Okra you can actually like! (Really, I promise!)

          Hardly anyone I know is really crazy about okra. Yet you find it in huge piles in the farmers' markets, so I know a lot of people cook it. Growing up in my Louisville home, okra was cooked with a sort of stewed tomato mixture and I avoided it at all costs. Later I discovered the cornmeal crusted fried okra of the deeper south and although it was edible, still I couldn't see any appeal to it.
            Not,at least, until I had okra a couple of weeks ago at The Elegant Farmer. Mac has a way with vegetables, and the okra on one plate from his last Monday wine tasting was no exception. He had seasoned and roasted them. He counseled me to use very small okra pods for this, and to cook at a high hear.
             Last week my friend June Williamson brought me a bag of okra from their garden and I thought I'd give it a try. Since I'm going to be going to a function at my son's in Massachusetts later this month that requires me to have a dish made with bacon, I thought I'd try to incorporate bacon into my okra. But I couldn't decide how to do it without making it very bacon-fatty, so instead I used pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika) for the seasoning. That gave it the smoky flavor I had in mind. I tossed the smallest okra pods with limonolio (olive oil that has been crushed with fresh lemon), salt and smoked paprika, and a few halved cloves of garlic, and spread it all out on a baking sheet.

     I roasted them in an oven pre-heated to 450-degrees for about 15 minutes.  I thought they were delicious. The smokiness of the pimentón, the light lemon flavor and the roasted garlic combined to make a dish that to me was not merely edible, but really tasty. 

       Oven temperatures vary, so if you make this, you want to make sure that the okra pods are roasted enough to get a little toasty looking, but not roasted so long that they get limp. And when you buy your okra (unless you're lucky enough to have a friend with a garden) pick out the very smallest pods. 

      You can find the limonolio at Whole Foods or Fresh Market in Memphis.  If you'd rather, you can substitute regular olive oil and the zest of a lemon or two, depending on how much okra you're roasting.

      I served this with a chorizo-fresh fig dish that was also very tasty...but that's for another post!

The season of peach pie is upon us!

             I’m so predictable.  I have, in the past couple of weeks, gotten several emails asking if I was going to do a “peach pie of the year.”  It all started a few years back with my grandmother’s peach pie, and just took off from there.

            I was trying to think of a new twist, when I came home with a log of chèvre (fresh goat cheese) to use as an appetizer.  It turned out that I’d picked up honeyed goat cheese.  The sweetness of the honey was perfect with the tart goat cheese.  I had the peaches and wondered how the goat cheese would work in it.  The answer: beautifully!

            I wanted to make it again but didn’t find the honeyed goat cheese where I was shopping.  Instead, I used honey as the sweetener in the pie.  It was even better.

            I used a tart pan with a removable bottom, but this recipe is perfect for a deep dish type regular pie pan.  Peaches at the farmers’ markets are juicy and ripe, although smaller than usual because of the heat and lack of rain. (I'd love you to think I'm SO smart to know that, but a friend whose father is a peach farmer told me.)  

            I garnished it with fresh raspberries, but honestly it was be just fine without them.  If you like, a fluff of whipped cream might be good as well.

This is really best if eaten just slightly warm, but could be baked earlier in the day and reheated briefly in the oven.  In the unlikely event that there’s any left over, refrigerate it, but bring it back to room temperature to serve.  

PEACH-CHEVRE TART

6 or 7 very ripe peaches

Unbaked pie crust for a 10” pie

1 log fresh goat cheese, 3- or 3.5-ounces

2 eggs

1 cup half and half (or whole milk)

½ cup honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large pinch kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350^o.   Fit the pie crust into a 10” pie or tart pan.  Peel, seed and slice the peaches into the crust.  They should mound just slightly higher than the edge of the crust.  Pinch off pieces of the goat cheese and tuck down among the peach slices. 

            In a bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until well combined.  Pour over the peaches, being careful not to overflow.  Bake for around 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and center comes out clean.  Let rest for 20 minutes before serving, or let cool and serve at room temperature.  Serves 6 to 8.

Great apps for your holiday grill!

I recently hosted a five-course Tuscan dinner which had been bid on at our annual church school auction.  One of the hits of the evening was a smoked salmon bruschetta, served as an antipasto course. (By the way, the word is pronounced “broo-sketta.”)

I used red onion marmalade that I had made earlier.  Once you make this, you will find lots of uses for it. It’s delicious on almost any grilled meat.  Layer it with cheddar cheese to make a yummy grilled cheese sandwich.  Serve with shrimp instead of cocktail sauce. It will become a staple.

I grilled the bread for the bruschetta and it occurs to me that it would make a good beginning for your July 4 cookout.  You can grill the bread before the ribs or burgers go on the grill, and it’s a quick job to assemble them once you’ve done that.  You could also use purchased crostini or baguette toasts for a smaller version.

I hope your guests will enjoy it as much as mine seemed to.

Smoked Salmon Bruschette

For the onion marmalade:

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 large red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

2 tbsp. dark brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup dry red wine

To assemble the bruschetta:

6 ½-inch thick slices of crusty Italian bread

Olive oil for brushing

4 oz. mascarpone cheese (see note)

4 oz. smoked salmon, thinly sliced

5 ounce bag of arugula

¼ cup (approximate) limonolio (See note)

                To make the marmalade, in a heavy medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and just starting to brown a bit, about 20 minutes. Add the remaining marmalade ingredients, reduce the heat a bit and simmer until the liquid is reduced and the marmalade has a jammy consistency.

                Brush the bread slices with olive oil and toast lightly on both sides, either on a grill or under the broiler. Spread with the mascarpone cheese, then with about a tablespoon of the onion marmalade. Top with the salmon and sprinkle generously with the arugula.  You can make these a little ahead to this point and refrigerate. When ready to serve drizzle with the limonolio.  Serves six.

                NOTES: 1) Mascarpone cheese is available in many supermarket cheese cases. If you can’t find it mix one 3-ounce package of softened cream cheese with two tablespoons of sour cream.  

                   2) Limonolio (lemon flavored olive oil) is available at both Whole Foods and Fresh Market, but you can also grate the zest of a couple of washed and dried lemons into about a half cup of good olive oil and let it set for an hour or so before using. If you do that, you will need to refrigerate any leftovers.

A Better Burger: Spanish-Inspired Pork Burger

 

                 Neighbors were coming for a casual supper recently, and I wanted to grill.  Everyone likes hamburgers but I wanted something a little different.  I had just done a well-loved Spanish-style marinated pork tenderloin for the rehearsal dinner of a friend’s son and wondered why I couldn’t put the same spices into a pork burger.

                I used manchego, a Spanish sheep-milk cheese, to top the burgers. It has a brown wax coating that I trimmed off so the cheese could be thinly sliced.  It’s pretty widely available but Swiss cheese would make a good substitute.

                The sauce I serve with the pork tenderloin, a sherry aioli, is easy to make and still delicious if you prefer to omit the sherry.  I usually use an oloroso sherry because I like the full flavor and sweetness it lends. .  But any kind of sherry will work, except for the oversalted cooking sherry available in grocery stores.

                Spanish smoked paprika is a wonderful spice, available in most supermarkets and at Penzeys. I prefer the sweet (not hot) variety, but if you like more spice, the hot one would also be good.

                I added a slice of red bell pepper and a crisp lettuce leaf to each burger, put it on an onion roll and the guests pronounced it perfectly delicious.

                  Typically I roast the pork tenderloin on a bed of potatoes, so oven-roasted potatoes were the side dish the first time I made these. I thinned a spoonful of the spice mixture with additional olive oil and tossed them in it before roasting. The burger was so tasty that I made them again and this time I spread butter mixed with lime zest on fresh corn-on-the-cob, wrapped them in foil, and roasted them on the grill as the burgers cooked. That made quite a lovely companion dish as well.

SPANISH ADOBO-SPICED PORK BURGERS

Sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, very finely minced

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tbsp. sherry wine

Burgers:

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. Spanish sweet smoked paprika

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 3/4 lbs. ground pork

To finish:

6 onion rolls (or other burger buns)

6 crisp lettuce leaves

About 5 oz. manchego cheese, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 red bell peppers

                Mix all sauce ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.

                Drop the garlic, one clove at a time, into a food processor with the motor running. When chopped, stop the motor, add the remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined. Scrape down the sides a couple of times. It will make a grainy paste. Add the paste to the pork, mix well and form four burgers. Chill until ready to cook.

                Slice the top off the pepper and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Cut crosswise into ¼” thick rings.

                At dinner time, cook the burgers over medium-hot coals until just done through, about five minutes on the first side, and two to three minutes on the second.   Internal temperature should be around 150-degrees.

                Put the lettuce on the roll bottom, top with the burger, then the cheese and pepper ring. Drizzle with the sauce and enjoy!  Serves six.

Great Moroccan Lamb Dish...and Easy!

In Moroccan cuisine, the word “tajine” refers both to a cooking vessel, and to the stew cooked in it. The vessels are typically made from earthenware, with a domed top so the cooking vapors will condense on the inside and fall back into the dish. It simply has to be seasoned by first soaking in water, then filling with water and heating in the oven.  Then the unglazed areas are rubbed with a little olive oil and it's ready to go!

                I’d been wanting one for a while, and finally my husband got me one as a gift. Quite lovely, it can go right onto the stove top with a diffuser, and I’ve used it several times. I love the way it looks on the table, and in fact have it sitting on a shelf in the kitchen when I'm not using it, so all my friends can admire and covet it.

                Recently we had out of town guests coming and I wanted something interesting that wouldn’t take a lot of time.  Going through my files, I found one for a lamb meatball tajine that had those qualities.

                I served it with rice, but a more typical side dish would be couscous. You can find a pre-seasoned mix for that in any grocery, and it would cut down on prep time, since it’s ready in about five minutes. With a salad and some crusty bread for sopping up the juices, you can have a great meal for your guests in about 45 minutes.

Moroccan Lamb Meatball Tajine

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground lamb

2 large onions, very finely chopped, divided

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cardamom

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

Stew:

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp. peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, very finely chopped

1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, finely chopped

Juice and finely grated zest of two large lemons

2 cups beef stock

2 lemons, washed and quartered, for garnish

Additional cilantro leaves, for garnish.

                Preheat oven to 350^o. Mix the lamb, half the onion and remaining meatball ingredients together well.  Form into 1” balls and place in one layer on a foil-lined baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Reserve.

                Meanwhile, in your cooking pan of choice, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onion, the ginger and the jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and zest and the beef stock.  Season lightly with salt. Add the meatballs carefully, with any juices that have accumulated on the baking pan. Bring just barely to a simmer.  Lower the heat a bit, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon quarters. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTE #1:  If you don’t have a tajine (and most people probably don’t), a heavy lidded Dutch oven would work equally well.

Note #2: If you like a spicier dish, leave the seeds and veins in the pepper. If you have an asbestos palate, use two or more jalapeño peppers.

 Note #3: This reheats beautifully so if you like, you can make it a day ahead.

Lemon-Herbed Chicken Pasta

Last week a friend from out of town called and said she was coming through Memphis. I immediately invited her to dinner. Looking through the contents of the fridge, I found a couple of grilled chicken breasts. That afternoon I had pinched the tops off my recently planted basil plants to encourage them to bush out so I had a nice little bunch. And as anyone who has a mint patch almost certainly knows, my mint was already hale and hearty, so I snipped a good handful of that as well.

Although we don’t think of mint as typical of Italian cooking, some sources claim it to be the most widely used herb all over the country. If you google “mint in Italian cooking” you’ll come up with a lot of suggestions from almost every region. And it teams very nicely with basil, the herb you probably think of as the most common in Italian cookery.

I cut the grilled chicken into about 1/2-inch chunks, zested and juiced a couple of lemons and pulled a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. With a bit of sautéed shallot, we had a great sauce for pasta in a very short time. With a green salad and crusty bread, it made a lovely dinner.

I think this would also be great with shrimp, sautéed briefly in the olive oil after the shallots have softened, and then finished as in the recipe.

I really liked the grilled flavor of the chicken in this dish, but it would be equally good if you had leftover roast or poached chicken. About half a purchased rotisserie chicken would give you enough for this dish. Either way, you’ll have a great dish for spring guests.

Italian-Inspired Lemon-Herbed Chicken Pasta

¼ cup good fruity olive oil

1 small shallot, finely minced (about three tablespoons)

3 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken

1 10-oz. bag frozen peas, thawed (see note)

Juice and finely grated zest of two large lemons

3 tbsp. (packed) each slivered fresh basil and fresh mint

12 oz. linguine

Freshly grated pecarino romano or parmesan cheese, to finish

In a heavy pan large enough to hold the pasta after cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Add the chicken. peas and lemon juice and zest and cook until just heated through.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of well salted boiling water until barely al dente. Scoop out a cup of the pasta water and reserve. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the hot chicken mixture. Sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top and toss to combine. Add enough pasta water to moisten. It will probably take about ½ cup. Divide among four flat soup or pasta bowls and serve immediately. Pass the grated cheese at the table. Serves four.

NOTE: You are likely to find fresh peas at the farmers’ markets this time of year. If you do, shell and blanch them about five minutes in boiling water before adding them to the chicken mixture.

Fab crabs!

            We're going to be in Washington, DC, for a visit in a couple of weeks and as always during blue crab season, I look forward to a visit to the Quarterdeck, in Arlington, VA, for, as I call them, "smack 'em and eat 'em crabs."  You have to make reservations well ahead of time, even on weekdays, and tell them how many dozen crabs you want. 
            The table is covered with brown paper, and they dump the hot, freshly steamed crabs right onto it. Butter and lemon, with lots of paper napkins, that's all you need, although we might spring for cole slaw while we wait, since all crabs are steamed to order. Oh yum!  I promise to post pictures of our fabulous feast!
             There was an article in today's Wall Street Journal written by Harold Dieterle, who grew up on Long Island, going crabbing during the April-September season as a family outing. It makes for very good reading.

         
                There is also a delicious sounding recipe for garlic-baked blue crabs.  Unless you have a source for fresh crabs, you could make the recipe with fresh lump crab meat in a baking dish. Let me know if you give it a try!

A great salad for the season!

What’s with this weather? We should still be making warming soups to ward off the chill of spring showers, and instead I already have my herb garden planted and growing nicely.

                We were having guests last weekend and I wanted something easy, that I could do ahead, and definitely not hot.  A salad perhaps? But good summer salad vegetables aren’t ready yet, so I was leafing through some of my old cooking class recipes. I came across a Sicilian style chicken salad that seemed perfect.

                Any time Sicilian cuisine is mentioned I think “citrus” because all sorts of citrus, especially oranges, grow wild on the island. And a little spice is always welcome to a Sicilian as well. 

                It’s not unusual in several regional Italian cuisines to serve warm main course food on a bed of greens that then become slightly wilted.  Arugula works perfectly here; the slightly bitter taste is the perfect foil to the sweet and spicy dressing.

                You can do the chicken and peppers ahead a bit and let set up to an hour or so, or refrigerate.  Then heat them in the oven to warm back up.  The asparagus could roast at the same time. Bring the dressing up to a simmer and you have a perfect main course for guests, and all you’d need to go with it is good crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Sicilian Springtime Chicken Salad

2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, cut into 1/2” strips

4 plump cloves of garlic, peeled

1/3 cup good fruity olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ½ lbs. chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

Finely grated zest of one large orange

¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 lb. asparagus, tough stem ends snapped off

2 tbsp. honey

1 big pinch crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

2 tbsp. additional olive oil

4 cups arugula

A good sized chunk of pecarino romano or asiago cheese

                Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow baking pan, toss the pepper strips and garlic cloves with the olive oil.  Roast for about 15 minutes, stirring a time or two.  Lay the chicken breasts in one layer on top and brush with some of the oil from the pan.  Mix the zest and juice of the orange with the additional orange juice and pour over the top.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and roast until the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes more.         

                Meanwhile, on a baking sheet, spread the asparagus in one layer. Brush with the 2 tablespoons additional olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the same oven for about ten minutes. Set aside.

                Remove the chicken, peppers and garlic to a platter and tent with foil.  Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan and add the honey and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and let it bubble gently for about five minutes.

                Slice the warm chicken breasts about ¼ thick. Toss the arugula with a couple of tablespoons of the dressing and put on a platter. Arrange the chicken breast slices, the peppers and garlic, and the asparagus on top.  Drizzle with a bit more of the dressing.  Pass the remaining dressing at the table, and pass the cheese with a grater to be added by each guest as desired. Serves four very generously.

Game time treat!

            Occasionally a reader will send a recipe that sounds really good, and I almost always give it a try so I can share it with you.  A few months ago one of those readers, Mark Tygesson, sent one that sounded way too easy.  Of course I tried it at home. I served it first as a dinner entrée, with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

               We loved it, but I thought it would a great dish for a bigger group, served a little more casually. So last weekend when it was time to watch March Madness, I made it for the soon-to-be disappointed fans of various teams who watched some of the games with us.

                It was so popular that I’m pretty sure it will be on several other tables for the Final Four this weekend.  Perhaps you’d like to have it on yours too. It has the advantage of being extremely easy, extremely tasty, and adaptable to several ways of serving.

                Turkey wings are available in most local supermarkets, but are not always with the rest of the turkey parts. Ask at the butcher counter if you can’t find them. Turkey wings are REALLY big, so one will serve two generously, and maybe even three.  Just the drumette part of each one we’ve gotten was way bigger than a regular chicken drumstick.

                You can, of course, serve it as we did the first time, as a dinner main dish.  Last weekend we served the segments with broccoli cole slaw, chipotle baked beans and corn bread. The leftovers made a tasty pulled turkey sandwich the next day, and would be another very good way to serve first time around.

                I served the flavorful juices from the pan as a sort of au jus sauce, as well as with bottled BBQ sauce.  I mixed half each mustard BBQ and regular BBQ sauce and it was the perfect complement.  However you choose to present it, I’m pretty sure your friends will enjoy it as much as ours did.

 NOTE:  Since in Memphis pretty much our only chance for supermarket shopping is Kroger, and they don't stock nearly the variety of products that sadly departed Schnucks did, there seems to be a problem finding the Wham seasoning.  You can order it on the Willingham website if you can't find it in your local supermarket. Add on note: there was a comment added to this post that SuperLo has the Wham seasoning.

MARK'S WHAM TURKEY WINGS

3 or 4 turkey wings (or however many will fit into your crock pot)

Willingham’s Wham Seasoning

4 to 6 peeled garlic cloves per wing

                Rinse the turkey wings and sprinkle very generously on all sides with the Wham seasoning. Cover and refrigerate at least overnight.  When ready to cook, place in a crock pot and sprinkle the garlic cloves around them. No added liquid! Cook on low for six hours.  .

                They are delicious as they come out, but I like a little crisper skin, so I put them on a baking sheet. and run under the broiler for a few minutes. Cut each wing into three segments and serve with the garlic cloves and pan juices.

NOTES:  1) Mark emphasized that it must be the “real” Wham seasoning.  I used the mild variety, but there’s a  hot one too.  You may use that one if you’re into spicy food.   2) He adds a bag of frozen Italian beans about a half hour before the wings are done.  I haven’t tried that but it sounds good, so I will next time.

Moroccan Osso Buco

When I first went to study in the South of France, it hadn’t been more than ten or twelve years since the first of their North African colonies had been liberated, and only three or four years since the last, Tunisia, had been liberated. (Boy, I’m really dating myself!) I had several friends whose parents had been “pieds-noirs,“ or “black feet”, those who had been French nationals in the territories and had to leave. Many of them had never before set foot on continental French soil.

The dinners I had at their homes were nothing like what I’d had in French restaurants or other French homes. I fell in love with the flavors, and when I worked in Paris the following summer, I sought out the many small North African restaurants in the student neighborhood, the Quartier Latin.

Still, it was years before I attacked this style of cooking, first to learn to cook it and then to teach it to others. My initial inspiration came from the fine cookbooks on the subject by Paula Wolfert.

Recently I was having friends over for dinner and had picked up veal shanks for osso buco. This is the Italian term for veal shank slices, meaning “bone with a hole”. I wondered why I couldn’t turn this into a North African dish. So I did, with considerable success.

It would typically be served with couscous, but I served it with a rice pilaf instead. Roasted asparagus made the perfect complement. The marrow in the bones is delicious, so set the table with tiny spoons or seafood forks so it can be dug out.

The spice mixture, ras el hanout, can be purchased from Penzey’s, or you can make your own from the recipe below. For our dessert, I mixed a spoonful into chocolate ganache, which I used to fill little sweet tart shells. And it is very interesting as a spice in apple or peach pie. It’s also great dusted over sliced oranges and black olives on a salad, or mixed with olive oil as a rub for poultry or pork.

Moroccan Veal Shanks

6 slices veal shanks, about 1-1/2” thick (total about four pounds)

½ cup flour

2 tsp. ras el hanout, divided

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground ginger

Juice and finely grated zest of two large lemons

2 cups chicken stock

½ cup each dried apricots, halved, and golden raisins

½ cup whole blanched almonds

Garnish: slivered zest of two lemons and ¼ cup, packed, chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 325. Pat the veal shanks dry with a paper towel. Mix the flour with 1 tsp. ras el hanout and lightly dust the veal shanks on both sides. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the veal shanks on both sides, starting with the side with the larger bone end. As they are browned, remove to a roasting pan with a cover, just large enough to hold the meat in one layer. Place the smaller end down, so that the marrow remains in the bone.

In the same pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the remaining oil until very soft but not browned. Add the remaining ras el hanout, ginger and lemon juice and zest. Stir a couple of times, then add the chicken stock and dried fruit. Bring to a simmer and pour over the veal. Sprinkle the almonds around the edges, cover, and bake for two hours.

For the garnish, combine the lemon zest with the cilantro and sprinkle over the top. Serves 6.

Ras el hanout:

1 tsp. each freshly grated nutmeg, ground black pepper and ground white pepper

2 tsp. each ground cinnamon and ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all together. Keeps a long time at room temperature in a tightly covered jar.