Category: Sides

July 7, 2012 Turnip Fries

 

In the last several years we have added more root vegetables to our gardening repertoire, carrots, kohlrabi, daikon radish, rutabagas for the first time and turnips. We use turnip and beet top thinnings as a cooked green and now the last of the spring turnips have been harvested and a new crop will be planted for fall. Since we pick them on the small side, they are a nice crispy addition to slaws or cold salads. I wanted to try something a little different. Searches I did on my computer turned up roasted, pureed, glazed dishes, usually from the November and December issues of magazines when cooks are looking for hearty fare. Finally Saveur magazine provided me with the recipe I was looking for, turnip fries. Turnips are cut into julienne, tossed with olive oil, parmigiano-reggiano and nutmeg and baked until golden.
This is one of those dishes that never quite makes it to the dinner table due to pre-meal munching. A dipping sauce next time perhaps…

Turnip Fries

Ingredients

  • 4 medium peeled trimmed turnips
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
  • 2 pinches grated nutmeg
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1.  Preheat oven to 450F. Cut turnips into 1/2″ sticks and toss in a bowl with oil, grated parmigiano-reggiano,nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Spread turnips out on an oiled sheet pan. Bake until golden, 18-20 minutes.

 

June 15, 2012 Southwestern Kohlrabi Slaw

 Spicy margarita baby back ribs were on the menu for our Sunday evening cookout so I thought a sweet and crunchy slaw would be the perfect accompaniment. Purple kohlrabi from the farmers market were waiting in the produce bin of the refrigerator and I just picked baby carrot thinnings and bright red and magenta radishes from the garden. The last time I made a different kohlrabi slaw I cut the kohlrabi and the apples by hand into matchstick julienne. This time I decided not to fuss as much and let the food processor do the work. Lacking a food processor, a box grater would be a reasonable substitute. If your kohlrabi is on the large side be sure to squeeze out the excess liquid before you dress the salad.
The beautiful bowl in the picture is courtesy of my dear friend, Debbie. It was given as a thank you several months ago, and I placed for display in a glass-doored cabinet. This day when I was looking for something to serve the slaw in I noticed the card that came with the bowl. “Bowling them over- Hilborn Pottery produces both hand-built and custom thrown bowls. Oven microwave, and dishwasher proof, they can be used for preparing and serving both hot and cold dishes.” Well I guess I needed some convincing that I could really use it, and that was the proof. Oh, we did hand wash the bowl and spoon.

Kohlrabi Slaw

Serves 6 to 8 as a side

Ingredients

  • 4 small to medium kohlrabi, trimmed, peeled if necessary
  • 1 small carrot (i used about 6 mini carrot thinnings=1 small)
  • 3-4 radishes, trimmed
  • 2-3t lime juice
  • 1t cumin
  • 1/2t mild chili powder
  • 2-3T extra virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Shred kohlrabi, carrot and radishes with the medium shredding disc of the food processor.  Place in a bowl
  2. Combine lime juice, cumin, chili powder in a small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
  3. Immediately before serving, pour enough dressing over shredded vegetables to coat. Toss slaw, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately.

May 25,2012 Stir Fry of Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms

 

Mature bok choy in the garden.

Bok choy, bak choy, choy sum, however you name it we enjoy this Chinese vegetable year round. From the garden in the spring and again in the fall, first in it’s baby stage as thinnings all the way to the mature heads that finish out the season. In the off months I go to the Asian markets to purchase Shanghai Bok Choy, the smaller heads that we prefer. Bok choy always makes an appearance as a side dish at our Chinese New Year dinner.
Bok choy is from the Cantonese dialect literally meaning “white vegetable”. Low in calories and high in vitamins A, C and K as well as calcium and iron, it is classifed as a brassica or cabbage. It’s flavor is definitely not “cabbagy”, it is light, crisp and delicate. If you don’t  grow your own, choose bok choy that is unblemished and firm to the touch.  This recipe helped us to use up our first planting of bok choy, with many more rows to come.

Stir Fry of Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms

Serves 6

  • 2lbs bok choy-if large, leaves cut in half lengthwise
  • 3/4lb shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and caps sliced thinly
  • 4T oyster sauce
  • 1/4c lower-salt chicken broth
  • 1T cornstarch
  • 1T Asian sesame oil
  • Peanut oil for stir frying
  • 3 large cloves garlic-sliced thinly
  • 2T fresh ginger peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

    Bok choy leaves washed, trimmed, ready to be blanched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions

  1. Blanch large bok choy leaves in a large pot of boiling water until the white stems are softened, but not limp,  drain in colander.
  2. Combine the oyster sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch and sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch.
  3. In a large wok, heat a tablespoon or so of  peanut oil over medium-high heat. The wok is ready when a drop of water sizzles on contact. Add bok choy and cook tossing frequently with 2 wooden spoons or tongs until stems are softened and slightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Add shiitake mushrooms and stir fry for one minute. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly until aromatics are tender, fragrant and starting to brown, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add sauce to wok and use spoons or tongs to mix with the vegetables. Simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

    All ingredients must be ready to go for a stir fry.

 

Thinning out the sauce with a little chicken stock.

May 18, 2012 Saute of Asparagus and Pea shoots

 

Today’s harvest

One of the spring garden’s most fleeting offerings are pea shoots.  Peas are the first seeds we plant in the garden. Snow peas or edible pods, as they are also called, are planted as early in March as possible, as soon as the ground is at it’s proper tilth. For several years we have been growing peas not just for their pods but some peas for the shoots alone.

Our first encounter with pea shoots was as a side dish in a Chinese restaurant where they are called dou miao . Once only available from Asian grocers, they have become increasingly common at the local farmers market. Pea shoots are the first vegetable ready to harvest from the garden, less than a month after their planting. The round leaves and wispy tips are reminiscent of a green butterfly. I pinch off the tender tips, the top several leaves and the tendril that ends the vine, in turn they will send out new growth for the next harvest in several days. It is hard to resist nibbling on a few while you are harvesting, they are crunchy and have the delicate flavor of  a fresh picked pea. Pea shoots are nutrient dense, an excellent source of vitamins C, K and A, and a good source of vitamin E.  The tendrils and leaves of any edible pea can be harvested for shoots. Just remember the shoots of the ornamental sweet pea are poisonous.

After they are rinsed and spun in a salad spinner they can be added raw to salads.  What might appear to look like a great quantity of shoots cooks down to next to nothing. A quick saute with some Asian sesame oil with a garnish of toasted sesame seeds is one of my favorite ways to prepare them. Last night I had asparagus from Milk House Farm so I combined the two together for a tasty spring side dish. We will enjoy pea shoots, and eventually peas until the warm summer temperatures in late June kill off the vines.

Snip off the tip and leaf right above the bottom leaf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saute of Asparagus and Pea Shoots

Recipe of my own design

  • 2 cloves garlic-peeled and chopped finely
  • 1 lb asparagus, ends trimmed, sliced on the diagonal in 1-2 inch pieces
  • 1 colander full of pea shoots, washed and spun 6-7 cups
  • Asian sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  1. Saute garlic in 1 T sesame oil, add asparagus and saute until asparagus is tender and beginning to brown, 5-6 minutes, this will depend on the thickness of the stalks.
  2. Add pea shoots and saute until wilted, about one minute. Add additional sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste. Top with toasted sesame seeds.

February 15, 2012 Strange-Flavor Eggplant

A dish that I have to make every year for the Chinese New Year celebration is strange-flavor eggplant. It is Joe’s absolute favorite and I must admit, because it is a dish that benefits from being made several days in advance, I occasionally forget to put it out with all the other side dishes.

Strange flavor eggplant was made famous by the late Chinese scholar, chef and restaurant owner, Barbara Tropp. I have enjoyed reading and cooking many dishes from both her books, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking and China Moon, named for her Chinese bistro. It is in China Moon, that she shares the recipe for Strange Flavor Eggplant in a chapter entitled, “Nuts, Pickles and Nibbles”.  Ms Tropp says of strange flavor, “a classic name  for a series of Chinese dishes that typically employ a mixture of vinegar, sugar and chili, this is strange as in “wonderful, unique or ineffable”. Fushcia Dunlop in her book “Land of Plenty” describes strange-flavor as one of the 23 flavors of Sichuan. “It is the harmonious mixing of salty, sweet, numbing, hot, sour, fresh-savory and fragrant notes,” she states.

The flavor is not so strange, but quite addictive. The texture is reminiscent of eggplant caviar, it can be eaten as a side vegetable or as a dip, as she suggests with garlic croutons. Hopefully this summer  I will remember to make strange flavor when our garden is producing copious amounts of eggplant.

The cooked eggplants remind me of deflated balloons!

The eggplants were easy to peel, be sure to let them cool first!

Cooking the eggplant with the sauce and aromatics

This year the strange-flavor eggplant made it to the table!

An assortment of beautiful eggplant from a previous season’s garden.

Strange-Flavor Eggplant from the China Moon Cookbook

She says this will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, but it never lasts that long for us! I usually make a double batch.

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1 1/4 pounds large eggplant (Italian or globe)
  • 2 Tablespoons corn or peanut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • thinly sliced green and white scallion rings for garnish

Aromatics

  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes

Sauce

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon hot water

Preheat the oven to 475F. Position the rack in the center position.

  1. Prick the eggplant well in several places with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife and remove the leaves. Bake on a baking sheet, turning once, until fork-tender, 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size.
  2. While still warm, remove the stem end and the peel, scraping off and retrieving any pulp. Chop up the pulp and process the pulp and any thick baking juices in a food processor or blender until nearly smooth.
  3. Combine the aromatics in a small dish. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, stir to dissolve the sugar.
  4. Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact. Add 2 tablespoons corn oil, swirl to glaze the pan, reduce heat to medium high. When hot enough to foam a scallion ring, add the aromatics and stir-fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds, adjusting the heat so they sizzle without scorching.  Add the sauce ingredients and stir until simmering. Then add the eggplant, stir well to blend, and heat through.  Remove from heat and adjust seasonings accordingly. Stir in sesame oil.
  5. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally. It will achieve fullest flavor if the eggplant is refrigerated overnight. Serve at room temperature with a sprinkling of scallions.