Summer Vacation!

a victorious tomato and red chili

I have been a very neglectful blogger, but now it's summer vacation. There aren't a whole lot of good excuses to not take an hour or two a week to write down what I cooked during summer vacation. The most exciting thing about summer so far is that my little urban victory garden hasn't been a total bust. The herbs are flourishing, and look what I picked on Sunday!

We've been getting lots of that early summer sweet corn that's so abundant this time of year in our bountiful basket lately, and I had a few week old ears to get rid of, so I turned to my go-to produce cookbook. It's called Cooking from the Farmer's Market, and I absolutely love it because it has great, simple recipes organized by different fruit and vegetable family such as "beans & peas," "cabbages & other crucifers," or "stone fruits." The sweet corn section had recipes for Chili-Rubbed Corn on the Cob, Corn Pudding with Chives, and Risotto with Fresh Corn and Basil Oil. The Corn Pudding is next on my list, but since my basil plant is going so crazy it's starting to flower, I opted for the recipe that used it.

fresh basil from my little garden

This is only the second time I've made risotto. I was terrified I would mess it up like I did paella, but it's really simple. The first time I ever tried, I was totally blown away by the fact that there is no dairy in risotto. "How on earth is it so wonderfully creamy?" I wondered. It turns out that the procedure of slowly adding hot cooking liquid and constantly stirring (which I will explain below) loosens the starch molecules from the grains of rice into the surrounding liquid. Yum!

Extra fancy like me!

A word about rice: long grain rice won't work. Most recipes recommend a high-starch, low-amylose (fancy word for a type of glucose found in starches) short grain rice such as arborio or carnoroli. These pedigrees of rice are typically imported and extremely expensive in a normal grocery store (I found them for more reasonable prices at World Market). The problem with using any old rice for risotto is not any old rice has properties needed to absorb liquid while releasing starches. We had calrose rice at home and figured since it makes great sticky rice, it would work for risotto, and it did. You might have better results with the fancy rice, but I am not going to pay $10 for a box of it.

Risotto with Fresh Corn and Basil Oil

• 2-3 ears of corn, husks and silk removed
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced leeks (use only the white and pale green stalk)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups short grain rice
• 2 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 Tbsp Basil Oil (recipe below)

• Strip the kernels from the ears of corn. There are tools for this, but why buy one when you already have a knife? If you're worried about kernels flying all over the place, hold the corn in a large mixing bowl as you slice the kernels from the ear. 
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks and stir to coat. Cook the leeks on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Step 1

• Pour the broth and 3 cups water into a saucepan and place over low to medium heat. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the broth hot, but never simmering.
• Raise the heat under the leeks to medium, and add the rice. Stir the rice and leeks and cook the two until the rice is translucent, but not browned (about 3 minutes).



The set up: hot liquid needs to be added to the rice 1 ladle at a time.

• Begin adding the hot liquid 1/2 cup (I just use a ladle) at a time, stirring constantly and adding more liquid only when the previous ladle-full has been absorbed. This is the hardest part (for me) of making risotto. I tend to be a multi-tasking cook; I like to do other things like fold laundry, play a video game, or make the world's stupidest tumblr during cooking steps. If you want creamy delicious risotto, however, you've got to stand there and stir.
• After about 10 minutes, stir in the corn and continue adding the broth in small increments. It should take about 20 minutes for the rice to absorb all the liquid and become al dente and creamy. If you need more liquid, use hot water.

corny

• Remove from the heat and stir in the chives and 2 Tbsp of the basil oil. Divide among bowls and top with remaining oil. Serve right away.

 Basil Oil

• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (this is about a handful)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the basil leaves and olive oil in a blender. Seriously. That's it.

The dish turned out great. It's very summery and mild and would go well with anything off the grill. We ate it with leftover steak and beets. Later this week I'm going to try making my own poppy seed dressing for a spinach and apple salad and some very adventurous burgers.

What the %()&$#! is that: Chayote Edition

These little guys were in my produce basket this week. I was glad I arrived before the produce truck and helped distribute on Saturday because I got to see the boxes they came in and write down the name. They are most commonly called chayotes, but there are some regional names for them that are too good not to post. In les pays francophone, one might call them christophenes. Throughout Central America, a chayote is a choko. In Brazil, it's a chuchu, and in India it's a chow chow. If you happen to live in the swamps of Louisiana, you will recognize this vegetable as an alligator pear.

An urban legend circulates Australia claiming that the McDonald's restaurants there use chayote rather than apples in their apple pies because they maintain attractive color and firmness when cooked. I told my husband. He said he doesn't care what's in a McDonald's apple pie because they are delicious no matter what.

The other vaguely interesting factoid I found researching the alligator pear (see, it is the best name), is that many people report allergic reactions after contact with the squash's skin. I didn't notice any reactions at the distribution because each chayote was individually wrapped in small plastic baggies, but when I started to peel the chayotes to cook them, my hands and arms went all itchy and blotchy. Fortunately, the flesh of the squash does not cause the same problems.

Since Julia Child didn't include any christophene recipes in MtAoFC, and I couldn't find any recipes for chayotes in any of my other cookbooks, I turned to the internet for recipe ideas. Unsurprisingly, most of what I found was for Mexican or Central American style cuisine. This worked out well. The produce co-op planners are prudent, so I also had several Anaheim peppers on hand. I searched, compiled and tweaked and came up with a few promising ideas.  Pack my knives and call me Kenny 'cause I'm about to make chayote two ways.
 
Tuesday's Dish - Rice with Chayote

I'm told this dish is called a Fritanga and is a staple in Guatemala, but searches for the word just yield Nicaraguan restaurants, so I'm not sure I believe it. It's basically a saute of chayote, tomatoes and onions with cooked rice and seasoning. I realized too late that I might have had better results if I had used uncooked rice and made it as a paella. My aunt gave me a beautiful paella pan for my birthday in March, but so far I have only used it as a roasting pan for chicken. It's exactly the right size.

the cutest tomatoes

1. Peel, slice and sautee 1 chayote along with 1 medium onion (diced) and 2-3 chopped garlic cloves.
2. Add about 1/3 cup cooking liquid (I used chicken stock, but vegetable stock or water would work just fine I'm sure) and chili powder, cumin, paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
3. Stir in 2 cups of cooked rice and a coarsely chopped tomato. Cook until heated through.

 

Chayote stays firm through cooking and has a mild taste similar to cucumbers. They're family, after all. The real star of this dish was the cherry tomatoes I quartered and sauteed until just done. I served this with cheese-and-Anaheim-pepper enchiladas. Yum!



Wednesday's Dish - Chayote with Tomato, Green Chile and Cheese

tomato/chile puree

1. Peel 1-2 chayotes and slice into julienned strips. The core of the chayote is edible and a bit nutty so go ahead and leave it in.
2. Roast whole tomatoes (I used more of the super cute cherry tomatoes) under the broiler until they begin to pop, then process (leave the skin on) with 1-2 roasted green chile peppers (peeled and seeded) and 2-3 garlic cloves until smooth.
3. Dice and saute half a yellow onion, once the onion becomes translucent, add your tomato/pepper puree and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
4. Stir in the chayote and 1/4 cup water or stock. Cook 15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in 1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro and 1/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese.   

I didn't have any cilantro on hand, but I didn't have to go to the store because my husband is a genius. Last time we had bunches of cilantro, he froze chopped cilantro with a little water in an ice cube tray like little cilantrocicles. I just had to grab a cube and let it thaw.



I liked this dish a lot better than the previous one. Nathan and I both decided that chayote is okay. I will probably never buy a chayote in the store, but I wouldn't refuse it if served. The roasted tomato and chile sauce tasted good and cheese makes everything better. I have a coworker who often says she'd eat a shoe if it had melted cheese on it. Well, I'd eat a chayote if it had melted cheese on it.

Chayote Squash with tomato peppers and cheese served with pollo asada.