And so it begins!

At last, it's late June and my first box has arrived.  Isn't the bounty just gorgeous?  I am dreaming of omelets, grilled radishes with mint, and garlic scape pesto.  A new friend and soon to be neighbor signed up for the same share.  Her instagraming of dry-aged meats, home-cased sausages and all around delicious looking meals has me totally inspired as I head into summer blogging.  I can not wait to talk veg and share ideas with you here.  Happy CSA Season indeed.

Pickled Radishes

Radishes were the first farm-fresh vegetable to stop me in my tracks.  The taste was so totally different, so totally better than the supermarket variety that my love affair with CSA's and farmers markets began.

There are so many great ways to eat radishes.  Raw with salt, sliced in a salad, roasted, just the green tops sauteed in olive oil, and now, pickled.

Pickled radishes make a great addition to sandwiches, sit pretty on a plate next to grilled protein and are a nice snack when you are craving something with a bit of a bite.  They *might* stink up the kitchen, but it is well worth it, I promise.  Best of all, they only take moments to prepare.

In the June #FoodiePenPals exchange, I was paired up with a local penpal and decided to fill my box with only homemade treats.  I included a jar of these pickled radishes, and hope they are as enjoyed by Andie as they are by me!

Pickled Radishes

Ingredients

• 6-8 summer radishes, thinly sliced on a mandoline or by hand
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

Directions

• Thinly slice the radishes by hand or on a mandoline (a.k.a. the finger shredder 2000 as my husband refers to it)
• Place the radishes in seal-able container, cover with the water, vinegar, mustard and coriander seeds
• Mix well, and let refrigerate for 3-5 days before enjoying

First CSA of the Summer

It's here!!!!!   Look at all that gorgeous kale.

More to come soon :-)

Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut Roasted Shrimp

Carrot and ginger are making their second combined appearance here on Lauren Living Locally. If you happen to be a regular reader, you'll remember this conversation where a fellow CSA loving neighbor and I dorked-out over veggies, farm shares and kale at a holiday party. This soup was for him and his growing family, after he and his wife welcomed a second precious baby girl with the fullest head of hair.

After we had our son earlier this year, he dropped off the most *SCRUMPTIOUS* beef stew, brimming with 18 hour braised root vegetables.  It was absolutely divine, and I am yet to produce a stew anywhere near as delicious, despite having literally the exact same ingredients at my disposal.  I love a cooking goal, and that stew is high on the target list. 

Hoping to return the post-baby meal delivery favor, I wanted to make a CSA-based meal that I knew he wouldn't make himself.  Using the shrimp from this Food & Wine recipe, and my take on a yummy flavor combination you have Lauren Living Locally's version of Carrot & Ginger Soup with Coconut Roasted Shrimp.  The samples tasted while prepping were yummy, and early reviews via text message were positive! 

Carrot and Ginger Soup with Coconut Roasted Shrimp 
Ingredients

• 4 cups of cleaned and roughly chopped carrots
• 1 white onion, diced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth 
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 12 extra large shrimp, cleaned with tails on
• 1.5 tablespoons of coconut shreds
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Pinch of cayenne
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat
• Add the onion and shallots, and saute until glistening
• Add the tomato paste and ginger and stir to combine
• Toss in the carrots, and cook for two minutes
• Cover the entire contents with the stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer over low heat cooking with the top on until the the carrots are tender (15-20 minutes depending on the chop of your carrots)
• Blend with an immersion hand blender or transfer to a food processor
• Once blended, return to the pot and stir in the coconut milk
• Keep warm 
• Meanwhile, toss the cleaned, tail on shrimp with the olive oil, salt and pepper, cayenne and shredded coconut
• Line a tray with parchment paper, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 7-9 minutes until pink
• Serve the soup topped with the coconut shrimp and a side of chunky bread

Soup en route 

Roast Chicken with Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)

I love artichokes. The flower-like symmetry, the tender layer of "meat" on the leaves, the delicately cupped heart, the gorgeous purple and green hues... Perfection.  In fifth grade, the tradition at my school was for each student to create their favorite food in clay. I sculpted, fired and glazed a particularly UN-symmetric, NOT so gorgeous artichoke and proudly displayed it on parents night in a sea of ice cream, spaghetti and pizza.

So imagine my delight last year when receiving the CSA announcement about an upcoming delivery of Jerusalem Artichokes. I was surprised it was a local possibility, but hey an artichoke is an artichoke... right???

Then these guys showed up:

Not purple, nor green, and certainly not symmetrical or flower-like!  A brown, ginger looking root bulb.  A total misnomer.  Yet... there must be something in a name because I loved them. Nutty, perfect to roast, great with a little caramelizing and as I learned with a little experimentation, not nearly as daunting to prepare as their appearance would suggest.

This recipe for a roast chicken (thanks mummy!) with Jerusalem Artichokes, aka Sunchokes, is a cinch to prepare and gorgeous on the table.  If you only want to prepare the Jerusalem Artichokes, omit the chicken and other veg, and just include the lemon, rosemary olive oil blend.  Next up, Jerusalem Artichoke soup.

Roast Chicken with Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) 
Ingredients

• One whole chicken (3-4 lbs for four people)
• 2 cups of washed, roughly cleaned* Jerusalem Artichokes and other root vegetables
• 1 lemon
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

*I have cooked these guys both fully peeled, and roughly cleaned and enjoy them more with a little skin.  They are softer than potatoes, so the skin keeps them in tact.  To save time, cut off any particularly dirty or bulby bits, scrub clean and peel slightly for an uneven appearance

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375
• Remove anything from inside the chicken.  Rinse the chicken in cold water, and pat dry with paper towels
• Meanwhile, blend 1/3 - 1/2 cup of olive oil (1/4 if just doing Jerusalem Artichokes) with the juice of one lemon and the leaves off three sprigs of rosemary until mixed
• Rub 3/4ths of olive oil rosemary blend outside the chicken and in between the skin and body
• Toss the vegetables (I used two cups of Jerusalem Artichokes, carrots and turnips because I didn't have enough of the star vegetable) with the remaining olive oil blend and arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan
• Position the chicken on top in the middle of the pan (on a rack if you have one, not on a rack if you don't)
• Salt and pepper the entire pan
• Roast for 20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes (i.e. 1 hour 35 minutes for 4 lb bird)
• Remove from the oven, and use a meat thermometer to check for 180 degree internal temperature

About Jerusalem Artichokes 

The Jerusalem Artichoke, also known as the sunchoke, sunroot or earth apple, is native to North America (not Jerusalem!).  The origins of the name are unknown, but as a part of the sunflower family it is assumed that over time the name girasole (Italian for sunflower) may have been changed to Jerusalem.  As a CSA loving-friend told me, the most interesting fact about this tuber is that it stores the carbohydrate inulin, instead of starch, making it a great alternative to potatoes for diabetics.

Before

After

Alice Waters' Pumpkin Soup

These two characters have been staring me down every time I open the fridge. "Use me Lauren! Don't let me go to waste!" "We're going to rot!" "You love pumpkin, why are we sitting here?!?" They've been taunting me....

We are so happily settling into our new routine as a family of three. It is hard to believe our little bundle is just 2.5 weeks old. There is, undoubtedly, less time in the day for cooking and the pumpkins felt a little daunting. So I ignored them. Until today.

Laying in bed the other night I thought, "Well this is silly, Lauren, what would Alice do? She undoubtedly has a simple preparation."  One quick look at page 277 of Chez Panisse Vegetables and I had just the recipe.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup: 2 hours of total time, but more importantly, only 20 minutes of active cooking time. So simple, and so so so good. My mother and I enjoyed the soup for lunch today, and she actually used the adjective "divine." Enjoy!

Alice Waters' Roasted Pumpkin Soup 
Ingredients
(from Chez Panisse Vegetables)

• 3 lbs of fresh sugar pumpkin (2 small pumpkins in my CSA)
• 3-5 cups of chicken stock
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 4 slices of bread
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and darker orange pulp
• Rub the cut sides with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper
• Place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a baking sheet, with a sprig of thyme and 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic tucked into each cavity
• Roast for 45 minutes to one hour until completely tender
• Remove from oven, and let cool completely 
• Peel off the skin and add the remaining pumpkin to a soup pot along with the roasted garlic, squeezed out of its skin
• Strip the thyme off the stalk, and add to the pot
• Add 3 cups of chicken stock and heat to a simmer
• Alice suggests mashing together with a wire whisk... I blended with an immersion blender until smooth
• Add more chicken stock, if desired, to achieve your preferred consistency 
• Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt or pepper as needed
• Optional in the Alice recipe (but not in my kitchen!): add 1 tbs of butter to richen the soup

If you have the ingredients, continue with these black pepper croutons. I served my soup with a dollop of greek yogurt instead but will certainly add this croutons next time:

• Cube the bread into 1/2 inch cubes and toss with the melted butter
• Sprinkle with salt, spread on a baking sheet and roast until brown and crispy
• Generously grind black pepper as you remove from the oven
• Top the soup with the croutons and serve

Lauren Lately: Super local... stew

Lately, I've been working hard on my most local endeavor to date. Anywhere from 6-8 hours a day, I'm at it and the distance from production to consumption is less than an inch....  You see, we were blessed with the arrival of our first son, and I am deep in the trenches of breast feeding. 

For the past week since his precious arrival, we've been happily enjoying food drop-offs from my mother-in-law (Homemade lasagna, chicken and rice, etc.) and frequent take-out as we navigate this exciting time for our new family. 

It actually feels like an accomplishment making breakfast shakes every morning (Blend: 1 Banana, 1 Orange, 1 tbs ground flax seed, 1 cup yogurt, ice and almond milk), and last night, on day 7, I cooked my first meal.  

It was therapeutic to get back in the kitchen and steal a little time chopping and stewing while my hubby played with our son.  My monthly winter CSA arrived with a bundle of root vegetables, and as you may know from this post, I love freezing, and I was able to take advantage of some of summers bounty of green peppers, jalapeños and zucchini.  

Winter Root Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/8 cup chopped jalapeño
• 4 cleaned and bite size chopped carrots
• 6 cleaned and bite size chopped turnips
• 3 cleaned and bite size chopped fingerling potatoes
• 1/2 an onion finely chopped
• 1 can rinsed chick peas
• 1 large can peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 cup red wine
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• Herbs of your choice: I used a 3 tablespoon mixture of oregano, cayenne, rosemary and thyme

Directions

• Brown the turkey, breaking it up as you cook over medium heat
• Add the garlic and onion, cook until fragrant
• Add all the vegetables, except the tomatoes, mixing well to distribute
• Pour in the red wine, let simmer for 5 minutes
• Mix in the chopped tomatoes, and fill the can 1/3 up with water.  Swish around to get all the good bits, and pour into the stew
• Add the herbs, and mix well
• Cook, over low-medium heat for 45 mins - 2 hours (lower heat for longer times).  Add more water or stock as needed
• Enjoy with crusty bread

Kale Caesar Salad

As you know, I...love...kale.  So imagine my delight at opening my first Winter CSA box to find it blanketed in kale. Literally, the whole top of the box was kale-covered.  After a chard-heavy summer share, I quite literally squealed in delight, "ooooohhhhhhhhhhhheeeeee!"

Since then, I've enjoyed poached eggs over sauteed kale, kale chips, and the simple recipe below:  Kale "Caesar Salad."  What I love about this preparation is that you don't have to actually cook the kale.  And as a farm share loving neighbor** pointed out when I had him taste this the other night, this actually ups the nutritional value as you do not lose any nutrients to the cooking process. 

**Yes, during a rocking holiday party I pulled a fellow CSA lover from the living room into the kitchen to talk CSA, vegetable storage, and to taste this kale salad -- it was a nerdy vegetable convention in my kitchen and I loved it!

Kale Caesar Salad

Ingredients

• 3 cups of washed, de-stemmed kale cut into bite-size ribbons
• One lemon
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 5-8 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Directions

• Mash the garlic with the kosher salt, add to the bottom of your serving bowl
• Juice the lemon on top of the garlic paste, removing any seeds
• Add a couple of cracks of freshly ground pepper
• Add 1/3 cup of olive oil and 5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, mixing until until the ingrediants form a dressing 
• Toss in the kale to coat.  Sample your salad, and add more olive oil or Parmesan cheese to taste (i always end up with more of both!)
• Let stand 15 minutes before serving

Dressing

Kale Caesar Salad

Lauren Lately: Anything but the Kitchen Sink Soup

With winters tentacles firmly rooted, I've been craving and making lots of "cozy" soup dinners.  Warm, thrown together without precision, better served with a hunk of bread... that's Lauren Lately!

Anything but the Kitchen Sink Soup
Ingredients

• 2+ types of veggies, chopped into bite size pieces (Yesterday I used 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 1 cup of frozen CSA Swiss Chard. Small potatoes and turnips work well too)
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• Protein of choice and/or a can of beans
• Olive Oil
• Stock
• Herbs
• Optional: Parmesan cheese

Directions 

• Saute your onion, and any hardy vegetables in olive oil over medium heat for 4 minutes
• If you are using it, add in the protein (2 crumbled sausages, 1 cup ground turkey, a handful of chicken pieces...) and stirring often continue cooking until warmed or cooked through
• Cover the mixture with stock until everything is just submerged, then add another inch of stock on top
• Add in any beans (kidney, garbanzo, black bean) or leafy vegetables (kale, swiss chard, radish leaves) and a couple sprinkles of herbs (dried or fresh rosemary, thyme, basil)
• Cook over medium low heat for about 20 minutes, checking frequently until your sturdiest vegetable is cooked through
• Optional: add in 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese to thicken the broth
• Enjoy with bread or crackers 

Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

As U.S. Thanksgiving approaches, I thought I'd share a simple and savory sweet potato recipe. I've never taken to the marshmallow version that adorns many tables in late November. I am all for tradition, but marshmallow WITH a vegetable? It actually frightens me a little. I've gone the totally opposite route below tossing sweet potatos with chili oil for a banging result.

This year I have many things to be thankful for:  Our first home, the upcoming arrival of our first child, ours and our families health, this blog... my cup runneth over. Thank you for continuing to read about my cooking adventures.  My food blogosphere may be small, but I can't tell you just how much I am enjoying documenting my time in the kitchen.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful, and marshmallow free, Thanksgiving!!

Fiery Sweet Potato Wedges
Ingredients

• 4 to 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/3 inch wedges
• Chili Pepper Oil (or Olive Oil with a teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes)
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Toss the sweet potato wedges with chili oil to coat, 2 - 2.5 tablespoons for wedges from 4-5 small sweet potatoes
• Arrange the wedges in a single flat layer on the paper, and sprinkle with kosher salt and a few good cracks of pepper
• Bake for 15-25 minutes until darkened but not burned.  While this sounds like a wide range, the thickness of your baking sheet and wedges combined with varying oven powers will grateful influence cooking time.  Enjoy!

Before

 After

 

Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Lasagna

Our best couple friends here in New York just had a baby. Wasn't it kind of them to get going on all this just months before we do so we can inundate them with questions at every turn?  I think so!!!  A few weekends ago, I had grand plans to bring over dinner to visit with the baby and catch up with the new parents.... then an icky cold struck me down.

Instead, I ended up baking a meal and dropping it off for the new parents to enjoy.  It included Coconut & Lime's butternut squash and swiss chard lasagna. They confirmed its goodness so I've shared the recipe here. I must admit to being *slightly* chard out with my CSA, so I loved using up a big bunch in such a tasty way.  I've added in a tomato-based top layer, unlike Coconut & Lime's version, simply because I like that kick of acidity.

P.S. You will notice there are no pictures of the final product -- I had them bake it to serve warm.

Butternut Squash & Swiss Chard Lasagna
Courtesy of Coconut & Lime
Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash, sliced in half lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• 1 lb no-cook lasagna noodles
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped into ribbons
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped or dried sage
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan 
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup of tomato sauce

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F. 
• Brush the butternut squash with a little olive oil. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender. Allow to cool slightly. Scoop out the insides and mash.  Turn the oven down to 375F. 

• Filling: Heat oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion until fragrant, then add the chard and sage. Saute until the chard is soft, about 3 minutes. Turn off the burner and allow to cool slightly before combining with the ricotta, nutmeg, salt, pepper and paprika.

• Sauce: Melt the butter in a sauce pan.  Whisk in the flour, garlic and a few cranks of salt and pepper. Add the milk and whisk together until slightly thickened. Stir in Parmesan.

• Assembly: Spread a thin layer of white sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Top with noodles then layer with a layer of squash then the chard-ricotta mixture and drizzle with sauce. Repeat, until out of noodles. 

• Top with 1 cup of tomato sauce & sprinkled Parmesan cheese.  Bake covered for 30-35 minutes . Allow to sit about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Quinoa & Kale Crustless Quiche

This is my absolute favorite recipe to date on this blog.  Seriously, it is so so so good, I beg you to whip it up  yourself.  In this post, I told you about my obsession with kale and cheese, and in this one, you read about my love of the egg.  All these favorites combine for the perfect slice of deliciousness.  We enjoyed it for dinner first, and breakfast the next morning.  Rich kale, gooey sharp cheese, wholesome quinoa, carmelized onions, binding eggs.... If you are on the kale fence, as I hear many of you are, this is the dish to try it in.  I want to go make another right now!  Thank you @Food52!

Quinoa & Kale Crustless Quiche

Courtesy of Food52
Makes About 6 slices

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quinoaAsk the
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• 1 cup water or stock (veggie or chicken)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small bunch (2 cups) kale
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ cup of sharp cheese, such as white cheddar or gouda 
• 3 ounces of cream cheese
• 4 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 and butter or spray a 9" pie dish. Rinse the quinoa. Combine the quinoa and water or stock in a pot. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer for about twenty minutes. Set aside. 
• Meanwhile, start to caramelize the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saute on medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions. Slowly cook until  soft and browned.
  
• Transfer the onions to large bowl. Add the kale into the hot onion pan. On medium heat, cook until the kale is wilted but still bright green, about two minutes.
  
• Add the kale, quinoa, garlic, cream cheese and cheddar to the onions. Stir until mixed.
  
• In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until well combined. Pour over the quinoa/kale mixture. Stir until the egg clings to the greens. Add salt and pepper.
  
• Pour the mixture in the prepared pie dish. Bake for about 35- 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the pie has started to pull away from the edge of the baking dish.

 

The Perfect (Fr) Omelet

I remember the first time I had really good eggs. It was at my family summer cottage on Dorval Island near Montreal, and my Aunt Jane was at the stove.  This was before she and my uncle opened up their glorious bed and breakfast, and she had whipped up a batch of scrambled eggs for all the cousins. I undoubtedly ate and ran without stopping to share my delight in the eggs, but there was something in that scramble that made a life-long impression.

My love of eggs has blossomed since that first great scramble. A poached or fried egg adorn many meals these days: pasta, roasted veggies, sauted leeks, burgers. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite in the Hayduk (HeyLocke?) household. So much so that I've been trying to perfect my omelet for years. My first major leap was realizing how much better an omelet cooks over medium-low heat versus high or even medium high.  The next breakthrough was upgraded pans thanks to generous wedding gifts.  And recently, well recently, I hit the omelet jack pot when my obsession with tearing out and filing recipes really paid off.

I've made this "breakfast for dinner" omelet four times with my CSA eggs to make sure it really is "the" omelet recipe, ready for you dear readers. And it is. Oh, it is.

P.S. If any of you make this one, I'd love to hear your reviews in the comments section!

The Perfect Fromelet

Modified courtesy of Food & Wine's Omelet Souffle  

Ingredients 

1 serving

• Three eggs
• 1 pad of butter 
• Your choice of components: Onion, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cheese, Bacon, Tomatoes, etc.
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

• Start your oven broiler. 
• Separate three large eggs. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with a pinch of salt.
• In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until the top is frothy, about 1 minute by hand.  
• Note: If you want to try to original "souffle" style of the recipe, whisk much longer until soft peaks form. I prefer Fromelet (frittata + omelet) style and whisk less.
• Next whisk one-fourth of the egg whites into the yolks.
• Fold in the remaining yolks until the two are combined and the colour is uniformed. 
• In an 8-inch overproof nonstick or iron cast skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat.  Add the egg mixture, shaking to distribute evenly. 
• Let cook for about 1 minute, then sprinkle the toppings evenly over the top.  
• Transfer the entire pan to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes before serving.  Holy yum!

Whisked Bright Egg Yolks

 Frothed Egg Whites

 The Final Fromelet: Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese

Curried Celery Soup

We all know not to judge a book by its cover, and in this case, that means not judging a recipe by its title.  I like celery as much as the next gal.  It's crunchy. It has has terrific hummus and peanut butter scooping propensities. I also love Indian Food.  Somehow, though, curried + celery + soup sounded, well... sorta just okay, not terribly special.

The deluge of celery in my weekly CSA and gorgeous list of accompanying ingrediants turned me onto this not-so-aptly titled soup and I am grateful for it.  Think Indian root vegetable stew, not just curried celery.

If you like Indian food and thick fall soups, this ones for you (that means you Penny!). Top with a dollop of fresh yogurt or sour cream and dig in!

Curried Celery Soup

Recipe courtesy of MyFarmShare 

4 servings 

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 6 celery stalks, diced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 1 cup celery leaves, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 apple, diced
• 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth  
• 4 teaspoons curry powder (or garam masala which is all I had on hand!)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (omit if using garam masala)
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• salt and pepper

Directions

• Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in a little vegetable oil for about 10 minutes.  
• Add the potatoes, sauté for another 5 minutes.  
• Add the garlic, the apple and the spices, continue to sauté for a few more minutes.
• Add the broth, scrape the bottom of the pan and bring to a simmer.  
• Cook for another 10 - 20 minutes (test to make sure a potato cube is cooked) and then add the celery leaves and cook for another 5 minutes.  
• You can blend the whole batch with in a food processor or with an immersion blender, however, I'd suggest just blending half for a chunkier end product.
• Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve topped with a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt.

Ina Garten's Apple & Pear Crisp

I've loved the Food Network since it's early 90's debut.  Like any good East Ender with a passion for cooking, that means I adore the one and only Ina Garten, a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa.

Shopping at the Montauk fish monger one year, I saw her filming a segment.  Ohhhhh did that tickle my fancy!  We watched two takes, where Ina "asked" about the difference between types of scallops for the benefit of us viewers, and then I obsessively DVR-ed until I saw "our" episode air. (See how I did that, I made something about Ina mine!). In the episode, she and Jeffrey enjoyed sandwiches on the Montauk docks, OUR Montauk dock, and I ate it up.

This years crisp CSA apples have been a favorite in my household, and the delivery of pears last week had me looking no further than Ina for a perfect fall dessert.

Apple & Pear Crisp    
Courtesy of Ina Garten & The Food Network

Ingredients (Base)

• 2 pounds / 4 ripe pears
• 2 pounds / 6 firm apples
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup of agave syrup or 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat or (white) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 Ingredients (Toppings)

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat or (white) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of agave syrup or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• Note: The recipe calls for 2 sticks, but I used one and was happy with the end result
• Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt 

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Peel, core, and cut the pears and apples into chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and mix in the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 
• Note: Out of nutmeg, I used ground ginger instead
• Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.
• For the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. If you don't have a mixer (like I don't at the Montauk house), mix and chop the ingredients together by hand with a knife until the butter breaks up. 
• Sprinkle evenly over the fruit base, covering the fruit completely.
• Place the dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. 
• Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.  

 

This October is #AppleLove recipe month, led by The Spicy RD.  Check it out on Twitter with the hash tag or here!

Homemade Tapas: Baked Goat Cheese in Peppers, Onions & Tomato

Tapas always reminds me of the Cafe Babareeba in Chicago. You'd think it would remind me of my honeymoon in Spain, or one of the fantastic restaurants here in my adopted hometown of NYC.  Instead, say the word tapas, and I am fondly recalling my first memories of dining without parents with my high school girlfriends.  When asked for restaurants in Chicago, some two!?! decades later, I am still sending people to Babareeba on Lincoln and hoping they enjoy it as much as I have.

One of my first go-to items is actually still on the menu, "Goat Cheese baked in Tomato Sauce." A simple, yet perfectly delicious appetizer.  When our local farmer's market cheese monger suggested a bright and creamy goat cheese last weekend, in a flash I was back at Babareeba, sopping up that perfect little appetizer with good crusty bread, talking about boys, sneaking in the occasional sangria and laughing with my oldest friends.

I've recreated a slightly more filling version below, bulking up the sauce with some gorgeous CSA mini bell peppers and optional sausage.  We plopped the entire pan on a hot plate directly on the table, ripped off hunks of crusty bread and gorged straight from the source. Deliciso!

Goat Cheese Baked in Peppers, Onion & Tomato Sauce

• 12-15 mini bell peppers OR 3 - 4 large bell peppers all red, yellow or orange
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 a large white onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 log of goat cheese
• Olive oil, plus more for the table
• Salt & Pepper
• Optional: 1 link of sweet or spicy sausage of your liking, sliced thinly
• Large loaf of your favorite crunchy bread or baguette

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
• Dice the onions and peppers into bite size pieces
• Swirl olive oil twice around a cast iron or oven-proof saute pan.  Add the peppers and onions, and saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes.
• If using sausage, add sliced sausage and cook for 4-6 minutes until done, stirring frequently. 
• Add chopped garlic, salt & pepper, and cook for 1 minute stirring until fragrant.
• Lower heat to low-medium, pour tomato sauce over and cook for a few minutes until the sauce is warmed. 
• Slice goat cheese into 6-8 pieces and place on top of the tomato pepper base. 

• Add the entire pan to the oven, and cook at 325 for 8-10 minutes until cheese starts to melt but doesn't fall apart.  Optional: Turn on the broiler, and broil for another 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese. 
• Remove from the oven.  Divvy onto plates or serve straight from the pan on the table along side a baguette, olive oil and salt for dipping.

Without Sausage                                      With Sausage

Zucchini & Walnut Muffins

When I first moved to New York City seven years ago, I had a bit of a muffin problem.  Actually, I had more of a "I can not find a job, I just got my MBA, I am starting to panic about student loan debt, so I will obsessively bake muffins" problem. It was a much needed distraction from the daily job hunting grind. 

Looking back, I was not very inventive or fun with my muffining.  I just kept baking them, a WHOLE lot of them, on repeat.  When I started working, I stopped baking, and my household not-so-secretly welcomed the hiatus. 

It was a few years before I was back in safe muffining territory.  When Fitsugar tweeted this recipe last week, I pounced, very excited to use one of many (too many?) CSA zucchinis in a non-savory way. 

While these muffins are certainly on the healthier side with skim milk and a veggie base, served warm or toasted with a slab of butter I promise you will not care.  Plus, I added chopped walnuts.  Have you ever eaten a walnut-specked baked good you didn't like?  I didn't think so.  Next time around, I am turning these sweet treats into cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting.  Now THAT will be some good muffining!

Zucchini & Walnut Muffins
Modified courtesy of of FitSugar and DietsinReview 
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or 3/4 cup white flour & 3/4 cup brown whole wheat flour)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• Egg-whites from 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup agave syrup (or 3/4 cup sugar)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup skim milk (or 1 cup if you used sugar instead of agave)
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (one large zucchini in my case)
• 5 tablespoons roughly chopped walnuts

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (or 400 if you used sugar instead of agave). Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
• In a second bowl, beat egg whites slightly and stir in the agave, milk, oil and zucchini. Add to flour mixture stirring until just combined. Mix in the walnuts.
• Fill muffin cups to the line**.
• Bake for about 20 minutes. 
• Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes and then remove from pan. Serve warm or refrigerate for later use, heating up to enjoy.

**The original directions, and most muffin recipes, suggest filling the tins 2/3 full.  I did one batch 2/3rds full, and a second batch with a few filled to the top.  See the obvious winner below.