May 9, 2008 6:00 am US/Eastern
Tony Tantillo: Dill
(CBS)
Well this week's tip is going to be with fresh dill.
Look how beautiful this is, the fresh dill, and this time of year during the spring, it is in abundance with the quality the best it's going to be in a long time.
If you like to cook with dill and I love to cook with dill. It goes great in many seafood dishes and different salads. It lends itself so well to so many recipes, but you want to make sure to select and store it right.
When you buy it, just like this, nice and green and nice and smooth. The texture should be silky and flow like this…like grass in the wind. Look at that! It's beautiful isn't it?
Then what you want to do when you bring it home is store it in the refrigerator, but the trick is you don't want to get it too cold in the refrigerator, so keep it in the plastic bag you buy it in. Sometimes even put it in the bag with a paper towel around it to keep it from getting too cold.
Only store it for a day or two; if you store it for too long, forget it! It'll start to turn black on ya, or turn yellow, and lose that wonderful flavor that dill has, and you don't want that to happen.
Fresh dill in the spring, in the market right now with great prices, so buy it in abundance, use it in abundance because it's beautiful, and I'm Tony Tantillo your Fresh Grocer, and always remember to "Eat Fresh & Stay Healthy."
Aw…it smells good too.
Cold Beet Soup
The idea of beet soup, and cold beet soup at that, may not sound too appetizing unless you're Eastern European, but this beet soup is easy to make, lovely to look at, and very refreshing.
Serves 6
2 bunches beets with green tops attached
4 teaspoons capers, drained
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 small dill pickle, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon cider or wine vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 small potato, cooked, peeled and cubed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pint nonfat sour cream
1. Remove beets from greens, leaving about 1 inch of stem on each beet. You should have about 1½ pounds of beets; use greens for another dish. Wash beets thoroughly. Put 1 inch of water in a saucepan and add a steamer basket. Steam beets 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size until a knife easily pierces them; reserve steaming water.
2. Cool beets under running water and slip off the skins. Dice 1 cup of the beets and set aside with 2 teaspoons of the capers. Cut remaining beets into chunks and put into a food processor with remaining ingredients except sour cream and reserved capers and beets. Purée until smooth adding a little of the cooking water if too thick.
3. Fold in reserved capers and diced beets and sour cream. Refrigerate several hours. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
Cooking Tip
Beets are one of the better canned vegetables so you won't lose too much if you use them instead of fresh. I like to keep canned beets around for quick antipasto platters and salads as well.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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