Month: March 2016

March 24, 2016 Spinach and Roasted Garlic Hummus

DSC_6542aWhen I am looking for a snack, hummus is a healthy choice I feel good about adding to my shopping cart. But the truth is, it’s takes just minutes to make my own, and it’s healthier (no additives), tastier and cheaper too. The word hummus in Arabic means chickpea so strictly speaking, hummus is the term for a chickpea dip. Hummus bi tahini means chickpeas with tahini, a paste of ground sesame seeds.  Whether you add tahini or not, a basic hummus includes garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.

One of my favorite food memories is a chickpea soup Joe made for me one Valentine’s Day. I absolutely love the sweet nutty flavor of freshly cooked chickpeas and in a perfect world I would always use them when I make hummus. However, dried chickpeas need to be soaked overnight, drained the next day and cooked for 1-3 hours, depending on freshness. I don’t always have time for that and the delayed gratification it requires.

However if you have the time, substitute one half the quantity of dried beans for the canned. The standard 15 ounce can of chickpeas drained is about 9 ounces or 1 ½ cups of beans. This translates into 4.5 ounces of dried beans or ¾ cup. Many cooks add a pinch of baking soda to tenderize dried beans to both the soaking and cooking water. The United States dried bean council (of course there’s one!) points out that it destroys part of the thiamine (aka vitamin B 1), making the amino acids less digestible and negatively affects the nutritional value. I’ll leave that heavy decision up to you.

A basic hummus recipe is easy and delicious and just the jumping off point for countless variations. I have previously shared a beet hummus recipe, this time I added fresh spinach and roasted garlic to the recipe.

If you are not already roasting garlic cloves, you should. It takes more time to get your oven up to temperature than in does to get this kitchen staple together. The first time I roasted garlic I winged it but I am pleased to say my uninformed guess was pretty much on target. This is the basic recipe; cut about the top quarter off each head of garlic with a sharp knife to expose all the cloves. Slowly pour olive oil over each head, letting it soak into and around the cloves. Wrap the prepared heads of garlic in foil and bake in a 425°F oven. Start checking the garlic at the 45 minute mark. The finished cloves should be soft, golden and slightly protruding from the skins. I always roast more than what I need, it will keep in the fridge for about a week, that is if it lasts that long. You can also freeze roasted garlic for several months.

Everything goes into the food processor or blender, except the reserved chickpea liquid. I added three cloves of roasted garlic to my basic hummus recipe, along with three loosely packed cups of spinach leaves. I added a half teaspoon each of some appropriate dried herbs, cumin, for it’s smoky flavor, smoked paprika also brings smokiness and a little heat. Sumac is the herb you may not be familiar with, it has a fruity astringent taste, milder than a lemon. I shared more background on it in this post. It is readily available from several of the herb and spice mail order sights.

Add the additional bean liquid to get it completely smooth and holds it’s shape. Taste and add more salt if needed. Transfer mixture into a serving dish. Garnish with a dash of olive oil and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Serve at room temperature.

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Spinach and Roasted Garlic Hummus

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1-15 ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and liquid reserved
  • 3-4 c spinach leaves, large stems removed
  • 1/3 c tahini
  • 3 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 3-4 cloves roasted garlic, or to your taste
  • ½ t salt, and more to taste
  • 1 t each cumin, sumac and smoked paprika
  • 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • A dusting of smoked paprika for the topping

DSC_6536aDirections

  1. Add all the ingredients to your food processor or blender. Pulse, adding additional bean liquid as needed to get the hummus completely smooth.
  2. Taste and add salt if desired.
  3. Scoop into a serving bowl and sprinkle top with smoked paprika and a little olive oil if desired.
  4. Serve with the dippers of your choice.

March 17, 2016 Spinach Pie

DSC_6530aFor once it looks like the groundhog was right, winter is over. Last week’s tease of highs in the 80’s has now settled back into a mostly rainy week with temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s. Spring arrives this weekend and it’s time to head back to the garden. Our garden’s first offering is spinach. Planted as a fall crop, it wintered over nicely in the greenhouse . It’s not the delicate baby spinach that you would want in a salad, but larger, very crinkly spinach, perfect for cooked dishes. I will attest that is still sweet and flavorful, after nibbling on some stems when I picked a large colander full today.

I found this recipe for Spinach Pie on the Epicurious website from a book called Irish Country Cooking, quite appropriate since St. Patrick’s Day is today. My choice was further confirmed when I read the author’s comment that three generations of her family have enjoyed this dish and this recipe was often made to use up her father’s seasonal harvest of spinach.

It takes a lot of spinach to make a pound, twelve cups to be exact. When that spinach is cooked down it will yield about a cup. Wash spinach in a large sink in several exchanges of cold water, those crinkles can hide a lot of dirt and debris. Remove any large stems and trim away any discolored leaves. The recipe called for steaming the spinach, I chose to cook it down in batches in a non stick skillet, which was just as easy. Drain spinach in a colander or better yet squeeze in your hands to remove excess moisture. Roughly chop spinach and in a large bowl combine with onion, beaten eggs and the cheeses. Mix well to be certain the spinach is mixed thoroughly with the other ingredients. Transfer this mixture to a quiche dish or individual dishes. If you like it could even be made in a crust. Different cheeses could be substituted as long as they have the same texture, cheddar for the mozzarella, I substituted ricotta for the cottage cheese. The addition of some chopped smoked salmon or a little crumbled sausage would be nice too.  A 10 ounce container of frozen spinach, thawed and well drained can be substituted for the fresh spinach.

Spinach pie is appropriate at any meal, breakfast, a light luncheon entree, a side at dinner. You could also bake this in a rectangular baking dish and cut it into small squares as an hors d’oeuvre. I barely made a dent into the spinach that’s in the greenhouse so it looks like I will be making this again in the weeks to come.

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Spinach Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 lb 4 oz spinach, washed or a 10 ounce container of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained of excess liquid
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 10 oz ricotta or cottage cheese (regular or low fat)
  • 10 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • ¼ t freshly ground nutmeg

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Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F, 325°F if using convection heat
  2. Wilt the spinach in a large non stick saute pan with the water that is still clinging to the leaves, drain well and roughly chop.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the cooked spinach with the onion, beaten eggs and cheeses. Be sure that the spinach is thoroughly combined with the other ingredients. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  4. Transfer mixture to one or several smaller baking dishes that have been coated with non stick spray. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

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March 13, 2016 Salmon “Bulgogi” with Bok Choy and Mushrooms

DSC_6398aI am always on the look out for new and interesting recipes. I have a large collection of notebooks containing them, with recipes I have tried or hope to try in the future. Some recipes I try once, others, a couple of times and there are the ones that become regulars in the dinner rotation. Salmon bulgogi is a recipe I found many years ago in Bon Appetit, and one I make quite often. A very flavorful combination of spicy, salty and sweet, it delivers maximum flavor and requires minimal effort.

Bul means fire and gogi means meat in Korean and refers to cooking marinated meat over an open flame, typically thinly sliced beef. In this recipe, heart healthy salmon replaces the beef.

Since we have an extensive Asian pantry I usually have most of the marinade components on hand. The eight ingredients, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, sugar, sesame oil and chili garlic sauce are blended in a mini processor and spooned over the salmon. The original marinade was too salty for my taste so I cut the amount of soy sauce in half. Look for dark sesame oil when making this recipe. Pressed from deeply toasted seeds, it has a very concentrated flavor and a little goes a long way. A common ingredient in the bulgogi marinade, Asian pear, is used to tenderize the beef but not necessary for the salmon.

Don’t confuse chili garlic sauce with sriracha. Chili garlic sauce is chunky, not smooth and has a more pronounced garlicky flavor. Sambal oelek, a common table condiment in Asian restaurants, looks the same as chili garlic sauce. Sambal oelek is made from chilis preserved with vinegar and salt and does not contain garlic. Now that it is more widely available, it might be interesting to substitute gochujang, the Korean hot sauce made from chile peppers, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and salt.

Marinade the fish for five minutes, I have left it on for up to a half hour. The original recipe calls for skinless fillets, we prefer to leave the skin on. Leaving the skin on makes for an easy transfer from pan to plate, plus Joe likes the crispy salmon skin. Scrape off as much of the marinade as you can and transfer the fish to a baking dish. In a small saucepan, bring the marinade to a boil and set aside. It’s not so much a glaze, it’s a bit chunky which is fine, unless you prefer to strain it and discard the solids. While the fish is roasting, stir fry the bok choy and mushrooms. The original recipe just adds a little pressed garlic to the mix, this time Joe added a little of my homemade sriracha sauce and a dash of yuzu juice to brighten the flavors. In season we will use baby bok choy or another Asian green from the garden. Divide the vegetables between the plates and top with salmon. Spoon the marinade over the fish and serve.

Salmon Bulgogi with Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Serves four

Ingredients

  • Two large garlic cloves, peeled and divided
  • 1/3 c chopped green onions
  • 2-3 T low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 T Chinese rice wine or dry Sherry
  • 1 ¾-inch cube peeled ginger
  • 2 t sugar
  • 1 t Asian sesame oil
  • 1 t chili garlic sauce
  • 4 6 oz center cut salmon fillets
  • 1 T peanut oil
  • 1 large bok choy, cut crosswise into ½ inch wide strips (about 7 cups)
  • 4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps sliced
The marinade ingredients, minus the soy sauce.
The marinade ingredients, minus the soy sauce.
A mini processor makes it easy to combine the marinade ingredients.
A mini processor makes it easy to combine the marinade ingredients.
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Five minutes is all it takes to marinade the fish.

Directions

  1. In a mini processor, blend one clove of garlic with the next 7 ingredients. Arrange salmon in a baking dish and spoon marinade over the fish. Let marinade for 5 minute and up to one half hour.
  2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange the fish with some of the marinade still clinging in a shallow baking dish. Transfer the marinade from the first dish to a small saucepan. Roast fish according to the Canadian fisheries method, which equates about one inch of the thickest part of the fish to 10 minutes of cooking time.
  3. Bring marinade to a boil; set aside and reserve for glaze.
  4. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add bok choy and mushrooms, using a garlic press, press in one garlic clove. Stir fry until mushrooms are tender and the bok choy is wilted, about 4-5 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
  5. Divide vegetables among the plates. Top with salmon and brush with glaze.

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March 6, 2016 Crunchy Winter Slaw

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Slaws aren’t just for summer picnics anymore. A crisp winter slaw is the perfect compliment for hearty stews, soups and braises. This one from the latest edition of Bon Appetit combines green cabbage or fennel, daikon radish, celery root with juicy sweet Asian pear. Not fond of celery root? Use celery instead. No Asian pears in your market, use a tart apple. A dressing of lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and olive oil brings the flavors together. Topped with some toasted pumpkin seeds and some shreds of Manchego cheese, this slaw is crunchy, fresh and light. and one I’m sure to be making again throughout the season.

Crunchy Winter Slaw

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1/3 c raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1 t plus ¼c olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1 T Dijon mustard
  • 2 t pure maple syrup
  • 4 c very thinly sliced green cabbage and/or fennel
  • 1½ c matchsticks Asian pear
  • 1½c peeled celery root or celery
  • 1½c matchsticks peeled daikon radish
  • 3 oz Manchego cheese, divided

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Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Add 1 t olive oil to a  bowl then add the seeds and toss to coat them thoroughly.  Season the seeds with salt and pepper and spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and puffed, rotating the baking sheet and tossing the pan halfway though baking time, about 5 minutes.
  2. Let them cool and finely chop 2 t  pumpkin seeds.
  3. Whisk together chopped seeds, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup and remaining oil in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper.
  4. Combine the cabbage, fennel, Asian pear, celery root, daikon, most of the Manchego and remaining toasted pumpkin seeds in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing on top and toss to combine.
  5. Season with salt and pepper and top with remaining Manchego.

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March 3, 2016 Lemon-Ginger Poached Grouper with Leeks and Spinach

DSC_5982aFish is on the menu three to four nights a week at our house and I am always looking for new and healthy ways to prepare it. This Asian influenced light main course from Fine Cooking is both easy to prepare and delicious enough for company.

Originally the recipe called for halibut, but since it can be quite expensive (over thirty dollars a pound) any mild tasting firm fleshed fish will work. Our choice was grouper but sea bass or cod would also be a good substitute. The recipe begins with a simple but flavorful rub of ginger, garlic, and lemon. A microplane makes it easy to grate all three. Lightly pat this mixture on one side of the fish. The fish is added to a simmering broth that is enhanced with sauteed leeks and lemon juice. Add any additional stock needed to almost cover the fillets. Poaching ensures a moist flavorful fish. Transfer the cooked fish to shallow bowls and keep warm. The spinach, mint and scallions are quickly wilted in the broth. I confess I didn’t use the mint, Joe is not a big fan and I would only use some of the milder mint that we grow.

While the fish is cooking, you will have time to cook the soba noodles. Soba is both the Japanese word for buckwheat and the noodle made with buckwheat flour. They have a delicate texture and a nutty flavor. Soba can also be flavored with everything from green tea to wild yam. Years ago when I was first experimenting with Japanese recipes it took a special trip to the Asian market to find soba, now they are available in most grocery stores.  Soba noodles are usually eaten cold, but in this recipe they are great warm for sopping up the broth.
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Lemon-Ginger Poached Halibut with Leeks and Spinach

Serves four

Ingredients

  • 2 t finely grated fresh ginger
  • 1 t finely grated garlic
  • Finely grated zest and the juice of one lemon
  • 2 T plus 1 t extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Four 1-inch thick skinless fillets of a firm fleshed white fish (halibut, grouper, sea bass etc.)
  • 2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, rinsed well and thinly sliced
  • 3 c lower salt chicken broth or vegetable broth; more as needed
  • Water- to cook the soba noodles
  • Soba noodles, a handful or a wrapped portion per per person
  • 4 c lightly packed spinach leaves, rinsed
  • ¼ c roughly chopped fresh mint
  • ¼ c thinly sliced scallions

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, lemon zest, 1 tsp of the olive oil, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Pat the mixture evenly over one side of the fish. Put a large pot of water on to cook the noodles, do not add salt to the water. Bring water to a boil.
  2. In a 10-inch straight sided saute pan, heat the remaining 2 Tbs. oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute, stirring constantly, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the broth and 1 Tbs. of the lemon juice. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat.
  4. Arrange the fish lemon-ginger side up in a single layer on top of the leeks. If necessary add more broth until the fillets are almost but not completely submerged. Cover and turn the heat to low. Gently simmer until the fish is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. While the fish is  cooking, add the soba noodles to the boiling water and give them a quick stir so they all go underwater. Cook the noodles uncovered for 6-8 minutes, they should be slightly al dente. Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water to remove excess starch.
  6. With a slotted spatula, transfer the fish to shallow bowls and keep warm.
  7. Add the spinach, mint and scallions to the broth and stir until slightly wilted, about 1 minute.
  8. Season to taste with more lemon juice, salt and pepper. Ladle the vegetables and broth around the fish, add the noodles to the bowl and serve.
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A rub of ginger, garlic, lemon and olive oil is patted on one side of the fish.
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Poaching the fish in a chicken broth that is enhanced with leeks and lemon juice.