My American Libraries Direct e-mail included this tidbit about "La Cocina Historica" a blog that features recipes from The University of Texas San Antonio's Mexican, Southwest and Texas cookbook collection. I really have no choice but to prepare one of these recipes for my "nueva receta" this week. Stay tuned!
What I especially loved was discovering this blog post from the Bilingual Librarian = Bibliotecaria Bilingüe.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Hazelnut Espresso Bread
We have had our bread machine for over 13 years. I know we used it a lot when we first got it, but over the last years it has taken up a disproportionate amount of "kitchen real estate" for the occasional use it has seen - mostly for making pizza dough, or "company bread". Last Sunday, when I made yogurt bread for the red pepper, bacon and jelly sandwhiches (see my sauteed jerusalem artichokes post) I decided that I would make bread every Sunday. I have a Gold Medal New Bread Machine Recipes cookbook on my shelf - the kind you pick up at the grocery store check out line - which I don't know if I have ever used, and from it selected the Hazelnut Espresso Bread. I had to do some kitchen math in order to adjust the ingredients for my 2 cup maker, as the recipe had proportions for 3 cup or 4 cup makers. This was made with 3/4 c.strong coffee, 1.5 T butter, 2 c. flour 1.5 T dry milk powder, 2 T. sugar, 1/3 c. hazelnuts (or filberts as they are called in Oregon), 2/3 t. salt and 2 t. yeast. The result was flavorful, and crunchy. We could definitely taste the coffee in it. We enjoyed it last night with our dinner fresh from the machine smeared with cream cheese, and this morning with our breakfast lightly toasted with butter.
Monday, May 23, 2011
50 food festivals
We usually do not read the "Parade" magazine in the Sunday paper, but this week couldn't help but notice the "Eat Your Way Across America" cover story about food festivals in each state. If one wanted to do all 50 celebrations they are listed chronologically, although some overlap, and might it require some sort of control over the space-time continuum. They are also listed regionally, so one could select just one section of the country at a time and spread it out over several years. This is a fun read that celebrates local foods.
Sautéed Jerusalem Artichokes with Sunflower Seeds
Earlier this month we began picking up our annual CSA farm box from Colchester Neighborhood Farm. This week we received Jerusalem Artichokes (or Sunchokes). We had never had these before and looked to Deborah Madison, author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone for guidance. Her cookbook is over 700 pages long and has recipes for every kind of vegetable you've never heard of. I decided to try the sautéed with sunflower seeds recipe for the jerusalem artichokes. This root vegetable looks a lot like ginger, but is bitter in flavor. I cut the 'chokes into rounds and sautéed in canola oil. I added salt and pepper, then topped with toasted sunflower seeds and parsley and some other herb (the parsley and unknown herb also came from our farm box). James pointed out that I should have shelled the sunflowers first. Well, yes. I was so glad to be using the sunflower seeds that have been in our cupboard for over a year that I didn't think about this part. Mostly we ended up eating around them. I was glad to use the ingredients from the farm box, but I have to say I wouldn't buy jersusalem artichokes on purpose. This was used as a side dish to an old favorite - grilled cheddar, bacon and red pepper sandwiches. We got the recipe from the newspaper a few years ago. We were glad to find it as we were not sure what to do with the red pepper jelly we got in the big basket of homemade jellies we won at our church auction that year. We ended up liking these sandwiches so much that red pepper jelly has become a "staple on Maple". Of course we made the change of grating the cheese this time! And prepared them on fresh yogurt bread, still warm from the bread machine. We paired this with sweet pineau de pinot from from Westport Rivers vineyard.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Beans for the Birds
My contribution to Nueva Receta this week was a simple and satisfying bean dish, based on a recipe for Bird-Style Beans (Fagioli all'Ucceletto) from page 208 of Aliza Green's comprehensive classic, The Bean Bible: A Legumaniac's Guide to Lentils, Peas, and Every Edible Bean on the Planet! (Note: the exclamation point is part of the title.) It is appropriate that the author of this book is named Green, an aptonym given the prevalence of vegetables in the book!
This recipe calls for dried borlotti (or cranberry or pink) beans, chicken stock, olive oil, plenty of garlic, sage, fresh plum tomatoes. I chose the pink beans (from Goya -- similar to pintos), because I had no idea how to find the other two. I used vegetable bouillon in honor of our resident vegetarian, and I used "fresh" regular tomatoes from the grocery store. I will be sure to try this recipe again when local tomatoes are available. I also used minimal salt, rather than the two teaspoons called for. I found that a dash of Tabasco sauce worked very well in place of excessive salt. When I prepare this next, I will try to find a way to avoid using both a stock pot and a Dutch oven, as this created more dish-washing than seemed warranted.
The result was a warm, satisfying, if very simple meal. I dipped a bit of tortilla in mine, and would have welcomed some more substantial accompaniment, but it did work well with a salad for a light meal. After we ate it, I noticed that the author recommends serving this with grilled meat or poultry -- something we will definitely be trying. It is worth noting, though, that the Tuscan originators of this recipe apparently prepared it as a substitute for game birds that they could not afford.
This was a perfect book for our project, as it has been displacing significant shelf space without inspiring a proportionate number of meals. Using our underused cookbooks is precisely what this blog project is about, and now that I've used the book (not for the first time, but for the first time in a long while), I expect to be tucking into it again and again. It is interesting that one of the Amazon.com reviewers notes that she purchased this book after borrowing it from the library and determining that she would actually use almost all of the recipes.
The same reviewer notes something else interesting: no pictures accompany any of the recipes in this volume. We had just noted the exact opposite phenomenon in our newspaper, which sometimes includes photos of dishes for which it does not include recipes. The most recent example was in the grilled cheese article that Pam reviewed recently, which included a photo of a decadent grilled cheese dessert with no clue as to its contents.
Aliza Green has done just the opposite: providing text that so fully prepares a cook that no images are needed.
This recipe calls for dried borlotti (or cranberry or pink) beans, chicken stock, olive oil, plenty of garlic, sage, fresh plum tomatoes. I chose the pink beans (from Goya -- similar to pintos), because I had no idea how to find the other two. I used vegetable bouillon in honor of our resident vegetarian, and I used "fresh" regular tomatoes from the grocery store. I will be sure to try this recipe again when local tomatoes are available. I also used minimal salt, rather than the two teaspoons called for. I found that a dash of Tabasco sauce worked very well in place of excessive salt. When I prepare this next, I will try to find a way to avoid using both a stock pot and a Dutch oven, as this created more dish-washing than seemed warranted.
The result was a warm, satisfying, if very simple meal. I dipped a bit of tortilla in mine, and would have welcomed some more substantial accompaniment, but it did work well with a salad for a light meal. After we ate it, I noticed that the author recommends serving this with grilled meat or poultry -- something we will definitely be trying. It is worth noting, though, that the Tuscan originators of this recipe apparently prepared it as a substitute for game birds that they could not afford.
This was a perfect book for our project, as it has been displacing significant shelf space without inspiring a proportionate number of meals. Using our underused cookbooks is precisely what this blog project is about, and now that I've used the book (not for the first time, but for the first time in a long while), I expect to be tucking into it again and again. It is interesting that one of the Amazon.com reviewers notes that she purchased this book after borrowing it from the library and determining that she would actually use almost all of the recipes.
The same reviewer notes something else interesting: no pictures accompany any of the recipes in this volume. We had just noted the exact opposite phenomenon in our newspaper, which sometimes includes photos of dishes for which it does not include recipes. The most recent example was in the grilled cheese article that Pam reviewed recently, which included a photo of a decadent grilled cheese dessert with no clue as to its contents.
Aliza Green has done just the opposite: providing text that so fully prepares a cook that no images are needed.
Don't cut the cheese - grate the cheese!
Each Wednesday The Brockton Enterprise features a "Good Taste" section which highlights food and recipes. The May 18th edition included a story called "Grilled Cheese Grows Up", which originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as "Grilled Cheese: What's Old is New Again". I did not specifically prepare any particular recipe that the article provides, however, I did follow this advice from Laura Werlin, author of Grilled Cheese Please! 50 Scrumptiously Cheesy Recipes, whose book according to the article, "is full of good ideas, starting with her time-tested tips on making the brest grilled cheeses, such as always grate the cheese." On Friday I made myself a grilled cheese, fried egg and tomato sandwhich for lunch (what we call in Brazil a "mixto quente") and grated a mixture of mozarella, cheddar and monterrey jack. I must say, Werlin was dead on. The result was one of the creamiest, evenly melted grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever had. I will never go back!
BTW - This is not our "nueva recipe" for the week. James will be posting about the Bean Bible for that one!
BTW - This is not our "nueva recipe" for the week. James will be posting about the Bean Bible for that one!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Lemon-Pepper Shrimp and Strawberry Salad
In honor of our 24th wedding anniversary last Monday, James and I revisited our Intercourses cookbook. This spicy/sweet recipe was perfect for the warm spring day. The shrimp was grilled with lemon-pepper seasoning and then served on a bed of mixed greens, then topped with a sauce made from fresh strawberries, canola oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and a dash of sugar. I mixed the dressing in my blender and it came out smooth and creamy, then poppy seeds were added. Served with the bewitching Sweet Tooth Mead from Isaaks of Salem, purchased in Salem earlier in the day, this was a perfectly romantic meal.
Plus, after I was so successful at making the strawberry dressing in the blender, I tried my hand at honey mustard, and again, I was not disappointed. I may never buy dressing again.
Plus, after I was so successful at making the strawberry dressing in the blender, I tried my hand at honey mustard, and again, I was not disappointed. I may never buy dressing again.
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