Author: cia

Stewed Cranberry Beans with Bacon

Miriam and I drove up to the Catskills for her bachelorette party two weekends ago. Yep, a bachelorette party with just the two of us. I’ve known her for the last 12 years and even though we’re always miles away from each other, we just always pick up where we left off the next time we’re together. She was coming from Singapore and was jet-lagged so our Phoenecia weekend was pretty chill and quiet. Besides eating and drinking around town, we stopped by Migliorelli Farm to pick up some fresh produce. I ended up taking home their fresh cranberry beans which I shelled several days later and soaked before making this dish.

Ingredients:
olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
salt, pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shelled cranberry beans, soaked for 24 hours, drained
chicken broth
2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
2 tsps lemon zest
2 tbsps lemon juice
a dash chile pepper flakes
1 tsp sambal oelek
a handful of spinach leaves

1. Cook and stir olive oil and bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until bacon is fully cooked and begins to crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in shallots and season with salt and pepper and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the beans begin to swell, about 25 minutes.
3. Uncover and continue cooking bean and bacon mixture until the liquid reduces and beans are tender, 5 to 10 more minutes. Add rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chile pepper flakes. Stir in sambal oelek to incorporate and to adjust the taste. Remove from heat, stir in spinach until wilted.

Halibut with Ground Veal and Cilantro Sauce

I was watching a Top Chefs Duel episode with Stephanie Izard and was intrigued by the halibut dish that she prepared the judges all fawned over. I’m always looking for seafood recipes outside of roasting them whole so I was glad to buy a nice halibut piece from Chelsea Market’s Lobster Place to try it.

I found the recipe on Food & Wine but made changes when, surprisingly, my neighborhood grocery store did not have ground pork the day I stopped by. I also didn’t want to walk an avenue away to pick up tamarind from the Mexican store (I’ve seen them there before outside of Chinatown), so I ended up buying the smallest bottle of pomegranate juice I can find to substitute. I would have cooked the Pom juice down for a thicker consistency, but the recipe needed a scant amount so I just threw it in for its tartiness.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsps white balsamic vinegar
2 tsps Dijon mustard
a dollop of honey
salt, pepper
peanut oil
1 medium shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound ground veal
1 1/2 tbsps sugar
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tsp pomegranate juice
1/4 cup salted roasted peanuts, grounded
fresh lime juice
a nice piece of halibut fillet

1. Make the cilantro sauce. In a food processor, purée the cilantro, olive oil, vinegar, mustard and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Cook the veal. Heat some peanut oil in a saucepan. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until softened. Add the veal and cook over moderately high heat, breaking up the meat, until browned. Add the sugar, miso, pomegranate, peanuts and 1/2 cup of water to the pork. Simmer over moderately low heat until thickened, 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; stir in the lime juice and keep warm.
3. Cook the fish. In a nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Season the halibut with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat until browned and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Set the fish on a plate and top with the veal and cilantro sauce.

Penne with Squash Blossoms

Summer came in late for us here in New York City. It’s already September and I’m only starting to see summer produce at the farmers’ markets. It was with some shock that I bought squash blossoms when I saw them at my Harlem’s produce stand one Tuesday morning while walking my dog Atticus.

Ingredients:
olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
12 zucchini blossoms, halved; stems removed if hardy
salt
6 saffron threads
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 egg yolk
penne pasta
Pecorino Romano, shaved

1. Put a large pot of salted water over high heat; this will be your pasta pot.
2. In the meantime, heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the red onion, celery, carrot, and parsley, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent. Add the zucchini blossoms, a pinch or two of salt, and the saffron, and stir gently to mix.
3. Add about 3/4 cup of broth, and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rest of the broth a splash or two at a time, taking about 5 minutes to add it all. Stir frequently. Allow the sauce to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and only a thin film of thickened broth remains in the pan. Remove from the heat.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk slightly with a fork. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until tender but al dente. When the pasta is almost ready, place the zucchini blossom sauce back over medium heat. Use a small measuring cup to scoop up about 3 tbsps of pasta water and, whisking constantly with a fork, gradually add the hot water to the egg yolk: together, they should make a loose, pale yellow liquid. Pour this mixture into the sauce in the skillet, stirring well. Scoop some cooked pasta into a serving bowl, and toss with the sauce. Top with shaved cheese.

Golden Beets Fennel Grapefruit Salad with Cumin-Fennel Seed Dressing

We skipped spring this year here in New York City and went directly to tropical summer. It’s so hot and humid right now that I can’t recommend turning your oven on, but when alas, I did, because I can’t help but eat beets. I roasted 2 bunches of beets and refrigerated them to make 3 different salads in a span of a week.

Here’s one that I loved so much because the dressing is not your typical olive oil-vinegar dressing. The cumin stood out here as an unexpected taste because it looks like a regular salad. Goes to show that it’s not always about the main ingredients sometimes.

Ingredients:
4 small golden beets, peeled and cut into wedges
olive oil
2 tbsps red wine vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp cumin seeds, grounded
1 tsp fennel seeds, grounded
mache, or any mixed greens
1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced
1/2 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
salt and pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 425º. Toss the beet wedges with some olive oil and sprinkle them with salt. Spread them on a baking dish and roast until tender, about 25 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together red wine vinegar and the maple syrup. Add the cumin and fennel seeds. When the beets come out of the oven, toss them with some of the dressing. There should be some olive oil coating the beets. If not, drizzle a little more olive oil.
3. Assemble your salad. In a salad bowl, toss greens with the grapefruit and fennel slices, and then the dressed beets. Drizzle some more of the red wine vinegar-maple syrup dressing all over for a little sheen. Season with some pepper and serve.

Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes with Burrata and Speck

I was looking for inspiration to make use of the last fresh burrata I bought from Arthur Avenue and the $5-a-bunch asparagus that are populating grocery stores at the moment. I saw some pretty photos on foodiecrush that caught my eye so I went to work and created my own version with the ingredients I already had.

The original recipe calls for prosciutto but I already snacked on my half-pound bounty and only had speck left so I used that instead. I also had spicy soppressata so I tucked a few torn slices in to serve as the salt of the salad. foodiecrush also suggested some basil leaves but I skipped them, and used the mache leaves I had rather than arugula.

It was a very good salad. The umami of the tomatoes with the cured meats was unbelievable. The softness of the burrata tamed the saltiness down and balanced the overall flavor of the salad. I highly recommend to make this salad this summer to satisfy and impress.

Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus, chopped in 3 and thicker stalks discarded
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
oil
salt, pepper
chile flakes
mache leaves
fresh burrata cheese
a few slices of speck
a few slices of soppressata

1. Place asparagus spears and tomatoes in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and chile flakes. Be a little light-handed with the salt, as the cured meats will lend their saltiness to the salad as whole. Transfer them on a baking sheet and broil for about 12 minutes or until asparagus becomes soft and tomatoes begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Assemble your salad. Make a bed of the mache leaves in a shallow bowl. Top with torn burrata and tuck in slices of meat here and there. Scoop in the asparagus and tomatoes. Drizzle in some more olive oil if necessary and sprinkle with pepper.

Related post/s:
foodiecrush has some pretty photos