Baked Apples

Our crisper is still gloriously filled with apples varietals from late fall CSA deliveries.  I love that these little guys last so long. Months, in fact, if stored in the crisper with a moist towel on top.

While I love a good tart and never turn down a crisp, in the spirit of simple and slow eating, I wanted to share a recipe that all but keeps the apple in tact. Truthfully, a recipe is barely needed to bake apples. Core, stuff, butter and bake... So perhaps use this as a launching pad for your own masterpiece. When company is over, as it was above, I add a dollop of ice cream.

Baked Apples
Ingredients
For every apple you will bake:

• 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup
• 1 dash of nutmeg
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 dash of cloves
• Water

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Carefully core the apples 3/4th of the way, leaving the bottom in tact. I use a paring knife in a circular motion, then scoop with a narrow spoon
• Mix the nuts, honey and spices in a bowl and then scoop into each cored apple and top with a butter pad
• Arrange the apples in a baking dish and full with 1 inch of water
• Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, until tender

Jamie Oliver's Sauteed Jerusalem Artichokes

Coq Au Vin

Growing up, we had a new Au Pair every year.  All hailed from Western European countries like Spain, France and German, and many from the UK.  While it meant we had a new stranger across the hall each September, it worked well for our family and was wonderful exposure to different cultures.

A lot of my food memories thus revolve around the Au Pair of the year.  There was the year of the quiche, or as we fondly retell it at the Christmas table (said in your WORST French-English accent), "Tonight, I make a quiche." It was that same Au Pair who made a wonderful mussel dish, my first introduction to the briny, special occasion steamed feast, and a Buche du Noel at Christmas.  From the Brits we had many a Shepherd's Pie, and I still maintain that first Sue's was the best. Two British Au Pairs named Sue with rivaling Shepard's Pie recipes...

While it was various Au Pairs who introduced me to many comforts of French cuisine, like croque monsieur, quiche and toast dipped in Chocolat Chaud for breakfast, it was my father who introduced me to the French stews. Coq au Vin being his specialty.

When I asked him for his recipe, I learned it has evolved over the years.  At first, I was slightly disappointed to find out there was no tried-and-true, passed through the generations recipe.  Then I realized I hadn't noticed the difference in recent batches so why be disappointed.  His most recent recipe edits are that he no longer scorches the meat in cognac, "it didn't seem to do much", and he added leeks from a Quebecois recipe.

The final version, after I added in a wee bit of chicken stock, is a rich, fall apart with your fork stew. The recipe seems just right, and I won't be tinkering it any further. The veg all meld together into silky goodness and plopped on top of cous cous or brown rice, we lap it up in mere minutes.  Bon Appetit!

Coq au Vin
Ingredients

• 4 lbs of chicken thighs or a whole stewing chicken pre-cut into serving pieces
• 10-12 pearl onions, peeled
• 2 leeks, washed and diced
• 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
• Bouquet Garni: 2 stalks of celery, Bay leaves, two to three sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and/or parsley) and butchers twine
• 1 bottle of Pinot Noir
• Butter
• Flour, salt and pepper for dredging

Directions

• Dredge the chicken pieces in flour, pepper and salt
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 3 qt + dutch oven over medium low heat
• Brown the chicken pieces on all sides, remove to a plate
• Add the onions, carrots and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, mixing frequently, turn off when finished
• In a small pan, saute the leeks and mushrooms in butter for 3-5 minutes, deglaze with the chicken stock and cook another 2 minutes
• Make the Bouquet Garni by cutting the celery in half, putting the bay leaves and herb sprigs in between, covering up with another piece of celery, and tying together into a bundle with the butcher's twine
• Add the chicken back to the dutch oven, place the Bouquet Garni in the pot, toss in the leek/stock/mushroom mixture, and cover with the bottle of wine
•  Cook, covered, in the oven at 350 degrees, 2.5 - 3.5 hours

Leeks Vinaigrette

If I am home alone for lunch or dinner, I often turn to this addictive recipe for leeks vinaigrette.  It has everything I love in a recipe: Ease, bold flavors and a focus on the main vegetable.  I'll often prepare it and lap up the entire pan myself in one sitting.  But don't be fooled by my gluttony, it serves as a great side-dish to grilled white fish, roasted chicken or even a quiche at brunch.  Since it can be enjoyed warm or at room temp, it's perfectly versatile. 

It is a messy dish, bright and bold in your mouth but all slopped together on your plate, and that's a large part of the charm.

If you are anything like me, when you read Molly of Orangette's blog-post, you'll wish that it had been you living in Paris, and that it was your host mother preparing the original dish.

Note about cleaning: If you cook with leeks ever, the recipe below includes leek cleaning instructions that were kitchen-changing for me.

Leeks Vinaigrette
Courtesy of Orangette 
Ingredients 

• 2 to 3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ¼ tsp. salt, or more to taste
• 6 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small to medium shallot, minced
• 2 lb. small leeks (about 7 or 8) 
• Optional garnish: Finely chopped bacon or finely chopped hard-boiled egg

Directions

• In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar with the mustard and salt. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add the remaining vinegar if  it needs it. Mix in the shallots and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt it REALLY well. The key, as Molly puts it, is that it should taste like sea water.
• While the water comes to a boil, trim off almost the entire root of the leek keeping the stalk in tact. Remove the dark green leafy parts, leaving just white and pale green parts. 
• Next, for the best leek cleaning trick ever, I've copy and pasted exactly from Molly : "Starting about 1 inch from the root end, so as to keep the white part intact, cut lengthwise down the middle of the leek. Wash the leeks well under running water, flushing any dirt from between the layers." 
• Add the leeks to the boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes until they are nearly falling apart. 
• Drain the leeks well, transfer them to a clean kitchen towel or paper towels on the counter and blot dry. 
• While still hot toss them with a generous amount of the dressing.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, with more dressing spooned on top and a pinch or two of salt. For a fuller meal, garnish with bacon and/or chopped egg.

Soba Noodles with Kale & Walnuts

Every home cook should have a few "deceptively simple" recipes in their arsenal and this one should become one of yours.  It may not photograph terribly well, but sure is delicious and it is super, and I mean SUPER, simple to make.

Hearty and rich kale. Walnuts for depth and protein. Soba noodles as a lovely nutty alternative to regular pasta. Cayenne and cheese together? Yes please. 

Soba Noodles with Kale & Walnuts
Ingredients
Serves two

• 2 cups chopped kale
• 6 oz of soba noodles
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Cayenne Pepper
• Parmesan Cheese
• Olive Oil or Peanut Oil

Directions

• Bring two pots of salted water to boil, a large and a small
• Add kale to the small pot, cook for 5 minutes, and drain
• Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles according to package, and drain keeping 1 cup of the cooking water
• Toss noodles with 1 tablespoon oil
• In a frying pan, saute chopped walnut in oil until golden (2-3 minutes)
• Add kale, walnuts, salt, pepper, pinch of cayenne, noodles and 1/4 cup of cooking water to the pan. Turn off heat, stir and add more cooking water if needed. Top with a very generous amount of Parmesan cheese

About Soba Noodles
This Japanese noodles are made of buckwheat flour and can be served warm or cold. Soba noodles, which can be purchased in dried form, are a healthier alternative to white-flour pasta as they contain almost half the calories and a good for you vitamins and minerals such as the essential amino acid lysine, copper and rutin.

Turkey Chili

Here in the Northeast, it has certainly been a horrific few weeks with Mother Nature. Thankfully, we were all but spared minus a downed tree and a few evenings of rolling power outages.

All the talk of electricity, lack of heat and Nor'easter snow meant only one thing--it was time to cook and share my chili recipe!  That stick-to-your-insides, flavor-packed one pot meal that gets better each day it melds in your fridge.

This was one of my first real recipes. I pulled it together almost 15 years ago (gulp!) when I was living in Boston and wanted to enter my company chili contest.  As luck would have it, I won!  So, for fun, let's call this my "award-winning" turkey chili.

We top ours off greek yogurt, scallions and sometimes salsa.  Enjoy!

Turkey Chili
Ingredients

• 6 pieces of turkey or regular bacon
• 2 lbs of ground turkey meat
• 3 celery stalks, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 can of white beans, rinsed in a colander
• 1 can of kidney beans, rinsed in a colander
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 2 large (16 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon of thai chili paste
• 1/2 - 4 tablespoons of Sirachi or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup of beer
• 1 cup of red wine
• Greek yogurt/sour cream and chopped scallions for topping

Directions

• In a large pot, brown the bacon over medium heat until it almost burns.  Remove from the pot, and let dry on a paper towel. 
• Drain 3/4 of the leftover fat from the pan if using regular bacon.
• Add the ground turkey to the fat in the pan, and brown breaking into small pieces with the back of a spoon.  When the turkey is almost cooked through, add the beer, garlic and onions and cook for 3-5 minutes. 
• Add the chili powder, cumin, green pepper and celery to the pot and cook for another few minutes. 
• Add all remaining ingredients except the sirachi/hot sauce, i.e. the two cans of rinsed beans, one can of tomato paste, two cans of diced tomatoes, nutmeg, thai chili paste, red wine and well crumbled bacon and mix well.
• Let simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, taste and add 1/2 to 4 tablespoons of sirachi depnding on your heat preference.  I typically add, then taste, add then taste.
• Simmer for at least another 20 minutes, 45 minutes ideally. 
• Top with greek yogurt or sour cream and enjoy!

Homemade Celery Salt

I am working my way through possible holiday gift projects.  Last year, I doled out homemade Baileys/Irish Cream, which was festive if slightly ironic considering I was pregnant and unable to enjoy it!  Previous years I've made salad dressing, flavored olive oils and homemade body scrubs. It is fun.

With two weeks of CSA celery stalks teetering towards wilt in my crisper, and the following recipe in my inbox, it was time for celery salt.  So easy to make, even easier to enjoy.  Perfect on fish, in a salad, topping soup and, my latest obsession, over scrambled eggs. 

This may just make the Holiday 2012 cut!  Do you have a go-to homemade gift? I'd love to hear about it below.

Homemade Celery Salt

Courtesy of 101 Cookbooks, a favorite food blog

Prep time: 5 min - Cook time: 7 min

Ingredients

• Leaves from one bunch of celery
• Flaky sea salt (Maldon sea salt is recommended)

Directions

• Pick all the leaves from the celery stalk, leaving stems behind.
• Rinse the leaves with cold water and then shake off as much water as you can. Gently pat them dry in a clean dish towel, or with paper towels ensuring they are as dry as possible. 
• Arrange the leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet, then roast in a 350F / 180C oven for about 5-7 minutes. Bake until dehydrated and crispy, but not browned.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Once cool, use your fingers to crumble the leaves completely, discarding any leaves that aren't crispy.
• Combine equal parts celery leaves and salt in a jar, and shake to distribute the celery leaves evenly. Voila.