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CookVolume 1 Issue 26 July 29 , 2009

A Yummy Recipe from Mark Leonard

Mark Leonard, founder of a new and exciting online foodie entity, Where Foodies Go invited me to dinner at his home.

I go out to dinner with lots of folks, but it’s been quite a while since anyone offered to cook dinner for me. I think some people get uptight, considering my background.

In Corte Madera, I got to meet Julie, Mark’s wife, and their beautiful rescue dogs, two gorgeous greyhounds, Emma and Latte.

Mark made appetizers, a salad from Michael Chiarella’s cookbook that featured slightly grilled avocado, grilled halibut that had been planked, sautéed squash and onions, and a vegetable I had not tried before, agretti. He had bought it at the Marin farmers’ market.

Curious, I looked this yummy green up.

A Santa Barbara farmers’ market site said agretti, an Italian green, is also regionally known as roscano or barba di frate and, like arugula, is a name that can be used for other similar tasting and looking, but unrelated, vegetables; samphire, for example. Agretti is a good source of vitamin A, iron and calcium.

Like Samphire (crithmum maritimum), agretti (salsola soda) is a halophyte (a halophyte is a plant that naturally grows where it is affected by salinity in the root area or by salt spray).  It tends to be a bit salty tasting, even when grown in normally irrigated soils, and can be a bit tart.

AgrettiVery tender agretti can be used raw as a component of tossed salads. More usually, the edible stalks are separated from the root, rinsed and blanched for up to 10 minutes, then drained, drizzled with oil and lemon juice, and served as a green or warm salad.

Like asparagus, agretti can also be cooked. It turns up repeatedly in dressings for pasta – chopped and sauteed with ham or strips of chicken, over penne, or whole, boiled together with spaghetti, drained, and dressed with oil and lots of grated cheese. And it can be used in a frittata.

I hope it is still in season – I want to play with it!

One of the appetizers Mark made was a fava bean spread. Julie and I couldn’t stop eating it. Here is the recipe:

Mark’s Fresh Fava Spread

3 pounds fava beans (yield - about 12 oz)
1 teaspoon salt
3
cloves garlic
1/4
cup pine nuts
1/4
cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon tarragon, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
  salt and pepper - to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Shell the fava beans, then blanch for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Plunge the pods into ice water, then remove the inside beans from their skins.

Place the beans in a food processor with garlic, pine nuts, basil, tarragon, chili flakes and salt and pepper and process until smooth.  With food processor running, add olive oil in a stream. It’s ready to serve right away.
- Mark



An Emeril-GraceAnn Recipe

I met Emeril Lagasse way back when he had only two restaurants. Nola’s was freshly opened and Lagasse was still cooking daily. He even made his own Worcestershire sauce, sausages and cheese.

In addition to the main dining room, six diners got to sit on a bar that looked into the kitchen. Lagasse asked me if I “wanted to go around the world” or “eat Creole.”

SpinachSince it was my first time in New Orleans, of course I ordered several courses of some of New Orleans best.

Recently, I was looking for a poppy seed dressing and came across this really nice salad from Lagasse.

My next party, I’m going to make this salad. In the meantime, I made the dressing as written because I don’t mind eating the same thing several days in a row.

I felt the same way about Creole, back in the day.



Spinach-pear salad with Orange Poppy Seed dressing
(Yield: 16 Servings)

2 pound baby spinach
6 cups diced pears
2
cup thinly sliced red onion
16
ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 1/2
cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
  salt and pepper to taste

Orange Poppy Seed Dressing, recipe follows

On a large platter layer spinach, pears, onions, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing.

Orange Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:
Yield: 1 cup

1/2 cup champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons Orange Marmalade
2
tablespoon minced shallots
1
teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2
teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Combine the vinegar, marmalade, shallots, mustard, and garlic in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. While continuing to whisk, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until completely incorporated. Stir in the poppy seeds and serve with the spinach salad.

- GraceAnn



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Cookbook Review

CookbookPintxos
Ten Speed Press
$24.95
Gerald Hirigoyen with Lisa Weiss
ISBN 978-1-58008-922-7

A few years ago, I went to a Napa winery dinner cooked by chef Gerald Hirigoyen. The food was cutting edge modern French – not a hint of his Basque origins.

It was an eye-opening experience for me. I only knew him from Fringale restaurant, French bistro food, and his later Basque-inspired restaurants Piperade and Bocadillos.

In his latest book, he explores pintxos.

Here is an explanation of pintxos:

A pincho (Spanish; literally, thorn or spike) or pintxo (Basque) is a small slice of bread upon which an ingredient or mixture of ingredients is put and held there using a stick, which gives the food its name. A typical dish of the Basque Country and other Spanish territories, it is usually eaten as an appetizer, accompanied by a glass of red wine (called txikito) or beer (zurito). It is very common in the taverns of the Basque Country, Cantabria, and Navarre, where a variety of pinchos are usually served on a tray at the bar.

Hirigoyen, also author of The Basque Kitchen, makes a great contribution to the rapidly growing number of cookbooks from greater Spain.

It’s cook-friendly, with many selections that can be made ahead. Recipes are paired with wine suggestions, always a bonus.

Dishes featured include duck breast with oranges and green olives, tuna belly with lemon confit, tomato and watermelon salad, and fava beans with crème fraîche and mint.

Here is one of the recipes from his book:

Chopped Egg Salad with Caper Berries and Fresh Herbs
(Makes 4 open-faced sandwiches)

4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
2 sprigs chervil
2
sprigs tarragon
2
sprigs flat-leaf parsley
2 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  Kosher salt
4 slices pain de mie, about 3/4 inch thick, or other French white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1/2 teaspoon piment d'Espelette (available through the Spanish Table stores and through their website – www.spanishtable.com)
12 caper berries, rinsed and dried


Roughly chop the eggs and put them in a bowl. Roughly chop the chervil, tarragon, parsley, and basil and add to the eggs along with the oil. Stir to combine, season to taste with salt, and stir again.

To serve, lightly toast the bread slices and spread with the egg salad. Sprinkle evenly with the piment d'Espelette and top each sandwich with 3 caper berries.


- GraceAnn





The Yummy Seal of Approval

DonsuemorI’ve been noshing on Donsuemor Madelines for many, many years. When I was enjoying a coffee at Peet’s or any number of coffee houses a Madeline was just the right treat.

Spare me the gooey brownies, the gigantic scones. A Madeline, especially a Donsuemor was small, lightly sweet and always delicious.

And being a bit of traditionalist, I stuck with the Traditional through latte after latte.

Then a local public relations firm contacted me and asked me to try Donsuemor’s other flavors.

Over a couple of weeks I tried the Chocolate, the Traditional dipped in chocolate and the Chocolate dipped in chocolate.

I liked them all very much, but my absolute favorite to munch with a cup of morning tea was the Lemon Zest. 

Totally love at first bite.

As I expected, Donsuemor is a combination of the names of the founders, Don and Susie Morris. I also discovered that they introduced their Madelines to their Berkeley neighborhood in 1976. This bit of news led me to think that the Morrises were part of the gourmet culture that brought us chocolate truffles from Alice Medrich, charcuterie from Victoria Wise’s Pig by the Tail and more including Chez Panisse restaurant. 

In fact, the original Gourmet Ghetto’s Peets was where I first tasted them. In 1976, they were baked in a home kitchen using a traditional French recipe.

Today, they produce the same recipe (with variations) at the rate of 15,000 an hour in their Alameda baking facility. They are available all over the country in stores like Whole Foods, Peet’s and Albertson’s.

SealIt’s terrific to know that although they are surely now a million dollar business, the quality is just as good as it was when I was eating one standing outside Peet’s on Walnut Street all those years ago.

For being additive free, consistent and delicious, Donsuemor is awarded the Yummy Seal of Approval.


- GraceAnn


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