Tag: garlic

Skordalia
I have a fascination with recipes that utilize ingredients that seem to have lost their value: vegetable tops and bottoms, stalks and skins, bones and bits, crusts and scraps. I don’t like wasting food, so when I discover something that allows me to use these delicious rejects in a creative way, I get a little thrill out of it. And do you wanna know what’s laying around our home that’s sometimes challenging to use before it becomes hard as a rock and “useless?”

Bread. Lots and lots of effing bread.

My partner bakes some of the best damn bread around and posts saliva inducing photographs of it on our Instagram, but alas, we can only eat so much of it at once, and sometimes we don’t consume all of it before it goes stale. Toward the beginning of his bread kick, we actually started to give the bread away to our friends, but even that didn’t keep us out of the clear, and I was starting to hear creaky protests coming from our food processor that seemed to say, “Please, God, not one more batch of breadcrumbs. PLEASE, NO MORE.” Luckily for our food processor, and for us, I discovered a type of recipe that changed the way I cooked with bread.

Bread sauces.

There are several, actually. The Brits have one (it’s just called “bread sauce,” because of course it is). Romesco sauce is also technically a bread sauce, utilizing stale bread to bind all its parts together. There’s even a Peruvian stale bread and cheese sauce that’s intended to be served with potatoes. I cycled through a few of different variations of this style of disposing of Nate’s hearty loaves, but it didn’t take long for me to stumble upon what became far and away my favorite one of the bunch: skordalia. Skordalia is easy to make, versatile in its use, keeps for a long time, and it focuses on two of my all time favorite flavors: garlic and lemon.

Side note: using a good stale French loaf would be great for this, but in our house, we like sourdough. It really latches onto the lemon flavor, which is the backbone of the sauce. Also, you don’t even need to use stale bread for this recipe, just know that you can. I mean, you’re dousing it in oil and lemon juice and water then blending it into oblivion, so don’t get too hung up on that.

Skordalia:
- One 1” slice of stale bread from a large, hearty loaf of bread (we like sourdough)
- 6–8 cloves of garlic (or, like, more if you’re into that)
- A heaping ½ cup of slivered almonds
- ½ cup olive oil, divided
- Juice of one whole juicy lemon
- ¾ cup of water
- Salt to taste
In a skillet on medium heat, warm ¼ cup of the olive oil until it begins to shimmer. While the pan is coming up to heat, cut your stale bread into 1-inch cubes. Think of it like you’re making some big-ass croutons, because, well, you kind of are. When the oil is ready, add the bread to the pan. It should begin to fry immediately, making a satisfying “deep frying” noise (you know what I’m talking about). If it doesn’t, remove the bread and wait until it gets hotter and try again.

Fry the bread cubes on all sides, moving them around the pan from time to time. You have a couple options here: fry the bread until it’s golden brown OR until it’s just a little more than that. This will determine the flavor character of your skordalia. Golden brown bread will be a nuttier, milder, and buttery skordalia whereas slightly charred bread will be a more sour, punchy, and smoky skordalia; they both have their place. If you’re using your skordalia as a dip, meant to be eaten more on its own, I’d opt for golden bread since it’ll be milder. If you’re using your skordalia to accompany a meal as a hearty bread sauce component, then I’d do charred bread since it’ll stick out a little bit more. The sourness of the charred flavor bonds with the lemon really nicely, and the smokiness responds really well to meat or roasted vegetables.

Once your bread is fried to your desired shade of sexiness, remove it from the pan and add it to a food processor or blender along with all the remaining oil in the pan, the garlic, and slivered almonds. Pulse the ingredients to break them down, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently, then give it a good long blend to get them as fine as you can. While the ingredients are whirring away, consolidate the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil, water, and lemon juice into a vessel with a lip so you can slowly pour it out in a steady stream without making a mess. Through the opening at the top of the food processor or blender, slowly add all of the liquid, allowing your skordalia to loosen up and emulsify. You’ll probably need to let it blend on its own for a minute or two afterwards to break down the last few chunks. When finished, your skordalia should be smooth and resemble hummus. Salt your skordalia to taste and pulse to incorporate. Serve immediately or store in your fridge for up to two weeks.

Side note: if you’re taking your skordalia out of the fridge to use for later, we’d recommend having it come up to room temperature on its own as opposed to microwaving it, since the application of heat really alters the fresh lemon juice flavor. That being said, don’t let that stop you from adding a dollop of this goodness to a lunch on-the-go that you’ll heat up at work or wherever you go later. It’ll still be delicious, just know that it’ll be a little different. The garlic flavor will come out more and the lemon will play less of a role.

Yield: about 2 cups
September 10, 2017
Smoky Baba Ghanouj
The baba ghanouj recipe is a little nod to the only Middle Eastern restaurant from my Oregonian hometown of Coos Bay/North Bend, simply named Cafe Mediterranean. My family is reasonably certain that when they first opened that we generated a venerable chunk of their revenue. Back in the early 2000’s, living in such a small town, we hadn’t really ever been exposed to food like that before, and it was such a welcome influence that it sent us on a mezze kick in our own kitchen that lasted for years. They had a strong menu, but for us, the star of the show was their baba ghanouj. One day, we asked for the recipe, and they graciously revealed the secret ingredient that made it so addictive: a little kiss of liquid smoke. It ties everything together so nicely, opening up a larger dialogue between the eggplant and the garlic.

Since then, we’ve tweaked it to make it our own, for instance, roasting the eggplant longer for a deeper flavor and adding a lot more garlic. We also boost the smoky flavor by garnishing the dish with a little dusting of smoked paprika.

Smoky Baba Ghanouj:
- 1 large eggplant, halved
- ¼ cup tahini
- 4–5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Juice of 1 lemon
- A drop of liquid smoke
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil for garnish
- Smoked paprika for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil then lightly oil the surface. Roast the eggplant on the baking sheet skin side up for about 2 hours or until the flesh of the eggplant is very tender.

When the eggplant is cool enough to handle with your hands, scoop the flesh out of the skins and place into a food processor with the tahini, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, and liquid smoke. Pulse at first, breaking everything up into more manageable sizes for the blades, then blend steadily until completely smooth. Taste test and add salt to your liking. When finished, place the baba ghanouj into a serving dish and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and a light dusting of smoked paprika.
July 31, 2016
Warm Broccolini Salad
It really is a shame that people don’t eat more vegetables. Too often they take the back seat, pushed to the side of the plate only to be overshadowed by protein, and we think that this mentality is problematic. Yes, protein is important, but if that’s all you think about, that’s all you really get. Nothing you decide to eat (or cook, for that matter) deserves to be an afterthought.

This is a case argument for the multi-course meal at home. Not only does it create more of an experience for what you’re about to eat, it shifts the focus of the eater. You aren’t barraged with a bunch of things together on one plate that you’re forced to eat all at once, and often convinced to prioritize. Instead, you take your time, savoring one thing after another. The multi-course meal affects the cook as well. If you’re creating things to be eaten one at a time, then every course needs to be independent and be as delicious as possible. A vegetable dish meant to stand out on its own is far better than a vegetable side that is meant to compliment something else, and that’s exactly what this dish we’ve made does: it stands out.

This salad is really simple, but still possesses many of the primary flavors needed to feel “complete.” While it can certainly be made in a large skillet or frying pan, our favorite method of cooking is actually a wok or a grill. These methods promote a good sear on the broccolini quickly, more easily avoiding the mushy side effects of over cooking. The vibrant and green stalks still have a little bit of a crunch as well as a slightly blistered exterior. You can make this for a group of people easily, but it also makes for a delicious finger food in about five minutes. We like picking up the stalks and eating the florets first that have sopped up the spicy garlic and lemon dressing and finishing with the crunchy stems.

Warm Broccolini Salad:
- 2 bunches broccolini
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 peppercorns
- 1 large clove garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves, packed, roughly chopped, for garnish
- ½ ounce feta cheese, crumbled, for garnish
In a mortar and pestle, pound the red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, and peppercorns until they become a powder. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, just grind it all up in a spice or coffee grinder. Add the garlic clove to the spices and pound until the mixture becomes paste-like, or just finely chop the garlic and stir together with the spices. Transfer the paste to a small bowl and stir in the olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt to taste then set aside.

Prepare the broccolini for cooking by slicing down the stalks, following the branches of the florets; you want nice long strands of broccolini, so let the natural growth of the stalks guide your knife. Heat a large pan (or wok) on high heat then add the vegetable oil and broccolini quickly, cooking until bright green and a little sear develops on some parts of the florets and stalk, about 2 minutes. Give the broccolini a quick stir/flip and cook for 2 more minutes after adding a teaspoon of water to the pan and putting a lid on the pan. Make sure the broccolini is cooked through, then remove from the pan and transfer to a bowl.

While the broccolini is steaming, add the olive oil and lemon juice mixture as well as the parsley leaves and toss until the broccolini is thoroughly coated in the dressing and herbs, then top with the crumbled feta. Serve immediately.

Serves 2–4.
July 20, 2016
Chicken Shawarma Dinner
First and foremost, this is a multi-recipe post! Nothing here is too complicated, and when you make (and eat) all these things together, the result is immensely satisfying; it’s a favorite weeknight—yes, weeknight—spread for us. This is a dinner that really exemplifies some of our favorite flavors: bold spices, fresh herbs, and obscene amounts of garlic. While we understand that this recipe might not be exactly authentic (it isn’t), we can promise that it’s completely delicious. The styles of shawarma, after all, are completely dependent on what’s around and what’s good, and we used what was in our pantry. We can also promise that this is one of the easiest and quickest smorgasbords you can make to impress a small crowd. It makes a great sit-down meal, but also could promote casual grazing at a party. We’ve tried it both ways: 10/10, would recommend.

The zhoug was inspired from the Jerusalem cookbook, and has since found its way into many dinners of ours. Call us predictable, but we are suckers for fresh and spicy sauces that brighten things up.

Parsley and Mint Zhoug:
- 1 cup of fresh parsley leaves, packed, some stems are okay
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves, packed
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 green chiles, stems removed
  - Note: You can use whatever green chiles might be available to you for this such as jalapeños or serranos. We love using Thai chiles, and for this particular recipe we us 4–5. It all depends to how spicy you want this condiment to be.
- 1 heaping teaspoon of ground cumin
- Juice of 1 lemon, seeds removed
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt to taste
Combine parsley, mint, garlic, chiles, cumin, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse the ingredients together, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl. Once the mixture resembles a thick paste, keep the blade running and pour in the olive oil through the top slowly, creating an emulsion. Season with salt and double check the mixture for smoothness, pulsing occasionally if needed. Serve in a small serving bowl.

Chicken Shawarma:
- 1 pound of chicken breasts, trimmed of silver skin
- Kosher salt
- Shawarma spice mix:
  - 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  - 2 teaspoons curry powder
  - 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  - 1 teaspoon sumac
  - 1 teaspoon paprika
  - ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  - ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  - ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Oil as needed
- ½ large sweet onion, thinly sliced into strips
Rinse the chicken pat dry with a paper towel. Fillet meat into pieces with even thicknesses; about an inch. Cover one side of the meat liberally in salt and spices and set aside.

Bring a pan to medium high heat with half a tablespoon of oil or so and place the chicken in the pan. As the meat cooks, salt and cover the other side with salt and spices. Cook until the chicken starts to whiten up the sides, then flip to finish cooking. Test the chicken for doneness (160-165°F) then remove from the pan to rest for 10 minutes before serving. While the chicken rests, add the onions to the pan and a little bit of water to help the drippings from the pan release. Cook onions until they become soft, translucent, and have sopped up all the drippings. Remove from the pan and serve.

Serve with pita, hummus, baba ghanouj, and, if you can swing it, throw together a two second Greek salad.

Serves 4.
July 10, 2016
Tiger Cry Steak
This recipe from my childhood grew up over the years as I grew as a cook and — in its final form — it has changed into something simpler and more representative of my relationship with Nate, highlighting both of our strengths in the kitchen. Nate is all about technique (and very good at cooking meat) while I tend to be more of the flavor-combiner/mad scientist sauce making type, and this recipe relies on the success of both of these schools of thought. Nate’s well executed marinated steak is the perfect platform for this fresh herb chimichurri which will sear your face off and keep you coming back for more.

Tiger Cry Steak:
- 2 beef or buffalo steaks (any kind will do, but we used buffalo top sirloin), 8 ounces each, trimmed of fat and silver skin
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, tender white interior sliced thinly, green and husks discarded
- 2 tablespoons thin soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Mix the pepper, lemongrass, soy sauce, and lime juice together to make a quick marinade then transfer to a plastic bag big enough to hold the meat. Add the steaks to the bag, distribute the marinade evenly, then marinate the meat in the fridge for a couple of hours to overnight (overnight is best). Before cooking, allow the steaks to come up to room temperature and be patted dry.

On the grill or stovetop, cook the steaks for 4–5 minutes on one side to create a nice sear, then flip them and cook for another 3–5 minutes. For medium-rare steak, test the temperature with a meat thermometer to make sure the interior is around 135 degrees. Allow meat to rest for 10 minutes, reserving the meat juices, then serve with chimichurri.

Thai Style Chimichurri:
- 2 cups of fresh cilantro leaves, packed, some stems are okay.
- ½ cup of fresh mint leaves, packed
- 4–5 thai chilies, stems removed
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of fish sauce
- ⅓ cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- Leftover meat drippings
In a food processor, combine the cilantro, mint, chiles, shallot, and garlic and pulse until the ingredients are all finely minced. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, vegetable oil, and meat drippings together into a vessel with a spout and pour into the food processor with the blade running. Blend until it becomes a smooth sauce. Serve with rested meat.

Serves 4.
July 4, 2016
The Bowl
Our ideas about eating and cooking evolved pretty dramatically this year. Up until this point, things had been pretty willy-nilly/do as you please in the kitchen, and for the most part, we were totally okay with that. Our lives were filled with carbohydrates and dietary fat (beautiful, beautiful carbohydrates and fat) through the forms of heaping noodle dishes, creamy pastas, pizza, and indiscriminate amounts of grilled cheese sandwiches made on home-baked bread and cooked in quantities of butter only attainable through the accurate method of eyeballing it—”Is that a good amount?” I would say. “Yeah. That’s good. Real good,” he would say.

You can probably guess where this story is going.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that something was amiss, well, ahem, heavier. Luckily, Nate knew exactly what to do to help solve the problem. You’d never guess, but he’s about eighty pounds lighter than he used to be. At his heaviest, his doctor told him that he was pre-diabetic and had high cholesterol and fatty liver disease, and as you can imagine, this forced him to consider some changes. Like with all other problems he’s faced with, what did he do?

He analyzed the hell out of it.

He started exercising regularly and completely rebooted his diet through lots of painstaking and determined research, losing the weight in a matter of months. He knew that if he did it once, he could do it again, so we started counting our calories in an attempt to eat a more balanced diet. Since then, between the two of us, we’ve lost over 50 pounds (of body fat, not counting the muscle we’ve put on). Putting our heads together, we strove to fit some of our favorite flavors into the parameters of our food goals, and have actually created quite a few outstanding meals that have become go-tos for us. This is one of them.

We’ve come to a conclusion: healthy food that’s bland is unacceptable. Period. If it doesn’t taste good, then you won’t keep eating that way. Cooking uninteresting healthy food isn’t a sustainable strategy for healthy living—leaving out carbs, one of the biggest dieting hacks that’s cropped up in the last ten years or so is most often counter productive as well. One of the ways that we’ve tried to make our meals more delicious is making them look less like a healthy shopping list and more like a complete meal with inspiration and flavor. Everything on the menu should work together; tailor all of your ingredients to directly correlate with each other, and the meal you’re making will be nutritious and satisfying. This is what separates diet from cuisine.

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“We’ve come to a conclusion: healthy food that’s bland is unacceptable. Period.”

This meal is inspired by a simple Southeast Asian staple: chicken and rice. We’ve transformed it into a hearty, easily made to be on-the-go meal known simply to us as “The Bowl”; packed with flavor coming from well seasoned protein and quinoa, avocado, fresh herbs, and a remarkably addictive sauce. While it isn’t the most photogenic thing in the world, don’t let this sauce’s humble appearance fool you. It’ll brighten up any savory dish it meets. While we heartily recommend using a mortar and pestle to make the sauce, it will still be delicious if you use a blender or food processor.

Bowl Sauce:
- ⅓ cup peeled fresh ginger, cut into thin rounds against the grain
- ⅓ cup fresh garlic, peeled, stem nubs removed
- 4–6 Thai chilies (or 2–3 serranos), stems removed
- ¼ cup white shiro miso
- ⅓ cup Thai light soy sauce
- ¼ cup white distilled vinegar
- Juice of half a lime
If making in a mortar and pestle, pound the ingredients in succession according to the order listed above. The more fibrous aromatics will take more work, so starting with them first allows them to get more attention. Once the ginger, garlic, and chiles have been pounded into a thick paste, stir in the miso, soy sauce, distilled vinegar, and lime juice into the mortar and pestle and stir gently.

If making in a food processor, add the ingredients in the same order. Pulse the ginger, garlic, chilies, and miso together until it resembles a thick paste. In a liquid measuring cup (or something with a spout) mix the soy sauce, vinegar, and lime juice together, then pour through the top of the food processor or blender while the blade is running. Blend until smooth.

Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for about a week, if it lasts that long.

Quinoa:
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 tablespoon curry paste of your choosing (optional)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Salt to taste
Wash the quinoa in a strainer under running water and drain well. On medium heat in a deep sauce pan, toast the quinoa until it begins to give off a nutty aroma, giving it a stir from time to time. Add the curry paste if you’re using it and chop it with a spoon, making sure it’s well incorporated among the quinoa, then pour in the chicken broth. Bring the heat up to high and wait for the broth to boil. Once it has, put on a lid and bring the heat down to low.

Cook for 15 minutes, lidded and undisturbed on low, then turn the heat off and allow it to rest for five minutes. Remove the lid, fluff, add salt to taste, and set aside to cool.

The Bowl:
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 8 ounces chicken breast, seared and seasoned with salt and pepper
- 2 cups greens (we like spinach)
- Half of a large avocado
- Bowl sauce
- Chopped cilantro
- Cucumber slices
Divide the quinoa, chicken, greens, and avocado into two bowls and serve sauce on the side. Garnish with cilantro and cucumber slices.

Serves 2.
June 15, 2016
Nate’s Pinot Noir Marinara
Marinara is a mother sauce that you can use in all sorts of Italian dishes, from spaghetti to pizza to lasagna to meatball subs, even just for dipping breadsticks.
Jon and I make marinara differently. His turns out smoky and rich. Mine is more bright and floral with a slight acidic edge. (I think it’s because of the bay leaf and I put waaay less wine in the sauce.) You can’t make marinara wrong, but sometimes the freshness is nice. You can customize the sauce for the dish as you see fit.

Nate’s Pinot Noir Marinara
- 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbs. dried Mediterranean oregano
- 1 tbs. fennel seed
- 1 10-inch sprig rosemary, leaves removed, minced (reserve the stick)
- ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cup pinot noir red wine
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Marinara_02

In a large heavy-bottomed stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sweat the onions (cook them until translucent), stirring constantly. Add tomatoes and stir. Add everything else, and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low heat and cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring frequently. The sauce will reduce about halfway.

You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Yields scant 3 pints.
April 8, 2015