blue artichoke

GC is an ideal husband in many ways, but it's his culinary adventurousness that makes him a pleasure to cook for. He'll try anything I set before him. He doesn't always like everything, but never one to waste food, he rushes through the parts he doesn't like to get them out of the way, then enjoys the rest of his meal. For example, GC doesn't particularly like cooked carrots. He doesn't insist that I omit carrots from recipes, though, he'll just pick through the soup (or whatever), eat all the carrots first, then continue on as if they were never there.

I take his food dislikes as a challenge. How can I prepare carrots so that GC will like them? One reason I got interested in cooking was to find a way to make gross foods palatable to me. (Roasting Brussels sprouts works for me!) That challenge has extended to GC. Here's an answer to the carrot conundrum:

Sugar-Glazed Roasted Carrots

1 1/2# medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2 by 1/2" pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Heat rimmed baking sheet in oven for 10 minutes.

2. Toss carrots, melted butter, sugar, salt, and pepper in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Remove pan from oven and place carrots in single layer on hot baking sheet. Roast until carrots are beginning to brown on bottom, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove pan from oven, toss carrots to redistribute, and continue to roast until tender and deep amber in color, about 3 minutes. Serve.

Serves 4 to 6

Cook’s Country, 2/2006

Roasting is one of the best approaches to maximize the sweet, earthy flavor of carrots. The high heat caramelizes the vegetable’s natural sugars and browns the exterior, leaving the interior tender and moist. The narrow tips of the carrot slices will scorch, so trim them or learn to love blackened carrot tips (as I do).

Getting to Know All About You: What's your least-liked vegetable?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today is the hottest day of the heat wave so far; no muffins. GC and I went out to a decent brunch buffet instead. Now I'm hot, fat, happy and a little bit sweaty.

The last corn recipe of corn week comes from Argentina, and is surprisingly awesome. I thought it looked quite like mush as I was making it; it's definitely not haute cuisine.

Humitas (Pureed Corn with Scallions, Green Pepper and Cheese)

I omitted the green pepper, because I didn't have one, but I added more flavor by using chipotle butter to saute the scallions and fry the corn mixture. It was a really nice blend of spicy-hot and sweet. I think it would be fairly easy to fancy-up the presentation by reducing the milk in the corn puree and making sort of a fried pancake shape.

4 c. fresh corn kernels, cut from ~8 large ears of corn, or 4 c. frozen corn, defrosted
1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
2 t. paprika
½ t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ c. butter
½ c. coarsely chopped scallions
¼ c. coarsely chopped green pepper
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Combine corn and milk in the jar of a blender and blend at high for 30 seconds. Add eggs, paprika, salt and pepper; blend 15 seconds, or until thick and smooth.

In a heavy 10” skillet, melt butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the scallions and green pepper; cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes, or until veggies are soft but not brown. Pour in the corn mixture, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently for 5-7 minutes, or until mixture thickens somewhat. Stir in grated cheese and, as soon as it melts, remove the skillet from the heat. Serve as an accompaniment to meat dishes.

Serves 4-6.

Foods of the World: Latin American Cooking, Time-Life Books, 1968

GC and I escaped the heat for a little while yesterday by going to the movies. We saw The Simpsons Movie. Pretty darn funny.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weather turned to a cool 97 yesterday; despite the heat warnings, I headed out for a morning walk to the post office and an evening walk around the neighborhood, racking up steps on my pedometer. I tried to stay in the air-conditioning during the heat of the day. Again, it was too hot to cook, so we had leftover pork tacos for dinner and this awesome no-cook corn salad, despite GC's speculation that eating raw corn might mess you up. (It doesn't, by the way).

Fresh Corn Salad

Fresh sweet summer corn requires no cooking, which makes this a particularly appealing warm-weather side dish for grilled fish, poultry, or meat. Just add crumbled feta cheese, grilled shrimp, or chicken to make it an entrée.

3/4 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 5 ears)
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped green onions

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add corn and remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)

CALORIES 112 (21% from fat); FAT 2.6g (sat 1.3g,mono 0.3g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 4g; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 13mg; SODIUM 94mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 0.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.2g

Cooking Light, AUGUST 2007

I also made another batch of ice cream - strawberry cheesecake. This was by far the easiest ice cream to make; cream cheese takes the place of the custard, and thus requires no cooking. Just mixing: cream cheese, strawberry puree, lemon juice, vanilla and half-and-half. Unfortunately, it was also my least favorite ice cream to date. It was definitely cheesecakey, but had a sour undertaste. Good enough to eat on a hot summer's night, but not good enough to make again, or share with you. You deserve better.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the best movie you've seen this summer?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday didn't lend itself to fancy cooking, so we will wander to Costa Rica tonight and I'll post the results tomorrow. Last night we had Latin-Style Flank Steak and Argentinian Grilled Eggplant leftovers from Saturday night, for the first time I can remember serving leftovers the day after serving the original meal. I did make a new side dish, though, so it wasn't a complete repeat meal. Using the extra corn I had grilled, I made Creamed Grilled Corn. The steak and eggplant were pretty good too, so I'll share all three recipes.

Latin-Style Flank Steak

Steak had a really nice flavor, but I overcooked it somehow. I grilled for ~15m and it temped 137 in the thickest part; removed it from the grill and let it sit for ~10m. It was well done in the thinner part and medium-well in the thick part. Next time, I'll check it after 10m. Flavor was really good, though, and it was easy to prepare. Chipotle butter was good on the steak (and in the omelet I made the next morning). I have a lot left over; so halving the butter would be better. It’s pretty hot, even with decreasing the amount of chipotle.

Rub:
2-½ T. ground cumin
1 T. chili
1 T. ground coriander
1 ½ t. freshly ground black pepper
½ t. ground cinnamon
½ t. dried oregano
Steak:
1 ½ - 2# flank steak, trimmed of any excess fat and membrane
1 t. olive oil
1 t. kosher salt
1 recipe Chipotle Butter*

Rub: Mix all in a small bowl.
Grill: 30m before grilling, coat the steak with the oil and pat on all of the rub, coating evenly. Heat a gas grill to med high (you should be able to hold your hand 2” above the grate for 3-4s) or prepare a med-hot charcoal fire. Sprinkle both sides of steak with salt. If your grill has a hot spot, position the thicker end of the steak near the hottest spot. Grill until med-rare, 12-15m, turning steak every 3-4m to ensure even cooking. The thickest part of the steak will register 135-140 on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 3-5m. Slice as you like. Portion onto dinner plates. Immediately cut the chilled butter into ¼” slices and set a slice or two on each serving while the steak is warm, using a scant T. of butter per serving.

Serves 4-6.
Serve with beer, such as pale ale.

*Chipotle Butter:
¼# (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, completely softened at room temp
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, stemmed, seeded and minced
2 T. fresh lime juice
Scant t. ground cumin
½ t. kosher salt; more to taste

In a small bowl, cream butter with a wooden spoon ‘til smooth. Add rest, blending until evenly incorporated. Taste and add more salt if needed. Using plastic wrap to shape and smooth, mold butter into a log ~1 ½” in diameter. Wrap well in plastic and transfer to the fridge (or freezer if in a hurry) to firm.

Yield: ~8 T.

Use leftover chipotle butter on hamburgers, grill pork tenderloin and corn on the cob.

Fine Cooking, June/July 2003

Argentinian Grilled Eggplant
Used one white and one purple-and-white-speckled eggplant from the farmer’s market. Good. Had too much spice blend; should have halved it, but the eggplant grilled well, didn’t stick to the grate and wasn’t oily tasting at all. Omitted hot red pepper flakes because I was serving the eggplant with Latin-Style Flank Steak with chipotle butter. Thought hot red pepper would be too hot with the chipotle butter too.

2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. olive oil
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
½ t. dried thyme
1 t. hot or sweet paprika
½ t. hot red pepper flakes (optional)
3 eggplants, cut crosswise into ½” slices
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat grill to high.

Mix minced garlic with oil in small bowl. Mix herbs, paprika and pepper flakes together and set aside.

Brush one side of each eggplant slice with garlic oil and place oiled side down on grill. Brush top side with oil. Cook slices until browned, 3-5m; turn. Sprinkle eggplant with herb mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 3-5m. Serve hot.

Serves 6-8.

Creamed Grilled Corn

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 50 min (includes preparing charcoal grill)
I used skim milk and 4 ears of fresh farmer’s market corn, grilled and cut from cobs the day before. This dish comes together really quickly. I used my Magic Bullet blender to puree the corn with the milk, so it didn't make a lot of dirty dishes. Excellent. Really sweet, but naturally so; rather light and refreshing. I love corn.

4 ears corn (2 lb total), shucked
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 1 to 2 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes.

Grill corn on lightly oiled grill rack, uncovered, turning, until kernels on all sides are tender and browned in patches, 10 to 15 minutes total.

Cut corn off cobs (discard cobs) and purée 1/2 cup kernels with milk in a blender until smooth. Pour purée into a 2-quart heavy saucepan and stir in basil, salt, pepper, and remaining corn kernels. Cook over low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Cooks' note:
•If you aren't able to grill outdoors, cook corn ears in a hot lightly oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat. Each serving contains about 96 calories and 2 grams fat.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet, August 2003

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that Gentleman Caller and I have welcomed discrimination into our lives, we are tossing out recipes with abandon. Aside from that decidedly subpar Cuban meal, most of the food I make is good. Just good, not great. Last night, for example, I made a pasta dish with spinach, shredded chicken, cannellini beans and Parmesan cheese. It was really fast and easy to make, tasted good and made a satisfying light summer meal. But I tossed out the recipe. Why? Well, it is a simple dish that doesn't really require a recipe, just some pasta, olive oil and other stuff to throw in with it. Measurements aren't necessary. Also, "good" isn't good enough for us. If I'm to winnow down my thousands of untested recipes, keeping all the recipes that are satisfactory will only obscure those that are outstanding. And we do come across an outstanding recipe occasionally. This one, for example:

Sauced Broccoli The Cat Who…Cookbook

1 small clove garlic, minced
2 t. butter
2 t. flour
1 c. chicken broth
1/8 c. cream
¼ c. cream cheese
2 sliced cooked bacon, finely chopped
4-6 c. broccoli florets cut into small pieces

Sauté garlic in butter until golden brown. Stir in flour. Add broth and cream. Whisk or stir in cream cheese. Cook over med heat for several minutes until desired consistency. Add bacon just before serving. Steam broccoli to desired tenderness. Pour the sauce over the broccoli, tossing to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

This doesn't really require measurements either. I sautéed the bacon in the skillet first, then removed it to drain on paper towels. Instead of pouring out the bacon grease and adding butter, I just added enough flour to soak up the grease (more than the 2 t. called for in the recipe). I measured the chicken stock, but ended up adding a bit more so it wouldn't burn or curdle while I waited for the rest of the dinner to cook. I also used a 3-oz. pkg of cream cheese, which is a bit more than 1/4 cup. So, I used more grease, flour, stock, cream and cream cheese than called for in the recipe, but there was just enough sauce to nicely coat all of the broccoli. Adding cooked, shredded chicken could turn this side into a main course. I don't throw out all the easy recipes, just the ones that are merely "good."

Getting to Know All About You: Which starch do you prefer: rice, potatoes, pasta, or bread?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)