Let the gardening begin!

Spring has come early to the Pacific Northwest this year (well earned after all our weather drama last winter) and while the other Olympians are skiing and skating just a few hours north in Vancouver, this Olympian is gardening!  So far I've created a lovely color-coded Excel spreadsheet with my master plan for the year and a log to track each crop.  I cleaned up a small section of my garden last week and planted peas.  This weekend I started the first set of seeds I'm planting indoors.  I've started geraniums and carnations.  I'm not sure carnations really grow here - I've never seen them in anyone's yard - but what the heck.  I love geraniums and they grow really well here.  In the fall you can hang them upside down by the roots in cool garage or move them indoors in pots to extend them from annuals to perennials.  I've always bought small plants in the past, though, so we'll see how seeds go.  They are certainly cheaper!  For $1.99 plus a seeding dirt and a $4 reuseable plastic tray, I may have as many as 30 plants. The carnations are even less expensive.  I planted two seeds in 42 pots and still had a whole bunch left over.  I taped the envelope shut.  I have a feeling I'll be killing a few flowers along the way and I can use them to replant.

Delicious in so many ways

What I'm up to, at least as far as food is concerned...

• Reading: Finished Julia Child's wonderful memoir, My Life in France, which I highly recommend.  Now working my way through Julie and Julia, which I'm still not sure about.  Up next, Garlic and Sapphire: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.
• Buying: I picked up my January CSA today and it's incredible.  Carrots, Parsnips, Leeks, Rutabagas, Carnival Squash, Yellow Finn Potatoes, Blue Potatoes, Carpathian garlic, Shallots, Cameo Apples, D'Anjou Pears, Curly Kale, Fresh thyme, Artisan Cheese from Black Sheep Creamery, and Locally Roasted Coffee from Santa Lucia.  It's been six long weeks since the last box arrived and I can't wait to dig in.  The fact that my CSA box now waits for me on a porch two houses away is just a dream come true.
• Baking: I'm still on my New Year's healthy living kick and I've discovered a really healthy, really tasty Cooking Light recipe for blueberry muffins.  Just 170 calories and the best part is that they freeze and reheat well, making my morning routine a teeny tiny bit easier.
• Watching: Food Network is always on in the cardio room at the gym, which really isn't fair at all.  But since I don't get that channel at home, I'm enjoying the educational benefits.
• Planning: I spent a few hours last weekend with all the seed catalogs.  I've planned the herb garden and I'm moving on to vegetables and flowers this weekend.
• Waiting: The daffodils in my garden are about four inches out of the ground.  I fully expect them to be blooming by Saint Patrick's Day.  
• And, of course, eating: Lots of vegetables, lean meats, bits of cheese and whole grains.  Like I said... still on the New Year's diet. But I have found one little treat my calorie counter will permit.  Trader Joe's sells really tasty Mochi... 110 calorie balls of ice cream in a great rice dough.  So good!  So worth it!

Thanksgiving

I thought I'd take a five minute break from cooking to put my feet up and share my Thanksgiving dinner menu in progress...

Tomorrow we'll start with a creamy kohlrabi and apple salad, followed by roasted kabocha squash soup with pancetta and sage.  Fresh dinner rolls, also a big favorite, will appear next.  The main course is herb roasted turkey with pineapple laced cranberries.  The side dishes will be brussels sprouts with shallots and wild mushrooms, cornbread dressing, mashed yams, calliflower with cheese sauce, cider glazed delicata squash with apples and mashed potatoes with carmelized garlic and parsnips.  For desert, of course, pumpkin pie!

Back to work!

Brussel sprouts

Brussels sprouts (I've always pronounced it Brussel sprouts, singular, but apparently I've always been wrong) are the ultimate vegetable.  You start out with a little lettuce, move on to beets, think you've hit the big time with parsnips, and then you come to Brussels sprouts.  This is the vegetable that brings all faint-hearted would-be herbivores to their knees.  I'm about three steps short of becoming a vegetarian and even I have always struggled with these little characters.  As a child, I called them "little cabages" and I remember liking them fairly well although I always thought they were a little bland.  As an adult, I was turned off by Brussel sprouts' tart flavor.  Learning how to cook Brussel sprouts is a right of passage for anyone who claims to be a foodie and critics love to rave about their favorite ways to prepare them.

I picked up my CSA box tonight and there was a full pound of fresh organic Brussel sprouts.  The Farm Notes offered up a recepie that sounded amazing, so I thought I'd give them a shot this evening, even though I usually don't cook on week nights.  The recepie, adapted from the November 2006 isue of Gourmet magazine (rest in peace) called for a large shallot, but I didn't have one so I used a large onion - twice the size, half the flavor.  I also used less butter and twice as many chanterelles.  The results are amazing.  Besides the obvious (lots of butter makes just about anyting delicious), I think the key here is to overcook the Brussel sprouts.  They were practically falling apart in the pan when I pulled it out of the oven and easily crushed by the tongs I used to pull them out pan.  I think the problem I've been having the last few years is that I've tried hard not to overcook vegetables and, as a result, I've undercooked my Brussels.

Brussels Sprouts with Shallots and Wild Mushrooms
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves minced garlic
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large shallot, cut crosswise into thin slices (3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
.4 lb mixed fresh chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed, quartered if large
a splash of dry white wine
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
a pinch of salt & black pepper
1/6 cup water

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss Brussels sprouts with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper, then spread out in 1 layer in 2 large shallow baking pans (17 by 12 inches). Roast, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until tender and browned, 25 to 35 minutes.  Cook's note: tossing is a big pain.  I threw them in the pan, covered them in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder, rolled them over, did it all again, and called it good.

Heat oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until temperature measures 250°F (see cooks' note, below), then fry shallots in 3 batches, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per batch (watch closely, as shallots can burn easily). Quickly transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, spreading in a single layer. (Shallots will crisp as they cool.) Pour off oil from skillet (do not clean).

Heat 5 tablespoons butter in skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 7 minutes.

Add wine, thyme, salt, and pepper and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 2 minutes. Add water (1/6 cup) and remaining tablespoon butter and simmer, swirling skillet, until butter is melted. Transfer to a serving dish and stir in Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle with some of shallots and serve with remaining shallots on the side.

Ravioli con la zucca

I had a long week.  The kind of week that leads to breakfast in the Starbucks drivethrough, missed lunches, and very late dinners from fast food joints.  The sad part is that when you're this tired and this hungry, it all starts to taste good.

Thankfully the weekend has arrived and my life - and food - is getting back to normal.  I grew six cooking pumpkins this summer and they've been sitting on the porch for the past few weeks.  Halloween seemed like a good day to eat a pumpkin.  I sliced one in half, layed both sides face-down on a roasting pan, added about a 1/2 inch of water, and cooked it at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.  After the squash cooled, the skin pealed off really easily.  I scrapped out the seeds and strings, cut off the stem, and pured it with an emulsion blender.  The result was about four cups of pured pumkin.

So now what.  Tomorrow I'm going to make ginger pumpkin muffins, but tonight I made ravioli con la zucca, cheese ravioli (from the isle of frozen food at costco) with a creamy pumpkin sauce.  I checked a couple of websites for suggestions, including this one with great pictures, and then just sort of made things up as I went along.  I sauted 3/4 of an onion (left over from last week's CSA), added the pumpkin, gave the nutmeg and pepper a good shake, stirred in a splash of cream, and wrapped things up with a handful of fresh parsley from the garden.  (As an aside, my parsley has really taken off since the weather cooled off.  It's under a cold frame now as I was afraid it might drown with all the rain we've had.) A poured the sauce over the ravioli and topped it off with a handful of freshly grated parmesan.  Note that I didn't use any salt.  The ravioli and parmesan have plenty. 

The great thing about this dish is that it was really, really easy and fast.  I'd love to try the FXcusine.com recipe I liked to above, but I think pealing and slicing the pumpkin would be a lot of work.  Pumpkins a really hard squash.  I had a tough time slicing through mine before I roasted it. 

Delicata squash with herb and cider glaze

One of the things I’ve learned this fall from my CSA Farm Notes is that winter squash should not be prepared immediately after harvesting.  It’s best to let them sit a week or two on the kitchen counter.  Two weeks ago I got a delicata squash in my box.  These mild little squash only weigh about a pound.  They’re green and yellow and shaped like a cucumber.   I’ve only cooked one once before (and not with particularly good results) so I tried a new recipe and I’m very pleased with the dish that resulted – a mild squash with a glaze that’s both sweet and savory.

Delicata squash with herb and cider glaze

1 medium winter squash (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 cup fresh sage, chopped
4 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
3/4 cup apple cider
½ cup water
2 teaspoons wine or herb vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Prep: Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, then cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds. Cut each piece in half again lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Cook: Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the sage and rosemary and cook until the butter just begins to turn color in three to five minutes. Add the squash to the skillet, then the apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook stirring occasionally, over medium heat at an even boil until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper and additional salt if needed.

Bacon potato tacos

One of my favorites restaurants in Olympia is Quality Burrito.  They make these amazing potato and potato bacon tacos that I absolutely love.  I figured they couldn’t be that hard to make at home and after a little experimenting I came up with something just as tasty as the QB original. 

The basic ingredients are obvious: bacon and potatoes.  I bought two slices of thick bacon at the deli counter since I don’t cook bacon very often and whole package seemed like a bit waste of space in the freezer.  The key with bacon is to cook it slowly over medium heat.  While that was simmering away, I peeled two pounds of potatoes (tasty ones from my garden now stored in the garage for the winter) and cooked them in a little water until they were soft enough to stick a fork through them. 

When it was crispy on both sides I pulled the bacon out of the pan, patted it dry with a paper towel, crumbled it into tiny pieces and set it aside.

I drained the potatoes and dropped them in the bacon grease.  I used the back of a wooden spoon to smash the potatoes and turned them often, slowly browning them. 

When the potatoes were the color of breakfast hash browns, it was time to add the fix’ns.  Most important is the cheese.  By adding it now I was able to spread it evenly through the mixture and get it thoroughly melted.  The key to these tacos is to use both shredded pepper jack cheese and a bit of cotija – a salty Mexican cheese with a crumbly texture like feta.  Finally, I mixed the bacon crumbles back in.

This mixture of bacon, potatoes and cheese will keep well in the frig for a few days and it’s easy to reheat.  I made the tacos up right before sitting down to dinner.  I heated soft tacos in the often on a low temperature, filled with a generous scoop of potato mix.  A handful of chopped fresh cilantro, a spoonful of sour cream, and voilà!

There are endless possible variations – leave out the bacon and cook the potatoes in butter instead, add grilled onions and other veggies, try different cheese, top with salsa, etc.

Now if I could only figure out how to make their amazing fresh tortilla chips… and their salsa… and those burritos…