crimfan's blog

Semolina comes from a very hard winter wheat from the Mediterranean region (now mostly grown in South Dakota or something) that is better known as the progenitor of good spaghetti. However, it makes all sorts of things, from a really delicious chewy bread to couscous, the staple of North African cooking. Couscous, for some reason, is much more protean than pasta. The huge surface area means it soaks up flavors and cooks very quickly (assuming you didn't buy the raw variety that requires multi-stage cooking). Here's two examples I make fairly often:

Due to an outpatient procedure I had this morning (100% fine, am home, etc.), the last meal I had was Tuesday evening. (Plenty to drink, thankfully.)

I just ate my first meal since then a few minutes ago---not much of a meal really as I have a hangover from the anesthetic and no gumption to make anything so I grabbed a handful of dried cherries. Now I love dried cherries and all things cherry in general but they were... bright... intense... chewy... amazing!

Many mixed drinks can be hacked once you get a feel for the ingredients. A friend of mine took a bartending course and knows way more about the "real" way of doing it, but I'm always surprising her with mixed drinks I have worked on lovingly for years. Most are of the kind that no bartender in his right mind would ever make because they take too long to do or require specialized ingredients.

I have some friends from Poland who, naturally enough, feel they know potatoes. So rather than fighting preconceived notions, I figured I'd make a left turn and switch to sweet potatoes, which are, of course, not potatoes at all.

Sweet potatoes launched themselves to their favorite list. I like them a lot as they are definitely a utility infielder, being able to be both sweet or savory, or somewhere in between, depending on what you want to do with them, and they cook more quickly than regular potatoes. You can bake them and serve with butter, salt and pepper, or butter and brown sugar, or add herbs, or whatever. They can be pie filling. You can cook them in shishkebab. Rather than just being starch, they've got all sorts of phytochemicals, but of course if you drown them in butter and/or sugar, well....

These aren't really a hack, per se, just awesome. I eat them plain, usually, still frozen perhaps with a few minutes' defrost to soften a little. They have a definite creaminess(?) that is a good substitute for the mouth feel of a premium ice cream and an intense, complex, tart flavor. Unlike a premium ice cream, though, they are very low in calories. An entire bag (about $3 when purchased on sale) has no more than 300 calories. Give them a try just like this. If you still crave the ice cream, you can add just a little bit. I may be a heretic on this but I prefer them still frozen to fresh. Last year when the farms in Joisey were selling fresh blueberries cheap to my local megamart ($1.50/pint, often), I would buy a bunch, wash, dry and freeze in a zip-top bag....

Here's an easy dinner for your special someone:

-ribeye or shell steak, pan-seared and finished in the oven
-broccoli rabe, blanched and sauteed in garlic, olive oil, sea salt and fresh black pepper
-roast parsnip
-fresh crusty rolls warmed in the oven, with real butter
-frozen blueberries and ice cream
-a nice shiraz

Simple, elegant and takes no more than 30 minutes.

I'm not sure why I didn't make more use of the broiler before. I suspect it was because I had gas stoves and using the broiler entailed (a) a broiler pan that was a pain to clean and (b) lots of stooping, with really hot food... always a recipe for disaster, not dinner. These days I have an electric stove and find it to be a very helpful item.

Roasting vegetables? Give them a little caramelization under the broiler. Depending on how long they need to cook, you may want to start them on bake (or microwave) first. For instance, asparagus or zucchini slices go just fine under the broiler when brushed with oil and a little salt, but quarters of fennel or rounds of potato or yam may require baking first. Toasting unusually sized pieces of bread? For instance, I like hand-sliced rounds of Neapolitan-style semolina bread, which are much too large for a toaster. Use the broiler!

Of course there are a few caveats: You have to watch your stuff or it will burn very quickly. An electric broiler will really heat up your stovetop so make sure you don't have anything on it that you regret getting hot.

Back when I was a kid (in the 1970s) my parents used to go gaga over asparagus. I didn't get it then. Many years later I learned. Now it's not hard to get out of season as an import but in my mind it's still a spring vegetable. Whenever it hits $1.99/lb (or so) I pick some up. It doesn't really need much help.

It does have one, ah, unusual side effect, though... #1 smells funny. But that's a small price to pay.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the tough skin on the bottom (or just snap the bottoms off) and clean to remove any bruised bits on the tips before you cook it. Tradition is to blanche it and then serve with Hollandaise sauce but I don't do Hollandaise sauce. I find sea salt (or a bit of tamari), black pepper and sesame oil works wonders. When I had access to a grill, I would put it on some foil and cook that way, finishing straight on the grill. Now I do it in the broiler the same basic way. (As AB will remind you, a broiler is just an upside down grill.)

Ever since moving to NY, I've discovered the joys of authentic mainland Chinese style food and one of my favorite dishes is prawns in chili garlic sauce with asparagus. (I buy this one, not make it, at the most excellent Szechuan Gourmet on 25 W 39th St., NYCNY.)

The most elaborate asparagus dish I make is a cream of asparagus soup. It's good stuff but takes a while and, well, let's just say it's pretty far from low-fat.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Makes about ten one cup servings.

1 lb asparagus
1 large sweet onion
1 medium white potato, diced
2 tbsp butter (approximately)
1 pint sweet cream
1 tbsp herbes de Provence
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock (low salt)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

Cut the tips off the asparagus and reserve. Trim the woody ends off and chop in to small (1/2") pieces. Dice the onion and potato. In a kettle on medium heat, salt the the asparagus pieces, onion and potato and sweat until tender in butter. In a separate skillet, lightly sautee the tips. Then combine the onion, potato and asparagus pieces with the chicken stock, half the black pepper, herbes de Provence, and bay leaves. Bring to a low boil for approximately 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to stand until safe to blend. Remove the bay leaves. In a blender, food processor, or with a potato masher, carefully puree the onion, potato and asparagus mixture to the desired consistency. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the cream, the remaining black pepper, and add the tips back in. Dilute using hot water to the desired thickness. Dust nutmeg on the top of the bowl when serving.