Recipe: Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Chorizo, Spinach, Lemon, and Pancetta & Chorizo and Spinach Pilaf

I hit the Taste and Create mother lode this month.

Taste and Create is an event organized by For the Love of Food. In this event, food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook and review one recipe from their partner’s blog.

Taking part in Taste and Create can be a challenge. Participants come from very different backgrounds and have widely divergent interests. But the commitment you make when signing up for Taste and Create is to cook from your partner’s blog, whether or not their recipes are ones you’d otherwise make.

I like Taste and Create for the same reason I liked grab bags as a kid; you never know what you’ll get until you open the bag.

This month, Abby at Eat the Right Stuff is my Taste and Create partner. The recipes on her blog, which was new to me, are wonderful; I wanted to make them all. The ingredients and seasonings she uses are the ones I love most. Abby’s writing is easy to understand and her photographs inspirational. Like I said, I hit the mother lode.

As soon as I read the description “pork stuffed with pork wrapped with pork,” I had to make Abby’s recipe for Stuffed Pork Tenderloin. As Abby promised, the caramelized onion, chorizo, lemon, and spinach stuffing was fabulous, and the accompanying rice worth making on its own.

I did have to deal with the typical vagaries and ingredient difficulties that always exist when making a recipe created in another country. For example, the recipe calls for “2 picante (hot) chorizo sausages.” I don't know about London (where Abby lives), but in the US, chorizo comes in many sizes and forms, including fresh and dry-cured, and is imported from many different countries.

I ultimately decided the stuffing would be good with any of the multitude of available chorizos. I ended up using a dry-cured chorizo seasoned with hot smoked paprika made in Spain by Palacios (and bought at Sagaya in Anchorage). For those who don’t have access to chorizo, hot Italian sausage would be a good substitute.

Spicy chorizo, earthy spinach, and bright-flavored lemon combine to make a delicious stuffing for mild-flavored pork tenderloin. The pork is finished with a crispy pancetta wrapping and served on a bed of surprisingly good Chorizo and Spinach Pilaf.

Photograph by Abby at Eat the Right Stuff

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Chorizo, Spinach, Lemon, and Pancetta & Chorizo and Spinach Pilaf
Serves 4 - 6
Adapted from Eat the Right Stuff
If you can’t find chorizo, substitute your favorite salami or fresh hot Italian sausage.

1 pork tenderloin (1 – 1 1/4 pounds)
1 8-ounce dry-cured hot chorizo sausage
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion, 1/4” dice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
9 ounces cleaned and roughly chopped spinach, divided
3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
16 slices of pancetta (see NOTE)
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups chicken stock

Preat the oven to 400°F.

Wash the pork and dry it well. Cut the pork in half, lengthwise. Place the pork between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it with a meat pounder (or rolling pin) to flatten it slightly.

Remove the casing from the chorizo and cut the meat into 1/4” dice.

Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until it softens and starts to turn golden. Add the diced chorizo and cook until the onions begin to caramelize. Remove half the onions and chorizo and most of the oil to a bowl and reserve it for making the pilaf.

Add half the spinach to the pan and cook, stirring regularly, until it wilts. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Season well with black pepper. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Line up the slices of pancetta so they are slightly overlapping to form a pancetta rectangle. Top with half the pork tenderloin, then the stuffing, and then the remaining tenderloin. Wrap the pancetta around the tenderoin to fully encase it. Put the roll in a roasting pan, with the pancetta seam side down. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

While the tenderloin is roasting, make the pilaf: Put the reserved onion, chorizo, and oil in a pan and heat. When it starts sizzling, add the rice and stir well to coat the grains with oil. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in the stock and bring it to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat to low, and let the rice cook for 20 minutes. When the rice is done, stir in the remaining half of the spinach.

Serve slices of Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Chorizo, Spinach, Lemon, and Pancetta over a bed of Spinach and Chorizo Pilaf.

NOTE: The pancetta slices must be long enough to wrap all the way around the stuffed tenderloin; this size of pancetta is available only from deli counters and specialty stores in most of the US. Too often, the only readily available pancetta is sold in pre-sliced 3-ounce vacuum-packed plastic bags. These pieces of pancetta aren’t long enough to wrap the tenderloin; if this is the only kind available, buy two 3-ounce bags to make sure there is enough pancetta.

Announcing the ENMAPYMMD Food Blog Awards

It’s been seven months since I started writing regularly for Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. From fall’s end, through a late April snowfall, and now in spring, I’ve cooked and photographed and written, and learned a lot in the process.

I’ve also had a crash course in the world of food blogs; there are thousands. I struggle to make time to read my favorite blogs; the frustrating truth is there aren’t enough hours in the day to read all those I love.

The writing, the photographs, the recipes, all inspire me. From different countries and backgrounds, different ages and genders, different tastes and sensibilities, the width and breadth of culinary writing on the web never ceases to amaze.

In recent months, I’ve been honored to receive several awards from my fellow food-bloggers: Gay from Cakelaw in Australia (Excellence Award), Ivy from Kopiaste in Greece (Nice Matters Award), Peter from Souvlaki for the Soul in Australia (Arte y Pico Award), Manuela from Baking History (You Make My Day Award), and Manju from Three Tastes in Hawaii (Excellence Award). I’m humbly grateful. Gay, Ivy, Peter, Manuela, and Manju: Thank you so much!

All who gave me awards also deserve them, but I’m not allowed to give the same awards back. Instead, I’m making some new awards: to Cakelaw for Inspired Baking, to Kopiaste for Top Chef: Greek, to Souvlaki for the Soul for Outstanding Food Photography, to Baking History for Best Use of Historical Recipes, and to Three Tastes for Kitchen Creativity and Spiritual Healing.

With each award came a request that I pass it on to others. Instead of parsing out who gets which award, I’m awarding a combined Excellence-Nice Matters-Arte y Pico-You Make My Day (ENMAPYMMD) award to a few of my favorite food writer-photographers.

The ENMAPYMMD Awards go to:

Maria from Organically Cooked in Hania, Crete. Maria cooks traditional Cretan fare, and entertainingly describes the scenes and characters that make up her daily life. I’m drawn to Maria’s wry sense of humor and unique role as an insider-outsider in Crete (Maria is a native New Zealander of Cretan heritage.). Her stories are endlessly fascinating.

Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook in the New York area and Lucy from Nourish Me in Australia. I read today they are friends, which is fitting, as Susan and Lucy are the two best writers among all the blogs I read. I dream about having their abilities to evoke moods and flavors. Their recipes are always interesting, and their photography beautiful.

Riana from Garlic Breath and These Days in French Life. Riana lives with her French husband and daughter in the south of France and works harder than anyone I know to avoid consumerism and live life consciously. Riana and her family haven’t shopped since August 2007 except for food (and not even food in January and February). Though her choices may not be for everyone, Riana’s infectious enthusiasm is a welcome balance to the consumer-oriented world in which we live.

Lulu from Mama’s Taverna in California. Lulu makes me laugh. She’s a good cook with a great ear for dialogue. I eagerly anticipate her new posts.

Mag from Hommus with Tabbouli. Mag is Lebanese, but lives in Virginia. I ended up at Mag’s blog one day by accident and in it discovered one of the best English-language Lebanese cookbooks available. I love Lebanese food and Mag more than does it justice.

Núria from Spanish Recipes in Barcelona, Spain. Núria is one of the nicest people in the blogosphere and her traditional Spanish recipes are mouth-wateringly good. Núria’s extensive and very clear pictures make it easy to recreate her recipes in the US.

Ronell from My French Kitchen in France. Ronell is a skilled painter and her art and creativity inspire seasonal recipes and gorgeous photographs. Ronell’s blog has taken me from her herb garden and atelier to the banks of the Loire; visiting My French Kitchen suffuses me with a sense of peace and well being.

There aren’t any rules for the ENMAPYMMD awards, so I encourage awardees and readers alike to give them out freely to their favorite food writers and photographers. The more credit and encouragement we give our peers, the stronger all our blogs will be.

Bob the Bird-Watcher

Recipe for Devil’s Club Gnocchi (or Spinach Gnocchi) with Gorgonzola Sauce

I’ve always played with my food and eaten with my fingers. As a child, these habits got me into trouble. As an adult, they led me into the kitchen; there’s no more satisfying way than cooking to play with your food.

My favorite kind of playing with food involves foraging. Rooting around outside to harvest tasty wild plants is, in itself, great entertainment. Being able to experiment with their unusual flavors in the kitchen is the bonus prize.

I wrote about the unique flavor of devil’s club, a wild plant growing primarily on the Pacific coast of the United States from Alaska to California, in this post: How to Harvest Devil’s Club Shoots and Recipe for Sautéed Devil’s Club Shoots with Onions.

Yesterday, I played with devil’s club shoots. First, I made Devil’s Club Pesto (splendid and coming soon). Continuing the Italian theme, I made Devil’s Club Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce, adapting a Mario Batali recipe for a similarly sauced Spinach Gnocchi.

The result was even better than I’d expected, and my expectations were high. The fresh and slightly resiny flavor of devil’s club shoots was balanced perfectly by a deliciously creamy gorgonzola sauce. I’ll definitely make this again.

I also tried the Devil’s Club Gnocchi with a quick tomato sauce. This flavor combination didn’t work. Or maybe it’s just the gorgonzola sauce was so much better that the tomato-devil’s club combination paled in comparison.

For the 99% of my readers who don’t have access to devil’s club shoots, make the gnocchi with spinach. Or nettles. Or whatever flavorful green strikes your fancy.

Go ahead; play with your food.

Devil’s Club Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce
Serves 4
Adapted from Molto Mario
After blanching the devil’s club shoots in salted, boiling water, squeeze out as much water from them as possible; this is easiest to do using a clean dish towel as a wringer. For how to gather, clean, and blanch devil's club shoots, go here.

Gnocchi:
2 cups cleaned, blanched, and wrung-out devil’s club shoots
1 pound potatoes
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 – 1 cup all-purpose flour

Gorgonzola Sauce:
1 1/2 cups crumbled gorgonzola (6 ounces)
1/4 cup butter (2 ounces – 1/2 stick)
2 Tbsp. Pernod
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper (optional)
Finely ground black pepper
1/4 chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped chives

Make the Gnocchi: Chop the devil’s club in a food processor (or with a knife) until it is very fine.

Cut the potatoes in large chunks and cook them in boiling salted water until tender. Peel the potatoes and put them through a food mill (or whip until very smooth).

Mix the devil’s club, potatoes, egg, and salt (don’t use a food processor). Stir in 3/4 cup flour. Dump the dough on a floured surface. Knead lightly, adding flour as necessary to prevent the dough from being sticky.

Divide the dough into 2” balls. Using your fingertips, roll out each ball on a floured surface into a long, 3/4” diameter, rope. Cut the rope into 3/4” pieces. To make ridged gnocchi, roll each piece of dough off the back of a fork, pressing lightly down as you roll. Put the finished gnocchi on a lightly floured surface, in a single layer.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Put 1/3 of gnocchi in the boiling water. When they float, use a slotted spoon to remove them to a bowl of ice water. Cook the remaining 2 batches of gnocchi and put them in ice water. Drain well.

Make the Sauce: In a pan large enough to hold all the gnocchi, melt the gorgonzola and butter over medium heat. Stir in the Pernod, Aleppo pepper, and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until the liquid evaporates, 4 – 5 minutes. Add the gnocchi, and toss to distribute the sauce. Add the parsley and half the chives and toss again. Divide between 4 plates and sprinkle with the remaining chives. Serve immediately.

Spinach Gnocchi
Replace the devil’s club with 2 pounds fresh spinach (2 bunches) that have been washed, blanched, and wrung out. (Wash the spinach and remove the stems. Blanch in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Remove the spinach to a bowl of ice water. Drain and squeeze out as much water from the spinach as possible; this is easiest to do using a clean dish towel as a wringer.)
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This is my entry for Vegetables, Beautiful Vegetables 2008 hosted by Abby at Eat the Right Stuff.

How to Harvest Devil’s Club Shoots and Recipes for Sautéed Devil’s Club Shoots with Onions & Crispy Chicken with Roasted Garlic

Devil's Club Towering Over Teeny Metcalfe
Treadwell Mine, Douglas, Alaska
Photograph by Ray Brudie

Devil’s club leaf shoots are the ultimate seasonal treat – they’re edible for only a few days a year and taste wonderful. They have a resiny, almost piney, odor when first picked that is tamed, but doesn’t dissipate entirely, when heated. Cooked devil's club shoots have a uniquely energizing and complex flavor that tastes like nothing else I’ve ever eaten.

In spring, I check the devil’s club on our property daily, anxious lest I miss the narrow harvesting window. Once they’re ready, we immediately head out with bags and baskets in hand to pick our fill of this unusual spring green.

When I mention how good devil’s club shoots taste, I often get looks of disbelief from those who have fallen victim to the spines that cover its stalks and the underside of its giant leaves.

Devil’s club (Echinopanax horridum, also known as Oplopanax horridus) is the bane of hikers and bushwhackers in coastal forests from southcentral Alaska to northern California and east to Montana. It's also found on a few islands in Lake Superior.

Devil's club's sharp spines painfully puncture skin and can be difficult to dislodge. (While I'm on the topic, if you get attacked by devil's club spines, the best way to remove them is with tweezers.)Because it’s such a large plant and grows in wide swaths, devil’s club renders impassable the areas where it’s found in abundance.

In spring, before it has leaves, patches of devil’s club look like dried brown sticks, covered from top to bottom with nasty spines. When the leaf buds first appear, they’re cloaked in a thin brown sheath.

Close up of Devil's Club leaf spines before they harden

Once the leaf buds break through their inedible sheaths, and are 1” – 2” long, they are edible. At this stage, their leaf spines are soft and pliable. When the spines harden, the leaf shoots can no longer be eaten.

Harvesting devil’s club shoots can be tricky because it requires you to carefully pick your way through large patches of prickly stalks, which hurt if you grab them. The ground where devil’s club grows is uneven and often moist, so great care must be taken not to fall among the painful spines.

It’s also important to wear sturdy clothes when harvesting devil’s club. If you brush against a stalk of devil’s club, the spines can embed themselves in your clothing and try to work their way through to your skin.

When you’re done harvesting, check your clothes over carefully and remove any lurking spines, or they’ll stab you the next time you wear the clothes.

How to Harvest Devil’s Club Shoots
Carefully grasp the green leaf bud, bend it down, and it will snap off. Be careful how you do this, as you can easily drive the surrounding spines into your hand as you’re breaking off the bud. I learned this lesson the hard way; and more than once.

Blanched Devil's Club Shoots

How to Prepare Devil’s Club Shoots for Use in Recipes
Carefully pick through the devil’s club shoots and discard any twigs, leaves, spines, damaged shoots, or leaf sheaths. Wash twice in cold water to remove all extraneous debris. Fill a clean sink or large bowl with cold water. Blanch the cleaned shoots in a large pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain the shoots and immediately plunge them into the cold water. Drain well. The devil’s club shoots are now ready to use in recipes, and may be frozen for later use.

Unless I’m finely chopping or puréeing the greens, I separate the multiple leaf shoots that make up a single devil’s club leaf bud. There are both male and female leaf buds; the females have a tiny green cone in the center that eventually will flower. Both types of leaf buds are edible.

Sautéed Devil’s Club Shoots with Onions
Serves 4
Sautéed Devil’s Club Shoots go well with Crispy Chicken with Roasted Garlic, any seafood or poultry dish, with pasta, or on their own.

1 cup thinly sliced yellow onions
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil (use the oil from browning chicken if you are making it)
2 cups cleaned blanched and separated devil’s club shoots (see above)
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper (optional)

Sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to brown. Stir in the blanched devil’s club shoots and Aleppo pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, or until the moisture from the blanched devil’s club has evaporated and the shoots are cooked through. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. Serve immediately.

Crispy Chicken with Roasted Garlic
Serves 4 – 6
This recipe is quick and easy; the chicken is crispy without being oily. The soft and sweet roasted garlic goes particularly well with green vegetables, including Sautéed Devil’s Club Shoots with Onions. Be sure and brown the chicken pieces in two batches; if you crowd all the chicken into the pan at one time, the chicken will steam rather than brown.

3 heads garlic
1 4-pound whole chicken, cut up, or 4 pounds chicken thighs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Separate the heads of garlic into cloves. Peel the cloves and cut off the hard bits at the root end of the cloves.

Wash the chicken pieces and dry them well. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper (don’t stint on the seasoning).

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron (or other) skillet until it’s very hot, but not smoking (if the oil is very hot, the chicken skin is less likely to stick to the pan). Place half the chicken pieces in the pan, skin side down, and let cook until the skin is well browned; this takes about 5 minutes on each side. Don’t turn the chicken or fidget with it until the skin is fully browned, or the chicken won’t cook properly. Turn over and brown the other side of the chicken. Put the browned chicken in a roasting pan skin side up. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

When all the chicken is in the roasting pan, add the peeled garlic to the skillet and sauté for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is lightly browned. Evenly distribute the browned garlic among the chicken in the roasting pan.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Separate the pan juices from the fat. Serve with a few cloves of roasted garlic and drizzle with the defatted pan juices.
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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Cate of Sweetnicks.

How to Harvest Fireweed Shoots with Recipe for Fireweed Shoot Omelet

After the Fire: Destruction Bay, Yukon Territories, Canada

Photograph by Teeny Metcalfe

Fireweed shoot season is upon Southcentral Alaska.

Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) grows along Alaska’s roadways and waste areas (and throughout North America as far south as California in the west and the Carolinas in the east). Spreading rapidly on underground runners, fireweed is one of the first plants to reestablish itself after forest fires.

Fireweed’s brilliant magenta flowers brighten Alaska’s summer landscape and, in the kitchen, are an attractive salad garnish. The flowers are also the source of fireweed honey, a popular Alaskan sweetener.

In spring, when fireweed first emerges from the ground, its shoots are edible and similar to wild asparagus. As they grow, fireweed stalks remain edible in the sense they aren’t harmful to humans but, for me, become unacceptably bitter. The larger the shoots and the more developed the leaves, the more bitter they taste.

Fireweed grows rapidly during Alaska’s long summer days; today, from sunrise to sunset, we had 18 hours of daylight. As a result, the season for harvesting fireweed shoots is very short (only a few more days now).

The sweetest fireweed shoots are those cut when the leaves are still reddish. The blanched, underground portion is the sweetest part of the shoots, so I slip the knife several inches underground to harvest fireweed.

The amount of bitterness in fireweed shoots varies unpredictably. In Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, the Northwest (Alaska Northwest Books 2003), the best available book on wild Northern edibles, Janice Schofield says, “Soil conditions affect flavor; I’ve found spring shoots rang[ing] from mild to quite bitter.”

After harvesting, I taste the shoots to determine their degree of bitterness. If they are very sweet, the shoots may be eaten raw. If they are bitterer than I like, I blanch them in boiling salted water before using them in recipes.

Fireweed shoots can be used in lieu of asparagus in most recipes, on their own or mixed with other vegetables in a salad, added to soups, and in any dish that calls for cooked greens. If you’re lucky enough to harvest an abundance of fireweed shoots, blanch and freeze them for winter use.

UPDATE: In a comment, Mariana from History of Greek Food pointed out that Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) is “found in the higher elevations of the Rhodope Mountains” where the shoots and leaves are eaten boiled. Mariana noted its Latin name is from the Greek words epi (on) and lovos (pod) and “refers to the way the flower sits on top of a long ovary, which later becomes a thin seed pod.” She says the adjective angustifolium means “with narrow leaves.”

In Greek, Fireweed is called kafsokxyla (καυσόξυλα) and, in Bulgarian, Tesnolistna varbovka (Теснолистна върбовка).

(Coming Soon: I just checked the woods and, as of today, the Devil’s Club is ripe for picking.) UPDATE: My post on harvesting and preparing Devil's Club is here.

Fireweed Shoot Omelet
Serves 2
For 2 people, I prefer making 1 omelet in a large pan and cutting it in half, but you can also make 2 individual omelets in a smaller pan. To clean fireweed shoots, trim off any browned or damaged bits, and cut into 1” lengths. Taste, and if the fireweed shoots are bitter, blanch them in boiling, salted water before starting the recipe.

For the Fireweed Shoot Filling:
2 cups (1/4 pound) cleaned fireweed shoots (raw or blanched) or asparagus, cut in 1” lengths
2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup water

For the Omelet:
4 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup grated fontina or other mild cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Make the Filling: Sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until they soften and start to turn golden. Add the fireweed shoots and stir until they are thoroughly coated with oil. Add 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil, and cook until all the water has evaporated. Keep warm while you make the omelet.

Make the Omelet: Whisk together the eggs, cream, hot sauce, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet (or other pan suitable for cooking omelets). Pour in the egg mixture, cover the pan, turn the heat down to low, and cook until the eggs are nearly, but not quite, set; the top of the omelet should still be moist. Sprinkle the fontina over half the omelet. Cover and cook until the eggs are set, about 1 minute.

Put the cooked fireweed shoots on top of the omelet’s cheese half and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Flip the plain half of the omelet over the fireweed shoots. Cut the omelet in half and serve immediately with a simple salad of salted tomatoes.
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This is my entry for In the Bag hosted this month by Scott at Real Epicurean.

From a Volcanic Isle with Recipe for Shrimp Santorini in Tomato and Caper Sauce (Γαρίδες Σαντορίνης)

White-washed houses, bright blue skies, sun sparkling on the sea, and brilliant sunsets. Some of Greece’s most iconic images are of Santorini.

Santorini is an island in the southern Aegean Sea and a regular stop for cruise ships wending their way through the Greek isles. Although it's jam-packed with tourists during the summer months, visitors to Santorini, dazzled by its dramatic beauty, write glowingly about their time on the island.

Modern Santorini was shaped by a violent volcanic eruption that occurred around 1500 BC. The volcano blew away the center of the island, forming a huge caldera. Some have theorized that Santorini is the site of mythical Atlantis, and the eruption is what caused Atlantis to be swallowed by the sea. Santorini’s volcano is still active.

Two years ago, we visited Santorini in early April. Because the season had not yet begun, we often had Santorini’s narrow village streets to ourselves. Many of the shops were closed. We had a great time.

The shopkeepers and restaurant owners were happy to see us, not yet jaded by a full season of tending tourists. Over glasses of Santorini’s crisp Assyrtiko white wine, our hotel’s owner told us about the island’s bone-dry volcanic soil and the crops that thrive in it.

“Waterless” tomatoes, capers, yellow split peas (called fava in Greece), and wine grapes are Santorini’s most important agricultural products. When we left, my bags were packed with jars of sun-dried Santorini tomatoes, dried capers, pickled caper leaves, and a kilo of fava.

One of the best things I ate on Santorini was locally-caught Shrimp in Tomato and Caper Sauce. The intense taste of Santorini’s sun-dried tomatoes boosted the sauce’s tomato flavor, and tangy capers made the dish truly special.

Shrimp Santorini in Tomato and Caper Sauce (Γαρίδες Σαντορίνης)
Serves 4
Capers are salty, so don’t add too much salt until after you’ve tasted the sauce with capers in it. Shrimp stay more tender when cooked at low temperature. No matter the temperature, shrimp cook quickly and must be watched carefully to prevent them from overcooking and getting tough. My husband likes this with a little fresh lemon juice squeezed over; I prefer it without.

Tomato Sauce:
1 1/2 cups diced onions, 1/4” dice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper (optional)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups fresh, with juices
1 1/2 cups water
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. oregano
3 Tbsp. minced sun-dried tomatoes in oil or 1 1/2 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 Tbsp. capers, preferably salted, rinsed and soaked to remove excess salt

Shrimp:
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, shelled
Lemon wedges (optional)

Sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the Aleppo pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and boil until it is reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes, water, bay leaf, and oregano. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for 45 – 60 minutes or until the sauce thickens and its flavors meld together. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water. Turn off the heat and stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and capers. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. (This can be made well ahead.)

Wash and dry the shrimp. Season them on both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring the sauce to a simmer and add the shrimp. Cook just until the shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes total for medium-sized shrimp. Serve immediately with chunks of feta cheese, oil-cured black olives, a crisp green salad, and plenty of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
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This is my entry for Antioxidant Rich Foods/Five-a-Day Tuesdays hosted by Sweetnicks.

Recipe: Eggs Rockefeller with Dandelion Greens and Hollandaise

Living so far from our families, we’re nostalgic on Mother’s Day. We call and send flowers, but always wish we could be together in one place. To feel closer to our mothers, we do something special on Mother’s Day.

Last Sunday, we celebrated by making Eggs Rockefeller with Dandelion Greens and Hollandaise. To toast our mothers, we had Bloody Marys (one of them virgin, one not), the perfect drink for eggs served with buttery hollandaise.

If you’ve never tried dandelion greens, they have wonderful flavor when picked before the flower buds form. For information about gathering dandelions and other wild greens, go to my How to Harvest Wild Greens post.

For those who don’t have the time or inclination for dandelions, use spinach instead, the green used in many “Rockefeller” preparations. If you don’t like spinach, use Swiss chard. Or nettles. Or whatever leafy greens strike your fancy.

Hollandaise sauce is a breeze to make in a blender. For as long as I’ve been cooking, I’ve used the blender hollandaise recipe in The Joy of Cooking (a classic American cookbook) that was given me when I first moved out on my own. This recipe has never failed; it makes perfect hollandaise every time.

Eggs Rockefeller with Dandelion Greens and Hollandaise
Serves 2
Well-flavored greens, flavored with a hint of fennel, are a terrific counterpoint to runny egg-yolks and rich hollandaise. Any tender greens, wild or domesticated, may be used instead of dandelions.For special occasions, serve with a Bloody Mary or Mimosa.

1 pound dandelion greens (uncleaned) or 1 bunch spinach
1 cup diced onions, 1/4” dice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. freshly crushed fennel seed
4 slices artisan-style bread or 2 English muffins
4 eggs
Blender Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe below)
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Wash the dandelions very carefully. Discard any tough or damaged leaves, stems, roots, and the tiny flower bud often found in the very center of even young dandelions.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the cleaned dandelions and cook for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, remove the greens into a bowl of cold water. (Reserve the hot cooking water for poaching the eggs.) Drain the greens. Pick up a handful of drained greens and, using your hands, squeeze as much water out of them as you can. Continue with the remaining greens. Chop the greens.

Sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until they soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the garlic and crushed fennel; cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chopped greens and toss to thoroughly combine. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid in the greens has evaporated. Keep warm while you make the eggs.

[For the hollandaise, put the egg yolks etc. in the blender container, and start melting the butter.] Toast the bread or English muffins.

Bring the greens cooking water to a simmer. Crack the eggs into 4 separate small bowls. Slip the eggs into the simmering water. [While the eggs are cooking, finish the hollandaise by blending hot bubbling butter into the egg yolks.]

When the simmering eggs are just set (be sure not to cook the yolks hard), remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. Drain the eggs briefly on paper towels.

Assemble: Place two slices of toast on a plate. Top each piece of toast with the cooked dandelion greens. Put a poached egg on top of the dandelions and pour a ribbon of hollandaise on top of the eggs. Sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne and serve immediately.

Blender Hollandaise Sauce
Makes 1 cup
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (1964 edition)
The sauce must be hot when served; either make it at the very end or keep it warm by putting the blender container in warm (not hot) water. This makes enough for 3 servings of Eggs Benedict or Rockefeller and I usually only make it for 2. I’ve tried making a smaller amount and it doesn’t work; without the full amount of bubbling hot butter, there isn’t enough heat to cook the eggs. Leftover hollandaise makes a terrific sauce for asparagus or other green vegetables. To use leftover hollandaise, slowly reheat the sauce in a water bath.

3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Put the egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne, and salt in a blender. Melt the butter until it is hot and bubbling (this is easiest to do in a microwave). Blend the egg yolks on high for a few seconds, and then pour in a steady stream of hot bubbling butter. The hollandaise should now be done; if it isn’t thick enough, continue to blend for a few more seconds. If the sauce is too thick add a tiny amount of lemon juice or water. Taste and add salt, cayenne, or lemon juice as needed.

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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Gay from A Scientist in the Kitchen.