Burst of color and seasonal flavor: beet bruschetta

A completely lovely friend went to Israel to visit her family recently and came back with an Israeli cookbook for me. She selected the most perfect cookbook – it is beautifully laid out on large, glossy paper, the photography is colorful and gorgeous, and it is very modern and young. It is full of stories and history related to food. Israeli food is a cuisine I am largely unfamiliar with: this book is the perfect seduction into Israeli cooking.

Having coincidentally picked up both beets and pomegranate seeds at the market, I was intrigued to find the perfect use for my acquisitions: a beetroot and pomegranate salad. Strange coincidence to spot a recipe that makes use of both, no?

I have had bruschetta on the brain recently and decided to morph the salad into a bruschetta topping, and of course, make my own little adjustments, namely swapping out the cilantro and replacing it with chopped Italian flat leaf parsley and chives, and adding some crumbled ricotta salata to the top. Perfection. I love the contrast of the dark, dense beets with the translucent seeds, and the green of the herbs adds wonderful color and freshness.

Beet and pomegranate seed bruschetta (heavily adapted from Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad from The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey)

3-4 medium beetroots, stem ends trimmed to ~1 inch length, washed lightly
2 tablespoons pomegranate concentrate
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-3 dried chili peppers, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
1 cup pomegranate seeds
¼ - ½ cup coarsely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
¼ cup delicate olive oil
Crumbled ricotta salata to top
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh baguette, sliced diagonally into ~1/2 inch rounds

Sprinkle beets with olive oil, wrap individually in aluminum foil packets, and roast in a 375º degree oven for ~45 minutes or until tender. Let cool. Peel and chop into small dice.

Mix with pomegranate concentrate, lemon juice, peppers, sea salt and pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Spoon mixture onto bread rounds. Sprinkle with parsley and ricotta salata. Serve immediately.

Bright beet and potato fritters and a little photography news

I fell in love with Donna Hay’s beet, sweet potato and potato fritters in Issue 38 because of the beautiful color and unusual texture of the fritters (enhanced, of course, by the wonderful way they were photographed). The fritters are formed by (according to Donna’s method) running a zester over the length of the potatoes and beets to cut them into thin strands. A rather laborious process to say the least, but I found an easy shortcut that I am so in love with I’m thinking about new dishes solely for an excuse to apply it: the Benriner turning slicer.

This low-tech but amazing gadget slices vegetables into a single long strand (or other shapes) in seconds. I sound like a commercial, but really, it’s quite nifty. I opted to leave out the sweet potato, as I am not a huge fan of them, and instead used half beet and half potato. I had all 300 grams dissected in a minute, and beautiful deep red and pink (the beet colors the potato) fritters not long thereafter. This is such a beautiful and clever approach that it gives me all sorts of inspiration: a breakfast version with a poached egg on top. A rendition with onion. A version with celery root and potato.

The fritters are seasoned with sumac salt, a mix of sea salt and ground sumac. Sumac is a middle eastern spice that I was not previously familiar with. It has a pleasant lemony taste that is a nice counterpoint to the beet and potato. It’s really not necessary, though, simple sea salt and pepper would work well too, and perhaps a sprinkling of chive on the top.

(excerpt from Joshi Camera Magazine)

On a completely different topic, I want to share some exciting news: this month, I am featured in Joshi Camera magazine, a Japanese photography magazine for girls. The article is about 25 female photographers. I am very proud to be one of the four Americans selected for this edition. I received my copy late last week and was so pleased to see how beautiful the magazine is and what wonderful company I am in. I have a two page spread right at the beginning of the article. The other Americans are Amy Sandoval, whose child photography I enjoy, Paula Swift, and Brenda Acuncius.

(excerpt from Joshi Camera Magazine)

I’m posting the cover and my two pages here, but if you live near a Japanese bookstore have a look at the others. The photography is really wonderful. (p.s. if anyone speaks Japanese and can let me know what they wrote here, I would love to know! I assume it's a translation of the questionnaire I responded to but I would never know!).

(excerpt from Joshi Camera Magazine)

Beet and potato fritters with sumac salt (adapted from Donna Hay issue 38)
Serves 8

For the fritters
150 g beet, peeled
150 g (floury) potato, peeled
¼ cup rice flour
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Sumac salt (or chopped chive)
¼ cup sea salt flakes
1 tablespoon ground sumac

Combine sea salt and sumac to make sumac salt. Set aside.

Run a zester over potato and beet to create long strands, or, indulge in the Benriner turning slicer. Combine sliced beet and potatoes with egg, flour, salt and pepper (mix well).

Heat ¼ inch oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Spoon ½ cupfuls of beet and potato mixture into frying pan, flattening slightly and frying for ~1 minute on each side until golden and crispy. Remove from pan, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with sumac salt or chive and additional salt and pepper to taste.