FALL 2011

Cranford.com

I became a vegan about 3 years ago, until quite recently, when I fell off that diet and directly onto a heap of sushi, when puff… there went my vegan diet!

I am getting back to that diet. Steadily, and currently at a rate of about 70% of my total consumption, which is better than nothing I suppose. Truth is, I am a vegan at home and a “whateveravore” when I go out or over someone’s home for dinner. For me, it’s a health issue, not a religion, so I don’t take it too too seriously, but instead, I use it as a guide, and for the most part I eat just a modicum of dairy and meat nowadays. Cookbook author Mark Bittman has coined his new way of life as “vegan before 6:00.” I can relate.

This subject matter has little to do, I know, with this time of year, but for the sake of a story, I wanted to offer a little background. So. Now that you know a little of my personal history, suffice it to say that I surely relish any opportunity to indulge in a vegan meal, whether I’ve made it myself or someone else has. In this case, I’m going to share with you my new favorite appetizer, which just happens to be a vegan appetizer…surprise!

I first had it when my friend invited me over for dinner. Being the veganophile I am (I made up that word, ain’t it kinda catchy?), I knew our dinner was going to be different and exciting, and I was right. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked on these tasty morsels! I may have eaten 10 of them as I watched my self-pride fly right out the window of her kitchen.

Simply put, it’s baked crostini topped with caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms,  sautéed artichoke hearts with garlic, and…pesto! It’s not the quickest appetizer in the world to make, but it may just be the most flavorful appetizer you’ve ever eaten, at least it is to me! And having just served this appetizer to my Italian cousin and his wife I will tell you that although we had a large tray filled with them, they quickly vanished between the three of us as my cousin remarked, “not bad.” OK?!

I have named it the FOOTLOOSE APPETIZER, after my friend’s business name, and I hope you will love them as much as I do!

Makes enough for about 4 hungry guests, but they’re so delish that I suggest making more!

Chef’s Note: these tasty morsels don’t hold well, so plan to compose them and eat them shortly thereafter. They are best served at room temperature, naturally warm from the components having just been cooked. Divinity on a little oval slice of toast…….

INGREDIENTS:

1 short baguette, sliced into 1/4” thick diagonal slices*, about 16 slices (at least!)

approx. 1 Tbsp. Olive oil or grapeseed oil to drizzle over baguette slices

1 tsp. oil for sautéing mushrooms (I suggest coconut oil or grapeseed oil)**

2 cups mushrooms, sliced paper thin

1-1/2 cups canned or jarred artichoke hearts, drained and sliced in thin strips

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced into thin strips

4 Tbsp. Pesto (homemade or store bought)

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Cut baguette into diagonal slices, place on a flat baking sheet and drizzle SPARINGLY with olive oil. Place in oven and bake 8 minutes till crisp. Reserve.

3. Heat a frying pan and add oil and then mushrooms and sauté over high heat till brown, stirring constantly for about 8 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Reserve when done.

4. Add another tsp. of oil to same pan and add sliced artichoke heart slices and garlic. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes. Reserve when done.

5. Add yet another 2 tsp. oil to same pan and add onion slices and stir. Add a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until very dark brown, about 10 minutes. Then add about 1/4 cup water and stir, continuing to cook until liquid evaporates. Reduce heat to medium low and cook another 5 minutes, stirring.

6. If making pesto from scratch: place 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1 cup packed basil leaves, 2 cloves garlic, and1/4 cup shredded parmesan in a blender. Pulse and add 2 Tbsp. Olive oil and pulse again a few times until blended.

7. Compose. Serve. Enjoy!

To compose appetizers:

Have a serving plate ready.

Place crostini in a pleasing pattern and use a fork to top each one with a small equal amount of caramelized onions.

Top each crostini with the sautéed mushrooms.

Finish with the artichoke hearts and top each appetizer with a scant dollop of pesto (about 1/2 tsp. on each).

* a little note, about slicing baguettes: slice them using a sawing action made with a serrated knife, held at a slight angle so as to make them a bit longer than the result of slicing straight. Also, baguettes are not a particularly dense bread, so it’s easier to slice them if they are slightly frozen. Freeze the baguette and then allow to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes only, before slicing. You will get a finer slice this way.

** another little note, about cooking oils: it’s said that olive oil becomes toxic when heated, so I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil for sautéing or pan cooking. These two oils do not become toxic when heat is added. I use olive oil mostly as a “finishing” oil for adding to foods after they are cooked. Caveat, yes, I have suggested using olive oil for the crostini, I know, as I’m going for flavor here.

MAY 2011

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

by Chef Suzan Gray

Here I go again. It’s just the same ole thing every time I sit down to write an article for www.Cranford.com, but this time, I’m going to give you some information that has absolutely no tie to cooking, it’s just trivia at it’s finest!

Here’s the true story: I recently spent some time in California as a culinary instructor. One student in particular, and I, struck up a friendship and as we were talking one evening after class, we decided we should make a plan to have lunch together. Fine with me, she was my peer and very nice and we got along just swell. So, I asked her for her phone number to input into my cell phone for safekeeping. I got to the part where I needed to ask for her last name, and she said it was CRANFORD! I hesitated a moment, thinking I’d heard her incorrectly, and asked her how to spell it: C-R-A-N-F-O-R-D….. yup, just as I thought. So I asked her, “have you EVER MET ANYONE named Cranford?” Her reply, “only family.”

From the look on my face, she could tell something unusual was up. So I asked her, “do you know where I grew up?” Again, her reply, “Cranford, New Jersey!” “How do you  know that?” I asked in a stupified voice? She then proceeded to tell me that her husband had researched the family name extensively, and apparently, the only town in the US named as such is our very own Cranford, NJ! Wow, we were both taken aback and so of course I was invited to meet her husband when he picked her up after class that evening. What a coincidence! Totally trivial, but interesting, at least according to me. You know what “they say” about 6 degrees of separation? More like 2 degrees I’d say.

So now, for the strawberry story: I remember the Strawberry Festival held at my church every year around Easter time, or perhaps it was in the middle of summer. Either way, it was memorable and I can still smell and see the vats of defrosted strawberries swimming in that strawberry colored liquid, which was poured over mountains of those little spongy cakelettes, then topped with Napolitan ice cream squares comprised of 3 equal laminated parts of chocolate/vanilla/strawberry flavors. I loved it but I have since honed my own version of the same, minus the ice cream, and with the addition of Cinnamon Chantilly Whipped Cream and homemade shortcakes. I think it’s so much better, and really worth the extra time to make.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Serves 6 – 8
Oven temperature: 450F 
Baking time: 12 – 15 minutes depending on the size

Chef’s note: the recipe for the shortcakes is just a sweetened version of my Dad’s biscuit recipe. So if you have a hankering for Sunday biscuits, just cut the sugar down to 2 Tbsp. and the remaining ingredients stay the same. And for that matter, if you have a yen for some scones, just keep the sugar the same and add a handful of dried golden raisins or cranberries, or a combination of both and you’ll have awesome scones. And you can always brush the tops of those little pastries with a little milk or cream and a sprinkling of sugar!

Recipe shorthand:

1. Prepare berries and add sugar and allow to rest (macerate).
2. Chill cream, bowl and whisk while making shortcakes.
3. Preheat oven and mix shortcake batter. Bake off shortcakes.
4. Whip Chantilly Cream. Allow shortcakes to bake and cool. Then slice and compose dessert.

Berries:
1 quart fresh strawberries - rinsed, hulled, and sliced vertically
3 Tbsp. sugar – sprinkled over sliced berries to sweeten
Wash strawberries under cold running water, then remove hulls and slice into 4 equal vertical slices each. Add to bowl and sprinkle with sugar and allow to macerate for at least 1 hour at room temperature for natural juices to be emitted.

Shortcake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter – frozen, grated
2/3 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 450F. In a large bowl, add dry ingredients and whisk to eliminate lumps. Grate frozen butter over the dry mixture and use a pastry cutter or two forks to mix into the dry until the texture of cornmeal is acquired (or pulse dry mixture and butter gratings in a food processor until the texture of cornmeal). Drizzle milk over the mixture and continue to mix together until a ball is formed. Knead the mixture 5 times right in the bowl (or dump contents of food processor into a large bowl and knead 5 times).
Pull equal sized pieces and drop onto a parchment lined baking sheet with 2” between each one, and place into the preheated oven. Bake until golden brown on top. When done baking, remove sheet from oven and allow shortcakes to cool 10 minutes before slicing.  Use a serrated knife to carefully slice in half horizontally and top with sweetened strawberries and a dollop of Chantilly Cream.

Cinnamon Chantilly Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream – cold
dash vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar – sifted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Chill heavy cream, balloon whisk and a large bowl in refrigerator for 1/2 hour before whipping. Use a simple but quick and vigorous back and forth motion to whip the cream, vanilla, and the sugar until soft peaks form. Add cinnamon and whip a few more seconds till stiff peaks are formed. Do not overbeat. Should take about 1 minute to hand whip the cream if you do it vigorously enough. Reserve in the refrigerator until the shortcakes are baked and the dessert is ready for composing.

April 2009

www.Cranford.com

Artful Garnish!

By Chef Suzan “Z” Gray

How to Garnish Like a Pro

Hooked on the artful use of garnish since I was a young girl, I learned how those “gems” add sudden sophistication to even a simple childish creation. Garnishes add color, aroma, pizazz, and texture to each dish they adorn, as well as important information for those with food sensitivities. Simply put, they are the jewelry that completes the dish and the picture that’s worth a thousand words.

Simple garnishes can be created with just a few fresh ingredients and a modicum of thought and preparation. One of my favorite garnishes is a mini-bouquet of like-colored herbs with textural differences: two sprigs of curly parsley nestled upon a larger Italian (flat) parsley sprig is a simple yet elegant garnish for a savory dish. Add a single edible flower to create a bold and colorful display to a simple dessert, or, create a bouquet of the herbs used in the dish. To anchor the garnish to the food or the plate, spear the stem end through a small hole (created with a toothpick) in the center of a lemon or lime slice.

Professional chefs understand the responsibility they accept when preparing food for the public, especially those with sensitivities, and this is when garnishes become more than just decoration. The garnish gives important information about certain ingredients contained in the dish, taking some of the mystery out of foods that have an unidentifiable mix of ingredients, such as dips, spreads, breakfast breads, soups, stuffing or bakery items. For example, adorning a seafood dip with a whole shrimp, one parsley sprig, and a slice of lemon will alert a person with an aversion to seafood that they may wish to reconsider.

For the buffet table, rest several stems of wheat, a few dates or dried apricots, and whole nuts alongside slices of breakfast bread containing these ingredients, again, alerting those eaters sensitive to nuts or dried fruit to stay clear.

The beauty of a dish enhances our appetite and enjoyment. Artful garnish helps transform a simple meal into a visual feast.

Try these tips to garnish like a pro:

• Make sure it’s edible! Garnishes should be safe to eat and of an organic origin (nothing synthetic should touch food, and florist’s flowers are not edible)

• Use only fresh items that are clean and attractive.

• Keep it simple. A sprig of herbs or a colorful slice of fruit can do wonders.

• Try garnishing the rim of the plate or platter. Rub a stick of cold butter around the edge to act as glue, and then sprinkle a combination of finely minced herbs or edible flowers over the rim.

• Stick to an odd number of ingredients (1, 3, or 5) to create the garnish.

• Use restraint, particularly with strong-flavored items such as edible flowers. Garnishes should enhance, not detract from, the food.

• Consider food temperature. Avoid items that will melt or wilt when placed on hot food. An exception is the use of herb-flavored butters, which intentionally melt away to leave a flavorful legacy of herbs.

• Keep color, texture, and shape congruent with the food being adorned. Use savory herbs on savory dishes, and sweet herbs such as mint on sweet dishes.

• Always use whole components of suspect ingredients as garnish, especially when preparing dishes containing seafood or nuts.

CITRUS SEAFOOD CEVICHE

Serve this “citrus cooked” soup in a martini glass topped with a dollop of sour cream and a whole cooked shrimp, finished off with a fresh slice of lime as a sidecar garnish

CEVICHE for 4:

Combine in a non-reactive glass bowl, mix well and allow to “cook” in the citrus juices in the refrigerator for about 1 hour (add cilantro just before serving).
1 SCALLION, thinly sliced

1 fresh ORANGE, remove colored zest and bitter white pith, cut the flesh into small dice

2 fresh LIMES, remove colored zest and bitter white pith, cut the flesh into small dice

½ ENGLISH SEEDLESS CUCUMBER, peeled and minced

 pinch dried HOTT PEPPER FLAKES or ½ tsp. minced JALAPENO PEPPER

1 perfectly ripe Haas AVOCADO, peeled, pitted and diced
pinch SEA SALT

dash freshly cracked BLACK PEPPER

1 tsp. raw SUGAR

2 tsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), organic preferred

4 large SCALLOPS, halved horizontally then sautéed quickly in butter on both sides, then chopped into ½” dice

8 large SHRIMP, peeled, deveined and quick sautéed in butter, then chopped into ½” dice

¼ cup packed CILANTRO leaves, chopped coarsely and stirred into the ceviche just before serving

GARNISH:

4 tsp.SOUR CREAM, 1 tsp. per serving

4 whole cooked SHRIMP, cook in butter just until pink and opaque

4 lime slices, cut halfway into each slice and straddle on the side of each martini glass as a sidecar garnish

Dollop sour cream into middle of each serving, then lay each shrimp on the sour cream so the tails stand upright, serve with long handled spoons.