The Miso of Your Dreams

  A casual mention here of the Miso Dressing from the long defunct The Juicery restaurants in WNY has brought about many requests, recently, for that recipe. For those who have asked, and those that haven't, YET, I submit it here today for your pleasure.

 The dressing was served at The Juicery on several dishes, and was available by request. It's supposed to be fairly thick, a creamily salty, rich, tangy emulsion with just enough sweetness in it, made to balance  the flavors of almost anything you put it on-- green salads with fruits and nuts, a bread and tomato salad, steamed vegetables, in a wrap or sandwich of any sort. I liked it on the Lite Bite: a small green salad of frilly lettuces topped with a large rounded scoop of the Juicery's very rich, cuminy Hummus, flatbread triangles on the side.

 But the uses of this dressing go way beyond. It could easily be a dip, it's a natural, if counterintuitive pairing, with feta and pita and all dishes that go with them, it's wonderful dripped onto a veggie burger, it makes the sliced cuke a snack of the gods, and I'm dying to try it on sweet potato fries. I've enjoyed it with almond butter and lettuce on wheat bread. Of course, it would enhance a vegetarian sushi plate.

 This recipe, given me by a former worker at one of the Juicery Cafes, makes a large quantity-- a gallon, in fact.

 It won't be enough.

 But it does keep very well in the fridge. Or you can do as I often do-- make a smaller quantity using similar proportions* and your own sense of the proper taste/consistency to get it right. If making it as a dip, you may want to scratch the soy, or edit it down to a few drops, and add water just till thick enough, instead of the given proportion.

 As for the oil, we have it on good authority that the restaurant used an olive oil/vegetable oil blend. I use olive oil, with a little extra-virgin thrown in for fruitiness. But it takes well to canola, sunflower, or straight veg oil, or a combination of these. Corn oil is too heavy, IMO.

 As for the miso, white or yellow are first choices for this, but red or darker work too-- you should taste as you go, and adjust. It shouldn't be too salty to lick straight off your finger. And you'll want to lick it off your fingers!

PS-- a little blended into your hummus is out-of-bounds yummy.



The Juicery's Miso Dressing

makes about 1 gallon



8 C oil

4 C water

1/2 C lemon juice

1/2 C honey (vegans can use a slightly lesser amount of agave, and adjust to taste)

1/3 C wine vinegar (they used red)

1/4 C soy sauce

3 tsp chopped garlic

10 oz chopped onion (1 big onion)

1 3/4 C miso paste


 Measure and add all ingredients into large blender. Blend till smooth. Store in refrigerator.



*Proportionally, if you started with one C oil, you'd use a scant 1/2 C water, about 1/4 C miso or less. The rest of the ingredients, you do to taste, adding maybe a 1/4 C chopped onion, a clove minced garlic, and drizzling the liquids in by a tsp at a time. When it tastes delicious, it's right.

 This stuff really is the bomb, as requests for it from several different states/countries will atttest. I hope you try it soon. It's perfect for fall salads, and end-of-summer grillfests.

 Peace, Mari

No-Cook Summer

Despite having more time to cook because of my computer woes (and therefore, less time spent facing a screen) this summer, I haven't much wanted to cook or eat, and I'm sure most of Buffalo feels the same way-- too hot to eat, until it's too late to care.

 But given the past few reasonable, milder days, I have some appetite now-- but still crave cool and fresh over warm and gloppy. That's how I think of cooked food, today.

 It's a good time to make tabbouleh, to have meal-in-a-bowl salads, to buy hummus and pita from Pete's Lebanese Bakery and set out chunks of tomatoes and cukes on the side. It's a good time to let olive oil be the the most fattening non-frozen food we eat. I'd rather have spicy, room temp food than a take-out pizza, even if pizza weren't so expensive to have delivered.

 What about you? How do you cope with an overdose of summer?

Tried and Tweaked Thursday: Bean, Corn & Rice salad

Hot today again in the Buffland, but the breeze is keeping us alive. Yesterday was pure hell, and we're glad it's done. Heat has its effect on our appetites, except for the cat's-- he's as hungry as ever, but as his meals require no application of heat, I don't mind.

It's been a week of salads so far, and there's no end in sight, so I'd like to share one of my oldest, tastiest, easiest meal-worthy salads, with some chopped tomato or avocado on the side, or small quesadillas, maybe.

 Of course it makes a good, substantial second dish, too. From one of my ancient Food & Wine Magazine back issues (January 1986, from an article called "Beautiful Beans"). This is a big hit whenever I make it, and the components are usually hanging around in the pantry.

BEAN, CORN AND RICE SALAD WITH CHILI VINAIGRETTE
6-8 servings


3 1/2 C cooked, converted rice, cooled

1 can (16 oz) pink beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 C cooked fresh corn kernels or 1 12-oz can corn niblets

1/2 C chopped scallions

2 pickled jalapeno peppers, stemmed seeded, deribbed and minced

1/3 C safflower or corn oil**

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp (packed) brown sugar

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin


 In a large bowl, combine the rice, beans, corn, scallions, and jalapenos. Toss to mix.

 In a small bowl, combine the rest of ingredients. Whisk until sugar dissolves and the mixture is well blended.

 Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature, tossing occasionally, for up to 4 hours before serving, or cover and refrigerate for up to three days.


**Mari's notes-- I have made this with safflower oil, and it is good, but most I use EVOO, and it is good too, though of course doesn't look as pretty just out of the fridge! If you use it, let the salad sit out a bit first, so the oil can liquefy again.

It's a good-looking, somewhat spicy salad, more than the sum of it's parts. Also fine with just a slice or three of sliced pickled jalapenos for those that can take too much heat, and I have made it with fresh chilies of various kinds as well. 

Oh, I always use thawed, frozen corn, except when I was able to get Trader Joe's Cut Sweet Corn, a lovely crisp canned variety that tastes as good as fresh. But I did try once with niblets, and quality ones work well. Kidney or pinto beans are a decent sub, but the pink ones do seem best to me here. Enjoy!

  Peace, Mari

Almost Instant Cool

 Knowing that all over the States, it's hot, hot, hot, means to me, you'll all know where we're coming from here, as we look towards a week that promises intense temps and crazy traffic, all at once. Independence Day and the surrounding weekends means grilling for meatists; but at my house in Kenmore NY, we're eating as coolly as possible. Pickles, sliced zuke, bread, a little cheese sometimes, dips, nuts and snacks of fresh fruit or edible whole pea pods, with mostly big salads for dinner.

 One day it might be Greek style, one day, raw taco salad. Two are more frequent repeaters: First, I like to do a veg-filled variation on the big Italian salad, an Italian-American family institution. It's a cross between anitpasto and green salad, at its best, full of different tastes and textures. Grace Parisi recently put out a recipe for her version, here, in Food & Wine magazine, and it's a good one, but mine is a stand alone meal, and needs more substance, even.

 Instead of starting with the greens, I begin filling a large bowl with various chopped, sliced or shredded vegetables, like zukes, cukes, marinated chickpeas or cannellini, halved olives, roasted or fresh peppers, pickled corn or green beans*, pepperoncini, peas, onions in some form, carrots if they're sweet, raw fennel or celery, you name it.

 If some of these have been, heat permitting, quickly charred on a griddle or hot frying pan, so much the better for textural variety. A hard peach or pear goes surprisingly well, too, just slice thin for easy chewing. When the bowl is almost halfway full, I finally stop chopping. (Note-- tomatoes, obviously, are great, but hubby-man doesn't care for them, so they go on the side, here).

 I toss all those crisp and crunchy things with mixed lettuces, shredded cabbage, spinach, escarole, endive, (tender dandelion greens if you have them but not too many), a smattering of whatever likely cheese is on hand, torn rye or Italian bread or croutons, fresh herbs, dried oregano, and maybe pine nuts.

 Then, let it sit and blend its flavors while the dressing is made: minced garlic, a pinch of onion, a dollop of dijon to help emulsify, and half each fresh lemon juice and red wine vinegar, with just enough EVOO to make a viniagrette. Season with salt and pepper, and add a combo of dried or fresh herbs-- I tend to go for fennel seed, rosemary, oregano and mint or dill, but basil and parsley, savory or thyme, are fine too. Use a premixed blend like penzey's Green Goddess or the ever-versatile Italian seasoning, if you like. Just make sure you love the taste, and that it isn't overly salty, since the pickled veg & olives in the salad will "salt it up," too. You might like a drop of honey in your dressing, and more oil-- I prefer mine thin and tart, and use as little as possible to wet the greens.

 It's worth it to toss salads about twice as much as everyone on TV seems to; the blend and flavor is improved with patient tossing.

*Keep jars of brine from store-bought pickles, and add thawed frozen corn, sliced green beans or slivered carrots to the liquid, along with a pinch of extra salt, a dash of extra vinegar, and any herb you want to add. After about a day, you've got freshly pickled veg that'll perk up any salad, is good on a sandwich, or on top of a taco. It's a good way to upcycle!

The second best salad we do lately is the super fruit and nut bowl-- greens both tender and crunchy, a honey mustard dressing (equal parts honey mustard & cider vinegar, with a little oil to taste), and every fruit and nut we have in the house, excepting, usually, bananas. Craisins and raisins, dried or fresh apricots, strawberries and plums, blueberries and watermelon, filberts and cashews or walnuts, all fit in, with maybe one single, blander veg, like cuke or yellow squash, to play off of all that sweet & tart. This is a far more filling meal than it appears, too, so don't think you have to have slices of nut bread on the side-- it's nice, as is a wedge of blue cheese and crackers-- but not needed.

 In the coming week, I'm prepping my house and yard for an ice cream social in honor of my mother's birthday next weekend, so I'll be making ice cream and maybe toppings, and hopefully, not melting, myself.

 Keep cool! Mari

Fresh Minute

I'm into crisp, this week. If I'm having a taco or sandwich or bowl of pasta, I'd just as soon top it with a quickly made fresh salsa of minced vegetables/fruit instead of cheese.

  (cukes, 'matoes, cilantro)

 That's how to get through the heat. Lucky for me, the Farmer's Market starts tomorrow.


 See you then! Peace, Mari

Cool Food-- Pics Only

Tomatoes, sprouts, onions, seeds, croutons, viniagrette.

And in the late afternoon, sharing a growler of Saranac's Blueberry Blonde Ale.

 Keep cool--- Mari

The Last Word on Food...

...On my cookbook shelf, is my hot-off-the-press copy of the glossy new fourth edition of The Culinary Institute of America's Garde Manger.
 Isn't it lovely??? The stylish cover drew me irresistibly.

 At 75 USD, it is a book I would normally try taking out of the library, and keeping through several renewals. But having let various gift certificates to B&N stack up in my drawer, and being a member of the B&N club, I got it-- with free express 3-day shipping-- for just over 41 USD, tax included.

 Yes, it was cheaper online, with the member discount and a coupon, than in the Niagara Falls Boulevard store. Where, I say with disgust, it was not on the shelves, and would have had to be ordered for pick-up anyway. Disgust, because every other giant tome from every corner of the known earth was there, except for this basic resource. Why, in Buffalo, NY, should I be able to get that revered Italian compendium, The Silver Spoon, easier from my local bookseller than any edition put out by the CIA?

 And apparently, oversized cookbooks that are either exhaustive in scope, or that obsessively focus on a single ingredient, are in vogue just now. The shelves were drooping under the weight of them all, from an 850 page book on barbecue to a drinks manual that would terrify Dale Degroff.

 Did I want some of them? Yes. But nowadays, when my cookbooks are more for jump-starting my inspiration than for strict use of recipes, I don't spend cash on a book unless I've already perused it well, and know beyond a doubt that it will lift me up in the kitchen, time and again.

 Buying used books is a thrill that lets me break that rule. But I digress--

  Garde Manger contains more than enough solid technique and excellent recipes to open a restaurant from, and I'm especially intrigued by the cheese-making section. How much better, for one thing, will my fermented nut cheeses be, when I've made classic, fresh mozzarella? I look forward to understanding the cheese process from every side possible, except perhaps that of raising goats.

 Even the section on charcuterie is interesting, and I think will yield great vegetable experiments. Learning to go beyond my current cooking knowledge is a privilege, and having the means to do so, such a gift. So thanks, again, Janet & Terry, for those gift cards!


Q: What are three older cookbooks you couldn't do without?

 I'd pick The Silver Palate cookbooks, and not just because my favorite pie crust recipe is in one. Otherwise, it would have to be, you guessed it, Laurel's Kitchen, which always brings me back to basic family style vegetarian cooking, yet has so many recipes perfect for impressing meatists.

 And Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook, which I've cooked my way through almost completely, over the years. The rice recipes alone make it a necessity for me.

 Do tell what your faves are, and don't be shy that they're not vegetarian.


 Peace, Mari

 

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