I Love You More Than Food

Category: Recipes

  • Floored Eggs (Egg Scramble with Smoked Pancetta, Chard, Chevre)

    Floored Eggs (Egg Scramble with Smoked Pancetta, Chard, Chevre)

    This morning started out really well. A friend came to be my running partner, another showed up for the breakfast we were to make afterwards. We enjoyed the back yard for a sunny, late morning breakfast, and followed it with bellini’s for most of the rest of the day.

    Serves 3:
    6 large eggs
    2 oz chevre (fresh, soft goat cheese, I like capricho di cabra)
    1 cup chopped, clean rainbow chard, no stems
    1 1/2 inch piece smoked pancetta

    Whisk the eggs and add salt & pepper. Dice the pancetta very finely and add to hot, non-stick pan. Let cook until craips and reduced by half. Oil is now in the pan as a result. Reduce heat from medium high to low, add eggs. Stir and move constantly at low heat–this will take longer than you may be used to, but will result in a creamier, more tasty egg.

    When starting to firm up, but still runny, add the chard. Fold to incorporate to cook. As it begins to wilt and incorporate, add the chevre, cubed or in rough chunks, about the size of 1/2 a kumquat.

    When still wet looking, but without being runny, and before it browns, serve the eggs. Try not to let the pan slip from your hand and land on the floor, but if it does, then you’ve made floored eggs too.

  • Pasta Bolognese (From Marcella Ansaldo at Apicius in Florence)

    Pasta Bolognese (From Marcella Ansaldo at Apicius in Florence)

    tagliatelle bolognese

    I’ve posted about my favorite Italian comfort food before, but I’ve decided it’s time to wow you with its deliciousness in a way that will allow replication. This dish was the very first recipe (and demonstration of technique) I learned in Marcella Ansaldo’s introduction to Italian Regional Cuisine course at International Culinary School Apicius in Florence.  Marcella was fabulous and ended up to be one of my very favorite and most professional teachers while I was there.

    Typically you’d make your own pasta (once you’ve done it a few times, it’s really not overwhelming), but if you’re in a hurry you could use dry pasta, preferably something with texture like rigatoni, penne, or egg fettucini.

    Mirepoix (celery, carrot, onion small dice)

    All of the measurements below are approximate. You’ll develop your own liking over time. Serves 4.

    1 large carrot, small dice
    2 stalks celery, small dice
    1/2 medium/small onion, diced
    1/2 C red wine
    1/3lb lean ground beef
    1/4lb ground pork
    50g (1 quarter inch thick) slice of pancetta (if you can get it smoked, that’s the best option)
    1.5-2 C san marzano or other good quality tomatoes, preferably whole
    1 tsp chili flakes (this is non traditional)
    olive oil
    salt & pepper

    Heat about 1T olive oil in a large sauce pan. Start your water to boil at the same time, or soon after. Sautee on medium low heat the onion, carrot, and celery which are chopped a small dice, evenly sized. You do not want to caramelize anything here–simply soften and cook. I remember Marcella telling us that Italians 1) do not like to see their vegetables and 2) do not over cook them like the French. Don’t forget the salt at this point, either.

    Once softened but not brown, add the pancetta, diced the same size, and if it’s not smoked, allow it to cook until almost crispy (you may need to adjust the heat upwards). If it’s smoked, cook together for 1-2 minutes, and add the ground meat. You should mix the meat together first and make sure not too add too large of chunks. Once the meat is mostly cooked, crank the heat a bit up and add the wine*.

    When the vapor coming from the pan is no longer astringent, add the chili flakes and the tomato, and reduce to simmer. Adjust salt & pepper.

    Mix your sauce and pasta well in a large bowl/in the pasta pan and serve with good Parmesan (I will cry if you use the pre-grated stuff, seriously).

    *If you’re smart, you’ll buy a dry, red Italian wine that you might actually want to drink not only because it will taste better, but because then you’ll have an appropriate wine to go with your dinner.

    As a side note, we ate it up with some Liguria Bakery Foccacia, which I am very pleased to say is being retailed at my neighborhood Andronico’s, for four times the price as at the bakery and not as fresh, but it is so freaking good and so inconvenient to get at the bakery that I am happy to pay it.

  • Grilled Tri Tip & Favas with Pecorino Ginepro

    Grilled Tri Tip & Favas with Pecorino Ginepro

    For the Tri Tip (can sub skirt or flank steak, etc)
    1 tri tip, marinaded at least 2 hours, up to 36
    marinade:
    1/3 cup soy sauce
    1/4 cup teriyaki or similar sauce
    1/4 cup oil (your choice)
    1 tbsp chili flakes
    2 shots whiskey/brandy/etc
    2 cloves garlic
    salt & pepper

    Grill to your best ability.

    For the Favas:
    1-2lb fresh fava beans in their pods
    2 large shallots*
    pecorino ginepro (romano will do if you live in the middle of nowhere, but if you don’t i expect you to seek a better alternative, really, for shame)
    juice of 1/2 lime
    salt & pepper

    Boil water, salt it, and put the fava beans in (take them out of their pods first). Cook 1-2 minutes until color has brightened a little. Drain them and put them into iced water, and immediately use your fingers/nails to remove their outer shell. Set aside the inner meat/bean.

    Heat a bit of olive oil in a non stick, and add your shallots sliced in rings, with some salt & pepper. When softened, add your favas, salt, and pepper, and cook quickly until warmed and coated. Add juice of 1/2 lime (a tart orange is ok too). Serve with shaved pecorino ginepro or other firm, sheeps milk, salty cheese.

    *If you’re feeling naughty you could add some pancetta at the same time as the shallots and skimp a little on the oil.

  • Mixed Spring Vegetable Ragu on Polenta

    Mixed Spring Vegetable Ragu on Polenta

    It’s been hard to write lately, to give you something tasty to look at. I’ve been counting calories, learning to run, humbly saying no to my favorite morning pastries and the breakfast burritos I’ve become so fond of.

    So tonight, I’ll try to sate you. I delighted in some zucchini from my farm shipment, fava beans from farmer’s market, celery that needed to be used (leftover from last week’s stock making), leftover san marzano tomatos and more.

    1 cup polenta, cooked (3 cups water & 1tsp salt boiled, add the polenta and stir well for 10 minutes, add 1T butter & lots of grated parm at the very end)

    1 lb fava beans (weight in pods; prep them by blanching in salted water, putting in cold water, removing skins)
    1/2 large zucchini, sliced
    1/2 large carrot or equivilent, medium dice
    1/2 large yellow onion, large dice
    2-3 stalks celery, diced
    8-10 black olives (for shame, mine were from a can–thanks Mom!), rough chop
    3-4 san marzano tomatoes or 1 cup marinara sauce
    1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced
    1 tsp chili flakes
    olive oil
    salt & pepper

    For the sauce, start in a non-stick pan by heating 1 T olive oil. Add the celery, carrot, and onion, cooking at medium/medium low heat until carrots are bright, celery is more dull and onions are almost translucent. Add the minced rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute. Add the olives and zucchini, cook until zucchini have some color at medium/medium high heat. When zucchini still firm, but colored, add marinara sauce/tomatoes, fava beans, and chili flakes if desired and turn to medium low to simmer and combine.

    Serve on top of the delicious polenta, or mixed with rigatoni. Serves 3-4.

    Wine: A dry, hearty red like Chinati would be great with this. You could also go Sicilian with some Nero d’Avola

  • Grilled Garlic Prawns with Avocado Collards

    Grilled Garlic Prawns with Avocado Collards

    We had a little surf n turf on Friday evening–a little inspiration from my love/hate visit to Andronico’s in SF. I picked up more of those delicious blue Mexican prawns, and a really gorgeous rib eye steak. Our grill had a little party. Here’s how I warmed up the guests:

    Prawns
    Marinate in 1-2 T olive oil, juice of one lemon or lime, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt & pepper. Clean them first by removing the vein on the outter curve (not the leg area) and removing the shell.

    Steak
    Coat it generously in large rock salt (for eating) and fresh cracked pepper.

    Toss the steak on the grill ahead of the prawns, which should cook while the steak is resting.

    Collards
    Clean and chop your collards, and sautee a small amount of onion (1/4 medium one) in olive oil until almost translucent. Add salt & pepper, add your collards and cook until well wilted and deep in color. Top with some avocado slices. You could also whip up some green goddess dressing and mix the collards in that instead.

  • BBQ’d Rosemary Chicken with Apple Rainbow Chard

    BBQ’d Rosemary Chicken with Apple Rainbow Chard

    For the BBQ:
    2 air chilled skinless chicken breasts (or whatever)
    3 large stalks fresh tender rosemary, washed
    balsamic vinegar
    olive oil
    salt & pepper

    Mince the rosemary, trim the chicken, mix the ingredients together and marinade at least 1 hour. BBQ on medium high heat, removing when just barely cooked through. Let rest 2 minutes before slicing.

    For the Chard:
    1 bunch mixed chard (I used red & white), stalks chopped and leaves chiffonade
    1/4-1/2 red bell pepper, diced
    1 small or medium apple, cubed
    salt & pepper, olive oil

    Sautee chard stalks in olive oil, salt,  pepper at medium heat.  until starting to be tender. Add the bell pepper, cooking a few minutes. When all is tender, reduce heat to medium low and add the leaves and apples, cook until well wilted.

  • BBQ’d Cilantro-Garlic Blue Gulf Shrimp + Asparagus Orzo

    BBQ’d Cilantro-Garlic Blue Gulf Shrimp + Asparagus Orzo

    Proportion for each serving of 6 shrimp:
    2T minced garlic
    3T olive oil
    2T lemon/lime juice
    1T minced cilantro
    salt & pepper

    Clean your shrimp by removing the vein which runs along the outer curve (this is its intestinal tract and its contents are gritty and gross to eat–so cut with a small knife along the top ridge, and then rinse under water to ensure it’s all gone, agitating with your fingers if necessary), then discard the shell or reserve to make some other project of yours.

    Adjust the ingredients above as you see fit, but this is a good starting point. Marinade the shrimp for 30 min-2 hr. More than that and the citrus will start cooking them significantly and you’ll end up with oily ceviche.

    Grill on high heat, turning towards the end of cooking so that you char a bit on one side. Watch them, they don’t take long. Serve with fresh lime.

    1/2 pack Eduardo’s Orzo (my favorite blue and clear packaged San Francisco stuff)
    Several stems asparagus
    red onion
    olive oil
    salt & pepper
    1/2 lemon

    Boil the orzo in salted water until tender. Meanwhile, lightly sautee (do not make soft) minced red onion in olive oil, salt, pepper. Add asparagus and cook at medium heat until soft and brightly colored. Add the cooked orzo, turning heat up. Adjust seasoning and add the juice of the lemon to taste.

  • 3 Impressive Crostinis: Carrot-Kaboucha, Beet Green & Red Onion, Artichoke & Bacon

    3 Impressive Crostinis: Carrot-Kaboucha, Beet Green & Red Onion, Artichoke & Bacon

    Carrot-Kaboucha Crostini
    4 large, fresh spring carrots
    1/2 kaboucha squash (1-1.5lb), roasted with olive oil at 350 until soft
    sesame seeds (or toasted sesame & salt mixture)
    2 T butter
    salt & pepper
    macadamia oil
    water

    You will need a food processor. Cut roughly your carrots and sautee with salt & pepper in 1T butter until soft and bright. Place into food processor. Add 1/2 C water and then 1/4 C water at a time as needed, and puree. Add 1-3 T macadamia oil to taste. Add 1 T sesame seed to taste. Blend and puree. Add liquid as needed keeping it as minimal as possible while achieving the smoothness. When smooth, add the kaboucha squash, and puree, adding water as needed. Adjust seasoning, add 1 T butter and puree, and you’re done.

    Beet Greens & Red Onion Crostini
    Optional: Add sheeps milk in a shaved slice on top, over the warm mixture.
    Greens and Stems from 2-3 fresh red beets, cleaned and seperated
    1 T butter
    1 large red onion
    2 T fresh parsley, minced
    salt & pepper

    In a non stick pan, sautee finely chopped beet stems until softened. Add thinly chopped red onion and sautee until soft. Add medium to fine chopped beet greens and cook until wilted and bright. Take off heat and add parsley. Serve with sheetps milk cheese (like pecorino) on top if you like.

    Artichoke & Bacon Crostini
    4 small to medium artichokes
    1/4-1/3 lb thick cut bacon (thick is important in this one)
    1/3 C sour cream
    3 T grated Parmesan or other grating cheese

    I used previously grilled artichokes for this, but you can use fresh ones. If you are using fresh ones, clean & trim the artichokes, and steam/simmer until tender. Remove the hearts and chop coursely but smaller than bite size.

    My artichokes were not fully cooked (hence why they survived the aftermath of the grill–I didn’t blanch them long enough before), so I removed the hearts, chopped them, and added them to a sautee pan with some water and steamed them for a bit.

    Add your artichokes to a pan and turn the heat to medium high. Add a touch of water and let it evaporate after a while. Add pepper. When water is evaporated, add bacon (cut it into small strips first). The thickness of the bacon is important in order to contrast with the artichoke size. Fry the artichokes with the bacon until all is colored and bacon is crispy. Remove with tons and place on paper towels and allow to drain a bit.

    Finely grate the cheese and mix it with the sour cream. Slowly incorporate the artichokes and bacon (after draining). It should be thoroughly coated without an excess of sour cream.

  • Quinoa with Asian Flank Steak, Bok Choy, Mushrooms & Ginger

    Quinoa with Asian Flank Steak, Bok Choy, Mushrooms & Ginger

    Quinoa
    1 C quinoa
    1 1/4 C water

    Wash quinoa with fine mesh strainer, then combine water and quinoa in a pan. Bring to boil, reduce to light simmer and add lid, cooking about 15 minutes until fluffy but not sticky.

    Asian Flank Steak (“Bulgogi light”)
    1.5 lb flank steak
    olive oil
    soy sauce
    whiskey or other spirit (tawny port, brandy, etc)
    6-10 garlic cloves
    crushed red pepper
    salt & pepper

    Combine enough of the above ingredients to cover the flank steak. Marinade at least 30 minutes, and up to 1.5 days. Toss it onto the grill and cook until medium, medium well. Cut counter-grain.

    Ginger Sesame Bok Choy & Mushrooms
    3-4 heads baby bok choy
    1 C mushrooms
    1 tsp ginger powder (to taste)
    salt & pepper
    toasted sesame-salt mixture
    butter

    In 1 T butter, heated and water gone, sautee sliced mushrooms until colored. Add ground sesame mixture generously, then additional pepper and touch of salt. Add ginger powder sprinkling as to not clump. Add bok choy stems, sliced moderate thinly. Cook until softened, add green part of bok choy. Cook until brightened, serve.

    Serves 3-4

    We had it with a cheap Cote du Rhone.

  • Dutch Baked Apple Pancake

    Dutch Baked Apple Pancake

    In the tradition of what American’s mispercieve as French souffle, this baked pancake could also be called domestically “souffle” though internationally I’d argue it’s not.

    I received a set of Penzey’s spices from my mother some time ago and have been slowly making my way through the spices. Since that time, they’ve sent me catalogs, which I am mostly uninterested in and ought to call and have myself removed as I do with everything else–but back to the point, this one had a recipe that looked good.

    As an aside, they carry much the same quality and even often from the same suppliers as The Spice House in Chicago, and in fact, the families behind each are closely related (brothers) and it’s some sort of feud that causes them to have seperate and competing businesses. I’d recommend either for a variety of reasons, for online ordering.

    Back to the point: There was an eye catching recipe for an apple pancake using their “cinnamon sugar” mixture (it’s the lazy man’s mixtures that turn me off from Penzey’s as a serious cook), and I do have a ton of apples left from my Farm Fresh to You shipment, so I figured hey, why not?

    I used half the recipe but the full amount of milk, and made a few adjustments such as making my own cinnamon heavy “cinnamon sugar”, using more vanilla extract than required, and per usual using organic free range blah blah everything. It does taste better to do so, though, most of the time if not for anything else but the care and quality put into it vs mass produce. Half the recipe served 2 of us with nothing else for breakfast, I think this would be a great brunch dish to have a small slice of.

    I baked it in a springform pan as we all know about my limited space and I haven’t room to stock both a pie pan and a springform.

    Instead of syrup as the recipe suggests, I’d top it with powdered sugar.