Roasted Garlic, Cannelini Bean and Kale Soup

One thing I should mention about this cannelini bean soup is that it is rather a different dish from my Tuscan Cannelini Bean Stew. In what ways? Well, the beans are pureed, which is less rustic and more sophisticated. And it isn’t quite hearty enough to be an entree, even if it is rather filling. It’s also delicious and a perfect starter or quick lunch for a meatless Monday. The inspiration is partly from a delicious bean and roasted garlic soup I had at a cafe here and partly inspired by our house falling sick. Thankfully, we’re both on the mend, but in the meantime it was nice to have something as nourishing and filling as it is tasty in the fridge. Sweet and pungent roasted garlic is a great complement to creamy, nutty pureed cannelini beans and bitterly earthy kale. We enjoyed this alongside grilled pork sausages and it was a really amazing meal. Also, it was incredibly easy to make.

Roasted Garlic, Cannelini Bean and Kale Soup

(makes 6 servings)

2 ½ cups cooked cannelini beans*
1 head of garlic, roasted
8 ounces kale, washed, stems trimmed and chopped into 1” pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
2 cups water
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

1. While the beans are still warm from being cooked, combine in blender with water, stock, garlic and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
2. In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add kale and saute 3 or so minutes, until it has started to turn color, but is still tender.
4. Add pureed bean mixture and cook until soup is heated through.Serve garnished with parmesan.

*I cooked my own beans, but if you’re using canned drain and rinse them

Chilled Pencil Asparagus Spears in a Zesty Miso Citrus Dressing

As we all know (and can even feel in the air), two things are coming: asparagus season and beyond that bathing suit season. This recipe is a new way to enjoy tender chilled asparagus virtually guilt free. The zesty, umami rich flavor of miso dressing compliments asparagus gently bitter green taste and is very low in calories. The result of this combination tastes like a tangy and flavorful celebration of the fact that spring is on its way!


Chilled Pencil Asparagus in a Zesty Miso Citrus Dressing

1 bunch of pencil asparagus, washed and trimmed

For the dressing:

1 shallot clove, roughly chopped
juice of 2 limes
juice of 2 small navel or two blood oranges
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup red miso
2 Teaspoons mirin
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

Prepare an ice bath for your asparagus (2 parts ice cubes to 1 part water in a metal mixing bowl or metal baking dish).
Bring a large pan of water to boil and salt it.
When the water is boiling, add asparagus and allow to boil for 1 - 2 minutes. Immediately scoop asparagus spears out of pan and into ice bath. Leave to cool.
Meanwhile, pulse all dressing ingredients in the blender.
Serve asparagus drizzled with dressing.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I welcome your feedback!

Spring Vegetable Frittata

I don't give my mother enough credit. In listing my inspirations for cooking and culinary adventures, I often talk about all of the different cuisines I've tried, the recipes I've consulted and the blogs I follow, but I don't talk about my first inspiration: my mother. When I was growing up we had a home cooked meal practically every evening and a hot breakfast every saturday and sunday. Even so, I don't have many memories of my mother slaving over a hot stove or laboring for hours to bake desserts--not to say we didn't have lots of delicious, homemade baked goods in our pantry--she just made it look that easy. My mother is a whirlwind in the kitchen and a champion improviser. She was also the first person to ever bring me into the kitchen and teach me the art and science of cooking. I wanted to feature one of her recipes for Mother's Day, but my mother hardly ever made the same dish twice (except for her amazingly delicious vegetarian cream of soups featuring fair trade wild rice, which deserve their own special category). Sure she had a few standard tried-and-true knockout dishes that she went to time and again when her fridge wasn't full of seasonal veggies, but when she had a fridge full of fresh, organic produce she would often throw together a quick, delicious stir fry, or a scrumptious frittata. It was in this spirit that I threw together my spring vegetable frittata with spring onion chevre and roasted asparagus. My mother loves redskin potatoes, so I chose them as the base/crust of this frittata. If you'd rather have a pastry crust this makes a great quiche. In the spirit of my mother's endless culinary creativity and ability to make a delicious dish out of virtually any ingredients, I encourage you to look at this recipe as a jumping off point. Don't get me wrong, it's super tasty as is (and something I'd have been proud to serve my Mom, had we been able to spend Mother's Day together, but we live on opposite sides of the country; sad) and I'd recommend trying it at least once this time of year. Roasting the asparagus gave the dish an extra dimension of flavor, as did carmelizing the shallots in sherry. But the real flavors of spring were captured by the green onion chevre, which I made a couple of hours ahead of time by adding the sliced-thin white parts of a few green onions to a softened log of goats milk cheese and allowing the flavors to marry by chillIng it, covered in plastic wrap, in my fridge for a couple of hours. Serve it alongside French style peas (simmered in chicken stock with mint and escarole or lettuce), or a butter lettuce and pea shoot salad dressed in something citrus-y. Whatever you serve it with, enjoy it with your mother. Or at least call her.

A quick note on what didn't work: I thought I'd managed to move with my 9" spring form pan, but I was mistaken, so I used a stove-to-oven 10" stainless steel saucepan; because of the extra space the egg was spread too thin for my liking. If you have a larger pan I'd suggest using more eggs. Or just use something the rough size of a pie tin.

Also, get a mandoline if you can and just use it carefully. I purchased mine for 17 bucks plus s & h and it made my potato slices delightfully uniform.

Spring Vegetable Frittata

Green onion chevre
(Make ahead of time, if possible, and let chill in the fridge)
3 - 4 green onions (also called scallions or spring onions), white and light green parts sliced thin, dark green tops discarded
1 log of goat's milk chevre (8 oz), softened

1. Combine all ingredients and allow to chill in the fridge up to 4 hours, wrapped in plastic wrap.

Frittata

5 medium sized baby redskin potatoes (also called new potatoes), sliced potato chip thin, about 1/8" thick (use your mandoline if you've got one)
1 bunch asparagus (optional: pre roast asparagus at 425 for 15 or so minutes, until the sugars begin to visibly caramelize); approx 1 dz spears, fibrous ends snapped off and sliced into 1/2" slices
4 oz. Green onion chevre
6 eggs
3 Tbl milk
1/2 Tbl butter
1 Tbl (total) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Teas. Cooking sherry
2 small shallot cloves, diced finely

1. Preheat oven to 425; grease baking dish and arrange potato slices in bottom of dish 3 or more layers thick (trust me, even if you can't see the bottom you'll end up with empty spaces in between because the potatoes shrink in the oven).
2. Roast the potato crust in the oven for about 15 minutes (it's ready for filling when the potato slices are soft enough to be easily pierced with a fork).
3. While the potatoes are roasting, caramelize shallots: in a separate pan over medium to medium high heat, melt butter (with a few drops of olive oil drizzled in to prevent the butter from burning) and add diced shallots. Stir and cook for 5 or so minutes, until shallots start to become translucent. Add sherry and cook, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until caramelized (brown or burnt looking areas start to appear on your diced shallots, indicating that the sugars are starting to gather). Cool shallots and meanwhile:
4. Whisk together eggs and milk. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add sliced asparagus and cooled caramelized shallots and stir to combine.
5. Allow potato crust to cool for a few minutes (so you don't cook your egg filling the minute you pour it in). Turn oven down to 350.
6. When potatoes/baking dish are cooled sufficiently top with egg/asparagus/shallot mixture.
7. Using a teaspoon, drop 1/2 teas dollops of green onion chevre into the egg mixture. Spread the dollops out as evenly as possible.
8. Put (now) assembled frittata in the oven and cook until set (approx 15 or so minutes). Serve with your chosen side and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I welcome your feedback.

Soup Weather: Potato Leek

Winter isn't half over, and for many of us that means months to go of extreme weather conditions and bitingly cold temperatures. This is the time of year you'll hear the phrase "soup weather," spoken plaintively and sincerely. Indeed, warm liquids--particularly more hearty and nourishing fare like soup--are excellent balms to chapped hands and cold toes in this harsher season.

For me it was as much convenience as a desire to beat the cold that had me concocting a recipe for Potato Leek soup--one batch makes up to 10 servings, and I made this dish on the last day of the year, knowing I might not be in a mood to cook the next day. I cannot overlook that there were other factors that put me in mind of this particular soup, namely childhood nostalgia, and a love of the wild onion-y flavor of leeks, paired with the sweet, earthy starch of potatoes.



If you decide to puree your soup and are so inclined you could top your soup with a dollop of dill creme fraiche (mix 1 part chopped fresh dill to 3 parts creme fraiche).

Potato Leek Soup
Makes 8 - 10 servings

5 medium - large leeks, cleaned with the dark green parts discarded, sliced 1/2" thick
6 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut into roughly 1" cubes
1 small onion, julienned
1 quart organic vegetable or chicken broth
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced or put through a press
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, woody stems stripped off
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Teaspoon Salt, or more to taste
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1 quart (4 cups) water
1 cup cream

1. Put your soup pot on the burner and turn it to medium, add butter and when the butter is melted, add leeks, onions, garlic, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and some pepper. Saute on medium heat until leeks are translucent, about 15 minutes.
2. Add cooking sherry and let cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Add potatoes, water and stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for roughly 45 minutes, until the potatoes are soft enough to break apart with a nudge. Adjust for salt and pepper
4.Using a handheld mixer on low speed, or (once it's cooled down enough to handle) a food processor, puree the soup. If you'd rather go low-tech you can also force it through a fine mesh sieve instead. Add the cream, stir to incorporate and serve, garnished with a tiny pinch of thyme leaves.*

*Cook's note: I prefer mine not to be pureed, since I love the mouthfeel of the occasional soft potato and silky leek. For presentation's sake, you should know that if you choose not to puree your soup you may want to leave out the cream (this was my mother's method, growing up), as it will separate and look strange; however, it will still taste delicious, particularly if you stir the soup up before portioning it out. That being said the dill creme fraiche is quite strange as a condiment in non-pureed soup.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I welcome your feedback!

Curried Chickpeas with Roasted Cauliflower

One of the things I love about Indian food is that its recipes are especially adept at packing a lot of harmonious flavors into a single, stunning dish. It's a akin to a song, with all its notes and harmonies; better yet a Jazz quartet--without the distinctly sour taste of ground cardamom seeds to play off the spicy sweetness of the cloves and cinnamon, the fabulously subtle nuttiness of creamy chickpeas would be woefully underrepresented. After all, when was the last time you went to see a Jazz quartet whose fourth couldn't make it?



The sweet cabbage-y flavor of roasted cauliflower is not to be overlooked either, and it pairs well with the spices, garbanzos and clarified butter (which, I promise, is way easier to make than it sounds and is actually a great way to get that butter flavor without having to worry about burning it). I love this dish because it is easy to make with ingredients from your pantry plus a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the fresh ingredients. If you want curried chickpeas in a pinch, all you have to do is sub out the cauliflower for an extra can of chickpeas. This dish tastes best with long grain white rice, such as Jasmine. I make 2 cups for this amount of food, cooked according to package directions.

Initially, any home made curry can seem like an expensive dish to make, but once you have amassed a store of each spice you will find that they last for long periods of time and are a great way to quickly jazz up anything from meat, fish and poultry to veggies--even coffee. I once had an incredibly knowledgeable chef/foodie roommate who liked to put ground Cardamom in her turkish coffee pot when brewing her coffee; even though its main taste is a refreshing sourness, it served to mellow out the acidity in the coffee itself and was quite delicious. The dried spices you will need to assemble a garam masala are ground cumin, chili powder, coriander, cardamom, whole cloves, black peppercorns and cinnamon sticks. You will need to have fresh ginger root and garlic on hand, as well. It is well worth it to get to know the ways in which these spices work in your curries, so that you can create different proportions to compliment the different main ingredients of your dishes.

Curried Chickpeas with Roasted Cauliflower
Serves 2 - 4



For the curry:
1/2 cinnamon stick
8 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 - 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated (roughly a thumb sized piece)
2 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Teaspoons of chili powder (or more, if you like it beyond medium spicy)
2 garlic cloves, put through a press or minced
1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom
6 black peppercorns
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) clarified butter (melt and pour through a fine mesh sieve)
1/2 c. + 1 Tablespoon water (9 Tbl. in all)

For the roasted cauliflower:
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to brush the florets all over, about 3 Teaspoons)
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
salt, to taste

Other ingredients:
1 can of tomatoes, diced (I got mine fire roasted with chilies from Trader Joe's, but anything without basil or other Italian spices is fine)
1 can of Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, julienned
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. minced coriander leaves (about 1/4 - 1/3 of a bunch)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower in olive oil and rub with spices. Sprinkle with salt and lay out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake cauliflower for 25 minutes.
2. Melt butter and pour through sieve to clarify and remove whey. Add butter and onions to pan and cook on medium-low until translucent (about 5 or so minutes).
3. Add all curry spices and, if the onions have soaked up all the clarified butter and left you with a spice paste at the bottom of the pan, simmer in water, 3 tablespoons at a time, adding more water when it has cooked into the spices somewhat and made a gravy. Cook on medium high heat for about ten minutes.
4. Mix in chickpeas and another 3 Tablespoons of water and cook on high for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add another 2 Tablespoons of water and cook for another 4 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, 1/4 c. water and the roast cauliflower. Cook on medium-high another 5 or so minutes to marry the flavors.
6. Toss in all but a pinch of the chopped coriander leaves, mix together and take off the heat.
7. Garnish with remaining chopped coriander leaves and serve over or with rice.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I welcome your feedback!

Introductory Post and Ginger Soy Sauce Tempeh with Kale

Welcome, welcome to my kitchen! First, a little bit about me: I've been cooking since I was little--more than 20 years now! I've written step-by-step entertaining menus for the instructional website instructibles.com. I've competed in cooking contests and more recently auditioned for season 3 of Masterchef (I promise I'll publish the full menu + recipes for my audition dish in a later post).

The other half of my kitchen team, my amazing food photographer, is Josh, my domicile-sharing boyfriend. He is also my taste tester and advice giver; I've come to rely on his sophisticated and talented palate. My cooking has been inspired by the cuisine of many different countries; I like to think I am tasting the world.

If I had any rules I play by in the kitchen, it would come down to one: fresh, locally-sourced ingredients make the best dishes, by far. We eat mostly vegetarian--though there will be meat dishes aplenty on this blog--but when we do eat meat I try to go for livestock that was raised free range, without antibiotics in their feed, and butchered cleanly and humanely. Obviously organic is better, when possible, but to me the importance of well-sourced meat and other ingredients cannot be overstated.

Introductions having been made, on to first post-y goodness!

The holidays season is upon us, bringing with it an abundance of rich foods, both sweet and savory. To alleviate some of my holiday guilt I am trying to make lower cal healthy dishes this week. Lately I've been craving Tempeh and Kale with rice; growing up as I did in Woodstock, it is considered something of a comfort food dish. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Tempeh is a delicious soy protein cake made from soy and other whole grains fermented together. It is nutty, very dense and quite dry, which can make it difficult to work with. In this recipe I use a broth of soy sauce, ginger and water to soften the cubed tempeh and inject it with some extra flavor.

I had some amazing pickled ginger left over from my Masterchef auditions recently and because I was out of fresh ginger, I decided to mince it and use it in place of fresh ginger (I really don't recommend dried powdered ginger, since it loses a lot of its flavor when dehydrated). The ginger is different from sushi ginger, in that it's julienned instead of thinly sliced from the natural shape of the ginger root and used as a condiment in yakisoba dishes; it's also a bit more acidic and saltier, and when made at home it gets a lovely deep red color from the addition of Shiso leaves. I was very happy with the small amount of zing it imparted to the Tempeh in my dish, although I'm sure fresh ginger would be just as fabulous.

I make two cups of rice to go with this recipe. I recommend any long grain brown rice, cooked according to the package directions. You'll want to put that up at the same time as you start the tempeh, since rice takes a minimum of 20 minutes to cook.

Ginger Soy Sauce Tempeh with Kale
Serves 2 - 4



1 1 lb block of tempeh, cut into bite sized cubes
2 - 3 cups of kale, washed and chopped roughly
3/4 Cups water or Mushroom stock (how-to to follow in a later post about kitchen staples) + 1/4 cup water to steam kale
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce, regular or low sodium
1 medium, or 2 small onions, julienned
2-3 medium cloves of garlic, minced or pushed through a press
1 Teaspoon minced pickled ginger or fresh grated ginger, or more to taste
1/2 Teaspoon of Toasted Sesame Oil
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sesame seeds, for garnish
1. Combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 3/4 cups water or stock, sesame oil and 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil in a large saucepan on low heat. Toss in tempeh and stir to coat. Bring heat up to a simmer and cover pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
2. Add Kale, onions, 1/4 cup water, remaining 2 Tablespoons olive oil and either a splash of soy sauce (the tempeh will have already absorbed all of the moisture and liquid flavoring) or a small dash of salt and turn heat up to medium. Cover again and cook on medium, stirring every 2 -3 minutes for 15 - 17 minutes, or until kale is cooked to desired tenderness.
3. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve over rice.


I hope you enjoy this recipe and I welcome your feedback!