Modern Love – Grow. Cook. Eat.

January 5, 2010

Cooking for a Plan

This weekend, The Boston Globe published a story about my dating trials and tribulations. Yes, it’s more amusing than Fred Flintstone. And all true. I don’t want to give away the punch-line, you should read the story.

Due to space limitations, they could not publish the accompanying recipes.

Dinner for Ken
Fried Rice in general is a great to use up left-over bits of vegetables and meats. Though, it is so good, I don’t wait for left-overs to make it. And the green beans… these are spicy and delicious.

If you're cooking for a specific meal plan, as I did for Ken, you may choose to substitute brown rice for the white rice.

3 cups cooked rice, cooled
shrimp or chicken seasoned with salt and pepper
peanut or canola oil
2 whole eggs

2 tsp. fresh minced ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbs. fried shallots
1-2 tbs. srirachi chili sauce (depending on taste)
¼ cup shredded white cabbage
¼ cup chopped tomatoes

Sauce
1 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. Chinese Rice Wine
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tbs. oyster sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil

1. Combine ingredients for the sauce.

2. Heat skillet on high heat. Add 1-2 tbs. oil. Cook meat until ½ cooked. Remove meat from pan. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, but not browned (you may need to add more oil to the pan). Add ½ of the fried shallots, cabbage and tomatoes. Cook for 1 minutes more. Add rice. Break up and stir fry until slightly brown and heated through. Stir in the sauce

3. When rice is heated through and brown, and chili sauce to rice and stir.

4. Remove rice from pan and put on a serving dish. While the skillet is still hot, add more oil, and fry the eggs. Garnish rice with fried eggs and fried shallots.

Green Beans with Chilies and Lime

1 lb. Green Beans, snipped
1 cup bean sprouts
½ head of shreaded green cabbage

Dressing
2 tbs. Fried shallots
1 tbs. oil
2 tbs. chopped garlic
1 large chili, seed and diced
1 bird’s eye chili, diced
3 lime leaves, finely chopped
1 ½ inch kencur or ginger
½ tsp. Sugar
salt, pepper and lime juice to taste

1. Heat a large skillet, add oil. Add garlic, kencur and chilies and cook until the mixture becomes aromatic, about 2 minutes.

2. Add green beans and cabbages and saute, stirring frequently, until green beans are bright green

3. Add sugar and adjust seasoning to taste with salt pepper and lime juice.

4. Toss green beans with bean sprouts and fried shallots

January 2, 2010

Taste-Driving Boyfriends

Due to space limitations, they could not publish the accompanying recipes.

Dinner for Boyfriend No. 2
Perhaps this dish should be a litmus test for future boyfriends. I don’t think any of the old boyfriends would eat this as it was served in the story… The original recipe, which was written for elk loin, is quite adaptable. I’ve substituted tuna, duck and beef with equal success.

Chamomile Scented Tuna with Blackberry Sage Chutney and Crispy Polenta

Spice Rub:

1 tsp. black peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon star anise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp. cumin seed, roasted
1 tbs. chamomile, whole
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Polenta
½ onion, diced
1 small shallot, diced
1 tbs. butter
3 cups liquid (any combination of chicken broth, milk or water)
3/4 cup polenta,
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Plain oil

Blackberry-Sage Chutney:
3/4 cup diced shallots
2 strips smoked bacon, finely chopped
4 tbs. black- or raspberry liqueur
3/4 cup blackberries, frozen
1 tbs. fresh sage, chopped
2 tbs. brown sugar
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

To prepare the Tuna:
3 lbs. tuna loin
¼ cup pomegranate molasses

For the Spice rub: In food processor, grind peppercorns and star anise until completely powdered. Add cumin seed and chamomile; grind until smooth and then add remaining ingredients. Set aside.

For the Polenta: Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add onions and saute until soft. Add milk, and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. When polenta is thick, pour onto a 9”x13” pan and bake for 15 minutes. Cool at least 2 hours (preferably overnight) then cut into fry shape. Heat plain oil in a large skillet. Cook polenta fries until crispy on all sides.

For the Blackberry Sage Chutney: Saute bacon in a skillet until lightly brown. Add shallots and cook until soft. Add liqueur and deglaze the pan. Add all remaining ingredients. Cook for 2-3 minutes, just to soften blackberries.

To prepare the tuna: Coat the tuna with the molasses. Dredge in spice mix and place in a very hot cast iron skillet. Sear tuna on both sides until dark in color, about 3 minutes per side. At this point it should be medium rare. If you like your fish more well done, continue cooking in a 400F oven. Slice and serve with polenta and chutney.

Up next: Dinner for Ken………………

August 27, 2008

Cooking for Fred Flintstone

Last summer, I dated a man I affectionately called Fred Flintstone. He garnered this nickname because of his caveman-like eating habits. He had many wonderful virtues, but his palate was not one of them. His diet consisted of three things: chicken parmesan, pizza and kung pao chicken.

Since eating out is one of my favorite pastimes, I wanted to expand his repertoire and expose him to new flavors so we could eat together at a greater variety of restaurants. I had a plan: start with the basics and refine them. I thought, “I’ll make him the best friggin’ chicken parm he’s ever eaten!”

Off to Whole Foods: I bought organic, free range chicken, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and brioche for homemade bread crumbs. For the sauce, I had organic, heirloom tomatoes that I canned. I proudly served him my masterpiece: The chicken was cooked perfectly, properly seasoned and juicy. The mozzarella had a light golden crust and the crunchy bread crumb crust with seasoned with the parmesan cheese and olive oil.

He said, “Your sauce could use a little tomato paste.”

He ate more broccoli than chicken, which was a particularly bad sign since vegetables were not part of his regular diet. I was thoroughly demoralized.

I wouldn’t tell him this, but he wasn’t completely wrong. The sauce was watery. Tomato paste was not necessarily the answer but it did need thickening – either by longer cooking or by using a less juicy tomato.

Out of this came a new way of making tomato sauce that does not require long simmering and stirring. I roast roma tomatoes, sliced in half, with garlic cloves and shallots. When everything is slightly browned and caramelized, I puree it all with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh herbs.

Why did we break up, you ask? Because he was a hopeless caveman, and I couldn’t convince him to try foods beyond his basic three dishes. Perhaps, I had diminished his culinary trust in me with watery tomato sauce. He never did try the improved version. But I have a new red sauce recipe to remember him by.

Fred Flintstone Tomato Sauce

3 pounds plum tomatoes, cut in half, lengthwise
2 shallots, peeled and cut in half
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2-3 stalks fresh thyme
½ cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 sprig basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Toss tomatoes with shallots, garlic, thyme and oil.

Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 30 minutes at 400F or until tomatoes are tender and the garlic is lightly browned.

3. Puree the tomatoes with garlic and shallots in a food processor. When smooth, add basil and puree for 10 seconds more just to chop. Adjust seasoning with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Broccoli that even a Caveman will eat

1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1//4 teaspoon chili flakes
1 squeeze lemon juice.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and chili flakes. When garlic starts to brown add broccoli. Stir to coat in olive oil and garlic. Add ¼ cup of water to steam broccoli. When water evaporates and broccoli is bright green, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.