Roasted Tomato Salsa

Roasted tomato salsa is a nice variation on your garden variety fresh salsas that are so popular this time of year.  Roasting the tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños over a hot grill creates a deeply flavored and smoky salsa.  One thing to really watch out for in this recipe is that the jalapeños seem to get pretty darn hot.  Perhaps it is because they do not get seeded before being put in the salsa.  Whatever it is, if you are sensitive to heat, perhaps you want to use ½ or even ¼ of the amount of jalapeño called for in the recipe.  The other bit of advice I have is to use a really hot grill.  The idea of roasting vegetables for this salsa is really not quite accurate.  It is more like searing or charring even.  The goal is to obtain that smoky flavor from the grill without cooking the vegetables all the way through.  After all, we want to keep at least some of the fresh vegetable flavor in the salsa.  So, a hot fire is an important part of the recipe to get a nice, deep, and quick sear on the vegetables before they cook through.  As you can see from the pictures, my fire was not quite hot enough and I didn’t get enough of a sear.  Oh well, maybe I’ll have to just use my charcoal chimney as my grill next time. 

Here are the tomatoes I used in the salsa:

Here are the vegetables after they’ve been cooked:

Here’s the final product:

Roasted Tomato Salsa

1 lb tomatoes, lightly covered with vegetable oil

½ red onion, lightly covered with vegetable oil

1 jalapeño, lightly covered with vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lime

½ cup cilantro

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp chili powder

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Prepare a very hot grill.  Grill vegetables on all sides until charred.  It is not necessary to cook the vegetables all the way through; all that is required is a nice char on the outside.  Remove from the grill immediately when done.  In a bowl of a food processor, place the garlic, cilantro, red onion, and jalapeño.  Pulse a few times.  Then add the tomatoes, lime juice, chili powder, and a good deal of Kosher salt and pepper.  Process just until a fairly consistent consistency is reached.  A few larger chunks here and there are fine.  Taste and adjust any seasoning.  The salsa can be served then but it will be better if it is chilled. 

Hummus

Hummus just might be my favorite party appetizer.  It is a lemony, smooth, rich, and complex dish of chickpeas (or garbanzo beans if you like), lemon juice, tahini, and olive oil.  With a food processor, it is a snap to make.  Serve it with tortilla chips or even better, grilled pita bread and crudité.  Of course, with simple dishes like this, good ingredients matter.  So use the best ingredients you can find with the exception of the olive oil.  No real need to use extra great extra-virgin olive oil here, the dish just isn’t that delicate.  Thanks to Mark Bittman for his recipe for hummus from which I have borrowed heavily.

Hummus

1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, with liquid

1/2 cup tahini

1 lemon, juiced

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.  If the mixture looks thick, add some water until it is a smooth and somewhat loose consistency.  Remember, this is supposed to be a dip.  Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.  Serve.

Here’s what my hummus looked like.  The garnishes are a cilantro sprig and some chili powder. 

Dinner at Broder’s

As part of any trip to the Twin Cities, I make it a point to go to Broder’s Pasta Bar.  Nestled near the St. Louis Park neighborhood, it is a culinary marvel with exceptional food and equally exceptional prices.  Everything there is as close to flawless as you could wish, which explains why there was over an hour wait to get a table at 6:00 on a rainy Sunday night. 

Broders is decorated as a trattoria with warm, bright, earthy colors.  It is rather small with a very nice bar that takes up the entire middle of the dining room.  Yet, one does not feel crowded (even if you seat five at at a table for four like we did).  Instead, it just feels right.  The service is impeccable and knowledgeable with just the right level of obtrusiveness.  We (being myself, Briget and Paul, and Becky and Sebastian) started with a very nice Sangiovese wine:

It was quite good with a bold fruity flavors and a lingering finish on the palate.  It was a nice compliment to the meal if maybe just a little aggressive for some of the dishes.  But the dishes were impeccable.  For starters, we ordered clams in tomato sauce, crostini with either a roasted eggplant mascarpone spread or a sun-dried tomatoes and smoked mozzarella, and crimini mushrooms and fennel with fresh thyme.  All were excellent.  Particularly outstanding, however, were the crimini mushrooms.  They were irresistably earthy (a sense that was heightened by the thyme) and perfectly marinated in a concotion of olive oil and vinegar.  It was incredibly good.  Here’s a picture:

And then the entrees came out.  I chose their freshly made fettucine with boar and fennel braised in milk.  This is what it looked like:

The boar was incredibly tender and flavorful.  It tasted like pork, of course, but it seemed to be more like pork than regular pork, if you catch my meaning.  It paired beautifully with the al dente pasta and a light, light milk sauce that had hints of tomato, garlic and onion, I think.  The fennel added a pungent sweetness to the dish.  It was tremendously good and at $12.95, it was an unbelievable bargain.  If I lived in the Twin Cities, I’d be at this place every week.  It’s that good.  Needless to say, all of my dinner companions loved their dishes as well.  We all shared a taste of each other’s dishes and what a diversity of excellence.  Each was good but particularly good was tagliarini tossed with proscuitto, truffle presto, and cream.  It was like a dreamy macaroni and cheese.  Rich, satisfying, and sophisticated.  Unbelievably good.

Dessert was also a treat.  We ordered Tiramisu.  It is not the hot dessert as it once was but after ordering it last night, I might have to go back to eating it on a regular basis because it was so, so good.  This is our half-eaten piece:

The mascarpone cheese was ethereally light and creamy that was paired brilliantly with perfect espresso and delicious tender ladyfingers.  It was rich and light, creamy and substantial, and sweet and sophisticated all at once.  Most likely, the best Tiramisu I’ve ever eaten. 

Obviously, I liked this place.  I can’t recommend it enough.  My only advice is to call ahead before you go.  They do no accept reservations but will place your name on a list if you call ahead.  Do yourself a favor and experience this restaurant, you won’t be disappointed. 

UPDATED:  Dara Moscowitz from the City Page in the Twin Cities has written a glowing review of Broder’s Pasta Bar.  You can read it here. 

Santana’s Gem

I was lucky enough to be at the Metrodome yesterday to see the Twin’s ace, Johan Santana pitch against the Texas Rangers.  Here’s a picture of Johan warming up:

He then put on a show.  He only gave up two hits over eight innings (both by Sammy Sosa) and no earned runs.  What is even more remarkable is that he struck out 17 batters in the course of the game.  That is a new Twins record and three shy of the major league record of 20 strikeouts (held by Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood).  Here’s a picture of him getting ready for a pitch:

The crowd was incredible and was cheering every pitch.  Fans just don’t see that kind of dominance very often.  He struck out five of the first six batters and struck out his last six.  Even more amazing was the fact that out of 113 pitches, only four were sliders.  Otherwise, he dominated a lineup with a fastball and a changeup.  It was a beautiful thing to see.  Here’s a picture of his “K’s”.

I feel so lucky to have been able to attend the game-the only game I will attend all year long.  Now if the Twins could just start to hit. . .

Katelyn’s Chocolate Tart

Sorry I don’t have the recipe for this but Katelyn brought a chocolate tart that was delicious and so attractively garnished.  Here’s a picture: 

Nice, huh?  It had a great, deep chocolate flavor and a zingy crust.  The texture of the filling was perfectly creamy with enough bite to please anyone.  Very well done. 

Coconut-Lime Shrimp over Black Bean Cakes

For our entree, I created a fusion dish of Mexican and Asian flavors.  Here are the three recipes:

Black Bean Cakes with Spicy Cilantro Sauce, courtesy of Sara Moulton on Foodtv.com here. 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 2/3 cups cooked black beans

2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped fine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup yellow cornmeal

Vegetable oil, for frying

Spicy Cilantro Sauce, recipe follows

Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.  In a bowl, mash 1/3 of the beans with a fork and stir in the remaining beans, onion mixture, bread crumbs, and cilantro and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the eggs.  Form bean mixture into 8 (4-inch) patties (mixture will be wet and soft.).  Gently dredge patties in cornmeal and transfer to a large plate lined with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the cakes for 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.  Pour enough oil into a heavy skillet to reach 1/4-inch up the side.  Heat the oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking.  Working in batches, cook the patties, turning once, until well browned, about 1 1/2 minutes per side.  Transfer the cakes to paper towels to drain.

Divide the cakes among plates and serve with the sauce.

 

Spicy Cilantro Sauce

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 jalapeno chile, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Stir together cilantro, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, and chile.  Season with salt and pepper.

 

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fish sauce (nam pla)

2 teaspoons golden brown sugar

20 large shrimp, about 1 pound, peeled, deveined.

Blend first 8 ingredients in processor until almost smooth.  Transfer marinade to 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish.  Add shrimp and turn to coat.  Cover and refrigerate 2 hours, turning occasionally.

 

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).  Thread 5 shrimp onto each of 4 skewers.  Grill until just cooked through, basting with marinade, about 2 minutes per side.

 

The combination of these recipes was very tasty.  What made it especially good was the Spicy Cilantro Sauce.  It just sang on the plate with the acidity from the lime juice and soy sauce.  Paired with cilantro, garlic, and just a little heat, it provided a definite “wow” factor on the plate.  I can see using this recipe over virtually any grilled meat.  As for this application, it definitely picked up the flavor of the black bean cakes, which would have been a little bland on their own.  Although, the cornmeal crust turned out wondefully crispy.  The shrimp was flavorful but, due to my failure to have skewers around, were not quite cooked to perfection.  I probably undercooked a little bit in my haste to make sure they didn’t overcook and they were just a tad bit gummy.  However, the lime and coconut flavors were a natural complement to the sweet flavor of the shrimp.  All in all, it was a fairly successful dish.  Here’s a picture:

ADDED:  A picture of a subsequent attempt at this recipe (with a few modifications) can be found here. 

ADDED:  More pictures of plating can be found here.  Also, Katelyn came up with the great idea of making smaller black bean cakes.  Not only did were they easier to handle, the surface to mass ratio increased do the cakes were actually crispier on the whole, which made this dish even yummier. 

 

Coconut-Lime Shrimp, via Epicurious here. 

Gazpacho

Dinner was a very nice affair last night with my friends Katelyn and Craig.  Katelyn was kind enough to make Gazpacho with a bevy of farm fresh vegetables.  I made Black Bean Cakes with Coconut-Lime Shrimp.  And then Katelyn served a wonderful chocolate tart.  Everything was delicious.  Let’s start with the Gazpacho:

Gazpacho

3 cups chopped tomato

1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup celery, coarsely chopped

1/2 T olive oil

1/2 T horseradish

1/2 T balsamic vinegar

1/2 T rice vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cups vegetable or tomato juice

1 clove garlic minced

Nonfat plain yogurt

Cilantro, chopped

Avocado, chopped

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the yogurt, cilantro, and avocado.  Garnish as you like with the remaining ingredients. 

Gazpacho is an essence of summer dish that highlights great tomatoes at their peak.  Their incomparable sweet and complex flavor is complemented in this dish with crunchy bell peppers, sweet onion, and celery.  This base of flavors and textures is then heightened with some heat in the form of horseradish as well as some acidity in the form of rice and balsamic vinegar.  The garnishes added some great flavor as well as some visual appeal.  Not only is this dish absolutely delicious, it is incomparably healthy.  Note the almost total lack of fat in the dish (aside from the avocadoes).  I also really liked that all of the vegetables retained their individual character.  Some gazpachos are processed in a food process which does produce a more uniform texture but at the sacrifice of some individuality of the ingredients.  Not so in this recipe, each vegetable remains distinct and lends its individuality to the dish while still playing its part in the dish.  Here’s a picture:

Super Flank Steak

This recipe just might be my new favorite recipe.  It comes from “How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques” by Steve Raichlen.  It is a flank steak marinated in a mixture of ginger, garlic, red onion, red wine, soy sauce, cilantro, olive oil, and pepper.  It is an amazing flavor combination; the meat was as full-flavored as any I have ever had.  And when cut correctly, it is as tender as filet mignon.  It is truly a great recipe and is highly recommended.  Here’s the recipe with some pictures:

Super Flank Steak

2 inch piece of ginger, very coarsely chopped

1/2 red onion, very coarsely chopped

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp pepper

1 1.5 to 1.75 lb flank steak

Place all ingredients except the flank steak in a food processor.  Process until a smooth, loose mixture forms.  Place the mixture and the flank steak in a gallon-sized plastic bag.  Rub the steak in the bag to ensure even application of the marinade.  Stick in the fridge for at least an hour and up to four. 

Prepare a very hot grill.  Remove the meat from marinade and grill on both sides until cooked to your temperature preference although, it shouldn’t really be cooked to anything more than medium-rare.  Flank steak is a little tough so cooking it to medium or more will make it less tender on the plate.

Take the flank steak off the grill and cover it with foil for about 3 minutes.  Then, and this is of the utmost importance, cut it thinly across the grain.  If you do not do this, you will have a really chewy piece of meat and no one will like it!  Serve immediately.

This is a picture of the flank steak on the grill:

 

This is the flank steak on the plate:

One last note:  The steak came from Meats by John and Wayne, my favorite butcher. 

Enjoy!

Chilaquiles

I love to make scrambled eggs with mexican spices and tortilla chips.  I like to call it chilaquile even if this is probably a misnomer.  (See the article about chilaquiles on Wikipedia.)  Here’s what I did:

Tony’s Misnamed Chilaquiles

3 eggs

1/8 cup milk

1/2 cup onion, 1/4″ dice

1 medium tomato, 1/4″ dice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 T cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups tortilla chips (smaller, broken chips are great for this recipe)

 Salsa of your choice for topping

Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until browned.  Throw in the tomato, cumin, and chili powder along with some kosher salt and pepper.  Cook for about a minute.  Mix the eggs and milk in a small bowl with a whisk and then add to the pan.  Cook, stirring occassionally until they are just about halfway cooked through.  Now, add 1/2 of the tortilla chips, the cilantro, and cheese.  Stir in and finish cooking the eggs.  To serve, divide the remaining chips between two plates and place 1/2 of the egg mixture over both.  Top with salsa.  Serve immediately.

Of course, this dish is ripe for improvisation.  Vary the cheese, spices, salsa, and the vegetables.  I luckily got to use corn and black bean salsa.  Here’s what mine looked like:

Homemade Hot Sauce

I made homemade hot sauce this weekend.  I had quite a few hot peppers in my garden and I thought that this would be an excellent way to use them.  Here’a a picture of the peppers I used:

I’ve been thinking about making homemade hot sauce ever since this post.  It was well worth the effort.  The sauce is plenty spicy but it has so much more flavor that any other commercial hot sauce I’ve had.  The garlic and red wine vinegar in the recipe are particularly good as is the flavor of the cilantro.  The flavors literally explode in your mouth.  I can’t wait to top a taco with it sometime this week or even just dip some tortilla chips in it.  Here’s the recipe (courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor in this article):

Homemade Hot Sauce 

5 chili peppers of your choice (see story on ‘heat’ below): jalapeño, habanero, Scotch bonnet, or some other, deseeded (wear rubber gloves) and chopped

3 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, or more to taste (optional)

1/2 cup good-quality, red wine vinegar

Juice of one lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients in a food processor and process until liquefied. Transfer mixture to saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool and then put sauce into sterilized glass containers.

Yield: about 2 cups.

Sauce will keep for several weeks in refrigerator.

Here’s what it looks like: