This is another of Nadine’s recipes. It’s quick and easy – basically you just throw all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse. It’s a great alternative to tomato-based spicy salsa for people who don’t deal with hot and spicy food well. It has a wonderfully fresh flavor and a beautiful bright green color that will perk up your tacos and tortilla chips.
You will need:
• about 1 lb tomatillos
• ½ white onion
• ½ bunch cilantro
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 1 anaheim pepper
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• juice of 2 limes
• heavy pinch salt
• 2 T white wine vinegar
Remove the outer papery husks from the tomatillos and cut each one in half. Remove the seeds and ribs from the pepper and cut into pieces. Remove the papery skin from the garlic. Wash the cilantro and pick off the leaves. Slice the onion into medium pieces.
Place the onion, garlic, pepper, cilantro, lime juice, salt, vinegar, and cumin in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it’s cut into small bits.
Add the tomatillos and process until they’re mostly pulverized. Taste for seasoning and add whatever you think it needs more of to be delicious – lime juice, cumin, salt, vinegar, etc. Serve with tacos, tortilla chips, enchiladas, or whatever floats your boat.
This sauce is a lot healthier than many creamy sauces because it’s largely yogurt rather than mayo. It’s great with tacos of all sorts, but I think it would also be lovely with french fries or oven-baked potato wedges. It has a wonderful smokey flavor and a moderate heat that will perk up whatever you pair it with.
You will need:
• ½ cup Greek-style yogurt
• 2 T mayonnaise
• 1 t adobo sauce, from a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
Method:
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix. Keeps well in the fridge, but will need to be stirred before use.
Nadine and I first met over ten years ago when she was my 8th grade earth science teacher and I was her 6th period TA. The next year she coached the Science Olympiad team and a few years later, when she left to teach at another school, we continued to be friends. We lost touch when I left for college, but recently reconnected through Facebook. She has always been a wonderful cook – very intuitive and creative. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her use a recipe book, though she does have a couple on her kitchen bookshelf. Hospitality is never in short supply at Nadine’s house; I know when I see her I will leave with a full belly and a warm heart.
On a recent weeknight I visited Nadine and her family and she made these INCREDIBLE chicken tacos for dinner. She says that they’re easy to make. I don’t disagree, but I will add the caveat that there is a fair amount of prep work involved. The great thing about tacos is you can do almost all of the prep in advance (that morning, the night before, etc) or you can farm it out to kids/guests so you can get dinner on the table pretty quickly. You can also buy a lot of the ingredients pre-prepped (like coleslaw mix instead of a head of cabbage, or pre-grated cheese). The upside is that it’s faster and easier, the downside is that it’s often more expensive and may not taste as good or be as healthy.
You will need:
•1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
•½ onion, diced (save the other half for the salsa verde)
•3-4 cloves garlic, minced
•splash white wine
•½ head cabbage, finely sliced
•1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Nadine swears by the Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp, but I really didn’t taste a huge difference between that and the Organic Valley Sharp Cheddar)
•18-24 corn tortillas
•1 avocado, diced
•½ bunch cilantro, minced
•pumpkin or squash puree (optional, but delicious)
•1 lime, cut into wedges
•salsa verde (recipe will be posted tomorrow)
Begin by heating some olive oil in a large cast iron pan. When the pan is hot add the garlic and onions. When the onions have softened and the garlic is fragrant, push them to the sides of the pan and add the chicken thighs. When they’re cooked on one side, use tongs or a metal turner to flip them. When they’re mostly cooked through, use a metal turner to cut them into small pieces in the pan. When the chicken is fully cooked, add a good-sized splash of white wine and stir to coat. Remove the chicken to a bowl.
Add some more olive oil to the pan and put in 3 corn tortillas. Put a few tablespoons of cheese on the inside half of each of the tortillas, and then add some pumpkin puree (if using).
Let the cheese get a little melty, then add a couple tablespoons of chicken to each tortilla.
Spoon in some salsa verde, sprinkle on some cilantro, squeeze in a lime wedge, and add some avocado to each tortilla.
Fold each tortilla in half toward the center of the pan.
When the tortilla is cooked to crispy on the bottom side and the cheese is oozy, turn each taco over by flipping to the outside of the pan. Let cook for about a minute more, then remove to a plate. Stuff each taco with cabbage and eat right away while hot and ooey gooey cheesy.
I’m always excited when asparagus arrives in the grocery stores and farmers market stalls in the spring. When I was a kid I thought that I hated asparagus, but I discovered a few years ago that asparagus is DELICIOUS and I just didn’t like the way my parents prepared it: boiled and served plain. Yeesh.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make delicious asparagus in about the same time that boiling it takes, and the end result will be both tastier and more nutritious – cooking vegetables in water leeches out vitamins.
You will need:
•1-2 bunches of asparagus
•2 tablespoons butter
•1 tablespoon olive oil
•1-2 shallots, minced
•1 tablespoon lemon juice
•1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
•1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1-2 tablespoons capers, drained
Begin by washing your asparagus, then snapping off the tough ends. Chop or snap each spear into 2” pieces.
In a skillet or sauté pan, melt the butter and heat the olive oil. When the fat is hot but not smoking, add the shallot and soften for about 1 minute.
Add the asparagus to the pan and stir. Cook over medium-high heat until the asparagus bright green and tender-crisp. Add the lemon juice and the mustard and stir. Cook for about 30 more seconds, then add the dill or capers and stir again. Serve immediately.
To veganize, replace the butter with olive oil.
This is a super quick and easy lunch. I really like it because it has lots of deliciousness and no filler – every bite is full of the “good stuff.” It’s not like when you eat a salad and you have to ration the toppings so that there’s a bit in each bite and you don’t end up with all lettuce at the end.
I threw this together in about 10 minutes, including taking the pictures. If you have everything on hand you can be eating lunch in 5 minutes.
You will need:
• medium-sized avocado
• 2 to 4 ounces of cooked salad shrimp
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Place the halves cut side up on a plate.
In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil, lime juice, and honey together. If the honey isn’t whisking in well, stick the bowl (NOT the whisk) in the microwave for 10 seconds, then whisk. When the dressing has come together, dump in the shrimp and toss to coat.
Spoon the shrimp into the hollows of the avocado and pile the rest on the plate. Drizzle any dressing left in the bowl over the avocado. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.
Rhubarb is often the first fruit available in the spring. It has a wonderful tart flavor and a beautiful pink color that is fresh and vernal. Though the flowers of the plant are toxic, the stalks are delicious. This tart really highlights the flavor of the rhubarb and is easy to throw together. It’s wonderful fresh out of the oven or served at room temperature and makes a good accompaniment to good vanilla ice cream.
You will need:
• 2 large stalks rhubarb
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• ½ cup sugar
• juice of 2 lemons
• 6-8 strawberries (optional)
Begin by defrosting the puff pastry. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s where it comes in a square sheet, but at most grocery stores it is sold in a narrower and thicker box and the sheets inside are folded in thirds. To defrost, place the sheet on the counter for 15 to 30 minutes, turning over if the bottom is soft and the top is still frozen.
While the pastry is defrosting, prepare the rhubarb. Begin by washing each stalk and cutting off the top and bottom. Turn the stalk on its side so that the convex part is facing sideways and you’re balancing the rhubarb on its edge. Using a VERY SHARP knife, cut the rhubarb into 1/8” slices at a 45 degree angle. The pile on the left was cut with a dull knife, and the pile on the right was cut with a sharp knife. Note that the rhubarb cut with the sharp knife is neater and the pile on the left is almost shredded.
Juice the lemons and mix the juice with the sugar. Toss the rhubarb with the juice and sugar and let sit for at least 10 minutes. While the rhubarb is macerating, prepare the pastry.
(Sorry for the blurry photo.)
By now the pastry should be defrosted. If you have the kind that is folded in thirds, unfold it, taking care not to crack it along the fold. Use your fingers to gently press the pastry back together along the fold lines, but do not knead it. Cut the pastry in half longitudinally, then roll out on a well-floured surface to 2/3 to ½ its original thickness.
Using a paring knife, score the pastry about ½ inch from the edges all the way around. Use a fork and poke holes in the pastry inside the box you just drew with the knife. This is called docking the crust, and it will prevent it from puffing up where you’ve poked holes. Do not poke holes in the outer edge.
Lay the rhubarb out on the pastry just inside the score line, slightly overlapping pieces. Use about half the rhubarb. Repeat with the second piece of pastry. Place both tarts on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the tart is lovely and golden brown around the edges and the bottom of the tart is also golden brown if you lift it up carefully to have a peek underneath.
Best served warm with vanilla ice cream, but is also good room temperature for breakfast the next morning.
Optional strawberry variation: slice strawberries into pieces, and alternate with the rhubarb when layering. There is no need to macerate the strawberries in the juice and sugar as they’re sweet already. Bake just as for original tart.
I used to think that Ranch dressing was something that only came in a bottle. The idea of making my own at home never crossed my mind. At the very least, you had to buy a packet of “ranch dressing mix” and combine it with mayonnaise and buttermilk. Until recently it never occurred to me that the contents of the packet were spices that I could combine myself at home.
Because this recipe uses fresh herbs it tastes better than bottled dressing. And because it uses yogurt to replace half the mayonnaise it’s healthier than ranch dressing. It’s so easy to make, you’ll never buy the stuff in a bottle again.
You will need:
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup greek-style yogurt
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Mix all ingredients together. Serve. Extra dressing will keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
In my estimation, there’s no reason to ever buy salad dressing in a bottle from the store. Not only is it easy to make salad dressing at home, it’s often healthier, it tastes better, and it’s much cheaper.
Let’s take a look at a few common dressings. Today we'll make he easiest one to put together, and the one that I use most frequently: vinaigrette. To make basic vinaigrette you’ll need three ingredients: oil, acid, and emulsifier.
The oil is easy: olive, canola, sesame, peanut, soy, etc. If you’re using a strongly flavored oil such as sesame, consider mixing it with a neutral oil like canola.
For the acid, I typically use vinegar or citrus juice. You can use any type of vinegar – balsamic, wine, rice, or whatever your favorite is. I also like to make flavored vinegar by microwaving a few tablespoons of plain white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar with a teaspoon or two of dried herbs for 15 seconds. Let it cool completely, strain, and Presto! You have tarragon (or oregano, or whatever) vinegar.
An emulsifier is a substance that holds fat and water together. When making salad dressing, the ones you’ll typically use are egg yolk, mustard, or honey.
To make the vinaigrette, mix 3 parts oil with 1 part acid and about ½ part emulsifier. For 2 servings, you’ll want to make about 4 tablespoons total, so use 3 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 1 or 2 teaspoons of emulsifier. Whisk it all together. If the mixture appears to be separating, add more emulsifier and whisk some more.
If you like you can add other flavoring agents like minced herbs or spices, but you don’t have to. Add salt and pepper to taste, then toss with your greens and serve.
Note: if you’re leery of using raw egg yolk, you can coddle it to reduce the risk of food poisoning. Bring a small pot of water to boil, then put the whole egg in the water for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon, crack, and use your fingers to separate out the yolk. It will not be cooked through, but it will be slightly safer. You should also choose the freshest, most local eggs you can get your hands on. I use Steibr’s Farm Organic Cage-Free eggs, which are local to Seattle.
Tomorrow: Buttermilk Ranch! It’s delicious, and made with yogurt!
Sometimes I will make a recipe that calls for lemon zest but not lemon juice, like the incredible roasted chicken from last week. When this is the case, instead of chucking the "naked" lemons in the fridge where they will inevitably be forgotten and go bad, i juice them right after I'm done zesting them. I portion the juice into an ice-cube tray putting 1 tablespoon of juice in each cube, then freeze. When I need lemon juice for baking, salad dressing, or cooking I don't even need to measure - I just pop out as many cubes as I need. This juice tastes MUCH better than bottled juice and I don't always have to keep fresh lemons on hand.
I'm starting a new feature here at Emily's Hot Dish. Guest Chef Mondays: Wherein I Convince Other People To Do The Blogging For Me. Our inaugural guest chef is my dad, George. He stayed at home with my brother and I while my mom went to work, so I grew up leaning to cook from him. My earliest memory is sitting on the kitchen counter while he cooked dinner, watching as he added things to the pots on the stove. At the time it seemed like alchemy; he has the wonderful skill of being able to go into a fridge that others find nothing worth eating in and 30 minutes later there's a delicious meal on the table. Chickpeas and blueberries in a salad? Oddly delicious.
He writes:
OMG! TBO! . . . NSM.
I was reading through the March issue of Esquire a couple of weeks back when I turned to page 106 and actually said to myself, “Oh Em Gee, Tee Bee Oh.” There was a picture of a stack of Banana Bread French Toast. My mother, Emily’s grandmother, the home-ec teacher, mom of the 50s and no-nonsense Midwestern cook had a failsafe recipe for banana bread that she passed to me. If you’ve got buttermilk and at least three old bananas, you’re in pig heaven. She said it was really banana cake but if you called it banana bread you could eat more of it. Practical, my mother. So, I like banana bread.
And I like French toast. All the better since A) we came across the Cooks’ Illustrated version of French toast dip with milk, sugar, and egg, of course, but also melted butter, flour, and vanilla, and B) we decided to (actually, Emily suggested that we) make it with Italian panettone instead of bread. This is not difficult living in Italy, as we do, and makes really amazing French toast.
But not like in the Esquire picture. I mean, French toast made of banana bread? With syrup and lemon-flavored sour cream on top? It just screams “TBO”.
When we lived in Germany our family friend Trudy was visiting us. A day with her was like three with a mere mortal. She made things funnier, events more significant, and life more special. We were cooking, talking, and recording a tape to her brother who was out at sea and we got to the chocolate soufflé portion of the evening. It came out rather well and upon the first mouthful Trudy exclaimed, “Oh. My. God. Major TBO.”
An Army major? Time Between Overhauls? I must have looked puzzled as she translated: “TBO? -- Taste Bud Orgasm.”
Ahhhhh, it made perfect sense. The soufflé met the description so much so that we decided we should really make another just to prove the first wasn’t a mistake. And the term entered our family’s lexicon.
And seemed to fit the concept of Banana Bread French Toast. I mean, what’s not to like? Bananas, walnuts, butter and sugar, then everything French-toasty, then syrup and then sour cream whipped with lemon zest. . . the sum just had to be better than the parts, and all of the parts were really good to start.
Plus, it was an Esquire recipe. Esquire is a men’s magazine but not a “cheesecake mag.” It has more pictures of male Italian models wearing $3000 suits without socks than any undressed women. But it does do one thing well every so often: recipes that appeal to guys.
Which is why I thought I’d give the Banana Bread French Toast a try. So we did. Karine and Stuart, our upstairs neighbors, were having Eva and Jose over and Stuart’s sister was visiting so we thought it was a perfect opportunity to test-drive a new recipe. They are friends that deserve something really special but will laugh and forgive you if it’s a spectacular failure.
And it was good. Really good. But not great. Banana-y, walnutty, French toasty, sour creamy? Yup, all those things. Did the masses clamor for more? You bet they did, and demanded the recipe, too.
But OMG, TBO? Not So Much.
A lot of flavor there, but somehow it didn’t all come together. It didn’t seem as if we’d done it wrong, it just seemed like there were a lot of separate flavors on the plate. Good. OK, very good. But not great.
Maybe we just expected too much.
Give it a try and see what you think.
Helen’s Banana Bread
½ Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
2 well beaten eggs
3 mashed bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ Cup buttermilk
2 Cups sifted flour
½ Cup chopped pecans or walnuts(or not)
**********************************************
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and bananas and blend.
Add and blend the buttermilk
Sift together flour and soda
Add banana cream and blend.
Pour into floured loaf pan.
350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
The top should be brown and cracking, the sides should be just starting to pull away. Test center with spaghetti at 50 minutes. It should come out bone dry when done.
French Toast Batter
1 egg
2 TSP melted butter
¾ Cup milk
1 TBS Vanilla Extract
2 TBS Sugar
1/3 Cup flour
Pinch salt
*****************************************
Beat egg. Whisk in butter, milk, vanilla, sugar, flour, and salt.
Do not refrigerate, trust me on this. The butter solidifies, separates out, clumps up, and ruins your morning.
Just heat your pan (cast iron or pancake griddle), butter it, turn to medium heat, and fry your toast. First, of course, soak your bread for a couple of seconds. The original recipe suggests you soak it for 30 seconds or more. That assumes you are using a yeast bread that has some tensile strength. Banana bread, however, is a heavy cake that when wet, tends to fall apart easily. Dip it with your whole hand and remove it using your spread fingers to support the entire slice. Once it’s on the griddle, you’re OK.
The Esquire Suggestion
Before frying the toast, whip some sour cream with the zest of a lemon or two. Esquire claims that artificial (Mrs. Butterworth’s) syrup is better in that it is thicker on the toast and plate. Real syrup is thinner and soaks in. This is, of course, heresy, foolish, and totally wrong. And with all these flavors on the plate maybe it’s just possible that you couldn’t tell the difference, but why take the chance?
Toast on the warm plate, a dollop of lemony sour cream, and syrup over everything.
If you’re serving it to guests, pretend you do this all the time.
If you're interested in Guest Cheffing, leave a comment or shoot me an email. All are welcome.
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