Tzatziki for Katie

My friend Katie has a rather awesome garden where cucumbers proliferate and grow to mutant proportions. Being the generous soul she is, my fridge is well-stocked with free cukes. However, since Katie is a shrewd business woman, the cucumber transaction required that I reveal my secrets to consistently good tasting tzatziki. So, Katie, this recipe is for you! It was challenging for me to put this recipe into standard measurements, but here I go:
                                          
                                          Katie's Cukes are covered with little spines. Ouch!

Tzatziki (Cucumber Dip) (makes ~3 1/2 Cups)

• 2 large cukes
• 2 1/2 C Greek yogurt (Don't use fat free. Seriously.)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2-1 lemon
• small handful of dill, chopped (I have the hands of a 10 year old, so keep this in mind)
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper (some prefer white pepper, for aesthetics. I simply prefer the flavor of black pepper)

1. Peel the cukes and remove seeds. I find that a grapefruit spoon works well to scoop out the seeds. 
2. Grate the cukes. I find once they're seeded, they're flimsy, and it's difficult to grate the entire thing without putting your knuckles in "grate" danger. Nobody wants blood in their tzatziki, so before grating becomes hazardous, keep the odd bits of cukes and set aside. Once done grating, cut into small, small pieces and just say that your tzatziki is "rustic style".
3. Set the cucumbers in a colander in the sink. Generously sprinkle with salt. Let the cukes drain for 30 mins or so. Go do something else.
4. Rinse the cucumbers. Grab several clean, lint free tea towels, cheesecloths, or cloth napkins. Place a handful of the cukes in the cloth, wring out the cloth to remove as much of the liquid as possible from the cukes. The grated cukes will feel vaguely sticky, without much moisture. Put the wrung out cukes in a bowl. 
5. Mix together the cukes and yogurt with a fork. Stir in the dill, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning as needed. Tzatziki develops its best flavor over the next couple hours and stays fresh for a week. 

        Cukes, seeds removed 

Not much cuke remains, but the flavor will be very concentrated

Packed in a deli container, en route to Katie's 

Footnotes: 1) If you don't want to waste all of the pulp & seeds from the cukes, toss them into a pitcher of water. They make the water very refreshing in this hot weather, just strain before you use it. 2) The amount of lemon, dill, salt, and pepper are a matter of personal preference, but what's going to make or break this dip is the quality of the yogurt--fat free will be too runny, the texture will be far off, and whether or not the cukes are adequately drained of their liquid and shredded/chopped into fine enough pieces. 

Verdict? This is GOOD tzatziki, if I do say so myself. It's great on gyros, falafel, and on pita chips. It makes an interesting substitute for mayo on a BLT. However, my favorite thing to do with tzatziki is to make this recipe for Greek 7 layer dip.

Now, Katie, which recipe will you make me disclose next?

Pasta with Arugula Pepita Pesto

So, I love pesto, and I love pepitas, and I wondered, how do they work together? I had a package of baby arugula in the fridge, and I thought, well, maybe that'll work too. Let's see the results.

                                              Arugula Pesto with Kitchen Sink Sangria

Summer Pasta with Arugula Pepita Pesto (serves 4-6)
For the pesto: 

• 8 oz baby arugula 
• 1/4 C pepitas, toasted
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2-3 Tbs parmesan
• juice of 1/2-1 lemon
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

1. If not already toasted, toast the pepitas in a skillet til aromatic
2. In a food processor, pulse the arugula and pepitas in small batches. Gradually add olive oil until desired consistency is reached.
3. Add lemon, parmesan, salt, pepper, mix and add more olive oil as needed.
4. Taste, add additional salt, pepper, lemon and/or parmesan if needed. 
5. Pulse again, set aside. You should have this bright beautiful greenness: 

For the Summer Pasta:

• 1 batch arugula pesto
• 1/2 lb pasta (I used lemon pepper pappardelle
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 4 oz feta, crumbled
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

1. Boil the water for the pasta
2. Heat some olive oil in a large wok or skillet. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add zucchini, and stir frequently season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, begin cooking the pasta. Cook the pasta until not quite done. Reserve the cooking liquid from the pasta.
3. Once the pasta is cooked, drain, reserving the water, and add to the pasta along with the tomatoes. Toss over medium heat. Slowly add the pesto, incorporating some of the pasta cooking water to thin out the the sauce and add flavor. Continue adding pesto and and pasta water until pasta is well coated and pesto has achieved desired texture. Add crumbled feta. toss, and add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

                                                         Here's the pasta I used.

                                                   Why am I always making green food?

Verdict? This pesto has entirely different flavors depending on whether it's eaten immediately or the next day. When eaten immediately, it has a zesty peppery kick with limited pepita flavor. When served left over, it develops a nutty, buttery flavor. Unlike basil pesto, this maintains it's beautiful bright green color without fading to a dull gray green. Because it retains it's color, it would be perfect for a pasta salad. I definitely preferred this heated up as leftovers the next day. This recipe has a lot of potential.

                                                               

Ingredient Elimination: Kitchen Sink Sangria

...Because "Kitchen Sink Sangria" sounds nicer than "Garbage Disposal Sangria".
Sangria has to be one of my favorite adult beverages. It masquerades as something fun, fruity without being declasse,and vaguely exotic. In reality, it's the ultimate drink for a skinflint. Why?
1. You're practically required to use cheap wine;
2. ...that you water down with soda or seltzer;
3. It tastes better with overripe fruit (e.g. fruit that otherwise would be destined for the garbage)

So, that said, what's in ingredient elimination this round? Blackberries that were looking a bit wilted. About 4 oz of them. Runners-up in the ingredient elimination category include an orange that was zested and not used, and 1/2 lemon that was in my fridge.

Kitchen Sink Sangria (serves 4)

• 1 bottle cheap red (if you're not sure what kind, ask the kind folks at your local liquor store)
• 4 oz blackberries, slightly mashed
• 1 orange, cut into slices and halved
• 1/2 lemon, cut into slices and halved
• 1 nectarine, cut into small chunks
• 1-2 shots creme de cassis
• lemon-lime seltzer or lemon-lime soda
• grenadine (optional)

1. In a pitcher, mix fruit, wine and creme de cassis. Let sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
2. In glasses with ice, pour 2 parts wine mixture to 1 part soda or seltzer. Taste, adjust the ratio as needed. If you prefer a sweeter sangria, add a bit of grenadine, or be sure to use soda, rather than seltzer. 

 A local winery produces "Plonk" specifically to make sangria for 8 bucks a bottle. Here's a closer look: 

Note: I prefer a drier sangria, so this one is not particularly sweet. Feel free to add grenadine or sugar if you like it a bit sweeter.

Verdict? Is this the most delightful sangria you've ever leisurely sipped on while dining al fresco? Nope. But it's a tasty way to use stray pieces of fruit in your fridge.

Ensalada de Porotos Verdes/Green Bean & Tomato Salad

I become a lazy cook in the summer. While my favorite things to make are soups, stews, and sauces, they require a lot of attention to be made properly. What's missing from this stock? Sh*t, I added too many bay leaves. I can't believe my shopping list could be published into a small book are all common thoughts for me come winter.

Not so with summer. My trajectory looks more like this. Go to Farmer's Market. Buy perfectly fresh, nutritious, and often inexpensive produce. Go home. Chop veggies. Add salt, pepper, and oil as needed. Bask in my misguided culinary cleverness. This recipe embraces the farmstand with just a few, very fresh ingredients. This recipe is adapted from a different Moosewood cookbook, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. The recipe comes from a chapter on the food of Chile (porotos is the Chilean word for beans), although I am sure the modifications I've made are completely un-Chilean.

                                   All presented in a very classy Tupperware container!

Green Bean & Tomato Salad (serves 2-4 as a generous side)

• 1/2 lb fresh green beans, washed and trimmed*
• 1 tomato, sliced into small wedges  (I used Buffalo)
• 1/4 C pinenuts (can be omitted, or else replace with pepitas, sliced almonds, or walnut pieces)
• juice and zest of 1 lemon (I like to get a little pulp in there, too)
• 1/4 C red onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1-2 Tbs olive oil
• salt
• pepper

1. In a small sauce pan, toast the pinenuts til fragrant. Shake the pan frequently while cooking. Set pinenuts aside.
2. Mix together the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
3. In the same pan used for the pinenuts, boil the water for the beans. Once boiling, add beans and cook til bright green. One cooked, shock the beans in a bowl of cold water and ice. Drain.
4. Mix the tomato, green beans, onion & pinenuts. Add lemon/oil mixture, mix together, and enjoy.

*I didn't weigh the beans, and it seemed to be silly to measure them with a measuring cup. I eyeballed the beans I had to be 1/4 the original 2 lb haul. I took a picture so you can see how many beans I used. If you want ultimate precision, feel free to count them:

                                                            1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6....I give up


Verdict? Fresh, summery, and guaranteed to give you dragon breath from the raw garlic. Make while the tomatoes and beans are just perfect. My husband suggested that this would be an ideal side for baked/broiled fish.

Cannoli with Blueberry Sauce -or- What Do I Do with all that Blueberry Sauce?

So, in case you weren't aware, it's been pretty bloody hot outside. Despite this, occasionally I've been craving dessert, and because I must have some sort of glitch, ice cream doesn't hold my interest.

So what does one  do?

Make cannoli. If you buy the premade shells,which can actually be quite tasty, this recipe requires not a single flick of your burner or preheat of the oven. If you can bear it, you just need to heat the blueberry sauce in the microwave for a few seconds. The recipe takes less than 10 minutes. I've had a lot of fun experimenting with cannoli filling, including key-lime, and on Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie cannoli. I'd be curious about other suggestions. This recipe is courtesy of my frontal lobe.

      Hmm, they look suspiciously like my crepes with blueberry. I don't have a pastry bag, so that's why my filling is not lovely and artisan-like.

Cannoli with Blueberry Sauce (makes 4-6 cannoli)

• 16 oz ricotta cheese (get the good stuff; avoid low fat, as it will be runnier and the filling won't set properly)
• 1/4-1/3 C confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 
• 6 cannoli shells
• 1/2 cup blueberry sauce, warmed

1. Drain any liquid off the top of the ricotta, place in bowl, and begin whisking with a fork.
2. Slowly incorporate the sifted confectioner's sugar. Keep whisking! You're hand should be nice and tired.
3. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla extract.
4. Continue whisking until mixture is somewhat fluffy and all the lumps from the ricotta are gone.
5. Taste, add additional sugar, lemon, or vanilla as needed.
6. Gently spoon the filling in the cannoli shells. A small rubber spatula works nicely.
7. Spoon some of the warmed blueberry sauce over the cannoli and enjoy.

                           I prefer the mini-cannoli shells, unfortunately these weren't available.

 

Still too runny. Be sure to whisk with a fork, and not an actual whisk. I tried this once, and all my filling ended up on the whisk, a cannoli lollipop of sorts. You can probably use a Kitchen Aid, but I haven't tried.

Recipe Notes: If you don't use a blueberry sauce, or chocolate sauce, etc. on top of the cannoli, I recommend bumping up the sugar to 1/2 C, more if needed. This filling is fairly delicately flavored, due to the intense flavor of the blueberry sauce, as well as the fact that when the weather is so warm, I don't want super sugary desserts. If possible, let the filling sit for 30 minutes before constructing the cannoli. The filling stays fresh for a few days in the fridge, and if you compose your cannoli the day after you make the filling, the lemon flavor will be more pronounced.

Verdict? Not much else to say but yum. A deceptively impressive dessert.

Lemony Zucchini & Spaetzle with Bread Crumb Topping

This time of year in Champaign-Urbana, the zucchini are so prolific that the farmers practically part with their harvest for free. You'd think I'd tire of all of the zucchini, but I don't. For this dish, I used spaetzle, a German egg noodle or dumpling. It's not a noodle for the impatient, it takes eons to cook (I may be exaggerating slightly). This recipe is slightly modified from Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health:

                                  

Lemony Zucchini with Spaetzle & Bread Crumb Topping

• 3-4 servings spaetzle (to be prepared as written on package)
• For the bread crumb topping:
• 1/2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 Tbs butter
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 C bread crumbs (I used panko)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• oregano, Italian seasoning, or herbs de Provence to taste
• For the lemony zucchini:
• 2 med zucchini, sliced (I prefer mine sliced thin)
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt (I used smoked salt, which I recommend, if you've got it)
• pepper
• oregano, Italians seasoning, or herbs de Provence

1. For the bread crumb topping: melt 1/2 Tbs butter and 1/2 Tbs olive oil in the skillet. Begin to boil the water for the spaetzle.
2. Over medium heat, add the garlic, bread crumbs, salt and herbs. Stir constantly until well-coated and lightly browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. If the water is boiling, add the spaetzle. Follow the instructions on the package. Check occasionally while preparing zucchini (Note: If you've never made spaetzle before, you'll have to frequently taste for doneness. It looks cooked long before it actually is)
4. Using the same skillet as the bread crumbs, heat the Tbs of olive oil. Add the garlic and zucchini. Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add the herbs, salt and pepper. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and zest and stir. Remove from skillet.
5. Drain the spaetzle when done. In the same skillet as the zucchini and bread crumbs, stir the spaetzle for a few minutes over medium heat, adding more oil if needed. This will help scoop up all the delightful garlicky lemon goodness remaining in the pan.
6. Serve by putting zucchini over spaetzle and sprinkling bread crumbs on top. Add additional salt, pepper and herbs as desired.

                                            Be patient, be patient. They aren't done yet.

                                 Learn from my mistakes. Don't overcrowd the pan. Just don't.

Verdict? I love this dish, and I've made it several times before. Lemon & zucchini work beautifully together, and this meal has a nice, simple comfort food aspect to it. This dish shines with the fresh zucchini available now. I think this meal would become a bland, overcooked mess with frozen zukes or out of season veggies. I cut the zucchini too thickly, but that's my error and not a flaw in Moosewood's recipe. 

Recipe Mash-up: Country Style Tofu & Shiitake Mushrooms with Garlic Bok Choy

In recipe mash-up I take 2 different recipes and turn them into 1 dish. I made this because I had baby bok choy and cooked rice that required attention. The mushroom recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs, Closet Cooking, with small modifications by me. The Country Style Soft Tofu and Garlic Bok Choy recipes are companion recipes from Moosewood Restaurant's cookbook Cooking for Health. I recommend any of the Moosewood cookbooks, however, this one is especially outstanding as it has revised and improved many dishes from previous cookbooks, enhancing both nutrition and flavor. I've separated the 3 recipes out, mainly to confuse people, but also to illustrate that they can easily be made individually for different effect. The final result, discussed more below, is a nice blend of American Chinese takeout, and more traditional Chinese dishes.

Seasoned Shiitake Mushrooms

• Vegetable oil
• 4 oz shittake mushrooms, stems removed and cut into thin slices
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1/4 C dry sherry
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 generous tsp garlic-chili sauce

1. Heat the oil on high heat
2. Sautee the mushrooms for 4-5 mins, stirring frequently
3. Add garlic & ginger, sautee for a minute
4. Deglaze the pan with the sherry
5. Add soy sauce and chili sauce, reduce heat to desired thickeness
6. Add sesame oil
7. Remove from pan and set aside (Note: you can use the same pan for the bok choy if desired)

Country Style Soft Tofu:

• 1 cake soft tofu
• 1 C water
• 1-2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark sesame oil
• 1 tsp rice vinegar (cider vinegar would also work well)
• 2 Tbs corn starch

1. Gently cut the tofu into cubes. Curse tofu out when it breaks all over your cutting board.
2. Mix together water, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar & cornstarch
3. Bring to a boil, ensure cornstarch is thoroughly mixed into sauce
4. Bring to a simmer, stir until thickened
5. Add tofu, gently stir (use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon--try fruitlessly not to let tofu break)
6. Allow to sit on low heat, stirring occasionally   

Bok Choy with Garlic

• Vegetable oil
• 3 heads baby bok choy (huge variation in size--mine were the equivalent of one full-sized head of bok choy)
• 1/2 C water
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark sesame oil
• 8 garlic cloves (ya know, to keep the vampires away), minced
• Green onions, sliced
• Cooked rice

1. Clean the bok choy well (little critters like to crawl among the leaves). Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Discard the tough bottom part.  Keep the leafy portion separate.
2. Mix together the  water, soy sauce, and sesame oil
3. Heat the vegetable oil hot, hot, hot in a wok
4. Add garlic, stir for a minute, do not let that garlic burn
5.  Add bok choy stems, stirring constantly. You may need to turn down the stove to medium at this point, depending on how well your cookware retains heat
6. After 3 or so minutes, add the soy sauce mixture and bok choy leaves. Stir until the bok choy is well-coated and the leaves have wilted. Turn off heat. 

The big picture:
1. Put rice in a bowl
2. Add tofu and bok choy to your liking
3. Sprinkle a few of the mushrooms to your liking (they are salty and heavily seasoned--a little go along way)
4. Sprinkle on some green onions for flavor and texture.


Verdict? Very tasty, but one question...why did I make this in the summer? This is such a fall/winter dish! The whole dish worked together very well, but I'll comment on each item individually. The green onion does help pull together the meal, so think of it as an ingredient, not a garnish.
    Mushrooms:Nice chewy texture and concentrated flavor. I'll definitely make these as an add-on to my next attempt at Bibimbop. These would also be exceptional on a salad or in kimbap or a veggie maki roll.
     Tofu: The sauce is reminiscent of take-out (in a good way). It reminds me a bit of mopo tofu. I'm not  I don't often seek out soft tofu, but in this meal, it works.
     Bok Choy: This is very simple, but very good. A friend of mine from China runs a small Chinese that caters to both Americans and Chinese students. This dish is very similar to many of her traditional menu items. The sauce is far runnier than the sauce of the tofu, but this is typical in traditional dishes. The combination of both the thick sauce with the tofu and thin sauce of the bok choy unites well with the rice.

Green Green Onion & Ginger Noodles: Updated 08/12/2011

This post marks my first foray into a food-blogging tradition that I love, Presto Pasta Nights. This week's PPN roundup is hosted by the darling Debbi Does Dinner. Because this is my 1st time with PPN, my apologies to you dear PPN followers if I goof up!

I borrowed from the library (Hi, Mom!) David Chang's Momofuku Cookbook, part traditional cookbook, part history tome, and part essay. Mr. Chang is apologetically unsympathetic to vegetarians, but his ginger scallion noodles appeal to us herbivores. He states that this dish is an homage, no, a rip off of a cheap & filling Chinese restaurant in NYC, so I figured it was only fair to do the same. The ginger scallion sauce recipe is from Chang's cookbook, with minor modifications by me to accommodate what I had in my kitchen, the rest of the stir-fry inspiration arrives courtesy of the contents of my fridge:

 

     2 bunches sounds like a lot of onions...1/2 ginger sounds like a lot of ginger. But it works.

                                                         Love all the green...so pretty!

                                                    Like to keep these handy in the fridge!
Green Green Onion & Ginger Noodles (serves 3-4)

• 3 single-serve packages yakisoba noodles
• 1/2 lb seasoned firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 small-med zucchini, diced
• 1 head baby bok choy, sliced, leafy greens separated from stems
• 1 green  pepper, diced
• 1 batch ginger scallion sauce (recipe below) 
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce to taste 
• water as needed

1. Assemble the ginger scallion sauce. Allow to sit in fridge to let flavors mingle, between 20 mins, and oh, 20 hours. It loses potency if not used in a day.
2. Heat a bit of veggie oil in a wok on med-high heat, once hot, toss the garlic a bit til aromatic.
3. Add the tofu, cook for a few minutes, stir often.
4. Add the zucchini & boy choy stems, cook a few more minutes, stir often.
5. Add the pepper, stir again.
6. After a minute or 2, add the noodles and bok choy leaves. Use tongs to help loosen noodles, add a bit of water to loosen the noodles if needed.
7. Once the noodles are loosened, stir-fry for 1-2 mins. 
8. Add the ginger scallion sauce and cook for another min or two more. 
9. Inhale the lovely ginger smell. Enjoy! If you're not enjoying, add some soy sauce to taste.


Ginger Scallion Sauce:

• 2 med bunches green onions, chopped small. Don't discriminate--use both the green & white parts
• 1/2 C minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs dry sherry

1. Mix everything together. Let the flavors mingle and get to know each other.  

Verdict? I'm a firm believer in this sauce. It's quick, economical, and packs a lot of flavor, it's easy to keep handy in the fridge. I love the flavor and texture of the yakisoba noodles, and the sauce hugs them perfectly. The ingredients of the stirfry are really secondary to the sauce, so have fun with whatever's in your fridge, and let me know how it turns out.(Update 08/12/2011: I made this again in a desperate attempt to revive a batch of noodles gone wrong. I didn't have dry sherry, so I substituted with  soju, a Korean spirit similar to vodka, with great results. I'm happy to report the noodles were yummy)