Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Melons with Vinegar

Recipe Source: Anthimus. On The Observance of Foods. Mark Grant, trans. Prospect Books, Devon, 1996 p. 71

Planning meals for camping can be tough. All right, it doesn't have to be. You can just eat baked beans or beef stew from a can, heated over a tiki torch, if that's what you have to do. I myself have consumed hot dogs cooked on sticks over a fire. We've been going to this one camp in Maine every summer since we started dating, and I can assure you that we don't eat that way there. (For one thing, the site doesn't allow fire pits.) The dinner has gotten a bit bigger every year and I'd say we feed between thirty and fifty people at this shindig – and it's almost all with stuff we can fit into two coolers. Other people contribute, of course, which makes it even more fun. Since we're camping with a bunch of medieval history enthusiasts, I've tried for the past couple of years to make as many of the dishes documentably medieval as I can.

Medieval food, contrary to what I certainly believed in my youth, did not consist entirely of gruel. People had taste buds then just as they have taste buds now, and a look at any of the medieval cookbooks available in translation will show you a treasure trove of delicious delicacies from centuries long gone by. The problem I have lies in finding recipes that a) can be made ahead and brought into camp, b) can be re-heated in primitive facilities, c) can tolerate life in an overstuffed cooler rather than in a proper refrigerator, and d) are interesting enough to be worth the effort. That's a little more challenging… And that's why this recipe appealed to me so much.

Anthimus was a Byzantine physician exiled to the court of the Ostrogoths in the beginning of the 6^th century AD. He was sent from there to be the ambassador to the Frankish court, which seemed (to him, at least) to be even more barbaric than the Ostrogothic court. This book, which is really just a really long letter, is intended to show the Frankish king which foods are healthy and how to prepare them (sometimes.) I've seen this described (including on the back of my copy) as the first French cookery book. I'm not sure about that – after all, the author was Greek and picked up quite a bit in Italy – but it was at least written for people who became French.

So what about this recipe appealed to me, besides it being a very early-period dish? Well, it has three ingredients. That's a good start. If I left the melons whole until I got there, it would be very easy to transport and wouldn't need refrigeration. It was colorful and it was easy. Really, it doesn't get much better than that, whether you're re-creating a medieval recipe or pulling something together for the family trip to the Adirondacks.

I'm not sure when watermelons made it up to Western Europe, but I strongly suspect that they were not the "melons" intended by Dr. Anthimus. In all honesty, I did purchase cantaloupes and Tuscan melons. Unfortunately transportation was less kind to them than I would have hoped, and some of them went spectacularly bad before the party. Someone else had brought some watermelon, and to stretch the dish out to its original proportions I added it to the mix. It did make the dish prettier, didn't it?

Melons with Vinegar (serves about 50; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 mini-watermelon, cut into chunks

3 cantaloupes, cut into chunks

½ cup white wine vinegar

½ cup water

Equipment:

• Small bowl

1. Arrange the melon chunks in an attractive way on the platter. (I had help in this from Nikki and Andrew.)
2. Combine the vinegar and water in the small bowl. Mix very well to ensure that the vinegar is well diluted.
3. Sprinkle the diluted vinegar over the melons.
4. Serve.

Recipe: Potato Cake

Recipe Source: Wilcox, Kip. Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1990 pp. 555-6

This is another Sunday dinner dish. I wanted something relatively mild, since I suspected that one of our guests was someone who doesn't care for strong flavors. I also wanted something with carbs, because many of our guests are there for a particularly intense workout. This dish fit the bill nicely. I made one significant change in that I used Parnassos cheese in place of Swiss. It has a similar texture to Swiss but a different flavor, one I personally prefer. I also increased the amount of basil I put into this. The result was a popular and delicious side dish.

Potato Cake (serves 8; approx. $1.48/serving)

6 large potatoes, thinly sliced

1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

¼ cup olive oil

½ pound grated Parnassos cheese

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 pinch kosher salt

40 grinds fresh ground cubeb

½ cup finely chopped basil

Equipment:

• Large roasting pan
• Deep-dish pie plate
• Aluminum foil
• Bowl

1. Preheat your oven to 350 ̊.
2. Combine the potatoes, onions and bay leaves in the roasting pan with the olive oil. Toss to coat, then smooth into a single layer.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes.
4. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.
5. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl.
6. Lubricate the pie plate, then layer the potatoes with the cheese mixture. The final layer should be cheese.
7. Cover with more aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes.
8. Serve.

Recipe: Strawberry Mascarpone Tartlets

Recipe Source: Ferber, Christine.  Mes Tartes.  Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, 2003 p. 71

I wonder if I should even be citing Ms. Ferber here.  I decided to make this recipe, but at the end of the day the final product had two things in common with the original: there were tartlets instead of one big tart and there were strawberries.  I decided not to use her pastry recipe, having decided that working with a pastry recipe I'd already used was probably a better plan considering how pressed for time I'd become.  I also decided skip the creme fraiche in favor of mascarpone, because I don't actually care for creme fraiche.  I skipped the decorative confectioner's sugar as well.  But there were strawberries.  And there was pastry.  I guess that's what counts.

Anyway, I used my family's pastry crust recipe, which I can't post here.  It worked fine - it usually does, which is why I use it - but there was one problem: it was really, really delicate.  I dropped one and it turned to sand before my very eyes.  (Delicious sand, which the dog was very glad to get, but sand nonetheless).  I also used strawberries from our own strawberry patch, which was what inspired making this dessert in the first place.  You see, when we started this garden in the spring of 2007 we had six strawberry plants.  Now they've taken over a good quarter of the garden.  We had a great harvest and I wanted to make sure that none of them went to waste, so I used them in this dessert.  And some preserves.  And a salad.  And.... well, you get the picture! 

Also, the decorative pastry leaf isn't strictly necessary.  I made a lot of pastry that weekend, which left me with a lot of scraps.  I remembered having seen (was it in a Martha Stewart Living issue?) someone recommend that one make little cutouts from pastry scraps and eat them like cookies, and I ran with it.  The coarse sanding sugar was a gift.  It's rose-scented, although the scent is very subtle.  If this step seems too fussy to you, skip it.  The dish won't be materially hurt.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tartlets (serves 8; approx. $1.25/serving)

11 ounces of your favorite pastry dough (I actually used just a plain old double crust recipe.)

16 ounces mascarpone

15 ounces strawberries.  Note: our yield was high, but the berries were kind of small.  If your berries are the size of Kansas, as often happens with supermarket berries, you can trim them down to a more manageable size.  Or not. 

1 egg, beaten

Equipment:

• 8 tartlet pans, about 4" diameter. 
• Rolling pin
• Pastry brush
• Spatula
• Baking sheet
• Small cookie cutters (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2. I actually rolled out the dough for these tartlets and pushed it into the pan.  (I'd chilled the dough first.)  If you don't feel like doing this, you can press fresh dough right into the pan.  I'm sure this is heresy, but it is also easy.  Either way, dock the crust with a fork.
3. Bake the shells blind 10 minutes. 
4. Brush the bottoms of the shells with the beaten egg.  Bake another 8 minutes.  This step is taken straight from the book.  According to the author it helps protect the crust from moisture, making it crunchy instead of soggy.  I think it helped.
5. Remove the shells from the oven and let them cool completely. 
6. Optional step.  If you want to make the decorative little pastry cutouts, roll out your pastry scraps and cut out whatever shapes you want from tiny little cookie cutters.  Bake 10 minutes or until golden.  Dust with sanding sugar as soon as they come out of the oven if you have it. 
7. When you're ready to serve, spread the bottoms of the tartlet shells with mascarpone.  Arrange the berries around the outer edge of the tartlet, like Stonehenge.  If you're using the decorative cutouts, put one in the center of the tartlet.  Serve immediately. 

Recipe: Fish Stewed in Beer

Recipe Source: Domine, Andre.  Culinaria France.  H. F. Ullmann, 2007 p. 103

I did not like this dish.  My husband did.  He ate his share, and ultimately most of my share, with gusto.  He said it didn't really fit in with what he thought of as French cooking, but he really enjoyed it anyway.  I agreed that it didn't fit my mental image of French cuisine.  I kind of poked at it for a while.  Then I poked at it some more.  Then I tasted it and immediately went back to poking at it. 

The good thing is that this dish was easy to make in advance and re-heat a few days later.  I made a few changes.  I had a mammoth carrot and don't care for carrots, so I used my mammoth carrot instead of two.  I used a spring onion in place of the leek as it was cheaper.  My bouquet garni was more of a few different herbs thrown into the pot, which is pretty much all a bouquet garni is.  Instead of getting whole fish, which would have made my husband absolutely insane, I made the broth with some frozen crawfish shells I had on hand and used monkfish fillets for the fish. 

Fish Stewed in Beer (serves 4; approx. $7.19/serving)

2 pounds monkfish fillets, cut into pieces

1 very large carrot, thinly sliced

1 spring onion, bulb only, thinly sliced

6 shallots, peeled

2 sprigs rosemary

3 sprigs thyme

2 tablespoons dried tarragon

3/4 pound crawfish shells, cooked

4 cups dark beer

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Strainer
• Large bowl

1. Put the carrot, spring onion, herbs and three shallots into the saucepan with the crawfish shells and the beer.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, finely dice the remaining shallots.
2. Strain the stock into the large bowl.  Clean out the saucepan.
3. Season the flour with salt and pepper.  Dredge the fish bits in the flour.
4. Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute the diced shallots until soft. 
5. Add the fish pieces.  Cook until just beginning to turn golden.
6. Add the beer stock.  Simmer 45 minutes.
7. Serve. 

Recipe: Salmon and Mustard Greens Tart

Recipe Source: Ferber, Christine.  Mes Tartes.  Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, 2003 pp. 67 - 8. 

I find pastry to be one of the most frustrating things on the planet.  I win arguments with pastry even more rarely than I win arguments with my husband, and anyone who has ever argued with him will be suitably impressed by the might of pastry.  I think that it is because I find it so incredibly frustrating that I have declared my intention to conquer it.  I will not let it beat me. 

I really like using tarts in savory applications.  It's a very old technique, and it allows me to serve a lot of people.  That's why I made this, anyway.  I substituted my family's pastry recipe for Mme. Ferber's recipe, because I find the family recipe to be the least frustrating of all pastry recipes I've tried.  I used a bunch of mustard greens for the fresh spinach because of availability.  Finally, I realized that I'd forgotten the whipping cream when I went to make this dish.  Thinking on the fly, I used ayran, a full-fat yogurt drink that I happened to have on hand (because it's really, really good and if you find it in your local market you should try it.)  The substitutions did not have a negative effect.  While I personally was still a little put off by combining dairy with salmon in this way, my husband really loved it. 

Salmon and Mustard Greens Tart (serves 8; approx. $3.21/serving)

12 ounces pastry dough (use your favorite, or even a single frozen pie crust from your market)

1 pound salmon fillets, cut into thin strips

1 bunch mustard greens, stemmed and torn

3 ounces fresh goat cheese, cut into rounds

5 ounces ayran

5 eggs, divided

Equipment:

• Pie plate
• Rolling pin
• Bowl
• Large saucepan

1. Prepare your pastry.  This is best done at least a day ahead of time, although I didn't. 
2. Roll out your pastry and put it in the pie plate.  I find it easiest to do this in a zip-top plastic bag.  Roll out the pastry so it fills the bag, then cut down the sides and invert.  I got this from an episode of Good Eats on the Food Network.  If you find this wasteful, feel free to use some other method. 
3. Dock your pastry.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. Bake blind 15 minutes.
5. Paint the inside of the shell with 1 beaten egg, then bake another 5 minutes.  According to Mme. Ferber, this helps prevent against soggy pastry.  I'll try anything.
6. Fill your saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. 
7. Blanch your mustard greens for absolutely, positively no more than 2 minutes.  Drain. 
8. Combine the remaining 4 eggs in the bowl with the ayran, 2 pinches kosher salt and about a teaspoon of black pepper.  Whisk to combine.
9. Layer your salmon on the bottom of the tart shell.  Layer the mustard greens on top of that, followed by the goat cheese and the egg mixture. 
10. Bake 45 minutes.  Serve hot.  Note: I made this well ahead of time and reheated it with no deleterious effects. 

Recipe: Roasted Scallops on Greens

Recipe Source: Jenkins, Sara and Mindy Fox.  Olives & Oranges.  Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2008 pp. 209-10

I almost didn't make this.  I really wasn't in the mood for a lot of fuss, and it looked like a fussy recipe on the surface.  Sure I'd already bought the scallops, and I knew that they wouldn't keep, but I could always do something else with them, right?  I'm really glad that I persevered, though, because this dish was delicious and nowhere near as complicated as it seemed. 

I did make a few changes.  The most obvious change is substituting romaine lettuce for the mache in the original recipe.  I didn't have mache.  What I did have were a lot of "salad greens" packets.  I used a packet of romaine lettuce and it was good.  It didn't add too much flavor, but it had enough taste and texture to go well with the scallops.  I omitted the crusty bread as a matter of course, since I was looking for something very, very light.  All right, something light, since there was plenty of butter in this.  I halved the amount of scallops because there are only two of us eating at the moment, but I increased the amount of garlic. 

Roasted Scallops on Greens (serves 2; approx. $7.75/serving)

1 bunch parsley, chopped

8 garlic cloves, crushed

5 tablespoons butter

Zest of 1/2 lemon

4 ounces romaine leaves, chopped

1 pound scallops

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Equipment:

• Mini-prep food processor
• Large oven-proof saute pan

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the butter, parsley, garlic and lemon zest in the mini-prep.  Process until well combined.
3. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil in the saute pan.  Brown the scallops on one side. 
5. Remove from heat and dot with butter.
6. Put the saute pan in the oven and roast 5 minutes. 
7. Put the romaine leaves on the bottom of your serving vessel.  Top with the contents of the skillet, juices and all.  Sprinkle lemon juice on top and serve. 

Recipe: Tilapia with Almonds

Recipe Source: Clements, Carole and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen.  French.  Anness Publishing, London, 2006 p. 88

Some of you may have noticed that I've been a little... slack lately.  I haven't been responding to comments, I haven't been leaving comments on other blogs.  I apologize.  I've cut back on a lot of things out of necessity.  At this point, I have very little energy or stamina.  I rush to get through the things that I absolutely, positively, have to do: check email, write up recipes so I have something to post, walk the dog.  Then I collapse into a heap.  Sometimes I make more food, so I can have more recipes to write up and hopefully not have to have a blank period after the baby gets here.  Sometimes I can't even manage that, or even wash the dishes from the previous night's dinner. 

This recipe is just perfect for when you're in the same boat I am.  (I wasn't just whining.  I promise.)  It is so incredibly quick and easy, and it tastes like you've slaved over it for days.  I used tilapia instead of trout because my husband won't eat whole fish and we had lots of frozen tilapia on hand.  Tilapia is cheap, especially when you buy it that way.  It also thaws quickly.  I probably also used a lot more almonds than the recipe called for, because I love almonds.  This means that the tilapia itself is kind of obscured in the picture, but I've never been much good at doing things in moderation. 

Tilapia with Almonds (serves 2; approx. $1.09/serving)

2 tilapia fillets

1/3 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

2 ounces (approx.) slivered almonds

2 tablespoons white wine

Equipment:

• Saute pan
• 2 plates

1. Dredge the fish in the flour.
2. Melt half the butter in the saute pan over medium heat. 
3. When the butter is foamy (their words, not mine, but a perfect description of when the pan is ready) add the fish.  Cook until golden brown on each side.  Tilapia fillets are pretty thin and cook quickly, so I'd watch it pretty carefully.
4. Transfer the fish to one of the 2 plates.  Use the other plate as a lid to keep it warm.
5. Add the remaining butter to the pan.
6. Saute the almonds until lightly browned. 
7. Add the wine carefully - I usually turn off the heat when adding booze to a pan, because while I am quite fond of fire I don't necessarily want my kitchen to be engulfed in it.  The risk is small, but I can be a little paranoid sometimes.  Anyway, add the wine to the pan and boil 1 minute.
8. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve immediately. 

Recipe: "Pepper" Steak

Recipe Source: Clements, Carole and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen.  French.  Anness Publishing, London, 2006 p. 153

Steak au poivre, or pepper steak, is a dish that has intrigued me for a long time.  I never had the chance to try it until recently.  My husband finds the concept of steak cooked indoors, in a pan, to be downright blasphemous, and so I never had the chance to make it.  Well, one recent Friday I found myself on my own for dinner.  This was the perfect opportunity to try the dish. 

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to.  I'm not sure why.  It could be that the pan I used was too big, which prevented the sauce from coming together the way I wanted.  I also didn't have proper peppercorns on hand.  I substituted grains of paradise, which tasted great and had a great texture so I don't think that was the problem.  I really think that halving the recipe may have had something to do with my disappointment as well.  I used garlic butter instead of regular for the recipe, and scattered some crushed garlic over the top of the finished product for a little extra garlic.  (I did mention that I was alone, right?)  At any rate, I tried it once, satisfying my curiosity.  I can now go back to eating steaks on the grill, which is how they should be done in the first place.

Steak au Poivre (serves 1; approx. $10.06/serving)

1 tablespoon grains of paradise

1 8-oz sirloin steak

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons brandy

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 garlic clove, crushed

Equipment:

• Plastic zip-top bag
• Rolling pin
• Various plates
• Saute pan

1. Put the grains of paradise in the plastic bag, then crush them lightly with the rolling pin.
2. Rub both sides of the steaks with the grains of paradise and set aside.
3. Melt the butter with the oil in the pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add the meat and cook until your desired degree of doneness is reached.  I like mine quite rare.  The book says 6 - 7 minutes.  Turn the steak halfway through cooking.
5. Transfer the steaks to a plate.
6. Turn off the heat.  Add the brandy to deglaze the pan, then return the pan to the heat. 
7. Add the cream and boil gently until the mixture has reduced by one third. 
8. Top the steak with the sauce and serve hot. 

Recipe: Apple and Cheese Tartlets

Recipe Source: Domine, Andre.  Culinaria France.  H. F. Ullmann, 2007 p. 158

I know I've talked about this before, but I simply adore apples.  My husband does too.  Unfortunately, while I prefer to eat raw apples, he strongly prefers his to be cooked.  He loves apple breads, apple pies, whatever.  I decided to use this recipe in an attempt to find savory uses for cooked apples. 

I made a few changes, of course.  First of all, this recipe was supposed to be made with Epoisses cheese.  I didn't have any.  I couldn't find any.  I did however have exactly the right amount of smoked gouda, so I used that.  I used my family pie crust recipe, because I tend to have bad luck with pastry and wanted to just use something that I knew would work.  The original called for creme fraiche; I used fat-free Greek yogurt.  The original wanted ham.  I can't do pork at the moment; the Fearless Fetus objects very strongly to any kind of pork product.  I substituted chicken sausages that I'd purchased for another recipe instead. 

I really liked these tartlets.  That said, they were certainly very filling, and I was only able to hack my way through one and a half of them before I just couldn't do any more.  My husband was able to eat more than I was, and he really loved them. 

Apple and Cheese Tartlets (makes 5; approx. $2.56/ea.)

1 pie crust recipe of your choice (single crust, store bought is fine)

3 eggs

3 1/2 tablespoons fat-free Greek yogurt

9 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, diced

3 apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used Macs)

2 links hot Italian chicken sausage, casings removed

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Equipment:

• Bowl
• Whisk
• Spoon
• Frying pan
• 5 tartlet pans

1. Preheat your oven to 390 degrees.
2. Divide your pastry into five equal pieces and press them into the tartlet pans.  Set aside.
3. Quickly brown the sausage in the frying pan, breaking it up with the spoon as you go.
4. Combine the eggs, yogurt, salt, pepper and nutmeg in the bowl with the whisk.  Combine thoroughly.
5. Add the apples, cheese and sausage.  Stir well to ensure that everything is well mixed and that every other component gets some of the egg mixture. 
6. Fill the tartlets with the mixture from the bowl. 
7. Bake 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 355 degrees and bake 30 minutes.
8. Serve.

Recipe: Potato and Mushroom Galette

Recipe Source: Kelly, Jeanne Thiel.  "Christmas Eve in France."  Bon Appetit, v 46 no 12, December 2001, p. 164.  Find the original recipe online here. 

I served this for our impromptu dinner party, and it was quite the hit.  Personally, I'm always a big fan of potatoes, and one of the best parts about fall is the fact that mushrooms are once again in season.  I'd picked up a "Chef's Sampler Pack" of different, interesting types of mushrooms to make this with, since I couldn't find just plain oyster mushrooms at my local Whole Foods that day.  (They may have been there - going through the produce section tends to make me more than a little bit nuts.) 

I did make a few changes to the recipe, although one was made for me really.  The original claimed to serve 12.  Those must have been awfully meager servings, because I got 6 out of mine.  I increased the amount of garlic (as I do,) added some tarragon and left the potatoes unpeeled (to save time and nutritional value.)  Finally, I felt concerned about the ability of the finished product to hold together.  To set my mind at ease, I added about 2 ounces of grated pecorino. 

Potato and Mushroom Galette (serves 6; approx. $3.40/serving)

3/4 cup butter

10 ounces mixed fresh mushrooms, trimmed and wiped clean

5 garlic cloves, crushed

38 ounces russet potatoes, sliced thin

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1 tablespoon dried tarragon

Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl
• Large saute pan or skillet
• 9" cake pan with 1 1/2" high sides
• Pastry brush

1. Preheat your oven to 450.
2. Melt the butter in the skillet. 
3. Pour all but 2 tablespoons butter into the bowl.  Brush the bottom and sides of the cake pan with some of the butter in the bowl.
4. Add the mushrooms to the two remaining tablespoons in the skillet.  Saute until tender.
5. Add the potatoes, thyme and tarragon to the bowl with the melted butter.  Add the pecorino.  Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. 
6. Arrange the potato slices in two layers on the bottom of the pan.
7. Top the second layer with the mushroom mixture. 
8. Top the mushrooms with another two layers of potatoes. 
9. Bake until tender and very brown and crisp on top, about 40 minutes. 
10. Invert onto a serving platter.  Slice into wedges and serve hot or warm.