Sesame Asparagus and Carrot Chop

June 7, 2023May 23, 2023 by akc

The beautiful colors of the Sesame Asparagus and Carrot Chop stood out to me as I paged through my copy of Smitten Kitchen Keepers. This is essentially a big pile of chopped veggies dressed in a sriracha mayo, so I figured it’d be a good side dish early in farmer’s market season, when I could get asparagus and carrots at the market.

This is really easy to put together, you just chop the asparagus and carrots, and let them sit in some rice vinegar while you make the dressing. Mine came out dressed more heavily than Deb’s did, and I’m not sure why. But you could easily enough serve the dressing on the side and add however much you like.

I served this as part of a tofu bowl, which I based on the Sesame Rice Bowls with Tofu, Quickles, & Peanut Sauce from Julia Turshen’s Simply Julia. I made the rice, tofu, and quickles (quick pickles) as she directs, but skipped the peanut sauce.

The Sesame Asparagus and Carrot Chop was great. Very fresh and light, with a good, but not overwhelming, flavor from the sriracha mayo. The other elements were not as much of a success. You include some sesame oil when you prepare the rice for this dish, and I think things just tasted too much the same. It needed a contrast of some sort. My husband thought chopped scallions on top, I think it would have been better with plain rice.

A white bowl holds a pile of white rice, which is almost entirely obscured by a pile of fried, irregularly shaped tofu at the back. At front is a salad of carrot and asparagus coins with cubes of avocado, coated in a light, beige-colored dressing. — The Sesame Asparagus and Carrot Chop from *Smitten Kitchen Keepers*, served on top of some sesame rice and fried tofu.

Toasted Ricotta Gnocchi with Pistachio Pesto

June 2, 2023May 28, 2023 by akc

It was the pistachio pesto part of the Toasted Ricotta Gnocchi with Pistachio Pesto from Smitten Kitchen Keepers that caught my eye. We like pistachio and it struck me as something that would potentially be pretty flexible for other uses.

I planned this meal and then it got rescheduled a couple of times — while it’s not hard, it is a little time-intensive. I think it took me about 90 minutes start to finish. I did try to overlap various parts of the prep but there is just a lot to do with this one.

Making the gnocchi was surprisingly easy. Typically gnocchi is made with potatoes, but these use ricotta which saves quite a bit of time in and of itself. You start by wicking some of the moisture out of the cheese, and then you mix it with flour, parmesan, and an egg. Then you roll out some logs and cut off little pillows of gnocchi. Deb has you put them in the freezer briefly so they’re a little less delicate when you cook them.

The preparation itself is very simple, these are just pan fried in olive oil. I think I let mine get a little too dark but no harm was done. The hardest part of making the pesto is shelling all the pistachios, but if you have a helper or do it ahead of time it’ll come together really quickly. We ended up only using about half of it, so if you don’t think you’ll have a use for the leftover pesto I’d recommend halving it. (We used the leftover pesto on handmade ravioli I got at the farmer’s market, so if you like the sounds of the pesto but not making gnocchi, a high-quality fresh, stuffed pasta will do nicely.)

This was absolutely delicious and I’ll definitely make it again, though it isn’t really a weeknight meal. It would be an easy special occasion dish, or just something for a day when I have the time and feel like cooking.

A pile of gnocchi rests in a shallow white bowl. They're pillow-shaped, and the larger sides are golden brown. It's all coated in a slightly chunky green pesto, and showered in finely grated parmesan. — The Toasted Ricotta Gnocchi with Pistachio Pesto from *Smitten Kitchen Keepers*.

Strawberry-less Rhubarb Pecan Loaf

May 28, 2023May 23, 2023 by akc

I really can’t resist the gorgeous rhubarb at the farmer’s market, so today we’ve got this Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf, except without the strawberries.

I made this while dinner was coming in and out of the oven, and it was an easy enough bake that I could just sort of throw it together and not be focused on it. The only change I made was to omit the strawberries and use more rhubarb instead. That used up one big stalk of rhubarb, so it’s a great recipe to keep on hand for when you wind up with some left over. Or you can be like me, and buy an entire pound when you already have a leftover stalk from last week. Ooops.

This did sit out on the counter for a little while waiting for the oven to cool down from having roasted dinner right beforehand. I think the only thing that was affected was the streusel topping, which just sort of melted into the top.

Despite looking pretty dense (this really doesn’t rise much) this is a very light cake. It’s got a strong brown sugar flavor, which is reminding me of something but I can’t think what. If I were to make this again I’d definitely double the fruit as there’s not very much of it, and on day two the rhubarb flavor sort of disappears entirely. I think I’d also skip the streusel topping and just add more pecans. They get a little toasted and the crunch is a nice counterpart to the soft cake.

A top view of a squat brown loaf, with toasted pecans and areas of lighter-brown streusel. The loaf has been placed on a brown cutting board, and some whitish grey countertops are visible behind it. — The Strawberry-less Rhubarb Pecan Loaf from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Pork and Asparagus Stir-Fry

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 by akc

For a while, Deb had a column at Bon Appetit and this Pork and Asparagus Stir-Fry is one of the recipes you’ll find in that collection. I think I tried it pretty soon after it was published, and it became a favorite that summer.

It’s a very simple recipe that makes asparagus the star of the show, so it’s a) not for you if you don’t love asparagus and b) worth splurging on the freshest asparagus you can get. Personally, I only make it with farmer’s market asparagus. I get two bundles, which I think is technically 1.5 pounds of asparagus and not 2, but it works out just fine.

I do make one change to this, which is to substitute dry vermouth for chinese rice wine, since we didn’t have any on hand the first time I made it. I believe I’ve since tried it with rice wine but the aroma of the vermouth and soy sauce in the hot pan is so yummy, and I missed it.

I serve this with a pile of white rice, which we promptly douse with chili crisp. It is an absolutely delicious meal and the leftovers heat up well for lunch.

I have also tried this with green beans, so if you aren’t an asparagus person or if you just need a substitute, they’ll work well. You’ll just need to adjust the timing so they don’t get overcooked. You could also probably substitute ground turkey for the pork, but if you eat pork I think it’s worth it, especially since this uses only half a pound.

A shallow white bowl holds a pile of pieces of lightly browned asparagus, mixed with chunks of browned ground pork and pieces of garlic and scallion. Some white rice is peeking out of the bottom, and some chili crisp is scattered across the back. — The Pork and Asparagus Stir-Fry from Deb’s Bon Appetit column.

Big Crumb Coffee Cake

May 19, 2023May 19, 2023 by akc

I’m sure when you saw last weekend’s rhubarb post you were wondering why I didn’t make one of Deb’s many rhubarb recipes. Well, that’s because I can usually count on getting rhubarb at my farmer’s market for a few weeks running, so I knew I’d have another chance. I chose the Big Crumb Coffee Cake because I love coffee cake, but am often disappointed by a stingy amount of streusel.

This is truly one of those “Why haven’t I made that?” moments. While this recipe is from 2008, I know I only bookmarked it sometime in the last couple of years, probably after Deb resurfaced it during rhubarb season. I’m not sure why I didn’t make it; probably because it didn’t seem very dessert-y.

This is a pretty straightforward recipe, though you will feel like you’ve used half the bowls in your kitchen. (I went through five.) You toss the rhubarb with sugar and cornstarch, make a very sturdy streusel, and put together a thick batter. You spread the batter into the pan and top it with huge chunks of streusel.

This does need to be in the oven for a while — 45 to 55 minutes. It’s hard to tell when this is done due to the rhubarb. At 45 I put mine back in for 5 minutes, but should have given it 10, maybe 15. The sides and some parts of the top were a lovely golden brown, but it turned out the very middle was tragically underbaked. So, if you make this pay careful attention to that, especially if you’re using a glass baking pan. (I was, and in retrospect I should have dug out my metal pan.)

You do also want to let it cool. Maybe not quite completely, but cooling allows the streusel to firm up a bit and that gives you a nice textural contrast to the soft cake and jammy rhubarb.

Despite the near-total loss of the center piece, this was delicious. Rhubarb in coffee cake is such an unexpected combination, I really think you should try this. And as Deb suggests I think this would work well with other tart fruit; in particular I’m curious to try this with blueberries. But if you like your coffee cake uncluttered this would be just as good without fruit. (Maybe use a heavy hand on the vanilla.)

I put about half of this in the freezer and will report back on how it holds up. I didn’t do anything special to it, just threw the pieces into a plastic container and stuck it on the bottom of the freezer. It’ll be nice to have on hand the next time we’re sad that we’re out of bagels.