June, 2011

  1. Spring Roll Salad

    June 20, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    I love Crescent Dragonwagon’s cookbook The Passionate Vegetarian. I have said that before and I will say it again. It is a fab book. (and yes, I bought it on my own and no she didn’t pay me to say so. It is just a great cookbook.)

    I also admit to being lazy in the kitchen. While I love Vietnamese Spring Rolls, I am not so hot about rolling them after the first couple. Enter my adaptation of her “Quasi-Vietnamese Spring Rolls” into a salad. (This page is seriously battered and stained in my copy of the cookbook-all of you know that means it is a seriously good recipe worth revisiting.) The first time was a mistake. We had extra salad and no child left willing to roll them into spring rolls. I ended up dumping the extra dipping sauce onto the leftovers and calling it done. It made a fine salad and lasted a few days in the fridge. So here is the secret…now, unless I want to be fancy about it…I skip the rolling into spring rolls part altogether.

    Try it. It is an easy, light refreshing vegetarian meal or side dish.

    10 leaves crisp romaine lettuce-cut into slices
    3 green onions, roots removed, slice whites and green
    About 3/4 cup fresh mint leaves (we tend to leave this out since my mother won’t do mint)
    1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (wash well! Cilantro is some dirty stuff I heard lately)
    About 1 cup Thai basil leaves (ok, I cheat here too and end up with whatever basil I can get my hands on)
    2 coarsely shredded carrots (I use a small bag of pre-shredded carrots–like I said lazy)
    1 package Thai style tofu cut into 1/4 inch strips. I can’t find this around here and end up draining firm tofu, throwing some 5 spice powder on it and baking it for about 30 min. Tempeh works too.
    3 oz bean thread noodles
    1/4 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

    Follow the directions to cook the bean thread noodles. (usually soak in hot water for about 10 minutes or drop into boiling water for 2 minutes–super fast and easy) Break them up or chop them afterwards or they get too bunchy in the salad.

    Mix the other ingredients. Add in noodles.

    Dressing
    This is a blend between the Vietnamese restaurant style dipping sauce and Light Savory Dipping Sauce in the cookbook.

    2 parts hoisin sauce
    1 part sriracha sauce (Rooster Sauce)
    1/2 cup rice vinegar
    1/3 cup Tamari or Soy sauce
    1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
    1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
    A healthy teaspoon of chopped garlic

    Stir together until smooth. Taste and play with it a bit until it suits your taste. You may want to add a bit of sugar or lemon juice.

    Toss with salad and refrigerate until serving. That’s it–all the taste of spring rolls with none of the fussiness.

    Category retro food | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Pearl Couscous Salad

    June 19, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    I made a salad tonight on the fly for dinner. It turned out well and was one of those cases where luck played into it.

    I received a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pearled Couscous while at BlogHer Food. I love couscous but had never dealt with pearled couscous. Bob’s Red Mill didn’t tell me to blog about it and is definitely not responsible for any disasters with my preparation of this dish.

    I peeked at the back of the bag and there was a recipe for a pesto couscous dish with zucchini. That was out. No zucchini–and I wanted something cold anyway. Ok, I thought, I will ignore that recipe and use what I have–this couscous, pesto, some cherry tomatoes and some mushrooms.

    First step: Throw 2 cups of couscous and the amount of water prescribed into rice steamer. Directions for cooking pearled couscous looked suspiciously like rice which I can NOT cook stove top.

    Discover rice cooker has died and the symptoms of death I noticed last night were not in fact aberrant oddities. Did the usual unplug, check the outlet, replug, blah! Maybe uttered a few mild curses.

    Dump couscous in pot on stove. Turned it on medium. Covered. Set timer. Walked away. Ignored any other directions. Smelled burning popcorn smell. Went to check and indeed couscous has burned to bottom and sides of pan. The rest was salvageable. The whole house starts to smell like a teenager has burned popcorn.

    Chopped tomatoes in half, sliced mushrooms, stirred in tub of pesto. Tasted. Not quite right. Chopped a large onion-a bit strong but perfect.
    I tossed it in the fridge for an hour. Served dinner. Pearled couscous was delicious and NOT at all messy like “typical couscous.”

    I should have used less onion and there could have been more mushrooms and tomatoes but on the whole–super fab and easy main dish dinner. It was a nice change of pace from pasta salads.

    I may have lost another pot over the cooking, but if you can cook rice or just follow directions, I think you are safe.

    Category retro food | Tags: | 1 Comment

  3. Breast of Chicken Perigourdine

    June 6, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    I don’t know about you, but cooking isn’t high on my list right now. With end of the school year activities and the unpredictable heat, cooking is more assembling something for dinner with as little heat as possible.

    If you happen to run the air conditioner and need a company dish–this one from my great-grandmother’s files works as a lovely fancy dish. Use fresh truffles and mushrooms if your farmer’s market is in season and has them. (Our farmer’s market woefully doesn’t start until the LAST Sunday in June.) The recipe truly does forgive all types of mushrooms. The result: a rich and delicious dish to feed your guests.

    Breast of Chicken Perigourdine

    8 whole chicken breasts
    1 can condensed chicken broth, undiluted
    1/4 cup dried mushrooms
    1/2 cup water
    2 canned truffles, cut up
    3 tablespoons dry sherry
    butter or margarine
    8 large mushrooms, sliced
    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    2 tablesp0on light cream
    2 egg yolks
    Dash cayenne
    1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
    1 tablespoon lemon juice

    Bone the chicken bones (or have your butcher do it.) Simmer bones in chicken broth, covered, about 1 hour. (or substitute your rich chicken stock of choice) Discard bones. Let dried mushrooms stand in water 1 hour and the truffles in sherry for an hour. In a small amount of butter in your large oven safe skillet, brown chicken breasts on both sides, adding butter as needed. Remove. Add more butter to skillet and saute sliced mushrooms until golden, remove.

    Into drippings in same skillet, stir flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, dried mushrooms plus liquid, 1 cup chicken broth (add water if necessary, to make 1 cup), light cream. Cook, stirring, over medium heat till thickened and smooth.

    Place chicken breasts in sauce and simmer gently, covered, about 2o min or until chicken is tender. Add truffles with sherry and drained, sauteed mushrooms.

    Meanwhile preheat broiler 1o min. Make hollandaise sauce; beat egg yolks in small bowl till thick; add 1/4 teaspoon salt and cayenne. Add 1/4 cup melted butter, about 1 teaspoon at a time, beating constantly. Combine remaining 1/4 cup melted butter and lemon juice. Slowly add, about 2 teaspoons at a time to yolk mixture, beating constantly. Spread over chicken. Run under the broiler a few minutes to brown. Makes 8 servings.

    Category Poultry, Recipes, retro food | Tags: | No Comments

  4. They Sent Me a Book for Free

    June 6, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    BlogHer Book Club Reviewer

    And I got to review it! Woo-hoo! My kind of life!

    I read A Jane Austen Education for the BlogHer Book Club and had a bit to say. Go read my review! Comment! A Jane Austen Education for Me? Maybe…a bit of one at least.

    Category Book Reviews | Tags: | No Comments

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