Melitzanosalata and visions of the future

When I was in my 20's, I had a vision of what my life would look like when I was older and things were easier. Back then, if we had enough money to get through the week, there was never enough time to get everything done. If we had time, it meant we had no money. I always supposed that we'd know we had made it when we had both at the same time.

One of my specific visions was of a blustery Sunday afternoon. Jim and I would be in a cafe with large windows, overlooking the water. We'd be staying warm with hot drinks, not saying much, just enjoying the scenery and each other's company. I imagined that this place was somewhere in Galveston. In fact, I thought I was imagining Hill's Seafood, a cafeteria-style restaurant on Galveston Bay with a second-story dining room. Having grown up on the Gulf Coast, hanging out at the beach on a chilly day was a luxury. It meant that you had all the time in the world and you got to enjoy the beach all by yourself, since it was winter.

Sometime in the 90's, Hill's Seafood was bought out by a chain restaurant. Then the building was destroyed in Hurricane Ike. We haven't eaten seafood in years, anyway. I forgot about my vision of the future.

Jim and I took a trip to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary last year in August. It had been a ridiculously hot summer and we both wanted to travel somewhere where it was cool enough to enjoy the outdoors. Vancouver seemed perfect. I also reserved a couple of days at a little motel in Tofino, on Vancouver Island. The motel was full over the weekend, but I was able to get rooms for Sunday and Monday night.

Sunday we took the ferry to the island. It was rainy and cold. We hung out by the railing enjoying the scenery for as long as we could stand it, and then went inside to get warm. With coffee in my hands, I glanced out the windows high above the water...

And was hit with such a strong jolt of déjà vu that I almost fell over. This! This was it, what I had been imagining for so long. It's such an amazing feeling to realize your dreams have just come true.

The rest of the trip was just as awe-inspiring. (Well, except for that first night in the worst hotel ever, but what's a trip without a little something you can laugh about later?) On our anniversary itself, the day before we left, we ate a little Greek restaurant, where we had melitzanosalata for the first time. This is a roasted eggplant dip with numerous variations. Since the restaurant put mint and basil in theirs, I do too.  

The boat slip behind Hill's Seafood, Galveston, TX c. September 1987.

On the ferry to Vancouver Island, BC, August 2009.

View from the ferry to Vancouver Island, BC, August 2009.

View from our motel in Tofino, BC, August 2009.

The pilings on which Hill's Seafood stood, Gavleston, TX, January 2010.

Melitzanosalata

1 large eggplant, about 1 pound

1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 mint leaves, thinly sliced
10 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

Heat oven to 400 F. Trim stem from eggplant and cut in half lengthwise. Put eggplant cut-side down and roast until tender, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool enough to be handled.

Remove skin from eggplant. Puree with remaining ingredients in a food processor. Serve with pita wedges, bread slices, or raw vegetables for dipping.

This goes out to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Janet of the taste space. 

My Favorite Pizza Sauce

My favorite HVAC company has come and gone, and our house is cool again! Now I can make pizza with my favorite sauce. This is something that I just threw together one night and I've never measured exactly what I put in it. For you all, though, it's worth it to slow down and measure, so that I can share. If you don't already have a favorite sauce, give this one a try.

This pizza is made with the Best Ever Pizza Crust, Daiya mozzarella style (not too much), sliced cremini mushrooms and sliced Tofurkey brats.

My Favorite Pizza Sauce

Instead of vermouth, you can use red wine, or 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar. If you have fresh herbs like basil or oregano, you can throw some of those in, too and reduce the dried ones accordingly.

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (I alternate between fire-roasted and Italian ones)
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 or 4 fat garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I like the double concentrated kind)
1 tablespoon vermouth
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Drain tomatoes over a small bowl and reserve the drained juice for another use.* Heat olive oil to medium in a skillet. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients and stir. Raise heat until sauce bubbles around the edges and then turn down heat to low. Cook until vermouth cooks off, about 5 minutes. Mash with a potato masher or large wooden spoon.

Makes enough for 4 individual pizzas or two large ones.

*If you have some tomato-based soup, chili or curry in the freezer, you can add the drained tomato juice to the top. 

Summer Rolls with Mango and Avocado

I'm on a quest to use up some random ingredients in my pantry. I'm also on a quest not to heat up the kitchen until our air conditioner gets replaced (our old one works, just not very well.)

The Vietnamese Summer Rolls from Veggie Belly fulfill both quests. I love the idea of putting mango in these. We're crazy about avocado, so I added that and left out the carrots. My son is also loves peanut sauce, so I made up a simple one with ingredients I had on hand. Mine may not have been as pretty as Sala's (only one roll was remotely photogenic) but they could not have been more delicious.

Ready to roll.

 Summer Rolls with Mango and Avocado

3 ounces rice stick noodles
1 large avocado, pitted, sliced and scooped from its rind
juice of 1 lime
1 large mango, pitted, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons basil leaves
3 or 4 large lettuce leaves, ribs removed and torn in big pieces
8 rice paper wrappers

Cook rice stick noodles according to package directions and drain (I used the microwave). In a small bowl, dip avocado slices in lime juice. Have remaining ingredients at hand.

Fill a pie pan or large bowl with water. Dip a rice paper wrapper in water and let soak for a minute or two until pliable.

Remove wrapper and place on work surface. Put a couple of slices of avocado in a row at the front of the rice paper. Top with a couple of pieces of lettuce, a couple of pieces of mango, a few cilantro and basil leaves, and finally, some of the noodles.

Roll the front of the wrapper over the filling ingredients and then fold up the sides. Continue rolling, pressing firmly as you go.

You can serve the rolls immediately or refrigerate for a few hours.

Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon agave nectar

Purée the peanut butter, water and garlic in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small bowl and add remaining ingredients to taste.

White Gazpacho

Cold soup has never appealed to me in the past. My air conditioner, though, has lost its will to live, and while we're waiting on parts, I don't want to do anything that's going to make the house hot.

When I came across White Gazpacho recently, it looked good because the primary ingredients, cucumber and grapes, taste best when they're cold. This soup could not be simpler to put together. It's adapted from The Great Vegetarian Cookbook.

White Gazpacho

3/4 cup blanched almonds
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
15-20 green grapes
1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
salt to taste

Purée the almonds, garlic, grapes, sherry and oil in a blender or food processor with about 1 cup of the broth until very smooth. Add remaining broth and salt.

Serve very cold, garnished with a few drops of olive oil and grapes as desired.

Serves 6

Soba Noodles with Roasted Cauliflower and Mushrooms

It's time to clean out the pantry and make a list of ingredients that are languishing so that I can use them up. I found some soba noodles I didn't know I had and remembered Noodles with Mushrooms and Lemon Dressing from Simply Recipes. I made it with spaghetti once before and it was really tasty. I love the way Jaden wrote it up, with lots of possible variations. This time I wanted to round it out with some extra vegetables, so I added roasted cauliflower. Then, I replaced the toasted sesame oil with tahini, since it goes so well with cauliflower. Finally, since I wanted some cumin in the dressing, I used Mexican-style chili powder.

Soba noodles with ginger, cauliflower and tahini? Y'all, I think I just created Japanese-Lebanese fusion cuisine!

This goes out to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Siri of Siri's Corner.

Soba Noodles with Roasted Cauliflower and Mushrooms

6 cups cauliflower florets (1 small head)
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
olive oil to coat vegetables

1 teaspoon Mexican-style chili powder
scant 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
a 1-inch piece of ginger, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar

12 ounces soba noodles

2 green onions, sliced, green part only
1 tablespoon slivered basil
2 teaspoons sesame seeds (I used black ones)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil to coat. Roast in a single layer in oven for 15 minutes. Wash and quarter mushrooms, toss with oil, and add to cauliflower in the oven. Stir the vegetables, and roast together for an additional 15 minutes.

Whisk dressing ingredients together, chili powder through agave nectar.

Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and rinse.

Toss the noodles with the dressing and vegetables, and top with the sliced green onion, slivered basil and sesame seeds.

Serves 6.

Sangria Verde

It's been a sangria summer here at Chez Cayenne. It started with a strangely salty bottle of wine, and progressed to a couple of traditional versions. I also fell in love with this sangria for July 4th, but I didn't get around to making it, not this year at least. This one I dreamed up when I read a recipe for champagne punch that reminded me of sangria. For the last couple of years, I've been drinking vinho verde, a crisp, dry white from Portugal. It's lower in alcohol that most wine (9% vs. 12 or 13%) so it's great for hot weather. It's slightly effervescent and is reminiscent of brut champagne. Since verde means "green" I paired it with green fruit and juice. This tastes like a cross between sangria and a margarita.

Sangria Verde

Note: unlike traditional sangria, there is no added sugar in this.

2 limes
1 green-yellow ripe pear
1 Granny Smith apple
1 cup green grapes
1 bottle vinho verde or other dry white wine
1-1/2 ounce Grand Marnier or triplesec
1-1/2 ounce cognac or brandy
a 12-ounce can lemon-lime soda
1/2 cup limeade or lemonade

Slice limes into thin rounds. Core and slice apple and pear thinly, leaving peel on. Cut grapes in half. Mix all ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher and chill well.

This gets better if the flavors are allowed to meld for a few hours before serving. 

Best Ever Pizza Crust from Mario Batali

I've never been entirely happy with the pizza crust I've made at home. So when I saw a recipe in The Houston Chronicle from Mario Batali with a new method for making thin crust pizza, I was intrigued. He forms individual pizza crusts and precooks the dough disks in a hot skillet before topping and transferring to the oven. I tried it (with one of my own dough recipes) and it makes an awesome crust, simultaneously crispy and chewy - sturdy, but you'll be able to fold the slices in half if you like. I've made this twice and both times, it's been way better than any pizza I've made before.

You can freeze the dough, or precook the crusts and freeze them for later. 

Cooking the first side.

Crusts ready for topping.

Best Ever Pizza Crust

1-1/4 cups warm water, about 105 F

1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup bread or all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups whole wheat flour (or more as needed)

Add water, yeast and all-purpose flour to a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with dough hooks. Combine well with a fork, cover, and let stand for 45 minutes to an hour. The mixture will bubble up and expand.

Add vital wheat gluten, sugar, salt, and olive oil and combine with a fork. If you're using a stand mixer to knead the dough, start it now. Add remaining flour, stopping to combine the last of the flour with a fork if necessary. Let mixer knead dough for 5 minutes on low, or turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, add more flour as necessary, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time.

Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour, until doubled in size.

Punch down dough and divide it into eight pieces. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Preheat a 10-inch or larger heavy skillet to about 375 F. (Think of the range of heat you would use to cook pancakes and use the hottest setting in this range. For me, this is mark 6 on my largest gas burner.)

Alternating between using a rolling pin and your hands, roll and stretch a piece of dough to a diameter of 9 to 10 inches. If you tear it, just pinch it back together.

Transfer dough round to the skillet and cook until it bubbles on the top and is lightly brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip over and brown the other side for about 2 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with remaining dough.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Place pizza crusts on a baking sheet and top lightly as desired. Be careful not to overload the crusts.

Turn off oven and turn on broiler to high. Broil about 4 inches from the heat until toppings are heated through, about 5-7 minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings.

UPDATE: For the best crust, use a dark baking sheet. 

Spaghetti with Arugula-basil Pesto

Did you know that you can plant arugula seeds eleven months out of the year in Houston? At least according to my gardening bible*, you can.

I've only had a vegetable garden for a couple of years and I'm still quite the amateur, but I've resolved to plant a couple of new crops every month possible. There's not much you can start in July, but I did manage to plant green beans and arugula. A month later, my green beans are blooming already, and it's time to thin the arugula for the final time. I got such a huge handful of baby arugula that I thought it was a shame to throw it in the compost bin. Since basil is doing so well in my garden right now, pesto was an obvious thing to make. I just needed to snip the roots off the arugula with kitchen shears. The first nuts I found in the freezer were pecans, so I used those. Usually black pepper doesn't go in pesto, but I like the way it complements the peppery taste of the arugula. 

This goes out to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by the creator of the event, Ruth, at Once Upon a Feast. 

Spaghetti with Arugula-basil Pesto

Once of the easiest way to toast nuts is in a toaster oven. Put them on a baking sheet and use the same setting you would for medium toast. They'll be perfect every time.

2 tablespoons toasted pecans
1 small clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/3 cup arugula leaves, packed
1/3 cup basil leaves, packed
3 tablespoons olive oil
a grind or two of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
10 ounces spaghetti

Grind the pecans in a food processor. Add garlic and pulse to mince. Add arugula and basil and chop well. While the motor is running add the olive oil in a steady stream. Stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and add the salt and pepper. Continue processing until pesto is smooth.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and toss immediately with all of the pesto.

Makes lots. (4 to 5 servings, I think.)

*The amazon link shows that the book is out of print, but if you're in Houston, it should still be available at local nurseries.