Edible Flowers Roman Style

I think that edible flowers are another polarizing food. Some people get excited when they see brightly colored delicate petals sitting atop their favorite salad, others think it's a useless gimmick. I'll have to admit that I enjoy a pansy or two with my food on occasion, I'm drawn to the novelty of it all, but I have never really seen flowers as a main course, or even really as an appetizer...

That is until I discovered the squash blossom. A few years ago, my New Jersey ex used to take me to a Roman-style pizza place on the Lower East Side called Pala. While there, I noticed a slightly fried appetizer in the shape of a large flower. He told me they were a Roman treat called squash blossoms. Squash blossoms (sometimes called zucchini blossoms) are exactly what they sound like, the flowers that grow with the squash. Usually a light orange color with a green stem, the squash blossom is often fried and served with sea salt.

All summer I've been staring at them in their neat plastic packages at the market, but hadn't attempted to cook with them. I don't eat fried foods very often, and have therefore, never really fried anything myself, but the draw of the silken flowers was too strong. I bought a $5 container of about 20 at the Union Square farmers market, and rushed home to make them right away.



Before I get to the recipe I would just like to mention that the Union Square market has a wonderful selection of non-edible flowers as well. If you're looking for a way to brighten up your dining table, try perusing the selection brought in from farms in New Jersey and upstate New York.



Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
One solitary box of squash blossoms

At a supermarket:
1 lemon

Supplementary ingredients I had at home:
Self rising flour
Salt
Pepper
Sea Salt flakes
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Baking powder
Egg

Recipe: Fried Squash Blossoms

Ingredients
10-15 squash blossoms
3/4 of a cup of ice water
2/3 of a cup of self-rising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 lemon cut into wedges
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

First make the batter. Sift the flour and the baking powder together in a bowl. Beat the egg in a separate bowl. Then add the egg and the olive oil. Mix until it's just blended together. Next take the ice water and drizzle it in until the mixture has the consistency of heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper and the garlic powder.



Once the batter is made, pour enough olive oil in a wide frying pan to coat the bottom in a thin layer. Turn to high heat and let the oil get very hot. Once the oil is hot enough, dunk a squash blossom in the batter, then place in the frying pan. Be careful when you do this. The oil will be very hot, and when I first did it, the oil splashed out of the pan and burned my finger. Let my injury be a warning to you!



You will probably have to fry these in batches. I did two at a time since the blossoms I got were quite large, and my pan wasn't that big. Depending on what kind of pan you use, if the blossom is not fully submerged, flip it with tongs after about a minute and a half.



I imagine that in a restaurant they would fry them in a wok or a deep fryer which would help them keep their rounded flower shape, but since I fried them in a pan they took on a rather flattened pancake shape. If you stuff them, like I discuss below, they might retain their shape better.

Anyway, back to the recipe. Fry them on the other side for another minute, then remove them with the tongs and place them on paper towels to soak up the oil. Once they are cool enough to touch (a minute or two) sprinkle them with sea salt flakes and place them on a serving plate. Cut the lemon into wedges and squeeze over the fried blossoms.



To me the batter tasted like a lightly fried pancake. The real draw of the dish is the silky texture of the petals mixed with the salty crunchiness of the fried batter. The tips of the petals didn't have a strong taste, but the base had a distinct flower taste that I rather liked. It was unique, but also very mild.

This recipe was a very basic one for frying the blossoms, but feel free to get more creative and stuff the blossoms before you fry them. A goat cheese mixture with heavy cream and either chive or dill might be a bright contrast to the doughiness of the batter. Just be sure to tie up the ends of the blossoms before you dip them in the batter so the stuffing doesn't come out during frying.

Spicy Fish With Tomatillo Sauce

This is the continuation of the last post when I went to the Union Square farmers market. I was super ambitious on Friday and cooked two full meals, the udon noodle meal for lunch, and a fish dish for dinner.

When I arrived at the farmers market on Friday I thought I was going to make the udon noodle dish, but I was also planning on making a mushroom crostini. However, the problem with the farmers market is that you never know what produce is going to look good, or even be there, once you arrive.

On Friday I wasn't so crazy about the mushroom selection, and as I was walking around I spotted some wonderful looking green and purple tomatillos. For those of you who don't know, tomatillos (which are often referred to in Mexico as green tomatoes) are actually closely related to the gooseberry. Like the gooseberry, they grow wrapped in a thin husk. Used in a lot of Mexican cooking, the small fruit is denser and tarter than a tomato, but I love the flavor in sauces and salsas. I started cooking with them a few years ago when I was making a Rachel Ray recipe from her original 30 minute meals cookbook. I usually don't like her, but I feel like she had a few real gems in the first couple of books she did. The recipe I make today will be a variation on that original recipe.

I picked up about 8 or 10 tomatillos for a couple of dollars. That's the other nice thing about them, they're much cheaper than tomatoes. Next, I headed over to a large table filled with peppers. I have to admit the variety was so great I felt a little overwhelmed. I was looking for a pepper with medium - hot heat. I was choosing between two types of jalapenos and a Serrano. If you like a lot of spice, I'd say go with the Serrano. I ended up choosing between the two jalapenos since I like spice, but didn't want it to be too spicy. At the last minute I decided on the milder pepper, which in retrospect, I felt was a mistake. The final dish could have definitely used a bit more heat.



Lastly, I headed over to the fishmonger. After a couple of weeks ago when I tried to get scallops at the Boro Hall market, and was disappointed to discover the market didn't have a fish stand, I definitely wanted to buy my fish at the market. The original dish called for tilapia, a mild white fish that takes on the flavor of whatever you're cooking it in. There was no tilapia at the market today, so I chose to go with a summer flounder at $12.99/lb instead. It's a little pricier than tilapia, but flounder is also a mild white fish, so it was a perfect substitution. I got 2 fillets which ran me about $7, and was enough for 2 people. I'll mention that the fish table was also one of the most crowded tables at the market on Friday.



I had purchased a red onion and the garlic for the udon dish, and used them for this dish as well.

Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
2 flounder fillets
1 jalapeno pepper
8 tomatillos
1 red onion
1 head of garlic

At a market:
1 lime
1 bottle of pale beer

Supplementary ingredients I had at home:
Olive oil
Sweet Paprika
Cumin
Cilantro (purchased from a past farmers market)
Salt
Pepper

Before I start the recipe I'll mention that I had run out of cumin and had to purchase some on my way home. Cumin, a typical Indian spice can usually be found in most supermarkets, but can be found for a much cheaper price at ethnic spice stores around the city. I get mine at Dual Specialty Store, Inc., an Indian market on 2nd Ave. between E. 5th and E. 6th Streets. I started going there because it was literally a half block away from my old apartment in Manhattan, but it's definitely one of the best places in Manhattan to find obscure spices. If a recipe calls for it, it's probably there.
http://w.mawebcenters.com/Dualspecialtystore/ecommerce/spices/?SID=PsqR5bK13czLqRZCdSkmocrH095R6nyyl5MNxxFelvo=

Recipe: Pan Fried Flounder in a Tomatillo Sauce

Ingredients
2 flounder fillets
Coarse salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp of sweet paprika
2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil
1 lime halved
1/2 medium red onion chopped
1 jalapeno or Serrano seeded and finely chopped
2 -3 large cloves of garlic minced
8-10 tomatillos, husks peeled, diced
1/2 bottle of pale beer (I used a bottle from my local bodega called Lighthouse Ale)
2 TBSP of chopped cilantro

Mix the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika in a bowl. Rub the fish with the spice mixture. This should be a thin, even coating.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, 1 turn of the pan. Saute fish 3 minutes on each side or until opaque. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime over the fish, and carefully slide the fillets onto a plate.

Return the pan to medium/high heat and add remaining tablespoon of oil, 1 turn of the pan. Quickly saute the red onion, jalapeno/Serrano and the garlic. Saute a minute or so, add the diced tomatillos with seeds and juices. Season mixture with coarse salt and saute the mixture of vegetables 5 minutes.

Add the beer and the juice of 1/2 lime and cilantro to the pan. Simmer sauce 5 minutes longer, then spoon hot sauce down over the fish filets. Garnish platter with a few extra sprigs of the cilantro.

Sometimes I serve this dish with avocados. The smooth meatiness of the avocados adds a nice contrast to the spiciness of the pepper and cumin. Cut avocados in 1/2 lengthwise and remove pits. Squeeze lime juice over the avocados to keep them from browning and season them with a little coarse salt. Arrange on the serving plate.

I liked this dish quite a bit. My friend Sarah helped me cook, and we both agreed it turned out quite well. I made enough sauce that I had leftovers. This was great, because it enabled me to use it on a 2nd dish for lunch the next day. I rubbed some raw shrimp in the same cumin/paprika mixture that I put on the flounder, then sauteed them for 2 minutes in the pan.

Once they were opaque, I threw in some of the tomatillo sauce and cooked it for another minute until the sauce was warmed through. I served this over a bed of white rice, which proved to be a quick and hearty lunch that could have easily been brown bagged to the office.

On another note, I went to the Carroll Gardens farmers market this morning. It was small, but had a nice selection of vendors. I grabbed some heirloom tomatoes, basil, bread, and cheese, and had a great lunch. I also stopped by a table offering samples of duck meat. I love when vendors do this, I don't know if I would have thought about cooking with duck on my own, but once I tasted the sweet meat, it had me dreaming of lots of different things I could do with it...possibly for another day.

Welcome to August everyone, the summer is flying by.

HTML Problems

Sorry about the formatting issues on the udon noodle post. I'm going to try to fix this over the next day and repost. I guess I'm not an html wizard.

Crazy about Cabbage

As you may have realized if you've been following my blog from the beginning, I have a small obsession with kale this summer. I made a southern style kale fried in bacon fat, and an Italian recipe with kale where I made it into a pesto. As the current kale season winds down in favor of an upcoming winter kale, I thought I'd do one last summer kale recipe in an Asian style.

Since I did the first two kale recipes with fish, I thought I'd make a vegan recipe today. A close friend of mine from high school is vegan, and when I was out visiting her in Portland, Oregon last month, I snagged this recipe from her. It's a Japanese style dish, udon noodles with shiitake mushrooms in a miso broth. Now in theory, it may sound, and possibly look a lot like the hot and sour soup I made a couple of weeks ago, but the flavors of these two dishes are completely different. The miso broth is much milder and richer than the that of the hot and sour soup.

So when I hit the market, I definitely had a plan. I started off with the kale, which I noticed was not as plentiful as it was at past markets. I price shopped the two stands that were selling it, and found that the second tent was selling it for $2/bunch. A whole dollar cheaper than the other tent. So I bought it there. I was running out of garlic and onions at home, so I picked up a garlic head for a $1, and a medium size red onion, for a little less.



On my way to pick up the mushrooms I noticed a barrel of zucchini that looked larger than my head. I know large vegetables can be enticing, but this isn't a pumpkin patch contest. In veggies, biggest is not always the best, and I've found that the smaller versions of the zucchini have much more flavor and a better texture. So beware of the 5lb. zucchini.

Just as I was leaving I picked up another New Jersey heirloom tomato and ate it as a snack while I was cooking. I can never get enough of these while they're in season.



As much as I'd like to get all of my ingredients at the farmers market, I know there are some that I'll have to get at an indoor market. Luckily I live in NY where small specialized markets with fresh ingredients abound. I stopped at M2M, the Asian market on 3rd Ave. where I tried, but failed to buy the laksa paste. Luckily this meal was more Japanese, so it was right up their alley. I picked up a package of fresh udon noodles and a tub of shiro miso in the refrigerated case in the back. Make sure you get the fresh udon noodles that are kept refrigerated, not the frozen ones, or the dried ones on the shelf.

Miso, a paste made from fermented soybeans comes in red and white varieties, and is a great base for soups. These are just a few different kinds:

Shiro Miso: This is a white variety with a mild flavor due to its short fermentation process.
Saikyo Miso: This is a sweeter white variety with a high rice content
Aka Miso: This red miso is very salty with a strong flavor due to the long fermentation process.
Awase Miso: This is a mix of both red and white miso paste.

There were about 4 or 5 different types of miso in the case, and the recipe didn't call for a specific kind, so I went with shiro miso since I didn't want to overpower the vegetables with a red miso. Plus I must admit, the red variety is often too strong for me. I got both of these things for about $3.50 each.

Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
1 medium onion
4 oz. of shiitake mushrooms
1 bunch of kale
1 head of garlic

At M2M Market:
1 600 gram package of udon noodles (this is about a pound and a half)
1 container of shiro miso
1 piece of ginger

Supplemental ingredients I had at home:
Mirin
Soy Sauce
Vegetable oil

Recipe: Udon Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in a Miso Broth

Ingredients
½ lb of fresh udon noodles (about 220 grams)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, sliced into thin half moons
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
2 tablespoons mirin
2 cups water
3 tablespoons miso
4 cups of chopped kale
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the udon according to the package directions, about 10 mins. When done, drain, and rinse with cool water.

Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and mushrooms in the oil for 5 to 7 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and the onions are softened but still have some crunch. Be careful to slice the onions thinly like the recipe calls for. I cut mine too thick, and while still good, it would have been better with thinner half-moons.

Add the garlic and ginger, and sauté for another minute.

Add the mirin, soy sauce, water and miso, and bring to a gentle boil.

Lower the heat to a simmer and add the kale. Toss the mixture around with tongs until the kale has wilted.

Add the noodles and use a pasta spoon or the tongs to stir them into the broth for about 2 minutes. Divide the udon and veggies among bowls and spoon broth over each serving.

I really liked how this recipe turned out. It was very fresh and light, yet the miso gave it a full bodied, complex flavor. It makes about 4 appetizer size bowls like the ones I used, or 2 entree size bowls.

This will be part 1 of a 2 part post. I picked up additional food at the Union Square market today that I'll make for dinner tonight, and blog about later in the week.

Malaysian Style Chicken Red Curry

As promised, I returned to the Union Square market on Friday. It was a last minute decision on my way back from a meeting in midtown, so as with the last post, I hit this market at the end of the day. It was winding down, but there was still plenty of selection.



I was just looking through some new seasonal recipes, and one for Chicken Laksa caught my eye. Laksa is a type of Malaysian soup that can be made in a coconut curry variety. Traditionally it is served with thick white noodles, but the recipe I saw called for thin rice noodles. Unfortunately, despite the book's statement that Laksa Paste could be found in most major supermarkets and any Asian market, I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched two East Village Asian supermarkets and Whole Foods, so I guess it's more obscure that I thought. I'm sure I'll be able to find it somewhere in NY, but I was pressed for time and so decided to go with Thai red curry paste instead.

I substituted one of the vegetables at the farmers market as well. The recipe called for sugar snap peas, but they're not in season at the moment here. I thought that green beans, which work well in most curries, would be a good replacement. Plus, they were in abundance at the market on Friday. I picked up a half pound of those for $2.50, and a pint of cherry tomatoes for $3.00. Then I swung by the herb section and bought a plump bunch of cilantro, also for $2.50. Cilantro is a pretty polarizing herb. I've found that most people either love it or hate it. I love it, and will put it in any Asian or Mexican dish that I'm making. I feel that when coupled with lime, it gives a really fresh flavor.




I purchased:

At the Farmers Market:
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 lb of green bush beans

At an Asian Supermarket:
2 cans of coconut milk
1 7 oz package of rice noodles
1 lb of chicken cutlets
1 jar of Thai red curry paste

Supplementary ingredients I had at home:
Chicken Stock
Sriracha
lime

Recipe: Chicken Red Curry (with a Malaysian flair)

Ingredients:
3 cups of coconut milk
3/4 of a cup of chicken stock
3 tablespoons of red curry paste
1 lb of chicken cut into strips or chunks
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb of green beans
7 oz of rice noodles
1 tsp of sriracha
handful of roughly chopped cilantro

In a large sauce pan combine coconut milk and chicken stock, and red curry paste. Bring to a slow boil and then add the chicken. Turn down the heat and let the chicken simmer in the pot for 10 minutes. While this is cooking boil a pot of water.



Add the rice noodles and cook for a minute and a half. The recipe didn't call for this, but I found my noodles to be a little undercooked when they were only cooked with the rest of the dish. Once these are done, add the tomatoes, the green beans, sriracha, and the partially cooked noodles. Simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cilantro. Serve immediately with a wedge of lime.



I found this to be one of the easier recipes I've made. It was very quick and very rewarding. The flavor was a bit too subtle for me so I added the lime and the sriracha which I felt kicked it up a notch. Next time I plan to actually find the laksa paste and compare the two versions. I love red curries, but I am excited to try something new.