Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 quarts cold water
• 1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. kosher salt
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 head of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half crosswise
• 3 quarts (about 2 lb.) small pickling cucumbers, any stems trimmed to 1/2"
• 5 purple shiso leaves

Preparation

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the salt, peppercorns, and garlic. Let cool, and then add the mixture to 2 quarts cold water. Place the cucumbers and shiso leaves in a large crock or food-safe plastic container. Pour the brine mixture over the cucumbers, covering them completely. Place one or more small plates on top of the cucumbers to keep them completely submerged. Store in a cool, dark room for three days to a week, checking every day or so and removing any mold or foam that rises to the top. The pickles are done when they are pleasantly sour and tangy but still firm. Store refrigerated for several weeks.

Garden and Gun, August/September 2012

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of radishes
• 1 cup plain white vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. kosher salt
• 3 cups water
• 2 fresh Thai chiles, split lengthwise
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 small piece of ginger, peeled and cut into thin rounds

Preparation

Wash and trim the radishes, leaving about half an inch of stem. Cut the radishes in half lengthwise and put them in a 2-quart jar with a lid. In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt with water and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute to dissolve the sugar and salt completely. Remove from heat and let cool until warm. Add the chiles, garlic, and ginger to the jar and pour enough of the warm liquid over the radishes to completely cover them. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least twenty-four hours and up to several weeks.

Garden and Gun, August/September 2012

Ingredients

• 1 c. thick plain yogurt
• 1 t. ginger
• 2 t. fennel seeds, minced
• ½ t. turmeric
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 2 t. cardamom
• Lamb ribs

Cucumber Raita

• 1 cucumber, seeds removed, or 1 bunch radishes
• Salt
• 1 ½ c. plain yogurt
• 2 T. sour cream
• 4 T. minced cilantro

Preparation

Combine the yogurt with spices and salt and coat entire surface of ribs. Marinate for 4 to 6 hours. Place ribs in a wide Dutch oven, pour in water and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, at a very low simmer for about 1 hour, until tender. Remove ribs, reserving sauce in pot. Heat grape seed oil or ghee in a large skillet until almost smoking, then sear ribs to form a crust. Let meat rest briefly, then cut into individual ribs and serve with rice or roasted potatoes and raita.

For the Cucumber Raita: Grate cucumber or radishes into small bowl. If using cucumber, toss with salt and set aside until moisture is released. Squeeze out excess moisture and drain. Combine with remaining ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste.

Edible Austin

Ingredients

• 3 green bell peppers
• 3 yellow bell peppers
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp curry paste (pref. Indian)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• scant 1 c. peanuts, chopped
• scant 1 c. coconut milk
• 4 tbsp. peanut oil
• 3 small pork tenderloins, about 2 1/2 lb.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the whole bell peppers on a cookie sheet and roast, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes, until the skins are charred. Remove from the oven and let cool. Peel off the skins and set the whole bell peppers aside.

Chop the stems and leaves of the cilantro, then mix with the curry paste, garlic, and peanuts in a bowl. Alternatively, place the bunch of cilantro, the curry paste, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped and thoroughly combined. Dry-fry this paste in a pan, stirring constantly, until it gives off its aroma. Stir in the coconut milk and cook until reduced.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the tenderloins and cook over high heat, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes, until evenly browned and cooked through. Meanwhile, reheat the bell peppers in the oven at 350F.

Arrange the tenderloins and the whole peppers on a board and serve the sauce separately.

Stéphane Reynaud, Pork & Sons

Ingredients

• vegetable oil or oil spray
• 200g/7oz butter, softened
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 4 free-range eggs
• 140g/5oz plain flour
• 60g/2½oz cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 400g/14oz plain, milk, or white chocolate cigarillos (about 75–80 in total)

For the buttercream

• 250g/9oz butter, softened
• 500g/1lb 2oz icing sugar
• 100g/3½oz good dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids), melted and slightly cooled

For the decoration

• fresh flowers, for a Christening cake
• strawberries or raspberries, for the girls
• figs, quartered, for the boys

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180/C/350F/Gas 4 and line a 20cm/8in round deep cake tin with baking paper and brush or spray with oil.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until they begin to go pale. Add half of the eggs and half of the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and beat for a minute or two until the mixture is uniform. Dollop into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30–40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

3. Meanwhile, make the buttercream: put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together until the mixture goes fluffy. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk for a further two minutes.

4. Once the cake is completely cool, remove it from the tin. Carefully cut the top flat with a large serrated knife. (Eat this bit as a chef’s perk!)

5. Turn the cake upside down on a 20cm/8in cake board so that the bottom now becomes a nice flat top. Split the cake horizontally and sandwich the top and bottom together with a 1cm/½in layer of buttercream.

6. Spread half of the remaining buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake, making it as smooth as possible. Put it in the fridge to set before doing another layer - this makes it much easier to get neat squared-off edges.

7. Gently push the cigarillos vertically onto the sides of the cake, positioning them as straight as possible and making sure they touch the bottom.

8. The next step is up to you - I can’t tell you the wide-eyed looks you’ll get when you walk into a room holding this finished cake. Serve with a self-satisfied grin.

BBC Food

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Shanghai-style noodles (cu mian) or udon
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 12 oz. ground pork
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. chopped peeled ginger
• 3/4 c. chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. (or less) chili oil [this is where to control the heat]
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tsp. tahini
• 1 tsp. Szechuan peppercorns
• Pinch sugar
• 2 Tbsp. chopped roasted peanuts
• 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced scallions

Preparation

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until just tender but still firm to the bite. Drain; transfer to a large bowl of ice water and let stand until cold. Drain well and divide between 2 bowls.

Heat vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add pork, season with salt and pepper, and stir, breaking up pork with a spoon, until halfway cooked, about 2 minutes. Add ginger; cook until pork is cooked through and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and next 6 ingredients; simmer until sauce thickens, about 7 minutes. Pour pork mixture over noodles; garnish with peanuts and scallions.

Serves 2.

Peter Chang’s Tasty 2, via Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Waffles:

• 300 g caster/superfine sugar
• 450 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 600 g flour
• cinnamon
• salt

Syrup:

• 600 g cane-sugar syrup (or light corn syrup)
• 300 g butter

Preparation

Mix the sugar with the eggs, milk, flower, cinnamon, salt and the butter sliced in pieces. Make 12 small balls.

Preheat the waffle iron [CP: this needs to be an old-fashioned, cast iron waffle iron that makes relatively thin waffles, not a Belgian/American waffle iron]. Squeeze a paste ball in the iron. Bake the waffle in about 30 seconds.

Cut the waffle in two thin waffles and spread the waffle with the mix of syrup and butter.

www.stroopwafelshop.com

Ingredients

• 1 mango, peeled and diced small
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
• 1 c. thinly sliced scallions
• 1 c. chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. wine or balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 c. cooked quinoa, cooled (~3/4 c. raw)
• 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 finely diced jalapeño peppers (optional)

Preparation

Mix everything together and serve over greens.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant, peeled, cut into thick chunks
• 1 head fresh garlic, peeled
• 5-6 tomatoes (smaller, vine-ripe), quartered and seeds removed
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2-1 tsp. salt (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 tbsp. Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset or other spice blend
• 1 16-oz. can white beans
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. oregano (pref. Mexican)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375. Place the vegetables in a shallow baking dish. Add the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and spice blend. Toss well to coat. Carefully spread into a single layer and place the pan in the oven. Roast for 45 minutes. Note: Vegetables can also be roasted on a pan in a gas grill. Cool vegetable mixture, or let rest overnight in the fridge.

Rinse and drain the white beans and place in a blender with 2 c. of the vegetable mixture. The vegetables should have exuded quite a bit of liquid so make sure to include some of this in the 2 cups. Blend the beans and vegetables. Add the chili powder and oregano and the lemon juice. Blend well and pour into a bowl. Serve with any firm cracker.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 8 1/2 ounces), thawed
• 4 strips bacon or 1/4 pound pancetta, cut in thin strips
• 1 TBSP butter
• 3/4 lb onions (about 2 medium), thinly sliced
• S & P
• 1 lb sea scallops
• olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400.

Roll pastry out to a 13" square. [Recipe says to cut into 4 rounds, using a 6" saucer as a guide - I didn’t.] Line baking sheet with parchment paper, put pastry on it, and prick all over with fork. Top with parchment and a second baking sheet to weigh down dough. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove top baking sheet and parchment. If pastry is not well browned and crisp, return it to the oven, uncovered, until done. (Can be made up to 8 hours in advance and kept uncovered at room temperature.)

Cook bacon or pancetta over medium-low heat until crisp. Drain on paper towel.

Pour out all but 1 TBSP of fat, add butter, onions and season with S & P. Cook until caramelized, about 20 minutes.

If you turned off oven, reheat it to 400.

Thinly slice scallops horizontally into rounds - you’ll probably get 3 slices per scallop. Spread onions on pastry all the way to the edges. Top with scallops, slightly overlapping. (If you’ve made rounds, put scallops on in a circular pattern, so they look like a flower.) Season with S & P and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Bake 3 or 4 minutes (mine took a little longer), just until warm or “a smidgen past raw.” The texture is almost custard-like and the flavor wonderful!