Fun Playing With Ramps and Asian Goodies

This last weekend yielded a lot of great foods to play with. Spring has finally sprung, and we made tracks for the North Union Farmers' Market at Shaker Square. We acquired two lovely bunches of ramps, with the roots still intact. We set aside one bunch to plant, and the second to eat. We also got some lovely lettuces and eggs.

Since the season is still early, we allocated more time to the market than we needed to shop it and meet our friends for lunch at Wonton Gourmet. So, we headed to Asiatown, and did some produce shopping at Tink Holl Market. 

There were about a dozen different varieties of mint, as pictured above. Also, lots of Asian vegetables and not-so-Asian vegetables, and fruits. A cornucopia of goodness!

I'd never seen fresh galanga stem before.

We bought some of this intense, giant-sized cilantro, and it played nicely in the dinner we cooked Saturday  night. But I'm jumping ahead . . . .

The freshest, most exquisite water chestnuts I've ever worked with or tasted. Simply amazing. Go get some!

Not one bit of yellow, or mush - not a speck of rot or imperfection. I don't know where or how Tink Holl got these - but I want more! And the ginger - simply exquisite in texture and freshness.

But again, I digress - we had a fabulous lunch at Wonton Gourmet before we dug into the spoils of our shopping trip! (To read about Wonton Gourmet - including prior Wonton Gourmet posts - Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website), each of the last 8 words, and a couple of the upcoming words, has a link to a different FPWF WG post.) Our crew of 6 was joined at the last minute by the Whittakers and lovely Isabel, who happened fortuitously on Wonton Gourmet before all of our party had arrived. 

After starting with the requisite Turnip Cake, Chive Pot Stickers and Donut Wrapped with Rice Roll, we enjoyed these new or revisited Wonton Gourmet selections: 

Ningko (Rice Cakes) with Chinese Sausage

We've had this before, but not lately - house made, toothy rice cakes tossed with lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and a type of Chinese bacon, veggies and a light sauce - heavenly!

Salt Crusted Calamari

Lovely squid is breaded and expertly fried. Haven't had this in a long time - but this was dynamite - especially with bits of the fiery hot peppers scattered on the plate.

Braised Brisket over Noodles

The word "brisket" means a very different thing to a nice Jewish girl and an old country Chinese. "Brisket" refers to a beef cut also known as "tendon" - loaded with connective tissue and braised to tenderness. I was intrigued to try this new dish on the wall-menu.

This dish was the perfect counterpoint to the spicy Sichuan Fish (shown here). Loaded with not-quite-sweet but intense anise flavor, and the crunch and chew of the noodles - there were almost no leftovers. Though a few chunks of the intensely fatty meat were too much for even this group of power eaters.

 
Garlic-Sauteed Pea Leaves

Our hardy group of 8 adults and one wonderfully adventurous one-year-old managed to consume a delightful feast - which I might note worked out to about $13/per person. Wonton Gourmet is an affordable gastronomic adventure not to be missed!

Anyway, since we lunched at Wonton earlier than we usually do, we actually found ourselves hungry at dinner-time. And so, we dug into the goodies we'd acquired at the farmers' market and Tink Holl.

The centerpiece for the meal was the package of thick, round rice noodles called "banh bot loc". A little internet research revealed names such as "silver thread noodles" and even "mouse tail" noodles to describe this delicacy. In my mind's eye - I was seeing a fried noodle dish served sometimes at Dim Sum, which could incorporate our ramps, and our protein of choice.

So sorry - I completely forgot to introduce you to our protein of the week. Please, put your hands together for another amazing ham from our Breychak  Farms Berkshire Hog half:

 

Bob roasted this lovely on Friday.

For Saturday's dinner, chunks of ham married with the rice noodles, water chestnuts, scallions from the fridge (which needed to be finished before we could dig into the ramps), gorgeous ginger from Tink Holl, garden garlic, oyster sauce, mushroom soy, light soy, a touch of sugar, Chinese Flowering Chives, from Tink Holl, and a sprinkle of the cilantro-on-steroids from Tink Holl:


Rice Noodles After A Short Soak in Hot Water






The combination of tastes, textures and flavors was simply marvelous!

Sunday night - I was craving Italian flavors. I knew that we'd just acquired all of these fabulous Asian ingredients - but the ramps just seemed to cry out for this treatment:


Ramps, Ham, Frozen Garden Peas, EVOO, Cheese, Linguine

 

More marvels!

Finally, Monday night. Despite Spring asthma that is bedeviling my health - I put together this lovely repast (with help from my sous chef Bob):


Yi Mein (Medium-Wide Chinese Egg Noodles)



This particular variety has been among my favorites for Asian noodles for years! Wish I could get some without artificial colors or preservatives - but can't help loving them!


Ramps Sauteeing

 
Plum Creek Egg Yolk for Finishing 




Pasta Carbonara

Inspired by Chef Dominic Cerino's Blue Egg Carbonara - Yi  Mein noodles were cooked and tossed with sauteed ramps, sauteed ham, EVOO, a mixture of egg and white wine, evoo, salt and pepper, cracked black pepper, grated Parmesan, chopped parsley, and a raw Plum Creek Farms egg yolk. OMG - we almost inhaled the whole thing!



Tis the season to visit the early farmers' markets and to play with the goodness to be found there! I can't wait to combine the seasonal goodness with the other toys we picked up at Tink Holl - including Asian eggplant and fresh snowpeas (they actually snap - try that with your supermarket snow peas).  Stay tuned for more fun playing with these lovely foods!

Fun Playing With Chili For Autism on April 21

Bob's Chili for Dinner, January 23, 2010

 

Well, not exactly.

Back in the winter of 2006, a participant on the Cleveland.com Food & Wine Forum suggested that we throw a chili cook-off. It had been a long, cold, lonely winter and Joel thought a chili cook-off was just the ticket to cheer and warm a bunch of food lovers who were braving a Cleveland winter. Another FWF participant, Chef Brian Doyle, suggested that the cook-off become a benefit for the Autism Society of Greater Cleveland. Brian has an autistic son, so the cause was dear to him.

Joel agreed to chair it, and an amazing team of volunteers began meeting at Great Lakes Brewing Company (which donated their Tasting Room for this purpose) to plan and promote the event. The Autism Society got involved, and before we knew it, our little group of volunteers had pulled off a fun-filled event, with great food and drink, entertainment, raffles, and of course, chili. Bob's chili (with my sides - the Tequila Infused Sour Cream among them) - won - First Place Amateur. But more important, we raised about $23,000 for the Autism Society, which provides education and resources for Cleveland-area families dealing with autism.

More specifically, ASGC's mission statement is:

“To serve the autism community by providing information, coordinating support services, and facilitating communication for the benefit of those with Autism Spectrum Disorders from diagnosis through adulthood.”

For this year's event, Wednesday April 21 from 6-9pm at the Terrace Club (Progressive Field), I have been invited to be a judge. I am very much looking forward to this new and different role. Won't you please stop by and enjoy some chili to help this worthy cause? All of the information is below:

The suggested donation is $20 per person. Among the local chefs participating are:

Ed Ripepi- Verso Casual Italian

Kris Kreiger- Chef Choice Meats

Chef John- The Peppermill

Linda and Randy Kelly- Westside Market Café

Eric Williams- Happy Dog/Momocho

Ken Kostal- Big Boppers

Shana- Treehuggers Café

Bubba Baker- Bubba’s Q BBQ

Charles Sanders- Embassy Suites

Tastebuds

George Soos- Laurel Run Cooking School

Lanny Chin- Naya Bistro

Louis Prpich- Chowder House

Ellis Cooley- AMP 150

Brandt Evans- Blue Canyon

Doug Fulton- R.J. Boland's

Jay Linder-Whiskey Run

Roger Thomas- Piatto Novo

Mavis Winkles

Bill Polewchak- 20 Mule Team Borracho

Pete Dressen- Inn Walden

Jeff Jarrett- North End Wine Bar

Justin Houmard-Sweet Pea Cafe

Vice "The Tantalizing Chef" Cuffaro

Joe Glass

Rudy Newman

Hope to see you there!

Fun Playing with Soup and Fried Rice for Lunch at Wonton Gourmet

Wonton Gourmet continues to excel at providing Clevelanders warming, satisfying Chinese comfort food. This lunch, which took place while the weather was still bitterly cold and snowy, was perfectly balanced in flavor and texture and it tasted like it had come to my plate right from Guangzhou, China. (This next sentence is just an excuse to link my prior Wonton Gourmet posts - Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website), each of the last 8 words, and a couple of the upcoming words, has a link to a different FPWF WG post.)

My two lawyer-lunchmates had never been to Wonton before. They were delighted with the turnip cakes and chive potstickers.

 

What else could three ladies share for a satisfying and authentically Chinese lunch? Why - soup and fried rice. But this is not your corner Chinese take-out soup and fried rice!

 

Mustard Green Soup with Pork and Tofu, Salted Eggs 

 

This steaming hot bowl of soup, the "small" size, but more than plenty for the three of us, contained a richly flavored broth, which caressed intensely tasty (and green) mustard greens, tender pork, and creamy tofu.

 

Fried Rice With Salted Fish and Chicken

I seldom get to enjoy Wonton's fried rice, and that is my loss. Made in the authentic style - meaning no soy sauce, and probably fried in lard - this is what fried rice is supposed to taste like. And it tastes good!

 

The "salted fish" is actually a dried fish similar to the more Western (and therefore familiar) bacalao (Spanish), or baccalà (Italian). Originally developed as a preservation method, salting, drying and then reconstituting mild fish intensifies the flavor. This brightly flavored fish pairs well with the blander chicken meat and shredded lettuce in this dish. We all enjoyed it.

The portions, as always, were more than ample, and the leftovers came home to feed my husband. And so, another fun time playing with authentic Chinese food at Wonton Gourmet came to a happy end.

Fun Playing With Passover Food 2010

Once again, we have completed another round of Seders. This year, both were served at our house. And, we had a marvelous, if exhausting, time playing with the traditional - and some not-so-traditional - Passover foods. If you search my blog for "Passover" - you will find a number of posts detailing the preparation of most of my Passover favorites, so I'm not going to repeat them here.

However, with the "give me back that Filet O Fish" jingle still playing incessantly on the TV, it was fun to go from whole snappers and halibut filet to that precursor to the modern processed fish product: Gefilte Fish. The whitefish, pike and yes, carp, that I received from Mister Brisket this year was the best yet - beautifully fresh and sweet.

Meaty Skeletons and Fish Heads Go Into the Soup Pot to Make Fish Stock

Ground Fish Mixture (with onion) Meets Plum Creek Farm Fresh Eggs

Add some matzoh meal (which we grind from whole matzoh in the food processor):

Form into quenelles, poach in the stock with garden carrots, and the fish is ready to chill!

These carrots are from our 2009 garden; they survived the winter in the ground very nicely, thank you.

 

Seder Table

Seder Plate

This year, the part of the lamb shank bone was played by a shoulder bone from our Breychak Farm lamb.

Ah - there's that fish! Astride a big bowl of Bob's garden horseradish, which had a serious kick this year!

Garden Hot Peppers From the Freezer

 

Matzoh Ball Soup

In this blog post on soup-making from 2008, I recounted how I learned about the importance of never letting my soup boil. This year, due to a number of reasons, my soup pot boiled twice - briefly, but enough to cloud the soup a bit. It was, however, one of the best tasting soups we've made - I used the "double stock" method described by Barbara Tropp in her book "China Moon Cookbook." Bob had just made a beautiful chicken-turkey stock the week before. I used that in place of a bunch of the water in the soup pot. The matzoh balls came out very nicely, though a tad more toothy than I like them.

The first night of Passover, our guests included Linda and Fred Griffith, who are accomplished cooks and cookbook authors. (I just saw on Amazon.com that the Garlic book can be downloaded to Kindle - cool!) Linda is cooking less these days, since a car accident left her with lingering injuries, and her kitchen downsized. But on Jewish Holidays, we have great fun each contributing different elements to our festive dinners together. In addition to her signature chopped liver-pate and a lovely North African seasoned brisket (with tomato and coriander), Linda brought a hearty tzimmes (which translates to "stew" or "pudding") in a gorgeous serving vessel:

Tzimmes of Carrot, Sweet Potato, White Potato, and Dried Plums

Linda also made this lovely Spinach Pie:

Sorry, I was too pooped to picture the pate and the meat. Guess that means we'll have to do this again, right? I made my usual Farfel Pudding, and Bob made Brisket and Potato Kugel for our second night; follow the links to see prior incarnations.

For dessert, Linda brought a light, airy Banana-Almond Cake that I wouldn't have believed was for Passover if she hadn't told me so:

Since I had a little more time at the front end this year, I decided to play with desserts a bit myself. I started by making a Creme Anglaise I read about on Michael Ruhlman's blog. Unfortunately, for the second time this holiday season - my attention was pulled from the pot for a few seconds too many, and it boiled. Tasted delicious, but, as you will see below, the texture was ruined.

My motivation in making the anglaise was to, as Mr. Ruhlman suggested, have it accompany David Lebovitz's Chocolate Idiot Cake. Fortunately for me, this cake lives up to its name, and came out beautifully.

Even though I've never made Passover desserts before, I reasoned that so long as the anglaise would use 7 egg yolks, and a macaroon recipe I'd happened upon used 7 egg whites - why the heck shouldn't I make my own macaroons?

Coconut Macaroons 

I've never been a huge coconut fan - and now I know why. As with shrimp - the quality of this ingredient is crucial. We sought out preservative-and-chemical-free product (the heck with "Kosher for Passover") and wound up purchasing Bob's Red Mill Shredded Coconut at Mustard Seed Market in Solon. WOW! What a difference good coconut makes. It costs more and it's hard to find - but it is so worth it!

My Dessert Plate Seder #2: Chocolate Idiot Cake, Anglaise, Macaroon

A sweet end to a lovely set of Seders, filled with good friends, great foods and lots of fun!

And now, a brief look at some of the leftovers, which made for fun eats also.

Tuesday Brunch

Linda's brisket is resplendent atop her Spinach Pie, with a hearty dollop of Garden Horseradish. Yum!

Wednesday Brunch

Gefilte Fish, Carrots, Hard Cooked Plum Creek Farm Egg, Garden Horseradish, Matzoh



The eggs were cooked using Alton Brown's steaming method: 12 minutes over steam. Creamy, delicious, and a perfect end to this tale of Passover goodness. I wish you all a joyous Spring holiday of your choice - make sure that you play with some food, ok?

Give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish . . .

It is a little fascinating how this silly jingle has embedded itself in the American consciousness. Still, I can't deny that it is very catchy. There is a new version of it playing on television this Lenten season, making us reconnect with the tune whether we like it or not!

This tune was not at the top of my head last weekend when I visited Bay Lobsters Fish Market in Twinsburg, Ohio. Having recently returned from a 2+ week vacation in Florida, I didn't expect to be bowled over by anything in a Cleveland area fish store. Well, silly me. Bay Lobsters specializes in procuring "just caught" fresh fish for the Cleveland-area market, and they do this very well.

There, in the fresh fish case, were these beautiful Florida Red Snappers, weighing about 1 pound each. And that song started playing in my head. "Give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish (ahh!), give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish." 

 

The daughter of owners John and Cindy (I'm sorry I'm not remembering your name) cheerfully gave our dinner her special attention. Though the fish was already gutted and scaled, she spent several minutes cleaning them up more precisely and snipping off the sharp fins. She also wrapped my other choice - the gorgeous Alaskan Halibut - then offered to share a few Ruby Red Shrimps for us to sample.  

 

"What if it were you hanging up on this wall? If it were you in that sandwich you wouldn't be laughing at all!"

Ok, this selection doesn't fit the tune as well as the snapper - but this Alaskan Halibut was as pristine as the snapper. 

Anyway, back to the snapper, which we stuffed with garden Chinese Flowering Chives from the freezer, garden Oregano (darn if it didn't survive the winter!) and salt and pepper. Rubbed outside with EVOO and more salt and pepper - it was ready for the grill! Oh, and did I mention that it smelled exquisitely clean and fresh - equal to, if not more pristine, than any fish we'd had in Florida?

"Give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish" . . . oh well, there you go again! 

No - sorry my friend, but your filets, your cheeks, every sweet part of you - after a visit with Mister Weber - is mine!

2009 Garden Corn, Creamed  with Coconut Milk instead of Cream, With Garden Hot Pepper and Thyme

Creamed corn and asparagus sauteed in EVOO rounded out the Saturday evening meal.

And what of our other victim?

8/10ths of a pound yielded two meaty steaks, also destined for the grill on Sunday.

More yums! Filet o Fish - you are mine!  Truthfully, as catchy as the ad is, I cannot stomach what it really stands for, i.e. processed fast food that can't hold a candle to the taste and freshness of the fish I bought at Bay Lobsters.

The below satire of the "Give Me That Filet of Fish" commercial is - sorry - a bit tasteless. But parts of it are very funny, so I thought I'd share. Well, since the internet isn't sharing - here's the link.

Take that, you - you fishie you! And shop for your truly fresh and tasty fish at Bay Lobsters, if you live in the Cleveland-Twinsburg area!

As the Lent/Pre-Passover Seasons come to end, I hope you have enjoyed playing with your fish as much as I have! Next up - Pike, Whitefish and yes, Carp - Gefilte Fish custom ground by Mister Brisket. Stay tuned - and play with that fish!