Fresh Tart

Check out Jason Hicks' - executive chef at The Local - recipe for Fried (Green) Tomato BLTs at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.  Since green tomatoes aren't yet available in Minnesota, I substituted local hothouse tomatoes for a delicious result.

In fact, I fried up a batch of tomatoes again last night for din and topped them with the watercress tossed in bacon-maple vinaigrette from the Poached Egg, Crispy Pork Belly, & Watercress on Rice-Flour Potato Pancake with Maple Vinaigrette recipe from a couple of weeks ago.

Food blogger recipe incest.  I like it.

Corner Table Restaurant chef/owner Scott Pampuch's recipe for Roast Chicken Sandwich with Pickled Marmalade, on Sunstreet Breads baguette, from Corner Table's Farm & Table Community Supported Kitchen (CSK) box, at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Say that 20 times after a glass of champagne...

The weather, I promised myself I would not talk about the weather.

But forget it man, this is Minnesota, and we talk about the weather.  So here it is: It rained ice last night, as John and I were on our way from not one but two fabulous dinners.  I first dug into champagne, pommes frites, and escargot with the lovely and incredibly talented Susan Powers at Vincent's.

Then John stopped by and whisked me off to Haute Dish for round two of champagne, this time alongside braised meat insanity, which of course I loved.  Pork belly for me, because that's what I always order, which prompted me to boldly declare braised pork my all-time favorite food ever.

Evar.

Then John handed me a forkful of his braised beef short rib with this insane almost-chocolate thing going on and I remembered how much I love that too and I was - and still am - terribly torn.

Apparently I'm not ready to list my all-time faves.  Except for fried potatoes in any form, I'm willing to float that out there.

And runny eggs - poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, bring it.  But there I must pause.

Anyhow, after heavy meatness, and ice-turning-to-snow, today I needed something spicy, spicy, spicy.  I have three jaw-droppingly fantastic salsas in my fridge thanks to Twitter friend Todd Tweedy, which I admit I've been eating with a spoon.

That good.

I decided that fish tacos - I used trout tonight - would be a mighty fine salsa delivery vehicle and in fact they were.  They were also a nice screw-you to all the snow, which made me smile maniacally.

I layered in cabbage, avocado, cilatro, creme fraiche (OK, not Mexican, but I had it, and thinned with with cream for a pseudo-crema), and the insane salsa.

Screw the snow.  See?

Screw-the-Snow Fish Tacos (Gluten-Free)
Makes 4 tacos

1/2 c. peanut or other high-heat oil
1/2 c. finely ground cornmeal
1/2 c. gluten-free, all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chipotle chili powder (I like the heat, and smoke, but use what you like)
1/2 lb. fish (I used trout for these, but really...use whatever you like and is freshest), cut into 1x4-inch strips
1 c. shredded cabbage
1/4 c. creme fraiche or sour cream thinned with 2 Tbsp. cream
4 warmed corn (or flour) tortillas
1/2 ripe avocado, sliced
fresh cilantro
salsa

Pour oil into a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat.

While the oil heats, in a pie plate, toss together the cornmeal, flour, salt, and chili powder.  Dredge the fish in the cornmeal/flour mixture and fry in hot oil until browned on both sides.  Drain on paper-towel-lined plate.

Serve in warm tortillas with cabbage, cream, avocado, cilantro, and salsa.

My Egg Salad, Bacon & Arugula Sandwich (ESBA!) recipe at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I posted this recipe a few weeks ago at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly magazine.  Tomato season is slowly winding down - enjoy this sandwich soon!

You probably don't need a recipe to make a club sandwich - toast, tomato, lettuce, turkey, bacon, mayo, done.  And yet...  Perhaps you haven't made a club sandwich on a grilled bun, smeared with creamy avocado instead of mayo, and let me say that if you haven't, you will be blown away when you take your first bite.  It's a bit magical how the hot/crispy bun and cool/creamy avocado play off each other while elevating the tomato, bacon, and turkey from tasty to sublime.

High praise for a simple little sandwich, I know, but if you don't trust me, trust my sister Stacey, who completely agreed with me.  We each bit into the two sandwiches you see pictured, simultaneously said, "Oh my God!" and then "Jinx!" and then wolfed the sandwiches down, raving the entire time.

So in the end, this is more of a suggestion than a recipe, as well as a reminder that this is a sandwich for right now, when tomatoes and avocadoes are at their best.  Make sure to use excellent hamburger buns (I picked up these beauties at Wuollet Bakery), and while you're at it, good turkey and bacon as well.  As is always true, the simpler the food, the better the ingredients need to be.

Crispy Club Sandwiches with Avocado
Makes 2 sandwiches

4 strips of thick-cut bacon
2 hamburger buns, split
olive oil
1/2 ripe avocado
2 oz. shaved turkey breast
1 garden-ripe tomato, sliced in thick slices
salt & freshly ground pepper

Cook the bacon however you like, but I have a suggestion if you're interested: Baking bacon on a rack lets the the bacon cook slowly while the fat drips away, resulting in the most evenly crisp and delicious bacon you've ever made.  It's also an easy, hands off way to make bacon for crowd, so keep it mind for when you have breakfast guests.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean up).  Set two metal cookie racks on the baking sheet.  Lay the strips of bacon on the cookie racks and bake the bacon for 20-25 minutes, until bacon is crisp.  Carefully remove the pan from the oven.  You don't need to drain the bacon when it's done.

While the bacon cooks, lightly mash the avocado with a pinch of salt.

When the bacon is done, film a large skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Set the buns, cut side down, in the oil and toast until nicely golden brown.  While they're still hot, spread the bottom buns generously with avocado.  Lay slices of tomato on the avocado and sprinkle with a little salt and a grind of pepper.  Add the bacon strips, then the shaved turkey.  Finish with the top buns and serve immediately.

Have you seen the movie Spanglish?  It's not a terrible movie, especially given The Sandwich - a scene-stealer, developed by French Laundry Chef Thomas Keller.  Basically a BLT, with the sumptuous addition of melted cheese and a fried egg.  Adam Sandler's character lovingly prepares it all, step-by-step, then pours himself a tall, cold beer to wash it all down.  Holy Hannah.  It's hard to top Paz Vega's gorgeousness, but The Sandwich comes awfully close.

John and I love a close approximation, pretty much the Spanglish with avocado instead of melted cheese.  There's nothing to making it - just put together a BLT, using the bacon drippings to fry an egg to your liking (yeah).  Go for the original version (check out a video here), or lightly mash half of an avocado with a sprinkle of salt and spread on one piece of the toast in place of the cheese.  When tomatoes are actually good around here?  Help.  Us.

(I had zero light for pics, sorry, did the best I could.  It has been dark in Minnesota for days, grrr.)

It's going to be 90 sultry degrees here in Minneapolis on Sunday.  Ugh.  I'm not going to complain (is "ugh" a complaint?), but I'm not quite prepared for that level of heat and humidity.  Guess I'll just have to grab a cold beverage and head out to the grill...tough, I know.

If you're looking for something to sear, I suggest:

The whole barbecued chicken I posted below.
Any of the multiple burgers I posted a year ago (including several vegetarian ideas).
My tips for great hamburgers.
The miso-glazed salmon I posted at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly a couple of weeks ago.
These delicious grilled lemon shrimps on toasts.
The Korean-style grilled beef I posted last week.
Tandoori chicken skewers, so good with grilled naan.
My favorite way to grill vegetables - chapa-style.

Or...apparently I've had grilling on the brain these last few weeks...these pork tenderloin tacos, first posted at Dara & Co/Minnesota Monthly.  If you missed 'em, here's what I said:

I crave spicy pork—especially carnitas, or slow-braised pork shoulder, pulled apart, then roasted until crispy at the edges. Rolled into a soft corn tortilla... It's beyond. While not difficult to make, a three-hour braise is too long for a weeknight dinner, so when a craving hits on a Monday-to-Friday, I pull off a cheat of sorts.

Also delicious, yet ready in 30 minutes: Thin slices of spicy pork tenderloin make a similarly porktacular (yes, I did just say porktacular) tortilla filling. Add your favorite carnitas garnishes. I like the contrast of creamy avocado slices with the crunch and heat of diced jalapeno and red onion. Add crumbled queso fresco (or feta), chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime to finish it all off. Flavor explosion, that’s the goal. Serve with corn or flour tortillas—your choice, just make sure they're fresh and warm.

I grilled the pork on a Superior Planks cedar plank, which I wrote about for the printed magazine.  As you can see from the pic, I didn't follow the instructions and lit the plank on fire.  A little pork-n-cedar inferno, right there on my deck.  Despite the fire - which I easily put out with a bottle of water, it really wasn't a big deal -  the pork was delicious (you can see that it was unharmed, just nicely crusty).  Grill your pork on a plank (perhaps without lighting it on fire), or directly on the grill, or on a grill pan inside the house.  All fabulous.

Pork Tenderloin Tacos
Serves 3-4

1 pork tenderloin
1 tsp. each minced garlic, ancho chili powder, cumin, oregano, and coarse salt, mixed together in a small bowl with enough olive oil to make a loose paste
warm corn or flour tortillas

Suggested Garnishes:
avocado slices
chopped cilantro
chopped red onion
chopped jalapeno pepper
sour cream (thinned with a bit of cream for drizzling)
crumbled queso fresco (or feta) cheese

Preheat grill.  Smear herb-paste all over the pork tenderloin.  Grill pork over high heat for approximately 10 minutes or until desired doneness.  Let pork rest on a cutting board for at least 5 minutes (keep in mind that the pork will continue to cook a bit more as it sits).  Slice thinly and serve in warm tortillas with garnishes.  (Note: while pork cooks, prepare garnishes.  While it rests, warm tortillas, wrapped in foil, on the still-hot grill for a few minutes.)

When I serve rice for dinner, I make extra so I have leftovers for a delicious, easy lunch.  Even still, given how much rice my family can put away, that means sneaking some out of the pot and into the fridge before we eat.  I use the stolen rice the next day to make myself a simple soup, or ginger fried rice with an egg, or something as quick and nutritious as an easy burrito.  (Between this post and my pork tenderloin taco post at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly, you can tell I'm craving Mexican food...it's a Spring thing for me...)

If I have leftover steak too, well there you go, I make a steak and rice burrito.  But if my husband takes all the steak to work for his own lunch, I fill out my burrito with beans.  I die for a pot of home-cooked beans, stewed into creamy, smoky glory with bacon or ham, and often have just that stashed in the freezer (I make a big pot every couple of months, freeze individual portions, beans freeze very well).  But when the freezer is empty, I'm a big fan of canned beans too.  After a quick rinse, they're ready to saute with a little olive oil, garlic, and chili powder for heat.  Heat!

In no time, they're perfectly ready to join the rice - with guacamole or slices of avocado, a crumble of cheese, a dollop of salsa - to fill a mad burrito.  Better than steak, in fact.  (Have you noticed these passes my husband is getting - eating my shrimp, below, and taking all the steak to work?  It's because he's turning 50 on Sunday, so I'm being a little extra nice to him this week.  When I turn 50 - which won't be for several years, in case you're wondering - he'll be extra nice to me too.  He doesn't cook much, but he always has a good stash of cookies, which I'm sure he'll share.  In the far-off future.)

Black Bean & Rice Burritos

Makes 4 burritos

1 c. of cooked rice, warmed

1 14-oz. can of black beans (or pinto or navy beans, if you prefer), rinsed and drained

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2-1 tsp. ancho chili powder (adjust according to heat of powder and preference)

1/2 tsp. salt

4 8-inch flour tortillas, warmed

Garnishes:

fresh limes

avocado slices or guacamole

grated or crumbled cheese (cheddar, jack, or feta)

fresh cilantro

sliced jalapenos (pickled jalapenos are interesting, too)

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the olive oil and garlic and stir until garlic is sizzling, about 1 minute.  Add cumin and chili powder and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the beans, sprinkle with salt, and stir around until heated through, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  To assemble: put 1/4 c. rice on each tortilla, top with beans and garnishes.  Serve.

Grillin' and chilin', a real warm-weather day.  Puppy Louis spent all day outside, playing in the park and back yard, snoozing on the deck, and acquiring a fair number of burrs (luckily, they slide out of his fur pretty easily).  We spent all day outside too, reading and...playing with Puppy Louis.  I might even be a little pink, which is miraculous given that these days my sunbathing includes long sleeves/pants, a scarf, a hat, sunglasses, and a boatload of sunblock.  The sun is not my friend, even though it makes me so very, very happy.

We had a late din, nothing more than a burger, kind of perfect.  I've said this before, but I reiterate each season...

Great Burgers

1. Buy best-quality ground beef, not too lean.

2. Gently work generous salt and pepper throughout the meat before you form the patties.

3. Gently form the patties (if you pack 'em, you puck 'em), until they just hold together.

4. Press the center of the formed burger to make it a bit thinner than the rest (the sides seize up as the burger cooks; a thinner center ensures even cooking).

5. As you cook them, do NOT press down on them (who started that?), you'd just squish all the juicy goodness out of them.

Saturday brunch!  It's my special John-n-Stephanie thing, and I love it like I love puppies and sunshine and champagne and straight hair.  And I love those things very, very much, so now you know how much I love Saturday brunch.

We don't have our kids on Saturday mornings (divorce stinks, but a couple of days a week to yourself is not necessarily a bad thing), so we make the best of an otherwise ungood (my nephew Cooper's word - ungood - which according to him means very, very not good) situation and put on some tunes, crack some eggs, make plans for an afternoon movie, and read the paper.  And, in my case, take pictures and write blog posts, which I also love (see above list).

We're not all about breakfast pastries on Saturdays (that's for Sundays), it's more about the savory.  Today, in fact, I didn't even crack an egg, but instead trimmed artichokes, and sliced bread and cheese, and made a panful of baby artichokes braised with ham, served alongside mini-grilled cheese sandwiches.  It seemed all brunchy to us, even if it doesn't to you.  And I admit - it would make a perfectly lovely lunch or dinner.  You could slice the artichokes more thinly and toss them with pasta, maybe a handful of peas, and a shower of Parmesan.  That would be not ungood.  Or, you could serve the artichokes with softly scrambled eggs - mmm - which would take you right back to brunch.  Or dinner.  These things are flexible.

The recipe for artichokes is below.  The baby grilled cheese sandwiches - just thin slices of (whole-grain, although any type would work) baguette, olive oil (or butter) on the outsides, cheese on the insides (I had some tomato sauce in the cooler that I also added; mustard is good, or nothing but cheese - your choice), toasted in a pan until crispy & melty.

The movie?  Greenberg, about to leave for it, I'll let you know how it is.  (Later: back from the movie - I loathed it, ah well, but that's just me, don't go by what I think.  I hate a lot of movies.)

Artichokes Sauteed with Ham

Adapted from Tapas, A Taste of Spain in America

Serves 4 as tapas, 2 as dinner

9 baby (one package of Melissa’s brand) or 5 large artichokes

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, with 1 Tbsp. chopped parsley reserved

5 Tbsp. Spanish (or other) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

2 Tbsp. tomato paste diluted in 1 ½ c. water OR 1 ½ c. juice from canned tomatoes (I buy tomato paste in a tube, allows you to use a bit at a time)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 pinch sugar

¼ tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

2 Tbsp. dry white wine (lemon juice)

1 oz. jamon seranno (Spanish cured ham) or other high-quality, lightly-smoked ham, diced (about 4 thin slices)

1 bay leaf

Optional:
Several thick slices of baguette, toasted and rubbed with half of a garlic clove and drizzled with a bit of olive oil

Prepare a large bowl of cold water, and toss in the bunch of parsley (prevents artichokes from oxidizing). Using a serrated knife, cut off and discard the top half of each artichoke. Using your fingers, remove and discard the first few layers of leaves, until you reach the tender, pale leaves beneath. Cut the artichoke in half and use a sharp paring knife to remove and discard the white, hairy interior. Peel and discard the tough outer layer around the base of the artichoke, until you reach the soft white flesh. Peel the stalk until you reach the white flesh again. Don’t be afraid to remove most of the artichoke. Cut baby artichoke halves in half again; cut large artichoke halves into 3-4 slices. Put artichoke slices into the parsley water, and repeat with all the artichokes.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil in a small pan over a medium flame. Add the diluted tomato paste or tomato juice, garlic clove, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the juice is a deep red.

Heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium flame. Add the artichokes, making sure they lie flat, and the salt. Saute until golden, then turn and sauté until golden on the other side, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 30 seconds. Add the reserved tomato juice and bay leaf and turn heat to low for a slow simmer. In the pan the tomato sauce was cooked in, add the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and heat over medium heat. Stir in the ham and sauté for 2 minutes until starting to brown. Add ham to the artichokes, and continue simmering for another few minutes, until artichokes are tender and sauce is reduced, another 3-4 minutes. Remove crushed garlic clove and bay leaf. Add salt to taste. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.