Tapa Duty

Posted on October 30, 2007 by Hot Knives

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When our friend Molly recently returned from a yearlong hiatus in the Iberian Peninsula she was totally infused in the mellow vibes of Spanish cooking. Unlike the tedious scenester bustle you find at just about every eatery touting itself as a tapa house, the world of Spanish food is an utterly simple and pleasant one that doesn’t need to cost arms and legs. All that needs doing in the Spanish cooking oeuvre is a solid commitment to flavorful olive oil, tart and salty tidbits, and the deep desire to spend time with your friends in the kitchen.
One tactic that Molly now insists upon when she cooks with us, which is happening more and more, is the tapa duty. No matter the size of the meal being prepared, one of the cooks in the kitchen should be devoted to making snappy snacks for the other cooks.
This new rule of our favorite domain sparked the flames for this recipe. While this little ditty from Molly’s not exactly homeland is neither vegan, nor vegetarian (its got anchovies dudes) the basic technique can be applied sans flipper’d friends and goats milk. It just won’t taste as…Spanish.
Finding Boqerones, White anchovy fillets, and the Peppadew pepper, a super sweet little killer from South Africa, might require one of those hated trips to Whole Foods or Gelsons. Your tragic toiling in awkward aisles will be absolutely rewarded by your mouth. The goat cheese balls you’ll make yourself are basically copy cats of a Catalunian cheesemakers’ creation known as Gotes Catalanes, which you also might find in a specialty store if you’re feeling lazy. IF you have leftover Gotes, take a hint from their originator and store them submerged in extra virgin olive oil in a sealed jar. They will only get better…

Gotes y Boqerones

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2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
6 sprigs flat leaf parsley, minced
One hefty pinch of salt
½ of an 11oz. log of chevre
¼ lb peppadew peppers
7 white anchovy filets
Capers for garnish
1. In a metal mixing bowl combine the garlic, shallot, salt, parsley and the goat cheese. Mix with your hands until you’ve got a uniform paste.
2. Take a pinch of the chevre mixture, about the size of a sugar cube, and roll it into a ball using your palms. After a number of balls, you’ll prolly wanna rinse your hands: the collected chevre can make it hard to form perfectionist spheres.
3. Carefully place the rolled Gotes into the hollow centers of the peppadews.
4. Blot the oil and vinegar off of the anchovy fillets with a paper towel, then cut them lengthwise into thin strips with a very sharp knife. Roll each strip into a tight little pinwheel.
5. Gently press each anchovy pinwheel into the top of each goat cheese sphere. Then manhandle a caper a little bit between your thumb and index finger to loosen the leaves a little. Place the caper in the center of each anchovy and serve to the nearest cook. They’ll be pumped.
Beverage: Moylan’s Irish Red Ale
Soundtrack: The Clash “Spanish Bombs”

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Stew Eggs

Posted on October 28, 2007 by Hot Knives

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The situation goes something like this: Last week, a fall chill settled and you started getting psyched about the season by fixing a big fat pot of soup, and this week, go figure, it’s 80 degrees. Now what, right? Or… maybe you did an internet search for “hot soup” “vegan” and it brought you to some weirdo recipe page called Hot Knives and you followed the directions for a borscht stew, or an asparagus soup, that looked kind of good but you ended up with enough of the stuff for ten people and you’re pissed because — like most people not in a cult — you don’t live with ten roommates and you hate to see food go to waste. Well, fortunately, you can’t blame us, because there are plenty of good ways to make use of your leftover stews and soups.
One of the best is what we call stew eggs. It’s not vegan, but it is homey and cheap and an easy way to eat your way through an entire batch of soup. Basically you’re going to use some of the stew dregs to turn an egg or two into something fancier, or use a colorful soup to transform beaten eggs into a designer omelet with nothing else but a pan and some butter or margarine.

Stew Eggz

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Bring a small sauté pan up to high heat, add a Tbs. of butter and distribute evenly letting it bubble for 30 seconds or so. Then simply measure out your stew with a slotted spoon — about 1/4 cup for each egg — leaving most of the liquid behind. Toss it into the hot pan and sauté the same you would omelet fixings, for about a minute. Add egg, cook and season as needed and serve in a burrito (so good) or on a sammy like the beet-stew egg mcmuffin here.

Soup Omelets

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Using leftover soup for breakfast eggs is even easier. You know how sometimes you add a dash of milk or soymilk to fluff an omelet? This is like that, except it spikes it with garlicky broth. Most recently we turned our cream of asparagus soup into “Green Eggs and Ham.” Just crack and beat your organic beauties in a large bowl and mix in about 3 Tbs. of soup for each egg. Beat until you have a soupy mixture. Then bring a sauté pan up to high heat with margarine and just pour it on, watch it cook and flip.
We like to think that if we had a mantra, it’d be reuse, reduce recycle (that, and beer, beer, beer) so obviously this philosophy extends beyond these dishes or these ingredients. Of course there are plenty of vegan options with reusing soups and stews. The most common is using strained soup broth to cook beans or rice. But if you think of something crazy, let us know!

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Avocado Supper

Posted on October 25, 2007 by Hot Knives

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As the first chills of Los Angelean “winter” gave way to 90 degree heat today, and apocalyptic fires throughout our surrounding areas, a last vestige of the summer-fall mash up finally got mushy after a week of incubation: The Great California Avocado.
Instead of making the generalized guacamole, which highlights the color of perfect avocadoes but invariably masks their flavor and decimates their sublime texture, we opted for a plate of perfect pickups for the one-pound monster we’ve been ripening on our counter for the past ten days.
While you can get less than decent avos from Trader Joe’s until the proverbial Peruvian cows come home, the real nature’s butter beauties herald from our harrowed surroundings in SoCal. While some of the more flavorful varietals are just coming out of season, Hass’ drop all year round. The next time any non-californians sit at your table, celebrate the glory of the golden state with this fancified green god programme.

Half Hour Salsa

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2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 pound assorted baby heirloom tomatoes
2 bunches Mexican scallions
½ bunch cilantro: leaved picked, stems reserved
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lime
A splash of tequila
1 Serrano pepper, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a heavy bottomed pot, arrange your scallions around the outer edges, and place the tomatoes in the center of the scallion circle you create. Pile the cilantro stems on top.
2. Add the oil; turn the heat to medium and cover.
3. After 15 minutes, add the garlic, salt and pepper, and cover.
4. After 15 more minutes add the cilantro, Serrano, and the tequila, and cover.
5. Check your seasoning, and add salt as desired, the puree the salsa.

Heirloom Pico De Gallo

1 pound assorted baby heirloom tomatoes
2 shallots, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
½ bunch of cilantro, chopped stems and all
The juice of one lime
The juice of one lemon
2 Serrano chilies diced
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste.
1. Slice the tomatoes in half, and combine with all other ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit for at least fifteen minutes for the flavors to marry.
2. Toss the salsa, and then adjust your seasoning.

Bite Sized Tortilla Chips

10 corn tortillas
5 cups canola oil
Salt
1. Heat your oil on medium heat in a wok or large frying pan.
2. Using a 1” biscuit or cookie cutter, punch out as many chips as you can from your tortillas.
3. Check the heat of the oil by tossing in a scrap of un-shapely tortilla: if it floats and covers itself with bubbles then you’re good to fry.
4. Fry the chips in batches, depositing the finished ones first in a metal bowl for tossing in salt, then to a paper towel covered plate.

To Serve

A perfectly ripe avocado
All of the above components
1. Slice the avocado in half, top to bottom and around the pit, and then quarter it.
2. Gently peel away the skin, starting at the top of each quarter.
3. Place each quarter face down in the center of your plates, and make diagonal slices orienting the start of your slice 45 degrees downward from the center of the avocado.
4. Fan out each slice, stack chips vertically in the center of each avocado section, and garnish with your awesome salsas.

Beverage: Port Brewing’s Hop Wave
Soundtrack: “Flash Gordon Meets Luke Skywalker” Jammy, Scientist, The Roots Radics

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Black Techno Beer

Posted on October 21, 2007 by Hot Knives

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Sometimes it feels like we drink nothing but west coast triple IPAs and 750 ml Belgians, doesn’t it? It’s not far from the truth cuz when you’re home cooks and non-paid beer bloggers you tend to gravitate toward what you know you’ll like. One area where we’ve felt particularly deficient is German, and German-style, brews. We’ve definitely discussed the need to get deeper into Deutsche technique — maybe by sipping some warm mai bocks in the back of a black and chrome Audi pumping Kraftwerk or something.
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In any case, it’s not that we’re ignorant about German beer — we’ve both traveled there, one of us lived there, we have tasted fresh-out-of-the-tap hefeweizen — we just aren’t nuts for the style. Mediocre, over-malted bland stuff, lots of it anyway. Of course, there’s Spaten Optimator, which is more than pub-worthy, and the bock inspired heavy ales from Avery are some of America’s contributions. Craftsman’s rauch biere (smoked lager) too holds a large part of out hearts. But for the most part, we’ve long wondered why the so-called land of beers seems so unimaginative. Maybe it’s cuz the German mindset demands such traditional precision that any sort of loosey goosey experimentation gets the shaft. Just look at the whole Reinheitsgebot thing (German purity laws on the books since 1516), that are always proudly touted on German beers. That law, of course, dictated that nothing but water, malt and hops could be used to brew beer. Sounds ok right, but there’s no mention of yeast (it hadn’t been discovered yet!). Reason enough to amend the silly thing, or throw it out entirely.
The point is, we’re always looking to challenge our theory, so when we recently spotted a couple staunch black bombers of German-style beers we’d never seen at our local one-stop shop (Galco’s) we sprung for it hoping to get turned on. One was a black Bavarian lager, the other a doppelbock. Doesn’t get more German than that.
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The brewery is actually an 80s upstart microbrewery in Wisconsin called Sprecher, started by a former Pabst head brew master who got the itch to brew something more wicked. And the bottle aesthetic is intense: simple and clean, gothic and low budget. To be honest, we got giddy because we thought maybe we had stumbled on some kind of hardcore bathtub beer made by Midwesterner wild men — like the nutso noise band Wolf Eyes only for beer. That comparison was quickly smashed, less screechy basement-performance cassette release and more like mid-career Iron Maiden or early head bangers from Megadeath. Both beers were dark, randy and completely straight forward. Just edgy enough to taste great, but not enough to be considered anything better than standard.
The doppelbock was appropriately malty, well-rounded, sweet and roasty, while a little weak. Nose and mouth both gave off a fresh cracked hazelnut vibe. The head even had a bit of burnt orange rust. We could have let it sit a little longer in the autumn sun to be honest, it almost begged to be consumed at a warmer temperature. All in all, a welcome exchange for the typical Oktoberfest shod.
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The Bavarian black lager was a different story, while not a seasonal or a special release it had something special going for it. First off the pour is darker than a succubus rounding second base and blacker than most Danzig album covers. The foam was a perfect mahogany-color, giving it the same glimmer of wood and vinyl you see on a custom-made vintage amp. Also, the stuff went down well cold, almost medicinally elemental, there was only one real taste: black bread malt with a hint of booze, nothing else. According to the bottle, it’s a riff on the black lagers that were created as bread water meant to sustain monks through lent. It’s not what we’d call interesting exactly and it’s certainly not complex, but it is pure and clean. One thing’s for sure, if we ever attempt a vegan version of the liver layered lard spread that German castles serve instead of butter, this will be the pairing. All in all, drinking it felt like a validation of what we think about most German-style beer: that it’s precision is its greatest virtue even though it can get boxed in by its tradition. That said, we absolutely owe Germany another visit.
Dairy Pairy: Epoisses, cow’s milk washed with Marc de Bourgogne.
Soundtrack: Wolf Eyes’ Burned Mind

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Goul-borscht

Posted on October 19, 2007 by Hot Knives

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Did we say soup season? Naw, we meant stew season. The Halloweeny vibes of deep fall and early winter demand beany substance and spongy protein chunk, not purees or sprinkled garnishes. With that in mind, we pursued an old cobwebbed recipe for goulash — the spice-spiked Hungarian stew that brightens the lives of all the Kafka-reading saps in Eastern Europe. That beefy glop hinges on tough muscle tissue that is browned in butter. We started the same way but with homemade seitan chunks.
Still, that sounded kind of drab and, well, brown. So we pulled a mash-up and injected our goulash with a shot of borscht — the eerily pink-red beet soup also intimately part of the depressing weather palate. The beets and dill heighten the flavor from just being dank, while still keeping it earthy. Best of all, you can store it for up to a week and every day the stuff gets more and more fuchsia. Just make sure to wear a bib and clean your knives.

Goulash-Borscht Stew

(Serves 8-10 people)
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1/4 cup olive oil
1 small block seitan (roughly 10-12 oz)
2 white onions
3 stalks of celery
6 cloves garlic
1 small bunch heirloom carrots (8-10)
1 russet potato
2 whole beets
1 Tbs. paprika
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 cups mushroom stock
1 cup kidney beans
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup Swiss chard, chopped (beet greens will work)
1 Tbs. dried dill
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh black pepper
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup red wine
1. Brown the beef! Put a large soup pot on high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom (about half total amount). Cut your seitan into medium-sized cubes, peel and chop one of the onions and toss both into the oil, stirring every couple seconds. Cook until seitan cubes are slightly crispy (about 5 minutes). Remove seitan (leave as much remaining oil as possible in the pot) and set aside.
2. Prepare the other veggies: peel and chop the second onion, slice thin pieces of celery, chop garlic, cut thin circular carrot discs and carve thick chunks of potato. Add all to the pot. Peel your beets, hack into thick cubes, and toss in as well. Season with paprika(s) and cumin and man the pot, stirring thoroughly for about 10 minutes.
3. Add mushroom stock (hot, not cold) followed by tomatoes, Swiss chard, dill and seasonings. Bring stew up to a boil and let simmer for no less than one hour. In the last five minutes, add your red wine.
4. Ladle out portions and top bowls with the still warm seitan cubes on top, this way it’ll limit how squishy it gets from the soup.
Beverage: Great Divide’s Yeti Imperial Stout
Soundtrack: Godspeed You Black Emperor! Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada

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Sherry and Sage Spuds

Posted on October 17, 2007 by Hot Knives

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When the weather starts to turn, there is nothing that will warm you to the core like a plate of hot potatoes. These wee tubers braised in sherry will certainly heat your chest cavity and the heady fried sage mayo will surely stick to your ribs.
Hard day at the rat race? This stuff will put you down like a bong rip through apple cider.
If you have a dutch oven, now’s the time to use it. If not, any large pot will do, but remember: the thinner the bottom of the vessel the more you have to watch your potatoes to avoid burning.

Sherry Roasted Pee-Wees

1 lbs. pee-wee potatoes
8 cloves of garlic
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. sherry vinegar
1 cup cheap sherry, divided in half
2 hefty pinches of sea salt
1. Heat your vessel on medium heat while you peel your garlic.
2. Slice the butts off of each clove of garlic, and scrub your potatoes with cold water.
3. Toss the potatoes and garlic into the now warm pot and cover.
4. After five minutes add the olive oil and sherry vinegar, then cover. Keep a watchful eye on these little guys as they roast: stir the pot every four or five minutes or so, but do it quickly so you don’t loose all the steam-heat the potatoes are producing.
5. When the potatoes are just starting to soften, after around 15 minutes, add 1/2 cup of sherry and reduce (to original level), then add the second half cup and re-reduce. Turn heat off, but keep ’em warm. Serve on a slather of fried sage mayo.

Fried Sage Mayo

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
12 leaves of fresh sage
1/2 cup Veganaise
1 Tbs. Freshly ground Pepper
1. Heat the olive oil in a small pan on medium high heat while you thinly slice eight of the sage leaves.
2. Throw the sliced sage and the four remaining whole leaves into the hot oil and let sizzle for about three minutes. Deposit the fried sage sections, and any excess oil, into a bowl to chill. Reserve the whole leaves for garnishing.
3. After the oil has cooled, about five minutes, add the veganaise and black pepper to the fried sage and whip to combine.
Beverage: Unibroue’s Le Fin Du Monde
Soundtrack: Brian Eno’s “The Big Ship”

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Cream of Burning Spears

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Hot Knives

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What with our guest contributors beating us to the punch and declaring it official Soup Season, we decided to hurry up and follow suit. Unfortunately, some of us don’t have foggy Tolkien-esque mountain fjords abloom with woody fungus bounties, so we had to make due with just pillaging our SoCal farmers markets. We came up with asparagus. Mixed with potato and a little soy milk, this soup is a little more asparagus than cream, which is how we like it. An “alternate ending” using a simple vegan roux could rule too though.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

12 oz. asparagus (two small-sized bunches)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 white onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium-sized potato
1 Tbs. fresh rosemary (half if dried)
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
4 cups mushroom stock
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1. Bring a large pot of salted water (2 Tbs. salt) to a rolling boil. Cut off the base ends of your asparagus spears and then add all spears to the water for 30 seconds to 1 minute — just enough to soften and greenify ‘em. Fish them out and rinse with cold water.
2. Peel your garlic but don’t chop! Put your soup pot on medium heat, add olive oil and once hot, toss in your garlic cloves. There should be enough oil to half submerge them. Turn heat to low if sputtering, and let roast for 15 minutes. Then remove cloves, set aside and use remaining oil.
3. Toss in your chopped onion and celery. Let cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Finely chop the cooled asparagus, saving the 1-inch tips for later. Add asparagus to the pot. Dice your potato into chunks and add to the pot along with rosemary and cayenne pepper. Let cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes.
4. Add the mushroom stock (we like Better Than Boullion) but make sure it’s room temperature or hot — never fridge temp, or it’ll cool your pot. Bring back to a rolling boil and then let simmer for 30 minutes.
5. At this point, it’s time to blend and creamify. Turn off heat for a few minutes to cool. Then add soup (in increments if you have to) to your cuisinart or blender. Pulse for a few seconds, until thoroughly blended. Return to your pot.
6. The potato will add a mild congealing effect but you’ll have a slightly soupy texture still. If that’s fine, just add your luke warm soy milk to pot and stir. (Alternate ending: If you’d prefer an extra creamy texture, simply make a small roux out of margarine and flour in a small sauce pan. Once mixed add your soy milk and stir. Continue from here by adding this cream roux to your pot.)
7. Bring blended soup up to a rolling boil again and throw in your asparagus spears, saving a couple for garnish. Stir and serve.
Beverage: Green Flash’s Tripple Belgian-style
Soundtrack: Burning Spear’s “Down By the River”

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LRBC’s Vegan Chanterelle Dream

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Hot Knives

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Every so often we like to turn over the blog buttons to friends who have a kitchen secret or a standout recipe. The latest comes from Portland natives and recent restaurateurs Ali and Evan. We’ve known them for years and highly recommend peeps check out their new peppermint dreamboat of a shop, the Little Red Bike Café. Hit up their bike-thru window for vegan ice cream, get jacked on Courier Coffee and savory bread puddings, or just dribble at their high-res food porn. When you go, just promise you’ll smack ’em one for Hot Knives for putting so much bacon on their menu! Take it away Ali and Evan…
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So, we’ve got a problem. A real bad problem. But you know what they say; admitting is the first step. So here it goes. For quite some time now we have been…sigh…addicted to mushrooms. Yes, it’s true. Button, Morel, Shitake, Lobster, Porcini, Trumpet, Chanterelle. You name it we’ll eat it. Traces of the addiction can be found throughout both sides of the family so it’s really no surprise that we wound up like this. That said, when fall time hits and we’re itching for a fix we know who to call. We have a dealer, I mean friend, we’ll call him “Todd,” that has a nasty habit of uh…illegally foraging wild forest mushrooms. In our fungus-induced haze, we aid in the smuggling by providing the “mule”, our beloved Le Creuset soup kettle. Yes, fall time is when our addiction is at its peak and it means three things in our household: wood burning fires, lots o’ red wine and soup. Here’s how it all goes down…

Vegan Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

(Serves 6-8)
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1 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (any mushroom will do but we particularly love chanterelles with this recipe)
1 1/2 tsp dill weed
1 Tbsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp caraway seeds
4 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
3 Tbsp tamari
2 cups vegetable stock (Imagine’s Organic No-Chicken Broth)
2 Tbsp vegan margarine
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup soymilk/soy creamer
2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2-3 Tbsp red wine
Fresh cracked pepper
1. In a soup pot, sauté onion in oil until soft, about 5 minutes
2. Add mushrooms, dill, paprika, caraway, paprika, and cayenne then saute for 5 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp of the tamari and stock, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. While soup simmers, melt the margarine in a separate saucepan and add the flour. Cook one minute, stirring constantly, then whisk in the soymilk/creamer ‘til smooth.
4. Once smooth and simmer roux (yes that’s right you just made a vegan roux) over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened.
5. Once thick, whisk in the last Tbsp of tamari and then transfer to the mushroom mixture and stir in. Add garlic. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Just before serving stir in the lemon juice and red wine, finish off with cracked pepper.
Beverage: Cedar Creek pinot noir (OR bitchez!)
Soundtrack: Gotan Project’s La Revancha del Tango

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Stone’s 11th

Posted on October 10, 2007 by Hot Knives

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The anniversaries of many of our favorite breweries mark our calendars with exclamation points and smiley faces. There are some annual milestones that sneak up on us in wonderful ways. Finding the latest special release from Unibroue par example always makes us smile collectively, whereas the yearly release of Hopsickle (equivocally as the birthday celebration of Moyans might someday be…) makes us start towards beer coolers with gimmie-gimmie eyes and accompanying yelps of glee.
Stone’s birthday is something that we relish in almost as dearly as that of a bff-type cousin, or a super cool uncle who used to sneak us sips of scotch when we were eleven. Even if its been almost a year since we played hooky from work and made our first pilgrimage to Escondido, we exchanged hurried gushes of delight at the first tastes of this year’s liquid notch on the proverbial gun. We’ve drunk five bombers of this brew since its recent release in both social circles and isolated tasting during varied hours of the day and night. We experienced this nectar o’grain in every conceivable position we utilize for our fermented contemplations. The results have been positive.
As the froth subsided, this Black IPA immediately impressed us. The color, a brown muted true black lulls the drinker into reminiscences of a first Kostritzer, or a dressed up Bock that seemed all the rage in 2006. The second this beer strikes chords with your nervous system, the world changes. Utter harmony explodes out of what a local comrade calls the “Ruined Bastard.” The heavy handed alcohol and deep dark malts teleport you to a surreal plane where rows of giant headed Greg Kochs hand out glass after glass of black ale garnished with a fistful of fresh hops and soy sauce flowers. You wipe the fragrant resin off your nose, and ask short breathed where the hell you are. The multitude of grinning Esconditans echoes back: the future.
Dairy Pairy: Idiazabal, a smoked raw sheeps milk from northern Spain.
Soundtrack: The Clash, “In Hammersmith Palais”

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Mezcal Sabbath Menu

Posted on October 4, 2007 by Hot Knives


The latest in our Sunday Sabbath series, recently we kicked back with some serious Mezcal (and beer and tequila and horse tranquilizers) and spent 4 hours cooking what amounted to a tiny lunch and a cute dessert.
Using some leftover, garlic-spiked harrissa paste we pulsed a bright red sauce to dapper up some wintery, but color-free, baby artichokes and Brussels sprouts. As an experiment we did the Lima beans two ways (one with red things, one with yellow things) to see if we could dye the beans to desired colors. It didn’t make much of a difference visually, so we just elaborated here on the yellow version: a tawny port, golden beet and saffron brothy mixtcha’.
Finally, to match our tequila vs. mescal taste test, we threw together a port cherry melon plate that slew minds and blew men. Errr… Just watch the video above and recreate, but keep your Sunday wide open.

Roasty Harrissa

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(Makes about 1 cup)
1 large tomato
1/4 cup fresh harrissa paste
4-6 roasted red pepper strips
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1. Simply flash blanche a tomato: bring a small pot of water to boil, toss in tomato for about 30 seconds and remove. Peel off skin under cool water.
2. Take your garlicky harissa <a href="1/4 cup fresh harrissa paste“>(directions here) and toss it in a food processor or blender. With the tomato and add some roasted pepper strips (directions here). Pulse for a minute and add extra olive oil if it seems dry. Season as desired.

Winter Limas and Braised Buds

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(Serves 4)
1 red onion, chopped
1 head garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. tawny port
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups Christmas Limas
1 Tbs. saffron
1 golden beet, peeled
1 Tbs. sea salt
6 baby artichokes
6 brussels sprouts
1/8 cup sherry vinegar
1/8 cup cooking vinegar
2 Tbs. whole grain mustard
1. In a large pot, sauté half the onion and garlic in oil for about 8 minutes and then add the port, stock and limas. Give it about another 8 minutes before adding the saffron and the beet (give it a chop). Season as needed and let it simmer till beans are soft, about 30-40 minutes.
2. As for the braised artichokes and Brussels, just start a hot pan with a little more oil and follow the video and the above ingredient allocations. After searing the little buddies, toss the rest of the onion and garlic into the pan with some mustard. Saute for a couple seconds to get a tasty sauce.
3. Smear the harissa on the bottom of the plate, and pile beans first and then braised veggies.

Port Cherry Melons

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(Serves 4)
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup Spanish port
1 Tbs. all spice
1 small cantaloupe
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 fresh basil
1. In a large bowl, let your cherries sit in the port and all spice for at least 1 hour.
2. Once sweet and juicy, prepare the rest of the plate. Slice your melon in half, then in quarters. Then cut along the rind to separate the fruit in a long slice. Make vertical cuts so that you’re left with little rectangles.
3. Place on plate with wider end on the bottom. Top each piece with a single cherry.
4. Cut the basil into cuesty little squares by chiffonading the basil leaves and then turning the organized leaves 90 degrees and cutting again. Add to the agave nectar. Dollop on the plate for a dipping sauve and garnish.
Beverage: Mezcal
Soundtrack: Randy Newman’s Sail Away

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