The Food Scribe

Market Mash Up: Apricots & Bacon

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 14:18:58 -0400

Bacon is one of my favorite foods. So salty, so porky, so crispy when cooked right, it reminds me of Sunday mornings and pancakes after church and before my parents discovered the microwave and still fried the succulent strips in the cast-iron skillet on the stove. Ahh, the 70s, when we cared less about food additives and more about flavor.

In recent years, some bacon packages began using the word “uncured” on the label after some studies suggested the sodium nitrate used to cure bacon was linked to cancer. Wait, I hear you saying, I thought all bacon had to be cured in order to prevent spoilage?

Well, yes and no. For decades, sodium nitrate and nitrite has been added to preserve the freshness of meats like bacon, hot dogs and smoked fish, prevent botulism, and create that nice rosy color and distinctive odor consumers have come to expect.

But the Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests consumers, particularly the most vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women, avoid them.   “Several studies have linked consumption of cured meat and nitrite by children, pregnant women, and adults with various types of cancer,” CSPI’s website says. “Although those studies have not yet proven that eating nitrite in bacon, sausage, and ham causes cancer in humans, pregnant women would be prudent to avoid those products.”

However, USDA, which regulates meat, and FDA, which generally regulates food additives, developed regulations for meat products that have significantly reduced the amount of sodium nitrite used to cure meats, and some more recent studies suggest no links between nitrites and cancer at the levels currently used in these products. Manufacturers are also using alternative preservatives in response to consumer concerns.

A major producer of natural meat products, Niman Ranch, which eschews hormones and antibiotics in its animals, doesn’t take a position on cured v. uncured meat, and makes both kinds of products. Now that’s great marketing!

So uncured bacon is really just a confusing way of letting customers know that the curing process necessary to prevent spoilage does not include chemical additives like sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, or a salt cure. Often the cure in “uncured” products are made from products in which nitrates naturally occur, like celery juice, which Niman Ranch uses.

By my observation, uncured bacon is decidedly less pink in the package and it smells slightly porkier, but I think it tastes virtually the same once its cooked.

The key to maintaining your health when it comes to sodium nitrites is probably to just eat less preserved meats anyway, since they tend to be fatty and salty, but here’s a recipe that shows even a small amount of bacon -- cured or uncured -- can add big flavor to grilled fruit.

In the interest of science, I picked up a beautiful slab of uncured bacon from Smith Meadows of Berryville, VA, which I found Sunday at the Takoma Park Farmers Market. I wrapped a few pieces around the sweet little apricots from Black Rock Orchard in Carroll County, MD, which I also found at the market and are just coming into season.

Salty and sweet.

Grilled Apricots Wrapped in Bacon

6 strips thin bacon
3 ripe but firm apricots
1 T. melted butter
S&P

Soak wooden skewers about 30 minutes and light gas grill to medium high.
Halve apricots along the seam, discard pits.
Brush both sides of each apricot half with melted butter; Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Wrap one bacon slice around each apricot half, taking care not to overlap more than 1 inch or so, or the ends will burn and the doubled-up side won’t get crispy.
Skewer each wrapped apricot half lengthwise through the bacon on a skewer, 2 or 3 halves to a skewer, depending on the size of the apricots.
Cook on grill about 3 minutes a side until apricots began to lose their shape and bacon becomes crispy but not burnt.
Remove carefully and serve warm.

Makes 6 apricot halves.

Garlic the Green Goddess

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:26:59 -0400

When green garlic’s growing like crazy in my summer garden, I’m always looking for new ways to include it in my cooking without actually heating up the kitchen too much.

The fresh and pungent flavor of raw garlic pairs well with any relatively mild beans in a dip, as food writer Melissa Clark attests in a recent New York Times Dining In article.

However, I came across fresh fava beans at a Middle Eastern market last week, admittedly a little late in the season but not too far gone, and thought it would be a nice match.

Look for bright green pods that are not too large and don’t have black spots on them, which indicate they’ve been sitting around too long.

Favas are a little bit of work but their fresh taste beats anything in a can.

I developed this recipe roughly based on Clark’s recipe for white bean and garlic scapes dip. You can substitute any kind of garlic or even green onions if you like a milder flavor.

Fava and Green Garlic Dip

1 lb. fava beans in shells
1/4 cup chopped fresh young garlic and some of the tender light green stems
1 T. lemon juice
3/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Peel favas out of shells, boil for 1 minute and drain, rinsing in cold water. When cool enough to handle, pull thin, light green and sticky skins off to reveal about 2 cups of bright green beans. Set aside.

Place garlic, lemon juice and salt in the food processor and blend until finely chopped.

Add favas and process until smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of water if necessary.

Slowly add the olive oil and taste, correct seasoning. Refrigerate at least an hour.

Serve with crackers, carrot sticks, or anything else you like to dip.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Fishy Fun

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:06:48 -0400

If you’re looking for some new ideas for dinner, The Washington Post published my article on Wednesday about the adventurous things I like to cook when I’m alone, such as this beautiful grilled trout stuffed with fennel and the below shot of my strawberries marinated in pomegranate molasses and chili pepper flakes. The recipes easily double or triple for a family dinner, and my picky family is learning to try new and healthier things!

I like to experiment with my cooking but I also work to clean out the fridge as well of whatever bits of cheese or herbs are staying alive in there. What are some of your ideas for solo cooking?

--photos by me

Market Mash Up: Swiss Chard & Potatoes

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:15:56 -0400

I had no idea I was going to have a root canal this week when I asked Chef Oliver Friendly for some ideas for Swiss chard at the Silver Spring FRESHFARM Market on Sunday, but what we came up with turned out to be just what the dentist ordered.

Friendly, a gregarious native Washingtonian who trained with Peter Smith at PS7’s and Barton Seaver at Hook, recently started his own personal chef business, Eat & Smile. Friendly is a big supporter of the farmers markets and uses as many local and fresh ingredients from them as possible for his frequent demonstrations and catering gigs. He’s a market blogger, too.

He was demonstrating his take on gazpacho (sneaky ingredient: ginger) and mini BLTs with his own cured bacon at the market when I asked him to peek into my shopping bag and suggest some ideas for my Market Mash Up feature.

I told Friendly I wanted to feature the beautiful rainbow Swiss Chard I picked up from the Spring Valley Farm & Orchard stand, but I was tired of the old stir-fry-it-with-garlic routine.

He suggested I layer the chard leaves with Parmesan and potatoes for a gratin, making sure the chard was the top layer so it would crisp up in the oven.

This hot mess would be a perfect accompaniment to a simple grilled pork chop or steak for a Sunday night supper, I thought, so I grabbed some baby potatoes and headed home.

After consulting my trusty dog-eared copy of Julia Child’s The Way to Cook for the basics on béchamel sauce and gratins, I remembered I had a small wedge of sheep’s cheese left in the fridge that I could grate into the sauce for some added richness.

I also thought about how to incorporate the pesto I made the day before from a surplus of oregano and garlic in my garden: I could coat the potato slices with the pesto to both add flavor and prevent them from drying out too much in the oven. I forgot to grind walnuts into the pesto, so it was a bit runny, but in retrospect, this was a good call because the last thing I needed later in the week was bits of nuts getting stuck in my newly-repaired teeth.

A gratin is a comfort food that can be as simple or as complicated as you want. This one is relatively fussy -- a weekend dish I baked in six individual one-cup ramekins. It could easily be simplified by using one large casserole dish, substituting a little extra virgin olive oil and salt or store bought pesto for the homemade pesto or even skipping the béchamel and just using grated cheese and some milk.

I was glad I took the extra steps on Sunday, because despite the last two days of oral surgery, I still get to eat well by reheating the gratin one cup at a time.

As Friendly says, “Then you eat it; then you smile.”

Well, half of my face can smile for now.

Swiss Chard & New Potato Gratin

3 cups Swiss chard leaves, tough stems removed, washed, dried and roughly chopped
6 baby potatoes the size of jumbo eggs, peeled, sliced thinly, and set in a bowl of ice water
1 1/2 cups fresh oregano leaves, washed and dried
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3-6 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 T. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 T. butter (plus some for greasing baking dishes)
1 T. flour
1 c. milk
dash or two of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grated sheep’s milk or other tangy, hard cheese

For the pesto: Combine oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor until its chopped uniformly and looks like green paste. Slowly add the oil until it emulsifies, then add grated Parmesan cheese and walnuts, if using. Process for another minute until blended. Makes about a cup. Set aside 2 T. and refrigerate the rest up to a week in an airtight jar after adding a layer of olive oil on the top to preserve the green color.

For the béchamel-cheese sauce: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until it just starts to turn color and the bubbles subside -- about 2 minutes. Pour in all the milk at once. Whisk frequently over moderate heat until sauce thickens to your liking. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg if desired. Take off heat and stir in the sheep’s cheese. Turn off heat and cover. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Preheat oven to 400.

Drain potatoes and toss with 2 T. of the pesto in a separate bowl.

Reheat cheese sauce and thin with milk if necessary.

Assembling the gratin: In 6 buttered ramekins or a medium casserole dish, layer the potato slices neatly, slightly overlapping. Top with a layer of cheese sauce and then a layer of chopped chard leaves. Remember, chard shrinks quite a bit when cooked, so use more than you think you need.

Repeat layering two more times so each ramekin has three layers and the chard is on top. Top with salt, pepper, and a few extra gratings of Parmesan, if desired.

Bake 20-30 minutes until bubbly and brown.

Photo by lowjumpingfrog via Flickr.

Pops for Grown-Ups Go Legit

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:38:14 -0400

I didn’t get to taste Rustico’s infamous frozen beer-based ice pops last year before production was iced by the Virginia ABC, but thanks to the intervention of a couple of food and beverage friendly legislators, they are back on the menu this summer starting today.

For $5 a pop, adults 21 and older will have a choice of seven unique flavors, including banana, framboise (that’s raspberry), Cherry Kriek, Peche (peach, y’all), plum, chocolate stout and Cassis (black raspberry).

I got a sneak peak taste of both the banana and the raspberry brew-pop yesterday, and they are worth the trip. Cool and refreshing, as an ice pop should be, but with a hint of beer bubbles at the end, the pops are the perfect finish to a Rustico pizza and beer meal or just a mid-afternoon snack out on the picnic tables.

Virginia Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-Alexandria) pushed the bill to revise antiquated restrictions on alcohol content in prepared foods that was recently signed into law and makes the pops legal.

“We’re ecstatic that Adam and Patsy have made the world safe for frozen beer treats throughout the Old Dominion,” said Michael Babin, owner of Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which runs Rustico and a handful of other hot Northern Virginia restaurants, a bakery and a catering operation.

Now go get one this summer, because they disappear in September.

Rustico
827 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, VA
703.224.5051

Photo of Chef Morales holding a pop, courtesy of Rustico.

Market Mash Up: Purple Cauliflower & English Peas

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:27:03 -0400

The rock band R.E.M. suggests you don’t go back to Rockville, but I suggest you do, at least on Saturday morning for the farmers market.

This weekend, I strategically planned a trip there while my husband was running errands nearby, not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. They had a terrific variety of plants and flowers, baked goods, a couple of Amish stands selling eggs and cheese, and three or four good veggie stalls.

They also had a table set up for donations of just-purchased food for Manna, which I thought was a nice touch. My son donated a couple of his precious golden apples and was quite pleased with himself.

I found shell-on peas and purple cauliflower at the Pieitez Produce stand, where I ran into Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffman, a fantastic cook and dedicated restaurant sleuth, who was grabbing several bunches of radishes there. Naturally I copied her and bought some, too.

Hoffman says to sprinkle the radishes with salt and eat them out of hand. I find them to be a delicious alternative to a composed green salad for dinner. To really guild the lily, go French and serve sliced and salted radishes atop freshly buttered crusty bread, or try this cream cheese-rosemary twist from Cork & Knife.

The Rockville Farmers Market runs Saturdays and Wednesdays through October. As an addition to the market, the town runs an event called Out to Lunch Wednesdays, featuring live music and prepared food for sale by local restaurants on Wednesdays through September from 12-1:30 p.m.

As for my peas and cauliflower, I recently remembered an Indian-style white cauliflower-frozen pea combination for a samosa filling that a friend’s mother taught me a few years back.

I simplified her directions, skipping the samosa part because I was hungry and I didn’t want the purple cauliflower to lose too much color or the peas to lose too much sweetness via a long cooking process.

I reduced the cumin and added sage because I had a bunch handy, but it tasted a little too earthy and heavy for me. I decided to toss in lemon juice at the last minute, which really perked up the flavors, and I also stirred in some leftover rice, which turned a pleasant shade of lavender, for a complete meal.

See?

Sauteed Cauliflower and Peas

1 small head of purple or white cauliflower, chopped up pretty small; About 1 1/2 cups

1 dry pint fresh peas in the shell, shelled and rinsed; About 1 cup

1 t. cumin seeds
1 T. canola oil
2 t. chopped sage
2 t. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup cooked rice
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a wide, nonstick frying pan over medium. Add cumin seeds and stir until they start to release their smell; About 1 minute.

Add chopped cauliflower and stir, turning heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until cauliflower starts to soften. Add salt and pepper.

Add rice, turn the heat back up to medium, cooking and stirring for five minutes.

Add peas and lemon juice, stirring for an additional two or three minutes.

Turn off heat, mix in sage, and serve.

Serves 1-2.

Rockville Farmers Market  Wednesdays at East Montgomery Avenue at Rockville Town Center; Saturdays at Route 28 and Monroe Street (jury parking lot)  240-314-8606  11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays, June 4-Oct. 29; 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, May 17-Oct. 25

A Fling with a Summery Red

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:10:19 -0400

I’m all for white wine in the summer -- the cool, refreshingly dry taste of a pinot grigio fuels many an evening slaving over a hot grill at my house.

Despite this, I often find myself longing for the rush I get from tasting a good red: Something fruity but not too heavy, with a long, dry finish to savor.

When my friend Carrie and I visited the winebar Cork recently, she ordered a flight of tempranillos. Of course, I had to taste.

The middle selection -- an ’06 Epifanio Ribera del Duero -- hit me with a very strong scent of just ripening blackberries that reminded me of the tangly brambles from which I picked as a child in my great grandmother’s backyard. I don’t know how this Spanish stunner can channel rural Pennsylvania, but it works for me.

In fact, I had my nose in the glass for a full 5 minutes before tasting it, the smell-memory connection was so strong. Like a true friend, Carrie let me finish the glass.

The following week, I found it at Leesburg Vintner and bought half a case.

The Epifanio is perfect with manchego cheese, rarish lamb, or even grilled chicken, says Valerie Wrightson, the Montgomery County distributor for Elite Wines Imports, Inc., which imports the Epifanio of which I am enamored.

It even made Washingtonian’s list of great wines from Europe for under $15, although I say blackberry, they say Bing cherry.

I don’t know much about wines, but I know what I like. For about $15 a bottle, I’ve found my summer crush. I think I’ll pour another glass.

The Epifanio 2006 Ribera del Duero is widely available in D.C. and Virginia, and at Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Maryland.

Eggplant Makes Me Happy

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:34:03 -0400

Most people keep milk and butter in the fridge, and maybe some lettuce for salad, and of course, a secret stash of salami.

In addition to these items, I now keep eggplant.

My obsession with just how to make this somewhat bitter and mysterious vegetable taste really good started about a year ago when my husband and I returned from a trip to Southern Italy where eggplant (and cheese and tomatoes and pasta and wine) are everywhere.

For the better part of our trip, we stayed at a family-run bed and breakfast in Sorrento called Mami Camilla. In addition to being unbelievably charming and casual with communal outdoor dining tables for evening meals, dogs lazing in the sun, villagers stopping by for frequent chats and fresh fruit for the picking on the family trees, Mami Camilla also offers Italian cooking classes. (You might be able to guess who planned this trip.)

In between visits to nearby olive oil farms, lemon groves and a foray to the ancient ruins of Pompeii, we learned how to make pizza, pasta, swordfish, zeppoli (mmm, doughnuts), and more. Chef Longo Biagio -- the patriarch of the clan and the chief chef -- also gave us a little spiral-bound cookbook to take home. The English instructions are a little spare, and the measurements are all metric, but it was filled with the kind of homey and delicious recipes we’d had during our stay, so I was up to the challenge.

While I’ve made nearly everything in the book at this point, there’s one recipe I’ve memorized and modified to my own tastes. It’s become my go-to appetizer for parties or just because: Involtini di Melanzane (Eggplant Rolls).

The ingredients can be found year round at most any supermarket, but they taste especially fresh in summer if you use tomatoes and basil from your own garden. (Be careful buying tomatoes these days -- see FDA’s alert.)

If you don’t like eggplant, you can certainly substitute zucchini, or use any kind of mild, meltable cheese you like for the filling. Heck, you can even replace the basil with another herb, but really, why would you?

It takes a little time, but it’s not difficult, even though it looks fancy. The rolls can be prepared a day or a few hours in advance up to the point of baking, then refrigerate until you need them.

Involtini di Melanzane

2 small purple eggplants, sliced thinly lengthwise
kosher salt
3 T. olive oil
About 1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cut into 1/4-inch cubes, or small ricotta chunks
Handful of fresh basil leaves
A few T. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup tomato sauce (canned is fine, or fry a little onion and garlic, add chopped canned or fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper, cook 10 minutes, puree roughly in a blender)

Arrange eggplant slices in one layer on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt to leach out water. Let sit 10 minutes, then rub off the salt.

Working in batches, fry the eggplant slices in oil in a large skillet on medium high, about 2 minutes or less a side, depending on thickness, until they just start to brown. Drain eggplant on paper towels and set aside.

Spread the tomato sauce onto the bottom of a baking dish and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll up mozzarella cube or tiny scoop of ricotta and a basil leaf in a cooked eggplant slice, starting at the larger end and moving to the smaller end so you have a pretty rosette shape like in the photo. (It took me 10 times of making this to realize rolling them this way was prettier and more stable on the plate, Duh.) Set the roll up on one end into the tomato sauce and repeat the process until all the eggplant, basil or cheese is gone.

Bake about 15 minutes until the cheese starts to melt and the skin starts to crisp.

Just before serving, sprinkle with parmesan.

Enjoy!

Serves about 4 as an appetizer, can be easily doubled or tripled for a party.

Market Mash Up: Strawberries & Spring Onions

Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:56:09 -0400

New Jersey may be known as the Garden State, but the closest many out-of-staters get is the decidedly un-green Garden State Parkway. Well, I say get off and go exploring.

Thanks to an article I read in Arrive magazine on the train going up, I convinced my husband, who had driven up earlier in the week, to stop at Terhune Orchards in Princeton so we could all pick some strawberries on the way home.

Terhune is a family-owned farm that boasts 200 acres of farmland and is open year-round. It hosts various festivals throughout the year, celebrating seasonal produce.

Upon pulling up, we were greeted by a clutch of black and white speckled hens, playing in the muddy parking lot and looking for hand outs, and a number of family cats laying about on the porch, pretending they didn’t want to be petted. It was pretty close to my idea of what a country farm should be, yet it was just minutes off of Route 1 and the charming university-dominated downtown.

Aside from the pleasure of picking four quarts of luscious little strawberries (note the prime example held up by my son here) in a field dampened by recent rains and teeming with the smell of ripening fruit, we enjoyed walking through Terhune’s farm store, stocked with other fruits, vegetables, herbs, preserves and homemade cider.

I even picked up a lovage seedling to plant in my garden and use in the vodka infusions of which I’ve recently become enamored.

So what to do with four quarts of strawberries? Give some away, slice some on top of cereal, and make salsa, for starters.

Feeling uninspired by the tired and typical recipes for strawberry pie and jam in my repertoire, I turned to Cookthink to brainstorm. There I found a savory recipe that calls for panfried salmon topped with a salsa fresca of sorts made with strawberries, chopped spring onions, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice.

Delicious, fresh, and unusual, I served it with corn on the cob and green beans with lime butter. I think the strawberry salsa would also be good with chips or over chicken. It was just what I needed to inspire myself after nearly a week out of the kitchen.

Now I’ve just got two more quarts of strawberries to go....

Ideas anyone?

Butterflies are on the Menu at Arts Center

Sat, 31 May 2008 14:00:22 -0400

Serinity Knight is an accomplished local sculptor and painter whose work focuses largely on curvy women’s bodies, striking female faces and butterflies in flight.

But what won the crowds over at a recent District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) fundraiser was her Garlic-Ginger Chicken Butterfly Rolls with Sweet and Hot Dipping Sauce. She made the giant butterfly-themed serving bowl, as well.

“ I was afraid nobody was going to eat them,” Knight, a tall, curvy and striking woman herself, laughing softly behind oversized sunglasses and fielding questions from her food fans at the Cuisine des Artistes 2008 on Thursday night.

Knight’s butterfly rolls are something she has made for parties and for friends for several years, she says.

The preparation is not difficult, she says, but it is time-consuming: Mix cooked ground chicken breast with ginger and garlic, add shredded carrots and a little ricotta cheese, wrap in egg roll wrappers, and fry. The dip is simply honey, chili peppers both sweet and hot, pepper flakes, wasabi, ginger and a little soy.

The result is a crisp, Island-style stuffed eggroll that disappears in two bites.

Cuisine des Artistes is a (DCAC) fundraiser that loosely pairs artists and chefs for an evening of food tastings and art ranging from a man making traffic noises with only his voice to a silk-screened cat pillow display. DCAC has supported local artists of all mediums in Adams Morgan for 19 years.

Other Cuisine des Artistes 2008 highlights include a succulent duck confit with a tarty rhubarb marmalade by Sam Adkins, executive chef of Jackie’s in Silver Spring. The duck was complimented by a display of delicate pen and ink drawings of the produce at the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market by artist Anita Walsh, who recently published a book of the drawings called “Dupont Market.”

I also enjoyed the refreshing watermelon gazpacho dressed with a dollop of basil oil suspended in gelatin by Black Squirrel Chef Andrew Kern and the kitchy caramel corn displayed near the fluffy silkscreened cat pillows created by artist Steven Frost.