Al Dente

Naked Kiwis Now on Display

I spotted baby kiwis at my local farmers market a few year's back. These smooth, grape-sized kiwis looked naked to me without the fuzz that covers their their larger relatives. "Cover up," I thought, "or you'll catch your death of cold!"

Baby kiwis, also known as hardy kiwis or kiwi grapes, are both sweet and tart, and entirely edible, skin and all. They make a great portable snack and a cool lunchbox treat. Still a novelty, whenever I have them in my grocery cart, people stop to ask me what they are.

If you can't find baby kiwis at your farmers market, not to worry. These days you can buy them at grocery stores across the country. Look for them in the berry section. But only for a short time. Naked kiwis can't bear the cold.

--Tracy Schneider

How Much Rice Really Comes from a Rice Cooker?

I love my rice cooker (which happens to be the Micom 5-1/2-cup model in stainless steel from Zojirushi), and use it for everything from making plain white rice for my puppy Sookie when she recently had to be put on a very bland diet (after eating something she found buried in the dark recesses of the yard) to making more off-the-beaten-path things like polenta with gorgonzola. But when I was searching out which rice cooker I wanted, I got pretty confused by what the “cup” numbers meant in the titles--such as a 3-cup model. Does it mean 3 cups of rice can fit in it, or 3 cups come out of it? After researching and double checking with some vendors and looking at various models and even a little testing, I finally figured it out.

It should mean how much rice the cooker can deliver, not take in (and if you’re in a brick and mortar store and the clerk tells you different walk away. Same if on an online site). Seems easy enough, right? But it can be awfully confusing, especially as many models look quite similar. Take this Black & Decker rice cooker line, for example (which are dandy rice cookers, from all I’ve seen and from all reports, and I’ve tested this close relative, and like it lots, too). There are three: 3-cup, 6-cup, and 17-cup models (that last one is a lovely monster by the way, especially if you have a big family, or a reunion, or a restaurant). They all visually look similar, only differing if you hold the actual rice cooker in your hand. Even when holding the boxes it can be hard to tell how much they’ll take in or deliver. That’s why you have to remember: the 3-cup one delivers a maximum of three cups cooked rice, the 6-cup one delivers a maximum of six cups cooked rice, etc. The “cup” in the title does not refer to how much you’ll put in the cooker. Whew, it seems simple, but with all the various and random information floating out there, it can be confusing. And the last thing you want is to bring a cooker home for a big dinner and then have half the rice you need. Or to give someone a gift and give the wrong size.

Of course, when making more advanced numbers like a gumbo in your rice cooker (and these really can do so much more than just plain rice), or making Japanese sticky rice, or a rice cousin like risotto, it might be a slightly different yield than the “xx-cup” amount. This is why I would always suggest getting a rice cooker that comes with a good and detailed recipe and instruction book, to help get you started. After using a few of the recipes they provide, naturally you’ll want to branch out and experiment. But without that good bedrock of recipes and instructions, and without knowing going in how much rice can come out of your cooker, you won’t enjoy it half as much.

--A.J. Rathbun

Too Many Tomatoes? Time for Terry's Bruschetta!

Our friend Terry makes the best bruschetta (brew-sket-ta) ever. Her classic recipe calls for lightly grilled bread brushed with garlic and is topped with a tomato and basil mixture. Everyone asks Terry for it (even my sister!), and no one can believe how easy it is to make.

The key to great bruschetta, Terry says, is to use good, extra virgin olive oil. The topping is prepared in advance, and the only trick to the dish is to put the tomato mixture over the bread just before it’s to be served. After fifteen or twenty minutes, the bread becomes mushy.

Even straight out of the kitchen, this is one messy appetizer and apt to spill all over your guests’ laps. So my tip for this recipe: Always serve Terry’s bruschetta with plenty of napkins!

Terry’s Bruschetta

Ingredients:
5 medium tomatoes, very ripe
Salt
10-12 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon capers (optional)
3/4 cup non-filtered extra virgin olive oil

Slightly stale bread, toasted
Two or three cloves garlic, peeled

Directions:
1. Dice tomatoes and put in colander to drain. Spread tomatoes in colander and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Continue to drain 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Grill bread in an oven or toaster oven. Brush raw garlic over each piece.

3. Squeeze tomatoes with your hands, one handful at a time, and put in a large bowl. Finely chop basil and mix it with the tomatoes. Stir in capers if you are using them. Add 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. (Don’t skimp on the olive oil. If you tip the bowl slightly, you should see some oil gather at the bottom.) Add salt to taste.

4. Spoon tomato mixture over grilled bread immediately before serving.

--Tracy Schneider

Run Of The River Inn Does Breakfast with a Capital "B"

I'll never forget the disappointment when I stayed at a bed and breakfast in London, waking up to a plate of dry toast and a cup of weak tea. You call that an eye-opener?

There's certainly no skimping on the morning meal at the Run of the River Inn, a comfy bed and breakfast in Leavenworth, Wash., also known as "The Bavarian Village."

The seasoned innkeepers create a lavish, three-course spread served family-style around a huge table. Strangers become fast friends while enjoying egg casseroles, smoothies and baked fruit desserts. What impressed me most, though, was a fantastic preparation of yogurt and fruit served at the start of the meal.

In the Run of the River cookbook, called Seasons & Friends, Monty and Karen Turner write of their exhaustive experiments to find just the right foundation for this velvety dish. They're hooked on Stonyfield Organic, the vanilla, non-fat version.

Shortly before breakfast is served, they whip the yogurt with a hand mixer. Then, they swirl it in a blender with a couple of bananas and whatever fruit is fresh and in season. I made mine at home with nectarines and it turned out beautifully. Tasted more like a pudding than a tangy yogurt, even though no additional sweetner was added. Sensational!

Seems like there's no better time of year to try this cool, creamy creation.

Nectarine Yogurt

Ingredients

One quart Stoneyfield vanilla organic nonfat yogurt

Two bananas

One cup nectarines, diced

Directions

Whip yogurt until creamy with a handheld mixer. In your blender, drop in two bananas. Add two cups whipped yogurt and the fruit. Blend until the color is uniform. Pour in dishes and top with additional fruit, coconut flakes or granola.

Serves 6.

-- Leslie Kelly

Panzanella: A Peasant's Salad Fit For a King

It's said that Italian Panzanella is a peasant's salad, created to use up stale bread and plentiful, ripe tomatoes. With good bread hovering these days around $5 a loaf and tables of tomatoes overflowing at roadside stands and farmers markets, the recipe for Panzanella is a delicious relief to the season's economic uncertainty.

This particular recipe comes from my favorite gourmets, Zachary and Clark, who approach cooking, their favorite avocation, with a marvelous combination of scientific rigor and unbridled enthusiasm.

Over the years they have fed me their favorite dishes and given me the detailed recipes. They've tracked down the most unusual ingredients, the coolest kitchen toys and the best sources for ideas and inspiration. From their home in Vermont, they've promised to serve as my informal test kitchen and share their discoveries with us all.

Italian Panzanella: Tomato and Bread Salad

Ingredients:
1 pound ripe tomatoes
Kosher salt

2 cups two- or three-day-old bread, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup Kalamata or Nicoise olives, pitted and sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, mashed to a a paste with a pinch of salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Core and chop tomatoes; sprinkle with salt and let sit in colander to drain

2. About 20 minutes before serving, prepare next group of ingredients. Whisk together third group of ingredients. Add all the ingredients together and combine well. Let sit so flavors blend.

Serves 4-6

--Tracy Schneider

Ground Cherries: Another of Summer's Best Snack Foods That Comes In Its Own Packaging!

The Farmers Market offers a wealth of produce you won't often find in your local grocery store. And at this time of year, every week turns up a whole new selection of unusual options. So for me every market trip is an adventure, even when it's in my own little neighborhood.

Today I was thrilled to see ground cherries make their first appearance at the West Seattle Farmers Market. I discovered ground cherries several years ago at Tonnemaker Family Orchard's market booth and now eagerly await their arrival in August. I eat them in quantity, since their season is short. 

Ground cherries are not in any way, shape or form like cherries. Similar to tomatillas in appearance, they come in their own exquisite, papery packaging. But the taste is all their own. Pop a seed-filled berry into your mouth, and a sweet tropical flavor explodes across your tongue. Some say that ground cherries taste a bit like pineapple, but why not you be the judge? The next time you're at your Farmers Market ask around for ground cherries. Chances are, you won't find them at your supermarket.

--Tracy Schneider

DeLonghi BQ100 Grill and Broiler: Helpful and Handy Indoors and Out

While it’s really called an “indoor” grill, I gave DeLonghi’s BQ100 grill and broiler a try the other night and  used it outdoors, and found it worked perfectly, there, too. Here’s the thing--it’s really hot right now. It’s the end of July, and the temperature here in Seattle has risen to record-setting heights, which makes it just impossible to want to stand over a hot stove. And while I’m a fan of salads (and eating in an air-conditioned restaurant, for that matter), sometimes even in the warmest weather you want to make a meal at home. Which is why I plugged in the BQ100 outside in the yard to give it a test run.

The grill is sturdy, and has a longish cord, so I set it up on the picnic table and plugged it in to the outside plug and turned the thermostat to Max. The coolest (no pun intended) and unique thing about this grill-broiler combo is right there in the name: it has a heating element in the middle, with a nonstick die-cast grill plate that goes on top of the element and a broiler drawer underneath the element. I think if you were a steak-lover you’d like it even more than I did, because you could sear the steak up top then finish it in the broiler (due to the placement of the heating element, you get to use both at the same time, making it simple). We were listening to the Mariners play while cooking though, and so we made giant Italian dogs, first grilling up a bunch of onions on the grill top. Then, when the onions and dogs were ready, we toasted the buns in the broiler. Delicious.

The grill heated up pretty quickly, and then cooled down nicely after clicking the switch to off. Though we didn’t have to use it (not a lot of grease rolling off the dogs), there is a nice drainage cup built into the grill plate, which drains off excess oil and stuff in a way that helps with cleaning. The BQ100 measures 20-1/2 by 15-3/5 by 7 inches, so it wasn’t tough to transport from indoors to out either--I just picked it up and carried it. Overall, a good summertime cooking experience, not too hot, not a hassle, and tasty.

--A.J. Rathbun

The 102nd Simple Salad of the Season

Last week Mark Bittman served up "101 Simple Salads for the Season", another of his extraordinary lists to appear in the food section of the New York Times. My longtime favorite salad appeared in an article in Self Magazine, July 1985, written by Rozanne Gold.

Couscous with Chicken, Almonds and Currants is from her list of recipes that boasts "grains instead of greens," a rather novel concept in the '80s. Whenever I serve it, people ask me for the recipe. I vary the ingredients quite a bit, and you should too.

I never put the orange sections in the salad. I think it would make it too sweet for my taste. Sometimes I leave out the currants too, especially if I'm watching my sugar intake. My family isn't crazy about nuts in their salad, so I drop the almonds, though if you like nuts you might try pecans as an alternative. If you have any leftover chicken in the fridge, use that instead of buying and poaching chicken breasts. Leave out the chicken altogether to make the meal vegetarian. The real key to this salad is the dressing, which I don't mess with. It's perfect just the way it is.

Rozanne Gold's Couscous with chicken, Almonds and Currants

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 10-3/4 ounce can chicken broth
3/4 cup quick-cooking couscous
1 can (10-1/2 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup currants or raisins
1 large orange, peeled and sectioned
3-4 scallions, finely chopped
8 ounces plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place chicken in skillet with broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook 10-15 minutes, or until done. Cool in broth and cut into strips.

2. Drain off broth and pour into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, add couscous and cook 5 minutes. Transfer to a colander and cool to room temperature.

3. Combine chicken and couscous in a large bowl. Stir in chickpeas, almonds, currants, orange sections and scallions; set aside.

4. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and pour over couscous mixture. Toss and garnish with watercress sprigs if desired.

--Tracy Schneider

Summer's Best Snack Food Comes In Its Own Packaging

Chefs sing the praises of peas, fresh, frozen and even canned, for a variety of dishes and recipes. I recently saw Mario Batali extolling the virtues of frozen peas on the Martha Stewart Show, though frankly, when it comes to peas, I can take them or leave.

I do make an exception for fresh-picked, shelling peas served in their simplest form. Not in a soup or a sauce or as a side, but still in their pods as a snack or even an impromptu, surprising first course. (Watch the look on your guests face when you set down a basket of fresh peas still in their pods!) Nothing compares with freshly-picked, early harvest peas eaten straight from the pod. Sweet and crunchy, they're tiny green candies masquerading as vegetables.

Whenever I find shelling peas at the Farmers Market, I know to buy more than a few pounds. Even then, most will be gone by the time we get back to the house. For an afternoon snack just the other day, I presented my daughter and her friends with a bowlful of shelling peas (what was left from our market foray) and an empty bowl for the discarded pods. They were gone in a flash.

Because fresh peas come in their own packaging, it's easy to take them along for on-the-go snacking or pack them in a picnic basket for a fun treat at lunch. If only they lasted a little longer.

--Tracy Schneider

The Beauty of Good Banana Bread

There are various theories on the best way to start a day (food-wise, that is). I’ll admit to floating between different ones. Somedays, I think eggs in some way, shape, or form are the only way to wake up (usually, I feel this way on Sunday, and want them spiced liberally). Other days, give me nothing but a good croissant (if only such a thing were to be found easily outside of France or Italy.) On yet other days, like today, for example, I know that the best way to get the motor going is with a big slice of banana bread. Healthy-ish (well, it seems like it should be healthy, with bananas and nuts and such), hearty, tasty, banana bread is by far my favorite breakfast bread. Luckily, this morning pal and Al Dente scribe AndreaLeigh brought in some of the yummiest banana bread I’ve had in years. I didn’t have a camera handy, but it looked just like the below (which is from My Spiced Life), and started my workday perfectly. I suggest that today or tomorrow (depending on when you’re reading this), you get your banana-breading on early--unless you’re nutty enough to want to make a case for a better breakfast bread?

 

 

--A.J. Rathbun