Posts Tagged ‘Vegetarian’

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Black Truffle Fritatta

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

This is one of those it’s-so-easy-I’m-embarrassed dishes. The trick is to get great truffles- these came from Markys.com, the “winter” Perigords.

Slice the truffles thinly, then cut into shreds. Melt an excess of butter [editor's note: there is no such thing] in a nonstick pan over medium heat, then dump in the truffles.

While they start to cook, quickly whisk together 6 eggs, a pinch of baking soda, a few grinds of pepper, and a pinch of salt (I left out the salt in this one out of respect for la belle-coeur).

Whisk the eggs

Turn up the heat a bit, pour in the eggs, then give the pan a swirl- it’s all in the wrist; you should swirl hard enough that you get a nice pattern of butter and truffle shreds on top but not so hard that the eggs fly all over the stove with their precious entrained French cargo.

Swirl

Turn the heat to low, cover, then cook for 5 minutes or so until the bottom is slightly brown and the top is barely set. Time to see if your wrist is still skilled; run a spatula around the edge, shake the pan to make sure the fritatta is loose, then flip it like a short order cook. Cover and cook for a minute or so, then slide it onto a cutting board and slice.

At this point, you have a decision to make- should you lie and tell your companion that it’s ruined, then quickly devour it by yourself? Or should you be honest, divide the slices between two plates, garnish with some chopped parsley, and sprinkle a touch of fleur de sel on top?

It’s up to you.

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Vegetarian Minestrone

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Extra virgin olive oil
2-1/2 quarts vegetable broth (plus a bit more, if needed)
1 cup dry white wine
1 onion
2 leeks
2 carrots
1 rib celery
5-6 cloves garlic
4 small tomatoes
1/4 c basil, chiffonade
1/4 c Italian parsley, chopped
2 white potatoes or Yukon Golds, cubed (1 cm)
3/4 c dried pasta shapes (I use a good Italian brand like Barilla)
8 oz cooked red beans
8 oz cooked garbanzo beans
1 c kale, chiffonade
1 sprig rosemary
2 sprig marjoram
1 or 2 parmesan rinds
salt and pepper
grated parmesan reggiano
Italian parsley leaves, whole, for garnish

Peel onion and cut into quarters, then slice thinly. Cut green part off leeks, trim off bottoms, then halve lengthwise. Rinse thoroughly- they tend to have a lot of trapped dirt. Slice thinly into half-rings. Peel garlic and slice thinly. Chop celery into small cubes (1/4″). Peel and quarter carrots, then make crosswise slices about 1/8″ thick. Peel and seed tomatoes, then cut into coarse cubes.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, leeks, celery, and carrots. Stir and sautee until tender and starting to brown slightly. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and cook for another minute, stirring gently. Deglaze pot with the wine. Reduce by half, then add stock, half the basil, half the parsley and the herb sprigs (for convenience, you can tie the sprigs together to make a bouquet garni). Add parmesan rinds. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add potatoes, pasta, and kale. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper- but it’s ok to slightly undersalt.

Just before the pasta and potatoes are tender, add beans and the remaining basil and parsley. If soup is too thick, add a little more stock. When all is tender and ready, remove herb sprigs and cheese rinds. Serve in warm bowls. Top with some grated parmesan and decorate with parsley leaves.

This works very well with a fattish sort of white wine, but it’s versatile- I’ve paired it well with fino sherry, cremant d’Alsace, and even viognier.

For vegetable broth, if you’re rushed, the canned stuff from Swanson is surprisingly excellent and non-salty. Vary the vegetables, depending on what you’ve got laying around. Try to have a variety of textures. The pasta shapes can be orrecietti, bows, shells, little tubes… just about anything. Peeling the tomatoes is simplified by making a small cross-shaped cut in the bottom, then plunging into boiling water for 20 seconds or so.

Click to print this recipe as a PDF.

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Corn and Morels

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

This is adapted from Slanted Door’s version. I make it two alternate ways, European or Asian. Take yer pick.

The dish NEEDS good, fresh corn; if yours is less than optimum, you’ll have to add a little artificial sweetening, and the dish will still be sub-par. It also demands fresh wild mushrooms- morels are preferred, but cinnamon caps work quite well.

Cut the kernels off three cobs of corn. Coarsely chop about 3/4 c of mushrooms. Slice and dice two spring onions or four scallions, reserving the green parts.

For the European version, chop 1/2 tbs of tarragon. For the Asian version, chop 1/2 tbs of cilantro.

Get a big frying pan or wok screamin’ hot. Swirl in some peanut oil, then add the corn. Stir for 15 seconds, then add the mushrooms. Fifteen more seconds, then add the whites of the onions. Stir, then let fry until there’s a little bit of browning. Stir again. Keep this up until the cork and mushrooms are slightly singed and there’s some residue on the bottom of the pan. Deglaze with (European version) a demi-sec Chenin Blanc or (Asian version) mirin. (European version): add salt and pepper to taste, then the tarragon; finish with the scallion greens, then plate. (Asian version): add light soy sauce to taste, some black pepper, the cilantro, and the scallion greens.

Plate.



Click to print this recipe as a PDF.

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Szechuan Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

This is a classic Szechuan dish that’s spicy, tangy, and not too sweet. The basics of the recipe come from Madhur Jaffrey’s “World of the East Vegetarian Cooking,” though I’ve varied a few things to my taste.

8 oz fresh Chinese egg noodles
2 tbs dark sesame oil
1/4 c plus 1 tbs shelled, salted roasted peanuts
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tbs peanut oil*
1 tbs light soy sauce (NOT “lite” soy sauce!)
2 tsp Chinese black vinegar**
1 tsp sugar
Szechuan red chile paste to taste (I use about a tsp)
1 scallion
1 red banana chile (these look like Hungarian chiles, but are red and not very hot)

First, decide if you want to serve this hot or cold. For cold, boil the noodles until nearly done, then drain and quickly rinse with cold water (reserve a little of the cooking water). Plunge into ice bath, remove and drain. Toss with 1 tbs of the sesame oil and put aside while making sauce.

For hot noodles, make sauce first. Then boil noodles until done, drain well, toss with 1 tbs of the sesame oil, then the sauce.

To make sauce, put 1 tbs of the sesame oil, 1/4 c peanuts, the garlic, peanut oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and chile paste in a blender or food processer and puree to a smooth sauce. If the sauce looks too thick, add a little of the pasta water and process some more. Take the remaining peanuts and chop them with a knife. Chiffonade the scallions. Remove the core and seeds from the red chiles and cut them into fine strips. Pour sauce over noodles and toss, put in serving bowls, and top with scallion chiffonade, red chile strips, and chopped peanuts.

* It’s worthwhile to use an intense peanut oil. My favorite is Lion & Globe.
** Black vinegar is the Chinese equivalent of balsamico, though much less sweet. My favorite is Chinkiang. If you’re stuck in an uncivilized place without Chinese groceries, like Montana, a substitute would be a 50/50 mixture of balsamic and cider vinegar. But please try to use the real thing.

Click to print this recipe as a PDF.

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Fried Dumplings

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

These are made with glutinous rice flour, which gives them a unique chewy sort of texture. The stuffing can be interpreted with a lot of different ingredients- but do include the bok choy and water chestnuts for texture. Ground pork and chopped bean threads might be a nice alternative to the tofu- and there is a suggestion of duck here.

Filling

5 dried shiitakes, soaked, trimmed, minced
1/2 tsp finely minced ginger
1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
4 oz marinated pressed tofu, minced
4 peeled water chestnuts, chopped finely
1-2 head baby bok choy, shredded
1 scallion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
pinch of salt
1 tsp dark sesame oil

Wrapper

1 c glutinous (“sweet”) rice flour
1 tbs shortening
100 ml hot water

peanut oil for frying

In a bowl, combine all the filling ingredients, stir well. In another bowl, combine filling ingredients, using your hands to work dough together. It should be rather wet and just on the verge of sticking; adjust with more rice flour or water. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic, let rest for 1/2 hour.

Lay out about 18″ square of parchment paper. Dust it lightly with rice flour, then shake off the excess. Unwrap the dough, then knead for a minute or two until it becomes very smooth and homogeneous. Divide into 10 pieces. Take each piece and pat and pinch to form a 3″ diameter circle. Lay circles out on the parchment.

For each dumpling, pick up a dough circle, place some filling in the center, then fold over and pinch. The dough may have a tendency to crack- if it does, scavenge a patch from one of the other circles. As you form each dumpling, lay it back down on the parchment paper.

Heat a frying pan over medium to medium high heat. Add some peanut oil, swirl around, then put in the dumplings. Press each one lightly to slightly flatten out its down side. After 2 minutes, it should be light brown on that side; flip and do the other side, again pressing slightly to flatten the down side. Then turn up the heat and fry both sides to a dark brown. The dough will puff in a most appetizing way. Remove to a plate, serve with dipping sauces (I used a pre-prepared Thai sweet chili sauce; a mix of vinegar, light soy, and Guilin chili sauce; and a hot sesame sauce made from Chinese sesame paste, chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, stock, and scallions).

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