Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Artichokes Napoletana

Recipe Source: The Silver Spoon.  Phaidon Press, New York, 2005 p. 418

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not exactly a big fan of artichokes.  I don't mind canned artichoke hearts in a salad or something like that, but even those I won't usually go out of my way for.  Unfortunately for me they're in season right now.  Even more unfortunately, my husband loves them.  I decided to make these for a Sunday open house.  I did not eat them so I can't tell you how they turned out, but I can tell you that there were some leftovers and that people seemed a lot more enthusiastic about other dishes on the table.

The usual changes applied.  There were some procedural changes as well, which I made both because of personal preference and for convenience.  I could only get these mammoth, almost prehistoric-looking artichokes, so I only used six of them and even that seemed like more than the recipe intended.  I reduced the amount of oil, increased the garlic, increased the amount of capers and completely forgot the garnish.  The green olives I could get were labeled as "Greek green olives with Sicilian herbs."  They were tasty. 

Artichokes Napoletana (serves 8; approx. $2.72/serving)

4 tablespoons lemon juice

6 jumbo artichokes, trimmed and cut into wedges

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons capers

1 cup green olives, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large bowl of water
• Very large wok or saute dish, preferably a deep one

1. Combine the artichokes and the lemon juice in the bowl of water as you cut the artichokes.  This will limit discoloration.
2. Heat the oil in the pan. 
3. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic
4. Drain the artichokes and add them to the pan.  Cook 5 minutes over high heat.
5. Add the capers and olives, salt and pepper. 
6. Add about 2/3 cup water, cover and cook until tender.  The book said this should take about 30 minutes.
7. Remove the lid and boil off any excess liquid.  Serve. 

Recipe: Baked Fennel with Parmesan

Recipe Source: Capalbo, Carla.  The Best Ever Italian Cookbook.  Anness Publishing, London, 2000 p. 56

So, I have a lot of cookbooks.  I really mean a lot of cookbooks.  They're all over the place.  It still feels to me, though, like I keep turning back to the same few books over and over when I need inspiration.  I recently decided that I was going to make an effort to use some of the cookbooks I haven't used in a while.  I came across this recipe when I was looking to do just that.  I wanted something that was still relatively seasonal, could be made ahead of time and re-heated, and that wasn't a whole lot of fuss.  This recipe was exactly that.

I only made two changes to this recipe, because there wasn't a whole lot to do.  One change was pretty minor.  I used olive oil for the butter called for in the original, because olive oil is my preferred cooking fat.  Yes, this does change the flavor.  It also changes the saturated fat content.  The other change was more significant.  I added garlic to the dish, whole cloves that were roasted with the fennel.  I personally think that this was a good change.  It elevated the dish from a kind of bland side dish to a more exciting, more flavorful dish that my diners certainly enjoyed.  I didn't add any salt to this dish, since I felt that the Parmesan cheese was salty enough.  You may feel differently. 

Baked Fennel with Parmesan (serves 6; approx. $1.57/serving)

2 pounds fennel, bulbs only (you can reserve the stalks and fronds for another purpose; I did!)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

12 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

Equipment:

• Baking dish
• Large saucepan

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the fennel, lengthwise, into wedges. 
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
4. Blanch the fennel, only boiling until barely tender. Drain.
5. Layer the fennel in the baking dish.
6. Scatter the garlic on top of the fennel.
7. Drizzle the olive oil on top of the vegetables, then sprinkle the cheese over the top.
8. Bake about 20 minutes.  This can be made ahead and reheated, but should be served hot.

Recipe: Asparagus Antipasto

Recipe Source: Wright, Clifford.  Little Foods of the Mediterranean.  The Harvard Common Press, Boston, 2003 p. 250

I wonder if asparagus might not be my favorite part of spring.  It's always been one of my favorite vegetables, and I honestly can't get enough of it.  Sometimes I like it grilled or roasted, maybe drizzled in a little bit of olive oil.  Sometimes I like it blanched, as it was supposed to be here.  I once made a delicious asparagus soup, I wonder if I could ever find the recipe again.  Anyway, I like to use as much asparagus as I can get my hands on, although it's not exactly cheap.  It's so healthy and delicious! 

I didn't make a huge number of changes to this recipe, because it's really quite simple.  The biggest change I made was to omit the olive oil.  My husband doesn't like oil on his salads, and it just added unnecessary fat.  I did overcook the asparagus slightly, which was disappointing to me, but at least it still tasted decent.  My husband came up with another change to the recipe and I felt that it was a good change.  He sprinkled Dizzy Pig's Shaking the Tree Lemon Pepper rub over a serving.  While that rub would usually be used for barbecue, it worked tremendously well with the asparagus.  For more information on the rub, click here.

Asparagus Antipasto (serves 4; approx. $2.50/serving)

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

4 cups red leaf lettuce, ripped

10 cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Pinch kosher salt

1 tablespoon Shaking the Tree Lemon Pepper Rub (optional, but highly recommended)

Equipment:

• Large saucepan

1. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
2. Add the asparagus.  Blanch no more than three minutes or else you will get mushy asparagus.  No one wants that.
3. Arrange the leaves of lettuce on a serving platter.  Top with the tomatoes and cheese. 
4. Arrange the hot asparagus on top of the cheese.  Top with a pinch of kosher salt and some of the lemon pepper seasoning.  Serve. 

Recipe: Chanterelle, Caramelized Onion and Sage "Risotto"

Recipe Source: Kidd, Kristine et al.  Risotto.  TimeLife Books, New York, 1998 p. 21

I had originally intended to serve this as a side dish.  That got derailed as soon as I saw the combined fat content of the two dishes.  I couldn't imagine how a single person could survive eating both!  I guess with that much cheese I should have expected as much, but still.  Anyway, I decided to serve this during the week as a one-dish meal, and we were both perfectly satisfied with that.  My husband even got all happy that I made him "something carby." 

I made two major changes to this recipe: I used chanterelles instead of porcini because that's what I had on hand, and I used barley instead of rice because that's what I like.  I'm pretty sure that the recipe that started me making that switch came from this book, so it's okay.  Barley offers a higher nutritional value than white rice, so I've been using it pretty regularly.  I may even try a paella with barley next, who knows!  I also used a combination of the Spiced Herb Tea and the Lemony Vegetable Broth here, because that's what I had. 

Chanterelle, Caramelized Onion and Sage "Risotto" (serves 4; approx. $2.64/serving)

1 package (around 3/4 oz) dried chanterelle mushrooms, soaked in hot water 30 minutes and drained, soaking liquid reserved

4 cups Spiced Herb Tea

2 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, quartered and thinly sliced

2 cups pearl barley

3/4 cup white wine

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus extra for garnish

6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste - I like a lot of pepper.

Equipment:

• Medium saucepan
• Large saucepan

1. Pour the two broths into the medium saucepan.  Bring to a bare simmer and keep there.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the olive oil. 
3. Add the onions, reduce heat slightly and cook until the onions are browned.  The book said ten minutes, it took a lot longer than that for me.
4. Add the barley and mushrooms.  Saute one minute.
5. Add the wine and stir until absorbed.
6. Add the chopped sage, the mushroom soaking liquid and one ladleful of the broth.  Stir until absorbed. 
7. Continue adding the broth a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly, until the barley has a tender texture.  This should take about 20 - 25 minutes.
8. Add the Parmesan cheese and season to taste.  Serve. 

Recipe: Pesto-Stuffed Eggs

As we all learned in the dippy assemblies we had to go to in middle and high schools, assumptions are a bad thing.  They're an especially bad thing when those assumptions are involved in, say, planning a meal.  If the meal involves other human beings who don't live in the household, well, we've just opened up a whole new jar of bad.  For our last dinner party, I said dinner was to be at "around seven."  My assumption was that the main course would then be ready at around seven thirty.  My husband's assumption was that, having been told that dinner was around seven, people would actually show up at eight and that we would eat "somewhere around nine, nine thirty."  Neither one of us actually discussed these assumptions with the other until it was far too late - as in, around one o'clock on the day of the party.  We discussed this issue, and while I'm not sure that anything was actually resolved I found myself forced to come up with appetizers that could be made entirely with materials I had on hand, with little fuss and no mess. 

I made the samboosak that I've posted previously as one of the hors d'oeuvres.  The second was this dish, the pesto-stuffed eggs.  I had some leftover pesto from making the Pasta with Lemon-Pepper Chicken and Pesto and I needed to use it up.  I had some eggs.  I had other uses for the eggs later in the week, but I could always procure eggs another time.  The result was actually a pretty easy hors d'oeuvre that went over quite well, if I do say so myself. 

Pesto-Stuffed Eggs (makes 10; approx. $0.17/serving)

5 hard-boiled eggs

1 cup Walnut Pesto

Equipment:

• Bowl

1. Carefully peel the eggs.
2. Halve the eggs lengthwise.  Remove the yolks and put them into the bowl.  Arrange the whites on a serving platter.
3. Pour the pesto into the bowl and mix well. 
4. Roll the resulting pesto-egg yolk mixture into ten balls. 
5. Put the pesto balls back into the egg halves. 
6. Serve. 

Recipe: Pasta with Lemon-Pepper Chicken and Pesto

I made this dish the day after I came back from my most recent visit to my family in Syracuse.  The main purpose of making this dish was a vehicle for the pesto.  I decided that the lemon-pepper chicken would be a great protein for the dish: low in fat, high in flavor.  The lemon-pepper blend I had on hand was of the salt-free variety: if you are using a blend that contains salt you should absolutely omit the salt I call for here. 

Pasta with Lemon-Pepper Chicken and Pesto (serves 4; approx. $1.58/serving)

1 12-oz package of whole wheat penne

1/2 cup Walnut Pesto

1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

4 tablespoons salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup lemon juice

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Small bowl
• Large saute pan

1. Prepare the pasta according to package instructions.  Drain.  Keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, cut the chicken breast lengthwise into thirds.  Slice the parts as thin as you reasonably can diagonally across the grain.
3. Combine the lemon-pepper seasoning and the salt in the small bowl.  Dredge the chicken slices in the mixture. 
4. Heat the oil in the saute pan. 
5. Add the chicken pieces and brown quickly on both sides.  Evacuate the chicken.
6. Add the onion and garlic.  Reduce heat and cook until the onion is soft. 
7. Add the white wine and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil.
8. Return the chicken to the pan.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is somewhat reduced. 
9. Put the pesto in the serving bowl. 
10. Put the hot pasta on top of the pesto.
11. Pour the chicken mixture on top of the pasta mixture.  Mix everything well.  The heat from the pasta and the sauce should melt the cheese in the pesto enough to make it possible to mix it.
12. Serve. 

Recipe: Walnut Pesto

It's probably still kind of early for basil, but I have to admit that I've been craving it lately.  I'm not really sure why.  Maybe it's an attempt to counteract the mood-deadening effects of the record rain we had in March.  Whatever the reason, I've been wanting basil.  When I was back visiting my family in March, I found some high-quality basil at a good price and picked some up on my way home.  I also happened to get my stubby-fingered hands on some high-quality Parmesan that was free to me.  The only sensible response was to make some pesto! 

This is basically a variant of my Caper Pesto.  It's really very simple and only requires your food processor. 

Walnut Pesto (makes about 20 ounces; approx. $0.45/ounce)

1 cup walnuts

2 cups basil leaves

13 cloves garlic, crushed

8 ounces grated parmesan

1 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Equipment:

• Food processor

1. Combine all the ingredients in the food processor.
2. Process to a thick paste.  Pause to scrape down the sides if necessary. 
3. Serve. 

Recipe: Vegetable Lasagne

This recipe was inspired by a recipe in a Martha Stewart Living magazine, but I can't remember which one right now.  I'd originally intended to make that recipe, bechamel and all, but when the time came to make the food I realized something: the entire recipe was intended to be made in the microwave.  For some people this would be fantastic, particularly for those without ovens (college students, people in small odd apartments, et cetera.)  For me, however, the microwave exists to keep food away from the pets in the house.  This is the purpose for which it was reserved when I went to make my lasagne, so I had to completely re-think the dish. 

This is the last recipe I cooked before my daughter was born, and all in all I was pretty happy with it.  I knew that once she was on the outside I was going to be out of commission for a while, leaving my husband to do the cooking.  He's actually a pretty decent cook (you've probably seen his recipes up here a time or two) but he really kind of disdains vegetables.  I wanted to get some last-ditch vegetable goodness in before relying on meat and refined carbohydrates, and this dish gave me that.  It also gave me a lot of flavor, which was quite nice if I do say so. 

Vegetable Lasagne (Serves 6; approx. $3.68/serving)

2 onions

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups Vegetarian Tomato Sauce

1 bunch mustard greens, chopped

10 ounces sliced mushrooms (I used Baby Bella)

8 ounces goat cheddar, thinly sliced

24 ounces part-skim ricotta

2 ounces pecorino

4 ounces mozzarella

Pinch kosher salt

Black pepper to taste

1 box no-boil lasagne noodles

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan
• Square baking pan

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat the oil in the saute pan.
3. Add the onions and garlic.  Sweat until softened.
4. Add the mushrooms.  Cook gently until softened and until they give up some of their juices.
5. Add the mustard greens and saute until just starting to wilt.  Season to taste and then remove the pan from heat.
6. Lay a bed of lasagne noodles on the bottom of the baking pan.  (Using tin foil here will make cleanup much easier, but it isn't necessary and I can't remember if I did it or not.)
7. Add a layer of the vegetables from the saute pan. 
8. Layer some of the goat cheddar on top, followed by a small amount of tomato sauce and a sprinkling of the pecorino and mozzarella. 
9. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up or you have exceeded the sides of your pan, whichever comes first.  The top layer should be noodles, with a bit of mozzarella and pecorino on the top. 
10. Bake at least 20 minutes, until the noodles are softened and the cheese is browned.
11. Let rest at least 5 minutes, then serve. 

Recipe: Mushroom and Tomato Sauce

While I was pregnant, I found myself craving ravioli.  This was probably the result of a calcium deficiency; I don't tend to eat a whole lot of dairy, and a fetus will leech the calcium from your very bones if it isn't getting what it needs from your diet.  I also found myself with a very low energy level, and while boiling up store-bought ravioli wasn't exactly the pinnacle of my culinary career it was certainly easy.  One night I had some ravioli and needed something to put on top of them.  I had some of the Vegetarian Tomato Sauce I made for another dish in the freezer.  I also had a whole bunch of sliced mushrooms I'd purchased for a dish I decided not to make.  This would give us more vegetables, which is always good. 

Mushroom and Tomato Sauce (makes enough for two servings of ravioli; approx. $2.76/serving)

2 cups Vegetarian Tomato Sauce, thawed if frozen (if you don't have this particular item in your freezer, you can dress up another sauce with the mushrooms.)

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 ounces sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

Equipment:

• Wok or saute pan

1. Heat the oil in the saute pan over medium-low heat.
2. Add the mushrooms and saute until soft.
3. Add the tomato sauce.  Heat thoroughly.
4. Pour over your desired pasta and serve. 

Recipe: Red Wine Risotto

Recipe Source: Weir, Joanne.  From Tapas to Meze.  Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2004 p. 122

Have you ever had a brain cramp?  The kind of thing where you just kind of space out and do something incredibly stupid?  I originally made this recipe for a potluck party around New Year's.  It was an afternoon party.  I was all excited about making it, as it was creative and fun and (as I discovered when I tasted it) really really delicious.  As we were leaving to go to the party, I put the food down so I could hoist myself up into the car (I was 9 months pregnant at this point, so "hoist" is really the only appropriate word.)  Well, I forgot to load the food in first.  Fortunately, the weather was cold enough that the dish did not go bad.  Not even close, actually, and we were able to thaw it out and enjoy it later in the week. 

I made a few changes to this recipe.  Actually I made a lotof changes to this recipe.  First, it's been a while since I've made a proper risotto.  I've been using barley instead of arborio rice.  Barley has a significantly higher nutritional value than white rice, costs a lot less, and (in my mind) tastes better.  Secondly, I used Lemony Vegetable Broth in place of chicken stock.  This is a matter of personal preference.  Thirdly, I used a pinotage instead of the suggested Italian reds.  I'd gotten an amazing deal on some pinotage at my current favorite wine store (Bin Ends, on Wood Road right here in Braintree.)  The wine that would normally have been about $18 had been marked down to $5.  Deal!  Anyway, I also substituted peccorino pepato for the grated Parmesan (which is typical for me, because I've found pecorino to be more distinctive and a lot less expensive than a decent Parm) and endive for the radicchio (because I could not find radicchio to save my life.  I went to three different stores in three different towns.)  As I've already mentioned, I loved this dish and would cheerfully make it again and again.

Red Wine Risotto (serves 8 as a side or as a first course; approx. $1.96/serving)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 1/2 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups red wine - I like pinotage lately

2 cups barley

2 tablespoons butter

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup grated pecorino

3 small endives, halved and cut into thin strips

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• 3 saucepans
• Ladle

1. Combine the Lemony Vegetable Broth and the water in one of the saucepans.  On a back burner, warm it over very low heat.
2. In another saucepan, warm the wine to just below a simmer. 
3. In the third saucepan, which should be larger than the other two, heat the oil over medium heat.
4. Add the onion and cook until soft.
5. Add the barley to the onion and stir until hot and completely coated, about 2 minutes.
6. Add 2 ladles of red wine and stir constantly until it is almost completely absorbed.
7. Add a ladle of the broth mixture and stir constantly until it is absorbed.
8. Continue adding the broth a ladle at a time, until it is all absorbed.
9. Continue with the red wine, also adding a ladle at a time until absorbed. 
10. Remove from heat.  Add the butter, nutmeg, pecorino, endive and the seasonings.
11. Stir and cover, then let sit off the heat 5 minutes.
12. Serve.