Rutabaga Au Gratin with Leeks and Sage – Battle Spherical
March 28, 2012 - Written by Diana
So many spherical things, what to do, what to do, spherical ingredient, or spherical dish?… I had to decide quickly because the month was winding down for this month’s Culinary Smackdown – Battle Spherical. Rutabaga, mango, oranges. Are oranges too round to be spherical? Is a lime more spherical? Looking up sphere – it has to be perfectly round, well, then mango isn’t spherical, or lime, but the rutabaga was pretty darn round (Drat – now I remember that I forgot a photo of a rutabaga before so that you could see how round it was.
My son’s friend was over and asked what I was peeling and I told him it was a rutabaga – similar in taste to a turnip. It is a swede turnip, or a yellow turnip and a cross between a turnip and cabbage. The skin is thin, but difficult to peel because it’s so big and round. I just used a big knife to skin it. Then I sliced it thinly and cut the slices into pieces. Since this is a play on another …
Borscht – Winter Stew
March 20, 2012 - Written by Diana
Borscht, a winter stew, has a long tradition in Russia and Ukraine. This recipe is from Cook Wild: Year-Round Cooking on an Open Fire
Borscht – Winter Stew
Recipe type: Main – Stew
Author: Susanne Fischer-Rizzi
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 2 hours 30 mins
Total time: 3 hours 30 mins
Serves: …
Swiss Chard, Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Mushrooms in a Maple Basalmic Vinaigrette
March 14, 2012 - Written by Diana
Yeah, Yeah, I know, the name is too darn long, but what should I leave out? Look at the photo, the whole thing is pretty and leaving anyone of those things out would make a not so interesting meal – visually and tastefully (flavorfully?). I still have spaghetti squash in my cold basement, but I fear it won’t last long since it’s been so warm and we need to work it in to our recipes since winter is quickly coming to an end. Chard has been regularly showing up in our Weekly Market Bag along with mushrooms less frequently. I thought this meal, stacked and then drizzled with a maple basalmic vinaigrette would be really delicious, and it was. The maple sweetness took the bite off the vinaigrette and the vinegar cut the sweetness a little.
I had plenty of spaghetti squash leftover, as well as chicken and chard (that I hadn’t covered in vinaigrette). My second meal of the week I added pasta and pesto and my third meal of the week …
Easy Eggs Over Spinach
March 6, 2012 - Written by Diana
This egg dish is fast, easy and delicious – perfect for Sunday brunch – or a breakfast for dinner meal. Sundays used to be real family time for us before the kids were out of high school. My husband and I still have breakfast together, but some days we go out to a restaurant on our way to do something else like pick up stuff for some project or another. This weekend my son was home, and he is a lover of family sit down meals. He took care of the animals while we were out of town, so I wanted to put together a meal he would really enjoy for Sunday breakfast.
I had some fresh spinach to use up as well as some local eggs, so here’s a really easy way to combine them into a tasty meal. I sauteed the spinach along with a small onion and a red pepper in a small pan drizzled with olive oil. I then cracked eggs over top and while the whites were cooking, I would use my fork to poke holes in the white causing the …
Chicken, Kale and Potatoes
February 25, 2012 - Written by Diana
Cooking from what you have on hand can sometimes feel like a chore because we can’t always make what we have a taste for and instead have to make our tastes fit our refridgerator and pantry. Lots of greens in the fridge right now – which means I need to make sure to get them into our dinners and lunches. We receive a bag of groceries each week that have local, and non-local seasonal produce and artisan goods that are also mostly organic. I wondered if I would be able to keep up with the produce – and the greens have started to pile up because my husband and son don’t throw it in as often as I do. So while I was on a trip to Vermont, the greens weren’t used – except for arugula, my son loves that on his sandwiches. Today I used my dutch oven to use some of the produce I received in my Weekly Fresh Market Bag.
Kale, shallot and potatoes along with chicken and some white beans are not only delicious, but packed full …
Grilled Mozzarella and Kale Pesto Sandwich
February 12, 2012 - Written by DianaHave you ever been thinking about how to make a dish, or an ingredient you want to use and someone posts a dish that you say – Yes, I can make my dish this way and use her idea to do it. I had some fresh mozzarella that I wanted to use, plus I had Kale. I knew I wanted a grilled cheese, but I didn’t know how to do it, until I saw @erikakerekes – tweet. She said “{In Erika’s Kitchen} My ongoing love affair with kale: Kale pesto http://t.co/bqsFCuD0 #recipe #Superfoods”. That was my trigger. I could make my grilled mozz sandwiches with kale pesto, and dip the sandwiches in pasta sauce.
Tonight for dinner we made a Kale pesto – not to exact recipe – I used kale and chard and forgot the lemon because I was making a small amount – though I think it would be good to add. I broke open a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce and we dined. My husband thought it was wonderful and suggested it would be …
Sweet Potatoes and Kale
February 8, 2012 - Written by Diana
I love sweet potatoes and kale, such a great healthy combination. How are your winter stores holding up? The sweet potatoes were in our basement cold storage and holding up really well. These were potatoes we grew from slips in our garden, so I’m thrilled to have them in such good shape in February.
We have been picking up a market bag from a grocer. Each week is a surprise, but usually contains greens, fruit (apples, pears, oranges) some sort of grain, and usually bread and veggies. Most of it is organic, and as much as possible local – not easy to do this time of year. Last week we received some dinosaur kale. Lovely bright and green dinosaur kale.
Recently I saw an episode of The Chew where Michael Symon attempted a 5 in 5 – which he failed to complete on time, but it had the ingredients I love together – sweet potatoes and swiss chard. I took his idea of grilling the sweet potatoes and sauteeing the chard, but substituted kale. …
Chicken, Penne and Broccolini – Leftover Remix
January 11, 2012 - Written by Diana
Sometimes I am at odds with my son about dinner. If it takes too long, he won’t bother. If he has to read directions, he won’t bother. If it takes too many pots and pans, he won’t bother. This isn’t to say he’s hopeless or can’t cook. Slowly we are building up his repetoire and the meals he does cook are very delicious. My method with him is to encourage him to try to experiment by adding different vegetables and herbs to a basic recipe.
This time we took some chicken from our roast chicken the other night and added pasta, some broccolini, a few herbs, smash some galic and voila – dinner is served. This is a good college kid meal, you can change up the pasta, the veggies, substitute the oil with broth to make it a little lighter. Swap the lemon with white or red wine vinegar for a little different. We stood side by side at the stove cooking this dish. When we were done, I asked my son if he thought he …
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Pine Nuts
December 18, 2011 - Written by Diana
The last couple of weeks I’ve been eating brussels sprouts every other night. Rhoads Farm still had brussels sprouts at North Market this week, and we bought another quart. The vendor told me that they get their seeds from Europe, that give them a less bitter brussels sprout. I can tell you that ours are delicious and not bitter at all. My kids aren’t fans because I traumatized them with frozen and then boiled brussels sprouts. I think there’s no competition – now is the time to get brussels sprouts and cook them up the best way from fresh.
For a brighter brussels sprout, give it a quick blanch, really quick so they don’t get soggy. You can skip that step, but it does brighten up the plate. I like the pancetta, sliced thinly and less grease than the thick cut bacon. I also add pine nuts because I think they go well, and some garlic. The white wine vinegar lightens it up a little and will get all the carmelized bits from the bottom of the pan. This is pretty darn tasty. …
Potato, Celery Root and Broccolini Soup
December 16, 2011 - Written by Diana
This is a great farm market soup using vegetables that are still growing in the area as the choices get smaller and smaller at the farm markets. The number of stalls at some of the farm markets are dwindling, but trying to buy and use local as long as possible also means trying to be seasonal in your recipes.
There are a lot of nice late fall veggies in this potato soup hopefully making it nutritionally filling as well as warming you up on a cold day. I cut the broccolini into thirds. The bottom third of the stalk, I put away in the freezer for when I am making vegetable broth. The middle third I used for the soup and the top third I stir into the pot after steaming in white whine vinegar. I love having the whole veggie to bite into a nice morsel in the mostly smashed potatoes and celeriac broth. The celeriac I peeled and diced into bite size pieces to fill about 2 cups. I rough peeled the potatoes – because I’m a fan of skin and had …
