Tastebuds: A Taste Catering Blog

The Versatile Apple Corer & Stuffed Zucchini

While this kitchen gadget works effectively for coring apples, pears, etc., it also has application for removing the seeded center of a zucchini.  One of the classic preparations of zucchini or any summer squash is to create little squash boats and fill them with a bread based stuffing. Preparation requires parboiling the squash about 5 minutes until tender. Removing the center can be tedious but an apple corer simplifies the job. Use small squash, about 3-4 inches long and no fatter than 1" in diameter.  After parboiling, cool the squash for handling.  Cut the squash in half.  Make a slit at the stem end (the fatter end) only as long and deep as the seeded center of the squash, being careful to keep the outer shell of the squash intact.  Starting at the blossom end (the skinnier end), use the corer to carve out the center of the squash.  You may have to twist the corer from side to side in a screwdriver action to work your way through the squash to the slit.  Extract the corer and lift out the center.  Click her for a demonstration.

Chop the squash centers and sauté in butter and olive oil with chopped celery and onion.  The mixture is done when the onions are translucent.  Add parsley and continue to sauté for about 1 minute more. Mix in fresh, not dried, bread crumbs and beaten egg.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add your favorite cooked sausage to the bread mixture.  An option for the sausage is crumbled bacon or liver pate.  If a vegetarian version is desired, replace the meat with sautéed chopped carrot or red pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

When measuring ingredients use the following guideline for each zucchini half:

• 1T chopped celery
• 1t chopped onion
• 1/4 t chopped parsley
• 2T bread crumbs (about 1/2 slice sandwich bread)
• 1T cooked sausage or crumbled bacon (or 1t pate)

And, for the beaten egg, figure:

• 1 beaten egg for 6 whole zucchini

Divide the mixture evenly, filling the zucchini halves.   

Place in a Pyrex baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temp.

Heirloom Pumpkin Custard

This recipe is an alternative to pumpkin pie--the custard filling without the pie crust.  The recipe appeared in 1920 in the San Francisco Call, one of the dozen or so daily newspapers published in San Francisco in that period.  My grandmother clipped the recipe (originally intended to make two 9" pies) and it became a family favorite. I eliminated the pie crust a few years ago to reduce calories.

3 ½ cups roasted pumpkin pulp (see note)

3 large eggs, beaten well

¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp salt

¾ tsp ground ginger

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups whole milk

 

1. Preheat oven to 450°

2. Combine pulp and eggs in large bowl

3. Add sugar, salt and spices

4. Add milk and whisk until combined

5. Pour into a 9” round casserole, at least 3” deep

6. Place custard dish in a roasting pan

7. Add water to the pan 1” deep

8. Place in center of oven

9. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes

10. Reduce oven temp to 350° and bake 45 minutes

11. It is done when a knife blade, inserted off center, removes clean

12. Remove casserole from roasting pan and cool

13. Refrigerate if custard will not be served within 4 hours

14. Serve with sweetened whipped cream flavored with orange zest or Grand Marnier

 

Note: Pumpkin tends to be watery but can be dried out if roasted in the oven. Use 5-6 small pumpkins (about 5” in diameter). Pumpkins are very hard to cut so place in the microwave for 2-3 minutes to soften enough to cut the pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and place cut side down in a roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour at 350°. Pulp is ready when it starts to brown on the edges. When removed from the shell, pulp should show no water seepage in the bottom of the bowl and when a spoon is run through the pulp, it holds its shape.

Gigande Beans with Lacinato Kale

When I told my wife that I was cooking some gigande beans with lacinato kale for our Tastebuds blog, she informed me that Emily Weinstein had that same day written about kale in Mark Bittman's popular New York Times blog.  I was struck by something that appears early on in that piece – that people visit the farmers market and wonder how to cook kale.  Many fine cooks have found that a simple sauté with a slight braise in a flavorful liquid brings out the rich and meaty flavor of this most wonderful of vegetables.

             Lacinato kale, Tuscan kale, or dinosaur kale (probably its most common moniker in the fancy grocery stores – named for the pebbly reptilian like appearance of its leaf) is of Italian origin. Cavelo Nero or black kale, as it’s known in Italy, first started appearing on menus in the Bay Area about 10 years ago.  And what a revelation it is.  Growing up in the South, I was familiar with the regular garden variety of kale; while that variety has its merits, I would tend to lump it in the family of collards and greens that are best served by relatively long braising in a flavorful ham hock or bacon infused stock.  Ultimately the final taste of these dishes, while delicious, reflects the taste of pork much more than the flavor of the vegetable.  No such preparation is necessary with Tuscan Kale.  Its flavor is extremely rich and quite meaty and often needs nothing more than a little garlic and lemon to complement it.

I wanted to introduce a less common way to prepare lacinato kale that also showcases this vegetable’s extraordinary flavor and versatility.  It involves a technique to which I was first introduced at the wonderful and famous restaurant in Florence, Cibreo.   It was simply white beans that had been cooked with some onion and garlic in chicken stock – there was no addition of pork flavor whatsoever.  Right before serving, some finely cut lacinato kale had been swirled into the beans and the entire dish finished with lovely Italian extra virgin olive oil.   In a sense the kale had been treated like an herb, as it had been added to the dish right before serving, and, like an herb, its aroma and flavor had permeated the dish.  I wouldn’t have thought of using the vegetable in this way, as a longer cooking time brings out more flavor.  But in this case, the fact that the kale had been so finely cut allowed the heat to essentially cook the vegetable almost instantly, so that the dish retained the raw aromatics of the vegetable but yet cooked the kale enough to bring out its fully developed flavor.  I recommend using a very sharp ‘Santoku’ style knife to chiffonade the kale without bruising and leeching flavor onto the cutting board. 

Click here for a simple and wonderful recipe for gigande beans with lacinato kale:

Lacinato Kale is available at most high end markets in the Bay Area these days (Whole Foods, Adronico’s, Bi-Rite). However, I highly recommend purchasing it at any of the farmer’s markets in the Bay Area. The fresher the kale, the more and meatier of a flavor it has and purchasing it directly from the farmer is the only way to guarantee it just came out of the ground! Or, grow your own! Tuscan Kale grows incredibly well in the Bay Area microclimate!