Cooking

When I started this blog, cheese is one of the things that I had in the forefront of my mind.  The problem with me and cheese is that I’ll buy or eat some random interesting cheese and then forget what it was a few days later.  The end result is that I’ve had lots of cheese I like, but I’m still always unsure what to go for at the cheese section.  Tonight I am changing that.  My goal is that whenever I try a new cheese I’m going to do a little post about it.

Tonight’s cheese is Pecorino Romano.  It’s described as a hard, salty Italian cheese, suitable primarily for grating, made out of sheep milk.  I got it today at Whole Foods while getting some needed ingredients to make pasta.  It was right there next to the Parmigiano Reggiano (aka the really good parmesan cheese) but about $6 less per pound.

Trying a slice by itself, it reminded me of Parmigiano, though much more mild in flavor–less bite and edge.  It was savory and a little salty.  The texture is also much more smooth than Parmigiano, in that it doesn’t have that pleasant crunchy graininess.

I made a nice simple pasta (really, the days of canned sauce are over!) and grated it on.  Once added to the pasta it imparted a nice bit of depth and salt, very similar to Parmigiano.  In all, it may be showing up on my plate as a lower price point Parmigiano substitute.

Last month, Arthur started a forum on canning and Meg issued a challenge for all of us to try it out. Despite the upheaval of quitting the job I’ve had for 5 years and starting full-time culinary school a couple of weeks ago, I thought I was up to the challenge. I went to the farmer’s market and purchased about 6 lbs of roma tomatoes, thinking there was no way I could let that much produce go to waste (guilt over waste is a good motivator for me). My mom got down ye olde canning book and turned to the page(s!) on tomato canning. After reading about the threat of botulism and learning I would have to have at least 3 large vessels a-boilin’ on my mom’s stove to get this “simple” operation overwith, well, I chickened out.

But fear not! I just last weekend turned those tomatoes into some pretty delicious soup and pizza sauce, so my conscience is clear. And I came up with a way to say I’ve canned something, even though I’m not really sure putting something in a jar that keeps for a little while in the refrigerator counts as canning. However, it’s as close as I’m going to get this season! I decided to make pickles. Over the last few weeks (because that’s how long it took to wrangle space in the prime real estate that is my mom’s refrigerator), I made 4 versions of quick pickles (quick meaning they’re ready to eat in 24 hours or less), including a couple of old favorites and 2 new additions to my repertoire. I’ve included the specific vegetables I used, but you can certainly try others if you prefer.

[DDET Spicy Dill Quick Pickles]

This recipe is from Food & Wine Magazine. With cucumbers, it reminds me of my favorite store-bought (no more, ha ha!) Claussen pickles. If you’re doing cucumbers, I recommend using English cucumbers or buying organic/farmer’s market/grow your own to avoid the wax coating of store-bought cucumbers. Spice fiends, before you protest, despite the name the chiles add a delightfully SUBTLE zing to these pickles. I remove the seeds, but if you leave them in I’m sure it’s spicier.

Makes 2 Quarts

cucumbers, cut into spears, stem end removed (you’ll have to eyeball the amount depending on the size)

Spicy Dill Quick Pickles

3 T kosher salt

2 T sugar

1 1/4 C distilled white vinegar

2 T coriander seeds

6 large garlic cloves, halved

4-6 long redor green hot chiles, halved lengthwise

16 dill sprigs

Pack cucumbers into 2 clean 1-quart glass jars. In another jar, combine salt, sugar, vinegar, coriander and garlic. Shake to dissolve salt and sugar. Add 2 cups water; pour brine over cucumbers. Tuck chiles and dill between vegetables (note: if you’re like me and try to cram that last cucumber spear in there, this step will be difficult or impossible. Resist the urge. If there are too many cucumber spears in there, the ones on the bottom won’t get as much flavor until you’ve eaten some of the top spears). Add water if necessary to keep cucumbers submerged. Close jars; refrigerate overnight or up to 1 month.

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[DDET Curry Quick Pickles]

This recipe is also from Food & Wine (the same article, in fact!) and is a favorite of Arthur’s. Here you go, Arthur! Now you can make them too! I think this one is just perfect with carrots, but I’m sure other vegetables would taste good in it too.

Makes 2 Quarts

Carrot sticks, peeled & blanched in boiling water for 2 min, drained & cooled

Curry Quick Pickles

3 T kosher salt

1 T sugar

1/2 C thin matchsticks fresh ginger

6 garlic cloves

1 tsp Madras curry powder (not wanting to go expensive spice hunting, I used regular curry powder to fine result)

1 1/4 C unseasoned rice vinegar

Pack carrot sticks into 2 clean 1-quart glass jars. In another jar, combine the salt, sugar, ginger, garlic, curry powder and rice vinegar. Shake until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add 2 C water and pour the brine over the carrot sticks (again, just like with the dill pickles, if your carrot sticks are packed too tight, the ginger and garlic won’t infiltrate the bottom sticks until some of the top ones are eaten). Add enough water to cover and keep the carrot sticks submerged. Close the jars and refrigerate overnight or for up to 1 month.

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[DDET Horseradish-Pickled Wax Beans]

This one is also from Food & Wine. I was nervous about not blanching the wax beans and about the horseradish, but these turned out to be really good. I’ve never been able to find wax beans at the grocery store, but they’re available at the farmer’s market (here in Minnesota at least) starting in July. I was still able to get them toward the end of August, but I haven’t found out yet how long they’ll be available.

Horseradish-Pickled Wax Beans

Makes 4 Pints

1 1/2 lb wax beans, stem ends trimmed to fit in pint jars

8 garlic cloves, halved

8 dill sprigs

4 tarragon sprigs

4 tsp black peppercorns

4 tsp prepared horseradish

1 1/2 C distilled white vinegar

1/4 C kosher salt

3 T sugar

Pack the beans in 4 pint jars, tips down. Tuck 2 halved garlic cloves, 2 dill sprigs and 1 tarragon sprig in each jar. Add 1 tsp each black peppercorns and horseradish to each jar.

In a large jar, combine the vinegar, salt, and sugar and shake until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add 2 1/2 C water and shake again. Pour the brine over the beans and top jars off with water if the beans aren’t completely submerged. Close the jars and refrigerate at least 24 hours and up to 3 months.

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[DDET Quick-Pickled Cherry Tomatoes With Dill]

Lest you think I’m a Food & Wine junkie, I’ve included this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. The recipe doesn’t say how long these will keep, but I don’t think it’s as long as the other pickles. Because the tomatoes are pierced to let in the brine, they get more and more flavorful as time passes. So maybe a week or two? These would probably be pretty delicious as a cocktail garnish.

Makes 3 Cups

Quick-Pickled Cherry Tomatoes

3/4 C apple cider vinegar

3/4 C water

4 tsp coarse kosher salt

2 tsp sugar

1 3 X 1/2-inch strip of lemon peel

12 oz cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and/or pear tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper (or to taste)

Bring vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and lemon peel to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove from heat, and let cool 20 min. Pierce each tomato 2 times (on each end) with a slender wooden skewer. Toss tomatoes, dill, garlic & crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Pour mixture into a quart jar. Add cooled vinegar mixture. Let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours (or, like I did, cover and stick it in the fridge if you’re keeping the tomatoes longer than 1 day).

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With the football season approaching (GO VIKES!) I thought it would be fun to start a recurring article here on EatCookLive. Every weekend I’m going to try to post a new recipe for football food. These recipes will generally be fairly easy (no one wants to cook 5 hours before a football game, unless it’s the super bowl), incredibly unhealthy (all that beer should flush the cholesterol and sodium from your system) and will pair well with beer. I’m going to do my best to get them posted on Friday or Saturday so you can buy the necessary groceries before game-day. And, just because I can’t get enough football, I may break down the upcoming Vikings game. Maybe I can even get Arthur to tag-team this section with me.

For this week: Buffalo Chicken Dip!

This one is pretty simple, and very easy to make the day/night before and then throw it in the oven right before the game starts. It also definitely meets the necessary criterion of pairing well with beer! You will need:

• 1 oz block of cream cheese
• ½ cup  of blue cheese or ranch dressing (or ¼ cup of each)
• 2 cups of shredded chicken (I have always used canned chicken for this because the combined buffalo/blue cheese flavor is pretty strong, but I wonder if this would taste even better if you bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded the breast meat.)
• ½ cup of blue cheese crumbles.
• ½ cup of frank’s red hot (you can use whatever hot sauce you like but, for me, Frank’s has that perfect buffalo wing flavor. However, use the regular stuff, not the buffalo sauce variety which has artificial butter flavoring added. Ick.)

That's the Good Stuff!

Bear with me on this one because the preparation necessary to make this is both extensive and very tedious. Ready? Take a casserole dish; add all the ingredients and mix well to combine. Throw it in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. Then throw it in the oven (preheated to 350) and bake for 20-25 minutes until it looks done in the middle. Hot damn that was hard, but I have faith that most of you can pull this one off.

Serving suggestions: you need something to put this dip on, and most anything will work in that respect. This can go with crackers, potato chips, baguette or other crusty bread, or you can use some crunchy veggies like celery and carrots. Word to the wise: as tasty as this dip is right out of the oven, it’s pretty bad as leftovers out of the fridge. You probably want to make this one when you have a few people coming over to watch the game.

VIKINGS-SAINTS PREVIEW:

I will admit that this game is making me pretty nervous, and it has a lot to do with the depth of cornerback and wide-receiver on the Vikings. Three healthy cornerbacks? Three? Vikings fans take note: when your team’s two best option for a 4^th cornerback is to rush a player back from a torn ACL, or start a special-teamer who has never before played CB, things are dire. Add to that a Saints offense which likes to pass even more than Childress likes to toss out random 19^th century literary references, and you have the recipe for a defensive melt-down. And as for wide receivers, why the hell did we cut Javon Walker and trade Darius Reynaud??? Granted, neither of them are by any means star wide-receivers, they’re only emergency back-ups, but WE NEED EMERGENCY BACKUPS!!! And why not pick up TJ Houzh? All he was gonna get was 1 year and $850K, and we turned him down! WTF ARE YOU DOING CHILLY!?

Having said all of that, I still think we can pull this one out. Look, we destroyed that New Orleans defense last year, racking up damn near 500 yards and being 15 seconds from the super bowl on unfriendly turf. You just don’t win games with that many turnovers. I’m counting on AP to get his mind right regarding the fumbles and Brett Favre to be steady but not spectacular, at least not in the first game when the decrepit old fart still hasn’t nailed down the timing with his receivers. I’ll take by Vikings by a field goal, 28-31.

Arthur’s Two Cents:
With football season fast approaching, I know there are a few emergency fantasy football drafts in the works. For those of you hosting the midnight hour drafts this recipe might be just the quick snack you need.

On to the football. I think that AP, even with his fumble risk, is enough of a threat to allow the Old Man to make the most of the passing game. Still, I honestly don’t know if we are going to be able to win this one. If we lose, I see the season going one of two ways: (1) responding by pulling together and working out the kinks or (2) staring a patented Brad-Johnson-era style downward spiral.

We’ve all been there after a move—you’re moved in only in the sense that you’ve gotten boxes through the door of the new place. This last weekend, two days before the start of the school year, my new roommate Nick and I got the boxes in the door (with the help of Eat Cook Live cohorts Meg and Stu).

A few days after unpacking the bottle opener for our Brooklyn Lagers, we turned our attention to some kitchen luxuries: a pot, a skillet, a spatula, some cutlery, and a few plates and bowls. Over this first week of school with evening classes and no time for a real shopping run our cooking has been limited to pasta in some form.

I’m actually embarrassed to put this in the cooking section. In all honesty my efforts to feed myself probably fall short of cooking. The two nights were shameful pasta and jarred sauce meals (the sauce and pasta were all that made it through the move). Finally, a morning Key Foods run and a late night Trader Joe’s run yielded wine, sausage, onion, bell peppers, and canned tomatoes. Last night’s dinner was still a meal of simple pasta, but the added 5 minutes of turning the veggies, meat, and tomatoes into a sauce while the pasta water boiled was pleasant change from the jar-o-tomato sauce.

But hope is on the horizon. With a long weekend coming up, priority one is going to be finding a grill for the back yard. Soon after delicious late-night, post-class grilling will ensue!

He's back like Favre!

Honestly, I decided on posting this next recipe only partly because of how delicious it is. Mostly, I friggin love this headline photo and wanted to re-use it.

This dish comes from my aunt, by way of my mother, and god only knows where it first originated. BUT it is one of the tastiest meals that you can make given how absurdly simple it is. It takes about 5 minutes to make the fresh tomato sauce, and 4 minutes to cook the pasta and toast the pine nuts.

The name for this recipe does make me somewhat self-conscious of the whirlwind of Scandinavian white-ness which is my heritage; it’s called “Mexican pasta”. That always seemed such a natural name for it, like it just fit perfectly. Now it seems as contrite and overly broad as calling hamburgers “American meat” or referring to Coq-au-Vin as “French Bird”. But there you have it.  Call it what you may, just try it.

You will need:

• 3 small ripe tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 2 Jalapenos, with seeds and ribs removed, finely minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp white pepper

Note: this recipe will make 3-4 servings. If you want leftovers (which you will, trust me) double the recipe.

For the sauce: dice the tomatoes, and add to a large bowl. Not aluminum though, I remember hearing something about how the acidity of tomatoes reacts poorly with aluminum bowls and gives the tomatoes an odd flavor. No, I don’t remember where I heard it but it sounds like something Alton Brown would say, and so I go with it. Throw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.  Mix that up well to make sure you aren’t going to get a random mouthful of raw garlic or jalapeño.

Ideally, I like to let it sit for at least an hour so the flavors can mend, and the salt can bring out the tomato juices. Its really the combination of the olive oil and the tomato juice which carries the flavor of the spices and makes this a workable pasta sauce as opposed to just tomato chunks on top of pasta.  If you’re in a rush you can use it immediately, or you can make it up to 24 hours in advance.

I know, I know. Another recipe with pine nuts. God help me, I do love the overpriced little bastards.

Now there are only three more ingredients to make this complete: angel hair pasta, shredded white cheese (I usually use Mozz, but you could go for Monterey Jack, or goat cheese, or queso fresco to be more authentic) and lastly some toasted pine nuts.

When the pasta is cooked to al-dente plate it up, throw on some cheese while the pasta is still hot enough to melt it, top with the tomato sauce and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.  A word to the wise: anytime you have a recipe this simple and fresh, the quality of ingredients you use will really shine through. If you can, find some heirloom tomatoes, fresh squeezed lime juice and a nice bottle of extra virgin olive oil.

It might not have been the best idea for the middle-of-July heat, but one day Meg woke up with what I still think was a brilliant idea: bread bowls. (Yeah, this post is being written a little after the actual events, but don’t think about it as me being lazy, think about it as an exciting time machine!) The whole summer Meg had been turning out amazing fresh breads. Her idea this day was simple: make two half-sized peasant breads, cut off the top, pull out some of the bread, insert soup, and eat.

I was excited until she told me she wanted to use canned tomato soup. Not only is it fundamentally and morally wrong to serve tomato soup without grilled cheese, but I knew we could do better. Si se puede!

My idea: beer cheese soup. Sure it was about 95 degrees out, but if people can do Christmas in July I didn’t see why we couldn’t do beer cheese soup in July.

I found two recipes online at www.foodtv.com. Each recipe had its own good things going on: The first was nice and creamy, calling for a good deal of milk. The second didn’t have the milk but it had kielbasa sausage and a roux to thicken things up (Both recipes are included below). Not wanting to miss either the creamy or the meaty, I decided to combine the deliciousness into one recipe:

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The Creamy-Meaty Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients
• 1/2 pound kielbasa sausage, finely chopped or processed until crumbly
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced onions
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 ounces butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups grated Cheddar (about 12 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, for garnish

Cook the kielbasa in the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over high heat until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, celery, salt, pepper, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the onions are slightly caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. While the onions cook, in another large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter and stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes to make a blond roux. When both the roux and kielbasa mix are ready, pour the roux into the kielbasa mixture. Gradually whisk in the stock and the beer.  Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.  Gradually add the milk.  Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until nearly completely melted after each addition. Remove from heat and ladle into the bread bowls (When I make it again I might try to add just a bit of sherry with the beer).

The result might be one of the most densely caloric meals I’ve ever had, which was great, even in the heat of summer.  But, as we approach the fall, this will become an even better choice!

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[DDET See the Creamy Beer Cheese Soup Recipe]

Creamy Beer Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

4 ounces butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup minced onions
1/4 cup minced celery
Salt
Cayenne
1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
1 pound sharp cheddar, grated
Dash hot red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

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Directions

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes to make a blond roux. Add the onions and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted. Stir in the beer and stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Stir in the milk and cheese. Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and hot sauce. Reduce the heat and keep warm.

[/DDET]

[DDET See the Meaty Beer Cheese Soup Recipe]

Meaty Beer Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

1/2 pound kielbasa sausage, finely chopped or processed until crumbly
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons minced garlic
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups lager beer, preferably amber
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
3 cups grated Cheddar (about 12 ounces)
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, for garnish

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Directions

Cook the kielbasa in the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over high heat until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the onions are slightly caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the stock and the beer. Add the thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until nearly completely melted after each addition. Remove from the heat, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

[/DDET]

This man accurately conveys my enthusiasm for Mexican night.

Despite being of distinctly Scandinavian heritage, I absolutely love Mexican food.  Something about the combination of spicy peppers, lime juice, and cilantro makes just about anything taste pretty damn good.  Mexican food also plays very nicely with margaritas and beer, making it a great meal before hitting the town (if you can refrain stuffing your face with delicious tacos that is).

Mexican night at my place is somewhat of an endeavor since I make everything but the tortillas from scratch. Homemade black beans, onion salsa, beefy-chorizo goodness. But you can always make the sides beforehand and then just make the meat and beans before eating. Whatever, figure out the timing yourself, just get your ass to the store and buy these ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (Relatively lean)
• ¾ lb chorizo. Try to find the stuff that was ground in-house by the butchers. That stuff that comes in the high pressure plastic casings is basically a giant Mexican flavored Slim Jim.
• Package of tortillas
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of Rotel chili peppers+tomatoes
• 2 large red onions
• 1 head of garlic
• 3 Jalapenos
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 2 limes
• Lettuce or cabbage
• 1 avocado
• Either beef stock, or beef bullion
• Spices :cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper

So we’ve got three separate recipes here. The meat, the beans and the salsa. You’ll have to find your own recipe for margaritas for now.

This stuff is bitchin! Wait, do the kids still say bitchin?

The salsa is pretty simple. Take 1.5 diced red onions (save the other half for the bean recipe); add it to a mixing or serving bowl.  Add the juice of 3 lime halves, ¼ cup of minced cilantro, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic and 2 minced jalapenos. If you like your food spicy then leave some to most of the white ribbing from the pepper in there when you clean out the seeds. If not, make sure to scrape it all off. Add a few shakes of cumin and chili powder (I like to be precise with my measurements), a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix it all together and taste, see if it needs a bit more salt, pepper, lime juice, etc. Throw that in the fridge for an hour or so to let the flavors mingle.  No, there are no tomatoes in this salsa. They make salsa too watery for tacos, although perfect for chips.  Finally, don’t be reluctant to try this even if you dislike raw onion. The lime juice pretty much neutralized the sharp onion flavor.

For the beans: throw a medium saucepot on the stove over medium heat. Let it preheat for a bit then add a 1 tbsp of olive oil and the remaining half of the diced red onion, with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Let the onions sweat for a minute or two, turn the heat down if they start to brown. Then add 3 cloves of minced garlic and stir. After about 30 seconds add the can of Rotel, but drain off most of the excess liquid first.  Then add the can black beans which have been rinsed and drained.  That needs to cook for 5-10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Leave the cover off because some of the liquid needs to cook away, but don’t let it get too dry. When the beans soften up, add 2 tablespoons of minced cilantro and the juice of half a lime then take it off the heat and mash it together.  I use a potato masher for this; works great. If you don’t have a tato masher, you could probably use forks or spoons or something similarly primitive, but I will think less of you. Just go buy one.

For the meat: preheat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the beef and break it up in the pan then let it sit until it gets nicely browned on one side. Flip it over then add the chorizo and mix it up. Before starting the meat you should make this little spice slurry: take 1/3 cup of the beef stock; add ¼ tsp of cumin and ½ tsp of chili powder and oregano. You could also add 1 tbsp of minced poblano or chipotle peppers, if you wanted to. Top it off with 1/8 tsp of corn starch powder for a thickener, and then mix the slurry together. I tried to think of a less appetizing phrase than spice slurry but came up short. Anyways, drain the meat of most of its grease once the chorizo is cooked, then add the spice slurry and mix to coat the meat.

DONE!

Yesterday I made the trek down to Chinatown. But this time was different; I wasn’t on my usual hunt for cheap-yet-delicious dumplings or pastries. I was on the hunt for dragon fruit. I had seen dragon fruit on my many other trips to Chinatown over this summer and decided to finally try some.

Dragon fruit is a strange but beautiful-looking fruit grown in Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, and Israel. The plant is a type of cactus, and the fruit comes in 3 colors: 2 have pink skin, but with different-colored flesh (one white, one red), while the other is yellow color with white flesh.

I’ve could only find the pink skinned fruits but wanted to try both colors of flesh. I correctly guessed that the slightly differently shades of pink skin and prices indicated the difference in flesh color. The white-fleshed fruit has a slightly lighter skin and is a little cheaper.

The white dragon fruit had a very light and subtle flavor. The fruit had almost no sweetness with a dominant grassy flavor. If the fresh grass flavor were any stronger it might be unpleasant, but, as it was, it was kind of refreshing on a hot day. Besides that, I really enjoyed the texture. The small black seeds throughout were like the seeds in a kiwi and gave it a pleasant crunchiness.

The flesh color of the “red”-fleshed fruit is actually an amazingly bright purple with magenta juice (that stained my fingers pink all day!). The flavor is subtle, but is a little sweeter and with a fainter grass flavors than the white- fleshed fruit. The texture also is different from the white: it seems a little softer and the seeds don’t provide the same satisfying crunch.

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Dragon Fruit Sorbet

After sampling both fruits I decided that it was time to try out a sorbet. The bright colors and the subtle sweet flavors of the red fleshed fruit  just screamed for it.  [DDET (Click if you want to see the sorbet recipe.)]

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INGREDIENTS:
2 red-fleshed dragon fruits
3/4 cup cold water
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Cut the dragon fruit in half lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Place the pulp of the dragon fruit in the food processor along with the water, lemon juice, and sugar. Pulse until smooth. Pour into the ice cream maker and churn until frozen.   Freeze the sorbet until ready to serve.

For added flair you can use the halves of the dragon fruit skins as bowls when serving; if you do, freeze them first.

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The sorbet turned out great. As expected, the color was amazing - though somehow a deeper purple than the flesh itself. The flavor was fresh, a little sweeter than the fruit alone, and the grassy taste was gone. The texture also became more like that of the plain white fruit with a pleasant crunch from the seeds.

As with watermelon sorbet, I think that the blended mixture has a good chance as a cocktail. Here I would recommend Hendricks gin and maybe a flamed lemon peel. The freshness of the Hendricks would complement the freshness of the dragon fruit nicely.

A few weeks ago, I found myself in a bit of a predicament. My dad informed me, with 5 days notice (only 1 of which was during the weekend), that he had signed me up to provide treats during the coffee hour following the main service at my parents’ church. The problem was not necessarily the short notice – I’ve already proved I can handle a church-treats function with a minimum of planning ahead. The problem was my mother’s decree, put in place this summer as soon as the weather turned warm: that I would not be allowed to use her oven unless it’s below 68 degrees outside.

“Why not use your own oven?” you might ask. I’d consider telling you to shut your face. Then I would think better of it, and explain why your question is cruel and well met with a curt response.

Unfortunately, I am no longer a member of grown-up society. I traded in my apartment and all my precious junk (now residing in storage) for a twin bed I slept in when I was a grade-schooler and a tiny room off the side of my parents’ dining room, in order to go to culinary school and turn my obsession with cooking and eating into a career.

While I have been blundering my way through cooking for the family with no oven for a few months now, the church treats were a crystallizing experience. What I learned that weekend is best revealed in the following list of Dos and Don’ts. I find this list is useful both for summer cooking and cooking for groups (who am I kidding these are life lessons right here):

• DO make sure there is enough room in the fridge or freezer before you walk up to them with an ungainly container of food expecting to be able to cram it in there. Especially if the appliance in question is not yours (not-at-all-pathetically roomy), but your mom’s (stuffed with what must be supplies for a possible nuclear holocaust).
• DON’T, when facing a time crunch, use that leftover homemade ice cream your family won’t eat or allow you to throw away. Maybe the people you’re feeding won’t know it’s past its prime, but you will, and you will be ashamed.
• DO make sure you fit your ice cream scoop to the cones you’re trying to serve. Tiny cones + regular-sized ice cream scoop = spills, long waits, & the sneaking suspicion in the minds of your customers that you don’t know what you’re doing.
• DON’T assume that because it’s written that way in a recipe, you can avoid some of the unbendable cooking rules because the all-knowing “test kitchen” did. For example, if you’re covering cookies with chocolate, make sure you temper it beforehand (or, in my case, learn how to temper chocolate, then employ said knowledge)! Otherwise, the cookies may taste fine, but will be covered with an embarrassing white bloom.
• DO plan ahead a little with fruit juice popsicles. If they’re supposed to have 2 layers of different juice, you’ll have to wait for the first layer to freeze before you move on to the second. Popsicles are also quite informed by the first “DO” in this list. Finally, if your 2 layers are supposed to be different colors, perhaps employ a little food coloring. Especially if you would prefer neither of the layers be pee-colored.
• DON’T hang around long enough afterward for anyone in charge of keeping the church atrium clean to notice you’re the cause of the ice cream drips everywhere.

I hope these lessons are as helpful to others as they have been for me. They’ll be on my mind as I prepare a hopefully less stressful no-bake feast for churchgoers again this week! And if you’re eager to improve on my beautiful yellow popsicles, here’s the recipe:

[DDET Passion Fruit-Guava Popsicles]

Passion Fruit-Guava Popsicles

I got this recipe from the July issue of Bon Appetit and warped it into what you see below. The beautiful picture accompanying it is from the magazine, but I’m sure it’s possible to create pretty popsicles without the help of a food stylist, even if I wasn’t able to the first time around! Be warned: I was not able to find popsicle sticks in any of the grocery stores I tried. I had to go to a craft store. And even then, I just barely was able to get away with only 50, instead of the 1000 they wanted me to buy.

Makes 8

6 T sugar, divided

2 T fresh lime juice, divided

11.5 oz passion fruit juice or nectar

11.5 oz guava nectar

8 3-oz disposable plastic cups

8 popsicle sticks

Stir passion fruit juice or nectar, 3 T sugar, and 1 T lime juice in a 2-C measuring cup (or bowl, if you’re good at pouring) until sugar dissolves. Divide mixture among the 8 plastic cups. Cover the cups with squares of tinfoil and put a popsicle stick through each tinfoil cover all the way into the cups. Put the cups in a muffin pan or on a tray, and freeze in the freezer until the juice is frozen, about 3 hours.

Meanwhile, stir guava nectar, remaining 3 T sugar, and remaining 1 T lime juice in another measuring cup or bowl and chill in the refrigerator until the passion fruit juice is frozen.

Carefully remove the tinfoil covers from your (now-frozen) popsicle cups. Divide the chilled guava mixture evenly among the cups, then put the tinfoil tops back on. Freeze the popsicles until completely frozen, about 4 hours.

To serve, run a little warm water around the outside of the plastic cups (if the popsicles won’t come off on their own) and remove the cups.

Notes

According to Bon Appetit, these keep for about 4 days. I served mine on the first day, so I don’t have any information about that. As far as color goes, mine ended up light yellow, with no real distinction between the layers. I wonder if adding a few drops of food coloring in either of the juice mixtures would improve the color? If you’re not sure where to get juice nectars, I find them in cans like pop cans in the Hispanic aisle or sometimes the juice aisle at the grocery store.

[/DDET]

Photo courtesy of A Sweet Pea Chef

Well, summers almost here so it seems like a good time to start gathering your recipes for the fresh veggies of summer. Wait… what’s that you say? Summer’s almost GONE?! Damn it, this happens every year.  So what are you waiting for? Grab your shoes, keys and a $20 bill and get yourself to the nearest farmers market! There happens to be one in downtown Minneapolis about a block away from where I work, so every Thursday is a new culinary adventure.

I absolutely love the farmer’s market; it reminds me of my Dad’s garden when I was growing up. Just a huge bounty of everything I could ever want: squash, cucumbers, green and red peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, sweet corn, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, the list goes on and on. And then there are the fake vendors who, should be banned outright from ever stepping foot in a farmer’s market. You can identify them by the fact that their fruit comes in the same packaging you see in the super-markets, and they have produce which is ridiculously out of place for the season and geographic location (note to self: pineapples are not grown in Minnesota).  I see no reason why my money should go to some schmuck who got a sweetheart deal from a produce distributor rather than the local farmers who have put in countless hours of backbreaking labor in order to bring their food to the market.

Anyways, this week’s haul included a  few bunches of basil, some garlic, yellow squash  and bag of Wisconsin cheese curds which didn’t even make it back to the office with me, they were so squeaky fresh and delicious. But for this post we’re going to focus on the basil and garlic because with those, and just 3 more ingredients, you can make a world class pesto.

You will need:

• 2 packed cups of basil leaves
• 1/2  cup grated/shredded parmesan cheese (buy a wedge of the good stuff, it’s worth it)
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3-5 cloves of garlic depending on your taste for it.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Pack the basil into a food processor, along with the cheese, pine nuts and the garlic which you have peeled and quartered. Add good drizzle of the olive oil, and pulse it about 5 times with the processor. You could probably do this by hand, but who the hell has time for something like that? After pulsing, gradually add the remainder of the olive oil while keeping the processor running.  Don’t puree the hell out of it though; it shouldn’t be a homogenous paste. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and you’re done! I guarantee that after one taste of this, you will never again buy store bought pesto.

Yuck!

Transfer the pesto to a jar and pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top to prevent oxidation.

Just a few suggestions for enjoying your pesto, because you will have a fair amount of it: mix it with fresh cooked pasta and any grilled meat or fish you like, spread it on slices of artisan bread and top with mozzarella before broiling, make a pan sauce with pesto, creams and white wine before adding sautéed mushrooms to go with chicken or pork chops, throw together some halved cherry tomatoes and small fresh mozzarella balls with farfalle pasta for a caprese pasta salad. Be creative with it!