Lindsay is finally back from Armenia and my work schedule is settling down, so it’s time to return to regular posting. We have four or five posts in backlog (and we’ll catch up on that soon!). Luckily, winter posts age well. If there’s one good thing about “dark days”, it’s that the available ingredient list stays pretty stable.

For a vegetarian meal last night we made potato and onion kibbeh, a recipe which Lindsay . . . → Read More: How to Make Potato Kibbeh and Paprika Carrots]]>

Lindsay is finally back from Armenia and my work schedule is settling down, so it’s time to return to regular posting. We have four or five posts in backlog (and we’ll catch up on that soon!). Luckily, winter posts age well. If there’s one good thing about “dark days”, it’s that the available ingredient list stays pretty stable.

For a vegetarian meal last night we made potato and onion kibbeh, a recipe which Lindsay got from her newest cookbook, Simply Armenian. As a side, we made a carrot sauté that features smoked paprika, possibly the best spice in the world!

Potato-Onion Kibbeh

Makes 6-8 servings

Directions

1. Cook the wheat berries (see the chart towards the bottom of the linked post). This part can be done days in advance, since it’s the longest part.
2. Wash and peel the potatoes, and dice them into 1/2 inch cubes so that they cook faster. Grate one of the onions (I used a food processor). Slice the other into large, round slices. If one is larger than the other, grate the larger one and slice the smaller one.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Place the potatoes in a large pot, fill it water until the potatoes are covered by about one inch, add 0.5 tsp of salt, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it’s at a boil, leave it for 25 minutes. To test, stick a fork into one of the potatoes. It should slide right off. Drain the potatoes in a colander and put them back into the pot. Using a masher or large fork, mash the potatoes.

   

5. To the pot with the mashed potatoes, add the wheat berries, grated onion, parsley, basil/mint, cumin, pepper, and the remaining salt. Mix thoroughly. For best (but messy!) results, knead the mixture thoroughly with your hands. Line the bottom of a small baking dish with the sliced onions and drizzle 1/4 cup of the oil evenly over them.

   

Spread the potato mixture evenly over the onions. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of oil over the top. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until browned on top.

Carrots with Smoked Paprika and Toasted Hazelnuts

Makes 2-3 servings

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coarsely chop the hazelnuts (unfortunately we couldn’t go local for hazelnuts, but we had some on hand and this is also an optional ingredient). Spread them evenly in a signal layer on a baking sheet and toast them for 8 – 10 minutes. While you are waiting, peel the carrots. Cut them cross-wise into coins no thicker than 1/4 inch. Cut larger coins in half into half-moons.

   

2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots. Saute for 30 minutes, or until nicely browned, stirring occasionally (more frequently as you get near the end, or else the carrots will stick to the pan).

   

3. Add the sherry to the pan and give it a minute to evaporate. Add the paprika, mix to combine thoroughly, and let it sit for 30 seconds to activate the flavor. Plate and garnish with the hazelnuts.

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful 2011. Ours was very exciting – we traveled to some interesting places (here and here), got engaged, and moved to Somerville, MA. Whew! 2012 promises to be a fun one as well. We wish you all happiness, health, and delicious food!!

After last night’s festivities, you might want to top your burnt toast with this marmalade full of vitamin C and fructose and just . . . → Read More: How to Make Clementine Marmalade]]>

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful 2011. Ours was very exciting – we traveled to some interesting places (here and here), got engaged, and moved to Somerville, MA. Whew! 2012 promises to be a fun one as well. We wish you all happiness, health, and delicious food!!

After last night’s festivities, you might want to top your burnt toast with this marmalade full of vitamin C and fructose and just a tiny bit of whiskey. Once you slice up all the clementines, it comes together pretty quickly. If you don’t process it, you can have it ready in about an hour. It’s got a nice bittersweet flavor that would work well with rich food, if you get sick of toast – a glaze for salmon or maybe in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Hair of the Dog Marmalade

Makes 6 4-ounce jars

Directions

1. Prepare your canning tools, if you’re processing this. (Steps 3, 4, and 6)
2. Since we won’t be removing the peels, wash the clementines really well. They might be coated in wax, so give them a good scrub. Slice the clementines as thinly as you can, discarding the first and last slices and any seeds. I have a cutting board with a little moat, which is really helpful for catching the juice. If you’re using a regular cutting board, consider pouring the juice into your pot occasionally, so that you don’t lose any of it.
3. Add the clementine slices, juice, grated apple and carrot, and water to a wide saucepan. Put the cinnamon sticks and allspice berries into a tea ball or tie them up in a square of cheesecloth and add them to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Once the sugar has dissolved, raise the heat to high and boil hard for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has thickened considerably. I know this is a vague description, but it’s done when there’s only a little puddle of liquid at the bottom of the pan.
5. Remove and discard the spices and stir in the whiskey.
6. If you’re canning this, fill your jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and process for 10 minutes. (Steps 7+)

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that . . . → Read More: Dark Days Challenge Week 3: Cranberry-Carrot Muffins]]> Happy Sunday to you all! My parents are visiting for the weekend, so we had a lazy morning. After a huge feast last night of braised chicken and parsnips, a riff on this macaroni and cheese, and a kale salad with toasted almonds and dried cherries, we only needed a nibble for breakfast. Muffins!

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that great box!

We used most of them for canning – whole berry sauce, relish with oranges and walnuts (no mint), and pickled cranberries…

… but had about 2 cups sitting in the refrigerator. We also had a TON of carrots. Why? I don’t know. I probably planned to use them in some grand scheme, so bought some at the farmers’ market, and then got some more from the CSA, and it just got out of control.

For a random muffin based loosely on a Mark Bittman recipe, these turned out really really well. Just sweet enough, but with a tart bite every now and then. The texture is great, too. I don’t usually like coffee shop muffins, because they’re too dense, but these are moist without being heavy. If I do say so myself…

Cranberry-Carrot Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add the butter pieces to the dry ingredients and use your fingers to rub the butter through the flour mixture. Keep smooshing until the butter is pretty evenly dispersed and all the chunks are pea-sized or smaller.
4. Whisk together the maple syrup and egg.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour/butter mixture and whisk until just barely combined.
6. Gently fold in the cranberries and grated carrot. You’ll probably have to switch from the whisk to a spoon or spatula, but use as few strokes as possible to avoid developing gluten, the protein that makes bread nice and chewy, but muffins tough.
7. Fill each muffin cup with a scant (i.e. not quite full) 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a thin knife or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I’m almost completely unable to throw out food. I hold on to bits and pieces like we’re in the Dust Bowl and it’s 1933. My great-grandmas would be proud of me. Erik thinks there isn’t a use for the last tiny bit of jam or apple peelings, but there is! Flavoring yogurt and pectin stock for jam and jelly! So there!!

Until I found this recipe, I was throwing out the pulp from making . . . → Read More: Carrot Almond Macaroon Recipe]]>

I’m almost completely unable to throw out food. I hold on to bits and pieces like we’re in the Dust Bowl and it’s 1933. My great-grandmas would be proud of me. Erik thinks there isn’t a use for the last tiny bit of jam or apple peelings, but there is! Flavoring yogurt and pectin stock for jam and jelly! So there!!

Until I found this recipe, I was throwing out the pulp from making carrot juice and almond milk (and dying a little inside). I mean, you get tasty carrot juice and almond milk that’s much cheaper and less-filled-with-junk than store-bought, but still! All that perfectly good pulp…it made me sad. Plus, I like cookies, especially macaroons and especially when they use up stuff that I was previously tossing/composting while tasting rich and delicious.

Also, it’s a well-known fact that cookies have no calories when they’re mostly made of ingredients that were otherwise destined for the garbage.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to make almond milk or carrot juice first to enjoy these. I adopted this recipe from 101 Cookbooks, which uses chopped nuts and grated carrots.

We aren’t lucky enough to get oats or almonds at our farmer’s market, so we get both in the bulk section at our grocery store. They might not be local, but buying from the bulk section creates significantly less waste than buying pre-packaged.

I’d like to experiment with using ghee instead of coconut oil to increase the local-ness, but the coconut oil really makes them macaroons and isn’t as bad as it was once thought to be. Plus, I’ve replace my moisturizer with coconut oil, so we always have some on hand.

Carrot Almond Macaroons
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, and salt) in a large bowl.
   
2. Add the carrots and almonds and whisk long enough to break up most of the clumps. Our juicer sometimes leaves a few chunks in the carrot pulp, so I fish these out now, too.
3. In a glass measuring cup, melt the coconut oil in the microwave until just melted. This usually takes about a minute, but it depends on how warm the apartment is.
4. While the coconut oil melts, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or grease them with non-stick spray or butter.
5. Add the maple syrup and ginger to the measuring cup and stir to combine

   

6. Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

   

7. Use either a 2-teaspoon scoop or a tablespoon, drop the cookies onto the prepared pans. They won’t spread much, so you can place them pretty close together.

   

8. Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for as long as you can wait.

   Our oven runs hot, so I always set the timer for 8 minutes and then check every 2 minutes after that. To speed things up, I fill one pan and get it in the oven right away (top rack). The second pan takes me about 2 minutes to fill (thanks to the scoop!), so I put it in the bottom rack and rotate the pans when the initial 8 minutes are up (i.e. move the top pan to the bottom and the bottom pan to the top). Then I just remember that the second pan (now on the top) needs a few extra minutes.

These pack well, so I have been taking some along on my weekly business trips. It’s a nice little taste of home.

UPDATE: I just made these gluten-free by using buckwheat flour (instead of whole wheat) and gluten-free oats. They’re still delicious!

After six weeks of a relatively meat-heavy diet, Lindsay and I have been eager to get back to more vegetable-based meals. This “meatloaf” turned out to be a great winter vegetable half-way point, and great comfort food as well.

This dish is tasty and texturally pretty close to the real thing. Better yet, this vegetarian “meatloaf” contains quinoa, which is one of those so-called “super-foods”. It looks and tasted like a cereal or grain, . . . → Read More: How to Make Quinoa and Mushroom “Meatloaf”]]>

After six weeks of a relatively meat-heavy diet, Lindsay and I have been eager to get back to more vegetable-based meals. This “meatloaf” turned out to be a great winter vegetable half-way point, and great comfort food as well.

This dish is tasty and texturally pretty close to the real thing. Better yet, this vegetarian “meatloaf” contains quinoa, which is one of those so-called “super-foods”. It looks and tasted like a cereal or grain, but it isn’t. It’s high in nutrients and protein.

Quinoa

We served this “meatloaf” with vegetarian mushroom gravy (see the link for the recipe) and mashed potatoes (see the bottom of this post). Yum.


Quinoa and mushroom “meatloaf”

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, bring the 2 cups of water to a boil on high heat. Putting a lid on the pan will make the process faster. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Set it aside.
2. While the quinoa is simmering, slice the mushrooms and dice the onion and carrots.

   

3. Heat the 2 TBsp of oil in a skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onions become translucent. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their juices, and then continue until the mixture evaporates most of its moisture, about 10 minutes.

   

4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put a quarter-sized pool of the sunflower or olive oil in the bottom of a loaf pan and rub it around the bottom and sides of the pan with a paper towel.
5. Toast whole walnuts or pieces in a skillet for about 8 minutes. When done, grind the walnuts in a food processor or coffee grinder, or alternately use a knife to chop them very finely.

   

6. Whisk the egg in the bottom of a large bowl. When done, add the wheat germ, breadcrumbs, ground walnuts, ground pepper, and herbs to the bowl.

   

7. Add the sautéed onions, mushrooms, and carrots, as well as the quinoa , to the large bowl containing the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Use your hands to pack it tightly into the loaf pan. It should all fit into a single loaf pan if you pack it tightly enough.

   

8. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is nicely browned. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides using a spatula. Place the serving plate upside-down on top of the loaf pan and flip it over to release it onto the plate. Carefully lift the load pan off of the “meatloaf”.

   

Mashed potatoes

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Scrub the potatoes. Remove any eyes and cut out any bad spots.

   

2. Bring a pot full of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and continue the boil for about 30 minutes, or until they are very soft. They are done when you can very easily puncture them with a butter knife, and the skin may crack open when you do so.

   

3. Drain the pot and put the potatoes into a large bowl. Cut them into smaller pieces (quarters). Add the buttermilk, salt, and pepper and use a masher or large fork to thoroughly mash the potatoes. If you want to, you can pull out the skins now, rather than mashing them in.

   

Bringing it all together

You can chop the onions and mushrooms for the gravy at the same time as that for the “meatloaf”. You can prepare the potatoes and the gravy while the “meatloaf” is in the oven. Plate them together for a delicious meal:

I barely know who’s playing this year. I’m just not a huge sports fan…but I do like the food tradition! if you want to speed things up, you can make this recipe from store-bought beans, sour cream, and salsa verde. Honestly,though, even making it all from scratch, most of the time it was hands-off. It just took a bit of planning to know to start the day before.

This recipe is adapted from Gena . . . → Read More: Dark Days (Super Bowl Edition): Three Layer Bean Dip]]>

I barely know who’s playing this year. I’m just not a huge sports fan…but I do like the food tradition! if you want to speed things up, you can make this recipe from store-bought beans, sour cream, and salsa verde. Honestly,though, even making it all from scratch, most of the time it was hands-off. It just took a bit of planning to know to start the day before.

This recipe is adapted from Gena at Choosing Raw. Since our food focus is local and Gena’s is vegan, it’s a little different, but the inspiration and bean dip were all her.

Three Layer Dip

Ingredients:

Directions:

Layer One:

1. Heat the oven to 450.
2. Spread the bell peppers on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, stiring halfway through. They should smell delicious and be browned in spots. Note: I regretted putting these directly on the pan, because it required a LOT of elbow grease to clean up. I’d recommend lining the pan with foil first.

   

3. While the peppers are roasting, blend the rest of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth, like refried beans. You might need to add a tablespoon of the bean cooking water (or regular water) to get things moving.

   

4. Let the peppers cool briefly and then add to the food processor with the beans.

   

5. Process until smooth. Taste to judge if you should add more salt and pepper and add if needed.
6. Spread in an even layer on the bottom of a 4 cup ( = 1 quart = 32 ounce) container.

Layer Two:
Spread 1 cup of sour cream (store-bought or homemade) on top of the beans. We used cream from Milk Thistle Farm and buttermilk from Tonjes Family Dairy.

Layer Three:
Spread 1 cup of salsa verde (store-bought or homemade, again) on top of the sour cream. We used salsa verde we canned this fall using green tomatoes from our friends’ garden (Thanks, Brian and Mary!) and peppers from Oak Grove Plantation.

Serve with chips and veggies. We used yellow, orange, and purple carrots (from Paffenroth Gardens), watermelon radishes, and gilfeather rutabagas (both from Windfall Farms).

We had a lot of leftovers from our party, and otherwise we stuck to simple meals that we’ve already posted about, such as frittata and roasted vegetables.

The picture below is a mix of roasting potatoes, celeriac, . . . → Read More: Leftovers and Tallgrass Burger]]> We’ve had a busy week, so we haven’t had time to do anything really interesting in the kitchen. We are doing a bunch of cooking tomorrow for the Superbowl, so we’ll have some post material after that.

We had a lot of leftovers from our party, and otherwise we stuck to simple meals that we’ve already posted about, such as frittata and roasted vegetables.

The picture below is a mix of roasting potatoes, celeriac, orange and purple carrots, and some sort of purple radish that I can’t remember the name of. It makes for a pretty mix, which we drizzled with some homemade honey mustard vinaigrette.

A very purple roasting mix

For those in NYC, we should also note that we ordered in one night, from Tallgrass Burger. The reviews online are mixed, which is surprising, because we had a great experience. Tallgrass uses only grass-fed local beef (the type we cook with). We both had “The Classic”, which comes with cheese and horseradish-mustard sauce which was both original and tasty. The garlic fries were also great.

Some people online complained about their burgers being overcooked or undercooked vs. their order, but Lindsay and I both commented how they nailed her medium and my well. Others online complained about the price, but we’re willing to pay for better ingredients. At $7 for the Classic, it’s not outrageous. It’s more expensive than McDonalds, but cheaper than a sit-down restaurant.

Plain and simple, the reason we are posting it is that they were the best burgers that we’ve had in a long time. A friend of mine went last night on our recommendation, and she agreed that they reminded her very much of In-n-Out Burger. The style is very similar: not to small, not too huge, thin-patty, reasonable portion size, and high quality. Boo to the naysayers.

We’ve been making this about every two weeks, but that’s kind of . . . → Read More: How to Make Vegetable Broth]]> This is an incredibly simple, mindless vegetable broth. It mimics the boxed or canned brands, but is salt-free (a standard 1-cup serving contains 20-25% of your daily sodium allowance!) and allows you to control the quality of the ingredients. It also takes advantage of my favorite appliance, the slow cooker, so you can throw it together with about 15 minutes of hands-on time.

We’ve been making this about every two weeks, but that’s kind of atypical. If you don’t use it up all at once, I recommend freezing it in zip-top bags in 2- or 4-cup servings. You could also freeze it in a muffin pan for smaller (~1/4 cup) servings. Pop out the portions once they’re frozen and store them in a large zip-top bag.

Basic Vegetable Broth
Makes 10-12 cups, depending on the size of your slow cooker

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of carrots, scrubbed and chopped into big chunks
• 1 large celeriac (10-12 ounces), peeled and chopped into big chunks (see this post for directions)
• 1 pound of onions (about 3), quartered but not peeled
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 6 whole sprigs of parsley or 2 TBsp chopped parsley – We chopped and froze a ton of parsley in ice cubes at the end of the summer, so that we could have local parsley all winter.
• 3 bay leaves
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Directions:

1. Dump everything into the slow cooker and fill it up with water. My slow cooker can handle 10-12 cups of water, depending on how bulky the veggies are.

   

2. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or low for 8 to 10. It really won’t be hurt by extra time, so don’t worry if you leave to have brunch with a friend, have an second cup of coffee, and get home late.

   

3. Put a colander on top of a large bowl (make sure it’s big enough to hold all the stock. Wet a piece of cheesecloth and wring it out well. Lay the cheese cloth over the colander. Use a ladle to transfer the contents of the slow cooker to the colander.

   

4. You can let it drain just like that or bundle up the cheesecloth and hang it over the bowl. We use this little set up to let broth and jelly strain hanging from the cabinet. Give it a little squeeze every now and then to get all the liquid out.

   

5. Once the dripping has stopped (probably in less than an hour), store the broth in the refrigerator or freezer or use it right away.