Brussels sprouts with bacon and maple butter

Monday, December 1, 2014

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but let’s keep Brussels sprouts on our radar, shall we?

Festive food has its rightful place through the end of December, at which point I’ll divert my attention to a juice cleanse. Last year’s vegan attempt was a sorry excuse for a nutritional overhaul. It’s not that vegan diets don’t work – it just didn’t work for me. Rather than cooking up a rainbow of colors, I regressed to the land of beige and ate like a toddler, stuffing my mouth with hummus and crackers.

Let’s postpone any thoughts of January. It’s December 1, we’re in the last month of the year, my daughter’s birthday month, of which she’s well aware. The Winter Solstice is on its way; come December 22 the days will start to lengthen and we’re off to the races towards Summer.

It’s one of my favorite months. I turn on my holiday Pandora station for 31 straight days, and bask in the kitchen glory of making healthy foods unhealthy.

Take Brussels sprouts. The butt of snide jokes amongst the under-10 set because according to many, they’re a little too healthy.

I have a fix for that kids, it’s called bacon and butter. And not just any butter – Vermont Creamery carries a maple butter that was unquestionably ideated, cultured, and manufactured in Heaven. I used it to finish my barley risotto a few weeks ago, and I’m using it again here with Brussels.

On the stalk, mind you. If you can find them on the stalk, they’re likely to be fresher, and have the added benefit of reducing a prep step. Yes, you still have to pull off some of the outer leaves, but when you pull a sprout right off the stalk, you don’t have to trim the browning ends. Loose sprouts are fine too, just make sure that they’re firm and bright green.

If you don’t have maple butter on hand, don’t panic. You can easily finish the dish with a pat of butter and some pure maple syrup.

What you must, must, must use is good quality bacon. Thick cut – the kind that holds its shape when you cook it and doesn’t melt down into something the size of a Crest Whitestrip. That is not good bacon. Oscar Mayer may have a cute Wienermobile, but he does not make good bacon.

I cook my sprouts simply, making sure that they don’t overcook. To do this, I add some white wine, little by little, alternating with more bacon grease to build up flavor and color.

If I don’t add liquid, I find that by the time the interior of the Brussels sprouts are cooked to my liking, the outer leaves are overdone and starting to taste like cabbage. I often serve my kids food that’s been cooked with a little alcohol like gravy or beef stew – most of the alcohol cooks out anyway. But if you want to keep the alcohol out of your dish, just replace the wine with water.

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Savory

Delicata squash

Sunday, November 30, 2014

We’ve been eating a lot of squash these days, in every shape, form and color. Blue Hubbard, Golden Acorn, dark green Kabocha, and this season’s runaway hit with the farm-to-table crowd, Delicata. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a resounding success with the kids. Kinda gooey, and let’s be honest, sometimes it’s more fun to talk about robots than vegetables.

ME: Guys, I mentioned that there’s something special about this kind of squash.

SAM: It’s a gourd.

ME: No, it’s not a gourd.

SAM: You said that it was a gourd.

ME: It’s not a gourd. And we’re going to have to look up the difference between a squash and a gourd. But, there’s something special about this squash. First of all, do you know the name?

SAM: Mmm mmm…

EMMA: Can you clean the Kleenex box?

ME: Yeah, I’ll wipe it down.

SAM: Micro Pods?

ME: It’s not called Micro Pods.

SAM: Micro Bots!

ME: Nope. It’s called Delicata.

SAM: Delicata? I said that because I saw it in Big Hero.

ME: This kind of squash?

SAM: No. No. Um…there’s this thing called a…

ME: A squash?

SAM: …the… um… Micro Bots.

ME: Yeah.

SAM: They’re like little tiny robots…

4 comments

CSA

Bialas Farms CSA: Week 18

Monday, October 27, 2014

Here we are. The last CSA post of the season. I don’t know whether to click my heels in the air or shed a tear. I’m torn….

These posts are a beast to put together – many of them tally 3,000 words in length, which to give you some perspective, is like writing an AP English final every week (albeit without the stress and pre-reading).

But it’s fun. I love taking you on a journey through food: how we tackle mealtime based on our CSA deliveries, and how we use leftovers from one meal to create the next. It keeps me honest – never again will I question exactly what went into that strawberries and cream cake that I served on Emma’s birthday, or wonder how I made those waffled grilled cheeses.

I keep thinking about next week’s post, and the post after that – will I feel empty writing about just….one dish?

Perhaps. And perhaps not. Maybe having some free time will motivate me to clean out the kids’ long stockpiled art collection. Shop for some desperately-needed non-2007-era clothes. Massage? Manicure! This is actually starting to sound good….

Today I’ll leave you with the set of recipes that I made from my final Bialas Farms box: Week 18. Here’s what we received in our box this week:

Baby Bakers (potatoes)
Leeks
Green Cabbage
Delicata Squash
Shallots
Lettuce
Sweet Carrots
Bunched Beets
Sugar Pumpkin
Celery
Bok Choy

It’s a big set of recipes. Something about this being my last box made me nostalgic about my deliveries before the week was over. If last week I struggled to put interesting meals on the table, this week I was chock full of ideas. It also helped that I received my monthly box from Hatchery, whose products always seem to get the juices flowing.

I’ll admit that the first meal that I made doesn’t fall squarely into the “interesting” category. A split roast chicken, carrots and parsnips cooked in honey, butter and herbs (along with some of the chicken juices).

Not creative and unique, but certainly delicious…And made for a beautiful Saturday night dinner at the lake, paired with a butternut squash casserole and a fresh green salad with a previous week’s stash of leftover romaine.

I found the squash casserole on Food & Wine magazine’s site and followed it to the letter. Not only was I able to use my CSA butternut squash, but I also used some of the leeks from last week’s box, as well as thyme from my kitchen garden. If you’re planning Thanksgiving sides, I highly recommend this bad boy.

With a little leftover chicken, and some homemade stock from the bones, I made a Sunday night (gluten free) chicken noodle soup. I had a few old zucchinis from a few weeks ago, which looked like they were nearly ready for the garbage bin—but I was able to salvage this sorry lot by peeling off some of the softening green skin, and spiralizing them into noodles.

My kids are so-so with spiralized zucchini noodles on their own, but I learned this week that if you add them to soup, their whole attitude changes. Sam even declared this chicken and vegetable noodle soup his new favorite. In fact, he made me promise me that I would still make him this “when he’s an adult”. Deal.

To make the chicken soup with zucchini noodles

First make the chicken stock by taking the remaining bones from the half chicken and placing them along in a slow cooker with a few types of chopped vegetables (I used leek greens, carrots, and celery) along with some thyme and black peppercorns. Cover with water and cook on low overnight, and then strain the next day. Save any remaining chicken for your soup, and if you have none left, simply cook a breast the next day and chop/shred it for the soup. Store the stock in the fridge until you’re ready to use it for the soup.

When you’re ready to make the soup, simply prep a bunch of vegetables- I used chopped celery, carrots, red peppers, and zucchini noodles (1 zucchini, peeled, and passed through a spiralizer). Since the carrots, celery and red peppers are quite hard, you can either cook them in the chicken stock in the slow cooker for a few hours when you’re out that day, or if you’re using them at the last minute, put them in a microwave-safe container with a splash of water, and nuke, partially covered, for about 2 minutes. Drain the water. In a Dutch oven, combine your vegetables (including the zucchini noodles) and your stock and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste, and some chopped fresh parsley. In a separate bowl, whisk an egg, and then slowly add a ladleful of hot stock to the bowl, whisking constantly. Take the pot of soup off the heat, and then add the stock/egg mixture to the pot, stirring constantly. On low heat, warm the soup gently for a minute or two, making sure that the soup doesn’t boil and scramble the eggs. Serve with a grinding of fresh black pepper.

Note: If you have leftovers, this soup may separate in the fridge. If that happens, just give the jar a good shake before heating it back up.

If you were to guess what my favorite vegetable has been, you would likely guess incorrectly. The vegetable that I loved most of all, strangely enough, was this: German white garlic.

There is a huge difference between the garlic that I find at the grocery store, and the plump, sturdy cloves that I received most weeks as part of my CSA. The German white garlic heads come with only 4-5 cloves – not multitudes of tiny cloves that make you peel and curse, peel and curse. I hate that garlic. It does the job, but oy.

So not only did I receive garlic most weeks with my CSA, but I also bought extra to stow away for rainy days and stewing adventures.

This is not stew:

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CSA

Bialas Farms CSA: Week 17

Monday, October 20, 2014

It’s getting down to the wire….this is the second-to-last CSA wrap-up post and as I promised earlier, there are NO raw tomatoes, only some beautiful Fall dishes that required a hot stove and a hotter oven.

Here are the goods that I received this week from our friends at Bialas Farms:

Butternut Squash
Broccoli
Garlic
Baby Bell Peppers
Sweet Corn
Green Beans
Zucchini
Popcorn
White Lady Turnips
Tomatoes
Lettuce

The first thing I did when I got back from the market is send the baby heirlooms into the oven for a nice long blast of scorching hot air. Which blistered them and added some extra sweetness….

One of my Mom’s favorite pasta dishes uses a raw tomato, brie, basil and garlic sauce – you simply marinate the ingredients for half an hour before tossing the whole thing with just-cooked noodles.

In my effort to give this dish a Fall twist, I used the roasted tomatoes as the foundation, whose heat softened the garlic’s usual bite. Both pasta dishes are great, but this one seems more appropriate for crisper temps…

Normally I don’t use spaghetti in the dish – penne and other tubular pasta shapes work well to catch the sauce, but beggars can’t be choosers. My pantry at the lake is looking pretty thin as we continue to work our way through much of our Summer stash.

And what could be more enjoyable than cooking dinner with a glass of wine, and a friendly helper. Who isn’t really helping at all but keeping you company with endless chatter about school friends and planned Lego constructions…She’s also good at sneaking bites of those crisp and flavorful Bialas Farms green beans that have been blanched for only a minute or two to retain both flavor and crunch.

To make the roasted tomato and brie pasta:

Halve a quart or more of baby heirloom or cherry tomatoes and place, cut side down along with a few sprigs of thyme, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with s&p and roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or more, depending on the size of your tomatoes. The tomatoes should be slightly charred and soft, but not falling apart when you remove them from the oven.

Set aside to cool slightly while you prep the remaining ingredients. Take a wheel of Brie (approx. 8 oz) and trim any hard white parts (although much of the white edge can remain). Place in a large bowl and grate 1 large clove of garlic into the bowl. Toss the brie and garlic with a few big glugs of olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Scatter some cleaned and torn basil leaves (about a handful), and when the tomatoes have cooled slightly, toss in the tomatoes.

Next bring a large pot of salted water to boil and then cook your pasta until al dente – any shape will work, but tubular/shell shapes work best. Toss the pasta with the sauce, and serve with a grating of parmesan cheese.

If you’ve been reading this blog you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of chili. Vegetarian, vegan, full ‘o beef, you name it and I’ve made it. I had a great time testing out Tim Love’s authentic Texas chili last year, and while this version doesn’t have the same range of spices, it takes a quarter of the time to prepare. The ingredients are simple, the kind of vegetables and spices that you’ll likely have on hand, making it a 30-minute meal that will impress even the most ardent of chili fans.

Like the posole that I made last week, I reached for my seemingly endless stash of CSA peppers – poblano, jalapeno, and the slender and mild cubanelles. The chili gets a hit of flavor some bubbles too – in this case a hoppy IPA which I always keep stocked in my fridge. The best part of any soup or stew, in my most humble opinion, is the garnish. A squeeze of lime, sour cream, cilantro, and shredded Monterrey Jack (“Modern Jack” to my kids, in their mind, a perfect accompaniment to chips and “Mock ‘n Mole”.)

To make the beef, bean and 3-pepper chili:

In a medium sautee pan, brown 1 lb of ground beef in vegetable oil until the pink is no longer visible. Remove the beef and drain most of the fat, leaving about a tablespoon or two. While the beef is cooking, dice a medium onion (to make about a cup) and a few types of peppers – I used a mix of poblano, jalapeno and cubanelle – altogether they formed about 2 cups.

Once the beef has been removed from the pot, add the vegetables and sweat until translucent (approx. 10 minutes). Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a mix of spices – I used a half Tablespoon each of cumin, coriander, oregano, and chili powder. Cook the spices for a minute before adding back the beef, along with 1 14-oz can of tomato sauce, and 1 28-can of whole peeled tomatoes. Add a half bottle of beer (anything will work as long as it’s not too dark), and bring the whole chili to a simmer.

Simmer the chili for approximately 15 minutes (or longer) to blend the flavors, and when done, crush the tomatoes lightly with a potato masher to make sure that you don’t end up with large tomato pieces. Add a can of drained and rinsed black beans, and cook for 5 minutes more to heat through. Serve with any garnish you like or have on hand – sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, cilantro, all work well.

Now the next dish may not appear at first blush to look like your standard CSA dish (where are the vegetables?) but if you peek under all of that oozy cream and cheese sauce, you’ll find a measly effort to work through my pile of cipollini onions. Typically I don’t include onions in my macaroni and cheese – I tend to use more of a straight-up roux + cheese sauce, but since I’m making an effort to use my weekly vegetables, in went the cipollini onions, finely-diced of course.

Another question you may ask is “why is there a lobster tail in this image?” The answer is not as straightforward. I made the macaroni and cheese for the kids last weekend, with Lauren yanking at my sleeve and begging (groveling?) for a homemade version, not that boxed stuff. Which, with full disclosure, I do stock in my pantry for emergencies only (e.g. a potential Sunday morning hangover causes me to trip over the previous evening’s clothes, knocking me unconscious and forcing Rodney into lunch duties). So I made mac ‘n cheese. And apparently the stinky Gruyere that I added at the last minute isn’t a kid favorite. As such, I was left with a giant crusty pan of the stuff. I hate, hate, hate to throw food away, so rather than pitch the extra, I dutifully whittled away at the dish each day, watching the remaining portion get smaller and smaller.

By day 3 I’d had enough mac ‘n cheese, heavenly Gruyere notwithstanding, so I had to kick up the flavor profile to make it palatable enough to finish off once and for all. I was at Whole Foods that morning and spotted some lobster tail and tossed it into my cart. If I can give you one piece of advice about leftovers, it would be to make it into a different meal: all of a sudden it’s new again. Lobster tail, tarragon, 3-day old macaroni and cheese, done, spiked, dish scrubbed, mission accomplished.

To make the macaroni and cheese with lobster and tarragon:

I used a recipe similar to the one written on Martha Stewart’s website—if you’re making with lobster and tarragon, make sure to mix in the lobster and tarragon before adding your breadcrumb topping and baking.

To poach the lobster tails, bring a medium pot of water to a boil, and add in your lobster tails, cooking, covered, for 8 minutes. When the lobster is done, remove, let cool, and then using a pair of poultry shears, cut open the tail to release the meat. Chop the meat and set aside, while you chop some tarragon sprigs (you’ll need about a tablespoon). Stir into your macaroni and cheese, top with breadcrumbs, and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 30 minutes or until the top is golden.

It wouldn’t be a Fall week without another attempt at some kind of apple dish. I still had a ton of Granny Smith apples left over from our trip to Heaven Hill Farm and was searching for a recipe.

I’ve been on a quest to learn more about Gluten Free cooking since I have a sneaking suspicion that wheat has been exacerbating Lauren’s eczema. In addition to her skin issues, she’s been complaining recently of stomach aches, particularly after eating what she refers to as “party foods” – pizza, cupcakes, etc. Gluten has become a popular villain, and while I don’t mean to jump on the bandwagon, I thought that it might make sense to dip my toe into the world of Gluten-Free baking. Our appointment with the allergist is in a few weeks, so until then, I’ll continue to adjust to the thought of de-glutenizing should that not-so-welcome event happen in the not-so-distant future.

One book that piqued my interest is called “Flourless” and is written by Nicole Spiridakis, author of the blog Cucina Nicolina.

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CSA

Bialas Farms CSA: Week 16

Sunday, October 12, 2014

I just had my second to last CSA pickup and it’s making me a little weepy. I must confess that Rodney is ready to move on and not have our usual Saturday morning pickup stress. While he enjoys the fruits of my labor, he’s less enthusiastic about the fruit itself.

But me…I’m going to miss it. There are parts of it that I won’t miss – namely the omnipresent need each Saturday to wash several pounds of greens. But I love the ease of reaching into my crisper and pulling out something gorgeous that inspires me to cook.

Last week was no different. We returned from pickup with our usual bags (plural) of produce, which included the following:

Choice of Tomatoes
Buttercup Squash
Cubanelle Peppers
Parsnips
Romaine
Spinach
Adirondack Blue Potatoes
Onions
Cilantro
Parsley

I’ve become totally obsessed with buttercup squash and one of the first things I do now that it’s squash season is immediately slice the squash and bake it at 350 degrees with a few sprigs of fresh herbs. Otherwise it sits on my counter and mocks me when I’m too busy during the weekdays to think about roasting squash for dinner.

Buttercup is sweeter than some of the other varieties that you might encounter – the butternuts, the acorns. And like all squash, it sits well in the fridge once it’s been cooked, making it useful for all kinds of recipes down the road.

With the buttercup roasted and in the fridge, I set about making dinner. I had planned for roast chicken, but as so often happens up at the lake, we started drinking wine, and by 5PM I was slightly wobbly and had no inherent interest in making dinner. But I was hungry, and came up with the idea to make the top layer of scalloped potatoes for dinner using nothing but a few potatoes, onions, cream, parm, herbs, and a few cloves of garlic.

The true story behind these potatoes is even more shameful than their slightly embarrasing beginnings. Having fed the kids, Rodney and I found ourselves starving when the potatoes eventually came out of the oven (slightly too crispy from inattention) and rather than eat them at the table like civilized adults, we plunked ourselves right down on the floor in the kitchen, the platter between us, sleeves rolled up, cutlery free, and dove right in.

I rationalized that they were more similar to nachos than a potato side dish, which didn’t make things any better. My id was ashamed, and I’ve vowed never to eat dinner on the floor again to protect my easily-bruised ego.

To make the scalloped potato sheet pan:

Layer the following ingredients in a sheet pan that’s been rubbed with olive oil and covered in parchment paper: 3 medium red potatoes, thinly sliced; 2 cipollini onions, thinly sliced; 3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed. Pour ½ cup of chicken stock and ½ cup of heavy cream over the potatoes. Toss some parmesan cheese (about 1/3 cup) over the top and sprinkle with a little more salt and freshly-ground pepper. Scatter thyme leaves on top of the potatoes and bake at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes (or until the potatoes are golden and bubbling). Since I was drinking wine, I lost track of time and nuked them a little longer than I should have but they were still wonderfully delicious.

I know that I haven’t talked about what happened to the squash yet; that’s still to come…for now, let’s talk turkey.

Perhaps because I’m not cooking Thanksgiving this year, but have had some kilowatt cravings for turkey. Buying a whole turkey for our family is a little excessive as two big appetites don’t make up for three little ones. And we all know how I feel about poultry breast. If you’re unfamiliar, I urge you to check out this post where I review my feelings in detail. However, on occasion, Whole Foods will surprise me with the gift of drumsticks, and when I see them at the store, I’ll buy a pack or two.

And what better way to prepare them than to dry-brine the drumsticks overnight, David Chang-style, with a touch of salt and sugar. And because it’s turkey…a little dried sage. I also used my David Chang pork belly technique on the drumsticks with a high temp sear in the oven, followed by a low and slow bake at 250 degrees. It produces the best kind of drumstick – brown and crispy on the outside with juicy leg meat inside.

We ate the majority of the drumsticks on their own, as you would at your local Renaissance Fair with sleeves rolled up and juices dribbling down our chins. Minus the wenches of course.

What, might you ask, does this have to do with my CSA? Leftover turkey is wonderful in all kinds of dishes, and don’t you start thinking about tetrazzini. Although come to think of it, prepared with good ingredients, tetrazzini would likely be spectacular. Turkey is great in anything from soup to fried rice, but I used it here in lettuce cups using my CSA romaine. The lettuce cups are really healthy – gluten and dairy-free – and get a sweet and spicy kick from curry powder and dried cranberries.

To make the turkey drumsticks:

Dry rub the drumsticks with a few tablespoons of salt, sugar, and dried sage. Let sit in the fridge overnight, tightly wrapped with saran wrap. The next day, let the drumsticks come to room temp and then bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees for 30-45 minutes until nice and crispy. Turn the oven temp way down to 250 degrees and continue to bake for a few more hours- they won’t dry out at this temp and with their juices sealed in- test with an oven thermometer if you’re unsure (leg meat should read 165 degrees). They should be done in 1 hour, but I let mine go for 3 hours and they were perfect.

To make the lettuce wraps:

Wash and dry a few large romaine leaves and set aside. Shred or chop the meat from 2 drumsticks and mix with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of curry powder, 1 rib of chopped celery and 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries. Give the whole thing a stir, season if necessary with salt and pepper, and then pile into the romaine leaves, garnishing with a few fresh cilantro leaves.

And now that I’ve mentioned David Chang, I might as well fully admit to the fact that I made pork belly again. I’m pretty sure that cooking it twice in 10 days is as severe an offense as making banana cream pie twice in that same time period. I can’t help it, I’m completely addicted to it, and even worse, I’ve gotten my kids to love it too. Lauren was begging for pork belly last week with a slightly crazed look in her eye.