Wild Greens Jam

The holiday season is upon us, and I’m knee-deep in ordering gifts, deciding which cookies to bake this year, and making a wreath for our front door. Bear in mind that crafting is not actually on my list of enjoyable hobbies, but two trips to the craft store, one to the hardware store, and an online order later, the homemade wreath is almost ready to hang. Speaking of gifts, I have one for two of you! I want to tell you about the book Unforgettable: The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert's Renegade Life of which I received a review copy. And, I have one book to offer to each of two winners. Just leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can contact you, and I’ll pick the winners next week on Friday, December 15th. (The winners will need to provide a mailing address in the US or Canada.) 

You’re going to enjoy this story of Paula Wolfert’s career in food. She started writing about Moroccan food before several of the key ingredients could even be found in the US. Her focus has always been on authentic international cuisines, and her recipes don’t tend to cut corners. I was intrigued to learn that before she wrote her first cookbook, she was the series editor and organizer of an epicurean subscription program called International Home Dining that was part of Columbia House. She created a different box each month for an international-themed dinner that included recipes and ingredients for a unique meal. During this time, “Paula developed another element of what would become her visionary cookbook-writing style: unapologetically complex recipes, engaging descriptions to capture their flavors in vivid detail, and mail-order sources to bypass the limited American supply chain.” That is my favorite kind of food- and cookbook-writing. Wolfert’s first cookbook was Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco written in 1973, and her ability to learn the stories behind the food and draw the techniques and recipes from the cooks as she did for this book became her way of researching all of her food topics. She wrote about the cooking of Southwest France before Americans knew much about cassoulet, and then moved on to writing about sumac, pomegranate molasses, and Aleppo, Marash, and Urfa peppers in Eastern Mediterranean. So many ingredients and dishes we take for granted these days were introduced to cooks in the US by Paula Wolfert. She’s now living with a condition of mixed dementia, and this book was written while she could still contribute memories of her life and career. After reading about how she traveled, learned, and cooked her way through so many cultures, I’m looking forward to adding a couple more of her titles that are missing from my cookbook collection. 

This book moves through Wolfert’s life chapter by chapter, and there are recipes at the end of each. There’s Mussels Saganaki from Thessaloniki, a Mint and Egg Salad suggested as an accompaniment to Turkish kofte, and Tuscan White Beans with Sage and Garlic for clay pot cooking. Some other dishes I want to try are the Leblebi which is a Tunisian soup served over chickpeas and bread cubes with an egg on top and the Sprinkle Pie made with greens and feta with a light cornmeal crust. Since this time of year is definitely greens season here, I had to try the Wild Greens Jam recipe. This dish is firmly in the savory category despite jam being in the name. The greens are cooked until very tender and mixed with spices and olive oil to end up in a spreadable or spoonable form. It’s made with a mix of greens, and purslane and mallow are suggested. Sadly, once the other greens appear at our farm stands and farmers’ markets, purslane is gone for the fall. I used a mix of collards, kale, and arugula. The greens were cleaned, stemmed, and chopped before being steamed. Parsley leaves were added to the greens along with unpeeled garlic cloves, and everything steamed for about 15 minutes. After cooling, the greens were squeezed in a towel and then chopped finely. The garlic was peeled and pureed with cilantro leaves. That mixture was then sauteed in a large skillet with olive oil, and smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne were added. The chopped greens were then added and cooked for another 10 minutes until the liquid evaporated. Lemon juice was stirred into the greens with a little additional olive oil, and the mixture was served with preserved lemon and oil-cured olives for garnish. 

The silky greens with bright pops of citrus from the preserved lemon made a great combination. I spooned the jam onto crostini and made sure to top each one with an olive. Now, there’s so much more to explore that Paula Wolfert brought to life through her books. To be entered to win a copy of Unforgettable, just leave a comment here with your email address so I can contact you. I’ll pick the winners next week on Friday, December 15th. (The winners will need to provide a mailing address in the US or Canada.) 

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Collard Greens Mousse with Parmesan Cream

You know how it is when a particular dish is on your list. You know the list. For me, the list is a constantly growing mental catalog of food ideas I see in cookbooks, magazines, blogs, etc. Once something is on that list, I seem to be reminded of it at every turn. But, if the dish is a little bit complicated or requires specific, seasonal ingredients, I put it off until the time is right. One such dish was the Fluffy Spinach Bites with Fonduta Sauce from Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard. It’s a stunning dish. A spinach souffle is baked in a square pan, and then perfect cubes of it are cut for serving. Those cubes of souffle are served with a parmesan fonduta. It’s lovely, but it involves cooking spinach, steaming parsnips, pureeing those with cream and eggs, some gelatin is used to help it set, the souffle is chilled after cooking so those nice cubes can be cut, and then the cubes are re-heated and the cream sauce is made. I did not make this beautiful thing that had been on my list for a few years. Instead, I saw something very similar but simpler in The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson, and I chose the easier option. That version was a mousse of pureed, cooked greens, eggs, and cream cooked in individual ramekins, and each serving was plated with a pool of parmesan cream sauce. When I saw how similar this was to the dish on my list and how much more streamlined making this one would be, it had to happen.

In the book, this is called Spinach Mousse, but I had some gorgeous, fresh collard greens from my CSA and used them instead of spinach. Any greens would work here. You just blanch the chopped greens, drain them, and then squeeze them in a kitchen towel to remove as much water as you can. The squeezed, cooked greens were then placed in a blender with eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, and the mixture was pureed. Ramekins were buttered and lined with rounds of parchment paper and then filled with the puree. Each ramekin was covered with foil, placed in a roasting pan, and then hot water was added to the pan before baking. You’ll need to check the texture of the mousse after about 20 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the size of the ramekins used. For me, it took about 30 minutes for the mousse to become set and firm. Making the parmesan cream is a simple matter of heating cream, adding shredded parmesan, stirring until it melts and then simmering until the sauce is as thick as you’d like it to be. And, of course, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. I felt like the plate needed one more color, so I sauteed some mushrooms to scatter on top of the parmesan cream sauce.

This version was so easy, and the mousse held its shape so well, I’m now going to have to try baking the mousse in a square pan and cutting it into cubes. More importantly, I would definitely try this again because it was a fabulous way to eat your greens. It’s a little rich, but it’s also nice to see such humble greens turned into a decadent, silky mousse gilded with that luscious parmesan cream. Now, I need to get to all those other dishes on my list.

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Pinto Bean and Poblano Rice Collard Greens Rolls with Ancho Sauce

Last week, I visited the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas with several other Austin food bloggers. We’re all participating in a week-long project to bring awareness to hunger in Central Texas. Our local food bank works with 355 partner agencies which distribute food to people in need. Since one year ago, our local food bank saw a 60% increase in needs. Currently, over 48,000 people rely on this food bank each week. The goal of the CAFB is to assist anyone with food hardship problems and to provide a positive way for people to take care of their health with nourishing food. Families or individuals are able to visit a food pantry once per month, and we were given a list of what is typically received:
2 cans spaghetti sauce
4 cans veggies (choice of green beans and/or corn)
4 cans fruit (choice of sliced pears and/or mixed fruit)
1 meat selection: whole chicken, beef roast, pork chops, or possibly pig trotters or ham
3 drink items: choice of large bottle of cranberry apple juice and/or powdered milk (shelf stable milk) boxes and/or apple juice boxes
1 bag spaghetti or bag of egg noodles
1 bag of pinto beans or white navy beans
1 bag of white rice
1 package of pickled jalapeno slices
1 ready-made dinner (hamburger helper)
1 bag/container of rolled oats
1 bag of cheerios
5 lb bag of potatoes

Additionally, many people also participate in food stamp programs. Several of our Austin famers’ markets can now accept debit cards and food stamps from the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) or food stamp (Lone Star: SNAP) programs. We learned that applying for food stamps is time consuming and challenging with a 22-page application that needs to be re-submitted every three months. A maximum benefit is about $200 per month. By blogging about the CAFB, we’re hoping to raise Hunger Awareness and encourage donations of food, money, or time to local food banks. On Saturday May 8 in central Texas, the US Postal Service will be collecting food donations for Stamp Out Hunger, and all of the food collected here is used locally.

Each of the local bloggers involved has taken a different approach to this project, and everyone involved is listed on the CAFB blog. I wanted to cook a big, healthy meal with some ingredients that would be part of a monthly food pantry pick-up and some that could be easily found at a farmers’ market. The items from the list above that immediately jumped out at me were the beans, rice, and pickled jalapenos. At the risk of heading straight for the dreaded, hippie-food territory, the fact is that 'beans and rice' is comfort food for me. I wanted to include a healthy green vegetable as well and make a meal that would produce lots of leftovers. I’m not sure if these are collards-enchiladas or southwest-cabbage rolls. I’ve made cabbage rolls a lot of different ways using standard green cabbage, napa cabbage, and leaves from different greens like chard, broccoli greens, and collards. I like using collards because the leaves are usually big and somewhat round. I’ve made more traditional rolls with tomato, lemon, and dill sauce. I’ve made them with ground turkey, I’ve used brown rice, and I’ve made them before with the same filling used here. Cooked pinto beans, rice, and shredded monterey jack cheese were on the inside, and the sauce was a puree of simmered anchos, onion, and tomato.

Admittedly, I made this more complicated than it needed to be, but let’s pretend that was just to show the possibilities. It's somewhat labor-intensive, but a few steps can be prepared a day or two in advance. Also, while I did make a sauce from scratch, a prepared enchilada sauce would work just as well. I cooked the pinto beans a day in advance, and I added half of a large, sweet, Texas onion and a few dried chipotles to the water as the beans cooked. The chipotles gave the beans a hint of smokiness and a little spice. The rice could have been made a day or two early as well. I roasted poblano chiles to add to the rice, and I stirred in some chopped cilantro from my garden, but it could have been left plain. For the ancho sauce, I sauteed the other half of that sweet onion, chopped of course, and then added seeded and chopped dried anchos and two chopped tomatoes. After that simmered with water long enough for the chiles to re-hydrate, I pureed the mixture until smooth and added lime juice.

I served the rolls with pickled jalapeno and pickled carrots on top with a little extra finely grated cheese. From three cups of cooked beans, one cup of rice, and one half pound of cheese, I made 20 rolls and still had some leftover rice. Not only did we have a healthy dinner full of spicy flavors and melty cheese, we also have several lunches covered for this week and a few rolls in the freezer for another time.

Pinto Bean and Poblano Rice Collard Greens Rolls with Ancho Sauce

3 c cooked pinto beans
1 c white or brown rice
3 poblano chiles, roasted, cleaned, seeded, and chopped
3 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for baking dishes
4 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
2 fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/2 large, sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 lime
1/2 pound Monterey jack cheese, grated
20 large collard greens leaves
Pickled jalapenos
Salt and pepper to taste

- In a small saucepan, bring two cups water to a boil, add rice, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice sit for 10 minutes. Place rice in a large bowl and fold in chopped, roasted poblanos and cilantro. Set aside.
- For the sauce, heat vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and cook until tender and just starting to brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped anchos, tomatoes, and one cup water. Reduce heat to low, cover pan, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until anchos are tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer mixture to a blender, add juice of one lime, and puree until very smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
-Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Place collard greens leaves, a few at a time, into the boiling water. You can hold them by the stem and leave the stem sticking up out of the water. Let the leaves boil for about one minute until softened. Transfer to a sheet pan and repeat with all leaves. Let the leaves sit on the sheet pan until cool enough to handle.
- Coat two baking dishes with vegetable oil. Pour half of the ancho sauce into each baking dish.
- Place a collard leaf on a cutting board and cut away the thick part of the stem. The stems can be chopped and cooked for another dish, but they’re not needed here. Place a big spoonful of rice in the center of the widest part of the leaf. Top the rice with a big spoonful of beans, and then add some grated cheese. Fold in the leaf on each side and roll into a bundle and set the rolled bundle into the sauce in a baking dish. Repeat with all leaves. The pans I used fit 10 rolls each.
- Cover the baking dishes with foil, and bake until warmed through, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with sauce from the pan, a little more grated cheese, and pickled jalapenos.

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Greens Tart with Goat Cheese, Currants, and Pine Nuts

When I read Sunday Suppers at Lucques, there was a handful or so of recipes that I wanted to experiment with as soon as possible, and this was one of them. This tart is the second item I’ve tried from the book so far, and the greens we’re getting from our CSA were the inspiration for it. Now, Kurt is perfectly happy with a vegetarian meal here and there, but the deluge of greens we sometimes have can make him want to be a strict carnivore. At some point, he begs for a greens-free meal, and that means I have to get creative with how they’re incorporated into dishes. This tart worked perfectly and happily was not an eat-your-vegetables experience. Instead, this was an oh this is good, and oh by the way, those are greens aren’t they kind of meal. In other words, this tart combines great flavors that work really well together.

In the book, it’s described as a swiss chard tart, but I had beet and collard greens to use. Those were cleaned and chopped and sauteed in olive oil with shallot and thyme. I’ve used Whole Foods’ all butter puff pastry with good results a few times now, and that’s what I used here. The puff pastry was thawed and then just unfolded onto a baking sheet. No rolling was required. That was topped with a mixture of ricotta, egg yolk, olive oil, creme fraiche, and salt and pepper. Goat cheese was crumbled on top of that. Then, the cooked and cooled greens were squeezed to remove liquid and then spread on top of the cheese mixture and were topped with more crumbled goat cheese. It was baked for 25 minutes while the relish was assembled. The pastry with cheese and greens was a great start, but what really made this dish was the currant pine nut relish. Pine nuts were toasted and set aside. Olive oil was heated in a saute pan and a rosemary sprig and a dried chile de arbol were added. Minced onion went into the pan, stewed for 10 minutes, and then was transferred to a small bowl. The saute pan was then used to reduce a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar down to one tablespoon. Meanwhile, currants were plumped in hot water and then drained. The bowl of sauteed onions was mixed with the toasted pine nuts, plumped currants, and reduced balsamic, and chopped parsley was added.

The richness of the ricotta and creme fraiche was fanastic with the greens. And, this could, of course, be made with milder spinach, but let me tell you about the relish first. The currant pine nut relish with the sauteed onions and reduced balsamic vinegar was such a perfect complement to the greens, I would recommend using the boldest flavored greens you can find. The layers of sweetness and spice and the hint of acidity mingled with the bitterness of the greens in amazing ways. Instead of making this to use up some greens, in the future, I’ll be making this because it’s really delicious.

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Frizzy Halibut on Eggplant Couscous

Luckily I’ve never been asked what my top 10 favorite cookbooks are because I don’t think I could narrow it down to only 10. However, earlier today, I decided that Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard would have to be in that list. This book is full of food that is as quirky and fun in presentation as it is delicious. I mentioned a little more about the book the first time I cooked from it. This time, I was drawn in by the photo of this dish, and since halibut season will be over before you know it, I wanted to take a stab at this now. Halibut fillets are nestled into a messy coating of katafi and thinly shredded collard greens and then fried until crisp. Katafi is shredded phyllo dough, and I found some at Phoenicia which is a Middle Eastern deli and bakery. The collard greens were in my CSA pick-up last week.

The couscous preparation was actually more involved than the fish. Richard recommends tomato water for cooking the couscous. Tomato water is made by pulsing five pounds of tomatoes in a blender and then letting the liquid drain into a bowl through a strainer while sitting overnight. Fresh tomatoes aren’t quite there yet for perfect flavor, so I used canned tomatoes. To begin the couscous, diced, peeled eggplant was cooked in olive oil in a large saute pan with turmeric. Minced garlic was added and then so was cumin and cayenne. Once the eggplant was softened, the tomato water was added, and the mixture was brought to a boil. The couscous was stirred into the eggplant, the heat was turned off, it was covered, and it sat for 10 minutes. When ready, fresh diced tomatoes were added along with Tabasco, shredded parmiggiano, and salt. This was such a well-flavored dish from the spices, Tabasco, and cheese, I’m not sure the tomato water was critical. It was fantastic as prepared, but plain water would probably have worked fine.

Now for the fun part. The halibut was seasoned, dusted with flour with Madras curry powder in it, dunked into a beaten egg, and coated with the mixed together shredded collards and katafi. Each fillet was lowered into 350 degree F vegetable oil to cook for 30 seconds. Based on the photo in the book, I realized that a good depth of oil would be necessary for the frizzy coating to float upwards from the fish inside it. So, I used a two and a half quart saucepan with straight sides. It’s necessary to fry one fillet at a time, so a smaller pan uses less oil and fits one piece fine. Using a metal, slotted spoon, a fillet was lowered into the oil and held down below the surface with the handle of a wooden spoon. This was a little scary because the oil bubbled up and spattered a lot due to the water content in the fish and greens. I was sure I was going to burn the house down, but I was also sure it was worth it. It was fine. There was no grease fire, and the oil calmed down before the 30 seconds had elapsed. After frying, each fillet was drained on paper towels and then placed in a 300 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Only 30 seconds in the oil and only 10 minutes in a warm oven made me a nervous nelly for a second time.

I worried for nothing because the timing was exactly right. I think that struck me as much as the flavors and textures of this dish. The fish was cooked just positively perfectly. It was cooked through but just cooked through. The coating broke nicely as we cut into it, and the crunch surrounding the tender fish was pure delight. The greens offered just a hint of earthiness and shattered when bitten. The spicy flavors in the couscous were a nice little accompanying jolt. These fried nests were so fun, I started thinking of other things to hide inside them or set on top of them. And, that’s the great thing about Richard. He gets you thinking about fun things to do with food, and I look forward to trying more of his ideas.

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