Inspiration - Winter Week #6

In this week's box:  butternut squash, green cabbage, mixed potatoes, carrots, white daikon radish, kale, dried sage

I have been back from vacation for about five days  and am finally getting into the kitchen swing of things again.  Don't you just hate post vacation re-entry?  The giant pile of mail was bad enough, but the mostly empty refrigerator was a downer too. And I was out of the habit of cooking every day.  Restaurants do have their charms.

Thank goodness I had a quart of chili, a loaf of homemade bread, a quart of turkey gravy and some leftover turkey in the freezer.  Plus a pile of winter vegetables, which do store so well.  Saved the day for sure.  Tonight I just added a few cups of chopped celery, carrots, onions and potatoes and some turkey to the gravy.  Whipped up a little biscuit dough, plopped it on top of the simmering gravy and veggies - cooked with the cover on for about 15 minutes and voila - dinner.  Refrigerator pickles on the side helped make up for the fact that it was really cold, gray and sloppy outside.

This is the time of year that can challenge even the most dedicated seasonal cook.   Yes, the cabbage, potatoes, carrots and squash in your box are fine plump specimens -- but one does yearn for some green beans or lettuce or sweet corn.  All I can say is -- patience.  All in good time.  Meanwhile, you have some good food to deal with and I will share a few of my secrets for the midwinter culinary blahs.

First - soup

Full flavored, long simmered soup is a blessing in the winter.   Pair soup with some excellent bread and butter or olive oil.  If you have been intending to try your hand at yeast bread now is the time.  You can also indulge in some apple pie or bread pudding or carrot cake - hearty desserts that might seem like too much in the summer.  But if you are eating a soup made with mostly or all vegetables for dinner - then by all means enjoy a little dessert.

You can try many soups with this week's vegetables - like cream of potato or carrot or squash.  Or try this recipe from a recent New York Times article - it uses squash, cabbage, carrots and sage along with other items.  It calls for farro - but you could use another grain instead.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/health/nutrition/13recipehealth.html?ref=dining

I am going to make borscht tomorrow.  I have some beets to use up - and I also can use some of my cabbage, carrots and potatoes in the borscht.  I think this soup is best if you make a good beef and/or pork broth first.  If you use meaty pork ribs and chuck roast you can add the meat to the soup. This soup is best if refrigerated and eaten two or three days after it is made.

Borscht -

Make about 10 cups meat stock - use soup bones or lean meaty ribs or chuck roast.  Add a little onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf to the water.  About one pound meat and bones to 5-6 cups water is a good proportion.  Simmer several hours and strain.  Cut up meat to add to soup later.
Add vegetables to the stock and simmer until all are tender - about 2 cups chopped onion, 4 cups shredded cabbage, 3 cups each chopped carrot and potato.  If you have some parsnip or rutabaga a little of that is good too.  Add about 3 cups chopped cooked and peeled beets near the end of cooking.   I also like to add a can of whole or diced tomatoes and their juice- about 3 cups.  If you are lucky, you will have a row of beautiful home canned tomatoes in your larder - now is the time to break out a jar.

Seasonings - use salt and pepper to taste.  A handful of fresh chopped parsley and dill is nice.  Near the end of cooking, add about 1/2 cup red wine vinegar or lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar.

Serve topped with some sour cream or creme fraiche.  Good with rye bread.  Also good with a full flavored red wine or some dark beer or ale.

Second - vinegar  Cook or season with vinegar.  Try different kinds.  Make coleslaw with a mustardy oil and vinegar dressing.  Shred or slice radishes and marinate with a little vinegar and sugar.  For more about vinegar see this 2010 blog post: http://cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com/2010/06/dig-in-vinegar.html

Third - pizza
Learn how to make homemade crust.  Or buy prepared crusts.  Experiment with different toppings.  How about butternut squash puree instead of tomato sauce?  Sprinkle it with some chopped garlic, crumbled dried sage, and grated parmesan.  Bake.  Serve with sliced plain raw radishes on the side. Maybe make a little dipping sauce for the radishes with some soy sauce, sugar and a little rice vinegar.

Or try beet pizza.  Really.  I would make a crust with a little whole wheat or rye flour.  Spread some caramelized onions and sliced roasted beets on the crust.  Dot with goat cheese.  Maybe add some walnuts.  Bake.

Fourth - comfort foods  Don't forget classic old favorites like colcannon - which is just potatoes and cabbage bound together with a generous dose of butter and milk.  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Colcannon-11710  You can use kale instead of cabbage to make colcannon if you like.
Add some roast chicken and maybe an apple for dessert and you have a great simple meal.

Or how about macaroni and cheese with some glazed carrots or braised cabbage on the side?   Or scalloped potatoes with a little ham and a raw carrot and radish salad?  Who needs fresh tomatoes and green beans when you have such excellent cabbage and carrots?

Save some of your cabbage and in few days I will tell you how to make your own sauerkraut at home.  It is easy.  Really.  And fermentation is the next new (old) thing.

Inspiration - Winter Week #4

In this week's box:  Spinach, Carrots, Potatoes, Garlic, Green Kale, Butternut Squash, Heart of Gold Squash, Parsnips, Green Cabbage, Red and White Daikon Radishes, Beets

This week's box is heavy.   But since you have about three weeks before the next box, you should be able to manage all this beautiful food just fine.   December is a busy time filled with shopping, parties, visiting, baking or coping with winter weather.  Try to make some time for your vegetable friends.  I have included a few party food recipes as well as simple stand-bys.  Recipe headings are in italics to make them a little easier to find.

I have been talking to some CSA members lately.  No surprise,  some of you tell me you had trouble using up all your vegetables last summer and fall. Even those of you with Chica shares!  One reason is that some of you eat out a lot.  (Note - Americans spent 48.6 cents of every food dollar away from home in 2009. So if you eat out a lot you are not alone.)  You are on the run - juggling work, children, elderly parents, activities, shopping or lessons.  What to do?

One thing you can do is think about using vegetables for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner.  Or make your own carry out "fast food".   I will try to help you with this "vegetables are not just for dinner" campaign in the coming weeks and months.

This weekend I will share recipes for pasties (pass-tees) as well as calzones.  We call things like this "road pies" in our house.   Yes, they are a little work but if you can manage to lay in a supply on the weekend they are great "grab and go" food and light years better than a Big Mac for all kinds of reasons I don't need to explain.  Have the kids help roll out the crusts.  Great life skill.

And of course there is always soup or stew.  Hard to eat in the car but ready and waiting when you get home if you have a crock pot or a timed bake feature on your oven.  I started some borscht yesterday morning and when I got back home about 6 p.m. dinner was ready.  All we had to do was toast some rye bread and throw a little creme fraiche on top of the soup.   And slice up some radishes for our salad.  (If you decide to get really motivated you could put hot soup in a few lunch box size thermos containers and let the kids work on that in the back seat.  If the soup is fairly chunky - stew, really -  and the kids aren't too little it should work just fine.)

Enough chatting.  You have places to go, people to see, things to do.  Let's take a look at what is inside your box. 

Spinach
Your bag is modest in size but large in taste.  Wash and dry the leaves and they should store a week at least.  To make the spinach go farther, use as a bed for other salad items like grated carrot salad or roasted beets or pickled radishes.

You could also make a squash risotto and add some spinach leaves near the end of the process so they are just barely cooked.  Adds nice extra color and nutrition.

Carrots
I love carrot season.   We can be profligate with carrots.  I add them to all kinds of soups and stews.  Grated raw, they make a fine salad when mixed with a simple oil and vinegar vinaigrette or some mayonnaise or yogurt.  I like to add a few raisins, nuts and chopped apple for extra fiber and nutrition.  Grated carrots, chopped nuts and some dressing make a great sandwich filling, too.  Add a little curry powder if you are feeling daring.

Potatoes
Maybe it was the blizzard, but yesterday we had potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.   Subconscious carbo loading I guess.   For breakfast I made hash browns with some fried eggs and toast.   Lunch was potato soup (I just sauteed some chopped leeks and carrots and a few slices of chopped bacon, added a whole pile of chopped potatoes and simmered in water until everything was soft.  Mash a little and add some milk, salt and pepper and chopped parsley if you have some and you are done.)  Dinner was herring salad, which included chunks of boiled potatoes.

Herring Salad  (I think this would be good party food if you want a Nordic menu.  Having a lefse making party?  Serve this salad.)
If you like pickled herring you will love this salad.  If you are lukewarm about herring, try this salad.  It is an acquired taste.  Great with rye crackers and some beer or even aquavit.  A deviled egg as a first course would be a nice touch. Serve the herring salad on top of a few fresh spinach leaves if you have them. 

Mix together -  in proportions appealing to you - the following items cut in a size appealing to you:
pickled herring (not the kind in cream sauce)
boiled potato
cooked beet
sweet gherkin pickle  (or dill pickle if you prefer)
onion (red is nice) or shallot
flavorful apple
a few capers if you like them
some diced red or white daikon radish for extra crunch and texture


Bind together with sour cream or creme fraiche.  Add some chopped fresh parsley and fresh dill if you have it.  Good quality dried dill would work too.  Omit parsley if you don't have fresh.  Taste.  Add a little salt and pepper if desired.  A little squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a dash of wine vinegar would be a nice touch. 

Potato-onion-squash bake
You will need about 1 cup sliced potatoes, 1 cup sliced winter squash, 1/2 cup chopped or sliced onions, 1/2 cup milk and a teaspoon or so of minced garlic per serving.  Multiply quantities as needed.  The potatoes and squash should be cut in similarly sized slices. 
Alternate two layers of potatoes, squash and onions.  Mix garlic with milk and pour over all.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg.  Bake, covered, at 350 degrees until vegetables are soft.  If you want, uncover the last 10 minutes or so,  add some buttered bread crumbs and parmesan and broil a few minutes for a crispy browned topping.

A simple supper dish.  Bake an apple right alongside for dessert.  Cole slaw would be a good salad for this meal.  A feast.

Garlic
It is so wonderful to have good quality fresh garlic around.  I have been storing mine in the refrigerator.  Make sure you also keep some fresh ginger around.  Fresh ginger and garlic is a marriage made in heaven.  Almost any vegetable is wonderful sauteed with these two seasonings - and some soy sauce or sesame oil or both.

Green Kale
Pasta with kale

Wash the kale, trim away the tough ribs, and blanch for a minute or two in boiling water.  (Save the water for cooking pasta.)  Cut the kale roughly into strips and saute in olive oil with a generous amount of minced garlic.  Stir into your favorite cooked pasta.  Served with some crumbled feta or blue cheese or grated parmesan this is a great standby quick dinner.  It can be eaten at room temperature for lunch, too.  I think I would sprinkle on a little balsamic vinegar if I was eating it for lunch that way.

Butternut Squash
Getting tired of plain baked or mashed squash?   Make some risotto.
Squash risotto (made with rice or barley)
Peel, seed and cut squash into 1/2 inch pieces.  Steam or boil until just barely tender.  Save the boiling water for the risotto.  Saute some rice or barley or other whole grain with a little butter and oil and chopped onion or leek.  Add about 1/2 cup white wine and then one cup of broth at a time, simmering and stirring, until the grain is al dente.  Stir in a few cups of chopped squash and maybe some spinach leaves and you are done.  Serve with grated parmesan and a few toasted walnuts or pine nuts.  A few golden raisins or sun dried tomatoes stirred in would be nice too.  Thyme would be a good herb to use with this dish.

Prosciutto wrapped squash - party food
Cut about 2 pounds of butternut squash into wedges (peeled).  Blanch in boiling, lightly salted water about 5 minutes until just tender.  Drain and cool.  Wrap a wafer thin slice of prosciutto around each squash wedge and place on a rimmed baking sheet. 
Mix together 1/3 cup walnut or olive oil, 1/3 cup fresh orange juice 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper and 1 t. dried thyme.

Pour dressing over squash and bake about 8 minutes at 425 degrees.  Serve warm.

Heart of Gold Squash
This is a very tasty squash.  Lately I have just been cutting this type of squash into one inch slices, removing the seeds but leaving on the skin.  Coat with just a little bit of oil (maybe add a little real maple syrup to the oil) and roast until tender.  Salt and pepper and that is all you need.  You could serve this as a warm "salad" course, drizzled with some balsamic vinegar.  I have been eating the skins - they are not tough at all.  Up to you.

Warm roasted squash presented nicely on a special tray or plate could be great party food.  If you leave the skins on, the slices are easy to pick up and nibble.

Parsnips
The long awaited precious parsnips have arrived!   Because parsnips are so sweet, they once were commonly used in desserts.  The sometimes still are.

You can roast your parsnips with some carrots and potatoes for a wonderful meal.  Or you can try a parsnip pie.


Parsnip pie - adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham
Makes one ten inch pie.
Use your favorite pastry recipe to make a pie crust and partly bake about 5 minutes at 425 degrees. (prick shell all over to avoid puffing)
Pour filling into the partially baked shell, drizzle with 2 T. honey, lower temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 50-60 minutes - until the filling is firm in the center.  Serve at room temperature with lightly whipped cream.
Pie filling:
3 cups pureed plain parsnips (peel, boil, drain and mash well)
2 T. softened butter
1/2 cup honey
1 T. orange rind, grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon EACH cinnamon and mace or nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon EACH allspice and cloves (or all cloves)
1 t. fresh lemon juice

Green cabbage
Use some of your cabbage for cole slaw.  Make sure to save at least a third of the head for borscht (see recipe below, under Beets)  And you could also use part of your cabbage in a stir fry.  Pork, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, a little Chinese wine or sherry, cut up cabbage and finish with a dash of sesame oil.  Serve with rice or noodles.  Add a little sliced or julienned carrot when you are cooking the cabbage for some extra color if you wish.

Red and white daikon radishes
These radishes are great simply peeled, thinly sliced and served with your favorite dip.
Last night we ate them with dill dip before we ate our venison borscht.

I LOVE the magenta color.

Creme fraiche is better than sour cream for soup - doesn't curdle

They also are great in a sandwich to add crunch and a little zing.  Who needs iceberg lettuce or onions if you have daikon radishes?
Try them on a burger.
You can also peel and dice or shred the radishes to use in lettuce salads or as a garnish to Asian style soup or noodle dishes. 


Beets
I highly recommend that you make a big pot of borscht some time soon.  You have practically everything you need in your box - potatoes, cabbage, carrots, garlic and - of course BEETS.  You will need to get a large onion, too.  And some kind of meat.  I used venison top round steak this week.  Any cut of beef that benefits from long slow cooking would be fine, as would beef soup bones.  And a can or jar of tomatoes or tomato juice.  Parsley is optional but nice.

Borscht
Make or buy 2 quarts of beef stock.  (You can also use water.  I used a few cups of beet cooking water, a bottle of beer and 2 cups of tomato juice along with some water.  This recipe makes a thick soup.  Add more liquid for a thinner soup.
Add the following to the stock or water:
Meat, if desired (you can use leftover roast meat or simple diced stew meat.  You could use beef or pork.  We used some road kill venison (but that is another story).
You don't need more than 1/4 pound per serving - maybe less.

The following vegetables - in approximately these amounts:
2 cups chopped onion or leek
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced potatoes (no need to peel)
4 - 5 cups sliced or chopped cabbage
2 cloves minced garlic
about 2 cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes with their juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 T. dried dill weed (or 2 T. fresh if you have it)
1-2 t. salt
pepper to taste
2 - 3 cups cooked, peeled and diced beets (add in the last half hour or so of cooking)
Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, on the stove or in the oven until meat and vegetables are tender. Even better served the next day.

It is very important that borscht have a sweet sour taste.  Near the end of cooking, add about 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice.  Taste.  Adjust with a little more of one or both as you wish.
Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream or rich yogurt if desired.

End of winter soup

It got down to freezing last night in Fillmore County.  This morning Frank reported that there were ice crystals on the row cover that he had thrown over the potato plants yesterday.  We also have begun to harvest and enjoy rhubarb.  So is it spring yet?

I hereby declare that winter ended about five days ago.  That was when I decided to clean out the vegetable drawer in our refrigerator and make a big pot of borscht.  I piled up the odds and ends of root vegetables that we have been storing all winter: potatoes, red onions, rutabaga, carrot, parsnips, cabbage and beets.  Plus some wintered over parsley from the garden.  I brought a quart jar of canned tomatoes up from the basement too.   And last but not least I thawed a small chunk of pork shoulder.  It made me feel SO GOOD to be able to use up all these good vegetables.  Another week and they would have been headed for the compost.  I think I just may start an annual tradition - the end of winter borscht - when we say goodbye to the root vegetables and get ready to start in on the asparagus and morel mushrooms.

After a serious session of vegetable peeling and chopping or slicing, I brought about 3 quarts of beef stock to a boil.  You could also use plain water or pork or chicken or vegetable stock.  Then I added about 10 cups of vegetables (mostly cut into 1/2 inch chunks) to the stock, along with the piece of pork.  The proportion of vegetables doesn't matter so much -- just make sure to have enough beets to make the soup turn lovely red.  After the stock came back to a boil I turned the soup down to simmer until everything was tender.  Then I removed the meat, chopped it and returned it to the pot.  At this point you can season to taste with salt and pepper and a few handfuls of chopped fresh parsley.  (Dried parsley flakes are icky.  Don't use them.)  I also added dried dill (not icky) Fresh dill is wonderful if you have some.  Then comes the really important part - the part that makes borscht borscht.  It is the addition of red wine vinegar (or fresh lemon juice) and sugar.  For this quantity of soup I suggest starting with about 1/3 cup of each.  Add a bit more if you like a more intense sweet sour experience.  This soup is best made the day before you plan to eat it.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream, yogurt or creme fraiche and hearty rye bread on the side.  And kiss winter goodbye.
Note - you could make this soup without any meat.  If you do that, consider adding a few cups of red kidney beans for additional nutrition and substance.