February Kitchen Play: salmon and tart cherries, together at last

You may have already read about my love affair with cherries here (and if you haven’t, you should – there’s a cocktail recipe involved).   Yesterday, as part of the Kitchen Play Progressive Party, sponsored by the Cherry Marketing Institute, I decided to put my spin on the Honey-Tart Cherry Glazed Salmon with Rustic Cherry Salsa – or in my case, with a tart cherry relish.

I have stared at the word “relish” for too long, these past couple of days.  It’s starting to look and sound weird.  But it sure tastes good.

Anyway.

I knew right from the start that I probably wasn’t going to make the original salsa, because raw onions do a number on my digestive system.  I liked Sarah’s idea of contrasting the sweet salmon with something sour, sweet, and spicy, though.  I knew what I was going to do with the cherries before I started, but I had no idea what to call it.  It wasn’t really a compote or a chutney.   It wasn’t merely a “sauce.”  After staring at my recipe bookmarks for awhile, I finally realized that what I had in mind could be classified as a relish, and having assuaged my compulsive need to be correct, it was time to cook.

Spicy Tart Cherry Relish

• 1/4 c cherry juice
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup tart cherries, chopped (I used a jarred variety; if yours are more sour than sweet, add more honey)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 pinches salt
• 3-4 healthy shakes of cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
• orange zest

Combine all ingredients except orange zest in small heavy pot.  Over medium heat, bring the ingredients to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer until the cherries have collapsed and the liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 15 minutes.  Add orange zest to taste.  Allow to cool.

Honey/Tart Cherry Glazed Salmon

• 1/4 c cherry juice
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 pound of salmon, divided into 4 pieces

Preheat oven to 350 and place salmon on foil-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, combine and microwave the cherry juice and honey in a large glass measuring cup for about 4 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.  Brush half of the glaze over the salmon, cook at 350 for 15 minutes (more, if necessary – mine took about 20) until salmon is opaque.  Brush the remaining glaze over the salmon, and serve alongside the spicy cherry relish.

February Kitchen Play: tart and sweet and boozy all over

Why is this picture tilted? Because this is how you'll look at the world after a couple of these drinks.

I love cherries, and cherry-flavored anything (except cough drops).  If you describe a dish, an ingredient, or a drink as being tart and sweet, sign me up.  It is my favorite flavor profile, and I can probably blame that on having a Queen Anne cherry tree in my backyard when I was growing up.  Once I figured out how to eat around the pits, cherry season was the best season.  Except for related gastrointestinal distress, but I digress. (Side note: The Ice Cream Bar, located in the Cole Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, makes an amazing sour cherry ice cream and sour cherry soda.)

When I saw Kitchen Play was hosting a cherry-themed Progressive Party this month, I might have been a tiny bit excited.  The Cherry Marketing Institute is sponsoring, and their site is full of information about the health benefits of cherries.  Who knew that they were quite so good for you?  Really, this just means I’m drinking to my health!

(I might have also been excited to see that part of the giveaway includes an Anthropologie apron.  Be still, my heart.)

All six dishes, of course, prominently feature tart cherries.   I am starting with my adaptation of the Tart Cherrytini from uTry.it, which brings together two of my favorite things: cherry juice and fancy (strong!) cocktails.  Recipe after the jump.

Kitchen Play: Fruit, cheese, carbs, done.

I spend far more time thinking about having dinner parties than actually having them.  Something always comes up, be it finances or timing or some unexpected life event.   But inevitably, I will make something good, and think: this!  This would be perfect if I was entertaining guests.

Then I eat whatever it is and forget about it.  Until the next time I make something good.

The only time I approve of flakiness is when it's a pastry.

Today, it’s my spin on a new Kitchen Play (this month, sponsored by the National Apple Association) entry: apple & herbed goat cheese tartlets, based on Fake Ginger’s apple and blue cheese tart.  It’s the same idea as the tomato galette, or the fig and goat cheese galette with balsamic and honey: fruit, cheese, carbs.  Although with this one, I could picture including a slice of crisped prosciutto (mmm, tasty pig parts), too.  Or lemon zest.

Whatever you choose, these tartlettes (or galette-lettes?  Er) are simple to pull together if you’ve already made the dough, and they’re made in a standard-sized muffin tin.  Half a batch of Julia Child’s cornmeal-enhanced galette dough makes six tarts.  Once baked, they end up being the perfect size for appetizers, and if you serve them straight from the oven, the crust is particularly flaky and the cheese is particularly gooey, as freshly-baked things tend to be.

They pair well with these green beans (made with a green heirloom tomato and swapping garlic for shallots, which received rave reviews from my vegetable-neutral +1).  Recipe after the jump.

Kitchen Play: it’s been fall for awhile now.

Summer in San Francisco is non-existent – at least during the traditional Northern hemisphere months.  It is not unusual for me to wake up to this scene, while my Twitter friends are complaining about the heat in their area:

Within the last week, we’ve finally gotten some good (hot) weather.  Of course, now everyone is talking about fall!  The equinox!  Time for pumpkin coffee drinks and cider and cranberries!  The slow creeping of the holidays!  (NOOOO.)  What everyone else is rejoicing about is what we’ve had for months now, especially if you live on the colder side of the city.  Meanwhile, I’m ready to break out the sundresses and the margaritas.

This month’s Kitchen Play contest reflects the change in the weather (for everyone else): the secret ingredient is apples, sponsored by the US Apple Association.  I love cooking with apples – especially Granny Smith, clearly the superior choice – because their texture and flavor lend themselves well to sweet and savory dishes alike.  (My annual Thxgiving feast is shaping up to prominently feature apples.)

Two dishes caught my eye – this entry falls under the “amuse bouche” category, from The Mommy Bowl, and I liked the idea of putting an appetizer on a crispy basil leaf.   Deanna’s version is a cherry-apple chutney with gouda; I opted for cranberry-apple with brie based on what I had on hand.

When baked, the basil loses a lot of its characteristic “WHAM!” scent and taste, but gives the appetizer an interesting herbal flavor.  I liked the chutney, but next time, I will make it with a more tart variety of apple (I used fuji, which can’t hold a candle to Granny Smith).

Ignore the schmutz (apple cider reduction, if you will) on my serving dish.  Recipe after the jump.

April Kitchen Play: the last one. Probably.

I’m a little onion-ed out.  In case you haven’t been paying attention, I’ve been waging a war against my digestive system with onions, since they’re the Kitchen Play ingredient for April’s Progressive Party (sponsored by the National Onion Association).  I’ve had onions in jam and onions on pizza in the last day or so; now it’s time for an onion-bacon salad with warm crème fraîche/onion bacon dressing.  Then, I am refusing to cook for at least a day.  (A whole day.)

The good news is, my digestive system actually isn’t too angry.  But the last two onion recipes featured cooked onions: all the stomach-related rabble-rousing had been braised right out of them.  This recipe calls for raw onions.  Will I win my battle against an angry stomach?  Find out (with recipe) after the jump:

Regal bacon sits upon a bed of lettuce and raw onions, which were beaten into submission with lemon juice.

April Kitchen Play: Look at this and tell me you don’t want any.

I suppose vegetarians could probably tell me they don’t want any of this.  As well as people who don’t eat pork products (whatever), carbs (gasp), cheese (sacrilege), grapes (for shame!), caramelized, beer-braised onions (delicious!), or fresh herbs.  Whatever.  More for me.  For the rest of you… look at this.

Look, I know I should be making my mother a beautiful necklace for Mother’s Day, since time is running out and soon I’ll be sitting there on May 8th wondering why I haven’t sent her something lovely, because she is a lovely mom, but on the other hand… I have two of us to feed, a lot of groceries in my fridge, and dammit, I must win in my epic battle against onions and indigestion.

This is the National Onion Association sponsored Kitchen Play May entry #2: J’s Californian pizza!  Pizza with caramelized, beer-braised onions, pulled pork, red grapes, rosemary and thyme, and of course, cheese.  On phyllo dough, because out here, we’re light and airy.

Why is it “Californian” pizza?  Several reasons, all having to do with what (northern!) California has to offer.  I went to a fundraiser for a nursery school on Saturday night, and my boyfriend was talking my friend’s ear off about sports.  This reminded me of the cola-braised pulled pork that I had just made the day before; add that to beer-braised, caramelized onions, and you have our local sports team (World Series Champions, I hear) covered.

Then, of course, I live near Napa/Sonoma/Lodi valleys, and my mom lives on the Central Coast – home of a thousand wineries.  Hence the red grapes.

And we have great cheese.  So. Chevre and fontina.

Finally, when I was little, my older cousin gave me the book Fanny at Chez Panisse – a cookbook written for children by Alice Waters’ daughter.  This cookbook – naturally – celebrated the virtues of all that is fresh and local.  I guess it must have stuck with me, even at seven or eight years old.  So: fresh rosemary and thyme.

Nevermind that I keep hearing this song in my head when I type that.

Now, if I could just add law school, some bad dates, and a lot of city adventures to this pizza, it would be complete.  As it is, the recipe is after the jump.

April Kitchen Play: these are a few of my favorite things…

This is a tale of an epic battle between my digestive system and my stubborn refusal to believe that onions disagree with me.  I keep telling myself that if I only eat COOKED onions, everything is going to be okay.  It never is, I regret it the next day like I regret that “one last drink” and decision to sing karaoke (not that that has ever happened and shame on you for thinking so), and then I conveniently forget, until the next time.

That would be today.

Kitchen Play’s progressive party for the month of April is sponsored by the National Onion Association.  At first, I was a little chagrined, because I love the inspiration to put a spin on something I might not normally cook, but then again, I like to digest what I eat.  Then I decided, well, who cares?  For my hobby (and gluttonous nature), I will sacrifice normal digestion!

I’m doing it for you.  So far, though, my digestion seems to be doing just fine.

The original recipe was a Spring Onion Jam Bruschetta Appetizer; my recipe includes some mango in that jam as well as a few other alterations.  Recipe, which earned my and my +1′s seal of approval, after the jump.