The Humble Kitchen

I love this chutney. You can put it up in sterilized jars, but I never bother because I go through it so quickly. It makes the best grilled cheese sandwich, great on a cheeseburger, or along side a steak. I put in my chili instead of bell peppers, and I’m sure you’ll come up with your own uses for it. I don’t always make it with the same chiles, depends what looks good at the market. This time of year you can get loads of bell peppers and chiles for next to nothing at the farmer’s market. Whatever chiles you choose, be mindful of the heat, and use more or less to taste.

• 8-10 fresh red chiles, or to taste
• 8 red bell peppers
• olive oil
• 2 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
• a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• a 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ⅔ cup balsamic vinegar

Place your chiles and peppers over a flame, or on a tray under a broiler, turning them now and then until blackened and blistered all over. Place the hot chiles and peppers into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Once they steam then cool down you’ll be able to peel the skin off easily.

Meanwhile heat a saucepan and pour in a splash of olive oil. Add the onions, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook very slowly for about 20 minutes or so, until the onions become rich, golden and sticky.

Once the chiles and peppers are cool enough to handle get rid of most of the skin, trim the stalks and scoop out the seeds. Finely chop the by hand or put in a food processor. (Wear gloves when doing the chiles, otherwise your hands may burn from the capsaicin.)

Add the chopped chiles and peppers, the sugar and the vinegar to the onions and keep cooking. When the liquid reduces and you’re left with a lovely thick sticky chutney, season well to taste. Remove the cinnamon stick and the bay leaves. Either spoon into the sterilized jars and put them in a cool dark place, or keep in the fridge and use right away. In sterilized jars, the chutney should keep for a couple of months.

-Jennifer

People seem intimidated cooking a whole fish but it really couldn’t be easier. I had this lovely wild sockeye salmon, headless, but you can’t have everything. Flipping through a Jamie Oliver book I saw a recipe for Roast Salmon with fennel, parsley and tomato. Having no fennel I substituted some thinly sliced onion.

Thinly slice lemons, onion (or fennel) and chop tomatoes.

Mix with chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Season fish and rub with olive oil. Stuff with tomato mixture. Bake at 400º until just cooked, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Serve with roast potatoes.

And something green, like asparagus.

With the leftover salmon I made another Jamie Oliver recipe, fish cakes.

Leftover salmon, boiled potatoes, lemon, parsley, eggs, salt and lots of pepper.

Formed into fish cakes, ready to cook or freeze for later.

Delicious.

-Jennifer

Thanks to Sarah for taking the roasted salmon photos.

It’s rainy here in Northern California, the perfect time to go mushroom hunting. A friend and I took a walk around Mount Tamalpais last week, and found a selection of wild mushrooms. We are novices, and do our best to identify what we find, but we like our livers too much to dare eat anything.

Though last year I was fortunate to have a lion’s mane pop up in my front yard. After showing it to several mushroom experts, I brought it in the house and cooked it up. Delicate & delicious, these can often be found at Whole Foods and other specialty markets.

There are so many mushrooms available in the markets, though most often I go for the crimini, or baby portabellas. I love their flavor and versatility. I do keep various dried mushrooms on hand, they last forever, and add instant depth of flavor to savory dishes. One of my favorite breakfasts is sautéed mushrooms on toast. Jamie Oliver’s book Jamie at home has an excellent recipe that I base mine on.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 handfuls crimini and/or mixed wild mushrooms, wiped clean
2 cloves of garlic, 1 peeled and finely chopped, the other halved
A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
Kosher or coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresno red chili, minced
A small knob of butter
1 lemon
2 slices of pain au levain, or your favorite crusty bread

Put a large heavy frying pan, big enough to hold all the mushrooms in one layer, over heat and add a couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil. Depending on the size of your mushrooms, leave any small ones whole but tear, break or slice the larger ones up. Add them all to the pan and give it a shake to toss the mushrooms in the oil.

Add the chopped garlic and thyme and shake the pan again. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and the minced chili and leave to fry gently for a few minutes. If the mixture becomes dry, pour in a little more oil.

Once the mushrooms have got some color going on, after about 3-4 minutes, add the butter and a small squeeze of lemon juice, you don’t need much — and toss again.

To finish this off and make it into a lovely, creamy sauce, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of water into the pan. Simmer for a little longer, until you have a lovely simple sauce that just loosely coats the mushrooms. Now toast your bread.

When toasted, rub the bread with the cut side of the remaining clove of garlic. Place each slice on a serving plate, pile the mushrooms and the creamy juices from the pan on top, and sprinkle with parsley. Eat immediately.

-Jennifer