Radish in Review

 With only one day left before I go back to the farmer's market, I better return to my radish evangelizing, if only to psych myself up for my inevitable radish impulse buys!  In fact, I'm not going to even separate my radish recipes, I'm going to go ahead and give you two, right now.  (This is in no small part due to the fact that the second recipe isn't really a recipe. You'll see).  I really will try to be better about posting here this summer, but for now, go forth and eat radishes!

RADISH SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
1 black radish
1 red or purple radish
greens - I used romaine, but mixed would be nice
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1 T champagne vinegar
1 t honey
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Locatelli cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Peel and slice your black radish.  Fill a bowl with ice water and put the slices in for a few minutes, then remove and pat dry.  The soak takes out a lot of the bitter and spiciness, so you can adjust based on how you like your radishes. Slice the red or purple radish.  Chop your greens into manageable sized pieces (only necessary if you're using a lettuce  I suppose).  Put the radishes and greens into a salad bowl. In a small bowl, mix your orange juice, vinegar, honey and olive oil, combine it well with a whisk.  Pour the dressing over the greens and toss well to dress.  Plate your salads then use a peeler or grater to sprinkle with cheese.  Delicious!

RADISH + BREAD = HAPPY
YOU NEED:  Radishes, really good butter, really good french bread, kosher salt
HOW TO:  Slice the bread in half, toast if desired.  Spread with cold good butter (wait a bit for the bread to cool if you've toasted it).  Sprinkle with salt.  Lay down slices of radish.  Munch.

Radish!

 

 I can't stop buying radishes at the Farmer's Market. It's like a sickness.  Last weekend they were buy one get one free.  I called my mother and asked her if she needed radishes. It gets worse.  I have three posts about radishes coming up.  That's what it's come to around here.  I've become a radish pusher.  

Come on, they're so pretty, don't you want to try them?  At the bottom of the bowl are the longer, red and white french breakfast radishes.  These are the most mild of the radishes.  Then I have some red and purple ones, they have slightly different flavors but are a bit more bitter than the breakfast radishes. There a white radish, which is spicier still and then of course, the glorious black radish, which is the most peppery.

I was most excited about the black radish, so when I got it home, I peeled it and sliced it so that we could try it right away.  I should have videotaped our reactions.  Ryan made a face like he'd bitten into a lemon, followed by a fairly aggressive blech.  It was bitter and sharp, peppery and had the faintest aftertaste of dirt.

Not exactly delicious. But then again, there are a whole lot of vegetables you shouldn't eat a slice of raw, so despite the inauspicious beginning I wasn't discouraged.  Black radish  is much better suited to be used as a flavoring.  In this seriously tasty spread, the sour cream mellows the bitter flavor and the spicy peppery flavor makes this far more exciting than your usual bland coleslaw. And the vague aura of dirt is completely gone (unless of course, you're the type of person that generally thinks things taste like dirt. If that's you, you should probably avoid radishes).

DELECTABLE RADISH SPREAD/DIP/SLAW
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 C grated black radish (this was one large black radish)
1/3 C grated carrot (this was one carrot)
1/4 C of minced cucumber (seeded and peeled)
3" piece of scallion, minced
2 T sour cream
pinch of salt - less than 1/4 t, just a pinch, really.

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together all ingredients.  Eat as a spread on bread, or a dip.  Consider making in larger batches and pretending it's coleslaw, but more interesting.

Move Beyond the Pint and Spoon

Once in a valiant effort to drown my sorrows I ate about a half gallon of Butter Pecan ice cream direct from the carton. I was sitting on the floor of my parents bedroom watching television from a distance that would have likely gotten me yelled at had my mother been home.  I figured that was better than eating ice cream in her bed.  I may have been depressed, but I still had scruples.  Eating ice cream in moments of misery is such a time honored tradition that it's become cliche.  Can you even count the chick flicks that feature a woman spurned and her trusty pint and spoon?  It's a lot and frankly, it's time to move on.  Don't look at me that way.  You know me better than that right?  Do I seem like the kind of person that would offer up fat-free yogurt to someone in pain?  Hell no.  I'm the kind of person who would bring you homemade chocolate mousse.  That's right, this is no health sermon, this is a straight up upgrade.  Step away from the the freezer burned pint of whatever the heck is.  Dip your spoon into the silky, creamy, dark chocolately goodness.  Whether or not you let a fruit sully your indulgence is entirely up to you.

SERIOUS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Desperate times call for desperate measures.  This is technically a 2/3 recipe.  The original is in
The Essence of Chocolate which you probably need to own anyway.  The original full recipe says it serves six.  I served 8 with the 2/3 recipe because it's that rich.  But I will NOT tell anyone if you eat the whole thing yourself.  Nor will I judge.

INGREDIENTS:
2 4 oz bars of chocolate - I used 1 bittersweet and 1 semisweet.  Modify this based on how dark you like your chocolate
3 egg yolks
2/3 C whole milk
2 T sugar
1/2 C heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:
Start by chopping up your chocolate, nice and fine.  Put it in a large bowl and put a strainer on top (you'll need this later) and put it near the stove, where you can grab it when things get going later.  Put the milk in a pan and heat it up to a simmer.  Once it's simmering, dissolve 1 Tablespoon of sugar into it.  While you're waiting for it to heat up you can whisk or stir your egg yolks so you have a nice eggy mess.  You're going to need to combine the warm milk with the cold eggs which is a nasty business, but it must be done.  Take the milk/sugar off the heat and very slowly pour it into the eggs.  You will need to continuously stir the eggs while doing this, because you don't want them to get too hot too fast.  That will result in a scrambled egg mousse which would be beyond gross.  Also, realize that if you're pouring the milk and stirring the eggs you officially have NO hands left to hold the bowl.  So don't use a flimsy one.  Use a nice solid well anchored one.  Once you've combined them, hopefully without any egg scrambling you'll need to pour them BACK into the saucepan and then put that back on the stove. Stir constantly with that spatula or wooden spoon until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  This should take 6-10 minutes, but if it's really thickening up fast, use your judgement.  You don't want it to get little curds in it.  If it does that it's heating up too fast, you want it to be one consistency throughout (and yes, I've had it mess up and get curds and yes it really was salvageable and once I did remake just the egg/milk part).  Take your pan off the heat and pour the custard into the strainer that's above the chocolate.  The general idea is that the lumps won't go through and the custard will begin melting your chocolate.  Once you've gotten the custard through, stir up your chocolate until it's all melted and is the same color and consistency throughout.  Set this aside and get out your heavy cream.  I prefer to whip cream with a hand mixer, my stand mixer can't quite reach the bottom it's own bowl to whip small amounts and my arm gets tired if I do it by hand.  Whip the cream until it is soft and fluffy and can hold a soft peak.  Once the cream is whipped add the other tablespoon of sugar and whip it in.  Don't whip it too much or you'll make butter.  The chocolate mixture needs to be room temperature so it doesn't melt all your beautiful whipped cream, so make sure before you start to fold in the whipped cream. You can fold in the cream gently until the chocolate is a uniform color.  This can be put in the fridge for cooling and setting in one giant bowl if you're a)an accomplished scooper and server or b)you plan on eating it all yourself direct from the bowl.  If you're sharing it (I know, it's a crazy idea) you might like to portion it into bowls or ramekins before refrigerating.  It should take a few hours to set up (the original recipe said four but mine was fine before that). 

Cooking it Old School

Some recipes are passed-down-from-your-grandmother's-grandmother old.  Some recipes are original-Good-Housekeeping-Joy-of-Cooking-whatever-is-your-recipe-bible old.  Some recipes are just I-honestly-can't-remember-when-I-started-making-this-I-can't-remember-when-I-didn't-know-how old.  This is the latter.  I have a very dear (and sadly pretty empty) cookbook that my mother gave me.  In it she wrote some "recipes" and some recipes for things we a) made a lot and b)she thought I could actually cook.  This recipe isn't in there.  Instead I have a recipe card, presumably right out of her recipe box, possibly predating my cookbook.  It was one of the first dinners I could make that you could actually serve to people.  I have never once made it for a dinner party (true confession:  I have never in my life had a dinner party.  I think I'm depressed by that.  I should have a dinner party.  Why don't my friends live close enough for a dinner party?).  But close to 10 years ago, I did walk my dearest friend Lizzie through making it for a dinner party she was throwing.  This strikes me as pretty hilarious in retrospect.  It's not like I was a particularly accomplished chef back then, but Lizzie is the kind of person who needs to be told that garlic is not supposed to turn black when you saute it in butter.  But evidently I considered myself enough of an expert (at least in comparison to her) to play the part of Cyrano de Berger-chef.  Although this may seem like a nasty put down of my friend and a disturbing display of overconfidence on my part, there's really only one take away.  This recipe is obscenely easy.  It had to be. When I walked her through it, I was in San Francisco, at least 3000 miles from any recipes I possessed and I was not at a point when I could cook without a recipe. She had exactly the culinary chops listed above.  And yet, instant dinner party!

Can you remember back to the first thing you knew how to cook?  Was it simple or dinner party ready?  Share in the comments!

SHRIMP WITH FETA

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C canned chopped tomatoes
1 lb raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
3 T olive oil
1/4 C chopped onion
1/4 to 1/2 C dry white wine (or vermouth)
1/2 t oregano
2 oz feta, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pan, heat your olive oil to medium low. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring periodically.  They shouldn't brown.   Stir in the tomatoes, wine, oregano, and bring to a boil.  Cook uncovered until it thickens to a light puree (probably around 5 minutes).  Add the shrimp and cook over moderate heat about 7-10 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.  The exact amount of time for the shrimp varies depending on whether you have a pound of little shrimp (which will cook more quickly) or a pound of big shrimp (which will cook more slowly).  Remove from the heat and crumble in the feta.  Give it a good mix. Serve over rice.  Pretend you know how to cook.

Artichoke Olive Pesto

Among my husband's list of food rules is an absolute hard and fast ban on basil.  When we met, he explained that he just didn't like it.  After years together, I realized that it must be some type of food allergy.  If he has any, even by accident, he becomes extremely nauseated, something I witnessed first hand on our honeymoon. Nothing says romance than the person across from you turning vaguely green while you beg the waiter to tell you what was in the appetizer.  

Most of the time, I'm okay with the basil-free life I've chosen.  It's taken years, but I no longer eye the jar longingly when I'm making a sauce.  I can revel in a juicy summer heirloom tomato without its fresh flavor topping off the silky mozzarella.  Most of the time, I can.  But sometimes, I just need to indulge in my pesto fix.  In Boston, this meant ordering a heavenly pesto pizza from Upper Crust.  Especially the kind with Artichokes on it.  So good.  In Philly, it meant picking up a small container of Artichoke Salsa from Metropolitan Bakery.  Out here in the burbs I have yet to identify a basil dealer.  Instead, I've adapted the Artichoke Salsa recipe to remove the basil.  Because if I can't have the real deal, I might as well pretend.

ARTICHOKE AND OLIVE PESTO
(adapted from The Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook)
Although I served it with tortellini, it's really much better as a spread for a cracker or pita chip.  Yum.

INGREDIENTS:
6 oz artichokes (I used frozen ones that I defrosted in the microwave)
1/4 C collasquillo olives
1/4 C kalamata olives (so basically, 1/2 C of olives of your choosing, have fun at the olive bar!)
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C grated parmiggiano reggiano cheese
juice from 1/2 lemon
black pepper to taste
salt??? - with the olives I chose, there was no need for salt whatsoever, you may feel differently

DIRECTIONS:
Toss everything in a blender or food processor and give it a few whirs until blended nicely!

"Greek" Duckfat Potatoes

I quite willingly admit my ethnic cooking is largely inauthentic, even if it is tasty, hence the quote marks around "Greek."  I'm calling these "Greek" largely because of the spices I used on them and the fact that they are absolutely heavenly with tzatziki sauce.   So good.  It's entirely possible that this just serves as further illustration that everything goes with duck fat.  Clearly I'm not the only person to believe that though because there's a restaurant I'm just dying to go to in Portland, Maine called Duckfat.  They have duck fat poutine.  A pilgrimage must be made.  In the meanwhile however, I'll just keep finding new excuses to introduce potatoes and duck fat.

"GREEK" DUCKFAT POTATOES
inspired by my Uncle John

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium baking potatoes (organic if at all possible as you'll be eating the skin)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t dried dill
1/8 t garlic powder
~ 3 T duck fat

NB:  This cooks much, much better in a cast iron pan.  I tried a non-stick once just because it was a bigger pan and it did not brown them evenly at all.  Seriously, get out your cast iron.

DIRECTIONS:
Scrub your potatoes well, again because you'll be eating the skin.  Then stab them all over with a fork, you know, so they don't explode.  Then pop them in the microwave for 2 minutes.  After 2 minutes, turn them over and microwave them for 5 more minutes.  Use an oven mitt or other hand protection because "hot potato" isn't just a kids' game and take the potatoes out of the oven and place them on a plate.  Then wrap the plate with aluminum foil, closely sealing it around the edges so no steam escapes.  Set your timer for 7 minutes and just let them sit on the counter.  While they're getting ready, get out your cast iron and your duck fat so you can be ready to go.  You'll want to add the potatoes to a nice hot pan where you've melted 1-2 tablespoons of your duck fat.  Okay, so when then timer goes off, you slice the potatoes in rounds (probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).  You'll need a sharp knife and again, something to protect your hand.  They may be almost falling apart, so a sharp knife will help, also the skin will help hold them together.  Lay the potatoes in the in pan and cook for five minutes.  When you go to flip them, feel free to add another tablespoon of duckfat.  While they are cooking, mix up your spices, the salt, dill and garlic powder.  You can sprinkle them once you've flipped them and then give another healthy sprinkle one they're done.  Serve with tzatziki for a special treat.

It's Alive!

I know.  I never call, I never post, how would you know?  Things have been relatively overwhelming lately, I'm still recovering from all the travel and cooking has not been my strength lately, insert additional whiny world's smallest violin worthy excuses here.  I do have some recipes stockpiled, although I am using that word in a very loose sense, since by stockpiled I mean I have a couple random post-its around my kitchen, possible notes in a cookbook, a pretty good recollection of how I made something and a photo of a typed recipe from my mother. It's all very scientific and official around here.  And in the name of science, let's help me stall for time gather some data.

poll by twiigs.com

Our Restaurant Tour

After Crêperie Josselin, we continued to have wonderful meals.  We ate at Cafe Constant the next night, returning because we'd had such a good meal there the last time we went.  Ryan couldn't resist starting with an order of foie gras and we both had duck for our main course.  It was so tender it was falling off the bone.  The duck was accompanied by a little round of duck and mushrooms, topped off with a bit of mashed potatoes.  It was pure heaven.  For dessert we shared a floating island, which frankly, isn't either of our kind of dessert. I'm not really sure what happened there.  This restaurant is very tourist friendly, with an English menu and plenty of English speaking waitstaff.  However, it doesn't sacrifice it's quality in order to please foreign palates.

Our next meal was at Chez Les Anges which is pretty much the best restaurant we've been to in Paris.  It was so good.  And with the main course, they give you these mashed potatoes which are not so much mashed potatoes as a delicious vat of butter with perhaps some potato and maybe truffle oil added.  No idea what they put in them, but they are insane.  The crowd is incredibly local, which means no English menu, although the staff kindly translated. 

Both Cafe Constant and Chez Les Anges are within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, which means that both nights we went for a little stroll over to see it all lit up.  Too pretty.  If your timing is lucky you can even catch it sparkling.

Our next three meals were slightly less impressive, but still quite delicious.  All three featured English menus and staff that spoke English which made the dining experience really easy (also less exciting, someday I'll tell you about Liz and the chicken livers).  We ate at La Marlotte, Maison du Jardin and P'tit Troquet.  Oh what I wouldn't give to be back there now.

Crêperie Josselin

I have twice flown into Paris arriving on Easter Sunday.  Despite a rather passive view of religion, France is a Catholic country, which means that on the Easter holiday things tend to be closed.  Luckily, one of the most wonderful crêperies in Paris remains open.  After a long day of traveling, I'd probably choose a crêpe even if I had a world of options. What could me more comforting when you are exhausted than a soft, savory buckwheat crepe filled with gruyere cheese, mushrooms and country ham? 

 

Right, maybe a small pitcher of house wine?  That would help?  Don't worry, they sell that too.

And for dessert, we shared a sweet crêpe filled with fig jam.  So delicious!  Josselin's menu is conveniently in both English and French, so will friendly even to inexperienced visitors to Paris.  I didn't find out if the staff spoke English there, my French was tolerable enough that no one switched, but I'm pretty sure you'd be all set with the pointing at the menu to order method.  Wine and cider is sold in small pitchers 25 cl or 50 cl depending on your thirst.  You can also pay through the nose for bottled water (that shit ain't cheap) or order "une carafe d'eau".  Seriously, if you're the kind of person who is okay drinking tap water, that should be one of the few phrases you master.  You'll save enough to buy yourself a nice Parisian present.  If you do want to order bottled water, be prepared to tell them "sans gas" if you like still water because they always want to know if you want it sparking (carbonated) or not.

I'm not the only one who loves Crêperie Josselin, Dave Lebovitz loves it too!

Home at Last

We made it home around 9:30 last night.  We'd been up for 22 straight hours, traveling (it's amazing how many connections you're willing to agree to when the flights are paid for by miles rather than your money).  I'm crossing my fingers, but I think we may avoid jet-lag entirely.  Food updates to come later this week!