Broccolini with Bacon

It has been a long few days. I’ve just completed the first half of the graduate program in which I am enrolled. To complicate things, I’m moving in a few days. It’s just the time for simplicity in cooking.

That said, while this dish is quite simple, it’s also quite appetizing, as it fills the kitchen with that most comforting of cooking aromas – bacon. The key here though, is to cook the bacon slowly so that it crisps without browning the pan. Broccolini is packed with vitamins A and C, as well as calcium and folate. This dish makes a great side for a lighter main.

Broccolini with Bacon – serves 2 – 4

3 oz. bacon (about 4 slices, depending on the cut)
1 lb. broccolini, chopped into 1 – 2 inch pieces

Slice the bacon into small strips, about a 1/4″ by 1″. Cook in a frying pan over low to medium-low heat for about 25 -30 minutes (I know. It’s a long time.) until the fat is melted down and the pieces are crisp.

Remove the bacon and drain the fat. Frugal tip: Save the fat and use in other cooking applications, like frying eggs.

Add the broccolini to the pan, cover and raise the heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes until tender-crisp.

Toss with the bacon. Serve.

Creamy Potato Salad

Potato salad is the obvious side for a barbecue. Sure you can buy a tub at the market, but it’s really not difficult to make at home. This recipe comes out thick and creamy. Red and green onions add color and flavor, and dill mellows out the mix.

It’s also a pretty fast recipe. The potatoes are peeled and cubed before simmering, so they cook in less than 7 minutes. It’s also great to make in advance, as the longer it sits refrigerated, the more the potatoes absorb the flavor.

Try it out. Then when your friends and neighbors come over to your next barbecue and say, “Yum! This potato salad is wonderful! Where did you buy it?”, you can smile proudly and say, “I made it myself, thank you very much!”

Creamy Potato Salad – serves 4 – 6

6 – 7 medium golden potatoes
3/4 C mayonnaise
2 t apple cider vinegar
1/2 C red onion, diced
3 T green onion, finely chopped
1 T dried dill
1 t sugar
salt to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes, about 1/2 inches wide. Drop into salted, boiling water, lower heat to and allow to simmer for 5 – 7 minutes. Take one out, allow it to cool and test to make sure the potato is cooked. They should be just soft enough for a knife to come out easily, but not smooshy. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes until cool.

Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, onions, dill and sugar in a large bowl. Add potatoes. Mix gently to avoid crushing the potatoes.

Transfer to a serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Asparagus on Toast with Poached Duck Eggs

Sometimes I wish I spoke French fluently. Because the title of this dish would surely sound less awkward in French. But if I went around calling it Asperge sur le Pain avec l’Oeuf de Canard, it would be way longer. Also, this dish has nothing to do with France. My husband votes for Duck Egg Supreme. I say only if we can pronounce it suprême.

In any case, this is similar to a dish that my mother made on occasion when I was growing up. It can be made with any kind of egg. It doesn’t have to be duck. We just happened to have some duck eggs lying around anyway, so I decided to try them out in this dish.

There is not much difference between duck eggs and chicken eggs. The two are very similar in taste and texture, but duck eggs tend to be larger, with a massive yolk. Because of this, I’ve found that poaching is a good preparation method, as opposed to frying, which can overcook the white in the time it takes for the yolk to set up. Duck eggs can also have a robin’s egg blue shell in some cases, but so do some chicken eggs.

Use a good crusty bread with an open crumb for the toast. I like the Francese from Iggy’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts – the same bread that my husband once proclaimed, naturally makes you want to bring the loaf to your face and inhale its aroma.

Asparagus has that almost alkaline bitter-sweetness, which brings out the subtle sweetness in the toast. Smoked paprika lends it’s salty savoriness. Break open the yolk to dip and it’s a celebration of the three simple ingredients. This dish is excellent for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Asparagus on Toast with Duck Eggs - Serves 2

2 eggs (duck or otherwise)
20 asparagus spears
2 slices of good, crusty French bread
water
smoked paprika (optional)

Heat about a half inch of water in a large skillet with a cover. Add asapargus and cook 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, lightly grease two ramekins or heat-proof cups (ceramic or otherwise). Heat about a half inch of water in a skillet with a cover. When the water comes to a boil, drop an egg into each ramekin. Cover and allow to cook 4 minutes. Remove ramekins from heat immediately to stop cooking the eggs.

Toast the bread.

Drain the asparagus. Place the bread on a plate and layer with the asparagus and then the egg. Dust with smoked paprika if desired.

Ingredient origins: Duck eggs – New Hampshire; Asparagus – Mexico; Bread – Massachusetts; Smoked Paprika – Spain

Sautéed Broccoli

When I was in school and living on my own for the first time, for some reason I was really concerned about scurvy. While all the other students lived happily on ramen and frozen pizza, I’d come home and steam broccoli as a snack between classes. Unfortunately, I overdid it on the steamed broccoli, and by senior year, I’d pretty much had it with broccoli in any form.

Now I’m in grad school and on a recent trip to the dining hall with my classmates, I was reminded of how fantastic raw broccoli can be with ranch dressing – though you don’t get much more processed than dining hall ranch dressing.

Since becoming reacquainted with my old green friend, I decided to try the simplest approach of sauteing with butter, salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. It’s so simple, I wasn’t sure if it would really be necessary to post, but it was so enjoyable and for some reason, I hadn’t thought of this method until about three weeks ago. So, I decided to go for it and share with everyone, because that’s the whole point here.

Allowing the broccoli to brown a bit in the butter adds a rich layer and a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper lends a nice robust bite.

Sautéed Broccoli (sometimes the name says it all) - serves 2

2 large heads of broccoli (about 1 lb), chopped
3 T butter
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in frying pan over medium high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the broccoli and lower heat to medium.

Cook, tossing occasionally to brown evenly, about 10 minutes.

Add the third tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper and cook an additional 5 – 10 minutes until the broccoli is tender-crisp and partly browned.

Serve hot.

Vegetarian Lasagna

Making lasagna is like planning a wedding. There are thousands of varying traditions and just as many ways to go about it. Some say location and food are most important, others say music and color scheme. In the end, you just need to decide what’s most important to you.

Some prefer their lasagna with lots of veggies, others like it with beef. I like lasagna to be really saucy and cheesy – stuffed with ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella and basil.

After years of trying various recipes, and never getting the cheesy result that I wanted – always too noodley, too saucy, too vegetabley – I finally decided to set out on my own. Another thing (and then I promise to get off my lasagna recipe roasting soap box) is that every recipe I’ve ever tried calls for either too many or too few lasagna noodles. Too many and you then have to scramble to mix up more ricotta to make a second batch in whatever other baking pan you have lying around. Too few and you end up with a soupy lasagna.

My lasagna uses a count of twelve 12″ lasagna noodles (you’ll end up with a few in the cabinet later, but it’s a small price to pay for a good lasagna). This recipe also uses more ricotta cheese than most, as well as a good amount of Bechemel. The result is that rich, thick lasagna that you’d find in a good Italian-American restaurant. Great for winter when fresh veggies aren’t available, because the sauce can be made with either fresh or canned tomatoes.

Vegetarian Lasagna – serves 12

12 – 12″ lasagna noodles (this length is pretty standard)
3 cups tomato sauce (see recipe below)
3 cups Bechemel sauce (see recipe below)
1 – 32 oz tub of Ricotta Cheese (I prefer full fat over skim which can become chalky)
1/4 C fresh chopped basil
2 eggs
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t salt
1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
2 T olive oil

Start off by make the sauces (instructions below).

While the tomato sauce simmers and the Bechemel gradually thickens over a very low heat, cook the lasagna noodles about 2 minutes less than instructed and be sure to not allow the water to get to a rolling boil. This ensures that the pasta does not over cook and the decorative ruffles stays intact. Drain and rinse.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the ricotta, Parmesan cheese, basil, parsley and salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin the layers by spreading the bottom of a 13×9 inch lasagna pan with half of the Bechemel sauce. Arrange lasagna noodles at the bottom of the pan so that they overlap – 4 per layer. It’s okay if the noodles are a little short. Just center them and they will continue to grow as they cook and absorb more liquid.

Spread one half of the ricotta mixture over the lasagna noodles. Top with half of the tomato sauce. Cover with another layer of lasagna noodles.

Arrange half of the mozzarella slices over the noodles. Cover with the rest of the Bechemel and then ricotta mixture. Top with the last four lasagna noodles.

Finally, cover the top with the rest of the tomato sauce and artfully arrange the rest of the mozzarella slices. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

Bechemel Sauce – makes about 2 1/2 cups

1/4 cup salted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it bubbles, add flour. Stir over medium heat to form a golden paste. Lower heat and gradually add milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisking each addition until smooth. Keep on very low heat, as you prepare the other lasagna ingredients, whisking occasionally to keep from separating or turning lumpy. Raise heat and whisk to thicken just before assembling the lasagna.

Yankee Cook’s Quick Tomato Sauce – makes about 4 cups
1 T olive oil
1/4 C chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed or smashed and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
2 T tomato paste
1/3 C vegetable or chicken stock
1 pinch of chili pepper flakes (optional)
1 t dried oregano
1 t sugar
1- 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

Heat olive oil in a 2 quart saucepan over a medium flame. Add onions and cook until transparent, but not browned. Add garlic and carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and allow to heat for 2 minutes. Stir in stock, chili flakes, oregano and sugar. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Give it a quick mash with a potato masher.

Ingredient origins – Lasagna Noodles – Italy, Canned organic tomatoes – California; Olive oil – Italy, Organic onion – unknown; Garlic – Chile; Carrot – unknown; Tomato paste – unknown; Vegetable stock – my own; Sugar – Florida; Butter – Maine; Flour – Vermont; Milk – Vermont; Ricotta – Wisconsin; Basil – Massachusetts; Eggs – New Hampshire; Parmesan Cheese – Italy; Mozzarella – Vermont