Shakshuka and Bell’s

Shakshuka at Bell'sWhen we moved to Catskill, NY, we had only been to the town three times. We didn’t research the area much. As foodies, you would have thought that we would have done our due diligence in the food department, but we didn’t. We were charmed by the town and in love with the house and that was enough for us.

As we got to know the area, we felt like we lucked out food-wise. The grocery store was much better than the one in our old Brooklyn neighborhood, there was a weekend farmers market and we could walk to Bell’s Café.

Bell’s Israeli inspired menu focuses on locally sourced ingredients. Their beef and poultry are sustainable, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone-free. That’s right up my ally, so I am happy it’s just a few blocks away from us.

The first time we went to Bell’s we decided to stop in for a quick bite before we went to the movies next door at the Community Theater. We learned that Bell’s isn’t the place to go for a quick bite. Once we got our dinner, we quickly forgot about the movie and focused on the delicious food. With dishes like duck tacos with a chipotle sofrito, mussels in a spicy basil and coconut broth, Moroccan spicy fish and brie & crispy shallot burgers, you want to savor it and you definitely want to stay for dessert!

Chefs Yael Manor-McMorrow and Keith McMorrow were nice enough to invite me into Bell’s kitchen and teach me how to make shakshuka.

Shakshuka is a classic Israeli dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. It’s traditionally eaten for lunch or dinner. Yael told me that in Israel, hummus is more common for breakfast than eggs. Personally, I’d eat this delicious dish any time of the day.

Yael’s French Culinary school training started to show as soon as we stepped into the kitchen. She doesn’t measure ingredients, is quick with a knife and cleans as she goes. When I asked her what insider culinary graduate info she could pass on to the average cook, she paused, lifted her knife and said, “Start with a good knife.”

She also recommended a well-stocked pantry. She always stocks brown rice, coconut milk and curry paste. For produce, Yael buys what is fresh and in season, which ensures she is getting the best quality and the best price.

“Cook less and use the ingredients more,” she said. Fresh food does the work for you and is traditionally how people cook in Israel.

To accompany our shakshuka, Yael quickly made a chopped salad. In Israel, every meal, including breakfast is served with some type of fresh salad. For ours she used fresh grilled corn cut off the cob, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, fresh mint, basil, and dressed it lightly will lemon juice and a little olive oil. It tasted just like summertime and was the perfect cooling counterpart to the spicy shakshuka. Yum!

Shakshuka

This recipe is my interpretation of Yael’s version. I was taking notes but if it doesn’t taste as good as hers, you’ll know whom to blame.

Take this basic recipe and run with it. Add any vegetable or herb that you have on hand. Summer suggestions: add bell peppers and zucchini.

Note: Harissa is a mixture of hot peppers, coriander, red chili powder, caraway, and other spices. It can be found as a paste or powder. Look in the ethic section of your grocery store. It’s worth seeking out.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
5-6 fresh large tomatoes, quartered, the juicier the better
2 tablespoons harissa (More or less depending on the amount of spice you want.)
1-2 teaspoon sea salt (more to taste)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or other fresh herbs, divided)
4 large eggs

  • In a medium-sized frying pan heat oil, garlic and tomatoes over medium heat. Stir in harissa and salt. Continue to heat until tomatoes break down. You want a nice bubbly sauce. Turn heat down and continue to cook until the sauce has thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes depending on how much juice your tomatoes have.
  • Stir in half of the parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning. Gently crack eggs into the pan, giving each a bit of room. Simmer until eggs whites are set but yolks remain runny, about 8 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle remaining parsley. Divide into four bowls, each getting an egg and serve with warm pita bread or baguette.

Serves 4

Bell’s Café Bistro is at 387 Main Street in Catskill, New York. Hours are: Dinner from Thursday through Saturday 5 to 10 p.m.; Brunch from Friday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 518-943-4070

Squash Blossoms

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law Tori wrote this on my facebook wall: “Kara, if you’ve never tried them before, gently fry up some zucchini flowers–absolutely amazing….” Since then, several people have echoed her sentiments. My first thought was, “What about the zucchini?” I thought that if you picked all the blossoms than you wouldn’t get any squash. It is true. If you pick all of the blossoms on your plants you won’t get any squash. The trick is to only pick the male ones and even then, don’t pick them all. It takes two to tango and the plant needs some male blossoms to pollinate the female blossoms.

It’s fairly easy to spot the male blossoms. They are slightly smaller than the female ones and grow on the longer thinner stems. The female blossoms will often have a little squash growing at the base. Pick them in the morning while they are open. Once they are closed the delicate flower is harder to open. Picking them when they are open also insures that there aren’t any critters hiding inside.

If you aren’t growing squash, you may be able to find blossoms at the farmers market.

Ingredients
Squash blossoms (however many you have will do)
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup ice water
1 egg
salt and pepper
3-4 tablespoons oil (I use coconut oil)

Method
-Cut stems off at the base and clip out stamens from the inside of the blossoms.
-Gently wash the squash blossoms and let dry.
-Mix egg, flour, water, salt and pepper until combined. The batter can be a little lumpy.
-Heat oil to just below the smoking point in a small sauté pan.
-Dip blossoms into batter and place in pan.
-Cook each side until crisp and lightly brown.
-Remove from pan, place on a paper-toweled lined plate and salt.
-Serve warm.

Note: you can also stuff the blossoms with cheese before frying. We recently used goat cheese.

Corn Maque Choux

My husband suggest that I try this Cajun dish (pronounced, “mock-shoe”). It’s delicious and is a great way to use extra corn if you get a little greedy like I did and over-buy at the farmers market!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup red or green bell peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced
4 cups corn (about 6 ears)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika (regular paprika will work, but won’t be as good!)
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Method

  • Melt the butter in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the corn, onions, garlic, bell peppers, jalapeno, and seasoning. Cook, stirring, until soft, for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.
  • Whisk the milk and eggs together until frothy. Slowly add the mixture to skillet, stirring constantly. If you pour too fast, you’ll end up with scrambled eggs. Cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and serve hot.

Serves 6.

Mexican Grilled Corn

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare grilled corn. The recipe is adapted from www.marthastewart.com.

Ingredients
4 ears of corn in husk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 ounces queso fresco (or feta cheese)

Method
- Soak corn, still in husks, in cold water for 10 minutes, turning once.
- Heat grill to high. Place corn on grill. Cover and cook until husks are charred. Turn to char all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
- Using a kitchen towel (the ears will be hot), pull back the husks; remove and discard corn silks. Keep the husks attached. They will work as a nice holder for your corn.
- Return corn to the grill. Make sure the husks aren’t on direct heat, as they tend to catch on fire. Turn and cook just until kernels are slightly charred, 5 minutes or less.
- Mix mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder and salt and brush on cooked corn. Sprinkle with queso fresco. Serve hot.

Serves 4

Corn!

Corn at the farmers market is a sure-fire signal that summer is in full swing. If you ignored the 90-degree weather, you could tell it was summer by the piles of sweet corn filling up the tables the farmers markets and roadside stands.

As a kid, I had to shuck bushels of corn. It was not my favorite chore. The worst part about it was not knowing if I would find a big fat worm at the top of the ear chomping away at the kernels. I only really minded the worms if I accidentally touched them. Yuck. I developed a technique that minimized that risk. I folded the long green husks over the sliks to provide a barrier before I would shuck the ear. Sometimes they still slimmed me. The sweet taste of corn was certainly worth any potential critter encounter. I guess the worms and I both knew a good thing when we tasted it.

The sugars in corn starts to turn to starch after it is picked, so eat it fresh. My mom always liked to start to boil the water before she picked the corn. Now, that is fresh corn!

Since I am a frugal gal, I was happy to see that you can use the whole ear of corn; the cob, husk, silks and all. I usually toss it all the leftovers in the compost, but here are a few ideas:
- save and dry the husk for tamales;
- use dried husk to make dolls, stuff a mattress or use as packing material;
- make corncob jelly;
- make a therapeutic tea out of the silks;
- whittle yourself, or next winter’s snowman, a corncob pipe.

My, my… and you thought corn was just a summer side dish.

My favorite way to prepare corn is to simply boil it. I like to give it a quick dip in boiling water for only three minutes. Then, of course, I slather it in butter, and often eat more than one ear. I always start with this straightforward approach, but as the summer progresses, I venture to other corn recipes.