I scored some local spinach at the coop yesterday--yum! I combined it with some of the potatoes I picked up at Winter Fare in this delicious dish. I always serve this as a main dish, but it could work as a side dish, too.
4 medium potatoes, cubed
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp ground cumin
1- 1 ½ Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala (optional)
½ tsp turmeric
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ - ½ tsp cayenne pepper
8 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 lb spinach, washed and stemmed
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water they are almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.
Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet or a soup pot. Add the cumin, coriander, garam masala (if using), turmeric, black pepper, salt, and cayenne and stir, then quickly add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Sauté until the garlic and onions are tender, about 4-5 minutes.
Add the chickpeas to the pan. Mix together well, until chickpeas are thoroughly coated. Add the spinach and continue sautéing until the spinach wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and stir to coat. Be careful not to turn them into mush. Drizzle the lemon juice over the mixture and stir.
Serve hot.
Serves 4-5.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Get to Clarkdale While You Can
The Clarkdale farm stand will be closing for the season as of March 1. Get over there while you can to grab the last of the apples and cider. They are open Fri-Sun.
Slow Cooker Southwestern Beans
This is a staple in our house for nights when I won't have time to cook. I am still feeling very pleased with myself for freezing so many red peppers last fall--the supply is going strong and I am enjoying one of my favorite vegetables right through the winter. I usually serve these beans over rice, but you could also do them more like a soup. I've listed the vegetables I like to add, but it's entirely flexible: you can use more, less others, or none at all.
3 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
2 bell peppers (any color), diced
Tomatoes, chopped (optional: as many or few as you like; frozen or canned both fine)
1 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine)
3/4 cup salsa
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded cheddar for topping
Hot sauce for topping (optional)
Combine all ingredients except water and salt and pepper in the slow cooker. Add water until the beans are fully but not generously covered. Add more water if you want the end result to be more like a soup or you won't be able to check on the beans while they cook.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Add salt and pepper before serving. Top with shredded cheddar and hot sauce at the table.
Serves 6-8.
3 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
2 bell peppers (any color), diced
Tomatoes, chopped (optional: as many or few as you like; frozen or canned both fine)
1 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine)
3/4 cup salsa
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded cheddar for topping
Hot sauce for topping (optional)
Combine all ingredients except water and salt and pepper in the slow cooker. Add water until the beans are fully but not generously covered. Add more water if you want the end result to be more like a soup or you won't be able to check on the beans while they cook.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Add salt and pepper before serving. Top with shredded cheddar and hot sauce at the table.
Serves 6-8.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Pizza with Kale, Rosemary, and Feta
I had some kale remaining from what I bought at Winter Fare. Here I combined it with a few other reliable winter ingredients (onions, garlic, and cheese), plus some rosemary from my potted plant. Dried rosemary isn't generally worth the bother, I think, and fresh stuff from the store can be so expensive (not to mention not in season locally right now!). But potted rosemary is easy to care for and gives you a great supply year round.
Olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped kale
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14-inch pizza crust
3/4 cup tomato sauce of your choice
2-3 oz. crumbled feta
2-4 oz. shredded mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and rosemary and continue to saute until the kale is nicely wilted. Remove from heat.
Paint the pizza crust with a little olive oil, then spread with the tomato sauce. Top with the kale mixture. Sprinkle feta over this, then top with the mozzarella.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Serves 3-4.
Olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped kale
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14-inch pizza crust
3/4 cup tomato sauce of your choice
2-3 oz. crumbled feta
2-4 oz. shredded mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and rosemary and continue to saute until the kale is nicely wilted. Remove from heat.
Paint the pizza crust with a little olive oil, then spread with the tomato sauce. Top with the kale mixture. Sprinkle feta over this, then top with the mozzarella.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Serves 3-4.
Friday, February 13, 2009
No-Knead Bread
This recipe is adapted from Jim Lahey via Mark Bittman at the New York Times, with a few minor changes of my own. Some folks may have seen it floating around the Internet already. With some local wheat on hand to go into it, I thought I'd share. I make this pretty regularly through the winter, when I can't get bread from El Jardin bakery at the farmers market. If you're looking for something to put your caramelized onions and goat cheese on, this is great. You can play with the ratio of flours--the amounts listed below are what I like, but it's pretty flexible.
The wheat I bought from Crabapple Farm was not ground, but I have a flour mill. I have found that freshly ground grains add wonderful flavor to breads and other baked goods.
To bake this bread, you will need a good sized covered casserole pot, preferably ceramic or cast iron (I use a cast iron dutch oven). Glass is okay but not as good. Be sure the pot and lid are oven proof at high temperatures.
Overnight version
3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour OR 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup millet flour (my favorite)
1/4 tsp yeast
2-3 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. The dough will be very wet. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 15-18 hours (this is flexible: can be less, especially if the room is warm, or can be as much as 24 hours if you forget about it accidentally).
Liberally flour a work surface. Scrape the dough out of the bowl. Using well-floured hands and maybe a dough scraper, form the dough into a ball. You will need to keep sprinkling it with flour as you do this, until it is not sticky to the touch.
Sprinkle cornmeal onto a dish towel (not a fuzzy one!). Place the dough on the cornmeal and sprinkle more cornmeal over it. Cover with another towel and let rise for 2 hours.
After 1 1/2 hours or so, put your pot and lid in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. When the oven is hot and the bread is done rising, take the pot out of the oven and put the dough into it. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Cook on rack.
Quicker version
This is not quite as good as the overnight version, but it's close. What I like about the overnight version is that it develops a faint sourdough flavor from sitting out so long rising.
Use 1 Tbsp yeast intead of 1/4 tsp. After combining all ingredients in the bowl, cover and let rise for about 4 hours. Follow the same procedure as above with the flour and cornmeal for the second rising, but rise only one more hour. Follow procedure above for preheating and baking.
The wheat I bought from Crabapple Farm was not ground, but I have a flour mill. I have found that freshly ground grains add wonderful flavor to breads and other baked goods.
To bake this bread, you will need a good sized covered casserole pot, preferably ceramic or cast iron (I use a cast iron dutch oven). Glass is okay but not as good. Be sure the pot and lid are oven proof at high temperatures.
Overnight version
3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour OR 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup millet flour (my favorite)
1/4 tsp yeast
2-3 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. The dough will be very wet. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 15-18 hours (this is flexible: can be less, especially if the room is warm, or can be as much as 24 hours if you forget about it accidentally).
Liberally flour a work surface. Scrape the dough out of the bowl. Using well-floured hands and maybe a dough scraper, form the dough into a ball. You will need to keep sprinkling it with flour as you do this, until it is not sticky to the touch.
Sprinkle cornmeal onto a dish towel (not a fuzzy one!). Place the dough on the cornmeal and sprinkle more cornmeal over it. Cover with another towel and let rise for 2 hours.
After 1 1/2 hours or so, put your pot and lid in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. When the oven is hot and the bread is done rising, take the pot out of the oven and put the dough into it. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Cook on rack.
Quicker version
This is not quite as good as the overnight version, but it's close. What I like about the overnight version is that it develops a faint sourdough flavor from sitting out so long rising.
Use 1 Tbsp yeast intead of 1/4 tsp. After combining all ingredients in the bowl, cover and let rise for about 4 hours. Follow the same procedure as above with the flour and cornmeal for the second rising, but rise only one more hour. Follow procedure above for preheating and baking.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Caramelized Onions
The main piece on the food page in today's Recorder was about caramelized onions--yum! Onions are one food that is available from local growers pretty much year-round here in the Pioneer Valley. When you caramelize them, you can make them into a star of the culinary show rather than just a background flavor or filler.
The food page piece was about making them in a big batch, but you can just as easily (more easily! and faster!) do small amounts at a time. Just slice up an onion (or a few) and saute in a little olive oil over very low heat until they become very soft and dark brown. Be sure to stir periodically to keep them from sticking and burning.
What next? Oh, the possibilities! One of my favorites is to combine with goat cheese (which we also have several excellent local sources of!). You can just put these together on crackers or bread, or they make an excellent pizza topping. Caramelized onions also go well with potatoes (roasted, perhaps) or broiled or grilled meat. Try adding them to homemade tomato sauce, or combine with sauteed greens.
Another option I like is to add a little balsamic vinegar to the pan as I cook the onions, adding another dimension of flavor. This combination goes especially well with greens.
The food page piece was about making them in a big batch, but you can just as easily (more easily! and faster!) do small amounts at a time. Just slice up an onion (or a few) and saute in a little olive oil over very low heat until they become very soft and dark brown. Be sure to stir periodically to keep them from sticking and burning.
What next? Oh, the possibilities! One of my favorites is to combine with goat cheese (which we also have several excellent local sources of!). You can just put these together on crackers or bread, or they make an excellent pizza topping. Caramelized onions also go well with potatoes (roasted, perhaps) or broiled or grilled meat. Try adding them to homemade tomato sauce, or combine with sauteed greens.
Another option I like is to add a little balsamic vinegar to the pan as I cook the onions, adding another dimension of flavor. This combination goes especially well with greens.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Pasta with Arugula and Bacon
Among the items I picked up at Winter Fare this weekend was a well-filled bag of arugula from Simple Gifts Farm. I used the whole thing in this pasta dish last night, which was delicious. Arugula is frequently paired with pancetta in Italian cuisine, but bacon makes a reasonable substitute--especially when it is the exceptionally good bacon produced by Bostrom's Farm.
1/2 bacon (strips)
1 lb dry cut pasta (such as gemelli)
2 medium onions, sliced lengthwise
7-8 clove garlic, minced
4-6 ounces arugula
Olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
Heat a pot of water for the pasta. You can prepare the rest of the dish while the water heats and the pasta cooks. When the pasta is done, drain and return it to the pot or a large serving bowl.
Fry the bacon in a large skillet (it can be chewy or crisp, your choice). Drain it on paper towels and pour most of the fat out of the pan. Leave about 2 tsp to saute the onion and garlic.
Saute the onion and garlic until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until wilted, just a few minutes. Remove from heat and toss with the pasta. Stir in the Parmesan and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4-6.
1/2 bacon (strips)
1 lb dry cut pasta (such as gemelli)
2 medium onions, sliced lengthwise
7-8 clove garlic, minced
4-6 ounces arugula
Olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
Heat a pot of water for the pasta. You can prepare the rest of the dish while the water heats and the pasta cooks. When the pasta is done, drain and return it to the pot or a large serving bowl.
Fry the bacon in a large skillet (it can be chewy or crisp, your choice). Drain it on paper towels and pour most of the fat out of the pan. Leave about 2 tsp to saute the onion and garlic.
Saute the onion and garlic until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until wilted, just a few minutes. Remove from heat and toss with the pasta. Stir in the Parmesan and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4-6.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
