the pan). When all the spinach is wilted, remove it from the heat, taste and add salt, pepper, and harissa, as needed. Stir in the minced preserved lemon peel and lemon juice and serve immediately.

NOTE: Preserved lemons are often used in Moroccan cooking. They are tart, salty, and very easy to make. If you use my recipe for preserved lemons, you’ll have to let the lemons cure for at least a week before you can use them. If you don’t want to bother making them, you may buy preserved lemons at Middle Eastern markets, specialty stores, and online. To use preserved lemon, remove it from the brine in which it is swimming and rinse it well. Remove the flesh, and any stringy bits from the inside of the peel. The peel is now ready to use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Preserved Lemon Recipes
Preserved Lemons, Candied Lemon Peels, and Sparkling Mint-Lemonade (I make preserved lemons, candy the extra lemon peels, and use leftover syrup for sparkling lemonade.)
Moroccan Salmon, Fennel-Preserved Lemon Salad, & Sweet Potato Oven Fries (I deconstruct a Moroccan tagine, and use preserved lemons to make Preserved Lemon Aioli and in a fennel and red pepper salad.)
Moroccan Eggplant Salad with Preserved Lemon (Susan flavors eggplant salad with preserved lemons, and makes a preserved lemon martini).
To find more preserved lemon recipes, Food Blog Search is a great tool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my entry for Antioxidant Rich Foods/Five-a-Day Tuesdays hosted by Sweetnicks.

Recipe: Smoky Tunisian Oven-Roasted Vegetables with Tabil (Τυνησιακό Μπριάμ)

It’s no secret to my regular readers that I favor oven-roasted vegetables.

Roasting vegetables in a hot oven concentrates and develops subtle vegetable flavors that are lost when the same vegetables are boiled, stewed, or fried. Briam (Μπριάμ), a classic Greek medley of roasted vegetables, is one of my favorite ways to serve an abundance of vegetables. (My Briam recipe is in Tastes Like Home: Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska.)

While Briam is what I make most often, grilled and roasted vegetable combinations are popular throughout the Mediterranean region; I like them all. For example, in Tunisia, tomatoes, onions, and peppers are grilled and mixed with Tabil (pronounced “table”), a spice mix containing coriander seeds, caraway seeds, garlic, and dried red peppers, to make a refreshing cold salad called Mechouia.

This weekend I needed a main course, not a salad, but really had a taste for Mechouia. Inspired by a Paul Gayler recipe in A Passion for Vegetables, I decided to combine Tunisian Mechouia with Greek Briam. I used a vegetable combination typical of Briam and, as for Briam, oven-roasted the vegetables. However, instead of the herbs used in Briam, I seasoned the vegetables with Tabil and quickly charred them, two essential elements of Mechouia.

The vegetables can be completely cooked on a grill, in which case, the oven-roasting step is unnecessary. However, when I’m cooking on a stovetop grill pan (as I was yesterday due to the snow), it’s much easier to quickly char the vegetables on the grill pan and then finish cooking them in the oven.

A benefit to pre-cooking the vegetables on the grill is this step can be done well ahead. Although you can skip charring them and completely cook the vegetables in the oven, I don’t recommend it because you lose the smokiness, an important flavor element in this dish.

Smoky Tunisian Oven-Roasted Vegetables with Tabil (Τυνησιακό Μπριάμ)
Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as a side dish
Adapted from A Passion for Vegetables by Paul Gayler (Lyons Press 2000)
This dish is a combination of Briam and Mechouia; it has Briam’s oven-roasted vegetable medley, with Mechouia’s smokiness and spicing. We like spicy food, so I use the larger amounts shown in the ingredient list for Tabil. If you prefer less highly seasoned food, use the smaller amounts. If you’re unsure, mix up the dry spices and add half to the vegetables along with all of the garlic; when the vegetables are done, taste and add more dry spice mix, as needed. Tabil tastes great with any kind of vegetable (or fish, meat, or poultry), so consider the list of vegetables as only a suggestion. Leftovers may be roughly chopped and added to vegetable or chicken stock for an easy mid-week soup.

Tabil:
1 – 2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
1 – 2 tsp. caraway seeds
1” – 2” piece of dried red pepper or 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic

Vegetables:
4 medium Yukon Gold or red potatoes
2 medium zucchini
2 red bell peppers
1 large fennel bulb
1 extra large onion
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the Tabil spice mix: Mix all the ingredients together.

For the Vegetables: Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Wash all the vegetables. Peel the potatoes, and cut into large chunks. Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 7 minutes, drain, and put them in a large roasting pan.

Cut the zucchini on the diagonal into 3/4” slices. Discard the peppers’ seeds and stems, and cut each into six lengthwise slices. Cut off the stalks and leaves of the fennel, and cut the bulb in lengthwise quarters. Remove most of the core, leaving enough so the layers of fennel stay together. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise. Peel the onion, leaving the stem end intact so the layers of onion stay together, and cut into 3/4” wide lengthwise sections. Put all the vegetables in the roasting pan, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper, liberally drizzle with olive oil, and toss the vegetables to coat them with oil.

Heat a grill pan until it's white hot (or fire up the grill). Quickly char the vegetables on both sides, but don’t cook the vegetables through. Char the vegetables in batches; for me, it's easiest to lay them out on the grill pan one at a time. As each vegetable is done, return it to the roasting pan. (I set the peppers aside, and peel them before adding them to the pan; this step is optional.)

When all the vegetables are done, sprinkle the Tabil over, and toss the vegetables to evenly distribute the spices. If the vegetables seem dry, drizzle with a little more olive oil. Spread the vegetables out into a single layer.

Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes. Serve immediately with couscous, green salad, olives, and plenty of bread for soaking up the splendidly spicy oil and vegetable juices.

Variation: For a saucier version, stir in one 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (or 2 cups freshly diced tomatoes) just before putting the roasting pan in the oven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oven-Roasted Vegetable Recipes

Roast Cauliflower with Dukkah (Dukkah, a Middle Eastern spice mix, enhances roasted cauliflower).
Oven-Roasted Vegetables (Λαχανικά στο Φούρνο) (How to bring out the flavor of vegetables by oven-roasting them).
Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Oven roasted vegetables are an ideal accompaniment to holiday meals.)
Roasted Beets with Celery Root Skordalia (Roasted celery root is a low-calorie, high-flavor alternative to bread or potatoes in the wonderful Greek garlic spread called skordalia.)

To find more oven-roasted vegetable recipes, Food Blog Search is a great tool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Antioxidant Rich Foods/Five-a-Day Tuesdays hosted by Sweetnicks.

Recipes: Grilled Radicchio & Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Shavings (Ψητό Ραδίκιο & Σαλάτα με Ψητό Ραδίκιο, Ρόκα, και Παρμεζάνα)

Treviso Radicchio and Knife (Click entry)

Radicchio drizzled with olive oil and grilled has lots of flavor and takes very little work. Grilling tames radicchio’s natural bitterness, and changes it into an ingredient that enhances everything with which it is paired.

The outer leaves of grilled radicchio are charred, soft, and slightly smoky; the inner leaves warm yet crunchy. Mixed with garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and sometimes a little good quality balsamic vinegar, grilled radicchio makes a wonderful topping for egg-yolk rich, Piemontese tajarin (or any other pasta).

The form of radicchio most commonly found in US supermarkets looks like a small red cabbage. Occasionally, the market has Treviso Radicchio, which is elongated and, when the outer leaves are stripped away, looks like a large red Belgian endive. For most purposes, the two radicchios can be used interchangeably.

Friday night we had no snow near the back shed; this is Sunday morning (April 6, 2008).

We planted radicchio in our Alaskan garden last summer and harvested it on our return from Greece in October. Today we ignored the 12” of snow that fell yesterday and started this year’s radicchio seeds in the garage.

Grilled Radicchio (Ψητό Ραδίκιο)
Serves 4
If you don’t have the time, weather, or inclination to start a fire, it’s easy to grill radicchio on a cast iron grill pan.

2 heads radicchio, round or elongated (Treviso)
Olive oil
Salt

Rinse off the radicchio and discard any damaged portions. Cut round radicchio in quarters, and elongated radicchio in lengthwise halves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.

Preheat a cast iron grill pan until it is very hot (if you're grilling over fire, you need moderately hot coals), and grill the radicchio on all sides until the outer leaves are nicely browned. Remove from the grill.

Serve immediately drizzled with a little best quality balsamic vinegar. For use in another recipe, cut out any tough center core, and roughly slice or chop into pieces.

Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Shavings (Σαλάτα με Ψητό Ραδίκιο, Ρόκα, και Παρμεζάνα)
Serves 4
Save leftover salad and wrap it, with a few parmesan shavings, in a warm flour tortilla for one of the most delicious vegetarian sandwiches you’ll ever eat. To make parmesan shavings, you need to start with a chunk of fresh parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Dressing:
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salad:
4 cups roughly chopped grilled radicchio
4 cups loosely packed torn pieces of arugula
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion or shallot
Parmesan shavings

Whisk together the sherry vinegar, mustard, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil. Taste the dressing and add salt or pepper as needed. Mix all the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Toss with the appropriate amount of dressing just before serving (there may be dressing left over).

Using a vegetable peeler, or very sharp knife, shave off very thin pieces of parmesan and arrange over each serving of salad.

Serve immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radicchio Recipes

Lentil Salad with Radicchio, Celery, and Capers (Ilva makes an easy salad with marinated lentils and fresh radicchio and celery.)
Radicchio Stuffed with Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette (Cris gives directions for a beautifully composed fresh radicchio salad.)
Roasted Radicchio di Treviso (Susan tells how to simply roast radicchio with grated cheese.)
Bruschetta with Burrata and Radicchio Marmalade (Luisa tests Russ Parsons’ recipe for Radicchio Marmalade and finds it “delicious beyond words.”)
Radicchio Soup – Minestra di Radicchio (Susan makes radicchio soup, flavored with vegetables, pancetta, and ham.)

To find more radicchio recipes, Food Blog Search is a great tool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Jai and Bee from Jugalbandi.

The first picture, of the Treviso Radicchio and Knife, is my entry for Click, a food photography event hosted and created by Jai and Bee from Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is Au Naturel: food photographed in its natural state.