Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I first had strawberry and rhubarb together in a pie back in college. I went on a trip to Martha's Vineyard with a friend whose family had a place on the island. We had pie at Black Dog cafe and to this day I still think about how good it was. So when I saw this recipe, I had to try it.

If you read this blog, you will know that I do a fair amount of gluten free cooking and this recipe at first blush does not seem like a good candidate because of the "crumble" (almond/flour batter) on top. But compared to a full pie, a crumble only has a top and not a full crust. A full crust is hard to mimic using gluten free flour, but the top in this crumble is intended to be, well, crumbly and not a "perfect" top. It therefore is a great recipe to replace with gluten free flour since there is a lot of wiggle room as they say. 

I used roasted and salted almonds instead of sliced almonds because we had them in the house so I didn't have to go buy sliced almonds. The recipe came out just great. Because they were already salted, I left out the 1/4 t of salt from the topping.

Here is flour recipe.

This recipe was contributed by Andrew Zimmern to Food and Wine.

ACTIVE: 45 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 35 MIN

SERVINGS: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

FILLING

1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered (32 oz)

1 pound rhubarb, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

TOPPING

1/2 cup sliced almonds

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE THE FILLING Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, toss the strawberries and rhubarb with the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and salt. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

MAKE THE TOPPING Spread the almonds in a 9-inch pie plate and toast, stirring once, until golden and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Let cool completely.

In a food processor, pulse the almonds with the flour, baking soda and salt until the almonds are coarsely ground. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream the butter with both sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl again. Add the almond-flour mixture all at once and mix at low speed just until incorporated.

Pour the fruit into the pie plate. Dollop teaspoon-size clumps of the batter over the fruit. Bake until the topping is deeply browned and the juices bubbling up around it appear thickened, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly; serve warm.

Pasta with Carmelized Cabbage

My mom gave me this recipe.

16 oz small pasta (ziti, fusilli, penne, etc.)

1 small cabbage, sliced thinly like for slaw

4-5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly

1 T or 1 packet of raw or regular sugar

In a large pan, heat small amount of olive oil, add garlic, thinly sliced onion and sliced cabbage. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.  Cover and cook over low to medium heat, turning regularly until sugar caramelizes - this takes about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook pasta as usual, drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

When cabbage mix is nicely caramelized, add pasta, toss well and water as necessary to moisten. Be careful not to add too much.

Serve with a good helping of grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil on top.

Yellow and Cannellini Bean Salad

This recipe comes from Food and Wine as usual. It's a great summer recipe. 

The last time I made this I substituted some items - garbanzos for cannellini beans, green beans for the yellow wax beans, and I added 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into long thin spears. Using canned beans speeds up the process, but I do think you lose a little of the depth of flavor that simmering the dried beans adds. Either way, it's a nice, fresh and very light salad.

2 cups dried cannellini beans (12 ounces), soaked overnight and drained or 1 15 oz can.

1 small yellow onion, peeled and halved

1 small carrot

1 small celery rib

1 pound yellow wax beans

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 large radishes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup small basil leaves or chopped basil

In a large saucepan, cover the drained cannellini beans with 2 inches of water.

Add the yellow onion, carrot and celery and bring to a boil.

Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cannellinis are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Drain the cannellinis and discard the onion, carrot and celery.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.

Fill a large bowl with ice water.

Add the wax beans to the saucepan and cook until just tender, 3 minutes. Drain the beans and chill them quickly in the ice water. Drain and pat dry.

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil with the vinegar and lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the cannellini beans with the wax beans, radishes, red onion and basil. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper and serve right away.

Coffee-Rubbed Strip Steak

This recipe was contributed by Tim Byres to Food and Wine.

This is an easy recipe and turned out fantastic. I had a craving for some steak and this was a perfect way to satisfy that craving. I didn't use the chimichurri for dressing on a herb salad instead using it all on the steaks which was the right decision in my opinion. My wife and guests agreed heartily with me. :)

CHIMICHURRI

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 small shallot, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

STEAK

2 tablespoons finely ground dark-roast coffee beans

2 tablespoons chile powder

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Four 10-ounce strip steaks

SALAD

1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves

1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/2 cup snipped chives

1 small shallot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

MAKE THE CHIMICHURRI In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegars with the olive oil and sugar. Stir in the shallot, parsley, cilantro, chives and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Let the chimichurri stand for at least 20 minutes and for up to 2 hours.

MEANWHILE, PREPARE THE STEAK In a small bowl, mix the ground coffee with the chile powder, brown sugar, paprika, cumin and salt. Pat the steaks all over with the coffee-chile rub and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan; oil the grates or pan. Grill the steaks over moderate heat, turning once, until they’re nicely charred outside and medium-rare within, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer to a platter and let rest for 10 minutes.

MAKE THE SALAD In a large bowl, toss the cilantro, parsley, chives and shallot. Add 3 tablespoons of the chimichurri, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat the herbs.

Thinly slice the steaks and arrange on the platter; spoon some of the chimichurri on the meat. Serve with the herb salad. Pass the remaining chimichurri on the side.

MAKE AHEAD

The chimichurri sauce can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Chili Especial

I saw this recipe in a magazine (not health or my recipes) and copied from there - but here are the links I could find: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chili-especial-10000000521785/ and http://www.health.com/health/recipe/0,,10000000521785,00.html

I add pinto beans and a little more garlic, but I leave out the ground beef. It's a great vegetarian version - hearty, subtly spicy, and all around crowd-pleasing. I usually serve this over rice. Enjoy!

1 7 oz can chiles in adobo

1 c chopped onion

4 garlic cloves chopped

2 T vegetable oil

2 1/2 T chili powder

2 t unsweetened cocoa

2 t dried oregano

2 t ground cumin

1 t salt

1 c water

1 c cherry tomatoes halved

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes chopped (undrained)

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can kidney beans

1 15 oz can pinto beans

7 oz roasted bell peppers (optional)

1 1/2 T red wine vinegar

Remove 1 chile from adobo, mince.

Cook onion and garlic in Dutch oven or large skillet until browned with small amount of oil.

Set aside.

In the skillet, heat more oil.

Add chili powder and next 4 ingredients through salt.

Cook for about 1 minute.

Stir in minced adobo chile, water, all tomatoes.

Bring mixture to a boil, cover, and reduce heat.

Cook for about 15 minutes.

Stir in onion/garlic and add beans.

Cook for about 10 minutes.

Stir in bell pepper and red wine vinegar.

Cook for another 3 minutes until heated through.

Spring Vegetable Stew

Another good one from Food and Wine.

This is a great recipe to mess around with and substitute things as desired. For example, I usually use pinto beans instead of cranberry beans or fava beans, and I always substitute greek yogurt for the cream.

Here's a little secret - add a couple parmesan cheese rinds to the soup and let them cook with the stock. Remember not to eat them. Ick. :)

¼ lb white asparagus, cut into 1 in lengths

1 c pinto beans (fresh cranberry beans 4 oz shelled or 1 lb in the pod)

2 T olive oil

20 thin scallions, chopped

¼ lb beech mushrooms

salt

3 small to medium potatoes (6 2 in diameter white turnips), cut into wedges

2 medium carrots, cut into 1 in sticks

1 6 oz zucchini halved, cut into ½ in slices

½ t grated lemon zest

1 t lemon juice

1 small romaine heart, cut into 2 in pieces

2 T plain greek yogurt

2 ½ c stock (vege or chicken broth)

½ c water if needed

1 T chervil (italian parsley)

Cook asparagus in salted water (or steam) for about 4 mins.

Transfer to a bowl.

Cook pinto beans (if using canned, steam for about 5-7 mins. if using fresh, cook in water for about 40 minutes)

When done, transfer to bowl.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil.

Cook scallions for about 1 minute.

Transfer to bowl.

Add oil if needed, and cook mushrooms. Season with salt.

Cook till browned and tender.

Transfer to bowl.

Add more oil if needed, and cook potatoes and carrots. Season with salt.

Cook for a couple minutes.

Add 1 c of stock. Cook for 15 mins, covered on med-low heat.

Add ½ c of stock. Cook for 10 mins.

Add ½ c of stock and zucchini. Cook for 4 mins.

Add remaining stock, lemon juice and zest, and lettuce. Cook for less than a minute till lettuce wilts and then stir in yogurt.

Add the ingredients from the bowl to the stew, and simmer briefly till heated through.

Garnish with chervil and serve.

Fried Zucchini Spaghetti

This is a wonderful recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow. I have really come to like her recipes - they are flavorful and pretty easy to make. Two things that I always like in a recipe.

This recipe is a great one to alter as well. The last time I made it I added a 1/4 lb. of mushrooms and used the mojo de ajo garlic oil instead of just straight olive oil.

This recipe also lends itself very well to being gluten free which is somewhat counter intuitive considering the flour. But there are certain recipes that are great for substituting flours because the flour isn't doing something special that requires the gluten - like a pie crust or pizza. This is one of those recipes. Just replace the flour with any gluten free flour mix you like and run with it. :)

One last comment - reserving pasta water used to be a little known trick that you either had to be a chef or had grown up in an Italian house-hold. It is used well here to make the sauce have more body and get that nice creamy texture without using milk or actual cream.

1-1/3 lb small zucchini very thinly sliced

1 small onion sliced 1/4 inch thick longwise

1/4-1/3 c flour

1/2 c olive oil

1 lb spaghetti

1 c + 2 T grated parmesan cheese

1/2 c packed basil torn basil leaves

pepper

salt

lemon for garnish

In a bowl, mix the onion, zucchini, and flour.

In a large skillet, heat some of the oil on high heat.

Add some zucchini/onion and fry till browned and crisp. (2-4 mins)

Remove from skillet with slotted spoon and let cool on paper towels.

Repeat until all the zucchini/onion mixture is fried. Add oil as needed.

When done, let pan cool.

Meanwhile, cook pasta.

Drain and rinse, and make sure to reserve 1/2 c of cooking water.

Mix pasta, cheese, and basil in skillet.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add the reserved water. Toss to coat.

Top with the fried zucchini and onions.

Serve.

Mojo de Ajo

For the garlic lover. This gralic-infused olive oil is great for anything. I typically use this as the starter for pasta sauce but when I am feeling in the mood for something cuban, this recipe comes in handy as well.

1 8 x 8 pyrex baking dish

4 whole garlic bulbs, medium to large

1 teaspoon salt

2 c olive oil

1/8-1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice,according to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Peel and smash all the garlic cloves from the 4 bulbs and place in the bottom of the pan. Stir in salt.

Cover the smashed cloves with the oil making sure all the cloves are under the oil.

Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until the cloves begin to get golden.

Remove from oven, add lime juice and stir.

Place back in oven and bake for additional 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and mash the cooked cloves with a standard mashed potato masher.

Place in airtight plastic or glass container and refrigerate.

Corn Stuffed Poblano Peppers

This recipe comes from the food network. It's a a very nice and satisfying vegetarian meal. 

I serve this with rice (saffron rice with finely chopped cilantro and parsley) or lightly fried rice and beans. I use the rice as a bed for the peppers. I had some leftover rice and beans and added about a 1/4 c of chopped tomatoes and then pan fried the rice with some chicken broth on medium-high heat. 

I added an avocado to the filling as well which adds some creaminess to the texture since I replace the cream with greek yogurt. 

If you really are jonesing for some kind of protein in this recipe or your significant other demands it, I recommend cooking an 8 oz chicken breast and dicing that up and adding it to the corn filling. That way you get the meat vibe, but the poblanos stay the main attraction of the meal.

Total time - about 1:10 hour
Prep 20 minutes
Cooking 50 minutes

Ingredients


6 poblano chiles (poblanos are often mistakenly sold as pasilla peppers)
2 T vegetable oil
1 t ground cumin
Kosher salt
4 ears corn, shucked
1 large bunch scallions, roughly chopped
1/4 c crema or creme fraeche (substitute 8-10 oz of greek yogurt)
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Grated zest of 1/2 lime, plus the juice of 1 lime
1/2 c crumbled cotija cheese (substitute feta or ricotta salata)
paprika
1 medium avocado - diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the poblanos on a baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Roast until they begin to brown and soften, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the corn on another baking sheet, brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Roast until slightly golden, 15 minutes; turn, add the scallions and roast 15 more minutes. Let cool.

Cut a 2-inch slit lengthwise into each pepper, remove the seeds and open the peppers slightly. (Peel the skin, if desired.) (Don't worry if slit opens the pepper completely. You can fold it over the filling.) Remove the corn kernels from the cob; add to a bowl along with the scallions, then scrape in the milk from the cobs using the back of a knife. Stir in the crema, cilantro, avocado and the lime zest and juice. Season with salt. 

Spoon the corn mixture into the peppers. Sprinkle the filling with cotija cheese, and sprinkle paprika over the cheese. Return the peppers to the oven and bake until the cheese is slightly golden, about 8 minutes.

Garnish with salsa. A tobasco style pepper sauce would also go well with this dish. 

Rice and Beans recipe

1 c rice

1/2 15 oz can black beans

1 small red onion sliced

3-4 cloves garlic sliced

Olive oil

1/4-1/3 c chopped tomatoes (pomi brand are excellent)

Salt, pepper, dried oregano

Chicken broth

Cook the rice. 

In a medium sauce pan, sauté the garlic and onions in olive oil until they start to caramelize. Add the beans, season with salt and pepper and dried oregano. Cook for a few minutes and then mix in the cooked rice. 

Add the tomatoes and mix well and let cook till the rice starts to stick to the sauce pan. Add some chicken broth (couple tbsp) and scrape the pan. Let the broth cook off. Turn down to low to keep warm till everything is ready to serve. 

Chicken Breast

1 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast

Salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Salt and pepper the chicken breast. 

Heat a small oven-safe pan to medium-high heat (on the high side). Add some olive oil and sear the chicken breast till nicely browned on both sides (about 4 minutes to a side). Then put the pan into the oven with the peppers and/or corn and let cook about 20 minutes. My oven is old and inconsistent so I check it at 15 and then at 20 and let it cook longer if necessary. 

Once the chicken is done, remove from the oven and let it rest in the pan for 5-7 minutes. Then dice the chicken and add to the corn filling. Make sure to cut the chicken into a small dice so it blends with the corn and avocado.