RAVE: Nicoise-Coquillo Olives

I first heard about this olive on the PBS program Spain On the Road Again, that follows the travels and feasting of  an American cook who lived there as a youth (Mario Batali), an American actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), an American food writer (Mark Bittman), and a stunningly beautiful Spanish TV actress who trained partly at UNC-Wilmington and who worked in the US (Claudia Bassols). They were joined in this episode set in Barcelona by American composer, singer, and friend of Paltrow, the neurasthenic Michael Stipe.

They spent the better part of the evening tapas tasting at the "best tapas restaurant in the World" in the company of the couple who founded and operate the place. The husband is apparently an icon in the Spanish cooking hagiography and is a damn fine cook, quiet leader and inspiring teacher of sous, waitstaff, etc. by the looks of it.

One of the many courses was a selection of olives. As one who grew up with pitted ripe California olives on his fingers, this was an eye opener. So many kinds! So many flavors and curing and spicing. I was most engaged by tiny olives that are mottled green-brown-black. The pits seem almost as large as the fruits. The flesh is a bit spicy, sour, and fruity. They are often available on the Mediterranean appetizer bar at a Durham megamart. An essential component of salade nicoise (salad in the Nice fashion).

A warm olive assortment is a nice way to dress up a plain breakfast of creamy cottage cheese and buttered rye toast.

Asian Dipping Sauce

Formulated November 8, 2009 to go with pot stickers and shu mai left from lunch at the Hibachi 101 in Wilson, NC after a morning visit to the annual pre-Thanksgiving pottery sale at Finch's in Bailey, NC.

1 t sugar
1 t rice wine vinegar
2 t white wine
2 t soy sauce
1/2 t dark sesame oil
1/2 t Dijon mustard 

Combine the first three ingredients, and stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in mustard and soy. Stir in sesame oil. Serve at room temperature.

Green Beans Braised in Tarragon and Butter

[Recorded November 2, 2009; developed over a long time]

1/2 lb  haricot vert, if available, or nice young green beans
kosher salt
2 t unsalted butter
1/2 t dry tarragon, rubbed fine

Pinch off the stem end of each bean, but keep them whole if possible. [Hint: Hold a bunch of beans together in one hand, and pinch the stems off with the other.] 

Bring a half-inch of lightly-salted water to a boil in a saute pan and drop the beans. Cover, and boil slowly until almost tender, about 6 to 8 minutes (see RANT).
 
Drain into a colander and cover to keep warm. Dry the pan, and return it to medium-high heat. When sizzling hot, add the butter and coat the pan with it. After about a minute, a nutty buttery aroma will become apparent. Pure deliciousness. 

Drop the beans, coat with the butter, and salt. Handle with tongs. Add the tarragon, saute a few minutes until sizzling. Plate. Deglaze pan with a tablespoon of lemon juice, white wine, water or stock. When fluid is mostly gone, pour the butter-tarragon sauce over the beans, and serve. Dyno-mite.

Serves 2 to 3 as a side, or 1 bean freak
 
RANT:
Don’t make the widespread culinary mistake of grossly undercooking vegetables. Because the nutrients within the plant’s cells can’t escape the cell wall (remember, people can’t digest cellulose), some of the potential food value (and flavor) will be unavailable. Reducing raw foods to a liquified puree (yuck) in a “juicer” will free the nutrients, as Jack LaLanne proves nightly on his infomercials, but except for carrots, it's not a major home appliance. After all, how much liquified orange peel are you prepared to drink?

Farmer's Salad

Recorded October 21, 2008 Part of a “milchig” [dairy] Sunday morning brunch at Leon and Dorothy's table.

1 cup creamy cottage cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

Additions:

sliced black olives (Greek are best)

cucumber, peeled, seeded, small dice

red onions, small dice

green onions, finely sliced

green or red sweet bell pepper, small dice

red radish, sliced thin

freshly ground black pepper

no salt needed (cheese has plenty)

Cantaloupe: The Inside Story

 

Other dishes to serve with brunch

smoked chubs

lox

bagels

crescent rolls

Kaiser rolls

smoked sablefish

smoked white fish or trout

assorted fresh fruits (melon, grapes, berries, cherries)

assorted fresh vegetables (cucumbers, sweet peppers, radishes, black olives, green onions, tomatoes, red onion)

orange juice

tomato juice

fresh coffee

cream cheese

butter

Braised Turkey Thighs with Olives and Chilies

Adapted by DrDaddy and Merry from Ada Boni's Regional Cooking of Italy. A family favorite and SIGNATURE DISH.

2 turkey thighs -- about 2.5 lbs total
1 6-oz can pitted ripe green or black olives, drained
2 7-oz cans chopped green chilies (Ortega™ is good)
1/2 c dry white wine
2 c chicken or turkey stock
1 T minced garlic
3 T olive oil
12 oz extra-wide egg noodles, boiled according to package

Trim excess skin, remove visible fat, and discard. Season both sides well with salt. Heat a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add oil. Fry turkey until well browned on both sides, turning occasionally. Add garlic and cook until lightly colored -- do not burn! Add wine and cook until reduced by half. Add olives, chilies, and stock.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover partly, and cook until meat is tender -- about 2 hours. Remove meat from pan, cool, and slice parallel to bone. Return to pan to reheat along with the hot noodles. Serves 4 to 6. Steamed or braised broccoli makes a nice side dish.

Braised turkey, noodles, and olives
with butter-braised green beans on the side.

Air-Roasted Chicken

Developed October 15, 2009. Adapted from a traditional Chinese method to a contemporary kitchen fitted with oven.

About 4 lbs chicken legs and/or thighs, carefully trimmed of excess skin and fat
Seasoning:
   salt
   freshly ground pepper
   five-spice powder
   garlic powder
vegetable oil spray

Arrange the oven racks with one in the middle and the other about 6 to 8 inches below. Place a shallow roasting pan on the bottom rack, and add about 1-1/2 inches of water. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. The water will be bubbling away. This maintains a moist environment inside the hot oven. This keeps the meat moist but favors browning of the skin, the outcome of complex hydrolysis and condensation reactions between tissue amino acids, saccharides, and water, the Maillard reactions.
Spray the chicken pieces lightly with oil to help the seasonings stick and to keep the skin moist. Lightly dust both sides with seasonings; use a pastry brush to coat evenly. Arrange the pieces, skin side up, directly on the upper rack. Roast undisturbed about 35 to 40 minutes. Chicken juices should be bubbling, and the skin nicely browned.
Suggested sides: russets mashed with plenty of butter and cream; cut green beans (canned or fresh) steamed with butter and tarragon. Couscous and roasted vegetables work nicely as well.

Corn Bread Quick Breakfast

3 x 3 inch square of corn bread (prepared from Jiffy mix)
2 T sunflower seed butter (SunButter™)
1 T berry sauce

Split cornbread horizontally and broil the inside surface until lightly colored. Spread each piece with a nice dollop of the nut butter. Spoon over the berry sauce. Serves 1 lucky 1.

Berry Sauce

Recorded October 14, 2009. This sauce makes an excellent topping for yogurt, ice cream, pancakes, French toast or fresh fruits such as melon, pear, or banana.

6 oz (175 g) fresh or frozen berries
1 to 2 T (15 to 30 ml) sugar (based on the fruit sweetness)
1 to 2 T (15 to 30 ml) water
1 t tapioca starch or corn starch
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a tall microwave-proof container. A 2-cup (500 ml) measuring cup works well. Bring to a boil in the microwave cautiously, taking care it doesn't overflow. Stir, and bring to a boil again. Pour while hot into a small clean glass mason jar sanitized with boiling water. Tighten band while it cools. Store refrigerated. Lasts about one month after opening.  Note: Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries  or sweet black cherries can be used. Black cherry sauce is outstanding. Pineapple is not recommended.

Bruscetta

From Ben February 2, 2008.

Italian Bread

Garlic Cloves

Salt

Olive oil

Slice bread on bias 1 inch thick. Broil until brown on one side. While still hot, grind raw garlic into the brown side of the bread. Season and drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy.

Review: Fried Chicken at C&H Cafeteria, Northgate Mall, Durham, NC CLOSED JAN 3, 2023

CLOSED JAN 3, 2023

Summary: Clean, friendly, healthful. Chicken, dy-no-mite! Butter beans, extra yummy. Cheap.

Visit: About 1:00 PM, Tuesday 6 Oct 09

Physical: Located in a strip mall annex to Northgate Mall, reached from Guess Rd. Plenty of adjacent free, lighted, patrolled parking. 1720 Guess Rd., Durham, NC 27701

Ambiance: The entry way leads you past a wall that shields the dining room from the mall traffic. About 10 guests were queued in front of me. As you walk toward the beginning of the food line, you walk past it in review but backwards of course. The line moves quickly but no one is rushed. Cute trick.

Lots of tempting items are displayed. Emphasis on fresh and wholesome. Wide variety of salads, entrees, and desserts. Pies aplenty. Friendly, helpful, cheerful wait staff. Very active oversight and light-touch, hands-on management. A winning combo!

The food: Always seeking prime fried chicken, and based on foodie blog reports, I ordered the chicken. Dark or white? "Dark" yielded a good sized hindquarter. Added a side of butter beans. Ice water with lemon to drink. [Some ice water glasses already had a lemon wedge.]

The chicken was among the best I have ever tasted. Stone fresh. Mild flavor and juicy. No sign of overchilling. Apparently, not brined. Good for those such as myself who restrict sodium intake. Thin crispy coating that sticks to the chicken. A real feat. The butter beans were fresh-tasting, not canned, tender but not mushy or grainy, and free of added fat.

C&H management has sought and found great provisions and people who know how to cook and serve excellent food to a mass audience.

The dining room was busy, nicely appointed in a funeral-home-modern sort of way, and kept spotlessly clean by an attentive bus staff. Lots of conversations were held in quiet tones, but the room didn't sound or feel dead. The tableware was heavy and clean, and came wrapped in a spotless cloth napkin. A thoughtful touch.

The tariff: Al a carte, of course. The tab, $4.78 with tax, no tip. Should have left one, now that I think about it. Will double it next time, in partial recompense.

Next: Must try the chicken livers on rice! And the fried whiting looked fine.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

[Heard on Terry Gross' Fresh Air broadcast 3-28-01. Interview with vegetarian author Jack Bishop; transcribed 4-3-01.]

2 lbs (4 to 5 medium) russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
2 T (about) oil
Kosher salt

Preheat oven and cookie sheet to 425 degrees F (218 C). Slice potatoes into eight wedges lengthwise, skins on. In a bowl combine the potatoes with the oil, coating lightly but completely, using the fingers. Arrange on hot cookie sheet. Roast 25 minutes. Turn each with tongs. Roast 20 minutes more. Sprinkle with salt. Pass Heinz Ketchup. Serves 3 to 4.
Variations: Cut recipe in half and use a toaster oven rather than a range. Sister Phyllis says that sweet potatoes are good this way too. She's right.

French Dip Sandwich w/ Oven Roasted Potatoes

Quick Mushroom Pilaf

First prepared September 21, 2009.

1 cup medium grain rice
1 T canola oil
1/2 t salt
1 4.5 oz can sliced mushrooms, reserve packing liquor
2 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock + reserved mushroom liquor
1 T low-fat soft margarine

Bring liquid to a boil in microwave-proof container. Set aside. Combine rice, salt and oil in a tall microwave-proof container with a loose-fitting cover. Microwave on high one minute. Add drained mushrooms and mix. Microwave one minute more.
Add hot stock and margarine. Microwave (6 to 8 minutes high, 15 to 20 minutes on 20 to 30% power depending on the wattage), or use a preset schedule for rice if your oven provides one.

French Toast

First prepared September 19, 2009.

Dip #1
1 cup milk
1 t sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract

Dip #2
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 T water
scant 1/4 t salt

9 slices French or Italian bread cut 3/4 inch thick
butter

Preheat toaster oven to 300 F (150 C). Place bread on oven rack and bake 10 minutes. The goal is to dry but not toast the bread. Mix each dip thoroughly to dissolve the sugar or salt. Dip a slice on both sides in the milk mixture, and then both sides in the egg mixture. Cook on a medium-high griddle in sizzling butter, until nicely browned on one side. Turn and finish the other side. About 6 minutes total. Be careful to avoid scorching the egg coating. Should be crisp and buttery outside and creamy custardy on the inside. Garnish with powdered sugar and serve with a topping or side dish of warm caramel-glazed apples.