Manhattan Clam Chowder: zesty, cozy, bacon free

21 May

A Margarita glass makes for a novel soup presentation. Nota bene: The glass should be sturdy!

I make several versions of “Manhattan Clam Chowder,” none of which is particularly authentic, but then again, this is a soup named for Manhattan. Of all places in the world, this is the one where everyone belongs and everyone is unique, if not downright quirky. So consider this a mandate to scoff at tradition and do it your way.

This version doesn’t use bacon and relies heavily on vegetable gusto.

Manhattan Clam Chowder (without bacon)

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 cup onion, peeled and chopped fine

3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine

½ cup red pepper, chopped fine

½ Cup carrot, peeled and chopped (first in quarters lengthwise, then in thin slices)

½ Cup celery stalks, peeled and sliced into small chunks

Two medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½ inch squares

4 cups vegetable juice (low sodium preferred)*

1 bay leaf

Four 5.5 oz cans of chopped clams, juices reserved

1 Tbs dried oregano (2 Tbs fresh, chopped)

1 Tbs dried parsley (2 Tbs fresh, chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot at medium high until fragrant and very liquid. Stir in onions to coat, lower heat to medium and add red pepper and garlic. Cook an additional minute. Add carrots and celery and cook until beginning to get tender, about five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add potatoes and stir to coat, then add vegetable juice, bay leaf, and reserved clam juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add clams, oregano, and parsley and cook for an additional five minutes. Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Serve with oyster crackers or saltines and spike with sriracha, Tabasco or other red pepper-based hot sauce.

*If you happen to have an additional bottle of clam juice in the pantry, you may substitute a cup of the vegetable juice with the bottled clam juice to pump up the briny flavor

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Baked Chicken Tenders (with hint of curry option!)

19 May

The best defense is a good offense, even when it comes to protecting your family from encroaching fast-food predilections. So I keep trying to build a better, healthier, more attractive chicken tender that I can freeze and have on hand any time a drive-thru strikes me as a really good idea.

These chicken tenders are a variation on a Rachael Ray recipe — and you thought this was a Rachael-free zone, didn’t you? C’mon, the woman is everywhere! Even here. And certainly on all the search engines!

I like to think my version of chicken tenders has a bit more pizzazz, but we all have our vanities.

Bottom line: these are easy, freezeable and adaptable and they helped carry me through another semester of packed lunches for pre-K. My kid and his grandfather both loved the subtle curry flavor (which bodes well for our next Indian buffet lunch!). You can really season it however you like; the infrastructure of the recipe is very sound.

Baked Chicken Fingers with an optional hint of curry (freezeable!)

2 lbs chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness (do not pound thin, just even them out) and sliced, against the grain, into generous strips

Salt and pepper for seasoning chicken strips

2 cups flour

2-3 cups breadcrumbs, unseasoned

½ -1 tsp salt

2 Tbs dried parsley

2 -3 Tbs curry powder (optional; see herb options, below)

2-3 Tbs your choice dried oregano/basil/Italian herbs/French herbs (if you decide against the curry)

 3 eggs

¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Season the tenders with salt and black pepper. In a shallow dish, season the flour with salt and pepper. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. In a third dish (shallow), place the breadcrumbs and season with salt, parsley and either the curry powder or the herb blend. Be generous with the herbs.

Dredge the chicken strips in the flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. Dip the strips in the egg to coat. Then coat with breadcrumbs. Place chicken strips on a baking sheet, or, ideally, a rack that lets them heat all around. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turning once.

Once cooled, I pop them into freezer bags and take them out as needed for lunches and such, reheating at 325°F for ten minutes.

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The Poll: To Disclose Dinner Source to Kids?

15 May

Pastured Chickens: Should a 4-year-old meet his future dinner in the coop?

15 May

I'll be eating one of these in a few weeks

So we were down at Restoration Farm C.S.A. doing some work (or I was supposed to be doing some work, but we were chatting more than anything, what with the little guy wanting to run around). We’ve bought a chicken share; Trish Hardgrove, one of the growers, has initiated a pastured chicken project: $125, five months, five chickens. I was in, of course, but this brings the question of my son to bear.

A few generations back, it would be quite normal for kids to look at farm animals as a future meal. But today, it is a bit less usual. I am all for Leandro knowing where his meals come from and plan for us to follow the chicks’ progress from farm to (our) table. I figure, if it puts him off animal products for the rest of his life, is that such a terrible consequence?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions on the topic! If you clicked directly to this post, please note that there is a poll in the next post. Click the right hand arrow at the bottom of this post!

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Tortilla española (Classic Spanish potato and egg frittata)

14 May

For parties, picnics or brunch!

One of my favorite dishes ever, tortilla española, is picnic and party portable, light yet filling, subtle yet hearty and includes just four basic ingredients (plus salt). It also looks beautiful in a sturdy, wholesome farmhouse way. I eat it warm or cold, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or brunch (or a midnight raid on the fridge). It keeps — refrigerated – for a couple of days, but honestly, tortilla española never lasts that long in my house!

Spanish people (from the Iberian peninsula) are quite — and rightly — proud of their culinary traditions. Serving your home-made tortilla to a Spaniard is kind of like serving your spaghetti marinara to an Italian from Italy: there is a good chance you will be damned with faint praise, or met with an unsuccessfully concealed sniff of a European nose that tells you you just don’t get it. But I have served my tortilla to Spaniard after Spaniard and the invariable response has been a request for seconds and a lot of praise, so I think it’s a winner. ¡Olé!

This is a pretty easy dish, but does require some derring-do for the flipping (unless Rosaria turns up with her fancy tortilla flipper one day soon!). I am including a list of equipment here so that you can set yourself up for success without scrambling for stuff. Thanks to Ashley for chopping and for writing down the exact proportions while I measured and stirred.

Equipment

non-stick pan and lid (the pan should be at 9-10 inches across; the cover doesn’t have to be the exact fit. I like an oversized lid myself)

spatula

colander

large mixing bowl

bowl to catch drained oil

large flat plate for filling

Ingredients

1 Cup olive oil (or half olive oil, half neutral vegetable oil)

2 baseball sized onions, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch rings (rings may be halved)

3 medium potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into relatively uniform 1/2 inch slices (Russett or Yukon Gold preferred. New potatoes should not be used)

8-10 fresh eggs (a bigger pan requires 10)

Heat oil until liquid and fragrant and layer potatoes and onions in the oil. Lower heat to medium and cook vegetables until tender (if they start to brown, lower the heat more), turn occasionally.

Open bottle of prosecco or other refreshing white wine and begin drinking (This is Ashley’s contribution to the recipe).

In a large bowl, gently beat eggs. When vegetables are tender, drain into colander, reserving oil. Put drained vegetables in egg mixture and stir to cover, adding 1/4-1/2 tsp salt. Allow to rest for five to ten minutes.

Clean pan and heat a small amount of the reserved oil into pan (non-stick pans should require little more than a rub of oil) at medium-high. Save reserved oil for another dish.

Pour egg mixture into pan and allow to cook at medium high until a crust forms on the art of mixture that is in direct contact with the pan. Cover and lower heat to medium low, shaking occasionally. When mixture is relatively firm CAREFULLY lay plate face down on pan and turn tortilla onto pan (this is where liquid can come out; I do it over the sink). Slide tortilla back into pan, uncooked side down. Continue cooking until it slides easily in pan.

You may flip a few more times to improve shape, then flip onto plate, allow to cool for at least ten minutes, slice pie-style and serve with salad or cut into squares for a buffet or appetizer (stick with toothpicks for hors d’oeuvres).

 

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myPod: Edamame (soybeans in pods)

8 May

A beloved bean

Boiling up a bag of edamame is even easier than making ice pops, so you could say this is something of a lame thing to post about, but I’ve really been meaning to share my appreciation for this useful food item for a while now. And today, Mother’s Day, when it happened to save this mom a lot of trouble over dinner, seemed like the right time.

At under $3 per bag of frozen (even organic!) edamames make for a reasonably priced appetizer or T.V. snack for two to four people. Soybeans are full of fiber and anti-oxidants and contain no animal fats (but do contain those all-important omega-3 oils). They are tasty and quick to get on the table, and shelled, can replace lima beans (which I hate) and peas (which I quite like) in many recipes.

But what I really love about them is how companionable they are. They remind me of an leisurely, chatty evening shelling pigeon peas around a hurricane lamp in the mountains of Dominican Republic when I was doing a little humanitarian work. They remind me of dining at an Asian restaurant in San Juan with my dear, departed friend, Frances Borden, in the early days of our friendship.  They are how my son and I might start a meal…popping beans right out of the pod and into our mouths (and laughing when the beans shoot across the room instead), or how we might sit around watching the news with my parents, the pile of full pods getting lower and the pile of empty pods getting higher. Farmer Steve got Leandro to try the fresh garden peas we were picking at our C.S.A. last year, because they look like edamame pods.

So get a bag and keep it in the fridge for the next time you don’t know what to do for dinner and need to buy some time, or you want something more virtuous than chips to accompany your favorite show or a movie night.

Boil up a quart or so of water and add 1 lb. frozen edamame in the pods. When the water returns to the boil, cook for three minutes, drain and serve.

Leftover beans can be added to salads (including rice and pasta salads), stir-fries and soups.

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Spring Roast: Chicken and Vegetables with Rosemary & Mustard Sauce

3 May

Surprisingly light!

The weather is showing signs of heating up for summer, but there is still cool weather enough to turn the oven on and roast up a chicken, which is exactly what I did for my part of Easter Sunday supper. I always feel like a French country lady when I have roast chicken and vegetables; it’s honest and true food that is not at all plain or boring.In fact, done right (and it is easy to do right), it can be luminous.

This dinner came on the heels of a visit to Long Island’s North Fork, so the vegetables were fresh, organic and local (carrots from Sang Lee Farms, turnips from Garden of Eve, plus my dad accompanied his sublime grilled baby lamb chops – hope to snag you that recipe — with smashed fingerling potatoes and baby spinach from Sang Lee).

It was an easy-going day and an easy-going meal that really celebrated Spring and Family and Resurrection and all that. A crisp Sauvignon Blanc from Chile was the refreshing accompaniment. A pretty day.

Roast Chicken and Vegetables with Rosemary-Mustard Marinade

Chicken:

1/3 Cup your favorite prepared mustard (Dijon or whole-grain works well. I used a somewhat spicy Swedish-style brown, which was nice and subtle. I stay away from ballpark-style flavored mustard here and you should too!)

1/3 cup olive oil, plus a tablespoon or so

1.5 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary leaves (and one whole sprig)

1 4-5 lb. roasting chicken, giblets removed

Vegetables:

2 large red onions, peeled and cut into eight wedges each

1.5-2 lbs mixed turnips and carrots, peeled and cut into 1-1.5” chunks

1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk mustard, 1/3 cup oil and rosemary in a bowl. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and place in a roasting pan. Brush with half of mustard mixture. With your hands, rub extra Tbs olive oil on the breast side of the chicken, under the skin. Place rosemary sprig in the chicken cavity.  Roast until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 170°F, chicken is golden brown and the legs move easily in the sockets when jiggled.

Meanwhile, toss vegetables with all but one tablespoon mustard mixture (reserve that for sauce) and spread into a lightly-oiled large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender and slightly browned (about one hour), stirring twice. Finish with a grating of flaky sea salt, if you’ve got or just allow diners to add salt at table.

Transfer chicken to serving platter. Spoon off the fat from the pan, then heat the pan over two burners. Whisk in broth and reserved mustard mixture and boil until reduced to about a cup. Add salt and pepper to taste and put in a gravy boat or other serving bowl. Arrange vegetables around chicken on the platter, garnish with any extra rosemary sprigs  and serve with sauce.

(Note: the chicken and vegetables were so moist, none of us actually did more than try the sauce. Go ahead and put it on the table, but don’t be surprised if your guests find it superfluous).

(Note 2: Leftovers make great sandwich/salad fare. I also simmered the bones with onion and parsley for stock for a future meal. It is frozen and ready to go!)


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Black Bean Burgers: all the burliness, none of the beef

26 Apr
So much easier than I expected!

I’m pretty pleased with myself, because finally, FINALLY, I soaked beans from dry and was very happy with the results!

I’ve never had that happen before; every other time I have tried, the texture has always been grainy and awful and not worth the trouble. This time, I rinsed a pound of beans (from a store that seems to move a lot of dried beans – one of the problems is that if the beans are old, they will never soften up nicely), soaked them in two quarts water overnight. Changed the water and went to work. After work I simmered them for two hours and holy legumes, Batman, I had 1.5 quarts of beans to play with.

And talk about cheap: a pound of dried beans costs about the same as a 15.5 oz can of them and you choose how much sodium you want with it.

I did my usual black beans and rice and black bean nachos (loads of cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese), but with two cups I made black bean burgers! They were tasty hot out of the oven and tasty (and not messy!) again at a picnic at the zoo the next day at room temperature. You definitely want to dress them up with creamy avocado and/or another creamy condiment-y sauce (try my Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce https://hotcheapeasy.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/roasted-asparagus-and-sweet-red-pepper-dipping-sauce/) and all the trimmings!

 

Black Bean Burgers

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 stalk celery, minced (about 2 Tbs)

1 onion, peeled and finely minced (about ¾ Cup)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 cups black beans

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 Tbs ground cumin

1 Tbs oregano

½ Cup plain bread crumbs

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease lightly.

Warm oil in a large skillet at medium-high until rippling. Add celery and onion and coat, then lower heat to medium and sauté until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another minute.

In a bowl, mash beans into a thick paste (use a fork, potato masher or ricer). Add cooked vegetables, egg, cumin, oregano and breadcrumbs and season with salt (and pepper if desired). Shape into four generous burgers with your hands (don’t mess with it too much) and then place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes on one side, 10 on the other and then a five on the first side. Serve with thinly sliced red onion, sliced avocado, sliced tomato and Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce, if desired. https://hotcheapeasy.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/roasted-asparagus-and-sweet-red-pepper-dipping-sauce/

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Roasted Asparagus and Sweet Red Pepper Dipping Sauce

23 Apr
Simple and beautiful spring fare

I have been experimenting with my new fancy Breville toaster oven and it’s been a life-changer! I don’t always want to turn the regular oven on for a small dish, so this new tabletop oven has widened my options.

One example is asparagus, coming soon into season and one of my favorite things to eat. It roasts very nicely and quickly with no fuss. I just eat the spears with my fingers right off the plate.
I decided to jazz it up (and in the process use up some sweet roasted red pepper that I had taking up space in the fridge). This took a jiffy and was a bright relish-y sort of taste (note that I used SWEET roasted red pepper). I later whipped some up as a dressing for black bean burgers (recipe to come in the next couple of days).
 

Zesty Dipping Sauce for Roasted Asparagus

3 Tbs mayonnaise

1-2 Tbs plain nonfat yogurt

2 Tbs roasted sweet red pepper, diced fine

Mix all ingredients together. Serve as a dipping sauce or as relish for black bean burgers or other sandwich fillings.

 

Roasted Asparagus

1 lb asparagus (the fat kind preferred), washed and bottoms snapped off (reserve to make broth for another recipe)

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt or coarse kosher salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350°. Rub olive oil over asparagus spears and place on rimmed baking sheet, foil or, ideally, broiler-type rack. Cook for 15 minutes, sprinkle with salt and serve with dipping sauce.

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Earth Day: What are you planting?

22 Apr

We are getting into gear for summer bounty by starting some seedlings indoors.

We’ve got beans that Leandro started at a garden show, already big enough to require supports. We’ve started arugula and sweet peas that we hope to put in the ground after the last frost danger (April 30 in our Zone 6B, although I have alwaus thought it was Zone 7!?!) . Next up, we’ll start basil (Leandro loves pesto) and lettuces directly in the ground.

This makes me sound like I know what I am doing, but of course, I don’t. We have only recently had to take down or trim some of the many trees in our yard, so we are hoping that this will result in more sun for veggies…but this is purely experimental.

Our real vegetable source will be our CSA (Restoration Farm) in Old Bethpage where we will pick up organic vegetables each week. We just spent a great day helping out there, splitting dahlia bulbs and breathing fresh air.

I’d love to know what you are doing for Earth Day and whether you will be growing vegetables this year. I know some of my subscribers are fire escape gardeners, while others are real farmers and still others are herb kitchen gardeners like myself. Let’s hear about it! Please comment….

Happy Earth Day!

Natalia and Leandro

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