Adding Flavor to Simple Recipes

Well, it’s clear that I haven’t had a chance to post much here recently, and I haven’t been doing many cooking challenges lately either. Sometimes life gets too hectic. With that in mind, I am returning my focus to simple recipes, and I will post a bunch of them here.

By simple recipes, I mean recipes that have only a handful of ingredients, no more than five total, including salt, pepper and oil. Or quick but complete dinners that you can put together in one pan. These are the kinds of recipes that you will memorize after making them two or three times, so that you can easily whip one up on a weeknight even if you’re dead tired, or you can pull out when you’re not sure what to make with that ingredient you picked up on sale.

These recipes are great to add to your repertoire, but the problem is that they can become boring after a while. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a ready-made arsenal to add pizzazz to any recipe. You can vary the flavors depending on your mood and what you have available.

Here is my list of sure-fire ways to quickly and easily boost the flavor quotient in a simple recipe:

• Garnish it with fresh herbs after cooking.
• Sprinkle in a little citrus juice or vinegar at the end of cooking.
• Add minced chiles or red pepper flakes for heat.
• Substitute heavy cream, sour cream, plain yogurt or melted butter for some of the oil.
• Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or other cheese or with crumbled bacon (you can substitute bacon grease for some of the oil as well).
• Mix in slow-roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, pesto or other ready-made ingredients from the pantry.
• Substitute or add similar vegetables.

As I post some of my favorite tried-and-true simple recipes, I’ll provide examples of these flavor boosters. But never be afraid to experiment. Cooking is more fun that way!

Use It Up: Mint

Image via Wikipedia

Mint is one of those herbs that can take over the herb garden, if you’re not careful. (Lemon balm is another, which I learned the hard way.) I usually plant mint in a place without a lot of grass and let it run rampant as a kind of ground cover. That means there’s always plenty of fresh mint on hand when I need it. On Quora, someone asked a question about how to use an abundance of mint leaves. Here are my suggestions.

• Add mint leaves to your iced tea when brewing it. My favorite iced tea is 3 green tea teabags, a handful of mint leaves and a spoonful of honey. Let brew 10 minutes, then pour over ice.
• The mojito is one of the best summer cocktails. Muddle (gently crush) mint leaves with sugar and lime juice. Add 1-1/2 ounces white rum and stir. Top with ice and sparkling water. Variations on this theme abound.
• Mint pesto: You may want to temper the mint flavor by combining it with another herb, such as basil or parsley. I think mint pesto tastes particularly good with almonds substituted for the pine nuts. Puree: 2 cups herbs (maybe 1-1/2 cups mint and 1/2 cup basil or parsley), 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and 2 tablespoons toasted almonds. Use as a pasta sauce, spread for crackers (good with goat cheese) or to flavor soups.
• Mint goes particularly well with cucumbers and watermelon. Classic cucumber raita is plain yogurt combined with diced cucumber, chopped mint, lemon juice, salt and pepper. For a refreshing fruit salad, muddle mint with sugar, then toss with watermelon balls. Or combine watermelon with tomatoes and crumbled feta; drizzle with a vinaigrette made from olive oil, lime juice and minced mint.
• A simple recipe but subtly delicious: gently boil new potatoes with mint leaves in the water.

Any other ideas?

A Few Simple Pasta Sauce Recipes

I have a new challenge post coming up soon (finally). In the meantime, I want to share with you a list of simple recipes for pasta that you can throw together, usually in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Many of these recipes are particularly suitable for this time of year, when you (a) don’t want to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen, and (b) have access to abundant fresh produce and herbs.

Pasta, Risotto-Style: I like this with orzo but it will work with almost any pasta shape. Saute diced onion in butter over medium-high. Add 1-1/2 cups orzo or other cut pasta. To make a complete meal, you can add other vegetables or pre-cooked meat. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Add 3 cups stock. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir every few minutes until tender, about 15 minutes, adding more stock if needed. Garnish with grated Parmesan and minced herbs.

Quick Vegetable Sauce: Puree cooked vegetables. Thin with cream or stock and heat gently. Top with grated cheese, as appropriate.

Pesto: Puree 2 cups basil or other herbs, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or other nuts and 1/2 cup Parmesan until smooth.

Raw Tomato Sauce: Chop 1 garlic clove with a handful of basil. Combine with 2-3 diced tomatoes. Toss with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Canned Tomato Sauce: Saute 1/2 minced onion or 2 minced garlic cloves in olive oil or butter over medium-low until golden. Add 1 14-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes, or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped. Stir in 1 tablespoon tomato paste, if a thicker sauce is desired. Cook about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. You can eat it now or simmer up to an hour. This sauce takes well to all kinds of additions so experiment by adding any cooked veggies or meats, pesto or fresh herbs, some soft cheese, a little wine, etc.

This list was first posted on Quora.

A Light Green Frittata for Spring

Usually, when I make frittata, it’s a last-minute dinner designed to minimize cooking while using up the odds and ends in the vegetable crisper. But last night, I decided to make a frittata that celebrates the bounty of fresh herbs returning to my garden, and it was so good, I wanted to share the recipe. This frittata is light, flavorful and definitely spring-like. It would make a nice light supper or brunch dish, or it could even serve as finger food at a party or picnic. Enjoy.

Light Green Frittata

Serves: 2 as an entree
Time to make: ~20 minutes

• handful of fresh herbs, minced (I used mint, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley)
• several scallions, minced
• 5 eggs
• sea salt, olive oil and grated Parmesan to taste

Preheat the broiler. Lightly beat the eggs with a little salt. Mix in the herbs and scallions.

Heat a thin film of olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick pan with an oven-safe handle over medium. Add the eggs, stir once or twice, then leave it alone while the bottom cooks. When the bottom is set but the top is still runny, scatter the grated Parmesan over the top. Move the skillet to the oven and broil a few minutes, until the top is set and puffy. Cut into wedges to serve.

This frittata can be eaten immediately or served later at room temperature. Recipe adapted from Italian Farmhouse Cookbook.

Herb purees: Preserving a bounty of herbs

Image by shannon_turlington via Flickr

Last week I blogged about an unexpected find in our garden: gigantic cilantro and parsley plants that had overwintered and needed to be harvested before we could condition the soil for spring planting. I put the bunches of herbs in vases of water on my kitchen table, and they inspired my cooking all week, leading me to make herb-infused marinades and vinaigrettes, as well as to sprinkle fresh herbs on pretty much everything I cooked. Still, there was way too much to eat before the herbs began to wilt.

Pesto is a terrific method for preserving herbs, but pesto has a lot of other flavors in addition to the herb: garlic, Parmesan, pine nuts. Sometimes  you want something a little simpler and more versatile. I used a simple herb puree to process my extra cilantro and parsley. Like pesto, it freezes well. I freeze the puree in ice cube trays, then move the cubes to freezer bags. Whenever I want a little extra flavor, I take one or two cubes out of the freezer and let them defrost on the counter. They’re then ready for adding extra zing to whatever I’m cooking.

Here’s how to make the herb puree:

1. Remove the leaves from the stems to measure about 2 cups. This is the worst part of processing herbs. I find it so tedious to strip all the leaves off. Often I get impatient and make less puree than I can, but this method is easily doubled or tripled.
2. In a food processor puree the leaves with about ¼ cup of olive oil, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
3. If you need to add a bit more liquid, drizzle in warm water, a little at a time, while the food processor is running until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Spoon the puree into ice cube trays and freeze.

Now I have plenty of cilantro and parsley stocked for when I need it.

What’s Cooking in August

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We are officially in the dog days of summer. I don’t know about you, but around here, it’s been 90+ degrees, hot, sticky, with thunderstorms in the afternoons. The other day when I was walking the dog, I detected the lovely deep summer scent of wet dish towel in the air. This is why air conditioning was invented.

Folks who have been visiting my blog have been digging up my summertime recipes, so I thought I’d highlight the top hits to make it a bit easier on you. For deep summer cooking, you want to keep the oven off as much as possible and take advantage of all that fresh garden goodness.

My garden is turning out tons of cherry tomatoes and a few of the bigger ones. We’ve got lots of green ones, so August will be a big month for tomatoes, I predict. The basil plant is huge this year — I can’t use it up fast enough. And at the farmers’ market, I predictably came home with a larger watermelon than my husband and I could ever possibly eat.

Here are some ideas for a tasty summer menu:

• As a starter or for snacks, I’ve been making a lot of bruschetta to use up the tomatoes and basil from my garden. Almost any fresh veggies — roasted or raw — make good bruschetta toppings.
• Salsa is another good snacking option that takes advantage of juicy ripe tomatoes.
• I’ve been experimenting with variations on caprese salads, as well as making it the traditional way, to consume even more basil.
• Herb butters and pestos are simple, fresh accompaniments for grilled chicken, steak and fish.
• You’re probably swimming in summer squash and zucchini; here are some ideas for how to use them.
• Got watermelon, or any other abundance of fresh fruit? Use them up in a sorbet. I’ve been freezing pureed fruit as popsicles, as well, for low-cal treats.

Here are some summer recipes around the Web that I am drooling over:

• Honey-Herb Vinegar from Sidewalk Shoes
• Mark Bittman’s No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
• Passive-Aggressive Appetizers from The New Yorker (ok, this one’s just for fun)

Tortellini With Lemon & Herbs

Tortellini with fresh herbs, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.

Last week I posted a wintry pasta dish, so this week I am countering with a pasta that is all about summer. This sauce is light and tangy, perfect for a hot summer night, especially if you can use herbs right out of your own garden. It pairs best with fresh pasta, I think. I used cheese tortellini to make a more filling main dish, but it would also work well with fresh fettuccine as a side.

I paired the pasta with steamed asparagus sprinkled with Parmesan and a little olive oil. (Just run it under the broiler until the Parmesan melts.)

Pasta with Lemon and Herbs

Time to make: ~10 minutes
Yields: 2 servings (double or triple as desired)

What you need:

• 1 garlic clove, sliced thin
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• the zest and juice of 1 small lemon
• 2 tbsp. butter, softened
• ¼ cup fresh herbs, minced (good choices are basil, parsley and oregano)
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• grated Parmesan to taste
• 8 oz. tortellini or other fresh pasta

1. Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water.
2. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium.
3. Add the garlic and saute just until golden, then remove from the heat.
4. Combine the garlic and oil with the lemon juice, zest, butter and herbs in a large bowl.
5. Toss with the cooked, drained pasta until the butter is melted and the pasta is well coated.
6. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and Parmesan as desired.

Note: Reserve some of the pasta cooking water and mix in a tablespoon or two if the sauce needs a little liquid.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Once Upon a Feast.

What to Do With All This Basil

My basil plants are going gangbusters this year. They really like being in the garden with the tomatoes. I guess it’s no secret that basil and tomatoes get along well together. I did a big harvest today, enough to make a good batch of pesto, and I barely made a dent. I expect I will get 3 or 4 similarly sized harvests before the summer is over.

The question is: what do I do with all this basil? I’ve been eating it on pretty much everything lately. It’s a good thing it’s my favorite herb. Today for lunch, I toasted peasant bread, spread some pesto on top and topped that with smoked trout. It was delicious, a perfect summer snack. (Thanks to Patricia Wells for the idea!)

Not just basil, but also dill and mint and thyme have been putting in overtime this summer. Today I made green iced tea with a little honey and plenty of mint — outstanding! At dinner we had dill on the salmon and mint on the squash. It’s funny that this year, when we haven’t gotten a lot of rain, the herbs are going all out.

Speaking of squash, we’re already getting plenty out of the garden. I told my husband he’d better be prepared to have squash every night for dinner. It’s true when they say that it takes absolutely no effort to grow squash. We even have squash that sprouted from seeds in the compost, with absolutely no encouragement from us. A month ago, they were tiny unidentified seedlings. Now they have turned into this:

That’s just one plant. There are several others, but this one is definitely the biggest. I’m not convinced that they are all the same kind. But this one on the corner is already putting out baby squash. What kind would you guess it is?

To me, it looks like an acorn squash (unlikely because we don’t normally eat them) or a butternut or possibly a very young pumpkin. But I know nothing of these things and am just guessing. Whatever it is, it seems clear from the number of flowers that we’re going to have a lot of them.

And that’s this week’s garden report!

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This is probably my favorite way to cook potatoes. Like the little black dress, this is a simple classic that goes with everything. This is also a versatile recipe, which you can make on the grill during the summer as well as in the oven during the colder months.

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Time to make: 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes

What you need:

• ¼ lb. red potatoes per serving, scrubbed and cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp. olive oil per serving
• ½-1 garlic clove per person, minced, to taste
• fresh herbs, such as rosemary, mint or parsley, snipped
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine the garlic, and olive oil, and toss it with the potatoes, salt and pepper
3. Spread the potatoes in a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil
4. Roast for about 20 minutes, covered
5. Remove the foil, stir the potatoes and sprinkle with the herbs
6. Roast another 10-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are browned and fork-tender

Note: If you happen to have leftover potatoes, reheat them by sauteing them gently in olive oil or butter until browned and warmed through. Voila! Nearly instant home fries.

Some Notes About Seasoning

When a recipe directs you to “season,” right off you should read it as: “add salt and pepper to taste.” Unless the recipe is already very salty or very hot from other ingredients, these are absolute essentials. But here is what the cookbooks won’t tell you: The rest is up to you. The seasonings you pick should depend on the ingredients you are working with, the flavor theme you are going for and your personal tastes. Forget what the recipe says!

There are only a few basic ground rules you need to know about seasonings. The first is that the seasoning should be entirely to your taste. What’s overly spicy hot for you may taste on the mild side to me. That’s another reason why you can’t trust cookbook recipes, which I think often err on the side of blandness, and you have to taste, taste, taste while you’re cooking. I usually like to taste and add seasoning at each major step in the recipe.

You should also know that cookbook recipes often make seasonings more complex and mysterious and time-consuming than they really have to be. Do you really have time to be grinding whole spices in a mortar and pestle, or mixing together 1/8 tsp. of 18 different kinds of powders? That’s not cooking, that’s witchcraft.

One of my favorite time-saving secrets is to use seasoning mixes and dried herb mixes. That way, I don’t have to painstakingly measure out all those different kinds of herbs and spices; I just throw in the equivalent amount of seasoning mix. It’s not cheating — it’s smart. I get my spice and herb mixes from Penzey’s, where the quality is really good and there are a lot of varieties to choose from. I like to have several on hand at one time, so I can make my meal taste Spanish, Southwestern, Indian or Thai — whatever I’m in the mood for that night. The mixes also make great rubs for meats, flavor spikes for vinaigrettes and marinades, and bases for salad dressings and dips.

Still, there are a few seasonings you’re going to want to have on hand at all times. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Fats: butter, olive oil, peanut oil and vegetable oil

We’re all so fat conscious these days, but fats are an absolute necessity for bringing out the essential flavors in foods. Each recipe will start with some fat. To maintain that essential balance between good health and good taste, I figure on ½ tbsp. or less of fat per person per dish, less if I’m using nonstick and cooking over a high heat (as in stir-frying). Also, avoid trans-fats; there’s nothing wrong with good, old-fashioned butter.

• Aromatics: onions (including shallots, scallions, leeks and all the various colors), garlic, bell pepper, chiles, carrots, celery, mushrooms, ginger

Pretty much every cooked recipe is going to start with sauteing some aromatics in some fat. They’re called aromatics for a reason: they add aroma to a dish. They are the building blocks of flavor. You can’t go wrong with onion and garlic, no matter what you’re cooking. Your mileage may vary but generally, you’ll want to figure on ¼ of a small onion, ½ shallot or 1 clove garlic per person. Beyond that, you can vary the aromatics to vary the style of the dish. Keep some of each in your fridge and throw in what seems right to you. As as general guide, use ½ pepper, ¼ carrot or celery stick, ½ tbsp. ginger and/or ¼ lb. mushrooms, all minced, per person.

Chef’s tip: Dried chiles and mushrooms keep forever and are always on hand for enhancing dishes. To rehydrate, just soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes. The soaking liquid makes a terrific flavor enhancer, as well.

• Seasoning and dried herb mixes: start with 1 tsp. per person and add to taste
• Fresh herbs: mince and throw in 1 tbsp. per person at the end of cooking (otherwise, they’ll lose their flavor)
• Lemon and limes: Use 1 tbsp. (½ fruit) juice and 1 tsp. zest per person; also best added at the end of cooking
• Vinegars: Have a full selection on hand, including balsamic, red wine, white wine and sherry; these are stronger than citrus juices so start with 1 tsp. per person
• Mustard: use 1 tsp. per person and buy lots of flavors
• Soy sauce, fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce: All essentials; generally use around ½ tbsp. or less per person
• Flavored oils (such as chile oil, sesame oil, etc.): use 1 tsp. per person
• Prepared sauces (such as barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, black bean sauce, mayonnaise and horseradish): Use 1 tbsp. or less per person
• Spice pastes (such as anchovy paste, chile paste, curry paste and sun-dried tomato paste): These are great timesavers; figure on 1 tsp. per person
• Hot sauces: 1-2 dashes per person is usually sufficient, but again, tastes vary widely — pass more at the table