WW: Wok-Seared Vegetables

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

I wish there was something more to say about this dish, but there isn't other than it was quick, easy, and delicious, as most of Grace's recipes are.

I really wanted to use the cool tool - the kinpira peeler, for julienning the carrots, but I felt they needed be the same consistency as the asparagus (personal preference) so I julienned them the old-fashioned way - with a knife.

One of the rules of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 223 in Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like to join us or just want more information, click here or visit us on Facebook.

Linguine with Roasted Asparagus and Almond Pesto

Recipe courtesy of Fine Cooking Magazine

It was not my intention to blog on this recipe. However, upon assembling the ingredients, the colors shouted to me to at least take their picture if nothing else - and I'm so glad I did.

This is such an easy (and healthy!) dinner to throw together on a weeknight. All I can say is to use your favorite pasta. I ended up using a store-brand pasta (.99/lb) as opposed to the visually appealing organic pasta listed for $3/lb.. The store brand, which I have to mention because they have such a following, is Whole Foods. I love this store - just not their pasta - it has a gummy texture. I prefer the Barilla Plus pasta, which Whole Foods carries, albeit a small selection (shapes).

Other than the pasta issue, this was very tasty and a bit different. A nice change. The sauce is an [asparagus] pesto, made with almonds - not pine nuts; which is a good thing for I am not a fan of pine nuts, not only for their taste, but their outrageous price tag; and don't skip garnishing the pasta with the extra almonds - they add a nice nutty, crunchy, and textural contrast to the delicate pasta and tomatoes.

This dish is visually appealing as it is delicious - you may want to add this to your list of recipes to make for company.

Success meter (1-3): 3

TWD: Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Tuesdays With Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Johanne Killeen

This turned out better than expected!

From the beginning I had my doubts on this one. I started this cake at a time when I was feeling tired and not in the mood to bake, but had to make it being I purchased the rhubarb almost a whole week ago. I never made it to Sur La Table (my all-time favorite culinary store) to purchase the paper molds to make this into baby cakes as the recipe called for - the original name of this recipe is Rhubarb Upside-Down Baby Cakes.

The book states you can use a 12-inch pan in place of the eight 4-inch pans called for. Unless you want a "torte" instead of a cake, a twelve inch pan works great. I think a 10-inch pan would have been a better choice.  My cake was not much higher than the height of a dime.

I had subbed the pecans called for in the recipe with walnuts. I'm trying to use what I have in the pantry, especially those bags that are already opened. I also used Cognac in place of the bourbon - again, that is what I had on hand. This is one of those cakes you can easily sub what suits your needs; in fact it begs to be played with - think pears or mango, even cranberries during the holidays.

This simple butter cake came out moist and tender with a slightly spongy feel and with a crisp exterior. I don't think I would have achieved a crisp edge using a smaller pan. The walnuts (which I'm not a big fan of) ended up being a nice addition, I used about a 1/2 cup rather than the two tablespoons - really? Only two tablespoons? - called for in the recipe. I would have liked to have a little bit more caramel as well. It may have been enough for the baby cakes, but for the twelve inch pan it was a bit scarce. 

I was on my own for dinner the day I made this (which I love when I have baking and blogging to do!) and must admit that I had two slices of this delicious cake for my meal before I proceeded to wrap it up and take it to my sister for her to take into work with her the following morning.

She texted me the next day to say "the cake was creamy-moist and the rhubarb was just the right amount of tartness", and the consensus from her co-workers: recipe please!

Success meter (1-3): 3 

Spreading the caramel and nuts pretty much removed most of the butter and flour from the bottom of the pan.

 So very pretty - don't you agree?

 Not quite enough batter to completely cover the topping.

I flipped the cake out immediately after removing from the oven. Still the topping stuck. Good thing I did not painstakingly arrange the rhubarb in circles as instructed.

Looks a little better after scrapping the pan of the stuck topping and smoothing it back onto the cake. The only problem is the caramel did not disperse evenly.

 The crispy edge.

This turned out to be a delicious cake. If you would like the recipe, visit Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350, our host for this recipe.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other substitutions were used from the talented bakers in the group - so make sure to check out their creations as well. You can find their links over at the TWD website listed under LYL: Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake.

Beautiful Baby Beet Salad

From the book Celebrate! by Sheila Lukins

I recently posted a recipe for a beet salad, and as I mentioned in that post we love beets in our household, hence another beet salad recipe so soon, yet very different from the last.

Normally I like to use a mixture of red and golden beets; however, on a beautiful sunny day at the farmer's market the golden beets stood out and screamed summer to me, where the red ones made me think of winter, so golden beets only this time around. And to be fair, I used only red beets in the last salad. 

To prep your beets for roasting, trim the greens to about an inch long. The directions have you trim the root end as well, which I have never done in the past. I would not bother with trimming the root, it leaves the firm end of the root exposed and it pokes through the foil; and you don't want beet juice dripping all over the bottom of your oven.

After roasting, let the beets cool enough to handle and then simply slip the skins off.

In addition to the beets being tossed in a vinaigrette, this salad is served with an orange-mint dressing to serve on the side for dolloping on top.

Whenever a recipe calls for mayonnaise, I always use half mayo and half non-fat plain Greek yogurt. Fage brand is my favorite.

The dressing is made up of mayo, mint, orange zest and juice, salt and pepper. At first bite I liked the dressing with the beets, but the orange zest had a bitter aftertaste that I did not care for. My husband said he too preferred the beets without the dressing - it was too overpowering - you could not taste the beets themselves.

If not for the bitterness of the zest, this would have made a great appetizer.

Success meter (1-3): 2

WW: Velvet Chicken and Asparagus

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

This recipe takes a little bit of advance planning before you can start the actual stir-frying; the asparagus needs to be blanched and the chicken marinated (not for adding flavor, but to create tenderness) thirty minutes prior to cooking - a process called velveting.

If like me, you fail to read the recipe beforehand, you can still get this on the table in a reasonable amount of time - oh the joys of stir-frying!

Chicken breast can and usually turn out dry, no matter how you cook it - until now. To velvet chicken (or other meats/fish) you combine it with some egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, salt and oil. Chill for thirty minutes then give it a quick blanching in some water that oil has been added to. The result after stir-frying is amazing; tender, soft and silky smooth.

I only wish I could use this technique with chicken that I plan on barbecuing. It is not advised to "brown" the meat you have velveted - I'm not real clear as to why not. It has something to do with overcooking the velveting ingredients themselves.

Once again, we have another successful recipe from the book Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge (a must have!).

Success meter (1-3): 3

 The chicken in the "marinade".

Asparagus is blanched and dried. With stir-frying you want to make sure your ingredients are dry as possible to avoid hot oil splatters and the braising of your dish. I find using a salad spinner works well at getting the water off of the vegetables.

 You can almost see the silky smoothness the chicken has obtained after marinating.

Trust me - you'll get past the eating of "white" (not browned) chicken with the first bite. The velveted chicken is sublime.

A career in food styling is not in my future...

One of the rules of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 128 in Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like to join us or just want more information, click here or visit us on Facebook.

Book Ninety-Eight: Celebrate!

by Sheila Lukins

Everywhere you turn, there seems to be some new version of a "chip". There is the old faithful potato chip, sweet potato chips, kale chips, banana chips, and this one (so I believed), the tomato chip.

I would not go as far as to call these chips. The only resemblance is maybe their shape and size - but I'm sure the term is used lightly, as with kale chips - at least they are crisp. 

I would have never thought to try and make a "chip" from tomatoes due to their high water content - and I was right. The book does states that these do not get crispy like a chip, but they have a "snap" and a chewy texture.

Out of the five tomatoes, only four slices could be considered chewy and with a "snap", and looked to be disintegrated; to be fair, they were the ones with the best flavor.

I do love anything roasted, and when these tomato "chips" were placed on a rosemary cracker, spread with some delicious goat cheese (as suggested in the book), they were pretty darn tasty.

So forget about the crisp, crackly, crunchy texture of a true chip, and enjoy these for what they are: simply roasted tomatoes.

Success meter (1-3): 2 (I rated this a two based on the "chip" factor - otherwise they did have great flavor and makes for a wonderful appetizer.)

 amazon

The tomato slices drizzled with olive oil and dusted with sugar and pepper. Next time, I'll omit the sugar and sprinkle them with salt.

 This is one of the best "disintegrated" tomato slices..

I was able to scrape the disintegrated tomatoes off the pan, and I have to say they had the best flavor. Think - sun-dried tomatoes.