What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Question: Hearts of palm. Is it anything other than wet? I've never noticed any flavor in this vegetable.

I really liked the ones Trader Joe's sold, but I have not found them there lately. To me, they are similar to artichoke or white asparagus and go well with salads in a good vinaigrette. The pair well with avocados. I have used them to thicken up a soup instead of cream. I hear they are using them to make a gluten free pasta, but have not seen it in stores yet. Also, they are high in zinc, potassium, magnesium and a host of aminos that your body uses to repair tissue damage. Here is a recipe I have used and like.

Spinach Salad with Hearts Of Palm, Oranges, and Avocado Dressing
From: Celebrating the Seasons by John Littlewood
This salad is as healthful as it is beautiful. The avocado dressing contains no added oil, the spinach and citrus fruits are high in vitamins, and the hearts of palm contribute a tropical note.
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS
• Avocado dressing (recipe follows)
• 1 (14-ounce) can hearts of palm, drained
• 3/4 pound baby spinach
• 2 oranges, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion


DIRECTIONS
1. Make Avocado dressing.

2. Trim hearts of palm: look for discolored outer sections on the tube-like hearts. As with onions, outer layers can be fibrous and tough; remove and discard any tough layers. Slice hearts into 1/8 -inch "coins"

3. Place baby spinach in a large bowl and toss with just enough dressing to lightly coat.
Arrange orange chunks around spinach, and place hearts of palm and green onions on top.


AVOCADO DRESSING
This is one of my favorite dressings: silky smooth, full-bodied yet delicate, and a cinch to make.
Makes 1 cup

Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup ripe avocado (about 3/4 of a Hass avocado)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• Small pinch of cayenne pepper


Directions
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for 5 seconds, until smooth.

NOTES:
• This dressing is fairly thick and will thicken more as it sits. Thin with a little water if necessary.
• I've found this dressing to be a good match with almost any type of greens.
• This dressing provides a good way of using up leftover guacamole; substitute an equal amount of guacamole for the avocado. Taste before adding cayenne pepper.

[Jenise]

Question: Hearts of palm. Is it anything other than wet? I've never noticed any flavor in this vegetable.

The flavor is very similar to canned artichokes and asparagus as Karen noted--good call, Karen. The value is mostly textural, and I do like them. Weren't they virtually unknown in the U.S. until Neiman-Marcus famously made a salad out of them in the 60's?

Thanks, Karen. I like the look of that dressing!

Hm, use HoP to thicken soups and sauces....

[Jenise]

Roasted a duck last night; best duck I've ever made. Have in the past followed various recipes from Julia and the like, but this time I went freestyle, paid no attention to anyone except my own instincts with a nod to the Zuni Cafe method of salting a chicken 24 hours in advance and leaving it open in the refrigerator so that the skin can dry. I did that, and added Chinese Five Spice powder to the cavity so that as the salt worked it's way into the flesh it took something I love with it. And secondarily, before popping it into the oven I held a dinner fork sideways and poked a lot of holes in the skin for the fat release.

Roasted this puppy for a total of an hour and half. The resulting duck was well done but juicy, and the skin crackled delectably. Separately I made a sauce that was half and half beef and chicken broth, fino sherry, and a spoonful of duck fat thickened with corn starch and into which, just before serving, I added a handful of fresh blueberries, and also on the plate and under the duck meat were thinly sliced red potatoes browned in a skillet. It was as pretty as it was delicious.

I saved all the bones and will turn that into a stock that will reduce into a sauce for ravioli made from the rest of the duck meat.

Hearts of Palm Soup

YIELD: 8 bowls
INGREDIENTS
1Tbs butter
2 cans heart of palm
1 shallot chopped
1 clove garlic
1 chipotle + 1-2 tsp adobo (remove seeds)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
PREPARATION
Melt butter in a sauce pan. Sauté shallot and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add all other ingredients except
cream. Boil for 10 minutes Add cream and stir. In batches, blend the soup until smooth

Jenise, what you did is not that far off from the classic Cantonese style of roast duck--the kind you see hanging up in the windows of Chinatown shops.

-Paul W.

I shredded the rest of the chicken breast from my rotisserie chicken, and made Chipotle Chicken and Tomato Soup. It has onions, garlic, cumin, kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, chicken stock, and Hatch chilis cut up. I am going to add a little Plump Soup Barley from a local grain mill. It is served with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro on top. My dinner tonight!

Baby back pork ribs done in the oven, baby red potato salad with fresh rosemary, lemon juice, and zest, sundried tomatoes, and a little oil from the jar, red wine vinegar, Dijon, garlic, and fresh parsley. Corn on the cob,(no butter, I like it plain) and slices of browned Graffiti eggplant, topped with homemade tomato sauce and Fontina Cheese, then into the oven to melt cheese.
I bought green onions from the Farmer's that are unique and taste so different. I may add a little to the potato salad. Served at room temp.

[Jenise]

What a feast you had, Karen. Love that.

Last night I made a British-ish dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth. I didn't have the pastry with which to make Beef Wellingtons, but I had the other pieces so we started with Pink gin martinis with seared foie gras on sourdough toast points. The main course that followed was tiny 5 ounce filet mignons pan-roasted then topped with sliced mushrooms simmered til almost dry in brandy and cream atop a bed of asparagus--paired that with a Canadian bordeaux blend.

All of that was pretty wonderful. Btw, the asparagus? I have never purchased frozen asparagus in my life, but picked up this pkg at Trader Joe's a week or so ago thinking they'd do for a pesto I wanted to make. I cooked the rest last night (spread out on a plate, lightly salted and MW'd dry for two minutes)--and wow. I shall never be without frozen asparagus again! This is a great product and the season for fresh is way too short.

Your dinner sounds amazing Jenise. As for the asparagus, it is available fresh all year long here, at least in our neighborhood market. I prefer the thicker asparagus so never buy in spring when it is pencil thin or thinner.
Did you watch The Kitchen yesterday? Their kitchen hacks were fun. Who thought of using a panini press to char veggies, such as brussels sprouts, asparagus, etc. Geoffrey cooked salmon in a microwave and said never again will he use an oven for salmon. Wow! He put out a beautiful salmon and asparagus meal in mere minutes.

[Jenise]

South American countries, Peru in particular, have figured out how to produce asparagus year-round, but at $6-8/lb for often iffy quality (frost-britten, yellowed and woody, flavorless) I'm not a buyer. So we go without. Frozen, for me, is the better option now that I realize how good it is.

[Jenise]

Not cooking at home today. We've been invited over to a neighbor's for huli huli chicken. To be nice, and out of self-defense, I volunteered to bring a cole slaw (which will have a see-through dressing). I'll add macadamia nuts and slivers of mango to it to make it island-y.

I love Huli Huli Chicken served with coconut rice and grilled fresh pineapple rings. Really a pretty dish.

[Jenise]

Last night, dinner was just a tomato salad. A full-plate serving with toast on the side, but in this heat and smoke we're dealing with here nothing else appealed.

When we got home from France there was an error message on our 5 year old range, lock engaged and it wouldn't go off. Repairman came, said it needed new lock mechanism (why didn't bring, since we had described what problem was?), came back yesterday so first oven in a week. I made a quick Momofuko sheetpan recipe- sauce is 2/3 cup gochujang, 1/3 cup shoyu, 2 T chili crunch, 2 T honey, and ½ cup of olive oil Brush some sauce on wedges of Savoy cabbage, toss chicken in sauce, roast, then finish to char slightly under broiler. Fun .

[Jenise]

When we got home from France there was an error message on our 5 year old range, lock engaged and it wouldn't go off. Repairman came, said it needed new lock mechanism (why didn't bring, since we had described what problem was?), came back yesterday so first oven in a week. I made a quick Momofuko sheetpan recipe- sauce is 2/3 cup gochujang, 1/3 cup shoyu, 2 T chili crunch, 2 T honey, and ½ cup of olive oil Brush some sauce on wedges of Savoy cabbage, toss chicken in sauce, roast, then finish to char slightly under broiler. Fun .

I want that!

I have a well seasoned Tri-tip, Mexican spices, lime, it will go into the slow cooker on top of a bed of sautéed onion, garlic and Mexican Oregano. Beef stock, Worcestershire sauce a little soy sauce, and jalapeño pickle juice for the liquid and will cook slowly for about 6 hours. Chili spiced sweet potato fries, roasted in the oven and a side of grilled asparagus drizzled with balsamic. A trip to the Farmer's Market this morning might change things up a bit. I will serve as it for tonight and tomorrow shredding and putting back into the sauce, served in Bolillo rolls, with pickled jalapeño slices.

I wanted something simple to prepare so I made Paul Prudhomme's Poor Man's Jamabalaya last night. Minimalist ingredients (simple seasoning mix, andouille, tasso, Cajun Holy Trinity, garlic, rice, stock) and straightforward prep (veggies added only once during cooking). And delicious result.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Night before last I had a gorgeous Chuck Roast from Costco to deal with. I had a plan for it on Tuesday that got put off for Wednesday, and then an awful day Wednesday that prevented me from getting home in time to do any long-cooking, so on Thursday night, up against the wall, I broke it down into two pieces. Half got roasted with potatoes, carrots and onions in the style of my mother's Pot Roast, which I hated as a child but love now. And half got cut up and browned as the beginning to a Malaysian curry since I happened to have two stalks of fresh lemon grass and most of a can of coconut milk on hand. This is a Milk Street recipe I've been wanting to try anyway. We didn't eat all of the pot roast, but again, that was part of the plan--I shredded the remainder and that will become beef/potato/jalapeno tacos.

Tonight we'll probably have fish, since we'll be down in the next county where the good seafood store is getting our next Moderna boosters.

Working our way through a meat mound still. I'll fire up the grill tomorrow: pork chops, franks, swordfish, fingerlings, and a vegetable mix. We'll eat the chops right away, keep the swordfish for Monday (when we have an inconvenient stream scheduled) and back to meat loaf for Tuesday (when Pumpkin goes to visit his mom). Salmon on Wednesday, as always, then whatever is left for Thursday (a regularly-scheduled all-night stream for Pumpkin, mixed opportunity for me... peace and quiet, wines, gaming).

My Saturday trip to Farmer's Market was a discovery into some fun veggies. Fairytale eggplant, Jimmy Nardello peppers, and an array of other peppers, some I knew of and others I did not. I also came home with another bag of baby zucchini, squashes, all shapes and colors. Since I eat lots of salads and or veggies for lunches, I tossed a good amount of my purchase into a bowl and tossed with Fresh Garlic Oil, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. Then I browned quickly in a pan. Had some for dinner and the rest will be eaten in the next few days. We have a grower from Red Gate Ranch in Red Bluff, who have a very artistic booth. They also have meat for sale, but it is super expensive, yet they have a huge following. I also bought Thai chili still on the long stems. Great with the veggies for flavoring, but some are too hot to really eat. They always bring beautiful bundles of fresh herbs, most of which I grow myself. Their garlic is purple tinged and awesome. This year they have branched out to unusual, to me, produce. Delicata squash was there too, will pick that up next week.

[Jenise]

Sounds lovely, Karen. You have a nice long season down there. We're already getting nightly lows in the 40's so our time is about up.

I did go on a seafood splurge yesterday, though. Fresh mahi mahi, the likes of which I never see in these parts. Made it last night for dinner--miso crusted, pan fried, on green beans roasted with garlic and sesame oil. Also fresh dayboat scallops and cooked crab, which we'll have today. The scallops might become a ceviche with fresh small tomatoes from my garden. When I say small, they're about the size and shape of a large pecan nut. Red with gold stripes, tough skin (but crunchy! I love that) and the sweetest inner flesh I maybe ever encountered in a tomato. Would be fun food for football watching--just graze all afternoon, skip dinner.

Tonight I'm making a Thai green curry with chicken, bell peppers, and cauliflower. I'll be throwing in some green peppercorns and kaffir lime leaves as well.

-Paul W.