Martha's Linguine with Asparagus and Egg

For those of you who regularly read Sparrows & Spatulas you might recall that four of us recently started a 'Dinner Club.'  The ball was in my court for the first meal and I prepared:
Starter soup: Heidi Swanson's Cauliflower Soup with Mustard Croutons
Side dish: Heidi Swanson's Wild Rice Casserole
Main dish: Spanakopita with Tzatziki Sauce
Dessert: Our guests brought an Almond Cake from Sweet Melissa in Cobble Hill. Yum. 
The second installation of the 'Dinner Club' was last weekend and my best friend and his husband (my friend too) were in charge of the menu. They really out did themselves and the meal was delicious!
We settled on a Saturday dinner-- early bird, 5:30 p.m. That's pretty much how I roll these days unless I am entertaining at my place. Otis really has to be in his crib by 9. And, not wanting to rush dinner conversation and eating, we all decided it was better to get an early start.
While my son was distracted by chasing an adorable elderly cat named Claudia (she's fine being publicly identified), we sat down to a lovely decorated table with great chairs (I'm having home decor envy in case you can't tell). We dined on linguine pasta, blanched asparagus and a fried egg. Brian served the dish with a side of absolutely amazing hollandaise sauce. Few things go better with asparagus than hollandaise! And you really can't go wrong when you pair pasta with a runny egg. Brian also prepared a citrus-herbed garbanzo bean side dish which had really great flavor. For dessert I brought the Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze (blogged about here). 
Wondering what we did to quench our thirst? Homemade (and I believe an original recipe) of Fresh Berry Limeade. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Here are a few notes and adaptations on this recipe:
1. The market I went to didn't have thin or "pencil" asparagus so I bought regular (thick) asparagus. A few days later I saw the kind I was looking for...I should have waited. I think that the high quality, uber thin, seasonal asparagus is the way to go with this recipe.
2. You can use dry pasta but I think fresh pasta is a better choice. It cooks quickly and tastes better.
3. Salt and pepper are important seasonings in this dish. Actually, they are the only seasonings, so be generous with your pinches.
4. Brian fried an egg, sunny-side up, in butter instead of poaching it. I think both work. Be sure to keep the yolk runny.
5. A side of hollandaise sauce really compliments the dish. The original recipe didn't have it. I would definitely add it. I typed up a simple recipe for hollandaise from "The Joy of Cooking."
I'm looking forward to our third meal together. I've been flipping through back copies of Saveur Magazine in search of the perfect recipes. Feel free to submit suggestions in the comments section :)
Until then, Bon Appetit!

Martha's Linguine with Asparagus and Egg (Courtesy of Martha Stewart, Brian's adaptations are listed above.)

• Ingredients
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 pound linguine or fettuccine (I like fresh pasta for this recipe and I would go with linguine.  Fettuccine is too thick.) 
• 1 large bunch thin asparagus (1 pound), ends trimmed, halved lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce), plus more for serving (optional)
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions, adding the asparagus in the last minute of cooking. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid; drain pasta and asparagus and return to pot along with butter and Parmesan. Toss until butter is melted, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.
2. While pasta is cooking, in a large straight-sided skillet, heat 2 inches water over medium until a few bubbles rise to the top. Crack each egg into a small bowl and gently pour into skillet. Cook until whites are set and yolks are runny, 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  (See adaptation above.)
3. To serve, divide pasta among four bowls, top each serving with an egg, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan if desired.

   

   

   ***

   Hollandaise Sauce (Courtesy of The Joy of Cooking)

   Yields 1 cup
   Place in the top of a double boiler or in a large stainless-steel bowl set up as a double boiler:
   3 large egg yolks
   1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
   Off the heat, whisk the egg mixture until it becomes light and frothy. Place the top of the double boiler or the bowl over- not in- barely simmering water and continue to whisk until the eggs are thickened, 2-4 minutes, being careful not to let the eggs get too hot (or they will scramble). Remove the pan or bowl from over the water and whisk to slightly cool mixture.
   Whisking constantly, very slowly add 1/2 cup warm (not hot) clarified butter, 1069
   Whisk in:
   1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
   Salt and ground white pepper to taste
   If the sauce is too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water. Serve immediately or keep the sauce warm for up to 30 minutes by placing bowl in warm water.

A Perfect Marriage: Mücver Fritters with Tzatziki Sauce

I've been having a wee-little craving for fritters, patties, latkes if you will.  Cauliflower and cumin fritters, quinoa patties and curried sweet potato latkes have already been featured on Sparrows and Spatulas.  Here is one more patty to add to the growing repertoire: zucchini fritters!  Zucchini, a summer squash, peaks between May and July, and I've seen them around the market recently.    
In Turkey these are called Mücver.  Across the Aegean Sea in Greece they are known by a more cumbersome name,  Kolokithokeftedes (say that five times fast!).  Wherever you are from and whatever you call them, these are simple to make and they are delicious.  The patties contain zucchini, flour, eggs, dill, salt, scallions and cheese.  They can be paired with roasted potatoes or a small salad.  You can also serve them as an appetizer.  Whenever we have a surplus of zucchinis in our CSA share I make these for dinner.  
Wanna make these babies pop?  Just top them with a dollop of tzatziki, which is a Greek yogurt sauce with cucumber, garlic, salt, pepper and sometimes dill and lemon juice (recipe follows).
My other favorite use for zucchini: zucchini and basil soup. 

Mücver Fritters (Adapted from Everyday Food by way of  Elise at Simply Recipes)

Yields about 8 medium-large fritters

Ingredients

1 lb of zucchini (about 2 medium sized), coarsely grated (I go with finely grated)

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

1 large egg

2 scallions, finely chopped

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup grape seed oil or olive oil (I used a lot less. It's just for frying so I did a light pan fry.)

Optional: I add about 2-3 tablespoons of grumbled feta (I don't think the Turks put Feta in their fritters so this may change the patties to Kolokithokoftedes.)

Sour cream or plain yoghurt (I pair it with a Tzatziki Sauce, recipe follows)

Directions

1 Salt the zucchini with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Try to remove the excess moisture from the zucchini by either squeezing the liquid out with a potato ricer, or by squeezing with paper towels. (Original recipe: putting the zucchini in a colander set in the sink and let it drain for 10 minutes after salting it. I grate the zucchini, place it in a bowl and use a cheese cloth to remove excess moisture.)

2 Whisk egg in a large bowl; add the zucchini, flour, scallions, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Mix to combine well.  Add feta (optional but highly recommended by yours truly). 

3 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook fritters in two batches. Drop six mounds of batter (2-3 Tbsp each) into the skillet. Flatten slightly. Cook, turning once, until browned, 4-6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve immediately, with sour cream or plain yogurt on the side.  

My preference: Whip up some tzatziki and use some seasonal cucumbers. 

Tzatziki: Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce (Adapted from Kayln's Kitchen)  

Yields about 3 1/2 cups. You can easily halve this recipe.

Ingredients

3 cups Greek Yogurt

juice of one lemon (about 3 T)

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced

about 1 T kosher salt for salting cucumbers

1 T finely chopped fresh dill 

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. (If you use the small seedless or European cucumbers with few seeds, you can skip this step.) Slice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel. (I sometimes skip this step because I don't mind a tzatziki that is more liquidy.)

In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time lets flavors meld together.)

This will keep for a few days or more in the refrigerator, but you will need to drain off any water and stir each time you use it.

***

On a totally unrelated note, look what started to sprout this morning! My herb garden is starting to come together... albeit slowly...

Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze

These days it seems like everyone is a food or restaurant critic, which is why I don't necessarily give a lot of credence to online reviews. However, there are always exceptions, this being one of them. I was looking to make a cake for our Dinner Club. I wanted to make something light and not super decadent since I just polished off another Upstate Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis. I turned to Ina, as I sometimes do in a pinch, and came across this recipe for Lemon Yogurt Cake. The reviews were staggering: 428 review-- 5 stars! That caught my attention. Lemon cake was already on my mind because of this picture (from Mamasgottabake) which had been posted on the Serious Eats Photograzing site. It looked like we were using the same recipe. And the cake looked delicious. 
Here's the caveat: This cake is sensitive to over-baking, so keep an eye on it...
On a personal note, I need to get an oven thermometer.  I've known for some time that my oven temperature is not right, not right at all-- 350 degrees is definitely not 350. For some reason this temperature problem became an issue with this cake. The recipe calls for 50 minutes of baking. I left it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours because it was no where near done after 50 minutes.  Unfortunately it got a little burnt and was not as moist as I suspected it should be. I still brought it over to the Dinner Club and we all went in for doubles-- but I knew it had to be better so I made it again tonight.  
It came out perfectly. A cake worthy of 5 star reviews. It was light and moist and the citrus was perfect. I ended up baking the cake for 70 minutes, which is 20 minutes longer than the recipe instructs but far less than the 1 1/2 hours I had baked the first cake.  
I watched the cake like a hawk and once the top had a little bit of brown I tested it with a skewer. It was perfect!
This isn't the most ambitious cake in the world. It's not supposed to be. It's simple, light and delicious. And really an ideal way to finish a meal.
Speaking of meals, Dinner Club, No. 2 was a total success. Our host Brian prepared an amazing linguine with asparagus and egg, which we drizzled with hollandaise sauce. He also made a fantastic citrus-herb chickpea salad.  Did I mention that he concocted his own berry limeade with raspberries and blueberries?  It was another scrumptious meal. Now I have to think about what to make for Dinner Club, No. 3. The pressure is on...

Just out of the oven loaf...

The loaf's been sauced... 

Glazed and sliced... 

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze (Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa At Home)

Cook Time: 50 min (See note above re: oven temps and times)
 Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients
For the cake: 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 heaping teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice


Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
• When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
• For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Chocolate & Zucchini's Yummy Hummus

I'm crazy about hummus- a Levantine Arab dish containing chickpeas, sesame paste (tahini), olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt.  Not only is this dip really tasty, it's good for you too -- it's got iron, Vitamin B6, folate and dietary fiber.  

Hummus, a staple Middle-Eastern mezze, has been eaten in the region for millennia. I'm always looking to new hummus recipes, and here's one from Chocolate & Zucchini. 

It's simple to make and you can adjust the seasonings and flavor to your liking after you make the base. I used to love things that were heavy on garlic. But now I prefer a hint of garlic without being hit over the head with it. If you like more, go nuts! 

I drizzled some olive oil on top of the hummus and sprinkled it with za'atar spice. I picked up the za'atar at a market on my most recent trip to the Middle East. If you can't find za'atar at your local spice store try some olive oil, paprika, sumac or chopped parsley. A dash of hot sauce, boiled fava beans (which is then called hummus ful) or whole chickpeas can also be used for garnish. Got extra lemon? Squeeze some juice over the top.  Want to make it a more substantial meal? Add a hard boiled egg, which is a popular way to eat hummus in Morocco. 

I think you probably get the picture.  The recipe is adaptable and versatile.  Enjoy!

Dried Chickpeas

Chickpeas soaking in water. Soak for at least 6-8 hours before boiling. I leave them in the fridge overnight.

Ready for processing...

Za'atar spice

Hummus (Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini)

Yields 2 3/4 cups

Ingredients
1 cup (190 grams) dried uncooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 really heaping tablespoon tahini (white sesame butter)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4-1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin (use a bit more if it's old)

za'atar spice for garnish (optional)
the leaves from a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley (optional)
dash hot sauce or paprika for garnish (optional) 

Directions
Six to twelve hours before, put the chickpeas in a medium bowl with plenty of water to cover, and leave to soak.  (I soak them overnight.)
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.  The original recipe suggests using a pressure cooker to cook the chickpeas but I don't have one.  I put the chickpeas in a medium sized pot, filled it with water (so the water wouldn't run low) and simmered, on a low heat, for 1 1/2 hours-- about the time it takes for the chickpeas to get soft.

Drain the cooked chickpeas, reserving the cooking water. 

Put the drained chickpeas in a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients, from garlic to cumin, and 1/3 cup of the cooking water.  Process for several minutes until very smooth; this works best when the chickpeas are still relatively warm.  Add more cooking water as needed to get a creamy consistency.  The hummus will thicken when chilled, so err on the side of thin.
Taste and adjust the flavor to suit your taste, adding more lemon juice, or tahini, or salt, or hot sauce, or cumin.
Cover and refrigerate. The flavor will have deepened the next day.
Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with a good olive oil, za'atar spice (if you're using it), or other optional garnishes and serve with pita triangles, carrot sticks and/or slices of black radish.  I served it with Lavash bread.

Shades of Pink: Newark's Cherry Blossom Festival and Raspberry Coulis

My 19 month-old son (Otis) is obsessed with a book called "Eye Like Colors." The pink page has flamingoes, cherry blossoms and raspberries (among other thing) and it gave me just the inspiration I needed for this post. Cherry blossom blooms were everywhere a few weeks ago and I saw the most awesome looking raspberries the other day. Pink (or a light shade of red) was the color of the day, so I bought a pint of fresh berries decided it would make the perfect coulis. Now what would go well with coulis?  

It didn't take me long to remember that I made the best cheesecake I ever made a month ago. The recipe for Upstate Cheesecake from Brooklyn's Baked was a total hit and I was thinking about making it again anyway.

So, on a lovely afternoon while both boys (canine and human alike) took long naps, I started on the cheesecake. It's not difficult to make, but you do need to carve out a bit of time. After making the batter the cake bakes for 10 minutes at a high temperature. Then it bakes for another hour at a lower temperature. Next there is a slow temperature reduction which takes an hour with the oven heat turned off (the cake is left in the oven). This cheesecake doesn't require a lot of hands-on time but, like I said, you have to keep an eye on things and stay close to the oven.

Everything was going great until a bit of the oil I used to grease the spring-form pan started dripping down onto the oven floor. One thing led to another and smoke started to fill the room (I'm not totally sure how this happened). Our 'talking' fire alarm started screeching "Fire! Fire!" and all the sirens went off. Omar, the pooch, went berserk and I hopped up on my aqua blue rocking chair in an attempt to dismantle the fire alarm. Being almost 7 months pregnant, I don't exactly have the balance I used to and I got side swiped by a ferocious bout of vertigo. This led to a free-fall down to the floor, fire alarm in hand, and me yelling, "Otis, don't worry...mommy has this under control." Otis had woken up from his nap and he wasn't buying it. 

Well, as it turns out, near kitchen catastrophes make the best dishes and the cheesecake came out perfectly...even with a cool down period that wasn't in the recipe's instructions and was done out of necessity (I had to cool down the oven and clean it quickly). The raspberry coulis was wonderful and very easy to make. My sieve wasn't fine enough so I did get some seeds, but it was still delicious.

As for the Newark Cherry Blossom Festival, it did not disappoint. My husband follows Newark's mayor Cory Booker (see: Street Fight) on his twitter feed. The Mayor promised that the cherry blossoms in Jersey were more numerous than those in D.C. and indeed they were. The flowering trees were beautiful and the crowds were enormous. There were some cultural performances and some excellent snacks. Okay, and I had my fair share of deep-fried Oreos. Because, you know, nothing says springtime like deep-fried Oreos! 
What a wonderful time of year...

Otis with one of his most favorite cousins....

Raspberry Coulis (Courtesy of The Top Chef Cookbook, Contestant Hung Huynh) 

Pair with Baked's Upstate Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 pint fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons granulated sugar, or to taste

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Directions

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pushing down on the solids.  Discard the seeds.  Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice if needed.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

I didn't make the cake in a 'water bath' which is supposed to help minimize cracking. That said, the cracking doesn't change the taste...not one bit!

Chili Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

The other day while working out on the elliptical, I caught an episode of "5 Ingredient Fix."  This show, with it's 5:30 time slot, follows the Barefoot Contessa and seems to have replaced "Cooking with the Neely's"-- a welcome change for me because there is only so much steak I can see someone cook on the grill.  

Anyway, this is so unbelievably simple to make and it only uses 5 ingredients!  I used bittersweet chocolate because the strawberries have so much sweetness on their own.  I saw the berries in the market (a little early in the season), and they looked so good I just had to buy them.  They were perfect--- incredibly sweet and juicy.  I make a point of only buying organic strawberries because the fruits are porous and I don't want to add a 6th ingredient (read: unwanted pesticides and chemicals).  The key, though, is to buy the highest quality ingredients since there are so few in this recipe.  The ancho chili powder adds an interesting note.  I'm going to make these again and again...next time I may try dusting these with a little bit of coarse sea salt.  Hmmmm.

These are the perfect little sweets to make for the mother in your life...or for celebrating yourself!  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

CHILI CHOCOLATE-COVERED STRAWBERRIES (Courtesy of Claire Robinson)

Ingredients 
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon ground pure chili powder, such as ancho
10 large strawberries with long stems

[Note:  I halved the recipe and used 8 medium sized strawberries.  I had left over chocolate dip.  I'm sure it will go well with Swedish pancakes which I am making next week.]
Directions
In a heat-proof mixing bowl, add the chocolate, cream, and butter. Place over a smaller pot of simmering water. Be sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in the chili powder and mix until fully incorporated.
Hold each strawberry by the long stem (or the green top) and dip into the chocolate allowing the excess to drizzle back into the pan. Place chocolate covered strawberries on a parchment or waxed paper lined sheet tray. Once chocolate is cool, chill until fully set, about 30 minutes.