Al Dente

A Bowl of Summer

In many parts, even if the temperatures climb during the day, there's a nip in the air--the first sign of fall. Leave it to my friends in Vermont, Zachary and Clark, for sharing this recipe for summer in a bowl.

We had this soup recently at the home of our friends Tom and Thomas, and we thought this was the best gazpacho we'd ever had. The recipe comes from The Taste of Summer cookbook by Diane Rossen Worthington, and it is indeed a great way to have a delicious bowl of summer.

You can build this soup in several ways. We've adapted the recipe for the food processor, which makes the soup even easier and creates a fun, multi-colored confetti of vegetables in the red soup base. But you could also purée everything, or you could peel, seed, and slice the tomatoes instead of milling them if you'd like pieces of tomato in it. Whatever you do, don't skip the sour cream or crème fraiche--it adds a lovely creamy texture that, together with the anchovy paste, makes this gazpacho special.

Creamy Gazpacho

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
3 cups tomato juice/low-sodium V8 juice

2-1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1/4-1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 red sweet pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped into chunks
1 yellow sweet pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped into chunks
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoos red wine vinegar

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Sour cream or crème fraiche

Directions:
1. In large bowl, whisk anchovy paste and tomato juice together until paste is dissolved.

2. In food mill, grind tomatoes through finest mesh (leaving behind skin, seeds, and pulp). Add third group of ingredients to food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add all remaining ingredients except sour cream/crème fraiche to the large bowl and combine; season to taste. Seal tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Serve in individual bowls, each garnished with a generous dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche.

--Tracy Schneider

Rawsome or Rawful? The Jury's Still Out

Just week ago I would not have suspected that this week I would be on a (mostly) raw food diet. It's almost as absurd as someone suggesting that I would turn vegetarian, or god forbid, vegan. It's just not me. (Case in point: Thursday last, I dined on exquisitely prepared bone marrow, liver, and oxtail at Angelini Osteria.)

Well, months (nay, a year or more) of gluttony have caught up to me, and in 3 weeks I'll be back in Capri in a bikini. A daunting thought to say the least. So, I have enlisted the emergency help of a master trainer, who has put *me*, a professional eater and taster of everything, on a protein + raw food diet, in addition to putting me through an arse-kicking workout every day. He insists that if I follow his instructions, I will be bikini-ready in three weeks. Sounds too good to be true, but following this program requires intense focus and discipline. It's not easy, but it's doable.

I am the third day in, and I have to say, I am tired of eating all of the time. Adherence to this diet requires eating five meals of day, each to include the following: 2 cups of raw vegetables (I can choose from a list of twenty-six different kinds), 3 ounces of protein (not to include protein shakes or bars), and a liter of water. Every day. Five times a day. I have to say, I am not feeling any hunger pangs, and that's slightly worrying to me. By the time my third, fourth, and fifth meal come around, I have to force myself to eat because I am really not that hungry. On the plus side, in three days I've probably consumed more raw vegetables than I normally would in a month. My body's probably really happy about that.

Thus far I have resorted to roasted chicken, tuna, and hard boiled eggs for my protein, and carrots, mixed greens, and avocados for my veggies, with lemon, lime, salt, pepper and olive oil for condiments, but I am gonna have to start mixing it up soon, or I will risk boredom and temptation. So far I have been able to walk away from homemade pizza and rosemary butter cookies. No small feat. 

Whether this eating detour proves to be rawesome or rawful remains to be seen. I will keep you posted. 

Any rawesome Al Dente readers out there who can help me build an interesting raw food meal plan? I'd love to hear your suggestions. And if any of you have been/or on a raw food diet, I'd love to know about your successes/setbacks, and any helpful hints.

Related products:

*Raw food cookbooks

--Stella "Raw Food" Cadente*

Follow me on Twitter @pomodorista

Tomatoes For Breakfast? Yes!

Pan con tomate is a traditional breakfast dish in Spain, and I'm surprised its popularity isn't more widespread. What a great way to start the day, especially for those who are looking for a quick and healthy breakfast option.

Pan con tomate is simple to make. Toast a baguette. Pour a bit of olive oil over it. Then spread some crushed tomato pulp on top. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. What could be easier?

I've also eaten a pan con tomate that was made by rubbing a bit of garlic and then half of a perfectly ripe tomato onto a piece of grilled bread. It's a perfect pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon.

With tomatoes now at their peak, why not have some fun at your next barbecue? Set out a basket of sliced bread along a bowl of tomatoes, and turn pan con tomate into a DIY appetizer for a group of friends.

If you give it a try, let me know how it goes! 

--Tracy Schneider

Getting to the Right Weight

Okay, I’m not as calorie conscious as many, but I have been struggling with getting accurate measurements lately. Especially with baking, as I was recently told by a baking pro (who’s also a pal) that using weight measurement with flour (as well as other dry ingredients) is much more accurate than using volume measurements. This makes sense when you think about settling rates and such, but really, I just wanted to upgrade my baking skills, and not think about the science of it all (by the way, if anyone disagrees with this baking premise, I’d be interested to hear about it and why). So, I picked up a digital scale, from Oxo. When making my pick I followed a couple of criteria: first, I wanted it to be easy to store (I have too many kitchen toys and not enough counter space); second, I wanted it to be easy to read; third, I wanted it to be easy to clean. The 5-pound Oxo Good Grips scale I went with hit on all my qualifiers, as it’s not too large and can store vertically and horizontally, is a simple swipe to clean, and is especially easy to read thanks to the super handy pull out display. Now, I find myself liking it enough that maybe I’ll not only use it to bake, but to diet, too (wait, who am I kidding with that. I’ll probably just stick to baking).

--A.J. Rathbun

Summertime is Berry Bible and Halibut with Strawberry-Papaya Relish Time

Since the bushes are starting to show some color with ripening berries, I’m super excited to discover Janie Hibler’s  book The Berry Bible (AmazonEncore, 2010). The book is packed with her berry-licious recipes and research from twenty years of world travel, where she worked to find the best berries and to uncover creative ways to use them.  The book starts with a chapter on health benefits, then moves to an A-Z guide of berries--where to find them, their history, how to pick/store them, and cooking notes, then a chapter on “Berry Basic,” which includes simple syrups, pureeing, how to pick, wash, and store berries for year-round enjoyment, even how to remove berry stains. And then the book delivers 175 plus recipes. But don’t just listen to me, here’s a quote from Janie herself:

“Over the years I have collected an entire file drawer full of berry recipes. Some are my own creations; others have come from my travels, family, friends, chefs, and neighbors. I picked out only the best for this book, and they have all been retested by me and then again by a group of testers. Like all recipes, these are meant to inspire you in the kitchen and bring immeasurable pleasure to your table. Enjoy!"
 
Curried Halibut with Strawberry-Papaya Relish

When halibut is roasted using extremely high heat, it becomes surprisingly butter textured and stays perfectly moist. You will need a cast-iron skillet or heavy baking dish that can be preheated safely in a 500 degree Fahrenheit oven. The halibut absorbs heat from both the preheated pan and the oven. The high heat immediately breaks down the fish’s connective tissue, producing moist, buttery flakes that melt in your mouth. This is an unusually quick recipe if you make the relish ahead of time. It will keep for 3 to 4 days covered in the refrigerator. I serve a simple green salad to accompany the fish.

Makes 4 servings

 

For the Strawberry-Papaya Relish

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped papaya
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon mild olive oil
Pinch of coarse salt

For the Curried Halibut

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds fresh halibut, trimmed of skin and cut into 4 pieces
Curry powder
Coarse salt
2 to 3 teaspoons canola oil
One 13-1/2-ounce can reduced-fat coconut milk
6 cups cooked basmati rice
8 fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions:
1. Put a cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Toss all the relish ingredients together and set aside. Meanwhile, bring the fish to room temperature.

3. Generously season the halibut with curry powder and coarse salt. Heat the canola oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, pan-sear the fish on both sides until golden brown, about 45 seconds per side. Transfer the fish to the hot skillet in the oven and roast for 6 more minutes, until the fish is barely cooked throughout.

4. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of each piece should read 135 degrees Fahrenheit, and the flesh will feel firm (not sink in) when pressed with your finger. The fish will continue to cook when it comes out of the oven. Transfer the fish to a warm platter and cover to keep warm.

5. Heat 4 wide pasta bowls.

6. Pour the coconut milk into the hot skillet over medium-low heat. Gently scrape the bottom of the pan to release the caramelized cooked bits as the milk heats. Season the milk with a pinch of salt if needed.

7. Divide the rice among the bowls. Lay the fish on top and ladle the coconut milk over all. Put a spoonful of the relish on top of the fish and sprinkle the cilantro leaves over all. Serve immediately.

What to Eat With Watermelon? Onions and Olives!

I've been racking my brains for an unusual side to bring to my next potluck barbecue. What a surprise, when without prompting, my friends in Vermont, Zachary and Clark, sent me a recipe that combines watermelon, onions and olives in an unusual but delicious summertime salad. What do you think? Will you give it a try?

One of our favorite hot-weather salads is this one, an unexpectedly brilliant combination of flavors that is quite refreshing. The original version of this recipe called for serving the watermelon mixture on top of salad greens, but we quickly dispensed with that as a distraction. We love the trick of soaking the onion slices in ice water (to remove their sting). And we love the fact that the watermelon does not have to be the best in order for this salad to work well; in fact, the other flavors enhance the watermelon flavor. We do, however, recommend using a seedless watermelon!

Watermelon, Feta, and Olive Salad

Ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced, then soaked in ice water for 30 minutes

2-3 pounds of seedless watermelon, rind removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
20-30 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Fresh mint leaves, chopped very roughly
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. While onion is soaking, prepare and mix together remaining ingredients; incorporate onion.

2. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate

--Tracy Schneider

Virginia Willis' Alphabet Soup: IACP, PDX, PRS, and SPA!

I had a GREAT week in Portland for IACP, but am in serious need of a bike ride, yoga, and some real exercise, not to mention a hardcore deep tissue massage to remove the gnarly gremlin that has moved into my shoulder blade from toting too much heavy luggage. It's mean. Mean and mad. AWESOME food. Pok Pok was a real fave. The hot wings are frankly something you just kind of want to roll around in they are so good. Ping was good, too. Big new experiment from both of those experiences will be the flavored drinking vinegars. Stay tuned. The Heathman Hotel was OUTSTANDING. Their tag is "where service is an art" and they are not kidding. James Beard award-winning Best Chef Northwest Philippe Boulot, originally from Normandy, is brilliant. He trained in Paris with Joël Robuchon. Think Rock Star. Very charming, handsome Rock Star. Everything I put in my mouth at the Heathman (and one day, practically everything including breakfast, lunch, and dinner originated there) was absolutely superb. Seriously perfect execution. The Dungeness Crab Salad with Mango and Avocado? Sure, I knooow, that's been done and done again, frankly. But this one? A perfect combination of sour, salty, bitter, sweet. French influence runs deep in the heart of Northwest cooking. Exquisite.

One night we enjoyed razor clams the chef had dug up from the sand himself from the Washington State coast just the day before. The minerality and sweetness was positively and distinctively seductive in my mouth. Rich lamb tongue salad was counteracted with an bracing mustard vinaigrette; meltingly soft smoky cedar plank salmon was paired with sweet, green sauteed pea shoots; rabbit was stuffed with meaty mushroom farcie, wrapped in caul fat and roasted until smoky and brown.

Veal sweetbreads on a perfect julienne of apple and pear with bitter lettuce. Even thinking back to that bite induces a dreamy sigh of contentment from me as I type. The Heathman food was really amazing. Very, very balanced flavors and just really good cooking.

IACP, or the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference was great. Kim Severson , NYT journalist and author of Spoon Fed (Ahem, BUY IT.) enjoyed her inner Ellen with Ruth Riechl. Ruth Riechl addressed the Big Elephant in the Room about the demise of Gourmet magazine. The opening reception was amazing with a great assembly of restaurants and representatives from the PDX street food culture. There were tons and tons of great seminars and of course, the cookbook awards. The best of the best for the year. One of the books nominated for an IACP award was Golden Door Cooks at Home by Chef Dean Rucker and Marah Stets.

Um, no caul fat. None. Not the first bit.
Spas? Their point is to make that stuff go away.

Marah and I were at LaVarenne together working with Anne Willan back in the 90s.

We were laughing last week. I walked into the kitchen the first day, scared to death, really. Thinking I was going to peel potatoes or chop onions or such, I somewhat hesitantly leaned in to ask Marah, "So, um, what can I do?"

She cleanly looked at me and replied, "Cook dinner."

Alrightly, then.

And there I was and it was most likely the best words that could have been spoken. Those two words meant, "You are a cook, so cook. This is a busy place. Sink or swim, but don't weigh anyone down in the meanwhile. Get to work. Don't be scared. And, when you are done? Do the dishes." I have long admired her no nonsense New England attitude. She hired me to do some work on The All New Joy of Cooking; it was an real honor to work with her. Lest I make her sound like an ogre, she is not. She's an absolute master at French, speaking proficiently in lyrical, dulcet tones, and yet was always exceedingly patient with my clumsy butchery of her adopted tongue. She's a dear beautiful, smart woman and a first rate editor and writer.
 

Ok, enough with the niceties and back to that caul fat.

Climbing the Walls: Mario Batali's Edible Vertical Garden

A few years ago the urban garden moved from the ground floor to the rooftop, and now it's climbing the walls. Just a few days ago Mario Batali unveiled the edible, vertical garden he commissioned for his Los Angeles restaurant, Pizzeria Mozza.

Covering more than 72 square feet of outside wall and filled with more than 20 types of herbs, it will serve more as art than garden for the busy pizzeria. In fact, Batali acknowledged that there was no way such a small space could furnish even a fraction the greens needed for his wildly popular restaurant. But, I wonder, how about an urban family of two, four or six?

I think the vertical garden is a game changer. Some say it's simply a passing fad. What do you think? I want one filled with herbs and petite edible flowers. How about you?

--Tracy Schneider

Nothing Beats This Trader Joe's Salad

It's no surprise to me that there are cookbooks, more than one in fact, based entirely on ingredients that can be purchased at Trader Joe's. The truth is, I could offer up some of those recipes myself.

With just a quick stroll down the aisles, I can get everything I need for my Salade Nicose: fingerling potatoes, French haricot verts, cherry tomatoes, assorted olives, inexpensive eggs, pickled capers, canned tuna, baby greens, and fresh picked green onions.

And then there is my beet salad. The baby beets, already steamed and peeled, come vacuum packed, and ready-to-eat. The Salem blue cheese is pre-crumbled. And the mache doesn't even need to be washed or torn, just emptied into a bowl.

For fun, I might add some of TJ's candied walnuts or sweet and spicy pecans. With a drizzle of their extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top, I've got a beautiful salad for dinner. The truth is, it's so good, sometimes it is dinner.

What are your favorite ingredients from Trader Joe's, and what do you make with them?

--Tracy Schneider

Jamie Oliver, Food Revolutionary

You may know that Jamie Oliver has a show coming out on March 26 called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution aimed at getting Americans to improve their diets, thereby improving their health. What you may not know is that Oliver was awarded the TED Prize (Technology, Entertainment,Design) for 2010. What is TED, you ask? It's non-profit organization that brings together the world's brightest thinkers and doers to exchange ideas, with the ultimate goal of making the world a better place. Learn more here.

Here are some things about Jamie Oliver that I didn't know. I have to say, even the jaded cynic in me is impressed (from the TED website):

• 12 television series, seen in 130 countries
• 10 cookbooks, translated into 29 languages, and sold almost 24 million copies in 56 countries
• His School Dinners/Feed Me Better campaign pressured the UK government to invest $1 billion to overhaul school lunches
• Founded the Fifteen Foundation, a social enterprise and chef apprenticeship for 18-24 year olds. Based in London, it has been replicated through franchising in Amsterdam, Cornwall and Melbourne

Suddenly, I am feeling a little inadequate.

Will you be tuning in to watch Jamie's show? Do you think this boisterous Brit has what it takes to cure America of its dietary woes?

--StellaCadente*

Follow me on Twitter@pomodorista