Easy does it - burgers and carottes râpées (grated carrot salad)

The makings of a delicious and quick salad - fresh carrots and parsley

I was first introduced to carottes râpées by the great author and cooking teacher Susan Herrmann Loomis, via her beautifully written book, On Rue Tatin.

In this book, Ms. Loomis chronicles her culinary journey from her days as a stagiaire at La Varenne, to her adventures in building a home for herself and her family in France.

Her story is filled with challenges and triumphs - I admire anyone with  enough patience and resolve to wrestle a completely foreign bureaucracy over arcane housing regulations and codes (heck, I admire anyone who can wade through that here in the States, let alone having to do it in a new language!) - and stories of food. Food at the markets, food cooked by the wonderful friends she made, food she makes and shares with us in the form of recipe manna. I ate up this book the first time I read it a few years ago (figuratively, though many of the recipes were mouth-watering enough to do so literally..), and one intriguing little dish that always stuck with me was the grated carrot salad.

It was mentioned without any fanfare, and there was no recipe accompanying it, though I knew from the book that it was one part of a simple and lovely meal that her then-host (and now dear friend) had made for her, after a long day of hard work. This past winter, searching for a way to break the monotony of stews and braises, I finally looked it up - thanks, Google! - and quickly became enamored with it.

This is apparently everywhere in France, and just about everyone has their own version, according to David Lebovitz (another food hero of mine!), though it seems safe to say that all versions contain grated fresh carrots, lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, and parsley. I tried Mr. Lebovitz's rendition, and have no need to seek any alternatives. It's perfect, and tasting it - bright, lightly sweet, crunchy - brings me that much closer to really experiencing the quiet comfort and joy Ms. Loomis must have felt with that meal.

You can read all about the dish, and the recipe, here.

The only thing I do differently, as you can see from my picture, is peeling my carrots so that I end up with ribbons of shaved carrot. This is only because I had grated carrots flying everywhere the first time I tried this recipe with my plane grater. A box grater will contain the little pieces that would inevitably fly away otherwise, but as I'm currently too lazy to replace my grater (I know, I know...), I 'improvised' with my peeler. Which doesn't make things like carrot bits fly amok - always a plus in my book :D

This salad was the perfect accompaniment to these easy and very delicious (read - juicy, tender, beefy) burgers below.

Mm, meat - a girl's gotta have her beef sometimes!

Although I love a good burger once in a while, I've never actually tried making it. Burgers have come a long way since the White Castle and McDonald's/Burger King/ Wendy's of my childhood. Nowadays, they're pretty much a bona fide gourmet food (or can be) - the beef from some sort of grass-fed, free roaming, pedigreed cow, the bread made from stone-ground organic heirloom grains, the toppings  tony and posh.

I'm not trying to be too snarky here - if a burger's good, it's good - and sometimes those things can make a difference. Most of the time though, I feel they are just over the top, and can make you lose sight of what you're really going for with a burger. For me, it's that first bite filled with hot, juicy, full bodied meat flavor balanced out with a little bit of sharp, sweet, and sour. The bread has always been secondary to me, merely a vessel for holding all the yummy ingredients together. Definitely a really good, zesty, crisp pickle on the side. The basics :)

Anyway, I was intimidated by the thought of making my own burgers - after all, there are some pretty high standards these days! I was overwhelmed by choice - there are tons of burger recipes out there, and all of them call for different seasonings, mixes, spice rubs, the list goes on. Failure seemed imminent, and a fantastic burger seemed out of reach.

But I persisted, because 1) I had a pound of really fresh and rosy ground beef from my local co-op and I was determined to use it, and 2) I was super hungry and starting to become hangry.

Miraculously, I stumbled upon this recipe by Bobby Flay. It is so simple and yielded a fabulous burger - absolutely perfect and just what I was looking for.

You need only the basics - about 1 lb of the best ground sirloin you can get your hands on - because you want the pure flavor to shine through. Divide the meat into four portions, and work the meat with your hands, forming each into a patty about 3/4 inch thick. Season each side liberally with black pepper, and sprinkle each side with salt. To keep the patties from puffing up too much while cooking, make a little well with your thumbs in the center of each patty (this was a great tip from Mr. Flay's recipe and worked like a charm).

In your pan, heat some oil on medium high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Place each patty in the pan, and let them cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Flip over and cook for another 3. It's important that you don't move the patties around so that they have a chance to brown and cook properly - same principle for pan frying steaks.

Before serving, I let the patties rest on a covered plate to trap the moisture escaping so that it can go back into the burgers (I told you I liked them burgers juicy!).

It's eatin' time! (Nicer than 'Clobberin' Time*' ;)

Served on a lightly toasted brioche bun, with a quick onion and tomato salsa topping (there was ketchup and mustard too - I put it on after I took this photo and realized I had forgotten!), accompanied by a nice big mound of that grated carrot salad and some kale - it was burger heaven. 

And now, after all that, I have only two words for you - Dig. In.

*As Ben Grimm, aka the Thing of the Fantastic Four, would say! 

Simple scallops

Simple broiled scallops, parsley and lemon pasta, 'kickin' sautéed asparagus

I made this after I was flush with fresh new finds (try saying that 5 times fast!) from grocery shopping. Gorgeous scallops, incredibly fresh, rosy-hued and sweetly fragranced; asparagus snapping away to be eaten; firm, bright parsley that looked like mini green fans.  The makings of a light and satisfying dinner!

We ate the scallops with a generous serving of spicy asparagus and a tangle of spaghetti laced with fresh parsley, lemon, and garlic. Light and flavorful, it was a well-balanced and very satisfying dinner. A glass of crisp Pinot Grigio or sparkling rosé would go great with this meal (must remember this for next time!).


Simple broiled scallops:

With seafood that's this fresh, very little preparation is needed to let the flavors take center stage. This serves 3 (4 scallops each).

I drizzled the scallops (12 whole, fresh scallops) with olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper, and set them to broil on high for about 8 minutes (4 minutes on each side, until the scallops became opaque and were no longer translucent.

I finished it off with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juiced squeezed all over. That's it! As long as you start with the freshest scallops you can find, you really can't go wrong.


Parsley and lemon pasta:

This was also very simple to make. This serves about 3 (2 if you're extra hungry :).

After the pasta (1/3 of a 1 lb package) was cooked and drained, I melted about 1 tbsp of butter over low heat (the lowest setting), added the drained pasta right back in, and stirred to coat the spaghetti with the butter.

Next, I added about 1 tsp of freshly pressed garlic (2-3 large-ish cloves), a pinch of salt, and a generous sprinkling of black pepper.

I added coarsely chopped fresh parsley right before serving (about 1/2 cup of chopped parsley), and topped it off with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.


'Kickin' sautéed asparagus:

Start with 1 bunch of asparagus, washed and trimmed of the tough bottom part of the stem. I like to cut about an inch off from the bottom, and use my peeler on the couple of inches above it to expose as much of the tender insides as possible.

I snapped my asparagus a couple of times so they were about finger length. In a large saucepan, heat one chopped garlic clove with olive oil (chop another garlic clove and reserve for the last step), 1/2 finely chopped jalapeno pepper, a bit of salt, and black pepper until it begins to sizzle. Add the asparagus, stir to coat, and cover. Let cook for about 4 minutes, occasionally giving it a quick stir. Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce (I just use whatever is sitting around in the fridge), stir, cover, and cook for another 3 minutes. Keep an eye on your asparagus at this point - you want it to stay vibrantly green and for it to stay tender and yet still toothy crisp. At the last minute before shutting off the heat, toss in the rest of your garlic, stir, and cover for a couple of minutes after you've shut off the heat to let the flavors meld. Serve hot and squeezed with fresh lemon juice.

Show and Tell Tuesday

I had this for lunch today, and it was too good not to share.

It's nothing complicated at all, and it all started with a frozen veggie burger. I don't typically eat these very often, but my mom had given me some to use in a pinch, and I was determined to put them to good use.

I cooked the frozen patty in a little bit of olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium low heat, flipping every few minutes. The bun is lightly toasted brioche, leftover from our burger night a few evenings ago (mm, brioche..and I still have to write about the burgers!). I added a fried egg, sliced onions, Dijon mustard (underneath the patty, directly on the bun), and ketchup, resulting in this delicious sandwich. A side of sautéed kale completed this meal.

The whole thing took only 20 minutes, from start to finish. 27, if you count how long it took for me to devour this :D

And now to ponder the all-important question - what's for dinner??

Happy Tuesday!