Asparagus Ala Madame Saint-Ange

I'd like to document this method of cooking asparagus, despite its fuss, and my obvious inability to follow its directions.

Taken from Sokolov, who states:

"Madame Saint-Ange, the author of the best French cookbook ever written (with typical self-confidence, she called it La Cuisine de Madame Saint-Ange), devotes two densely packed pages to this simple procedure [cooking asparagus].

The trimming alone occupies her for a few hundred words. Bref, cut away any isolated leaves along the stems and then peel them, immersing them in cold water as you go. Drain and then sort by thickness into bundles of six, eight, or ten, according to their size. Tie each bundle with two pieces of string, one 2 inches below the tips, the second 3 inches farther down the stems. Then arrange the bundles side by side so that the points are all on an even line. Finally, with one stroke of a large knife, slice away the bottoms of the stems, leaving all the bundles the same length, around 7 inches.

There is a point to all of this fuss. The sorting makes it easy to cook all the asparagus evenly. The peeling and cutting eliminate inedible fibrous areas. And the tying helps prevent damage to the tips when you move the cooked asparagus out of the pot and onto the serving dish.

And what about the pot? Even well-ordered homes do not often have a purpose-built bolte a asperges, a 10-inch tall cylindrical pot with a basket that fits inside and removes a whole bass without harming it. What matters is that the asparagus be completely submerged in lots of water-- 7 cups per pound, lightly salted.

Bring this water to a full rolling boil and plunge in the asparagus. Do not cover. Cook medium asparagus for 12 minutes after boiling resumes. Thin asparagus takes less time, thick ones more. Test with a knife point. Overcooking is a sin. Better to have just a bit of snap left than to let them slide into insipid flaccidity.

Drain off the asparagus cooking liquid. Place the bundles on a dry clean dishcloth while they drip-dry. Transfer to a long serving dish lined with a white cloth. Carefully cut to remove the strings. Serve with melted butter or, for a grander effect, hollandaise. For cold asparagus, use a vinaigrette or mayonnaise."

I'm afraid I fell into the insipid category on my attempt. :( Ah well, better luck next time.

Gingerbread Cake

From Mom. Hits the spot every single time. I served this straight from the over after hosting Bible study tonight and it was spicy and warm, a big hit. I baked a big pan so I could revel in the left-overs.

Ingredients:

3/4 C. butter
3/4 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. light molasses
2 eggs
2 1/2 C. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 C. water or orange juice
2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

2) In smaller mixing bowl, combine together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

3) Cream butter and sugar together with hand mixer in larger bowl. Add in eggs and molasses, beat together until thoroughly blended.

4) Add orange juice or water to small pot on stove, bring to boil. While this is coming to a boil, stir the flour mixture into the molasses mixture by hand.

5) When the orange juice has come to a boil, add the baking soda directly to the orange juice, stir quickly, and the quickly add the foaming orange juice to the cake batter. Beat in thoroughly and quickly by hand. If you don't beat thoroughly, your cake might be uneven, if you go too slowly it won't rise as high.

Alternately, you can pour the batter minus the orange juice/baking soda into the pan and then pour the orange juice/baking soda over the batter without stirring it. This will produce a cake with two distinct layers, one dense on the bottom and a lighter one on top. I don't like this cake as much as the thoroughly stirred version.

6) Pour batter into pan, bake for 30-40 minutes and remove from oven when golden brown at the edges.

Serve warm or cold. I like to serve this with warm homemade or canned applesauce, Cool Whip/whipped cream, or with strawberries or peaches.

Cheddar Dill Scones with Simple Chicken Salad

I love to try something new when I feed the missionaries, but this time more important things prevailed. MH was in town and we went to the Moosewood in Ithaca to celebrate. This was only fitting because as MH said, "If men were restaurants, I would marry the Moosewood."

We had chickpeas over coconut rice and vegetarian enchilada pie and fresh bread and creamy spinach dressing on salad and pomegranate Italian soda. And banana cake to go. Our server sat us in the sun at a perfect table. He probably dug us. We were, of course, in full charm.

But then after bouncing along rural New York roads in the truck we realized that we had to throw together a meal pronto, so we turned to an old Melville classic-- the cheddar dill scone. Only this time we served it with a twist-- the scones split open and served with chicken salad on top, akin to the pepper and onion shortbread espoused by the Moosewood.

We served it with grapes, bananas, pink lemonade, and multi color icecream cones for dessert. Perfecto. While a bit daring, we found that the stronger flavors of the scones blended perfectly with the mild flavors of the salad, creating a wonderful mix of textures and flavors in the mouth that was surprisingly pleasing. I would definitely serve this combo again. The chicken salad recipe is below:

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

4 stalks celery

1 cucumber

1 medium sized package slivered almonds

1 small container mayonnaise

Spices to taste (I use salt, garlic salt, paprika, oregano, white pepper, and just a bit of cardamom)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375F. When heated, spread almonds out on baking sheet and toast in oven ten minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and cool.

2) Fill large pot 4 inches full of water, add salt, bring to boil. Once boiling, add chicken (make sure water is covering chicken thoroughly) and boil until cooked thoroughly. Cut chicken into smaller cubes/chunks and allow to cool.

3) Peel cucumber and cut into wedge-shaped slices. Wash and chop celery into desired size pieces.

4) When chicken and almonds are cool, combine everything in large bowl with mayonnaise and stir. Add spices to taste.

5) Serve cold over warm scones.

Mark Bittman's Lighter, Richer Corn Bread

Here I am, sitting in the evening dark on my birthday, sporting my birthday presents: a jeans skirt I bought for myself, new brown flip-flops from Sannali, and How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, the green bible of vegetarian cooking. Since beginning to cook vegetables, I have acquired three new vegetable cookbooks, all of which give a different spin to the vegetable quest.

Today Dr. A. asked me to make some cornbread for her dinner for the missionaries. They love the Simplex! Or is it that the Simplex loves cooking for them? The night before I had been flipping through Bittman and thinking about the Moosewood cornbread, so I decided to try out Bittman's cornbread and compare the two. I made the "lighter, richer" version offered by Bittman, but I'll give the standard version here and the modifications.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, milk, or yogurt (or 1 1/4 cupes milk plus 1 tablespoon white vinegar; see Step 2), plus more as needed
2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups medium-grind cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar, plus more if you like sweet corn bread
1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.

2. If you're using buttermilk, milk, or yogurt, ignore this step. If not, make the soured milk: warm the milk gently-- 1 minute in the microwave is sufficient, just enough to take the chill off-- and add the vinegar. Let it rest while you prepare the other ingredients.

3. Put the butter in a medium ovenproof skillet or an 8 inch square baking pan over medium heat; heat until good and hot, about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the egg into the buttermilk. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients (just enough to combine); if it seems too dry, add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet or pan, smooth out the top if necessary, and put in the oven.

4. Bake about 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the sides have pulled away from the pan; a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. Serve hot or warm.

Lighter, Richer Corn Bread: Use 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) or butter (do not use other fat). Increase the sugar to 1/4 cup. Use 2 eggs; stir their yolks into the milk and beat the whites until stiff but not dry, the gently stir them into the prepared batter after the yolks and milk have been incorporated.

Corny Corn Bread: You have some options here: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen corn kernels or about a cup or creamed corn to the liquid ingredients in Step 3.

Corn and Bean Bread: Use 2 eggs and 1 cup buttermilk or soured milk; omit the white flour. Stir 1 1/2 cups well-cooked white beans (canned are fine), pureed and strained, into the milk-egg mixture before adding to the dry ingredients. (Mark Bittman loves this one.)

Personally, I found the texture of the corn bread a bit disappointing and the flavor too sweet and not salty enough, although I think that the average eater would be pleased enough with the cornbread. The dinner guests ate it with enthusiasm. I used half buttermilk, half yogurt and the full measure of sugar, but only 2 T. of butter. The buttermilk added an interesting flavor, and the butter melted in the pan gave the crust a very rich crispiness that was tasty. But I think I'm just too habituated to the coarser, simpler corn bread of my youth. Sigh.

I think it's time to go back to the Moosewood. Or home.

Pepper & Onion Shortcake

This recipe is also from the New Moosewood Cookbook by Katzen, and drove the making of the cornbread, see below. After a few days of perpetual exhaustion right before finals later this week, I needed something warm and comforting. I also had some chopped vegetables left over from Mormon Med Student dinner on Sunday, so in the spirit of Vegetable Tuesday I went looking for a recipe that would use the vegetables I had while satisfying my need for sustenance. In the end, I was surprised by homeyness of the simple combination of cornbread and sauteed vegetables. Why did we never try this at home? I think the coarser cornbread that my mom makes would suit this dish even better. After eating, I went and studied for three and a half hours without falling asleep and came home and did my Lenten exercise while watching The Office.

Ingredients:

1 batch corn bread (see previous post)
2 Tbs. olive oil, butter, or margarine
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1/2 tsp. salt
3 medium sized bell peppers (any color), in thin strips
1/2 tsp. cumin (optional)
black pepper and cayenne to taste
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup yogurt at room-temperature (optional: add 1 to 2 Tbs. sour cream)
freshly minced dill, if available
paprika

Directions:

1) Make a batch of corn bread ahead of time. You can warm it in a 300F oven while preparing the topping, or toast corn bread chunks or slices just before serving. This makes a perfect lunch on a chilly day, especially when served with Spicy Tomato Soup.

2) Heat oil (or melt butter or margarine) in a medium-large skillet.

3) Add onion and salt, and saute over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until onion is very soft and beginning to brown.

4) Add bell peppers, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne, and continue to saute until the peppers are tender (about 10 minutes more.)

5) Add garlic, and cook just a minute or two more. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt (and optional touch of sour cream).

6) Serve immediately, spooned over split chunks of warmed or toasted corn bread and garnished with dill and paprika.

Having cut my vegetables previously, they were mostly diced instead of thinly sliced, but I don't think that affected their cooking time or meshing with the cornbread too much. But then, I haven't had the original. I used Mayan Sweet Onion, a green and yellow bell pepper (it would have been prettier with red), and Italian sweet pepper, some celery, and a little bit of green onion along with fresh garlic and dill. I thought about adding some mushrooms, and refrained. I seasoned it according to the recipe, adding a just a bit of black pepper and a dash of cayenne.

This might be another recipe that's forgiving of some vegetable mix-and-match, but I can imagine some larger vegetables (like broccoli) being hard to mix with the cornbread.

New Moosewood Basic Cornbread

From Mollie Katzen's The New Moosewood Cookbook.

Fortunately, I was raised on bread made with home ground corn, with a coarser meal. Unfortunately, this means I will never be completely happy with cornbread made from any other ground corn. I find the grind too fine and the bread texture too cakey.

Nevertheless, this recipe produces a cornbread that in the absence of home satisfies the cornbread craving. It's better than most other recipes I've tried, and even better than using store-bought cornmeal in the original family recipe. This cornbread is sweeter than our family recipe, but that can be remedied by omitting the honey or sugar. Today I used buttermilk, which I had left over from the cupcakes.

Ingredients:

butter or margarine, for the pan
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 egg
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. melted butter or margarine

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9- or 10- inch cast iron skillet) with butter or margarine.

2) Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients (including sugar or honey) separately. Stir the wet mixture in to the dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine. Spread into the prepared pan.

3) Bake for 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Mediterranean Squash Stew

The thing that is different from medical school and high school is that in medical school you NEVER get to choose your lab partner. NEVER. EVER. But fortunately I landed some pretty hip kids for "Fun With Food" (organized by the ever-so-enthusiastic M.J.) anyway.

Too much studying this week to cook vegetables on my own, so fortunately this cooking lab came up to fill my vegetable requirement for the week. This recipe from Cooking Together Family Meals, a publication of the Finger Lakes Region and Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University.

The idea is that this can be modified to fit any dietary restrictions imaginable. Vegan. Diabetic. High Cholesterol. Maybe even phenylketonuria. Here's the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cups diced butternut squash
2 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 tsp fat
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
2 cups grain

Directions:

1. Wash and peel squash; cut in half, spoon out seeds, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Wash kale and remove tough stems; roll and slice into shreds or chop finely. Chop onions. Mince garlic.

2. Heat oil in frying pan on mediu. Add onion and garlic; saute 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion is soft.

3. Stir in squash, tomatoes, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, oregano, and salt. Cover pan and cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until squash is tender. Add water, as needed.

4. Add rice/grain and kale. Cover and cook another 5 minutes.


We modified as follows:

-- Tripled the garlic
-- Used olive oil for fat (lots of mono unsaturated fats like omega threes, lowers your LDL (bad cholesterol) maybe raises your HDL (good cholesterol))
-- Doubled the mustard
-- Doubled the oregano
-- Doubled the salt
-- Added some pepper
-- Used 1 C. lentils and 1 C. couscous
-- Added finely chopped sweet potatoes
-- Stole Mrs. Dash (2 packets) and hot sauce (2 packets) from cafeteria, added cayenne pepper stolen from Mexican-patient table, and stirred. Soup so much more delicious. Yum yum. Oops, cheated on the assignment, but what good soup!

Seriously, this soup was surprisingly healthy and delicious. Our soup got all eaten up fast. If I ever had... kale? and squash? at the same time?.... I would totally make this soup again. (But with some cumin. Definite lack of cumin. And maybe minus the hot sauce.)