Tomato Gazpacho

Posted on September 22, 2016 by makehastenotwaste

What’s one of the recipes you can make using the abundance of summer tomatoes? Gazpacho!

So let’s make gazpacho! Everybody’s doing it recently, including Cooking with Kyler, which is hosted by my husband’s cousin and his daughter. It’s appealing because it is simple, refreshing, and customizable.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge fan of cold soups in general, but I’ve recently warmed to the idea of a good gazpacho (see what I did there?) Especially when you add crunchy toppings.

Gazpacho is simple because you can basically dump everything in a blender or food processor. However, it’s a bit messy – be forewarned. It’s likely you’ll have to transfer the mixture back and forth between different containers since it won’t completely fit in the blender. Then you strain it–unless you don’t mind a little texture. The resulting soup is a unique color (which will splatter all over your counters as part of the process) and fun to serve presented in clear drinking glasses.

I wish the 2 pounds of tomatoes made more of dent in my harvest. Here’s what I collect every couple of days!

Tomato and Cucumber Gazpacho
Adapted from Julia Moskin’s New York Times Cooking recipe

Approximately 2 lb ripe red tomatoes,
1 green pepper, such as bell pepper, Italian frying, or Anaheim pepper
1 cucumber, about 8 inches long
1 small onion (white or red)
1 garlic clove
2-4 teaspoons sherry vinegar, to taste
Salt to taste
½ Cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste and for drizzling

Optional and recommended toppings:
Hot sauce
Croutons-make your own with stale bread, butter, garlic and salt
Almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
Avocado, cut into cubes

Prep your vegetables: seed and chop pepper, peel and chop cucumber and onion, and core and roughly chop tomatoes.

The onion in not shown because I had a leftover portion of a red onion in the fridge that I ended up incorporating.

Combine as much of the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic you can in a blender. It’s highly likely you’ll need to work in batches, so have a large bowl handy for transferring portions back and forth.

Initial batch: I made it through the cucumber and most of the tomatoes before I was at the top!

Ingredients batch 2.

Blend at top speed until the mixture is very smooth. This may take a few minutes. A rubber spatula is great for scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons of salt. If your appliance allows, do so while the motor is running.

You can add more vinegar later, but I will tell you now that 2 teaspoons was not enough for me!

Pour in the olive oil slowly. The smooth mixture will become an orange-pink color and look like a salad dressing.
Additional olive oil can make the texture more creamy if it is watery.

Press the mixture through a strainer or run through a food mill to extract all the liquids and discard the solids. I was less than enthused about the idea of discarding the nutritious solids, but using my food mill resulted in such minimal solids that I felt OK with sending it to compost.

It’s one of the few times year this gets used!

Transfer to a large pitcher, preferably glass, and refrigerate until very cold. This could be done overnight. In the meantime, prepare any toppings. I used some very old cubes of bread from the freezer, cooked in butter with garlic.

When you are ready to serve, taste to adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar. Serve in glasses. You can serve over ice or even chill the glasses for the best effect.

Present with toppings: chopped almonds, garlic croutons, olive oil and Tabasco all worked great for me.

Why not enjoy outdoors?

Grateful for Gratin

Posted on July 24, 2016 by makehastenotwaste

There’s nothing like 2 weeks straight of eating out for nearly every meal to get one on the mood to cook!

Sorry if that sounded like a humblebrag – or just a brag. Back in April, Matt and I finally went on vacation to a country where we share some ancestry – Ireland – and returned stuffed. We had some fantastic meals (FX Buckley in Dublin, The Mews Kenmare, Cafe Hans by the Rock of Cashel, Doyle’s in Dingle, Greenmount House breakfast, and Ashford Castle in Cong) and some that were simply filling. (I guess they assume that if we’re full of stews and breads, we’ll be less impacted by the chill and rain). By the time we returned, we were both ready for some home cooking.

A half a head of cauliflower (I can never seem to get through a whole head with one recipe for two people without too many leftovers), and some pantry staples led me to this recipe. As an accompaniment, we enjoyed a delicious and simple preparation of marinated dijon chicken, using basic pantry items.

Note: the chicken recipe calls for 2 hours of marinating. We threw ours into an “instant marinator” tool we have (which is a container with a top that you can suction air out of) and let it sit for about 30-45 minutes during the other prep. We don’t believe this tool necessarily lives up to its name or holds a special magic, but either way, our chicken was super flavorful in that shortened marination time.

Cauliflower Gratin with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Adapted (halved) from The New York Times

1/2 medium head of cauliflower

Salt and pepper, to taste

1.5 Tablespoons olive oil

1/4 large or 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 regular (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (freeze the rest or just toss it all in)

pinch of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and coarsely ground

1 egg

1 ½ ounces goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with parchment or foil.

Cut the stem and leaves off of the cauliflower. This is easier once you at least quarter the head. Roughly cut the cauliflower into about 1/3 inch pieces. Mix with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then spread on the baking sheet.

Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring about halfway through. The cauliflower is done when it is tender and the smaller pieces have browned.

Transfer to a bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F.

While the cauliflower roasts, prep the remaining ingredients: red onion, garlic, and thyme, and roast and crush your coriander seeds, if you haven’t already.

From the garden!

Oil a small baking dish.

In a medium skillet, heat last 1/2 Tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until tender (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic, thyme, and a pinch of salt and continue stirring for about 30 seconds-1 minute, until the garlic fragrance is released.

Add tomatoes, cinnamon, and ground coriander seeds. Increase heat to a simmer; season to taste with salt and pepper. Lower heat and cook for a few minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down a little bit (not too much) and the spices are incorporated.

Add to cauliflower bowl and stir together. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Beat egg, and add all but about 1.5 Tablespoons of goat cheese and beat together.

Pour egg mixture over cauliflower mixture. Top with pieces of goat cheese.

Bake 20-30 minutes, until the top is starting to brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Grilled Honey Dijon Chicken

From Sunny Anderson – Food Network

2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
About 16 ounces boneless skinless chicken – halved breasts or tenders

Mix the honey, mustard, 1 Tablespoon of oil in a small bowl and salt and pepper, to taste. Put mixture in a large plastic bag, bowl, instant marinator, or whatever you like to use to marinate.

Add the chicken and flip or shake to ensure it is coated with the marinade. Refrigerate until ready to grill (2 hours recommended in the original recipe).

While the cauliflower gratin bakes, preheat the grill to medium.

Cook the chicken on oiled grill grates until you get nice dark marks on each sides, about 4-5 minutes each.

Let the chicken rest briefly, and then serve with the gratin.

There you have it–a simple, home-cooked meal!

Green Tomato Curry

Posted on December 30, 2015 by makehastenotwaste

Season’s Greetings!

I won’t dwell on the fact that there has been a significant lack of recent content here. The second half of 2016 has been exciting and eventful; the activity simply has not taken place in my kitchen.

At minimum, I wanted to share with you a recipe I had executed a few months back, during the transition from summer harvest into fall/winter hibernation.

When I had a job with a normal, local work week, I would frequently travel on the weekends. Now that I’m gone many weeks, I have tried to keep the weekend plans limited. Plus there was the 9 months I spent with class on Saturdays–the weekends finally started feeling solidly long (that is, when I wasn’t traveling for part of them). So on a Saturday in mid-October I gave in to the cooler weather and spend much of the day retiring the garden for the season. Does anyone experience some sense of relief when this happens? No more weeding. No more tomatoes rotting before I can use them. No more weird gross evidence of bugs.

The wintering over meant the last big batch of jalapeños and–yes–tomatoes, green ones. Lots. Of the options for cooking green tomatoes, I had already once made the requisite fried green tomatoes, and as for pickled tomato relish? Um, I still have some from last season. So I wanted to mix it up.

My husband is a fan of curries and spiced foods, served over rice, so I wondered if there was anyone who had documented an attempt to make a green tomato curry. Of course there was! Other than a few basic substitutions, I followed the version described by Kerry from Classic Cookery on the kitchn, and was mostly content with the result — it just needed more spice! Nothing a little chili-garlic sauce can’t help.

Looks seasonally appropriate to me!

Green Tomato Curry
Adapted from recipe on the kitchn

Tool needed: immersion blender

2 Tb clarified butter (ghee)
2 Tb shallot, minced
1 tsp curry powder
2 Cups green tomatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
As many roasted peppers as desired, up to 5 Cups (I scrounged up less than 2 Cups)
2 cloves garlic, roasted and smashed
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Cayenne pepper
Cumin
Coriander
1 Cup light coconut milk
1 Tablespoon Asian chili-garlic paste, to taste
Brown or white rice or naan, for serving

Preheat the oven and roast your garlic cloves and peppers, if starting from scratch. I usually cook these at around 375F.

These peppers could have gone a little longer.

Stem, core and chop your tomatoes.

There was some parts of the tomatoes I sliced and tossed because they didn’t really seem edible.

Taste the rainbow!

In a soup pot or high-sided saucepan, melt butter. Add shallots and cook on low heat until soft and fragrant.

Add curry powder, add tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Allow tomatoes to warm fully and start to soften.

Next add the roasted peppers, peeled and smashed garlic, and garbanzo beans.

Add about a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander, and then start adding cayenne pepper to taste–this can get very hot. The amount of spice you will need depends on the amount of peppers you end up using.
Cook for a few minutes until hot, and add coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and add seasoning.

Use an immersion blender to blend the “soup” until mostly smooth but leaving some chunks of tomato, pepper, and whole beans. Taste again and add spice as needed.

Serve in a bowl over rice. Be sure to transfer desired amount to freezer containers for later meals!

Bok Choy, Bean, and Tomato Stew

Posted on March 16, 2015 by makehastenotwaste

I keep meaning to make soup. It’s so simple and productive for using up leftovers. For some reason, I continue to be intimidated. I wish I could be more like my Mom, who, hours after I had left her with a bunch of green tops from leeks, produced a lovely puréed leek green soup.

In my defense, I recall bad experiences cooking soup. I added a variety of ingredients, mixed things in at different times, seasoned initially, and what was I rewarded with? Bland taste. I’m also a big texture person–I love some crunch and chew to most of my meals. So I’m not necessarily drawn to the idea of cooking down my pantry to mush. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are ways to achieve texture in a soup. And if you don’t incorporate crunch in the soup itself, you can always get satisfaction from the toast you serve alongside!

Speaking of soup, check out this Edible Manhattan article about the ladies of the Soup Club. “Formalized food-sharing,” how great is that? If I started a soup club, I’d probably get pretty comfortable with making soup.

Last week I had my eye on some CSA bok choy that I had blanched and frozen in the fall. I was also scraping the bottom of a bag of dried Great Northern beans I wanted to use. Time to get creative! Except I couldn’t resist the urge to scan the internet for recipes using bok choy with beans. The selected recipe inspiration happened to help me use up some green onions, tortillas, and cheese too!

Bok Choy, Bean, and Tomato Stew with Homemade Tortilla Chips and Gruyere
Adapted from The Kitchen Paper

1 tsp olive oil
2/3 sweet onion, chopped
2 small carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

Diced heirloom carrots I had to use up.

2 Cups stock, (I used chicken)
1/2 Cup dried Great Northern beans , cooked and then incorporated with the bean broth(about 2 Cups cooked beans)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
¾ tsp ground coriander
⅛ tsp ground cloves
2 corn or flour tortillas, or prepared restaurant-style tortilla chips
3 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp white pepper
salt to taste
about a handful of sliced bok choy, fresh or previously blanched
2 green onions, sliced
Gruyère, gouda or sharp cheddar cheese for topping (at least 1/2 Cup shredded)

If you’re starting with dried beans, you’ll need to start well in advance to have them cooked. I did both my soaking and cooking the day before, and had the cooked beans in their broth ready to go.

In a Dutch oven or large soup pot set over medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the onion and carrots and cook for about 2 minutes.

I didn’t realize that the purple in the carrots would be so dominant!

Stir in the garlic. Saute for a few more minutes to soften the vegetables. Pour in your stock.

Add the beans, tomatoes, ground coriander, and cloves.

Raise the temperature to bring the soup to simmer. Taste for seasoning and add a little salt. At this point, I also added a little dried basil and oregano.

This would be an excellent time to toss in one of the Parmesan rinds you have in your freezer. Of course I forgot. I might need to resort to the old post-it-note-reminder-stuck-to-the-stove-hood trick!

While the soup simmers, cut up your tortillas in to wedges to cook.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or coat the tortillas with a little olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, checking frequently and turning once, halfway through.

Remove and sprinkle with salt.

Taste the stew and add more salt and pepper. Add the bok choy and bring up to temperature to finish.

Yep, that’s an interesting color.

Top with some shredded cheese and a few tortilla chips.

Roasted Chicken Sofrito

Posted on January 11, 2015 by makehastenotwaste

Happy New Year!

Where has the time gone? 2015 is well under way. I know my blog has been quiet the past few months. I can explain away the last month, at least, by pointing to all the holiday planning and gatherings and dining out. Before that, of course, there was the slam of my new job, commute, class work…and the end of the CSA. I no longer have cooking inspiration built into my life!

The quiet end-of-December period did give me the chance to devote at least a couple of stretches of time to cooking projects. As I saw a major calendar flip approaching, it seemed imperative that I give attention to some of the (previously prepared or semi-prepared) items in my freezer that were dated from 2014…some with months lower numbered than I care to admit.

One such item was a cupful of sofrito I had made to use up some herbs along with the in- season tomatoes and peppers. I’m still not sure why I didn’t make a dish with it right away, since this recipe (which I think I followed for the sofrito) is quite easy.

This sofrito discovery coincided with a rare craving for roasted poultry. You see, like many people, Christmas dinner in my family features a non-turkey entrée such as ham, pork, or lasagna. It’s all delicious. I just thought it was time to have a little chicken in my life.

I found my inspiration in a version of chicken & rice from Food & Wine and headed to the store. Little did I know, I would be presented with another opportunity to demonstrate my make haste not waste philosophy! While I was having trouble finding chicken legs, I came across a whole cut up chicken at a greatly reduced “manager’s special” price, because it was being sold the day it was dated “sell by.” Perfect! Some grocery stores won’t even offer shelf space for these perfectly good items. What a shame! You need to be careful with meat and dairy dates, unlike many other products, but fortunately I planned to cook the chicken right away. (And the extra pieces I added to other chicken carcasses in the freezer to finally make some chicken stock a few days later.)

So let’s get to it.

Roasted Chicken Sofrito with Rice
From Food and Wine

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
drumsticks, thighs, and breasts from 1 whole chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (split 1/4 teaspoon “hot” chili powder, and 1/4 teaspoon regular), plus more for dusting
1 Cup prepared sofrito, plus
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 small onion, diced
2 large thyme sprigs
3 Cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 1/4 Cup short-grain white rice, such as sushi rice
2 Tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 Cup roasted almonds, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust lightly with chili powder.

In a Dutch oven or other large ovenproof skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over moderate heat until well browned, about 4 minutes per side.

If you’re impatient like me, you could use an extra skillet for the extra chicken.

Transfer to a plate.

Add the sofrito, thyme sprigs, and onion to the skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

I didn’t decide it needed the onion until after first starting to warm the sofrito.

Once the onion is beginning soften, add the diced tomatoes. Bring the mixture up to a bubble, then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil.

Stir in the rice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer. Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice, with the skin side up.

Place the pot, uncovered, in the upper third of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Check to see if the chicken is cooked through (some cuts may finish before others) and the rice has absorbed the stock. It took nearly 30 minutes for the fat chicken breasts from my chicken to come up to 165.

Turn on the broiler and try to get the pot within 6 inches of the heat to crisp the chicken skin, if possible.

Remove the chicken to a separate plate. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs.

Add in the lemon juice.

Spoon rice onto the place and scatter with some almonds. Add the chicken and serve.

How was it? Man it was delicious. Yes, it satisfied my desire for chicken. Of course my favorite part was the rice. It had an unbelievable texture, almost like risotto. The flavors of green chiles and acidic tomatoes and lemon juice combined with the rich chicken juices plus a satisfying crunch from almonds–talk about truly crave-able.

Here’s to a filling and fulfilling 2015!

Miso Soba Noodles with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Posted on August 25, 2014 by makehastenotwaste

I knew the day would come when I would have plenty of tomatoes. If I was ever worried about not getting my fill of ripe tomatoes this summer, my cherry tomato plants have been sure to put me at ease. I can’t complain about the steady output from the two plants. In fact, I am particularly pleased that the plump orbs keep well on the counter, several days after being picked. They are easy to share with friends and family, and they just keep coming.

Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes are wonderful for snacking, but I do love me a cooked tomato, warm and burst open at the seams. Don’t you? Roasted cherry tomatoes serve as the topping for this delicious soba noodle dish, a recipe I picked from Blue Apron. I only used the Blue Apron delivery service once so far, but I’m on the mailing list, and I saw this recipe in July. It seemed unusual to use tomatoes in a Japanese-inspired preparation. It intrigued me. Fortunately, my red miso stood ready (in place of the original recipe’s “hatcho miso”). In addition, I happen to have allowed myself to supplement my stock of CSA vegetables with the purchase a beautiful, leafy head of broccoli from a farm stand on my way home from a North Fork winery event over the weekend.

A portion of this broccoli took the place of what would have been Chinese broccoli. I even used some of the stems, peeled to remove the tough outer portion, and chopped. I keep reading that broccoli stems can be delicious, and I shudder to think of the dozens of giant broccoli stalks I’ve sent to the garbage in my day!

Even with a few modifications, the meal came out great. I wished I had made twice as much. It’s definitely a keeper!

Miso Soba Noodles with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from Blue Apron

6 ounces Broccoli of any type, including leaves, finely chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced and whites and greens separated
about half a small white onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons red miso paste
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3/4 Cup water, divided
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger root
A few springs of cilantro
1 large clove garlic
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil (toasted is fine)
2 Tablespoons roasted peanuts
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 ounces cherry tomatoes
8 ounces soba noodles
2 teaspoons white sesame seeds

Wash the produce, chop, and set aside. The ginger root should be peeled and minced. The cilantro leaves can be picked from the stems, roughly chopped, and set in a bowl. Half will be added in the cooking process, and half will be saved for garnish.

Another topping will be candied chopped peanuts (cashews are preferred, if you have them).

To prepare, set a small pot with the sugar and 1/4 Cup of water over medium-high heat. Also prepare a small pan lined with a little bit of parchment paper. Allow the water-sugar mixture to boil, without stirring, for several minutes, until the color starts to change into a golden blonde. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped peanuts.

Then pour the mixture onto the parchment paper. Spread evenly and allow to cool.

Here’s where it gets exciting (for the person washing dishes)! For the tomatoes, preheat the oven to 450°F. For the soba noodles, fill a medium pot with water and set over heat to boil. Grab a large sauté pan for the vegetables.

In a small bowl, whisk together the miso paste, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and ½ Cup of water, until smooth.

On a sheet plan, spread the cherry tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast 6 to 8 minutes, or until softened and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles briefly in the boiling water, 1 to 2 minutes. The noodles will remain somewhat firm. Drain and return to pan with a little bit of warm water to prevent sticking.

In the vegetable pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the ginger, onion, and white part of scallions.

Sauté gently until they begin to soften. Add the broccoli and cook for several minutes until it becomes slightly tender. It’s likely that the broccoli stem portions will remain slightly crunchy, unless you pre-cook them, but they will add some nice additional texture.

Pour in the miso mixture, the cooked soba noodles, half of the cilantro, and the green parts of the scallions.

Cook for a few minutes, at which point most of the liquid will be absorbed. Remove from heat and taste for additional salt and pepper.

To serve, place the noodle mixture on each of two plates. Top with the roasted tomatoes and chopped candied peanuts. Finally, add the remaining cilantro and a sprinkling of sesame seeds

Mmm delicious!

Green Tomato and Swiss Chard Gratin

Posted on August 12, 2014 by makehastenotwaste

The summer has been much cooler than previous summers, which has been refreshing. Lower energy bills are a perk, and subway and walking commutes are much less sticky. But the lower temperatures mean that my tomatoes have been pokey about ripening. I’m getting impatient! Chances are, as always, as soon as a couple of fruits start ripening, too many will, and I will be scrambling. Before that happens, I stole a few unripened tomatoes from the plant to make this dish.

This is the first time I have tapped into the green tomatoes so early. There are usually some left over on the plant when the first frost creeps in, and I snatch them before my garden is winterized.

I make fried green tomatoes at least once every year. They keep me in touch with my southern roots. Buttermilk dressings and remoulade sauce make excellent pairings. In this recipe, lightly fried tomatoes make the topping of the gratin. It seems to me more like a crustless quiche of Swiss chard and Gruyère cheese with a green tomato topping.

I hope you’re not getting sick of me posting about chard. Remember, you can substitute pretty much any hearty green..spinach, kale, collards, mustard greens, etc. I just happen to have chard again!

Green Tomato and Swiss Chard Gratin
Reproduced from Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe in The New York Times

1 bunch Swiss chard, stems separated from the leaves
1 lb green tomatoes, sliced a little less than 1/2 inch thick
1/2-3/4 Cup cornmeal for dredging, as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 Cup milk
Approx 1/2 Cup or 2-3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated

Prepare your 2-quart baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray or olive oil.

To blanch the swiss chard leaves, fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. While the water heats, dice the swiss chard stems and set aside to be combined with the chopped onion.

Taste the rainbow.

Once boiling, drop the chard leaves in the water and blanch for about 1 minute.

Lift out of the water and transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking. Put the leaves in a colander to drain excess water. Chop and set aside.

Slice your green tomatoes. This is a little tedious with the plum tomatoes–ideally you have abundant round beefsteak or big boys. Season the slices with a little salt and pepper, and add a little salt and pepper to the cornmeal as well.

Dredge the tomatoes in the cornmeal.

Glug 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the tomatoes for about two minutes each side, until they are just starting to turn golden. A narrow flexible spatula, like the type used for fish, is helpful for turning over the slippery suckers. When done, transfer to a plate and set aside.

While frying the tomatoes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add more olive oil to the now-empty pan and pour in the onion and chopped chard stems. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add a pinch of salt, some grinds of pepper, and your minced garlic.

Cook for about a minute, and then finally add the thyme and chopped chard. Stir everything together over medium heat for another minute. Good luck keeping it in the pan as your stir! Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, whisk the 3 eggs with a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour in the milk, stir, and then add the cheese and chard and stir. Pour into your baking dish.

Layer the tomatoes over the top.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The gratin is done when the eggs are set and it is beginning to brown.

Could be browner.

This makes a generous 6 servings, so I will be enjoying it all week!

Chow down!

Salmon Salad – Plated

Posted on May 23, 2014 by makehastenotwaste

Last year, I ordered a box from Hello Fresh so I could test out the recipe-kit home delivery service. These types of meal kits are now delivered by a growing number of companies, suggesting that the model appeals to a substantial number of people. Or perhaps it is a fad. It would be great if these were an answer to the question I often hear from my single, on-the-go friends: if I buy ingredients to cook at home for myself one night, what am I supposed to do with all the excess? I’m only one person! I’m not so sure these boxes are the perfect solution. My conclusion about Hello Fresh was that its meal options were good and the prices fair, but the ingredient ratios were off, the instructions incomplete, and the serving count questionable. I also wished that Hello Fresh could somehow consider the fact I have a more well-stocked pantry than most.

A friend of mine had high praised for Plated, another service aimed at simplifying home cooking. Taking advantage of a promotion, I decided to give this one a try as well. I selected a seafood choice for one of my meals, once again, since fish is expensive. I’m also trying to incorporate the recommended two servings of healthy fish per week. My second meal choice was a pulled barbecue chicken with a pico de gallo salsa.

To assess Plated, let’s start with the packaging. The box is lined with an insulated bag.

The meat and fish are stored in the bottom of the box, covered with frozen packs that are reusable.

I will add these to my growing collection of ice packs!

Then there’s the produce, some of which is in its own packaging, and some of which I find in the larger bags labeled by recipes.

The fresh tomatoes didn’t fare too well with this; they were packaged near a heavy can of beans and ended up bruised.

I saw that these bags were labeled “Greenbags,” which sounded familiar to me but I couldn’t recall the features.

I got excited when I thought they might be biodegradable, but when I looked them up I didn’t see that in the description–they are meant to absorb the ethylene gas that can make produce ripen and rot too quickly. At least I can reuse them for other fruits and vegetables.

I wasn’t ready to cook the day the box arrived, but it was easy to transfer the individual packages to the refrigerator. The next day, I pulled out my ingredients and recipe card for Seared Salmon Salad with Tomato Sherry Vinaigrette.

Seared Salmon Salad with Tomato Sherry Vinaigrette
From Plated

1 medium tomato, seeded and minced
1 shallot, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 bunch of chives, minced
1 Tablespoon honey
1/4 Cup sherry vinegar
3 Tablespoons of olive oil, divided
1 Cup arugula
3 ounces frisée
3 ounces radicchio
1 small head butter lettuce
2 fillets wild Alaskan salmon
salt and black pepper

The first step on Plated’s card is “Prepare ingredients.” This is where it provides instructions such as “Rinse X. Rise and Mince X. Slice X.” I included some of those directions in my list of ingredients, like I usually do. Basically, the salad dressing is made first, and then most of that is tossed with the greens.

Right away, I made some disappointing observations. The shallot was fairly large, and the tomato was not. They were basically the same size. I made the executive decision to use 2/3 of the shallot, which was probably still more than necessary.

Seeding the tomato.

To make the dressing, combine tomato, shallot, chive, juice of one lemon, honey, and sherry vinegar.

You can see that the tomato is a little mushy.

Really, this is how the honey comes? Normal people don’t have honey at home?

Gradually add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, whisking to emulsify. Taste and add salt and pepper to season.

The next set of challenges involved the salad greens, which are to be combined in a large bowl. After everything is washed, the frisée is to be trimmed first to discard root (I didn’t seem much of a root), the radicchio needs its core removed and a thin slice, and the arugula can go in as is.

The instructions for the butter lettuce were “rinse and tear into bite-size pieces.” The problem: the head of butter lettuce was very, very sandy and gritty. That is not going to dissipate with a “rinse”–the only way to get rid of the grit is to slosh the separated leaves in a bowl of cold water, lift them out (leaving the dirt behind), and then rinse again in a colander/salad spinner. Unless you’re sure that people ordering this plate know about the persistent grit, I think it’s important to include cleaning tips like this.

In addition, this was a massive amount of salad. I started with one bowl, but had to switch to a larger bowl to accommodate it all. I still had trouble keeping everything contained during the next step, which is to pour in half of the dressing and toss to coat.

Bowl attempt # 1.

I’m pretty sure this is the LARGEST bowl I have.

Time to prepare the salmon. The instructions say to rinse and pat dry with paper towels. I’ve never been a rinse-r of meats and fish, but since the salmon was sealed in some kind of liquid, I followed directions. The fillets were very soggy, so the drying step was key.

Season with salt and pepper.

Heat about 1 Tablespoon of olive or other vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat–something nonstick but heavy would be best. When hot, add salmon, flesh-side down, and cook until golden on the outside, 3-5 minutes. Repeat on the other side, careful not to overcook beyond medium-rare.

Arrange salad on two plates and place salmon on top. Spoon over some of the reserved dressing.

Do you see how much salad this is? The plates would have to be massive to hold all of the salad.

My husband joined me for dinner and suffered through some of the bitter elements of the salad. Perhaps this recipe wasn’t the best choice for us because of the salad; I could have done without the frisée myself, since I find its frizzy texture only appropriate in very select dishes, and I already knew the radicchio would be strong. Of course, I could have easily left those parts out. The salad dressing was tasty and paired well with the salmon, but it needed more tomato and could have had more honey or sugar to balance all the bitterness.

As you may have guessed, I reached a similar conclusion for Plated as I had for Hello Fresh: it may not produce the best results for newbie cooks, or those who tend to follow recipes word-for-word. It certainly doesn’t guarantee proper portions for the selected number of “plates,” which means that people aren’t cutting back as much on food waste as they might think. As long as you keep that in mind, you might enjoy the healthy, high-quality ingredients and the convenience of avoiding a trip to the grocery store.

Plated Rating (sample size of 1, on a scale of 1-5):
Packaging: 3
Ingredients (freshness): 3
Recipe accuracy (quantities, ratios): 2
Instructions: 2
Recipe uniqueness: 4
Accuracy of portion sizing: 1
Taste: 3

Tuscan Soup

Posted on May 1, 2014 by makehastenotwaste

It has been two weeks since we returned from our vacation to Italy and France, and I haven’t yet recovered from withdrawal. I long to return to days of wandering through historic cities in the spring sunshine. The jet lag lasted about five days before dissipating, but these cravings have lingered.

Italy was a feast. My main impression of the food is that people love meat, based on the abundance of meats we tried and encountered. Cured meats and sausage and porchetta. Yes, there was some excellent pasta (mostly enjoyed in a meat sauce), one excellent roasted shrimp “secondi” and two times I ordered a market-fresh (but not necessarily stellar) Mediterranean fish. I should have sought out vegetables more often. In Florence, I enjoyed one outstanding, flavorful chickpea soup, where some of the chickpeas had been blended to create a thickened, creamy base. Sadly, it was served at a restaurant where there service was so poor that I left fuming–we were treated almost as if we were invisible. Later that week, I had a lentil soup as part of a no-nonsense, prixe-fixe lunch at a restaurant frequented by locals, and it was terribly bland and uninteresting–clearly reflecting its place as part of a “value” lunch.

I don’t want to sound unimpressed with the trip; we loved the vibe of Italy, and savored numerous inspiring dishes. Here’s a small sample of our photos. Hover your mouse over each picture and click to view full captions.

Treats from the family-run bakery that uses no butter and has a giant oven that cookies run through on a conveyor belt.

Fresh Italian cheese at the Travesterre neighborhood food tour’s first stop.

An oven run on hazelnuts shells.

100% authentic gelato, we were told. We even tried one that was beer-flavored–pretty good!

We never knew porchetta could be so good.

Wine and fresh pasta sampled at lunch in Rome.

Truffles and a runny yolk made this a fantastic appetizer at a French-Italian restaurant in Florence.

Enjoying a taste on our Chianti wine tour, in Tuscany.

Lunch appetizers at a famous butcher on our Tuscany tour. Yes, that’s lard in the forefront.

It was rather timely to come across this Tuscan vegetable-based soup recipe last week, on the website Blue Apron, a grocery subscription service. The less fortunate part was that I couldn’t find toscano (also known as lacinato) kale! Tuscan kale is darker green and flatter, without the curly edges, and I really wanted to use it. After trying four stores, I resigned myself to a fact I already knew, that toscano kale is woefully out of season here right now, so I shouldn’t be using it anyway! Regular kale it is.

I will admit that a big part of the recipe’s draw for me was the soft-boiled egg on top–I am such a sucker for a runny egg. Drool. On a side note, is there anything more disappointing in life than when you expect the egg yolk you are being served at a restaurant will be runny and it’s not?

I have made poached eggs many times (they don’t always turn out great) but for some reason, I never made soft-boiled an egg. What an epiphany! It’s a much less messy-and still healthy-way to enjoy the liquid yolk.

Tuscan Ribollita Soup with Soft Boiled Egg
From Blue Apron
2-4 servings

Part 1 ingredients:
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste

Part 2 ingredients:
about 8 ounces kale (any type)
1 14.5 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3.5 Cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Part 3 ingredients:
2 slices sourdough bread, or 1 large sourdough roll, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 Cup parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs (or more for additional servings)
salt and pepper to taste

The reason I divided the ingredients into three parts is that you can use your time more efficiently by prepping the ingredients for each part while the previous set of ingredients are cooking. I did all my mise en place at first, which took quite some time, and then I was less occupied during the cooking stages. One could do dishes during those down times, of course.

Firstly, take your eggs out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. Perhaps you are one of those lucky ones who has such fresh eggs you don’t need to refrigerate them in the first place? I envy you. Fill a small saucepan with some water and a pinch of salt and set aside for later.

In a large pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Add carrots and a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook the mixture for a few minutes, until the carrots have softened.

Put the small saucepan over heat so it comes to a boil.

To your large pot, add all of the Part 2 ingredients (beans, diced tomatoes, kale, vegetable broth, and crushed red pepper flakes).

See why you need a large pot?

Season with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer 6 to 8 minutes, smelling and tasting to see if the flavors have come together enough for your liking.

Add the bread cubes, half the parsley, and half of the Parmesan cheese to the soup and stir.

If you feel there is not enough liquid, it is fine to add a little water (especially if you are using a rich vegetable stock). Let the soup cook, without stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until thickened. Add even more salt and pepper to taste!

While the soup is simmering, gently place the eggs in the saucepan of boiling water. Cook for exactly 5 minutes. Have a small bowl of cold water ready, and transfer the eggs into the bowl with a slotted spoon. Then run the eggs under more cold water for 30 seconds. Gently peel the eggs (be careful) and set aside.

Fill two bowls with soup and place one soft-boiled egg in each. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

That’s what I’m talking about!

New Ideas

Posted on January 12, 2014 by makehastenotwaste

Many people may be ramping up their cooking as part of the new year, whether the reason is to be healthier, to reign in food spending, or, like me, to enjoy new cookbooks that were acquired as part of the holiday season.

Matt’s cousin, an impressive cook and founder of Cooking with Kyler, along with his wife, gifted us with the Ottelenghi: The Cookbook. I had been meaning for a long time to borrow the much-talked-about Jerusalem cookbook from my library, so this was a nice treat to experience Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s style of cooking.

It seems to me that many of these restaurant-chef authored books incorporate more of those hard-to-find or very recipe-specific ingredients, a lot of homemade components, and frequent scratch-based instructions in their recipes (i.e. home pickling, stocks, and doughs). I have yet to fully commit myself to such an approach. I don’t strive for perfect authenticity. Especially when becoming introduced to a new cookbook, I gravitate toward the recipes that require minimal advance preparation.

Ottolenghi and Tamimi start the book by listing some of their favorite ingredients, many of which I’m on board with but some that I won’t rush to acquire (rose water) or to which am not ready to commit (sumac). I love their #8 item, pomegranate. The first recipe I prepared from the book was a fennel salad with beautiful pomegranate seeds and lemon dressing (I left out the sumac that was listed) as part of a New Year’s Eve meal for two. I had a fennel bulb left over, so that drove my decision to make the below recipe.

Fennel, Cherry Tomato, and Crumble Gratin
Adapted from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
Scaled down to about 2 servings from the original 6-8

Crumble ingredients:
Makes about 10 ounces

150 grams (a little over 1.5 Cups) all-purpose flour
50 grams/1/4 Cup “superfine” sugar (I used regular sugar and whizzed it in the food processor)
100 grams/6.5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

If starting from a stick of butter, I recommend cutting it into the small cubes and then returning those cubes to the refrigerator or freezer to ensure they are very cold when added to your mixer or food processor.

Put the flour, sugar, and butter in a bowl to mix with your hands, or in an electric stand mixer, or, like me, in a food processor to work into uniform read crumb consistency. Transfer to a container. You’ll use about 2/3 of it if making a smaller portion of the vegetables like below. The rest can be kept in the freezer for a later date.

Gratin:
9 ounce fennel bulb
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp course salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 Cup milk or cream (I used 2%)
2/3 recipe of Crumble from above
a little over 1 ounce/33 grams Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Approximately 1/2 Cup/150 grams (but this is really to taste) cherry tomatoes, preferably on the vine
a sprinkling of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim along the top and the base of the fennel stalks. Cut the bulb in half lengthwise, and slice each half into pieces about 2/3 inch thick.

Add to a large bowl with olive oil, thyme leaves, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss.

Pour into an ovenproof dish and pour milk/cream over the mixture. Mix the Crumble and the Parmesan and sprinkle on top. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes.

I forgot to add the milk until partway through the cooking time. Fortunately, it turned out OK!

Remove the dish from the oven and remove the aluminum. Add the tomatoes on top, and scatter some thyme springs on top of that.

How about an extra sprinkling of cheese for good measure?

Here’s another reason this recipe caught my attention, and how I was resourceful–these off-season tomatoes actually came from my garden. I think they were one of the the last batches picked from my plants back in November, and they didn’t look especially appealing to eat raw so I roasted them. Then I froze them because I wasn’t feeling the urge to eat them at the time. Since this recipe called for roasting as well, I was happy to use them.

Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, approximately. You want to be able to poke through the fennel easily and ideally achieve a golden color. Allow the dish to rest out of the oven for a few minutes before sprinkling with parsley.

I was able to pull a few last acceptable-looking leaves from this plant before I laid it to rest for good.

I was able to pull the last acceptable-looking leaves from this plant before I laid it to rest for good.

As usual, I forgot to add the parsley until after the photos.

Now I want to eat these tomatoes! The sugar and butter in the Crumble make the dish fairly indulgent. I will have to see what the rest of that Crumble can do for other roasted vegetables, perhaps ones I don’t especially like.

Here’s to trying even more new things in the new year!

An effort to make efficient use of every last drop, stem, crumb, and moment.

Category Archives: Tomatoes