Oysters Parmesan

I just had to sneak a rawbie with a little hotsauce.



So what you see here are not the usual oysters we get from Apalachacola, which are renowed for their, I dunno, radical excellence? They were, alas, out of them at Joe Patti's, so we got these much larger beauties from Galvaston. Not quite so local, but, hey, I was visiting Pensacola from Boston, so local enough for me.



This simple dish is de rigeur in any of the bombed out sea side steak and seafood joints along the Gulf Coast and is so ubiquitous, and relatively cheap, that we never thought to make it ourselves at home.

Well, as with most things, the homemade version was even tastier, and so this is now a New Year's tradition in the house! We make these little tasties alongside a few other tapas dishes with copious amounts of champagne. Delish! Here is the recipe:

Mix one part seasoned breadcrumbs with one part parmesan or pecorino romano. I prefer to make my own breadcrumbs with leftover bread thrown in a Cuisinart with garlic and onion powder and dried oregano flakes, but my lazier parents buy Progresso brand. Or maybe it's just that my Dad's bread is so good there are NEVER any leftovers?

Melt about some butter in the microwave or stove.

Shuck the oysters and arrange them on the broiler pan.

With a teaspoon, put some of the mixture on top and with another one, spoon on some butter.

Put them into a preheated oven at 450 degrees and leave them there until the breadcrumbs have browned, about 7 minutes.

Dad, is that right? I am writing from memory weeks after the fact! Will post a final pic soon! Muah!

Samosa!

When I was little my parents would make these for me and often I would either watch them do it or help chop ingredients. In spite of this, it always seemed a miracle to me that they knew-actually KNEW!-how to make these savory little pockets of joy.

Well, I finally decided to learn it myself and the results were fantastic. The only thing I will caution against is that they are a bit labor intensive and if you decide to serve for guests or family you may want to make the samosa ahead of time and then fry them up quickly at the last minute.

Oh, one more thing, the samosa dough recipe is a MUCH BETTER alternative to the empanada dough recipe I have included here in an earlier post. I am going to use this for all future empanadas, being as this dough is thinner, easier to work with, and uses oil instead of butter.

For the Pastry Dough:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tbls. vegetable oil
4 tbs. water

Sift 2 cups of regular all purpose flour and one tsp. salt into a mixing bowl. I don't own a sifter so I simply measured my ingredients in a fine mesh seive and knocked them into the bowl, voila!

Now add the oil and make a meal with the flour, using yor fingers to crumble it all together. To this, slowly add the water and form it into a ball. I had to use practically 4 more tbls. of water plus an extra tbls. of oil to reach the desired consistency so I think it depends on your water, the humidity, etc. So be open-mided about not following this recipe verbatim.

On a clean, lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth. Again, don't feel bad about adding more oil and water if the dough isn't cooperating. Form the smooth, kneaded dough into a ball and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

For the Filling:

4-5 medium potatoes
1 c. thawed green peas
1 medium onion, finely diced
2" chunk of ginger, peeled and grated
1 fresh chili or as jalapenos in a jar to taste
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, less if you don't want heat
1 tsp. toasted and ground cumin
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground coriander
3 tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbl. lemon juice
3 tbl. water

Boil potatoes in their jackets and peel and dice when cool. Heat 4 tbl. of oil and brown the onions and add peas, ginger, and chili with the cilantro and water. Cover, lower heat, and simmer until peas are cooked 3 min. Add potatoes, salt, spices and lemon juice and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Serve with pureed heaven, otherwise known as:

Coriander Chutney

1/2 tsp roasted cumin
1 tsp chili pepper
2 bunches of cilantro Or 10, if you worship this herb like I do!
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Shrimp Creole, P'cola style

First things first. Let me say how I love that cajun food reflects such a rich spectrum of culinary traditions. Now, just as sofrito (onion, cilantro, garlic, green pepper) is the base for Puerto Rican cuisine and mirepoix (onion, carrots, celery) the base of French cuisine, cajun food has the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is equal parts onion, celery and bell pepper. Now, this being a culinarily eclectic household, we begin our cajun odyssey by throwing the following things in a Cuisinart, passing them off as The Holy Trinity, and blending them beyond recognition:

3 ribs celery
1 large onion
1 green pepper
4 cloves garlic

Now in the meantime, you will take 3 pounds of exquisite, head-on Gulf Coast shrimp and remove the heads by twisting them gently off. Reserve the heads and peel the shrimp, adding the shells to the ripped off heads with bulging shrimp eyeballs. Now, put 3 or so cups of water into a pot, add the shells, heads, a sliced lemon, a few ribs of celery, some onion, garlic, peppercorns, and thyme sprigs, bring to a boil and let simmer for 45 minutes. This is your shrimp stock. See? Now with the peeled shrimp, you will take a paring knife and devein as demonstrated below: Throw the holy trinity into a nice cast iron skillet with generous amounts of olive oil and sautee for a while on medium high heat. To this add a few chopped fresh tomatoes, salt, and some creole seasoning which you can buy or make yourself if you are so inclined.


After your shrimp are cleaned, you can toss them in said creole seasoning. Then go back to your sauce.

With your Holy Trinity (plus some) in the skillet, you will add 1/2 cup of white wine, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. of black pepper, 1 tsp. white pepper, caynenne to taste, and what the hell, a little more creole seasoning. I don't think you can ever have too much.

Let the sauce simmer for 45 minutes and then add some tabasco and worcestershire sauce to taste. Throw in the shrimp for 2-3 minutes and ta-dah! You're done! Serve with white rice and garnsih with anythign green and fresh. Deeee-lish!

A tart you can count on

When Jessy and I went to Joe Patti's we stopped by Kara's fruit stand in the parking lot. James and I had paid her a visit this summer on the way back from Nola and stocked up on tomatoes and this time of year she had some uber choice citrus fruits and believe it or not, strawberries from Plant City, FL.

I bought three pints of strawberries, so beside myself with glee for the chance to eat-strawberries!-in wintertime, deprived as I am for local berries in my native Massachusetts. I also brought back a quarter bushel of outrageously juicy tangerines and a quarter bushel of sweet as can be pink grapefruit.

The citrus didn't last long; we made copious amounts of fresh tangergine margaritas and drank up fresh grapefruit juice with breakfast, leaving me the strawberries.

Well, after taking inventory of the pantry, Jessy and I settled on making a flourless almond strawberry tart. We havn't actually eaten yet, so I don't know how good it is, but judging from the ingredients, how could it not be? Here goes:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups blanched almonds (cover raw almonds in boiling water for two minutes, drain, rinse, and then pop the skins off)
3/4 c. sugar, perhaps less though
2 egg whites
2 tbl. fresh lemon juice
2-4 cups fresh strawberries, in-season
1/2 c. apricot jam
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract ( I used my Dad's homemade stuff-divine!)
chopped nuts of your choice for garnish
2 shots of Amaretto, one for the citrus glaze, one for you, on the rocks

This is remarkably simple and gives a visually attractive result. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start by getting some parchment paper and tracing with a pencil around an 8" cake pan, and place it on a bakingsheet.

Then put your blanched almonds and sugar in the Cuisinart and blend until they are a fine powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and vanilla until frothy and add them to the mixture. Now if you have a pastry bag with a pipe, congratulations, fancy pants. If you wanna do it ghetto style, like us, get a plastic ziplock bag and stuff the almond paste into a corner of the bag. Then snip off the corner to make an opening of approximately 1/2".

Now, sqeezing the bag, pipe the almond paste in a spiral motion starting from THE CENTER of the circle you traced on the parchment paper. Place the tart in the oven and bake until it begins to brown, about 20 minutes.




Meanwhile, put the apricot jam, lemon juice and amaretto into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. If you want, you can then strain it through a seive, but we like apricot chunks in keeping with our peasant tendencies (:

When the tart is cool enough to handle, brush the glaze on and toss the now halved strawberries in it. Be sure though to leave one berry whole to decorate the center of the tart. Arrange the berries on top as you like and let cool for at least an hour more.

We also threw in some bluberries for interest and then sprinkled some chopped pecans on top, in keeping with our in season options here on the Gulf Coast.

Post Script-this was a winner, totally delish. We served it with creme chantilly and it was lovely!

Boule

Or, as my gorgeous little girls would simply say, "crunchy bread", which is one of their favorite things to eat with brie or butter.

Ingredients for Step One: 1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 c. water

OK, start off by warming 1/4 c. of water to the point that it is warm, but not so warm that you can't stick your finger in it comfortably.

Dissolve 1/2 tsp. active yeast in the water. When the yeast is dissolved, add some tap water to the beaker.

Then add the liquid to 1 1/2 c. flour, but first make a little well in the center and then combine until all dry ingredients are incorprorated.

If your mixture is at all dry looking, add a little water. The idea is to have a dough that looks like a very wet mass. This will challenge your idea of what dough is supposed to look like if you make bread dough the "regular way". THIS way is called the "wet" or "sponge" method of bread baking, also known, as my father smugly informed me, a poolish. What a cute word!

Once this is done, simply cover the mixing bowl you used to combine the ingredients and let the dough rise. Cover it with a kitchen towel and set it in a warm, cozy spot, for about 12 hours. You can do this in the evening, let it sit overnight and then have fresh bread for the day.

BOULE STEP TWO:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. yeast
2/3 c. water This is essentially the other half of the dough. Add the flour and salt to your Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid and pulse it together to blend. As in the first step, dissolve the 1/2 tsp. yeast in 1//4 c. water and when fully dissolved, increase the amount of water to 2/3.

Add the liquid to the original dough and stir with a rubber spatula until well combined. Then add the wet dough to the dry ingredients in the blender and pulse until combined, adding tablespoons of flour to the mix as necessary to achieve a good consistency (as in not too wet).

Remove the dough from the Cuisinart and knead by hand for five minutes, forming into a nice round ball, "smooth like a baby's bum" as my Dad would say. Place the ball of dough in the same bowl that the wet dough had risen in and let rise for another two hours. Now sit back and watch these videos to see what happens next!



After about an hour, you will be ready to bake your boule! Place your finally risen dough on parchment paper and place it gently in the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven. Make sure to score your ball of sweet baby bottom with a sharp knife or if you gansta, a razor blade,and stick it in the oven at 450 degrees for 35 minutes (ANd remove the lid to the dutch oven for the last 15 for color).

Voila! And don't worry, it only takes all day!

Here is the final project, and it was super yummy!

Berenjena (Melanzana) Parmagiana

Yes, my father is THE master of eggplant parm south AND north of the Mason Dixon line. I will be honest and upfront about his advantage over the general populace in the fact that he owns a mandoline, which most of us do not, and which is indispensable in the creation of this fine, fine dish. T

his summer, James will be challenging him to a cook off no doubt, once we level the playing field with the mandoline thing. (:

Here is how we roll:

Slice the eggplant to 1/4" thick. Soak it in salt water for 30 minutes to nuetralize the naturally bitter flavor. If you live on the Gulf Coast, using sea water is fine. Giggle.

Dip each slice of eggplant in a breadcrumb and freshly grated parmesan cheese blend, about 50/50. My parents use Progresso brand breadcrumbs, which if you have some, ahem, integrity, should be substituted with real breadcrumbs to which you can add some onion powder, garlic powder, and dried parsley flakes to taste.



Not to diss the master, but in an efficient kitchen, it isn't hard to save stale bread and pass it through the cuisinart so you don't have to buy what is essentially a waste product.




Fry the eggplant on medium or medium high heat in a cast iron skillet in some peanut oil, taking care to preheat the oil so that the eggplant doesn't suck up oil, which it shouldn't, if the oil is good and hot. (:

Now, once that is done, you will simply layer aggplant,tomato sauce,and grated mozzarella cheese, lasagna-style, in a glass baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about a half hour.


As for the tomato sauce, if anyone reading this blog doesn't know how to make fresh sauce, then comment and I will post an addendum. Otherwise, I won't bother cuz everyone I know makes their own.

Bon appetit!

Wildcrafting

Today was a bit rainy and overcast in Massachusetts but we went out anyway and I harvested a motherload of red clover that is now drying loverly in my kitchen. I am going to use it for iced/hot tea- it is a great female tonic and the fresh buds are a nice visual addition to salads that also add a touch of sweetness.



My other find was some choice wild mustard greens; they are shaped like arugula but with the fine teeth of radish leaves. I plan on sauteeing them in garlic and oil and tossing with spicy italian sausage over pasta for lunch today, instead of broccoli rabe. Yum!

The Plaintain

"The Chip." "The Cracker." Even "The Pretzel," can't compete with...

"The Plaintain."



It's "The Godfather," of all things cruchy, fried or baked! The most versitle food on the planet! Well, maybe that's the tomato but..."The Plaintain," my friends, "The Plaintain" puts salsa in your step, tangos on your tongue and swirl in your hips. It pizazzes the palate with it's ability to change forms. Mash, you say...no problem; make a Mofongo! Sweets you want? Got it covered...let's have Amarillos (or Moduros depending on where you're from). In the mood for a pot pie? Make The Plaintain your crust for a surprisingly tasty and healthy alternative. Having a party? Need some chips & dip? Or just in the mood for a crunchy snack but got snowed into your house and I can't get out? If you're an Irizarry, or any other self-respecting Puerto Rican, you will always have "The Plantain" in your home. Don Poncho said, "Let them make chips!"

And so we shall...

"The Plaintain" Chip

This plaintain should be green and firm. Slice it up - length-wise. Easier to do with a Mandolin but if you have a cuisin art, get the attachements out! Cut the plaintain in half so it fits in your machine for a long cut. Let it dry out a little - 20 minutes or so. Salt it up a little add a dash of pepper if you like. Or paprika, or oregano, or garlic salt (see how versitle!) Heat a cast iron skillet about 1/3 of the way with canola, vegetable or peanut oil. Let the oil get hot but do not let it burn. Toss the leggy-plaintain strips into the hot oil. It won't hurt them; they like it! Don't over fill the skillet or you'll bring the temperature down too much or risk an oil spillage. Flip them around. When They look sunburned, take out and set on a paper towel. You may choose to season your plaintains at this point instead of before frying. That's ok, especially if you want to save your oil to fry up something else! Empanada's anyone?



Serve atop chili, add a little crunch to a salad, make nachos, eat with salsa. Or eat on it's own. You won't be disappointed.