Category Archives: Autumn

Texas Chili Means NO BEANS

  January 23, 2013 - 5:00 am | , , , , , , , ,
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Real Texas chili is good by itself or on almost anything–like enchiladas

Chili is a highly personal food. Much like the variety of preferences in Thanksgiving stuffing, every Texan has their own idea of what makes Texas chili authentic. They agree on almost nothing: ground beef or cubed, spicy or mild, tomato or no tomato, beer or no beer, and especially the chilies. Two or three Shiner Bocks into any night in Texas, and you might find yourself in a heated debate on what makes it real Texas Red. Texans agree on only one thing about their chili–NO BEANS!

I can’t possibly discuss chili without telling you about Robb Walsh’s The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos published by Ten Speed Press. This book is a goldmine of information on the history of Tex-Mex cuisine. There is a whole chapter dedicated to chili, and no less than nine historical recipes for the real stuff. Each recipe is decidedly different which proves that a single recipe for real Texas chili is more of a myth and a taste memory than something that exists. In it’s simplest form, chili con carne is a beef stew made from cubed beef or ground beef which is cooked with chilies and cumin. From there on the gloves come off and the differences come out.

There are only about three rules to making real Texas Red, and except the no-beans rule, even these are not set in stone. First rule: no beans (have I mentioned that yet?). Second, use lots of cumin; how much is up for debate, but it better be in there. Third, use more than one type of chili. Ideally these should be real dried chilies, not chili powder. The third one is the one that catches me up because I don’t have any whole dried chilies. They are pretty expensive around here, and I just don’t need them very often. I should probably keep a stock of Ancho chilies around since they are mild and can be used in almost anything, but I don’t. I have twins (my current excuse for anything I’m just too lazy to deal with).

There are other rules that are up for debate. While many people say that real Texas chili is tomato free, most of the chili I had in Texas did, in fact, contain tomatoes. However, they aren’t necessary, and I like the rich, almost chocolaty flavor that a tomato-less chili offers. Another rule that sparks heated chili debates is whether the chili should be made with ground beef or cubed beef. I like both. Ground beef is most common, even in Texas, but there’s something special about a chili made with chunks of chuck that are cooked till super tender then “shredded” into a bowl of falling apart, chili heaven.

Anyone not from Texas is sure to think the whole no-beans thing is a bit silly and not really that important, but its oh-so-important to us. So why no beans? Robb Walsh provides the best answer:

“In most of the rest of the country, chili has one purpose – it is a hearty one-dish meal. But in Texas, chili has a wide variety of uses. It can be used straight or diluted as a sauce. It’s a popular topping for tamales, to make it into a meal, you combine it with beans, tamales, tortillas, enchiladas, scrambled eggs, or any number of other things. Texans don’t have anything against eating beans with their chili. They just have a lot of other ways to eat it.”

He’s right on too. Growing up in Texas, chili was on top of everything. The snack-bar at my high-school served chili (and neon-orange cheese goo) on top of nachos, burritos, french fries and even baked potatoes (I’m probably forgetting something). Restaurants topped enchiladas, burritos and chimichangas with chili (oh, I miss you Chuy’s). Even the IHOP where I waited tables served chili topped omelets. Chili is to Tex-Mex what Parmesan cheese is to Italian-American food; its on top of everything.

My chili recipe is a blend of several recipes from The Tex-Mex Cookbook, as well as a few of my own touches. It’s true Texas Red flavor, made more accessible for my Yankee family kitchen. I’ve found that using a blend of Ancho chili powder and hot paprika offers an authentic flavor, yet with a still manageable heat level. Paprika is anything but a dominant ingredient in most Texas chili, but the flavor is rich and full bodied and the heat is just on the cool side of hot. If you want something even milder, then you can substitute out the hot paprika for sweet paprika. If you want something hotter change out the hot paprika for Arbol or Chipotle chili peppers. Whatever you use, you will like the result. This recipe is simple: nothing too fancy or complex, but it’s true Texas flavor and NO BEANS! Enjoy!

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Chili Con Carne (Texas Red)
Makes about 6 cups

This is a milder version of an authentic style Texas chili. Containing no tomatoes, it’s a versatile sauce that can top anything from Fritos to cheese enchiladas, or it can be served up in a bowl with a sprinkle of onion and and handful of shredded cheese on top.

2 pounds stew meat cubed into 1/2 inch pieces and dried of any moisture (preferably chuck)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ground Ancho chili
2 tablespoon hot paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican if possible)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons corn flour (masa harina)

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the beef and cook until any liquid has evaporated and the meat is browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.

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Add the onion and continue to cook until the onion is tender and starting to brown, about another 5 minutes.

Add the chili powders, cumin, black pepper and salt. Stir until all the meat is covered in the spices and continue to cook for another minute.

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Add the bay leaves, oregano and broth. Stir to mix everything together. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until the meat is very tender and beginning to fall apart, about 1 1/2 hour.

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Using a potato masher or the back of a large spoon, break the meat up until most of it has fallen apart but there are a few chunks still visible.

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In a small bowl combine corn flour with 1/4 cup of cold water and stir until a thin paste forms. Pour the paste into the chili and stir until the corn flour mixture dissolves into the chili.

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Return to a simmer long enough for the corn flour to cook, about 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve with chopped onion and cheese, or over enchiladas, corn chips, burritos or whatever you want!

If you’re interested in Robb’s book, here’s a link to it…

Buttermilk Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash

  December 19, 2012 - 7:42 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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We’ve been busy celebrating Hanukkah and getting ready for Christmas (we are equal opportunity holiday celebrators around here!) I’m cooking all week this week getting ready for our big Christmas dinner next week. I’ll share a few details of our meal soon. In the meantime, with fall ending this Friday, I wanted to share this dish with you. This time of year I’m craving cranberries. I love them in relishes and sauces, but also baked in a savory dish like this bread pudding.

We had this for dinner with nothing but a salad of field greens tossed with a mustard vinaigrette, as good as it was by itself, I couldn’t help but think how good it would be with baked ham or roasted duck – even turkey. Its the balance of tangy buttermilk, savory Gruyere, herbs and mustard, and the sweet squash and maple sugar that really make this dish. It’s a keeper. The buttermilk really keeps the calorie count down too! Enjoy!

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Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash
serves 6 as an entree, 10-12 as a side

This bread pudding is a delicate balance of flavors. Savory but with sweet notes, it’s perfect for many different occasions. Paired with fresh fruit it makes an ideal brunch casserole; savory enough to have as a side with roasted turkey, ham or duck or even with a side salad for a meatless entree.

1 medium acorn squash
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 leek
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons maple sugar (or brown sugar), divided
8 cups french bread or other sturdy chewy bread, cubed into 2” cubes
1 1/2 cups low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup low fat milk
4 eggs
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
5 ounces Gruyere, shredded
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Cut the stem off the acorn squash and split in half. Scoop the seeds and strings from the middle and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle the top of each of squash halves with about 1/4 teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper, a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the maple sugar.

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Place in oven. Toss cranberries with thyme and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Place cranberries on another parchment lined baking sheet and bake until soft and split, about 15 minutes.

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Cranberries before and after roasting…

Remove the cranberries from the oven and toss with remaining 3 tablespoons of maple sugar.

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Continue to cook the acorn squash until tender about another 30 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool.

While the squash is cooking melt butter in a small pan and add leeks and sage. Cook until soft and translucent, about five minutes.

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In a medium bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, milk and mustard. When the squash has cooled, peel the outer skin and chop into 1 inch cubes. You can also use a small scoop to scoop the squash out from the skin.

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Peeling and scooping the squash from the skin…

Toss cranberries, squash and leek mixture together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Lightly mix in bread cubes and Gruyere.

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Spray a two quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and add bread and squash mixture. Pour buttermilk egg mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

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Preheat oven to 350. Place baking dish on the middle rack of a preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour or until the middle is lightly puffed and top is light brown. Allow the finished bread pudding sit for five minutes before serving.

Brown Sugar Walnut Pennies

  November 28, 2012 - 10:09 pm | , , , , , ,
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Perhaps I should tell you about “gasoline cookies.” That short story might save you the trouble of foraging for black walnuts sometime. My father, who forages his plot for anything edible, most of which turns into wine, hoarded bag after bag of black walnuts a few years ago on a year that produced more nuts than the squirrels could stow away. He had grand plans for these nuts, so he sat eagerly picking the tidbits of meat out of the impossible nuts. The phrase, “a tough nut to crack,” must have referred to black walnuts. After long hours of cracking he discovered a few things about black walnuts. First of all, black walnuts leave a black tar on your hands that is pretty difficult to remove with any earthly substance. It wears off in about two weeks. Secondly, black walnuts have a very distinct and strong flavor. One for which many people do not have a hankering. His childlike visions of a Thanksgiving full of black-walnut treats dissolved into a single simple question “Now what do I do with all these nuts?”

In the end, he made cookies which guests either loved or hated. Most of us felt they had a distinct petroleum flavor that earned them the name “gasoline cookies.” One guest—only one though—loved them for the savory, oily, umami flavor that others just did not understand.

Now, you may think it’s strange that I start out my post on brown-sugar walnut cookies with a story about black walnuts; an ingredient not present in the finished recipe. Here’s why: I spent a lot of November thinking about past Thanksgivings and the crowd that gathers every year for the feast. My parents love to entertain, and through the years they have collected a diverse yet truly lovely extended family that gather for a long weekend of eating and celebrating each other. Some years the crowd is larger than others, and I only get there every other year. On the years I spend with the other half of my family, I mull over all the memories of all the Thanksgivings I have spent with my parents’ Thanksgiving family. The people that grace their Thanksgiving table are so important to my family’s memories that the foods each person introduces bear his/her name from that time forward. Imelda Berries and Pam’s Potatoes are normal side dishes (thankfully Erin’s sauerkraut never took off – sorry Erin!).

Every year is a different Thanksgiving, and each year a different story is told. One year the stuffing exploded; one year my mom invited the florist (or was it the pharmacist?) When I asked my parents about how Thanksgiving went this year my first question was, “Was it a good stuffing year?” My father’s famous stuffing recipe evolves every year and some mutations are more successful than others (this year was a hit). And the second question was, “What was the food star this year?” Every year there is one food item that gets all the talk. This year it was a pecan-pie cookie so good that one taste was enough for a family member to lay claim on the entire batch. So while I thought about those food stars, I kept coming back to the year of the gasoline cookies.

Considering the ingredients, those gasoline cookies should have been wonderful. But, it turns out that you can have too much of a good thing. Black walnuts, prized for their strong flavor and unique nuttiness should be used sparingly and cautiously–especially in baking. Many love black walnuts in savory dishes such as salads or for snacking with strong cheeses, but not usually as the main ingredient in cookies. When you want a walnut cookie packed with nut flavor black walnuts might not be the right choice for you. By the way, after a few years in the freezer, the black walnuts mellowed and made some delightful desserts. Do you have a few years to wait on your walnuts?

For a cookie that is crunchy and sweet with a mouth full of brown sugar and nutty goodness, then you want to use English walnuts. That’s what this cookie uses. To heighten the nutty flavor of the cookies, I brown a portion of the butter and re-cool it before adding it to the mix. There isn’t anything in these cookies that doesn’t add to the flavor; there’s no eggs and no leaveners. The finished cookie is something between a sweet sugar cookie and a shortbread. They are sweet and very nutty (with my normal dose of whole grains). I made them small and coin-like (hence the name), but don’t expect to stop at one or two cookies. They are so good that you’ll need to make sure you have all four dozen ready to go when you serve them, and as a bonus, they are guaranteed to be free from all fossil fuels. Perhaps I should nick-name them alternate energy cookies…Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Walnut Pennies
Makes 48 small cookies
Spelt flour adds a wonderful crunch to these cookies, but no one will guess that there is any whole wheat flour in them.

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) divided
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 cup English walnuts

Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Watch the butter carefully and remove from the heat when the butter reaches a light nutty brown color.

Let the butter cool back down completely to room temperature even if it starts to harden slightly.

While the butter cools, finely chop the walnuts until they are about the size of a piece of rice (I pulse them in a food processor). Set aside.

Mix the cooled browned butter with the rest of the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the salt and vanilla and beat again, scraping down the sides. Add the flour, mixing until just combined, and then fold in the nuts.

Place half the mixture on a long piece of plastic wrap and form into a long rope about 1” wide and about 12” long. Repeat with the second half of the dough forming two long thin rolls of dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, or until it is hard and cold.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice each roll of dough in half and then each half into twelve even “coins” forming 48 small cookies. Place the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment or a non-stick baking mat – 24 to a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly browner than the middle and the middles look set. Let the cookies cool before removing from the baking sheets and store tightly covered until serving.

Potato Leek Soup with Cheese Rinds

  November 15, 2012 - 10:04 pm | , , , , , , ,
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It’s been a stressful week around here. Little Guy’s 4th birthday party was over the weekend, and there’s nothing like a kid’s birthday party to push the stress buttons. Luckily it was a small affair, and luckier still, Little Guy requested an easy theme and cake. A cake so easy in fact that I couldn’t possibly pay someone to make it; I just had to do it myself. Yes, I really am that stupid. Now, let me tell you I can make soup that will bring tears of joy to your eyes, polenta so creamy you want to bathe in it, and pulled pork so tangy and tender that even New Yorkers will let out a yee-haw, but I am no cake baker. So, I was pretty darn pleased when I produced a cake that even I was proud of. See….

Yeah, if you happen to notice that I have done nothing at all but simply covered the cake in a sort-of smooth coating of buttercream and then thrown a few Disney toys on top, don’t tell anyone. I’m really really proud of this one!

We also had a make-your-own pizza bar for everyone which was super tasty and a big hit, albeit a little heavy on the work for the cook. Grilling pizzas for everyone wasn’t hard, it’s just that they all looked so yummy and I had to wait till the end to get a bite of my white pizza with Gorgonzola and caramelized onions. I don’t like waiting for caramelized onions!

After we cleaned up the curling ribbon and I eradicated the leftover buttercream from the house (homemade buttercream and diets don’t go well together for me). I was left with a messy house and a tired, stressed-out cook that wanted a light, buttercream-free meal. Mix in a cold front, and you get the perfect night for an easy, warm, comforting meal that tastes rich and creamy without a lot of cream and fat. So it happened that we dined on potato leek soup the night after Little Guy’s party. It’s easy, comforting, tasty and feeds a hungry family.

One of my soup secrets is cheese rinds. I always save them and throw them in the freezer when I get to the end of my wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano and (more often) Grana Padano. I also try to leave just a little extra of the inner cheese on the rind to melt into my soups and give them a rich flavor.

Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t remove the rinds before serving like others do; I just cut them up prior to serving and leave them in the soup as bits of chewy, cheesy goodness for the eaters to enjoy. If you like chewy and cheese then you’ll understand. Don’t judge.

I think that the few tablespoons of butter and the cheese rinds used makes up for the lack of cream in this soup. Of course I won’t tell if you throw in a glug of cream at the end to finish off this soup. The soup doesn’t need it, but then again, I don’t need buttercream. Enjoy!

Potato Leek Soup with Cheese Rinds
Serves 8-10

The beauty of this soup is its versatility. You can use vegetarian or chicken broth, leave out the dairy all together or substitute a little sharp cheddar at the end in place of the cheese rinds. You’ll still end up with a great soup.

3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 large bunch leeks (about 4 leeks), dark green parts removed
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds peeled potatoes (I like yukon gold or russet)
6 cups broth or stock (vegetable or chicken)
2-3 large Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese rinds (about 7 ounces)

To clean the leeks, cut off the dark green tops and the root end. Split each leek longways and separate the layers.

Rinse them thoroughly in cold water to remove all the hidden sand. Melt the butter in a large soup pot or sauce pan over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted add the leeks, salt and pepper. Allow the leeks to cook slowly until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, broth and cheese rinds and bring to a simmer.

Allow the soup to simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft but not yet falling apart and the cheese rinds are well softened. Remove the cheese rinds and puree the soup using either an immersion blender or stand blender. (If you use a stand blender be very careful to vent the top of the blender and cover with a towel so you don’t burn yourself or end up with a soup covered kitchen). If you want to leave the softened cheese rinds in the soup, chop them up and return them to the pureed soup.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

The Morning After Halloween Candy Hangover Cure

  October 31, 2012 - 3:00 pm | , , ,
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We’ve all been there: waking up with a sluggish feeling, inability to concentrate, slightly edgy, a little jittery and an upset tummy. You knew you were having to much last night. But it tasted so good, and it was so much fun going down. You, my friend, have a morning after Halloween candy hangover. Well, I may not be a dietician, but I bet that the best way to get that feeling out of your system is to blast your system with a protein rich breakfast.

Let me guess. Halloween night your darling was is the cutest Halloween monster ever, but the next morning he turned into a real life monster, right? While getting the rest of the Halloween candy out of the house might fix the problem for good. But, if you want to set him up with the best chance for a good day then check out a few of these site for ideas for great protein rich breakfasts that are kid approved.

My choice for breakfast on November 1st is breakfast tacos. They are easy to make, portable and full of protein with very little sugar. I doubt you really need a recipe for a breakfast taco but here’s how I made mine:

Breakfast Taco: Warm up a whole wheat flour tortilla in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Place a small handful of shredded cheese in the middle of the tortilla (about 1/4 cup). Scramble one egg until soft set. Crumble one veggie sausage patty over the top of the egg and place on the tortilla on top of the cheese. You can top the egg with a little salsa if desired. Roll up and enjoy.

This is a Tale of Two Pumpkins (Whole Roasted Pumpkin Stuffed with Lamb and Bulgur)

  October 26, 2012 - 8:16 am | , , , , , ,
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The first pumpkin seemed like a real beauty. It was brimming with its vegan virtuousness; after all it was stuffed with bulgur, prunes and apricots. It was soaked in the exotic aromas of cardamom, cinnamon and saffron, and while it cooked the whole house smelled like the Casbah. When it appeared from the oven, it continued to tempt. The roasty toasty goodness was just so right. When the top was removed, the bulgur had swelled, pushing the cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks up to the top; truly a treat. But, this pumpkin deceived. It’s texture was all wrong; stringy and what was that off taste? Its flavor was harsh, off character and overdone; the spices too over the top, the other flavors underwhelming.


Pumpkin number one

I suspected that my pumpkin was not actually a sugar pumpkin at all and that was to blame for much of the off flavor, but the recipe just didn’t work either. I decided to reevaluate the need for a vegan dish at all. I don’t claim to be vegan or even vegetarian. Yes, we try to eat meatless at least once a week, but using less meat for several days straight can actually be a bigger cut in meat usage than cutting all meat from just one day a week. What I really wanted was the savory flavor that only one meat could provide: lamb.

The next day I tried again with a true sugar pumpkin. The recipe was also streamlined. I cut out all the fruits and most of the spices. This one was even prettier straight from the oven; the sugar pumpkin cooked up much nicer than the impostor pumpkin. Scents from pumpkin number two were full of the lusty scents of lamb, cinnamon, cumin, onion and garlic. The finished product is a simple meaty pumpkin with the filling goodness of bulgur and a little North African flavor. To round out the flavors and texture, I topped the finished pumpkin and pilaf with a dollop of simple yogurt sauce and toasted pine nuts. Not only is this sure to turn heads when you serve it, but it will also leave everyone satisfied and happy; even the picky ones will dig in. Enjoy!

Whole Roasted Pumpkin Stuffed with Lamb and Bulgur
serves 6-8
If you can’t find a sugar pumpkin this size, you could use two pumpkins.

1 large (4 -5 pound) sugar or pie pumpkin (or two small)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (divided)
1/2 pound ground lamb
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup bulgur wheat
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Yogurt Sauce
You can use greek yogurt for this if you want, but you may need to thin the sauce down with a little milk.

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, then the onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Saute until translucent but not yet beginning to brown.

Add the ground lamb and use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the pieces of lamb as it cooks.

When the lamb is completely cooked, add the cinnamon, paprika, cumin and tomato paste.

Stir the mixture until well combined. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Add the bulgur to the lamb mixture, remove it from the heat and set aside.

Cut the top off the pumpkin at an angle like you would a jack-o-lantern.

Cut the seeds and fibrous pulp off the top and scoop out of the center and inside of the pumpkin.

After you have the pumpkin cleaned out very well, sprinkle the insides with the tablespoon of sugar and generously with salt and pepper.

Carefully fill the pumpkin with the lamb and bulgur mixture.

Pour the chicken broth over the mixture. The pumpkin should be about 3/4 full.

Place the top of the pumpkin tightly on the top, rotating it until it fits perfectly.

Place the pumpkin on a piece of parchment or baking mat on a heavy-duty baking pan. Place in the center of the oven. You may need to remove one rack from your oven.

Bake for about 2 1/2 hours or until the pumpkin is very tender. Remove from the oven and let it sit for ten minutes before cutting it open.

The skin from the pumpkin should peel right off of the flesh when you slice it. Serve slices of the skinned pumpkin with a generous dollop of yogurt sauce and a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts.

 

Autumn in New England Ain’t Just a Saying…

  October 25, 2012 - 5:19 pm | , ,
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It’s one of those fall days that makes you breathe in a little deeper, sigh a little longer and close your eyes to soak in the surprising warmth of the autumn sun. The air is crisp, but the sun is warm and the colors are even warmer. I think the bluest sky I’ve ever seen was a New England sky in October. There is something about the reds, oranges and yellows in nature that just set the sky blazing with a blue that could make the Caribbean Sea weep jealous tears. When you live in New England you know what I mean. The smell of wood fires and fallen leaves fill the air and even the lightest breeze creates a ticker tape parade of falling leaves. The light is better this time of year too. It calls to you and beacons you to slow down and take a moment to live in the moment. That’s what I did today instead of working on my next post. I have another post with a wonderful pumpkin recipe almost ready to share with you, but until then enjoy a little autumn in New England with me.

Our red maple is my very favorite tree. It loses its leaves every year the same week as my oldest son’s birthday, but I love it cause it’s purty!


There’s the blue I’m talking about. Of course the picture doesn’t do it justice. You’ll just have to come up here and see me to really tell…

All summer I scorn this vine. It’s invasive and is taking over my grape vines. Then October comes when I can finally tell which vines are grapes and which are this plant at the base. By then berries are so pretty I can’t bear to cut it down.

More pretty berries surround the base of the red maple, but these berries have super sharp thorns to make sure we don’t cut them down.

The vivid colors go back deep into the woods behind the house begging you to come into the woods for a walk. The ticks also send their invitation. They would love for you to take that walk too!

Something about this picture reminds me of Robert Frost. Hmm, what could it be?? Maybe the line of arborvitaes growing in my neighbors very well manicured lawn, or maybe it is the leaves piling up around the rock wall on our very un-manicured side. I just can’t figure it out…

Well, I’m off to go enjoy the day. Tomorrow will bring you stuffed pumpkin; enjoy your day!

Caramel Nut Apple Crisp

  October 18, 2012 - 12:33 am | , , , , , , , ,
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This past week I packed the kids in the mini-van and drove out to my parents’ house in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. Fall is the perfect time to be in the rural mountains. The colors are bright, the air crisp, and the breeze invigorating. While there we had many lovely sunny days and lots and lots of fun. My son hauled logs for the wood stove, “helped” Granddaddy with his tractor, and got to throw a lot of rocks in the creek. The babies touched the leaves and did a lot of rolling around on the floor. Our main purpose for this trip, however, was my mother’s birthday.

In our family you get to choose any dinner you want for your birthday. Birthday meal requests are sacred, and the cooks honor any request made. When we were children my sister and I would challenge my parents to find and make things that we thought were impossible. Lobster dinner in Texas in the ’80s was not easy to come by. Neither were artichokes in December. Eventually as we aged we fell into habits. These days we tend to just go for our tried and true meals. This is how it came about that I now have a three course fondue dinner for my birthday almost every year and how my mother, “Mimi,” had apple crisp for her birthday cake this year. Her birthday meal request: hamburgers, baked beans and a caramel apple crisp made with walnuts (not pecans).

There are a lot of recipes for caramel apple crisp on the Internet, but I discovered that almost all of them use store-bought caramel ice cream topping or melted caramel candy. Homemade caramel is so superior to store bought, that it just seemed necessary to make it from scratch. As long as you are diligent while cooking it, it is also pretty easy. Using real caramel sauce in the apple crisp is so obvious, so natural, so fantastic. The result is nothing short of spectacular; it is the best apple crisp I have ever tasted. Of course if you’re all into the salted caramel fad, you can toss a 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the caramel at the end, but you don’t need it; it’s just that good. Happy birthday Mommy! Enjoy!

Caramel Sauce
For my play-by-play on how to make caramel, read my recipe For Caramel Peach Hand Pies

I’m a big fan of the wet method of making caramel (adding a few tablespoons of water to the sugar to help it get started). It’s just a tiny bit easier and I like anything that’s easier. This stuff is up there with molten lava on the temperature scale so make sure you are prepared and using all your safety sense when making this recipe.

1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

Pour sugar in the middle of a medium sauce pan or skillet set over medium-high heat. Slowly pour water around edge of sugar. Bring to a boil, but do not stir. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the pan with additional water to insure that all sugar crystals have dissolved from the edge.

Let the mixture boil slowly until the sugar turns light tan, watching very carefully so that it does not burn. When the caramel is almost the color of tea turn off the heat and swirl the pan. The sugar will get darker.

Add the butter and stir until the butter is completely melted and mixed in with the sugar. Add the cream and let the caramel come to a rapid boil.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Caramel Walnut Apple Crisp
serves 6
You can use pecans or almonds instead of walnuts in this recipe.

5 Apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 recipe caramel sauce (recipe above)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled old-fashioned oats
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a large baking dish and place apples in pan. Pour the caramel sauce over the apples and gently stir to make sure the caramel sauce is evenly spread over the apples.



Set aside. In a medium bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Using your fingers or a pastry cutter mix the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly.

Stir in walnuts and sprinkle evenly over apples.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the edges are bubbly.

Let cool slightly before serving.

Butternut Squash Pastitsio

  October 4, 2012 - 9:27 am | , , , , , , ,
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Growing up in Texas, we always celebrated fall like everyone else. We talked about the season changing, decorated with colorful leaves and pumpkins and made apple treats. However, it was all a ruse. The season didn’t change (for another few months at least). The leaves didn’t change, and apples didn’t grow well anywhere within a thousand miles of us. Autumn in Texas was a whole heck of a lot like summer, just slightly cooler, with the same humidity, and with school.

Then I moved to Massachusetts: Autumn Central. I marveled at the huge wooden crates of gourds, squash and pumpkins that lined the roads of Western Massachusetts and wondered how it was possible for the whole country to eat all those squash. I learned to love the smell of wet fallen leaves, cold nights and crisp days. I went apple picking, and learned that layering clothes was more than fashion sense, and I was introduced to a whole new food group; winter squash. Texas had winter squash, but they were foreign foods, and why bother with them in a place that overflowed with the intoxicating mix of Southern, Mexican, Cowboy and Cajun cuisines.

My squash experience was not love at first bite; anything but. The first decade I lived up here I avoided the summer squash’s mushy long lasting winter cousins. New England cuisine is all about subtleties while Texan cuisine is anything but. Texas cuisine tends toward grandiose flavors. New England Puritans would have nothing of that. Gulf seafood is frequently heavily seasoned, but cod is often adorned with nothing but cracker crumbs, butter and lemon. Yankees enjoy butternut squash soup, Texans eat spicy chili and gumbo. Well, I could go on and on but you get the idea. Over time I decided that if I was going to live up here I needed to learn to eat like a local. I started to play with squashes and taught myself to make the basics; butternut squash soup and roasted acorn squash

Squash and I are good friends now. I love the natural sweetness and the versatility of autumn’s harvest, and that brings me to today’s meatless meal; Butternut Squash Pastitsio. Pastitsio is a traditional Greek pasta dish that layers pasta with a cinnamon seasoned ground lamb sauce and is topped with a Parmesan cheese laced Bechamel sauce. I’ve never been a huge fan of the meat version of this dish. The combination of cinnamon, pasta and lamb never really did much for me. However, when you substitute the meat with roasted butternut squash and you get something really special. This dish retains all the warm comfort of the original, but with a distinctly autumn flavor. It’s one of those dishes that’s enjoyed by the whole family. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Pastitsio – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
serves 4-6

1 butternut squash (about 1 small squash), peeled, seeded and cubed into one-inch chunks
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups crushed tomato
1 teaspoon salt, divided
8 oz tube shaped pasta such as penne, rigatoni, or macaroni

Bechamel Sauce:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss butternut squash with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Roast on a lined baking sheet until just tender, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the squash is roasting bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil pasta according to the directions on the box, removing from the water while the pasta is still very al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Heat a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add remaining two teaspoons of olive oil and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Sauté until onion is soft and translucent, about five minutes. Add minced garlic, cinnamon, bay leaf and thyme.

Continue to cook for about 1 minute or until very fragrant. Add wine and stir, scraping up any bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about fifteen minutes.

While the tomato sauce cooks make the Bechamel sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

When the butter bubbles, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two so that the flour cooks. Whisk the milk into the flour and butter roux carefully being sure to mix the roux well into the milk so that clumps do not form. Heat until just simmering stirring frequently. Once the sauce simmers, stir in the Gruyère. Stir until the cheese melts and season to taste with salt and pepper.

If your clan is a picky bunch (like mine), then blend your sauce in a food processor or blender until smooth then return the sauce to your cooking pot.

(If you are one of the lucky few that has a family that does not mind chunks, then disregard the previous step and poo poo on you!) Fold butternut squash and pasta into sauce and pour into a greased casserole dish pushing the mixture down into the casserole so that the pasta mixture is evenly packed into the casserole dish.

Pour the Bechamel over the pasta mixture and carefully spread over the top of the dish.

Place in oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the edges are bubbly and the top is starting to color.

Sour Grape Jam

  September 20, 2012 - 4:44 pm | , , , , , ,
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I usually don’t have time to can anything. I also usually don’t have enough of any one crop to do anything in large enough batches to warrant canning. As you may remember, gardening is not really my strongest skill. However, I am great at letting the wild vines and bushes left by previous owners run wild. That includes the grapes that grow at the edge of my driveway. In past years, I’ve noticed a few grapes that the birds ate before I had a chance to harvest; but this year we had a bumper crop. The vines are covering trees and the ground all around with large grape leaves in a very kudzu like fashion and the clusters are hanging as high up as I can see. This year I made the birds wait their turn and took my share to make jam.

I’ve never made grape jam before, lucky for me my father descends from a long line of food preservers. He is always foraging his plot for wild grapes, blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries and even black walnuts from which he has made pies, jam, and even wine. His mother, an excellent gardener, canned everything she could get her hands on. She canned jam, pickles, and vegetables by the bushel. Thus it was pure serendipity-do-da that the grapes happened to ripen at the same time that my father came for a visit. There were so many grapes that ten minutes of picking produced a huge pile of grapes to pick over. Not all of the fruit was ripe, but there were so many of them, that we could be picky about which fruit we used for our jam. The results are spectacular. It’s fruit-forward flavor is not too sweet nor too firm in consistency. Perfect for toast and pretty much anything you can find to smear it on. Enjoy!

Sour Grape Jam – Click here for a printable version of this recipe
This is not an exact recipe. Everyone will have a different amount of fruit with different qualities, so it is written so that you can follow it with whatever fruit you have. This produces a semi-firm jam; not too jelled so that the flavors still shine through, it also doesn’t have too much sugar so that the natural flavors of the grapes still remain. When deciding to stop boiling your jam err on the side of under doing it. The longer you cook the liquid, the less like fresh fruit it will taste and the more it will taste like flavored sugar. After all if your finished product is too soft, then people will know it’s homemade.

grapes (concord or other sweet grape)
sugar
pectin

Pick over your fruit to remove unripe and spoiled bits, bugs and leaves. Washing is not necessary if the fruits have gone directly from vine to clean container unless they have been sprayed with pesticide.

Place clean fruit in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add a small amount of water (about a cup for every four pounds of fruit). Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Use a potato masher to mash grapes separating them from their skins.

Let simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off heat and let the fruit sit with the skins for 15 minutes.

Pour the fruit into a food mill and press through the mill leaving the skins and seeds behind.

Measure the amount of juice and pulp you have. Return the juice and pulp to the pot and add one cup of sugar for every two cups of juice and pulp. You may need one tablespoon of pectin for every two cups of juice and pulp. Try none or little at first and add only if you need it. Mix the pectin slowly with water until you have a smooth mixture about the thickness of cream. Whisk the pectin into the juice and sugar and return to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil the mixture for 15 minutes. To test the jam, pour a small spoonful of the jam into a small bowl and allow to cool. If it jells to just under the consistency you want, then your jam is done (it will jell slightly more as it continues to cool). If it is not jelled enough, continue to cook, testing every ten minutes until you reach the desired consistency.

Pour the boiling jam into clean, sanitized canning jars and seal following the directions that come with your canning materials.

 

 

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