by Sam Tackeff | Jun 28, 2009 | Vegetables
I love broccoli, but I know that a lot of people don’t – mostly, I’m guessing, because their experiences with broccoli were with limp, overcooked, way too pungent, and completely devoid of seasoning versions of it. This is boring and depressing, and should be avoided at all costs. Instead, try these:
The easiest way to prepare broccoli is to cut it up into florets, and thinly slice the stalk (I never throw it out!), put it all in a pyrex bowl with about an inch of water, cover it with a microwave cover or some saran wrap, and steam it for five minutes in the microwave, and drain. (Or you can steam on the stovetop – same amount of water, and a couple of minutes more – just one more pot to wash). Then you can use any of these delicious preparations to jazz up the stuff.
1. The Classic: salt, pepper, and a couple of squeezes of lemon juice. Add some fresh parsley, or red pepper flakes for an extra kick.
2. Top with balsamic vinegar, toasted walnuts, crumbled blue cheese. (One of my favorites)
3. Lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a generous dose of parmesan.
4. In a pan, sautee a few cloves of fresh garlic, minced, in some olive oil. Toss in steamed broccoli, and serve.
5. Asian style: saute some garlic, ginger in a bit of vegetable oil, toss in steamed broccoli, and a splash of soy sauce, and a tiny hit of sesame oil. Add sesame seeds if you have them.
6. Toss broccoli in your favorite salad dressing. Just like salad – it’s great.
7. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, pine nuts, basil, and parmesan (deconstructed pesto).
8. South Asian: Toast 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, and grind in a spice grinder. Mix spices into one cup plain yogurt, add a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a the juice of a lemon. Toss in the broccoli.
These individually make nice lunches, served with some fresh bread (or Naan, for the South Asian style), or as a side to any meal. You could easily make each of these into the star for dinner by tossing the dressed broccoli in some pasta. Add sausage and tomatoes for more substance, or for vegetarians, add tofu, or cannelini beans.
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 22, 2009 | Pantry Staples, Soups
I went to the gym today.
I’ve been trying to drag myself in there for weeks.
I strolled in and screamed I NEED INCENTIVE! And so I got a free personal training session on the weight circuit and gave every muscle a moment to shine. It doesn’t hurt to have a cute trainer to get you really sweating. Huzzah! I’m feeling great that I’ve finally done it, and as I walked out of there, a woman walked briskly across the room and told me I had beautiful hair (and that was post gym hair!). I’m still beaming!
When I got back to the house, I was determined to continue my positive streak, so I put together this soup in about five minutes from some leftovers of Jamie Oliver’s Sticky carrots* that I had sitting in my fridge. You could just as easily boil some carrots with a little salt, pepper, and garlic, and make the soup in about 20 minutes from start to finish.
Quick Carrot Soup: In a blender, put a few cups of leftover cooked carrots (mine had salt and pepper already on them, but if yours don’t just add some), a half cup of plain yogurt, a half teaspoon of cumin, and a half teaspoon of turmeric, and a dash of water (or chicken stock if you have it), and blend until smooth. Top with some snips of dill.
Serve with garlic toast: just lightly coat a few pieces of day old bread with some good olive oil, put under the broiler or in the toaster for a couple of minutes, and then just lightly sweep a clove of garlic over the warm toast.
*Jamie’s Sticky Carrots: Cut a couple of pounds of carrots into two inch lengths, and stick them straight up in a small saucepan fitting them together snugly. Add a couple of Turkish bay leaves, salt and pepper, and a small nob of butter (a tablespoon or two) on top. (I add in a few cloves of garlic here, although his recipe doesn’t have them). Add enough water so that the carrots are halfway submerged, and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until carrots are cooked, about twenty minutes, and then just take off the lid and continue to cook until the water cooks down almost away, and the carrots get stick and lovely – about half an hour more. Jamie has you turn them out so they are all beautiful on the plate (taking care not to burn yourself), and serve.
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 12, 2009 | Baking, Books, Cookware, Pantry Staples
Dear world, I’d like a Le Creuset French Oven (medium or large), and a braiser. Any color will due, although, extra points are given for ‘Carribean’, ‘Cobalt’, or ‘Onyx’. Perhaps you have an extra lying around, or your dear great aunt in San Francisco has a stockpile of them in her kitchen and can’t really lift them anymore because they weigh a ton. Perhaps you are reading this from the Le Creuset or the Sur La Table corporate office, and think to yourself, today, this very lucky young lady in Noe Valley will have a package shipped to her. If you are any of these people, don’t hesitate to contact me. I can barter, trade, and provide you with tasty sustenance in return. Your generosity will be greatly, greatly appreciated.
* * * * *
One difficult thing about moving across the country in a couple of suitcases – taking your kitchen with you.
The easiest to bring are the little tools, which can be boxed and arrive in no time flat: like David Lebovitz, I’m a big fan of my scissors, and I love my tongs, my Kyocera ceramic knife I picked up at Zabars, and my knife set, and my little stovetop espresso maker, my graters, my Moulinex, my Silpat, my whisk, my measuring cups, wooden spoons, silicone spatula, williams and sonoma kitchen towels, and silicone pinch pots. Along with these came my collection of bento making supplies: boxes, rice presses, tiny fish shaped soy sauce holders, mini utensils, silicone muffin cups, and box bands.
My expansive spice collection was also shipped, and I have since supplemented with a collection of spices and spice rack from Martha Stewart which was on sale at Macy’s for under twenty dollars. I couldn’t live without my spice mixes from Penzey’s, my Super Special Spice Mix from my grandmother in Istanbul, my assortment of curry powders, garam masala, five spice powders, mace, turmeric, corriander, and excess of cumin.
Fortunately, I am blessed to be living with someone who was given a very, very nice set of calphalon pots – so I didn’t have to shlep my slightly shoddy pieced together collection of pots and pans with me. He also came with a lovely red tea pot which, I’m glad to say gets significant amount of daily use.
He also gave me the very best present on earth for my birthday, a Martha Stewart Blue Kitchen Aid mixer, and in the next few months I will be saving for attachments… I think he deserves to be rewarded with the results of the Ice Cream maker attachment, and after several attempts of homemade pasta made with a rolling pin, I’m looking forward to the pasta attachment.
Bakeware is also a pain in the neck to ship, but fortunately for me, I live close enough to the Recycled Cookware store on Divisadero that I managed to pick up things like bundt pans, baking sheets, and loaf pans, and even a gently used coffee grinder for a few dollars a piece. My mother this weekend was a very kind soul to donate two Madeleine pans from her cupboards to my “cause”, because after six months of searching for “affordable” Madeleine pans, I had determined it a failed quest.
I’ve been a fan of Cook’s Boulevard, which, being right in the neighborhood, is useful, when, say, I’m in desperate need of ceramic bakeware for my herb baked eggs, or last minute meat thermometers, silicone popsicle makers, or, really great three dollar peelers.
Ikea has been a savior for a new mortar and pestle, a digital kitchen scale, and glass jars in which I keep all of my bulk supplies – dried beans (currently I have Christmas Limas, flageolet, yellow indian woman, and popping corn, all from Rancho Gordo) rices (jasmine, arborio, sticky, and plenty of brown), whole grains (wheatberries, farro, bulgur), nuts (almonds, walnuts), chocolate chips, flours (white, wheat, cake, wheat bread flour, wheat bran, corn meal), and sugars (white and dark brown).
And of course, rounding everything out is my collection of cookbooks – most every Jamie Oliver tome, and an ever growing collection of signed books from the weekly talks at Omnivore Books on Food, the only cook book and food book store in San Francisco, and currently my favorite bookstore in the world.
