'Scarole

I must admit that I didn't know much about escarole before I married into an Italian-American family. I probably would have regarded it as 'tough lettuce- lettuce from the wrong side of the tracks,' had I noticed it at all. It was a vegetable that slipped under the radar. But then I learned to cook it and now it is part of my ordinary repertoire of greens. 'Scarole is the Italian-American pronunciation I learned, but you should feel free to call it escarole when the grocery clerk has to price-check it because he doesn't recognize it. Get comfortable with escarole- it's worth it!

This week I received a couple of recipes from our regular contributors and I include them below, followed by my own interpretation.

 

-Clyde Tressler

 

Escarole and Beans

Ingredients:

• 2 heads of escarole
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cans cannelini beans- not drained
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cut off stem ends of escarole. Wash escarole in many changes of water until water is clear.

Steam escarole until wilted or cook in pressure cooker for 3 minutes.

Saute 2 garlic in olive oil until softened but not browned. Add escarole and liquid and cover for about 5 minutes.  Add cannelini beans  to escarole and garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook all for about 15 minutes on low simmer.

 

We prefer to make this a day in advance of serving and heat up at dinner time and serve over pasta, sprinkled with grated Romano or parmesan cheese.  Elbows are the pasta of choice. 

My husband's family served the escarole and beans as a meal without pasta- accompanying the dish with crusty Italian bread.

-Barbara Savino

Escarole with Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 2 scallions, chopped white and green parts
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed
• 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
• 2 heads escarole, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil to saute

Preparation:

Heat oil on medium high heat in a saute pan, add scallions and garlic and cook until garlic is slightly golden. Add the chickpeas and stir. Add escarole and cook until wilted and tender. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of additional really good Extra Virgin Olive Oil if desired.

I hope you enjoy it.

Randy

www.RandyRabney.com

Escarole and Lentils

This is the easiest recipe on the planet.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup large lentils (green or borwn)
• 2 heads escarole, washed and chopped once (or not)
• 1 quart water or chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

Wash lentils. Forget about looking for stones. You won't find any. Dump, cautiously, into large pot. Add stock and cook over medium heat until lentils are al dente. Add escarole, cover and simmer over low heat until escarole is softened. Adjust liquid to taste. Some like it soupy- some not. Salt and pepper likewise to taste.

By the way, you'll notice that these recipes all pair escarole with legumes or pulses. In passing, I would add that escarole is delicious on its own, sauteed with a little garlic and olive oil. Enjoy!

-Clyde Tressler

Perspectives on Grilled Corn Techniques

We've been getting some really excellent corn from Cheryl, in case you haven't noticed. Even Yours Truly, a devotee of the 'corn is for animals' School of Thought, has been moved by these sweet, succulent ears. And so I must perpetuate a perennial debate: how best to cook corn on the grill? Here are three widely-accepted methods, broadly sketched.

 

 

1. remove the silks, retain the husks, optionally add buttery condiments inside, and let the heat do the rest.
2. shuck the corn, wrap it in foil, optionally add buttery condiments inside, and let the heat do the rest
3. shuck the ear until it's 'bare nekkid,' place on the grill and let the heat do the rest.

The most obvious conclusion is that, if you want to add some type of herbed-butter during the cooking process, you'll do best with techniques 1 and 2, as these afford flame-retardant protection to the added fat.

The third method, what must seem to the 'corn must be protected from flame' cult, actually has a lot to offer. First, any buttery condiments can be added afterward, at the discretion of the end-user. Second, without any cover-up, it's probably the fastest-cooking approach. But my favorite reason for using this technique is the subtle popcorn overtones in flavor of the delicately-caramelized kernels. Careful turning and constant observation will maximize this delightful effect.

No matter how you spear it, grilled corn is a summer treat not to missed.

-Clyde Tressler

Tomato Blight

I spoke with Cheryl Rogowski last week, and had an opportunity to ask her about the outbreak of tomato blight that has struck the region this year. Cheryl said she had lost around 1000 of her 5000 tomato plants. Well, the good news is that leaves 4000 plants. Cheryl felt that there would be plenty of fruit this year, but nowhere near last year's bounty.

Because of her farm's status as Certified Naturally Grown, the use of synthetic chemical fungicides is prohibited, limiting the number of ways she has available to battle the disease.

Below is a clipping from an article in the Boston Globe that gives a good feeling for what farmers in the northeast are experiencing.

clipped from www.boston.com Late blight yields bitter harvest Disease that spawned Ireland’s potato famine hits New England Organic farms, including Lindentree, have been hit especially hard by the outbreak, because they cannot use the strong, synthetic fungicides that work best to protect their harvest. Produce farmers in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England are now battling late blight, a fungus with tiny spores spread by the wind that rots tomato and potato plants. It is the same disease that was responsible for the 19th-century Irish potato famine. LINCOLN - Slumped in his tractor, Ari Kurtz looked out at his fields, where rotting fruit and gnarled plants fringed with dead leaves were all that remained of what should have been a bountiful tomato harvest. “This has been one of the most challenging years organic farmers have faced in the Northeast,’’ said Bill Duesing, president of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

French Horticultural Beans: No Fancy-Pants Preparation for Imposingly-Named Bean

What a delightful mid-summer treat, and like the season, a fleeting one too. As they mature, the debutante beans inside plump and primp for drying and winter cooking in casseroles and stews. But while they are small, the French Horticultural bean offers a tasty respite from the green or 'string' bean with which we are perhaps better acquainted.

For one thing, there are no strings! This fact, to paraphrase Ron Popeil, saves hours of kitchen drudgery. You need only snip-off the stem end and, if desired, cut the longer beans in half. (I include this second step to broaden the appeal of this bean to the younger generation, who have generally smaller mouths.)

-Clyde Tressler

Here's how I finished them:

Ingredients:

• beans
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tablespoon
• butter, one-half, or one guilt-laden full teaspoon
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

• Place washed and trimmed beans in covered, microwave-safe container. Microwave for 2 minutes. After, leave the beans in the dish, covered.
• Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the butter and allow it to melt in the oil. Mix the two with a spatula and then add the thyme.
• Toss in the beans and any liquid that has accumulated. Keep the heat high. Cook the beans to your preferred tenderness. You should have some leeway here, as the beans shouldn't been completely cooked from their visit to the microwave. The little thyme leaves will fall off the stems during this process, and the stems can be removed. If you use dried thyme, try not to feel bad about it. You won't have to trouble with the stems.
• Finish with salt and pepper and serve in an appropriately French horticulturally-themed dish.