ataulfo mango season!!!

i look forward to spring every winter for many reasons, not least of which is knowing that ataulfo mangoes will be in their prime. besides eating them straight and gnawing on the pit, here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy this seemingly magical fruit:

breakfast: everyday, sitting outside in the sun, with some greek yogurt and a sprig of chocolate mint. drizzle of honey, optional.

salad style: this was first made for us by our friend, kemper, while he was visiting. besides being an amazing painter and entertainment personified, kemper is an alum of French Laundry. it's a variation on salad caprese: layer slices of mango, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves. soooooo goooooood.

ice cream: my new, favorite ice cream is mango coconut. i substituted coconut milk for half the cream in the recipe i used. the coconut milk is subtle but really deepens and enhances the mango flavor. it just tastes special. and good for breakfast too!

let me know the many ways you like to eat mangoes. i want to try them all.

lazier vegetable pot pie

although i only get a hankerin' for vegetable pot pie every once in a while, i know i could eat it almost every day. just about anything wrapping in dough is good: spanokopita, dumplings, samosas, turnovers, egg rolls, almond croissants. i mean, can you think of anything surrounded by dough that doesn't taste special? and if that dough is separated into many layers by more layers of butter, then all the better.

i never find making a pie crust to be a chore thanks to my food processor, and usually keep a few pie crust doughs frozen and at the ready. but making a top and bottom crust always seems more labor intensive than i'd like. especially if the bottom crust just comes out soggy everywhere but the edges. thank you, Cook's Illustrated, for coming up with an easier and just as tasty solution. in a fall 2008 issue of their magazine, there is a recipe for Skillet Apple Pie. this recipe is wonderful enough to help you justify buying a beautiful paella style pan or casserole, if you need help justifying that is. you saute your apple slices with cinnamon, sugar, and a bit of apple cider in an oven safe pan . then you roll out a single pie crust, lay it on top, and bake. voila! crisp, flaky, crust over tender filling with half the work! serve with some homemade cinnamon ice cream and smile.

the other night, i decided to apply this concept to a vegetable pot pie. what took me so long?! i'm sure this will become a regular addition to my supper repertoire.


Vegetable Pot Pie - the lazy way

whip up a batch of your favorite pie crust recipe. all butter is better in my book. i substituted a bit of whole wheat flour (maybe 1/4 cup at most) in my last batch and was happy with the results. i feel healthier already! while it's chillaxing in the fridge, make the filling.

the filling is flexible, but here's what i did: saute chopped onion in butter. add chopped celery, carrots, mushrooms, and jerusalem artichokes (i boiled these for about ten minutes first - they turn the water an intense emerald green!) - saute till tender. add some frozen peas and cook till they've warmed up. salt and pepper and add some herbs - i still have some frozen parsley cubes from last year's garden so i tossed one in. sprinkle with flour, stir, add heavy cream. stir and add cream until you get a consistency you're happy with. roll out your dough, lay it on top of your filling, cut a few slits in the top, and brush with egg white or milk if you feel like working more (though i never do - i never want to have to wash that brush...). bake at 400˚ for about 25-30 minutes or until the crust starts to go golden.

enjoy!

ice cream!

i know, it's cold out. maybe you don't want to think about eating ice cream till it's nice and hot, but i want you to start thinking about getting an ice cream machine now. it was easy for me to justify the purchase price of my ice cream machine, which was the equivalent in cost to 7 pints of my favorite gelato in philly. considering the best ice cream i can find here is Breyer's , it was a no-brainer.

when you make your own ice cream, you can obviously make any flavor you like, but you also get to control how rich it is (extremely), how sweet it is (i use half the sugar the recipes call for) , and you get to eat it when it's at the perfect temperature and texture. my main reference for ice creamy endeavors is The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein. this book contains over 500 recipes, from your basic vanilla to one called Summer Savory with corn and thyme. most of the recipes are for the custard style (aka gelato) with a cooked egg and milk base that turns out an incredible rich and creamy creation.

every recipe i've tried has come out spectacularly - our favorites out of the book so far are apricot (extra rich because it calls for cream and half and half but no milk) and green tea (tea-ier and creamier than any i've had before - pictured above!). i've made up my own variations that also top our favorites list: raspberry pomegranate lime sorbet and cardamom rose.

the following recipe calls for dried apricots, which give you a much more intense flavor than fresh. we used the middle eastern apricot paste because it's what we had on hand - delicious. it also calls for corn syrup which i didn't use - i either substituted sorghum or made a simple syrup, can't remember. if you've got a machine, try this recipe and let me know what you think. if you don't, go get one and i'll be waiting to hear from you.

Apricot Ice Cream
makes about 1 quart

6 oz. dried apricots halves (about 1 cup, loosely packed)
3 T light corn syrup
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c sugar (you could use under 1/2 c and be happy)
4 large egg yolks
1 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 t. vanilla

cover the apricot halves with boiling water and let sit for an hour or until soft. drain and combine with the corn syrup and salt in a food processor. blend until very smooth.

in a medium bowl, beat the sugar into the egg yolks until they are thickened and pale yellow.

bring the half and half to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. slowly beat the hot half and half into the eggs and sugar. pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. remove from the heat and whisk in the apricot puree. pour the custard through a strainer into a large bowl. allow to cool slightly, then stir in the cream and vanilla. cover and refrigerate until cold.

freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. share with people you love. they will love you back.

happy year of the tiger!

last week, i headed to kansas city for three days of cooking in preparation for a Chinese New Year feast. it was the most chinesey thing i'd done in a long time. at the home of Heinrich and Cheryl Toh, we tested recipes, minced, filled, rolled, baked, fried, steamed, and concocted into the wee hours of the night. there were an additional 3-8 people who came to help each day, mostly friends from the local thriving arts community. we were cooking for over 50 people in their little kitchen, but somehow everything flowed smoothly thanks to their well stocked kitchen, Cheryl's excellent ability to plan and delegate, and all the eager helpers.

the menu consisted of at least 20 dishes and three desserts. things had more of a malaysian and singaporean slant than chinese, since Heinrich is from Singapore. they included: corn and spinach dumplings, ginger-chicken bundles, shrimp stuffed peppers, chee cheong fun, carrot cake (which is a savory dish of fried rice cake), char sui, curry puffs (yum), beef rendang, fried tofu, ngoh hiang (turkey wrapped in bean curd paper and deep fried), and rice noodles. for dessert, there was red bean soup and two kinds of cookies: pineapple tart and quay bangkit. the quay bangkit is a subtle, melt in your mouth cookie made with tapioca flour and flavored with coconut milk and pandan leaf. it's flavor enchanted everyone who tasted it. you can find the recipe here.

in addition, heinrich made lunch and dinner, and i whipped up ice cream (red bean and green tea) for everyone who came to help each day! unfortunately, my camera battery died after one picture on the night of the festivities, so the pictures here are from a morning-after brunch.

after all that cooking, everything reminded me of food. i drove home sunday night in a snowy bowl of tapioca flour. i thought of us as dumpling filling as we wrapped our blanket around ourselves in bed. i got so used to their kitchen, i forgot which drawer held the utensils when i got home! i came back inspired and ready to get back into the asian-flavored cooking groove that i had left out of my repertoire for the past several years.

every dish served that night came from traditional recipes. however, the corn dumpling recipe was created by Cheryl, after being inspired by a restaurant corn dumpling experience. she has been kind enough to share it with us:

Corn Dumplings

Mince in processor:

1 med shallot

1 clove. garlic

1/2 celery stalk

chop fine:

1 celery stalk

Saute above ingredients 8 - 10 min in peanut oil.

chop or process on pulse:

1 small can water chestnuts

Defrost and drain:

2 c frozen corn

seasoning:

1 tsp. soy sauce or tamari

2 tsp rice wine

1/2 tsp peanut oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

3 tsp corn starch

In bowl combine all ingredients and stir well.

Use dried rice wrappers to wrap filling. (use square rice sheets when available)

To use, brush both sides of dried rice sheet with water and allow to soften. When sheet is soft, cut sheet in half and place 1tbsp of filling on the sheet. Fold over the edges and roll to form a neatly shaped pillow. Dust with rice flour to prevent sticking.

Pan fry in a small amount of oil until lightly browned. Do not over crowd the pan or they will stick together.

Serve with chili in oil or sweet chili.

i am obsessed with these cookies

cookies aren't usually my favorite form of baked goodness, but these Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies have become one of my two most oft-repeated delivery mechanisms of chocolate. (the other is Molten Chocolate cake - you'll see that post before too long, i'm sure)

these cookies are so rich, chewy, and densely chocolatey that they stop people mid-sentence upon taking their first bite. i was a bit embarrassed when i was approached by several complete strangers just to compliment me on the cookies - at a wake.

this recipe comes out of Baking Illustrated, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated. those brilliant food nerds tested dozens of recipes and variations on ingredients and ratios to get these just right. they were in search of a "confection that creates intense focus while it is consumed, sight and sound subordinate to taste, overshadowing the other senses to the point of dysfunction." at one point in their experimentation, they had a recipe that was "very good but still not the sort of thing that would reduce the average adult to tears of joy." they kept working, and we are the lucky benefactors of their passion and labor.

Thick and Chewy Double-Chocolate Cookies
makes about 42

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all -purpose flour
1/2 cup (1.5 oz) dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
16 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) granulated sugar

1. sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. set aside.
2. melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth; remover from the heat.
3. in a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve and set aside.
4. by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy. beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. with the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. don't overbeat! cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.
5. meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350˚. line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. scoop the dough onto prepared baking sheets with a 1.75" ice cream scoop, spacing the mounds of dough about 1.5" apart.
6. bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and cool to room temperature. repeat with remaining dough. remove cooled cookies from the parchment with a wide metal spatula.

herbs: grow them.

part of what is getting me through this winter is looking at lots of vegetable porn. the seed catalogs started showing up in early january, and i ogled and read and cross-referenced and studied and compared and finally came up with this year's list of veggies and flowers that i wanted to start from seed. a few of my favorite sources:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - right here in missouri! started by the owner twelve years ago, when he was 17 years old, and selling seeds out of his bedroom. they have an enormous selection of rare, heirloom seeds from all over the world. this is your source for spiny african wild melons and squash of every color, shape, and lumpiness level you can imagine. the naughtiest and glossiest of the catalogs i received...

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - also specializing in heirloom varieties with lots of organic seeds. of all the catalogs and websites i have perused, they have the most complete information on the growing and seed-saving on each of the varieties they sell. plus, a very thoughtful selection of varieties that will grow well and taste good.

Seed Savers Exchange - based in Decorah, Iowa, this is a non-profit organization with the country's largest non-governmental seed bank! a great selection of heirloom seeds and seed saving supplies.

even if you don't have room for a veggie patch, you have no excuse not to grow herbs. fresh herbs make such a huge difference in your cooking, and you can fit several varieties into one container on your back porch or sunny window. i buy plants from the farmers market when i only need one plant of that type (sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano). i start basil and parsley from seed so i can plant several and give some away. last year, i planted 30 basil plants which all grew into small trees. we froze lots of basil pureed with olive oil, and gave away what seemed like bushels.

if you plant parsley in the ground, it will overwinter and go to seed the second year. you can dig up your parsley and bring it in for the winter for fresh parsley year round. i was amazed when the snow melted after a couple weeks of temperatures in the teens and single digits - i went outside and found my thyme and oregano nice and green! (and i got them to pose for the photo) i forgot to mulch my rosemary so it probably won't make it, but some varieties of sage are nice and hardy and will continue to grow year after year.

don't cheat yourself with store bought dried herbs. life is too short.

me and matar paneer

when i moved to hannibal two years ago, my ratio of free time (none) to indian restaurants (a healthy amount) was exactly inverted. after we moved into the "new" house last winter, i finally went beyond dal and palak paneer and started making different indian dishes. a few batches of naan just left me craving the restaurant variety, but the malai kofta was amazing, though labor intensive. (you make a mash of potatoes, veggies, paneer, cream and spices, then roll them into balls that you fill with a cashew and raisin mixture. deep fry them and add them to a sauce, which has at least ten more ingredients.) we bought papadums from ethnic groceries and fried those up as appetizers, and made a couple batches of gulab jamun (those fried dough balls in sugar syrup). one of my most successful ice creams was also indian inspired - cardamom rose - yum.

out of all the new dishes i tried, the one i kept going back to is matar paneer, or peas with paneer cheese in a spiced tomato sauce. the greatest boon to this dish's success in my kitchen was when i found a new recipe for making paneer, using yogurt as a curdling agent instead of lemon. the results are a really rich, milky flavor with a denser texture that holds up to frying well, or is lovely just for nibbling. the paneer recipe comes from Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian, and the matar paneer is Madhur Jaffrey's (plus a couple more spices), from World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. you can double the paneer recipe and freeze the extra cheese. the original recipe calls for low fat milk and nonfat yogurt, but we like as much fat as we can get so i use whole milk and greek yogurt. i also use a combination of yogurt and lemon juice, the ratio depending on what i've got on hand.

Paneer Cheese
makes about 8 ounces

1/2 gallon milk
2 cups plain yogurt, whisked until smooth or 1/4 cup lemon juice

rinse a heavy bottom saucepan, place the milk in, and bring to a boil, stirring, over high heat. before the milk bubbles rise and spill over, add the yogurt or lemon juice and continue to stir until the milk curdles and separates into curds and whey, 2-3 minutes. remove from the heat.

drape cheesecloth over a colander set over a large pot and pour the curdled milk in. you can save the whey to use instead of water in the matar paneer. tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang it from the kitchen faucet to drain further for 5-10 minutes. then twist the cheesecloth to extract as much whey as possible from the cheese. with the cloth still twisted, place the cheese between two plates and put a heavy object on the top plate for at least several minutes or even a few hours. cut into desired shapes and use as needed or freeze.

Matar Paneer
serves 4-6

1 medium onion, chopped
1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and chopped
6 T vegetable oil (i use ghee or butter)
paneer
2 cups whey or water
1 whole dried hot pepper
1 T ground coriander seeds
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t paprika
1 t cumin (you can use whole seeds for crunch!)
3 medium tomatoes peeled and minced or about 2 cups canned
1 t salt
ground pepper
3 cups fresh or frozen peas

put the onion and ginger in a blender or food processor with 1/3 cup water and blend till you have a smooth paste.

heat the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat. when hot, fry paneer in a single layer until golden brown on all (or most, if you're lazy) sides. with a slotted spoon, remove the paneer to a plate. (the hard part now is not to eat all of the fried cheese while you finish cooking the rest). put the hot pepper into the pan and add the contents of the blender. fry, stirring constantly, until the paste turns a light brown color, about 10 minutes.

add the spices and fry, stirring, another minute. add the tomatoes, stirring and frying until tomatoes turn a dark, reddish brown, about 3 minutes. pour in the whey, add the salt and pepper, mix well and bring to a simmer. cover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. add the paneer and the peas and simmer another 10 minutes. serve over basmati rice. savor and enjoy!