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!

Honey Applesauce (Cup)Cake(s), part II

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Yesterday I posted the first of a three part recipe for a locally sweetened cake. Actually, I opted for cupcakes, but a cake can be made from this recipe too. I started with a basic 1-2-3-4 cake recipe and then adapted it wildly to include my two star ingredients, applesauce and honey. This is what I came up with (I tried to make a recipe that could easily be doubled):

Honey Applesauce Cake
preheat oven to 350˚F

1 ½ cups flour (local white pastry flour)
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

½ stick unsalted butter – room temperature (1/4 cup)
1/3 cup honey
1 egg yolk (white to follow)
1 cup applesauce
½ tsp vanilla

½ cup milk

1 beaten egg white (soft peaks)

whisk together dry ingredients and set aside
separate egg
with electric mixer beat butter until creamy (about 1 minute)
add honey, beat for another minute
add egg yolk, beat for one minute (if multiplying the recipe, add egg yolks one at a time, beating for one minute each)
mix in applesauce until well blended and then vanilla

alternately, starting with flour mixture, add in flour and milk. do this by hand so as not to over beat ingredients

mix in half of the beaten egg white. fold in the second half.

divide batter amongst 12 cupcake liners or pour into one 9” cake pan.

bake cupcakes for approx. 20 minutes, cake for approx. 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

As you can see from the picture above, they sank a bit. I don’t know why, and, frankly, I don’t really care as long as they taste good! And with the honey vanilla seven minute frosting, who will know the difference!

See how pretty they look? (frosting recipe to come….)

 

The Cabbage Challenge: Red Cabbage, Apples, and Bacon

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

In the winter months, the appeal of slow-braised dishes never diminishes.  In the summer, we seek the opposite: raw, bright flavors that contrast with each other.  Now, in the depths of winter, we seek deep, muted flavors of ingredients blended over time.  This dish - from Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie - is quintessential winter food.  I’ve simplified this a bit, as I found his original portion of vinegar (3/4 cup of balsamic) overwhelming and I prefer it without the tablespoon of ground fennel seeds, though feel free to reintroduce them.  Best eaten while there is still snow on the ground. 

Jamie Oliver’s Red Cabbage Braised with Apple, Bacon and Vinegar

Olive Oil
1/2 lb. Meadow Run Farm Bacon, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
2 Apples, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
1 Red Cabbage, trimmed of outer leaves and cored, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons vinegar (I use herb vinegar from Red Earth Farm)
1 tablespoon butter

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.  Add the bacon and cook until golden.  Add the onions and continue to cook, covered, until golden.  Add the apples, cabbage, vinegar, and a pinch of salt.  Stir well.  Cook covered over low heat for approximately one hour, stirring occasionally. Season again with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the butter just before serving. 

Squash

Monday, January 26, 2009

I love winter squash - their taste, their looks, the waxy-smooth feel of their skin, their ease of storage. So, it’s no surprise that we end up storing a lot of winter squash. As I mentioned, it’s super easy - you just need a place in your house/apartment that stays between 50 -70F. (We put ours in the guest room.) My absolute favorite winter squash is Musqee de Provence, also known as Fairy Tale. As you can tell by the picture, these are gorgeous fruits - deeply lobed, a dusky light orange with green shading. They also taste fabulous - not dry (like acorn or delicata) and much sweeter than butternut. Their flesh is rarely stringy - even after months of storage, and is a brilliant orange. The only issue is their size - between 20 - 60 lbs. (The one in the picture is 55lbs). I’m sure this seems intimidating to many people - “Sixty pounds of pumpkin - how can 2 (or 4 or 6) people eat sixty pounds of pumpkin!” Never fear - read this post and never be afraid of large pumpkins again

First things first: find a weekend where you don’t have too much going on, then plan a few meals with pumpkin for the following week (a few ideas are below). There are basically three kinds of pumpkin recipes: ones that use a chunk of roasted pumpkin (think stuffed squash), ones that use puree (think pie), and ones that use chunks (lots of soups). This directions in this post will tell you how to turn your 60 lb pumpkin into ingredients for each.

Once you have some time where you’ll be in the house (4 hrs or so), start to cut up your pumpkin. Use the longest/largest knife you have, and cut off manageable chunks. I usually do wedges like a pie - but whatever works for you. Be careful! Once you have about 1/4 to 1/3 of the pumpkin liberated, set aside the rest and scrape the seeds off of your chunks. If you’d like save the seeds for pepitas, or just compost them. Huge pumpkins are not the best for recipes that use a chunk of roasted pumpkin, but if you like roasted squash with butter and/or maple syrup, you can chop your chunks to the perfect size and then either refrigerate (if you’re planning on cooking them within a week) or pop them in a Ziploc bag and stick them in the freezer.

Once you have all of the chunks you want, then you can chop the liberated pumpkin into 1.5” pieces. I find it’s generally easier to chop into pieces first, then remove the skin. These pieces can be put in an airtight container and refrigeratedd, or put in to Ziploc bags and frozen. If you come across a recipe calling for pieces of squash, just pull them out of the freezer - no need to defrost. (The cooking time may be increased slightly).

When you use up all of your liberated chunks, go back to the pumpkin and cut off and seed some more, Breaking this down really helps, so that you don’t have every counter covered in cut pumpkin. To make puree - cut the pumpkin into chunks that will fit into a casserole dish (I use the glass Pyrex brownie-type). Fill the casserole with about 1/4” of water, and put the squash in insides down. Roast at 400F for 40 - 60 minutes. When you can stick a knife in and it feels like cutting warm butter, they should be done. Let cool a bit and scrape the flesh out with a spoon. Blend. You can freeze the puree, or refrigerate if for a few days. Anytime a recipe call for pureed pumpkin pull it out. If it calls for pumpkin pie filling - you can add some cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger, to taste.

This shouldn’t take more than a few hours (depending on how many batches of roasting you have to do) and it makes many squash-based meals much more convenient - for example, every recipe that calls for you to roast a squash, scoop the flesh, then blend - well you’ve just eliminated about an hour’s worth of work. Two of my favorite squash recipes go from - weekend-only to weeknight because of this.

Squash with Chickpeas - this sounds really simple and bland - but is wonderful!

1 can of chickpeas (or 1 cup of dried chickpeas, soaked over night, then boiled for 45 minutes and drained)
2 c of squash puree
1 T thyme
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 T Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T oil

Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat through. This is a really forgiving recipe - you can cook it anywhere from 10 - 60 minutes, so it can be ready whenever the rest of dinner is ready. If you end up needing to cook it longer than 10 minutes, just turn the heat down to low and put a lit on the pan. Adapted from Lucullian Delights.

Squash Mac’n'Cheese

1 lb pasta (penne, macaroni, shells, whatever)
4 c squash puree
4 - 8 oz cheddar (depending on how cheesy you like it) - grated
4 - 8 oz blue cheese (depending how moldy you like it) - chopped
1 T butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 t nutmeg
1 t peper
1 T flour
1 cup milk (cow, soy, rice, whatever - except probably coconut)

Heat the oven to 400F and get out a 2Q casserole

Cook the pasta according to the directions, drain and rinse.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a *large* sauce pan over med-high heat, when it starts bubbling, add the onions, nutmeg and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the flour and mix very well. Then add the milk, a little at a time, stirring until it is completely blended. (I usually do the first half with a T, then do the rest free hand - you can add more at a time once the sauce is saucy). Make sure you don’t add more milk until any and all lumps are gone. When the milk is added, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until it thickens slightly. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring each handful until it is melted. Then add the blue cheese the same way. Once all the cheese is added, stir in the squash puree. Once that is all blended, then add the pasta. Put the whole mixture into the casserole and bake for about 30 mins - until the sauce is bubbly. Adapted from A Veggie Venture.

For all of you vegans out there - you can try adapting the cheese sauce from this version of mac’n'cheese - or your favorite recipe. Just add the pasta and squash to your sauce and then bake.

Purple Soup!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Disclaimer: no food coloring went into that soup!

It is still winter, still January, and I am still receiving cabbages in my CSA share. Along with cabbages come carrots, potatoes, turnips, garlic, onion, a variety of squash and, of course, apples (and the usual eggs, granola and cheese). What to do when the weather turns (too) cold and root veggies and cabbage abound? Make soup!

I love Alice Waters and regularly turn to her cookbook The Art of Simple Food. There is one recipe in particular that has become a standard: A soup of many vegetables, or seasonal variations of minestrone. The winter minestrone involves cabbage, potatoes and turnips. Perfect. Of course, my cabbage was red, and thus dyed my soup purple. Perhaps I am biased, but I think the purple broth looks beautiful with the orange carrots and white great northern beans! Regardless, it was delicious and fed me for many days. As the weather turns cold again this weekend, maybe you want to try adding cabbage to your hearty winter soup.

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

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced evenly
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
4 cups water
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 small turnips, cubed
Half of small head of cabbage (red or green), shredded
2 cups prepared white beans (I used great northern beans and cooked them 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)
Pepper to taste
Olive oil and Parmesan for garnish (optional)

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 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Add in turnips and potatoes, allowing to simmer/boil gently. After 5 minutes add cabbage (you could cook cabbage ahead of time and add at the end with the beans, which would probably prevent the dying of soup, but I like the purple!). 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 and turnips are tender) serve. If you wish, you can add 1 tbsp each of olive oil and Parmesan to the individual bowls. Enjoy!

And if you are looking for more tips on how to cook cabbage, why don’t you check out this video from 1941 about how to best cook a cabbage!

No, those are NOT locust eggs

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

As a kid, my mother used to tell me that tapioca was really locust eggs.  I used to wonder why my mother would have done such a crazy thing.  I mean, she made tapioca pudding all the time.  Did she not want us to eat it?  Um, yes.  I understand: she just wanted more pudding for herself.

And who can blame her?  Homemade tapioca pudding is fantastic.  I know a lot of people who think tapioca pudding is gross, my husband included - but those people have only had that disgusting mass-produced stuff that claims to be tapioca pudding.  That stuff just ain’t right.  Homemade tapioca pudding is creamy, but fluffy…dense, but light….vaguely chewy, but smooth.  Seriously.  So good.

I don’t even try to dissuade my husband of his nutty tapioca notions.  Why?  Well, that’s more for me! 

1/2 cup small pearl tapioca (do not use instant tapioca)
3 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Boil tapioca, milk, and salt in a saucepan on medium high heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered at the lowest possible heat, adding sugar gradually.

Beat egg yolks. Mix in some of the hot tapioca very slowly into the yolks to equalize the temperature of the two mixtures.

Mix eggs into tapioca. Slowly bring mixture barely to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and stir several minutes at a low simmer, stirring constantly until you get a nice thick pudding consistency. Cool 15 minutes. Add vanilla. Chill for at least a few hours and then enjoy!

It’s the ultimate Winter dessert - pudding is comforting, and the eggs and milk can always be found locally.  Coincidentally, this recipe calls for raw egg whites - so much the better to know and trust your egg purveyor!!

Cabbage and Potato Gratin

In the spirit of the Cabbage and Kale challenge, and because I had half a head of cabbage left from before my recent vacation, I threw this together last night. I’ve tried green veggie gratin type recipes before, and I’m not terribly fond of them with just plain veggies - but I thought that potatoes would add enough body - plus my potatoes are beginning to sprout. The potatoes and cabbage were local, but I don’t think anything else was, although the eggs might have been.

Ingredients:
* 1/2 a head of cabbage, finely sliced (preferably purple for a nice contrast)
* 5 small potatoes, thinly sliced (about same volume as the cabbage)
* 1 c shredded Parmesan cheese, shredded
* approx. 1 t butter
——
* 1 c cream, milk, or half and half
* 1/4 c flour
* 1/2 c shredded Gruyere cheese
* 1 t salt
* 1 t ground cardamom
* 1 t caraway seeds
* 2 eggs

1. Butter the inside of a two quart casserole dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan to coat (approx 1/2 of amount in the recipe)
2. Steam or boil the cabbage until just soft (I steamed it for 5 minutes). Drain, and pat dry with a towel.
3. Combine the ingredients below the line in a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly
4. Place a layer of cabbage in the casserole, top with a layer of potatoes (make sure there are holes between the potatoes) and pour approx 1/3 of the egg mixture over
5. Continue layering of cabbage, potatoes and egg mixture until everything is used up (should be approx 3 times)
6. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese
7. Bake at 375F for 40 - 50 minutes

It was very good. The potatoes were a good idea, but some of them didn’t get cooked as much as I would like - I think next time I’d steam them along with the cabbage. And you def need to steam the cabbage - with the steaming it’s still pleasently crunchy in the finished dish.

Dark Days: The Leftover Life

Sunday, January 04, 2009

This week’s Dark Days challenge update includes lots and lots of leftovers.  The black-eyed pea and mushroom ragout with polenta made excellent lunches! 

From the leftover lamb from the roasted leg of lamb I made lamb pot pie.  I think it does qualify for the Dark Days challenge, even though I cheated and used store-bought pie dough.  The lamb was, of course, local - but so was the carrot (Lancaster Farm Fresh), onion (Landisdale Farm), parsnips (Lancaster Farm Fresh), beef stock, lamb demiglace, garlic (my garden), flour, and stout beer used for filling and gravy.  And that also made tremendously good leftovers all week!  Seriously, I could eat pot pie every day of the week during the Winter.  There’s something incredibly comforting and warming about it.  I also froze the lamb leg bone for making stock.

With all those leftovers, I really didn’t have to cook much this week.

Today, though, I did head into the kitchen.  I’ve been craving frittata lately.  I have a zillion pounds of sweet potatoes hibernating on the back porch - toward the end of the CSA season with Landisdale Farm, we ended up with many, many sweet potatoes.  I like sweet potatoes just fine, but I don’t really know very many ways to use them.  But this morning it occured to me that maybe I could use them in place of regular potatoes for frittata…plus, I had a few duck eggs left that I really needed to use double quick.

In our cast iron skillet, I melted some butter that I made from local cream (over medium high heat) and sauted chopped onion (Landisdale Farm) and garlic (my garden), along with some sausage (Country Time Farm) removed from its casing.  I threw in some salt and pepper, and a teaspoon of dried, rubbed sage (my garden).  And then I added in spinach (Rineer Family Farms) and fresh cranberries (Paradise Hill Farm), and sauted that for another few minutes until the spinach was just wilted.  I scooped all of that out and layered sliced white sweet potato (I used a mandoline to get the potatoes sliced thinly) into the skillet in concentric circles.  After the first layer, I spooned in some of the sausage/spinach mix, and then just kept layering potatoes and then sausage/spinach mix.

When I got everything layered into the skillet, I let it all cook on the stove for 15 minutes.  While that was cooking, I whisked together the last six duck eggs with a cup of milk (Natural by Nature) and then dumped it into the skillet.  The skillet went into the oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for 40 minutes.  After it was out, I shredded some raw milk cheddar (Green Meadow Farm) over top.

It was better than I imagined.  The cranberries were perfect against the sausage, and the sweet potatoes were great!  And it looks like I’ll have enough to eat for leftovers this coming week!  I guess I know what will be in my report for next week!

One More Lazy Morning

No matter if you are a complete improviser or a strict adherent to recipes, you can not be afraid of failure in the kitchen.  The small frustrations - not to mention the immense disasters - are part of becoming a better cook.  You might even say that if you can say you’ve never failed in the kitchen, then you’ve never succeeded either.  Nevertheless, there are some things that I do not attempt, knowing that they would be too trying for my limited patience.  Crepes are a perfect example.  My batter is never the right consistency, and my pan is never the right temperature.  Because I love crepes, you can imagine this creates quite a problem.  So when my wife offered to make some for breakfast today, I eagerly agreed. 

Thus, in celebration of our final lazy morning before returning to school, she put together this local breakfast: buttermilk buckwheat crepes with egg, farmer’s cheese and caramelized onions and bacon.  The buckwheat and white spelt flours are from the Fair Food Farmstand, as is the Farmer’s cheese we grated into the crepes.  The eggs and bacon are from Meadow Run Farm.  The buttermilk and onions from Winter Harvest. 

I’ve written before about the versatility of buttermilk (here and here), but it continues to amaze me.  In this case, it gave the savory buckwheat crepes an extra, acidic tang.  The recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s modestly-titled The Best Recipes in The World.

Buttermilk Buckwheat Crepes

1/4 c. white spelt flour
1 c. buckwheat flour
2 eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. water
butter or “neutral” oil (for frying)

1.  Combine first five ingredients in a bowl and wisk until smooth.  Let sit for one hour.  (Note: Due to the thickness of the buttermilk, you may need additional water to thin batter.  The consistency should be something like runny pancake batter.)
2.  Heat a eight- or ten-inch nonstick skillet over high heat for approximately two minutes.  Add a teaspoon or two of butter or oil, coat the pan, then drain most of the oil (reuse for the next crepe).  There should only be a trace of oil or butter in the pan. 
3.  Pour in 1/4 cup of the batter and swirl around the pan, completely coating the bottom.  Pour any excess back into the remaining batter.  Turn in one to two minutes and cook the other side for approximately 30 seconds.  (Note:  You may need to adjust the heat.)  Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter or oil to the pan as necessary. 

 

Cold Comfort Curry

Saturday, December 27, 2008

I’ve had a bad cold all week.  Well, you know what they say: feed a cold and starve a fever.  I’ve been really hungry!  Luckily, there are lots of great recipes that don’t require a lot of preparation.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I broke out a bag of black-eyed peas that I’d been hoarding.  I’m planning to use more of them today, but my first meal with the peas was a curry.  Thankfully, it was ridiculously easy to make - and aside from the spices, it was entirely made from locally grown ingredients!

The tomatoes I canned this Summer came in handy for this recipe, although with each jar I use I cringe a little - the lesson I learned this year is that I need to can more chopped tomatoes next year.  I use them a lot, and get cranky as I see my supply diminishing!  Because I couldn’t be bothered with being too fussy thanks to being sick, I didn’t peel the potatoes and I sliced rather than chopped the onion.  I think it made the dish better.  I also did not use fresh ginger or cilantro.

The sauce made from puree peas was really good.  The dish was just slightly spicy, and even my husband liked it.  It’s definitely a good dish for the mid-Winter - very hearty, and easy to make with a little help from my stash!

World Peas

Monday, December 22, 2008

A bag of dried black eyed peas from Margerum’s has been languising in my cupboard since August.  By chance, I decided to haul them out and make something.  But what?  Googling for “black eyed peas” reveals millions of recipes for the same thing: peas with ham hocks, with and without collard greens. 

Black eyed peas are very much a part of the New Years Eve tradition for millions of people.  Eating black eyed peas on New Years Day is supposed to guarantee luck in the coming year.  My own family New Years Day tradition does not include black eyed peas (we’re more porkette, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes people).  That said, I wanted to make something with black eyed peas and maybe ham, but something that isn’t the standard New Years tradition type of recipe.

It took some research, but I finally came up with some options.

Stewed Black Eyed Peas with Ham
Curried pumpkin and black eyed peas
Pickled black eyed peas
Creamy Black Eyed Pea Soup
Black eyed pea hummus
Beans with pancetta and caramelized onions
Pork Belly with Tomatillo, Black Eyed Peas and Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushroom and black eyed peas ragout

In the end, I ended up going with a curry: Black eyed pea curry.  Everything was local except the ginger and spices were locally grown.  And it was good (more on that later)!

 

Ecovore Eating, Even in the Winter!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

The last week has largely been devoted to attending to my academic duties and neglecting my food blogs. But papers and grades are in, the dust has settled and I am slowly returning to my food writing. I am dividing the holidays been CT and San Francisco. I must say, I already miss Philly and my local food routine, but I know I can get some good meals in CT (where I am now) and will definitely be overwhelmed by the local and eco options in San Francisco (I’m sure I won’t be able to resist posting about my meal at Chez Panisse!!!!!). Regardless, I am sad to miss going to the farmer’s market at Clark Park each Saturday and regret having to postpone my CSA share a few weeks. That being said, the winter weather has gifted me only one missed share instead of two!

Yes, the organic Keystone Farm has a winter share worth mourning. For $250 one gets a half vegetarian share for 24 weeks. This includes 1 pound of granola, one local cheese, half a dozen eggs, vegetables and fruit. Of course, some might question the value of fresh, local produce in the winter. But delicious, nourishing and filling local meals can be had even in the darkest of months (as the “Dark Days Challenge” shows here). Root vegetables and winter squash are durable suckers that, if properly stored, can be enjoyed throughout the season. From these ingredients any number of soups, stews, gratins and lentil dishes can be made. Roasted vegetables are always a treat too.

The other night I sliced a sugar pumpkin, tossed it with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary, and roasted it.

A few weeks ago I made a tasty gratin based on an Alice Waters’ recipe with sweet potatoes, turnips and regular potatoes.

Sweet Potato-Turnip-Potato Gratin

3 small to medium potatoes (I used red potatoes, but Yukons would be good too)
3 small sweet potatoes
3 small to medium turnips
ca. 1 cup raw milk
3 tbs butter
salt and pepper

Thinly slice potatoes, sweet potatoes and turnips. In a baking dish that has been greased with butter line the various roots in an order you see fit (I had a row of sweet potatoes, then turnip, then potatoes). Overlap the slices like shingles. Salt and pepper this layer, then add another layer. Salt and pepper it and add another layer if you have more slices (you don’t want to make more than three layers). Chop the butter into pieces and disperse them over the surface of the gratin. Pour in milk carefully. You want the milk to come to the top of the bottom of the top layer. Adjust milk accordingly. Bake in an oven heated to 350˚F for 1 hour, or until potatoes are soft and top is golden brown.

A Radish Bonanza!

Watermelon radishes sure are pretty!  An heirloom variety of Daikon radish, this Winter radish tastes pretty much exactly like any other radish.  I’m not a huge fan of radishes, though.  Every now and then I get in the mood to eat them with salt…but there just doesn’t seem to be much to do with them.  But because watermelon radishes are so attractive, I do try to work them into meals when I can.

Last weekend I made deviled eggs (based on this recipe, the yolk filling of which contained minced watermelon radish and minced shrimp.  The eggs were delicious, and the radish added a nice peppery bite and some nice texture.  I had to laugh a little when one of the contestants on Top Chef made deviled eggs for a challenge on this week’s episode.  Who knew I was on top of food trends?

Beyond using them last weekend, I’ve had braised radishes and I once made raita using radishes.  And, of course, radish kimchi.  But there must be other things to do with radishes.  Considering that it’s so easy to find radishes practically year ‘round, I got a little curious.

Apparently, watermelon radish and trout are natural partners.  I found several recipes pairing the two: Smoked Trout, Grapefruit, and Watermelon Salad and Smoked Trout Spread with Watermelon Radish.  Un-trout-related recipes include Watermelon Radish Parathas, Beef Briskey with Red Miso and Watermelon Radish, and Tempura Avocado with Watermelon Radish and Wasabi Mayo.  Apparently, you can even boil and mash these radishes.  No doubt they’d be a very pretty color, but I’m not so sure I’d love mashed potatoes with a radish-y bite.

Can Winter radishes stand in for Spring radish varieties?  Well, maybe.  In most cases, I would say yes.  And considering some of the interesting radish recipes I’ve found, I might have to look into make the substitution:

Radish Basil Pesto
Ricotta and Radish Crostini
Radish Cream Sauce
Carrot Radish and Mushroom Stirfry
Radish Penne
Radish Hot and Sour Soup
Cream of Radish Greens Soup
Steak and Radish Salad with Tahini Sauce

As with most vegetables, you can also pickle radishes.

Easily the weirdest recipe I found is this: Pan-Seared Rougie Foie Gras with Cascabel, Roasted Banana, Basil, Baby Arugula, Daikon Radish and Black Pepper Marshmallow.  I’m pretty sure you won’t be finding me trying to make that one!

Roasted Vegetable and Kale Soup

Thursday, December 11, 2008

This is one of my favorite winter soup recipes. It’s easy to vary the ingredients depending on what you have on hand and you can omit a few of the steps if you’re pressed for time.  It’s colorful and filling and easy to make with entirely local ingredients (though I used a can of beans). I even had tomatoes from my garden.  The roasted vegetables add a sweetness and the kale makes it a nutritional powerhouse. It smells so good when it’s cooking my husband excitedly asked if I was making bacon. The answer was no, but the soup was not a disappointment.

Roasted Vegetable and Kale Soup
adapted from epicurious

  *  Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  * 3 medium carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise
  * 2 large tomatoes, quartered
  * 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
  * 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
  * 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  * 1 tablespoon olive oil

  * 6 cups (or more)  vegetable broth (I use chicken)
  * 4 cups finely chopped kale
  * 1/4 red cabbage, shredded
  * 3 large fresh thyme sprigs
  * 1 bay leaf

  * 1 15-ounce can Great Northern or Cannelini beans, drained

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with oil spray. Arrange carrots, tomatoes, onion, squash and garlic on sheet. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake until vegetables are brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Transfer carrots and squash to work surface. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside. Peel garlic cloves; place in processor. Add tomatoes and onion; puree until almost smooth. Pour 1/2 cup broth onto baking sheet; scrape up any browned bits. Transfer broth and vegetable puree to large pot. Add 5 1/2 cups broth, kale, thyme and bay leaf to pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.

Add cabbage, beans and reserved carrots and squash to soup. Simmer 8 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to simmer before serving. Like most soups, this tastes even better the next day.

Made from all local ingredients except for beans, bay leaf, olive oil, salt and pepper