Rhubarb Muffins

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Spring is for rhubarb, and I was so excited about the arrival of rhubarb this season that I had to do something with it this morning, despite the hot weather.  Fond as I am of rhubarb crumble-type dishes (this is my go-to recipe), I decided to make something not quite so sweet.  I ended up with muffins.

Rhubarb Muffins

Combine rhubarb, sugar, and water (to keep the rhubarb from sticking to the pot at first) in a small saucepan.  Cook on low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the rhubarb is starting to fall apart.  You could continue cooking the rhubarb until it completely falls apart and you have an applesauce-like texture; I was impatient, so I puréed it with my immersion blender.  Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Combine the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients (including the rhubarb), stirring quickly and leaving a few lumps.  Spoon into a muffin tin and bake for about 15 minutes.

I got twelve not very tall, very moist muffins out of this.  If you want them less moist, add a bit more flour.  Ginger, either powdered and mixed with the flour or fresh and cooked with the rhubarb, would also be really good in these.

March? Winter Squash Three Ways and a Quiche!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How can it possibly be the last day of March? March 31, 2009! Does anyone else have the feeling that March was stolen from under their very eyes? It was a funny month. It began with a snow storm. Temperatures varied from the teens to the 70s. Just this past Sunday I got caught by a flash hailstorm whilst strolling through Washington Square. At my university there were weekly (or multiple in a week) conferences, colloquia and symposia to add to regular graduate student demands. Luckily, for my sanity, I continued to pick up my weekly CSA share from Keystone Farm, shopped at Mariposa, picked up my weekly bread order from Four Worlds Bakery and cooked any number of local and eco meals. Cooking really is meditative and good food provides the best comfort. Let me catch you up a bit on some of the highlights of this month’s eating!

Inspired by Naomi’s delicious post on butternut squash pasta sauce, I thought I’d put up a few things I did with the puree from a kabocha squash I had gotten in my CSA share. The squash sat prettily on my counter for months, before I finally decided what best to do with it. I knew that I would be committing myself to intensive solitary squash eating, so I needed time to consider how exactly I wanted to address the dear kabocha. Finally I chose to halve it, poke holes in the outside and roast it. I then pureed the roasted squash, and that is where the fun began. Kabocha is a sweeter squash with a delicate flavor and firm, brightly orange flesh.

I have a true love of apple butter and cheddar cheese sandwiches (on the spelt levain from Four Worlds). The squash puree, however, beckoned and I found that equally delightful is a sandwich of this sweet kabocha puree and the sharp cheddar cheese I regularly receive in my share.  I have mentioned before too, that I often make variations of Alice Waters’ soup of many vegetables. The addition of pumpkin puree to the vegetable soup not only gave it a beautiful color (which, for some sad reason is not apparent in this photo), but also added the most subtle pumpkin-y flavor to the broth.

Longing for pancakes one weekend morning, I decided to use the last bit of kabocha puree to make, what turned out to be, the best pancakes I have ever made. Really incredible - if I may say so myself! They were light, fluffy and unbelievably tasty. I long for the fall to make these pancakes again!

Soup of Many Vegetables
adapted from Alice Waters The Art of Simple Food

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced evenly
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
4 cups water
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup winter squash puree
Half of small head of cabbage (green), shredded
2 cups prepared cranberry beans (cooked in water—3 inches above beans—with a bay leaf and garlic clove, allowing them to simmer after five minutes of a hard boil for about an hour, reserving the cooking water)

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, sautee the onion and carrot until soft—about 10 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaf, salt and thyme. Cook another 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of wine and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes, add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Add in potatoes, allowing to simmer/boil gently. Stir in squash puree. After 5 minutes add cabbage (you could cook cabbage ahead of time and add at the end with the beans). Cook another 10 minutes and add beans and reserved water. All the while stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. Once everything is cooked (potatoes are tender) serve.

Best Pumpkin Pancakes
adapted from many sources

1 cup flour (I used a local PA white pastry flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt (you could use buttermilk or a mixture of milk and yogurt)
1/2 cup squash puree

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together egg, yogurt and puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry until just mixed (don’t over beat). Then cook them up in a pan with butter and enjoy with a drizzle of maple syrup or just as they are!

On another note. Spring is creeping in and spinach is starting to show up in my CSA share. Keystone Farm has experimented for the first time with greenhouses this winter, and lettuces have been making their way into my box. The spinach, however, is a great treat. In a sea of potatoes and onions, there is nothing quite like some local organic spinach! For the first time ever, I decided to make a quiche. The picture will reveal that I make funny pie crusts. I use (again) a recipe from Alice Waters, and this dough does not shrink at all! I always forget to take this into consideration, which is why my pies and now quiches tend to have wavy crusts hanging over the sides of the pie dish….

Spinach Quiche

Crust:
1 cup flour (again, local white PA pastry flour)
3/4 cup cold butter in 1/4 inch cubes
1/4 cold water

I used my food processor and cut the butter into the flour and slowly added the water until the dough formed a ball. You could also use the more conventional way of cutting the butter into the flour with either knives, a pastry cutter or your fingers and then add the water. Form a loose disc with the dough and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll out the dough and prebake for in a 375˚ oven for 15 minutes.

(my pie dish is 10”)

Filling:
1 small onion, diced
1 large bag spinach (I don’t actually know how many cups this is, but it is the size bag I got from the farmer’s market!)
6 eggs, 3/4 cup plain yogurt
ca 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion in olive oil. Add spinach and sautee until just wilted. In a separate bowl mix together 6 eggs, yogurt and salt. Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese over crust, add layer of spinach/onion mixture. Sprinkle more cheese and add rest of spinach and onion. Sprinkle rest of cheese and then carefully pour over the egg mixture. Bake for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 375˚. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

On another note: The other posters have been doing an excellent job of keeping Farm to Philly readers up-to-date on all the fantastic coverage that the slow/local/eco food movement has been getting. It is a really exciting time to be a food activist (or a conscientious eater). For further inspiration and information, “The Garden” will be showed at the Rotunda this coming Thursday (4/2 7pm).

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

I really love butternut squash.  It’s great cubed and roasted, the way I cook most root veggies, or made into a puréed soup, but sometimes I want to make something that requires less active prep or cooking time than either of those options.  Especially when my hands or wrists are tired or sore, I don’t want to peel and cube a squash, so I’ve found another preparation method that’s a lot easier for me.  I cut the squash between the bulb and the neck, then cut each piece in half and lay them flat, cut-side down, on a baking sheet, bake them until they’re soft, and then just sauté them a little with seasonings of various sorts and call the squash stuff a pasta sauce. 

Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Wash and quarter the butternut and place the quarters face-down on a greased baking sheet.  (You might want to put the neck pieces on a separate sheet or otherwise plan to bake them longer than the bulb.)  Bake about 40 minutes or until there’s liquid bubbling under the pieces of squash and the flesh is soft.  Meanwhile, prepare the pasta, set it aside, and chop the garlic and start to sauté the caraway (or cumin, or fennel, or mustard) seeds and then the garlic.  When the squash is cooked, scoop the flesh from the rind and add it to the garlic and seeds.  Season to taste, adding liquid (I didn’t think of it while I was cooking, but white wine or beer would probably be good options) until the squash mixture is the consistency of a thick pasta sauce.  Add some cheese, stirring until it’s melted in, and then add the cooked pasta and stir to coat.

A Man With A (Tart) Pan

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Philadelphia’s Winter Harvest buying club is a god-send for locavores in those dark months when the farmers’ markets have (mostly) closed down.  However, the program does have one feature that is a source of continuing frustration for me: the need to purchase food one month in advance.  One or two weeks out, I’m fine, but it’s a bit of a guessing-game once we get three and four weeks away.  (You’d think that, after three years, I’d have the hang of this.)

So, unsurprisingly, one recent Sunday afternoon, I found myself staring at a fridge full of onions, red and yellow.  Normally, I would have caramelized all of them and stored in them in the fridge, hoping I would use them all by the end of the week.  This time, though, I felt a bit more ambitious.  I had a plan - a plan and a tart pan.

This recipe was a bit of a departure for me for a couple of reasons.  One, it was certainly more involved than my cooking typically is.  However, I found that the tasks involved overlapped beautifully; e.g., while the onions were caramelizing, I had time to make and bake the pastry dough; while pastry dough was cooling, I had time to make the “filling.”  Two, this was the first time that I made a pastry dough using the food processor.  Because I would make the pastry dough by hand - cutting in the butter, drizzling in the water, etc. - I would only make pastry dough on rare occasions.  Not only was the process infinitely cleaner and faster, but the results were equal to what I could have done by hand.

The finished tart looked impressive and made for a fantastic lunch with a small salad.  It’s perfect as an appetizer or brunch item. 

Caramelized Onion Tart

6 large onions (approximate - I had 8 onions of various types and sizes), caramelized
1 pastry crust (see below)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
 
1.  Combine the (cooled) caramelized onions, egg, and thyme in mixing bowl and poor into the baked pastry crust.  Sprinkle the grated cheese over top. 
2.  Bake in a preheated oven (375) for twenty minutes, or until the cheese has melted and formed a browned crust.

Food-Processor Whole-Wheat Pastry Dough
(From Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World)

1 1/2 c. whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tblsp. butter, cut into 8-10 pieces

1.  Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice.  Add butter and pulse until the mixture is uniform.
2.  Put the mixture in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons ice water until a ball forms.  Warp the ball in plastic and freeze for ten minutes. (I just added the water to the food processor and pulsed until it came together.)
3.  Lightly flour a countertop and roll the dough out into a rough circle, alternately turning the dough as needed.
4.  When the dough’s diameter is roughly 2 inches greater than the tart pan, gently layer the dough into the pan and press into the corners.  Put the tart pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
5.  Preheat the oven to 400.  Add a skillet, heavy pan, or dried peans or rice in greased foil to the tart pan (I used a skillet) and bake for 12 minutes.  Lower the heat to 350, remove the weight and bake until brown.

Allow to cool until before adding the onions.

Three Tasty Legume Recipes

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I was really excited when Nicole announced the challenge for this month - I love beans! We usually eat them 6 days out of 7. Besides their versatility and general tastiness, one of the things I find most fascinating about beans is the sheer variety - there are over 10,000 different kinds of legumes - which means you could eat a different one every day for over 27 years! (Provided of course that you could track them all down.) This post contains three recipes that we’ve eaten so far this week, featuring pintos, chickpeas, and french lentils. I’ve listed adaptations for both dry and canned beans - although I recommend using dry.

Friuli-Style Rice and Pinto Beans
This is one of my go-to recipes for days when I just want to cook one dish, it goes great with just about any veggie, or you can just shred some greens and throw them in 5-10 minutes before the rice is done.

• 1 cup dried pintos (or cranberry beans) – If you’re using canned beans 1 can
• 3 oz pancetta (Veg*ns – ¼ cup chopped and pitted kalamata olives)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 rib celery or ½ cup diced celeriac
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 medium waxy potatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
• ¾ cup Arborio rice (can substitute Japanese sushi rice if necessary)
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan

1. If using dried beans, soak for at least 8 hours, drain and rinse.
2. Finely chop the pancetta, onion, and celery/celeriac. (Veg*ns – just omit the pancetta for the moment)
3. Heat the olive oil in a heavy 6 qt pan, add the veggie mixture and cook for about 3 minutes until the veggies begin to soften.
4. Add the beans, bay leaves, broth, and potatoes, raise the heat and bring to a boil.
5. When the broth begins to boil lower the heat to a simmer and simmer for 40 minutes (if dry beans) or 10 minutes (if canned beans).
6. Add the rice and cook, stirring very frequently, until the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes).
7. Remove the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper (add kalamata olives if using).
8. Serve with Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4
Adapted from Fagioli the Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett

Spiced Lentils
This is a big favorite at our house and is tasty either warm or cold.

• 1 ½ cup puy lentils
• 7 oz feta cheese
• 5 T tomato paste
• ¼ cup chopped parsley, chopped

1. Place lentils in a 4 qt saucepan with 2 ½ cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes until lentils are tender but not at all mushy. Drain any extra water.
2. Crumble half of the feta into the pan, add the tomato paste and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix to combine and heat through for 2 minutes.
3. Serve sprinkled with the rest of the feta. Serve immediately.
Serves 2 – 4 as a side dish
Adapted from Four Ingredient Cooking

Chipotle-Chickpea Spread
This is a new recipe for us - but it’s so yummy I had to share. This goes well with thick chips like tortilla or pita, veggies, and I think it could make a good sandwich spread as well.

• 2 cups dried chickpeas (or 2 cans canned chickpeas)
• 2-4 canned chipotle peppers (depending on your preferred level of spice)
• 1 T adobo sauce (from can of chipotle peppers)
• 1/8 c lime juice (or from ½ of a lime)
• Salt
• 1/8 – ¼ c olive oil

1. If using dried chickpeas: Soak for at least 8 hours, then cover with several inches of water in a large sauce pan, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 – 60 minutes until you can smoosh a chickpea with the back of a spoon fairly easily.
2. If using canned chickpeas: Drain and rinse.
3. Combine all ingredients in a food process and process until blended.
Adapted from the Shakesville Gourmet

Glazed Seitan and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Sunday, March 01, 2009

In my neighborhood, eating fresh and local November through March is a little rough.  This time of year, if I want anything fresh, I have to head 45 minutes south (Reading Terminal Market), north (Allentown Farmers Market) or west (Phoenixville Farmers’ Market).  Anything that is, except cabbage. 

I found a collection of monstrous cabbage heads Bill Seulke’s Produce stand in the Q-Mart today and just couldn’t pass them up.  The one we picked up weighed in at almost eight pounds, and at 33-cents a pound, cost a mere $2.50.  I combined it with a tub of Ray’s Seitan and frozen peppers from my Blooming Glen Farm CSA share for a quick, yummy dinner

Glazed Seitan and Cabbage Stir-Fry
(modified from Vegetarian Times)
Serves 6

Glazed Seitan
3 Tbs. maple syrup
3 Tbs. orange juice
1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil
1 12-oz. pkg. seitan, chopped

Stir-Fry
3/4 cup almonds (halved, whole, slivered, whatever)
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 lbs. shredded cabbage (about 4 cups)
3 bell peppers, cut into strips (about 2 cups)
2 Tbs. minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
9 Tbs. orange juice
1 1/4 Tbs. arrowroot powder

To make Glazed Seitan:
Combine syrup, juice and soy sauce in small bowl.
Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add seitan, and stir-fry 4 minutes, or until golden. Add maple syrup mixture, and simmer 3 minutes, or until seitan is coated with glaze. Transfer to bowl. Wipe out skillet.

To make Stir-Fry:
Toast almonds in dry skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes, or until fragrant. Transfer to bowl. Heat 1 Tbs. sesame oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, 2 Tbs. water and cover, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and stir-fry 2 minutes.
Move vegetables to sides of skillet, and pour remaining 1 tsp. oil in center. Add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes, and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in 2 Tbs. water, seitan and almonds. Cover, and cook 2 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Combine orange juice and arrowroot powder. Stir into vegetable mixture. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat, and serve.

I served the stir-fry over soba noodles that I covered with a mixture of orange juice, sesame oil and arrowroot, though just about any grain or noodle would work great. While we ate, my boyfriend remarked that chunks of grilled pineapple would make a nice addition, which got us daydreaming about summertime and the gobs of fresh fruits and veggies awaiting us…  amazing how a tiny splash of light, crisp citrus on a pile of fresh, local ingredients can brighten up a murky February day, eh?

Behold, the Rutabaga

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Rutabagas just don’t get enough love.  A cross between cabbage and a turnip, rutabagas are often overlooked.  And next to the beet, rutabagas are the most maligned root vegetable on the planet, often made fun of as food for poor people.  Well, during this time of economic turmoil, aren’t we all sort of poor?  And what better excuse to reform the rutabaga’s sullied reputation?

The rutabaga is charming in its own way.  Before pumpkins were available, people in the UK used rutabagas as jack o’lanterns.  They’re called “neeps” in Scotland.  And every year in Ithaca, New York there’s an International Rutabaga Curling Competition.  Come on, that’s fun!

Fun aside, rutabagas are versatile.  They’re a great stand-in for potatoes, and they make an excellent mash/puree.  They can be roasted, grilled, and even pickled.  And did I mention rutabagas make killer oven fries?

Other intriguing rutabaga recipes:

• Penne with Braised Greens and Rutabaga
• Flat Omelet with Rutabaga
• Rutabaga Teriyaki
• Ginger Rutabaga Muffins
• Rutabaga Soup with Fried Spaghetti Squash and Toasted Pepitas
• Herbed Rutabaga Couscous Salad
• Rutabaga Pudding
• Smoked Paprika and Rutabaga Bisque

Embrace the rutabaga!  And be sure to let us know your favorite rutabaga recipes!

Honey Applesauce Cake, part III

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

As promised, I bring you the frosting recipe! I have never made such a “seven minute” frosting before, and must warn that this is obviously not a buttercream or “typical” frosting. It is closer to a meringue, really. But with just egg whites, honey and vanilla, this is probably the healthiest frosting one could make! (or at least low fat).

Honey Vanilla Seven Minute Frosting
adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet

2 egg whites
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

In a double boiler or in a metal bowl over a pot with hot water, combine egg whites and honey. Beat with electric mixer until water comes to a boil. Continue to beat until soft peaks form (ca 7 minutes). Remove from heat and add vanilla. Beat until it seems substantive enough to frost with (medium peaks).

should be enough to frost 12 cupcakes or one 9” cake (I had some left over and made meringues).

I spooned the frosting into a plastic storage bag (I have about a trillion of these from the weekly granola I get in my CSA share), cut a hole in the corner and then piped the frosting onto the cupcakes, which is why they look so darn cute!