Recipes as Inspiration (Tomato & Thai Basil Relish)

I recently found myself needing something quick for dinner, so I turned to my beloved cookbook, Vegetarian Suppers. I found a recipe for Skillet Seared Tofu with Tomato and Thai Basil relish. I had tofu in my fridge, gorgeous tomatoes from the farmers market, and thai basil in my garden. Sounded perfect. Then I looked at the rest of the ingredients and I only had about half of them. I took the ingredient list as mere suggestion and got started anyway. The result was pure heaven.

Here's the list of ingredients in the recipe and then what I used instead:

2 medium tomatoes - I had this. Great!

1 small shallot or a few scallions - I used 1/2 sweet onion from my fridge

small handful Thai Basil - I had this. I threw in the amount that looked right.

dozen small mint leaves - I had this in my garden

1 t. roasted peanut or sesame oil - I used garlic-infused olive oil

juice and zest of 1 lime - I had this.

2 t. freshly grated ginger - all I had were dehydrated ginger bits. I rehydrated them in some boiling water and chopped them up. I also chopped up a dried red chile and put it in the boiling water to rehydrate as well.

1 garlic clove - I was out of garlic, so I used a little garlic powder

sea salt - yes

small splash of soy sauce - I only had Hoisin Sauce, a sweet, thick Asian sauce. I used it anyway.

I put everything in a bowl and mixed it up. The soy sauce is really intended for deglazing the pan while you cook the tofu, but I put it in the bowl with everything else. When it came time to deglaze the tofu, I just used some of the juice from the bowl (super yummy).

Here's the basic method

Slice 1 carton of tofu into 6-8 pieces and blot it with a paper towel. I cut it in half long way to make thinner slabs, and then cut the 2 slabs into triangles.

Heat some oil in a skillet and add the tofu. Sprinkle with salt. When it stops twitching around, check to see if it is browned on the cooking side. If it isn't, leave it a little longer. Turn and cook the other side, about 10 minutes in all. Shake on some liquid (like soy sauce or the juices from your bowl of tomatoes and other goodies) and continue cooking until it evaporates and the tofu is seasoned and glazed. I sometimes turn the tofu during this process and sometimes don't. I just try to get the tofu coated with the sauce.

Remove from heat, top with tomato salsa mixture and serve. I served this on a bed of arugula, which was fabulous.

Basilcello

All of you who know me, know that I make limoncello pretty much year round. Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur. While I was in Italy I tried many other liqueurs, including one made with fresh basil. I have so much basil right now that I decided to try to make my own. I tried it once a long time ago, and the basil-alcohol infusion turned brown. I looked up some recipes on line and it turns out that the process is a little different, though the same basic idea. I just tasted my first very small batch and it looks and tastes just like the delicious concoction I had in Italy. It has that herby, slightly peppery flavor of fresh basil. I grant you that herb liqueurs may sound a little odd, but I find them to be refreshing, interesting, and a lovely way to preserve the colors and flavors of summer.

Here's what you do

Gently wipe off 40 large basil leaves with a damp paper towel. Don't get them really wet as they start to break down and turn dark. It doesn't have to be exactly 40. Use large and small and put in the equivalent of what you think is 40 large leaves. Put the basil leaves in a clean glass jar and cover with 1 liter grain alcohol such as Ever Clear (available at Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa.) Cover jar tightly and store in a cool dark place for 3-7 days, mixing/turning it a couple times a day. It will be bright green after just a few hours.

Obviously, if you want to make less, cut the recipe in half and use 20 basil leaves in 500 ml grain alcohol.

Strain the green basil-infused alcohol into a clean jar and combine with equal parts simple syrup. Simple syrup is made by combining equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan and heating until sugar is dissolved. Let the syrup cool completely before you add it to your infusion. Many recipes say to put the liqueur away for 15 days or so before drinking it, but I'm telling you that it is delicious served ice cold right away. If you put it aside to age, at least have a sip of the "young" version and then see if the aged version is better. Be sure to leave a comment here and let me know because I'm unlikely to find out on my own.

Margarita con cojones

Well, it's fresh produce time and I've been enamored of a site called Punk Domestics lately. Here's how they describe themselves:

Beginning with World War II, when women flooded the workplace, technology has conspired to take food production out of the kitchen. Convenience foods became the norm, and the culinary arts of our parents and grandparents became unfashionable, to the point where many of us grew up not knowing how food got in jars. With the advent of Slow Food and the California Cuisine movement of the 1980s, artisanship in food began to regain popularity. Most recently, driven by factors such as an increasing trend toward gourmandism combined with a recession forcing people to tighten their belts, people are once again taking on the old ways in their kitchens. Many are also writing about it on blogs, forums and message boards. To the novice, there is an overwhelming amount of information to sift through. To the veteran blogger, it's easy to get lost in the noise. Punk Domestics aims to evangelize and enable this burgeoning trend by way of curation and promotion. The name derives from a review of Karen Solomon's book Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects onEat Me Daily, which refers to the "punk domesticity of the hipster DIY movement."

Every day I get a dose of the possible ways to can, pickle, and otherwise preserve the goodness of the season. A few days ago I made "Cucumber Jalapeno Tequila" and now I am sipping a refreshing, taste bud awakening, south-of-the-border tasting margarita with real kick. Alcohol infusions are one of the many ways to preserve produce, so give this one a go if you dare.

Here's how you do it

Cut one cucumber into about 8 spears, with the skin on. Throw it in a glass jar. Cut up one jalapeno pepper and throw it in the jar, too. The heat is in the seeds, so include them or not, depending on how spicy you want your infusion. Cover with 1 liter silver (blanco) tequila. Leave the jar in a cool dark corner for 4-6 days. I tasted mine after 4 days and it was plenty spicy. Strain the alcohol into a clean container (the original bottle is a good idea), compost the spent cucumber and jalapeno. Serve ice cold on its own, or make it into a spicy-fresh margarita.

For the margarita combine equal parts freshly squeezed lime juice, triple sec, and cucumber jalapeno tequila. I like my margaritas a little on the sweet side, so I also add a squeeze of agave syrup. Serve over ice, or shake with ice and serve neat.

Panna Cotta with Wild Berry Sauce

I haven't really posted many desserts to this blog because I've been focusing on dinners, but this one was so great that I don't want to forget how to make it. Panna cotta is a traditional Italian dessert from the Tuscany region. Panna means "cream" and cotta means "cooked", so this is a recipe for cooked cream. I know that may not sound yummy, but think flan or custard and you'll get close. When we visited Italy, this was one of my favorite desserts. It is also very easy, so I will be making this more frequently at home.

Let's Get Started

In order to make this recipe vegetarian, you have to find vegetarian unflavored gelatin, which I found at Andy's Market in Sebastopol for $1.89. Any unflavored gelatin will do if you don't care about what it's made of. (If you don't know what it's made of, google it.)

To make the panna cotta, put 1/2 cup cold water in a metal bowl and sprinkle 4 teaspoons gelatin on top of it. Let it stand for about 10 minutes. Put the bowl into a pan of simmering water to melt the gelatin entirely, about a minute or two. Split one vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. In another pan, combine 4 cups cream, 1 cup sugar, and the seeds from the vanilla beans. Bring the cream mixture to a boil and then simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix the gelatin into the cream. Whisk until well blended. Pour the cream mixture into individual serving dishes (I used 1/2 cup ramekins), allow to cool, and then refrigerate. To serve, loosen the panna cotta from the dish using a rubber scraper. Turn out onto small plates. Serve with mixed berry sauce.

To make the berry sauce, mix 4 cups wild berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.) with 1/3 cup sugar in a pan large enough to hold them. Let the sugar sit on the berries long enough for them to start releasing their juices. Boil the berry-sugar mixture for about 5 minutes. Puree half the mixture and stir it back into the other berries. Cool completely. Refrigerate any unused portion.

This dessert is simple, elegant, delicious, and easy. Go for a long walk after dinner to burn some of the calories. :-)

TIP: Rather than discarding the vanilla bean after you've scraped out the seeds, put it in a plastic container with 4-6 cups sugar. Leave it to infuse the sugar. After a few days, you will have lovely, gourmet vanilla-sugar to use in everything from coffee to desserts.

Approximate cost to prepare

4 cups cream - $6.00 ($8.00 for organic)

4 t. unflavored gelatin - $1.90

1 cup sugar - $.40

1 vanilla bean - $3.00

4 cups mixed berries - $4.00 ?

1/3 cup sugar - $.15

TOTAL for 10 - 12 desserts - $15.45

Lasagne with zucchini, ricotta, and tomato sauce

I made this one all out of season, but it's a good one to have standing by when zucchini season hits in earnest. This is a great way to use your zucchini. I didn't think I'd like this lasagne very much, but it was really tasty. The nuts made a really terrific texture and flavor along with the zucchini and tomatoes. I took it to a potluck and everyone seemed to love it. As lasagnas go it was quite easy, especially since you use no-boil lasagne noodles. It does take 40 minutes to cook in the oven, but not too long to put together.

Let's Get Started

Preheat the oven to 350º. Oil a 9x12 pan, or two smaller pans. I usually use 2 smaller pans for just the two of us, and then we have a lasagna in the freezer for another night.

Make the tomato sauce. I used a 28 oz can of Muir Glen whole peeled tomatoes, and I felt that this didn't quite make enough sauce. The recipe called for fresh sauce, but it was the wrong season. Canned turned out REALLY tasty. You can use diced, crushed, or whole tomatoes.

To make tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, heat 1 T. olive oil in a skillet with 1 sliced garlic clove. When you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes with their juices and a good sized pinch of dried marjoram or oregano crushed between your fingers. (I used basil that I had dried myself. That worked well, too.) Cook over medium-high heat, smashing the tomatoes against the pan to break up the larger chunks. After 5 minutes or so (whenever it feels like it is a sauce), stir in 1 teaspoon tomato paste to deepen the flavor. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

To make tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, put 2 1/2 pounds whole unpeeled tomatoes (plum types work best) in a heavy pan with 1 shallot or 1/2 small onion, finely diced, and 1 sliced garlic clove. Cover and cook over medium-high heat. The tomatoes will give up their juices pretty quickly, but keep an eye on them and add a smidge of water if the pan gets too dry. After about 20 minutes the tomatoes will have thoroughly broken down. Pass them through a food mill to get rid of the skins and seeds. (If you don't have a food mill then you should skin and seed the tomatoes first.) Return the pot to the stove and cook over low heat, stirring frequently until it is as thick as you want. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1 T. (or more) olive oil.

While the tomato sauce is cooking, stir a little salt and pepper into 1 pound ricotta cheese (preferably whole-milk ricotta.) If the ricotta is very densely textured, you can thin it with a little water.

Trim 2 1/2 pounds small zucchini, and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half into diagonal slices as thinly as possible. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add zucchini, and cook over medium-high, stirring frequently until it glistens and is tender - about 5 minutes.

Finely chop 1 cup of pine nuts or walnuts, or a mixture. Cut 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella into very small pieces (or grate it if you can do that without making it into a mush - I can't.) Grate 1 cup parmesan or pecorino cheese. Have no-boil lasagne noodles standing by.

You now have all the ingredients ready for your lasagna. First spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan. Lay 3 no-boil lasagne noodles over the sauce. Cover with 1/3 of the ricotta, dot with 1/3 of the nuts, and cover with 1/3 of the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/4 of the mozzarella, and a sprinkling of parmesan. Add another layer of noodles and repeat the layering. Cover the final layer of pasta with the remaining tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.

Tent the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time - I'd like to try this with fresh tomatoes next time, especially when they are ripe at the same time as the zucchini.

Approximate Cost to Prepare

28 oz can tomato sauce - $2.00 - 4.00 OR

8 roma or plum tomatoes - $2.00 - $4.00

1 pound ricotta cheese - $4.00 for the good stuff

2 1/2 pounds small zucchini - $2.00 (free in the summer from your neighbors)

1 8-oz package no-boil lasagne - $2.00 (I didn't use the whole box, so maybe less)

1 c. finely chopped pine nuts or walnuts - pine nuts are much more expensive than walnuts, but I'm guessing $4.00 for a mixture

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese - $2.50

1 c. freshly grated parmesan - $1.50

TOTAL for a big lasagna (6-8 people) - $19.00 (more or less depending on your ingredients)

Gnocchi with Winter Squash and Radicchio

This is very tasty, and fairly quick to make. Since Deborah Madison doesn't make her own gnocchi, I followed suit and used store-bought. I thought the radicchio might make it too bitter, but as it cooks, the bitterness disappears. The flavors are really nice and it can be ready in about 30-40 minutes.

Let's Get Started

Start with one large butternut squash. I was making this for 2 people, so I didn't use a whole squash. Cut the neck off and cut it into 2 or 3 manageable pieces. Scoop out the strings and seeds, setting them aside for a broth later on. Cut the skin off the squash and then cut into half inch cubes. (I use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash, but you can use a knife if you'd like.) Don't worry about irregular shapes.

Toss the squash with a little olive oil, some salt and pepper, and then steam over 3 cups of simmering water until tender, about 20 minutes. Reserve the water to make a sauce. Stir the seeds and strings from the butternut squash in to the water, along with some parsley stems (you'll use the parsley leaves in a minute), and some salt. Let this mixture boil until it is reduced by about half. When it is done, stir in 1 T. butter to make a nice orange sauce for the finished dish. This can be in process while you do the other steps.

Cut 1 head radicchio into wide ribbons. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a wide skillet. Add the radicchio, season with salt and cook over medium-high heat until wilted, tender, and no longer red. When the squash is done, put it in the pan with the radicchio.

In the meantime, chop a big handful of parsley leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, and about 12 sage leaves together. Add most of the herb-garlic mixture to the cooked radicchio and squash and save the rest until the very end.

Bring a pot of water to boil for the gnocchi, salt the water, and then cook the gnocchi until they are tender but not too mushy. Scoop the cooked gnocchi out of the pan and into the squash-radicchio mixture, along with a little of their cooking water. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and add the remaining herbs and garlic. Serve with a little olive oil drizzled over and some of the orange sauce on the plate.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time: The only thing I can think of is that I might peel and cut the squash earlier in the day and have it standing by for cooking later.

Cost to Prepare:

Butternut squash (3 lbs) - $3.00

1/4 cup olive oil - $.75

1 head radicchio - $1.00

2 garlic cloves, handful of parsley - $.50

12 large sage leaves - $1.00 (or from your garden)

1 T. butter - negligible

3/4 to 1 pound gnocchi - $4.00

freshly grated parmesan and/or gorgonzola cheeses - $1.00

TOTAL for 4 people - $11.25

Fideos with chiles, avocado, and crema

This Mexican style noodle dish was something new for me. It's easy and fairly quick to prepare, although I took a couple of short cuts that may have helped with prep time. The result was delicious. We will definitely have this again.

I had never heard of fideos before now. They are skinny noodles that are all wound up into little nests. I found them at Safeway in the "ethnic" section. As I recall, a package cost about 89 cents - maybe less. They are cooked pilaf-style, meaning they are browned in a little oil in a skillet before you add cooking liquid. In this case, you add a tomato, chile, garlic, onion puree and let it soak into the noodles. It's mildly spicy, but the addition of sour cream, avocado, and a little cheese helps cut the spice.

The recipe calls for 3 dried pasilla, New Mexican, or guajillo chiles. I assume you can find these at a Mexican grocer. I got a huge batch of New Mexico chiles from a friend last fall. I cooked them, pureed them, and froze them in little cubes. I wasn't sure how much to use. I tried 3 cubes (from an ice cube tray) and that seemed about right. I assume you could substitute canned green chile, but you won't get as much punch from that.

Here's what you do

• Cover the dried chiles with hot water and set them aside to soften while you work on the tomato sauce.
• Coat 4 unpeeled garlic cloves with a little olive oil and cook them in a small skillet over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, sliding them around the pan every now and then. Their skins will get toasted and the cloves will get soft.
• While the garlic is cooking, you can start the tomato sauce. You can either use 8 roma tomatoes or 1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes for the sauce. I opted for the canned this time, but I may try the fresh another time. Muir Glen is an excellent organic brand for tomatoes that are the next best thing to fresh. If you're using fresh tomatoes, coat them lightly with oil and grill over an open flame or sear them in a hot skillet to blister the skins.
• When the garlic is done, squeeze the garlic from the skins into a food processor or blender. Add the tomatoes with their charred skins. If you're using canned fire-roasted tomatoes, drain them first and reserve the juice. Add water to make one cup of liquid total. Add the liquid to the food processor. Also add 1/2 cup chopped onion, and 1 t. salt. Puree. (To recap, you should have garlic, tomatoes, onion, salt, and 1 cup liquid in your machine.)
• The chiles should be soft by now. Tear or cut the flesh into strips. Discard the seeds.
• Chop 3-4 parsley sprigs.
• Heat 1 T. oil over medium-high heat in a 10 inch skillet with a tight fitting lid. Crumble the noodles into the hot oil and stir until they're lightly browned. Now add the tomato mixture and most of the parsley (save a little for garnish.) Add all but a few of the chile strips. Stir to even out the contents of the pan and adjust the heat to simmer. Cover the pan and cook until the noodles are soft, 15-20 minutes. Season with pepper.
• Dish some onto plates and serve with creme fraiche or sour cream drizzled over the top. Crumble some feta cheese or queso fresco over the cream. Top with avocado slices and the remaining chile strips and parsley.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time

Although it's a little more work, I'd like to try this with fresh tomatoes. I'd also like to try out using dried chiles, since I haven't done that before.

Cost To Prepare

3 dried pasilla chiles - ?? Maybe $1.00

4 plump garlic cloves - $.75

3 T. oil - $.50

8 Roma tomatoes or 15-ounce can Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, drained and juices reserved - $3.00

1/2 c. chopped onion - $.50

1/2 pound fhort skinny egg noodles (fideos) - $.90

3 parsley sprigs - negligible

1/2 c. creme fraiche or sour cream - $.50

2-3 ounces feta or queso fresco - $.50

1 avocado for garnish - $1.50

TOTAL for 4 people - $9.15

Mexican beer or Italian prosecco (sparkling wine) go nicely with this. The spiciness works well with bubbles.