Friday, 17 January 2025 17:16
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

PLEASE PASS THE CASHEWS

My list of New Year’s resolutions just got shorter. This past holiday season I became a confirmed snacker. My resolve was shattered by the contents of a set of small brown paper gift bags each stamped with the Manga-inspired logo of a squirrel framed by a full moon. The squirrel held the image of the bag’s contents: cashews from Vietnam.

These nuts were huge and extra crunchy. They smelled of caramel and their warm cashew flavor lingered on the palate. The cashews in each bag were naturally flavored with .5% salt; some were spiced. They were all sourced by Auralynn Nguyen, a California-based floral artist, who’s startup cashew business is Superior Nut Product.

Auralynn was visiting her father in Saigon early in 2020 when Vietnam’s communist regime imposed a strict Covid-19 lockdown, an experience that was uncomfortably isolating. It had the positive effect of reinforcing her attachment to Vietnam’s rich culinary heritage. She has found expression for this passion as an importer of some of the country's finest artisanal products.

To select cashews that were superior to those sold in the States, Auralynn rode on a motor bike from Saigon one-and-a-half hours north to farms in Vietnam's cashew-growing region on the northwest border with Cambodia. She sought out small producers of other distinctive products that showcase Vietnam's tropical flavors. Packed among the bags of cashews in Superior Nut Product's first Christmas Basket this year were dark, rich Marou chocolate bars, a bottle of tangy pomelo-scented honey and a jar of refreshingly hot green, salt-cured Kompot peppercorns.

Aside from snacking, Auralynn’s cashews make an exceptional garnish for soups, salads, noodle dishes and fruit desserts, added whole or coarsely chopped. I recommend folding the following Cashew Pesto (made with store-bought cashews) by the tablespoon into rice or pasta and then strewing Superior Nut Product cashews on top.

Happy New Year snacking!

Monday, 25 November 2024 17:39
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

WINTER THERAPY

Winter announced its arrival in Chicago last week with a blast of cold air and four inches of slushy snow. This rude entry is not uncommon in our region, but it is always a shock to the system. My response? I prepared a comforting pot homemade soup.

Onto the chopping block went all the vegetables I had on hand: a stalk of celery, two carrots, an onion, a head of garlic, slices of ginger root. A quick trip to the local grocery to buy a leek, a turnip and a carton of mushrooms completed my list of stock ingredients. From my snow-covered garden I rescued two stalks of thyme and a handful of parsley. They all got rinsed, trimmed, roughly chopped and loaded into a heavy eight quart pot.

As these vegetables and herbs sweated over low heat, their reassuring scent filled the kitchen and winter's cold receded. I added two quarts of cool water, a bay leaf and some salt then turned up the heat. After a half-hour simmer, this broth was ready to receive any vegetable I chose to feature. But first, I drank a soothing cupful and declared victory.

The wet snow had melted away by the next morning, and I harvested the patch of sorrel that had survived under its winter blanket. I rinsed and removed the stems and let the leaves wilt in butter with shallots and a crushed clove of garlic. (A pound of a root vegetable or hard shell squash could have taken its place.) This mixture then simmered in three cups of the vegetable broth. I thinned soup with a mix of broth and heavy whipping cream to measure one cup before a final seasoning with salt and pepper. I have been serving myself a cupful every evening with dinner. The rest of the broth is in the freezer, waiting to become soup after the next snowfall (possibly this week).

You may be wondering what became of the mass of limp vegetables remaining after I drained the stock pot. I removed the garlic and herbs stems, puréed the rest, thinned it with broth and seasoned it with a blend of curry spices. Recycling these vegetables is a work in progress. Stay tuned for a definitive recipe.

Monday, 21 October 2024 01:34
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

ON PAINTING THE PLATE

There’s a big difference between a plate filled from a buffet table and one composed in the kitchen and served at the table. Even if they share many of the same ingredients, the first plate will fill you, while the second will satisfy more than your hunger. A prepared plate sends a personal message.

We don’t have to wait for a professional chef to compose a beautiful plate at great expense to feel loved at the table. With attention to color, texture and the natural beauty of fresh ingredients, a home cook can plate a visually delectable meal. The French have this kind of seduction down to a science. Take, for example the recipe for Leeks Vinaigrette.

The leek, trimmed to its firm, white stalk is an essential but invisible ingredient in French soups and sauces. A distinctly mild onion flavor and silky texture signal its presence. If, on the other hand, you trim down the root end and remove the green leaves from several leeks and line them up in a row like columns, they become the equivalent of an artist’s palette. When halved lengthwise, quickly braised, drained and and set cut-side-up on a plate, the beauty their tightly bound leaves excite the eye and appetit. The cook can then dress them with bits of blue cheese, a serpentine strand of thick, mustardy vinaigrette and chives. Voila!

Viewers of the third season of The Bear on Hulu watched Chef Carmy perfect his fine dining skills by painstakingly garnishing a single perfectly roasted scallop with a spoonful of blood orange sauce. Although his intense concentration looks like the antithesis of the way a home cook finishes a plate, there are many user-friendly way to give visual pleasure to the diner at the last minute.

The day after streaming The Bear, I sautéed thin slices of leftover leek greens in a little oil from a can of tinned smoked sprats, simmered them with rice in vegetable broth and folded in preserved lemon bits and lemon juice. The gleaming scales on each small intact sprats made them look like gems arranged in a pinwheel pattern on a mound of rice in the center of the plate. Chopped Italian parsley and crushed Ritz crackers (for a touch of sweetness and crunch) completed the arrangement. There you have it: Rice with Preserved Lemons and Smoked Sprats. A beautiful plate of humble ingredients served at home.

More Articles ...