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Author: mo

  • Braised Brussels Sprouts and Leeks

    I love braising vegetables. It is a simple mostly hands off preparation method.  My favorite part of braising vegetables is that you get a bonus sauce or glaze that elevates the dish beyond roasting or steaming.

    This dish is good hot or room temperature and travels perfectly so this would be a good vegetable dish to bring to a friends house for Hannukah or Thanksgiving, but it’s simple enough for a weeknight meal.

    Here is what you need.

    1 pound brussels sprouts
    1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    Salt
    Freshly ground black pepper
    1/2 cup dry white wine-I used vermouth
    1 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
    1/2 to 1 cup of leeks or shallots or onions
    2 tablespoons heavy cream-optional. I wasn’t going t use it then in the end I added a little.
    1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

    Those cubes on the dish are frozen chicken stock. I make and freeze it in small portions so I can use what I need. Use what you have.

    Wash trim and cut the Brussels sprouts in half and cut up your leek or onion.

    Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet with a medium heat. I used my biggest skillet, it’s 12 inches, put the Brussels sprouts cut side down in the pan, they all fit in my skillet. If yours is smaller you might need to do 2 batches to brown them.

    Let those brown and cook without moving them for about 5 minutes. Then add the leeks, wine, stock and salt and pepper and give it a stir and cover it and let is gently simmer for about 15 minutes.

    After 15 minutes they look like this. A lot of the liquid is magically absorbed and the sprouts are soft but still pretty firm, not crunchy.  You could stop here and they would be delicious.

    I scooped out my sprouts and was left with this much liquid. I added a little Dijon and just a splash of cream. You could use sour cream or butter, or nothing.

    I stirred that up and let it reduce just a little and added my sprouts back to mix it all up to get that sauce in all the nooks and crannies.

    We happened to be having cod and rice for dinner the night I made this, so we had this for our vegetable and you know what? It was unbelievably good. The strong flavors of the sprouts and mustard were perfect with the cod and rice and there was just enough sauce to not overwhelm the plate.

    Anyway….

    I have a couple other braising recipes here you might want to check out and this Brussels sprout salad recipe that I love too.

    Have a great week. I hope you are enjoying these great winter vegetables.

    Mo

     

     

     

  • Pumpkin Maple Muffins

    I roasted a pumpkin the other day to make some pumpkin soup and I had some leftover pumpkin puree so I thought I would make these muffins. They were so tasty and quick to pull together I thought I would share the recipe with you.

    This is a New York Times recipe, it calls for browning the butter, which I did and it does add a really nice toasty element that comes through loud and clear in the muffins. You can skip that step and just melt the butter and proceed with the  recipe, but I recommend taking the extra few minutes it takes to brown the butter.

    ½ cup/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter
    1 cup/145 grams all-purpose flour
    1 cup/140 grams whole-wheat flour
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
    2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
    ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    1 ½ cups/355 grams pumpkin purée
    3 large eggs
    1 cup/200 grams light brown sugar
    ⅔ cup/150 milliliters maple syrup

    PREPARATION
    Step 1
    Heat oven to 350 degrees.
    Step 2
    Spray muffin molds with nonstick spray or line them with paper liners.
    Step 3
    Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling
    occasionally, until the butter has melted, foamed and started to brown,
    about 5 minutes. Use a whisk to scrape up any browned bits at the
    bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and set aside.
    Step 4
    In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda,
    salt, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg.

    Step 5
    In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar and maple
    syrup until totally smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients, followed by
    browned butter.


    Step 6
    Divide among prepared muffin tins and bake until the tops are puffed
    and spring back slightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

    I haven’t made muffins in ages and I’m so glad I did. These stayed fresh for 3 days. I think these would freeze really well if you wanted to keep them longer than a few days.

    Fall is in the air. It’s soup and muffin season.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

  • Winter Squash, Spinach and Broken Pasta Bake

    I saw this Yotam Ottolenghi recipe in the Guardian a while ago and was intrigued. You basically thinly slice or cube winter squash, add a few other ingredients, mix it and and bake. There is no roasting the squash first, no boiling the pasta. The one hitch in that recipe is it calls for fresh lasagna noodles. Thus the reason I hadn’t made it. I rarely make pasta from scratch.

    Then one of my favorite bloggers made a few user friendly changes to the original recipe. She used broken dried pasta, not fresh and different ratios of cheese and omitted the tomatoes. So I made it.

    I combined what I liked of the two recipes, as always using what I have. The result is a really easy dish that is more vegetable than pasta and is worthy of being on a holiday table.

    I used 1/2 this butternut squash and peeled and sliced it thin on a mandolin, you can use a knife and cut it thin or in chunks. It looks like cheese, it’s not. It’s butternut squash sliced thin.

    In hindsight I think I would use a kabocha or delicata squash next time so I didn’t have to peel it. I forgot to take a picture of the spinach I used, but there was about 1/2 a bag of spinach. You can use kale or chard if you like. I used the odds and ends of the cheese I had in the refrigerator.

    Preheat your oven to 350F and gather the ingredients.

    • 1 large egg
    • 1 cup (250 grams) ricotta
    • 1 cup (100 grams) finely grated parmesan, divided in half
    • 1 cup (85 grams) coarsely grated cheese I used aged cheddar and mozzarella
    • 1 1/4 cups (300 grams) water or two tomatoes, I used tomatoes
    • 2 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
    • 1 1/2 – 2  teaspoons kosher salt, depending on how salty your cheese is
    • Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste-optional
    • 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced-I used a shallot
    • 2 tablespoons thinly-sliced sage leaves or 1 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves (optional)
    • 5 ounces (1/2 a bag) spinach or another green, roughly chopped
    • 1 1/4-pound (560-grams) butternut or another sturdy winter squash, peeled, seeded, sliced thin or 1 pound (455 grams) in prepared chunks, sliced thin
    • 8 ounces (225 grams) dried pasta (see Note), broken into pieces if large/long

    Mix the first 12 ingredients in a bowl

    Then the last 3 ingredients.

    Mix them together and put them in a casserole dish and sprinkle the rest of the parmesan cheese on top and cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

    This is after one hour.

    Take the foil off and bake it another half hour until it is brown and crispy.

    Let it sit for a half hour or so before you cut it to let it set so it is easier to cut and get out of the casserole. There you go. Lovely side dish or vegetarian main dish.

    Well, this is it, week 23. Another CSA season in the books. Thanks for a great year. Maybe I’ll see some of you at the Winter CSA pickup, if not hopefully next year.

    Be well and happy.

    Mo

     

  • Celery Salad

    I love celery. I always, always have some in my refrigerator to add to just about every dish I make- salads, stir fry’s, soups, sandwich fillings…I love the crunchy slightly bitterness it adds to dishes.

    I also really like celery salads where celery is the main ingredient. I like crunchy salads like this as a side dish with soups, chili, egg dishes or just with some nice bread and cheese. Celery salads are a great addition to heavy holiday meals and travel and keep really well so they are great for potlucks.

    This is a clean out the refrigerator/use what you have type of dish for me usually. Today I had some celery, a watermelon radish, some blue cheese and walnuts. Almond and parmesan are one of my favorite combinations. Any cheese or nuts you have will do. You’ll probably want some sort of allium in your salad. I had some scallions that I used, any herbs are a nice addition too. I ended up adding some arugula. I had some walnut oil in my refrigerator and decided to use that. You can use any oil and any vinegar, don’t forget the salt and pepper! Whenever I am making an oil and vinegar based dressing I add just a little lemon. I find it balances out the one note tartness of the vinegar.

    You’ll want to wash and trim your celery. I use a really steep bias cut when I cut celery. That reduces the strings per bite and makes for more pleasant eating, I think.

    Cut up the rest of your salad ingredients.

    Put everything in a bowl.

    Dress it with some vinegar, oil and a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper and mix it up.

    I use my clean hands.

    Now taste and adjust the seasonings and enjoy.

    If you have any leftover, celery salad makes the best avocado or cream cheese toast topping you’ve ever had.

     

    Have a great week. I am loving this Fall weather, see you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

  • Roasted Cauliflower

    Cauliflower is kind of like tofu and eggplant in the sense it is almost a blank slate. It soaks up any sauces or seasonings you add to it. You can blanch it or steam it (I love it steamed) or make it into a luscious creamy sauce.  Because it is really low in fiber it almost disappears when baked in a gratin or sauce.

    Roasted cauliflower should be barely browned with subtle crispy edges. It gets a slightly sweet-nutty flavor when it is roasted and is more firm than when it is steamed or braised in a sauce.  Roasted Cauliflower makes a simple versatile side dish as is  and is good either hot or room temperature.

    Let’s roast some cauliflower. Start by preheating your oven to 400F. If you don’t preheat the oven your cauliflower will steam and won’t brown so make sure your oven is all the way preheated.

    All you need is a cauliflower and some oil and salt.

    Wash your cauliflower and take off the dark green leaves.

    Turn it over and cut off the stem.

    Then cut out the core. Stick a paring knife on the side of the core at an angle and cut in a circle and the core will come right out.

    Now you can roast it whole. This makes a nice presentation for a fancy meal. Just put it on a sheet pan, (I like to use a baking mat or parchment paper so it doesn’t stick) in a preheated 400F oven and rub olive oil and salt on it and bake for 30-35 minutes until brown. This photo is showing it if I was going to roast it whole.

    Or you can break it into large chunks and roast it the same temperature and time. Try to keep the size of the chunks even to they cook evenly. I like to serve large chunks of roasted cauliflower like I would a roasted potato or with a rich sauce like hollandaise or Romesco.

    Here I’ve broken the cauliflower into small  florets and rubbed with salt and oil. Leave some room for air flow so the florets can brown. Small florets are nice in salads, a simple side dish, served with dips or my new favorite cauliflower tacos!

    Here it is done, about 35 minutes later.

    Simple and delicious.

    Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

  • Potato Leek Soup

    This is an update of a very old post. Potato leek soup is one of my favorite Fall and Winter meals. It is simple to make and completely adaptable to add any vegetables, cheeses, herbs or proteins you have or fancy. I’ll list some of my favorites in the recipe as ‘optional add-in’. But use what you like and what you have.

    This is the basic recipe you want to start with.

    • 3 medium leeks washed and cut into circles. See how prepare your leeks here.
    • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of potatoes chopped
    • 2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil to sauté the vegetables, I used a little of both
    • 4 cups of liquid, you can use vegetable or chicken stock, or water or milk-dairy or plant based. I used 1/2 water and 1/2 dairy milk
    • Salt, pepper and any herbs you like. I tie up my herbs bunches so I can easily remove them if I am using woody herbs like thyme and oregano. If I am using soft herbs like parsley or cilantro, I just throw them in.
    • Optional additions; any vegetables like carrots, celery, turnips, parsnips you will want to add in the beginning with the potatoes and leeks.
    • Optional additions to finish the soup; any cheese. I like to use up odds and ends in my cheese drawer, cream cheese and cheddar or gouda are really nice. Bacon! Roasted green chilies are so good in this soup. Broccoli or any greens are good too. Pretty much look in your refrigerator and see what needs using up and it will probably be a delicious addition. More herb like chives or more parsley or cilantro are a nice finish to this soup.

    Cut up the leeks and start to sauté them in the oil and or butter and salt and pepper. Wash and cut up the potatoes while the leeks start cooking.

    Add the potatoes and whatever liquid and herbs you are using, you might need more liquid but start with 4 cups.

    Let that gently simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are really soft and the leeks are melty.

    It’s kind of hard to tell from a picture, but this is about done. The potatoes are completely tender and the leeks are collapsed.

    Taste it and decide if it needs more salt or pepper. You also need to decide if you want to blend this or keep it chunky.

    I used my immersion and left some chucks. I added some cheese, cilantro and a few red pepper flakes.

    Mix that up and taste it and decide if you want some milk or broth to thin the soup.

    Humble simple delicious every time.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

  • How to Clean and Prepare Leeks

    I love leeks. I always grow lots of leeks, scallions and chives because I prefer them to white or yellow onions. You will have leeks as a choice this week in your CSA share. I hope you try them.

    Onions and leeks are completely interchangeable in uses. Leeks are always sweet, never hot or spicy like some onions can be, and have a distinct oniony flavor that doesn’t get lost in dishes. Texture wise, when you cook them they almost melt into the background of a dish. Many leek recipes will say; ‘cook leeks until meltingly soft’ that is one thing that makes them special.

    Behold the leek. They sort of look like scallions but the leek stems are flat and scallion and onion stems are round and hollow.

    They take a little more effort to wash and prepare compared to a humble onion, not much more, and with leeks you don’t have to deal with onion paper flying all over your kitchen. One thing is for sure, leeks are dirty. They are either dirty or very dirty. They catch dirt and sand in the layers in their stems.

    First thing you want to do is cut off the tough dark stems and leave all of the white bulb.

    You can save the stem for stock or compost it. If I have room in my freezer I throw them in the freezer and make stock when I have enough other vegetables.

    Next you want to cut off the little ‘root beards’ and decide if you want to keep your leeks whole or cut them into rounds. Usually if you are braising them you will keep them whole and cut a slit down the middle, if you are using them in a soup base or sauteed you will make them round.

    Fill a bowl with water and either swish your whole leeks in the bowl to wash the sand out.

    Or throw your rounds in the water and swoosh them around to let the sand sink to the bottom.

    Fish them out of the water and-TaDa! Your leeks are ready use!

    Use these in any dish like you would onions and I think you will really like the pronounced sweet onion flavor and texture leeks have.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

  • Easy Fresh Corn Polenta

    First things first, join me in wishing Mazel Tov to Kai and Joel! They got married this weekend! Much love and happiness to you both.

    OK, back to business; Fresh polenta. This is a really easy dish to make. Unlike polenta made with dry ground corn, fresh corn polenta is unbelievably sweet, fresh and light tasting. I like to eat it with roasted mushrooms and vegetables and a runny egg, or pan seared shrimp or fish. Cheese is a great topping for this dish. Like I said the polenta is sweet and the cheese, especially hard cheeses like parmesan or feta are good, but so is a soft goat cheese, it balances the sweetness. I love to freeze this dish and trot it out for a special side dish on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

    It does take some time in the kitchen, mostly hands off time letting the pureed corn cook down. Here is the method.

    • 6 ears of corn
    • about 1 teaspoon  salt and pepper
    • 2 tablespoons vegan or dairy butter
    • Optional but delicious-crumbled feta or any hard sharp cheese, 1 fresh herbs

    Shuck the corn and slice the kernels off the cob into a large pan. I save the cobs and make corn stock. 

    Add just enough water to the pot to cover the kernels. Add the salt. Place over high heat until a gentle boil starts. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

    Strain the corn, (I save the cooking liquid and make soup or rice, taste it, it’s too good to throw out) and set the pot to the side. Add the corn to a food processor and process until smooth.

    Return the corn to the pot, (I did this in the sink to minimize the mess) and lower the burner to simmer cook until you like the consistency.

    I cooked mine for about 20 more minutes. The longer you let it go the creamier it gets. See how in the picture below it is holding it’s shape and mounding almost like loose mashed potatoes. When you are happy with the consistency add the butter and taste for more salt and pepper.

    I’m going to freeze this batch and bring it out for a holiday meal. Oh! I just remembered, fresh polenta is great with some cheddar cheese and chopped roasted chilies mixed in. Yum. I love roasted chilies at Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll do that!

    Only a few more weeks of regular CSA season left. Enjoy the Fall bounty.

    Mo

  • “Creamed Greens”

    This is a super easy, elegant satisfying plant based dish that is better than creamed spinach you would get at an old school steak house. These greens will complement any grilled, steamed or roasted vegetable, meat or fish or you could even serve it with noodles or rice.

    The base (sauce) of the sauce is tofu not heavy whipping cream and the result is so much better than original dairy base dish. I saw the recipe here. I have made this twice and changed just a few things but basically followed the recipe. You can use any greens you have. I used a bunch of kale, but chard, spinach or collards would be just as delicious. I used mushrooms but if you don’t like mushrooms-use onions or eggplant. Don’t have greens? Use the sauce with roasted peppers or winter squash. Don’t want an Asian profile? Sub nutritional yeast and any nut or oat milk for the Asian seasonings like I did in the second photo. Here is what I used the two times I have made this.

    If you don’t care about being plant based you could use parmesan and regular milk. Here is what you need.

    Creamed Greens.

    • 8 ounces tofu I used firm tofu
    • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons mirin
    • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
    • 4 ounces mushrooms
    • 1 bunch of greens I used kale
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

    Put the tofu, soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar in a blender and blend on high until smooth, 1-2 minutes until it is really smooth. If you want it thinner add water or milk (plant or animal) That’s it. you just made a delicious ‘cream’ sauce yum.

    Honestly, you can stop right here and put this on anything.

    If you are making the greens heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and then salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and most of it has evaporated. Add the greens and cook, stirring, until just wilted.

     

    Stir in half the tofu mixture (save the rest for another batch or to use with other veggies) and cook until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with more salt to taste and serve warm.

    I’ll be playing with different seasonings for this dish. I hope you try making this. I think it’s a winner.

    Fall is in the air. I’m ready for cooler weather. Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

  • Jimmy Nardello Italian Frying Peppers

    One of the sweet peppers we grow at Red Wagon is called Jimmy Nardello aka ‘Jimmy’s’. It is classified as an Italian Frying pepper, it looks like this.

    Jimmy’s are long irregularly ‘finger’ shaped, medium thick walled very sweet almost fruity flavored peppers. They are about twice the size of a shishito.

    In my mind they are more versatile than a shishito. You can prepare and eat them like a shishito. Pan fry them whole in olive oil and a little salt, hold them by the stem and enjoy.

    One of my favorite ways to eat Jimmy’s is to cut them in half and seed them.

    Fry them cut side down with a little olive oil and salt until they are a little soft.

    Then flip them over and add some mozzarella, provolone or Manchego cheese and cook until it is all melty.

    Jimmy’s are much more flavorful than bell peppers, even better than red bells IMO, so they are good in egg dishes like omelets or scrambles , add them to roasted or pan fried potato dishes, pizza, sandwiches or any pasta dish.

    I made a simple marinara sauce last night and added some Jimmy’s. Unless I am putting cheese in Jimmy’s I leave them basically whole. I cut the stem off and dig the seeds out with my fingers then rinse them in water to get the seed all the way out.

    You can see I kind of broke the wall of the pepper to get the seeds out. That’s ok. I think it is easier than cutting them in half and seeding and I like the texture of the pepper cut into rings for the most part.

    I fried those and added some sauce and eggplant I had in the refrigerator.

    Bell peppers are good, but Jimmy Nardello’s are special. I hope you try them.

    Have a great week, see you at pickup.

    Mo