Category: Tasty Recipes

Pi Day Math for Cooks


First of all – Happy Pi Day!
If you are a math nerd, this is a fun day!
March 14 or 3.14…and I did not just admit to being a nerd?!?

What is pi?
It is the ratio of the circle’s circumference to its diameter.

So here, my lovely Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron Tarte Tatin pan has a diameter of 9 1/2 inches. What is the circumference you ask?
That is where my handy little mysterious irrational number comes in! The circumference is the diameter (as measured by my whimsical tape measure) multiplied by pi.
The circumference of my Le Creuset pan:
pi d = C
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884+ X 9.5 = 29.845130209+
About 30″ around.
OK, I am off to bake a 30″ circumference apple tarte tatin!
Did you enjoy some pie on Pi Day?

(Portions of this post were written for Pi Day 2008, as some things never change, and pi is one of them).

Salade des Haricots Verts et Pâté

A Salad of Haricots Verts and Chicken Port Pâté
Over Butter Lettuce
With Shallots and Parsley
Drizzled with Dijon Vinaigrette

As you may have read in a previous post, we are hosting another themed dinner party soon, this one honoring Jackie. So I am researching my cookbooks for the party’s menu. First I came across the fabulous green risotto in Cooking for Madam, and now I am inspired by Marta’s Salade D’Haricots Verts. This is no ordinary green bean salad! It is paired with pâté! Marta prepares hers with foie gras. It would be excellent with a salmon, or seafood, or vegetable pâté as well.

Here, tender butter lettuce leaves are arranged on a plate with lots of chopped fresh parsley, add haricots verts and similar sized slices of chicken port pâté. Drizzle with Dijon vinaigrette and garnish with thinly sliced shallots.
The haricots verts were pre-cooked until just tender, shocked in ice water to preserve color. Serve all the ingredients at room-temperature for full flavor. The textures are luxurious and the cut of the pâté mirroring the beans makes a lovely presentation.
Great for a luncheon with crusty French bread and a glass of Grüner Veltliner, or as a smaller portion for a start to an elegant dinner.

We continue to be in love with Grüner Veltliner. This darling Austrian white wine pairs so well with many luncheon salads. I suspect it has something to do with the time of day as well as the wine’s character: Fresh. Juicy. Complex. Bright. Balanced. Intriguing.
If you have any ideas for our upcoming Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dinner party please leave a comment!

More Beets

The Beet Fest Continues…

Breakfast Borscht
With a Poached Egg and Rye Toast

We were pleasantly surprised at this wonderful pairing for breakfast. The gooey poached egg took the place of sour cream, and with the earthy, slightly sweet and sour borscht, it was a winning combination. And the rye toast was the perfect complement. If you happen to make A Borscht Like Nana’s do keep some aside, or freeze, to serve for breakfast or brunch. You’ll have a delightfully unusual breakfast dish, with the simple addition of a poached egg and toast.
When making A Borscht Like Nana’s, the greens are removed from the root. The beets are simmered in water until tender. I kept the greens refrigerated until a few days later and made this vibrant side dish.

I also reserved one of the cooked beets, it didn’t go into the borscht, it was wrapped up and went into the refrigerator to pair with the greens later on.

Beet Root, Beet Greens
With Garlic, Shallot, Raspberry Vinegar
Briefly sauté minced shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes in half olive oil half butter. Then add chopped beet greens, cook until just about wilted and tender. Add the one diced beet and heat through. Finish with a splash of raspberry vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
This concludes The Beet Fest:
Oh, and here’s one more, a great beet recipe from my archives:
What is your favorite way to serve beets?

Mexican Lime Tart


Mexican Lime Tart
One Local Ingredient: Lime

Citrus aurantifolia Swingle
English – Mexican lime, key lime, West Indian lime
Spanish – lima ácida, lima chica, limón chiquito
French – limette, limettier acide
German – limett
Italian – limetta
Dutch – lemmetje, limmetje
East Africa – ndimu
Philippines – dalayap, dayap
Malaya – limau asam
India – nimbu, limbu, nebu, lebu or limun
Brazil – limao galego, lintao miudo
Egypt and the Sudan – limûn baladi
Morocco – doc
Do you know another?
Crust – graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter
Filling – Mexican lime juice and zest, sweetened condensed milk, eggs
Garnish – powdered sugar, Mexican limes and leaves, whipped cream

The blossoms are very fragrant and the leaves make a pretty garnish. The fruit is mature when it turns yellow or at least greenish-yellow. The time from bloom to edible fruit is about 3 months.

The Mexican Lime Tree
So here is the little guy today, planted in October 2008. I’ve had an endless supply of limes from the beginning. One thing I’m not happy about: this tree has very sharp thorns. Picking the fruit can be dangerous. I found out in my research that there is a thornless variety. Too. Late.

It is an ever bearing tree in this climate which makes my brother, Bill, happy. When he stops by there is always an organic lime on hand for his Corona. And plenty of limes with which to make Margaritas and Pisco Sours! If you are inspired to make a similar tart or pie, the Internet is awash in key lime pie recipes using the simple ingredients listed above.
My longtime blogger friend Simona of Briciole blog is hosting Fresh Produce of the Month and February’s produce was citrus. I am speeding this tart over to her in hopes she can include it in the round-up. Simona, this limes for you!

A Borscht Like Nana’s

My Nana (paternal grandmother) was born in Kiev, Russia in 1894. In the 1960’s Nana and Papa lived a few miles from our house in Chicago. I remember coming home from school in the winter to kitchen windows that were all steamed up. Nana was at our house and she was making soup! I vividly remember Nana’s borscht. It tasted sweet, and sour, and it had lots of meat, short ribs to be exact.
Cookbook author Barbara Kafka has a recipe in her fabulous book, SOUP: A Way of Life, that reminds me of that borscht. She says she made it for her father who was from Slutzk, a shtetl (small town with a large Jewish population) near Minsk. Barbara’s Red Russian Soup tastes quite similar to how I remember my Nana’s soup.
My mother sometimes took notes while watching her mother-in-law cook, and that is how we were able recreate her delicious Meat Soup. Unfortunately, we have no recipe of my Nana’s borscht so I am grateful to Barbara for her excellent recipe and the inspiration for me to make A Borscht Like Nana’s.
To make this wonderful soup, you can follow the directions in my previous post, BEET SOUP WITH TRUFFLE OIL (link at the bottom of this post) but do not purée. Additionally, simmer 3 lbs. beef short ribs in water until butter tender, 2+ hours. Trim the fat and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Add the de-fatted meat broth and meat to the beet soup. Simmer. Serve over a cubed boiled potato. Top the meaty borscht with a dollop of sour cream (if OK to serve milk with meat).