cleansing root veggies

I overdid it during the holidays. Sweets, snacks, and I think I ate more pork in three days that I have in the past three years. Consequently, we've been trying to tone it down around here lately: lots of kale, less meat.

My new food processor was going to be used for experiments in building pie crusts, but I have decided to hold off on that for a while. Instead, I used the grating blade to make an enormous bowl of root vegetable matchsticks: celery root, parsnip, carrot, and red beets. I also threw in an apple for a little sweetness. This makes an amazing raw salad with just a little lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Some toasted almonds might be a nice addition. Or you could add soy sauce, mirin, brown rice vinegar, and a little minced garlic and ginger. The soy sauce root veggie mixture makes a fantastic stuffing for baked spaghetti squash, which, in turn, would pair beautifully with some braised short ribs (although we're holding off on that for a while!)

We used about the last 3 cups of the unseasoned raw root veggies to make untraditional latkes. Just add one beaten egg and a half teaspoon of non-GMO corn starch (or potato starch) as a binder. Season generously with salt and pepper, then gently add 1/4 cup bunches of the eggy mixture into a cast iron skillet with a little less than a 1/4 inch of high heat vegetable oil (safflower, canola, sunflower, etc.) Fry over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes on the first side, and less than a minute on the second. Remove from the pan and drain excess oil on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Less than $5 of vegetables--one carrot, one red beet, one apple, one celery root, and one parsnip--fed us for about a week (not exclusively, of course, but you get the idea). So many options with just one simple preparation! The other great thing about root vegetables is that they store beautifully. Once grated, you just need to add a bit of lemon juice to keep them from browning.

More "resolution recipes" coming, I think.

Pasta with romanesco cauliflower and prosciutto

Last Wednesday night, I had a few friends over for dinner.

I this has been a dream of mine for some time. This may seem strange to many of you who do not live in one of the five boroughs of New York City. However, I live in Brooklyn, and making space for a dining table and guests never seemed like a realistic possibility.

The Thanksgiving furniture shuffle showed me it was possible: we moved the sofa into the office to make a guest room, and moved the desk from the office into the living room for a table. Voila! A little more pushing of dressers and chairs and scratching up the floor a bit, and we had a dining room. It's my first.

The dinner was to reciprocate a dinner that my friends Nick and Dane had prepared a few weeks before. It was a lot to live up to: a delicious cheese plate as a first course, followed by a perfect risotto with shrimp and sweet peas topped with pesto. So very good.

The dinner left me feeling full, satisfied, and competitive. I felt the need to be impressive in return. And thrifty. Christmas shopping has been stretching me a little thin.

I hardly ever make pasta because of Noel's wheat allergy. In fact, I don't think I've bought any traditional pasta for at least five years. So real pasta feels decadent to me--a kind of luxury food that I don't have very often. I'll bet a lot of you feel the same way about it because of the carb fear factor. The fact that many of us don't eat pasta on a regular basis anymore makes it, I think, a great thing to make when you have guests over: it's the sort of thing everyone enjoys but rarely makes for themselves. And what better time to indulge a bit than during this bitingly cold weather?

Since the pasta itself is inexpensive, I added some more premium ingredients: prosciutto and romanesco cauliflower. Romanesco cauliflower is a vivid pale green, and instead of forming itself into cloud-like clumps, it grows in astoundingly symmetrical, psychedelic cones. Their beautiful color, matched with the deep meaty pinkness of the prosciutto, makes a beautiful plate. They are very much in season, and can be found in your local farmers market.

The addition of anchovies into the garlic oil does not produce a fishy flavor at all, but rather an earthy saltiness that would not be achieved by only adding salt. I highly recommend you try using them. You can find anchovy fillets packed in olive oil in most supermarkets.

The bread crumbs add an extra bite of texture, as well as a bit of herb and spice. They are easy to make at home. Tear a baguette into 1-2 inch cubes, and toast in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until toasty and dry. Allow to cool, then place in a plastic freezer bag and smush with a rolling pin to create crumbs. To add flavor, saute two mined garlic cloves in 2 tbsp olive oil, then remove from heat an stir in 1 tbsp red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup chopped parsley. Add bread crumbs and return pan to heat, toasting until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool. These can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Pasta with Romanesco Cauliflower and Prosciutto (inspired by and loosely adapted from a recipe from Olives and Oranges)

1 lb strozzapreti pasta (or penne, or something similar)
2 medium heads romanesco cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1/4 lb prosciutto, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 anchovy fillets
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 cup bread crumbs (recipe in the headnotes)
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Toss cauliflower with 2 tbsp olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast on a parchment lined baking sheet for 45 minutes, or until browning, and crisp-tender.

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil.

In another large pot or dutch oven, heat a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat, then add prosciutto. Saute until some fat is rendered and the meat begins to brown ever so slightly--about 5 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.

***If you don't make your own bread crumbs, you'll probably want to add 1 scant tbsp red pepper flakes (per your own taste) in this next step to give it a little heat. The bread crumbs I made were pretty spicy, so I just left it at that.***

To the same dutch oven where you cooked the prosciutto, add 1/4 cup olive oil and the minced garlic. Saute briefly until garlic just barely turns toasty, then add the anchovy fillets. The fillets will dissolve in the oil. Add the cauliflower and the prosciutto, and stir to coat in the garlic-anchovy oil. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. I found that the strozzapreti took much less time than I thought it would--maybe less than 7 minutes.

Before draining the pasta, reserve a bit of the starchy water in a mug for using in the sauce if needed. Then drain the pasta, and add to the cauliflower prosciutto mixture. Toss to combine. Add half the bread crumbs and half the parmesan, then toss to combine again. If the pasta seems too dry at this point (which mine did), you can add a bit of the reserved pasta water, and a little bit more olive oil.

Transfer pasta to a serving bowl, sprinkle remaining bread crumbs and parmesan over the top, toss lightly, and finish with a good dose of fresh cracked pepper.

thanksgiving appetizer: cheddar and ale fondue

I'm sure some of you received a fondue pot as a wedding or housewarming gift and have only used it a few times, maybe never. I think it would be a great thing to dust off for a family holiday gathering. Think about it: you can make it on the stove in less than 10 minutes while the oven is occupied with roasts and turkeys and the like, it's interactive, kids will love it and it will keep them out from underfoot, and it will encourage those kids to eat some veggies.

As long as you prep the day before, the fondue itself takes very little time to serve. The day before, you want to do the prepping of your veggie dippers. You may want to blanch some of them, such as cauliflower, by boiling them for less than a minute, then shocking them in cold water. You may want to roast some, such as brussels sprouts, until they are still crisp, but the outsides caramelize a bit. Or you may want to keep it simple, and serve some raw crudites, like broccoli, carrots, and celery. Whatever you choose, arrange a platter ahead of time to save yourself some work on the holiday.

As far as I'm concerned, there are two ESSENTIAL dippers for any cheese fondue: cubed crusty bread and apples. These should be done shortly before you plan to serve, so that the bread doesn't get stale, and the apples don't brown. You can also slow down the browning of the apple slices by tossing them with a little fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Cheddar and Ale Fondue

Whatever type of cheddar you choose, make sure it's good quality. Most farmers' markets have one or two vendors selling amazing local cheddar. For this recipe, I used Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, a very sharp, caramely cheese available at Whole Foods. For the ale, I chose Ommegang's Abbey Ale, a Belgian style beer with spicy caramel undertones. These are both very flavorful ingredients and they paired beautifully together, but I'm sure you could make substitutions if you cannot find these at your local market. You might want to try adding a dash of worcestershire or dijon mustard for a little extra flavor.

Emmentaler cheese melts beautifully, so it's addition here will help ensure a smooth, creamy fondue.

1 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 lb emmentaler cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups belgian style ale
1 tbsp non-gmo cornstarch

Toss the cheddar, emmentaler, and cornstarch together, The cornstarch will keep with cheese solids and fat from separating when added to the beer.

Bring the ale to a low boil in the fondue pot (or a medium nonstick pot if your fondue pot isn't stove-worthy) over medium-high heat. Add the cheese mixture in handfuls and whisk quickly in between additions. Once all the cheese is added, reduce the heat slightly and continue whisking vigorously to blend the ale and cheese. This may take a few minutes, just keep whisking!

Once you have a wonderfully smooth, beery cheese mixture, move it off the stove to the fondue stand over a low flame. Stir periodically to keep the cheese on the bottom from burning.

thanksgiving sides: kale

Braised Kale serves 6-8

This recipe is simple, healthy, delicious, and can be made a day ahead. It maintains its color, flavor, and texture beautifully. Simmer gently in a pot over low heat to reheat the kale.

3 bunches of kale (the standard green curly leaf kind is great here)
1 large sweet onion
3-4 cloves garlic
tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups stock (chicken is best, I think, but vegetable would work, too)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
peper

Thoroughly rinse the kale to remove any grit. Tear the leaf away from the stem by running your hand upwards from the bottom of the stem, then tear leaves into large pieces. Set aside.

Half the onion through the root ball, peel, then thinly slice across into strips. Set aside.

Mince the garlic, then combine with the onion.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, pepper flakes, and a little salt and pepper, and saute until the onion is softening and translucent. Add the kale stir, turning it over gently in the pot to coat with the oil. Season with more salt and pepper. Pour half the stock over the kale, and continue to turn it gently. Add the rest of the stock, turning the kale until it has cooked down to less than half its original volume, but still maintains a bright green color.

Remove the kale to a serving bowl and ladle a bit of the cooking stock over the top so that it pools luxuriously around the bottom.

slow-roasted pork shoulder with cider bourbon gravy

I love Thanksgiving. Food and gratitude, what could be better?

One of my favorite things about this holiday is the New Yorker's food edition, which was just delivered to my apartment yesterday. Interspersed through the magazine between the longer articles and fictions are one-page essays with titles like "Pickled Cabbage," "Linzer Torte," and "Aspic." These are short stories about authors relationship to the title food, sometimes about a family history, sometimes about a very specific experience.

I realize we all have time honored family traditions surrounding this holiday, classic family recipes that are on the table every year (I get nostalgic for that mushy green bean casserole from time to time). But for those of you who are in the mood to try something a little different, I'll post a few things that may not have graced the family table in the past, including a turkey alternative; let's face it, the sight of that whole roast bird is iconic, but the taste sometimes leaves something to be desired.

These recipes are from the Bushwick Starr Fall Gala Dinner that I catered last Thursday night. I'll try to post as many as possible before the holiday. Up first:

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Cider Bourbon Gravy

This recipe is based on information from a couple sources: Cooks Illustrated magazine, and Mike from Tamarack Hollow Farm in Vermont. I got the idea for the salt/sugar rub from Cooks, but their one-to-one salt/sugar ratio was far too salty for me; it made me pucker. I reduced the salt from their recipe by half and it worked beautifully.

Tamarack Hollow is an organic farm in Vermont where they raise pastured, heritage breed pigs. Mike works there and runs their stand at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays, and he suggested a bone-in roast. The bone conducts heat and ensures a more evenly cooked roast. Neat! If you're in NYC, please consider buying from this great farm. If you call the Tuesday before, Mike will try to have a cut set aside for you. Tamarack Hollow Farm, Burlington, VT, 802-535-1515.

For the pork:

1 5-6 pound bone-in shoulder roast, often called a "Boston butt"
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
pepper

For the gravy:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup apple cider
1-2 tbsp bourbon
reserved pan drippings from pork (more directions below...)

The preparation for this roast is easy, but it's important to start a day (or more, if your roast is frozen) before you actually plan on cooking it. A long, slow process will get the best flavor here.

If your pork butt is frozen when you buy it, it is important to allow ample time for it to defrost safely. If you have more than 48 hours, place your frozen roast in the fridge to defrost. If you have closer to 24 hours, place the roast in a bowl of cold water in the sink, and run cold water over the roast. Periodically change the water in the bowl. DO NOT attempt to defrost your roast in warm water--this will encourage bacterial growth. DO NOT use boiling water--this will cook the outside of your roast, and ditto on the bacteria. Microwave defrosting is uneven and can begin to cook the meat as well. The best and safest way is a slow, cold defrost.

The morning before you plan on cooking your defrosted pork is when you want to make the brown sugar and salt rub. Take your pork butt out of the fridge and set it on your cutting board fat side up. Most, but not all, pork butts will have a fat cap on one side of the roast. If your roast does not have a thick cap of fat, skip this step. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut a cross-hatch diamond pattern (about 1 inch squares) into the fat cap, being careful not to cut through to the meat beneath.

Mix the sugar and salt together. Rub the mixture all over your roast, rubbing it into the slices you cut in the fat. Give it a nice massage, then tightly wrap your roast in plastic wrap. Place your wrapped roast in a large bowl (important: the salt will encourage the pork juices to release, and you don't want to be disinfecting your fridge on Thanksgiving morning) and place it in the fridge. Let it sit overnight.

Start the roast the next day about 7 hours before you plan on serving.

Preheat the oven to 325.

Take the roast from the fridge and brush off any excess salt and sugar. Place the roast in a v-rack, fat side up, in a medium roasting pan. A v-rack looks like this. Add a dusting of fresh cracked pepper to the roast.

Put about a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of a medium roasting pan. The water will keep your sugary drippings from burning. Keep an eye on the water level in the pan during roasting. You may need to add a bit more to keep the bottom of the pan from becoming dry.

Roast for 5-6 hours, basting with the pan juices every two hours or so. The TIME of roasting is far less important than the INTERNAL TEMPERATURE of the pork. At around 4 hours in the oven, start checking the temperature. A meat thermometer inserted near, but not touching, the bone should read around 180. 175 is ok, anything below 160 (the minimum safe temperature for pork recommended by the USDA) is not.

When the pork is done, take it out of the oven and place it on a carving board. Cover it lightly with tin foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour to redistribute the juices. While it's resting you can make the gravy.

Pour the pan juices into bowl and skim off the fat that sits on top. You will need about 1/3-1/2 a cup of pan juices.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Whisk a little longer to cook the flour a bit. Add the pan juices and whisk, then add the cider and the bourbon. I'd recommend adding half the cider and bourbon, then tasting, and then adding more if you like. You are looking for a nice balance of sweet and tangy and salty. Bring the gravy to a boil to thicken.

Cut the pork away from the bone. Serve in thick slices and chunks with a generous serving of gravy.

thanksgiving, a week early

I had to write a Thanksgiving post now, if for no other reason than to share this amazing photograph.

This was on the New York Times website, along with a very complicated recipe for turkey stuffing by the blonde bombshell herself.

After this week, I doubt if anything quite that ambitious will be on our Thanksgiving table. We have, however, ordered a heritage bird from Quattro Farms at the Greenmarket, and we're planning on making a yummy herbes de provence butter from the last of our fresh herbs in the garden. Although this bird will probably be a bit bigger than we need, I'm happier paying a bit more and eating a few more leftovers to get a bird that can literally stand on it's own two feet and reproduce without artificial insemination (this is not true of most supermarket turkeys; they are bred and overfed to produce enormous breast meat. Ew.). For a great and concise description of heritage breed turkeys, please check out this link from Wisconsin's Whistleberry Farm.


Once the Fall Gala catering job is done, I'll share some of the recipes from there, many of which would be great for the holidays. In the meantime, here are a few recipes from last year's posts, for anyone looking for a new squashy recipe: Savory sweet potato gratin, and butternut squash soup (easily a mash or light puree, just add less water).

This weekend I'll share a turkey alternative, slow-roasted pork shoulder with bourbon cider gravy, as well as a few new side dishes: wild mushroom risotto, braised kale, and a cheddar cheese and ale fondue. These dishes are not only delectable, but surprisingly easy, and components of them can be made ahead of time.

For more great recipes and information about farm-to-table cooking, check out the Slow Food Network, where Dining In is now a featured blog!

Also! Please check out the new website at dininginbrooklyn.com. This site, designed by David Townsend of Actor Webworks, is everything I was hoping it would be. So happy.

Happy eating!

simply the best lentil soup

It seems silly to say that there will be a lot of cooking going on around here this month. There is always a lot of cooking going on around here.

But there has been, and there will be, even more than usual. You see, not only are we gearing up for Thanksgiving in just a few short weeks (!), but the Bushwick Starr's Fall Gala is now less than two weeks away. For the last month, I've been testing recipes to serve at a three course family style farm-to-table dinner. And now it's crunch time!

I've been testing recipes a few times a week, and in between trials, I haven't felt like doing a lot of fancy cooking. Still, we certainly haven't been going hungry. We've been eating all of my test food, along with a handful of much simpler things: Apple pork sausages sauteed with brussels sprouts, this kale and fried egg salad, and recipes from a fantastic cookbook I just bought called Olives and Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox.

I rarely cook from recipes, but I love the way these are written. They are clear, straightforward, and most appealingly, they completely invoke the flavors of the places that they are from and the seasons in which they are traditionally made. A few weeks ago, I tried the Braised Lamb with Concord Grapes and Green Tomatoes. It was unlike anything I'd ever had before; the sweetness of the grapes was present but subtle, and complimented and blended with with acidity of the tomatoes and the mild meaty gaminess of the lamb.

Everything I've made so far from this book has been incredible, but my favorite may be a very simple and completely satisfying lentil soup. Honestly, I decided to try this recipe because I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen, and it was a nasty, rainy day outside. It seemed a little too simple to be good, and lentils have always seemed a little bland to me. But in this recipe they're not, they're deeply flavorful: earthy, slightly fruity from a drizzle of olive oil, rich from the red wine, fresh from the chopped parsley.

This lentil soup is the perfect thing to help ease this very-November weather. The warmth of its slow simmer will steam up the inside of your kitchen windows, and it's so much nicer to watch the raindrops trickle down the panes from a cozy kitchen over a bowl of delicious soup. It almost sounds like something to look forward to.

Lentil Soup from Olives and Oranges

1 1/2 cups small lentils (about 12 ounces)
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 small dried red chili pepper [Mary: I used 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes here]
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon medium-course sea salt, or more to taste

Rinse lentils and discard any stones or other debris.

Pulse onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a food processor until just minced [Mary: this can also be done by hand]. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetable mixture and crumble in chili, then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

Add wine and cook until mostly evaporated, about 6 minutes. Add water and lentils, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt.

Serve soup drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with additional salt to taste.