Spring Rolls

I had some amazing lobster spring rolls the other night, and wanted to try to make some. Tonight was the test, and they passed with delicious flying colors. I made the lobster ones with three lobster tails that were on sale and perfect for this. I also made chicken ones with leftover rotisserie chicken. Aside from the difference in protein, the rest of the recipe is the same for both. (You could also use shrimp, steak, pork, whatever.) You'll need a package of broccoli slaw-- the kind with carrots and cabbage, a package of egg roll or spring roll wrappers, garlic, onion, black pepper, and tempura sauce. If you can't find tempura sauce, you can use soy sauce and a pinch of brown sugar. Heat everything together in a large skillet, except the wrappers. The veggies need to get a little soft, but still have some crispness. After the filling is cooled, fill and fold the wrappers up to make a little roll. I use a deep-fryer, but you could also use a sauce pan with 2-3" of oil. Fry them for 3 minutes each, then drain on paper towel or newspaper.

My Grandmother's Crab Bisque

My Grandma raised 6 kids in Detroit. She wasn't concerned with fancy, just good. And this just happens to be both.
The original recipe could not be simpler. Take a can of cream of potato soup, a can of corn, 12 or so ounces of crab-- canned, seafood counter, or leftover from a crab leg dinner. Add milk. Done!
Tonight I dressed it up a bit. Crab from steamed crab legs, 1 can of new potatoes, chickne stock, seafood stock, canned corn, canned creamed corn, and craime fraiche. Salt, pepper, garlic. I'm serving it with the breadstick recipe listed on the blog, but made it into dinner rolls and covered with salt, garlic, parmesan, and a little mozzarella. Hope you enjoy it!

Quick Pickles

I am a huge fan of pickles. I just made homemade quick-pickles for the first time, and they were delicious! Here's the recipe:
1 english cucumber
1 small white or yellow onion, slivered
a handful of kosher salt
1 Tbsp Paula Dean's silly salt (or black pepper and mustard seed)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp dill seed
2 tsp freeze-dried garlic (i love this stuff! in the produce section)
1/2 cup rice wine/sushi vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

Cut the cucumber in whatever size/shape you like. I did half-moons about 1/4 inch thick Sprinkle with the handful of salt and put in a colander in the sink for 20 minutes to get out some of the extra moisture. Put everything else in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Keep your face AWAY from the pan-- it will aggravate your sinuses like mad. Once it's boiling, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In a glass bowl, jar, casserole dish, etc., pour the hot vinegar liquid over the cucumbers, and stash in the fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy!

BLT Pasta Salad

if you like BLTs, but don't feel like having a sandwich for dinner, this recipe is for you. you can also change it up by adding/replacing ingredients. my version calls for one package of cavatelli/cavatappi or other short pasta you like. prepare according to package, drain and then add 3/4 cup mayo and 1/2 cup sour cream. cut 3 tomatoes into pieces about the same size as your pasta. add to pasta. put about half a package of bacon in a saute pan and crisp. when it's crispy, remove from pan and put on a paper towel to absorb any extra grease. when it's cooled, cut or crumble, and add to pasta. slice 4 green onions and add them as well. i like to defrost frozen peas and throw in a 1/2 cup or so, just for sweetness. combine everything with a spatula. add some fresh or dried parsley and/or basil. just before serving, chop about 2 cups' worth of iceberg, romaine, or butter/bibb lettuce. stir, and enjoy! salty from the bacon, sweet from the peas, tangy from the mayo and sour cream, great texture from the pasta and the tomato and lettuce. if you want added crunch, toss in some croutons! i serve this with watermelon for a light summer dinner, or you can serve it alongside other pasta salads for potlucks and bbqs. also goes great with grilled food, especially lean burgers, since it feels indulgent but isn't heavy. enjoy!

heart food

I need to say that the wonderful person who inspired my fili-paella recipe, Angel Busque, passed away Friday. She was only 32. She said I was cooler than Sandra Lee. I met her through my food, because my husband needed something to bring to a party she was hosting. So I suggest you make something adventurous, something new, something daring. Make something up. Share it. You never know who you can meet. RIP Angel.

Pesto

(I'm writing this on my phone, so sorry for the typos!)
Pesto probably makes you think of basil. But there are lots of different pestos, and they're all  equally simple to make. "Pesto" comes from the french "pistou," which means paste. almost anything can become the base for a pesto. Like most things I post here, it's not a recipe. It's a method. :) The one I made today is herb. I've got a bunch of herbs in my yard. this pesto included some leftover basil, the stems from a bunch of parsley (I dried the leaves for something else), tarragon, dill, thyme, lemon balm, onion chives, garlic chives, and savory. Chop & throw in a blender. basil pesto usually has pine nuts/pignolis, but I had some leftover walnuts in the freezer, so I chopped those up. I also grated in about a quarter cup of parmesan. add olive oil while blending until it is a loose paste. Ta da! For tonight's use, I added a few handfuls of cooked leftover edamame (shelled, boiled, and salted soybeans) just to give extra richness. I'm using this pesto on tilapia, and want to give some extra depth to this lean fish. You can use any of the following to be the base of a great pesto: basil, herbs, spinach, sundried tomato, black beans, sweet carrots, or even beets. add whatever herbs go well with your "base." for example, if you wanted to do carrots, add coriander and cumin. for beets, add chervil and dill. for black beans, add cilantro, parsley and green onion. Try something you like to eat, and play around with it. add nuts and grated cheese and oil. That is it! Easy, versatile, and a fun experiment. If you find a combination you love, please add it in the comments section!

Lobster and Shrimp Pot Pie

This is the best way to stretch a lobster, or to use the leftover shrimp from another recipe. (Or in this recipe, both!) I find that as long as you're going to use it or freeze it the same day, look for "manager's specials," which typically will expire in a few days but are a great value. I was making this just for me and my husband, but I always make a ton extra of anything I cook, so you could probably feed 6 hungry people with these measurements. In this case, I got two split lobster tails for less than $10.00. I also had a half-bag of 31-40 cooked shrimp in the freezer. Ta-da! Lobster and shrimp pot pie! :) You'll need one puff pastry sheet, four ribs of celery, one medium onion, 6 baby potatoes (whatever kind you like or have around), 7-8 white button mushrooms or creminis, one stick of butter, 16 oz. of chicken stock, about 1/4 c. cornstarch or flour, and I had some leftover corn in the fridge, so I threw that in too. Saute the celery, onions, potatoes, leftover corn, and mushrooms in the stick of butter in a very large skillet, or, if you don't have one, a big pasta or soup pot. Just stir more if you don't use a shallow pan. Thaw your lobster, cook it just enough to get it out of the shell, and cut into bite-size pieces. Thaw the shrimp if it's frozen, and if you're using 31-40s (that means that there are 31-40 shrimp per pound), halve them. Once your veggies are starting to get soft, toss in your shrimp and lobster. Whisk together the chicken stock (you can use seafood or veggie if you don't eat poultry) and the corn starch or flour, then add to the veggies and seafood. Add salt, pepper, and/or Old Bay seasoning. I used Old Bay and Paula Deen's Silly Salt, which I LOVE. (Some stores carry it, or you can order it online. It's salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, thyme, mustard seed, and a few others, and somehow goes with everything.) Crank your heat to med-high/high for a few minutes to get the stock up to boiling, in order to thicken the sauce. Pour the whole thing into a casserole or lasagna pan. The deeper the pan, the more you'll serve with each piece, so if you want to feed an army, use a shallow pan. Put the pan you use (I go with a glass 8x8" pyrex dish with a lid for leftovers) on a baking sheet, because it always seems to dribble a bit in the oven. Cover with your 1 sheet of puff pastry, and make a few slits in the pastry to release the steam that will build up. Put it in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Let it rest when you take it out for at least ten minutes (don't worry, it won't get cold), and then serve!
You can also add carrots, parsnips, peas, or leeks. Or, substitute the seafood with leftover rotisserie chicken or seared eggplant. Like most things I try to post here, it's not a recipe, it's a method. Take the component parts, switch out the ones you don't like with things you love, and don't be afraid to make it up as you go. :)

Marinade Merriment

I just did a teppanyaki/hibachi dinner for friends. I want to give you the marinade recipes, because they are easy,  flavorful, and impressive! First, I roasted shell-on shrimp, then peeled, butterflied and deveined them. They went into a plastic bag with canola oil, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, celery salt, and black pepper. I quartered large sea scallops and put them in a bag (sensing a theme here?) with grapeseed oil, Old Bay, kosher salt, and pink pepper. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were cut into bite-size chunks and bagged with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Steak, in the form of excellent quality beef stew cuts, was bagged with grapeseed oil, sliced green onions, oyster sauce, tempura or soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger. Everything was cooked quickly on a tabletop griddle/grill, using only the oil in the marinades to cook it. High heat, allowing the marinades to sear extra flavor into the proteins. I served these one meat/seafood at a time, after fried rice and seared zucchini, mushrooms, and onion. I offered salad, but everyone preferred the meat. ;)

Lamb Stew

Lamb can be a little daunting. This is a great introduction for people who haven't had it before, or even people who generally aren't lamb lovers. No mint jelly here! Start with some chicken stock-- about 2-3 cartons. Add some sauteed carrots (one bunch), onions (2 medium), and mushrooms (8 oz. package). In a soup pot, put two large yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks, in cold water and bring to a boil. They're ready when they are just barely starting to soften. Repeat the process with two sweet potatoes prepared the same way. Now for the lamb. If you haven't already, get to know a good butcher at your local market or grocery store. Ask lots of questions-- what cuts are good for which kinds of dishes and how to prepare them-- they're professionals in their line of work! For this stew, I used 2 lamb steaks and 1 lamb shank. Lamb steaks aren't easy to find, so you could do the whole thing with 4 lamb shanks, or, if you have that great butcher, ask for lamb stew meat. When lamb is trimmed, the trimmings are cubed and often inexpensive, but not kept in the meat case. Some markets will even do it for you if you call ahead. Sear the meat, cubed into bite-sized pieces, in grapeseed oil-- it has a high smoke point and gives a great sear before the smoke alarms go off. Throw everything together in the chicken stock. Add 1/2 tsp. of rosemary and 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder, let everything marry together, then add salt and black pepper to taste. If you like, a few splashes of red wine and/or worcestershire sauce will deepen the flavor even more. Simmer on the stovetop for up to 2 hours. You may want to strain out the rosemary if the leaves are tough. And that's it! It is a great fall/winter soup and I hope you enjoy it!

Simple and Versatile Breadsticks

I made these to go along with the mushroom bisque in the previous recipe. They are, without a doubt, leaps and bounds above the kind in a can, which I made last time. And they take very little time, and no crazy ingredients. Plus, you can use them in a bunch of ways! More options later. Let's start with the basics. Use a food processor. If you try a mixer (hand or stand) it will seize up well before you're done. Steel blade. In the processor bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of instant or active dry yeast, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Pulse for 30 seconds to mix. While pressing and releasing the pulse button, add 1 Tbsp. of honey. If you spray the measuring spoon with nonstick spray, the honey will slip out much more easily. Continue pulsing and add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil, butter, lard, or shortening. I used standard Crisco vegetable shortening-- available everywhere, shelf-stable, and has a long shelf-life. Add 1 1/3 cups of water while still pulsing. The dough will form a ball in the processor bowl, and not be too sticky or too crumbly. (Too sticky? Add flour. Too crumbly? Add water.) Take the dough and put it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let it rest and rise for at least 1 1/2 hours-- I let it rise overnight. For spraying measuring spoons and bowls, I like a butter-flavored cooking spray. When it has rested, turn it out on a large surface/cutting board that has been lightly floured. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then pound it a bit-- you want to get rid of the bubbles formed from the yeast. You can now do pretty much anything you want! I used a pizza cutter to make strips about 10 inches long, and twisted the breadsticks before putting them on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. And more options!!!! I sprayed the breadsticks with the butter-flavored cooking spray, then sprinkled them with kosher salt, ground pink pepper (you'll notice I use it a lot-- it doesn't burn as quickly as black pepper does), and shredded cheese-- in this case, "italian blend" of asiago, romano, parmesan, mozzarella, and monterey jack usually, and some queso quesadilla 'cuz I had it leftover in the fridge. :) I used about a cup total. OR you can go sweet, and after spraying with cooking spray or basting with butter, pour on sugar, cinnamon, and cream cheese/confectioner's sugar icing drizzle. OR you can go with chili seasoning, sesame seeds, or even drizzle with butter, sugar, honey, and crushed walnuts or pistachios for a baklava effect. OR Olives? OR Sundried tomatoes? Absolutely. OR sprinkle with crumbled bacon. OR cover with powdered sugar and dip into chocolate or fruit preserves or yogurt. So many ORs!!! Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them depending on what you top them with. The bread itself will be ready at the 15-20 minute mark. However busy you are, give this one a try. And if you have any other variations, please add them in the comments!

Indulgent Velvety Mushroom Bisque

This recipe serves about eight, so don't be alarmed by the quantities. The base is one carton of mushroom broth and two of chicken stock. You'll need about a pound each of whatever mushrooms you want to use-- at least 3 lbs. total. I used large white button, cremini, and oyster. Other options would be porcini, enoki, maitake, matsutake, shiitake, chanterelle, portobella, or lobster mushrooms. Morels don't work in this recipe. Slice the mushrooms into thick slices and saute with 2 bay leaves, 5 sprigs of thyme, 1 large shallot, 1 small onion, and 5 cloves of garlic in butter. You want the mushrooms to take on some color, so don't add salt or they'll just get watery. In a large saute pan, make a roux of butter, flour, and cornstarch. I love the addition of duck fat, so if you can find it, substitute about tbsp of butter with rendered duck fat. I can't give exact measurements for the roux, since you'll know how much thickening you need. Just make sure you keep your fat and flour/cornstarch in equal amounts. You want the roux to cook on low to medium heat until it turns a chestnut color-- like a cafe au lait. I also took about 8 little baby yukon gold potatoes, boiled them as if making mashed potatoes, and then pulsed them in a blender with some of the broth & stock, and added them back to the soup base to add some texture. Take your sauteed mushrooms, and now that they are browned, cut them into smaller chunks. Combine everything into the soup base, and check your consistency. It can be anything from thin to chowder-- it's whatever you like best. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you want to go all out (you're using duck fat, why stop now?) add a quart of heavy whipping cream. Make you remove the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs. I served the bisque with homemade breadsticks. (That recipe will also be posted soon!) The consensus from diners was that the soup was rich and satisfying, just enough to feel indulgent without tasting pretentious or inaccessible. I hope you love it as much as I did!

Steak marinade

Tonight I'm making steak frites for my husband, Luke, and moules frites for myself (that's mussels, by the way). I thought a marinade would go well with the steak, and Luke's kind of a steak purist, so this strikes a balance between the two. Any boneless, well-marbled steak will do-- don't worry too much about the cut, as long as it's 3/4 to 1 inch thick. I put the steak into a gallon-size freezer bag, and added the following: about a 1/2 cup of olive oil; 1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce; a large pinch of whole black peppercorns; a teaspoon of ground black pepper; 1/2 a teaspoon of ground pink pepper (green peppercorns would be good too!); a large pinch of kosher salt; 2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped; a medium-sized shallot, roughly chopped; and about four stalks' worth of celery leaves (left over from celery in other recipes). You'll notice there's no garlic salt, celery salt, or onion salt. Although I love those for other recipes, that's a hell of a lot of salt when you put it all together! Get as much air as you can out of the bag, then seal it well, and put it flat on a shelf in the fridge-- anywhere from 2 hours to 12, but I wouldn't do more than that, since the worcestershire can get strong and a little overpowering. Then grill the steak on med-high or high heat to get a good sear, and plate it on top of crispy french fries!

Udon Update!

Last night I served seafood udon to a group of awesome artists at Urban Fable Studios in Hamtramck, MI. Here's the udon version I made: 2 cartons of chicken stock, and 1 of seafood stock, 4 packages of pre-cooked packaged udon noodles (I tossed out the seasoning packets), celery, onion, white mushrooms, and about a tablespoon of fish sauce. The seafood was: "crab" (surimi mentioned earlier, chunk version), 1 lb. of swordfish steak, cut up into large chunks, (I asked the fishmonger to give me a thick steak), 1/2 lb. of calamari (both tubes and tentacles-- tentacles trimmed and tubes sliced into rings), 1 lb. shrimp, and 12 oz. of bay scallops (those are the little ones). I browned all the seafood slightly in vegetable oil until they were just golden. I heated everything through on low heat for about 45 minutes, then dished it into bowls and topped each one with a crispy tempura shrimp.

Accessible Udon

If you've ever had udon soup at a Japanese restaurant, you know how hearty and soul-warming it can be. You probably also have a tough time picking out what it's made of, and wouldn't try making it at home. But I took on that challenge and, again, made it up! :) This is easy, great for feeding a big family or a bunch of friends, or even freezing for nights when the snow makes you crave it. There are a few options, and I'll give you 3 alternatives to this one at the end. The standard, for me anyway, is seafood. Start with udon noodles. You can find them in the Asian aisle of the supermarket. Dry are fine, just boil them like spaghetti. But if you like the chewy heartiness of traditional udon, get it in a plastic package near the ramen noodles, or occasionally the frozen section. That's a photo of the kind I get-- it comes in a package of three pouches. Use 2 large cartons of stock, usually seafood or vegetable. Get a head of bok choy (not baby) or a bunch of celery, slice into big chunks and toss in the stock on medium heat. Include the leaves. The other ingredient you likely don't have in your pantry already is fish sauce. It's...intense. You only need a little, so don't let it scare you. It smells like... essence of fish. Which it is. Also found in the Asian section. Now's the creative part. I like to use crab (actually, I usually use the fake kind, made of surimi, which is a whitefish-derived protein. just use the chunk style and not the stick style, because the sticks will unravel), shrimp, scallops, and calamari. Saute the seafood a bit in oil or butter just to get a little color on them. Then toss them in with your noodles, veggies, and stock. Add about a tablespoon of fish sauce, and two of soy sauce. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, then taste the soup. Need salt? Add more soy sauce (it blends much better than adding salt). Need spice and heat? Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flake. Let it cook, on low heat, for about 20 minutes to let everything combine. Big bowls on a cold day will warm you all the way through. Traditionally, it's served with a tempura shrimp on top, but that's up to you. Now for the options:
1. Veggie-only: Use veggie stock. With the bok choy and (instead of "or") celery, add mushrooms (shiitake, cremini, button, and/or king oyster), baby corn, bamboo shoots, scallions, and minced garlic instead of the seafood. Saute together and add to soup once the stock is hot. Skip the fish sauce, and add kombu dashi, which is made from seaweed and can be found at a Japanese specialty market.
2. Chicken: Use chicken stock. Cut chicken into chunks, white or dark meat as you like. Skip the fish sauce and add 2 tablespoons of butter and a sprig of thyme and one bay leaf. Make sure to remove the bay leaf and the twig of thyme when finished. When the soup is ready, heat it up quickly to high heat, and crack in 2 eggs, and cover. In 8-10 minutes, you're ready to serve.
3. Beef: Use beef stock. Cut beef into chunks, across the grain. Add a bunch of scallions to the bok choy or celery. Instead of fish sauce, add the same amount of worcestershire sauce.

Fili-paella

I thoroughly enjoy making recipes up. This particular recipe was inspired by a random request from my husband. He was planning to attend a summer BBQ last year, and wanted to bring a dish. He's not the chef-type, and he knows I look to cook, so he let me know there was a little bit of a Filipino-food theme, and let me run wild. So, I kind of did! I just met the woman who threw the BBQ last night, and she thanked me for the food and said it was great. I had mostly forgotten about it, but promised I'd post the made-up recipe. Have I mentioned it's completely invented? I'm sure it's not up to traditional standards and all that, but it was fun and easy to make, so here you go:
Prepare one box/package of yellow Spanish rice, according to the instructions, but substitute the water used with coconut water (not coconut milk). You can find it in most markets now. Forgive the basicness of these next ingredients, but they work best with all the other flavors going on. I used canned mussels, canned chopped clams, and canned shrimp (which is the salad size, and pretty little). Heat them all through gently. You don't need to cook them to death, just heat them up. Depending on what you like, add red and/or green bell peppers, sauteed lightly so they're not too soft, or onions the same way. When everything is complete and your rice is ready, mix it all gently so you don't break up the mussels and incorporate whatever veggies, if any, you like. Most markets also now carry plantains. Get 2 or 3. Peel them like you would a banana, and slice a little thicker than you would for bananas in cereal. Heat canola or vegetable oil in a deep fryer if you have one, or a deep skillet. Fry the plantain slices for 1-2 minutes, then pull out and drain on paper towel. Take a spatula and press down on the slice and smash it. Then toss them back into the oil to crisp and finish them. Take the plantain chips and cover the top of the rice and seafood mix, and serve at room temperature. It's a great hearty potluck item, can be a side dish for pork or fish, or can be an entree by adding more seafood or shredded chicken. And as always, if you come up with a tasty variation, let me know!!! :)

Intimidation-Free Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is ubiquitous-- you can find it inside a boston cream donut, or in a bavarian pie; in a fancy Napolean/mille-feuille, and in a basic fruit tart. It might seem a little daunting, but is a really simple, easy recipe to master. I guess it's more of a "technique" than a recipe, which automatically relieves you of the stress of getting it perfect. :)
Start with eggs. 2 or 3 whole eggs, or 3 or 4 yolks only. See what I mean about it not being a hard and fast recipe? I like to stick with the yolks, and usually use 4. Put them in a sauce pan on low-medium low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 of cornstarch, but if you only have one of them, just add 4 tablespoons of whatever you've got. Add 2/3 cup sugar, and a good pinch of salt. Stir in 2 cups of milk, cream, half-and-half-- whatever you have on hand. Once the pastry cream starts to get thicker and more pudding-like, take it off the heat and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Toss in 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until everything is combined evenly, and let cool completely.
Now you can pour it into a pie crust, or put it in a pastry bag to fill donuts, or pipe between layers of cake. It goes amazingly well with berries, phyllo pastry, or chocolate. Wait, why "or"?? This pastry cream is excellent in a chocolate cookie pie crust, topped with raspberries.
Honestly, I'd even eat it plain with a spoon. ;)

Chocolate-Covered Bacon. Yep.

I'll try to combine the practical recipes and the out-there ones on this blog as much as possible. This recipe? In the out-there category. Bacon is pretty trendy these days, but I guarantee you haven't had it like this. Get some good-quality thick-cut bacon. Avoid center-cut (too lean) and turkey bacon (ditto), because they won't give you the whole bacon-ness we're going for. The recipe I'm giving you is a compound one. I am using Chocolate Pumpkin Bark, available seasonally, particularly at Cost Plus World Market. You can absolutely use other chocolate as follows: no candy bars. only good quality chocolate in morsel or bar form. Avoid dark chocolate-- it's just too bitter. White chocolate can be too light in flavor and miss the mark. Stick with semi-sweet or bittersweet if going purist. Cook the bacon, probably a little different than you usually do-- put each rasher (did you know that's the name of a slice of bacon? crazy!) on a wire cookie rack over a sheet pan with a rim. Pre-heat the oven for 450 degrees and "bake" the bacon for about 20-25 minutes. The fat will drain off (and you can save it to cook other stuff later) and you'll have flat, delicious bacon strips. Let them cool. Microwave your chocolate of choice in 30-45 second bursts until it's smooth and melted. If it's too dense, even well-heated, add milk, stir very well, and heat a tiny bit again. Drag cooled bacon through the chocolate, and return to the wire rack to drain and solidify. You don't want super-runny chocolate, because it will never harden, but you also don't want gloppy, chunky madness. ;) Once everything is dragged and dried, refrigerate. As little as 30 minutes is good, but it gets more integrated with time. And please! Get creative! If you want to turn white chocolate-covered bacon into a dried cranberry walnut white chocolate bacon brittle, do it!!! Just start simple and slow, experiment on your willing family and friends, and let me know if you create something new and amazing!!!

Baby Bok Choy

A friend mentioned she'd never have tried to make baby bok choy, or even buy it in general, but that the photo I took looked pretty good... so here's the demystified recipe! Baby bok choy is, well, cute! Not every market carries it, and mature bok choy will not yield the same results. It's a great option in the dark, leafy greens category, but without the bitterness other lettuces have. And in case you're worried about texture, it's fantastic-- not watery, not mushy, not stringy (and that's coming from someone who, as a child, asked my mom to take the bones out of celery). It is worth a try, and kids will love it, seriously. Just take the stalks apart after cooking and it's a kiddie finger food. My favorite, really simple way of making it is putting it in a not-too-shallow saute or frying pan. You can see in the photo at left that I was making three for dinner. About one per person as a side dish; I typically use it as the vegetable for a dinner meal. For 3, I initially used 1/4 cup light salted butter. You can add more if the pan begins to seem dry or the butter in the pan gets darker/nuttier (you don't want a brown butter sauce for this). The butter won't even really be a sauce when you're done. The baby bok choy will just be silky and buttery but not greasy. Start with everything in a cold pan, and heat on the stove to medium-low. Salt the baby bok choy just a bit to help it release a little of its moisture. This will take a while, but is SO worth it! Every 3 minutes or so, turn the baby bok choy. I find that putting the base in the middle of the pan at the hottest point works best, since it's more dense than the leafy tops. You can (and should!) eat the entire thing-- base and all. When everything feels soft, and slightly gives or bends when you pick it up with a pair of tongs, about 25-35 minutes, it's good to go! It's an excellent veggie to balance strong flavors like steak or lamb, or pair with sweet proteins like scallops or lobster for an unctuous, indulgent dinner with added vitamin D!