Marinade for Mushroom Kabobs

Originally I thought about using this marinade for both the brown (cremini) and white mushrooms, but ended up just using the brown mushrooms with red and green bell peppers. I only have aged balsamic vinegar and it seemed a waste to use a tasting vinegar for a marinade so I used half balsamic and half rice vinegar for the vinegar part.

The Foodening Blog - grilled mushroom and vegetable kabobs

Makes: 9 skewers (using 10" bamboo skewers)

Ingredients

8 oz brown cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed
8 oz grape or cherry tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1 large green bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine all items in a resealable container. Shake to coat everything with the marinade. Refrigerate for an hour or until ready to use.

To grill:

Stab vegetables and mushrooms in an alternating order (for variety!). Grill vegetables for 10-15 minutes, rotating at the half way mark until the mushrooms are done. The bell peppers can be slightly charred.

Pickled Kohlrabi

I thought about taking a photo of this batch, but it just looks like some white vegetable in a pickling brine in a jar. It is not terribly exciting. With the bounty of summertime vegetables, the kohlrabi was never at the top of my list of things to buy. It is part of the cabbage family and as such, it will probably cause bloating and gas if you consume a lot of it in one sitting. At the very least, it is very high in fiber. And, for its bulk, it is very low in calories. Compared to other vegetables, it is kind of expensive to buy and not all the grocery stores carry them. They are seasonal and I was surprised to see them on the grocery store shelf during summer. I thought they were an autumn vegetable. Anyhow, onto the pickling...

After peeling the kohlrabi with a vegetable peeler and trimming off the hard, woody part of the stem with a sharp knife, I used the narrow blade disc attachment of the food prep machine to slice all the kohlrabi. With a little prep, I was able to slice a couple pounds of this vegetable in a few minutes. It's a lot easier than slicing the vegetable by hand.

If you have pickling salt, by all means use it. I do not and am using sea salt as a substitute.

Pickling Brine

2 lbs kohlrabi, purple or white (doesn't matter which)
2 c distilled white vinegar (or 1 c distilled white vinegar + 1 c apple cider vinegar)
2 c water
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp red chili flakes

Directions

1. Sterilize jars and lids for canning and set aside until ready to use.

2. Clean and trim kohlrabi. Slice into thin slices with a food processor, mandoline, or with a sharp knife. Divide slices evenly into jars.

3. Combine vinegar, water, honey, sea salt, ginger, garlic, black peppercorns, and chili flakes in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add brine to jars. Place lids on jars and tighten with jar bands.

4. Process using a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

This batch made 3 pints.

Spicy Hot Eggplant

A madman checked out three of Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbooks from the library and suggested that we cook at least three recipes from them. This is the second of three recipes that looked doable and another attempt at authentic Chinese cuisine. This recipe comes from Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook which highlights the cuisine and cooking style of the Hunan province. Chili bean paste isn't in the pantry, so I mixed chili oil with black bean paste as a substitution. This came out tasting just okay. I'm not terribly inclined to make it again any time soon.

Spicy Eggplant with Pork

Ingredients

3 Asian eggplants, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
2 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and finely chopped
3 oz ground pork
2 tbsp chili oil + 1 tbsp black bean paste
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 fresh red chili, finely sliced
2/3 c. stock or water
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
olive oil for frying
kosher salt, to taste

Directions

1. Peel the eggplants then cut them in half lengthwise, then crosswise. Cut each quarter into chunks, sprinkle with salt and let drain for 30 minutes.

2. Squeeze the water from the mushrooms, then finely chop and set aside.

3. Rinse and pat dry the eggplant. Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok over high heat until it reach 350 degrees F and fry eggplant until they are tender. 

-or- Blanch the eggplant for a few minutes in salted boiling water until softened. Remove from heat or water and set aside.

4. Fry pork separately and add the chili bean paste. Stir fry until the oil is red.

5. Add the ginger, garlic, mushrooms, and chili paste. Stir in the stock, dark soy sauce, eggplant, and simmer for a few minutes over medium heat. Season to taste with salt.

6. Cook until the sauce is reduced. Add the scallions and stir fry until barely cooked.

7. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and serve.

Roasted Carrots

A lot of foods are tastier when roasted: garlic, bacon, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, etc. I usually have carrots in the fridge as a stock-making component, or to add to soups and stews. Because carrots are really low in calories (25 per medium carrot), it seems like a lot of trouble to bake them. Nevertheless, here is the recipe.

In the Pacific NW, I grow thyme outside and it is winter hardy. There has already been a dusting of snow and nearly two weeks of freezing temperatures. The plant seems to be doing fine.

Ingredients

a bunch of organic carrots, trimmed and split lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Wash the carrots. No need to peel them. Trim off the ends, then halve the carrots lengthwise. Place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on top of the carrots and toss the carrots to coat with oil.

2. Sprinkle on a generous amount of fresh thyme leaves. Add salt and black pepper.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Roasted Fennel and Tomato

One bulb is not enough for more than one person and the while some of the more thinly cut slices were charred instead of caramelizing, it still tasted pretty decent for a side dish. It is sad to see that our state considers this plant to be a noxious weed and prefers to use herbicide to eradicate common fennel than to allow people to harvest it for free. Seriously, all public lands management would need to do is post an alert saying that there's a free vegetable that people can harvest and it would all be picked; of course that would also encourage visitors to pick all the other native plants that managed land and state parks have.

Ingredients

One (or more) fennel bulbs, washed and cored
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp olive oil + more if needed, for roasting
handful of whole grape or cherry tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp organic sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Slice fennel bulb(s) in half and take out the core. Thinly slice the bulb as you would celery or any root vegetable.

2. Toss fennel with garlic, salt, sugar, lemon juice, tomatoes, and olive oil.

3. Arrange fennel in a glass baking dish (I used a 9" x 13") and bake for 30 minutes. Check the oven after 15 minutes and stir the vegetables around.

4. Remove from heat and serve on a plate, as a condiment or side dish for another entree.

Spinach with Sumac

I've always wondered about sumac and how it is used, and now I have a better understanding of its flavoring properties. Sumac spice is made from the berry of an edible sumac shrub. It is commonly used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. It can be found in grocery stores as a ground powder, coarsely ground spice, or as a whole dried berry. The most common application is as a coarsely ground spice, with hummus, vegetables, or as part of a spice rub for meat. It has a tart, sour taste. 

In retrospect, this vegetable dish wasn't that great. Heck, it wasn't that good. I am blogging about it as a reminder to never make it again. It was a recipe experiment where I could have stopped at just the olive oil, spinach, and garlic and had a fine dish. Anyhow. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 lb fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped into 1" pieces
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
up to 1 tbsp coarsely ground sumac spice
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
pine nuts, lightly toasted and chopped (optional)

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil until hot. Add the garlic and half the sumac spice. Stir until fragrant, until the garlic is lightly browned.

2. Add the spinach and lemon juice. Saute until the leaves wilt and turn a dark green color. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Remove from heat and serve spinach on a plate. Sprinkle the remaining ground sumac on top of the spinach. Serve hot.

Delicata Squash

What? That makes two of us. I never heard of it either. This was just another (random) winter squash picked up from the farmers market. I had to look at image galleries of squash available in the Pacific NW before matching the name to this one. I've read that it is an alternative to butternut squash; I suppose other food bloggers are suggesting that it is the next best thing for preparation and how it is used.

Photo: Delicata Squash

I am preparing this tonight with two recipes. The first is a baking method, 375 degrees F for 40 minutes; with the peeled de-seeded squash halved and filled with olive oil and brown sugar. One and a half squashes were used since that's all that would fit in the 8" x 8" baking pan. That would mean that I have a total of three of these strange squashes to use as tonight's vegetable. 

The second is a frying method proposed by Jerry Traunfeld, author of the Herbfarm Cookbook. The Herbfarm, a Woodinville restaurant, is curiously just five miles away (I wasn't aware of that either until today). I suppose my version of the recipe will have taste like it has a lot less sage and a lot more rosemary since I am only using what I have on hand. It may turn out to be sweeter than normal since the spiced apple cider I'm about to use is what is leftover from Thanksgiving. Traunfeld's recipe calls for two squash, with the assumption that each squash is about a pound each.

Delicata Squash with Rosemary, Sage, and Cider Glaze (Epicurious, March 2000)

1 1/2 delicata squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 1/2" thick pieces

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp fresh sage, minced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 1/2 c fresh apple cider or juice

1 c water

2 tsp sherry vinegar

1 tsp kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add herbs and cook until butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs.

2. Add squash to the skillet, then add apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the liquid has reduced to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20-30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper.

Braised Collard Greens

Collard greens have a lot of nutrients, which would make it an excellent addition to one's weekly vegetable fare if it weren't for this recipe that destroys nearly all the nutrients that this vegetable has to offer by its long cooking time. While collards could be eaten raw, most of what is good about it is unlocked with a bit of heat from say... steaming or stir frying. Braising, on the other hand, is a cooking method takes meats and sometimes vegetables and cooks them over very low heat for a long period of time. An hour of stovetop cooking is an eternity for a vegetable. But, collard greens are pretty tough and full of fiber, even after removing the stems from the leaves. This vegetable dish does taste good, however. I have eaten this once as a side dish at a Podnah's Pit in Portland. I've been trying to replicate their flavors ever since.

A lot of braising recipes call for a cup of vegetable broth, which is silly, considering that these greens will be cooking for an hour in a bacon and garlic flavored broth. Anyhow. I just used water, wine, and vinegar for the liquid part.

Ingredients

1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and thoroughly washed
2 slices Applewood-smoked bacon
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. water + more if needed (do not let the pot dry out when cooking)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. white wine

Directions

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, fry two (or more, if desired) slices of bacon. Once cooked, remove bacon to a plate and dice; pour out bacon grease to a separate container (for use in other recipes). Add garlic, water, vinegar, wine, and collard greens.

2. Cover pot and simmer over very low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.

3. Transfer vegetables to a serving plate and toss with diced bacon.

Bell Pepper with Shitake Mushrooms

This is also pretty straightforward. I am writing it up as a post because I think the flavors taste good together. To rehydrate dried mushrooms, simply place them in a large bowl and add boiling water. Let them soak before using. The leftover liquid is mushroom dashi and can be used to flavor soups.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

3 large bell peppers, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated
1 tbsp low-sodium natural soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
olive oil, for frying

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil easily spreads across the bottom of the pan, add garlic and stir until lightly browned.

2. Add bell peppers and mushrooms and stir fry until the peppers have changed color. If using green bell peppers, the green with be a much richer lawn-green color. This should take no more than five minutes.

3. Season with soy sauce and sea salt while frying. Remove from heat and serve.

Vegetarian lettuce wraps

For this weekend's Green Themed potluck, I made a vegetarian filling for the Asian lettuce wraps. I was rather surprised that hardly anyone touched the meat filling that I also prepared for this dish. The lime juice didn't stand out on its own in the sauce base against the stronger flavors of garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. This could also be served by itself as a salad. I had leftover chestnuts from when I made the zongzi, so these also went into the dish.

For the wraps: use washed/patted dry individual leaves of butter lettuce or romaine lettuce

Ingredients
 1/4 c. roasted chestnuts, diced
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
4 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
2 c. bean sprouts
red, yellow, orange bell peppers, thinly sliced
extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes or thin slices
6. fresh basil leaves, julienned

Marinade/Sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 red chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped (optional)
2 tbsp lime juice (1 lime)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine vegetables, tofu, and chestnuts.

2. In a small saucepan, heat olive oil over medium, then add ginger, garlic, chili pepper until the oil is fragrant and the garlic is lightly browned. Add soy sauce and lime juice. Stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Toss marinade and vegetables together.

Diced pear with brocolli, fried

There's a reason why you don't find certain dishes at restaurants, like this one. It didn't come out tasting too bad. I mean, it's edible.

Among apples and squash, it is also pear season out here in the Pacific Northwest. You name it, bosc, red anjou, green anjou, etc. The fruit is plentiful and inexpensive to procure a few pounds of each. The pear, while delicate in flavor, tastes fairly strong when not fully ripened. The flesh is firm and it stands up to harsher cooking methods like frying versus poaching.

I have really only seen sweet preparations of pears: pear tartlets, pear and almond tarts, pear jam, preserved pears, pear bread, poached pears with honey and rosewater, pear paired with much stronger flavored cheeses like bleu and Gorgonzola, pear salad. It is the sweetness that the pear brings that allows some dishes to flourish across continents and cuisines.

I tried a dish on a whim tonight using an almost though not quite ripe bosc pear. It has an interesting taste that might just stay as bachelorette cooking and not something to be served up to guests. Broccoli isn't my favorite vegetable, but it is readily available during winter and aside from frying, blanching, steaming, baking, roasting, or boiling it into a soup, it's a pretty boring vegetable to eat. Nonetheless, it's what was starting to wilt in my fridge.

I wanted to do something different. Be experimental. I made this one up as I was cooking it:

1 small broccoli head with stem
1 bosc pear, cored and diced
2 tbsp EVOO (for frying)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
dash of salt

Heat the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the pear and broccoli stem slices and sauté.

Add the broccoli florets, vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir fry until the florets turn a dark green color.

Remove from heat and serve.

The flavor combinations of this ratio is a bit "off" and lacks the basics of cooking fundamentals, but who the hell cares? I was cooking for one and not for guests. I enjoy every ingredient by itself on this ingredient list and I know what pairs really well with pears.

In retrospect, any type of fruity vinegar--balsamic, apple cider, or rice wine vinegar--is likely too sweet for this dish. It really brought out the sugary taste of the bosc. That was unexpected. Just so you know. I don't have any leftover broccoli. What is leftover in the dish is the diced pear.

And about the broccoli stem. That hard and thick, almost waxy skin that wraps around the broccoli stem that most Americans and restaurants throw away? It can be peeled and the inner stem is quite tender.

Balsamic Eggplant and Peppers

Most eggplant recipes you see are for baked, roasted, deep-fried, or steamed eggplant. Why is this? Because it generally takes a long time to cook, even if you're patient. This method involves frying, but with a covered lid. As long as the eggplant doesn't dry out, it should cook thoroughly.

3-5 Japanese eggplants, sliced in 3/4" diagonal cut pieces
1 red bell pepper, 1/4" lengthwise slices
1 green bell pepper, 1/4" lengthwise slices
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. chicken/vegetable/beef broth or water
slivers of green onion for garnish (optional)
dash of salt, to taste

Sauce:
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar

1. Stir-fry red and green bell peppers with the oil and the garlic about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Stir-fry eggplant until lightly browned. Turn heat down to medium and simmer with 1/4 c. broth covered until eggplant is soft. About 30 minutes.

3. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Once the eggplant is just about done, add the sauce and stir until the eggplant is coated. Add the peppers back in and fry for 1-2 more minutes.

5. Remove from heat. Garnish with slivers of green onion.