Tangled Branches: Satiated

riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves

Monday, May 05, 2008

Bam! Emeril Was at the Store Again

Things have changed a little since the last time I saw Emeril at the store. Now they have handouts in the shopping baskets telling you to Act Natural! (and don't look into the camera). In case you didn't read the handout, there's a guy at the entrance telling you that Emeril is in the store today and, by the way, Act Natural! Also, they've posted a lawyerly notice telling you that by entering the store you've consented to be on television and if you think you're gonna get paid for it, you can think again (paraphrasing here). Geez, I need to start wearing better clothes and makeup when I go to the store.

So what's all this about then? The handout says Emeril will be starring in a new show called Emeril Green on a new network called Planet Green, a branch of the Discovery Channel.

Do you want to be on TV as more than just a unpaid extra? The back of the handout is printed with the exact wording from this page on the Planet Green web site. They're looking for "enthusiastic and fun people" and since you have to tell them your age and send a photo, you'd probably better be young and attractive.

Labels: emeril, wfm

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

More Green Garlic

A couple of ideas featuring green garlic I tried out over the weekend.

Rosemary Chicken Skewers

I first had these several years ago, then lost the recipe. There's a similar one here, with good photos of the process. I didn't fiddle with aluminum foil on the ends of the skewers but I'll admit it might make a nicer presentation than blackened rosemary leaves. We're not that fussy for weeknight family dinners.

Step one is to find some straight woody branches of rosemary to use as skewers. I stripped the leaves off the lower part of the stem and left a tuft of leaves at the top.

Cut up some boneless skinless chicken thighs into kebab-size pieces. Finely chop rosemary leaves, lemon thyme, parsley, and green garlic. Toss the chicken pieces with the herbs, a small amount of olive oil, and salt and lemon pepper.

Cut a few shield-shaped pieces of onion to mingle with the chicken on the skewers.

Now for the fiddly part. Poke holes in the chicken pieces with a metal skewer and then thread them on the rosemary twigs, with a piece of onion between a few chicken pieces.

Grill until the chicken is cooked through.

I served this on naan with a yogurt and chile sauce, but I think the sauce obscured the flavor of the rosemary. The rosemary is really the whole point here. Next time I'd be inclined to serve this with salsa verde and maybe rice instead of bread.

Mushroom Omelet with Green Garlic and Tarragon

This was a Plan B dinner after our Plan A grilled steak got rained out.

First make the mushroom filling. Slice about 8 oz. of ordinary grocery store mushrooms. Thinly slice the bottom portion (where it's solid, before the leaves branch off) of one or two green garlic stalks crosswise. Finely chop the leaves of about 3 sprigs of tarragon. Chop together the top part of the green garlic with an equal amount of parsley. Heat olive oil in a skillet, then add mushrooms, the sliced green garlic, and the chopped tarragon. Cook until the mushrooms soften and give off their juices, then add chopped parsley and green garlic leaves. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook until the mushroom juices are reduced a bit.

Remove the mushrooms from the skillet, and make an omelet. When the omelet is almost set, add the mushrooms on top. Fold over and serve.

There were too many mushrooms to fit in the omelet, but we liked them so much that we ate the rest of the filling on toasted slices of baguette.

Labels: green garlic, mushrooms, rosemary

Monday, April 07, 2008

Green Garlic Soup v1.0

I still remember the first time I ate green garlic. The spouse and I stopped for lunch at the (lower priced, no reservations) café at Chez Panisse. This was at least 15 years ago, probably more. I don't remember what else I ate there, but we still talk about the green garlic soup. It was such a revelation. I remember it as being a pale green potato soup and one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

I think that version must have been made something like this, but yesterday I concocted my own version, and it went something like this:

Chop one half a medium size yellow onion. Cook it slowly in 1 tbsp. butter until soft. Add 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes and 3 stalks green garlic, thinly sliced crosswise. Stir this around for a minute or two and add 1 pint chicken broth (store-bought in this case) and 1 pint milk. Season with black pepper, but hold off on the salt for now (store-bought broth is usually so salty).

When the potatoes are very well cooked, mash them with a fork (or potato masher), and then puree part of the soup in small batches. This leaves you with a silky textured base, but not totally smooth. Taste first, then add salt if needed. I added a small amount of half & half just before serving, but it really wasn't necessary.

Now, this amount of garlic wasn't enough to really tint the soup green, and while the garlic flavor was there, it wasn't dominant. Perfectly acceptable for a business lunch or any other social occasion. We liked it a lot, but I plan to do it again with more garlic. And next time, I'm going to save some of the green leaves to chop as a garnish.

Alice Waters' latest cookbook (the only one of her books I own), The Art of Simple Food, has a green garlic soup recipe that's thickened with semolina instead of potato. We're very fond of potatoes, so I probably won't try that one until I've exhausted all the green garlic/potato possibilities.

Labels: green garlic, potatoes, soup

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Indian-Style Omelet Sandwich

Today's lunch was Indian-style Omelet Sandwiches. I found the recipe last summer at One Hot Stove. We made this several times last year when we had plenty of good tomatoes. Now, in early spring, we just left out that part. It's good tomatoes or no tomatoes for us.

I made one large flat omelet in a 12-inch skillet - something like a very thin frittata. I didn't turn it over, just cooked it until the top was set. The omelet does get browned a bit on the bottom, but we think that's just fine.

Beat 2 eggs with about 1 tablespoon of half & half; mix in 1/2 onion chopped, 1 Pinocchio's Nose (long cayenne) pepper, some chopped fresh cilantro, and a few leaves of spinach cut into strips. Melt a small amount of butter in a 12" skillet and pour in the egg mixture. Cook, without turning, until the eggs are set. Toast 4 slices of Jim Lahey's no-knead bread, then generously butter the toast and divide the omelet in half to make 2 sandwiches.

Indianish Radish Relish

3 small French Breakfast Radishes
2 very tiny Shunkyo Radishes
3 pinches of Chunky Chat Masala
2 pinches of coarse salt
a few drops of lemon juice

Chop the radishes somewhat coarsely - think of the texture of hot dog relish. Mix all the ingredients, adjusting to taste.

My spouse used this as a topping for his omelet sandwich, but I thought it should be a side dish. Turns out it's good either way.

Labels: eggs, radishes

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Spinach, Spinach, Spinach

My experiment in overwintering spinach was successful. So successful that I've found myself eating more spinach than I have in a long time. And discovering two perfect potatoes left in the garden from last year prompted me to make Spinach and Potato Patties, or Leafy Vegetable Cutlets, as the recipe was originally titled. We like these as an appetizer or side dish or even a small meal on their own. I didn't have any eggs on hand, so decided to just skip that step, but they were difficult to turn over without breaking. (Must remember: check the fridge for eggs before beginning.) This recipe is adapted from Indian Cuisine by Omana Jacob, published by Wei-Chuan. This is an interesting cookbook - Indian Cooking for a Taiwanese audience, translated into English - but I've tried and liked many recipes from it.

1/2 lb. spinach, stemmed and chopped
2/3 lb. cooked, mashed potato (mashed by hand with no liquid added)

1 cup chopped onions
1 Tbsp. chopped ginger

1 tsp. Penzey's Hot Curry Powder
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
generous 1/4 tsp. whole fennel seed

1 beaten egg
Panko bread crumbs

Cook onions & ginger in oil until lightly browned, add spices, then spinach. Cook until fairly dry. Add potatoes, stir to mix well. Add salt to taste.

Let mixture cool enough to handle, then shape into 10 patties (about golf ball size to start). Dip each in beaten egg, then bread crumbs, and shallow fry until brown (about 2 minutes or so per side).

We like these with spicy ketchup - half Sriracha sauce and half ketchup stirred together.

One of our favorite dishes at tapas restaurants is spinach sauteed with raisins and pine nuts. We first had this at Jaleo, and they used to have the recipe online but I don't see it there now. Anyhow, that's not what I made. I used that idea for a somewhat heartier dish for lunch. This is improvisational cooking - I didn't measure anything - so I'll just describe what I did.

I thinly sliced one large shallot bulb, and cooked it just enough to soften it in some olive oil in a 12" skillet.

I stemmed and coarsely chopped some spinach leaves - enough leaves to fit in a 12" skillet comfortably, leaving plenty of room to stir them. Added those to the skillet along with a handful of mixed raisins. Stirred until the spinach was wilted and added salt and black pepper to taste.

The last bit here is what makes this a more filling dish. I sprinkled on some crumbled queso fresco, and let the heat of the pan warm it enough to soften it. By the way, queso fresco can do a pretty good imitation of a mild feta cheese, and vice versa I suppose.

Spinach Frittata was last night's supper, along with some very fresh No-Knead Bread (and one tiny radish apiece). Again, the frittata was improvised from what I found in the garden yesterday.

I stemmed and coarsely chopped some spinach leaves. I sliced the white part of one green garlic stalk thinly and sliced the green leaves into 1/2" pieces. I stripped lemon thyme and Provencal thyme leaves from their stems until I lost patience with it (not very much in other words). Sauteed all this in some olive oil and butter until the spinach was wilted. Added salt and black pepper to taste.

Beat 4 eggs and poured them over the spinach mixture and put the pan in the still-hot oven (or 350 degrees F). Cooked until the top was set and no longer glossy. This was a large pan and the eggs didn't quite cover the spinach. The result was that some of the spinach got a little crunchy, but we actually like it that way. After removing the pan from the oven, I sprinkled on some crumbled queso fresco.

I expect to get at least one more good harvest of leaves from these spinach plants before I pull them up and replace with new plants. There should be a lot more spinach cookery to come.

Labels: spinach

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Bam! I Just Saw Emeril at the Store

I knew something was up at the Fair Lakes Whole Foods store as soon as I walked in. Perhaps it was the enormous video camera on a ladder tripod by the entrance. I thought they must be filming a commercial or something. The produce department was unusually well-stocked and that's where the camera was pointed, so I didn't think much more about it as I continued my shopping.

As I rounded the corner near the cheese department, I saw more video equipment, lighting, guys with headsets, etc. There were a few people behind the counter with their backs to me and I thought that guy looks like Emeril Lagasse. But I wasn't expecting to see Emeril Lagasse in my grocery store, ya know?, so I didn't stand there and stare or anything.

I continued on to the bakery department and found it absolutely overflowing with many different kinds of bread. The bread counter hasn't looked like that for months - at least not when I was there.

And then I continued to the checkout counter and asked the clerk, "What are they filming back there?" He said "Oh you know that chef that says Bam!? They're doing some kind of TV show with our stuff."