Provençal Tomato and Basil Soup

If you're anything like me, you were a little too gluttonous these past few days… and will continue to be until January 1, 2011.  I was probably worse than most, I had to hop around to a few Thanksgiving dinners (even one that required a ferry ride over to the Olympic Peninsula) and thus had to leave before the turkey was carved.  This doesn't mean that I didn't eat though, it means I gorged myself on pie and pre-dinner appetizers.  And wine, we must not forget about the wine.  Trust me, I was pretty sluggish when I woke up this morning.  Two words: Sugar CRASH.  But I tried to be good today and I was… until I went out for Ethiopian food with my friend Erin who was visiting from NorCal.  Side note: if you EVER get the chance, PLEASE go to "Chef Cafe" in the Central District on 22nd and Jackson.  It will be the best $3 (yes that cheap!) you ever spent!  Well, that's enough about my eating habits…

Now to our regularly scheduled programming: Back to Being Healthy.  And you're in luck - this soup is incredibly healthy!  I found the recipe a weeks back in the New York Times Dining & Wine section filed under the "Recipes for Health."  It has my healthy & fresh stamp of approval!  The brown rice thickens it up while still keeping the glycemic index low.  However, this soups strength lies not only how it fills your home with the scents of Provencal France, but how filling and warming it is.  Which I must say is pretty ideal for any Seattle winter day!  And for all you people out there suffering though the beginnings of winter- if good fresh tomatoes aren't available, use a 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes.

Provençal Tomato and Basil Soup
Adapted from: New York Times
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt to taste
• 2 pounds tomatoes, cored and diced
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 large sprigs basil, or about 16 leaves, plus 2 tablespoons slivered basil for garnish
• 1 quart water
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 Parmesan rind
• 1/4 cup brown rice
• Optional garnishes:
• Grated or shaved Parmesan

Directions:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about five minutes. Stir in half the garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil sprigs or leaves, and remaining garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and smell fragrant, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Add the water and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 15 minutes. Add the rice, and simmer for another 45 minutes until the tapioca is tender and the soup fragrant. Remove the basil sprigs and Parmesan rind. Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency is achieved.  Add pepper to taste and adjust salt. Serve garnished with  Parmesan and slivered basil leaves.

Vietnamese Tree Rolls

I have officially found a new favorite thing to make that don't involve me turning on my oven or stove top.  Even better - this dish is really nice to make with a group of people... I get to be sociable and do less work!  Katherine 1 - Effort 0.  And to think, I have fallen in love with a variation of this dish since my first week in Seattle but I never knew how easy it was to replicate at home!

One of the first restaurants I went to after moving to Seattle is this wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown called Tamarind Tree.  Oddly enough, it's surrounded by some not so wonderful looking buildings.  But really, would you expect anything else?  I've found that Seattle is a city of hidden gems and being that Chinatown's typically are hidden gems, this find's a real kicker.  It's tucked way back in a corner next to a nail salon and not too far away from a dumpster - not something I would find if I was just wandering around for a place to eat.  Nevertheless, once you step inside... oh baby.  The jewel toned walls add warmth to the entire space, the tables are close enough that casually awkward conversation can happen between diners and the bamboo dividers allow you to forget (and to a certain extent remember) that you are tucked away in a corner of Chinatown.

But the ambiance of the dining area is not the only thing that keeps me coming back, it's the Tamarind Tree Rolls, i.e. the healthiest sinful thing that I have ever eaten.  There's the crunch of some sort of rice stick and carrots, the smooth texture of the rice paper and the heat of the dipping sauce as it hits the back of your tongue.  And even though I despise Rachel Ray, I'd be with her saying "Yum-O!" when it comes to eating the Tree Rolls.  Sadly, I thought I would never be able to replicate these delights at home (foreshadowing!!)

Let's jump in the time machine shall we and cut to Mid-September.  I was invited to attend a TweetUp at the AllRecipes.com office in downtown Seattle.  The conversation and food would focus of foods that are both healthy, easy to prepare and can be frozen (or refrigerated for long periods of time).  Smoothies, soups and dips were made, but I think what excited me to most were the Vietnamese Salad rolls we made.  I could not stop eating them.  I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say that I ate my entire body weight of them, all one hundred and... oh wait, I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh.  Like our age, a lady never revels anything truthful about herself.  Ahem, moral of that story is that I learned how to make Tree Rolls!  And made them I have - twice!  However, I changed a fair number of things from the recipe and almost all fresh ingredients instead of pre-packaged ones.  I even successfully taught a boy how to make these - they are that easy to make!

Vietnamese Tree Rolls

Ingredients:

• Package of rice wrappers
• Approx 5 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 1/2 small to medium head of cabbage, cut into very thin strips
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• Warm water
• Dipping Sauce (I used a combination of chili sauce with my homemade hot sauce)

Directions:

1. Fill a large bowl with warm water.  Dip one rice paper in water for approximately 10 seconds to soften.
2. Lay wrapper flat on work surface (I recommend a plastic cutting board) and arrange a layer of basil leaves and desired amount of carrots and cabbage.  Roll the wrapper like you would a burrito (if you are not an experienced burrito roller - fold one edge over some of the ingredients, then roll up at the bottom, then fold over the other edge and continue rolling up tightly).  Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. Serve the rolls with dipping sauce.

Gnocchi with Spinach Basil Pesto, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, and Asparagus

I think my cell phone on the side really completes the dish

The first time I had gnocchi was in Rome last summer.  It was the lightest and most heavenly thing I had ever eaten.  Every bite tasted like a cloud, I was hooked and immediately jumped to the Internet to find out how to make it.  Everything I read made gnocchi seem like the hardest thing in the world to make.  Sadly, it was put on my cooking back burner... until now.


Last Wednesday Jake came over for dinner and I knew I wanted to make something new, good and impressive.  Gnocchi was the first thing that came to mind.  I feverishly started researching how to make it; different techniques, recommend sauces and how many attempts it took people to get it right.  Apparently you need a ricer, an Italian grandmother and years of experience to get it right.  And even then you might not get it right on the first try.  I can honestly say I was afraid that I would mess it up and serve Jake dense potato balls.


But once again Deb at Smitten Kitchen saved the day.  Apparently you don't NEED a ricer, you can easily use a the large grater side of your box grater, you just have to make sure the potatoes gratings don't clump together.  And even though I'm Irish and have an infinite love for potatoes, you don't need an Italian grandmother to get it right (meaning my grandmothers do just fine!).  Yes, that's right, I SUCCESSFULLY made gnocchi on my first try!  I was (and partially still am) on a culinary high.  And I'm pretty sure Jake liked it too (but you'll have to ask him to make sure).  I also gave some to my roommate, Zenka, and she didn't seem to complain one bit... In fact, I think she gobbled it down.


If you have any questions about making them, I did enough research and bookmarked enough sites that I  can share tips or answer questions.  But I really recommend you try to make this because it is incredibly rewarding when you do!


PS - I adapted this recipe from SO many sites, but I used Smitten Kitchen's technique tips the most.


Ingredients:

• 4 good sized Russet potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. After cleaning the potatoes, cut a ⅛ inch deep all around the potato (it will make peeling them a lot easier later).  
2. Place in boiling water for about 30 minutes, or until a paring knife can easily be inserted into the fattest past of the potato.
3. When potatoes are done, remove and peel right away, the skins should slip right off with minimal assistance of a knife (and unless you have super hands, you'll want to use a kitchen towel or hot mitt to hold to potatoes).
4. Then grate the potatoes on the largest holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten egg and the salt to the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the flour to the potatoes a little at a time, using only as much as you need so that the dough will not stick to your hands. When the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips.  At this point my dough was still kind of sticky - you really want to avoid using too much flour (it will end up being very dense), err on the side of caution.
6. Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits onto a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough. Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Knead for about three or four minutes.
7. Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the six pieces using your fingertips into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.
8. Sadly, I am not yet talented enough to add the traditional gnocchi ridges with a fork, but if you can: create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork. With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured or parchment-lined dish. If you’d like to freeze them for later use, do so on this tray and once they are frozen, drop them into a freezer bag. This ensures that you won’t have one enormous gnocchi mass when you are ready to cook them.
9. To cook the gnocchi, place them into a pot of boiling and well-salted water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove,  and set aside.  If you are using a sauce, add to a saute pan with the (heated) sauce and cook for another minute or two.

Spinach-Basil Pesto

1. In a food processor combine a hand-full of basil leaves, about a cup of fresh spinach, ¼ cup of pine nuts, ½ cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, ¼ cup grated asiago cheese, 3 cloves of minced garlic, some freshly ground black pepper, and a few pinches of kosher salt.  All of these ingredients can be more or less to taste.
2. After this has been pureed, continue running the food processor and drizzle in olive oil until the pesto has reached your desired consistency.
3. This can then be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for a few days, but for the gnocchi you will want to heat it in a sauté pan, adding the gnocchi for the last one or two minutes.

Slow (Oven) Roasted Tomatoes

1. Preheat over to 250 degrees.
2. Cut Roma tomatoes in half and place in a small casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and top with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Cook in oven for about two hours or until nice and soft.

My Recipe for Roasted Asparagus

Risotto with heirloom tomatoes, artichoke, basil, & garlic

The last time I made Risotto I was mildly satisfied with my results.  I think my biggest mistake is that I added stock to the risotto before the last cup was COMPLETELY absorbed.  I found that when all the stock (and/or wine) is absorbed, you should see residual streaks created from stirring from the rice starch in the sauce pot.  I made this risotto using tomatoes that Laura gave me from the Cultivating Community garden.  I walked home from the garden that afternoon with a HUGE garbage bag full to tomatoes and a bunch of herbs; there was a frost coming that night and everything had to be harvested! (Oh yes, I also invented this recipe!)

Risotto with tomatoes, artichoke, bail, & garlic

Ingredients:

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Barefoot's Chardonnay)
• 2 TPSP olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 cups of Arborio rice
• 10-15 basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1 cup white onion, minced
• 5 artichoke hearts
• 3 good to medium sized tomato (any variety will do)
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium/large sized sauce pot, bring 4 cups of vegetable stock to boil along with the artichoke hearts.  Once the stock boils, turn down the heat until the stock is simmer, remove the  artichoke hearts when they are cooked and set aside.
2. Heat up olive oil in a sauce pot and cook onions & garlic until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add in arborio rice, stirring constantly until all the moisture is absorbed.  Then pour in white wine, still stirring until all moisture is absorbed.
3. Add 1 scant cup of hot stock to the rice, cook and stir often, until it is completely absorbed. Continue to add the stock 1 cup at a time, stirring gently until absorbed.  However, before the last addition of stock, stir in the artichoke hearts, basil, tomatoes, and kosher salt & pepper to taste.
4. The risotto is done when the rice is creamy and tender but still slightly firm

Zucchini and Tomato Gratin

I made this for my dad the other night while my mom was in Portland moving my younger sister into college. This is a very light dish that makes great use of summer produce. When eating the gratin, I recommend you pour some of the juice from the bottom on the ban overtop served food. Also - the picture isn't so great. We've been getting a lot of rain here and I had to run outside and take a picture once a) the dish was already partially served and b) there was a 5 minute break in the rain.

Zucchini and Tomato Gratin

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 zucchini, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 2 pounds tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 10 basil leaves, cut in chiffonade
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 or 3 grinds fresh black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Warm the skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Lightly brush the bottom of the baking dish with olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices around the bottom of the pan, then add a layer of tomatoes. Sprinkle on the chopped parsley. Repeat with another layer of zucchini and another layer of tomatoes, then sprinkle on the basil chiffonade. Add the final layer of zucchini, then the tomatoes.
4. Arrange the onions and garlic around the top of the casserole. Sprinkle on a pinch or two of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Drizzle the remaining olive oil around the top and sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures that I took today when I went to (and shopped at) the Ann Arbor's Farmers Market. The market was fantastic today; farmers are starting sell pumpkins and more apples are appearing.

Pesto!

Happy (belated) Memorial Day! Yesterday was filled with a lot (a lot) of cooking. I went to the grocery store at 9am, started cooking at 10:30am, and finally finished around 3:30 pm. No breaks.

Over the next few days I will be posting these recipes: Eggplant Parmesan, Tomato Sauce (for the eggplant parm), Pesto Sauce, Grasshopper Brownies, and a mint chocolate garnish. Now, you will be pesto! This is a potent pesto that will delightfully coat pasta or be a nice sauce for pizza (recipe for that later).

Ingredients:

- 3 cups of (packed) basil leaves

- 6 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts

- 1/3 (ish) cup of olive oil

- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (grated)

- Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rough chop the basil, then place in a food processor with the garlic and combine until a smooth paste is formed. Add in pine nuts and combine.

2. While the food processor is still running, drizzle in the olive oil.

3. Transfer basil/garlic paste to a bowl and mix in parmesan cheese with a fork. Once well combined, add salt and pepper until it tastes 'good.' I personally put in a good amount of salt (maybe a 1/2 TBSP...maybe more...who knows, I don't really measure).

4. Enjoy! If kept in an airtight container, the pesto should keep in a fridge for a while (a couple weeks to a couple months)

Maybe if I'm up to it, I'll post another recipe tonight.