Ingredient Spotlight: Maxixe

Lately all this Farm to Fork marketing hubbub seems to be steadily driving up the pricing at my homebase farmers' market (the Sunday one at W and 8th). $5 for a small handful of blueberries? $6 for a basket of figs? Are you kidding me?! Your killin' me Smalls! In fact, a friend just told me this week that she can't afford to shop at the Oak Park farmers' market anymore- it's gotten too rich for her pocketbook! So to keep my wallet from feeling the sting but to still eat healthy, I've been driving out to the farmers' market on Thursday mornings on Florin Road were I can still get the reasonable prices on my fresh, local produce that I've grown accustom to over the years. Many of the vendors at Florin are the same ones that are there on Sunday at W Street with the same stock, just lower prices.

On a recent visit, I was intrigued by these spiky grenade-looking veggies with a rat tail. The vendor described them as being a cucumber and gave me a taste. He used a knife to carve off the outer skin of the "grenade" and told me the flesh was edible- seeds and all. He was right, the taste had some similarity to a cucumber, maybe a little less watery and it had a very slight citrus undertone. I bought a dozen for $1. I figured if I couldn't find a recipe to use it in, the kidlets could use them as weapons, Battle Royale-style.

When I got home, I researched my purchase and it turned out, my new spiny veggie buddy is actually called a maxixe. Maxixes originated in Africa and were brought to Brazil during the slave trade.  These days, they're quite popular in Northeastern Brazil and in the Caribbean. (In the Caribbean they're called the Burr Gherkin.) Most of my research turned up that the maxixe was best enjoyed cooked- mainly in stews or sautéed. Neither sounded very appetizing to me. So I decided to use it in making some Japanese style cucumber salad. It came out pretty good. Kind of a pain in the butt to peel but quite tasty and refreshing.

Maxixe Salad

Ingredients

8-9 maxixes washed, peeled and sliced paper thin

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

 

Instructions

 

1. Using a knife, remove the spiky outer skin layer of your maxixe. Then slice each maxixe into in half lengthwise; scrape the seeds out. Using a sharp knife, cut into very thin slices.

 

2. Gently press the maxixe slices in between 2 pieces of paper towel to get excess water out.

 

3. In a bowl, combine  together rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix together well and make sure everything dissolves. Add maxixe. Toss. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds. Serve.

Shady Lady Tomato Sauce

Shady Lady tomatoes...they're like the sexy, busty sirens of the farmers' market. With their deep lipstick red color and voluptuous shape, how can you resist them? You can eat them sliced on a plate with some buffalo mozzarella with a good balsamic drizzle or stacked with a thick cut of smoky applewood bacon and some creamy avocado on a fresh, hearty slice of sourdough. There's so many delicious ways to enjoy this heavenly fruit. One of my favorite ways to consume Shady Lady tomatoes is to oven-roast them and then make them into a sauce. The sauce is rich in flavor and smooth like butta', much too good to plop on a bowl of ordinary pasta. I like to use it to dress up appetizers like crostini or mini meatballs. With this batch, I used it to sauce some eggplant parmesan bites I made for some patio dining. We grew some wonderful Japanese eggplants in our garden this summer at Mr. S.'s which I sliced up into rounds. I dipped the round in egg yolk, then tossed them in a mixture of Parmesan cheese and dried breadcrumbs and fried them in some olive oil until they were nice and crisp. (I then placed them on some paper to absorb the excess oil.) Next, I spooned a tablespoon of my Shady Lady tomato sauce on the round and sprinkled some Parmesan on top and served the eggplant bite hot. They were a hit! Next year we'll have to grow more eggplants.

Our Japanese eggplants in the garden when they were about 1/4 of the way grown- don't they look like X-mas ornaments?

Shady Lady Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

5-6 big Shady Lady Tomatoes ( peeled*, cored, seeded, halved)

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

2 small yellow onions, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

glug of dry, red wine

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 bay leaf

handful of fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon good-quality balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper


Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Place tomato, garlic and onion in a glass baking dish. Spread out in a single layer, don't crowd. You want them to roast, not steam. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 20-30 minutes until they start to caramelize (slightly browned and shriveled).

3. Place roasted tomatoes, garlic, onions in a food processor and give it a few good pulses. Place in a medium-size pot over medium heat. Add wine, sugar, sea salt, bay leaf, and fresh basil. Add a splash of good quality balsamic vinegar. Allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

4. Taste. Season with fresh ground pepper. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Marcella Hazan writes in The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: "No other preparation is more successful in delivering the prodigious satisfactions of Italian cooking than a competently executed sauce with tomatoes."

 

* The easiest way to peel a tomato is to :

1) Slice a shallow "X" on the bottom of the tomato. Then submerge the tomato in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Remove and plunge in an ice bath for 30-45 seconds. Remove from the ice bath. The skin should peel off.

OR

2) Freeze the tomato. Remove the tomato from the freezer and let it thaw. Once thawed the skin should slip right off the tomato.

Asari No Sakamushi

One of my favorite childhood foods was clams- pretty much in any form but fried. When we were living at Yokota Air Force Base outside of Tokyo, my parents would take me to this small Japanese restaurant where I would eat bowl after bowl of miso soup laden with teeny-tiny clams the size of a nickel called shijimi. I see miso soup with clams on menus here in California but never with the wee clams that I had in Japan, instead a bigger, slightly briny clam called an asari (Manila clam) is used. On a trip back to Japan a few years back, my friend Mayumi, took me to the Tsukiji market at the crack of dawn and lo and behold they had my clams...the tiny ones! We bought a big bag...the fishmonger even gave us the "bijin discount" (the pretty girl discount) and Mayumi's grandma was kind enough to cook the clams for us for dinner. It's crazy how little things like that can bring you such happiness.

Even though, I can't get my hands on the itty-bitty shijimi clams here I do get some pretty small clams at Sunh Fish and at Oto's from time to time to make asari miso soup with. If I'm feeling particular grown up, I'll make asari no sakamushi (Manila clams steamed in sake). You usually can find this dish served in izakayas (Japanese pubs). The dish requires very few ingredients and minimal work. Mr.S. isn't too crazy about it...he tends to like his mollusks immersed in butter and garlic but the simplicity of the dish suits me just fine especially on nights when I don't want to spend too much time fussing in the kitchen. A bowl of asari no sakamushi, a glass of white wine and I'm set.

Asari No Sakamushi

Ingredients

2 lbs. asari (Manila clams), scrubbed well
sea salt
1 cup sake ( I used Sho Chiku Bai)
4 tablespoons mirin
1 cup water
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts)

Instructions

1. Place clams in a colander or a wire sieve. In a large bowl, add one tablespoon of sea salt and fill with cold water. Submerge the colander of clams into the salty water. (Make sure all the clams are covered with the salty water.) Leave in a cool place at least two hours (or up to overnight). The clams will spit out the sand and the sand should fall to the bottom of the bowl. Sometimes if there seems to be a lot of sand, halfway through I'll change out the salted water.

2. Drain the clams and rinse them well. Sometimes if they look a little bit janky, I'll use my scrub brush on them at this point. Throw away any clams that don't close.

3. In a large, deep pan- combine the sake, mirin, and water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add the clams. Cover the pan.

4. Give the pan a good shake every so often. Cook, roughly 4-5 minutes, until shells open.

5. Discard any clams that refuse to open. You do not want to eat those.

6. Garnish with scallions.

* If you want to add a little more kick, sprinkle some togarashi on the finished product.

Seckel Pear-Walnut Bread

Did you know the California Pear Advisory Board is the first California commodity board to sponsor Sacramento's Farm-to-Fork program? To celebrate, many area restaurants like Hawks, Broderick and Michelangelo's will be featuring an appetizer or a drink highlighting the pear during the months of September and October. For more info check out: Farm to Fork-Cal Pear

In my own household and at Mr.S's, we've been eating a lot of pears as well (like in that delicious Blue Heaven Pear Tart I posted about recently). Pears are quite nutritious- they're low in calories, high in fiber and contain no fat or sodium. Most recently, I purchased a bunch of Seckel pears grown by Stillwater Orchards in Courtland. Seckel pears are little itty-bitty pears that are so cute that you almost don't want to eat them. These petite, chubby pears are an olive green color with a maroonish blush. They don't change color when they become ripe, they just get soft around the stem. They also have a delicate sweetness which makes them perfect for pairing with cheese.

 

Currently, I've been enamored with Nancie McDermott's cookbook, "Southern Cakes," which I checked out from my local library. The book is filled with all kinds of irresistible sounding sweets and delectable treats. One recipe in particular caught my eye- Cornelia Walker Bailey's Pear Bread.

I used my Seckels in this recipe and it came out perfect. Since the recipe makes two loaves I shared with friends and I received several compliments on the end product. The pear bread is moist, sweet and nutty- the trinity of perfection for a quick bread. According to my buddy Dave, this bread also tastes quite good when you're drunk. ;-)

Cornelia Walker Bailey's Pear Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups AP flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups peeled and finely grated ripe but firm pears (Seckels, if you can find them)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

 

 

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour two 9″x 5″loaf pans.
• Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of this mixture and combine it with nuts to coat. Stir the coated nuts back into the flour mixture.
• In a separate bowl, combine butter, eggs, sugar, grated pears, and vanilla. Mix it well then add the this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the bread is browned and firm on top. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.
• Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pan and place top side up on a plate or wire rack to cool completely.

 

Have You Checked These Out? : Witch Finger Grapes

I was at Raley's today and spotted these-- they're grapes! I've never seen anything like it, have you? According to the produce guy, they're called Witch Finger Grapes. Theses dark, elongated hybrid grapes are grown in the San Joaquin Valley. He gave me one of the freaky, little pointy "fingers" to taste and they turned out to be a tad too sweet for me but I could definitely see kids really liking them. Might be a fun way to add some pizzazz to the fruit in your kidlet's lunchbox.

Pink Pearl Apple Salad with Fresh Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Last night, Mr.S. and I introduced Kidlet #1 to the iconic 80's flick, "The Breakfast Club." Although some scenes and references needed explaining (the movie was made in 1985 after all), Kidlet #1 seemed to really enjoy it. That's one of the things I just adore about that kid. He's so open to new ideas, activities and people. I wish more adults were like that. Another amazing thing about him is that he's open to trying new foods. He's always a joy to take out or cook for. Sure, he likes the teen staples of burgers, tacos and pizza but he's just as willing to delve into some sushi, Thai or Greek food.

Recently I brought over a few Pink Pearl apples for the kidlets to try. Kidlet #2 looked at the fruit with the utmost suspicion whereas Kidlet #1 snaked a taste as soon as I sliced it up. If you've never seen a Pink Pearl apple before, pop by the Co-op and pick one up. They currently have a huge display of the heirloom apples from Rider and Sons out of Watsonville. The peel is smooth and cream colored, oftentimes with a blush but the wow factor is that the flesh is a striking rose-pink. The only drawback with these beauties? The season is short, usually just a few weeks.

*An interesting tidbit- Pink Pearl apples were developed right here in Northern California in 1944, by a gentleman named Albert Etter, from a variety called Surprise.

To showcase these pomaceous lovelies, I decided to keep the recipe uncomplicated. I offered them up on a bed of simple mixed greens, sprinkled with honey almond slices and a few drizzles of homemade apple cider vinaigrette. The salad was a hit, Kidlet #2 had two HUGE servings.

Fresh Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 teaspoons honey

1.5 teaspoons Dijon mustard

a good sized pinch of Kosher salt

a good sized pinch of fresh ground back pepper

1 tablespoon minced shallots

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid


Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to your jar, close the lid.

2. Shake well. You want the oil to incorporate and the mixture to emulsify.

3. Slowly pour on salad.

*vinaigrette will keep for a day or two, refrigerated. Just bring to room temperature to use.

Ask Jeeves: The Big Red Bus Has Arrived!

Are you ready for the 3-day weekend? There's so many fun things going on around town- Chalk It Up!, the Sacramento Greek Festival and of course- the Norm Lopez Pub Crawl. I love that Sacramento is always poppin' with fantastic community activities. Last Sunday, I was able to check out Music in the Park at Curtis Park. What a wonderful event! There was free music and a pretty big turn out. Lots of Sacramentans, kids and dogs came out to enjoy the festivities.

For those who had the munchies, there was easy accessibility to the food trucks. The first shift was done by Wicked 'Wich and the second by The Big Red Bus. What? You haven't heard of the Big Red Bus? It's the latest addition to the Sac food truck scene. The brainchild of the folks over at The Street of London, TBRB has already been seen at several popular venues around town. At the helm of the rowdy group of rapscallions is the executive chef of SOL- Martin Hutton.

According to the chef, the TBRB will be serving a global fusion of nibbles. During my visit to Music in the Park, I had the opportunity to taste the curry fries (crispy French fries with the perfect amount of curry flavoring) and the Carnasian. The Carnasian is a large wrap packed full of spiced shredded beef, fresh Asian slaw, cheese, a slightly spicy sauce and fries. The fries are actually inside the wrap giving each bite a nice crunchy texture factor, kind of like fried wontons. The Carnasian was quite delectable, although I wish the wrap part was slightly softer (mine was a bit dry and hard)...a lavash might make a good substitute. I would order it again though, I loved the mélange of flavors.

The other menu item that caught my eye was the Fat Elvis. If you are jonesing for a juicy burger made with Track 7's Delta King Saison ketchup, cheese, produce and some lip smackin' peanut butter glaze--- then this burger is for you, it's fit for a king! For those who have their heart set on some UK fare, TBRB offers up the Moby- Icelandic cod in a Newcastle beer infused batter with a serving of fries.

Sound good? To get your grub on, all you have to do is look for Jeeves, the big red "bus".
Today, you can find Jeeves at New Helvetia on Broadway until 4pm. Cheers!

FB page: The Big Red Bus
(916) 233-9267