Menu Diary: Persian-inspired Autumn Supper

I seem to have dropped off the blogging tear in 2011! But I would love to start a diary of menus, to keep track of what I make and serve at different gatherings.

Tonight:

pomegranate-rosewater martinis

cashews with spicy pineapple dust

a big salad of green grapes, walnuts, parsley, pomegranate seeds, persimmon and pistachio-lemon oil 

a big steaming "zereshk polo" made with spaghetti squash instead of basmati rice, topped with pistachios, barberries, carrot strings, saffron, and onions caramelized in butter

roasted cauliflower served with four sauces (tahini-mustard, mint-cilantro, mango-chilli, tamarind)

lamb, salmon and shrimp seared with za'atar, Aleppo pepper, dried lemon
(and, in the case of the lamb, a little pomegranate syrup, too)

saffron panna cotta

Moroccan mint tea

Randy Mayor; Jan Gautro

Warm Brussels sprouts by way of Beirut

I've been refining this since last year. This year, I caramelized the Brussels sprouts in a hot wok, with olive oil, salt, and crushed red chilli pepper, then tossed them with halved green grapes, yogurt, and za'atar, and drizzled the whole thing with balsamic syrup and a few pomegranate seeds for garnish. I served this warm right after I made it.

Light Apple Cake

I saw a recipe for baked apple cider doughnuts on thekitchn when I was trawling the web for dessert ideas for Thanksgiving. I made one cake with it instead of eight doughnuts, and garnished it with some persimmon rings. We had it with spiked mulled apple cider.

Tuscan Kale Salad

I made this salad for Thanksgiving 2011. I rinsed and removed the ribs from two bunches of organic Tuscan kale (also known as lacinato kale or dinosaur kale) and tore the leaves into bite-sized pieces and let them dry for a bit while I made a vinaigrette. The vinaigrette: 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 4 teaspoons honey, 4 teaspoons mustard, and a ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil. The key here was to let the kale marinate in the vinaigrette for several hours (in yesterday's case, three or four hours) to soften. I tossed it a few times over the course of the afternoon while I was cooking other dishes, and tossed in about two cups of pomegranate seeds before serving it.

Uppama

Uppama

Uppama is a South Indian breakfast dish that can be made with coarse semolina, pearl tapioca, rice flakes, or vermicelli. You can toss in all kinds of vegetables. At home my family makes it with diced carrots, peas, green beans, but I also like it with black-eyed peas, asparagus, soaked and chopped kokum ka phul, chopped kale... Really, choose your own adventure!

It goes well with chutney. My favorite chutney pairing for uppama is red bell pepper chutney or ginger chutney.

1 1/2 cups coarse semolina ("sooji"), rice flakes ("poha"), pearl tapioca ("sabudana") or vermicelli ("sev")
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
1 stalk curry leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds
3/4 cup salted peanuts, coarsely crushed, or tuvar dal
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 Serrano chili, minced
1 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped and peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sliced spinach (or other veggie)
3 tablespoons thinly shredded cilantro
1 lime, juiced
Salt

[If using tapioca, put the grain in a bowl and wash in several changes of cold water from the tap until the water loses its murkiness and remains clear and soak in fresh cold water to cover 8 hours. Drain in a sieve and spread on a tray laid with a paper towel. Refrigerate the drained tapioca at least 1 hour.]

Heat the oil in an 8-quart pot over moderately high heat until shimmering and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds being to pop, which will be almost immediately, add the curry leaves and cumin seeds and stir.

Add the peanuts/dal, shallots, serrano, ginger and increase the heat to high. Cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute.

Stir in the butter and when melted, add the grain and salt to taste. Cook until grain is heated through (3-4 minutes). Add the veggies and continue to cook until the grain turns transparent. Unless you're using the pre-soaked tapioca, pour 3/4 to 1 cup boiling water in, bring to boil, then turn off the heat, cover, and let the grain absorb the liquid and steam.

Just before serving, stir the lime and cilantro into the pilaf and season with salt.

Roasted peanut salad

Roasted peanut salad is a very easy, satisfying, high protein, vegetarian, tasty snack!

Finely dice a red onion into a large bowl, then squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the red onion. Top with 1/2 a bunch of finely chopped fresh cilantro.
Take 1 lb. raw Spanish peanuts and either pan roast them or roast them under your broiler until they darken and the peanut oils release and give your whole kitchen a peanut smell. Be careful not to burn them.
Toss the hot roasted peanuts with the red onion, lime juice, cilantro, and added salt and red chilli powder to taste.

Recipe by Miz Hummus: Grand Marnier candied pecans

Grand Marnier candied pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Grate the rinds of 2 large oranges to create 7 tablespoons zest.

3. Melt together over low heat in a saucepan:
1/2 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
2 teaspoons salt
Zest

4. Let cool slightly

5. Add mixture to a mixing bowl and cover 5 cups pecans in mixture

6. Butter two cookie sheets

7. Spread pecans evenly on cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes

8. Let cool for 5 min and then sprinkle pecans with 1/8 cup Grand Marnier

9. Let cool completely and serve

Rosemary-lemon gremolata over broiled wild Alaskan salmon

We had a large filet (perhaps 2 lbs?) of wild Alaskan salmon, and marinated it for about 2 hours in a gremolata of extra virgin olive oil, chopped rosemary, crushed red chilli pepper, sliced garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper, then roasted it covered with foil in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, then removed the foil and let it broil for a few minutes on high.

Pear, Walnut and Raisin Cake

YIELD - One 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) (200g) butter softened

1 cup (200g) granulated raw cane sugar

1 1/2 (200g) cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup raisins

3 eggs

1 lb pears (450g) – peeled, cored and sliced.

1 Tbsp raw sugar or granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

1/3 cup (50g) walnuts, chopped

Glaze:

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp rum



Procedure

* Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and grease an 8 inch round pan or springform.

* Measure raisins in 1/3 cup and fill raisins to the top. Next, add enough rum to fill the measuring cup. Set aside and allow to soak.

* Sift the flour, baking powder and set aside.

* In mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs, one at a time.

* Reduce the mixer speed and add the flour mixture or fold it in by hand.

* Spoon this mixture into a prepared cake pan and place the pear slices on top of the cake.

* Sprinkle with the 1 Tbsp of sugar, dot with the remaining butter and scatter the walnuts and the rum raisins on the pears.

* Melt glaze ingredients and drizzle over pear and walnuts.

* Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

Roasted Mushrooms

This was easy. We took about 2 lbs. of mixed mushrooms (shiitakes, creminis, oyster, etc.), tossed them with a handful of chopped rosemary, the zest of a lemon, salt, pepper, and olive oil, then roasted them for 18 minutes in a 500°F oven.

*Delicious.*

Emerald Salad

4 small heads lacinato kale, washed, spun dry, and cut cross-wise into short ribbons

juice of 2 lemons

1/4 lb. aged pecorino romano, grated

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon crushed red chilli pepper (depending on how spicy you like things to be)

Several hours before serving, toss kale ribbons with lemon juice.

Just before serving, toss with grated pecorino romano, olive oil and crushed red pepper.

Ruby Salad

2 small beets

1 medium red onion

radicchio (1 head)

seeds from 1 pomegranate

2 blood oranges or 1 ruby grapefruit, supremed

Pomegranate vinaigrette ingredients:

3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses / reduced pomegranate juice / pomegranate syrup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

Wash, trim, and place beets onto foil squares, and top each with a teaspoon or so of olive oil, plus some salt and pepper; wrap in the foil and roast at 400°F for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Peel and halve red onion, then slice crosswise. Put about 1/8 of the thin semicircular onion slices into a small bowl of cool salted water.

When beets are cool, peel them, and cut them into bite-size wedges (each wedge about 1/8 of each beet).

Rinse and pat dry radicchio. Quarter, then slice crosswise. Arrange in platter.

Top radicchio with beets. Top radicchio and beets with citrus segments.

Drain onion slices and scatter them over the salad. Scatter pomegranate seeds atop the salad.

Whisk vinaigrette ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad.

Brussels Sprouts, by way of Beirut

1.25 lb Brussels Sprouts, rinsed, quartered, and *thoroughly* dried

olive oil

1/2 C yogurt (thick Greek-style or plain, as you prefer)

4 Tbsp pomegranate syrup (pomegranate juice, reduced to a thick syrup)

4 Tbsp crumbled toasted walnuts

8 Tbsp Sliced Seedless Green Grapes

Ground coriander seed, black pepper, salt (about 1/2 tsp) and sherry vinegar, to taste

Handful pomegranate seeds

Mix the yogurt with the ground coriander seed and black pepper.

Deep fry the Brussels sprouts or sear the cut sides in a pan until well browned - almost burnt - or toss with olive oil and roast in the oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit until crispy. The Brussels sprouts should still be green with browned outer leaves when cooked. Toss with salt and sherry vinegar.

Stir together until completely coated the Brussels sprouts, spiced yogurt, walnuts and grapes, then swirl in the pomegranate syrup so it looks kind of like a ribbon winding through the dish, garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve warm.

Food Poem Fridays: John Engels' CRANBERRY-ORANGE RELISH

Cranberry-Orange Relish
by John Engels

A pound of ripe cranberries, for two days
macerate in a dark rum, then do not
treat them gently, but bruise,
mash, pulp, squash
with a wooden pestle
to an abundance of juices, in fact
until the juices seem on the verge

of overswelling the bowl, then drop in
two fistsful, maybe three, of fine-
chopped orange with rind, two golden
blobs of it, and crush
it in, and then add sugar, no thin
sprinkling, but a cupful dumped
and awakened with a wooden spoon

to a thick suffusion, drench of sourness, bite of color,
then for two days let conjoin
the lonely taste of cranberry,
the joyous orange, the rum, in some
warm corner of the kitchen, until
the bowl faintly becomes
audible, a scarce wash of sound, a tiny
bubbling, and then
in a glass bowl set it out
and let it be eaten last, to offset
gravied breast and thigh
of the heavy fowl, liverish
stuffing, the effete
potato, lethargy of pumpkins

gone leaden in their crusts, let it be eaten
so that our hearts may be together overrun
with comparable sweetnesses,
tart gratitudes, until finally,
dawdling and groaning, we bear them
to the various hungerings
of our beds, lightened
of their desolations.

________________________________

P.S. What do you think of poem-recipes?

Yams with Mustard Greens

This dish has a great range of flavors - sweetness from the yams, kickiness from the mustard greens and red chilli powder, and an aromatic brightness from the ginger. It's also very good for you!

- 4 yams (sweet potatoes with golden flesh) (I used 8 long and skinny ones that I picked up from the Union Square Greenmarket) , peeled and cut into half-moons, 1/4" thick
- 2 small heads mustard greens, washed, dried, and sliced into 2" long ribbons (cut down the length of the rib and then slice into thin ribbons cross-wise)
- 1.5" ginger, peeled and thinly julienned
- 4 shallots (or 1/2 large red onion), finely chopped
- salt to taste (approx. 1 tsp)
- lal mirchi (red chilli powder) to taste (mine is very spicy, so I probably used no more than 1/4 tsp)
- about 2 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan or wok on medium high until hot. Add shallots and ginger and sauté until soft, or for about two minutes. Add yams, salt and red chilli powder, and sauté until the yams are half-cooked, or for about seven or eight minutes. Add mustard greens and continue sautéeing; the water that leaches out from the greens will help to partially steam-cook the yams. Turn off heat in about seven minutes, when the yams are cooked through but not mushy and the greens are completely wilted.

This can be served hot or eaten cold as leftovers, too.

I used purple mustard greens (like these) that I picked up at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Mulled Apple Cider Granita

yield: Makes about 1 1/4 quarts

6 cups unpasteurized apple cider
a 3-inch cinnamon stick and/or mulling spices
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons strained fresh lemon juice

In a large saucepan combine the cider, the cinnamon stick (I used a mixture of cinnamon sticks, allspice, orange zest, and cloves), the sugar, and a pinch of salt and boil the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to about 4 cups. Stir in the lemon juice, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and chill it, covered, until it is cold. Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions if you want to make sorbet, or freeze and scrape with a fork for granita.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino Romano

Makes 6 side-dish servings

1 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts (preferably on the stalk), any discolored leaves discarded and stems left intact -OR- finely chopped kale (I actually think this dish tastes better made with raw kale)

2 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano, or to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I probably ended up using double or almost triple that amount)

red pepper flakes to taste

Shred Brussels sprouts in a food processor and toss in a bowl with lemon juice to separate layers and prevent discoloration. Toss with Pecorino and red pepper flakes and olive oil just before serving.

Hazelnut, Sage, and Mushroom Stuffing

yield: Makes 8 servings

8 cups 1/2-inch cubes of firm bread such as a Pullman loaf (1 pound)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped shallots (about 8 medium; 10 ounces)
1 stick unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups finely chopped celery (from 3 ribs)
2 teaspoons chopped thyme
2 teaspoons finely chopped sage
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups hazelnuts (1/2 pound), toasted , any loose skins rubbed off in a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2-4 cups stock
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Generously butter baking dish. Arrange bread in 1 layer in 2 large shallow baking pans and toast, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until golden and dry, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. (Leave oven on.) Bread cubes and hazelnuts can be toasted 2 days ahead and kept in sealed bags at room temperature.

Meanwhile, cook shallots in 1/2 stick butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 6 minutes. Add mushrooms, celery, thyme, sage, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid given off by mushrooms has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Add wine and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until wine is reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bread in bowl.

Add hazelnuts and parsley and toss.

Whisk together stock, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then stir into bread mixture. Transfer to baking dish and dot top of stuffing with remaining 1/2 stick butter.

Bake, loosely covered with foil, in lower third of oven 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake until top is browned, about 15 minutes more.

(Stuffing, without hazelnuts and stock-and-egg mixture, can be assembled (but not baked), 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Stir in nuts and stock mixture, then proceed with recipe. Stuffing can be baked 6 hours ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then loosely covered. Reheat, covered, in a 400°F oven until hot, about 30 minutes.)

Pomegranate, Beet, and Blood Orange Salad

yield: Makes 4 first-course servings

4 medium beets
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup blood orange juice (from about 1 blood orange)
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (I used concentrated pomegranate juice)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 blood oranges, peeled, cut into1/4-inch-thick slices
1 cup pomegranate seeds (from one 11-ounce pomegranate) (I used two)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place beets in roasting pan and toss with 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover pan with foil; roast beets until knife easily pierces center, about 50 minutes. Cool. Peel beets and cut into 1/3-inch-thick wedges. Whisk orange juice, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl to blend. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper. Place onion in small bowl; cover with cold water. Soak onion 1 minute, drain, and squeeze dry in kitchen towel. Add beets, onion, orange slices, and pomegranate seeds to vinaigrette in bowl; toss. Season salad with salt and pepper.

Butternut Squash Panna Cotta

Vegetable oil for oiling ramekins
2 lbs. butternut squash
1 tbsp. agar-agar flakes or 2/3 tsp agar-agar powder
1¼ cups heavy cream
½ cup mascarpone
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
½ tsp. Aleppo pepper (or ⅛ tsp. cayenne)
1 tsp. sea salt, or to taste

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil 4 small custard cups or ramekins. (I used 11 miniature ramekins.)

Halve and seed squash. Place cut-side down on baking sheet. Bake until soft, 45 minutes to an hour or more (cooking times vary widely with individual squash). Cool, then scrape out flesh and purée with immersion blender. Measure 1 cup into a medium mixing bowl; reserve the remainder for another use. (I probably used closer to 1 ½ cups.)

Combine the agar-agar and cream in a small saucepan and mix well. Let stand 30 minutes. Transfer to a burner and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into the bowl with the squash.

Add mascarpone, thyme, Aleppo pepper (or cayenne) and salt to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until smooth and well blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the mixture among the prepared custard cups and let stand until set, about 1 hour.

Run a spatula around the rim of each panna cotta and carefully unmold onto small serving plates. (They can be reheated in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes, either in the ramekins or after unmolding them.) (We just served them in the miniature ramekins, with little spoons.)

Serves 4. (We served 11 as an amuse bouche.)