Pasta Georgina

I've been working lately on assembling a binder full of our favorite recipes - the ones that we eat and say to each other, "Why don't we eat this every week?" My hope is that if I have them indexed in one location that I'll remember them better when I'm doing my meal planning, but the problem is that there are so many of them. I also have a binder of recipes I want to try, and a third binder of recipes I like well enough to keep... The "Foods We Eat" project is taking much, much longer than I imagined it would.

I have the recipes organized by categories that I have listed in my four week menu plan. My menu plan has general headers for each day of the week, like Mexican on Thursdays or leftovers on Wednesdays, then within each I have slightly more specific ideas like for Italian I have pasta, pizza, and polenta. Then when I'm planning my menu for the week, if the idea is pasta, I choose a pasta recipe based on what sounds good and what produce is seasonal and what I happen to have on hand. I haven't much stuck to the days of the week thing - I tend to switch the days around based on what ingredients need to be used before they spoil and what our schedule is and how long the meals take. In general it has helped me a lot with my meal planning and has worked better than any other system I've tried because of its flexibility.

Z is in Hershey right now for a big cross-country meet. They got a hotel suite and cooked their dinner last night. Her coach recommended a dinner of pasta on Thursday, so we had Pasta Georgina - one of our last chances to have it this summer, as the season of fresh tomatoes and basil is coming to an end. I got this recipe from Kretschmanns, our CSA farmer and I can't find the recipe right now, so I'm going to write it from memory. Sorry no photos lately - our camera is getting repaired.

Pasta Georgina
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger (this is the surprise in the recipe)
4 large summer tomatoes, chopped (about 4-5 cups)
1/2 lb cubed mozzarella
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and ginger in olive oil until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and simmer until most of their liquid is gone (I've also added 2 cups chopped kale with the tomatoes, and it's good). When you're ready to serve the pasta, stir in the mozzarella and basil, add salt and pepper to taste, and toss it with about a pound of your favorite pasta, then serve. This is a recipe that is strong enough to work well with whole grain pasta.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins

In case your gardens are still producing zucchini (my squash vines have all succumbed to powdery mildew), I present for your consideration Zucchini Carrot Muffins.

These are yummy, relatively healthy, and freeze well. I usually freeze whatever we don't eat when they're fresh from the oven and throw them into Zoe's backpack for snack time. I used to send one of these with a yogurt for a lunch, but she eats a lot more than that now. The frozen ones are best reheated a bit in the toaster oven to get that crunchy top back. I also often freeze extra zucchini (shredded), in the amounts for my favorite recipes, and this is one of them.

I've adapted this recipe from one my sister sent me for Trail Ride Zucchini Muffins. I substituted carrot once when I was short on zucchini, and I like the flecks of color - I would do about 2 c. zucchini and 1/2 c. carrot. I also like the extra brightness the lemon peel gives them.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. nonfat dry milk
2 1/2 c. zucchini and carrot, grated
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
1/2 c. raisins (optional - I haven't used these yet)
1/2 c. chopped nuts
zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flours, soda, baking powder and cinnamon together in a bowl; set aside. Combine egg, oil, sugar, dry milk, zucchini/carrot, vanilla and lemon extract in another bowl; beat thoroughly. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture just until smooth. Stir in raisins and nuts. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Other whole grain flours are good.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

I've been meaning to try this recipe for a couple of months. It's fantastic and pretty easy after all. It works with frozen raspberries and other berries or even rhubarb. It's tender and delicate, sweet and tart. Buttery, but not so rich you couldn't consider having it for breakfast. I gave the recipe to my daughter and her friend after they picked black raspberries. It was easy enough for them to make it and they devoured it all before I got a chance to try it. Her friend's family has made it multiple times since, and I finally got around to it this week and have regretted not trying it before. It takes about 15 minutes, plus cooking time. I really wish our raspberry bushes were still fruiting now, but I can still get them from the farmer's market, I think.

(from the June 2009 Gourmet)

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar, divided
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400 with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-in round cake pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar at medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 24-30 min. Cool in pan 10 min, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10-15 min. more. Invert onto a plate.

Blackened Tilapia with Cilantro-Lime Slaw

I need something a little perky and fresh to help me through these cloudy days. This is a recipe I keep coming back to because it tastes great and it's pretty good for you, too. Although I might prefer the tilapia with black bean mango salsa, that one requires fresh tomatillos and mangos, which are hard to come by and keep on hand. I almost always have cabbage and a lime on hand, plus tilapia in the freezer, so it doesn't require extra shopping. I've found the cilantro is such a small amount that it's ok if I leave it out.

This slaw recipe is tangy and salty and it's kind of addicting. Even Clay, who generally dislikes coleslaw, really likes this one.

(adapted from Fine Cooking 96)

Blackened Tilapia with Cilantro-Lime Slaw

serves 2

1/2 small clove garlic
kosher salt
1 med. lime
3 Tbs. mayonnaise
about 2-3 cups cabbage or Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced (I use my mandoline)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
two 5-oz tilapia fillets, cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbs. unsalted butter

Mince or finely grate the garlic, zest and juice the lime, mix with garlic and mayonnaise. Toss in the cabbage, scallions, cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, cumin, 1/4 tsp salt, and several grinds of pepper. Sprinkle the spice rub all over the tilapia.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Cook the tilapia on both sides until browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes total for the small pieces and 5 minutes for the large. Transfer to a plate. Toss the slaw and add more lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve the tilapia with the slaw.

I like to serve it with warmed corn tortillas.

Mexican Beans and Greens

I love this recipe. It's hearty, healthy, and just so yummy! This comes from Rick Bayless's "Everyday Mexican" and has become a regular staple in our home. I'm surprised that I haven't posted this one yet, because we have it more often than any other recipe I can think of. I brought it to a potluck last night and got more food compliments from men than I ever have.

In the past I've used the pork chorizo from Walmart (the only place I could regularly find it), which has a fine grind and is a little weirdly pasty, but has a good strong flavor once it's mixed into the beans. Last night I used some chorizo from Costco (which I snatched up when I saw they had it because it looked really good). It's more like the texture of italian sausage, and the flavors are a little less strong than the other brand, but it's quite lovely. I added a little smoked paprika to the pot to add another layer of flavor to make up for it being less strong. I've wanted to try it with soyrizo, but haven't found it lately.

Now, I use these amounts really as just general guidelines and I never measure anymore with this recipe. I use whatever greens I have around: bagged spinach in the winter, kale in the fall, chard and beet greens in the summer.

I usually use dried black beans that I cook myself, but have occasionally used canned beans as called for in the recipe. For the dried black beans, I love to use my pressure cooker: I just rinse them, put in about twice as much water as beans, add about a tablespoon of salt, a couple cloves of garlic, and a couple tablespoons of dried onion flakes, (occasionally some epazote or avocado leaf), pop on the lid, bring it to pressure for about 6 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them sit for a few hours. This is usually enough to cook them, which I figure saves a lot of gas over the slow stovetop method I used to use. If I'm in a hurry, I leave it at pressure for 20 and do a quick release, check to make sure they're done, and bring them back up to pressure if I need to cook them more. If you have a crockpot, it works to cook them on low all day, or if you're doing it on the stove you should probably soak them overnight first, then cook them for 2-3 hours on the stove. (A word about soaking: it's not necessary, but it does speed up the cooking time and usually helps the beans cook more evenly without bursting, so I'd recommend it for when you're doing bean salads - for this recipe it doesn't matter). I put the extra beans in 2-3 cup containers in the freezer so I can use them anytime like canned beans.

Mexican Beans and Greens

8 to 12 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo sausage, casing removed

10 ounces cleaned young spinach (about 10 cups) OR one 12-ounce bunch Swiss chard, thick lower stems cut off, leaves sliced crosswise into ½ inch strips (about 8 cups)

Two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained

1 to 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (1 is usually enough for us, so if you don't like things spicy, start with 1/2)

Salt

½ cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese

½ cup chopped green onions or thin-sliced red onion, for garnish

In a medium-large heavy pot (such as a Dutch oven), cook the chorizo over medium heat, stirring regularly and breaking up clumps, until lightly browned and thoroughly done, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the chorizo is cooking, place the spinach or Swiss chard in a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic wrap, poke a few holes in the top and microwave on high until completely wilted, usually about 2 minutes for spinach, 3 minutes or so for Swiss chard. Uncover the bowl and set aside. (Sometimes I cook the spinach right in the bag, and if I'm using kale, I add it as soon as I add the beans because it has to cook for a long time to get tender)

When the chorizo is ready, add the beans, chopped chipotles, and 1 ½ cups water. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste and season with salt, usually about ½ teaspoon, depending on the saltiness of the chorizo and beans. Add the wilted greens and let the mixture return to a boil.

Ladle into bowls and serve, passing the cheese and onion for each person to add.

Sometimes I add less water or let it cook down more so that it's thicker, more of a taco filling than a soupy chili. We always eat it with warmed corn tortillas. Some fresh cilantro can be nice on top, too, if you have it.

Did I mention it freezes quite well with or without the greens?

Bagels

I've been wanting to try to make bagels for years now, and inspired by this post from Marzipan Mom, I decided to give it a go. The first round I didn't take pictures; they tasted great and had a good chew, but they were kind of flat and just didn't look right. This round I must have used a lot more flour and the pictures looked great, but the flavor didn't have as much depth and they just tasted kind of dry. I think next time around I would not add quite so much flour (I was really fighting to knead in the last bits - maybe I counted wrong), and I would try to allow the dough more time to develop some flavor. Although I was pleased to turn out such lovely bagels, it was enough work that we decided we just need to buy good bagels more often.

P.S. As a side note, I just posted photos for the morels, in case any of you were waiting with baited breath.

morels!

I'm not sure what's better about hunting morels - eating them or walking in the woods. Morels are nearly impossible to find commercially, but in the spring you can find these flavorful mushrooms in the damp woods (often near elm trees). They're easy to identify and are not easily confused with any toxic mushrooms, so they're a fairly safe bet for inexperienced mushroom hunters like ourselves.

C, whose friend took him morel hunting a couple of years ago, scouted out a good location, then took Z and her friend L one Saturday, then took me again the next week. We got to eat a batch of this simple morel pasta each time.

I tried to keep it simple so that the rich earthy flavor of the morels dominates the dish. The leeks and asparagus came from our garden. I just eyeballed everything, so the amounts here are just estimates. When I made it a couple of years ago, I didn't add any alcohol, and I didn't have as many morels, so I stretched them with regular mushrooms. There's really no substitute for morels, but this pasta would probably be good with other kinds of mushrooms, but you'd need to use more because their flavor is not as intense.






Morel Pasta

1 Tbs. butter
1/4-1/2 cup leeks, chopped
a handful of asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces (optional)
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. dry vermouth, dry white wine, or sherry
1/2 lb. pasta, cooked
1 lb. fresh morels, cleaned and chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt to taste

Start the pasta water boiling while you prepare the ingredients. About the same time that you throw in the pasta, start cooking the sauce. Saute leeks in 1 Tbs. butter. After a couple of minutes, stir in the asparagus. When those are almost done, add the garlic and cook another minute, then add the morels and cook until they release most of their juices. Add the vermouth and cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated, then stir in the cream, salt to taste, and stir it into the cooked pasta. Serve!




I've finally posted some of the photos, but it turns out I don't have shots of the hunt in the woods - those are on Z's friend's camera. Sorry!