The Houndstooth Gourmet

Washington DC’s first heat wave is upon us* and it’s just too hot to cook. For dinner last night, I used leftovers and some produce from the farmers markets to make an entree salad. Leftover cooked lamb chops, sauteed spring peas, spring onions, previously oven roasted golden beets, blue cheese and a red wine vinaigrette made an easy and satisfying dinner.

What are your favorite dishes to eat on a really hot day? Salads? Chilled soups? Grilled dishes?

Let THG know your ideas!

*Last night’s thunder storms has brought us a glorious break in the heat wave-but still…tell me how you cook and cope with the heat-it’s not even summer yet!

Tags: salad by Ramona
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……or what to do with leftover pommes dauphinoise.

Over the weekend, I watched an episode or two of Top Chef season 3. If you’re a fan, you may remember the episode where the cheftestants were told to make a dish featuring chicken, potatoes and onions. It was a brilliant challenge. Think about those humble ingredients and how many dishes are made from them. From chicken pot pie, to chicken and potato casserole, it’s a cheap and accessible combination of food.

Last years’ winner of TC was Hung, who for this particular challenge, made butter poached chicken with pomme dauphinoise and a gorgeous looking au jus sauce. The dish, especially the potatoes, got rave reviews, as did Antonia’s (current season) potato gratin.I have since wondered what makes these potato preparations so magical; after all, it’s just scalloped potatoes, right? Or, was I  missing something?

I looked online for Hung’s pommes dauphinoise recipe to no avail. But, I did find this recipe, written by James Beard. Given the author, I thought “no need to look further, this is the real deal”.  The only thing I changed was the cheese. I had sharp cheddar on hand, and it worked nicely.

So, in the process of researching and making this recipe, I think I have learned a few things. I know for sure, that these were the best damn scalloped potatoes I had ever eaten. Here’s why-first, you have to use heavy cream. I used to make a bechamel sauce to simulate the thickness of cream, but the flour can make the sauce too thick over the course of baking. It was just never creamy in the end. The second thing I learned was to trust myself to cut the potatoes thin, and not use a mandoline to get them too thin. The potatoes held up much better when they were slice about 1/8 inch thick. Imperfectly, by the way!  My slicing them super think was due to concern that they would not be perfect and cook thoroughly. How many times have you or someone you know said “the potatoes have been cooking forever, and they’re still not cooked!!”

*raises hand*

Well, this recipe calls for the potatoes to be cooked uncovered-for a total of two hours in a low oven. Again, thinking that my potatoes wouldn’t cook through, I would turn the oven up to 425-450 and cook those suckers through. If the dish was boiling, well then good. That meant cooking them through. No need. Uncovered in a low oven for a  long period of time produced creamy, fully cooked potatoes that were infused with the fresh minced garlic that goes in between the potato  layers.

I’m telling you, try this recipe (and then walk 3 miles because there is a pint of cream in it *sigh*). I learned so much from this preparation of a humble ingredient. The best part was the leftovers, because the potatoes taste even better the next day.

Which brings me to this frittata. I’ve written about making frittatas previously, and can only say that once you’ve made one frittata, you will have endless possibilities using this method. I say method, and not recipe, because you can make your frittata, your way.

Here’s what I did; I cut a few sprigs of rosemary from my herb garden and minced the leaves. I sauteed about a half of a diced onion in a tablespoon of butter and tossed in the rosemary. After about a minute, I added about a cup of the leftover pommes dauphinoise and spread them evenly. I allowed them to warm through and brown a bit for 4-5 minutes. Then, I added 6 eggs, whisked, along with salt and pepper. I added a cup of shredded sharp cheddar on top and cooked the frittata until it was set on the bottom and sides. The frittata then went into the oven, under the broiler, until it was set and lightly browned.

I let the frittata sit on the counter for 5 minutes, before I put a large plate over the top of the pan, and turned it over to release it. Some potatoes stuck to the bottom, but I scraped them up and threw them back on top. No biggie!

This was a winner combination. The rosemary complimented the potatoes, and as with the potatoes themselves, the frittata was even better the next day. That would be breakfast today. Yum.

Tags: cheese, potatoes by Ramona
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Growing up, my family had a Queen Anne cherry tree in the backyard. Each spring, it would grow beautiful soft white and blush petals, which yielded creamy yellow and red fruit. Their tart taste was a spring delicacy, and I remember eating them out of a bowl with my mom over the kitchen sink.

Appearing very similar to the Queen Anne cherry is the Rainier cherry. Both have light yellow flesh which is blushed with pinks and reds. And those dark brown spots? They indicate sugar. Not a bad thing, nope. The Ranier cherry is a cross between the Bing and Van variety of cherry, and has been cultivated since the 1960′s. Although it is primarily grown in California and the Pacific Northwest, many orchards in our area grow the Ranier cherry.

That mean, aside from picking your own*, you can usually find Ranier cherries at many area farmers markets this time of year. But don’t wait to long-Ranier cherries are prized and bit more expensive because they are hard to grow and harvest, and the season is short. Heavy rain, excessive heat and wind can damage them.

The flesh of the Rainier is juicy and sweet. There are other fruit flavors mixed in with the cherry flavor, such as apple, pear, nectarine and grape. The complex mix of flavors makes this pit fruit delicious to eat out of hand, and with its’ mild flavor, the Ranier cherry is incredible in savory dishes. For example, the Ranier cherry would make an excellent chutney or salsa to compliment pork, lamb, duck or bison. On the other hand, you could use the Ranier cherry in fruit salad or to top ice cream.

If you want cherries for baking, I recommend waiting for the sour pie cherries to arrive.

Along with my Rainier cherries which came from D&S Farm in Charlotte Hall, MD (whose owner said that peaches should appear in a couple weeks!), I picked up gorgeous golden beets, fresh, just cut asparagus, deep crimson-colored rhubarb, and baby arugula. Let’s see what I can create from these amazing ingredients!

Until the next At the Market, eat and buy local when you can.

* http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm

Tags: Alexandria, farmers markets by Ramona
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I’m finally getting around to posting about last Saturday’s markets!

First, let me back up to Friday, when I stopped by Del Ray to pick up a loaf of challah from Caboose Cafe. Smartly, CC has challah on the bread menu each Friday, so to me, that means a delicious treat of French toast on Saturday or Sunday. I had not made French toast in quite a while, and I wanted to make some for Frank over the weekend-it’t one of his favorite breakfasts.

That brings me to the Del Ray market on Saturday. Three Way Farm had several pints of English peas. I picked up 2 in order to make a pea soup over the weekend. I then ventured over to Let’s Meat on the Avenue to gather a few links of Amish sage sausage, since we’d loved it so much the first time we bought it. Breakfast was set!

But before we went home, we quickly stopped at the Alexandria market so I could pick up some of my favorite baklavah from a lovely woman-Emine. I also bought a bag of spring mix greens with a handful of colorful (and edible) nasturtium flowers for $3.50.

I do appreciate the lower prices in the ‘burb’ markets!

So, as you can see from the photo collage, we did indeed get to enjoy French toast with strawberries and maple syrup, along with sage sausage. Later, I made fresh pea soup, drizzled with a bit of fage and cream. It was fresh and delicious.

Overall, it was a great week of fresh produce and goodies from the markets-bring on the cherries!

Until the next At The Market, eat and buy local when you can.

Tags: Alexandria, farmers markets by Ramona
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I remember so many years of growing zucchini in various gardens. Have you? It’s very easy to grow, and plants can yield vast amounts of zucchini the size of small canoes. Which of course means a couple of things. You can furtively leave zucchini in a basket at work, with signage to the effect of ‘free!!! delicious!!…free!!’ Of course the sub-text is ‘take these the hell off of my hands because they are are taking over my life!’. Then again, you can try to foist them on neighbors. You would think that I don’t like zucchini-I do! But their reproductive powers rival those of bunnies.

Which makes zucchini bread an excellent way to use up this vegetable.

Currently, I buy zucchini and squash from the markets as I need it. Mt. Olympus Farm at the Kingstowne market had baby zucchini and squash that looked too good to pass up-and I knew I could use them right away in zucchini bread.

Zucchini bread is versitile; it can be enjoyed as a breakfast bread, or a dessert after dinner. It also freezes well.

Zucchini Bread with Cinnamon and Nutmeg

makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup freshly shredded zucchini
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• zest of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the sugar, zucchini and egg. Add the oil and lemon zest. Mix to combine. Slowly add the dry ingredients and blend until combined. Pour batter into a greased 8x4x2 loaf pan. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet and on middle rack of oven.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow zucchini bread to cool for 10-15 minutes. Turn bread out onto a baking rack to cool. Serve warm, or store overnight in refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap. The bread can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Tags: bread, Recipe, zucchini by Ramona
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