T’was a Taco Salad Kind of Night

July 17, 2013 - Posted in Cooking, Hot Weather Dinner, LauraRaposa, Salads, The Foodsmith

It felt like the mercury was off the charts today on the South Shore. It was so oppressive, even I didn’t feel like eating — and that’s saying something. Although I think I could have rallied to hit the Del’s Lemonade truck at the farmer’s market down the street. Maybe.

The reality is I still had to make dinner. But what? The last thing I wanted to do was turn on the stove or even fire up the Weber. Even a zombie walk by the prepared food case at Whole Foods didn’t inspire me.

I have no idea how I settled on making taco salad. But I’m glad I did. Yes, it still meant I needed to turn on the stove — but at least not for very long!

Beat the Heat with Taco Salad!

So I grabbed 1 lb. of ground turkey, romaine lettuce, a small container of store-made guacamole, a can of black beans, a package of shredded Monterey Jack cheese and a bottle of wild salmon oil capsules (not for the recipe).

When the sun went down and my husband came home, I cranked up the fans, took out the saute pan and browned the turkey with 1/2 c. of chopped onion.

In a glass measuring cup with 1/2 c. of warm water, I mixed in taco spices (2 t. onion powder; 1 t. chili powder; 1/2 t. dried red pepper; 1/4 t. oregano; 1 t. salt; 1/2 t. cornstarch; 1/2 t. garlic powder and 1/2 t. cumin). It was then poured into the pan.

I simmered the turkey and spicy liquid until the sauce thickened. (If your spice rack is lacking, an envelope of Simply Organic Southwest Taco Mix is a good substitute.) And then — with a dramatic turn of the wrist — I turned off the gas burner. Phew!

Meanwhile, I chopped romaine lettuce as well as half each of a yellow, green and red pepper followed by two heirloom tomatoes. Black beans drained and washed. Check.

This is how I assembled the salad : lettuce, meat, tomatoes, chopped peppers, black beans, spoonfuls of guacamole around the edge, a ~~sprinkle~~ handful of cheese and Garden of Eatin’ Sesame Blues chips around the plate.

While in my “World War Z” state at the Whole, I forgot the salsa and the low fat sour cream, but supper was declared a hot weather hit. So try it. It’s quick, easy and worth the 10 minutes of cooking time on the stove.

Now, about tomorrow night…

Brownies, Bake Sales and Bitterness

July 12, 2013 - Posted in Baking, Dessert, Food Traditions, LauraRaposa, The Foodsmith

I managed to throw together a pan of Flour‘s Intense Chocolate Brownies today for my aunt’s post-barbecue Make Your Own Sundae Bar this weekend. However, I have a feeling Someone may lay claim to a few tonight so I must dash out for more unsweetened bar chocolate.

Flour’s Intense Chocolate Brownies

Perhaps you’re thinking Flour’s brownies are a little laborious to end up as a base for a sundae and I should have just bought a box of Duncan Hines. But that just isn’t me. I usually nix mixes with one exception: when pressed for time and my hubby has a chocolate jones, the just-add-yogurt No Pudge Brownies aren’t a bad substitute. And unlike Flour or King Arthur‘s brownies — my go-to recipes — they are 120 calories (and zero fat) for a two-inch square. I care about those things…sometimes.

While whisking in the melted chocolate into the egg and butter mixture this morning, I got to thinking about what is it about a lowly brownie — whether it’s made from scratch or Betty Crocker — that makes people, well, nuts.

I posted an Instagram photo of the pan on my Facebook page and the “likes” just kept on coming!

I chalk it up to nostalgia. What kid from any decade didn’t savor a brownie and a glass of milk? In the convenience-happy 60′s and 70′s, we didn’t care they weren’t baked from scratch. In fact, what was back then?

School and church bake sales were full of goodies by Duncan, Betty and the Doughboy showcased on tin foil-wrapped paper plates encased in Saran Wrap or tied up in a Baggie. And our mothers were proud to bring them!

I still have fond memories of our neighbor Mrs. Araujo’s awesome peanut butter cookies. Her secret ingredient was a box of Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix. The recipe? It was on the box!

I don’t care. It was the tastiest peanut butter cookie I have ever eaten. And I loved the hashtag design she made with a fork on each cookie…

Today, school bake sales are practically outlawed by the dietary police because, let’s face it, these women — yes, women — are just p.o.ed their precious spawn have nuts and gluten allergies or they’re lactose intolerant. What happens if Emma or Elliot comes in contact with an M&M cookie and helicopter mom isn’t hovering over with the epi pen? The terrorists win. That’s what.

There are bake sales that do exist, but now they’re stealthy operations in the dark recesses of church basements or community centers.

The last, and I mean the last, time I baked for such a food fund-raiser, the women in charge were visibly unimpressed with my Adamsville Cheddar Cheese Bread or my dozen bags of festively packed Hermits. I even included a list of ingredients on every package to quiet the summer people from Connecticut or New York who play Twenty Questions when buying any local food. (And, heaven forbid, you’re the next person in line. But I digress.)

During the day, when I saw the hermits weren’t moving on the card table, but the cupcakes with neon-colored frosting (blech) were long gone, I bought four packages and gave one to the pastor who looked like man who appreciated a good spicy raisin bar. Who knows? Maybe he re-gifted. Or perhaps I should have made brownies…

I’d Like to Quash the Squash!

July 11, 2013 - Posted in CSA, Farms, The Foodsmith, Vegetables

CSA Week 5

The Foodsmith…

July 10, 2013 - Posted in Uncategorized

is off this week.

Apparently, I sunburned my brain…

Greens! Greens! Greens! (And a Little Yellow)

June 28, 2013 - Posted in CSA, Farms, Healthy Cooking, Peas, The Foodsmith, Uncategorized, Vegetables

This week’s CSA basket from R & C Farms boasts red and green leaf lettuce, scallions, red and golden beets, some sweeeeeet sugar snap peas and “flushed” broccoli.

CSA Week 3

Say what?

According to farmer Cindy Simons, the broccoli florets look a little yellow because of the torrential rains this week. Like we need another reason to be annoyed by this wet weather.

“I don’t want you to think we gave you old broccoli,” said the Scituate farmer. “It may look old, but the rain soaked the broccoli so much that the water just ‘flushed’ through it. I made an omelet with it to check it out and it’s fine.”

Well, it looks interesting…

A Good Appetite for a Culinary Girl Crush

June 26, 2013 - Posted in Cooking, Fava Beans, LauraRaposa, Melissa Clark, Pasta, Peas, The Foodsmith, The Foodsmith, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Today’s confession: I have a major girl crush on Melissa Clark.

Melissa Clark

The flame-haired culinista writes the “A Good Appetite” column in the New York Times‘ Dining section on Wednesday, but I’m such a groupie, I check out her column on my iPad days before the recipes appear in the Times. I skip right over Mark Bittman and Pete Wells. Sorry, boys. But you can wait until Wednesday.

The crush is simple. Clark’s writing, her recipes and helpful videos engage me. In fact, I’d like to say that when I grow up, I want to be Melissa Clark. However, the cookbook author and Times contributor appears much more than a decade younger!

Clark filming a video for NYTimes.com in her Brooklyn kitchen.

I actually met Melissa a few years ago when we both found ourselves at the Brooklyn Food Experiment‘s finals. She was the judge who peddled to the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg on her bike. I was there to report on a brother and sister team from Massachusetts, and also — since it was a long day — help corral VIPs and help the contestants.

Naturally, I was farklempt when I saw her. But as a fellow journalist, I kept it together. During our short conversation, I thought how great it would be if we became besties and she invited me to test recipes in her sunny Brooklyn kitchen whilst her daughter, Dahlia, played in the next room. Pathetic, I know.

Since then she’s thanked me a couple of times for #FF-ing her on Twitter (@goodappetite). She also praised my attempt at her broccoli rabe calzone when I tweeted a photo of it. It’s not a stalker thing. Seriously. It’s not.

Today, I prepared her Times’ recipe of Cacio E Pepe with Peas and Favas — spaghetti with cheese, black pepper, peas and favas. Apparently, Melissa ordered the dish in Italy and thought she’d improve upon it by peeling the favas. This was a revelation. I always shelled, blanched and peeled my favas. Crazy Italians.

Melissa Clark’s Cacio E Pepe with Peas and Favas

Favas, fresh English peas and chives were bought at Volante Farm and I scored wedges of pecorino and parmesan at Whole Foods.

I also zested a lemon to add to the sauce since A.) I am a lemon fanatic, and B.) I wanted to cut down a bit of the overpowering pepper flavor.

My husband polished off most of the delicious peppery pot of pasta. I loved the cheesy flavor and subtle snap of the blanched peas and favas. You will, too. But remember to bring a Good Appetite!

Too Many Berries = One Big Crostata!

June 22, 2013 - Posted in Baking, CSA, Dessert, LauraRaposa, Tarts, The Foodsmith

The good news is I got another round of precious native strawberries in my CSA basket this week. The bad news? There was a berry glut in my refrigerator!

CSA Week 2!

No matter where I’ve shopped over the past two weeks – Whole Foods (needed, um, vitamins), Stop ‘n’ Shop (gas points) or Lees Market (Westport weekend) – blueberries, raspberries and blackberries were a weekly special.

There were discounted Driscoll strawberries, too. But why buy the ruby-red-on-the-outside-white-on-the-inside California berries when natives are available albeit for a short season?

So I made a crostata.

I had about a cup of blackberries, a pint of iffy raspberries, a carton of blueberries and about a pint of strawberries from R&C Farms in Scituate. They all went into the bowl and were crushed a bit with a fork.

There were five fresh apricots and a couple of peaches in the fruit dish awaiting their peak of ripeness, so those were skinned, pitted, sliced, and tossed into the bowl as well. Yes, I can be impatient with stone fruits as well as most people…

I tossed the fruit with a ½ cup of 10-X sugar (which contains cornstarch), added a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. I set the bowl aside.

Now, about the crust…

While cruising the Epicurious app on my iPhone, I found 26 recipes for crostata, but only one crust recipe that screamed out for attention. Oh, hello, Rustic Nectarine and Blueberry Tart with Cornmeal Crust (Bon Appetit, July 2002).

I actually doubled the crust recipe since I wanted to make one for dinner tonight and another Sunday morning to take to my parents’ house. But the following is the recipe for one single crust.

Here’s the recipe from Epicurious:

Crust

1-2/3 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. polenta (coarse cornmeal)*

3 T sugar

1 t. (packed) grated orange peel

3/4 t. salt

14 T. (1 3/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/3 c. (or more) ice water

Combine first 5 ingredients in processor and blend 5 seconds. Add butter; using the PULSE function, blend just until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. (To ensure a flaky crust, be careful not to overwork the butter.) Add 1/3-cup ice water. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in moist clumps, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry.

Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap; chill at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Dough ready for the fridge!

Roll out dough on lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to 14-inch round, turning dough occasionally to prevent sticking. Slide rimless baking sheet under parchment. Transfer dough on parchment to refrigerator. Chill until dough firms slightly, about 30 minutes.

I feel I should mention at this point that we ate the crostata — with a small scoop of Batch Vanilla Bean Ice Cream — around 9 tonight. So, this isn’t something you whip in an hour or two, although the dough and fruit mixture can be made ahead.

After I rolled out the dough, I was satisfied that there were little pieces of butter still intact. Visible pieces of butter will give your crust flakiness. If you don’t see those pieces, expect a tougher crust. Hence, the use of the PULSE function on the Cuisinart.

Now, for the filling…

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spoon fruit and juices into center of dough. Arrange fruit in even 10-inch-diameter layer in center. Brush 2-inch border of dough with egg glaze. Lift about 2 inches of dough border and pinch to form vertical seam. Continue around tart, pinching seam every 2 inches to form standing border. Fold border down over fruit (center 6 inches of fruit remain uncovered). Brush folded border with egg glaze;

I didn’t pinch the seams — oops! — and sprinkled my tart with sparkling sugar, but feel free to use granulated. I also arranged some lemon verbena leaves (from my CSA crate) in the middle.

My rustic tart with its egg glaze and dusting of sparkling sugar is ready for the oven.

After I did my arty thing, I hoped it didn’t look like I stuck a marijuana leaf in there although, I know my Inside Track partner Gayle would have loved it since she thinks I should open a “kush bakery.”

“Listen to me, you’ll make a fortune,” she has said more than I care to remember. “You think Flour’s a goldmine? It’s got nuthin’ on a kush bakery.”

Ralph Kramden’s female alter ego claims that between her surgically repaired knee and broken foot, my broken foot and my right ankle with Achilles tendonitis, we’re a shoo-in for Massachusetts medical marijuana for brownies and cookies. But I digress…

I baked the tart for 50 minutes (there was a little leakage from the bottom crust but not much), removed it from the pan with a large spatula and cooled it on a rack for 45 minutes.

And now 45 minutes of cooling on a rack.

A couple of notes after devouring a piece:

I wouldn’t use course cornmeal for the crust since I didn’t like the mouth feel of the bottom of the tart. However, I didn’t mind it on the folds at the top. Odd. When I make another batch, I’ll try a medium-ground cornmeal.

Also, I didn’t taste the orange peel in the crust. I would have added more than 1 tsp. of orange zest to the fruit instead with a ½-teaspoon of vanilla for a bolder flavor.

It should serve 8 people, but in my house, it’s more like 6. Or perhaps when the medical marijuana law takes effect, the crostata will be a single serving!

Salmon and Peas in June? Why Not?

June 17, 2013 - Posted in Cooking, Food Traditions, Healthy Cooking, Hot Weather Dinner, LauraRaposa, Seafood, The Foodsmith, Uncategorized

My grandmother in Maine always talked a good game about the Down East tradition of serving salmon and peas on July 4. We never ate it, of course, because Grammie, who lived in Portland, would rather have hamburgers and Jordan hot dogs. And who could blame her? Like I said, she talked a good game.

Years later, I learned the reason behind the old Yankee tradition for the Fourth. It had to do with timing. Around the first week in July, the wild salmon would start to run in the rivers, and peas, planted in the wet spring, would begin to pop in the garden. No-fuss Independence Day menu. Gotta love the Maine-iacs!

But today, because the weather was 85 degrees here on the South Shore, I needed something for supper that would keep me independent from a hot kitchen or a hot Weber.

Salmon was on sale, I had a bag of small red potatoes in the fridge and a half-box of Bird’s Eye Garden Peas in the freezer. Luckily, I also had in the house a two-days-from-expiration Vermont Creamery creme fraiche, Dijon mustard, lemons and a touch o’ honey.

To poach the one pound of salmon filets, I chopped up a celery stalk and half a carrot, thinly sliced a small lemon and added them to a large, straight sided fry pan called a sautoir. I added the salmon filets, salt, peppercorns, lemon juice, a cup of white wine and enough water to cover the filet.

I brought the liquid to a boil, turn down to a simmer and covered the pan. The salmon, which was thick in the middle, poached for 6 to 7 minutes. I turned off the heat and left the pan covered for 3 minutes more. After the timer buzzed, I removed the salmon with a large fish spatula to a plate to cool. Next stop: the fridge.

In the meantime, I blanched the peas and boiled up the little potatoes. And set them on the counter to cool.

For a sauce to nap over the fish, I mixed together 1/2 cup of creme fraiche, 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon of honey in a glass bowl. After that, it, too went into the refrigerator. Over and out.

My husband said he enjoyed the Yankee Doodle dinner. But I’m sure he would have savored it more if it was as hot as the Fourth of July! As luck would have it, a powerful thunderstorm rolled through around 5 p.m. and sent the temperature south. In fact, it felt a little Down East-y in here. Ayuh.

A Tribute to Dad, the Original Foodsmith

June 15, 2013 - Posted in Bakery, Baking, Baking, Cooking, Dad, Dessert, Father's Day, Father's Day, LauraRaposa, The Foodsmith, The Foodsmith, Uncategorized

We will celebrate Father’s Day and Dad‘s 76th birthday tomorrow, a rare feat of the calendar, so I felt the need to cook up a small tribute to my father, the consummate Foodsmith.

Here’s my handsome dad. Not bad for 76, eh?

After nearly 52 years with John Philip Raposa, his obsession with food, especially the baking business, has rubbed off on me. And, for that, Dad, I thank you.

Now, let me tell you a little about my father…

— He knows everything about bread and buttercream. He can taste a birthday cake and tell you if the vanilla extract was old or — gasp! — cheap. His sister once served him a lemon meringue pie which he tasted and proclaimed the lemon “turpy.” As in it had “turned” and tasted like turpentine. However, he kept eating it, as he always does.

— Speaking of lemon, it’s our favorite flavor. We’d rather eat something lemon than chocolate, right, Dad? Oh, and cinnamon. We love cinnamon. And did you know that “Jews love cinnamon?” Dad told that little factoid to my friend, Judy, an Orthodox Jew, some 30 years ago and she still laughs about it.

— Dad also gave Judy a 50-pound bag of kosher cake mix for her daughter Rachael‘s bat mitzvah which forced me to drive to Harrisburg, PA for my catering gig. It was during the height of the anthrax scare so I certainly couldn’t check a bag of 50-pound white-ish powder at Logan Airport. Talk about a mitzvah.

— He doesn’t like cardamon.

— He’s my best sous chef. Not only does he keep his knives sharp and with a nice edge on them, he can use them. Also, it is better to have Dad work with me than watching every move over my shoulder.

Dough

— However, if my dough acts up, he knows how to fix it.

— He doesn’t bake.

— If you don’t use Ida Reds in your apple pie you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.

— The minute I get through the door of his house, hands full of grocery bags, he’ll make a beeline for me and say, “Taste this.” The morsel of cookie or bread may be good. Or it may be bad. But you’d better have a strong opinion one way or the other.

— When I smoked ribs and pork butt for Fourth of July, Dad cleaned the greasy, grimy Weber smoker. Ditto when I made beer can chickens last year. How awesome is that???

— Dad likes to remind his sister, Claire, that one of the bakers he called on once asked him, “How’s your sister, Eclair?” The baker’s long dead now and she’s 62.

— He likes the Back Eddy‘s Apple Wood Bacon Wrapped New Bedford Scallops, so I’ll try to recreate the dish tomorrow for nine of us.

— Dad doesn’t trust people who don’t eat bread or sweets, but he will go all salesman on them and try to turn them around.

— And if I’ve served my father something that challenged his palate, he won’t say he didn’t like it. He’ll just say, “It’s different.” It makes me crazy, but I know he says it so my feelings won’t be hurt. But I know what “it’s different” means…

Susie Homemaker Stove and Oven circa 1960s

— But Dad always gets a free pass. Because after spending all day in and out of Rhode Island and southeastern Mass. bakeries during my childhood, he came home and savored my Susie Homemaker light bulb cakes topped with neon pink frosting like they were made by a Parisian chef pâtissier.

So Happy Birthday — and Happy Father’s Day — Dad, and thank you for giving this Foodsmith a taste of the good life!

Crazy for Kohlrabi? Not Yet.

June 14, 2013 - Posted in CSA, Farms, Healthy Cooking, Kohlrabi, LauraRaposa, Side Dishes, The Foodsmith, Uncategorized, Vegetables

We have had plenty of signs that summer is upon us, but for me, the first week of my Community Shared Agriculture program at R & C Farms in Scituate confirms it — despite the rainy week we’ve had!

I picked up our full CSA share today, a crate stocked with three kinds of lettuce — red leaf, green leaf and iceberg — a BIG and medium-sized bok choy, four kohlrabi and a quart of picture perfect native strawberries.

To borrow a line from “Jaws,” I think I’m gonna need a bigger refrigerator.

The lettuce and vitamin-rich bok choy will be put to good use if only because they are taking up all the real estate in the fridge. And I began eating the strawberries in the car on the way home from the farm. But the kohlrabi?

Cindy Simons, who owns the farm with her husband, Ron, suggested roasting kohlrabi “french fries” in a 450-degree oven tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic for 15 to 20 minutes. When finished, Cindy said to sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the “fries” and return the pan to the oven for a minute or two.

“Think of them as healthy french fries,” she laughed.

Kohlrabi

Before I hit the kitchen, I Googled “kohlrabi recipes” and came up with lots of ways to fry kohlrabi which led me to believe it needed the oil, semolina flour and spices to make it edible. But what isn’t good dusted in flour and spices then fried???

In the end, I peeled two of the bulbs and opted for Cindy’s roasting recipe.

To prepare the dish, I tore off the kohlrabi bulbs’ leaves (yes, I know I should throw them in a stir fry, but I would rather feed them to my neighborhood rabbits).

After the veggie striptease, I pared the thick, green skin off the bulb, cut thick slices then further cut them into french fry shapes.

French fry-shaped kohlrabi

I tossed the “fries” in olive oil, salt and pepper then scattered shallot slices and crushed garlic over them. They baked in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes.

The “healthy fries” — which I thought were mushy but tasty –were served to my hubby with a rib eye steak, salad (!) and a baguette from Olga’s.

“Ooooh, steak frites,” exclaimed my favorite Francophile.

Steak frites? Not exactly.

Hardly, mon cheri. But there are two kohlrabi left. I think a coating of semolina flour, spices and a pan fry next time. Ooh la la…