Winter - Its Not Easy Eating Green

Sauteed Baby Greens with Crispy Shallots

March 28, 2013 - 3:07 pm | Cheese, Dairy, Field Trips, Gluten-Free, Main Dish, Meatless Meals, Recipe, Salad, Sides, Spring, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

Field Trip: ReVision Urban Farm

March 28, 2013 - 7:36 am | Field Trips, Green, Local, Vegetables, Winter

3 Comments

On a crisp March morning that was colder than it should have been I pulled up in front of the ReVision Urban Farm in the economically challenged Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. The half-acre site looks out of place nestled between the triple-decker homes in the neighborhood. A large greenhouse stretches most of the way across the rear of the lot, and the growing beds sit dormant, covered in a layer of late spring snow. As I step inside the greenhouse, everything changes. A biting wind gives way to warm, slightly humid air, and the cold, snow covered ground changes into early summer soil with rows of tables covered in baby plants. The smell of warm earth fills my lungs and the diffused sunlight filters in with surprising warmth.

Here I meet Jolie Olivetti, the Farm Manager. Bent over a giant salad spinner, Jolie is harvesting greens and radishes which are part of the new winter growing program made possible with the addition of the greenhouse. The bunches of radishes and bags of baby greens Jolie is packaging are as fresh as anyone can get anywhere. The produce she is preparing is for the attached shelter, whose tenants are eligible for free produce upon request from what is currently in season.

As she fills orders, I look around. The greenhouse is bursting with life. Rows of seedlings are in various states of growth. A table marked “winter greens” brims with baby greens ready for harvesting, while other tables are covered in seedlings that have barely sprouted. Everything is growing though, which is such a surprise in a winter laden with snow, snow and more snow. As she works, Jolie explains that certain beds are growing plants that will be sold as produce, others sold as seedlings and still others will be transplanted to the outdoor growing areas. It’s a busy place to be a plant.

Don’t let the size fool you though, this little farm does big things for the community. Although the plot of land is just barely over a 1/2 acre along with a new smaller plot down the street, they provide enough produce to support a farm stand in the neighborhood, a CSA in conjunction with Trustees of the Reservations’ Powisset Farm, produce sold at local farmer’s markets, seedlings sold into the community and produce free to those living at the attached homeless shelter. In addition, there is a job-training program and outreach programs to teach neighbors urban growing skills, like how to start a kitchen herb garden or the basics of composting.

While not certified organic, the farm follows organic practices, and Jolie and other growers use a common sense approach. To avoid contaminated soil, the farm land consists of about a foot of transplanted soil that sits over a barrier between the preexisting soil and the plants which essentially makes the farm one giant raised bed. Contamination from city life is only one challenge the farm faces though. A large farm has the opportunity to let fields rest for a season, an option not available on a small urban farm. Crop rotation at ReVision means moving the tomatoes from one place to another ten feet away, not two fields away which opens the crops up to greater pest and disease pressure. Of course, the biggest challenge for a small urban farm is space. They cannot easily grow some crops that require a lot of land, so popular vegetables like corn, potatoes, onions and winter squash are available through the farm’s partnership with Powisset Farm, a farm that is part of the Trustees of the Reservations program.

The success of ReVision Urban Farm is the result of over twenty years of hard work by volunteers, members of the community and employees. Before there was the farm, there was the homeless shelter for young pregnant women and mothers. Over time this has evolved into a home for about 30 families who live there for a few months while they get back on their feet. ReVision Farm and ReVision House together act as a vital support for the community, providing not only homes to many in the disadvantaged Boston neighborhood, but produce, training, support and a wide-ranging positive influence. In fact, when asked what the single most important need for the organization was, Jolie instantly answered that it was to continue to develop positive relationships with those in the community.

Everyone I met at ReVision seemed deeply interested in helping those around them, and the farm is simply an extension of that. While I was there, Shani Fletcher, a Grower at the farm, was proof-reading an upcoming cookbook that the farm is publishing. (As soon as the book is available, I will add a link.)

ReVision Farm is an asset to the community and the City of Boston. Jolie, Shani and everyone that works there, the hundreds of volunteers and all those in the community that have bonded together to make this improbably little place a success are proof of hope in a part of the city that needs it most.

Chicken and Dumplings

March 20, 2013 - 6:00 am | Grains, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Pasta, Poultry, Recipe, Retro Recipes, Soup, Winter

2 Comments

“You have your hands full!” It’s the one comment I hear more than any other when people see me with all three kids. I hear this most at the grocery store when I am wearing one twin, have the second in the front of the grocery cart, and my four year old in the main part of the cart. As the mom of 11-month old twins and a four year old, I suppose I do have my hands full. However, I am always amused and perplexed when I hear this. What does my commentator really mean? That I am busy from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed? Yes, that’s certainly true. But in today’s over-scheduled life, don’t all moms? I don’t know of a single one that sits on the couch eating bonbons all day. One kid or five, every mom I know has almost every minute of their day spoken for. We all watch the clock for the moment when that last little lock of hair settles on a pillow for the night (and not the first time, but that second or third time, after the drink of water, the monster search and the little speech on why they couldn’t possibly go to sleep).
Why does the number of children I have deem me more deserving of the hands-full title than the career mom with one or two kids? I’ve done it both ways, and as tiring and trying as my current life is, I would take it over the stress and guilt of the working mom. In truth, I lead a charmed life. I might not admit to it when I look down to see my clothes polka-dotted in unknown substances, or try to figure out the last time I got a decent shower, but at the end of the day I know I have it good.
Did moms hear this at the grocery store fifty years ago when the average woman had four children? I do wonder how they managed at the store. How did they maneuver around the store before the days of the carts with the cars at the front or fantastic hard-to-find carts with room for two kids at the front (room for a child was introduced in shopping carts in 1947). What inventions will my children enjoy that will make it even easier for them?
We may all have our hands full these days, but that doesn’t mean that we have to rely on heavily processed convenience foods. In fact, providing healthy foods free of preservatives, coloring and additives actually makes life easier. I’m not the only mom to notice the difference in my kid’s behavior when they eat over-processed foods and when they eat meals made from scratch. Making dinner is one of the best forms of entertainment in our home. Not only can I entertain them by having them help make the meal (the twins watch from their high-chairs), but Little Guy is more willing to try foods that he helped to make.
Chicken and Dumplings is probably the one meal I make more than any other during the cold months. It is my grandmother, Martha Kornegay’s, recipe. Now nobody will deny that Martha Kornegay was truly a woman with her hands full. The mother of six, and a working mom, she had her hands full for decades! When she was raising her children, she did not have all the convenience foods available today. Meals like chicken and dumplings were her convenience foods because they provided a wholesome meal all in one pot and because it is an inexpensive meal.

Martha Kornegay’s Chicken and Dumpling Recipe in her handwriting

I have changed her original recipe a little to improve it nutritionally but make it taste just as good as her original. I tried just adding whole-grain flour, but that didn’t work. The dumplings were heavy and tough with the bitter flavors that whole-grains can sometimes have. I used buttermilk to balance the flavors and a pinch of baking soda to help lighten the heaviness of the whole wheat. Using the correct type of whole-grain flour helps too. Like with so many other recipes, I have the best results with spelt flour, but you could also use a white whole-wheat flour here too.
Whatever flour you use, the dough will be VERY wet. There will come a point, when you are making the dumplings, when you will think there has to be a typo in the recipe, and you will think that you really need to add more flour, that there is no way this will roll out and turn into dumplings. When you do, just ignore your thoughts and follow the recipe. As long as you roll this out on a pastry mat, waxed paper or parchment, you will be fine. In the finished product, the flour you use on which to roll this out is just as important as the flour in the dumplings. It creates a thick stewy broth. If you stir it well while you put in the dumplings, it will not clump. Trust me.
It pays to use your own chicken stock in this recipe. Your finished product will only be as good as the stock you use. I usually make a roast chicken one night, then take the left-over meat off the bones and use the bones to make my slow-cooker chicken stock over-night. Then the next night I already have my broth and chicken done and only have to chop some carrots, make the dumplings and cook some peas. A little planning provides dinner for two nights plus leftovers, and even better – EVERYONE will like it. Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings
Serves 6-8
The dumpling dough is very wet when when it is mixed together. Adding extra flour to the dough makes the dumplings tough. You need a lot of flour when rolling out the dough, and that flour is then used to thicken the broth into a stew.
You can make this with any type of whole-grain flour or use only all-purpose flour. Traditionally this would be served very peppery. Adding the pepper several minutes before serving will allow the pepper flavor to strengthen.

8-10 cups Slow-cooker Poultry Broth (chicken) or any low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter or chicken fat
1 cup whole grain spelt flour whole-wheat flour
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pinch baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 cups cooked, boned, skinned and shredded chicken – a mixture of white and dark meat (about 1/2 chicken)
1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced (about 4 medium)
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the broth and butter to a boil in a large soup pot or dutch oven. While the broth comes to a boil, make the dumplings.

In a medium bowl combine the whole-grain flour, 1 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper; set aside.

In another bowl mix the egg, buttermilk and baking soda.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined; the dough will be very wet.

On a pastry mat or waxed paper, spread 1/2 cup of flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface and cover the top with another 1/4 cup of flour.

Using your hands, spread the dough out to 1/3” inch thick. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 1”X3” pieces.

When the broth has come to a rapid boil, slide the dumplings, one at a time, and the extra flour into the broth. It is okay if some of the dumplings break while moving them into the broth. Use a pastry scraper or knife to get off any dumplings that stick. Immediately stir the mixture until the dumplings are separated and the flour has mixed into the broth. A few small lumps of flour are fine and will cook themselves out in time. Add the chicken and carrots and return to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring frequently but gently until the dumplings and carrots are tender and the broth has thickened, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for another ten minutes before serving. Serve with green peas.

Texas Chili Means NO BEANS

January 23, 2013 - 5:00 am | Autumn, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Sauces/Condiments, Sides, Soup, Tex-Mex, Winter

2 Comments

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Vegetarian Boston-Style Baked Beans

January 16, 2013 - 5:00 am | Beans, kid-friendly, Local, Main Dish, Meatless Meals, Recipe, Retro Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

2 Comments

This past week marked the anniversary of a truly terrible and bizarre piece of Boston history; the great molasses flood of 1919 when a tsunami of molasses covered two blocks of Boston’s North End with a 15 foot wave of hot, sticky molasses. If you take a look at these pictures from the Boston Globe you’ll see the absolute devastation that the molasses flood brought to the densely packed neighborhood. Boston was the center of the molasses universe in those days as the area was home to many rum distilleries. Because of its abundance, molasses also was a key ingredient in local cuisine.

Molasses was the main sweetener for early settlers too. American style baked beans were introduced to the Pilgrims by local Indian tribes. While the Indian tribes used maple syrup and, the Pilgrims used molasses that was readily available and familiar because it was imported to Europe from the West Indies. The early settlers used molasses to sweeten everything from bread to beans to desserts such as Indian Pudding. While many Americans are not familiar with Boston Brown Bread and Indian Pudding, almost everyone is familiar with baked beans. While even today in northern New England they still use maple syrup, using molasses to sweeten the beans turns plain baked beans into Boston Baked Beans. It’s no surprise that the combination of beans and molasses became so popular that it earned Boston the name “Beantown”.

Traditional Yankee cuisine is still available here, although it’s a little harder to find than it used to be. Baked beans and brown bread were the traditional Sunday meal for much of New England for hundreds of years because it can be made ahead of time and kept warm; so locals could observe their religious rules of not cooking on the Sabbath. Now, there are restaurants that still serve traditional baked beans, but they are more of a novelty than a sought-after dish, except maybe by tourists. The real exception to this is Durgin Park – a touristy, yet all the same historical restaurant that still serves traditional Yankee fare. Here you can still get Yankee pot roast, baked beans, brown bread, Indian Pudding and cracker crumb cod. I worked right next to Durgin Park for several years, and it is where I was first introduced to Yankee cooking.

Whenever I want to tackle a traditional dish I’m torn between modernizing it or embracing the traditional recipe. Never has this been more so than with baked beans. Living in New England I feel obliged to make such a traditional dish the way it was intended: the way I first encountered it at Durgin Park fifteen years ago. But, that’s just foolish, because I want to make them vegetarian; that’s not the way they were intended. So, with this recipe I’ve thrown out the rule book and instead embraced the spirit of the original recipe. This is still a hearty winter dish full of rich sweet flavors, but I’ve replaced the fatty pork belly with a hearty dose of veggies. Not really an even trade is it? All the same, this is still a full meal, especially when paired with a slice of the heavy and hearty classic brown bread.

The brown bread is another traditional recipe. For this one I have adapted several very old recipes which I found in a few ancient cookbooks I have around. They all have variations of the same recipe. Most of them call for equal parts of rye and graham flour and corn meal. All of them call for sour milk and baking soda. I noticed that most new recipes for brown bread use whole wheat flour, white flour and corn meal, not rye flour, but why add white flour to a recipe that traditionally calls for something much healthier? The quick bread is sweetened with molasses and steamed – always. I use a Bundt pan (or you can use a tube pan) placed in a dutch oven for steaming instead of the traditional can, but the finished product is still hearty, sweet and the perfect accompaniment for the beans. It’s even better toasted with butter and jam the following morning. Enjoy!

Baked Beans
Serves 8
These beans re-heat beautifully in the microwave. Just add a half cup of water, cover and cook for 10 minutes on 50% power, stirring once half-way through the cooking time.

2 cups great northern or navy beans soaked overnight
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped fine
4 cups water, divided
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until it begins to simmer then add the onions, celery, carrots and apple. Cook until the onions are translucent, about five minutes. While the vegetables are cooking combine the molasses, brown sugar, tomato paste, cloves, bay leaf, mustard powder, whole-grain mustard and vinegar in a small bowl. Add the molasses mixture once the vegetables are soft. Add two cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil.

Place the soaked beans in a large oven-safe dish. Pour the vegetable and molasses mixture over the beans and seal tightly with a piece of foil. Put the baking dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.

When 2 hours have passed, remove the pan from the oven and stir the beans. Add the salt dissolved in another cup of water. Recover the beans with foil and return to the oven. Check once an hour stirring the beans and adding more water as needed. The finished beans should be a rich brownish-red in color and very tender. The total cooking time will vary depending on the type of bean you use; about 4 hours for navy beans and 6 hours for the larger great northern bean.

Steamed Boston Brown Bread
Makes 1 large tube pan loaf, about 30 slices
This is essentially a graham flour bread that is leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. Most of us don’t have a steamed pudding pan hanging around, and I don’t even have a 1 pound coffee can. So, this recipe is adapted to use a large dutch oven and a standard metal loaf or Bundt pan. This means that it produces a much larger than normal loaf. If you’re not that into brown bread, you can half this recipe and steam it in a 1 pound coffee can (oh, and the cans really don’t hold one pound of coffee anymore, but people still refer to them as such). Do not use a glass loaf pan for this as it could shatter when steamed on the stove.

2 cup rye flour
2 cup graham flour
2 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup molasses
3 cups buttermilk

Grease a 12-cup tube pan or Bundt pan and set aside. Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a large dutch oven set over medium-high heat. While the water boils, combine the flours, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine the molasses and buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape the batter into the loaf or Bundt pan and lower the pan down into the boiling water. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the bread until it is firm to the touch, about two hours.

When the bread has finished steaming use a pair of tongs inserted into the center of the tube to raise the pan out of the pot of water. You can use a paper towel to soak up any water or moisture that has collected around the edges of the bread. Heat an oven to 325 degrees. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes to dry out the edges of the bread and prevent the bread from becoming sticky. When the bread is done, remove and cool for ten minute before turning the bread out onto a wire rack. Serve immediately warm or toasted the following day. Can be kept covered for three days or frozen for two months.

Bean and Sausage Stew

January 9, 2013 - 10:18 pm | Beans, Green, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Winter

Happy New Year – Hoppin’ John Cakes

December 28, 2012 - 10:45 pm | Beans, Grains, Holiday, Main Dish, Meatless Meals, Recipe, Sides, Southern, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

1 Comment

Although the new year is not quite here yet, I’ve already begun to celebrate it’s arrival. Since the Mayan’s were wrong about the end of the world last week, I now feel the need to hurry up and enjoy myself before we all slide off the Fiscal Cliff. So, I kicked off a week long party by reinventing a southern new year’s tradition: Hoppin’ John.

Southern tradition dictates eating peas on New Year’s Day. Different parts of the south do this differently. Some parts say you need to eat black-eyed peas, others say it needs to be peas and rice, other parts say peas and greens. In low country cooking, it needs to be Hoppin’ John served on rice. Hoppin’ John is a pea dish made most often with black-eyed peas and ham hock. Whatever the combination, the eating of peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring you luck and wealth in the coming year.

I’m not really picky; all of the above sound good to me. Well, almost all of them. I’m not a greens fan. I know, I know. How dare I claim to know anything about southern cooking and hate greens. It’s like an New Yorker hating pizza. But there you have it. I think my distaste is rooted in the smell of mustard greens cooking all day in my house when I was a child. On days when my grand-mother was down in the kitchen cooking up a mess of greens, I would hide out in my room, sometimes even burying my head in my pillow to hide from the stench. It takes a lot to get that smell out of your mind.

But now I’m the grown-up. I’m supposed to like vegetables. So, as the good girl that I am I decided to turn greens and peas into something I could like, even love. Mixing a mild in-season green like kale with the rice and peas makes the flavor become something to get excited about. Forming the rice, peas and greens into a patty, dredging it in corn meal and frying it makes this traditional dish into something strangely more southern. It tastes deeply of the south. The total flavor is nothing but satisfying: crunchy cornmeal, homey peas and rice and the rich flavor of greens. Several people even commented that it reminded them of fried okra. It can be a little crumbly to work with, but it’s worth it in the end because of the crunch and the flavor. Alone or with a generous splash of hot sauce, these are perfect for a home cooked meal with nothing but a salad or a piece of fish. Or if you are entertaining for New Year, you can start the party in style and make these into small appetizers. I can’t promise that they will bring you wealth or luck in the new year, but they will make you popular. Enjoy!

Hoppin John Cakes

Makes 16-3” cakes or 32 small hors d’oeuvres size cakes

I love these cakes fried up with just a splash of hot sauce. Depending on your rice and peas, you may need to stir in a tablespoon of flour to make these stick together when forming them into cakes. The baking soda used in the cooking of the kale helps keep it’s nice bright green color.

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
1 cups medium grain rice
1/2 small bunch of kale (take the other half bunch and make kale chips – everyone else is)
1 teaspoon steak seasoning or rib seasoning with natural smoke (two of my favorites are Adams Rib Rubb and Penzey’s Chicago Steak Seasoning)
2 teaspoons hot sauce such as Crystal
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup corn meal
bacon drippings or vegetable oil for frying

Pick over the dried peas to make sure there are no rocks, pebbles or debris. Soak them overnight or bring the peas to a boil and let boil for five minutes.

Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1 hour. Cook the peas without any seasoning until just tender, about 30 minutes. When they are tender, drain off the cooking liquid and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of hot sauce.

Set aside to cool.

While the peas are cooking, add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a medium pot without any oil. Saute on medium-low heat until the onion is translucent, 7-10 minutes.

Add two cups of water and steak or rib seasoning and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook for twenty minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

To cook the greens, remove the stem from the leaves and chop the kale into 1 inch pieces and rinse well.

Add to a pot with a 1/2 cup of water, a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until the kale is wilted.

Cover and continue to cook until the kale is tender, about another five minutes. When tender, drain off the cooking liquid and squeeze the extra liquid out of the greens.

Combine the greens, rice and peas together and season to taste.

Form the cakes by pressing the mixture into a round cookie or biscuit cutter or down into a ring mold.

Small cakes can be formed by pressing the mixture into the desired size with your hands.

You want the mixture to be tightly packed to prevent the cakes from crumbling. If they do start to crumble, you can add a tablespoon or two of flour to the mixture. Carefully dredge the cakes in corn meal.

Heat a thin layer of oil (about 1/8” deep) in a large pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cakes in batches cooking for about five minutes a side.

They should be very crispy and dark golden brown on both sides. Repeat with remaining cakes adding more oil as needed until all the cakes are done. Serve hot with lots of extra hot sauce.

Buttermilk Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash

December 19, 2012 - 7:42 am | Autumn, Breakfast, Fruit, Holiday, Main Dish, Meatless Meals, Recipe, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

2 Comments

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!

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.

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.

Cranberries before and after roasting…

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

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.

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.

Peeling and scooping the squash from the skin…

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

Lightly mix in bread cubes and Gruyere.

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.

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.

Fruitcake for a New Generation

December 11, 2012 - 10:04 pm | Baking, Desserts, Fruit, Holiday, Recipe, Retro Recipes, Southern, Winter

3 Comments

When did the poor fruitcake loose it’s popularity? Of what crime against humanity is it guilty? How did it become the most maligned dessert in the world? Surely the fruitcake must have been good once, right? How did it win it’s starring role in the Christmas dessert canon if it never tasted good? Is it just because we tend not to like what our grandmothers liked? No, because my grand-mother liked peanut-butter pie, smother-fried steak and sage cornbread dressing and I don’t think those dishes would end up as the bad gag-gift at the Yankee swap.

More probably like all trends, it just is the victim of over-production. That’s my guess. After all, once it’s been trivialized so that the corner store sells it in the dollar bin, you know it’s fallen on hard times.

I know personally that all fruitcakes are not created equal. I know this because, even though as a child I never liked them, I have tasted many, many morsels because my father and his mother, who lived with us, were fruitcake fans.

In fact, my grandmother, Mama Gene, supplied the small Alabama town she lived in with it’s yearly supply of premium fruitcake for over twenty years from about 1945 to 1965. Around Thanksgiving every year she turned into a fruitcake machine, churning out over 500 pounds of the sticky cake every year. All by herself with no assembly lines, no assistants, no professional ovens, no food processors. All by herself, one twenty-pound batch at a time. By the time she came to live with us, the yearly output had dwindled down to one or two a year for just us and maybe a family friend. However, you don’t succeed at making fruitcake in the small-town American South for very long unless you make a really good fruitcake.

Not all the fruitcake to be had at our house was a Mama Gene work of fruitcake art. When word gets out that you live in the home of a fruitcake fan, fruitcakes start showing up on your doorstep from every mail-order Christmas catalog around. You can’t stop them. They are like the lost puppies of the dessert world. They just keep coming back. So, I learned what to look for before deciding how big of a nibble I could bear without looking rude. The amount of the sort-of translucent greenish-white, jello-looking candied fruit, citron, was my clue. After a few, I learned that the more citron in the cake, the less likely I could get it down. Really it didn’t matter; I didn’t like any of them. Although the really good fruitcakes tasted good to me if you picked out all the candied fruit (except the pineapple) and all the raisins (ick). So basically I liked the cake and the pecans and probably the booze.

I was thinking about all this the other day when I was talking with my father, who often helps me think through the logistics of recipes I’m developing. I was working on a prune and fig cake, but couldn’t quite get to a game plan I really liked. My father mentioned that he had run across his mother’s go-to cookbook: The Rumford Complete Cookbook published 1908. Inside the front cover were three of her fruitcake recipes from the 1940s. One for light fruitcake, one for dark fruitcake and one for half light, half dark fruitcake. I mentioned that I liked her fruitcake if I picked out all the candied fruit (hers fell in the middle of the citron scale). Of course! Why couldn’t I make her fruitcake but with more natural dried fruit in place of the candied fruit I hated so much. After all, dried fruit seems much more popular these days than it did a decade ago thanks to marketing campaigns that have changed what we eat from prunes to dried plums. (A million dollar marketing idea based on the idea that renaming foods from icky sounding words to more palatable ones would make people want to eat it; not a new idea to for moms of picky kids who have been using that trick for generations. “That’s not grits honey, it’s mini rice!”).

Gene Wiggins’ (Mama Gene) light and dark fruitcake recipes from the 1940′s

I’m not sure where Mama Gene got her recipe. Perhaps she used the Rumford “Wedding Fruitcake” (page 140) to help her. However, I think the better bet is that my grandmother used a version of her father’s fruitcake recipe. He was a pastry chef trained in Germany before immigrating to America and opening a bakery in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As a young girl, she worked in his bakery and must have made fruitcakes on a large scale every holiday season. So, when she found herself as a stay-at-home mom who wanted to make a few extra bucks for the Christmas fund, making fruitcakes came naturally to her.

However she came to this recipe, it works. I was able to scale it down with few problems. According to my father she made her own pear preserves with lemon peel on a yearly basis just to use as an ingredient in her fruitcakes (can you say dedication?). First on my list of recipe renovations was cutting the odious citron from my recipe. I did want a mild citrus flavor, so since I was fresh out of homemade pear/lemon preserves, I opted for orange marmalade and then also added fresh lemon and orange zest. Gone from her recipe are the pounds and pounds of heavily sugared (and dyed) candied fruit. In their place are simple chopped, dried fruit. Green and red cherries are replaced with dried apricots and dried cherries. Candied pineapple and raisins are replaced with figs and “dried plums”. Chunks of citron are now studs of crystallized ginger. All in all her recipe called for over 12 pounds of fruit for three “good sized cakes.” Because the fruit she used was so heavily sugared, I had to adjust accordingly. Yet, my recipe still packs a pretty dense ratio of fruit to cake. It turns out that a “good sized cake” is actually a tube pan and makes about a five pound cake. I guess “good sized” means enough to feed a small family of 25. However, since fruitcake has been known to last several years when wrapped in liquor soaked linen, I went with it.

The result is impressive. I’ll be honest – I was giddy when it came out of the oven looking and smelling like fruitcake. The taste was a surprise; it tasted good; fruit and all. So good, in fact that I ate the two slices you see in the picture (they were cut after all). The flavor was akin to an extreme fig newton. Full of sweet figgy goodness, but with so much more. You taste the dates and figs first, but then the spices, the ginger, the apricots and cherries start to come through too. It’s a Christmas party in your mouth. Hubby, who doesn’t really like dried fruit or nuts, admitted that it was good too. Hubby saying any fruitcake is good is like getting a three year old to say brussel sprouts are super yummy. Of course Little Guy, who eagerly helped me make the cake, declared it yucky. Glad that know fruitcake is still a grownup flavor.

If you do make this fruitcake, you won’t be sorry. It’s not hard to make but is time consuming. Chopping all the dried fruit probably takes the longest of the hands-on work. Whatever you do, don’t rush the baking process. This cake is dense and needs to cook very low and slow. You will be impressed with the results. You’ll impress family and guests too. You’ll be that rare person who is able to make a fruitcake that people like. Help this poor dessert regain some of its former glory! Won’t you please help the fruitcake cause? Make one this holiday season. Enjoy (and Happy Holidays)!

Modern Fruitcake (made with dried not candied fruit)
Makes 1 large tube pan cake, about five pounds finished

You can store this cake in the back of the refrigerator to keep it longer. To prevent drying out, pour a small amount of additional bourbon or whiskey over it to moisten it every time you cut a piece, or keep it wrapped in a piece of muslin soaked in liquor. This not only adds moisture but also an additional decadent richness.

3/4 pound butter (3 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 tablespoon cane syrup or molasses
1/4 cup Bourbon or other whiskey
1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade or other light colored preserves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 cups flour (divided with 1/3 cup of it for fruit)
1/2 pound pitted dates (sweet medjool), about 1 1/2 cups
6 ounces figs, stems removed, about 1 1/4 cup
6 ounces prunes, about 1 cup
1/4 pound apricots, about 3/4 cup
1/4 pound dried cherries, about 3/4 cup
2 ounces crystallized ginger, about 1/4 cup
4 ounces pecans, about 3/4 cup
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon

Chop the dates, figs, prunes, apricots and pecans into 1/4” pieces. Chop the ginger into very small pieces about 1/8” in size.

Mix all the fruit, pecans, ginger and zests in a large bowl. Add 1/3 cup of the flour and toss thoroughly.

Use your fingers to separate all the pieces of fruit so that none are stuck together. Set aside.

Set an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan and set aside. In a medium bowl combine the remaining 2 2/3 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice and set aside.

In the bowl of a heavy mixer combine the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition.

Add the vanilla, syrup, marmalade (or preserves) and bourbon and mix until combined.

The batter will look slightly broken.

Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix once again to make sure the batter is well combined, but do not over beat. Add the fruit and nut mixture and mix or fold in until just combined.

Scoop the mixture into the baking pan.

If you are using a tube pan you can decorate the top of the cake with pecan halves and additional dried fruit.

Place the cake in the middle of the oven. Bake the cake for about 3 hours, or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for fifteen minutes. Run a thin knife or spatula around the edges of the pan and around the inner tube before turning the cake out. Let cool completely on a wire rack before covering. The cake will keep for several weeks.

Winter Salad

December 6, 2012 - 9:07 pm | Cheese, Fruit, Meatless Meals, Salad, Sides, Winter

1 Comment

For my first three years of school I attended an all-girls school in Baltimore. While I have many memories such as May day and the great tire swing I loved to play on during recess, there is one memory that is so ingrained in my mind that I keep coming back to it every time I smell an orange. Every year the school held a fund raiser selling citrus fruit (grapefruits and oranges). When the fruit would arrive directly from Florida it would make the entire building smell like a citrus grove. Imagine the worst smell you have ever smelled, then imagine the polar opposite of it, and that is what it smelled like. Ambrosia comes to mind to describe it. And like most scent memories, this memory is now triggered every time I smell fresh citrus. It is, I’m sure, the reason that I begin to crave citrus fruit the moment I see the first of the Clementines hit the shelves in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I’m sure my cravings have something to do with the seasonality of food, and I crave it because it’s been a year since it was in season and all of that stuff. However, I think it’s the smell of it that I crave even more than the flavor. I want so badly to return to that hallway, lined with white boxes of orange and yellow–heavenly scent bombs from floor to ceiling. But I can’t go back, so I now greedily grab up countless numbers of oranges and grapefruits this time of year so I can fill my kitchen and tummy with all that citrus. I bring home fruit after fruit to zest, section, juice or just peel and eat. I love the way the smell sinks into my fingers and hands. It’s just so good.

Of course, citrus isn’t the only thing in season this time of year. I’ll take oranges and grapefruit almost anyway I can get them right now, but there’re a few other things I’m also hoarding and eating at breakneck pace right now. Beets and fennel, when added to my beloved citrus create a wonderful winter salad that has all the juiciness of summer fruit with a decidedly winter feel to it. Every flavor of this salad works together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. The licorice flavor of the fennel is balanced with the sweet, sour, and bitter from the fruit. The sweetness of the beets is amplified by the honey. The creamy Gorgonzola is paired with the crunch from the walnuts, and the slightly sweet mustard vinaigrette is full with black-pepper bite. It’s a salad that will wow guests when you serve it at your holiday dinner, but also something easy enough to want to make it again just for yourself. Enjoy

Winter Salad
Serves 2 as an entrée or 4 as a side salad
This salad is also wonderful with a soft goat cheese like chèvre instead of the gorgonzola. You can save time by roasting the beets in advance, and you can roast a bunch off at a time and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. While the beets are roasting you can prep all the rest of the ingredients for the salad.

Salad:
2 golden beets
1 grapefruit
2 oranges
6 cups watercress (one large bunch), washed
1 bulb fennel
4 ounces Gorgonzola Dolce, cubed or crumbled
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted

Dressing:
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons good quality wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
zest of one orange
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut all but an inch of the beet greens off of the beets and scrub the beets thoroughly.

Place the beets on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for about an hour, or until a knife easily slides into the beets. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the dressing, combine mustard, vinegar, honey, orange zest, salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl. Slowly whisk the olive oil into the bowl. Set aside.

To peel citrus fruit cut the ends off of the fruit and then carefully slice the knife around the outside of the fruit removing all of the peel and pith while leaving as much of the fruit as possible.

Click here to see my video on how to peel citrus..

To section the fruit, slide a sharp paring knife down along the partitioning skin of each section to the center of the fruit, then turn the knife and come back out along the other side of each section. Repeat with the remaining sections and squeeze any remaining juice into a separate bowl for another use.

Click here to see my video on how to section citrus…

Remove the fennel bulb from the greens. Core the bulb by slicing a triangle out of the bottom end. Slice the rest of the fennel into thin slices.

When the beets have cooled, peel the outer skin off of them and slice them thinly.

To build the salad: Place the watercress on the platter first, then the fennel, beets, citrus fruit walnuts and cheese. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.

Category Archives: Winter

Sauteed Baby Greens with Crispy Shallots

Field Trip: ReVision Urban Farm

Chicken and Dumplings

Texas Chili Means NO BEANS

Vegetarian Boston-Style Baked Beans

Bean and Sausage Stew

Happy New Year – Hoppin’ John Cakes

Buttermilk Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash

Fruitcake for a New Generation

Winter Salad

Get new posts via email…

Search the site:

Pinterest

Join us on Facebook

Get our RSS Feed

Books for Spring

Category List:

Sites I'm Reading

A Cooking Light Blogger Community Member

Badges

Archives