Dark Days 20 Breakfast Challenge: Indian Pudding

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I start the day and end the season with an all-local breakfast of Indian pudding and cranberries…

Breakfast in our household falls into two camps: His and Hers. His is sweet and Hers is savory. Hers (mine) is easy to make from local ingredients at any time of year, including the Dark Days, since its ingredients of choice are vegetables, fruit, cheese, and eggs. My personal favorite is a poached egg over the previous evening’s leftover vegetables, but I would settle for local apples and cheese any day of the week. My favorite beverage is herb tea from leaves that I dried last summer, especially lemon verbena and mint. 

But this is a challenge, right? His breakfast is not just a challenge: it defies local, except for milk, yogurt, honey, and maple syrup. There’s no way my homemade granola is based on local grains and seeds. There’s no way that hot oatmeal, cold cereal, wheat bread, muffins, and flour-based pancakes are fully local since our area simply does not support marketable grain production.  (We are going to experiment during the upcoming growing season, so we’ll see if we can conquer small-scale production.) And while our coffee is locally roasted from fair trade beans, that’s outside my definition of local.  

Never one to take the easy route, and challenged by Not Dabbling in Normal’s question about seeking alternatives to eggs and meat, I really thought about this problem. The pumpkin polenta that I made for the Vegetarian Challenge a few weeks ago could have worked. Then ah ha, what about Indian pudding? I recall this thrifty dish from my schoolgirl days in New England and figured I could proceed with local ingredients, other than cinnamon and salt. I consulted the ultimate Boston source, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

The recipe didn’t appear to have the right proportion of cornmeal to milk and after cooking it halfway, I changed course and doubled the cornmeal to reach perfection (which is now reflected in my recipe). I’m sure this is because cornmeal comes in all kinds of grinds and absorption rates.  I also changed the amount (less) and type of sugar, opting for local maple syrup and molasses. I topped the finished pudding with a little heavy cream and the last of the candied cranberries that I made for the Dark Days Dessert Challenge, though poached or baked apples would have been good too.

Ta da! I managed to complete the full course of Dark Days meals and learned a whole bunch in the process. Bravo and thanks to the organizers and those who stuck it out.

Indian Pudding adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

2 c milk

½ c yellow cornmeal, fine-medium grind

1/3 c maple syrup

½ c molasses

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp butter

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger)

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Bring water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. Heat 1 1/2 cup of milk in the top of the double boiler and when very hot, whisk in the cornmeal. Cook over the simmering water, covered, for 10-15 minutes until creamy and thick. Add the salt, butter and spices and mix well. Turn into a buttered 1-quart baking dish. Heat the remaining milk and pour it on top.  Place the baking dish into a shallow metal pan and pour the water from the bottom of the double boiler into the pan to reach halfway up the dish of the baking dish. Bake for approximately 2½ hours until set.

Serve with cream (or if using as dessert, ice cream).

Makes at least 4 servings.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 19: Waterzooi of Chicken

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I make a classic Belgian stew with all-local ingredients at the beginning of spring and the end of the dark days…

Everyone eats well in Belgium. So they say. There’s even a cookbook by that name. Having been there numerous times, I can attest to the quality of the food. Belgium is really two countries in one: Flanders (speaking Flemish) in the north and Wallonia (speaking French) in the south. Brussels bridges them. While geographically part of Flanders, Brussels is predominately French-speaking in my experience although it claims to be bilingual. I am most familiar with the northern country, around the medieval city of Antwerp and branching out to Ghent and Bruges.

Waterzooi is one of the characteristic dishes of the region.  It’s a cross between a soup and a stew, poaching ingredients slowly in liquid (“water” means water – no surprise — and “zooien” is synonymous with boiling). The traditional dish can be made with fish or chicken. I’ve had both in Belgium but this time, I decided on chicken. The typical vegetables are onions, leeks, carrots, celery and potatoes. For the dark days, I chose a small celery root.

The most common cooking method that I know is to poach the chicken in stock with the vegetables, remove the skin and shred the meat, finishing the dish with an egg yolk beaten with a little cream, as you would do for a blanquette de veau in French cuisine. My preference is to poach the chicken separately, remove it from the stock and chill both. This yields more meat and stock than I would use for four. Just increase the vegetables and chicken to serve more. After de-fatting the stock the next day, I poach the vegetables in it until tender, add shredded chicken, and finish with the egg and cream. You can make this in advance and it improves in flavor, so it’s good for parties. Just make sure not to boil the liquid after the egg-cream mixture is added to avoid curdling. 

This feels very spring-like and would be great with fresh peas and tarragon.

Waterzooi of Chicken

1 3-4 lb chicken

1 qt homemade chicken stock plus water as needed

Optional: trimmings of carrots and leeks or onions

1 onion, chopped

1-2 tsp butter or ghee

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into ¼-inch slices, separated into rings

2 carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices

½ small celeriac (celery root), diced

2 medium red potatoes, peeled and diced

Salt

1 egg yolk

¼ c heavy cream

Parsley, minced

The day before you plan to serve the waterzooi, cut the chicken into pieces and place in a deep stockpot. Add chicken stock and water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for about 40 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender and barely cooked through. Remove the chicken to a platter. When cool, remove and reserve the meat and return the bones to the stockpot, adding the optional vegetable trimmings. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes. Remove the bones and vegetables if using, and let the stock cool. Refrigerate it overnight. Remove the layer of fat that rises to the top.

When ready to make the waterzooi, sauté the chopped onion slowly in the butter or ghee. Add the leeks, carrots and celeriac and stir to coat. Ladle in 4 cups of chicken stock and simmer the vegetables for about 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are tender. Season with salt. Add about 1 cup of shredded chicken meat (more to taste) to heat through.

With a fork, mix the egg yolk and cream thoroughly. Add a little of the warm stock to the mixture and then combine with the ingredients in the pot. Simmer, but do not let the mixture boil (it will curdle).

Serve hot in bowls sprinkled with minced parsley.

Serves 4.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 17: Monkfish on Braised Cabbage

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I make a celebratory birthday dinner with entirely local ingredients…

 For all of its humble ingredients, this seemed like a fabulous and fancy birthday dinner. It wasn’t the least bit complicated but it did require separate and serial preparation of the major components, which came together compositionally at the very end. There were: bacon lardons, rendered and set aside, monkfish lightly seared in bacon fat and finished in a very hot oven, cabbage wedges browned in organic ghee without turning and braised in homemade chicken broth, cooled boiled potatoes that were peeled, cubed and lightly browned in ghee, and halved small carrots parboiled in the water used to cook the potatoes. After the ingredients were assembled on our plates, I spooned over additional broth and sprinkled on snippets of onion grass that is beginning to sprout all over the yard. Bon Appetit!

Cooking monkfish can be tricky since it has a tendency to curl and toughen. I sautéed it very quickly in the bacon fat (or you could use butter or a vegetable oil) and then roasted it on a baking sheet in a 475-degree oven for 5 minutes until nearly completely cooked through. I let it rest for 5 minutes, during which time it finished cooking, and cut it into chunks.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 16 Vegetarian Challenge Part 2: Cauliflower and Collards Custard with Carrot Ribbons

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I combine winter brassicas in a creamy custard for a satisfying all-local vegetarian meal accompanied by the ribbons of carrots and the season’s first baby collard greens…

Collards custard is one of standard go-to meals when I have an abundance of greens from our CSA in summer and fall. A trip to the farmers’ market in late February yielded a bunch of baby collards that had shot out of an old root at the first signs of spring. Collards thrive in cold weather and since our winter has been so mild it’s no wonder that hardy greens are available. I have kale and chard in my own garden, though they’re pathetically small.

With a resolve to clean out the vegetable bin of my fridge, I’m embarrassed to admit that I was hanging on to a small lump of local cauliflower. The florets were browning but after I trimmed the head, I had a lot of meaty stalks and stem. I simmered it with a little chopped onion in local organic milk and cream (I could have used whole milk but didn’t have any) and added chopped collards that had been cooked in a tiny bit of ghee. After cooling the mixture, I added beaten eggs and a little local cheese, and cooked the custards in the oven in a water bath.   

Cauliflower and Collards Custard

½ c milk

¼ c cream

2 c chopped cauliflower

¼ c chopped onion

1 tsp ghee

½ c collard stems

1 c collard leaves, cut into ribbons

5 eggs

½ c grated cheese

1 tsp salt

Bring the milk, cream, cauliflower and onion to a simmer in a medium saucepan and cook, covered, until the cauliflower is very tender. Puree and set aside to cool.

Melt the ghee in small pan and add the collard stems. Cover and cook slowly until crisp tender. Add the leaves and continue to cook until the leaves are tender. Set aside to cool.

When ready to assemble and bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Boil water for the water bath. Lightly grease a shallow baking dish or individual molds (6 half-cup molds).

Lightly beat the eggs. Add the cheese, salt and the puree and greens. Pour the mixture into baking dish or molds and set them in baking pan filled with hot water half of the depth of the baking dish or molds.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of the dish) until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the water bath and set aside to cool for a few minutes before unmolding.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 15 Vegetarian Challenge: Pumpkin Polenta with Kale

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I serve a satisfying pumpkin polenta on a bed of kale, another in a series of vegetarian winter meals

My discovery of cornmeal from Cayuga Pure Organics, the same outfit that supplies dried beans to our neighborhood organic food market, has opened new doors for the Dark Days. Since corn can readily be grown here and in many other parts of the country that don’t support other grains like wheat, grist mills used to dot many local landscapes. It will be interesting to see what happens with the resurgent interest in growing and processing grains locally.  I’m thinking about growing some corn myself next season, but obviously not in my shady in-town yard. Alternatively, since I may take a road trip to western New York in the fall, maybe I can visit Cayuga and stock up.

For this meal, instead of making plain polenta from cornmeal and water, I used an Italian method of cooking the cornmeal in milk and pureed pumpkin, which I read about in Sylvia Thompson’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook, the companion volume to a gardening book that I am consulting while I plan my own kitchen garden.  Planting will start in a couple of weeks!

This couldn’t be simpler to make, but you do have to plan for the two-hour baking time.  Basically, you stir cornmeal into pureed pumpkin, add milk and spoon the mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle with onions sautéed in a little olive oil and bake it in a slow oven.  You can add grated cheese on top at the end, or not.

I was pleased to use up some of the large volume of pumpkins and squash that I still have from the fall, and I found a volume of fresh greens at a Slow Food winter indoor farmers’ market.  A local organic farmer has been growing kale and other greens in an unheated hoop-house all winter, with great success.  As we heard at the winter conference of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, this is an increasingly popular way of growing and farmers are lining up to apply for aid to serve local communities. I’m all for that.  

Pumpkin Polenta adapted from Sylvia Thompson

1 c pumpkin puree

½ c coarsely ground cornmeal

½ tsp salt

1 c milk (I used non-fat)

Butter or oil for the pan

1 onion, finely chopped

1½ tsp olive oil

1 tsp finely chopped rosemary

Optional: finely grated hard cheese, such as Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the pumpkin puree, cornmeal and salt. Gradually add the milk and spoon the mixture into a buttered or oiled baking dish (with 4-6 cups capacity).

Cook the onion slowly in the olive oil until translucent, adding the rosemary toward the end. Spoon over the pumpkin-cornmeal mixture.

Bake for 2 hours until golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with the grated cheese.  Serve immediately (best) or refrigerate and reheat in the oven.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 14: Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I make a spunky Hungarian goulash and learn how to make homemade sour cream…

This has been on my list for the Dark Days from the beginning.  However, because the fall growing season was so compromised by the August hurricane that put whole fields of cabbages under water, I didn’t make my usual sauerkraut out of produce from our CSA. This weekend, I bought local kraut from an Amish farmer and re-created this old standby. This is a delicious meal, a traditional Hungarian stew, sometimes referred to as Szekely Goulash, after its place of origin, the southern region of the country. The first time I tasted it was at a professor’s house during graduate school, and I was surprised at how gutsy his wife was to make this. I grew up eating sauerkraut but few of my classmates did, not to mention that some probably didn’t eat pork. Besides, the professor taught Italian art and architecture, so this was a culture shock.

I like this goulash for Dark Days meals since it hails from a country that has a real winter, much like we do here. The goulash presented a couple of challenges for the Dark Days, however. One was the inclusion of green pepper. At the end of the fall, I had frozen some de-seeded poblano peppers and green bell peppers without blanching them first. I tossed them in their frozen state onto a baking sheet set in a 400-degree oven. They charred up perfectly. These were much better than the ones I blanched before freezing. Check! Mental note for next year.

The second challenge was sour cream, an essential ingredient to smooth out the flavors of the sauerkraut. This was a complete experiment, and worked out reasonably well. I added ¼ cup of local organic yogurt (with active acidophilis and bifidis) to1 cup of local organic heavy cream and heated it to 100 degrees. I let it sit in a covered heatproof glass cup next to the pilot light on top of my (ancient) stove for 24 hours. It probably maintained a temperature a little over 100. The mixture became coagulated and soured perfectly. It was a little runny for my taste so I drained it.

The third challenge turned out to be more problematic: ground dried paprika. Using store-bought paprika is in-bounds for my Dark Days rules, but I had hopes that the red peppers that I dried in the fall would include some that could be ground for the purpose. Though I used a little of my stash, most of it was too hot. I have been ordering seeds to plant this summer, which include sweet peppers that supposedly make great paprika.

This recipe has evolved over years, and I’m looking forward to this next experiment.  I served it with potatoes that I boiled, cooled, skinned and cubed before sautéing them in duck fat.

Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash

1 pound pork stew meat

1 thick slice slab bacon, preferably unsmoked, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper or a combination of poblano and green bell peppers, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1 tbsp paprika

1/3 c home-canned tomato puree (or 1 medium fresh or canned tomato, chopped)

1/3 c water

3 c sauerkraut

1 tsp caraway seeds

¾ c sour cream

Optional: 2 tbsp flour

Trim fat from the pork stew meat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Slowly render the bacon in an ovenproof pot or small Dutch oven. Pour off all but 2-3 teaspoons. Add the onions and cook slowly until translucent. Add the green pepper and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the paprika and stir to combine for a minute. Add the tomato puree or chopped tomato and water. Simmer, covered, at a very low temperature on top of the stove or in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the meat is very tender. The goulash can be made ahead to this point.

Meanwhile, drain the sauerkraut, reserving the liquid, and rinse it. Drain the sauerkraut for a few minutes and add it to the meat mixture. Simmer for 20 minutes. The goulash could be made ahead to this point also.

When ready to finish the dish, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Add the caraway seeds and sour cream (combined with flour if using) to the goulash.  Caraway seeds are added at the end since they become bitter if cooked too long. Adjust the sourness by adding some of the reserved sauerkraut juice, to taste. Some recipes say to eat it at this stage, but I prefer to bake it.

Place the goulash in a shallow baking dish (or leave it in the Dutch oven) and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

It can be served with noodles, potatoes or carrots, or just as is.

Serves 4-6.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 13: Root Soup with Cheese Wafers and Slaw

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I make a garnished root soup that combines hominess with sophistication…

I need to clean out my refrigerator. I have been hoarding (well that’s a little harsh)… storing … lots of roots from our CSA and local farmers’ markets since late fall, and it’s time for them to go. Even though the Dark Days Challenge asks for local, sustainably produced and preferably organic meals once a week, I’m quite pleased that I cook that way all week, with the addition of a few non-local items here and there. Those are mostly grains that simply can’t survive our climate when grown here. And citrus fruit of course, though we’re still working our way through the crate that arrived from Florida as a gift at Christmas. I’ve barely touched the pantry, which remains voluminous. Next challenge. 

This meal is an amiable, kitchen-sink soup that can be made with various combinations of root vegetables and various combinations of liquid, including chicken stock, vegetable or bean broth, or simply water.  I used a little of each. I tend not to “junk up” the soup by including too many base ingredients. Here I used onion, rutabaga, parsnip, celeriac, and potato…

To pep things up, I made cheese “crackers” by baking grated cheese – a particularly dry and nutty type from Cherry Grove Farm called Havilah – on parchment paper in a hot oven until crisp. I made a slaw of carrots and parsnip combined with frizzled leeks and dressed with local white port from Hopewell Valley Vineyard and Stony Brook Finger Lakes Butternut Squash Seed Oil. The slaw garnished the soup and also floated on cheese crisps. This was lovely, sophisticated and homey all at once.

Root Soup

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp ghee, butter or vegetable oil

1 3- or 4-inch rutabaga, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

2 small parsnips or 1 medium parsnip, peeled and sliced

1 2- or 3-inch celeriac root, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

1 large potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

A few cups of liquid: chicken stock, vegetable and/or bean broth, water

Salt and pepper

Place the onion and butter/ghee/oil in a medium saucepan and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and stir to coat. Add liquid (of choice) just to cover the vegetable. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender, adding more liquid if needed. Puree slightly and thin to desired consistency. Season to taste.

Cheese Wafers

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely grate 4 oz of a semi-hard and flavorful cheese. Place in ¼-cup mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 4-5 minutes until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Let sit for a couple of minutes, and then remove to a plate to cool.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 12, Part 2, Valentine’s Day Challenge: Lemon Verbena Ice Cream, Cranberry Sorbet and Maple Candied Cranberries

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I pull out the stops to make an all-local delectable fancy dessert, much to my surprise

Happy Valentine’s Day! Getting ready to satisfy sweet expectations, I succumbed to the Dark Days Challenge to create a second all-local V-day dessert. The first one, a pumpkin flan, was totally in bounds for my challenge but did include a few non-local spices. This time, everything was sustainable, organic (as much as cranberries can be), local and ethical. I formed the ice cream and sorbet using cookie cutters so that my red and white presentation was perfectly themed. And oh so schmaltzy. All I needed was a rose between my teeth. But at this time of year, for this challenge, it would have to have been dried. Hmm. The photos don’t do this justice. The sorbets were the same exact colors as my antique plate from Holland . 

My husband’s first remark about the ice cream was to say that I cheated by using lemon juice. Not so, as he should know by now given the volume of lemon verbena tea that I consume. I infused milk with dried organic lemon verbena from our CSA and combined it with local honey, eggs and cream to make the base for a delicious ice cream. I had made this with fresh lemon verbena in the fall, which I prefer because I love its grassiness. But dried was perfectly fine and added a slightly different taste dimension. Definitely lemon.

Second, I still had local cranberries from the holidays, and saw some at a farmers’ market a couple weeks ago so I knew I could give my self a second chance if I blew it.  Most of the berries were combined with water and maple sugar from eastern Pennsylvania to make sorbet, which I spiked with local Tomasello Vineyards cranberry wine to cut any potential iciness in the sorbet. Finally, I candied cranberries in simple syrup made with water and maple sugar, coated in more maple sugar, and used them as a garnish.

Lemon Verbena Honey Ice Cream – Local Style

1½ c milk

½ c honey

1 c loosely packed dried lemon verbena leaves

4 large egg yolks

1½ c heavy cream

Warm the milk and sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon verbena leaves and heat until the milk is nearly boiling. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for an hour.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl.  Remove the lemon verbena leaves from the milk and discard the leaves. Reheat the milk. Add a little milk to the egg yolks, whisking or stirring to warm the yolks without cooking them. When the yolks and milk are combined, return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, over medium low heat, stirring, until custard forms and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, place the cream in the bowl and put a strainer over it. When the custard is done, pour it into the cream. Let the mixture cool and refrigerate until well chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Cranberry Sorbet — Local Style

2 c fresh cranberries

1/3 c water

1/3 c maple sugar

2 tbsp Tomasello cranberry wine (or 1 tbsp vodka)

Pick over the cranberries to remove any stems inferior berries.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the cranberries and cook them until they pop and turn into a puree. There may be a few skins in the mixture. Srt aside to cool. When cool, add the wine and refrigerate until well chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Cranberries Candied in Maple Sugar

½ c – 1 c fresh cranberries

¼ c maple sugar

2 tbsp water

Additional maple sugar for coating

Pick over the cranberries to remove any stems inferior berries and place them in a shallow bowl.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook until it starts to form a light syrup. Set it aside for a few minutes before pouring over the berries. (You don’t want the berries to split open from the heat.)

Set aside to cool and then refrigerate them for several hours or overnight. (This allows the syrup to penetrate the berries.)

Sprinkle additional sugar on a plate, drain the berries (save the liquid for the sorbet or for a sauce), and roll them one at a time in the sugar to coat. Set aside, not touching each other, on a plate, to dry for several hours. They will turn into slightly crunchy, almost hard candies. Store in an airtight container.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 12, Valentine’s Day Dessert Challenge: Pumpkin Flan

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I caramelize local maple sugar and bake a yummy pumpkin flan for dessert

Looking forward to Valentine’s Day, this week’s Dark Days Challenge is to make a special dessert from local ingredients according to the rules that we each set up in the beginning of the season. At first I thought this would be really hard, but it turned out not to be once I realized that I would use dairy ingredients and either local maple sugar/syrup or honey as a sweetener. I decided to make a pumpkin flan (with permitted spices) rather than a plain one since I needed to clean out my freezer and use up the pumpkin puree from the holidays.  I still have more fresh pumpkin and squash so I’ll be happy to have the freezer space.  Especially since I have another Valentine’s Day dessert coming up!

Pumpkin Maple Flan adapted from the Boston Globe online

For the caramel:

¼ c maple sugar

1 tbsp water

For the flan:

¾ c milk (I used non-fat)

¾ c heavy cream

½ c pumpkin puree

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of salt

3 jumbo eggs

½ c maple sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 4-6 ramekins, each holding ¾- to one cup, in a shallow roasting pan with 2-inch sides. Heat some water in a teakettle (which will be for the pan when you’re baking the flan). Place a small bowl of cool water and a pastry brush near the stove. Get all of the ingredients measured and ready, and set out the equipment.

First make the caramel. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as it boils, stop stirring, but lightly brush the sides of the pan with water to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Swirl the pan a couple of times and cook until the caramel turns dark brown. This will take about 3 minutes for maple sugar, about 5 or so for white sugar. Immediately spoon the caramel into the ramekins. It will harden and may not completely cover the bottom before it does.

Make the pumpkin custard. In a saucepan, whisk the milk, cream, pumpkin, spices and salt and heat it just until it starts to bubble around the edges. Pour it through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pushing down on the solids to push them through and create a smooth liquid (this is important if you have roasted your pumpkin and are not using canned pumpkin).

Whisk the eggs, add the sugar and continue to whisk until smooth. Add a little of the warm pumpkin mixture, being careful not to cook the eggs, and then mix everything together, beating well.  Spoon into the ramekins.

Place the roasting pan containing the ramekins in the middle of the oven and carefully pour hot water into the pan, to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the custard is set but the centers are still wobbly. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before carefully removing the ramekins to a rack to cool. After they are cool, refrigerate them for at least 2 hours, or even overnight, before unmolding them to serve.

Makes 4-6 servings depending on the size of the ramekins.

Read Full Post »

Dark Days 11: Scallop and Cabbage Chowder

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge. 

In which I make delectable local scallop chowder with homemade fish stock and home-cured bacon.

 Subtle, flavorful and nearly monochromatic chowder seemed just right for the dullest of dull days in February, sky blanched, fields blanched, nobody moving. This is a meal of patience, based on how it’s made, slowly and deliberately. No flashy culinary tricks, just simplicity and calm. One pot, two bowls.

It starts with a great base of strong fish stock, although strong chicken stock makes a fine substitute or supplement. A few weeks ago, in Dark Days #5, I wrote about a lovely whole sea bass that my husband brought back from the shore. After I deboned it, I turned the fish frame and scraps into a strong fish stock that’s been stored in my freezer since then. That was the first part of the patient cooking involved with this chowder, since the bones are left to sweat for a while before being gently poached in liquid.

Here, the potatoes are cooked rather rapidly to get them started but the addition of cabbage slows things down. The scallops cook in the liquid off the heat. I used my home-cured bacon. It wasn’t smoked so it worked well, little cubes cooked slowly to render their fat and then re-combined with the chowder at the end. This is another inspiration from Jasper White’s 50 Chowders.  I haven’t made all 50 but I’m getting there.

Scallop and Cabbage Chowder adapted from Jasper White

1/3-inch thick slice slab bacon, cut into ½-inch dice

1 medium onion, cut into 3/4-inch dice

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 medium-large potato (red skinned or yellow), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice

3 c fish stock or chicken stock or a combination

¼ small head of Savoy cabbage, cut into ¾-inch pieces

½ lb sea scallops, cut into ¾-inch pieces

¼ c heavy or light cream

Salt and pepper

Optional garnish: sliced scallions or chives

Heat a saucepan over low heat and add the bacon. After the bacon has rendered some of its fat, turn the heat to medium and cook it until brown. Remove the bacon and set it aside.

Add the onion, thyme and bay leaf to the pan, cooking them slowly, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent.

Add the potatoes and enough of the fish stock just to cover them. Turn up the heat and bring the liquid to a boil, cooking the potatoes vigorously for 5-7 minutes, until they just start to soften.

Add the cabbage and additional stock, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the potatoes are soft on the outside but still firm in the middle.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the scallops, cover the pan and it sit covered for 5 minutes. Add the cream and let the chowder sit, covered, for another 10 minutes until the scallops are cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste, return the bacon to the chowder and remove the bay leaf.

This can sit for an hour to let the flavors meld. When ready to serve, place the solids in the serving bowls, warm the liquid and ladle it over the top, adding the optional garnish as you please.

Serves two generously.

Read Full Post »