Restaurant Widow

Thai Red Curry with Chicken Thighs, Sweet Potatoes and Fresh Bamboo Shoots

I still remember the very moment I had my first Thai red curry. It was at Thai Orchid in Dublin, and the world stood still as I tasted Holy Basil for the first time. I flagged down our waitress and said "what is this?!" It was like nothing I had ever tasted - a green flavor similar to basil but with giant hits of mint, and licorice (don't let that scare you); it was so foreign and amazing to my palate.  I also became hooked on the Thai style of curry - tamed with coconut milk and sugar, and I've worked hard on my own red curry dishes. I still use the paste, but one day soon, I'lll make my own from scratch.

I love to make my Thai curries really spicy with lots of coconut and palm sugar and fish sauce. I have no idea if this is authentic in any way, because I have not yet had the opportunity to travel to Thailand, but I base this on my personal tastes and how I have developed my method.

I love the smells of Thai curry - the jasmine rice, the lemongrass and ginger and lime leaves and basil - not to mention the curry paste and the coconut milk. It's a sensory experience whose spicy sweetness beckons you to eat!

Jasmine rice is the basic rice of Thai cooking; it is a long-grained rice which is very aromatic; it almost has a buttered-popcorn-like aroma. I recommend that you always buy rice as Asian Markets.  The turnover of product is extremely high and the rice is always better. In fact, I would buy all of your ingredients at an Asian grocery store the day you are going to cook it.  Frequently the produce is remarkably less expensive - probably because the Asian population shops on a more daily basis, so the produce doesn't have to last for weeks in the grocery store.  I purchased a 5 pound bag of Jasmine rice at Crestview Market (repackaged by the store, from larger bags) for something like $4, and it was very fresh smelling, fragrant, and cooked up nicely. 

Lemongrass is a tough stalk with an intensely lemony-citrus flavor.  Lemongrass is usually placed in the pot whole after being whacked a few times with the dull side of a knife to release the oils and flavor.  It is really too tough to chew, so I just throw it in and eat around it.

Lime leaves can be found at many Asian markets - usually in the freezer.  Lime leaves are also tough and aren't really eaten as much as they are used for flavor. Break a leaf apart, close your eyes, and inhale. Lime leaves are pretty amazing.

Bamboo shoots are just that - the emerging shoots of certain  older bamboo plants. The canned ones are simply horrible, taste metallic, and should be avoided at all costs. Vacuum-packed varieties are okay, but the fresh one was so easy that I highly recommend trying them.  I used this method from Just Hungry and it worked perfectly.  I couldn't believe how flavorful the bamboo shoots were.  They tasted like the corniest sweet corn you can imagine. Like if you could eat a corn cob. They add a nice crunchy texture to the curry.

Chicken thighs are a tasty alternative to chicken breasts.  I don't really like chicken breast, because I prefer dark meat. Personally I think the only benefit to chicken breast is their slicability. At any rate, chicken thighs are much cheaper than breast.  Even better - buy a whole chicken and chop it up.  I would leave the skin on, even if you aren't planning to eat it.  It just seems to keep the meat within moister.

Palm sugar (sometimes called coconut sugar) is derived from palm sap and is sold in little buckets (which are hard to use, because they are rock hard) and discs (2 ounce and 1 tbsp, that I've found).  You can see a picture of some cakes here. I love palm sugar because it has a unique rich flavor and is more complex than typical Western sugar.  I found the larger cakes (in a bag) at Crestview Asian Market in Clintonville (High @ Crestview), and the smaller ones at the Asian Grocery across from Whole Foods in Dublin, where they come in a 4 cup plastic jar.

Aside from the rice, this is a one-pot meal, and although I haven't personally tried it, you could probably make it in a slow cooker. If you did that, I might add the sweet potatoes halfway through or leave them whole so that they don't get mushy.

Thai Red Curry with Chicken Thighs, Sweet Potatoes, and Fresh Bamboo - serves 4ish, about 1/2 hour to make, depending on your knife skills.

olive oil

8 chicken thighs (I used boneless, but you could use bone-in)

1 medium onion, cut into 1" slices

8 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts separated from green parts

3 14 ounce cans of coconut milk 

14 ounces water (just fill the empty coconut milk can)

Thai red curry paste 

1/2 cup palm sugar, or 2 2oz discs, or 1/2 cup brown sugar

handful Holy/Thai Basil, also just called plain old basil at many Asian groceries
4 lime leaves, broken into 1/4ths

1 stalk lemongrass, beaten a few times with the dull side of a knife

a 2" piece of ginger, peeled and cut into 2 large chunks

10 dashes fish sauce (maybe a teaspoon)

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large yet bite-sized chunks

2 large bamboo shoots, cooked in rice-rinsing water and 2 dried chilis, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/2" slices.

extra basil for garnishing, cut into slivers

Hot Jasmine rice, 2 cups dry, rinsed and cooked according to package directions

Heat a large dutch oven over high heat and cover the bottom lightly with olive oil or coconut oil.  Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and carefully place them - skin side down - in the hot oil to brown.  Don't crowd the pan - you might have to do this in 2 batches.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until they release easily, the turn and cook one more minute.  Remove the chicken breasts to a plate and set aside.

Turn the heat to medium and add the onions and the white parts of the scallions. Cook for about 4 minutes or until they begin to become translucent and then turn the heat to high.  Allow the onions to brown very lightly and then deglaze the pan with two cans of coconut milk and the water.  Bring the mixture to a boil and add the curry paste - begin with 1/4 of a cup; you'll adjust it as needed.  Stir to be sure the curry paste melts into the coconut milk.  Add the palm sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves, basil, fish sauce, and ginger.  Stir everything together and allow it to simmer for a minute or 2, breaking up the cakes of palm sugar with a wooden spoon.  Taste this mixture for heat level.  It should be a little spicier than you'd like the end result to be.  Add the sweet potatoes.

Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, and then add the chicken, along with the 3rd can of coconut milk.  Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the sweet potatoes are soft.  Add the bamboo shoots and stir until everything is hot.  If the curry is too thick for your tastes - I like it to be soup-like without being thin - add water until it is at the desired consistency and bring back to a boil.  Taste to adjust seasoning.

Serve over hot jasmine rice, garnished with the extra basil and the green parts of the scallions. To allow for different heat preferences, serve with sriracha (chili/rooster sauce) and garlic chili paste (you'll find it in the store right next to the sriracha).

I love chicken skin and prefer it crispy, so before I served my portion, I placed the thighs, skin-side down, in a hot nonstick pan and allowed them to burn before being eaten.

Thurns Ham Salad

I know ham salad sounds so quaint and retro - I have visions of ham salad on toast points, perhaps with a pimento-stuffed green olive garnishing the top, at a party in the 50s.  But the other day while I was shopping at Thurns, a man came in and said his family had recently developed an addiction to the ham salad, and so I thought "maybe I should get some, too." So, forget everything you know about ham salad, because this is Thurns we're talking about, and they wouldn't do anything without making it amazing, even ham salad.

I'm putting up this weird recipe and picture to prove that a) the options at Thurns are endless and b) I will put a fried egg on anything.  I had this idea yesterday, and Husband and I ate these open-faced sandwiches and both came to the conclusion later on that what they needed were some raw onions.  So today, when I made one for myself for lunch, I added the raw onion and then went to a meeting where even brushing my teeth twice and 5 Altoids probably didn't save me from reeking of said raw onions (sorry)...

This ham salad is really, really rich - just as with lots of things at Thurns, meaning they always do well with a nice acidic counterpoint such as pickles, onions, Dijon mustard, you get the idea.  It is also really nice and smoky and generally really tasty.  You should try it.

Here's the sandwich: toast 2 slices of bread.  Slather one with really good Dijon mustard (Fallot is my mustard of choice, best price locally is the Anderson's general store) and spread with ham salad.  Top with slices of raw onion (if you use a sweet local onion, you probably won't breathe onion breath all over your coworkers/loved ones/etc) and top that with fried eggs.  Top the other piece of toast with butter (preferably homemade) and use to sop up any runny yolks.  Sprinkle over some freshly cracked pepper.  You should probably not talk about this sandwich with your cardiologist.

Two Easy Recipes Using Northridge Organics' Lamb Chorizo

The older I get, the more I use meat more for a flavoring agent than the main attraction.  Bacon & Sausage are perfect for this usage - bacon, because it's the most delicious of the meats, and sausage because it's already seasoned, so you can brown it and add practically anything to it and be lazy, not even adding other seasonings.

While it's true that sausage is fatty, consider how little you have to use to really pack a wallop of flavor - you can stretch one link of Italian sausage to serve 2-4 people, and end up with a meal with far less fat than if you used meat as the main component of the meal.  And you'll end up with something far more tasty and good-for-you than if you would have used say, a chicken breast, which is the least flavorful of the meats.

One of my favorite things at the market is Northridge Organics' lamb products (Worthington Farmer's Market), especially the lamb chorizo.  Lamb is fantastically suited to being made into chorizo, since its strong flavor is a good match for chorizo spices. 

These recipes are pretty fast & easy, and can be made even easier by using a few shortcuts from Trader Joe's, a few lazy shortcuts which are favorites of mine.  Trader Joe's sells boil-in-the-bag black "beluga" lentils and brown rice.  Since brown rice takes forever to cook, this shortcut is a favorite of mine, and I love black lentils so much, and they are so easy - Husband and I love them when we are tired and getting home from work.  Just boil them in the bag, top with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprinkling of feta cheese, and you have a nearly instant dinner.  I also used Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper & Eggplant bruschetta topper instead of roasting my own red peppers.  Because sometimes we need a shortcut!

Lamb Ratatouille - serves 2 (yes, I know it isn't real ratatouille, there are no tomatoes. sue me)

olive oil
1 link lamb chorizo, or another soft sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium-sized eggplant, peeled (if desired) and cut into 1/2" cubes, tossed with 1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine (if desired; all stock can be used)
1 cup chicken stock
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2" cubes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Roasted red pepper bruschetta topping (or 3 roasted red peppers, chopped finely)

In a large skillet, heat a tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble it into the pan.  Break it up with a wooden spoon and brown until cooked through, then add the onions.  Saute the onions for about 2 minutes and then add the eggplant.  Toss everything and allow the eggplant to brown slightly, then add the wine.  Cook until the wine is cooked out, about 3 minutes, and then add 1/4 cup chicken stock.  When the chicken stock has cooked out, add the zucchini.  Stir everything together and season with salt and pepper.  Add another 1/4 cup chicken stock and cook it out and continue with the remaining stock.  Cook until the eggplant is cooked to desired texture.  Stir in the red pepper bruschetta topping, stirring until it is hot.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Lamb Chorizo with Brown Rice & Black Lentils - serves 2

olive oil
1 link lamb chorizo or another soft sausage
1 package Trader Joe's brown rice, cooked in bag or 1 1/2 cup cooked, cold rice I used leftover brown rice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 package Trader Joe's black lentils, boiled in the bag (or 1 cup black lentils, cooked in plenty of boiling water and drained)
salt & pepper
10 dashes Tabasco, or to taste
2 tbsp feta (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble into the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Add the cold rice and stir everything together.  Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock and cook until it has almost completely cooked down, and then add the lentils and stir everything together.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco.  Serve hot or at room temperature with a little feat sprinkled over, if desired.

Hint - these two recipes are very tasty when combined!

Perfect Spring Lunch - Ponzu Marinated Salmon with Rice, Homemade Pickles and Pea Shoots

Pea shoots are really delicious.  I received some in my Elizabeth Telling CSA this past week, and the lady in line next to me said she loves them in salads, so I chose to use them as a crunchy garnish to this lunch; the taste very fresh and green, screaming Spring in a surprisingly subtle way (yes, I know, too much alliteration in an oxymoronic sentence. sue me).  Aside from being an adorable garish, there is the occasional tiny pea amongst the shoots - like half a centimeter tiny.  Very cute.

I bought a small, inexpensive Japanese pickle pot the other day, so of course I immediately set about making some very simple Japanese pickles (read: radishes and salt).  But you can buy really good premade Japanese-style pickles at Tensuke or other Asian grocer stores.  I am particularly fond of the bright yellow turnip pickles (in the refrigerated case).

This lunch is beautiful and comes together in the time it takes the rice to cook (30 minutes).

Ponzu is a marinade made from soy sauce and citrus juice.  You can buy it already made, or you can make it yourself my mixing equal parts soy sauce and lemon or lime juice.  I like to put it in a squeeze bottle so that you can squeeze it over the salmon under the broiler.

This far-too-simple-to-win-anything is going to be entered in Marx Foods' Summer of Salmon contest, which they invited me and all of my readers to join.  Click here for more information.  The deadline is Friday.  The winning recipe wins 15 pounds of different kinds of wild salmon!  YUM!  And nice, since wild salmon is amazingly expensive this year due to a lot of the salmon runs being closed. 

Ponzu-Basted Salmon with Seasoned Rice, Homemade Radish Pickles and Fresh Spring Pea Shoots - serves 2

For the Rice
1 1/2 cup short grain Japanese Rice
2 1/4 cups water
3 ounces rice vinegar
2 ounces sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black sesame seeds

Place the rice and water in a small pan and bring to a boil.  Stir the rice and reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes, then turn the heat off and allow to sit, covered for 10 more minutes.  Combine the vinegar, sugar and salt and stir together; set aside for a few minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve.  Pour it over the rice and toss with a fork.  Place rice into bowls and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

For the Salmon
2 5 ounce pieces of wild salmon, skin attached
1/2 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned, please)
salt
1/2 cup ponzu (see above)

Preheat the broiler.  About 15 minutes before you are ready to grill, place the salmon in a plastic bag and pour the rice vinegar over; this is optional but begins the cooking process with acid, and I think it leads to a very mellow-tasting and tender finished product).  Place the salmon in a flame-proof, shallow baking sheet, skin side up.  Douse with a little ponzu and sprinkle with salt.  Broil for about 7 minutes, basting continuously with the ponzu sauce.  Serve on the seasoned rice.

Tear the pea shoots into 1-2" pieces and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil (I realize this is completely un-Japanese, but it how I rolls) and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of kosher salt.  Place on top of the salmon, along with a few pickled vegetables, such as radishes or turnips.

Tempeh with Chinese Broccoli & Mushrooms

At the North Market yesterday, I was talked into buying some homemade tempeh at Toad Hill Farms.  As I mentioned in my Market Report, I had been wanting to buy this tempeh since a few readers mentioned they had tried it last year, and asked if I had any thoughts about what to do with it.

Tempeh is a soybean-based meat replacement which, unlike tofu, is a complete protein due to the fermentation process.  The soybeans are partially cooked and then innoculated with a friendly mold.  After 24 hours or so, voila!  The soybeans have formed themselves, along with the bloomy mold, into a cake which can be sliced, crumbled or grated and cooked in whatever manner strikes your fancy.  Tempeh has a mild, nutty flavor with a slight fermented taste on the finish. 

Tempeh is available in many larger supermarkets, certainly at health food stores, and at Asian groceries.  And of course, you can buy homemade Tempeh on Saturday mornings at Toad Hill Farms at the North Market.

If you are afraid of tempeh, but still want to try it, you might want to replace the black bean paste in this recipe with something more mild and sweet, such as hoisin.  Since black bean paste is also fermented, it enhances the fermented flavor of the tempeh.

This recipe is really good for you, provides complete proteins, is vegetarian - actually, vegan even, now I think of it, although that is by pure accident, I can assure you.  But eating it did inspire me for another vegan recipe, which maybe I'll share if I can work it out.

Tempeh with Chinese Broccoli & Mushrooms - serves 2-4, takes about 20 minutes

1 block (12 ounces) tempeh, cut into 3/4" cubes
salt
2 tbsp black bean paste (or hoisin)
1 tbsp chili paste (sambal)
1 tbsp rice vinegar (unsweetened)
1 tbsp, plus more, light soy sauce
1 tbsp neutrally flavored oil, such as soybean or corn oil
1 red onion, halved and cut into half moons
1 large bunch (about 6-8 ounces) Chinese broccoli (kai lan), washed in several changes of water
8 ounces flavorful mushrooms, such as shitake or crimini, cut into 1/2" cubes
freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Place the tempeh in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, cover with water and set aside (this is an optional step, but  helps to neutralize any acidic flavors in the tempeh) for about 5 minutes, then drain and place it back in a bowl.  Cover with 1 tbsp of soy sauce and leave to mingle. 

Stir together the black bean paste, chili paste, rice vinegar, and soy sauce and set aside.

Cut any thick stems from the Chinese broccoli into 1" pieces.

Heat a wok over high heat until it begins to smoke and remove from heat.  Add about 1 tbsp oil to the wok and swirl.  Wipe the entire wok with paper towels, wiping out any additional oil, and return the wok to medium high heat.  Add the onions and the Chinese broccoli stems.  Stir fry until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and tempeh; add the black bean sauce and toss to cover everything.  Cover until the mushrooms are almost completely cooked and then add the leafy parts of the Chinese broccoli.  Sprinkle with black pepper, and stir with tongs until the greens have wilted and everything is coated with sauce.  Turn the heat off and add the sesame oil, then toss to combine. 

Serve with rice!

New Year's Eating - Hoppin' John & Pork Shoulder with Sauerkraut and Beer

Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder & Hoppin' John::here's to the New Year!

*sigh of relief*

The holidays are finally over.  It's finally the new year.  I thought about doing a recap, a redux of the year, review of my least and most favorites, resolutions, and all of that good stuff.  But instead, I decided to just give you my 2 favorite New Year's recipes.  I promise they will give you the energy to start a new year.  Special thanks to Chef Chef for teaching me to appreciate Hoppin' John and giving me guidance for making it, a few years ago.

First up, the pork shoulder.  This recipe could not be easier - seriously.  Last year, before my slow cooker exploded (not literally, it just burned a slow death on this very day), I put the whole mess in the slow cooker before going to work and then, when Husband and I arrived home after our long nights at work, the entire house was full of the smell of pork.  Unfortunately, I don't like to leave my gas oven running while I'm at work for 10 hours, so I had to make it overnight.  And, at about 5am, the amazing smell of yummy pork actually woke me up.

New Year's Day Pork & Kraut - serves however many you'd like.  Husband and I like to leave it on the "keep warm" setting of the oven and pick at it all day, and then have leftovers.  I'd say this serves about 6.

7 pound piece of bone-in pork shoulder, aka pork butt
salt & pepper
2 28 oz jars sauerkraut
5 whole allspice berries
1 tsp fennel seeds
1" stick cinnamon
5 whole cloves
2 (12 ounce) bottles of beer, preferably not a lite beer, but something fuller bodied - I used Columbus Brewing Company's Ohio Honey Wheat

Place the pork butt in a large Dutch oven or stock pot (mine fit in my trusty All Clad 8 quart stock pot) and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Turn it so that the fat side is up - my theory is that the fat will melt down over the pork and keep it delicious.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but I've always done it that way.  Dump the sauerkraut over - including the juices, add in the seasonings and the beer - the pork should be almost covered in liquid, and covered with the kraut.  Cover the pot.  Place in the oven and set the heat for 275 degrees - think low and slow.  The pork should be done in about 7-8 hours, but you can pretty much leave it in for up to 10 hours without harm.  Alternatively, you can cook it in a slow cooker set on low heat for about the same amount of time.  You can pretty much tell the pork is done when you prod it with tongs and the meat just falls off.  Serve hot with a good amount of sauerkraut on top.  This recipe is also really good with the addition of a great knackwurst (slice them up and you only need about 1/2 per person when you have all of that pork butt).  Alas, I didn't make it to Thurn's in time this past Saturday.

You might notice I did not brown the meat - you are certainly welcome to do so, but I am usually making this dish in a bad mood (ie, having to go to work on NYE), so I like to keep it criminally easy, and it's so delicious, there's no reason to stress out about it.  It should be easy, especially if you have *ahem* indulged the night before.  I'm just nursing my sore knees and feet.

Hoppin' John is a Southern tradition that I had never heard of until my previous restaurant job, where Chef taught me to love it and the basic principles of making it.  More than a sum of its parts, Hoppin' John is cheap and nutritious, and tasty to boot.  Basically, it is black eye peas and rice, with bell peppers and bacon.  A good dose of Tabasco when eating never hurt anyone, either. A lot of people are scared of black eye peas, for some reason, but they are really good.  They have a rich, full flavor - almost a little smoky, which makes them perfect with another delicious pork product - bacon!  The story is, one should eat Hoppin' John & collard greens on New Year's day to bring prosperity in the coming year - the black eye peas are for coins, and the collards are for dollar bills.  Alas, when I was doing my shopping (stupidly, last-minute) at Weiland's, and they didn't have any kind of fresh braising greens, so I guess Husband and I will only have lots of coins this year.  Sounds about right.  This recipe is just a guideline - you can adjust it however you'd like after you make this basic version the first time.

Hoppin' John - serves about 6

6 nice thick strips of bacon, cut into 4 strips lengthwise, and then into 1/4" dice
1 medium red onion, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 green bell pepper, small dice
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, mashed in garlic press
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
2 cans black eye peas, drained and rinsed
3 cups chicken stock (homemade, of course) or water, plus a little more if needed
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp butter
Lots of Tabasco, to serve

Render the bacon over medium-high heat until it is nicely browned and crisp.  Drain about half of the fat off.  Leaving the bacon in the pan, add the onions and cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes, then add the pepper.  Cook a few more minutes, until the peppers begin to soften, and then add the garlic and the red pepper flakes.  Add the rice and stir everything to coat nicely.  Add the peas.  Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot; simmer for 20 minutes, checking after 15, just to make sure you don't need anymore stock or water.  After 20 minutes, lower the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes.  The stock should be absorbed and the rice soft.  The taste actually improves after sitting for another 10 minutes or so on low heat, just letting the flavors meld together.  Taste to check seasoning - because bacon can be very salty, I usually don't add salt at the beginning of the cooking process as I typically would when cooking rice (or any starch, really) - and add salt and pepper as needed.  Stir in the butter.  Turn the heat off and place in bowls with Tabasco on the side. 

Serve with the bottle of Egly you brought home from work and didn't have the energy to drink.

Here's to a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

Sausage & Grapes with Braised and Fresh Fennel, Autumn 2007 Edition

It's early fall, and it's grape season.  Here at Chez Widow, that means it's time for sausage and grapes.  I've written about sausage and grapes before, of course, a seasonal dish traditionally fed to hungry grape harvesters in Italy.  Those of you who came to my cooking demo at the North Market got to see a simple version of this recipe; hopefully you can see from the picture how this is supposed to look when one has adequate heat with which to cook! 

The inspiration for this interpretation came last week, when Husband and I were leaving the house and he paused to pick a few fennel flowers from our "garden." (In quotes because we didn't plant anything this year, it's just whatever made it from last year: fennel, dill, oregano, sage, and thyme.)  The fennel flowers were filled with a nectar-y, persistent sweet fennel flavor; it was amazing.  We started thinking of how we might use this bounty, and decided on one of our fall favorites, sausage and grapes.  Sadly, by the time we finally got to make the dish, the flowers had fallen!  Ah well, there's always next year, right?

This dish is hearty, sweet, and comforting.  We pair it with polenta; in this case, I made a creamy polenta (5 cups water to one cup of cornmeal) and stirred in a few tablespoons of butter and a little freshly grated Parmesan.

Sausage & Grapes with Braised and Fresh Fennel - Serves 4

4 fennel bulbs, trimmed of any brown bits.  Quarter 3 bulbs, and shave the fourth bulb with a mandoline or a ceramic slicer
pinch of white sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar, divided
olive oil
4 hot or sweet Italian Sausages (preferably flavored with fennel)
2 pounds grapes; I like big fat Muscadine grapes, or another interesting fat grape, halved and pips removed
1/2 bottle red wine
pinch fennel seeds
2 tbsp brown sugar
extra virgin olive oil
salt

Place about half an inch of water in a large saute pan and add the fennel.  Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and 1/2 tbsp of the rice vinegar.  Heat over medium high heat until the water has evaporated, stirring or tossing to ensure even cooking.  Remove the fennel from the pan and set aside.

Heat the same saute pan over high heat, drizzling in a tbsp of olive oil.  Brown the sausages on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.  There will be smoke!  When the sausages are brown, tip in about 3/4 of the grapes.  Deglaze the pan with half of the wine (about 1 cup) and add the fennel back to the pan.  Add the sugar and fennel seeds. Cook over medium high heat, keeping a watchful eye on things and tossing the pan every now and again, for about 20 minutes, adding more wine when necessary to keep the pan from drying out or burning.  The grapes will cook down to a syrupy consistency, coating the sausages in their tart sweetness.  When this happens, add the remaining grapes and toss just to heat them through; you don't have to do this, but I like a combination of melty and firm grapes.

Place the reserved shaved fennel in a little bowl and toss with the remaining rice vinegar and a little drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt.

Place a little polenta on a plate and add a sausage.  Spoon over a good amount of grapes, fennel and sauce.  Top with a little bit of the raw fennel salad and serve with some sort of hearty red wine.  (We opted for Aglianico).

Local Sources for this recipe: these hot Italian sausage links came from Oink Moo Cluck at the Worthington Farmer's Market (they also sell at Clintonville); the fennel came from Sippel Farm at Clintonville (and they also sell at Worthington, most Saturdays).  Grapes are available at lots of farm markets this time of year, although I will admit that I purchased these Muscadine grapes from Whole Foods.

Sauteed Walleye with Spicy Sweet Corn

I love walleye.  One of things I enjoyed when I worked in a restaurant which had it on the menu was serving it to surprised out-of-towners.  You see, walleye is really a northern, Great Lake State sort of thing.  Wildly popular around the lakes, walleye remains virtually unheard-of in the south.  Walleye is one of the few fish you can actually purchase locally which is fresh.  By fresh, I mean never frozen - this is sometimes referred to as "day boat," ie the fish is caught on a boat and sold the same day.  On larger bodies of water, the boat might go out for weeks at a time; fish caught in these conditions is always frozen, no matter what the sign says when you purchase it.  Walleye is most prevalent in the spring and fall; it can be found in the summer months as well, although, as with this walleye I purchased at Weiland's, it was caught in the colder Canadian waters.  Walleye prefer cold water, and when the top thermocline of water becomes too warm in the summertime, they will drop down to cooler waters, making them a little tricky to catch.

The walleye fillet is shaped like a large, thin mitten.  Because of its shape, it is a little difficult for your fishmonger to separate into smaller fillets.  Be prepared to purchase the entire fillet (around 8 ounces).  Fortunately, one fillet is usually enough to feed 2 people if you have lots of other things to go along.  If you are heavier eaters (1/2 of a fillet would never feed Husband), you might want to get 2 fillets.  Leftovers can be used the next day in a nice spicy stew or curry.

The walleye fillet is almost too long to be cooked in one pan without being cut, unless you have a really big pan or are going to bake it in a baking dish.  I like to cut off the "thumb" of the fillet, then cut the main part of the fillet into 3 parts.  The reason for this is that the fillet has varying thicknesses; the wrist end of the mitten is thicker than the finger end.  I like to start cooking the thicker part of the fillet first, and then add the thin end.  Walleye is a firm yet flaky white fish, mild and sweet, it's the perfect "starter" fish - both for those wary of seafood and those wary of cooking it for the first time.  It is really easy to cook, and its moist and tender flesh cooks quickly without overcooking super fast.  The fillets don't fall apart the way some flaky white fishes do, maddening the cook. 

I really think the only way to cook fish without losing your patience is to use a nonstick pan.  I like to use an oven-proof saute pan, so that I can start the fish on the stovetop and finish it in the oven, the same method used in restaurant kitchens.  That being said, if you don't want to heat up the kitchen in this heat, you don't have to.  I'll give you two options in the recipe section of the post.  Like many other delicate white fish, walleye lends itself to frying - whether beer battered, dipped into tempura batter, baked, or cornmeal dusted and then shallow fried - I've also had luck crusting it with panko - but I wanted to keep things like and healthy for this dish.  Just a little salt and pepper and a quick saute with a touch of cooking spray and a squeeze of lemon.  Do I even have to say it?  The best ingredients, blah blah blah.

I think a lot of people are afraid to cook fish - you needn't be, it is very easy.  Because most fish - especially these white flaky fishes - cook in a flash, I recommend you cook all of your side dishes first, set the table, pour the wine, and then get the fish going.  If you are new to cooking fish, here's a little trick which is perfect with walleye; cook the little thumb of the fillet as a tester, that way you'll know exactly what you are doing when cooking for your friends, family, or self.

The recipe I used for the corn saute is very similar to this one; I used newly-arrived-at-the-market poblano peppers and a good dose of cayenne pepper.  Walleye and sweet corn go really well together, and the side dish completely eliminates the need for a sauce.  However, I will give instructions for making a pan sauce a la minute at the end of the recipe.

Sauteed Walleye - serves 1-2

Cooking Spray
1 Walleye fillet, cut into 4 pieces - see above
Salt
Pepper
Lemons
White wine (optional)
butter (optional)

Drizzle the walleye pieces with juice of 1/2 of a lemon, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray the pan well with cooking spray.  Carefully add the thicker walleye fillets and do not move them!  Cook for 3 minutes and then turn them over - if they don't readily move, they aren't ready to be turned yet.  When you turn the thick fillets, add the thin fillets.  Cook 3 minutes and turn the thin fillets, then move the fish to the oven to finish cooking for about 5 minutes; if you don't want the kitchen all hot, you can turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid.  A few of the flakes in walleye will spread apart when it is cooking.  The fish is done when you can look into the cracks between the flakes and there is no translucence.  Squeeze the other half of the lemon over, and sprinkle with a little more salt, if desired. The old adage that white fish is done when you can flake it off is incorrect - at that point it is overcooked.  Like anything, the fish will continue to cook after being removed from the heat.  It's better to undercook it and put it back into the oven for a minute or two then to overcook it right off the bat.  The fish needs only to be opaque throughout.  Walleye should have a large, silky, juicy flake with a sweet, delicious flavor.  A gift from nature for being a so-called "flyover" state with no ocean!

If you want to make a pan sauce: After you remove the fish from the pan, turn the heat up to high and deglaze with about 1/2 cup of white wine and reduce by half.  Squeeze in just a little more lemon juice (because the zing of the previous lemon juice will be lightened with cooking, and you want the acidity),  turn the heat to low, then add about half a stick of butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, and stir with a whisk.  You could even throw in a few capers.  Serve over the fish.

What to Do with Garlic Scapes?

I've been getting so many e-mails and search hits about what to do with garlic scapes, I thought a brief little post on ideas might be helpful.

First of all, what is a garlic scape?  It is the flowering portion of the a garlic plant; it is a very long and green stem, which is loopy in appearance and has a little bud on top.  The scape is discarded in order for the garlic bulb to grow properly, and until recently, the scape has been fed to the pigs or placed in the compost heap.  I've seen a lot of scapes at the markets this summer, and we will still have them for a week or so.  Garlic scapes have a mild garlicky flavor, almost reminiscent of roasted garlic in mellowness, but without the sugary taste.  Scapes have a texture similar to green beans, and they take a little cooking to soften up. 

My general rule is to cut the scapes into one inch batons and add them after the onions in a dish and before the mushrooms - just to say that the cooking time is somewhere in between the two.  I think you can put scapes into any dish where you would put garlic - although I view it just as another veggie, albeit a flavor-packed one.

• My personal favorite way to enjoy scapes is in stir fry (as pictured above, with broccoli, sugar snaps, plump early red onions and their stems) and leftover chicken, along with a good spoonful of garlic chili paste).  You can add them to practically any stir fry successfully - spicy or sweet.
• Scapes are also nice in pasta; I put them this week with hot Italian sausage, escarole, and green bell peppers.
• A lot of people make scape pesto, with scapes in place of basil.  This is a fine idea: personally, however, two suggestions when making pesto.  First of all, scapes can come out of the food processor a little stringy, so I like to cut them into 1/4" discs before blitzing.  Secondly, although they are mild, I still like to blanch the scapes for a minute and then shock them before making the pesto, just to ensure a mellow flavor.
• Toss the entire stem with a little olive oil and salt and throw on the grill.  Don't bother cutting them up, you can use a knife and fork.  They'll make a fun addition to the plate.
• Cut into 1/2" pieces and and add to soup.
• Cut into 1/2" pieces and blanch one minutes, shock, and then add to salads.
• Chop the scapes, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and top meat or chicken with them.
• Chop and saute until lightly browned with a few chopped onions, then make a frittata or omelet.

I hope I've given you a few ideas to use up those garlic scapes this year.  They are always available from Just This Farm and Elizabeth Telling at the North Market, and From My Garden at the Worthington Market (in the Graeter's parking lot).  Happy eating!!

Meet Your New Favorite Cut

We here at Chez Widow have a fondness for lesser cuts of meat - we tend to eschew that much-lauded tenderloin in favor of cuts with flavor.  Ask any chef what he'd like to remove from his menu, and chances are, it's the beef fillet.  Why?  It's the most boring cut on the cow.  I know, I know, you love fillet - it's so tender!  Yes, it is tender, and it has its place, I suppose, but the truth is, the very thing that people love about a fillet or tenderloin is the very thing keeping it from reaching its full meaty potential - fat, bones, and connective tissue.  The same is true in pork - in fact, it's even worse in pork, because for some reason, we have decided to breed all of the tasty fat out of pork - breed the fat out of pork!  Pork fat is the tastiest of all the fats!  I mean, schmaltz is good, too, but pork fat!  I just had lunch and still I'm dreaming of pork fat . . .

Fortunately, some farmers have seen this travesty and are starting to breed their pigs to be fat again.  Thanks for the fatty pigs!  Oh, have I digressed...

I don't remember why I picked up my first country style pork rib, what it was that made me want to make it for dinner (although just viewing that jewel-like pinky flesh quickens my heart) - I think it might have been some sort of delicious beef short rib I'd had recently - whatever it was, it was a really, really good idea.  Very similar to a short rib, the country pork rib is a meaty, fatty, connective tissue containing, braisable thing of beauty.  We've tried this cut with Thai red curry and pineapple - that was really good but not very photogenic - but here I've just done a traditional, American pot roast style here, served up with some pork-laden beans and greens.  It's the perfect comfort meal, full of rich and wholesome flavors.  Choose ribs with more reddish meat than pink - it's the red part which cooks to a meltingly tender, succulent mess of porky goodness.  Convinced?  Country pork ribs can be found (bone in) at Blues Creek Farms at the North Market, or (boneless) at Weiland's; both are superb.

For this recipe, I used what will probably be my last ramps of the year - and my best, lovingly (I'm sure) harvested for me by my CSA farmer, these were delightfully mild and crunchy.  I also used the cautiously harvested stinging nettles - my first stinging nettle experience.  They were really good, very similar to spinach but without that weird, mouth-drying spinach affect.  They are a little scary to prepare - brushing up against them will cause a reaction similar to a chemical burn, no fun (I dropped one on my toe without realizing and I kept wondering why it was burning!) This is my method for preparing the nettles: put gloves on.  Hold the nettles with tongs in one hand, and snip the leaves off with clean scissors, directly into the salad spinner.  Wash in a few changes of water.  The sting is, of course, neutralized with cooking. Yum!  I love eating dangerously!  Can't wait to try some more!

Braised Country Style Pork Ribs with Beans & Greens - Serves 2 hungry people, with leftovers

For the pork:
3-4 country style pork ribs, bone in or out, although I tend to prefer them with a bone
salt & pepper
1 onion, rough chop
4 medium carrots, rough chop, or a handful of leftover, dried-out baby carrots (I know, you don't want to throw them away)
1 rib celery, rough chop
5 cloves garlic, skins removed and just crushed a little with the flat side of a chef's knife
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cups red wine
1 large 28 can tomatoes, with their juice, no need to chop or anything
1 cups chicken stock

For the beans and greens:
1 link mild Italian sausage, or 4 slices bacon, chopped finely
olive oil
1 cup ramps, cleaned, blanched in salted water for 2 minutes
2 cans white beans or those fun enormous Italian "Gigante" beans
Lots of greens - I used a combination of nettles and spinach from my CSA along with 2 heads of escarole, chopped (you could also use tender kale or Swiss chard, although you might have to adjust cooking time; the greens I chose cook very quickly)
splash balsamic
good extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

For the pork: preheat your oven to 325.  Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Season the ribs all over with salt and pepper.  Place a small amount of oil in your pan and place the ribs in the pan, being careful you don't crowd them.  Brown the ribs on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.  The trick to searing is: do not move the meat!  It will let you know it's ready to be turned when you nudge it gently with tongs and it lets go of the pan.  When all of the meat is browned, remove it to a plate and add the onion, carrots and celery to the pan.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until the veggies are just beginning to brown.  Add the tomato paste and cook - it will stick to the brown bits on the bottom of the pan, but that's exactly what you want.  You want the tomato paste to turn completely brown.  When this happens, about 4 minutes or so, add the garlic, and then deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up all of the brown bits.  Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock.  Place the ribs back into the pan, nestling them down into the liquid.  Cover loosely with foil and place in the oven,  Cook for an hour, the turn the ribs over and cook another hour.  These ribs take about 2-3 hours to cook, depending on the beginning size.  They are done with they begin falling apart and off the bone.

When the ribs are done, remove them to a plate and strain the cooking liquid through a strainer - it doesn't have to be perfectly strained, a colander is fine.  Discard the solids and place the sauce and ribs back in the pan and keep warm until serving.  The liquid makes a nice thick sauce which doesn't need any sort of butter mounting or anything, it's rustic.

For the beans & greens:  Brown your sausage or bacon in a large saute pan until well browned.  Add the beans and toss to coat.  Remove from pan and add the ramps, toss until they begin to brown lightly.  Add a little olive oil to the pan, if necessary, then add the greens and saute.  When the greens are almost wilted, add the bean & sausage mixture back to the pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add a splash of balsamic vinegar (you're going to need the acidity) and stir.  Place a mound of beans on a plate and drizzle liberally with good extra virgin olive oil.  Place a rib on top of the beans and spoon a little sauce over.  There now, don't you feel better?