Harsha: Semolina Morrocan Bread

1 lb. Fine Semolina Flour
2 Tbsp Flour, sifted
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Yeast
1 tsp Anise Seeds
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
A pinch of Salt
1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Canola Oil (you may use butter)
1 ¼ cup Water (you may use milk)

In a large bowl, mix together the semolina flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, yeast, anise seeds, sesame seeds and salt. Add the oil and mix with the tip of your fingers until you obtain a sandy texture. Make a well in the center and add the water. Knead the mixture to form a soft dough (it will be slightly sticky). Section the dough and roll into small balls using the semolina to shape them, you should have about six. Roll some more into semolina and place onto a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with semolina. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten the balls to create small disks and sprinkle with more semolina. Let rest for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the breads for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve as a side dish for a Tagine, simply with butter and honey, or with your favorite cheese.


Makes 6 small loaves

Soup Starters!

By Brook Slee, Boise Co-op Deli Chef

Most of the soups I prepare, whether in the Boise Co-op Deli or at home, begin with the same basic ingredients. It gives me a simple and flexible base from which to launch a dazzling array of interesting soups.

The absolute basics are:

• 2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 to 3 cups Mirepoix, which is a blend of yellow onion, carrot and celery. By varying the size of the dice or your aromatics, you can coax lots of unique textures from these three staple veggies. Use a large chunky chop for hearty stews, or a medium dice for soups such as chicken noodle or creamy chowders. Finally a fine mince for bean and lentil soups (you may decide to pulse these ingredients in a food processor.)
• A pinch Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (or Tamari sauce for a vegan or vegetarian substitute. We also carry Gluten-Free condiments on Aisle #10)
• 2 to 3 Tbsp Dry Cooking Sherry
• 1 tsp Tabasco (or your favorite hot sauce)
• 8 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth (homemade is best, but we have lots of delicious, organic options on Aisle# 7)

Instructions

Heat olive oil over medium high heat, in a large stock pot. Add the mirepoix (vegetables) and stir frequently, until the vegetables begin to soften. Lower the heat and add salt, pepper, worcestershire or tamari sauce, sherry and tabasco. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally or until the mirepoix vegetables are tender.

A Few Notes:

Prior to adding the broth, you may add diced meats such as chicken, turkey or even sausages.

If you decide to prepare a bean soup, I would suggest soaking the beans overnight to soften them and help shorten the cooking time.

If preparing a lentil soup, make sure you sweat the lentils in the oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes before adding the broth. This will give a bit of a tender crunch to the lentils and helps prevent a mushy result.

If you are making a chowder, you will need to prepare a roux (recipe follows), and add the desired amount of heavy cream to give it that so distinctive richness.

The addition of a roux base in chicken noodle soups will give the soup a delicious silky texture.

Making a Roux

1 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

Broth or Milk from your Soup Recipe

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes or until the flour turns a  golden brown color. Slowly add the broth or milk in your recipe, whisking constantly until the sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the salt, pepper.

Roasted Beet, Rhubarb, and Orange Salad

A note from Sylvie: I love Rhubarb's tartness! It is very versatile and can be used either with sweet or savory dishes. The trick is to balance the flavors with sugar while cooking it.

Serves 6

4 Red Beets (2-2 ½-inch-diameter)
4 Yellow Beets (2-2 ½-inch-diameter)
4 Tbsp extra-virgin Olive Oil
Coarse Kosher salt
3 cups Water
½ cup Sugar
1 lb trimmed Rhubarb Stalks, sliced diagonally into ½ thick pieces
3 Large Oranges
2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp minced Shallot
1 tsp Honey
3 cups Watercress Sprigs or Baby Spinach
1 ¼ cups coarsely crumbled Feta Cheese (about one 7-ounce package)
Fresh Chervil Leaves (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the whole beets on large sheet of foil. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil; sprinkle with Kosher salt. Wrap the beets in foil. Roast until tender when pierced with fork, about 1 hour. Unwrap and cool beets. Peel, then cut each into 8 wedges.

Bring the water, sugar, and a pinch of salt to simmer in large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add the rhubarb. Simmer over medium heat until just tender but still intact, 1 to 2 minutes (do not overcook or rhubarb will be mushy). Using a slotted spoon, transfer rhubarb to a platter and cool completely.

(Beets and rhubarb can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill.)

Finely grate enough peel from 1 orange to measure ½ tsp; transfer to small bowl and reserve for dressing. Cut off peel and white pith from oranges. Working over medium bowl to catch juice and using small sharp knife, cut between membranes to release orange segments into bowl; squeeze membranes to release juice into bowl. Transfer 2 Tbsp orange juice to bowl with orange peel. Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, shallots, honey, and remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil into bowl with orange peel and orange juice mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange watercress or spinach, beets, rhubarb, and orange segments on 6 plates. Sprinkle with feta and drizzle with dressing. Garnish with chervil leaves, if desired, and serve.

The Allure of Raw Milk Cheese

By Todd Giesler, Deli Correspondent and Confessed Cheesehead

Raw Milk Cheeses- Who knew?


Well, we knew! (But that's not fair, because we sell cheese for a living, and make a point of knowing these things...).

Since 1949, the FDA has controlled and supervised the sale of raw milk and raw milk cheese. They have determined that, in order to protect consumers from "harmful pathogens," such cheeses should be stored and aged away from consumption for a minimum of 60 days at 35 degrees Fahrenheit which allows the natural acids and salts to preside and prevents the "critters" from growing. That sounds okay to me.

Many cheese lovers do feel that there are health benefits of raw milk and raw milk cheeses and believe that they just taste better, too! When doing some research for this article, I came upon the "Choice of Cheese Coalition." Now, that's a group I can heartily support, and now! Back in 1999, there were rumblings about the "G-Men" getting further involved in the restriction of raw milk cheeses, and those who differ (and there appears to be many) formed the Choice of Cheese Coalition. Right on! These fine folks have been able to pursuade "decision makers" that the way raw milk cheese is being made and marketed is just fine. (You can join the Choice of Cheese Coalition on Facebook, as I have now done.)

When doing a little "digging" (meaning; ask Jane, knower of all things fromage), I learned that we actually have quite a few raw milk cheeses! Some are obvious, as we package them ourselves and designate "RAW" right on the label. These include smoked cheddar, sharp cheddar, medium cheddar, goat's milk cheddar, and Monterey jack. Look for these raw milk cheeses on the bottom shelf of the self-serve cheese case, past the Espresso Bar. They're generally cut in half-pound pieces.

As for the raw offerings in "Cheese Island," (where we can offer you a sample, and then slice off what you would like), here's the lowdown:

Woodstock Farm (also organic!) - Jack-Style, Sharp Cheddar, and Mild Cheddar

Fiscalini (Sounds Italian, but from California, just like Robert Mondavi and Carly Fiorina) - San Joaquin Gold and Aged Cheddar

Life in Provence (yes, France) - Roquefort

Societe (also from Roquefort, France) - In my humble, but well fed opinion, this is the authentic, be-all, end-all, best bleu cheese out there.

Organic Valley - From the domestic dairy Mecca of Wisconsin (Yay- Packers!) hails the admirable operation known as Organic Valley. Since 1988, these folks have been supplying us with so many wonderful cheeses, including raw milk goodies! They send to us the Raw Jack, Raw Mild Cheddar, and Raw Sharp Cheddar. Everything Organic Valley puts their mind to, they do quite well, including the kid-popular cheese sticks! (Look for the skateboarding worm on the package- that's hard to miss).

Zamorano - From the scruffy little "Churras" - sheep that the Spaniards warn you to "never mix your Churras with your Merrinos" (which are prized for their handsome wool production) comes the milk for this harder textured, nutty, and just a bit sweet delicacy. From the region of Zamora, traditionally rubbed in olive oil to give it just a little bit of a hue. Small, about one-third pound chunks located next to our Manchego selection.

Unrelated, but Very Good Cheese News!

I have always been happy and proud to exclaim the virtues and merits of Idaho products, including such personal favorites as Ballard's Dairy from Gooding, south of Ada County. (No, I do not receive any complimentary cheese, nor any other gratuitous favors, they just are so easy to write about). Now comes this fabulous news:

Ballard's Dairy has received the 2010 Governor's Award for Marketing and Innovation! How impressive is that!? Quite, I would say, especially when you consider that their "competition" includes businesses like HP, Micron, Simplot and Guido's Pizza! They are just way too humble to say anything themselves about this type of award, so let us be the "trumpeter" of such achievement. Way to go, Ballard Family!

Soup Essentials: Broth and Stocks

By Sylvie Ryan, our Culinary Educator
I love soups, so I decided over the past holiday to start reusing as many food leftovers (such as leftover turkey) as possible to create homemade broth and stock. I quickly discovered that all those scraps of meats and vegetable skins and trims were just perfect for easy and delicious soup bases!

I keep a couple of large, heavy-duty bags in my freezer, one for meat scraps and the other for veggies, and in them I store all my leftovers, saving until I have enough to make a large amount of broth.

The best vegetables trims and skins to use for this purpose are onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, celery, squash, mushrooms and leeks (just to name a few). I do not use cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus because they tend to overpower the broth. I also rarely use tomatoes, unless I know I am making Minestrone soup. As for meats, when using poultry I make sure to de-bone the turkey or chicken, but save the bones because they will add a lot of depth to the bouillon.

I’m often asked what the difference is between stock and broth. They are very similar, both made with simmered water with meat and/or bones, and usually some vegetables and aromatic herbs, then strained. They are both utilized as a base for soups, sauces, and gravies. Stock is predominantly made of bones and some trim, while broth is made with pieces of actual meat, making it richer and more akin to a finished product that can be served on its own. However, both these rich liquids can be used interchangeably in most recipes.

A great way to store broth and stocks is to freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer the cubes to a plastic freezer bag. This helps you have measured, smaller amounts for cooking sauces. I also like to keep a larger container for my soup base. I noticed this winter in particular, I have been making soup weekly, as broth making is easy and very inexpensive.

Here are two recipes I frequently use, both of which can be adapted to your own taste. A good rule of thumb is to have about half solid ingredients to half water.

Vegetable Stock
This is a versatile stock for all vegetarian soups. Makes about 3 quarts

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 gallon-size bag Trims and Skins of various vegetables (saved in the freezer)
3 Tbsp Tamari Sauce (I use the low sodium version)
2 Bay Leaves
2 tsp Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
4 quarts Water

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat, and sauté the chopped onion until soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the vegetable scraps, the tamari sauce, bay leaves, salt and freshly ground pepper.. Stir well and add the water. Lower the heat and simmer for at least 1 hour at. Keep in mind that the longer you simmer the stock the richer it will become. Leave to cool, then strain and discard the vegetables and bay leafe. The stock is ready to use. Alternatively, chill or freeze the stock.


Chicken Stock
A good homemade poultry stock is very tasty and can be used in sauces and soups. Once made, it can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or frozen for up to 6 months. Makes about 3 quarts

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Onions, chopped
1 Gallon-size Chicken leftover meats and bones
4 quarts Water
A few sprigs Fresh Thyme or 1 tsp Dried Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
5 Black Peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 tsp Salt

Pour the olive oil into a large soup pot, heat over medium heat and sauté the until soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken leftovers, the water, thyme, bay leaves, crushed peppercorns and salt. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and slowly cook for 2-3 hours (a slow cooker works great). Strain the stock through a strainer into a large bowl and leave to cool. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. When cold, carefully remove the layer of fat that will have set on the surface. Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 6 months.