Growing up in the midwest, I hated potato salad. It’s true. The staple side dish gracing every BBQ was the bane of my outdoor dining existence. It occurred at some point in when I hatched a distaste for mayonnaise.

I believe this decision formulated shortly after I made myself a tuna fish sandwich: In attempts to get the fishy tuna flavor out of my sandwich, I mixed in close to 2 cups of mayonnaise (into a single-serving can of tuna). It didn’t help, and I ended up discarding the sandwich, two bites of which gave me a horrible stomach ache. (Who would have thought with all that mayonnaise?)

Next, mayonnaise-heavy potato salad popped into my vision at every deli counter. There is something about prepared deli counter salads that has always told me to stay away. Is it the resemblance to the lunch line at school? Or perhaps the display that gives everything a brownish-blue hue and make nothing appear to be refrigerated?

Let us pinpoint these moments as the beginning of my mayonnaise banishment.

Obviously, this dislike of mayonnaise, living in the midwest, brings me to my hatred of potato salad. Because we all know midwest potato salad and mayonnaise go hand-in-hand.

It was not until college that I tried potato salad again. My good friend A made me her family’s Lebanese Potato Salad, which she described as simply adding the Lebanese basic seasonings: garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper. Light, simple and totally delicious, it awakened me to a whole new world of looking at potatoes: Did you know potatoes don’t need to be mashed with butter or fried and dipped in ketchup to taste good?

My preferred method of cooking potatoes now is making a potato salad using the Lebanese trio (trio because in my book, an herb, salt and pepper are given). Sometimes I spice it up with some hot chili flakes, sometimes I add other vegetables to bulk it up, as in this case. You cannot go wrong when you work with these basic, yet deliciously pure ingredients.

Please note: I have recently found new appreciation for mayonnaise. While I still do not use it in a tuna sandwich, I can understand its place in a vinegar-based coleslaw (just a little fat, not saturated in mayonnaise). I also admit that I recently made my own mayonnaise and highly suggest a homemade version over anything store bought. (Further, I prefer homemade because I know I will actually finish it– the smallest bottle of store bought mayonnaise has gone bad in my refrigerator. With a shelf life over one year, you do not want to know what rancid mayonnaise smells like.)

Potato Salad with Corn and Green Beans
Serving size= 6-8. Cook time=  15 minutes. Prep time=  10 minutes.
1 pound potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size (I prefer the texture of new potatoes in potato salad because they hold shape and texture)
1 cup corn, sliced from cob  fresh (or canned)
1 cup green beans, cleaned and halved
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt/ pepper to taste

Boil potatoes in salted water for 10-15 minutes, until soft when pricked with a fork. While potatoes are cooking, place fresh corn, green beans, olive oil and garlic in the serving bowl. When potatoes finish cooking, drain, but do not rinse with water. Place hot potatoes in the serving bowl and toss. The residual heat will steam the corn and beans, leaving the beans snappy (if you prefer beans more done you can steam them for 30 seconds before you add them to the hot potatoes). Finish by tossing with the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm, at room temp, or cold.

An important garden lesson: you cannot stop a cucumber plant from going crazy– Actually, you cannot stop any vining plant from clinging and climbing wherever it sees fit. But let’s talk cucumbers.

I planted an heirloom variety known as lemon cucumber. Lemon because the resulting fruit is fairly lemon shaped and ripen from light green to a bright lemon yellow. When I checked on the plant two Fridays ago there were a number of flowers waiting to burst with fruit. I left for a week to visit D in upstate New York terrified I would miss out on a massive cucumber harvest. (Seriously, I had three different dreams about lost or unattended garden bounty.)

While upstate, I purchased a beautiful 3-gallon ceramic crock pot from a lovely antique dealer– really a gift for all those cucumbers ready to spring to life. When D and I returned Sunday we headed to the garden for our first massive harvest: corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and ever more basil.

We’re overflowing with cucumbers now and decided to take action. Garden cucumbers head to the crock for brining and CSA cucumbers get crock treatment or turned into the great little snack you see pictured above. I’ll provide a picture of the brined cucumbers once the pickles are (hopefully) tasty and ready for the camera.

Until then, satisfy your cucumber (and tomato) bounty with this fresh and easy snack. I used a hearty cranberry-walnut bread as the base. Any other good bread will do, or go without bread, using the cucumber as a base. Top with any fresh herb and voila, a tasty garden treat.

Cucumber Bites
Serving Size= 5 piece. Prep time= 5 minutes.
5 small slices, or 2 larger slices cut small of cranberry-walnut bread
1 cucumber, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 vine ripe tomato, sliced 1/2-inch thick
salt/ pepper to taste
5 slices, 1/4-inch thick, feta
fresh thyme for garnish (parsley, chives, parsley or cilantro will work too)
lemon spritz (optional)

Method: Toast bread until golden. Layer bread with cucumber and tomato. Season with salt and pepper then top with feta and a sprinkle of herbs. Add a spritz of lemon over top for some added zip.

I know, I know, all the controversy over foie gras. It’s so over, right? I’m staying out of politics with this one because I’ve heard pretty good arguments on both sides. (Honestly though, it’s not like I’m buying the stuff all the time.)

But I like the stuff. Actually, I think I may love the stuff (in small doses from time to time, of course). You know what else? I can get it more local than my mangosteens. Hudson Valley in fact, which is pretty much New York City’s backyard. A little more food for thought: With Chicago lifting the ban in May, are we a little closer to acceptance? (Obviously, not in California where the ban is in effect until 2012.)

Back in December D received a beautiful gift of foie gras and miraculously, some still exists tucked in the freezer, sliced and ready to go, wrapped in wax paper and excessive amounts of plastic wrap to fend off freezer burn. Still there because, simply, I don’t think about foie gras every day and because D practices what I like to call “boy searches,” whenever he looks for something. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about: Man opens drawer or cabinet and without moving declares an item not present because it is not face level, front row, with a neon sign screaming I’m what you’re looking for! My reply is something along the lines of, Yes it is. Bottom shelf, left side, behind the x. This doesn’t just happen in the kitchen.

A few months back we broke into the stash and took a handful of slices to a local wine bar and let the chef do what he may. Three amazing dishes were presented to us, wines to match, shared equally between us, my friend DR, the owner and chef.

But now while D is away, as cruel as it may be, the mice do play!

Oh… just a little crumb, he’ll never even notice– until of course he returns and reads this post. By which point it will be happily digested.

Strangely enough, I wasn’t thinking about foie at all when I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to eat some. I was writing away on a lonely Friday night thinking about peaches (I don’t always think about food, I was writing about peaches, okay). For some strange reason, foie gras popped in, blocking my peach receptors. The urge was so strong that I vowed my brain I would make foie gras the following day for a little snack if it would so kindly return to peaches.

I’ve been so good lately it’s a reward really. As I said, D is away and I have three times the amount of vegetables to cope with than normal. Not only is there a full Community Supported Agriculture share booming with summer harvest (seriously, 10 zucchini!?), there is also the garden shoving zucchini and basil down my throat. Perhaps like a future foie you could say.

While I methodically remove one item from the summer repertoire each night (a quart of pesto, frozen zucchini), I turned vegetarian eating through the non-preservable, refusing to purchase more food for the overflowing fridge.

Possibly this is where the overwhelming urge for foie gras came from: My own rejection of meat protein this past week lured me into the most forbidden meat of all: foie gras. I will continue to swear by it though: It was the peach’s fault! And how delicious they are together.

A closer look at the picture reveals I picked the worst of the foie (if there is such a thing)– The little scrappy lobe bits that weren’t real slices. And while I’m admitting things, I will also state that when the foie gras was finished from my plate, I licked the remaining fat clean off.

Seared Foie Gras and Peaches
Serving Size= 1
1 one-inch thick slice of foie gras
salt/ pepper
1/2 peach, sliced into 4 wedges
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sugar
pine nuts
2 or 3 leaves of fresh chopped mint
1 tablespoon heavy cream (optional)

Method:  Warm a small skillet to medium-high heat. Sprinkle foie gras with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix the coriander, cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over peach wedges, both sides. Sear peaches on both sides, until blackened, set aside. Sear foie gras on both sides, until blackened. Do not overcook the foie gras. The longer it cooks the less foie you get as it melts to fat! Place foie gras on a a plate, layer on peaches, sprinkle with a few pine nuts, mint and drizzle with cream. Serve with a mild cracker or melba toast.
NOTE: Heavy cream is optional in this dish. Already so creamy on it’s own, it doesn’t need it, but, well, peaches n’ cream.

Dare I say I’ve gone strawberry crazy?

I am quite happy to inform folks that I have bushels of strawberries in my possession. I excitedly contemplated all the delicious things to make: wine, jam, ice cream, scones, lemonade… As I thought, I realized I was quickly eating through my stash. So sweet in their natural state, I started thinking, Applying them to a dish would be sacrilegious! (They do much better in my belly unadulterated.)

The more sensible part of me methodically began pulling stems and lining the berries on a baking sheet to freeze, then bag for a future use (as there was no way all could be eaten before spoiling). As I lined a cookie sheet with strawberries I realized how nicely uniform so many of them were. In fact, they appeared to be a perfect little army dressed for strawberry battle in some distant fruit land– perhaps protecting Strawberry Shortcake (the cartoon or the dessert)? Each berry was outfitted with a gnome-like cap. (How adorable.)

As I admired my infantry, the Giant of Terror in the Land of Berries approached. Oooo, strawberries! D exclaimed as his colossal hand reached into my helpless army patch and snatched up soldiers. One after another he ate my freshly stemmed friends. “Stop eating my strawberry army!”

“Uhhhh… Your what?”

“Nothing… They’re just my strawberry army. You can’t eat them, eat these.” I shoved over the random piling of discarded strawberries sprawled on the counter, not perfect enough to join my forces.

So now sits a bag of berries marked “not for giants” awaiting recipes in the freezer. If I can rein myself in they will be saved for a blistery day in late December. While I ponder future berry times I’ll whip up an occasional strawberry smoothie: 2 parts frozen berries, 1 part heavy cream. It is the purest and sweetest milk shake I ever had.

Strawberry Smoothie
Serves 2
1.5 cups fresh frozen strawberries
3/4 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

Method: Place ll ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. Add more heavy cream to thin out if necessary.

If you can still find some fresh berries this late in the season a favorite application was in salad. You may add or subtract from any of these ingredients.

Strawberry Salad
Serves 4-6
1 head romaine, or similar crisp lettuce, washed and separated
1 handful arugula, washed
1 bulb kohlrabi*, sliced into matchstick size cuttings
1 bunch fresh herbs (thyme, basil, parsley work well), loosely chopped
1 cup sugar snap peas, washed and stemmed
4 ounces goat cheese or fresh ricotta, crumbled
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Method: Toss all prepped ingredients and serve with dressing on the side.
*Kohlrabi is an odd looking vegetable, but worth a try (it’s very high in vitamin C). The flavor is similar to cabbage, but crossed with the crispness of a perfect apple. It is a great addition raw to coleslaw or salad. Just cut off the stalk and slice (I don’t even peel mine).

Mustard Vinaigrette
This dressing will keep so make enough and store in a small glass container. Season to preferred acidic taste.
1 part whole grain mustard (Dijon makes an excellent one)
1 part lemon juice
1 part olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Method: Add all ingredients to a jar and shake just before applying to salad. (This dressing is great over fish like halibut or salmon.)

NOTE: This strawberry salad recipe was entered into Healthy Cooking’s recipe event, because hey, what’s more healthy than fresh ingredients? No substitutes needed!

For months D and I have been eating our way through beets. About eight pounds every three weeks for four months. As D proclaimed time and again, “there are only so many beets a person can take.” That person is obviously not me. Still, it is true there are only so many pounds of beets a single person can consume when her partner in eating has sworn them off. After a recent Passover dinner I managed to squeeze a variation of this salad on the menu. D sleeps content knowing the beets are exorcised from the refrigerator.

While I know these storage babies would keep another few months in the fridge, I also know once Community Supported Agriculture season hits us June 5, we’ll be finding a home for more blushing beauties. (Note to D: Prepare yourself.)

Over the months, to hide the offensive vegetable from D, I was able to work them into pizza, gnocchi, ravioli (beet-blue cheese filling tucked into whole wheat orange zested pasta), chocolate cake, soups (of course a borscht as well) and even pickled them for holiday gifts handed off to D’s father, who shares my love of beets. I contemplated ice cream most recently, but bowed out of that thought when all the fresh mint began hitting my senses.

Over months of experimentation, the above salad was one application where I managed to get D to enjoy his beets without sausage, pesto or chocolate poured on top. It is a favorite dish of mine because it doesn’t involve a multi-step process with the beets, just roast, slice and chill.

This salad is a colorful reminder that Spring is here, a bounty of vegetables await us, but we can make do with our storage supplies until Mother Nature decides to kick in. I think it is best with a little crumbled cheese, feta or goat, tossed into it. For Passover I made due without the cheese, substituting a tahini-citrus dressing for creaminess, also good. A number of herbs work equally well depending on taste, what is around or what you are serving this with: cilantro, purslane, parsely, celery tops or basil.

Beet and Orange Herb Salad
Serving Size= 4 persons. Cook time= 1.5 hours. Active time= 15 minutes.
4 good sized beets (a little smaller than a fist), golden or red
2-3 navel oranges (grapefruit, clementines or tangerines would work too)
1/4 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1/2 cup packed mint, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Scrub beets under running water, remove greens, reserve for another use. Place beets on a pan over a large sheet of tinfoil. Sprinkle beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap the beets in foil, bake 45 minutes, turn, bake another 45 minutes or until a fork punctures both sides easily. Remove from oven, unwrap and let cool 5 minutes. Using two paper towels, work the the skins off the beets by pushing and sliding the paper towels around, starting at the tops and working around the beets. Slice beets into bite size pieces, about 1 inch long by 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate while prepping the remaining ingredients.
2) Slice top and bottoms off oranges. Lay oranges flat then work around the orange slicing off the skin. Slice into bite size pieces, about the same size as the beets. Place in serving dish.
3) Add cheese, mint, cardamom, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to oranges. Toss to incorporate. Add beets and toss briefly to just incorporate trying not to let too much of the beets bleed into the oranges or cheese. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
NOTE: Try a variety of other herbs. Instead of cheese, add 2 tablespoons tahini. Add croutons to make the dish a light dinner or lunch.

I am a big fan of bean dips and sauces. A healthy great tasting snack that is easy to whip up in seconds cannot be wrong. Personally, I always keep an emergency can of beans in the cabinet for meals in a pinch, when friends drop in hungry or to thicken up soup stock. So when D told me about a new bean dip his friend was working on I thought it was a great idea. Why not a ready-made dip for all those emergency instances and everything in between!?

Brothers Big Guy and Little Guy, makers of Cool Beans, were nice enough to send over some samples for review as well as host a giveaway to one lucky Just Braise reader for a 3-pack sample of some beans (read on!).

(more…)

Need some last minute inspiration planning your Super Bowl Party?

Follow this link to see my latest Queens Chronicle article for some easy and delicious plays on party favorites. Recipes include spicy sausage chili, crab deviled eggs, your standard guacamole and a brownie recipe that will have you doing a Super Bowl Shuffle.

Super Bowl Food Plays, Queens Chronicle, 1/31/08.

Happy New Year!Please take notice (some of you already have) that things have changed around Just Braise. I’ve implemented a new, cleaner design. I believe the new look not only displays my dishes more deliciously, but has a soothing feel that aids in digestion (much more so than the old blue/ orange harshness of last year)!

With every New Year we are asked to make Resolutions. I am sort of sick of the usual “lose weight,” ones that really just prep a person for the beach and allow the weight roller coaster to start up again in the fall. Really, do people still make these sorts resolutions or is it the media onslaught of fat trimming pills to pop come the New Year (has anyone else noticed these all over TV?!) that make us think everyone is making them. While I do think overall lifestyle changes are healthy, they should not be a New Year makeover.

Here are my “Resolutions”: Eat more food that is better for the environment, as well as the people that bring my food to my table (farmers and workers alike). To become better educated on where my food comes from, what is inside (packaging labels as well as gene splice) and the global impact my food choices have on us all. On a broader scale, I hope that more people have access to better food choices, more reasonably priced pesticide-free foods, hear less lies about GMOs, and increase worker rights on farms and in factories. Maybe these are not all resolutions, but simple hopes for the New Year.

As for the picture in this post…

D and I ate a lot of kale back in ‘07. I had never really considered the leafy green before. Like most people, I stuck with what was easy. Simply, more often than not, with what I knew. Sure I ventured out and bought new things here and there (much to D’s initial horror) because finding new delicious foods is always a positive.

But my local groceries don’t really carry much kale, which is unusual– it’s a New York food staple. It is so easy to grow, and more importantly, it is so healthy. Seriously, there is so much good information about kale it’s almost like the new chicken soup (see here, here, and here)! There are even whole blogs waxing poetic on kale (see here and here).

As a member of my local CSA I received a lot of kale. I’m talking every week. Initially, I chopped raw kale super fine and tossed it into salads. Mixed in with all the other vegetables it just became another complex, earthly flavor in those salads. Growing tired of that, I threw every bunch into omelettes. Sure, not very exciting, but now I was cooking the kale– One giant kale omelette after another. As the season tapered on and I realized I grew tired of my kale omelettes, I experimented with other methods.

While some folks in the CSA juiced their kale (adding in peaches, apple juice and more), some made kale pesto, others threw it into soups. I thought these methods, more often than not, covered up that great subtle bitterness I had come to love in the vegetable. So I thought, hey, it looks sort of like lettuce, and voila, the kale sandwich.

This method was so good D and I started making it nightly. We grabbed for extra kale at distribution (no joke) and when we ran out of kale, used other bitter greens (cabbage, broccoli rabe, collards). Still, our favorite green was kale. I added a creamy goat cheese to play with the earthy qualities of kale and come Thanksgiving, I made this sandwich for D’s sisters who ate it up– “that was kale?!” (Note that D’s sisters were subjected to kale salad earlier in the season and were not so into it, though the kale omelette did win hearts).

D and I eat these sandwiches open-faced and find them quite filling. You can cut these sandwiches into bite sized appetizer noshes and serve them at a party. If you have no bread, use crackers. If you don’t like goat cheese, use swiss, a smoky gouda, or whatever you find works best for you.

As for the celeriac chips. Need I remind folks that fried things are delicious? Celeriac, or celery root, is a variety of celery grown as a root vegetable. It sort of looks like a crushed brain when you buy it, but smells and tastes slightly, of celery. Just peel the skin and use it as you like. It’s great raw, as a soup, folded into mashed potatoes, or in this application, fried! Simply slice it thin, fry it 3-4 minutes in hot oil, drain on a towel and sprinkle with salt.

Kale Salami Sandwich
Active time= 10 minutes.
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 bunch kale
2 slices good bread (I like to use sourdough)
2 tablespoons goat cheese
salami

1) Warm the butter or olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Roll kale like cigars and slice into thin strips. Add kale into the skillet, coat with butter and cover.
2) Toast bread. Spread each with goat cheese.
3) Stir kale, when it has turned a deep green, add on top of cheese. Add a few slices of salami.

Here is another short sweet piece I wrote for The Queens Chronicle (linked below). If you’re throwing a New Year’s Eve party don’t stress! See my article for a few great recipe suggestions, including white bean rosemary dip, a simplified figs in a blanket and taramosalata (caviar dip).The Queens Chronicle, Holiday Recipes for An Appetizing New Year’s Eve

Instead of the way too simple, uber elegant dish I made with the leftover rice, I leave you this:

L-l-l-l-latkes golden brown
L-l-l-l-latkes eat ‘em down
Fry them in oil, wrap them in foil…

It’s the song I learned in school that made me hate them. I was unable to eat them for years. Fry in oil and wrap in foil?! That just sounds like it would end as a humid soggy mess, not a crisp and delicious treat it is supposed to be.

So on this, the last night of Hanukkah, I leave you with latkes, golden brown, crisp and delicious. No fancy tricks, like a salsa topping, or cumin spiced. No mango chutney or made with celariac instead of potatoes. Plain, traditional, never boring, very delicious, potato pancakes. My favorite way to eat latkes is as a base for poached eggs. Today, it’s a simple and easy snack.

Latkes
Active time= 15 minutes
1 pound russet potatoes
2 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons flour

1) Rub and wash potatoes clean. Use a food processor with a grater setting to shred the potatoes. Remove potatoes and spread them on a paper towel, set another on top and press to absorb as much water as possible.
2) Scramble eggs in a medium-sized bowl. Add garlic powder and flour, mix until combined.
3) Heat oil, enough to come 1 inch up the sides of a pan over high heat. Oil will be ready for frying once a wooden spoon, inserted upside down bubbles.
4) Add potatoes to egg and flour mixture. Stir to combine. Form small handfuls into flat pancakes and fry, 5-7 minutes each side, until golden. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or applesauce.