Green Goddess originated in San Francisco with Chef Philip Roemer of the Palace Hotel  to honor an actor who was starring in a play called “The Green Goddess.” Many recipes originate in San Francisco and that’s no surprise, as its still my favorite food town.

Recipes for Green Goddess dressing vary, but the original was mayonnaise and sour cream based chives, parsley, anchovies and vinegar. Some have since added avocado, Worcestershire, and some have replaced anchovies with capers. I highly recommend the original mayo/sour cream version with anchovies and adding in tarragon.

Tarragon has a licorice flavor, only fresher and while a little goes a long way, it adds that extra layer of flavor.

Green Goddess does not have to be limited to salad. It’s great for a crudité plate or fried seafood. Back in the day they poured it over canned artichokes, which was considered a luxury at the time. I can see the dressing with fresh artichokes. I might want to mix it with the yolks for a tangy deviled egg.

Ingredients for Green Goddess Dressing

• Mayonnaise
• Sour Cream
• Lemon Juice
• Anchovies or Capers
• Parsley
• Chives
• Tarragon
• Salt, Pepper

I hope you make this dressing, as it’s not only beautiful, it’s a layer of flavors that are tangy, herbacious, and will add excitement to your lettuce or veggies.

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Green Goddess Dressing

Homemade Green Goddess with Fresh Herbs for Salads and Crudite

Course Salad Dressing

Cuisine American

Keyword Green Goddess Dressing, Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons tarragon chopped
• 3 anchovies chopped
• 1 cup parsley chopped
• 2 tablespoons chives finely chopped
• sea salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together.
• Refrigerate for a few hours prior to serving, if possible.

The post Green Goddess Dressing Recipe appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I often see people complain that the reason they don’t eat healthy is that it’s too much trouble, takes too much time, and it’s easier to grab something more convenient. I want to help to change that. I know the struggles of eating healthy. That’s why I’m featuring more meals that only take about twenty  minutes to prepare. In this case you could make the pea mash ahead and this dinner

Tarragon basil pea mash is the perfect fat/carb side for seared salmon that only takes about 7 minutes to prepare.  Salmon full of good fat, protein and flavor. Basil, tarragon and lemon season the pea mash, and the salmon is so tasty it’s only adorned with salt the pepper.

I like to see salmon done very barely cooked in the center, yet crispy on the outside.

I prefer the all clad stainless steel, when pan frying fish.  Using the smallest amount of oil, the salmon skin grabs onto the bottom of the pan and when it’s crispy, it just releases. By this time, the pan is hot and when the salmon is turned over, it will crisp up on the bottom  in about four minutes, making sure my salmon does not get overcooked. It’s so buttery that it doesn’t need much, but when the mood strikes to make it special, a pea mash makes a perfect marriage.

Are Green Peas Paleo?

I’ve deemed this a paleo friendly dish, although I know some will disagree. That’s fine. Kris Kresser in “Your Personal Paleo Code” proposes that green peas, green beans should not necessarily be ousted from the Paleo community, as some people benefit from them just fine. There is some serious silliness in what is deemed the “Paleo Community” with some of the same silliness and dogma I see in the Vegan community.

I’m caught in the middle here, as I’m a fish eating, meat eating, vegetable eating tiger. I love it all, as long as the ingredients are star quality, and produced upon an eco friendly, body friendly value system. That’s my dogma and I’m sticking to it.

I for one will never stop eating green peas or green beans because someone said my late great ancestors didn’t eat them. I’m more concerned with getting people away from mac and cheese in a box and pesticides in whole foods. I think that when people get dogmatic without scientific information and decide to ban whole green food, they lose normal non-health nut folks who will shake their head and deem the Paleo community as nutty.

They will return to the garbage food and I can’t say I blame them on some count. Dogma about anything makes people shriek, get all in and then get all out. Like crash diets.

We don’t eat like that, and in reality, any of us in America who care about health are always swimming upstream, just to avoid hot donuts and hot dogs, and ridiculous food like chicken fried tofu (which is aplenty at my local Whole Foods and makes me shake my head every time I see it).  Choosing healthy is not for the weak at heart. It takes ferocity, so why make it harder than it has to be.

Here’s a healthy dinner that takes under twenty minutes to prepare. Some people will tell you it’s not healthy. Some people  shriek at olive oil the way they used to shriek at coconut oil. Some people will tell you that browning food will kill you. Some people will tell you that 10,000 years ago no one ate green peas and we shouldn’t either. You have to use your own good judgement. This is way up the health food chain. You could be eating at Captain D’s.

Whether you poach your salmon or pan fry it, this is a delightful dish, light and filling at the same time, and takes you giant steps forward in eating healthy. If you want to add in more nutrition, add an avocado to the pea mash. Smooth, creamy, and no one is going to tell you avocado is bad for you. At least not this year.

Avocado pea mash is another option. This version below follows the same instructions and add in an avocado. It’s creamier and quite tasty.

Tarragon Basil Pea Mash with a crispy pan fried salmon might just help you to make better dinner choices, whether you are eating alone or having a dinner party.

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Tarragon Pea Mash with Crispy Pan Fried Salmon (Paleo Friendly)

A fragrant herb infused pea mash with pan fried salmon.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Pea Mash

• 1 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon butter or use more oil of choice
• 1 leek sliced
• 2 shallots or 1/2 onion diced
• juice of one lemon with zest
• big handful fresh basil
• big handful fresh tarragon

Pan Fried Salmon

• 1 pound of salmon cut about 2 inches thick.

Instructions

• Saute leeks and shallot (or onion) in oil and butter until softened.
• Add frozen peas.
• Add half lemon zest. Save remaining for salmon
• Season with salt and pepper
• When peas are warmed through, turn off heat.
• Add in the juice of one lemon
• Add in fresh herbs.
• Place in blender or Vitamix or use a stick blender to mash, leaving as a mash, not a puree. You may need to add in some more olive oil.

Pan Fried Salmon

• Take salmon out 30 minutes prior to cooking.
• In the meantime, take the other half of the lemon zest and place in olive oil.
• Season salmon with salt and pepper.
• Heat lemon olive oil in frying pan that is just large enough to hold salmon.
• On medium heat, fry salmon top side first for 3 minutes or until it’s crispy and moves away from the bottom of pan easily. Turn over.
• Fry skin side down for another 4-6 minutes until the bottom is crispy. Cover the pan to cook through. Be careful not to overcook.
• Place on top of the pea mash. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can add an avocado to the pea mash, for a creamier version.

The post Tarragon Basil Pea Mash with Crispy Pan Fried Salmon (Paleo Friendly) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

You cannot get too far into my blog without knowing how highly I think of peas. If I were a character in a fairy tale, I might just be the princess and the pea, because I can be somewhat fussy about things. I can taste hidden ingredients in food that shouldn’t be there. I have to cut the tags out of my pajamas and cover the little green light on the flat screen TV so I can sleep. Okay, that might be too much information, but it just means that besides being (ahem) slightly high maintenance with small things, I have a sensitivity for the visual, the tactile, and of course, taste and smell. This means I know when to stop adding seasonings and when the texture is just right. And, this translates to perfect pureed soups.

I truly believe that peas make the world a better place. I’m not talking about the dull green, sodium-infused slimy peas most people ate in the school cafeteria. I’m talking about bright, green jeweled beauties that still have a bite to them and a fresh taste that shouts spring. Unlike many green spring edibles, peas are substantial, but not heavy like other legumes. They can sit as a bed for poached eggs, or gourmet meatballs. They decorate pasta and make a complete dish in seconds.

The perplexing thing about peas is that they are considered a legume, but can be eaten raw out of the pod. They are botanically a fruit, but considered a vegetable for cooking. No matter what the truth is, peas are very different from beans as far as what they do for a dish. Beans weigh a dish down, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as beans are healthy, high in fiber, etc. etc. But peas tend to “brighten” a dish while still adding substance, because they are sweet. They take to butter and to olive oil in a fabulous way and they welcome acid, especially lemon. They complement herbs, such as basil, mint, thyme and tarragon. They marry well with onions, garlic and especially shallots. There is something more regal about peas than beans or corn. And the one thing they have, above all, is their state of freshness when frozen. Frozen peas are nearly as good as fresh and much easier to come by. I’ve shelled my own for lots of dollars and time because the season is fairly short and shelling peas makes me feel happy and earthy. But, day in and day out, a bag of organic frozen peas can do a lot for a tasty kitchen.

The recipe for this soup is not really much of a recipe. You can certainly experiment. You can use fresh peas, but I probably wouldn’t, as I would save those for fresh pasta and peas or risotto with peas. This recipe is best made with frozen peas which are at everyone’s disposal. The fancier components are the shallots and fresh tarragon. It’s a flavor profile perfectly suited to peas.

You might substitute Italian parsley and thyme, but don’t substitute the shallots if you can help it. They have their own unique place in flavoring peas.

This has the addition of pea shoots, which also make a great salad on their own,especially served with spring strawberries and a champagne vinaigrette.

This version is taken through sieve for a silky smooth texture. Some days, I like my soup thick and some days, I do feel like the princess and the pea and very particular about texture.

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Spring Pea Soup with a Pea Shoot Salad

A delightful spring pea soup with tarragon and pea shoots.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen peas divided (do not thaw)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups shallots sliced
• 4 cups water
• 1 carrot 1 celery
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon divided (extra for garnish)
• Pea shoots for garnish
• Lemon to squeeze when serving.

Instructions

• Cook peas in 4 cups of boiling water. Add carrot celery, some tarragon.
• As soon as peas are nearly cooked, remove peas, (take out carrot and celery)and use this water for the broth.
• In large sauce pan, saute shallots in olive oil. Add peas, 2 tablespoons tarragon, and cook until peas are tender. Using immersion blender, puree until completely smooth. You may need to add more water. Season with salt and pepper. As an option you can take through a sieve for a more silkier texture. Both are good choices.

The post Spring Pea Soup with a Pea Shoot Salad appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Yes, it’s just another roast chicken recipe, but I just don’t think there can be enough variations on America’s, possibly much of the world’s favorite dinner.

The lovely thing about roast chicken is the versatility. The left overs will give you a myriad of options, including my favorite, chicken salad. Hot or cold, roast chicken will always have its place. And, nothing brings elegance to a table better than a simple, perfectly seasoned, moist, roasted bird. A lot of flash for very little work.

Here is a video showing how easy it is to prepare this chicken. In the video I used rosemary, but you can follow same instructions using these ingredients.

This is the recipe that allows the chicken to stay moist and have very crispy skin and it’s all done, of course, in a cast iron pan.

Ever since I came back from the Zuni Cafe, I’ve changed the way I make roast chicken, and I’ve posted about it before. There are two things that make this the best way to roast chicken in the world.

1. The salt treatment that guarantees a moist breast.
2. The one-hour cook time.

The thing I don’t like about this recipe is the guarantee of a smoke alarm going on, but that goes away once I open the door and, it’s so worth it.

In the fall, I go for rosemary and garlic. In the spring, I go for thyme and lemon, but in the winter, there is nothing like tarragon and orange together. This is such a satisfying flavor combination and I’ve not achieved its full potential, but I’m working on it. Tarragon is considered a fine herb, with beautiful long green slender leaves and a sweet, licorice flavor.

I like to bring citrus and tarragon together by stuffing the chicken with cut up oranges and adding the tarragon under the skin.

A roasted chicken can serve as two distinct meals. Once you have trimmed the chicken off of the bone, simmer the bones for a nice chicken broth, following this method.

There are many versions of this one hour chicken at Spinach Tiger, but you might want to watch the video.

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Cast Iron Cooking: One Hour Roast Chicken with Tarragon and Oranges

Roast a chicken on hour with orange and tarragon.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 3-4 pound chicken
• salt and pepper
• tarragon
• 1 large orange or any variation of orange citrus

Instructions

• Rinse inside of chicken thoroughly. Salt chicken in and out with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for three days. If you don’t have the three days as a option, you can still make this chicken salting for one day.
• When ready to roast, take chicken down to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 450 and place cast iron pan in oven at least 20 minutes prior to using. Rinse chicken, pat dry and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut orange into quarters and stuff in bird. Place tarragon underneath skin of each breast side. Using, twine, tie legs of chicken and wings.
• Place breast side down in pan. You should hear a sizzle. Turn over with tongs, after 30 minutes. Roast another 30 minutes, using a meat thermometer. You want the chicken (at the thick part of the thigh) to reach 170 degrees. Take out and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Chicken Broth made with Left Over Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• Bones of roasted chicken
• 6 cups cold water
• 2 cups ice cubes
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 leek, white part, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, diced

Instructions

1. Place bones large stock pot, with just enough cold water to cover by about an inch.
2. Put on a low heat, bringing to a simmer very slowly. Do not allow to boil. Once simmering, skim repeatedly, and add ice cubes one cup at a time, which will force more fat to the surface.
3. Add vegetables and continue to simmer for 40 minutes. If broth is too light for your taste, you can concentrate by cooking longer remaining at a very low temperature. This is where broth become stock, highly concentrated in body.
4. Once you are finished simmering, allow to sit for 10 minutes before straining.
5. Cool entire pot in ice bath, if storing. Store in refrigerator no longer than 3 days.

The post Cast Iron Cooking: One Hour Roast Chicken with Tarragon and Oranges appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

In continuing my cooking fun with Greg of Sippity Sup (part 1 here), he told me that he had never made his own pasta. The truth is that most people, even great cooks and chefs have not made their own pasta.

But, on a Sunday, we were planning a meal together and because he was so generous in giving me some hands on photography tips, I wanted to offer something back in return.

I had this crazy idea to simply show him my technique in mixing flour and eggs and I thought it wouldn’t roll out thin enough and we would toss it, only sacrificing a cup of flour and 2 eggs. So, just for fun, I showed him a fresh tarragon pasta, and then attempted to roll it out. It worked and although not a beautifully cut pasta, it was good enough for dinner, and three of us ate every bite.

We began the day by walking to the farmer’s market. I wanted to add something signature Spinach Tiger to our meal, and the fresh English peas found their way into my bag.

Along with fresh english peas, we selected chanterelle mushrooms and I grabbed a big bunch of tarragon and a bag of baby, cippolini onions.

My menu was set. Basil meatballs set on a bed of fresh peas with tarragon and roasted cippolini onions, which will be posted next in Cooking with Sippity Sup, part 3. Greg decided if the pasta turned out, we would top it with those chanterelles, which he prepared with butter, olive oil and vermouth.

I have made pasta many times with my atlas hand-crank machine and have only recently graduated to using a kitchen aid. This would be a challenge. To my surprise, I was able to roll it out. Warning: It’s not always this easy.

•  Many pasta recipes start with way too much flour. It’s much easier to add in more flour. If a pasta dough gets too dry, there is no saving it.
• No flour is alike. Most of the time, an all-purpose unbleached flour works well. This should yield a tender pasta that when cooked properly has a bite to it. I do use semolina flour at times, but I wouldn’t recommend that for hand rolling.
• No eggs are alike or are the same size. Even a slight difference in weight makes a difference in how much flour to add. Use large eggs for this recipe, if you are going to hand-roll.

The issue with cutting papparadelle is drying it for about 15 minutes prior to cutting it. If not dried enough, it will be sticky; if dried too much, it will be brittle. I followed my usual technique rolling a sheet and cutting in pinwheel style.

The next challenge was to dry it without a pasta rack, but that is what dish washer handles are for.

There is another way to dry papparadelle. You can nest it, but it must be dry enough to do this, or it will stick together.

When I returned home to Nashville, I remade the dish and used my hand-crank Atlas. I honestly think there was not much difference between the machine and hand-rolled pasta. This is good news to those wanting to try to make pasta before investing in a machine or kitchen aid attachment.

The one on the left was rolled by hand in Hollywood and the one on the right was made with a machine in Nashville.

Stay tuned for the meatballs filled with sheep’s ricotta over fresh peas.
I was anxious as to how this pasta would turn out. It ended up being delicious and there wasn’t a bite left.

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Hand Rolled Tarragon Pasta, Chanterelle Mushrooms and Blogger Collaboration Part 2

Chanterelle Mushroom Butter & Wine over Homemade Papparedelle.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Homemade Hand-rolled Papparadelle

• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus up to 1/4 more flour to add in, if necessary
• 1 handful fresh tarragon finely chopped
• pinch salt
• 2 large eggs cracked and in a small bowl

Chanterelle Mushroom Room Wine Sauce

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shallots finely diced
• 2 cups chanterelle mushrooms as many as you can afford
• 2 tablespoons dry vermouth
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon minced tarragon

Instructions

Homemade Tarragon Pasta

• Mix flour with herbs and salt. Make well. Add in one egg and using a fork and holding sides of flour, incorporate. Add second egg. This is where good judgment comes in. If the pasta dough seems too wet, add in a little flour a tablespoon at a time. Knead dough for about five minutes. Pasta dough cannot be overworked. You are stretching the gluten and you want to end with a fairly smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes. This is a critical step, especially if you are going to roll out by hand.
• Once dough is resting, clean area, flour hands, cut dough in half and roll out into a rectangle. I rolled the whole piece out, but it’s more manageable in two pieces. Cut into strips, allow to dry for about 20 minutes. Then roll and cut like pinwheels. Unwrap, cut and dry. Cook as you would for any other pasta for about 5-6 minutes if dried, 2-3 minutes if not dried.

Chanterelle Mushroom Wine Sauce

• Rub mushrooms clean with paper towel. Slice in half or into bite sized pieces.
• Heat olive oil and butter with shallots until shallots are softened.
• Add mushrooms, cook for a few minutes.
• Add vermouth and cream, cook on low for a few minutes.
• Add tarragon.
• Cook Pasta until nearly done. Add pasta to sauce and finish cooking in sauce.

Notes

I like to mix my pasta on a large roul pat, or marble top, which makes clean up very easy. Second choice is my quartz or marble counter top. To clean up, don’t use wet rag; simply rub the pasta dough off, otherwise it’s very messy to clean. Clean, once all dough is rubbed off.

The post Hand Rolled Tarragon Pasta, Chanterelle Mushrooms Wine Butter Sauce appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Today is national PI day, not to be confused with national PIE day. But what the heck? So let’s talk math and update a 1950’s meat pie by adding a ton of nutritionally dense beans and using ultra grain flour.

If I had a diner, I would name it Retro Rose, after my mother, and it would serve all of her famous dishes, that I would describe as gourmet comfort food. It’s not the ease of the 1965 shake and bake or the 1971 hamburger helper. Never, not ever! It’s what an Italian home cook would do who adapts well to the local cuisine without compromising freshness, taste and quality. It’s food that we would all choose to eat, if we really led an active life style and were able to buy all of our meat and vegetables from sustainable farms without chemicals, hormones and scary additives. And, we could eat more of this food if we didn’t chase it down with a gallon of sugary something, followed by a chip and dip snack. It would be a dinner to look forward to with no guilt, no pretense, just true goodness. A meat pie, made from scratch used to be a Wednesday night supper and no one was fat!
So has Americana fare gotten a bad rap? Is comfort food the culprit of today’s alarming obesity rate? Well, I could probably write a book, right here, right now on this topic, but I won’t bore you. I’ll challenge you to rethink your opinion of comfort food, and evaluate it on the terms of goodness. Is it good for you? Can it be reconstructed to be a wealth of taste and nutrition? Can fat, carbs and goodness harmonize?

Retro Rose doesn’t really care about the carbs, calories or fat content of a dish. Really, she doesn’t, so when she made us a meat pie last year, I confess my fears to eat it. I was counting the cost…to my body. But, who can resist a golden pie crust? When I bit into her pie, that was bursting with five different legumes, I got the shock of a lifetime. Beans in a pie is outrageously good. And, I don’t mean good FOR you, which is true. I mean, so good to taste, that we couldn’t put our forks down. And, out of all of the most very lovely food I prepared and ate last year, and my dining out experiences in the wine country, San Francisco, and Denver, nothing compared to the taste experience of this meat pie.

Retro Rose does not make the same old recipe again and again. She changes it up (so that’s where I get this creative bug) and this time, she added no less than five types of legumes to her pie. It seems so basic, beef and beans, that it’s surprising even to me that I am nearly fireworks excited to tell you about it.

It’s just that good. Something about the beans flavored by a homemade beef stock, with a roast beef that’s been braised for hours and then nestled between an herb-infused buttery crust (okay, the herb crust is my creation) that takes your taste buds, stomach and part of the brain that says “food satisfaction” on a ride into space and back again.

There are NO potatoes in this pie as they tend to get mushy and ruin the brightness of the dish and the beans are enough comfort. I used organic carrots, sweet onions, celery and tarragon as my personal herb of choice. I only used 3 legumes, but you could experiment with that too as long as one of the beans was lima, fava, or butter beans and one was peas. You certainly could experiment with other herbs, but tarragon is used in bernaise sauce and I thought it to be quite a good fit for beef.

Don’t let all the instructions scare you. Outside of the pie crust, this really is a “feel your way through recipe.”

Recipe
Beef stock
Fresh herbs (I used tarragon, bay leaf)
Slow cook, braise, slow roast, YOU decide.
You can also use stew meat or any left over roast.

Inside Pie:

• 1 cup carrots,
• 1 cup celery
• 2 cup onions (ratio is 50% onion, 25 % carrots, 25% celery) finely chopped for
• *1 cup each: lima beans, cannellini beans, frozen peas
• olive oil
• chuck roast yielding 1 1/2 cups of meat (use more or less, your decision)

1. Saute onion with butter and olive oil in cold pan for two minutes. Add celery.
2. Add beans and broth just to cover.Thicken meat/bean stew with gravy as needed.

When you make the gravy for the pie, go light and don’t use too much.
I kept the pie fairly dense.
You can thicken with a slurry of flour (2 tablespoons) and 1/2 cup COLD water.

Herb Pastry Crust

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 4 -6 tablespoons cold water

Optional herbs for pastry: Add your own choice of fresh herbs, chopped finely. I used tarragon, but other herbs would be nice. Thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, parsley.

1. Chop tarragon (or herb of choice) very finely and mix evenly into flour.
2. Cut butter into flour. Do not over blend. You want your pie crust to be like tiny peas.
3. The goal is to have a crust that has granules of butter that are released during the baking, so you don’t want your butter and flour to be blended to a paste.
4. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. Divide into to sections, one for top, one for bottom.
6. Roll out on a floured surface. I used a stainless rolling pin that I keep in fridge.
7. Divide the dough into two pieces. Place bottom in dish. Prick with fork all over.
8. Place parchment paper over shell, cover with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice.
9. Blind Bake bottom shell for 20 minutes at 400.

Assembly
After the bottom bakes, fill with meat and bean filling, place top piece, brush with milk, and bake for 30 minutes, or until top is browned.

There was enough pastry for a rectangular pan and a few small tarts.

Notes: This might seems like a lot of work, but here are some ways to make it a bit easier.
Use some of your left over frozen beef stock. Boxed organic beef is a second choice.
Slow cook a chuck roast overnight, the night before you put this together. In the morning, cool, strain fat. Cut meat, place in fridge.
Make pastry the night before and refrigerate. Or use store bought.
Cut onions, carrots night before. Place in bag.

Cannellini beans are a favorite, originally from Argentina, they are now referred to as an Italian white bean, nutty and smooth, great in soups or salads, or simply warmed and topped with olive oil. Cranberry beans would also be a good substitute.

Optional: Make mini pies with top crust only, make a lovely lighter lunch.

The post Beef and Bean Pie, in Honor of National Pi Day appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Sweet, savory, pretty.  

I selected satsuma (or any form of orange), shallots and edible flowers. I was inspired a few weeks ago by delicious organic satsumas at Whole Foods, but realizing not everyone has such access to satsumas, I settled on any kind of orange citrus. I chose edible flowers to chase away the winter blues, and shallots so all the entries wouldn’t be dessert, although I’m sure some creative cook could incorporate all three ingredients into a sweet treat.

I didn’t have a dish in mind when I picked the ingredients, thinking that the ingredients would pick the dish and they did. Handmade, orange, tarragon pasta in two different shapes topped with seared scallops, dripping in orange vodka butter sauce, caramelized shallots, all dressed up for spring with marigolds and pansies.

This dish is a mouthful of flavors, not big bold flavors, but distinct, elegant flavors. You can taste the tarragon, the shallots, certainly the orange and the vodka, and together they bring the scallops and pasta to life. I used only a pinch of salt and pepper, which is unusual for me, but speaks a lot for the flavors working just right.

Orange Tarragon Bow Ties.
Contest Key Ingredient: Tangelo
By the time I was ready to make this, I couldn’t get satsuma, so I decided to use tangelos, a hybrid citrus, a cross between a tangerine and pomelo grapefruit. They contain seeds, are very sweet, and very juicy.

The Pasta
A new favorite pasta flour is semolina pasta from Hodgson Mill. Testing it against other flours, this has good body to it.

I added fresh tarragon, zest and the juice of the tangelos to create a beautiful and flavorful pasta. I used to be unsure of myself making pasta because I make it by hand and then crank through an Atlas. But, I’ve discovered there is no exact recipe for pasta. You have to feel it to know if you need to add more flour, and I’ve come to “know” when it’s enough. I usually start with 1 cup flour and 2 eggs. Then depending on how the pasta is behaving, I gradually add more flour. When I am adding liquid, I use one less egg. There is more juice in a tangelo than a typical orange, so that will be adjusted with flour.

I used two shapes, triangles that hold the scallops, bowties surrounding scallops. The bowties hold the sauce well.

Contest Key Ingredient: Shallots
I used shallots into 2 different ways. Caramelized in sauce, and fried in panko breakcrumbs for the topping. If you don’t have shallots, you can use a sweet onion, chopped very fine.

The Sauce
Not only was this delicious, the whole house smelled wonderful. I started with butter, a sprig of tarragon and finely chopped shallots, cooking just until soft, adding the citrus. and added Grey Goose L’Orange vodka.

Contest Key Ingredient: Edible Flowers
I thought it would be easy to get flowers, but I wasn’t thinking about the time of year for most people. My pansies got scared off by the sudden cold of Nashville, and on a whim I drove to Whole Foods, and to my absolute delight, they were demonstrating edible flowers by Jacobs Farms. Vui was nice to tell me a food things about edible flowers:
Each flower tastes a bit differently, and she had me sample a few. Cut the flower from the stem. Many people ask “can you really eat these” and DC asked the same question, so when you serve flowers to guests, you need to reassure them that the flowers are more than garnish. They are a bit mustardy, spicy, and need a pungent, citrus flavoring to balance out the dish.

Citrus Vodka Shallot Butter Sauce

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 large shallots, finely chopped
• juice of 2 tangelos or 1 3/4 C orange juice
• 4 -6 tarragon leaves
• 1/4 cup orange or mandarin vodka (I used Grey Goose L’Orange)
• zest of two tangelos or oranges

1. Heat butter, medium low heat, in saute pan. Add shallots just until done. Add orange juice. Cook for 5 minutes. Add vodka.
2. Reduce down until shallots are caramelized, about 20-30 minutes. Remove tarragon.

Shallot Crispy Topping

• 2 large shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (or milk)
• 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Cover shallots with milk, dip into breadcrumbs and fry until crispy.

Scallops

• 2 pounds large wild scallops (you can use smaller, and adjust cooking time)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Sea Salt, Pepper

1. Clean scallops, removing muscle. Dry in paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil on medium high in large frying pan. Add Butter. When very hot, add scallop, cooking a 5 minutes on each side, until just cooked. If using an all-clad pan, only turn the heat to medium.

Edible Flowers
Make sure you use flowers that have not been treated with pesticides and are safe for eating.
I used marigolds and pansies, purchased in a package that specifically said “edible flowers” from

Assemble
Make pasta. Freeze flat, not touching.
Make Sauce. While sauce is reducing, cook pasta and scallops.
Cook pasta until al dente, 3-5 minutes in large pot salted water.

Once sauce is cooked, pour out half of it into another bowl.
Gently toss pasta through sauce in pan. Gently toss scallops though sauce.
Arrange on plate. Add flowers. Add crispy shallots.

Notes:
Seafood: Shrimp were not the main part of the dish, just thrown in as extra. Cook for just a few minutes in same pan as scallops, once scallops are done.

Adding herbs and zest: Add chopped herbs to the flour and mix thoroughly BEFORE adding egg, so that the herb is equally distributed. It’s much harder to add to dough than to flour.

Pasta that is cut into shapes, designs is best frozen first so it holds its shapes. Freeze on cookie sheet or plastic cutting board lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, place in ziplock bags. Cook frozen. Pasta can be made several days in advance

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Homemade Citrus Tarragon Pasta

Homemade citrus tarragon pasta is great with a seafood dish such as scallops.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• Pasta
• 1 cup flour plus extra to adjust
• 1 egg
• Juice of one Tangelo or orange
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon can use basil also
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 - 2 tablespoons orange zest

Instructions

• Put flour in a mound on clean pasta table. Distribute salt, zest, herbs throughout flour. Make a hole in center, add egg and beat with fork, incorporating flour. If it’s too sticky, add more flour until you can work easily with your hands. Semolina will feel a little tougher than a all purpose flour. Cover, let set for 30 minutes.
• Cut pasta into 4 sections. Roll with rolling pin to rectangular shape, thin enough to start taking through the machine. Roll through machine to number 8, one number at a time. You may need to flour in between If the pasta gets jagged from the herbs, just start over. (I never waste any pasta).
• To make triangles:
• Roll out long rectangles 3-4 inches wide. Cut into 3 inch squares, and cut into triangles. I use a pasta cutter.
• To make bow ties: Cut rectangle shape 2 inch by 3 inch and pinch the middle.
• Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper that will fit into freezer. Place individually cut pasta on sheet, freeze, then place in ziplock bags. Cook frozen. Pasta will not stick together, and will maintain shape.
• To cook, bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes.

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