Feeling Saucy

It’s happened, Finally.  Winter is here and (sadly) as sub-zero winds were swirling around us this week we realized something—the January blahs were upon us.  Spicy Polish Kimchee sauce and producing our winter line this week got us thinking about diving into the kitchen to drive the blahs back, so we can focus on fun (like the release of our winter line, the Vegan Valentine’s day shop-up, and our recipe contest) instead of slinking into our apartments and huddling to hide from the elements.

And alas, we’ve found a cure—The New Brooklyn Cookbook.  Thanks to Melissa and Brendan Vaughn, authors of The New Brooklyn Cookbook for bringing BK restaurants to our kitchens!  This (fantastic) book highlights 31 restaurants that have “put Brooklyn on the culinary map.” 

Thrilled to be able to take Franny’s, Al di Là, and others home with us, we got to cooking this week with a Moroccan feast, centering on BKLYN Larder’s recipe for M’hamsa Couscous with Spicy Raisins and Almonds.  We decided to serve the couscous alongside a chicken tagine, so omnivores and herbivores alike would be satisfied and thoroughly de-Blahed.

After several crazy days of sauce-promoting (which got us featured in Daily Candy and Serious Eats!) and recipe-tinkering, we raced home laden with groceries and got to work…thoroughly excited and ready for a fun, homecooked meal with friends—which is what we’re all about, after all.

The resultst? B-E-A-UTIFUL, and absolutely scrumptious.  This was definitely not you’re run-of-the-mill 5-minutes and done couscous.  It was hearty, with the almonds and raisins adding great texture, and the parsley dropped in a fresh dash of color.  The raisins were our favorite part—they were succulent and added a complex dimension to the dish, without being too spicy; though you could always add more red pepper flakes to the mixture if you’re a spicy food addict.

In our experience, the crumbly goodness was ideal for sopping up extra sauce from our tagine (which was almost as easy to make, especially since we used our Spiced Tomato Jam as a base), though the couscous could certainly stand alone for an easy lunch.

Post-party, we chatted up Chris Behr, a chef from BKLYN Larder who let us in on their mission, and some tips. 

We swear by our recipes, so we were surprised by Chris’ssuggestion for home chefs trying to creating impressive (and tasty) recipes at home:  

“A lot of times, people come in here with a piece of paper and say ‘I need THIS cheese!’, and are really afraid to vary, even if you can offer them something that’s essentially the same,” he said. “As someone who writes recipes, I think its really important to be flexible—the author would rather have you love the recipe with turnips instead of radishes then get stressed over a beautiful meal, it’s aboutwhat You like after all.”

Duly noted. (We took his advice when modifying this SmittenKitchen recipe for couscous and feta stuffed peppers using our leftover couscous. YUM.)

As it turns out, we share a lot with BKLYN Larder when it comes to our food mission. Before we even mentioned our own commitment to local sourcing he chimed in, “When people come here, and eat the food or are looking to take things home I want them to see the respect we have for local farmers and great food and think  ‘Wow, this is a beautiful thing.’” 

Now that’s something we can agree with! 

“We really think all the extra effort and a slightly higher price is worth it for the peace of mind we get knowing we’re giving people the best that’s out there,” he continued. “A lot more goes into what’s on the menu or shelf than picking up the phone and ordering some swiss chard.”

(Was this guy stalking us on FB or something?)

Before we forget, here’s that great couscous recipe—for more goodness pick up The New Brooklyn Cookbook, and check out Brooklyn Larder’s website, which is soon to have a blog/recipe section! (Need something to drink with that? Click Here.)

M’hamsa Couscous with Almonds and Spicy Raisins

Serves 6

For the Spicy Raisins:

2/3 cup golden raisins

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup sherry vinegar

For the Couscous:

2/3 cup whole raw almonds

2 cups M’hamsa hand-rolled couscous, availabe at BKLYN Larder and Marlow & Daughters or online at www.zingermans.com

1 tsp. coarse salt

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsely.

To make the spicy raisins, place the raisins and red pepper flakes in a small glass or stainless-steel bowl.  Bring 1/2 cup water and the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan.  Pour the water and vinegar over the raisins; the liquid should cover the raisins by 1/2 inch.  Allow the raisins to cool to room temperature. Drain, reserving the liquid, and set aside.

To make the couscous, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer.  Toast for 15 minutes, or until browned and fragrant. When the almonds are cool, chop them coarsely and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring 3 cups water to a boil.  Stir in the couscous and salt and return to a full boil. Remove the couscous from the heat, add the olive oil, and cover.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff the couscous with a fork, then spread it in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet to cool to room temperature.

When the couscous is cool, stir in the spicy raisins and 2 to 3 tablespoons of their liquid, the almonds , and the parsley. Taste and adjust the seasonings with a splash more olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.

Over the past year I’ve made a concerted effort to eat more seasonally than I did while growing up.  I think winter is prime time for two awesome food groups:  stored root vegetables and preserves put up earlier in the year.  Last weekend, inspired by a trip to the farmers’ market at Grand Army Plaza and an unexpected visit from an out-of-town friend, I decided to host a little brunch.  I’d planned to feature both of those all-important winter food groups, and I made it to the market just in the nick of time.  The normally hardy vendors, discouraged by Saturday’s dreary four-degree weather, were packing it in to leave as I pulled up.  Fortunately I was able to score a great sourdough loaf from Buon Pane and a lovely bit of rosemary-garlic chèvre from Lynnhaven Farm before everyone disappeared. 

My vegetables had to be snatched back from the brink—this gentleman from Phillips Farms actually dove back into that truck to find me three perfect Winesap apples and a bunch of arugula!  (As an aside, I’ll admit that arugula doesn’t belong to either of the food groups I mentioned above, and as it’s late in the season my bunch was a bit sad-looking, but I think I’d look about the same if I’d come all the way down from upstate and had bits of ice clinging to my leaves.)

I returned home with my bounty to consider the menu and tried to make things easy for myself—for me, brunch always means eggs, but it doesn’t have to mean poached or fried or scrambled eggs, which really need to be made to order and eaten immediately when hot.  Quiche seemed like just the thing—easy to throw together, equally delicious hot or cold, and a perfect showcase for the jar of SBN’s winter-inspired Roasted Beet with Horseradish Sauce I had on hand from a test batch earlier that week.  With visions of a lovely striated quiche in my mind’s eye, I began to roll out a pie crust.

The crisp apples set off the creamy brie perfectly; when we had the bright idea to top the cheese with a dab of SBN’s Cranberry Pear, a great thing got better as the cranberries added a tart counterpoint to the sweet, salty cheese.

I brought the quiche out of the oven in a swirl of steam, redolent with the scent of the rosemary-garlic chèvre.  Conversation stalled as we waited for the pie to cool, shooting anticipatory glances at the counter-top.  When at last we cut it open and plunged in, we found the earthy sweetness of beets complemented by the velvety richness of goat cheese and the subtle tang of arugula and shallots. We sat in silence and savored for a long while before we were once again able to find our voices.

Planning to host your own seasonal Sunday brunch?  Nothing is better than good food with good friends, so grab a jar and get creative!  Check out the recipe for my Roasted Beet, Arugula and Goat Cheese Quiche below or invent your own delicious dish and enter our Recipe Contest!

Roasted Beet, Arugula & Goat Cheese Quiche

Serves 4

9-inch pre-baked single pie crust (see note below)

1 jar SBN Beet Horseradish Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 small shallot, roughly chopped

1 bunch arugula leaves (a good handful), roughly chopped

6oz goat cheese (mine was seasoned with rosemary and garlic)

3 eggs

½ cup heavy cream, milk or a combination

1 tsp salt

Large pinch of black pepper pepper

Preheat oven to 325º.

Heat oil or melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Sauté shallot for about a minute, then add chopped arugula and continue to cook until wilted (perhaps another two minutes).

Spread the beet sauce evenly on the bottom of the crust to form the first layer.  Add the sautéed shallot and greens and arrange evenly to form a second layer.  Slice the cheese (about ¼” thick) and arrange on top of the greens.

Beat together the eggs, cream or milk, salt and pepper, then pour over the ingredients already in the crust.  Shake the pie slightly from side to side to help the egg mixture settle into all the nooks and crannies, then bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the quiche is almost firm and lightly browned on top.

Re: Pie Crust:

You certainly don’t have to make your own pie crust (and until I started making my own a mere few months ago, I was always very content with the Pillsbury ones), but it really isn’t hard and I’ve included my adaptation of Mark Bittman’s recipe (from How to Cook Everything) below.  It may also be worthwhile to note that an amazing home-made pie crust contains only four ingredients, while the one you buy at the supermarket is likely to have at least ten, including all kinds of stuff you’d never use at home.

Regardless of who made the dough, however, it is very important when making this quiche to pre-bake the crust prior to adding the other ingredients.  If you don’t pre-bake, the beet sauce at the bottom will turn the crust soggy, and I’m confident that will be extremely disappointing.  You also need to allow about 30 minutes for pre-baking—I failed to factor this in and the delay contributed to my serving brunch about six hours late, so learn from my mistakes and plan ahead!

Delicious Flaky Piecrust

1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sugar

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, as cold as possible

1 cup ice water (you shouldn’t need all of it)

1-2 cups of dry beans or rice (as weights for pre-baking)

Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Using a coarse cheese grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture (it’s helpful to hold the butter with a paper towel to prevent the warmth of your hands from melting it).  Using the tips of your fingers, toss the butter and flour mixture together until the butter bits are well-coated.  You can actually do all of this in a food processor, but as I haven’t found that to be any easier and I hate cleaning the food processor, I prefer to use my hands.  

Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, working it in with your hands until you can form the dough into a ball.  If you add too much water and the dough becomes wet and sticky, add a bit more flour.

Form the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or freeze for 10 minutes).

Press the dough firmly into the plate, trim and crimp the edges.  It’s best to let the crust rest for a bit at this point, too (ideally, another 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 10 minutes in the freezer).

Heat the oven to 425º.  Ensure the crust is firmly pressed into the pan and prick it all over with a fork.  Butter one side of a piece of tin foil and press it, butter side down, onto the crust.  Weight the foil with the beans or rice (which, I am told, can be cooked and eaten later with no ill effects—stay tuned for my experiments with the chickpeas I used for this purpose last weekend).

Bake for 12 minutes; remove from the oven and remove the foil with the beans or rice.  Reduce oven temperature to 350º and continue baking until the crust is a nice golden brown color, about 10 minutes.  Allow the crust to cool before filling.