Sopa de Ajo

So, all you have in the kitchen is a half-empty bottle of oil, a can of chicken stock, a knob of brown bread, a flaking head of garlic, and some eggs hiding in far-flung corners of the carton? Maybe some smidgens of spices left in the cupboard? Don't exhale a dusty sigh of destitution, you have all the makings of a delicious dinner right in front of you! Sopa de ajo, or garlic soup, was created by penurious Spanish peasants who had to make do with only meager scraps of sustenance, such as water, oil, garlic, eggs, and yesterday's bread (traditional recipes don't even include chicken stock!). Although, for origins in such a humble array of ingredients, you'd fancy yourself a king eating a bowl of sopa de ajo (or, at least a baron). It's an intensely nourishing and warming soup, and when you break the poached egg and let the yolk swirl with the garlicky broth, the whole experience gets transcendentally rich and silky. It becomes something you crave even if the pantry's stocked full of caviar and truffles and such.

My personal recommendation for maximum enjoyment is to put on Les Blank's documentary short Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers as the soup is simmering, and as your desire for the stinking rose reaches fever pitch, dive into your finished soup!

Sopa de Ajo
Makes 2 large servings

Personal recipe with guidance from Rick Bayless' recipe 

*Scant 1/2 cup olive oil
*1 head garlic, cloves peeled and roughly chopped (at LEAST 20 cloves)
*2 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
*2 cups water
*2-3 slices of crusty brown bread, with or without crusts removed
*2 eggs
*1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
*S&P
*Chopped cilantro or parsley to garnish (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 325. Heat the oil in a small heavy pot over medium-low. Add garlic, reduce heat and stir frequently for 20 minutes. Manage the heat so that the garlic simmers but doesn't brown. Once soft, drain the garlic and transfer to a larger pot, reserving the oil. In the larger pot, add the broth, water and paprika and simmer on medium-low. Season to taste. Meanwhile, cut the bread into cubes and toast in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring a few times. Drizzle with some of the garlic oil, toss to coat, and return to the oven to cook for 5 more minutes. While the croutons are finishing up, poach the eggs. To serve, dish out the soup, add a poached egg to each bowl, and garnish with the croutons and some chopped cilantro.

*Especially good when you want to stave off a cold, or are in the throes of one - garlic is superhealthy*

Mixed Greens with Black Grapes, Hazelnuts & Manchego

Local, seasonal grapes were on sale at the store the other day, and I could not help but buy a bursting bagful of some very alluring black specimens. Besides nibbling them straight from the woody stems hedonist-style, which is my preferred method of dispatching grapes, I decided to showcase some of the juicy glaucous orbs by nestling them in a bed of green. A simple balsamic and oil emulsion, some shaved Manchego, and a smattering of toasted hazelnuts completed the scene to make a very tasty and exceedingly simple meal, pleasing to both the eye and mouth. A great late-August-grape-harvest salad!
 

Mixed Greens with Black Grapes, Hazelnuts & Manchego
Makes 1 serving

*1 teaspoon very good quality balsamic vinegar
*1 tablespoon of your finest EVOO
*Pinches of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste 
*3 handfuls mixed greens ( I used a spring lettuce mix and some watercress)
*Decent-size sprig's worth of black grapes, some halved
*Shaved Manchego cheese
*1 tablespoon crushed hazelnuts, lightly toasted

Emulsify the oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle over the greens and toss. Arrange the grapes, cheese shavings and nuts as it suits you.

Egg, Squash Blossom & Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas

We have a magical squash plant in our front yard. I didn't plant it, my husband didn't plant it, nor did our neighbors - it just appeared one day and immediately started taking over. I can only imagine that some autumnal decoration was tossed aside into the bushes and forgotten, once upon a time. I'm watching it eagerly to see if we'll actually get any squash out of it, but in the meantime I've been enjoying its blossoms! It's more for novelty's sake that I've been working with them, but they do have a delicate squashy flavor that is quite pleasant. Plus, it's just plain fun to eat flowers. This quesadilla might not showcase the blossom front and center, but they work perfectly well with the other ingredients, and it makes for a very tasty and filling breakfast (brunch, really!)

Egg, Squash Blossom & Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas
Makes 1 quesadilla

*1 teaspoon butter
*EVOO
*1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
*1 clove garlic, minced
*Petals from 4-5 squash blossoms
*2 eggs
*1 large flour tortilla
*3/4-1 cup shredded melting cheese (I used bagged Mex blend; it was a lazy morning)
*2 basil leaves, chiffonaded
*S&P

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and drizzle the pat with a little oil. Add the onions and saute until translucent, and then add the garlic. Sprinkle with salt and saute another few minutes before adding in the blossoms, sauteing until they wilt. Spoon the mixture into a bowl along with the basil and set aside. Pour the eggs into the pan, scrambling until fluffy, with S&P to taste. Add the eggs to the blossom mixture when done. Meanwhile, lightly brush a tortilla with a little butter or oil and set it, greased side down, in a skillet that will accommodate it (preferably cast iron). Sprinkle a heaping half-cup of shredded cheese around the tortilla and as it melts, spoon the egg and blossom mix over one half of the tortilla. Add a little more cheese to the top of the filling, and then fold the tortilla over. Press down with a spatula and cover. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, then cut and enjoy! I had mine with avocado and salsa verde, and it was delicious.

Quick Peanut Butter-Banana Ice Cream

I've posted uses for overripe bananas a few times already, but this is now far and away my favorite method of using up those speckled stragglers squirreled away in my freezer. I've used frozen bananas to add oomph to smoothies for ages, but I'd never tried to blitz them on their own until the other day when I wanted to make some cool and delicious treat, only to find I was out of dairy (save a couple cans of condensed milk). After some experimentation with the sweetened condensed milk and some peanut butter (and lots of scraping down the sides of my blender), I achieved my goal, and how! I'm shocked at just how well this mimicked ice cream with a solid custard base, in both mouthfeel and scoopability. I credit that to the higher levels of sugar in the overripe bananas as well as the addition of sweetened condensed milk. Whatever the sorcery, it made for a scrumptious, easy (and mildly healthier!) dessert.

Quick Peanut Butter-Banana Ice Cream
Makes about cup and a half, or 3 servings

*2 frozen bananas, peeled and sliced
*2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used chunky-style for some textural fun, but feel free to use smooth)
*1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Blitz it all together in your most powerful blender or food processor. My blender isn't the greatest, so there's a fair deal of scraping I have to do to get it all to blend properly, but if you have something top shelf like Vitamix, this should be a snap. Once it's getting...for lack of a better word, goopy, scrape it out into a container, press a round of Saran-wrap on top to prevent ice crystals from forming, lid it and pop into the freezer to harden again until you're ready to serve.

Note: Some googling turned up plenty of other delicious additives - must try Nutella next time!

Roasted Garlic & Cannellini Bean Dip with Basil Oil

With all the office gatherings, potlucks, picnics, porch parties and BBQs that come along with summer, I thought I'd share my cheapest, quickest and easiest, yet still terrifically tasty, recipe for a perfect please-'em-all offering to bring along to any of the above. It's great in a pinch when I remember I have to make something a little too late to devote hours to my favorite potluck dish, baked lentils (the recipe for which, eventually, I'll post to the blog!). This dip is delicious, dirt-cheap to make, will appease nearly any dietary restrictions, and is easily doubled (or tripled, etc). You can even nix the pretty basil oil topping if you're really pressed for time.

A note about the garlic: I am gonzo for garlic, so I put 4-5 cloves into my dip if it's just for me and my garlic lovin' spouse/friends/family. However, if this dip is making its way towards an office function, or set in front of a group of people I don't know that well, I usually tone it down to 2 or 3 so there's just a hint of garlic, not an all-out assault (the way I like it). Find your happy medium!

Roasted Garlic & Cannellini Bean Dip with Basil Oil
Makes about 2 cups - approx. enough for 10-12 people in a potluck setting

*1 15oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
*2-5 cloves garlic
*Juice + 1 teaspoon zest from one lemon
*Scant 1/4 cup evoo
*A pinch of dried oregano
*S&P

Basil Oil

*Equal amounts of basil & evoo (I usually go with 1/4 packed cup to 1/4 cup)

Rub the unpeeled garlic with a little oil, wrap in foil and toss in a 400 degree oven to roast for about 30-40 minutes - I suggest popping in a few extra cloves while you're at it, because the temptation to slather some roasted garlic all over toasty bread when it's done will be too great to resist. While the garlic is roasting, puree the basil and olive oil in a small food processor, and then pop into a mason jar and set in the fridge. No need to rinse the processor, just toss all the dip ingredients in it when the garlic is done. Pulse everything until pureed, and season with S&P to taste. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve, and then drizzle some of the basil oil over top. Any leftover oil can be re-purposed in myriad ways.

Blackened Shrimp Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette

The other day I stopped at my beloved local dairy farm, Baily's, to pick up a little pint of buttermilk for weekend pancake dreams. No pints to be found, but the avuncular Mr. Baily sent me packing with a quart for the same price. So, saddled with a largess of buttermilk (a problem anyone should like to face!) I noodled around on chowhound for ideas, and came across the notion of a buttermilk dressing. Instantly I imagined it luxuriously poured over a spinach salad, and the rest came together from there. The buttermilk made for a very tasty, pleasantly sour and tart vinaigrette, which mingled well with the smoky and piquant flavors of blackened seafood. I'm kind of in love with this salad.

Blackened Shrimp Salad
Makes 2 entree size salads or 4 side salads

*8 oz fresh spinach
*A couple slices of stale crusty bread
*1 ear corn, shucked, washed and kernels cut off cob
*A handful of thinly sliced red onion crescents
*10-12 shrimp, shelled and deveined
*2-3 tablespoons blackening spices (you may find my mix recipe here)
*High smoke point oil
*Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme

Buttermilk Vinaigrette
Loosely adapted from Frank Stitts' Southern Table
Makes about 1/2 cup

*1 tablespoon cider vinegar

*1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

*1 teaspoon minced shallot

*1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

*1/2 teaspoon minced thyme leaves

*1/4 cup buttermilk

*1 heaping tablespoon sour cream

*1 tablespoon evoo
*S&P

Wash and dry the spinach, and prep the croutons. Remove the crusts and then cut the bread into modestly sized cubes. Toss with some sea salt, pepper and olive oil and bake at 300 for about 10-15 mins, flipping once. Meanwhile, toss the shrimp with the blackening spices and set aside while you prepare the vinaigrette.

Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, minced shallot, zest, thyme and pinches of S&P and slowly whisk in the buttermilk and sour cream. When combined, slowly emulsify the evoo within and season to taste. Set aside and heat a cast iron skillet over medium high. When it starts to smoke add a glug of canola oil, swirl around, and then set the shrimp in. Blacken about a minute and a half per side or until cooked through. Beware - there will be smoke! Make sure your exhaust fan is on high or you've got some windows open in the joint.

Throw the spinach, red onions, corn, shrimp, and croutons together, fleck with thyme leaves and then drizzle the dish with the vinaigrette. Freshly cracked pepper and some grains of sea salt to complete.

Orecchiette with Sausage & Sundried Tomato Pistou

If pressed hard to name my favorite pasta more times than not I'd blurt out, "orecchiette!!". It's such a toothsome, fun pasta, each little hat holding a cache of some caught sauce or sausage under its brim. For this particular batch of orecchiette, I knew I wanted something with sundried tomatoes, for which I'd been nursing a heavy craving lately. I fixated on a pesto - only to find that the sole nuts in the house were....raw unshelled peanuts. I skipped nuts and presto, pistou! On a humid summer's eve, I appreciated a sauce sans nuts, as it was slightly lighter fare.

Make sure you're using jarred sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil for this recipe, and feel free to double the pistou batch - extra pistou makes a tasty spread on crusty garlic-rubbed crostini.

Orecchiette with Sausage & Sundried Tomato Pistou
Makes 4-6 servings
 

*1 packed cup sundried tomatoes

*1/4 cup densely packed fresh basil leaves, plus a few extra for garnish

*Scant 1/4 cup olive oil from the sundried tomato jar + extra as needed

*6 cloves garlic, 2 finely chopped

*2 tablespoons freshly grated Parm-Reg

*Pinch red pepper flakes
*S&P
*About 1 lb dried orecchiette pasta (preferably De Cecco)
*2 links hot Italian sausage, casings removed

Make the pistou by blitzing the tomatoes, tomato oil, basil and 4 of the garlic cloves in a small food processor. Add the Parm, red pepper flakes and pinches of salt & pepper and taste until it's seasoned just so. It should be relatively thick , no need to thin it out to the consistency of its greener pesto cousins.  Set the pistou aside and put water on to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, saute the sausage until browned and cooked, breaking it up into small pieces, and then set aside. Add a touch of tomato oil to the pan, lower the heat and saute the finely chopped garlic cloves for about a minute or so and then add to the sausage. Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, and toss the orecchiette with a bit more of the tomato oil (it is proving indispensable, eh?). Add the pasta back to the pot, along with the pistou and sausage-garlic mix. Stir to combine thoroughly, adding a touch of the cooking water if necessary (it wasn't necessary for me, but reserve some just in case...!). Dish out and dust with extra Parm-Reg and aromatic ribbons of basil leaves.

Mushroom Toasts

One of my favorite brunchy, lunchy dishes to make, the Mushroom Toast, came to me by way of inspiration from a restaurant called Sycamore. A few years back, I ordered mushroom toasts off the menu and was absolutely taken with the earthy umami savoriness of the simple appetizer, and immediately decided to include it in my own repertoire. After some tinkering, I've got it right where I want it - walnuts were the magical ingredient that lifted it to perfection. Use whatever mushrooms you like, but I've found that the trinity of shiitake, hen-of-the-woods and oyster is my favorite.

Mushroom Toasts
Makes 2 servings

*EVOO
*1 small shallot, minced
*5-6 oz melange of wild mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean and chopped
*3 cloves of garlic – 2 minced, 1 thinly sliced
*1/4 cup chopped walnuts
*1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
*1 pinch chili flakes
*1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
*Small knob butter (about 1/2 tablespoon)
*S&P
*2 slices of toasted bread (ideally from a nice rustic loaf, but I've been known to use sandwich bread)
*Truffle oil (optional)
*Freshly grated Parm-Reg
*2 fried eggs (optional)

In a wide pan, heat a glug of oil over medium and add the minced shallot. Sprinkle with some salt and saute for a few minutes before adding in the garlic. Saute for another minute and then toss in the mushrooms. Cook for 4-5 minutes as they start to release their juices, then add the walnuts, thyme and chili flakes, season with S&P. Continue to cook a couple more minutes until the mushrooms are tender and have browned nicely. To finish, stir in the knob of butter, squeeze a lemon half gently over the mix and toss well. I usually spritz a fine mist of Trader Joe's Truffle Oil over the mix at that point, but there's plenty of flavor without it. Assemble the toasts by heaping the mushrooms over the bread (for extra tastiness, rub a cut garlic clove on top of the bread right after it has been toasted), then grate a little Parm-Reg over the mound and top each portion with a fried egg.

Blog Anniversary!

Today marks the first anniversary of ol' Zou, and I'm happy to say that I've found it a very worthwhile venture. It's rewarding to look back on a year-long panorama of personal cookery while savoring some of the highlights in my mind's mouth, to see how much I've learned since last May. It floors me when I think about everything I haven't learned... skills I haven't yet honed, ingredients I haven't yet tasted, preparations I've yet to master...but I can't wait to absorb more knowledge (and more tasty foodstuffs) as I continue to grow as an amateur home cook and food enthusiast. Blogging has proved helpful in this pursuit as it pushes me to be more culinarily creative and adventurous as I explore new and delectable content for my stomach, and for the internet. Plus, it's nice to have all my recipes in one readily and publicly accessible, non-soup-stained place.

I thank the husband, my friends, and the many anonymous readers for their support and encouragement in this past year!

Fiddlehead & Shrimp Linguine

The lil' curlicues popping up from the dun-brown crowns of awakening ferns are among my favorite signs of spring - namely, because I can eat them. When cooked-crisp, fiddleheads are toothsome and have a lightly grassy, asparagus-esque taste to them. A perfect spring vegetable! You might be able to find them at better farmers' markets or at specialty food stores, but it's always more enjoyable to search them out and collect them yourself! When foraging, make sure you're clipping from edible (most likely ostrich) ferns, and only taking fiddleheads which have not yet unfurled. Regard the picture below to get the right idea. Also, be a pal and don't deplete an entire plant - I usually only take one or two fiddleheads per fern.  In springs past I've simply sauteed them with a hint of butter and s&p as a side for meat, steamed them lightly or even thrown 'em raw into salads, but this time the coiled fronds reminded me of the shrimp I had in the freezer, cutely tucked in similar position.  So, I decided to add them both into tangles of pasta. A little side salad of young dandelion greens, also foraged, completed the springy supper.

Happy foraging!

Fiddlehead and Shrimp Linguine
Makes 1-2 servings

*4 oz linguine
*1 handful fiddlehead ferns, washed thoroughly in a couple changes of water (brown flecks all removed)
*6-8 medium shrimp, cleaned
*2 tablespoons butter
*1 tablespoon minced shallot
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*1 pinch red pepper flakes
*2 tablespoons white wine
*1/2 teapsoon lemon zest
*Juice of 1/2 lemon
*S&P
*Grated Parm-Reg

Set water on to boil for the pasta. Blanch the fiddleheads in another pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium and saute the shallot and garlic for 4-5 minutes, adding a pinch of red pepper flakes near the end. Bump the heat up a little and add the fiddleheads and shrimp; saute about 2 minutes per side. Add the wine and lemon juice to deglaze. Reduce heat, stir in the zest and simmer for a few minutes, seasoning to taste. Drain the pasta and add to the skillet, tossing well. Dish out and dust with Parm-Reg.