In the Press and On the Hunt

Oh golly.  How am I ever going to convey all the exciting food adventures I've had in one digestible morsel?  Well I'll just dive in...

Heaven, I'm in heaven.  My dad used to sing that song to me when I was little.  I'm in food heaven right now.  I was so certain that the summer would be the best time, food-wise, but this transitional time into fall is really incredible.  I've been playing so much!  A brown butter hazelnut cake with caramelized pears, coffee ice cream, delicata bread, shortbread cookies, eggplant cakes with sauteed tomatoes and peppers.  Plus, I went to a cider pressing event that gave me way more joy than one could anticipate, the kind that makes your face hurt from smiling, and fills your dreams with cider.  And I had gifts showered upon me from a friend with a garden:  fresh, pulpy grape juice (this ain't no welches!), peppery arugula, beautiful oregano, dill, parsley and fennel fronds, tomatoes, and the cutest little peppers you ever did see!  Every day is a feast!  My fridge overfloweth!  And my freezer too!

Sometimes, often when you least expect it, you cook up something so good you want to cry and jump and scream and share and eat more and more!  A conversation with my mom about eggplant frittata gave me the inspiration for the eggplant cakes pictured above.  Occasionally the ingredients in your kitchen conspire to join forces in a way you could never have planned.  These savory  cakes turned out so moist, so delicate, so delectable, I could hardly believe it.  Am I exaggerating?  Try them out and see what you think:  Slice and roast an eggplant, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper, at 450 degrees until evenly brown.  Then mash it up with a fork (remove skins according to your desire- I did, but if you pulsed it in a food processor, you could leave them in) and add a couple of tablespoons of flour, 2 eggs, a couple of tablespoons of sauteed onion, goat cheese, salt and pepper, and enough buttermilk to bring it to batter consistency.  While the eggplant is roasting, saute up one medium chopped onion (reserve some for the batter), a minced garlic clove, half a green bell pepper, two small chiles, one chopped tomato, and about a half tablespoon of chopped oregano.  Let this simmer to meld the flavors while you fry up the cakes.  I recommend using lard (bacon drippings work great, but you can use butter if you want to be vegetarian about it).    Then plate it up with a dollop of plain yogurt, which ties the dish together beautifully.  You won't believe your taste buds.  Please, try this and let me know if it's as good as I remember it.

Another happy experiment came of using delicata squash in bread.  Earlier this summer I had some delicious squash bread, and I duplicated it using an incredible sibley squash that had such an intensely colored flesh.  I was longing for this yummy breakfast bread, and opted to try it with delicata, since that's what I had on hand.  Delicata has this sweet, vegetal taste that gave the bread an addictive quality.  I sliced the squash into 3/4 inch rounds to speed the cooking (after removing the seeds) and put it into a pyrex dish with about a tablespoon of butter bits, a few pieces of star anise, two cardamom pods, four cloves, and enough hot water to cover the bottom of the dish.  Then I covered it with foil and baked it at 450 degrees until it was very soft, about 25 minutes.  Once it had cooled a bit, I passed it through a food mill.  The result was a lovely yellow mound of squash with enticing green bits from the edible skin.  This gave me just the right amount for the bread.  Use it in any squash bread recipe, or follow this recipe from an older edition of Joy of Cooking:  Sift together 3 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, 2 t salt, 1 t cinnamon, and 1 t clove.  In a large bowl, beat until fluffy:  2 2/3 c sugar, 2/3 c lard, 4 eggs.  Beat in 2 cups squash.  Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternately with 2/3 c milk and 1 t vanilla (don't overbeat).  Fold in 1 c nuts.  I didn't use nuts, and I missed them.  Use nuts.  Grease a 9x5 pan, pour in batter and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.  This bread freezes well, or makes for happy neighbors if you're feeling generous.

One last exciting tale before I go.  I finally went on a mushroom hunt.  Any of you in the know are swooning at that admission.  Mushroom hunting is a funny thing, shrouded in mystery and diversion.  Mushrooms are treasures, gifts of the earth, and no mushroom hunter is eager to divulge secrets, lest his booty be taken from him.  I don't know how I got so lucky, but I managed to find that rare thing, a mushroom hunter willing to take along some novices.  A gaggle of us headed into the mountains on a beautiful fall weekend and were rewarded for our efforts with pounds and pounds of chanterelles, matsutakes, shrimps, honey mushrooms, rusullas, cottonwood tricholomas, hawk's wings, and a bear's head (a mushroom, not an actual bear's head).  Unbelievable.  I'm probably still forgetting some.  Too tired to clean or cook that evening, we planned a mushroom extravaganza for the following night, and treated ourselves to creamy mushroom filled phyllo triangles, crostini topped with smoked salmon spread, roasted shrimp mushrooms and balsamic seared cherry tomatoes, potato, leek and matsutake soup with chanterelles and sage, fresh pumpkin gnocchi with sage mushroom cream sauce, and heirloom apple crisp.  And lots of wine.  It was one of those ideal dinners where a group of friends converge in a kitchen, chatting, eating, drinking, and generally making the world a better place.  It was divine.  Would that every night could be so good.

By the way, I would never advise mushroom hunting without the coveted aid of a benevolent, seasoned guide.  I would recommend mine, but I'm sworn to secrecy.

OK, since I said that was the last tale, next time I'll have to tell you about the cheese class I held-  another night of food, wine, friends and fun.  I am truly blessed!  

Autumn Upon Us

Is anybody else sad to see the summer go?  Usually I am so ready for the change of seasons, but not this time.  I still want sunshine!!  Plus, I'm unprepared for cold weather.  I am without a fireplace.  I cannot express how sad this makes me.  I ache for the smell of a fire in fall.

But alas, what have I been cooking these past weeks?  Well, I already delved into my frozen peach supply to experiment with peach bread/muffins.  In so doing, I discovered that the skins slip off previously frozen peaches like a dream.  Bonus!  I took pieces from several different recipes to come up with this very moist recipe.  Adjust the liquid depending on how juicy your peaches are:   Cream 1 1/2 cups butter with 1 cup sugar for 3 minutes.  Add 2 large eggs, one at a time, then add 1 1/2 t vanilla.  In another bowl, sift together 2 c flour, 1 t baking soda, 1 t baking powder, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg.  Add in thirds to butter mixture, alternating with 1 c  milk (so add 1/2 cup milk, twice.)  Then fold in peaches.  I had about 2 cups chopped.  I divided this among muffin cups and a shallow cake pan.  Then I topped it with streusel (1 c flour, 1/2 c brown sugar, 1 1/4 t cinnamon, 1/4 t allspice, 1/3 c butter, pinch salt, all cut together).  Then I baked it for 15-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  This is one of those lovely things- dessert masquerading as breakfast!

A shining star in my CSA box of goodies was some field celery.  As this head still had the root attached, I wanted to do something extra special.  Now normally celery is either thrown into the soup or braising pot, or it's crunched crudite style.  I was so excited about this celery that I really wanted to honor it in some way.  The root is really my favorite part, and that's what made me want to try the gratin.  This dish is fall.  If you want a little Thanksgiving, but it's not the right Thursday in November, make this dish.  This recipe comes from the great Molly Stevens, who wrote the book on braising.  If you don't have it, get it.  You'll be a braising convert in no time.  So you'll want to take off all the outer stalks and wash them up.  Then use a peeler to take off the stringy bits that run the length of the stalk.  Then cut the stalks into 3 inch lengths.  Don't do  what I did and forget to peel them until after you've chopped them.  This will increase your prep time considerably, and make you feel rather dunce-like, which is not the point of the dish at all.  Then, peel that gorgeous root, and slice it up thin.  (First cut it in halves or quarters as you see fit.)  Butter up a 9 by 13 dish, and arrange all that celery in there to your liking.  Then chop up the remaining celery heart and leaves and saute it with butter (2 T) and minced onion  (1 small) and thyme (1 1/2 t fresh, chopped).  I didn't use all my leaves because I'm pretty sure Miss Stevens didn't envision how leafy my celery was when she wrote this recipe.  I reserved the leaves for later use (substitute for parsley!).  Season the lot with salt and pepper and cook  about 10 minutes, until softened and browning.  Then add a 1/4 cup white wine and reduce until just about dry, then add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce by half.  I actually got this bit going while I chopped and peeled (no- peel first, then chop!) the celery.  Then pour the celery onion mix over the celery sticks, cover with foil, and braise in a 325 degree oven until tender, about 1 1/4 hours.  To finish, remove the foil and top with a mix of 4 T bread crumbs and 1/3 c grated cheese.  She suggests gruyere, which is quite spendy.  Feel free to substitute.  I used emmentaler instead.  Turned out great.  Just broil till golden brown and then gobble it up, thinking thoughts of turkey and stuffing.

My CSA box has been keeping me well-stocked.  If you have any concerns about eating enough fruits and vegetables, join a CSA.  The food is so beautiful and so abundant, you'll be planning your meals around it, instead of thinking, what should I do with the chicken tonight?  Which is as it should be.  However, we ended up with more food than tummy space, so I started to come up with ways to use lots of veggies.  Canning, of course, works well, but soup is also a winner.  With tons of potatoes, and some enticingly gorgeous leeks, I couldn't resist making soup.  After a thorough washing, I sliced up 3 leeks, and in a large pot I sweated them with a sliced up medium onion, salt and pepper, and a nice knob of butter.  Meanwhile I peeled and sliced up three potatoes.  I added 5 or 6 cloves of minced garlic (I love garlic)  and a sachet of thyme, peppercorns and celery leaves to the pot, stirred, then after a minute I added the potatoes and about 6 cups of chicken stock.  I simmered this until the potatoes were tender (about 25 minutes).  Then, after removing the thyme bundle, I used my stick blender to blend it all up.  The I adjusted the seasoning (more salt!), and had me a nice little dinner.  I had made a little pesto, and I tossed some of the most fantastic, sweet little tomatoes in the pesto, and had them with the soup and a little bread.  A delight.  

As for the pesto, let me just say that it's never a good idea to get in an argument with a farmer.  I had the pleasure of meeting a local celebrity farmer- Wynne of Jerzy Boyz.  She is truly awesome, and I'm a big fan.  However, somehow I found myself making the (I thought) innocent comment that I'd be making a little tomato salad with basil.  Wynne was pretty sure I should make pesto.  She herself had brought a pesto sandwich along, and was taunting us all with it's tempting aroma.  And here's where I made my fateful mistake.  I explained that I didn't want to go to the trouble of making pesto.  Silly girl.  Now, it's not like making pesto is all that hard (as Wynne quickly pointed out).  I was just feeling a little lazy, and I knew I'd be happy with sliced basil.  However, laziness is not often abided by a farmer.  These folks work harder than just about anyone, and have beautiful produce to show for it, so laziness is not really a good excuse for not making pesto.  And so, I made pesto.  And wished Wynne was there to share my feast.

Well, let's squeeze in one last food adventure, just because it was so tasty.  I had already canned some lovely tomato sauce, and still had tomatoes that needed eating.  So, I decided to put them to use in soup.  This was not your Campbell's tomato soup.  Oh no.  This was an aromatic, flavorful, thick soup that put Campbell's to shame (not that that's hard).  Now perhaps you've grown up with Campbell's and it holds a special, nostalgic place in your heart.  In that case, please forgive my disparaging comments, and consider trying this soup.  

Ok, so clean up your tomatoes, core them, and slice them in half.  You should have enough halves to crowd a cookie sheet (about 10 tomatoes, depending on size).  Using ripe, delicious, preferably local tomatoes is key here.  So, drizzle some olive oil on the cookie sheet, then load up the tomatoes, and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Cook them in a 425 degree oven for about thirty minutes.  They should be sizzly and juicy and starting to brown on top.  Meanwhile, sweat some chopped onion in olive oil in a big pot.  I added a sliced up carrot for fun.  In a small sauce pan, heat up about a half cup white wine and a half cup water, and steep two dried chiles (I used one ancho and one pasilla).  Once they've softened (15-20 minutes), remove them (reserve liquid), seed, and chop.  Now, I have this little baby cast iron skillet that I use exclusively for toasting spices.  Proceed with this step in whatever creative manner you choose, but be sure to toast the spices!  I used about a teaspoon of cumin seed and a half teaspoon of black peppercorns.  Once they were toasty, I ground them in a mortar and pestle.  Once the tomatoes were ready, I added them to the pot (scraping in all the juicy goodness from the cookie sheet), along with the chopped peppers, reserved liquid, and spices.  Bring everything up to a simmer for a couple minutes, then puree in batches.  Don't be afraid to let the blender run for a while, to get this nice and smooth.  Taste, and adjust seasoning and thickness (add water, chicken or veg stock if too thick, or reduce a bit if too thin, depending on the juiciness of your tomatoes).  Like all tomato soup, this is great with some cheesy bread.  Hope you enjoy it!