The Return of the Sharlyn Melon Gazpacho!

Last year during the end of summer melon season, I was craving putting a melon gazpacho together and honestly, this season wasn't any different. I get these cravings, see, to use all the different heirloom and unconventional varieties of melon that just start to pop up in all the markets.

From that craving, we resurrected the sharlyn melon gazpacho at Bennett's last week, so I thought I'd re-post the recipe too!

Did you try this recipe last summer or plan to try it during this one? Let me know what you think in the comments!

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Let me tell you: it is SO FANTASTIC to be back in Seattle and in the Bennett’s kitchen cooking again. Don’t get me wrong. I had an absolute blast in New York the last couple of months, opening the new Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in Manhattan. Now, I've made it back to the Northwest for one of my favorite times of year.

The end of summer is when nature shows us how much more it has to offer than what is available from industrial agriculture. Heirloom varieties abound in August,

and although most people only think of heirloom tomatoes, I get really excited about unconventional types of melon! And not what I call the Bud-Miller-Coors of the melon world: cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon. Those are great and they certainly have their place. But when you look at other melons like hami or guia, you’re really starting to get into the good stuff! On that note, this week’s recipe is a summery gazpacho made from sharlyn melon instead of tomato. It’s got a crisp flavor with a little bit of heat that adds a complexity you don’t always get with gazpacho.

Sharlyn Melon Gazpacho with Grilled Spicy Prawns
Serves 6

Paprika Chile Oil
1 cup olive oil
1 jalapeño, peeled, seeded, chopped
3 Tbsp paprika
½ tsp red chile flakes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Old Bay

Gazpacho
1 1/2 cup poblano or pascilla peppers
1 sharlyn melon, peeled, large chop
2 ears of corn, shucked, stripped
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp lime juice
2 Fresno peppers, seeded, small dice
1 1/2 cup  jicama, peeled, small dice
1/2 mint leaf

Prawns
2 1/2 pounds or 30 prawns, cleaned, peeled

For the paprika chile oil, combine all of the ingredients, except the salt and Old Bay, together in a sauce pan and bring the mixture to 170°F for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let sit for an hour before straining it through a coffee filter. Discard the solids and reserve the sauce. (This is our original recipe for the Paprika Chile Oil, but for the purposes of this dish, stir in the salt and the Old Bay.)

Char the poblanos over flame until soft, then remove from the heat and sweat in a covered container for 30 minutes.

While the poblanos are sweating, pulse the melons in a food processor to break them up. Blend the melon until it is mostly smooth, but still has some melon chunks. Do not overblend. Set aside.

Skin the poblanos most of the way, leaving a little of the charred skin. Cut open the poblanos and seed them. Combine the poblanos with the melon in the food processor and blend together. Mix in half of the corn, the salt, honey and lime juice and blend again.

In a small bowl, toss together the remaining corn, Fresno peppers, jicama and mint.

Toss the prawns with approximately quarter cup of the augmented paprika chile oil (depending on the size of your prawns) so they are wet but not dripping. Grill over medium heat for about four minutes a side, enough to cook through and get a little char.

To serve, place the jicama mixture in the center of a large serving bowl and pour the gazpacho around it. Place the shrimp on top of the jicama mixture in the center of the bowl. Serve chilled.

You’ll end up with more of the paprika chile oil than you’ll need for this recipe, but it’s a great flavoring oil to have around! We use it at Bennett’s on our Mushroom Tart and with our Curry Mussels (when we serve them). If you come up with some other great uses for it, let us know in the comments!

Potluck Potato Salad

I recently had an unexpected day by myself at home after returning from the American Cheese Society Conference in Raleigh, NC. What do I do when I I’ve got no plans and a sunny day alone ahead of me?

I cook!

I did a little recipe research and then hustled to the market for ingredients and further inspiration. Back in my kitchen in no time, it was like my own culinary amusement park. It wasn’t too long before a friend of mine dropped by to hang out and help me out, and by dinner time my house had inadvertently become the scene of a spontaneous and sizable dinner party. Hosting a bunch of dear friends after a day in the kitchen is just about the best day I can think of (second only to a similar day that includes my family).

I figure a lot of people are enjoying summer evening dinner parties right now with their friends and family, so today’s recipe is a twist on the potluck classic, potato salad. Rather than sopping with mayonnaise, this one is vinaigrette-based and features the red cabbage peperonata that you may recognize from one of my previous posts. The potato salad went great with an all-beef burger that we served at Bennett’s a few days later along with some other specials inspired by that dinner party.

Late Summer Potato Salad
(Yield about 12 servings)

5 pounds red potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces, skin on

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup  olive oil
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound peperonata
1-1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2-1/2 ears)
1/2 cup shredded Flagship cheese
3 green onion tops sliced very thinly

Cook the potatoes in salted, boiling water about 10 minutes or until not quite tender. 

Drain the potatoes and set aside.

Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, and pepper together until evenly mixed. In a large bowl, gently combine the cooked potatoes and dressing.  Refrigerate until cool.

Before serving, fold in the peperonata, corn, cheese and green onions until well mixed.

Enjoy! 

Roasted Poblano Relish

I love tacos. They are a go-to stand-by in my house. From the standard chicken or beef to roasted cauliflower, my family has seen (and tasted) the whole spectrum of these little build-your-own-adventures in eating.

In preparing an homage to the humble yet mighty taco for the Bennett’s special last week, I created something using one of my favorite peppers, the poblano. To make it more interesting than just regular roasted bits, I upped the ante to come up with this relish with a little bit of heat and a lot of flavor.

 

Roasted Poblano Relish

 

6 poblano peppers

2 habanero peppers halved and seeded

2 cloves fresh garlic

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp Salt

Roast the whole poblano peppers over a grill or open flame, at the equivalent of medium-high heat. Turn the peppers occasionally (using tongs) to get an even blistered char on the skin. (Alternatively, the chilis can be roasted under the broiler at high heat.)

Remove them from the heat and place in a covered dish or paper bag to cool and sweat the skins. Once cooled, rub off most of charred skin, cut off the tops, and remove the seeds. Reserve the peppers.

In a food processor add the oil, vinegar, garlic and seeded habañeros. Process until garlic and peppers are fully chopped. Add the reserved roasted poblanos, the honey, and the salt. Pulse until rough chopped. Season to taste.

At Bennett's, We served this salsa with handmade corn tortillas, guacamole made from some of our kitchen staff's family recipe, some Flagship cheese, cilantro & red cabbage slaw, steak, chicken, and shrimp. What are your favorite taco toppings? Where else would you use this condiment? Tell me in the comments!

Duck Fat-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Today’s recipe was kind of like a Brussels sprouts migration. I had first come across it at Barbacco in San Francisco, where I tried their signature Brussels sprouts fried in duck fat with capers, anchovy, and red wine vinaigrette. Inspired, I threw together a recipe to bring up on a ski trip to Crystal Mountain, to test it out on some of my friends. With a little tweaking, I introduced it to The Cellar at Beecher’s in New York, adding Marco Polo cheese, some breadcrumbs, and a hanger steak. When I brought it to Bennett’s, in honor of the recent release of Beecher’s “World’s Best” Gluten Free Mac & Cheese, I turned it into a gluten free version, replacing the breadcrumbs with slightly crisped wild rice.

Duck Fat-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4 (as a side dish)

1 cup wild rice
2 cups chicken stock or water
pinch of salt

1 lb Brussels sprouts
¼ cup duck fat
1/2 cup Marco Polo cheese
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch of black pepper
pinch of salt

Prepare the rice beforehand, boiling it in two cups of chicken stock (or water) for about 45 minutes to an hour. Once soft, remove the rice and reserve.

Cut the Brussels sprouts into halves while bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the sprouts in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then remove them and put them in an ice bath for an hour. Remove them from the ice bath and let them dry for about an hour. Make sure they are dry, because if they are still wet when you toss them in the sautée pan, the excess water will cause the fat to splatter and will make them harder to caramelize.

While the sprouts are drying, grate the Marco Polo with the largest setting possibly on your cheese grater. Pieces should be 2 inches by 1/4 inch.

Once dry, heat the duck fat in a large sauce pan until nearly smoking and add the Brussels sprouts, cooking for about 5 to 6 minutes, until caramelized with a little crispiness. About a minute before they’re ready, add all the other ingredients and stir together, including the rice and the cheese. Season to taste, finishing to caramelization of the Brussels sprouts and a slight crispiness in the rice.

At Bennett's, we served it atop a red pepper puree with a big hanger steak.

 What would you serve this with? How would you tweak it to serve it to YOUR friends and family? Let me know by commenting below!

Beecher's Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

I’m excited to announce today’s release of Beecher's "World's Best" Gluten Free Mac & Cheese!

We've had requests about a gluten free version of our mac & cheese for almost as long as we've been selling it.

The hardest part was finding a noodle that was just right. A lot of gluten free products are ok, but they leave you with that feeling of “this is pretty good… for being gluten free.” If we were going to do gluten free mac, we wanted it to stand on its own, to be comparable to our “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese. After a lot of searching and testing, we finally found a rice noodle that was just right, which we’re importing directly from Italy just for the gluten free mac.

For now, you can get it at Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Pike Place or at the Pasta & Co stores in Bellevue and University Village for $13.95 plus tax.

Please let me know what you think about the gluten free mac in the comments below!

Farro Bacon Wild Rice Cake

Tossing onions in the Bennett's kitchen.

Most weeks, I share a recipe adapted from what we served the previous week at Bennett's. I love spending time in their kitchen, but I don't often get a chance to talk about how much I also enjoy working with the kitchen staff at the Pasta & Co.'s.

This recipe was served at Bennett's over the weekend, but the dish was all built around the awesome texture and flavor of this outside-the-box wild rice cake we developed for the deli case at Pasta & Co.

It's important to bake them just right, because the crisped outside and soft inside is a great contrast that makes it really versatile. They make a healthy snack on their own, or you can combine them with greens and protein for a well-rounded meal.



Farro Bacon Wild Rice Cake

Makes 7-8
3-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 package Blue Bird Farms Potlatch Pilaf (1.18 lb. bag)
1 tsp. kosher salt (if necessary)

6 oz. uncured bacon
1/2 red onion

1 egg
1 Tbsp. Maximus/Minimus seasoning blend (available at Pasta & Co.)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1-1/2 tsp. sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

4 oz Flagship cheese, very coarsely shredded or crumbled
1/3 cup chopped, fresh, flat leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot (if unsalted add the kosher salt). Stir in the farro mix, lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Most of the liquid should be absorbed and the grains should be al dente. Remove from heat and decant into a bowl. Chill.

While the farro is cooking, using a food processor, process the bacon to a fine dice and then transfer to a medium saucepan. Mince the onion in the food processor.
Over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally to render the fat, about 10 minutes.  The bacon should be brown. Add the red onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Remove from the heat and chill.

Combine the cooled farro and bacon mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, Maximus/Minimus Seasoning Blend, thyme, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Add the farro mixture to the bowl and, with your hand, thoroughly mix the farro and egg mixtures. Gently fold in the cheese and parsley.

Using a ring mold (or your hands), form the mixture into uniform cakes approximately 1-inch tall and 3-inches across. Place on an oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Let the cakes sit for a couple of minutes before removing from the pan.

At Bennett's, we served it with grilled King salmon, braised fennel and tomato broth.

Try out the recipe and please comment below on what you served with it!

Let me take a moment to say: I really, REALLY love fennel.
We braised them simply with some salt, lemon juice
and olive oil at 375 for about an hour and they were A-MAZ-ING.