Creamed Corn and Asparagus Coins

I started to tell you about the book Ad Hoc at Home the other day. Since this is a book about family meals, it’s organized according to how planning meals at home supposedly happens. The chapters for main courses of meat and fish come first assuming those are chosen first, and they're followed by soups, salads, vegetables and side dishes, breads, and desserts which are picked to go with a main course. That makes sense. Although, I have been known to plan meals around a vegetable or salad I have in mind. This particular meal did involve barbecued chicken, but my real plan was to put together a menu that would include fresh, local corn. The creamed corn recipe in the book had stuck in my head, and I had to have it. Creamed corn may not ordinarily require a recipe, but in this case, it led me to adding cayenne and lime zest, and so I was happy to follow it. Then, the asparagus coins caught my eye. Rather than leaving the asparagus in spears, they were cut into nice, little rounds and cooked with chive oil and parsley water. Yes, it was just a tad fussy for a simple, home-cooked side dish, but the flavor was fantastic.

First, for creamed corn, Keller offers a handy tip for removing silks from the cut kernels. Move your hand through the kernels, round and round, and the silks will stick to your hand. Rinse your hand and repeat as needed. With kernels free of all silks, the corn was cooked in a large saute pan with melted butter, lime juice, and salt over low heat. Once the liquid evaporated, cream, cayenne, and lime zest were added. When the corn had absorbed most of the cream, chopped chives were added, and it was done.

To make the asparagus dish, chive oil and parsley water needed to be made in advance. To make chive oil, chopped chives were placed in a sieve under hot running tap water to remove any chlorophyll taste. The chives were drained and dried and pureed with canola oil. That mixture was refrigerated for 24 hours and then poured through cheesecloth to become perfectly smooth. Parsley water was made with leaves and tender stems that were wilted in a pan with a teaspoon of oil and a little honey. That mixture was then transferred to a bowl with ice cold water to stop the cooking. All of that was then pureed and strained. The reason for the parsley water is that it helps in retaining the flavor of asparagus. The chemical in asparagus that gives it its taste is water-soluble, so cooking in plain water causes some of that flavor to disappear. With those items prepped, it was time to address the asparagus. It was suggested that the spears be cut on a mandoline for perfectly equal-sized coins. I opted to quickly chop with a knife and accepted that mine were close enough to being equal in size. So, the almost perfect asparagus coins and tips were placed in a saute pan with chive oil and salt. As soon as the edges of the coins began to cook, parsley water was added, and it was left for a brief couple of minutes until just tender.

I said the parsley water and chive oil were fussy, but they really weren’t difficult to prepare. In fact, I finished them both in about 20 minutes and that included washing dishes. I would need to do a side by side comparison with asparagus cooked in plain water to know if the parsley water were truly effective in preserving asparagus flavor. But, I can say that the taste was excellent and very much of asparagus with a mild side note of chives. And, the creamed corn was ridiculously good. Fresh corn and cream can do no wrong, but add a little lime and cayenne, and it becomes even better. These were simple, home-cooked side dishes that were taken to another level, and that’s the point of Ad Hoc at Home.

Potato Gratins with White Truffle Cream

To say that I am a fan of truffles and anything with the flavor of truffles would be an understatement. Kurt suggested I would probably like dog food if it had some shaved truffles on top or truffle oil drizzled over it or truffle cream stirred into it. Of course, he’s ridiculous, but I admit to swooning at the mere aroma of truffle products. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to sample a truffle cream product from la Boutique de la truffe. They sent me a jar of La Tartufata white truffle cream which contains white truffles and porcini mushrooms made into a smooth, spreadable cream with olive oil and wine vinegar. My first instinct was to sit down with the jar and a spoon, but that seemed a little simplistic. Using it with pasta with mushrooms would have been a delicious way to go, but then I thought about how well earthy potatoes combine with the flavor of truffles.

This was a straightforward kind of dish because I really just wanted to taste the truffle cream with a background of potatoes. I buttered some small ramekins and placed one layer of thinly sliced potatoes in the bottom of each and seasoned that layer. Then, I spread some truffle cream on top and repeated the layers. I poured a little cream into each ramekin until it came about half way up the side of each and topped each with a bit of butter and salt and pepper. They baked on a baking sheet at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes.


The flavor was just outstanding. I could have eaten these potatoes forever. The silky texture of the truffle cream layered between the tender, thin potato slices enriched with the cream and butter was beyond all expectations for a simple Sunday night dinner. Everything else on the plate, from the roasted baby beets to the rosemary chicken, was delicious too, but it all faded away once I tasted this potato gratin. I haven’t tried any other products found on the la Boutique de la truffe web site, but I can highly recommend La Tartufata.

Warm Beet Salad with Parmesan Dressing

I’ve made it my mission to convert those who think they don’t like beets. With red, golden, and Chioggia, roasted, raw, and fried, there are so many ways to enjoy the humble beet that I think beets deserve a second chance or third or fourth. When Leela at She Simmers mentioned the beet challenge, I decided right away I had to contribute something. I almost always roast beets whole and then peel and chop them. More often than not, my roasted beets end up in a salad of some sort. I spotted this warm beet salad in the May issue of Living magazine. It’s very simple to assemble, and the flavors were eye-poppingly good. One more item of business: the pretty plate in the photo above was sent to me as part of a fun plate swap organized by Cheryl at A Tiger in the Kitchen. My new plate came from Heather at BodaciousGirl. Thanks Cheryl and Heather!

The beets were roasted with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Once removed from the oven and cool, they were peeled and sliced. A vinaigrette was made with shallots, Banyuls vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. I was intrigued by the use of Banyuls vinegar, and I have another recipe that recommends it as well, so I splurged on purchasing a bottle even though it’s an expensive vinegar. It’s a French vinegar made from sweet wine, and the flavor is milder than typical red wine vinegar. Its taste is closer to wine than vinegar usually is but there is some acidity. Certainly, this salad would also be delicious with a vinaigrette made with another red wine vinegar, but the flavor of the Banyuls was very nice here. The vinaigrette was set aside while the parmesan dressing was made by warming cream, adding shredded parmesan, and stirring until smooth. There was supposed to have been some thyme in the cream and parmesan mixture, but my plants failed to survive the summer heat, and I forgot to buy thyme at the grocery store, so I skipped it.

The salad was assembled by placing the sliced beets on a platter, the warm parmesan cream dressing was spooned onto the beets, and then some arugula micro greens, and any baby greens could be used here, were strewn about on the warm dressing. Those greens were drizzled with the shallot vinaigrette, and last but certainly not least, some chopped pistachios were added. This could be the dish to change the minds of all the beet haters out there. If it’s the earthiness of the beet root that they object to, then they should taste beets with this simple, warm, parmesan dressing. The richness blends with the flavor of the beets in a lovely way, and the greens and vinaigrette perk up the salad and keep it from being too heavy while the pistachios add crunch and one more layer of flavor. I already like beets, but trust me, this is a really, really good beet salad.

Black Bean Soup

Black bean soup had been on my mind for quite some time. I had seen delicious versions at Noob Cook and at A Southern Grace, and I kept thinking about how I needed to buy a big bag of beans and make some soup. I finally did that and used some of those beans for tostaditas as well. This particular black bean soup is from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and it’s very much just about the beans themselves. It’s a simple soup with no spicy edge and minimal garnishes, but it is pointed up with Madeira and enriched with cream. Sadly, it’s not a very pretty-looking soup, but I seem to have a knack for cooking up unphotogenic bowls of goodness.

To begin the soup, onion, celery, carrot, diced green bell pepper, bay leaves, chopped rosemary, and thyme were sauteed in butter. Tomato paste was added and briefly cooked before the beans were placed in the pot and covered with water. This was left to simmer until the beans were tender. Salt was added, the bay leaves were removed, and then two-thirds of the soup was pureed. The puree was added back to the pot and stirred into the remaining soup. I liked this result of varied textures with some thickness from the puree and some whole beans. At this point, a half cup of Madeira and a half cup of cream were added. I served the soup with a little crema and some chopped parsley.

I, of course, love black beans prepared in a southwestern style with lots of fresh and dried chiles, but this simpler approach was a nice change of pace. The herbs and vegetables provided a foundation for the flavor of the beans, and the Madeira brightened it up. Naturally, cream never hurts a dish, and here it made the puree seem even smoother. It sounds so basic because it’s just black bean soup, but this is surprisingly flavorful and filling and deliciously so.