Carrots and Peas

Scott Hines' spring menu at B & O American Brasserie introduced me to the concept of smoked carrots. His smoked carrot agnolotti was one of the best dishes I've had in a long time, and I wanted to see if I could replicate those flavors at home.

I don't know what it is with me and carrots. I really didn't like them much at all when I was a kid, ignored them for much of my adult life, but when I hit my 40s, I started to crave them. But I don't want them cloying, I want them interesting. Hines' smoked carrots, like Bobby Flay's charred ones, are interesting. They had a bit of sweetness, sure, but the not-so-subtle smoky thing enhanced the more savory aspects of the vegetable.

Luckily, I have a stovetop smoker. I don't use it very much. Honestly, I forget that I even have it most of the time. It's stupid easy to use, so I loaded it with carrots and some cherry wood chips and let 'er rip.

I'm also lucky to be able to text Chef Hines and ask him how long he smokes his carrots. He not only told me the length of time for smoking, but also that he simmers the smoked carrots in heavy cream until tender, purees them, then adds mascarpone to make the agnolotti filling.

Heavy cream, mascarpone, butter, ricotta salata - the restaurant version of the dish had lots of super-rich ingredients, which one should expect of restaurant food. It's not meant to be eaten every day, tempting though it may be. I didn't want to replicate Chef Hines' entire dish, just the flavor profile, particularly those carrots. So rather than use heavy cream to simmer them, I used chicken stock, and when I made the puree, I added whole milk instead of heavy cream. I also added an onion for body, which helped replace some of the texture that cream might have added.

I did use some of the other elements of the restaurant dish: peas; morel mushrooms; ricotta salata. I already had dried morels and the other two were easy to find at the supermarket. And of course I wasn't going to fuss with making homemade pasta (which I have never done before), so store-bought farfalle worked just fine. Next time I might try pappardelle though.

Overall, I think my experiment was quite successful. The smoked carrots were delicious and something I am going to incorporate into my repertoire. Might even try charring them first next time and then serving them whole. The sauce was flavorful yet light, and all of the elements worked nicely together.

Spring Pasta with Carrots and Peas

1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into chunks, sliced lengthwise if thick
1 medium onion, diced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chicken or vegetable stock
Whole milk
1 lb farfalle pasta
1/2 lb sugar snap peas, sliced on the bias into thin strips
A handful of dried morel mushrooms, soaked until soft
Butter
Ricotta salata

Prepare a stovetop smoker with mesquite or cherry chips according to manufacturer's directions. If you don't own a smoker, you can make your own from items you have around the house. Check out this video for more information. Add the carrots and smoke for 35-40 minutes.

Remove carrots from smoker and add to a sauce pot with 1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock. Simmer until tender, about 15-20 minutes.

While carrots are cooking, saute onion in a tablespoon of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper over medium heat, stirring regularly, until they are softened and beginning to brown on the edges, about 10 minutes.

Puree the carrots with their cooking liquid and the onions until smooth. Use additional stock and/or milk to create a thick sauce consistency.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, saving some of the pasta water.

Do a quick blanch of the sugar snaps by putting them in a microwave-safe bowl, covering with plastic, and microwaving for 1 minute. Uncover bowl and set aside. If you make these ahead, cool down with a few ice cubes in the bowl and drain before using.

Drain the mushrooms (save the liquid for another use, like a soup stock). Saute them in butter for a few minutes and set aside.

Toss the pasta with the carrot puree. If the puree seems too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water. Add the sugar snaps and morels just before serving and toss again.

Top with some of the ricotta salata and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Brussels Sprout Tacos

Our recent trip to New York introduced me to a new meat substitute--brussels sprouts. Ok, not exactly a meat substitute in the same vein as tofu, tempeh, or seitan, but a surprisingly filling stand-in for animal-based protein. There were all sorts of delicious options on the menu at Empellon Taqueria, but the brussels sprouts tacos caught my eye. Served with toasted almonds and an almendrado (an almond-based mole), the tiny cabbages were almost meaty in texture. I decided I needed to try something like that at home.

There are multiple recipes for sauces called "almendrado," one of which is a dessert custard. The others contained everything from chocolate to plantains to raisins to, er, hazelnuts, so rather than attempt to recreate what I had eaten in NY, I just struck out on my own. Basically I messed around with what I had and came up with something delicious.

We didn't have corn tortillas on hand, so I made some. I wanted to make blue corn tortillas and found a recipe that used both blue cornmeal and all-purpose flour in place of the typical masa. The result had far more texture than a masa tortilla, due to the graininess of the cornmeal, but they worked really well with the filling, so the recipe is included here. Otherwise, if you want to make your own standard masa tortillas, you can use this recipe from an older blog post.

I had tomatillos, so made a salsa. As for a cheese element, I did something completely different. Wanting to add a crunchy aspect to the tacos, I fried the cheese into crisps. Parm works the best for this sort of thing, but a moister cheese like cheddar or jack works too, you just have to watch carefully so they don't burn.

These babies were hearty, meaty, crispy, creamy, and tangy. Everything I want in a taco.

Brussels Sprouts Tacos

1/2 lb small Brussels sprouts
Olive oil
Salt
4 ounces sliced button mushrooms
Butter
Blue corn tortillas (recipe follows)
Sour cream
Tomatillo salsa (recipe follows)
2 ounces shredded cheese (jack, cheddar, Parm)
3 scallions, chopped
Pomegranate arils

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Trim the sprouts. If they are on the large size (bigger than a quarter), then cut them into quarters. If they are small (dime or penny size), leave them whole. Put them on a foil-lined baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until tender-crisp and browning/charring in spots. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter. When it melts, add the mushrooms and cook until nicely browned on both sides. Add the roasted brussels sprouts and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the shredded cheese into a thin circular shape in the hot pan. It will bubble and melt. When the edges start to brown, try to loosen it from the pan with a spatula. Once it loosens easily, flip the cheese to cook the other side. Watch carefully so the cheese round does not burn. When done, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining cheese. Allow cheese to cool, then break up into shards.

Top each tortilla with a smear of sour cream. Add some of the sprout/mushroom mixture and a dollop of tomatillo salsa. Garnish with pieces of fried cheese, scallion, and pomegranate.

Blue Corn Tortillas (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

1 1/3 cup AP flour
2/3 cup blue cornmeal
4 tablespoons veg or corn oil
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine flour, cornmeal, and oil in a bowl. Gradually add the water and salt. Knead dough just until smooth. You might not need all of the water; the texture of the dough should not be sticky.

Divide into twelve equally sized pieces and roll each into a ball. Flatten each ball slightly and place on a plate. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and allow to rest at least 30 minutes.

Roll out each ball into a 6" round, using a rolling pin or tortilla press. Cook each in a hot, ungreased, skillet for about 45 seconds per side. Stack tortillas as they come out of the pan to keep them pliable. Serve warm or room temperature.

Tomatillo Salsa

4-5 tomatillos
2 jalapeno peppers
3 scallions
Handful fresh cilantro
1 small clove garlic
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
Pinch cumin
Salt, to taste

Remove husks from tomatillos, rinse them and cut into quarters. Stem and deseed the jalapenos (leave some seeds in, if you want more heat). Remove root end from scallions and chop remainder into 1" pieces.

Put tomatillos, jalapenos, scallions, cilantro, and garlic into a blender and puree. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar, cumin, and salt. Cook about 5 minutes, until mixture darkens. Taste for seasoning, adding more sugar or salt if you think it needs it. It should be tart, but not sour.



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Mint-Cilantro-Mango Chimichurri

Our visit to Ananda, an Indian restaurant in Maple Lawn (Howard County), introduced us to a variation of the beloved coriander chutney served with samosas and other fried appetizers. There, cilantro is combined with mint, mango, and avocado, giving it both richness and sweetness. I decided I wanted to make this at home and put in an inquiry to the restaurant. By the weekend, I hadn't received the recipe, so I tried to recreate it.

It's hard to find ripe avocados at the last minute, so I omitted them. While the result doesn't taste exactly like the stuff at the restaurant, it's pretty good. But what to put it on? I've been contemplating making samosas for a while now, but not that particular weekend. I did have a nice London broil defrosting though, and beef is great with a chimichurri sauce. And chimichurri is basically herbs + garlic + oil + vinegar. So I added oil and vinegar to some of the existing chutney, and it was great.

Mint-Cilantro-Mango Sauces

For chutney:
1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems, loosely packed
1/2 mango, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
Generous squeeze of lime juice
Pinch salt

For chimichurri:
3 tablespoons mint-cilantro-mango chutney
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch cumin
Pinch salt

To make chutney: Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a puree. Add more salt to taste.

To make chimichurri: combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.



Posted on Minxeats.com.