I Love You More Than Food

Category: Spring

  • Mussels & Clams Pastis

    Mussels & Clams Pastis

    mussels pastis

    BiRite Market opened up a location a short bike ride from my house, and I’ve made it an excuse to shop in smaller quantities and incorporate the exercise of going to the store as an excuse to make even fresher meals. These beautiful PEI mussels were filled to the edge of their shells with meat, the freshest I’ve seen in a long while and exceptionally tender.

    When shopping for shellfish, always make sure your shells are not broken (throw the mussel out if it is!), that they close when you agitate them, are free of debris on the outside (scrub them with cold water), and that you toss any that don’t open after cooking (though a small crack open is perfectly fine!).

    In case you have not cleaned or bought bivalves before, here’s what I do to clean them up and inspect them:

    How to Clean Mussels and Clams

    1) Bring them home immediately, and if you aren’t using them in the next hour, open up their bag and put them in the refrigerator so they can breathe, or set them on ice and leave them out, as they do in the store. Always buy them the same day you intend to cook them.

    2) 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking, place them in very cold fresh water and leave them unagitated for at least 10 minutes. They will relax, open up, and use the fresh water, thus rinsing out any sediment, sand, etc from the inside of their shells.

    3) Before removing them from the water, inspect each mussel or clam for any missing chunks, major cracks, etc. If it has an imperfection, throw it out. If it does not close when you handle it, throw it out. Even when buying from a quality fishmonger, you’ll likely have 1-2 that get thrown out before cooking.

    4) Next, if especially dirty, replace the cleaning water and recover in very cold water. Remove any “beards” or seaweed looking bits that are hanging out the side of the mussels shells. Do this with a quick jerking action down towards the thickest side of the mussel. It will take a little effort, especially if they are very fresh. Strain them and cook them within 20 minutes or so!

    Mussels & Clams Pastis Recipe

    Serves 2

    1.5-2lb of mussels and clams
    2 T olive oil
    1 large shallot, chopped finely
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/2 C white wine
    1 C Pernod or other anise liquor
    2 T fresh parsley, roughly chopped
    salt & pepper

    In a large pan that will fit all of the mussels and clams, add the olive oil and heat to medium. Add the garlic and shallot, cooking until nearly translucent or beginning to be translucent, but not caramelized or browned. Add some salt, the white wine and pernod, and reduce slightly, raising heat immediately to high or medium high.

    Add the mussels and/or clams and cover, cooking about 2 minutes before checking. Cover again if they are not all or mostly opened. When all are opened, remove lid and stir well, adding fresh cracked pepper. Remove the mussels and clams and set aside in a warm spot or in a heated bowl (or place into heated individual serving bowls). Change heat to high and reduce liquid by 1/2, then add the parsley and serve over the mussels and clams.

    Serve with french fries or bread with butter.

  • Fava Bean & Blood Orange Salad with Ricotta Salata

    Fava Bean & Blood Orange Salad with Ricotta Salata

    Fava Bean & Blood Orange Salad with Ricotta Salata

    Spring is a time of transition–Fava beans, along with calcots, ramps & fiddleheads, are some of my favorite in-between spring crops. The hearty fava’s season is a bit longer, and they’re more available across climates and geographies than some of the others, and they pair well with a variety of other foods, and can be really enjoyed both hot and cold.

    Blood oranges have a late season this year, so I’m still enjoying them here in California. This is a really straight forward but delicious and loved dish, which serves 3-4 as a side.

    Fava Bean & Blood Orange Salad Recipe

    1-2lb fresh fava beans, whole
    1 medium blood orange, peeled with a knife
    1 tbsp (Spanish! buttery!) olive oil
    Ricotta salata (or bits of fresh goat cheese, farmer’s cheese, sheep’s feta or shaved pecorino romano)
    lots of salt & fresh cracked pepper

    Pop the beans out of their pods, and bring water to boil. Boil the beans for about 1 minute, until the color has brightened a bit. Strain, and dunk immediately into a cold water or ice water bath. Once cooled, strain again and begin peeling the beans out of their membrane. You can do this part ahead, stopping at any junction and resuming later. Cut the blood orange into diced chunks. Toss all the ingredients together, topping with shaved ricotta salata (which I clearly managed to get in the photo…) or other cheese as mentioned above.

  • Magical Arugula Salad with Pistachio Dust

    Magical Arugula Salad with Pistachio Dust

     

    I’ve served this arugula salad with pistachios countless times over the last month. For a catering event I headed, for friends at dinner time, for family at dinnertime, for lunch with a friend, while visiting Calistoga, and others. It’s a hit 100% of the time and it’s very filling.

    Arugula Salad with Pistachio Dust Recipe

    For four

    8-10 cups baby or wild arugula
    3 oz parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
    1/2 C raw hulled pistachios, ground in coffee grinder or mashed with mallette into dust, crumbs, and chunks
    Juice of 1 lemon
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    olive oil
    salt
    fresh cracked pepper

    Whisk the lemon juice with olive oil–use 2x more olive oil than lemon juice. Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss arugula in the dressing. Toss arugula in parmasean, then in pistachio. Serve!

  • Coconut Cabbage and Eggs

    Coconut Cabbage and Eggs

    Coconut cabbage and eggs with spring peas, almonds, and herbs

    Coconut cabbage and eggs with spring peas, almonds, and herbs

    I was craving some vegetables this morning and remembered I had a beautiful Wakefield cabbage in the fridge–I unpacked it from my CSA box from Eatwell Farms last Thursday and noticed how soft and supple its leaves were, and its unusual pear shape. I don’t think I’ve had this variety before–it’s a pale, bearess lime type of green with a pointed top. The green garlic and eggs in this recipe are also from Eatwell.

    The bowl in the photos above is my favorite at the moment, for everything from a meal of strawberries & cashew cream to soup to salad and beyond. It’s from Art & Manufacture on Etsy, and she shipped super quickly!

    Coconut Cabbage and Eggs Recipe with Green Garlic
    Serves 1-2

    3-4 large cabbage leaves (tender Wakefield if you can find it), sliced very thinly
    1 stalk green garlic or 2 scallions or 1 spring onion, sliced thinly
    1/4 C fresh English peas, shelled (I bought 5 lbs from Mariquita Farms recently!)
    1/3 C coconut milk or Spicy Lemon Coconut Sauce
    2 eggs, whisked
    10 almonds
    2 tsp olive oil
    1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
    Optional: 1/2 Jalapeno or other hot, small pepper chopped finely

    Heat a pan to low heat and add 1-2 tsp olive oil. Add the green garlic (or scallion/spring onion) and cook until beginning to lose shape, a few minutes. Turn the heat to medium high and add the cabbage, stir, and add a generous pinch of sea salt. Cook 2-3 minutes until cabbage begins to wilt.

    Add the coconut milk, peas,  and the pepper if using, and cook until cabbage is totally wilted, about 4 minutes. It will still have texture. Reduce heat to medium and add the scrambled eggs.

    Chop the almonds (mine were soaked and sprouted) while the eggs cook, stirring the egg and cabbage mixture occasionally. When eggs are cooked, it is finished. Top with parsley and lightly mix, and finally the almonds.

     

  • Green Garlic Soup & Fennel Barley Salad with Roast Radishes

    Green Garlic Soup & Fennel Barley Salad with Roast Radishes

    Green Garlic Soup

    Fennel Barley Salad with Roast Radishes

    Paired with a quick asparagus appetizer, this Green Garlic Soup and Fennel-Barley Salad made a wonderful vegetarian 3-course meal. I made this for an old roommate who came to visit last night; were stuffed but happy and feeling good. Our fourth course was chocolate-covered honey cake with sliced mango.

    Green Garlic Soup Recipe
    Serves 4

    ~1lb green garlic, sliced roughly
    2 T butter or olive oil
    1/2 C dry sherry
    1 large turnip, roasted or boiled
    3-4 cups spinach
    8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
    salt & pepper

    In a soup pan, warm the oil or butter over medium high heat. Add the green garlic, cooking until nearly tender and beginning to color.  Add the sherry and cook 3-4 minutes until no brash smell remains. Add salt, and the broth, and bring to a simmer. Add the turnip and the spinach, cooking 1-2 minutes more. Puree in a high powered blender or by another method, being sure to go in batches if needed to avoid a mess. Adjust the seasoning, adding some sherry or wine vinegar if needed. Serve with delicious croutons and garlic chives on top.

     

    Fennel Barley Salad Recipe (with roast radishes and flageolet beans)
    Serves 3

    1.5 C cooked pearled barley
    1/2 head fennel, sliced very thinly
    1 C flageolet beans, cooked, or other salad bean
    9-12 stem on mix of easter egg radishes, french radishes, or petite turnips, roasted whole and sliced in half
    3-4 C mixed tender salad greens
    3-4 T Fennel Citrus Dijon Salad Dressing
    2 T olive oil

    On high heat, fry the cooked barley in olive oil until grains separate easily and everything is warm. Add the fennel for 1 minute, then turn the heat off and add the radish mixture and beans to the pan. Toss well. In a large bowl, dress the salad greens generously in dressing. Add the warm barley mixture and toss. Serve!

     

    Fennel-Citrus Dijon Salad Dressing Recipe

    1 T dijon
    1/4 C fennel fronds
    Juice of 1/2 large orange
    Zest of 1/2 an orange
    1 T honey
    1 T olive or sunflower oil
    2 T apple cider vinegar

    Blend all ingredients very well. Stores for up to a week in the refrigerator.

  • Roasted Spring Root Vegetables

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Rutabaga

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Rutabaga

    A beautiful and simple lunch or light dinner, these roasted spring root vegetables are pleasing to the eye and are the perfect summary of the spring bounty that is now my CSA/farm shipment.

    Simply find the best spring veggies you can, cut them in fairly even sizes, toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper (or add some herbs de provence if you like), and roast them 25-40 minutes at 400 degrees on some foil (for easy clean up). Save them cold to toss into salads for the coming days or feast on them then; serve them as an appetizer with friends over on a large platter and cocktail forks. It’s a pleaser.

    Use things like: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Chiogga Beets, Rutabaga, Celery Root

    Leave the stems on (they are edible! and save those radish & turnip greens for a sautee, a quiche, or a pesto) but trim off any broken or decrepit parts of the stem and use a vegetable sponge to scrub the dirt from the tops and sides. Don’t peel the carrots, just scrub the dirt off. You can also roast everything whole and slice them in half afterwards for brighter centers, but you may need to separate a few trays by size of the objects to ensure even cooking.

  • Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Weeknight Rack of Lamb

    This is painfully easy; it’s shamelessly stolen from artist Joanne Ruggles who treated a whole gaggle of us to it on New Years Eve this year. I’ve been making it every few weeks since–I even took a cooler pack of lamb with the ingredients up to Orr Hot Springs and made lunch out of it on a weekday–after which several people who saw me preparing it in their wonderful kitchen asked me for the recipe. Yeah, that good!

    Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Rack of Lamb, however much you want, trimmed of fat (this is important! slice that stuff off or you’ll be gnawing on it)
    Sweet Mustard
    Montreal Steak Seasoning shamelessly purchased from Costco (Yeah, I know. This is a serious tangent from this blog).

    Oven, 400 degrees. Slather that trimmed lamb with mustard, even the bones. Generously coat it in the steak seasoning. Throw it on some foil and put it in the oven for about 20-35 minutes, until medium or medium rare. If you like your lamb more cooked than that then you don’t deserve to make this.

    Serve it with anything! A big salad, some couscous, zucchini, asparagus, sauteed chard or spinach..Whatever!

  • Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate

    Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate

    Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt and Pomegranate

    About six months ago I switched to a new CSA/Farm Shipment service–Eatwell Farms. I’ve been fantastically happy with them, and lately I’ve given a few of their suggested recipes a try. Most CSA services give recipes with their products, which I’d assume is mostly to help those who have never eaten kohlrabi, or don’t know what to do with an eggplant. That said, the recipes from Eatwell have been especially tasty ideas and have been great at combining multiple things from the shipment into one dish.

    This romesco recipe is adapted from one of their more recent blog entries.

    Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate Recipe

    1 head romanesco, green cauliflower, or cauliflower, chopped smartly and evenly
    1/2 tsp ground cumin
    1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
    1 tsp Balti seasoning or a bit of garam masala; if you can’t get either, use more cumin and maybe a bit of paprika
    1/2-1tsp kosher salt
    1/2 C whole milk yogurt (I used the thin, Russian style Pavel’s)
    2-3 tsp Turkish Seasoning or a mixture of oregano, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, sumac and a pinch of cayenne
    1/2 a pomegranate’s seeds (about 1/3rd cup)
    2 T white truffle butter or 1 tsp truffle oil
    olive oil

    Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet to medium high. Add the romanesco or cauliflower and the salt. Cook until some brown bits occur and the cauliflower is mostly soft. Add the cumin, balti, and caraway seeds and toss. Add the truffle butter and turn off the heat, stirring to melt.

    Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish and either keep warm for up to 1 hour or place immediately under the broiler for 1 minute to carmelize the top and make it crispy. Mix the Turkish seasoning with the yogurt and add salt to taste. Upon serving, pour the yogurt over the dish and add pomegranate seeds on top.

    I like to share this one as an appetizer over wine and a block of good sheep or goat’s cheese.
    [schema type=”recipe” name=”Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate” author=”Caroline Cadwell” image=”http://iloveyoumorethanfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/romesco.jpg” description=”A fresh, easy, and impressive way to use romanesco or cauliflower, served family style, with a mediterranean edge.” ingrt_1=”1 head romanesco or other variety of cauliflower, chopped in nice size slices” ingrt_2=”1/2 tsp ground cumin” ingrt_3=”1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed” ingrt_4=”1 tsp balti seasoning or garam masal” ingrt_5=”1/2-1tsp kosher salt” ingrt_6=”1/2 C whole milk yogurt” ingrt_7=”2-3 tsp Turkish seasoning” ingrt_8=”1/2 a pomegranate’s seeds (about 1/3 C)” ingrt_9=”2 T white truffle butter or 1 tsp truffle oil” ingrt_10=”olive oil” instructions=”Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet to medium high. Add the romanesco or cauliflower and the salt. Cook until some brown bits occur and the cauliflower is mostly soft. Add the cumin, balti, and caraway seeds and toss. Add the truffle butter and turn off the heat, stirring to melt.

    Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish and either keep warm for up to 1 hour or place immediately under the broiler for 1 minute to carmelize the top and make it crispy. Mix the Turkish seasoning with the yogurt and add salt to taste. Upon serving, pour the yogurt over the dish and add pomegranate seeds on top.” ]

  • Crostini with Green Garlic & Fava Bean Chevre Spread, Delicious Home-made Sparkling Limeade

    Crostini with Green Garlic & Fava Bean Chevre Spread, Delicious Home-made Sparkling Limeade

    crostini with green garlic, fava bean and chevre spread

    crostini with green garlic, fava bean and chevre spread

    home made sparkling limeade

    Green Garlic and Fava Bean Goat Cheese Spread Recipe
    makes about 2 cups

    1.5-2 C shelled and blanched fava beans
    1 head green garlic, peeled of any extra tough leaves, stems chopped
    2 oz chevre/fresh goat cheese
    1/4-1/2 C olive oil
    1 T tasty light-colored vinegar of your choice
    zest and juice of 1 lemon
    salt & pepper to taste

    Combine all ingredients in a food process or or blender. Add oil as needed to blend smoothly. Delicious as a sandwich spread as well.

    Home-made Sparkling Limeade Recipe
    Method using a Vita-Mix or other high powered blender
    Makes about two large drinks

    2 whole limes, peeled and chopped in quarters
    1 T honey or agave nectar
    1/2 C water
    sparkling water

    Combine all but sparkling water in blender. Puree until very smooth. Can reserve up to two days in refrigerator. Add sparkling water to serve, as strong or mild as you like. Consider adding fresh strawberries and ice for a strawberry-lime sparkling smoothie, or adding iced tea for a home-made lime arnold palmer.

  • Pan Seared Halibut on Asparagus Potato Hash

    Pan Seared Halibut on Asparagus Potato Hash

    pan seared halibut on asparagus potato hash

    pan seared halibut

    Pacific halibut, local asparagus, capay potatoes and leeks.

    Recipe: Pan Seared Halibut on Asparagus Potato Hash
    For One
    1/3 lb halibut filet, skinned
    8 spears asparagus, chopped in 1/2 inch segments
    1 leek, sliced finely
    1 small spring onion, diced, tender tops chopped and set aside
    2-4 T dry white wine
    3 T cooked farro or other grain (rice, etc– can omit as well)
    avocado oil or other mild oil

    In a 8 or 9 ” cast iron skillet (or other pan), heat 1-2 tsp oil at medium heat. Add the onion and leek, cooking until tired looking. Add the asparagus and cook 2-3 minutes until deeper green. Add white wine and cover loosely with a lid, steaming through. When asparagus is tender, remove lid and add farro and onion tops, cooking until hot. Place mixture into your serving bowl or plate.

    Bringing same pan to high heat, add a little more oil and fry the halibut on one side until golden. Flip, reduce heat to medium low, cover loosely with a lid and continue cooking a few more minutes until texture firms evenly and fish is cooked, about 3-5 minutes depending on filet thickness. Place on top of farro hash mixture and enjoy.