This week’s CSA haul included whole kohlrabi and garlic scapes, neither of which I’ve ever dealt with. Another member mentioned that she’s only ever enjoyed kohlrabi in a purée, which sounded like a good way to work out the Vitamix. I found this recipe from Farmgirl Fare, which looked great – can never go wrong with mushrooms – and thought I’d just substitute in some garlic scapes for the garlic itself. I think it ended up being a great idea – there was a little added grassy flavor that balanced really well, and they gave the purée a lovely green color where otherwise it would probably have been more meh-brown. We enjoyed this as our meal, with some garlic croutons added for texture. The Vitamix whipped it to this incredible creamy mousse texture, cementing its place as a worthy purchase. Would definitely make this dish again, though perhaps as a starter or side most of the time.
I’m also apparently now a core team member of said CSA, doing “web stuff” because web developers never learn their lessons.
Wontons and dumplings are two different things. Wonton wrappers are square and thin, whereas dumpling wrappers are round and thicker. Wontons are usually boiled, while dumplings are boiled, pan-fried, or even steamed. But before all of that, I usually make the same filling for both. Everybody has their own filling recipe, but in case you’re interested in mine, here it is. Scale it up or down as you’d like – I usually wrap hundreds and freeze them individually on wax paper-lined racks before bagging them up for storage in the freezer.
I’ve been promising myself I’d write up the process of making this three-tier wedding cake for Vivian and Julian’s upstate NY half-wedding, so even though it’s been well over a year now, it should still be worth documenting.
I have this problem with eating things that still look like the animal. A peeled shrimp without the head? All good. Shrimp with head + antennae + eyes? No, thank you!
Well, we had some delicious calamari fritti last week and I thought, well, that wasn’t so bad… I should learn how to eat it even with the tentacles and the color. Adrian had requested a recipe for roasted squid with garbanzos recently, so I thought we’d give it a try. Turns out… it was delicious!
Prepping the squidMise en placeRoasted Squid with Garbanzos and Chili OilClose upPlated! (with croissants in the background)
Roasted Squid with Garbanzo Beans and Chili Oil (adapted from Serious Eats)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound squid, cleaned, bodies cut diagonally into 1/2 inch strips
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup frisée, chopped (we used an escarole/endive/radicchio mix and it was fine)
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar (we used red wine vinegar because it was on hand)
1 tablespoon chili oil (commonly found in the Asian aisle/supermarket)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 500°F. Pour olive oil into an oven safe skillet set over medium-high heat. Toss in the squid, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.
Add the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon zest. Stir well, and season with a pinch of salt. Transfer skillet to the oven and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.
Remove skillet from the oven, and add the frisée and parsley and stir. Divide the squid and beans between two plates. Drizzle the sherry vinegar and chili oil on top of both and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
So, the other night we were watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay because he’s the man, and they were doing chocolate chip cookies. It was 9PM, right about the time we start craving a tasty treat, but alas, I had no chocolate chips! Terrible, I know. I should always have a reserve. Of course, I found out later that I actually had semisweet baking chocolate in the back that would have served for chocolate chunk cookies, but I digress. Anyway, I figured that I could make snickerdoodles with what I had on hand – simple fluffy cookies with cinnamon sugar, right? WRONG. (Well, sort of.)
Turns out that your traditional snickerdoodles have cream of tartar. Honestly, I’ve never used the stuff and have no reason to keep it around, so I thought I was doomed. Luckily, Google + Martha Stewart came to the rescue! I made the cookies as directed and they were perfectly fluffy and tasty and held up really well against milk, both in terms of flavor and dunking them (as Adrian always has to do). Here’s the recipe with my additions in italics, from Martha’s Holiday Cookies 2005.
A couple of notes first: baking them on a Silpat made for much better cookies than a nonstick foil-lined sheet pan (I don’t have parchment paper at the moment, either), and beating the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until pale and fluffy is absolutely crucial.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside (if you have a stand mixer, you can do the sifting while the butter and sugar are beating). Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls (really easy to do with an ice cream scoop, was about 3/4 of mine); roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (or a Silpat / silicone baking sheet).
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
