Pickled Asparagus

We got some pickled asparagus from our farmers market a few weeks ago, and it was so amazingly delicious, I couldn't help but give it a try myself. This is the natural way of pickling, which doesn't use vinegar, but much like creating sauerkraut, uses a salt brine to pickle the vegetable. In this case, you can use some other good aromatic stuff like garlic, peppercorns, chili flakes, or herbs to flavor the brine, and thus the vegetable.

For my version, I decided to try 2 cloves garlic, and a smattering of peppercorns and dried red chili flakes. We just opened it up and tasted it yesterday, and while I'm not super excited about the brine for this one, the general concept worked, and even on a first try, it's very edible. I'll definitely be trying this again (and with other vegetables) to work out a brine I really like, before we have veggies of our own from our garden to pickle (if it ever stops raining, that is).

Ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed to fit quart jar
• 2 cloves garlic
• peppercorns
• chili flakes
• 1 liter water
• 50 grams sea salt (2.75-3 tbsp)

Directions

1. In a saucepan, mix salt and spices into the 1 liter of water.
2. Over medium heat, bring brine to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt.
3. Take saucepan off heat, and allow brine to cool to room temperature.
4. Put asparagus spears into jar.
5. Once brine has cooled, pour enough in to cover all the asparagus. If needed, add a small bag of brine on top of jar to hold asparagus down in the brine.
6. Let asparagus sit for 7 days. Asparagus should still be a bit crunchy, and have a bit of a sour flavor. If you'd like it a little more sour, let sit a few more days, or until flavor is how you like.
7. Refrigerate and keep until eaten.

Roast Chicken - The Jacques Pépin Way

We made a roast chicken the other day, and did it based on this recipe by Jacques Pépin. It turned out so well, we're complete converts. Essentially, you just remove the backbone from the chicken and flatten it, cover it with sauce, and then bake it in a heavy iron skillet. As always, when making a dish that uses a whole chicken, save the carcass, gizzards and leftover bones after eating to make a chicken stock.

Ingredients

• One whole roaster, approximately 4 lbs
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp dry white wine
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp tabasco or other pepper sauce (we used chili paste with garlic)
• 1 tsp herbes de Provence
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Using heavy kitchen shears, cut out the backbone of the chicken.
3. Turn the chicken so the chicken breast is facing up, and press down to crack the breast bone and flatten the chicken.
4. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients together into a sauce.
5. Turn the chicken breast-side down, and spread half the mixture over the chicken.
6. Place the chicken breast-side up in a heavy iron skillet, and spread the rest of the sauce over this side.
7. Over high heat, cook the chicken until just starting to brown (about 5 minutes), then transfer to the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and the chicken is cooked through (about 165 degrees F).
8. Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
9. Cut the chicken into 8 pieces (wing, leg, thigh and breast from each side), and serve (we served ours with oven-roasted potatoes).
10. Make sure to save the bones and carcass and make yourself a lovely chicken stock!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Since strawberries only last the first part of the summer, we thought we'd grab a nice half flat of them at our farmers market this weekend, and make a big batch of strawberry freezer jam. It's very simple, and actually the hardest part is just cutting the stems off the strawberries. For our version, you need pectin that is calcium activated rather than sugar activated, as this allows you to control more carefully how sweet the jam is (since you don't need to add a ton of sugar to activate the pectin). Last year we used Paloma's no sugar pectin and really liked it, but they didn't have it at the store we went to this weekend, so we got the Ball brand, but we didn't like the recipe in the Ball pectin, so we kind of mixed the two.

Ingredients

• 8 cups strawberries, de-stemmed and mashed (we found this was just about the whole half-flat, minus a good handful to munch on)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups honey (depending on your taste)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups water
• 1 packet of pectin.

Directions

1. Heat up the water, lemon juice and honey in a large pot until the honey dissolves and the liquid simmers.
2. Add the pectin and whisk vigorously until the liquid boils.
3. Boil for about 1 minute, continuing to whisk vigorously.
4. Add mashed strawberries to the pot and stir vigorously for 1 minute to make sure the pectin liquid gets mixed well with all the berries.
5. Ladle the jam into jars (ours took up 8 pint-sized jars) leaving about a half inch to an inch open at the top and let cool to room temperature.
6. Tighten the lids on the jars and place in the freezer.
7. Jam will keep for a long time in the freezer, and probably several weeks in the fridge once thawed.

Csirkepaprikás (paprika chicken) with nokedli (dumplings)

This is a classic Hungarian dish, and along with cabbage rolls, one of our very favorite things in the whole world (though I find myself saying that about a lot of food, to be honest) :) It's quite simple to make, and you'll love it every time.

Nokedli

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup water
• Large pinch of salt

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, measure out the 2 cups of flour, and create a well in the middle.
2. Beat your two eggs well, and then pour them into the well in the flour.
3. Add your pinch of salt to the egg, and then mix egg and flour together with a fork.
4. Adding a little bit of water at a time, mix flour/egg mixture with a fork until you come out with a sticky dough.
5. Boil salted water in a large pot.
6. Pinch or cut off about 1-inch pieces of dough and drop them into boiling water. Stir lightly to prevent them sticking to the bottom. When they begin to float, they are about done cooking.
7. Fry dumplings in bacon fat or butter until lightly browned.

Csirkepaprikás

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 can tomatoes (crushed or diced)
• 1 green bell pepper (we left this out)
• 2 lbs chicken (breast or thighs)
• 1 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2-3 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp hot paprika (optional)
• Lard or bacon fat

Directions

1. In a large pot, cook onion in bacon fat over medium heat until soft and transparent.
2. Add the chicken and paprika, mix together well, and cook until chicken begins to turn white.
3. Add the tomatoes and pepper, and cook until chicken is nearly done.
4. Mix the sour cream and flour together, and add to the pot.
5. Stir together well, and leave over heat until mixture is hot again.
6. If you like it with more sauce, you can add a bit more sour cream or some chicken stock.
7. Taste and add paprika if needed.
8. Serve over nokedli, and with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Coq au vin blanc

Coq au vin is a classic French chicken stew, usually made with red wine. This is a white wine variation, based on a recipe from Gourmet Magazine. It's really delicious, and one of our favorite meals. Makes enough for about 4 people. We forgot to get potatoes this time, so we served it without, but it is very good with it as well. As always, when making a dish that uses a whole chicken, save the carcass, gizzards and leftover bones after eating to make a chicken stock.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (fryer or roaster), backbone discarded and chicken cut French style into 8 pieces (wing, thigh, leg, and breast from each side) - you can easily do this yourself with a pair of heavy kitchen shears
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2 medium-large leeks, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 1 bunch carrots, halved diagonally
• 1 cup dry white wine (preferably Alsatian Riesling)
• 1 1/2 pound small (2-inch) red potatoes
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
• 1 tsp dijon or herbes de provence mustard
• Fresh lemon juice to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F with rack in middle.
2. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and a rounded 3/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Heat oil with 2-3 tablespoon butter in a wide 3 1/2- to 5-quart heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then brown chicken in 2 batches, turning once, about 10 minutes total per batch.
4. Transfer chicken to a plate.
5. Cook leeks, shallot, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in remaining cooking fat, covered, over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until leeks are pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Add chicken, skin sides up, with any juices from plate, carrots, and wine and boil until liquid is reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Cover pot and braise chicken in oven until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.
8. While chicken braises, peel potatoes, then generously cover with cold water in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
9. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes.
10. Drain in a colander, then return to saucepan. Add parsley and shake to coat.
11. Stir crème fraîche and mustard into chicken mixture and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, then add potatoes.

Crème Fraîche

This one is super easy and delicious. Crème fraîche is a cultured cream, similar to sour cream, and making it yourself from really good quality cream is easy and turns out very well. Equipment you'll need is a saucepan, a quart-sized canning jar, and a instant-read thermometer.

Ingredients

• 1 pint heavy cream (fresh or pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1/8 tsp mesophilic bacteria starter or 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature

Directions

1. Put some water in the saucepan, and the cream in the canning jar.
2. Put the saucepan on the stove over medium heat, and lower the jar partway into the saucepan, so that it's nearly touching the bottom.
3. Hold the thermometer in the cream.
4. When the temperature of the cream reaches about 86 degrees, remove from heat and add the bacteria starter or buttermilk.
5. Stir gently to mix in the starter or buttermilk, and the put the lid on the jar.
6. Put the jar somewhere and in something that will keep it at least around room temperature.
7. Let sit for around 9-18 hours, until the cream has notably thickened and smells like sour cream.
8. Refrigerate for at least a day before using.

Paneer Cheese

Paneer is a simple, un-cultured cheese used often in Indian food, and is basically identical to queso blanco. It goes great in curries, or you can slice it or cube it and season it and fry it for a snack, or crumble it and put it on tacos. All you need is a pot, milk, a colander, an acid and some cheesecloth.

Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon whole milk, non-homogenized and non-ultra-pasteurized
• 1/4 cup vinegar (apple cider or white), or lemon juice

Directions

1. Scald the pot and cheesecloth with boiling water.
2. Pour milk into pot and bring to a foaming boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a slotted spoon (be careful, the milk boils over quite suddenly).
3. Remove pot from heat, and slowly pour in the vinegar or lemon juice, while stirring gently in one direction.
4. Continue stirring for 30-60 seconds as curds start to form.
5. Cover the pot and let sit for about 10 minutes.
6. Lay the cheesecloth in a colander and place either in the sink or over a large mixing bowl.
7. Scoop the large curds out of the pot and into the cheesecloth with a slotted spoon.
8. Pour the rest of the liquid through the cheesecloth, so that the rest of the small bits of curds get filtered out.
9. Pull the cheesecloth together so that the curds are sitting in the bottom.
10. Rinse the curds out under cold water, twisting the cheesecloth and lightly pressing the curds to squeeze liquid out.
11. Tie some kitchen twine to the excess bit of cheesecloth and hang over sink or bowl to drain for about 4-5 hours (less will do if you're in a pinch).
12. Take cheese out of cheesecloth and store in your favorite container in the refrigerator until needed for cooking or eating.