I Heart Celeriac (Cheater's Celery Remoulade)

I love the taste of celery root. This knobby, ugly root, when peeled and julienned in your Cuisinart (or if you're a fan of the quiet, meditative state you achieve during what I call "chop therapy", by hand), is easily transformed into one of the most refreshing salads.

Julia Child's recipe in MTAOFC for this salad is the best one, but it calls for a ton of olive oil. My recipe uses .... bottled dressing. I'm serious.

To cut down on both calories and time, I came up with a quick and low calorie/fat recipe that Julia would despise. But as much as she's my dead hero and it's terrible to say anything bad about her, here goes:

Buy a celery root at the farmer's market.  It's also called celeriac.  Buy a young, firm and fresh one.
Peel it and julienne it - either in the food processor or by hand.
Sprinkle generously with vinegar.  I used organic rice wine vinegar.
Here are some other acids to try:  lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar.  Let it sit for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, chop up a bunch of fresh parsley (buy it at the market) and mix it in.
To this, add about 6 Tbsp., more or less to taste of Annie's Naturals Lite Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.   You can buy this dressing at Whole foods, Fairway, Wild By Nature or any health conscious, well-stocked market or health food store. When all else fails, buy it online.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Marinate in fridge overnight.
This salad gets a little better each day.
And then, like all good things ... it's gone.

peace, love and happy summer,
jane

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Port Washington has an independent book store called The Dolphin Book Shop. According to a sign in an empty, prime location on Main Street, The Dolphin Book Shop is moving from its you hardly know its there current location to its new home smack in the center of town, on the water - a really great location.

While they're busy scraping the David Yurman logo off the window and readying our new beautiful book store, I've been busy developing what I think are "Mommy, can we go to the dolphin cookie store now?" cookies for their new location.

I assumed the shop would be actively seeking out a signature cookie for their new home.

Unless someone wants to come over and cut out these buggers or order me a custom dolphin die cut cookie cutter template, this is going no further than this post.

I did create a great variation of Grandma Rae's Möhn Kichel. It uses whole wheat pastry flour, (remember this was intended for venue where people read about things. And whole wheat flour was never mean to you, was it?) some organic lemon rind and lemon extract.

You can use a cookie cutter or a pizza cutter, crimped or not crimped.

Don't limit yourself to dolphins.  If you have a turtle shape, use it and call them Lemon Oil Spill Cookies.

So, rather than sweat the small stuff, my new dream is to write a cookbook:
365 Ways to Bake Möhn Kichel. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients: 

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. lemon zest (organic lemon preferred)

1 cup canola oil

1 tsp. lemon extract

¼ cup room temperature water

1 Tbsp. baking powder

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1.25 oz poppy seeds

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F., line 4 cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat.

In a bowl, whisk together the baking powder and flours and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the lemon zest into the cup of sugar and set aside.(The oils from the zest will flavor the sugar.)

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid, fit with a paddle attachment (get a beater blade - you'll never stop beating it), beat the eggs, oil and lemon zested sugar until thick.  Add the lemon extract and mix. Add the water, mix, and then, the poppy seeds. Mix.

Add the dry ingredients and blend on low speed.  Finish mixing by hand.  You can flatten the dough on a lightly floured board and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to roll and cut.

On a flour coated surface, roll out between 1/8”-1/2” thick and cut, with a cookie cutter or pizza cutter(or a knife!)into squares or rectangles.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and “bake until golden brown”, about 10-15 minutes.

Yield varies depending on size of cookie. 

peace, love and smooth sailing,

jane 

Asparagus Pesto

Asparagus Pesto was offered in the Times a couple of weeks ago, and after buying some beautiful asparagus today at the Kennedy Plaza Farmer's Market in Long Beach, NY, I pulled out my food processor and toasted some pine nuts.

Captain Kitchen, my adorable daughter, just got a new food processor.  So, this one's for you, Sweetheart!

Don't limit yourself to pine nuts (did you know they come from pine cones?)  You can toast up any nut to make pesto.  Walnuts come to mind.

I cut down dramatically on the amount of olive oil (but I never cut down on the quality of the oil) when I make it.  The biggest difference will be in the texture.  Oh, and oil will 'round' the flavor. This looks pretty creamy, doesn't it?

Asparagus Pesto

Adapted from Mark Bittman by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

Kosher Salt

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

1 clove garlic, or more to taste

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and cooled

1/4 cup excellent quality extra virgin olive oil

(more or less, to taste – I use much less – closer to half the amount -  to reduce calories and fat)

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste.

Procedure:

1. In a frying pan or a sauté pan, large enough to hold them, bring the asparagus with some water and some salt, to a boil, cover and cook until fully tender. Drain and let the asparagus cool slightly.

2. Cut into two or three inch pieces and transfer the asparagus to a food processor. Add the garlic, toasted pine nuts, some of the olive oil, Parmesan, and a pinch of salt. Process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary. Gradually add the remaining oil. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Serve over pasta, fish, chicken or roasted vegetables.

Can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

I love cauliflower.


I pestoed my steamed organic cauliflower in a cast iron gratin dish, first rubbed with garlic and then sprayed with olive oil.  I threw in sautéed mushrooms and garlic (get 'em at the market!) and some julienned Applegate Farms slow cooked ham.  

I topped it off with the asparagus pesto, then some more grated Parmesan cheese and baked it at 375º F.  Low calorie, hugely healthful and SO delicious.  You can leave out the meat, but I like ham - especially with mushroom and asparagus and parmesan cheese.

Opening Day at Kennedy Plaza Farmers Market 2010

A perfect day on Kennedy Plaza.  

Welcome back farmers, vendors and shoppers!

Millport Dairy's eggs are free range and adorable!

Carucci's flowers are gorgeous and ready to be

put into your beds.

Dan Madura's shallots, red mustard greens, shallots 

and 

oh.... the asparagus.  

You haven't lived until you've

had some. The season isn't all that long... so get them.

Cut the bottoms, like flowers and store them in some water in the fridge.

Change the water every day or so.

Steam, grill, roast ...

smear them with some goat cheese 

(or herbed or plain cream cheese) 

and then, wrap them with

smoked salmon or 

thinly sliced Prosciutto de Parma. 

Or crunch into them raw.  
They're that fresh, sweet and good.

Asparagus
is gorgeous

Asparagus is gorgeous.

Dinner.

Recipes and trucs forthcoming.

In the meantime, rejoice in the new season and 

Thank you to Bernadette for making the market return to life.

here's when:

Every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

where:

Kennedy Plaza, Long Beach, NY

(adjacent to the LIRR train Station)

peace, love and asparagus,

jane