Shrimp and Chorizo Paella for Espana

We have soccer fever here at the Hammer household! For the Spain game today we served up paella and Agua Valencia. Much to my chagrin, the paella was a fine consolation to Espana’s loss to Russia. But, oh, what a paella. Saffron credit goes to my neighbors Lucy and Michael who brought it all the way from Barcelona!

Shrimp and Chorizo Paella

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

10 jumbo shrimp

1 onion, quartered

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 carrot, sliced

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups dry white wine

1 bouquet garni (in a sachet, place together 4 sprigs of parsley, 1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 leek, just the white part, and 2 cloves)

1 ½ tsp salt

I like to make my stock the night before to give the broth extra time to allow the flavors to meld. Peel and devein 10 jumbo shrimp. Set the shrimp meat aside and put the shells in a pot with all of the above ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for 45 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth and discard all the solids. Let cool and cover to store overnight.

When you are ready to go, begin by warming the broth back up to a simmer. Add 1 tsp saffron threads to the broth before it simmers. Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium and in a tsp of olive oil, add a pound of fresh Spanish chorizo still in casing, cook until browned and cook through, then slice into ½ inch rounds and brown a bit. Cook the shrimps for one minute, and also set aside.

1/3 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 TB Spanish paprika

½ tsp salt

3 cups Arborio rice

1 bay leaf

1 cup peas

It’s paella time! Make sure your broth (above) is simmering. Caramelize the onion first in the oil. Then add the garlic, bell pepper and cook for a bit (don’t burn the garlic). Then add the tomatoes, paprika and salt and stir for a minute. Then add the rice and peas and bay leaf and ensure all the rice gets a little oil lather. Press the shrimp onto the top. Add the broth until everything is covered and simmer for 25-30 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes, then overturn onto a platter.

Among other tasty snacks for your gluten free sports fans, I’ve been turned onto this line of products from Absolutely Gluten Free. The coconut chews are fabulous. The tahini bars are sweet and teeny (nice, I imagine with a cup of tea during an afternoon sinking period), and then the chocolate brownie biscuits are my favorite.

Francesco’s Linguine – Cheers to New Chapters

The secret to life is the daily reinvention of the self. Every day that isn’t a default loop tour through the same old choices and scenes is indeed a new day. It will be new whether or not you make it new, so as Auntie Marion once hauntingly whispered in my ear when I told her I wanted to be a doctor, “Enjoy your choices.”

Italian Moms: Something Old, Something New by Italian immigrant Elisa Costantini is a cookbook in the genre of memoir, my favorite. After her husband Francesco died in 2013, she stopped cooking. She writes that she thought she was living the last chapter of her life. Her son Frank encouraged her to put all her recipes together as a family legacy project, but soon the project took on a life of its own and the process “helped heal my aching heart.” She is a precious and genuine narrator. Reading this cookbook and making her Abruzzi pasta dishes, you get a sense that you are a physical and figurative extension of the human connection—the thread that connects us might well be food.

“What this represents most of all is the timelessness of family, and in some small way, it extends my time on earth. The idea of my son or daughter in the kitchen with their own children fills me with a joy and happiness that I cannot express. And to think that some small part of me—maybe the way I taught them to prepare pasta or bake bread—will live on as they spread their art to more tables.”

Gosh, I just love her. This linguine was a dish Francesco used to make for her. “I never made this dish without him, and never spoke of it until I started to write this book… So when you make this, raise your wineglass and toast my husband.” And toast to new chapters in life–and to the morsels of grief and love that flavor our meals, mixed with memory, bittersweet.

Francesco’s Linguine

Adapted from Italian Moms

1 cup olive oil

1 pound linguine pasta (I make my own*)

1/2 pound italian sausage (optional)

2 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped

4 basil leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Sprinkle of red pepper flakes (my preference)

¼ cup vodka (also my preference)

2 ½ cups whole milk (or 1 cup heavy cream)

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup freshly grate pecorino romano cheese

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over low heat and saute onions for like 10-20 minutes. If you are using the sausage, be sure to put this in to sear and cook after 10 minutes with the onions.

Then put tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and vodka in. Let saute 10 more minutes. Make the pasta. Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Put your fresh pasta in and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain and add to tomato/onion mixture. Then add the milk or heavy cream and basil. Heat through. I’ve also added balsamic soaked tofu at this stage, delicious. Transfer to serving bowls and top with pecorino romano cheese.

+My favorite pasta recipe for this—2 ½ cups white flour, 3 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1 TB olive oil and a sprinkle of water. Make a little mountain of white flour on the counter, and a mound on top. Place the eggs, salt and olive oil in the mound and slowly whisk the flour edges into the eggs with the tines of a fork. Eventually the dough will become homogenous (you might need to crash it a few times on the counter). When it looks like dough, wrap in saran and let rest on the counter 20-30 minutes before rolling flat to put through a pasta press. I like the linguine setting for this recipe. There’s just nothing better than fresh pasta.

My war with caterpillars has been won and this dish and all the tomato pastas I make this summer are my victory dinners. Thank you, sweet earth, for the Romas and basil this year!

Spicy Rainbow Tofu Scramble with Toss’ables

Tofu and I have become friends over the years. Healthy friends. Not that meats are mean girls, but, I feel like tofu is the kind of friend who sends you holiday cards decades after you move away. Meats give you reflux on your birthday instead of a card, you know? Tofu is easy to toss into a salad or pasta for lunch or dinner, but what about tofu for breakfast? If you are vegan and are looking for another proteinaceous breakfast to substitute for scrambled eggs, this might be your dish. That said, I also think this scramble makes a fabulous (and fast) dinner. Rainbow color added for Pride month, and the chard as a nod to National Salad Month!

Spicy Rainbow Tofu Scramble

Adapted from The Edgy Veg

 

3 TB nutritional yeast

2 tsp ground garlic

¼ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp black pepper, fresh ground

½ tsp vegetable bouillon

½ cup water

1 medium onion, chopped

1 TB coconut oil

2 packages of Nasoya Toss’ables Garlic and Herb tofu

2 serrano peppers, finely chopped

1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped

 

In a medium skillet, heat coconut oil and add onion over medium-high heat. Saute until translucent. Add tofu and cook 5 more minutes. While these are cooking, mix together the nutritional yeast, ground garlic, turmeric, salt, pepper and bouillon with water and mix until fully blended. If you have black salt, you can replace for the kosher salt and the sulfur content in black salt will make this dish smell eggy – if you are fully vegan. Feel free to scramble in an egg or two if you are not vegan.

After a few minutes of marination with the nutritional yeast, stir in the chopped serrano and saute another 3-5 minutes.

Finally, add the rainbow chard and saute until the chard stems are softened. Serve!

Thanks to Nasoya for sponsoring this post! Products provided by Nasoya in the spirit of their salad contest with Toss’ables. Happy National Salad Month, all!

 

TACO! TACO! TACO! Coriander Shrimp and Blackened Fish Tacos

We are in a tropical mood down here in the Gulf South. Wild and bright flowers, hot peppers bursting from under brush. KP and I reupholstered a chair for the first time, a rocking chair for our good friends who are about to hatch a little zany baby bird into this hot summer weather. We felt this chair captured well the mood.

And then in the kitchen, what is more summery than a taco? What with our jalapeno, chili pepper and tomato surplus from the garden, I was delighted to get this cookbook for review. There are so many cookbooks in the world, with so many boilerplate introductions, that when I read the opening page of Taco! Taco! Taco!, I had a little frisson of the sort that I usually only get with reading the prose in The New Yorker or NYT Sunday Magazine. Brilliant writing from Bryan Roof. Many of us grew up on oil-soupy ground beef tacos “sure as your heartburn to spring a leak.” But there are so many other healthier alternatives, such as the two seafood recipes I feature below.

“This clever book serves as a lucid reminder that experimentation, not pre-packaged taco seasoning, is really the spice of life… Get into the kitchen and play. Because ultimately, it’s all about shoving tacos in your face.”

Followed by even more brilliant taco photography and recipes by Sara Haas. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour de taco force.

Grilled Coriander Shrimp Tacos

Adapted from Taco! Taco! Taco!

Shrimp

2 tsp ground coriander

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup olive oil

2 TB fresh lime juice

12 oz large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salsa

15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked sweet corn

½ cup cilantro, chopped

1 serano chile, chopped

1 TB lime juice

Kosher salt

Lime crema

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

2 TB fresh lime juice

¼ tsp ground coriander

First, prepare the shrimp by placing the coriander, garlic, oil and lime juice in a large sealable plastic bag. Add the shrimp, seal and shake. Marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.

The salsa can be made by just putting all ingredients in a bowl and mix.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Same with the lime crema.

The shrimp can be grilled on a barbeque grill stuck on skewers. I cooked them on a castiron skillet with all the marinating juices (which was delicious). To make the tacos, pile all this goodness on a warmed tortilla. And serve. With whatever, lettuce, arugula, avocado…

Pico de gallo…

Here is another winner—this time on hard shell (but you could also do on tortilla, what you will.)

Blackened Fish Tacos with Caper Remoulade

Adapted from Taco! Taco! Taco!

Sauce

2 TB plain Greek yogurt

3 TB EVOO mayonnaise

2 TB minced sweet pickle (I omitted this due to pickle hate)

1 TB capers, rinsed and minced

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Fish blackening rub

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

Pinch kosher salt

Pinch ground black pepper

The sauce and the rub are pretty self-explanatory. Combine ingredients. Put the rub spices in a bowl. Pat 3-4 cod fillets dry and press the spice mixture evenly to cover each. Heat 1 TB olive oil in a cast iron skillet to medium heat and add fish to pan and cook each side three minutes until fish temp reaches 145 degrees.

Remove and squeeze with fresh lemon juice. Flake the fish into a hard shell and top with the sauce and arugula. YUM!

Hope you find a banana tree’s shade to enjoy your summer tacos. And a cooling fan.

New Orleans Orchids with Teriyaki Kabobs and Kale Chips

This tropical place. KP and I discovered the New Orleans Orchid Society this afternoon by accident. It was like walking into a garden of wildly colorful birds. There must be time in the life I have ahead to become a master gardener of orchids. What gorgeous plants. They are the Mardi Gras of nature.

There was some kind of macaron holiday last week and I pulled out the old trusty recipe and made some Sounders’ fan macarons. The wild colors, I learned, were a foreshadowing of the flowers we’d find. And a huge thanks to Pereg for providing me with and endless supply of gluten-free flours, in this case, almond flour!

We have a lot of veggies from our CSA and our backyard and the summer is calling us to grill a couple times a week. These two cookbooks feature recipes for “real ingredients” cooking.

Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

Adapted from Real Life Dinners

1 ½ pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast/thighs

1 red bell pepper

1 cucumber or yellow squash

3 cups of pineapple chunks

Terikyaki Sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp ginger, fresh, minced

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup brown sugar

2 TB rice vinegar

2 TB mirin

Make the teriyaki sauce by combined all the ingredients into a sauce pan and simmer until reduced and thickened, probably 20 minutes.

While the sauce is simmer, prepare the chicken, veggies and pineapple onto skewers. Preheat your grill and before cooking, brush about ½ cup of the sauce over the surface of the kabobs. Cook for about 8-10 minutes per side until they are browned and carmelized. Yum.

Peanut-Miso Kale Chips

Adapted from 100% Real Food by Sam Talbot.

This recipe requires several delicious spices that I recently received from Spice Island—delicious!

Also to make these chips you need peanut butter and I decided to experiment with PBFit, a powder peanut butter that is a little less fatty than the real thing and tastes great. Goes well in smoothies in particular, I think.

Zucchini Pasta with Parmegiano Reggiano to 100 years

The fountain of youth no doubt is a slurry of vegetable pasta and black coffee. At least that’s what Alice told me as she turned one hundred this weekend. KP and I went out to Seattle to visit his grandmother as she clicked over into a new category of impressive human: centenarian.

She is a beloved matriarch and we so enjoyed the weekend in Seattle, feasting on plenty of salmon, a Mariner’s sweep of the Twins, and coffee coffee coffee.  The spring vegetables are rolling in from our CSA– to stay ahead of the greens, grate them into your pasta dishes!

 

Zucchini Pasta with Parmegiano Reggiano

Adapted from Food and Wine

3 zucchinis, grated on a cheese grater

Salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 pound spaghetti (I love the alternative pastas from Explore Cuisine for a gluten free option!)

1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

1/2 cup torn basil leaves

Freshly ground pepper

Lemon wedges, for serving

Put the zucchini in the oil and cook until soft. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the 1 cup of cheese, the basil and a generous pinch of pepper. Add the reserved pasta water a little at a time, tossing well to coat. Transfer the pasta to a bowl and top with the crispy zucchini. Serve right away with lemon wedges and additional cheese.

Syttende Mai Salmon Burgers with Jarlsberg

I am of the faith that one can never cook salmon burgers too frequently. We celebrated the Norwegian festival of Syttende Mai last week, and given KP’s Norse heritage, he manned the grill with gifts from Jarlsberg just in time for grilling season!

 

Wasabi Salmon Burgers

Adapted from Helen Martinson’s Cooking Skinny

2 TB soy sauce

1 ½ tsp wasabi powder

½ tsp honey

1 lb salmon fillets, skins off

2 scallions, chopped

1 egg, beaten

2 TB minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

Jarlsberg cheese slices

Whisk soy sauce, wasabi powder, and honey in a bowl. Chop salmon (not too much lest it become mush), transfer the fish to a bowl and add scallions, egg, ginger and oil. Form the mixture into 4-6 patties. If you are cooking on the grill, coat a piece of foil with cooking spray and transfer the patties first there to cook until somewhat solidified, then can transfer to grill for quick char.

Spoon the wasabi mixture over the burgers and cook a little more.

Serve on brioche buns with tomato and cheese and arugula (or whatever toppings you love!)

Pair with a Brooklyn Crafted Ginger Beer!

Jarlsberg cheese is my FAVORITE! They made these new chipotle cheese crisps that are dangerously good and should definitely be part of your Memorial Day BBQ festivities. Or your Bayou Boogaloo. Or your Bike Easy Social Ride. Happy start of Summer! AKA, more of the same costume season here in New Orleans.

National Egg Month with a Zing

Happy National Egg Month!

Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs got me off to a great start with this delightful shipment of standing ovation (horrible pun, mine). I brought the eggs to our annual work retreat and brought forth a veritable feast of egg bakes and sticky buns!

My Favorite Frittata.

We had sausage, may I recommend Field Roast’s collection of grain-based meats for all the vegans out there who don’t want to feel left out. These also make stellar hot dogs—chipotle was my favorite flavor.

Also Freekeh from Pereg spiced up with 2 TB of Penzey’s Cajun spice is a nice side for a breakfast feast.

The sticky buns were inspired by my new Hands Down Best Cookbook I’ve reviewed all year, but I’m biased by nostalgia, Zingerman’s Bakehouse. I recall a visit to Zingermans in Ann Arbor, Michigan during which I was given a tasting of a 100 year old balsamic vinegar, among other curiosities. Their generous attitude, customer-bent, and delicious array of baked goods and fine products makes me salivate just turning the pages that so clearly have their zest and company quality.

Obama Buns—get this cookbook and check out the recipe! It is a winner! Pecan sticky buns.

Obama Buns- Pecan Sticky Buns

Adapted from Zingerman’s Bakehouse

Poolish

½ cup whole milk, room temp

¾ cup sourdough starter

1 cup and 3 TB all purpose flour

Final Dough

½ cup unsalted room temp butter

¼ cup and 1 tsp granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp sea salt

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

All the poolish

1 cup and 3 TB all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

¼ cup muscovado brown sugar

1 TB cinnamon

Pinch of sea salt

Topping

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup muscovado brown sugar

¾ cup honey

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups pecan, chopped

Melted butter for brushing dough

First make the polish by combining all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook attachment. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and ferment for 1 hour (or overnight, in fridge).

Then make the dough. First cream together the butter and sugar and salt until combined. Increase the speed and add the egg and yolk and combine until smooth. Then break up poolish and add to butter mixture. On low speed, add the flour slowly. The dough will be sticky. Cover dough again in the oiled bowl and let rise overnight, in the fridge—at least for six hours.

In the morning, make the filling/topping. Cream the butter with the sugar and add the honey and salt until well blended. Toast the pecans on a sheet at 325 degrees for 12 minutes until toasty brown. Spread topping on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass baking pan and spread the pecans over the top. Make the cinnamon sugar filling. Unwrap the dough and sprinkle with flour. Roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle that is about as big as the pan and ¼ inch thick. Brush the melted dough on the surface of the dough, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling over it. Roll up the log, and cut. I like to use string to do so. Turn the rolls so the spirals are up and arrange over the pecans in the pan. You should have about 12. Give them a little room to expand, space between the rolls, that is. Let rise for 1-2 hours, covered. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes. In theory, when done, you should invert the pan so the sticky pecan part is on top, but if that’s too tricky, just spatula all the gooey stuff out onto the plate and enjoy! YUMMM!

Last week, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs filed a petition with the FDA to update its definition of ‘healthy’ to include eggs. The current definition includes foods such as low-fat toaster pastries and sugary cereal, but excludes the nutrient dense egg. Check out more info on this fight on EggsAreHealthy.com – sign the petition! Especially eggs from happy chickens who live on fancy farms. All the healthier.

 

 

 

Tomato Bisque and the Mistletoe of Spring

The tomatoes are ripening in the bath tub in the yard. Yellow flowers peak out from the tops of the Roma vines like springtime mistletoe and promise more and more and more. You gotta find a good bisque recipe if your yard too burgeons with ripe reds. May I offer this for the sampling.

Tomato Bisque and Grilled “Cheese”

Adapted from The Edgy Veg

¼ cup vegan butter

2 garlic cloves

½ cup +2 TB tomato paste

4 roma tomatoes

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried thyme

1 tsp onion powder

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

4 cups water

1 TB maple syrup

1 bay leaf

½ tsp salt

1 cup cream (non-dairy)

¼ tsp black pepper

Grilled Cheese

Bread, (vegan) butter, and the Art of Cheese Sauce.

For the tomato bisque, heat butter in a saucepan. Add garlic and saute for one minute. Stir in tomato paste, then tomatoes, cayenne, basil, thyme and onion powder and cook for five minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add bouillon, water, maple syrup, bay leaf and sea salt—bring to a boil. Simmer on medium low for 10 minutes. Make sure all the bouillon dissolves. Then transfer to a blender, reserving one quarter of the mix in the pot. Blend on high until smooth. Return to saucepan and simmer on medium for 20 more minutes. Stir in the “cream” and keep warm while making the grilled cheese. It’s easy to do, just put butter on the toast and cook on a skillet with the cheese between the slices. This is SOOOO delicious. All of it.

Gosh, I’m still not over Jazz Fest. What a wonderful time with family and fabulous weather and unparalleled musical talent, seven perfect days full. So grateful.

Here’s a snazzy tool for the kitchen. Ever been stabbed by your own Wusthof lurking in the bottom of the soapy dishwater? Or pricked by a knife blade standing up in the silverware tray? For those of us doing our dishes by hand (so as to meditate), Sink Safe Multi-Purpose Knife Caddy is a nice safety addition to the kitchen milieu.

I’ve been reviewing some diabetes cookbooks that I keep in my clinic for patients looking to watch their sugars, and most of these are pretty good. Several have nice meal planning guides and shopping lists to help those who feel overwhelmed at the idea of cooking more at home. Even just adding one meal a week will pay huge health dividends.

The 12-Week Diabetes Cookbook

Complete Month of Meals Collection

You Can Have It!

Sample recipes from The Complete Month of Meals:

From You Can Have It–  

Cook for People You Love.

Jazzfest Protein Shake those Muffin Tops

Jazzfest is here. Mango freeze, Crawfish Monica and Crawfish bread… Last weekend my father came down to celebrate his 66th birthday and we danced in sunshine to Sting, Rod Stewart, Sweet Crude, Big Freedia, Bonnie Raitt and David Byrne. The house burned down and after three days of smoothies and bran muffins we have risen from the ashes, ready to head back to the tent tops and race track dance floor for the second weekend of Jazz fest—Seven holy days.

Here are some recipes for music fest snacks, in addition to chocolate covered coffee beans and almonds.

Protein Shake

Just add a tablespoon of Pure Synergy Organics Carrot (or kale or wheatgrass) Juice Powder for a vitaminergic boost to your morning.

Bran Muffin Tops

Adapted from Pastries From the La Brea Bakery

2 cups unprocessed bran

4 TB Probiotein powder

½ cup water

1 cup buttermilk

1 TB orange zest, finely chopped

1 TB cinnamon

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup olive or coconut or avocado oil

1 extra-large egg

1 extra-large egg white

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup stone-ground whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Lightly coat a muffin top tin with melted butter. Set aside. Adjust the oven rack to the middle setting and preheat the oven to 350º F. Spread the bran on the baking sheet and toast for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring halfway through to make sure it doesn’t burn. Pour the bran and probiotein powder into a large bowl, add the buttermilk and 1/2 cup water, and stir to combine. Stir in the orange zest and cinnamon and brown sugar. Add the oil, the whole egg, and the egg white, mixing well to combine. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, mounding the batter slightly but taking care not to overfill. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the muffins are well-browned and firm to the touch.