The Cultured Cook

Halloumi & Gooseberry Salad

Halloumi cheese makes one of tastiest salads you’ll ever find on your plate–it’s salty, tangy, and the perfect foil for fresh fruits and vegetables.  Like kasseri cheese–you may have come across that amidst leaping flames and a waiter shouting “Opa!”–halloumi is best consumed fried.  Made of goat and sheep cheese and occasionally seasoned with mint, it has a remarkably high melting point and stays so firm that it tends to squeak between your teeth.  It’s so unlike typical cheese, in fact, that you could probably trick a dinner guest into thinking it’s chicken.

To prepare halloumi, simply cut it in slices, then fry over medium-high heat.  Keep a close eye on it–although its firm texture will prevent it from oozing all over the pan, halloumi cooks in less than a minute.  Carefully flip the slices with a spatula and brown the other side as soon as you see a brown tinge appear along the edges of each slice.

This sweet-and-salty salad is a mix of fried halloumi, fresh mixed salad greens, and ripe gooseberries.  (You could also use grapes.) It’s rare to find purplish, ripe gooseberries–normally they’re picked green and sour and only used to make jam.  That’s a shame, really, because ripe gooseberries are similar to grapes in flavor, but with less of a  sugary taste.  I actually prefer them to grapes.  (Gooseberries also have thinner skins.)

The salad dressing is a simple splash of balsamic vinegar and another splash of extra-virgin olive oil.  If you’re good at eyeballing, you can drizzle them directly onto the salad; if you’d rather measure, use about 1 teaspoon of vinegar to about 2 teaspoons of oil.  Normally, I’d add sea salt to the dressing, but in this case, the halloumi is plenty salty enough to give the salad flavor.

Enjoy!

Tamarind-Lemon Mojito

An overlooked fact in the drink world:  cocktails (or mocktails) have seasons.  In the summertime, fruit-based drinks are light and refreshing; in the wintertime, hot toddies are much more appealing than an iced spritzer.  Now that summer is in full swing, I thought I’d use the classic mojito platform to come up with some new taste combinations.

This citrus-tamarind combo is sure to add a kick to any sultry summer evening…and it’s a lot more interesting to serve than the standard lime-and-mint version.  Just see if your guests can guess how you made it!

(Note:  if you can’t find fresh tamarinds, a splash of pomegranate molasses would be a good substitution.  The latter can generally be found in Middle Eastern markets or in the Middle Eastern section of a well-stocked grocery store.)

Prepare the tamarind by peeling off the hard outer skin and pulling off the long stringy fibers that run down its sides.  Place in standard-sized bowl (one you’d use for soup or cereal), then pour enough boiling water over it to cover it completely.  Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Squeeze the juice from a wedge of lemon into a tall glass.  (You can discard the rind or place it into a nice cocktail glass.)  Add a few freshly-torn mint leaves and a squirt of raw agave nectar.  Smash everything together with a fork, pulling the fork along the sides of the glass to bruise the mint and release its flavor.

Go back to the tamarind and use the fork to smash the flesh free from the seeds.  Add to the lemon mixture and stir to combine.  Add a shot of rum if you’d like a cocktail or some sparkling mineral water for a mocktail.

Strain the lemon-tamarind mixture into the final cocktail glass.  Add another leaf or two of fresh mint for garnish, perhaps an ice cube or two, and enough sparkling water to fill the glass almost to the brim.  Give it one last stir and serve.

¡Salud!

Red Lentil "Meatballs"

Although Americans are accustomed to having earth-toned lentils in their lentil soup, a Frenchman may sit down to a meal of lentilles vert aux lardons (Green Lentils with Bacon) while a diner in India may enjoy red lentils in a curry or as dal (think of dal as the subcontinental version of hummus).

No matter their hue, lentils are a good source of iron and can be combined with grain to create a complete protein.  Legumes and grains are complementary in both nutrition and flavor–think of rice and beans, chickpea-based hummus and whole-wheat pitas, and corn-and-black-bean salad.  Lentils also have a smooth flavor, respond very well to soaking overnight, and make a hearty and satisfying meal.

In this instance, I soaked a cup of red lentils overnight in cold water, then drained them and mixed them with a grated raw potato, a small grated raw onion, equal parts of cumin and coriander (about 1/2 tsp. each), a dash of turmeric, and enough whole-wheat flour to make them into a consistency that could be rolled into balls.  (Chickpea flour would be a great substitute for wheat if you’re avoiding gluten or would simply like a change of pace.)  Then I sautéed them in ghee until they were slightly brown on all “sides.”  (Does a ball have a side?)  Just be sure to remove them carefully–while they’re fairly sturdy, lentil-based “meatballs” are a little bit more fragile than ones made with beef.

You could serve these atop lettuce, plunked into a hearty stew, in between bread as a “meatball” sandwich, or simply as they are–delicious.

Enjoy!

Rambutans & Lychees

An intriguing sweet flavor, sturdy packaging, and sheer weirdness–those attributes describe my idea of an appealing fruit.  Rambutans and lychees (and longans, a.k.a. “dragon eyes”)  get outstanding marks in all three categories.  If you can find fresh ones, snap them up–they’re worth the high price.  Besides, just having two or three is a fun gastronomic experience.  They’re commonly found in Asian cuisines and therefore in Asian markets, but they usually come canned and in heavy sugar syrup.  Fresh ones are much lighter and more flavorful–they nearly dance on the tongue.  And peeling them in an experience all in of itself.  (Serve them to guests and watch their eyebrows go up!)  Peeled lychees and rambutans can also be served atop ice cream, in fruit salads, or lightly dusted with ginger.  Due to their whimsical appearance, they also make eye-catching centerpieces and garnishes.

When selecting these members of the Sapindaceae family, choose fruits that are still pink/red (longans should be light brown) and ones that still respond to the touch–when you lightly press them between your fingers, you should feel the fruit inside quickly re-expand as soon as the pressure is gone.  Fruits that are stiff to the touch and dark brown in color are dried out and no longer fresh.  Peeling them can sometimes be a double task since they have the outer, thicker “shell” and an inner white membrane that covers the opaque/translucent white fruit.  Caution:  each one contains a dark, smooth, oblong pit in the center that can either be nibbled around or spat out.

The best way to enjoy lychees and rambutans is to picnic with them in the summer–then you can peel, examine, savor, and pit-spit to your heart’s content.  Have fun!

Wild Blue Marlin with Lemongrass

Contrary to popular opinion, fish is one of the easiest foods to prepare…and with its healthy fat profile, high iodine content, and rich level of bioavailable protein, fish is one of the best things we can put on our plates.  Fatty fish such as wild tuna and wild salmon have even higher amounts of omega-3s.  Though wild fish may contain slightly more heavy metals than the farmed variety, most experts agree that their benefits far outweigh their detractions.  (Farmed salmon, for example, doesn’t contain omega-3s; those come from eating krill that have eaten algae.  Regrettably, krill isn’t on the menu at the salmon farm.  Antibiotics are, though, at most industrial-scale operations.)  Cooks and most eaters also agree with the “wild over farmed” way of thinking–wild just tastes better.

Making this half-pound cut of marlin was incredibly simple:  I baked it at about 350 degrees F in my toaster oven for about 15 minutes.  While it was baking, I simmered a crushed stalk of lemongrass in some vegetable broth.  A squirt of lime juice went in after I’d removed the pot from the heat.  (Heat destroys vitamins, so citrus should be added just before serving to preserve its vitamin C content.)  As soon as the 15 minutes were up, I tested the marlin with a fork to make sure the flesh was opaque and flaked easily, then poured the lemongrass-scented broth over the top.  The chive garnish includes an edible flower tip.

It’s really just that simple:  rinse fish in cold water, pat dry, and bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  (Thicker varieties like salmon might need a temperature of 375 or 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.)  You can top the fish with a pat or two of butter before baking, rub it with spices, or brush on a marinade.  Your imagination is the limit!

Lime & Cornmeal Cookies with Sucanat

Although I don’t have much of a sweet tooth (these cookies are dusted with sea salt), when I get the urge to bake cookies, I reach for sucanat.  It stands for “sugar cane natural” and is essentially dried sugar cane–no more, no less.  It’s the only cane sugar that has not been stripped, refined, and processed into nutritional negativity.  While it still chiefly consists of sucrose, it doesn’t have as much sucrose as white sugar does; sucanat also retains many more trace nutrients than any of the other refined sugars.  (Note:  brown sugar, turbinado sugar, demerera sugar, and raw sugar are perceived as being more “natural,” but they’re not–they’re simply white sugar with a bit of molasses added for color.)  In biological terms, having less sucrose and more nutrients means that sucanat doesn’t hit your body as hard and as fast as refined sugars do.  This gives it a lower GI (glycemic index) value and makes it less likely to cause a spike in blood sugar levels.

Nutrition aside, I vastly prefer the flavor of sucanat over any other type of granulated sugar.  Just as raw agave and blackstrap molasses have a unique flavor, so does sucanat:  it tastes like the fresh chunk of sugar cane a farmer once handed me in the middle of a cane field in Costa Rica.  Sucanat’s aroma, too, is heady and tropical; the grains are dark, rough, and almost smoky…yet in baked goods, it simply underscores the overall flavor rather than overwhelming it.  Once you’ve come to appreciate the warmth of sucanat, in fact, baked goods made with white sugar taste sickeningly sweet and listless.

Sucanat is also easier to substitute for white sugar since it’s a 1:1 equivalent.  (Liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup are a bit trickier to use, although substitutions can easily be made in recipes that contain other liquids such as milk, yogurt, melted butter, oil, etc.)  The catch?  You probably won’t find sucanat in a standard grocery store.  If you have a health-food store in your area, though, you’ll be sure to find some bags of sucanat on the shelves.

Rapadura is another name for non-refined sugar cane; like sucanat, it has a rich, full flavor and intoxicating scent.  The form is different, though–it’s generally in cone-shaped blocks or rounds and is sold as piloncillo or panela.  Chunks of it are scraped off and dropped into boiling water to make agua dulce (”sweet water”).  In many Latin American countries, agua dulce is served alongside breakfast as an alternative to coffee.

So the next time you reach for sugar, reach for sucanat.  You’ll never want boring white sugar again!

Hand-Painted Milk Jugs

Looking for easy and inexpensive ways to spruce up your kitchen decor?  Try your hand at glass painting!  Plates, jugs, vases, glasses–your inner Monet might just be clamoring to get out.  Now that it’s summertime and garage sales are in full swing, it’s easy to pick up champagne glasses for ten cents apiece or serving platters for a buck.  Your local craft store (in my case, Munro’s in Berkley) will carry a full palette of colors for painting glass and ceramics.  Some can even be baked the next day and thus be rendered dishwasher-proof.  (Read the fine print twice to make sure that the paint you choose is safe for use on eating utensils.)

You don’t have to be a still-life painter to pull off a nifty geometric design or subtle layers of color shading.  The former can easily be done by drawing out your design on a piece of paper first and then taping your self-made stencil inside of the glass or underneath the plate; the latter can be created in under a minute with a bit of judicious sponge blotting.  Or you can just let your creativity flow and see what happens!

Mexican Salad with Sprouts

It may not be the typical “Mexican flag” dish (one primarily consisting of tomatoes, white onions, jalapeños), but this sprout salad has a distinctly Mexican flair.  I stumbled upon the idea when I realized that my windowsill sunflower sprouts were the perfect size for lunch…and that I just happened to have some extra black beans on hand.  The resulting salad was an intriguing blend of crisp freshness and full-bodied Mexican flavors.  You could use many different kinds of sprouts to add a new dimension to your salads:  broccoli sprouts, bean sprouts, barley sprouts, whichever you like best.  I just happen to prefer the more-substantial texture and taste of sunflower sprouts.

To make the base, dice red pepper, tomatoes, and green onions.  Drain black beans.  Wedge them onto the plate in strips and scatter fresh sunflower sprouts on top.

To make the dressing, simply mix flaxseed oil (or extra virgin olive oil) with a bit of red wine vinegar and/or lemon/lime juice in a small bowl.  Add a dash of chili powder and stir until blended.  Pour over vegetables.

¡Buen provecho!

Blueberry-Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ice cream has to be one of the true joys of summer.  (If you’re like me and love pumpkin ice cream, it’s also one of fall’s pleasures.)  As much as I enjoyed the occasional scoop or two, however, I was getting dissatisfied with commercial ice cream–waaaay too much sugar and way too many unnecessary additives.  (Guar gum?  Monodiglycerides?  No, thanks.)  True to form, I got obsessed with the idea of making my own.  The result was membership in a cowshare program to get local, grass-fed, raw milk and cream; research into alternative natural sweeteners like honey, agave, and maple syrup; and a $35 investment in an ice cream maker.

The good news is, you don’t have to go quite that far to make some top-notch ice cream.  What you do need is the maker itself and then various proportions of the following:

* good-quality milk (whole, from grass-fed cows, preferably unhomogenized)

* good-quality eggs (from pastured hens)

* whatever fruit you might like to include (it’s easiest to work with frozen fruit that’s thawed out in the fridge overnight)

* whatever sweetener strikes your fancy (preferably honey, agave, or maple syrup)

* any other flavoring you’d like to add (vanilla, cocoa powder, cinnamon, top-notch chocolate, etc.)

Follow the directions given in your ice-maker kit in terms of proportions and churning/freezing time.  (I make a bit less than a straight substitution for the sugar to a natural sweeter:  if it calls for 1/2 cup of sugar, I use 1/3 cup of agave/maple/honey.)  The easiest way to prepare the base is to blend the fruit in a blender or food processor and then add enough milk and cream to reach whatever amount of total liquid the recipe calls for.  Then add your eggs, sweetener, and whatever other ingredients you’d like to include except for chunky/whole ingredients.  Those go in at the tail end of the freezing process.  Blend everything and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.  Continue per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Note:  homemade ice cream gets harder than conventional ice cream.  When first made, it has the texture of a curling soft-serve cone, but freezing will make it harden more than what you’re used to.  I actually prefer the texture of it–it’s more refreshing somehow, plus I know that the reason it isn’t perfectly scoopable is because of all the chemicals and fillers that aren’t in it.

Enjoy!

Stir-Fry Crab with Lemongrass

It’s a tangy, invigorating flavor that’s distinctly Asian and distinctly difficult to find fresh:  lemongrass, one of the core flavors in many curries, pastes, soups and stews originating in the Far East.  If a cook is in a pinch and is looking for a substitute, lemon rind is the closest she’ll get…but although lemons lend a wonderful fragrance and flavor to whatever they touch, they can’t come anywhere near capturing the complexities of lemongrass.  (Note:  typically limes are paired with lemongrass, not lemons.)

The good news is that even mostly-dried-out lemongrass can be used to flavor dishes–just don’t expect to eat it.  You can leave it on the plate for flair (as I’ve done here) or you can strain it out of broth/pull it out of a stew or stir-fry before serving.  The flavor will be even more pronounced if you smash the stalk a few times with the back of a knife before adding it to a liquid base.

To prepare lemongrass, pull back the outer, dry layers.  (It’s like green onions in this respect.)  Once you’re down to the more-tender white shoot, cut off the tough root and trim the uppermost portion of the stalks.  If you’re going to add it to simmering broth for flavor, you don’t have to do much more to it.  If you were lucky enough to find tender, fresh lemongrass and you want to use it as an edible ingredient (as opposed to a flavoring one), cut off the root and the tougher tops completely and mince the tender white portion before adding it to your dish.

Warning:  the delicate, fragrant nature of lemongrass means that it pairs much better with light flavors such as lime juice, a hint of rice vinegar, and/or cold-pressed sesame oil.  Heavy sauces like soy and tamari can easily overwhelm the lemongrass essence; fresh gingerroot, too, can easily outdo the lemongrass if too much is used.

For the Crab Stir-Fry, I sautéed some shallots and garlic with some vegetable broth (chicken broth could also be used), a splash of rice vinegar, another–much smaller!–splash of soy sauce,  and a can of crabmeat (drain before adding).  I added a stalk of lemongrass for flavor, let the mixture simmer for about five minutes, and squeezed some lime juice into it just before serving.  (Heat destroys vitamins, so it’s best to add citrus squirts after you’ve removed your dish from the stove.)  This dish would also be wonderful tossed with rice or bean noodles and/or sprinkled with seaweed.

Enjoy!