Chard and White Bean Stew

• 1 pound Swiss chard (can also swap kale, spinach or another green), ribs and stems removed and cleaned
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup (5 1/4 ounces) chopped carrots
• 1 cup (5 ounces) chopped celery
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) chopped shallots, about 4 medium
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 15-ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
• 1 cup pureed tomatoes (from a can/carton/your jarred summer supply)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• Toasted bread slices, poached eggs, chopped herbs such as tarragon, parsley or chives or grated Parmesan or Romano to serve (optional)

1. Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook chard (or any heavier green; no need to precook baby spinach) for one minute, then drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Coarsely chop chard.
2. Wipe out medium pot to dry it, and heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes. Barber warns not to brown them but I didn’t mind a light golden color on them. Add wine (scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pot) and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. Or you can ladle the stew over thick piece of toasted country bread or baguette that has been rubbed lightly with half a clove of garlic, top that with a poached egg and a few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese.

RESULTS:  This was very satisfying, especially with the poached egg and the toast. I replaced the celery with mushrooms, and I wish I could say it was because I had some culinary insight, but it was because I did not have celery, but I did have mushrooms that had to be used up. Anyway, it was a good substitution, I'd recommend it.

German Potato Salad

From the Washington Post: This is the potato salad Food contributor David Hagedorn grew up with in Alabama; his stepmother, Barbara, always made a Tupperware vat of it. Whether there were six people or 20, he says, there was never any left over. It is best served at room temperature, and it gets better over the course of a few days. Hagedorn has made a couple of modifications over the years, substituting smoked paprika for regular paprika for a more robust flavor and seasoned rice vinegar for white vinegar.

Makes 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 pounds red bliss potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar (if using unseasoned rice vinegar that does not contain sugar, add 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar)
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Directions:

In a large pot of salted water over medium-high heat, add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and peel while they are as hot as you can handle. Cut one-third of them into 1/2-inch-thick slices directly into a large resealable food storage container. Drizzle one-third of the oil over them, then one-third of the vinegar. Top the potatoes with one-third each of the onions, salt, pepper and parsley, in that order. Repeat the process twice. Sprinkle the salad with the paprika. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate at least overnight.

Turn the container over for several hours so the juices permeate the potatoes. When ready to serve, bring the potato salad to room temperature and serve with a slotted spoon.

Results:

Those among us who do not like onions would not like this potato salad, but I found that it was a nice alternative to mayonnaise-y salad. Personally, I don't understand all that canola oil. I know it's supposed to keep it moist or something, but it was just way too much. Next time, I'll use less oil, and make it olive.

Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]

Adapted from Saveur, stolen from Smitten Kitchen (notes about chiles in ingredient list are from SK)

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I was nervous and only used 2 Anaheims; I would go for 3 or 4 next time for a more moderate but still gentle kick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat [KV: I thought this was a bit too hot on my stove top]. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.

RESULTS:
You know me, I'm all about following the directions (um, just ignore the last three years of blog posts, ok?). Yep, that's me, ol' Follow the Recipe KV. But I just couldn't find the right kind of chiles, okay? I got Anchos. There are a lot of letters in common with Anaheim. They're also both mild to medium heat, but I suspect that if anaheims are the same size as jalepenos, then anchos are much bigger than anaheims. So anyway, because of this, I really can't tell you how many chiles you should use, other than what's written in the recipe. I used three dried anchos (seeded), and the sauce is definitely on the upper end of what I would consider comfortable and starting to immigrate into the Land of Inedible if I eat too fast. I probably have a lower tolerance for heat (well, non-old Bay heat) than your average 20-50 year old, so take that for what you will.

Otherwise, the dish sure looks really pretty. I'm not sure I can tell you what it tastes like. Thanks to my cold I definitely can't tell you what it smells like. But it's pretty. By the way, I had no pitas, so I'm eating this with some leftover rice, which helps a (very) little with the heat.

Beth, Jean and I were pondering over the issue of leftovers. When you're cooking this sort of dish for less than 4 people, how do you save some for later? Other than simply halving the recipe, we decided it would work if you make everything up until the egg. Portion the sauce out and freeze or refrigerate those portions. When you're ready to eat them, just thaw and bring them up to a simmer and add the egg and cheese. As for the portion you're eating the day you make it, move that into a smaller saucepan or pot before adding the egg so there's enough liquid. I haven't frozen and then thawed the sauce yet, so I don't know if this would work, but I freeze tomato sauces all the time and it turns out.

Also, as a side note, do make sure before you put it on the food that your old feta isn't growing un-authorized mold or mildew. That may help you get over your cold, but in this case the cure would be worse than the, uh... illness? I forgot the phrase. You know what I mean.