Farro Pilaf

Seasonal Recipe of the Pandemic
My new obsession is finding creative ways to use the miscellaneous leftovers in my fridge, which seem to be piling up at a fast rate. I guess it's because we are eating all our meals at home. Yesterday, I was looking for some ingredients to create a grain side dish and this happened and it was amazing! I got the idea to throw in an egg from my fried rice recipe and it really made it moist and delish. Here's my Mediterranean-inspired version, but get creative with whatever ingredients you have and make it your own. Enjoy!



Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, diced
2 cups cooked farro (I love the fast-cooking Faro from Trader Joe's, 10 minutes and done!)
1/2 cup full-fat feta, crumbled
1/4 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 roasted red pepper, skin removed
1 tablespoon capers
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Procedure
In a large pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the shallot until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add the faro and dump in everything else except the egg and the scallions. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until everything is hot — make sure you give the feta time to melt. Then add the raw egg and stir until it's all coated and the egg sets. Remove form heat, garnish with the scallions, and eat!

Ask Rula! Authority on Everything, Expert on Nothing

Time to answer some questions!
Hello, my people! Just because I am off the radio, and not doing my weekly column, does not mean there are no questions to be answered. Wherever I go, people ask me stuff, some questions about food, some about etiquette, and some just plain rude! Frankly, I love them all. If you have a question email me! I thought I would answer a few questions today, because without constantly acquiring knowledge we would all just be stupid, and that would get boring, don't you think?

The first question is from Pickled Patty and she writes:
Dear Rula,
What is the difference between capers and caper berries? Are they relatives? I have noticed caper berries are becoming more popular and one even showed up in my martini the other day! Do you use them in different ways, hot or cold, cooked or raw? Thanks Rula, I need answers and you are my go-to girl!
Signed,
Pickled Patty

Dear Pickled Patty,
Capers are a yummy addition to any salad, pasta, or seafood but they are such a mystery to so many. Let's let Mr. Wiki help us out. Wikipedia says:

The salted and pickled caper bud (often called simply capers) is often used as a seasoning or garnish. Capers are a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. The mature fruit of the caper shrub are prepared similarly and marketed as caper berries. The buds, when ready to pick, are a dark olive green and about the size of a fresh kernel of corn. They are picked, then pickled in salt, or a salt and vinegar solution, and drained. Intense flavor is developed as mustard oil (glucocapparin) is released from each caper bud. This enzymatic reaction leads to the formation of rutin often seen as crystallized white spots on the surfaces of individual caper buds.

Capers are a distinctive ingredient in Italian cuisine, especially in Sicilian and southern Italian cooking. They are commonly used in salads, pasta salads, meat dishes and pasta sauces. Examples of uses in Italian cuisine are chicken piccata and spaghetti alla puttanesca. Capers are known for being one of the ingredients of tartar sauce. They are often served with cold smoked salmon or cured salmon dishes (especially lox and cream cheese). Capers and caper berries are sometimes substituted for olives to garnish a martini.

Capers are categorized and sold by their size, defined as follows, with the smallest sizes being the most desirable: non-pareil (up to 7 mm), surfines (7–8 mm), capucines (8–9 mm), capotes (9–11 mm), fines (11–13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm). If the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and produces a fruit called a caper berry.

The fruit can served in salads and they are also lovely just as a snack, especially when dangled into your mouth by a tall stoic man in a toga.

Next we have a question from Hershey Harry and he writes:

Dear Rula,
In your last post you talked about tempering chocolate for your chocolate sculpture but I still don't understand why you go through all that trouble. What does tempering actually do?
Signed,
Hershey Harry

Dear Hershey Harry,
You know those expensive sexy truffles you see at high end chocolate boutiques? Notice that the chocolate is shiny, firm enough to tap with your fingernail, and will break with a sharp snap. That's because it's tempered. Tempering is a process that encourages the cocoa butter in the chocolate to harden into a specific crystalline pattern, which maintains the sheen and texture for a long time. When chocolate isn't tempered, it can have a number of problems: it may not ever set up hard at room temperature; it may become hard, but look dull and blotchy; the internal texture may be spongy rather than crisp; and it can be susceptible to fat bloom, meaning the fats will migrate to the surface and make whitish streaks and blotches which makes the chocolate look old — and nobody likes an old sweet. Anytime you need chocolate to be firm at room temperature and to have a glossy sheen and a crisp texture, you must temper the melted chocolate which is done by taking the chocolate up and down to certain temperatures. Best to do a little internet research to find out the correct temperature for your specific type of chocolate. Be patient and use an accurate thermometer and the results will speak for themselves!



If you have any questions for me, send me an email or leave a comment! Well, that's all for now — I have a fitting for my "Easter" Bunny outfit. Ciao!

Capers

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
What are those cute little things in the those skinny jars anyway? Capers are the unripened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, a prickly, perennial plant which is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. Their use dates back to more than 3000 B.C. After the buds are harvested, they are dried in the sun, then pickled in vinegar, brine, wine or salt. The curing brings out their tangy lemony flavor, much the same as green olives. Much of the expense comes from labor costs since the caper buds are picked by hand. The size of the buds range from tiny (about the size of a baby petite green pea) up to the size of a small olive. The smallest variety from the South of France, called nonpareil, is the most prized and comes with an equally notable price-tag. Larger capers are stronger in flavor and less aromatic.

So what the heck can you do with them?

Throw some capers in your pasta. Capers taste especially good with fish. If you sauté chopped garlic in olive oil and mix in the drained spaghetti and canned anchovies, you'll have a dish that's packed with flavor.

Add capers to your salad. Toss up a medley of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and capers. Pour Italian dressing over your salad.

Make some Caponata. Caponata is an Italian appetizer that contains cooked eggplant, celery, black and green olives, tomato sauce, and onions. Add the capers, salt and pepper, and you have a delicious spread.

Sprinkle chopped capers on garlic bread. Garlic bread is tasty on its own, but the addition of capers will give a unique twist.

Put capers on your lox on bagels. Thanks, Laurel for reminding us that caper are a great accompaniment (along with onions and tomatoes) to lox on bagels. Bagel Bob would approve!

And for the Weight Watchers among you, 1 tablespoon of capers is zero points, so sprinkle them on for a burst of flavor!