Forager Recipes

Wild boar raviolo served at San Francisco’s Wild Kitchen dinners are one example of the delicious dishes that are being made with foraged ingredients.

(These recipes were published in the San Jose Mercury News and its sister papers on November 17, 2011.)

Regional Recipes for Mexican Independence Day

(These chef recipes were published with the preceding article by the San Jose Mercury News and its affiliates on September 14, 2011.)

Chefs Sylvia Rallo and Enrique Gomez make these delicious regional dishes in their restaurants to celebrate Mexican Independence Day on September 16th.

Recipe: Pink Pearl Apple Carpaccio

Every year, I patiently wait until late summer for the ever-so-brief pink pearl apple season. These gorgeous, crisp, juicy, tart apples vary in color from mottled pink and white to vivid crimson and inspire all kinds of recipes to show off their taste and beauty.  I buy them from the Hale’s Apple Farm booth at the downtown Palo Alto farmers market, where they’re in season for just a few short weeks, usually beginning in late August or early September.   While these taste great, it’s the magnificent color that sets them apart.  They retain their color in apple tarts and crostadas and even fresh apple sauces.  But I like these apples best in raw preparations like a fast, delicious starter or salad replacement such as this combo of thin-sliced apples, roasted walnuts, cheese (pick your favorite) and fresh herbs.  If the companion ingredients are on hand, this comes together in a few minutes and is light and utterly delicious. It will taste the same made with regular apples, but the pink pearls make it memorable.

Recipe: Endive and Pink Pearl Apple Salad with Blue Cheese

I first had this salad a few years back at Nick’s Cove on Tomales Bay, which was then in one of its periods of superb cooking — since ended, alas.  It was so good that I made up a recipe that is true to the original. This wonderful salad is super seasonal, relying on the gorgeous pink pearl apples that show up for just a couple of weeks in early September. While other tart apples can be used for the salad with no taste diminishment, the vivid color of the small pink pearls takes it into an unsurpassed visual realm. I buy these apples at the downtown Palo Alto farmers market from a Sonoma County apple farmer but they occasionally — very occasionally — show up in high-end markets.  In this recipe, the combination of the bitter endive, tart apples, sweet-sour gastrique, meaty walnuts and pungent blue cheese stops all conversation.  A gastrique is a simple French sweet-sour sauce without fat and kicks up all kinds of dishes.

Easy, Scrumptious Grilled Summer Starters

During hot weather, cooking in a steamy kitchen can be torture.  That must be why grilling was invented, to give eaters an option besides cold salads during the summer.   Personally, I gravitate toward an old-fashioned charcoal grill — a cruddy little Smokey Joe, to be precise — but those with a gas-fueled monster can certainly make these incredibly tasty, fast starters: grilled caesar salad (wonderful, wonderful; better than the cold kind), a delicious, tomato-less cabrese (grilled eggplant and red pepper with mozzarella and basil) and grilled, meat-wrapped figs.  These all tip in an Italian direction and my invented recipes would be easy to make all together — as a tasty little trio of summer starters.

Recipe: Beet/Goat Cheese Napoleans

This was originally a recipe from Wolfgang Puck, but this version simplifies and improves it.

This is an impressive starter course that tastes great. It’s based on a classic Wolfgang Puck recipe that had several weird (to me), unnecessary aspects that I changed. The combination of beets, goat cheese and hazelnuts is a winner, as is this dish. I serve them on long, narrow white porcelain plates, which looks great.

Recipe: Edamame Bruschetta with Pecorino

This tasty vegetarian starter is not only incredibly easy and fast but healthful.

I love fresh  fava beans but hate the daunting task of preparing them.  Removing the beans from the pods, then blanching the beans, then removing the tough outer skin — it takes forever.  A delicious treatment of favas is in a pureed form, spread on toasts as an appetizer and this recipe captures most of the eye and taste appeal without the fava prep ordeal.  Edamame — blanched soybeans sold in or out of the pod — are a healthful substitute with a very similar taste and look.  Since I dump the ingredients together without measuring, take the quantities below as a rough guess and adjust to taste. The pecorino is a nice addition — its salty, sheep-y flavors are great with the lemony spread — but it’s optional.

Recipe: Simmered Kale

If there’s a tastier kale recipe, I’ve yet to find it.  Here are two versions — rich and less-so — of a wonderful, quick kale preparation.  It’s particularly good with dino kale.

This dish, originally named Kale Simmered in Cream, is so delicious that it should be illegal.  The nutritional benefits of kale are pretty much wiped out by the cholesterol count.  To that end, I recently reworked the recipe to lighten it up (a lot) while retaining the divine flavors.  See both versions below.  The original recipe is from one of the first cookbooks I ever bought (and still a winner): “Cooking The Nouvelle Cuisine in America” by Michele Urvater and David Liederman.  Yes, the nouvelle cuisine hasn’t been new in decades but if you stumble across the book (5 stars on Amazon, currently), buy it.

Recipe: Heirloom Tomato/Feta Towers with Vincotto and Candied Pecans

Tomato salad assembled as tasty towers makes an impressive presentation

There seem to be as many recipes for tomato salad as there are colorful heirloom tomato varieties.  I’ve gone in various directions, with the constant being reasonably large tomatoes, basil and cheese.  Personally, I prefer a more flavorful cheese (optimal: French feta) to the usual bland mozarella/bocconcini (the little mozarella balls).  But if you like bland, stick with it in the following recipe.  Two things that help elevate this salad above the usual are: the inclusion of delicious vincotto, a wonderful Italian thick, sweet wine-based condiment that’s like less-tart balsamic; and candied pecans.  Serving this salad in classy layered towers looks cool, although it will all fall apart during the eager consumption, naturally. The amounts aren’t exact below, so use more or less of everything to suit your taste.  This should be enough for 8 healthy servings

Recipe: Light Spring Rolls

These can be vegetarian (or not) and are a light, delicious starter, lunch or snack.

I LOVE spring rolls — or, at least, the non-fried kind wrapped in rice paper and stuffed with herbs and veggies.  These little bites can serve as a way to use up leftovers, which is how I came to make up my version when I found myself with some grilled hanger steak (see recipe elsewhere on the blog) in the fridge that needed to be disposed of.   They are great with any leftover protein and can also be a receptacle for leftover vegetables (raw ones, preferably). Or buy flavored tofu (as seen in photo above) or sliced roast beef from the deli or whatever you want, basically. Dipped in a light Thai sauce, they burst with flavor and it’s hard to eat just one.  Try cutting them into bite-sized pieces and serve as an appetizer.  Besides being delicious, they’re light and healthy.

Recipe: Carrot Macaroni and Cheese (low calorie)

This is another excellent concept from Jeremy Fox, chef of Napa’s Ubuntu, which is a much-buzzed-about new vegetarian restaurant. The silky carrot puree is a replacement for the usual fatty cream sauce. I prefer this version to the usual bland mac ‘n cheese. I changed the recipe a little to pump up the flavors.

Recipe: Green Pea Soup with Tarragon and Pea Sprouts

Pea soup is wonderful and this one is a fast, easy, light version of the richer kind that contains cream. It can be made vegetarian via vegetable broth but tastes better if Swanson’s Natural Goodness low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth is used. Or better yet, homemade stock.  I modified the original recipe a bit to make it better.

Recipe: Chicory Salad (Radicchio, Orange, Date, Ricotta Salata)

This salad has big, bold, mouth-filling flavors and is essentially a meal-in-a-bowl.  I had a version of it at Lure in  San Mateo (see my restaurant review of this great spot on the blog) and it was so memorable that I developed my own version.  It’s a good fall/winter salad, during prime citrus season.  Among the wonderful things about this salad is the contrast of sweet/bitter, soft/crunchy and it’s beautiful to look at as well.

Recipe: Red Pepper Sauce (2 versions)

One of the most irrisistible, all-purpose vegetarian sauces in existence is some variation of the classic Spanish romesco sauce, which is based on red peppers, nuts, bread and oil.   It’s good on fish, meat, vegetables, as a dip, you name it.  The original version is fine but I prefer variations with no bread and more vegetables.  Here are two.  The first is based on a Jerry Traunfeld recipe and the second is a diet version I made up that I eat all the time as a condiment on pretty much anything.  It has no fat/oil, no sugar, just veggies, hence negligible calories.  And it’s delicious!

Recipe: Root Vegetable Pancakes

These savory pancakes are absolutely delicious and easy to make.  They would please any vegetarian and are also wonderful as an accompaniment to some sort of protein. The inclusion of a little maple syrup and nut oil enriches the earthy flavors in a subtle way. I serve them with grilled salmon, which works well. The recipe was inspired by one from the chef of New York’s Union Square Cafe, but I removed 3/4 of the (unnecessary) fat and simplified the recipe.The chef, Michael Romano, uses sunchokes but I like a mixture of celery root and carrot.

Recipe: Main-Course Farmers Market Salad

Sweet, tender greens from Blue Heron Farms

Fresh figs, soft greens, roasted nuts and a complementary cheese with a killer, super-easy dressing add up to a fast, healthy summer one-course meal. And all the ingredients are available from the Palo Alto Farmers Market (or a store within walking distance). But best of all, this combination TASTES SO GOOD! Besides, it’s fun to cruise the market with a meal in mind. If you can’t make it to the farmers market on Saturday morning, acceptable substitutes can be found at a good grocery store.

Yum! Pimientos de Padrón

Addictive. Exciting (there’s about one muy caliente pepper in a batch). The little Spanish peppers available from Happy Quail Farms at the Palo Alto, Menlo Park and SF Ferry Plaza farmers markets make an easy and tasty casual starter during the warm months when the peppers are grown. Cooked in oil and sprinkled with salt, these treats are common in Spain’s tapas bars.

Recipe: Strawberry Gazpacho (David Kinch)

The simplicity of this recipe belies how out-of-this-world wonderful it tastes.I begged David for months for the recipe because I couldn’t duplicate it. He sometimes serves this as an amuse bouche before the meal starts.Great berries are a necessity, so go to a farmers market or buy the divine Swanton strawberries sometimes sold at Whole Foods. At Manresa (his superb restaurant in Los Gatos), he uses the freshest ingredients available, of course, so be choosy in your shopping. Higher-end grocery stores like Draeger’s are more likely to carry the quality balsamic vinegar and nut oil (best: imported French oil such as J. Leblanc; the only acceptable domestic oils are by LaTourangelle) called for in the recipe. David’s recipes are presented “chef’s style,” in weight measurements rather than the volume measurements typically found in home recipes. I’ve added some further explanations in the recipe.

Recipe: Yellow Corn Pudding Glazed with White Truffle Butter (Daniel Patterson)

(chef’s notes) This is a glorious expression of mid-summer, when the corn is intensely sweet and flavorful. Here bread pudding is reworked into an elegant, sensually textured combination of corn custard and brioche, which is baked in the oven until set and then glazed with a sauce made from corn juice and butter that is scented with white truffle oil. You will need eight 4-6 ounce molds in which to bake the puddings.

(my notes) This is a very delicious recipe, although it’s time consuming. If you love the rich essence of sweet corn, it’s worth it.

A Simple Approach for Killer Salads

Forget about mixing vinaigrettes, blending dressings, etc. The essence of a green salad is best experienced with the simplest approach to dressing the greens (and other things).It’s amazingly easy and can be scaled from a quick salad for one to greens for a crowd. Instructions follow, along with two delicious recipes.

One of them is a summer recipe that relies on ingredients from local farmers markets, highlighted by some of the best strawberries anywhere, grown by Swanton (sold at Menlo Park farmers market).