Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 66 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Adobong Pusit, Braised Squid

Cameron asked me what else she can do with squid. Xe Lua does a really great crispy squid appetizer but most restaurants treat squid like shrimps–they overcook them until they’re chewy and rubbery. And really, calamares can’t be the only way. I once read that you either cook squid for two minutes or two hours. Once you cross that overdone threshold, you have to keep cooking it to soften it.

For this Filipino adobo recipe, you cook the squid for about ten minutes. My father would tell you that you just know when to turn the heat off. Don’t be afraid to poke them with your fork to check the tenderness. At least I can tell you how to clean the squid: slice across the tentacles near the eyes to pull out the innards and the plastic-like spine. You’ll see a small pocket in there which holds the ink. I keep a couple of them intact for color. Discard the rest but keep the tentacles. It’s okay for the tentacles to completely separate from the body. Rinse thoroughly.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound fresh squid, cleaned
1 medium head of garlic, peeled, crushed
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
salt

1. In a saucepan, bring squid, peppercorns and garlic to a low boil for 5 minutes. The squid will make its own juice from the ink pockets you left intact, so no need to add water. Do not stir.
2. When squid is tender, add vinegar and bring to a second low boil for about 5 minutes. Do not stir. Season with a little salt. Add a little more vinegar to taste.

Insalata Caprese, Tomato and Mozarella Salad

A recent visit to the farmers’ market introduced me to hydroponic tomatoes and basil. It was the Shushan Valley Hydro-Farms’ first day at the market and one of the organizers walked me to their stall after I expressed disappointment that there were no vegetable vendors around. Sure it was a rainy day but a girl needs her vegetables!

I’ve only heard of the term hydroponic in relation to a certain addictive herb, so when the owners showed me a photo of their farm, I was intrigued. A variety of techniques exist in hydroponic gardening. Instead of soil containing silt and clay, mineral nutrient solutions are introduced to the plants’ water supply. Because plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water, soil is no longer required for the plants to thrive when the minerals are artifically added. Their tomatoes were happily plump and the basil leaves all had a nice shade of healthy green. I love the idea that I don’t have to wait for Mother Nature to make up her mind about the weather before I can buy tomatoes.

I bought a basil plant for less than $3, picked several of its leaves for this caprese recipe and three weeks later, it’s still thriving in a water-filled small plastic cup on my window sill. I can’t say the same for the tomatoes though; I bought five of them and they were all gone by next morning.

Ingredients:
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
fresh mozarella, sliced
fresh basil leaves, thoroughly washed, patted dry, chiffonade
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Arrange tomatoes and mozarella on a plate. Top with basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Soba Noodles with Vegetables

When I want to prepare something quick but substantial, I always turn to Asian noodles. You can see me at Sobaya slurping my soba noodles most Sunday afternoons. Before Honmura An closed, it was the best place to watch a Japanese soba maker perform his art. But it was in Chicago where I first tasted a soba dish tossed like a salad with vegetables and mushrooms. Four years later, I can still remember how Anna made it for the Dr. and me.

In some small way, I wanted to bring back the old with the new by making this familiar recipe the first for this new Web address. For my take, I used carrots and sweet peas. They complemented the soba’s buckwheat color. Soba is one reason why dried mushrooms are great to have in your pantry. You can just soak them in warm water a few minutes before you need to use them. The nori, or dried seaweed, provided an extra crunch. You can make this dish your own by adding any of your favorite vegetables; just julienne them for a prettier presentation.

Ingredients:
soba noodles
dried shiitake mushrooms
1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
a handful of sweet peas, roughly chopped
2 stalks of scallions, finely chopped
nori, or dried Japanese seaweed
sesame seeds, toasted
sesame oil
rice vinegar
light soy sauce

1. If using dried mushrooms, soak shiitake in a bowl of warm water for thirty minutes. After soaking, drain shiitake mushrooms and squeeze out excess water using a paper towel. Slice in strips. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar.
3. Cook soba noodles in boiling water for about 5 minutes. When done, drain and fluff with a fork to keep the noodles from sticking together.
4. Pour sesame sauce little by little over soba noodles. Toss with the mushrooms and the vegetables. Mix in sesame seeds and crushed nori. Top with chopped scallions.

Chicken Pomegranate Stew

I was in front of my laptop all day. I was hungry and all I could find in the fridge were chicken thighs and some leftover vegetables. I was too lazy to brown them, less make a fuss and do something fancy, so I peeled and cut some carrots and leeks and made a bed of them in a large pot. I added some onions and garlic with the rosemary sprigs sitting prettily in the fridge kept alive by Glad Press’n Seal. Should be good for about an hour in the oven, I thought, and I went back to my work. When the oven timer beeped–I have burned many meals without it–I transfered the pot on top of the stove and let it simmer. There was something missing. I looked in the pantry and thought of making curry, but I really wanted the broth to be more soupy than saucy. I found the bottle of pomegranate molasses I bought after Tyler introduced me to it. I added a tablespoon at first and it gave the broth a lemony kick. I decided to add some more, adjusting it with some more salt and red pepper flakes, until I was happy with the taste.

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch strips
1 leek, white part only, rinsed well, cut in half and then lengthwise
1 small red onion, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup chicken stock, divided in two
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
rosemary sprigs
salt
red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 450Âº. Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry.
2. Scatter carrots, leeks, onions and garlic in a large Dutch oven. Lay chicken thighs over vegetables. Pour 1/2 cup stock over chicken and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes. Place pan in oven and roast for 40 minutes. When chicken and vegetables are cooked, transfer to stove over medium-high heat.
3. Add remaining stock and the pomegranate molasses. Let simmer while seasoning to taste.

Pan-Fried Brook and Rainbow Trout

It felt like spring, so imagine how perplexed I was when I saw that there were only a few tents set up in the farmers’ market. I suppose if the market was crowded, I would have missed the group of men gathered around a small table. Men? Shopping? I squeezed myself in just as the last smoked trout was bought, but saw that there were still some fresh fish inside the giant coolers. Dave Harris of Max Creek Hatchery told me that his fish were still swimming until 7pm the previous night. He introduced me to the rainbow trout which had some purple tints on its scales, and to the brook trout which had some yellow polka-dots. He told me he prefers the brook trout, but both were very pretty that I ended up buying them to cook and compare during dinner.

Ooh, pretty, was the Dr.’s reaction when I told him over the phone that I bought trout from the market. He loves to fish and he loves eating them even more, and trout was what he was pining for when we were driving past the river in Oregon. When he came over, he brought with him a bottle of a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Australian wine. We drank while he got to work: he put a sliver of butter inside each of the fish with some garlic cloves. He lightly coated them with flour and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. He fried them in hot oil until they were both golden brown and crispy. With some of the leftover frying oil, he sautÃ©ed some mushrooms in a skillet and tossed them with arugula and rice wine vinegar dressing. I was surprised that the brook trout tasted like salmon. Its meat was orange and sweet. The rainbow trout was like any fried white fish–a little less exciting but would have been great with green mango salad.

Ingredients:
1 fresh brook trout, cleaned
1 fresh rainbow trout, cleaned
half a stick of butter, thinly sliced
1 cup of flour
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
salt, pepper, frying oil

1. Insert garlic and butter in trout’s cavity. Season the inside of the fish with salt and pepper. Combine flour, salt and pepper and coat trout.
2. In a skillet, heat oil and fry trout until golden brown on one side. Use tongs to gently turn and cook the other side until golden brown, too. Do not cover. Remove each each fish to a plate lined with paper towel when cooked.

Related post/s:
Union Square Greenmarket