Grilled Romaine and Shrimp with Roasted Poblano Dressing

Warm spring days are no longer just on the horizon. On this sort of day, the grill beckoned and was simply not optional. I didn't have steaks on my mind. Grilled romaine was what I was craving. Grilling romaine is ridiculously easy, and makes a fine backdrop to any dressing or preparation. I used the blank canvas of the grilled romaine to make good use of leftover shrimp from yesterday's Saganaki shrimp experience.

I got a little assistance from Blue in the kitchen. She was in charge of skewering and grilling operations. She also helped w/ offering up a yay or nay to a bunch of accompaniment ideas I had brewing. I decided on a contrasting sauce duo topping the shrimp and grilled romaine. It just so happens I picked up poblano peppers yesterday with no clear intentions. So, I added a bit of my own flavor to a Food & Wine well-rated roasted poblano dressing. It's certainly a good friend to shrimp. This recipe is full of bright flavors and went well along-side my good friend Eric's delicious Mexican chile sauce.

Here's the recipe:

Grilled Romaine and Shrimp with Roasted Poblano Dressing 

• Poblano Chile Dressing 
• 4 poblano chiles
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro stems and leaves, chopped
• Juice from 1 lime
• Zest from 1 lime
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin 
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 
• Marinated Shrimp
• 1 lb shrimp
• 1/4 cup tomato puree
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

2 heads of romaine lettuce, cut in 1/2 lengthwise

Mexican chile sauce (optional)

• 
  
• 1. Marinade shrimp in tomato puree, olive oil, salt and pepper for 30 minutes.

2. Roast the poblanos under the broiler until charred. Let cool, peel charred skin and remove ribs and seeds. Chop poblanos and add to a food processor. 

3. Add scallions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, Greek yogurt, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper to the food processor, and puree until smooth. Add additional salt and pepper to taste if needed. 

4. Heat grill to medium high. Grill shrimp for 1 minute on each side and grill romaine for 1-2 minutes until slightly charred on the edges. 

5. Serve a 1/2 head of romaine lettuce with a skewer or shrimp dressed with poblano dressing and an optional Mexican chile sauce. I garnished this dish with a bit of chopped pan-toasted almonds. 

The Slanted Door: Cooking With Charles Phan

I've always been a big fan of restaurant cookbooks. From Elephant Walk to Prune, from Zuni Cafe to Cooking with Shelburne Farms, I'm instantly attracted to these books that present cooking from the perspective of a chef and restaurant owner. One of my favorite books is Come in, We're Closed, a book filled with delicious staff recipes. There are other similar books that present an interesting perspective from inside the restaurant world. When I saw that Charles Phan was coming out with The Slanted Door, the book named for his restaurant, I knew I had to add it to my ever-growing collection of restaurant cookbooks. 

I describe Vietnamese cuisine as my "first love." I was introduced to Vietnamese food by my colleague Kim Pham in my first job position out of college. She suggested Dac Hao, a local Rochester, NY Vietnamese restaurant, for lunch. Dac Hao is a traditional Vietnamese restaurant that is low on atmosphere and high on flavor. Just my kind of haunt, I've discovered. I quickly became a dedicated customer, ordering takeout a few times a week and bringing friends for dinner. They had roasted ducks and pork hanging in the window. and I would occasionally pop in and order a duck that would be chopped in front of me. I moved from Rochester in 1999 and I still miss the wonderful food of Dac Hao. It's my first stop when in town for a visit. 

Outside of basic natural foods cooking, my first cooking experiments were with Thai and Vietnamese dishes. My initial Vietnamese food explorations were cooking through a series cookbook, Vietnamese Cooking by Paulette Do Van. From this book, I prepared the common traditional dishes of Vietnam, such as Shrimp with Sesame Seeds on Toast, Pho, Fresh Spring Rolls, Simple Salad, and Shrimp and Pork on Sugar Cane. This is where I got my foundational lessons in Vietnamese cooking. I've since enhanced my Southeast Asian cookbook collection with several other excellent Vietnamese cookbooks. 

Slanted Door offers fresh rifts on Vietnamese cooking and includes many recipes that have a Mediterranean flair and tap into the French influences of Vietnamese cooking. He begins the book with some more traditionally oriented fare and moves into creations heavily influenced by modern cuisine and influences from his base of San Francisco. 

You'll be impressed by this book at your first glance. The cover is a gorgeous minimalist and textured design with a rustic appeal. The use of color is perfect and mirrors the style of photography throughout the book. Yes, one can enjoy this book by simply perusing and taking in the beauty of the food before even looking at the recipes. I also love the layout of the book. There were a few incarnations of Slanted Door in different locations, and the book is laid out in "Acts" representing each of these restaurants. Each act includes history of the chef/author, the progression in his food creations and corresponding recipes that match the style of cooking offered on the menus. The book covers everything you would enjoy from Charles Phan's eatery, to include recipes for basics such as broths and sauces and a long section of inventive cocktails. 

I tried several dishes from the cookbook and they were all a rave. The first appetizer  I made was the Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Garlic Sauce. I would describe this dish as Vietnam meets Eastern Europe and the results are wonderful. I'm looking forward to enjoying this dish again and again. It's a wonderful winter appetizer and a great way to use your fall and winter cabbages. The other appetizer I made was the Beef Carpaccio. This recipe was a big win for it's ease in preparation and excellent taste. Chan's rendition of this classic incorporates the traditional Southeast Asian flavor of rau ram herbs and chopped peanuts. You can find rau ram in your local Asian market. The recipe doesn't call for a side of Nuoc Mam (traditional Vietnamese fish sauce preparation), but I think it would be an excellent addition. I highly recommend using grass fed beef for this dish. 

Because I enjoy raw meat and fish dishes, I decided to make the Tuna Tartare. This was another dish that was simply prepared, yet beautiful and delicious. Chilled Louisiana Shrimp with Spicy Cocktail Sauce and Thai Basil Aoili was also a big hit in our household. There are many seafood oriented dishes, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves simply and elegantly prepared seafood. 

I also made a few of the vegetarian recipes. My favorites were the Stir Fried Green Beans and the Wok-Charred Eggplant with Satay Sauce. Just thinking about this flavorful eggplant dish makes me hungry! Of the meat mains, I only tried the Ginger Beef Vermicelli, which was slurped up in a flash. 

I'm looking forward to trying many more recipes from The Slanted Door. I'm particularly interested in making some of the delicious soup dishes and the Sardine Claypot, if I can get my hands on some good, fresh sardines. 

Kudos to Charles Phan on an excellent book. You'll also enjoy his other book, Vietnamese Home Cooking. I'm hoping he'll be publishing more soon! 

Challah!

Not wanting my cooking projects to stagnate, I've been steadily expanding beyond my typical cooking repertoire. This has led to exploration of new cuisines, trying new cooking methods, and creating traditional and fusion recipes. Flour based recipes such as breads, pastas and dumplings have been especially alluring. I did get my hands on a pizza stone and hope to soon experiment with making pizza on the grill. Only a few weeks past, I enjoyed a helpful semolina pasta making lesson from my friend Stephen. He also loves home cooking and taught me some useful tips for using a traditional Italian pasta machine. The results were delicious!  I also have designs on taking a 1:1 lesson on making Indian paratha and naan breads.

Our dear friend Jane generously invited my friend Toni and I to join her today for a challah baking lesson. She has a great deal of experience teaching close friends and other members of her synagogue how to bake challah. For special occasions, she may host 8-10 women at her home and they will all bake up to 30 loaves of challah together.

Baking of challah is a strong tradition for Jewish women, steeped in a longtime custom of baking challah bread on early Friday evenings before Shabbat. There are three Hebrew prayers said on Shabbat and one of them is the Ha-Motzi, a blessing of the bread before the meal.  The braiding of the bread represents the sacred and profane coming together. The sacred is the restful part of our lives, while the profane represents our work week and the tough things we experience throughout the week.

Jane shared with us that she has been making challah for countless years and considers challah baking her form of meditation. Challah baking is her way of shrugging off the stress from the week. She learned to make challah from her mother, who was a home economics teacher and excellent baker and home cook.

Jane was a patient teacher and made sure we knew that "There are stupid questions, but no stupid challah questions." She shared that there is no such thing as an ugly challah-they are all unique and beautiful. She appreciates variety in her challah making, experimenting with different flours, dried fruits and seed toppings. She occasionally makes junk food challah, which includes M&M's. I greatly appreciated the variations in making challah as a cook keen on making cooking and baking exploratory and fun.

We learned how to make 3 braided, 4 braided and 6 braided bread. Jane shared a great number of helpful tips along the way, such as adding oil to your bowl to keep your rising bread from sticking, how much to knead your bread (gratefully, as much as you want) and suggestions for oils, flours and yeast brands for challah.

Toni preparing to make braids

Now was time to bake Jane's challah. While waiting for the challah to bake, we enjoyed a lovely lunch prepared by Jane's wife Joan. We had a terrific salad using fresh vegetables from Joan's garden and from their CSA share from Next Barn over in Hadley, MA. A little balsamic, olive oil, salt, seeds and cheese were added. This was a perfect light summertime lunch. Thank you, Joan!

We were then sent off with our little challah care packages. At home, we tested our braiding skills. I could only hope for the best. I have to say that nothing went too awry, and the bread was tasty and appreciated by the family. I am looking forward to continuing to improve on making challah. I appreciate that the recipe for this bread involves a short ingredient list using items you typically always have in the kitchen. So, you can also whip this up at anytime when you have just a little extra time for bread baking.

Now on to the next new bread project!

In Her Kitchen

I've recently become an avid cookbook collector. Quite a lot of cookbooks and food books (both old and new) have made their way onto my bookshelves over the last year. The most cherished of all of these cookbooks is In Her Kitchen: Stories And Recipes From Grandmas Around The World. I loved this book as soon as I set my eyes on the cover. The cover is gorgeous, but it was the title that most grabbed my attention. I had a deep and strong connection with my Grandmother and greatly cherished our relationship. I have fond memories of spending time with her grocery shopping. After all these years since she has passed, I still have her grocery list memorized. And, I've had many wonderful relationships with incredible women many years my elder. Thus, I have a fondness and appreciation for "all things Grandma."

Before delving into the beauty of this book, I would like to say a little something about the author. Gabriele Galimberti is an inspiring Italian documentary photographer who has worked on many fascinating book projects. Some of his projects capture difficult to tackle topics and others are more lighthearted. His current project is Coffee Surfing. He will meet coffee lovers around the world to document stories of renewal and change. Pop on over to his website to learn more-I'm sure you'll find his work intriguing.

In Her Kitchen shares interesting personal stories of Grandmothers across the globe, alongside their recipes. Gorgeous photos are also shared for each featured Grandmother with their food and photos of a the recipe dish. You can enjoy cooking from this book, or simply reading the stories and taking in the beauty of the photography.

Needless to say, it was difficult to decide what to prepare from this book of mouth-watering dishes. I managed to narrow down my list to four dishes: Chinese Pork (Belly) Twice Cooked with Vegetables, Thai Stuffed Omelet, Argentinian Meat-Stuffed Pastries and Indian Chicken                                                                                                 Vindaloo.

My first adventure with In Her Kitchen was an Asian meal to include the Chinese and Thai dishes. Both dishes were incredible. I highly enjoyed making Pan Guang Mei's Twice-Cooked Pork with Vegetables (Hui Guo Rou). Pan Guang Mei is from Sichuan, China. She grew up in the countryside in a tiny house and now lives in the city of Chongqing and has one grandchild. This was my first time making pork belly, so I was prepared for a bit of an adventure. I was pleased to learn that making pork belly is very easy. As a bonus, it makes for a delectable and attractive dish. The dish as a whole was delicious. Making this dish also was an inspiration for cooking more with pork belly. This small cooking epiphany inspires me to cook more from this book. In Her Kitchen creates an opportunity for a jaunt around the world, sampling from many world cuisines.

Boonlom Thongpor of Bangkok Thailand has one grandchild. Her family has a small street restaurant and she considers herself an excellent cook. We loved her Thai Stuffed Omelet (Kai Yat Sai). This omelet is stuffed full of the savory flavors of pork, soy sauce, onions and fish sauce. I love the addition of chopped plum tomatoes to this flavor combination. I got a huge thumbs up from the family and I'll surely be making this again soon.

On to the next adventure. I have always loved empanadas and decided it was high time that I got some empanada making skills. Plus, Susana Vezetti's recipe looked pretty unique, so I felt the need to give this particular recipe a try. Susana is of Italian ancestry and from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She enjoys spending time with her children and also has a small business importing religious books from Italy. Whenever she sees her grandchildren, she brings her "Special Empanadas." They are indeed special. These empanadas are stuffed with cumin scented beef, onions, minced hard-boiled egg, raisins, red bell pepper and 1 green olive. The empanada pie dough was very good, creating the perfect crunchy atmosphere for the savory middle.

I ended my adventure in India. But, I will be back for more! Grace Estibero grew up in Goa, near the sea, but now lives in Mumbai. She is of Portuguese descent, like many who live in Goa. She shares her recipe for Chicken Vindaloo which is a dish that is an import from Portugal. This dish was really fun to prepare. I borrowed a large knife suitable for chopping up chicken from a colleague. I was not but at the chicken chopping for a first time. But, for the future, I'll probably just leave it to the butcher. How would you expect a dish to taste with a paste prepared from onions, chilies, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, cumin, cloves, turmeric, tamarind, sugar and peppercorns? Fantastic, of course! I had to go back for seconds on this flavorful dish.

I'm looking forward to continuing to cook my way through In Her Kitchen. I highly recommend this book and hope you enjoyed the blogpost.

I received this book from Blogging For Books for review.

Gardening The Community Celebrates the Harvest

It's become a family tradition to celebrate the harvest with Gardening The Community at their Pancake Breakfast and Harvest Fundraiser. This is a terrific event that supports a local food justice organization in Springfield. It's also a lot of fun, and truly a celebration. This year we brought our friend Toni and our goddaughter Parker for the first time. Our plan is to bring a few more friends every year to experience the "GTC love." It was great to see so many board and staff members of The River Valley Market Co-op also in attendance. And River Valley Market generously donated $1,000 in food to support this event and the great work of GTC!

The mission of GTC is to develop youth, urban agriculture and sustainable living to build healthy and equitable communities. There are many aspects to this organization that make it unique, innovative and inspiring. I thoroughly appreciate that GTC's youth development work builds great leaders in our community. The grit of the work is to turn unused lots in Springfield into thriving gardens. These vegetables are sold at local farmer's markets and other venues to support the work of GTC. The produce is often moved by bicycle, encouraging participants to engage in healthy activities and operate in a more sustainable way. Stop by the GTC website to learn more about their history, milestones and other programs, like GTC EATS! CSA Farm Share Program.

The pancake breakfast this year was held at The Trinity United Methodist Church near Forest Park. The place was packed with people enjoying GTC's delicious homemade pancakes, prepared by the youth. I especially love the Harvest Pancake. I'll include the recipe at the end of this post. It's wonderful eaten with their homemade compote, syrup and butter.

GTC had an excellent program lined up to celebrate the growth and accomplishments of GTC over the year. They  always recognize the youth with service awards. Awards are given to volunteers and community members who have given so much to help with the continued success of the organization. And, there's lively entertainment, such as music and poetry reading. This year, Maurice Taylor spoke and I was moved by what he had to share. I love the energy of this event and how it highlights a coming together to build something beautiful and healthful for our community. You can buy tickets for a raffle and this we won two lovely gift baskets.

The centerpieces were lovely! 

Like GTC's Facebook page so you can hear about upcoming events. They have a wonderful plant sale in the spring for all of you avid gardeners out there. Did you know GTC will also be participating in the Valley Gives Program? If you are able, support GTC during this 24 Hour Celebration of Generosity.

GTC's Harvest Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 medium carrot shredded
• 1 small apple shredded
• 1/4 cup shredded sweet potato

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter, sweet potate,carrot, and apple. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 5.

Brattleboro Beckons

The picturesque, old mill town of Brattleboro is just a short jaunt from Northampton. Only an hour away, it's a perfect day trip with plenty of terrific attractions, especially in the summertime. Brattleboro has a laid-back, mellow feel. Upon arrival, I naturally slow down, matching the easy pace of Southern VT residents. Folks are casual and outdoorsy. There is no need to put on a fancy dress to stroll Main Street, Brattleboro.

 The thing I cherish the most about Brattleboro is the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. This is no ordinary market. Visiting the market reminds me of attending church. For locals, this is where you'll find all of your friends and neighbors and make time to catch up with each other. The 50+vendors are lined up in a square, and in the center of the square are a few gorgeous mature trees to catch some shade, picnic tables for eating at, and an occasional musical act to entertain the market goers. The vendors include farmers, artisan food purveyors, restaurants and crafters. There's something for everyone. From Parisian style pastries, to Malian food to wood fired pizza, there are many choices for a tasty lunch. I usually have the Malian food and a small French pastry for dessert. There is also a very good Indian Vegetarian restaurant. I also often enjoy the amazing homemade lemon-lime aid, especially on a hot day.

One of the fine products I tried for the first time this year was the Nasturtium Vinegar from Circle Mountain Farm, located in Guilford, VT. They grow and prepare food for their CSA and for area Farmer's Markets. I also appreciate their mission to work their land in a sustainable way and to be activists for the local food movement. You can sample some lovely, local wines from the celebrated Putney Mountain Winery.  I always snag a loaf of delicious bread from Orchard Hill Breadworks. They sell lovely savory breads such as Sweet Pepper & Cheddar or Onion, Pepper and Parmesan bread.

As you can see here, I found my funny bone at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. I can be quite menacing when I have a couple of fresh and local daikon radishes for weapons.

Fresh produce includes favorites like daikon radishes, strawberries, lettuces, and many other gorgeous local fruits and vegetables. There are lovely perennial herb plants and vegetable seedlings to take home and plant in the garden.

I usually bring a cooler, because there are plenty of meat and dairy products at the market, to include eggs, pork, beef and lamb. I make sure not to miss out on buying cheese from one of the cheese makers. Vermont cheese is the best cheese around!

 Strawberries at Dutton Farm

 Here is one of the many crafters from the market. Crafts include artisan jewelry, hand-made clothing and textiles as well as hand-felted alpaca products.

I appreciate that I can also pick up handmade soap or other bath and body products. These are products that are all natural and often organic. I find it to be quite a relief to know that I can trust what is in these products for their safety and for their sustainability.

There are many household items as well such as pottery, wooden cutting boards and area rugs. It's one stop shopping at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market. If you decide to pay a visit, set aside a couple of hours to thoroughly enjoy the experience!

I went back to Brattleboro with Donna to FINALLY try out Dosa Kitchen Restaurant. I have been meaning to go for months. I'm glad we were able to carve out a little time for a visit to this fine establishment. We met up with our friends Patti & Jerry in Brattleboro and they took us over to the Dosa Restaurant owned by Leda Weintraub and her husband Nash Patel.

Dosa Kitchen is a food truck that is open from spring to October. Nash serves up their fine food on Saturdays at the Brattleboro Winter Farmer's Market.

The cuisine at Dosa is authentic South Indian. They believe strongly in farm to table cuisine, using organic foods and locally grown foods as much as possible. I especially appreciate that they never use factory farmed meat products.

Being newbies to Dosa Kitchen, we decided to try just about everything on the menu and had ourselves quite the spread.  We ordered the cheese dosa, chicken curry with uttapam, a butternut squash dish and a couple of the all-natural sodas. Our dishes also came with greens and chutney.

Donna and I were both very impressed with all the food. Although it was quite a lot of food, it was light and we weren't too full after our lunch.
We'll certainly be returning in the near future. I'm also hankering to check out the Winter Market, which takes place on Saturdays.

 Here is our incredibly delicious spread. 

To top off our day, I had the pleasure of purchasing a copy of Leda's wonderful new cookbook, Cultured Foods For your Kitchen: 100 Recipes Featuring the Bold Flavors of Fermentation. This is an exciting new cookbook that teaches about the art of making fermented foods in your own kitchen. There are recipes for making these foods as well as for dishes that include fermented foods.

I plan on cooking my way through this cookbook this fall and am excited to explore pickling, making kefir and other fun foodie experiments.

Thank you Leda, for signing my book and for the photo!

In addition to The Farmers Market and Dosa Kitchen, there are so many fun places to stop in Brattleboro. I also enjoy kayaking on the West River or taking a dip at the swimming hole, stopping by the unique Sam's Outdoor Outfitters, poking around through bookstores or trying one of the other excellent in town restaurants. And, a trip isn't complete without stopping in at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Brattleboro is a thriving arts community and there are also plenty of interesting events and festivals throughout the year. I hope you have a chance to pay a visit to Brattleboro soon!

12 Mile Meal Chef Battle 2014

My friend Rene graciously extended an invitation to join her at the 12 Mile Meal Chef Battle event at the Northampton Jazz Fest last weekend. I happily accepted, had a fantastic time, and hope to attend next year. 12 Mile Meal is an organization that promotes the idea of eating meals made with food made locally within a 12 Mile radius. Their business mantra is "The Right Choice for your Health, the Community and the Environment." They have charter memberships available for like-minded organizations, offer up newsy tidbits about what is happening locally in Western Massachusetts and participate in events that match their mission.

This event is a well-attended fundraiser to support the Jazz Festival and is a competition between three local restaurants to prepare the best meal using all locally sourced food. All of the food and beverage is donated from local farmers, food manufacturers, brewers and wineries.

The three restaurants competing this year were Viva Fresh Pasta, Sierra Grille and Galaxy Restaurant. The contest is judged by a panel of judges and food is prepared for the judges along with a table of Diner Donors for each restaurant. Restaurants receive awards for Best Appetizer, Best Entree, Best Dessert, Best Decorated Table and Best Overall.

I'm pleased we were at the Galaxy Restaurant Table as we had excellent company and hostesses who were both sweet and generous with the wine pour. And, of course, our food was outstanding!

 Galaxy's incredible Chicken Stuffed Heirloom Tomato 

with a sauce of locally grown corn and a lovely

zucchini salad prepared with shiso leaf. Galaxy won

the award for Best Appetizer! 

 Our taste buds were enthralled with this delicious, 

perfectly grilled local steak with pickled beets, 

Mycoterra Farm mushrooms and a butternut squash 

sauce. Galaxy takes the award for best Entree! 

Our show-stopping dessert of savory biscuit, apple,

plum, plum reduction, husk cherries, creme

fraiche and lavender. No award for dessert,

but this was amazing and award deserving! 

Not surprisingly, Galaxy took the overall award. Thank you to Galaxy restaurant and 12 Mile Meal. See you next year. By the way, Galaxy is located in Easthampton. We have enjoyed their delicious food, inventive cocktails and excellent service. Stop by and see them sometime!