Cider-Braised Greens

9 Apr

If it were up to me (and it is somewhat puzzling that it is not, considering the fact that I do all the cooking around here), every dinner I served would include these greens.  Lightly garlicky, slightly bitter, and mildly sweet with just a flash of spice, these are the greens that I turn to when I want to whip up something to accompany a basic meal of protein + carbohydrates.  Unfortunately, since many of my house’s food choices are not left entirely up to me, I don’t get to eat these greens all that often.  I could try and be polite about this, but there’s just no skirting the issue.  My kid, he hates leafy greens.

Many years ago, I was sitting in a Thai restaurant with my husband, pre-child years.  We were watching a family of four, two parents, two children, eat their dinner, and I was pleased to see that both kids in the family were happily tucking in pile after pile of sautéed greens, spicy green beans, and grilled tofu.  I watched and admired the family for quite some time, soaking in the spicy, vegetable-laden inspiration of their dining choices.  So, I thought, kids will eat greens and spicy food.  As it turns out, I was only half correct.  Those kids will eat greens and spicy food.

For a long time, I thought that the secret to getting kids to like a certain food was just offering that food to a kid many times (the rumored magic number of offerings before a kid will accept a rejected food is 20—that is, your kid has to taste and reject the food on 20 separate occasions before he or she will finally accept it, which is, to put it simply, disheartening and somewhat ridiculous) until the kid just breaks down and finally decides to eat whatever you are shoving at him.  I now know that the secret to getting your kid to eat food he claims he doesn’t like is…wait, there is no secret.  At least, I haven’t discovered it.  It seems as though the choices many kids make concerning the foods they will and will not eat are completely random.  My son will demolish an entire avocado that has been bathed in fresh lime juice and cracked black pepper, but his friend down the street suffers from a distaste of avocados that is so intense, he has taken to telling people that he is actually allergic to avocados and can’t even be around them.  My son loves salmon, but won’t go near prawns.  He will graze through our garden in the summer, stuffing handfuls of basil, parsley, and mint into his mouth, but if you try and offer him a lettuce leaf, he will back away as though you are waving an angry cobra at his face.

Maybe it’s not really a problem.  Maybe, because he is five, he is just being contrary.  Maybe one day, when he has outgrown his fear of leafy greens and is interested in exploring the world of cooked greens, he will appreciate a recipe like this.  There is not much I can do to in the meantime, save for offering him a tiny bite of my greens each time I make them, waiting in earnest for that magical 21st offering when he will fold under my persistence and finally give in.  If I am really persistent, I could have this nailed by the time he is six.  Maybe seven.  Okay, fine.  Twenty-seven.

With quinoa and grilled salmon

Cider-Braised Greens Recipe

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slices

large pinch of red pepper flakes

8 ounces of greens, rinsed and coarsely chopped (I used turnip greens, kale, and chard, but you can also use beet greens, collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, or whatever other cooking greens you have on hand)

½ cup unfiltered apple cider

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add sliced garlic and pinch of red pepper flakes, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 seconds, until the garlic starts to release its aroma.  Add the greens all at once, stirring to coat the greens in the garlicky oil.  Sauté, stirring frequently, until the greens have wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Pour the cider over the greens, stir to combine, place a lid tightly over the pan, and lower heat to medium-low.  Braise the greens for five minutes, until the cider has mostly reduced and the greens are tender.  Remove lid, stir in salt and pepper, and sauté for an additional minute until only a trace of the cider remains.

Serves 2.

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Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies

5 Apr

I’ve had these cookies in mind for a while.  The problem was, that was the only place the cookies could be found: in my mind.  There was no recipe I could dig up in a book, no bakery I could run to in order to hunt down the cookie.  The existence of the cookie—perhaps originating in a dream, because I simply refuse to believe that I am the only person on earth who dreams of cookies—was nowhere to be found.

Maybe that was a blessing.  Because I had only an imagined notion of what sort of cookie I wanted to eat—and yet I also somehow knew exactly what it was I wanted in the mythical cookie, that being lots of chocolate, a chewy middle, and big bites of walnuts—there was very little holding me back in the way of experimentation.  It was a golden opportunity, really.  I was going to create a cookie and there was nothing stopping me.

Except, of course, the unforeseen development of actually somehow nailing the cookie recipe on the first try.  No joke.  When I set out to make this cookie, I was envisioning days upon days of rejected cookie batches.  I was imagining myself eating cookie after cookie, faced with the fact that one batch was too crisp, or maybe not chocolaty enough.  What to do?  Well, I guess I’ll just have to get back to the drawing board.  Time to make and sample more cookies.

But no.  Here they are, the first batch I auditioned, and they are perfect in every way.  Practically bursting with chunks of bittersweet chocolate, the cookies are crisp at the edges and wonderfully soft in the middle.  Chunks of toasted walnuts invade every bite, and, dare I say it, the sweetness level is spot on.  I don’t know how it happened.  I only had to make one batch of cookies, which meant I only had to taste one batch of cookies.  Setting aside the fact that I somehow just satisfied a hazy cookie dream, I somehow feel as though I have made a mistake.  I promise to do worse next time.  You know.  So there will be more samples.

Last year: Roasted Poblano Johnnycakes

Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies Recipe

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon espresso powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

½ cup gently packed light brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into medium chunks (about ¼-inch chunks at the largest)

1 cup (about 4 ounces) walnut pieces, toasted until browned and aromatic

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk together, then set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Whisk for 1 or 2 minutes to combine thoroughly.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until the two are completely combined.  Stir in the chocolate chunks and toasted walnuts.  The batter will be extremely stiff and it should seem like there is a disturbingly high chunk-to-batter ratio.  This is a good thing.

Scoop the batter in heaping tablespoons (if your tablespoons are very heaping, you should end up with about a 2 tablespoon-sized scoop, which is perfect) onto a prepared baking sheet.  Space the scoops at least two inches apart.  I was able to fit 8 cookies on 1 large baking sheet.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the center of the oven for 10-13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are just starting to look dry but the centers still appear soft.  Remove from oven and allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Depending on the size of your scoops, you should end up with around 24 cookies, maybe more.

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Salmon Cakes with Lemon and Dill

3 Apr

The weather around here has been, in a word, taxing.  Forgive me for being so dull as to insist on talking about the weather, but hear me out on this.  Last week we woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground (on the day before spring break started, no less), but then, as the day wore on and the snow quickly melted, the sun came out and rewarded us with a lovely, mild spring day.  The weekend was once again warm and sunny, but then the official start of spring break week brought us torrential rain and strong winds.  Right now I have three different coats sitting by the front door because, depending on the time of day, I never know which one the weather will call for (pea coat, rain coat, or light cotton jacket?).

The other unexpected product of this confusing weather pattern is the fact that I can’t figure out what I want to eat.  Is it cold and rainy, meaning I am craving pasta and soup?  Or is it sunny and breezy, which makes me want to eat light meals of crostini and salad?  Sometimes, on a day like last week’s snow-sun barrage, I feel like eating all of those foods, but, unless someone adds a few more work hours into the day, I see little chance of me being able to churn out several different meals at once, just to satisfy my inconsistent cravings.

The good news about the bad weather is that, when confused about what to eat, I tend to come up with something like these salmon cakes.  Forging a bond between the light and hearty, I think I have officially created my favorite light, yet substantial, meal.  Freshened up with the zing of lemon zest, crisp bits of red bell pepper, and familiar flavors of onion and garlic, these salmon cakes make easy friends with meals both fresh and comforting.  You can pair them up with a salad, a big bowl of soft polenta, or that mother of all comfort foods, creamy mashed potatoes.  Truth be told, I’d even love to see these tucked inside a crisp ciabatta roll, a fresh squeeze of lemon on top, and a huge slice of tomato underneath.  Weather permitting, I might give that very combination a try this summer when picnic weather hits.  As of now, with the snow and wind and rain, that seems a long way off, but with these salmon cakes in my repertoire, I think I might just be able to stomach the wait.

Salmon Cakes with Lemon and Dill Recipe

1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds of fresh salmon, pin bones and skin removed

2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 scallions, finely minced

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 small or ½ of 1 large red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped

finely minced or grated zest of 1 whole lemon (at least 1 teaspoon total)

¼ teaspoon dried dill

salt and pepper

1 to 2 cups panko bread crumbs

olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the salmon half a dozen times until it is well chopped, but not so minced that it has become a paste.  Remove salmon to a large bowl.  Add garlic, scallions, onion, bell pepper, lemon zest, dill, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.

In a large skillet set over medium heat, heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Place panko on a plate next to the stove.

Using your hands, form salmon mixture into your desired size salmon cake (I prefer a smallish cake about 2 tablespoons large, but you can certainly make each cake larger).  Dredge each cake in panko on both sides, then cook in the heated olive oil, being careful never to crown the pan, until the cakes are golden brown on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

I got about 14 salmon cakes out of this recipe, but your results will vary depending on the size you make your cakes.

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