combustication

Israeli couscous may be the perfect way to punch up a typical pasta salad for the summertime. Also known as pearl couscous, this couscous is slightly larger than you might be familiar with and tastes more like pasta - think orzo.

You can cook it quickly in some boiling water like a pasta (only leave it in for a few minutes, you want it al dente), steam it like traditional couscous or use it in a risotto recipe. The recipe for a quick and summery recipe below is pretty easy and delicious, but try experimenting with different vegetables or nuts or just substitute Israeli couscous in your usual pasta salad.

Israeli Couscous w/Caramelized Onions, Eggplant and Feta

Ingredients:

1 cup Israeli Couscous
olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, sliced into slivers
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon of tahini
5 baby eggplants (3-4″ in diameter) or 1 large eggplant, chopped
2 sprigs of mint, leaves cleaned and chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

To Do:

Boil a pot of water and place couscous in the water with a pinch of salt. Cook until couscous is al dente (3-5 minutes). Drain couscous and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Heat up the olive oil and sauté the onions in a small pan. The trick to getting them caramelized is keep cooking the onions over a very low heat so its sugars are released. Stir them a bit every once in a while and keep an eye on them while you move on to the eggplant.

In a large frying pan, heat up a splash of olive oil and then add the garlic. Lower the heat to medium and add eggplant and cook until it gets a bit crispy. Set aside.

Once the onions and eggplant are done, add them to the couscous in a large bowl. Whisk up the lemon juice, tahini, some salt and pepper to taste and a tablespoon of olive olive oil. Pour over the couscous, onion and eggplant mixture and mix. Add the mint and feta and mix it up some more. Serve warm or cold.

When the weather gets steamy, there is nothing better than a mint julep. I missed the Kentucky Derby festivities last Saturday (Cinco de Mayo and margaritas triumphed), but last night was sufficiently humid enough to warrant a frosty julep.

Super easy and extremely delicious. It’s easy to have more than one.

Mint Julep

Ingredients:

12 mint leaves
2 tablespoons simple syrup (to make simple syrup, boil 1 cup of water and add 1 cup of sugar, stir to combine and let it boil a bit to make sure sugar is dissolved, store in fridge for future use)
crushed ice
bourbon (Maker’s Mark is a good choice)
old fashioned glass
sugar

To Do:

Moisten the top of the old fashioned glass with a damp paper towel and rim with sugar. Tear the mint leaves and place them in the glass. Pour the simple syrup on top. Use a muddler to bruise the leaves (if you don’t have one, use the back of a spoon or something). Add crushed ice to almost the top of the glass. Pour in enough bourbon to cover the ice. Garnish with a mint leaf and sip with pleasure.

Homemade granola is really freakin good. I’ve become a bit obsessed with it after reading a Minimalist article in the NYT’s in January, but never thought to take a picture or even describe the recipe because it’s really just too easy. As Mark Bittman points out “there are two good reasons for making your own granola. One: it tastes better. Two: it contains better ingredients.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. I used his recipe as a starting off point, but as the article goes on to say, you can do whatever you want. I really like dried cranberries. Bittman really likes dried coconut. I kept it out of this recipe, but if you want to use the coconut, add it in with the nuts. You can make a great tropical-type granola with some coconut, crushed Brazilian nuts and dried pineapple and papaya. Yum. The Bittman recipe is a Times Select article, so you’ll have to be a member of the Gray Lady in order to access it, but if you just want to make granola…

Homemade Granola or Tina’s Take on Bittman

Ingredients

5 cups rolled oats
1/2 to 1 cup nuts and seeds of your choice (this granola was made with cashews and pecans)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cup maple syrup
½ tablespoon of walnut oil or other neutral oil
½ cup raisins (you can use pretty much any type of dried fruit)
½ cup dried cranberries

To Do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a large sheet pan with tinfoil or parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts and seeds, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, oil and maple syrup.

Place mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring and flipping the granola around a bit. Turn the heat down to 275F and bake longer, until the granola browns evenly. If things are looking to crispy or smelling a little burned, turn down the heat of the oven a bit more. I really like my granola crunchy, so after a while I turn the oven to about 250 or so and just keep an eye on it.

Remove pan from oven and add raisins or cranberries. Let it cool to room temperature and then transfer to a sealed container and store in refrigerator. This will keep for a while, but you’ll probably eat it all. I suggest using it to top yogurt or ice cream or just eating it plain with some (vanilla) soy milk or regular milk and berries.

p.s. The new Combustication header is courtesy of the Farm in Mercersburg, PA. Lovely bunch of a grass, no?

Gather some friends for a weekend at a farmhouse and you get good times, fire, lots of booze and tons of food. A big star was this chocolate cake/brownie concoction that we had for dessert on Saturday night with some vanilla icecream. Have you ever had whipping cream not whip? We went through two containers of heavy whipping cream that was just not feeling it. I think the chocolate saved the dessert, but the (non)whipping cream was just baffling. The recipe for the cake below is from Saveur and I didn’t change a thing. OK, I didn’t have super high quality chocolate or butter, but the thing was still amazing. When searching for “brownie” on Saveur a recipe popped up with this description: “bearing a strong resemblance to a rich, dense, gooey brownie, this dessert takes the cake.” SOLD! A very unfussy and delicious recipe, I highly recommend it as an elegant alternative to brownies.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Make Yr Own Bloody Mary

The farmhouse was also filled with ladybugs - lucky, right?

Marie José’s Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
14 1/2 tbsp. European-style high-butterfat butter (I used regular salted butter)
3 tbsp. flour
7 oz. quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small
pieces (I used bittersweet baker’s chocolate squares)
3/4 cup sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature, separated

To Do

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9″ glass pie dish with 1/2 tbsp. of the butter, dust with 1 tbsp. of the flour, tapping out excess, and set aside. Cut remaining butter into small pieces. Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Remove bowl from heat and stir in sugar, then the remaining flour, then the egg yolks, stirring until well combined. Set aside to let cool briefly.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 2–3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites at a time into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pie pan.

Bake cake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with some moist crumbs still attached (cake will rise and top will crack as it bakes, then collapse on itself as it cools), 30 minutes. Transfer cake to a wire rack to let cool briefly. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream, if you like. [Ice cream is essential!]

Not sure if you’ve heard the news that U.S. has had a severe bee shortage this year, but it has. There is a study that argues that the villan could be…cellphones! Yes, radiation from cellphones could cause a bee’s navigation system to get messed up. I’m not a fan of bee stings, but I love me some honey and bees play a crucial role in the pollination of crops. Check out this very interesting article for more info.

There is also a neat article about a city girl attempting to practice “bushcraft.” As one who sometimes likes to watch that Survivor Man show when I’m at home, this article hits home - although it has a very Bridget Jones-like tone that’s a bit weird.

One particular creepy, 28 Days Later quote from the article sticks out: “The way we’re going we may all end up needing these skills. It would only take something like London’s water to be contaminated to end civilization as we know it.”

The Park Slope Food Coop gets a bad rap. Some friends make fun of me for being a member of what they think is a “commie” institution. To make it clear for those who do not know about the Coop, you have to work there to shop there – no exceptions (actually, there are some, I think if you’re pregnant you can take a work leave).

I think working for 2 ¾ hours a month is a fair price to pay for cheap organic fruits and vegetables, fresh bread from Amy’s Bread and Terrace Bagels, a bulk section with all the grains, flour, dried beans and granola you want and amazing cheeses. There is more, of course, but those are the main reasons why I like shopping at the Coop. Also, there is the interaction factor of knowing that everyone there has gone through the same crappy/awesome shifts as you in order to shop there and you can freely suggesting getting one brand of something rather than the other without looking like a weirdo. It is sport to make fun of the hippies of the Coop without actually being a member. Or people who have been members complain that the shifts are too long and burdesome, but you know what you’re getting into when you join. Stop hating on good food and a neighborhood institution!

I was thinking about these things as I walked through the new Whole Foods on the Bowery. The antithesis to the Coop in every way (I think the Coop could fit in the prepared food section the WF has), Whole Foods is big, shiny, new and expensive! I know grocery stores in NYC are expensive. I’ve been to Whole Foods before and Fairway, the (nasty) Gristedes, Key Foods, C Town, D’Agostino’s, etc., but for some reason after shopping at the Coop for nearly three years I am particular about my prices. Take lemons for example. Phil and I bought 4 organic lemons at Whole Foods and they came out to be $2.76. 4 organic lemons at the Coop will run you $1.04 (.26 a piece). That’s a lot of money! Think about how many more lemons you can get for lemonade or mixed drinks!

Another example is honey. A small honey bear at Whole Foods cost $6.99. I don’t even know how much a honey bear would be at the Coop, but I do know that a big jar costs about $4.00 (I’ll get back on this, I’m going food shopping tonight). While a part of me really loved the variety and shininess of the new Whole Foods, I couldn’t help thinking about how it was nice to know exactly where everything was at the Coop and, of course, how much money I save. For someone who loves to cook and bake, the Coop is great and I actually like working my shifts. As a checkout person, I get to see what people are buying and most are eager to talk about what they’re making for dinner. I know I like it when someone asks me what I plan on doing with my fennel, but if I’m not in the mood for chatting, that’s fine too. It’s a far cry from the lackadaisical bleary-eyed stare from a typical checkout person.

The Coop also provides good food options for people with low incomes – they accept EBT. I think that is one of the most important reasons to support ventures like the Coop and not make fun of it as being an elitist Park Slope thing. All kinds of people shop and work at the Coop. You think a mom buying food with EBT stamps can afford organic lemons that cost $2.76 from Whole Foods? Or any other fruit or vegetable for that matter? I know the prices at Whole Foods versus other places are high, but I also know that getting some tomatoes or celery (why is it so expensive?) at Key Foods is extremely pricey for a chain supermarket. This goes back to very good points made by both Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan (great recent NYT’s article) that most of the cheap, calorie filling food in the supermarkets are candy, soda, chips, not the fruits and vegetables that people need. Call me crazy, but I think supporting a place that allows people to shop for healthy, hell, necessary foods, at a low price is a good idea. Check out this blog about a guy who spent a $1 a day on food and see how hard it is to eat anything vegetable-like. Granted, that is an extreme case, but some people have to live like that or close to it in this country.

I know this is rambling, but I have no photos or recipes to post and looking at the lemons on this receipt pisses me off a bit. As does the chiding I get for belonging to a members-only coop. Eat up.

More food pics from family Easter time (remember, I broke my camera, so pictures are at a premium)! This one is of a canolli cookie - a new favorite dessert. I got the recipe from Food & Wine and followed it to the letter when I made it for some friends a couple of months ago. This time, I didn’t have some of the ingredients for the cream and winged it, but they were still great. Making the round tubes of cookie can be annoying without a dowel, but I managed with a wine bottle and a wax-paper lined candlestick. I should just get a dowel already. You could also just make a sandwich with the cookies and cream. The results are still delicious. The vanilla and citrus of the cookie play off each other and the cookie is a delicate counterpart to the rich mascarpone cream filling. You could go crazy with add-ins to the cream. It might be fun to put some cocoa in the cookie dough and make a minty cream filling…project for the future!

I’m putting the recipe from Food & Wine pretty much straight. Note: The recipe is by Gina DePalma who is the pastry chef for Babbo.

My sister is very excited.

Cannoli Cookies with Coffee Cream (with Combustication modifications)

Ingredients

For the cookies:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

For the cream:
1 cup mascarpone
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure coffee extract (I used a tablespoon of extra strength coffee I brewed up)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

To Do
Preheat the oven to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Trace three 4-inch circles (as dark as you can) on each with a pencil; turn the parchment over.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with 1/3 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Add the egg whites and beat until blended. Add the flour, orange zest, 1/4 teaspoon of the vanilla and the salt and beat until smooth.

Using a small offset spatula, evenly spread 1 tablespoon of the batter into each circle (try to make them pretty thin) Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, for 8 to 9 minutes, or until lightly golden and browned around the edges (keep an eye on them and don’t let them get too brown). Immediately roll each cookie around a 1-inch-wide tube or dowel (or other tube-like thing - neck of a wine bottle works) and let cool until crisp. Carefully remove the cannoli from the tubes and transfer to a wire rack. Repeat twice with the remaining batter to make 18 cookies.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the mascarpone at medium speed with the cream, the coffee extract and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until firm peaks form.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip (or a plastic bag with the tip cut off) with the coffee cream. Carefully pipe the mascarpone cream into both ends of the cookies, finishing with a small rosette at each end. Transfer the cannoli to a platter, dust them with confectioners’ sugar and serve.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (you can also make the cookie tubes and store them before filling them with the cream). Yum!

Sadly, this post is not about milkshakes, but I really like ‘em. This post is about the rock-n-roll and a show that is going on tomorrow night in a loft somewhere in Brooklyn that is close to the L train. I will be dancing, rapping and causing a spanking ruckus with the members of Dracula Zombie USA EastCoastAnnex and then trying to get my hands on some Bling Kong members. It is going to be an EVENT!

Perfect for celebrating spring, this asparagus risotto is very simple and delicious. Try telling that to my little sister. This past Easter she wanted to help me and my brother cook up a meal for our folks, which turned into a dinner party for 8, and I had her stirring that thing for an hour. Tough love kids, tough love.

The risotto was gobbled up and enjoyed by everyone and Amanda gets many props for suffering over that hot stove to make one of the creamiest risottos I have ever tasted. Also, thanks to “Charla” who helped out with some stirring action.

According to the recipe that I got it from, the risotto is actually supposed to made with pearl barley (which cuts down on cooking time), but since it was Passover, I decided to use arborio rice so that Phil could eat it. I also changed the stock part, but am excited to try the original recipe sometime.

Risotto with Asparagus and Hazelnuts

Ingredients

2 pounds medium asparagus, trimmed
10 cups water
4 bouillon cubes or 2 tablespoons of “Better than Bouillon”
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1 cup) plus additional for serving
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

To Do

Trim about an inch off the ends of the asparagus. Cut top third of each asparagus stalk into 1/2 inch rounds, reserving tips and slices together. Coarsely chop the remainder for stock making. Bring the water to boil and add 1/2 teaspoon in a pot, then add the roughly chopped asparagus and cook, uncovered, until very tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a food processor and process with the garlic cloves and lemon zest. Set aside for later.

Add reserved asparagus tips and slices to boiling water and cook, uncovered, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to a sieve and rinse asparagus under cold water to stop cooking. Drain well and save for later. Add the bouillon to the asparagus water and keep at a simmer next to a big pot that will house the risotto.

Sauté the onions in the olive oil until softened in the big risotto pot, 5 to 7 minutes and add a bit of the pepper. Add the arborio rice and stir until the grains are covered with the oil and onions. Add wine and boil, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute.

Now the fun part (I am sorry Amanda). Turn the heat down to a medium simmer on the risotto pot and add about a cup of the stock you just made and stir until the rice has absorbed all the water. Repeat until all of the stock has been used up. It could take a while. You don’t really have to stand over the pot stirring like a lunatic, but it will create strong arm muscles and a very creamy risotto.

Once all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, stir in asparagus purée, asparagus-tip mixture, and enough additional water to thin to desired consistency and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Stir in cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Plate and sprinkle with hazelnuts and serve parmesan on the side. Eat up!

Easter Bread is a big deal in my house. After losing my grandmother’s recipe, my mom has been unable to replicate the perfect loaves that we would gobble up at all hours of the day. The sweet bread is almost like a Challah, but not as fluffy. It’s a heartier bread that is dense and thick and perfect with a piece of cheese. I started making it last year and was told by my family that the bread was damn near perfect. I gave the recipe to my mom and she made some this year, but it didn’t rise well and she was frustrated. Together we made a new batch that was amazing. You can make your own too! It’s not just for Easter. The bread goes well with something a little salty because it’s a bit sweet, but can also be used as a good base for french toast or a bread pudding. The traditional way to shape the bread is by rolling it by hand into a rough circle and then folding it only about 3/4 of the way up. I think the picture gives a better idea of how to do it properly.

Christina’s No Fail Portuguese Easter Bread

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup water, warm (115F, use thermometer!!)
1 cup sugar, take out a tablespoon and put it aside
1/2 cup peeled, boiled and mashed up potatoes (any type of starchy kind)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup milk, warm (110F)
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs (at room temp)
1/4 cup butter (at room temp)
4-6 cups all purpose flour (varies)

To Do

Note: This bread really requires a mixer. You can do it with very strong arms, but the dough gets pretty tough. I mean, my grandma can do it with her bare hands, but she’s a superlady.

In the bowl of a stand mixer place warm water, yeast (I forgot to mention this important point), 1 tablespoon of sugar and the mashed potatoes. Let stand for 5-7 minutes, until bubbly. Add remaining sugar, lemon juice, milk, salt, and eggs (mix one at a time!) and 2 cups of flour, mixing very thoroughly with the paddle attachment of the mixer. Once all mixed up, switch to dough hook and add 1 3/4 cups more flour and butter, cut into small pieces. Mix on low speed until smooth, then add remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and clings to the dough hook. This could mean almost 6 cups total of flour or 4. I don’t know why (probably humidity and other mysterious things), but I usually make it with 5 and at my mom’s place we only needed 4. It helps also to touch the dough while in the mixer - if it clings to the dough hook and is springy when you touch it, proceed to the next step.

Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 more minutes to ensure smoothness- you want a nice, elastic dough. Place dough in a large bowl that has been oiled (tablespoon of olive oil should do it) and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, 2-3 hours in a warm place.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes and divide dough in half. The dough can be shaped into two loaves as desired or shaped into rectangles and placed in two greased loaf pans. Place free form loaves on a parchment-lined (important to use parchment paper) baking sheet. Cover dough with a clean dish towel and let rise for 45 minutes. While waiting, preheat the oven to 350F.

Brush dough with a mixture of one egg and 2 tablespoons of water for a glossy glaze, if desired. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Loaves will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool it completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Makes 2 large loaves.