Cook Daily

Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart

Since my camera was stolen during my recent carjacking, (as discussed on my other blog), I can't take a picture of this most delicious tart ever from the March 2007 issue of Bon Appetit. It's unlikely to be featured in any heart-healthy recipe compilations any time soon, but one teeny sliver will be all you need.  Several Epicurious recipe reviewers found the cauliflower took less time to roast than indicated, which was true for me too.  And while I have been hankering for a reason to crack open the bottle of truffle oil we inherited from someone, I ended up using a teaspoon (if that) rather than a  tablespoon. The stuff is very pungent, and I feared it might overpower everything else.

But this to look forward to for lunch will be reason enough to get out of bed tomorrow.

Spanish Potato Omelet and Wilted Spinach Salad

Well doggone it. I done gone and dusted off the pots and pans and put one of them to use at last. After purchasing what I think was about 10 pounds of potatoes at the Melrose Place farmer's market on Sunday, I thought a Spanish omelet would be a good way to put them to use. Not to mention a healthier way (my first choice would have been scalloped, tossed in whipping cream and a good cheese), since I must be swim suit ready in a matter of days.

Usually I use a tried and trusted tortilla recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and I should have just stuck to that. Instead I used one from a new Cooking Light compilation I had ordered, (yes, I am still a member of that damn book club) mostly to justify the purchase, even though I questioned the recipe quantities. But in the end the "Light" in "Cooking Light" won me over, as I pondered things like beaches and swimming pools, and my pending close proximity to them.

To accompany the omelet, I thought a warmed spinach salad would be nice, and of course, my most faithful friends over at America's Test Kitchen had what I was looking for in The New Best Recipe.

The salad was wonderful, the tortilla, meh. I think one or two extra eggs and slightly less cooking time would have done me right. I really need to learn to listen to my instincts more. My concern about the potato to egg ratio did cause me to cut back slightly on the potatoes, but I still think it was a little off.

Here are the recipes:

Spanish Potato Omelet
(Cooking Light, August 2001, by way of the All New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook)

6 cups thinly sliced peeled baking potato (about 3 pounds)
2 cups thinly sliced sweet onion
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
4  large eggs
Oregano sprigs (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Place the potato and onion in a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons oil, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss well. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally with a metal spatula to prevent sticking.

3. Combine eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Stir in potato mixture; let stand 10 minutes. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour potato mixture into pan (pan will be very full). Cook 7 minutes or until almost set, gently shaking pan frequently.

4. Place a plate upside down on top of omelet; invert onto plate. Carefully slide omelet cooked side up into pan; cook 3 minutes or until set, gently shaking pan occasionally. Carefully loosen omelet with a spatula; gently slide omelet onto a plate. Cool. Cut into wedges. Garnish with oregano, if desired.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Olives and Lemon Vinaigrette
(From The New Best Recipe)

5 ounces baby spinach (about 6 cups)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 ounces goat cheese, cut into small chunks
6 black olives, sliced thin

1. Place the spinach in a large bowl.

2. Cook the oil, shallot, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar in a small skillet over medium heat until the shallot is slightly softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and swirl to incorporate.

3. Pour the warm dressing over the spinach, add the cheese and olives and toss gently with tongs to wilt. Serve immediately.

Cook's Notes:
I cheated a little on some of the salad stuff. I didn't feel like slicing my olives, probably used more than 6, and added some green ones for good measure. I also used dried oregano in the dressing, as I didn't have any fresh.

Penne with Butternut-Sage Sauce

As I've said before, I am a sucker for squash. Especially butternut. So when I was thumbing through the November issue of Gourmet on my way home from work yesterday, I decided that this recipe was dinner. Especially since I had bought some butternut at the store the day before. Now don't get me wrong, this was tasty, and you can't really go wrong with butternut, sage, pasta and cheese. But it lacked something. I'm not sure what.  It was also most definitely NOT a 10-minute main. Not for me anyway. Possibly because I had to process the squash in batches (I had a lot of squash - I even weighed it in a bowl using the bathroom scale, thinking that I MUST have more than a pound. I didn't). Mostly though, the cooking time for the squash was off. Mine was nowhere close to soft and tender after just 8-10 minutes. Oh and then there's that compulsion to clean up as I go. So really the 10 minute meal is not an expectation I should have from ANY recipe. Ever.

Now there is a great deal of this hanging out in Tupperware right now. I can't let it all go to waste. I'm thinking it might taste a bit better reheated with some marinara sauce from a jar. I'm going to go and test the idea.

I served this with some garlic toast that I made from the very delicious whole grain loaf from La Brea bakery.  The recipe's from the bag the bread came in. Very easy. Just slice the bread fairly thinly, spread it with butter, garlic, red pepper flakes and chopped shallots and bake in a 300 degree oven until golden on top.

And speaking of deliciousness. On the way back from the airport on Monday morning we stopped at Porto's for brunchy things. Among other things (can you say "over-ordered"?), we got potato balls. I think those are truly one of the best things ever.

Baked Eggplant Curry (Bengum Bhurta)

This is one of my favorite Indian vegetarian dishes, so this recipe called to me as I perused my latest purchase from Green Apple books en route home to Los Angeles from San Francisco on Monday morning.  I will make this again. The only glitch was that I couldn't find fenugreek. Bristol Farms told me to go to Whole Foods, and Whole Foods referred me to Bristol Farms, but it wasn't to be found at either place. I was looking for the leaves specifically--it seems they are ALSO known as "kasuri methi." I think I need to find a good Indian grocery store.

Here's the recipe:

Bengum Bhurtha

3 medium eggplants
8-9 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 canned tomato puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup green peas (thawed if frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Place them cut side up on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the oil. Bake for about 30 minutes or until soft. Cool the eggplants, remove as many seeds as you can, and scoop the pulp from the skin, squeezing out excess liquid. Chop the eggplant into 1-inch pieces

2. Heat the remaining 5-6 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat and saute the onion and cumin seeds until the onion is soft and translucent, just a few minutes

3. Add cayenne pepper, turmeric, ground cumin and garam masala to the skillet and stir quickly to blend everything. Then add the chopped eggplant, fenugreek leaves and salt. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Bring to a simmer and cook gently, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.

4. Just before serving, add the cream and heat, then stir in 2 tablespoons of the cilantro and the green peas. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of cilantro and serve over rice.

Cook's Notes:

1. You might wonder, as I did, how all of the items in steps 2 and 3 could fit into a "small" skillet. I decided not to do this the hard way, and used a 10-inch skillet.

Mushroom Risotto

I usually make risotto with fresh mushrooms, but it's great to have those little packets of dried ones on hand when you don't have any fresh and you must, must have mushroom risotto for dinner. This recipe comes from a book called eat drink live that I found at Anthropologie. It was shortly before I left San Francisco, shopping with my friend Jamie. I spent so long salivating over the pictures in the book while she was trying on clothes that she ended up buying it for me. Sweet friend that she is. So often I meant to cook for her, but since she has always lived within delivery distance of some of San Francisco's best Chinese food our many dinners were ususally about wine, hot and sour soup, seaweed chicken and TiVo.

I love making risotto. It was one of the first things I learned to cook as an almost full-time babysitter of a very discerning two year old, many moons ago. It was her favorite thing to eat so I made it for her all the time.  I'm sure it will make its appearance in different flavors many times over here, but here's one recipe:

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 oz dried mushrooms (chanterelle, morel, shiitake or porcini)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups risotto rice
1/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a bit extra, to serve
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the stock and dried mushrooms in a saucepan and let soak for 10 minutes. Then slowly heat the stock to simmering point. Strain the mushrooms and return the stock to saucepan to keep hot.

2. Melt the oil and half the butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and cook over a medium heat until softened but not browned. Add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated with butter and oil.

3. Add a ladle of hot stock to the rice and mix well. When the rice has absorbed the liquid, add another ladle of stock and stir well. Repeat with the remaining stock, cooking the risotto for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces as necessary.

4. Add the soaked mushrooms, white wine or vermouth, the remaining butter, and the grated Parmesan to the risotto. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix gently over the heat for 2 minutes. Serve with a separate dish of the shaved or grated cheese to sprinkle over the top.

Fried Rice with Vegetables

This was one of the first cookbooks I ever bought. Published (and purchased) in 1995, it's not exactly a classic, but it preceded my addiction to the Internet by at least 2 years. And The Food Network and Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals by a few more than that. Back when I was first dabbling in the kitchen, I used this book quite a bit. Now that my collection has expanded, my recipe binders are so full that turning the pages can be a challenge, and I have sunk so far into my food TV addiction there's no salvation, I don't cook from it as much, but there are a few staples in here that I make over and over again. (Fried rice isn't exactly complicated, but back in 1995 I had no idea.) And I love a good reason to use up leftover rice. I don't follow this recipe exactly--it all depends what I have on hand as far as veggies go.

Fried Rice with Vegetables

4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons water
1 1/4 cups sliced fresh shiitake or button mushrooms
1 1/4 cups small broccoli florets
1 1/4 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/4 cups thinly sliced green onions (about 5)
3 cups cold cooked long-grain white rice (about one cup uncooked)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
additional soy sauce

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy, large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Beat egg with water until blended. Pour into skillet, tilting to spread egg to thin 10-inch round. Cook until golden and flecked with brown spots, about 1 minute. Release edges and turn "pancake" over. Cook until second side is done, 30 seconds. Transfer egg pancake to work surface and cut into 1/2 inch wide, 2 inch long strips.

2. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in same skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms, broccoli, red pepper and ginger. Stir until vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes. Add green onions and cook 1 minute longer. Add rice and soy sauce to skillet. Cook until mixture is thoroughly blended and heated through, stirring almost constantly. Mix in egg strips and season with salt and pepper. Serve with additional soy sauce.

Cook's Notes

1. It's very important to use cold rice. Warm rice won't work as well. If you make the rice same day, refrigerate it to chill before proceeding with the recipe.

2. While measurements for the egg strips have been kindly provided, I usually just chop it up any which way. Stephen Aspirinio would hate me.

2. I sometimes add a little sesame oil (not too much - about a teaspoon) and/or some hoisin sauce (about a tablespoon or 2) when I add the soy sauce.

Bonus recipe from this book

This post prompted me to rifle through this book and check out all the flagged pages. I found one of my other favorites. One that I'm going to include the recipe for while it's on my mind since I'm not likely to make it much. Since moving in with David, (who is Jewish), pork doesn't come under my knife very often. As far as possible, we try and sit down to a shared meal most nights of the week and of course I've fallen into a pattern of eliminating the things he prefers not to eat (pork is really it for him. He eats everything else) and he's had to sacrifice some of the things I never eat (like lamb). Baaaaaah! 

(On a side, yet related note, David is not terribly observant when it comes to his religion, and eats shellfish with carefree abandon. But pork is a no-go. He's tried it prepared in various forms (including one that I believe came out of his own mother's oven) and even admitted to liking it one of those times (it was at my sister's house, so maybe he was just being polite) but he won't eat it at home. I'm not trying to force the issue. I'm not that attached to pork, but it's interesting that it's the one thing he's fairly adamant about.)

(On another note, also related, his feelings about pork do not apply to bacon, which can make him cave. It's rare, but it has happened. Isn't he weird?)

Back to the recipe: almost everyone I've cooked this for has asked for it. It's so yummy.

Pork Cutlets with Mustard Maple Sauce

4 boneless pork loin chops (cutlets)
3 tablespoons minced fresh sage, (or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon coarse-grained mustard

1. Place pork chops between sheets of plastic wrap and pound to thickness of 1/3 inch. Sprinkle with 1/1/2 teaspoons sage, salt and a generous amount of pepper. Set aside

2. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until brown on both sides and cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer pork to plate, leaving drippings in skillet.

3. Add broth, maple syrup, mustard and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons sage to skillet. Boil until syrupy, scraping up browned bits, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Return pork and any accumulated juices to skillet and cook until just heated through, about 1 minute. Serve.

Green Chile & Zucchini Quiche

I was going through the backlog of photos of things I've cooked and found one from a few weeks ago that I forgot to post about. The recipe is from Sara Moulton's new cookbook, "Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals", but it's also available on foodtv.com.

Even though quiche seems like something a monkey could make successfully, I have managed to make many a disappointing, and sometimes even plain unacceptable-for pot-luck-consumption-quiche. (I won't even begin to recount the disaster that was the South Beach Cookbook Fennel Quiche).  This one was delicious. Maybe it was because there was no pot-luck anxiety about it (one whole half was all for me!), or maybe it was the addition of cottage cheese, which seemed unusual for quiche. All I can say is, if you come to my house for brunch anytime soon, you might just be eating this.

Here's the recipe:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
24 whole grain wheat crackers (Triscuits) ground in a food processor (about 1 cup) or 1 cup dried bread crumbs
1 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces)
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1/2 pound freshly grated Monterey jack cheese (about 2 cups)
1 cup whole-milk cottage cheese
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Bottled salsa, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stir 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into the cracker crumbs. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the side of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake the crust in the center of the preheated oven until it begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

2. Meanwhile, grate the zucchini, preferably using the grating attachment of a food processor. Toss the zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain in a colander for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini well with your hands to remove excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the onion and cook over high heat for 3 minutes.

3. Stir together the flour, the baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until combined. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the Monterey jack and cottage cheeses, the flour mixture, and remaining melted butter to the eggs and beat well. Stir in the zucchini mixture and chiles and pour the mixture into the crust. Bake the quiche in the center of the oven until the top is puffed and golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside at room temperature 5 minutes, cut into wedges, and serve with salsa, if desired.

Spaghetti with Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms, Lemon and Chives

This one's from my latest issue of Bon Appetit (April 2006), and can also be found on Epicurious.com, over here. Quick, very easy and so good.

Cook's Notes:

1. I ended up not having any spaghetti, but did have a slightly fatter noodle, pericatelli I think?  It was still good, but I think that the sauce would coat spaghetti better.

2. I grated the cheese, rather than shaving it. I prefer it that way over pasta.

Sunday Lunch

Ok, the only thing on this plate that I can take any credit for is the Israeli Couscous salad. The rest of it comes from Eliki Olive Oil, a regular at the West Hollywood Sunday Farmer's Market. They have a 3 for $10 special, and I almost always get the dolmas, the giant bean salad and the hummus. The feta with herbs is amazing too, but it's usually gone if you show up late. This week I was very late, and so close to lunchtime, that it took everything in me to not cave and get one of the heart-attack- in-a-bun grilled sausages. Well it didn't take that much. I simply had to be reminded of the heartburn-induced coma that was the sequel to my last brush with said sausages.

So I turned to more esophagus-friendly fare. Like Mediterranean food. Not a sloppy second choice at all. And Israeli couscous was the perfect add-on.

I first had Israeli couscous at my friends Heidi and Jim's wedding almost a year ago. Not only was it a fun wedding, but the food was some of the best I've ever had. The highlights that have remained imprinted on my palate ever since, were the halibut, and this amazing couscous salad. I don't remember exactly what was in it and have never tried to truly recreate it, but I have added Israeli couscous to my list of pantry staples. Sometimes it can be hard to come by. Whole Foods usually has it, but this weekend I found it in bulk at Erewhon, (an establishment I find a bit overrated, actually).  Anyway, this recipe is just a concoction of things that happened to be in the vegetable drawer that I thought would go well with the couscous.

Israeli Couscous Salad

1 1/2 cups of Israeli couscous, cooked in a pot of boiling, salted water, then drained, rinsed with cold water and cooled
15-20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Kirby cucumber, chopped (you could use any kind)
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
1/3 cup feta

1.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Stir to combine.

Dressing: (you could use any vinaigrette you like, here's my standard homemade version. Caution: I never really measure this, but this is about right)

Juice of 1 lemon or two tablespoons of balsamic or red wine vinegar to taste, depending how you like your salad dressing. You could even use both.
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 -3/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  Combine lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and mustard in measuring jug
2.  Whisk in olive oil to taste
3.  Add salt and pepper to taste
4.  Pour as much dressing as you like over the salad and toss to combine. I actually used this quantity of dressing for two salads this weekend).

Couscous & Garbanzo Salad

Like pretty much everyone I know, I've dabbled in a low carb lifestyle.  Usually before an event that has the promise of being photographed heavily. I'm one of those people who, although of normal weight, has absolutely no jawline (or any bone structure for that matter) to speak of in photographs. For me to have any photogenic angles to my face, I pretty much have to starve myself. What does that have to do with couscous? Yes, I know. Couscous is really a pasta by-product, but for some reason it is (or was in 2004, these things tend to change) deemed a perfectly acceptable, loveable carb by Dr. Arthur Agatson, of South Beach Diet fame. In a world in which I am deprived of baguette and chocolate, you can count on me clinging to couscous like i'ts my last salvation.  I learned to look forward to couscous the same way I look forward to a bag of salt and vinegar chips in more decadent dietary times.

Anyway, I actually really like the stuff, and am a sucker for a good couscous salad. So last week I turned to James McNair's Couscous & Garbanzo Salad from this book. Twas delicious, and made for excellent lunch leftovers on some lettuce.

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Hot sauce (preferably North African Harissa, to taste)
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salad:

• 2 cups quick-cooking couscous
• 3 cups cooked dried or canned garbanzo beans
• 2/3 cup dried currants, soaked in hot water until plumped, then drained
• 1/2 cup sliced green onion, including green tops
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• Ripe tomato slices for garnish (I skipped this)

1. Combine all ingredients for dressing, whisk well and set aside
2.  Prepare couscous according to package directions (or however you like to prepare couscous)
3.  Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans and transfer to a large bowl. Add the couscous, currants, sweet pepper, onion, mint and parsley and mix well.
4.  Add dressing and toss to distribute. Cover and let stand at room temperature for one hour, or cover tightly, refrigerate overnight and return to room temperature before serving (I have yet to master "overnight" preparation steps)
5.  Toast the pine nuts and sprinkle over the salad before serving (I actually just threw mine in the bowl with the rest of the stuff by mistake, as you can see in the picture taken during prep)