Garlic and Broccoli

4 cloves garlic, slivered
1 or 2 stalks of broccoli, cut into florets
1/8 cup olive oil
1 dried red chili
1/4 tsp salt

Place garlic slivers and oil in a small pot. Start your timer at 15 minutes. Heat the pot at medium until the oil bubbles around the garlic, and immediately turn down the heat until low. Continue to cook until the 15 minutes are up and the garlic is browned but not burnt. Crush or crumble the red chili and add the salt to the oil. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes.

Blanch the broccoli: Bring a pot of salted water to a vigorous boil. Add broccoli florets and cook for 2 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked but still crisp, firm and bright green. Do not over cook; it is better to undercook the broccoli than to overcook it. Strain and immediately rinse with lots of cold water to preserve the color and stop the cooking. Drain well.

Mix the oil and broccoli. Add additional salt if necessary.

Adapted from the barefoot contessa cookbook.

English Cucumber and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

thinly sliced seedless English cucumber
2 slices of bread
cream cheese

Use either low fat, whipped cream cheese, or room temperature cream cheese. Spread two slices of bread with cream cheese. Lay cucumber slices on top of one slice of bread and top with the other slice. The sandwiches can be stored in the refrigerator covered with a lightly damp paper towel and plastic wrap. The crusts will be easier to cut off if you refrigerate the sandwiches until the cream cheese is firm. Cut crusts off of sandwiches before serving.

Shown here with Whole Food's seduction bread (a whole wheat bread made with millet seed, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, honey, and molasses). Light cream cheese is one of the few products that I prefer over the regular version.

Hummus

I prefer my hummus without raw garlic because I often eat it for lunch and don't like to have the taste in my mouth all day, although sometimes I do add roasted garlic to my hummus.

2 cups chick-peas, drained and rinsed (preferably from a glass jar)
1/3 cup tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice (approximately the juice of half a lemon)
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 head of roasted garlic (optional)

In order to make creamy hummus, the wet ingredients should be pureed together first in a blender, so that the tahini can dilute.

Once the wet ingredients are smooth and creamy, add chickpeas, and puree until smooth. Add more water if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

Optionally drizzle with olive oil, toasted pine nuts, and smoked paprika. Serve with pita bread. use in sandwiches, or use as a dip for raw vegetables (e.g. carrot sticks, cucumber slices).

Steamed Artichoke

1 artichoke
herbs
lemon slice

Clean the artichoke by cutting off the thorn on each leaf, leveling the top, and cutting off the stem. Rub the cut areas with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Put artichoke in a metal strainer placed inside a large pot. Sprinkle herbs on top of the artichoke and place a slice of lemon on top. Fill the pot with water until it just reaches the bottom of the artichoke. Cover tightly. Bring the water to a boil quickly on high. Lower the heat to medium or medium low and steam them on for around 30 min-1 hour (depending on the size); most artichokes take around 45 minutes to an hour. Do not let the pot dry out; add more water as necessary.

The meat at the base of each leaf can be eaten. Once all the meaty leaves have been eaten, remove the transparent leaves and "hair" in the center, and eat the heart.

I like to squeeze lemon juice on my steamed artichokes, but other people like to dip the leaves in melted butter, various salad dressings, mustard, or flavored aioli. When I was little, I was particularly fond of ranch dressing with my artichokes.

Belated Valentine's Day

Its a bit of a tradition that Max and I cook something nice for Valentine's Day. This year I had a night class on Valentine's Day so we did it one day late. I've been trying to learn how to make souffles ever since I went to Cafe Jacqueline in San Francisco for my birthday last year. Making imperfect souffles (like mine) is surprisingly easy, though I hope to improve.

I knew I wanted to flavor my cheese souffle with mushrooms, spinach and prosciutto but I couldn't quite find a recipe for it. So I improvised on the souffle recipes in Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home and the Culinary Institute of America's The Professional Chef. A souffle generally has two parts: a thick flavoring component and whipped egg whites to add the air that expands as it heats up and makes the souffle puff in the oven. So I did the obvious. I blanched the spinach and squeezed out all the water so that it wouldn't make my dish runny. I mixed the lightly chopped spinach and the sliced sauteed mushrooms to the flavoring base. I sprinkled the finely grated cheese in when I folded the egg whites into the base. Then as I added this mixture into my cooking container, I layered in the prosciutto. My cooking container was a bit too large, so the souffle didn't puff out of it as I would have liked. It tasted simular to a very airy quiche.

Gruyere Cheese Souffle with Cremini Mushrooms, Spinach, and Prosciutto


Max's Key Lime Pi

Asparagus with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

Use the best asparagus that you can find for this dish. A good indication of the quality is how the asparagus is kept at the store--the bunches should be standing up in a little bit of cold water. I prefer the thinner stalks.

asparagus spears
Dijon Balsamic Salad Dressing
goat cheese
prosciutto

Remove the woody ends from the asparagus. Blanch asparagus in boiling water until it is just cooked through (2 to 3.5 minutes depending on the thickness). Strain and immediately rinse with cold water until the asparagus is cold.

Spread some goat cheese on 1 slice of prosciutto. Wrap prosciutto around 1 asparagus spear or 3 spears if the asparagus is very thin. Repeat. Drizzle with Dijon balsamic salad dressing or serve the dressing on the side.

Caprese Salad

The avocado in this caprese salad is not traditional, but I am quite fond of it. See here for another way of presenting this salad.

bocchini or cubed mozzarella
cubed avocado
cubed deseeded tomato
basil chiffonade
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together.

Polenta

1 cup polenta
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
olive oil

Boil water and salt. Reduce heat and slowly add the polenta. Cook for 30 minutes while constantly stiring. Polenta has a tendency to develop bubbles that burst. Use a long spoon to stir the polenta, and reduce the heat when it bubbles. When the polenta is done, melt butter into it to add additionally creaminess.

You can serve the polenta immediately while it is soft. Alternatively you can spread olive oil inside a clean container; place polenta inside the container and smooth the top. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Slice and serve, or if the polenta is cold, you can reheat the slices by pan-frying them with butter until the outside is brown and crispy.

In general a 1:3 ratio of the volume of polenta to the volume of liquid will produce a hard cake, and a 1:5 ratio will produce a creamy polenta. Thus the 1 cup of polenta and 3 cups of liquid used in this recipe produces cakes that harden. The liquid can be a variety of substances, such as water, chicken stock, or cream.

Chicken with Pepperoni and Olives with Polenta

I've made this once before. I suggest serving this dish with pan fried polenta.

all purpose flour
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1.5-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken (breast and chicken thighs), cut into medium-large sized pieces
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 yellow onion, minced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup thinly sliced pepperoni
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 pounds fresh tomatoes
2 cups dry red wine
1 large pinch red pepper flakes or 1 red chile or 1 Tbsp spicy sambel paste
3/4 cup black olives (kalamata or nicoise), rinsed and pitted
1-2 Tbsp oregano
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch of sugar (optional)

Salt and pepper chicken. Sprinkle dried thyme on the chicken and coat it with flour. Saute chicken in olive oil until all sides of the outside is browned (the inside will still be raw). Set the chicken aside.

Saute the pepperoni slices for about 1 minute. Set aside.

Deskin the tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Deskin and deseed the tomatoes and cut them into fourths.

Sweat the minced onion until it is softened and translucent by cooking in a covered pot with butter and olive oil for 5-10 minutes on medium to medium low; stir occasionally. Add garlic and cook for 1 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 additional minute. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook until they are softened (approximately 5 minutes). Add the wine, chile or hot pepper, and a bit more thyme. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and add the pepperoni and chicken. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Stir in olives, oregano, and lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and/or sugar if necessary.

Recipe modified from White Dog Cafe.

Max's Green Hatch Chile Cheddar Cheeseburger

Risotto with Mussels, Morel Mushrooms, and Parsley

Notes about making risotto:
1. Use a big pan.
2. Add something with acidity (such as wine) to help break down the starches.
3. Do not add more liquid to the rice until the liquid that you previously added has been absorbed.
4. Saute the onions and garlic until fragrent but do not brown

Emeril's Caramelized Salmon with Bok Choy and Asian Citrus Sauce

Recipe available at Emeril's Caramelized Salmon with Bok Choy and Asian Citrus Sauce.