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Visiting cook expands home’s repertoire

September 8th, 2008 · Cooking tips, Food in the news, Food selection, recipes

I had the privilege to visit out-of-town friends this past weekend, and they let me prepare dinner for them one evening. It was fun in multiple ways:

  • I got to cook for people I love, which is always a delight.
  • I made a dish I haven’t made in I don’t know how long.
  • I got to revel in the glory cast by these simple dishes.
  • It reminded me of how much family cooking is negotiation.

When we sat down, you’d have thought I’d presented them something stupendous by serving Chicken Piccata and Abruzzi-Style Potatoes (along with broccoli and a bakery coconut cream pie). In fact, I simply presented things they frequently eat (chicken breasts and potatoes) but in ways they don’t usually eat them.

I wasn’t sure how the meal would be received, actually. Alan lobbied for beef or veal, which caused Maxine to wrinkle her nose. She wanted something that used some of the herbs she grew this year and preferred chicken or fish, which caused Alan to scowl, as he wanted a change from those mainstays of their home cooking. That’s when I thought of Chicken Piccata, which bears a taste resemblance to Veal Piccata, even if the texture’s a bit different. Thus Alan could have pretend veal, and Maxine could have chicken. In the process, they’d both get more butter than they typically use. The potatoes use lots of rosemary, so Maxine got her way there, too, but we went with the cream pie rather than a fruit pie to appease Alan.

Alas, I didn’t take pictures, but here are the recipes for the two featured dishes. I adapted them from recipes from two of Kansas City’s many noteworthy Italian cooks. These dishes are easy, and maybe a little outside your normal routine. Try them!

Chicken piccata

  • 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • All-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons white pepper or to taste
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, or a mixture of 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup white wine, or water
  • Juce 4 lemons and slice remaining 2 lemons
  1. Pound chicken with saucer edge or meat mallet until about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into serving-size pieces.
  2. Dip each chicken piece in lemon juice then dredge lightly with flour and place on waxed paper. Sprinkle with white pepper. Reserve remaining lemon juice.
  3. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Saute chicken pieces until golden brown, 2-3 minutes on each side. Work in batches if necessary so that chicken is not crowded. Remove to baking dish or pan, trying to keep in a single layer. Bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, brown lemon slices in pan drippings; remove slices and set aside.
  5. Add remaining lemon juice and wine to pan drippings. Bring to a boil, and reduce by about half over medium heat while scraping brown bits from bottom of pan.
  6. Remove chicken from oven, pour sauce mixture over, and top with browned lemon slices. Serve immediately. Makes 6-8 servings.

Abruzzi-style potatoes

  • 3 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
  1. Halve potatoes or cut into thick slices. (If potatoes are very small, leave whole. The aim is to have potato pieces of approximately the same size, good for one or two bites.)
  2. Sprinkle pepper flakes, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and salt over potatoes. Toss to mix well.
  3. Roast 40-50 minutes, turning occasionally, at 400 degrees, until browned. Potatoes will be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Makes 6 servings.

Note: My friends didn’t have red pepper flakes, but a generous dose of ground black pepper worked very nicely.

Lemons photo courtesy Jane M. Sawyer, via morguefile.com.

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Teller’s getting the local food flavor

September 5th, 2008 · Eating out, local food

As much as I like to cook, I do like to go out to eat, too. A friend and I went to Teller’s the other night, the first time in a while, and I was pleased to see such items on the menu as Baumans’ chicken and pork from Amy’s Meats, both nearby farms.

Even though I didn’t have either of those dishes, I’m pretty sure I got local produce in my gazpacho and atop my margherita pizza, which included house-made mozzarella. It’s a tomatoey time of year, and toques off to Teller’s for taking advantage.

My gazpacho was fully flavored and lovely. My friend also commended her cold cucumber soup. Both were soups taking full advantage of ingredients at the top of the season.

Ditto my pizza:

My friend’s dish, an arugula salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries and walnuts (with optional salmon) was certainly less local but nonetheless fresh and commended:

And we finished with a tart with seasonal fruit. Ah.

Sometimes it’s nice when someone else cooks … especially when they do such a fine job.

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Roundup: Farms, fair, fertile land, phooey

September 3rd, 2008 · Food in the news, Roundup

News and notes while wondering whether global climate change is turning Kansas into a place with pleasant weather…

Get on the hay wagon. Make plans now to go on the 2008 Kaw Valley Farm Tour. It’s Oct. 4-5 at 15 farms in the vicinity of Lawrence.

Johnny’s at the fair. For no discernible reason, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Kansas State Fair, which I’ve never attended. This year’s starts Friday (Sept. 5) and runs through Sunday, Sept. 14. K-State has some information about the fair and 4-H and High Plains Journal talks up Agriland, which sounds like it focuses on agriculture the way commodity groups want you to see it.

Food and land. At look at figures compiled by K-State ag economists (see the sidebar at the bottom of the page) makes it clear why rising food demand is good for agribiz. (K-State News)

Food FYI. Food has always been a part of living for people, and now it’s part of Kansas City Star’s Living FYI section. Food editor Jill Silva does a great job there, and it’s discouraging to see the Star skimping on one of its best sections. I don’t know if it’s one of the best-read or not, but I do know that its readers it read the secion closely and loyally. (KC Star)

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Bread-and-butter pickles worth their salt

September 1st, 2008 · Food preparation

When we last visited our bread-and-butter pickles, they were freshly canned and waiting for the flavor to develop. Today, we opened the unprocessed leftovers for a taste test. Before the uncapping:

(As you can see, I ran out of rings, but rubber bands held the lid on.)

Ready to eat:

And the verdict? Yum! They had a nice, crisp texture and sweet, but not too sweet, flavor. My friends liked them, too. And, yes, they would have said so if they were icky. Of course, they didn’t know that saying they liked them meant they’ll be getting a pint of them for Christmas…

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Serendipity yields delicious tomato concoction

August 29th, 2008 · Food preparation, local food, recipes

I had 1 pound of gorgeous little plum tomatoes and no good plan for their use. So I decided to do a mini-version of Joanne’s tomato sauce (go to the comments on the post for the directions). She had 25 pounds of tomatoes to my 1 pound, but I figured the basic approach would work, and I could freeze my little bit of sauce for later.

So I washed my ‘maters. (Aren’t they pretty?)

I halved them, squeezed out most of the seeds, put them in the bottom of a shallow pan, tossed them with olive oil and stuck them in the oven. I decided I could speed things along by using the “convection bake” setting on my oven (which provides both a bottom heating element and a fan) and lowered the temp to 325. I thought an hour would be plenty of time, compared with Joanne’s two hours.

Then, I went about my business … and forgot all about the tomatoes. (Timer? What timer?) When I returned an hour and a half or so later, I had something akin to but not quite dried tomatoes. Oops.

What to do? I consulted a recipe I have for Dried Tomato Pesto. I consulted my refrigerator contents. I came up with a tasty and zingy cousin of that recipe. Here’s what I came up with. It could probably use more herbs, if you have and like them, but it’s excellent as it is, if I do say so.

Serendipity tomato pesto

  • 1 pound plum tomatoes
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil, approximately, divided
  • 1 shallot, peeled and quartered
  • 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
  • 2 roasted, peeled Anaheim peppers
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano
  1. Trim stem scar and halve tomatoes lengthwise. Squeeze out seeds if desired. Place in single layer in roasting pan and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil to coat lightly. Bake 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees (or convection-bake at 325 degrees), until tomatoes are soft and partially dried. (I allowed the tomatoes to cool while I figured out what to do, but cooling may not be necessary.)
  2. Scrape tomatoes into bowl of food processor with shallots, olives, oregano and peppers. Pulse several times until ingredients are minced but not pureed. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and pulse a couple more times. Add more olive oil if necessary to achieve the consistency you desire.
  3. Transfer mixture to bowl and let flavors develop overnight. Stir in Parmesan, and toss with hot cooked pasta. Makes about 1 1/4 cups pesto.

Note: I also tried it, minus the Parmesan, as a sandwich spread. It was good, but I preferred it with the Parmesan and pasta.

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Pasta with pesto may be cliché, but it isn’t tired

August 27th, 2008 · Food preparation, recipes

My first taste of basil pesto, at least 15 years ago, was a revelation. Here was a truly vibrant flavor—pungent and invigorating with its blend of basil and garlic, complex with its olive oil, nuts and cheese. I immediately sought out a recipe to make it, and make it I did. The first summer or two I made up enough to get me through the winter.

Pasta with pesto + tomatoes is summer on a plate

Nowadays, you can buy readymade pesto in supermarkets (although I don’t), and I’ve come to conclude that my frozen pesto loses some of its potency, although I’m not sure whether it’s from time or repetition. In any case, I don’t make so much of it now as I used to, but, rest assured, I still make it and still freeze some for a shot of summer sometime during the winter months.

I don’t fuss over pesto-making. My years-ago recipe search revealed dozens of pesto variations, some with pine nuts, others with walnuts; some with other herbs thrown in, some with cream; some with more garlic, others with less. My conclusion is that you can make it just about any way you like it, and it will probably be good.

On the off chance you don’t have a recipe, you can use the following one.

Basil pesto

  • 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and halved
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 4 cups loosely packed basil leaves, washed and dried
  • 3/4 cup excellent olive oil, approximately
  • 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
  1. Place garlic, pine nuts and salt in bowl of food processor with metal blade. Pulse several times to mince garlic and nuts. Add basil and pulse several times to mince. Scrape down sides of bowl.
  2. With motor running, slowly add olive oil and puree. Mixture will absorb most of the oil.
  3. Add Parmesan. Pulse to blend. Mixture should have consistency of a thick paste. Makes about 2 cups, enough for 1 pound pasta.

How to use pesto

You can use your pesto as a condiment, to add flavor to a soup, as a spread on bruschetta. My favorite, though, remains as a pasta sauce (although “pasta coating” might be a more apt description). Pasta with pesto served with fresh vine-ripened tomatoes just may be one of summer’s most perfect meals.

To use with pasta, add two or three tablespoons of pasta-cooking water to the pesto to warm and thin it. Add the mixture to hot pasta (cooked just until tender), and toss. Serve immediately.

Variations in technique and ingredients

Don’t have a food processor? You can do it by hand, and Heidi at 101 Cookbooks recommends it that way, using a knife or a mezzaluna. Corby Kummer does it with mortar and pestle.

If you like the idea but don’t like this particular version of pesto, just do a Google search on “pesto,” and you’ll find more recipes than you’ll know what to do with. Or, just add more or less of each of the ingredients above until you arrive at a version you adore.

Storage

You can keep your pesto in the refrigerator for up to a week. Be sure to cover it with a film of olive oil or apply plastic wrap directly to the surface to prevent the pesto from turning very dark. Don’t keep it in the fridge longer, though, as basil stored in an air-free environment like that has the potential, though small, of developing the botulin toxin.

For leftovers, I recommend storing it in a plastic zipper-lock bag in the freezer, but you can also freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a bag.

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