chop A Culinary Playground

Antipasto Salad

I am really not very frugal but, from some of my past posts you may think that (stocks and Curry Lunch ).   Here is another way to stop wasting food, an Antipasto Salad.

I always seem to have a lot of half used jars of roasted peppers, olive, and cheese laying around in the fridge.  The other day I had to clean out the fridge and take a Pupu (Hawaiian for appetizer) to a meeting so I made this salad.  It can consists of what ever you have but this is what I used.

Marinated Mushrooms
Roasted Red Peppers
Cherry Peppers
Gardiniera
Artichoke Bottoms
Kalamata Olives
Green olives Marinated in Vermouth
Salami cut in to chunks
Manchego Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella
Parmesan Cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Dried Oregano
Red Chili Flakes

Fish and Chips

Costco had ling cod on it shelves last week.  When I think of ling cod I am brought back to my college years when I would have boating vacations in the Pacific North West and Canada.  All the pubs would serve fish and chips using Ling Cod.  So I had to make Fish and Chips.

Ling Cod by the way is listed as a good alternative fish on the Fish Sustainable Guide.  I find these guides very helpful in finding fish that are not being over farmed.  I particularly like the guide that is for Hawaii because it has the Hawaiian fish names.  There is also a good Sushi Guide.  They even have one for your Iphone!

A Recipe Disaster

To make the batter for the fish and chips I wanted an authentic beer batter so I got the recipe from a site on the web. It was all wrong (never trust a recipe you get on the Internet - ha ha).  The recipe called for two beers (I used Guinness) and 1 cup of flour.  It was really thin so I wanted to add more flour but, I realized that I was out of flour.  So  I added corn meal.  I don't know how much, I am thinking about 2 1/2 cups.  I just wanted to get a thick consistency.  They came out really good.  They were great the next day for fish tacos.

I also made a Chipotle Tartar Sauce

1        Cup Mayonnaise
3        Cornichons
1        Teaspoon chopped red onion
1        Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/2     Teaspoon Chipotle Powder

Combine

Stocks and a Short tale of Matzo Ball Soup

Stocks are a very important freezer pantry item.  I am never with out stocks in my freezer and I never buy stocks from the store.  Making your own stocks is very economical and easy.  Currently in my freezer I have a shrimp stock, vegetable stock, mushroom stock and brown chicken stock.

Shrimp Stock can be the base of Paella, Seafood Stew or a shrimp Bisque.  I simply took the left over shells of some shrimp, added a carrot, celery and onion, salt and pepper corns and boiled for 25 minutes.  Seafood stocks should not cook for very long.

Vegetable stock, I go through my veggie drawer and gather the not so good looking vegetable (not rotten but a little limp) and boil for one hour.  It is important to avoid certain vegetables, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower and leave an unpleasant taste.  Leave the skin on the onions because it can make the stock a dark rich color.  The Greens cookbook, by Deborah Madison, has a great section on water vegetable and the flavors that they add to stock.

Mushroom Stock:  Save those stems from mushrooms, add a few dried mushrooms and simmer for about and hour and you will have a lovely mushroom stock perfect for Risotto, Coq Au Vin, or a Wild Mushroom Pasta.

Chicken Stock:  There are many variations you can use a whole chicken and then shred the meat for soup or enchiladas.  You can just use the carcass or you can brown the bones to make a brown stock.  I usually add carrots, onion, celery, parsnips, a bouquet garni of thyme. parsley and leeks, salt and peppercorns.  If I want an Asian flavor I add ginger, garlic and cilantro.  Chicken stock can be added to so many things, Gumbo, Arroz Con Pollo and Matzo Ball Soup, and then comes the tale........

There once was a boy who lived in Hawaii, where the sun shined and the weather is warm.  For some reason this half Moroccan boy had a great love and this great love was for Matzo Ball Soup.  It was his favorite meal, he could eat it in the middle of summer when it was 85 outside, he would eat if he was well, he would really eat it when he was sick.  No he did not have a Jewish grandmother to make it, just his mom who got the recipe from Martha Stewart and added a few of her own touches.

Interesting Article

Slash Food

White Asparagus Soup

Our grocery store had some beautiful white asparagus imported from Peru and a $1.88 a pound I had to pick some up.  We do grow green asparagus locally.  The farmer who grows it told me that he is lucky because the months that it is not growing here are the months when the mainland or South American asparagus come in.

The first time I had white asparagus was when I was in cooking school in Paris.  A friend asked me to spend a weekend with her relatives in the Loire.  The first night we were there we went to a restaurant and they served us plates of big fat white asparagus.  At first my friend and I were a little intimidated and didn't know how  to eat it.  Then we followed everyone else at the table and picked the large spears up and ate with our fingers.  It was so good.

For more info about asparagus check out Shizouka Gourmet

This is a simple recipe and can be made vegan by substituting soy milk for the cream

1        # White Asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
3        Cups Vegetable Stock
1        teaspoon Thyme
          Salt and Pepper
1        Cup 1/2 and 1/2

Boil the asparagus in stock with the thyme until tender.   Place in food processor and whirl until smooth.  Pass through a sieve to remove and stringy pieces.  Place back into pan and add half and half and heat through.

Garnish:  Asparagus tips and sage leaves fried in brown butter,  toasted walnuts.

Ethiopia

 

Foodalogue’s Culinary Tour of the World to benefit  Bloggeraid has brought us to Ethiopia.  For more history on Ethiopia check out Foodalogue .  I made two dishes, Chickpeas and a Beet Salad.

The chickpeas were spicy and really good, the potato salad on the other hand was kind of boring.  I don’t see it being a traditional Ethiopian dish; it probably has some European influence.

 

 

Ethiopian Chickpeas

1    Tablespoon Olive Oil

2    Carrots Diced

1    Red onion Diced

1    Teaspoon of each, cardamom, paprika, cayenne, cumin,ginger

     Salt and Pepper

1   Can Chickpeas

1   Teaspoon Tomato Paste

2   Cups water

1   Cup Peas

 

Saute the carrots and onion in the oil.  Add the spices; cook a few seconds to bring out flavor. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until carrots are soft.

 

Beet and Potato Salad

 ½   # Beets, diced

½   # Red Potatoes, diced

1        Jalapeno, diced

1       Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1       Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

         Salt and Pepper

Cook beets and Potato until tender, cool down.  Add the rest of the ingredients.

 I would  cook the chickpeas again but not the potatoes and beets.

 

 

 

Moroccan Eggplant Salad

My garden had eggplant and cherry tomatoes so I decided to make a Moroccan Eggplant Salad.

1    Eggplant
1    Cup Cherry tomatoes
2    Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1    Pinch Thyme
1    Teaspoon Cumin
1    Glove Garlic

Place all ingredients in a roasting pan and roast until eggplant is soft and caramelized.  Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse a few times until chunky.

Serve drizzled with oil.