Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

Summer Beans - the blog

One of my favorite dishes my mother cooked when we were kids was thick string beans pan-fried with caramelized sweet onions and sprinkled with toasted shaved almonds. It’s home cooking par excellence. Sure the beans were often overcooked and kind of gray but when they were cooked just right they made a squishy sound in your mouth when we bit into them. Wanting to pass the nostalgia of home cooked beans on to the next generation my spouse and I have been cooking them with our 2 ½ year old daughter and she loves to help with the prep work. She calls them “geen beans”.

"geen beans"


(French bean and fava bean salad)

Green Beans
I yet have to figure out why green beans and mushrooms are a traditional Thanksgiving dish. Often the beans are drowned in mushroom cream sauce or to be more correct canned mushroom soup. I’m wondering about the tradition since beans are very much in season in the midst of summer which is right about now. I eyed beans today at the farmer’s market and they were beautiful with all their different shads of yellow, green, purple and even black.  Plentiful crates of string beans, delicate fava beans, short and flat broad beans, long Asian beans, and skinny haricot verts a.k.a “skinny French beans” were available. I think it’s funny when many of us Americans try to pronounce haricot verts - it must be one of the most mispronounced food words. If you need to brush up on your French, for the next time take this as a guide-line [arigoo-ferr’)

(beans at the market) 

Squishy Beans 
(recipe makes four portions)

2 pounds green string beans
1 sweet onion
1 tablespoon sea salt and more to taste
Black pepper grindings from a mill, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil such as canola or grape seed
¼ cup toasted almond slivers
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon, freshly chopped dill

1.     Snip ends off beans.
2.     Fill a pot (1-gallon sized) with water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to boil on high heat setting.
3.     Prepare a bowl with ice and water.
4.     Cook beans in the boiling water 1-2 minutes. Beans should be crunchy when biting into them. Transfer beans with a slotted spoon into the ice water bath to stop the cooking process and to preserve the color.
5.     Peel onion then cut in half and then into thin slices.
6.     In a skillet heat oil on medium heat setting and add onions season with salt. Cook onions for 15 minutes stirring every five minutes to prevent scorching, add string beans and heat thoroughly.
7.     Add almonds and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, add butter and dill then stir.

Chef’s Note: Instead of fresh dill try adding freshly chopped tarragon. It adds a fennel-like note, which has a natural affinity with beans. 

 

SWEET CITY - the blog

(lemonade in the making - farmer's market strawberries and basil) 

New Yorks mayor Michael Bloomberg has been on the fence against sugary drinks. He want’s to level sugar consumption in terms of sodas by restricting drinks offered any size bigger then 16 oz – big gulp good by. Not a bad idea to my means especially if the sweetness comes from sugar and corn syrup since it is know to add to the scary obesity rate in the US.
Kudos for the timing Mr. Mayor since the hot season invites you to reach for commercial iced soda, lemonade or iced tea it defiantly is refreshing. But think again the other side of such refreshment is an overload of empty calories – meaning it’s not got for our bodies with all the refined sugar as an ingredient. On the other hand there are sugar free beverages which are made with artificial/synthetic sugars such as Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), Saccharin (Sweet’N Low), Sucralose (Splenda) -you might them under the name in parentheses. Such sweeteners are useful calorie wise since they don’t add up but are said to be cancerous and frankly not enough research has been done to know how our bodies going to react to it in the future. There might be hope thought - you might have heard of Stevia an herb, which is manufactured into a sweetener with minimal calories with brand names such as Truvia, SweetLeaf, etc. Stevia does not cause cavities and has great potential to be the top pick for diabetics, which had to reach for the artificial sweeteners mentioned earlier. A downside of stevia is flavor some stevia products add a bitter tang or liquorish flavor to a beverage, which is not pleasing since many of our palates are “trained” to gravitate to refined white sugar.


(watermelon lemonade) 

Lemonades
One of the first business lessons I was taught as a kid was to drop a few fresh lemon slices, an insane amount of refined white sugar, ice topped off with water into a nice looking jar. We sold such creations in clear plastic cups with rainbow colored straws on the curbside of the street in front of our parent’s house.  Well, this was over thirty years ago now I try to be smarter and add touches of sweetness with honey, agave, maple syrup I have yet to experiment with brown rice syrup but it seems to be somewhat comparable. A few combination worked particularly good here are my findings enjoy…

Lemonade recipe steps:
-       use fresh herbs, juices, fruits
-       peel fruits were required
-       juice fruits were required
-       process all ingredients in a kitchen blender (you may strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve if         you want a smooth puree/liquid)
-       pour all lemonades over ice into attractive looking glasses

Zesty Blueberry Mint Lemonade
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 oz fresh mint, chopped
2 lemons, remove zest (yellow skin) with a zester or a vegetable peeler then chop then juice lemons
¼ cup maple syrup

 
Watermelon & Herb Lemonade
2 pound watermelon
1 table spoon fresh lemon thyme leafs or substitute 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon
fresh lavender flowers
2 lemons, juiced
¼ cup agave nectar

Cucumber  & Lime w. Mint Lemonade
4 cups water
2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
2 limes, juiced
1 oz mint, chopped
½ cup agave nectar

Pink Strawberry & Basil Lemonade
4 cups water
2 lemon, juiced
1 cup basil leafs
1/3 cup honey
 
(raspberry lemonade with mint) 

Chef’s Tip: If you don’t have a kitchen blender put all ingredients (except ice cubes) into a bar shaker and shake the ingredients vigorously then drain the juice into glasses filled with ice. Or muddle ingredients without the ice in a narrow container then add water and pour the mixture through a strainer over ice cube filled glasses.

 

 

 

WATER, SUN AND BEES - the blog

When watermelon starts popping up in markets it becomes evident that summer is here. Watermelon need a lot of mild and warm temperature including sunny days to grow to an average size of 8 lb, which is when they’re ready to be eaten in the earlier part of the season.  Later in August 25+ lb watermelons are not uncommon!  Watermelons have high water content - up to 92%, which is perfect since they hydrate the body and still deliver a sweetness that is so satisfying. Munching on chilled watermelon in the heat of summer is refreshing and delicious. One melon farmer I speak often to swears by three things – sun, bees and water. He covers the watermelon soil with plastic sheets to keep the warmth in the soil which promotes the groth.

 

Watermelon in the kitchen
The seedless variety tends to be a tad sweeter since the plant puts so little energy into seed production.  I personally still enjoy eating the kind with seeds since they seem to be more flavorful also there is the nostalgia of eating melon and playing with seeds, picking them out even eating them. Watermelon are best eaten raw right of the rind, and in smoothies and fruit salad they make a nice color contrast. Watermelon rind can be pickled and tossed with other vegetables in stir-fries for a crunchy texture. Since watermelon does not contain any fat I suggest pairing them with a fresh cheese such as goat or feta, which brings a welcome saltiness along.

Watermelon & Goat Cheese Salad
(recipe yields four portions)
1 lemon, juiced
sea salt to taste
black pepper mill grindings, to taste
½ cup hazelnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 bunches lettuce such as watercress or baby arugula
8 cups watermelon cubes or a 2 pound skin-on wedge
8 oz crumbled fresh-cheese such as goat or feta

1. With a wire whisk, in a bowl mix lemon juice with sea salt for one minute or until the salt has dissolved then add pepper. Slowly add the olive oil constantly whisking.
2. In a skillet toast the hazelnuts on medium heat setting until they have a golden-brown color and give off a nutty smell. Put the hazelnuts in a Zip-loc style bag and pound them gently to small pieces with a heavy object such as a small pot.
3. Rinse the lettuce then dry in a salad spinner or on kitchen paper towels.
4. With a knife cut watermelon rind off and then into ½-inch cubes. 
5. In a bowl toss all ingredients except goat cheese. Divide mixture into four salad bowls and sprinkle cheese crumbles over the salad.

Did you know?
In Japan watermelons are grown in a square shape in order to fit more efficiently into boxes instead of their “awkward” oval cousins. 
Watermelons are in the family of cucumbers, and squashes.

Watermelon Nutrients
Watermelons are thirst quenchers and they’re mildly diuretic. Melons are a good source of vitamin C and A. The vitamins fight inflammation, which causes joint damage, and they fight cancers particularly colon and prostate. Bright pink watermelons are a leading source of carotenoid antioxidants that are called lycopene which neutralize free radicals which can do serious damage in our bodies. The most worrisome damage is the oxidation of cholesterol that makes it stick to blood vessel walls and hence can lead to blockage or in other words to heart attack.

Chef’s Note: a sign for ripe watermelon is the yellow spot on the bottom or a hollow sound when knocked.

 

FIRST THEY’RE CHERRY BLOSSOMS – the blog

(still small cherries on the tree)
It all starts out with cherry blossoms in spring. Cherry blossoms are distinguished by having a flock of blossoms, tightly packed together. Usually the flowers are immaculate white or seductive pink shaded. This year we were fortunate to catch the 52^nd Sakura Matsuri Japanese cherry blossom show at the Botanic Gardens in Brooklyn. We went on a particularly beautiful sunny spring day matching the beauty of the cherry blossoms – a real treat.

(juicy cherries) 

In the states most of the cherries are grown in Washington and California. Michigan likes to consider itself “The Cherry Capitol of the World” and hosts a national cherry festival with some 150 events. Cherries have a short season only about four weeks. On the east coast they’re coming to the market as early as June. Cherries get picked directly from the tree or another technique is the shaking of the trees allowing only the ripe cherries to fall into nets laid out on the ground ensuring the delicate cherries won’t get bruised.

Sweet & Sour
The darker colored cherry varieties tend to be sweeter. Bing cherries have a dark almost purple color and are perfect to pop into your mouth for the instant pleasure. Some varieties never get sweet enough to be consumed raw then they’re called sour cherries.  Morello is a popular sour cherry, which are cooked with the addition of a sweetener and are used for pies and jellies.
When buying cherries look for an unblemished outside skin. Cherries have a refrigerated shelf life of up to four days  - best kept in a closed container such as a Tupperware. If you keep them around any longer the taste will wind drastically to blandness.

Cherries in the kitchen
It’s best to pit cherries before processing them in jellies, pies etc. The following recipe is fairly easy to make. The flavor of cherries is underlined by almond milk, which has a natural affinity with cherries. I’m intrigued by the following recipe which includes chia seeds it makes a custardy texture.

Cherry-Chocolate “Pudding”
(recipe yields four portions)

 (cherry done in the style of pudding) 

4 cups cherries
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ cup vanilla flavored almond milk
2 tablespoons cacao powder – organic, pure preferably
4 tablespoons chia seeds

1.     Rinse cherries with water and remove any stems. Pit cherries with a pitting tool or cut them in half and remove the seed.
2.     In a pot (1-quart sized) combine maple syrup and the cherries. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer mixture on low heat setting for 15 minutes.
3.     Strain liquid and reserve.
4.     In a blender combine the cherry liquid, almond milk, cacao and chia seeds and process for 1 minute.
5.     Combine mixture with the cooked cherries and spoon into four glasses or bowls.

Chef’s Note: It’s a good idea to wear dark clothes around cherries since the stain clothes and leave their unforgettable mark!

Cherry nutrients: Cherries are high in vitamin C. and the terrific antioxidant level must be highlighted in particular.