BostonZest

It's Great to Have Pickled Red Onion on Hand. My Two-Ingredient Method and Tips for Enjoying Your Treasure

Pickling red onions began for me with a red onion that was too big for the recipe I was making. I looked at the half that was leftover, grabbed a mason jar to put it in the refrigerator, and remembered how many times I've tossed out half an onion after it sat for a week or more. Inspired by all my reading on fermentation and pickling, I decided to give that route a try. 

I already had a knife in my hand and the onion on a cutting board. I chose to chop the onion, scoop it into a mason jar, and cover it with seasoned rice vinegar to turn that onion half into a super-quick super-easy pickle. 

Most of the recipes I found online call for a pickling mixture of vinegar, sugar, and salt. Those three things are already in the seasoned rice vinegar and since it's Ed's favorite acidic component for salads, I always have it on hand.

The next day, when making tuna salad for lunch, I tossed in some of the onions, cut back on the lemon I was adding for acidity, and loved the result. 

In fact, I loved the onion's zesty flavor so much that I topped my serving with an extra spoonful. 

A Few Suggested Uses

It is more common to see pickled onions cut into thin slices. You can certainly do that and chop them later if you want to use them mixed into a dish the way I did. Or you can put them on a cheese and salumi tray, sprinkle them on top of tacos, add them to a condiment selection, tuck them into a sandwich, add zest to a burger or brat, or sprinkle them over the sour cream on your baked potato.

Season As You Wish

I made my pickled red onion the quickest way possible. You can add your own touch to your version. You could make a classic hot pickling brine to make a pickle that will last a bit longer. (I like the recipe in My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own - by Alice Waters. Here's a fairly close adaptation of that recipe.) You can also add seasoning to the pickle. Consider peppercorns, garlic, herbs, or spices.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

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Chunky Pumpkin: Time to Enjoy Some Local Pumpkin in Big Pieces

Since Libby started canning pumpkin purée more than 75 years ago, cautious cooks have avoided the work of peeling and cutting this challenging vegetable. I happen to like more texture on my plate, so I researched recipes for fall dining and the holidays where you could actually recognize a few chunks of real pumpkin.

When buying a pumpkin for cooking, be sure to get a sweet, tasty version like these pie pumpkins from Stillman's Farm rather than one grown for display.

We are offered pumpkin flavor this and pumpkin flavor that! But, if you review the ingredients in those products, you may not find pumpkin on the list. Most “pumpkin” items contain what we might call pumpkin pie spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.

Even when a bit of vegetable is present, it may be processed, canned pumpkin or, in some instances, a different squash. There has been an Internet rumor that all canned pumpkin is really squash. Snopes, a trusted website that investigates such rumors says, “90 percent of pumpkin sold in the U.S. (and 85 percent worldwide) is a proprietary cultivar known as a Dickinson pumpkin ...”

Roasted Pumpkin

The first time Ed and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our home, we began the meal with a recipe for “Pumpkin Tureen” from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.

It was a pumpkin filled with a mixture of rye bread, swiss cheese, onion, mustard, horseradish, and milk and then roasted in the oven until the pumpkin pulp was tender enough to scoop out with each serving. This was a mistake. The dish was so rich and filling that it should have been served alone not as part of a large holiday meal.

Today I’m more likely to serve slices of roasted pumpkin as part of a side dish of various root vegetables. Roasting brings out the best in pumpkin.

Stir-Fried Pumpkin from Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India.

Pumpkin Meals from Other Cultures

We think of pumpkin as a harvest season treat. Other cultures embrace this large squash as a filling diet mainstay.

Traditional Indian cooks use pumpkin in curries. Madhur Jaffrey features a pumpkin stir-fry in her latest cookbook, Vegetarian India. She blooms mustard seeds, urad dal, and dried chilis for a few seconds in hot oil before adding onion and then pumpkin cubes. After a few minutes of stir-frying the vegetables, she adds cumin, water, and brown sugar and simmers the dish until glazed and tender.

Another favorite book, “The New Spanish Table” contains a recipe for Olla Gitana or Gypsy Pot. This hearty stew has carrots, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and chicken stock as a typical soup base. But it adds a colorful rhythm section of pumpkin, chickpeas, pears, almonds, and saffron.

Cambridge restaurant Helmand heads their appetizer menu with this tempting photo of Kaddo.

Middle Eastern cooks create Kabak Tatlisi, a pumpkin dessert. They candy the pumpkin by slowly roasting it in sugar and in its own juices. Pumpkin prepared like this is turned into Kaddo Bourani the signature dish at the Cambridge restaurant Helmand. They top the sweet, roasted pumpkin with a rich meat sauce and tangy yogurt.

Gordon Hamersley has a great pumpkin, mango chutney recipe in his cookbook, Bistro Cooking at Home. He pairs it with duck. A quick web search reveals hundreds of variations of this Indian condiment. It might be a great new holiday tradition.

That baked pumpkin that I made for a holiday meal would make a great vegetarian alternative to turkey or ham on a holiday table for guests who prefer vegetarian food. Using small pie pumpkins, you could make two smaller versions using rice instead of bread in one, for anyone who is gluten intolerant.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino ( adapted from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns)
Photos: ©2016 Penny Cherubino with photo of Kaddo from the Helmand.

Tip on Rotating Your Eggs with Links to our Other Eggy Posts

Boiling a batch of eggs is a regular assignment for my favorite little cooking pot. I use Jacques Pépin's egg boiling method. (You can see it in this video at the 1:30 location.) The pot lets me boil the water and then gently lower the eggs into it in their little basket. 

We do a constant rotation of our egg supply. New eggs come in and the older ones are hard boiled. We find that hard boiled eggs are used up quickly around here. In fact, when we are facing a busy week, we may boil a dozen eggs to be sure we have material for quick meals.

We follow all of Jacque's directions if we are going to use the eggs right way. But, most of the time, we stop the cooking by replacing the boiling water with ice water and putting the whole, unpeeled eggs back into the pot.

Then we put them back into their carton marked as "hard boiled."

Links to our other Eggy Posts:

Click on the caption to go to the post!

Egg & Cauliflower Curry

Simple Spring Supper: Asparagus & Eggs

Eggs Overboard! A Rescue Plan

No Mayo Potato Salads (with eggs)

Breakfast for Supper on a Piece of Toast

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2008-2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

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'Tis The Season to Make Caponata

Caponata, Capunata, Capunatina, however you spell it, each cook has his or her own version. 

Some refer to it as a sweet & sour version of ratatouille. Most recipes call for the best of this harvest season. After all, this relish was made to preserve the food for the winter months.

Eggplant is the main ingredient. Tomato, onion, vinegar, garlic, raisins, olives, pine nuts, capers, and olive oil seem pretty standard. Then come individual additions that vary by cook, region, or family. These include fennel, peppers, celery, and zucchini to name a few.

The cook’s choice of seasonings might include red pepper flakes, anchovies, sugar, oregano, mint, or basil. In other words, thrifty cooks made this from whatever the garden or market had in abundance on a given day.

History of Caponata

Like many Mediterranean foods, this Sicilian antipasto relish with its sweet and sour base, dried fruit, and pine nuts probably has its origins in the Middle East.

Food historian Clifford Wright traces it back to a food served on sailing vessels. The vinegar was a preservative and he notes that a version of it was served as a mariner’s breakfast.

On his website, Wright cites Sicilian food authority Pino Correnti who, “... believes that the dish is derived from the Catalan word caponata, meaning a similar kind of relish, and says it first appears in a Sicilian etymology of 1709.”

My Caponata

My version is lighter than most. I brush the eggplant with olive oil and roast or grill it, instead of frying, and sauté the other vegetable in a minimum amount of oil. I also use what’s on hand rather than follow a strict recipe.

I cook the ingredients separately (using my favorite pan) and mix them later. This lets me ensure each vegetable is cooked properly and that nothing gets too mushy. I like my caponata a bit al dente.

Recipes

Here are a few recipes for those of you who prefer to follow one.

Here's Clifford Wright's Caponata recipe

Sicilian Eggplant Caponata from Eating Well

Epicurious Classic Caponata with comments

Canning Caution

I mentioned preserving this for the winter season. With that, the question of a water bath or pressure canning comes up. Since I’m not an expert on preserving, I would give a nod to the advice of Eugenia Bone, author of the book Well-Preserved. She writes, “If you have ANY doubts about the pH of your recipe, then pressure can.”

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Words: Penny Cherubino (Adapted for BostonZest from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

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August Is Time for a Stillman's BLT

There is nothing like a mid-summer BLT sandwich. 

The one above features Stillman's Farm heirloom tomatoes, salad greens, and Applewood smoked bacon from Sillman Quality Meats. The bread is from a local bakery. That slice of avocado that we use to replace mayo is the only thing not from a local source. 

It's an easy build. Slice and toast sourdough bread, top with sliced avocado. You can mash it, if you like, but sliced with a grind of pepper is fine.

There are purists, like Chef Tony Maws, who will only serve tomatoes when they reach their peak of local flavor in August. I admit to accepting lesser tomatoes outside of this month, but I do go out of my way to serve the best of the local ones each season. Here I added slabs of Stillman's full-flavored heirlooms that tempted us at the Boston Public Market.

Next comes slabs of farmer's cut bacon from Stillman Quality Meats.

Finally a handful of lettuce from the big bag of salad greens we picked up at Stillman's stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market.

Put it all together and you have one of the truly great summer season meals. 

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny Cherubino 

Congratulations! Edible Boston Summer 2016 Issue Is Their 10th Anniversary!

The arrival of a new preview issue of Edible Boston in my mailbox always makes me smile. As I read the Ilene Bezahler's letter to her readers, my smile grew from ear-to-ear. This is their 10th Anniversary and a new publication will be added to the family. (More on that below.)

Celebrate with Edible Boston as they welcome a new season of food and spotlight the businesses that support fresh and local food in our community. 

Be sure to read John Lee's, "Farmers Diary: Ten with Edible Boston" for his thoughts on the progress the local food movement has made in the past decade.

(Penny profiled John over on Serious Eats a few years ago. Here's more about this intelligent, thoughtful man.)

 

That Sibling Publication: "To Market"

I'm very excited about the expansion of the Edible Boston talent bank into the regional food policy topic. As Ilene describes it, "To Market will take a regional approach to local food but with the added impact of tackling policy issues, exploring trends across state lines and how the New England states interact to form a vibrant, regional food economy." More about it in a report from Boston Business Journal.

In September, you'll find more about it on the new website, and you can follow along now on Facebook and Twitter.

Support publisher Ilene Bezahler and her talented team

First, pick up a copy of Edible Boston at one of these locations. In fact, pick up two copies and share one with a food-loving friend or leave it where someone might discover it among lesser publications and become a new fan.

May I suggest that you let their sponsors know you saw them in the magazine and grab an extra copy and get it to someone else who cares about supporting the local food movement. Also, if you have a blog, twitter account, or facebook page, write about them, link to them, follow them, retweet their tweets, like them on facebook, and, in general, spread the word about this great asset to our community.

And, to be sure you never miss an issue, you can subscribe over on their website!

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Covershot & Photos: photographer Michael Piazza Courtesy of Edible Boston (If you love great photography, always pick up an Edible Boston issue!) John Lee photo ©2009, Penny Cherubino

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Cole Slaw and Portuguese Muffins Make for a Great Ham Sandwich

Portuguese muffins, also called Bolos Levedos, are always on the list for my monthly food shopping loop through Somerville and Cambridge. I've recently noticed more and more chef using these light, slightly sweet flatbreads as a base for burgers.

They recently became part of this very delicious ham sandwich from our kitchen.

If you read the ingredients on many of the local products you won't find preservatives. Because of that, I cut most of a package of 6 muffins in half, wrap them in wax paper and freeze them. Then when we need something for a snack, or as a sandwich base, we reach for one and pop it in the toaster. 

I spread each side with a swipe of Stonewall Kitchen's Bourbon Molasses Mustard. It's one of my favorite condiments. I stock up on it on visits to Russo's.

A bowl of my tangy cole slaw was in the refrigerator so I piled that on one muffin half and stacked some slices of ham on the other. (How I make my no-mayo coleslaw is covered in an earlier post.)

Now, when I think about a sandwich with a lot of filling, I'm going to think Portuguese muffins. It holds up under the contents and is much easier to eat than many alternatives. 

If you want to make your own Bolos Levedos here's a recipe with nice clear instructions. It's from Maria Dias author of Taste Portugal. Since the cook in a hot skillet, you won't have to fire the oven to enjoy these as a homemade bread. 

You can also make them from this King Arthur Flour Portuguese Sweet Bread Mix.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino