Meatless Fridays

Ricotta salata isn’t the same thing as ricotta cheese. It’s a sheep’s milk cheese; the curds and whey are pressed and dried before the cheese is aged. The result is a cheese with a slightly spongy texture and an intense creamy flavor, rather like a dry Italian feta. Use as you would feta cheese. Just remember that feta cheese is aged in brine, therefore although both cheeses are salty, feta usually has a wetter texture and crumbles more easily.

Watermelon and red onion salad with ricotta salata

seedless watermelon, cubed
2 T. ricotta salata, crumbled
chopped scallions (light green and white part only)
red onion or Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
2 T. reserved watermelon juice
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. lime juice
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
chopped parsley

Combine watermlon, ricotta salata, onion and scallions. Toss gently. Whisk dressing and spoon over salad. Serve immediately.

Why Vegetables Are Difficult

I’ve come to the conclusion that vegetables are more challenging than animal proteins, especially when it comes to creating interesting combinations. When you go to a high-end restaurant like Gramercy Tavern or Blue Hill, there are for example, five-course or seven-course vegetable tasting menus. That presents a challenge where a chef needs to structure a meal so that each course offers a different, yet interesting range of colors, shapes, textures and flavors that doesn’t mimic or duplicate from its predecessor. If you think about it, your options become even more limited when you cook seasonally. There’s only so much you can do with potatoes and turnips before things start to become boring.

Fortunately this problem doesn’t assert itself all that often in the spring, summer or fall. There’s such a profusion of ingredients available on the market that the only limits in the kitchen are those that spring from your imagination.

Vegetarian plate
Clockwise from right foreground: wild mushrooms and garlic scapes deglazed in Belgian beer and finished with a touch of fromage blanc; pan-glazed sugar snap peas with ginger; roasted new potatoes with lemon and thyme; poached farm egg

Monkfish 2

Pan-seared monkfish with citrus olive salsa, cavolo nero with crimini mushrooms and garlic

Monkfish fillets are briefly seared in a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and sea salt, then finished in a preheated 375 F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife slides through cleanly. The salsa is simply 1 shallot, minced and macerated in a mixture of lemon juice and orange juice, along with chopped orange segments, pitted Moroccan olives, toasted fennel seeds and finely chopped garlic scapes.

Midsummer Bounty

Some pix from this morning at Union Square Greenmarket. Some of what you see in this post will appear in meals throughout this week’s menu.

Strawberries — Simple is best when it comes to in-season strawberries. I like them with cream and a bit of sugar, or with a touch of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of black pepper. Breakfast tip: try a bowl of fromage blanc with strawberries macerated in vanilla sugar and chopped mint.

Sucrine — Rooted in the French word for “sugar,” sucrine (sugar lettuce sounds better) is a smaller variety of romaine with soft, silky leaves, buttery texture, and, as the name suggests, a sweet-ish flavor. You can take the elongated core of the lettuce, peel it, and steam it — it is as delicate as asparagus and just as delicious.

Green garlic — Green garlic is young garlic which is harvested before the cloves have begun to mature. The resulting vegetable resembles a scallion, with a deep green stalk and a pale white bulb. It can often be found for sale at a farmers’ market in the spring, and can also be grown at home relatively easily. Many large grocery stores do not stock green garlic, although growing consumer demand may change this. It can also usually be special ordered through a greengrocer.

Four Pictures

Japanese turnips

Radishes

Mutsu apples
Mutsu apples, also called Crispins, are a variety of heirloom apple first developed in Japan and now increasing in popularity in the United States. An excellent dessert apple, Mutsus are extremely juicy and their flavor strikes a perfect balance between sweet and tart.

Fettucine with sheep’s milk ricotta, wilted spinach, wild mushrooms and nasturtium flowers

Gnocchi 1

Cooking is a dying art in America.

We have become so preoccupied with kitchen shortcuts and timesavers that people will eschew real cooking in favor of fast food and unhealthy eating. And that’s a tragedy. I’m not sure how we can combat this decline except through education, in the hopes that the pendulum will reverse itself.

Last night’s dinner took an hour to prepare. The majority of the prep time involved making the gnocchi from scratch. True, I could have gone with store-bought but that would have sacrificed taste and quality control at the price of convenience. That’s a trade-off I’m not willing to undergo. But even if I weren’t concerned about things like taste, aesthetics and presentation, I could have opted for dried pasta or maybe takeout, or even a microwave TV dinner or fast food at the local McDonald’s. But there are certain values that I hold on to, some of which form the foundation of slow food.

When I was growing up, my mom worked full-time in addition to raising me by herself. Somehow she found the time to cook. Most nights we’d have something she made over the weekend. Sometimes she cooked something from scratch once she got home. I don’t recall a time when we ever had fast food for dinner. If that did happen, it must be buried in the recesses of my memory.

Now I recognize that if I were managing a household or if I were married with a kid, that time would be an issue, and that there would be all sorts of additional demands such that taking an hour for dinner might be a luxury. However, that’s not necessarily an excuse for fast food values….or is it? What do you think?

Ricotta gnocchi with asparagus and wild mushrooms

Suzanne Goin’s recipe for ricotta gnocchi is here. Be sure to drain the ricotta before making the gnocchi, preferably overnight. You can place it in a strainer or colander or double-wrap it in cheesecloth. Suspend over a bowl and let it drain for 8 to 24 hours, refrigerated. Cheesecloth is more efficient as it absorbs moisture from the ricotta while gravity does the rest of the work.

The sauce is minimalist — sauté slivered asparagus and mushrooms in melted unsalted butter with a touch of white wine. Salt and pepper to taste at the end. Stir in some chopped marjoram and chives, or your own mix of fresh herbs. Once the gnocchi are cooked, toss with the vegetables and serve immediately. Cheese is superfluous as that would overwhelm the delicate gnocchi.

Potatoes 4

Roast cod, sautéed shiitake mushrooms and ramps, pan-fried potatoes

Remember when I said that potatoes are one of the best vegetables invented? This is one reason why. 4 Bintje potatoes, peeled, sliced and fried with a bit of red onion in lots of unsalted butter. Salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes to finish.

The mushrooms/ramps were sautéed in unsalted butter and deglazed in some white wine. Recall the adage — if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it. Added a scant pinch of salt and some pepper towards the end.

Simple and delicious. Best of all, this took 30 minutes including prep time.

Recession Specials

When times get tough, the tough get cheap:

Fettucine with roasted mushrooms, pine nuts and herbs

wild mushrooms, sliced
salt
pepper
olive oil
2 T. pine nuts, toasted
handful of parsley or other herb, chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
lemon juice, to taste
cooked pasta
pecorino or P-R cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine mushrooms with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes or until mushrooms have caramelized. When mushrooms are done, add herbs, red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Toss together with pasta and serve.

Swiss chard, kielbasa and bean soup

3 T. olive oil
1 lb. kielbasa or other smoked sausage, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 lb. Swiss chard or other greens, stems removed and reserved, greens coarsely chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (canned is fine if you don’t want to bother with dried)
5 to 7 cups bean cooking liquid, water or stock
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Brown the kielbasa, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Remove from the pot. Pour off excess fat. Add remaining oil, along with the onion, carrots and garlic. Saute for 8 minutes, stirring often.

Add chard stems, potatoes, water or stock or bean cooking liquid, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add beans. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for one hour.

Add greens and kielbasa. Stir. Simmer for an additional fifteen minutes. Check seasoning and serve immediately.

Congee

The usual recipe — 1 cup rice, 9 cups Chinese chicken stock (basically the stock I used from making Hainanese chicken rice last year*), 3 eggs lightly beaten, some sliced ginger and a dash of white pepper. Garnishes include chopped scallions, chili paste, shredded ginger, sesame oil, mushroom soy and white pepper.

*I had frozen a couple of quarts of chicken stock from that batch and used the last of it tonight.

Risotto from Start to Finish

Wild mushroom and smoked bacon risotto

Mushroom stock ingredients

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, roughly 1/2 cup
2 T. olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
4 to 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 leek, sliced (green and white parts)
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
parsley stalks
sage leaves
2 bay leaves
a generous pinch of salt
6 cups water

Risotto ingredients

1/2 cup smoked bacon, diced (1)
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 cup wild mushrooms, sliced (2)
1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup warm water
1 cup Arborio rice
5 cups mushroom stock (3)
1 cup white wine (4)
2 T. unsalted butter
pinch of salt
cracked black pepper, to taste
chopped parsley
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the mushroom stock:

Shake the dried mushrooms in a sieve to loosen any dirt. Heat oil in a soup pot, add the onion, carrots and celery and saute over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is well-browned, about 15 minutes.

Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any juices or browned bits, then add the dried mushrooms and soaking liquid, the remaining ingredients and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered for 45 minutes to one hour. Strain and set aside. Can be made one day in advance.

For the risotto:

Have the stock on a low simmer prior to beginning the risotto. Strain the reconstituted porcini; add the mushroom soaking liquid to the stock.

Saute onion and bacon in a large sauce pot, along with a little olive oil. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until onion is translucent and bacon is partially browned.

Add the rice and mushrooms to the bacon mixture. Stir around for a minute or so to coat the grains with the bacon drippings. (Never rinse the rice or you’ll lose the starch that’s essential to the dish.) Pour in the wine and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the porcini and stir to incorporate.

Add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly until each addition has been absorbed before adding the next. When the rice tastes done, add the butter and a handful of chopped parsley. The risotto should have the consistency of thick oatmeal. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately, passing grated cheese and parsley at the table. This recipe makes roughly four to five servings.

Notes:

1. I used smoked bacon ends from Flying Pigs Farm in upstate New York, but you can substitute regular bacon, smoked pork sausage, kielbasa or even ham. Remember to adjust any salt that you add towards the end.

2. I used oyster mushrooms, crimini and regular white mushrooms from the supermarket. Feel free to substitute anything from shiitakes to portobello or morels.

3. If you don’t feel like making mushroom stock, you can substitute chicken stock but the flavor profile will be different.

4. Any regular white wine will do from a purchase at Trader Joe’s to a $15 bottle at your local wine shop. For tonight’s dinner I used some leftover pinot gris that I had picked up last week. A rule I usually follow (and this is especially true of stuff like risotto) is “if you wouldn’t drink it, then don’t cook with it”. Why? Because the end product will be greatly affected by what you put in.

Breakfast in Four Pictures