Food 2.0: Coleslaw for Lunch

I'm going to be honest with my readers (if there are any out there). I have to take the MCAT, the medical school entrance exam twice. What can I say? I'm not very good at standardized tests, so it usually takes two times for the test to reflect my brilliant intellect... I am telling you this for two reasons. 1) I've chosen a super fresh and easy cook book to blog from that has lots of easy salads and wraps to cut down on prep time. 2) If my blog is neglected for a few weeks it's because I've cloistered myself away with my MCAT prep books.


The cookbook for the month of April is Food 2.0: Secrets from the chef who fed Google. Charlie Ayers was hired in 1999 to feed the minds who produced the many google wonders such as gmail, google maps, calendar, my reader, blogspot, etc, that compose the infrastructure that runs my life. The first half of the book is devoted to describing how to eat sustainably and how to freshen up your cuisine; the book also pulls you in with lovely pictures of fresh food and the prepared recipes. Ayers has a great list of kitchen staples including his favorite vinegars and oils, and also salads that he always has on hand for snacks.

I'll mostly be cooking from the Grab & Go section. The section includes lots of salads, vegetable wraps, and eccentric tacos. I think I'll be eating this food as a light dinner in addition to Omega 3 fatty acid supplements to improve my brain function and raise my MCAT score. The debut recipe is Coleslaw for Lunch. I'll name a few substitutions I made up front. I couldn't find pineapple juice at Trader Joe's, so I used mango juice as the citrus component, and I substituted red wine vinegar for white wine vinegar. Finally, Trader Joe's did not have any cabbage coleslaw so I used their organic broccoli slaw which stiffer than cabbage so the salad has a similar to
texture to a jicama salad.


Coleslaw for Lunch
3 tablespoons pineapple juice, apple cider or mango juice
4 teaspoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sour cream
1 teaspoon horseradish relish
1/2 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 bag of coleslaw or broccoli slaw
or if you want to go the fresh way
1/4 head of green cabbage shredded
14 head of red cabbage shredded
2 carrots shredded

To serve on top
Cubes of Monterrey jack cheese, bacon or a cured ham, and halved cherry tomatoes

1. In a large bow, whisk together juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, horseradish, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add the shredded cabbage or bag of coleslaw. Toss to coat everything evenly. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
3. Serve the coleslaw topped with Monterrey jack cheese, ham, and cherry tomatoes. Eat with whole grain bread.

The Silver Palate: Stir-fry of asparagus with cashews

This stir-fry was found under the Spring Fever section of the silver palate. The crisp asparagus and orange peppers with crunchy cashews was a light spring meal that reminded me how essential the farmer's market is to my spring happiness. A recipe like this can only get better with farm fresh vegetables. This will most likely be be the last post from the Silver Palate. Next week I will be starting my new spring schedule with morning runs, MCAT studying, and a new vegetarian cookbook! I recommend serving the stir fry with some home-made fried rice. Fried rice is possibly one of the easiest dishes to cobble together , and it's a great way to clean your fridge of any wilting vegetables. Here's a simple recipe from The Kitchn that can be adapted to fit anything you have in your fridge.


Stir-fry of Asparagus with Cashews

1 1/2 pounds of asparagus
1 red, yellow, or orange pepper
2 tablespoons of olive, vegetable, or peanut oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger root
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted cashews
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Cut off the tough lower stems of the asparagus and cut each stalk diagonally into 3 pieces. Wash and cut the pepper in half vertically, then into thin slices.
2. Heat the oils together in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the aspargus and peppers and stir-fry until tender but still crisp, 4-5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cashews and soy sauce and cook together for 3 minutes.

Serve over rice.

The Silver Palate: Lemon Chicken

The Silver Palate organizes recipes within events. Lemon chicken was featured under the Mother's Day section and it was recommended that the chicken be served over lemon rice. I served it with some garlicky sauteed kale and Israeli cous cous to contrast the intense lemon flavor in the chicken. The chicken is marinated over night in pure lemon juice and topped with a lemon sauce. As I mentioned in the last post, these chicken breasts were originally destined to be a chinese lemon chicken. So I was very pleased with the intense lemon flavor chicken that reminded me of the pseuodo-chinese lemon chicken. All that was needed to turn this recipe asian was some rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Lemon Chicken

2 whole chicken breasts, each cut in half
2 1/2 cups of fresh lemon juice ( this requires about 10 lemons, but I used lemon juice from concentrate)
1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 lemon, washed and thinly sliced

1. One day before cooking the chicken, place the pieces in a bowl. Pour the lemon juice over the chicken, cover the dish and refrigerate over night.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. Remove the chicken from the juice and reserve the juice. Combine the flour, salt, and paprika on a plate and dredge the chicken with the seasoned flour. Place the chicken in a shallow baking pan.
4. Bake the chicken 40 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining lemon juice with the stock, and brown sugar.
6. Pour the lemon juice mixture over the chicken. Bake 20-25 minutes, basting the chicken occasionally.

Serve this chicken over some type of grain to catch the lemon sauce.

The Silver Palate: Aunt Tandy's Chicken Croquettes

Last week I bought a massive amount of chicken with the intention of making some Chinese food, but somehow I forgot to buy the lemons and oranges to make the sauces. That's what happens when you go to the store without a list. So instead I made two chicken dishes from the Silver Palate. The first is chicken croquettes which the book recommends as a light Sunday dinner. I've had ham croquettes many times because they are a part of Cuban cuisine. Cuban croquettes, known as croquettas, are really creamy inside and always fried. The chicken croquettes are more solid, so I decided to bake them to save calories and the pain of frying. These croquettes are coated in thick crunchy layer of paprika infused bread crumbs. While Sam referred to these as fancy chicken nuggets, they were still delicious, especially with a bit of marinara sauce on top.



Aunt Tandy's Chicken Croquettes

4 slices challah bread
1/2 cup water
2 whole chicken breasts, cut into 3 inch pieces
4 eggs
1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons paprika
2 cups bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1. Soak the challah in 1/2 cup of water for 15 minutes. Squeeze dry and tear into small pieces.
2. Process the chicken in a food processor with a steel blade until coarsely chopped. Add the eggs, bread, onion, salt and pepper, then process until thoroughly blended. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the mixture.
3. Combine the bread crumbs and paprika in a bowl and then pour onto a large plate.
4. Shape the chicken patties into 3 inch disks. Then coat evenly with the bread crumbs. You can roll the croquettes in a little olive oil if the bread crumb mixture does not start to stick.
5. Coat the bottom of a 9"x13" pyrex pan with either butter or olive oil and place the croquettes in the pan.
6. Bake the croquettes for 40 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce.

Makes 15 croquettes.

The Silver Palate: Pasta Puttanesca

This recipe is another winner from the Silver Palate. The pasta puttanesca was extremely easy to make and the sauce was tangy and salty with a meat like texture from the shredded olives and capers. My sources (aka wikipedia and my knowledge of Spanish curse words) tell me that pasta puttanesca is also know as "whore's spaghetti." Wikipedia lists several likely origins of the sauce's name, however my favorite is that is a meal easy enough for a whore to make between customers. Whatever the origin of the name, the anchovies in the base of the sauce creates a great umami to couple with the brininess of the capers and black olives. With my love of capers, I definitely be making this sauce again either to be served over pasta or with warm fresh bread and a salad.

Pasta Puttanesca

1/2 cup olive oil
1 can (2 ounces) anchovy fillets, undrained
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 large can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, drained
1 jar capers (2 1/2 ounces), drained
1 1/2 cups pitted black olives coarsely chopped (I used on whole can of black pitted olives)
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Saute the garlic and anchovies. Use a wooden spoon to mash these ingredients until they make a paste.
2. Run the can of drained olives through the food processor until they are coarsely chopped, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, capers, and olives to the saucepan. Use the wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes by pressing them against the side of the pot. Continue stirring over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring occasionally. For a less chunky sauce, continue to break up the tomatoes with the wooden spoon while you stir. Season with a few twists from the pepper grinder before serving over hot thin spaghetti.

Note: This sauce does not need salt! Also, this recipe serves four appetizer portions, but probably only three hearty portions. Double if you plan on feeding four or more people.

The Silver Palate: Portuguese Sweet Bread

When my friend came to visit last weekend, she mentioned that she made her own bread each week. I was intrigued by the thought of homemade bread, and I thought it would be a great cooking adventure because I've only tried my hand at banana bread. I was craving French toast all weekend, so I thought I'd make the Portuguese Sweet Bread from the Silver Palate as a base for my French toast. The bread reminds me of Pan de Muertos, a lightly sweetened, egg heavy bread baked on November 2nd which is All Souls day or Dia de los muertos. I'll say now that my bread was a failure. For some reason my bread didn't rise. From research on the Internet, I think either I didn't add enough water because my dough was kind of stiff even though I kneaded it for 12 whole minutes or my water wasn't hot enough and my kitchen is a cold place so the yeast was never at its optimum temperature. Though my bread is sitting in my kitchen about to be turned into bread crumbs or bread pudding (I haven't decided), I'm posting the recipe because of its potential to be a delicious breakfast staple served with butter, jam and cafe con leche.

Portuguese Sweet Bread

1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 packages dry yeast
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons raw sugar
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
7 eggs, room temperature
1/2 (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons water

1. Pour 1/4 cup of warm water into a small bowl. Stir in the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar and let stand for 25 minutes.
2. Heat the Creme Fraiche (Note: see alternative for creme fraiche at bottom of post) in a small saucepan over low heat until bubbly around the edges. Let it cool slightly, then pour into the yeast mixture.
3. Mix 5 cups of flour, 2/3 cup of sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in the yeast mixture and 6 beaten eggs into the well until blended. Melt the butter in the microwave for less than a minute to liquefy it, then mix it into the flour mixture.
5. Stir in enough of the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, 15-20 minutes. (Note: I mixed in only 1/2 cup of flour, and mixed in the rest while I kneaded the dough)
6. Place dough in a large buttered bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1.5 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Once the dough has risen, punch the dough down and divide it in half. Shape each half into a round ball and place in a buttered 2 quart souffle dish. ( I only own one 2 quart souffle dish, so I put my other dough ball in a pie dish) Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
9. Beat the remaining egg and 2 teaspoons of water in a small bowl. Brush the two dough balls with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
10. Bake until the top of the loaves are dark and shiny, 40 minutes. If the bread seems to be getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack or a plate to cool completely.

Note: If you don't have Creme Fraiche on hand or cannot find it at your local grocer, the Silver Palate recommends whipping together 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup sour cream. Pour the mixture into a jar and let stand in a warm place until thickened, about 12 hours. Refrigerate for 36 hours before using.

I could tell my bread was a miss when it failed to rise in the first hour it is left to sit. I kept baking in hopes that the yeast would revive itself and I would lift the rag from the bowl to find a beautiful, soft and doughy mound that would bake into a lovely loaf of Portuguese sweet bread. Alas this did not happen, so I have two loaves that taste like sweet rocks. Even though the bread doesn't taste very good, the bread photographed well...every cloud has a silver lining.

If any experienced bread bakers have advice for my future bread baking endeavors, please comment or email me because I don't want to fail again. Then I might never get the courage to bake again!

The Silver Palate: Flank Steak with Garlic-Ginger Sauce

For the past few weeks I have been brainstorming for the kitchenpulse hook. Adam Roberts from the The Amateur Gourmet posted Ten rules for food blogging, and after reading them I realize I barely fulfill one of the requirements! What could do to make my blog different from the food blogs I love to read. I'm still finding my voice, my pictures are far from professional, and I've been a bit lax with my posting schedule! What to do? What to do? My answer came when I FINALLY got my DC public library card and decided to use cookbooks as my inspiration.

I'm kind of nostalgic person. I write letters, collect LPs and wish for the days before smart phones and facebook. Some people might call me a Luddite, but I prefer the more positive label of nostalgic. That said cooking from a cookbook is right up my alley. I love flipping through my mother's cookbooks. Maybe it's the feeling of the pages or seeing my mother's notes in the margin. Cooking from a cookbook gives me a similar feeling to when listening to an old record-- that someone has listed to this record before and enjoyed this song. I also like the idea of holding an entire cannon of cooking in one book and how flipping from one recipe to another can be an inspiration for more meals.

Sadly, I won't be cooking from my mother's collection or anyone else's for that matter; I'll be checking out cookbooks from my local library. However, I think using cookbooks is a great way to expand my cooking repertoire instead of seeking out my own preconceived recipe ideas on the internet. I can cook my way through different styles of cuisine all sourced from the same place. I also hope this blog can act as an advertisement to buy some of the cookbooks since I think it's vital to have a few tried and true books to reference.

My first cookbook to sample is The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins, and Sarah Leah Chase. My dear friend Jessica gave me this book from her own collection, a very touching gesture that I hope I can reciprocate. The book was written for entertaining. There are four chapters based on the four seasons, and each chapter is sectioned into social events with recipes to match. Although I have not done much entertaining in my time as an amateur chef, I find this type of organization informative. It is like picking a recipe based on your mood. The book is scattered with lovely ink drawings of the ingredients in the dishes and the margins are full of witty sayings about food and tidbits of history about certain dishes.

The first dish I made from the book is Flank steak with garlic-ginger sauce from the Sassy Ginger Salute from the Autumn Hues chapter.

The steak:

1 flank steak (2 pounds)
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs sesame oil

Rub down each side of the steak with 1 tablespoon of each soy sauce and sesame oil. Let the steak sit in this marinade for 20 minutes or more.

Ginger garlic sauce
3/4 cups olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tbs chopped fresh ginger root
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
5 scallions (sliced up to two inches of the green)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1 tbs dried oregano
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsely
koshe salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and carrots and sauté for ten minutes. Stir in the scallions and sauté for 2 minutes more.

2. Add the wine, water, oregano, red pepper flakes, and simmer uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. To cook the steak, heat oil in a large skillet over high heat until the pan is hot. Cook 4-5 minutes per side, more if you like your meat well done. Let the steak rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

4. Slice the steak into thin slices against the grain of the meat. Overlap a few slices on each plate and top with several spoonfuls of the ginger garlic sauce.

The directions above are from the Silver Palate. However, I procrastinated until 9pm before I started making dinner, so I thought it would be a clever time-saver to just grind all the ingredients together in my food processor and cook them in a small sauce pan for 5 minutes before adding the liquid components. I also used carrot sticks instead of large carrots with the assumption that a large carrot equals about 7 carrot sticks, and I only had 1/2 cup of white wine so I substituted the rest with red cooking wine. My idea would have worked better if I had thought to halve the wine and water since food coming out of the food processor is always has more liquid than before it was processed. I cooked the sauce on high for an extra ten minutes to boil off the extra liquid.

Even with my ad-libs, the sauce with a strong flavor of ginger and carrot, tasted delicious with the steak, and I wish I had cooked rice to eat with the remainder of the sauce. Yet I have to admit that the sauce would have been better with chunkier vegetables as it would have been more substantial and acted as more of a side dish. I'll definitely make this recipe again since I often buy flank steak because it is a cheap cut of meat that can be used in a variety of dishes from fajitas to Chinese beef dishes.