Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Flame-Charred Red Pepper Soup with Roasted All-Red Potatoes and Carrots
I love stopping at his stand and talking to him about the different flavors and heat his peppers will impart to food. And while I'm not brave enough to sample the really hot, hot peppers, I have tried a few that are fairly spicy, flavorful (the best part), but not hot enough to slay my palate.
No matter. What does matter is that you seek out peppers you like and use them. Please char and peel them first or you will have annoying, tough little pepper skins floating in your soup. Little bits of softer charred skin are okay though; it shows what lengths you went to to please your people.
There is a bit of advanced preparation needed, but it can all be done quickly and pretty much at the same time. The head of garlic, sprinkled with a bit of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt, goes into the oven with the pan of potatoes and carrots while the peppers are charring on the top burners. After you've finished all that, the rest is a snap. And please do use a full head of garlic. Roasting reduces it to a sublime, sweet, nutty richness which dramatically enhances the flavors of this soup.
Flame-Charred Red Pepper Soup with Roasted All-Red Potatoes and Carrots(print recipe here)
Ingredients:
5 long (abt. 8-inches) sweet red Italian peppers, charred, skin and seeds removed
1 long red, mildly hot pepper (not too hot), charred, skin and seeds removed
1 head garlic, roasted (at least 10 cloves)
3 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch dice
3 medium All-Red (also called Cranberry) potatoes, or other low-starch potato such as Yukon Gold, peeled, cut into 1-inch dice
1 large bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 - 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock, home made or low-sodium
small amount of olive oil for the garlic and the roasting pan
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional - I just like to cook with wine)
Preparation:
Peel the potatoes and carrots, dice them and put them in a small baking pan with a drizzle of olive oil to keep them from sticking to the pan. Cover the pan with foil and roast in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil during the last 10 minutes of roasting so the vegetables can brown a bit. Remove from oven, loosen pieces from the pan with a spatula, set aside.
Along about this time, place 4 cups of chicken stock in the large soup pot. Add the bay leaf and garlic cloves and bring the stock to a gentle simmer. (If you want this soup to be vegetarian or vegan, you can substitute vegetable broth or water for the chicken stock. (See Cook's Notes).
Remove the peppers from their paper bag and, using a sharp paring knife, scrape the skin from each pepper. This is a messy job and will enwrap your fingers with charred pepper skins. You can rinse your fingers and knife under cool running water, but please don't run the peppers under the water as you will wash away their delicious flavor. I am of the school that a bit of pepper char is a good thing; its presence imparts character, of sorts.
Peeling done, slice the peppers from stem to stern (length-wise), open them up and remove all the seeds and the stem end.
Chop the peppers into about 1-inch square pieces and pop them into the stock.
Add the potatoes and carrots to the stock now, pour in a little white wine if desired, check for seasoning and add kosher salt and ground black pepper as desired.
Give the soup a stir and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. Be gentle; don't allow the soup to boil.
Check and adjust seasonings again, turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool for about 15 minutes.
Using an immersion blender or your food processor, blend the soup until no chunks remain and the texture is coarsely smooth. If the soup is too thick, now would be the time to incorporate more stock.
Heat the soup to serving temperature on a heat-spreader over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
If you happen to be as lucky as Mr CC and I are, Simona's flax seed baguette goes delightfully well with this warming, hearty soup.
Enjoy!
Cook's Notes:
When using vegetable stock or broth, be careful that the flavor won't overpower that of the peppers in the soup. Some vegetable stocks use too much green pepper and celery and therefore will change forever what you are trying to achieve. And what we are trying to achieve here is fresh, flavorful red pepper soup, right?
Ahem: One doesn't have to be too terribly observant to see that there is a sprig of thyme in the top soup photo but nary a mention of thyme in the post. And that's because there is no thyme in this recipe. The thyme sprig happened to be sitting on my kitchen counter because I was actually preparing two separate dishes on the same day; one, of course, using thyme. What can I say? I got mixed up.
Just what is a drizzle of olive oil? For me, it's enough to barely coat the bottom of a pan in order to keep food from sticking. I'd say it's about 1/2 teaspoon. But I never measure so I can't be certain.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Beef Chili With Beans - My Way
When I started out with some grass-fed, local ground beef, my intention was to make a traditional chili. It's football season afterall and chili, cornbread, biscuits and beer are all over the culinary place.
The mirepoix was done and I was gathering the Tex-Mex spices from my pantry ... and paused ... I'd just made a mirepoix ... Before I knew it, the Francophile in me took over and the chili powder, dried oregano, chipotle pepper flakes, et cetera, all went back onto the pantry shelves. I'd just made a mirepoix ...
Of course right then I also changed the corn bread recipe I'd had going on in my head to a Euro-cheesy biscuit that would go with the now-more-Mediterranean-style chili or stew, or ragout, or whatever it was that was beginning to take shape.
It's delicious comfort for cool autumn nights, whether your team wins or not. Remember to give some time to soaking and cooking the beans. Like most chilis and stews, this recipe, while delicious the same day, will taste outstanding the next. You will have to decide for yourselves if it can be called Chili ...
Print recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup dried beans (I used a local cranberry bean)
1 bay leaf, dried or fresh
2 medium onions, peeled, chopped fine
3 medium carrots, peeled, diced (1/4-inch pieces)
3 ribs celery, diced (1/4-inch pieces)
6 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
2 Padrón peppers, seeded, minced
2 sweet Italian red peppers, seeded, diced (1/4-inch pieces)
2 lbs lean ground beef
Olive oil for the pan
2 cups tomato sauce (preferrably home made)
2 cups beef broth
A glug or two dry red wine
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and allspice (adjust to your taste)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil leaves
Preparation:
Soak the beans for at least 4 hours in a large pot filled with water to cover the beans by 4-inches.
Drain beans then fill pot again with fresh water to cover the beans by 2-inches, add the bay leaf and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are tender. Drain beans, discarding the bay leaf, and set aside in a warm place.
Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables as stated in the ingredients list and have a large, heavy skillet and a large soup or stew pot at hand.
Heat the skillet over medium-high, add about a tablespoon of olive oil and the onions, carrots and celery and sauté until they have softened - 5-7 minutes.
Add the minced garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
Stir in the Padróns and the sweet peppers, sauté 1 minute more then pour all of the vegetables into the soup pot and set the heat to medium.
Add a bit more olive oil to the same skillet over medium-high, then crumble in the ground beef. Allow it to sear for about 5 minutes then stir it up and cook until no pink shows. Pour the cooked beef into the soup pot then add about 1/4 cup red wine to the skillet, stirring to scrape up the browned bits and pour that into the soup pot.
Now add the cooked beans to the pot along with the tomato sauce, beef stock, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the cinnamon and allspice.
Allow all of this to simmer on the stove for 30 to 45 minutes.
Give it a stir, add more salt if needed, and add freshly ground black pepper if desired.
Sprinkle each serving with freshly chopped basil and place a cheese-y buttermilk biscuit along side.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Buttermilk Biscuits with Jarlsberg Cheese
One look at food blogs and food magazines these days will tell you that it's chili season.
And what goes better with chili (with the possible exception of cornbread) than flavorful, cheese-laden biscuits? And since the my-take-on-chili post isn't ready yet, Now it's ready! I'm giving you biscuits first.
These are light, slightly chewy, and perfect for autumn soups, stews and chili (post up next here).
Buttermilk gives them a tang, the Jarlsberg cheese gives them a golden hue (to go with autumn of course), and a heft that can hold up to hot liquid. And they can be prepared in a snap. I swear: 15 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to bake, and they're ready to eat.
A plus for me is that they are gluten free. Yep, made with my favorite gluten free flour, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between these and wheat flour biscuits. Of course, if you don't need your biscuits to be gluten free, just substitute an equal measurement of regular all-purpose flour for the gluten free kind and off you go.
Enjoy!
Buttermilk Biscuits with Jarlsberg Cheese
Makes 12
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour, or regular all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cold butter, preferrably salt-free, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 cups grated Jarlsburg cheese
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
Whisk the dry ingredients togther then cut in the butter using two knives, or a pastry blender, or buzz in your food processor for a few seconds.
Put the flour-butter mixture in a large bowl, add the grated cheese and toss with your fingers until the cheese is well integrated with the flour.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add 3/4 cup of the buttermilk, using a fork and your fingers to incorporate the buttermilk into the flour. Add more buttermilk if needed until it comes together as a dough. Keep a light touch when doing this so your dough doesn't get overworked which can result in a tough biscuit.
Place the dough on a well-floured surface, pat into a disk and gently flatten with your hands (flour them if needed) until 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick.
Cutting the biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch diameter round cutter will yield 12 biscuits.
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet and bake in the oven 15 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don't overbake.
When the biscuits are golden brown and give a little when pressed with your fingers, remove from the oven, cool slightly on a rack then serve with a steaming bowl of your favorite chili.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Figs Poached in Port and Thyme Over Creamy Yogurt Cheese Plus a Fig Giveaway
(Update: August 30th 8:19 PM - With help from random.org, a winner of the fig giveaway has been picked!
Drumroll . . . . . . . . . Congratulations Lindsey! And a big thank you to all of you for joining in the fun.)
Mr CC and I are eating figs these days. Fresh, juicy, oozing-figgy-syrup California figs. They are impossibly delicious.
Mostly we eat them out of hand; unadorned, as you see above. Did you know that figs are filled with antioxidants, are free of fat, cholestrol and sodium and are an excellent source of fiber? Yes they are. Eat them with the skins on for optimum health benefits.
The figs you see here were sent to me by the California Fig Advisory Board, who want to give away a box of fresh California figs to a randomly selected person who leaves a comment on this post. The lucky winner will receive beautiful fresh figs delivered direct to her/his door!
The deadline for this giveaway is Monday, August 30th at 5:00 PM, so please leave your comment soon. And please be sure to leave a way for me to get in touch with you in case you are a winner.
I don't have a lot of time to cook these days, so I came up with this very quick and easy fresh fig dessert.
The poached figs came together in about 45 minutes from cutting to chilling. Allow more time for the yogurt cheese as it has to drain most of its liquid to be firm enough to stand up to the weight of the figs. I started preparation for this dessert in the afternoon and it was ready to serve by 7 PM.
The photo for this recipe does not do the dessert justice, but I promise you the result is delicious. Give it a try and see if you don't agree.
Figs Poached in Port and Thyme over Creamy Yogurt Cheese
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups Greek-style yogurt (I used Strauss Family Creamery Plain Whole Milk Yogurt)
2 pounds fresh figs - I used 1 pound Black Mission and 1 pound green Kadota figs (about 28 figs total), cut into quarters
1/4 cup aged tawny port (I used Taylor Fladgate 20 year-old)
1/4 cup vanilla sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of the figs)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
pinch salt
Preparation:
To make the yogurt cheese, dampen a piece of cheesecloth large enough to hang over the sides of a large strainer.
Line the strainer with the cheesecloth and set it over a large measuring cup or bowl.
Spoon the yogurt into the cheesecloth and place the whole thing into the fridge for several hours.When the liquid has drained from the yogurt, you should have about half the amount of yogurt you started with. Keep cold until ready to use.
To prepare the figs, place the quartered figs, sugar, thyme, Port and salt in a medium saucepan, stir and heat until just bubbling.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook over a heat diffusor for about 15 minutes or until the fruit is cooked through and a nicely thick syrup has formed.
Adjust the sugar to taste, remove from the heat, allow to cool for a few minutes then transfer to a large glass measuring cup and place in the fridge to cool until thoroughly chilled.
To serve, place a spoonful or two of yogurt cheese into a glass dish and top with the poached figs.
More figgy recipes coming soon!
Cook's Notes:
Vanilla sugar may be made by placing a split vanilla bean in a jar of baker's sugar (superfine), closing the lid, giving it a shake, and storing it until you need it. I leave the bean in the sugar until all the sugar is all used up; for me, that can be a year or more.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Monday, August 9, 2010
Plum Cardamom Ice Cream
I especially love using whole seeds that have been extracted from their cute green pods.
When I bought plums last week, I made a gluten-free plum and cardamom galette, which turned out fabulously, thank you very much.
I saved some of the sliced plums from that recipe to make ice cream and when it came to deciding on a recipe, cardamom, this time using whole seeds, just seemed like the right flavor combination.
Plums are in season right now so get them at their peak. If you can, source them organically and locally.
I think you will like this.
Christine's original recipe
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
2 cups (heaping) sliced fresh plums*
2 packets Splenda or 2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste), depending on how sweet the plums are
2 1/3 cups 2% milk
seeds from 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2-inch piece vanilla pod, split
3 large or 4 medium egg yolks
1/4 cup Splenda/sugar blend*** or 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream
Preparation:
Combine the sliced plums with the first measurement of Splenda or sugar and let sit for 15 minutes to juice.
Using a large saucepan, simmer plums over medium heat until they have cooked for at least 5 minutes.** Remove from the heat, cool 5 minutes then purée in a food processor. Set aside.
Beat the egg yolks with the remaining Splenda/sugar blend or 1/2 cup sugar until the yolks are a pale yellow and have thickened so the mixture falls in ribbons from the beaters.
Gently whisk 1/3 of the warm milk into the eggs until combined then whisk the egg mixture back into the milk and heat over medium low, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon and your finger leaves a mark when run across it. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5 minutes.
Gently whisk the puréed plums into the custard****, pour into a large glass dish or pitcher and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until thoroughly chilled (overnight is best).
Just before processing, stir the cream into the custard until blended, then process according to the manufacturer's instructions of your ice cream maker.
* I used a combination of red and yellow plums that I had leftover from this recipe. They were sweetly tart, which I like. The amount of sugar you use for the ice cream will depend on the tartness or sweetness of the plums you use.
** I learned the hard way that some fruits must be cooked to reduce their acid affect on dairy. I didn't do this with the first batch I made which resulted in a curdled custard. So, please, stew your plums.
*** I have also learned through trial and error that the addition of sugar to the beating of the egg yolks is pretty much paramount to ice cream success. I'm not liking that this is true but I'm afraid it is. So I use the least amount of Splenda-sugar blend that I can get away with. It works for me and adds just a small amount of sugar per serving. As always, if you are not a Splenda user like I am, go for the sugar rush. I will not judge you.
**** Alternatively, you can add the plum purée to the ice cream while it is processing, resulting in a more ribboned effect.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Farmers Market Fresh Frittata with Corn and Zucchini
Fast, fresh, easy.
Creamy and delicious.
20 minutes prep time, 30 minutes cook time.
Serve as part of a special weekend brunch or whip up for a quick weeknight dinner.
What are you waiting for?
It's Saturday and I'm off to the farmers market for more.
Christine's original recipe
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
8 large eggs
water
4 medium zucchini cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 ears corn, shucked, kernels cut from cob
1 cup shredded white cheddar
1/2 teaspoon Benson's Supreme Garlic and Herb Seasoning (to taste) and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for the pan
a sprinkle of finishing salt (optional)
Preparation:
Crack eggs into a large glass dish and whisk gently with a fork until blended.
Add about 1/4 cup water and stir until blended. Eggs will be thick. Set aside.
To prep the zucchini, cut off the stem and flower ends, slice lengthwise in half and then lengthwise again into quarters. Cut the zucchini crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces.
To prep the corn, remove the husks and silk. Place the corn cob standing up in a wide bowl and, using a sharp knife, cut down the cob, releasing the kernels into the bowl. Do not cut too deeply into the cob.
Sauté garlic over medium heat in about a teaspoon of olive oil until softened and aromas rise.
Add zucchini and sauté until it is just tender. Do not allow to burn.
Add the corn kernels, the Benson's seasoning (or salt), and a few grinds of pepper and stir to combine.
Allow most of the water that the zucchini will throw off to evaporate, but not all of it.
Pour the eggs over the vegetables and mix oh so gently with a fork.
Allow to cook for 3 minutes to set the bottom.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the frittata.
Going around the edge of the skillet, lift the edge with a spatula to allow uncooked egg to run into the space created.
Keep lifting and turning until only the middle of the frittata jiggles when you shake the pan, adjusting the heat so the bottom doesn't burn.
Transfer to a 325-degree oven and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the middle is softly set. A knife inserted into the center of the frittata should come out clean.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle with finishing salt if desired, and let sit for about 5 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve.
Please use no more than medium to medium-low heat to prepare this dish otherwise the eggs will turn out rubbery.
The cheese may be combined with the eggs prior to pouring over the vegetables if desired. This will result in a more homogenous egg-cheese mixture, but, hey, I was playing.
Fresh chopped herbs may be used with abandon.
The Benson's salt-free seasonings are one of several that I've been experimenting with. A subject for another post. Substitute sea salt if desired.
Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved
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