Sweet Corn, Shiitake Mushroom and Arugula Sauté – Why does it taste like truffles?

Before I get into this recipe, and how it came to be, we have to talk about a somewhat shocking ingredient choice I made. Yes, in the middle of summer, I filmed an amazingly delicious sweet corn recipe…and used frozen corn! I already had the shiitake mushrooms and arugula for this dish, and was just about to go out and get some delicious fresh, just picked, sweet corn at the local produce market when I made the mistake of opening the freezer.

There it was, a bag a sweet corn. It had been in there for a while, so I was sure it was freezer-burned and I would just chuck it out and go. Unfortunately, I checked it and it was fine. Damn. I thought I better taste it; it’s probably not sweet. It was really sweet. Damn. So I decided to be a good, frugal Chef and use it for this recipe. The good news for you is this was so delicious with frozen corn, I can only imagine how incredible it’s going to be with freshly shucked corn!

I had this combo as a side vegetable recently and found it a very interesting combination of flavors. The earthy mushrooms, sweet corn, and slightly bitter Arugula mixed wonderfully together. In fact, as I enjoyed it with some grilled chicken, I kept smelling and tasting truffles. There was something about these three ingredients that combined to produce a truffle like flavor profile. Maybe my molecular gastronomy friends can explain why this was.

I realize that shiitake and truffles are both fungi, but it was more than that. In any case, it was really good, and I’m sure you are going to enjoy this simple and tasty vegetable dish. You vegetarians can add vegetable stock instead of chicken of course. On the other end of the spectrum, you omnivores may want to think about starting this with a little bit of bacon, before adding the mushrooms. Either way, enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 cups fresh corn
2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
large handful of arugula
1 clove garlic
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Lime and Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes – Wham, Bam, it’s not a Yam??

OK, let’s clear up a bit of culinary confusion. In the produce department of your local grocery store, they sell both sweet potatoes and yams. The fact is they are all actually sweet potatoes. Some varieties of sweet potatoes, like Beauregard and Garnet, are often marketed as “yams.” So, in the clip when I say that you can use sweet potatoes or yams, what I’m really saying is you can use any variety of sweet potato available for this recipe. True yams are native to Africa and Asia and are rarely, if ever, seen in our markets.

This simple roasted sweet potato video recipe is a perfect side dish to all those great, grilled classics you’ll be cooking up this summer. I’m sure you already know how much better for you the good old sweet potato is than the regular russet. Not only are they much higher in fiber, complex carbohydrates, protein and vitamins, but they also taste good. It’s a win win. I hope you’ve got your silicon baking mat ready, as it makes this recipe a snap as you’ll see in the video. Of course, you can really spice these up with a bit more Chipotle than I used, but the tablespoon I put in gives it just the right kick, plus that wonderful, slightly smoky flavor. By the way, the lime Chipotle mixture we create to start the dish is actually an example of a Citronette, which we explored in another recipe clip. If you haven’t seen that one, I’ve linked it in so you can check it out. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes
1 large juicy lime
1 tbl Chipotle chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
*Note: we baked for 30 min at 375F, then tossed in the remaining lime mixture, and then finished at 450F for another 10-15 minutes until tender and nicely glazed.

Three Corn Polenta – An old Italian classic gets “freshened-up”

In today’s clip I'm going to use corn in three different ways. I’m going to use it dried and ground, which of course is the Polenta part. I’m also going to use fresh corn, but cooked two different ways. Part of the fresh corn will be sautéed and cooked into the polenta, and the remainder will be added at the last minute so it stays relatively crisp and fresh tasting. Now, if all this sounds too complicated, as you’ll see from the clip, it’s actually an extremely simple dish. The final result may remind some of you of creamed corn, but this is significantly lower in fat and calories, as it has only a small amount of butter and no cream, flour, etc. The “creaminess” comes from the properly cooked polenta and plain old water.

When I first began my career as a cook in San Francisco, polenta wasn’t a common starch in non-Italian restaurants, as it is today. I remember talking with a Chef about an upcoming menu on which he was thinking of using polenta as the side dish. I asked him what exactly polenta was and he told me an Italian ground corn meal. I asked him if he was talking about “Polanda.” He said no, and that he had never heard of polanda. I told him it was also an Italian ground corn meal that I had eaten many times growing up. I remember calling my Mom and telling her we were going to serve something called polenta at the restaurant. I asked her if she had ever heard of this similar sounding dish. She laughed and said that they were the same things! She explained that “pol-an-da” was just our family’s mispronunciation of the actual name polenta. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least. Come to find out, my family had mispronounced and/or Americanized many Italian terms (mostly curse words), which I won’t go into now, but needless to say, from that point on, I’ve always checked! Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1/2 cup polenta
2 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
3 ears fresh corn (about 1 1/2 cups)

Stuffed Summer Squash with Goat Cheese and Romesco – Our least terrible test yet!

Well, the new microphone is hooked up and I think the sound is better. The intros and endings of these test clips still need a lot of work, and I just realized that I need to go out and pick up a digital camera for the still shots. Other than that, I think I’m starting to figure this new stuff out.

This has always been one of my favorite summer side-veggie dishes. Any summer squash you can cut in half will work. Anyone that has, or knows someone that has, a vegetable garden really needs to try this dish! I mean, what the hell are you going to do with all those squash? The completely irregular green starburst squash you see in this video were not the best choice to do a demo with since they are hard to slice in half evenly, but hey, if it works with these, it will work with any squash as I said.

The deep, rich flavor of the romesco mingling with the sweet blandness of the squash combined with the creamy tang of the warm goat cheese makes this dish a summer classic. Don’t serve too hot! This dish shines best served warm or at room temp. If you’ve never tried romesco, this is the dish to taste it in. It’s a medium-spicy, “pesto-like” sauce made from roasted red peppers, garlic, almonds, anchovy and other spices. We use it a lot in summer, as it is the perfect instant sauce for any grilled meat, fish or vegetables. One of these days I’ll show you how to make your own romesco, but for now you should be able find it at most high-end grocery stores. If you can’t find or make it, any flavorful sauce will work; salsa, roasted red pepper relish, olive tapenade, etc. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
3 small summer squash
6 tbl goat cheese
3 tbl romesco sauce
3 tbl olive oil
2 tbl plain bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

12 Second Coleslaw… in 42 seconds!

OK, I’ll admit it, this doesn’t look like a very exciting recipe, but that’s the point. Sure, the photo is boring. I didn’t even bother to Photoshop in some colorful veggies! When most people think of coleslaw they think of that bowl of soggy shredded cabbage sitting at the end of the picnic table. This is a completely different approach. This is fresh shredded cabbage prepared as a fast (12 seconds to add the ingredients, and 30 seconds to mix), crisp, low-cal, low-carb, slightly spicy, and delicious side dish that you should be eating as part of your regular veggie side-dish rotation. Do yourself a favor and find a grocery store in your town that carries the “angel hair” finely shredded cabbage, ready-to-mix in the bag. My 12 second coleslaw in 42 seconds claim only counts if you use the pre-shredded bag. By the way, I have no problem taking an extra 5 minutes and shredding my own cabbage, but I rarely can use a whole head and so I don’t like to buy those giant heads unless I’m making this for a large group.

There are 2 keys to this super-slaw; the very small amount of highly-seasoned dressing (it really doesn’t look like enough but you’ll see that it is), and the fact that I don’t toss the cabbage and the dressing together until I’m ready to eat. As soon as any dressing hits shredded cabbage, water starts to be pulled out of the leaves, which causes most traditionally made coleslaws to go limp and soggy. By mixing just before you eat, you will experience the true essence of fresh coleslaw; sweet, crunchy and refreshing. I served this under a spicy Jerked Chicken (aka Jerky Chicken), and it was perfect!

Ingredients:
10 oz. bag of Angel Hair Shredded Cabbage
2 tbl Seasoned Rice Vinegar
2 tbl Thousand Island Dressing
1 tsp hot sauce of your choice
pinch of salt
*I didn’t because I only had 12 seconds, but you can certainly add ANY finely shredded raw vegetables to this coleslaw and yours won’t look as boring as mine.

Bean and Greens – Fast, healthy, delicious, and it rhymes!

This “missing” clip went along with the Prosciutto Wrapped Prawns recipe video posted last month. I learned this soulful recipe from my Uncle Bill many years ago, and since that time it’s been one of my “go-to” side dishes. By “go-to” dish, I mean one of those recipes that always works with no matter what I’m serving. It’s also very fast to make and extremely versatile. Like most of my recipes, you can switch around the beans, greens and spices used to create your own versions (then you can show them to your nephew or niece).

One great trend I’ve seen lately in the larger grocery stores is having these dark leafy greens already trimmed, washed, bagged, and ready to use. See, now you have no excuse! There is really nothing packed with as much nutritional goodness as these dark greens, and now you just have to open the bag and cook them. Even a can of soup, brought to a simmer, can be transformed in something wonderful with a handful of these greens.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale or any dark leafy greens
12 oz of white beans
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic
3 tbl olive oil
salt to taste

Celery Root and Potato Puree – How can a vegetable this ugly taste so good?

In today’s clip you’ll see a delicious low-carb way to trick out your standard mashed potatoes. By using half celery root, we’ll not only save a bunch of carbs, but more importantly we’ll create something very delicious and unique.

Celery root, also known as Celeriac, is not the root of the common celery plant that you used to garnish your last Bloody Mary, but a special variety cultivated for it extra large and flavorful taproot.

We served this with the Braised Short Ribs and it was sublime! Because of its subtle aromatic character this is the perfect partner to any rich meat dish.

This is one of those vegetable that you didn’t even know they had at your super market… but they do! It’s over by the turnips and rutabagas. They do very in size, but try to make the proportions in this dish about 50% potato to 50% celery root. The small splash of cream I added is optional of course, but the butter is a must!

You know that I’m always telling you to use high-quality whole spices when possible, and the fresh nutmeg I grate on top of this earthy blend really makes the dish. Get some whole nutmeg, and a spice grinder, and see what the big deal is all about.

Ingredients:

1 large celery root
2 russet potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream or milk
fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste