RECIPE TWELVE: Monday June 5 - Mango slaw with cashews and mint

BACK STORY:
I decided to make this as a side dish for Ellen's birthday barbecue celebration. I hope it's delicious as I'm prepping it before work and it will sit in the fridge all day before being biked over for dinner!

NOTES:
This was delicious and perfect for pork slider sandwiches for Ellen's birthday! You can't add too much mint - it was the perfect complement. I made it with green cabbage and a softer napa cabbage would be better, or to let it mellow in the dressing a bit longer to soften up the cabbage bits. The mango was soft but not too gooey and was the right sweet complement to the peppier dressing. A few more veggies wouldn't be out of place here - maybe some julienned cucumber or carrots to make a heartier dish.

STARS: 
3 out of 5. Quite good, with a few tweaks it will be great!

RECIPE:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/07/mango-slaw-with-cashews-and-mint/

Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint

2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and julienned
1 to 1 1/4 pounds Napa cabbage, halved and sliced very thinly
1 red pepper, julienned
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, from about two limes
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oil of your choice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste (or omit this and whisk in a chile paste to taste)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup toasted cashews, coarsely chopped

Toss mangoes, cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl. Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, salt and red pepper in a smaller bowl and pour over slaw. You can either serve this immediately or leave the flavors to muddle for an hour in the fridge. Before serving, toss with mint leaves and sprinkle with cashews.

About your mango: This salad will work with almost any variety or ripeness of mango, whether sour or sweet. Use the one you can get, or that you enjoy the most. In general, a firmish not overly ripe mango (unlike the very ripe, sweet one I used) holds up best but all will be delicious in this salad.

RECIPE ELEVEN: Sunday June 4 - Broccoli rubble farro salad

BACK STORY:
Following Smitten Kitchen on Instagram I see a lot of delicious recipes to try. This is the first in a spate of those. I like farro and broccoli and though I'm cooking it at 9:30 on a Sunday night, I'm still optimistic about its deliciousness. 

NOTES:
This was surprisingly great. I filled the pot half full with water, cooked the broccoli, then put the farro in. I wasn't sure how much water to use but it was apparently perfect. I forgot to chop the broccoli so I cooked it with the garlic and red pepper flakes, then chopped at the end. The lemon zest and pecorino helped add flavor to the dish. I maybe was a little aggressive with the red pepper flakes but it was still good.

STARS: 
4 out of 5. Easy, hearty, and fast (once the farro was cooked).

RECIPE:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/05/broccoli-rubble-farro-salad/

• Salt
• 1 cup semi-pearled farro
• 1 pound broccolini or regular broccoli (previously: 2 pounds, see note)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• Finely grated zest, then juice, of 1 lemon (juice before zesting only if you enjoy being grumpy)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces pecorino romano, grated or ground in a food processor

Bring a medium/large pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add broccoli and boil for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until slightly softened but still crisp overall. Scoop out with slotted spoon or tongs, then drain.

Add farro back to same pot (I’m totally okay with some errant leftover broccoli flecks and vitamins here, if you’re not, use another pot of salted water) and cook, simmering, for 25 to 30 minutes, until tender. (Since there are so many varieties of farro, however, if your package suggests otherwise, it’s best to defer to its cooking suggestion.) Drain and tip into a large mixing bowl; cool to lukewarm.

Pat drained broccoli dry on towels, trying to remove as much excess moisture as possible. Chop into small (roughly 1/2-inch) bits. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add garlic and pepper flakes, to taste, and cook for 1 minute, until garlic is faintly golden. Add chopped broccoli, lemon zest, and salt (I use a full teaspoon kosher salt here, but adjust the amount to your taste) and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 more minutes, until broccoli is well-seasoned and slightly more tender.

Add broccoli and every bit of garlic and oil from the pan to the bowl of farro and stir to combine. Add lemon juice, black pepper and more salt to taste (but 1/2 teaspoon of each is what we used) and stir to combine. Stir in cheese.

Serve warm or at room temperature as-in, with an egg on top, burrata, and/or seasoned breadcrumbs.

RECIPE TEN: Thursday June 1 - Cold press coffee with vanilla syrup

BACK STORY:
Saw this on the daily NY Times digest. This is delicious and how I order my coffee in the summer. I wanted to try making it at home to see if it was easy/cheap. It is.

NOTES:
I don't have a mesh strainer so tried to use a coffee filter. This just spilled coffee all over the counter. A strainer would be best, so I'll have to get one because this is so easy and cheap it will be all I drink (probably out of a mason jar) all summer long.

STARS: 
5 out of 5. Easy to follow and delicious for days.

RECIPE:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017355-cold-brewed-iced-coffee

INGREDIENTS

• ⅓ cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
•  Milk (optional)

PREPARATION

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups cold water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours
2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.
3. http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-vanilla-coffee-syrup/

4. Ingredients:

   • 1 3/4 cups water
   • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
   • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
   • 1 vanilla bean, split in half
   • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

   Directions:

5. 1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together water, sugar, and vanilla bean.
   2. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
   3. Simmer for about five minutes - the sugar should be completely dissolved.
   4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
   5. Once simple syrup has cooled, remove the vanilla bean and pour the syrup into a glass jar or bottle.
   6. Store in refrigerator.