Archives for the 'quick and easy' Category
Ramps…oh my!!!!
When spring attempts to kick off the winter’s covers and finally, grudgingly, hauls her ass out out of that bed she’s been lolling in for far to long, well I don’t mind admitting that I get more giddy than I usually am…yes indeed folks, I get giddier! I start using exclamation marks far more than a woman with my good sense (cough) should and then there’s that almost irresistible urge to use a word that must not be spoken or written by me…you know the three-letter word, it begins with y and ends with m and well, that’s as close as I’ll actually get to saying it out loud or writing it. Honestly it’s not that I dislike the actual word it’s just that it’s been so overused by a certain brunette on Food Network, and I’ll have none of that, thank you.
But yesterday when I opened the crate of our first CSA spring share delivery I was overjoyed because I could smell ramps. I pawed my way past bag after bag of tender succulent greens like a kid looking for a prize in a box of cereal and finally there it was, the holy grail of spring-time, a bunch of ramps. That word popped into my mind and I quickly edited myself and moved on. Giddier, remember? It’s not me, it’s spring fever, right?
Ramps are technically wild leeks and they’re available for harvest for only a week or two in the spring which is probably why I, and others, covet them so much. Because they’re so precious and so flavorful I feel compelled to use them well. Often I serve then up as a bed for some slowly cooked, creamy scrambled eggs but this year I’m giddy so I made a green pizza.
This is so simple. Make the pizza crust and let it rise over night in the frig. Remove it from the frig and stretch it out as you like it, and then place it on a piece of parchment. Cut the ramp leafs from the stem and bulb and slice them into strips. Cut the roots off the end of the ramps and then split them vertically into long strips. Add these to the the leaf strips. I also chopped a large handful of arugala and I added some chives too. Toss this all with olive oil and arrange it on the pizza crust. Add sea salt, some goat cheese and bacon lardons. Bake it in a 425º oven until golden brown.
Yes indeedy, this pizza is worth getting giddy about…the ramps and the bacon got kind of smoky in the hot oven and the crust was chewy yet crisp. The only mistake I made was too much cheese on the pizza…actually it would be good with no cheese at all too.
More giddiness…tonight we see Iron Man and while we’re out watching the movie TivBob will be recording a new BStar and a new Dr. Who….oh I can’t stand it!!!!
Pork tenderloin with roasted beets and salsify
A quick and easy dinner is just what a Monday night calls for. My favorite way to cook pork tenderloin is in an obscenely hot oven (500°) for about 10 minutes or until the internal temp in the thickest part is 140°. But that requires either a clean oven or the doors and windows wide open to let the smoke out of the house. Since it was raining/snowing/sleeting I decided to forgo my favorite method, instead I cut the tenderloin into medallions and sautéd it in some olive oil. I finished them off with a huge splash of lemon juice and then plated them with some of the pan juices dribbled across the top.
Salsify is also known as oyster plant apparently because someone, somewhere thought that it tasted like an oyster. Well I didn’t get that flavor note but it did taste vaguely nutty and sort of reminded me of a sunchoke. It’s a difficult root to peel because it’s tough and the white sap that exuded as I peeled and chopped was sticky and difficult to get off my hands. It’s also necessary to drop the peeled root in acidulated water immediately or it will turn brown.
Once I got the salsify peeled and chopped I gave it a spin around the bowl with some good olive oil and then I tossed it with some dijon mustard, lemon juice, and yuzu honey. The beets were tossed in that mix too. I roasted the two roots in a 425° oven for about 20 minutes and they came out tender and sweet yet with a tiny bite from the mustard. I’ve been cooking beets like this for years and we’ve always loved them but the recent addition of the yuzu honey has been genius even if I do saw so myself. Even though the salsify was fun to try, I doubt that I’ll be in a hurry to use it again. It’s sappiness and extra steps made it more work than it was worth…at least flavor-wise.
Do you seek out new products to try? What has been your favorite find? For me it’s anything with Yuzu in it.
Buckwheat galette …WHB
This post should actually be called “what I learned on my vacation, part 1″. That’s because I never ate a buckwheat galette until going to Paris and now it’s all I think about. Wow, do I have some ground to make up. But isn’t it always the case…you’re chugging along through life, you go on vacation and BAM, you learn all kinds of new things and return home wondering how you can possibly live anywhere that doesn’t have a crepe stand or creperie restaurant at least every five blocks… or whatever it is you become obsessed with. Obviously I’m currently obsessed with crepes…since I’ve been home I’ve made nutella and banana crepes for the guys every morning and last night I turned my attention to the savory side…a buckwheat galette.
First off, my crepes aren’t round, they’re rectangle because I have an electric griddle that is perfect for this and it’s a rectangle. Secondly, buckwheat crepes aren’t called crepes, they’re galettes and they can’t be made on a whim…the batter has to age overnight in the refrigerator…I’m just telling you up front because I didn’t know that until I read the instructions (duh!). Third, you need buckwheat flour…and that’s where we get to the good part.
Buckwheat isn’t a grain at all…it’s a seed and it’s related to the rhubarb family. The seed is similar to the sunflower seed in that it’s a single seed within a hard shell. The inner part of the seed is white, the outer layer is green or tan, and the hull is brown or black…which explains the appearance of buckwheat as a dark, rather coarse flour with a nutty scent and flavor. All of which makes it the perfect post to add to Weekend Herb Blog, hosted this week by Kalyn herself.
My recipe for the buckwheat galette comes from David Lebovitz and while I didn’t change it this time I think I’ll add more butter and salt the next time. I filled it with cheese, bacon, chunks of potatoes, creme fraiche, red onions, and parsley. The inspiration for the filling was a galette I ate in Paris that had that exact same combination. Served with a side salad, a glass of vin rouge, well it was almost parisian.
There was leftover batter and filling ingredients so this morning when I was cranking out the banana nutella crepes for Alex and Dex I whipped up another galette for GH and topped it with an egg. That’s another thing I learned on vacation…the french put eggs on lots of things like galettes, croque monsieur (which turns it into a croque madam….funny, huh?), salad, pastry…etc. It does have the way of making a nice sauce…the broken yolk pouring down into the gooey fillings.
It’s time for some linky love. Erin over at Cooking and Eating in the Windy City recently gave me the “You Make My Day” award (hereinafter referred to as the Clint Eastwood Award) and while I’ve not had the time to pass it on, nor have I had the time to catch up to the memes that have been sent my way, I do appreciate the attention. Erin has a killer picture/recipe of Braised Chicken with Shallots, Garlic, and Balsamic vinegar that I’m hoping to try out next week.
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