Category Archives: Recipes

Sometimes I cook things. Well, often I do.

Baked Beans

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Every fall since childhood, I've watched my grandmother make these beans. When I was 18, and finally moved out into my own place, one of the first things I purchased for my kitchen was a bean pot. You can't find too many of them in stores anymore, but you can find them online at Amazon and a few other places. You don't need to spend more than about $20-30 to get a good one.  Amazon does have one that isn't too expensive. You want one that looks like this. You can also use a Le Creuset dutch oven with the cover, although you don't need to.

I make a big batch of these babies at least once a month from September to February. The molasses and mustard give it a nice complex flavor, and the apple gives it a bit more sweetness. Try them over a baked potato with just a bit of Gorgonzola or sharp cheddar. Or just as they are.

 

To make it: 

The recipe is pretty simple: soak about a cup and a half of beans overnight. I use a few different varieties, including Money and Calypso beans (available from a small grower here in MA), but I also use Dark Red Kidney beans quite often. 

When you're ready to make the beans, drain them and rinse them with cold water. In the beanpot, combine:
1/2 cup of molasses;
1/2 cup of brown sugar;
a heaping tablespoon of good stoneground mustard;
a pinch of salt and pepper;
one apple, quartered and cored;
one onion, peeled and quartered.

Pour the beans into the pot and give it a good stir, then cover with cold water and stir again. Cover the pot and bake it in a 350°F oven for about 6 hours, stirring about every hour or so, until beans are soft and most of the liquid has thickened into a sauce. You may need to add a bit of water during the cooking process; the beans should always be covered with water. Also, many recipes call for salt pork or some bacon; you can absolutely add that if you want to, but I never have, and the beans come out wonderful.

Pasta with tuna & roasted tomatoes, onions & garlic

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It may seem foolish to turn on the oven in the middle of summer. Okay, actually, yes, it was foolish. But when you spend the day watching the Cooking Channel, and you come across this recipe which just happens to involve many things you already have in your pantry, and you get inspired... you can imagine where this goes.

This version is decidedly different, primarily because part of my all-day food-porn-fest involved watching Jamie Oliver do a fantastic episode of Jamie at Home that was all about onions, and we happened to get a big bunch of smallish red spring onions from our farm share. This, combined with about a pound of grape tomatoes that looked like they would go bad immediately if I didn't use them soon, led to the following adaptation.

The important things to note about this recipe are the following:

  • When I talk about "spring onions," I don't mean scallions, which are often referred to as spring onions. What I mean is the small, fresh onions that have long, scallion-like tops on them. You can find them at most farmer's markets, and they're DELICIOUS. They should have a small to medium sized bulb that gets bigger as the season moves forward.
  • Oil-packed tuna is very important in this recipe, as it has significantly more flavor than the water-packed variety. There's an Italian brand that I like, but the Trader Joe's oil-packed Yellowfin is what I used for this, and it was great.
To make it: 

Preheat the oven to about 350°F. In an oven proof skillet, combine:

  • 1 lb grape tomatoes, whole, or 1 lb halved cherry tomatoes
  • 3-4 smallish spring onions, cut in quarters or halves (depending on size - you want them about the size of a largish orange segment)
  • 3-5 cloves of garlic, whole (cut them in half if they're particularly large)

Dress with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and shake in the skillet to coat everything evenly. Put in the oven for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, shell and prep

  • about a pound of fava beans

To do this, you first want to snap off the top of the bean and drag the top down. There should be a string that goes along with the top of the strip, like a zipper. Pop the shell open and pop the beans out of the shell. Then you'll want to blanch the beans quickly (in the pasta water is fine) for about 30 seconds to a minute depending on the size of the beans. When they're done, immediately put them under cold water and pinch off the white skins of the beans, revealing the green loveliness underneath. Hold these aside, and put

  • about half a pound of pasta

into the boiling water. When the veggies have been roasting for about 30 minutes, check them; they should be a bit caramelized. If not, put them in for another ten minutes or so, but first add

  • a handful of oil-cured black olives (optional)
  • the fava beans (only if they aren't cooked - they should be soft, but not mushy)

When the pasta is done and the veggies are ready, drain the pasta and toss it into a bowl with the vegetables, the fava beans, and

  • a can of olive oil-packed tuna, drained
  • a handful of julienned basil
  • a healthy drizzle of balsamic vinegar

mix it all together and serve with a bit of feta cheese.

Cilantro/Coconut Pesto (ChimiChurri)

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For two seasons now, we've gotten more cilantro than we can possibly imagine finding useful in our farm share. Last year, in an effort to figure out what to do with it, I made this sauce. Served over salmon or steak, it is impossibly tasty.

You make it pretty much the same way you would pesto - although you want it to turn out a bit more liquid than a pesto. The key to this is the acid - you want a bit of citrus and vinegar to cut the cilantro.

To make it: 

1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed

3 garlic scapes, chopped roughly

1/2 tsp good dried chiles (Aleppo or Chipotle work, although I used a Mediterranean pepper)

pinch of salt

juice of 1 orange

juice of 1 small lime

about 1 tbsp rice vinegar or red wine vinegar

1/4 cupish coconut oil

 

Put everything but vinegar and oil into a mini-chopper or food processor. Process everything until relatively smooth, then add coconut oil in a slow stream. Add vinegar towards the end to taste.

Serve over salmon or steak, but it's also amazing on chicken or tofu. 

Nut-free Baklava!

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Living in Watertown, home of all the Armenian and Greek supermarkets EVER, it's not hard to find good baklava. What is hard, though, is finding nut-free baklava; and a friend's recent laments about this (nuts are deadly to her), inspired some research. This recipe is a mashup of a few different things: the basic recipe (semolina custard, filo and syrup) was given to me by Sophia at Sophia's Greek Pantry in Belmont, where I also got many of the ingredients; the rest of the filling was inspired by a couple of recipes that I found online and my own thoughts on what would create the texture I was looking for.

You can modify this any way you like, actually; another thought for the "nut" filling is pumpkin seeds and dried Calmyrna figs pulsed with a bit of candied ginger and orange zest for zing.

To make it: 

1 pound filo dough (#4 or #7 - #4 is harder to work with, but gives much crispier layers)

1-2 sticks butter, melted (start with 1 and melt more if needed)

Semolina custard

2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp sweet butter

1 cup semolina flour

5 eggs

Vanilla to taste

Melt sugar and milk together with vanilla in a medium saucepan. When it just comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add semolina, whisking briskly until there are no lumps. Beat eggs briefly and add to semolina mixture, whisking again until incorporated. Add butter and whisk again until incorporated.

"Nut" filling

about 1-1/2 cups raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1 cup candied citrus

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or honey)

1 tbsp cardamom seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

Pulse pumpkin seeds in a mini-chopper until just broken up a bit. Mix seeds and the rest of ingredients in a large bowl until everything's coated with the molasses.

Syrup:

3 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups filtered water

zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp brandy or cognac (optional)

Bring all ingredients to just boiling, whisking the whole while.

Putting it together:

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Lay out the filo dough, and work quickly to avoid it drying out. Lay down 1/3 of the filo, brushing each with melted butter. After the first layer is down, spread the semolina mixture across the whole sheet, taking care not to break the filo.

Lay down another 1/3 of the filo, brushing each with melted butter. Lay out seed mixture in a single layer and top with the last 1/3 of filo, brushing each layer with butter. Bake at 375°F in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

When done, remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes. When cooled a bit, brush the top layer with syrup, cut the baklava into squares, and then pour the syrup over the whole mess and let it soak in.

For the most part, I'm pretty sure that this keeps for a while, which is good because it makes a ton of dessert. Keep in a Tupperware container with sheets of parchment between layers.

Borek with Chicken, Fennel and Leeks

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Recently I was treated to a cooking class at Sofra in Watertown, where we learned a variey of savory pies from various Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures. The first one I tried when I got home was Borek - it's made with layers of Yuftka pastry (a very thin crepe, available at many of the Armenian groceries in Watertown). While the basic recipe is much more simple than this, this version that I made last night was delightful, and the braising liquid makes a great soup. You do want to braise the chicken legs beforehand, and it's very worth the effort; however, if you're really short on time, you could also do this with a supermarket rotisserie chicken.

Note: this recipe is not for those watching their weight. It's a lot of eggs and butter, but oh so very good.

To make it: 

Ingredients:

1 package yuftka pastry

1 stick butter, melted

3 cups milk (1% is fine)

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup flour

1/2 pound domestic feta cheese

1/4 cup shredded haloumi cheese (you can also use romano; just cut the salt)

4 braised chicken legs (see below), shredded

2 heads fennel, sliced thin

1 leek, sliced thin

a pinch each oregano, mint, cinnamon, and Aleppo chile

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a large sauté pan, combine fennel, olive oil, leeks and herbs and sauté for about 10-15 minutes until soft. Add shredded chicken and set aside.

Meanwhile, brush the bottom of a 13 by 9 Pyrex baking sheet with some of the melted butter. Whisk milk and eggs into the melted butter with a bit of salt and pepper.

Unwrap the Yuftka and start ripping it into sheets to make a layer at the bottom of the dish. Start with four layers of the pastry, brushing each layer generously with the milk and egg mixture. Spread chicken mixture in an even layer over the dish, and add crumbled feta and haloumi in an even layer. Create four more layers (should be the rest of the package), brushing each layer generously with the milk/egg mixture. When last layer is finished, score the whole dish vigorously with a knife, whisk egg yolks and flour into the remaining milk/egg mixture and pour it over the dish, pressing the casserole down so the custard completely covers the layers of pastry.

Place in the oven at 425°F, then turn heat down to 350° and bake for 30-45 minutes until golden brown. Check it after about half an hour to see how it's going, and bring it back up to 425°F for a few minutes towards the end of cooking time to give it a bit of extra color.

Serve with simple dressed greens and a dollop of Greek Yogurt. Best enjoyed with friends.

Braised Chicken Legs

4 chicken legs, salted and peppered

6 cups of filtered water

2 carrots, washed and cut into big chunks

2 heads of fennel (tops only), cut into big chunks - reserve the bulb for later

1 leek, cut into big chunks

pinch each dried mint, oregano, grains of paradise, Aleppo chile

salt and pepper to taste

1tbsp olive oil

1/2-1 cup dry white wine

1/2 lemon

 

Heat olive oil over a high heat in a medium stockpot. Place chicken legs, skin side down, on the hot oil and sear until the skin is a golden brown color; you may have to do this in two batches. Remove once the tops have been seared and drain excess fat into a Ball jar with a couple of paper towels stuffed in it (it helps you catch the oil so you can throw it away more easily). Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, getting the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add vegetables and turn heat to medium; give them a stir just to moisten, then layer chicken legs on top. Throw in herbs, the juice and the rind of the 1/2 lemon, and cover with water. Reduce heat to the lowest possible setting, cover, and let simmer for 1-1/2 hours or so, taking care not to let the pot rise above a simmer.

Once the hour and a half is up, remove the chicken into a bowl with tongs and line a sieve over a large bowl with paper towels (I use two layers). Drain the braising liquid into the bowl and reserve for another use. The veggies can go into the compost. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin from the legs and shred chicken off the bone into the bowl. Skin and bones can be thrown away.