Goat Cheese Panelle with Tomato Coulis

As much as I liked the original panelle recipe, I decided to bring it up to the level of a plated appetizer.  Here's something for the GF person at a dinner party you want to convince you're not totally heartless.  And the vegetarian will know you care.  Everyone else will just think it's a great new thing.

The nice part of this appetizer is that it's mostly do-ahead.  The panelle has to set up in the fridge at least 4 hours before cutting and frying.  The tomato sauce can be made a day ahead, since you're serving it cold anyway.  Spoon sauce on plate, top with a couple of freshly fried pieces, and garnish with basil.  Done.

Coulis is the expensive term for any vegetable that has been puréed.  It can be cooked or raw.  I chose to use the term for this recipe because it's fancier than calling it tomato sauce or salsa.

*1 C garbanzo bean flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 oz goat cheese
water as needed
olive oil as needed

1/4 C diced onion
olive oil
*1/4 tsp dried oregano
*1/4 tsp dried basil
kosher salt to taste
*1 15 oz can no salt added tomatoes

1.  Lightly grease an 8x8 casserole with oil.  In a saucepan, stir together garbanzo bean flour, pepper, and salt.  Stir in 1-1/2 C water and allow to sit 30 minutes, to start hydrating the flour.

2.  Bring pot to a low boil over medium heat.  Stir frequently until cooked and thickened, about 20 minutes.  Add more water if mixture thickens too quickly.  If it starts spitting, the heat's too high.

3.  Remove pot from the heat and crumble in goat cheese.  Stir until well distributed but not melted.  Pour into casserole, cover surface with plastic wrap and smooth it, and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.*

4.  To serve, heat 1/8" oil in a skillet over medium-high.  Cut panelle into pieces and fry until crispy, about 4 minutes per side.  Serve with sauce and a fresh herb garnish.

*While chilling, make the sauce.  In a skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tb olive oil, the diced onion, oregano, and basil.  Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.  Drain canned tomatoes and reserve liquid.  Process tomatoes and onion mix in a blender or food processor into a thick sauce.  If desired, thin with reserved tomato water.  Taste and stir in salt as needed.  Chill to meld flavors , at least 2 hours.

Serves 8 as an appetizer

Difficulty rating  :)

Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

I haven't done Indian in a while and googled "Eggplant Curry".  Variations of this recipe popped up.  I'm skewing closest to this one from Allrecipes because I had a little plain yogurt in the fridge.  If you have one of those petite cans of coconut milk, you can turn this vegan.

I took into account the comments when creating portion sizes.  I also subbed in tomato paste instead of diced or canned tomato.  Every time I use fresh tomato in Indian cooking, I'm disappointed in the minimal flavor impact.  Tomato paste gives a bigger kick, and you're diluting it with the yogurt anyway.

The comments also talk about this being a not-quite-authentic recipe, but close enough.  It uses curry powder instead of garam masala, but that's what I have so I'm not complaining.  The yogurt isn't proper either.  It's still roughly what I had in mind when I started the search.

2 medium eggplant
2 Tb olive oil or ghee
1/2 tsp ground cumin or 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
*1 Tb ginger-garlic paste or 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 tsp grated ginger
*2 tsp curry powder
*2 Tb tomato paste
1 jalapeño pepper, diced (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
*1/2 C plain yogurt
*juice of 1 lemon
*cilantro for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 400º.  Slice caps off eggplant and cut in half longways.  Spray with pan spray or smear with oil and place cut side down on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet.  Bake about 30 minutes, until softened but not mushy.  Allow to cool slightly, peel, and roughly chop flesh.

2.  Preheat a large skillet with 2 Tb olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add cumin and curry powder and cook until fragrant.  Reduce heat to medium, add onion, and cook until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes.  Sidebar, the only onions at the market were red and sweet yellow.  Guess reopening restaurants wanted the brown/yellow.  I went with red because I was cooking it with a nightshade.  Decided to French it, but you can do any kind of slicing.

3.  Add ginger-garlic paste, salt, and tomato paste and stir into a fragrant, dry little mess.  Add eggplant and jalapeño, if using.  Bring to a simmer, then decide if the stew needs water.  I ended up adding about half a cup.

4.  Once eggplant is reheated through, stir in yogurt and lemon juice, then remove from heat.  My eggplant got mushy because I forgot how long it takes brown rice to cook and it simmered an extra 15 minutes.  Still tasted great.  Serve hot over rice or with naan and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.

Difficulty rating  π

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I borrowed a pink scoop from work to make these.  I should really just go buy several scoops, instead of borrowing sizes we don't use often to make cookies and muffins.

In the culinary world, there is no one "scoop".  Different sizes are used for portion control, inventory, and food costing, in addition to ease of use.  They are numbered by how many scoops it takes to fill a quart (or liter, if the brand is metric), so a smaller one would have a higher number.  A #8 is 1/2 cup, a #16 is 1/4 cup, etc.  To make things easier, each size is given a color.  The pink one I borrowed is a 60, so it takes 60 level scoops to fill a quart volume.  Roughly a slightly heaping tablespoon.  What one considers an ice cream scoop would be around a yellow.

The reason I'm advocating scoops today is because this recipe works better with one.  Preppy Kitchen's crinkle cookie dough is really brownie batter.  You have to chill it overnight, then attempt to scoop out and roll even portions so they bake properly.  There's no reason you couldn't pour a 2-egg sized batch in an 8"x8" pan and bake it that way, except you wouldn't get the crinkle effect.  I made a dozen mini-muffins out of this recipe, after spraying the hell out of the pan to make sure they wouldn't stick.

The amounts are going to be awkward because the original recipe makes 4 dozen.  You can freeze both the dough and the finished product, so it isn't the end of the world to make the original recipe.  I chose to make enough for a work meeting.

1/4 C + 3 Tb granulated sugar
2 Tb oil
1/4 C cocoa powder
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C flour (60 g, if you weigh it)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 C powdered sugar

1.  Beat together sugar and oil.  Already, this is not going to look like a normal cookie.  It's a crumbly mess unlike what you get with butter.

2.  Gently beat in cocoa powder.  Add in egg and vanilla and beat to combine.  Scrape down several times to ensure even mixing.

3.  Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add to bowl and stir until just combined.  Cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.

4.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350º and line a cookie sheet with parchment or silpat.  Scoop out 1" (roughly 1 Tb) balls, roll briefly to make smooth, and drop into a cup with the powdered sugar, coating all sides.  Do Not do what I did and scoop all the balls first, attempt to chill them, and then roll in sugar.  Had to do it all over.  Ended up only getting eleven because of it.

5.  The rolling has to happen quickly, or the powdered sugar will disappear.  Pop the pan in the oven and bake 10-12 minutes, until not quite set.  Allow to cool on pan until easy to handle, then move to a rack to finish cooling.  Store in airtight container for several days, or freeze for up to a month.

Makes 1 dozen
Difficulty rating  :)

Chicken (Kiev) Schnitzel

Never did get my panko breadcrumbs.  Saved the insides of some sandwich rolls that a customer wanted scooped out and made my own.  Honestly, what's the point in going out for a sandwich if you're only going to eat the crust part?

I've had Alton Brown's Chicken Kiev recipe bookmarked for maybe a year.  I also have recipes for it tabbed in several cookbooks as comparisons.  Oh yes, I do remember that's our current topic.  Recently, AB revisited the recipe on a Reloaded episode, and his idea of making it into schnitzel made sense.  Not as elegant or oozy, but easier and sensible for an everyday meal.

Schnitzel is the German term for pounding any meat thin, dredging it, and pan-frying in about a quarter-inch of oil.  We used to do this with abalone when I was a kid and Papa Smurf would get them on his dive trips.  I just never knew that's what it was.

Chicken Kiev is breaded chicken filled with a parsley compound butter.  After breading, it is pan-fried and finished in the oven.  You slice into it and the melted butter bursts out, usually burning your arm and splattering on your shirt.  In this case, we're just topping a chicken schnitzel with the melted butter and a generous splash of fresh lemon juice.  Much safer.

The recipes I found all use chicken breasts.  I prefer dark meat, and deboned a bunch of chicken legs.  It took a while.  If you can find boneless/skinless chicken thighs, I recommend them instead.  Whatever cut you choose, the procedure is the same.

1/4 C unsalted butter
1 Tb chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 4 bl/sl thighs
1/2 C flour
1 egg
2 C panko breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp mustard powder (optional)
oil for frying
lemon wedges and chopped parsley for serving

1.  Whip butter until soft and fluffy.  Whip in parsley and kosher salt.  Form into a log on wax paper, roll up, and refrigerate until serving time.

2.  If using chicken breasts, slice each one laterally into two thinner slabs.  For thighs, cut as needed to make them lay flat.  Either place between two sheets of plastic wrap or in an open zip-top bag.  Pound with the flat side of a meat mallet down to 1/4".  Set aside and start on the next.  Don't get overzealous, or you'll tear the meat.  You just want it thin enough that it doesn't seize up in the oil.

3.  Prepare your dredging plates.  One with flour, a little salt and pepper, and the mustard (if using).  The second with a beaten egg thinned out with about 2 Tb of water.  The third has the breadcrumbs, also seasoned with salt and pepper.  Start heating 1/4" of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Create a landing pad for the finished product with a rack over a sheet pan, so excess oil can drip off.

4.  One piece at a time, coat first in flour, then in egg wash, then in breadcrumbs.  Gently place in oil. It should start to sizzle right away.  If it's very aggressively splattering, turn down the heat.  Otherwise the crust will cook before the meat.  If you're using thighs, you might be able to get two in the pan at once.  Don't overcrowd, or the oil temperature will drop and the finished product won't be as crispy.

5.  Cook chicken until done at least halfway through, 2-3 minutes.  Flip and cook the other side until the center of the piece is done.  Remove to cooling rack and start on the next piece.  Add oil as necessary and adjust heat to ensure even cooking.

6.  When all pieces are done, serve sprinkled with parsley, a wedge of lemon on the side, and a pat of herbed butter or two on top.

Difficulty rating  :)

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto

Despite having brown, white long grain, and Calrose rices in the pantry, I found it necessary to buy a 2-pound bag of Arborio rice.  I wanted risotto.  I'm defending the splurge by only using items on hand in this recipe.  You'll see by the asterisks that the only thing I bought was the rice.

I could have rehydrated the mushrooms in the simmering broth, but I figured they take about as long as the rice and just tossed them in.  If you use 8 oz of fresh mushrooms, you will use a cup less of broth.  This recipe counts that the dehydrated mushrooms will soak up some of it; fresh mushrooms will give off moisture as they cook.

There is no added salt in this recipe.  There's a trace in the broth, butter, and onion, but a lot in the bacon.  Even before adding the bacon, I was pretty happy with the seasoning level of the rice.  It was just under-salted enough not to be overpowered by the meat.

*1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tb butter
*1/2 C diced onion
*1 clove garlic, minced
1 C Arborio rice
*1/4 C dry white wine (optional)
*1 oz (about 1/2 C) dried mushrooms
*1/2 lb bacon
*1/4 tsp dried thyme
pepper to taste
*grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1.  Start heating the broth in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once it reaches a low boil, lower heat to a simmer.  In a separate skillet, start cooking the bacon over medium heat.  Turn frequently and remove when done, about 15 minutes.  Drain off the fat, allow bacon to cool, and chop into bite-sized pieces.

2.  While the bacon is cooking, start the risotto.  Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then cook diced onion until soft.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add rice and let it absorb the butter, working the grains frequently to keep from burning.  If using, add wine and allow it to burn off, partially soaking into the rice.

3.  Reduce heat to medium and add a ladle of broth to the rice.  Stir in dried mushrooms.  Stir until liquid is absorbed.  Add another ladle and repeat, but you no longer have to stir constantly.  It should be soupy enough to add the thyme and pepper.  Stir frequently, adding another ladle of broth whenever the risotto starts to look dry.  You can stop long enough to tend to the bacon, but don't forget the pot.

4.  Once the rice and mushrooms can no longer easily absorb the broth, you're done.  You may still have some broth in the pot, but you're making a creamy rice dish, not soup.  Add the chopped bacon and stir to combine.  Serve hot, garnished with grated Parmesan.

Difficulty rating  :)

Bagel Bread Pudding

At one point this year, we thought that Techie Smurf and his family would be visiting now, so we could all go to Disneyland and see the new Star Wars attraction.  I tossed a bunch of bagels into the chest freezer, for easy breakfasts.

Three months into the pandemic, Los Angeles is going to be one of the last places reopened in the entire country.  Disneyland is in Orange County, but so many come from everywhere to visit, it could be a year before we go.  And I still have bagels in the freezer.

A couple of them are french toast bagels, which taste just like french toast with maple syrup.  I decided to chop up half of one and make bread pudding out of it.  By the time I developed the recipe, that half a bagel was two servings.  So one bagel makes four.  When did bagels get that big?  I went back and cut the remaining bagels in half before returning them to the freezer, so I'm not temped to eat a whole one any time soon.

This recipe works with any kind of bagel.  Just tailor the flavorings.  I didn't add any sugar because the bagel is so sweet, but a blueberry or raisin might benefit from a touch of brown sugar.  Got an everything bagel?  Omit fruit and add chopped rosemary or diced celery for a savory version resembling stuffing.  A plain bagel could go either way.

*1 large (bakery) bagel or 2 out of the package
*2 ripe bananas
*2 Tb raisins
2 eggs
*1 C milk
pinch of salt

1.  The day before, slice bagel into small pieces and lay out to get stale.  Alternately, you can toast the pieces briefly to remove some moisture, but natural staleness is better.

2.  Mash bananas.  Combine in a bowl with raisins, eggs, milk, and salt into a custard base.  Add bagel pieces and let them soak while you do the next step.

3.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Butter a small casserole or 4 1-cup ramekins.  Set in a baking dish.  Start boiling a quart of water.

4.  Fill ramekins (or casserole) evenly with pudding mixture.  Place pan in oven, then add boiling water to the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  This will ensure even baking.

5.  Bake until custard is set, about 30 minutes.  Remove from water bath and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Difficulty rating  π

Graham and Chocolate Cookie Bars

Getting snacky again.  I decided to turn s'mores cookies into bars, with the graham crackers at the bottom.  All it really took was adding some melted butter to the smashed crackers for the crust and replacing them in the batter with flour.  This basically returned it to a half-batch of Tollhouse, just with an extra layer of marshmallows.  Then the marshmallows melted and disappeared in the oven, so I'm omitting them here.

*6 sheets graham crackers, crushed
2 Tb butter or margarine
1 stick (1/2 C) margarine
6 Tb brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1-1/4 C flour
1 C chocolate chips (can be milk chocolate)

1.  Melt first two tablespoons of butter and combine with crushed graham crackers.  Press into an 8"x8" baking dish.  It will be crumbly and dry, but you don't want it too damp because some of the butter from the layer above is going to soak into it as well.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  In mixer with the paddle, beat together stick of margarine and both sugars until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.  Add in flour and baking soda and beat until creamy.  Stir in chocolate chips.

3.  Drop batter evenly in baking dish.  Smooth batter; it's fine if there are a few gaps, since the dough will spread in the oven.  Try not to disturb the crust.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until dark golden brown.

This isn't dark enough.  I put it back in for 10 more minutes

4.  Allow to cool in pan until set, about 30-45 minutes.  Cut into bars and remove from pan.

Makes 16-20, depending on how you slice it

Difficulty rating  :)

Pantry Inventory Update

I really did buy far more than I thought.  Add to that my garden doing some wonderful things this spring, and I have enough food in the vegan category to get me halfway through summer.

The main shelf is thinning, though.  It took two months to get it down to my comfort level.  I used the emergency box of milk and finished off the Passover groceries, except the matzoh meal.  A batch of white bean hummus nearly ended the jar of tahini.  I'm making a dressing for a quinoa bowl with the rest and the tarragon vinegar I'm still working through.

There was a minor setback the day I used most of my Monopoly freebie coupons and online credits at Pavilions.  But come on, $40 of groceries for $7.45?  They didn't have any panko breadcrumbs, which I actually needed.  Matzoh meal makes a passable substitute, as another pre-baked wheat product.  I ended up with a couple of free items I wouldn't have normally bought, like a 6-pack of Snapple.  I've been having more flavored drinks in lockdown than I've had in a long time.  I usually just drink water.

The freezer isn't clearing as fast as I expected, also because of the Pavilions spree.  There are more free bagels in there than I thought and quite a bit of meat that I haven't been in the mood for.  Finally defrosted some beef to have with broccoli and udon noodles, an entire meal without buying anything new.  I have bacon ends, so I'm planning what to do with those.

Honestly, what I seem to have too much of is home-canned items.  The one-year mark is creeping up on some of the jams, and yet I'm eyeing fruits at Sprouts.  The pickled veggies shelf in the fridge needs to be used, since no one should have an entire shelf devoted to pickles.  I bought some brie for a free baguette I ended up with, and had the pickled asparagus and artichokes with it, along with some cashews, dried figs, and fresh peas.  I love picnic-style dinners.  I think I'm going to finish the kimchi and sauerkraut when I make that quinoa bowl.

Inventory-related, but not food based, is an art project I'm starting.  I've been saving every toilet paper core since lockdown began in March.  It took me two months to go through the first 12-pack I had already opened when this started, and I don't ration the TP.  Once store shelves are reliably stocked, I'm going to do something creative with them, to recognize this time.

Pickled Asparagus

I confess, I really like canned asparagus.  Not all the time, but sometimes the tangy mushiness of it is just what I want.  Growing up, we had it more often than fresh.  This is the opposite of my opinion of canned green beans, which I can't stand.  The texture and flavor profile are similar, so I don't understand it either.  More of the zucchini vs eggplant issue.

I had half a pound of asparagus in the fridge and no idea what to do with it.  I'm really trying not to waste anything, with food security so low, and went in search of ways to preserve it.  Throwing out 2 oz of cheddar cheese really disturbed me.  I know a lot of people accept tossing old items in their fridges, but that's not how I live.

Food in Jars has a recipe for pickled asparagus that starts with 4 pounds.  Unless I'm throwing a party, I will never have four pounds of asparagus in the house.  Even then.  Time to do a bunch of 1/8 food math.  I'm scaling this post for one bundle, usually a touch over a pound, so it fills one pint jar.

I didn't process mine, or the pickled artichokes I made the same day, since I was planning to use them within a month.  The top shelf of my fridge is full of various pickles, like the rest of the sauerkraut and kimchi I made at the start of quarantine.  Plus, I still have daikon and carrot pickles in the pantry. I need to make more salads and cold dinners.  That's easier with warmer weather.

*1 bundle asparagus (approx 1 lb)
1 C cider vinegar
1 Tb pickling salt (or 1-1/2 Tb kosher)
*1 lemon slice
1 Tb pickling spice (generally coriander, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, mustard, bay leaf)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, peeled

1.  Prepare boiling water bath and one pint jar, rim, and lid.  For non-processing, wash container and lid well.

2.  Wash asparagus.  Measuring back from the tips, trim to fit in jar with 1/2" head space.  I didn't like how much I was tossing and kept the back halves, minus the tough part you always throw away.  Blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds.  Drain and place in ice water to stop cooking.

3.  Combine vinegar, salt, and 1 C water in a pot and bring to a boil.  If not processing, add spices and garlic.

4a.  If processing, place lemon slice at bottom of jar.  Add spices and garlic to the jar, then pack in asparagus spears tip-down.  The Ball book has that helpful hint, so you don't break off the tips when you pull the spears out of the jar.  Pour brine over spears, leaving 1/2" headspace.  Remove any air bubbles with a chopstick.  Wipe rim, apply lid and ring, and process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

4b.  If not processing, place asparagus in simmering brine and cook for 5 minutes.  The vibrant green spears will pick up a brownish hue from the vinegar.  Still place lemon at bottom of jar.  Gently transfer cooked asparagus into the jar tips-down.  Pour brine into jar, but don't worry about headspace issues or even if the brine covers the spears.  Allow to cool on the counter half an hour, then put on a lid and refrigerate.

5.  For both pickles, allow to sit at least 24 hours before digging in.  The flavors need a little time to meld.  Open (or never sealed) jars are good for weeks in the fridge.  Processed jars properly stored are good for one year.

Makes 1 pint, about 4-6 servings

Difficulty rating  :)

Orange Squash Base

I heard about squash drinks recently.  They're a thing in Britain and its former Empire.  There are dozens of flavors, some quite exotic.

So what is squash?  It's a thickened fruit cordial, much like grenadine, but it's intended to be mixed as a non-alcoholic drink.  I had most of a 2-liter bottle of seltzer water after the tempura and decided to make some with the fruit off my grafted citrus tree.  You mix a couple of tablespoons of the syrup into a glass of still or sparkling water for something lighter than a commercial soda.

All squash recipes start out the same way.  You make a sugar and water syrup and add at least some lemon juice.  Then you add whatever fruit juice you want it to taste like and cook it back down to a syrup.  It's a lot like making a failed fruit jelly, without the pectin.

If you own a juicer, the flavor possibilities are endless.  I have a basic citrus reamer with holes to catch the seeds and pulp, so we're going with Squash 101.

1 C sugar
1 C water
1/2 C fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 C fresh-squeezed orange juice
zest of one orange

1.  In a medium saucepan, heat sugar and water over medium-high until they start to boil and all the sugar is dissolved.

2.  Add in lemon juice, orange juice, and orange zest.  Return to a boil and cook until reduced to about 2 cups.  The color will turn to an amber and the syrup will be a little sticky.  Do not boil down until it appears as a thick syrup, because it's going to thicken even more as it cools.

3.  If desired, strain out the orange zest.  I left it in as proof it's homemade.  Pour into a bottle or other sealable container and refrigerate until needed.  Boiled syrups generally last about a month in the fridge.

4.  To use, combine 2 Tb syrup (one ounce) with 8 to 12 ounces of water or unflavored seltzer or tonic water, depending how sweet you like your drinks.  Stir to combine and enjoy.

Makes 1 pint, about 16 servings

Difficulty rating  π