Smashed Root Gratin

I added a rutabaga to the mix here because I had one and only one that was big enough to harvest. Fresh celeriac from the garden, a stash of potatoes lingering from a summer harvest, and that lone rutabaga came together into an amazingly flavorful and satisfying gratin. I used Red Boat salt, which is the salt left over making Vietnamese fish sauce, but any good salt is fine to use.

About 1 pound celeriac
About 1 pound potatoes
About 1/2 pound rutabaga (swede)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
1 teaspoon salt (Red Boat)
1 pinch saffron threads
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces semi-soft cheese (Abondance), grated and split into 3 ounce and 1 ounce portions
Dry bread crumbs

Preheat the over to 350ºF.

Peel the celeriac and cut it into about 3/4-inch cubes. Place it in a bowl of cold water. Do the same for the potatoes and rutabaga and hold them in separate bowls of cold water.

Drain the celeriac and steam it until tender enough to mash, about 8 to 10 minutes, maybe more. Place the hot celeriac into a large mixing bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Repeat the process with the potatoes and rutabaga, each may take a different time to become tender enough to mash so do them separately. Add an additional tablespoon of olive oil as each steamed vegetable is added to the bowl.

While the vegetables are steaming prepare the saffron. Pulverize the threads in a small bowl and add 1/4 cup hot water. Cover and let sit.

Season the steamed vegetables with 1 teaspoon of salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste, an additional tablespoon of olive oil, and the saffron water. Use a potato masher to smash the mixture into a somewhat chunky puree, add more water if the puree seems too thick. Stir 3 ounces of cheese into the puree. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Spoon the puree into an oiled 6-cup gratin dish or baking dish and smooth the top. Scatter the remaining ounce of cheese over the top, sprinkle with a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs, and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over all.

Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until the top is brown and crisp and the gratin is bubbling around the edges. Serve immediately.

Makes about 6 to 8 servings as a side dish.

Spinach, Cheddar, and Brioche Pudding

I didn't measure most of the ingredients as I went along so the quantities are a bit vague.

1/4 loaf or so of Brioche, cut into about 1-inch cubes and toasted in a 350ºF oven
Butter as needed
1 small onion, chopped
A couple of small cloves of garlic, minced
Frozen spinach (about 12 ounces?), thawed, excess water squeezed out, and chopped
3 ounces cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 eggs
Freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Generously butter a 10 x 6 x 1 3/4-inch glass baking dish or a similar sized gratin dish.

Saute the onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of butter over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent. Season to taste with salt. Add the spinach to the pan and stir to mix. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.

Scatter half of the spinach mixture over the bottom of the baking dish. Top the spinach with the toasted cubes of brioche fitting them in fairly snugly. Scatter the remaining spinach mixture over the brioche and then scatter the cheddar evenly over the top.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, and nutmeg. Pour the mixture evenly over the contents of the baking dish being sure to moisten all the brioche. The milk mixture will not completely cover the brioche and spinach.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the top of the pudding is browned and crisp. Serve hot or warm.

Makes about 3 to 4 main course servings or 6 to 8 side servings.

Braised Baby Turnips and Carrots

Mikado baby turnips

Wow, this really exceeded my expectations. Sometimes the most simple preparations are the best, and of course it doesn't hurt to use vegetables plucked fresh from the garden. The baby turnips are very mild and almost sweet, and of course the carrots are sweet, but big surprise, the turnip tops were sweet also, I had expected them to have some bite or heat but there was just a bare hint of that. This is based on the recipe of the same name from Chez Panisse Vegetables, with just a few alterations on my part.

I used about 10 ounces of Mikado baby turnips, harvested when they were about 1 1/4-inches in diameter, give or take 1/4 inch (about a dozen turnips with their tops). Trim off the thin tap root and remove the leaves leaving about 1/2-inch of the stems attached. Reserve all but the yellowing or battered leaves, trim off the larger stems if desired. Scrub the roots lightly but don't peel them.

Use a like amount of baby carrots, I had a mix of purple, white, and orange carrots, tops removed with a bit of the stems left, lightly scrubbed. The carrots were large enough that I cut most of them in half lengthwise.

Put a few tablespoons of butter in a medium sized skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, add the turnips and carrots and a couple of tablespoons of water, toss everything together. Cover the pan and bring the contents to a boil, toss the vegetables again, place the turnip leaves on top of the vegetables, cover the skillet and let everything steam for a moment or so. Toss the vegetables again, recover the pan and let everything steam a moment, do that a few times more until the veggies are tender but not soft. Season with salt (truffle salt!) and pepper and serve. And don't trim off the green stems, the stems on the baby vegetables are tender and sweet also.

This made enough to serve the two of us.

Next time I have to try to take a photo, it was a very pretty dish.

Lemony Chard with Carrot, Cumin, and Raisins

I didn't weigh or measure anything when I prepared this dish but that shouldn't matter too much. I started with a bunch of chard that weighed in at just over 3 pounds, 1.75 pounds of which were stems and separated the leaves and stems. This dish used only the leafy green parts and only a little more than half of that. The leaves were prepped by cutting them off the stalks, stacking the leaf halves and then cutting those halves in half again both crosswise and lengthwise, stacking them again and cutting crosswise into about 2" X 1/2" ribbons. But you can chop you leaves any way you like. I spun the chopped leaves in a salad spinner to remove the excess washing water; this prevents the end dish from being too watery.

A note about meyer lemon peels - unlike "regular" lemon peels, they are sweet, even the white pith. Don't just use the thin zest in this dish, be sure to use a good amount of the white part. You could use the peel from both lemons if you like, I only used one because my husband will only tolerate just so much citrus peel in his food. (Even the rats know meyer peels are tasty, I've often found completely skinned lemons hanging in my meyer lemon tree, the rats leave the juicy parts behind.)

• Chopped chard leaves - I guess about 8 cups or so
• About 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated on the large wholes of a box grater
• 1/4 of a medium sized sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 2 small meyer lemons, remove the peel from one lemon in thick strips with a vegetable peeler and cut the strips crosswise into slivers, reserve the juice of both lemons
• About 1/4 cup golden raisins
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Make a sofrito by heating a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, at least 12 inches, over medium heat. Add the cumin seed and let them sizzle briefly. Add the carrots and onion and saute for a few minutes. Cover the skillet and turn the heat to low; cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the carrots become tender. Uncover the skillet and add the lemon peel and raisins, stir to mix and then add a few handfuls of the chard, toss (tongs work well for this) to mix the chard into the sofrito, continue to add handsful of chard, tossing to turn the raw chard to the bottom on the mix, until you can't squeeze anymore chard into the pan. Cover the skillet to help the chard wilt, tossing occasionally, until all the chard is wilted. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes about 4 servings.

You can make this with both the leafy greens and the stems. Separate the leaves and stems and prep the leafy parts as above. Cut the stems crosswise into about 1/4 to 1/3-inch slivers and add them to the sofrito. Then finish cooking the dish as above.

Zucchini in Agrodolce

My most recent experiment with this recipe is to omit dredging the zucchini slices in flour (I'm trying to reduce carbs these days, it does help me to keep my weight down) and I've found that the omission hasn't made a noticeable difference. This is one of my husband's favorite dishes and he usually notices when I tinker with it - he didn't notice the difference, so feel free to leave out the flour.

1/3 cup olive oil or as needed
1 1/2 lbs small to medium, firm zucchini,
   cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
flour
2 tbsp red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 anchovy filets, finely
   chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp golden raisins, soaked in lukewarm water 
   or marsala 20 minutes
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste


Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Dredge the zucchini slices in flour to coat lightly, tap off excess flour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. The less oil the faster the zucchini will brown. Fry the zucchini slices in the oil, making sure not to crowd the pan. Let them turn golden on one side and then turn them over to brown the other side, you may have to turn the heat down a bit if the slices are browning too quickly. Remove to paper towels to drain and continue to cook the remaining slices, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed. When all the zucchini are fried, arrange them on a platter. Turn the heat down to low and drain off all but one or two tablespoons of the remaining olive oil. If the remaining oil seems burnt drain off all the oil, wipe out the pan and add a tablespoon or two of fresh oil.

In a small bowl combine the vinegar and sugar. Fry the pine nuts, anchovies, and garlic briefly in the remaining oil in the skillet, add the vinegar and sugar and the raisins, stir the mixture for a half minute or so and then drizzle it over the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Persimmon and Pecans

5 slices thick cut bacon, cut into lardons
Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon or more
1/2 large sweet onion, cut in half (i.e., 2 quarters) and sliced very thin crosswise on a mandolin
1/2 stalk brussels sprouts, sprouts trimmed and shredded on a mandolin
1 firm ripe Fuyu persimmon, cut into 8 wedges and sliced very thin on a mandolin
About 1/2 cup or so pecan halves, lightly toasted
maple syrup, to taste, about 1 tablespoon
fish sauce, to taste, about 1 tablespoon

Saute the bacon in the olive oil over medium high heat in a large saute pan until the onion softens. Add the shredded brussels sprouts and continue to saute until the sprouts wilt and turn bright green. Turn the heat off and add the persimmon and pecans and season to taste with maple syrup and fish sauce, toss thoroughly to mix. Serve immediately.

Wilted Napa Cabbage Two Ways

Napa Cabbage with Chorizo Blanco

Olive oil
A couple sprigs fresh thyme
2 small fresh bay leaves
1/2 large sweet onion, cut in slivers
1 mild New Mex chile (Big Jim), cut in thin slices
1 dozen or so dried Mission figs, cut into quarters
Chorizo Blanco, (Catalonian sausage), cut in bite sized slices
1/2 large head of napa cabbage, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch slices
Aged fig balsamic vinegar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat some olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the herbs, onion, chile, and figs. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring, until the onion wilts. Add the Chorizo (it should be a ready to eat type) and stir to mix. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring, until the cabbage wilts or is cooked to your preference. Season to taste with the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Napa Cabbage with Chantrelles


Olive oil
A few slices pancetta, cut into bits
1/2 large sweet onion, cut into slivers
1/2 pound fresh chantrelles, sliced thin
1/2 large head of napa cabbage, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch slices
Moscato vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat some olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pancetta, onion, and chantrelles. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring until the chantrelles have softened and start releasing their juices. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring until the cabbage wilts or is cooked to your preference. Season to taste with the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately

Romanesco with Crunchy Breadcrumbs

1 head Romanesco broccoli, 12 to 16 ounces, cut into florets, stem peeled and cut in bite sized pieces
3/4 cup breadcrumbs made from stale whole grain bread
3 tablespoons butter
about 1/2 cup fresh grated parmigiano
1 tablespoon salted capers, not rinsed, finely minced
1 dried hot pepper, such as Aji Angelo, seeds removed and finely minced

Preheat the oven to 400F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it liberally.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring constantly, until the breadcrumbs are crisp. Transfer to a bowl to cool. When cool, add the parmigiano, capers, and hot pepper; toss to combine thoroughly.

While the breadcrumbs are cooling, blanch the Romanesco for 1 minute in the boiling water, drain and refresh in cold water, drain thoroughly. Place the Romanesco in a baking dish that will hold it snugly in one layer. Toss it with a small amount of olive oil. Bake until tender, but still a bit firm (or to your liking). Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and return to the oven until the breadcrumbs are heated through.

This made 2 servings for me and my hungry husband.

Zucchini Saute

--Olive oil, at least 2 tablespoons
--1/2 of a huge sweet onion (Vidalia), about 1/2 pound, cut into thin slices about 1-inch long
--a heaping tablespoon of salted capers, chopped, no need to rinse
--3 fresh new bay leaves, cut across the rib into fine shreds
--2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
--6 to 8 fresh young zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
--a handful of chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
--lemon juice (Meyer)
--salt and pepper to taste
--grated parmigiano


Heat the olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium heat. Add the onion, turn the heat to high and quickly sautee the onion, stirring constantly, until it starts to turn golden. Turn the heat down to medium and add the capers, bay leaves, and garlic. Sautee until the garlic turns translucent, stirring constantly, the pan will still be very hot so it cooks quickly. Add the zucchini to the pan and stir to combine with the onion mixture. Continue to cook, stirring every minute or so, until the zucchini is tender (about 10 minutes). Stir in the parsley, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm with a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano.

Serves at least 4.

Leftover sauteed zucchini (any recipe) is great in a frittata.

Sauteed Beet Greens

Green tops from 3 beets
3 slices bacon
3 small cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden raisins
lemon juice and pepper to taste

Remove the stems from the beet leaves and discard. Coarsely chop the greens.

Meanwhile, crisp the bacon in a medium saute pan. Set aside the bacon to cool and crumble it. Pour off all but a tablespoon or two of the bacon fat from the pan, return the pan to the heat. Add the garlic and pine nuts to the pan and saute for a minute, don't allow the garlic to brown. Add the chopped greens and the raisins to the pan and continue to saute, stirring and tossing, until the greens are cooked to your taste - about 5 minutes for me. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice and grind some fresh black pepper over all. Add the bacon and stir it all in. Taste for salt, the bacon adds enough salt for my taste. Serve warm.

This ended up making about 3 servings.

Savory Chard Stems Braised in Their Own Juices

Chop about a dozen chard stems crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices. Heat a couple of tablespoons olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Toss in 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 chopped fresh chiles (I used a couple of Argentina chiles, photo on Nov 12 post), and a handful of pine nuts. Cook for a minute or two. Add the chopped chard stems and sprinkle with a pinch of salt (helps to pull the liquid from the chard). Cook for a few minutes until the chard starts releasing its liquid. Turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Allow the chard to braise in its own juices for about ten minutes. Season with a splash of vietnamese fish sauce (my secret savory sauce - good stuff!) and a couple of splashes of vinegar (sherry), and a pinch of sugar. Cook a bit more to allow the flavors to meld.

Smashers

1 pound potatoes, such as Yukon Gold
1/2 pound sprouting broccoli, or rapini, kale, mustard greens, etc.
2 tablespoons fat of your choice (olive oil, butter, duck fat)
1 large shallot, minced, or chopped onion, scallions, garlic, leeks, etc.
1 hot chile, sliced thin, or chile pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
creme fraiche or sour cream

Wash but don't peel the potatoes. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water, add salt to taste, bring to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the potatoes until tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, steam the broccoli until tender. When I use bitter greens I usually blanch them in boiling salted water which reduces the bitterness. Shock the hot greens in ice water to stop the cooking and retain the color. Drain, pat dry or spin in a salad spinner to remove excess water. Chop and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, heat the fat of your choice in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the allium of your choice and the chile if using, saute until softened and translucent. Drain the potatoes and add them to the saute pan. Turn the heat down, gently smash the potatoes with a potato masher and then break them up a bit with a wooden spatula or spoon while stirring them gently into the allium mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the chopped greens and gently stir them in. Add a few tablespoons, or more to taste, of creme fraiche or sour cream. Stir gently until just heated through, the mixture will smooth out a bit but should still be quite chunky, don't over stir. Serve warm.


This dish makes a nice side dish or a light main course. Sometimes I chop up bacon and start with that instead of olive oil, or what ever. Sometimes I'll stir in some shredded duck confit, or left over diced meat. Smoked trout or salmon is also good. Roasted brussels sprouts are a great addition also. Basically, anything that you like to eat with potatoes is a great addition. Of course, the more fat you use the more tasty it is, but I usually try to keep it on the lighter side

Chard Stem Gratin

1/4 pound pancetta
1 pound chard stems (I'll use 1 1/2 lbs next time)
1/2 cup cream
chopped Italian parsley
fresh ground black pepper
fresh grated nutmeg
2 ounces gruyere, coarsely grated
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

Cut the pancetta into thin slices and then into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook in a medium size saute pan over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan. Reserve another tablespoon of the fat on the side.Cut the chard stems on the diagonal into about 1/2 to 1-inch pieces, a mix of sizes is nice. Saute them briefly over medium heat in the pancetta fat. I used a little salt at this point but won't next time I make it because the final dish was a little salty for my taste. Add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan, cover the pan, allow to come to a boil, turn the heat down and cook until tender. I think it took about 10 minutes. Most of the liquid should be cooked away at this point.

Put the cooked stems into a lightly oiled 6-cup gratin dish. Sprinkle the pancetta bits over the top. Add the cream to the dish. Grind fresh black pepper over all. Grate a bit of nutmeg over all. Sprinkle with the parsley, I used a few tablespoons. Sprinkle on the grated grated gruyere. Toss the dried bread crumbs with the reserved pancetta fat and sprinkle evenly over the gratin. Bake at 450 F. for about 30 minutes, until the top is crispy and nicely browned.

Squash Puree with Sage Brown Butter

1 pound roasted squash puree, about 2 cups
1/4 cup unsalted butter
whole fresh sage leaves, about 2 to 3 packed tablespoons
2 cloves garlic, smashed
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over very low heat. Add the whole sage leaves and the garlic and cook slowly until the butter solids have browned. Fish out the garlic and use it for something else. Fish out the now fried sage leaves and set aside to cool, then chop them. Add the squash puree to the skillet (careful not to splash hot butter), and stir to combine with the butter and heat through. Stir in the chopped sage and season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 very generous or 3 reasonable servings.

To roast the squash, preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds and strings. Place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for an hour or until tender. Let the squash cool cut side down on the baking sheet, it should collapse a bit as it cools. Scoop out the flesh and puree it by either running it through the finest disk of a food mill or forcing it through a fine sieve with a wooden pestle. If I know that I'm making something savory with the squash puree I like to put whole unpeeled cloves of garlic under the cavity when I bake the squash and then use the garlic in whatever I'm making.