All posts filed under: Vegetables

Quick Pickled Cucumber With Umeboshi

Published by

“Fortunately, canning is not a prerequisite for pickling. In fact, as long as you can commit to eating them within a week or two, there are countless pickles that you can make quickly and store in your fridge.” — Mark Bittman Quick pickles, also called refrigerator pickles, are unfermented pickles made by marinating vegetables or fruits in a vinegar or salt solution for a short period of time, usually several minutes to a few days. They don’t require canning if they won’t be stored for more than a few weeks, though they should be refrigerated. Usually recipes for quick pickles are simple and require minimal effort — often just cutting, mixing, and waiting. Slightly more complicated recipes may require blanching or may require the brine to be heated to dissolve sugar or salt, infuse flavorings, or lightly cook the vegetables. Examples of quick pickle recipes can be seen here (Mark Bittman), here (Food52), here (Smitten Kitchen), or here (The Awl). This quick pickle is recipe is one of the simplest types; it requires only cutting and mixing ingredients. These pickles …

Japanese Black Sesame Sauce (Goma-ae)

Published by

There are very few sauces which are black-colored. Squid ink is one of the few well known ones. Japanese black sesame sauce (goma-ae) should be another; its shiny black color is mysterious and dramatic. Since the sauce is nutty and slightly sweet, it complements many types of blanched or cooked vegetables such as: fava beans, green peas, spinach (shown above), broccoli, broiled and peeled eggplant, edamame, and string beans. This sauce is made from just a few ingredients: raw (untoasted) black sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, and dashi. The first step is to toast and then grind the sesame seeds. The recipe starts with raw sesame seeds because once they are toasted, the oil can quickly become rancid. Raw sesame seeds stay fresh for much longer, so sesame seeds should be bought raw and toasted as needed. Japanese cooking almost always uses unhulled sesame seeds; thus tahini can’t be substituted for the sesame seed paste made by this recipe since it is made from hulled sesame seeds. The hulls give the sesame paste a coarser texture, a richer flavor, and a darker …

Fried Roman Jewish Style Artichokes

Published by

These fried artichokes are especially pretty because they are pressed so that their leaves open up and resemble flowers. The leaves are crispy like chips and the hearts are meltingly soft. Either regular artichokes or baby artichokes can be used. Regular sized artichokes have a nice big heart and big leaves. Baby artichokes are cute; they have a very small heart so they will be mostly crispy leaves but are faster to prepare since they don’t have a choke. Since there is no batter, these are very simple and easy to fry. The frying is done in two steps–the first frying is at a low heat to cook the artichokes through, and the second frying is done quickly at a high heat to brown and crisp them. Source: “Carciofi alla Giudia — Crisp-Fried Whole Artichokes” from “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan. Marcella Hazan’s recipe is written for whole artichokes; for baby artichokes, I used the timing for baby artichokes from “Baby Artichokes, Jewish Style” from “Vegetable Love” by Barbara Kafka. I like to use fried herbs …

Blanched Vegetables

Published by

Blanching is a simple way to cook vegetables. After they are blanched they can be dressed with sauce or dips, used in salads, stir-fries, etc. It is important that the vegetables are cooked in very hot water so that they cook quickly. When the vegetables are first put into the boiling water, it causes a temperature drop; if blanching lots of vegetables do it in small batches so that the water will quickly return to a boil and allow the water to return to a boil before adding the next batch. Cook only one type of vegetables at a time, since different types cook at different rates. A pasta basket, slotted spoon, spider, or tongs makes blanching multiple items easier because it allows you to re-use the same pot of boiling water. An ice batch or cold water rinse stops the cooking and helps to preserve the vegetable’s vibrant colors. Blanching Preparation Notes for Specific Vegetables: Asparagus: Before blanching, cut off the the fibrous ends of the asparagus. The asparagus can be left in long stacks or cut into smaller …

Dau Chua (Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickled Salad)

Published by

These lightly pickled carrots and daikon are a common Vietnamese salad. It is sometimes served as a small side salad to brighten dishes and can be used in banh mi or Vietnamese salad rolls. The daikon and carrots for this salad should be shredded so that they are about as thick as bean sprouts, i.e. they should be no thinner than 1/16 inches, and preferably be around 3/32 inches thick. They should have some crunch to them and be thick enough to stay mostly straight and only have a slight droop if you hold one up by its end. They should be thicker than vermicelli noodles; if you shred them too finely then they will tangle, have an unappealing hair-like texture, and not be crunchy. You don’t need to use your good vinegar for this. It is okay to substitute the rice vinegar for white vinegar or even apple cider vinegar. Source: Adapted from “Dau Chua (Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickled Salad)” from “Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Also …

Winter Salad with Fennel, Radicchio, Walnuts and Manchego or Parmesan

Published by

This is a very pleasing salad. I like the crunchiness of the fennel. The slightly bitter radicchio and walnuts contrasts with and brings out the sweetness of the fennel, and it has pretty white/pink/red colors. Source: Modified and reworded from “Winter Salad with Fennel, Radicchio, Walnuts and Manchego” from Melissa Clark’s “Cook This Now”. The radishes and poached egg, and a few other minor details are my own input.