Spicing it up

Over the past few weeks, we've had a major weather event almost every day here in Chicago - from sub-zero temps to 50 degrees and back again to crazy wind, a thunderstorm that turned into sleet and snow, to blizzard conditions. My office, along with many others in and around the city, even closed early today.

It has reached that depressing point in winter where we've been through a lot but there is so much more to go.

That's sort of how I feel about those potatoes in my cupboard. I've been through so many of them but there are so many more still left.

Okay, I promised myself no more posts about potatoes.

But it raises a reality of subscribing to a CSA. You get what you get. It's winter, so I got a lot of root vegetables. I have to admit that it got a little old after awhile. The more stews and soups that I made with the same ingredients, the less interested I got. Unfortunately my list of rotting food is a little longer than usual this month.

A few weeks ago I took a cooking class with my boyfriend. We made some great dishes, including a moroccan chickpea stew over quinoa. What I liked about it is that the recipe calls for some items from my CSA (carrots and onions) but also for spices that I don't typically use, like cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne.

After the class I paid a visit to The Spice House, a local store that sells spices from all over the world in bulk. This place is great. You can smell and taste any spice, and buy amounts as small as a 1-ounce sample, if you want to try one out without commiting to a whole jar. It's an inexpensive way to experiment with different flavors (thanks, Klein, for the suggestion!).

I made the stew tonight. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's resting on a delicious mound of quinoa, which just might be the new couscous for me. The colors and the new flavors even helped lift me out of the winter doldrums.


Moroccan Chickpea Stew [from Rice and Spice by Robin Robertson]

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, diced (I subbed broccoli, which soaked up the flavor really well)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock or water
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup raisins
Zest of 1 lemon
2 1/2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed if canned
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley
6 cups hot cooked couscous or rice (or quinoa)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and carrot and cook, covered, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the zucchini, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, salt, cayenne, tomatoes, stock or water, and salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, soak the apricots in hot water for 20 minutes, then drain and finely chop. Add the apricots, raisins, lemon zest, and chickpeas to the vegetable mixture and cook 5 minutes longer, or until hot and the flavors are blended. Stir in the cilantro or parsley and serve over couscous or rice (or quinoa).

Serves 4-6.

Dueling Pizzas

My boss gave me a recipe for pizza dough, so I thought I'd try it out.

In anticipation I invited a friend over for dinner.

Since the dough takes several hours to rise, chill, and then thaw, I wanted to do part of this ahead of time. My first attempt failed miserably. The dough never rose.

After consulting with my boss and my mom (who makes bread all the time), they advised me to put the dough in a warmer place. The next night I mixed everything up and put the batch on top of my radiator for a few hours. It seemed to do the trick, but unsure of how it should look and might taste, I asked my friend to buy some back up dough at the store.

When she arrived, we decided to make both pizzas because we were hungry and we wanted to see how they would compare to each other.

As we heated up her pizza stone in the oven, we sauted sweet potatoes and onions, spread them over the homemade crust, and covered with rosemary, sage, garlic, crushed red pepper, and mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Since the stone was so hot, it only took about 12 minutes before it was done. Here's how it turned out. Free to sing along or hit mute.



As the homemade crust cooked, we prepared the store bought dough with the same ingredients, plus a few heads of broccoli left over from some pre-dinner snacking.

Oddly it took on the shape of the state of Massachusetts (without Cape Cod).


Ten minutes later, we were ready for the taste test.

The homemade pizza looked the part. Imperfectly round, the pizza looked straight out of a wood-burning oven set in snow covered mountains.

The pizza had lots of flavor, especially garlic and cheese. In fact, I think we over-cheesed. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The crust, made with whole wheat flour, was chewy with a hint of honey. The taste was natural and unprocessed.

Aside from its likeness to the Commonwealth, the store bought pizza had a more polished, professional look. The dough was like a fluffy pillow with a sweet taste.

The flavor in the rest of the pizza was more subtle. The ingredients seemed more evenly distributed with fewer concentrations of garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

To sum up, they were both winners.

And so were we, since we got to eat them.

Pizza Dough [from my boss]

Put 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 teaspoon yeast into a small bowl or cup and mix. Let sit for approximately 10 minutes.

In a separate bigger bowl, add:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Pour yeasty water into mix, knead with hands or mixer, cover, and let rise for 1/2 hour or longer. Refrigerate dough, still covered, for about 2 hours

An hour before you're ready to eat, remove dough and let stand in room temp for about 1 hour
It is ready to be flattened, topped, cooked (at 450-degree oven) and eaten.

*Potato, Sage, and Rosemary Pizza [from epicurious.com]

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces unpeeled small Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced into very thin rounds
1 (13.8-ounce) tube refrigerated pizza dough (or homemade)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup (packed) grated whole-milk mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add potato slices in single layer. Sauté until just tender, about 5 minutes. Cool briefly. Unroll dough on rimmed baking sheet. Scatter potato slices over dough, leaving 3/4-inch plain border. Sprinkle with rosemary, sage, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Sprinkle with cheeses to cover. Bake pizza until crust is crisp and cheeses melt, about 20 minutes. Using metal spatula, loosen crust from sheet. Slide out onto platter or board and serve.

*Variations: We preheated oven to 450 degrees for almost an hour with the pizza stone inside. It was so hot the pizzas cooked in 10-12 minutes. We also subbed sweet potatoes for the Yukons and added onions and broccoli.

All I need is patience

Risotto takes patience.

You need to add broth, let the rice absorb the liquid, and repeat several times until the rice is tender. This requires much standing by the stove and vigilant stirring (note cool action shot below!).


We made pumpkin walnut risotto last night while listening to the New Hampshire primary coverage on the radio, with frequent runs into another room to check the online results.

After we combined ingredients and began to stir, it became increasingly clear that the candidate we both support was not going to win, despite several polls which had predicted the contrary (hint: his initials are B.O.).

We both thought his nomination was inevitable, but now we have a race that may not be decided for weeks.

On one hand, this is good because it gives more voters the chance to have a say. On the other hand, this makes me anxious. Like many Americans (and most of us who live on this planet) I am hopeful and excited that we're about to replace a terrible president, but I also worry about the potential outcomes of this election.

Like in cooking, where the slightest recipe variation can affect the taste of the entire dish, the vaguest shift of perception can change minds and votes (okay, that's not the greatest analogy but work with me, people). Sometimes the resulting flavor is a happy surprise. But sometimes you wish you never substituted this ingredient for that one. You wish you could take it back.

I just hope our country doesn't feel that way when the campaign is over.

I can't wait to find out.

Pumpkin Walnut Risotto [from the 12/19 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times]

(Speaking of recipe variations, I should note that we didn't make the walnut paste, but instead added those ingredients after sauteing the onions and pumpkin. We also added a 15-ounce can of tomatoes instead of a 10-ounce can. My boyfriend thought the risotto tasted like spagettios. That may have been why.)

MAKES 4 SERVINGS
½ cup walnuts
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Pinch salt
1 cup onions, chopped
½ cup canned pumpkin or 1 cup pumpkin flesh, chopped
1 (10-ounce) can peeled plum tomatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1½ cups long grain rice
4½ cups hot chicken broth
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Process walnuts, parsley and garlic to a paste. Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, a tablespoon at a time. Add a pinch of salt; reserve.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large heavy pan; fry onion until lightly colored. Add pumpkin; continue to saute about 4 minutes. Mix in walnut paste. Add tomatoes; mix well and simmer until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Add rice; stir-fry for a few minutes. Add hot broth in stages, stirring to use up all the broth. Allow rice to almost dry out before each addition.
Risotto is ready when it is no longer watery and rice is tender while retaining a very slight firmness in the center of each grain. It takes 20 to 30 minutes. Mix in half the Parmesan; sprinkle the remaining half on top.

Smells like...

I wasn't sure what to expect when parsnips showed up in my December delivery. Honestly I couldn't recall ever eating one.

But they looked like white carrots, so how bad could they be?

I diligently searched for recipes and found an interesting one called Parsnip Potato Curry. But it called for lots of spices that I don't have, and while this would have been a good excuse to round out my spice rack, I've been less than motivated to make potatoes lately.

So with those parsnips guilt tripping me everytime I opened my refrigerator, I finally did something about them tonight.

I found an easy recipe called Parsnip Puree that called for parsnips (check), butter (check), chicken broth (check), and sea salt and pepper (check and check).

I peeled and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces.

That's when I first noticed the smell. It was hard to place, so I proceeded to boil them for about 35 minutes until tender.

Then I scooped about half the parsnips into the blender, added some butter and chicken stock, and pressed the puree button.

The stuff on the bottom moved but the 'nips on top hadn't budged. I opened the blender to mix them up a bit.

That's when the smell of vomit hit me.

But something about the butter and chicken stock neutralized the odor enough for me to press on. I also opened a window and turned on the fan.

By the time I finished, I had a mashed potato-like mixture that actually looked like vomit.


While it still kinda smells, I am taking little bites as I write this post and wishing I tried that other recipe instead. But alas, I used them all up tonight.

I don't want to be a hater, but I hope no parsnips show up in my January delivery.

Punctuation

I wanted to eat the acorn squash right away to avoid a repeat of the unfortunate rotting incident from last month.

On Friday night, I made acorn squash with chile vinaigrette, a very simple recipe that turned out quite well. I have to admit that we unknowingly made some variations because we failed to realize at first that the recipe called for two squashes (we only used one).

The recipe is below with the variations in parentheses.

The photo, artfully arranged by my boyfriend, shows the letter U inside quote marks.


It's hard to tell from the picture how good it tasted, so you'll have to try it for yourself.

Acorn Squash with Chile Vinaigrette [From epicurious.com]
2 (1 1/2 - to 1 3/4-lb) acorn squash {1 acorn squash}
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons olive oil {3 tablespoons}
1 garlic clove {2 cloves, chopped instead of minced}
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh hot red chile, including seeds {poblano chile, no seeds}
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 450°F. Halve squash lengthwise, then cut off and discard stem ends. Scoop out seeds and cut squash lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Toss squash with black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl, then arrange, cut sides down, in 2 large shallow baking pans. Roast squash, switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until squash is tender and undersides of wedges are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.While squash roasts, mince garlic and mash to a paste with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Transfer paste to a small bowl and whisk in lime juice, chile (to taste), cilantro, and remaining 1/4 cup oil until combined. Transfer squash, browned sides up, to a platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Home Alone

It's often a big reason that I won't cook.

If I have no one to cook with or for, I'll just scrounge in the fridge or get takeout. It's a bad habit that I've been hoping to break with the CSA.

Aside from the roasted potatoes, my boyfriend has helped prepare and eat everything so far. A few nights ago he was going to come by for some curried lentils with sweet potatoes and swiss chard but decided to go home instead when an after-work event went late.

I had already started chopping, so there was no turning back.

Plus I knew this recipe would help me use up the rest of the sweet potatoes and finish off a few remaining onions, which was basically all I had left from the November delivery.

So I was motivated but daunted by all chopping and peeling I had to do. There were onions! Garlic! Sweet potatoes! Ginger root! Chard! It was endless and already after 8 p.m. when I started.

Opening a bottle of wine helped. So did a little snack, since I wouldn't eat until about 10 p.m.

As I began to put it all together, the smell was amazing. The curry and garam masala mixed with the onions, garlic, ginger, and vegetable broth made my kitchen smell like an Indian restaurant.

I was also excited to use my new wooden spoon, which I had bought at a store that sells hand-carved wooden items in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin (down the street from the Mustard Museum).

It tasted damn good, and I had something that never happens. Leftovers.

And the winner is...

This time of year is filled with lists. Shopping lists. Wish lists. What's hot and not lists. What's in and out lists. Lists of New Year's resolutions.

I typically don't make those kinds of lists.

But I'm proud to say that with a week to go until my next CSA delivery, I'm nearly finished with my first bushel of produce. So while I wait for the next one, I thought I would put together a few lists from the past month: dishes I made, biggest lesson learned, my favorite meal, plus more completely useless information in list format. Enjoy!

What I Made/Ate
Cranberry Vinaigrette
Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Ginger Bisque
Popcorn
Cranberry Relish
Pasta with Butternut Squash and Sage
2 Pumpkin Pies
Potato and Leek Soup
Roasted Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Apples and Honey
Raw Carrots
* Curried Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard (possibly substituted with mustard greens)

What Didn't Make It
Acorn Squash
Parsley

Biggest Letdown: Potato and Leek Soup

Best Dish I Didn't Have to Shop for: Roasted potatoes

Most Useful Kitchen Item: Cutting board

Biggest Lesson Learned: Follow storage instructions more carefully!

1st Runner Up Favorite Dish: Popcorn

And my favorite dish was.....

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Sage (thanks for the recipe, Home Grown Wisconsin!)

[Added 12/13] At Ali's request, here's the recipe!

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Sage (serves 4)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
¾ C. water
1 tsp. chopped fresh Sage
1 lb. penne pasta
2 Tbls. chopped fresh parsley
1 C. grated parmesan
2 Tbls. butter (optional)

Cook onion in oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden. Finely chop squash in food processor and add to onion with water and salt. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes, or until squash is tender. Add sage and simmer 1 minute. Cook pasta in boiling salt water until al dente. Drain. Return pasta to pot and add squash mixture, parsley, parmesan, butter and black pepper, stirring until butter is melted. Season to taste and serve with a little parmesan on top.

* I plan to make this tomorrow night, which should knock off the rest of the sweet potatoes and a few more onions. Gotta eat the onions!