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.

Tostones!

As promised a while ago, here is my recipe for tostones! (Always with an exclamation point because DAMN THEY ARE THAT GOOD!)

Also known sometimes as platanos verdes or patacones, tostones! are the most delicious, heavenly, savory, yum yum yummers Latin American side dish you ever will come across. They're kind of like a cross between a potato chip (a really, really good, thick one, like a Kettle chip) and home fries and something else otherworldly.

If you've ever had platanos maduros before (the kind of plantain that is sweet when cooked), you're probably thinking, what the...? Platanos are sweet, not savory, crazy lady!

But the key here is the ripeness of the platano when you cook it, which is easily discernible by its color. A ripe -- and thus sweet-tasting when cooked -- platano is yellow in color, similar to its banana cousins. An unripe -- and thus savory and very umami when cooked -- platano is green in color. Thus the alternate term "platanos verdes" (green/unripe plantains) for tostones.

 Tostones are sadly, miserably, unfortunately, tragically quite hard to find in restaurants on the west coast. When I lived in New York City, I could get them everywhere and didn't eat them every day, thinking they were (as they ought to be) commonplace. Then I moved back to the west coast (San Francisco initially and Oregon now) and realized what a rare delicious golden treasure they are in this land of Mexican and Central American food with a sad dearth of proper Latin Caribbean (Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban) food.

Being the daughter of a Colombian, you would think I'd be partial to the maduros. My dad can't get enough of them, and I remember him teaching me to cook them when I was young. But as soon as I tasted my first toston, I was a lost cause: it was tostones for me, forever. I like the maduros, sure, and especially in certain meals, situations, etc. But give me a choice and I'll always choose the savory tostones.

So the only way for me to satisfy my toston craving is to make them myself. And while, yes, these are not the healthiest food in the world to eat, when you make them yourself, they totally fall into Food Rule #39 of Michael Pollan's: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

These go wonderfully with rice and beans; grilled chicken; fried eggs; anything else with even a little bit of latin flavor or that needs a carby, salty side. As for me, I could eat an entire batch solo, no problem. But only as long as the requisite mojo de ajo (garlic-lemon dipping sauce) is on the side.

And so, without further ado, I present to you my recipe for these gorgeous wonderful delights of salty and garlicky and yummmm:

DENA'S TOSTONES

•  As many platanos verdes (green plantains) as you can handle -- for me, this usually falls somewhere between my desire to eat 17 and my capacity to cook anywhere between 2 to 4
• Plenty of high-heat cooking oil, such as sunflower or safflower
• Salt water
• Salt

1. Peel your platanos -- they don't peel like regular bananas due to their un-ripeness. You'll need to score the outside in two to three vertical lines to get the peel to come off.

2. Slice them into fairly thick rounds -- they're going to get smashed into flat delicious toston-ness, so they need to start out pretty substantial.

3. Meanwhile, heat enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of your skillet by about 1/4 inch til it's hot; I usually set mine on medium-high.

4. If you've got a lot of tostones, fry them in batches: place each piece in the skillet so that it can lay flat but not crowd the others. Let them get just golden, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes or so, depending on the heat of your stove. You don't want them to brown. Once they've reached that gorgeous golden state, flip them so they get golden on the other side, too.

5. Once they're all golden on both sides, remove from the skillet to a plate with paper towels to soak up excess oil. You can turn off your skillet for now.

6. While they were cooking, you've set up a little toston-smashing station: Small bowl of salt water, a clean surface on which to smash (I sometimes use a plate for this), and a smasher -- I usually use one of our flat, heavy-bottomed glasses. A heavy mug can also work.


7. Take each toston onto your surface, place the smasher over it, and smash just until properly smashed but not falling apart. It can take a few tries to figure out where that line lies; you'll get the hang of it!




8. Dip each smashed toston in salt water and set aside.

9. Once all the tostones are smashed and salt-water dipped, heat up your skillet again, to about the same heat, and fry up the tostones til they cook through and get really golden and just this side of browned.

10. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate, sprinkle with plenty of your favorite salt (I like the big crystals of kosher salt for this job), let them cool just a bit, and enjoy with a dipping sauce of mojo de ajo. HEAVEN.

Coming soon.... my recipe for mojo de ajo!

A Sweet and Summery New Year

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tomorrow evening. This is the beginning of the High Holy Days and a time of introspection, retrospection, atonement, forgiveness, and hope.

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah -- a very joyous, sweet occasion -- and Yom Kippur -- a more solemn occasion, the day of atonement or 'at-one-ment,' the most important Jewish holiday -- are called the Days of Awe, and they are our opportunity to make right the wrongs of the past year, and to set hopes and dreams for a sweet year to come.

But what does all this have to do with food? It's also a time for eating and enjoying food with our loved ones, of course! It is a Jewish holiday, after all. (The typical and traditional dish of Rosh Hashanah is apple dipped in honey -- to help you taste the sweetness of life and mark the beginnings of a sweet new year.)

What's lovely about the High Holy Days in 2010 is that well, they start "early" this year. As one of my fave websites for all things Jewish, www.jewfaq.org, puts it: There is a joke about the Jewish calendar that goes something like this: "While sitting in synagogue, one man turns to his friend and says, ‘When is Hanukkah this year?’ The other man smiles slyly and replies, ‘Same as always: the 25th of Kislev.’" It’s a joke, but it makes an important point: The date of Jewish holidays does not change from year to year. Holidays are celebrated on the same day of the Jewish calendar every year, but the Jewish year is not the same length as a solar year on the civil calendar used by most of the western world, so the date shifts on the civil calendar. 

And as this wonderful post from one of my new favorite Jewish literary magazines, Tablet, puts it: This year, Rosh Hashanah, which typically falls a little later in the year, begins in early September, when summer fruits and vegetables are still overflowing.

So this Rosh Hashanah, we've got a great chance to put the 'sweet' and 'succulent' into our wishes and dishes for the new year, with bounty from our gardens and Farmer's Markets. Tablet has got some great recipe ideas, including this one (how GOOD does that look?!?):

Beet 'Carpaccio' With Wild Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Orange Vinaigrette 


1 pound large loose beets, golden, red and/or candy striped
4 cups wild arugula
¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 orange, segmented and juiced, separated
1 tablespoon good quality local honey
¼ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. De-stem and scrub beets. [Dena's note: save those beet greens and saute them with some olive oil and garlic for a deeeeelicious side dish! Beet greens are hubby's very favorite.] Wrap in foil and place on a sheet tray. Bake for 50 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a bowl, cover with saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least two hours.

2. After beets have cooled, peel all beets. On a mandoline or slicer, slice beets very thinly. This may be done with a knife, but will take a little longer. Keep all different color beets separate so that the color does not bleed.

3. Arrange beets in concentric circles in any pattern you wish on a serving platter.

4. To make the dressing, combine the orange juice (1/3 cup) and honey, whisk in the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

5. Right before serving, toss arugula in the reserved dressing and place in the center of arranged beets. Top with crumbled goat cheese and orange segments. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings


A Greenmarket Rosh Hashanah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

Meatless Mondays

Have you heard about the Meatless Mondays campaign?

I love the idea: their goal is to "help reduce meat consumption [by] 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet."

Why meatless? "Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel." Hell yes!

Why Monday? "For most Americans the week begins on Monday. On Monday we move from the freedom of the weekend back to the structure of work or school. We set our intentions for the next six days. We plan ahead and evaluate progress. From an early age we internalize this rhythm. And studies suggest we are more likely to maintain behaviors begun on Monday throughout the week. That makes Monday the perfect day to make a change for your health and the health of our planet." Awesome! I love that. Hadn't ever thought about it, but makes lots of sense. And I really love that they are of the it's-all-a-spectrum ilk; ie, if you don't go meatless this Monday, there's always next Monday to give it a whirl.

As any longtime readers of this here blog know, around here at Casa Dena we usually do the inverse: Meatful One-Day-a-Week! But I know that it's hard for lots of folks to give up meat for dinner, especially if you grew up with the framework that dinner simply isn't dinner without meat on the plate. So I totally applaud the attempt to get people to forgo meat one day a week; it's very do-able. And I love that they're getting restaurants in on it. What a way to normalize it, make it seem do-able, and make it easy for folks to take part.

And the newest signer-on? Mario Batali! Yes, he of orange-croc-wearing fame, of Food Network fame, of mouth-wateringly delicious food at restaurants like Babbo fame.

How cool!

And another bonus to a meatless anyday: it's much cheaper! Going without meat is a real recession special, if you ask me. My recent recession special new trick: using dried, bulk beans. It is difficult to remember to soak those bad boys the night before, but when you do, it feels like you've turned $0.37 into a meal for four people!

And if you're interested in good recipes for your next Meatless Monday, I've got lots of vegetarian recipes in my archives. Or you can check out my favorite simple and yummy vegetarian food blog, 101 Cookbooks.

So what about you? How often do you eat or cook meat? If you don't eat it every day of the week, do you do that consciously? How hard would it be for you to not eat meat every Monday?


(Also, can we talk about that little fact that the entire city of San Francisco signed on? That RULES! I'm not exactly clear what that means for dear old SF, but I can imagine it really working out there.)

(And a big hat tip to my dear friend -- and truly delicious home chef -- James for alerting me to Chef Batali's joining the campaign!)

Impossibly Delicious

I *love* it when restaurants reveal their famous recipes. Chow of San Francisco, one of my very favorite restaurants ever, anywhere, just had its impossibly delicious Ginger Cake recipe published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

I know what you may be thinking: Ginger Cake? Ptooey. But trust me on this one -- this cake is insanely yummy. I myself am not the hugest ginger fan; I like it alright, but I would normally never choose it over, say, chocolate or even berry anything. But this cake has won me over time and again. (Admittedly, Chow also has a chocolate cake that is absolutely to die for. But they haven't released that recipe!)

As the Chron writer puts it, this cake is "a rich dark blend that reminds me of fall but is on the menu year-round and plays as well in spring, summer or winter."I'm telling you, folks: this cake is goooood.

And with that, as a hat tip to my old stomping grounds of San Francisco and very fond and delicious memories of the wonderfully versatile Chow, here is the recipe after the jump. (Wait til after Passover to make this one; it's definitely not chametz-free!)

Click here to read the rest of Impossibly Delicious

Amen

Oh how I love Mark Bittman.

His recent article/recipe, "A Good Stirfry Hides a Lot of Faults" is right on:

A Good Stir-Fry Hides a Lot of Faults

By MARK BITTMAN

 

A post with two headlines:

1. Another comment on the superiority of winter vegetables.
2. I’m tempted to write a new book.

On the first: I have been away for four days. I returned with a couple of frying peppers. Everything else in the refrigerator is “old” by most freshness standards; it’s either weeks old, really, or it came from California or god knows where else. I had:

• a piece of already-peeled pumpkin (I peeled it last week), from Vermont; when was I there? Early December.
• a jalapeño and a leek, both in the fridge at least a week.
• pressed tofu, which evidently keeps for weeks. (There will be a Minimalist column about this soon.)
• garlic. O.K., no surprise there.
• "Chinese" chives, the broad ones, bought nearly two weeks ago.

And it all seemed fine.

So I put up some quinoa, then began chopping and stir-frying, in this order: the pumpkin, the pepper and jalapeño, the leek, the chives, the tofu, the garlic. (I should’ve saved the chives for last. Oops. We all make mistakes.) What a lunch; the stir-fry was finished before the quinoa.

Which brings us to 2. It seems I have been home two or three days a week for lunch, almost always alone, sometimes with a guest. It seems I have a refrigerator full of various types of tofu (as I said, I’m working on a Minimalist recipe), and it seems all I do is stir-fry. It might be time to devote a year to this and do 365 Ways to Stir-Fry.

On the one hand, this makes no sense: They’re all the same, at least the pattern is. Then again, the same can be said for most braises, soups, sautes, roasts, etc. — all you do is vary ingredients and seasonings. So they’re all different. You don’t need inspiration, just a bit of grounding in technique (mine, obviously, is imperfect, as I burned the chives) and a refrigerator with some vegetables in it.

They need not even be that fresh.

James' Root Cellar Smash

My dear friend James is a fantastic cook. The kind who doesn't even really have to work at it, you know? Who just like throws stuff together and it looks and tastes divine. Someday I'll get there. Til then, I keep working at it.

So of course I had to ask him for a recipe to share during this crazy month of NaBloPoMo. And he responded with a great little recipe that will likely come in handy next week as our nation prepares to eat as a way of giving thanks.

Reading it through, YUM is all I can say. I might need these to show up on our Thanksgiving table!

James' Root Cellar Smash

• Three white sweet potatoes (sometimes called Japanese sweet potatoes at the grocery store)
• One large, orange sweet potato (any more and it would be too sweet)
• A couple of your favorite potatoes (Dena's note: russets always work great in mashed potatoes)
• A large turnip would be exciting as well, but I haven't tried that variation yet

This recipe is very forgiving -- you can make changes to the ingredients as you see fit and based on what you might have in your root cellar.

Peel and cut up into similar-sized chunks all of the above. Boil them until they are fork-tender.

When done, smash it all up -- I like things lumpy.

Pour in that stick of butter and cup of half & half you've been heating up in a small pan on the back of the stove. Season liberally with salt and pepper (taters need gobs). Here's the totally inspired part -- add a goodly dash or two of cinnamon.

Papi's Aji

So in many northern Latin American countries, there is a condiment that's on every table, restaurant or home, no matter what: aji (pronounced "a-hee"). Sometimes it's spicy, sometimes not. But it is always there in a little container with a spoon in it, and it goes on anything and everything.

My Colombian dad always had a bowl of this on our table, and it never went empty, no matter how much I spooned onto my rice (mmmmm).

I thought of it the other day and HAD to make some. It's super easy and super-delish, and very customizable. It's kinda like salsa....but different. There are no tortilla chips involved, though of course you could do that if you're into that kind of thing. ;-)

Dena's Papi's Aji Bogotano 
(aka Aji, Bogota-style)

• 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 3-4 scallions, chopped
• As much cilantro as you like, chopped
• Some glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• A few tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Combine in a bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes. You want to make sure there's enough vinegar for the acid in the vinegar to make everything yummy, but not so much that it's overpowering.

Spoon it onto your rice, your beans, your platanos fritos, avocado, chicken, beef.... anything savory. Makes a great meat marinade.

Add diced hot pepper (like jalapeno, minus the seeds) or some Tabasco if you like heat, but it will then cease to be Bogota-style. Which is fine and still yummy!

When I was young, I used to just eat rice with aji on top. Makes a fantastic snack, let me tell you. Makes a great bachelor dinner, too, by the way.

This keeps for a few days in your fridge. Make a batch and try it out!

Hubby doesn't like cilantro (did you know that's genetic? Bizarre. So glad I got the gene that makes it taste delicious) so I left it out on the side. MORE FOR ME!

Buen provecho!

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!

Gettin' Ready for Tomato Season

It's 100 degrees here in Eugene today (!) and it is also the time of year when we have to start thinking about tomato season.

All the delicious recipes that are set to the back shelf, that I dream about in the middle of winter, are moved to the front of the queue -- happily and deliciously. I'm one of those people who eat fresh tomatoes only seasonally -- even though you can get "red" tomatoes in the grocery store year-round, there are many reasons not to eat them, including their utter tastelessness and mushy texture.

This great article in the San Francisco Chronicle will help anyone who wants to put tomatoes by for this winter -- something I have long wanted to do and may try to do this summer. Homemade, homegrown tomato sauce in January -- yum! (A great recession special idea, too, by the way.)

And here are some of my favorite recipes for real, honest-to-goodness vine-ripened summer tomatoes:

• Summer Tomato Side Salad
• Mediterranean Melts
• Zoe's Greek Salad

Our tomato plants have just started to tip into the Going-Crazy/Little-Shop-of-Horrors territory. Which means that soon, the many, many green tomatoes hanging on their vines should start to become red, delicious, and little bursts of summer in our mouths!

Can't wait!

Dan Tobin's Breakfast Nachos

Remember this post? Well, we've got a follow-up, with an honest-to-goodness recipe for Breakfast Nachos.

And the scary part? They sound goooooooood. Kinda like chilaquiles.

There you go, Dan -- you've perfected Boston Chilaquiles. I'll send you 10% for referencing the recipe here on my site, but you gotta give me 15% for coining the name.

Sesame-Soy Soba Noodles

I promised a delicious summer evening dinner, and boy do I have one: Sesame-Soy Soba Noodles.

Full of flavor, really easy to make, and not too hot to eat on those summer nights when it's so warm and lovely, you're still in tank tops, skirts, and flip-flops at 9:30pm as you take the dog out for a night-time constitutional.

I got the original inspiration from a quick little recipe for Sesame-Soy Broccoli from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (one of my all-time fave magazines, as you know). Add some noodles, tofu, and scallions, and you've got a delicious complete meal.

Dena's Sesame-Soy Soba Noodles

• 1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets and stalks chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 package soba noodles
• 1/3 cup+ sesame seeds (use more if you like; hubby LOVES toasted seeds so I am very generous with these)
  
• 1 bunch scallion
• Raw firm tofu, baked and marinated tofu, or store-bought pre-marinated and baked tofu to save time
• 1/3 cup+ Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp (or more or less, depending on how spicy you like things) Sriracha Sauce

First, get the broccoli going: turn your oven to 400 and start chopping your broccoli. Spread chopped broccoli on large baking sheet with sides (my fave is my industrial-grade Chicago Jelly Roll pan), drizzle with olive oil, and toss so it's all mixed. Pop it in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.

Set water to boil and cook soba noodles according to package instructions. Don't overcook -- when you drain them, run them under cold water so they stop cooking. Let them sit to drain water.

Spread sesame seeds on baking sheet for oven or toaster oven sheet. Pop them in the oven or toaster oven for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how hot it is. You want them to brown and toast, but not burn -- when they start popping, remove them! They will be fragrant and so delicious-smelling.

Chop your scallions thinly at an angle -- you want a lot, so use the whole bunch, even though it seems like too much. They balance out the other flavors really nicely.

Slice your tofu into bite-size pieces.

Toss all of the above together in a large bowl, mixing well. Add the toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, and sriracha sauce, and mix again to coat everything. Give it a taste and if it needs a little more of the oil or soy sauce, go for it.

Serve in big bowls with forks, chopsticks, or whatever works for you. Enjoy! Happy Tummy, Happy Summer.

Cooking with Bubbe Winston, Part Deux: Flourless Almond-Pear Torte

As promised, here is the grand finale to Winston's wonderful Passover feast: the flourless but no less delicious almond-pear torte. Believe me, you'd never know the flour was missing!

Almond-Pear Torte
Makes one 9-inch torte. No flour or leavening so good for Pesach; at other times you could replace some of the almond meal with whole-wheat flour.

olive oil
1 pear
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup and 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar
1 cups almond meal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange or other liqueur
dash of salt

Set oven to 325’ and lightly oil a 9” cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan and fit to the pan and lightly oil and sprinkle teaspoon of sugar across bottom of pan.

Core and quarter pear and quarter those pieces and fan pieces in a circle in the pan.

Beat the egg whites and dash of salt just until they form soft peaks; beat whites first because you need a completely clean bowl, and transfer to another bowl.

Then beat egg yolks and sugar for 1½ minutes. Add almond meal, vanilla, and liqueur and mix briefly until combined.

Take bowl off mixer and use spatula to mix in 1/3 of whites into the batter to lighten it and then add remaining whites and gently mix until completely integrated, and pour over pear slices in pan and gently even out with spatula.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Place dish over pan, invert, and peel back parchment slowly to reveal pear pattern. Serve warm or reheat slightly before serving later.

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.

Balsamic Brussels Sprouts (with Quinoa)

This is my post dedicated to the undersung hero of vegetables, the BRUSSEL SPROUT.

We've been eating a lot of them here at Casa Dena, happily, because these bad boys are in season right now! They're totally economical right now -- buy them by the stalkful!

I know, I know: you hate them. You tried them once and they were disgusting. Or you think you're supposed to hate them so you've never tried them.

But let me tell you, my friends -- you have never had them like this, and this preparation is what makes all the difference.

In short, it is: SO YUMMY!

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes. Of all time.

It's one of those that is just in my bones, that I could make with my eyes closed. I love that.

I love it because it means the dish is a part of me, and I love it because it means the cooking of it is easy. And I love it because when I make it, it comes out of my heart through my pores instead of through my right-brain filters.

I got the inspiration for this dish from a recipe I saw long ago in the Martha Stewart Living cookbook. As always, thank you, Martha!*

Dena's Balsamic Brussel Sprouts (with Quinoa)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 lb. brussels sprouts
1 large-ish red onion, sliced long and thin, with the grain (ie, from stem to tip)
~ 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (you're gonna eyeball it)

Optional Step 2 Ingredient:
2 cups quinoa, cooked (go here if you don't know how to cook it)
OR 1 lb pasta, cooked

Cook brussels sprouts in a pot of boiling water for about 7-10 minutes, or until they're bright green and tender. You want them to be cooked through, but NOT OVERCOOKED! It is this overcooked mushy sprout that gives brussels sprouts a very bad name. (As the good folks over at Martha Stewart's Dinner Tonight blog* mention, "overcooking creates that bitter taste that everyone hates.")

Drain in colander and rinse with cold water. Let them cool a bit, then cut the end of the stem off and remove any leaves that look like they need to go. Halve each sprout the long way -- from stem to head.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a non-non-stick pan (ie, stainless or cast iron) over medium-high heat, letting it get a little bubbly and hot before you do anything else. (The olive oil lets the butter get hotter than it normally would be able to, preventing the butter from browning.)

Put the brussels sprouts in the pan, flat side down. Now, don't touch them! I mean it -- leave those babies alone for about 5-7 minutes or so-ish, depending on how hot your stove is. You want them to brown and get that delicious sweet, nutty flavor going without burning. Your nose will tell you when they're done. (See what I mean? This is a good recipe to have in your bones.)

Once they're nicely browned, remove them from the pan and salt & pepper them.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp each of olive oil and butter to the pan and add the onion, stirring to pick up the lovely browned bits left by the sprouts. Stir every so often, letting the onion get translucent and soft, slightly brown.

Once the onion looks nice and soft, step back a little and add the balsamic! It will give a hiss and steam immediately, and you do not want that vinegary steam going up your nose. Trust me. Stir immediately and vigorously, getting all the onion in on that balsamicky goodness. Once it's all coated and has started to even thicken just a touch, remove from the heat and add the sprouts back in.

Toss and ENJOY!

Or, go to Optional Step 2:

Add the cooked quinoa to the pan, toss, season with salt & pepper, garnish with parmesan cheese, and be in HEAVEN.

If you really wanted to, you could substitute pasta for quinoa and have yourself a delicious pasta dish.









* I swear to you Martha Stewart doesn't pay me or force me to say these things. In fact, she has no idea I or this blog even exist. She's just that good. She knows of what she speaks, is all. Plus her recipes always work really well for me, so I constantly go back to them.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

There really are so many different authorities and recipes for the "perfect" mashed potatoes.

I really appreciated this article from last year's New York Times which breaks it all down and tells you what the really important components are, and which variables don't matter.*

And that really, perfect mashed potatoes don't have to be difficult or time-consuming to make.

*(Hint: you can use whichever kind of potato you prefer, but you can't use whichever kind of masher you prefer.)

Mark Bittman's Kasha Varnishkes

The New York Times' Mark Bittman is making kasha varnishkes today. It looks DELISH. I am so in the mood for comfort food -- pasta is definitely it.

And I'm expanding my Jewish food repertoire!

P.S. Love his blog, Bitten. Check it out.

Butternut Squash & Chanterelle Bisque

OMG so remember I went to a "Wild About Oregon Mushrooms" cooking class a couple of weeks ago?

Well, it was delicious. As expected. And I got some great tips and interesting facts about mushrooms. And delicious recipes, all of which I hope to make on my own and post here.

The teacher was the head chef and owner of a cute little local Eugene restaurant called Three Square Cafe. (I'd link to their website if they had one.) He was joined by a very knowledgeable guy from MycoLogical Natural Products of Eugene. They are awesome. They supply all the mushrooms to markets and restaurants in this area, as well as throughout and outside of Oregon. What is amazing is that they source most of their mushrooms from the wild; few of their mushrooms are cultivated.



First, a couple of fun facts:

• Fall is Chanterelle season. And oh is it ever, here in Oregon! Chanterelles are popping up all over. Friends have gone out foraging and come back with 5-lb buckets full! Mmm mmm mmmm.
• Did you know chanterelles need a relationship with a tree to grow? And the best circumstances for their successful growth is old trees -- so Oregon's old-growth forests are KEY to their proliferation in Oregon. So if you can't care about protecting old-growth forests for the many reasons that exist, then please -- care about them FOR THE CHANTERELLES!
• The smaller a chanterelle mushroom, the creamier and more flavorful it will be.
• Did you know shiitake mushrooms have cancer-fighting properties?

Now, onto the recipe. A word of warning: this soup is FREAKING DELICIOUS. And very rich. You might become a little addicted to it. Don't say I didn't warn you.



Three Square Cafe's Butternut Squash & Chanterelle Bisque

This insanely delicious and autumnal soup would be a GREAT Thanksgiving dish. It can be made up to a day in advance. On the day of serving, warm it and then you can hold the soup in a 140F oven, and it will wait til serving time. It is also very pretty, and would be a great crowd-pleaser -- it's very impressive.

• 1 3lb. butternut squash
• 1 cup yellow onions, diced very small
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced very small
• 1/2 cup sweet potatoes, diced very small
  
• 3 cloves garlic (I used 6, because we're crazy garlic fiends), smashed and then roughly chopped
• 1 cup chanterelle mushrooms, chopped (use the whole thing, stem included!)
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 2 cups good quality chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream (DO NOT forego the cream or replace with half-and-half. It is simply not the same.)
• 1 tbsp. rosemary (from your garden or front porch planter, if possible!)
  
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (I halved this)
  
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar (I used just 1 tbsp.)

Split (length-wise) and de-seed the butternut squash, then brush the innards with olive oil. Roast at 375F for 1 hour or until flesh is soft. Remove flesh with spoon and discard the rest.

Saute onions, sweet potatoes, and carrots in a saucepan with not too much olive oil. Let the pan get nice and hot before adding them. Then let them really get translucent before adding anything to them.

Add chanterelles and rosemary to mix, cook until tender.

Add garlic and honey, stir.

Add stock, then cream and milk. Stir to combine and take a whiff of the heavenly scents you've got going on.

Add cinnamon and brown sugar, then add squash.

At this point, you can either puree in a Cuisinart or blender, OR do what I did when I realized my hand-held blender went on the fritz and died: use your potato masher to mash and stir, mash and stir. This actually wasn't a pain at all, and I would do it again. Totally worked.

Simmer on low for 10-15 more minutes to let the flavors meld.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

ENJOY. Makes fantastic leftovers.

How To Use EVOO

Ah, extra-virgin olive oil. It can be complex, luscious, and decadent or simple and functional. It's ubiquitous and it ranges in price from super cheap to WTF!

And how to know when to use which kind or for what?

Grist has a great article explaining it all. And there's a great recipe at the bottom for skordalia -- a spread made of potatoes, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.

If you don't have time to read the whole thing, the long and short of it is:

• Use very high quality EVOO with strong and complex flavors mostly on its own -- you don't want to use it in anything where it will be overpowered. That would just be a waste.
• Use a still high-quality but not as high-quality EVOO for things like pesto or that get a lot of flavor from other ingredients so that the olive oil is still adding to and matching the flavors.
• Use a "cheaper yet still good-quality olive oil or an expeller-pressed canola oil" for cooking or when you are applying heat. Heat of any sort breaks down olive oil's flavor and thus renders the amazing flavors of a really special, high-quality EVOO pointless.

My favorite part of the article? "Essentially, [when you buy a very high-quality EVOO], you're buying a sauce. Use it that way."

YUM. I am now going to go home and bathe in extra-virgin olive oil.

* With a tip to my girl Rachael Ray. For you haters, sorry, but I love her. Her 30 Minute Meals changed my life -- made me realize I could cook dinner every night and that I didn't have to be a gourmet chef to do so. I could just be me, warts and all. And I know, I used to hate how she says "EVOO" and then explains what it means, but now I find it endearing.

Zoe's Greek Salad

So I just got back from visiting my best friend, Zoe, in her hometown of Boston. And while I was there, she made a salad for us to have with dinner one evening.

Now, this may sound like a not big deal. But let me tell you, friends: I have never seen Zoe cook anything other than...popcorn. And I love that about her! It is part of her very considerable charm.

We went grocery shopping (Whole Foods) and talked about how to pick a good tomato and why it's so important to buy them organic. And bought the rest of the fixins for Zoe's masterpiece salad.



It was delicious and it was also a delight to watch Zoe in the kitchen. I have to admit I felt a little like a proud mama hen watching.

So next time you need a light, summery salad that is super easy to put together to go along with your lunch or dinner, Zoe's Greek Salad is a great choice!*




Zoe's Greek Salad

- 2 ripe, summery-smelling, slightly tender to the touch organic tomatoes
- 1 large English cucumber (the kind without seeds, usually comes shrink-wrapped in plastic)
- Feta cheese, diced and crumbled
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste

Dice the tomato, cucumber, and feta into similar sizes. Toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper and ENJOY.


* I know I sound like a commercial. But I'm really so proud! And thrilled that she is letting me feature it on this blog.