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.
The addition of curry powder to the chicken salad really punches up the flavor in an unusual but delicious way. The grapes add a sweet pop while the nuts are crunchy and savory. I really like using yogurt along with just a little bit of mayonnaise – there’s enough mayonnaise that it makes the sauce smooth and consistent, but because it’s mostly yogurt it doesn’t pack quite the fatty, caloric punch that chicken salad usually does.
You will need:
•1 pound leftover roasted chicken or 2 chicken breasts
•½ cup greek-style yogurt
•2 T mayonnaise
•2 t curry powder
•¼ cup sliced almonds
•¼ cup pumpkin seeds
•1 cup grapes
•¼ cup cilantro (optional)
If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can poach 2 chicken breasts instead. Bring 2 cups of water or chicken broth to a boil and add the breasts. Let simmer for 8 minutes then cover and move off the heat for 20 minutes or until the breasts have cooked through. Cool completely.
Cut or shred the chicken into ½ inch pieces.
Slice the grapes in half. If using, mince the cilantro.
In a large bowl mix the yogurt, mayonnaise, and curry powder.
In the same bowl, add the chicken, nuts, grapes, and cilantro. Mix until everything is evenly coated. Serve by itself, in a sandwich, or over dressed greens.
This is an easy use for leftover roasted chicken. There’s almost no cooking involved and it comes together really quickly. If you’ve never tried making your own salad dressing before, do it a few times and you’ll be hooked. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pre-made bottle at the store.
The key to making a good salad is using a variety of flavors and textures. Here the chicken is toothsome and savory, the nuts are crunchy, the tomatoes pop and are tart-sweet, and the creamy cheese has a lovely herb top note. This is complemented by the thyme in the salad dressing, which uses lemon juice instead of vinegar for a more subtle acidic component.
You will need:
•Salad greens (not pictured)
•Grape tomatoes
•Leftover roasted chicken
•Walnuts
•Herbed sheep cheese
For the dressing:
•3 T olive oil
•2 T lemon juice
•1 t Dijon mustard
•1 t fresh thyme leaves
Add the walnuts to a small skillet and toast over medium heat. It is important not to leave the kitchen while toasting the walnuts because they will know that you’ve left and burn to spite you. They are done when they smell really delicious and toasty.
While the walnuts are toasting, use your hands to shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Cut the cheese into small pieces. When the walnuts are toasted, chop them into small pieces.
Place all the dressing ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined. Place the salad greens into a large bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss to coat.
Add the tomatoes, chicken, nuts, and cheese. Toss once more to mix, then portion into two bowls and enjoy.
While typically I use packaged chicken stock, I like to take advantage of all the leftovers when I roast a chicken and make homemade stock. It really doesn’t compare to commercially available stock. It’s rich, flavorful, and has incredible body and mouthfeel.
You will need:
•Bones and scraps from 1 roasted chicken
•Water
Put the chicken into a pot and pour in 4 cups of water. Take note of how far up the side of the pan the water comes. Pour in another 2 cups of water (6 cups total). Simmer over very low heat, partially covered, until the stock reduces to 4 cups. This will take 2-3 hours. If the stock reduces too much, just add more water and simmer for at least another 30 minutes. Strain the solids out and let the fat rise to the top. If you have a fat separator, use it to separate the fat from the sock. If you don’t have a fat separator, pour the liquid into a tall, narrow container. Refrigerate until the fat is solid, then remove it with a fork.
This chicken broth makes wonderful chicken soup. Just add shredded leftover chicken and cooked egg noodles.
I saw this recipe posted over on The Kitchn about 2 weeks ago and the write-up was so effusive I went and bought a chicken that night to try it out. It was as incredible as promised – so incredible, I made it again a week later. I think my favorite thing about this recipe is that you can easily get 3 or 4 meals out of it: the night you roast it, an unbelievably rich and flavorful stock for later use, salad with leftover meat, sandwiches with leftover meat, etc. To that end, I’ll post recipes over the next few days using up the leftovers from this chicken.
You will need:
•1 whole chicken
•zest of 2 lemons
•2 cups milk
•2 T butter
•2 T olive oil
•½ cinnamon stick
•handful fresh sage leaves
•1 head of garlic, papery outer skin removed and broken up into cloves with the peel left on
Specialty equipment:
•dutch oven with lid that the chicken will fit in snugly
•gravy separator
Preheat the oven to 375. On the stovetop, melt the butter with the oil in the dutch oven. When the pan is hot and the butter is melted, place the chicken in the pan and brown. When the first side is browned, turn the chicken ¼ turn and brown the next side. Repeat on remaining sides so that the whole chicken is golden brown. Remove the chicken to a plate and empty out the fat.
Return the chicken to the pan breast-side down and add the milk, garlic, zest, cinnamon, and sage. Cover the pan and roast for 1 hour.
Remove the lid and roast for another 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven after it has roasted for a total of 90 minutes. Stand at the stove and pick off the skin and eat it up, sharing it only with people you like a WHOLE LOT.
Remove the chicken to a plate, pull the meat off the bones, and portion between plates. Save the bones for making stock after dinner.
Fish the garlic out from the sauce in the pan and put 2 or 3 on each plate.
Pour the liquid in the pan into a gravy separator. Pour the liquid out into a gravy boat or pitcher, leaving the fat in the separator. There is no need to strain the liquid – the solids from the separated milk and the wilted sage leaves are DELICIOUS.
Set the pan back on the stove and put the bones and all scraps in the pot. Don’t wash the pot – all the little brown sticky bits will give lovely flavor to the stock we’re going to make after dinner.
Serve the chicken with the garlic and roasting liquid.
One of my favorite things about living in London was the food. This surprises most people when I tell them, but it’s true! There has been a revolution in British cooking over the last generation and it’s no longer tough, overcooked meat alongside mushy, flavorless vegetables. In many English homes you’re as likely to find a curry for dinner as you are bangers and mash. The English also make incredible soups and sandwiches – I loved going into Marks and Sparks or Pret A Manger to pick out a sandwich for lunch. What incredible choices! I don’t know who first thought cheese and chutney would be delicious together, but it was a stroke of genius.
A few years ago my parents were making their annual pilgrimage to London and my mom asked what she could get for me. I asked for a soup cookbook because I’ve always loved the ready-made soup in the grocery stores there and I was eager to try some of the flavor combinations myself here at home. She returned with The Soup Bible, which I’ve been using regularly ever since.
This recipe is heavily adapted from the version in the book.
You will need:
• 1 leek
• 2 carrots
• 1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper
• small knob fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup frozen peas (not pictured - oops)
• 3 ounces by weight smooth almond butter
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, packed medium and rinsed well
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup half-and-half or cream
• chicken thigh or breast - between 4 and 8 ounces
Specialty cookware:
• Microplane grater
• Food processor
Begin by cutting up your vegetables. Leeks can be a bit sandy, so you’ll want to wash it out. The best way I’ve seen to do this is to first cut the dark green from the light green and white part, then to make two long cuts 1 inch from the root end toward the top. You should end up with long strips of leek attached at the root. Holding the root end UP, rinse the leek under running water to make sure any sand or dirt are removed. If you hold the root end down the water will drive any dirt between the layers. After washing cut the leek into ½ inch pieces.
Rinse the carrots, then cut off the top and bottom and discard. There is no need to peel the carrot as long as it’s been washed. Cut each carrot in half longitudinally, then into narrow 1/8” half-moons.
Cut the top and bottom off the pepper, then slice it in half longitudinally. Using a paring knife, remove the seeds and ribs and discard. It might be a good idea to wear gloves while handling and cutting the pepper. Once I cut up a jalapeno without gloves then rubbed my eye. It hurt so much I contemplated pulling my eye out as a way to stop the burning. Slice each half into matchsticks, then rotate 90 degrees and cut into fine dice.
Using the microplane, grate a knob of ginger about half the size of your thumb. There is no need to peel the ginger first. You should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 teaspoon of grated ginger.
Mince the garlic and measure out 1 cup of frozen peas.
In a saucepan, melt the butter. When the pan is hot and the butter is bubbling, add the leeks, carrots, ginger, and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the leeks and carrots are moderately soft. Add the garlic and 4 ounces of almond butter and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes more.
While the leek mixture is cooking, cut your chicken into small pieces.
When the leek mixture is soft and smells delicious, scrape it into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the cilantro to the mixture and process until everything is in very very small bits and is an even consistency.
Meanwhile, put the pieces of chicken into your saucepan and put the lid on. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
Scrape down the sides of the food processor. Replace the lid and add the chicken broth through the feed tube in an even stream while the processor is running. Turn it off once all the chicken broth is incorporated.
Tip: most feed tubes have a hollow plunger with a hole in the bottom. Leave the plunger in the feed tube and pour the broth into the plunger. It will come out the hole in the bottom in a steady stream.
Tip: Use a Sharpie to mark on the chicken broth carton how much is remaining. Because this carton holds 4 cups and I used 2, I know that there are 2 cups remaining. Then remember to put the leftover chicken broth in the fridge, because you’ll feel dumb if you come downstairs in the morning and you’ve left the carton of chicken broth you so carefully marked out on the counter all night long. Not that I would know anything about that.
Once the chicken is cooked, pour the contents of the food processor back into the saucepan, taking care not to dump the blade into the pan and splash soup all over yourself. Not that I’ve done that or anything.
Bring the soup back up to a simmer, stirring frequently. When the soup is hot, remove from the heat and stir in the cream or half-and-half. Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro. Serves 3.
To vegetarianize: replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water. Omit chicken or replace with fake chicken.
To veganize: replace butter with olive oil. Replace chicken broth with vegetable broth or water. Omit chicken. Omit cream.
To kosherize: Replace butter with olive oil. Omit cream. Use kosher chicken and chicken broth.
This recipe is my entry for the April 2009 Hobo Monday over at Thursday Night Smackdown. It can be made for $2.22/serving. For more a more detailed cost breakdown, please read this post.
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