Pickles of another sort

Pickles by definition are vegetables and fruits - or in the case of pig’s feet, meat - preserved in a brine. (Not recommending or suggesting those - just mentioning). According to Cook’s Illustrated (Sept/Oct 1994 p. 18-19), brine usually consists of a vinegar based solution containing salt, sugar and other flavorings. The vinegar provides the acidity (ranging from 4 to 7.9% depending on the type) necessary to preserve the food of choice by hampering bacteria growth. Cook’s illustrated has an entire page of pickle plans including the more traditional cucumbers, pearl onions, okra and even turnips and fennel. I, however, am fond of making Japanese pickles known as Tsukemono.

My go-to guide for these is Easy Japanese Pickling in Five Minutes to One Day: 101 Full-Color Recipes for Authentic Tsukemono. This line of cookbooks is the best in my opinion. I have the easy Tsukemono, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean and use them all regularly. The directions are user friendly and simply laid out and the pictures really help pinpoint the correct ingredients when shopping in a somewhat confusing Asian grocery.

The Tsukemono book is unique in that it divides the recipes by seasonal availability. Japan, I learned while living there, has very specific seasons when it comes to fruits and vegetables – more so than here in the United States. Yes, on the rare occasion, one can find out of season produce (for a hefty price). Generally, though, fruits and veggies are only available for perhaps a month or two out of the year. For example, momo (peaches) are found July/August, kaki (persimmons) and nashi (Asian pear) are fall fruits, and mikan (mandarin oranges) are available in the early winter.

Cucumbers, bell peppers, green beans, and okra are among the recommended summer fare and are fortunately (and not coincidentally) widely available right now, so I decided to make some Japanese misozuke cucumbers and Korean zucchini namul.

Misozuke Cucumbers

2 cucumbers sliced into ¼ rounds
3/4C Miso (7 ounces by weight)
2T mirin

-Mix miso and mirin well
-Layer on plastic wrap 1/3 miso mixture, paper towel, ½ cucumber slices, paper towel, 1/3 miso, paper towel, ½ cucumbers, paper towel, 1/3 miso
-Wrap tightly with more plastic wrap and let stand 2-6 hours

The recipe in the book actually calls for thin sliced sticks of celery - not cucumbers - but this style of cooking lends itself nicely to mix and match. It would probably be good with any firm veggie like carrots or zucchini. Speaking of zucchini, I made one of my favorite Korean vegetable “side-dishes” (namul) last night with two medium sized zucchini.

Zucchini Namul
2 medium or 4 small zucchini (about a pound)
1/2t garlic powder (can be made with fresh, but I prefer powder for this dish)
1t sugar
3T soy sauce
2T toasted sesame oil

-Slice each squash in half lengthwise, then into cut into 1/4-inch thick half-circles.
-Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add the squash, return to a boil and let cook for 1 minute. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again.
-Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
-Add the squash and toss to coat well.
-Let set for 30 minutes to an hour, tossing ocassionally, and serve at room temperature.

(Note – Keep sesame oil in the refrigerator to preserve flavor and prevent it from getting rancid)

Zillions of zucchini

When I was a kid growing up in Ohio, we had a huge garden; in fact, everyone in my family did – aunts and uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents. As is the norm, I did not appreciate what I had then and only looked at the hours of picking string beans, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, summer squash and green peppers in the steaming mid-west sun as grueling, tedious, torturous child labor. Quite to the contrary, helping work in my great-grandfather’s acre+ garden was a completely different story (big potatoes in the wheelbarrow, little ones in the bucket). That was a pleasure. Maybe because it was his, maybe because the whole family was there, maybe because after we were done we would all sit down to a huge meal celebrating the fruits of our labors. He was a master gardener before there was such a thing. He grew tomatoes as big as dinner plates (orange, yellow and red), celery, carrots, cantaloupe, and more but always had the time to steal the salt shaker from the kitchen and sneak out to the garden to eat sun-warmed tomatoes straight off the vine with me.

Regardless of the size of garden, the varieties of produce grown or the skill of the gardener, no one in my family planted zucchini. Ever. Zucchini grew very well in Ohio. Too well, in fact. So well that anyone who grew zucchini found their garden soon overtaken by monstrous, leg-sized dark green behemoths. If, however, some were smart enough to NOT grow them, they did not go without. Indeed, the few who dared to grow zucchini, had enough to feed the entire community. As the zucchini plague spread each summer, an ever expanding radius of neighbors and friends woke early in the morning to spontaneous zucchini growth right on the front porch – my family included.

I soon became the master of zucchini preparations. Raw was good, grilled or steamed was better but breaded was best! My recipe was pretty simple. Dip the sliced zucchini in egg, then flour and into a pan with a little butter until brown on both sides. A dash of salt and my summertime breakfast and lunch was now ready for consumption. Even though I ate it nearly every day in the summer, I never grew tired of my fried zucchini. I still love it today.

Recently, I was at a local produce stand and saw these cool little, perfectly round zucchini. They were called “eight-ball zucchini.” I decided to buy a couple and make fried zucchini for dinner. In an effort to be “healthy,” I tried a new method which turned out to be very delicious (although I still prefer my simple egg, flour and salt method.) So, next time you find yourself with zucchini overload or you happened to pick up a few fresh and local beauties at your neighborhood farmer’s market, give the following a try. I’m sure you’ll like it – my family did.

Oven-fried Zucchini
Zucchini slices (about 1/3” thick)
1 egg
1 cup homemade bread crumbs (I let a variety of old bread dry completely on the counter and grind it in my food processor after I have a bunch saved and seal in an airtight jar)
¼ cup parmesan cheese (in the green can)
1T Mrs. Dash® Italian Medley Seasoning Blend
2t garlic salt
2T olive oil

-Heat oven to 350. Place parchment paper on two baking sheets. Spread 1T olive oil on each sheet.
-Scramble egg and place in shallow dish. Mix bread crumbs, cheese, Mrs. Dash and garlic salt and place in second dish. (I use half at a time in case the egg makes the mixture gloppy.)
-Dip zucchini slices in egg then crumb mixture evenly coating both sides. Place on parchment.
-Bake for eight minutes. Flip each and bake for an additional eight minutes until golden brown.
-Serve immediately and enjoy!

Thank you to Burpee for the veggie pictures: http://www.burpee.com/

Peter Rabbit, Eat Your Heart Out

The calendar might not quite say it’s summertime, but the produce stands sure do! Strawberries are ending their run as are peas, asparagus and spring onions, but the summer bounty is starting to come in hard and fast. Earlier this week I headed out to my favorite honor system stand to see what it had to offer. Mr. and Mrs. McGregor (No, no, not their real names) had been very, very busy. Laid out for my shopping pleasure was a bonanza of veggies, so I indulged – perhaps even overindulged.

I bought a half-dozen or so beautiful little zucchinis and summer squash – not a ding or dent to be seen (yet another benefit of living on fresh and local produce) – a cabbage that would make Peter Rabbit himself swoon, a bunch of green onions, broccoli, a pound of kale, two cucumbers, and three tomatoes (I’m almost sure they are not local but they actually smelled and tasted like real, vine ripened tomatoes) and spent a whopping $11.45 (and I rounded up).

There was more to be had – little red potatoes, sweet onions, sugar snap peas, snap beans, even some pickled okra – but I was out of money.

As I dropped my bills and change into the green metal box bolted to the wall, I knew I’d be back...and soon. The corn was already knee-high and I saw more squash just waiting to be picked.

Tomorrow morning I plan to head to the Old Beach Farmer’s Market to pick up even more fresh and local produce. Check them out here: http://www.oldbeachfarmersmarket.com/

Oh, and check out the spring edition of Buy Fresh Buy Local buying guide for more ideas and sources for yummy summer produce: http://buylocalhamptonroads.org/

Meatless Minestrone

Friday was another meat-free day for the family, and I wasn’t feeling like another fish dish. While I was at the store, I spied a bin of very nice looking zucchini and started formulating a plan for dinner - I was going to make minestrone! I don’t know why I rarely think of making this traditional Italian dish - it's so easy and nutritious and everyone loves it. Minestrone is also very versatile - it can be meaty or meatless or use stock or be completely vegetarian.

Since the ingredients can be so varied depending on taste or by what is in season or available in the store or fridge, I started wondering about what makes minestrone minestrone. All the recipes I researched used beans and tomatoes along with a wide variety of vegetables. Still not satisfied, I pulled out my ever-useful Cook’s Illustrated yearbooks to see what they said.

On pages 6 and 7 of September 1998, I quickly found what I needed: Minestrone Deconstructed. According to CI, the word minestrone literally translates as “big soup,” and indeed is a hearty Italian soup suitable for a main dish especially when pasta or rice is added. It is composed of a balance of starchy veggies and “aromatic vegetables” which brings to mind the question – what exactly qualifies as an aromatic vegetable. I assume it is any pungent vegetable (onion, garlic, leek, celery, etc), but we all know what happened when we dare to assume…so I looked it up.
 

All information relating to “aromatic veggies” consistently pointed me towards a mirepoix of which I’ve written before (diced, sautéed combination of onions, carrots, and celery used predominantly in French cuisine.) I further learned the mirepoix’s Italian counterpart is known as a soffritto (means "sub-fried" or "under-fried" when literally translated - in other words, sautéed). And, unlike the mirepoix which is always onions, carrots and celery (usually of a 2:1:1 ratio), a soffritto varies by region. Northern Italy typically uses an onion, celery, carrot combo while the southern regions use onions and garlic. Also unlike a mirepoix, which is typically sautéed in butter (those French really seem to love their butter), a soffrito uses olive oil, of course.

The Cook’s Illustrated recipes uses leeks, carrots, onions, and celery as the aromatics and potato, zucchini, and spinach as the starches along with tomatoes, cannellini beans, basil pesto and Parmesan rind (for flavor and creaminess).

CI also lists these recommended alternatives: kale, Swiss chard, savoy cabbage or escarole in place of the spinach, fava beans or peas in place of the white beans, and green beans, tasty turnips, cauliflower, or winter squash (such as butternut) in place of zucchini or potato.

Here is how I made my minestrone:

~3 medium carrots diced, 1 small onion (diced fine), 5 cloves garlic (smashed) sautéed in 2T extra virgin olive oil
~Add in order: One 28oz can diced tomatoes and one tomato can of water, 29oz can light red kidney beans and 29oz can garbanzo beans (undrained), small bunch kale (chopped) and medium zucchini (diced), small piece of parmesan rind and salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
~Simmer until veggies are tender.
~Add 4oz dry macaroni and more water as necessary to prevent soup from becoming too thick. Stir every few minutes until pasta is done.
~Serve topped with fresh grated parmesan and enjoy!

The Musical Fruit

Beans, beans the musical fruit

The more you eat, the more you toot

The more you toot the better you feel

So let's eat beans with every meal

No, Benjamin Franklin did not coin that sweet ditty, but he really did say, "Fart proudly," so I felt compelled to include it.

Beans, also known as legumes (because they are of the family Leguminosae or alternately Fabaceae) are, in a word, the bomb.  They are probably the most versatile, nutritious, delicious, cheap, easy to prepare and rather (in my opinion) underestimated and underappreciated (and most joked about) little powerhouse of a food - dried beans, that is.  ("Green beans" are immature beans eaten, usually whole, while the pod is still tender and before the little beans inside have been given a chance to ripen and dry.)

According to the U.S. Dry Bean Council (never knew there was such a thing), the thirteen most popular dried bean varieties grown in the US (mainly in the midwest) are Baby Lima, Large Lima, Black, Blackeye (yes, the black-eye pea is really a bean), Cranberry, Dark Red Kidney, Light Red Kidney, Garbanzo (aka chickpea), Great Northern, Navy, Pink, Pinto and Small Red.  Of course, there are a bazillion other types of beans (including fava beans which I heard are fabulous with a nice Chianti), but these are the most commonly consumed.

So, where was I going with this?  Oh yeah...Beans - nutritious and delicious - aside from having lots of fiber (thus giving them their symphonic side-effect), are packed with a perfect blend of protein (16 grams per cup) and complex carbohydrates along with a fair dose of calcium, potassium, folate and even a dash of iron.

I've already touched on bean soup, so I'd like to share another of my new favorite bean recipes compliments of another of my favorite no-nonsense cooks, Mark Bittman.  This one actually came from my Runner's World magazine (yes, I run - just very slowly) but also is in his cookbook Kitchen Express (of which I have a copy - it's great).  I was hesitant at first to use smoked sausage in a stew but figured it was good enough for my gumbo and finally made the recipe as is.  It was hearty and delicious and loved by all! 

 

Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound Italian sausage, bone-in pork chops, duck breasts, or chicken legs, or 1 pound of a combination of meats
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 leeks or onions, washed and sliced (I used leeks)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I omitted the celery because I didn't have any at the time and I'm not a big fan of cooked celery except in clam chowder)
2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups canned tomatoes (and juice), chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
4 cups canned white beans, drained and liquid reserved in case needed (or frozen like I wrote about a few posts ago)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (preferrably homemade from your squirreled away stock of stock in the freezer)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook, turning until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain off all but two tablespoons of fat. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, leeks or onions, carrots, celery, and zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes, or until softened. Add tomatoes and juice, meat, and herbs. Bring to a boil. Add beans and boil again, stirring occasionally; reduce heat so mixture bubbles gently. Cook for 20 minutes, adding stock or bean liquid when mixture gets thick. Fish out meat; remove bones and skin and chop into chunks. Return to pot and add cayenne. Warm through. Serves four.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 580
CARBS: 82 G
PROTEIN: 40 G
FAT: 11 G

(Thanks to http://americanbean.com/ for all the fabulous bean facts.  Check it out - there's tons of information and some great recipes at the site!)