The Global Kitchen

I'm a huge fan of Michael Pollan's Omnivores Dilemma and was really excited for his follow-up, In Defense of Food An Eater's Manifesto.

When I perused it in the bookstore I decided against buying it because it looked like the same territory covered in Marion Nestle's What to Eat.

I did check a copy out at the library, and it's worth a read. He boils it all down to, "eat food, not too much. Mostly plants". He also advises us to avoid processed food and to follow the "great grandmother" rule, which, is to not eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. I also found the "nutritionism" chapters informative.

Pretty standard stuff but Pollan is such a good writer I found the book worth reading.

Today I made a double batch of Bittman's vegetable stock. I freeze it in 1 cup increments since I'm single and only use a little at a time.

Homemade stock takes very little effort and tastes so much better than the grocery store stocks and broths. You can also control the sodium that goes into it.



2 tbs olive oil
2 carrots sliced
1 onion quartered (I peeled mine)
1 potato sliced
1 celery stalk sliced
2-3 cloves garlic (I peeled mine)
5-10 white mushrooms sliced
10-20 parsley stems with leaves rough chopped
2 tbs soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste.

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. add carrots throgh mushrooms. Cook without stirring for 5 minutes, then stir once or twice and cook until vegetables begin to brown.If you have time brown them well stirring infrequently.
Add parsley, 6 cups of water, soy sauce and pepper. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Longer is better if you have the time.

Strain then taste and adjust the seasoning adding more soy sauce or salt as desired.

This is so good I just had leftovers for breakfast. And I'm having it for lunch. It's also simple. The only pain in the butt part is peeling the squash.

This would make an excellent side dish for the holidays. I loved the way the tangy cranberries offset the sweetness of the squash.

Bittman offers a richer variation where you replace the stock with 1 cup of warmed cream with 1/2 cup of vegetable stock.





Autumn Millet Bake
How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for the dish
3/4 cup millet
1 medium butternut or other winter squash or 1 small pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup fresh cranberries
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1 cup vegetable stock or water, warmed*
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 2-quart casserole, a large gratin dish, or a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the millet and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes (don't overdo it). Spread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Scatter the squash or pumpkin cubes and the cranberries on top of the millet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the sage and drizzle with syrup. Carefully pour the warmed stock over all. Cover tightly with foil and bake without disturbing, for 45 minutes.

Carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F. As discreetly as possible, sneak a taste and adjust the seasoning. If it looks too dry, add a spoonful or two of water or stock. (This is key! The millet should be close to being cooked through at this point, if not you need to add liquid and keep it moist and cooking). Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top, and return the dish to the oven. Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned (and the millet is cooked through), another 10 minutes or so. Serve piping hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4 to 6.

I cooked up my Christmas Lima Beans!

These are nothing like the green succotash lima beans of my youth. These are meaty with a chestnut flavor and don't need much enhancement.

Again I started out by preparing them simply by drizzling them with my good olive oil and grating dried goat cheese on top. I used Capra Valtellina.

Next week I plan on using some of these in the lima bean parmegiana.



Tomorrow: an Autumn Millet Bake!

I have two new discoveries!

Discovery numero uno is Ranch Gordo's Heirloom Beans. Available at www.ranchogordo.com.

I've always bought canned beans and have been satisfied. I've never been impressed with dried beans purchased at the grocery store. But the Rancho Gordo beans are an entirely different animal. They're so fresh and tasty. I'm ready to place another order!

The first ones I cooked are the garbanzos. And all the recipes come from my second new discovery Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook. My New Years resolution is to eat more whole foods, veggies and quality meat(which can be expensive so I guess you can say I'm going mostly veg).



Cooked beans!



I'll definitely order more of these and use them in hummus, bean burgers and any other garbanzo recipe I can get my hands on.

To cook the beans I used Bittman's method.

Rinse and pick over the beans

Place in a pot and cover with 2-3 inches of water.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat until the beans bubble gently. Partially cover pot.

Check every 10-15 minutes. When the beans start to get tender add a generous pinch of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Stir occasionally

Add water as necessary.

I started tasting my beans right away and added the salt and pepper after about 20 minutes. Overall the beans took about 2 hours to cook and I had to add water twice.



I kept some out and froze the rest in their own broth. The first dish I made was Chickpeas in Their Own Broth. I thought this would highlight the flavor of the beans and it did. It was a very flavorful dinner served with a salad. Don't worry about the bread crumb size. Mine was uneven. And I did NOT use 1/2 cup of oil.



Chickpeas and their broth are so flavorful they hardly need anything else to be completely delicious, but a bit of garlic and good olive oil make this dish spectacular. Cooking your own chickpeas is really essential here, because canned chickpeas don’t have the flavor.

One roughly 6-inch piece French or Italian bread, preferably a day or two old

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

salt & freshly ground pepper

3 cups cooked chickpeas with about 2 cups of their cooking liquid (5 cups total)

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

chopped parsley leaves for garnish

1. Roughly chop the bread and put it in a food processor; pulse until shredded, with no chunks larger than a pea but not much smaller either. Put all but 2 Tbsps of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and a sprinkling of salt and cook, shaking the pan occasionally , until the crumbs are nicely browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove and drain on paper towels.

2. Warm the chickpeas in their broth with the garlic and add a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Top with the bread crumbs, garnish with the parsley, and serve, or store, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Gently reheat and garnish before serving.

Baked Lima Beans Parmigiana

Now I tried this dish twice. Once with frozen limas and again with the garbanzos. Both had excellent results but didn't take a very pretty picture. I'm going to make this again with some of RG's Christmas Limas I also bought. I think that might make a better picture and will post it then

I didn't use nearly as much oil as he did....you could also use a jarred marinara but I think the fresh tomato sauce is better.

Baked Lima Beans Parmigiana

You can also use fava, endamame, cooked cannnelini, gigante beans or chickpeas

1/4 c olive oil
1 recipe Fast Tomoato Sauce(below)
4 cups fresh, frozen or cooked dry lima beans
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup cubed mozzerella(preferably fresh)
1 cup breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400

Use a tbs or so of the oil to grease a 2 qt souffle or gratin dish or a 9x13 baking dish

Spread tomato sauce in the dish and spoon the beans on top. Spread the mozz cubes around evenly pressing them into the sauce and beans a bit. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and parm and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake until cheese is melted, sauce is bubbling and crumbs are brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Remove and sprinle with parsley and additional black pepper if desired. Can be served over rice or pasta.

Fast Tomato Sauce

3 Tbs olive oil or butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 24-32 oz can tomatoes drained and chopped (I'm lazy, I bought diced)
salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil in 12" skillet over med-high heat. Add onions and stir 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break up and the mixture comes together, thickening about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

I really have been thinking of new recipes for this blog but life and work are in the way.

I'm still cooking, it just hasn't been very international.

I just received an order of Rancho Gordo heirloom beans and plan on cooking those up soon.I've also been cooking from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook(which is excellent).

So maybe for now I'll post some domestic recipes until things settle down and I can get back to the Global Kitchen.

It's really really hard to take a good picture of a meat pie but trust me when I say this is absolutely delicious and easy to put together.

The salad was a breeze too, although, the first time I made it I put a little too much lemon juice in it. It's beautiful to look at(although my picture isn't great) and delicious.

Both of these recipes are from Claudia Roden's Arabesque, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.



Eggplant and Tomato Salad(Batinjan Raheb)
6-8 servings

2-3 eggplants (about 2lbs)
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
3 garlic cloves, crushed(I chopped mine)
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper
large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
4 sprigs mint, chopped
4 scallions, finely sliced
4 plum tomatoes, diced
handful of pomegranate seeds

Prick the eggplants in a few places with a knife and roast on a foil lined baking sheet for 45-55 minutes or until the skin is charred and the eggplant is very soft.

When the eggplants are cool enough to handle peel them and and drp them into a colander or strainer with fine holes. Press out as much of the juices as possible. With a small knife chop the eggplant(still in the colander) and mash with the back of the spoon to get more of the juice out.

Mix the eggplant puree with the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley and pint. Spread the puree on a flat place and sprinkle with the scallions, tomatoes and pomegranate seeds.



Baked Kibbeh with Onion and Pine Nut Topping (Kibbeh Saniyeh)
serves 6

For the kibbeh
2/3 cup fine ground bulgur
1 medium onion quartered
1 lb lean boness leg of lamb(I bought ground)
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon


For the topping
1 lb onions liced thin
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 to 1/3 cup pine nuts
salt and black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch ground allspice
1/2 to 1 tbs pomegranate molassas(optional but recommended)

Rinse the bulgur in a fine sieve under cold water and drain well. Puree the onion in a food processor Add the meat and the spices and blend to a paste. Add the bugur and blend to a smooth soft paste.

Press paste into a well oiled round shallow baking dish or tart dish(I used a pie plate). Flatten and smooth the top and cut the contents into 6 wedges and run the knife around the edges of the dish. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

While the meat is baking prepare the topping. Fry the onions in the olive oil until they are golden brown, stirring often. Add the pine nuts andstir until lightly colored. Add the spices and the pomegranate molassas and stir a minute more.

Spread on top of the kibbeh and serve.

I love pomegranates, pistachios, prosciutto and persimmons so I HAD to make this salad. It was very little work and the outcome was wonderful! And it's such a pretty presentation for company.

For a special occasion I might spring for the pomegranate vinegar but it was delicious with the sherry vinegar. I bet you could use white wine or champagne vinegar with success too.

If you've never had persimmons you must get the Fuyus! the other kind, Hachiyas, are really meant to be cooked.




Prosciutto with Persimmon, Pomegranate, and Arugula
Bon Appétit December 2006

Makes 8 servings.

Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier

ingredients
16 thin slices prosciutto (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
1 large Fuyu persimmon, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 ounces baby arugula
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
Extra-virgin olive oil
Pomegranate vinegar* (pomegranate vinegar is $12.00. I used sherry vinegar I had on hand)

*Available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

preparation
Arrange 2 prosciutto slices on each plate. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over. Arrange persimmon next to prosciutto. Mound arugula atop prosciutto. Scatter pistachios over. Sprinkle with pepper; drizzle with oil and vinegar.


Yes it's another fab fricassee! This one has no garlic. I served it with roasted cauliflower (toss with a little olive oil salt and pepper. Spread on a foil lined cookie sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes turning every 10 minutes).

I was a bit confused on the cooking instructions as the times don't jibe with the other fricassee recipe. I included my modification.

For the wine I used Viognier because it's my favorite white wine.



Fricassee of Chicken with white Wine Capers and Olives

1 3-4 lb chicken cut into 8 serving pieces
Sea Salt
Finely ground white pepper
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cups white wine
2 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded cored and chopped
1 cup Picholine olives, pitted, or pimento stuffed olives(I found Picholines at the olive bar)
1/4 cup capers in vinegar, drained.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken for 5 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to low and add onions and cover pan. Sweat onions of 3 minutes. Add chicken back to pan and add remaining ingredients. Cover pan and simmer on low until chicken ins done. Recipe says 1 hour. I brought sauce to boil, reduced to low and simmered for 30 minutes.

These recipes come from The Provence Cookbook by Patricia Wells.

One of my favorite trips ever was to Provence and some of the recipes from this book took me right back.




Broccoli, Avocado and Pistachios With Pistachio Oil( Brocoli, Avocat, Pistaches et Huile de Pistache)

This salad is filling enough to have as a meal. It was incredibly easy to put together too. I used olive oil because I didn't want to spring for pistachio oil. However, I think this will be much better with pistachio oil and since I'm planning on making it again, I will splurge on the oil.

1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 cup pistachio oil, pine nut oil, almond oil, or extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs course sea salt
8 oz broccoli florets(about 2 cups)
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup salted pistachios coarsely chopped

Thoroughly blend lemon juice, fine sea salt and oil.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the coarse sea salt and broccoli and boil until the broccoli is crisp tender about 3-4 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water to cool.

Halve peel and slice the avocado. Arrange a mound of broccoli in the center of a serving plate. Arrange the avocado slices around the broccoli. Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle wit the lemon/oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper and let infuse 3-4 minutes before serving.



The chicken dish was fantabulous and it went together in no time at all. I made the confit a day ahead. Now you would think this would leave you reeking of garlic but the confit is actually sweet and the garlic that cooked with the chicken is mellow. No strong garlic taste at all, although, I haven't seen any vampires lurking about. Instead of a whole chicken I cut the recipe in half and used four thighs. I did have some sauce left over so I spooned it over bread. The leftovers are also excellent as the flavors really meld.

Sweet Garlic Confit (Confit d'Ail Doux)
4 plump heads of garlic =, cloves separated and peeled
1 qt whole milk

Place garlic cloves in a saucepan and cover with 2 cups of the milk. Bring to a simmer and drain, discarding the milk.
Simmer the cloves in remaining 2 cups of milk over low heat until soft, about 20 minutes. Cool cloves in milk. Drain, discarding milk. Keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Fricasee of Chicken with Garlic and Sweet Garlic Confit (Fricassee de Poulet a Ail et a L'Ail Confit)

1 farm fresh chicken cut into 8 serving pieces at room temperature
Fine sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 tbs unsalted butter
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
20 plump cloves garlic peeled and halved
1 recipe Sweet Garlic Confit
1 1/2 White Wine(Viognier suggested)

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken skin side down and brown 5 minutes on each side. Use tongs to turn.
When all pieces are browned remove them and transfer to a platter.
Add halved garlic cloves to fat in the skillet. Reduce the heat to low, add the chicken and cook covered for approximately 20 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice until cooked through.

Remove the chicken and garlic from the pan and place on a platter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tent with foil.

Discard the fat from the pan. Return the skillet to high heat and add the garlic confit. Once hot, carefully pour the wine over the garlic and deglaze, carefully scraping up any bits that cling to the bottom of the skillet. Continue to cook over high heat, smashing the garlic to a puree(I used a potato masher). Spoon the puree over the chicken and serve.