Barely-cooked dinner

I really feel like summer cooking tends to deviate into the non-cooking category more often than not.  I posted the above pic on facebook earlier and got a command request to blog it... I said it didn't even count as cooking, but... I'll tell you how it got on the plate anyway.

1. Spot salmon (ETA - please, for the love of food, buy fresh-if-you-can WILD alaskan/domestic salmon if you live in the united states), shelling peas, cherry tomatoes, and avocado at the store.  Remember that you have garlic and arugula at home in the fridge, otherwise rotting.

2. Take the peas out of their pods.  For extra credit, take tweezers and remove pin-bones from salmon filet.  Season salmon with salt and pepper. Smash two garlic cloves under your knife and take the peel off.

3. Heat butter in two pans, add the salmon to one, flesh-side down first. Add the peas, salt, pepper, and garlic cloves to the other.  Cook salmon on both sides until it flakes easily (~3 min/side for about an inch thick filet), cook peas until they look bright green and taste sweet and delicious.

4. Throw some arugula on a plate, slice tomatoes in half and throw those, too.  Cut open avocado, remove seed, peel, slice... stick that on there, too.  Dress with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

5. Stick your salmon filets and peas on the plate, and eat that stuff.  It looks pretty and it tastes good, and you hardly had to cook it.

More treasures from BA July '11

 The grilling issue of Bon Appetit this year continues to shine -

Yesterday was about the 4th time we've made the Tuscan kale caesar "slaw", it is SO good.  If you like caesar salad and kale, try it!  Don't be put off by the raw-ness of the kale, it has a bit more texture than you might be used to in a raw salad green, but it isn't bitter at all, super delicious!

(The full amount of kale makes about 6 servings. For me and husbeast, I make the full amount and refrigerate the dressing and cut kale separately and then eat it for a couple of meals)

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 8 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 hard-boiled egg, peeled
• 14 ounces Tuscan kale (also called Lacinato or Dinosaur kale) or other kale, center stalks removed, thinly sliced crosswise (about 8 cups) 

Preparation

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a blender; purée until smooth. With machine running, slowly add oil, drop by drop, to make a creamy dressing. Transfer dressing to a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill. DO AHEAD Dressing can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. 

  

Separate egg white from yolk. Place egg white in a coarse-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Press egg white through strainer with the back of a spoon; scrape egg white from bottom of strainer. Repeat with egg yolk, using a clean strainer and bowl (I never clean the strainer between white and yolk... you can also just chop an egg, but putting it through the strainer looks neat and fancy). DO AHEAD Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover bowls separately and chill.  

Toss kale and dressing in a large bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and sieved eggs.

• 

  Sliced-up kale

  

  Blending up the dressing

This weekend we also decided to try giving some pork chops a bath in the mojo marinade from the same issue.  It turned out really nice... we only marinated for about 3 hours, I think it'd be even better if we'd let it go overnight, but I rarely plan that far in advance :)
Next time I'd also reserve some of the marinade to use as a sauce on the finished meat.  The recipe did in fact say to do this, but I was hesitant to make another dirty dish that we'd have to wash, so I just used all of it on the marinade.  Next time, next time...

Chops in the bath

• 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup fresh oregano, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup corn or vegetable oil (Edit: I actually used olive oil here, vegetable oils that need much more coaxing to actually become oils than olive oil creep me out more and more... olive oil isn't the best to heat to high temperatures, but for a liquid-at-room-temp fat, I feel like it's not the worst (I still haven't found any avocado oil))  
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 jalapenños, sliced into rounds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until salt is dissolved. 

Remove pork or seafood from marinade, pat dry, and grill.

Spoon reserved sauce over meat or fish just before serving.

We finished off our dinner spread last night with the epitome of summer foods, the Caprese salad (with delicious Buffalo mozzarella from Costco!  Great deal!) -

In case you're unfamiliar, this is just sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind packed in a tub of water) (Buffalo really is more delicious, but it can be expensive and/or hard to find, so cow's milk mozz works just fine), sliced fresh basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil drizzled over.  It is not traditional, but we also like to put some balsamic vinegar over it as well, esp. here in the northwest where the awesome tomato season is about 5 minutes long.  The vinegar helps perk up lackluster tomatoes.

How to make dinner when you don't feel like it.

1. Establish the "I don't feel like it" situation: Today the impetus was 4 rounds of 400M run (I feel the need to explain that our 400M course is 200M straight up hill and then 200M straight down hill... it ain't easy) and 15 overhead squats at 65# - pooped-outtedness plus angry wrists = diane doesn't want to use a knife or cook.

2. Go to the store anyway: For two people, purchase two steaks that look good + a head of broccoli + 1 pint strawberries (assuming you have olive oil/butter, salt, pepper, garlic, and chile flakes in your cupboard) (also wine, if you like... it's friday after all)

3. Preheat your oven to 425F. Get out a cookie sheet, rinse the broccoli and slice florets onto the sheet. Drizzle olive oil over, shake salt and grind pepper. Shove the broccoli in the oven for 15 minutes. (ETA - dangit, I forgot to give credit to Paleo Girls for the amazing Blasted Broccoli method that we use all the dang time, excellent work!)

Cutting broccoli for the cookie sheet

4.  As soon as the broccoli goes in the oven get out a heavy pan (I love you, Le Crueset cast iron frying pan) (or I guess heat your bbq grill), heat it over high heat, add a bit of oil or butter (less than a tablespoon for two steaks), then turn the heat down to medium-high when the oil is nice and hot.  Season steaks on both sides with whatever seasoning you want (we love Santa Maria by Scott's for Central California barbeque-style flavor, it has a little sugar, oh well).  Add the steaks to the pan, don't poke or move them while they're cooking on each side, and cook to desired done-ness - ours took about 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side for medium. They were about an inch thick. 

Steaks and seasoning

5. Make some yummy oil to dress your broccoli - put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a small bowl, add a pressed/minced clove of garlic and a few shakes of red chile flakes.  When the broccoli is done, toss it with this.

yum.

6. When the steaks are done, if you can stand it, let them rest on a plate for 5-10 minutes, covered with foil. Once everything is ready, plate it up... we had a few cherry tomatoes left over, so we ate those as well.

I was ready for take-out.

7. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, strawberries are amazing right now, just FYI.

Dessert is served.

What I did on my non-Summer vacation...

Just in case anyone thought I was a super-chaste-paleo-eating-kitchen-wizard, here is a selection of food that I ate on my amazing vacation to Washington DC, Philadelphia, and NYC.  A photo essay:

Dinner at WD~50 (R-L, T-B): Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese; Foie gras, passionfruit, chinese celery; Poached egg in the shell, pumpernickel, caesar dressing, lily bulb; King oyster ‘udon,’ sweetbreads, banana-molassas, pickled ginger; Tai snapper, onion tart, coffee, asian pear; 'Beef & bernaise'; Lamb loin, ‘red beans & rice,’ chayote squash; Grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus, sorrel; and Soft chocolate, beet, long pepper, ricotta ice cream

Monte Cristo (that'd be deep fried ham, turkey, and cheese) sandwich and eggs - Prune (NYC)

The best g-d burger I've ever had - Spotted Pig (NYC)

No, no, that isn't black coffee... that's pure melted chocolate - Belle Marie (NYC)

Beet gelato - Il Laboratorio del Gelato (NYC)

Definitely my favorite piece at MoMA (if you can't decipher the German, it says, "healthy and good with butter") PS - I did not eat this, I would have been arrested swiftly

Shake shack  (NYC)

Grey's Papaya recession special (NYC)

Pastrami on rye - Carnegie Deli (NYC)

 

 

Liege-style waffles (Philadelphia)

Cheese steak, wit wiz (Philadelphia)

Killer crab cake sandwiches - Robert Morris Inn (Maryland) (yep, that's me, with the two thumbs)

Iberico ham - Jaleo (WA-DC)

Derek Zoolander (kidding)

A fanged deer (also kidding)

There you have it... that's mostly what I was doing during March and April.  The lesson of this story is that honestly, while I did have a few negative effects, namely a raving desire for some home-cooked grub, a few overindulgence-type tummy aches, and a bit of jiggly bloat as a temporary souvenir, I didn't feel like this gorge fest knocked me off of any type of "wagon" or whatever... I was happy to get back to the gym and back to eating better.  I am lucky that I don't seem to have crazy negative reactions to gluten/dairy/whatnot.  That seems to be, for me, the joy of eating and cooking - I can eat all kinds of junk, for a while, and it can make me happy, for a while, but I know that the best food, in the long-term, comes from my own efforts... and the jiggle only takes about a week to subside :)

Hey y'all (you?) -

Look!  I made myself breakfast!

two eggs, garlic pork, salsa

Sorry for being a major d-bag on the whole... this is a blog, so you should blog... thing... Aside from a big travel stint (for fun, fortunately), I've just been uninspired in the cooking department, until NOW!

For one thing, I got a link!   OMG, my probably one and only reader and dear friend Coral started a blog documenting a 30-day paleo challenge and it is great! At any rate she linked to me, so I guess I should take her pleading to heart and post something, eh?  Here we go.

So yeah, everything I've been cooking seemed like a bit of a flop/unbelievably boring until this past Monday, when my new Bon Appetit magazine arrived. I'm a sorta-long time subscriber, and I usually abhor the "grilling issue"... like, honestly, (former?) editors of BA... those who subscribe to your magazine do not necessarily need yet another way to slap sugary bbq sauce on meat and put it over flame.  I personally want  inspiration for interesting new ways to make summer cooking delicious and unusual... and that's exactly what they delivered this month!  Incredible!

Coincidentally, this week we were invited to the birthday party of a friend who is a number of things - 1) she is lovely and deserving of fine things (as are all of the people I associate with), 2) she is a member of the #1 CrossFit Affiliate team in the Northwest Region (go Kirkland CrossFit!!) and 3) she is from Iceland, where people seem to be, above many things, enamored with lamb, shrimp, and being fancy.  With these items in mind, BA's crazy recipe for lamb and shrimp kebabs with red harissa seemed a no-brainer to bring to her birthday bbq.

I pretty much followed the recipe as written, so I've copied it below, but I had a hard time getting mine to stick to the metal skewers that I had... we ended up making little patties out of the mixture and that turned out fine, but if you want them to be real kebabs, you probably need wooden skewers. 

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless leg of lamb or top round, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup coarsely grated red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound large shrimp (about 20), peeled, deveined, coarsely chopped
• Oil for the grill 

Chill lamb in freezer for 10 minutes. Place in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over garlic and chop, occasionally smearing mixture with side of knife, until paste forms. Mix garlic paste, onion, cilantro, cumin, pepper flakes, black pepper, and remaining 1 tsp. salt into lamb, blending well. Add shrimp; mix to combine.

Measure 2 tablespoons lamb mixture; roll between your palms to form a 2"-long oval. Slide skewer halfway into lamb mixture, pressing to adhere. Repeat with remaining lamb mixture and skewers. (*OR make little patties) DO AHEAD Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to high. Brush kebabs with oil and grill, turning occasionally, until nicely charred and just cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Serve with Red Harissa.

 

 

The real star here is the red harissa. DEFINITELY take the time to make it, it tastes amazing on everything, as we discovered.  By the end of the party two of the fittest guys I know were practically mainlining the stuff on crackers with cream cheese... not paleo, but completely awesome.  I love when I don't take home any leftovers!

• 3 large red bell peppers
• 2 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 red jalapeños (I couldn't find red ones, so I used one green one) or Fresno chiles, stemmed, seeded, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Roast peppers in broiler or directly over gas flame, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Transfer to a large bowl, cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Stem, peel, and seed peppers; coarsely chop.

Place peppers, next 4 ingredients, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a food processor. Purée until very smooth. With machine running, gradually add oil. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

Hanger Steak Quickie

Hibernating northwesterners are starting to emerge from our caves, now that it's finally spring, blinking and squinting in the (weak) sunshine (that lasts past 4pm). 

We chez Gourmands (literally) scrubbed the moldy winter scuzz off of our grill over the weekend and celebrated the light and the daffodils with a dish that involved no braising!  It was amazing!

A springtime plate - steak, asparagus, and baby taters

The meat is based on a Bon Appetit recipe, but I kind of... I don't know, either forgot how the original went, or willingly decided not to follow the rules, but I do it a little different, and it still turns out really good.


Smokey Balsamic Hanger Steak

1 Whole hanger steak from as happy an animal as you can find (grass fed tastes divine)
Sprinkle on all sides with smoked paprika (don't use regular, get the smoked... it costs a few dollars, but it's an amazing seasoning), salt, and pepper

Marinade -
Combine ingredients in a glass baking dish big enough to hold the steak, or a gallon-ziplock baggie if you're traveling with it...

1/2 C Balsamic vinegar, reduced to ~1/4 C (simmer in a small saucepan)
1/4 C Olive oil, avocado oil, or other oil that's liquid at room temp
1 large shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 T capers, minced
a few shakes of dried red pepper flakes
1/2 t dry thyme, or 2t fresh thyme leaves
1/4 C chopped italian parsley

Whisk everything in the baking dish, then add the pre-seasoned steak, and roll it around to cover with marinade on all sides, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to cook (1 hour works, less, more, whatever)

Grill to desired doneness.  I would highly recommend not overcooking... grill to about 135F internal temperature, then REST THE MEAT (this is a "secret" to awesome red meat) on a carving board covered loosely with foil for 10-20 minutes for medium-rare.  Now carve the meat into serving slices against the grain.

We served our steak with broiled asparagus, and these adorable tiny potatoes roasted at 400F until they were browned and making lots of squealing noises from the steam escaping... better than a steakhouse!

Graduating and Pork Fat

Soo, this happened:

(I got a master's degree)

It took up a lot of my valuable cooking and iPhone-photographing and blogging time, so, I apologize to my legions of readers (Coral).  Sorry. 

I also climbed this:

The columbia tower in Seattle, 1,311 steps

That was a fun way to spend a Sunday morning...

Now that I've decompressed from the totally surreal experience of handing over a large chunk of one's brain, on paper, in triplicate, to a university to bind and put in a library, I needed to render some pork fat.  Because that is what one does, no?

I've been thinking a lot about fat. I grew up hearing about how my various relatives ate nothing but lard-based pie crusts and bacon and eggs and lived to be 100 (followed by, "It's amazing that it makes us sick now! Please pass the margarine!"), and had kind of forgotten about it until little bits and pieces of information started to coalesce (like an arterial plaque!) - ok, hydrogenated fats are actually terrible for you, right... ew, vegetable oils are mostly re-purposed from industrial lubricants to foods post WWII? Well, I suppose that makes sense... um, AND the lipid hypothesis of heart disease is maybe completely unfounded?? I may need to re-think this can of spray oil...
Turns out animal fats are really, really delicious, and maybe less bad for you (even good for you?) than the late-20th-century may have led us to believe. 
We've been saving and cooking with our leftover bacon and duck drippings, but I wanted to try getting a big lump of pig fat and making my own lard.  Apparently buying the shelf stable stuff at the market is just as bad as margarine, since it's partially hydrogenated to improve its stability, or something.  Just make your own.

There's lots of resources for how to do this on the web (here is a good one, with lots of delicious fat photos), but basically you first want to locate some good quality fat from a healthy, well raised pig.  The top quality is called "leaf lard," and comes from the interstitial fat of the animal and thus somehow has a more neutral flavor, or if you're not planning to use your lard for things like pastries you can just use plain ol' hog fat.  That's what I did because it was what my butcher had on hand, so there.

Chop your fat into cubes.  This is easiest to do if the fat is partially frozen (mine was VERY frozen, so I got really ugly pieces out of my hacking attempt, I was on a schedule).  The method above says to remove excess meat and blood vessels, but I didn't do this since it was going to be a royal pain in the butt.  This probably affects the final product in terms of flavor, but I think you can go either way.

looks like chopped chicken, but it's fatty fat fat!

Then you put the fat cubes along with a 1/2 cup of water in a heavy saucepan or dutch oven, and place over medium-low heat.  The fat will start to melt, and it will start to stink up your house something fierce, don't be alarmed.  Stir the pot every 10 minutes or so to make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom, and cook until the bits of solids start to brown and sink to the bottom, they'll start making popping sounds when they're done, thus the term "cracklin's." (you can eat these, but mine didn't turn out super yummy... they may need additional cooking after you strain the lard off)

sizzlin' cracklin's

Then strain the fat through a couple layers of cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer into a container, like a mason jar, with a lid.  Refrigerate and use as you like.  I made some eggs for breakfast fried in the lard, and they were pretty darn delicious.  Try it!

Chilled lard (L), drained cracklin's (R)

My lardy egg breakfast, and cherry tomatoes!  Must be spring!