Asian Slaw with Shallot Oil & Amber Vinegar
Fresh and light, this Vietnamese-style salad is beautifully accented by a shallot oil and amber vinegar dressing.
Ingredients:
2-3 cups thinly-sliced Savoy cabbage
1 cup cherry tomatoes
¼ cup thinly-sliced green onion
1 Chantenay carrot, peeled and shredded
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
¼ cup crushed peanuts
¼ cup crispy fried shallots (see recipe)
Dressing:
3 tablespoons shallot oil
¼ cup amber vinegar
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Method:
1. Place cabbage in a serving bowl followed by all other prepared vegetables.
2. Mix together amber vinegar and shallot oil and pour onto salad right before serving. (Salad can be made up to a day in advance if not dressed.) Garnish top with peanuts and shallot crisps after tossing.
Crispy Fried Shallots
These crisp little nibbles are delicious scattered over salad greens or tucked into burgers and sandwiches.
Ingredients:
1 cup vegetable or olive oil
3 large shallots, peeled and sliced lengthwise about â…›-inch thick
Salt
Method:
1. Put oil in a small saucepan. Add shallots and place pot over medium heat. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes (turn down heat if they seem to be coloring too quickly), until they gradually become brown.
2. Place a fine-meshed sieve over a bowl. Transfer shallots to sieve and let drain well. Blot shallots on paper towels. They will become crisp as they cool. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Fried Duck Eggs Over Roasted Fall Vegetables
Shake up your breakfast routine with this hearty, healthy vegetable hash!
Ingredients:
1 pound Huckleberry gold potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 cups carrots, peeled, scrubbed and sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed of fronds and root ends and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for frying the eggs
4 duck eggs
1 teaspoon finely-chopped thyme
Sea salt
Method:
1. Heat the oven to 400°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
2. Using your fingers, toss the vegetables with the oil, salt and thyme in a bowl and then transfer to the baking sheet.
3. Put the vegetables in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Flip them gently with a spatula and continue to roast until the vegetables are browned and crispy, another 10 to 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmery. Carefully crack 1 duck egg and drop into the pan, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Fry until whites are set and crispy around the edges, but yolk is still runny, about 3-4 minutes. Repeat with remaining eggs.
5. Remove vegetables from the oven and top each individual serving with a fried duck egg.
Variation: This hash is extremely versatile: Clean out the crisper and use any vegetables you have on hand!
Matsutake Mushroom Stir-Fry with Black Rice
Topped with quail egg and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, this delicious recipe comes courtesy of Wei Kitchen.
Ingredients:
1 cup Venere black rice
1 pint Matsutake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into quarters
1 bunch green onion, diced, with white and green parts separated
2-4 tablespoons shallot oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups F&L chicken stock
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Pickled or soft-boiled quail eggs (see recipe and method)
Toasted black sesame seeds
Method:
1. Pour shallot oil into a large, hot sauté pan on high heat. Add mushrooms to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened and beginning to brown. Add in the white pieces of green onion, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Mix well and distribute mixture evenly across bottom of pan.
2. Carefully spoon rice evenly over your layer of vegetables Pour chicken stock into pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover, turn heat down to low and let simmer for 25 minutes or until rice is completely cooked and all stock has been absorbed by the rice. (Check the rice after 15 minutes to make sure bottom of rice is not burning and to mix evenly.)
3. Add the remaining green onion (diced green stalks) and mix well. Top each serving with your choice of pickled, or soft-boiled quail egg and a generous sprinkling of toasted black sesame seeds. If desired, drizzle lightly with Wei Kitchen shallot oil.
Smoky Scamorza Toast with Fried Eggs
Start your day off right by topping your avocado toast with some smoky fried Scamorza.
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread, such as this week’s Jewish Rye
8 slices Smoky Scamorza cheese
2 eggs
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Method:
1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with cooking spray. Once warm, place the cheese slices in the pan and fry lightly, flipping to fry each side. Remove and set aside, then crack both the eggs into the same skillet and fry until the whites are set, but the yolks are still runny.
2. Meanwhile, toast the bread in the toaster to your preferred setting. Then assemble your toast by layering 4 slices of the Scamorza to each slice, then topping with avocado slices and a fried egg each. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Garlic-Ginger Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry
Serve this fragrant stir-fry with rice or noodles; we also love topping each serving with a fried egg and extra hot sauce.
Ingredients:
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup hoisin sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly-grated ginger
1- 2 tablespoons Sun Sauce or Sriracha (optional)
1 pound stir-fry beef, thinly-sliced
2 tablespoons sesame oil or vegetable oil
8 ounces mushrooms, such as a mix of Cremini and Shiitake, washed and sliced if very large
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed of any tough ends
1 bunch Senposai greens
1 Lotus root, peeled, trimmed of root ends and thinly-sliced into rounds
1 yellow onion, cut into slices
1 bunch scallions, trimmed of root ends and minced
Method:
1. In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger and Sun Sauce until combined.
2. Put the beef slices in a plastic baggie or bowl. Pour ¼ cup of the garlic-ginger sauce over the pork and mix to coat evenly. Marinate at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge. Place remaining garlic-ginger sauce in the fridge as well.
3. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the sesame or vegetable oil and the pork. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pork from the skillet and set aside.
4. In the same skillet add the other tablespoon of oil and add all the prepped vegetables and greens. Cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pork and remaining garlic-ginger sauce. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with scallions and sesame seeds on top, if desired.
Duxelles Pasta with Olive Oil-Fried Duck Eggs
This light, creamy pasta is a show-stopper, topped with mushrooms duxelles and fried duck eggs.
Ingredients:
1 pound pasta
4 duck eggs
¾ cup F&L duxelles
2-3 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons freshly-chopped parsley
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Method:
1. Bring a large pot of heavily-salted water to a boil. Drop in pasta and cook according to package directions, or until al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat additional 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmery. Carefully crack 1 duck egg and drop into the pan, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Fry until whites are set and crispy around the edges, but yolk is still runny, about 3-4 minutes. Repeat with remaining eggs.
3. Toss pasta with remaining tablespoon of butter, duxelles and fresh parsley. Pile pasta into 4 individual serving bowls and top each with a fried duck egg. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Fried Corona Beans with Kale-Lemon Pesto
Pan-fried and then tossed with a bright kale-lemon pesto, these crispy beans are incredibly satisfying.
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked Corona beans (see method)
1 bunch Tuscan black kale
¾ cup Grana-style cheese
¾ cup toasted pecans
Zest and juice of 1-2 lemons
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1-2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for frying
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch salt
Method:
1. To prep the pesto: Roughly remove stems from kale. Add kale to a pot of boiling water. Stir and cook about 45 seconds, then remove and rinse with cold water. Pick up kale with your hands and mold into a ball, squeezing out all the excess water. Set aside. In a food processor, add the lemon zest, juice, salt, nutmeg, garlic and pecans. Pulse a few times to coarsely chop. Add in the kale, and pulse while adding olive oil. Taste for salt and add more oil if it is too dry.
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons additional olive oil to coat a large frying pan. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering, then add beans in a single layer. Stir to coat the beans, then let them sit long enough to brown on one side, about 3-4 minutes, before turning to brown the other side, also about 3-4 minutes. The beans should be golden and a bit crunchy on the outside.
3. Add kale-lemon pesto to the beans and toss to combine. Remove from heat and serve lightly sprinkled with additional Grana cheese.
Frizzled Leeks
These crispy leeks are a wonderful garnish for salads, soups or main dish proteins like beef, pork or salmon.
Ingredients:
1 medium leek, trimmed of roots and dark green tops
2 cups neutral-flavored oil, such as peanut, vegetable or canola
Sea salt
Method:
1. Thinly slice the white and light green parts of the leek into 3-inch-long julienne strips. Rinse in a bowl of water to remove the grit, drain and pat dry.
2. In a small saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat (it should reach a depth of about 1 inch) it reaches 325º and 350º on a candy thermometer. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low to hold the oil in this temperature range. Add a small handful of the leeks to the oil.
3. Fry the leeks in batches, stirring often with a metal slotted spoon, until the oil is barely bubbling and the leeks are light golden brown, 1-3 minutes. (The oil temperature will drop when you add the leeks; let it return to the starting temperature before frying the next batch.)
4. Lift the leeks from the oil using the slotted spoon, tap against the side of the pan to drain off excess oil, and transfer to a large plate lined with paper towels.
5. Sprinkle the leeks lightly with salt while they are still hot. Let cool to room temperature before using as a garnish.
Popcorn with Shallot Oil
Another fantastic recipe from Wei Kitchen: It’s the perfect snack to munch on while waiting for trick or treaters!
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons shallot oil
½ cup popcorn kernels
Salt, to taste
Method:
1. In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, heat shallot oil. Once hot, add 3 popcorn kernels and cover with the lid. After the 3 kernels pop, add in remaining kernels.
2. Cover with lid and gently shake pan while popcorn cooks. You should hear frequent popping. When popping sounds become less frequent (more than 2-3 seconds between pops), remove pan from heat and transfer popcorn to a bowl. Season with salt and additional shallot oil to taste.