Monthly Archives: August 2011

Meatless Monday: Campanelle with Perilla Pesto and Summer Vegetables

This summer, I’ve managed to target every backyard garden belonging to friends and family to source the freshest seasonal ingredients for my home cooking. The perilla leaves for this recipe came from my mother’s backyard garden where she’s been growing them for at least a decade now. Sometimes green, and sometimes purple, perilla leaves tend to resemble the stinging nettle leaf.
Widely available in Asian markets, perilla leaves are a staple ingredient in South Korean and Japanese cooking — the Japanese call theirs shiso, while the Koreans call their deulkkae. Using the flavorful herb, I put together a bright and beautiful pasta dish for late summer.

Recipe: Rina Oh
Campanelle with Perilla Pesto and Seasonal Summer Vegetables
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
1 pound campanelle pasta, cooked as per package directions
1 cup perilla leaves, blanched in boiling water
3 cloves raw garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup toasted walnuts
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 Hungarian peppers, sliced
2 medium size tomatoes
½ cup fresh perilla leaves

Directions
In a blender, pulse cooked perilla leaves with garlic and walnuts. Drizzle in olive oil slowly until pesto is fully blended for about two minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.

Next, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet. Add shallots, peppers, tomatoes and fresh perilla leaves. Saute for two minutes stirring continuously until perilla is tender.

Stir in cooked pasta and pesto sauce.

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Meatless Monday: Corn Soup with Spiced Olive Oil Grissini

Bread-making can be intimating — there’s no doubt. Worries about yeast failing to rise or bread coming out of the oven too hard have confronted even the most confident of cooks. The secret is easing your way in. 

Rather than stumbling over more complicated fare, try an easy grissini bread stick as your first attempt at home baked bread. This bread recipe can be used as a base for any variety: add your favorite spices or grated cheese, and you’ll already be on your way to mastering the art of baking breadsticks. I spiced mine up with hot pepper flakes and loads of fresh ground pepper, the perfect complements to my simple, summery corn soup. 

Recipe: Rina Oh

Corn Soup with Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
Yields 6 servings

Ingredients:
Corn Soup
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white parts only chopped
1 medium white onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6-8 cups water
4 corn ears, kernels removed and core kept aside
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper to taste

Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
1 package of dry active yeast (about 11 grams)
1/2 cup Luke warm water
Pinch of sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dry red pepper flakes
Pinch of paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:
Corn Soup
1. In a large saucepot, combine olive oil with onions, leeks, celery and garlic, and cook at a simmer for about ten minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

2. Add water, corn, the leftover core and potatoes. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Allow soup to cook for about 45 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Remove core and pulse soup in a blender for about a minute in several batches.

Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
1. Combine yeast, water and pinch of sugar. Allow yeast to rise until it doubles in size, or about 30 minutes uncovered in a warm area.

2. Combine teaspoon of salt, flour, olive oil and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. Knead gently for about a minute, or until dough forms slightly. Add pepper flakes, paprika and fresh ground pepper, and continue kneading gently for another minute.

3. Place a tablespoon of olive oil inside a clean mixing bowl. Place dough inside and let sit for about an hour covered in a warm area with a towel or plastic wrap.

4. In three or four batches, roll dough into elongated strips and then cut into 5 inch pieces with a pastry cutter or butter knife. Roll strips into braids, and form into desired shapes.

5. Place strips of grissini dough on baking sheets lined with cornmeal. Spray cooking spray lightly over the strips, and sprinkle with kosher salt. (You can add more spices to top the crust with more flavor!)

6. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes, Soups

Heirloom Tomato Hunt in Montvale

At $2.49/pound at De Piero's Country Farm

I went on a little hunt for heirloom tomatoes this afternoon. Given the green light to shop to my heart’s content for the best heirloom tomato varieties, I felt like someone handed over a black Amex card. But I don’t own one and do I wish I did! I ventured out to De Piero’s farm, a local family owned business and got a chance to meet the old man himself.

And I thought I had enough fun with the heirloom tomato hunt...

I found some gems and at a bargain price for $2.49/pound for some of the rare purple-green varieties and small bushels of red ones for $3.99/2 quarts. I was in foodie heaven for a few moments. Even swiping my credit card at the end of my tomato hunt didn’t bother me. I had a new sense of feeling high- like a food clepto being fed my daily drug. Alas! I found a local farmer’s market that’s only five minutes away where they carry everything from zucchini flowers to heirloom tomatoes. The purple potatoes looked fascinating too. I thought I should leave some of the shopping for future visits here, hopefully when someone else is paying for me to shop and cook up a storm! I just want to lay next to all the heirloom tomatoes and inhale their succulent summer aroma before giving them away.

De Piero’s Country Farm   300 West Grand Avenue, Montvale, NJ 07645   Tel: (201) 391-4576

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Meatless Monday: White Eggplant Quiche

I recently visited the family owned Weed Orchards in Marlborough, NY where I picked an array of local, seasonal vegetables, and discovered the amazing white eggplant. I decided to make them for myself and a few friends – if they managed to stop by before I ate it all, that is! Luckily for those who live in my neighborhood, I made sure they got a chance to taste this amazing and almost seedless version of the classic purple vegetable.

Milder, less bitter and a tad sweeter, white eggplant cooks up beautifully in quiche. If you don’t have the homebody bug like me and want to skip the batter and dough, don’t worry! A store bought pie dough will suffice your adventure!

Recipe: Rina Oh

White Eggplant Quiche

Quiche dough 
Yields 1 10″ x 2″ quiche or 3 4″ x 2″ round quiches

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
4 ounces of butter cubed
1 egg, beaten or 3 tablespoons of ice cold water
1 tablespoons of ice cold water
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour with pinch of salt and sugar and place on a flat surface. Place cubed butter on top of flour and cut through using a pastry scraper until flour reaches a crumb like consistency.

Make a well in center and add egg and fold in dough. Gently knead dough for about a minute. Add the tablespoon of water at this point if the dough is too dry and cracks.

Form dough into a round shape and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, grease three 4″ springform pans with butter and line with parchment paper. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until dough is about 1/8″ thick.

Place dough into pans and blind bake with beans for about 15 minutes, remove beans and dock (poke with fork on bottom). Continue baking dough without beans for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, place on cooling racks and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Eggplant filling & quiche custard
Yields 1 10″ x 2″ quiche and some left over for healthy snacking

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ cup cream
3 white eggplant, evenly sliced thin
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

On the stovetop, place olive oil in a medium size skillet and allow pan to get hot on high heat.

Add eggplant slices, about ½ cup and saute for a about a minute on each side. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook eggplant in batches for best results.

Combine eggs with yolk and cream in a mixing bowl and whisk together for about a minute.

Place eggplant into baked quiche crust and pour in the custard mixture. Bake at 300 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

Remove from heat and place on a cooling rack for an additional hour.


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Meatless Monday: Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Summer Vegetables

Corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and arugula are all local seasonal ingredients widely available at just about every market in town during the hot summer months. I made this dish for a light, summery lunch, but bring it out onto a metropolis rooftop along with a few bottles of pinot grigio and close friends and now you’re talking.

I happened to stumble upon a few family gardens this weekend and found these beautiful zucchini flowers. Rare and extremely fragile, I knew I had to take advantage of the gorgeous summer veggie and its unique flavor.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Stuffed Zucchini Flower with Summer Vegetables

Ingredients
4-6 zucchini flowers
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
2 cups cooked corn kernels
1 cup arugula
1 cup baby Roma tomatoes, quatered
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Place about a tablespoon of ricotta cheese into zucchini flowers, season with salt and pepper and lightly coat in flour. In the meantime bring frying oil to a temperature of about 350 degrees in a medium-size skillet.

Fry zucchini flowers for about 1-2 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

In a medium-size skillet, heat olive oil on medium to high heat and saute corn kernels for about 2-3 minutes. Add arugula and toss until they are wilted, or approximately another 3 minutes.

Stir in roma tomatoes and lightly toss in the vegetable mixture for a minute or two. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

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Meatless Monday: Supergreen Pesto Hummus Pumpernickel Crostinis

In the warmer months, pesto reigns king among spreads and sauces. Light and fresh, an almond and parsley-studded smear is ideal for imbuing bright notes of deliciously herby flavor. Spruce it up with a bit of creamy chickpea hummus though, and you’ll be spooning mouthfuls straight from the jar.

Great as an appetizer or afternoon snack, but even better when brought along for a picnic in the park, pesto hummus is a wonderful condiment to keep around. I spread it over pumpernickle toast, and then topped it with diced mango. As beautiful as the teeny squares looked, I couldn’t help but devour them one after another, not when they were that delicious.

Here’s a quick and easy mid summer snack you can shake up and serve as a hipster alternate to your every day hummus. Pesto meets the traditional hummus. It’s tasty, healthy and fun to serve at a cocktail party to kick off and cool off that summer heat. Here’s the supergreen hummus recipe below!

Recipe: Rina Oh

Supergreen Pesto Hummus

Ingredients

1 pound arugula, blanched and drained

2 cups gazpachio beans cooked and drained

3 garlic cloves, blanched

juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons tahini sauce

2 tablespoons parsley

½ cup almonds

½ teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

1 cup olive oil

8 ounces pumpernickel bread

1 mango, diced

Directions

In a food processor or blender, combine arugula, beans, garlic, lemon juice, tahini sauce, parsley with almonds and pulse for about a minute. Slowly add olive oil on low speed until desired consistency is achieved. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the arugula hummus over pumpernickel bread and top with a few pieces of diced mango.

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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes