fryday friday
24 Oct 2010 1 Comment
in artichoke, broccoli rabe, cheese, chocolate, garlic, pineapple, potatoes, recipes, sweets, vegan, vegetarian Tags: autumn, Brooklyn, deep fry, dinner parties, drag, frying, marcella hazan, midwest, paula deen
in the kitchen I am happiest when I am frying. One reason is that frying takes the whole cooking process and condenses it into a continuously visible, uninterrupted sequence. It resembles those nature documentaries where the camera shows us tiny buds developing into full blooms, compressing weeks of growth into seconds. One is never out of touch with the food one is frying, even for a moment, and I find that very satisfying….
fried food must be eaten promptly, and cannot be reheated. In Naples they have a phrase for saying that one thing follows immediately upon another. It is frienno magnanno, which means, literally, frying and eating. And that is how it should be done.
marcella hazan, more classic cooking (1978)
and that is what we did. although the night ended in a resonant and reverential reading of Marcella, it began with Paula Deen.
turns out, our stunning drag performer darling is also a sick fry cook. The night we met, in the back garden of Ginger’s bar at Brooklyn Pride, we talked Paula Deen and fell into the deep fryer of food love. Fry night has been pending ever since. Come to think of it—Paula’s how I baited the preacher eater too. Seems i owe Ms. Deen some gratitude.
our all you can fry event was an appropriate homage to the reigning queen of the deep fryer as well as a revelation to our visiting vegan friend from Sweden, the founding co-chair of the International High End Perverts Society (also the photographer, gratzi). Oreos, as it turns out, are vegan. And vanilla pancake batter, made with almond milk and egg replacer, fries up real nice.
the drag artist manned the fry pot in an old tourist’s souvenir “California” apron. the Texas fairy orchestrated a pile of golden okra nuggets that filled my great grandmothers punch bowl. reshma sprawled at the table—like Alice big from the Drink Me bottle in our kitchen too tiny for all her graceful limbs—dredging pickles with the enthusiasm only possible from a far-from-home Midwesterner with State Fairs in her heart.
fry me to the moon
This is what we fried:
vegan corn fritters
okra
breaded fresh mozzarella rounds
hallumi cubes tossed in flour & cornmeal
potato fritters with broccoli rabe and spinach
pickles
feta stuffed green olives
marinated artichokes
sprigs of flowering broccoli rabe
whole garlic cloves
morning star faux sausage
pineapple
oreos
mini-snickers bars
ring dings
fudge
in our orgiastic feasting, we surpassed ourselves before managing to fry up our marshmallows, cinnamon roll dough in a tube, and frozen butter slices. You can also fry beer, but we drank all ours.
vol au vent mushrooms
25 Feb 2010 4 Comments
in cheese, garlic, mushrooms, recipes, vegetarian Tags: antipasti, Brooklyn, casserole, cooking, dinner, garlic, italian cooking, marcella hazan, moscato d'asti, mushrooms, parmesan, paul stamet
vol-au-vent: a large shell of light, flaky pastry for filling with vegetable, fish, or meat mixtures.
origin: 1820–30; < F: lit., flight on the wind
marcella hazan writes that mushrooms are nature’s own vol au vent.
begging to be filled and bedded and baked together.
these are not flaky bottoms, no, but succulent and earthy with notes of ancient witchiness.
for our most recent feast, i translated this nonna di cucina’s cappelle di funghi ripiene recipe for the radical muffin kitchen. so I omitted the pancetta and anchovies, but I did add the egg, which I think binds the whole thing together and is hazan’s best advice. i also left out the parsley, only because i forgot, and it wasn’t missed.
with just a dry towel, we wiped off about two dozen mushrooms, a mix of cremini and shitake, then chose those with the deepest, sturdiest hollows for stuffing. Any casserole of an accommodating size will work, and we had a wonderful piece: a round shallow, terra cotta casserole with a glazed interior and raw exterior. Sweep your casserole with olive oil and nestle the mushrooms in side by side, touching but not over lapping. You won’t use so many mushrooms – i think a baker’s dozen fit in our pan- so save some for the filling and some for something else wonderful. Unless, of course, you have a huge pan then double the recipe for the filling and have a grand fete…
mince half a red onion and begin sautéing it in a hot fry pan with melted butter, about 4 tablespoons. Use 1/3 cup olive oil if you want less dairy fat. Mince and add 4 or 5 mushroom heads and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. Salt a bit; pepper a bit. Find your zen. When the onions are translucent turn off the heat and add several stripped stems of thyme.
in a bowl, mix together ¼ cup each ricotta cheese, shredded parmesan and bread crumbs. Add a beaten egg then the cooled onion/mushroom mixture along with several shredded leaves of basil. Pack each of the mushroom heads generously with the cheese mixture.
in a smaller bowl, mix about ¼ each of bread crumbs, shredded parmesan, and chopped and whole pine nuts. Sprinkle this over the stuffed shrooms. Dash with paprika if you like. Bake at 375° for half an hour or until the top is beautifully crusted and golden. Partway through baking, it is lovely to splash a little moscato in the pan if you are drinking it anyway. Turn the pan at least once for good measure. Serve to friends just out of the oven or throughout dinner; they sit fairly well.
manga manga!
white beans italiana
11 Feb 2010 1 Comment
in beans & lentils, garlic, recipes, vegan, vegetarian Tags: cooking, family, italian cooking, radical muffins love good food
dear maria,
sorry for the delay in sending the recipe, but I needed to experiment to see how I make white beans. I made herbed white beans with roasted garlic, and I think it will work for you:
Dried beans generally double in size when you soak and cook them, so three cups dried will come out about 6 cups cooked and that is probably a good amount for a family dinner leaving some for the next day (hooray!). I used and favor dried cannellini beans, white kidney beans, one of the beans common to Italian cooking, but this will work with any white bean, like navy beans, too.
Bring a big stockpot of water to a boil, turn off the heat and leave your dried beans for an hour to soak. Drain the soaked beans and bring a fresh pot of water to a boil, about double the amount of water to beans. Peel a few cloves of garlic and quarter a small onion; add these to the boiling water. Add a few stalks of rosemary, thyme or both as well. Add your beans, cover the pot and bring it back to a boil. Salt and pepper the water and give it all a good stirring. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for half an hour and check the beans for tenderness. They may need to cook for up to half an hour more.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400° and strip off the papery outermost layers of three heads of garlic. Slice off the tough, root end. Coat with olive oil and bundle in foil. Stick them in the oven and roast, turning occasionally, for half an hour. Let cool on top of the stove or out of the way until cool to handle.
Drain the cooked beans and dump into a big serving bowl, picking out the onion, garlic and herb stems. Chop a few tablespoons of fresh thyme or rosemary or both and stir them in. Pop the roasted garlic from their skins and stir them in. Drizzle with rosemary, sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir. Drizzle again with olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and serve with grated paramesean cheese.
Good hot or room temperature or reheated, so this is a fine dish for making in advance and sitting for a long time at the table.
fried mashed potatoes
20 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in apples, garlic, greens, potatoes, recipes, vegetarian Tags: autumn, butter, cast iron, cooking, fried food, herbs, mashed potatoes, recipes
put a large pot of water on to boil. scrub 6 small potatoes; I like the red ones. Quarter them and plop them into the water at a rolling boil. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until soft. Drain and return to the pot if your pot can stand the up-coming beating or dump into a heavy bowl.
add three tablespoons of butter to the potatoes. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and pepper and herbs; pick about 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme if you have it, but this round I just used dried thyme and basil, about a teaspoon each. Drizzle with about a ¼ cup of heavy cream. Using one of the most fabulous inventions of all time—the hand potato masher—mash mash mash. Save a few lumps for texture, having left the skins on helps some bits hold together (plus – pretty!).
shred about ½ a cup of hard cheese like parmesan or gruyere would be nice; we had some schmany delectable cheese I cannot remember the name of now. Beat an egg or, to be really decadent, an egg plus one yolk. Stir in half the egg and most of the cheese, just saving some for decorative pre-table topping, into the potatoes with a wooden spoon. Set aside the egg in a shallow bowl and whisk in a little cream. In another shallow bowl, spread panko flakes or bread crumbs.
heat a cast iron skillet or your heaviest, if you are not blessed with cast iron, which should acquire as soon as possible. Add a bit of olive oil or butter or a nice half’n’half mix of the two.
form the potato mash into patties, dredge quickly in the egg/cream, press a few sage leaves into it – or one big dramatic one- then press the patty in the breading, flip and press the other side. Fry. A few minutes on each side, going for golden brown. Transfer to a toweled plate to rest and drain excess oil.
you can fry two or three potato patties at a time, just be sure not to crowd the skillet. Dredge out any escaped bits of breading before they burn and taint your oil. This does not have to be a deep fry job; using just enough oil for things not to stick creates plenty of golden fried goodness to satisfy.
these are freaking amazing. I cannot imagine what they would not be good with, but here are some ideas: oniony, garlicky sautéd greens like kale or collards; veggie sausage (which I like to pepper a lot and eat with maple syrup) and a fried egg; red lentils with plain yoghurt and hot pepper sauce; fried apples’n’onions…oh, yes- with sour cream. I love fall.
quick curried peanut sauce for many veggies
03 Jan 2008 Leave a Comment
in artichoke, broccoli, eggplant, garlic, poems, potatoes, recipes, string beans, vegan, vegetarian Tags: cooking, cooking for one, curry, peanut butter, sauce, weeknight dinner
chop one medium yellow sweet onion, and smash, peel, and mince a few cloves of garlic. Peel and mince a half inch of fresh ginger.
sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the ginger along with a teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir in about three teaspoons of sesame oil and three tablespoons of Braggs or tamari sauce.
glop in a cup of peanut butter, and whisk in boiling hot water in a thin stream to bring the mixture to a saucey consistency.
prepare the veggies of your choice: fairy tale eggplant sliced in half and roasted; purple potatoes halved, par boiled and fried; steamed baby artichokes; bell pepper and broccoli sauté; string beans. What’s in season?
doctored-up tomato soup (for jay)
27 Feb 2007 1 Comment
in garlic, onion, recipes, soup, vegan Tags: cooking for one, paprika, simple cooking
ingredients
tomato soup – either one box (typically 32 fluid ounces or 1 quart), which does not need water added, or one can of condensed soup (15 fluid ounces), which will need a can of water stirred into it
½ an onion – red or yellow; save the other half for something else
2 cloves of garlic – a bulb is the whole little head you buy; the cloves are the fingers of the garlic fist
paprika – spice
olive oil
Peel and chop the onion. To do this, slice off the scraggly top and the bottom. Sit your onion on one of these flat ends on the cutting board and slice it down the center so you have two halves. Peel off the papery outer layer. Lay each half flat on the cutting board and slice the onion into ribbons then turn the onion half and cut across your slices to make cubes. If you cut the slices very thin, you can just use those and not cut again. That makes for a pretty soup.
Peel and mince the garlic. To do this, rub the outermost papery layer off your garlic bulb. Pull off two cloves (more if you want it really garlicky). Smash the garlic still in its skin under the flat side of your knife. The skin will rumple and be easy to peel right off. Cut off the dry stem end and then chop the garlic finely.
On the stove top, heat a little olive oil (about 2 teaspoons) in a pot over a medium flame. Add about 2 teaspoons of paprika, the garlic and the onion. Stirring every few minutes, cook until the onions are translucent about 10 minutes. Careful about how high the heat is – you don’t want the garlic to brown.
Add the soup, the box or the can & water. Stir, heat and eat!
Of course, this recipe is just an idea. You don’t have to have paprika, right? Leave it out or try other spices or herbs like dried oregano. There are lots of good ways to make simple soup more exciting and use it as a vehicle for more veggies! Try adding spinach, a can of chick peas, or left over broccoli from another dinner.
