Today’s culinary experiment: Chive flowers

My chive plant is blossoming like a wedding bouquet. It’s really quite beautiful (unlike the rhubarb shoots my Beloved planted a couple of weeks ago), but I know chive flowers are edible, so today I beheaded my chives and picked a bowl full of purple potential.

I found a couple of recipes on the internet and combined them to make a tasty Japanese-inspired side dish. Chive flowers, like chive stems, have a mild onion flavor, and I imagine they’d taste quite good in a salad but I was afraid of the chewiness factor so I wanted to try cooking them.

Upon being presented his pretty but ungarnished plate, my Beloved, ever skeptical, even proclaimed, “It’s like a gourmet restaurant around here!” (He liked it.)

I served this dish with salmon and orzo, flecked with more snipped chives and sun-dried tomatoes. However you serve it, enjoy.

Chive Flower & Asparagus Stir-fry

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives
• About 15 chive flowers, prepared

Directions:

1. 

   Snip stems from blossoms to release petals.

   Prepare chive flowers by rinsing lightly so as not to remove the tiny droplets of nectar contained in each blossom. Remove primary stems to separate flowers and release individual petals.

2. Prepare sauce by whisking together soy sauce, broth, sugar and cornstarch.
3. Blanch asparagus in lightly salted boiling water for about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender; do not overcook. Remove from heat and refresh under cold water; drain well.
4. In wok over medium high heat, heat oil. Add sesame seeds and stir for one minute. Add chives and stir an additional minute. Add asparagus and stir frequently for 2 minutes. Reduce heat, add sauce, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Remove lid, sprinkle chive petals over asparagus, cover and steam for 1 minute. Stir lightly and serve hot. Serves 2. If you remembered to save a couple of whole blossoms, garnish each plate.

Breaking bread with, or at least from, a friend

My friend Jill, whom I like to refer to alternately as “my best friend since seventh grade” and “the maid of honor at both of my weddings,” stopped by a visit.

The Minnesota resident was in Illinois on a mission for her work, and she came bearing gifts. She was fresh off an artisan bread class and shared a couple of loaves with me and my Beloved. Perfect timing. Here’s one of the pretty loaves:

Looks enormous, doesn’t it? It’s cracker bread, and it was filled with air. As instructed, I tapped on the top and was rewarded with crunchy shards of sesame-flecked dippers.

I served it with hummus and a bowl of homemade cream of asparagus soup (made without cream and garnished with asparagus tips). Mmm, mmm, good.

Thanks, Jill!

I can’t tell you how to make artisan bread (yeast and kneading are not my thing), but here’s the recipe for the soup:

“Cream” of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 20-25 spears asparagus
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Break tough ends off asparagus and separate tips to use later. Roughly chop remainder into 1-inch pieces.
2. Heat chicken broth in a largish sauce pan and add all vegetables except asparagus tips. Simmer for 30 minutes or so until potato and carrots are tender.
3. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Add olive oil and asparagus tips and simmer for 6-8 minutes (until tips are tender). Serves 4.

New cheesecake tools

Got to try out two new kitchen gadgets today, and look at the result:

That’s my Cherry Almond Cheesecake (click here for the recipe) made with my new springform pan from Pampered Chef and served on my new cake plate from Longaberger. We served it to my mother-in-law as an early treat for Mother’s Day (we had pieces, too).

It was as delicious as it is pretty.

Sweet treat: Fudgy brownies made without butter

Well, the universe didn’t deliver any big boxes today, but I did make some delicious brownies! I don’t think I’ve shared this yummy recipe for a chocolately dessert you might consider good for you — or at least — not bad for you.

They’re made with just a little canola oil, instead of butter, and the original recipe called for dried cherries. I used walnuts today (which are full of good fats). The recipe originally appeared in the Daily Herald.

These brownies were delicious with “War Horse” tonight. Keep the Kleenex nearby.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, blended with 3 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup dried cherries or chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coast an 8-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
3. In a heavy, medium saucepan, combine the oil and half of the chocolate chips.Place the pan over the lowest heat and cook, stirring constantly, until just melted and smooth (be careful that the chocolate does not overheat).
4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the granulated sugar, corn syrup mixture, almond extract and salt until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the egg until smoothly incorporated. Gently stir in the dry ingredients. Fold in the cherries or walnuts and the remaining 3 ounces chocolate chips just until well blended. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading evenly.
5. Bake until almost firm in the center and a toothpick comes out with some moist batter clinging to it, 25-30 minutes. Let cool. If you cut too soon, you’ll make a mess of things so don’t get too anxious.

Tasty crepes, sweet or savory

The old family recipe for lemon crepes is written in pencil in my stepdaughter’s handwriting on a slip of notepaper from her alma mater.

Once every couple of months, I fish it out of Ye Old Pile Of Recipes (several inches of interesting dishes ripped from magazines and newspapers) and my Beloved whips up a batch with a few expert flicks of his wrist and a nonstick pan.

It’s Morgan’s favorite breakfast and she stayed with us last night, so it was on the menu this morning. She enjoys it served with lemon sauce, and that’s the way they are almost always served. Since I experiment with all my recipes, I fiddled with this sacred recipe, too, and I discovered this morning these crepes are delicious in a savory version, too.

Perhaps you’ll enjoy them for Easter morning or another special morning coming up.

Crepes

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour

Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients except flour.
2. Add flour and mix well.
3. Heat a crepe pan or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with melted butter to lightly grease. Pour 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion, swirling the batter to evenly cover the base. Cook until the edge of the crepe begins to curl. Turn and cook until golden underneath. Your crepes should ideally be almost thin enough for you to see through.
4. Prepare the crepes and pile on a plate until serving.
5. Serve with Lemon Sauce if you’re a purist or with a savory filling (see following).

Lemon Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Instructions:

1. Boil milk, butter and sugar together in a saucepan on the stove.
2. Remove from heat and add lemon extract.
3. To serve, fold two or three crepes on a plate, and pour lemon sauce over all. Also good if you stuff crepes with fresh raspberries or strawberries and top everything with whipped cream.

Savory Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 2 slices bacon, fried
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and spinach and saute until wilted.
2. Add cheeses to beaten eggs and add to pan with onion and spinach. Add bacon. Cook like scrambled eggs until curdled.
3. To serve, fill two crepes with filling and roll. Top with sour cream if desired.

Opening day … there will be joy

If there’s a news outlet or baseball expert predicting the Twins are going to win the American League Central division this season, I haven’t found it.

The Star Tribune’s coverage of spring training (thank you, iPad subscription!) has been, shall we say, nothing short of pessimistic.

Apparently, the Detroit Tigers or maybe the Kansas City Royals (really? the Royals?) are going to win it. Or maybe the Cleveland Indians. Most of the oracles I’ve consulted are forecasting a cat fight between the Chicago White Sox and the Twins for the division basement honors.

Water off a duck’s back, I say. I don’t care what the know-it-alls know. They don’t know. Frankly, I don’t remember anyone predicting the Twins would lose 99 games last season so really, no one knows what might happen.

That’s the unadulterated joy of the beginning of the baseball season. It’s all hope and promise (and until tomorrow afternoon at least, a flawless record).

I’m going to celebrate with a baseball salad, I think (click here for the recipe). You might like it, too.

The recipe for a perfectly grilled steak

There’s a wrong way to cook a steak, a right way and the perfect way.

I enjoyed a steak grilled perfectly last night, and it was the most sublime hunk of beef in which I’ve ever indulged.

The wrong way to cook a steak is to overcook it. I don’t know why anyone eats beef cooked well done. If you don’t like blood, order a hamburger and save yourself and the chef the trouble.

The right way to cook a steak requires high heat, probably a meat thermometer and the patience to let the meat rest. For the right way to pan-sear a rib eye, check out Alton Brown’s recipe here.

My Beloved prefers grilling meat to other cooking methods, and he makes such a fabulous steak, I never order it when I’m dining out because it inevitably fails to measure up.

But his brother tried a new method of grilling beef yesterday, and the revelation delivered such an amazingly juicy piece of meat, any carnivore would drool. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner since my Beloved cooks his pork chops this way (click here for that recipe).

Sideways.

Interested in trying it yourself?

Here’s the recipe:

Sideways Grilled Rib-Eye Steak

Invest in a custom cut of rib eye. Ask for it to be sliced 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches thick. You need it this thick so it’ll stand on its side by itself. You’ll probably pay around $25 for a chunk of meat this thick but know that at least two people can enjoy it.

Season with steak rub. The aptly named Steak Rub from World Market is pretty good.

Now sear the cut sides on high heat over a very hot grill. Flames may be involved. Douse with water if they get too high. Your goal is to simply cook the outside of the meat to seal in the juices.

Steak grilling on the side.

Reduce the heat of the grill and prop the steak on its side. This way, the fat will cook through the meat.

Cook to 140 degrees for medium rare. A meat thermometer is the best way to know for sure you’ve properly cooked it.

We added a slice of bleu cheese about 2 minutes before we removed it from the grill, but the cheese was almost superfluous.

Allow the meat to rest 4 or 5 minutes before diving in. Do not skip this step.

Thank the creature for his sacrifice, the butcher for his indulgence and the chef for his expertise. Serve and thoroughly enjoy.

Sideways Grilled Rib-Eye Steak with a baked sweet potato on the side.

Stew throwdown

Which smells better when you have both cooking on the stovetop?

• A. Chicken and dumpling stew with broth made from last night’s chicken carcass (click here for a general description of this soup — sorry, there is no exact recipe).
• B. Chili made more or less with my sister’s recipe (click here for that gem), only substituting ground beef for cubed chunks of Friday night’s leftover ribeye steaks.
• C. Both A & B.

Answer: A (I threw the “C” option in there to trip you up). Nothing compares to real chicken broth for creating a fill-the-house fragrance of yummy even when you have a spicy pot of chili vying for nostril attention.

We eat like kings in this house, that is for certain, but we didn’t eat both soups today. We had chili for dinner and it was smoky and hearty like good chili should be, but the chicken stew is for dinner tomorrow. My Beloved, who prepared both pots, likes to leave his chicken stew sit overnight to develop the flavors, so we get to smell this dish again tomorrow when he adds his carbohydrate trinity: Potatoes, noodles and dumplings.

Don’tcha just love February for its soups?

An Andy Williams kind of weekend

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

‘Tis better to give than receive. Kids might not get it, but we adults understand the joy of giving a well-chosen gift and seeing delight on the recipient’s face. Still, the shopping for said gift is pain in the neck when your browser doesn’t respond to “buy now” or the mall parking lot is a packed. 

Today, the “buy now” button worked, and the mall lot wasn’t that’s bad. Both of which certainly make the day more wonderful.

There’ll be parties for hosting.

Three days. Three holiday parties. My merry-making kept me from working on my Christmas cards, but the parties were great for putting me in the holiday spirit. All the parties were very different — a company party at a hotel, a cousin’s evening soirée and an afternoon meeting/party — but they held in common good company and delightful decor.

Marshmallows for toasting.

Marshmallows? In cocoa, maybe, but we ain’t toasting marshmallows in December here in northern Illinois.

Instead, I signed up to bring salad to today’s party, and even though I consider it to be a standard potluck-type of salad, I got lots of compliments. It’s easy to make, uses inexpensive ingredients and tastes great. If you’re looking for something like that to bring to a potluck this month, try this:

Ramen Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 16-ounce package shredded cabbage
• 1/2 of a 12-ounce package of shredded carrots
• 1 bunch of scallions, sliced
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 packages of ramen noodles, crushed
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 seasoning packets from the ramen noodles (oriental flavor)

Directions:

1. Combine the vegetables. Put the nuts and noodles in a Zip-lock bag. Combine the vinegar, oil, sugar and seasoning packets in a sealed plastic container and shake.
2. Just before serving, add the nuts and noodles to the vegetables and dump the dressing over the whole thing to mix it up.

And caroling out in the snow.

OK, it wasn’t out in the snow, but a choir sang at church this morning for the first time in ages. And a young saxophone player accompanied the organist in a tune, too. I applaud the volunteers who practiced and performed because it made the service more special.

There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.

Time to get out “Scrooged,” my favorite retelling of “A Christmas Carol” starring          Bill Murray.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Hear ye, hear ye! Here is ye recipe for Who-hash!

As is tradition around here at Minnesota Transplant, it’s time for the annual sharing of the Whos-Down-In-Whoville Who-Hash recipe.

Hungry web searchers ramp it up this time of year, yearning for a sage to reveal the secret recipe.

Here’s the deal: No one knows what’s in Who-hash. But it’s a sure bet there are no Whos in it, and no corned beef (because if it had corned beef, it would be Corned Beef Hash).

So here you go. This delicious corn pudding recipe came to be known as Who-hash in our house when my ex-husband named it. The husband is history, but his moniker for the dish stuck.

Try it. You’ll like it. It’s great with turkey at Thanksgiving, but it’s yummy with ham at Christmas, too.

Who-hash

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can corn kernels, undrained
• 1 package corn muffin mix (preferably Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix)

Combine all ingredients in a greased casserole dish (square, oval, circular — whatever works), and bake about an hour at 350 degrees. It’s kind of like a cake — stick a knife in the middle to make sure it’s progressed from soupy to firmish. Serves two to 12, depending on how hungry you are and how much you believe Christmas comes without trimming and bows.