Recipe: Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt

Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt

Yep, you heard me right. Bacon Salt. It has been all over the blogosphere lately, but I had no idea it was vegetarian until Keren brought some to give away to our last food blogger get together. I shouldn't have been surprised, as processed bacon bits are a soy product too. I generally don't cook with artificial flavors, but I took it as a challenge to use it at least once, and I have to admit I liked the results.

Greens are often cooked with pork in both the American south and in Italy as well. I had some beautiful pearled farro that I brought home from our Italy trip, so a plan came together for a simple and hearty one-pot meal.

If you haven't used farro before, I really recommend you try some. It is a very ancient whole grain, one of the staples of the Roman poor. I find the flavor somewhere between wheat and barley. It is a very nice change of pace from rice and couscous.

This recipe is vegetarian but not vegan because the bacon salt contains milk products of some sort.

Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt
Serves 4

• 4 servings of farro (see below)
• 1/2 small can chickpeas, drained
• 3 big bunches of collard greens or other strong-flavored greens (not spinach)
• 1 white onion, diced
• 6 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 1 t. chili flakes
• 1 t. Bacon Salt (or regular salt and smoked paprika)

1. Cook 4 servings of farro according to package directions. (Actually you should probably make 6 servings because serving sizes are always too small, right!). There are a number of different types with different cooking times, so it is better if I don't give you specific details, but cook until it is tender but not falling apart. Drain, and stir in chickpeas.
2. Remove stems from greens, rinse thoroughly and chop coarsely
3. In a large soup pot, fry the onions in 2 T. of the oil. When slightly brown, add the chili flakes and garlic and fry for 20 more seconds.
4. Add the greens and a small splash of water if they aren't wet. Cover. After a minute or two, reduce heat to medium low. Stir occasionally until they are very thoroughly tender and wilted.
5. Remove from, drain excess water, and toss with the remaining olive oil and the Bacon Salt.
6. To serve, simply put the farro in a bowl or on a plate, top with the greens, and lightly toss. Pass more good olive oil, sea salt, bacon salt, and black pepper at the table.

Four. Thousand. Dollars. A. Pound.

Fresh White Truffles

Sarina spotted the news that DeLaurenti's market, a superb Italian specialty store in Seattle's Pike Place Market had received a shipment of white truffles. Oh, just one little thing. They cost $4000 dollars for a pound.

Now this isn't actually as gruesome as it seems. That works out to something like $8 / gram, and even 5-6 grams (the size of one of the truffles in the picture above) will flavor the heck out of enough pasta or eggs for 2-4 people. So for the the cost of only a middling restaurant meal, you could instead have something superb and rare at home. Maybe not so bad? Certainly one of the greatest vegetarian indulgences imaginable.

So we trekked down to DeLaurenti's, which Sarina calls "the happiest place on Earth". The folks at the counter were happy to help, allowing us to pick out our own truffles and watch them weigh them on a special little postal scale. While we were there we felt compelled to come back with housemade porcini butter (astounding), housemade fresh mozzarella, Calabro ricotta, Porcini Harvest Bread from Macrina, grilled artichokes, and a pound of fresh tagliatelle which they roll and cut to order. And some chanterelles from another store. Picture below. This is a family blog so let me just say: Oh heck yeah.

This is my first experience cooking with white truffles. I've had black ones a couple of times. There is a distinct difference in flavor. To me, the black truffles are more cleanly aromatic while the whites have a pungent characteristic a little bit like garlic. I actually think I might prefer the black truffles (and they are only like 1/5 the price), but the jury is still out.

Most of the reading I did suggested infusing black truffles into sauces, risottos and so on, while white truffles were to be reserved for grating or slicing on top of a finished dish. So that is what I tried first, the classic preparation of simply grating them on top of scrambled eggs with lots of butter. For whatever reason, this didn't do it for me. It was good, of course, but the aroma didn't send me reeling back with pleasure.

So tonight we used up most of the rest of them in a simple parmesan cream sauce for pasta. The recipe is below. The main trick is to infuse the truffle in the cream for 15-30 minutes so the flavor can fully develop. Good parmesan cheese seems to me to be one of the ultimate matches for truffles, enhancing the heady earthy flavors. The results this time were as astonishing as I'd hoped. Outrageous really.

Tagliatelle in White Truffle Cream Sauce
Serves 2 as dinner or 4 as a first course

• 1 lb. fresh tagliatelle
• at least 5 grams of fresh white truffle
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 3 oz. parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

1. Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.
2. In a small skillet, heat the cream to a simmer and let it reduce for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened, and then remove from the heat.
3. Stir in most of the parmesan cheese.
4. Grate the truffle into the sauce with your finest grater (i.e. a microplane). Don't waste a hair of it.
5. Cover the sauce and let rest off the heat for at least 15 minutes.
6. When you are ready to eat, drop in the pasta and set the sauce back over lowest possible simmer to reheat gently.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain, portion into individual heated bowls, toss with the sauce, top with a bit more parmesan, a few grains of sea salt and a grind of pepper.
8. Experience rapture.

White Truffles, Roasted Artichokes, Porcini Butter, Fresh Mozarella, Fresh Tagliatelle, and Chanterelles

 

Spice Stalls at Mahane Yehuda Market In Jerusalem, Israel (What Kind of Harissa Is This?)

One of the things I look forward to most when touring other countries is to see the spice markets. In Delhi, my driver / guide and I braved one hour of traffic to go about 1.5 Km from where we were to Khari Baoli market and then we had to park in an underground garage that was so crowded that the attendants had to move cars around like a puzzle to fit each new one in!

By comparison the spice stalls at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem are pretty laid back, just the usual shoving and good natured shouting. I only bought a couple of things, some super-fresh green zatar (above) that tastes most strongly of thyme and sesame, and incredible dry harissa:

I've only been familiar with harissa in the sauce form, but we are pretty sure that is what the man called it. I don't know if it is intended to be soaked to make a harissa sauce or used as a rub or garnish, but in any case it is delicious. It is quite hot and has an intense flavor of roasted dry chilis, with strong herbal undertones, and very beautiful to look at. If anyone can correct me on the name of this mixture or its uses, please add a comment!

Halvah at Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel

Continuuing on with our previous theme of the amazing goods at Mahaneh Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, here are a couple more pictures that capture the flavor. The first (above) is of dozens of varieties of ultra-fresh halvah, sesame candy flavored mostly with various nuts, chocolate, and sometimes lemon or rose water.

The shouks (the Hebrew word) or souks (also spelled sooks, the Arabic word) are pedestrian only areas, and so all of the produce and other goods for sale have to be brought in on handcarts. In Delhi I saw very large ones that took two men to push. Here in Jerusalem the preferred vehicle seems to be a smaller single-man cart. For some of the streets in the Old City that are steeply sloped, they have a clever adaptation - on the back is a single tire dragging from a chain. To brake the cart, the "driver" steps on that tire.

In the picture below, back at Mahaneh Yehuda, you see some enormous gourds and the harried fellow whose job it is to move them.

Ok, and I can't resist since we talked about them recently, here's one more picture, of Dragonfruit (aka Dragon Fruit or Pitaya) at the same market. They were less than half the price I found them for in the US, but still fairly expensive by Israeli standards.

Dairy Products at Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel

I think this one speaks for itself. The fresh dairy products in Israel are outstanding. In this picture, at a tiny dairy stall in the Mahane Yehuda market (the Jewish shouk), you can see yogurt, labneh (yogurt cheese, foreground with the basket texture), feta, and several flavored cheeses including zatar spice and olive. There is also often fresh mozzarella style cheeses but they are too rubbery, I don't think the knowledge or preference has come over from Italy yet.  The flavor of the yogurt is smooth and deep, without the sharp edges of most unsweetened American varieties.

(Alternate transliterated spellings for the market include Machane, Mahaneh, Machane, and Yehudah).

Dragonfruit, Dragon Fruit, Is That A Pitaya In Your Pocket?

... or are you just glad to see me? I'm glad to have made the acquaintance of this tropical fruit, known also as a Strawberry Pear, Nanettikafruit, Thanh Long, as well as the more common names of Dragonfruit (or Dragon Fruit), and Pitaya. Apparently it comes in several varieties and can be grown in many tropical parts of the world, but the organic one I spied today (costing a double-take-inducing $12/pound!) at Madison Market had red skin and and stunning neon-magenta flesh dotted with small black seeds.

The flavor and texture immediately reminded me of a giant kiwi fruit, although they are apparently not relatives. The dragonfruit grows on a cactus, while kiwi is from a vine. Nonetheless, the slightly grainy, watery flesh and seeds were very reminiscent. The flavor is mildly sweet and tangy, not particularly intense.

While tasty enough to eat out of hand, at that price I don't think many of us will be slicing pitaya up for an everyday breakfast. It would definitely be attention grabbing in a fruit salad or as a garnish. After puzzling about what I wanted to do with it, I landed on a quick sorbet that I served with a crepe filled with chocolate ganache. To make the the sorbet I just pureed the flesh with quite a bit of honey and a few grains of sea salt, and pushed it through a fine meshed sieve. You could put it in an ice cream maker, but I was in a hurry, so I poured it out on a baking sheet, set it level in the freezer, and agitated it with a fork every few minutes while I prepared the crepes, until it firmed up nicely. The sorbet developed a slightly gelatinous texture, which I liked but some (Snacky Pants, are you with me?) might find unappealing. That must be due to some chemical property of the fruit, but I don't know the technical explanation. I think it would also make a great ice cream, though of course the color would become pastel. If I made it again I think I would use agave nectar instead of honey for the milder flavor and the nice symmetry of using two cactus-based ingredients. Shot of tequila anyone?

Biscuits, Big Johns and Broccoli in Black Bean Sauce (A Very Fine Morning)

Fridays I often have some time alone with Mini-Me. Today we seem to have had an all food morning. This is good, we're getting her up to speed young! First thing after she woke up, we made our favorite biscuits. Properly nourished and ready for adventure we headed off to Big John's (aka Pacific Food Importers). If you are anywhere near Seattle and you don't know about PFI, you should run, don't walk. They have a tremendous selection of food from  Europe and the Middle East, in bulk, frozen, and jarred, and a phenomenal cheese selection, knowledgeable staff, and great prices. They supply many of the best restaurants in the city. Above is a picture of today's ill-gotten gain: Preserved lemons, Adjvar, Beemster XO Aged Gouda, the house brand Marca Croce olive oil, unbelievably fragagrant sumac powder, Guittard chocolate,  and more. Kiddo had a fun time talking to everyone and sampling the chocolate. And here's a cell phone pic inside the store, to give you the general warehouse flavor. Needless to say, after all that hard work shopping it was time for a lunch, so we went to....

Shanghai Garden! There may be some debate but most folks I've talked to put Shanghai in their top couple of Chinese restaurants in the city. We ordered their signature hand-shave barleygreen noodles and crispy tofu with broccoli in black bean sauce, and Mini-Me ate everything and went back for seconds. I thought it was interesting that there was Thai basil in the tofu dish. Shanghai is a straight ahead Chinese place, so I'm curious how that influence is present. If anyone can clue me in, please do. Here's one more cel-phone snap, full, happy, and a great morning.