Category Archives: vegetables

asparagus to zucchini

08.24.10
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Mom’s German Potato Salad

…and a visit to German Village

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Dad–
I raved so much about Gary’s rendition of the German Potato Salad to Alison that now she wants us to make it with our latest crop of potatoes. Therefore you *HAVE* to do an EatsForOne feature on the recipe, especially if you can track down Martha’s version (Gary might be able to help you there, a good excuse to give them a call).
–ER

And so the quest began. I called Amy and Gary.

When Amy answered, I said, “Eric’s on me to write something about “Mom’s” German Potato Salad you guy’s brought to the Pigroast. Can you give me the recipe?”

Amy said, “Gary made it, I just helped and coached.”
“Is Gary there?” I said.

“He’s outside, under his truck,” said Amy. “I’ll call him.”

Gary said, “Gosh, I just started cooking… Amy peeled the potatoes and I sliced them… we were just cooking together…

“I don’t remember the proportions… I know we started with a lot of bacon… 1 1/2 pounds, and a lot of onions… saute the onions until they’re good and caramelized… deglaze the pan with a bit of water, then start adding vinegar and sugar until it tastes like the German Potato Salad in German Village. I’ve never seen the recipe written down. Maybe next time, I can make some notes.”
gv_Schmidt_lunch

After thinking about it, I fired off an email with a couple more questions, to which Gary quickly replied:

Mustard? No mustard, but that could be a worthy secret ingredient.
What kind of potatoes? The potato was a russet  brown skin and Amy states that we once used some red skin potatoes. Peeled, sliced on a mandolin. and parboiled.

I tried to conjure up what I remember about Mom’s German Potato Salad — I’m sure my recollections were heavily influenced by what I had just eaten at the Pigroast.

Potatoes were sliced, not cubed
Potatoes were firm, not mushy
No other vegetables or eggs.
Sweet and sour taste.

I looked for German Potato Salad recipes on the internet. Surprisingly, none were very close to the picture in my mind. One, from House & Garden, February 1957, on Epicurious, by Eloise Davison was just potatoes, bacon and sauce, but she used cubed potatoes, and only four teaspoons chopped onion, coupled with flour to make a roux with the bacon fat.

The best clues came from Recipes from a German Grandma

What makes a good German Potato Salad?
The Potato
Any potato works well but it is good to understand the qualities of each potato to their advantage in your salad. ?Many Germans like the firm red skin potato but the russet works well as also.
The Dressing
The typical dressing is a very simple vinaigrette that is equal parts water, vinegar and sugar.
Trouble is, the pictures showed a mooshy mass of potatoes, so I didn’t read that recipe carefully before I started writing my own and cooking. (Looking back, its pretty close to what I did.) Continue reading →

08.20.10
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Jannie’s Keystone Pasta

Jackson, Ohio to San Francisco

Sent from my iPad
hello Marc. My typing skills are not very good.  I have room for Lots of improvement.  What are you having for supper.  We are having Keystone Pasta.  You put lots of basil in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.  Peal about 8 large tomatoes. Sprinkle o.o. Over salt, pepper bit of sugar.  Bake 350for@30minutes and serve Over pasta.  This is a Hale original.  I make this when I have lots of basil.  Just wanted to
Let you know we are enjoying the iPad.  I think it was a good choice.  Say hi to Carol.
Jan

Jackson, OH

On our way to the Hale Hollow Pigroast, we stopped for an overnight at Carol’s brother Mark’s farm in Jackson, Ohio. Jackson is about as far southeast as Ohio goes — you want to get away? — this is away.

Keystone tomatoes

Keystone tomatoes

When we walked into the house, I remarked on a gorgeous plate of sliced Keystone tomatoes we would be having for dinner. Mark and Jannie are proud of their tomatoes and this is peak season, so tomatoes are a big part of mealtime. I don’t remember ever having Keystones, but Mark pointed out they’re a close cousin to brandywine tomatoes.

Mark took me on a ride around his place on his Mule, a four wheel get-around-easy-to-keep-up-the-place toy. Fun.

t_mule

t_ripping_thru_woodsWe went rippin’ through the woods and crusin’ th’ dale.

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Passing the garden he showed me the Keystone tomato plants, standing taller than me. Continue reading →

07.15.10
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Grill it all

…sausages, beans, cabbage

What’s for dinner?

My question to myself each day.  Carol likes to cook, so she has taken over on days she doesn’t work. We reached agreement on that a few weeks ago. But the day was Wednesday and I was pondering, “What’s for dinner?”

It was a beautiful day for grilling and I had some fennel sausages from Fatted Calf. That’s a good start. But do I light up the grill just for sausages? The fridge offered cooked Mariquita pinto beans… red beans and rice would be good, but Carol is not a lover of beans. Braised cabbage also had a place on the second shelf. A nice fennel sausage nestled in a bed of braised cabbage would please Carol. Beans, rice, cabbage — that’s stovetop work; I would be back and forth between the kitchen and the grill. Of course the beans, rice and cabbage will hold, but still.

g_ready_for_grill

Why not do the beans and cabbage on the grill? They can sit over the gas flame – hardly different than being on the gas range – and I can turn off the center flame and grill the sausage there. Good idea.

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g_sausage_in_pan

And I can cook the rice in lots of boiling water – like pasta – on the stove while the grill is heating up. That takes about 12 minutes and the grill takes 15 to warm up. That’s a plan!

“When I’m making rice salad, a huge pot is just right. Boiled like pasta in too much water, rice gives up its starch. Drained and cooled, it drifts apart into separate grains, no clumping.”

From Pete Wells in a New York Times column on boiling

We have a rice cooker, but once I tried the boiling method, that’s my method of choice. Once cooked, I drain the rice and put the strainer in the empty rice pot with the lid on to hold.

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That gives me time to sit on the back porch and contemplate the Pacific Heights skyline while the grill is going. I love that. (OK, a bit of Pacific Heights and a lot of the Alhambra roof and my neighbor’s trees.)

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So everything went just right. I loved my beans and sausage and Carol loved her cabbage and sausage. We slathered the sausage with Raye’s mustard, had a bit of the tarragon potato salad on the side and that made a simple, easy, beautiful dinner.

06.02.10
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Spring Supper

Sausage in a sandwich of greens

Spring is in the air and the Market is fraught with the fresh and the new. A simple spring dinner is in the offing. I hung the spring garlic on the wall in my kitchen next to the bamboo bread bag.

s_spring_garlic

“You play the guitar on your MTV
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Get your money for nothin’ get your chicks for free”
— Dire Straits Money For Nothing Lyrics

Shoppin’ at the Market, that’s the way you do it,
Money for red beets get your greens for free
Over there at Star Route, that’s the way you do it,
Money for turnips, get your greens for free

And so it goes.

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After lunch, I washed the beet greens and left them in a big bowl of water, the turnip greens in a plastic vegetable bag. I wanted to use them but didn’t know quite what to do, so I took a nap. Lying on the couch with my eyes closed, drifting, it came to me; I could cook them separately and arrange on a plate on each side of one of those Craft Beer Links I got at Fatted Calf. I could see the picture in my head, so I got up and drew it.

s_drawing

Craft Beer Links are described as “plump smoked pork links made this week with WTF from Lagunitas Brewing Co,” and the guy at the Fatted Calf stand was all over them with praise.

I set to work trimming the greens while roasting the beets. Sauté some chopped spring onions and sliced spring garlic, blanch the greens and brown the links. Drain the greens and add some of the garlic and onion to each. Pot intensive, but easy and quick.

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The only thing left to do is arrange the plates.s_serve_2

Bring assorted Raye’s mustards to the table and open a bottle of Cline Cool Climate Syrah. Enjoy.

05.27.10
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Roasted Tomatoes

…an Italian stallion.

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It is not yet tomato season in northern California, but hothouse tomatoes are available from certain growers at the CUESA Farmers Market. It seems as though the hothouse heirlooms go south faster than those grown in the fields, but maybe it’s just been so long since the end of last tomato season that I don’t remember.

In any case, I discovered a new variety – for me – at Madison Growers: Costaluto Genovese. I had to noodle around Google for a while before finding the correct spelling of “Costaluto.” I asked Jane Atallah at the Madison Growers stand for the name of this unusual tomato and she was glad to oblige. She told me that Costaluto means “ribbed” in Italian. This is a different – and very good tomato, very high in acid, with a thick, rather tough skin. The skin slips off easily though when its roasted or parboiled for five seconds or so.

I bought five of these tomatoes at the Saturday market, and ate two that day for lunch with cucumbers and cottage cheese. By Wednesday, the three remaining were getting a little wrinkly around their shoulders. As I prepared warm potato salad with smoked tuna for dinner, I figured I better use them.

w_tomatoes_to_roast

Roasted Tomatoes
As served May 2010 with Warm Potato and Smoked Trout Salad

Costaluto (ribbed) Genovese tomatoes
fresh bread crumbs
butter
cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F

Core the tomatoes.

Fill the core with bread crumbs, pressing them in. (I made fresh breadcrumbs in the little Braun food processor from an Acme Herb Slab.)

Lay a thin slice of butter over the crumbs.

Lay cheese matchsticks over the butter. (I used Cowgirl Creamery Batch 35 cheese (I found they call it Wagon Wheel on their website)… It didn’t melt smoothly. Probably better with grated parmesan or a thin slice of fresh mozzarella or grated cheddar.)

Put tomatoes on a baking pan covered with non-stick aluminum foil. Slather the tomatoes with olive oil.

Bake for 10 minutes or so.

w_roasted_tomato

04.23.10
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Fresh Peas

…and other fresh things

It was time to cook the English Peas I got at the Iacopi Farm stand at Saturday’s market the second week of their young season. As I shelled them I couldn’t help but notice how crisp and fresh they were and was thinking about a good, simple, pure thing to do with them so that their flavor would sing. I had about a cup-and-a-half of peas.

Consulting my recipe files, I came across this (Eric is number one son):

Fresh Pea Soup
Here’s what we’ve been serving on our table recently. Recipes from Eric & Alison’s Tilth Table, November 1998 (From the River Cafe Cook Book)

2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, and 1 clove crushed garlic
1 bunch mint
2 1/2 pounds peas, shelled
2 cups chicken stock
grated Parmesean cheese

Saute onion and garlic in oil and butter until brown add peas, most of mint, and stock, cook until peas are just tender remove half of the peas to a food processor and pulverize them. Add them back to the rest of the peas serve in bowls topped with cheese.

Carol brought home a bunch of mint that grows wild in her school’s yard at SF State, roots and all, so I was all set there.

I realized at the last minute that the recipe calls for a sweet onion. I had only yellow and red onions so I took a walk to Real Food, a couple blocks away. When I asked the produce guy, he said he had no sweet onions, but pointed out young red spring onions. If they taste as good as they look, they’ll be a delight. Three of those, chopped made a scant cup.

I thawed some of my homemade chicken stock made with pasture raised chicken – including the feet and head – making a rich gelatinous stock.

I’ve had this recipe for 12 years… why did I wait so long?  The soup was garnished with creme fraiche and mint leaves.This was really good. I loved biting into the fresh whole peas in the soup for a burst of flavor. EZ too, making two “side dish” servings plus one serving left over.

w_pea_soup_ham

I wanted something equally simple, clean and spring-like to go with the pea soup as a main course. I cubed part of a thick slice of ham from Marin Sun Farms, par-boiled and cubed an equal amount of potatoes. I fried those kind of crispy in a hot cast iron skillet with butter and olive oil. I deglazed the pan with red wine, a little broth, another pat of butter, a dollup of cream, and reduced that for a sauce. That, my friends, is good eats.

04.06.10
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A Fine Pork Chop

…revisited for lunch

The Globe Restaurant on Pacific at Battery is open late, frequented by off-duty cooks, so they say, and folks like us, hungry after a movie at the Embarcadero.

Globe

The room is a nice size with high ceilings; entry and bar at one end, partially open kitchen at the other. Feels good to be in this place bustling with diners. It was quite noisy until the group of nine near us were fed, happy and gone. It was quite dark, as well, so my pictures are pretty grainy – I won’t use a flash in such a place.

Globe_lil_gem

We started, sharing a lil gem salad from Mariquita Farm. Just right.

Globe_pork_chop

My pork chop with cabbage and potatoes was so good and I was so hungry, that I forgot to take its picture – even though artfully presented. Well, you’ll have to imagine what’s in my tummy. But this is about that pork chop revisited. No way I could eat all of it, so I took most of that part at the top – including the bone – home.

Next day at lunch I decided to recreate that dinner as best I could. I peeled and cut up a red potato – this variety happens to have red flesh, as well, a colorful paring with the cabbage – and set it to cooking slowly in duck fat. Duck fat and cabbage are long time lovers… I trust the potato can love a little, as well.

gr_potato_cabbage

I chopped half of a small Savoy cabbage to add to the skillet at just the right time.

gr_saute

Remains of the Globe pork chop, were diced and added to the skillet, along with a bit of white wine, salt, pepper and tarragon. After thoroughly warming and bubbling for a few minutes, lunch slid nicely onto my dish.

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Not exactly the atmosphere of the Globe, but the flavors and textures are there for a fine treat. Yum.

03.17.10
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Just a Steak

Carol’s brother, Alan, called about 6:15. “Yo Alan, what’s up?”steak_to_grill

“You cookin’ dinner?”

“Yep.”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Drunken Steak. A beautiful boneless New York Strip.”

“What’s a Drunken Steak? You gonna grill it?”

“It’s marinated in a cup of light rum, half-cup of soy sauce, some brown sugar, chopped garlic, ginger, scallion… that’s about it… then dry it and grill it. It’s a beautiful evening for grilling.”

“Sounds good, I’ll have to try it sometime. Is the Mrs. home yet?”

“Just walked in the door. Heeeerrrrrre’s Carol.”

I went on to light the fire and get to grilling. I threw on a sliced potato, as well, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. When I returned, Carol had set the table, opened a nice bottle of 2006 Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre and made a salad of sliced Cherokee Purple tomato and fresh mozzarella.

steak_grilled

“Why are you taking a picture of that? It’s just a steak.”

“Never know when I might need a picture of a steak.”

“Well, I’m hungry and you’re holding up dinner.”

“Besides, its not ‘just a steak.’ Its a grass fed, Marin Sun Farms boneless New York steak… and the first grilled steak of the year.”

“You grilled a flank steak when Tom was here.”

“OK, the first grilled steak of the Spring, in the twilight, not the dark… warm, not cold out. Besides I grilled this lovely asparagus, definitely the first grilled asparagus of the year.”

steak_served_2

Dinner was served. “This is really good steak,” said Carol.

01.27.10
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Country Rope Sausage

A few years ago, Carol’s folks gave us a gift pack of ham and sausages from Burgers’ Smokehouse. Good stuff. We’ve ordered from them a few times… always ham – oddly, it’s hard to find good country ham in San Francisco – and something we haven’t tried. This time it was Country Rope Sausage.

b_sausage_n_oil

The rope sausage comes in three flavors, mild, medium and hot… I chose the mild to start with and followed the package directions to cook.

“Preheat skillet to 300 degrees. Add 1/4 cup oil and 1 lb. Burgers Rope Sausage. Cover and brown for approximately 8 minutes. Turn and brown an additional 8 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 degrees. Add 1 cup water. Cover and cook for approximately 8 minutes. Turn and cook for an additional 8 minutes or until done. Use meat drippings for milk gravy or fried eggs.”

b_rope_browns

I figured medium heat would be about 300 degrees for my cast iron skillet, and my oil of choice was olive oil since I would be using the drippings for a vegetable saute.

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For my vegetable saute, I peeled and sliced one green pepper, one onion and half a large bulb of fennel. I added thyme to the mix and when the vegetables were almost tender, added some white wine to finish.

b_vegetablesb_veg_cook

The sausage is a medium fine grind and turned out perfectly browned, moist and tasty. The vegetable saute was a superb accompaniment.

b_rope_served

Damn fine brunch, but I got to thinking I ought to be feeling a twinge of guilt.

That morning, I attended a talk by Michael Pollan on his book Food Rules. I’m a big fan and have read most of his other books. One of the basic tenants of his philosophy is knowing where your food comes from. Well, this sausage came from Burgers’ Smokehouse in California, Missouri. But where do they get their meat? Their web site is all about their smokehouse and marketing… no mention of where and how their pork is raised.

They do say,

“By 1956 Mr. Burger was producing around 5,000 hams annually so he curtailed his farming activities to devote more time to the ham business. An expansion program was outlined. On July 23, 1956, the company became the first country cured meat company in the United States to receive Federal Inspection.

The family-owned corporation now comprises more than 305,545 square feet and is still located on the original site. Interestingly enough, that first little 1952 building remains a part of the existing plant complex. At the present time, the company produces 750,000 hams, bacon, sausage and a dozen other specialty meats.”

With trepidation, I sent them an email and asked the question.

Subject: a question about your products
From: Marcus Rector
Date: January 25, 2010 10:43:42 AM PST
To: service@smokehouse.com

A few years ago, we were given a gift pack of ham and sausage from Burgers’ Smokehouse. Good stuff. We’ve ordered from you two or three times a year since then. Oddly, it’s hard to find good smoked ham in San Francisco.

I buy nearly all my meat at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, so I know where it comes from and how it is raised. Where does the pork that you process in your smokehouse come from and how it is raised?

Sincerely,
Marcus Rector

From: service@smokehouse.com
Subject: Re: [Bulk] a question about your products
Date: January 25, 2010 1:38:57 PM PST
To: Marcus Rector

Our pork come from commercial producers in our state or from surrounding
states such as Iowa and Kansas.  All our meat products are USDA inspected
and first quality.
Thank you for the inquiry,
Edwena Shock
Customer Service for the Smokehouse

I have to reason that if their pork was free range, grass fed, heritage breed or any of that, they would say so. By buying from them I am indirectly supporting industrial feed lots. But their pork products are so good… they really know how to handle their spices and curing. Their ingredients are certainly straightforward: pork (including hams, loins and tenderloins), water, salt, seasoning (spices), sugar, monosodium glutamate.

So a nice brunch turns into a moral dilemma. I buy mostly local, and foods that are in season locally, but I’m not a fanatic. And is buying from Burgers’ Smokehouse any different than buying meat from Safeway?

Good sausages are certainly available at the Farmers Market, but not like these. And as I said, I haven’t found good country ham in San Francisco. So I will continue looking for that stuff at the market, continue to support the meat merchants at the market and rationalize my paltry one or two purchases a year from Burgers.

01.22.10
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Cauliflower Friday

wc_caulif_detail

I got the email notice that the Mariquita “Truck Farm” was coming to town on Thursday.

“I’ll have orange cauliflower, fennel, butterball potatoes, and bay leaf wreaths: all by pre order only! Orange cauliflower? This is a variety that is a nice orange color, and it stays orange when cooked. We harvest it truly fresh, so it’s sweet when cooked. The leaves are great too! just like a kale. really. Cook them up!”

What a great opportunity to go on a cooking binge, but only ten pounds, not like the 40 pound tomato binges of the summer. I was glad to order, and the price was right, 10 pounds for $12.

wc_8_heads_caulif

What to do with it? A couple soups, some kind of pickled, something on the stove as a vegetable and something with the leaves. I rounded up some cauliflower recipes and adapted some other recipes to use cauliflower.

Leek and Cauliflower Soup — I adapted this from a favorite potato leek soup recipe by Jacques Pepin.

Pickled Cauliflower, adapted from Market’s House Made Pickles from the Market Restaurant in St. Helena.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup — I had made this before with white cauliflower. It’s from Anne’s Food blog, Stockholm, Sweden. OK, another soup, but quite different, and it uses up a lot of cauliflower.

Sauteed Braised Cauliflower adapted from Sauteed Braised Broccoli Romanesco from The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash via Mariquita Farms newsletter.

And finally, Braised Cauliflower Leaves. — I just made this up as I went along, based on the many greens I had cooked over the years. Continue reading →