Simple, but the flavors play so well together. The slow cooking of the carrots really sweetens them and brings out the “carrot-ness” of them, while the Allium Topping contrasts with funk and top notes. This topping goes well with other things such as steak, salmon, potatoes braised with tomatoes and pimenton de la vera.
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This topping grew out of another recipe used on salmon. This is a little more subtle, and more floral with the addition of the fennel seeds and lavender. While made initially for seared halibut, it would go nicely with pork chops, chicken, or other firm fleshed white fish. It can be tossed with kale or other greens as well, or stirred into grains such as farro or barley.
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The flavors of potato and artichoke go so well together, and the textures are similar as well, so there is a flavorful surprise possible with each bite. Crisping the outsides gives a wonderful contrast to the interior creaminess, and the mild spring garlic adds a gentle garlicky note without any of the heat bulbed garlic can. If you don’t have spring garlic, spring onions, scallions, or no alliums will work also.
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The storm that is expected to roll in tomorrow will bring to a close the short, dry “window” that has allowed us to get in with the tractors and ready some ground for planting into. At our Lewis Road site we have already transplanted lettuces, chards, kales, and collards. Today out there we are direct seeding cilantro, beets, mei quin choi, scallions, red pearl onions and mustard greens.
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This is not so much a recipe as it is a whole around a few ingredients. These are variations of a favorite breakfast/lunch/snack/light dinner with salad, party appetizer of mine. The core of this “dish” is a sushi roll called the Norway Roll from when I had a sushi bar which was cucumber sticks, thin slices of smoked salmon and Meyer lemon, the dill cream cheese, and dill scattered on the outside of the roll.
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This is a twist on a very traditional teriyaki sauce. The orange and ginger just go so well with the other flavors, and are elements often found in Japanese cuisine with teriyaki. Of course, if you have tangerine juice, even better. As this is based on a traditional Japanese sauce, there is not nearly as much sugar as you will find in Western iterations, so bear that in mind. It will be saltier, perhaps than some think teriyaki should be, so plan the rest of the meal with that in mind.
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Very simple, but with bright flavor that is great with lightly smoked fish such as salmon, trout, sable, etc. It is excellent on toasts with avocado or with cucumber, and crackers. It was originally part of a sushi roll called the Norway Roll from my restaurant. The roll had this, smoked salmon, cucumber spears for crunch, paper thin slices of Meyer lemon, and additional dill minced and scattered on the outside of the roll. Once made, the dill flavor will permeate the cream cheese.
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The sauce is based on traditional teriyaki sauce, and is a little less sweet that what many are used to. See the recipe for ideas about that. This is a quick and easy recipe, especially if you have the sauce in the refrigerator, which I highly recommend. Use carrots that are nice and sweet for this. Some carrots are earthier and can have a slight bitter edge, which the soy sauce can amplify.
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Last week, my son Lee and I attended the annual Ecofarm Conference in Pacific Grove for a day. As a presenter–I spoke at a session on CSAs in the morning—I was given free admittance for the day along with lunch and dinner. The session I spoke at went well. It was great to see a large, enthusiastic group of people committed to the CSA movement.
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The Silk Robe refers to the silky texture leeks, fennel, and carrots take on when cooked slowly. You can grill the salmon, or roast it high or low temperature as you wish, or cook it entirely in a pan on the stovetop. Each method gives a different but delicious result. Higher temps yield a crispy part of the fish, where a slow and low cooking results in a supple and silky fish that matches the vegetable topping. Pan searing gives a crisp top deck and low oven heat yields silky flesh to meld with the topping. Because there are so few ingredients here, and cooking is so simple, be sure to use only the best ingredients. You could use halibut or other thick bodied flaky fish for this recipe, or even slowly poached chicken.
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This is a pureed soup, so it is smooth and “creamy” feeling, although there is no cream. The ingredients combine to make a slightly sweet soup, so serving this with a salad of bitter winter greens with a sharp-ish vinaigrette is excellent. The flavoring of this soup can go from Provençal to Southwestern American to Indian with ease. See Chef’s Notes for ideas.
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The meaty, winey Portobello mushroom and the nutty starchy farro mellow the bitter and earthy flavor of the radicchio while the sweetness of the carrot and onion dice act as a counterpoint. This is a dish with some substance, and the mushrooms make a good substitute for meat texturally and flavor-wise.
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Having always been a stickler as to the definition of “pesto”, I have relaxed about this a bit, but still feel “pesto” should contain an herb, garlic, nuts, and olive oil. In this case the herb is the fronds from fennel combined with a little parsley for bulk, the nuts are coarsely chopped almonds, and the pesto is pretty runny. There is no cheese in this, although you could add some young Romano to the recipe if desired. This recipe was meant for Carrots with Fennel Jam, but would work well with chicken, fish, pork, pasta, or drizzled on spaghetti. Mortar and pestle is my preferred method for texture and longevity of end product, but a blender works, and the method for that is listed after the mortar method.
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This dish is quite dramatic on the plate, especially if you have purple or multicolored carrots. If you wish, you can steam the carrots instead of roasting. Roasting and steaming help purple carrots retain color, and in the case of the purple carrots it intensifies the color. Wet cooking purple carrots washes out the color and tints every other vegetable in the pan a not pleasant shade or blurple. The earthiness of the carrot is offset by the fennel and the pesto, while roasting intensifies the sweetness of the carrots and intensifies the flavor at the same time.
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Shortly after 5 am this morning, as I sat down in front of the computer to check the weather forecast, the possum that lives under our tub in the adjoining hall bathroom got into a fight with a skunk that wandered into the crawl space looking for shelter from the rain. I heard the whole thing transpire and ran into the bathroom stomping on the floor in an effort to break it up, but it was too late.
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“Condiment” is used for lack of any better word, but I suppose salsa, jam, or chutney could be used as well. It is, essentially, sweet vegetables cooked until melting, to boost the flavors of earthy late season peppers. This is used as a topping for seared and quickly braised mei quin. Use as a side dish, add ground pork, tofu, or bits of leftover chicken and serve with rice for a main. A mandolin is very helpful with this recipe.
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The peppery notes of the cress and rocket play up the sweetness of the beets. The shreds of Little Gems add crunch and loft to the salad, while the orange in the dressing adds a bright note with some sweetness to marry with the beets and contrast with the nutty peppery cress and rocket. If you wish, you can serve the salad without the lettuce and use a standard Balsamic Vinaigrette. Use this as an accompaniment to things like steaks or roast chicken. You could also serve it alongside (or in the cup of the cap) roasted Portobello mushrooms. If you wanted you could add orange suprêmes to the salad just before serving.
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This was first done for a salad of beets, a peppery cress, arugula, and shreds of Little Gem lettuce. It will go with plenty of other salads of sharp or spicy elements, as well as on pork chops or chicken. Use a milder olive oil, and be sure to use organic oranges with plenty of flavor and some acid. Organic because you want to rub the bowl with the orange skin to flavor the dressing.
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I was reminded of a dish from a restaurant I worked in long ago when flipping through a recent cookbook about modern French bistros. We used to cut potatoes to the size of rice grains and cook it like risotto. The starch of the potatoes gave a very similar texture to traditional risotto. Here, carrots are cooked similarly, but you won’t get the same mouth feel until you choose to take some of the veg and broth and pureé it in a Vitamix or food processor and add it back in at the end. As I love to play with variations of peas and carrots, I include an option for adding shelled edamame. Look for frozen non-GMO organic beans, and cook them a little longer than called for. They should be tender all the way through, with a creamy texture. The recipe is great without them if you wish to keep things quick and easy.
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This recipe was made to go with Crisp Pan Roasted Salmon, but will go with roast chicken as well as seared scallops, black cod, or pork chops. Leeks cook to a silky texture similar to escarole, and the earthy funk combines well with the slightly bitter escarole. Although the recipe calls for white wine or sherry vinegar, a white balsamic or a good quality red wine vinegar would go great here as well. If you do go with red wine vinegar, serve a red wine that has plenty of fruit, but also some tannins to match the vinegar and act as a foil to the rich salmon and the smoothness of the vegetables. You could also toss this with pasta or grains such as farro.
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Using a slightly leaner salmon is a good strategy for this dish as the leeks and escarole have enough fatty qualities already. The Japanese peppers mentioned are fushimi and/or shishito peppers, which are quite mild but have a pleasantly “green” flavor. Searing adds another dimension of flavor that enhances the whole dish. Add shavings of carrot to the leeks and escarole (see recipe) or cook using a roll-cut and plate on the side. You can make this recipe using roast or grilled chicken or pork chops as well, but in this case the escarole-leeks will bring the richness instead of the salmon.
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