Asparagus Risotto

1 small bunch of asparagus
1 quart homemade vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
½ stalk of celery, minced
1 shallot, minced, or equivalent amount of red onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
¾ cup of Arborio or canaroli rice
¼ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped

Trim the woody ends from the asparagus and reserve. Slice the rest of the asparagus on the bias into pieces about an inch long. Blanch the asparagus in the broth until just barely cooked through (time will vary with the thickness of the asparagus). Remove it to an ice bath with a slotted spoon, drain when cooking has stopped and allow to come to room temperature in a colander.

Put the woody stem ends and the bay leaf in the broth and simmer. (Recipe can be prepared ahead to this point.)

Cook the shallot, celery and garlic in 1 tablespoon of the butter until soft, about four to five minutes. Add the rice and cook stirring constantly until the rice is well coated and starting to become translucent – two to three minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until it is all incorporated. Stir in the stock in ladlefuls until the rice is cooked al dente, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in the lemon zest, parsley, cream, and reserved asparagus, and cook until just heated through. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.

Black Bean Chili

This recipe is adapted, simplified basically, from one in Deborah Madison's The Greens Cook Book. It makes eight very generous servings at a cost of 62 cents (Seattle) or 40 cents (Tucson) exclusive of garnishes and polenta. Like most soups and stews, this is better made a day ahead and reheated, making it excellent for entertaining. Additionally, chili is a familiar concept and won’t frighten the carnivores.


2 cups black beans
1 bay leaf
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons sweet (mild) paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium yellow onions, ¼ inch dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes, including juice
½ teaspoon chipotle puree, or to taste
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or to taste


Garnishes:

pasilla peppers, roasted, peeled and diced
green onions, sliced
crumbled cotija or feta cheese
sour cream or Greek yogurt


Put the beans and bay leaf in a large kettle and cover them with water by a couple of inches. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Put the cumin in a large ungreased skillet and toast until they begin to color. Add the oregano and chili powder, stir and continue to toast until the mix is very fragrant but not scorched. Turn off the heat, add the paprika and cayenne and stir to combine. Remove the spice mix and reserve.

In the same skillet sauté the onions in the oil until they are soft. Add the garlic and spice mix and cook five minutes. Add the tomatoes and chipotle puree and simmer 15 minutes.

Add the tomato mixture to the beans and continue to simmer until the beans are quite soft. Season to taste with salt, vinegar and additional chipotle, if necessary.

Serve over polenta, garnished with cheese, peppers, sour cream or Greek yogurt, and green onions.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Blueberry Sauce

This quick and easy cake is an adaptation of a recipe I found on epicurious.com. You don't even have to get out the mixer, and it cooks in about half an hour. It has been very well received every time I've made it. In place of the blueberry sauce, you can substitute sliced, lightly sugared stawberries and whipped cream.

Cake:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup sugar
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
Zest of two lemons
¼ pound butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Glaze:
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
Juice of two lemons

Sauce:
4 cups whole fresh or frozen blueberries
½ cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” pyrex pie plate with deep sides and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Combine buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel vanilla and butter in small bowl and stir to combine. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and fold in with spatula until just blended. Pour the batter into the pie plate and bake until the cake pulls away from the sides and a tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze: Put lemon juice into powdered sugar and stir until well combined and free of lumps. If the glaze is too thick, add a bit more lemon juice or water until glaze is of spreadable consistency.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven, place a plate over it, and, using oven mitts, invert the cake onto the plate. Remove the parchment paper and, while cake is still hot, ice the top with glaze. Cool completely to room temperature.

Make the blueberry sauce: reserve half the blueberries. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring, until the berries are soft and the mix is syrupy. Remove from the heat and add the reserved berries. With the back of a wooden spoon, gently crush some of the fresh blueberries. The sauce can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Before serving, bring to room temperature, or rewarm

Herbs in Pots

Today's New York Times has a great little article on growing herbs in pots.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad, Endive Cheese Tart

Today's NY Times Dining section has a good recipe for sugar snap pea salad with radishes, mint and ricotta salata.

The endive cheese tart also sounded good, if a bit on the rich side.

Mexican Rice and Beans

I've seen Mexican recipes where cooked beans and raw rice are cooked together to make a rice and beans dish. I can't put my hands on such a recipe at the moment, and I've forgotten what the dish is called in Spanish, but I threw together something along those lines for lunch this afternoon. It was quick, easy and tasty.

1 cup frijoles de olla, including some of the cooking liquid
1/3 cup of rice
1/2 cup of water
2 T chopped onion
1/2 ripe tomato, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced very fine
salt
few leaves of cilantro, chopped
white cheese, preferably Mexican, but Jack cheese will work

Combine the beans and their liquid, the rice, water and chopped onion in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook over very low heat until the rice is done and the liquid is fully absorbed.

While the rice is cooking, combine the tomato, garlic, salt to taste and cilantro. Stir well to combine.

Set the oven to 350.

When the rice is fully cooked, put the rice and beans in a baking dish, top with the cheese, and bake until the cheese is just melted.

Top with the tomato/garlic mixture and serve immediately.

A cabbage salad would be good with this.

Spinach Zucchini Empanadas

The Cooking Habit blog has a recipe for Spinach Zucchini Empanadas that sounds fabulous. I can't wait to try it.

Bonsai Bistro -- Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Incredibly enough we left Montana reasonably early (for us), which put us into Coeur d'Alene for lunch. That meant we had a lot more food options than on a typical road trip. We settled on the Bonsai Bistro, a pan-Asian place in downtown, as it had plentiful parking. We ordered Malaysian vegetable tofu stir fry and the carmelized garlic noodles. Both dishes were very good. I especially liked the tofu stir fry. The tofu is artisanal and you can really tell the difference. The noodles were just that -- a plate of noodles -- although they were delicious. But better for a larger group to split. I would definitely go back, although since the portions are so generous for two, I think we would order just an appetizer and one main dish.

They have an extensive sushi menu, which we didn't sample, so I'm unable to comment on that.

The service was prompt and attentive and the space was attractive. The restaurant is located just across the street from the lake and the main resort.