This recipe goes way back in my repertoire. Given to me by a friend from college. One evening when I visited her home many years later, she made these carrots, and I’ve made them oodles of times since. I forget about them because they’re not one of those veggies that are all that good for us – they’re a carb rather than a true vegetable. But carrots were all there was in the crisper. Since my DH was cooking the dinner, I knew these would not be difficult for him to make.

I sat at our kitchen island and gave him directions. I did some of the chopping (slice the carrots on the diagonal if you can – makes them much more attractive) and coached him along the way with the preparation. They’re NOT hard by any stretch of the imagination. But they do require a couple more steps (to get sugar and clip some fresh parsley out of the garden) before making them.

Obviously it’s the sugar that makes them French. And they’re oh-so succulent when they’re cooked just right (meaning they’re not overcooked). Well, they do have some butter in them too – that makes them especially tasty as well. This dish is a very nice colorful veg for a company meal. It can be made ahead and reheated just before serving too. That’s always nice, isn’t it, to have something all done and all you have to do is reheat it. Dave was a happy camper with these carrots – he made them all by himself and he wanted to dig in for seconds.

When the carrots were perfectly cooked, sometimes you still have an abundance of water in the pot. Remove the carrots, boil down the sauce a bit, then put the carrots back in for a re-warm and serve. See, these are really quite versatile.
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Two years ago: Raspberry-Almond Truffle Tart

Tweet

Yellow crookneck is one of my favorite squash varieties. With friends coming over for dinner the other night, I needed a new version of this, so decided to combine a carb and veggies at the same time. I found a similar recipe to this on the internet, but I changed it some. You may even have this recipe – it’s not anything innovative or new. Just good and tasty.

The squash, onion and chicken broth are cooked together, then that’s combined with rice, a small can of chopped green chiles and a bunch of cheese, some sour cream and seasonings. And a bit of cheese is sprinkled on top. You can also broil the top just at the end if you prefer a more browned look. I didn’t bother with that step. This is delicious. Not over the top, but a good comfort-food kind of side veggie. I’d make this again.
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Schnecken Rolls (a sweet-ish dinner roll)

Tweet

This dish is really yummy. Can you tell by looking at the photo? Cauliflower florets just dripping with cheese and cream. Not much in that NOT to like. I don’t want to know the calorie and fat count. Just eat it and enjoy. The recipe came from Bobby Flay (Food Network). I was watching it the other day and it looked really easy. And tasty. I took this to our son’s and daughter-in-law’s home the other night. Everybody loved it. And the creamy, saucy stuff down in the cauliflower was wonderful with the beef roast Karen served. The sauce spread around the plate (too much actually), but we enjoyed mopping up the sauce with a bit of the roast. And with the potatoes that went alongside.

The cheeses are a bit different – Monterey Jack, Parmigiano-Reggiano AND goat cheese. It’s the goat cheese that makes it unusual, I suspect. Then you pour heavy cream all over it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and into the oven it goes. The recipe indicated it would be tender in 30 minutes. Uhm. No. Not. But then, I doubled the recipe. However, it was perfect after about an hour and 15 minutes. I doubled the recipe, so perhaps the cauliflower that was submerged in cream was cooked in 30 minutes, but the rest of it wasn’t. It also depends on how large you cut the florets, too. So keep that in mind if you make it. I’ve altered the recipe some to account for the few things I’d do differently. On the Food Network site many people weighed in (uhm, no, not that kind of weighing) with their opinions – lots of people didn’t like the soupy thin-ness of the cream. I agree. There was too much cream altogether. And if I made this again I would add about a tablespoon of all-purpose flour – and toss that around with the grated cheeses. That would provide some thickener to the sauce.  But if you’re asking me did we like it? Absolutely, and yes, I’d make it again with those changes.
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Baked Rice with Poblano Chiles & Corn

Tweet

Never have I made risotto just for the purpose of using the leftovers! This was a first. And rarely do we even HAVE leftover risotto on the rare occasions that I make it. But I adore the stuff. I remember oh-so-well the first time I had it – at a cooking class back in the 1980’s; it was champagne (and asparagus) risotto. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, it was so good. Over the ensuing years I have made the risotto, using champagne, but we need to have an excuse to drink the rest of the bottle (do we ever need an excuse to drink champagne? what am I thinking?). My favorite technique was to serve risotto for guests, and I’d get THEM to stir it. Read the rest of this entry »

Tweet

I know, I can hear it – garlic and cranberries? They don’t seem to have any affinity for one another, do they? Well, it may not sound like it, but it works. That’s all I can tell you. It works. This was the vegetable I served on Thanksgiving Day, and it was enjoyed by all. Mostly nobody knew there was garlic in it – you’ll notice in the recipe that there are 6 cloves, which is a lot – and I didn’t tell, either. The dried cranberries added a really nice touch to the veggie. It came from that Thanksgiving cooking class I took a few weeks ago with Phillis Carey. The photo above I took at the class – I was so busy on Thanksgiving Day getting all the dinner last-minute things done that I didn’t even take a single photo. This would make a really nice side veggie with any festive holiday meal. It’s dried cranberries, so you could make it any time of year, really, but it was just perfect with the turkey and dressing.
printer-friendly PDF

Two years ago: Bishop’s Bread (my favorite Christmas bread)

Tweet

All the information below comes from Russ Parsons’ book, How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table. It’s a book I refer to over and over. It’s such a treasure-trove of veggie and fruit information I can’t begin to remember it all. Like whether a fruit should be allowed to sit at room temp, or refrigerated, or whether to choose a firm unripe fruit, or a perfectly ripe one, how many days pears need to ripen, or which fig varieties are the best. And in this case, whether kabocha squash requires a different kind of cooking method than, say, a butternut.

It was news to me that winter squashes are grown around the world, but there are over 350 varieties of North American squash. Seems like I know – maybe – about 10. Or 12. But no more than that! When you see a display of winter squashes at a farm stand or farmer’s market, you’ll likely see about 4 or 5. But actually, there are three different types: Cucurbita pepo (stems are angular and flared where they attach to the squash); Cucurbita maxima (stems are round); and Cucurbita moschata (stems are smooth and grooved). Each of those is like a family. Within each there are lots of varieties.

Actually, winter squash is a vining fruit (have seeds? it’s fruit). Meaning that the Cucurbit family also contains cucumbers, melons and all types of squash, winter and summer. Winter squashes are allowed to mature on the vine, which gives them time to develop a hard shell. That’s one of the differences from summer squash. The hard shell allows it to keep in cold storage. Think Grandmother’s root cellar . . . she harvested the squashes and stored them in the cold cellar where they’d be quite content for months and months, clear into mid-winter.

Parsons talks specifically about pumpkin. Since I’m a real fan of pumpkin anything, I found this interesting. Most of the pumpkin used for canned pumpkin (think Libby’s) comes from a different variety altogether – something more similar to butternut squash. You may know already that the only variety, just about, that can be used for baking and desserts is a “sugar pumpkin.” The pumpkins we know so well that sit in mounds in our grocery stores is not an eating pumpkin. It’s grown just for decoration and carving.  Definitely not for eating.

The book recommends that, for all intents and purposes, there are really only four major types of winter squash that we eat – at least here in North America:

ACORN: Likely the most familiar type (after pumpkin). Parsons calls it a middle-of-the-road squash. Skin is dark green with blushes of orange; flesh is pale to medium orange, texture semi smooth and rich, moderately sweet. Table Queen is a good variety.

BUTTERNUT: Choose ones that have a FAT neck and smallest bulb (meaning it will have a smaller seed cavity and the most squash meat). This happens to be Parsons’ favorite squash.

CARNIVAL: Looks like a harlequin acorn squash with a patchwork of dark green and bright orange. Flesh is dark orange, slightly fibrous, complex flavor, rich, sweet, earthy note. [Gee, almost sounds like I’m describing wine . . .]

KABOCHA: Round, flattened, dark green skin with delicate gray-blue tracing, or all-green and all-orange); flesh is pale to medium orange, very dense, smooth, sweet, nice green squashy edge (Parson’ words) backbone.

Choosing Squash: Here’s news to me . . . examine the STEM . . . it should always be present on the squash AND it should be dry and corky, which tells you it stayed on the vine until it was almost ready to fall off. Color deep and vibrant. Matte, not shiny skin. Cure it for up to two weeks – out on your kitchen counter. Acorn, carnival types should be refrigerated. Once squash is “cured,” it should be stored at about 50 degrees. Refrigerating will deaden the flavor.

Cooking Squash: Cooked with moisture (some moisture, not covered) the flavor is subtle with a delicate texture. Baking will bring out the caramelization, the natural sugars. Pan sautéing winter squash may be the best option – it caramelizes on the outside and stays sweet and subtle on the inside. You get the best of both cooking methods.

Recipes: Parsons includes three variations with winter squash – Winter Squash Risotto with Walnuts and Fried Sage Leaves; Mushroom & Spaghetti Squash Gratin and Parmesan Bread Crumbs; and Caramelized Winter Squash with Rosemary Gremolata.

Here on my blog you’ll find the following recipes utilizing some kind of winter squash: Butternut Squash Risotto with Pancetta (oh yea, fabulous), Thai Pumpkin Curry Soup, Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger & Jalapeno,  Yams, Carrots & Ginger,  Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Pancetta, Garlic & Sage , Butternut Cube Fries, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup,  Butternut Squash Soup with Zippy Jalapeno & Ginger (a favorite).

Tweet

It was at a cooking class that I heard about this dish. Phillis Carey just talked about this, but didn’t make it. Someone in the class asked a question about Brussels Sprouts and Phillis just off-handedly mentioned that her favorite way to cook the baby cabbages was simmering them in cream. She elaborated just slightly to say halve all the sprouts, leaving the stem intact (although trimming the base of any brown edges). They’re piled into a big pot, some cream is added. Once they’re at a simmer, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 9-10 minutes, then remove lid and continue cooking until the sprouts are fully cooked and the cream is hardly visible in the bottom of the pan, or gone. Season with some freshly grated nutmeg, salt and pepper and you’re done. I scribbled down that recipe in about 10-12 words on the back of one of the class recipes, and pulled it out the other day to try.

Here are the sprouts raw and halved. Making these, though, was easy – well, my DH cleaned and trimmed the Brussels Sprouts for me, so all I had to do was the cooking part. I had smaller sprouts, so cooked them about 7-8 minutes, I think, then removed the lid and continued. They weren’t quite done when all the cream had disappeared, so I just added a smidgen of water to the pot. You don’t want to add milk as it will separate with that kind of cooking. That’s why you use cream because it can be boiled and not separate. These are scrumptious. I couldn’t get enough of them, and even reached in the refrigerator the next day and had them as a snack. I didn’t use much cream (about 1/3 cup for 2 pounds of sprouts), but the nutmeg is a real capper. And don’t skimp on the salt, either. Taste to make sure. Mine needed more than I thought.
printer-friendly CutePDF

Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open in MC – 14 contains photo)

A year ago: Cardoons (uh, my one and only venture with this veggie, and I didn’t like it at all)

Tweet

Reading as many recipes as I do in the course of a few months, unless I make notes, or recognize the print style, I can’t recall where I read or heard about a recipe. Such with this one. I think it was on somebody’s blog that I read about it. And the writer sent us off to the New York Times’ website to retrieve it, which I did, as it was in that week’s food section. I think. It wasn’t all that long ago – like a month. It’s  a Mark Bittman recipe – he of restaurant and TV fame. And cookbook fame too – he’s done one or more books about the “Best” of specific recipes (kind of like Cook’s Illustrated in a way). I don’t own any of his tomes. But, I will tell you this recipe is awfully darned good. When I did a search for this recipe I noticed a lot of other food bloggers are on this recipe’s bandwagon too. I’m  delighted to join the parade.

It’s a salad, or a side vegetable combo. The list of ingredients is simple: sweet potatoes (I used the dark orange type we call yams), onions, both roasted with olive oil, S&P, then tossed with some canned black beans (rinsed & drained), some minced bell peppers, a passel of cilantro chopped, and then the very simple dressing (pictured at left) of olive oil, some minced green chile (hot type like jalapeno), garlic and lime juice. Very simple. And very extra delicious, I assure you. The recipe said to toss the salad with the dressing just before serving, but I think soaking it in the dressing for awhile just brightened all the flavors. There was still a bit of dressing in the bottom of the bowl which I just left there for the leftovers. My first foray into Mark Bittman’s world produced a great recipe. I’d make this again anytime.
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Peppers for Cold Meats (a kind of relish – I liked it so much I’ve posted about it twice and have made it 3 times in the last 6 months)

Tweet

Really, I do love green beans. You can fix and eat them in SO many ways. Even plain with just a hint of butter, salt and pepper. If you’ve read my blog for long you know that I’m a huge fan of a recipe for Garlic Green Beans & Olive Oil. So easy, and I could eat a mountain of them. I was lured from the olive oil and garlic route in a class with Phillis Carey, awhile back. Hers have the allure of hazelnuts. But they’re also very easy. A dish you could make for guests, as long as you cook the beans ahead of time and have them and the hazelnuts all ready to finish just before dining.

When I made them a few days ago with some of the haricot verts (baby) beans from Costco, I decided to change the recipe a little bit, mainly because the hazelnuts I had needed to be skinned. Trader Joe’s carries them most of the year, but they’re not roasted or skinned, so the little buggers have to be toasted and rubbed to get the skin off. The easiest way to do this is to roast the nuts in a hot oven for a few minutes, then roll them around between two layers of terry cloth towels.

After roasting the nuts in a 400 oven for about 4-7 minutes, they looked like this – notice the cracks on some of them. They got hot enough that the skins began to crack off. That’s a good sign.

Here they are on a rough towel just before I started rolling them. You simply place the other half of the towel over the nuts and use the flat of your hands on the top towel to rub and roll around. Sometimes an errant nut will escape. I usually gather them back into a closer circle and do it again and again. Takes just a minute or so.

This is the result: most of the nuts have released their skins. You’ll notice one nut (top right) didn’t. I rolled that one several times all by itself. It still didn’t release the skin, so I chopped it anyway. A few skins won’t matter, but it’s good to get most of them off the nuts. The skins are bitter (well, somewhat bitter), therefore you do need to do this step – unless you can find mostly skinned ones already.

Since the skinning process toasted them, I didn’t want to pan-toast as in Phillis’ recipe. So I decided to use olive oil (rather than butter) and ADD some true hazelnut oil at the end. Then I tossed the chopped hazelnuts in at the end. I used my pounder to chop the nuts – that took about one minute max. Either way you make this, it has a distinct hazelnut flavor. Really delicious – either hot or cold. I served these as leftovers a night or two later, cold, and they were just as good. If you used butter you’ll need to reheat the beans to melt the butter – with olive oil you don’t.
printer-friendly CutePDF

Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open in MC – 14 contains photo)

Tweet

Does this salad ring a nostalgic bell in your head? I know my mother used to make something like this when I was very young. I think her concoction was just peas, cheese and mayo. Maybe it included some chopped-up sweet pickle. My friend Norma, who is recovering from major surgery, is trying to eat a few more things – like veggies – not just the puddings and smooth things she was eating a few weeks ago. That’s progress, I think. So I asked her what sounded good. She mentioned a pea salad with cheese cubes in it. Sure thing. She also thought green beans sounded good. So I cooked up a batch of baby green beans with bacon and onion. And I tried to create a pea salad that would intrigue her taste buds. She nixed the pickles (I only had relish, and that didn’t appeal to her).

But I added in some other things that may not have been in any of the 1950 era recipes – like bacon. A few recipes I found included macaroni, so I dug around in my pasta stash and found these baby tubes. And I included some hard boiled eggs in the salad too. I scooped out a small portion for us to eat and took the bulk of it to Norma. The salad is really good – amazing how just some simple ingredients can taste so good. Not exactly gourmet, but hey, once in awhile we need comfort food, right?
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Chicken Chili
Two years ago: Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Tweet