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Vegetarian
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| Slices of summer |
Sticking your entire face in a sticky wedge of icy-cool watermelon and competing with siblings to spit seeds the farthest is the essence of childhood in summer. Now that you have your own kitchen and a sharp knife to play with, you can enjoy all of the juicy flavor of watermelon with none of the mess and subsequent hosing-down.
Watermelon is rich in phyto-nutrients � naturally occurring compounds that trigger healthy reactions in the body � including lycopene, beta-carotene and citrulline. Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M�s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center, has studied watermelon extensively. His research indicates that enzymes in the body convert citrulline into the amino acid arginine, which has a relaxing effect on blood vessels � the same effect as drugs like Viagra.
So not only is watermelon fun to eat, it could make the after-watermelon hosing off more fun than it was when you were seven.
To butcher a melon, lay a kitchen towel down on the counter, and place your cutting board on it to limit drips.� Stand the watermelon up and slice it in half down its length. It's fine if one half is bigger than the other. Then place one half, cut side down, on the board, and slice it one-half to 1 inch thick. Lay each slice flat and cut the white rind away. Discard the rind, or remove the skin and make watermelon rind pickles � try Fork owner Ellen Yin's recipe, here at Philly Mag.
Cube the flesh of the melon and chill in the fridge. To serve, toss with freshly torn or chiffonade basil; sprinkle with good sea salt, like Maldon.
YES. I will buying a watermelon today at Passyunk Sq farmer's market.
Thank you for posting this, it is my new favorite dish.
Mmmmm! Mmmmmm! Most refreshing lunch I've had in quite some time.
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Shoutout to the very sweet Rachel Klein of Miss Rachel's Pantry, who was kind enough to treat us to this delicious vegan lunch today. We destroyed a tofu chicken salad sandwich topped with smoked tempeh (tastes like ... sausage!), a hearty potato corn chowder and some lovely berries dressed in a lime sauce.
Vegan chefs � helping Team Meal Ticket not die of massive coronaries since 2008.
A bit of info on Rachel, who we spoke to back in November for a piece on vegan travel tips: Based out of South Philly, she does catering, meal delivery and personal cheffing. More info on her services here; you should also check out her blog.
You are lucky today, all I had was some horrible salad-thing from our corporate cafeteria. Rachel's food is amazingly great. It's so tasty and delicious but still recognizable to folks not so into veg & vegan food. She has this great knack of making veg food accessible (I would feel good feeding it to my traditional outdoorsy hunter-dad and my mom who thinks tofu isn't "real food") because it's just honestly good food. Everyone should try this stuff â Miss Rachel is going to make us all veggies one sammie at a time.
I look forward to trying Rachel's food, especially the smoked tempeh. I'm a big fan of both tofu and seitan but have yet to have a truly delicious tempeh experience.
My family receives Rachel's meal delivery. Even though I'm a meat-eater, her meals are some of the best I've ever had. Her risotto is amazing and you definitely don't miss the butter or cream. Yum!
[...] Meal Ticket about Miss Rachel’s Pantry [...]
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When Mark Bittman published his smashingly useful 101 Salads for the Season article on his blog, Bitten, he invited readers to share their best summer salad ideas in the comments.
One of the comments highlighted in the blog's sidebar was from Hannah, who co-writes a blog by the name of� I ? Kale.� Hannah's comment immediately sparked my interest:
Hands down, my go-to potluck salad is my massaged kale salad. The basic canvas is kale massaged with olive oil and salt to break it down, and I vary the ingredients to the season. This time of year, I like it with blackberries, pumpkin seeds and some shaved pecorino or crumbled goat cheese.
Dumb as I am, I didn't notice Hannah's hyperlink to her blog and recipe.� I went out to pick up a big bunch of kale, two pints of blackberries and some pumpkin seeds to make an uninformed copy of Hannah's massage-relaxed kale salad.� Massage some kale, after the jump.
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| Give the kale a nice massage, then let it relax for an hour. |
Hannah's Massaged Kale Salad, interpreted by Felicia
Yields: One huge salad, enough to feed 8
Go Get This:
One big bunch kale, thoroughly washed and dried
Two to three glugs extra-virgin olive oil (evoo)
2 tsps. Maldon sea salt
Two pints blackberries, rinsed and drained
Big handful pumpkin seeds
1/4-1/3 lb. chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino-Romano
Now Do This:
Once the kale is dried, strip the leaves away from the tough central stem.� The stems have an earthy, intensely vegetal flavor similar to broccoli; you can steam and eat the stems if you wish, but they don't work in this raw salad.� Tear or chop the leaves into fork-manageable pieces and pile in a large bowl.
Pour two generous glugs of evoo and the sea salt over the kale.� Remove rings and watch and roll up your sleeves.� With both hands, massage the oil and salt into the kale� until it begins to wilt and break down a bit. Add more oil if neccessary.
Taste kale for seasoning; add more salt if desired.� Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the kale relax for an hour or so (this step can be skipped if there is not sufficient time).
When ready to serve, toss kale again with hands to redistribute evoo.�� Add blackberries and pumpkin seeds to kale; then, with a vegetable peeler, shave thin strips of the Pecorino or Parmigiano to the top of the salad, as much as you want.
Serve.
Every bit as good as it looks! That massaged kale had a happy ending...in my mouth. Thanks again, Felicia, for the good times.
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| Mrs. Pleasant's flickr |
| Raw mango "cobbler" |
Certain humans are too prolific to be limited to a single profession. Lawyers morph into bakers (see Kate Carrara of the Buttercream Cupcake Truck); a psychiatrist turns from the couch to the batch freezer (John Reitano of Capogiro Gelato).� Emily Amarnick, proprietor of Mrs. Pleasant Vintage in the Piazza at Schmidt's, is a super-slashie.� Artist, vegan cook and shop owner, Amarnick treats her various endeavors as one lifetime calling.
From her blogspot profile:
Emily has been into vintage clothing and eating well for as long as she can remember. She's always been fascinated by the story each piece tells, as well as the art that goes into preparing food.
In addition to presiding over an array of men's and women's vintage apparel, Amarnick sells her ever-changing healthful vegan and raw fare in her shop.� If time is of the essence, she also prepares and delivers a week's worth of vegan and raw meals to customers' doors.� Her sample menu for the last week of July included creamy avocado soup, an "everything but the kitchen sink salad", veggie bahn mi, a Middle Eastern sampler of tabbouleh, hummus, babaganouj and dill-cucumber salad and finishes off with raw mango cobbler and raw freezer fudge.
Learn the Pleasant way tomorrow at 2 p.m., when Amarnick will share her methods for mango guacamole, nectarine salsa and dill white bean spread at Foster's Homewares' free Saturday cooking demonstration.
Mrs. Pleasant at Foster's Homewares, 399 Market St., 215-671-0588, shopfosters.com
Very talented girl! ;-) I'm a huge fan!
i became a Vegan three years ago and i can say that my health have been very very good. meat and dairy substitutes like soy also works well for the body.
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| Tomato plants in full foliage, top; basil, below. |
A garden, be it contained in window boxes or perched on a fire escape, is a generous pet. Take care of your helpless plants and they will reward you with friendly foliage � soothing to look at, scented to combat the funk of a city summer and eventually bearing the most local of local produce.
Tomatoes and herbs are two ideal starters for novice gardeners. Basil, like tomatoes, thrives in full sun and sprouts new growth almost hourly. Harvest basil from the top, pinching the top leaves just above the new growth nodes below it, and the basil will be productive all summer. Nothing is better for a bounty of basil than a bright pesto, whose flavor can be deepened by tomato leaves.
Pruning the lower stalks of leaves from tomato plants directs the plant�s energy into producing fruit � but what to do with those cut-off leaves?� Food scientist and New York Times contributor Harold McGee explored tomato leaves� poisonous reputation in his Curious Cook column last week, and determined that there are zero dangerous alkaloids in the greens. He shared Paul Bertolli�s recipe for red sauce enriched with the leaves, as well as a suggestion to enhance pesto with the blanched and pureed cuttings. After the jump, we test out Harold McGee�s Tomato-Leaf Pesto plan.
Harold McGee�s Tomato-Leaf Pesto
Yield: Enough pesto for dinner for four � try it over pasta, on pizza, rolled up into a stuffed chicken breast, as a spread on a grilled veggie sandwich, etc.
Go Get This:
Four stalks of tomato leaves, rinsed
Two or three big handfuls fresh basil, rinsed and dried and picked off stems
Several glugs extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Two turns freshly cracked smoked black pepper
� cup Pecorino-Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese
Now Do This:
Cut the tomato leaves away from their stalks.
Boil a large pot of salted water to a full rolling boil. Immerse the tomato leaves in the water for approximately 15 seconds, then remove and shock in a large bowl of ice water. Remove, drain and set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine tomato leaves and one generous glug of extra-virgin olive oil.� Pulse until leaves resemble a coarse paste.
Add basil leaves, grated cheese and another glug of oil. Pulse until you have a finely chopped paste.� Taste for seasoning.
Add salt, pepper and more oil if desired. Pulse until just combined.
Store in a airtight container in fridge for up to a week; or freeze and enjoy in the dead of winter.
[...] here. You can also put a few of your leaves into pesto. For Harold McGee’s procedure for this click here. Bookmark [...]
Square the typical beet salad into a sunrise-colored terrine with Bistro 7 chef/owner Michael O'Halloran, who 'l bring Hong Kong street food to Northern Liberties when he opens Kong later this summer. Hit the jump for O'Halloran's detailed recipe for the beet terrine and his summer strawberry-black pepper vinaigrette.
Audio and words by Felicia D'Ambrosio; photos by Michael Persico. Originally published on KeystoneEdge.com.
RELATED: Michael O'Halloran to bring Hong Kong street food to NoLibs [13May09]
Beet Terrine at Bistro 7
(Yield: 12 servings)
Go Get This:
8 large red beets
6 large yellow beets
2 quarts orange juice
20 sheets unflavored gelatin (available at specialty food stores)
12 tablespoons fresh goat cheese
Large handful micro-greens of your choice
Strawberry vinaigrette (recipe below)
Now Do This:
Roast the beets. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place unpeeled beets in shallow roasting pan and add one inch of water. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 1.5 hours. Beets are done when they are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.
Peel the beets. Work first with the yellow beets to avoid staining them with red beet juice. Using a dish towel, slip the skins off the beets and set each beet aside to cool.
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce the 2 quarts of orange juice by a quarter. Remove pan from heat and whisk the gelatin sheets in to the warm juice, one at a time, until completely dissolved.
Divide the orange gelatin mixture into 2 bowls--one to dip yellow beets, one to dip red beets.
Slice beets 1/8 inch thick on a mandolin (Michael got his in Chinatown for $13), starting with the yellow beets to avoid staining. Keep yellow and red beets on separate plates.
Line a square or loaf pan with saran wrap, allowing extra to hang over edges by a few inches.
Beginning with sliced red beets, dip each slice individually into orange juice and arrange in overlapping rows (shingling) in the prepared pan. Fill the pan to slightly below the halfway point with red beets. Beet slices must be dipped one a time for the terrine to set properly--no shortcuts work here.
Press down on the red beet layers with another same-sized pan to flatten them. Now dip each slice of yellow beet and shingle in the same fashion until the pan is full.
Bring edges of Saran wrap on top of beet terrine and press again with another pan to flatten and erase gaps.� Wrap thoroughly in Saran wrap all around dish.
Refrigerate at least four hours. The setting process can be hurried in the freezer for 2 hours, but don't forget about it; once it has frozen through the dish is dead.
To unmold terrine: Unwrap Saran from terrine and dip a butter knife in hot water.� Run knife around inner edges of dish to loosen beet terrine.� Invert a large flat plate over pan and flip. Gently pull pan away from terrine. Remove remaining Saran wrap.
To serve: Slice terrine with a sharp knife as you would a loaf cake. Place on the center of a large plate.� Around the terrine place a generous spoon of fresh goat cheese, a pile of micro-greens and a streak of strawberry vinaigrette.
Strawberry-Black Pepper Vinaigrette
Go Get This:
One pint local strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
Black pepper to taste
Now Do This:
Pur�e all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Adjust sugar and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated and use immediately.
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| Sweet, tart, tender... and fast. |
A classic accompaniment to roasts, lamb and duck, or even just spread on bread, onion confit is sweet, tart, tender... and it takes a looong time.
I sped the onion confit process� along by making a small batch, just enough to top up turkey burgers for four, eliminating the need to make a massive quantity and then preserve it.� Streamlining the ingredients to just the basics -- onions, salt, vinegar, sugar, herbs and black pepper -- also saved time.� If you wish to make a truly traditional onion confit, check out this recipe from The Epicurean Table.� Otherwise, grab your knife and favorite little saucepan for my method, after the jump.
Quick Onion Confit
(serves four as a condiment)
Go Get This:
One onion, red or Vidalia
One Tablespoon sea salt (Maldon preferred)
Three Tablespoons butter
Small splash extra-virgin olive oil
Four Tablespoons apple cider or champagne vinegar
Two Tablespoons light brown sugar
Three sprigs fresh thyme
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
Now Do This:
Slice your onion in half lengthwise (root to stem end) and remove skin.� With a sharp knife, slice as thin as you can across the grain, or use a mandolin.
Place a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan over moderate heat.� Melt the butter and add a small splash of olive oil to help keep the butter from burning.� Add onions to pan, then salt.� Allow onions to sweat down five minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
Add sugar to pot and stir to combine, then pour in vinegar (do not inhale vinegar fumes from pot) and allow to bubble and reduce, approximately three to five minutes, until mixture resembles a loose marmalade.
Strip thyme from branches and add to onions, stir to combine.
All liquid should be absorbed or evaporated at this point and onions should soft and golden-brown.� Season with pepper, then taste to check for seasoning.� Add salt if needed.
Serve warm or room temperature as a condiment for burgers, lamb, roasts, duck, grilled vegetables or as a spread on bread.
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| Hot. |
Last week Meal Ticket experimented with pitting some seriously juicy cherries without a cherry pitter, all in the service of a classic clafouti.� This Chowhound thread made some suggestions, including using a bobby pin, a paperclip, a chopstick or the metal tip of a pastry bag.� Two Chowhound McGyvers shared their more elaborate methods, one involving hammering a (clean) nail into a (clean) board, and another that presses an eraser-gutted No. 2 pencil and an empty beer bottle into service.
Then, City Paper restaurant critic Trey Popp hit us with this eye-opening email.
In the wake of your clafouti piece, I have to share a tip on the best and cheapest cherry-pitting tool ever: a pair of scissor tweezers, like this $1.58 job.� The suggestion came from my mother-in-law.� You can pit 10 cherries a minute this way, with so little mess (or lost juice) that rinsing your hands at the end is more a matter of etiquette than necessity.� Truly, it's the best non-kitchen kitchen gadget I've discovered in ages.
Inspired by Trey's mother-in-law to pit even more cherries even faster and cleaner than before, I offer up this super-reduced cherry sauce, equally tasty on toast, ice cream, duck spring rolls, as a filling for chocolate cupcakes and seared stuffed pork loin.� Scope the technique after the jump.
RELATED: TREAT: Cherry Clafoutis [01Jul09]
If you find yourself with an excess of cherries too soft to eat out of hand, make good use of their over-the-top sweetness and intensity by making a multi-purpose cherry sauce.� Pitting the cherries with a scissor tweezer� retains the beautiful whole shape and juicy bite, but if you prefer a smoother-textured finished product, you can always puree the reduced sauce.
Sweet Cherry Sauce
(for ice cream, toast, cupcake filling, etc.)
Go Get This:
Two quarts cherries, pitted
Four Tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine, port, dark beer or other liquid of your choice (water works too)
Now Do This:
In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the liquid and cherries over medium heat.� When warm, add the sugar and stir to combine.
Allow to bubble, uncovered, until reduced to your desired thickness.
Savory Cherry Sauce
(for stuffing a pork loin, dipping duck spring rolls or otherwise non-sweet objectives)
Make the sauce exactly as above, but reduce sugar to one Tablespoon to help things come together.� Add a sprig of fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, a sage leaf or two.�� Select a non-sweet liquid to add flavor: try chicken or vegetable stock, dry wine, beer or even herbal tea.
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
Heirloom tomatoes from Greensgrow (last year's bounty) |
Everyone's favorite Kensington community farm initiative is inviting you to dinner.� Chef Corbin Evans will man the grill at Greensgrow's first-ever farm dinner on Thursday, July 30, where the table will be set amidst the profusion of plants under the stars.
The $45, five-course meal will benefit the Kensington Community Kitchen, Greensgrow's project creating new food opportunities in Philadelphia neighborhoods.� The menu, which is not quite finalized, will include a seasonal heirloom salad, house smoked fish appetizer, fresh fruit and local cheese, main course and fresh roasted coffee and dessert.� In a fun twist on their community-building ethos, all guests will be asked to switch seats in the middle of the meal to better get to know their neighbors.� If you choose to enhance your meal with adult beverages, you may feel free to BYOB.
Seating is limited, so RSVP to Erik@greensgrow.org for reservations.
Greensgrow Farms First Farm Dinner, Thu., July 30, 6:30 p.m., $45, 2501 E. Cumberland St., 215-427-2702, greensgrow.org
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Though it is tempting to pronounce the name of this French fruit-and-custard treat the same way you would greet The Simpsons' hillbilly Shelbyville neighbor, the correct way to say it is cla-foo-tee.
The cherry clafoutis is one of the easiest of the classic French desserts to attempt. The only time-consuming task is the pitting of the cherries, which you could skip entirely, as some recipes call for using the fruit whole and simply warning your guests that dessert contains pits.
Since Lawsuit Clafoutis doesn't have that nice appetizing ring to it, I elected to remove the pits from my quart of cherries purchased from Greensgrow Farm Market's $1 "less-than-perfect" table.� The local fruits had softened just a bit too much to eat out of hand, and so lent themselves to cooking.� Without a uni-tasking cherry pitting device in my drawer, I turned to this Chowhound thread that suggests alternate ways to pit cherries while keeping the fruit whole.
Pits were removed with a bobby pin and nails were stained when Julia Child showed up with a not-too-sweet recipe. The resulting cake of sweet, juicy cherries ensconced in fluffy custard was light enough to end a summer meal... ideally, eaten leisurely outside with a glass of Champagne.
Julia Child's recipe for cherry clafoutis and our helpful photos, after the jump.
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| All Photos l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| The thin batter and a quart of pitted cherries |
Julia Child�s Clafoutis
serves 6-8
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
3 cups cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a blender blend the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour. Pour a 1/4 inch layer of the batter in a buttered 7 or 8 cup lightly buttered fireproof baking dish. Place in the oven until a film of batter sets in the pan. Remove from the heat and spread the cherries over the batter. Sprinkle on the 1/3 cup of sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about for about 45 minutes to an hour. The clafouti is done when puffed and brown and and a knife plunged in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, serve warm.
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The first layer of batter is baked off and set with the whole pitted cherries before the remaining batter is poured over and baked |
[...] with pitting some seriously juicy cherries without a cherry pitter, all in the service of a classic clafouti. This Chowhound thread made some suggestions, including using a bobby pin, a paperclip, a [...]
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