Q: I was fortunate to dine at JCT Kitchen. I ordered the vegetable plate and they were the best veggies I have ever put in my mouth. I realize the veggies change due to season but I would love the recipe to know how they flavor the dish and make the dumplings that are tossed in! — Jennifer Partridge, Clemson, South Carolina
A: JCT Kitchen's vegetable plate is a combination of seasonal vegetables, potato dumplings, smoked maitake mushrooms (also called hen-of-the-woods mushrooms) and oven-dried tomatoes. The seasonal vegetables pictured in the photo are spring onions, peas, carrots and asparagus. The seasonal vegetables on your plate will be up to you.
For the smoked mushrooms, the kitchen brushes the fresh mushrooms with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkles them with salt and pepper. They are arranged on the low/medium heat side of the restaurant’s wood-burning grill and smoked until tender.
JCT Kitchen’s Vegetable Plate
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
16 Potato Dumplings (see recipe)
5 different seasonal vegetables, 3 ounces each
4 halves Oven-Dried Tomatoes (see recipe)
6 ounces smoked maitake mushrooms
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice
In a large skillet, heat olive oil to the smoking point. Add dumplings and sear on both sides. If necessary, divide oil and dumpling between two skillets. When dumplings are seared, add seasonal vegetables, tomatoes and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are heated through. Then add chicken stock and deglaze skillet. Remove skillet from heat, add butter, and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve immediately. Serves: 2
Per serving: 928 calories (percent of calories from fat, 54), 17 grams protein, 92 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fiber, 57 grams fat (20 grams saturated), 275 milligrams cholesterol, 596 milligrams sodium.
JCT Kitchen’s Potato Dumplings
These delicious dumplings could go by another name — potato gnocchi. The double zero flour is Italian, low in protein and very finely milled for use in pizza dough and pastas. You can find it online at kingarthurflour.com.
2 russet potatoes (about 1 pound)
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup double zero flour
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash potatoes and bake until done. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel potatoes. You should be able to do this without a paring knife. Put the potato flesh through a food mill and make a mound of the milled potatoes on your work surface. Make a well in the center and add egg yolks. Sprinkle flour over the mound and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lightly knead mixture to form a dough. Roll dough into a 1-inch thick log, approximately 32 inches long. Form dumplings by using a bench knife or sharp paring knife to cut log into two-inch pieces.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water nearby. Carefully drop in dumplings into water and cook 1 1/2 minutes. Drain dumplings. If not using right away, put into ice water to cool. When chilled, drain dumplings and arrange on a baking sheet until ready to use. Makes: 16 dumplings.
Per dumpling: 57 calories (percent of calories from fat, 13), 2 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 1 gram fat (trace saturated fat), 27 milligrams cholesterol, 11 milligrams sodium.
JCT Kitchen’s Oven-Dried Tomatoes
An average Roma tomato weighs between three and four ounces and when dried, each tomato half loses about half its moisture. This recipe makes enough oven-dried tomatoes for two servings.
2 Roma tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Minced garlic
Minced shallot
Chopped thyme
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water nearby. Drop tomatoes into boiling water and cook 30 seconds. Then remove and put immediately into ice water to cool. When cooled, remove from ice water and using a paring knife, remove skins. Cut tomatoes in half and arrange on a baking sheet cut side up. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic, shallot and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for four hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool. May be made ahead of time and refrigerated, covered, for up to 2 days. Makes: 4 tomato halves
Per half: 61 calories (percent of calories from fat, 77), 1 gram protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 39 milligrams sodium.
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