Creamed Swiss Chard with Hazelnuts

We're still cooking with greens. 'Tis the season. I put together a very easy recipe for Swiss chard that has many variations. This is a very light version of creamed chard and should only take, maybe, fifteen minuted to prepare.

1 bunch Swiss chard
1 small sweet onion or a large shallot
toasted hazelnuts
1 ½ tbs. red wine vinegar
2 tbs chicken fat
small pinch chili flakes
a bit more than a ¼ cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
a few drops hazelnut oil

1)Separate chard into leaves and stems. Small dice stems (cut length ways then turn 90 degrees to finish the dice as you would celery)then tear leaves into smallish pieces
2)Small dice the onion
3)Warm fat on medium high heat, and when hot saute the onions until soft (3-4 min.), then add chili flakes and chard stems and cook for another minute.
4)De-glaze with vinegar and quickly move into step 5
5)Add chard leaves and season with salt and pepper. The leaves will start to wilt quickly and release some liquid at this point add the cream to make a sauce and finish cooking the vegetables.
6)Top with chopped hazelnuts and drizzle of oil

I served this dish with a fried egg. It would be very nice with smoked trout, grilled salmon, a pan roasted chicken breast with crispy skin, or grilled steak. Currants and pine nuts would be a good addition minus the hazelnuts. You could leave out the cream and make quick, fresh tomato sauce to stew the chard in (later in the season, of course). Or try using coconut milk and a little fish sauce for a thai version if you dont want to be local.

Icicle Radishes with Chicken Jus

This is our beautiful chicken palace and our lovely hens. Here they are seen frolicking in the open pastures of our farm. Don't they look happy. Such nice birds and with gorgeous eggs. Their was a nasty rooster, though. So I got my killing stone out and made chicken jus out of it for this recipe. An elemental sauce of pure chickeny goodness. I should also note that I ate my first chicken testicles and I have to say quite awesome. Maybe, kind of like sweetbreads, but creamy and I think tastier.

1 bunch icicle radish and the greens

1 bunch purple top Milan turnip

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbs. honey

3 cups chicken jus

Chicken jus is a very rich, brown chicken stock that has been reduced to a glaze or glace in fancy French cooking terms. You could substitute a rich chicken stock if you didn't want to go to the trouble of making chicken jus, but it's not that hard and is a very versatile sauce.

For the chicken jus

5 lb chicken bones or wings or a combination (the more meat the better, but the bones are less costly)

1 small onion

1 bulb garlic

1. Cut chicken into small pieces with a cleaver
2. Brown the chicken in the oven in a roasting pan at 425° or brown on the stove top in heavy bottomed pot at medium high heat. I prefer to do it on the stove top because you can get the bones more thoroughly browned. But in both methods I am looking for a lot of color which is going to translate to flavor.
3. When you think the bones are about a third done add the garlic and onion to the pan to also brown. The overall color should be getting pretty close to burnt, so don't be afraid to cook the heck out of it.
4. When everything is nice and golden (am I stressing there needs to be a lot of color and your kitchen might get smoky and greasy) if browning in the oven put the bones in a pot and cover with water and make sure to get the fond out of the roasting pan, that is all the browned bits at the bottom. Do this by pouring water into the roasting pan and scraping up all the caked on stuff. If cooking on the stove top just pour water over to cover scraping up the bits in the bottom of the pot.
5. Reduce on high by half. It is OK to boil vigorously. I cover with water and reduce a total of three times to get as much flavor out of the chicken as possible.
6. Strain through a very fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Skim the fat off the top or even better do the stock the day before and chill to remove the fat.
7. OK, now that the chicken jus is ready we can cook the vegetables. First clean the radishes and turnips reserving the greens from the radish. Use a vegetable peeler to get off any root looking parts or dirt, but the skin is OK by me.
8. Put vinegar and honey in a pan and reduce by half then add the chicken jus and bring to a simmer
9. Add the cleaned turnips and radishes and cook until tender and sauce is reduced and coating the veggies
10. Add the greens and wilt slightly and season with salt add cracked pepper
11. Serve on a platter to your very special guests and they will love you for making radishes and turnips taste so good

"korean food" american style

In trying to create local food here on the farm I find myself running into a dilemma: normally my pantry is stocked with ingredients from around the world. I usually stock soy sauces, sesame oil, seaweed, chili pastes, fish sauce, miso, Thai curry paste, coconut milk, crab paste, exotic vinegars and countless other flavors to experiment with. It's simple to create a complex dish by using a little crab paste, for example, to add a bit of umami that is lacking from a dish of sauteed baby bok choy. I love Asian flavors. But how do I create an Asian inspired meal without these ingredients. I can't make miso on the fly and the only spices I'm allowing myself right now is dried chili, coriander, mustard, and pepper. So this is me trying to create the experience of Korean bar-b-que. I fried and also grilled some fish to wrap in spinach leaves and I made a bunch of assorted salads in an attempt to emulate the fabulous banchan of a Korean meal. And with the kimchi I have been making I was able to add a bit of authenticity.
The next door neighbor, Mark Marankovich? gave us a buch of halibut and some really nice rockfish, so I grilled the rockfish on skewers and fried the halibut for the meat to use for the lettuce wrap. For banchan I had grilled potatoes with chili sauce (slice and cook the potatoes in the oven and then when cooled grilled them 'til crispy and golden while brushing with chili paste. I normally use a white miso vinaigrette for this dish, but chili was a good alternative), sauteed green garlic with a scallion and leek dressing, kale coleslaw, radish and parsley in apple cider vinegar, pok choy sauteed in kimchi juice.These dishes, except for the kimchi, don't really have a counterpart that I was "riffing on", I just tried to create some salads that could work together and along with the fish. The green garlic dish is sauteed green gralic dressed with a very fine puree of leek and scallion seasoned with apple cider vinegar, honey and emulsified with egg yolk. The radish and parsley dish was a very good condiment and could easily dress chicken or grilled steak. It is chopped parsley, diced radish with apple cider vinegar diluted with water and sugar to season. Very simple but actually the best dish.

Spinach wrap of Pan Fried Halibut with Green Radish and Parsley Banchan

For the halibut
1 lb halibut cut into small sizes for frying
1 cup rice flour
1 cup Ap flour
1/2 cup beer to make a loose batter
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt to taste
1 1/2 cup oil to pan fry the fish

I made some concessions to my local farm cooking by using oil and rice flour, I know.

1) Heat oil to medium high in a small enough cast iron skillet so the oil is about 1/2 an inch high
2) Mix all the ingredients except the fish together to make a loose batter
3) Dredge the fish in flour and then coat with the batter
3) Fry to golden and crispy

Radish and parsley with apple cider vinegar

1 Bunch of radishes small dice
1 cup of parsley chopped fine
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Mix the radish and parsley together in a bowl and then make the dressing by mixing the vinegar, water and sugar and then toss with the parsley/radish mixture. Let rest for a few hours to draw out the water from the radish and for the flavors to meld. This is kind of a sweet and sour mix so adjust to your liking.

I also missed a week. There was a recipe but I had some technical difficulties (the problem of living on an island) but I will try to post it, so I don't prove myself a liar.