Cranberries in December

First, let me apologize for not having posted anything in a few weeks.  I've been having a difficult time with the early darkness of winter, as I always do at this time of year.  I have been trying to accept the cold, but I need the sun to help me out a little, too.

Also, it's difficult to cook a dish and photograph it before I lose natural light.

But enough with the excuses.  Let's bring some of that brightness we're craving back into the kitchen.

During Thanksgiving this year, I learned how to roast a turkey (!). This is a first for me, because I had been a vegetarian for the previous couple of decades.  My aunt Lynne usually hosts Thanksgiving and  texted me a while back so see if I would eat turkey along with everyone else if she purchased a sustainably-raised one.  I gladly accepted this offer and jumped at the chance to actually learn how to cook a turkey.

While our family has a set of traditional dishes at Thanksgiving, like the turkey and fixings, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable sides, and my beloved cranberry sauce, the way in which each is prepared changes each year.  This is wonderful for us home cooks, because we get to try out new dishes and flavors.  Our menu is always current and accommodating (last year I wrote about cooking for a group with various dietary needs).

Cranberry sauce from a can is absolutely delicious.  But it's also easy to make from scratch and can be varied endlessly.  Aunt Lynne made a cranberry chutney this year, more savory than sweet.  Of course I wanted the recipe - it called for a reprise during Christmas!

I'm hosting a smaller group of family for Christmas this week.  I'm so excited that I planned a seven course meal and maybe even a "table scape."  Okay, not really a table scape, but I do have a tablecloth and matching napkins. And a table and chairs, if I remember to bring them in from the patio in time to warm to room temperature.

Part of this meal is a cheese plate with olives, crackers, and this festive cranberry chutney. You can make it in about a half hour and hardly need to pay that much attention.  If you have been crazy with holiday get-togethers and have been charged with bringing an appetizer to one, I encourage you to steal this idea. No one will be disappointed, except Grinches.

CRANBERRY CHUTNEY

• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 T. ginger root, minced
• 2 t. mustard seed
• 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 t. salt

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients.  Put on high heat until simmering, then reduce to low. Simmer until thickened and cooked through, stirring occasionally.  Allow to cool, transfer to fancy serving bowl, and think of all the possibilities!

Japanese Pickled Ginger and Sushi at Home. Sort of...

Like many, one of my favorite meals out is sushi.  I have made (vegetarian) sushi at home, too, which is a lot of fun, but also an event.

When I'm wanting the flavor of sushi without the cost of going out or all the work, I make "Sushi Salad."  It satisfies my craving and is fairly easy to make.  It does call for a few specialty ingredients, like the pickled ginger that is a standard at sushi bars, which I tried making at home recently with very good results.

If you have a mandoline (I'm absolutely loving my new one!), Japanese Pickled Ginger is quite simple. Slicing the ginger paper thin is definitely the most difficult and time-consuming part, but it's certainly worth the effort.

I bought about a pound of ginger a few weeks ago at the Asian market with the intention of making the condiment, and I was lucky enough to find very fresh, young ginger at a good price.  I made a double recipe, which is a couple pints, and the ginger will keep for months in the refrigerator.

So, basically, I have a lot of home sushi projects to complete in the coming year.  For now, I will settle for my simple sushi salad.  The flavor and texture of the pickled ginger is so nice, though, and I may dream up other ways to use it.  At the very least, it make for a great pick-me-up and cook's snack while other ingredients are being prepped.

JAPANESE PICKLED GINGER
(adapted from The Joy of Pickling, by Linda Zeidrich)

• 8 oz. fresh, peeled ginger, very thinly sliced
• 1 t. sea salt (or pickling salt), plus more for sprinkling
• 1 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 t. soy sauce

Bring a saucepan with about a quart of water to a boil.   Add ginger and return to boil.  Boil ginger for a few seconds and drain well in a colander.  Place ginger in a bowl and sprinkle very lightly with salt.  Toss to coat and pack into one pint or two half-pint jars.  These are quick fridge pickles and a loose pack will be fine.

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar, one teaspoon salt, sugar, and soy sauce to a simmer.  Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.  Pour hot mixture over ginger and cap the jars.  Store them in the refrigerator for at least two days before using. Ginger will keep for several months.

Of course, you can also find pickled ginger at an Asian grocery, but it will likely have MSG and pink food dye.  I won't judge you.

SUSHI SALAD

• 1 1/2 cup rice - I like brown rice in this application
• 1/4 cup plus 3 T. rice vinegar (again, unseasoned)
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 2 T. sesame seeds (I like the black ones for this, but I'm out of them at the moment)
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 2 T. Japanese Pickled Ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup carrots, julienned (or fine dice)
• 1 cucumber, seeded and julienned (or fine dice)
• 1 avocado, sliced thin
• 2 t. wasabi powder
• 3 T. water
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. ginger pickling brine
• 1-2 sheets nori

Cook rice according to type and transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.  Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and stir until sugar and salt is dissolved.  Stir into cooked rice along with sesame seeds.  Stir in three tablespoons vinegar, oil, ginger, carrots, and cucumber.  Set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine wasabi powder, water, soy sauce, and pickling brine. Set aside.

In serving bowl, place rice mixture and top with avocado.  Drizzle with wasabi mixture and strips of nori.  With the nori, I like to cut a sheet in thirds with kitchen shears, roll lengthwise, and cut crosswise with the shears over the salad.  Enjoy!

Garden Series Part VII: Tomatillos

Okay, it's more like Part VI-b because I just wrote about the nightshade family a couple of weeks ago...

...but my nightshade recipe did not include tomatillos and I have now written over fifty (!) little articles for you all, so I have license to be a little cavalier.

I spent a little hangout time in the garden the other morning realizing how terribly overgrown the whole thing is and then lost track of time pulling up over-prolific strawberry plants, rearranging cucumber vines, and staking quinoa stalks.  I also disentangled the many, many branches of tomatillos that were starting to climb through the privacy fence to my neighbor's yard.  Guessing by the way she ripped the pole beans apart that reached her side, I don't think she would appreciate the tomatillos.

I'm actually really happy with the shear abundance of fruit on the tomatillo plants this year.  Last year I grew one very large plant that had hundreds of sweet yellow flowers, but never produced a single fruit.  While I hadn't read anything on the subject, I know that sometimes growing more than one plant of a single variety is necessary and I gave that theory a shot this year.  It worked.

The tomatillos you see here are the Purple de Milpa variety and are quite a bit smaller than the standard ones you find in the grocery store.  As they get more direct sunlight, they get more purple (purpler?).  The purple stripes and shoulders you see on the fruits themselves are where the husks either split or grew transparent as they dried.

So what to actually do with tomatillos?  I only know one recipe that uses them, which is an especially delicious salsa I learned to make from my friend Hector's mother, Angelica.  She's from Mexico (they both are) and the salsa is likely traditional to Michoacán, but I got the impression that she is inventive in her own right.  She makes a smoky chile oil that I would buy by the case.

DISCLAIMER: I checked to make sure the recipe isn't a family secret and now I get to share it with you here.  If you like it, Angelica gets all the credit.  If you don't, I probably forgot something and it's totally my fault.  Or you simply have bad taste, you poor thing.

This is an avocado salsa, but is completely different than guacamole.  It's wonderful on just about anything, especially fish tacos.  I didn't have the fixin's for fish tacos today (plus, I'm still working on the food-sensitivity thing from last week), so I put it on the chicken I made for dinner.  I'm not a huge fan of chicken, so this was a good move.


SALSA DE AGUACATE

• 1 pint tomatillos

• 1-2 jalapeños, depending on how spicy you like
• 1 avocado
• salt to taste

Peel the husks off the tomatillos and rinse thoroughly to remove the sticky film.  Wash the jalapeños and trim the stem from the end.  Put the tomatillos and jalapeños in a medium saucepan, add water just to cover, and set over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the tomatillos are softened, about five minutes.

Using the saucepan lid to hold the tomatillo mixture back, drain off the excess water.  Put the mixture into a blender.  If you are using a standard blender, remember to remove the center of the lid and cover with a washcloth and your hand to avoid a hot-blended-mess from erupting onto your ceiling and into your eyes.  Blend until smooth.  I sort of have a feeling that Angelica strains the seeds from the mixture at this point, but I'm a little lazy and don't mind the seeds.

Add the avocado and salt and blend until smooth.  The consistency should be just pourable, so add water as necessary to thin.  Taste for salt before pouring the salsa into a bowl.  My favorite way to taste-test a salsa is to use a tortilla chip.  And to do several tests.

Allow to cool and chill until ready to use.  Seriously, put it on anything you can think of.

Look at that well-balanced meal!!!

Note:  Uhh...I'm aware that I posted two salsa recipes in a row.  I'm letting the 50+ posts thing go to my head and I'm fine with that.  And also, my dear friend is hosting a Labor Day Salsa Challenge and it's been on my mind.  And it's summer, for crying out loud.  But I promise something more substantial next week.

Garden Series, Part VI: Solanaceae, or The Nightshades

Tomatoes! Tomatillos! Chiles! Eggplant! Potatoes! And basically everything good!

My favorites of the garden are starting to come into season.  There is a strong tomato focus to my garden and I have recently discovered that eggplants are quite beautiful. If you know me, you may know that I'm not a fan of bell peppers (blech!), but I do love the spicy kind, and chiles also make for pretty plants.  This year, I gave Purple de Milpa tomatillos another chance, and while they are not ready yet, there may be hundreds in a week or two.

It turns out that the members of the Night Shade family make great cooking companions.  Most of my gardening and cooking energy goes to the tomatoes, as I can them and freeze them and use them throughout the year.  As if I'm a pioneer.  Or a survivalist.  (I'm neither, but that's beside the point.)  But other than a potential jar of pickled jalapeños, the non-tomato night shades get consumed right away.  We'll see about using up those tomatillos...

It also turns out that mixing together tomatoes, eggplant, and chiles makes for a great puttanesca sauce.  Well, at least with the addition of some pantry ingredients, like capers and pickled peperoncini (American-style, not the strict Italian translation). Olives would be great, too, but I'm out. It's also entertaining to me that "night shades" make up the sauce that was for "ladies of the night." But I love a little wordplay and I'm aware that I'm kinda nerdy and cerebral. 



I was a little worried about posting too many pasta recipes, and then realized that pasta can almost always be replaced by pouring the sauce over polenta.  I thought of this as I was eating and found myself wishing I had done this in the first place.  So, if you're not into pasta, think about polenta.


PUTTANESCA

• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 hot chile, sliced
• 1 small eggplant, chopped
• 4-5 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 T. capers
• 2-3 peperoncini, sliced (American-style)
• salt and black pepper
• handful of basil
• parmesan, to garnish
• chèvre, to top
• 1/2 pound penne OR POLENTA

Start water for the pasta, or prepare polenta.  While heating and cooking, prepare the sauce.

In a medium cold skillet, pour in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add garlic and set heat to medium.  Once the garlic begins to sizzle, stir a few times and allow to cook for about 30 seconds, depending on the heat of the stove. Add chile slices, give a couple stirs, and then add the eggplant.  After about a minute, add the tomatoes, capers, and peperoncini.  Allow the ingredients to cook and release their juices.  After about five to ten minutes, they will come together as a nicely textured sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.

If using pasta, reserve a little pasta cooking water, drain, and toss directly into the sauce.  Loosen with pasta water as necessary.  Chop basil at the last minute and toss along with the pasta and sauce. Serve topped with parmesan and some good, solid chunks of goat cheese.

If using polenta, ladle the polenta into bowls.  Toss freshly-chopped basil into the sauce and pour over the polenta.  Garnish with parmesan and goat cheese.  Enjoy outside on the patio overlooking the garden.  Perfect.

Garden Series Part II: Arugula & Herbs

Along with salad greens and a few perennial herbs, arugula became one of the biggest hits in the garden in the past couple weeks.  Since it is pungent, and I doubt you need a new recipe for salad, I thought I'd try a pesto.

I found out a wonderful pesto trick last summer when I harvested the last of the basil.  I love pesto, but I do like one that has the right balance of flavors and texture.  I also prefer it to remain bright green and luxurious, but I had accepted that basil oxidizes and pesto only lasts a short time.  But it doesn't have to be that way...

The secret is blanching your herbs.  It sounds like a bad idea; like it would ruin the flavor and wilt the herbs into disintegration.  What it actually does it preserve the flavor and the wonderful green color, adds a silkiness to the finished sauce, and allows it to keep well for days.  This is the type of pesto I will make from now on and freeze at the end of the season to enjoy all year.

In any case, don't skip the blanching and feel free to mix up the choice of herbs.  Basil is always wonderful and quintessential, but consider any soft green herb with bold flavor.  Arugula makes a nice sub for early summer/late spring, when it's growing like crazy and basil is barely sprouting.  Pine nuts can easily be swapped for walnuts, if you're a bit of a traditionalist.

BEST PESTO

• 4 cups arugula or basil, packed
• 6 T. parmesan, plus more to garnish
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Heat a large pot of water to boiling and set up a bowl of ice water, big enough to hold a strainer.  I like to use my salad spinner for this - after I discovered the strainer part of it can handle hot water.  Once the water comes to a boil, add the arugula and submerge it in the hot water.  Blanch the arugula for just a few seconds - it will become a very bright green.

Pour the arugula through the strainer and replace the strainer in the ice water for a minute, to shock and chill. Remove the strainer from the ice water and allow the water to drain off.

Put the arugula, parmesan, walnuts, and garlic in a food processor.  A chopped clove of raw garlic would be fine here, I just prefer a light touch of garlic flavor so as not to discourage my customers from talking to me for a couple days.  Process the ingredients and allow the blade to run while drizzling in the oil.

Taste the pesto for salt.  Add just a small amount, because the pungency of the herbs and the parmesan have already done some great seasoning work for you.

Enjoy on bread, over pasta, or by the spoonful.  This does keep well, but it might not last long enough to worry about that.


P.S.  I know, I know.  I promised an extra post last week.  It's ready for this Thursday.  I promise.  It's auto-scheduled and everything!