To fuck or to cook?

[Sparklehorse]

Does anyone have any suggestions for cooking greens beyond the usual braising or sauteing with onions, garlic, vinegar and maybe bacon? The specific greens I have to work with are turnip greens, mustard greens and mizuna.

Thanks in advance for any new ideas.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
Does anyone have any suggestions for cooking greens beyond the usual braising or sauteing with onions, garlic, vinegar and maybe bacon? The specific greens I have to work with are turnip greens, mustard greens and mizuna.

Thanks in advance for any new ideas.

This is something that my sister kind of made up from a recipe for a lettuce pancake that an au pair made, so the measurements and directions are kind of, uh, inexact.

Stem about 1/2 or 3/4 lb greens and cut up leaves into strips; dice stems. Rinse and spin (or shake hard) until mostly but not completely dry. Toss with about 1/4 c flour mixed with salt and pepper to taste (you can always add salt/pepper after, too). Beat 3-4 eggs in a bowl and mix with floured greens. Mixture will not really be terribly liquidy.

Heat oil (neutral or olive or maybe neutral with some bacon grease) in frying pan large enough to hold greens over medium heat. Pour greens mixture into frying pan and cook on each side for about 15-20 min. Lower the heat and/or throw in a little water (to create steam) if it seems like it might burn. For flipping, it works best to use 2 spatulas or to slide onto a plate and then dump back in.

It's better than it sounds, IMHO, but I like greens.

Food network has a recipe for beet greens au gratin (or something; it's from an Alton Brown show) that involves ricotta and parmesan and egg yolks and mushrooms and garlic and beet greens; I made it with chard and no parmesan and no mushrooms and onions and it was pretty good. I didn't have the ingredients I omitted.

I also think they are good kind of stir-fried with some kind of stir-fry-type sauce -- more of an asian flavor instead of bacony southern flavor.

Sorry these aren't more exact; I like greens and have been experimenting and these are the things I have come up with.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
This is something that my sister kind of made up from a recipe for a lettuce pancake that an au pair made, so the measurements and directions are kind of, uh, inexact.

Stem about 1/2 or 3/4 lb greens and cut up leaves into strips; dice stems. Rinse and spin (or shake hard) until mostly but not completely dry. Toss with about 1/4 c flour mixed with salt and pepper to taste (you can always add salt/pepper after, too). Beat 3-4 eggs in a bowl and mix with floured greens. Mixture will not really be terribly liquidy.

Heat oil (neutral or olive or maybe neutral with some bacon grease) in frying pan large enough to hold greens over medium heat. Pour greens mixture into frying pan and cook on each side for about 15-20 min. Lower the heat and/or throw in a little water (to create steam) if it seems like it might burn. For flipping, it works best to use 2 spatulas or to slide onto a plate and then dump back in.

It's better than it sounds, IMHO, but I like greens.

Food network has a recipe for beet greens au gratin (or something; it's from an Alton Brown show) that involves ricotta and parmesan and egg yolks and mushrooms and garlic and beet greens; I made it with chard and no parmesan and no mushrooms and onions and it was pretty good. I didn't have the ingredients I omitted.

I also think they are good kind of stir-fried with some kind of stir-fry-type sauce -- more of an asian flavor instead of bacony southern flavor.

Sorry these aren't more exact; I like greens and have been experimenting and these are the things I have come up with.

Thanks! The eggy pancake recipe sounds very interesting. Do you eat it as a main course? My only hesitation about the gratin is that I am trying to find new recipes that don't involve coating the veggies with cream and cheese to make them tasty. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gratins a great deal, just looking for different ways to cook things.

I also love greens. My farmshare just started this week and since it's the start of the season, we got lettuce, spinach, baby bok choy, along with the aforementioned mizuna, mustard and turnip greens. The mustard greens in particular are not something I've learned to cook very well. In past years with the farmshare, they've gotten pushed to the back of the fridge until they froze and then had to be tossed. I'm hoping to do better this year.

I've been on a Vietnamese food kick lately and found in my new favorite cookbook (Quick and Easy Vietnamese) a recipe for spinach that involves fish sauce and garlic and not much else. I was a little skeptical about the fish sauce matching with the spinach but it was delicious.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
Thanks! The eggy pancake recipe sounds very interesting. Do you eat it as a main course? My only hesitation about the gratin is that I am trying to find new recipes that don't involve coating the veggies with cream and cheese to make them tasty. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gratins a great deal, just looking for different ways to cook things.

I also love greens. My farmshare just started this week and since it's the start of the season, we got lettuce, spinach, baby bok choy, along with the aforementioned mizuna, mustard and turnip greens. The mustard greens in particular are not something I've learned to cook very well. In past years with the farmshare, they've gotten pushed to the back of the fridge until they froze and then had to be tossed. I'm hoping to do better this year.

I've been on a Vietnamese food kick lately and found in my new favorite cookbook (Quick and Easy Vietnamese) a recipe for spinach that involves fish sauce and garlic and not much else. I was a little skeptical about the fish sauce matching with the spinach but it was delicious.

My sister serves the egg thing as a side, but I have had just that for dinner before. It's pretty filling. I can't remember if you are feeding just yourself, or also others.

The gratin is good with reduced fat ricotta and might be OK with non-fat. I think that there are ricotta options that are much less fatty/caloric than regular cheeses. Uh, though, I did (partly because I had no parmesan) put some goat cheese on top when I had it as reheated leftovers.

I tend to use greens interchangeably (adjusting cooking times), though I guess spinach is considerably milder than some other types. Nonetheless . . .

There may be ethiopian recipes for collard greens that you could apply to mustard and/or turnip greens -- try googling? And I think some indian dishes use mustard greens.

[dtb]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
This is something that my sister kind of made up from a recipe for a lettuce pancake that an au pair made, so the measurements and directions are kind of, uh, inexact.

Stem about 1/2 or 3/4 lb greens and cut up leaves into strips; dice stems. Rinse and spin (or shake hard) until mostly but not completely dry. Toss with about 1/4 c flour mixed with salt and pepper to taste (you can always add salt/pepper after, too). Beat 3-4 eggs in a bowl and mix with floured greens. Mixture will not really be terribly liquidy.

Heat oil (neutral or olive or maybe neutral with some bacon grease) in frying pan large enough to hold greens over medium heat. Pour greens mixture into frying pan and cook on each side for about 15-20 min. Lower the heat and/or throw in a little water (to create steam) if it seems like it might burn. For flipping, it works best to use 2 spatulas or to slide onto a plate and then dump back in.

It's better than it sounds, IMHO, but I like greens.

Food network has a recipe for beet greens au gratin (or something; it's from an Alton Brown show) that involves ricotta and parmesan and egg yolks and mushrooms and garlic and beet greens; I made it with chard and no parmesan and no mushrooms and onions and it was pretty good. I didn't have the ingredients I omitted.

I also think they are good kind of stir-fried with some kind of stir-fry-type sauce -- more of an asian flavor instead of bacony southern flavor.

Sorry these aren't more exact; I like greens and have been experimenting and these are the things I have come up with.

That sounds awesome. I just planted lettuces (from seeds!!!) -- and they tend to grow pretty nicely. I can't wait to try this.

PS -- I love Alton Brown.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
Does anyone have any suggestions for cooking greens beyond the usual braising or sauteing with onions, garlic, vinegar and maybe bacon? The specific greens I have to work with are turnip greens, mustard greens and mizuna.

Thanks in advance for any new ideas.

Mustard greens are good served sauteed with some garlic and cooked canneloni beans, tossed with pasta. Yuou will want to par-=boil the greens a little before sauteeing and you need to cut the greens fairly thin. You can add either sausage or chicken breast to the basic recipe if you want more protein.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
My sister serves the egg thing as a side, but I have had just that for dinner before. It's pretty filling. I can't remember if you are feeding just yourself, or also others.

The gratin is good with reduced fat ricotta and might be OK with non-fat. I think that there are ricotta options that are much less fatty/caloric than regular cheeses. Uh, though, I did (partly because I had no parmesan) put some goat cheese on top when I had it as reheated leftovers.

I tend to use greens interchangeably (adjusting cooking times), though I guess spinach is considerably milder than some other types. Nonetheless . . .

There may be ethiopian recipes for collard greens that you could apply to mustard and/or turnip greens -- try googling? And I think some indian dishes use mustard greens.

I've seen variations of saag paneer that use mustard greens. I don't know how good it is, since I'm not a fan of paneer.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Mustard greens are good served sauteed with some garlic and cooked canneloni beans, tossed with pasta. Yuou will want to par-=boil the greens a little before sauteeing and you need to cut the greens fairly thin. You can add either sausage or chicken breast to the basic recipe if you want more protein.

Oooh! I also like greens on pasta with garlic, raisins or currants, and pine nuts. Soak the raisins/currants in hot water or wine or something so they are kind of a bit reconstituted. Cut up the greens pretty small. I, again perhaps unwisely, do this with pretty much any kind of green, and saute them. If they seem like they are not getting soft fast enough, I toss in a little water and cover so that they can steam. Toast the pine nuts a bit.

There's also a recipe on NYT site for something like polenta, greens and eggs fried in olive oil. I remember reading it, and my sister recently said she tried it and they really like it.

[ltl/fb]

Last night for a snack/dessert, I mixed together low-fat ricotta and honey and a little vanilla and ginger, and then put in thawed frozen berries, slightly warmed. Yummy!

[robustpuppy]

I have a hankering for homemade quiche but no inspiring recipes in my cookbooks at home. Any ideas?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a hankering for homemade quiche but no inspiring recipes in my cookbooks at home. Any ideas?

I don't have a recipe, but I will tell you that replacing a bit of the cream with some white wine can be a good thing. I like mine with artichokes, chilis and jarlsburg, but had a really good fontina and escargot quiche once.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a hankering for homemade quiche but no inspiring recipes in my cookbooks at home. Any ideas?

I've been doing baked eggs lately in lieu of quiches. I don't know... somehow I think they are healthier.

Baked eggs with lump crab and gouda is one of the Brazenette's favorites.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
I've been doing baked eggs lately in lieu of quiches. I don't know... somehow I think they are healthier.

Baked eggs with lump crab and gouda is one of the Brazenette's favorites.

I don't know why I didn't think of this, because I'm not even that fond of pie crust, and I have the loveliest baking dishes for this purpose.

Does gouda taste good with bacon?

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I don't know why I didn't think of this, because I'm not even that fond of pie crust, and I have the loveliest baking dishes for this purpose.

Does gouda taste good with bacon?

Gouda, bacon and leek pancake (sounds sorta fritatta-y to me):

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...ews/views/2543

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I don't know why I didn't think of this, because I'm not even that fond of pie crust, and I have the loveliest baking dishes for this purpose.

Does gouda taste good with bacon?

For those who require crust, you can always stick a piece of bread in the bottom of the baking dish.

And gouda tastes good with everything.