Tasting Spoons

Have you ever heard or read about how hard it is to photograph brown and beige things? Hope you can even figure out this is onions! I had to balance some of the onions on a fork with my left hand and try to hold the camera steady AND click the shutter with my right hand. All to show some added depth to the photo. And although this may not look all that appetizing, it’s actually very good. Would I kid you?

After just stating yesterday that I didn’t have any posts waiting in the wings, I looked, and oh yes, I had this one. I hadn’t posted it because I made the onion pepper relish to go with the beef sliders for the 4th of July, and thought the two were too similar. This one is less sweet than the relish - more suited for a slab of grilled meat probably, than the burgers and accompaniments. I still have some of this in the refrigerator (as well as the relish from the 4th), and assume it will keep for another few weeks since it’s “pickled,” so to speak, with the vinegar. Hope so, as it was delicious and very suitable for some meat things. I used it on a sandwich last week too.

We had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago, and with the pork roast we did on the rotisserie (that I’d brined) I wanted to serve some kind of sauce or salsa, or something. Found a recipe for a pork rib roast with this onion marmalade. It was just a perfect fit. And oh-my-goodness deliciousness. It’s not difficult, although it does take some time (total cooking time about an hour) to sweat down the onions, then to continue to cook them down to a jammy consistency. If you started this first (when about to make a dinner) it would be done by the time you were ready to sit down).

The recipe came from Food & Wine magazine, May 2008. If you want to do the pork roast, just brine it, bake or rotisserie it until it reaches an internal temp of about 133 degrees (still pink in the middle). Remove and let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving with this cold, room temp or hot onion topping. The leftovers will keep for several weeks.

Balsamic Onion Marmalade

Recipe By: Food & Wine, May ‘08.

Servings: 8

4 whole onions — peeled, sliced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pinch ground cloves

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

salt and pepper to taste

1.  In a large pot (large enough to barely hold all the onions) heat the oil until it starts to shimmer.  Add the onions and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 20 minutes.  Do not let them burn or brown.

2.  Season the onions with the ground cloves, salt and pepper.  Add the brown sugar and cook over moderately low heat until the skillet is dry, about 10 minutes.  Add the balsamic vinegar and orange zest and continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the marmalade is very thick, 30 minutes.  Transfer the marmalade to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.  Reheat, if you prefer it hot, just before serving, or serve cold, or at room temperature.

Per Serving: 65 Calories; 2g Fat (23.0% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 5mg Sodium.

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I’m a regular reader of the Brilynn from Jumbo Empanadas. And I’ve tried several of her recipes over the year I’ve been monitoring her blog. So when this recipe popped up the other day my taste buds went into zing mode.

Probably about 20 years ago my DH and I and our good friends Bud & Cherrie used to go to San Diego on an occasional Saturday and have a wonderful wine tasting lunch at the Wine Sellar and Brasserie.  You can go for just the wine tasting, but for a nominal fee, you can have their pre-set light lunch (very gourmet, I might add) to accompany it.

Anyway, at one of those tastings, the dessert was home made vanilla ice cream with strawberries, balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper. Yes, you read that right. Since then I’ve seen it served at other places, but at the time my taste buds just went into overdrive. It was about the cracked pepper, but the combination of strawberries and balsamic vinegar is simply a match made in heaven.

You can see why, then, the Jumbo Empanadas’ recipe title put me into strawberry-balsamic nirvana. Just had to try it. And since strawberries are definitely on the wane here, I needed to do it right NOW if I was going to do it this season! My kitchen freezer is nearly chock-a-block full, but I just had to find room somehow. Even if I had to defrost something else to make room. I’m embarrassed to tell you how big this freezer is and it’s absolutely full to the brim.

The idea of roasting the strawberries with the balsamic seems like such a novel idea, and makes this luscious juicy mash of fruit and juice. And you can get yourself a little spoon to slick up the very last little droplets around the pan. It’s that good.

And don’t forget to reserve a bit of the fruit to drizzle on the top of the ice cream when it’s served. That’s a really nice touch. The taste: oh my goodness. Rich. Sweet. Delicious. Over the top. Fabulous. Wanna have it again SOON!

Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream
Recipe By: Jumbo Empanadas & from Zoe Cakes 6/10/08

Servings: 8
STRAWBERRIES:
2 pounds strawberries — about 2 baskets
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
CUSTARD:
3 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk [or fat-free half and half]
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with foil including up on all sides so that the wonderful juice that’s going to be created can’t escape. Wash and hull the strawberries and pat dry. Toss with the sugar and let stand for 30 minutes. Add the balsamic, toss again and then spread out onto your baking tray. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until strawberries are jammy and there’s lots of juice. Pour the berries into a bowl, cool and chill.
2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan bring the milk and cream to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Continue to whisk while slowing pouring in the hot milk mixture until it is completely incorporated. Pour it all back into the pan and stir until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour into a bowl, stir in the vanilla extract and then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled,
3. Once both the strawberries and the custard are completely cool, remove a couple scoops of strawberries with juice out of the bowl and set aside (to use as a topping on the ice cream when it’s finished). Strain the rest of the strawberries and combine the juice with the custard and pour into your ice cream machine and process according to your manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is almost finished, add in the strained berries until they’re just incorporated, (if you add them in at the beginning, the machine has a hard time processing them). If you like your ice cream soft, you can eat it right away, topped with the reserved strawberries and juice, otherwise stick it in the freezer to firm up a little more.

COOK’S NOTES: Chop up the strawberries that go into the ice cream at the very end, as they may freeze as whole pieces, and you want them to break up just a bit.
Per Serving: 275 Calories; 14g Fat (45.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 125mg Cholesterol; 30mg Sodium.

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Last week we invited a friend over for dinner. She’s trying to eat healthy, so I decided to skip the main course and make a hearty appetizer, a soup, a salad, and low calorie dessert. In the last few days I’ve posted all the recipes from that dinner: Layered Hummus & Eggplant Appetizer, a cool Cream of Cucumber Soup, this salad, and Lemon-Ginger Frozen Yogurt served with the cookies that Kathleen brought along to share with us - Cashew Caramel Cookies. I had a stack of salad recipes to choose from, but thinking through the flavors and textures in the other dishes, I decided this salad was the best fit. I had several poblano (also called pasilla) chiles in the produce drawer that needed to be used.

The salad itself is cinchy. It’s just the poblano chiles that take a bit of time, but not all that much. I cut them into large semi-flat pieces, removed the stems and seeds, laid them flat on a foil covered tray. I sprayed them with olive oil spray, then broiled them for about 8 minutes on the first side, and about 3-4 on the 2nd side. Once roasted, let them cool so you can handle them, then cut up into bite-sized pieces. The recipe indicated peeling them; I didn’t. Set aside and add later. The salad itself is nothing but greens with a simple salad dressing (balsamic and oil, cumin and coriander) that takes no time at all to concoct.

The recipe comes from Katherine Kagel, the owner of Café Pasqual’s in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of my very favorite restaurants.

If I make this again I will add some other texture to the salad – it was too “soft” for me. I like crunchy stuff in my salad. But I didn’t think this one wanted radishes or celery or carrots. You want to taste the chiles – they are the star player in this salad. But I think I would add some peppered pecans, which I make every once in awhile anyway. If I’d had some on hand, I’d have added them. They’re so very simple to make. The salad was very good - I liked it. Relatively easy too.

Field Greens with Fire-Roasted Poblano Chiles in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Recipe By: salad, Cafe Pasqual’s, Santa Fe, New Mexico; pecans from Cathy Thomas, Food Editor Orange County Register

Serving Size: 6

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar — use a good brand, not the cheap stuff

1/3 cup vegetable oil — plus 1 tablespoon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin — scant

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander — scant

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 pound poblano chile — roasted, seeded, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, about 1/3 cup

8 cups field greens — or other fancy lettuces

PEPPERED PECANS: [my suggested addition to this recipe]

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper — coarsely ground

1/2 cup pecan halves

1.  In a small bowl combine the vinegar, oils, cumin, coriander and salt.  Mix in the prepared poblano chiles.

2.  Place the field greens in a salad bowl and pour the dressing and chiles over the top.  Toss well, then place onto individual plates.

3.  Sprinkle peppered pecans on top and serve.

PEPPERED PECANS:

1.  Before you start, place a baking sheet or jelly roll pan next to your cook top.

2.  In a small bowl combine sugar, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

3.  Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat.  Add pecans and toss until pecans are warm, about one minute.

4.  Sprinkle pecans with HALF the sugar mixture and toss until the sugar melts.  Add remaining sugar mixture and toss again until sugar melts, then immediately pour our onto the baking sheet.  Spread nuts apart (with tongs or fork) and allow to cool.  Will keep, stored in a plastic bag, for 3-4 weeks.

NOTES: The pecans were not a part of the original recipe.  You can omit if you’d prefer.  You can also add other ingredients to the salad, but remember that the chiles are the star of the dish.

Per Serving: 238 Calories; 23g Fat (82.8% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 320mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 4 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates

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About eight years or so ago I tasted homemade hummus for the first time. Served to me by a friend who is Armenian (she’s a Parisian, but she’s Armenian, and she lets you know you’d better not forget it!). My taste buds hit nirvana. I’d had nothing but ready bulk made previously, and didn’t realize how incredibly easy it was to make. Or how delicious it could possibly be. Not long after that I attended a cooking class and the instructor demonstrated this method. Oh my gosh. It was so gosh-darned delicious!

The appetizer is not all that difficult, but it does have a moderate amount of work involved. I wish I could tell you there wasn’t. But, you can do most of it ahead – even the day before if you’re pushed for time. Because it has so much work involved, I tend not to make this when I’m doing a company meal with several courses. But, I’ll tell you, nobody has ever come away from the platter without oohs and aahs. Guaranteed.

Here’s what’s involved. One, you make the hummus in the food processor with canned garbanzos, garlic and tahini (sesame seed paste). Two, you slice up the eggplant and sauté it in batches in olive oil. Three, you concoct a simple balsamic vinaigrette which gets tossed with the eggplant once it’s chopped up. Mound the hummus on a lovely platter, then mound the eggplant on top of that and garnish with a bunch of chopped cilantro (or Italian parsley) and toasted pine nuts. That’s it. I serve it with toasted pita chips. The eggplant takes on a very rich mahogany color and when you serve this on a big platter with the eggplant on top, it’s very colorful. You don’t use all of the dressing, so the nutritional information is misleading.

This recipe is one of my all-time favorites and will be so marked on my recipe page (click Recipes in my right sidebar). We had a friend over for dinner last night and she helped with the preparation of this dish (thanks again for your help, Kathleen!).

Layered Hummus and Eggplant Appetizer

Recipe By: Judy Bart Kancigor, http://cookingjewish.com

Serving Size: 10

HUMMUS LAYER:

2 large garlic cloves

15 ounces garbanzo beans, canned, save liquid

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup water — or juice from garbanzos

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice — or to taste

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

EGGPLANT:

1 1/4 pounds eggplant, whole — purple type, no bruises

1/4 cup olive oil

DRESSING:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt — or to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper — or to taste

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro — chopped

1/4 cup pine nuts — toasted

HUMMUS:

1.  Turn on processor and drop in garlic cloves, and process until minced.  Add salt and allow to sit while you collect the ingredients down through ground cumin.  Add those items to the processor and blend until smooth.  Add a bit of water if mixture is too thick. This makes about 2 cups of hummus.

EGGPLANT:

1. Slice the eggplant in 1/3 inch thick slices, or slightly thicker.  Heat just enough oil in the bottom of a large skillet and fry over medium-high heat, in batches, on both sides until the eggplant is cooked, brown and slightly crisp, approximately 5 minutes per side.  Drain on paper towels, then coarsely chop.  Place in bowl.  Meanwhile, combine in a lidded jar the balsamic vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper and shake until combined.  An hour before serving, pour about 2 T.  of the dressing over the eggplant and stir.  Set aside.

2. Toast the pine nuts in a hot skillet until barely brown.  Set aside.  Chop cilantro a few minutes before serving.

ASSEMBLY:

1. To serve: spread the hummus on a large, flat serving platter.  Spoon the eggplant over the top, leaving hummus layer visible around the edges.  Sprinkle with cilantro (or Italian parsley, if preferred) and toasted pine nuts.  Serve with torn or cut pita for scooping.

Per Serving (not accurate because you don’t use all the dressing): 351 Calories; 30g Fat (75.2% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 463mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 6 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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Ever find that someone prepares a dish that combines some flavors you didn’t usually think about for that food? That’s this dish. I wouldn’t have thought of using maple syrup with pork. Often I think of sweet things – like fruit – but not maple syrup. There’s not a lot of it in this dish, 1/3 of a cup to serve 6, but the combination of that with good full-of-character aged balsamic vinegar and whole grain mustard. Ah, a great match.

This came from the pork cooking class I went to recently. I’ll definitely be making this again. And I might even increase the amount of sauce since I liked it that much, since you’ll want to serve it with some kind of carb, like rice or mashed potatoes.

Once you brown the pork tenderloin in a skillet (in the whole form), it roasts further in a hot oven. Meanwhile you use the same pan to make the maple mustard sauce, which is very easy. Just have all the ingredients ready when you start and it comes together in a hurry. I’d recommend you serve this with some kind of carb that will soak up some of the sauce, as much of it will puddle on your plate. It’s too good to leave behind. The onion, which still has some texture, gives the dish some crunch. Not raw crunch, but a bit of tooth.

The instructor talked about trichinosis in this class. I learned something else – I knew that trichinosis is not much of a concern anymore, BUT nevertheless you will want to cook the meat enough. Once pork reaches 137 degrees, you’ve killed the bug. So there’s your chemistry and biology lesson of the day.

Cook’s Notes: Be sure to use good quality balsamic for this – the cheap stuff just won’t do. And don’t substitute regular mustard – the mustard seeds are necessary, not only for texture, but because the mustard sauce is less potent. Don’t use anything but real maple syrup. Also, again, I highly recommend the use of a meat thermometer. I won’t roast without it anymore, and rely on it so I don’t overcook anything. I recommend you remove it at 150 degrees, but many might prefer 155. I like it still to have some pink to the meat. Once you let the meat stand for 5 minutes, the temperature will rise on its own.

Pork Tenderloin with Maple-Mustard Sauce

Recipe By: Phillis Carey, cooking instructor, April, 2008

Serving Size: 6

2 pounds pork tenderloin — two whole

2 teaspoons dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion — halved, sliced lengthwise

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup maple syrup — real stuff

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar — aged, not the cheap stuff

3 tablespoons mustard — whole grain style

2 tablespoons green onions — green tops only

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Trim tenderloins of all fat and silverskin.  Season well with dry mustard, salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add pork and brown well on all sides, 6-8 minutes.  Transfer pork to a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.  Let stand for 5 minutes (and internal temp will likely rise to about 155) before slicing on a diagonal.

2.  While pork roasts, add onion to skillet and cook over medium heat until softened and beginning to brown, 3-4 minutes.  Increase heat to medium high and add broth; bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Simmer until reduced to 1/3 cu, about 3-4 minutes.

3.  Add maple syrup, vinegar and mustard, whisking to combine well.  Simmer until thickened and reduced to one cup, 3-4 minutes longer.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and spoon over pork slices to serve sprinkled with green onions.

Per Serving: 291 Calories; 10g Fat (32.9% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 98mg Cholesterol; 299mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

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Calimyrna Figs. Not very good looking, are they?

I do wonder sometimes, how a recipe name evolves? If we look at this from the ethical side, the FDA side, then a food, a dish, should be named for its weight or volume substances, like the nutrition labels must show all the ingredients in descending order. But that doesn’t always tell the right story, does it? Even though Balsamic Vinegar is a very, very small part of this recipe, as you know, it has a very strong flavor. I would guess that’s how this sorbet came to have its name as BALSAMIC Fig Sorbet. But, really, chai tea is a more major ingredient by volume. But, well, is it really? If you just measure the dry chai tea in its bags, it would comprise the next to the last ingredient (balsamic brings up the rear). But when you brew chai tea with WATER, then the chai component becomes hefty. So, maybe this should be called CHAI Fig Balsamic Sorbet. Somehow, that doesn’t have the right ring to it, does it? Or, WATER Chai Balsamic Fig Sorbet. Oh my, much too big a dilemma for my brain this morning.

What I do know for sure, is that this sorbet is something other worldly. It’s sensational. And I really don’t like figs most of the time. My parents had a fig tree in the backyard when I was growing up, and mostly we ate the figs fresh off the tree. My mother made fig jam sometimes from it, and that I didn’t like one bit. I would eat them fresh, though. But my Dad loved Fig Newtons, and I can almost barf thinking of sinking my teeth into those millions of little seeds in a Newton. Yuck. Maybe it was really the jammy, stick goo that’s mixed with the seeds that turned me off of Newtons. So for any number of years I really thought I didn’t like figs. Certainly I didn’t like dried figs from whence Newtons were made. Fresh ones are a bit hard to find these days, although I’ve seen them at our very upscale markets at a very upscale price.

So, I went to a cooking class a few years ago and bingo, Andrew Schloss served this sorbet.

Never would I have prepared this by looking at the recipe or the title. I do drink tea, if you’ve read my post about making a “proper tea,” awhile back, you already know this about me. I like chai tea also. Occasionally I order a chai tea latte at Starbucks. Except they’re too sweet for me. Chai tea all by itself has just a hint of sweetness, a sweet underlayer all by itself provided by all those spieces. It almost doesn’t need any sugar. But I probably wouldn’t have ever purchased the Bengal Spice tea (by Celestial Seasonings) without having it served to me in this sorbet. It is a necessary ingredient, so don’t be tempted to substitute black tea. The sorbet needs this spicy tea component. There may be some other chai teas that would work equally well, however; it’s just that this is what the chef used and I was absolutely delighted with it. You’ll notice this sorbet has a kind of brown tinge. It’s the tea and figs that do it. Well, and the balsamic too. Don’t be turned off by the color. Serve it on a pretty plate or bowl and try a cookie beside it.

I don’t know anything about Andrew Schloss other than the fact that he wrote this cookbook called “Almost From Scratch.” He was an engaging instructor, and I’ve referred to his cookbook several times (of course I bought the cookbook, right?). But this is the recipe that will maintain his name in my brain cells. The book is already out of print. Amazon’s raters gave it 5 stars. Hmm. Maybe I need to go look at that cookbook again for some other ideas.

So unless you just hate the actual taste of figs, or cannot abide chai tea I highly encourage you to try this. I’ve served it several times to family and friends. My suggestion is: don’t tell them what it is. Just tell them it’s a sorbet. Or a chai sorbet. That should be sufficient. The chai tea gives the sorbet this heavenly fragrance. It just roams around amongst your taste buds, then you begin to get the fig (maybe) and then the hint of balsamic. The sorbet doesn’t require an ice cream machine - it’s all done in your freezer and with a food processor. Several times I’ve thought about making this with milk, just to see what it would taste like. Hmm. Then it would be an ice milk, or an ice cream. Or a gelato. Let’s see: Chai Milk Fig Balsamic Gelato. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing boards for recipe names on this one. But either way, the recipe is easy, really. And whatever you name it, make it.Balsamic Fig Sorbet
Recipe from “Almost From Scratch” by Andrew Schloss
Servings: 6
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
3 bags Celestial Seasoning’s Bengal Spice tea bags
6 whole dried figs — Calimyrna type
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the tea bags, remove from the heat and steep for 2 minutes. Remove tea bags.
2. Remove stems from dried figs and add to the hot tea water. Allow to steep for about 20-30 minutes, until figs are soft. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. If using the food processor, place figs in the workbowl, add about 1/4 cup of tea liquid and pulse until figs are completely pureed. Add remaining tea liquid and balsamic vinegar and blend thoroughly.
3. Pour mixture into a shallow pan and freeze until solid, about 4 hours or longer. Cut into cubes and puree in food processor until creamy. Store in a tightly sealed container in the freezer for up to one week. If the mixture should become solid, puree it again before serving.
Serving Ideas : Serve a small portion, and add a cookie or biscotti to the plate.
NOTES : This sounds like a kind of a ho-hum dessert, but it definitely is NOT! The chai tea mixture adds an incredible richness and elegance to the sorbet. The spices in the tea definitely come through. The figs add a viscosity to the sorbet that is unusual (thicker). The color, a kind of beige to brown color, is a little off-putting, but one taste and you’ll be hooked.
Per Serving: 178 Calories; trace Fat (1.1% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 6mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 2 Other Carbohydrates.
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