Grilled BBQ Tostadas

Yeah, these aren't tostadas. But I couldn't come up with a better name. "Left-over Pulled Pork Delivery Mechanism" wasn't as catchy. So here we go.

Ingredients

• Pulled pork (we make it in the oven using the dry rub from Tyler Florence's recipe)
• 1/3 can baked beans
• 1 handful baby spinach
• 2 small cucumbers
• 1/3 cup cheese, grated
• 4 small flour tortillas

Procedure

Put stuff onto a tortilla. 

Put the other tortilla on top. Fire up the grill and put the not-a-tostada on it. 

 Close the lid. Wait.

Get distracted for about 5 minutes setting up a hammock. 

Come back and find the bottom tortilla is burned. Oh well. Take it off the grill & eat!

Bagel French Toast

Let me begin with two important facts. One, my freezer doesn't work. Two, this weekend my parents came for a visit from New Jersey which, among many other wonderful things, means that there are about a dozen bagels too many in my house. New Jersey bagels. In New England. I mean, it doesn't really matter how not hungry you are -- when that treasure finds its way to within eating distance, you eat. And let's face it, the freshest bagel ever made outside of the NJ/NY area doesn't hold a candle even to a two-week-old Jersey bagel from the freezer. But subtract the freezer from the equation, add two days, and all you have are tough, stale bagels that could have come from anywhere. And there's only one way to feel about that:

OK, so what do we do? French toastify! Soak the bagels in eggy milk for a few minutes and it's like they never gave you reason to wear that adorable long face.

Ingredients

[Makes about 3-4 servings depending on how hungry your servees are.]

2 old bagels, cut into rounds or wedges or slices

1/2 cup milk

2 medium eggs

cinnamon (optional)

cooking oil

chocolate chips (optional)

powdered sugar (optional)

maple syrup (optional)

Procedure

Whisk together eggs and milk (and cinnamon, if you're using it) in a wide-bottom bowl. Place bagels in a single layer in the mixture, and let them sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat a pan over low/medium heat. Back to the bagels: flip them over and let them sit for a few minutes on this side as well. Shove chocolate chips, if using, into the now mushy bagel -- the deeper you shove them in the better, so they don't burn on the pan. Place the bagels chocolate chip side down (I tried it both ways and found that this way actually burned the chips much less). Cook on each side about two minutes, or until golden brown. If they're burning, lower the heat.

When ready to serve, sift some powdered sugar over everything and/or pour on maple syrup. Personally, I love the combination of sharp cheddar with sweet stuff and am not big on maple syrup, so my perfect bite includes some extra chocolate chips, a slice of cheese, and a sugared little bagel round.

Bagel crisis averted! (Well, more accurately, I've turned my bagel crisis into a french toast crisis, but it wouldn't be so bad if I weren't home alone and trying to consume way too much french toast for brunch.)

Mini Meat Pies

Following our Game of Thrones themed birthday party, we had an insane amount of leftovers. The small amount of lamb still leftover two weeks later was easily dispatched by our dogs (they liked it almost as much as when they got to devour blue cheese filet mignon last week -- yeah, these dogs are ridiculously spoiled). The only thing left was a bit of rabbit stew. Super delicious and made by my mom -- who will perhaps post a recipe here one day?!

So today I finally got off my butt and decided to use our leftovers for good! And hence rabbit muffins. Or... Stew scone? Bunny bread? Carcass cupcake? Yeesh, okay, I'll stick with mini meat pies.


Ingredients
Leftovers
Pie crust

Pie Crust
[For 12 mini pies.]
2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
~1/2 cup cold water

Procedure

Mix flour, salt, and shortening together using a pastry blender until you have a fairly homogenous crumbly mixture. Add in water, a little bit at a time, and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball. Roll it out (depending on your work surface, you may want to roll out half of it at a time) pretty thin line the bottoms of a greased muffin tin. Spoon in your leftover filling (any thick stew would work, as would anything that's not too runny).

 Cover the filling with another layer of dough, crimp the edges with a fork, and glaze with a bit of egg wash. Bake at 425F for about 15-20 minutes, or until the pie is slightly golden on top.

When you're splitting up the dough into the muffin cups, neatness is not very important. Just rip out a portion roughly large enough to go into the cup and stick out a over the sides. Same for the top. All that matters is you can crimp the edges to seal in the meaty goodness.

* Dog approved!

(Taken with a pie held over the camera. Don't feel bad, he got to eat it after.)

Storage/Leftovers
These will not be great re-heated, so only make the amount you plan to eat. Remaining uncooked dough can be frozen.

Fiddleheads!

too old!

So I was wandering around in the yard the other day looking for a big stick... as I do. And then out of the corner of my eye, I saw some ferns. Which reminded me, as I get reminded every year, that I have been planning on foraging for fiddleheads for the last five years. But every year, when I am reminded, I'm invariably reminded by the tall, unfurled, mostly full grown ferns that we see all summer, and not by the small, edible (nay, delicious!) young shoots.

That's the problem with fiddleheads. They aren't edible for longer than a few days, or at least that's how it seems to me. They start coming out in spring or even early summer, according to sources on the internet, but at least this year (maybe due to unseasonable heat? it's been near 80 for the last couple of weeks), most of the ones I've seen have already been mostly unfurled.

So I was really excited to see these little edible shoots. SO EXCITED.  

juuuuust right.

To make sure you're picking the right variety of fern, look at the stalk. If it curls inward like a celery stalk, you've got the right one. You can just rip them off -- the bottom bit of the stalk is a bit white, and people claim this part is woodier and not really tasty (I wouldn't know though) so I just ripped above that. When they're young, they'll snap pretty easily.

Before you go nuts, Wikipedia gives some sense that fiddleheads are full of healthy stuff but may also be harmful if ingested in great quantities:

Fiddleheads contain various vitamins and minerals, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are a source of antioxidants and dietary fibre.^[2] They are low in sodium, but rich in potassium, which may make them suitable for people who need a low-sodium diet.^[4]

Fiddleheads may harbour microbes, and should be washed and cooked before eating.^[2]

Many ferns also contain the enzyme thiaminase, which breaks down thiamine. This can lead to beriberi and other vitamin B complex deficiencies if consumed to excess or if one's diet is lacking in these vitamins.^[5]

Further, there is some evidence that certain varieties of fiddleheads, e.g. bracken (Pteridium genus), are carcinogenic. Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is not thought to cause cancer,^[6]although there is evidence it contains an as yet unidentified toxin.^[7]

Though it seems like these types of fiddleheads (ostrich ferns) haven't been known to cause specific health issues, may as well play it safe and only eat a bit at a time.

So now that I've said that, let's move on to the cooking bit. Clean off any of the dried brown leafy bits that may be stuck to the fiddleheads and wash them thoroughly.

Step 1. Steam or boil for 10 minutes.
It seems to be generally accepted that whatever toxins may be in ostrich ferns, you can nullify their effect by steaming the ferns for 10 minutes first.

Step 2. Saute in butter and lemon.
Drizzle a bit of lemon on them and saute in a bit of butter for 2-3 minutes. Drizzle just a little more lemon on top and serve.

Serving suggestion.
Serve on a bed of quinoa with a side of pickled daikon (or whatever happens to be in the fridge when you're serving hungry people a late dinner). Fried egg on top is also delicious.

How to Spit-Roast a Lamb Using Household Items

• Step 1. Buy a leg of lamb in the city. Put it in your backpack. Run to catch the bus while grotesque animal limb bounces up and down behind you because it's twice as tall as your backpack. Ignore curious looks. Ignore looks in the terminal. Ignore looks in the bus. Ignore looks at the bus stop at home. Bring leg home. Ignore dogs.

• Step 2. Dig a hole for a firepit in your yard. Move the grass off in one piece so you can replace it later and tell your landlords you have no idea why a perfectly rectangular section of their yard is dead. 

• Step 3. Build a fire pit after your town's fire warden tells you that it's too dry to safely light a bonfire, but if you're going to cook food on it, then it's okay. Lamb makes everything safer.

• Step 4. Stick a couple of sharpened dowels through the meat. Ignore dogs. 

• Step 5.  Start doubting yourself. Introduce structural supports. Use household items like twine and the base of a tiki torch. Bonus points if all your structural supports are flammable.

• Step 6. Cooking time! Bring the meat to the fire. Ignore dogs.

• Step 7.  Put the spit on vertical sticks (16" off the fire). Start turning the meat. And don't stop for 4 hours. You had nothing else planned for today, right?

• Step 8. Introduce increasingly desperate reinforcements (e.g. nails, a clamp, a metal broomstick, more twine).

• Step 9. Get cocky and decide to clear some dead brush while lamb cooks. Throw pine branches on the fire, getting the fire so hot that you set ablaze the twine with which you wrapped the lamb, and watch helplessly as the meat falls into the raging flames. Rescue the meat and admire the "fire-kissed crust." Pretend this was all part of the plan.

• Step 10. Bring the lamb to the table. Ignore dogs. FEAST!

Medieval Jammie Dodgers (Fruit Tarts)

This was another dry run for our Game of Thrones feast, with a recipe loosely based on the one in A Feast of Ice and Fire. It was too sweet for my taste, though met with approval from another tester. Personally, I would remove all of the honey in the recipe in future.

Ingredients
Makes about 15 small tarts
For the "medieval sweet dough":
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp whole cloves
1 cup water

For the topping:

~150 ml sweet red wine (e.g. Shiraz)
1/3 cup honey (optional; see advisory statement above)
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar (or substitute 1.5 Tbsp of red wine and 1.5 Tbsp of white vinegar)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp chopped prunes
2 Tbsp currants
2 Tbsp raisins
4 Tbsp dates

Procedure

For the dough:

Boil the water and cloves together over high heat, then strain & pour the water into a cup. Stick it in the freezer for a few minutes until it gets cold. Meanwhile, combine the other ingredients. When the clove water is chilled, start pouring it into the flour mixture slowly, mixing it in with your hand until it's wet enough to have the consistency of a dough, but not so wet that it's too hard to work with.

Roll out the dough until it's about 1/8" thick and use the top of a jar or a cookie cutter to cut it into approximately 2" diameter circles. Set aside for now.

For the topping:

Bring the the wine, honey, and vinegar to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, and skim off any foam that comes to the top. Add in all of the other ingredients and simmer until the liquid forms a thick syrup (should reduce to about half its original volume).

TAAAAARTS:
Heat oil in a skillet over high heat (about 1/8" deep in the pan). Prepare a plate with a paper towel on it. Reduce heat to low and gently place the tarts, one at a time, in the oil, frying until the dough forms a crispy, lightly golden cracker. Place each tart on the paper towel to drain off the excess oil. Top with the fruits and syrup and serve hot.

Honeyed Chicken with Chickpea Salad (for Game of Thrones feast)

Before we even get to the recipe, I just want to explain how happy I am right now. And to do that, I think you need to understand something about me. Here it is. I love chicken. No, seriously, I love chicken. I love the golden, crispy, salty skin and the tender, juicy meat. I love how chicken can go with almost any meal. But mostly it's that golden, crispy, salty skin. The only downside to chicken, until last night, was that while I've enjoyed many a delicious rotisserie in my day, I've never been able to produce a whole chicken that wasn't either: 

• partially undercooked, 
• partially overcooked, 
• encrusted in an oily, undelicious mush more resembling a burnt latex glove coated in grease than the skin described earlier, or
• simply tasteless.

That has finally changed! And this in a poorly designed electric oven! So here it is, the maybe not-so-secret secret to delicious baked chicken:

STONES

That's it. Just take some tiles/stones/whatever (make sure they won't explode in the oven -- you can shell out some dough -- har har -- for a legit pizza stone, or get some household tiles from Home Depot; we used some leftover tiles from our hearth). Put them on the very top rack, and place the chicken on the rack below. About an hour later -- voila, feast.

We made this as a practice run for a Game of Thrones-themed feast we will be hosting in a couple of weeks. This one is definitely a go! OK, now I'm done with the fanfare. Here's the recipe, loosely adjusted from A Feast of Ice and Fire.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (innards removed)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp honey
1-2 tsp basil
1/3 cup currants (raisins are an okay substitute if you don't have currants, but are sweeter, so adjust honey accordingly)

Procedure
Place tiles/stones on top rack of oven (so that they're generally covering the whole top rack), placing the top rack as high up as it will go. Preheat oven to 450F. Pat the chicken dry and place it in a glass baking dish. Rub all of the skin with the butter and then sprinkle salt evenly, rubbing it in with your fingers as well. Place on the rack below the tiles and bake for approximately an hour, or until the meat in the breast is cooked to at least 165 degrees. I think this took me about 70 minutes in all.

Meanwhile! Combine the other ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 20-30 minutes, or until the mixture reduces to about half its original volume. When the chicken is done, add the pan drippings to the pot and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Pour the resulting gravy over the chicken. Eat with your hands and say dumb medieval-sounding stuff for the rest of the night!

Serving suggestion
Serve with a chickpea salad (adapted from the same book): roasted chickpeas and currants/raisins on a bed of arugula, drizzled with and oil & vinegar dressing.

Reuse & Recycle!
Roasted chicken: the gift that keeps on giving. When you're done feasting, slice off any remaining meat from the carcass. This will be delicious in a sandwich or salad over the next few days. (Pictured: grilled sandwich with chicken breast, roasted chickpeas, muenster cheese, tomato, arugula, and spicy brown mustard.)

Save the carcass for making stock. You can dump the entire carcass into a big stockpot along with an onion or two and a few carrots, cover with water, and simmer, covered, on low heat for a good long while.

Stove-top Flatbreads

This recipe comes from River Cottage Every Day, like a couple of others on this blog. I love it because it is fun and extremely easy/fast. We had it with Indian food the other day, and it served admirably in place of naan. Extra bonus points for being something we can literally throw on top of the wood stove when it's heating the house anyway.

Ingredients
[makes 8 individual flatbreads]
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp canola/vegetable oil
2/3 cup warm water

Procedure
Lightly flour your counter/cutting board/whatever. Combine salt and flour in a bowl. In a separate container, add the oil to the warm water. Pour the oily water into the flour in a thin stream, mixing it in as your pour, until the mixture is a more or less homogeneous dough.

Knead the dough with your hands on your floured work surface for about 5 minutes. (You can use the dough hook on your KitchenAid or whatnot instead, but that's not nearly as fun. And probably won't save you any time or effort when you factor in the extra dish washing.)

It will feel pretty elastic after 5 minutes. Let it rest underneath the overturned bowl for about 15 minutes.

This bread will be much, much better hot, so don't cook it until you're ready to eat. (The rolling process will take about 5-10 minutes and the actual cooking process will take about 2.) When you're about ready to eat, roll the dough into a long sausage and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Keeping the surface pretty floured, roll each piece into a ball with your hands and then roll it out with a rolling pin into a circle (more or less) about 1/8" thick. If they're a bit thicker, that's okay too -- you'll have a slightly chewier bread.










(Note that if you aren't going to be cooking all of the pieces, you can freeze them after you roll them out. For more on that, see the bit about storage, below.)







If you have a woodstove going nice and hot, wipe that clean. If you're not so lucky, heat a cast-iron pan quite hot, then turn the heat down a bit. Ready a plate lined with either a clean tea towel or a double layer of paper towel.

Shake off excess flour and toss the bread onto the pan/stove. After about 2-3 minutes, the dough will start to look a bit hard (or "set" as Fearnly-Whittingstall calls it) on top. Flip the bread over. If it doesn't have nice golden brown patches, flip it back over and give it another 30 or so seconds and try again. (Do not exceed 3-4 minutes though.) Cook it another 45 seconds on this side, and then place it between the towels on your plate to keep it warm and soft.

Eat immediately!


Storage
You can store uncooked dough in the freezer for a long time. To store it, roll out fresh dough and place on a piece of wax paper. Layer however many breads you want to store in between pieces of wax paper and place them in a plastic bag.

Recycling
As Fearnley-Whittingstall points out in the book, if you do end up with some unused and already cooked breads, they won't be that great once they cool. But you can turn them into crackers by brushing them with some herbs/spices and oil, tearing them into smaller pieces, and heating them in the oven at 425F until they get crispy to your liking. Breads brushed with oil mixed with some oregano go well with Mediterranean dishes (like a side for a Greek salad or some stuffed grape leaves).

Pasties (also: an easy puff pastry recipe)

Another experiment brought about because of River Cottage Every Day, even though all we used of that book here was the recipe for cheaty puff pastry. Cheaty because it isn't as complicated as "real" puff pastry, but I couldn't tell the difference between this and any other puff pastry I've tried, especially on those pasties in which the dough wasn't rolled out too thinly.

Puff pastry 
[Makes 6-7 pasties]
2 cups flour
pinch salt
2/3 cup butter, chilled and chopped into small cubes
ice water

[I would recommend adding more salt!]

Procedure
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Throw in the cold chopped up butter and toss until all the butter chunks are covered with flour. I found it easiest to do this with my hands. Add the water a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing it in with a wooden spoon, until you have just enough liquid to make a firm dough. The butter is still in chunks at this point.

Shape the dough roughly into a rectangular prism with your hands and put it on a well-floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out in just one direction (away from you is easiest) until it makes a long, flat rectangle -- about 3/8" thick. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up over that (like a letter) so that you have a rectangle that's three layers thick. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the process. Roll out, fold, and rotate a total of six times. Then cover the dough with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep the fillings (see below for some examples). When ready, preheat the oven to 375F and pull out the chilled dough and roll it out so that it's about 1/8" thick. Use a plate or pot lid to cut out circles (I used a smaller pot lid, which gave me 6-7 pasties from each rectangle of dough). Spoon the dough just off center, and fold the dough circle in half. Brush the edges of the pastry just a little bit with water and crimp them tightly, making sure the filling is sealed in. I think the more you can fit inside, the better it'll taste, but that's up to you. Brush the tops with an egg wash (use 1 egg beaten together with 1 tablespoon of milk), lay on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet, and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Fillings 

In this first and unreasonably ambitious experiment, we made four savory and one sweet type of pastie. This is a great medium for shoving it full of whatever leftovers or random ideas you have, so the following filling descriptions are pretty vague -- no exact amounts or instructions. You can figure them out yourself. :) 

1. Mushroom & Barley
   barley
   chopped mushrooms
   cooked spinach
   onions
   salt
   black pepper
2. Chickpeas & Curry
   chickpeas
   boiled chicken
   red pepper
   green beans
   potatoes
   curry
3. Butternut Squash & Chicken
   boiled chicken
   boiled butternut squash, pureed
   potatoes
   raisins (optional)
   onions
4. Keema Matar
   
   I made keema last night with this recipe and used the leftovers for this pasty. :)
5. Butternut Squash, Ricotta, & Raisins
   
   boiled butternut squash, pureed
   ricotta
   brown sugar
   raisins