Posts by: Andrew Cohen
Use this to dress things like a slaw of sliced Romaine and raw turnips and red onions, or a salad of sturdy lettuces and spicy greens like mustard and arugula.
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Okay, so it might sound weird, but it tastes good. This was one of those “I wonder what would happen if…” dishes I do when I already have a couple other vegetables going to the table. I was tired of the way I had been doing broccoli, and I had stuff heading to the grill already, so I thought, “Why not?”. This works best if you have broccoli that has longer stemmed florets with stems ¼ to ½ inch thick. You need a barbecue with closely spaced grill bars or one of the accessories for grills that allows you cook smaller items so they do not fall through the grating.
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Tagged with: broccoli
This is my take on a recipe from a friend. This is a dish where the cooking method combines with the main ingredients to provide the flavor. It is important not to crowd the meat when cooking so it browns, and the charring of the chilies provides flavor as well. The underlying flavor through it all is the cilantro and tomatillo. Using the stems avoids the soapy taste some people pick up from cilantro, and the leaves discolor where the stems do not. Eat this as a stew or cook down until fairly dry and use in tacos. This dish is poco picante. Adjust the number of jalapenos and serranos to make it hotter or milder.
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Potato Onion Gratin (without cream)
Gratin refers to the cooking vessel as well as the method of cooking, and the dish itself. So, slipping some vegetables into a gratin dish, cooking them in the oven so the top gets browned and crisp (gratinéed), yields a gratin. I do lots of them in the summer with things like tomato, eggplant, summer squash, and onions, but I love a potato gratin year-round. When it is warmer, I prefer to make them just with stock rather than using dairy such as cream, and I skip the cheese unless I grate some on in the last few minutes. This recipe gives an option for this.
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Cooking the whole garlic in the oil flavors the oil without leaving bits of garlic in the pan to burn. It is important to spread the pimenton into the oil and cook it at low heat so it permeates the oil, does not stick in a clump, and does not burn and become acrid tasting. This same technique would work for potatoes, carrots, Romesco, and other dense vegetables. The timing will vary with each type.
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Gremolata is the traditional topping for osso bucco made of lemon zest, garlic, and parsley all chopped finely and mixed. I like to riff on that, varying the herbs and adding breadcrumbs or nuts. I also think that summer squash is always enhanced by dry cooking methods such as roasting.
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This is a very basic Japanese “pickle” or salad that you might find in a home-style restaurant or in a bento box. This dish is ridiculously simple, but it keeps well and has a nice flavor and some crunch. No dressing makes it lower calorie, also. This is another of those dishes where I can not recommend a Ben-Riner (Japanese fixed blade slicer) enough. It makes doing this dish a snap. Oh, it is pronounced “skee-moan-oh”.
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This recipe is for a salad that is used as a topping for breaded chops. The contrast between the hot crisp chop and the cool salad with its peppery bite and slight acid from tomatoes and vinaigrette makes for a wonderful dish. This salad is also excellent on its own, or as a topping for bruschetta.
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This is the basic method for doing breaded pork chops. This recipe is for baking them, although you could fry them if you wish. I find this method is less messy. I make home-made breadcrumbs in the food processor from older dried out loaves of bread such as ciabatta or French. The crumbs are way better than any of the commercial stuff out there.
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This is a favorite dressing, and has been for years. Use good quality vinegar, but save your best stuff for other uses. This dressing is good on any salad, and goes well with fruit salad, too. You can also heat it up and pour it over sliced mushrooms. This will cook the mushrooms and give them a “pickled” flavor, and they keep well for several days in the refrigerator. They are good in salad and make a nice topping for grilled meat or poultry.
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No, not “twice baked potatoes”! These potatoes are steamed or boiled just enough to cook them through, then they are smashed and roasted. The result tastes like a cross between mashed potatoes and French-fries, and is really good. The recipe works especially well with potatoes like Romanze, Yellow Finn, and Yukon Gold. This recipe works best with potatoes around 3 inches in diameter.
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This was done for the 2010 Harvest Fair and uses a vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise like a German potato salad. Unlike German potato salad, this one has no bacon and is served cold. Romanze potatoes are originally from Germany and would be perfect for this recipe.
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This dressing is for a German style potato salad, but works well as a dressing for lettuces as well. The fennel takes it into a Mediterranean direction, so if you want a true German style dressing eliminate the fennel and go with some caraway instead, but go lightly with that. Caraway can easily take over a dish. This recipe makes more than enough dressing for the potato salad recipe, but better more than not enough. If you just want the dressing for a salad, halve the recipe. Toasting the fennel seeds in this recipe give them a sweeter, drier flavor. Untoasted, the seeds are stronger and have a more licorice-like flavor. Using half and half will add another layer to the flavors. You could also use this recipe for a slaw with cabbage, carrots, and fennel.
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Ingredients:
½ gram saffron threads
4 tablespoons olive oil
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Tagged with: potatoes
This recipe is an outgrowth of a pepper recipe I picked up from a couple of older Sicilian women at a farmer’s market long ago. I was making the peppers recipe and had extra grappa soaked raisins to use, so this recipe was born. If you do not have grappa for your raisins, use vodka or white wine. I had pistachios on hand, so I used them. Almonds or pine nuts work just as well.
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Tagged with: chard
Roasting broccoli is a great way to prepare this vegetable. It enhances the sweetness of broccoli and provides appealing textures. Depending on your preference, you can make it crispier or chewier as you choose by adjusting the size of the pieces and the cooking temperature and time. Another nice thing about roasting broccoli is the method mitigates the swampy smell broccoli sometimes gives off when wet cooked. This method will work really well for romanesco or cauliflower as well.
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I use a mortar and pestle for my pesto. I feel the flavors are brighter and the pesto holds its color and flavor longer. The pestle releases all the basil juices into the mortar so there is more basil aroma. Food processors heat the pesto and “cook” the basil, which helps the discoloration. Food processor blades dull quickly and rather than making a clean cut to the basil they tear it, speeding oxidization. I give the food processor version of this recipe further down. If using the food processor, I recommend doing a double batch as a single recipe is hard to get right in a standard sized processor bowl. Also, I just like the process of using the mortar and pestle as I find it meditative. I am more engaged with the food, the sound of the nuts grinding, and especially the smell as the basil gives up its juices. I like pesto for a lot more than just pasta. I mix it into farro or other whole grains, or toss vegetables with it. I also love it as a smear on sandwiches.
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Rapini with Fennel and Orange
Rapini is an assertively flavored green that is usually sautéed with garlic and chili. I like the idea of using sweet flavors or milder vegetables to balance this aspect of rapini. Ideally, this rapini dish would be used to “sauce” glazed carrots (see “Basic Glazed Carrots”) where half the butter is switched to olive oil, and a pinch of powdered fennel seed is added to the water when cooking the carrots. You could use a little orange juice as the bridge as well. The colors are a nice contrast on the plate, and the mild and sweet carrots are a nice foil for the slightly bitter tang of the rapini.
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Tagged with: rapini
Scrambled Eggs with Tortilla Chips, Avocado, Cilantro, and…
This dish is a riff on a Mexican dish called “migas”, which is traditionally made with older corn tortillas. This one uses tortilla chips. You can use old stale ones and smaller broken bits in the bottom of the bag, or fresh ones work fine too. My son is not a fan of eggs, but this dish never fails to please him, plus it is a great vehicle for getting vegetables into the kids. I use leftover zucchini, peppers, grilled onions, broccoli, and even green beans. Adding avocado is really nice, especially if it is chilled. The contrast between the hot egg and cold avocado is fun. This recipe is a guideline. Play with it and make it your own. Be sure to add the oil and water to the eggs to prevent sticking.
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This is a mix of herbs, alliums, and citrus inspired by the classic Italian “salsa verde” made of lemon zest, capers, herbs, and garlic-at the very least-and is used in the same way. Top fish, chicken, meat, or tofu with it, use as a marinade for tofu, or use as a dip. It is really good with hot or cold shrimp. Whatever you do with it, use a sharp knife when making it. You want to cut the ingredients, not mash them. This way the individual flavors are bright and stand out, instead of everything forming a muddy mélange over-ridden with onion and garlic.
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As a treat for the kids at breakfast, I caramelize bananas in a pan with sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. This is an offshoot of that.
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Tagged with: strawberries
Grilled Romaine Lettuce
Okay, it sounds funky to many people, but you have to try it before passing judgment. The grilling adds a sweetness to the leaves, and the stems become succulent-still a bit crunchy, but also tender. The cores remind me a bit of asparagus. The little bits of charring are a nice contrast to the bright lettuce flavor. If you have a good balsamic vinegar, this is a great time to break it out. You only use a little of the vinegar to dress the leaves.
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Tagged with: romaine lettuce
“Spaghetti” of Squash
This is a colorful dish that is best done with a mandolin. With a mandolin, this dish is super fast, and as the squash is very much like a pasta here, many sauces work well. This is the basic recipe for just the “noodles”, but it is so easy to vary this. Half an onion sautéed while blanching the carrot, a few basil leaves thinly sliced and you have a quick, light, and elegant dish. Have some leftover tomato sauce? Heat it up and pour it on. A dash of white wine, lemon and garlic works. Another reason I always liked this dish was my kids ate it up, and any way to extra vegetables into children is welcome.
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Tagged with: squash
This dressing was originally for blanched and chilled haricot vert. It goes well on things like shredded beets, cooked or raw. If you use these on red beets, the dressing will take on a lovely magenta color.
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Here is a hearty salad with lots of bold flavors in it, all linked together by a dressing thickened with berry jam. The salad features ingredients that are similar in how they all have a little hit of bitter or sharp to spark the tongue, and then they contrast in textures (soft lettuces and blue cheese, crunchy almonds and lettuces, chewy raisins) all robed in a silky dressing that is sweet and tart. I like this salad for a main course, especially if there is some leftover roast or poached chicken to shred and mix in.
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