GASTRONORMOUS

Salmonella can’t survive being boiled for an hour, so why not make tomato jam? [Gothamist food].

In making-environmentally-informed-choices-more-confusing-news: a new scientific report is released that seems to show that eating local isn’t necessarily better for the environment. (Accidental Hedonist)

A related story from Mark Bittman about how eating less meat may help the environment. Check out this incredible graph.

Speaking of Samuel Beckett and faux-hawks (weren’t you just?), Grub Street once again proves they are the place for fans of Top Chef to go for the best coverage of the series, which just aired its season finale this week. Some highlights: An interview with Lisa almost makes her seem…human. A particularly tense scene from a recent episode is compared to a Beckett play—Beckett, while he certainly appreciated the absurd, must be whirring in his grave. A discussion of the importance of faux hawks with Tom Colicchio takes a rather blue turn.

And you thought creationism was bunk: Behold the banana. Everything about the fruit’s design makes it easy for humans to eat it–therefore God created it for us. Of course the design also makes it the perfect food for monkeys…. Oh, nevermind. [Serious Eats]

I can tell you that I am no Paula Deen. I am not really into mayonnaise. I so rarely use it that when a recipe calls for it I usually find myself frustrated because the little jar of mayo I find in the back of my fridge has expired. For the most part, I like my coleslaw or potato salad with a vinegarette, rather than a mayonnaise-based dressing (the potato salad from the BBQ discussed below being an exception!).

Last night was one of those hot and humid evenings in which nothing but a nice, big, and above all cold salad sounds appetizing for dinner. The problem is I came home to find no fresh vegetables in the fridge save some mixed lettuce greens and a couple scallions, and I did not have the will to go out into the terrible heat to procure more. Greens and scallions are a nice start for a salad, but not a meal in itself.

I opened my cupboards to see what I could use to make this a no-cook meal. A couple cans of legumes and a jar of artichokes ended up being my saviors. When I decided upon the lentils, I immediately thought of curry, which I think pairs well with them. And that is what brought me to the mayonnaise. I suppose you can make a curry vinegarette, but the creaminess of mayonnaise carries the flavor of the curry without masking it as the sharp acidity of too much vinegar can. I came up with this recipe on the spot, and if I do say so myself, it was a winner—and might just make Paula Deen proud.

Curried Lentil and Chick Pea Salad

1 heaping T. of prepared mayonnaise
2 tsp. good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
a few grinds of black pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 15 oz. can of lentils, drained
1 15 oz. can of chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 6.5 oz. jar of marinated artichokes, drained
2 scallions, sliced
more salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
mixed greens

Wisk together in a large bowl first six ingredients (mayo through salt). Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add the beans, artichokes, and 3/4 of the scallions to the dressing and fold mixture together. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for AT LEAST a half hour, to overnight. This is a very important step!

Just before serving, taste again and adjust if necessary, then toss with the greens. Alternatively, serve individual servings over beds of greens. Garnish with remaining 1/4 scallions.

Serves 4.

Note: This would be good with some cold rice mixed in as well–and that would make a complete protein.

Usually when we cook broccoli rabe (a frequent side to pasta or other italian fare in our household), it is a complicated process of blanching, chopping garlic and/or onion, sauteeing it all, then adding just the right-sized splash of balsamic at exactly the right time. You see, one must give the balsamic enough time to reduce and sweeten, which tones down the bitterness of the rabe, without overcooking the rabe. Who knew a dark leafy vegetable could cause so much stress?

Well, the other night, Hubs made pasta with broccoli rabe for dinner, and to prepare the broccoli rabe, he simply dumped a jar of marinated artichokes hearts and their marinade in a sautee pan and cooked the hearts until the juices reduced a bit, the dumped in the blanched broccoli rabe. It was delicious and took the balsamic-guesswork out of the equation.

If I didn’t love cooking so much, I’d let him cook for me every night!

This was a very simple, and amazingly delicious side dish I made the other night. Okay, full disclosure: I don’t cook from scratch every night. I am often too busy and too tired at the end of the day, so sometimes most of my meal comes from the freezer or a bag or box from the cupboard rather than fresh stuff from my fridge. The other night, the Hubs and I decided to share an Amy’s personal-sized frozen pizza and some leftover gnocchi from a meal out the previous night. I thought we should have a fresh vegetable with it, and when I opened the refrigerator, I was faced with a single ear of corn and a couple of zucchinis from the farmers’ market. So I decided to put them to work—and to simple and delicious effect.

1-2 ears of corn
2 zucchinis
1 tsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste

I simply cut the corn off the cob, sliced the zucchini at a slight angle, and threw it all in big sautee pan with the olive oil, garlic, dried rosemary, some salt to taste, and few healthy grinds of black pepper. Once the garlic started to brown, I put in a few splashes of water to deglaze the pan (no, deglazing is not only used to capture in a sauce all the yummy meat bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, it is great technique to keep in mind when cooking vegetables, too!). Adding the water also speeds up the cooking process and allows you to use less oil. I sauteed it all, stirring occasionally for about 8-10 minutes, until the zucchini is tender-crisp.

I used rosemary as the meal had an Italian theme, but this would be delicious with oregano if made as a partner in a Mexican meal.

I must have inherited from my mom her love of “beans and greens,” as she calls them. Many different types of beans and greens work well together, but a classic italian combination is spinach and cannellini beans. My take on this combination includes some whole wheat pasta and romano cheese to make an entire meal.

The recipe calls for red chili oil. I used the one from O&Co., one of my favorite stores, but I have seen this type of product at many specialty food shops. If you haven’t had whole wheat pasta in a while and think you hate it, give it another try. Great strides have been made in the last number of years in perfecting the taste and texture of whole wheat pastas. There is no longer any reason to subject yourself to grainy pasta that cooks to mush rather than perfectly al dente for the sake of healthy eating. I have been using Luigi Vitelli brand organic pasta lately, and love it.

Penne with Spinach and White Beans

1/2 lb whole wheat penne
1 TB red chili oil
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, defrosted
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 15 oz. can of cannellini (or other small white) beans
Good quality olive oil
2 oz. Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Bring salted water to a boil. Cook pasta a minute or two less than package directions. Drain, reserving a couple cups of the pasta water and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat chili oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add garlic and stir for a few minutes. Add spinach (do not squeeze water out of spinach, and don’t worry about defrosting it 100%, most of the way is okay), vinegar, and spices (do yourself a favor and don’t taste it at this point, the vinegar will taste too strong–it needs time to reduce and mellow). Cook for about five minutes, stirring often. Add cannellini beans, and cook about five minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Add pasta and a ladleful of the reserved pasta water. Stir a few minutes until everything is heated through and liquid has thickened a bit. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Stir in a bit of olive oil (a tablespoon or so) and heat through. Turn off heat and stir in cheese.

After plating, shave a bit more cheese on each serving.

Serves 3-4.

I made these quesadillas the other night as an afterthought to go along with a pot of rice and beans, but the quesadillas ended up being the star of the meal. I used a spice blend from a wonderful spice shop in Denver, CO called Savory. Normally, I am not a big fan of spice blends, but all of the blends from Savory I have tried are perfectly balanced and utterly usable. The main ingredients in the blend I used here, the Adobo Caribbean blend, are onion powder, garlic powder, salt, sugar, cumin, Mexican oregano, black pepper, and red chile (note: not chili) powder, so if you don’t want to buy this blend, use about 1/4 tsp of each of these ingredients, plus the extra cumin and oregano the recipe calls for (you should taste while cooking and adjust the spices as necessary as the proportions of the Adobo blend are probably not as equitable as the alternative I suggest).

I used frozen corn for this recipe, but this summer I will make it with fresh corn! (Note: canned corn will not work here.)

Pan-roasted-corn Quesadillas

1 TB butter or oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 10 oz. package of frozen corn (or the equivalent of fresh corn kernels cut off the cob)
2 tsp Adobo Caribbean spice blend (or 1/4 tsp of each of the spices listed above)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
4 oz sharp cheddar and/or jack cheese, divided
4 flour tortillas

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for a minute. Add corn, then stir in Adobo blend, cumin, and oregano. Keep cooking, stirring frequently using a wooden spatula. Once or twice while cooking, add a splash of water and use the spatula to scrape all the spices that are sticking to the bottom of the pan; this deglazing will impart of warm, caramelized flavor to the corn. The water should evaporate quickly at this high heat. After about 10 minutes, or once the corn is browned, the onions soft, and the water evaporated (the mixture should be very dry), taste the corn mixture and add salt and pepper if needed (the Adobo blend has salt in it, so be sure to taste before salting), turn off heat and set aside.

Heat up your griddle, or large cast iron or non-stick skillet (I used my cast iron griddle). No need to add oil or butter, tortillas brown nicely without the use of added fat. Place a tortilla on the griddle and, working quickly, place about 1/8 of the shredded cheese evenly over half of the tortilla, then put on top of that as much corn as half a tortilla can bear, 1/4 -1/2 cup, then top off with another 1/8 of the cheese (having cheese above and below the corn mixture helps the whole thing hold together). Fold the tortilla over the filling and grill until golden-brown, then carefully flip the quesadilla over and brown the other side. Repeat process with next three tortillas (if using a griddle, you can do two at once).

Serves 4.

This is a really easy stir fry that uses frozen vegetables, thereby skipping a lot of the washing, chopping, and prep that causes many people to avoid making stir fry (on weeknights, especially). When I made this the first time, my husband said that he didn’t realize an Asian dish made at home could be this good!

Avoid the frozen stir fry vegetables with sauces and everything included. I like the good quality organic stir fry vegetables that I have seen at both health food stores and super markets (store brand frozen veggies in my experience taste a little water-logged). This recipe calls for Siracha sauce, a Vietnamese chili-garlic sauce available in most big markets. Siracha is a staple condiment in my household–we use it in everything from quesadillas to pasta sauce.

Of course, if you have the time and will, please do use fresh veggies–about 3 cups worth of chopped ones of your choice.

Veggie-peanut Stir Fry

1 package extra firm tofu, or a couple chicken breasts, cubed, or other protein (optional)
peanut or canola oil
1/2 onion, sliced (if there is onion in your stir fry veggies, skip this)
2 cloves of garlic (or more to taste), minced
1 10-12 oz. package of frozen vegetables
1 heaping spoonful of unsweetened peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
2 TB soy sauce
Siracha sauce to taste (I like things spicy, and I use about 1 TB)
1 scant TB honey
couple dashes dark sesame oil
handful of dry roasted peanuts (optional)

If using the tofu, cut into fat sticks, about the size of 3 stacked dice. Place in a single layer on a paper towel-lined plate, put a couple layers of paper towel on top, put another plate on, then weigh down with something very heavy (I use my marble mortar and pestle). If you are adding onion, use this time to slice that and get all your other ingredients at the ready. After about 10 minutes, the tofu should be drained enough.

Heat about a half-inch depth’s worth of oil on the bottom of a wok or very deep frying pan. Once oil is very, very hot, carefully add about half the tofu in a single layer; stand back– it will splatter! Fry for about 3 minutes, until deep golden brown, then flip over (I use tongs) and fry for a couple minutes more. Carefully take tofu out of the oil and drain on paper towels. While tofu is still piping hot, season it with salt and generously with freshly ground pepper. Repeat with second batch.* Turn off the heat and dump out almost all the oil. Be sure to wipe up anything that drips over the side of the pan, especially if you have a gas stove.

[If using meat, simply stir-fry in a very small amount of oil until cooked through. Remove from the pan, and set aside. Then add a few teaspoons of oil to the pan.]

Reheat the wok. Add the onion, garlic, and vegetables. Fry 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Now, plop in a big spoonful of peanut butter, and stir in quickly so that it doesn’t burn. Immediately after that is stirred in, add the soy sauce, siracha, and honey. Stir to incorporate. Add a few tablespoons water and continue stirring (if it seems really water, don’t panic–the water will quickly evaporate to create a thick sauce). Taste at this point to see if you want to add more honey, soy sauce, or siracha, to your taste. If it seems dry, add more water as you cook. After you have adjusted the seasonings, add the tofu or meat and sesame oil. Cook about a minute or two longer, stirring constantly. Toss in peanuts, if using, immediately before serving.

Serve over rice, if desired.

Serves two, generously.

*Tofu notes: The oil must be extremely hot. You might test heat by adding just one piece of tofu. If it doesn’t hiss and splatter, the oil isn’t hot enough. If tofu is cooked in oil that isn’t hot enough, it will turn out really oily, rather than crisp on the outside and greaseless on the inside. Frying, esp. things like tofu with a high moisture content, can be very dangerous as the oil can splatter. You might want to consider wearing glasses if you don’t already! It seems like a lot of trouble, but once you get used to the process it is easy, I swear! You can skip this step and add the tofu “raw,” if you’d like. It holds together better if fried first, though. If skipping the frying step, add the tofu earlier in the cooking process, right after before the peanut butter. Baked tofu is denser than regular tofu and would be good in this, but I would avoid the flavored varieties.