green on green

Deborah

Last night my book group converged on my home to discuss Richard Yates' novel Cold Spring Harbor. Yates also wrote Revolutionary Road and his themes of American angst and domestic unease always suit our group. We are rabid readers of classic fiction and combine our literary passion with lots of eating and wine drinking.

Some times our literary passions get the better of us. A casualty of the table.

Freshly picked flowers from the garden contributed to the Springtime mood of the evening.

Our book discussions are conducted over dinner and they are the highlight of my month. I t is especially fun when it is my turn to host. Spring weather was on the menu. I put fresh greens and herbs into every dish. My trip to Union Square Green Market earlier in the week resulted in armloads of mixed greens and lettuces. I made a braise of artichoke hearts, edamame and peas with a splash of white wine and a large handful of pea shoots. 

Braised Artichoke Hearts with Edamame and Peas

I found a vendor who sold beautiful loose mixed baby greens and I quickly filled a large bag. All I needed to do was heat some olive oil in a saute pan, I then added garlic cloves and chile peppers, cooked garlic till golden, added about a two inch piece of peeled ginger sliced, and then the greens, still a bit wet from being washed. They cooked down to a tender wilt in about three minutes.

Spicy Greens with Ginger

These two simple dishes really highlighted what is best at the farmer's markets right now. Young fresh  greens can go into everything, they cook quickly and are good for you!

Wine pairing, however, may be a challenge. Amanda, What would you serve?

Amanda
Yes, the wine pairing would be a little challenging. But we could definitely make it work! For the first dish, be sure to stay with something bright and crisp with good acidity. Artichokes are one of those "difficult" vegetables to pair with wine, but I wouldn't say impossible. First, out of curiousity, how long did you braise the veggies? Just wondering how long you needed to let the artichokes cook. I don't have a whole lot of experience preparing them - but I love them!


A nice clean Sauvignon Blanc, or crisp Albarino would do the trick here. Something "zippy" would work well. You could even use the same wine for the braising. These wines are fresh, and I think the crisp, lively quality of these wines would be a great complement to this light, warm-weather dish.


Now, a question about the greens - what type of greens were in the mix? They do look beautiful! But these aren't salad greens, correct? I would think those wouldn't stand up to sauteeing? These look more like swiss chard or collard greens? I can't tell exactly what they are from the picture. Just curious.


Again, for this light dish I would stick with white. Something from Alsace, France would be my first choice. Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris or Riesling would all work well. Whenever I think of ginger, I consider these wine options. Definitely stick with something "dry" for this recipe. Zind-Humbrecht is one of my favorite Alsace producers, and makes many wonderful wines. Their Gewurztraminer is to die for, as are most of their gems! Hugel et fils is another producer to look for, and they have an affordable line-up as well.

a gift from the sea

Deborah
Torrey Pines Beach, La Jolla, CA (no, I'm not there now)

Arame- It sounds like the name of a mythological Greek goddess. This humble little seaweed otherwise known as sea vegetable or "edible ocean plant" is one of many truly delicious options for a well rounded vegetarian diet (or any diet for that matter). I first encountered Sea Vegetables (they have a little bit of a PR problem being called seaweed, not appetizing I guess, so the name has been dignified as a full fledged vege- NOT A WEED!), when I went to culinary school. The teacher, Melanie Ferreira, extolled the benefits of a daily diet of sea vegetables and used herself as a living example of all its virtues. I had to admit at the time that Melanie looked like the picture of health, a mother of several boys she had glowing skin and shiny shiny hair. I have had a lifelong obsession with all things oceanic and had no qualms exploring the sea VEGETABLE world with Chef Melanie's guidance. 

I know what you are thinking- seaweed, that stuff that gets washed up on the beach and is only good to mulch your garden with (yes it is!)

This is a beach on Anna Marie Island, Florida.

Arame can be found in any health food store. It is purchased dry and quickly revives after being soaked in water. The Eden Foods site describes arame thus:
The most mild tasting of all sea vegetables, hand harvested in the wild, shredded, cooked, and naturally air dried. Versatile, quick cooking and easy to prepare. Rich in dietary fiber, low calorie, low sodium, and a good source of vitamin A, calcium, and magnesium. Great in salads and sautéed vegetable dishes.

This is dried arame straight out of the package (or you can buy it loose in bulk at Integral Yoga Natural Foods, my FAVORITE health food store)

Easy to like, easy to cook and good for you. Arame, you goddess you! I love to add her (!) to stir-fried rice and miso soups. She gets along well with other vegetables and brings some drama with her deep black color. The first sea vege recipe I learned was a stir-fry with julienned carrots. It came to mind today because I still have some sesame paste on hand and that will be a perfect compliment to this dish. AND Amanda happened to mention to me that she is currently exploring sea vegetable recipes.  Is there really a wine to pair with it?

Remember Home Cooks- you don't have to get too obsessed with your julienne cuts. The idea is to get everything roughly the same size so they cook at the same rate. 

A julienne cut gives you lots of surface area so everything cooks QUICKLY!

Arame and Carrot Stir-Fry

1 Tbs. Canola oil
2 cups of Carrots, cut into a julienne
1 cup of Arame, soaked in water for 15 minutes
3 scallions minced

1 tsp. Soy Sauce

2 tsp. Sesame oil

1 Tbs. Sesame Paste- see recipe below

Heat the oil in a wok and when it is hot and beginning to ripple add the carrots and quickly stir-fry for 3-5 minutes till they begin to soften and turn a little golden and slightly crispy. Drain the arame from the soaking liquid and add it to the carrots in the wok along with the scallions. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes, add the soy sauce, the sesame oil and the sesame paste. Heat through for another minute and serve.
serves 2-4

Sesame Paste-Toast 6 Tbs. sesame seeds in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes till they slightly change color. Put in a spice grinder and grind into a  powder. Put this powder into a food processor and add 1/2 cup more sesame seeds, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 Tbs. sugar. Process into a paste. The paste will store well in the fridge for several weeks.

Amanda
When I discover a new, exciting author, I tend to stick with that author for awhile, reading everything he/she has written. And so it is when I discover a new food. Though I can't say I've really just discovered seaweed - I've been eating it since the '70's in sushi and salads. I did however just discover cooking with it. I am now obsessed and must cook every recipe I can get my hands on! Thanks Deb, for one that sounds easy and delicious! And very healthy!


I made a salad from Arame a few days ago and loved it! It was from Mark Bittman's new book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (which, by the way, is superb!) It was very basic and delicious. Similar to Deb's but without the carrots. Tonight, I will try it Deb's way. (Deb - any advice on how to make the sesame paste without a spice grinder? Not sure if I have time to get to Chef's Central today!)


I also tried Wakame the other day. Opened the bag and it was EXTREMELY salty, so I didn't do much with it. One of the recommendations on the bag was to roast it and eat it crispy, like chips. So I tried it. Still couldn't deal with the salt. Oh well.


As I always mention, I think about the sauce when pairing veggies with wine. However, I am going to make an exception on this one. I will consider both the seasonings and the arame flavors. I love the smell and flavors of the ocean, which one can capture in seaweed. This is what I smell and taste when I eat sea vegetables. Wines that come to mind are ones that pair well with all of the creatures of the sea like mussels, clams, shrimp, etc. I want something white, minerally, and crisp which will pair perfectly with all sorts of seafood. If it pairs will with raw oysters and clams, I see no reason why it shouldn't be a great match for seaweed!

Pinot Blanc from Alsace is my first pick. In Alsace, this is a staple when it comes to pairing wine with shellfish. (As is Muscadet from the Loire which would also make a beautiful accompaniment to Deb's salad). One of my favorite whites during the warmer weather is a blend of Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc - the Dopff & Irion Crustaces.  (Sylvaner is a white varietal grown primarily in Alsace and Germany). A perfect match for all things "Ocean"! The fresh, clean flavors of the wine will be terrific along side this sea vegetable salad! Seaweed salads themselves are light and crisp, so definitely look for a wine with similar characteristics. Sometimes, when pairing wine and food, contrasting flavors and textures works beautifully. However, in this situation, match a lighter style wine to this dish!

Surprise Hit

Deborah
Racing through the supermarket yesterday looking for food to feed my family I plopped a big bag of green beans onto the check-out counter. When I got home and unpacked the food I had to ask myself what was I thinking? Green beans are no good this time of year. And with no exception, this batch was lumpy and somewhat limp, a sure sign of age. As Billie Holiday sings in the opening refrain to A Foggy Day- "I had a feeling of self pity. What to do, what to do, what to do?" The only appealing choice was to deep fry the beans to bring out their flavor and try to compensate for their texture. Blanching or steaming would only accentuate the flaws, creating a rubbery, bland and very uninteresting bean.

With careful sorting and trimming I managed to rescue a reasonable pile of beans. Next, I set up my wok for deep frying. Woks are a great tool for this. Their wide shape and deep sloping sides make manipulating frying foods easy. I wanted to use only a cup of canola oil so I had to fry in small batches.

It took no more than three minutes of frying each batch and the beans came out great! The color perked up and the natural nutty flavor became pronounced. I would happily eat them this way with a little salt, but I wanted to take it a little further.

Chopped ginger, sliced scallions and some dried chilies become the aromatics for this dish.

After pouring the hot oil out of the wok I briefly sauteed some aromatics and tossed the beans back in. I had some homemade sesame paste on hand so I tossed a spoonful on top of the beans, added a splash of rice vinegar and heated everything through.

Pity no more! Did this taste good! The aromatics delivered some punch and the sesame paste created depth. I would consider this a hit and even allow another out-of-season bag of beans to find their way home with me again.

Sesame Paste

-I came across this recipe recently published in the NY Times as part of a larger recipe.  The paste is  really versatile and can be added to many dishes adding a nutty sweet/salty flavor.

Toast 6 Tbs. sesame seeds in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes till they slightly change color. Put in a spice grinder and grind into a  powder. Put this powder into a food processor and add 1/2 cup more sesame seeds, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 Tbs. sugar. Process into a paste. The paste will store well in the fridge for several weeks.


Amanda
Wow! This looks so awesome and pretty straightfoward! And green beans are one of the few vegetables my husband will eat! Perfect! As is the case in pairing veggies with wine, always remember to pair the wine to the sauce or seasonings, not the veggie itself. Certain wines just work so unbelievably well with Asian flavors - Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc. But at the wine shop, we've been promoting one Pinot Gris in particular, and it therefore is jumping out at me as the perfect wine for this dish.

It is the Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyards Pinot Gris 2007. For those of you unfamiliar with this varietal, it is the same as Pinot Grigio - just goes by a different name in this part of the world. And, it is stylistically very different depending upon it's homeland. In Italy, Pinot Grigio is leaner and crisper. In places like Oregon, California and Germany, the wine is typically fuller bodied with a wonderful oily, creamy texture - exactly what I look for in a white. It is delicious - rich with flavors of peach, fig and elements of spice.


Pinot Gris is also incredibly versatile when it comes to food. It is marvelous when paired with highly spiced foods, but will also be fine next to more delicate flavors. It has a great deal of fruit and the pairings are endless! When dining on Thai, Mexican, or Asian cuisine, be sure to consider this fun, affordable varietal.
Domaine Alfred is located in the Edna Valley in California. They also make terrific Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well. The Pinot Gris can be found for $11.99. A true bargain!

stepping away

Deborah

When my teenage daughter ventures into the kitchen to cook I often have to remind her that once you start cooking something you have to finish it. You can't walk away and then yell out a quarter of an hour later from another room "Mom, could you flip that grilled cheese sandwich in the pan for me?" Well, you can, but I won't be amused.

Not everything has to be watched so closely however. After the initial setup it is nice to walk away for a while and let applied heat do its thing while delicious aromas waft up occasionally to remind you of what's going on. Jeffery Steingarten, the food writer for Vogue Magazine experimented with cooking dried beans a while back and came up with a method I have fully adopted. I may have strayed from his instructions a bit at this point, but the basic idea applies. Dried beans are placed in a pot, covered with 3 inches of water, brought to a boil, covered, brought down to a simmer and left to cook for about an hour. It works perfectly with white and black beans in particular.

My friend Laura shared with me the secret to her own version of black bean soup where you create a soffritto (slow cooked aromatic vegetables) and add it to the pot of cooked beans and then blend into a puree (for the real fancy pants version of how to make soffritto as Thomas Keller would do it, via a very nice site called The Paupered Chef, click on the above link).

I have combined these two methods for what I will call Laura's Black Bean Soup, a simple, almost walk away recipe that is perfect for a fall day.

As you can see on this cutting board I snuck in some extra vegetables, 

like a chopped up chunk of butternut squash leftover from yesterdays recipe.

My version of soffritto for this recipe is slow cooked onions, garlic, celery, peppers and tomatoes in a scant amount of oil to bring out the flavors. Soffritto is a staple of many cuisines and I use and abuse the concept liberally in my own cooking.

Do black beans have a logical wine companion Amanda?

Laura's Black Bean Soup
1 lbs. dry black beans, rinsed and sorted
1 bay leaf
6 cups of water (or enough to cover beans by three inches)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons salt
1 lime juiced

Place beans and bay leaf in a large pot and cover with water. Bring pot to a boil, cover tightly and allow to simmer at the lowest temp possible for 1 hour. Check the beans after an hour to see if they are tender and soft. Continue to cook covered if they are not.

Soffritto:
In a saute pan heat the oil and then add the onion, garlic, celery, tomato, jalapenos and bell pepper and slowly cook for at least half an hour till vegetables are soft and translucent and beginning to become like a paste.

When the beans are tender drain them and reserve the cooking liquid. Add half the beans into a food processor, a cup of the cooking liquid and all the soffritto, the chopped cilantro and the salt and blend until smooth. Transfer contents from food processor to a clean pot and add the rest of the beans and enough of the cooking liquid to make a thick soup consistency. Heat till warm and stir in lime juice.

Amanda
Well, this is apropos, because for dinner I just finished what else? Black beans! So, I am in a black bean frame of mind and the timing couldn't be better.  As I ate, although my dinner was quite different than Deb's recipe, I did consider the possibilities of wine partners. Actually, I was sipping a glass of Ciacci di Piccolomini d'Aragona Toscana Rosso (mostly Sangiovese), not because I thought it would go well with my dinner (which, by the way, consisted of my own special black beans, brown rice, a little shredded Mexican cheese blend and chopped pickled jalapenos all rolled up in a tortilla), but because that is what I took home from work today, and have been wanting to try. It's a soft, fruity wine with some subtle hints of spice. Actually, for a red wine pairing with Laura's Black Bean Soup, it wouldn't be bad. However, I would recommend white.


But let me remind you of what I said in an earlier post. Wine and soup do not naturally pair well. It's a tough call. Many would suggest that wine and soup should not be paired. But you are dealing with someone that thinks there is a wine for every food, and thus would not miss the opportunity to discover what the perfect wine for Doritos would be.


This Black Bean soup recipe, with its soffritto, jalapeno and cilantro, has of course ethnic undertones. So, let's call on the whites we look to for "hard-to-match" cuisine. Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Gewurztraminer should be on everyone's "go to" list when they are stumped. (This is a tip, not a steadfast rule). I would definitely pair this soup with something full of fruit; something which has sweetness of fruit, but is not necessarily a "sweet" wine. There is a difference. Wines that are very fruity can sometimes give the impression of sweetness without actually being sweet. I think another good idea would be Vouvray, a wine from the Loire Valley in France made from 100% Chenin Blanc, and one of my favorite whites. 


I've been on a roll now making a different soup everyone Sunday. I'm happy to say I already know what I'm making this week! Thanks, Deb. And Laura too!

A+B+C=Dinner

Deborah

Happy Halloween!

Sometimes when it is late and I am tired and I have nothing planned for dinner I poke into the fridge to see what the possibilities are. On this occasion I was cooking only for myself so I did not have to consider anyone else's preferences. What I found was a quarter of a zucchini, half a bag of spinach, and third of an onion. It was an algebra problem.

Well, no problem at all if you heat up olive oil, saute several cloves of chopped garlic, add a chili pepper and saute the fractions of leftover vegetables in the seasoned oil. I have taken to putting sliced lemons directly into the saute pan with the vegetables to cook. The lemons warm up and almost melt into the pan coating everything with a bright acidic note which helps to counter balance the weight of the olive oil. I can stand over the stove and eat a meal like this right out of the pot, it tastes so good to me.

I had some pine nuts too, so I threw them on top for some chewy texture.

Over the weekend my husband and I went to a wine tasting in our neighborhood at The Wine Room of Forest Hills.  We love this shop, whose owners, a local couple, keep it stocked with diverse and interesting collections of wines. Whenever we visit we always find something new and exciting to buy. This time Alan got intrigued by a French red blend that we brought home. Domaine Des Cantarelles 40% Cabernet-Syrah 60% was affordable for our weekend splurge at under $12 a bottle.

I love drinking wine from these beautiful Moroccan tea glasses, a gift from my sister in Brooklyn.

Upon tasting it we both struggled to find a way to describe the wine to make Amanda proud. Its distinctive quality was its rough, mineral-ly start that opens your eyes and then quickly mellows out to a very smooth finish. Quite drinkable! I really liked it paired with my sauteed vegetables which actually start out smooth in your mouth from the olive oil and then finishes with a little bitter bite from the spinach.

How did we do Amanda? What would you pair with the greens?

Spinach and Zucchini Saute
4 Tbs. olive oil
4 garlic cloves sliced
1 dried chili pod
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
8 oz cleaned spinach leaves
4 slices of lemon
2 Tbs. pinenuts (this is optional, it adds a little fancy finish to this dish)

Heat oil in a saute pan, add garlic and chili and cook for 5 minutes till garlic begins to turn golden. Add the onion and the zucchini and saute for a few minutes until the zucchini begins to turn a bit golden in spots. Add the spinach and the lemon slices and let the spinach wilt down until tender. Season with s & p. and top wit pinenuts.

serves one

Amanda
The Halloween chaos has started. My house has been insane this morning and my neighbors are waiting outside for me. And, it's only 10:30 am. So, I will make this quick. Deb, the recipe sounds delicious as always. I would just be careful of this wine pairing because of the chile. If it's a spicy one, you don't want the heat to be exacerbated by the tannins in the wine, specifically from the Cabernet. And, you don't want the chile to affect the wine either. That would be my only caveat. I am a believer that you should drink whatever you want with whatever you want. As long as you like it. There are no steadfast rules, only tips. I, personally, would go for a fruity white. Something that will quell the chile and work well in conjunction with it. Again, this really depends on the heat the pepper delivers. Perhaps a Pinot Blanc from Alsace, or a Pinot Gris from Oregon.


Now, my children are calling me from outside so I must go outside and face the ghouls. My apologies for the brevity! Happy Halloween everyone!

Music to my ears

Deborah
Waiting all year for a particular harvest is like waiting for your favorite rock band to come to town. Once they are here you have to act fast, because it will be quite a while before you have a chance see them again.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at South Street Seaport July '09, just one of the many fantastic outdoor concerts we saw this summer! Photo:Alan Mann

So it is with corn. Yes, you can get it all year round, but when it is fresh and in season and coming from a local farm, there is nothing like it. I wondered if Amanda had any thoughts about wine pairing with corn. Light, sweet, grassy, a little nutty perhaps, are the flavors I would associate with corn. Two corn dishes I love to make are a simple saute of corn with peppers and a curried corn fritter. The fritters are light and airy with just a hint of curry to add some depth and interest. Eat them hot hot hot out of the frying pan and the fresh corn kernels will burst in your mouth with sweetness. I like to serve these fritters with peach salsa. There are still some nice peaches out there and this salsa tastes great with everything.

The Southwestern style corn saute is a really quick dish with a tiny bite coming from the addition of chili powder and finely minced jalapenos to add some color and crunch. I make this dish all year round, but when the corn is fresh and tender it delightfully melts in your mouth. Sublime!

I wonder who else is in town this weekend?

Curried Corn Fritters with Peach Salsa
2 ears of corn, kernels removed from cob
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 scallions minced
1/3 cup of yellow cornmeal
3 Tbs flour
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs canola oil
Mix corn kernels with the egg, milk, and scallions. Add the dry ingredients and stir to blend. Heat oil in shallow pan till hot and nearly smoking.
Drop 1 large tablespoon of corn batter into hot oil for each fritter.
Cook till golden, about 2 minutes and then flip and cook 2 more minutes. Drain on paper towel and salt to taste while still hot.




serve immediately with salsa






Peach Salsa
2 large peaches peeled and chopped into small cubes
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 jalapeno finely chopped
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of one lime
Mix all ingredients and allow to sit for 15 minutes for flavors to combine.

Southwest Pan Sauteed Corn
2 Tbs canola oil
1 jalapeno pepper finely minced
1/2 red bell pepper finely minced
4 ears of corn, kernels removed from cob
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs butter
Heat oil in saute pan add jalapeno and peppers and cook about five minutes till they begin to soften. Add the corn and continue to cook till corn takes on a bright color, about 5 more minutes. Add the chili powder, salt and butter and cook another minute or two till flavors are blended and the butter is completely melted. serves 4
Amanda
Both recipes sound fabulous. And, since my husband is an avid corn fan, I may just have to surprise him with these this weekend! I have perfect wines in mind for both. I think a Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France would be a super hit with the corn fritters, especially given the addition of curry powder. The wonderful fruit flavors of the wine are traditionally a great combination with Indian spices. And, the wine is perfectly suited to the peach salsa as well. Pinot Blanc from this region in France typically displays terrific aromas and flavors of peaches and pears, and is usually rich and round on the palate. One of my favorite whites, the wine will display different characteristics dependent upon where it is produced. In California, the wine can be more Chardonnay-like. But I think one from Alsace, a bit more delicate in style, really would be so perfect with these fritters!
And, I have a great match for the Corn Sautee! Last night I was at a wine dinner with winemaker Nick Goldschmidt, who produces fabulous wines from New Zealand, Australia and California. He is incredibly knowledgable as well has extremely funny. At the event, I sampled his Forefathers Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The wine has a lot of stone fruit and pear characteristics, and is a bit "bigger" than a typical Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. The delicious flavors of passion fruit on the finish will surely stand up to, and subdue, the spicy kick from the jalapeno peppers. The slightly sweet, grassy flavors of the corn that Deborah described above will also perfectly complement any New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc!