Italian Treatment

It has relatives that are more well-known, like spinach, beets and quinoa, and some less known ones such as epazote and Jerusalem oak. It is one of the most nutritious plants available. It grows in abundance in the mid-Atlantic states, yet it is considered by some to be an invasive weed. Its name is lamb’s quarters and in a word, it’s delicious.

Its Latin name is Chenopodium album, meaning white goosefoot, referring to the shape of its leaf and to a mealy white powder appearing on both sides. In Canada it has been widely known as pigweed and bacon weed because it was often fed to pigs.

Lamb’s quarters

The whole plant can be eaten when young. The leaves are good in spring and early summer. After that, the upper leaves are best. The leaves can be used raw in salads or cooked in soups, stews, casseroles, simply steamed or sautéed. Lamb’s quarters dries well and can be reconstituted or powdered for use in winter. It is very good in raw cheese or tofu dishes like quiche, as its wild flavor and high mineral content go well with cool, bland high protein foods.

Here, I’ve given it a slightly Italian treatment. Shrimp are briefly sautéed with garlic, then folded into coarsely chopped lamb’s quarters that have been separately sautéed with garlic, red pepper flakes and breadcrumbs. This is then combined with spaghetti and served with a little Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

Tomato Season 8

In a few weeks (if not sooner), heirloom tomatoes will disappear from farm stands in New York City, not to be seen again until next summer. You may have heard of widespread cases of tomato blight that occurred all throughout the eastern seaboard of the United States earlier this year. I know of at least two farmers who had to throw out over $50,000 worth of product during the first harvest in late July.

The expected increase in price hasn’t materialized but I can’t help think that quite a few vendors won’t be returning next year in order to recoup their losses.

Heirloom tomatoes

Tonight’s dinner is loosely based off of this recipe found in this article from this past Wednesday’s New York Times.

Ripe tomatoes are roasted with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, then handfuls of fresh sheep’s milk ricotta are scattered over. The result is a sweet, luscious sauce that conjures up a haunting memory of summer and a taste of a season to come.

Flounder and Chicken Congee

Flounder and chicken congee

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Otherwise known as jook, congee consists of rice and (either water or) stock that’s slowly simmered until the rice grains begin to break down. The result is a thick porridge that epitomizes Chinese comfort food at its very best. It’s perfect for a chilly autumn evening like tonight.

There are as many recipes and variations of congee as there might be hairs on a donkey’s tail. This version contains flounder that was marinated in a mixture of sesame oil, rice wine and soy sauce, along with some leftover roast chicken from last week’s chicken dinner.

The beauty of congee is that it can be a flavor vehicle for whatever toppings you happen to have on hand. These may include chopped deep-fried strips of dough, “hundred-year old” eggs, roasted peanuts, minced onion chives and nam yu (fermented tofu).

Le Chevrier Vert

I rarely cook from recipes unless it’s something I’ve never made before. Then I’ll make it once or twice to get the technique down pat before venturing out on my own. I own a very limited set of cookbooks — 23 at last count. I use them primarily for reference, occasionally as inspiration. Once in a while I’ll prepare something lifted straight from their pages. I find that it’s best when you’ve cooked something that you’ve devised from the ground up. Besides, it’s seriously useful when you’re building your repertoire. There’s a quiet confidence that develops when you can gaze on a basket of food and call to mind ideas for the evening’s menu.

Technique is the most important element when it comes to cooking, in my opinion. Once you’re able to master something, the world becomes an open book.

And of course, nothing is more gratifying than cooking something from scratch and having it come together without a hitch.

Shelled flageolet beans

Le Chevrier vert, also known as the flageolet bean, was first obtained by a French grower named Gabriel Chevrier sometime in the late 19th century. This bean is set apart by its green color, which it holds onto even after the bean has dried in the pod. Though it is technically a white-seeded bean, it possesses the ability to retain chlorophyll much longer than other beans. It maintains its pale green shade even after cooking.

Flavor wise, the bean is creamy, delicate and slightly starchy. It tends to absorb and intensify the flavor of food it has been cooked with. Flageolets are best cooked simply with aromatics such as carrots, leeks and onion in chicken or vegetable stock, or in cassoulet.

Corn

According to food historians, wild corn may have been growing in southern Mexico as early as 5200 B.C.E. , while cultivated corn may have appeared as early as 3400 B.C.E. Corn was so sacred to the Mayans that they used human blood to fertilize it. Columbus was introduced to corn by the Arawaks in the Caribbean, and when settlers arrived in the New World, the native Americans taught them how to cultivate and cook corn as well as grind it to make cornmeal. In Europe, corn never became popular for more than animal feed except in isolated pockets, such as northern Italy, where polenta is a dietary staple.

Sweet corn, of which there are many varieties, is the type of corn served on the cob and preserved by canning and freezing. It is picked when immature while the kernels are still sweet and juicy. Field corn (also known as dent corn) is picked when mature and starchy, then dried. Over eighty percent of field corn in the United States is used as livestock feed; the remainder is used in processed food and drinks, as well as non-food products such as plastic and fuel. Popcorn is a field-type corn with a very hard hull. When heated, the kernel’s internal moisture becomes steam and because the steam has nowhere to go, it causes the kernel to explode. Indian (or flint) corn, with its multicolored kernels, is the type used as decoration in autumn. Blue corn, which was nearly extinct in this country in the 1980s, is now a featured ingredient in tortillas, cornbread and pancake mixes, and is also sold as cornmeal.

Chicken Dinner

Sometimes simple is best.

Roast chicken; sautéed peppers and green beans, Tuscan style; steamed rice and heirloom tomatoes

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One measure of a good cook is roast chicken. These days, I prefer Thomas Keller’s method for mon poulet rôti. It’s the essence of simplicity, a philosophy that underlies most of my cooking. Pat a chicken dry with paper towels, sprinkle with salt and pepper throughout (and in its cavity), truss with kitchen twine, then roast in a pre-heated oven at 450 F for one hour. The result: juicy, tender meat paired with stunningly crisp chicken skin. The skin alone is worth the price of admission. It’s delicious with a capital “D”.

I should mention that the chicken was bought at USGM this past weekend. Its provenance is from Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, New York. The flavor blew me away. There’s simply no comparison to regular supermarket chicken. Score one for local food and sustainable farming.

The best part is a week’s worth of leftovers. Chicken sandwiches, chicken fried rice, chicken pot pie. Long after tonight’s dinner, the carcass gets reborn as the base for chicken stock, some of which will go towards congee, the rest for soup or whatever might strike my fancy. Very little gets wasted in Spamwise’s kitchen.

Tomato Season 6

Slow-roasted tomatoes are quite easily, one of the cheapest ways to elevate a dish from mundane to sublime. Take two baskets of cherry tomatoes, halve them, arrange in a roasting pan or cookie sheet, sprinkle each with a tiny bit of kosher salt and olive oil, then roast at 175 F to 200 F for 3 hours. You can do this with regular supermarket tomatoes or seasonal produce from the farmer’s market. The best time to cook them this way is now when tomatoes are at their most flavorful. Roast two or three cookie sheets’ worth of tomatoes, use as desired and freeze or can the rest. Prepared in this manner, they provide a taste of summer while we’re in the throes of winter.

I love slow-roasted tomatoes as a garnish to roast fish or chicken, or as a salad ingredient, or passed through a food mill and transformed into pasta sauce. A friend swears by them in omelettes with smoked salmon and chevre. Here, I’ve paired them with corn fritters lightly seasoned with a hint of marjoram, an herb that belongs to the mint family but actually boasts a mild, oregano-like flavor.

Corn fritters with slow-roasted tomatoes and fromage blanc

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For the corn fritters:

1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears of corn)
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, chopped
pinch of kosher salt
vegetable oil, for frying

Crush corn kernels with a strong fork or a potato masher. Combine corn, marjoram, flour, egg and salt. Stir well to blend.

Pour oil into a skillet and place over medium-high heat. Form the fritters by dropping the batter in 1-tablespoon portions into the pan, then fry the fritters until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Cook the fritters in batches, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. Drain on paper towels. Serve with a few spoonfuls slow-roasted tomatoes and a dollop of fromage blanc. If you don’t have any fromage blanc, substitute low-fat sour cream.

This will be my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs).

Gnocchi 5

Gnocchi has a permanent place in my repertoire. On average, I have it once or twice every six weeks. I usually make ricotta gnocchi because it’s lighter and lends itself to more dishes than the usual potato kind. There are variants made with chestnuts, semolina and corn meal but these are less-known, not to mention I’m unfamiliar with a couple of them.

Ricotta gnocchi with corn and heirloom tomatoes

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Recipe and demo after the jump.

Carpe Diem

This is my favorite time of year, foodwise. So many wonderful things are available at the market this time of year. The thin, light meals of summer give way to heartier fare that autumn demands. Yet, there is still time to savor the fruits of late summer before the first chill makes its presence felt.

Heirloom tomato and stone fruit salad

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For this salad, choose a variety of tomatoes and pair them with plums and peaches. Apricots and nectarines are also good choices, if available. Season lightly with sea salt or fleur de sel; dress with lime juice, mint and extra-virgin olive oil and serve at once.

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.