Vegas, Baby!

I just came home from a quick trip to Las Vegas to visit some friends. I lived there for close to four years, and feel a need to go back about every six months to get a dose of unreality, visit friends, and see the Bellagio fountains. Usually we go out to eat in some new place I haven't tried before, but this time we went to one of my husband and my favorite places on the west side, Cafe Wasabi. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, as the food was not quite as good as I remember. It's a sushi bar but also used to focus on Asian tapas. Those items are still on the menu, but relegated to the bottom and not highlighted in any way so they are kind of easy to miss now. The restaurant used to be really fun and vibrant, but it was completely empty at 8:00 on a Friday night, and the place is starting to look a bit dingy. In 2004 the lobster spring rolls and crab potstickers were to die for, but they've started using surimi instead of crab and there was no discernable lobster in the spring rolls, so they weren't anything to write home about. However, the ribs were still wonderful and nothing was really bad, just not as good as it used to be. The economic downturn has taken a toll, I guess.

The highlight of the trip was having my friend Janet, a died-in-the-wool Tar Heel, make me fried chicken. It was yummy. None of that batter dipped or buttermilk soaked stuff - just seasoned and dredged and fried. We made an awesome salad with maple syrup roasted butternut squash and dried cranberries, roasted vegetables (asparagus, haricots vert, parsnips, and fingerling potatoes), and cheese biscuits. I'm still dreaming of those biscuits. Thanks, Janet!

Paper Chef #34

I finally found time to participate in Paper Chef, which is a bit like Iron Chef but you get 4 ingredients instead of one and send entries via e-mail. Loved this month's ingredients (turkey, winter squash, Anaheim peppers, and lentils) provided by this month's judge, Magnus, and had a lot of fun coming up with this dish.

Smoked Turkey Hash with Lentil Griddle Cakes

Ingredients:

Lentils for griddle cakes (make ahead)
½ c. dry lentils
1 tsp. ground cumin (or less if preferred)
½ tsp. ground coriander
Fresh ground pepper to taste.

Cook lentils in 2 cups water seasoned with spices for approx. 30 minutes or until tender but not mushy. DO NOT SALT. Cool and drain.

Smoked Turkey Hash (may be made ahead)

1 shallot, small dice
½ Anaheim pepper, small dice
1 cup butternut squash, medium dice
Diced smoked turkey (I used pre-cooked turkey legs)
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt/pepper to taste

Saute shallot, pepper, and squash in olive oil until squash is just tender, stir in cumin and diced smoked turkey. Salt (if needed, depending on saltiness of turkey) and pepper to taste. Keep warm while making griddle cakes or refrigerate if making ahead.

Lentil griddle cakes
1 cup Pancake batter (I made my own using 2/3 c. flour, 1 egg, 1 tsp. olive oil, and 1/2 tsp. baking powder mixed with 2% milk to a thin batter, but you can use a mix)
½ c. lightly mashed cooked lentils
Mix, let rest for 1 minute.
Cook on lightly oiled griddle until lightly browned on both sides.

Cilantro Crème Fraiche
While griddle cakes cook, mix a heaping tablespoon crème fraiche with 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp. minced cilantro.

Re-heat hash if made ahead.
To serve:
Place griddle cake on plate, spoon crème fraiche over and pile hash on top. Garnish with more crème fraiche and sprigs of cilantro.

YUMMY!

Ice Cream Adventures

I've been obsessing over homemade ice cream for a while now. I've tried a lot of experiments with different ingredients trying to get good mouth feel with less fat. I've found that maltodextrin helps, and always add it when I make a mix from just milk or milk and 1/2 and 1/2. Still, it doesn't compare to full fat. My latest two favorites are French vanilla bean and Coconut-Black Sesame.

French Vanilla Bean
1 vanilla bean (split, seeds scraped)
2 c. heavy cream
2 c. 1/2 and 1/2
1 c. granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks (antibiotic free hens, or use pasteurized egg)

Whisk together all ingredients. Taste and add more salt if needed to bring out flavor. Refrigerate for 4 hours. Strain and churn in ice cream maker.

Cocomut-Black Sesame
1 can coconut milk
2 c. 1/2 and 1/2
3/4 c. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
Black sesame seeds (I use about 1/4 cup but you may want to use less)

Whisk together all ingredients except sesame seeds. Taste and increase salt if needed to bring out flavor. Cover and refrigerate miniumum 4 hours. Churn in ice cream maker, adding sesame seeds to your preference during last few minutes.

Awesome!

Paper Chef #31

For a long time I've wanted to do an Iron Chef-type challenge, and recently discovered Paper Chef. This is my first entry, but I didn't get it done in time to submit. It was fun to try the challenge anyway, and I was surprised how tasty it was. The challenge ingredients were chick peas, oregano, walnuts, and fish steak. I used salmon, but took it off the bone and pan seared it with a little bit of salt in light olive oil. I wanted to finish the dish with sea salt, so didn't use much seasoning.



I've always thought of chick peas as a Middle Eastern ingredient, but I wanted to try using them in a different way. I used 12 oz. low-sodium canned cooked, rinsed, and drained chick peas. I'm growing herbs in pots on my patio, and had some nice Greek oregano, which is kind of spicy and lemony, so I thought a spicy lemon dressing would be good with the peas and the salmon. I picked some onion chives, the oregano, flat parsley, and cilantro. I toasted the walnuts lightly, and chopped everything. The chick peas went into the food processor with the chopped herbs, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/4 tsp. chili de arbol, 1/4 tsp white pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. I added 1/3 cup of the chopped toasted walnuts and folded them in. Then I squeezed in the juice of one small lemon and 2 tablespoons of walnut oil. After tasting, I adjusted the seasonings (including adding a bit more oil), and plated with the salmon and some halved cherry tomatoes. I finished with a sprinkling of grey sea salt and extra chopped herbs. It was delish!

My first blog

After reading a lot of food blogs, I decided that it's time for me to create my own. I'll start by saying I remodeled my kitchen a short time ago and it has rekindled my interest in kitchen experiments. I'm a bit of a gadget junkie, so I went out and bought a lot of new small appliances/cookware, and have been having fun playing with them. About a year ago I started making homemade ice cream/sorbet, and 10 pounds later I've got quite a collection of recipes, which I'll post here off and on. My latest adventures involve a new pressure cooker and a stove-top smoker, which I haven't tried yet.

There are gorgeous fresh fava beans in the local markets right now, so my first experiment to share is fava bean spread. I use it as a spread or dip.

1 1/2 cups shelled fava beans
5 or 6 mint leaves (if desired)
1/4-1/2 cup baby arugula leaves
3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, minced (more if you want a garlicky spread)
1 tbsp. or more fresh lemon juice
salt/pepper/minced flat leaf parsley (to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 cup fruity olive oil


Boil the fava beans for 4-5 minutes. Drain, plunge in cold water, remove outer skins.
Put in a food processor with mint (if desired), arugula (if your arugula is really spicy, use less), garlic, leaves from thyme, and lemon juice. Pulse a couple of times, then with processor running, drizzle in part of the oil until a thick spread forms. Taste and adjust acidity with more lemon juice if needed, add more arugula if desired, and season with salt and pepper and minced parsley to taste. Drizzle in more oil until the smooth and spreadable. Remember, this is an experiment, so you'll have to adjust the ingredients to your taste. I like more garlic, less parsley and less mint.

To be really decadent, you omit the mint and drizzle a bit of white truffle oil over the spread when serving.

Enjoy!