Besotted Gourmet » Summer

Linguine with Summer Tomato Sauce

Jessica — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:17:28 +0000

Things have been a little hectic around Chez Besotted lately, but the brisk Fall air, ushering in the change of seasons has me very excited for some of my cold weather favorites – chicken stock and soup, pies, and scones, and braised meats.

But, there’s still just enough summer left in the air for a de-constructed Summer tomato sauce, made with farm-fresh tomatoes. This is a no-cook, light and easy week-night dinner (unless you count cooking the pasta) that really capitalizes on the flavor and brightness of local tomatoes.

Aside from the pasta, the only other cooking involved is done by the vinegar in the sauce. This is one of my favorite tricks for keeping flavors really light and fresh, but still ‘cooking’ out the face-puckering bite of things like garlic, onions, and ginger. Any acid – vinegar, lemon, lime, and orange juice – ‘cook’ the items that they are marinading, including meats, herbs, and vegetables. It’s the same principle used in ceviche, any salad dressings that you’ve made that use raw garlic, and even the green beans in mustard vinaigrette recipe.

There’s no heat involved, but the acid breaks down the food in the same way that heat would, easing and mellowing the flavor, and it does it beautifully here. Enjoy!*

*Obviously, it goes without saying that this method would not be used to ‘cook’ food to kill bacteria and should only be used on foods that could otherwise be eaten raw.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Linguine with Summer Tomato Sauce, Serves 4

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

1lb. Linguine

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

4 Medium-Sized Tomatoes, roughly chopped into cubes

½ Cup Parsley, chopped

½ Cup Basil, chopped

4 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1 ½ Tbls. White Wine Vinegar

½ Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Set a pot of water to boil, seasoned with salt and 2 Tbls. olive oil, for the pasta.

In the mean time, place the chopped tomatoes, parsley, basil, and garlic in a large bowl, and mix together.

Pour the vinegar on top and mix well. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, or until the pasta is nearly done cooking.

Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the packages instructions.

Just before the pasta is done cooking, whisk the extra-virgin olive oil into the tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and add to the tomato mixture, mixing well. Divide among four plates, serve, and enjoy!

Summer Fried Chicken

Jessica — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:24:13 +0000

I’ve come to the realization lately that my farm share may be taking over not only my fridge, but also a large portion of my life. As one friend put it, “the pressure to consume” all of the wonderful veggies can be a bit overwhelming, and I did find, as I looked back through the latest Besotted posts that they almost exclusively dealt with vegetables – noble and lovely as they are, I started to feel that there was something a bit lacking.

I spent a couple of quiet hours on Sunday pouring through my cooking magazines and books and came up with a lot of happy inspiration for delicious (and omnivorous!) meals. And, to get the ball rolling, I decided to start-out with one of my favorite carnivorous meals – Fried Chicken.

I know that I already have a Fried Chicken recipe up from the Winter, but this one, much more delicately seasoned and paired with Honey & Pepper Biscuits and fresh Green Beans seemed so much more in keeping with a light and bright summer mood.

This recipe also beats out the Winter version in its diminished complexity – owing to the amount of salt that the Winter version marinates in (which does give it tremendous flavor), it can not be left unattended for very long, and certainly not overnight. Whereas, this summery version can be marinated overnight, or for as little as 6 hours, depending on your schedule, making it far easier to plan and prepare for friends.

Below you’ll find the Summer Fried Chicken recipe, and, in the posts that follow, I’ll include the recipe for the Honey & Pepper Biscuits, as well as 2 Fresh Green Bean recipes – Green Beans with Fried Shallots and Green Beans with Onion Mustard Vinaigrette (one of my new favorites!).

Summer still seems to be clinging on here in New England, with a vigorous heat wave, and what a better way to celebrate the warm weather and sunshine than with a big plate of homemade fried chicken. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Summer Fried Chicken, Serves 4-6

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Prep Time: 90 Minutes

Marinating, Drying & Frying Time: 7 Hours 45 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 9-9.5 Hours

Ingredients:

3 Cups Buttermilk

1 Tbls. Kosher Salt

1 Tsp. Hot Pepper Sauce

3-4lbs. Chicken Pieces (thighs, legs, and wings are best)

2 Cups Flour

2 Tsp. Garlic Powder

2 Tsp. Onion Powder

2 Tsp. Paprika

1 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

8-10 Cups Peanut Oil for frying

Preparation:

Mix together 2 cups of the buttermilk, salt, and hot pepper sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces, pushing down to submerge and cover thoroughly. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Before removing the chicken from the refrigerator, prepare your battering station. Combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne in a medium sized bowl and mix well. Pour half of the flour mixture into another medium sized bowl. Between the two flour bowls, add a third bowl filled with the remaining cup of buttermilk.

[Click here for a few tips on battering chicken]

Dredge the chicken pieces in the first bowl of flour and shake off any excess. Submerge the chicken piece in the buttermilk, coat thoroughly, and allow to drip dry. Lastly, dredge the chicken piece in the second flour bowl and, again, shake off any excess. Lay on a drying rack and repeat with the rest of the chicken pieces.

Place the drying rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

When you’re ready to begin frying, pour the peanut oil to a depth of 1.5-2 inches into a large stock pot and heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 300°. Drop the battered and dried chicken pieces into the pot, skin-side down, two at a time, and cook for 12-14 minutes (6-7 minutes each side).

Remove to a plate covered in paper towels, and repeat until all of the chicken pieces are cooked. Sprinkle with a little sea salt, grab a mountain of paper napkins, serve, and enjoy!

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Jessica — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:12:09 +0000

After two previous attempts – one solid, one mildly disastrous – I think I’ve finally got the hang of my ice cream maker. The main take-aways from the first two attempts were:

Follow directions
Re-read the directions and make sure you’re following them as they are actually stated on the directions, and not concocting new directions in your own head.

Once those two directives were firmly planted in my brain (along side the horrid memory of the ice cream maker bouncing and spurting all over my counter), I managed to turn out a really, REALLY good batch of ice cream.

I’ve become mildly obsessed with the cherry/chocolate combination as of late and whipped up a batch of creamy almond-tinted ice cream, laden with heavy bits of cherry and dark chocolate chunks. I knew I had a winner on my hands as I watched the cherry juice slowly bleed into the steaming cream, but I didn’t know quite how good it would be until I folded the big chunks of cherry and chocolate into the ice cream. It’s heavenly.

This particular recipe leaves things nice and chunky (my personal preference), but you could certainly chop items smaller or even blend the hot cream (carefully) after it’s done simmering.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream, Serves 8

Prep Time: 45 Minutes

Cooling, Freezing & Churning Time: 8 Hours (Plus, the ice cream maker has to be in the freezer at least 24-48 hours before churning)

Total Prep Time: 8 Hours 45 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 ¾ Cup Heavy Cream

¾ Cup Milk

½ Cup Sugar

1 Tsp. Salt

2 Cups Cherries, pitted and rough chopped

1 Tsp. Almond Extract

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks

Preparation:

Heat half of the pitted cherries, 1 cup of the cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat until the mixture just starts to steam, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining ¾ cup of cream. Mix well. Allow the mixture to sit on the countertop for 15 minute before cooling in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Pop your chocolate chunks into the freezer while the mixture is cooling.

Once cooled, add half of the chocolate chunks (½ cup) to the mixture and churn, according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Once the ice cream is finished churning (it should look creamy and soft, but decidedly solid), fold in the remaining cherries and chocolate chunks, package, and return to the freezer for another 2-4 hours until very solid and ready to eat.

Soft Serve-style... still yummy, but best to let it harden a bit more.

Enjoy!

Mango Kiwi Salsa to ring in Summer!

Jessica — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:00:13 +0000

My dear friend, PK, has given Besotted much love, support, and advice from the very beginning, and I am finally taking his advice from way back when to include a salsa recipe….

As much as I love baking, its precision and the inability to taste-test the recipe as I go stifles my…. creative flair. I love recipes that have a very basic base to which I can add anything that happens to cross my mind. That, coupled with the fact that Boston will be hitting 90° today (!) made it imperative that I start my Summer Salsa Experiments a bit early.

Salsa is a great dish for experimentation and for the novice cook, as it is very nearly impossible to mess up. I was about to write that as long as you have a base of tomatoes and onions, adding the rest of the ingredients is just a matter of personal preference, but, in fact, this recipe contains no tomatoes, so even that element is subject to change.

My only suggested guidelines would be to find juicy fruits and vegetables whose flavors meld well together, add a few complementary spice/spicy elements, blitz together until you reach the desired consistency and serve.

Speaking of which, the serving and presentation of salsa can be a varied as the ingredients. It is generally thought of as an accompaniment to tortilla chips, and it does serve admirably in this capacity, but salsas can also serve a more sophisticated function, accompanying pork or chicken recipes as a stuffing or sauce, as a topping on toasted baguettes, etc. They are, in essence, wildly versatile.

The following is my adaptation of a Barefoot Contessa recipe. A few tweaks to the ingredient list and preparation yielded this sweet, spicy, and very flavorful salsa. It’s perfect on tortilla chips, and, to be perfectly honest, I probably wouldn’t try it on anything more sophisticated; it has a very casual, almost raucous flavor that would be too much for something attempting sophistication. It would be like wearing cut-offs and drinking Sam Summer at the Symphony – both are fine in their own right, but don’t really go together.

Mango Kiwi Salsa

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

1 Red Onion, quartered

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Tbls. Ginger, peeled

1 Mango, peeled and cut into slices

1 Kiwi, peeled and cut into slices

Juice from 1 Orange

1 Jalapeno Chili, seeded & chopped

½ Tsp. Salt

½ Tsp. Pepper

Preparation:

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the ginger and garlic a couple of times, until it looks ‘rough chopped.’ Add the onion and pulse until the onion is well chopped.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes. Quite a bit of the liquid from the onion should be cooking off.

I use red onions for the pretty puce color

Meanwhile, in the same bowl of the food processor, blitz the mango and kiwi until chopped, but still chunky (about 6 pulses).

After the onion mixture has cooked for 10 minutes, add the juice from the orange and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.

Once the 5 minutes is up, turn the heat down to medium-low, add the chopped jalapeno, salt & pepper, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Remove the saute pan from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes before adding to the mango/kiwi mixture. Mix well and serve with tortilla chips.

Summer, here I come!