Easter Eggs '15

Since Easter is coming this weekend I will do an article on eggs; I always do. I took an egg test given in the ‘Food Network’ April issue to see if I was an egghead! I can’t give you the test but can give you some interesting facts about eggs.

Chickens lay about 1 egg in a day. I actually would have thought more. The color of the eggshell depends on the breed of the hen and the color of the yolk depends on the diet of the hen. Young chickens can lay double-yolk eggs and these are ok to eat. A hard-boiled egg has 78 calories. So, not so bad. Hard-boiled eggs spoil faster than a raw egg because its protective coating is washed away, exposing the pores of the eggshell to bacteria. Hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated and eaten within a week, but raw eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 weeks. Brown eggs and white eggs have the same nutritional value. A cloudy raw egg white is a sign of freshness. You can freeze raw eggs. Raw eggs can be frozen out of their shells for up to a year. Peeling a hard-boiled egg is easier if the egg is a few weeks old. Separating an egg is easier when the egg is cold.

When you see grades (AA, A, B) this is the USDA way to specify the quality of the eggs. AA being the highest quality. When a hard-boiled egg has a grayish green ring around it, it has been overcooked. You should store your eggs in their carton on a shelf inside your refrigerator (set at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below). The temperature of the door can fluctuate so not the best place to store the eggs.

I will not go into the labeling of eggs (I have done this before) but one really needs to try and find a good source of free range eggs. They can be expensive. Maybe you need a hen or two in your back yard!

For my Easter lunch I am doing spring vegetables with deviled egg vinaigrette. This way I get some boiled eggs in my salad and some eggs in my dressing. How is that for using those eggs?

Happy Easter everyone!

From Louisiana Cookin’ April issue.

Spring Vegetables with Deviled Egg Vinaigrette

Makes 6 to 8 servings

6 cups water

1 tablespoon salt

2 bunches jumbo asparagus, trimmed

4 large soft-boiled eggs, divided

1 (6-ounce) package sugar snap peas, halved lengthwise

½ cup fresh green peas

1 cup shaved fennel

6 radishes, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Deviled Egg Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Garnish; fresh herbs, shaved asparagus, celery leaves

In a large bowl, prepare an ice-water bath, and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups water and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus, and cook until bring green. Remove from pan, and drain. Place in a prepared ice bath; drain, and set aside. Finely chop 2 boiled eggs. Cut remaining 2 eggs in quarters.

On a large platter, arrange asparagus, snap peas, green peas, fennel, radishes, and quartered eggs. Top with diced eggs, salt, and pepper. Serve with Deviled Egg Vinaigrette. Garnish with fresh herbs, shaved asparagus, and celery leaves, if desired. Serve immediately.

Deviled Egg Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup

1/3 cup cane vinegar

1 tablespoon minced shallot

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup Dijon mustard

2 large soft-boiled egg yolks

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar and shallot, and let stand at least 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, and egg yolks until smooth. Add yolk mixture to shallot mixture, whisking to combine. Add chives, dill, sugar, salt, and peppers, whisking to combine. Whisking constantly, gradually add olive oil until combined. Whisk until smooth. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Store covered in refrigerator up to 3 days.

 

 

Crayfish

We have been to New Orleans for the past two weekends and had some very good meals. Bayona, Susan Spicer’s restaurant, has a $25.00 lunch on Saturdays, and you can pick out three things among starters, mains, and desserts. You do not have to choose a dessert but could choose three starters. I like that since I rarely eat dessert. The portions are small but wonderful. I had a salad with blue cheese, a flat iron steak with Irish stew, and two cornmeal oysters with butterbeans. Seems like a lot, but it only made you want more of everything. The exciting event of the lunch was a huge rat running around the courtyard! Now those of us eating in the courtyard were not too fazed and just kept on eating. I think there have been some rats there before according to the wait staff, one had even jumped on a nun’s hat! They are trying to get rid of them “organically.” I suspect they may need to be more aggressive.

My son was with us and kept talking about going to a crawfish boil that afternoon. Each year when crawfish season hits its stride there are crawfish boils all over the city. I am always trying new ways with these iconic, Louisiana crustaceans. Breads, pies, pastas---you name it. I recently tried a new crawfish pasta recipe which was excellent, and also tried a crawfish frittata. This would be great for breakfast or a brunch. So get some of those crawfish and cook them while they are in season.

From Louisiana Cookin’ April 2015.

Creamy Tomato Crawfish Pasta

Makes about 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup chopped sweet onion

¼ cup chopped Fresno chili

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¼ cup sweet vermouth

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes

½ cup Creole cream cheese or crème fraîche (I used regular cream cheese)

½ pound crawfish tail meat

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ pound cooked capellini or angel hair pasta

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (Time to plant this year’s supply.)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (Time to get this started in the herb garden or pot, as well.)

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat; add onion and chili, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 30 seconds. Add vermouth, and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, gently breaking tomatoes with spoon.

Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low. Add Creole cream cheese, whisking until smooth, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in crawfish, salt, and pepper, and simmer 4 minutes. Stir in pasta, basil, and parsley, and stir until combined. Serve immediately.

 

Crawfish Boil Frittata

Makes about 8 servings

1 large red potato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 ½ cups fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)

½ cup chopped sweet onion (about ½ cup)

1 pound crawfish tail meat

2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, divided

10 large eggs

½ cup whipping cream

½ cup crumbled goat cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

In a saucepan, add potatoes and salt, and cover with cold water. Over medium-high heat, bring potatoes to a boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and drain; set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high; stir in corn and onion, and cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in crawfish and 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and remaining 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning until combined; add potatoes, crawfish mixture, goat cheese, and parsley, stirring until combined.

In a large oven-proof skillet, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add egg mixture, and cook until bottom beings to set, about 5 minutes. Bake until eggs are set, about 30 minutes. Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve immediately.

 

 

Madrid

We had to spend the night on our way back from Morocco in Madrid. No time for doing a lot but we reserved a hotel in town near the Prado. The Prado is Spain’s best known museum and by one writer the greatest collection anywhere of paintings by the European masters, and THE place to enjoy the great Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya. And the museum in free after every evening! But after spending all day going to the airport, waiting in the airport, flying, collecting bags, customs, etc. we felt like a drink and something to eat after checking in to our hotel. The clerk suggested tapas, near the Plaza Mayor, a short walk away. The Calle Cava Baja is just a short walk south of Plaza Mayor and “fills each evening with mostly young, professional Madrileños prowling for chic tapas and social fun.”  We headed out all bundled up in the chilly winter Madrid. We were early for the bar recommended by the clerk but found one nearby and sat at a window table near the bar and ordered two glasses of tinto (red wine) and settled in to think about which tapas to order and to watch the crowd. Of course, we had a bowl of aceitunas (olives) to munch on.

The Spanish eat their main meal in the afternoon and dinner quite late---for us. But tapas are eaten at all times. They come in a ración (full portion, dinner plate size), media-ración, tapa (snack-size portion) and a pincho (bite-sized portion) or a pinchito (tiny pincho). We chose one tapa to share, then another---then another glass of wine and more olives and another tapa. It was all we needed. We had a tortilla which in Spain is a potato omelet. We had to have jamón (a prosciutto-like ham that’s dry-cured and aged) served on a bocadillo (baguette sandwich). Caramelized onions were another good toping along with cheese.

I came home and found my old tapas book and did some interesting recipes which I would like to share. It is a great way to have dinner and eat less at the same time.

From the book Incredibly Easy Tapas, 2008 by Publications International, Ltd.

Herbed Tuna Salad Toasts

Makes 24 appetizers

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon coarse-grain mustard

¼ cup olive oil

2 cans (6 ounces each) solid white tuna packed in water, drained

2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and grated

3 green onions, finely chopped

3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and black pepper

24 (1/2-inch) toasted French bread slices

Smoked paprika or paprika

For vinaigrette, whisk together vinegar and mustard. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly.

Combine tuna, eggs, green onions, capers, oregano, thyme and garlic in medium bowl; season with and pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over tuna mixture, stirring gently to blend. Cover; refrigerate 2 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

Spoon tuna mixture onto bread slices. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.

Note: The tuna mixture can be prepared up to 1 day in advance. For the best flavor, remove the tuna mixture from the refrigerator 30 minutes before assembling the toast.

 

Chorizo and Caramelized Onion Tortilla

Makes 36 squares

¼ cup olive oil

3 medium yellow onions, quartered and sliced

½ pound Spanish chorizo sausage (about 2 links) or Andouille sausage, diced (I used Andouille)

6 eggs

Salt and black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh parsley (I used cilantro since that is what is in my garden.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch square baking pan with olive oil cooking spray.

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions; cook, covered, 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to low; cook, uncovered, 40 minutes or until golden and very tender. Remove onions from skillet and set aside to cool.

Add chorizo to skillet. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or until just beginning to brown. Remove chorizo from skillet; set aside to cool.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add onions, chorizo and parsley; stir gently until well blended. Pour egg mixture into prepared pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn oven to broil. Broil 1 to 2 minutes or until top just starts to brown. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool completely. Cut into squares or triangles; serve on wooden toothpicks cold or at room temperature.

Note: The tortilla can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated until serving. To serve at room temperature, remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

Mardi Gras Brunch '15

It is carnival time again and this year I am going to New Roads, Louisiana to see two parades. Of interest to some locals in Andalusia, I will be viewing the parades from Mother Peggy Scott’s house in New Roads. Peggy is from Andalusia and her mother stills lives there (and reads my columns I hear). Peggy is an Episcopal priest and has a church in New Roads. So a fun day for all!

When I get my kitchen organized in New Orleans I am going to give a brunch on Mardi Gras day. It would be something very easy to prepare but interesting to eat. I would do King Cake scones instead of the traditional king cake. (This year I read that savory king cakes are ‘in.’) A sparkling hurricane with some fresh juices would be good. Grits and some eggs would be on the menu. A winter fruit salad with a citrus vinaigrette would finish the meal. Then some good coffee, with chicory, of course. Sounds good! I suppose I could do this outside of New Orleans but it probably would not be the same! So wherever you are on Fat Tuesday, celebrate because Lent is coming.

 

Taken from February 2015 ‘Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine’

King Cake Scones

Makes 1 dozen

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, chilled and diced

½ cup sour cream

¾ cups buttermilk, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Buttermilk Glaze, recipe follows

Purple, yellow, and green sanding sugars

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut butter and cream cheese into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, ½ cup buttermilk, and extracts. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Working gently, bring mixture together with hands until a sticky dough forms.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead lightly 4 or 5 turns. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a circle 1-inch thick. Cut wedges from dough and place on prepared baking sheet. Brush scones with remaining ¼ cup buttermilk.

Bake until lightly browned, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on pan. Drizzle cones with Buttermilk Glaze, and sprinkle with desired sugars before glaze sets.

 

Buttermilk Glaze

Makes 1 cup

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons buttermilk

In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar and buttermilk together until desired consistency is reached.

 

Sparkling Hurricane

Makes 8 to 10 servings

4 cups passion fruit juice

4 cups pineapple juice

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup pineapple rum

1 cup rum

1 bottle chilled Champagne

Garnish: fresh lemon slices

In a large pitcher, combine passion fruit juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice and rums. Add Champagne. Serve in chilled glasses. Garnish with fresh lemon slices, if desired.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!!!!!

Morocco II

Morocco was a French protectorate in 1912 (becoming independent in 1956) with the French leaving a legacy of architecture, cuisine and language. The local language is Arabic but French is universally spoken. Being western we were always greeted with bonjour, never salaam alaikum. Street signs, if present, are in French and Arabic. A French treat we visited one day was the Majorelle Gardens. This is considered one of the glories of Marrakesh. The garden is the chef-d’oeuvre of Jacques Majorelle, painter, plant collector and scholarly enthusiast of the culture of Marrakesh and the Sahara. He was born in Nantes in 1886, the son of the celebrated Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle. Jacques came to Marrakesh in 1917 and in 1924 purchased a plot of land outside the city walls that was to become his studio and garden. Majorelle created a personal idiom, blending elements of the local Islamic tradition with his artistic vision in which the garden is developed as a series of unfolding, living canvases. The visitor moves from a cool bamboo forest to areas of squat fan palms and agaves set among towering date palms, to a cactus garden and a lily pool. The single most influential choice Majorelle made was to adopt a striking cobalt blue which he had come across in his travels in the Berber villages of the South. This exhilarating hue has become known as Majorelle Blue. Walls and structures were painted and terracotta pots were given the same treatment, but with an extended palette of orange, citrus yellow and pale blue adding highlights. The garden remained after Majorelle’s death in 1962, and in 1980 was purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. In 2000 they endowed the garden and it remains open to the public as one of the great gardens of the world. We spent a couple hours wandering this exotic space and resting in its small café with mint tea.

Later that day we visited what I think is the other great garden of Marrakesh---the Mamuonia. The Mamounia hotel began as an arsat, a productive orchard garden including a zone of habitation, created by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (r.1757-90) for one of his sons, Mamoun. The hotel was developed in 1923 to accommodate the growing number of European officials and a burgeoning tourist industry. The ‘Art Deco meets Orientalism’ design of 1922 has acquired almost mythic status. One staff member explained that ‘the garden is our history, it gave us our name and is the soul of the hotel.’ The Mamounia is not just the most notable hotel in Marrakesh but is something of a twentieth-century legend. Its guestbook has a host of notable signatures: Charlie Chaplin, Will Smith, Marlene Dietrich, Sharon Stone, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, General de Gaulle, Nelson Mandela. Churchill was a big fan, describing the view from his balcony as ‘paintaceous,’ with the famous gardens being, ‘the most lovely spot in the whole world.’ Staying at the Mamounia is costly but non-residents are welcome to order a drink on the terrace and enjoy the gardens----which we did. This time we had a cocktail instead of the mint tea, but with the ever present olive appetizers.

Angelica Gray wrote a nice coffee-table book entitled the Gardens of Marrakesh in 2013. The cover is of Jnane Tamsna, the arsat style garden in the Palmeraie where we stayed. Jnane Tamsna is an unusual guesthouse created by ethnobotanist Gary Martin, an American, and his Senegalese wife, Meryanne Loum-Martin. They built the place in 2000 to express their personal vision of the good life. Maryanne is a lawyer but has found her forte in design. Ethnobotany is the study of the interaction between people and plants. Gary designed the garden, janna, traditionally a space planted with date palms and fruit trees, and including grapes vines, which appears in the Koran as an explicit description of paradise. Gary acknowledges that the great traditional garden types of the region are at the heart of his design; the overall structure has been inspired by the arsat model, with its mix of tall sheltering palms towering over a middle stratum of citrus, olive, pomegranate, fig and mulberry trees, with a lower level of seasonal vegetables and overlaid with the kind of ornamental plants typical of a bustan garden, such as daturas, jasmine, pittosporum, roses, lavender, rosemary and other aromatic herbs. Indeed many bouquets around the property, in our room and in the dining room, were roses from the garden, and the vegetables we ate came from the garden. I particularly liked the freshly squeezed orange juice we enjoyed from the trees all around us. And of course, those olives.

Gary has projects all over the world which have won him international prizes and he is the director of the Global Diversity Foundation, which supports biodiversity in community projects on three continents. We met Meryanne but not Gary, and I took a cooking class in her home which is in the compound.

I had been told the class was about cooking in a tagine, but that did not happen. We basically did the class using a Moroccan couscous pot, which is a big pot with a steamer on top. Probably all of you have one. I did get some good ideas in the class, and did buy a $5.00 tagine which I used when I got home and made a wonderful dish of chicken and vegetables. The tagine was cheap but did a great job in producing wonderful chicken and vegetables. Here is my version using what I did at home and including some of the cooking class.

Couscous with Seven Vegetables

Serves 6

Chicken

1 chicken (2lbs.) could not get all the chicken in my tagine and in the class they seared it in a skillet

2 tomatoes (peeled and coarsely chopped)

1 small bunch parsley

1 small bunch of cilantro

1/3 cup olive oil

Water

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Vegetables

½ small cabbage

1 small butternut squash or a chunk of red pumpkin (cut into pieces)

1 small eggplant

1 zucchini (ends removed and halved)

4 carrots (peeled and halved)

2 turnips (peeled and halved)

2 cups dried chick peas (soaked in water overnight) or 1 can of chick peas

 3 red chilies (optional)

Drizzle the olive oil in the bottom section of the couscous pot and add the chicken, onion, tomatoes, spices, and ¼ cup of water. Cover the pot and sear the chicken for 5 minutes on medium heat. My tagine could not hold all the ingredients and I did have to remove some of the liquid. I did put it back in the end of the cooking and used it to cover the couscous.

Add the cilantro, parsley, and harder vegetables: cabbage, carrots, turnips, and chick peas. If using canned chick peas, add them at the end since they are already cooked.

Add 2 cups water, cover the pot and cook on medium heat for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is done. At the end there should be enough sauce covering the chicken as the sauce is served on the side with the couscous. The tagine cannot hold 2 cups of water; 1 cup is enough.

Steaming the couscous:

I used couscous which only had to be added to hot water, salt and butter. You can steam it three times on the couscous pot if you want to take the time.

Once 40 minutes have elapsed, remove the chicken from the pot and reserve. Taste sauce and adjust the spice accordingly.

Add the softer vegetables to the pot: zucchini, butternut squash, and red chili pepper. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes or until done.

Serve by setting the couscous grains first in a dome shape, pouring some sauce over the couscous, placing the chicken in the center, and the vegetables on the top of and around the dome. Pour the remaining sauce in bowls and serve with the couscous to so people can add sauce, to their taste, to their individual plates.

 

Morocco I

We had decided on a winter trip to Morocco. Bought a guidebook and skimmed through it. I read, “If you can see only one city in Morocco, make it Marrakesh.” and so we did. We had to fly through Madrid (and even overnight there on the way back). I notified the credit card company. “Where is Morocco?” she asked. It’s North Africa, Muslim. But stable and north of the Ebola outbreak in western Africa. “Are you going anywhere else?” “Yes, we will spend the night in Madrid.” “Is that in Morocco?” So much for well-traveled credit card agents!

Marrakesh is a walled city on a desert plain north of the snow covered High Atlas Mountains. We decamped in the Palmeraie---a palm studded oasis outside the city. We were welcomed in the lounge by the hostess with a pot of mint tea, the national drink of Morocco. The à la menthe is offered for, with, and following breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were tired but had a light lunch in the garden of lamb and brazed fennel, and starting with local olives and Moroccan bread as all our meals would be. We truly loved the olives. They were different from what we get here in the stores. We had a glass of wine. Asked about a Merlot but were offered a local red from Meknes---Saharri. An appropriate name as we were on the edge of the Sahara Desert, the third largest desert in the world (after the Artic and the Antarctic) and about the size of the United States. We rested before dinner and then got a good night’s sleep.

We headed out the next morning for the medina, the old walled city. I was impressed with the still extant city walls (begun in the 12^th century) neatly landscaped outside, and teaming with houses and alleys inside. We entered by one of the many still open gates and headed to the Djemâa el Fna, the carnivalesque market right at the center of the medina. It was designated by UNESCO in 2001 as a ‘Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.’ There are food stalls, fresh orange juice stands with the mounds of seasonal oranges awaiting squeezing, women offering henna tattoos, young men displaying Barbary apes on chains, water sellers in colorful lampshade-like hats, storytellers, magicians, jugglers, snake charmers, musicians, singers, gymnasts, and peddlers of everything. We then wended our way into the souks. There is no map. You will get lost. We just wandered and wondered. Mid-morning we stopped at a small café that spilled out into the street. We had mint tea and watched the people, motorcycles, donkey carts and all stream by. Quite a show! For lunch we went into a restaurant that the hotel had recommended and had lunch in the courtyard. We decided to have a bowl of the hearty harira (chickpea, lentil and meat) soup.

The recipe comes from ‘La Maison Arabe Moroccan Cooking---Our Dadas’ (typical Moroccan cooks) Recipes’

Harira

Soup base

½lb. lamb meat, diced

2 onions (finely chopped)

½ lb. dried legumes

3.5 ounces dried chick peas (soaked overnight) 3.5 ounces celery (chopped)

A small bouquet of fresh flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, and celery leaves

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Tomato sauce:

3 medium sized tomatoes, peeled and pureed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Thickening sauce:

1 cup all-purpose flour

Water

Other: ¼ cup Italian vermicelli

Place all the “Soup Base Ingredients” except the water in a pressure cooker. Mix well. Cook on medium for 5 minutes.

Add 8 ½ cups of hot water. Close the pressure cooker and cook, over high heat, until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes.

Check that the beans and chick peas are cooked. They should be tender. If not, add more water and cook 15 more minutes.

In a large bowl, mix all the “Tomato Sauce ingredients”.

Add the tomato sauce to the soup base. Stir well. Cover and cook over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes more.

Release the pressure and add the Italian vermicelli to the soup. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until the vermicelli are plumb and soft.

To create the thickening sauce, mix the cup of flour with enough water to get a smooth paste. Make sure that all the flour is dissolved.

Finally, add the thickening sauce to the soup and stir constantly until completely mixed. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. The soup will start thickening. Taste and adjust seasoning. If it should become too thick add more water.

Serve the harira hot is soup bowls. You can add lemon juice to the soup for a tangy taste. In Morocco, harira is served with dates, figs, and Moroccan honey pastries.

 

We bought a teapot, tray and typical Moroccan glasses for tea and hope to use them for some mint tea back home. The Moroccans use Chinese green tea brewed with a handful of mint leaves and liberally loaded up with sugar. We had the tea poured from about 3 feet from the pot to our glasses or served in larger glasses filled with fresh mint. Fresh mint is essential. In the souk the tea came with 3 cubes of sugar. I thought one was just about right. Tea was introduced to Morocco in the mid-19^th century when blockaded British merchants unloaded ample quantities of tea at major ports. The tradition has now become such a symbol of Moroccan hospitality that not drinking three small glasses of tea when your host offers it is nearly a declaration of hostilities.

Another edible treat I had one day was a cactus fruit. I had never eaten one before. These are the pod left on the opuntia cactus pad after flowering. The vendor had a stack on his tray and served these by pealing with one slice around the center then handing the red interior to us on a toothpick. It had a sweet-tart taste with the consistency of something like a Kiwi. More next week!

Oysters '15

I was in New Orleans over the weekend and saw a line of people outside the Acme Oyster House. I had noticed that it was voted one of the 10 best oyster houses in the south. It is also the host of the World Oyster Eating Championship. (Record is 47 dozen in 8 minutes.) That is impressive! I have never eaten there but will put it on my list of things to do. Just across the street is Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar which was also in the top 10.

This week I did try two new oyster recipes and they are worthy of your trying them. It is oyster season now, so get out and get some oysters and try these recipes.

Taken from January 2015 ‘Southern Living’ magazine.

Classic Oyster Stew

Makes 4-6 servings

1 pt. shucked fresh oysters, undrained

2 cups milk

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup butter

1 shallot, minced

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 cup half-and-half

2 Tbsp. sherry

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. celery salt

Fresh lemon juice

Dash of hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

Oyster crackers, saltine crackers, or buttered toast

Drain oysters, reserving oyster liquor (about 1 cup). Heat milk and oyster liquor in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally to prevent scorching, 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture just begins to steam. Add oysters, and season with desired amount of salt and pepper. Cook 4-5 minutes or until the edges of the oysters just begin to curl. Remove pan from heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer oysters to a plate to prevent from overcooking.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-heat. Add shallot and garlic, and cook, stirring often, 4 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle flour over shallot mixture, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until completely incorporated and bubbly. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and next 3 ingredients. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Gradually stir in reserved milk mixture and oysters. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, just until warmed through. Season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and hot sauce. Serve with crackers.

 

This next one is an impressive presentation and delicious also.

Oyster-Bacon Pot Pie

1 qt. shucked fresh oysters, undrained

4 thick slices bacon, diced

3 Tbsp. butter

8 oz. fresh button mushrooms, thinly sliced

6 green onions, sliced

1 celery rib, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

¼ cup dry white wine

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ tsp. table salt

¼ tsp. ground red pepper

¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

½  (17.3-oz.) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 large egg

Place an oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400°. Drain oysters, reserving 1 ½ cups oyster liquor. Cook bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes or until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels; reserve 3 Tbsp. drippings in Dutch oven.

Add butter and next four ingredients to Dutch oven; sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic and lemon juice; cook 1 minute. Add wine, and cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with flour; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in cream, next 4 ingredients, and reserved oyster liquor; bring to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly, 2 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in oysters and bacon. Spoon mixture into 6 lightly greased 12-oz. ramekins. Cut pastry sheets into circles slightly larger than ramekins, and place 1 on top of filling in each ramekin. Whisk together egg and 1 Tbsp. water; brush mixture over pastry.

Bake at 400° on lower oven rack 30-35 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

 

Jerusalem Artichokes

Every winter my husband brings in a basketful of those gnarly ugly looking Jerusalem artichokes. What to do with all of them? The interesting thing is that the Jerusalem artichoke is neither from Jerusalem  nor related to the artichoke---which most likely explains why food marketers changed its name to sunchoke in the 1960s after centuries of consumption in the United States. Despite its ugly appearance it remains a delicious staple ingredient in the South’s best restaurant kitchens.

The nutty and slightly sweet flavor makes it really versatile and a great match for warm, seasonal comfort dishes. You can cut them into chunks---leaving the skin intact---and toss them with garlic and olive oil before roasting and they are delicious. The secret is to keep the seasoning mild so that their delicate flavor comes through. This root vegetable can be used like a water chestnut when sliced thin on a mandolin and served raw in salads or as crudités.

Although technically in season in the South from early fall through spring, this tuber reaches its peak flavor in the winter. Choose firm sunchokes with no blemishes, sprouts, or soft spots, and store them on the counter for a week, or in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. Give them a much needed cleaning with a vegetable scrubber. Then use these recipes to discover the beauty of this unassuming kitchen star.

They are easy to grow and when you dig them you rarely get all the tubers so they come back the next year. They have a nice yellow daisy-like flower in the early fall.

 

From “Garden and Gun” February/March 2015.

Make a Soup: I did this soup and it took less than 30 minutes and it was delicious. It is all you need for a first course for an elegant dinner or it will be plenty filling for a lunch entrée.

Sauté 2 tsp. chopped garlic and 2 tsp. ground pepper in 2 Tbsp. olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups peeled and chopped sunchokes, two cups heavy cream, and 1 cup chicken broth, and reduce until smooth. Top with 1 tsp. crème fraîche, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with chervil, parsley, or your favorite herb.

 

Roast this Root:

Roughly chop 2 cups rainbow carrots (I used regular carrots) and 2 cups sunchokes. Toss with 1 cup olive oil, 1 tsp. julienned fresh sage, up to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 tsp. each finely chopped ginger and garlic, ½ cup soy sauce, and ½ cup sweet chili sauce. Spread the seasoned vegetables evenly on sheet pan and bake at 375°F until caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Bake a Quiche: The perfect comfort food for a lazy Sunday morning. You can use what you have in your fridge to swap out some of these ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups chopped sunchokes, ½ cup Swiss cheese cubes, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 tsp. nutmeg, and 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme. Spread evenly over a store-bought pie shell. Whisk together

2 whole eggs, 1 cup cream, and salt and pepper to taste, then pour into pie shell. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm.

 

In my latest issue of “Saveur” magazine, there was a wonderful recipe for using sunchokes in pastry. I had never thought of this. These pies or pastries were originally made for miners---they could hold the pies’ thick edging with dirty hands and discard it after eating. You can eat these with clean hands and not throw away anything. This is a great pick up food.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Comté Pasties

Makes 6

 12 oz. Jerusalem artichokes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced

12 oz. Comté cheese, thinly sliced (can be found at Whole Foods)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Flour, for dusting

1 17-oz. box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 325°. Line the inside of a 9”x13” baking dish with parchment paper. Arrange artichokes and cheese together in two layers in dish, seasoning with salt and pepper between layers. Bake until artichokes are tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 30 minutes. Let filling cool.

Increase oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry sheets until ¼” thick. Using a 6” round cutter, cut out 6 circles, reusing scraps as needed. Divide filling between centers of circles. Fold circles in half, pinch edges to seal. Transfer pasties to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg; bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.