Milky Swiss Chard

Per Gail's request for recipes with greens:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp (¼ cup) butter
• Half a red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp flour
• ½ tsp each nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 4 cups chopped Swiss chard
• 1 Tbsp honey
• ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth 
• 1 cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan over med-high heat. 

Saute onion until translucent.

Add garlic, flour and spices and stir to a light brown rue, about 1 min.

Fold in Swiss chard, about 2 min.

Add honey, broth and milk.

Heat to a simmer while incorporating… turn to low, cover.

Cook for ten minutes.

Remove lid, stir, and heat for an additional five minutes to reduce.

Cheers!

Creamy Spinach Double Baked Potatoes

This is a quick and easy recipe I came up with for Gail, Pond Plant Girl, when she posted on my wall that she needed something "non salad" with fresh spinach and chives. She cooked it up and took a pic:

 

 

 

Creamy Spinach Double Baked Potatoes:

• 2 large baking potatoes
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella
• ½ red onion, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optionial:
• 4 Tbs sour cream
• 2 Tbs chopped chives

 

Preheat oven to 400°.

 

Pierce potatoes with a fork, and bake at 400° for approximately 1 hour, or microwave by piercing with a fork, placing on wet paper towels, cooking on high for 15 minutes. In the mean time, par boil the spinach to wilt (2 min max) then throw in ice bath.

 

Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out about ¾ of the flesh into a bowl. Put shells on lightly oiled baking sheet. Add buttermilk, cream cheese, salt and pepper (if you want to be naughty, ¼ stick of butter) to bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Mix in drained spinach, cheese, and onion. Spoon mixture into shells. Bake at 400° for about 15 minutes. Top with sour cream and chives if you wish.

With this one, I'd say have a glass of sauvignon blanc, or a pale ale....  Cheers!

Lox and then some. . .

In order of assembly…

Toasted Bagel
Cream Cheese
Capers
Tomato
Green Onions
Smoked Salmon

In the mean time…

Saute sliced mushrooms, chopped chipotle peppers, frenched red onion, and fresh sage in olive oil and butter. Crack egg on top, add dried dill, paprika, salt and pepper.  Slide on to completed bagel assembly.  Top with fresh dill fronds.
Serve with a side of red potato pancakes topped with a dollup of crème fraiche and chopped fresh dill.

Slippery Toad in a Hole

One of the recipes from my children's cook book in progress for the budding chef….

Slipper or “Flip Flop” Toad in a Hole


Olive oil
1 Slice of French bread
1 egg
1 Tablespoon sliced black olives
1/2 to 1Tablespoon grated parmesan (to taste)
a few sprigs of fresh basil
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper

Make sure mom, dad, or an adult friend is supervising you….

Tools: 3 small bowls, a cheese grater, a cutting board, frying pan, kitchen scissors, spatula, and a soup can.

Set your ingredients on the counter in front of you. Line them up in the order listed above. Crack the egg into one bowl, put the olives into the second, and grate the parmesan on to the cutting board and scoop into the third bowl. Cut up the basil leaves with the scissors into slivers like confetti, and put them in the bowl with the parmesan (save a sprig with two leaves for the “toe holds”). Add the paprika to the same bowl, and toss with a fork.

Drizzle about a Tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and heat at medium. Use the soup can to press out a hole in the middle of the piece of bread – keep the round piece. Put the bread in the pan and slide it around a bit. Slip the egg from the bowl into the hole in the bread. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the egg, sprinkle on the olives, and cover with round piece (like a hat). Sprinkle the parmesan mixture over the whole thing. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the “hat” doesn’t wiggle any more if you shake the pan a little. If you can use a broiler, put it under it for a minute or two (otherwise just fry it a bit longer). Make sure to watch it closely with oven door slightly open. Use your spatula to put it on a plate. Put the two leaves of basil at one end to make it look like a flip-flop. If you have any left over basil you can sprinkle it around the plate to look fun!

Enjoy!

Swiss Chard Sandwich with a hint of German

Tomato, lightly fried German Speck (cured pork, in spices like juniper berries, nutmeg...), Swiss Chard sautéd in Riesling wine, Altemburger (semi-soft German cheese from goat's milk), fresh Basil... on toasted rustic German bread....

Oh I so suffered making this one... sigh... such a labor of love. ;-)  Glass of wine?  I say, if you want white, go with a Chardonnay, unless you come across a gem of a dry Riesling.  Red?  Pinot Noir.  Beer kinda guy?  In the summer, go with a Weißbier (Wheat beer).  In colder temps, perhaps a Bock.

Prost!

Simple Curried Lamb with Eggplant Caviar, Roasted Vegetables and Naan

Lamb chop (leg center slice)
Curry powder (two good palm fulls)
Garlic cloves (smashed)
Rosemary sprigs
Red wine
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
(Put in plastic bag, mush around and let sit for at least an hour in the frig)

Eggplant
Asparagus
Leek
Brown mushrooms (baby bellas, shiitake)
Garlic cloves (whole)
Paprika, turmeric, cumin, pepper, cayenne pepper
Olive oil
Salt, celery salt
Pepper
Naan


Preheat oven to 450

Wash the veggies    

Trim the asparagus, cut the ends off the leeks and slice lengthwise to wash, trim mushroom stems and cut in half.  Cut the eggplant into 2 inch chunks.  Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet.  Arrange the asparagus, leeks, and mushrooms on one half, eggplant and garlic on the other.  Drizzle more oil.  Sprinkle all with spices (no salts on eggplant and mushrooms).  Cover with foil and put in the oven.  Turn the temp down to 350.
 
Put a few pieces of garlic naan (Trader Joe’s has a variety) on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt (course sea salt, if you have it).  Set aside.

Take the lamb out of the frig and let sit at room temp for 10 min. Heat a grill pan or skillet on med-high and add a little olive oil. Cook the lamb 5-7 min on each side (depending on thickness). When you flip the lamb, put the naan in the oven next to the veggies and turn the oven off. When the lamb is done, set it on a board to sit for 5 min. In the mean time, remove veggies. Put the eggplant and garlic in a Cuisinart with salts, pepper and little olive oil. Pulse until almost smooth. Place it in a bowl as side for the naan.

Remove the naan.  Slice the lamb.  Plate with the remaining veggies!  

Might be nice to serve this dish with strained yogurt, diced cucumber, and your hot sauce of choice.

I would go with a spicy Zin for this one....

Cheers! 

Mango and Prosciutto Figs in Sparkling Spiced Honey Bath

My aunti Alberta taught me how to cut a mango. She ran the only hotel on Lanai – cooked, cleaned, did the books…. When we visited, she allowed me to hang out in the kitchen. There was always a lesson though – never a free ride. One morning, as my sleepy eyes tried to look over the stainless steel table, she said “go out to the back, pick a mango, and cut it for the guests.” I was stunned – my brain was in overload: Do I need a ladder? I know I need a knife! How fast do I have to do this? I’m only 10!

So I composed myself and stated, “How do you want me to cut the mango?” She gave me the “let me help you” aunti look, and went to a basket of already picked mangos. As she held one she said, “Cutting a mango is instinctive… you have to feel it. You cannot see the pit – so you have to follow your heart and cut down each side. The sweetness left around the pit is for you to munch on over the sink after you are done. The little squares you make are for the guests.”

A mango pit is oval in shape, with flat sides. The trick is to cut the “cheeks” from it. Stand it on end, and cut on either side lengthwise, leaving about an inch thick strip in the middle…. Here, lets make this easy:

Cubes







1. Start with the Mango "cheek"; Fillet off its pit lengthwise. 2. Cut 1/2" squares by scoring mango with a sharp knife. Do not cut through skin. 3. Turn mango half "inside out," separating cubes. Slice off squares with a knife.

With the courtesy of www.freshmangos.com

Although, for presentation sake, I usually don’t slice off the squares unless I am using them in a compote, sorbet, or sauce. I know your produce guy has shown this on air before, and it is widely known. However, it is one of the dearest memories I have – because I felt like she was sharing a secret with me that not many people knew….

The kitchen is a neutral zone – no judgment, fear, anger, worries. Just your own magic.

1 mango

2 large figs

2 slices prosciutto

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp honey

5 aniseed stars

½ tsp fresh grated ginger

Baby arugula

Pinches of: ground coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon

pomegranate seeds

chopped fresh mint tossed with sugar

Sparkling wine

Prepare mango in the traditional scoured method.  In skillet, heat butter on medium high.  Place mango halves squares down in skillet.  Wrap figs with prosciutto and place in pan, bottom down.  After a minute, turn mangos over.  Drizzle honey over figs and mango, add ginger, aniseed, spices, and a splash of sparkling wine.  Cover for 2 minutes.  Remove figs and mango halves, and arrange on a deep dish.  Deglaze the pan with a little sparkling wine.  Drizzle the sauce over the fruit.  Add a fresh splash of sparkling.  Sprinkle with baby arugula, pomegranate seeds and a pinch of sugared mint.