Of Empty Nests and Butternut Squash

 

You might be an empty nester if:

  • You no longer park near the cart collection stands at the grocery store.
  • You buy milk in half gallons, then quarts, and still wonder if it’s gone bad.
  • You put everything you can imagine needing into your cart and it still costs less than $50.
  • Your ice cream has freezer burn.
  • You actually pay attention to special diets, and try to accommodate them.

This last point is what today’s post is about. Well, that and butternut squash, my food champion of fall. (Let’s remember squash on toast, sugar and spice soup and Halloween Soup and on and on in the butternut/kabocha hall of fame.) The empty nest is suddenly available for visitors, which is awesome, and they bring with them special diets. At one point recently three guests joked that one was gluten free, one was sugar free and one was calorie free. Guest Number 4 was Vegan. This all worked because a: They all had a sense of humor and adventure, and b: I had time to care (see above).

In my quest as a Vegan sympathizer I’ve tried a lot of things recently. I’ve tried to make both cheese and pizza crust out of cauliflower. No and no. I’ve made Reuben sandwiches out of seitan, a thousand times NO. I’ve also found some reasonably good stuff like grain-free carrot bread, and mayonnaise made with chickpeas. And, with much inspiration from Minimalist Baker and other sites, I’ve made some unbelievable stuff, like butternut squash pizza, the key ingredients of which I share below.

It’s been a fun experiment, and I like being able to find things that can broaden my own food horizons and make people on special diets happy. That said, life is about finding the right balance. When I asked my husband if he was game to try black bean sweet potato burgers for dinner, he merely went to the freezer, removed a steak and thunked it on the counter. Know your audience, people, and enjoy whoever is in your nest.

Butternut Squash Sauce

From the Minimalist Baker, with amounts adjusted

butt-pizza2

Also makes a mean pizzadilla, on a corn tortilla procured by the Vegan for the gluten-free girl.

Ingredients

For every cup of cubed butternut squash you will need:

  • 2 tsp olive oil ( 1 tsp oil for roasting and another tsp for adding to the sauce)
  • 1 garlic clove, whole, skin removed
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • a pinch of salt and pepper.

Keep in mind 1 Tbsp is 3 tsp. Sooooo, math whiz that I am, for 3 cups squash you will need 1 Tbsp of oil for roasting, and another Tbsp oil to add to the sauce, and 1 Tbsp maple syrup. A baking sheet easily holds 4 cups, so amp up ingredients if you’ve got the squash.

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Add cubed butternut squash and peeled garlic cloves to a baking sheet and drizzle with half total olive oil and a pinch each salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until all squash is fork tender.

Transfer squash and garlic to a blender or food processor with remaining olive oil and maple syrup. Purée until creamy and smooth, adding more olive oil or a touch of water if it’s too thick. The consistency should be creamy and spreadable (not pourable). Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Use sauce as you would pizza sauce, topping it with your desired cheese and toppings and baking the pizza at 425. Make a great Pizzadilla as well, as evidenced on the fine corn tortilla pictured above.

fall-food

Old fall favorites and some new ones

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Also from Minimalist Baker

This is surprisingly good. As with any imposters, better to think of it as its own thing. (I’m looking at you, black bean “brownies”). It’s sort of a weird craving now. Like I needed another.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (90 g) raw cashews (try raw slivered almonds or brazil nuts too)
  • 3 Tbsp (9 g) nutritional yeast
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Method

Add all ingredients to a food processor and mix/pulse until a fine meal is achieved. Store in the refrigerator to keep fresh. Lasts for several weeks.

But that’s not all! Some bonus fall accessories:

Tahini Miso Sauce

If you don’t have miso in your fridge, do yourself a favor and get some. Merely figuring out how to use it up you will take you on a flavor adventure. Toss this sauce with pretty much anything roasted, but especially cauliflower, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, etc, etc.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. tahini
  • 1 Tbsp. white miso
  • 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • optional: grated fresh ginger, pinch of red pepper flakes, splash of Tamari. Do experiment here!

Whisk or stir all ingredients, adding enough water, a spoonful at a time, to make a smooth sauce.

Fried Sage Leaves

Put them on anything for fall goodness

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • Fresh sage leaves, twice as much as you think you want
  • Coarse salt

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Fry sage leaves 6 or so at a time until crisp. Remove to a paper towel with slotted spoon and sprinkle with salt. Repeat until you have enough to actually share with others.

sage-coffee

Fried sage next to the very best Vitamin C!

 

 

California Dreamin’: Pickled Grapes and other Weird Things

Well hello fall! I’m not sure how we got from frosé season to apple season so fast, but here we are. Have we all fit an unreasonable amount of fresh corn and tomatoes into our diets these past few weeks? And rescued every last watermelon from the cardboard bins? If so, good job. If not, there’s still time…but barely!

I’m just back from a long trip to Cali, and it of course involved lots of weird food. Why even go to California if you’re not going to dive all in? My weird food fest got rolling at Jack London Square in Oakland, first at a vegetarian restaurant with a mushroom pecan pate that still haunts me in the best way, and then at an event called Eat Real. Very groovy indeed. Super tart, super strong Red Branch hard cherry cider kicked it off. Fabulous street eats ensued, including sesame peanut zucchini salad with furikake…Damn! So good and so fun to say. The miso sesame muffin from Berkeley’s own Sam’s Patisserie wrapped it all up with an oddly addictive bow.

From there I went south, for pink pepperberry gin and tonics in Santa Monica, Tuna poke and tamales in Pasadena, and then—because you’ve got to be on your A game of weirdness in Topanga—rosemary-brined grapes and basil pickled cantaloupe.

Today, I’m bringing you the grapes, because they are stupid easy and crazy good. Plus, they are red and green and would be a perfect offering for any holiday feast. Make them now, try them in a week or so, and if you like them you’ll have plenty of time to go into production. So, let’s not be sad as we let summer and linen and the quest for perfect toenail color drift away. There are apples to be eaten, pies to be baked and ciders of all potencies to be quaffed.

This comes straight from the Wall St. Journal food section, which is awesome. Read the article for other pickled fruit recipes, including cantaloupe. And if there’s a deal on grapes just make a ton. As the article instructs, their flavors improve after about a week, and they’ll keep in the fridge for months… unless I come over.

Pickled Grapes

Adapted from “The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern” by Ted and Matt Lee

Active time: 15 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Makes: 1 pint

  • 2 cups seedless red and/or green grapes (about 10 ounces)
  • ¾ cup distilled white or white wine vinegar
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 small cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • Leaves from 1 (2-inch) sprig rosemary
  • ⅛ teaspoon dried red chili flakes
  1. Pack grapes into a glass jar or airtight plastic container. Pour vinegar and water into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add salt, sugar, garlic, rosemary and chili flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook 1 minute.
  2. Remove pan from heat and pour brine over grapes to fill container. Strain remaining brine into a measuring cup (you should have a little less than ½ cup left over) and reserve for making butter lettuce salad with pickled grapes, toasted pecans and soft goat cheese (recipe below). Transfer any garlic, rosemary and chili flakes remaining in strainer to container with grapes.
  3. Cover container tightly, shake to distribute seasonings, uncover and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cover again, and transfer container to refrigerator to chill further, about 15 minutes more.

 

 

Frosé and Frosecco: Summer’s Coolest Celebs

 

You say frosé, I say "Be right over!"

You say frosé, I say “Be right over!”

It’s been called the summer of Frosé, the “it” drink of summer, even the “God of summer.” Suffice to say, Frosé is a thing. At first I resisted jumping on the Frosé bicyclette. We are, after all, no stranger to the slushy drink rodeo. Plus, I learned the hard way that there is significant recovery involved after an entire summer quenching one’s thirst with things like watermelon sangria. All that said, I also have obligations to the Bring It devoted, so at my cousin D’s urging I took the plunge into trying, tweaking and bringing Frosé. While I was at it, I decided to try the same method with the beverage mascot of brunch, Prosecco, subbing peaches for strawberries to get the Bellini effect.

I’m happy to say the experiment was a grand success and I can bring you not one but two fun, fabulous, delicious summer drinks that can be made and transported in large quantities with little effort. Cue the late summer victory dance here.

The premise is simple: frozen rosé or prosecco, emboldened with fresh fruit-infused syrup then sweetness-balanced with fresh lemon juice. Some versions add more complicated mixers or liqueurs and even fresh herbs. I’m all for experimentation, but there’s not a thing wrong (and a whole lot right) with the basic version.

I started with this one in Bon Appetit, added a splash of vodka to keep it loose, and then slackerized it by eliminating pretty much every step beyond dumping it in the container. This is because summer entertaining at the beach, the lake or even the patio is ideally a “no host” experience. As in no host needed to get yourself a damn drink.

This is very easily scaled up, based on the size of your container. My two vintage yard sale gallon-plus Tupperware beverage containers hold 5 bottles of wine so I used 4 bottles in each to make room for the other ingredients and freezing expansion. When finished they pop right into a cooler, doing double duty as ice packs, and are ready for action at your destination.

Use the leftover fruit in smoothies, over yogurt and ice cream, or stirred with cubed watermelon and fresh mint into a batch of limeade for the world’s easiest aqua fresca. Kids and your wiser, sober friends, will worship you for this.

Here, my pretties, is your date for hot the summer nights ahead:

Frosé and Frosecco

Servings: Makes 4–6

Ingredients:

  • 1 750 ml bottle hearty, bold rosé (such as a Pinot Noir or Merlot rosé) or Prosecco
  • ¼ cup vodka (optional but helps keep it a little looser and sassier)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 8 ounces strawberries, hulled, quartered (or peaches, raspberries, based on flavor and color preference)
  • 2½ ounces fresh lemon juice

Note: Here are at Bring It central, we’re pretty much done after Step 2. There is no blender involved. The cooled syrup goes right into the semi frozen Rosé or Prosecco and into the freezer. Extra points if you stir it and scrape it with a big spoon every few hours while it is freezing.

Preparation

  • Pour rosé into a 13×9″ pan (or, a transportable Tupperware/beverage container of choice) and freeze until almost solid (it won’t completely solidify due to the alcohol), at least 6 hours. Allow longer if working with multiple bottles.
  • Meanwhile, bring sugar and ½ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Add strawberries, remove from heat, and let sit 30 minutes to infuse syrup with strawberry flavor. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl (do not press on solids); cover and chill until cold, about 30 minutes. (Reserve still-delicious berries for another use.)
  • Scrape rosé into a blender. Add lemon juice, 3½ ounces strawberry syrup, and 1 cup crushed ice and purée until smooth. Transfer blender jar to freezer and freeze until frosé is thickened (aim for milkshake consistency), 25–35 minutes.
  • Blend again until frosé is slushy. Divide among glasses.

Bringing It:

Transport the entire container in a cooler, using it to cool your other offerings.  At your destination, pull out the container, stir or scrape frosé/frosecco to a uniform consistency and pour into glasses. You might need a spoon at first, but a hot summer day will soon take care of that!

 

Blueberry Dutch Bunny

Blueberry Durch Bunny

Fresh from the field and hot from the oven.

Sometimes you just get lucky. Friday was my day. I took a flyer and called Super Acres in Lyme to see if they were open for blueberry picking and learned it was opening day. Hallelujah! If you’ve never been to this PYO paradise it’s an Upper Valley rite of summer, and well worth a trip up River Rd.

Blueberry pints

The fruits of your labors

I coerced a friend— Super Acres newbie— to make the trek and he was suitably impressed.  This is not tedious, back-breaking work in a scorching field (I’m looking at you, strawberries). These are grassy rows of high bushes laden with so much ripe fruit that you can pick them like grapes. Somehow you can always seem to find a shady spot. Sheer brilliance! In about a half hour we easily picked four lbs each, without even taking a rest in the Adirondack chairs. Berry picking is about digging deep.

Super Acres provides picking buckets and pint baskets, though the pros bring their own giant Tupperware to make their pies and fill their freezers at home. Despite my aspirations, the allure of fresh berries is too much to resist in our house, and I have yet to freeze a single blueberry.

As for what to make, I had been angling for an excuse to make a blueberry version of Dutch Bunny, inspired by a recipe in Yankee magazine. Dutch Bunny (known outside my household as Dutch Baby, Sunday Pancake and Swedish Pancake) is my go-to weekend breakfast when I’m aiming to win friends. (Lifelong friends have been made over the magical emergence of Dutch Bunny on a vacation morning. True story) It’s hard to imagine a dish that is easier, more impressive or more appreciated by a houseful of guests.  Baking fresh blueberries into the whole shebang takes it over the top.

This is simply my standard Dutch Bunny recipe with fresh blueberries added to the mix. I linked you up but this saves you the trouble of hunting. You need your strength for blueberry picking.

Yield: Serves 4, or one hungry teenager.

 Ingredients

  • 3  Tbsp butter
  • 3  large eggs
  • 3/4  cup  milk
  • 1/2  tsp vanilla
  • 1/2  cup  all-purpose flour
  • 2  Tbsp sugar
  • 1/8  tsp salt
  • 1/2-3/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • Powdered sugar and fresh lemon wedge for topping
  • Whipped cream for topping, optional

 Method

  1. Melt butter in a 10-inch ovenproof frying pan over low heat. Remove from heat.
  2. In a large bowl or blender, beat or whirl eggs until light and pale. Beat or blend in milk, vanilla, flour, sugar, and salt.
  3. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle blueberries on top (they will plop and sink—it’s all good).
  4. Bake in a 425° oven until pancake is puffed and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Dust with powdered sugar and squeeze fresh lemon on top. Slice into wedges and serve immediately.

Top with more berries, and whipped cream is you’re feeling it.

If you’re in the Upper Valley and want to visit Super Acres, it is located at 722 River Rd, north of Lyme. For more info call the hotline at (603) 353-9807. Unsprayed and awesome blueberries are $3/lb at the self-serve slot. Do the right thing and round up if you’re belly hurts from all the sampling. Oh, and it wouldn’t be a crime to save some room for a little detour to Whippi Dip in Fairlee on your way home.

Thanks to Olivia the great for her awesome pictures!

Super acres-kisk

Weighin’ and payin’ on the honor system.

 

 

 

ABC Summer Sauce

Green goodness with a kick

Green goodness with a kick

Summer. It gets away from you. As in, we’re halfway through July ?!?! and #$%^&*! Recipe-wise, I don’t have a whole lot to show for summer so far, but I have been doing some background work, like: ongoing watermelon rind experiments, which will save you from some pretty scary concoctions; exploring Vegan frontiers with the mysterious magical Aquafaba; making rhubarb vanilla jam and rhubarb vinegar that I promise to post before the end of strawberry rhubarb season next year; mixing up all kinds of drinks and mocktails (ginger limeade, watermelon aqua fresca), even homemade grenadine, which it turns out is nothing more than pomegranate simple syrup. Who knew? I’ve also been brewing up herbal Sun Tea like it’s my job and adding fresh citrus and mint simple syrup.

This will all be tasty Intel for later summer lovin’. In the near term, I am steeling myself for an exhaustive test of the many frosé recipes (thank you Cousin D) now trying their best to break the Internet. We need a hot weekend, a boatload of rose and some thirsty volunteers. Who’s with me?

Mostly, I’ve been thinking about good people, and how they are the most important ingredient to summer fun. As it happened the US Ski Team announced their 2016/2017 team yesterday, and it includes some really, really fine young people, many of whom I’ve been fortunate to get to know. Sure, they are amazing athletes, but way more importantly they are stellar people who make their ski people proud.

AJ and Ollie

AJ Ginnis, building his fan base.

Pro move: Lila's got the tools of the trade—parchment paper and high tech oven mitts.

Lila Lapanja baking up some Champion Chip Cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of this moment we’re looking to Anna Marno (U.S. Ski Team member, National Super G Champ, healthy eater and cooker, part unicorn) for a summer recipe that is exactly what summer is about. This gorgeous cilantro-packed sauce is fresh, easy, delicious, and versatile enough to liven up most anything you feel like roasting, grilling or dipping.

It was photographed by Rocky Mtn Tania, who’s contributions seriously raise the Bring It! bar.

Says Tania: “This sauce is simply amazing on almost everything: as a side for street tacos, with chicken, fish or pasta even on crackers with cheese.  The ingredients work together so well, but the amounts can and should be adjusted to taste.”

Shall we just call this Anna’s Best Cilantro Sauce? Yes we shall!

Anna-ripping

Anna Marno…ripping!

ABC Summer Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 large bunch of cilantro
  • Juice from 2 limes
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 clove garlic peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 5 oz plain greek yogurt *
  • 2-3 Tbsp agave sweetener
  • 1/3 cup olive oil

Method:

Put everything but the olive oil in a blender (a Vita Mix if you’re showing off, but a regular blender will do). You have to push the ingredients down to blend.  Slowly drizzle olive oil into blended ingredients while the blender is running to emulsify the sauce.  Make ahead of time so flavors come together.

*The beauty of this recipe is that you can omit the yogurt and you have an incredible vinaigrette for a salad.

Bringing it:
This travels well and is a wonderful hostess gift.

Let it Be Lentils

Yes it’s been a while. And yes, you so deserve something fabulous for all that time off. What I’ve got for you are lentils. But not just lentils. Lentils that are picnic and lunch-in-a-jar worthy. Lentils that are daringly pot-luck worthy.

The first recipe—known to Googlers and My New Roots fans as “The Best Lentil Salad Ever”—is one I’ve been making for quite a while and swore I had already posted. All I’ve given you in the past from the lentil family, however, is a beautifully simple recipe in lunch deconstructed. This recipe is on the opposite side of the ingredient scale, thanks to the spice-crazy dressing. But the dressing makes it, and takes mere measuring vs. skill or labor.

I have on occasion violated the heck out of this recipe, omitting all extras, substituting spices, using raisins instead of currants and brown lentils instead of the fancy French ones. But I have also, recently, made it exactly as instructed, and fallen in love with it all over again. So make it as you will, with or without artistic license. It may or may not be the best lentil salad ever. If you are my sons, who have vowed to never, ever, eat a lentil it is the best lentil salad they’ll never have. If you are new to lentils it may win you over. If you are already a fan, dig in.

The Best-ish Lentil Salad Ever

Makes: a ton

Ingredients:

  • 2 ¼ cups (1 lb.) Du Puy lentils
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 1 cup dried currants (you could also use raisins or other dried fruit)
  • 1/3 cup capers

Vinaigrette:

  • 1/3 cup cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. strong mustard
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • ½ tsp. turmeric
  • ½ tsp. ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
  • ¼ tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Optional add-ins:

  • Arugula
  • Walnuts (these are more like mandatory. Walnuts and lentils? Basically married)
  • Goat cheese
  • Fresh herbs: flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil
  • Sprouts
  • Crispy seasonal veggies

    Directions:

    1. Rinse lentils well, drain. Place in a pot and cover with a 3-4 inches of water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check lentils for doneness after 15 minutes, but they should take about 20 minutes in total. You will know they are cooked if they still retain a slight tooth – al dente! Overcooking the lentils is the death of this dish. Be careful!
    2. While the lentils are simmering, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine.
    3. Finely dice red onion – the salad is best if all the ingredients are about the same size. If using raisins, chop them roughly to make them a bit smaller, and do the same with the capers if they are large.
    4. When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat, drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly but still a little warm, place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add other onion, capers, and currants. If using other add-ins such as herbs, greens, or cheese, wait until just before serving. Otherwise, this salad can hang out in the fridge for a couple days.

Lentils doing lunch

Lentils doing lunch

Lentils Part Deux

This next one is new to me. Creamy and cool vs shiny and spicy. It’s good though, and it really does keep for several days. I ignored the part about not bruising the spinach and basil and cut it as best I could. Pros use the babiest, farmiest spinach possible. Non pros may have bought a bag of baby arugula and been done with it (shhh!) According to the original creator, Peter Miller, who is a bring-lunch-to-work master: “Make this with a light touch so you can taste the different ingredients involved. And serve it in smaller portions than you might imagine—let people come back for seconds. It is a nod to pesto and a salute to yogurt.” That, my friends, is solid lentil prose.

Adapted slightly from Lunch at the Shop: The Art and Practice of the Midday Meal

Peter Millers Lentils Folded into Yogurt

Serves 4

At home

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 1 cup cooked lentils (small green Puy, or any other that will hold its shape)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

At the office (or the lodge, the car, the field or your friends house)

  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, sliced
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. At home: Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts or walnuts and cook until lightly toasted, 5 to 7 minutes. Lay them out on a wooden cutting board to cool, then chop them roughly to the size of the lentils.
  2. If your knife is sharp enough to slice the spinach and basil leaves without bruising them, gently cut them into bite-size pieces. Otherwise, tear them by hand.
  3. Place the lentils in a bowl and mix in the spinach, basil, parsley, and garlic (note: If you’d like the spinach and basil to hold their green form better, add them toward the end instead). Squeeze the lemon into the lentils, mix, and then fold in the yogurt. Mix again, then slowly pour in the oil, stirring, as you do, to combine. At this point, taste the mixture, and season with salt and 2 good grindings of pepper. Finally, fold the roasted nuts into the dish, and finish with a drizzle of oil. The dish is now ready to serve.
  4. The lentils and greens will keep in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for at least 3 days.
  5. At the shop/eating venue: For lunch, bring the lentils and greens close to room temperature before serving. They can go on a slice of buttered (and perhaps grilled) bread, or on a lettuce leaf as a salad. Top the lentils with a squeeze of lemon juice, some Parmesan, and a final grind of fresh pepper. Sometimes, if there are any lentils left after lunch, we serve them as a late-day snack, with a little extra salt at the end.

 

Lemonpalooza

On-pillows-light

California Dreamin’ on Such a Winter’s Day

Lemonpalooza: n. a celebration of all that is warm, bright and tangy; hope in the home stretch of winter; antidote to a common addiction amongst native Californians and Floridians; yum.

As I was packing a shoe box of Meyer lemons in to my checked baggage, my sister suggested: “You need lemon rehab.” A day earlier I had packed a flat rate priority mail box with lemons and had just returned from the home tree with another batch. Earlier she had bottled a batch of lemon syrup for me, and the lemon possets for dessert were cooling in the fridge. Gnawing on the peel of a juiced half lemon (dentists everywhere are recoiling) I nodded. “You might be right.”

But there is no kicking this addiction. As I boarded my plane back to NH I could not help but have a pang for every Meyer lemon left unpicked in the family tree and in the entire Bay Area megalopolis. I take solace in knowing I did my best.

Here’s a small sampling of how those lemons will be worshiped this week:

The first recipe comes from “The Lemon Cookbook” (of lemon cauliflower couscous fame) which I gave to my sister. The book’s chicken and toasted bread salad has been among their family’s Bring-It staples ever since. It’s sturdy, hearty, delicately and boldly flavored (can that be? Yes, oh yes!) with co-roasted lemons and shallots. And here’s the real kicker—it’s even better the next day.

The ease of rotisserie chicken notwithstanding, reading and re reading all the steps makes the entire recipe a pain in the butt to make the first time. That said, virtually all the labor (and flavor) is in the dressing. So we’re going to take just that element on now, and it will make for many happy salads with or without chicken and toasted bread. 

The other recipes are ridiculously easy: Meyer lemon simple syrup is a juice-intensive staple to brighten tea, seltzer, pancakes, vodka, etc; and lemon posset is a sweet, tart, creamy, perfectly textured pudding/custard with no eggs or special techniques involved.

As good as these recipes are, they are merely a gateway to all the transformational possibilities of Meyer lemons in winter. Roast them, juice them, preserve them (Pickled lemon chutney? I’m looking at you next!), and let them bring a little sunshine in to your life.

Roasted Lemon-Shallot VinaigretteLemon-salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 lemon, halved and seeded with the tip of a sharp knife
  • 8 oz shallots peeled and halved if large
  • 3 large cloves garlic unpeeled
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme, divided
  • 2 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
  • juice of one lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Toss lemon, shallots, garlic and 2 sprigs thyme in 1/4 cup oil and 1 tsp salt. Spread in baking dish in one layer, with cut sides of lemon down. Cover with foil and bake 45-55 minutes or so, until shallots are caramelized and lemons are totally soft. Remove from oven and let cool.

When cool, remove lemon pulp from peel and put it (minus peel and any remaining seeds) into the blender. Add shallots, garlic insides (squeezed from skin), lemon juice, and any accumulated liquid to the blender. Process until smooth. Add remaining oil in a stream. Stir in thyme leaves from remaining sprigs and salt to taste.

Say tuned for a pro version of the chicken and toasted bread salad, pictured above, which is leftover roasted chicken tossed with arugula, plumped currants, rustic bread—torn, tossed with oil and oven-toasted— and this dressing.

This next recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated, so even though it is super simple of course it has some crazy essential step. In this case it is measuring the hot liquid until it is the proper volume. They have a workaround which is even more complicated, so let’s just stick to Plan A. It’s no big.

Lemon Possetposset

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 6 Tbsp Meyer lemon juice
  • Fresh blueberries or raspberries

Combine cream, sugar and zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Heat, stirring as mixture boils. Boil, stirring frequently, for 8-12 minutes, until reduced to 2 cups (pour it off into pyrex measuring cup to check when it’s there). Remove from heat, stir in juice and let cool 20 minutes. Strain into bowl or directly into six individual ramekins/posset containers (see at right. who knew?). Discard strained zest, or eat it when nobody is looking. Chill possets uncovered until set, at least 3 hours. Wrap and store in refrigerator for up to two days. To serve, unwrap and let sit at room temperature 10 minutes. Garnish with berries.

 

Meyer Lemon Simple SyrupSyrup-tree

2 cups strained fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 cups granulated sugar
zest of 3 Meyer lemons

Wash and gently scrub lemons. Using a zester or vegetable peeler, remove strips of zest from fruit, being careful to remove only the yellow zest, none of the bitter white pith.

Combine sugar, zest and lemon juice in medium saucepan. Heat until simmering over medium heat, stirring to completely dissolve sugar. Increase heat and bring to a gentle boil. Remove saucepan from heat. Cover and set aside to steep 10 minutes. Strain into glass containers. Discard zest, or, you know what I’d do.

Makes 3 cups. The syrup will keep 1 week in the refrigerator, 6 months in the freezer.

granite-lemons

Southern Comfort in the Granite State

 

 

 

 

Cold Comfort Creamed Spinach and Such

January can get pretty dark, in every way. As it trudges along glacially, the time we do not spend pulling ourselves upright is spent talking our loved ones off a ledge. Particularly in the ski racing world—the world of my people—January gets harsh. Wind, cold, ice, wet socks and crowded  vans. Combine that with a stretch of injuries, illness and crashes (sometimes all three) and you’ve got your perfect storm of yuck.

We know it’s coming—post holiday blues, failed resolutions, short cold gray days, translucent skin, not-quite-right windshield wipers…and yet, it gets us every time. In the beginning our plan for January is all about kicking butt, but it ends up being more about getting by. Non skiers, I know you’re with me now.

Because my soft spot for underdogs is especially mushy in January, I’m marching through Food52’s best, yet most ignored recipes for 2015. These are things from odd and humble ingredients like burnt toast and lentils. I’m starting with everything on the list that’s green because, well, it’s January. See failed resolutions and cold gray days, above.

Up first, creamed spinach without the actual cream, a comfort food involving some vegetables and fiber and not a lot of work. Next on my list is a green soup suitable for Vegans, gluten-frees and paleos. But today, we’re all about easing into this gently with frozen spinach and just a few ingredients you probably already have plus a fresh green kick. I’m looking at you, jalapeño. Nothing fancy. Not even grating. We’re just getting through this together.

We all need a big hug in January. Here’s yours.

Cold Comfort Creamed Spinach (or Squash)

Barely tweaked from Laurie Colwin’s Creamed Spinach

Spinach-on-table

Overachievers Anonymous, here we come

Notes: I made this with cheddar because, well, I’m in New England. Must we discuss? For jalapeños I used fresh—half of one of those huge mutant ones you sometimes find in the grocery store. I was in my groove so I did the same thing with half a cooked butternut squash (here’s a clinic on that), using chicken broth instead of spinach liquid, the other half of the mutant jalapeno and the rest of the evaporated milk. I liked that even better. Let’s hear it for green AND orange.

Serves 6 to 8

  • 2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk (or equivalent amount of cream and milk)
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon celery salt, seasoned salt or plain old salt
  • 6 ounces Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Muenster, Gruyere or some such cheese, cubed
  • 1 or more jalapeño peppers (fresh or pickled)
  • Buttered bread crumbs (use 2 tablespoons melted butter for 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, making as much as it takes to make you happy)

Method:

Cook the spinach. Drain, reserving one cup of liquid, and chop fine if not chopped already.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Blend and cook a little. Do not brown.
Add onion and garlic.

Add one cup of spinach liquid slowly, then add evaporated milk, black pepper, celery salt, and cheese. Add one or more jalapeño peppers (know thyself and thy heat tolerance), and the spinach. Cook until all is blended.

Turn into a buttered casserole topped with buttered bread crumbs, and bake for about 45 minutes at 300° F until the top is crisp and golden. If you want to speed up the browning, toast under the broiler.

Cold Comfort Creamed Squash

Follow directions above, substituting cooked winter squash for spinach, and 1 cup chicken broth for the spinach liquid.

Bringing it:

This is the type of thing that begs to be put in a dish, covered snugly and carried elsewhere to someone who needs a little comfort.

 

No Knead Challah

    C'mon. You know you want to at least try. Right?C’mon. You know you want to at least try. Right?

Stop right there. I know what you are thinking. NEXT! As in, I am not a bread baker, and even if I was I am surely not a bread braider and baker. But please, give me a chance here…unless you are gluten-free and/or Vegan. If that’s the case you may want to move on from this egg, honey and flour fantasia of a recipe. If you’re still with me, take a deep breath and say, “I can do this!”

The no-knead aspect of this 5-Fold Challah recipe drew me in, as did the memories of the first time I had challah while living with the classic Jewish mother, who worked all day teaching middle school English and still managed to turn out home cooked meals for 5 kids, three of whom were not even her own. Kaki, you opened your heart and your home and gave me many wonderful things, including a lifelong taste for chicken and onions, real bagels and challah. For this and so much more, thank you!

So, just to put this in context, the loaves pictured were made on my very first try at this recipe. And I am NOT a bread baker. The only bread I make consistently is Easiest French Bread Ever, which can be done in a coma, and Lifechanging “Dirt” Bread, which requires the entire contents of a birdfeeder but no yeast or skill. What I’m saying here is, I think you should try this. It would make a fine base for a chicken and onion sandwich. (To Kaki if you ever happen to read this: Sorry for all the run-on and fragmented sentences and YES, I am getting enough to eat!)

Notes: I have read you can replace the oil with melted unsalted butter. God only knows why I have not tried this yet. For non bread bakers this looks like a lot of work, but it’s tiny bits of effort (folding) with unattended time in between, and remedial braiding. Even more importantly, the timing is flexible and the challah is very accommodating to changes of (your) schedule. Finally, for all you over achievers, check out Jessica Fechtor’s full version on Food52 for all the possibilities of incorporating cinnamon sugar, raisins, etc.

No Knead Challah

From Jessica Fechtor and Food52
Makes 2 Loaves

Dry ingredients

  • 4 cups (500 grams) bread flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Wet ingredients + shaping

  • 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk (save the extra white in a covered glass in the fridge for glazing later on)
  • 3/4 cup (190 grams) water
  • 1/3 cup (75 grams) olive oil
  • 1/4 cup (85 grams) honey
  • For sprinkling, before baking (optional): Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flaxseeds, rolled oats, sunflower seeds, and/or pumpkin seeds

Method:

  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until a wet, sticky dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.
  2. Peel back the plastic. Grab an edge of the dough, lift it up, and fold it over itself to the center. Turn the bowl a bit and repeat around the entire lump of dough, grabbing an edge and folding it into the center, eight turns, grabs, and folds in all. Then flip the dough so that the folds and seams are on the bottom. Cover tightly again with the plastic, and let sit for 30 minutes.
  3. Repeat the all-around folding, flipping, covering, and resting four more times. (I keep track by drawing hash marks in permanent marker right on the plastic.) The dough flops more than it folds in the first round or two. Then, as the gluten develops, you’ll get proper folds. By the final fold, the dough will be wonderfully elastic, and you’ll be able to see and feel the small pockets of air within. Pull the plastic tight again over the bowl and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours—any longer and you risk over-proofing.
  4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into six equal pieces. Roll into six strands, each about a foot long and 3/4 inch in diameter, dusting sparingly with flour when necessary to prevent sticking. (You’ll want to add as little extra flour as possible.)
  5. Form two three-strand braids, and transfer the loaves to the prepared pan. Cover with plastic and let proof at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, until the dough is noticeably swollen and puffed and bounces back very slowly, if at all, when you poke it lightly with your finger.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Remove the plastic wrap from the loaves and brush with the reserved egg white. If you’d like, sprinkle with seeds. Poppy and sesame seeds are traditional challah toppings. Fechtor typically co
    Challah1

    Not sure how that little orphan loaf worked in, but I’m sure it was well-loved.

    vers one with a combination of flaxseeds and rolled oats, and the other with sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, though lately she’s been opting for no seeds at all.

  7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the bread is golden and gorgeous and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also check for doneness with a thermometer. The internal temperature of the loaves will be 190° F when fully baked.
  8. Transfer to racks and let cool.
  9. These loaves freeze very well: Wrap the cooled loaves in plastic wrap, then put them in zip-lock bags and freeze. Thaw directly in the bag on the counter, then remove the plastic and reheat in a warm oven. You won’t be able to tell it’s been frozen

 

Crackle 2.0—Toffee meets dark chocolate pretzels and beer

 

crackle2

Just when you thought you had covered everyone on your list…surprise! That’s why it makes darned good sense to cook up obscene quantities food gifts, put them in jars and cute boxes and have them at the ready.

My faves are salted caramel Cholliesauce, roasted and glazed nuts and of course, a constantly replenished stash of crackle. We’ve learned to love Crackle over the years, but it’s time to shake it up a little. It’s time to go to the Dark Side. Behold Crackle 2.0, a more grown up version of decadence from a favorite site: thebeeroness.com.

I love the idea of cooking with beer, and the whole consequence of recipes only calling for half a can (at most) of some shmancy beer, making it perfectly ok—even responsible—to finish the rest. There are lots of things I love about this, including of course the taste, which really isn’t beer-like or even alcoholic after all that boiling.

This recipe lets you decide on the thickness of both the toffee and the chocolate layers. Also, it does not require oven time, leaving your oven free for baking things like these and these and these. No baking means also no urgency between steps, which is nice. You can make the toffee part and then come back to slay the rest.

crackle3

Extra points if you make the edible peppermint plate.

Finally, the dark chocolate is a more sophisticated touch (even if you hedge and add some milk chocolate chips when you run out of the good stuff).

I have made this with Guinness and most recently with Lagunitas Little Sumpin ale, subscribing once again to the “love the one you’re with” method of ingredient selection. Do keep it to craft beer or something more complex than Bud. If you want to really experiment, read up on the Beeroness wisdom. Alternatively, just wing it, and try a new beer with each batch. Oh, and for presentation points, make this edible plate out of peppermint candies. You’re soooo Martha!

Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee

Adapted from The Beeroness

Ingredients:

Toffee:

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Butter (2 sticks)
1/2 Cup Amber Ale

Topping:

2 Cups Pretzels, Smashed
2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips (60% cacao content)
1/4 Cup Amber Ale or Chocolate Stout
1 Tbsp or so coconut oil (optional but it gives the chocolate a nice gloss)

Method:

In a large pot over high heat add the sugar, butter and 1/2 cup amber ale, it will triple in volume during the cooking process so make sure to use a large pot. Stir until the mixture starts to boil. Allow to boil untouched until the mixture starts to darken and thicken at about 230 degrees. Stir continuously until it turns a very dark amber and hits 290 degrees. (Use the color as your guide. Too light means less caramel flavor. Be patient but vigilant!) This process will take between 15 and 20 minutes from start to finish. Pour onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat. Immediately spread to desired thickness before it starts to harden. Allow to cool.

Add the chocolate to a large bowl. Heat the beer until hot but not boiling. You can heat it on a pot on the stove or microwave it in a microwave safe bowl. If you use the microwave, know that the beer will foam up once it reaches it’s boiling point. Pour the hot beer over the chocolate chips and stir until well combined and melted. (Alternatively, and preferably to SOME, do the whole shebang in a double boiler. See Edie notes below.)

Pour the chocolate over the toffee and smooth out in an even layer. Sprinkle the crushed pretzels over the chocolate and chill until the chocolate has set. Cut into pieces.

Beeroness Notes: If you use a chocolate with less than 60% cocoa content, it will have higher levels of milk solids, because of this it will have a more difficult time hardening once the beer is added. Try to find 60% and chill it to set.

Edie Notes: In my microwave-deprived house I made this as directed a few times but could not get the chocolate to be as glossy as I wanted. I had better results melting the chocolate and beer over water in a double boiler, and adding a bit of coconut oil. For chocolate I used a combo of 2 Ghirardelli Intense Dark 72 % Cacao bars, and enough milk chocolate chips to get to the right amount.

Crackle1

Why are you looking at this? Aren’t you at the store yet?

 

 

Sugar and Spice Squash Soup

Tick Tick Tick. It’s happening, snow or no snow. A certain person in our house wore an elf suit for an entire weekend, the Christmas music on the radio is running 1:1 with Adele, and I’m pretty sure I’ve had at least some chocolate by 10 am for the past five days. Oh yeah…’tis the season.

This sweet, spicy, ginger squash soup is another fabulous contribution from Steamboat Tania, who holds the bar so much higher than me that I almost just posted this without trying it. Almost. But the whole candied ginger thing was intriguing, and I figured before descending into holiday carb overload I owed it to my people to produce one last healthy, unique, yet broadly appealing dish.

It’s a more sophisticated version of Halloween Soup, with creaminess from coconut milk, spice from red curry paste and sweet holiday sparkle from the candied ginger. (You know you were wondering how to use up the tub of candied ginger you got for fruitcake or ginger libations or various gingery creations.)

If I have not sold you on this soup yet, it’s also pretty hard to screw up. I didn’t have a full jar of red curry paste, used bouillon cubes instead of broth and misread the recipe, using only one butternut squash. It was still incredible, and an acorn squash out there lives for another day. Oh, and Tania’s tip on heating the squash in the oven first is sheer brilliance.

I urge you to make this, as a gift to yourself or to share with your holiday squad. Extra points if you enjoy it in your elf suit.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large acorn squash
  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil (plus more to rub on squash)
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 32 oz chicken stock
  • 1 jar red curry paste
  • 1 can coconut milk (Full fat tastes best. Hide the can if you must)
  • 1/3 cup candied ginger
  • salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Put uncut squash on baking tray while the oven is preheating (do this so the squash cuts easily and you don’t lose fingers), 10 minutes or so.
Cut squash in half, discard seeds, rub cut side with olive oil and place cut side down on baking sheet. Cook until soft, half an hour or so depending on size.
While squash is cooking warm 3T olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion, cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Remove squash from oven and scoop flesh into onion/garlic mixture. Add chicken stock, curry paste, coconut milk and candied ginger. Stir over low-med heat until blended.

Ladle lumpy soup into vitamix/blender (or use an immersion blender). You will need two pots because this was 2 vitamix loads. Blend until smooth. Return to stovetop to warm. Add salt and pepper to taste. Warm and serve. (P.S. It’s also really good cold)

 

 

 

Knock-Out Vegan Pumpkin Pie

V stands for Very Tasty

V stands for Very Tasty

This pie was a revelation. The pie itself is fantastic, and is a stand-alone favorite, V or no V. It comes from the November issue of Self, the one with UFC star Ronda Rousey on the cover. That’s where the revelation comes in. I’ve been staring at that cover for a solid two weeks, flipping to the pie occasionally to remind myself of what ingredients not to forget this time I go to the store. Each time I flipped past the story on Ronda, looking at the pictures but not tempted to read a word of it (or to even google UFC. It’s Ultimate Fight Championship. Pretend you knew that—I won’t tell.

Then she got knocked out. Suddenly I heard her name pop up a lot. Even my husband commented on the great Ronda Rousey losing a match. Now, give me a loser and you have my interest. It’s not schadenfreude, but a strong aversion to packaged success stories…especially when they double as fashion spreads.

Anyway, I finally read the article (in which she is interviewed by a comedian) and it was hugely compelling: revealing, honest, unusual. She did talk about leaving a legacy as an undefeated champ. So much for that, but by losing she got at least one person who was only interested in pie to read her story and now care about her.  I am still not sure I could actually watch a UFC match—way too much blood, guaranteed—but go Ronda.

Now, on to pie. This is awesome. I made it with kabocha squash that I had baked. You could also use fresh pumpkin or butternut squash or the canned stuff. I can’t use the canned stuff, having recently been burned by a legacy can in the pantry. Oops.

With pumpkin pie the Vegan situation means no eggs, milk or cream in the pie and no butter in the crust. Coconut milk subs for the liquid and somehow enough squash just makes the egg factor go away. The crust—where you can really do some dietary damage with pies—is pretty darned healthy, and even easier to put together than a graham cracker crust. It’s a total win. Top it with whipped coconut cream for the full V experience, or with regular whipped cream from happy cows. It’s time to get your pomegranate game on, so you can get fancy and sprinkle some of those on top too. Either way, you’re going to wish you had room for seconds.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1  Pecan-Coconut Crust, frozen
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
  • 1 can (13 oz) coconut milk

Method:

Heat oven to 375°. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add vanilla, pumpkin puree and coconut milk and mix until well combined. Place frozen shell on a baking sheet and slowly pour in filling. Bake on center rack of oven 25 minutes. Rotate 180 degrees and continue baking until filling is set and no longer looks wet at center, 20 to 30 minutes more. (Mine took longer. No eggs means it won’t set as firmly but it will set more as it cools.) Cool 2 to 3 hours. Serve lightly chilled.

Pecan Coconut Crust

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup pecan pieces
  • 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

In a medium skillet over medium heat, toast pecans until fragrant; set aside and cool. Reduce heat to medium-low and toast coconut, stirring, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes; cool. In a food processor, process pecans, coconut, sugar and salt until mixture is fine and sticks together slightly. Pour into an ungreased 9″ pie pan. Press into bottom and sides of pan. Freeze until solid. Makes 1 crust.

pumpkin-pie-rock

 

 

Fry Your Grains Out Apple Fennel Salad

Fried-Grains-Fennel

Get your ancient on: Apple Fennel Salad with Roasted Buckwheat, and a side of Crunchy Spelt.

I am not trendy. The Dansko Clogs I wear 360 days a year make this clear. But as your liaison between the glut of food blogs out there, it is my responsibility to stay a bit on top of food trends, which brings us face to face with fried grains. Like the ones in crispy brown rice “kabbouleh.” Let’s all take a moment to say… DUH. Frying grains makes them taste even better. Doubling down on trendiness let’s consider fried ancient grains. Among others I’m looking at you, spelt.

Frying grains requires cooking them first, spreading them out to dry, and then deep frying them. I’ve done it a few times now, because it turns out fried grains are just as addictive as fried anything. That said, it’s a bit of a pain if you don’t happen to have an Ancient Grains Fry Baby on hand. It was enough to seek a slacker alternative.

This recipe came to me from Rocky Mountain correspondent Tania (ahem, cranberry chutney, get on it!), who got it from the Bitten Word who got it from Cooking Light. The provenance should assure you that it has been thoroughly vetted and approved. It is delicious, refreshing, colorful, different and—aside from frying the spelt— incredibly easy. It would make an excellent Thanksgiving side for non-traditionalists, and the red and green colors take it the distance through the holidays.

As for the slacker alternative, on a hunch Tania and I decided to steal from our new favorite weird recipe and use roasted buckwheat instead of the spelt. The result was awesome— it was way easier than deep frying and the buckwheat lent a satisfying earthy crunch that requires less jaw strength than the fried spelt. That said, one of us had an issue with soggy leftovers the next day. The solution: if you go the buckwheat route, sprinkle it on each serving so you can store the leftover salad and grains separately. I’ve included the original recipe as well as the (gluten free I swear) roasted buckwheat option. People, it’s time to start your Thanksgiving engines!

Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad with Crunchy Spelt

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 fennel bulb, halved and cored
1 small green apple, quartered and cored
1 small red apple, quartered and cored
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup Crunchy Fried Spelt or roasted buckwheat (recipes below)

Method:

Combine first 6 ingre­dients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Cut fennel and apples into 1/16-inch slices using a mandoline (or a good sharp knife). Add fennel, apples, parsley leaves, and Crunchy Fried Spelt to vinaigrette; toss well to combine.

Crunchy Fried Spelt

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked spelt (about 1 cup uncooked grains)
6 cups canola oil or peanut oil

Method:

Line a jelly-roll pan with several layers of paper towels. Spread spelt out into a thin layer on paper towels. Let stand 1 to 2 hours to dry out surface moisture, stirring grains occasionally.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until a thermometer submerged in oil registers 375°. (Do not use a smaller pot; moisture in the grains will cause the oil to bubble up vigorously.) Add 1/2 cup spelt to hot oil; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until grains are browned and crisp. (Maintain oil temperature at 375°, and fry in small batches.) Remove fried spelt from pan with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining spelt, 1/2 cup at a time.

Slacker Roasted Buckwheat

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Buckwheat groats
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • a healthy pinch or two of kosher salt

Method:

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Combine buckwheat and olive oil. Stir to coat. Spread on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until browned, stirring at least once along the way. Cool. Store in airtight container.

 

Classic Champion Chip Cookies

Honestly, do you really need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Apparently, yes! These come to you from US Ski Team rising star Lila Lapanja, who contributed mightily to my condo survival guide in Ski Racing. Lila’s mom Margie is the baking legend behind Margie’s Cowboy Cookies and the author of four cookbooks that meld life and kitchen wisdom with soul-satisfying recipes. Margie is all about comfort food, so of course her chocolate chip cookies would be good.

I am not sure what makes these so fool-proof, but they are. Maybe it’s the combo of margarine and butter, or the nice round numbers that make the proportions easy to remember even if you cut the recipe in half or in quarters; or the way dough stays soft and easy to scoop even if it’s in the fridge for a while; or the way they cook evenly and stay just soft enough when cool. I’m not sure what the magic is, but it just is. The next time you’re making a care package (surely someone you know needs a boost!) try baking these and you won’t go wrong.

According to Margie and Lila, these cookies will bring you good luck if you eat them the night before your ski races or at lunch between runs.

Champion Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup margarine, room temperature
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 6 cups unbleached flour
  • 4 cups chocolate chips*

(You can cut this recipe in half to make it more manageable. No calculator required!)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large (at least 13-quart) mixing bowl, whip up margarine, butter, and sugars until fluffy with an electric mixer.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and mix well. (Slackers note—if a fork is all you’ve got just make sure the butter and margarine are soft and whip it good!)

Blend the baking soda and baking powder into the flour and tap into the creamed mixture on low speed. Mix until it comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips with a strong wooden spoon.

Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment and scoop the dough with a small (1- to 2-ounce) ice cream scoop or with a large spoon. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes (depending on your stove…), until lightly golden in color with tiny cracks on top of the cookies. Note your baking time for the rest of the batch. Makes about 4 dozen 2-ounce (Mrs. Fields’-size) cookies.

* Yes, there is a secret to this recipe: the chocolate chips. My favorite baking chips are, have been, and will always be Hershey‘s…or Trader Joe’s. I like to use half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate. On festive occasions, try tossing in white chocolate chips, a few toffee chips, or mini-kisses.

 

 

Strangely Awesome Buckwheat Granola

So here it is mid October, and where’s the apple post? Apples rule my life in the fall. They beg to be picked. Their fermented scent spikes the air when I step outside. They pile up on the ground until they are weaponized by the lawnmower. I can’t pick them, eat them or cook them up fast enough. So I was feeling badly about not doing an apple post…until I realized we did a pretty complete one last year. In case you missed it, here it is. It’s got you covered on apple scones, pie, soup, cake, sangria, sauce and a few more apple inspired extravaganzas.

That frees us up for something different, even weird, on this Columbus Day. It involves buckwheat groats, which sound sufficiently scary. I’ve always loved their rustic, earthy taste, even though I never really knew what to do with them. Now I know!

I fully admit that I have weird food tastes (my sister even advised I seek medical advice on the particular quirk at one point), so before posting this granola I tried it on many people. Even those with mainstream tastes either loved it right away or quickly warmed up to its sneaky, crunchy addictiveness. It’s good, it’s good for you, it’s super easy, it’s different and it’s indestructible. All that makes it wayyyyy Bring It worthy.

And here’s the October bonus: you can substitute applesauce for the mashed banana. So you get to try something new while staying seasonal and plugging away on that apple stash.

Buckwheat Granola

Very slightly adapted from Food52

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups raw buckwheat groats
  • 1 1/2 cups mixed seeds and nuts (I use sunflower seeds and either almonds or pecans, roughly chopped)
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ripe banana, or ½ cup applesauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (or coconut oil or almond butter)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Method:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, stir the buckwheat groats together with seeds, nuts, coconut, and spices.

In a separate small bowl, smash the banana with a fork and add it (or the applesauce) to the groats mixture, along with olive oil and maple syrup. Stir until everything is nicely coated. Spread across a baking sheet (lining it makes for easier clean-up) and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until fragrant and golden. Let cool before storing in a glass container.

Some for you and some for a friend. Granola is always the right thing to bring.

Some for you and some for a friend. Granola is always the right thing to bring.

Triple Crunch Sesame Peanut Coconut Snack Bars

Sweet, salty, crunchy goodness to ease you into fall. No bridge tolls or taxi rides needed.

Sweet, salty, crunchy goodness to ease you into fall. No bridge tolls or taxi rides needed.

Boom! And just like that it’s fall. A week ago we were in oppressive humidity, and now we’re looking for anything orange to wear. Not blaze orange just yet, but something subtler to ease our transition and go with all the pumpkin ale and pumpkin lattes they’ve been forcing on us since mid August. We’re supposed to be putting away the linen, and the white, but let’s do that slowly to ease the pain. How do we ease out foodwise?

First of all, we eat up all that watermelon in the fridge. If you need ideas, how about one more batch of watermelon lemonade, one ingredient watermelon sorbet , watermelon gazpacho or Joy the Baker’s groovy, spicy watermelon wedge salad that uses watermelon as the plate (it’s really good, but it was too much of a leap for my people).

What else? Keep eating corn like it’s your job. If you haven’t made the Colorado corn souper chowder please do so before I have to have a word with you in private. Charred and raw corn salad is also a good call as is this super quick and easy raw corn and radish salad from Food and Wine . And beets! We’ll be dealing much more with those soon, but in the meantime don’t forget this awesome beet salad. What else? Take that John Boy Peach Crostata recipe and substitute pears and walnuts for peaches and pecans. Transition, done!

If all that clicking and looking tired you out, you may need a salty, sweet, satisfying, easy-to-make snack that will hang out and wait patiently for your eventual cravings. Look no further. These sesame peanut bars (from Bon Appetit), remind me of the ones by the cash register at virtually every Korean deli in New York City…the same ones that taunted and tempted me at every transaction. These bars are softer (and easier on your dental work), healthier (they have coconut fergawdsakes), and do not require a trip to New York City, though that is another darned good thing to do in the fall.

One final note…ok three: I used maple syrup instead of honey for local flavor. An 8” pan makes thicker bars than what you’ll see at the deli counter. You may want to try adjusting pan size and reducing baking time for thinner bars. I haven’t tried it. Do use parchment paper like the recipe says. It may work without it but that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

Ingredients

Servings: Makes about 16

  • Unsalted butter (for pan)
  • 1¼ cups white and/or black sesame seeds (slackers be assured, all white is fine)
  • ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¼ cup unsalted, roasted peanuts
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup or a mix of both. c’mon New England…show your stuff!)
  • 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8×8″ glass baking dish (or larger you want thinner, crunchier bars); line with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang (I mean it) on all sides. Mix sesame seeds, coconut, peanuts, and salt in a large bowl. Mix honey, peanut butter, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add to sesame seed mixture and mix well.

Scrape mixture into prepared baking dish; press firmly into an even layer. Use that generous overhang of parchment paper to really tamp down on the mix so it’s good and dense and holds together. Bake until golden brown around the edges, 20–25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until firm, 30–40 minutes. Lift out of baking dish (if it starts to crumble, let cool longer) and cut into 16 bars. Let cool completely.

Bringing it: Bars can be made 3 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. They do just fine in the fridge too (and last longer).

 

John Boy’s Rustic Peach Crostata

I am chomping at the bit for apple season. And yet, there are still watermelons and peaches and fresh corn to be had, not to mention the low maintenance fish tacos (coming soon) that can be the dinner anchor for all that fresh fruit. So back off, fall. Today we’re all about peaches.

So good, so luscious, so hard to bake them in to anything before eating them all fresh. BUT here is your best chance of that. I started summer by making a rustic blueberry crostata with a homemade crust. The crust had some whole wheat goodness and toasted pecans mixed in. It was indeed really good. But it involved crust making, which takes time and actual care. Let’s be honest. Homemade crust can be a dealbreaker. This recipe is built on a premade roll out crust, which I believe is one of the most life-enhancing low-tech inventions of the late 20th century. It brings pie and crostata making within reach of everyone who can cut a piece of fruit.

I was introduced to this by my sister who was introduced to it by our brother-in-law. As far as I am concerned, a man who makes crostata (and he made his own crust by the way) gets all the credit for its invention. Hence the name. The “Boy” is added in a nod to those pie-making Waltons of yore. I added the slacker reliance on premade dough, the optional rustic tweak of pecans and cornmeal to the crust, and the suggestion of yogurt whipped cream.

With that I give you a taste of late summer, and a solid stand against the inevitable onslaught of apples and pumpkins.

John Boy Rustic Peach Crostata

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • Prepared pastry dough (uncooked), enough for a 9-inch pie pan
  • 1 Tbsp or so cornmeal (optional)
  • 1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
  • 4 large peaches, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon or more cinnamon if that’s your thing (totally optional and awesome)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 whole egg, beaten
  • Ice cream, whipped cream or whipped yogurt cream (recipe below) for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. (A large rimmed baking sheet is best, as long as you can fit the dough into it. If using an un-rimmed baking sheet put another pan underneath to catch the drippings.) Sprinkle cornmeal (is using) on parchment paper and set the uncooked pie dough onto the baking sheet.

Sprinkle the dough with pecans, if using. Roll dough lightly with a rolling pin to smoosh them in.

In a bowl, gently mix peaches, sugar, flour (and cinnamon if using) together. Pour fruit mixture into the center of the pastry round, leaving about 2 1/2 inches around the edge. Fold up the edge of the pastry dough over the filling to make a rim. Fan the edge as you go around folding the dough.

Brush pastry with the beaten egg (milk and a sprinkle of sugar works too) and place the pat of butter on top of the fruit mixture. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Cool the crostata on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature  with your favorite ice cream or whipped cream.

Yogurt Whipped Cream

Courtesy of Food52 and Saveur and dairy farmers everywhere

Makes about 3 cups of whipped cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt, Greek or otherwise, full-fat or otherwise, chilled (I used nonfat Greek)

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, or with a hand mixer or whisking by hand like Grandma Walton, beat heavy cream and yogurt on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Taste and add more yogurt or cream to taste and whisk again to soft peaks.

Bringing it:

Don’t try to transfer this off the parchment paper…even if you really want to get a nice picture for a blog. High chance of failure, and possibly tears. Transport it on the baking sheet and rewarm it in the over, or put the crostata, parchment and all, onto a platter and serve it up at room temperature.
—

Colorado Summer Corn Souper Chowder

Cowgirl and cook Tania Coffey is back on the cooking range, this time helping us figure out more ways to enjoy summers sweetest fresh corn. This recipe is adapted from a vegetarian version created by Aaron Bennett, a chef at the Aspen Ritz Carlton. It was created as an appetizer to showcase Colorado’s produce, in particular Olathe corn.

Tania says: “This soup is so much of a pain to make that after many efforts we decided to grill a chicken breast, shred it, toss it in with the soup, rename it chowder and not cook another thing for dinner.  That said, it is so good that in August we make it over and over until we are sick of it and can wait another year for fresh corn.”

So there’s your motivation. Armed with Tania’s disclaimer I made this soup, with my own set of preconditions. First, I only had four ears of corn so I had to cut it in thirds which challenged my math skills. Second, in New England my pepper selection is limited, so I had to go with jalapenos and a couple of canned chipotles in adobo. (Update: as anticipated, Tania politely points out in first comment below that cans have no place in this recipe. So let’s all just pretend I never used those chipotles). Third, I had no chicken, so I reverted to a soup more like the original. The good news is that you now have our guarantee that it is delicious with or without chicken.

Before you embark, I will soften the prep warning a bit by summing up the procedure. You are cutting fresh corn off the cob, and boiling the cobs in milk and broth. You are roasting corn kernels in the oven. You are sautéeing diced onions and peppers in butter. Then you are throwing it all together and pureeing part of it. When it’s done it is really truly NOT pretty. But as Tania notes, “it is incredible when the corn is sweet.” So let’s get over appearances shall we?

You will need two big stock pots and a hearty blender (or an immersion blender along with the good sense to keep it deep in the pot while blending).

Colorado Summer Corn Chowder

Adapted from chef Aaron Bennett via Tania Coffey

Makes: A lot; 10-12 servings at least, or more if it’s eaten by the mug vs the bowl.

Ingredients:

  • 12 ears fresh sweet corn
  • 1 1/2 sweet onion diced
  • 3 poblano peppers diced (If you can find roasted poblanos use them for a totally different— and fabulous—taste).
  • 3 jalapeños ribs and seeds removed minced
  • 2 red bell peppers
  • 2 T garlic minced
  • 4T butter
  • 2 quarts chicken stock
  • 2 quarts whole milk
  • 2 T olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 lb chicken breast grilled and shredded with 2 forks.

Method:

Seatbelts on. Preheat oven to 350
Preheat grill for chicken (or bake chicken with corn)

Peel corn. Cut kernels from cobs.  Save cobs.
Put cobs in one stock pot with chicken stock and milk and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer gently for 45 minutes.

Grill the chicken breast.  Don’t over cook it as it is going in the hot soup.  Remember, this step makes the soup a meal but is not mandatory!  The chicken is added after the soup is completely made so you can live dangerously and decide then.

Toss corn kernels with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Put kernels on baking sheet and roast for 15-25 minutes until lightly browned. (You’ll need at least two baking sheets if making the full recipe).

In an 8 quart stock pot melt butter and add all peppers, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat stirring often until onion is translucent but not browned.  Add roasted corn and cook for another 2 minutes.

Remove cobs from stock and discard.

Pour broth over peppers and corn.  Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend 3/4 of the soup in batches in a powerful blender until smooth.  The remaining 1/4 stays lumpy for texture.  Season with salt and pepper. Add shredded chicken.

Told you it wasn't pretty. Not that you would judge on looks.

Told you it wasn’t pretty. Not that you would judge on looks.

This is how corn takes a bath.

This is how corn takes a bath.

Lemon Beach Pie

If you love your people—and I know you do—make this pie now. In the wilds of the Internet it is known as Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach pie. Anything called Beach Pie gets my attention. When its maker also calls it the “easiest recipe in the world,” I’m all in. This pie is not a secret. In fact, way before Ms. Kardashian tried to break the Internet I think this pie came close. For some reason, however, it took me until recently to make it.

What pushed me over the edge was the entire stick of butter on my counter, barely maintaining its solid form on a sweltering summer day. “Mix me with Saltines and a touch of sugar, then turn me into the crust of a glorious pie,” it seemed to be saying.

Perhaps that was the heat. At any rate, I obeyed the voice. The aforementioned Bill Smith created this version of a pie that is served up at coastal seafood restaurants in the North Carolina. It tastes darned good far from the beach too, and if for some reason you don’t finish it, just pop it in the freezer and bust it out whenever you need a taste of the beach. 

Make One Beach Pie

For the crust:

  • 1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
  • Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt for garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8 inch pie pan. (If you only have a 9-inch pan just top the pie with more whipped cream.)  Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.

While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Load it up with fresh whipped cream give it a sprinkling of sea salt.

Summer Lovin’ Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Rocky Mountain Correspondent Tania Coffey strikes again with this really good and really easy cake which you should make really soon. Why? Because we have berries! And we probably have cream hanging out in the fridge, dying to be whipped. And we have hungry kids. And because cake is good!

I happen to have one cooling on the counter right now and will figure out where to hide it so it’s there after dinner. If the hiding place is discovered, all is not lost. Apart from the fresh berries you’ve probably got plenty of everything else you need (including time—it’s pretty quick!) to make another.

Now go and enjoy every bite of summer while it’s here!

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Adapted by Tania Coffey from Gourmet, June 2009

This cake is so much fancier than a crisp or a crumble or cookies.  Super easy but looks like you REALLY care a lot.

raspberry-cake-rawraspberry -cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour—I have been substituting 1/4-1/3 cup course cornmeal for a little more texture lately.  As long as you have 1 cup total flour the cake has proven to be very flexible.
  • 1/2 teaspoon  baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 stick  unsalted butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar plus 1 1/2 T raw sugar for top of cake
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 large egg room temp.
  • 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk.  Just add a squeeze of lemon to your milk and stir it up to make buttermilk.
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries (I have substituted blueberries before with success, but don’t try strawberries because that was a disaster unless you like pink pudding cake)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Put the half stick of butter on top of oven to soften while oven warms. Get the egg out of the fridge.

Grate lemon zest then make buttermilk with a slice of lemon if you need to.  It needs to sit for a bit.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup  sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Place raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons raw sugar.  For some reason the raspberries drown a little less if you place them so the hole is up.  They sink like stones the other way.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Watch it at 20 min, it cooks quickly. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Invert onto a plate.  This is Gourmet’s idea.  I have never tried to invert the thing. This cake is actually better the next day for breakfast, but it rarely survives that long.

THE Panzanella

PANZANELLA

It’s toasted bread! It’s veggies! It’s panzanella coming to the rescue!

First off, apologies all around for the technical difficulties last week, and to those of you who got a sad, gray, “Legacy IP DNS blah blah” message instead of a recipe for Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade. Thanks to a kind man named Piotr who desperately needs a vowel, we are back up and running. Now, on to this weekend.

Some recipes you just have to know. Ina Garten’s panzanella is one of them, especially in summer. In addition to being a way to use a whole lot of summer’s best produce, it’s easy to prep, easy to bring, easy to assemble and it’s DELISH. Plus, it’s a way to eat crispy bread and call it dinner (or breakfast if you can’t help yourself the morning after). Ina (AKA The Barefoot Contessa, and the goddess of bringing it) has many panzanellas in her repertoire, including an awesome greek version, but if you only master this one (and you will on your first try) the Kingdom of Picnic Greatness is yours. 

As I mentioned in the recipe for Asparagus Panzanella, you can use your imagination, your cravings and the contents of your produce bin to tweak panzanella in all kinds of ways. It’s a tasty go-to on some seriously hot days. And by the way, if you live in the Upper Valley and are looking for some places to cool off check out this post on Swimming Holes and Soft Serve.

Ok peeps, stay cool out there!

Ina’s Panzanella

Serves 12

INGREDIENTS

For the Salad:

  • 3 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes (I have used halved cherry or grape tomatoes as well.)
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
  • 20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons capers, drained

For the vinaigrette:

  • 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
  • 1/2 cup good olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk together the ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Bringing it:

You can prep the bread, veggies and vinaigrette in advance and store in their own containers. Mix it all up on site a half hour before serving.

Watermelon 911

We’ve all been there. It’s the height of summer and you get a watermelon every time you go by the big bin of them in the store because it just seems like the right thing to do. You can get ambitious and whirl it into watermelon gazpacho or mix up some watermelon sangria or just cut it in cubes for snacks. Inevitably you reach the point where a watermelon hangs around a tad too long so you give it precious fridge space. And then by some crazy plot twist you end up with another watermelon. You’ve got yourself a watermelon emergency. What do you do?

Well you start drinking of course. And you drink watermelon juice. In the name of research I watched nearly all of a six minute video on making watermelon juice until I realized it was just an excuse for people to watch a hot yoga instructor with expressive hands talk breathily about her “watermelon secret.” I felt so violated. There is no secret here—just throw watermelon chunks in a blender and press the button. I should have used my time to watch this video, inspired by a facebook find from Sister B:

 

In honor of Sister A, I wanted to put my watermelon juice to good use by making a big batch of cocktails, but the week was young. Soooo, with inspiration from Sandy’s freezer dacquiris I froze the whole batch in my brilliant rectangular Tupperware pitcher. Now, my fridge has been freed, I’m still stone sober, and I’m ready for a weekend expedition without needing to find ice packs for the cooler. Boom!

A few details, as ever. This drink, inspired by Food52’s  Boozy Watermelon Lemonade, relies on rosemary simple syrup for sweetness. It’s well worth your time to make up batches of simple syrup, with various flavorings (mint, rosemary, citrus, peppercorns, etc, etc) and have them on hand to fancy up everything from iced tea and plain old seltzer to your firewater of choice. Inspired by my favorite Aveda shampoo, I added some mint to my rosemary syrup as it steeped because, why not?

This is an excellent non-alcoholic drink as well, but don’t freeze it without the booze or you’ll have one huge ice cube. I made this drink with gin because it has that little edge to it. But feel free to use vodka or whatever feels right to you. And finally, this recipe is easily scaled up or down, so if you’re on a date just change cups to ounces.

Now let’s get mixing. The weekend’s a comin’ and you need to free up that fridge for bacon and burrata!

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

Serves lots

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups watermelon juice *
  • I ½ cups rosemary simple syrup **
  • 1 ½ cup lemon juice, lime juice or any combo of the two, fresh squeezed (or use that frozen minute maid juice I won’t tell!)
  • 1 ½ cups seltzer
  • 3 cups gin

 Method:

Combine first four ingredients and stir well. Pour the mixture into a large pitcher. Add gin if using. Stir to combine. Serve over ice in jars garnished with a rosemary sprig or fresh mint or both. If freezing this for later, do not add seltzer and allow to freeze at least 8 hours and up to a day. Remove from freezer and stir/scrape it into Slurpee form. As it thaws it will get easier to pour. If there are leftovers just refreeze them. 

*To make Watermelon Juice (no thanks to Yoga woman)

Chunk up a watermelon and puree it in a blender in batches. Pour juice through strainer (if desired, and definitely if freezing) and into a wide bowl. Save yourself sticky anguish and do this over the sink. Transfer to a pourable container if not using it right away.

** To make Rosemary Simple Syrup (thanks to the Kitch’n)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

Method:

Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes. Pour liquid through a wire-mesh strainer into a cruet or airtight container, discarding rosemary sprigs. Cover and chill 4 hours. Garnish, if desired. Syrup may be stored in refrigerator up to 1 month.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Beet Caviar—for the No Roe Gourmet

 

beet-caviar

Meaty, beety, sorta sweety. Keep some of this in your fridge to fancy up any toast or cracker.

Yes, summer should be about melons and berries and fruity deliciousness. But let’s have a moment with beets, shall we? They are hearty but also virtuous, sneakily sweet without being considered dessert. Put them with a few other secret ingredients (like dates, walnuts, and a dollop of creme fraiche) and they are downright decadent. Speaking of secret ingredients, a note here on the booze: When using bourbon I went a little overboard once and it was overpowering. Stick with the 2 Tbsp. And if you’re not into booze, try using some good apple cider instead.

Roast a load of beets, however you like to do them, and keep them in the fridge for this, or easy deconstructed salads, or beet hummus or pretty smoothies. And hang in there—fruity summer goodness is coming at you soon…I promise!

Beet Caviar

Lifted from 101 Cookbooks and adapted from The Eastern and Central European Kitchen: Contemporary and Classic recipes by Silvena Rowe (2007).

Prep time: 5 min – Cook time: 60 min

If you have bourbon or vodka on hand, you can use one of those in place of the cognac.

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium beets, washed and trimmed
  • 5 plump dates, pitted and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons cognac (bourbon, or vodka)
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons creme fraiche, plain yogurt, or sour cream
  • lots of freshly chopped chives

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400F with a rack in the center. Puncture the beets with a fork a few times, and roast for an hour, or until the beets are completely tender when you test by cutting into the center with a knife.

In the meantime, gently heat the cognac in a small saucepan. Place the dates in a glass bowl, and, when just hot, pour the alcohol over the dates. Jostle around a bit, and soak for at least 10 minutes.

When the beets are cooked and cool enough to peel, remove the skins and chop into cubes. Place in a food processor with the dates, cognac, and garlic. Puree until the texture is to your liking – I left a bit of texture here, but you can go smoother if you prefer.

Transfer to a serving bowl before adding the lemon juice, walnuts, and salt. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve swirled with the creme fraiche* (or on a creamy little mattress of it), and finished with chives.

Serves 6.

*buy creme fraiche, or make your own by one of these two methods, depending on what you have on hand:

Whisk together equal parts heavy cream and sour cream. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand in the kitchen or other reasonably warm spot overnight, or until thickened. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. The tart flavor will continue to develop as the creme fraiche sits in the refrigerator.

or…Mix one cup of room temperature heavy or whipping cream with two tablespoons of butter milk in a glass jar and cover. Let it stand at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours, or until it thickens. Stir well and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Spicy Salmon on a Stick

Fish on! Pure goodness on the grill…and a pro photo by Tania. The single skewer technique is for risk takers. Two skewers per kebab makes the grilling and flipping easier.

I know. It’s the 4th so you’re thinking burgers and dogs on the grill. It’s All American, it’s easy and it’s good. But one of many happy consequences of having the 4th fall on a Saturday is that it makes for a really long weekend. And that means more opportunities to get your grill game on. It is the perfect time to try something new. For me, that was salmon kebabs. I’m slightly intimidated by cooking fish on the grill in the first place, but cubed fish? With little lemon slices? This was a leap.

It was so worth it. This recipe came to me from my Rocky Mountain Correspondent Tania, purveyor of all things spicy and delicious. She also happens to be a fantastic photographer (of fast ski racers and food). She advised me to get the salmon skinned at the store which I did. My fish mongress tried to boss me otherwise (it was from a loving not lazy place, because she likes the skin) but I persevered and am so glad I did. Who wants bits of salmon skin at clean up time? Correct—not me.

I was nervous that the fish would fall apart, or be a pain to skewer or just not be that good, but it was pretty easy and very tasty. One slacker note: I wanted to skewer these a few hours ahead of time, so I did this before prepping the salmon with the oil and spices. Just before grilling I brushed them with oil and rolled them in the spice mixture which I had spread on a baking sheet. Second slacker note: I could not wade into the garden to find my fresh oregano so I used dried. Again, it was really good, but I know in my heart it could have been even better. These are the sacrifices we make.

Spiced Salmon on Skewers

By guest cook Tania Coffey via Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Servings: 4

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet (preferably wild), cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 lemons, very thinly sliced into rounds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 16 bamboo skewers soaked in water 1 hour

Method:

prep: 25 min total: 25 min

  • Prepare grill for medium heat. Mix oregano, sesame seeds, cumin, salt, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl to combine; set spice mixture aside.
  • Beginning and ending with salmon, thread salmon and folded lemon slices onto 8 pairs of parallel skewers to make 8 kebabs total. The parallel skewers are pretty key in keeping the fish stable. Brush with oil and season with reserved spice mixture (or brush and roll entire kebab as described above).
  • Grill, turning occasionally, until fish is opaque throughout, 5–8 minutes.

Serve these with lemon cauliflower couscous, a green salad with everything from your CSA and maybe even some watermelon sangria. Save the burgers for your next bbq—it’s right around the corner. Happy 4th to all!

Summer Salad with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Summer Salad with Maple Balsamic DressingGreens, greens, greens! They are everywhere.  Plus, strawberry season has been outstanding.  I can’t stay away from my local farm where they have pick-your-own strawberries.  You can easily pick 5 pounds of strawberries in about 15 minutes.  GREENS and STRAWBERRIES must be prioritized so do what you can to get those two items to the top of the list.  Then once you have all these fresh greens and berries at home, why not combine the two in this wonderful and easy summer salad.  

This salad that will take you 4 minutes to put together….yes, literally 4 minutes. You shred some fresh lettuce, slice some strawberries, sprinkle with nuts (I used salted, roasted pistachios), and add a little feta cheese. Voila, you’re done. Oh, right, you still have to make the dressing….okay, so maybe it will take you 15 minutes, tops.

Make the salad, cook some pasta with pesto, toast some bread on the grill and you have a quick easy summer meal that can’t be beat. I just ate this for dinner and it was so light and nice.

Enjoy the long days and all your beautiful salads!

Ingredients

12 cups fresh greens
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3/4 cup toasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or whatever you like)
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Vinaigrette:
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Method

In a large bowl, toss fresh greens with cheese, nuts and fruit. To prepare the vinaigrette, mix together all ingredients except olive oil until well blended. Add oil in a slow, steady stream until incorporated. Toss greens with dressing.

Hot-cha-cha Pineapple Avocado Salad

A spicy little taste of the tropics

Sweet, spicy, juicy, creamy, crunchy…oh yeah baby. Serve me up some paradise!

Feeling hot hot hot? Wanna be cool cool cool? Yes my pretties, you can be both with this little taste of the tropics. This salad, when made exactly as directed, is on the spicy side, so use your discretion on the habanero. You can easily sub in jalapeno for less bite. You know your people. Or, if you live with a bunch of mild-mannered, mild-salsa-eating Yankees go for it with the habanero and get all the leftovers for yourself.

 Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbs. fresh orange juice
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 habanero chile, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 large Florida avocado or 2 medium Haas avocados, sliced 1/4 inch thick lengthwise, then cut crosswise into halves or thirds (here’s a clinic on finding ripe avocados)
  • 1 small pineapple (about 2-1/2 lb.), peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick (and here’s what you need to know about selecting and prepping pineapple.) PS I am among the freaks who enjoy eating the fibrous core. 
  • scant handful of chopped, toasted almonds, cashews or macadamia nuts (optional)

Method:

Whisk the oil, lime and orange juices, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion and habanero and toss. Set aside at least 10 minutes and up to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, shingle the pineapple and avocado on a very large flat platter or 2 smaller platters. Using a fork, scoop the onion slices out of the vinaigrette and scatter them over the avocado and pineapple. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the entire platter. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.  Season with a little salt and serve within 1 hour.

Bringing it:

This salad is easy to bring anywhere, deconstructed. It’s also a great salad to bring and prep on a weekend away, because the whole elements travel well and do not need refrigeration. Yes, that means more room in the cooler for vitals.  (I’m looking at you, frozen daquiris and Hero Slaw.)

 

A Hopeful Toast to the Triple Crown

 

Get ready to giddyup! Silky trousers will help.

Get ready to giddyup! Silky trousers will help.

Tonight may be the night that we have a Triple Crown winner for the first time since 1978. (To put that in context, we took a break from Happy Days, the $6 Million Man and a whole lot of Bee Gees music to watch that particular Derby). We came agonizingly close last year with California Chrome, and got a fine drink out of the deal, but no real satisfaction. This could be it people—don’t be caught without a proper cocktail, mocktail or working television for the occasion.

Shockingly (to some of us) the Belmont does not have an official cocktail. The Kentucky Derby of course has the Mint Julep, the Preakness the Black-eyed Susan, a recipe that has been altered but whose name has remained the same. The current version (now that Finlandia is a sponsor) involves vodka, St. Germain liqueur, pineapple juice, orange juice and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Why no Belmont drink? It’s not for lack of trying. In 1975 race the marketing crew made a run at an official drink with the Big Apple—some combo of fruit juice, an apple liqueur and rum. That was supplanted by the overly fussy White Carnation—a combination of vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, soda water and cream, named after the blanket of carnations in which the winning Belmont Stakes horse is draped.

In 1997 the Belmont Breeze made the scene, but one look at the ingredient list bangs the gong: bourbon or rye whiskey, sherry, lemon juice, orange juice, pimento bitters, fresh mint and orange zest. Really? Pimento bitters? Sherry? Headache anyone?

In 2011 the breeze was replaced with the Belmont Jewel a “more fan friendly ” combination of bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice over ice. Sounds easy enough. I’m game for that.

Here’s the recipe for the Jewel. I have to say I appreciate its simplicity:

Belmont Jewel

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 ounces of bourbon (the race track recommends Knob Creek, but use what you like)
  • 2 ounces of lemonade
  • 1 ounce of pomegranate juice

Method:

Combine ingredients and shake that all together with ice. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a cherry or lemon.

Pictured above is another fine drink, which is fully appropriate for this occasion. The Whiskey Peach Smash has elements of drinks associated with all three races: Mint in honor of the Derby; yellowness to honor Preakness’s Black-eyed Susan; peach to acknowledge the Belmont’s White Carnation; lemon for a taste of both the Belmont Breeze and the Belmont Jewel; and of course Bourbon to honor the fact that it’s a horse race after all.

Whiskey Peach Smash

Note: a barspoon is an inexact measurement, often equated to a teaspoon.

Serves 1 (as if you are alone tonight!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 ounces Bourbon
  • 1 heaping barspoon peach jam
  • 1 barspoon honey
  • 1 fat lemon wedge
  • 4 to 6 mint leaves

Method:

Muddle the herbs and lemon wedge, then add the jam, honey, and spirit and stir.

Add ice and shake hard for 5 to 10 seconds, depending on the size of your ice. Strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice. Garnish with more mint.

With booze or without, put on a fancy hat and mix yourself a fun fruity drink to cheer on American Pharoah.

 

 

Peanut Butter Coconut Bites

These are tasty little energy bites that go a long way with flavor and energy. They are super easy to make, no bake and a vehicle for any flavor, chip, dried tidbit, or other food item you have on hand. I made half of these with chocolate chips and the other half with cinnamon chips. Both worked really well.  I bring them on hikes. bikes, or other vigorous outings. They travel well and provide a “zip” when you need it.

I got this recipe from a friend of mine who likes to eat super healthy and bring ‘good-for-you’ goodies to all those around her. She brought these to work one day and everyone raved about them. The original recipe is adapted from the Oh She Glows cookbook which we know and love at Bring It Eats!

These take about 10 minutes to make. Go for it and share. You will be happy with the results and they are a fun food to pass around at any time.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 TBSP coconut oil
2 TBSP peanut butter (or almond butter)
1/4 cup maple syrup (or other sweetener)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup almond flour (or use whole wheat pastry flour – remember previous posts, we should not use almonds right now because of the drought in CA)
1/4 tsp salt (go light)
2 TBSP chocolate chips or any flavoring you like.

Method

Blend oats in blender until a fine flour forms.

Combine coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Add almond (or other) flour, oat flour, and salt. Beat until combined. Add chocolate chips.

Form into 14 balls and freeze on parchment paper. Store in Tupperware in refrigerator until you are ready to eat. You can eat them cold or bring to room temperature.

Surf’s Up Banana Almond Butter Pancakes

Banana Almond Butter Pancakes. Jack Johnson sold separately

Banana Almond Butter Pancakes. Jack Johnson sold separately

“Like waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
I’ll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it’s the weekend now”

Let’s all agree on something. Jack Johnson is hot. Sadly, this recipe for banana pancakes will not bring him into your kitchen. BUT it will leave you plenty of time to fire up some of his music, and perhaps a video of him on youtube. And you will say, DANG I want to feel like a hot groovy surfer too. Or, DANG I want a hot groovy surfer to make me banana pancakes on a rainy day.

The best part about this recipe is its simplicity. 3 ingredients, and no measuring at all. Oh yeah baby. We’re talking weekend.

The original recipe calls for almond butter, which really is excellent, but my Cali sister informs me that using almonds is not cool with the drought. You can use any nut butter. I also tried peanut butter and tahini, and much preferred the tahini to the peanut butter. So do what you must, but file this recipe in your head (along with some Jack Johnson videos) for the next time you need some really healthy pancakes and something to make you smile.

Banana Almond Butter Pancakes

Ingredients:

Makes enough for 2 people who like each other

  • 1 Tbsp Almond Butter (or good quality nut butter of choice)
  • 1 ripe but not overripe banana
  • 1 egg

dash of cinnamon or vanilla (optional), oil or butter for cooking

Method:

Stay with me here. There are some pesky details. Mash all ingredients up and mix until smooth. Heat griddle, but don’t make it sizzling hot.  Grease up the griddle or pan. I have the best luck with coconut oil but you can use butter or canola oil. Don’t skimp though.

Spoon batter on to griddle so you have roughly hockey puck diameter pancakes. They will be thin. Let them cook until you can romance a spatula underneath them all the way around. It takes some patience so make sure they have some integrity before you flip. Flip those babies and cook them a minute or so on the other side. Use your best pancake judgment on this.

Enjoy, as ever, with pure maple syrup. And some music.

 

Lemon Cauliflower Couscous Charade

couscous2

Honest to lemony goodness!

I hate being duped. As when people say, “These black bean brownies or date/cocoa truffles or chickpea chocolate chip cookies will fool you!” I’m all about dates and black beans and chickpeas stretching themselves into baking pans, and dressing up as treats, but don’t try to pass them off as anything like the original. We’re friends. We can be honest on this.

So, with that little tirade out of the way we move on to cauliflower, the multitasking food imposter du jour. I tried in vain to make a palatable buffalo cauliflower, and my family breathed a fiery sigh of relief when I gave up. You have no doubt heard of cauliflower “rice,” made by pulverizing the florets in the food processor then cooking/steaming the whole shebang. It’s fine, but it’s not rice, and I resent being made to pretend it’s rice. However, when it comes to couscous, I’m all about pretending. After all, what is couscous but pasta pretending to be a grain? It’s such an understudy already that usurping its identity is almost a favor.

So cauliflower, come on in to my food processor and take the stage. A local Hanover High grad Ellen Jackson just came out with The Lemon Cookbook, and the Valley News published this recipe of hers. I’ve made it about four times, never entirely correctly, and loved it every time. Time #5 I actually took a picture. It’s great right away, a few hours later and the next day, and you have to work really hard to screw it up. I even made it with a bag of frozen cauliflower when the fresh stuff was going for $7 at the Coop. ($7? Do you have a hidden camera in the cruciferous section?) At any rate, all of the above makes it a Bring It all-star.

A few changes/notes, because we have to: The key to toasting the cauliflower well is ample surface area, so dig out your largest pan. (Yes, the one at the bottom of the pile. You’re a few weeks in to that beach body routine so I know you can do it.) Cauliflower heads vary wildly, and I got way more than 4 cups out of mine. I used it all, brushing that big, used pan lightly with oil and toasting the extra separately. I also don’t add the other 2 Tbsp of oil at the end of the recipe. Five Tbsp of oil in a vegetable dish puts us in the tempura range, and at that point you might as well just eat the fries you’d rather have anyway. Ok, here we go!

Toasted Cauliflower “Couscous” With Lemon, Parsley and Almonds

Makes 4 servings

  • 1 (2-pound) head cauliflower, cut into small florets with ½-inch or less of stem
  • 1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds or pine nuts
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided (my version uses 3, not divided)
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely grated or minced
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped (I use the curly variety because that’s what I had and I prefer its sassy attitude)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Using a food processor with either the grating attachment or blade, grate or pulse the cauliflower in batches until it resembles grains of couscous. You should have about 4 cups. You can also use a knife to dice the florets, which will easily break into very small pieces as you go. (I got more like 7 cups from one head and used it all)

In a large, wide skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds, stirring frequently, until they smell nutty and are golden brown, about 7 minutes. Set the nuts aside and wipe out the pan.

Warm 3 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cauliflower and salt. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower pieces are toasted and tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the garlic and zest, stirring well to distribute the flavors throughout.

After the mixture has cooled slightly, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil (or not), the lemon juice, almonds, and parsley. (While this was happening I toasted up the rest of the cauliflower and added it in. You can add a little more lemon juice to taste if you like, but it’s already darned lemony.)

Season with additional salt and pepper, and allow the cauliflower to sit for at least 15 minutes, partially covered, for the flavors to develop.

It is excellent at room temperature or can be rewarmed briefly over medium-high heat before serving.

Bringing it:

As with the making of this salad, you have to try pretty hard to mess it up in transport. And it’s good at room temperature. Hello picnics!

Minty Snap Pea Salad and Spring Training.

Spring training with Minty Snap Pea Salad

Spring Training. Oh baby. Inspiring? Depressing? Hopeful? Daunting? All of the above? At least it can be tasty.

I have a friend who, at the end of ski season, assessing the toll of too many fries and cheeseburgers and not enough training, used to wish for a week on an island with a bag of oranges. I’m feeling her pain. But as much as I need it, I’m not getting that island.

I am, however, going to Mexico in a mere three weeks. As if that hard deadline wasn’t daunting enough, the Title Nine catalog arrived. For me that catalog is usually about 30 percent inspiring and 70 percent depressing. Given my circumstances, however, I’m trying to embrace the inspirational aspect of seeing the hard-bodied microbiologist/organic baker/pro surfer/mother-of-four riding her skateboard to the beach in a cute clingy dress.

This is the long way of saying that it’s salad week here. I had this salad last week at my sister’s house in CA, where Meyer lemons are free for the taking off neighborhood trees. Pure fantasy. It comes from an old issue of Cook’s Country, an off-shoot of the notoriously meticulous Cook’s Illustrated. I included the link but forget about getting any free content from these cats.

Cook’s Country tests the hell out of every recipe, which means two things: a. Every recipe is the most perfect version of what it can be; and b. you have to follow the recipe exactly. This is not a problem for my sister, who gives her recipes the respect they deserve, but it is an issue for a serial slacker like myself. Not surprisingly her version turned out way better than mine, so I’ve added some cautionary notes (in italics) based on my freelancing. My version was still darned good, but hers was better. And if you’re going to be eating salads for three weeks they might as well be as good as they can be.

Speaking of salads, now is a great time to try the kale and brussels sprouts salad if you haven’t already. It’s more of a fall thing, but it’s green and fibrous and delicious, all of which work for spring.

In a leap of faith and a show of hope, I sent back the swim dress/muu-muu and ordered board shorts and a suit. We’ll see how it goes.

Minty Snap Pea Salad

  • 1 ½ pounds sugar snap peas, stems snapped and strings removed (Not all of them require snapping and stringing, but do take out the guess work and weigh them at the store)
  • salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint
  • 1 small shallot minced
  • 1 tsp grated zest plus juice from 1 lemon (Meyer, Meyer, Meyer if possible. you know my deal by now)
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard (regular, not the last of the honey dijon)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese

Peas: Combine 4 cups water and 4 cups ice in a large bowl; set aside. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add peas and 1 Tbsp salt (regular, not kosher) and cook until crisp tender, about 2 minutes (I overdid mine by about a minute. Not ideal). Drain peas then transfer to ice bath and cool completely (yeah, they mean completely. If they are the tiniest bit warm the goat cheese shmoozes over everything instead of keeping its crumbly integrity.) Remove peas from water, pat dry with kitchen towel (drying is also key to cheese/pea interface) and cut in half crosswise. At this point the peas can be refrigerated in a Ziploc bag for up to two days.

Dress salad: Whisk mint, shallot lemon zest and juice, mustard, honey and oil in a large bowl. Add peas and cheese to bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper (remember the seasoning step). Serve chilled or at room temperature. The salad can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 day.

Bringing it:

Make it all ahead and bring it. Or, if you need to prep it ahead, bring peas, dressing and cheese in separate containers and combine before serving.

 

 

Love, and a Side of Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

a few of the best friends in the world. Way better looking than meatballs in the sun.

A few of the best friends in the world. Way better looking than meatballs.

This is about meatballs, but it’s not really about meatballs. It’s about friends and family and communities and about the times that remind you how much you love all of the above. Those times are called parties.

I’m on spring break, which is why we’ve sort of lost touch (It’s not you, it’s me.) The anchor of the trip was the party (see happy purple people above) to honor my awesome mama. The whole process of throwing a party in your hometown—especially when you have no definitive vision or time or really any business thinking you can pull it off—is confirmation that Dorothy and her sparkly red shoes really had it right. There’s no place like home.

Friends appeared at just the right time to help me shop, delivered fondue pots, brought drinks and favorite dishes, ship-shaped the house, helped prep, cook, clean and tend each other throughout, took pictures and showed up with their rally caps on. They asked “how can I help?” and when I hesitated they just jumped in and did. The timeliness of the help was downright freaky, as when I was lamenting that I’d failed to order a cake and the phone rang: “Could I prepare a signature dessert to honor your mom?” I’m talking crazy good.

Like I said, this isn’t much about meatballs. BUT for this occasion I needed something easy I could make ahead and then pop in the oven, something that would not require any utensil beyond a toothpick, and something that was worthy of the best friends and family a girl could ever have. These mighty meatballs (poached from Epicurious) delivered in all areas. As a bonus, the leftovers were good the next day, cold and reheated.

Make these and have a party to remind yourself of all the good stuff and good people in your life.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce or any other favorite hot sauce
  • 1 pound ground chicken, preferably thigh meat (turkey works too)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 celery stalk, minced
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Some kind of Blue cheese dip or dressing

Method:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Drizzle the vegetable oil into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.

Combine the butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat, whisking until the butter is melted and fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.

Combine the hot sauce mixture, ground chicken, egg, celery, bread crumbs, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

Roll the mixture into round, 3/4 -inch balls, making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.

Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165°F.

Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.

Serve with blue cheese dip for the real buffalo experience

See? I told you. But don’t judge. Just make them. Trust me on this.

See? I told you meatballs aren’t as pretty as friends. But as with friends, don’t judge. Just make them, love them  and be happy.

Taco Tuesday Solved

Yay—taco night! It sounds so easy, so crowd pleasing, so autopilot for a busy weeknight. It is easy if you and your people prefer soft shell tacos. But let’s talk about hard shell tacos. The opening is too narrow and the shells are too brittle, so if you do end up creating your masterpiece in one piece, it explodes on the first bite. No bueno.

Even less bueno are the proposed solutions, helpful techniques like grabbing each taco with tongs and frying it in oil. Honestly, I’d rather sort rogue socks from the laundry than fry individual tacos. However you say “not happenin’” in Spanish is how I’m dealing with those tacos.

Bevin Wallace out in Colorado has solved this for us on her Real life Delicious blog. The key is filling the shells, standing them against each other in a baking dish, covering them with a loving sprinkle of cheese and then baking them. You get slightly softened hard shell tacos that are totally easy to eat without losing half the filling on the plate.

Bevin is super healthy and organic and fills her with elk meat or grass fed ground beef. The slacker (my) version is to take out the word organic everywhere, and use what you’ve got, which in my case most recently was ground turkey. Non meat eaters can use whatever non meat feels right. Other keys to the recipe are the veggies (they keep us honest on taco night) and the refried beans in the filling mixture that sort of hold it all together. And oh yeah, you can make them ahead and bring the dish over to pop in the oven. It’s all good stuff. Try these, and go sort socks with all your spare time.

Baked Tacos

à la Real Life Delicious
Makes 10-12 tacos

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. lean ground meat (I use ground elk, but grass-fed beef, bison, or pasture-raised turkey are also good)
  • 1 tbsp. taco seasoning (Slackers, open that yellow Ortega packet)
  • 1 tsp. salt (omit if you are using the package)
  • 1 13.5 box organic refried beans, or 1 can refried beans
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (try to buy organic because peppers are on the Dirty Dozen)
  • 1 package organic taco shells
  • 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack (or sharp cheddar) cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the meat in a large skillet, add the taco seasoning and salt, and brown over medium-high heat. When the meat is almost done, add the chopped vegetables and cook until soft. Stir in the beans and heat through. Make sure the meat, veggies, and beans are well incorporated. Bring a large rectangular baking dish and the taco shells over next to the stove and spoon the meat mixture into the taco shells (about 3/4 full). Stand the tacos in the baking dish as you fill them. They will want to fall over until they are all lined up in there fairly tightly. After you’ve filled the tacos, sprinkle the cheese over them and bake for 10 min.

Bringing it:

Stack those bad boys, cover the dish with foil and proceed to the party where you will be greeted with mucho gusto.

 

Marcharitas

I held this post until after St Patty’s Day out of respect for beer and cabbage, of which I have none to offer. OK. That is a bold face lie. I held it because I am quite far behind on life at the moment. That, for me, is March. And that is why margaritas come in to play right about now. They’re green. They’re full of the promise of spring. I am including three different recipes, from three friends in the ski world who fully appreciate the filthy car, fast food, too-many-hotel-room frenzy that is March.

A brief history on each:

Speedy is the mayor of Mt Hood in the summer, and a Lake Placid transplant in the winter. He is a constant in the ski world, the ultimate connector and a friend to every struggling ski racer who “will work for training space.” His rocks marg is a western classic—tart with a touch of citrus and, of course, Patron.

Tania, my Rocky Mountain correspondent and fellow ski mom, is the master of turning a ski lodge into your favorite diner and saloon. A spicy westerner, she never met a jalapeno she did not like, and for this margarita she thinks ahead and infuses tequila with hot peppers of happiness. It is seriously worth the extra step and time!

PK has the only pool in the neighborhood, so he is always prepared to entertain. Inside fridge, outside fridge, fridge entirely devoted to seltzer, stand alone ice machine…he does not mess around. He always has something on hand to please every age and taste, as well as lots of towels. His frozen margaritas are as easy as it gets, and always perfectly refreshing.

So here you go—trés margaritas to get your spring off to a good start and head scurvy off at the pass. Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa’ dentro!

Speedy’s Organic Margarita Mixer

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 squirt of agave
  • 1/8 cup organic orange mango juice
  • 1 shot Patron tequila
  • 1 squirt of orange liqueur

Method:

Stir up first 4 ingredients and shake.
Fill short cocktail glass with crushed ice.
Add Patron.
Add orange liqueur.
Stir well.
Toast Speedy and enjoy!

Tania’s Burning Hell Margarita

Takes a week, and worth every moment

Ingredients:

  • TequilaFill a big jar (like a mason jar) with good quality (but not fancy fancy) silver tequila.  Try Camarena Silver.
    Add 4 jalapeños, seeded and cut into strips.
    Add one Habenero also seeded (wear gloves!)
    Add strips of seeded red peppers for color if desired.
    Leave jar alone for a week.  After a few days (and well after breakfast), sample it to see if you have made it spicy enough. If it’s too spicy, add more tequila. If you’re feeling brave add jalapeños halfway through the hang-out stage. Strain to remove peppers.
  • Simple syrup:1 cup of sugar
    1 cup of water
    Boil until sugar dissolves.
    Cool
  • Lemon/Lime JuiceSqueeze all the fresh lemons and limes you have.  At least 6 of each (fight scurvy—use the real stuff). Mix the fresh juice with enough simple syrup to balance the sour. Add a little water to be humane.
  • Triple Sec

Method:

In a big glass filled with ice add two shots of tequila, one shot of triple sec and the juice/sugar mixture to taste. It’s good policy to warn your guests that this has the chance to be very spicy.  But it’s also pretty funny not to, especially if you doubled up on the habanero.

PK’s Frozen Margarita

We’re dealing with proportions here, not absolutes. Amounts are based on what size can of limeade you start with.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can limeade
  • 1 can tequila
  • 1 can Bud Light or other light beer
  • Ice

Method:

Combine first three ingredients in a blender, refilling limeade can with tequila then beer. Fill blender with ice. Process until slurpeelicious. Find a spot by the pool. Sip. Repeat.

Victory Bran Muffins

It’s the weekend people. Regardless of our need to post more healthy, hearty fare and veggies, right now we need muffins. Why are these a victory? First, they come from my cousin Victoria, via King Arthur Flour, via Zella Lane who was the radio voice of Betty Crocker. So, yes, these have been fully vetted. Most importantly, these muffins are delish, whether made as mini muffins (Victoria’s favorite way—less commitment per muffin and way cuter) or as full-sized ones. I took them to a ski race recently and they were devoured by adults and teenagers alike. They are substantial enough to stand up to packing and travel, but still tender and awesome.

Perhaps the biggest bonus, however, is the fact that this batter can stay in your fridge, at the ready, for up to two weeks. They are a bit of a process to put together, only because they require three separate bowls, boiling water and a bit of cooling time. But none of it is difficult, and the reward for that time on the front end is being able to dole out muffin batter as and when needed, for fresh muffins anytime within a half hour. They will save your butt on a busy morning and make you look like a red-hot muffin-bearing kitchen goddess. That, my friends, is a victory.

Notes: Pay attention here to the bran cereal amounts. First, they depend on the type of bran cereal you are using, and second there are two places in the recipe where the cereal comes in, so make sure you have enough. Otherwise you might be subbing in whatever cereal you have in the pantry—doable for sure, but potentially risky (e.g. Raisin Bran vs. Capt’n Crunch). Coconut is an addition from Victoria that is totally good. If you are warming kids or bran-phobes up to these muffins, sweetened is the way to go. Unsweetened, while more virtuous, will dry out the batter more, so be more generous with your buttermilk. Finally, this makes a lot. You can easily halve the recipe if fridge space is at a premium.

 Ingredients:

  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup bran cereal (buds or twigs); or 1 3/4 cups bran flakes
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 2/3 cup shredded coconut (Optional, sweetened or unsweetened).
  • 2/3 cup hemp hearts (Optional, but yummy in pretty much anything).
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar (demerara or coconut sugar take these over the top)
  • 2 cups bran cereal (buds or twigs); or 3 1/2 cups bran flakes

 Method:

1) In a small mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the 1 cup twigs (or 1 ¾ cups flakes) of cereal. Allow the mixture to cool to lukewarm, 30 minutes or so.

2) While the water/cereal mixture cools, blend together the flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. (Pro move here is to use a bowl with lid that can be used to store batter in the fridge). Stir in the cranberries, coconut and hemp hearts if using. Set it aside.

3) Stir the vegetable oil into the cooled water/cereal mixture. Set it aside.

4) Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and sugar. Combine this with the flour/raisin mixture.

5) Stir in the 2 cups twigs (or 3 ½ cup flakes) dry cereal.

6) Finally, add the water/bran/oil mixture, stirring till thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight, or HOWEVER THE HECK LONG YOU WANT!

7) Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease your muffin pan of choice, or line with paper cups, and grease as many wells as you like.

8) Heap the thick batter in the muffin cups; a generous 1/4 cup batter works, but feel safe knowing these are not exploding muffins.

9) Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, till a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

10) Remove from the oven, and tip the muffins in the pan to prevent their bottoms steaming and becoming soggy. Serve warm; or transfer to a rack to cool completely.

11) To bake mini muffins, heap the batter in the muffin cups, and bake for about 15 minutes, till the muffins test done.

Yield: at least 18 standard muffins, or 45 mini muffins.

Bringing it:

These taste great out of the oven but also when cool, and even if baked the day before. They have saying power! Victoria suggests the following for a hostess gift: “present your hostess with a gift bag filled with a container of the refrigerated batter, a mini-muffin pan, and a card that includes the recipe. Alternatively, just show up with those things and commandeer the oven while everyone else is still sleeping in — the fragrance beats an alarm clock any day!”

Frosty the Snow Drink

Before we do anything else this fine morning, let’s take a moment to honor Michele Ferrero, the inventor of Nutella (which we can now make ourselves), who prophetically passed away on Valentine’s Day. There is some comfort in knowing that he lived a long life and died an extremely wealthy man.

And now, we move on to the weekend. I have been commissioned by an undisclosed publication to create snow cocktails for an upcoming issue. For this, dear Bringiteers, I need your help. This is far too mighty a task for one drinker, especially one battling a tenacious, fun-sucking, taste-bud-negating head cold (scroll below for therapy and recipe that just may get me to turn the corner). I am hoping some of you will be kind and daring enough to take this on with me, to tirelessly fill, pack and refill your glasses with snow, mixers and hootch in whatever ways please you.

Of course, I’m not going to leave you totally out in the cold. Here’s some inspiration: You might want to try some classics adapted for winter, like the Snowjito, the SnowBreeze or the Snowgarita. I can’t disclose the names or exact ingredients that may appear in the aforenonmentioned publication, but I am working on something that riffs on frozen hot chocolate, perhaps with some peppermint schnapps, as well as some hopped-up versions of every kid’s favorite snow day breakfast—orange juice on snow.

Hints of springtime have me contemplating a “Frozen Poma” (like an Arnold Poma, but colder), involving lemonade, iced tea, vodka and snow. The reality of many more ski races compels me to consider pouring any leftover Parent Whisperer from the Thermos on snow to create the “Frozen Parent.” And let’s not forget last year’s foray into Olympic Snow Drinking for some starting points.

As you set forth on this mission keep in mind that snow dilutes a cocktail necessitating it to be a bit sweeter and a bit stronger than the proportions you might usually use, to get the same effect. Also, I urge you to remember that snow drinking is rarely done alone (though there’s no shame in that), so you might want to consider things that can be made with simple ingredients, in volume, and possibly prepared by a bonfire. Of course, virgin versions are always appreciated and will be happily slurped by the younger or simply wiser set.

Ok, my intrepid testers. Go forth, create, and let me know what you come up with. Then, when the next storm hits (or when the first storm hits in CA) we can get celebrate by sampling the finalists. Happy Weekend to all and thanks for playing!

But waiiiiiiiit. This just in. My awesome friend in New York just sent me a cocktail recipe from the Wall St Journal (a killer cocktail source, FYI) for a drink called the Panacea, adapted from another drink called the Penicillin. It was a slow, congested afternoon and I had the fixin’s so I gave it a try. I may have to cancel the doc appt tomorrow. This stuff is GOOD. The honey ginger lemon syrup alone is worth committing to memory. Check out the full story on the Panacea, or just make it from the recipe below!

The Panacea—way better than Nyquil

Make honey-lemon-ginger syrup: In a small pot over medium heat, simmer 1 cup honey, 1 cup water and ½ cup minced ginger until mixture cooks down to a thick syrup, 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids (or save them to put in tea later. Yum!) Add¾ cup fresh lemon juice to syrup and stir. Cover and chill.

In a tumbler half-filled with ice, stir together 2 ounces honey-lemon-ginger syrup and 2 ounces blended Scotch. Pour¼ ounce Islay single-malt Scotch over the back of a spoon so it floats on top of drink. Garnish with a slice of ginger and candied lemon peel (optional).

 

 

 

 

 

The Parent Whisperer

If you have kids in a winter sport, this is the time of year when things can start getting a little squirrely. Not totally nutty (that comes in March) but just a little tense. The competition ramps up with qualifiers and championships on the horizon. Ski racers, hockey players, basketball players—you know what I’m talking about.

As parents this is when, against all impulses, it’s time to chill out. If we can’t keep our own blood pressure down how can we expect our kids to keep calm and carry on?

With this goal in mind I present to you, the Parent Whisperer, inspired by my article of the same name. It is an ideal slopeside, rinkside, bone-warming, parent-wrangling concoction. Call it glug or grog or gluhwein or whatever. We’re talking red wine with some hootch and some spices, all brewed together with very few instructions or limitations. This one comes from Julie G (I’m not going to out you, but you know who you are!), whose ample testing has proven that drinking it calms nerves, brightens moods, and elevates humor on cold winter days.

This particular recipe uses apple cider as the only sweetener, so it’s more business-like than dessert-like. If you want something that is more soothing than bracing, add some maple syrup or honey. Sliced oranges wouldn’t be a bad call either. Pomegranate seeds or apples? Ja Wohl! Above all, shhhhhhh and relaaaaax. Enjoy the fresh air, the company of hardy souls and the notion that every day is getting just a little longer.

The Parent Whisperer

Ingredients

1 cup red wine
1 cup apple cider
4 shots bourbon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cardamon to taste (whole or powdered spices are both fine, but whole spices can be easily strained out for a clearer drink, if you care.)

Very Loose Method

Heat wine, cider and spices, letting them simmer and brew until you smell the spices (but fergawdssakes don’t boil away any of that power). Add bourbon and and let it all heat through a few minutes. Strain whole spices if using. Pour the whole shebang into a Thermos and enjoy on the hill before, during and after the race!

Note: There is no mention about how many this serves, which of course is because it depends on the situation. But let’s see…a cup of wine and 4 shots of bourbon…that calculates roughly to serve:

  • 1 parent who needs to be sedated.
  • 2 parents who really need to take it down a notch.
  • 3 parents who are hoping for a peaceful and pleasant ride home.
  • 4 parents who just need a little shot of warmth in their bellies.

 

Super Snacking and Hail Mary Coconut

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday I’ve been searching for a mind-blowing, Super Bowl worthy, totally healthy snack for you to bring and enjoy in front of your TV of choice. Much of my energy and time (while procrastinating on the work I was supposed to be doing of course) was focused on creating the perfect version of Buffalo cauliflower “wings,” the faux meat snack of the moment. I tried making my cauliflower with Sriracha and with maple sweetened hot sauce. I tossed it in coconut oil before roasting, in butter-spiked sauce after roasting, tried it in batters of rice flour, corn flour and wheat flour and in no batter at all.

In the end I came up with some decent versions that I would happily eat. But I get that I have weird tastes. Just because I like something does not mean it’s good enough for prime time. For most people, any of my aforementioned creations would have ended up as a sad extra on a table of Super Bowl snack stars.

So what’s a girl with no Buffalo cauliflower to do? Why, break out the coconut of course. In a Hail Mary play of snack creation, I turned to toasted coconut flakes, the bacon of the Vegan world. Toasted coconut flakes are ridiculously good as is, and even better with a sprinkle of sugar and salt as they bake. This version, however—extracted from an overly fussy recipe for stuffed sweet potatoes, and made on a happy whim—elevates them to Super Bowl worthy heights.

But don’t trust me on that. Trust the teenage boys who ate these flakes of sweet, savory deliciousness by the handful even before they figured out how good they’d be on ice cream. (Ahem, they’re awesome on salads, stir fries, soups, rice, etc as well.)

Of course, man and woman cannot live on coconut alone, so scroll down and check out our list of favorite Super Bowl worthy Bring It! fare. And may the best team win, especially if they’re the Patriots.

Hail Mary Coconut

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups large, unsweetened coconut flakes
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (you can go without parchment, but the coconut may brown faster on a dark pan and you’ll have a little cleanup.)

Toss the coconut in a large mixing bowl with the maple syrup, soy sauce, black pepper, Worcestershire and sesame oil until evenly coated.

Spread in a single layer (make sure you use the coating) on the baking sheet. *Bake for 10 minutes; stir it around and spread it back out on the baking sheet; bake for 5 minutes, until the coconut has browned.

*Set a timer and check on it. Burnt coconut is so sad!

Let it cool, during which time the coconut will crisp up and get all bacon-y. If you’re not going to use it right away, transfer the cooled coconut to an airtight container.

SPRING UPDATE

Here’s another version, a riff on the recipe on the back of Bob’s Red Mill coconut. Ironically, Bob’s coconut isn’t that great for this. Let’s Do Organic is way bigger and better.  The takeaway here is letting the seasoning soak into coconut for 10 minutes. That and the use of apple cider vinegar which makes it even Vermonty-er.

 Ingredients:

  • 3 cups unsweetened coconut flakes (the bigger the better.)
  • 2 Tbsp Olive oil
  • 2 Tsp Maple Syrup
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional, but a nice touch)
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicon pad or spray with pan spray.

Whisk together soy sauce, molasses, liquid smoke, olive oil and vinegar. Add Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flakes and mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes so the coconut absorbs all the liquid.

Spread coconut in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 325°F until deeply toasted, about 15 – 20 minutes. Stir often! (About every 3 – 5 minutes.)

Let “bacon” bits cool completely then store in an airtight container. They can easily be re-crisped in a low oven for 5 minutes.

 

Bring It! Super Bowl Can’t Go Wrong Picks

Game Day Chicken Wings

Game Day Pulled Pork

Chicken Taco Chili

People’s Choice Cornbread

Nootch Popcorn

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Funitella Bruscetta

Guinness Fondue

Nuts!

Game Day Chicken Wings

Chicken WingsThis is the time of year when many people are looking for game day food. I have to admit, I don’t follow professional sports, but regardless, I still like thinking about game day food and I know chicken wings are a tradition. I found this great recipe for Asian BBQ Chicken Wings made in a crockpot. The description had me at “Asian and BBQ”. Here’s why….

….my family loves both. When I met my husband, he asked me to come to his house for dinner. On our first date, when we were both trying to make good first impressions, he made me BBQ chicken pizza. It was great! The next dinner he made me BBQ grilled shrimp and then BBQ chicken. You don’t have to be a mental giant to see the common thread here. BBQ sauce went on everything!  I quickly took over in the kitchen so as to expand our dinner repertoire, but good for him for trying.  And his love of BBQ sauce has not abated over the past 20 years.  As for the Asian part of the sauce, well, no more need be said, Asian flavoring is always a winner.

Now that you have a little background on why I picked this recipe, I have one more note before we get started…. When I saw this listed as a crockpot recipe, I thought, easy peasy. Then I read the details and realized that you have to brown the wings after cooking them in the crockpot and make the sauce. Now, don’t get me wrong, this recipe is not complicated, but there are a couple steps after the crockpot. I just wanted to provide fair warning, and the extra steps are well worth it.  Have plenty of napkins on hand!

Ingredients

4 lbs chicken wings
8 medium scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp Asian sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp sambal oelek
2 1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
Asian chile oil (optional)

Method

In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, stir the chicken wings, all but 2 Tbsp of the scallions, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and sambal oelek until the wings are evenly coated. Cover and cook until the wings are cooked through but not falling off the bone, 2 1/2 hours on high or 4 hours on low (the wings can stay in the crock pot on warm for up to 1 hour).

Use tongs to transfer the chicken wings to a large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Strain the sauce inot a fat separator and set aside for a few minutes. Pour the defatted sauce into a 2-quart saucepan, add the vinegar and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

Position a rack 4 inches from broiler element and heat the broiler on high. Brush the wings with the sauce and broil until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn the wings over, brush them again, and broil until brown and crisp, about 3 minutes more. Brush with the sauce once more before serving and top with remaining scallions. Drizzle with chile oil if using. Serve any remaining sauce on the side for dipping.

Bring It

Place back in crock pot to bring or leave on rimmed baking sheet and cover with foil. It really depends where you are going and timing on when they will be devoured.

Lifechanging PITA crackers

 

Crackers to live for— PITAs worth the effort.

Crackers to live for— PITAs worth the effort.

Notice the caps. That is not a typo. You’ve been warned. These crackers are a bit of a pain in the you-know-what to make. BUT they’re totally worth it. Trust me on this, and know that I did not post these over the holidays because I knew nobody had time for the cracker-making learning curve. But now it’s January. Time to stretch yourselves and find more things to serve at Happy Hour. Right?

Elsewhere on the Internet (namely at My New Roots), these are called Lifechanging Crackers, because they are a flat and crispy version of the awesome Lifechanging Bread (AKA dirt bread by the ingrates in my house). They are nutty, seedy, crunchy and delicious with just enough sweet and salty going on behind the scenes to keep every dang taste bud happy.

These crackers also allow you to create your own variations by adding whatever sweet, savory or spicy combos you want at the end of mixing. Even though the ingredients mix up quickly and in one bowl, you can’t make these last minute because:

  1. You’re going to have to roll them out between parchment paper into the right thickness, which takes a bit if time to get right, and
  2. Even if you get the hang of doing that quickly they still need to sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours before baking.

On the plus side, you can totally abandon them after Stage 1 and before baking. By the time you come back from wherever you were you’ll be psyched to bake these babies up.

Before you start:  Make sure you have parchment paper. There is no way around this. And, using cookie sheets vs. rimmed pans makes it way easier to slide and flip the crackers. Ready? Here we go!

Makes 2 baking sheets of crackers

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup flax seeds *
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
  • ¼ cup sesame seeds
  • 1 ½ cups 150g rolled oats
  • 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
  • 4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)**
  • 1 ½ tsp. fine grain sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee ***
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 6 large dates or dried figs, chopped (optional but yummy)

Flavor variations: Go nutty here and mix in your choice of fresh or dried herbs and spices, like fresh rosemary + garlic powder, or lemon zest + thyme + cracked pepper, or paprika + chile powder + smoked sea salt or whatever!

* Once I ran out flax seeds so I used 1/4 cup hemp hearts and 1/4 cup ground flax. All good.

**I have seen a version without psyllium husks, so give it a whirl without if you don’t have them.

*** Butter works too as long the Vegans aren’t coming over

Method:

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and the dried fruit if using and stir well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir or looks too dry to hang together, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable).

Divide the dough roughly in half, and set aside one half.

Place one half of the dough back into the bowl and add your flavorings of choice. Gather into a ball and place it between two sheets of baking paper, directly on your rolling surface (counter, table, whatever). Using a rolling pin, firmly roll out into a thin sheet, approximately the dimensions of your cookie sheet. Remove top layer of baking paper and using the tip of a knife, score the dough into shapes you like (rectangles, diamonds, squares). Repeat with remaining half of dough. Let both sheets sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. Cat owners, plan appropriately.

Preheat oven to 350°. Using the baking paper, slide the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven, flip the whole cracker over (if it breaks a bit, don’t worry!) and peel the baking paper off of the back. (Honestly, this is where it gets a little complicated. My best system is to cover the baked crackers with the layer of parchment peeled off the top after the rolling out process. Then, cover that with a pizza peel or another baking sheet and flip the sheet over so the giant cracker is now on the pizza peel. Put the cookie sheet on the counter and slide the cracker off the pizza peel and back on to the cookie sheet. Peel off top layer of parchment and you should have a perfectly flipped cracker sheet). Return to oven to bake for another 10 minutes, until fully dry, crisp, and golden around the edges.

Let cool completely, then break crackers along their scored lines and store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

These are great to snack on as is, or with any type of cheese or bruschetta toppings. Dip them in soup, hummus, fondue, nutella. You name it!

 
 

 

Nootch Popcorn: A short love story

The first time I went to Aspen I fell in love. I was 15, at a US Ski Team camp. In those days, US Ski Team camps were all expenses paid, which is to say, the skiing, lodging and group meals at the International Inn were covered. There was no stipend for shopping in Aspen. So, in my free time I wandered the side streets on the periphery of all the swishy boutiques and expensive restaurants. The two stores I frequented were Gracy’s Thrift Shop and the groovy health food store. After several visits, the only thing I got at Gracy’s was a $6 lavender cashmere sweater that I referred to as “The Lucky Sweater” for reasons totally unknown. But every time I visited the health food store I came away with a bag of the most deliciously savory popcorn I had ever tasted. It was the stuff that leads to obsessions, addictions and possibly health food store break-ins. As much as anything at the time, sadly, it was love.

Time went on, the lucky sweater lost its charm, but I never forgot that popcorn. In subsequent years of craving and searching I deduced that the addictive seasoning was nutritional yeast. And when I thought back to the dark spray bottle that lived next to the popcorn machine in the store, I figured it must have been filled with a tamari/soy sauce misting concoction.

When I was flipping through Thug Kitchen and saw the “Stovetop Herbed Popcorn” recipe, featuring “nootch” (what one calls Nutritional Yeast to make it sound way cooler than, say, Soilent Green), the craving came back all at once.

We’re heading into prime TV snacking season with the Oscars and the Super Bowl so you’ll want to be on your popcorn making A Game. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Step 1: Make the popcorn. I know you. You have your own favorite way. Hopefully you have a method that does not involve a microwave because those packets add a lot of artificial ingredients and tastes to your popcorn. Some other options: Stovetop, using a heavy covered pot and high heat oil like peanut, grapeseed or coconut; Air pop if you must—it might even taste like something with all the good stuff on top; An actual popcorn maker, like the Mickey Mouse popcorn popper my son got for Christmas nearly ten years ago, around when our microwave broke for good; or do it like Alton Brown does here, in a foil topped metal mixing bowl, à la Jiffy Pop.

Just make a whole bunch. I use roughly 2 Tbsp oil to 2/3 cup corn in the Mickey Pop. Some go with 3 Tbsp oil to ½ cup corn. Whatevs.

Step 2: Make the topping. I love the recipe below, but don’t limit yourself. Spice it up, sweeten it up, toss in some garlic powder if you’re feeling it. It’s your night, baby. If you are using “nootch” for the first time, don’t confuse it with active forms of yeast, like the kind of yeasts bakers, winemakers and beer makers use. Nutritional yeast flakes or powder have a nutty-cheesy flavor and are packed with amino acids, protein and B vitamins. If it comes in a little packet or looks like tiny white pellets you’ve got the wrong stuff. If it’s yellow, flaky and looks alarmingly like goldfish food you’ve hit the jackpot.

Step 3: Do the drizzle. It can be melted butter or olive oil or even truffle oil if that’s your thing. This is what will make your topping stick to the popcorn. True pros infuse the oil with the herbs and hot peppers first. Slackers (ahem, like moi) do not. A spray bottle of Tamari with a little oil mixed in may have been the secret in Aspen. Someday I’ll get myself a mister and find out.

Step 4: Shake it baby. Pour your popped corn into a big paper bag or (less fun but totally ok) a huge bowl so you can add the topping and really mix it in.

Step 5: Grab the remote and enjoy!

The Popcorn

Alton Brown’s way, or use the same amounts in a heavy, covered pot. Makes about a gallon

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 ounces popcorn kernels, approximately 1/2 cup
1/2 teaspoon popcorn salt

Method:

Place the oil, popcorn and salt in a large, 6-quart, metal mixing bowl. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil and poke 10 slits in the top with a knife. (if using a covered pot leave a gap once the corn starts popping so the steam can escape.

Place the bowl over medium heat and shake constantly using a pair of tongs to hold the bowl. Continue shaking until the popcorn finishes popping, approximately 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the heat and carefully remove the foil. Stir in any salt that is on the side of the bowl.

The Topping:

  • 1-2 Tbsp olive oil or melted butter
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or a pinch of cayenne)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (or substitute finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese)
  • Fine sea salt, popcorn salt or food processor pulsed kosher salt (all optional)

Method:

Mix herbs, spices and nootch in a small bowl or container.

Pour popped corn into a paper bag (or a big mixing bowl if that’s what you’ve got). While popcorn is still warm, drizzle the oil over it, close the bag and shake to coat the popcorn. Sprinkle on the topping mixture (use your judgment on how much), close the bag and shake to combine. Taste, and add salt if needed. If you have leftover topping store it airtight for the next batch. If not, make a whole bunch more.

Note: Get creative here. If all you manage is nutritional yeast and salt you’ll get the gist. If you can add some herbs and something with a little kick you’ll get the full effect. It’s all good. And I mean really good.

 

The Mickey Pop doing its thing.

The Mickey Pop doing its thing.

.

 

Pomegranates Unplugged

pomegranate

“Tis the season to overdo everything. So let’s overdo pomegranates!

It’s almost Christmas, and whether you celebrate it or not, I’ m giving you a gift. Pomegranates. Well, I’m not actually buying them for you, but I am unlocking their potential. For a long time we have heard about the amazing health benefits of pomegranates. They are rich in vitamins and antioxidants, low in calories, high in fiber, high in heart healthy phytochemicals (say that three times quickly then google it). They strengthen the immune system, regulate blood pressure, improve oral hygiene, reduce wrinkles and even give PMS the boot. 

All this, and yet I have ignored pomegranates entirely, for the simple reason that they are a pain in the butt. They are messy, labor intensive, not roastable in any way and obscenely expensive in their juiced or seeded form. Until recently nothing moved me to entertain an interest in the pomegranate or its derivatives other than as a splash in a martini.

But then I found myself living with a young friend who has a pomegranate-a-day habit. Fortuitously this coincided with running across a pomegranate hack that made seeding a pomegranate so easy that I had to try it. Bells rang, stars aligned, produce departments rejoiced. Now, my record for getting all the seeds out of a pomegranate is 1 minute 11 seconds, and it is a rare day in my household that does not involve this “super fruit.”

Incidentally, my young friend rejected the hack, even after we staged timed contests to prove hack efficiency. A traditionalist, he adheres to his old ways, enjoying his ritual of settling down on the couch, focusing on his pomegranate, a bowl and the mission. I respect. But I also have yet to find a primary food provider who is in search of labor intensive food prep rituals. So for the rest of you, here is your key to pomegranate freedom.

Though I adore the Russian Food hacker, his version (by his own admission) is a bit too bare bones: “Ve really need a bowl, not zeez cheap plastic plates from single guy apartment.” This guy  is a bit dry (and he could crack you in half like a pomegranate), but he is a pro.

And now, what to do with the bonanza of pomegranate seeds you have just unlocked? I’ve got you covered, with four festive ideas to let those seed brighten up your holiday.

#1 Pomegranate Bubbly

Pour anything bubbly—Prosecco, champagne, sparkling cider, birch beer, ginger ale etc—over pomegranate seeds and they will float up, be festive and give you something to chew on. Yum!

#2 Pomegranate Cheese Log

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese (or 4 oz goat cheese and 4 oz cream cheese mixed)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup chopped chives
2 Tbsp finely minced fresh basil
Crackers, toasts or dipping vehicles of choice.

Method

Place cream cheese (or goat/cream cheese mix) on waxed paper and form into a log. Mix pomegranate seeds, chives and basil on another sheet of waxed paper. Roll cream cheese in seed/herb mixture, pressing lightly to stick. Serve with crackers.

# 3 Pomegranate Guacamole

Oh my! This brings me back to my very first pomegranate cocktail ever, the pomegranate margarita at Rosa Mexicano. This use for pomegranate seeds pretty much assures the pomegranate market in New Hampshire. Lest we forget, guacamole is not an exact science by any means. Shallots or green onion instead of red onion? Awesome. No fresh cilantro? No problemo. Roll with it– its Happy Hour fergawdssakes. If all you can muster is avocado, a shake of Adobo seasoning, a squirt of lemon and pomegranate seeds you are good to go.

Ingredients

2 medium ripe avocados
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Chips or assorted veggies for serving

Method

Halve and pit the avocados then scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.

Add the red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to the bowl, mashing the mixture together with two forks until it reaches your desired consistency.

Stir in the pomegranate seeds then serve the guacamole with chips or assorted dippers.

#4 Pomegranate Desserts

Fly, be free. Let’s not overthink this. Sprinkle them on vanilla ice cream or yogurt. Put them in a trifle or slip them in fruit pies. Mix them with ripe sliced pears, a squeeze of lemon and a dash of cinnamon. Or just eat them with a spoon or funnel them from the bowl right into your mouth. Um. Of course, nobody would do something like that.

Bonus points: Just to let you know, in addition to the above we have also sprinkled them on raclette, put them into quesadillas and on salads, tossed them with sliced steak, put them in crepes and on cereal and thrown them in smoothies. And no, I have not yet roasted them, but the holiday season is young.

skihats

Are you still with me? Are you intrigued by the above? My sister turned me on to this video and my captive son and I got a little obsessed with yarn/toilet paper roll pom-pom hats. I figure there are worse obsessions, and who doesn’t need another decorative totally useless bottle topper? Right?

Merry Christmas all!

Vail trees

Bringing on the Holidays, and Cheddar Crisps

I am just reentering the real world after a trip to Vail, CO, where their trees look like this. One day they were just, you know, trees. And the next day we were living in a patriotic LED forest. In addition to designer trees I had three days of life in the VIP tent at the base of the race course, a fantasy world I hope everyone can experience at least once.

Here’s what goes down in the VIP tent:

Pretty women in puffy pink coats pass glasses of champagne filled at the outdoor bar, where Bloody Marys are also mixed to order. Next to the bar juicy burgers are grilled up, nestled into buttered buns and wrapped up so you can grab them if you’re the outdoorsy type. Inside, tables are laden with fruit, cheeses and nuts, fresh baked breads, a Veggie Nirvana of salads, a Carnivorama of roasted beasts, coconutted shrimp, and steamy soups topped with mini grilled cheeses. And then comes the dessert table which is completely off the hook. I never even made it to dessert because another roving server appeared with a tray of whipped cream-topped hot chocolate with vanilla vodka, which sort of ended the lunch conquest.

VIP-tent-2VIP tent-1

 

 

 

 

I’m not going in to such detail to be mean, but to establish the high bar going in to prime, party intensive, holiday season. If you need some ideas for what to bring to your next soiree, here are just a few ideas from the Bring It! repertoire.

Bringing the cheer:

Cut to the chase and get the party started by bringing a premixed, seasonal cocktail like these ones we had at Thanksgiving. If you are going to be outdoors bring a Thermos of hot cocoa or tea and the hootch to add. Dark rum is a solid go-to for hot drinks and, as noted above, apparently so is vodka. Fixin’s for a big batch of mint chocolate milk will build your snack cred with all ages.

Apps for a crowd?

You can’t go wrong with Sue’s marinated shrimp and artichoke number, or the ever-festive, ridiculously easy Funitella Bruschetta. Below see a basic recipe for the cheddar cheese rounds that make their way into every spiral-bound community cookbook for good reason. (Bonus feature: they can be made with ingredients procured at any mini mart.) Bacon wrapped dates? Yes, have some! And really, putting that fondue pot in a tote bag with a big bag of grated cheese, and firing up some Guinness fondue is always the right thing to do.

DIY Hostess Gifts/Party Fare:

Bottle up some ginger simple syrup that goes in our previously mentioned cocktails, or get creative with help from the full simple syrup tutorial here. Go Mediterranean with a jar of Sicilian Caponata, go healthy with a loaf of Life Bread (thinly slice it and toast it for a tasty snack foundation), sweeten the deal with Salted Caramel Cholliesauce orrrrrrr, get nutty with some sweet and spicy roasted nuts. Oh-so-sophisticated thyme honey walnuts are pure gold on some lusty soft cheese. If you’re shamelessly vying for a quick hit of popularity bust out the Crackle.

Wrapping it all up:

Remember wrap master Boot Camp Bonnie? ‘Tis the season to revisit her tips for packaging brilliance.

You’ve got the week to prep for this weekend’s shenanigans, and a whole lot of joy on the calendar, so let’s do this holiday thing!

Can’t Go Wrong Cheddar Crisps

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (some curry powder is also good if that’s your thing)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, cheese, flour, cayenne and salt until it forms a ball stuck lightly together. (Use your hands or a wooden spoon to fully incorporate all ingredients.) Gently fold the cereal into the dough. Pinch off nickel-size balls and roll tightly between your hands. Place them about an inch apart on an ungreased cookie or baking sheet. When all the balls are rolled, flatten each one with the tines of a fork. Bake 15 minutes.

Cool crisps 5 to 10 minutes before removing from the pan to serve. Leftovers may be stored in a tin up to 1 week. Makes about 4 dozen.

Note: Alternatively, you can roll the dough into a long log, wrap it in plastic or waxed paper chill. When ready to make them, slice log into ¼” (or so) rounds and bake as directed above. They’ll take a bit longer so just watch them. The whole make ahead, roll and chill (or freeze if needed) thing comes in handy and the end result looks pretty pro.

Let’s Drink to Turkeys!

Thanksgiving Cocktails

Nothing says “I’m ready for the holidays,” like an ice cold drink.

Hope for the holidays. Our local paper just came out with a feature on tequila infused roasted turkey. Now we’re talking. Let’s be honest here. Booze, for better or worse, has a role in every Thanksgiving. When bringing booze we most likely bring a bottle of something red or white or bubbly. Safe. Appreciated. All good.

But how about bringing something a little bolder, and a lot more festive? Something that says straight up, “I love you all…enough. So let the party begin!” With a simplified plan it’s an easy way to win praise and (temporary) approval.

We’re talking about big batch cocktails that can be amped up or down to serve a few or a crowd. Each of these three recipes feature one base liquor, some key fall flavoring and a sassy sparkly topper of ginger beer.

The key to success is not having to do anything besides basic mixing (and low functioning math) at serving time. Make your base, put it in a travel container, grab a four-pack of ginger beers and you’re set to go.

As a bonus, in keeping with my “Always wear the same color you are drinking” party doctrine, you can choose to drink light or dark. Now, get out to the store to get what you need to test out these drinks. While you’re there you might want to pick up some cranberries, a bunch of meyer lemons and some candied ginger. Trust me on this. Ready or not Thanksgiving’s coming atcha, like a tequila infused turkey flying across a country road.

Pear Haymaker

From Saveur Magazine. Makes 2 cocktails

ingredients:

FOR THE GINGER SYRUP:
¼ cup sliced, peeled ginger
1 cup sugar

4 oz. vodka
1 oz. fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon if possible)
1 pear, chopped, peeled, and cored (Anjou, Moonglow, Bosc, or any finely textured and fragrant pears are best)
Ginger ale, to top

Method:

Make the ginger syrup: Combine sliced ginger, sugar, and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain out ginger solids and discard, reserving syrup in an airtight container.

Divide chopped pear between two 12 oz. tall glasses; muddle in each glass with a wooden muddler. Pour 2 oz. vodka over the pears in each glass, and fill with ice. Add ½ oz. ginger syrup and ½ oz. lemon juice to each glass, stir to combine, and finish with ginger ale to top.

A few notes. Always the notes: The Haymaker calls for a ginger syrup which is very easy to make. Plus, we already made it here last year. After you have used the syrup for the Haymaker, keep it handy in case anyone needs to sweeten up the Cranberry Crush, which is tart as a Pilgrim. To make this one party ready, I diced up three pears into a container, then quadrupled the vodka, lemon juice and syrup and poured it over the pears. At the party I divided the pears into glasses, added ice, then added liquid to about 2/3 full and stirred. Then I topped them off with ginger beer. This also works swimmingly with gin.

Cranberry Crush

From Saveur Magazine. Makes 1 cocktail 🙁

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 oz. 100% cranberry juice (not cranberry cocktail. Get the ridiculously expensive pure juice)
  • 2 oz. not-too-sweet spiced rum, like Cruzan 9 Spice (?)
  • 3 oz. spicy ginger beer, like Blenheim’s or Reed’s 

Method:

In a rocks glass filled with ice, combine cranberry juice and rum. Top with ginger beer.

Notes: This could be called the crazy easy cranberry crush. I am not sure what spiced rums are sweeter than others, so I used Kraken Spiced Rum, mostly because I liked saying the name with a Scottish accent. This makes one cocktail. One. Not to worry. Convert ounces to parts and you’re all set. Mix half cranberry juice and half rum in your travel container. At the party pour that mixture over ice and top with just less than that amount of ginger beer. You’re aiming for 4 parts mix (2 juice + 2 rum) to 3 parts ginger beer. If anyone wants this to be sweeter add a splash of ginger syrup to the glass and give it a stir before topping with the ginger beer.

Jacques the Elder

From Sunset Magazine. Makes 1 cocktail 🙁

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces bourbon whiskey, such as Gentleman Jack
  • 1 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur
  • 1 ounce lemon juice (meyer, meyer, meyer…meyer)
  • 2 ounces chilled ginger beer
  • Lemon wedge
  • Piece of candied ginger

Method:

Pour bourbon, St-Germain, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain into a rocks (lowball) glass, add 1 large ice cube, and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a skewer of lemon and candied ginger.

Notes: Full discosure—I have not tried this drink. BUT it involves ginger beer, lemon juice and yet another form of booze. AND it won Sunset’s reader cocktail contest which is huge. So a big shout out to Deb Kessler of El Granada, CA. She’s good people. Again, this makes one measly cocktail so let’s convert it to parts. Make your base: two parts bourbon, one part lemon juice and one part St-Germain (there’s your 4 parts). At the party, shake up your base and top with half that amount ginger beer (there’s your 2 parts.) I don’t want to insult your math skills, I just want to ease your pain if you’re making this after the first two.

Cheers, turkeys

Holiday-Rob-drinkholiday-neely-drinkholiday-Karen-drink

Party Time Hummus

 

Don't bring that hummus. Bring THIS hummus.

Don’t bring that hummus. Bring THIS hummus.

It’s getting to be party season. And what’s a party without that token tub of hummus with the perfect swirl on top? Yes, it’s healthy, it’s appreciated, it gives you something to do with those mini carrots. But it’s, yawn, hummus. Wake up and smell the chickpeas! You can bring something healthy and easy that also has seasonal flair and cha-cha. Bust out the roasted beet or pumpkin hummus for a totally different vibe—hot pink, vibrant orange and totally delish.

The beauty of making these together is that you roast the garlic in olive oil and then use both in both recipes. No need to measure. Just roast a whole load of garlic because when is it ever a bad thing to have roasted garlic and garlic flavored oil on hand in the fridge? Yeah. Rhymes with never. You’ve got your base for awesome salad dressings, crazy good roasted vegetables, a drizzle for soup, dipping oil for bread, etc etc etc.

Now, I happened to have roasted squash and roasted beets begging to be used up so I was going to make up a batch of each of these. But somehow my pantry only coughed up one can of chickpeas. Stranger still is that I had six cans of sliced beets. How does that happen? Rest assured a recipe for canned beets is on the horizon. Given the situation I made a half batch of each hummus which is not a bad tactic. Note (with joy) that the pumpkin/squash hummus does not involve tahini, which is handy if you ran out of your stash or if having another expensive tub of nut butter is going to put you over the edge. You can use canned pumpkin if that’s what you’ve got, and as soon as I get more chickpeas I’m going to try using canned beets as well. Stay tuned!

The final thing you need to know before embarking on this food processor adventure is that hummus is not an exact science. Get the basic ingredients and then tweak as desired. I always put in extra lemon and (when nobody’s looking) salt. We’re making this stuff from scratch fergawdssake, so just think about how much crap we are NOT putting in there. A scootch more kosher salt isn’t going to hurt.

Pumpkin Rosemary Hummus

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

If you use kabocha squash it will be a little sweeter and a little thicker so you may need to add some warm water at the end to achieve your ideal texture.

Ingredients

1-2 cloves roasted garlic (see #1)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup pumpkin puree (or hint hint, kabocha/butternut squash puree)
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
squeeze or more of fresh lemon (optional)
1/2 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary (more to taste)
salt to taste

Method

  1. To roast the garlic, simmer the peeled cloves in a small saucepan with olive oil for 15-20 minutes over low/medium heat. See note above and make more if you can.
  2. Puree all ingredients except rosemary in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add more oil or water as needed. Stir in the rosemary at the very end.
  3. Serve with warm naan, apple slices, crackers, carrots, wheat toast, roasted vegetables, pita bread, and/or anything.

Roasted Beet Hummus

From Minimalist Baker

Ingredients

1 small roasted beet
1 15 oz. can (1 3/4 cup) cooked chickpeas, mostly drained
zest of one large lemon
juice of half a large lemon
healthy pinch salt and black pepper
2 large cloves roasted garlic, minced or mashed (see garlic step in previous recipe)
2 heaping Tbsp tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

  1. Roast Beets (see below)
  2. Once your beet is cooled and peeled, quarter it and place it in your food processor. Blend until only small bits remain.
  3. Add remaining ingredients except for olive oil and blend until smooth.
  4. Drizzle in olive oil as the hummus is mixing.
  5. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt, lemon juice or olive oil if needed. If it’s too thick, add a bit of warm water.
  6. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Roasting beets: Preheat oven to 375°F, remove the stem and most of the root from your beets, and scrub and wash them underwater until clean. Drizzle on a bit of canola oil, wrap tightly, and roast for one hour or until a knife inserted falls out without resistance. They should be tender. Cool to room temperature.

Reese’s Redemption Cups

 

Go ahead...you deserve it. Take a bite of creamy, chocolatey, nut buttery goodness with loads of crunch and nothing at all spooky.

Go ahead…you deserve it. Take a bite of creamy, chocolatey, nut buttery goodness with loads of crunch and nothing at all spooky.

Last year, the day after Halloween I posted a recipe featuring a giant bowl of kale. I know. Mean. This year I’m going to be much nicer. This year you got a day of hedonism and now the Halloween step down program. Gradual detox comes in the form of a no-junk-in-the-trunk version of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups featuring your nut butter of choice along with creamy chocolate, coconut butter and as much healthy crunch as you dare. I was going to call them Luscious C Cups—creamy, crunchy, chocolatey, coconutty—but kind of worried how that would pan out on a search engine.

Kale or no kale, I urge you to step away from the leftover Halloween candy and the booty your kids naively believe they have hidden from you. None of it will make you feel good. That said, you deserve something wonderful. Oh yes you do.

So get on out to the store, stock up on some healthy stuff that needs  a spot in your kitchen anyway, and make yourself a stash of luscious choco-coconutty crunch cups for your freezer or fridge. They are easy and quick to make and actually make a good, healthy energy boost for that exercise regime that you are so going to stick to as a pre-holiday health insurance policy.

Some notes, as ever: I got these from Mama’s Weeds who got them from Thriving Lisa so they have had some tweaks along the way, but the basic method and ingredients stay the same. I am hardcore on the crunch factor, so I make mine with all three crunch agents—coconut, hemp seeds and chia seeds. If that’s a bit too groovy for you, I recommend at least doing the coconut. But you know yourself and your people, so do what feels right.

I have tried this with almond butter, peanut butter and even sunbutter (which was a way to sneak in some extra sugar), and they’re all good. So use what you’ve got, swap away and love the one you’re with, baby. I do believe this is the perfect dessert after a nice bowl of kale.

Ingredients

2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup almond butter or nut butter of choice
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup maple syrup or agave
1/4 cup chia seeds (optional)
1/4 cup hemp seeds (optional)
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional, but not really)
pinch of salt

Method

  • Melt your coconut oil however you like—put the container in the microwave or in a pot of warm water stove top.
  • Mix your melted coconut oil, nut butter, maple syrup/agave and cocoa powder.
  • Stir in your crunchy mix-ins.
  • Add the salt. Remember the salt!
  • When all your ingredients are combined, corral 12 regular sized cupcake wrappers or many more mini ones in a flat container or dish.
  • Spoon mixture into the wrappers, making them whatever the heck size you want. (Know that cutting one in half or even quarters will not decrease your likelihood of eating the entire unit. The science on this is legit.)
  • Once your wrappers have been filled, put them in the freezer until firm (20-30 minutes).
  • Unwrap them at this point or right before you eat them. It’s all good. Move them to an air tight container and store in the freezer, or in the fridge if you like a softer texture.

 Pumpkin-face

Halloween Soup: So easy it’s scary

 

Almost instant squash soup, with pro toppings for extra credit.

Almost instant squash soup, with pro toppings for extra credit.

This is the whiny thing I was going to post: “I give up. I will never, ever be able to produce an exact recipe for soup. I’m into my third pot of butternut squash soup of the season and have yet to really measure the ingredients, or actually even keep track of them. For me, homemade soup is like a hall pass to use whatever I have and crave at the moment….”

But then…but then…then it all changed. I discovered a trove of pumpkin/squash soup recipes that take the same basic ingredients and, with nary a knife unsheathed, produce a deliciously complex and satisfying soup. A soup that can be served hot in a big bowl as a meal, or cold in a shot glass as an appetizer.

I am including my non-recipe below, for when you have the time and ingredients to create something uniquely yours. In the meantime, here is the sheer brilliance of nearly instant pumpkin/squash soup.

A few notes: I love red curry paste so I probably sneak in a bit extra. You can also use red curry powder, though you would be missing out on the twin goodness of garlic and lemongrass.  I roast my own kabocha squash because its thicker and sweeter than other squash, and makes the house smell good. But dang, the option of opening two cans instead is money! Finally, I cannot tell you how much I love toasted unsweetened coconut flakes and the healthy, tasty, crunchy I daresay almost bacony finishing touch they add.

Now my little kitchen witches and goblins, go forth to your pantry and make some Halloween Soup!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp red curry paste (more or less to taste)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, about 32 ounces (one carton)
2 15 ounce cans pumpkin puree (or 4ish cups cooked squash of choice.)
1 3/4 cup coconut milk, or a 13.5 ounce can, reserving 1 Tbsp (slackers—pour in the whole
an and be done with it)
1 large red chili pepper, sliced (totally optional but a nice touch for hotties)
Cilantro for garnish if desired
Toasted coconut flakes for garnish if desired (strongly encouraged)

Method

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the curry paste for about one minute or until paste becomes fragrant. Add the broth and the pumpkin and stir.
  2. Cook for about 3 minutes or until soup starts to bubble. Add the coconut milk and cook until hot, about 3 minutes.
  3. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of the reserved coconut milk and sliced red chilis. Garnish with cilantro leaves if desired.
  4. Serve with Best French Bread, Paleo Crackers, Dirt Bread or your dipper of choice.

And now for…

Edie’s Seat of Pants Squash Soup

While I can’t provide an exact recipe, I can provide a process, some ingredient guidelines and of course my sincere encouragement at every step. There really is nothing that says comfort like a pot of your own signature soup.

Ingredients

Olive oil (for silkiness)
Butter (for tastiness)
1 onion
1 apple or pear
Savories (your choice of curry, garam masala, cumin, dried or fresh herbs, fresh ginger, red or green curry paste, a squeeze from a tube of lemongrass paste my new fave go to ingredient.)

  • Optional deglazing hooch (sherry, wine, calvados, hard or regular apple cider)
  • Cooked winter squash (and/or any leftover cooked root vegetables)
  • Diced potato (if no leftover roasted potatoes were in your leftovers above)
  • Maple syrup, a tablespoon or more to taste
  • Chicken or vegetable broth

 Method

  • Saute chopped onions until slightly soft.
  • Add apple or pear and continue cooking until all are soft and starting to brown.
  • Add savories and continue to cook a minute or two, or until aromatic. You want to really get the flavor infused before adding liquid.
  • Just as you are thinking “OMG look at the stuff sticking to my pan!” pour in a healthy splash of deglazing liquid of choice and give the pot a good stir/scrape. Watch the browned bits disappear and rejoice as the liquid cooks down.
  • Add in broth and potatoes. If potatoes are raw let them cook for 10 minutes or so before adding squash. If cooked add them with squash.
  • Add squash and maple syrup. Continue cooking, giving flavors time to meld. I have no idea if this step is necessary, but it gives me ample time to check email, read The Skimm, take a shower or get through a few more minutes of Serial.
  • Turn off heat, let soup cool a bit and then process until smooth with an immersion blender (you just plain need one for fall) or in a blender.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Serve with Best French Bread, Paleo Crackers, Dirt Bread or your dipper of choice and be very, very happy.

Squash On!… on toast that is

 

Fall all over squash on toast

Fall all over yourself for these apps. Yep, they’re that good.

Foodwise, fall is my dream come true. First come the apples, and we’ve been through my apple addiction. They give us good excuses to make things like salted caramel cholliesauce and Joni Mitchell Apple Pie. Then comes Halloween season (it’s really not just a day you know) and all those excuses to make things like Crackle and Salty Malty Rice Krispy Treats with whatever Whoppers you didn’t polish off. And of course you’ve got the crock pot bubbling in the background with goodness like no-fuss chicken taco chili. Honestly though, what I love most are the fall veggies—the squash, brussels sprouts, beets and various roots all begging for their turn to get roasted in the oven.

In my fall food frenzy I’ve gone a little nutty on the winter squash, and now I find I’ll have to pace myself  because I have so many orange recipes to post. I’m starting with an appetizer, because it is the one that surprised me the most with its popularity and because party season is upon us!

Here, courtesy of  Jean Georges Vongerichten via NYT Minimalist Mark Bittman is the elegantly named “Squash on Toast.” I knew I’d like it well enough, because you know, the weirder the better. And onions caramelized into jam with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar? Come on! The mainstream was just as smitten. The first time I made these I brought them to a party and they were devoured. Crazy good.

Here we go with my disclosures. I used a kabocha squash, hollowed, filled with water and cooked whole in the oven. For cheese I used a spreadable brie because that’s what I had. Whipped cream cheese is also excellent. I adhered to directions and included the fresh mint which got high praise from all, so play by the rules here. For the bread I brushed thin slices of Easiest French Bread Ever with olive oil and toasted them in the oven. Make a lot of toasts so you don’t have to be mean and hide them from your family before party time.

Ok, squash on!

Ingredients

1 2 1/2- to 3-pound kabocha or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into pieces 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dried chile flakes, more to taste
3 tsp kosher salt
1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup (or agave)
4 slices country bread, 1-inch thick
1/2 cup ricotta, goat cheese, feta or mascarpone
Coarse salt
4 Tbsp chopped mint

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 450. Combine the squash, 1/4 cup olive oil, chile flakes and 2 teaspoons of salt in a bowl and toss well. Transfer the mixture to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cook, stirring every few minutes, until tender and slightly colored, about 15 minutes or a little longer. Remove from the oven.
 2. Meanwhile, heat another 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat, add the onions and remaining teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are well softened and darkening, at least 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and syrup, stir and reduce until syrupy and broken down, again at least 15 minutes or so; the mixture should be jammy.
3. Combine squash and onions in a bowl and smash with a fork until combined. Taste for seasoning.
4. Add the remaining oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add bread and cook until just golden on both sides, less than 10 minutes total; drain on paper towels. Spread cheese on toasts, then top with the squash-onion mixture. Sprinkle with coarse salt and garnish with mint.

Bring It

Deconstructed is the only way to transport, and remember to bring the right sized platter and a spreading knife. When you get to your destination have a fine little chat while assembling the toasts (and try to keep up with production as they are eaten off the platter).

Sautéed Cabbage with Crisp Apples

Warm cabbage salad

Warm cabbage salad

I can’t stop with the apples! Here’s another recipe to help you use up all those great tart apples you have on hand. It also uses apple cider vinegar and apple cider – so all the bases are covered!

This coleslaw is vibrant, just like the foliage right now…perfect for a fall gathering with friends. You can sauté the cabbage to your liking – wilted, soft, or quite crispy. It’s up to you. And this is quite easy to make so go grab the ingredients and whip this up.

To give full credit, this recipe is from Clean Start, by Terry Walters. I’ve posted other recipes from her cookbooks. They have such beautiful food photos and they are all about “enjoying healthy, delicious, clean food every day”.  

Ingredients

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
3 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp mirin
1 apple (tart, firm variety)
Salt

Dressing:
2 Tbsp mustard seeds
2 Tbsp brown rice syrup
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp apple cider

Method

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onion in oil 6 minutes or until very soft. Stir in cabbage and mirin and continue sautéing until cabbage starts to soften (about 4 minutes or to your liking). Remove from heat, add cranberries and set aside.

In a small dry skillet over low heat, lightly toast the mustard seeds for 2 minutes or until fragrant, being careful not to burn. Add brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, and apple cider and whisk 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

Core apple and cut into thin slices. Return cabbage to medium heat, add apples, drizzle with dressing and fold to coat evenly through. Season to taste with salt, remove from heat and serve.

Bring It

Easy, just throw it in a bowl and BRING IT! J