sides Archives - domenica dreams of calamari

August 17, 2015August 21, 2015

Pickled Blueberries with Rosemary

1 pint blueberries
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 3/4 tbsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 sprigs rosemary

bring vinegar, salt, peppercorns and rosemary to a boil in a small saucepan
rinse blueberries and put them in a glass jar
remove saucepan from heat and allow to cool
pour the vinegar concoction over the blueberries, making sure to cover them
let cool then refrigerate, they will keep for one week > or make Pickled Blueberry and Burrata Black Rice

August 17, 2015August 21, 2015

Pickled Blueberry and Burrata Black Rice

When I saw the recipe for pickled blueberries I thought it sounded interesting and I wanted to try it. But never during the process of buying the ingredients and pickling the blueberries did I think about what I was going to do with such a strange flavor combination. They were very salty but still a little sweet and the rosemary gave them a nice earthiness but they were definitely not something you want to snack on by themselves. They sat in the fridge for a couple of days becoming saltier and saltier while I pondered what to do with them. Food52 suggested pairing them with ice cream but I’m not much of a sweets person and I am most definitely a cheese person so my mind jumped to a mellow cheese like ricotta or mozzarella.

My mom had picked up this black forbidden rice at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and we were trying to figure out a recipe to try with that too. I decided to throw them together with some sweet golden raisins and caramelized shallots to balance the saltiness, pistachios for crunch and burrata to pull it all together. Burrata is the king of mellow cheeses in my opinion. If you don’t know what it is, you should go get some and read this.

2 cups forbidden black rice
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup roasted pistachios
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 pint pickled blueberries drained
1 roasted shallot
1/3 cup chopped pickled onions
1 sack burrata

cover a baking sheet with parchment and roast shallot in skin at 300° for 45 minutes or until skin is golden brown and it’s soft on the inside
cook rice according to directions
let rice cool and move to a large mixing bowl
when shallot is finished, let cool and slice
add raisins, blueberries, onions and the shallot to the bowl of rice and mix
divide the burrata and dollop onto the rice when you’re ready to serve

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015

Cabbage-Beet Tahini Slaw

This is my bastardized version of Mission Chinese Food’s beautiful cabbage salad. But hey, sometimes when you’re a college student on a budget you have to pick and choose which exotic pantry items you can afford and which are just going to have to wait. I used peanuts for a crunchy element, although I would love to try it with some sort of grain. I also cut out quite a few ingredients that I couldn’t find at the local market but still thought it came out pretty good.

note: This makes a BIG salad. I wanted to use the whole cabbage in one go so I upped the dressing, the good news is it makes for great leftovers. On the other hand you can always use half a cabbage and dial down the dressing measurements.

1 head red cabbage
1 large yellow beet
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp tahini (you’ll definitely want a runnier tahini for this, the Whole Foods 365 one is my best friend)
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 clove garlic
8 anchovy fillets (preferable ones packed in olive oil)
juice of one lemon
2 sheets nori (like the big sushi ones)

slice cabbage and beets (I did matchstick cuts-see photo) and mince garlic
in a bowl or jar add tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic, tamari (or soy sauce) and rice vinegar and shake well
slice the anchovy fillets as finely as possible then add them to the dressing and continue shaking until combined
heat a non stick skillet over medium high heat then add the sesame seeds, make sure to keep an eye on them and continue tossing them
once they start to smell nice and turn a little brown remove them from the pan
in the same pan add the peanuts and do the same thing
rip the nori into little pieces and add it to your big bowl of cabbage and beets, add the nuts and seeds as well then pour dressing over
mix thoroughly with tongs or your hands

October 30, 2014January 22, 2015

Cornbread

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cornmeal or polenta
1 tsp salt
6 oz buttermilk or whey water (if you happen to have some leftover from cheese-making)
8 oz (1/2 pint) cottage cheese
2 lg eggs
2 tbsp nutmeg

pre-heat over to 350°F
mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
add buttermilk, cottage cheese and eggs and mix well
pour into a lined baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean

October 4, 2014October 4, 2014

Pickled Carrots

I love pickled carrots. I made a batch of these and we ate the whole jar last night (not the glass). The magical thing about these is that you can keep re-using the pickling juice so if you’re a little lazy or extremely conscious of waste or addicted to pickled carrots (guilty of all three), try this recipe!

3 average size carrots
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt

cut stems and tail ends off carrots and peel
then halve them and quarter them (or do whatever slicing suits your jar)
put vinegar, sugar and salt in jar and stir it around until it’s mostly dissolved
add the carrots, cap, and shake it up a bit
then uncap and add just enough water to cover carrots and shake again
leave in fridge for at least 30 minutes

Here’s Kanye West singing about his three addictions
if you’re so inclined.

And here is the Portlandia pickling clip again to get you in the spirit.