Category: Recipes by Ingredient + Prep

Recipes by Ingredient

Rhubarb Crisp

This was the first dish I’ve ever cooked for the boy that impressed him. He’s a much better cook than I am and it thrilled me to watch him clean up his bowl and ask for a second serving. I was visiting him in Vermont and we stopped by his professor’s house to borrow a canoe. We harvested some ramps from the side of the lake and he gave us rhubarb from his yard. The boy cooked a nice duck dinner with the ramps while I baked the rhubarb for dessert. Top this with either vanilla or strawberry ice cream and your boyfriend will be impressed too.

Ingredients:
1 pound rhubarb, cut into pieces 3/4 inch thick
white sugar
flour
half a stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of plain oatmeal
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
vanilla or strawberry ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Place the rhubarb in a square glass baking dish and toss with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/8 cup flour.
3. In a food processor, pulse 1/4 flour with butter until clumps are pea-size. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of oatmeal and cinnamon. Pulse to combine. Sprinkle over rhubarb.
4. Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Serve warm in a bowl and top with vanilla or strawberry ice cream.

Related post/s:
Sauteed ramps with pancetta

Penne with Homemade Pesto

Basil was abundant in Vermont so the boy made pesto for our pasta meal. It’s amazing how easy it is to make dinner with just the right, fresh ingredient. Back in New York City, I replicated the dish. Can you guess which one is mine?

Ingredients:
half a box of penne
1/2 pound of fresh basil leaves, rinsed well and roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
a handful of pine nuts
2 tsps lemon juice
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Make the pesto. In a food processor, pulse basil, pine nuts and garlic to combine. Slowly drizzle a little bit of olive oil while pulsing. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Boil a pot of water and add penne with a little salt and olive oil for about 15 minutes. Shock cooked pasta with cold water and drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine a small amount of pesto with the penne. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if necessary or add another jig of olive oil for more moisture.

Sauteed Ramps with Pancetta

I first heard of ramps while eating at The Tasting Room. I found out later that they are only available in the spring. Ramps belong in the leek family and they taste like onion and garlic combined. A co-worker told me she used to eat them raw as a child growing up in Virginia. We were in Vermont one spring for a canoe trip and the boy’s professor directed us to the side of the lake where they grew like weeds. We harvested them and made a really nice duck dinner with them as a side. When I stopped by the New York City farmers’ market, they had them for sale and sure enough, people were standing in line to buy them even at $2.50 a bunch.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of ramps
a thin sliver of pancetta, diced
a bowl of ice water
salt, pepper

1. Add thoroughly washed ramps in boiling water for four minutes. When they’re done, drain and shock them in ice water to stop its cooking.
2. Fry the pancetta in a skillet and drain on a paper towel.
3. Using the same skillet, add the ramps and toss them in the rendered fat with salt and pepper.

Sichuan Shrimp

One of my co-workers is an avid vegetable gardener. We were talking about his yard in the suburbs and he mentioned that he was waiting to harvest his chilis. A few months later, he gave me a bag of his produce, dried and ready to be cooked. It was a beautiful bounty and I was grateful for the gift. Only a Chinese dish would inspire this much chili, specifically from the Sichuan province, which could be hot, sour, salty and tongue-numbing at the same time. I used the small, round pellets shown in the photo below.

Ingredients:
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied
2 tbsps shao hsing sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp hot chili oil
1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp MSG
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 green bell peppers, julienned
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small turnip, peeled and julienned
a handful of snow peas, destringed and torn in half
2 stalks of scallions, cut lengthwise
red chiles
3 cloves of garlic, minced
a knob of ginger, minced
salt

1. Sprinkle shrimp with some salt and let stand for 30 minutes. Then wash the shrimps with cold water, drain and add sprinkle a little bit more salt. Let stand for another five minutes. Wash the shrimps with cold water again and drain well but do not dry.
2. Prepare and mix together all the spices and oils in a glass bowl to make a sauce. Set aside.
3. In a hot wok, heat two cups of peanut oil. Immerse shrimps into the hot oil and cook until white, about 60 seconds. Remove using a slotted spoon. Drain all but 2 tbsps of the oil and stir fry the ginger, garlic, scallions and chilis. Add the red and green peppers, carrots, snow peas and turnips and cook until soft. Add the shrimps and the sauce and toss.

Buttercups with Peashoot Leaves

I had no clue why the Chinatown fish store I went to called the fish buttercups but I needed some type of flat fish to replicate the dish we ate while in Amsterdam. It was Michel’s birthday and he had invited his family to visit from the suburbs. We joined them and a few of his friends at their flat for a small celebration and this dish stood out. Peashoot leaves are ridiculously expensive even in Chinatown but they are one of my favorite vegetables. I added them to the buttercups for both color and a slight bitter taste.

Ingredients:
any type of small and flat white fish like buttercups
a bunch of peashoot leaves
red onion, sliced into rings
a handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
slices of lemon
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with the slices of lemon, parsley and onion rings. Place the fish on top without overlapping. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Top again with some more onion rings and lemon slices.
2. Cook in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until peashoot leaves are wilted and fish is white and meaty inside.