Sweet Sesame Seaweed Salad w/ Mandarin Oranges

For the past few days, I've been hosting a friend from Brown (my alma mater).  We spent our time together catching up on life, sharing meals, lounging around, and reminiscing about the good old college days.  Yeah, she was, by far, the most low maintenance guest ever!   She left on yesterday, with a newfound appreciation for Charm City I might add.  That means I'll have about two seconds to catch my breath before welcoming another friend--from Mississippi--to the city later tonight.

On days like this, when time is of the essence, I like to pull together a quick entree salad, instead of cooking, to save time and calories (budgeting for those cocktails, you know).  In this case, I used the ingredients I had on hand and built the salad around the sweet sesame seaweed that I bought at Trader Joe's over the weekend.  I added ingredients that I thought would complement the seaweed and provide a nice flavor contrast. The resulting salad was juicy, sweet, crunchy, and slightly pungent--a win all around for me.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Sweet Sesame Seaweed Salad w/ Mandarin Oranges

Ingredients:

• 1 serving of Escarole Lettuce Blend (escarole, endive & radicchio), roughly 2 cups
• 2 tbsp green onions
• 1 handful matchstick carrots
• 2 tbsp whole water chestnuts, thinly sliced with a mandoline
• 3 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup julienned smoked sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup mandarin oranges
• 2 tbsp Blue Stilton Cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Balsamic Blend
• 2 tbsp Sweet Sesame Seaweed

Direction:

In a large bowl, combine first 10 ingredients and mix well.  Plate the salad on a large dinner plate and garnish with sweet sesame seasweed.  Enjoy!

Pasta con Le Cozze

Shortly after moving to Hampden, I stumbled upon Daniela Pasta & Pastries.  It's a relatively small family-owned Sardinian storefront on "The Avenue" with the appeal of Italy sandwiched between its four walls. There are two small tables inside the restaurant with additional outdoor seating available as the weather permits.  Everything from the pasta and raviolis to the pastries are all handmade and the selection seems to change quite regularly.  Every time I drop by, I'm completely blown away.

On my first visit, right after moving to the neighborhood, I had the most pleasant conversation with the counter attendant and a group of restaurant patrons (who seemed to be closely connected to the restaurant) about my move down from Philly and my domestic travels.  I had my first Arancini Di Riso (crispy fried risotto balls) here, an Italian street food.  I've also had divine pastries and a memorable lasagna here, and I recently had a crab ravioli (with butternut squash if I remember correctly) that was out of this world.  I've even had a low tea with a friend here.  So, I've made quite a few memories at Daniela.

On my last visit, I was intrigued by one of their pasta dishes, Pasta Fagioli.  Unfortunately, I couldn't have any because it had ham in it, and that was all the reason I needed to buy my very first box of ditalini pasta at my local grocer.   Pasta Fagioli is a cross between pasta and soup and so is this pasta.  I started out by making a huge stockpot of vegetable broth with leftover vegetables that I froze to reuse/recycle (e.g., broccoli stalks, cauliflower leaves, sweet peppers, and mushroom stems) along with cilantro, garlic, quartered onions, two lemongrass stalks, carrots, celery, and salt and pepper.  I covered the vegetables in water and let them simmer for about three hours over low heat.  The stock had a great depth of flavor and I highly recommend a homemade vegetable broth if you have the time.  Try putting it on, first thing in the morning, when you wake up and it's ready by lunchtime.

Pasta con Le Cozze

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley (about a handful)
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 lb bag of mussels, washed and cleaned
• 1 cup Ditalini pasta
• 7 quarts vegetable broth, preferably homemade
• 28 oz can Kitchen Cut Roma Tomatoes with Basil
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 4 fingerling potatoes, diced
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 cups Pecorino Romano, shredded

Directions:

Bundle the fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, and bay leaves together in a cheesecloth.  Set aside.

In a large stockpot, cook garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until beginning to soften.  Add vegetable broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  

Add mussels and bundle of herbs and cook until they have all opened, stirring constantly.  Using tongs, remove the mussels from the pot as they open (so they don't overcook) and set aside.

Add pasta, carrots, celery, and potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is al dente and vegetables are soft to the bite.  

Remove from heat.  Recombine the mussels with the soup, and let the soup rest for about 20 minutes.  Remove cheesecloth containing the fresh herbs and discard. 

Before serving, drizzle pasta with olive oil and cheese.   For a really indulgent meal, enjoy with crusty bread dipped in extra virgin olive oil sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper, sea salt, and cheese.

Lace Edge Corn Cakes

What's the best breakfast or brunch you've ever had?   As I lie in bed pondering that very question this morning, I had an epiphany: I absolutely love a Creole/Cajun breakfast.  I effortlessly recalled the amazing brunch I enjoyed with friends, in our Sunday best, at Pappadeaux Seafood in Houston, TX.  I thought about the beignets from Cafe Du Monde that I ate on the banks of the Mississippi River.  I remembered the frequent trips to Dixie Kitchen (a favorite of the POTUS, btw) for their eggs sardou.  I smiled thinking of all the incredible food I've had from my friends' homes in South Mississippi and mom-and-pop restaurants, roadside stands, and corner stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

Given my love for breakfast, I realized the dearth of breakfast recipes on my blog didn't accurately capture my relationship with breakfast food.  So, I decided to comb through several of my favorite cookbooks for some inspiration.  Interestingly enough, I encountered the very same problem.  There were the obligatory biscuit and shrimp and grits recipes, but breakfast was mostly an afterthought. The cookbook B. Smith Cooks Southern Style was a godsend.  The cookbook is divided into twelve chapters and each chapter is dedicated to a food category.  I beelined for the brunch chapter and discovered an intriguing recipe for Lacy-Edged Batty Cakes.  Smith notes that a headline from John Thorne's book Simple Recipes reads:

"There are various recipes for this corn cake, made famous by the once-annual 'Batty Cake Brekfus' on the morning of the Kentucky Derby, where they were served along with 'sawsidges, 'lasses, sputterin' coffee and fried apples.'"

These corn cakes seemed like an interesting choice for breakfast, but as a cornbread/tamale/corn cake lover, I had to try them.  The corn cakes turned out incredibly light, crispy, buttery, and were best eaten right out of the skillet (trust me on this).  Forget Lay's, I betcha can't eat just one Lace Edge Corn Cake.  These corn cakes are in the same family as hot water cornbread and are great with apple butter, eggs, salmon, cheese, and tomatoes.  They also make a great base for an eggs benedict.

Lace Edge Corn Cakes*

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powdeer
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 4 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled slightly
• Vegetable oil, for cooking as needed

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and egg.  Fold in the cornmeal mixture, stirring until the liquid has been absorbed.  Add the melted butter.  

Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and lightly oil the surface.  Using 1 tablespoon of batter for each cake, fry about 4 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, until cakes begin to bubble and bottoms are golden.  Flip with a spatula and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until golden.  Serve immediately.

* recipe adapted from B. Smith Cooks Southern Style

Fig, Hoch Ybrig Cheese, and Balsamic Caramelized Onion Sandwich

Some people look at a mud puddle and see an ocean with ships.  -Zora Neale Hurston


I've been conditioned to think of Tallahassee, Florida every time I see or eat figs, and today was no different.  It all began in the summer of 1990.  My two aunts had convinced my grandmother to allow my two brothers and me to come back to Tallahassee, Florida with them after we had begged and pleaded to no end.  We loaded up my aunt's infamous Chevrolet Spectrum, that she had driven anywhere the wind blew her, and made the long drive to Monday Court, Tallahassee.  It was a peculiar place reminiscent of Zora Neale Hurston's Florida.  One of our neighbors was an elderly black lady with snow white hair who would disappear into the woods collecting spanish moss for her home-brewed tea.  The neighborhood kids were a rowdy bunch who cursed their elders, threw fireworks at cars driving by, and once, they literally stirred up a hornet's nest.  There was also a fig tree behind our house, and I wish I had known the joys of this sandwich back then, but we neglected them, leaving them to ripen and fall off the tree.  The overly ripe figs then became play objects for the neighborhood kids as they ran around the neighborhood smashing figs on people's backs.  Before returning to Mississippi that fall, we would experience the joys of city life, the glory of the beach, and the magic of Walt Disney World.

It's funny how things change.  I was at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland two weeks ago and the vegetarian option for lunch one day was a fig, caramelized onion, and goat cheese sandwich on ciabatta bread.  To be quite honest, I didn't exactly jump for joy and I was disappointed that there wasn't a more substantial option.  I sulked for all of three seconds and got over it.  And, I'm so glad I did.  Who would have thunk it, but this combination is fiyahhhhh!!!  I couldn't wait to come home and recreate the sandwich.

I went to the Wine Source for a bottle of wine and ended up buying everything I needed for the sandwich right there.  The cheesemonger recommended Hoch Ybrig as a great cheese for sandwiches and grilled cheeses, and I grabbed a container of Dalmatia Fig Spread and a mini baguette from their specialty foods section.  I then came home and used the leftover pearl onions I bought for the Three-Mushroom Bourguignon to make balsamic caramalized onions, and--voila!--dinner is served.

Fig, Hoch Ybrig Cheese, and Balsamic Caramelized Onion Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1 mini-baguette or ciabatta bread
• 1 pat of softened butter
• 1 piece of Hoch Ybrig cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dalmatic fig spread
• 1/4 cup balsamic caramelized onions

Directions:

Adjust oven to low broiler setting.  Slice the baguette in half, and if preferred, pinch out a portion of the inside bread.  Butter the bread and place the cheese on one half of the baguette.  Place on a baking sheet and insert in the oven, about 5" below the broiler.  Broil until the cheese is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add fig spread and balsamic caramelized onions.  Carefully fold over to seal.  Enjoy!

Three-Mushroom Bourguignon

I recently attended the 28th Annual Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, PA.  The town and festival were both a real treat.  The town center is charming and quaint with several interesting restaurants and boutiques in the immediate vicinity of the main strip.  Talula's Table is worth mentioning considering the notoriety the restaurant has achieved.  As explained in this Saveur article, reservations for the restaurant have to be made a year in advance for the sole table of the night to enjoy their solitary prix fixe BYOB dinner.  Kennett Square is known as the mushroom capital of the world because the surrounding region produces over a million mushrooms a week.  If you ever drive through this area during mushroom season, as I have, your olfactory senses will be assaulted with one of the most unpleasant odors imaginable.  For the sake of comparison, it's much worst than anything you might encounter on the New Jersey Turnpike.  The odor is caused by the composting of mushrooms, which releases moisture and ammonia.  This is a point of contention for many PA suburbanites in mushroom farming communities.

So, take a wild guess at the foods available at the Mushroom Festival.  Mushroom Ice Cream.  Check. Mushroom Soup.  Check.  Fried Mushrooms.  Check.  Mushroom Chili.  Check.  Grilled Mushrooms.  Check.  I even had a mushroom ice cream bar w/frozen slices of button mushrooms that was surprisingly good.  It was truly a mushroom lover's dream.  When I made mushroom bourguignon with portabello, cremini, and shiitake mushrooms, I was transformed back to the festival.  It's the perfect rich, comforting dish to highlight mushrooms.  The recipe below is adapted from Smitten Kitchen by way of The Taste Space.

Three-Mushroom Bourguignon

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 pound portobello mushrooms, cut into 1/4-in slices
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, cut into 1/4-in slices
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, cut into 1/4-in slices
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 carrot, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup full-bodied red wine
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups vegetable broth (I prefer Rapunzel Vegetable Bouillon Cubes)
• 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pearl onions, washed and peeled
• Sour cream and chopped chives or parsley, for garnish
• Buttered eggs noodles, potatoes, or crusty bread, for serving

Directions:

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a medium Dutch oven or heavy sauce pan over high heat.  Add all mushrooms to the pot and sear until they begin to darken, but not yet releasing any liquid--about three to four minutes.  Remove them from pan and set aside.  

Lower the flame to medium and add the second tablespoon of olive oil.  Toss the onion, carrots, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste into the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  

Add the wine to the pot, scraping any stuck bits off the bottom, then turn the heat all the way up to reduce it by half.  Stir in the tomato paste and the broth.  Add the reserved mushrooms, with any juices that have collected, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the temperature so it simmers for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are fork tender.  Add the pearl onions and simmer for an another five minutes.

Combine remaining butter and the flour with a fork until combined; stir it into the stew.  Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency.  Season to taste.

Serve the stew with buttered egg noodles, potatoes, or crusty bread.  Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with chives or parsley.

Tipsy Apple Fruit Roll-Ups

Homemade applesauce is a comfort food.  It reignites those childhood memories when I would go crazy over a pot of hot, chunky applesauce.  Quite naturally, one of my favorite things to make with a batch of apples is homemade applesauce.  A huge perk to making applesauce is it's healthier than almost any other apple recipe (contingent on the fact that you keep the sugar additions to a minimum) and you have the versatility to eat the applesauce plain or incorporate it into other dishes.

The apples used in this recipe mostly came from a tasting of local Maryland apples at work.  Unfortunately, I don't remember all the varieties.  There was certainly a few Golden Delicious, a MacIntosh or two, a sweet variety, a tart variety, and one variety that turned out to be quite mealy.  Mealy apples are ideal for cooking and baking since most people do not enjoy eating them and the cooking process helps to break them down and release their natural juices.

Drunken Applesauce

When I make something like applesauce, I don't follow an exact process so I don't have an exact recipe.     So, here's a guide to my Drunken Applesauce:

1. Wash, peel, core, and chop 6-8 medium apples
2. In a large pot, combine apples, 1 cup water, a pat of butter, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp Allspice, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp cinnamon, 1/3 cup brown sugar,  1/4 cup regular sugar, 1/2 cup brandy, 1/4 cup Triple Sec
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cover and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook for 25 to 30 minutes.  

Cook's Notes:  1.) If you use sweet apples, you can reduce or eliminate the sugar.  2.) While it's fine to use regular brandy (like I did), apple brandy is ideal.  3.) I usually add orange juice and orange zest to my applesauce.  I didn't have any on hand the day I made this, but I highly recommend including about 3/4 cup of orange juice and 1 tbsp orange zest.  

Tipsy Apple Fruit Roll-Ups

So, here's my 30-second elevator speech on the utility of applesauce.  Applesauce is often used as a substitute for oil in baking, a meal pairing with pork, and it is easily incorporated into a variety of sweet and savory dishes.  In the past, I've baked apple bread using applesauce.  I recently made one of my favorite smoothies--Pineapple and Apple Smoothie--with sliced pineapples, applesauce, pineapple and apple juices, and shaved ice.  However, I think one of the most distinct uses of applesauce is fruit leather.  

While I am calling these Tipsy Apple Fruit Roll-Ups due to the brandy and Triple Sec in the applesauce, all of the alcohol cooks off during the cooking process so they are actually kid friendly.  This is also a super easy, kid-friendly recipe.  The most difficult thing about fruit leather is preparing the baking sheet and cutting/rolling up the fruit leather afterwards.  

Tipsy Apple Fruit Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups applesauce
• 2 tbsp key lime marmalade

Directions:

Preheat the oven to the lowest temperature setting (170º for me).  Heat the key lime marmalade in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until melted.  Combine with the applesauce and set aside.  

Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat, nonstick aluminum foil, or plastic wrap.  I used plastic wrap with great results.  Use a spatula to spread the applesauce mixture in the baking pan into a thin layer.  Bake for 4 to 5 hours or until dehydrated and the mixture remains firm to a finger's touch.  

Transfer to a rack and let the fruit leather cool completely.  Peel off the mat/foil/plastic wrap.  Lay the leather on a sheet of wax paper with the smooth side facing down.  Use a pizza cutter, kitchen shears, or a sharp knife to cut the leather into strips.  Roll up the strips and store in a mason jar.  

Mexican Fiesta Tempeh Salad w/Queso Blanco

I tend to cook with music in the background or I'm jamming away with a headset.  My kitchen is lively and energetic.  In fact, every meal has its own soundtrack.  I become one with the music and the energy feeds my creative process.  Cooking is definitely not a chore for me, and I try to make it as fun as possible.

Here lately, I've become a total NPR junkie and I'd be lying if I said I was listening to anything else on the day I created this salad.   However, I must say that this salad has the spirit and soul of Ozomatli--the crafty Latin band that blends funk, salsa, hip hop, cumbia, merengue, and the soul of L.A.

Mexican Fiesta Tempeh Salad w/Queso Blanco

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 package of tempeh
• garlic powder
• cumin
• onion powder
• 1 block queso blanco
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 bag romaine lettuce
• 2 tablespoons pico de gallo
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 1 bottle Southwest Chipotle Dressing*
• 1 bag Sante Fe Style tortilla strips
• 1 avocado

* I used this salad dressing as a base and enhanced the flavor by blending it with tamarind paste, olive oil, cilantro, pico de gallo, vinegar, and lime juice in the blender.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium low heat.  Add the garlic and chili powder.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until the garlic just begins to turn golden.  Add the black beans and stir to coat with the garlic and curry powder.  Add the salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and turn out the black beans into a large, shallow baking pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until crunchy.  Set aside and allow to cool.

Then, cut the tempeh into thin strips or cubes.  Season to taste with garlic powder, cumin, and onion powder, about 2 to 3 shakes per seasoning.  Heat 1 tbsp olive in the frying pan used for the beans.  Cook the the tempeh over medium heat until golden brown.  Set aside.  

Cut a strip of 1" thick queso blanco from the cheese block.  Cut into half.  In a frying pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium low heat.  Cook queso blanco on both sides until brown and crust forms.  Cut into smaller pieces and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 2 handfuls of romaine lettuce (or enough for one salad), pico de gallo, cilantro, 3 to 4 pieces of tempeh, 1/4 cup black beans, and salad dressing (about 2 tablespoons).  Mix well.  Transfer to a serving plate.  Top with tortilla strips, fried queso blanco pieces, and avocado slices.  Enjoy!