Naan

We were making Chicken Tikka Masala (from Cook's magazine - awesome recipe!) and needed something to go with it. So instead of rice, we went for naan.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2c warm water
• 2.5-3c flour (until the dough is about right so it doesn't stick to absolutely everything - we did about 2.5c then used an extra 1/2c for kneading
• 1tsp salt
• garlic powder (we used like 1/2-1tsp), or any other flavorings you might want
• 1/4c vegetable oil
• 1/3c greek yogurt (we used nonfat and it worked perfectly)
• 1 egg

Combine water, sugar, and yeast. Set aside. Combine all the other ingredients except the flour, then add the water/yeast/sugar mixture. Mix well, then add about 2.5c flour and fold together with a wooden spoon or your hands or whatever. Turn out onto a counter and knead for 3 minutes, adding as much flour as necessary to make this possible. Grease the bowl you were using originally and toss the dough back in there. Let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Now, without punching the whole thing down, grab a chunk of dough (as large as you want to make the naan - about 3" diameter will make about a 6" naan) and press / roll it out to about 1/4" thick. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray (you REALLY don't want too much oil here!) and heat until just smoking, then add the naan. You can kind of start the pan heating while you roll out the naan. Anyway, once the naan is on the pan, turn it to low and cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip it and do the same. You can flip it early if you think the naan is getting browned a little early - it will depend on how hot your stove is. If you flip it TOO early, you can always re-brown that side (we did this several times). Repeat with the remaining dough. sprinkle with salt as they come off the pan.

Thoughts: The texture of these was really great. I think they could have used a bit more salt, personally, and I think Claire agrees with me on that. In the future, it would be cool to add chopped chives or something. But otherwise, these turned out great. I would do this again.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Banana Muffins With Stuff

Lots of stuff.
Ingredients

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1/2c oil
• 1c white flour
• 1tsp salt
• 3/4tsp baking soda
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 2/3c brown sugar
• 1/2tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ~1/2c chocolate chips
• ~1/2c raisins
• ~1/4c sunflower seeds
• ~1/3c chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375. Then basically mix everything except the various "add-ins". Then add in the chocolate chips, raisins, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. We actually soaked the raisins in some boiling water for ~5 minutes then drained them before adding them. You can add just about anything to these - we just added what stuff we had on hand.

Distribute to 12 muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes.

Thoughts: These were awesome. I wouldn't change anything.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Glazed Salmon

I should probably blog something.

Ingredients

• Salmon accouterments:
• Salmon fillets (we used about 6oz per person, 12oz total)
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• scant 1/4 tsp cornstarch
• pepper
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• Glaze:
• 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1.5 tbsp pomegranate juice
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 300. First prepare the glaze. Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe container and microwave about 30 seconds, then stir and microwave another 10. Just get it boiling, basically, so the cornstarch will thicken a little. You can do this on the stove, but why bother?

Pat the salmon fillets dry, and sprinkle with black pepper. Coat with the brown sugar, salt, and cornstarch mixture. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a pan until just smoking. Cook 1 minute on the flesh side, then 1 minute on the skin side. Then take it off the heat and cover with the glaze. Be careful - if it's hot (it should be), the glaze might pop a little. Throw the whole thing in the oven. Did I mention the pan should be oven safe? Because yes, it should be. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until a thermometer in the deepest part of the fillet reads 125ish. Remove and serve.

Thoughts: Really good. I would experiment with different glazes, though, too - possibly some kind of miso or asian barbecue? Anyway, the salmon was cooked perfectly. I might go a LITTLE less long on the flesh side and a LITTLE longer on the skin side so that the skin is crispy, but we can think about that.

Disaster Index: a solid 1/10

Ratatouille

Why did it take us so long into our cooking careers to make this? Well, because Claire doesn't really like vegetables. Or ratatouille. So we got a bunch of eggplants in our farm share and I was sick of making baba ganoush, so I made something more substantial. To be fair, though, eggplants are kind of a waste of a vegetable. The big Western eggplants aren't nearly as flavorful as Asian varieties, and I gather that they're nutritionally nil. Maybe the skins are healthy. They're purple. That's something, right? This recipe makes enough for about 8-10 servings. But we had to use the eggplants.

Ingredients

• One yellow onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/2" dice, skins on
• About 2-3 zucchinis (depending on size), 1/3" half-moons
• about 1.5 lbs of cherry tomatoes or similar, cut in half
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• olive oil, salt, pepper
• goat cheese and couscous, to serve

To a pan, add the yellow onion and a lot of oil. Saute over medium heat while you cut up the eggplants, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic. Add the eggplants, basil, adn thyme after 5-10 minutes and stir around (while you do the zucchinis). You may want to sprinkle a little salt to help encourage the eggplants to give up their water a bit. After 3-5 min, add the zucchinis. Cook another 10 minutes or so, adding oil if necessary. When the zucchinis are starting to get cooked, add the tomatoes. At this point, my ratatouille was getting a little dry, so I added about 1/2c of stock, turned heat to low, and covered. I left that for about 10-20 minutes, checking on it occasionally. When everything looked like it was starting to meld, I uncovered and turned the heat up to evaporate a little of the stock. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over couscous with a dollop of goat cheese.

Thoughts: This was really easy, relatively healthy, filling, and vegetarian? What the hell? I would make this again. Maybe Claire not so much. Maybe next time I'd try Japanese eggplants. That would also allow me to make a much smaller (single) serving if I used one Japanese eggplant, one zucchini, etc. Anyway, if you let this stuff cook down long enough, it's great. Actually, it might be possible to make this in a slow-cooker. Or maybe it would turn to mush. I'm not really sure. Hm. Something to ponder.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Rustic Pear Tart

Maybe more of a general use recipe. Hm.

Ingredients

• Crust
• 1/2c wheat flour
• 1/2c AP flour
• 4 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp buttermilk
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• Filling
• About 3 pears, cored and cut into 1/2" slices
• Also two nectarines, or I guess whatever you'd like to add
• 1.5 tbsp corn starch
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ~1/4 tsp cinnamon - we kind of eye-balled it.

Make the crust: Mix the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter. When it's a sort of coarse, sandy texture, add the liquid and stir to combine. Don't over-mix or knead. Then form into a 4" disc and wrap in plastic. Place in the fridge for an hour or two. I think we let ours go for about 3-4, actually - doesn't hurt it to go a bit longer.

When you're ready to make the tart, preheat the oven to 425 and make the filling: slice up the pears (and other fruit you want to use) and toss with the corn starch, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll out the crust with a lot of flour until it's about 18" wide and 8" tall. Place crust in a baking pan on parchment. Arrange the pears in a line running the length of the crust, and fold the crust up over the pears. It won't cover them completely, which is fine. Dot the top with a little butter (optional) and place in the oven. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 and continue to bake for another 30 minutes.

Thoughts: It went surprisingly well, even though it includes pastry dough. I guess you just have to not be afraid of butter. I would make this again. And I may wind up doing that because we have like 10 pears going bad in our fridge right now.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1.5 cans of coconut milk (about 1.5 to 2c)
• 1/4 c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Pour a small amount of coconut milk (about 1/2c) into a pot. Add the chocolate chips, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix another 1/4c of coconut milk with the cornstarch. Set the pot with the chocolate on the stove on medium heat until the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is starting to boil a little. Remove it from the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture, then return to the heat and bring to a boil. After about 10-30 seconds of boiling, remove the whole thing from the heat and add the vanilla extract and all the remaining coconut milk.

Let the mixture cool in the freezer for about 20 minutes, then churn in an ice cream maker once you think it's cool enough.

Thoughts: 20 minutes in the freezer is not enough to cool the mixture down initially, so when we churned this, it didn't freeze. So I removed everything from the ice cream maker, put it in the refrigerator again, reset the process, and waiting 8 hours to re-churn it. Second time's a charm. The flavor is really nice and chocolatey, but the coconut flavor started to come through the second day. I would count this among the most successful ice creams we've ever made. I wonder if coconut milk wouldn't be a good base for other flavors.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb carrots, scrubbed (about 4-5 large)
• 1 medium-large onion, chopped
• 2 medium-large apples (we used pink lady), washed, chopped, unpeeled
• olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 black pepper
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 tbsp garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• crema mexicana, for garnish (you can also use creme fraiche)

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, combine the carrots, onion, apples, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them in an even layer on the baking sheet. 

Roast for 30 minutes, turning once halfway. 

Heat 1 tbsp of the butter in a soup pot and put all the spices in it (garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper). Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

Add the roasted vegetables and the stock. Stir to combine, then turn the heat off. 

Use an immersion blender on everything until it's smooth. Return to heat and cook until it simmers.

While this is happening, make the paprika brown butter, viz. heat butter over medium/low heat until it starts to simmer and smell interesting. THIS DOES NOT TAKE LONG. DON'T BURN THE BUTTER unless you want to make a beurre noir. But don't. 

Remove from heat and add paprika. Stir while it's still hot. 

Serve soup garnished with the brown butter sauce and crema mexicana. We also served it with goat cheese crostini, which was boss.

Thoughts: Well, this was a fine soup. Flavor was pretty legit, but it was a little thick. I might try to thin the soup out a little if I were to make this in the future. Not sure I will though, because it's not a 1, and why re-make anything that isn't a 1? Dan really liked it -- he thinks it's better than the other carrot soups we've done. I guess I believe him. He also says he wouldn't thin it out, so.....? 

Disaster Index: 1/10 (Dan), 2/10 (Claire)

Peach Salsa

Ingredients

• 3 ripe peaches (1 lb)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, diced, seeded
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 tbsp mint, chopped
• 1 tbsp basil, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper

Peel the peaches by cutting an x into the bottom of them and dropping them in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove them and put them in an ice bath. Peel them when they're cool enough. If they're ripe, the skins should come off super easily. Dice them.

Combine the peaches with everything else. If you'd like, you can pulse them in a food processor for a sec or two. Chill for an hour to let the flavors come together. Eat it.

Thoughts: Super easy, super delicious. What else is there? OM NA NOM NOM NOM.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh tomatillos
• 1 large onion, cut into chunks
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 hot pepper, any kind you'd like
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• salt, to taste

Peel the tomatillos and scrub them until they're less sticky. They probably won't be COMPLETELY unsticky, but just do your best. Cut them into quarters and put them in a food processor. Put everything else in the food processor and pulse it until it's the consistency you want. I don't like my salsas super smooth, but whatever. Do anything you feel like doing. 

Put it all in a small saucepan and cook until the salsa is less watery. This might take a while. 

Chill it, then eat it.

Thoughts: Pretty legit, though we had to cook the salsa FOREVER for it to get less watery. Maybe next time I would chop the onion and then drain that sucker. Onions are watery, yo. But the flavor was pretty good. I wonder whether we would even cook it in the future. But maybe you have to cook tomatillos? Maybe we would blanch the tomatillos and leave everything else raw? Anyway, we used this as a substitute for enchilada sauce, and it was serviceable. 

Disaster Index: 3/10

Chicken in a Dutch Oven

I don't know if this is really necessary as a recipe, but I kind of wanted to remember the specifications for how we did this, because the chicken really came out perfectly.

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken - ours was about 2.5lbs, but you can go up to 5-6 lbs so long as it fits in your (covered) Dutch oven
• 1/2 lemon, sliced thin
• Something onion-y - we used 2-3 shallots, cut in half (root to tip), though you could use onions.
• Celery - we used about 2 stalks worth, cut down so they fit inside a bird.
• Garlic - about 2 cloves, chopped
• 1:1:1 mixture (ish) of sage, rosemary, and thyme, with a bit of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 250. Yeah, just 250. Wash the bird thoroughly in lukewarm water, including the inside. Then pat dry with a towel, making sure the outside is quite dry. Insert the onion, celery, and garlic into the bird, then fit the lemon slices in under the skin and in the cavity. We then trussed the bird, but that's not really necessary. Coat with some olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the seasoning mixture to coat the bird.

Place the chicken breast-side up in a lightly oiled dutch oven and cover. Place in the oven for about 80-120 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the breast is just shy of 160 and the thigh is just shy of 175. Then turn on the broiler onto high and uncover the dutch oven. Let the bird cook just a little while longer (flipping it over after a couple minutes) to brown under the broiler. Remove from oven and cover with the dutch oven lid. Allow to rest for 20-30 minutes.

Thoughts: This was really easy. Why don't we do this more often? We prepared this chicken for use in chicken matzo ball soup (we used the carcass and vegetables again afterward to make the stock). It was really delicious. Would make again. Some recipes recommend searing the chicken FIRST and then just baking it, but I thought, well, it's in the oven already. Why not use that? It worked pretty well, but toward the VERY end the oil started to pop inside the oven. Not great. Maybe searing would be better if we want to eat the skin. OTOH, I could still sear individual pieces AFTER carving it. I think that may be my preferred approach, since it's so much more manageable.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Salmon with Fennel and Pernod

This is what magic tastes like. CLASSY MAGIC. From Bon Appetit.

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp crushed fennel seeds
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 2 tbsp minced red onion/shallot
• 1 large fennel bulb with fronds -- bulb sliced into 1/4 inch pieces, fronds chopped
• 2 salmon fillets
• 2 tbsp Pernod

Make compound butter: In a large non-stick skillet, cook fennel seeds over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1.5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool. Mix in  butter, shallots/onion, 1 tbsp fennel fronds, and whatever salt and pepper you want. 

Melt 1 tbsp of this mixture into the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook until fennel is tender, about 8 minutes. Uncover and let cook until fennel is brown, another 2 minutes. Remove fennel from skillet and set aside.

Season salmon. Add the rest of the compound butter to the skillet and let it melt. Add salmon, skin side down. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn salmon over, add 1/4 water to skillet. Cover and continue cooking another 5 minutes. 

Slide salmon over to one side of the skillet and add the cooked fennel back in. Add Pernod, some more butter, and the rest of the fennel fronds. Heat through.

Serve with the rest of the butter on top of the fillet.  

Thoughts:

UGH DELICIOUS. This was our first foray into cooking salmon and it was the best-cooked salmon I've ever had. I give all credit to BA. I would eat this all the time if it weren't so complicated. Dan says it was amazing and he's right. Not much to say here. Go make this. Dan edit: we actually used the salmon cooking instructions from Serious Eats. It yields a really crisp salmon skin that is super delicious. I don't think we actually cooked it 5 minutes and flipped with water. I think we cooked it just like the Serious Eats post.

Disaster Index: 1/10 but actually like -2/10. Can we do that? We just did.

Bandh Gobhi Ki Sabzi (Buttered Smothered Cabbage)

After we made corned beef and cabbage, we had half a head of Savoy left over and couldn't figure out what to do with it until I was awesome and found this recipe.

Ingredients

• half a large head of savoy cabbage (or whatever cabbage you have)
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp butter, oil, or ghee (we used plain butter)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric 
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp hot curry powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/2 chicken stock, hot
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 handful of cilantro, chopped

Core the cabbage and shred it. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until melted. Add the cumin and stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add cabbage and turmeric and stir to coat. The cabbage doesn't have much internal water, so you might have to add a splash of water to keep everything from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cover and steam until cabbage is wilted (about five minutes).

Add ginger, curry powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and tomato. Stir to coat/combine. When things start to stick, add the chicken stock. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for another 10 minutes.

When cabbage is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. Add chopped cilantro. Eat.


Thoughts: Pretty damn good. I was worried this recipe would be totally lame and I'd be like "why am I eating a bowlful of lame cabbage?" But it was awesome instead. You could serve this with rice, but why? Just eat it.


Disaster Index: 1/10

Kedgeree

A Victorian era Anglo-Indian colonial breakfast dish (possibly invented in a Scottish regiment?). History is interesting.

Ingredients

• 8-12oz haddock, cod, or similar fillet
• 2 eggs
• 2 bay leaves
• 1c basmati rice
• 2tbsp butter
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp ground mustard
• 2 tbsp madras curry powder
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2c cilantro, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• salt
• plain yogurt

Place the fish in a pan and add a little water - not enough to cover, I think. Add the bay leaves, bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes. Remove the fish and set to cool, at which time you can flake it apart. I think smoked fish might be a good alternative here (and more flavorful) so if you can get smoked cod, I'd say go for it.

Set up the rice cooking. If you use a rice cooker, do that. I use 1c rice and 1.25c water. If you use a pot, use those ratios, bring to a boil, simmer covered on low for 10 minutes, then set aside covered for 10 minutes. Done.

Meanwhile, set a small saucepan of water to boil. When it's boiling, add the eggs. Boil for 10 minutes, then remove and run under icy cold water to stop the cooking.

OK. Now, in a large-ish saute or similar, add the butter and onions. Cook until softened, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook another minute or two, then add the mustard and curry. Cook another couple minutes, then add the tomato and lemon juice.

When that's done, remove from heat. Add the rice to the onion / tomato mixture, along with the cilantro and the flaked fish, and toss to coat. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut into quarters. Top the dish with the hard-boiled eggs, then serve with a little yogurt.

Thoughts: This dish was a little too lemon-y for our taste, and it needed a bit more salt. The fish lost some flavor to the weird boiling process (leave it to the Brits, amirite?) but if we had smoked fish, that might have worked well. I think next time we go with one lemon, smoked fish, and more salt. That would make this a pretty damn good dish.

Disaster Index: 3/10

Moroccan Lamb Stew with Israeli Couscous

There's getting to be a bit of a back-log of recipes in my browser's tabs. I don't want to close them because I need to blog how we made something, but I put it off until I forget what I did.

In this case, I decided the recipe was too good to let it meet that fate. Also, it was kind of made up as recipes go, so it went really well. This recipe makes about enough for two hungry people with limited amounts of self-control.

Ingredients

• 1 lb lamb stew meat (probably lamb shoulder? Cut to 1.5" cubes) - beef or similar would work as well.
• 3 smallish carrots with their greens (or you can use some parsley instead if you don't have the carrot greens? Or just leave that out); Carrots peeled and sliced, greens chopped and set aside.
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1.5 tsp ras-el-hanout (look it up - it's a moroccan spice blend. We made our own a long time ago so I can't say exactly what we put in it, but it's stuff like cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and clove - sort of sweet-and-savory)
• 1 c beef broth
• 1/4 c dry white wine (we actually used vermouth)
• 1 c Israeli couscous
• about 1/4 c dried apricots, quartered
• about 1/4 c raisins
• olive oil, salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large sautee pan or dutch oven, heat oil until quite hot and then add the lamb and sear it a bit. After about 5 minutes of this (when you get sick of it?) add the onion and carrots. Cook for another 5 minutes. At this point, stuff will probably be sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme, garlic, beef stock, vermouth, a couple extra tbsp of olive oil, and the ras-el-hanout. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Reduce to a simmer and cover, then put in the oven for 90 minutes.

When that's done, remove the pot from the oven. Using a slotted spoon, remove the lamb, carrots, and as many onions as you care about and set aside. You should have quite a bit of beef/lamb broth left over in the pan. Add the couscous, apricots, raisins, and carrot greens and probably a little water. Proceed to cook the couscous kind of like you would risotto - add water when it's looking dry until it's pretty close to cooked through. When it's very close, re-add the lamb/carrot mixture and mix. Cover and leave on the warm burner for about 10 minutes to let the couscous finish cooking through. Salt to taste.

Thoughts: For serious, my only regret is that we had just one pound of lamb so there are no leftovers.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Mole Negro

This was also invented by me based on some recipes online. This was my most successful mole negro to date, so I will blog it. As I see it, the ratios of this recipe depend a lot on what you're looking for in a mole. The important thing to take away is the method.

Ingredients

• 3-6 dried Mexican chiles of various sorts. We went with some smokier varieties.
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp raisins (ish)
• Pinch of clove
• 2 pinches of allspice
• 1/4tsp cinnamon
• 1tsp adobo
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1/4c (or so) bittersweet chocolate
• 2 tbsp almond butter (or I guess peanut butter if you can't it? I don't know - might consider just using almonds)
• water

To a sauce pan, add the onion and saute with some neutral oil. When it gets translucent, add the chiles, garlic, clove, allspice, cinnamon, and adobo and toast for a while. Then add about 1c water (enough to cover) along with the raisins and bring to a boil for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and blend in a blender until pretty damn smooth - about a minute on high. Pour this back into the pan and add the chocolate, stirring until it's melted. Then add the almond butter and do the same. Taste it and adjust seasonings as necessary. Now return it to heat and bring it to a boil. The almond butter should cause it to thicken considerably. Thin to desired consistency and salt to taste.

Thoughts: This was our first really successful mole, and I think that the differences were boiling the mixture and blending it in an actual blender, not using a stick blender. Those things are fine, but they won't get the texture REALLY smooth like a stand blender will. I feel like when I made this, I may have added more than 1/4c chocolate. You can also add cocoa powder or more chips if you don't get enough chocolate flavor, but the chocolate shouldn't overpower everything. We served this on fish tacos. Then on shrimp tacos. Then on enchiladas. I don't think we've used it all yet, but it's good.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Gratin Aux Fruits De Mer Et Rutabagas

This was an invention, based partly on Julia's recipe from Mastering the Art and based partly on a Rutabaga Gratin recipe we found elsewhere on the internet.

Julia's recipe sounds odd to the modern American ear because she basically mixes canned salmon with bechamel and bakes it. I guess you'd have to have been there.

As Julia describes it, a gratin is more or less a quiche without the crust, but none of her gratin recipes call for egg, so I suspect that this is more her way of thinking about it than an actual rule. Typically, a gratin is a layered dish of bechamel, filling, and cheese, which is then baked. OKAY FINE SO IT'S A CASSEROLE. WHAT. WE'RE FROM THE MIDWEST.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs of rutabagas, peeled and sliced thin (we used a mandolin attachment to our Cuisinart)
• .25 lbs frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture
• 8oz salmon (we used fresh, with directions to follow, but smoked would be better!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• other vegetables you want to add, chopped - we added the chopped stalks of puntarella we obtained - the leaves of a variety of chicory - which added a subtle bitter flavor that worked well here.
• ~1c whole milk
• 3tbsp butter
• 3tbsp flour
• 1.5c gruyere cheese or similar
• thyme, oregano, other herbs you want, salt to taste

To start out with, the fish. If you're using fresh, place the fish in an oven-safe container of some sort that can be covered - we used a stainless steel pan that has a (partly) oven safe lid, but you can use foil if you don't have this. Sprinkle thyme, oregano, pepper, and any other herbs you want on the fish and pat down to make an herb crust. Place in a 250 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until it's cooked through enough that you can flake the salmon into pieces.

When that's ready, preheat the oven to 350.

Make the bechamel by cooking the onions (and other vegetables, if using) in butter. Add any herbs you want. When they're softened, add flour and stir to cook for a minute. Then add the milk and bring to a boil. It should thicken considerably. You want a "medium consistency" so you may have to thin the bechamel at this point.

At the same time as you're doing that, set some water to boil. When it boils, add the rutabagas and let boil for 4ish minutes (3-5, depending on how thinly you sliced them). Drain.

In a 9x9 baking dish, add some of the bechamel/vegetable mixture and spread over the bottom. Add a layer of half the rutabagas, then a layer of half the salmon, more bechamel, half the cheese, ALL the spinach, the other half of the rutabagas, the other half of the salmon, the remainder of the sauce, and the remainder of the cheese (in that order, bottom to top). Pack down lightly as you go to make sure everything is settled.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40 minutes, until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top. We went 40 minutes then broiled the sucker to get browning, but it worked. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before you try to eat it.

Thoughts: This turned out well, particularly considering it was at least partly invented by us. I would say that a bit more salt would have been nice - the rutabagas really absorbed the salt we added. Also, smoked salmon would have worked slightly better, although this was good. This was sort of an unusual dish for us. I will say that it was better the second day, when everything had a bit more time to adequately congeal. Also, this allowed us to use a ton of the items from our farm share, so that's always a plus.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our best chocolate chip cookie recipe to date, I believe? I think that when we make Wookie Cookies next, it may behoove us to take some lessons from this recipe. Based on Alton Brown's recipe.

Ingredients

• 4oz unsalted butter
• 6oz unbleached AP flour
• .5 tsp salt (to taste - we used .75ish)
• .5 tsp baking soda
• 4oz dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• .75 tsp vanilla extract
• 6oz (1c) chocolate chips (we used bittersweet).

Melt the butter. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda in a bowl. In an electric mixer (with paddle attachment), add the butter and sugar and beat for about 2 minutes. Then add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until you're satisfied, I guess. Add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Then toss in the chips and beat until they're well-mixed-in.

Toss the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375. When they come out, scoop on to parchment-lined cookie sheets (probably just one sheet if you make a single batch). Scoop into 1.5" balls or so and space them out as evenly as you can. Bake for 15 minutes, depending on your elevation. Take them out when they're JUST turning a pale golden. You don't want them to get crisp, after all.

Thoughts: We've made several versions of chocolate chip cookies before, but these came out very well. They were chewy and cakey and soft. AB uses bread flour, and we didn't have any when we made these, so maybe that's why they came out more cake-y. Next time we will try with bread flour, I think.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Frisée and Wild Mushroom Salad with Poached Eggs

Pretty self explanatory.

Ingredients

• 10-12oz creminis, sliced (or whatever mushrooms you can get your hands one)
• 2 small heads of frisée, torn into bite-sized bits
• Enough eggs for however many servings
• olive oil
• juice of half a lemon
• salt

Straightforward recipe: Saute the creminis in some olive oil. When they're cooked down, toss them with the frisee. Squeeze lemon juice over the whole thing. Poach eggs and top the salad with the poached eggs. Done.

Thoughts: Simple and delicious. I don't know how often we find ourselves in possession of frisée, but that's a farm share for you. In the future, I might consider adding thinly shaved parmesan or similar. Actually, we did this a few times when we had it. So there you go. Could possibly have used a bit more "dressing" - if I were to do it again, I'd make a light vinaigrette but with lemon juice instead of vinegar, and possibly mayo instead of mustard as an emulsifier.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Leek Confit

Another bit of an experiment. This one went pretty well. I would try this again, possibly. We had it with crackers and cheese, then later we tossed it in with some pasta. It's versatile. Bears further exploration?

Ingredients

• all the green parts from 3 leeks
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 tbsp water or so
• salt to taste

Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Toss in the leeks, water, and about 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring often, for, like, ever. I think we did it for 30 minutes, but maybe would have benefited from longer. When you're done, uncover and evaporate the excess water. Serve.

Thoughts: It's an interesting idea. I had previously read about broccoli confit, which also sounds like something worth trying. You could also possibly do this in a slow-cooker. Anyway, it gives us something to do with the green parts of the leeks when we want to make vichyssoise the proper way.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Lamb Meatball Curry

It was an experiment, anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 egg
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• water
• about 1/4c (?) cream
• salt to taste

Mix the meat, garlic, pepper, garam masala, and egg into a meatball mixture, then form into 1.5" diameter meatballs. Pop them in a 375 degree oven on a cookie sheet covered in foil for about 20-30 minutes, or until they're about done. I think at the end we broiled 'em to get a little char.

Meanwhile, cook the onion in a pan with a little neutral oil. When that's done, toss in the remaining spices (cumin, ginger, turmeric) and cook for a little bit. Then add the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Cook until thickened.

When the meatballs are done, add them to the onion / tomato / spices mixture. Add just enough water so that nothing burns and cook for another 10-20 minutes. When you're getting to the end, let most of the water evaporate off and replace it with some heavy cream. Serve over rice.

Thoughts: The meatballs were really the highlight of this dish. I'm not sure the sauce did too much for it. So I think we're going to have to tweak this idea a little bit. I think in the future I would use crushed tomatoes, or else possibly blend the whole sauce before adding the meatballs. Also might use some madras curry powder? Not sure about that. There was something missing here.

Disaster Index: 4/10

Crumpets

We have a huge back-log of recipes to blog. We made these a couple months ago.

Ingredients

• 1c milk
• 1c warm water
• 2.25 tsp yeast
• 1tsp sugar
• 1.75c unbleached AP flour
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/4tsp baking soda
• a little hot water

In a bowl, mix the water, milk, yeast, and sugar. Then add the flour and salt. Stir into a batter and let sit for about an hour and a half to rise. Then mix the baking soda in just a little hot water and add to the batter and stir. Cover and let rise again for another 30 minutes.

When that's done, spoon the mixture onto a hot griddle (350 degrees or so) in well-greased English muffin rings (well, cookie cutters, tins that you've cut both sides off of, etc). Cook until the top starts to look quite dry, about 7 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for just a minute or two before removing.

Thoughts: Although these weren't bad to eat, the texture was a lot more cake-y than I had hoped, and there were totally not enough bubbles. I'm not sure how I would fix that. The flavor was good but not too exciting. Maybe next time needs more leavening and a more liquidy batter? I really have no idea.

Disaster Index: 4/10