Braised Bok Choy

(6 servings)
From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 –inch piece ginger root, quartered
2 pounds bok choy
3-4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
A few drops hot pepper oil
Salt, to taste

Pour broth into a large sauté pan and add the ginger. Cut the bok choy into halves or quarters and add to the sauté pan with the salt. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 10-12 minutes. Test for doneness by piercing the bulb end with a knife tip. When done, discard the ginger root and place the bok choy on a serving dish. Sprinkle with the vinegar (and hot pepper oil if desired).


food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, bok choy, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Video #11

ReMARKable Palate Video #11: 100 Mile Menu

Video coverage of the 100 Mile Menu event at New York's Great Performances. All the food came from farms from within 100 miles of New York City. We see the guests helping to prepare their meal, talk to some of the chefs, and hear from Paula Lukats from Just Food, and Liz Newmark, owner of Great Performances.

Links:
Just Food
The Sylvia Center

Sponsor: www.godaddy.comUse these codes for special discounts at checkout:

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Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com




food, food podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork, Chef Mark, PodShow, Just Food, 100 Mile, The Sylvia Center, CSA>

ReMARKable Palate #101

ReMARKable Palate #101: 100 Mile Menu

I attended a special event at New York's Great Performances, celebrating the 100 Mile Meal concept. All the food came from farms from within 100 miles of New York City. The event was a benefit for Just Food, which works to help create CSAs in the City by hooking up groups of New Yorkers and farms who need them, and The Sylvia Center, which introduces at risk city children to the wonders of the farm. We speak with Paula Lukats from Just Food, Liz Newmark, owner of Great Performances, and Colin Beavin, "No Impact Man."

Links:
Just Food
The Sylvia Center
No Impact Man


Sponsor: www.godaddy.comUse these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com




food, food podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork, Chef Mark, PodShow, Just Food, 100 Mile, The Sylvia Center, CSA

Pickled Sweet and Sour Cucumber (or Squash)

This is a “quick pickle” that doesn’t require sterilizing jars, because you’ll eat it within an hour of making it! Tonight I substituted the zucchini and summer squash we’ve been getting from our CSA. I always add a couple cloves of garlic, chopped. (6 servings)

2 cucumbers
1 teaspon salt
2 teaspoons superfine sugar
¼ cup rice vinegar
(or your favorite flavored vinegar)
½ teaspoon red chili oil
A few drops of sesame oil

Halve the unpeeled cucumber lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and cut the cucumber into thick chunks.

In a bowl, sprinkle the cucumber chunks with the salt and mix well. Leave for at least 20-30 minutes, longer if possible. Then pour off the liquid.

Mix the cucumber with the sugar, vinegar and chili oil, if using. Sprinkle with the sesame oil just before serving.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Beet, Lemon, and Ginger Marmalade

(makes 2 cups)
Recipe from: Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen (Hyperion)

1 pound cooked beets
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp light honey
2 to 3 Tbsp chopped lemon zest
1/3 cup crystallized ginger

Peel and coarsely grate or mince the beets, and transfer to a medium-sized bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a tightly capped jar. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. Serve cold. Use with any savory dish.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, food, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Farm-Style Braised Kale

Farm-Style Braised Kale
From Greene on Greens (4 servings)

2 strips bacon
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound kale, stems removed, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch of ground allspice
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 lemon, sliced thin

Sauté the bacon strips in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Crumble and reserve.

Add the butter to the bacon drippings in the skillet. Cook the onion over medium-low hear until golden, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse the kale in cold water.

Add the kale to the skillet, with just the water that clings to the leaves. Cooked, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, the allspice, and the vinegar. Sprinkle with the reserved bacon and garnish with lemon slices.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Kohlrabi time!

Well, the aliens have landed! We got our first delivery of kohlrabi in our CSA baskets this week, and I'm excited to make them. In addition to fine dicing them to throw in salads, I'm going to make the following dish this weekend:

Kohlrabi with Parmesan (4 servings)

2 small kohlrabi bulbs
1-2 Tablespons unsalted butter
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
ground black pepper, to taste

Peel the kohlrabi and cut into matchsticks. Cook in boiling water, or microwave until tender. Drain, and toss with the butter. Immediately sprinkle with the grated Parmesn cheese and ground black pepper to taste. Serve at once!

From Wikipedia: Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group) is a low, stout cultivar of the cabbage which has been selected for its swollen, nearly spherical, Sputnik-like shape. The name comes from the German kohl (cabbage) plus rabi (turnip), because the swollen stem resembles the latter. Kohlrabi has been created by artificial selection for lateral meristem growth, its origin in nature is the wild mustard plant.

The taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to those of a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter, with a higher ratio of flesh to skin. The young stem in particular can be as crisp and juicy as an apple, although much less sweet.

Plus, my friend Cheryl Rogowski shared with me a super simple hors d’oeuvre. Boil up some peeled kohlrabi until just fork tender. Mash it up and mix it with cream cheese and whatever seasonings float your boat, and use it as a stuffing for sugar snap pea pods!


food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, food, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

What's your 100 miles?

If you've been listening to my Podcast, you've heard me mention the "100 mile diet" a few times. Well, it's an idea that's really starting to get momentum. More and more people are focusing on eating locally, seasonably, and sustainably, choosing not to consume foods out of the natural season for their area, or foods that have to be transported over great distances, adding to the cost and the environmental impact.

Well, there's now a way that you can do the 100-mile diet and not have to cook for yourself or dry your own beans, can your own tomatoes, or slaughter your own meat. My friend Mia Andrews, head of the Canadian Personal Chef Association, the sister organization of our very own USPCA, is sponsoring 100MileMeals.net to help customers find personal chefs in their areas who can help them eat this 100 mile diet. For now, it's just getting started, but you can check it out to learn more about the diet, and find some chefs in Ontario. Soon there will be more chefs listed, including yours truly in NYC.

Here's a link to a useful tool from www.100milediet.org to help you find just what areas are within 100 miles of your home, or to help you decide which areas will work for you. There are no hard and fast rules about this diet...the idea is mainly that you take charge of your eating habits and think carefully about what you buy, and what path it took to get to you.

I'm blessed to be in New York City, where my 100 miles includes all of Long Island, all of New Jersey, The Hudson Valley all the way up to the Catskills, a good portion of Connecticut, and parts of Northeastern Pennsylvania. WOW!

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, food, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Podcast #98

ReMARKable Palate #98: Rogowski Farm, Part 2

I visited Jennifer up in the Hudson Valley this week, so we headed up to the famous Black Dirt region to visit Cheryl Rogowski, proprietor of Rogowski Farm in Pine Island, NY.

This is part 2 of our tour of the farm with Cheryl. You can hear Part 1 on Food Philosophy #54. We recorded with binaural microphones, so be sure to wear your headphones for this podcast. Cheryl has some great ideas about local eating and sustainable agriculture, and does a great deal to support the local economy.

Sponsor: www.godaddy.comUse these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



food, food podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork, Chef Mark, PodShow, farm, sustainable agriculture, Hudson Valley, New York, Black Dirt region

Covered in Black Dirt

Jennifer and I spent some time at Rogowski Farm speaking with proprietor Cheryl Rogowski, and I'm covered in black dirt! But it was SOOO worth it to be able to pick my own dinner. Cheryl was an accountant in corporate America before returning to her family's 120 acre farm to grow over 150 varieties of vegetables. Now she tends the famous black dirt of this Hudson Valley region with her loyal Border Collie Bella, and is a leader in the community, bringing wonderful naturally grown (soon to be certified organic) produce, and providing for local CSAs. Listen for our 2 part interview with Cheryl starting on Food Philosophy #54, and continuing on ReMARKable Palate #98.

Meanwhile, back at Jennifer's house, I had fun inventing dishes to use up the fabulous produce we picked at Rogowski. We had 3 different varieties of beets: Bulls Blood, Albina Verdura, and Red Ace, which I roasted in the oven with just a splash of Extra Virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper. I made a tri-color couscous with vegetable broth and garlic scapes we picked up at Cheryl's. Then, for the main course, I made a reduction of fresh black currant juice she sells at her farm stand, and used it to sauce a sliced pork tenderloin which I had seared in a cast iron skillet, then finished in the oven.

Check out Jennifer's black feet on her Food Philosophy page!

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, farmer's market, Rogowski Farm, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Honey-Peppered Turnips

Honey-Peppered Turnips

A translation of a recipe from De Re Coquinaria, the ancient Roman cookbook, this dish is from Bert Greene’s classic Greene on Greens. (4-6 servings)

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons honey
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into
¼-inch dice
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
Chopped fresh parsley

Melt the butter with the honey in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the turnips and pepper. Cook, covered, until tender, about 12 minutes. Add salt to taste and sprinkle with parsley.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Zucchini Passata

One of the recipes I've shared with my CSA group in the weekly newsletter. I'll be including them here on the blog so you know what to do with the abundance of summer veggies you're sure to be getting too!

From Diana Shaw’s The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook
(4 servings)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, white part only, washed and thinly sliced
2 large zucchini, peeled
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups nonfat buttermilk
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 large egg yolk
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the leek. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté, stirring often, until the leek is soft and limp, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the zucchini, then quarter the slices. Add them to the leeks, along with the water. Continue to cook over medium heat until the zucchini slices are tender al the way through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Purée the zucchini with an immersion blender or in a food processor. If you use a food processor, return the soup to the pan.

Stir 1 2/3 cups of the buttermilk into the purée. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, cornstarch, and egg yolk. Whisk the mixture into the saucepan and heat gently over medium-low, stirring often, until the soup is thickened and warm, about 10 minutes. Don’t let the soup boil, or it will curdle. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Going for the Green!

Well, it's another Thursday, and we're starting to get a real abundance of vegetables from the Hawthorne Valley Farm CSA. This week, we had more rainbow chard, Japanese turnips, lettuce, and sugar snap peas.

I sat in the park speaking with some of the lovely members of my CSA, letting our dogs play together. What a bunch of great folks who love food and know to treat themselves well with good biodynamically farmed produce! Throughout the season, we'll have more from the great people involved, and what they're making with their shares. If you're reading the blog having seen my recipes in the weekly CSA newsletter, welcome! (and feel free to leave comments)

This week, we started to see the real signs of the summer: Squash! We got both zucchini, and a bi-colored summer squash, perfect for my classic calabacitas recipe. We also got purple scallions. I think I'll use these to make a batch of champagne braised red onions for an amuse bouche for a client dinner I'm doing tomorrow night: Cucumber cups with caviar and champagne onions. Just dice them finely and get 'em drunk on bubbly!

And of course, in my fruit share, i got a quart of strawberries! I'm going to miss these as the season progresses, and there's nothing like sitting on the grass eating strawberries straight out of the carton and sharing them with my neighbors (and occasionally Stiva).

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Rainbow Chard Batons

This is my interpretation of an amazingly simple yet ingenious dish I had at El Portal de Echaurren in Rioja last fall. When I got a batch of rainbow chard from the CSA this past week, I thought I would try to recreate it.

It's pretty simple, just tempura batter and fry the ribs, which you would normally throw out! In this case, I served them with a simple arugula pesto, also made with produce from the CSA.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

More CSA meals

I feel so healthy! I've been eating so many green leafy veggies this week. I made some of the rainbow chard with garlic scapes, and yet another quinoa concoction.



food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Farmer's Market/CSA Saturday

This week's CSA delivery brought organic red leaf and green leaf lettuce, kale, arugula, rainbow chard, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes and strawberries. This week, I got 2 quarts of strawberries, not just 1!

So for lunch on this beautiful Saturday, I had a simple impromptu salad of arugula, lettuce and strawberries with a lemon vincotto vinaigrette and a sprinkling of garlic scapes and crushed pistachios. YUM!

I'm going to braise the kale along with the rainbow chard for a side dish for later in the week, and shell the sugar snap peas and make a fresh minted pea puree for a side for lamb chops, and save the rest for some canapes.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, farmer's market, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

CSA meal of the week

Now that the CSA season has begun, and I'm getting a batch of fruits and vegetables every Thursday whether I want them or not (I assure you I always want them), it's time to challenge myself to create whole meals using mostly the veggies of the week. As you saw yesterday, I wolfed down the strawberries, so I couldn't use those for dinner, but I still had a bunch of arugula (even after the arugula salad with strawberries and balsamic), so I used our O-Hitashi recipe from last month, and instead of spinach, I used arugula, which made for a REALLY great variation.

I also used the fresh scallions (which had such a pungent yet rounded earthy flavor, not the piercing sharpness of standard supermarket scallions), and made an asian inspired scallion quinoa. I just threw a cup of quinoa into the rice cooker with 2 cups of vegetable broth, a few garlic cloves, a few chopped scallions, and a splash each of olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinager, and the secret ingredient, sweet Japanese peach vinegar. I find that the rice cooker is the best way to cook quinoa, as it achieves just the right amount of fluffiness. Perhaps it's my technique, but I just am not always able to achieve that cooking quinoa on the stovetop. What's more, the bottom gets just a little caramelized, and when I take it out, I can gently scrape away the crust at the bottom for some caramelized chewy bits.

YUM.



food, CSA, cooking, recipe, community supported agriculture, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Strawberry Heaven

I'm in Strawberry heaven right now.

Ah.....

I just had another.

There's nothing quite so satisfying and decadent as enjoying REAL strawberries. Today was the first delivery of our local CSA (that's Community Supported Agriculture, and there will be plenty more about it on these pages in the weeks to come). Those of us with a fruit share each got a quart of strawberries grown by the fine folks at Hawthorne Valley Farm, which is a Demeter certified Biodynamic farm in Ghent, NY. I have to confess that about 1/2 of them were gone by the time I got home. I'm struggling to hold on to the rest for later, when I'll make a sweet balsamic reduction and drip it decadently over sliced strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We also got arugula, lettuce leaves, japanese turnips, dill and scallions in this week's share. I'll be making our Apple & Turnip Soup with Nutmeg Cheddar Breadsticks, Dilled Crab Salad on Artichoke Bottoms, and a simple arugula salad sprinkled with pink Hawaiian sea salt, Spanish extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. When I tasted the arugula, I nearly had an arugulagasm!

food, CSA, cooking, recipe, food, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork