MITCH IN THE KITCHEN

broccoli rabe with pressed tofu and oyster sauce

I really like the way bitter greens taste with oyster sauce. The steamed greens you order at sit-down Chinese restaurants usually come lightly doused with this slightly glossy viscous brown condiment and nothing more.

I threw leftover broccoli rabe from pasta night together with leftover tofu from my zha jiang mian dinner into a hot pan with garlic, ginger, oyster sauce, and sesame oil to make a quick and easy single-serving dish to go with some rice. That dark blob on top is Yank Sing chili sauce, which also happens to be my favorite condiment for dumplings.

kale and bacon pizza

Between November and—oh, I dunno—April, I eat a lot of kale. It’s a fall/winter vegetable that is readily available, that isn’t a potato. I put kale in fried rice, in soups, tossed with pasta, mixed into mashed potatoes, and I’ve even tried my hand at making kale chips. But the pizza, my friends, was a first. As much as I love bacon, this thick-cut kind I picked up rendered a LOT of fat, which became a little overwhelming for me and John. You can’t really tell by looking at the photo above (or even the actual pizza), but I turned what was meant to be a healthy dinner into a sneaky lard bomb. If I could do it all over again (and I probably will), I would either use less bacon, thinner sliced bacon, a less fatty cured pork product (ham? prosciutto?), or something salty that isn’t made from pigs (anchovies? olives?).

pizza dough

5 or 6 medium kale leaves, stems removed, then chopped
6 oz provolone cheese, sliced 1/8-inch thick or shredded
little bit of thinly sliced red onion
4 or 5 sundried tomato halves, cut into thin strips
3 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide pieces
a few tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (about 18 by 13 inches) with parchment paper.

Sprinkle some corn meal on the baking sheet. Place the dough on the baking sheet and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Shape dough to fit pan. If it won’t stretch, let it rest a bit before handling it.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add kale (in batches if necessary) and saute until it begins to soften and turn bright green. Season with salt and pepper, and a little bit of crushed red pepper if you’re into that sort of thing. Add a splash of water and cook until kale is completely softened. Set aside.

Spread provolone evenly over pizza dough. Top with sauteed kale, then onions, sundried tomatoes, and uncooked bacon pieces. Top with additional Parmesan cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until crust is golden and bacon is slightly crisp, rotating halfway through.

baked mac and cheese

It got cold outside and I have assloads of work to do, making this a perfect time to hole up in my apartment, wrap myself in a blanket, and eat a lot of hot, baked foods in front of the TV. Comfort through food. Comforting food. Comfort food?

Ashwin has asked me what I think of the idea of “comfort food” (incidentally, Ashwin is one of my favorite people to talk to when it comes to just about anything). Like him, I associate the concept with more than just fried food and buttery hot things like mashed potatoes and macaroni smothered in cheese. Those were never the home-cooked meals of our childhoods. Personally, I put rice porridge and almost any kind of Chinese or Southeast Asian noodles in hot broth on my list of comfort foods.

That said, I do love baked pasta smothered in cheese, with some greens and beans on the side. I saute whatever cooking greens are around (kale, collards, turnip greens, spinach, chard) with garlic, red pepper flakes, and a little apple cider vinegar, then add some beans to the mix (black-eyed peas in the photo, but I like navy beans too). A very rough mac and cheese recipe is below.

5 to 6 oz pasta (I like penne, macaroni, or other small tubular pasta for this)
about 1 tablespoon butter
about 1 tablespoon flour
about 1 cup milk
salt and black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
about 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (not the seedy kind)
a lot of shredded cheese, as much as you can handle (I like to blend cheddar, gruyere, and parmesan)
panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cook pasta in boiling salted water for about half of the cooking time recommended on the package. It will finish cooking in the oven.

Heat a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add butter and flour. Cook briefly to make a light roux. Add salt and peppers. Whisk in milk, garlic, and mustard. Cook sauce until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally to keep a skin from forming on the surface. Add about half of your shredded cheese, then turn off the heat.

Combine pasta and sauce in a baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and panko. Bake in oven until top is golden brown (I never really keep track, but I think this takes about 20 minutes or so). Let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving and eating.

purslane found at the farmers' market

Five times out of every ten visits I make to the farmers’ markets around town, a complete stranger (usually the sweetest middle-aged woman in the entire place) approaches me with a question about the produce we are both picking through. I love it and am massively flattered when this happens. Some questions I can answer (“Do these sugar snap peas need to be cooked? Are they low in fat?”, “What’s the difference between red onions and shallots?”) and some I cannot (“Is this the only apple seller here today that doesn’t spray?”).

Why do they pick me? In a setting where my amateur knowledge of food is dwarfed by that of the growers themselves and the culinary professionals who are busily shopping alongside, I think it comes down to my palpable enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables. I’m told that I look genuinely excited when I am shopping for food, and I guess that makes me an easy and approachable target, whether or not I really know what I’m doing. It’s an uncommon thing to be recognized for, but it’s better than being a cat lady right?

My other favorite thing about the farmers’ market is picking up pretty things I’ve heard of but have never prepared myself. Most recently, it was a $1 bunch of purslane (verdolagas in Spanish), a fancy weed that is high in omega-3 fatty acids. Purslane is commonly found in Middle Eastern fattoush (a salad made with pita bread and vegetables), Mexican soups and stews, and mixed into salads. As I picked out a bunch, someone asked me if I knew what the stuff tastes like, and how to prepare it. I gave them my honest answer: I had no idea but would soon find out. Turns out purslane is a little herbal and generally leafy tasting, kind of like parsley or spinach. I added some to a bread salad with tomatoes, onions, and pomegranate molasses, then to some garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, with the juice and zest of a California lemon from the Mikulas’ backyard.

Update: Ari the Turk absolutely loves purslane, and tells me that it’s delicious with yogurt, olive oil, and garlic.