Scrumptious Street

Meyer Lemon Fresh Linguine

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently found some fantastic Meyer Lemons from a local orchard here in Northern California.  They've been endlessly inspiring, as well as delicious, and I fear that I've acquired a new food-addiction.  The lemons flavor is so wonderfully bright and sweet-tart that I'm using them all over the place.  This dish I created showcases their best flavors and textures in one healthy meal.  It's my "Meyer Lemon Fresh Linguine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Wild Mushrooms."

Last year, I did a post on my first-ever homemade pasta.  It was great, but I have to admit that this time surpassed my first round.  I've gotten better at forming, kneading and rolling out the dough so that this pasta was toothsome but so very delicate.  The Meyer Lemon add incredible depth and freshness; if it weren't so much work I'd make it once a week.  Alas, this is one dish that is honestly TRULY worth the effort.  For the pasta dough, I again used Mario Battali's recipe and added the Meyer Lemon Zest straight to the eggs in the well before mixing into the dough.  It worked perfectly.  The dough was very supple this time so I think I also got better with my hand-mixing and kneading.  My goal on the condiment for the pasta was to show-off the Meyer Lemon and pull in flavors that were still "Winter" in heartiness but light enough to not completely cloak the taste of the lemon.  I definitely succeeded!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6 depending on portion size (about 1 1/2 lb. dough)

For the dough:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
5 eggs
2 Meyer Lemons,  zested

Remaining ingredients:

3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. anchovy paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, minced
1 small Italian hot long chili pepper in oil, minced
kosher salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
4 oz. wild mushrooms (I used beautiful oyster and black trumpet mushrooms)
Juice from 2 Meyer Lemons zested for pasta dough (about 4 T.)
1 T. pasta water reserved after cooking
1/4 c. Asiago Cheese, grated

Method:

1. Prepare the pasta dough completely per recipe and instructions from Chef Batali. This time, I did all the mixing and kneading by hand instead of my Kitchen Aid. I only used that to roll and cut the dough.  It worked great!

2. Bring a large pasta pot full of water to a boil and salt generously.  Do not add the pasta until the sauce is nearly done since the pasta will only take about 2 minutes to cook.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil.  When hot, add the anchovy paste to the pan and melt it gently.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes and red hot pepper.

4. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.  Saute until the garlic is light brown. Turn down the heat to low and add the mushrooms.  Sweat them about 2 minutes until they start to soften then turn heat back to medium-high and sauté  about 4-6 minutes more.

5. Gently put the linguine in the boiling water when the mushrooms are about 2 minutes from being done. When done, drain the pasta and add directly to the skillet and add 1 T. pasta water.

6. Pour or squeeze the Meyer Lemon juice over the pasta and condiments in the skillet and toss very gently with tongs.  Incorporate all ingredients.

7. Remove the skillet from heat and serve the linguine.  Garnish with Asiago cheese and eat immediately!

After the paste is made, this is really very simple to make.  It's also spectacular.  If you don't want to make your own pasta, there are plenty of fresh varieties in most gourmet stores.  Just make sure to go for fresh with this dish and look for one that has lemon or another bright flavor such as herbs.  Enjoy!

California Winter's Meyer Lemons

One of the greatest agricultural joys for me in Winter in the U.S. is Meyer Lemons.  Citrus are really at their peak here in the months of December through March and I've enjoyed that in my cooking for years.  Now, however, I'm positively thrilled because I am in the hotbed of California citrus!  One of my absolute favorites are these special hybrids that originated in China and are a cross between a lemon and a Mandarin Orange.  Their juice is still tart but much fuller and a little sweeter than common Eureka lemons.  The skins become a positively heavenly zest that is delicate and less pungent but still has a tangy tartness.

I recently discovered a wonderful Meyer Lemon orchard that is within a 20-minute drive from my home.  Lemon Ladies Orchard is a real gem, and Karen Morss, the Orchardess is absolutely delightful as well as being devoted to growing the highest quality Meyer Lemons I've ever seen.

She ships everywhere and supplies many of the Bay Area's finest restaurants with their stash.  A great note about her orchard -- each of the trees in named after a fabulous woman who has inspired or motivated her throughout the years and hand-painted tiles in each woman's name honor their place in her life.  Karen has been picking off the blossoms on the trees since she started in 2004 so they'd be strong, stable and lush.  This is her first year's full yield.  And, wow, are they stunning and delicious.

Stay tuned for my recipes based on these little golden treats and meanwhile, find some for yourself so you're ready to cook along with me!

Prickly-Pear Cactus Fruit Salad

Now there's something I never had in New York.  Prickly-pear cactus fruit.  It made a gorgeous and very delicious Sunday brunch fruit salad, when combined with some other fresh produce from the farmers at a stand within 20 minutes' drive.  California rocks:  it's November 11 and today I bought fresh strawberries that are still nearly as good or better than what I used to get during peak summer season in New York.  Oh, and we ate outside on our deck in 70-degree weather.  Yes.  On November 11.

As the most devoted of Scrumptious readers know, the last three months of my life have been fraught with change, rest, and misery.  It has taken a very, very long time to transport our lives cross-country and I have spared you the gory details, because, well, this is a cooking blog.  And, I have been so ensconced in turmoil and loss that I haven't done much cooking. There have been good moments, and a spectacular vacation, but for the most part moving has been a huge detriment to my cooking, for many reasons.  Well, dear readers, we are nearing the end of my hiatus.  This weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Scrumptious moved into a super-fantabulous-house with a to-die-for-kitchen and (GASP, ARE YOU READY?) A HOME-PROFESSIONAL STOVE.  The real deal.  The six-burner Viking with warming shelf and double-wide oven with three racks.  No, not the double-oven...that will only come when we move into a house in which I designed the kitchen! But, for a rental house, this is pretty friggin spectacular.

We only moved in this weekend, so I'm not really cooking on full burners yet as the house is still mostly in some state of unpacked and nicely organized.  Mr. Scrumptious did point out that the kitchen was the first to get attention.  Alas, he is right.  I claim it's due to wanting the movers to unpack everything and check for breakage and well, I needed to put things away as they unpacked to make room for the bazillion other boxes, right?!

So I apologize for not cooking and shooting and blogging some real cooking.  But, I'm not settled quite yet.  Only another few days and I should be rearing to go.  You have all been so patient, thank you! We're almost there.

Until then, the fruit salad was like this:

Ingredients
Serves 2

1 Prickly-pear cactus fruit, pink/magenta variety (I confess I have no idea what KIND of cactus)
8 ripe fresh strawberries
8 fresh green grapes
1 fresh Valencia orange, segmented
1 tsp. Bee Raw Star Thistle honey (this is still my favorite)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground cinnamon

Method:
1. Wash and clean all the fruit.  Peel the prickly-pear cactus fruit.  Chop into pieces but leave grapes whole.  Peel the orange with a knife and segment the supreme.  Remove all the pith. 

2. Place all the fruit in a bowl.  Squeeze the juice from the orange left-overs over the fruit.  Mix gently with your very clean hands.

3. Drizzle the honey over the fruit.  Sprinkle the cinnamon over the fruit and toss gently with a spoon.

4. Serve immediately and enjoy but beware the seeds of the prickly-pear.  They're quite robust.

Spring is Nearly in the Air!!

I can nearly feel it.  Oh, we're so close here in New York.  So close to Spring.  I don't yet have a plethora of farmer's market produce available, but I'm feeling it.   I can almost imagine the whiff of ramps and spring onions in the air.  So, I got impatient and wanted a salad that tasted like spring but is still made with traditional "in season" winter ingredients.  Can you blame me?  Here's is a gorgeous, light and very refreshing and almost-Spring "Arugula, Artichoke and Blood Orange Salad."

This technique of using citrus in salads is one of my favorite ways to remind me that spring is on the way when we're still in winter.  That's part of the beauty of the citrus growing season.  It helps get us through the dark months.  If you add citrus to anything, especially a raw salad, it just pops the flavors into life and makes a light, healthy and fresh dish. Try it, it'll get you through!!

Ingredients
Serves 4 as appetizer

1 large bunch arugula, washed
2 Roma tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
1 blood orange, half segmented and half for juice
freshly shaved parmesan to taste
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
half blood orange, juiced
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard

Method:
1. Wash and spin-dry arugula.  Chop tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

2. Cut the blood orange in half.  Peel the first half with a sharp knife, releasing only the segments and leaving all peel, pith and membranes out. 

3. Toss the arugula, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and blood oranges very gently in a large salad bowl.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, juice from the other half of the blood orange, mustard, salt and pepper.  Whisk this dressing until very smooth and incorporated.

5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad.  Shave parmesan with a vegetable peeler directly on the salad.  Serve immediately and enjoy.

Persimmon Chutney with Grilled Swordfish

Persimmons are a unique and interesting fruit, and usually in season this time of year.  When fully ripe, they are mild yet complex.  Their flavor reminds me of a mango with a softness which takes the tang down to a hint of banana and notes of honey.  There are a couple of varieties, and each have their own uses and attributes.  I found a beautiful oblong bright orange Hachiya persimmon and knew it would become my next adventure.  The Hachiya, in particular, must be eaten when really ripe since their unripe flesh is extremely astringent and will drain a mouth of all its saliva instantly. There's a great blog posting about it here, and apparently persimmons don't "ripen" but "blet".  Have patience with the Hachiya persimmon and wait until they are a vivid orange, with no green or yellow and when you pick them up they are very heavy and slightly squishy.  If it feels like a tomato you would throw away, and if you squeeze it and think of thick sludge then it's ready and will be delicious.  Most of the persimmons you find in the store are very immature and picked nearly green (even though they may still look orange) so just wait and let them get to this point before you eat them.  It may take 3-4 days on the countertop or nearly two weeks in the refrigerator.

I started with the persimmon and realized that it would need some tartness, sharpness and some tanginess to make it come alive.  As I worked through thoughts of puddings, desserts, cookies and salads, each concept left me unimpressed and wanting flavors that pop into awareness.  "Then, it's a chutney!" my mind shouted.  Indeed.  I paired the chutney with a beautiful grilled swordfish steak and fregola salad.  It was a robust and intensely flavored meal yet still very healthy and satisfying.

Here's the Persimmon Chutney recipe, which yields about 1 1/2 cups.

Ingredients:
1 ripe Hachiya Persimmon, blanched, peeled and chopped
1/3 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 Rome apple, peeled, cored, chopped (or any other sweet but firm apple)
1/4 c. golden raisins
1/4 c. sugar
1 valencia orange, cut in half to squeeze
1 tsp. minced candied ginger
1 tsp. orange zest
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
pinch ground cloves
1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

Method:
Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the persimmon for about 5 minutes, until the skin starts to wrinkle.  Remove the persimmon and let cool. Peel the persimmon by scraping the skin with the back of a knife, the peel should slide right off.  Chop the persimmon and set aside.

Combine all ingredients except persimmon into a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce the heat and let the mixture thicken until nearly all the juice is gone, about 25-30 minutes.  Add the persimmon and simmer until tender and the chutney has come together into a chunky mixture, breaking up any large pieces of apple or onion as you go.  Simmer about 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat and cool completely before serving.  Cover and refrigerate any extra.

I prepared the swordfish by marinating in extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, ground black pepper and orange zest.  I grilled about 8 minutes per side and served on a bed of greens with the persimmon chutney.  The sweet and tangy chutney was the perfect accent to the hearty, juicy and smoky fish.

Yellow Peach and Blueberry Ginger “Parfait”

I must confess a little secret to you… I don’t really do dessert. I know, that’s a very heinous statement to some people so let me clarify. More accurately, I almost never have dessert at the end of a meal. For someone who really loves to cook it’s nearly sacrilege but by the time I’ve finished cooking (or ordering from a menu) and have made my way through at least a dish or two (with a similar number of glasses of wine) I run out of room in that tummy of mine. So, I rarely order dessert at restaurants -- the exception is Jean Georges, where the desserts are divine, or Telepan, where an acquaintance of mine is the very talented pastry chef -- and rarely make desserts at home. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t like sweet things. I certainly indeed do! But, I prefer to have decadent Gâteau au Chocolat at say, 3:00 p.m. with a beautiful cappuccino to follow. Or, to have dessert INSTEAD OF dinner. I love ice cream and gelato. But, that’s not really a dessert – it’s a food group and inherent in good nutrition and frankly, cheap psychotherapy. I prefer some sweet things more than others and for me a little goes a very long way.

What’s always fun, then, is when I get an idea for a dessert that we won’t be too stuffed to eat and that’s experimental enough that it’s not boring to cook and that it’s still sweet enough not to disinterest Mr. Scrumptious. If I offer him “dessert” and it’s not at least somewhat sweet, I feel like I’ve pulled the old bait and switch on him.

In the continued glory of the New York local autumn produce, I created a delicious finish-the-meal course that was showered with approval at Scrumptious Street. The first two courses were soup and salad so dessert wasn’t a painful concept. I had a dear friend join us as an unbiased third party judge. Hands down, we all loved it, my Yellow Peach and Blueberry Ginger “Parfait” was a winner.

Here’s my recipe, Serves four:

Ingredients:

4 ripe yellow peaches, peeled and cut into medium dice

1 lemon, cut in half for juicing

1 tsp. fresh ginger, peeled and minced very finely

¾ cup fresh ripe blueberries

1/3 cup sugar

8 tsp. heavy cream (2 per serving)

Herbs for garnish (mint, tarragon, lemon verbena)

Method:

Wash fruit under light stream of water and lay out flat on paper towels or dishcloth to dry for at least 15 minutes. Don’t soak or run blueberries under heavy water or they will become soggy. Peel, core and dice peaches and put them in a small bowl. Squeeze juice of ½ the lemon over the peaches to keep them from turning brown. Toss lightly with your hands and set peaches aside.

In small saucepan, set heat to medium and when the pan is hot, add the ginger. Lightly cook the ginger 1-2 minutes until it becomes fragrant. Gently add the blueberries and mix lightly with a heat-proof rubber spatula. Throughout this step, try not to break or burst the blueberries. Add the sugar and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half and add to the pan. Cook on medium heat, lightly stirring with the spatula every 30 seconds, until the sugar dissolves completely and creates smooth simple syrup, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring a few times to help incorporate the flavors and juices. You should smell an incredible aroma at this point. When the syrup is rich, the berries look shiny, you can smell the ginger but the berries are still plump and whole; remove from heat. Transfer the berries to another bowl and let them cool for 15 minutes.

For each portion/serving: Use a slotted spoon to put in a layer of blueberries to a small dessert or cocktail glass. Follow with a layer of peaches. Next add a teaspoon of heavy cream. Follow with another layer of blueberries, another layer of peaches and another teaspoon of heavy cream. Repeat this process for each portion.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours. Remove and garnish with a sprig of mint, tarragon leaf or other bright green herb. Serve with vanilla ice cream or gelato.

The dessert is only a little sweet, so the produce must be very good, fresh and ripe to invoke the natural sweetness of the peaches that comes alive with the slightly tart blueberries and gorgeous deep ginger flavor. I made this in the morning so I could shoot the photo in good light and thus, it chilled all day. This absolutely intensified the already wonderful flavors and I recommend a good thorough chilling. When we ate at night we gasped and mmmm’ed and savored it. Halfway through, Mr. Scrumptious gently hinted “this would be even better with some vanilla ice cream”. Jumping up from the table eager to please, I fetched it and added a little dollop of vanilla bean ice cream. With that, the dessert was PERFECT. So, even though the photo doesn’t show it, I’d serve it again with the ice cream. You should too, if you make this!