Tostones Part II: Mojo de Ajo (aka garlic dipping sauce from heaven)

Remember my recipe for Tostones! posted a few weeks back? The green plantains that fry into smashed delicious, life-altering goodness?

Well, no toston is complete without a salty garlic-limon sauce to dip it into and make you feel really alive.

Without further ado, my recipe (and I fully admit there are endless varieties and ways to make this kind of dipping sauce) for...

Mojo de Ajo

- 2 cloves of garlic for every platano you're using (in this case, I fried up two platanos, so I used 4 cloves)

- some really good quality extra virgin olive oil

- lime juice (ideally fresh-squeezed, and lemon will do in a pinch)

- plenty of salt (I use kosher salt)

Mince your garlic as finely as is humanly possible. The day I made these tostones, I was lazy. So my garlic was pretty chunky. But it so doesn't really matter -- this sauce will still turn out like crack.

In a bowl, mix your garlic with some salt and mash it all up with the back of a spoon, to make kind of a garlic-salt paste.

Cover this concoction with several tablespoons of olive oil, and then add a couple of teaspoons of lime juice -- or more to your taste, however you like it. Too salty? Add more olive oil and lime juice. Too sour and limey? Add more olive oil. Not enough punch? Add a bit more lime juice. This sauce is really made by taste; can you tell?

Mix it all up, let it sit and meld and marinate and then when your tostones are all fried up, serve them along with this sauce and die and go to heaven.

Goes great over yucca, too, as well as over black beans & rice and grilled chicken.

My First Post / Cashew Chicken

My first post over at The Jew & The Carrot, that is!

I just posted my recipe for Cashew Chicken, which I have to say is really delicious and easy to make. When I start to crave Chinese food (which is often), I grab my trusty iron skillet and some eco-kosher chicken and whip out this recipe.

I am so thrilled to be blogging over at The Carrot -- it's a really wonderful blog and I'm so honored to be a part of it. I had to screw up my courage and get over my intimidation that everyone else blogging over there was "more Jewish" than I am and had "more eco-kosher" food cred than I do. So I just posted my recipe and now I'm a long way over that intimidation. Someone even left a comment! :-)

Dena's Cashew Chicken & Snow Peas

I am lucky enough to live in Eugene, Oregon. I’ve got it pretty good here – great weather, great outdoors, great Jewish community, great abundance of local organic food. But Chinese food? Not so much here in Eugene.

As a Bay Area transplant, I crave Chinese food. I often feel like I literally NEED it. After months searching for something that would quench my Chinese food tastebuds – and realizing that to keep my version of kosher (which is eco-kosher: less about what is and what is not treyf and more about eating only meat that is ideally organic and pasture-raised – and if not, is absolutely free-range, never given hormones or antibiotics, and was humanely slaughtered) – I came to the conclusion that I’d have to make it myself. For both taste and my personal kashrut reasons. Which is some kind of a life lesson right there, I’m sure.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Cashew Chicken from the inimitable Martha Stewart and decided to give it a whirl – and my own flair. And to tell the truth, it is delicious and happily graces our Friday night Shabbat table pretty often.

Read more...

Oregon Fall Bounty Hash with Quinoa

A week ago Sunday we went to the delicious and oh-so-very-Oregon Mushroom Festival at the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum with our dear friends Eric, Nic & Vic, and Nic & Vic's friends Gabe & Suzanne and their daughter Coral. I'll post separately about the festival and that lovely day; it was so cool it definitely deserves its own post!

It was fantastic and sooooo fall and a pretty perfect way to spend an autumnal afternoon. There were hay rides! And many mushrooms on display -- Coral, who's eight years old, delighted in pointing out to us the coral mushrooms. Which, I gotta say, really do look like coral! And they are gorgeous. Who knew mushrooms came in so many different colors, textures, sizes, and shapes? And I was again reminded of mushrooms' truly mysterious magic -- they have so many incredible medicinal properties!

While there, we signed up for a mushroom CSA! I'll post more on that later for sure. What a brilliant idea, no?

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I threw together this dish for our dinner on Sunday night. It was seriously seriously no joke not even kidding delicious. I have already promised hubby I'll be making this every week for as long as these fall ingredients last.

It's super easy and super seasonal, so get thee to the forest a-foragin' or store or farmer's market and get a-cookin'!

Dena's Oregon Fall Bounty Hash with Quinoa

• EVOO (use of acronym is just for you, James)
• As much chopped garlic as you can handle like (for us, that's about 5 or 6 cloves or so, depending on their size)
• ~ 3 cups cooked quinoa (I prefer to cook in mushroom or chicken broth to boost the flavor)
• Anywhere between 12 to 20 heads brussels sprouts, trimmed of brown spots and halved lengthwise
• 3 to 5 good-sized leeks, green stalks removed and white to light green parts sliced lengthwise and then chopped and washed (ours came from our garden!)
  
• 1/2 lb chanterelle mushrooms, sliced (and if you're lucky like us, they were foraged for very nearly in your own backyard. And remember that the smaller the chanterelle, the creamier and more delicious it will be!)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Good, nutty Parmesan cheese as a garnish

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 400F. (Also begin cooking your quinoa in a pot right about now -- I always do 1½ parts broth or water to 1 part quinoa. So, 3 cups broth to 2 cups uncooked quinoa, which does get you about 3 cups cooked, give or take. Add the broth and quinoa to your pot, set it to high uncovered and once it is boiling, bring down to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Easy!)

Heat about 1 tbsp (remember that's ~ one solid drizzle around the pan) EVOO in a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. Once it is shimmery and hot enough, add the sprout halves, cut-side down. Cook without moving until they brown nicely and develop a crust. Do not move them, no matter the temptation to do so -- this is where the unique and addictive nutty-delicious brussels sprout flavor is developed. If necessary, brown the sprouts in batches. I used about 20 heads, and had to do about 3 batches or so -- it's very important every sprout gets a chance to develop that browned deliciousness!

Once all the sprouts have been browned, toss them onto an oven-roasting sheet with sides and pop them into your 400F oven for about 7 minutes. When they are done, set them aside in a big mixing bowl -- this will be where you mix all the ingredients together.

Next add more EVOO to your skillet and toss your leeks in when the oil is shimmery and hot enough, letting them get translucent and hopefully even a little browned -- about 10 minutes, give or take. When done, add to brussels sprouts in mixing bowl.

Then bring up the heat on your skillet a bit, to a little above medium-high heat, adding EVOO and letting it get nice and hot before you add your chanterelles. Give them a couple of minutes to heat up and develop a bit of brown fond, then stir to make sure they're cooking all over. After about 5-7 minutes, toss in your garlic and stir to get the garlicky goodness and mushroom yumminess all mixed together. Let it cook for a few more minutes, then add to your brussels sprouts and leeks.

Add your quinoa, mix it all together, add plenty of salt and pepper, and serve. Oh god it will smell absolutely heavenly. Garnish with Parmesan cheese or another nutty hard cheese of your choice. You will taste the warmth and flavor of fall in each bite.

Serve with your favorite Oregon beer in a frosty glass and enjoy!

A Quick Garlic Spear Pasta Recipe

Here's a yummy pasta dish I cooked up last night, recipe requested by Katie* in a comment on my last post, who got garlic spears in her CSA and is wondering what the heck to do with them. (See? This is a full-service blog: you ask for it, we serve it right on up.)

A quick note about garlic spears/scapes: you really can use them as you would asparagus. They have a different flavor, of course, but they do well in any dish where you would use asparagus. Cook them for a little longer than you would asparagus, however: these guys take a little longer to get tender.

Hubby feeling up the garlic spears

Garlic Spear (or Garlic Scape) Pasta with Prosciutto, Shallots, Pine Nuts, and Goat Cheese

• 1 or 2 heads garlic spears, bottom inch or so trimmed, then chopped into ~ 1-inch or so long pieces, leaving the buds at the top intact. (But if the buds have looooong green parts coming off their tops, I chop that too.)
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• As much minced garlic as you and your family can handle (for us, that's a lot)
• 3 thin slices prosciutto (you could easily omit this for a delicious vegetarian meal)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted in your toaster oven or in your pan -- just until they start to get fragrant
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup good quality dry white wine
• EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
• Goat cheese if you'd like it a bit creamy; omit if you don't want a creamy-type pasta
• 1 lb pasta of your choice (we always use organic whole wheat)

While your pasta is cooking, heat your EVOO in your pan on medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer -- add your shallots and let them get fragrant. Then add your prosciutto and let it cook up til it's nearly crispy. Then add your garlic and let it get fragrant and nice and yellow-ish.

Add your white wine -- you'll get a moment of divine smells from the wine hitting the hot pan. Then toss in your garlic spears, give it a stir, and let it cook a bit. If you need a bit more wine to keep the pan just a little wet, go ahead and add it.

Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then toss with your drained pasta, as much goat cheese as you like (I use about 1/2 cup for 1 lb of pasta), pine nuts, and top with a little grated parmesan and salt and pepper.

YUM!

* Katie Kent, is that you?

Baked Ziti

This is one of those recipes that is so in my bones, I don't even remember where I originally got it from. All I know is that this is a recipe for ooey gooey warm deliciousness in a pan.

Definitely one to have around for the winter. And whenever you're watching a Godfather or Sopranos marathon. Am I the only one who craves homemade Italian food when I watch those? I see Carmela take a pan of ziti out of her fridge for the priest who's stopped by and I am like instantly drooling.

Anyway...I digress. Back to the recipe. It's like an easier lasagna, really. And the truth is that the last time I used actual ziti as the pasta in the recipe was nearly 8 years ago -- any short, tube-like pasta will do: penne, rigatoni, fusilli, whatever's easy and on hand. We actually like it best with Trader Joe's organic whole wheat fusilli, but that's just us.


Dena's Baked Ziti

1 lb. short, tubular pasta (like ziti or penne)
1 lb. ground beef (leave this out or substitute with fake meat for vegetarian version)
16 oz. mozzarella, grated
3-4 oz. parmesan, grated
4 (or more, if you're like me) garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
dash of oregano

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When it's shimmery and hot, add the onion and garlic and toss and let it get nice and warmed through, about 2 minutes or so.

While the onion and garlic are cooking, set the pasta to cook in boiling, salted water in a large pot.

Once the onion and garlic is very fragrant and the onion is starting to get translucent, add a bit of oregano, and after about a minute, add the ground beef and smush it with the back of a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces. Let it brown all over.

Once it's browned, add the crushed tomatoes and stir to get everything mixed together. Let it come to a boil, then stir and bring down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain your pasta and put it back in the large pot in which it was boiled. Add the tomato-beef sauce and mix well. See -- this is why you have to make sure you use a big pot!

Add 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese to the pot and mix well so the cheese is everywhere, all melty and gooey and nice. Toss the remaining mozzarella with the parmesan so it's all mixed together well.

Transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and spread it out evenly. Top with the mozzarella-parmesan cheese mixture and make sure it is evenly distributed across the top.

Pop it in the oven for about 5 minutes. Then turn the broiler on high and let it sit under the broiler for as long as it takes for the cheese to get bubbly and browned in places, but not burnt! Broilers can be tricky and finicky -- I find each one has its own temperament (so to speak), so you gotta watch it closely.

When it is browned the way you like it, remove, serve, and enjoyyyyyyyyyy. Press play on the Sopranos DVD.

My New Toys

My mother-in-law recently sent hubby and me a little care package...with these two new toys inside!

I wasn't sure I'd make use of them, but I figured I'd give them a try.

I've actually never owned a garlic peeler before. I'd seen them, but just never got on that bandwagon. I figured it was a lazy person's tool. I had a knife and a cutting board and that worked perfectly fine for me, thank you very much.

Well. I eat my words. This thing is awesome! I hadn't realized how much time I was spending peeling my garlic until this thing came along. Now I use it literally every night.

As for the little chopper you see there, well, I was equally skeptical. Who needs one of those, I thought? I can chop garlic perfectly quickly and easily. And it's true; I can. But this thing makes really fast work of multiple cloves, and I use it all the time now, too. I use it for my many-clove recipes. Which, let's be honest, is most recipes around here. We like our garlic.

So, thank you, mother-in-law! And if you've ever thought about picking one of these kinds of gadgets up, I can attest they are worth their salt.

Chop Garlic First: Your Heart & Health Will Thank You

The New York Times ran a great article on unlocking garlic's health benefits through cooking. I love this -- we all know garlic is good for you, but instead of reaching for a pill, just incorporate it into what you eat!

And for any of you who've been reading this blog for any length of time, you KNOW we love our garlic around Casa Dena.

What thrilled me was to learn that "The concentration of garlic extract used in the latest study was equivalent to an adult eating about two medium-sized cloves per day." What cracked me up was that the NYTimes posited this as a "downside." As if two cloves per day per person is the most ridiculously unachievable goal ever.

Are you kidding me? When I cook, I'm at least getting two cloves per person in there. At least. And when we eat out, if there's a menu item that mentions garlic, I'm all over it. So I'm lucky, I guess.

But really -- I feel like it's an urban myth that garlic is hated because of its strong scent and flavor. But I feel like everyone I know loves it as much as I do. What's going on?

What about you: do you love it or hate it? And if you hate it, do you eat it anyway, because you know it's good for you?

One more important thing to note about cooking with garlic: "Many home chefs mistakenly cook garlic immediately after crushing or chopping it, added Dr. Kraus. To maximize the health benefits, you should crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes. That triggers an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in garlic."

So now, I am chopping my garlic first, trying to give it as much time as possible to do its magical little thing. But no pre-chopped garlic for me; it loses its special oils if it sits around for days. Plus I like cooking from scratch with garlic. And then I can adjust the size of my chop. Sometimes you really do want it sliced thinly, or chopped into larger bits.