pizza with radicchio and red onion

Tonight I made pizza, super simple and fast. We used Whole Foods whole wheat pizza crust and Muir Glen pizza sauce. I'd love to learn how to make my own pizza dough but that's a project for another day. If anyone has any pizza dough tips or recipes, send 'em my way! Oh about the cheese- we used fontina and asiago because that's what we had, but radicchio pairs well with all sorts of cheeses, so you can really use whatever you'd like. I think traditional mozzarella with dollops of ricotta would be awesome!


Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 head radicchio, white core removed and roughly chopped
1 small red onion, sliced
1 whole wheat pizza crust
1/3 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup fontina cheese
1/4 cup asiago cheese
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook onions with a pinch of salt until they are just begin to caramelize. Add the radicchio, then after just a minute or so, remove the pan from the heat. The radicchio will continue to wilt a bit from the residual heat. Spoon pizza sauce onto crust and spread it out evenly, then top with fontina cheese. Now spoon the radicchio and red onion onto the pizza, then cover with the asiago cheese. Season with salt, pepper and your favorite pizza seasonings. Place pizza directly on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 18 minutes.

kitchen sink risotto

Radicchio has been plaguing me. I've looked through my cookbooks, searched online and flipped through magazines. But the radicchio recipes are few and they all follow the same basic idea: radicchio + strongly flavored cheese + carb. Which isn't a bad thing! Trust me, all of my favorite foods feature cheese plus carb. I guess I was just hoping to try something a little more unusual.

But oh crap! It's Wednesday and the new box is here and we still haven't used half the stuff from last week's box. Time to face the radicchio! So I decided we'd make "Risotto with Radicchio" after looking through Amaranth to Zucchini one last time. I've never made a real risotto before and I was really looking forward to it.

Then Kenny decided (I think he was a little tipsy*... shh!): You know what? Screw it, let's just throw all the greens in. I was hesitant but I wasn't gonna argue with the man. So, "Risotto with Radicchio" became "Risotto with Radicchio, and Collard Greens, and Pea Shoots, and Arugula."

And it came out damn good! The risotto was creamy and rich, the asiago and lemon juice gave it balance and you still could taste each of the greens individually. Bitter radicchio and peppery pea shoots held their own. We served it with sourdough that had been dusted with herbes de Provence. I dub thee- kitchen sink risotto!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cups arborio rice
7 cups veggie stock
2 heads radicchio
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch pea shoots
1 bunch arugula
6 cloves garlic confit, chopped
salt, pepper to taste
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 cup asiago cheese
1 pint cream
2 tsp lemon juice

Start by getting the veggie stock simmering in pot. During that time, wilt the greens in a non-stick skillet, working in batches, then set them aside. In another large pot, heat the butter and olive oil and sweat the onions with a bit of salt, til just barely translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the dry rice to toast it a bit, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Then, add 2 cups of hot stock and stir the risotto until the stock incorporates.

Continue adding stock slowly, 2 cups at a time and stirring to incorporate. Add the garlic confit as well, it will break down and dissolve into the risotto. After 6 cups of stock have been added, the rice should be just about done, maybe a tiny bit crunchy still. Add 1 teaspoon of thyme and 1 teaspoon of crushed sage. Season with salt and pepper to taste- but remember the asiago will add salt and the pea shoots and arugula are peppery, so keep that in mind. Add the last cup to finish the rice and cook until the rice is tender. Then add the cheese and stir to melt. Add the greens and incorporate, then stir in the cream. To finish, add two teaspoons of lemon juice, which will perk up the flavors. Re-season with more salt and pepper, if necessary. Makes six servings.

*Kenny's note: yes I was tipsy, no I do not regret it. This is the best thing I have put in my mouth since wd-50 in NYC. It's just as good the next day. Everyone in my office is SO jealous, and there is more in the fridge!

weekly delivery 02/25

This weeks CSA delivery includes:

4 artichokes
2 lbs Peruvian purple potatoes

1 bunch pea shoots
4 Mineola tangelo

1 bunch collard greens
7 Braeburn apples

1 bunch kale
1 bunch Nantes carrots

1 bulb fennel
1 head romaine lettuce
3 red onions

1 head radicchio

eggs florentine... sort of

Annnnnd eggs. I love eggs. Katie loves eggs. We especially love poached eggs. This year for Xmas Katie bought me poach pods so I can make them whenever I want, which is always. Tonight we only had 4 eggs and were really hungry so instead of making a hollandaise I added fontina cheese to give an extra layer of richness. You could use any greens for this, and considering we both finished it in .095969 seconds and were screaming "MOAAAR!", this is probably going to become how we use some greens at least once a week. Enough babbling, on to the show:


Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 English muffins
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
1 bunch spinach roughly chopped
salt, pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese
1/2 an avocado

Get a sauce pan of water on the stove and get it boiling. Toast English muffins. Sprinkle with cheese and return to toaster oven, or oven to get all melty and delicious. Saute your kale and spinach in a pan over medium low heat with a little bit of cooking spray (don't forget to season these). Spray your poach pods, add your eggs, and get them into the boiling water. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes and WHOA, perfectly poached eggs. Layer them up as we did in the picture, or any way you want. Heck, make a sandwich! (Come to think of it, that's a damn good idea!) Eat, and begin craving for more.

curried carrot and leek soup

Ingredients:
1 bunch carrots (approximately 1 1/4 lbs), roughly cut
1 bunch leeks (4 medium), cleaned, trimmed, and roughly chopped (greens and all!)
1/2 a white onion, diced
4 cups veggie stock
3 cups water
4 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
black pepper
salt
sour cream and sriracha for garnish

In a stock pot on medium heat, sweat leeks and onion in canola oil until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add carrots, stock, water, cayenne, and HALF of the curry powder. Cover and bring to a simmer. When it begins to simmer, turn to low. Let cook for 30 minutes total. Use your immersion blender to puree into a smooth soup. (We just bought one of these this week and we are sooooo pumped! No more making a mess with the food processor!) Or, if you do not have a magic blender wand of joy; puree in small batches in your food processor. Now its time to season. We love strong curry flavors, so we added 2 more tablespoons of curry powder with our salt and pepper. Add however much you like. Ours was really awesome, and I added slowly, tasting each time. So 4 tablespoons is what I would recommend. Let simmer for 5 minutes and then eat it!

food for thought

This is by no means a political blog, but I read two articles today that I thought were interesting and relevant to our theme of seasonal, environmentally conscious eating. So, I wanted to share.

The first is a great article from Gourmet magazine. Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes, by Barry Estabrook, March 2009 issue.
"If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery."

I found the second article by way of the hilarious SF-based vegan food blog, vegansaurus!
Niman ranch founder challenges new owners, by Stacy Finz for the SF Chronicle.
"The 64-year-old Bolinas man said he can live with losing the business he built from scratch. But he can't stand quietly by, he says, while the new owners fundamentally change the brand that influenced an entire food movement. He refuses to eat their products."

What have you guys been reading lately? I saw that Cole mentioned she recently went to see Joel Salatin speak at Stanford. I'm totally jealous, Cole!

wilted greens with pancetta and hard boiled egg

This salad is very simple to make, but it doesn't taste simple. Decadent doesn't have to be difficult. The pancetta is from The Fatted Calf, they sell local, organic, humanely raised meat at a stand at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market on Saturdays.

Ingredients:
1 bunch pea shoots
1 bunch arugula
1 coil pancetta, chopped
4 cloves garlic confit, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic oil from confit
2 eggs, hard boiled
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

The eggs can be boiled in advance and allowed to cool. Pick through the greens and rip the leaves off the stem, roughly in bite sized pieces. Rinse thoroughly and set aside. Meanwhile, heat up a non-stick skillet and fry the pancetta until crisp, then use tongs to remove the pancetta and set aside. Add garlic oil and garlic confit. Working in batches, wilt the greens in the pancetta fat. It only takes a few seconds, you don't want to cook it it the whole way, just wilt and warm the greens. Toss and assemble the salad and drizzle just a bit of balsamic vinegar on top to cut the fat, season with salt and pepper, and serve.