this is so good!

No-knead bread
Appelstroop (dutch apple syrup/spread…you could use balsamic syrup instead)
basil
Valdeon or other bleu/gorgonzola cheese
red pepper flakes

Its the perfect combo of sweet, tangy, spicy, sheepy.

On a recent brunch trip to Lula’s sister restaurant Nightwood, we discovered one of the simplest, most addictive incarnations of the potato we’ve ever experienced: the Nightwood Tater Tot.

So what makes these things so good? They’re crunchy (but not too crunchy). They’re fried. There’s nooks and crannies where coarse sea salt is hiding. And then you bite into it. The inside is soft like mashed potatoes. But not cold or weird. Just right. It’s really like hashbrowns in a ball. Pretty far removed from what I would have called a “tater tot”…but whatever. I had to figure out how to make these.

Cut to the same afternoon: A recipe for home made tater tots.

What I liked about making these is that its essentially one ingredient and a lot of prep/cooking variables. I’ve made these a half dozen times now and while they’re always tasty, they are a challenge to make exactly the same each time. I can’t imagine they cut these by hand at Nightwood. The grater attachment on my food processor sucks, so I never really tried simply blanching/frying the shredded potatoes.

I used some leftover purple potatoes…I would imagine something starchy like a russet would work even better.
I tried several ways of preparing the potatoes into their “tot” shapes. I tried making a sort of rough batter, using grater (hand and food processor) – but each of these approaches was too perfect. I decided to thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin, then quickly blanch the slices and finally julienne the resulting slimy slices:

About 3 minutes in unsalted boiling water. Any longer and you wont be able cut them. Any less and they’ll be too crunchy after frying.

The blanched and subsequently sliced potatoes:

To form them into balls I tossed the potatoes with a few tablespoons of flour. I experimented with adding salt, mustard, oil, etc., but it really wasn’t necessary. I found that the trick to making them shape nicely is to wet your hands and really squeeze the shit out of them.

Fry in 375 degree sunflower oil until golden brown. If you don’t have a deep fryer, I highly recommend using a thermometer and waiting for the oil to reach the right temperature. Frying is deceptively complex. (did I really just say that?)

When they’re done frying, roll them through some coarse sea salt while they’re still oily.

Our dear friend and cooking muse Keighty has cobbled together this gracefully crude (we mean that in a good way) pot pie recipe. We cheated (or didn’t cheat?) and added some chicken we had leftover from a roast. The creamy potatoes with parsnips and carrots + crispy cheddar/chive biscuit topping is amazing.

Try it and tell her what you think…

KniQuil from Hot Knivez on Vimeo.

WALNUT CHICKEN

Marinate chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes in 2 T tamari, 1 T sherry, 1/2 t ground ginger or 1/2-inch piece of ginger overnight. Heat 2 T sesame oil (total = 1/4 C) over high flame and stir fry 2 sliced scallions, garlic clove cut into two pieces and 1 C of coarsely chopped walnuts. After three or four minutes remove garlic and transfer scallions and walnuts into a bowl. Add remaining oil and chicken pieces and marinade. Stir fry about five minutes, until chicken is tender and coated with soy mixture. Combine with walnuts and onions. Serve with rice.

GRUEL BREAD

(These ideas come from the Tassajara Book)
Go through refrigerator, collecting food you no longer wish to eat: rice, beans, cooked vegetables or raw (parsley that’s turned yellow, etc.). Include any liquids you may have saved (such as water from parboiling string beans). Put through Cuisinart and measure. Add more than an equal amount of whole wheat flour. Do not work with more than 5-7 cups of gruel at the same time. Mix and then knead (adding dry dill weed if wished) for about 45 minutes or an hour until it is consistent (“all of a piece”). Then put in oiled bread pans. I use corn oil. After putting it in, take it out and put it back upside down. (This oils the entire loaf.) Take a wild knife and make a deep indentation down the middle of the loaf. Cover with damp cloth and leave in warm place overnight. In the morning back at 375 degrees for one hour and 15-20 minutes.

BEANS

Soak beans overnight after having washed them. In the morning change the water and add Kombu (seaweed). Also, if you wish, rosemary or cumin. Watch them so that they don’t cook too long, just until tender. Then pour off most of the liquid, saving it, and replace it with tamari (or Braggs). But taste first: you may prefer it without tamari or with very little. Taste to see if it’s too salty. If it is, add more bean liquid. Then, if you have the juice from a roasted chicken, put several teaspoons of this with the beans. Black turtle beans or small white beans can be cooked without soaking overnight. But large kidney beans or pinto beans, etc., are best soaked. (So are the others.)
Another way to cook beans, which has become my favorite way, is with bay leaves, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. You can cook it with some kombu from the beginning. I know use the “shocking method.” See Aveline Kushi’s book.

And now I’ve changed again. A Guatemalan idea: Bury an entire plant of garlic in the beans without bothering to take the paper off. Cook for at least 3 hours.

What is Tamari?

Greek Pasta Salad (a Moosewood recipe)

1/2 lb pasta shells – 1/4 cup olive oil – 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces – 1/2 tsp salt – 2 cloves garlic, minced – juice of 1 lemon – 2 Tblsp water – 1 red bell pepper, diced – 5 artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (14 oz can) – 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced – 2 tomatoes, diced – 1 celery stalk, sliced – 2 scallions, chopped – 2 tsp dried dill – 1 tsp dried oregano – salt and pepper – 1 cup crumbled feta – Greek olives

Bring a large covered pot of water to a rapid boil. Cook pasta according to package then drain. Rinse under cold water until cool and drain. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add eggplant. Cover and cook 3 minutes on medium heat. Stir in salt, garlic, lemon juice, and water. Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes, until eggplant is almost tender. Add red bell pepper and dried herbs. Simmer a few more minutes. In a large salad bowl mix artichoke hearts, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, and scallions. Add cooked eggplant and peppers. Stir in pasta and toss well. Add salt and pepper and olive oil to taste. Serve at room temperature with olives and feta. 

The other day I made a pizza that I do semi-regularly.

Chorizo (while cooking it I throw in a sliced onion ,as well, and try not to use that prepackaged Chorizo, it’s no good. I usually do a whole pound and keep leftovers for eggs or tacos or whatnot.)

Sweet potato ( I dice and roast 1 decent sized one with salt pepper and maybe ancho chilli powder)

Salsa Verde (tomatillos were at the market, otherwise find a good bottled one)

Cheese (whatver is cool with you.  I have used Mozzerella, this time I did Quesadilla.)

But yeah this is good stuff.  Sweet salty spicy tangy etc.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is about the most basic pickle recipe out there. Tastes somewhat like a Claussen, from what I’m told.

I use little Kirby cucumbers. They’re in season right now and there’s always a big bushel of them at my corner market. It’s firm and got nice small seeds — perfect for pickling.

I’m using a 32 oz. jar, which fits about two-and-a-half Kirbies cut into sixths.

Ingredient amounts were all eyeballed. But throw the following in the jar:

• Maybe 2 tbsp. black pepper corns
• About the same amount, a hair less, of mustard seeds
• A few sprigs of dill (a sprig being the whole stem and leaves)
• I guess what was probably a 1/4 cup of yellow onion
• A 1/4 tsp. of sugar
• 1 tbsp. kosher salt

Packing all that in the bottom of the jar, shove the cucumber spears in on top.

The liquid for this is about 1 part white vinegar to 2 parts water — then just top off with water, cause you really want a little more water than just the 2-1. Boil the vinegar and water and pour it into the jar. Seal it up. Let it come back down to room temperature and throw it in the refrigerator for about a week.

Grandma Johnson’s Pickles

This my grandma’s recipe, which gets slightly more involved, partially because it involves more waiting before jarring. The pickles turn out slightly buttery, crisp, with a nice tanginess to them.

Same amount of Kirby cucumbers cut in sixths for the same size jar.

In a casserole dish, high-walled baking pan, or roasting pan spread out the cucumber spears, a 1/2 cup of yellow onion, and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of green pepper strips. Over the top sprinkle 2 tbsp. of coarse salt (I use kosher salt) and 1/4 teaspoon of alum.

Cover all this with ice and let sit for about 2 hours until the ice melts, stirring occasionally. I’m not really sure what this does, but I think it makes the cucumbers contract so when the hot vinegar syrup hits them they expand and suck up all the flavoring.

Right, so there’s a apple cider vinegar and sugar syrup that these will pickle in for a week or so. They syrup is 1 part apple cider vinegar to 2 parts sugar. It needs to be heated on the stove and stirred until it begins to boil and all the sugar is dissolved.

Transfer all your cucumbers, peppers, and onions into a jar with about 1 tsp. of celery salt. You don’t want the water in with your ingredients, but you don’t want to rinse them either, because you want a little of the alum and salt clinging to the cucumbers to transfer into the jar. Then you just pour the syrup over them and seal it up.

Like the previous recipe, let it return to room temperature and then transfer it to the refrigerator for a week. “You don’t want the refrigerator to have to work too hard,” according to my mother.

Oak Pickles

Here’s one last pickle recipe, thanks to my friend Emily (whose pie blog you should read).

Emily did the slices instead of spears, which is how my mother always makes grandma’s recipe and I have a fondness for. With slices, it’s all about the size of your jar and the size of your cucumber, so just get a couple and use the leftovers for a pitcher of Pimm’s Cup.

So pack your cucumbers in with the following:

• About 1 tbsp. of pepper corns
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
• An oak leaf

The brine for this is about 1 tbsp. of sea salt for each cup of water. Go easy on the salt, a little goes a long way in this one.

“Oak leaves keep them crunchy, apparently, and add an oaky finish,” is how Emily described these pickles.

Emily described this as “lacto-fermented” food, which I’m still figuring out.

I’m anxious to try this recipe, it sounds really simple and good. Seems like you can pickle just about anything with this recipe — Emily suggested dillo beans.

I’ve been trying to make the Perfect French Bread. I am also a shitty baker (as evidenced by the “liquid pizza” I made for some friends recently). Regardless, there’s a lot of good resources and great recipes out there (including the above recipe by  Samual Fromartz).

Here’s a few things I learned:

• Sourdough starter is the difference between tasty, complex, flavorful bread and “just bread”. It’s also easy to make.
• Measure in grams
• Those pockets of air in good bread come from folding the dough repeatedly.
• Use a scale
• Don’t experiment with novel flours…just use all purpose flour (non-bleached)
• A little bit of whole wheat flower adds flavor…but you only need 1 tbsp to every 2 cups
• When you finally get to the point of actually baking the bread, put a cup of water in a skillet that’s been heating up with the oven. It’ll fill the oven with steam and in turn give you a crispier crust.
• One of these things helps the bread keep its shape while rising and baking