Pickled Things: Dill Pickles, Okra & Chinese Long Beans

More pickles!! I love getting a fresh pickle when I order a burger or sandwich so I don’t know why I didn’t try to make my own sooner. I looked up a few recipes online, picked up some cucumbers at the farmer’s market…and then picked up some okra to pickle for bloody marys.

I was originally going to use two separate brines (is that what its called?) but got lazy and used the same ratio of vinegar/water/salt for both the dill pickles and the okra (I threw in Chinese long beans because they were around). I only had table salt for this batch but just picked up a box of kosher salt for my next batch of pickles.

While I wasn’t completely satisfied with this batch of dill pickles (too much vinegar), the okra and beans turned out great! The beans were still surprisingly crisp and the okra were exactly as I remembered from New Orleans. I brought this batch of dill pickles over to a friend’s house to go with a smoked brisket (with an “its not perfect” caveat)…and the okra will go to my cousin. As soon as I have time to go to the farmer’s market, there will be more pickling…especially now that the beers have all moved to their own fridge…more room for pickles!

Peaches & Honey Cinnamon Custard

This isn’t a recipe or even a pretty picture…but its a damn good dessert, especially right now. I’ve been singing about peaches for several weeks and will continue to do so! Sliced, fresh peaches at their peak from (where else?) the farmer’s market with a scoop of honey cinnamon custard (found at Whole Foods). Often, the sugars in ice cream overpower the natural sugars of fruit, but somehow we hit the perfect balance with this one.

I think my midwestern boy’s opinion of fruit as a dessert is slowly changing…

Canh Mong Toi (Vietnamese Spinach Soup)

I rarely cook Vietnamese food. It is usually cheaper to go to a restaurant and its a good excuse for me to visit my dad. However, some things (such as this) aren’t available at Vietnamese restaurants and the reality is that my dad won’t be around forever. I figured its time to figure things out for myself while I still have my dad and aunts around to advise me.

My favorite soup is Canh Rau Day but it involves a level of sliminess that many people don’t appreciate (similar to okra). I wanted to make something both the boy and I would eat.  Canh Mong Toi involves a type of Vietnamese spinach that isn’t slimy, which my mom cooked often for my family growing up.

The soup is very simple, fresh and light. Growing up, it was served with sides such as braised fish, salted eggs, fried fish, pickled eggplants, or braised pork belly.  This soup certainly isn’t for everyone but its a comfort food for me and am happy that I’ve figured it out.

I served mine with some claypot braised fish and fried tofu. I’d never done claypot braised fried tofu before but will definitely do it again!

Penne with Vodka Sauce (& Roasted Beets)

Long ago, Joel declared to me his love for vodka sauce. However, I never made it for him because I generally shy from creamy sauces, the vodka sauces I’d had from a jar never seemed particularly remarkable and I never understood the point of adding vodka anyway. However, I thought I’d surprise him, so I picked up some pancetta and vodka on my afternoon run (stopping at a liquor store mid-run is amusing. running home with vodka in hand is even moreso) and whipped up the sauce before he got home.

Since I am curious, maybe you are too. I learned that any type of alcohol has some sort of chemical reaction with tomatoes that brings out their sweetness (hence pouring wine into sauces). Vodka is often used by commercial manufacturers because it is cheap and flavorless. I think some vodka concern also tried to popularize its use in tomato sauce several decades ago, and this was the result.

I served the pasta with a side of roasted beets (drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil packet and bake at 375F until ready), freshly pulled from my friend’s garden. Our friend, who was over for dinner, doesn’t eat cheese so I resisted sprinkling the roasted beets with balsamic and feta (next time!).

Gumbo

In my twenties, I visited New Orleans, fell in love with the food and used Zatarain’s mixes whenever I had a hankering for Cajun. These days, I generally don’t like to cook from a pre-packaged mix. I now have the skills, patience and confidence in the kitchen to make gumbo from scratch, and I like to know and control what goes into my food. However, a box of Zatarain’s Gumbo Base had made the move with us from Chicago and I am my mother’s daughter so I didn’t want it to go to waste.

We had Boccalone spicy sausages and red peppers left over from pizza night, shrimp and cod (I usually prefer catfish) in the freezer, and fresh okra (love love okra!) from the farmer’s market…the perfect storm for an easy batch of gumbo served over white rice.