Jonathan and I haven’t had much time for cooking lately, and we’ve both been trying to eat healthier. I’ve been reading so much recently about the downsides of eating too much meat and have seriously been trying to cut a lot of the meat out of our diets. At home for dinner, when we have the same night free, we’ve started to change our eating habits and it’s been going pretty well. We’ve swapped out a lot of our meat-centric meals for huge salads full of tons of different roasted and raw vegetables. Our favorite has been an arugula and spinach salad with sautéed broccoli rabe, raw cherry tomatoes, avocado, roasted zucchini, thinly sliced shallots macerated in vinegar, and shaved parmesan. Sometimes I’ll de-bone a few chicken thighs and sear them off and slice them into the salad too, but we’ve also been doing all vegetarian meals more and more frequently.

The green giant sandwich idea kind of just developed as a result of us eating tons of greens. No matter what, our salads almost always have arugula, spinach and avocado. I thought it’d be fun to put a green apple in there, and I love pumpernickel bread. The leek vinaigrette is one that I made for an arugula and goat cheese salad I made for Jonathan’s birthday this year…so this sandwich grew out of a few different meals I’ve made. It was delicious sandwich – a perfect nearly-stove-free springtime lunch or dinner.

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 2 sandwiches)

4 slices pumpernickel bread
Handful of spinach
Handful of arugula
Goat cheese, at room temperature
½ green apple, thinly sliced
½ avocado, thinly sliced
½ leek, diced
½ lemon, juiced
1 tsp Dijon
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper

For the Leek Vinaigrette and Sandwich:

1. Dice the white and light green parts of the leek. Rinse well in cold water to remove grit and dirt.
2. Heat a small sauce pan and slowly sweat the leeks in olive oil. Do not let the leeks develop any color. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Once leeks are softened, remove from heat. Let cool briefly, then add Dijon, lemon juice, and sherry vinegar. Whisk to combine, let come to room temperature.
4. To assemble the sandwich, first spread goat cheese onto both pieces of bread. Dress the spinach and arugula in the leek vinaigrette and layer those greens on there!
5. Add sliced apples and avocado. Press sandwich together tightly and munch.

  © 2012 Jonathan Meter and Jessica Hertle

New York right now has a strange feeling to it. When I walked out of work today, the streets were quietly abuzz with the sounds of people sitting outside, eating and drinking. The light was soft and the air was warm and hazy. It smelled of salt water and summer approaching. It was like walking out into a warm evening in late June – except it’s still March. The serene calmness of 7th avenue was so strange at this time of year, when often in March it is rainy, blustery cold and gray.

But it seems like people innately respond more to a feeling in the air than a date on a calendar. And now that it’s warm outside and light until nearly 8 pm, there’s really only one thing that I want to do – sit outside, drink an icy margarita and eat Mexican food. This craving is like clockwork, and literally every year at the end of spring / beginning of summer, it’s what I want to eat and drink. Nevermind that spring just started – the weather dictates this food craving, and the weather says it’s margarita time.

I still have yet to get to my happy hour margaritas and nachos. But in the meantime, Jon and I bought a little tortilla press and came up with these awesome, delicious fried fish tortillas. Try them or make your own version, but either way, have them with a cold margarita and a slice of lime.

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 15 regular sized tortillas or 30 bitesized)

For the Tortillas:

1 ¾ c Masa Harina flour
1 1/8 c water

Process:

1. Whisk together flour and water to combine.
2. Turn out dough onto a clean surface and knead until malleable.
3. Rest, covered in plastic, for 30 minutes.
4. When dough is ready, roll out into 30 even sized balls and flatten with tortilla press.
5. Cook in a hot skillet with a very small amount of oil.

For the Fish:

1 whole snapper, cleaned and filleted
½ c milk
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Scallion greens, sliced
Zest of 1 lime
Salt and pepper
Cayenne
½ c flour, well seasoned

Process:

1. Cut the fish into 1” x 1” square pieces. Soak in milk, garlic, scallion greens, lime zest, cayenne and salt and pepper.
2. Let fish soak for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours. When ready to fry the fish, dredge in flour and fry in an inch of oil until cooked through and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.

For the Slaw:

1 small cucumber, julienne
4 radishes, julienne
5 pearl onions, pickled and julienne

Process:

1. Julienne the vegetables. We had pickled pearl onions on hand, but you can use raw shallots thinly sliced in their place.
2. Dress slaw lightly with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.

For the Aioli:

1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon
1 c olive oil
Juice of ½ lime
1 Serrano chile, zested
1 clove garlic, zested
Salt and pepper

1. Make a basic mayonnaise with the yolk, Dijon and olive oil.
2. Add lime juice, zested chile and garlic, and season well with salt and pepper.

For the bite, cook off your tortillas and fish and assemble while warm. Eat immediately!

© 2012 Jonathan Meter and Jessica Hertle

The past few weeks have been un-seasonably warm in New York. In my experience of mid-March in the city, New Yorkers are eagerly anticipating warm weather, but usually have a long, cold and rainy road ahead. March 20, the first day of spring, is also my birthday. For as long as I can remember, I always have some spring time outfit planned to wear out to dinner, and almost always have to resort to plan B: jeans and winter coat – because it’s too cold.

Not this year. March has brought 75 degree days, evenings that feel like late June and vibrantly blooming cherry blossoms that are in their full effect several weeks early.

At the market, evidence of this early spring is not as obvious. We’ve waited a while to see any spring onions (one of my favorites), broccoli rabe and spring garlic. Every day that I go to the market for work, I search out these and other signs of spring but haven’t seen many. It seems the food haven’t caught up with the flowers.

Despite this lack of greenery at the market, I have still been in the mood for lighter springtime fare. This week we made a simple spring breakfast of perfectly cooked eggs with garlic shallots, spring onions and mushroom stew. To go with it, lightly toasted ciabatta dusted with Parmesan. Mushrooms and eggs are a fantastic breakfast combination, and the sharp onions and garlic make it a spicy spring treat.

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 2 Egg and Mushroom Plates)

For the Mushroom Confit:

10 shiitake mushrooms, caps and stems separated
3 cloves garlic
2 cups olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
Handful spring onion stems

Process:

1. Place all ingredients in a small saucepot.
2. Cook on lowest possible heat for 45 minutes to an hour until mushrooms are soft and oil is infused with mushrooms and aromatics.

For the Stew:

1 package maitake mushrooms
8 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Spring onion bulbs and greens, diced
Garlic shallots, diced

Process:

1. Heat a pan on high heat and coat with oil until nearly smoking.
2. Toss in mushrooms and season well.
3. Add spring onions and garlic shallots. Cook for 1 more minute until a fond begins to form. Deglaze with sherry and cook until soft.

For the Scrambled Eggs:

4 whole eggs, beaten
2 tbsp spring onion bulbs, minced
2 tbsp garlic shallots, minced
Spring onion greens
Oregano, chiffonnade
Shiitake mushroom confit, diced

Process:

1. Heat a small sauté pan on very low heat.
2. Add 1 ½ tbsp butter to the pan and heat until just melted. Add the spring onions and shallots, and cook s lowly until softened.
3. Add the beaten eggs, oregano and diced shiitakes. Cook low and slow while whisking, never letting the eggs stick to the pan.
4. Scramble eggs gently until just cooked through. Serve with toast and mushroom stew.

Serve eggs and stew with toast as a sandwich, or in egg shell as a composed dish.

© 2012 Jonathan Meter and Jessica Hertle

Jon introduced me to legitimate milanesa when we went to an Argentinean restaurant up in Queens with his Dad and step-mom Ana, both from Argentina. Milanesa is probably one of Jon’s favorite things to eat, and he’s finally got me making it for him. Milanesa is a thin slice of beef, chicken or veal, dipped in egg and then breadcrumbs and pan-fried.

We decided to make milanesas at home one night when we didn’t know what to have for dinner and had some frozen chicken left over from a dinner party. I’d bought this awesome 2 foot-long loaf of flat bread from Hot Bread Kitchen and we thought it would make a sweet sandwich. We added our most basic favorites – tomato salad, thinly sliced shallots, my special aioli and greens (this time we had tatsoi).

To make the milanesas, I butterflied and skinned, de-boned chicken breast and pounded it out with a meat mallet so that it was about ¼” thick. Then I dipped the flattened breast into a very well seasoned egg mixture and then into seasoned homemade breadcrumbs (using store bought works just as well). I fried the breaded chicken in ¼” canola oil and placed it on a towel-lined plate when it was finished cooking. The tangy, juicy tomato salad, the creamy aioli, the fresh greens and the warm, crispy milanesa on the seeded bread were an awesomely savory combination.

INGREDIENTS
(Makes 4 sandwiches, or a ton of bites)

For the Milanesa:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded out
1 egg, beaten
1 c breadcrumbs
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper

Process:

1. Butterfly the chicken breasts and cut them in half. One piece at a time, lay the halved, pounded breast out on a piece of plastic wrap and place another piece of plastic on top. Pound out the chicken on a flat surface to ¼” thick.
2. Begin heating your canola oil in a shallow frying pan.
3. Beat the egg with the milk, olive oil, cayenne and garlic powder.
4. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs. Fry the breasts one or two at a time, depending on your pan, until they are cooked through, golden brown and perfectly crispy. Lay cooked milanesas on a paper towel to absorb excess grease.

For the Sandwich:

Bread, of your choosing
Handful of greens (we used tatsoi but you can use arugula or any salad greens you like)
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Special aioli
1 pint cherry tomatoes (you’ll have some tomato salad leftover, but when would that go to waste)
Olive oil
Balsamic
Salt and Pepper

Process:

1. Mix halved cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper.
2. Spread aioli or mayonnaise on both sides of the bread. Layer with tatsoi, milanesa, shallots, and tomato salad. Drizzle on some of the tomato salad dressing for extra juiciness.
3. Eat!

© 2012 Jonathan Meter and Jessica Hertle