A Fortune for You, Too

What’s cooking? Fennel Frond Pesto, Asian Peanut Sauce, and Smoked Oyster Caesar Salad

This is my new favorite from a Chinese fortune cookie. It arrived in a takeout delivery last week, and I thought it seemed perfect for sharing.

Some people tell me they think the Kitchen Goddess never serves anything but fabulous meals. Hahaha... They should ask my husband,  – but wait until I’m out of the room. We’ve been married now for 43 years. That’s 15,695 days. So, even if we count only dinners, and consider that, on average, we either went out or ordered take-out food for 2 of the 7 days of each week, that’s still somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,000 meals. Ok, ok – I’ll take off another 1,000 for takeout.

That number should put me solidly in the ballpark of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule for success. Phooey. I can guarantee you that quite a few of those meals were, at best, meh. A few were out and out disasters. But we persist – with enthusiasm. At worst, they make good stories.

My earliest noteworthy failure was a roast beef – in our first year of marriage. What I most remember is chewing and chewing and chewing. And deciding never to try that again. I have held to that decision.

Then there was the soup I worked on for hours before pouring the entire batch down the disposal. I recall that it had an overwhelming flavor of peanut butter, and I considered serving it anyhow, then changed my mind. That’s when I developed my mantra: If it doesn’t taste good, throw it out and order pizza.

In more recent years, there was the fried chicken I served to my gourmet group. Definitely meh, even after three rounds of experimentation. So sad. And just last week, I made The New York Times recipe from Ferran Adrià (yes, of el Bulli fame) for tortilla Española, which featured an interesting technique; but I actually tossed the leftovers after asking my prince if he wanted any more and he said, “No.” The tone wasn’t “No, thanks” or “Not tonight” or “Maybe for lunch tomorrow.” Just “No.” Now, I haven’t given up on that one, but the message from my first attempt was clear.

These are only a few I can quickly recall. I try not to dwell on them. So I encourage you, in these days when we are all – still – doing more cooking than usual, to try something new, something that sounds like fun or a great flavor. And regardless of how it turns out, don’t lose that enthusiasm.

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In the spirit of trying something fun, I herewith present to you three – yes, three – recipes that I swear you can complete in 15 minutes. That’s 15 minutes each, of course, starting from when you’ve collected all the ingredients. Now, my darling hubby swears that I have no idea how long 15 minutes is. He’s probably right. But they really are fast and easy, and impressively flavorful.

So let’s just say that if you took an hour one afternoon (or at midnight, which is mostly when the KG gets inspired), you could whip these three items into shape and have the makings of several really nice dinners that can be ready quickly yet still feel special.

The first is Fennel Frond Pesto. Did you ever wonder if there was something you could do with those lacy fronds from the top of the fennel bulb? This is the answer. You know how much the Kitchen Goddess loves pesto. It’s sort of an obsession, but I can’t imagine anyone being hurt from eating too much pesto. This one in particular is delightfully herby, combining the slightly bitter flavor of the fronds and the capers that gets tempered by the mild meatiness of the olives and the creamy pecans. The lemon adds that light, bright element that just makes you want more.

I’ve used this sauce in just about as many ways as I could think of, and it works for all of them. Here's a sample:

● on scrambled eggs for breakfast
● thinned with a little extra oil and drizzled over asparagus or other cooked veggies
● as a crudité dip for raw veggies
● spread on baked salmon or whitefish.

I also gave small jars of it to two friends. One friend emailed me, raving about how wonderful it was on a dish of shrimp and pasta, and insisting on the recipe. The other returned the empty jar and told me that she’s not much of a cook but that if I make any more of this stuff, she’ll take another jar.

Fennel Frond Pesto

Inspired by Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats (seriouseats.com)

Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients
2 cups fennel fronds, loosely packed (not the thick stalks – just the feathery fronds and the very thin stalks they grow on)
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
⅓ cup seeded olives [KG used a mix of castelvetrano and oil-cured black Italian olives]
½ cup pecan halves (or walnuts or pine nuts-- try it with whatever you have)
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
juice and zest of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon capers, drained
rounded ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons best quality olive oil


Directions
Combine all ingredients but the oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the processor until the ingredients form into a grainy consistency. Set the processor to run and slowly add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is incorporated, run the processor for another 10-15 seconds to achieve a relatively smooth purée.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Stores well in the fridge or the freezer.




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I plan to try next with garnishes of crushed peanuts and matchstick cuts of cucumber.

Asian Peanut Sauce

I can’t think where I first stumbled across this, but as a huge fan of peanut butter (just not in soup), and an equally huge fan of that Asian peanut sauce, I had to make some immediately. It wasn’t a natural part of the dinner I had planned that night, but I didn’t care. And it was amazing. Like a friggin’ miracle. So there.

The sauce is not just good on noodles; it also works well as a satay sauce for skewered chicken or beef, or a dipping sauce for California rolls. And I have my eye on an Asian salad, but more on that another day.

Makes ½ cup, or enough to sauce 4 ounces of linguine pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you have in the house). But I was only cooking for 2. My new plan is to double or triple these quantities so I have some at hand when the mood strikes me. You might do the same.

Ingredients
Linguine or other long, thin pasta, or soba noodles
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons hot water
1½ teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Mirin (or rice vinegar, or cider vinegar in a pinch)*
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
¼ teaspoon powdered garlic*
Optional garnishes: crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, chives, cilantro, cucumber batons

Kitchen Goddess notes on the ingredients: 1. Mirin is a sweetened rice wine, so if you use a vinegar substitute, you may find that the mix needs a bit of sugar. My understanding is that brown sugar sweetens this dish better than white sugar. I used Mirin, because I had it. But of course. 2. You know what a purist the KG is, so this use of powdered garlic instead of fresh is an attempt to maintain the smooth texture of the sauce. If you don’t care about the texture and want a bigger garlic hit, feel free to use 1-2 small cloves of garlic, minced. 3. It is in fact easier to use 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger than the 2 teaspoons of fresh, but if you like that bite that fresh ginger delivers, you'll want the fresh. If you just want the flavor, ground ginger will be fine.

Directions
Set a pot of well salted boiling water on the stove and cook the noodles until a bit al dente.

Meanwhile, combine the peanut butter and the hot water until the mixture is smooth and consistent. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Toss with the noodles and serve with garnishes of your choice.

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Smoked Oyster Caesar Salad

Adapted from Justin Warner, The Laws of Cooking... and How to Break Them (2015).

You may remember the Kitchen Goddess’s fascination with Justin Warner’s debut cookbook, The Laws of Cooking... and How to Break Them. This young man has an amazing imagination when it comes to food and food combinations. Many of his ideas are just downright fun. Like this take on the classic Caesar salad, which uses smoked oysters (a KG favorite) instead of anchovies, and... [wait for it] oyster crackers instead of croutons. So easy, so different, so delicious.

Serves 4, though you’ll have enough dressing and croutons for 4 more.

Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 egg yolks
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil like canola)
One small (3.7-ounce) can smoked oysters packed in oil

For the croutons:
2 cups oyster crackers
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving

For the salad:
2 romaine hearts
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino-Romano cheese


Directions
For the dressing:
In a food processor (or a blender), pulse together the egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon, garlic, Worcestershire and salt until thoroughly combined. With the machine running, slowly add the vegetable oil in a thin stream.

Drain the oil from the oysters, reserving 1 tablespoon of the oil for the croutons. Add the drained oysters to the dressing and pulse (blend) until smooth. Set aside.

For the croutons:
In a small skillet over medium-high heat, toss together the crackers, olive oil, black pepper, and the reserved oyster oil. Toast the crackers, tossing often, until they take on some color and start to brown. Remove the crackers to a bowl and set aside to cool.

For the presentation:
Swipe a spoonful of the dressing on each plate (to keep the lettuce from sliding around).
Lop off the base of each romaine heart, and slice the hearts in half lengthwise. Place a half face-up on the dressing, then drizzle with additional dressing. Top with croutons, additional black pepper, and a sprinkling of Pecorino-Romano, and serve.

Kitchen Goddess note: As I mentioned above, you’ll have lots of dressing from this recipe. You can either buy more romaine hearts and invite more guests, or save the rest for another dinner. Warner says the dressing is great in a potato salad, and I believe him. I like having some on hand anytime, as a dressing on other, relatively plain types of salads.