"You just go on your nerve. If someone’s chasing you down the street with a knife you just run, you don’t turn around and shout, “Give it up! I was a track star for Mineola Prep.” That’s for the writing poems part." -Frank O’Hara, Personism: A Manifesto // It’s for the cooking part, too.
The cherry tomatoes I picked up from Cherry Lane Farm needed to be the star of any dish I put before my family, and this was certainly a winner. The wild rice, which can stand up to any ingredient without becoming soggy, is delicately spiced with baharat and Aleppo pepper. The tomatoes are marinated before adding them to the rice. I imagine you can add any fresh ingredients here, from cucumbers to corn. Serve this warm or even cold, as a salad or side dish or hey, a main.
1pintcherry or grape tomatoesin season only, halved
drizzle of good quality olive oil
1/2tspnground cumin
salt and Aleppo pepperto taste
fresh herbs chopped, to taste
Instructions
for the rice
Heat olive oil in a small pot. Add in the baharat and Aleppo pepper, allowing them to infuse the oil for about a minute. Stir in wild rice, stock, and salt. Bring to a boil then, with lid on, simmer for 45 minutes, or until the stock has evaporated. Set aside and cool slightly.
for the tomatoes
In a small bowl, season the halved tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, cumin, and Aleppo pepper and allow it to marinate for at least 15 minutes before adding in the rice. Mix in your fresh herbs and serve.
These savory, cheesy muffins are my go-to for picnics, brunch, hikes, getaways, but sometimes I make a batch just for Danny who can’t get enough of ’em. Have them fresh out of the oven or up to 2-3 days later. Slather some of my strawberry-fig jam on ’em and be smacked with savory-sweet bite.
This Ham and Cheese Muffin recipe is adapted from Lee Bailey’s Portable Food book. I’ve toyed with it a bit and encourage you to do the same once you’ve nailed down the basics. While he uses only cheddar, I love a bit of the smokier cheeses as well. I’ve always made a batch with smoked gouda but tried smoked gruyère the other day and it was just as lovely. Adding fresh herbs and chives is my favorite way to make them, though it is optional. I was growing lots of thyme and rosemary during the summer and decided to toss them into the flour. Best. Decision. Ever. Cracked pepper adds the spice I always prefer in a savory thing, add as much as you want! I haven’t omitted the ham in this recipe, but if you do, let me know how it comes out. Add a bit more cheese and I’m sure they’ll be perfect.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir flour, salt, pepper, and herbs til combined. Add grated cheese and toss into the flour til evenly distributed.
In a smaller bowl, whisk in the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Stir in ham. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients and try not to over mix. Spoon fully into greased muffin pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, til they've reached their golden-ness.
Sitting at the corner table in Estia’s Little Kitchen with Connie, a spoonful of corn chowder in my mouth, I’m immediately taken back to my previous home in Jamaica, Queens. A burst of heat and plenty of cilantro in the broth is exactly how I enjoyed Momma Lupe’s soups. I called a gentleman over and asked in a single word, “tomatillos?” And in a single word returned, “poblanos.” Again I was back in a little kitchen of my own, in another time and place, where sounds of the blender filled the room as poblanos and cilantro became one, beautiful green.
Gratitude to this garden-to-table family restaurant for allowing me a taste of memory. Our waiting area was the best wait I’ve ever experienced in my life. They serve iced coffee in a truck out back where they are currently growing many lettuce greens and herbs, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes. Check out that dragonfly chillin’ on a garlic scape. We walked around til our names were called and made sure we would return before heading back into the city.
Estia’s Little Kitchen
Inspired by their chowder (I had never seen a green corn chowder, have you?), I made my own and I am loving every morning, afternoon, and night with a bowl of this. It’s good hot and room temp, probably even cold. It goes perfectly with an egg, avocado, a sprinkle of cotija, crispy tortillas. To make it a bit light, I use coconut milk instead of cream and I leave out potatoes. I also grilled the ingredients to get that summer flavor I love.
Grilled Spicy Corn Chowder with Cilantro and Basil
Place 4 ears of corn in a cast iron skillet, or on a grill, and char them a few minutes on each side, turning often. This should take no more than 8-10 minutes. The other 2 ears of corn you will cut into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
Spend about 10 minutes charring the peppers as well, 5 minutes a side.
When cool enough to handle, stand each ear of corn into a bowl and cut kernels off of them. Slice your poblanos, deseeding if you'd like.
Take about half of the kernels and put them into a food processor along with the poblanos. Blend for a few seconds then add your cilantro and basil. Continue to blend til it reaches desired consistency.
In a pot, warm up your coconut oil and sauté your onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin for about a minute. Then add the green mixture along with the rest of the kernels and 1-inch pieces, sauté for another minute. Stir in your coconut milk and hot stock. Simmer for about 8. It doesn’t take long!Enjoy <3 Corn is making their summer appearance now but soon, it’ll be EV-ERY-WHERE.
Notes
*I use stock that has been heated up beforehand so that the greens do not over cook. I like the bright, fresh green look of it. We are only waiting for the corn pieces to cook through, which only takes a few minutes. The broth thickens up once you take it off the heat, in case you’re wondering why it seems loose at first!
My favorite Russian pirozhki couldn’t be more simple. I take a whole onion, couple of garlic cloves, a handful of dill, and blend them together til they reach a puréed consistency. I simmer ground beef with a bay leaf, the onion and dill mixture, generously adding salt and pepper. That’s it. That’s the flavor of them I recall from my grandmother’s kitchen. It didn’t take long for me to make the sofrito connection, which has the onion and garlic, but also sweet peppers, cilantro instead of dill, and spices. Grab the recipe for mom’s small batch sofrito and make these fluffy baked buns.
I was thinking about making a full-on pastelillo filling, but decided on the Russian’s less-is-more seasoned beef. But by all means, add some chopped pimiento-stuffed olives, small diced potato, raisins, more tomato paste or sauce, etc! You’ll just need less meat than this recipe calls for.
You may also fry them in batches, which is the only way I enjoyed them at Brighton Beach many moons ago, with the most fantastic oil dripping onto my bathing suit. Pero, nothing wrong with baked, either. Less standing by the pan, less oil-burns, less oil.
Note: this dough can be used for many other fillings, both savory and sweet. It can also be doubled (no need to double the yeast, just everything else). I’ll have dessert options posted soon. And meatless options!
In a deep pan, heat olive oil. Add your beef, breaking it up with a slotted spoon while adding in your spices.
Move some of the browned beef aside so that a little of the oil pools to the corner. Directly into the oil, stir in the tomato paste and allow it to caramelize for a minute or so before mixing it into the beef. This will enhance the flavor.
Stir in sofrito. After a few minutes, pour in the water and let it simmer til most of the liquid evaporates, occasionally giving it a stir.
Add in the cilantro and let the meat cool to room temp before using.
yeasted dough
In a small bowl, sift your flour along with the salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, gently whisk together your milk, sugar, dry yeast and let stand for 10-15 minutes, or until very active.
Whisk in the butter and egg yolks, then slowly add in your flour, kneading as you go along for about 10 minutes. The dough is so supple and soft within a couple of minutes but I like to continue kneading for good measure.
Cover the bowl and allow it to double in size, about 2 hours.
Divide the dough into 2 oz pieces, about 8-10. Roll each into a disc and add 2-2 1/2 tbsp of the filling. Pinch the discs closed. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the buns seam-side down next to each other, giving them a tiny bit of room between each other.
Cover them with a clean tea towel and let them prove for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brush the beaten egg on each and bake for 20-30 minutes, til they've browned.
This soup is a cross between a meaty borscht and my modern-day obsession with caramelized cabbage. Both flanken and cabbage lend a hand in it’s richness, sweetness, and color. Brown food is beautiful.
Some notes: If you choose to make this vegetarian, I would add dried mushrooms to create an umami broth. To make it heartier, add more of the vegetables listed here. Barley would be a nice addition, too. If you can’t find golden beets, any beet would do. I just love the goldeness it creates in the broth.
One thing you should refrain from is cutting time spent on cooking the cabbage. The longer you cook them, the better. I like to go the extra step of patting them down with a paper towel just to take away some excess oil. I also like to spoon some of the fat out of the pot as the flanken simmers. You might find it easier to do that once the soup cools down, though. Up to you!
Caramelized Cabbage Soup with Flanken and Golden Beets
1-1 1/12lbflankencut into pieces between the bones
2carrots
2celery stalks
1head of garlichalved crosswise
1onion
fresh herbs of your choosing
2 1/2tspkosher salt
10cupwater
for the soup
2 1/2cupbeetspeeled and diced
2carrotspeeled and sliced
caramelized cabbage and onion
flanken and it's broth
salt and pepper, to taste
dill or cilantroto taste
Instructions
for the cabbage
Set a deep, large pan over medium-high heat. Add your oil.
When it’s hot you’ll add the cabbage, leeks, salt, and sugar. Immediately turn the heat down to low and slow cook the cabbage, being careful to not interrupt the browning process by moving the cabbage around a lot. You’ll stir it once every 8-10 minutes til they have deeply browned, about 45 minutes or more. If at any point the pan looks too dry, you may gradually add a bit more olive oil. Set aside in a bowl lined with a paper towel as you work on the broth.
for the broth and soup
In a large pot set over high heat, brown the flanken in batches. Return them to the pot when the last batch is done.
Add the vegetables, herbs, salt, and water. Bring it to a boil, cover with a lid, and turn it down to a simmer. For the first 15 minutes, check on it to remove any foamy crud that rises to the top.
After 1.5 hours, discard the vegetables and herbs and add the beets, carrots, caramelized cabbage. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes, or til tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and fresh herbs if you’d like.
Bite-sized young manchego sitting in a bowl of olive oil and spices has been my go-to for five years now…and I like it even better with a few strips of orange zest, fresh herbs, honey, and lightly smashed cloves of garlic. Those cloves soften up and become addictively sweet, AND 👏 THAT 👏 OIL 👏, totally meant for dipping so don’t forget the bread. I don’t even know which part of this is my favorite. I’ll let you decide.
Adding in some dried wild thyme flowers is not necessary, but I have them and I love how peppery they are. You can totally play with the spices if you’d like! This recipe is flexible. Bring it to your next picnic or give it as a gift!
Break a part your manchego into bite-sized pieces and place them into a jar or bowl that comes with a lid. Set aside.
In a small saucepan set over low heat, gently toast your spices, about 1 minute, til fragrant. Then pour in olive oil, zest, garlic, sprig, and honey. Keep it on low and allow it to barely bubble up for about 5 minutes, then let cool completely before adding it into the jar or bowl full of cheese.
Refrigerate over night or for at least 24 hours before serving.
Y’all should know me by now (particularly if you follow my Instagram: cookonyournerve). Braising wedges of cabbage has been my THING, for years! So I thought it was about time I actually share a recipe doing just that. And don’t think I haven’t noticed within the last year or so a bunch of wedged cabbage recipes poppin’ up on big-name magazines, and food blogs, too! It’s about time cabbage got some major love.
This one’s got the stuff that many dig about veal or chicken piccata: lemon, butter, wine, broth, capers. Just minus the veal and chicken. And it’s got the stuff I love most: braising cabbage til a caramelized-nutty-sweetness takes over them.
1 1/2cchicken or vegetable stockplus more if needed
2leafy sprigsthyme or rosemary
3-4thin sliceslemon
3tbspcapersrinsed
salt and pepperto taste
3tbspparsleychopped, for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Leaving the cabbage's core intact, halve the head through it's core, then cut each half into 3-4 thick wedges through the core.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet or braiser. Sear the wedges of cabbage cut side down for about 2 minutes, til lightly charred. Set aside to work on your sauce.
In the same pan, melt 2 tbsp butter and whisk in 2 tbsp flour to create a light golden roux, about 1-2 minutes. Continue to whisk while slowly adding in the wine and the stock.
Carefully add in the cabbage wedges, char-side down, along with your sprigs of thyme, sliced lemon, capers, and 2 tbsp butter. Bring it to a boil then shut off the stove. Spoon sauce over cabbage. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the wedges. With a cover on, let it braise in the oven for about 40 minutes, til tender. If, at this point, the sauce appears to be running dry, add more broth or water. Spoon more sauce over the cabbage, then bake another 45 minutes or longer, uncovered, til they have caramelized to your liking. Season to taste.
Notes
I’ve made this recipe before without making the roux, as pictured below. Still delicious, just not gravy-like.
While recipes tend to call for lemon juice, I find that the use of lemon slices, with rind, give it a nice burst of rich lemony flavor as well.
Loisa and I are bringing you fresh takes on classics, and I’m loving this latest one.
Here’s some guineros en escabeche inspo for you, minus the green bananas (guineros), I know! The yellow plantain is for my sweet cravings, and the cherry tomatoes are for that burst of spring and summer I so desperately miss. In addition to tomatoes and avocados, I imagine you can make this even more colorful and filling by adding a variety of sweet and hot peppers, added them to the quick pickling process or kept fresh. While you can make this the night before, I have served this several times an hour or two after mixing everything together. It still comes out flavorful. Just remember to add the avocado closer to serving.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place plantains on a sheet pan and drizzle olive oil over them, spreading the oil evenly around it along with adobo, about 1/8 tsp each. Bake for 15 minutes on one side, and 15 minutes on the other. Set aside.
for the onions
Place all ingredients in a saucepan set under medium heat. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes, then set aside in a small bowl. I like the onions to still have a tiny bit of crispness to them while remaining a vibrant color. Boil longer for softer onions and stronger flavor.
for assembling
Mix the sweet plantains, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, and onion mixture together. Add in the olives or capers, if using. Chill for at least 1-3 hours before serving.
If you plan on marinating this salad overnight, add the avocado and tomatoes next day right before serving. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Enjoy!
Notes
For the plantains, I chose ones that were slightly blackened to assure that they do not lose shape when getting mixed with other ingredients. The blacker, the sweeter and softer they are. But do you!
Keyword Fresh, Simple
Here are other recipes I created using Loisa’s spices! This ongoing partnership has been the thing of color and comfort.
A recipe developed for Loisa using their organic spices. These stewed pigeon peas (gandules guisados) have butternut squash, and mushrooms that were first browned in a cast iron, spiced with sazón. I am pretty much addicted to these mushrooms and would not be mad atcha if you chose to just make them alone. Something tells […]
Once I became in love with the roasted beet, (let’s say 8 years ago) I knew it was only a matter of time when we’d roast a few and add them to our borscht. I’ve been making it this way for awhile now! Yesterday I received a box of forono beets, January King cabbage, red […]
