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 [...]
Archive for January, 2011
Winter Squash and Beet Salad
Posted in Beets, Salad, Winter squash, tagged Squash and pickled beet salad on January 31, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Chicken Pot Pie
Posted in Chicken, Pie, tagged Seasonal chicken pot pie on January 31, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Dark Days Week 8: Frittata Meets Torta
Posted in Dark Days Challenge, Greens, Potatoes, Vegetable gratin, tagged Dark Days Challenge, Vegetable frittata on January 31, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Gingered Butternut Squash with Farro and Mushrooms
Posted in Grains, Mushrooms, Winter squash, tagged Cooking farro, Gingered butternut squash on January 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Dark Days Week 7: Fish Stew
Posted in Dark Days Challenge, Fish, Soup, tagged Dark Days Challenge, Fish and scallops stew on January 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Rosemary: Winter Citrus Salads and a Bunch of Crackers
Posted in Citrus fruit, Crackers, Herbs, Salad, Spice Rack Challenge, tagged Rosemary crackers, Rosemary orange tapenade, Spice Rack Challenge on January 19, 2011 | 8 Comments »
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 [...]
Kedgeree
Posted in Grains, Seafood, tagged Finnan haddie, Kedgeree on January 16, 2011 | 3 Comments »
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 [...]
Dark Days Week 6: Mushroom and Cabbage Lasagna
Posted in Cabbage, Dark Days Challenge, Mushrooms, Vegetable gratin, tagged Dark Days Challenge, Mushroom and cabbage lasagna, No noodle lasagna on January 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
Homemade Pickled Herring for the New Year
Posted in Appetizers, Pickle, Preserving, Seafood, tagged Homemade pickled herring on January 12, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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, [...]
Dark Days Week 5: Sea Scallops with Mushrooms and Leeks on Sweet Potato Crisps
Posted in Dark Days Challenge, Leeks, Mushrooms, Seafood, Sweet potato, tagged Dark Days Challenge on January 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
