Winter Squash and Beet Salad

I might be getting punchy because of the weather but this little salad really perked me up.  It was pure serendipity, a chance encounter of leftovers, with colors, textures and flavors that worked together and made me smile. The colors reminded me of the magenta and chrome yellow cosmos that my daughter likes to pick at our CSA farm in early spring, a perfect antidote to the grungy snow.

I had lightly cooked cubes of butternut squash with ginger on the counter and cubes of pickled beets in the fridge. When combined on the same plate, and served at room temperature, I had a dark days salad (or a compote to be served on the side of something that needs perking up) that dazzled the taste buds. You can’t make this stuff up. It just arrives. Farewell, January. Can’t say I’ll miss you.

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Chicken Pot Pie

With so much snow on the ground, and more to come, we crave warm and comforting foods. Chicken pot pie is one of our family faves, adaptable season by season. It’s typically the end of the line for a roast chicken, when all of the meat has been taken off and the carcass turned into stock. Here I used carrots, parsnips and turnips with the typical celery and onions. Another time, there might be fennel instead, or mushrooms or leeks.  I also vary the herbs, using dill, tarragon or lovage instead of the ubiquitous parsley.

The sauce is basically a velouté (think béchamel without the dairy) made around the vegetables. Slowly cook the veggies in butter until soft, sprinkle with flour and cook for a few minutes to eliminate the rawness of the flour. Douse with white wine, the magic ingredient that adds flavor, evaporate the wine and add chicken stock. After the mixture is thoroughly cooked, add the chicken, herbs, salt and pepper to taste and cool. I sometimes add milk or cream but it’s not essential. For the crust (I only use a top crust) I use a frozen puff pastry sheet, slightly thawed. While I’ve tried dumplings and conventional crust, this remains the winner.

Chow down. This is “moreish,” meaning you’ll want to refill your plate!

Chicken Pot Pie

I sheet frozen puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farm)

2-3 tbsp butter

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 small parsnips, peeled and chopped

I small turnip, diced

2 stalks celery, stringed and chopped

2-3 tbsp flour

1/3 c white wine

1 c or rmore chicken stock, warmed

1 c or more chopped cooked chicken

Chipped parsley

Optional: 2-3 tbsp cream

Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and let thaw a little while you make the pie filling.

Melt the butter in a wide saucepan and turn off the heat.

As you prepare the vegetables, drop them into the pan. Turn the heat back on and cook them slowly until the carrots are crisp tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour and stir to combine, stirring until the flout has cooked a little, 2-3 minutes (do not let it brown). Add the wine, stirring rapidly to make the sauce base. When the wine has evaporated, gradually add the chicken stock, stirring. Cook the sauce until the raw flavor of the flour has disappeared, adding more stock if it gets too thick. You want it to hold together and not be soupy but remember that the chicken will be added. Add the chicken, herbs, salt and pepper to taste and the cream, if using.

Turn the mixture into a pie pan (I use a 9-inch glass Pyrex pan.) and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the thawed puff pastry sheet on to and cut off the corners (it’s square). Crimp the edges to adhere to the pie pan. Cut a few slits in the top and place the cut off corners neatly on top. Place in the oven (put a cookie sheet below it to catch drips). Bake for about an hour. Cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

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Dark Days Week 8: Frittata Meets Torta

Endlessly seasonal, the frittata makes a great meal. It is basically an open-faced omelet, eggs mixed with cooked vegetables and sometimes cheese, cooked very slowly in an open pan, then finished under a broiler, or not (since we don’t have one). This is a great asset during the Dark Days.  I made a lovely local organic kale and red pepper frittata a month or so ago, during the early days of the Dark Days Challenge, and this past week made a couple more, using potatoes and onions. I picked those ingredients because they reminded me of the classic Spanish “torta,” a shallow egg and potato dish that is made in a similar fashion.

I’ve had torta as part of a tapas event, and researched how it’s made. Many recipes call for cooking the sliced potatoes in olive oil before adding them to the eggs but I prefer to use steamed or lightly boiled potatoes, leaving the browned onions to add the flavor. I also made my torta in the manner of a frittata, but decreased the proportion of eggs to veggies.

I served one potato and onion combo with grated local carrots and sliced radicchio, and the other with pickled curried asparagus that I canned last spring. Both vegetable accompaniments sparked the richness of the egg and potato mixture.

To make a frittata, combine 3-5 lightly beaten eggs with precooked (and cooled) vegetables and grated cheese, if using.  Heat a pan and add butter to coat. Pour in the egg and vegetable mixture, turn the heat to low and cook slowly for about 15-20 minutes or until set. Place under the broiler to cook the top layer and brown (or cover with a lid at the end).

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Gingered Butternut Squash with Farro and Mushrooms

Our  “cellar” (freezer, fridge and cold basement) and pantry are still full of fresh local organic produce and preserved foodstuffs. Around here, very few fresh ingredients will emerge during the dark days of winter so we need to be mindful of what we have in store and manage the supply. No matter when harvested, whole categories seem to deteriorate at the same time. This was a great growing season for winter squash and we have a bounty of it. However, in my most recent weekly check, it was the butternut squash that needed to be cooked or squandered.

One of my favorite ways to cook butternut squash is to cube it and cook it in what I call a shallow water boil (more than a braise but less than a potful), flavored with grated or minced ginger until just tender (mine took under 5 minutes). I then remove the squash to drain, boil down the juices and pour them over the squash. If I were serving this only as a side dish, I’d cut the squash in ¾-inch cubes. Since I planned on serving it also with farro and mushrooms, I cut this squash into 1/3-inch cubes, roughly the size of the quartered mushrooms.

Farro is a healthy wheat grain of ancient origin and high nutritional value, since it still has some bran attached.  Like brown rice, it takes a while to cook so you can make more than you need and freeze or refrigerate it for another day. I used organic farro and cooked it just like white rice. The ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part farro, although I watch it and sometimes have had to increase the water. Boil the water, add a little salt, add the farro grains (rinse them first to remove the dust), turn the heat to very low, cover the pot and let cook for about 25 minutes, more or less depending on the grains. I check mine partway through to make sure there’s enough water.

This particular squash, farro and mushroom medley was topped with winter savory that I picked last summer from our CSA and air-dried, which turned out to be a deep counterpoint to the savory since their pepper tones complemented each other very well. Now that was a discovery worth noting.

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Dark Days Week 7: Fish Stew

When I make fish chowder, serious “soup,” I typically start with a strong fish stock sweated down from the bones (or in the case of shellfish, the shells), doused with white wine, tossed with aromatic vegetables, hydrated with water and cooked gently. Our local sustainable-minded fishmonger is generous with his scraps, which he gives us just for the asking. It’s like getting fantastic food for free if you’re willing to put in the effort to extract the flavor and nutrients. This way, I’ve cooked my way through Jasper White’s brilliant book 50 Chowders.  And I typically have some fish and shrimp stock in my freezer.  I can’t rely on its being local, so for the Dark Days, I took a different approach.

This particular soup, more like as stew,  doesn’t require pre-made stock but develops its own broth. It was adapted from a recipe devised by the late Pierre Franey, who once wrote a column in the New York Times called “60-Minute Gourmet,” later documented in a book or two. In today’s sped-up environment, we are typically looking for the 30-minute version. Using local scallops and fluke flounder, local white wine from Alba Vineyards along the Delaware River (Christmas present from a dear friend), water, local organic cream, a few local vegetables (onions, garlic, carrots, leeks and parsley), local seasonings (thyme and dried red pepper from my garden), and canned tomatoes from my pantry, this whips up in no time and creates a very satisfying dish for the dark days.

Mid-Atlantic fluke flounder is sometimes listed as a fish that is not sustainable, according to reports from the Monterey Aquarium a watchdog over the seas. I read an article recently, through the NYT blog but not necessarily written by them, which addressed the Atlantic fluke flounder, saying that our local fisherman know better about this subject than scientists in California.  That seems plausible. I also had local monkfish available, and dayboat cod from nearby Massachusetts, so this soup could be made reasonably locally in several combinations during the winter.

Fish Stew after Pierre Franey’s Soupe de Poisson

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small-medium leek, split lengthwise, cleaned and chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

Optional: ½ green pepper, finely chopped

Olive oil

1 hot red pepper, crumbled (adjust to taste and to strength of pepper)

1 bay leaf

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)

1 c dry white wine

1 c fresh or canned tomatoes

1-2 small potatoes (about ½ lb), peeled, 1/3 – ½ inch dice

1 c water

1 lb white-fleshed, non-oily fish (e.g., cod, fluke flounder, etc.)

½ pt bay scallops or 6 sea scallops quartered

½ c heavy cream

Finely chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: toasted croutons

Saute the onion, leek, carrot and green pepper, if using, in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the hot pepper and herbs and stir to combine. Add the wine and tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the potatoes, cover the pot and cook until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 7 minutes. Remove the lid, add the water and cook until the potatoes are tender, approximately 5 minutes. Add the fish and scallops and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook!  Add the cream and bring to a boil (it should be served piping hot). Add the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve as is or with croutons.

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Rosemary: Winter Citrus Salads and a Bunch of Crackers

The piney pungency of rosemary is a terrific counterpoint to foods that I often find too rich or too sweet.  Combined with garlic and salt, and other woody herbs like thyme and savory, rosemary perks up a medley of rich roasted root vegetables, or just potatoes, or sparks a salt and garlic mash for marinating meat. To counterbalance sugar, I add rosemary to orange and lemon marmalade and herb jelly. I made a great rosemary and mint jelly for last year’s Tigress Can Jam and my Meyer lemon marmalade with rosemary is one of the most frequented recipes on my blog.

Mother’s Kitchen started the Spice Rack Challenge right after the New Year when I’m already thinking about all of the things I didn’t accomplish over the holidays, while also using up the bounteous produce – namely a bushel of Florida citrus – that arrived as a gift. During these dark days and deep freezes, we’re craving salads and raw vegetables so I could see putting rosemary to good use.

Over the holidays, I gave away over a hundred jars of produce that I’d canned throughout last year, including several “portable pantries” that should last the winter in their new households. One thing that I didn’t get to was baking crackers to go with that special spicy chili jelly and local brie.  For the Spice Rack Challenge, I decided to add rosemary to a lightened up version of Mark Bittman’s cream crackers (the ones that he playfully cracked over his head in an early 2009 video that accompanies his New York Times website).  Those crackers are addictive.  While I was at it, I experimented with a no-dairy version using olive oil and water instead of butter and milk.

Lately, I have also been experimenting with roasting oranges, which I think are terrific with rosemary.  A couple of weeks ago, I combined roasted oranges and beets with pasta. This time, I roasted the oranges with rosemary and combined them with a salad of treviso (an elongated version of radicchio) that I harvested at our CSA.

A second salad, with fresh oranges peeled and sliced crosswise in quarters topping a bed of slightly bitter frisee, was accompanied by a black olive tapenade, another inspiration from Mark Bittman (also with a video).

I didn’t look up how he did it, but I combined oil-cured black olives with rosemary, garlic and grated orange rind. The salad dressing included olive oil, a little Balsamic vinegar, fresh orange juice, shallot, garlic and… you guessed it… chopped rosemary.

The salads, separately or side by side, were an explosion of flavor, and the rich little biscuits were great companions.

Preserving rosemary

I grow herbs in pots at my house since I live in town and parse out my tiny ground for other crops. Rosemary rarely overwinters. A local NPR garden show from Philadelphia that airs on Saturday complains about the fact that rosemary acts like it will make it until sometime in January, when it gives up the ghost. I can pluck the dried out leaves from the plant, since they’re still potent, but I typically harvest the whole thing and stick the branches in little bags in the freezer.

I haven’t been impressed with the results of air-drying since I find the oiliness of the fresh (or even frozen) leaves to be part of the appeal. I did experiment with drying them in salt, which preserves the flavor very well but like air-drying dries them out more than I prefer. Of course, the logical solution is to bring the pot indoors during the winter, but my plants typically develop spider mites.

I’d love to hear how others keep their rosemary going year-round.

Cream Crackers with Rosemary, liberally adapted from Mark Bittman

1 c flour

¼ c grated Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

¼ c cold butter, cut into chunks

¼ c milk or cream or a combination plus 1-2 tbsp additional

Sea salt (I used French gray salt)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (or use a Silpat).

Put the flour, cheese, salt, rosemary and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to cut into small pieces. With the motor running, quickly add the milk or cream in tablespoon batches. Add additional milk or cream to make dough that holds together. If you add too much liquid, simply add more flour to balance.

Remove the dough from the food processor and knead it lightly into a ball, flattening it into a disk. Roll the dough on the parchment paper or Silpat, flouring it as necessary, creating as close to a rectangle as possible approximately 1/8 inch thick. Score the dough lightly (not penetrating the entire surface) into rectangles or other shapes. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove to a rack to cool. Break into pieces and store in airtight containers.

Variation: Olive Oil Crackers. Substitute ¼ c olive oil for the butter and up to ¼ c water for the milk or cream. Omit the cheese.

Roasted Oranges with Rosemary

1 orange, preferably organic, scrubbed

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp olive oil

A few small sprigs of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the oranges, unpeeled, in very thin slices (1/8 inch or 3/16). Place the slices – whole or quartered — on a non-reactive baking sheet (if using aluminum, put down parchment paper.) Sprinkle with sugar, place rosemary on top and sprinkle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes. The bottom will carmelize. (You could put the rosemary on the bottom, but be sure it doesn’t stick to the pan.) Remove to a rack to cool. Chop up for use in salads and other dishes. Store in an airtight container.

Tapenade with Rosemary and Orange Rind

½ c oil-cured black olives, pitted

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 small garlic clove, minced

Whiz the ingredients in a small food processor.

Orange and Rosemary Salad Dressing

¼ c extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp+ balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp+ orange juice

1 small garlic clove, minced

½ small shallot, minced

1 tsp minced rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

Shake all ingredients together, taste and adjust seasonings or ingredients.

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Kedgeree

Kedgeree was invented somewhere along an axis between colonial India and Scotland. It combines curried rice with either finnan haddie or salmon.  Finnan haddie is a smoked fish whose name is a warp of Findon haddock, Findon being a town in Scotland near Aberdeen. Kedgeree is a warp on the name for an Indian dish called kitcheri, which traditionally mixed curried lentils and rice. In Victorian times, kedgeree was part of a typical breakfast spread. The first time I encountered it was at the breakfast buffet in a Scottish country inn when I was a kid visiting my aunt and uncle and took a road trip across Scotland from Glasgow to Edinburgh. That and kippered herring and some godawful concoction involving organ meat. What an impression on a young palate. Especially at breakfast.

I usually poach finnan haddie slowly in onions and milk and serve it with pickled beets and mashed potatoes. Rather like the French or Belgian bourrade (salt cod and potatoes), Coming home late from the office via the gym, I quickly made this kedgeree from leftovers (rice and the fish itself) and orphans (a pathetic little plum tomato and some straggly parsley). I doubt tomato was part of the original idea, but it worked well. I wrote the recipe as if making this from scratch.

Kedgeree

½ lb smoked haddock (finnan haddie)

Milk

1 clove and 4 peppercorns

1 egg

¾ c white rice

Water

Butter or oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp curry powder

Optional: 1-2 plum tomatoes

Red pepper flakes (depending on hotness of curry)

Parsley, chopped

Remove any residual silver skin from the fish. Lightly poach the fish in milk barely to cover for about 10 minutes. Do not boil the milk or the fish will be tough. Remove the fish and flake it, reserving the milk.

Meanwhile bring 1 ½ c water to boil and add the rice, stirring once. Turn the heat down to very low, cover the pot and let the rice cook until done, about 20 minutes.

Hard boil an egg, and cool it.

Slowly saute the chopped onion in the butter or oil until translucent and add the garlic, stirring until you can smell it. Stir in the curry powder until well combined, and add the chopped tomatoes, letting the mixture cook for a few minutes to release the juice from the tomatoes but still the pieces intact. Combine the rice, curry mixture and flaked fish. Add a little of the reserved milk to moisten the mixture if needed. Season to taste and add the parsley.  Peel and quarter the hard-boiled egg and add two quarters to each serving.

Serves 2

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Dark Days Week 6: Mushroom and Cabbage Lasagna

I find the Dark Days challenge to be no challenge at all when it comes to meat and poultry, and to some degree seafood. I didn’t realize until now how many sources we have within even a dozen miles to get ethically and organically raised poultry, lamb, pork and beef.  Prepared slowly and simply, these have turned out so far to be utterly delicious, needing little embellishment. A great discovery!  And complementary to our excellent local dairies and creameries.  This is transformational for my cooking.

However, while I grew up in a family of avid hunters, fishermen and farmers, my immediate family is not full of enthusiastic meat-eaters.  While some are, others are vegetarian altogether and still others prefer meat as a condiment, as I do. We love our raw and slightly cooked vegetables in salads, and thrive on grains that are simply not local. Therefore, one of my winter challenges is to concoct meals that don’t depend on meat and that feature fresh vegetables. I also have a pint-sized freezer so unlike some lucky folks participating in Dark Days, I don’t have a large stock of seasonally frozen veggies or anything else. I do keep a root cellar and have a refrigerator full of produce that is just now starting to dwindle, plus a pantry full of canned food. While I’m happy to get to prepare meat and blog about it, I also want to prepare dishes that are more typical of our eating habits.

Enter the mushroom and cabbage lasagna. The word lasagna, like terrine, timbale and tagine, originated with the name of a vessel, a pot used for cooking certain foods. Eventually, these designations morphed into the name of the food prepared in the vessels. In the case of lasagna, which originally meant a layering of foods baked together, the term ended up referring to the pasta component of the dish as well as the dish itself.

While I could, as some have in the Dark Days challenge, decide that pasta is considered local if homemade from organic wheat milled nearby despite being sourced farther away (and I may too based on my original declaration and a discovery preparing this meal as you will see), I decided that Napa (or Chinese) cabbage could take the place of the noodles. It offers the right dimensions and texture.  This choice also pleased the carbo-phobes in our midst. I have done something like this before with chard and kale and was re-introduced to the idea by a recent article in the New York Times.  While I tinkered with the recipe (of course), the inspiration was from Elaine Louie’s column “The Temporary Vegetarian.”

I layered parboiled cabbage leaves with thinly sliced potatoes, and a combination of sautéed chopped cabbage, port wine-infused mushrooms and béchamel sauce, and topped the whole dish with a superb local cheese that resembles Gruyere. I thought about using the creamery’s blue cheese but did not want to overwhelm the other flavors. To make the béchamel, I used my own butter (Yay! Finally!), a couple of tablespoons of organic whole wheat flour that was locally milled, and local organic non-fat milk. My butter imparted a richness that would have suggested that I’d added heavy cream. The whole wheat flour, from Daisy Organic Flours, Lancaster, PA, was so nutty that one would have thought I’d grated nutmeg into the mix, as I would have done if using conventional flour. That flour is amazing and I have high hopes for the next experiment with it. I actually used no salt or pepper in my version but added it to the recipe to accommodate others’ taste.

I had acquired a bunch of organic “purple carrots,” also from Lancaster, PA, and grated them. Tossed with a little walnut oil, they made a lovely, flavorful, crunchy salad that was a good counterpoint to what turned out to be very rich lasagna.  This was a delicious, though somewhat non-photogenic (sorry), combination, which proved to me that thoughtfully produced local ingredients are well worth the effort and modest extra cost compared to the results.

Mushroom and Cabbage Lasagna adapted from Elaine Louie, New York Times

Napa cabbage, 1-2 lbs or greater

12 oz mixed mushrooms (I used a combination of cremini, oyster and shitake)

¼ c white port or white wine

2 tsp and 1 tbsp butter (for different uses)

1 tbsp flour

1 c milk, heated

Optional: grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

2 medium potatoes, peeled if necessary and thinly sliced

½ c grated cheese

7 x 11 inch baking dish or equivalent

Remove enough large outer leaves from the cabbage to fit into your pan in three layers. (For me, this meant six leaves, trimmed in the vertical dimension.) Chop some of the remaining core to equal 3 cups cabbage.

Saute the chopped cabbage in 1 tsp of butter, turn down the heat and cook, covered, until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Clean the mushrooms and chop them into ½iinch or smaller pieces. Melt about 1 tsp butter in a wide pan over medium high heat and add the mushrooms. Let them cook undisturbed for a few minutes until they start to brown, turn down the heat, stir them to cook the other side and add the port or wine, cooking until the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

Make the béchamel.  Melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the flour, whisking to combine and cooking until lightly brown. Gradually add the heated milk, and cook over medium to medium-low heat, whisking occasionally, until thick. Set aside to cool.

Combine the mushrooms, cabbage and béchamel and season to taste. Slice the potatoes. (Do this at the last minute to avoid browning.)

Layer the ingredients in the baking pan. (Depending on your pan, you may want to coat it with additional butter.) One third cabbage, one half potatoes, one half mushroom mixture. Repeat and top with remaining cabbage leaves and grated cheese.

Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the potatoes are cooked through, approximately another 20 minutes. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

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Homemade Pickled Herring for the New Year

When I was growing up, we always had pickled herring around for the New Year, as well smoked fish. I always thought it was a cultural superstition but later figured that it was a cure for a hangover since those were the days of big New Year’s Eve bashes held at people’s houses. By happenstance, on this New Year’s Eve, I was standing in a long line of shoppers at a purveyor of Polish food at our local farmers’ market, waiting my turn to buy some homemade sausage, when I saw a sign for Russian herring. The herring wasn’t pickled: it was a bright-eyed whole 12-inch fish that had been gutted. For the $2 price, I couldn’t resist the experiment to come.

I took it home, rooted around for how to pickle it and came up with a simple sugar and vinegar solution.  After filleting the fish to remove the bones and get two types of even pieces (inner and outer), I soaked it in water overnight and then overnight again in the sugar and vinegar solution. It was amazing, delicious and refreshing. I will definitely do this again.

Keep the proportions of vinegar to sugar but vary the amount according to the amount of fish. You want the solution to cover the fish.

I plated this Scandinavian-style, with diced pickled beets and cucumbers, hardboiled egg yolks and whites chopped separately, and a garnish of pickled carrots and dill. For an appetizer or a light supper, I served it with Russian black bread and sour cream with dill.

Pickled Herring

Fresh herring, gutted, filetted and cut into 2-3 inch lengths (mine yielded ½ lb of fish meat)

¾ c white vinegar

¼ c granulated white sugar

1 small onion, thinly sliced

Optional: 1 carrot, peeled and sliced

6 -10 black peppercorns

4-6 whole allspice berries

1 bay leaf

1 clove

After cleaning and preparing the fish, soak it overnight in cold water in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. (Even when very fresh, herring is often salted on the boat to preserve it since it contains fat that can turn the fish rancid.) The next day, prepare the sugar and vinegar solution, stirring to dissolve the sugar and adding the other ingredients. Drain the water from the herring and cover it with the solution. Again, soak overnight in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. It keeps for quite a while (at least a month) and continues to pickle. Serve cut in small pieces with dark rye bread, pickled carrots and radishes (if not added to the solution), hard boiled eggs (whites diced and yolks grated), pickled beets, fresh cucumbers and other condiments.

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Dark Days Week 5: Sea Scallops with Mushrooms and Leeks on Sweet Potato Crisps

Variety, balance. Colors, textures, flavors. Seasonality, locality, sustainability. This meal had it all, simply by layering. Each component was prepared individually and then layered with the others to produce a simple and yet complex dish that was fresh, clean and flavorful.

Even without going “down the shore” (Jersey parlance), we can purchase fine local seafood caught by day boat fisherman using Barnegat Light as their port. It’s limited during dark days of course, but when available it can be amazingly flavorful. Scallops are almost always available since they are fished commercially, but we can also get skate, bluefish, tuna and sometimes even swordfish. I get concerned about the sustainability of the ocean’s yield, so we tend to limit ourselves to the varieties that are not typically overfished.

Mushrooms abound here, coming from Eastern Pennsylvania every few weeks at farmers’ markets during the winter and at our local organic produce store. I stockpiled local organic leeks and sweet potatoes in the late fall and have been looking for good opportunities to use them, as they are both fragile commodities that won’t last the winter.

The Preparation

The leeks were cleaned after being sliced vertically (helps find the sand) and cooked slowly in a covered pan with a little salt. Oil or butter can be added but are not necessary.

The mushrooms – in this case a combination of shitakes and oyster mushrooms – were placed in a hot pan to which I added a few drabs of olive oil. After the mushrooms started to brown, I turned down the heat so they would exude their juices. I added minced shallot and garlic, a little salt and a sprinkling of winter savory (thyme would also work).

The sweet potato was peeled, thinly sliced, tossed in olive oil, salted, and roasted at 400 degrees, turning once, until browned and slightly crisp (6-10 minutes). I removed it to paper toweling to drain for a minute or two and then to a plate to let crisp.

The scallops were cooked in a semi-hot grill pan brushed with oil until browned on one side, flipped, and finished with a teaspoonful or so of local organic port from the Hopewell Valley Winery.

To assemble, I placed the sweet potato crisps on a plate, spooned on a mixture of the leeks and mushrooms, then the scallops. I topped them with a small spoonful of mushrooms and leeks, and garnished with fresh parsley (nearly the last from my own garden). Once again, the use of fresh local ingredients cooked simply produced a tasty and nutritious meal. Bravo Dark Days.

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