MITCH IN THE KITCHEN

red cabbage and carrot slaw

I’ve been into shredded things and crunchy raw vegetable salads lately. Here’s one more for each of those categories. The weather’s finally warming up a tiny bit, and I’m ready to transition from heavy, nap-inducing meals to lighter things. In between all the cookies and ice cream anyway.

1/4 of a medium head of red cabbage, sliced into thin shreds
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 small bulb shallot, thinly sliced
handful of chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
a few squeezes of lime juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt
black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Combine yogurt, honey, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and peppers to make dressing. Toss with other ingredients.

celery salad with peanut dressing

Ah, my first real snow day here in New York. I narrowly missed previous two major storms of the season by escaping to the warmer climes. Classes have been canceled today, and the exam I was ready to take this morning has been postponed until next week. It’s too bad I have an assload of studying left to do for another exam next week, because this is a perfect day to curl up on the couch with a big pint of chocolate stout and burn through my dusty batch of Netflix DVDs.

I have also resisted the urge to make a batch of cookies and/or (most likely would’ve been “and”) a huge pan of something else baked and gooey but cheesy (like macaroni and cheese, or lasagna, or a deep-dish pizza). Instead, I had a sandwich and a light and crunchy celery salad. There is still one more meal left in the day though…

5 celery stalks, thinly sliced crosswise
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 very small shallot bulb, finely minced
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper (optional)
water (just enough to thin the peanut butter out a tiny bit)
raisins

Combine everything except the celery and raisins to make the dressing. Then toss with the celery and raisins.

meatless sandwiches

One of my favorite things about working from home is making fresh lunches for myself. (My other favorite thing about this arrangement is not having to wear pants.) Instead of soggy sandwiches that have been sitting on my desk all morning, I can enjoy warm, toasted bread and not pay like $7 for it at some deli. You already know about my beet and goat cheese sandwiches. Here are two more that are vegetarian- (and airplane- and office- and wallet-) friendly. They don’t emit embarrassing smells the way hard-boiled eggs and tuna do, and they cost no more than about $2.50 each to make.

Hummus and Stuff (photo above)
Smear hummus on both sides of a multi-grain roll. I like to leave a border around the edges so that the hummus doesn’t all squish out when you take a bite. Add sliced peppers (and/or cucumbers… anything crunchy and not too drippy, basically) and sliced sharp cheddar cheese or crumbled feta. And maybe some olives?

Broccoli Rabe and Mozzarella (photo below)
Saute a lot of broccoli rabe with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Pile on a sesame roll with sliced fresh mozzarella.

midnight's pasta

(photos by the lovely Jocelyn Voo)

I finally got to make pasta with Ashwin again, this time with the very talented Mr. Rajen (who was visiting). Our follow-up to Spaghetti Made by Drunk People was (to borrow more than just photos from Jocelyn) something that made everyone go “aw yeah.” We cleared off as much counter space as we could, cracked open a few bottles of wine, and broke in the pasta machine that Jocelyn found in her office and gave me (yes, she is all over this post, because it wouldn’t have been possible without her).

It took a few tries to get the hang of the machine, but we ended up with fresh fettuccine that we tossed with a cream sauce and some greens. Very few things make me happier than a night with good food and good friends, no matter what time we end up eating.

Here’s how we made the pasta:
We loosely followed the recipe on a package of semolina. Combine equal parts unbleached all-purpose flour and semolina (made from durum wheat, a hard species of wheat) with olive oil, salt, and a few eggs. Knead until elastic. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Let rest for about 20 minutes. Roll out dough in the pasta machine  (photo tutorial here), then use the noodle cutting attachment. Boil noodles in salted water for a few minutes, until tender but not falling apart.

Mushroom and Leek Cream Sauce
Melt a pat of butter in a heated pan, over medium heat. Add sliced leeks (just the white and light green parts). Cook for a few minutes, until leeks are soft. Add minced garlic and sliced mushrooms (we used crimini mushrooms). Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. When mushrooms are cooked, add heavy cream. Lower heat to low and let the cream sauce thicken. If it starts getting too thick, add a little more cream. Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat. Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic and Crushed Red Pepper
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add chopped broccoli rabe, minced garlic, and a lot of crushed red pepper flakes. Saute until broccoli rabe stems are tender and leaves are wilted. Add chopped olives (chopped anchovies could also be good). Season with salt and black pepper. Toss with cooked pasta and extra virgin olive oil. Top with fresh bread crumbs.

beet and goat cheese sandwich

This has been one of my favorite snacks lately: multi-grain bread with goat cheese (chevre… the spreadable kind), scallions, and thinly sliced roasted beets (with a little drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper).

I usually roast a whole tray of beets at a time (wrap in foil with olive oil and a bit of vinegar, and roast for an hour or two in a 425-degree oven), then spend what feels like an hour or two rubbing the skins off with disposable glove-clad hands. I keep the peeled beets in the fridge and slice them whenever I need them.

By the way, if your pee turns red after eating some beets, don’t freak out. It’s just the intense beet pigments. You probably are not dying. You are among the 10 to 14 percent of the population with beeturia. Note that it doesn’t always happen consistently, and may depend on the conditions (pH, gut flora activity) in your stomach and small intestine, as well as iron absorption.

roasted broccoli and chickpea salad

This salad is nothing special, really. It doesn’t require any unusual ingredients, fancy equipment, or more than 30 minutes of your time. I pulled it together today while heavily caffeinated (read: jittery), in between rounds of practice GRE questions (side note: fun/frustrating because I get to review algebra and geometry from over half a lifetime ago). I am a huge fan of roasted broccoli, because it has a nutty-ish flavor that steamed, boiled, or sauteed broccoli does not.

For anyone whose New Year’s resolution is to cook at home more and/or eat healthier and less meaty food, this is kind of a nice option, yes? You can embellish it with herbs, olives, nuts, other vegetables, leftover chicken, or pretty much whatever you want. You can have it as a side dish with something, or mix it with pasta. It’s good warm, cold, or at room temperature. You could double this recipe to make a whole bunch of food for future meals. And it’s cheap; the ingredients below cost no more than $3 total. Really, it’s nothing special.

2 heads of broccoli, cut into bite-size chunks
2 medium carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 sundried tomato halves, minced (optional)
1/2 can chickpeas (or more, if you want)
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
a few tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange broccoli and carrots on a large baking sheet. I usually toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper right on the pan, but you could also do this in a separate bowl. Roast for about 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

In a medium bowl, combine onion, sundried tomato, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and olive oil. When vegetables are done roasting, add to dressing, along with chickpeas. Toss to coat.

winter squash pizza with caramelized onion, fennel, and apple

This pizza is a collage of fall flavors from the farmers’ market. I was feeling ambitious today, so I ended up spending way more time than usual on dinner for just myself. Anytime I’m hungry (or just getting off the subway), it’s always tempting to saunter into Little Luzzo’s and grab a decently delicious slice. Tonight I decided to knead and puree my way to homemade pizza that was eaten at 10pm. Was it worth it? Always. And I have leftovers too.

I made my pizza crust with a blend of whole wheat and regular flour, and pureed carnival squash (similar to acorn squash) stood in for the usual tomato sauce. I also used small squares of sliced cheese instead of piles of shredded cheese. As much as I love cheese (and I do love cheese), I can’t go around creating fatty calorie-bomb pizzas for a regular night’s dinner if I’m going to study and work in nutrition. Right?

1 small yellow onion
1 small fennel bulb
1/2 medium apple
4 small sage leaves, chopped
leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
olive oil
5 to 7 oz mozzarella or fontina cheese, sliced

1 1/2 cups of winter squash puree with roasted garlic (details below)
pizza dough (details below squash puree details)

fried sage leaves for garnish
grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Heat a large pan over medium-low heat with a bit of olive oil. Cut onion and fennel in half lengthwise, then very thinly crosswise. Peel apple and cut into thin matchsticks. Add onion, fennel, and apple to the pan, along with chopped sage, thyme, some salt, and pepper. Let mixture cook until soft and lightly browned, tossing frequently. It should take 20 to 25 minutes or so. If stuff starts sticking to the pan, add a tiny splash of water.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (about 18 by 13 inches) with parchment paper. Or you could use a pizza stone.

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.

Spread squash puree over dough. Spread onion fennel apple mixture over squash. Top with cheese slices. Bake in oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese is slightly bubbly and crust is slightly golden. Top with fried sage leaves (directions: just throw some sage leaves into hot oil and fry until they become translucent, then sprinkle a little salt on them) and grated cheese.

Winter Squash Puree
(adapted from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Cooking)

Cut the squash(es) in half (whether this is lengthwise or crosswise doesn’t matter) and scoop out the seeds. Place the halves on a lightly oiled baking sheet or baking pan. Throw in a few unpeeled garlic cloves. Bake in a 350-degree oven until the flesh of the squash is soft. The only way to know is to keep checking, since the time will vary depending on what type of squash you have and what size it is. Let it cool, then scoop the flesh out. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery stuff. Mash squash and garlic with a fork, potato masher, or food mill. Add a small spoonful of cream to smooth things out. Season with salt and pepper. I added some fresh thyme as well.

This stuff is also great in soup (add to broth with herbs and a little more cream or milk), as a sauce for pasta (add some herbs and cream or milk), or as baby food (because I’m pretty sure infants love roasted garlic).

Basic Pizza Dough
(adapted from The Cheese Board Collective Works)
makes two 12-inch, thin pizzas, or a large rectangular 18 by 13-inch pizza

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp or 1/4 oz) yeast
1 1/8 cup warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/8 tsp salt
2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups flour (I use 3/4 cups whole wheat flour and regular unbleached flour for the rest)

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Whisk with a fork, let stand 5 minutes.

Add oil, salt, and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon for at least 5 minutes. The dough should be a little sticky, but not so much that you can’t pick it up with your hands. It should form a ball.

Add 1/4 cup of flour to a large cutting board (or any clean, flat surface such as a large baking sheet). Dust your hands with some flour. Knead dough for at least 8 minutes, incorporating flour. If the dough is still way too sticky, add flour 1/4 cup at a time. The end result should be a smooth ball of dough that isn’t too dry. For those of you who don’t know how to knead, all you do is fold the dough towards you, then push forward with the heel of your hand, then rotate a quarter turn and repeat. It can be therapeutic, like those stress-relief balls that you squeeze. Tip: to prevent your kneading surface from slipping, place a damp towel under it.

Place dough in a well-oiled, large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (such as your kitchen stove) for 1 hour (or whatever the yeast packet instructions say).

After the dough has doubled in size, divide it into two portions (if making two pizzas) and use one per pizza.

how to dress up tomato soup

I can’t stand Sandra Lee’s TV show as much as you can’t (I’m assuming that you too roll your eyes at the dump-and-stir genre of cooking shows). Is it that hard to chop spinach? Does this aberration of a dessert have anything to do with Kwanzaa (or tasteful entertaining)?

Fine, call me a food snob. But do know that I’ve been eating packaged red pepper and tomato soup, dipping grilled cheese sandwiches in it and dressing it up with beans, fresh vegetables, and fresh herbs. It makes a pretty good lazy weekend lunch. I tossed some cauliflower with salt, black pepper, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and lime juice into a hot pan for about 10 minutes, then dumped it on top of some warmed soup with chickpeas stirred in. Throw some scallions and cilantro on top, and you’ve got yourself a decent semi-homemade bowl of soup.

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.

stir-fried shredded potatoes

I have so many potatoes right now. My CSA is expecting a bumper crop of them this year, and I’m already fretting over how I’ll use them all. This is a Chinese dish called 炒土豆絲 (chǎo tǔ dòu sī), which translates very simply to stir-fried potato shreds. The phrase for potato very literally means “bean of the earth”, which is kinda like the French pomme de terre, oui?

Anyway, these stir-fried potatoes made for a nice starch-on-starch meal with some rice and an omelet with onions, garlic, and leafy greens.

2 medium white potatoes (each about 3 inches long)
1/2 cubanelle pepper (or other sweet pepper)
1 hot pepper (I used a killer jalapeño from my CSA)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rice wine
1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed Sichuan peppercorn (or you could substitute with white pepper)
1 stalk scallion (wish I had added this)

Julienne potatoes (with a sharp knife or a mandoline, NOT a large-holed grater), and soak in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. This keeps them from oxidizing (turning that ugly brown/gray) and also washes away some of the potatoes’ starch, leaving you with a firmer, less mealy final product.

Cut peppers into the same size strips as the potatoes.

Heat vegetable oil in a wok or saute pan over medium heat. Add potatoes, tossing frequently so they don’t stick. After about 7 or 8 minutes, add peppers. When potatoes are cooked through, add rice wine, soy sauce, and Sichuan pepper (or white pepper). Stir fry some more to coat everything evenly. Garnish with chopped scallions.