Roy Rogers: The man, the myth, the beverage.

Here's a clip from Scrubs that I always think of when ordering a non-alcoholic beverage that carries a person's name. So, Arnold Palmer, Shirley Temple, Roy Rogers, and O.J. (who skates through on a technicality - oh, hush, I just mean that "O.J." actually stands for orange juice).

J.D.: "I've taken your best qualities and my best qualities and combined them into something better - much the way that iced tea and lemonade were joined to become an Arnold Palmer. Incidentally, has anyone ever done less to become famous? I mean, 'Yay for me, I mixed two drinks together!'"

Dr. Cox: "Arnold Palmer is a golfer."

J.D.: "I'm sure he has lots of hobbies, Perry - the man's a drink mogul."



Grenadine? ...check.

Ice-cold Coca Cola? ...check.

Untold deliciousness that is more than the sum of its parts? ...CHECK.

Now where are my maraschino cherries?

Five-Minute Fancy Bananas

This was kind of like a tiny-apartment-kitchen, no-torch-or-rum-available version of Bananas Foster. No comparison - but similar idea. And dang, it was good.

For two people (you can scroll down to the bottom to see one servine - it's on a dessert plate), I used:
-2 bananas
-3 tablespoons butter
-1/4 cup water
-3 tablespoons brown sugar
-pinch salt
-optional: Frangelico, or some sort of booze that would taste good in caramel sauce

1. Move the oven rack up close to the broiler. Preheat broiler.
2. Slice bananas into a bowl with enough room to stir a bit.
3. Heat butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, watching carefully. As soon as it's melted, pour a little bit of it onto the bananas. Remove the saucepan from heat, but leave the burner on.
4. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of brown sugar into bananas, stir to coat (doesn't have to be perfect). If you have spray cooking oil, grease the broiler pan so the bananas won't stick (I didn't do this, but should have). Spread out banana slices on a broiler pan. Put bananas in broiler.
To make the caramel sauce:
5. Put melted butter back on heat. Lower heat to medium or a little above. Pour in water, sprinkle in remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and pinch of salt. Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes or until caramel sauce is very bubbly (keep stirring, lifting and scraping occasionally) and light golden, but not burned. Pour in a splash of Frangelico or other liquor (if you want), and keep stirring. If caramel sauce, once removed from heat and calmed down, looks like the picture below before the bananas are nicely browned on the edges, remove the caramel sauce.




Once the bananas are golden-brown (they will be very soft), distribute them onto plates and pour caramel sauce over.

Ta-daa!

Fast Food = Balsamic Strawberry Goat Cheese Panino? That's some Burgerville lovin'.

Remember when the hipster crowd used to say, "For serious"? I can just feel myself reverting back to those days when I think of this sandwich. It was quite a treat. Balsamic-soaked strawberries (to which I am already partial, having made a strawberry-balsamic basil salad recently), arugula, and goat cheese. Pretty dang good.

The tagline for the sandwich is, "Proof that vegetarians aren't crazy." I don't know if we want to be making blanket generalizations, but one thing that is not crazy is Burgerville's new seasonal specials. They already had me with their pumpkins and blackberries and hazelnuts and sweet potatoes. Now they want to up the ante by showcasing a new flavor each month? Dang, Burgerville - stop throwing yourself at me. People will talk.

If I recall correctly, it all started with the rosemary garlic shoestring fries and rosemary chicken sandwich. I thought that was in March, but maybe I missed a month. Then in May, we had asparagus: in a melty provolone and tomato sandwich (which wasn't quiiiiiite as good as it sounds, unfortunately - the provolone was as gooey as ABC gum), and as "golden-fried spears." Now for June, we have strawberry griddle cakes (or something like that), and then this sandwich.

That's it. End post. Wait wait - just one more thing you may not know about Burgerville - they will make ANY of their shake flavors with non-fat frozen yogurt instead! You just have to order it as a smoothie, and listen to make sure that's how they repeat it back to you. My coworker told me about this, and it's true andthey'rereallygoodokaysigningoffforrealnow...

Coleslaw

I've never been a big coleslaw fan. I like it just fine once whatever barbecued item I'm eating with the coleslaw has dripped its spicy, tangy deliciousness onto the coleslaw. At that point, it's all just one dish. But enjoying coleslaw in its own right? Nah. As much as I love cabbage, I just don't like that weird fermented flavor that coleslaw in a bag has (for details on why claiming not to like "that weird fermented flavor" of a cabbage product makes me a total hypocrite, see my post on kimchi). And I have a fear of mayonnaise except under very specific circumstances. And did I mention that I don't like buying macerated produce in a bag?

So, now that we all know my coleslaw baggage: I made coleslaw last weekend. The recipe for pork tacos calls for a 16-oz bag of the stuff, and I figured I might as well make it myself, so that I could be sure about the mayonnaise. And here's the thing: it was good! I-wanted-to-munch-on -it good. I-would-offer-to-take-it-to-a-picnic good.

I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe and let the cabbage sit, draining (after having been salted), for the full four hours (they recommend 1-4). It's supposed to leave you with a less watery final product, and I think it did the trick. Here's the liquid that came out of the cabbage as it sat (it gets its orange hue from the shredded carrot that was mixed in with the cabbage):

I used Spectrum canola oil mayonnaise. Last time I faced my fear of mayonnaise (that would be the deviled eggs at Thanksgiving, thank you), I used Spectrum's olive oil mayonnaise, but this time I took a closer look at both labels and discovered that they're both canola oil-based, and the olive oil mayonnaise just has a little olive oil stirred in for flavoring. So, back to canola for me.

Here's the recipe (from Cooks Illustrated - originally published July 1995. I accessed it online):

Creamy Coleslaw

Ingredients
1 pound cabbage (about 1/2 medium head), red or green, shredded fine or chopped (6 cups)
1 large carrot , peeled and grated
2 teaspoons kosher salt , or 1 teaspoon table salt [Carrina's note: I'm pretty sure I used more than this when I salted the cabbage so that it could drain. I didn't have a bowl big enough to toss it around as much as I would have liked, and I wanted to make sure that it all got salted enough to drain. Note that you wash it all off later]
1/2 small onion , minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Toss cabbage and carrots with salt in colander set over medium bowl. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Here are the cabbage and carrot just after I salted them and set them up to wilt:

Aaaaand, four hours later. As you can see, there was a huge reduction in volume.

2. Dump wilted cabbage and carrots into the bowl. Rinse thoroughly in cold water (ice water if serving slaw immediately). Pour vegetables back into colander, pressing, but not squeezing on them to drain. Pat dry with paper towels. (Can be stored in a zipper-lock bag and refrigerated overnight.)
3. Pour cabbage and carrots back again into bowl. Add onions, mayonnaise, and vinegar; toss to coat. Season with pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Coconut Lime Sorbet

I know, I know. The weather in Portland and the Puget Sound has gone to pot, so this tasty little confection won't sound nearly as refreshing as it did when I made it last week. But, you know - file it away for later or something.

This recipe was easy-peasy with an ice cream maker. But even if you don't have an ice cream maker, you could still make a granité by (carefully) pouring the mixture onto a cookie sheet or baking sheet, sticking it in the freezer, and scraping the mixture around every 10/15 minutes or so to prevent it from freezing in a solid sheet. It won't be smooth - but SnoCones aren't smooth, and they're still pretty dang refreshing. Mmm, SnoCones...

So, here's the recipe for the coconut lime sorbet. Mind you, it packs a pretty high-calorie punch because of the cream of coconut (yes, that's right - cream of coconut, not milk - it's the stuff they put in piña coladas). But you only need a little of this stuff, because it punches you in the mouth with sweet and tangy at the same time.

I found the recipe on Epicurious. If I actually persuade anyone reading this post into giving this recipe a shot, and you go to the original link on Epicurious, you'll notice that the reviews are mixed. Most people rave about it, but a few complained that it was horrible and bitter. All I can say is: Read the directions, people (not you - the Epicurious reviewers). It says "Cream of coconut" and even gives you a brand suggestion - Coco Lopez. A quick Google search of Coco Lopez tells you it's the stuff they put in piña coladas - which means you can find it in the mixer aisle. It is not the same as coconut milk - especially not unsweetened coconut milk.

Sorry for the tangent - people just amaze me sometimes. If there are three ingredients - and the first two are water and limes - you'd better make sure you get the third ingredient right. And if you don't, maybe you should take a brief moment to view your methodology with a critical eye, before slamming the recipe.

So, here we go.

Ingredients

• a 15-ounce can cream of coconut (preferably Coco Lopez)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice [Carrina's note: I needed four limes for this (unfortunately, I purchased 7). They weren't large, but they weren't tiny. Definitely larger than key limes, and with thin skin, which always makes me think they've been allowed to sit and get ripe, creating more juice. I don't know if science backs up that assumption or not, though]

In a bowl whisk together ingredients. Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Done and done! So easy. And awfully creamy for a product that doesn't contain dairy.

(Fresh) Pea and Ham Soup

It sounds like regular (delicious) old split pea soup with a ham hock or bone thrown in, but actually, it was a little lighter than that. I got it from a new cookbook I picked up off the clearance cart outside St. Johns Booksellers while I was waiting for the bus this morning. It's called Seasonal Food, by Susannah Blake. It progresses through the four seasons based upon what's growing during that time of year. This soup was filed under "summer," and I know we're not actually there yet, but - close enough.

The recipe calls for prosciutto, but I don't really go for that prosciutto/pancetta stuff unless the recipe screams Italian and/or I'm feeling flush. We had a little leftover "root beer-ginger ham" (in quotation marks because I have no idea how those ingredients were incorporated into the ham, but it does seem to have a little "bite," much as Barq's does) from Sheridan. So I used that instead.

I also used chicken broth instead of vegetable stock. I just don't really like vegetable stock or broth much.

The recipe calls for creme fraiche (you can add the accent grave and hat yourself) or sour cream. Needless to say, I used sour cream.

So, here's the recipe:

Summer Pea and Ham Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 18 oz shelled fresh or frozen peas (about 4 cups) [I used mostly frozen, but a handful of fresh thrown in as well as for garnish]
• 4 3/4 cup vegetable stock [or chicken]
• 6 T. creme fraiche or sour cream
• handful of fresh mint, chopped, plus extra for garnishing
• salt and pepper
• 4 slices prosciutto, cut into bite-sized pieces [or your cured-tasting pork product of choice]

Heat the oil in a large pot, add the onions, and fry gently for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the peas and stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer gently for about 5 minutes.

Let the pea, onion, and stock mixture cool slightly, then pour into a blender or food processor [or by all means use an immersion/stick blender, if you have one] and blend until smooth. Stir [more like "whisk," if you're using sour cream, at least] in the creme fraiche or sour cream and chopped mint and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat through, then ladle into four warm serving bowls. Sprinkle the ham and the fresh mint garnish over it, and serve.

Of course, you can't see the ham because it sank.

The most labor-intensive part was chopping the onion. On a ridiculously humid day like today, I can live with that.

Ribollita with Rosemary Croutons

Here's another oldie. We made this a couple of months ago. Ah, well.



My coworker brings me her old "FoodDay" inserts from The Oregonian when she's done with them, and that's where I found this recipe. It's actually a quartet of recipes: the end product is the ribollita (and no, I had no idea what a ribollita was before I made it), but you also get "Tuscan White Beans," "Spicy Garlic and Herb Oil," and "Rosemary Croutons" out of this article. I didn't make the oil - I like regular old extra-virgin just fine and didn't have the counter space.

The Matthew Card article (link above) describes ribollita as "a rib-sticking minestra, or thick stew, of white beans, vegetables, hearty kale and stale bread flavored with great lashings of garlic, pancetta and fruity olive oil." Hmmm... you had me at "stew." And then again at "kale." And a third time at "great lashings of garlic." Basically, I'm a sucker for everything in this dish.



Here's the recipe for the Tuscan White Beans. Of course, you could also just use white beans, but they were really flavorful made this way.

Ingredients
2 to 3 ounces pancetta, minced [I just used two strips of bacon from the freezer. Tasted great]
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced fine
1 large carrot, diced fine
½ large fennel bulb, cored and diced fine, or 1 stalk celery, diced fine [I used celery. As much as I want to, I just don't like the taste of fresh fennel].
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Pinch fennel seeds
Salt
1 pound Great Northern beans, sorted and soaked in water overnight
1 head garlic, top ⅛ cut off to expose cloves
1 bay leaf
6 cups chicken broth and/or water
Granulated sugar (if necessary)
Garnishes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
Grated Vella Monterey jack or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese[Carrina's note: or Parmesan from the green can]

Instructions
Combine pancetta and olive oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat and cook until pancetta has rendered its fat, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion, carrot, fennel or celery, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds and large pinch salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown and sticking to bottom of pot, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in beans, garlic head, bay leaf, and broth and/or water; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until beans are soft and tender (adding additional liquid as necessary to cover), 1½ to 2 hours.



Remove garlic and bay leaf from pot. Discard bay leaf. When cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic cloves from papery skins, mash to paste with back of knife, and stir into beans. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and a pinch of sugar, if needed. Serve with desired garnishes.

And now come the rosemary croutons:
Ingredients
Half to three-quarters of a stale baguette or rustic loaf, cut into ¾-inch cubes (3 to 5 cups)
3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 sprig rosemary or sage
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Place bread in large bowl and toss cubes with enough water to make bread soft, moist and pliable, but not crumbly. Squeeze bread and drain excess water from bowl.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just shimmering. Reduce temperature to medium, add bread and rosemary sprig,

and cook, stirring infrequently, until bread cubes are lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes (you may need to use spatula to scrape any stuck-on bits of bread free). Remove rosemary and season bread generously with salt and pepper.

And now, the ribollita!
Ingredients
Salt
1 large bunch lacinato kale, stemmed, rinsed and chopped coarsely
½ to ¾ cup diced canned tomatoes, drained
4 to 6 cups Tuscan White Beans (see accompanying recipe)
3 or more cups Rosemary Croutons (see accompanying recipe)
Garnishes
Spicy Garlic and Herb Oil (see accompanying recipe) or extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon wedges
Coarse salt
Crushed red pepper flakes
Grated dry Vella Monterey jack or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
Bring large pot of water to boil over high heat and season liberally with salt.

Add kale and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and cool under running water. Squeeze dry and chop coarsely.
Heat tomatoes and beans in Dutch oven set over medium heat to slow simmer (add splash of broth or water if necessary to loosen consistency). Stir in greens and croutons to combine. Divide equally among bowls and drizzle liberally with olive oil or Spicy Garlic and Herb Oil, and serve with other desired garnishes.

Pork Tacos with Slaw and Spicy Pepitas

Wow. I just don't have the energy to type a whole lot about this recipe. But I do love it. It was published in Cooking Light in October 2008.

First, the recipe for the pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds):

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted pumpkinseed kernels
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ancho or chipotle chile pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preparation
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add kernels to pan; cook 10 minutes [Carrina's note: 10 minutes was waaaaay too long - more like 4] or until browned, stirring frequently [rule of thumb for how long to toast (while stirring constantly): once 4 or 5 seeds have popped - you'll hear it and they'll look flat and burned - the rest will be nicely puffed]. Remove from pan; cool completely. Makes 1 cup.
So here's a picture of the pumpkin seeds before they've puffed up:

And here they are after they've been puffed! They crunch really nicely. It's a really quick process, and just requires being vigilant for about 4 minutes (especially since the spice coating makes it hard to see if they're burning - you just have go by how puffed they are).

Now, the recipe for the tacos:

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ancho or chipotle chile pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
Cooking spray
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, divided
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
1 tablespoon minced jalapeño pepper
1/2 (16-ounce) package coleslaw (about 3 cups)
12 (6-inch) white or yellow corn tortillas
6 tablespoons light sour cream
6 tablespoons Spicy Pepitas

Preparation
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. Lightly coat pork with cooking spray; rub spice mixture over both sides of pork. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat grill [Carrina's note: or broiler. If broiler, move the rack up close, but not so close that it almost touches. For my oven, this means the second notch from the top].
3. Place pork on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 1 minute on each side or until done. Cut pork into 1/4-inch slices. Combine pork and 2 tablespoons juice in a medium bowl, tossing to coat.
4. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons juice, bell pepper, onions, jalapeño, and coleslaw in a large bowl, tossing well.

5. Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Coat griddle with cooking spray. Arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer; cook 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with cooking spray and remaining 6 tortillas. Divide pork mixture evenly among tortillas; top each tortilla with 2 tablespoons coleslaw mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream, and 1 1/2 teaspoons Spicy Pepitas.

The picture below is from when we used up the leftover coleslaw mixture for lunch the next day. We added some avocado (in retrospect, really not necessary since the coleslaw and sour cream provide more than enough creamy texture), and I added spicy peanut sauce from Fire on the Mountain (left) to my taco.