Sweet and Spicy Barley with Beans and Bacon

This is like homemade baked beans, with barley.

1 cup dried navy beans
8 oz. slab bacon, diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
One 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup pearled barley
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
up to 2 T. chopped pickled jalapeno rings, or 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauced, minced

Soak the beans 12-16 hours in a big bowl of water. Drain.

Fry the bacon until it just begins to render its fat, stirring occasionally, in a 6-quart pressure cooker over medium heat.  Add the onion; cook until both have browned a bit, stirring often, about 4 more minutes. Pour in the broth and scrape up any browned bits in the bottom of the pot. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Lock the lid onto the pot, and raise the heat to high until pressure is reached. Cook for 18-20 minutes at pressure, reducing heat as much as possible while maintaining high pressure. Use the quick release method to bring the pot's pressure back to normal, unlock the lid and open the pot. Stir well before serving.

From the Great Big Pressure Cooker Book, by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

Szechwan-style eggplant

Tried this from Gourmet, via epicurious, and liked it.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• a 1 1/4-pound eggplant, peeled if desired and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Szechwan chili paste*, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce*
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar* or white-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry Sherry
• 3 scallions, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil, or to taste

In a wok or large skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it stir-fry the eggplant over moderately high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is tender and browned. Transfer the eggplant with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the broth. To the wok add the garlic, the gingerroot, the chili paste, the hoisin sauce, the vinegar, and the Sherry and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the scallions and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, the brown sugar, the cornstarch mixture, stirred, the bell pepper, and the eggplant and stir-fry the mixture for 1 minute, or until the eggplant has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove the wok from the heat, add the sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste, and toss the mixture well. The eggplant mixture may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.

They suggest serving it with pita wedges, but I just made it as a side with lemongrass chicken and rice.

Hungarian Baked Cabbage

I like this recipe in general, but it was way too heavy on paprika. It reminded me of another Barbara Kafka recipe with an over-the-top quantity of a single spice, radiant bok choy, which was overdosed on turmeric. I would try this cabbage again, reducing the paprika to a sprinkle or omitting it entirely.

½ medium green cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut accross into ½-inch-wide strips (6 cups)
3 tbl. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup sour cream
2 tbl. (!!) mild paprika
2 tsp. caraway seeds

Toss the cabbage with butter to coat in a roasting pan. Roast at 500°F for 15 minutes. Toss and stirr the cabbage, and roast for another 15 minutes, until starting to brown. Sprinkle with salt.

Combine the wine, sour cream and spices in a small bowl. Place the roasting pan with the cabbage over medium heat. Pour in the sour cream mixture. Deglaze the pan, stirring the cabbage, for about 5 minutes or until hot. Do not let it boil or the sour cream will curdle.

from Vegetable Love, by Barbara Kafka (as a variation of Mildly Cardamom Cabbage)

Even better: eggplant and tomato stacks (with zucchini!)

I liked the first ones so much, I immediately wanted to try these when I saw the recipe in...the latest Williams Sonoma catalog.

Eggplant and Tomato Stacks

olive oil
4 yellow onions, diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 T. chopped fresh oregano
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 eggplant, 2½-3 inches in diameter, sliced ⅛ inch thick
5 tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
4 zucchini, halved crosswise, sliced ⅛ inch thick
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 425. In saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 6 T. olive oil. Add onions, salt and pepper; cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, basil, oregano and parsley; cook 2 minutes more.

Rub bottom and sides of 12 inch cast iron fry pan with oil. Place 8 eggplant slices in single layer in pan; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions and 1 tomato slice; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions and 2 zucchini slices; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions. Repeat layering 2 more times, ending with zucchini. Drizzle each stack with 1 tsp. oil.

Bake 40 minutes. Sprinkle each stack with 1 T. cheese; bake 7-10 minutes more. Let rest 5 minutes, then serve. Serves 8.

I served these with whole wheat couscous cooked with chicken stock and some more parm grated in.

The first of two summer tomato zucchini stacks

This one vertical, from The Silver Spoon cookbook. I made this about a month ago, and what is more summery than fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and mozzarella?

Tomatoes with Zucchini

olive oil
8 tomatoes
2 zucchini, trimmed
1 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprig, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
7 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced (I used homemade)
½ tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Brush an ovenproof dish with oil. Thinly slice the tomatoes without cutting all the way through, leaving them joined at the base. Halve the zucchini lengthwise, then slice them into thin strips. Slip the strips of zucchini between the slices of tomato. Place the tomatoes in the prepared dish, sprinkle with parsley and garlic, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, and carefully slip the slices of mozzarella tetween the slices of tomato and zucchini, sprinkle with the oregano, and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until the mozzarella begins to form strings. Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve immediately.

My note--very thin slices work best, or 30 minutes isn't enough.

Swiss chard with raisins and almonds

This was pretty good. I made it with what we had on hand, pecans instead of almonds, and regular old thompson seedless raisins. Used 2 weeks' worth of chard, which I'm sure was less than 2 lbs. Needs salt, of course. This was the recipe in our weekly CSA newsletter.

Swiss chard with raisins and almonds
Gourmet, February 2008

½ large onion, sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick (1 cup)
2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
¼ teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
2 lb Swiss chard, center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup water
¼ cup coarsely chopped almonds with skins

Cook onion with ¼ teaspoon salt in 2 tablespoons oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring, until softened. Sprinkle with paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard in batches, stirring frequently, until wilted, then add raisins and water. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until chard is tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt.

Cook almonds in remaining ½ tablespoon oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle almonds over chard.

Makes 4 servings.

Tray-baked Salmon with Olives, Green Beans, and Tomatoes

Susan and John gave us Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef cookbook for Christmas, and I asked her a while back for specific recipe recommendations. A few days ago she left a message on our machine telling us that they'd just made and devoured this; naturally, we tried it. I skipped the anchovies, feeling that I may just have eaten my lifetime fill of them in Malaysia, but sprinkled capers on the veggies in place of them. No doubt Susan, not to mention Jamie Oliver, would be horrified, but it was excellent. We don't roast veggies like this nearly as often as we should--we tend to get stuck in a rut of roasting root-type veggies only.

From The Naked Chef cookbook, page 97.

Tray-baked salmon with olives, green beans, anchovies, and tomatoes

7 oz. green beans, trimmed
20 small cherry tomatoes
1-2 good handfuls of black olives, pitted
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
four 8oz. thick salmon fillet steaks, with or without skin but definitely pinboned
2 lemons
1 handful of fresh basil
12 anchovy fillets, rinsed

Blanch the green beans until tender in boiling salted water, and drain. Put in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes and the olives. Toss in the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Give the salmon fillets a quick wash under the tap and pat dry with paper towels. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon over the fillets, on both sides, then season both sides with salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Preheat the oven and a roasting tray to 475 degrees. Put your 4 fillets of salmon at one end of the roasting tray. Toss the basil into the green beans, olives and tomatoes and place this mixture at the other end of the tray. Lay the anchovies over the green beans. Roast for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and serve with lemon quarters.

Radiant Bok Choy

This is beautiful, and pretty good, if a little heavy on the turmeric. I added some shedded cooked chicken for the last 6 minutes of cooking.

1 tbl. canola oil
2 tbl. turmeric
1 tbl. kosher salt
2 lbs. bok choy, halved lengthwise
1 can coconut milk, plus enough water to make 3 cups liquid
1 tbl. fresh lime juice or 4 lime wedges

In an 8- or 9-inch saucepan, heat the oil over low heat. Stir in the turmeric and salt and cook for about 1 minute. Add the pieces of bok choy, laying them on their sides and cramming them in so as to make them as compact as possible.

Pour in the cocobut-water mixture, cover the pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 6 minutes. The bok choy should sink into the sauce and cook evenly. If some of the bok choy is not covered with liquid, turn the pieces. Re-cover and cook for 6 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice, if using. Or serve hot, accompanied with lime wedges, if desired.

Serves 4 as a side dish.
from Vegetable Love, by Barbara Kafka

Red Flannel Hash

Made this with the delicious Cast Iron Duck.

Alton Brown, p. 34.