Friday, January 14, 2011

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash soup improves with standing time. Even an hour or two improves its flavor. I made my soup with oven roasted squash a few shitakes and seasoned it with fried sage leaves and cardamom. a sprinkling of grated pecorino romano and cayenne added the final notes.  I served the soup with baked radicchio from a recipe found at the Mariquita Farms recipe page. The only photo of the soup was shot after I started eating it. It looked so good I couldn't wait. Sorry.





Butternut Squash Soup


2 small butternut squash
2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
5 shitake mushrooms finely diced
1/2 t cardamom removed from seed case and ground with mortar and pestle
8 sage leaves
1T butter
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
salt and cayenne
1/4 c grated pecorino romano

Slice squash in half lengthwise, clean out seeds, place face down on a baking sheet. Cook at 375 for 35 minutes or until tender.
Heat oil in soup pot over med heat, saute oinion, shallot and mushrooms until tender but not brown. Scoop squash flesh from skin and add to pot along with broth, cardamom and season with salt and cayenne to taste. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
During this time fry sage leaves in butter in separate pan until crisp. Crumble into cooking soup.
Blend with immersion blender.
Ladle into bowls and top with pecorino and a dusting of cayenne.
Serves 4


Baked Radicchio adapted from Lidia's Italy Lidia Bastianich
submitted by Shari C.
The best variety for baking is the long thin radicchio trevisano or spadone, but the small round heads most often found in the supermarket or the kind with long but wide leaves (resembling purple romaine lettuce) are also delicious baked this way. Serve as an antipasto or a vegetable course, over soft or baked polenta.
* 1½ pounds round or long radicchio, 2 or 3 firm heads
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 medium-large onion, peeled and sliced in ¼-inch-thick half-moons (2 cups)
* 3 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
* 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste
* 1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions
Trim the radicchio heads, discarding wilted or bruised outer leaves and slicing off the very bottom if tough and discolored (don’t remove the core). Slice the heads in quarters or sixths, into wedges about 3 inches wide. Cut through the core, so the leaves are held together. Arrange a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 375°F.
Put the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the skillet, and set over moderate heat. When the butter is melted and foaming, stir in the onion and garlic and cook for a minute, then lay in all the radicchio wedges in one layer. Sprinkle on the salt, cover the pan, and cook slowly, turning the wedges over and stirring the onion every couple of minutes.
After 10 minutes or so, when the radicchio is softened slightly but still firmly holding its shape, stir the vinegar with ½ cup water and pour into the pan. Raise the heat a bit and bring the liquid to the boil, turning the wedges and stirring. Cook for a couple more minutes, until the pan juices are reduced and syrupy and the wedges are lightly caramelized.
Remove the skillet from the heat, and arrange the radicchio wedges in the baking dish in one layer. Spoon the onion all around, and pour the skillet liquid over. Drizzle on the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with freshly ground black pepper, and sprinkle the grated cheese in an even layer, covering the radicchio.
Tent the dish with aluminum foil, pressing it against the sides. Bake covered for about 20 minutes, remove the foil, and bake another 5 minutes or more, until the radicchio wedges are tender and moist and glazed golden on top.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Why can't these be health food?

Cocoa  Sables
Cocoa sables. How can I explain what goes on in my mouth when I eat one? Explosion of taste is not a enough of an explanation.  Buttery, chocolaty, sandy (sable means sand in French) crumbly, not too sweet.  I hope your imagination will impel you to bake up some of these cookies. The recipe I used is from Around my French Table, but there are many recipes to be found online.  My google search turned up 262,000 results. These cookies are simple to make, but require a three hour resting period. I'm enjoying mine in place of lunch with a cup of home brewed Blue Bottle espresso. As a consolation for eating cookies for lunch I can still feel productive because have Daniel Rose's chicken broth bubbling away on my stove, in preparation for a butternut squash soup. I will serve the soup alongside Elizabeth's beans with salsa verde.  I received a lovely head of radicchio in my mystery box last week. Below is the recipe I will be using.  I hope all these veggies make up for the cookies I ate for lunch.



Baked Radicchio adapted from Lidia's Italy Lidia Bastianich
submitted by Shari C.
The best variety for baking is the long thin radicchio trevisano or spadone, but the small round heads most often found in the supermarket or the kind with long but wide leaves (resembling purple romaine lettuce) are also delicious baked this way. Serve as an antipasto or a vegetable course, over soft or baked polenta.
* 1½ pounds round or long radicchio, 2 or 3 firm heads
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 medium-large onion, peeled and sliced in ¼-inch-thick half-moons (2 cups)
* 3 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
* 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste
* 1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions
Trim the radicchio heads, discarding wilted or bruised outer leaves and slicing off the very bottom if tough and discolored (don’t remove the core). Slice the heads in quarters or sixths, into wedges about 3 inches wide. Cut through the core, so the leaves are held together. Arrange a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 375°F.
Put the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the skillet, and set over moderate heat. When the butter is melted and foaming, stir in the onion and garlic and cook for a minute, then lay in all the radicchio wedges in one layer. Sprinkle on the salt, cover the pan, and cook slowly, turning the wedges over and stirring the onion every couple of minutes.
After 10 minutes or so, when the radicchio is softened slightly but still firmly holding its shape, stir the vinegar with ½ cup water and pour into the pan. Raise the heat a bit and bring the liquid to the boil, turning the wedges and stirring. Cook for a couple more minutes, until the pan juices are reduced and syrupy and the wedges are lightly caramelized.
Remove the skillet from the heat, and arrange the radicchio wedges in the baking dish in one layer. Spoon the onion all around, and pour the skillet liquid over. Drizzle on the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with freshly ground black pepper, and sprinkle the grated cheese in an even layer, covering the radicchio.
Tent the dish with aluminum foil, pressing it against the sides. Bake covered for about 20 minutes, remove the foil, and bake another 5 minutes or more, until the radicchio wedges are tender and moist and glazed golden on top.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Cauliflower Leaves.....who knew

Tonight, for the first time I prepared and ate sauteed cauliflower leaves with pancetta and garlic. I received two lovely heads of green cauliflower in my CSA box. I turned the cauliflower into Dorrie's cauliflower gratin and I just couldn't bear to toss the huge, undamaged leaves that had nestled the heads of cauliflower. I  sliced them with stems included and sauteed with garlic and pancetta, adding a bit of chicken broth to tenderize.  The leaves were tasty, even though the central ribs were a bit fibrous. I will definitely serve these again.  I presented them alongside the gratin and Dorrie's Socca to which I added sage instead of rosemary.  Next time I prepare the socca (which was a hit when I prepared it last night with rosemary) I will add green onion tops or garlic chives.A simple mix of grabanzo bean flour, olive oil and water turn into a flavorful, crispy treat.
Socca & Greens

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

Having friends invite me over along with a request for a prepared dish is a blessing for me.  Since my favorite way to show love and/or affection is to feed people, and feed then well my creativity is awakened. This afternoon I am attending a game day.  That is NOT a day to watch a game being played by notable teams, viewed on television.  This game day is one where all the attendees are participants.  We have a variety of games to choose from and after working up an appetite in active play we will all eat the salads, casseroles, meats and desserts that we prepared  for  the event. I had a GIGANTIC spaghetti squash from my winter CSA  that had been staring at me for a while. This squash was way too big for my husband and I to consume on our own. In the back of my mind I knew I'd read about a spaghetti squash gratin. After searching around a bit online I found the recipe can be found on one of my favorite blogs chocolateandzucchini. Please use that link to get the full recipe. Clotilde prepares the spaghetti squash in a tasty way that could not be easier. I used pecans instead of walnuts, smoked gouda replaced the mozzerella which I grated, put in between the two layers of cooked squash, as well as on top, and I topped the gratin with sage leaves fried in butter (my new favorite taste sensation, discovered while cooking for a sick friend). I'm off to the game day now. I'm sure this gratin will get rave reviews from the hungry players.