Salad Nicoise

Salad Nicoise, originally uploaded by essgee51.

Though we still have plenty of delicious navy bean stew in the slow cooker (more recipe backlog for me to catch up on), I was in the mood for a cold, composed salad. This will definitely become a summer staple - filling without being heavy, flavorful without being overly rich, and easy to prepare. Next time, though, I may arrange in individual portions - John and I had a bit of a fun but messy time transferring the food to our plates.

Recipe variant notes: I'm glad I didn't skip the potatoes - they added a new bit of texture and soaked up the dressing well. Alas, John couldn't find any green beans nearby, but we'll definitely add them in next time. Our version (fed two very heartily, and could probably feed one more below):

• 1 head Boston lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried
• 1 pound green beans, cooked and refreshed (skipped but definitely happening next time)
• 2-3 T minced shallots 
• 1 large ripe red tomato, cut into wedges 
• 2 potatoes, sliced and cooked 
• 1 5 oz. can chunk tuna, preferably oil-packed 
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved (all we had)
• 1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets 
• 1/3 cup small black Niçoise-type olives 
• 2 T capers 
• 3 T minced fresh parsley
• 1/3-1/2 c vinaigrette (see below)
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 t Dijon mustard 
• 1/4 t salt 
• 2-3 t freshly squeezed lemon juice 
• 1-2 T red wine vinegar 
• 1/2 T minced shallots 
• freshly-ground pepper to taste

Arrange the lettuce leaves in a large, shallow bowl or platter. Toss the green beans with a few spoonfuls of dressing, then arrange on platter.

Add tomatoes and potatoes, drizzling with more dressing.

Arrange the rest of the ingredients in desired position, draping a half- or full fillet of anchovy over each egg.

Season to taste. Garnish, add more dressing, then serve with extra dressing on the side.

Meatloaf for Dinner!

Meatloaf for Dinner!, originally uploaded by essgee51.

We returned from Eastern Market with a bounty, including the makings of this dinner. The meatloaf recipe is based on Bittman's basic one, with changes (particularly more cheese, garlic and parsley) outlined below. It turned out to be delicious - tasty, juicy and perfect for a warm but still wintery evening. Note: Creates lots of drippings, which I'm sure we can figure out lots of delicious uses for.

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (used panko)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 lbs. meatloaf mix (they were out of pork, so equal parts veal and beef)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 small carrot, minced
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 lb. bacon (six slices - three in the original)

Preheat oven to 350.

Soak breadcrumbs in milk till liquid is absorbed, around 5 minutes.

Mix together all ingredients except the bacon. Shape meat into a loaf in a baking pan (we used John's cast-iron skillet), then drape the bacon over the loaf. Bake for 45-60 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, till the meatloaf is firm, lightly browned and 160F.

Optional: put under the broiler for a minute or two to get a browner crust.

Pickle Day: Hard-Boiled Eggs

John has pickled hard-boiled eggs before, but with beets and far less heat. I wanted to try Lisey's version, which rocks the hot peppers, wasabi and umami-laden wakame , among other things. By neccessity, I had to substitute fresh banana peppers for jarred ones and severely lessen the amount of wasabi, but hopefully these will turn out well.

• 12 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled (we had two casualties, and so only used 10 + a stray half-tomatillo)
• 12 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 strips wakame
• 4-6 leaves red cabbage, sliced
• 4 hot banana peppers
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2-2/3 tsp. turmeric
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. wasabi (used the tube kind)
• 2 tbsp. + 1-1/2 tsp. pickling spice

Hard boil eggs (I use a simplified version of Julia Child's method - put in water, bring to boil, cover, remove from heat, let stand 17 minutes, put in ice bath for 2 minutes), then cool and peel them. Add to jars along with garlic, wakame and cabbage.

Bring vinegar, water, sugar, turmeric, salt, wasabi and pickling spice to a boil. Pour into jars, completely covering everything and leaving 1/2 inch room at the top.

Seal, cool, then refrigerate. Wait at least 72 hours.

Egg Salad with Dill

Given that I've been craving cold summer salads and the dill has been bolting, egg salad seemed a natural. At first, the proportions in this recipe, which I halved, seemed much too saucy. So, I asked John to bring home two more hard-boiled eggs, mixed those into the dish, and all was good. My version, with tweaks, below:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
• heaping 1/4 cup red onion, chopped, plus more for garnish if desired
• heaping 1/6 cup dill (though some found the original proportions too much, I love this herb and actually increased the amount)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/8 cup sour cream (seriously, don't skip this - adds a wonderful rich tang)
• 1/8 cup Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon country-style worked very well, as the seeds added texture)
• salt and pepper to taste

Put the eggs, red onion and dill in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard. Add to the egg mix, toss, and adjust seasoning if necessary. Refrigerate for a few hours or serve warm with bread or crackers.

Yesterday's Brunch: Eggs Baked in Tomatoes with Basil

Last weekend, I bought two lovely, large tomatoes and 1/4 lb. of prosciutto di Parma specifically for this recipe, courtesy of Almost Bourdain. Thankfully, John's basil plants, which are winding down for the cold season, graced us with a few more leaves. Alas, we overcooked the eggs - they were more hard-boiled than poached - but this still made a tasty brunch. Next time, I may add a bit of pasted garlic or an anchovy to the paste to smear along the inside of the tomatoes.

• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 strips proscuitto (or pancetta)
• a small handful of basil leaves (we had 7-8 small ones)
• 2 tsp. olive oil, more if needed
• salt and pepper
• 2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (John's oven is more finicky, so we ended up more at 250 degrees).

Cut the tops off the tomatoes and remove their seeds. Set them upside-down over paper towels and let them drain for about 15 minutes.

Wrap a strip of proscuitto around each tomato and secure with toothpicks.

Smash the basil leaves into a paste. Add a bit of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Smear the mixture on the inside of the tomatoes.

Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet or ovenproof Pyrex dish. Bake in the oven till the proscuttio begins to brown around the edges (original recipe said about 15 minutes; took us more like 30).

Remove from oven. Break an egg into each tomato, then return. Bake till the eggs are done, but with runny yolks.

Serve with toast soldiers.

Brunch, Bentos, Beets - and Andrew Bird

Laziness has led to one of these all-in-one posts. Saw St. Vincent and Andrew Bird last night - a wonderful show (there's a pretty good write-up at DCist, which alas doesn't mention the new duet "Lusitania" - one of the concert's highlights). I'd never seen St. Vincent live before, and am now regretting not catching her earlier this year at the Cat - her music's much more powerful, complex and interesting live. The Bird portion of the evening seemed even tighter and better than his last 9:30 show, even before taking the St. Vincent collaborations into account.

UPDATE: Found footage of their "Oh Sister" cover, complete with the utterly charming mess-up.

And now to brunch. Last Sunday, we had rosemary and lamb sausages (from Canales at Eastern Market - one of their in-house products), couscous and spinach - which is how I discovered yet another time-saving shortcut. Chop and wash the spinach (nice and fresh from one of the weekend vendors - a bulging plastic grocery bag full cost only $3!) while the water is coming to a boil. Once you've added the couscous, let the water return to a boil, wait a few seconds (so the greens have a fairly solid clump of carbs to land on), throw in the spinach, put the lid on the pot, wait a few more seconds then remove from heat. The spinach was perfectly steamed after a 5-6 minute wait.

Did much the same thing with some chicken and portebello mushroom sausages for Monday's bento; Wednesday and Thursdays consisted of John's meatloaf (UPDATE: recipe here), rice and a few cornichons to counterpoint the ketchupy sweetness.

And now to the week's pickling - beets, this time. I can't find the recipe we used right now, but John put up a bunch of beets, 6 eggs and an onion in two jars. Just 24 hours later, they were delicious - even more so another day later. I can still remember the tart, sweet, earthiness of the egg he fed me right before we left for the concert last night.

Fried Rice with Saffron, Ginger and Tomatoes

Have never cooked with saffron before, and so couldn't resist adding this recipe (from Serious Eats) to the fried rice chronicles. It turned out a tad too brassy from the healthy dollops of salt and pepper (mistakenly heavy in the case of the latter), but still flavorful and good served cold the next day. Will definitely try it again with a couple of modifications (in parentheses); may also adopt this method of cooking the egg for fried rice.

• small pinch of saffron (used two)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, pureed
• 1-1/2 tsp. ginger, minced (used 2-1/2 tsp.)
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (used about 2/3 cup)
• 1-1/4 tsp. salt (will halve this next time)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper (will actually use this next time - ended up with about 1 tsp.)
• 3 cups cooked rice, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp. oyster sauce
• 1/3 cup scallions, chopped
• soy sauce to taste (skipped this)

Put saffron in a small bowl with 1 tbsp. water. Stir gently, then set aside.
Put 1 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Crack egg into a bowl and whisk in 1 tbsp. water. When skillet's hot, pour in the egg, tilting the pan to spread it so it coats the bottom (like an omelet). Once the egg has set, which should take somewhere between 2-4 minutes, scrape the egg into a bowl and break up into bite-sized pieces.
Pour the rest of the oil into the skillet and turn the heat to high. When it's hot, add the ginger; cook for about 15-30 seconds, stirring often.

Add the saffron water and tomato puree. Cook, stirring often, till most of the water evaporates - about 3-5 minutes.

Add the sliced onions. Cook for one minute.

Add the rice, salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to homogenize the mixture.

Add the peas and cooked egg. Stir for another minute.

Add soy sauce to taste and garnish with scallions.

The Fried Rice Chronicles, Vol. 1: Allium Uber Alles

Fried rice is an easy and often delicious way to use up leftovers or near-spoiling sundries. This time, we had a sad little carrot and various softening members of the allium family (the only reason there weren't any leeks was because I never leave any uncooked - witness the previous entry. This was the first time I'd tried making it in my Le Creuset dutch oven (thanks, Tita Tessie!) instead of in the nonstick one (R.I.P., my friend) I was used to (yes, I bought a wok years ago; no, I haven't gotten around to unpacking and seasoning it yet). It turned out well - both taste testers were very complimentary, though John wondered if I should add the egg even later in the cooking process. Anyway....

• 4 cups day-old rice, crumbled
• 3 tbsp. peanut oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic (about 1 heaping tbsp.), chopped
• 2 eggs
• salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
• 1-1/2 to 2 tbsp. soy sauce or more, to taste
• 5 scallions, chopped

Beat the eggs and set them aside.

Put the oil in the Dutch oven on high heat. When hot, add the onion and carrots. Cook for a few minutes, turning the heat down if necessary, till vegetables are soft but not browned.

Add shallot. Cook, stirring, for a minute or so more.

Add garlic. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so (as Bittman advised, I wanted to keep the garlic flavor strong).

Add rice, stirring to coat it thoroughly with oil and distribute the vegetables. Cook for a few minutes, till rice is heated through.

Dig a well in the middle of the rice, and pour the egg into it. Belay the stirring and cook for a minute or so, until some of the eggs begin to solidify at the bottom, but the rest is still liquidy (maybe a minute?). Then, rapidly stir the egg into the rice mixture. (Bittman likes to scramble them fairly thoroughly before incorporating them into the rest of the dish, but I like the creamy, faux-risotto-y texture this method produces).

Add soy sauce; mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste; correct seasonings.

Remove from heat; stir in scallions - or leave them on top as a garnish, if you prefer. I like some of them ever so slightly cooked.