Cucumber Salad

Hey guys,

I know that I've been a bad food blogger and haven't posted in a while, but as you know, I was in Montreal. After I got back, school started and I didn't have the time or energy to write a full post. I know, I was lazy.

Anyway, a few weeks back my girlfriend and I went to the Brooklyn Grange farmer's market, which is near our apartment. They own a rooftop farm in Long Island City and sell their produce in the building they're on top of twice a week. They were really nice and suggested that we try one of their cucumbers, but it didn't look like a cuke. It was all white, which was weird. Was it an albino cucumber?

Apparently not, they told me that it is called a lemon cucumber and has a citrus flavor. Well, they lied. It doesn't really, but the peel is really bitter. Anyway, it sparked an idea: I wanted to make cucumber salad similar to the way my mom makes it.

Start by taking your (possibly peeled) cucumber and slice it. Then put it in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and sprinkle some salt over them. Toss it around to get the salt everywhere. about a teaspoon and a half per cucumber should be good.

The idea here is that we're drawing the liquid out of the slices so that we can replace it with more flavorful liquid.  I let the cukes sit for about 45 minutes, I think two innings of a baseball game.

In the mean time, you want to slice a little bit of onion thinly.

You don't need that much, probably a quarter of a large onion. Red onion would be really beautiful here, but I didn't have any. After we put all the acid in the cucumber/onion combination the onions will start to pickle.

So, put everything in a small bowl and sprinkle about a tablespoon of sugar on the whole thing. You can certainly add less, but I don't think that I would add more. Then squeeze a lemon on to the whole thing, toss, cover, and let sit in the fridge for an hour.

The whole thing is really easy to make, and you can certainly adjust the measurements to your taste. I think I ended up adding just a little bit more salt and sugar. After all that waiting though, the pickled onion and cucumber taste delicious together.

Hope you enjoy.

Oh yeah, before you close the window, I'm also excited about some new things in my kitchen. The first is what my friend Michele described as an "Ina Garten" style sugar container. I mean, Ina would certainly like it, and it was on sale a Target. You can't go wrong.

We also got a larger one for flour, and they look really nice on the counter.

The second thing is my fledgling herb garden. I just had some tiny sprouts of basil and chive when I left for Montreal, but they really took off after I left. Apparently my girlfriend has a green thumb (it's a surprise to her too). Now, I'm getting ready to transplant some of the basil and the parsley actually took!

Burritos!

I was thinking about what to make for dinner the other night, and burritos seemed like a great idea. It was pretty hot out, and I love that type of food in this weather. I decided I'd class it up a bit by making my own salsa and own refried beans for the recipe, so that's what I'm going to share with you.

Now, there are MANY ways to make salsa, and I'm just going to give you the way that I made it. You can vary any ingredient and add pretty much anything you want. For the refried beans, the same goes. These recipes are really just basics that you can change in any way to meet your tastes.

So, we actually need very few ingredients for this, there's a lot of overlap.

For enough for three burritos you'll need one tomato (any kind you like: I chose plum), a shallot (or small onion), one jalapeno, a line, a small can of black beans (or red kidney if you prefer), and some fresh cilantro.

The first step is to dice up the tomato, using a serrated knife. I showed you this in the tomato fresco recipe a few weeks ago.

You could make this a "peach salsa" if you diced up some peaches (or mangoes) and threw it in now as well.
Next up is dicing up about a 2 teaspoons of shallots and throwing those in.

At one point I was thinking about making little crescent moons of shallot for a nice presentation, but I decided to dice instead. At this point the in the dicing, where you're getting everything in to small bits, it's important to keep the tip of your knife on the board. It will stop the knife from slipping and save you some trips to the emergency room. (Other than that tip, my knife skills are meager)

Finally, some heat! Dice half of a jalapeno (I had a small one) in to little bits. First, remove the seeds. So, slice it open and you can just pull out the pith and seeds with your fingers.

I've told you once, and I'll tell you again: WASH YOUR HANDS after handling any sort of hot pepper. I was sweating a little bit and rubbed my face and basically set it on fire. NOT PLEASANT.

Okay, to dice a jalapeno, I cut the pepper into matchsticks like below then turn the sticks and cut small squares.

Throw this in the bowl with a half teaspoon of grated garlic and the juice of half a lime. Then add about a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of cilantro and put it in the fridge to allow the flavors to marry. Let it sit for about an hour, but more time is even better.

The colors are really pretty. You can't see the pretty little purple bits that well, but it's mostly my photography that's failing here.

Now it's time for some refried beans. I found a recipe for them in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything", which is a veritable bible of home cooking.

Start with a few (like two) tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add in about two a tablespoon, maybe more, of diced shallot.

Let this cook for about five to eight minutes over medium heat, until the shallots start to brown.

See the bunch near the bottom of the photo, that's the color we're looking for. Then add in the rest of the jalapeno, diced again and let cook for a minute or two. (You can add the rest of the clove of garlic from before at this stage also. I actually forgot while I was doing it). Add about two teaspoons to a tablespoon of ground cumin and let it go at this point too, until you can smell the cumin in you kitchen.

Now the fun part. Add the beans and give the pan a stir. Find a fork or masher and go at it.

Sorry it's blurry, my left hand was a little shaky. You get the idea though, you want to mash most, but not all of the beans. When you're done it should be a pretty dark purple and look like mush. Add in salt (to taste, about a teaspoon) and some more cumin (about half a teaspoon, but again, to taste) and transfer to a bowl.

See the consistency? Mushy, but you can still make out some whole-ish beans.

Now, you can do anything with these two. I made chicken burritos by sauteing some chicken in a skillet, and making saffron rice. Really, you could do anything, but I think that rice is a must.

So many colors in a burrito: beans, rice, chicken, cheese, salsa, lettuce, cilantro. It's a beautiful taste party. I think I'll make these again soon.

Quick Salsa
1 Plum tomato, diced
2 teaspoon shallot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 - 3 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in a bowl, cover, and let sit for at least one hour.

Refried Black Beans
1 small can black beans
2 tsp - 1 tbsp shallot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 -3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp grated garlic

1. Saute shallots in a pan over medium heat until just brown.
2. Add in jalapeno and garlic and saute for just a minute or two. Finally, add in most of the cumin and saute until fragrant.
3. Pour in black beans, stir and let warm for just a minute.
4. Using a fork or masher, mash the black beans in the pan until they form a paste with some beans still visible.

Enjoy guys, and remember, you can alter these recipes in a thousand different ways!

Summer Peach Soup

So, I bought some peaches at the store this week, it being almost summer and all, and I realized two things:
1. I couldn't possibly eat all of them
2. I didn't know what to do with them, because it's hard to make a crisp without an oven.

It dawned on me, A SOUP! I wanted to make watermelon soup recently, so why not peach soup. The results are light and tart, just what I wanted. WARNING: There is wine in this recipe that you don't cook off

These are your main ingredients. You may also want some salt, and a lemon.

Make sure your peaches are REALLY ripe. Under ripe peaches give NO flavor, they're just starchy. These were pretty ripe, but probably could have used another day or two. According to Ina Garten, there is only one way to tell if a peach is ripe: smell it. I live by that in my peach purchases.

The first thing we need to do is peel and slice the peaches. To do this, you will need a set up with a pot of boiling water and an ice bath.

Boil the peaches for TWO minutes, and then remove to the ice bath. Let them sit there for another two minutes. Reserve a cup of the hot water from the pot.

Now, run a paring knife along the loose skin of the peach until you can make a puncture. From there, you can just tear the skin off. See, by boiling the peaches, you loosened the bonds between the skin of the peach and the meat. You cooled them off so you could handle them.

Look, it's a naked peach. Now, cut the peach in half, remove the pit, and slice into wedges.

Now, we're ready to make soup. In the same pot pour back in the cup of water, and a cup and a quarter of white wine. Add in some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a bit of clove. Oh yeah, and the sugar. I would also add in some lemon juice and lemon zest here. It will smell like you're making tea.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the peaches.

Return to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. The peaches will be nice and tender and will have absorbed some of the liquid.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches to a food processor or blender.

See, the water is a really ugly color, and we want the soup to be pretty, so strain off (we don't want the ugly spices) the liquid from the pot in a fine mesh strainer, and reserve about a quarter cup. Now, add that quarter cup and a quarter cup of white wine along with (really) a pinch of cayenne (or paprika would probably have been better) and a little bit of salt.

Now, let the mixture cool BEFORE blending. I put it in the fridge for about ten minute.

Then blend until smooth and pour into a bowl.

Put back in the fridge for an hour to let chill and enjoy! I suggest garnishing with mint, and some whipped cream, if you have it. (Whipped cream would be really good, it would add some decadence that this is missing)

It makes a nice lunch soup for the summer, or a light dessert. I promise, you'll really like it, just go light on the spices and let the peaches shine through. Oh yeah, I added a bit of butter before I blended, just to round out the flavor a bit, it's not a bad idea.

You can use this same process with any summer fruit. Peaches, strawberries (peaches AND strawberries), avocado would be nice (no need to add butter at the end, or boil the avocado). Cherries and strawberries together, probably not pears though. Watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple. So many possibilities. Try one yourself.

Summer Peach Soup (Adapted from a recipe found here)
3 Peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups white wine (something fruity)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove (or 2 whole cloves)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or paprika)
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
a pat of butter (optional)

1. Combine water, 1 1/4 cups of wine, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, lemon and sugar in a pot. Put over high heat and bring to a boil.

2. Add peaches and return to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Remove peaches from the liquid and put in a blender or food processor along with the remaining white wine and a quarter cup of the strained cooking liquid. Add cayenne and salt.

4. Let cool for about ten minutes, then blend until smooth. Cool the results for an hour before eating. Garnish with mint and/or whipped cream for added yumminess.

Tomato Fresco Sauce

Hi all,

I'm a terrible blogger and haven't been updating at all. I know, it's bad. It's been so hot that I haven't felt like cooking so much. Then I realized that I could make something that's really fresh, and I wouldn't have that feeling, and thus a recipe was born.

We'll start with fresh tomato, fresh basil, garlic (not pictured), white wine, and pasta. That simple.

I love cooking with white wine when it's hot. Just very refreshing, and pulls this sauce together.

So, you'll want to use a serrated knife to dice the tomatoes. You could also just buy canned diced tomatoes, but I'm a glutton for punishment, and freshness.

Then gather your basil, making a basil "cigar" and slice the cigar to julienne the herbs.

Finally, dice some garlic. You'll have red, white and green on the board, like an Italian flag.

Now, heat some olive oil in a skillet and saute the garlic for about a minute or two.

You know, just until the whole room smells delicious. Then add in the tomatoes, some salt and pepper (and some red pepper flakes, if you're in to that) and let it simmer over medium heat for a few minutes. The tomatoes should start to let out their juice.

Add in about half the basil and then put in about a half cup of white wine. Let reduce over low heat for about 10 minutes.

You should have been cooking some pasta during this, and so when that's al dente drain it and toss the pasta with the sauce and a large handful of Parmesan.

I added some sausage to make it just that much better. It was really good and light. A perfect dinner for a hot day. The tomatoes are juicy and sweet, and the basil and garlic complement that beautifully. The wine rounds out the flavor and adds just a little bit of acidity. Just make sure you season it all really well so to balance all of that out with a little heat and saltiness. The Parmesan is really a must. No choice.

I'll write up a recipe in a little bit to post.