It was Week 3 of our CSA deliveries and if I’m not mistaken our boxes are starting to feel a bit heavier…not a lot but a bit. I expect over the next few weeks they will increase in weight as early season greens transition into various other vegetables. Not that I’m complaining about what we get now. I am a firm believer in quality over quanity and everything we have received so far has been excellent. I’ve been especially thrilled with the Hakurei turnips, but I’ll get back to those in a minute.

This week our box was filled with more strawberries, baby greens, spinach, radishes (although this is probably the end of them for the summer), and turnips. Making their first appearance in our box was garlic scapes (the green shoots of the garlic), sugar snap peas, kohlrabi (a favorite here in our house).

Now back to the Hakurei turnips. I’ve become quite enamored with them. While they still have a slight “bite” to them I find them to be more subtle then their autumn counterparts. Also unlike their autumn counterparts, these little beauties don’t require peeling before using. Their skin is much thinner than turnips from fall harvests and much less fiberous. Just wash them and give them a good scrub to remove any dirt and then use them in whatever dish you are making (although if making mashed turnips you might still want to peel them) or just slice them thinly, sprinkle with a bit of salt and eat raw.

I don’t often cook radishes, although I do on occasion. I came up with the idea of making a gratin out of the turnips and since their flavor profile was somewhat similar to the radishes we had received I decided that I would add a layer of radishes to the gratin. While it might be a bit heavy for a hot summer day, this gratin, nonetheless, goes really well as an accompaniment to grilled steak.

Turnip Gratin with Radishes
serves 4

1-1 1/2 bunches Hakurei turnips, washed well
1 bunch radishes, washed well
2 Tbs. butter
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated (I used one of my favorites, Sarvecchio, by Sartori foods out of Plymouth WI)
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1 cup cream

Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a medium sized, oven proof saute pan melt the butter. Remove from heat. Thinly slice the turnips and radishes approximately 1/8-1/4″ thick. Place a single layer of turnips on the bottom of the saute pan. Cover with the radishes. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, peper and just a hint of nutmeg. Top with 1/4 cup of the parmesan.

Add another layer of turnips, followed by more salt, pepper, nutmeg and another 1/4 cup of parmesan. Top with the remaining turnips, more salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour in the cream and press down on the vegetables to make sure the are just barely covered by the cream. Add a bit more cream or milk, if necessary. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 15 minutes more. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned the the liquid as thickened. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. This will allow the gratin to set before serving.

I’ve been a little lax in sharing my recipes inspired by our CSA share. It’s not that we haven’t been using all the great produce from Good Earth Farm, it’s just that I have been behind in uploading the recipes. It didn’t help that our good friend Kim celebrated her birthday this past weekend so most of Saturday night was spent celebrating (I do most of my writing later at night when the kid is asleep-less distractions!). And Sunday was spent at Breakfast on the Farm and hanging outside with the neighbors, playing Washers (kind of like Horseshoes). It was way too nice to be inside, writing on the computer!!

Our weather, here in Wisconsin, has been up and down, like much of the nation’s. One day it’s 85° and the next it’s 55° so I decided that I wanted to make a soup that would taste great either hot or cold. That way I had all my bases covered. Heat it up and it would be perfect for a cool, rainy day or serve it chilled, with a salad of the baby greens we received in our share, for a light, hot weather lunch. Potato soup is perfect for this kind of application as it often works both as a hot or a chilled soup. The potatoes would also be the perfect foil for the plethora of green garlic, which we had gotten for the past 2 weeks of our share, that I wanted to use up. This makes a wonderful, comforting warm soup, yet not too hearty for a summer day. Chill it down it makes a great cold soup, but blend in some cucumber and you have a perfect early summer luncheon when paired with a salad, or in our case, thinly sliced radishes set atop of buttered honey wheat bread.

Potato and Green Garlic Soup-Two ways
serves 4

6 bulbs green garlic with 4-5″ of the stems left on
2 pounds russet (Idaho) potatoes
1 rib celery
1 cup half and half
water
salt
pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup sour cream
1-2 cucumbers (seedless as the skins of regular cucumbers are too thick and bitter)

Roughly chop the green garlic and celery and place in a medium sized pot. Peel and slice the potatoes. Add to the pot, along with the half and half. Add enough water to just barely cover the potatoes. Add salt, pepper and a few gratings (or a small pinch) of ground nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes start to fall apart, about 20 minutes depending on how thickly or thinly you slice the potatoes. Puree the soup, adding additional water, if necessary to achieve a consistency you like. Stir in the sour cream, adjust the seasoning and serve. Or, at this point chill the soup until completely cold. Return to the blender and add the cucumber, roughly chopped. Blend until smooth. At this point you will probably also have to thin the soup again as it thickens as it cools. You will also have to re-season the soup as the cold will deaden the seasoning a bit. No matter at what temperature you serve the soup it will be improved by garnishing with a sprinkle of fresh herbs. There are many to choose from, but my choices would be rosemary, if serving the soup hot and tarragon is serving it cold. Be careful as both herbs can be overpowering so just a light sprinkling would be fine.

I served this soup cold on Saturday and accompanied it with thinly sliced radishes served over slices of honey wheat bread slathered with copious amounts of butter. It may not be the most inventive way to serve radishes, but there are reasons some foods become classics and buttered radish sandwiches fall easily into this category. If you’ve never tried it do yourself a favor and try now, with fresh early summer radishes. Just make sure to a good, dense bread, such as the honey wheat loaf I used.

We received our second CSA delivery today, and just like a kid on Christmas, I couldn’t wait to open up our box, even though I already knew what would be in it (they deliver the weekly newsletter on Wednesday telling us what is in the box). This week we received more bok choy, more green garlic, another bag of baby greens, more pea shoots, a bunch of radishes and another pint of strawberries. In addition to these repeats (all of which I am very grateful for as it gives me a chance to play with these items even more!!) we received a bunch of Hakurei turnips, an early ripening Japanese variety of turnip. I’m really looking forward to “playing” with those as I have never had this variety before, although, from what I have read about them, most of them may get eaten simply washes and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper!

Since I still hadn’t used up the bok choy (a chinese variety of cabbage) and all of the green garlic from last week, and having received more of each, I knew that tonight’s dinner would have to feature both of them. I figured a simple stir-fry would be perfect. Not necessarily the most creative way to use up bok choy, but the meal hit the spot, and was done-start to finish-in just under 15 minutes, not counting the time it took to cook the brown rice that went with it.

Green Garlic

Chicken with Bok Choy
serves 2

1/2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tsp. hoisin sauce
2 Tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs. water
1tsp. corn starch
3 bulbs green garlic (white buld and an inch or 2 of the green stem), thinly sliced
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3-4 bunches baby bok choy
1 pound chicken breast, boneless & skinless, thinly sliced
4 Tbs. sesame oil
1-3 pinches red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup cashews, roasted

Combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well. Set aside. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 Tsp. of the sesame oil and once it starts to smoke add the chicken. Quickly stir-fry the chicken until done. Remove from wok. Wipe the wok out and add the remaining sesame oil. When it starts to smoke add the green garlic and ginger. Toss once or twice and add the bok choy-do not let the garlic burn or it will become bitter. Stir-fry the vegetables for about 2 minutes then add about 1 oz (2 Tbs.) of water to quickly steam the bok choy. Add the chicken, and red pepper flakes if using. Then add the reserved sauce you made up earlier. Toss to coat. Add the cashews and serve immediately. This dish is best when the bok choy still has a bit of crispness to it. Let it sit too long and the bok choy will go completely limp. Not the end of the world, but I like it better when there is still a bit of crunch to it. Serve with white or brown rice.

Unfortunately, this will probably be my last post on ramps for the year. Work is going to be very busy as I have to cover some of my staff’s vacation. That means no weekends off for the next few weeks. In fact, I’ll be lucky to get a day or 2 off in the upcoming 2-3 weeks, which means that all of my free time will be devoted to chores around the house. No time to go wandering through the woods, looking for ramps. By the time I surface again, most of the other plants will have overtaken the ramps, making them much more difficult to find. And while you can gather ramps well into the summer, I prefer the more tender, more subtle flavor of early season ramps. If you can’t get enough, then I suggest you check out the article I wrote, for Chef Talk. It contains a wonderful recipe for a Grilled Ramp Salad that is a must try for anyone who loves ramps like I do. You can find the article here.

Last weekend my parents came up from Indiana to celebrate my Mom’s 70th birthday. Neither of them were very familiar with ramps so I figured I could make a few things that showcased them. On the night of my Mom’s birthday I created the Grilled Ramp Salad that I wrote about for the Chef Talk article, while the following morning, Sunday, I baked off this wonderful Strata, aka, Egg Casserole. My Dad also expressed some interest in how to hunt for ramps so I took him to my favorite foraging spot and gave him a quick lesson in ramp gathering. It was nice as we also got to spend a little father-son time, something that doesn’t happen often as they live 5+ hours away and when they come up, love to spend time with their granddaughter. And who can blame them. She’s awfully cute!

Egg Casseroles, Stratas, do require a little preplanning as they do best when they are made the night before and allowed to soak overnight. The nice thing about that is then that morning there is very little that needs to be done and you can relax with a cup of coffee. They can also be assembled early in the morning, if you are planning on doing a late brunch as you can get away with a 4 hour soak, but I wouldn’t allow for any less time.

Spinach and Ramp Strata
serves 8-10

10 eggs
2 3/4 cups milk
2 cups ramps, chopped (use the everything but the roots)
2 Tbs. butter, plus more for greasing the pan
12 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
2 cups swiss cheese, shredded
1 pound loaf french bread, sliced 1/2-3/4″ thick
salt
pepper
freshly ground nutmeg

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat and melt the butter. Add the ramps and saute until tender but not colored. Add the spinach, salt and pepper and continue to cook until most of the water has evaporated.

Cool the spinach mixture. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat thoroughly. Add the milk and season with salt, pepper and a few gratings of fresh nutmeg. Butter a 9×13 baking pan. Place half of the bread slices in the bottom of the baking dish. Layer with the spinach mixture and top with 1 cup of the swiss cheese.

Top with the remaining bread.

Then pour the egg mixture of the everything, making sure to soak each piece of bread. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate, at least, 4 hours or preferably, overnight.

The next morning preheat the oven to 350°F. While the oven is heating uncover the strata and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the strata no longer jiggles, in the center, when gently shaken. If it starts to get too brown cover with some aluminum foil. When done remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

The weather is still cold, rainy and generally pretty crappy, but despite the lousy weather I’ve been in the Spring mood. It might be nasty out but a walk through the local forest has already offered up the first ramps of the season, which I used not long ago on a previous post. I also went out and checked on our herb garden. The mint and Lemon Balm are already starting to emerge and take over (that means lots of weeding to keep them in check) and the tarragon already has 3-4 inch shoots.

I was in the mood for something simple, light and “Springy” for dinner tonight. My wife had recently picked up some nice looking salmon which I was itching to cook and with the newly sprouted tarragon I knew I had the basis of a wonderfully simple and elegant dish right in front of me. Add in some asparagus and baby Yukon Gold potatoes and I was set for the evening.

You can’t get much more simple than the recipe that follows. I hate to even call this a recipe, but it does illustrate how easy it is to take a few simple ingredients, at their peak of freshness and flavor and create a dish that is quick enough for an everyday meal or elegant enough to serve at your next dinner party.

Pan Seared Salmon with Roasted Asparagus
serves 4

4 fillets salmon, skin removed, 4-6oz. each
1 pound fresh asparagus
2 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 lemon
1-2 tsp. fresh tarragon, minced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the potatoes into quarters or sixths, depending on their size. Toss with about 3 Tbs. of the olive oil then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Toss to coat then place on a baking tray and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Gently stir them after about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the asparagus by cutting off the bottom, tough portions of the asparagus. When the potatoes have about 5 minutes left raise the oven temperature to 425°F. Toss the asparagus with about 2 Tbs. olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay out on a baking tray, 1 layer thick. When potatoes are done remove from oven and put in the asparagus. Cook for 8 minutes.

While the asparagus is cooking heat 2 large saute pans over high heat (you can use just 1 pan but then you will probably want to cook the fish in 2 batches). Add 2 Tbs. olive oil to each pan. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Once the oil just starts to smoke add the fish, skin side up. Immediately lower the heat to medium high. After 3-4 minutes flip the fish over. I like my salmon on the medium rare side so I then take it out of the pan after another 2-4 minutes depending on the thickness (sometimes even less time if the fillet is really thin). If you like it well done then it will need about 6-7 minutes longer.

After the asparagus has cooked for 8 minutes, sprinkle on the minced tarragon and roast for 1 minute longer. Remove from the oven and squeeze the lemon juice over top. Divide the asparagus and potatoes between 4 plates then top with a salmon fillet.

If you are like me then Ramen noodles played an intregal part of your college days. When the vast majority of my budget went towards beer and booze $0.19 packs of ramen was a godsend. Even after culinary school, when I was “paying my dues” in Atlanta, working for barely over minimum wage, ramen played a large part in regular diet. Not only was it cheap, allowing me to hit the bars more often (are you sensing a reoccuring theme here?), but it was pretty tasty, the variations were virtually limitless, and it allowed me to stretch my proteins much further.

Somewhere along the line, I was introduced to the Ramen Noodle Salad, and fell in love with it. Now I could even eat my ramen without cooking them!!! It was great! Since then, I have come across the salad at all sorts of picnics and pot luck dinners. Usually I am underhelmed by the dish and have to admt that I really only like the dish when the noodles have just been added and are still crunchy.

This version adds a bit of flavor to the mix by using green curry paste. Don’t worry, it is now easily found at many grocery stores with a half way decent Asian section. “Thai Kitchen” is the brand I most often come across in regular stores, although if you have a decent Asian market near you, check it out as you can often find it for about half the price of “Thai Kitchen.”

Ramen Noodle Salad
serves 4 as an entree salad or 6-8 as a side dish

1Tbs. green curry paste
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 Tbs. sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 head napa cabbage
4 each green onions
1/2 red bell pepper
4 oz. snow peas

1 can (11oz) mandarin oranges, drained
2 packages ramen noodles, reserve flavoring packet for another use
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

For the dressing combine the first set of ingredients and mix well. Set aside. Core the napa cabbage, cut into thirds, lengthwise and slice thinly. Thinly chop the green onions. Remove seeds from the bell pepper and slice paper thin. Finally remove the strings from the snow peas by snapping off the stem end and pulling it down along the front of the pea, taking the “string” with it. Thinly slice the snow peas. Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Allow the salad to marinate for at least 10-15 minutes. Break up the ramen noodles and toss with the salad along with the oranges and almonds. Serve immediately so that the noodles are still crisp and crunchy.

While I often use this as a vegetarian meal, you can easily add grilled chicken or shrimp to make a heartier salad.

Sponsored by Chef Talk

I met Jim Berman years ago on Chef Talk. The website was still relatively small and obscure, and populated by, mainly, by very passionate chefs and a few serious homecooks. Even then, Jim’s passion for food was clearly evident and made him standout. Years later, as I’ve watched friends and collegues burnout and lose their passion for this business, Jim still seems to be going strong. I can’t help but feel that this partially due to his choice to educate and inspire a new generation of chefs.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pa, Jim Berman received his formal culinary training through the American Culinary Federation’s Chefs’ apprenticeship program at the Community College of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He eventually settled in Old New Castle, Delaware where he has lived for the past sixteen years. As a former Executive Chef for Brandywine River Museum and DuPont Experimental Station, Jim left the corporate dining world behind to become the Chef Instructor at Delcastle Technical High School, where he has been since 2003. Jim is the founder and faculty advisor of the Cooks and Bakers competition/service team. He, along with his team, the Cooks and Bakers, has twice been honored with the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service and the President’s Award for Youth Service. An advocate of utilizing fair-trade and locally-sourced products, Jim, his teaching partner and culinary class finished at the top of this year’s “The Farmer and the Chef” following up to last year’s third place finish. To underscore Jim’s belief in using seasonal, local goods, he and his students travelled to Italy this past summer to explore the practical kitchen applications of Italian cuisine’s approach to local produce. In his spare time Jim also regularly contributes articles for Cheftalk.com as well as helps administer the forum boards there.

Anyone who knows Jim would agree that his students are very lucky to have someone like Jim teaching them. His passion and love of food are pervade all he does, as evidenced by the numerous awards and acolades both he, his program, and his students receive.

What made you decide to leave the restaurant world?
I suppose the predictable answer would be that I had burned out on the day-to-day grind, the hours, the physical demand. The more accurate answer would be that I had just turned 30 and felt that I really wasn’t doing anything meaningful with my life. I was surrounded by people that were solely in their jobs for the money and I was serving people that simply did not give a damn about me, my plight or the amount of work that went into making their food. I had three kids that I scarcely knew and, more importantly, I was starting to not know myself. I know… deeply philosophical and all, but it was true. My life had succumbed to the kitchen; free time was spent in some aspect of work, whether worrying about work, planning for work or attending to some detail for work, what was once fun, or at least engaging, had lost its appeal. I was writing a food column for a local newspaper in my ‘free’ time and reading about food in the little pockets that were left of non-kitchen time. Way too much tunnel vision!

What do you miss most about the restaurant world?
There is no mistaking the camaraderie is addictive. The rush, again another predictable answer, is a real adrenaline kick, as well. I know a lot of people go into cooking so that others can appreciate the creativity that has been born. I have never thought myself creative, so I simply miss having something ‘come out’ as intended. Cooking is still a part of my everyday, but the combination of fuel, food and the frantic pace is the greatest absence.

What do you find to be the most rewarding part of teaching the next generation of cooks and chefs?
That’s a tough question! I think seeing students use what they have learned and applying it. We just got done working with shellfish. A few students took apart some Dungeness crabs and decided to make ravioli. They put their background knowledge to work to get the pasta made, filled and cooked. They seasoned the filling using what they had learned earlier in the year when we got into tasting food and how our mouths’ react to different tastes. I stood back and watched. The kitchen was quiet sans some banter about the size or shape of the filled pastas. That’s a good moment! Then there is the personal stuff. When a student comes back after a few years of being in industry or at school, that just burns bright throughout the day. There is certainly no mistaking the personal connections with some students and even their parents. Many students have moved away, but we remain in touch and I get to be a part of their kitchen experiences as newer members of the industry. I get to live vicariously through them! I get to hear about and see pictures of some amazing food and the frenetic kitchen life. And, while many students leave the field before even really getting started, their energy is contagious and their youth has kept me young.

If there is one thing that you want your students to take away from your courses what would that be?
I have resorted to quotes, cliches and the occasional sermon from the kitchen pulpit. Take your pick. From my stage I preach that there is simply no mistaking hard work. Reward is directly proportional to the amount of energy invested. Practice is part of routine and routine is part of becoming better. “Train the way you fight, fight the way you train.” There are personal facets that I want my crew to take with them, from understanding differences (in ability, in opinion, in goals, etc) to valuing responsibility (and even defining responsibility) to appreciating autonomy, excitement, risk-taking and organization. Yeah, I know you asked for one piece. Each day is made up of a series of teachable moments, little victories and some salty tears. So, there are many adventures throughout the course of the day that pop out to benefit the students.

If you could do it all over again would you follow the same career path?
Yes. No. I don’t know. I started my working career heading in the direction of investment banking. More accurately, my parents started my working career heading in the direction of investment banking. Cooking was a part time gig that I got by lying about my experience. And I never left. Do I still love to cook? Yes. I like to be around food; I like to eat; I like to read about it. And I certainly enjoy watching others cook. But, you know, it has been a hard climb. Not to say that the challenge was unwelcome. Adversity reveals character. Pragmatically speaking, money is tough as a cook and, as a teacher, well, no complaints but credit card companies aren’t exactly knocking on my door to offer me Platinum cards. No, it isn’t about the money. As I have gone on in age, though, I see a daughter on the brink of college with two more to follow. Am I fascinated and happy by what I do? Yes. I think I would have liked to have been in the armed services and maybe been a carpenter so I could build my own cabinets… for my kitchen.

Jim has kindly offered up his recipe for Potato Gnocchi. Gnocchi has, once again, become a somewhat trendy food, partially due to its popularity among the chefs of Top Chef, and because its rustic nature makes it fall into that category of “comfort food” that Americans seem to crave so much. Either way, potato gnocchi is a fantastic dish; easy to make and impressive to serve. Following Jim’s recipe will help to ensure your gnocchi is light and fluffy, not the heavy, sodden nuggets that are the hallmark of poorly made gnocchi.

Potato Gnocchi

2 lb Potatoes, russet*
1 Egg, large
10 oz Cake Flour, plus additional for dusting
Salt
Pepper
Corn meal for dusting trays

Simmer the potatoes until a knife easily passes to the center. Remove the cooked potatoes from the water. Peel the potatoes while still warm. Pass potatoes through a ricer into a bowl.

Add egg and flour into bowl with potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Lightly knead the dough to reach a pliable consistency. Sprinkle rolling surface with flour; slice dough into 6 balls. Roll one ball into a length that is about ½” thick.

Use a bench knife to cut off ¾” pieces.

Repeat until all the dough is cut. Place gnocchi on a tray lined with corn meal. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the gnocchi. When the gnocchi float on the surface of the water, remove and serve with choice of sauce and garnish.

*Stick with Russet potatoes and stay away from starchy potatoes like Baby Reds or Yukon Golds. Their moist, waxy interior will make leaden gnocchi, not light ones.

It wasn’t until later in life that I discovered Indian food. It’s not a surprise as I grew up in rural Vermont and rural Indiana. Neither of them known for their diverse ethnic cuisines, especially back then. It wasn’t until I had moved to NYC that I got my first taste of real Indian food. I was instantly hooked, but it wasn’t until culinary school and my travels aftewards that I really came to truly appreciate the complex flavors and spicing of the dishes. One of the first things I fell in love with are Samosas, those puffy triangles of fried dough filled with an aromatic filling of spices and, most often vegetables.

Samosas are another great “gateway” food for those interested in trying Indian cuisine. First off, its a fried dumpling, and what red blooded American doesn’t love something stuffed into dough and deep fried. Secondly, although filled with a highly aromatic filling, the spicing isn’t overly exotic or terribly hot.

One of the best things about these samosas is the fact that they don’t require any special spices or ingredients. While I usually shy away from curry powder when cooking Indian food, I really like the flavor of it in my samosas. While the samosas, themselves, do not require any special ingredients, the chutney I usually serve with them does. I like to serve a Tamarind chutney with them. The sweet tart flavor really goes well with them although there are many other chutneys that would work just as well, so if you don’t feel like hunting down tamarind concentrate (which shouldn’t be too hard nowadays) you can always find another recipe to use, or even pick up a bottle of mango chuntey at the store. You can find Major Grey’s in most larger supermarkets.

Since the samosas do take a little bit of work, I like to make the Tamarind chutney the day before. Besides, I think it is better the second day as the flavors have had a chance to meld and mature.

Tamarind Chutney
makes about 1 1/2 cups

3 Tbs. tamarind concentrate
2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. fennel seed
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. Ajwain seed (optional)
1/2 cup golden raisins (regular raisins can be substituted)
salt

In a medium sized saucepan, over medium heat, toast the cumin, fennel, cayenne and ajwain, just to the point of starting to brown (do not allow to burn). Add the water, tamarind concentrate, and raisins. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree and cook 5 minutes longer. Season with a little salt and then chill for at least 1 hour, or better yet, overnight before serving.

Samosas
makes 24

Filling
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1/4″
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
1 cup peas, frozen, thawed
3 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
2 Tbs. ghee or butter
water
salt & pepper

Dough
8 ozw. flour
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/3 cup water (or more as needed)

To make the filling, heat the ghee in a large saute pan. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, not allowing them to brown. Add the curry powder and cumin seed. Cook 1 minute longer then add the potatoes and enough water to just barely cover them. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove cover, add peas and continue to cook until the potatoes are just starting to fall apart and all the water has evaporated.

Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and chill thoroughly before shaping samosas.

Make the dough, by combining all the ingredients, using 1/3 cup of water. Add more water as necessary, to make s soft and slightly sticky dough. Knead dough for 5 minutes during which the dough should lose most of its stickiness. Wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Once rested, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Working on a lightly floured surface and working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll dough out to a circle about 6″ in diameter. Cut in half. Place 1 1/2-2 Tbs. of filling on each half.

Brush edges with a little water and fold dough over the filling to form a cone, with the tip on the straight side and the opening of the cone on the curved edge. Continue to fold the dough over, then pinch the opened edge (along the curved side) closed, forming a rough triangle.

Keep the samosas covered with a lightly dampened cloth as you make the others. While forming the samosas, fill a pot with about 2-3 inches of oil and bring to 350°F. Fry a couple of samosas at a time, careful not to overcrowd your pan and lower the oil temperature. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side or until a deep golden brown. Drain on paper towel and immediately sprinkle with salt while still hot. Serve immediately with tamarind chutney or dipping sauce of your choice.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve had a craving for Indian food. Unfortunately for me, the closest Indian restaurant is about 45-60 minutes away. Luckily, during my last trip to Penzey’s Spices, I stocked up on a lot of Indian spices so I was ready to do what was necessary to saitate that craving. The first dish I made was Saag Paneer, a wonderfully spicy, yet subtle dish of cooked spinach with chunks of fresh, homemade cheese. This is a great dish that is perfect for introducing people to the joys of Indian cuisine. I find the end product to be very similar to that standard steakhouse favorite, Creamed Spinach, but its seasoning is a bit more exotic. Nor does it have the fiery heat that many people associate with Indian foods.

The first, and most difficult step in learning to prepare Indian foods is gathering up all the spices needed. You’ll be surprised you probably already have many of the spices you will need, such as cinnamon, clove, cumin, peppercorn, coriander and fennel, though it is best to have these as whole, instead of the ground that Americans most often buy. Add to that list mustard seed, whole green cardamon, turmeric and possibly Ajwain seed or fennugreek and you will have most bases covered. Of course, there are many more spices that you could go out and purchase if you really want to get deep into the cuisines of India, but the ones I have listed will cover most dishes.

The next thing you need to do is make up a batch of garam masala. Garam masala is a spice blend that is the workhorse of many Indian cuisines. Like BBQ rubs here in the US, there is no one single recipe for garam masala and each region and each household has it’s own variations. What I would suggest is finding a couple of recipes for garam masala and trying each of them. Not only will this allow you to discover the blend that you enjoy the most, but you’ll get a chance to see how different blends work better with different dishes. The one thing that garam masala is not is curry powder. That particular spice blend was a creation of the British meant to imitate the garam masalas of India. Curry powder always contains a large portion of turmeric (its what makes curry powder yellow) while no garam masala recipes I have ever come across contains that spice. The recipe I offer here is heavy on the spices that most Americans are familiar with so it is a great starting point for exploring the world of Indian spices, but again I suggest you do a little research and come up with your own blend that suits your tastes.

Garam Masala

2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
2 Tbsp. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. whole clove
2 Tbsp. black peppercorns
1/4 cup green cardamon, in the pod
1 1/2 sticks cinnamon

Place all the spices in a saute pan and set over medium high heat. Heat the spices, stirring and tossing often until the spices release their aromas and start to brown.

Immediately remove from the pan (so it doesn’t burn) and allow to cool completely. Grind the spices in either a mortar and pestle or in an electric coffee grinder that is used exclusively for grinding spices and not coffee. Sift through a fine mesh strainer, grind again and sift again. Placed in an airtight jar this spice mixture will stay good for 2-3 months, although I like to make sure I use it up within a month or so.

Now that the garam masala is made it’s time to make the cheese (paneer). Don’t worry. It’s not difficult. In fact making a fresh cheese like this can’t get much more simple. Basically all we have to do is boil some milk, add an acid and then collect and drain the curds that form. Sure it won’t be a beautiful aged cheddar or blue cheese, but its cheese none the less and tasty, if not a bit bland, in its own right.

Paneer
will yield between 6-9oz. depending on your milk

1/2 gallon whole milk (do not use anything other than whole milk-no 2%, 1% or skim)
3-4 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice (or you can even use white vinegar)

In a large pot bring the milk to a boil. Add the lemon juice and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes, gently stirring every minute or so. The curds should separate, leaving behind a clearish, greenish liquid (the whey). Strain the curds through a triple layer of cheese cloth and allow to drain for about 5 minutes. Gently squeeze out more of the whey then wrap the cheese in the cheesecloth, place in a pie pan and press it with a plate on top weighed down about 1 or 2 cans of canned vegetables. The cheese will be ready to use in about 1 hour although I like to make it the day before and chill it overnight to firm it up before cutting it.

The final thing that you will want to have on hand is ghee. Ghee is nothing more than clarified butter. To make ghee, gently melt a pound of butter in a sauce pan. Leave the butter over medium low heat and slowly the the fat will clarify and rise to the surface, leaaving the milk solids behind. Be careful not to let the milk solids burn as they have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove any foam from the surface and carefully pour off the butterfat, leaving the solids and any milky whey behind.

Now we are finally ready to make the Saag Paneer. It seems like its taken a lot of work to get to this point but the garam masala and the ghee you can use for many other dishes. So really the only thing we’ve had to do so far, for this dish alone, is make the paneer, which was pretty simple.

Doing research for this recipe, I had always expected that yogurt was used to give this dish its creamy texture, and while I found many recipes that used yogurt, I was surprised by the number of recipes I found that used 1/2 and 1/2 so that is what I have used here.

Saag Paneer
serves 4-6 as a side dish or 2 as a vegetarian main course

8oz. paneer, diced
2 packs (10oz each) frozen spinach,thawed
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. ghee, or butter
1 Tbsp. garam masala
1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
Salt

Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and process to a fine paste. You don’t have to puree it but it should be a very fine paste. Meanwhile melt the butter or ghee, in a large saute pan, over high heat. Add the onion mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes.

While that is cooking put the spinach in the processor and process until the spinach is finely chopped. Add the garam masala to the onion mixture and cook for 3 minutes longer. Add the spinach, lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the 1/2 and 1/2, allow to heat through and finally fold in the diced paneer. Heat 3-5 minutes longer to heat the paneer then serve. While this can be a main course, I like to serve it as side dish to accompany a spicy lamb dish such as Vindaloo.

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This month marks the start of a new monthly feature called “Life Beyond the Restaurant World.”  In it I will be featuring ex chefs, like me, that left the restaurant business, for one reason or another.  It’s a topic that, while close to me, I haven’t really explored here, on Onceachef.  I’m very excited to introduce Graham Duncan in this debutfeature of my series.  Graham and I first met back in 1993 or 1994 (those years kind of meld together) when we both cooked at City Grill, in Atlanta.  We became fast friends and while our careers have taken us different places, we still regularly talk and catch up on each other’s family news.   Graham, his wife, and his two lovely daughters reside just outside of the Washington D.C. area.  Graham just recently left the restaurant world and from our conversations seems to be enjoying his new found freedom, away from the kitchen, but I’ll let him tell you in his own words.

What made you decide to leave the restaurant world?
I have been cooking for a living for 25 years as of September 9th 2010, once I settled down and started a family I realized that my income would need to increase incrementally to keep up with my new lifestyle, namely diapers, car payments (safe, family vehicles), and mortgages, etc. This was at about the same time that 9/11 happened and the bottom fell out of the white table cloth side of the business. I had to make the leap to a larger restaurant company with better benefits and more stability(?!). After being fired from two $10million restaurant openings in the space of three years I decided that enough was enough, but I had no other marketable skills.
Since I had successfully opened and staffed each of the restaurants and now the profitability was under (one was over by almost double) projections, obviously conventional wisdom states that when all systems are in place and you want to save some extra money, the easiest solution is to cut off the head of the beast ( in this example the Executive Chef), because you only needed it to get the monster open, then you can hand the reigns to a sous chef, give him a raise and call him an Executive Kitchen Manager, boy has the game changed.
The disillusion was complete when I realized that having a family to support, which made me attractive to the owners as a stable employee, and the simple fact that I could be put out on the street despite this same responsibility in the name of “just doing business”, nothing personal you know.
It was when I went to work for a publicly traded, national chain restaurant company where I was only expected to work 70 hours a week, including all major holidays and weekends, and only had to use 7% of my mental capacity that I made a commitment to get out of restaurants entirely.

What are you doing now? And how did your life in the restaurant world prepare you for what you are doing now?
I haven’t left the restaurant world entirely; I work as the Executive Chef in charge of Business Development for SYSCO Foodservices of Baltimore (just northof DC), in that role I work with restaurant owners, managers, and chefs from all over Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania.
To help these operators maximize their menu profitability, I help them with menu development and design, BOH systems implementation, and education on new products and how these changes can help them compete with larger chains that have advantages with buying power and consolidated systems.

What do you miss most about the restaurant world?
Camaraderie, restaurants and especially working in kitchens can forge strong relationships that aren’t possible in other types of work; it reminds me of a sports team in the way that disparate personalities work together for a common goal.

One of the things my wife loved most about me leaving the restaurant world is that now I cook more often at home. Do you cook at home? What do you like to prepare?
I find that I enjoy cooking at home again now that I have the time and cooking doesn’t feel like a chore because I don’t do it for 65 hours a week anymore. When I cook at home I usually roast or braise, I can spend less time in the kitchen, the house smells great and the food is more satisfying in terms of flavor development.

If you could do it all over again would you follow the same career path?
Yes, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, and no matter what kind of party you get invited to, people always think that you must be interesting because you can cook.
I think if I had to do it all over again, I would concentrate on building my management skill set at least as much as I focused on knowing food and technique in the beginning of my career. I had a steep learning curve when I finally got promoted into management; I know it would have been easier on me and my coworkers if I had at least some idea of what managing a kitchen entailed when I became sous chef, and I would have avoided, at least, a few fistfights. (continue reading…)