Fast, Fresh & Green (17 page)

2
Melt the butter
in the reserved saucepan over low heat. Add the scallions and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream, half of the mint, the lemon zest, ¼ tsp salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until it thickens slightly and a wooden spoon leaves a wide path when scraped across the bottom of the pan, about 1 minute. Add the peas and stir until they’re heated through and well coated with the sauce, 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat, taste for salt and pepper, and serve immediately, garnished with the remaining mint.

Serves 3

To give the peas a slightly tropical twist, replace half of the heavy cream with coconut milk (canned, well stirred), replace the lemon zest with lime zest, and replace the mint with cilantro. When adding the cream-coconut mixture to the sautéed scallions, simply bring it to a boil and immediately add the peas. You won’t need to let the cream reduce.

These potatoes are like the really good stuff inside your favorite baked potato. Not quite mashed, a little more than crushed, and a bit like a hash—I thought I might call them crashed, but they’re much more delicious than that sounds. They’re inspired by the fried potatoes my mom used to make a lot when we were growing up; she always boiled them first. But the second step in this recipe is not so much frying as it browning, and with the scallions and pancetta mixed in, it does feel a bit like hash. And it tastes oh so yummy. Be sure to use a nonstick pan for the browning step to prevent sticking.

What to eat these with? Anything. Everything. You decide. If you have any leftovers (which is unlikely), shape them into patties and fry them up for breakfast (see the variation following). If you like, you can substitute shallots for the scallions, and Greek-style yogurt for the sour cream. It’s all good.

1 LB/455 G SMALL RED POTATOES,
cut into 1-in/2.5-cm pieces

2¼ TSP KOSHER SALT

2 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER

1½ OZ/45 G VERY THINLY SLICED PANCETTA
(about 5 slices)

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/
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CUP/20 G SLICED SCALLIONS
(white and light green parts)
, PLUS 1 TBSP THICKLY SLICED SCALLIONS
(dark green part only)

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

3 TBSP SOUR CREAM

1
Put the potatoes
in a large saucepan with 2 tsp of the salt and cover with cold water by about 1 in/2.5 cm. Cover the pot, bring the water to a boil, and adjust the heat for a gentle simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a paring knife, 10 to 14 minutes (check after 10 minutes, because the time will vary with the freshness of the potatoes). Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Let sit for 5 minutes to evaporate excess moisture (they can sit for up to 30 minutes).

2
In a medium (9- to 10-in/23- to 25-cm) nonstick skillet
, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the pancetta slices and cook, flipping occasionally, until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate. Turn the heat down to low and add the
¹
/
₃
cup/20 g scallions. Cook, stirring, until the scallions are softened and lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the potatoes to the pan, season with the remaining ¼ tsp salt, and toss them gently with the scallion butter. Return the heat to medium-low and arrange the potatoes with one cut side down. Cook, without stirring, until the bottoms are just lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes.

3
With a hand masher
, begin to crush and mash the potatoes, incorporating the scallions and butter as you go. When the potato pieces are about the size of large marbles (don’t mash completely, though some will lump together), remove the pan from the heat, season the potatoes with a few grinds of pepper, and add the sour cream. Continue mashing and folding just until most of the sour cream is incorporated (you’ll still see some sour cream). Do not mash too much, as you want the potatoes to have lots of texture. (And don’t worry about the skins falling off and catching on the masher—just return them to the potatoes; remember this is sort of like baked potatoes!) Transfer the potatoes to a serving dish or dinner plates. Crumble the pancetta slices over the potatoes and garnish with the thickly sliced scallion greens.

Serves 3

To fry leftover crushed potatoes, take them out of the fridge 15 or 20 minutes ahead of time to take off the chill. Scoop a small amount of potatoes with your hands and shape into patties that are about ¾ in/2 cm thick and 2 in/5 cm in diameter. Melt 1 tsp of butter with 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small nonstick skillet over mediumlow heat and add 2 or 3 patties. Cook until browned on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side. Serve right away.

This is certainly a handy dish to have in your repertoire, because the asparagus can be boiled ahead and finished later in minutes. Unlike traditional poached asparagus, the spears in this recipe are cut into pieces and dropped into boiling water. They only take 3 to 4 minutes to cook.

Step two in this recipe is making a little brown butter in a saucepan. While the butter is browning, so are the pine nuts, so all that’s left is a squeeze of lemon. (If you’ve never made the deliciously nutty-tasting indulgence known as brown butter, you’re in for a treat.)

You could double this recipe if you wanted to serve it as a side dish for an Easter dinner of ham or roast leg of lamb. But this would also be perfectly delicious with salmon or chicken. Be sure to cut the pieces on the diagonal, as they look quite elegant this way.

2½ TSP KOSHER SALT

1 BUNCH ASPARAGUS,
ends trimmed, cut on a diagonal into 2-in-/5-cm-long, sharply angled pieces (yielding 11 to 12 oz/310 to 340 g)

2 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER

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/
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CUP/45 G PINE NUTS

½ TO 1 TSP FRESH LEMON JUICE

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

1
Arrange a few layers
of dish towels on a work surface to drain the asparagus. Fill a large (3-qt/3-L) saucepan half full with water and add 2 tsp of the salt. Bring to a boil and drop in the asparagus pieces. Begin timing immediately (don’t wait for the water to come back to a boil). Cook the asparagus until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Don’t overcook; they’ll cook a bit more as they cool and again when mixed with the brown butter.

2
Drain the asparagus
in a colander and spread them on the dish towels to let excess water evaporate. Return the saucepan to the stove and melt the butter over low heat. Add the pine nuts and ¼ tsp salt, turn the heat up to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, until the butter turns a nutty brown color and the pine nuts turn mostly golden, 3 to 4 minutes. (Keep an eye on the butter, as it turns color quickly. If it becomes dark brown, that’s fine. If it blackens, you’ll have to start over.)

3
Remove the pan from the heat
so that the butter doesn’t continue to cook and add the asparagus and the remaining ¼ tsp salt. Toss to combine thoroughly, sprinkle with ½ tsp of the lemon juice, and toss again. Taste and add a little more lemon juice if you like. Season with freshly ground pepper. Serve warm.

Serves 3 to 4

Mustard greens are always spicy—in a hot, pungent, peppery kind of way. So I sometimes like to tame that heat with a cooling dash of cream, though I infuse the cream first with a good hit of garlic and ginger. This is easy and quick, with little chopping—just some smashing to break up the fibers of the ginger “coins” (and get your frustrations out, too).

Like most of the greens in this chapter, the mustard greens are boiled first, because this allows you to cook them perfectly and drain them well. Don’t undercook them, or the greens will be tough. If you’d like to use a different green (or vegetable) with this sauce, you certainly can. Just refer to the table on
page 116
for the boiling time.

Sausages—that’s what comes to mind to serve with the greens. Buy some of the good-quality organic sausages that are in the markets now. Split them in half and fry or grill them. Nestle them in a shallow bowl with the greens, and you’ve got a simple supper.

KOSHER SALT

1 LB/455 G MUSTARD GREENS

½ CUP/120 ML HEAVY CREAM

2 LARGE GARLIC CLOVES,
smashed

4 SLICES FRESH GINGER
(¼-in/6.5-mm-thick coins), smashed (see tip)

1
Fill a wide 4- to 5-qt/3.8- to 4.7-L pot
three-quarters full of water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the mustard greens. Grab the rib of a leaf with one hand and rip the two leafy sides away from it with the other hand. Rip the leaves into several smaller pieces, Add all of the leaves to the boiling water and stir to submerge them. Cook until the leaves are tender, about 6 minutes. (Begin tasting the leaves at about 4 minutes so that you’ll be able to feel the difference when the greens become tender.)

2
Drain the greens thoroughly
in a strainer and rinse them with cool water just until they are cool enough for you to handle. Squeeze as much water as possible out of the greens.

3
In a small (2-qt/2-L) saucepan
, combine the cream, garlic, and ginger. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the cream has reduced by about half and has thickened (larger bubbles will begin to form in the cream and you will be able to see the bottom of the pan). Remove the pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove most of the ginger and garlic pieces; it’s okay if some are left behind. Add the mustard greens to the saucepan, put it back over medium-low heat, and stir to break up the greens and incorporate the cream with them. Cook just until warmed through—any longer and the greens will weep moisture. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Serves 2 to 3

Tip:
To smash the ginger, arrange the coins on a cutting board underneath plastic wrap and whack them with a meat mallet until the fibers are mostly broken.

The flavors in this dish are really robust thanks to the chorizo, smoked paprika, and the combination of garlic, honey, and vinegar. It’s a bit tricky to track down
pimentón de la Vera
(Spanish smoked paprika), but McCormick has it in their Gourmet Collection now, so it is in some grocery stores. And you can order it online from Penzeys.com.

2 TSP HONEY

1 TSP SHERRY VINEGAR

¼ TSP SPANISH SMOKED PAPRIKA

¼ TSP GROUND CUMIN

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TSP GROUND CINNAMON

2½ TSP KOSHER SALT

1 BUNCH KALE
(14 to 15 oz/400 to 425 g), stems removed, leaves ripped into 2-in/5-cm pieces (yielding about 8 oz/225 g), washed

2 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

2 OZ/60 G CHORIZO,
cut into small dice (¼ to
³
/
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in/6.5 to 9.5 mm)

2 TSP MINCED FRESH GARLIC

1 TSP UNSALTED BUTTER

1
Whisk together the honey and sherry vinegar
in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and ½ tsp of the salt. Set aside both bowls.

2
Fill a wide 4- to 5-qt/3.8- to 4.7-L pot
three-quarters full with water, add the remaining 2 tsp salt, and bring to a boil. Add the kale to the boiling water and start timing immediately. Taste a leaf after 5 minutes. It shouldn’t be tough or rubbery. If it is, cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Drain the kale very thoroughly in a strainer in the sink. As the kale cools a bit, press down on it to force some of the excess liquid out.

3
In a large (12-in/30.5-cm) nonstick skillet
, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the chorizo. Cook until it’s somewhat shrunken and a deeper red (it will have given off some fat), 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to soften, about 30 seconds. Turn the heat down to low. Push the chorizo to one side of the pan and add the butter to the cleared space. As the butter melts, sprinkle the reserved spices directly on top of it. Mix the butter and spices together (this will help the spices release their aroma) and then stir them into the chorizo and garlic. Remove the pan from the heat.

4
Give the kale
one more squeeze to force out more liquid and then add it to the sauté pan. Working quickly, use tongs to stir and thoroughly incorporate the kale with the contents of the pan. Drizzle on the honey-vinegar mixture and toss and stir again to combine well. Transfer the kale and everything in the pan to a serving dish.