I’ve once again fallen delinquent in my posting. It’s not so much that I haven’t been cooking as much as the fact that I’ve been cooking without recipes, or more precisely that I’ve been cooking and not documenting the recipes. Part of it has been because it takes more time to measure out and document stuff, and part of it has been because the things I’ve been making (mostly Japanese) involve ingredients that most people probably don’t have lying around. I know that there’s nothing worse than seeing something that looks good and then realizing you’ll need to plunk down $50 in “exotic” ingredients to make it, or worse yet, that the ingredients aren’t even available in your area.
So I’ll leave it up to you. Leave a comment if you think I should blog about dishes that I make even if it means it doesn’t come with an exact recipe. I’ll post photos, maybe even talk about what went into it, but there won’t be any proportions or recipe to speak of. If enough people want it I’ll bring it;-)
Today’s recipe came together from random items in the fridge and some oysters I picked up today. It has a lot more vegetables than a traditional oyster stew, but I like the variety of texture and the sweetness the veggies impart. If you want it to be more about the oysters, you could omit the butternut squash and strain the stew before you add the roux.
I also used soymilk because that’s what was in the fridge (and it was surprisingly creamy), but if you feel like this is sacrilege, by all means, swap out the soy milk for real milk. If you wanna go for the full coronary, you could even add a bit of cream at the end.
This would also work well with some diced fennel in the moir poix, or with a splash of Pernod at the end. You could also add other seafood, like clams, shrimp or fish if you wanted to. I was also thinking that it would make a great filling for a pot pie, but you’d probably have to refrigerate the filling and put the oysters into the pie raw before going into the oven to prevent them from overcooking.
This one’s getting entered in the Marx Foods contest for the month. If you have a great oyster recipe, enter for a chance to win 4 dozen oysters (and tell them who sent you ;-).
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The photo doesn’t look like much and the name might remind you of Sylvester from Looney Toons, but if creamed corn is your thing, this is your Holy Grail.
Succotash is truly an American dish if there ever was one. Its roots go back to a time before the Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving. Beans and Maize (corn) were popular crops for Native Americans because together they are a rich source of both protein and carbohydrates. It was common for the two to be cooked together and the term succotash was derived from the Narraganset term: msikwatas.
Since then a lot of other ingredients such as cured meats and cream have been introduced and the name refers to just about anything that has corn and beans in it. My version uses milk along with polenta to make a satisfyingly thick (though not overly cloying) “pudding” in which kernels of crisp sweet corn and fresh fava beans are suspended. The maple syrup brings out the natural sweetness in the corn and with a bit of cream added at the end it makes for a symphony of harmonious textures and flavours. It’s a balanced meal by itself but also works great as a side for meats and poultry.
If fresh fava beans aren’t available, fresh lima beans or fresh peas would work as well. In the dead of winter, this would also taste great with canned corn and cannellini beans. Additions such as bacon and cheese (pecorino or gruyere are two possibilities) would certainly make this richer and I can even imagine turning this into a gratin by putting it in a casserole dish, topping with cheese and breadcrumbs and baking.
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 Tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp regular salt)
1 Tbs maple syrup
1/8 tsp sage
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 C polenta
2 ears corn removed from the cob along with any “milk” from the corn (about 2 cups)
1 cup shelled fresh fava beans
2 Tbs cream
Add the milk, salt, maple syrup, sage and pepper to a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until simmering. Add the polenta and stir continuously until it starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Turn down the heat to medium low and add the corn. Cook stirring regularly until the polenta is no longer soupy but not too firm about 10-15 minutes. Add the beans and cook for a few more minutes until the beans are bright green.
Remove from heat and taste, adjusting salt and pepper as needed then stir in the cream. Serve while hot.
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My refrigerator is retarded. Items left on the top shelf spoil because it’s not cool enough up there. Things on either of the bottom two shelves, especially towards the back tend to freeze. I’ve always thought of this as a curse (have you ever seen frozen tofu?), but today it actually ended up working out.
I was digging through the back of the fridge looking for some inspiration and I found a ziplock back with a small fistful of boiled stinging nettles. Those of you that remember my foraging expedition might remember the stinging nettles I picked (and never cooked with). Though it’s been almost a month, the little baggie of boiled nettles made it to the back of the fridge where it froze solid allowing me to resurrect it in this pasta today:-)
Honestly the nettles didn’t really add much flavor to the pasta, but it does make it a nice green color. This was my first time using my newest Kitchen Aid attachment (pasta roller) so the pasta didn’t exactly turn out gorgeous, but I’d have to say this was far better (and easier) than the hand crank contraptions I’ve used in the past. The burly motor in the Kitchen Aid makes short work of the rolling process, and because you don’t have to turn a crank, you have both hands free to feed and catch the pasta on the other end.
Nettle pasta going through the Kitchen Aid powered pasta machine
Finished nettle pasta ready to hit the pot.
I really like to keep pastas very simple highlighting just one or two of the ingredients. In this case I wanted the pasta and fava beans to be the stars since they both take a fare amount of work to prepare. The Pecorino Grand Cru, an aged sheepsmilk cheese gives the fresh pasta some depth and umami while the lemon and pepper brighten it up. Fava beans, when lightly boiled and shelled have a texture a bit like edamame, but they are much sweeter and have a flavor similar to peas.
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