Bright green!

Apparently you all love Anne Burrell! Who knew? She rocked the poll last week with her book Cook Like a Rock Star.

As I mentioned in my review of this book many months ago, I really love the book in theory. The problem comes when you actually want to cook from it. A lot of the recipes require pretty rare and/or expensive ingredients.

So I tried to pick a recipe that would be accessible to people.

The pasta recipes called out to me. She really knows her pasta and while she pretty much always recommends making fresh pasta, a lot of the recipes can be easily adapted to use dried pasta.

This recipe caught my eye this week so I went for it. It turned out to be really interesting and delicious.

Arugula Walnut Pesto

Yield: Enough for 1 pound of pasta.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
3 cups baby arugula
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup hot pasta water
1/2 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt
Big fat finishing oil

Helpful Equipment:
Food Processor

Directions:

1) Lay out walnuts on a sheet pan and roast them for about 6 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch them closely and turn them once half way through.

2) Combine walnuts, arugula, cheeses, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until it's a rough paste.

3) Drizzle in olive oil and pulse again.

4) Add pesto to a small pan and add about 1 cup of hot pasta water to the pan. Stir well.

5) Bring to a simmer, stir in cream, and continue to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

6) When pasta is done, drain it and add it straight to the pesto.

7) Serve with a drizzle of finishing oil and extra grated cheese.

Recipe from Cook Like a Rock Star.

The Basics

A normal pesto recipe is based on buckets of basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts. A lot of times I won’t even follow a recipe for it. I’ll just kind of wing it with those ingredients.

This is a very similar recipe in theory but substitutes arugula for the basil and walnuts for the pine nuts.

Speaking of nuts, I’m pretty sure Anne Burrell is one. Under this recipe in her book she writes in big bold type:

“I love the feel of nuts in my mouth!”

Ok Anne. I don’t really know what to think about that so here’s a photo of some nuts just so we can make sure we are on the same page.

Love these!

Anne recommends, and I agree, that you toast these bad boys before using them. Just lay them out on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for about 6-7 minutes.

I recommend setting a timer and watching them closely because these will go from perfect to burnt in about 30 seconds.

Making the Pesto

Arugula is no where near as flavorful as basil so you really need to use a lot of it for this recipe. Don’t worry about over-doing it.

No basil needed.

Once your walnuts are toasted, add them to a food processor with a good amount of arugula, grated cheese, and some minced garlic and you’re ready to go!

Ready to blend!

Pulse this down until it’s a rough paste and then drizzle in your olive oil and continue to pulse.

Perfect paste.

Finishing the Pesto

The key to finishing this pesto, which is now way to dry to really use, is to make a sauce out of it.

To do this, add the paste to a medium saucepan and get it cooking over medium heat. Then add about a cup of hot water from the pasta that you’re cooking straight to the pot!

This water will be salty and starchy and really help make this pesto into something useable.

Magic ingredient.

Once you get the pasta water stirred in, go ahead and add some cream and your sauce will really come alive.

The color of this is amazing!

Love the color.

Put this back on the heat and keep it warm until your pasta is done.

The Pasta

Anne’s big on homemade pasta and so am I. I kind of think of homemade pasta as a special occasion thing though and not an every night situation.

So I just used some dried linguine and it worked great.

Homemade pasta would be best...

Big Fat Finishing Oil

In about 25% of the recipes in this cookbook, Anne recommends finishing the dish with what she called a “Big Fat Finishing Oil.” What she means by this is a really good quality olive oil (read: expensive).

You would never actually cook with this stuff because the heat would immediately break down the flavors. You just drizzle it on right before you serve the dish.

I’m not an olive oil expert, but I picked out a nice bottle that definitely tasted a lot fresher than the stuff I use to cook. It worked great to finish the dish.

Big Fat Finishing Oil?

Once the pasta is drained just stir it into the sauce and then serve it up!

Extra grated cheese and a good drizzle of the nice oil rounds out the pasta perfectly.

Really tasty!

I’m was really surprised by the flavors in this pesto. They were very different from normal pesto.

It was a great change and Betsy and I both gave it two big fat finishing thumbs up!

Hard to get healthier than this!

After a weekend of over-indulgence, I’m always in the mood for something that’s really quick and healthy.

I definitely don’t want anything with meat or cheese in it. For once.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe that was in the most recent Bon Appetit. I say inspired because I changed almost every main ingredient except chickpeas. The original had chicken in it, but I felt like keeping it veggie packed so I nixed the chicken and added in a few potatoes and some kale.

The bonus piece of cutting out the chicken is that it also trims about 20 minutes off of your prep time.

Thirty Minute Chickpea Stew

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small bunch kale leaves, chopped
1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Crusty bread
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Add olive oil to a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for a few minutes until fragrant.

2) Add in cubed potatoes, tomato paste, and cumin. Turn the heat up to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

3) Add in vegetable stock, chickpeas, bay leaves, roasted red peppers, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer until potatoes are soft, another 10 minutes.

4) Stir in kale and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

5) Break up some crusty bread in the bottom of a bowl. Ladle stew over bread. Serve immediately.

A Basic Stew

I think one of the best things you can learn as an at-home cook is to master the simple veggie stew. Learn how to balance the spices and flavors in a stew and you can usually make a fantastic meal with a few fresh veggies, a few canned foods, and some simple stock and spices.

For this version (and for a lot of stews that I make), these are some of the basics.

Just some basics.

I was worried that by cutting out the chicken, my stew wouldn’t have enough body to be really filling. I’m not sure if that’s entirely true because there’s still bread in the soup also.

But, I decided to add in a few chopped potatoes at the last minute.

I liked the potato addition, but I also think it would’ve worked fine without them.

Gives the stew some body.

Canned chickpeas makes this stew super-quick. It would add on at least an hour to use dried chickpeas and I’m not sure you would get much for your extra work.

Just be sure to drain and rinse the chickpeas well.

I think I’m almost in the market for a new strainer…

Rinse these guys pretty well.

Making the Stew

To start the stew, we need to infuse some oil with two really flavorful things: garlic and red pepper flakes.

Two of my favorite things.

The key to doing this correctly is cooking the garlic and pepper flakes over fairly low heat for a few minutes. If you crank the heat to high, you’ll completely char the garlic.

Instead, just add them to the olive oil over medium-low heat for a few minutes. When it starts to get really fragrant, you know it’s ready to go. The garlic shouldn’t even be browned really.

Low heat is important..

Next, add in the potatoes, tomato paste, and cumin.

This will immediately start to smell amazing. Stir it all together and let it cook for a few minutes. You can turn your heat up a bit to medium at this point.

Already smellin' good.

After a few minutes of that, just pour in the vegetable stock, add the bay leaves and chickpeas, and bring the whole thing to a simmer.

At this point the stew is pretty much done when the potatoes are cooked through which will probably take another 10 minutes or so.

Love that color...

Finishing the Stew

There’s a few ingredients to add to the end of the stew that completely make it in my opinion. First, roasted red peppers. Honestly, I’m not sure that I’ve ever had roasted red peppers in a stew before but they worked great and paired really well with the chickpeas.

Next, I added some chopped kale. You could also use something like swiss chard if you wanted. A leafy, sturdy green really helps the stew out though.

One of the most important ingredients is lemon juice. The acid just makes all the flavors really pop. Don’t forget it!

Gotta toss in some greens.

Once all that stuff is stirred in, just season it with salt and pepper and you’re ready to go.

This stew took me about 30 minutes to make and I was taking photos and stuff. You could probably make it even faster!

Serving the Stew

The stew tastes good as-is, but to really turn it into a meal, just put about 1/2 cup of torn bread into the bottom of your bowl before you serve it. Any super-crusty and slightly stale bread will work great.

Hidden bread!

Then just ladle on the stew with some of the broth and you’re all set.

Hard to beat in my opinion.

Betsy and I devoured this and we had plenty for leftovers also.

Give this a shot this week if you are crunched for time and looking for something healthy and filling!

Wow good.

I was pretty scared when vegetable tart won the poll last week. The last time I tried a free-form tart on Macheesmo, it didn’t go well.

I had high hopes for this attempt though. For starters, I was using a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. That’s normally a really good start to a successful meal.

Second, and maybe more important, I didn’t get cocky. I read the recipe like 10 times (Cook’s Illustrated isn’t known for being succinct). I promised myself that I wouldn’t change the recipe at all.

I then immediately changed the recipe. Luckily, not in any devastating way.

Mushroom and Leek Galette

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 45 minutes + dough resting time

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 1/4 cups (6.25 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2.75 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
7 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Filling:
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
3/4 pound crimini mushrooms
2 large leeks, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3-4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper
1 large egg, for egg wash

Helpful Equipment:
Pastry Brush
Dough Scraper

Directions:

1) To start dough, mix together flours with sugar and salt. Cut in cold, cubed butter using your fingers or pulse in a food processor until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.

2) Stir in water and vinegar and mix until the dough is saggy. It's okay if it doesn't come together completely at this point. Don't overmix it.

3) Scoop dough out onto plastic wrap. Form dough into a rough rectangle (again, it will still be crumbly). Wrap very tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

4) Remove dough and roll into a long rectangle, about 8x14 on a well-floured surface. Fold the left 1/3 of the dough into the center, then fold the right 1/3 over it. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, roll it out again, and repeat the fold. Do this one more time. If your dough sticks to the counter, use a dough scraper to scrape it up and use more flour. Then fold the dough (which should be much easier to work with now) into a square and wrap it in plastic wrap again. Refrigerate for another hour.

5) For filling, wash mushrooms and add to a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes until soft. Drain mushrooms in a colander. When cool, slice thinly.

6) Slice leeks thinly using just the white and light green sections. Add sliced leeks to a large skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook over medium heat until the leeks are soft, about 4 minutes. Add fresh thyme and sliced mushrooms and continue to cook for another minute or two until the mixture is fairly dry.

7) Remove filling from heat and let cool. Then season with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir in sour cream and mustard.

8) When ready to make galette, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove dough from fridge 10-15 minutes before making the galette. Roll the dough out into a large 14 inch diameter circle. Use a knife to cut off any edges. Try to make it as round as you can, but it's okay to eyeball it.

9) Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the center of the dough with olive oil.

10) Add half of the filling to the center of the dough, leaving about 2 inches around the edge. Add 1/2 of the gorgonzola cheese. Top with the rest of the filling and then the rest of the cheese. Drizzle with olive oil.

11) Fold one end of the circle in toward the center, then work around the galette, making folds every few inches.

12) Brush galette with egg wash and transfer to oven. When galette is in oven, turn heat down to 375 and bake for 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

13) Let cool briefly and serve immediately!

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Feb. 2012.

Making the Dough

Tart doughs are tricky. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve struggled with them. Frankly, if you haven’t struggled with them you are either a baking prodigy or a liar.

The trick to this dough is not to overwork it in the beginning and let it rest twice in the fridge. Also, the recipe calls for laminating the dough a bit which means folding it over itself a few times so you develop layers of dough which results in super-flakey crust.

I was worried about this step because it’s the step that proves to be my downfall for things like croissants. But this is a beginner’s laminated dough. I didn’t have any issues with it at all. You won’t either.

Start the dough by mixing together your dry ingredients in a large bowl and then mix in the cubed butter with your fingers. You could use a food processor for this, but I like using my hands. Just get the butter into pea-sized pieces and then add your liquid (top right).

Once your liquid is added, stir it together, but don’t over-work it. There’s no need to bring the dough completely together at this point. The word CI used to describe the dough is “saggy”. I prefer the term “crumbly” (bottom left).

Scoop this crumbly dough out onto some plastic wrap, wrap it very tightly and refrigerate it for about an hour.

Saggy dough is good.

Lamination Domination

I was almost positive that I was going to botch this step, but it was pretty easy actually. Once your dough has rested for an hour in the fridge the flour will be better hydrated and it’ll be closer to one full piece when you unwrap it.

Roll it out on a well-floured board to form a long rectangle. It should be about 8×14 if you want to get specific, but I just eyeballed it (top left). Then fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough up to the center (top right). Then fold the top 1/3 down (bottom left). This basically creates three layers of dough.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees and do the whole rolling and folding process again. For those that aren’t math inclined, the second time you do this, you’ll have 9 layers of dough (3×3). The third and last time you do this, you’ll have 27 layers of dough.

This makes the final dough very flakey and awesome and is worth the 10 minutes or so it takes to do it. Your final dough will be really easy to work with. Before you roll it out though, wrap it in plastic again and stick in the fridge for another hour so it firms up (bottom right).

Like pastry, but actually doable.

Ok. The dough is the hardest part of this guy by a long shot. The filling is straightforward.

Leeky Shrooms

I’m not a huge fan of microwaves, but Cook’s Illustrated suggested using one to soften up the mushrooms for this recipe. I’m not really sure why. You could just slice them and saute them normally, but I figured I would try the microwave thing.

The shrooms!

I just rinsed off my shrooms and added them to a microwave safe bowl. Then covered them with plastic wrap and zapped them for about 4-5 minutes on high.

Seemed to work okay. Notice that I didn’t slice them yet.

Microwave at work.

Drain the mushrooms in a colander. They will release a lot of liquid in the microwave which is the goal. Then slice them thinly.

For the leeks, slice the white and light green parts thinly and add them to a skillet or medium pot with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook the leeks over medium heat until they are soft (about 4-5 minutes), then toss in your sliced mushrooms and fresh thyme.

Pretty colors.

Cook this for another few minutes just to combine the flavors. Then kill the heat and let the filling cool slightly.

You’ll need a few other items to finish off the filling. The original recipe called for créme fraîche, but I just used sour cream. Seemed like a fine substitution.

Flavor town.

Mix in the sour cream and mustard into your filling and maybe hit it with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Filling is done!

Really tasty.

Making the Galette

Once you’re ready to actually make this bad boy, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Take your dough out of the fridge a few minutes before you want to roll it out. Then roll it into a large circle. Ideally, it would be about a 14 inch circle, but you can just eyeball it. I do recommend taking a knife and actually cutting a round shape out of the dough if you have any ends that are sticking out because it will make the folding easier.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the center with some olive oil. Then pile on half of your filling!

NOTE: I made another change to the recipe at this point. Cook’s Illustrated said to cut tiny holes in the BOTTOM of your galette crust before adding the filling. Five holes to be exact. For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why you would want to do that and it wasn’t explained at any point in the recipe so I just didn’t do it. No harm done.

Really easy dough to work with.

Crumble on half of your cheese, then the rest of the filling, then the final bit of cheese.

Now it’s time to fold it! Start at one end and just fold the dough to the center.

The first fold.

Rotate the dough and every few inches, just fold the dough toward the center.

Easy enough right?

Get it?

Eventually, you’ll have this wonderful little galette. Once you get it folded all the way around, brush the edges of the dough with egg wash (just an egg scrambled with 1 tablespoon water).

This guy is finally ready for the oven!

Don't forget egg wash.

Oven your galette is in the oven, turn the heat down to 375. Then let it bake for 35-40 minutes.

This guy turned out fantastic.

Nailed it.

The filling for this guy is good, but the crust is amazing. It’s really flakey and flavorful since it has some whole wheat flour in it.

It’s a bit of work, no doubt, but the results are worth it in my opinion.

Whoa man.

Warning: Some people are going to read this post and think that either A) this requires too much work or B) sweetbreads are gross.

That’s fine.

I pretty much guarantee though that if I were to sell you one of these for $5 out of my street cart you would say it’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had. That’s because sweetbreads are delicious and maybe the most under-rated offal of all time.

Much like the oysters that are typical for a po’ boy, these little bites just melt in your mouth. And for those of us who live in the mainland and can’t get fresh oysters easily, sweetbreads are a wonderful (and much cheaper) substitute.

Sweetbread Po' Boys

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Prep Time: 30 minutes + soaking time for sweetbreads

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Sweetbreads:
1 pound sweetbreads
1 quart buttermilk
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying

Pickled Slaw:
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup carrots, grated
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt

Walnut Mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1 lemon, zest and 1/2 lemon juice

Other Sandwich Ingredients:
4 Hoagie buns, toasted
Lettuce
Sriracha hot sauce (opt.)

Helpful Equipment:
Mini Food Processor for mayo
Deep Fry Thermometer

Directions:

1) Soak sweetbreads overnight in cold water.

2) Poach sweetbreads in simmering water for 4 minutes. Remove and cool.

3) Slice sweetbreads into 1 inch bites. As you go, discard any tough tendons on the sweetbreads.

4) Soak sweetbread bites in buttermilk for at least a few hours.

5) When ready to make sandwiches, heat about 1 inch of oil in a large high-walled frying pan or in a heavy pot. Heat to 350 degrees.

6) Toss all-purpose flour with paprika, salt, and pepper. Drain sweetbreads and add to flour mixture. Coat well with flour.

7) Fry sweetbread bites for about 4-5 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel. Add sweetbreads to sandwich while still warm.

To Make Slaw:
1) Combine slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with vinegars and oil and season with salt.

2) Ideally, make this a few hours before so the ingredients have some time to pickle. You could make the night before without a problem.

To Make Mayo:
1) Toast walnuts in a dry pan for a few minutes until fragrant.

2) Pulse with lemon zest and juice from 1/2 a lemon and mayo. Pulse until smooth.

3) Store in the fridge for up to a week.

To Make Sandwich:
1) Toast bread and slather with walnut mayo. Add a piece of crispy lettuce.

2) Top lettuce with fried sweetbreads. Add slaw to top of sweetbreads and drizzle with hot sauce if you want.

3) Slice the sandwich in half and serve immediately.

Planning and Prep

Unfortunately, this isn’t a sandwich that you’re just going to toss together on a whim. It requires a bit of planning.

For starters, the sweetbreads which we’ll get to in a minute, require at least a day of prep. You need to soak them overnight to clean them well.

Besides the sweetbreads, I also recommend making the slaw for the sandwiches in advance as well. The quick pickled slaw will just taste better on day two.

So, while none of the individual steps for this sandwich are super-hard, it does require some planning to pull it off.

If I can do it, you can do it.

The Slaw

The sweetbreads and mayo on this sandwich are really buttery and creamy so I thought it would be a good flavor addition to add something acidic. This quick slaw that I came up with was literally from leftovers in my fridge. It worked great though.

Basic stuff.

Just dice up all the ingredients pretty finely and toss them in a bowl with the vinegars and oil. Season this with a pinch of salt and let it sit for at least an hour or two.

Like I said, it would be best if you could make this the day before, but it’s not completely necessary.

The day before would be good...

Walnut Mayo

Any good sandwich worth its bread will have some sort of dressing. I started by thinking that a spicy mayo would work well with this sandwich. I still think that it would. So if you wanted to make a chipotle mayo like this one, it would also work well.

I ended up going a slightly different route though. For this mayo, I just toasted a handful of walnuts in a dry pan until they were fragrant (about 3 minutes), then pulsed them with some lemon zest and lemon juice and mayo until it was relatively smooth.

This is really good stuff and would be awesome on a bunch of different sandwiches actually.

Not bad at all!

Ok. Enough with the condiments. Let’s get down to business.

The Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads, if you’ve never used them, are from the thymus gland or pancreas gland of a cow. The ones I’m using for this post are the pancreas.

While they look intense, they have a super-mild flavor. Once they are fried, they melt away in your mouth. Like butter.

One of the hardest parts about sweetbreads is just finding them! Most likely, your grocery store won’t carry them. They just aren’t popular enough to keep in stock. You’ll have to ask around at butchers and farmer’s markets and you can normally get your hands on some.

The good news is that they won’t be very expensive if you can find them. They are, after all, a gland that most people just throw away…

I was pretty nervous about prepping these guys, but it turned out to be pretty straightforward.

To start, soak the sweetbreads in cold water overnight. This will help flush out any blood or liquid in the glands. It’s probably a good idea to change the water at least once also. (top left)

Next, you need to lightly poach the sweetbreads. This really just makes them easier to work with because they firm up a bit when they are poached. I cooked mine for about 4 minutes in simmering water.

After the sweetbreads are poached, slice them into 1 inch bites. While you do this, remove any tough tendons that are attached to the sweetbreads. It’ll be pretty obvious what you should be removing as it will be very tough while the actual sweetbread material is very tender. (top right)

Once the sweetbreads are soaked and poached, soak them in buttermilk for a few hours. You could do this a day or two ahead of time though if you wanted. I just soaked mine for two hours before frying them. (bottom left)

When you’re ready to fry, drain the sweetbreads and toss them in the flour mixture (all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, paprika). Now they are ready to fry!

Frying the Sweetbreads

You don’t need a lot of oil to fry these guys. Just about an inch of oil in a large pan with high edges is more than enough.

I did a test run with just one sweetbread bite to make sure these were going to work.

I can’t really explain how delicious this was. Golden brown and slightly spicy on the outside with a really creamy and delicious center. So good!

Testing testing...

I fried my sweetbreads in two batches at 350 degrees.

As always, I highly recommend using a deep fry thermometer to make sure your temperature is in a safe range.

Just a few minutes will do the trick.

The setup.

When the sweetbread bites are done, let them drain briefly on a paper towel.

I can’t get over how good these were.

Very good.

Making the Po’ Boys

Ok. Now for the easy part.

Toast your sandwich bread and slather both sides with some of the walnut mayo (or spicy mayo if you went that route).

Then lay down a piece of crispy lettuce and add a good thick row of the fried sweetbreads.

Pile it on.

Top with the slaw and, as an optional step, add a good drizzle of sriracha hot sauce.

How could you not want this?!

Had to do the hot sauce.

These sandwiches are messy, but man are they good. I sliced mine in half to make it a bit easier to eat.

Adventurous, but delicious.

This is an adventurous meal. No doubt about that.

But the payoff is awesome. Definitely one of the most unique and interesting sandwiches I’ve ever made.

If you love sweetbreads, hate sweetbreads, or have questions about sweetbreads, leave a comment!

So addictive!

Betsy and I spent a few days in Nashville before Thanksgiving last week and one of the restaurants that we decided to hit up was a vegetarian/vegan spot called The Wild Cow.

As you probably know, I’m neither vegetarian or vegan, but I do generally like vegetarian food. I love stuff like tofu and tempeh. I find it delicious if cooked correctly so I was excited to check this place out.

The meal was excellent. Betsy has some delicious sweet potato tacos and her mom had some lentils that were some of the best lentils I’ve had.

Honestly, the thing I thought was the best though was the appetizer that we got which was a cashew dip. I asked the server what was in it and after a long, lackadaisical stare he said:

“Umm… cashews.”

After I a gave him a Three Stooges like smack (sound), he also told me that there was chickpeas in it also.

That’s a start I guess. I took it from there. It’s possible that my version turned out even better than theirs…

Cashew Dip

Yield: Makes 4 Cups of dip.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas, drained
2 cups roasted cashews
1 lemon, juice only
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Paprika
Pita chips

Helpful Equipment:
Food Processor

Directions:

1) Drain chickpeas and add them to a bowl filled with cool water. Rub chickpeas together gently between your hands to remove their thin outer, tough skin. The skins should float to the top of the water and then you can scoop them off. You don't need to worry about getting them all.

2) Add chickpeas to a food processor with cashews and pulse until they are in a rough paste.

3) Drizzle in olive oil, lemon juice, and coconut milk and continue to process. If the dip is a bit thick, add in more coconut milk until it reached desired texture.

4) Season with salt.

5) Serve dip sprinkled with paprika. Serve with pita chips.

Dip Basics

This dip is really similar to a hummus, but I think the flavors are way more interesting than most hummus. It’s slightly sweet and creamy and great on pita chips or veggies.

The base of the dip is these two things.

The basics.

Basically, we just process these guys together, but before doing so, I recommend a step that some people are going to find annoying and skip.

That’s okay. But don’t blame me when your dip isn’t silky smooth.

The step is peeling the chickpeas. As you can see, chickpeas have this tough outer skin on them. It’s translucent so you can’t really see it until you get it off of the chickpeas.

Strange skins...

The problem I’ve found is that no matter how much you process, these things just never break down 100%. This is probably why your homemade hummus isn’t as smooth as store bought hummus.

The best way to peel the things is to drain them and dump them in a large bowl with cold water. Using your hands, rub the chickpeas together underwater and the skins will float to the surface.

Then you can just skim them off.

See this? You can’t process this into a smooth anything.

Imagine processing that...

I usually spend just a few minutes doing this and I shoot for 95% of the chickpeas. As you can see, I miss some.

Having some un-peeled ones won’t kill you. The slightly lighter chickpeas still have the skin on them and I just left it at this point.

Not perfect, but it'll work.

Making the Dip

Once you get that annoying step out of the way, just toss the chickpeas and cashews in a food processor and pulse them until they are in a rough paste.

Easy enough.

A good start.

Then add in your lemon and olive oil and continue to pulse it.

I froze time for this. No big deal.

The Secret Ingredient

The real key to this dip is to find a way to make it really creamy without adding actual cream to it (I tried to stick to the vegan thing).

Coconut milk was my answer and I think it worked better than actual cream would have worked honestly. It added the texture I was looking for and also gave the dip a very soft sweetness.

Make it creamy!

Pulse this all together and taste it for salt. It might need a pinch of salt depending on whether or not your cashews were salted or not.

If your dip is still really thick, feel free to add in a bit more coconut milk until it reaches the consistency you want.

Smooth stuff.

You can serve this as-is or sprinkle the dip with some paprika like I did for the first photo.

This is really addictive stuff.

This is good stuff.

This is one of those recipes that is awesome to serve at a party. People will be beating down your door for the recipe.

Quick and delicious!

As I mentioned on Friday, I spent my weekend cooking for a wedding (about 100 people) and I’m completely exhausted. I’ll write more about the wedding, the menu, and the whole experience later. I still need to process it!

But I thought I would share a fantastic dip with you all that, in hindsight, I would have definitely included on the wedding menu.

It’s a really simple baked dip from Anne Burrell’s latest cookbook, Cook Like a Rock Star.

So check out this rock star dip and also enter to win a copy of the book!

Baked Ricotta

Yield: Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Cups ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
1 lemon, zest only
3 Tablespoons olive oil (plus a bit for finishing)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 baguette, sliced and toasted
Butter, for baking dish

Directions:

1) Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix together well.

2) Scoop dip into a buttered, small baking dish.

3) Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and hot.

4) Drizzle dip with some good olive oil and sprinkle with fresh rosemary.

5) Serve dip with sliced, toasted baguette.

Adapted from Cook Like a Rock Star

Mixing the dip

There’s nothing hard about this dip. It has only a few ingredients, but each of them pack some great flavors.

The basics!

Just add your ricotta to a large bowl and stir in the minced herbs, crushed red pepper, and lemon zest.

In my opinion, the lemon zest is the most important thing here. It’s a great addition to this dip.

The zest is so crucial.

Stir this all together really well and scoop it into a small baking dish.

I recommend buttering the baking dish so that the dip doesn’t get really stuck to it. Not essential, but definitely worth the 5 seconds it takes in my opinion.

All set to bake.

Bake this dip at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. The dip should be lightly browned on top and very hot.

Finishing the Dip

I guess you could use crackers or pita chips for this dip, but I recommend slicing up a sturdy baguette and lightly toasting the bread. The dip is pretty sturdy and thick so it helps to have a similarly sturdy vehicle to get it into your mouth!

No wussy crackers for this dip.

When the dip comes out of the oven, sprinkle it with some extra rosemary and drizzle on a bit of olive oil.

I housed almost half of this by myself, but it’s definitely meant to serve multiple people!

Yummy stuff.

Cook Like a Rock Star

The publisher for Anne’s latest book was nice enough to send me a copy of the book and also give me three copies to giveaway to you all.

After hanging out with the book for a week or so, I think it’s a solid book.

If I had to give one critique of the book, I would say that some of the recipes are a little too extravagant. I’m not sure how accessible some of the recipes are for most at-home cooks. I picked one of the easier recipes in the book to try out.

But, at the same time, they all look really freakin’ good and she does a good job of walking you through some of the more difficult steps. I guess, at the end of the day, if you want to cook like a rock star, you probably need to learn how to go a bit above and beyond.

So the title is fitting I think. It’s not a book that I would recommend for someone who is just learning to cook, but it’s awesome if you want to take your game to the next level.

Anyway. I’m giving away THREE COPIES of the book! So just leave a comment and you’re entered to win!

I’ll pick the winners at 7PM Eastern Time tonight.

Oh. And make this dip. It really is rock star.

Nice roots man.

It should go without saying, but potatoes are pretty much the reigning champ when it comes to breakfast starches. I’m not really sure there’s even another dog in the race.

But I’m bit burned out on potatoes these days so I was looking for another breakfast option.

It’s not that I wanted to break up with potatoes, but I wouldn’t mind seeing other people. I’m sure potatoes will understand.

Root Vegetable Hash

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large turnip, peeled and cubed
1 large parsnip, peeled and cubed
1/2 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon butter, for eggs
Salt and pepper

Helpful Equipment:
- A good vegetable peeler

Directions:

1) Peel vegetables and cut into cubes. The best way to do this is to cut each veggie into planks, then sticks, then cubes.

2) Add a good drizzle of oil to a large skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add the veggies (except the garlic). Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are starting to get crispy.

3) Stir in garlic, syrup, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue to cook for another few minutes, or until they reach your desired level of crispiness.

4) For eggs, add a small dab of butter to a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once melted and bubbling, crack in eggs. Cook for about 90 seconds until whites are mostly set.

5) Cover pan with a lid or plate and cook for another 30 seconds or so.

6) Slide eggs on hash and serve immediately.

Getting Down to the Roots

There’s some snarky reader out there (or many) that are going to point out immediately that butternut squash isn’t a root vegetable. This I know.

But most of the ingredients are root veggies so I went with it. If it fits better, you could call this a Fall Veggie Hash, but of course, the ingredients aren’t just grown in Fall.

Whatever you want to call it, you’ll need these ugly things. And let’s face it, they really are the ugly ducklings of vegetables.

One of these is not like the others...

The prep for this hash might be a bit intimidating for some. It does involve a good amount of peeling and chopping and these veggies are a bit more awkward to work with than your standard potato.

It really helps to have a great veggie peeler. I’ve been using the Titan peeler for a few years now and it might be the only infomercial product that I’ve ever tried that actually lives up to the claims. It’s almost dangerous it’s so good at peeling. Sometimes it peels faster than I’m ready for and I’ve almost peeled my flesh.

Note on the Squash: Don’t try peeling it. The skin is way to thick. Instead, cut off the ends and stand it on it’s end. Then you can cut off the skin with a knife.

A good peeler makes this easy.

There’s a method for cubing vegetables that’s is legendary in culinary school (so I hear). There’s always horror stories about people having to cube metric tons of vegetables until their cubes are perfectly identical.

I’m still not 100% sure who really cares about that, but the method that’s used will let you cube vegetables about as fast as possible.

First cut your vegetables in half so there is a flat surface. Then slice your vegetable into planks. Try to get these as even as possible. For a good hash I usually shoot for 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

It might help to stand the veggie on it’s end and cut down instead of across for this.

My version of planking.

Once you have your planks, just line them up and slice vertically through them. This makes sticks.

I would not be a good french cook.

Then just turn the veggies horizontal and slice across the sticks to make cubes.

I would probably be fired from any French restaurant for my uneven cubes, but they’ll do for my purposes. And for yours.

Not bad for an amateur.

Do this with all your vegetables and toss them together in a bowl. It’s actually kind of a colorful mix of things. The squash really helps in that department.

All together now!

Cooking the Hash

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet and get it hot over medium high heat. Once it’s hot, toss in all your hash ingredients, except the garlic. Let them cook for about ten minutes on their own, stirring once maybe. You want them to soften up some and get a bit crispy.

Then toss in your garlic, maple syrup, and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook it until the hash is cooked through and crispy in places.

Yummy.

You can obviously keep cooking this until it’s even crispier. Just your call on that one.

The Eggs

My favorite way to eat any hash is with a nice runny egg or two. I kind of mix it up between over-easy, poached and sunny-side up. On this day I was feeling the sunny side up.

The easiest way to make sunny side eggs are to add a small dab of butter to a nonstick pan over medium heat. Once the butter is bubbling, crack in your eggs. Cook for about 90 seconds until the whites are mostly set. Then slide a plate right on top of your pan (or a lid if your pan has a lid) and cook for another 30 seconds. That will lightly steam the tops of the eggs and set them a bit more.

Yummier.

Slide the eggs on the hash and your ready to rock and roll.

One more time...

The thing that shocked me the most about this hash was the intense flavor. The veggies in this are way more flavorful than your standard potato. They have a subtle spice to them that’s really nice paired with the maple syrup (which is optional, but not really).

If you want to break up with potatoes for the weekend, give these veggies a shot.

I heart you.

As I cook more and more, I’ve found myself venturing into cuts of meat that are less popular – like offal.

There’s a few reasons for this really:

1) It’s boring to cook the same cut over and over again. It can be a fun challenge to figure out a new cut of beef.

2) It way more economical and efficient (and I believe important) to know how to eat the whole animal.

3) Assuming you cook it correctly, it can be really delicious.

I’m lucky enough to be married to someone who is pretty adventurous and will try almost anything once especially after I made her lengua tacos that she still talks about today.

Cooking beef heart was a new one for me though and there’s no doubt about it. It takes a little HEART to cook a big one.

Grilled Beef Heart

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 whole beef heart (about 2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Polenta or other starch

Gremolata: (From my short rib ragu recipe)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon zest and 1/2 of the juice
1/4 Cup fresh parsley, minced
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

1) Take your whole heart and, with a sharp knife, go over both sides of it removing any sinewy parts including skin and tendons. You should be left with a uniform piece of meat that resembles a very lean steak.

2) Cut the heart steak into 1/2 inch slices. Drizzle on some olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.

3) Grill heart strips on high heat for about 3 minutes per side for medium rare. Once the steaks come off the grill, let them rest for a few minutes before serving. Cover them with foil to keep them warm.

4) Mix gremolata ingredients together ahead of time and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes (30 would be good).

5) Serve a few heart strips over a starch (like polenta). Top with gremolata.

Preparing the Heart

When it comes to finding a whole beef heart, you might have to do some searching. It probably won’t be in your local Kroger. Ask around at butchers and check out farmer’s markets (where I got mine).

The good news is that if you find one, it’ll probably be dirt cheap. I was able to snag a grass-fed free-range heart for about $2/pound.

When I brought it home, Betsy was a bit squeamish about it I think. Mainly just because it looks like, well, a heart.

Yep. That's a heart.

The thing to remember about a heart is that it’s basically one big muscle with lots of compartments and valves made of tough tendons.

Grab a sharp knife and spend some time going over both sides of the heart, slicing off anything that looks chewy.

You should be left with a steak that is basically the leanest cut of meat you’ll ever see from a cow.

All cleaned up.

Cut this into 1/2 inch strips and drizzle on some olive oil. Then season them liberally with salt and pepper.

Season liberally...

Cooking the Heart

Unlike some cuts of offal which take a long time to prepare, heart is about as easy as it gets. You want to cook it like a steak basically: Hot and Fast.

So fire up that grill (or cast iron skillet) and crank the heat up to high. The heart steaks will take only about 3 minutes per side to be a nice medium rare.

Really easy to grill.

Be sure to let your heart rest for a few minutes when it comes off the grill before serving it. Just be sure to cover them with foil to keep them warm.

The Gremolata

I decided to serve my heart with a popular Italian topping called gremolata. It’s basically an acidic, herby, salty creation that goes really well with beef.

See where I'm going here?

Just mix everything together and let it marinate for a few minutes at room temperature. You’ll be left with this sauce that goes great on pretty much any cut of beef.

Put this on anything really.

Serving Options

I recommend serving these guys with some sort of starch. I chose polenta just to keep with the Italian theme but you could use egg noodles or a ton of other starches.

Assuming you do use polenta, just cook it according to the package and, if you want, you could mix in some grated cheese.

A side of veggies doesn’t hurt for this dish also because the heart and starch combo can be a bit heavy.

Price at a restaurant?

I cut into one of my heart strips just so you could see the finished product.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to not overcook these guys.

Perfect.

At the end of the day, I thought this was a really tasty cut of meat. Betsy didn’t love it, but she readily admitted that that was mainly because she couldn’t get over the fact that she was eating heart.

I found the flavor to be a lot more mild than some other offal cuts if you can get past the whole heart thing…

What do you think? Anybody else tried beef heart before?

This will completely warm your soul.

I’ve been cooking breakfast at the local homeless shelter for a few months now and I’m becoming an expert of the S.O.S breakfast. The shelter almost always has plenty of bread and lots of random things that I can cook in a light gravy and serve over toast.

It’s pretty much always a hit because it’s really filling, warming, and just a great way to start the day.

It doesn’t always have to be meat-based though. A few days ago I made a bit of a classier version of the dish for myself with a variety of mushrooms and spices and topped with fried eggs. It was probably my favorite breakfast dish I’ve made since my chicken and waffles brunch.

Mushrooms on Toast

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

8-10 ounces various mushrooms (I like a mix of crimini and shiitake)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic (one for the toast)
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
1/4 Cup heavy cream
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper
4 slices toast
4 large eggs, fried over easy or poached

Directions:

1) Gently rinse mushrooms or brush off dirt. Slice them thick.

2) Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook without turning for a few minutes to get a nice sear on the mushrooms. Then stir and continue to cook for another few minutes until they are just turning soft.

3) Add garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes to mushrooms and continue to cook until spices are fragrant, another minute probably.

4) Turn heat down to low and add cream. Also season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir together for another minute until cream thickens into a nice light sauce.

5) Toast bread and rub with a clove of garlic.

6) Remove mushrooms from pan and crack in eggs. Fry eggs (over-easy is recommended).

7) Spoon mushrooms over toast and serve with an egg on top. Garnish with red pepper flakes and thyme.

The Shrooms

There’s an eternal debate about whether or not you should wash mushrooms. I’ve heard the argument that it rinses off flavor or that the mushrooms absorb water. I don’t really buy either of those lines though. So I do lightly wash my mushrooms just to get off any visible dirt.

It’s hard to get mushrooms perfectly clean, but it makes me feel better to rinse them off for some reason. Call me crazy.

Various mushrooms...

For this dish it’s very important to not slice your mushrooms to thin. You want big meaty pieces of mushrooms on the toast.

So cut each mushroom into 3 or 4 slices and call it good.

Thick slices work better.

Besides the mushrooms, you really just need a few ingredients to make this dish excellent. You need a bit of cream to thicken up the sauce for the mushrooms. The fresh thyme pairs perfectly with mushrooms and the red pepper flakes, while optional, I think sort of make the dish by giving it a bit of heat.

I don’t think I need to explain why you should put garlic in this. You should put garlic in pretty much everything.

Good flavors!

Cooking the Shrooms

When it comes time to cook the mushrooms, you want to cook them hot and quick to get a nice sear on them. So add a good glug of olive oil to a large skillet (I like a nonstick skillet for this). Once the oil is hot, add your mushrooms in a single layer on the pan. Let them cook for a few minutes before turning them so they get a really nice brown color to them.

Up close on the shroom!

Once your mushrooms have softened a bit and browned around the edges (about 6-8 minutes probably), add the minced garlic, fresh thyme, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Continue to cook it for another minute until the spices and garlic are really fragrant.

If at any point, the pan is really dry, add a bit more olive oil.

Once the spices are hot and fragrant, turn the heat down to low on the pan and add your cream!

Action shot!

Stir this all together for another minute or two and your mushrooms are done. The cream should mix with the olive oil and make a really light sauce that’ll coat all the mushrooms.

It’s delicious stuff really.

This would be a good time to hit it with some salt and pepper also.

All finished!

The Toast

Obviously the mushrooms are important to this dish, but the toast is equally important. Having some flavorless piece of wimpy bread under these mushrooms is not an option. Get a nice sourdough or wheat bread and toast it well.

Then rub each piece of bread with a fresh garlic clove to give it plenty of flavor. You could butter the bread if you want, but it’s not really necessary.

Don't forget the garlic massage.

Then just pile your mushrooms high and deep on the toast!

Smells so good...

The Eggs

This dish was made for an over-easy egg on top. There’s just no two ways about it. You can use the same nonstick pan that you cooked your mushrooms in to cook a few eggs quickly. There should be plenty of oil still in the pan. Just crank up the heat to high and crack in a few eggs. Cook them for a few minutes until the whites are almost cooked through, then flip them carefully and cook them for another 10 seconds.

Throw them on top of the mushrooms (1 egg per piece of toast) and garnish the whole thing with some more thyme and red pepper flake.

The runny yolk is key!

This dish is a perfect example of how good simple things can be. There’s nothing really fancy about this dish. It’s just all about execution. Make sure to not overcook your eggs. Try to get a good sear on your mushrooms and turn down the heat when you add the cream so it doesn’t scald.

Simple things. But if you nail them, you’ll be a very happy eater.

Administrative Note: I’m taking Labor Day off from posting. You shouldn’t be reading the Internet anyway on Monday! Get outside and grill something! Check back on Tuesday though for a new Homemade Trial.

Doesn't get fresher than this!

This is what I refer to as a Flavor Bible salad which is something that happens frequently at the Macheesmo household. Usually, it means that I have one ingredient that I want to throw in a salad… say… peaches. I flip open my Flavor Bible to the peach section and pick four or five other things that go with it.

Toss them in a bowl with some dressing and it’s almost guaranteed to be delicious.

To kick this salad up a notch, I also passed on the store bought dressings and shook up some homemade lemon-tarragon dressing.

Summer Peach Salad

Yield: Serves 4 as an app.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large peach, pitted and diced
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cucumber, seeded and sliced thin
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Arugula or a mix of greens
Handful of fresh basil

Lemon-Tarragon Dressing:
1/3 Cup oil (I like a mix of light olive oil and canola oil)
1 lemon, juice only
1/4 Cup tarragon vinegar
1 small shallot, diced
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
1 Teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

1) Take your time dicing up the veggies. Slice the red onions thinly, Seed the cucumber and slice it thin. Pit the peach and roughly chop it.

2) Add greens to a large bowl and add crumbled feta. Then top with veggies and peaches. Dice basil and add to top of salad.

3) Whisk or shake dressing ingredients together.

4) Let people dress their own salad.

The Veggies

The veggies for this salad are nothing exotic, but all the flavors work really well together. So just go with it.

Salad Basics.

The hardest thing to dice up is actually the peach. I’ve seen people absolutely mutilate peaches when trying to get the pit out. Assuming you are working with a ripe peach, it’s a fairly straightforward operation though.

Start by finding the small crease in the top of the peach next to where the peach was connected to the tree. This crease shows you the direction that the pit is facing. If you don’t cut along the crease you’ll have a hard time getting the pit out.

Just follow the crease and run your knife all around the peach.

There's a science to the peach.

Then just as if you were cutting an avocado, lightly twist the two peach halves and they should easily pop apart. Once half will be ready to dice up and one half will have the pesky pit in it still.

Perfect!

You could use your knife to pry the pit out of the peach half, but honestly, I find it easiest just to grab the edge of it where it meets the peach skin and lightly pry it out of the peach. If your peach is ripe, it should pop right out!

Then you can just dice up the peaches. For this recipe, I recommend leaving the skin on so don’t worry about peeling them.

For the onions and cucumbers, just slice them up pretty thinly.

Big pieces are good.

Add all the veggies and peaches to a large bowl with the crumbled feta and greens.

This is a very colorful and pretty salad.

Almost done...

As a final touch, chop up some fresh basil and sprinkle it on top of the salad. Don’t skimp on the basil either. It’s an awesome flavor when paired with the peaches.

Don't skimp on the basil!

The Dressing

I originally just wanted to make a lemon dressing for this salad, but it wasn’t quite flavorful enough for my liking so I added some tarragon vinegar to kick it up a notch.

Store bought dressing sucks.

If you’re a longtime Macheesmo reader, you might remember that tarragon vinegar is my secret ingredient in my house salad dressing!

This stuff is really flavorful and perfect for salad dressings.

Secret salad dressing ingredient!

When serving this salad up just make sure to get a bit of everything in each bowl and I recommend letting people dress their own salads.

Delicious.

For a salad with only a few ingredients, it has a lot of flavor and you can really taste summer in it. The peaches are obviously the star, but they have a pretty awesome supporting cast also.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for a main course for peach week. There will be pork involved. And bourbon.