Recipes: October 2008 Archives

This will not top the soup that quasi-inspired it, let's get that outta the way right quick. That'd be the leek hash and pea soup with almond butter we had ladled for us tableside at Melisse in Santa Monica on a recent spat of pricey visits that we made for celebration's sake and to write up their formidable vegetarian tasting menu.

But that vision of blackened leek in a creamy soup recently came back to us, as if regurgitated in a food dream. The hallucination was powerful. So when the weather dipped this week, spitting out mist and rain drops on the way to a morning farmers market, we sprung for some beautiful baby-sized leeks with soup in mind.

First, leeks were roasted and some new potatoes were braised in a bath of stock and imperial stout and the two got added together and blended with a secret cream replacement (fresh chevre) and for chunkage, we sautéd carrots, leek ends, shallots and garlic. We gobbled it on a covered porch, served with a fresh crouton of whole grain farm bread slathered with more goat cheese. And whatever beer you didn't use for braising works as a liquid warmer.

2 leeks
2 cloves garlic
6 red-skinned potatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup stout
2 oz. fresh chevre
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 carrot
2 shallot
1/2 white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small bulb ginger
1 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh dill

1. Cut and clean your leek. On a oiled roasting sheet, splay out the leek and press garlic over the pan trying to evenly distribute it. Roast in the oven at 375 degrees until green edges get slightly crisp and black, about 10 minutes.

2. Half or quarter your taters, depending on size, and place in a deep roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup of stock and 1/2 cup of stout. Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until thoroughly tender.

3. Remove both leeks and potatoes and add to a deep soup pot. Cover with the remaining veggie stock and bring to a near boil.

4. Meanwhile, neatly dice your other veggies into cubes (think of their shape like small pieces of ham) and toss in a pan on medium heat with oil, ginger sliced into thin spheres and cayenne. Season and toss in dill for a second and then remove from heat.

5. Once large pot has near a boil, get crazy with an immersion blender. Pulse until creamy and then add fresh chevre. Continue to blend until consistent. Add 2-3 tbs. of water as needed. Consistency should be airy and easy to ladle. Combine the sautéd veggies and return to heat for a few minutes. Garnish with bread and leek ends.

Beverage: Black Flag Imperial Stout
Soundtrack: Godspeed You Black Emperor's "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III"

We did not pull this name outta nowhere: The Frogs sometimes refer to their national salad as Insalata Nizzarda, more popularly known as the nicoise. The mother of all deconstructed salads. The Foucault of lettuce. With its cold, charred peppers, slim haricot vert, plump, briny olives. plus a starch and a protein to boot. We're huge fans of composed salads if you couldn't tell.

So we pulled one of the so-so ingredients out of this nicoise (potato)and used it instead as a vessel to make it party food. A familiar scheme at this point. We piped in a Dijon mustard and filled the potato with a small-chop mix of nicoise olives, shallots, roasted red bells, capers and thyme dressed lightly with, olive oil, white balsamic and ripped tarragon. And on top, for garnish, one thin green bean. The result is a room tempish salad bite that hits all the nizz notes without being obvious.

4 small potatoes
4 green beans
2 red bell peppers
1/4 cup Nicoise olives
2 shallots, peeled
1 Tbs. capers
4 sprigs thyme
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. white balsamic
2 sprigs tarragon
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Make your potatoes into cups. Cut the rounded curve off of all sides of each, so you have a potato rectangle, and lay on its side. Then slice into three equal pieces, the width of a small sushi roll. With a teaspoon, spoon out the middle.

2. Take all of your potato cups and put 'em in a saucepan, fill it with warm water and place on high heat. Toss in a tsp. of salt. When the water hits a rapid boil, the potatoes should be done. Fork one to be sure. Before removing, toss in your green beans for 1 minute just to blanche. Remove all and drain, gently. Rinse with cold water.

3. Mix your chopped salad. First char your peppers and de-skin 'em. Dice all the fixings smaller than seems necessary (it will need to be fine to fit into your petite potato cup) and dress with oil and vinegar and herbs. Let sit for at least 20 minutes to marry the flavors. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. On a lightly oiled sheet pan, lay out your potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for about 12 minutes or until slightly brown. Remove and let cool.

5. Spoon, or pipe using a pastry bag, a touch of Dijon to each potato. Then cram a Tbs. of filling into the tater. Garnish with a slice of halved green bean.

Beverage: Saison Dupont's Avril
Soundtrack: Stereolab's Refried Ectoplasm

One of us had our first taste of muhammara -- the nutty pink paste of walnuts and charred bell peppers -- on a dashing date with a gorgeous lady friend. The other one of us tried muhammara for the first time just two hours later eating take-out remnants from that date, out of a grease-stained Styrofoam container. We don't know whose experience was better.

Like most dips, muhammara gets better when it sits. And this week, we whipped up enough that it sat and sat and sat. Why so much? Smoked muhammara on pita crisps with pomegranate seeds is one of the seasonal appetizers we're planning for an October wedding catering gig, so we're dealing with school cafeteria-sized portions, in hopes of getting our multiplication right for shopping. Our advice: Even if you're making this for your own dashing date, make enough to pack for lunches with a coupla falafel balls or tahini rice.

3 red bell peppers
1 1/2 cups walnuts
2 Tbs. pomegranate molasses
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
1 tsp. aleppo pepper
whole wheat pita bread
1 Tbs. pomegranate seeds

1. Crank the flames on your stovetop and place each red bell pepper on direct heat to char the skin. As the pepper skin gets black turn with tongs until evenly roasted. Now place peppers in a brown bag and close. As it cools the skin will separate and should be easy to scrub off by rubbing between your fingers.

2. Dump the walnuts in a frying pan on high heat and toast until brown, not black, for about 3 minutes. Remove and let cool.

3. Meanwhile, if desired, roast off some eggplant slices. Start by slicing into thin rounds and salting on a plate. Let sit 10 minutes so extra moisture is drawn out. Then add to your frying pan and on high heat cook for about minutes with a touch of olive oil.

4. Remove pepper skins once cool and chop off pepper tops. Add to a blender or cuisinart with the walnuts. Add pom molassess, olive oil, spices and pulse until thoroughly pink and a consistent puree. Season to taste.

5. Bake or toast pita and cut into chip-sized pieces. Top pita with a dollop of muhammara and garnish with two pomegranate seeds each.

Soundtrack: Selda's "Selda"
Beverage: Avery's Maharaja Imperial IPA