Hipstamatic Wave Hill and My World's Famous Pesto Minestrone

This past week I took Otis up to see my parents, his grandparents. Since they live in Riverdale that meant I had to make a little pilgrimage to my favorite NYC destination -- Wave Hill(featured in this previous post). It was windy and a bit chilly, but the leaves were still magnificent-- tons of golden and red hues. Though some of the trees were already bare, there were enough that still had turning leaves. And the views across the Hudson River were breathtaking. I picked up an absolutely delicious salad at the cafe-- a spinach, pumpkin and blue cheese salad-- but I wished that I had packed up some of my pesto minestrone soup and made a picnic with some French bread. But alas, my soup was all sealed up in a Ball jar and sitting in Brooklyn...

This pesto minestrone is my "go-to" winter soup.  If I hear that a Nor-easter is heading my way and expected to dump many inches of snow, I get this going on the burner.  It's perfect sit-on-the-couch-wrapped-in-a-great-big-blanket (snuggie!) soup.  Okay, I know there are still 4 weeks till it's officially winter and it's another month-and-a-half before the big storms hit, but when the temperatures go below the freezing point it's time to make this amazingly flavorful, hearty soup.   
This adaptation is based on a recipe I found in "Vegetarian Cooking" -- a tome/bible I picked up about 12 years ago when I moved to New Orleans.  I've tweaked this recipe a smidge by adding my own pesto and adjusting a few proportions.  I think this is the gold standard of minestrones!  I like to use fresh pesto if I have it, but you can easily use store bought pesto.  I like to make this in the early evening so that the whole house smells incredible.  You can eat it immediately, but I like to let the finished product cool in a dutch oven and then put it in the fridge for one day before serving--  all the herbs, vegetables, legumes and broth meld together after 24 hours. Delish!  
If the soup becomes too thick, you can use some stock or water to thin it out a bit.  Then remember to season accordingly.  Enjoy this soup-- it will instantly become one of your classic "go to" mains.  I hope you like this minestrone as much as we do...

Carrots from our penultimate CSA pick-up. They got thrown right into the minestrone!

My World's Famous Pesto Minestrone 
(Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking by Linda Fraser)
Serves 6-8
Minestrone is a thick mixed vegetable soup that usually has short cut pasta or rice added to it.  This one includes a home-made pesto sauce.  
Ingredients
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 leek, sliced 
2-3 carrots, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small uniform dice, about 1/4 of an inch
6 cups of vegetable sock (you can use water, but stock gives the soup more flavor)
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
3/4 - 1 cup of tubetini, small shells or elbow noodles
3/4 of a cup of frozen peas
2 zucchini, finely chopped
15 ounce can of white beans, such as Cannellini or Great Northern Beans (For this recipe I use BPA-free canned beans. You can also use dry beans-- soaked overnight and cooked.)
1/2 tablespoon of salt (more to taste)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons of pesto (I like to use fresh, but you can use store bought as well.) Recipe follows.

Directions
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Stir in the onions and leeks and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and garlic,and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes more.  
Pour in the stock and stir well. Add the herbs and season with salt and pepper.  Add small pasta. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 10-12 minutes.
Stir in the peas, if fresh, and the zucchini. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the frozen peas, if using. Cover the pot and simmer for 1o minutes.
Stir in beans (without liquid if using canned) and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the pesto sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat. Enjoy!  
This minestrone tastes even better the next day so you can make it in advance. Garnish with fresh grated parmesan. 

Basic Pesto Sauce  (An amalgamation from a bunch of different sources)

• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
• 2 cloves garlic-- more if you like it garlicky. 
• 3 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 good olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Clean basil in water and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner.
Place the walnuts, pignoli, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Caring for Pesto: Air is the enemy of pesto. Pack it with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.
Yield: 4 cups

Swedish Chokladbollar (Chocolate Balls)

Swedish Chocolate Balls are the perfect bite-size treat. They are a mix of rolled oats, ground coffee, cocoa, sugar and butter.  All the ingredients are combined and then refrigerated for about an hour. Then, once the mixture is firm, it's formed into smalls balls and then rolled in shredded coconut. Chocolate Balls (Chokladbollar) are also called Coconut Balls (Kokosbollar) in the areas near Gothenberg. They are popular Swedish sweets that are simple to make and usually served with tea or coffee. 

My friend Charlotta, who is from a small town in southern Sweden, brought home made Chokladbollar on one of our weekly outings.  
Charlotta and I first met at a playground in Prospect Park, and since we both have kids the same age (they are 22 hours apart), we chatted about motherhood, funny mishaps and sleep deprivation. But what's really nice about our friendship is that we have more in common than motherhood alone. We both share a fondness for travel, cooking, restaurants, and documentary films. There's a good deal of laughing during our weekly meet ups. I'm so glad to have met her...and to have gotten her recipe! 

Chokladbollar are often the first sweets Swedish children make in the kitchen. They are perfect for a St. Lucia Day party, maybe served alongside some traditional saffron buns and Gløgg.
Alright, happy mixing. I'm off to figure out Lingonberry Jam.
Here is Charlotta's recipe.

Swedish Chocolate Balls(Chokladbollar or Coconut Balls) 

2 cups regular rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 stick of butter, softened
3-4 tablespoons strong coffee, pref espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1/4 cup heavy cream, to fine tune consistency
1/3 cup coconut flakes
Topping: coconut flakes
Directions:
Put all of the ingredients except for the cream and coconut in a food processer. Pulse until everything is mixed well (about 30 sec). Add the cream a little at a time and keep pulsing. Add more cream if it seems too dry (I added an additional 1/8-1/4 cup). You want a fairly sticky dough. Better too wet than too dry. Before rolling into small balls, refrigerate the dough for about an hour, as it will become firmer and be easier to roll. Roll the balls in coconut flakes. Balls are ready to be eaten, or refrigerate again for later enjoyment.

"When I run out of Chokladballs, I share leaves!"

Shalom/Salaam: It's Street Eats (Revisited) and Shakshuka

Navigating the streets with a little help from Saveur magazine

Jerusalem is an unbelievable city. Yes, sadly, it has known war and conflict for thousands of years. But it is also where kings built temples and religions were born (which is interesting to me, though I'm an agnostic). There are mosques, churches and synagogues. There are the market stalls of Machane Yehuda and the Arab souk. There is loud music and the calls to prayer emanating from the minarets. There are the sounds of people rushing to worship at the Wailing Wall and cab drivers who honk their horns incessantly. There is commotion and noise. But you can find pockets of silence in the city's old quarters too. And the food is some of the tastiest in the world. 
Palestinians and Israelis of all ethnic backgrounds-- German, Polish and Hungarian Jews, Armenians, Ethiopians, Copts, Russians, Moroccans, Greek Orthodox, Yemenis and Iraqis-- call this city home. All those diverse backgrounds give Jerusalem a wonderful culinary scene. It's where I've had some of  the best food I've ever eaten. Hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, labneh and fatoosh salad are some of my regional favorites. There are pillars of halvah, barrels of olives, eggplants, dates, pomegranates, pine nuts, pistachios, spices and the freshest, most amazing pita on almost every corner. There are also incredible sweets (kanafeh is my favorite, rugelach is up there too) and challah bread that is so good you could eat two loaves of in just one sitting. 
Many thanks to Saveur Magazine for directing my inner foodie on the streets of the Jerusalem, in a little place called the Middle East.

The best falafel in the New City

Palestinian Bread Vendor, Jaffa Gate

Dome of the Rock Zaatar Spice, Arab Quarter, Old City

Levy Brother's Falafel, New City

Iraqi dish (I forgot the name), Azura, New City

Halvah

My favorite breakfast on our trip was the eponymous dish at Dr. Shakshuka in Jaffa, on the Mediterranean coast. Shakshuka, also spelled Shakshouka, consists of poached eggs, tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices. It probably originated in Tunisia (though some say Libya) and was made popular in Israel by Tunisian immigrants in the 1940's and 50's.  Where ever it comes from, you'll be hard pressed to have any of it left over on your plate.

I made my own Shakshuka when I got home, using a recipe from Smitten Kitchen (adapted from Saveur) which I adjusted only slightly:

Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.
Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.

Enjoy!

We had amazing Shakshuka the day we set-off for our day trip to Petra, Jordan.

All this food is making me think it is time to take a trip back to Tanoreen in Bay Ridge, for amazing Middle-Eastern food (though shakshuka is not on the menu).   

If anyone is able to get me Rawia's recipes, I will pay top dollar!

Shalom and Salaam!

شهية طيبة, Bi'Tayavon and Bon Appetite!

Piquant Jalapeño Corn Bread

Last week I posted a recipe for Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili.  Well, I liked it so much that I made it again.  Since I was serving the chili as a main course, I figured I needed to add a little somethin'-somethin' to serve alongside.  So I made it with this recipe for Piquant  Jalapeño Corn Bread.  Delish.  It hits the spot!

The corn bread generously serves 8 and I put some in the freezer for future consumption.    What a great choice for this time of year...when nighttime temps can dip into the 30's.  Yikes!

Piquant Jalapeño Corn Bread 
(This is an adaptation of a recipe in My Nepenthe by Romney Steele and was published in this month's Saveur magazine.)

1⁄3 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup fl our

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

3⁄4 tsp. ground cumin

1 egg, beaten

1 1⁄2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3⁄4 cup buttermilk

1⁄2 cup milk

1⁄4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 jalapeños, minced

1⁄2 medium white onion, minced

1⁄2 red bell pepper, minced

Heat oven to 400˚.  Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan; set aside.  Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, chili powder , salt, and cumin in a bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together butter and egg; stir in cheese, buttermilk, milk, cilantro, jalapeños, onions, and peppers.  Whisk mixture into flour; pour into pan; smooth with a rubber spatula.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Ina's Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

I tend to gravitate towards lighter fare and clear, brothy soups in the spring and summer months. But by the time late autumn and early winter roll around, a hibernating instinct hits me like a brick. I start craving rich, high fat foods. Kind of like grizzly bear who eats around twice its body-mass before going into a den till spring. I feel like I need to prepare for the impeding winter and the Canadian (Alberta) Clippers that are bound to hit New York at some point in the next month or so. 

This lasagna uses butter and whole milk and is definitely not for those on a health kick. But sometimes you've just gotta do it.  Look at the French. They eat high fat, rich foods, and they drink tons of wine, but all in moderation.  
The portobello mushroom gives the lasagna a great meaty texture. You can also get a nice dose of Vitamin D, and according to several medical studies, mushrooms might inhibit aromatase, which may reduce breast cancer susceptibility.  So feel good about eating this delicious lasagna and toast to your health...sort of.

Ina's Portobello Mushroom Lasagna 

(Courtesy of Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Good olive oil
• 3/4 pound dried lasagna noodles
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms
• 1 cup freshly ground Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt and a splash of oil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.

For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter in a largesaucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring first with the wooden spoon and then with a whisk, for 3 to 5 minutes, until thick. Set aside off the heat.

Separate the mushroom stems from the caps and discard the stems. Slice the caps 1/4-inch thick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan. When the butter melts, add half the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices. If they become too dry, add a little more oil. Toss occasionally to make sure the mushrooms cook evenly. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms and set all the mushrooms aside.

To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the sauce in the bottom of an 8 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Repeat 2 more times, layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and Parmesan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned the sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and serve hot.