Futzing With Recipes And Thoughts On Polenta

Do you do this? Do you find a recipe that you’re interested in and then look at a million other similar recipes (okay, 5 or 6) and take what you like from each one? I almost never DON'T do that. Especially if it’s something unfamiliar, I like to see how other folks approach that particular ingredient or dish.

I saw this recipe on Food52 for polenta MADE WITH FRESH CORN. It really caught my attention. FRESH CORN TO MAKE POLENTA?!! Wow! I had NEVER thought of that. I was gobsmacked at such an intriguing, yet obvious, idea. Of course, you should be able to make polenta from fresh corn. And, of course, it would have a fresher, sweeter flavor. AND it would probably have a completely different texture too. So interesting.  

I looked at Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe very carefully. Basically, you boil the corn in lots of water, drain it, process it and cook it until thick. I didn’t get why you would use so much water in the first place just to drain it off. He does say you can use some of the cooking water if the mixture gets dry, but then why use that much initially? The comments bore out my misgivings. There were problems with the proportions and there was a lot of fiddling around going on, which is fine, but not if it's to correct a major flaw in the recipe.

Then I found Chez Elaine’s recipe. I wish I knew who she was, because she has dynamite recipes on her blog and absolutely no information about herself. I sort of followed her recipe (except for the quantities and a few tweaks on the cooking method). The result was a super-sweet purée of cooked corn, (but in a good “corny” way) with a fresh-from-the-fields-sort-of-taste. And it definitely resembled polenta, but with a coarser texture and again, it was MUCH sweeter.

Also Elaine (I’m assuming it’s not a nom de plume) uses fresh ricotta, instead of the feta which Ottolenghi used. I was going to cut that in half to TWO tablespoons, but it was SO good, I just added it all in. I would definitely try the feta next time. Its salty tang might be a great counterpoint to the sweetness of the purée.

Yotam Ottolenghi topped his polenta with sautéed eggplant. I liked that idea, but I put together a different recipe that cooked for much longer than his and had a lot less oil. Also his eggplant had sugar in it, which is SO unnecessary, considering the sweetness of the polenta.

So here is my mixed and matched (and changed around) recipe for Fresh Corn Polenta With Sautéed Eggplant.

Oh, two more things about the eggplant…(Aren’t there always?) Usually I peel my eggplant, but I was using really pretty little speckled eggplant, so I peeled off only some of the skin, leaving stripes. (I’m not the only one to do this.) 

  

Also after I sautéed the eggplant, I steamed it a bit by cooking it with the lid on. It allowed the eggplant to get soft without having to add more oil, which is always a good thing.

Fresh Corn Polenta With Sautéed Eggplant (serves 4)

Printable recipe here.

adapted from Chez Elaine’s Fresh Corn Polenta with Ricotta

 

     

               

6 ears fresh corn to make 5 to 6 cups
1 tbl. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbl. unsalted butter
1½ cups chopped onions
¼ tsp. Kosher salt

1 clove garlic, peeled with center stalk removed and pressed through a garlic press or finely chopped
1 cup milk and cream (I put 2 tbls. cream in the bottom of a cup measure and filled it up to one cup with 1% milk)
2 sprigs of rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup of fresh ricotta 

To serve: Top with Sautéed Eggplant with Tomatoes (recipe follows)

Peel and de-silk the corn. (Careful. Some garbage disposals don’t like corn silk.) Hold the ears over a bundt pan and cut the kernels away from the cob. 

That is not my thumb, by the way.

A sharp serrated paring knife is just the thing for getting as much of the corn off as possible. (I switched from the chef's knife and it worked much better.) You should have in the neighborhood of 5 to 6 cups. Set aside.

Heat olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan until foaming. Stir in onion and ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt, cover, and turn heat down to low. Cook until onion completely soft, at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Turn heat to medium, stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes. (Don’t stop stirring.) Add corn and sauté for about 4 minutes. Stir in milk and cream mixture. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and pour into food processor. Process for 2 minutes until smooth, stopping the processor every 30 seconds. 

Pour back into sauté pan and add rosemary sprigs. Cook for another 15 minutes until thick. Remove rosemary and stir in fresh ricotta. Taste for seasoning. Serve topped with Sautéed Eggplant with Tomatoes. 

Puréeing note: You can cook the corn with the milk and cream for the full 25 minutes and THEN purée it. You’ll have a smoother mixture that way. If it’s not thick enough, just put it back over the heat for few minutes. Elaine doesn’t purée hers at all. She likes the coarser texture, but I wanted mine to resemble polenta. 

Sautéed Eggplant with Tomatoes

1 tbl. olive oil 

1½ cups chopped onions 

2 cloves garlic, peeled with center stalk removed and pressed through a garlic press or finely chopped 

3 small speckled eggplant (any other variety), partially peeled in stripes and cut into ½” dice to make 5 or 6 cups

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes OR 2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced 

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper  

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Stir in onions, bring up to a sizzle, cover and cook over low heat until completely soft, at least 10 minutes. Turn heat up to medium, add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time. 

Add eggplant and cook, stirring well, for 2 minutes. Cover and turn heat down to medium/medium low and let eggplant steam for 5 minutes, stirring once. 

Turn down to medium low and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes or until eggplant is soft. (If it’s sticking, turn down heat to low.) 

Add tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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A note about “conventional” polenta:

I love it. I find it fun to make, although I do the exact opposite of most recipes. Usually you’re told to stir the cornmeal into the boiling water or liquid. I NEVER do it. To me, it’s a recipe for disaster and lumpy polenta.

I use Rozanne Gold’s method from Recipes 1-2-3. Measure the polenta (1½ cups) into a large saucepan and gradually stir in 5 cups of water. Then bring it to the boil and simmer, stirring constantly, for ten minutes. Stir in about a 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan at the end and a clove of pressed garlic added at the beginning doesn’t hurt.

Jamie Tells Us When Our Nuts Are Done

Home for Dinner With Jamie Deen

Dinner for Two

Green Bean Salad

Herbed Couscous with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts

Tilapia Foil Packets

Georgia Peach Perfection

I just ran across someone who knows someone who works with Jamie Deen. He (or she…let’s stay anonymous) says Jamie is every bit as nice in person as he appears to be on television. That makes me happy, because he seems like such a stand-up guy and I want him to be like that in real life.

This week, Brooke and the kids are going to see his in-laws, so Jamie invites HIS mama over for dinner. How cute is he? If I ever got a call like that, I think I would have a heart attack. Of course, my kids don’t live down the road (or even on the same coast or state), but still… Jamie tells Paula he’s going to cook her dinner and he’s even going to pick her up. (Oh good, so she can party hearty.)

Jamie gets a few things ready first. He starts with couscous. Bobby apparently loves it and Jamie’s making his own version. I almost never make instant couscous anymore. I like the big pearls of the Israeli couscous. It does take longer to cook, but the texture is so much more toothsome!

As Jamie takes out the tilapia, he shows us a video of little Jack playing the harmonica…with his nose. Funny.

Jamie says it’s fun to be cooking for Mama for once. (Love it.) He chops up shallots, garlic, tomatoes and fresh thyme and spoons that mixture over 2 pieces of tilapia, which he’s placed on big pieces of foil. He drizzles over some oil and seals up the foil really well to make airtight packets. He puts them on a baking sheet and they go into a 450°F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Jamie says his mom has proved over and over how she would do anything for her kids. (Love him.)

Jamie roasts some pine nuts in a dry pan to add to the couscous. (I do that in the microwave. Put them on a dinner plate and cook them in 30 second intervals, checking until they’re done.)

Jamie says he didn’t eat couscous for his first 35 years. He mixes up fresh lemon juice, olive oil and fresh parsley to dress it with. He says Bobby NEVER adds nuts to HIS couscous, so Bobby still has stuff he can learn from his older brother.

Then Jamie shares this tip with us: “Y’all will know when your nuts are done, because they’ll be all toasty looking…and you can smell them.” That really says it all.

Jamie says lemon juice adds freshness to anything and now that he has a lemon tree in his backyard, he’ll always have some available. He finishes up the couscous with golden raisins and the toasted nuts. He hopes mama will like it. He says it’s got all good things in it like “pine nuts, which is just like me – it’s the good fat.”

He says he’s gotta run because it’s time for driving Miss Deen.

Paula is waiting for him in her garden, surrounded by herbs. How pretty! I guess it’s something that Food Network doyennes have in common. She picks some basil for him and she’s so happy that it’s just the two of them. Paula says, “I mean not YAY!!! but…” In other words that's EXACTLY what she means - YAY!!! that she gets some face-time with her boy alone.

Paula picks some limes from a little tree to bring with her to Jamie’s.

Next they’re in Jamie’s kitchen and Paula LOVES being there with (just) him. Carefully (and slowly), she tops some of the green beans for a salad, while Jamie does his in seconds. She tells him she was always amazed at his speed in the kitchen of Lady and Sons.

I like the way Paula handles the beans. It reminds me of my mother’s or aunts’ careful work in the kitchen. I like that she cuts as LITTLE off the ends of the beans as is humanly possible, thereby wasting the least amount of each bean.

They blanch the green beans and get an ice bath ready. Jamie shocks them after the beans have cooked for a minute or two.

He makes a dressing of 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and garlic. In a separate bowl, he mixes together cherry tomatoes, almonds and some feta with the green beans. The recipe calls for chopped red onion, but we never see him adding that, even though it does appear to be in the finished salad. A poltergeist must have done it.

See my notes on making this salad at the end of the post.

                                                                                    

He asks us what we say the most when we have our mothers over for dinner. “I need a drink!”

Jamie gets to work on a Georgia Peach Perfection. He and Paula rip the mint into pieces to release its flavor and add it to each glass. A half of lime’s worth of juice goes in next. (Remember the best way to squeeze a lime?) Jamie muddles it all up with the stem end of a wooden spoon. Paula adds crushed ice to each glass and Jamie pours peach nectar over and tops it with seltzer. Where’s the alcohol?!!! Instead of seltzer, why not top it off with prosecco??! Oh look! He sends Paula out to the deck, while he gets a bottle that looked like this from the freezer and pours a big shot into his drink. (I guess that’s the gin that the recipe says is optional.)

They serve up their plates. Then Paula asks Jamie if he wants her to play the harmonica. He say sure and she obliges. THEN Jamie shows her the video of Jack. She’s completely delighted until she learns that the same harmonica she’s just had in her mouth, Jack has played WITH HIS NOSE. “Jamie!!!” He cackles.

They finish dinner and Paula says what a treat – just you and me. She says this is a perfect summer meal. He says this is a meal a dad loves to serve to his kids. He asks her what her favorite part was. She says the man sitting to her left. Awww. That’s so sweet, I have to watch it again. Yup, still sweet.

“Cheers Mama,” Jamie says as they clink glasses. “Cheers, son.” Sniff sniff. Cheers Paula! Cheers Jamie. How is it possible that Jamie managed to completely charm me with instant couscous and boiled beans? But let’s not forget the worthwhile toasted nut discussion.

And don’t y’all even THINK of using the word hokey when talking about Jamie and family. He’s adorable and, gosh, he sure does love his mama, which is never a bad thing.

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NOTES on the Green Bean Salad:

 

I decided to be like Paula and line my string beans up like little soldiers all in a neat row. It didn't help that some of them were wonky, but I persevered. 

I wanted to do it just like Paula did, so I cut the tiniest bit off the ends. 

They did look good. I proceeded that way for at least another 15 or 20...seconds, before I just grabbed the rest of the beans and pushed them into a quick pile and cut them fast. 

Changes to the recipe: I used big tomatoes cut into chunks, instead of cherry tomatoes. I wanted the juice to form part of the dressing. I also added mustard to the dressing and left out the feta. Definitely, chilling the salad for an hour is a good idea to develop the flavors. This is a very nice combination of flavors and textures.

Paula Works Out

Paula's Best Dishes with Paula Deen

Working Up an Appetite

Maple and Mustard Glazed Salmon

Cut the Calories Coconut Cream Pie

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Paula has her personal trainers in the kitchen with her today. She’s going to cook a healthful meal and then work out with them. She IS looking good these days and that can only bode well for her health.

One of the trainers, Drew, is a hugely ripped guy (muscularly speaking) and Shaz is his very pregnant wife. Paula hands them knives and puts them to work chopping vegetables. I’m happy there is no mandolin involved, because these folks may be good at squat thrusts and chin ups, but not necessarily manipulating vegetables next to sharp blades.

A question. When you have folks in your kitchen, do you casually hand out knives and let people go at it? I’m not quite as relaxed as Miss Paula. I need to have my zucchini cut just so and my carrots in an even dice. I am definitely guilty of the I-can-do-it-better-myself syndrome. HOWEVER, that is only in the kitchen. I would never have a problem with someone else wielding a vacuum in my house, cleaning up newspapers or dusting. (What’s that?)

Paula mixes all the (unevenly) chopped vegetables together with salt (too much), ground oregano, red wine vinegar and 2 or THREE tablespoons of olive oil. (ONE would have been enough.) She sprays her grill pan with Pam, which really makes it difficult to clean properly.

I’ve started applying Pam differently than I used to. I use fewer non-stick pans these days and things DO stick to stainless steel. So I spray a good amount of Pam into the CENTER of the pan and I spread it around by hand, not with a paper towel. (That would waste too much Pam.) And if you spray the whole pan - including the sides - you end up with those burned-on driplets that are impossible to remove. That's why I would never spray a grill pan. I would just do the same thing and spray a big wadge of it in the middle and then spread it around the surface.

Shaz asks Paula if THIS (a more healthy style) is how she cooks every day. That gives Paula the opportunity to launch into her the-butter-stuff-is-just-for-television-and-I-wouldn’t-be-able-to-fit-through-the-door-if-I-cooked-that-way-everyday speech.

Paula puts the vegetables on the grill and emphasizes, “We eat a tremendous amount of vegetables in the south.” 

Next she and Shaz are making a maple glaze for salmon. Paula starts by saying she’s going to melt a half a stick of butter. “NOT MUCH,” she hurriedly adds before anyone has time to say anything. She tells Shaz to mix up 2 tablespoons of Dijon, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and ¼ cup of maple syrup.

Hold on a sec. Since when do you need butter in a marinade for fish? Of course, butter added to ANYTHING (except maybe iced tea) makes stuff taste better, but we’re in our workout clothes here with personal trainers just inches away. Skip the butter. OR add dramatically less, just for the flavor. Also the ¼ cup of maple syrup is too much. If you’ve got 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, just match that amount. You don’t need to double it.

I really think the idea here should be to get away with adding as few fatty or sweet ingredients as possible. Don’t add them when you don’t need them and don’t take them away when you do. (On that last point, wait until you see the coconut pie.)

Paula adds a lot of black pepper to the marinade and then stirs in the butter. She pours that all over the salmon steaks, which, by the way, have that faint pallid color of farm-raised salmon. I KNOW IT’S SO MUCH CHEAPER, but, gosh, does it pale in comparison to the flavor (and color) (and nutrition) of wild salmon.

Paula has Drew push the vegetables to one side (he does have huge muscles, after all) and she puts the salmon on the grill, skin side down. She cooks it until the skin is crispy and turns it over to finish cooking. She serves up the salmon with vegetables. It looks good, but there’s more fat and sugar than there needs to be.

I’ve found that the least amount of olive oil and salt I can get away with for a baking sheet full of vegetables is 1 tablespoon of oil (I use the best extra virgin) and ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt. If you're vigilant about coating the vegetables well, those amounts are fine.

Next Shaz is going to show Paula how to make a “Cut The Calorie Coconut Pie”. The crust sounds normal - graham crackers and butter. That goes into the pie dish and it gets refrigerated instead of baked. (Baking would give it a toastier flavor).

Then Shaz adds 2 cups of milk to a pot with 2 beaten eggs. Paula immediately identifies it as skim milk and tries not to wince. (I hate skim milk, so I’m with her on that.)

Paula whisks that over heat as Drew adds a teaspoon of salt. (!!!) Paula adds 2 tablespoons of flour. I guess the healthy part is the watery milk?

Shaz adds 2 tablespoons of sugar substitute. Seriously, I don’t even know what that is. Is that what people with diabetes are supposed to do? I liberate those pink packets from restaurants, so I have some in the house if anyone ever wants it, but I would never actually use it myself.

And COOKING with it? IS that healthy? It doesn’t feel that way to me. Shaz says, “It’s really good for you, because you’re not actually using REAL sugar.” But is this stuff any better?

Paula says okay to everything. Shaz says this pie is 225 calories per slice. How many of those calories come with that artificial taste in the back of your mouth?

Paula shows off her biceps to Drew as she whisks the filling and says, “Not bad for 64, is it?” AND, she adds, she can run to that table over there with no problem. Paula is such a cut-up. Drew says she’s doing a good job of RUNNING that mouth too. (Isn't that a little rude?) Paula says if running her mouth counted as exercise, she’d weigh 15 or 20 pounds. Funny. And I love how she says pounds. Pih-yow-nnds.

Shaz brings the mixture to the boil, adds the vanilla off the heat with 2 cups of organic unsweetened shredded coconut. They make the point that there’s no butter in the recipe. Paula says it would taste better WITH some butter. They fill the crust and refrigerate it for 10 to 20 minutes.

Paula tells them she invited a friend over to exercise with them. Drew says pain loves company. Paula’s best friend Donna comes in just in time for them to finish making the pie. Paula says she can’t wait to get to the exercise. (Yeah, sure.)

For the topping, Paula measures a cup of cream and adds more sugar substitute and coconut. Is there a bit of a disconnect here? I know I’m clueless about a diabetic diet. I get that sugar is evil, but, really, is fat okay??? Plus I AM a bit confused. Before the break, Paula said they’d be making a meringue for the pie and now they’re covering it in (a thin layer of) fakely sweetened whipped cream and then a bit more coconut. I’m pretty sure the point of cutting down or cutting OUT sugar isn’t to add a load of cream to the dish.

The pie goes into the fridge for 2 hours, while the gang goes outside to work out. Donna and Paula pass around a ball the size of large honeydew. Donna keeps dropping the ball and Drew says every time she drops it, she owes him 10 pushups and for Paula - TWENTY pushups. Paula says “I ain’t dropping my ball, honey!”

As they move to other exercises, Drew is wiping HIS brow with the effort it takes to keep these two moving. Paula announces that the exercise should end with the stair climber. Paula is really excited and RUNS (more or less) up the stairs and announces “To the kitchen!”

Drew pretends to be upset that the workout is over and he goes to inspect Paula’s fridge as she gets the pie out. She tells him not to touch her mayonnaise or butter. They cut the pie and Donna says that Bobby Deen would love this pie. Is that some kind of promo for his recipes-my-mama-makes-but-without-the-fat-and-calories show?

Paula says coconut cream is her favorite pie. Shaz says (again) that this pie is 225 calories a slice as opposed to 425 calories for regular coconut cream pie. (The recipe says it serves 8.) Shaz adds that the pie also has 14 grams of fat per slice. Wouldn’t that have been A LOT less if they had covered it in meringue instead of whipped cream? But again I guess the villain is sugar. 

This whole thing is somewhat confusing.

Paula asks when they are going to work out again. Drew says in ten minutes. Paula says she was thinking they should plan it for the same time…NEXT YEAR. Next August, we should tune in to see if Drew and Shaz are back...and if Paula has added to her sit-up and push-up count.

NOTE:

The sweetener suggested in the recipe is Truvia. Here are two interesting posts about sweeteners – natural and not - from FoodRenegade.com:

Is Truvia Healthy?

My Natural Sweeteners of Choice (I’ve always felt that agave was a bit of a con.)

Tomato Phyllo Tart Made With My New Toy - The Mandolin

Are you all partied out from celebrating the life of the extraordinary Julia Child? This Tomato Phyllo Tart is definitely worthy of taking its place at a Julia party or really any get-together that requires tasty snacks.The mandolin is perfect for slicing the vegetables really thinly and evenly. But I’m the last one to hold it against you if you use a knife, since I started using a mandolin so recently.

One other thing that this dish requires is counter space. You need plenty of room to assemble it and to lay out the phyllo that you’re not using – covered with wax paper and then a damp towel. 

This seems to be the Tomato Phyllo Tart that’s made the most rounds. (Gosh it’s been around for a while!) It uses pesto, feta and breadcrumbs along with the tomatoes.

This one has onion (which I didn’t like on mine and left out of the recipe) and parmesan and mozzarella.

Some notes to help you on your way:

Don’t even think about using phyllo dough that is in any way frozen. Put the whole box in the fridge the day before you’re using it. It’s perfectly okay to refreeze the dough you haven’t used. Just be sure to wrap it really airtight before refreezing. I wrap it in plastic (maybe twice) and then foil. Every area of the dough should be well-covered.

The phyllo sheets that are awaiting their turn should be covered with wax paper or plastic wrap and then a barely damp tea towel.

As you assemble the tart, every bit of the sheet of phyllo (especially the edges) should be lightly brushed with olive oil. (I suppose you could use a nonstick spray to accomplish the same thing, but it wouldn’t have the flavor of the olive oil) To make the final product a little less oily, I like to treat every TWO sheets of phyllo with olive oil. SO instead of a layer of olive oil and parmesan cheese between EVERY sheet of phyllo, I put it in between every TWO.

4 layers of two sheets of phyllo are brushed with oil and sprinkled with parmesan.

                                   Place zucchini slices on the phyllo.

Place feta on each zucchini slice.

Tomatoes go on.

Add herbs and seasoning and the tart is ready to go into the oven.

 

Tomato Phyllo Tart

(Thanks to Eating Well and Sunset magazines for their great recipes.)

Printable recipe here

8 sheets phyllo dough, completely defrosted

2 tbls. olive oil

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 zucchini, sliced thinly (on a mandolin preferably)

¾ cup feta, chopped into a tiny dice OR in crumbles

3 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly (on a mandolin preferably)

1 tbl. fresh thyme leaves

2 tbls. fresh parsley chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

Line a large baking sheet with foil. Spray with a nonstick spray.

Have all ingredients ready to go before you start assembling. Phyllo is a bit of a diva. You don’t want it drying out while you get organized. Keep the phyllo you’re not using covered with wax paper and then a slightly damp tea towel.

Carefully lay 2 sheets of phyllo on prepared baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. (Using a bristled pastry brush is easier than a silicone brush.)  

Sprinkle with one third of the parmesan cheese. Place two more sheets over the top. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with half the remaining parmesan cheese. Place two more sheets over the top. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan cheese. Place the last two sheets of phyllo on top. Brush with olive oil.

Carefully arrange zucchini slices over the dough leaving a good 1/2 inch border. Place a little dice or sprinkle of feta in the center of each zucchini round.

Arrange the tomato slices on top in rows, not overlapping the slices.

Sprinkle over thyme and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the edges are browned and crispy. Cut into large squares and serve warm. 

Julia’s 100th Birthday And A Stunning Admission

Today is the 100th anniversary of Julia Child's birth. How exciting! Well, maybe not so much for HER, but for those of us who love her. It’s particularly interesting when you consider that Mastering the Art of French Cooking wasn’t published until Julia was 50 years old! 

Let's start the celebration with this wonderful PBS-produced video of Julia's cooking (and philosophy of life):

My two favorite lines –

“Bring on the roasted potatoes!” (I’m pretty sure the next line is "Bring on the boar’s head!")

“Freshness is essential. That makes all the difference.”

All across the country there will be dinners, tribute menus and many events in Julia’s honor. I was thinking about how to commemorate her in the most fitting way. Should I cook a many-coursed fancy meal straight out of Mastering? Should I buy some lobsters and have my way with them à la Julia?

No, I decided the best way to remember her was to try something new that I had always been a bit leery of and to challenge myself…culinarily speaking. (There were no zip lines or parachutes involved.)

I’m going to admit something that may shock you, but it’s all with the aim of learning (and maybe teaching others) a new skill. Maybe you share this same secret and maybe this will encourage YOU on a new path.

WHATEVER am I talking about?!! Well, in ALL my cooking years, including cooking school, teaching, working, I have NEVER…

WAIT, I really wonder what you think I’m going to say…hold that thought and tell me later.  

As I was saying…in ALL my cooking years, including cooking school, teaching, working…whatever…I have NEVER…

Wait for it!...

…used a mandolin. NEVER. I have never owned one, I have never even TRIED one. I HAVE admired them from afar, but never close up and personal. A bit ago, Food52 had an offer for a mandolin that caught my eye. It was made of heavy duty plastic with the usual sharp-as-a-razor blade (actually blades). I thought it was really time that I get one. (I didn’t actually buy it from Food52. I got it MUCH cheaper from Amazon.)   

The mandolin arrived and I opened it up and looked at it carefully. It WAS a little scary and the directions were a little unclear.

I put it away until I could devote adequate time to it and every time I thought about using it, I said, oh it’s just faster to grab my knife and slice whatever it is by hand. That was…OVER TWO YEARS AGO!!!

And by the way, 2 months after I bought it, Katie Lee (Joel, at one time) was using a mandolin on the old Early Show on CBS. She told Harry it was the greatest thing ever and he said oh no, it’s way too dangerous for me. She FORCED him to use it and guess what? About 2 seconds later, Harry sliced open his hand and was rushed off the air to the emergency room. That didn’t give me any added confidence about using my new purchase.

But recently I was thinking about Julia and her fearlessness and I found a recipe that I wanted to try that would be perfect for my mandolin. I saw several different versions of Tomato Phyllo Tarts. Each recipe had something to recommend it, but they all featured paper thin (and perfect) slices of tomatoes. I decided to add zucchini as well, to give me something else to practice on. I tweaked and refashioned the recipe a bit and I’ll share it next time.

Back to the mandolin… again I took it out of the box (very gingerly). I opened the directions. After I got my Japanese dictionary out, I was good to go. Actually they were in English (kind of).

I started with the zucchini, NOT using the finger guard when the piece was fairly long.

It did take me a minute to figure out how to adjust the size of each slice. When you twist the green knob in the middle of the back, it loosens the ridged platform of the mandolin. The looser the screw is, the thicker the slice. Conversely, as you tighten it, the slice gets thinner. There is no gauge or way of keeping track how thick you make it, but I guess you use the first few slices to tell.

This is the back of the mandolin.

This is the screw you tighten or loosen to change the size of your slices.

When I got close to the end, I speared the zucchini on the finger guard and continued. It worked beautifully – the mandolin itself AND the finger guard. 

I ended up with thin slices of zucchini that I really don’t think I could have made with my knife. They certainly wouldn’t have been as evenly-sized or equally thin.

I moved on to the tomatoes. Again a triumph of uniformity…and ease.

Oh my! Where has this mandolin been all my life? (in the box…on a shelf…)

I moved on to onions. There were beautiful….although I didn’t like them on the final tart. I’m leaving them out of the recipe, even though they were a lot of fun to slice.

This was what I learned from my sessions with the mandolin: 

Don’t even take it out of the box until you can give it your complete attention. 

Read the directions completely, even though they may not make sense until you’ve sliced your first vegetable. 

Most importantly, focus…and concentrate. Go slow and don’t take your eyes off what you’re doing. (Lack of focus is probably what has caused 90% of my kitchen accidents.)

This was the final product I made in honor of Julia’s centennial birthday. I'll show you the details with the recipe. 

I think Julia would have approved, even though I didn’t see one mention of a mandolin in either volume of Mastering. (The 75th anniversary edition of Joy mentions a mandolin for slicing potatoes.)

Next time - the recipe for my mandolin-ed Tomato Phyllo Tart.