Radish Greens Pesto

On a gorgeous January Sunday two weeks ago I spent the morning trailing Chef Norbert Moniz around the Hillcrest Farmers Market. Moniz runs the kitchens at Blind Lady Alehouse and Tiger! Tiger!.

I met him just before 8 a.m. at Tiger! Tiger! and we headed out in his fire engine red Ford Ranger pick up. On our drive over to the market Moniz told me that he's been in San Diego for about a year after spending six years working in Chicago. Originally from Santa Clarita, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, Moniz attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and then ran a little restaurant in Santa Barbara. Concerned that he wasn't learning enough, he gave his notice and packed two bags--one with his clothes and other personal stuff, the other with hockey gear, and took off for Chicago. It was there he seems to have truly learned his trade, after working for what he calls "a lot of great chefs."

After six years, the SoCal native had had enough of Chicago winters and learned from a friend working at Blind Lady Ale House that there was an opening for a chef at Tiger! Tiger!. He got the job. That was a year ago. Now he oversees Tiger! Tiger! and Blind Lady.

Clearly, Moniz loves what he does--to the extent that on Sundays, his day off, he's up early to pick up orders and shop at the Hillcrest Farmers Market and then deliver his groceries to the chefs at the three restaurants.

"I do it because it gets me up and out of bed, I get to hang out with friends at the market, and I can see what's coming in," he says. "And I can geek out with my chefs over the produce when I deliver it."

While we were picking up orders from farmers at the market I came across the most gorgeous Easter Egg radishes at the Maciel Family Farm stand, where Moniz bought beets, mixed greens, butternut squash, fennel, kale, turnips, and other vegetables. Over the years I've bought from them, too, and was delighted to meet owner Paul and his daughter Sara, who is very involved in 4H. The family farm is up in Bonsall, where they also grow flowers.

Moniz was singing the praises of the Maciel's mixed greens so I bought a bag, but I couldn't take my eyes off the plump and colorful radishes so I bought a bunch of them, too. When I got them home I cut the stems off and, unlike your typical sad, wilted supermarket bunches, they were so fresh I couldn't bear to toss them. I'd sautéed radish greens with garlic before so I knew how wonderfully peppery they are. But what to do with them now?

I had to decide quickly. What you learn about radish greens is that they have a pretty short shelf life. I could make soup with them, make a stir fry, roast them, add them to pasta or an omelet, or make a salad with them.

Or, hmmm, make pesto. I had all the ingredients I needed, including a fresh bottle of herbaceous young olive oil from California Olive Ranch that would match the spicy radish leaves.

The first thing you need to do with radish leaves is wash them. Thoroughly. As root vegetables, the greens are close to the ground and seem to attract dirt like spinach. I did several rounds in a salad spinner before I got the grit off to my satisfaction. Once washed and dried I gave them a rough chopping for the blender.

With that, it's just a matter of grating your favorite hard cheese (I used Parmesan), toasting walnuts to bring out their flavor, and trimming some garlic cloves. You'll want to add a touch of butter to round out the flavor, and some salt--but not much because of the saltiness of the cheese.

After that you'll put everything but the oil in the bowl of a blender or food processor and gradually add in the oil until it reaches a smooth and creamy pourable consistency. Then you have the perfect sauce for pasta, salmon, roasted vegetables and all sorts of other dishes.

You can find the Maciel Family Farm at the Hillcrest, Coronado, Oceanside, Old Town Temecula, and Old Town Poway farmers markets. 

Radish Greens Pesto
(printable recipe)
Yield: 2 cups

6 ounces radish leaves, with tough stems removed (save and snack on them or add to a stir fry)
1 cup walnuts, toasted
5 cloves garlic, peeled and trimmed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Pinch of salt
3/4 to 1 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil

After removing the tough stems, wash and dry the leaves thoroughly and roughly chop.

In the bowl of a blender or food processor, add the leaves, walnuts, garlic, cheese, butter, and salt. Put the lid on but leave the opening available to add the oil. Turn on the machine and slowly add the oil. Puree the contents until the mixture reaches a loose, creamy consistency. Periodically, stop and scrape down the sides to incorporate all the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

You can keep the pesto refrigerated for up to a week, although it's best used right away. Be sure to pour some oil over the surface to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. Or you can freeze it.

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Gremolata-Style Roasted Turnips

There are reasons why some recipes are classic. The ingredient combinations are so natural that you automatically turn to them, even when you aren't consciously creating a dish with a "name."

That happened to me last weekend. Here I was with several lovely turnips I bought at the Vang's Farm stall a couple of weeks ago at the Little Italy Mercato. I'd completely forgotten about them but being root vegetables in the refrigerator, they were very forgiving and ready to be used. I knew I wanted to roast them but I didn't really have a plan for how to flavor them.

So, I went into my little garden for inspiration. There was some tarragon I'd just planted, so I took several stems of that. There was a bush of Italian parsley, absolutely thriving due to the alternating rains and sunshine, and I clipped a bit of that. Ah, my Meyer lemon tree had a lovely lemon newly ripened. Perfect. And all that hard-neck garlic I'm growing have beautiful flowing greens. They wouldn't mind a little nip in a few places. Back in the house I pulled out some butter and olio nuovo from California Olive Ranch. Ah, a few cloves of garlic. And a bag of panko came out of the freezer.

I minced. I grated. I squeezed. I ran it all in my little mini prep blender and had what looked like Green Goddess dressing but was actually a variation on traditional gremolata--lemon, parsley, and garlic. True gremolata wouldn't have the fats I added, but I needed them in the roasting process.

The turnips got a bath in the mixture, and were then topped with the panko before going into a 425-degree oven to roast alongside a whole chicken leg rubbed earlier in the day with equal amounts of salt and baking powder for a crispy skin and then topped with minced fresh thyme and garlic butter from Bonelli Fine Food. After about half an hour the turnips were sweet and tender on the inside but had a wonderfully crispy exterior thanks to the panko crumbs. (The chicken was terrific, too!) Next time, I'll probably add either anchovies or capers to add a bit of a salty edge to complement the sweet root. 

 

Gremolata-Style Roasted Turnips
Serves 3 to 4

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons garlic greens, minced (optional)
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, minced
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, minced
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 1 1/2 pounds medium-sized turnips
1/2 cup Panko crumbs

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a mini food processor, combine all the ingredients except the Panko crumbs and turnips. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.
3. Combine the gremolata-style mixture with the turnips until they're thoroughly coated and place in a single layer in a roasting pan or baking dish. Sprinkle the turnips with the Panko.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until brown and a knife inserted into the turnips goes in smoothly.


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Homegrown Winter Salad

I am so grateful to have a garden. Yes, it's small but I've managed to fit in a pomegranate tree, a couple of dwarf Meyer lemon trees, a dwarf mandarin orange, a variety of herbs, and plenty of succulents. This winter I picked up a treasure trove of hard-necked garlic varieties that grow well in moderate climates, like mine in San Diego. Each clove has put out shoots but summer is a long time coming. So I also planted some greens. Tatsoi, escarole, broccoli spigarello, Swiss chard, endive, and others are going gangbusters now, especially since the rains have ceased and the sun has been out.

Now, these aren't planted in the ground. They're in a large pot on my patio where I get more sun this time of year. It's also a little insurance that my cat won't dig them up. So, in fact, this is something apartment or condo dwellers with a sunny balcony can easily do. I picked up these as seedlings from Whole Earth Acre Nursery's stand at the Hillcrest Farmers Market. They're a favorite vendor of mine because they sell healthy and hard-to-find plants. I've bought epazote and mojito mint from them, as well as French tarragon and a variety of unusual basils. 

Today was warm enough that I was in the mood for a salad and that all I had to do was just step outside my kitchen with a pair of scissors and cut some greens for lunch. I kept it simple, just adding a few sliced heirloom cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, and feta.

 
The dressing? An easy vinaigrette using olio nuovo I buy every fall from  California Olive Ranch and sherry vinegar. Olio nuovo is the first press of the season. The olives are young and so you get a very spicy, fruity, and enjoyably bitter flavor compared to more mellow flavors from olives harvested later in the season.

Truly, there's no reason to buy bottled dressing when it take so little effort to make something delicious yourself. For a traditional vinaigrette all you need to remember is the ratio of oil (3) to vinegar (1). Add a minced clove of garlic, a bit of mustard to help emulsify the components, and a little salt and pepper to taste, and you're good to go. In fact, most of the time, I put all the ingredients in a small glass jar, screw on the lid and shake it until it comes together. You don't need any fancy kitchen tools, although I also make it using a mortar and pestle to completely grind the garlic and salt into a paste before adding the other ingredients. The result is a very smooth garlicky sauce.

Of course, there are many variations on vinaigrettes that can help change up the flavors to match your mood or meal. I've added minced preserved lemon, various herbs--basil, dill, tarragon, and oregano come to mind--chopped and powdered peppers to add punch and flavor, and fruit juices to add sweetness.

Another favorite dressing is from a recipe my dad gave me. It's odd but delicious, using anchovies and both Parmesan and feta for a creamy, salty experience. If a salad dressing or dip can be hearty, this would be it.

Hearts of Romaine Salad

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard or to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 to 8 anchovy fillets, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh lemon or lime to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade or in a blender. Process until the mixture comes together. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Use as a salad dressing or dip for Romaine leaves.

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