Cooking With Ideas

Food Bloggery 2019

I must take some time to look at the links on the sides of this blog. I suspect many are old, lead to no longer active blogs or are even broken links. Perhaps in the era of today’s social media, blogs are old fashioned. I began this in 2006 - who would have guessed it would last! Today, I certainly would like to see more traffic here - and so have decided to take a “stroll” through the web in search of interesting fodder. I shall try to find a few new web related bits  - Not all blogs, of course. But, I’ll continue with the name I gave this section of Cooking with Ideas lo those years ago: blog watch.

First: did you know there are food blogger conferences? I did not. They don’t strike me as something I will add to the side bars here but it turns out there are many. Here are a few relevant links with comments: 

a. Food blogger conference.org is where you can find out about an international conference - begun in 2009, called (you may have guessed it) International Food Blogger Conference (aka IFBC). The upcoming event is June 20-23, 2019 in Juneau, Alaska. Speakers who are confirmed vary - bartender bloggers, the writer of Boulder Locavore,regional or ethnic food focus,  healthy eating bloggers, and more. The list is varied by race and gender, topic, and expertise in SEO etc. Many seem proud of their number of page views. I admit I wish I had those numbers. You can look to see who else is registered. 

b. Here’s  where you can learn about another 2019 conference on food blogging, occurring May 2-4 in Layton, Utah. It seems to be called Everything Food. They provide some data on their 2018 event which had 548 attendees, averaging 38 years old (I knew I was a geezer but wow!), with 85% women,  with a total combined social media following of 326,658,605. Shocking.

c. The third and final example is on the web at Tastemakerconference.com . A conference for “influencers and content creators, their general admissions tickets are sold out! (Exclamation point theirs.) The event is September 19-21 in Portland, OR, perhaps why it is sold out. 

Surprising, what!?! TEMPTING - YES. The hobby grew into a business for so many. I would dearly love to have more traffic but it remains a hobby. Let me know if you can help me get more readers as I am unlikeLy to head off to one of these for help. At least not I’m 2019. 

Best Salad Ever: Sardines??

(Thanks to cnbc.com for the visual.)

I have never really been a huge fan of sardines. I have encountered them now and then - on a version of a caesar at a restaurant in Chicago, for example. They were better then I anticipated. And, then, purchased from Billsboro Winery -- two kinds - one just in olive oil and one in a tomatoey sauce. Turns out: I actually liked the tinned sardines in the olive oil. (The others, not so much.) They are actually kind of cute there in the can, right? And, they taste dry in a lovely way. 

So, late in 2018, as the holidays approached, I was thinking of how to use sardines. I bought them on a whim from Red Dove and , . . we had salads with sardines on them. Of all things, it was a Martha Stewart salad, found here. I liked it so much we have had it several times (including once when I substituted Maggie's Greens for the watercress. Below is the recipe with some commentary. 

Ingredients (for 4 salads) 

watercress - 2 cups or so 

sardines - 1 tin; you will use 3 or 4 per person 

clementines - 2 - I say 1 per person

red onion - says 1/4; sliced thin, I poured salt on them and let them sit, then washed and dried 

pumpkin seeds - calls for 3 tablespoons. I used the ones we had around the house, and I suspect we had fewer than 3 T - also, I can say this: the salad is way better with than without the pumpkin seeds 

tarragon - I tablespoon fresh 

vinaigrette: 1/2 lemon and its lemon zest; 1 Tablespoon of oil; salt and pepper

Steps etc:

Peel and then slice the clementines (these definitely work better than alternatives though we did make the salad with blood oranges at one point. This was an ok second choice.) 

Treat this as an arranged salad. Watercress dressed with vinaigrette and piled up, sprinkle with tarragon, then red onion arranged artistically, then sprinkled with seeds. And, next arrange clementine slices and sardines around! Serve.

I liked this salad a lot. Most definitely. 

Gluten Free Puff Pastry II: Beef Wellington

Christmas Dinner this past year -- that would be 2018 - was a challenge. (It was a month ago today! Time flies.) We just could not decide what we wanted - and with two of us many of the main dishes were kind of ruled out simply because they are hard to make in small doses (as it were)> We whiffle waffled -- and then I landed on Beef Wellington. At first this was because I had (a) encountered gluten free puff pastry; and (b) I thought I would make individual ones with filet mignon. I did not, of course, but that's where the adventure began. I also thought we could have horseradish sauce and green pepper sauce - we only had the latter and it was amazing. 

So: here is what we did for the holiday! Combined with a few other of the recipes you have encountered this month - the main Christmas menu was Beef W (what I have come to call it since I am so very fond of it!), green peppercorn sauce, potato/leek gratin, and asparagus. And, of course, a lovely red wine. 

First: Beef Wellington has always intrigued me. To be honest, I like filet mignon a lot and rarely have it except when out to dinner at a place where it is done well. That is, I only rarely cook it myself -- in part because I live with someone who prefers rib eye. I also have to admit that I have never ordered beef wellington, but somehow think of it as a romantic food. A bit of research (aka googling) has taught me that there are versions and then there are versions -- with and without fois gras, with and without truffle, and etcetera. I have also learned that Beef Wellington -- very often capitalized -- has a weird and mysterious lineage and there is no evidence of it having a relationship to any Duke of Wellington. Having said that, it is clear that wrapping meat in pastry has a long lineage with or without the name. I can suggest the wikipedia entry for a bit of detail - here. 

I also want to note that the term duxelles fascinates me. Yes, I know it is a fancy way of saying mushrooms chopped very fine, with shallots, but (a) I have had them done extremely well -- and I suspect that has to do with both the quality of mushrooms and the amount of butter. And, (b) the term points us toward French cooking in some fancy way. I looked it up too. Here's a relevant recipe - though I particularly like the one with the recipe below. For more on what duxelles are and why we should all care, try here for the wikipedia overview. Unlike Beef Wellington, I think the naming history is clear. (I wonder if fund raisers could persuade people to give large quantities of money in order to name a food which eventually becomes classic and detached from historical reasons for acquiring the name?) 

Finally, when anything involves prosciutto I say hurrah. And, at least many forms of Beef Wellington require prosciutto. 

Second: Let's turn to the relevant recipe. I chose this one. Below I go over it and comment as appropriate (or, to be blunt, as I feel like it!). A few comments first: (a) I bought about 1.5 lbs of chateaubriand. Thats not what I asked for -- but that's what I got in terms of the name of the beef. I got it at Pittsford Wegs and I have to say it as over the top great beef. (Not cheap, but amazingly tasty.) (b) I made the quantity of duxelles called for i the recipe (which was for a larger piece of beef). (c) I used gluten free puff pastry -- and did a better job than when I made the carrot tart using the same puff pastry. There were still some issues (see below). (d) I loved how this looked, and was pretty damn impressed with myself and the help my partner gave. 

Step 1: Make Duxelles

    Ingredients: 3 pints of mushrooms (I used about a pound -- a 10 ounce of creminis and a 6 ounce or so of white mushrooms); I substituted a small onion for the shallots, I think; 4 cloves of garlic; some fresh thyme; 2 Tablespoons butter; @ Tablespoons olive oil; salt and pepper 

    Steps: In groups, put mushrooms (carefully cleaned), thyme, shallot (or onion) and garlic into food processor. Then, melt butter and olive oil in pan, add mushroom mixture, and cook on medium heat til dryish -- hte recipe says 8-10 minutes and it took well beyond that for me. The change is sort of sudden so pay attention. 

Step 2: Organize the Prosciutto and Duxelles 

I bought two packages of Wegman's prosciutto. I used about 3/4 of it. Here's how: (a) spread out about 1.5 foot of the saran wrap; (b) shingle the prosciutto into a rectangle (because you are eventually going to wrap the beef in it). (Because I did not do things quite right below -- or the measurements were off or something, I eventually used more prosciutto to wrap around the top side.) 

Schmear the duxelles across the prosciutto in a thinnish layer. Salt and pepper it. Distribute some thyme leaves on it.  

Step 3: Sear the Beef 

First, tie the beef to get it into a compact tube. Sear the beef. All sides. Don't be a wimp. Let it cool just a tiny bit. 

Step 4: Wrap Things Up 

Remove strong and shmeer about @ tablespoons of dijon mustard on the beef. Situate the beef on the prosciutto and wrap it up as a log. I was surprised to discover that the prosciutto I put out was not quite enough and so I used extra to complete the wrapping.Wrap tightly! Tightly! Tightly!  Once wrapped up in the plastic, stick in the fridge for a while - maybe 30 minutes. 

Take it out of the fridge, and wrap it in puff pastry that you have rolled out into a rectangle. Be careful -- patch holes. Use egg wash. Top with coarse salt. I forgot to make slits on the top. You might want to do so. Position it in pan -- the recipe calls for a baking sheet, and I used a roasting pan -- perhaps in error. Be sure to put the seam down. I 

Step 5: Cook the Darn Thing at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes. Use a thermometer (I bought a new one!) and move at about 125 degrees. (I over shot but rumor has it it was perfect.) Let it rest a bit before you slice it. 

Step 6: Make Peppercorn Sauce.

    Ingredients: The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 shallots, sliced; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed; 3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only; 1 cup brandy; 1 box beef stock; 2 cups cream; 2 tablespoons grainy mustard; 1/2 cup green peppercorns in brine, drained, brine reserved; I used half of each item.  The reason: the adventure of the peppercorns!

    The Adventure of the Peppercorns: Wegmans is no longer perfect. Well, it has not been for ages - with declines in the knowledge level of staff, holiday decorations being for sale months ahead of any given holiday, and what not But: I was shocked that they do not carry green peppercorns. Not in Pittsford and perhaps no where. This drove us on line, but I discovered Wegman's lapse very close to Christmas. Thank goodness for friends, one of whom had green peppercorns. And delivered them to the door. She only had so many though, which explains the reason for halving the recipe. 

    Making the Sauce: Using same pan as the one in which you seared the beef, sauce shallots, garlic and thyme in olive oil; add brandy. And, TAKE OFF THE FLAME and turn the flame off. And, then light this on fire. I was amazed. It burned a long time, the flame was high, and it was fun. MY partner was not happy I did it without her watching. Anyway: I flambed! I am quite proud of it. Once the flame dies down, return to heat and add beef stock. reduce by half and then ignore the directions to strain out the solids. Add cream and mustard. reduce by half again. Add peppercorns. And voila! An amazing sauce 

Step 7: Assemble and Eat Happily. 

Once rested, slice the beef wellington, add sauce, and dine happily. 

Third: How about an evaluation of the whole darn experience? I give this an A. I might even go so far as to say it was an A+. I served it with asparagus and a potato leek gratin. And, a lovely red wine. 

Cooking with Chickpeas II: Chickpea Shortbread

I have a fondness for sweets. Indeed, some nights I have been heard to mourn the absence of cookies in the house. I rarely bake - and have not made holiday cookies in years. And yet, toward the end of 2018, around the time of a particularly cookie loving holiday, I began googling in search of cookie recipes. I was looking for uses of the abundance of chickpea flour I had acquired. 

Turns out there are chickpea cookie recipes! I read a lot of them and settled on chickpea shortbread enhanced by the flavors of cardamom and lemon. 

I was inspired to do so in part because of a prior baking experience making shortbread. Many years ago I acquired a cookbook by Ming Tsai (of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, now closed). There was a dandy shortbread recipe in it, which was both easy and tasty. So, inspired, one morning I set out to make chickpea flour shortbread using this recipe.

A few comments: a) the things last a very long time without going stale; b) they are very lemony and tasty; c) be careful to let them cook before moving them to a rack or they will crumble; and d) I found them delightful but my partner found them too sweet/sugary. Guess which of us has a sweet tooth.

Here’s the recipe which originated here: 

Ingredients

Chickpea flour 2.5 cups

Cardamon 1 teaspon

Salt .5 teaspoon 

Sugar .5 cups (I used cane sugar)

Butter 2 sticks (important: room temperature)

Lemon zest 1.5 tablespoons 

Confectioners sugar (for dusting cookies; could be omitted)

How to make the cookies!

 Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. This is key for creaming sugar into butter.  

In bowl 1, cream sugar into butter and then stir in lemon zest. In bowl 2, mix flour, cardamon and salt. Add bowl 2 to bowl 1 and incorporate. 

Take dough and place on top of plastic wrap, creating a longish thin cylinder of maybe 2 inches diameter. Wrap. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour to 24 hours. Side note: I had a tad of trouble making sure nothing crumbled.

Once cold, take out and slice into rounds. Place on parchment covered baking sheet, circa 2 inches apart? (I have no clue but they expanded more than I expected.) Ok, I should have said pre-heat oven to 325 degrees first. 

Bake them for 13-18 minutes according to the recipe. I say closer to 13 given that the bottoms of mine got a bit dark. 

Let cool some on the baking sheet. Why? Because if you try to move them too soon to the cooling rack they will fall apart. It's the butter. So: let them harden up a bit, move to cooling sheet. At some point dip into confectioners sugar if you feel like it. 

Evaluation:

They last a long time without going funky. Don't expect them to look perfect. I liked them. Tasty and sweet. Nice mouthfeel. My partner says "less sugar next time." 

 

Kitchen Collectibles: Murder Mystery

I am tempted by murder mysteries with food related themes. Some are excellent, some less so. Some seem to be mainly a marketing device, while some have food related matters that are core to the plot. Some feature recipes. Almost all gave a female amateur sleuth (a chef or a caterer or a cafe owner or tea shop proprietor) and often she has a group of friends who serve as foils or collaborate on sleuthing. Titles are often punny. Settings  are often important. 

Sometimes I buy them on impulse, in a bricks  and mortar bookstore or for my kindle. The latter is particularly dangerous. 

In any case, These ruminations are rooted in a recent purchase and read: Victoria Hamilton’s Breaking the Mould (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery Book 8). As usual in such series, it matters not a whit if one starts part way in. Yes, the title is punny , the sleuth is a woman named Jaymie Leighton Muller (with an umlaut over the u - which lets you know there is some German heritage in her husband, and a small town where they all live. Jaymie seems to both like kitchen collectibles and run a store selling them - or perhaps own it. I think the town is in the northern US bearish the Canadian border (there are lots of Canadianisms that flirting and out of sight in the novel). 

So: this one did have a Christmas theme, including a diorama from Dickens’ Christmas Carol and both themes and characters reminiscent of the tale. For example: there is a character named Evan Nezer whose character is quite Scrooge-like. Also on the Christmas theme: the sleuth’s husband runs a Christmas tree farm. 

One major quibble: the titular mould, used to make Christmas pudding is a bit of a throw away. That is, there is, for me, too little excuse to say this is a mystery with kitchen collectibles as a theme. I wanted more. 

Otherwise, what did I think. It’s a fun read though not truly exciting. Put another way, I enjoyed it but won’t run out to get another by the same author. I’m not sure if I am losing interest in the genre, am just not at my best, am not excited by this particular instance (which seems neither better nor worse than many others) or what. 

Gluten Free Puff Pastry I - Carrot Tart

I have walked past the glass case multiple times. I purchase almond flour gnocchi and fettuccini - despite what seems an outrageous price. I buy cauliflower pizza crusts (which while healthy are the best substitute ever for the thinnest crust Pizza Hut pizza no longer available in Geneva - admittedly a guilty pleasure). And on occasion I have ogled the gluten free frozen (all the aforementioned items are frozen) puff pastry.

This past holiday season I bought 2 packages of the puff pastry. And, I followed the directions of 2 recipes to make delightful holiday-ish delights. The pastry was called geefree puff pastry sheets and comes frozen. You can find it here or at Wegmans (at least in Pittsford). 

A few general comments before turning to the first gluten free puff pastry delight. First: it took me two tries to get it that the package had two separate sheets of puff pastry. My misunderstanding had consequences for the recipe discussed below. Second: the recipes themselves used different cooking temperatures than the puff pastry box recommended. This was likely consequential. The tart ended up with some overdone pastry especially on the edges.

The recipe was for carrot ricotta tart with dill and is findable here. Here’s my description of making it.

First: thaw puff pastry. Think carefully about where you might have a rolling pin and if me, forget you have one and conclude you should use a nearby empty wine bottle. (Later reveal this to your partner who will send you to the basement to find an actual rolling pin for your later puff pastry adventures.) 

Second: make an effort to roll the puff pastry out, failing to note that it was two pieces on top of each other. Score along each side of rectangle, about an inch in, and cook for about 10 minutes in a stove set at a bit higher than the box recommends but not as high as the recipe suggests. Take it out when golden, bemoaning it’s appearance but pushing ahead anyway. Don’t forget to use an egg wash on it before baking. 

Third: address the need for tart toppings by a) mixing 2 cups fresh ricotta with 1/4 cup heavy cream; b) thinly slicing 1 onion and coins from 4ish large carrots (I used local onion and carrots from our CSA which meant using 8 smaller carrots); c) use 2 T of oil to sauté onion for about 5 minutes and then add carrots for a few minutes. 

Fourth: spread ricotta mixture over tart and then sprinkle onion/carrot mix on top. Bake 30+ minutes in 425 degree oven. Scatter a mix of chives and dill in top. 

Dine. If you are me, this makes too much for 2 people, could use more veggies and/or a bit less ricotta, but basically passes inspection despite edges that were well over done. The pastry is actually tasty and the tart is both aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable. This might inspire my own concoctions for the future!

Hurrah. And better puff pastry attempts forthcoming. 

Cooking with Chickpeas I

Some time ago, my partner provided me with a dandy recipe for a chickpea pancake in a kind of Indian tradition which we then proceeded to have fairly often. (The recipe came via a vegan friend of here!)  More recently I have been expanding my repertoire and cooking additional things with chickpeas and chickpea flour. This is all in addition to what has been more usual -- putting chickpeas in various stew-like recipes. Here, it is all pancakes and baking and. . . sprouting.

First: the relevant recipe from the friend is called chickpea flour crepes. You can find it here. 

Now onwards to more recent matters: let's begin with socca, which I discovered in a cookbook on salads by Patricia Wells.  The book has been around the house for years -- and suddenly came in for more attention. I was paging through and came to a recipe, as I said, for socca. It was slightly scary -- but amazingly easy. Here's what you do: (a) heat oven to 450 degrees; (b) mix together 1 cup chickpea (aka garbanzo) flour, 1 1/3 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil; (c) put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a paella pan and heat the pan for 5 minutes; (d) remove pan from oven, swirl to distribute the oil, pour in the chickpea flour mixture and swirl to spread; (e) cook for about 18 minutes. After it comes out, slide it on to a plate, sprinkle liberally with salt and freshly ground pepper (optionally, some fresh rosemary or. . . . ) and serve. It can be ripped apart. 

I got into making this and then began exploring socca. 

Then, into my email comes a Saveur email about pancakes, including a delightful recipe for socca. With the subject heading "our best pancakes," the email had a link to a recipe for "sorted chickpea socca with herb salad and yogurt." My first step was to have the grocery shopper try too find sprouted chickpeas. The effort failed which lead to a diversion into sprouting chickpeas. 

Here's how: 

Purchase some dried chickpeas. Then, follow the directions at this link discovered by said grocery shopper (or my slightly tweaked version here): 

1. Rinse 1/2 cup of the chickpeas and place in a big jar (that's what I had), covered with water. Be sure to cover fairly deeply as the chickpeas absorb a lot of water. Or, at least, more than I expected. Soak over night. 
2. Cover the jar with cheese cloth and attach with a rubber band. In the morning, drain, and rinse several times, through the cheese cloth. 
3. Place jar somewhere convenient but not in direct sunlight. Tilt it on a towel and let sit for 8 hours or so. Rinse again and then tilt again. 
4. Repeat #3 for 36-48 hours, checking for sprouts. Take sprouts out. Dry if you want to. 

Then, you can return to the socca recipe which started all of this -- or add to salads or otherwise use the darn things. My first venture went well. The second, well, I was not as enthusiastic. 

Here's the socca recipe link. I am too lazy to type it out but can say this: terrific terrific recipe. I give it 5 stars out of three possible stars. Its more trouble than the other socca recipe, but terrifically tasty -- especially with the herb salad. 

All of this left me with a question: is the origin (as it were) of the original chickpea crepes with its Indian twist related to the history of socca more generally? Are they mediterranean (the salad cookbook was) or from elsewhere or . . . what is the history of the travel and viability of chickpeas? Is everything secretly either Italian or french or Indian?

IN any case: I love these darn things. You will too. 

Coming Eventually

I find I am cooking more & reading loads - some relevant to this blog and some not. Yes, a mystery binge or two (with commentary coming up) and lots of late 2018 cooking. In the latter regard, watch for various uses of chickpea flour and of gluten free puff pastry, for example. And yet, I am not being terribly intentional about much of anything right now. As a result, there are areas of the blog being neglected - and that must end!

I herewith promise at least one entry for the various neglected themes - queer food? F words? Eating God. I will sneak them in this month (January) between the entries already written. 

No. This is not a New Years resolution. It just is. 

Thanks for reading. And for spreading the word about the blog. 

Voula’s Greek Sweets

My birthday is in early December. Yes, that is some time ago, but I am still enjoying the memory of a treat my partner brought me the week before: pastries from Voula’s in Rochester, NY. I had never been there (and since have, see below) and never heard of it -- but I can say this: go there if you have the chance and buy a pastry or two. 

What did she bring me? Several items, each flavored in lovely ways, with (and without) chocolate. I am not sure what my favorite was -- though they included a chocolate dipped rolled baklava (one of my favorite things in life), a pastry that involves cranberries (I absolutely love cranberries) and a kind of moon pie shaped fudge thing which was also delightful. All of them smelled amazing -- kielbasa's a mix of cinnamon and rose water, and all of them tasted even more amazing than they smelled. To be honest, they were so good that I did not gobble them down but savored them over the course of a few days. I gave them an A+ and not only because I like getting unexpected treats. (These were, in some ways, in memory of my aunt who used to send me baklava on occasion.) 

I have no idea what the pastries were/are calleD but I do know we mispronounced every one of them. 

In addition to sweets, my partner also brought dolmades. I love dolmades -- and once upon a time long ago took a class which taught me how to make them. I tried at home and, frankly, may have to go back lo these many years later as a more patient person with more cooking experience, and try again. Meanwhile: these were amazing. Another A+ as was one of the two spreads (the second spread was much too garlicky for our household). 

Some weeks later we had lunch there, and made a few purchases. I loved the spinach/feta pie. Yes, that’s better known as spanakopita.  And we bought some olive oil. Of course, we brought home dolmades and pastries. The latter included some amazing walnut cake that was spectacular paired with honeyed apricots I preserved this year. 

Overall: amazing and happy making. For a review from 2015, click here. 

Location: 439 Monroe Avenue, Rochester NY