pierogis

these are based on the roasted yam pierogi recipe in the rebar cookbook, i made some minor changes and improvised on a second filling. we ate them with pickled beets, horseradish and sour cream and they were amazing.

filling #1 (roasted yam+gouda):

2lbs yams

2 tbsp butter

3 leeks, mostly whites, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2lb smoked gouda, grated

1/2 tsp black pepper

-preheat oven to 400. scrub yams and poke with a fork. place on an oiled baking pan, add 1 cup of water to the pan and roast in the oven until very soft and puffy. cool, then peel or mash until smooth.

-while yams are roasting, saute leeks and salt in butter until lightly golden.

-combine leeks, mashed yams, grated cheese and chives. season with salt and pepper. refrigerate until ready to use. can be made ahead of time.

filling #2 (potato+swiss):

2lbs potatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2lb swiss cheese, grated

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup minced chives

-boil potatoes until soft, then mash. combine all ingredients. refrigerate until ready to use. can be made ahead of time.

dough:

4 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

4 egg yolks

1 cup boiling water

2 tbsp vegetable oil

-mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. add remaining ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms. cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 min.

-divide into quarters and roll out until about 1/8" thick or less. use a glass with a 3" diameter to cut dough into rounds. fill with a good teaspoonful of filling and press edges firmly to seal.

-boil pierogis until they begin to rise to the surface of the water, about 5 minutes. remove with a slotted spoon, drain, and toss with melted butter.

-this recipe makes lots and lots of pierogis, our freezer is filled with pierogis so i can look forward to a winter full of pierogis which makes it worth all the hand rolling and filling and folding that this recipe entails. to freeze, line uncooked pierogi on parchment paper on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. then store in an airtight container.

butternut and spinach risotto

risotto is my go-to dish for fall--when i'm having friends over and know i can finish the bottle of wine i have to open to make it. the recipe is adapted from a cookbook composed entirely of risotto recipes--which i love. i decided to do butternut and spinach cause that's what came in the CSA box this week. next time, i'll steam the squash for a few minutes ahead of time. i had to keep cooking it longer than i should have because the squash was underdone at first, making the rice a little mushier than i would have liked. but tasty, nonetheless.

heat 4 c veg broth on low

saute, in a hunk of butter and some olive oil:
onion finely diced
garlic finely diced-about 2 cloves or so

add 1 1/2 c arborio rice and saute for a couple of minutes. add 1/2 c white wine and stir till liquid cooks off. add a ladle of broth and 2 c squash cut into small cubes. continue to add broth a ladle at a time, letting the liquid cook off before adding more. continuous stirring is also required.

add a few cups of torn spinach when you have about a ladle of broth left. keep stirring, add the last of the broth.

add 1 or so cups of parmesan, salt and pepper to taste and let it rest a couple minutes before serving. serve with more parmesan.

Hell's Kitchen Spicy Black Beans

I'm finally getting back to cooking after a two-week adjustment period to being back in school. I still don't have my schedule down and have been eating a lot of Punch and PB&J. (Although let's be honest: I ate Punch 3 times a week in the summer.) But I digress.

Whenever a visitor is in town, we usually end up at Hell's Kitchen, which is generally pretty delicious but sometimes a bit too buttery/egg-y/creamy for me. (Your jam, Megan!) Anyway, I love their black beans and so borrowed the Hell's Kitchen cookbook from Steve's sister to make up a batch. My favorite food blogger, Heidi Swanson, once wrote that she typically makes a pot of beans every Sunday to eat throughout the week. Pretty sure I'm going to be doing the same thing with these black beans...so. delicious. Good job, Hell's Kitchen!

Spicy Black Beans
Note: I halved the recipe, and in so doing, went out on a limb and experimented with quantities of ingredients! (I never deter from exact measures usually, but was feeling adventurous.) Also, I replaced the butter and chicken broth (noted in recipe); as I was doing this, it reminded me of a time at the Chicago Diner when a friend asked for "real" cheese, to which the waiter replied (huffily), "Everything we serve here is real." Not so for buttery sticks and no chicken base--fake fake fake! But I'm okay with that in this case. Again with the digression.

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups)
6 cups rich chicken broth or water (I used Better Than Bouillon's "No Chicken" base.)
3/4 c. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used 1 teaspoon of "Buttery Sticks" vegan butter. I actually think the butter could be omitted entirely.)
3/4 c. minced white onion (I used a bit more)
4 tablespoons Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce (recipe below)
2 T. dark chili powder
2 T. ground cumin
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
2 t. sea salt

Soak the beans for 4 hours or overnight. Place soaked beans into a large pot and add the broth/water, making sure the beans are covered by at least two inches. Add everything except the salt. (I didn't read the recipe carefully enough and salted the hell out of 'em in the beginning. The result = SALTY beans. Too salty. Salt afterward!) Heat to a boil over medium heat (STIR so the beans don't get stuck to the bottom of the pan), and then simmer uncovered (stirring a lot) for 1 to 1.5 hours, checking frequently to see if they need additional water. Beans should be firm but chewable.

Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce
(Note: I did this to taste with the measurements--it seems flexible enough. Also, I didn't have Rose's lime juice, so just used a lemon. Totally fine.)
2 T. peanut oil
1/3 c. honey
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle peppers, with adobo sauce
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1/3 c. Rose's lime juice (any citrus/acid is probably fine)
1/4 c. coarsely chopped cilantro
3 T. coarse-ground mustard (I used straight-up Dijon)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T. black pepper
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. sea salt

Put everything into a food processor or blender and combine. (I actually shook everything together in a jar, but that only worked because I'd processed the chipotle peppers a few days before.)

Put sauce in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.

Potato leek soup

When I got my first apartment in college (and hence my first kitchen) I was totally lost, subsisting largely on cereal, rice and chili from a box. After listening to me gripe enough about my severe lack of good, home-cooked food, my grandma nudged me in the direction of my first potato soup ("Really, honey, it's very easy"). I'll never forget how lovingly she walked me step-by-step through what must have seemed so elementary to her (chicken broth, oil, onions, potatoes).



Fast forward 10 (?!) years and potato soup is still a regular fixture in my fall/winter kitchen. And since it's finally been feeling consistently fall-like I decided to give in and make my first pot of potato leek soup this season. Based loosely on Mark Bittman's and Irene Oster's (that's my grandma) recipes.

Some leeks (2-4), cleaned and thinly chopped
Some potatoes (4-6), diced, skins on when possible
Some salt and pepper
Some butter
Some stock
Some cream, if you want
Some garlic, if you want

In a frying pan, brown the leeks and garlic until they're good and flavorful. If you're feeling ambitious, brown the potatoes a bit too. Deglaze the pan and put everything into a soup kettle. Add enough stock to just cover the leeks and potatoes. Salt and pepper as much as you like and boil until the potatoes are tender. I like the soup better blended, and an immersion blender (about $10 on Craigslist) does the trick nicely. Stir in a bit of cream just before serving if you like a richer soup.

Ok, this is the most important part: MAKE EXTRA. The flavors in this soup improve markedly as it sits in your fridge and waits for the inevitable leftover night.

Kale Souffle

I have a lot of kale in the garden right now and am embarking on some new kale recipes. I just learned that kale has lots of calcium, and vitamins A, B, and C. Also it is highest in protein of all the cultivated vegetables. Who knew?! This recipe comes from "From Asparagus to Zucchini" - a cookbook/guide to cooking seasonal produce put out by a bunch of CSAs from the Madison area. I find that the cookbook is a good resource, but the recipes tend to be decidedly Midwestern: lots of pasta, potatoes, and eggs to go with the produce item of choice.

Somehow while paging through I settled on this Kale Souffle. I say somehow because I neglected to read the full recipe before I started...midway through, while realizing my eggs were not at room temp, I started remembering episodes of Julia Child and warnings of fallen souffles. I also found myself whisking egg whites by hand - thank goodness my pal Steve came over kind of last minute or I would still be whisking.

Softened butter to grease baking dish
2T freshly grated Parmesan
4T butter
4T flour
1 2/3c milk, warmed
salt and pepper
pinch cayenne
5 egg yolks
1c cooked and finely chopped kale, at room temp
1c grated gruyere
2T chopped fresh dill (or 2t dried dill)
7 egg whites, at room temp

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-cup souffle dish or deep, round baking dish; sprinke buttered areas with parmesan.
2. Melt butter in saucepan; stir in flour and cook over low heat several minutes, stirring often. Whisk in milk until thickened; season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cool 10-15 minutes. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. Stir in kale, gruyere, and dill.
3. Beat egg whites and pinch of salt in a clean bowl until firm peaks form. Fold a quarter of the whipped egg whites into kale mixture, then gently fold in the rest (don't overmix). Gently spread mixture into prepared pan. Place in oven, reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake until high, golden, and barely set in the center, 35-40 minutes. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

chocolate cake.

i made this cake for mary's birthday. i'm not usually a huge chocolate cake person but i love this cake. it's from "the sweeter side of amy's bread" which is very serious about baking and weighing all the ingredients and making sure everything is precise. but i don't weigh anything and so far it's all turned out alright.

CAKE:

7/8 cup unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 c.+1 tbsp. sour cream

5 tbsp. cocoa powder

2 3/8 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. boiling water

2 c. flour

5/8 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup butter

1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar

-preheat oven to 350.

-butter and flour 2 9" cake pans

-melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool

-whisk together sour cream, cocoa, and baking soda until it is a smooth paste. very gradually add the boiling water until it is fully incorporated.

-in a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.

-in yet another bowl, whisk together the eggs and the vanilla.

-using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add melted chocolate and mix well.

-add eggs

-add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the liquid mixture and mix well.

-divide batter equally into two pans

-cook for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

FROSTING:

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 3/8 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

-melt chocolate chips in double boiler and set aside to cool

-mix together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

-cream butter until it's very light but not too soft.

-add sugar/cocoa powder mixture and mix well.

-add melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt and mix until incorporated.

-then stack the cakes up and slather on as much frosting as you can. keep at room temperature so the frosting doesn't get hard.

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Last weekend I was feeling a tad daunted by the prospect of spending 6 hours at a TYSN retreat, so decided to have a leisurely morning of food and coffee to feel a bit more balanced and inspired. I made corn pancakes from a Smitten Kitchen recipe (that blog is getting some good play here lately!), buttery cooked apples (sliced apples cooked slowly with a bit of brown sugar in the cast iron skillet so they carmelized), and coffee. Yum. I tried these with a combo of corn flour and rice flour to make them wheat free - thumbs up!

Salsa! Canned Tomatoes!

This weekend I finally canned some things...thanks to KP and 25lbs of tomatoes. Both of us are fairly novice at the canning business, but KP has some family history. Which sort of says something - having seen it done and maybe not being so worried about botulism (like others of us were). Except grandma's technique to not boil the jars a second time seemed a little too risky, even to KP. Canning is scientific, and though we debated following the salsa recipe allotment of 2 cups (!) lemon juice or just putting lemon in each jar, we ultimately followed the recipe. The lemon juice functions as the additional acid needed to prevent botulism, and apparently tomatoes hover below the right amount of acidity - especially with onions and peppers. Interestingly, you need to use bottled lemon juice - I am still not clear why. I think in the future I might try to find citric acid though (way more concentrated), because 2 c. of lemon juice adds a lot of liquid.

There are lots of salsa and tomato canning recipes online. KP found this salsa recipe that is a good amount of kick. The orange and red heirlooms also made for stunning jars.

Canning was definitely an all day project- especially with the pots we had which held only 4 jars at a time. Phase two for canning includes getting another pot...maybe the actual canning kind?! FYI: 25lbs of tomatoes = 9 pints of salsa and 7 quarts of tomatoes, approximately.

more fun with eggplant!

What's that? The last eggplant dish I posted sucked, and you're still swimming in eggplant?
Try this- it's really tasty.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/01/rigatoni-with-eggplant-puree/

Ratatouille

We received an abundance of eggplant in last week's CSA, so I decided to try ratatouille. Despite the recent cold weather, I've been trying to drag out the summer menus as long as possible (because, let's face it, who still gets excited for squash in February?). This combo of summer veggies + roasted veggies seemed to be a great compromise in the summer-to-fall slide.
I used the recipe from this month's co-op advantage flyer (linked in the title), but the red wine overwhelmed and the veggies got a bit, err, smooshy.
If anyone has a better ratatouille recipe, please post. I think next time I'd try this one from the Smitten Kitchen:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/rat-a-too-ee-for-you-ee/

Tortilla soup

I am feeling un-inspired on the cooking front (who knew I would be ready for fall weather by now?!) so I went back to the ReBar cookbook. I am not quite yet ready for creamy food or I would try the delicious looking corn chowder. I'm a firm believer in cream soups...I just am waiting not so patiently for fall when I will use cream, cheese, and any other rich creamy substance in great abundance. This one is a little lighter - and I wish I had seen Gaybie's note to boil the corn cobs in the broth BEFORE I composted them. Alas. My sister and I tag-teamed this soup with some corn bread muffins that we put a bunch of basil in. Which was great, btw.

As I type this the wind blowing in from the windows is getting cooler and cooler. We must be on the brink of fall! Which means pies, greens, and squash. And it means I need to harvest and freeze before it's too late!

Serves 8 (or 4 if you have a good appetite!)
8 cups vegetable stock
2 T vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, finely diced
1 T salt
10 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. minced oregano
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
3 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 large red peppers, seeded and finely diced
1/2 t. liquid smoke (I omitted this)
2 tsp chipotle puree (chipotle peppers in adobe sauce blended up)
4 corn tortillas
2 avocados, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, stemmed
asiago cheese, shaved with a potato peeler
1 lime, cut into wedges (i forgot this part!)

1. Heat the stock and keep it warm on the back burner while preparing the soup. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and 1 t. salt and saute until translucent. Stir in garlic, oregano, half the jalapenos, and another t. salt: saute 5 minutes.
2. Pour the hot stock into the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer 20 minutes. In the final 5 minutes, stir in the corn, peppers, liquid smoke, chipotle, and remaining jalapenos and salt. Simmer until corn is tender. Meanwhile prepare garnishes.
3. To prepare tortilla strips: slice each tortilla into long strips 1/4" thick. Toss with a light coating of oil and pinch of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and let cool until ready to serve.
4. To serve, ladle broth into bowls and divide the avocado, cilantro leaves, tortilla strips, and asiago shavings among the servings. Serve immediately with a bowl of lime wedges on the side.

Veggie enchiladas

My friend Linda made these enchiladas for a dinner party a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them! Based on a Moosewood recipe, the enchiladas are filled with eggplant, cheese, peppers...and almonds, which make for a delicious crunch. Linda is a really good cook, and I worried that these might be hard to replicate, but hip hip, they turned out well. Alas, I forgot to take a photo.

Anyway, here's Linda's version:

"1 eggplant (I used more because I LOVE eggplant)
Onion- as much as you like
Green pepper- or red pepper. Or none at all if people don’t like them
Saute these 3 veggies in oil until cooked. If you want the green peppers to stay a little crunchy put them in later. (I did this 'cause I like crunchier peppers.)

Add to the veggies:
Small can of diced green chilies – mild or hot depending on your taste buds or perhaps one can of each. (Linda's preference.)
Chopped almonds or some nut to add a nice crunch.
Canned beans – I prefer black beans and sometimes I use the cans with spices and sometimes without. If they don’t have spices I usually rinse the beans.
Once the veggie mixture is cooked, I portion them out on a cookie sheet so I know how many enchiladas I’ll have. Otherwise I end up without enough tortillas or not enough veggies, etc. for small tortillas an ice cream scoop is about the right size. You’ll have to experiment. You need to add cheese and roll up the tortilla.

Monterey Jack cheese - grated
Fresh cilantro
Corn tortillas
Canned enchilada sauce. I use two cans of enchilada sauce, one hot and one mild. For a large batch you may need 3 cans. If you only use mild you should be sure to spice the veggie mixture or the sauce.

Heat the enchilada sauce in a frying pan large enough to dunk the tortillas in. (if you think you will be short enough sauce add small amounts of water.)
Dip the tortilla in the enchilada sauce, in order to cover them in sauce and to make rolling
them easier. Be careful not to leave the tortillas in the warm sauce to long or they break apart.
Remove the tortilla from the frying pan, place in your baking pan, sprinkle grated cheese onto the tortilla, then add fresh cilantro, then a spoonful of the veggies and roll up the tortilla. Place the seam of the enchilada on the bottom of the pan. If the seam is at the top they will break open during their final baking.

When the pan is full sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the pan and dribble any remaining sauce. You want to try and have some sauce left for this step. Bake covered with tin foil until thoroughly heated through. Take the tinfoil off the pan for the last 5 -10 minutes to crisp them up a little. They will dry out terribly if you don’t first leave the tin foil on the pan.

Before baking everything is basically cooked so they can be stored or frozen at this time. If you have more veggie mix than tortillas you can also freeze just the veggie mix.
Have fun making your own additions."

Thank you, Linda!