7.01.11: hummus and musings about time, cooking, and shopping.

Caramelized Onion Hummus

In the five and a half years I’ve lived in Connecticut and New York, I’ve been fortunate to be within easy walking distance to gourmet shops that stocked most of the basics we might need for a weeknight meal–in New Haven, it was Romeo and Cesare’s, and in New York I didn’t even have to leave my own building as our apartment was literally above a bodega. I’m going to miss being able to take the elevator down there and swan around in flip flops and tank tops ind the dead of winter while the bundled-up folk give me the side-eye, but now I miss it as an easy resource to pick up a block of cheese, some lemons and limes or a can of chiles in adobo whenever I needed it without adding any significant time to my otherwise epic commute, because it allowed us the freedom to be spontaneous.

Now that we’re in Stamford, things have changed drastically. The closest convenience store to our building advertises their stock of sodas and body oils, which doesn’t inspire the most confidence in the quality of any food they might carry,  so if either random inspiration strikes us or we realize that we forgot to get something at Fairway, the closest store we have to walk to is…Target.

01.23.11: dinner (el cocido de nueve carnes y siete vegetales, or the epic stew that ends all stews)

La calda con fideos

Alternate titles for this post included: One stew to rule them all, You call that a stew? THIS is a stew, and finally, The epic stew of epicness. Working in an academic lab here in NYC for the last 1.5 years, I have been exposed to many college students and their requisite speech patterns. One word I hear often (besides random) is ‘epic’, used to mean something impressive. That’s a poor definition, for a more complete definition, read on.

Recipe rehash: chorizo and chickpea soup.

Chorizo and chickpea soup

This time around we didn’t use the leeks from the original recipe, but this is a pretty perfect pantry recipe. Michael even substituted out the stock for water and was generous with the salt, which worked really well and didn’t make it terribly salty.

As I’m getting over the last bits of a chest cold, it was exactly what I wanted yesterday.

05.30.10: dinner (pasta salad and Boston Mackerel).

Boston Mackerel, ready to go into the pouch

Usually, once the weather turns balmy my appetite tends to wane a bit and there are days where I don’t crave for much more than a cup of Rita’s Italian Water Ice (mango, wild black cherry or passionfruit, please) and my mind turns to grazing on random, small foodstuffs. The exception to this is whenever I am able to spend time in a body of water, be that a pool–or on very lucky days, the ocean–as when I emerge after a few hours of frolicking, I tend to become positively ravenous.

Memorial Day weekend did not present any swimming opportunities (that came a week later when we visited my parents to celebrate my mom’s birthday), but we ended up doing the walking equivalent on our Met excursion on Sunday, turning me into what Charles Schultz famously called Lucy van Pelt: a fussbudget.

Weekday easy meal solutions: our never-fail hummus.

Simple Hummus (pardon the photo quality - it was taken in haste in the middle of winter!)

[Editor's note:  there are dishes that we have on such a regular basis that we don't think to obsessively photograph them, so they will pop up here and again as simple meal solution ideas that we think deserve a tryout in your regular meal rotation.]

You see, I have these two friends whom I love dearly.  One time we visited them and I learned about one of their rituals, hummus night.  Something so simple yet so profound.  Can adults base an entire nightly meal around a dip?  They sure can.

And why not?  Hummus is such a versatile instrument that it can play with any other dish or mood.  I have a standard base to start with and additions, which get added at the end anyway, are nearly limitless.  This will feed four with lots of dip-ables  or two with ample leftovers for lunches.  The basic formulation is as follows:

• 1 clove of garlic
• Juice of 1/2 – 2 lemons*
• 2 cans of chick peas, rinsed
• 1-3 tbsp water
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Combine the first five ingredients in a food processor or a blender.  If using a blender, be aware that the stuff may stick to the sides and you’ll be stopping and scraping often.  Once it’s all mixed, add the olive oil to the whirring gizmo carefully to make a smooth texture.  Transfer to a bowl and serve with toasted pita, crudités, crustini, or whatever else you can think of.

*I leave the lemons open to the user.  This falls to the flavor-building section of the construction.  When you go to the store, you see a million kinds of hummus; it has more mix-ins than Cold Stone ice cream.  Like said ice cream, I find many of the additions unnecessary, but a few work well.  Greenery like parsley or blended arugula work very nicely, sun-dried tomatoes in oil are a great addition (but a bit fussy), lots of lemon, cumin and additional garlic is great.  You can kick-it-up to five-alarm status by stirring in pureed canned chipotles in adobo, which tastes amazing but is culinary masochism at it’s best.  Peanut butter approximates the traditional tahini, or you can use the real stuff (which I have in the past) to give it body.  I like more Mediterranean tastes in mine, but the only way you’ll know for sure is to try a few.  Experiment with your dippers as well.  If you come up with anything strange and wonderful, let us know!

Hummus is great because it can serve as a great party food, an appetizer, a fast light meal or a member of a dinnertime ensemble.  Hummus, in many ways, is like a big bowl of potato chips.  You can certainly eat the entire thing in one sitting, or you can leave it out and grab little bits over a period of many hours.  Unlike potato chips, though, this is way better for you.  So, until next time, friends, cook on!

11.29.09: dinner (celebrating an easy train ride home with norwegian mackerel).

Norwegian Mackerel with Lemon & Shallots

It was an early holiday miracle:  Amtrak delivered us home in one piece, ultimately only arriving a few minutes later than scheduled.  For the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it was something to be very thankful for indeed, because we were able to enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon strolling in Morningside Heights, purchasing a few things for dinner and lunches that week at Westside and deciding on what lighter meal to have after a string of rich dinners and lunches over the prior four days.

Fish was naturally an obvious choice; I was personally in the mood for some whole sardines, but we were going to limit ourselves to the selection available at the fish market at 108th and Amsterdam.  They were no sardines in stock that day, unfortunately, but our helpful fishmonger suggested some wild-caught Norwegian mackerel as an apt substitute as it was an oily fish with a taste similar to that of a sardine.  Our interests piqued by both the suggestion as well as the appearance of the fish, we ordered one up to be dressed and scaled (though the latter wasn’t necessary, as there were no scales on the fish’s skin to begin with).

Chickpea and Orzo Salad

We stuffed the fish with some lemon and baked it with some white wine, shallots and thyme, and the final results were nothing short of very satisfying.  I’m usually not a fan of eating fish skin unless it’s nearly burnt to a crisp, but here it simply melted in my mouth and was barely distinguishable from the delicious meat.  We ended up placing the plate between us and picking the meat off the bones as well as indulging in an arugula salad and this chickpea-orzo salad that comes from Giada’s Family Dinners, albeit with a white balsamic dressing instead of the red wine vinaigrette.  While this was not quite the austere fish, brown rice and greens dinner that would have been the ideal cleansing meal, this was a nice transition to simpler fare–and I was able to get a big container of this pasta salad to bring with me to lunch.

I’m also pretty sure that Michael is going to run down to the fish market sometime this week to pick up another one of these beauties to have for dinner this week.

11.19.09: dinner (chorizo, garbanzo and leek soup).

Chorizo-Garbanzo-Leek Soup

As I sit and ponder these notes, the current temperature outside (per weather.com) is 62 degrees.  It’s the third of December!  To quote Andy Bernard from The Office:

Global warming, right?  I bet it was supposed to be really cold today.

It seems odd, then, to be posting on a nice pot of soup, but with the weather fluctuating so…violently lately, it’s a given on my part that my sinuses will get congested and I will be immediately craving something I can curl up with and hopefully open up some of my passages to boot.  The 19th was one of the few seasonably cold days in November, and in an effort to try to think of something to have for dinner, I decided that some chorizo-chickpea soup would be heavenly.

Based off of a Gordan Ramsay recipe for chorizo-fava bean soup in Gordan Ramsay’s Fast Food, we’ve been playing with this recipe from the get-go by substituting chickpeas for fava beans, and have gone from there.  The leeks were a last-minute addition in the hopes of using them up from earlier in the week this time around, but now we can’t imagine this soup without them for their flavor and texture contributions.

The other great thing about making soup for dinner is that usually leftovers are involved, and believe me:  when you nuke this in your office microwave the next day, your coworkers will be drooling.

Chorizo-Garbanzo-Leek Soup

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 2 for an entree with leftovers

• 1 Vidalia onion, finely diced
• 2 leeks, washed, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb chorizo, cubed
• 4 cups chicken stock, warmed (either microwaved for 2-3 minutes on high or simmered on the stove)
• 8 sprigs of thyme, plus a few more for garnish
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat, and then add onions, garlic, thyme and leeks, season with salt and sautee until soft (no more than 5 minutes).

Add the chorizo and cook until some of the orange fat starts rendering out, again, no more than five minutes.  Add the warmed chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, and serve with crusty bread and goat cheese if desired.

9.22.09: more duck ham, with roasted zucchini!

Duck Prosciutto

Roasted Zucchini with Garlic and Crushed Red Pepper

Culinary inspiration can come from unpredictable places.  We visited friends over the Fourth of July (we made pizza, see here) and while there, solely through their stories (and a late night grocery store run), they engendered me with their genuine and untarnished love of hummus.

Now, in all fairness, the seeds had already been planted long ago.  One of my first cookbooks has a dynamite sun dried tomato hummus recipe in it.  I think what I found so refreshing about my friend’s attitude was their unabashed consumption of the stuff for dinner, sometimes more than one night a week.  I found this outlook very refreshing:  who cares if it’s not typical?  If we like it, let’s have it for dinner.

I find myself whipping up fresh hummus very often these days (I’ll post about it soon enough).  Unwilling to completely let go, I still feel the compulsion to at least accessorize the hummus, if nothing else.  Here, I knew that Beth had some leftover cheese from the weekend, so I added a small amount of meat and a big ol’ veg.

I wasn’t super happy with my last try at Tom Colicchio’s  duck ham and I wanted a shot at redemption.  I wrapped the breast in less salt and bit more sugar than prescribed and the cured meat came out less desiccated and tough.  Lastly, the Jersey zucchini has been pretty great lately, so I threw a bunch of spears into the oven after covering them with grated garlic and salt & pepper.  I like having a meal every now and again that doesn’t conform to the standard main-side-salad guidelines.  If you’re feeling like you’re stuck in a rut with your cooking, try something crazy.  If it comes out weird, at least you learned a lesson… and had an excuse to order pizza.  Until next time, cook on!

05.07.09: dinner.

Grilled Chicken and Onion Pita with Tomato Jam and Cilantro Creme Fresh with Garbanzo Salad

This is something I made about a year ago and really enjoyed, but then never made again.  I had been travelling the previous weekend and when I returned home, I was in a creative mood.  My fridge was stocked with strange leftover odds and ends and I sought out to improvise wherever possible.  The tomato jam is definitely the star and the hero of this preparation- the tandoori gives a depth that’s both unexpected and irresistible.  Also, this is the first time I thought to add onions- as a Philly boy, it’s embarrassing that this sweet and savory cheesesteak staple eluded me for so long.  The recipes follow:

Grilled Chicken and Onion Pitas with Tandoori Tomato Jam and Cilantro Creme

• 2-4 pitas.
• 12 oz chicken tenderloins
• soy sauce
• balsamic vinegar
• 1 large onion, sliced into thin circles
• 1 14 oz can of petite cut tomatoes
• 1-2 tsp tandoori spice
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• creme fresh
• cilantro, finely chopped

Marinate the chicken in enough soy sauce and balsamic vinegar to coat for 20 minutes.  Open the tomatoes and drain most of the liquid.  In a medium saucepan, add the tomatoes, sugar and tandoori spice and turn to medium high.  The sauce will begin to simmer then reduce and after 5-10 minutes, turn down the heat to medium.  Continue reducing the heat as the mixtures tightens, ending eventually at low.  Add a splash balsamic vinegar every once in a while when the tomatoes are looking dry.  Give this at least 30 minutes and keep a vigil over the pan to make sure its simmering high enough but not sticking or burning.

Warm up an electric or outdoor grill (medium setting) or grill pan or saute pan.  Cook the chicken until done, reaching an internal temp above 170 F.  Remove the chicken from the grill then immediately add the onions and saute until brown and sweet, about 10 minutes.  Set aside.

Finally, add the chopped cilantro to the creme fresh.  The amounts here vary based on how much of the green stuff you like on your pita.  Chop the cilantro finely to avoid that leaf-in-teeth feeling.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  You can substitute Greek yogurt or sour cream for the creme fresh, so omit it all together and mix the cilantro into the tomato jam once it’s done cooking.  Stuff pitas to your liking and dive in.

Simple Garbanzo Salad

• 1 15 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper, roasted and chopped
• 1/4 onion or 2 shallots, chopped very fine
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2+ tbsp balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Mix the first four ingredients well.  Top with the vinegar, add some salt and toss.  Let sit for *at least* 30 minutes.  If the salad is too bland, add more vinegar.  Drizzle with olive oil before serving.  Any number of additional components can be added to the salad, just make sure the garbanzos have some quality time with the vinegar and make sure that whatever else you add can stand up the salt and acid for the waiting period, otherwise wait to add it until serving.

Bon Appetito!

03.24.09: dinner. (on eating more vegetables)

Zuppa di Pasta e Fagioli

When I was but a tyke I remember my grandmom making Pasta Fagioli for my Grandfather all the time. Her version was very Italian-American (and so was she, for that matter), and I have read about or tasted dozens of variations. that’s what makes a recipe classic I think- endless diversity therein through endless variations.

Lately we have had been slacking in the vegetable department. Elizabeth has always been a hard sell on veggies, although over the last decade I have slowly gained ground in this matter. Above is a vegetarian preparation of a delicious Zuppa di Pasta a Fagioli that we have come to love. The recipe follows:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large (2 small) carrot, chopped
• 1 bulb of fennel, chopped- fronds reserved! (see below)
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 6 cups of stock- Vegetable or chicken stock is nice- get the good kind (we like Kitchen Basics)!
• a few springs of fresh thyme and one or two of rosemary, tied together if you like
• 14.5 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup orzo
• chopped parsley
• (at least) 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese to top

Those of you well-studied in the soup method know that the first step is always sweating the veggies.   Add the onion, celery, carrot and fennel to a pot with a tbsp of olive oil over low heat for 5 minutes until the onion is translucent.  For the fennel, cut off the stalks leaving only the bulb.  Remove the outer layer and the core at the bottom and chop like an onion.  Keep the stalks handy.  When the veggies are almost done, add the garlic.

The next step is adding the liquid and bringing to a boil.  Since the chick peas are pretty hardy you can add them now too along with the thyme, rosemary and fennel stalks.  Tie the herbs together to make fishing them out later easier, if you want.  Sometimes I get weirded out by the idea of twine simmering in my soup.  The fennel stalks are too tough to eat but they’ll infuse the soup with anisey essence.

Once a boil is attained, turn down the heat to medium-heat and keep a strong simmer going.  Add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes, until your desired pasta doneness.  If you’re feeling very intrepid, lower the heat slightly as the pasta cooks to keep form losing too much liquid from the pot during boiling.  Remove the spent herb twigs and the fennel stalks.  Top with parsley, perhaps a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

One final note:  Soups, like stews, are usually better in the days following cooking.  Therefore, this is an excellent meal to make ahead and keep throughout the week for consumption on a busy night or making your co-workers jealous at lunch.  Remember to reheat thoroughly.  I recommend 6 cups of stock because as the soup sits, the pasta slowly absorbs additional liquid.  However, you still may find the need to add a splash of water upon reheating.  Moreover, if you’re making it solely to eat later in the week, shave one of two minutes off the pasta cook time to prevent water-logging it later on.  Good eating!