The Perfect Pantry

Pimentón agridulce/smoked bittersweet paprika (Recipe: chakchouka)

Guest post and photos by Kim in Pasadena, California.

When it comes to discovering new foods and ingredients, I’m like a dog who spots a squirrel. The world simply freezes for me.

I can walk down any grocery aisle in any store, and if there is something I’ve never seen before, my brain puts on the brakes, and before I know it I am reading the label. I’m flexible, but I keep Kosher, so I read carefully.

You’d think I would whip out my BlackBerry at this point, to reveal the mystery ingredient. But I don’t own a BlackBerry, nor do I have Internet on my phone. This might sound strange coming from a computer geek who makes a living building and fixing computers.

Even if I could, looking up stuff right there and then would spoil the ride home for me. All the anticipation until I can get to my computer and Google my new-found treasure is just too delicious. The surprise of some magical taste or a new recipe can be such wonderful journey. 

Sometimes this can be a bit of a let-down (mustard oil comes to mind), sometimes downright scary (got to put black salt in that box). But then there are the times when the food gods smile upon you and you get a real treat. 

Bittersweet paprika is one of those treats.

Tea (Recipe: "smoked" egg salad)

Please welcome Kim, who with this post joins The Perfect Pantry as guest blogger. Kim lives in Pasadena, California; she is the business manager for a local farmers market, and also the Friday cook for a nonprofit organization that gathers donated food from various locations, and makes and serves meals to the homeless. This is her first-ever blog post.

Guest post and photos by Kim in Pasadena, California

Many years ago, one of the rites of passage into womanhood was "going to tea" with my friends.

Back then, the really haute-couture department stores had their own tearooms for ladies to rest after a day's shopping. My mother would sometimes take me to tea so I would learn the proper way for a lady to act and dress.

Just about the time I came of age for tea parties, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and (for me) Jethro Tull swept me off to wilder places that were unencumbered by rules and roles. I couldn't really see going to tea in bell-bottoms and a tube top!

Garlic (Recipe: oven-baked tortilla española)

Adapted in part from the archives, with new photos, links, and a favorite tapas recipe.

Where will you be on July 24, 2009?

I'll be in Chicago with 1,000 bloggers at the BlogHer annual conference.

More than 100,000 people, perhaps including a blogger or two, will be in Gilroy, California, at the world's most famous garlic festival.

As interesting as it is, BlogHer's agenda can't compete with the Great Garlic Cook-off, the Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival parade, and hundreds of food vendors offering their specialties in honor of the "stinking rose".

Which, by the way, is not a rose at all; it's a lily.

Mayonnaise (Recipes: homemade mayonnaise and egg salad)

Guest post by Julia in Cambridge. Photos by David.

Every Saturday lunch when I was growing up, my mother made chicken sandwiches with the leftover roast chicken and challah from our Friday night Shabbat dinner. She slathered the bread with mayonnaise mixed with mustard.

On Tuesday nights, she served steamed artichokes or asparagus. And to entice my sister and me into eating our vegetables, she put out little dishes of mayonnaise mixed with ketchup. If the adage were true, that “you are what you eat,” I’d have been a bulbous, blue-lidded jar of Hellmann’s. 

Of course, I didn’t realize mayonnaise came in any other form than from a jar. Until I went to cooking school. There, I learned to make mayo by hand, from scratch: starting with 12 egg yolks and a spoonful of mustard in a bowl.

Eggs, or no eggs (Recipes: Wacky Cake and Poor Man's Cake)

Please welcome Sarah, who with this post joins The Perfect Pantry as guest blogger. A working artist, sculptor, and consultant on public art projects, Sarah's work has won numerous awards and fellowships, and has been featured in exhibits across the country. She is a dedicated urban gardener and coordinates a large multi-cultural community garden in Boston's South End.

Guest post and photos by Sarah in Boston

When I was a kid, my mom created a special scrapbook cookbook especially for my dad.

He was plagued with terrible headaches and swelling in his hands and feet, and assumed that he had food allergies. Through trial-and-error cooking, they concluded he must be allergic to eggs. 

As a traveling salesman, my dad had to eat most of his meals on the road, so when he came home they tried to calm his system with all his favorite comfort foods.

It wasn’t until he was in his late sixties that he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease, hereditary angioedema -- not food allergies -- and, after treatment, to his great joy he could eat anything. But two of those egg-free desserts, made with ingredients from my mother's pantry, remained his particular favorites: Wacky Cake (in the top photo), which my mother made for family birthdays, and Poor Man’s Cake.

Guava paste (Recipe: guava souffle with custard sauce)

Guest post and photos by Peter in Brazil, chef and co-owner of Pousada do Capão

In any small town here in Minas Gerais, there is plenty of animated discussion around who makes the best goiabada, or guava paste.

Here in São Gonçalo, Dona Geralda wins my vote. Her alchemy turns humble guavas and sugar into red gold -– stirring, stirring, patiently stirring over the fire. My absolute favorite is goiabada cascão, guava paste with toothsome chunks of the slow-cooked candied peel suspended throughout. I always have a nice big hunk in my pantry.

Grated or shredded cheese (Recipe: zucchini frittata)

I am way above average.

Not in a Michael Phelps way, but somehow, some way, way above average.

I always believed it, but now I have proof.

The average American eats 32 pounds (14.5 kilograms) of cheese per year. And if that's true, I am above average. I'm sure I eat more cheese than that.

My refrigerator always has a stash of hard cheese and soft, white and blue, spreadable and sliceable, and grated or shredded cheese.

For my grated cheese stash, I have Julia Child to thank.

Phyllo shells (Recipe: one-bite vegetable quiche)

Does your house sometimes feel like a bed-and-breakfast inn, with a steady stream of guests coming and going?

When you live in a log house in the woods, with a great kitchen and a fireplace and a big screened porch and indoor plumbing, you get plenty of company. (Yes, people ask. Do we need sleeping bags? Do you have towels? Should we bring flashlights? I remind them that, even out here in the woods, we have a dishwasher and DSL.)

If you're me, you love having people come to visit. Of course, if you're me, you don't bake, so you're always on the lookout for ingredients to keep in the pantry for easy entertaining.

When it comes to pastry, I'm all thumbs. Forget making it from scratch; even a store-bought pie dough becomes silly putty in my hands. However, a bit of pastry can dress up almost anything, from scrambled eggs to hummus to leftover Chinese food, so I stash a few boxes of phyllo shells in the freezer.

Phyllo (pronounced FEE-lo, from the Greek word meaning "leaf", but also spelled fillo or filo) is paper-thin dough made from flour and water, layered with oil or melted butter. Phyllo originated in Turkey, and while it features in the cuisines of many Mediterranean and Balkan countries -- dishes like strudel, spanakopita and baklava -- it can be used to envelop chicken, lamb, asparagus, figs and cheese, butterscotch, or pears.

Any filling you'd use with sheets of phyllo dough will work with these pre-formed shells, which, at one-and-a-half inches in diameter, hold one bite's worth of anything sweet or savory. Use the pre-baked shells as is, defrosted and filled with a bit of ice cream or fruit or tuna salad. Or fill the frozen shells with a savory custard or leftover mashed potatoes, pop them into the oven, and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Whether you actually operate a bed-and-breakfast inn, or love to have company in your home, you can find recipes, tips and inspiration in a brand new blog: Inn Cuisine, the brainchild of Sandie, a Kansas City-based business writer, mother of three, and lover of bed-and-breakfast establishments.

I've "adopted" Sandie through the wonderful Adopt-a-Blogger program created by Dine and Dish to match experienced bloggers with those who've joined the food blogging community more recently. My role is to help my adoptee in any way I can, with advice and technical support (actually, she knows more than I do), and by introducing her blog to you.

When I first heard from Sandie, she hadn't yet launched Inn Cuisine. So I've been able to watch this blog grow from the very beginning. It's been so much fun to see her vision take shape, and to participate in the brainstorming process. We even had a kind of Vulcan mind-meld moment late one night, when we both thought of the same blog name at the same time.

Inn Cuisine will introduce you to innkeepers and their B&Bs, to wonderful afternoon teas and sumptuous breakfasts. A resource for travelers, cooks and proprietors, Inn Cuisine celebrates the hospitality and graciousness of the B&B experience.

Please pop over to Inn Cuisine, leave a comment, and visit often. Check out Sandie's recent series of posts about tea, crepes and honey. If, like me, you've always been a bit afraid of crepes, you'll love her step-by-step photos and instructions.

ONE-BITE VEGETABLE QUICHE
Irresistible, flexible, fast and easy! Each box of phyllo shells makes 15 miniature quiches, perfect for entertaining and for A Taste of Yellow 2008, supporting cancer survivors and their families. This recipe is for my courageous friends (and frequent house guests) Joyce and Fred.

1 package mini phyllo shells
1 large egg
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced onion or shallot
1 Tbsp minced red bell pepper
1 Tbsp minced zucchini
Pinch of minced fresh thyme
Pinch of minced fresh parsley or chives
Kosher salt and black pepper or piment d'Espelette, to taste

Remove the shells from the package and place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and set aside.

In a small nonstick frying pan, heat the oil. Add onion, bell pepper, and zucchini, and sauté for 2 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly cooked. Remove from heat, allow to cool for one minute, stir in the herbs, and add the mixture to the egg. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the shells with the egg mixture. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until egg is set. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Tyropita
Teeny tiny lime tarts
Elaine's lemon curd

Eggs (Recipe: asparagus frittata)

For much of the year, within a mile or two in any direction from my house, you'll find a farm selling fresh eggs.

Last summer Ted stopped at a farm up the road from us, to photograph this sign that surely gave passers-by something to think about. Five flavors of eggs? Intriguing! But no, it was the goat cheese that came in five flavors. And no, the eggs weren't in that cooler; they were in the house, properly stored in the refrigerator.

Every culture that has chickens eats eggs, and thanks to Christopher Columbus, who brought some hens with him on his second voyage in 1493, that includes those of us in the United States.

High in protein and choline, and low in calories, eggs qualify as one of the world's healthiest foods -- and one of the most versatile. Without eggs, we'd have no baked eggs, no meatloaf, no egg muffins, no macarons, no egg fried rice, no breakfast tacos and, of course, no soufflé.

In a previous post about eggs, I wrote about the relationship between ear color and eggshell color. If that wasn't wacky enough, here's a bit more egg trivia:

• A hen works hard to produce eggs, and hers is not an easy or glamorous life. She starts laying at 19 weeks of age, lays approximately one egg per day, and gets only half an hour of rest between the birth of one egg and the production of the next. (Whew...) She will turn each egg approximately 50 times a day, to keep the yolk from sticking to the shell.
• In France, a bride may break an egg on the threshold of her new home, to bring good luck and healthy babies. She can clean up that broken egg (or perhaps her new husband will do it for her) by sprinkling lots of salt to help the egg coagulate.
• Eggs are packed in their cartons large-end up, to keep the yolk centered and the air bubble intact.
• Legend holds that you can balance an egg large-end up at the exact moment of the Spring Equinox, which was today, March 20, 2008, at 5:48 GMT. Did anyone try it?
• One large egg has 80 calories.
• One dozen large eggs should weigh 24 ounces (a dozen medium, 21 ounces; a dozen extra-large, 27 ounces).
• The larger the egg, the older the hen who laid it.
• The largest amount of money ever paid for an egg is $18.5 million US dollars, for the Rothschild Faberge egg, which features a working clock and a glass hen inside.

If you're watching your intake of cholesterol, the American Heart Association's recent guidelines allow an egg a day, rather than three per week, as part of an overall recommended daily limit of 300 milligrams of cholesterol.

If you like to have fun with food, check out this great Egg Activity Book for kids, from the Georgia Egg Commission.

And if you still don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, a geneticist, a philosopher and a chicken farmer have come up with the definitive answer: it was the egg.


ASPARAGUS FRITTATA FOR TWO
Though it's not quite the season for local asparagus here in Rhode Island, I couldn't resist a beautiful bunch from the market. Frittatas are our favorite weeknight fast-food dinner, served with a green salad and a slice of crusty bread. They can be simple or complex, made on the stovetop or in the oven. If you're lucky enough to have farm eggs, your frittata will be a deep golden color, almost like saffron. Thanks to an abundance of cheese, the frittata will have plenty of salt. Serves 2; can be doubled.

5 large eggs
1/2 cup grated cheddar, mild or sharp, or more to taste
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion or shallot, minced
8 asparagus spears, stems trimmed, cut into half-inch lengths
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or asiago cheese

In a measuring cup (4-cup size or larger), whisk the eggs with a tablespoon of water. Stir in the grated cheddar and black pepper, and set aside.

In a small nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and asparagus, and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until the onions are slightly browned. Pour the egg mixture into the pan, and turn the heat to simmer. Cover the frying pan and cook the frittata gently for 4-5 minutes, or until the eggs are nearly set.

Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the eggs, and place under the broiler until the cheesy top is bubbling. Let the frittata stand at room temperature for at least five minutes before serving. Can be served hot, room temperature, or cold.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Egg curry
Albornia de chayote
Outrageous brownies
Cheesy omeletta
Frittata with broccoli and garden herbs
Spice cake

Lemons (Recipe: avgolemono — chicken soup with rice and lemons)

Peter, Paul and Mary, I love you guys.

I love Puff, that magic dragon, and the big blue frog, too. I know where all the flowers have gone, and what's blowin' in the wind.

But when you dissed the lemon ... well, what you were thinking?

Lemon tree, very pretty,
and the lemon flower is sweet.
But the fruit of the poor lemon
is impossible to eat.

Impossible to eat?

More like impossible to do without. 

Whether you're going sweet or savory, unless you live in a country that grows limes instead of lemons (Mexico, for instance, or much of Southeast Asia), you probably can't imagine cooking without lemon.

The Citrus limon, native perhaps to northwest India or China, is a thorny and prolific tree, a cross between a lime and a citron; though it grows only 10-20 feet tall, it flowers year-round and can produce up to 2,000 fruits per year. Leading producers are the United States (California, Arizona and Florida), Italy, Spain, Greece, Israel and Turkey.

Eureka and Lisbon are the most common varieties; in my local grocery stores, the lemons are never labeled. Eureka has a textured skin, a short neck at one end, and a few seeds; Lisbon has a smoother skin, no neck, and is seedless. In California you can find Meyer lemons, in season; a hybrid of lemon and mandarin orange, they're sweeter than the other varieties.

How to choose and use a lemon (this applies only to fruit, and not to defective cars):

• Look for fruits that are thin-skinned and heavy for their size, to yield the most juice.
• Make sure the fruit is fully yellow; if it's greenish, it's not quite ripe, and if it has brown patches, it's overripe.
• Store lemons at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for up to a week. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to a month.
• For even longer storage, strain and freeze the juice (handy to do in ice cube trays), and dry or candy the lemon peel.
• For storage up to a year and a whole new world of culinary possibilities, turn fresh fruits into preserved lemons.
• To get the most juice out, press down gently but firmly and roll the lemon back and forth on the countertop a few times.
• Room temperature lemons will yield more juice, so if your lemon is cold, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds before squeezing.
• If you don't have a lemon reamer, stick a fork into the side of the whole lemon, and twist the lemon back and forth while holding the fork still; you'll be amazed at how much juice comes out, and the seeds stay behind.

Lemons are one of the world's healthiest foods, for exactly the reason you'd guess: an abundance of antioxidants and Vitamin C. They're also one of the world's most versatile flavorings, starring in (and perking up) lemon meringue pie cupcakes, sesame and lemon chicken, strawberry-lemon bars, Meyer lemon butter cookies, hashed Brussels sprouts, and, of course, lemonade.

So, Peter, Paul and Mary, maybe it's time to rethink the whole love-and-betrayal theme of the Lemon Tree Song. After all, lemons -- the ones you keep in the kitchen -- never let you down.

AVGOLEMONO (Chicken soup with rice and lemon)
My friend Greg makes a wonderful version of this famous Greek soup; this recipe, slightly different, came to me from Effie Pesiridis, whose family owned a convenience store for many years in Boston's South End. Serves 6-8 generously.

3 whole boneless chicken breasts
3 heaping handfuls long-grain rice (approx. 2 cups)
3/4 stick butter
Salt
Juice of 2 lemons
3 eggs

In a large stock pot cover the chicken breasts with water. Bring to a boil and continue to cook 20 minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. To the stock in the pot, add rice, butter and a pinch of salt (or more to taste). Cook at a low boil for 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked (if the soup is too thick, add some boiling water). Shred the chicken with your fingers into large pieces, and add to the soup. In a small bowl, beat the eggs until frothy; slowly beat in the lemon juice. Mix 1 cup of the hot soup slowly into the eggs, being careful not to cook the eggs. Then slowly beat the egg mixture back into the soup, stirring constantly. When all the egg is incorporated and the soup has thickened slightly, it’s done. Serve hot, with crusty bread.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Lemon curd
Traditional hummus
Honey and lemon green tea cupcakes
Spiced lentils with squash and raisins
Brick-grilled chicken breasts or thighs
Lentils with spinach and preserved lemon
Shish taouk (garlic chicken on skewers)