Archive | September, 2009

Greensboro Curb Market

20 Sep

curbmarket1The Greensboro Farmers’ Curb Market was started in 1874 making it one of the oldest markets of its kind in North Carolina. I do my best to get there on Saturday mornings. My best, most of the time, isnt good enough though. I typically wake up too late to make it while the picking is still good.

This Saturday, someone had hinted that I might run into Alice Waters at the market(she is in Greensboro this week for the opening of the Greensboro Children’s Museum Edible Schoolyard). Alice was nowhere to be found but it was the perfect reminder that if I want to keep my cooking seasonal – the market is the perfect place to start. Produce ranged from tomatoes, squash, eggplant, shell beans, okra and peppers. In addition to the produce, the area has a number of organic farms that specialize in cheeses and meats. I picked up a loaf of sourdough from Alex’s and a couple cheeses from the Goat Lady Dairy Farm. I also researched a couple farms that sell organic lamb that will be perfect for our annual Turkey Day sans Turkey Celebration (stay tuned).

If you havent checked it out I advise you to make the time!

Hoisin/Haixian Glazed Green Beans

18 Sep

I picked up the idea for this recipe from a restaurant in downtown Greensboro that recently closed (sadly). I was a bit skeptical about the idea of green beans as a tapas dish but after tasting them I fell in love. My friend Ivan loved them so much that he asked exactly what was in the glaze. To our surprise it was nothing more than hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. I’ve made these a couple times on my own and they aren’t as good as theirs. I think it has to do with finding really thin green beans.

When putting these together on Wednesday night I was asked what exactly hoisin sauce is – and I had to admit – I had no idea. So, like any curious person – we went to Wikipedia. It turns out you can spell Hoisin two ways – hoisin or haixian. And the ingredients are (according to Wikipedia): ”Mandarin-style Hoisin sauce ingredients include water, sugar, soybeans, white distilled vinegar, rice, salt, wheat flour, garlic, and red chili peppers, and several preservatives and coloring agents. Traditionally, Hoisin sauce is made using sweet potato. Despite the literal meaning of “seafood,” Hoisin sauce does not contain fish.” So, next time we’re asked – we know.

Ingredients:

  • French green beans
  • 1 jar hoisin sauce
  • sesame seeds

Assembly: Simmer and reduce the hoisin sauce in a small pot on low until it is thick and glaze-like. Meanwhile, steam the green beans to your liking. I prefer mine al dente. Add the glaze to the green beans and top with sesame seeds.

Asian Grilled Salmon

17 Sep

P9160023I’ve had a lot of readers write to let me know they are trying to incorporate more fish in their diet. Some are vegetarians (well, I guess they are Pescetarians since they eat fish), some are trying to expand their kids tastes and some are just trying to be more healthy. Since moving to North Carolina, I tend to eat a lot less seafood. I feel a little strange buying it from a grocery store because through the course of my life, fish typically came directly from the boat.

But, if you havent noticed in the past three months, I’m pretty committed this endeavour (my blog). So, I went to the Fresh Market, bought some salmon filets and even grilled in the pouring rain. Without a doubt, my friend Andrew now thinks I’m absolutely crazy  for this committment (perhaps one thing I have in common with Julie Powell).  In any case, this Wednesday, we tried Ina Garten’s recipe for Grilled Asian Salmon and I paired it with some Hoisin Glazed Green Beans that are adapted from a dish at a restaurant in Downtown Greensboro that recently closed – I’ll post that tomorrow.

Asian Grilled Salmon (in Cecelia measurements):

Ingredients:

  • 1 large spoonful of dijion mustard
  • 3 splashes soy sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 splashes olive oil
  • 2 portions of salmon filet

Assembly: Whisk together first four ingredients for the marinade. Add salmon and marinate for 15 minutes (Ina recommends 10 minutes but I didnt think it was enough). Grill on high for about 5 minutes on each side.

Summer tomatoes with black eyed peas

16 Sep

tomatoesblackeyedpeasI saw this recipe for Heirloom Tomatoes with Shell Beans Vinaigrette in the July edition of Bon Appetit and thought it was interesting. The photo was very nice (which I always like) and I also thought it was an interesting combination of flavors. I can’t argue with fresh tomatoes, black eyed peas, fresh herbs and balsalmic vinegar – although I had never put the flavors together.

I brought this dish to my friends John and Kim’s house on Sunday night for a BBQ to welcome the new members of my board. I find myself very lucky to work with such energetic and fun people. It is rare that you will find us not working an event so it was nice to lay back and enjoy each other’s company that night. While everyone was skeptical of this dish (I won’t lie, I was too) it turned out to be quite tasty. Enjoy it while the ingredients are still in season.

Israeli Couscous Salad

15 Sep

P9130007This salad is my go-to dish for any potluck. It isn’t your typical pasta salad – using Israeli couscous and lots of fresh herbs from the garden. Israeli couscous is a pasta (like normal couscous) but rolled into larger granules. I like it for its texture as it almost chewy. Everytime I bring it to a party I’m always asked for the recipe.  So here it is!

I use Giada De Laurentiis’s recipe for Mediterranean Salad but add more cranberries and almonds. I said Sunday I was only posting vegetarian side dishes this week, I know.  But, you could easily use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and it would turn out equally as well.

Annie’s “Jar Aisle” Pasta Salad

14 Sep

P9060063

This recipe is from my friends Misa and Michiko. When I moved to Greensboro about four years ago, Michiko basically adopted me.  To this day I refer to her as my Greensboro mother. Naturally I’ve also become close with her daughter Misa and Michiko’s other adopted daughter Annie. This past January, the three of us put our heads together to try to pull off the impossible – get Michiko back for all her crazy surprises and throw her a big birthday party. To my surprise, we did pull it off! One of the dishes we enjoyed that day was Annie’s “Jar Aisle” Pasta that Misa prepared. It was a hit and after the chaos slowed down I asked for the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large package fresh cheese tortellini (or 2, or more depending on your crowd)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
(you can also use Newman’s Own balsamic salad dressing instead of mixing own)
some chopped red onion or scallions, or both
some chopped green, red, yellow, or orange peppers–whatever you have
halved cherry tomatoes
a few cloves chopped garlic
And, from the “jar aisle”, any or all of the following, chopped a bit:
pitted kalamata olives
roasted red pepper
artichoke hearts
sun-dried tomatoes

Assembly: Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. In a large bowl, whisk a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper,  garlic and onion and/or scallions. Add pasta to dressing and stir. Add everything else you decided to add!

On Weekends

13 Sep
P9130004

Clean House

To me, the best kind of weekends are the ones with nothing planned. Sadly, this is rare for me although this weekend I was lucky enough to have fewer plans and I was able to stay at home and get a lot of cleaning and yard work done. I also did a some cooking for various bbqs and celebrations. These days I’m always happy to bring a dish because more and more of my time is committed to this blog. When bringing side dishes to parties I try to stick with vegetarian options. In the next couple days I’ll post some side salads that are great for picnics and bbqs. And for you meat lovers who have commented that I havent post enough main dishes – I’m working on it and hopefully I’ll be able to post something of that liking by the end of the weekend. Patience is a virtue.

Preserving Summer

11 Sep

P9100090This weekend my friend and co-worker Brenda entered a contest for a giant bucket of grape tomatoes. The person who could guess the number of tomatoes in the bucket won. Brenda guessed the closest – 1300 tomatoes and then had to take them all home!! She read my post on Caprese Skewers and was generous enough to bring me a big bag of them. Thanks Brenda!

Of course, I’ve had no time at home to cook this week. So I went on a hunt to find a recipe to preserve these summer treats until wintertime. I decided I could roast the tomatoes with onion, garlic, salt, pepper and sugar and make a tasty sauce I to freeze. It was so easy (I needed it to be considering it was 9 o’clock at night when I started). I set the oven to 350 degrees – cut the tomatoes in half, added 3 or 4 whole garlic cloves and a half onion chopped. Then, I sprinkled with coarse salt, pepper, a little sugar and olive oil and roasted everything for about an hour until sauce like. Depending on how ripe your tomatoes are you may want to re-season with sugar – I advise tasting about 2/3 way through the roasting process. If you prefer a smoother sauce, you could run everything through a food mill once cooled. Then, all you have to do is freeze until a cold winter night!

Shrimp Salad in Endive

10 Sep
shrimpinendive
I’m not the biggest fan of shrimp personally but I am a fan of things that present themselves beautifully – and this sure does. It doesn’t take long to put this starter together (that is, if you buy cleaned shrimp). This recipe is a variation of Ina Garten’s Roasted Shrimp Salad. I used lemon instead of orange because I find that the orange is a bit too sweet for my taste. I think they are better served inside crisp and bitter endive than alone. Displayed on a large silver platter (silver meaning a $14.95 at Ikea) it could not be more attractive!
 
Ingredients:
  • 1 pound shrimp
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon white wine
  • 3 tablespoons red onion, minced
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • olive oil
  • 5 heads of endive

Assembly: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together mayo, lemon juice and zest, dill, vinegar, capers and onions. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Toss hot shrimp in dressing and refrigerate until cold. Arrange shrimp in the endive leaves to serve. I found that cutting the shrimp in half helped them fit nicely inside each leaf.

Caprese Skewers

9 Sep

 P9060073In honor of the end of summer I decided to serve a deconstructed caprese salad on skewers as a snack. These are so simple and are quite cute when they stand up on their own. You can put these together in a flash and feel confident that they are both chic and seasonal.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pint grape tomatoes
  • 1 large bunch fresh basil
  • 1 pint marinated small mozzarella balls
  • 4 sweet Italian sausages
  • fancy toothpicks

Assembly: Sear the sausages in a skillet. At this point you can continue to cook the sausages on the stove top or put them in a 350 degree oven to cook through. Slice sausages so that each piece has a level surface. Assemble the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil leaves on toothpicks and finish with a sausage.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,846 other followers