Cooking Up a Winter Storm

Three snowstorms and two weekends later, my kitchen has come alive.  I have been in sensory heaven with all the wonderful smells and flavors wafting out of my kitchen.  I have two weekends of cooking to share, so this will be a little long, packed full of cookbook references, recipes, links and photos where I could squeeze them in...well worth the read, I hope!

Weekend No. One: January 14 - 17
Over the long weekend, I made my first trip to the winter farmers market and found some delicious local treats.  There were vendors selling essential oils and soaps, scones, homemade pastas, teas, smoked salmon, cheeses, fudge, dog treats, two farms selling their winter crops and a family selling some delicious fresh Mediterranean delights like tabbouleh, hummus in a variety of flavors and "lemon" feta (a Bulgarian feta cheese tossed with fresh chopped basil and lemon zest).  My first purchase consisted of some turnips, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, onions and parsnips, the lemon feta, hummus, some fromage blanc with chives, a little mix of dog biscuits for Oscar, some ravioli, a tea infuser and a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.

Over a plate of hummus, feta salad and some green olives, I pulled out a few of my cookbooks and started flipping through searching for the perfect recipes.  I received  Barefoot in Paris  for Christmas from my brother and his girlfriend and thought this was the perfect opportunity to break it in.  I came across a recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon which sounded amazing.  The idea of a stew filled with a sumptuous bottle of red wine was tantalizing, but I didn't love all the ingredients, so I modified the recipe based on the veggies I had grabbed at the market. Instead of using the frozen pearl onions and mushrooms (which I have no issue with, I just was going for something a little different), I diced a pound of Yukon gold potatoes with the skins on and chopped three peeled parsnips. I also threw in a bouquet garni of one sprig of rosemary, four sprigs of thyme and a few sage leaves.  Since I don't have an oven safe pot (Santa needs to send me a Le Creuset dutch oven for Christmas next year!), I let the soup simmer covered on the back burner for a few hours. The whole house smelled like bacon and red wine for hours.  I was so anxious to try it, but I had to be patient and let all the flavors come together.  When I finally took my first taste, I was completely caught off-guard.  This was not your ordinary beef stew.  Spoonfuls of carrots and tender beef warmed my soul on such a cold Sunday night.  I froze half of it for another cold weekend to come. 

Since I don't have much experience with cooking butternut squash, I chose that as my next ingredient to tackle.  One of my new favorite websites, yummly.com (similar to what kayak.com is for airfare searches, this site pulls from a number of great recipe sites), revealed a great number of recipes but the one that stood out was Butternut Squash Risotto.  I had learned to make risotto a couple of years ago so I was happy to find a new version to add to my repertoire.  I used Giada de Laurentiis' basic risotto recipe from Everyday Italian as the base.  I halved the squash and removed the seeds, then drizzled the squash with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and cracked pepper and roasted it in the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes at 400 degrees until it was knife-tender.  Once it had cooled enough to handle, I peeled one half and roughly chopped the squash.  Once the risotto was ready to serve, I gently tossed in the squash.  I yet again found myself savoring each bite like it was a treasure.  The silky smoothness of the risotto combined with the slightly sweet and soft texture of the squash was a beautiful way to end a long weekend.  I just wish I could find a way to make risotto taste that way re-heated.  Oh!  The other half of squash, I pureed and froze for another day.

Weekend No. Two: January 21 - 23
This weekend was another busy weekend of running errands, dodging ice on the roads and cooking like a fiend.   I made a visit to Sunshine Farm's Open House and met my farming family!  I snapped a few photos of the farm grounds deep in winter slumber (which I managed to delete from my phone while emailing them to myself--genius, Em) and then I was on my way to the winter market. This week, I limited myself to $20 at the winter market, and decided I would plan my menu based on what I could manage to get for that $20.  I came home with some great finds!  Farm fresh eggs, some hot house green leaf lettuce, two acorn squash, three pounds of potatoes,two sweet onions, and a half loaf of french bread.

I yet again pulled out the cookbooks over some leftover risotto and picked several recipes that I was going to attempt to get done in one weekend.  For the ground lamb, I found a recipe for lamb meatballs and for the sausages, I thought I'd make my version of bangers and mash.  Now that the meat entrees were out of the way, it was time to figure out the veggies.  I got incredibly distracted, however, by some baking ideas.  I was browsing the pages of my newest cookbook again, Barefoot in Paris, and found a recipe for brioche.  I have always wanted to try baking bread and have been incredibly intimidated by it.  Now, brioche is not what I would call the easiest recipe for my first attempt at bread, but I never let a thing like that get in the way.  I made the dough on Saturday and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.  I had to sit at room temperature another three and a half hours (!) this morning before I got to bake the loaves.  The result was two lovely, smaller than expected loaves of heavenly smelling bread. I probably should have moved the oven rack down a notch because the tops were a little too brown.  Now, the question is, what am I to do with all this bread!?  Well, of course I can freeze one, but the other will need to be put to good use this week.  To start, we'll try making some Apple Brown Betty from Tyler Florence's Family Meal.  In addition to my adventures with bread baking, I also made two different batches of chocolate chip cookie dough (one with walnuts and one with coconut) that I scooped and froze for a rainy day, and whipped up some frozen raspberries I had around into some sorbet.  With some very ripe bananas I had in the fruit bowl, I made my grandmother's banana bread.  I also threw together some palmiers and cheese straws with some leftover puff pastry from the freezer to bring with me to a dinner party I went to last night.

After all that baking yesterday, I was exhausted this morning and just wanted to relax a bit today; however, I needed to make sure I had lunches and dinners for the week, so back to the stove I go, but first breakfast.  I scrambled up some of the farm fresh eggs and added in a dab of the fromage blanc with chives from last week and topped it with some fresh thyme leaves.  Yummy way to use it, I might add!  Probably would be delicious on a baked potato as well.  I mentioned lamb meatballs (from Can I Freeze It?) earlier, and my version of bangers and mash, but did I mention the winter squash and sage ravioli recipe I found in Stonewall Kitchen's Harvest cookbook?  Okay, so let's go through this one recipe at a time:

Lamb Meatballs with Spaghetti and Marinara (Serves 4) adapted from Susie Theodorou's Can I Freeze It?

For the meatballs:
two 1 1/2 inch thick slices rustic bread with crust removed, torn into very small pieces
1/3 cup milk
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 small onion, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, lightly smashed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil

For Emilly's sauce:
One 28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (you can also use the jarred crushed garlic here if you want to save a step)
1 - 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine

Marinara Sauce My Way...
I got this idea from a friend of mine who makes pizza sauce similarly for his stromboli recipe.  It just makes an awesome base for about anything pizza or pasta-related. 

Pour the contents of the can of whole plum tomatoes on a baking sheet, juice and all.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, the cloves of garlic and olive oil.  Fresh herbs are always better, but dried will suffice in the winter.  Toss with hands to combine and place in a 325 degree oven and roast for 30 minutes.  Once cooled, add  1 T of olive oil to a saucepan and saute an onion (with a pinch of salt and pepper) for 5-10 minutes until onion is soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. I usually take the whole tomatoes off the baking sheet and squish them in my hands into the saucepan and then scrape the rest of the contents of the baking sheet into the saucepan.  I know it's messy, but there's something really fun and therapeutic about mashing up the tomatoes by hand.  Besides, I love the texture it creates in the sauce.  Stir contents and add the can of crushed tomatoes.  Add oregano, basil, salt, pepper and red wine and stir until incorporated.  If you like a sweeter sauce, feel free to add a little tomato paste.  Let simmer covered on stove until ready to serve.

Emily's Marinara in progress

Meatballs
To make the meatballs, add bread crumbs and milk into a bowl and let stand for ten minutes until the bread has absorbed the milk.  In a separate bowl, add lamb, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, onion and egg.  Using your hand, mash together the ingredients and then add the bread mixture.  Form into roughly 20 1 1/2 inch balls and cook in a pan until browned on all sides and firm.  Place on a plate with some paper towels until you're ready to put it all together.

Once pasta is cooked, toss with sauce and plate.  Add 3 - 4 meatballs to eat plate and serve.

De-li-cious!!! Especially with a yummy tossed green salad and some of those leftover cheese straws.

Apple Brown Betty (Serves 4) From Tyler Florence's Family Meal

There are couple tidbits I'd like to share here: Calvados is a delicious French apple brandy that is awesome for cooking.  I first discovered it when my friend Kristina and I were pulling together recipes for Thanksgiving.  I splurged on a bottle of it and it made all the difference in the stuffing. I have used it a number of times since in a variety of recipes and am already halfway through the bottle!

I learned this cool tip from January's Cooks Illustrated.  A reader suggested after she has used a stick of butter (usually after it's softened) she would fold the wax paper in half and freeze it.  One wrapper is just about enough butter to grease one cake pan.  I used one wrapper to grease all four ramekins.  I love this trick and will start saving those wrappers!

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter for the ramekins (or one wrapper from a softened stick of butter)

Granulated sugar for the ramekins

3 -4 Granny Smith apples, peeled cored and sliced into thin wedges

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup packaged brown sugar (light or dark, your choice)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch fresh ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons Calvados

4 slices brioche loaf, cut into small cubes

4 tablespoons (1.2 stick) butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease four ramekins with butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and Calvados and toss to combine.  Place the bread cubes in a separate mixing bowl and pour the melted butter over them.  Toss to coat the bread with the butter.  Place some bread cubes in the bottom of each ramekin followed by some of the apple mixture.  Repeat to make a second layer, pressing down gently on the fillings to compact slightly. Pour any remaining liquid from the apple bowl over the ramekins.

Arrange the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden and crusty, 40 to 45 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Since it's 11:00, it's too late to bake these beauties, so, I will let you know how they are in my next edition!  I'll report on the bangers and mash and the winter squash ravioli in my next edition as well.  Until then, be well and support your local farmers.  Good night moon...

- Emily