Bison Chili

Whoa!  This is what happens when you've been craving chili and you see "Buffalo" on a package of ground meat at the grocery store:  You throw three packages of the stuff in your cart, and go home to create the best darn chili on the range.  Yessiree, this is hearty, satisfying fare.  I didn't have a recipe, but I wrote down everything I did.  'Cause this chili is definitely going to be made again. 

As the creative process unfolded, the red pepper and kohlrabi in the photo were relegated to crudite status.  I made an innovative cornbread stand-in, using macadamia oil instead of grapeseed oil, that turned out to be amazingly good.  Yee haw!

Because absolutely authentic chilies don't contain beans or tomato, I'm thinking about trying this sans-tomato next time.

This recipe comes with a book recommendation:  The Buffalo Commons by Richard S. Wheeler.  
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BISON CHILI 

The ancho chili powder will determine the overall taste and heat level of your chili.  I make my own with those leathery ancho peppers sold in the Mexican food aisle at the supermarket, mixing in a dried hot chili pepper or two. Make a lot!  Good ancho chili powder is hard to find, and makes a great gift.  It's especially important for red sauces for enchiladas, and chilies like this one.

3 pounds ground bison
2 tablespoons oil (I used avocado oil)

4 carrots, in 1/2-inch dice
1 turnip, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 onions (I used a red onion and a white onion), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder (see note above) or regular 'ol chili powder
1 tablespoon regular 'ol chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon cumin seed, toasted in a dry skillet and slightly crushed with mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon salt

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 jar (7 oz.) tomato paste
3-4 cups water

3 fresh bay leaves or 1 dried bay leaf

In large soup pot, heat oil.  Add bison, break up with your spatula, and begin to saute.  While that's going on, prep your veggies in the order given and add them to the pot, stirring well each time.  By the time you get to the garlic, things should be sizzling along nicely.

Scatter the chili powders, paprika, cumin seed and salt over the meat/vegetable mixture, and stir well, cooking for a few minutes 'til the spicy aroma begins to waft around your kitchen.  Stir in the bay leaves.

Add the spaghetti sauce, the tomato paste, and 3 cups water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. If you like a saucier chili, add another cup of water.

Makes 8 to 10 hearty servings.

Eighth Box

Delivery of Box Eight was delayed because of very cold weather.  But stuff is taking off again!  Spinach, salad greens, parsley, fennel, lentils, squash, garlic ... and cute little leeks.  Ah, Spring.  I can almost taste the asparagus to come ... and meanwhile we'll enjoy these fresh, green wonders.

A Trio of Toasted Nori Chips

From left:  Nori Faux Wasabi, Nori Con Chipotle, and Nori Coco Szechuan.

I have a little fascination going with sea vegetables.  Mr. Eating the Scenery, however, eschews them.  I recall a long-ago salad I made with hiziki ... he said it tasted like a locker room smelled.  The gauntlet was thrown.  But in the intervening years, he has yet to even taste anything I make with sea vegetables!

So this recipe caught my attention.  But I had to mess with it.  I went slightly crazy.  It's the curse of culinary curiosity.  If ingredient x works, why not try ingredient y?  And then, z?

I used Nancy's recipe, and it is perfect. She uses 3 tablespoons of water per five nori sheets. I started out using too much water on the wasabi flavored chips, and the folded nori stuck fast to itself, took 30 minutes to crisp, and the layers didn't curl and separate airily like the subsequent batches where I brushed on less of the water mixture. So ... curb any heavy-handed liquid tendencies!


A TRIO OF TOASTED NORI CHIPS
Adapted from The Smart Palate

I didn't have wasabi powder, so used horseradish.  I love silicone basting brushes ... they work really well for this, clean up fabulously in the dishwasher, and you don't have to pick bristles off of your food.

For each flavor:

5 sheets nori
salt to your taste

Nori Faux Wasabi
2 teaspoons Bubbies pure horseradish
3 tablespoons water

Nori con Chipotle
2 teaspoons chipotle puree
3 tablespoons water

Nori Coco Szechuan
2 teaspoons coconut aminos (a very useful soy sauce substitute)
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ground Szechuan pepper, sprinkled on before folding nori.
No salt for this one; the coconut aminos are very salty

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Brush a sheet of nori with liquid mixture.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.  Fold in half and press lightly.  With kitchen shears, cut nori into five or six strips.  Repeat with remaining nori sheets.  This is like craft class in grade school!  And you get to eat your project!

Lay the chips in a single layer on a Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Place in oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  Chips will crisp and begin to curl a bit.  When they're dry and crisp, remove to cool.

You can brush them with hot sesame oil as Nancy did, or hot chili oil, I suppose.  I didn't have any spicy oils, so I didn't ... but I think it would be very delicious.

I put all my chips in the same bowl, so I could be surprised by different tastes!

Each batch makes about 30 scrumptious chips.  None of which Mr. Eating the Scenery would touch.

Mustard Greens with Ginger-Garlic Cream

While I love kale, spinach and chard, especially alongside savory meats, once in a while the noticeable spiciness of mustard greens makes a nice change.

For once, I actually followed the recipe directions and strained the ginger and garlic from the simmered cream, although I was tempted to chop them finely and leave them in.  The result is an elegant, creamy greens dish with a hint of exotic, spicy flavor ... quite delectable alongside Thundering Hooves spicy Italian sausage, into which I mixed a generous amount of minced CSA red onion. 
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MUSTARD GREENS WITH GINGER-GARLIC CREAM
From Fast, Fresh and Green by Susie Middleton

1 pound mustard greens
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup Pure Eire heavy (though I prefer "ethereal" as more descriptive) cream
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
4 slices fresh ginger, chopped or smashed

Nearly fill a big pot with water, and add the salt.  Bring water to boil while you stem and wash the mustard greens.  Wash leaves thoroughly (this is a lot like washing the floppy ears of a large dog) and pull leaves away from thick stems.  As you finish each leaf, place it in a large bowl.  When all leaves are washed, run kitchen shears through the bowl a few times to reduce the size of the leaves a bit.

Add all the greens to the boiling water, pushing down to submerge.  Return to a boil for 4 minutes; taste a leaf for tenderness, then continue cooking for 2 more minutes, until greens are tender.  Drain in a colander, squishing the greens against the sides to get all the moisture out.  Set greens aside.

Heat the cream, garlic and ginger in a 1-quart saucepan over very low heat, simmering until reduced to 1/4 cup or so.  You'll need to stir the cream a few times to keep everything reducing nicely. When cream has reduced, remove garlic and ginger with slotted spoon.

Add greens to reduced cream, stir to coat, and heat just until hot.  Overcooking at this point will make the greens begin to release water.  Serve hot.

Makes 2 generous servings.

Saffron Cauliflower Pilaf

Saffron rice pilaf  has long been one of my favorite dishes.  I felt sure I could create a cauliflower version, and it was way easier than I thought it would be.  I checked out a few recipes to see what exactly is in the dish, then assembled my own.

The trick here is to cook it JUST enough so that the onion and garlic are soft but the cauliflower retains a crisp-tender quality.  It reheats beautifully the next day, so could easily be made ahead for a company meal.

And of course, substitute freely!  Golden raisins instead of cranberries, pecans instead of (or in addition to!) walnuts ... invention is the key to the best discoveries.

I found reasonably priced, flavorful saffron at the European Grocery on Huntington Street in Kennewick.  They keep it at the front counter, so you have to ask for it.
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SAFFRON CAULIFLOWER PILAF

 1/2 cup very hot water
1 teaspoon saffron threads

1 medium head cauliflower
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts 

In a medium sized pot, combine very hot water and saffron.  Set aside.

Wash cauliflower and separate it into florets.  Run these through your food processor on the medium shred disc.  You'll get a lovely mountain of cauliflower.

To the saffron water, add onion, garlic, butter, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Bring to a simmer and cook for two or three minutes only.  Add shredded cauliflower and stir well.  Continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until color deepens, cauliflower is crisp-tender, and onion and garlic are cooked (they can be crisp-tender, too, if you like).  This will only take a few minutes.

Stir in cranberries.  The water should all be absorbed.  I didn't need to add more water; you might.

Taste for seasonings, stir in cilantro and walnuts, and serve hot. 

Makes 4 hearty servings.  Also very tasty reheated the next day!

Celeriac and Kohlrabi Salad

Our decision to go grain free means that vegetables play a huge role in our meals.  Many nights I open the fridge, toss vegetables out onto the counter, study them intently for a few minutes while a way of using them takes shape in my mind, and then start chopping.

The resulting creations are usually tasty, and always very nutritious, but only occasionally blog-worthy.  I honestly didn't expect this salad would make it to the blog, but one taste and my eyebrows went up and I fetched my camera.

The beauty of this salad is its unexpected combination of tastes. Who knew that kohlrabi and cilantro would  get along so well with each other, much less make a happy threesome with celeriac?  I suppose because celery is naturally higher in sodium than most vegetables, no salt was needed.

The only dressing is lemon juice.  It seemed that oil would only weigh down this lovely, light and crisp salad, so I stopped ... like an artist has to do at some point with every painting ... when I felt perfection had been achieved.
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CELERIAC AND KOHLRABI SALAD

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 small (about the size of a large grapefruit) celeriac, peeled
2 kohlrabi, peeled
3/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped cilantro

Place lemon juice in large bowl. Cut peeled celeriac into pieces sized to fit into your food processor, and shred using medium shred blade.  Immediately toss shredded celeriac in the lemon juice to coat well.  This will keep the celeriac from turning brown.

Shred kohlrabi on medium shred as well, and toss it, along with red onion, into the bowl with the celeriac.  Stir well until all the veggies are coated with lemon juice and are well mixed.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, stir in cilantro.

Delicious the moment it's made, even better and still fresh the next day.

Serves 4 to 6.

Thai Duck Curry with Shiitakes and Pineapple

You knew I wasn't done with that duck.  I think I used everything but the quack!

Thai curries are a huge favorite of mine, and I decided to create my own.  If you haven't a duck, you could substitute chicken or shrimp.

A friend, recently returned from Thailand, said she loved the food, but after a while it all started to taste the same.  We have Thai food only occasionally, so always love its distinctive coconut/spicy/ginger/lime flavors.

In this curry, the pineapple provides a zingy sweetness, and the shiitakes and duck are good, earthy complements for each other. 
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THAI DUCK CURRY WITH SHIITAKES AND PINEAPPLE

I HIGHLY recommend getting everything chopped and ready to go before you start cooking.  This dish goes together quickly.  I actually prepared the vegetables and pineapple the night before.

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup diced cabbage
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste

1 14-ounce can coconut milk, plus one small can coconut cream or coconut milk
1-1/2 cups duck stock (you can use chicken stock)
1 tablespoon almond butter (you can use peanut butter)
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 kaffir lime leaves

2 cups duck meat, sliced from roast duck
15 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and halved
1/2 cup whole raw cashews

1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup sliced basil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Toss in the onion, pepper, cabbage, ginger and garlic, stir-frying 'til everything has a glossy sheen and has started to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add curry pastes, using caution with amounts.  Curry pastes vary wildly in heat strength.  Stir and fry so that the pastes are distributed throughout.

Add coconut milk, duck or chicken stock, almond butter, pineapple and lime leaf and stir well.  Bring all to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in duck meat, mushrooms and cashews, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, basil and cilantro, and return to simmer.  Serve with braising greens and rice, if desired.  Warn people to watch out for the lime leaves!  Their flavor will deepen in the curry if they are left in, which is one reason not to remove them.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Pear and Cardamom Breakfast Cookies

A batch of these grain-free delights is easy to make and keep in the fridge, and the cookies are a welcome sight on mornings when you don't feel like spending a lot of time cooking breakfast.  The original recipe called for apple, but my lovely red CSA pears inspired me to try them instead.

Of course, there are many variations and options with fruit and spices for this cookie.  As well, you can leave the fruit in dice and stir it in just before baking, for a fruit-studded cookie, or blend the fruit in for a smoother, sleeker cookie.
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PEAR AND CARDAMOM BREAKFAST COOKIES
Adapted from This Primal Life

If you use use very large pears or apples, ultimately you'll have more liquid and thus a runnier batter.  You want the batter to hold a cookie shape.  If your fruit is very large, considering using half of it, or doubling the recipe.

1 cup almonds
3 dates (optional; the fruit makes the cookies nicely sweet)

Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons butter, ghee or oil
1 smallish CSA red pear, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in small skillet, and cook the pear, stirring occasionally, until it is heated through and no longer crisp.  It can still be firm.  Remove from heat.

In food processor, process almonds and optional dates until a fine meal forms.  Add salt, baking soda and cardamom, and pulse a few times.

Add eggs, vanilla, and pears, including any butter from the skillet, to food processor and pulse just until well mixed.  Alternatively, transfer batter to a bowl and then stir in the pear chunks and liquid.

Drop by large spoonfuls on Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned and firm.  Remove to wire racks to cool. 

Makes 4 large cookies (which is why I usually double the recipe!  They keep well in the fridge.)

The Delights of Mason Jars

Over on the smart palate, Nancy commented, "And why is it so much fun to drink out of a Mason jar?"  The question niggled at me enough that finally I decided to address it.  I'm always fascinated by trying to figure out why we do what we do.

As with those creepy dessert shooters, I found some strong feelings emerging about Mason jars.  But unlike the icky shooters, most of my Mason jar feelings were positive.  I had fun using a Mason jar for a few days to see what observations I could make about this humble object.

Drinking out of a Mason jar is fun because ... it seems slightly forbidden!  It's a natural response to conventional wisdom's hoity toity "One does not drink out of a jar!" with a kind of triumphant, in-your-face, oppositional "Why the heck NOT, dude!" attitude.  There's a little renegade in all of us, no?

Mason jars evoke, at least for certain people of my generation, security and plenty.  We see cellar shelves filled with Mason jars of cherries, tomatoes, relishes, plums, peaches, pears ... as long as you have a tool to open your jars with, you'll have food, even in a national disaster.  My great aunt used to send home jars of canned venison for us (I confess to always feeling a bit squeamish about it, though).  So just looking at Mason jars, and handling them, brings back all those feelings.  When was the last time a mere drinking glass actually evoked something for you?

Clearly, big business has discovered that Mason jars have draw power.  I've long noticed that homestyle restaurants serve beverages in them.  You can even buy faux Mason jar mugs with handles on them, presumably to fill this blatant need of restaurants and marketers to grab hold of our heartstrings and thus our pocketbooks.

I was stunned to discover a veritable plethora of restaurants in all corners of America calling themselves Mason Jar, even one in (gasp!) Manhattan.  Is it just me, or is there something slightly sinister about using such a homey object to lure us in to consume what are no doubt the farthest things (in terms of quality ingredients and affectionate care in preparation) from homestyle dishes imaginable? 

Finally, a parting thought to create a springboard for even more thought:  Those markings (1/4, 1/2 etc.) on the sides of the Mason jar are spectacularly inaccurate, if they are referring to cups.  Why would Mason put misleading marks on their jars?  Whatever the reason, it is clear that, like Walter Cronkite, the Mason jar is firmly entrenched in America as a trusted friend.

Pommes de Terre en Graisse de Canard

It came to my attention that the French use their duck fat to create gloriously crisp and flavorful fried potatoes.  Why could I not do the same?  We're eating few potatoes nowadays, but in keeping with our "small portions of really good food" theory, it seemed only right to use my local duck fat to fry some of my CSA potatoes.  And they were, indeed, really good! 

Besides, I've always wanted to write a recipe with the name translated in italics underneath it.  Merci, Babelfish!
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LOCAL POTATOES FRIED IN LOCAL DUCK FAT
Les pommes de terre locales ont fait frire en graisse locale de canard

5 small CSA potatoes
2 tablespoons duck fat
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes, halve them lengthwise, then cut into 1/4-inch slices.  I spread the potato slices out on a large plate and microwaved them for five minutes to get the cooking process started.  My experience with frying raw potatoes has been that they take a very long time to fry to doneness.  Ideally, I like to use oven-roasted potatoes, peeled and sliced, for fried potatoes, but I didn't have time for that.

Heat duck fat in a large skillet over medium heat.  When fat is hot, place potato slices in the skillet, spreading them out as evenly as possible.  Apply salt and pepper.  Now go away for a while and don't touch the potatoes.  They need a full five minutes or more to get a crispy finish.  Carefully lift a slice or two and check for a golden, crispiness.  If it's there, turn the potatoes in the skillet.  Let them fry another five minutes or so, turn again if necessary to crisp most of the potatoes, and serve hot.

I could have let my potatoes fry a bit longer.  It's enormously tempting to keep turning them, but they need uninterrupted frying time to get the best crispy effect!

Makes 6 abstemious servings

Classic CSA Braising Greens, Three Ways

By way of the wee memory fairy working her magic on two CSA customers this week, I found myself, as the drop site host, in possession of TWO unclaimed CSA boxes.  I feel bad when people forget to pick up their boxes, but there it is.  I have been instructed that the unclaimed boxes are mine to use or share.

This week we each had a bag of braising greens, so I have two extra bags ... a real treat, as I have never seen braising greens in the grocery store.  The farmer's e-mail tells us the greens are all Asian varieties:  mizuna, tatsoi, and mibuna.  These greens wilt down significantly when cooked, like spinach.  So I like to mix other vegetables (preferably from the CSA box!) in with them.  This week's bok choy and red onion were perfect candidates!

There are, of course, infinitely more than three ways to cook greens.  I have given ideas here.  Think of them as the starting point for your own creations. The photo shows the Indian Braise.
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CLASSIC CSA BRAISING GREENS, THREE WAYS

I suspect braising greens might be available in Asian markets, of which we have several in our area.  But if you can't find them, spinach, chard and even sturdy lettuce varieties will work.  Just watch the cooking times so you don't overcook thinner greens.

Indian Braise

1 tablespoon coconut or vegetable oil

1 baby bok choy, sliced
1/2 large or 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
2 cups sliced cabbage

1 tablespoon curry powder or garam masala

12 ounces or so mixed braising greens, sorted and washed
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

Coconut and chopped macadamia nuts to garnish (optional)

Heat vegetable oil in large-ish skillet.  Add bok choy, onion and cabbage.  Saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.

Scatter curry powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt atop vegetables, stir, and cook, stirring for a minute or so until the spices become fragrant.  Stir in coconut milk and curry paste, mixing well.

Pile braising greens into the pan, stir well to incorporate them with the other vegetables, and cover.  Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, until greens have wilted and become somewhat tender.  Sprinkle coconut and chopped macadamia nuts atop if desired.

Makes two large or four small servings. 

Oriental Braise

To same (or different!) combination of vegetables above, add chopped ginger and garlic when sauteeing the bok choy, onion and cabbage.  Use sesame oil if desired.  When adding the braising greens, stir in hoisin sauce or soy sauce mixed with a little water.  Add crushed red pepper if desired.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

American Braise

To same (or different!) combination of vegetables above, using coconut oil or vegetable oil, saute with plenty of garlic.  Stir in raisins, dried cranberries or chopped prunes when you add the braising greens.  Just before serving, stir in a splash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, and some fresh walnuts. Orange peel and orange juice work well with this combination, too.

Box Seven

I love it when I forget the boxes are coming, and drive up to my house and see them sitting there!  This box reminds me of the one last year with six GIANT red onions.  I was so thrilled that I made this recipe that called for three of them!  We also have apples, squash, bok choy, sage, lavender, and braising greens.  Dinner is gonna be great!

Roast Local Duck

Last November, I picked up my turkey from Russ and Laurie at CG Ranch in Benton City.  It was really cold that darkening afternoon.  Later that night, the first snow of the year would blanket the land.  My friend Michele, several other customers and I were standing around waiting as the turkeys were weighed.  Russ's coveralls were bloodstained from dealing with the turkeys.

Then Russ said, "I have extra ducks if anyone wants one."  Instantly, I knew I had to have a duck.  Visions of a crispy, roasted duck floated before my eyes.  I had never cooked a duck, but in that visceral, rural, meaty moment, inexperience didn't seem any sort of obstacle.  A duck wasn't just meat, it was game meat, something our pioneer ancestors, nay, even primitive man had pursued, slain, roasted over smoky fires, and been nourished by!  (Yes, I know Russ raised the duck, but still.  Ducks have history!) 

And so the duck, wrapped and tucked in the freezer through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and beyond, was never far from my mind.  I Googled.  I read cookbooks.  I talked to people about ducks.  It seemed that ducks were regarded as problematic.  They have lots of fat.  They should be massaged for quite some time before cooking to soften the fat.  They should be poached before roasting.  They should never be poached before roasting!  They should be trussed.  They should be split.  The wings should be removed.  The wings should be left on and tucked.

A few days ago, I put the duck in the fridge to thaw, and it did.  I now had no choice but to Take Action.  I found the recipe I thought would see me though, and it did, splendidly.  We enjoyed a luscious duck dinner tonight, and with less work than I had feared. 

As I write this, I have about two cups of boned duck meat waiting to be made into a curry, about two quarts of luscious, savory duck stock, and a cup and a half of beautiful, golden, rendered duck fat.

All my duck dreams came true, and I am now a duck fan.  I hope you will be, too.
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ROAST LOCAL DUCK

I am indebted to the blog The Hungry Mouse for the excellent instructions and photographs.  I followed the instructions except for the following adaptations:

Rather than scoring the duck's fat, I snipped it in a crosshatch pattern with the tips of kitchen shears.  I cut the wings off, and laid them beside the duck on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  I salted the duck inside and out, rubbing the salt in.  I did not tie the legs.

My duck was 3.5 pounds, and I was worried about over-roasting, given the recipe's four-hour roasting time for a larger duck.  So I raised the oven temperature to 325 degrees.  The duck roasted in exactly two hours, and I turned it over once after the first hour.  At the two-hour mark, I tested the internal temperature in a thick part of the meat, and it was 165.  I removed the duck to a small, shallow casserole, basted it with the sauce, and returned it to the oven for just about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Shiny, fragrant, crackly, perfection.

My sauce adaptation included smaller amounts for the smaller duck:

1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
A 1-inch knob of ginger, minced
Grated rind of one organic orange

Combine all ingredients in a small pan and simmer over low heat until reduced to a syrupy state.

The 3.5-pound duck served two people with nice sliced pieces, and the two drumsticks would probably constitute another serving.  There are also the smaller pieces of meat taken from the bones later.

Here is my lovely duck fat!  Apparently, it is the French secret to glorious fried potatoes.

New Zealand Blue Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

Blithely, I washed my two CSA New Zealand Blue squashes and prepared to split them into chunks. "Why not roast them both!" I thought.  "Efficient!

After about twenty minutes of splitting, seeding and scraping, Squash A had established a fierce, gnarly dominance over the entire cookie sheet.

Squash B, vanquished, skulked back to the garage, and Squash A went into the oven.

Whereupon I went outside to my trusty concrete squash-bashing patio and, with a hammer, broke a coconut into pieces, having already drained its liquid.  Half an hour later I had, at great risk to myself, picked and pried the coconut meat from the shell with a sharp knife.  I had Googled "coconut milk Champion juicer" to find out if I could make my own coconut milk.  Yes! 

Half an hour later, I had the coconut milk, some lovely shreddy, tasty coconut pulp, and a spectacularly splashed and coconut-speckled kitchen.  I then began on the soup.

Some may think I spend too much time cooking.  They would not think so after one taste of this sublime soup.  Freshly-roasted, densely flavorful squash ... delicately flavored coconut milk ... the sweetest hint of pungent spices ... the tiny crackle of crunchy coriander seed ... do try it!

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NEW ZEALAND BLUE SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK
Adapted from Lentil Breakdown

You could use butternut or other flavorful squash, or pumpkin. You could also use pre-ground spices.  Depending on how freshly ground they are, you may wish to adjust amounts.  I decided a splash of lime before serving would provide a nice counterpoint.

2- to 3-lb. or so New Zealand Blue or other squash of choice, or pumpkin (to total 4 cups of cooked, mashed squash)
Olive oil or butter

1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, diced
1 knob ginger, 1" or so square, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seed
1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water or vegetable or chicken broth (I used chicken broth)
1 14-oz can coconut milk, or 1-1/2 cups labor-intensive homemade coconut milk

Juice of 1/2 lime

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the squash or pumpkin into manageable-sized pieces.  Scrape out seeds.  A serrated ice cream scoop works great for this.  Lavishly oil or butter the cut squash surfaces, and place them on a foil-covered cookie sheet.  Roast, checking occasionally for doneness, about an hour and half.  The squash should have carmelized in places.  Remove, cool a bit, and scrape cooked squash (make sure to get all the carmelized bits in!) into a bowl.  You should have about 4 cups of cooked squash.

Crush cumin, coriander and cardamom seeds roughly in a mortar and pestle.

In large pot or Dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon butter and saute the onions in it until they begin to soften.  Add ginger and garlic, and cook a bit more.  Scatter spices over, and stir, letting the mixture cook a few minutes until it is redolent with spice scent.

Stir in salt, broth and coconut milk, and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste, and add seasoning to your liking.  Depending on your squash's absorbency, you may need to add broth or water.

Puree the soup.  I used an immersion blender right in the pot to puree the soup, though I didn't puree it to absolute smoothness ... I like a little intrigue in cream soups.  You could also transfer it to a blender in batches.

Stir the lime juice into the hot soup just before serving. Garnish with cilantro, a sprinkling of coconut, a curl or two of lime peel ... this soup, from beginning to garnish, is very open to adjustment to your personal taste.

Makes 8 generous servings.

Celery Root Soup

Lately I've been noticing those interesting vegetables tucked up and back of the more usual, recognizable varieties in the front rows of the produce aisles.  Vegetables are playing a much larger role in our lives now, and, after casting my eye further around the available selection than I normally do, I brought home a hulking, monstrous celery root that nearly fell out onto my toes each time I opened the fridge door.

Its destiny was fulfilled last night.  This is a delicious soup, despite the unfortunate appearance of a celery root. Or celeriac ... it's the same thing.  Still, how pretty is a potato?  It's all relative.

This recipe was originally a bisque, but that called for straining it through a sieve, something I am loathe to do to a perfectly good soup.  It seems much to me like cutting the crusts off sandwiches.  Rustic is more attractive than primped, when it comes to food, no?
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CELERY ROOT SOUP
Adapted from Cooks.com

1 celery root, about 1-1/4 pounds, peeled and cubed
1 large potato or 2 small CSA ones, peeled and cubed
lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter
3 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut in 1/2-inch rounds
3 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups chicken stock (I used stock made with my CG Ranch chickens)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup Pure Eire cream
2 tablespoon green onions, sliced

As you peel and dice the celery root and potato, place them in a container of water with some lemon juice added to keep them from turning brown.  Discard the lemon water after adding celery root and potatoes to the soup.

Melt butter in soup pot, and add leeks and garlic.  Saute for 10 minutes or so, until leeks have begun to soften.   Add chicken stock, celery root, potatoes, salt and pepper.   Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

I used an immersion blender to "puree" this soup, as opposed to putting it in batches in a blender.  Don't over-puree:  Beating with blades releases potato starch and the soup will become gummy. 

Stir in cream, taste for seasoning, heat gently through, and serve topped with green onions.

Makes six generous servings.

Box Six

 

A bag of beautiful red pears is hiding out under the salad mix.   I found a big bag of taters, two squash, dried herbs, fresh cilantro, split peas, apples, and a baby bok choy.  I washed the salad greens right away and made Wilted Greens with them, and sauteed the bok choy next morning with shallots and Thundering Hooves sausage, and sprinkled the CSA cilantro o'er all. 

Grain Free Banana Bread

As part of our Gluten-Free January project, I've tried a few (very few) recipes for baked goods that will satisfy our acquired-over-decades taste for something ....well, baked.

I say "few" because one thing you don't want to do in a healthy diet is replace something unhealthy (white flour baked goods) with something grain free (made with almond flour, almond butter, etc.) and eat it in the same amounts as the white flour stuff.

Muffins, breads and pancakes made with almond butter or almond flour are superb, but they contain enough fat to boost your daily fat intake up to even the Primal Diet's 65 percent fairly quickly.  Fortunately, they are also more satisfying and filling!  Because they contain few to no concentrated carbs, they don't set you up for the never-ending, carb-craving cycle.

A slice of this bread for breakfast, with fruit, fits nicely into the overall scheme.  The Smart Palette's recipe called for unsweetened chocolate chips, which I measured out and had standing by.  But I forgot to put them in!  I also forgot to sprinkle the top with date sugar, as called for!

No matter.  A delicately banana-flavored and filling bread this is, indeed.  You will be amazed that it is flour free.
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GRAIN FREE BANANA BREAD
From The Smart Palate, who adapted it from Grain-Free Foodies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 cup unsalted almond butter

2 tablespoons freshly ground flax seeds (I used a blade coffee grinder)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Generous pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped unsweetened dark chocolate or unsweetened dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon date sugar, for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In medium mixing bowl, with electric mixer, combine bananas, eggs, almond butter, flax seeds, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.  Blend very well; mixture should be quite smooth.

Add baking soda and vinegar and mix briefly.  If desired, stir in chocolate.

Spoon batter into a greased (use butter, ghee, or coconut oil) small loaf pan.  I used a small Pyrex loaf pan that measures 7-3/4" by 4-1/2".  If desired, sprinkle date sugar atop batter.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of loaf comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes on a rack, then gently loosen sides with a thin spatula, turn loaf out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely before slicing.

Butternut and Spinach Frittata with Cream and Walnuts

Mmm, creamy, squashy, nutty ... superbly satisfying on a cold January evening, with a green salad and grapefruit wedges.

Crank's Bible is a rich compendium of intriguing combinations, and gives great consideration, in an easygoing way, to the pleasure of both eye and palette. I found this cookbook on a sale table some years ago, picked it up, put it down, walked off, walked back ... you know the drill.

I'd had this recipe marked for weeks, and, finally, the perfect evening for it arrived.  I used my CSA butternut squash cubes, previously frozen, and local Davis Farms walnuts, Pure Eire cream, and CG Ranch eggs.

Believe it or not, I took this recipe down by half.  Nadine Abensur's version was positively Bacchanalian, with a whole dozen eggs and a cup of cream!  I did, however, use her full amount of garlic, on my yet-to-be-disproven theory that in most savory dishes, garlic is always welcome.
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BUTTERNUT AND SPINACH FRITTATA WITH CREAM AND WALNUTS
Adapted from Crank's Bible, by Nadine Abensur

6 local eggs
1/2 cup Pure Eire cream
4 fat garlic cloves, or 8 smaller ones, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

1 pound butternut squash cubes
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tamari
Dash of Tabasco, or red curry paste, or ground chipotle

5 ounces spinach leaves, washed and big stems removed, or use baby spinach
About 1/4 cup walnut pieces, broken into large-ish pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In small bowl, whisk eggs, cream, garlic, salt and pepper, and set aside to infuse.

In large bowl, toss squash cubes with olive oil, tamari and Tabsco, and spread on Silpat-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until squash is fairly soft and edges have begun to carmelize.

Remove squash from oven, spread spinach leaves over squash, and stir the spinach in gently.  Return to oven for a few minutes, or until the spinach has wilted a bit.

Carefully spoon squash and spinach mixture onto a frittata pan or suitably sized ovenproof nonstick or seasoned cast iron skillet.  Heat over medium heat just until skillet is hot.  Pour egg mixture over squash, to fill out to edges of pan.

Now, you may either gently move the squash around, scraping with your spatula through to the pan bottom to allow egg mixture to fully cook, as the author did, or use my optional method of setting the frittata back into the oven, checking every few minutes to see if the eggs have gently set.  You don't want the frittata to get dry.

Sprinkle walnuts atop, and leave to set a while at room temperature.  Nadine Abensur says this gives it "time to settle and ease into itself."  (You see why I bought her cookbook?)

Serves 4 generously.

Mixed Berry Flaugnarde with Vanilla Bean

Mixed berry what?

This lush, earthy yet sophisticated dessert proved a beautiful, delicately vanilla-scented solution for a Costco-sized bag of mixed berries that had crouched for months (years?) in the bottom of my freezer.   You know, the one you keep moving around when you're looking for other stuff.  And you think, "What can I do with two pounds of mixed berries?  Why did I buy them in the first place?"

I love The Nourished Kitchen blog, and was enchanted by this recipe that is so satisfying to the senses, uses my berry largesse, and assuages my conscience for ignoring that bag 'o berries for so long.

A flaugnarde (flewn-YARD) is apparently kin to the clafoutis (kah-floo-TEE), but it is flourless and more custardy.  As it happened, my aunt had given me a tube of vanilla beans (she'd been to Costco, too, and shared), and my Pure Eire cream was ready for something new.

It does add a little continental flair to say "we're having flewn-YARD" for dessert, but this lovely dish would be good even without announcing it with a French accent.
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MIXED BERRY FLAUGNARDE WITH VANILLA BEAN
Adapted from The Nourished Kitchen

2 pounds mixed fresh or frozen berries
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup maple syrup

1 vanilla bean (optional)

Preheat oven to350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss berries with vanilla extract.  Put berries in a baking dish, and roast them for 20 minutes. They should have released most of their juices.

Carefully spoon berries into a colander set over a bowl.  Let them drain thoroughly; a screen mesh colander is best.  You want them to be as juice-free as possible.  Save the juices to use for flavoring other things like smoothies and ice cream, or simmer the juices down to make a lovely, vanilla-scented syrup.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk thoroughly the egg, egg yolks, cream and maple syrup.

Pour the strained berries into a shallow baking dish.  I used a 10 1/2-inch Corning ware dish with 1 1/2-inch-tall sides.  Spread berries evenly over bottom of dish.  If using vanilla bean, lay it on top of the berries.   Pour batter over berries and bake for 45 minutes or until the flaugnarde browns and the egg is just set.

Best served warm, after it cools just a bit.

Makes 4 generous servings, or 6 smaller ones

Fourth and Fifth Boxes

Box Five ... onions, garlic, salad greens, chickpeas, carrots, chili peppers, a Carnival squash, a New Zealand Blue squash, and (I think) another Kabocha. 

Box Four ... taters, squashes, popcorn, lavender, beets, salad greens, and lentils.