Nettle Dumplings / Gnudi

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Boy it has been hot this week. Like a steaming mid-August hot accompanied by all the humidity and stickiness one could expect in Minnesota with the only difference that was May. I keep reminding myself that we got 16 inches a snow a month ago so I should not be complaining but to be honest, it was damn hot. This Minnesota weather is almost like a temperamental teenager, one day is sweet and lovely and the next day they hate you and the rest of the world. But what is a girl to do. Put a dress on, sunscreen and head out to the farmers market hoping to steal the fast-coming-and-dissapering spring greens.

My most vivid memories of spring are back from the days when I was a temperamental and hijacked by confusing emotions teenager myself. Early springtime my dad, my grandma and I would go to our house in the mountains to plant the veggies for the season. Bringing a little of food with us we would walk the area around the house and the hills collecting wild edible greens – dandelion, spinach, spring garlic and nettle. In a typical teenage fashion, I was so skeptical about all this foraged greenery and I didn’t think it would taste much like anything. But then my grandma would whip them all together in a lovely and simple soup or a risotto topped with plain yogurt and dill instead of cheese and I would lick my fingers off and finish up all of the green goodness on my plate. I couldn’t really figure out what was it about it. Was it the nettle, or the young wild garlic, or the other greens, or the cool mountain air that made every scent and experience intensified by a hundred times. The only thing I know is that I kept eating and immersing myself in these wild and wonderful flavors. It was almost like the young green grass got married to the rain and the wet ground and the fresh air and they created this beautiful thing together that I got to experience and enjoy. So as every winter ends and spring begins I dream of these flavors and hold the wish that hopefully this spring will be long and cool and will last for a couple of months only so I could enjoy, just for a little longer, these wonderful flavors. 

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These pillowy and soft dumplings have a hint of nettle that marries really well with the young spring onion and the garlic/butter sauce. The onion flowers have a wonderful mild oniony flavor and bring the whole dish together, plus they make the plate really pretty!

xoxo

Nettle Dumplings / Gnudi

Sevres 4-6

Ingredients

For the Nettle Dumplings
• 2 cups nettle leaves, packed (use gloves when handing since it might sting you)
• 1 pound (2 cups) fresh ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup of plain flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

For the Butter Sauce
• 4 tbsp of butter
• 4 long stems of young spring onion, thinly sliced, reserving the flowers (if you cant find the
young onion use 4-5 scallions)
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp of white wine
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp of chopped fresh thyme
• Salt + Pepper 

Directions:

Dumplings

1. Bring 6 cups of salted water to a boil. Turn the heat off, add the nettle (handle with gloves so it doesn’t sting you) and let it sit for 5 minutes. Drain the nettle in a colander and let it sit for a few minutes to cool down slightly. Finely chop the nettle and add to a large mixing bowl together with all the dumpling ingredients. Mix well, taste and add more seasoning if needed.

2. Place the dusting flour in a bowl. Dust a large baking sheet generously. Using two spoons, dip them in the bowl with flour then with one of them scoop a heaping amount of the dumplings mixture and with the help of the other spoon slide the dumpling out on the dusted baking sheet. Repeat until no mixture is left.

3. Refrigerate the dumplings for 30 minutes so they harden and are easier to handle.

Sauce and Assembly

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dumplings in batches (about 2 bathes in my case) and gently cook for 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate.

2. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick pan add the butter, the garlic, the onions and a pinch of salt, sauté until the onion is soft and the garlic is slightly golden but not burned. Add the wine and cook for 10 more seconds. If you think that your pan will not fit all the dumplings, spoon half of the sauce in a bowl and reserve half of the dumplings. Add the dumplings to the pan and shake the pan slightly to cover the dumplings with the sauce but do not move them around with a spoon since they might fall apart. If the dumplings look dry, add a bit of the dumplings water. Cook for a minute and transfer to a serving plate. Repeat the process with the other half of the dumplings and sauce if you have reserved them. Top dumplings with the lemon rind, thyme, the reserved onion flowers (if using) and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve immediately.

Swiss Chard Caesar Sald

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On my latest visits to New York I have been stopping by a fabulous, small, wood burning pizza place with a cozy atmosphere, wonderful, yummy pizzas and the most delicious crab cakes and Swiss chard Caesar salad on this planet. Every time I am there I tell myself that I will try something new and every time I am faced with the impossible choice – if I order something new, then I won’t be eating my favorite crab cakes and chard salad, which I have been dream-drooling for months. But if I order my favorites, then I won’t be trying something new, which could be as equally fabulous as the crab cakes and the salad. Some could argue that I should order all; my cakes, my salad and something new. And believe me I have done that, but to be honest, a girl can’t really eat that much food at once or her tummy will be hurting. The thought of not having (but constantly thinking of) the buttery crab cake and the lemony-parmesan chard salad is killing my food loving soul so, at the end, I do order my favorites, as you might have guessed. 

Ever since the first time I had the creamy-lemony-parmesan dressing on the chard salad, I was blown away how something so simple can be so yummy and how wonderfully it complements the tender Swiss chard leaves.  After my last visit I began my usual journey of trying to recreate this yummy salad so I can enjoy it ALL the time. First, I started with the dressing and I made all bunch of different versions of a homemade Caesar dressing, but the result was either too garlicky or too fishy or mustardy – something was not quite right and not quite as I remembered it. Then I started again from scratch, ignoring the classic Caesar recipes and went by taste memory. I started with a whole egg for a whiter, thicker consistency. I added lemon rind and a generous amount of lemon juice for freshness and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese for complexity. The final result was a creamy, lemony aioli which married so well with the delicate young spring chard leaves. I also added snap peas and asparagus to the salad since they are abundant at the farmers market at this time of the year. I finished the salad with warm sourdough croutons, tossed in the lemony dressing for yumminess. I was so happy with my recreation that I ate the salad for lunch and dinner every day for a whole week. And the dressing is just so delicious – I have been making a jar every week and spreading it on sandwiches or dipping chunks of bread while enjoying a class of wine when standing at the kitchen counter and watching reruns of Frasier.

So my dear friends, I do hope with all my heart that you will gather your courage and try this salad. And even if you don’t, I do hope that you grab a canvas bag andstop by your local farmers market, find some fresh green things, get inspired – either by me or other people and make something fresh, local and yummy.

xoxo

Swiss Chard Caesar Salad

Ingredients:
Serves 4 (medium size salads)

Dressing
• 1 large lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of olive or sunflower oil
• 1 really small garlic clove, crushed
• 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Salad
• 1 bunch of rainbow chard (preferably, tender and young leaves)
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus (about 16 asparagus), hard bottoms trimmed
• 2 handfuls of snap peas, strings removed
• 2 thick slices of sourdough bread
• Fresh Parmesan shaves for serving

Directions:

1. Grate the rind of the lemon and set aside.

2. Break the egg in the food processor and whizz once or twice. Add the garlic. With the motor running on low start adding the oil slowly so it drips trough the top of the food processor. When all the oil is incorporated add the lemon zest, the juice of 1/2 lemon and the Parmesan cheese. Whizz until incorporated and add salt and pepper to taste. Taste again and add more lemon juice if you like it lemony (like me). If the dressing runs thin add 2-4 tablespoons of oil and whizz until it thickens. Be careful not to make it thick (like mayo) and if it gets too thick add a 1-2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice. Place the dressing in a jar and refrigerate.

3. Heat a small pan over medium-high heat. Tear the bread into uneven 1/2-inch chunks, toss liberality with olive oil and add to the pan. Turn the heat on low and toast the croutons by flipping them a few times until golden brown.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the asparagus. Remove the asparagus after 2-3 minutes and drop them immediately in a large bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process and to preserve their bright green color. Remove from the water after 2-3 minutes, pat dry, cut in half and set aside in a large bowl.

5. Clean the Swiss chard, wash and dry really well (this will ensure a nice coating of the dressing). Remove the stem and the central vein, tear the leaves into 2-inch chunks and add to the asparagus. Add the snap peas, the croutons and half of the dressing. Toss well with your hands, taste and add more dressing if desired (I like my salad smothered with dressing). Divide into 4 plates and top with the shaved Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar and Lemon

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As a child I was obsessed with cauliflower. It was this rare and somehow special and magical vegetable that would come in the fall and will be around for a little bit and then it will disappear, in the same magical way as it appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. I never heard of anyone growing cauliflower, my family didn’t grow cauliflower, I didn’t see any crops of cauliflower and then, boom – out of nowhere, cauliflower shows up at the farmers market for a few days and then it will be gone. How strangely magical I thought. How I loved the cauliflower crunchiness. And how I wanted to eat it all the time. As you are reading this, perhaps you might be thinking that this itself it the strangest story ever, especially if you live in the United States and cauliflower is available all year around and it is as common as bagged lettuce. But you see, it was not like that in Bulgaria when I was a kid. I would only see cauliflower in the fall when my father would bring it home, from the market, in big plastic bags He will then wash it and separate the flowerets, sitting on his chair by the kitchen sink whistling to some traditional Bulgarian song (or a German marching song!), piling the cauliflower florets in a big bowl and happily popping some of them in his mouth. I remember standing by him, all mesmerized by this strange, flower-shaped vegetable and impatiently waiting for him to hand me a floret or a center of a cauliflower stem so I can taste this crunchy, nutty and cabaggelike goodness. I thought that this was the coolest vegetable ever and I couldn’t wait for my father to finish making the winter Giardiniera – the only way I remember Bulgarians from my childhood eating cauliflower.

Then I moved to United States, to what it seemed to me, to be the cauliflower paradise. Cauliflower everywhere. And all the time! Then I tried some of the conventional (or shall we say, food industry) ways of eating cauliflower; boiled, steamed, tasteless and mushy, and I thought to myself that Bulgarians might have been right all along, that the only way to enjoy cauliflower is in the fall and only marinated in Giardiniera. And my love affair with this vegetable started to slowly fall apart, with the exception of occasional cream of cauliflower soup or cauliflower mash. Then, one day, at a restaurant, whose name I don’t remember, I had a warm cauliflower side dish and I was blown away. The cauliflower was cooked, but not over-cooked, and it was deliciously nutty and semi-crunchy, slightly charred and tossed with lemon rind and Parmesan. I ate the whole thing. And I kept thinking about this cauliflower in the days to follow and I was on a mission to recreate the dish. Night after night I will cook and eat cauliflower, until I got the recipe to my taste. And in the process of the eating and cooking and eating, eating, eating my beloved cauliflower and I got reunited.

I took notes of the cauliflower as I remembered it and I have adapted and changed the recipe over time to my taste. I don’t grill the cauliflower (simply because I don’t have a grill) and to achieve its smoky blackened exterior, I cook it in a nicely heated pan where at the end I add a teaspoon of smoked mushroom butter. If you like your cauliflower softer and especially if you have to make it for a large crowd, pop it in the oven on a baking sheet at 425F for 30 min. It still would be quite delicious.

As people say – true love never dies. So go into your kitchen, pour yourself a glass of wine and make something that you love with all of your heart.

xoxo

Ingredients:

Serves 4 (as a side dish)

Ingredients:
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tbsp Panko bread crumbs
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small cauliflower, torn or cut in 1-inch florets
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp smoked mushroom butter (or 1 tsp smoked paprika)
• 1 tbsp Za’atar spice (recipe below) (or store bought)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Za’atar Spice
Combine 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp fresh (or dry) thyme leaves and 1 tbsp sumac. Store in an airtight container (if the thyme is fresh let the container open for 2-3 days so the thyme dries). 

Directions:

1. Grate and juice the lemon, place in separate bowls and set aside.

2. Melt the plain butter in a large non-stick pan, add the bread crumbs and toast until golden-brown, about 30 sec. Set aside in a bowl.

3. Return the non-stick skillet to the stove, heat it very well on high heat. When nice and hot, add the olive oil, the cauliflower and the salt. Stir well to coat the florets evenly, lower the heat to a medium-high and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown without disturbing. Turn (or stir) the florets on the other side and cook for additional 2-3 minutes, until nice and brown (the more charred on the sides tastier they will be). Add the red pepper flakes and the smoked butter (or smoked paprika) and cook for additional minute.

4. Place the cooked cauliflower in a large bowl, add the lemon zest, half of the lemon juice, the Za’atar spice, bread crumbs, Parmesan and the parsley. Mix well to combine. Taste and add more lemon juice, Za’atar spice or seasoning if needed.

Plate and enjoy.

Tip: This is a wonderful side to poached eggs or roasted chicken. Make a rice bowl of it by adding cooked grains, avocado, tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and a spoonful of yogurt tahini.