Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Sweet Zucchini Pickle

Recipe Source: Hoffman, Susanna. The Olive and the Caper. Workman Press, New York, 2004 pp. 72-3.

Before I planned my menu for the big camping trip up in Maine I asked for suggestions. Only one person had any requests: she said she liked my salads and my pickled salads. This, while not even vaguely resembling a medieval recipe, looked tasty and like it would travel well. I decided to include it in my meal and people really liked it. It was pretty easy to come up with, it definitely traveled well, and it provided more vegetables for people to choose from. It was a little sweet for my tastes, personally (hence the catchy name), but most people really liked it.

I didn't make a lot of changes to this recipe because there weren't a lot of changes to make. I did add a little bit of cubeb to the mix, as well as a little bit of ground coriander just to make it fit in a little better with some of the other dishes I was serving. I also had to use apple cider vinegar because I was out of white wine vinegar and at 3 AM your options are a little limited. Like I said, this went over pretty well. Be sure to make this the day before you intend to serve it. Hoffman says that it will last up to two months in the refrigerator, but you'd likely eat it well before then.

Sweet Zucchini Pickle (serves about 20; approx. $0.42/serving)

3 pounds zucchini, sliced to ¼" thick

2 onions, quartered and sliced to 1/8" thick

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon (approx.) fresh ground cubeb

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon dry mustard powder

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric

½ teaspoon whole cloves

1 ½ cups brown sugar, packed

1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

Equipment:

• Large seal-able plastic bowl
• Large saucepan
• Colander

1. Combine the onions and the zucchini slices in the colander with the salt and let stand ½ hour.
2. Combine the cubeb, coriander, mustard powder, mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves, sugar and vinegar in the saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove from heat.
3. Add the zucchini and onions to the pot and set aside to cool.
4. Transfer to the sealable bowl. Cover and seal.
5. Refrigerate at least overnight before serving.

Recipe: Eggplant Coils

Recipe Source: Botascos, Jim. The New Greek Cuisine. Broadway Books, New York, 2006 pp. 76-7.

I'm not sure what part of this seemed like a good idea to me. I was trying to think of finger foods that I could serve at our Fourth of July party. I wanted vegetables, and preferably something that vegetarians could eat as a main course if we were so lucky as to acquire any. I decided that this recipe looked "interesting." When I decided that this recipe looked "interesting" I completely failed to take into account the amount of food I needed to make for this party. You see, while working with phyllo is not as difficult as some people think it is still not exactly easy, and I was asking it to do things that it didn't want to do. Like coil.

Ultimately it didn't work out too bad, but I made myself pretty miserable stressing about the coiling process. The trick is to use two hands and work quickly. I made a few changes, mostly involving cheeses and spice amounts. People were pretty pleased with the result, and the little coils seemed to be appreciated by most people present. If you make these ahead of time, reheat them in the oven and they shouldn't be too soggy.

Eggplant Coils (makes about 36; approx. $1.34 ea.)

6 eggplants

2 ½ cups olive oil, more or less

10 leeks, whites only, diced

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

2 cups feta cheese

1 cup goat cheese

1 ½ cups chopped toasted walnuts

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 ½ cups breadcrumbs

3 packages #7 phyllo dough

Equipment:

• Big Green Egg or other grill (you can also roast the eggplants indoors if you need to, but in my head the Egg gave the eggplants a nice flavor indeed.)
• Pastry brush
• Large sauté pan
• Large bowl
• Baking sheets
• Colander

1. Preheat your Egg direct high-heat grilling.
2. Pierce the eggplants a few times with a fork. This can be therapeutic.
3. Grill the eggplants, turning frequently, until soft and blackened.
4. Transfer the eggplants to a colander and let drain for about 30 minutes.
5. Peel the eggplants and discard the skin. Chop the flesh, add to the large bowl and set aside.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the sauté pan over medium-low heat.
7. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Don't let the leeks brown.
8. Add the leeks to the bowl. Add the cheeses, walnuts, parsley, cumin and bread crumbs. Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight.
9. When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325 ̊.
10. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough on a clean work surface, long side horizontal. Coat it with a bit of olive oil (that's why you needed 2 ½ cups) and put about ½ cup of the eggplant mixture on the bottom of the sheet. Spread it out slightly.
11. Fold in the ends a little bit and begin rolling up the dough to make a long thin cylinder, like a snake.
12. Coil up the snake using both hands. Work quickly but gently. Transfer the coil to the baking sheet and repeat until all the filling is used.
13. Bake 20 minutes. Cool 3 minutes then serve.

Recipe: Black-eyed Peas with Fennel and Tomatoes

Recipe Source: Wolfert, Paula. The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2003 p. 245

I know I've said this before, but the great thing about vegetarian entrees is that you can use them as side dishes if no vegetarians show up. When we host our Sunday open houses we never know how many people will join us for dinner, and out of those who do stay we have no idea how many vegetarians there will be or how strict they are. This dish is pretty easy to make and delicious enough that people might forget that there's no meat in it.

I made a couple of changes. I don't think I've ever seen frozen black-eyed peas in the supermarket. I went with dried peas that I'd soaked for a while. I played with the quantities of some of the ingredients as well – more fennel, more chard, more tomatoes. I also used canned tomatoes.

Black-eyed Peas with Fennel and Tomatoes (serves 8; approx. $1.85/serving)

10 ounces black-eyed peas, soaked and drained

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 fennel bulbs, halved and sliced as thin as you can get them

1 onion, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon fennel seeds, bruised

1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves only, leaves shredded

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large saucepan

1. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the black-eyed peas and cook until just tender, 10 minutes or so.
2. Drain the peas and set aside. Wipe out the saucepan.
3. In the same saucepan, heat the olive oil.
4. Add the onion, fennel and fennel seeds. Cook until soft and pale golden.
5. Add the chard and tomatoes with ¾ cups water. Season to taste and cook, uncovered, 20 minutes over medium-low heat.
6. Serve either warm or cold

Recipe – Lamb Burgers

Recipe Source: Kochilas, Diane. Mediterranean Grilling. W. M. Morrow, New York, 2007 p. 107

I will be the first to tell you that I'm not often a fan of burgers. It's so hard to get them done the way I like them. In fact, there is only one place where I will actually order a burger: Christopher's, in Cambridge. They will serve it to me cooked to my desired degree of doneness (or rawness, to be fair) and I know that I won't get sick from the meat. Even my husband won't cook a burger that rare. Anyway, lamb is different. Lamb has more flavor than beef, even when the cheap cuts are used. It's possible to thoroughly cook a lamb burger and still have it taste good.

I've made this dish twice now – the first time we forgot to take pictures. I made a few changes as I usually do. The biggest change was in omitting the pine nuts, because I haven't managed to find them. I also omitted the butter, because I really don't think it needed more fat. I also increased the garlic, decreased the oil and played around with the spice proportions a bit. I omitted the mint as well to accommodate my husband's food allergy. I added some cilantro to the burgers to make up for it, and to mitigate the parsley flavor.

Lamb Burgers (makes 6 burgers; approx. $1.89 ea.)

6 garlic cloves, crushed

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ cup water

1 pound ground lamb

2 red onions, grated

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 burger buns, toasted or not (your call)

Equipment:

• Big Green Egg or other grill (you can cook these indoors if you must, but it won't be very good)
• Food processor makes the grating easier. If you don't have one, use a box grater and a really big bowl.
• Mini-prep mini food processor

1. Combine the garlic, salt, olive oil, tomato paste, spices, thyme and water in the mini –prep. Process to a paste.
2. Prepare your grill for medium-high, direct-heat cooking.
3. Combine the lamb, onions and herbs in the large bowl. Knead until thoroughly mixed (or process, your choice.) Form the contents into six patties.
4. Paint both sides of each patty generously with the paste from the mini-prep.
5. Cook to your desired degree of doneness. I like rare. I am in the minority.
6. Serve.

Recipe: Stewed Artichokes and Peas

Recipe Source: Harris, Andy. Modern Greek. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2002 p. 55

It's kind of funny how memory slips. You may be wondering why I'm posting an artichoke recipe now, when artichokes couldn't be farther away from being in season (at least in this hemisphere.) Well, I actually cooked this in May. That's right, May. I cooked it when my in-laws came up for a belated Mother's Day celebration. That, my friends, is how incredibly backlogged I am. I do apologize, I'm doing my best to get through everything before I completely lose it.

Anyway, I thought I'd never forget this recipe. This is because cooking with artichokes is a royal pain and I hate doing it. I have yet to find the artichoke dish that I think is worth it. My husband liked it, though. He liked it despite his distaste for peas. I did make a few changes as I often do. I replaced the mint with tarragon. My husband is allergic to mint, and I was craving tarragon that week. (This happens to me sometimes in spring and is nothing to be concerned about.) I increased the garlic. (Do I even need to keep saying that?) I used canned diced tomatoes because tomatoes were vastly out of season. I used baby artichokes, because they're easier to work with and seem (to me) to involve less waste. It cooks up ahead of time and doesn't even need to be reheated if you don't want to – doesn't that sound nice right now?

Stewed Artichokes and Peas (serves 4; approx. $1.47/serving)

8 baby artichokes, trimmed and quartered

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, peeled and sliced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 28-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 bunch tarragon, finely chopped

1 pound frozen peas, thawed

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large sauté pan

1. Heat the oil in the sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened.
3. Add the tomatoes and tarragon. Simmer 10 minutes.
4. Add the peas and artichokes. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Add enough water to barely cover the mixture and simmer 20 minutes.
7. Serve either hot or cold.

Recipe: Lamb Chops with Honey Lemon Glaze (Guest Post from Fearless Grill)

Recipe Source: Original

I recently bought a new set of accessories for my Big Green Egg smoker that promises to expand both it's capacity and versatility – the adjustable rig, spider, and sliding grids from the Ceramic Grill Store. This setup, among other things, allows you to cook at different heights in the Egg. By moving the meat closer to the coals (which burn at over 1200 degrees), you can quickly sear a piece of meat, and then move it farther away, with the Egg still set at the same dome temperature, to roast the meat to your desired doneness. For my first cook with this setup, I decided to try something with a glaze, since that would need to be finished at a lower temperature to set the glaze. I had some lamb chops in the fridge that I hadn't gotten around to using yet, and set out to test out my new toys.

For the glaze, I went with something simple, similar to one that I used on some pork chops a few months ago.  I like the match of lemon with lamb, so I used lemon juice instead of the orange juice I used with the pork. I also used fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder I had used the previous time. I also made more of the glaze than I needed to brush on while cooking, so I could drizzle some over the finished chops on the plate.

I really liked the new setup for cooking. It was really convenient to change the level of cooking, rather than having to pull the food out and wait for the temperature to drop after searing. By being able to keep the overall temperature of the cooker lower, I also used a lot less charcoal during my cook. I was a little concerned about the glaze burning, but having the meat much further away from the fire than the standard setup in the Egg made that a non-issue. We liked the way the meat came out. I got a nice sear on the outside cooking low over the flame, and finishing high in the dome let the glaze set up without overcooking the meat. The glaze matched pretty well with the lamb. You could taste all the flavors, but none were overpowering, and it didn't add too much sweetness. I'm going to try the glaze again as a sauce for chicken wings at a party this weekend.

Lamb Chops with Honey-Lemon Glaze (Serves 2. Approx. Cost Per Serving Not Available)

Equipment Required

• Big Green Egg or other grill
• Adjustable rig (optional)
• Long grilling tongs
• Grill brush

4 lamb shoulder chops

Several sprigs fresh thyme, chopped

Sea salt

Fearless Greek Rub (Note: This will make more than you need. Save the rest for use on lamb, chicken, or turkey. It works great on all of them)

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

 

Honey-Lemon Glaze

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 serrano chili, finely minced

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1. Combine the ingredients for the honey-lemon glaze in a bowl, and whisk to combine thoroughly.
2. Apply the Fearless Greek Rub to all sides of the chops. You can apply it up to two hours before cooking, if desired.
3. Prepare your grill for cooking. In my large Big Green Egg, I set up for direct cooking at a dome temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I put in my adjustable rig and spider to cook at multiple levels. Note that if you don't have an adjustable rig, or if you're cooking on another type of grill, begin by setting up at the highest possible temperature to sear. Then pull the meat out, lower the temperature to 400 degrees, and put the meat back in to set the glaze.
4. Using a grid on the spider close to the coals, sear the chops for 60-90 seconds per side.
5. Move the chops to a grid on the highest level of the adjustable rig. Brush both sides of the chops with the glaze, close the lid, and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Apply another coat of glaze, flip the chops, and let cook for another 2 minutes. This should give you medium-rare chops. Adjust timing for your preference.
6. Remove the chops from the grill. Put on a platter, pour the remaining glaze over the chops, and sprinkle with the fresh thyme and sea salt.

 

 

Recipe: A Slightly Different Hortopita

My husband has been quite the avid gardener this year. He decided to plant some turnips, which did not turn out the way he expected. I think he was expecting these huge kind of turnips that you get from the supermarket. What he got was more sized like the radishes you get in the supermarket. This was very disappointing to him. He plaintively asked me if I could think of anything to do with the greens at least. As it happened, I was able to use the turnips in another dish as well, but the greens had an immediately obvious use: hortopita.

I've posted hortopita recipes before (here and here), but this one is slightly different. First, the turnips greens are different. I used leeks, because I had them on hand and needed to use them up before they went bad. I used goat cheese, because I prefer it, and I used dandelion greens because I'd picked them up for a great price and needed to use them up. I used the family pie crust recipe because it works the best for me. I had enough greens to make two pies; one I served, one I froze in case of emergency.

Slightly Different Hortopita (serves 16; approx. $0.65/serving)

2 double-crust pie crust recipes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 very large bunch of dandelion greens

About 2 pounds turnip greens

2 leeks, thinly sliced

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch dill, chopped

1 3-oz log of goat cheese, crumbled

2 egg yolks, well beaten

Equipment:

• 2 pie plates
• Large sauté pan
• Pastry brush

A note about the pie crusts: I have a little "trick" I use when I make pies (if I have the time). I make the crust two days ahead of time and put it into zip-top plastic bags. Then I refrigerate them overnight. The next day, I roll them out inside the plastic bags and store them overnight again. That way, when I go to actually make the pie, all I have to do is plunk the crust into the pie plate and move on. This might not work with all kinds of pastry and obviously it only works if you know you're going to make pie two days in advance, but when I've had to mass-produce pies it's been invaluable.

1. Heat the oil in the sauté pan.
2. Add the leeks and garlic. Cook gently until softened.
3. Add the greens and the dill. Cook until the greens are wilted.
4. Add the goat cheese. Mix well and allow to cool. Season to taste with kosher salt.
5. Preheat your oven to 400 ̊.
6. Line the bottoms of your pie plates with crust.
7. Fill the pie crusts with filling, evenly divided between the two pies.
8. Top with the remaining crusts. Cut a hole in the center of the top crust to allow steam to escape. Crimp and seal.
9. Brush with the egg yolks.
10. Bake about 30 minutes.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe: White Bean Soup

Recipe Source: Kremezi, Aglaia.  The Foods of the Greek Islands.  Houghton Mifflin, New York, 2000 p. 152

The idea that legumes and pulses are healthy is not new.  They are very low in fat (unless you're trying) and they're very, very high in fiber.  Unfortunately my husband has some strong prejudices against legumes.  He thinks of them as foods that are consumed only during Lent to make eating an ordeal for the faithful.  (Really.  That's pretty much a quote.  Remember that he thought the same thing about eggplant until recently.)  However, not only are legumes and pulses healthy, they're also cheap.  I'm trying to trim my waistline and my food budget, so this means more legumes. 

I made this almost as written, which is unusual for me.  The white beans that I used were white navy beans.  I could have used gigantes or whatever, but white kidney beans is what came to hand.  I didn't have wild celery, not having a source for wild celery in my area, so I used regular domesticated celery.  Domesticated celery is so much easier to tame, much less likely to bite you and so forth.  Anyway, I also omitted the parsley garnish as unnecessary and added a squirt of lemon juice just before serving to brighten the flavors.  What was the result?  My husband, Mr. I-Don't-Like-Beans, was delighted with this dish.  He couldn't stop raving about it. 

White Bean Soup (serves 4; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 cups dried white kidney beans, soaked overnight and drained

2 onions, halved, one half thinly sliced into half-moons

10 stalks celery, chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup lemon juice

Black pepper to taste - my taste is quite a lot

1 tablespoon additional lemon juice

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Mini-prep miniature food processor

1. Combine the beans, 3 onion halves and water to cover by 4 inches in the saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes.
3. Add the sliced onion, celery and salt.  Simmer another 40 minutes.  You can add water if you need to; I did not.
4. Add the 1/3 cup lemon juice and black pepper.  Simmer another 10 minutes. 
5. Transfer 1 cup of the soup to the mini-prep and puree, then return to the pan. 
6. Discard the onion halves.  Add the remaining lemon juice and serve.

Recipe: Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Thyme

Recipe Source: Hoffman, Susanna.  The Olive and the Caper.  Workman Publishing, New York, 2004 pp. 387-8

Someone once asked me, "If you had to give up one of your five senses, which one would you give up?"  It was the sort of question that gets asked late at night at college parties.  I don't remember which one I said.  I probably told the asker to get me another drink.  Honestly, since I have all five of my senses, I don't think that there's one I can say I'd give up.  Sight and hearing are both vital.  Taste?  You're kidding.  But the sense that I rely on most in my day to day life is easily smell.  I don't care what the date on the meat says, or on the carton of milk.  If it smells even the tiniest bit bad it goes.  I know when a dish is ready for the next step because it smells ready.  I know the baby needs a change because she smells like she needs a change. 

Scent feeds into taste as well, so things that have a strong (and delicious) scent taste better to me.  That's what appealed so much to me about this recipe.  I love, love, love the smell of cooking lamb.  I love the smell of garlic.  Thyme has a lovely scent all its own, and I would rather smell all three together than the most expensive perfume at Nordstrom's.  There was only one thing that I thought would smell better than lamb, garlic and thyme cooking in my oven: lamb, garlic and thyme cooking on the Big Green Egg. 

The Egg functions as a kind of oven: a wood-fired oven.  It uses hardwood lump charcoal for fuel, and unlike briquettes the lump charcoal smells like proper wood.  That smell by itself is appetizing on a very primal level.  It gives something different to anything it touches.  Using the Egg for this recipe made it beautiful.  Even though it was in a lidded container for part of the cook, the smoke really permeated the meat and brought its magic to the dish.  If you don't have a Big Green Egg, you can certainly make this in your kitchen oven.  I'd recommend getting an Egg though. 

Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Thyme (serves 3; approx. $6.82/serving)

3 lamb shanks, halved crosswise (this is a pain to do.  If you can get your butcher to do it for you, definitely do that.)

1 head garlic, pealed and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons dried thyme

1 cinnamon stick, about 3" long

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Equipment:

• Big Green Egg (optional; you can make this indoors if you must)
• Dutch oven

1. Prepare your Egg for indirect cooking at 375 degrees.  If cooking indoors, preheat your oven to 375.
2. Combine the first 8 ingredients in the Dutch oven.  The lamb shanks should fit snugly but in a single layer.  Cover and cook 1 hour.
3. Remove the lid, turn the lamb shanks over and cook another 45 minutes to one hour. 
4. Transfer the lamb shanks to a serving platter with their associated juices.  Sprinkle with the herbs and serve. 

Recipe: Braised Greens with Barley

Recipe Source: Botascos, Jim.  The New Greek Cuisine.  Broadway Books, New York, 2006 pp. 231-2

I'm a big fan of green leafy vegetables, but they really have to be cooked right.  Raw would be okay too, but really I'm thrilled if the greens are just not boiled into submission like a medieval heretic.  Overcooked greens tend to take on some unpleasant smells and flavors that I feel are better simply not discussed.  If you're going to do that to your food, really, just go the fast food route.  You'll probably get more nutrition that way. 

Sorry.  Everyone has their "rant" button, and that was one of mine.  Moving on. 

We had some friends over for dinner and one of them admitted not only that she didn't care for most green leafy vegetables but that she'd never tried mustard greens in any form.  She then stated that kale was a garnish only.  I strongly suspected that she felt this way because she'd had things that had been boiled to death.  I knew that I would soon have opportunities to attack this position.  I wasn't being arrogant and thinking I could cure her of this distaste just by virtue of my mad culinary skills - she actually challenged me.  I had both mustard greens and kale on hand the next time we entertained her, so I decided to serve this dish.

This is the dish for which I made the Spiced Herb Tea I posted last week.  The original called for the unspiced version, but I got the spiced version into my head and went ahead and made it before re-reading this recipe.  In the main, I think it wasn't a bad substitution.  That's really the only change that I made, other than a few procedural changes, and the dish came out quite well.  Our guest even liked it, coming to the conclusion that she could now enjoy green leafy vegetables.  Mission accomplished. 

Braised Greens with Barley (serves 6; approx. $1.79/serving)

3 leeks, washed and thinly sliced

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 bunch mustard greens, chopped

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 1/4 cups Spiced Herb Tea

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup pearl barley, rinsed

2 cups onion, diced

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Equipment:

• Large saute pan with lid
• Medium saucepan
• Large saucepan
• Tongs

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
2. Working in batches, blanch the greens for ABSOLUTELY NO MORE THAN TWO MINUTES PER BATCH.  This is important.  Evacuate the greens to a separate bowl with the tongs.  Reserve the cooking water from this process. 
3. Bring the herb tea to a simmer in the medium saucepan.
4. Add the barley, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender.  Remove from heat.
5. Heat the remaining olive oil in the saute pan. 
6. Add the onion and a pinch of kosher salt.  Cover and cook 8 minutes or until the onion is soft. 
7. Add the leeks.  Cover and cook another 10 minutes. 
8. Add 1 quart of the cooking liquid from the greens and the juice of one lemon.  Bring to a boil, then simmer.
9. Stir in the greens and simmer 8 minutes.
10. Add the barley.  Cook 2 minutes. 
11. Fold in the remaining lemon juice and the dill.
12. Serve.