Carnival squash & sage barley risotto with maple butter

Monday, November 17, 2014

If there’s a more Fall-spirited, festive, happy-making dish around, please fill me in.

Let’s talk about ingredients first, starting with this squash. (I know, I know, three straight weeks of squash…next week will be squash-free, promise).

The name “Carnival” really sums it up. This squash makes me want to throw on a party hat and blow on a plastic kazoo. Am I the only one?

Carnival squash is a heritage breed and can usually be found at your local farmer’s market. If you’re really lucky, lighting strikes, and you’re there on the right day, you can find them at Whole Foods. Especially around Thanksgiving when Whole Foods erupts into a massive delivery channel of straight-from-the-farm produce, from Winter greens to Winter squash, Garnet Yams, and everything in between.

The Carnival squash’s skin ranges from dark green to vivid orange, and the flesh is sweet and a little spicy. I’ve got to be careful about using the word “flesh” since my kids erroneously presumed that I was feeding them humans when we did our mystery food challenge last week. I assume that you won’t make the same mistake. We don’t eat humans in our house, and neither should you.

If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know that I have a habit of prepping ingredients right after I get home from the store. Prepped ingredients are far easier to incorporate into quick-fix meals, so I usually slice and roast squash with nothing but olive oil, salt and pepper, and then figure out how to use it at a later time.

Likewise with homemade stock. Whenever I’m at the store, I pick up a few extra pieces of bony/collagen-filled meat, which I make into stock that can either be refrigerated for a few days, or frozen. If you’ve ever wondered who that person is buying up those packages of chicken backs, lamb necks, or chunky pork bones – that would be me. They’re cheap, and the bones give your stock incredible body.

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Savory

Coconut kabocha soup with Japanese 7-spice

Monday, November 10, 2014

We’re talking squash again this week. Two weeks in a row, I hope this isn’t a fireable offense. What can I say, I’m passionate about squash. As if last week’s post didn’t convince you…

We stayed in New York this weekend since we had a few activities planned. One of which was the highly-anticipated feedfeed Market Day at the Union Square Greenmarket.

I first linked up with feedfeed on Instagram where they’re building a strong community of like-minded people who love to cook. Their website is growing, and is quickly becoming a go-to source for inspiration on a broad range of topics, from pies and soups to pancakes and smoothies. As the website evolves and becomes more searchable, its curated content will surely rival some of the biggest food websites today. I’m just happy to be a part of it all – as both observer and occasional contributor.

I was finally able to meet the founders of feedfeed – Julie and Dan Resnick – in person this weekend. Their Market Day event at the farmer’s market brought together a number of chefs, nutritionists, stylists and food bloggers and it was fun to chat with everyone about the changing food landscape.

Social media and social platforms such as feedfeed are no doubt improving the way that food is cooked at home. Restaurant-quality food is making its way into home kitchens as home cooks become more innovative and experimental.

My food has changed immensely since I’ve become part of a community who cooks and then shares the output online. I’ve become more confident, and have started to take risks with my cooking. I’ve become intrigued by unique flavors and textures, influenced in large part by the global accounts that I follow – from home cooks in the Middle East to UK-based naturopaths, and minimalist-minded Scandinavian food stylists. Like a sponge, I’ve soaked it all in, eyes wide open.

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CSA

Bialas Farms CSA: Week 4

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Week 4 of our summer CSA has come and gone, this week bringing some of the usual staples (garlic scapes, herbs), but also some new vegetables (mariachi peppers! the most fabulous, crunchy, earth-shatteringly delicious spinach I’ve ever tasted).

Here’s a shot of this week’s box:

1. Spinach
2. Cippolini scallions
3. Red komatsuna
4. Zucchini
5. Bok choy
6. Bell peppers
7. Cilantro
8. Garlic scapes
9. Celery
10. Broccoli
11. Mariachi peppers*
12. Dill
13. Carrots

*Kasha snuck the Mariachi peppers into my bag with firm instructions to make myself a spicy Paloma.

Which I did, immediately after I got home. She was right, damn delicious – tequila, spicy simple syrup, grapefruit, a match made in heaven.

To make the spicy mariachi pepper Palomas:

Make the mariachi pepper simple syrup by bringing a cup of sugar and a cup of water to a simmer. When the mixture is simmering and the sugar has dissolved, add 1 sliced mariachi pepper (I included the seeds), and let steep off heat for 30 mins. Strain and then use part for the cocktail. To make the roasted grapefruit garnish, roast some brown sugar-coated sliced grapefruits in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway in between. For one Paloma, rim a glass with a cut lime, and kosher salt. Combine 1/3 cup grapefruit juice with a squeeze of lime and 2 tablespoons of mariachi pepper simple syrup. Add ¼ cup of tequila, stir, and top the glass with club soda. Double, triple, or quadruple as needed.

We get a newsletter each week from Bialas which makes recommendations on how to use the vegetables in our box. One idea that I kept seeing (and wrongfully ignoring) is to make the scapes into a butter for standout garlic bread. Seeing that I had a pile of scapes from this week’s box, and a few left over from last week, I took matters into my own hands, and made a big batch of scape butter. I’ve used this on everything but dessert.

To make the garlic scape butter:

Pulse 2 garlic scapes in a food processor until finely chopped. Add a stick of softened butter, and blend, adding a pinch of salt if the butter is unsalted. Optional: flavor the butter with herbs like tarragon or sage. Use the butter on anything from grilled steaks and fish to grilled / toasted bread, pasta and everything in between.

The butter played center stage on the dinner table that night with grilled steak and grilled bread – delicious on both. Served on the side was a fattoush salad that used up just about every green that I got in my box that week, including the carrot tops!

To make the CSA fattoush:

Pulse 2 garlic scapes in a food processor and add to a large bowl. Finely chop an entire bunch of parsley and add to the bowl. Add more chopped vegetables such as celery greens, carrot greens, romaine, mint, tomatoes, sweet onion greens, and cucumber. Tear 2 pitas into chunks and toss them in a large sautee pan that’s been coated with olive oil- adding a little more oil if necessary to make sure that the torn pieces come out crispy and golden. Season with salt and add to the large bowl of vegetables. When ready to serve, dress the fattoush with olive oil and red wine vinegar or lemon juice, some more salt, and cracked black pepper.

The garlic scape butter proved to be useful when I was ravenously hungry and needed a quick snack – a little toast, a swipe of garlic scape butter, some Jersey tomatoes, a glass of iced rose as they do in Provence…summer food at its finest.

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CSA

Bialas Farms CSA: Week 1

Sunday, June 29, 2014

We’ve done it again! Against all odds, we decided to sign up for another year of CSA adventures, this year with Bialas Farms, which operates a farm in the black dirt region of the Hudson Valley.

Although it’s not our first year with a CSA, things will be different this Summer, given that I’m a) not pregnant and b) lucky enough to have more space to prep and store each week’s haul. We have (pinching myself) a brand new beverage fridge that we’ve installed in the basement, so taking the beer out of the crisper and the wine out of the top shelves has given us a few acres of storage space for vegetables.

My plan is to document each week’s box and some of the meals cooked from the produce received, at the very least in short form. If you want more details about what I did to prep or cook one of the dishes, just leave a comment on the post. This week’s post will likely be more detailed than the ones to come, since many of the recipes will be riffs on what I’ve done this week. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. I know that once I start to get new vegetables, my brain will be spinning with new ideas which I’ll want to put to paper. If you see me doing this kind of detailed post every week, yell at me to get out from behind the computer and go enjoy my summer for crying out loud.

My first box was highly anticipated – by me, and potentially my kids, who have been listening to me yammer on about the damn box for weeks. And it was great to finally meet Kasha, the woman, the myth, the legend behind Bialas Farms, who grow some of the best produce in the region. Kasha also writes the blog The FarmGirl Cooks, and at my first pickup, gave me some recipe inspiration, which I’ll share with you below.

So let’s get on with it, here is the Bialas Farms CSA farm share, week 1:

Garlic scapes
Red leaf lettuce
Yukon gold potatoes
Tuscan kale
Green leaf lettuce
Red radishes
Bok choi
Sugar snap peas
Rainbow chard
Red beets and beet greens

As you may know by now, one of the kitchen strategies that I stick to without fail is my veg prep when I get home from the market. So my heart was palpitating ever so slightly when I was faced with the mountain of greens that I’d have to wash and bag. But the work moved quickly, and within the hour, I had all of my greens prepped, labeled and stored in the fridge.

But it really does save time in the long run, and keeps your greens fresh throughout the week until you can pick up your next box, so in my book, it’s worth the extra effort up front.

Now for the fun part. I couldn’t wait for my first dinner with my new veg, but first, it was snack time. I scrubbed and trimmed the bunch of radishes, and scooped some sour cream into a bowl – the perfect vehicle for the new finishing salts I picked up in Chelsea Market last week.

Even the kids loved the treat, with the super smoky Alderwood smoked salt as the runaway favorite. Their assessment of truffle salt: “disgusting”. They’ll learn the error of their ways…

And here is where our first dinner with our CSA box went off the rails – one beer led to another, next thing we knew it was time to watch the sunset with a bottle of rose in hand. Prepping dinner took a backseat, and it was 8:30PM cheese quesadillas for everyone, followed by smores. Not a green in sight. Bialas, we apologize.

But we made it up the next morning when I fried up some eggs and locally-made pork sausage patties for breakfast, and served it alongside a heaping pile of lightly-dressed kale.

To make kale salad: In a large bowl, whisk a tablespoon of Dijon mustard with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and a splash of lemon juice. While whisking, add ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt & pepper. Tear a few handfuls of kale greens right over the dressing, and toss to combine. Let the salad marinate for 30 mins to an hour before serving, tossing every so often, to let the kale soften and absorb the vinaigrette.

One of the best things about kale salad is that it can sit in the fridge overnight, in its dressing. Perfect for tucking under poached eggs on toasted Portuguese muffins.

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Savory

Mother’s Day brunch

Sunday, May 11, 2014

I wasn’t planning to write a Mother’s Day post. Today’s post was supposed to be about ramps, but ramps will have to wait. Mother’s Day is a more timely subject, and one that I shamefully didn’t prioritize.

It’s not that I don’t love Mother’s Day, I do. But I tend to get excited about it on actual day itself, when at 11AM, someone in the house (not a child) says “oh crap, it’s Mother’s Day.” Then I start to scheme about all of the wonderful things that are heading my way….a late afternoon nap perhaps, or a 7:30PM bedtime with a good book.

I hope that my lax attitude towards Mother’s Day doesn’t sound harsh. I’m certainly not an old curmudgeon who goes about disparaging Valentine’s Day and the rest of the Hallmark holidays. If I’m to be completely honest, I’m equally forgetful about anniversaries. Rodney and I are often shocked to see a bouquet of flowers show up in our apartment every November, courtesy of my mother, who doesn’t forget these things.

But here’s the thing about forgetting communal holidays. It’s much better if it’s forgotten until the end of the day. At which point you realize the error of your ways, have some celebratory Champagne, and head to bed happy and a little drunk.

The worst time to remember is mid-morning, when you feel compelled to do something about it outside of the home.

Which is how, two years ago, we ended up at McDonald’s.

Not my first choice either, but here are the facts: 1) we were staying at the lake for the weekend where there are only 1-2 decent restaurants, decent meaning not McDonald’s, 2) everyone within a 15 mile radius goes hunting and gathering for a table at one of said restaurants, and 3) McDonald’s was right around the corner.

Based on my food and recipes, you may have presumed by now that I’m more skilled in the kitchen than a McDonald’s fry cook. Which isn’t a fair comparison, because it’s possible that he’s a talented chef who’s butting up against the chronic and debilitating constraints imposed by McDonald’s corporate.

But the point is this: my food tends to be better than what you’ll find at your neighborhood Golden Arches. Meaning that we could have gone back to our house, tails between our legs, and prepared a splendid brunch of Eggs Benedict, plump sausages, and blood orange mimosas. But that would be admitting defeat.

So rather than making me do all of that wonderful gruntwork which would have had me humming The Sound of Music all morning, Rodney suggested that we go to McDonald’s. Because, you know, the kids are hungry and we should probably find somewhere quickly before tectonic plates shift, the ground opens up, and world disintegrates into a smoking heap of ashes.

McDonald’s is one of those “in the case of an emergency, break glass” kinds of places. And I suppose that hungry kids = emergency, although in my highly trained medical opinion, treatment should have included a return to the house STAT for some whole grain crackers and a yogurt squeezers while I did the Sound of Music thing.

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