Two Hungry [Artichoke] Hearts

We were watching Sandwich King the other day on Food Network, and Jeff was whipping up a grilled artichoke sandwich with a roasted garlic ricotta spread.  All of the components sounded great, so we took them, and morphed them into a delicious grilled salad.

Start by roasting your garlic.  It takes about at least 30 minutes for it to roast, so you'll want to start with this step so it can caramelize and soften while you prepare everything else.  I peeled away some of the outer layers of the garlic skin first.  Then, you'll want to slice off the top of the head so the cloves are exposed.  Drizzle olive oil over the top, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  Wrap up the garlic in foil and place it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until it is fragrant and soft.

While the garlic is roasting, you can start preparing everything else.  We wanted to make the salad a little more hearty, and we had a couple chicken breasts on hand, so we simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a little oregano, and threw them on the grill.  The romaine heart was quartered, and a whole can of quartered artichoke hearts were drained.  The romaine, artichoke hearts, and a red bell pepper all received a liberal brushing of olive oil, and sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Then we threw them on the grill.  The romaine and artichokes only took about 5 minutes, while the pepper took about 10 minutes.  You want the pepper to get nice and charred so you can easily peel the skin off.

Once they've cooled down enough for you to handle, give your romaine a rough chop.  Peel the skin off your pepper, and slice it into thin strips.  Add this all to a bowl with your grilled artichokes.  For some freshness, we tossed in some mixed greens and thinly sliced red onion.  You can also toast up some pine nuts to top your salad, for some added crunch.  Now just plate your salads, and add the sliced chicken on top.  For dressing, we just drizzled some balsamic vinegar over the top.

Now, don't think I forgot about our roasted garlic.  When it's soft, and sweet smelling, pull it out of the oven, and squeeze out your cloves.  They should be a golden brown, and nice and soft.  Using the side of your knife, you should be able to smoosh the garlic into a paste.  You can add a little salt to add some coarseness and help  assist you in making the paste.  Then just add your garlic to a bowl with ricotta, parmesan, and lemon zest.

Mix it all together so it's well mixed, and you're ready to spread it on some crostini, topped with fresh basil.  The velvety ricotta with the sweet roasted garlic was the perfect compliment to our grilled salad.

Get In My [Pork] Belly!

Despite having shelves of cookbooks and cooking magazines, we rarely take the time to flip through them and try out a recipe.  But last night, we did just that.  This summer we've gotten a watermelon in every share and we were running out of ideas (watermelon is to summer as cabbage is to winter in the CSA world).  Justin had actually already spent an afternoon thumbing through Eat With Your Hands, flagging the recipes that piqued his interest, including a crispy pork belly and watermelon salad.  It's not the first combination that comes to mind when I think of watermelon or pork belly, but let me tell ya...it's ridiculously good.

You'll want to start by pickling your rinds since they need to sit in the pickling juice for at least an hour.  You can also do this up to 2 days in advance. Start by mixing your liquid:
2 c. rice vinegar (we only have about 1.5 c. rice vinegar, so we used white vinegar for the remainder)
3 shallots, thinly sliced (we only used 2, since ours were pretty big)
2 Thai bird chilies, thinly sliced (we used jalepenos instead)
2 fresh Kaffir lime leaves (we found ours at Whole Foods, but Asian markets have them too)
2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
1.25 oz palm sugar or 1 round gula jawa or 2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp koser salt

Combine everything in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.  All the flavors of the lime leaves, ginger, shallots and peppers will steep into the vinegar and sugar as it cooks.  The sugar adds a much needed sweetness to help cut the tanginess of the vinegar.  While your liquid is warming up, you can start slicing your rind.  You'll want to cut the flesh of the watermelon away from the rind, and also remove the tougher, dark green skin, so that all your left with is the fleshy white part.  You'll cut the rinds into cubes, and once your pickling liquid has come to a boil, and the sugar has dissolved, strain the liquid over your rinds.  They can go into the fridge while you prepare everything else.  You'll also want to cut the flesh of the watermelon into cubes, which can also go into the fridge to stay chilled until you're ready to serve it.

Now for the pork belly.  The recipe tells you to fry your pork, but we decided to just render out the fat and braise it in my dutch oven.  Just cut it into 1-inch chunks, and drop 'em in the dutch oven.  We had about 1 1/3 pounds of pork belly, and it took 20-25 minutes for it all to render down and crisp up.

While your pork is cooking, you can make the dressing for your salad.  In a food processor, combine:
3 oz. palm sugar or 2 rounds gula jawa or 1/4 c. light brown sugar
1 c. rice vinegar (we used Chinese cooking wine since we were out of rice vinegar)
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
4 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
24 cilantro stems (use both the leaves and stems)
2 garlic cloves
3/4 tsp Kosher salt

Mix equal parts watermelon and pickled rinds, along with 2 sliced scallions, and freshly torn mint and Thai basil leaves (we used lemon basil instead).  Pour enough dressing over the salad so it lightly coats everything.  When your pork is done, divide it amongst your plates, and top each with the watermelon salad.  Garnish with some sesame seeds, and in our case, some crumbled chicharrones (I couldn't pass them up in the market!).

We were slightly worried how this would come out.  As any good chefs, we try and taste the elements along the way; the rinds were bordering on too sour, the watermelon was cloyingly sweet, and the belly was very rich.  Fortunately, the sum was definitively greater than its parts--this was a delicious meal.  Calling it a salad doesn't do it justice.  The dressing, along with the mint and basil rounded it out with a clean, herbaceous taste.  There is a definite salty, sweet, and sour thing going on here that made you want to keep going back for another bite.  The chicharrones and sesame seeds gave it a nice crunchy textural component.   I strongly suggest getting a piece of pickled rind, the sweet watermelon, and the warm crispy pork all in one bite.  The flavors really pop in your mouth, and compliment each other nicely.  Take it from us, this is one summer dish that can't be missed!

Compressed Watermelon Sashimi

To accompany our oyster miso soup, we took inspiration from our recent meal at Kapnos, and tried our hand at compressed watermelon, with an Asian twist.  We don't have a vacuum sealer, so we searched the interwebs for technique ideas and suggestions.

Start by slicing up your watermelon.  You want rectangular slices so they'll mimic pieces of tuna sashimi.  The easiest way to do this is by slicing the watermelon in half.  Slice off the round end as well.  Then cut off your rind, like you're supreming an orange.  Just let your knife follow the curve of the melon.  Then cut off the rounded edges so you're left with a a more cubical piece.  Then you can slice it into pieces that mimic sashimi.

To cut some of the sweetness and add a bit of flavor, we brushed some fish sauce onto each slice, and then stacked the slices into towers.  Then we tightly wrapped the towers in plastic wrap.  The juice will start to seep out immediately.  Do your best to wrap them tightly, and secure the plastic wrap with rubber bands.  Since the juices will leach out, we placed our little packages in a bowl, and put them in the freezer to compress even more.

We made ours prior to making our oyster miso soup, so they had time to compress, but not completely freeze.  To finish off the watermelon, we sliced up some radishes and garnished them with chopped parsley and cilantro, and some sliced serrano peppers.  The sweetness of the watermelon was balanced out nicely by the subtle heat of the peppers and the saltiness of the fish sauce.

Our other watermelon stacks are still in the freezer, but when we're ready to eat them, we'll just be sure to let them defrost before eating them.  It was a fairly simple way to achieve compressed watermelon without having a vacuum sealer too.

Miso Hungry!

We were fortunate enough to receive more fresh oysters in our recent share, but we didn't want to just fry them up.  I asked a fellow foodie for suggestions and he recommended a cold miso soup.  We happened to have most of the ingredients on hand, and it sounded like the perfect light, summer dinner.

We started by making a dashi, following Alton Brown's recipe.  It's essentially the Japanese equivalent of a broth, imparting the flavor of seaweed and bonito flakes in water, the same way you would a chicken or beef stock.  Though we didn't have any kombu on hand, we did have nori, so we used that instead.  They're fairly similar dried seaweeds, and it proved to be a decent substitute.

Start by soaking your seaweed in water for about 30 minutes.  Then heat the pan so the water comes to a slow simmer, and let it cook for another 10 minutes.  This will help flavor the water.  Remove your seaweed, increase the heat, and let the water boil for another 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat again, and add your katsuobushi, or bonito flakes.  Let the bonito flakes simmer for about 10 minutes.  I love the smoky, umami smell of the flakes on their own.  Once the bonito flakes have simmered, strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, and your dashi is ready!  You can reserve the bonito flakes for another use.

Now you're ready to make your soup.  We found another Alton Brown recipe for miso soup, with a few additions.  With the dashi we just made, we heated it in a pot and brought it to a low simmer.  While the dashi warmed up, we pressed our tofu, to get the liquid out of it.  We just sandwiched it between paper towels and plates, with a weight on top.

Once the dashi is warm, ladle out a cup full.  Whisk your miso paste into this cup, and then add it back into your pot.  When the pot is simmering again, add your tofu.  You can cut your tofu in cubes, though for us, it was easier to just break it into small pieces with my fingers and add it to the pot.  We also chopped up some chanterelle mushrooms that we got in the share and tossed those in for some additional earthy flavor.    Just before we were ready to eat, we dropped in the oysters.  It took about 1 minute for those to cook up.  We seared off two of the mushrooms to top off the soups.  Then you're ready to serve!

Frisky [Agua] Fresca

With another watermelon in our share, we decided to do something a little different with it, and make a drink.  We wanted something refreshing, but not too sweet, so we settled on agua fresca.  This literally means "fresh water", and is a combination of fruit, water and sugar.  I found this simple recipe, and got to work.

I had half of a watermelon left from our compressed watermelon, which was the perfect amount for the two of us.  The easiest way to chop the watermelon was to cut off the rounded end, and then slice off the rind, as if you were supreming the watermelon.  Then you can easily slice it into cubes.  We got about 6 cups of cubed watermelon outta this guy

 I also chopped up a few sprigs of fresh mint, and let it infuse into the water while I prepared everything else.

Once all of your watermelon is cubed up, I put my immersion blender to work and pureed the whole bowl.  In a matter of minutes, the bowl of watermelon was liquified.

Next, we had to remove all of the pulp.  You'll need a fine mesh strainer or some cheesecloth.  We had a small mesh strainer, so this step took a while.  Make sure you squish the pulp down on the strainer to get all of that juice out.  You can discard the pulp.  What you'll be left with is a highly concentrated watermelon juice.

Then add in your lime juice, water, and mint, and you're ready to serve!  If you let it sit overnight, be sure to give it a good stir/shake before serving.  You'll see the water and watermelon juice separate.  To jazz ours up a bit, we filled our glasses about 3/4 of the way with agua fresca, and topped it off with some seltzer.  You could easily add liquor too.

It's a great summer drink.  Now, if only I had a hammock to lay in!

The [Baba] Ghanoush is Loose

I always love a good dip...French onion, buffalo chicken, salsa, hummus, spinach & artichoke...the list could go on and on.  The great thing is that these dips are usually pretty easy to make at home, and you can tweak them to your preferred tastes.

Baba ghanoush is another one of my favorites, and you won't believe how easy it is to whip up.  We had a bunch of Turkish eggplants from our share and this was the perfect use for them.  I started by cutting off the stems, and cutting each eggplant in half.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper and each half, and place cut side down on a baking sheet.  Along with the eggplant, I threw a few cloves of garlic onto the pan as well.  Pop these babies into the oven and let them roast until the eggplants are tender and the garlic has that nice, roasty sweetness.  This took about 30 minutes for me.

Once they're done, let them cool a bit so you can handle them.  Then just scoop out all the meat into your food processor.  Throw in the garlic, and add the rest of your ingredients; equal parts tahini and olive oil, and a splash of lemon juice.  Then just blend it all together.  If you don't have a food processor, you can easily use an immersion blender to puree everything.  Add salt & pepper to taste, and you're done!  I went a little crazy with the garlic, and it was a bit overpowering, so we added a little extra olive oil and some paprika to tone down the garlic flavor.

Then we just cut some pitas into wedges, brushed them with olive oil, sprinkled on some salt and pepper, and popped them in the oven to crisp up.  Voila!  Homemade pita chips!

The perfect vessel for your baba ghanoush!

Fun With Buns!

We're both big fans of burgers, and we thought it was about time we try our hand at making some brioche buns to go with our summer cook-out favorites.  You know by now that we're not into baking as much as we are cooking, but if we're ever going to improve so we have a shot at winning MasterChef, we need to practice!  You can't discount the importance of the bun to a good burger.  While some opt for potato, kaiser, or Portuguese rolls, nothing really makes a burger like a light, airy, malty, perfectly browned brioche bun.

We found this recipe online, and since we'd had some success with Smitten Kitchen recipes in the past, we knew she wouldn't steer us wrong.  Start by mixing together warm water, milk, yeast and sugar, and let it stand for about 5 minutes.  The warm water helps activate the yeast, while the sugar acts as food for it.  After about 5 minutes, this mixture will be foamy, and ready to mix into your dough.

While your yeast is standing, you can start to mix your dough.  For the dry ingredients, whisk together your bread flour, all-purpose flour, and salt.  Rub the butter between your fingers, and mix with the flour mixture, forming crumbs.  Ours didn't really form crumbs, per se, but once the butter was incorporated as much as it could be, we added the yeast mixture and a beaten egg.

We don't have a dough scraper, so we just used a rubber spatula to mix the wet and dry ingredients together.  Within minutes, we had a nice ball of dough.

Here's where some of the manual labor comes into play.  On a floured surface, you'll have to knead your dough.  We followed the recipe, which suggested using a scooping/slapping method.  You scoop your dough up from the counter and then slap it down.  In 8-10 minutes, it should be smooth and elastic.  Be careful not to add too much flour to the dough, as this will leave you with tougher buns.  Our dough was a bit tackier than it probably should've been, but we didn't want tough buns.  Once you've kneaded your dough, place it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until it doubles in size.  This took about an hour for us.

Once your dough has risen, divide it into 8 sections.  We only made half the recipe, so we ended up with 4 buns.  Roll them into balls, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spray some plastic wrap with some nonstick spray and loosely cover your buns to let them rise again.  We didn't have any nonstick spray on hand, so I just brushed a little vegetable oil on it.

Like I mentioned earlier, our dough was still fairly tacky, so it was a bit difficult to roll them into balls.  Instead we shaped them as best we could, and let them rise again.  When you're ready to bake, place a dish of water in the bottom of your oven, and heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Beat another egg and brush it on top of each bun, and if you want to add sesame seeds, do that now.  Pop 'em in the oven, and let them cook for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown, turning the pan about halfway through.

And voila!  Golden brown buns!  Let them cool completely before you cut into them.  At first, they seemed kind of tough on the outside, but once they cooled, and we cut into them, they were pretty light and fluffy on the inside.

For our burgers, we used Polyface Farms ground beef from our share, and simply seasoned them with salt and pepper.  We had some humboldt fog leftover from our grilled cheeses, that got nice and melty on the warm, grilled burgers.  We also caramelized some onions with port wine that topped the patties, along with some fresh arugula.  Add one of our dill pickles, and we had the perfect burger.