Posts from the ‘Meatless/Vegetarian’ Category

Jan 28

Uncle Steve’s Sauce, An Interview With Steve Schirripa And a Quick Delicious Meal

Uncle Steve’s Sauce

I received no monetary compensation for this, I did however get 3 bottles of sauce. I volunteered to do this article and the opinion is 100% my own.

I don’t know about you but I watched every single episode of the Soprano’s up until the very last one. I went through withdrawal after it ended, there was a hole in my Sunday evening TV lineup. If you have watched the show you probably recognize Steve Shirripa aka Bobby Baccalieri, he was married to Janice, Tony’s sister played by Aida Turturro on the show. A few weeks ago I was shopping at my local Whole Foods and had just gotten my salmon and was browsing and walking with my friend (also named Steve) and I had to do a double take, sitting there in the aisle was Steve Schirripa, he had a table set up with pots of his sauce and some of his entourage was there with him. When I saw him he told me to come over and taste the sauce, besides being star struck I was thrilled to have a taste. I will be honest, I don’t buy bottled sauce, I’m not a snob and I’m all for quick and easy but I really just don’t like the taste of the sauce I have tried. There is nothing wrong with it, really nothing wrong, it’s easy, and after a busy day at work opening a jar of sauce and having a bowl of pasta is a great thing, that is if you can find a jarred sauce you like. Up until that day I had not. I loved how they let you taste the sauce, dip a piece of Italian bread in, that was my favorite thing to do when I lived at home and my Mom made sauce. It immediately brought back very fond memories. Well, it is seriously good. There are three types, Tomato Basil, Marinara and Arrabiata. I bought a jar of the tomato basil which is the one I tasted, now one thing about me is that I am a little shy and become verklempt especially around celebrities so I just walked away thanking him and telling him I am a fan. My friend Steve went up to them and said that I had a blog, they called me over and I told them I would love to blog about his product, they also said Steve would be happy to do an interview and that I could contact them to set it up, I was thrilled. We exchanged cards and I was on my way. Fast forward, life got busy and I remembered I needed to email Steve’s team to set up the interview, I did and they immediately got back to me and asked if they could send me some sauce, the next day I got it. Look at how cute the packaging is and even a wooden spoon is included, you have to love that. Be sure to check out the website also for Uncle Steve’s products!!

So here is my interview with Steve Schirripa. I really wanted to know more about his company and why he chose to get into the food business. The interview was conducted over the phone, I hope you enjoy I know I did. I have to say I was a bit nervous, he put me at ease and is the nicest most genuine person and really believes in his product. It was such a pleasure talking to him.

1. I know you are a very busy actor and wondered if you could tell us why you decided to segue into the food business.
Steve: My partner Joe Scarppinito had the idea to make the sauce as a tribute to my Mom who had passed away. Joe is an entrepreneur and said to me Lets do sauce!! So we set out to make the best sauce possible, I’ll be honest I don’t eat jarred sauce and we wanted to make a sauce that tastes good. The sauce is so good my wife makes it for me at home.

2. There are many commercially prepared jarred sauces on the market, what sets your sauce apart from the rest.
Steve: Uncle Steve’s sauce is Organic, Gluten Free, Non GMO and it’s our goal to make the best sauce possible, it’s hard to find a good jarred sauce, with Uncle Steve’s what you see is what you get, you can see the list of ingredients everything is completely natural, no hidden stuff, it’s all good.

3. I heard that this is your Mother’s recipe, I am sure that her sauce is delicious but that’s a small batch for Sunday supper. How do you maintain the same distinctive and delicious flavor when preparing this for mass production.
Steve: Our sauce is made in small batches and we have good quality control, as a matter of fact we have thrown out an entire batch if it doesn’t meet our standards. We cook the sauce a long time and thats what gives it it’s distinct and authentic flavor.
When I was growing up Mom stayed home and cooked, now days Moms and Dads both work and our goal was not for you to stop making homemade sauce but when you are busy we provide you with the highest quality sauce that actually tastes really good and you can feel good about feeding this to your family.

4. People from all over the US and world follow my blog, tell us where we can buy your sauce, how many states is it available and what stores? I met you in Whole Foods Brooklyn and know it’s there, can my friend in Long Island get it at the Whole Foods near her?
Steve: We are in over 2000 stores and are growing every day. It’s amazing really because we have only been in business for a year. If you don’t see Uncle Steve’s sauce in the store go to the website here and put in your zip code we can tell you where to buy but we also have an online shop where you can buy sauce and other Italian specialty items. We are in Whole Foods in the New York area including Long Island and also New Jersey, we are heading to the West Coast, are in Florida, Oregon, Idaho, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin and other states also.

5. I have to ask,do you stay in touch with fellow cast members from The Soprano’s? I never missed an episode and it’s still my favorite show of all time. Have they tried your sauce? Just curious.
Steve: Yes I stay in touch with fellow cast members, Michael Imperioli, I just had lunch with Lorraine Bracco, Tony Sirico. Michael loves my sauce, he is an incredible cook and actually won a celebrity Chopped.

6. I see you have an online shop on your site can you tell us about some of the products available online.
Steve: The online shop has the sauce, Gluten Free Pasta, vinegar and soon will have olive oil. You can also get gift baskets.

7. I know you have a Twitter account @unclestevesNY can you tell my followers if there are any other ways to find you on social media (FaceBook, Instagram etc…)
Steve: Yes you can follow on Twitter and Facebook but I am not big at keeping up on Social Media.

8. Do you come from a traditional Italian family where Sunday’s were always dinner at Grandma’s house? If so, what was your favorite Sunday Dish when you were growing up?
Steve: Yes and I remember the fried meatballs with pignoli and raisins, it was my favorite food and the smell was amazing I can still smell it. I remember we couldn’t eat them until we got home from Church.

Rigatoni With Eggplant And Uncle Steve’s Arrabiata Sauce:

I have been craving eggplant, I thought that it would go nicely with the Arrabiata sauce. I decided to make a quick and easy pasta dish using Uncle Steve’s Arrabbiata sauce, some eggplant and rigatoni, top it with a nice big dollop of ricotta and a generous grating of pecorino romano. Previously when I bought jarred sauce I had to doctor it, you know what I mean, add some basil, garlic, olive oil, why not just make it from scratch then right? Well this sauce does not need to be doctored, it’s great right out of the jar, I did add a pinch of salt but that doesn’t count really. The meal took less than 30 minutes to make, and was delicious. I cut the eggplant into bite size pieces and roasted in the oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper after the eggplant was done I added to the sauce that was heating on the stove. when your pasta is done add it to the sauce and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Thats it, a quick delicious meal in no time and this is a product you can feel good about feeding your family. Note: Uncle Steve’s Arrabbiata is spicy, they aren’t kidding, love it!!

The entire meal was done in 30 minutes. Here is what I did:

Wash and cut the eggplant into bite size pieces, pre heat oven to 425 degree’s line a baking sheet with parchment. Spread the eggplant on the parchment, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Ready for the oven

While the eggplant is roasting, put your water on for the pasta, salt generously and bring to a full boil. While the pasta is cooking check on the eggplant, remove when it’s lightly browned approximately 20 minutes.

Look at the ingredients, natural, simple and good

Get out your saute’ pan and add the sauce and eggplant and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the pasta from the water when al dente (I used a spider utensil) added directly to the sauce, let the pasta cook in the sauce approximately 2 -3 minutes. Serve with ricotta and grated cheese.

A bowl of goodness fresh, natural and delicious!

Jan 8

82 Comments

Making Levain, A Gift For Nando A New Kitchen Toy, Community Pick On Food52

I follow a lot of blogs, love them all and wish I could make every recipe on all of them. Sometimes I see a recipe and think this is something I have to make right away, usually it’s a recipe that challenges me. This is the case when I saw Ginger’s great recipe on her wonderful blog Ginger And Bread she posted a recipe for WholeWheat Sour Dough Bread, which is baked in a cast iron dutch oven and looks so crusty and delicious I had to make it. The challenge for me is making levain, I have never made it before and a good friend sent me some that she made which I promptly killed in what can only be characterized as a slow painful death. So far Ginger’s levain recipe has proven to not only be simple but it actually works and I have not killed it. Now I did not own a cast iron dutch oven but have wanted to get one for a long time so I decided to buy one (ended up with two) I went to my favorite home goods store Williams Sonoma and found a great deal on both, a Le Creuset oval Cocette, (4 qt) in a lovely shade of green and then I saw a very reasonably priced Lodge round cast iron dutch oven, the Lodge is on back order but I got the Le Creuset today. Love it and I will use it to make this wonderful sour dough loaf. I will post the photo’s of the bread after I make it, hopefully tomorrow. The dough is doing a slow rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Le Creuset

So here is my levain, rather shaggy looking right? This is Day 6, my kitchen is quite cold so it didn’t rise very much but Ginger said thats ok, be patient.

shaggy levain day 6

On Day 8 I put the levain in the refrigerator for 2 days, when my dutch oven arrived I took it out, fed it again (1 cup flour and 5 tbs water) and let it sit in the oven with the light on. Here is how it looked when I got it out the next day. Can’t wait to make the bread.

fed and puffy

My really good friend Jocelyn (Daisey Angel’s Mom) got Nando a gift, he is blind and lately is not getting around very well and she found this amazing device called Muffins Halo. A woman with a blind dog invented this to keep them from knocking into walls and bumping their heads. Ingenious right? Here is Nando with his Muffins Halo on, he is still getting used to it but already he is not bumping his head when he wears it. This was the best gift ever.

Nando not happy at first in his Halo

He can drink his water with it on he’s liking it

Finally I was so happy to see that my recipe for White Pasta With Garlic Parmigiano Breadcrumbs was picked and photographed by Food52. That was such a nice surprise today. I love this recipe, it’s so easy and delicious. I posted this recipe a while back on the blog, had not really thought about it until I saw the contest for Best Family Recipes. This was something my Mom used to make only without breadcrumbs that was my idea. It’s so simple pasta, ricotta, milk and parmesan cheese. It’s great like that but thought bread crumbs pan toasted with butter,olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and grated cheese would be wonderful on this simple pasta dish.

Photo by James Ransom for Food52

White Pasta my photo

Jan 4

95 Comments

No Recipe Required Cream Of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli soup

We had slushy snow yesterday and today is almost 60 degrees in NYC, the weather is just plain weird, in the winter I want soup and even though it’s like Spring today I made this because it’s quick and easy and when the temps plummet tomorrow I will have a steaming hot bowl of broccoli soup ready for me. I am also on a low carb diet and need warming satisfying food that are not laden with carbs. Looking in the fridge I had quite a few vegetables I needed to use along with a couple of small potatoes. Although I am calling this cream of broccoli it really has other vegetables in it also and no recipe required. I am keeping it super simple, will puree add a little butter and a little cream just to make it decadent, a tiny grating of nutmeg, some salt and pepper and there you have it. Garnish however you like, I simply grated some cheese on top. Soups on!

Note: I made this a throw everything in the pot sort of soup, you of course can saute your onions, oven roast the vegetables and this will add a more complex flavor. It would be delicious like that but I just made a simple soup without the steps. Just have to add very excited tonight is the season premiere of Downton Abbey, love that show!!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Serves 6-8

Water, vegetable or chicken stock your choice

broccoli (1 head)

potato (2 small)

carrot (I had some white/yellow carrots to use) orange will change the color (I had 5 very small carrots)

onion 1 large

Optional 1-2 tbs butter

Optional 1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt, pepper pinch of nutmeg is optional also.

Vegetables ready to boil

Throw everything in a soup pot, boil until the vegetables are soft and very tender, fish out the vegetables separating from the broth, set the broth aside. Let cool a bit, puree in food processor or blender adding a little broth as needed . Add the puree to soup pot and enough of the broth so it’s the thickness you like. Add a little butter (I added a generous tbs, and about 1/4 cup heavy cream. Season with salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg if you like.NOTE If you want to freeze this soup freeze the puree without the butter and cream, add that later when you heat if so desired.

satisfying bowl of soup

Nov 17

44 Comments

Ginger Cilantro Spicy Tofu In Cabbage Leaves And Hearty Minestrone

Ginger Cilantro Spicy Tofu

This recipe is from one of my favorite bloggers Sonal@Simply Vegetarian777 and one that really inspires me to eat wholesome healthful food. This recipe is very special, you see Sonal dedicated it to me, I was touched and thrilled and had to make it, the recipe is Ginger Cilantro Spicy Tofu in Cabbage Leaves, long name yes and long on flavor. It’s fantastic, so simple to make but really really flavorful. I love the crisp tofu, another recipe that really defines umami, it’s healthful, so flavorful and lends itself to variations in serving. Sonali has you pile the spicy tofu in cabbage leaves (I used savoy cabbage) but you can scoop it up with warm flat bread, eat over rice or on it’s own. Anyway you serve it it’s wonderful, delicious and so good for you.

Delicious

I saw this recipe on the blog Bourbon and Brown Sugar for a Hearty Minestrone With Tortellini And Mini Meatballs there are some really fantastic recipes on her site but this soup spoke to me. It’s a meal in a bowl, there are meatballs, tortellini, loads and loads of vegetables and a delicious broth. It’s just perfect for a cold weather meal, it fills you up and warms you. It’s really simple to make, doesn’t take very long to cook and serves a crowd. I followed the recipe except for two things, used leeks instead of onion, only because I had a huge amount I needed to use and I added the rind of a piece of parmigiana the last 30 minutes of cooking time its an incredibly delicious soup.

Delicious and hearty soup

Nov 5

87 Comments

Inspiring Farro With Beets, Feta And Pecans And For Dessert- Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Farro with beets, pecans and feta

Sorry this is a bit late it will be worth the wait, believe me. The inspiring recipe that was chosen at random this time is from Emily, and is posted on her lovely blog Em-i-lis, it’s a gorgeous healthful dish with my favorite grain, Farro, my favorite cheese feta and favorite nut pecan, win, win. This recipe is so delicious, a great side dish or a main. I love Emily’s blog, she posts every day like clockwork and it’s what I read every morning with my cup of coffee. The recipe is Farro With Beets, Feta and Pecans. It’s truly inspired, she ties all those gorgeous ingredients together with a dressing of herbs, olive oil and lemon. It’s fantastic and really makes the other ingredients sing but the star of the show for me is the pecans, they are toasted and coated in maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne. Really you have to try this, it’s so good. I didn’t have golden beets so I used red, I don’t think it makes a difference really, also I think this is a genius move on Emily’s part, she gently heats the olive oil and then adds the herbs so they don’t cook really but are warmed and infused in the oil and adding some lemon makes for one of the most delicious dressings I’ve had in a long time. You can play with the herbs, don’t like sage add another herb, I think this would be delicious with any combination.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Now for dessert, oh this is beyond delicious folks the recipe comes from Michelle@Giraffes Can Bake, I was given a choice of two recipes and since I am a big big fan of ice cream, any time of year I chose the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. This ice cream is so simple, no churning, it’s a semi freddo, no cooking, and it’s so creamy and totally dreamy. It’s perfect for this time of year, it doesn’t have to be hot or warm outside to enjoy ice cream right? I followed the recipe except for the spice I added the Vanilla Autumn Spice Mix I made last time from Strictly Delicious. This ice cream tastes just like pumpkin Pie, I think it would be AMAZING sandwiched in between two oatmeal or ginger cookies. That would be a phenomenal ice cream sandwich.

Oct 24

118 Comments

More Inspiring Food, Spiced Swiss Chard Cobbler And Vanilla Autumn Spice Mix For Fiesta Friday #39

swiss chard cobbler

Here are two great recipes chosen at random from the recipes you left for me. Spiced Swiss Chard Cobbler from Three little halves and Strictly Delicious wonderful Vanilla Autumn Spice Mix. Both recipes are amazing. I love swiss chard and this creamy savory cobbler is absolutely delicious, the cornmeal biscuit topping goes perfectly with the spicy filling. The Vanilla Autumn spice mix will get a lot of use this Holiday Season, I love to bake and I love warm fragrant spices so I was so excited that this was the random pick this time. I used the spice mix for simple baked apples, a recipe on Food52. A light and delicious sweet treat that is so very seasonal.

I brought these wonderful dishes to Fiesta Friday, now this week is very special. First of all it is Angie@The novice gardeners birthday, a warm congratulations and Happy Birthday to Angie and secondly, I am co hosting this week with one of my favorite bloggers Sue@birgerbird. This promises to be a great party with lots of delicious food.

Delicious

Vanilla Autumn Spice Mix

Baked apples

Fiesta Friday

Oct 5

85 Comments

Disappointment And Huckleberry’s Comforting Biscuits

Soggy sign

Azita from Fig and Quince designed our flyer for the block party, cute right? Here is it hanging on a post getting soggy. The rain was relentless, canceling the block party was the only option.

wet

Our block, one lonely dog walker out. What a miserable day.

pretty leaves wet sidewalk

I love the Fall, the leaves turning and falling. The dogs love walking in the leaves that fall to the ground. It should have been a happy fun day, but we got rained out. All in all it was very disappointing, so I wanted to make something comforting. I haven’t made anything yet from Huckleberry, thumbing through the book my eyes were immediately drawn to this recipe for Comfort Food Biscuits, how appropriate. If you have followed my blog for any length of time you know I am biscuit/scone challenged. My biscuits have been likened to paper weights, hockey pucks, rocks. I am constantly searching for the elusive biscuit recipe that will be light and fluffy and pillowy. I thought this recipe sounded really good, lots of fat in the way of butter, cream cheese and heavy cream so it should produce a nice moist biscuit. Great step by step instructions. The only thing I was perplexed about was the baking temperature. It’s counter intuitive really, baking biscuits in a 350 degree oven didn’t make sense to me, every biscuit recipe I have ever made uses a hot oven 425 -450 degrees.

Comfort Food Biscuits

Makes 13 2 inch biscuits

3 cups (380 grams) all purpose flour

1 tbs +2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tbs sugar plus more for sprinkling

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) cold unsalted butter cubed

3/4 cup (180 grams) cold cream cheese cubed

6 tbs (90 ml) cold heavy cream

egg wash

fleur de sel for sprinkling

In a very large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and toss well. Throw in the cold butter and work it with your fingertips until the pieces are pea and lima bean size. Then do the same with the cream cheese. Add the cream. Lightly toss to distribute.

Immediately dump everything onto a clean surface with more than enough space to work the dough. Using only the heel of your palm, quickly flatten out the dough. Gather the dough back together in a mound and repeat. After two or three repetitions, the dough should begin holding together. Be sure to avoid overworking. You should still see some pea size bits of butter through it.

Flatten the dough to a 1 inch (2.5 cm) thickness and cout the biscuits. Transfer them to an ungreased sheet pan. Very gently push the scraps back together and cut once more. Freeze for at least 2 hours before baking, or up to 1 one month, tightly wrapped.

Preheat your oven to 350 degree F or 180 degrees Centigrade. Remove the biscuits from the freezer Space them with plenty of breathing room on two ungreased sheet pans, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with both sugar and salt. Bake from frozen until cooked through, nicely browned, and easily lifted off the pan about 30 minutes.

Instructions

Disclosure: My results in no way reflect on the actual recipe since I am biscuit challenged.

I followed the instructions or at least I tried, the dough felt dry to me. I weighed the ingredients except for the flour and the heavy cream, in retrospect I should have weighed the flour also, that might be the key as to why the dough felt dry. Have I said I am biscuit challenged, well I am. Overworking the dough seems to be my mantra. I used the heel of my palm pressed and gathered and eventually it came together but only after a lot of work (overwork?). When I cut a biscuit with the cutter and picked it up it sort of fell apart,it was too dry. I had to put the dough back in the bowl and add another tbs of cream and really carefully incorporate, press it into another disc and cut the biscuits, this time they held together but my fear is that at this point I overworked the dough, in the photo’s above the dough looks soft mine was not it was tightly packed. They made exactly the amount indicated, I placed in the freezer for the requisite time (2 hours). I pre heated the oven to 350 degrees. I had to smack my hand to keep me from taking the temp up over 400 degree’s. To be fair it looks like the biscuit dough in the photo’s above is not the same recipe, it looks like the Herb biscuits which has more liquid in the form of buttermilk but a bit less fat so it should have evened out I would think. We’ll see what happens when I bake them. Note: I decided to try weighing three cups of flour using the same measuring cup and method and it was 420 grams and the recipe calls for 380 grams, hence the dry biscuits, I removed approximately 1/2 cup of flour to make it 380. You see why it’s important to weigh ingredients when you bake. When I cut 3/4 cup of butter it was less than the 170 grams so I added a smidge more.

The Results:

Well, I think I overworked them, they were not pillowy, light and fluffy as I hoped. The flavor was good though. I am beginning to think I have unrealistic expectations when it comes to biscuits, I have the same problem with pound cakes. All biscuits are supposed to be like the ones you get in the refrigerator section of the supermarket, you know the ones in the can and pound cake should all be like Sara Lee. On a positive note, they rose nicely, flavor was really good and I am sure they are perfectly acceptable biscuits but one day I will go to LA and taste one from the source Huckleberry Bakery and Cafe. I really look forward to making more recipes from the book.

If I were to make these again I would do a few things differently:

1. weigh the flour and all ingredients

2. add more liquid if it looks to dry, that would help me not over work the dough.

3. Bake at a temperature higher than 350 degree’s, maybe with a commercial oven it works but with my less than wonderful oven it was too low and the biscuits looked anemic ( In all fairness I did not use egg wash, I brushed with cream)

I boosted the color in iphoto so they look more golden brown than they actually came out of the oven so the photo’s have been touched up.

biscuits

close up

Sep 27

61 Comments

Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday #35

Warm Fall Farro Salad

Wow, that’s a lot of F’s Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday. I tested this recipe as a community pick on Food52 and it’s so delicious I wanted to make more and share with all my friends at Fiesta Friday. This warm or room temperature salad is so good for you and the flavor is amazing. I am a big Farro fan, love it in salads and think about it with roasted cauliflower and brussells sprouts, pancetta, feta cheese and other vegetatables toss it in a simple lemon,herb and olive oil dressing, The combination is absolutely heavenly. It’s from one of the very talented cooks on Food52 Wendy@healthier kitchen. This can be made vegetarian or vegan by simply omitting the pancetta and using vegetable stock or water instead of chicken stock also if vegan of course omit the feta cheese, but you know that. I opted for the vegetarian version and omitted the pancetta and cooked the farro in salted water, the only reason was that I didn’t have any pancetta and honestly, the salad is so good as it was I didn’t miss it at all. Note: Don’t skimp on the lemon I halved the recipe and still used the whole lemon, it adds such a bright delicious flavor also I used dried marjoram in place of the oregano.

This Friday Angie@the novice gardener has enlisted the help of two very talented ladies. Prudy@butter basil and breadcrumbs and Naina@spiceinthecity. With these two talented and lovely co hosts this promises to be one heck of a party, you must check out the food, what an array of delicious dishes. Join in, it’s fun!!

Fall Farro Salad

Serves 8 – 10
1 large head cauliflower, cut up into small florets (I sometimes do this with brussels sprouts in addition – they cook more quickly so only roast them about 15 or so minutes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch salt
4 cups low or no sodium added chicken (or vegetable if you want to keep it vegetarian) stock
4 cups water
about 1 pounds farro, rinsed
4 ounces pancetta, diced (omit if you’re keeping this vegetarian)
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano (or even marjoram if you’ve got it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup best quality olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
about 1 cups crumbled feta, spread over top
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Toss the cut up cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. Make sure all pieces are lightly coated with olive oil. Spread cauliflower in a single layer in a shallow baking dish or half sheet pan. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over cauliflower.
Let cauliflower roast, stirring and turning pieces occasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 25 – 35 minutes.
While cauliflower roasts, bring the stock and water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Once the stock boils, add the rinsed farro and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 – 25 minutes. Drain farro, and set aside in a large serving bowl.
Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the diced pancetta unitl it darkens and gets a little crispy. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and carrot has softened, about 10 minutes. You might have to lower the burner to medium-low if the onion is starting to crispen. Season vegetables with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Once cooked, add onion mixture to the farro in the serving bowl.
Add the cooked cauliflower to the serving bowl.
Add parsley, oregano and half the chives to the serving bowl.
Add lemon juice and olive oil to serving bowl and mix contents gently, but thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper and add if necessary.
Garnish with remaining chives and feta.
Can be served warm or room temperature.

So good and good for you

Sep 19

114 Comments

The Tomato Cobbler That Wasn’t….. It Became Soup

Tomato and farmers cheese soup

I recently saw a post on Food52 and it had a photo of a recipe from Huckleberry the new (brilliant) cookblook by Zoe Nathan, I ordered a book, my copy hasn’t arrived but I had some tomatoes I needed to use so I thought I will make the tomato and goat cheese cobbler that was pictured,(how hard could that be). It looked incredible. Long story short, mine didn’t work. I had some gorgeous cherry and small very ripe tomatoes that I cut in half and quartered, added minced garlic and shallot and put in a oval baking dish along with some farmers cheese instead of goats cheese (because thats what I had), off to a good start right? I made the top for the cobbler using my recipe that I use from my spiced plum cobbler. Put the dough on top of the tomatoes in rounds, put in a 375 degree oven and guess what, the tomatoes were so juicy they literally boiled the cobbler top. The tomatoes and cheese smelled great but I could see this was not going to have a happy ending. I removed from the oven, scooped off the cobbler top and unhappily threw it away but I saved the tomatoes, they were literally swimming in juice and tasted great. I did not want to waste the tomatoes so I put them in my blender and made soup. Fresh tomato and farmers cheese soup. It’s velvety, creamy, mildly cheesy has just a hint of garlic and onion and loads of fresh tomato taste, It really was a happy surprise. A little voice kept telling me that the tomatoes would get soupy but I didn’t listen, so it’s back to the drawing board on the cobbler. I’ll wait for my cookbook to arrive. But this soup is really good!! I was planning on taking this to Fiesta Friday #34 but I’ll have to make something else.

Tomato and farmers cheese

Tomato and farmers cheese Soup

Serves 4

3 cups ripe tomatoes (cherry tomatoes halved larger tomatoes quartered)

1 shallot minced

1 clove garlic minced

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 tsp organic brown sugar (optional)

6 oz farmers cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Place tomatoes, garlic, shallot, farmers cheese, red pepper flakes and optional brown sugar in the oven for 30 minutes. The tomatoes will become very juicy and soft. Remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Pour all of it into the blender or food processor or use and immersion blender and process until smooth. Pour through sieve to remove any tomato skins and ensure a velvety smooth soup. Heat and serve.

Soup

Sep 15

87 Comments

2 Recipes Eating Clean And Special Walnuts For Fiesta Friday #33

Fiesta Friday

Eating clean, I’ve heard the term but never really grasped what it means, it’s quite simple really, read about it here in an article on Cooking Light, in a nutshell you eat unprocessed whole foods, nothing new really we should all eat like that, the term is new but not the concept. I receive emails from Martha Stewart living and really love some of the recipes from her site, I always have admired Martha’s business acumen and respect how she has built her empire and she also has some amazing recipes. This particular email had recipes that focus on eating clean, the recipes are always simple and are prepared on video by Shira Bocar. The salad contains Tuscan Kale (use tuscan its more tender when eaten raw), apples, beets and walnuts with a dressing made from avocado, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard and oil. I don’t have a mandolin which is what you are supposed to use to cut the beets paper thin, so as a result my beets were a bit too thick and raw beets really need to be thin, next time I will roast my beets for a little while and then slice,or get over my mandolin phobia and get one of those.

In the same email there was a recipe (I guess you can call it that) for broiling broccoli rabe and chick peas. This was a revelation for me, I always steamed it and the florets become overcooked while the stems are still hard and stringy, I wanted to give this a try, the key is for the broccoli rabe and chickpeas to be dry so plan in advance and let your vegetables and chickpeas drain and dry completely. I must say I love Martha’s clean eating video’s here is the one with the broccoli rabe. Shira serves with some fresh ricotta drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.

The walnuts in the salad were a gift from Patty Nguyen, I love her blog, she is a photographer and a great cook, she also has the most adorable little dog. She came to NYC to visit her brother and we met at the Brooklyn Flea, These walnuts (Chandler walnuts) were hand cracked and are amazing, fresh and delicious. I told Patty I would use them in a recipe and post it, so Patty, here it is. Thank you for the delicious walnuts and I so enjoyed meeting you.

Chandler walnuts

I am bringing both of these healthful vegetable dishes to the party, Angie@The Novice Gardener is hosting this gathering of friends and great cooks, imagine the line up with so many great and talented cooks preparing the food, The co hosts this week are Andrea @Cooking with a Wallflower and Sylvia @Superfoodista enjoy the clean food my dear friends.

Creamy kale salad

Creamy Kale Salad

Ingredients
1 ripe avocado, halved, seed removed
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (You could also use lemon juice) I added an extra tbs of vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil (I used walnut oil)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bunch kale (8 oz.), stemmed and coarsely chopped
1 small red beet, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a golden beet also)
1 sweet, crisp apple, cored and cut into thin wedges
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Directions
Combine avocado, vinegar, mustard, and oil in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. (It will be thick.) Season with salt and pepper.
Combine kale, beets, apple, and walnuts in a large bowl. Toss with avocado dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. Suggestion: Add Farro, freekeh or some whole grain to the salad, it will be filling and delicious.

salad

ready for the broiler

Broccoli Rabe and chickpeas

1 bunch broccoli rabe cleaned and trimmed (Be sure to keep the leaves, they crisp beautifully in the broiler)

1 can chick peas drained and dried

6 tbs olive oil (If you use 2 small sheet pans 3 tbs per tray)

thinly sliced garlic 2 cloves

salt

Really important to make sure your broccoli rabe and chick peas are dry, moisture is the enemy for this dish Place dry broccoli rabe on sheet pan, don’t over crowd. Add the chickpeas and garlic. Spoon or drizzle oil and massage into the broccoli rabe and chick peas, sprinkle with salt and place in heated broiler for 2 minutes, take out of the oven and turn the broccoli and place back in the oven for another 2 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.NOTE: I washed and dried my broccoli rabe and chickpeas the day before I made the dish, just bagged and refrigerated and they were perfectly dry. I think it depend on your oven how long you leave in to broil. I found that after the prescribed 4 minutes in the broiler the broccoli rabe was still quite raw a bit too crunchy, it is probably my oven, I’m sure in the Martha Stewart test kitchen they have commercial grade ovens that have more BTU’s than mine. So I put it in an extra 6 minutes. It was done perfectly, a little toothsome but still tender. So the cooking time will vary.