Christmas Salad

OK, I only call it that because it's Green, Red, and White and had candy on it. It looked so perfect on our table tonight with our Mushroom Bourguignon, and it tasted even better. Now, I should probably put it out there at the beginning that the basis of this recipe is celery. Yup, celery. It was a winner, though, because not only was it delicious, but  I already had toasted hazelnuts on hand and so it came together in a snap. You could, of course, use any kind of nuts and it would still be delicious. I'm think walnuts or pecans would be amazing. If you're going to toast the nuts, start them first, and by the time they're finished, you're done with everything else.

Celery, Blue Cheese, and Cranberry Salad
adapted from Simply Recipes


INGREDIENTS
6 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed, and coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp maple Syrup
Pinch of cayenne
Salt
1 1/2 bunches of celery (more or less, depending on the size of it)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper

If you need to roast your hazelnuts, there are 30-second instructions here. If using other nuts, or not roasting, proceed.

Slice the celery stalks on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick slices and lay them on a large serving platter. Sprinkle cranberries over the top, then crumbled blue cheese.

Melt butter in a small skillet. Add a pinch of cayenne and salt. Add the roasted hazelnuts to the pan and toast them on medium low heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously. When the hazelnuts are hot, turn off the heat and add maple syrup to the pan. Stir to coat the hazelnuts in the maple syrup. Let glazed nuts sit in the pan to cool, stirring every couple minutes to keep them loose as they cool.

In a small jar, mix together the olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Shake to combine.

Toss nuts over the salad, and drizzle on dressing just before serving.

Green Tomato Salsa

The weather here is turning, and while the days are wonderful, often flirting with temperatures in the 70s, the nights are often in the low 40s. This, of course, means that our tomatoes are no longer enjoying the luxury of long, warm days for ripening. It is, therefore, time to find a solution for all those green tomatoes that are left on our plants (and the plants of our school garden, which no one seems to want besides us.) We harvested the other day and got close to 2 bushels of green tomatoes.

Yup.

So, I set about to find a way to use them up, and while tomatillos and tomatoes are not related, a green tomato is a grand substitute for a tomatillo in time of abundance, as evidenced by my out of this world green chile salsa.

People, this is like CHILE VERDE IN A JAR. In fact, I'm pretty sure we could brown a pork roast, dump in a quart of this salsa, add some water, and have chile verde, end of story. I highly encourage you to put some of this away for the winter. It's also good with chips. :)

I made a quintuple batch (yes you read that right) that yielded about 16 pints, but here are the measurements for a single batch of spicy green goodness. Oh baby, yeah.

Green Tomato Green Chile Salsa

makes about 3 pints

5 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles, seeded (I used Anaheim and Tiburon)

1/2 cup chopped jalapeños, seeded (or not, at your own risk . . .)

3 cups chopped onions

1/2 cup bottled lemon juice

1/4 cup bottled lime juice

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp crushed cumin seeds or ground cumin

1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large pot (I used our canning pot for my giant batch!) and bring to a boil. Stir often, until all ingredients are softened. I pulled out my handy dandy stick blender (you know, the vvt-vvt,) and then slowly made my way through the 2 gallons of assorted greenness unless it was fairly smooth and well blended. You could also purée it in batches in a food processor, but that would take forever for my giant batch. After blending, boil for another 10-15 minutes, then fill your clean jars and process them. 15 minutes in boiling water should do it. I'm pretty sure if I made only a single batch, it wouldn't last through the weekend. A giant batch was a very good idea.

Now, if you have tomatillos, sub them in for the green tomatoes. I just happened to have an over-abundance of green tomatoes, so that's the route I went. We'll be making another giant batch tonight, I believe.

**NOTE: I just finished a second giant batch, and this one turned out a bit tarter than the previous. I think I used a little too much acid, so perhaps a little less lemon or vinegar for this batch? There's plenty to keep it safe, at least according to my research, so I think you can go down as low as 3/4 cup total, according to your own taste. I probably would. Of course, follow good health preserving guidelines for your altitude and comfort zone. You're responsible for staying botulism free in your own home. :)

Spaetzle

Spaetzle is/are awesome.

Speatzle is, essentially, egg noodles that carefully toe that line between pasta and dumpling, and they are, without a doubt, the easiest pasta I've ever made at home. The trick, of course, is shaping them, and while there are super cheap, extra reliable spaetzle makers, there are also many ways of improvising at home, including pushing the noodles through a large-holed colander, and using this crazy knife technique so common in Austria. I opted to turn my large-holed, flat cheese grater into a makeshift dumpling plopper, and it sure worked like a dream! I just plopped my dough over the top and rubbed rubber spatula back and forth across the large holes to push the batter through. I'll probably get a maker soon enough (probably in preparation for winter) but for now, my grater will work.

Spaetzle

2 cups flour

4 eggs

1/3 cup water, milk or whey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Go ahead and make it smooth. You want it to drip off the spoon in globs—not runny, but not kneadable. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or a couple days, if you're a make ahead-er.

When you're ready to eat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice water bath. Then, cook them. The idea is let little blobs of the dough fall directly into the boiling water. This video shows the idea better than any other I found, and he does not use a special tool, just a steamer insert and a big pan. I tell you, my big hole cheese grater worked like a dream. If you have a colander with large holes, that will also work well.

I did this batch 1/2 at a time and it filled the pan about right. After you've finished rubbing the batter into the water, give it a stir and wait about 30 seconds, then scoop the noodles out with a slotted spoon or strainer, and put them in the ice water to stop cooking. Proceed with the remaining batter, following the same steps, then drain them and use them for your favorite noodle dish. We dumped ours into chicken noodle soup. It was easily 3 times the noodles we needed, but it was amazing.

Notes:

• I used whey leftover from draining homemade yogurt. It worked and I didn't waste the whey.
• You probably don't have to let the dough rest, but, in my experience, batters, doughs, pastas, and breads always work better with a little time in which the gluten relaxes. Even the time it takes to make the rest of your dinner would probably be enough time for it. Just make the batter, let it rest in the refrigerator while you make a salad, chop some herbs, prepare a sauce, set the table, etc., then throw in those dumplings and you're ready to eat!

Pumpkin Pasta, two ways

I love pumpkin.

Now you know, and I feel oh, so liberated. I especially love it savoury-style, and this week I experimented with putting into pasta. I didn't mix it and pour it over the pasta, but actually put it right in the noodles themselves. It was an interesting experience, although mine was a little sticky. I could've saved myself a bit of time and trouble by mixing a stiffer, dryer dough.

Pumpkin Pasta

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

Combine flour and salt in a food processor, and pulse few times. Add egg and pumpkin and mix in 10-second pulses until it's raggedly mixed. Add olive oil and/or water to get a good consistency of dough, generally it will clump up. Err on the dry side. Pour it out onto a floured surface and knead it until it comes together smoothly. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for an hour to let it rest. Roll out and cut as desired, then cook 3-4 minutes in boiling water.

Sauce 1

This one's hearty and full and really more autumnal than summery, but I like it anyway. It is inspired by my absolutely favourite winter soup. It would also be great over any other pasta, but the pumpkin is creamy and wonderful. I suspect it would also be quite nice with some chopped carrot in it as well.

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (about 2 cups) black beans, drained

1-14 oz. can crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

crème fraîche or sour cream and chopped cilantro, optional (to garnish)

Heat olive oil to shimmering, then add onion, red pepper flakes, cumin, and coriander. Stir and cook until onions soften. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add black beans and tomatoes. stir to combine, add salt and pepper, reduce heat and let simmer while you cut and boil the pasta. Make sure about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water ends up in the sauce, then combine sauce and pasta. Garnish with a heaping scoop of crème fraîche and cilantro, or pass at the table.

Sauce 2

Now this one's for summer. You just can't regret it.

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

olive oil

salt and pepper

crème fraîche or sour cream (optional)

Combine lime juice, honey, and cilantro, then pour over pasta. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta to moisten, then mix. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in crème fraîche or sour cream, if desired.

Mayonnaise

I'm one of those people that just loves home made food. I'm not talking about non-fast food meals, but making things at home that are 100% easier to just buy. Why bother? It's mostly about the taste, but there's also that idea that I know exactly what's in it, it's wholesome, and I did it myself. Yes, that means I like it because of pride. Deal with it. I've tried mayonnaise before, but I've found a fairly fool-proof version that I enjoy varying with my mood.

For example, lime instead of lemon yields a tangy mayo that is great as a base for dips and dressings. Adding garlic or red pepper flakes (even in conjunction with the lime!) make for a kick that begs to be paired with roasted chicken on a toasted sandwich. Wants herbs? Yeah, so do I, just add them at the end. Adding good olive oil in small quantities (I rarely use more than 1/4 total volume) give an earthy, savoury depth. Much more than that, and it can grow bitter. Or maybe I'm using crappy olive oil. Who knows? Right now I'm loving peanut oil for its clean, rich flavour, but vegetable or canola oils work too. I tell you, the recipe is just an outline!

My favourite, and likely most dangerous, thing about this mayonnaise is that I make it with farm fresh eggs. So sue me. Disclaimer: use wisdom with raw eggs if you're pregnant, young, or paranoid. Yes, paranoia really does lead to a compromised immune system.*

I generally make a double batch and it lasts us about a week and a half, and stays nice and stable the whole time. We never get sick from it, and we love it, love it, love it. There's a good bit of science behind how and why mayonnaise works, and with a food processor, the whole egg thing is especially important. You could do yolk only, but you might want to work by hand. Personally, using a food processor is totally worth the whole egg. A blender would also work, although my processor has a handy little drip hole that makes this a practically foolproof endeavour.

Mayonnaise

adapted from almost everywhere

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt (more to taste, if desired)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup oil

Place egg, mustard, salt, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Turn the machine on, and add oil, just a drop at a time, until the mixture emulsifies (gets mayonnaise-y) and you've used a few Tablespoons of oil. [I just use my machine's dripper, and it's perfect.] Once it seems stable, add the remaining oil in a slow, but steady stream until all combined. Transfer to a screw top jar and refrigerate.

Other homemade things I love that are easier to buy in the store:

• Créme Fraîche
• Chicken Stock
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Nutella

*That might be the biggest lie/truth on the whole page.

Chicken Stock

We've been eating soup around here, and it's a good thing, because nothing warms you up when it's -2˚F like good, homemade, hearty, warm, soul-inspiring soup. Honestly, we don't really care what type of soup it is that's warming us, but since we've lately been trying to keep our waistlines under control while hibernating, hearty broth soups have been the norm. Now, I've always love a good brothy soup, but there's one thing that will elevate broth soup to a tastier, richer, more exquisite plain than you thought possible, and that one thing is homemade stock.

Homemade stock seemed an unnecessary task and expense for the longest time. I mean, who has hours to sit, stirring, pot watching, straining, cooling, and packaging? I quickly learned that I have time to do that, because most of it is done without your supervision—10 minutes to chop and throw together, then a few minutes every now and again to finish up the process. THe biggest bonus for us, of course, is the cost. We buy our chickens for under $1/pound (get several when they're on sale and freeze them—you can put them right in the pot without thawing!) and the rest is mostly just cheap veggies. Here's the cost breakdown:

• 3-5 pound chickens=$15 or less
• Vegetables=$5
• Fresh herbs=$5 (or dried herbs you already have in pantry)
• Water=free

So, for $18-$25, you get the meat of 3 chickens, plus 2+ gallons of stock, which, when purchased separately, look like this:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast=$8
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs=$4
• 8 quarts low sodium, full-flavoured chicken stock=$24 minimum

$23 or $36? I know what I like better. And the best part is that I know what's in my stock, it's fresh, and much higher quality than that from the grocery store. You know how homemade chicken soup turns into jello in the refrigerator? That's because of the collagen and gelatin from the bones of the chicken. Store-bought stock doesn't do that, and even worse, you lose many of the great things about it because of that.

We've taken to making it each week in our giant canning pot with three chickens and plenty of water, but if you're not going to be soup crazy like us, you can make it in smaller batches (in a smaller pan!) and enjoy it in smaller quantities. The other option, of course, is to make just as much and freeze it for later use so you'll never have to buy stock again (or use bouillon, which is mostly just salt, anyway.) This is the recipe I've been using, followed by the ingredients scaled to a single chicken size for those that want less stock or have smaller pots.

Rich, Elegant, Delicious Chicken Stock

3 5-pound whole chickens

3 large onions, unpeeled and quartered

10 large carrots and/or parsnips, unpeeled and chopped in half*

4 stalks celery with leaves, cut in half

1 head garlic, unpeeled & cut in half (to expose all the cloves)

20 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 Tbsp dried)

15 sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried)

1 Tbsp dill seeds (or 20 sprigs fresh dill)

2 tsp whole peppercorns

2 Tbsp kosher salt

7 quarts water

Place all vegetables, herbs, and seasonings in pot, then place chickens, including giblets, if any, on top. Fill with water. Bring to a hesitant (not rolling!) boil, and cook for 1 hour. Remove chickens from pot, and cut away the breast meat, which should be fully cooked (let cook longer if birds are frozen.) At this point I break a few bones with a knife or kitchen shears to let the marrow circulate in the broth. Return carcass and all non-breast meat to the pot and cook three more hours, uncovered. Remove chicken carcasses, let cool, and harvest the meat—it'll make amazing chicken noodle soup. Let broth cool, then strain through a fine sieve into storage containers. If you're going to freeze it, I would put it in the refrigerator first so you can skim the solidified fat before freezing.

*I generally use only carrots, but today I'm trying parsnips. I plan for it to be incredible.

Rich, Elegant, Delicious Chicken Stock

(scaled down for 1 chicken)

1 5-pound whole chicken

1 large onions, unpeeled and quartered

4 large carrots and/or parsnips, unpeeled and chopped in half*

2 stalks celery with leaves, cut in half

4-6 cloves garlic, unpeeled & cut in half

7 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)

5 sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)

1 tsp dill seeds (or 7 sprigs fresh dill)

1 tsp whole peppercorns

2 tsp kosher salt

2.5 quarts water

Hearty Italian Pasta

I know, I know—pasta doesn't need to be dubbed Italian; we assume that. Be that as it may, I still like the name. I was chatting with Michelle last Friday and she mentioned that they were having her dynamite Zuppa Toscano because she still had the ingredients on hand, including kale. We gushed love of kale all over the phones in our hands, and in that moment I knew I needed kale for dinner. I had already planned a red-sauced pasta for the boys, so I hopped out of the car, ran into the store and picked up a few things to make it work: kale, cannelini beans, and corkscrew pasta. That last one was just for fun; normally I'd just use penne. All in all, it turned out well. Next time I'll add more cheese and probably more herb. I love herb, and I encourage you to use whatever you have that sounds good. I had both dried and fresh thyme, so I went there. This being the dead of winter, I'm guessing you're like me, and completely resigned to a few more months of dried, dead herb before the glories of spring.

Can it get here already?

Hearty Italian Pasta

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp dried thyme

1 can cannelini beans, drained

1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (that's the big can)

1 pound dried pasta

1 small bunch kale, chopped

4 oz. butter

1 cup chopped parsley

1 cup grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan works too)

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then continue cooking until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and drained beans, and cook for 2-3 minutes more, being careful not to mush the beans too much. Put your pasta water on to boil, and add the tomatoes to the skillet with the onion/bean mixture. You're basically going to let the sauce cook and thicken while you cook the pasta. Easy-peasy. Shortly before the pasta is done, add the kale and butter to the sauce and stir well. Adjust seasoning.

Cook your pasta. When it's done cooking, nice and al dente, scoop about 1/2 cup of the cooking water into the sauce, then drain the pasta. Somehow get the pasta and sauce into the same cooking vessel. I have a giant skillet, so it worked in there for me. Cook and stir over medium heat to let everything work together. Adjust seasoning again, if necessary. Remove from heat and et it sit a few minutes to thicken. [I didn't do that, but half way through the meal when the sauce was thick and coating the noodles really well, I wished I had.] Add add cheese and parsley just before serving. Stir together and enjoy a hearty pasta meal.

Tomato Sauce

I'm learning about the way pasta sauces should be. You see, Americans are kind of crazy about their sauces, crazy like "let's bury the carbs in blankets of thick, homogeneous, super-salted, cheese-laden, gloppy with no identifiable veggies sauces" crazy. And you know what? I don't really blame them, given the taste and texture of mass-produced pastas available in cardboard boxes on grocery store shelves. I mean, they look pretty perfect, all shaped the same and packaged so perfectly, but let's be honest—when was the last time you took a grocery store brand, 97¢ box of pasta, cooked it up, tested a noodle and thought "Oh my gosh! That's the best thing I've ever tasted!?" Exactly, and thus our love affair with sweet, goopy sauces is born.

As I've made my own pasta I've learned that sauces can be thick, thin, soupy, chunky, meaty, vegetable-laden, or thin or thick, spicy or mild. The most important thing Ive learned, though, is that your pasta and your sauce have to work together. Last week I made a hearty egg noodle with a thick, nearly tomato-less bolognese. This week I took a different approach, using an overly-thin (that part was not intentional) hot water noodle (no eggs) and a thin vegetable sauce that was laden with little chunks of tomatoes. And you know what? Despite the too-thin noodles, this combination worked.

My last word on pasta for today is this: it didn't take me any longer to make the pasta than it would have taken me to run to the grocery store and buy, then come home and cook the noodles. Pasta is easy. And it tastes good. Here's this week's flavourful sauce:

Spiced Tomato Sauce

makes enough for 1 1/2- 2 pounds fresh pasta

2-28 oz. can whole tomatoes, with juices

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 sweet onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter

salt and pepper to taste

Crush tomatoes by hand in a large bowl and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, heat one minute, then add red pepper flakes. Cook one 1-2 minutes, then add onion. Cook until onion softens, then add garlic and cook two minutes more. Add thyme, turmeric, fennel, and 1/2 tsp salt, stir and cook for 1 minute more. Add wine or broth, and cook until completely evaporated, 6-10 minutes.

At this point you should taste your onions. And swoon. Now back to our regularly scheduled recipe.

Add tomatoes and cook until you find a consistency that works for you and your pasta. I cooked mine about 25 minutes and it was perfect to coat my pasta and the liquids absorbed into the pasta itself. When you put the pasta into the pot to cook, add the butter to the sauce and stir it in until melted. Reserve 2/3 cup pasta cooking liquid and add it to the sauce just before or after draining your pasta.

You can serve this over the pasta, American-style, or the way I prefer it, combine the drained pasta and sauce together in the pasta cooking pot and cook and stir 2-3 minutes until the two have become one.

Serve with chopped parsley and shaved pecorino.

Bolognese Sauce

Even though my food photography is improving, I confess I do not and will not have a photo of this sauce. I made it a day ahead, and while it tastes divine, a pure Bolognese is just crumbled meat with some other stuff to hold it together. You know what else fits that description? High-end dog food. So, no photo. Because we're serving it for a get-together tomorrow night, I do not plan to photograph my guests' plates after they've heaped the pasta and sauce onto them. So, no photo. There you go.

This really does take over 3 hours to make, but after the first 45 minutes of slowly adding things to the pot, you're pretty much done, and the rest is just old-fashioned Italian-style simmering time.

Interesting things about Bolognese:

• There is a shocking lack of tomato. I actually doubled the tomatoes from the recipe.
• No seasonings. This baby lives on the merit of the the meat, the long simmer, and the power of well-chosen salt.
• While this takes time for the flavours to develop and the fats to break down in the meats, it's one of the simplest sauces to make. Veggies+meat+tomato+liquid=done.
• It's still to die for, and will be perfect atop a bed of homemade spaghetti tomorrow night.

Bolognese Sauce

adapted from Mario Batali

1/4 cup olive oil

4 Tbsp butter

2 medium onions, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced small

4 stalks celery, diced small

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 pounds ground pork [or mild pork sausage]

4 oz. (1/4 lb.) pancetta or bacon, diced small

1/2 cup milk

1-28 oz. can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand, with juices

2 cups broth (I used homemade chicken stock)

1 cup white wine (or more stock if you'd rather)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter and oil in an 8-10 quart stock pot. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until onions are translucent. Remove vegetables to a bowl and increase heat to as high as you think is safe with your cookware. Brown the meat, working in batches if necessary, and stir to break it up as you go. Mr. Batali says this should take about 20 minutes, and believe it or not, it really does. When the meat is brown and broken up, reduce heat to medium-high, return vegetables to the pot, and add the milk. Bring to boiling and cook until milk is completely gone, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and juices, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Add broth and wine, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 2-2 1/2 hours. I'd stir occasionally just to make yourself feel better. You can serve immediately, or let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to let the flavours meld and reheat gently with a bit of pasta cooking water when you're nearly ready for dinner.

Mine will be served with fresh spaghetti and plenty of Pecorino Romano cheese.

Quick Cauliflower Puree

This was the show stopper of tonight's meal, despite its heavy competition of roast pork shoulder and roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes. It really couldn't have had better accompaniments, though, and I highly recommend this as a side to pork of any kind. It's rich and fruity, but not particularly sweet, although the apples meld beautifully with the cauliflower to yield an entirely new flavour.

Quick Cauliflower Puree

serves 4-5

1 Tbsp butter

pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets

2 apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped

3/4 cup water*

4 whole allspice, crushed or ground**

1/4 tsp coriander

2 oz cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste [I used white pepper to keep it smooth looking]

Melt butter in a large pot; add red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add cauliflower and apple with 3/4 cup water or broth. Cover and simmer until tender, adding more water or broth if necessary (it wasn't necessary for me.) When vegetables are tender, mash them with a potato masher or food mill and add allspice, coriander, and cream cheese. Mash and stir together until creamy. Season with salt and pepper—I was surprised how much salt it wanted, but it was totally worth it—and serve.

*I suspect broth or apple juice/cider would make this even tastier, but I just used water. I'll use one of the others next time.

**You could always just use ground allspice, but I didn't measure it out, so you're on your own for that one. I'm guessing between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp, but let me know if you find a more exact measurement that works. I just crushed whole allspice in my mortar & pestle (thanks Justin & Jodi!)

Leftover Mulligatawny

Now, I only call this leftover because it's the perfect way to use both leftover turkey and the stock you make from its poor carcass. If you'd like to make it without first roasting a hunk of poultry and boiling it down, be my guest, but I take no responsibility for the lack of sensational flavour or complete void where you expected to enjoy a smooth, gelatinous, luxurious mouthfeel. Mine was particularly rich because I made my stock in a slightly too small pan that yielded some of the most concentrated, richest, thick a Jell-O jigglers poultry stock I've ever seen. Win, win, win. All that said, it would still be amazing with boxed stock and quick cooked chicken breasts. It's also quick to assemble—perhaps that's the final win.

Leftover Turkey Mulligatawny

adapted from Ree Drummond (click over for a non-leftovers version)

2 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 Tbsp curry (less if you're not a curry fiend like me)

1 quart (32 oz) homemade turkey stock

1 apple, peeled and diced

1/2 roasted turkey breast, diced or shredded, about 2 cups*

2 cups [fat free] half n' half**

2 tsp salt, more to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Melt butter over medium heat and onions and garlic. Cook until onions just start to brown. Add flour and curry powder, and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add stock all at once and stir. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Cook a couple of minutes to let the soup thicken a bit, then add apples and diced turkey. Cook 10 minutes, or until apples soften, stirring often. Reduce heat and add half & half, salt and pepper. Heat gently, taking care not to boil. Boiling's not a tragedy, but it will leave a grainy look. Adjust seasoning and serve.

*You could use any leftover meat you have; thighs pair particularly well with curry.

**I used fat free half & half, which is thickened with sugar syrups. If you use cream or regular half & half, add 1 Tbsp white or brown sugar to sweeten things a bit; it plays beautifully off the curry's spices.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Tarragon

Let me be clear: the tarragon is the key to the success of this luscious winter concoction. Normally I reserve tomato dishes for summer when tomatoes are, well, good. But this defies logic, involves a can opener, and warms even the frostiest winter heart. You could, of course, use a different herb like boring basil, but the tarragon is fresh, fruity, and surprising. Give it a try.

Chunky/Creamy Tomato Soup with Tarragon

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 Tbsp+1 tsp dried tarragon

1/3 cup flour

1 quart chicken stock or broth

1-14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

3 oz. orzo or other very small pasta

1/2 cup heavy cream or half & half (what I used)

salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat butter and olive oil until butter is melted and starts to froth. Add onions and garlic and sauté while you chop up the carrots and celery. I suggest a small dice on these so they are more uniformly bite size. Add carrots and celery to pot along with 1 tsp of tarragon and 1/4 tsp salt. Continue to cook until onions are soft. Add flour and mix well, then cook for 1-2 minutes. Add broth all at once, stirring well to dissolve the flour. Add both cans of tomatoes and 1Tbsp tarragon and bring to a boil. Boil for a couple minutes to allow it to thicken slightly, then add orzo. Cook until pasta is soft, 6-10 minutes, then add cream or half & half and adjust seasoning. You may need more tarragon—I eyeballed and tasted, so my measurements are approximate. Serve with Challah or other crusty bread of your choice.

It's practically a dump & go soup with a little light chopping at the beginning and stirring to keep the pasta from gluing itself to the bottom of the pot. Oh, and it is delicious.

My first Challah

but I guarantee it won't be my last. Challah is a traditional Sabbath bread of the European Jews that is full of eggs and rich, luscious tenderness. This is good bread. And it's pretty too. I used Mark Bittman's recipe, and I followed it almost exactly, and I am one happy man that I did so. We enjoyed this with a creamy tomato and tarragon soup on our Sabbath. I know, the Judeo-Christian blend here is unusual, but exciting. Make this; you won't regret it and your soup might even thank you.

Challah

adapted from Mark Bittman

5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

2 tsp salt

2 tsp instant yeast

1 Tbsp honey

3 eggs+1 egg yolk

1 1/3 cups milk, warmed to room temperature

oil for greasing the bowl and baking sheet

coarse salt for sprinkling

Put 2 cups flour, salt, and yeast in a mixer and give it a whirl to mix them. Add warm milk, eggs, and honey and mix thoroughly. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until it's soft and elastic. It will be yellow and luscious looking like homemade egg pasta. Pull from mixer onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times, then shape into a ball.

Oil a bowl, put dough ball in, and turn to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Deflate and divide into 3 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a nice ball, then cover them and let them rest 10 minutes while you wash the bowl and do a little prep or cleanup.

Roll each ball into a rope about 14" long and 1" thick. Braid them carefully together on a large oiled sheet, trying not to stretch too much, but keeping a tight braid just the same. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375˚F. Beat the egg yolk with 1 tsp water and brush the bread all over with it. Get it ALL over the top and sides. Sprinkle with coarse salt (poppy seeds are also traditional) and pop into the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the bottom sounds hollow, it's a nice, deep golden brown, and if you're crazy like me, the internal temp is around 200˚F. Cool and serve.

Notes:

• We just pulled this apart at the table. Good times.
• To get a beautiful, symmetric braid, leave the beginning loose instead of knotting it up to start. After you've braided to the end and tucked the ends under oh so gently and beautifully, turn your pan around and do the same thing to the end you started with. That way the loaf will be much closer to symmetric and you'll have a beautiful finish on both ends instead of this glob of dough where you were forced to start your loaf.

Thanksgiving 2010

What a culinary success. This is the first time we've made a full traditional Thanksgiving for just our immediate family, and it was divine. We made some of this:

and some of this:

and a touch of that:

But want I want to share today is our appetizer salad:

A sweet potato mélange that will delight your your senses. Best of all, you serve it room temperature, so it's low pressure. Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Salad

serves 6-8 as a side or appetizer

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

olive oil

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 small shallot or 1/4 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup dried currants, raisins, cranberries, or cherries (I had currants)

1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted then cooled and roughly chopped

4 oz goat cheese, crumbled (Feta would also work)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp smooth Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450˚F. Toss diced sweet potatoes with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and roast until soft and starting to brown and caramelize, 25-35 minutes, stirring once. Remove from oven and cool. Combine celery, shallot or onion, dried fruit, pecans, goat cheese, parsley, mustard, and vinegar. Stir to combine. Combine with cooled sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Serve as a salad at the table or on endive leaves or in small dishes as an appetizer while you're waiting for the turkey to cook. Yum.

Shrimp Bisque

Sometimes, when I'm home alone, I make fancy dishes that are totally reasonable to make for one, but outrageously expensive and over the top experimental for a family of five. Most of these experimental dishes involve seafood because, well, while my life's love will eat whatever I fix, I try to avoid seafood because I'm a nice guy and want her to be happy. So, tonight was Shrimp Bisque, based ever so loosely (and I mean loosely—I didn't like Rombauer's version at all and I had to fix it in a big way) the recipe in The Joy of Cooking. It's amazing my way, although it might be just a touch on the chowder side.

Shrimp Bisque

loosely adapted from The Joy of Cooking

serves 4

1 1/2 pounds of cooked shrimp

6 Tbs butter

2 Tbsp shredded onion

2 Tbsp flour

3 cups warm milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

Melt butter over medium low heat in a large saucepan; add onions and cook 5 minutes. In the meantime, put shrimp and 1 cup of milk in the blender and pulverize those babies. I suppose you could leave them a little chunky, but I, personally, did not love the larger pieces. When onion is cooked, add flour and stir to combine. Add all milk and shrimp, and stir to heat, bringing just to the boiling point to thicken. Add cream and seasoning to taste, being careful not to boil it. Serve garnished with chopped scallions or parsley.

To add a pastry lid, a la family reunion 09, preheat oven to 425˚ and roll pie crust to 1/8" thick. Cut circles approximately 1" larger than your bowls. Spoon each serving into an overproof bowl set on a cookie sheet. Brush the bowl rims with water, and place a circle of pastry loosely over each one, sealing the edges by pressing down. If you don't seal the edges, it won't puff. Beat together 1 egg and 1 tsp water, and brush the top of the pastry with it. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and bake for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. I forgot to glaze mine, so it was rather dull looking, but still tasted excellent. Serve on a plate, because those bowl are now steamy hot!

Shrimp and a Tease

I have a recipe I'm dying to share. It had one step that took a little patience, but I consider it a new go-to bar. It may involve milk caramel, candied peanuts, and a hefty layer of melted chocolate. It might even have a rich shortbread-like crust that resembles the cookie inside of a Twix bar. Dorie Greenspan is my new hero; I need to meet her and thank her and eat something luscious with her. She's on a book tour right now, but since there are no bookstores within 40 miles of Galesburg, I don't think she'll be coming here.

In other food news, my just-for-one version of Mark Bittman's Shrimp My Way were perfect for a quick, light, delicious dinner tonight. Seriously easy and delicious.

Quick Broiled Shrimp

adapted from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

serves 1

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1/2 pound large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Place oven rack as close to broiler as possible; heat broiler on high. Pour enough oil to just barely cover the bottom of an ovenproof pan; for your health, I recommend a fairly small pan. Heat over low heat; we're talking gentle heat here, no sizzle and sputter. Add garlic and cook gently for a few minutes; the idea is to infuse the oil, not fry the garlic. Add shrimp, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir with wooden spoon or toss to coat. Cook 1 minute, then throw that puppy under the broiler. Check after 2 minutes and toss, if necessary. Cook under broiler until shrimp is pink and cooked, about 5 minutes (longer if you make more.)

**Note: I bought easy peel shrimp—raw, but slit down the back and already deveined. Those ones you just peel the whole shell off, including legs, and squeeze off the tail. It turns out that only half of them were actually easy peel, so I quickly used my kitchen shears to cut down the back, remove the shell, and pull out the intestinal track. Don't be afraid of uncooked shrimp (except you, Michelle, because you could die.)

Green tomatoes

So, our indeterminate tomatoes are still producing. Our grape tomatoes still have blossoms, and our beefsteaks are producing green tomatoes like nobody's business. The Roma and pear tomatoes are also still alive, but they aren't thriving like the others. Last week I made some fried green tomatoes, and you know what? I didn't really like them (next time I'll use more seasoning!) So, I set out to find a new way to use them. I made tri-color tomato sauce with pasta on Tuesday (that's just homemade tomato sauce with red, yellow, and green tomatoes) but yesterday I found a great way to prepare them: shred those bad boys. Maybe grate is a better description, but shred sounded kind of macho, didn't it? Oh yes.

It turns out that green tomatoes, because of their firmness, grate rather well. I used my food processor, but I suspect a large-hole cheese grater would work just fine. We served it with broiled tilapia that was, well, boring. That's how tilapia is, don't you think?

Green Tomato Pasta

4 servings

8 oz dried fettuccine

4 carrots, scrubbed

4 medium green tomatoes

2 Tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

optional: lemon zest, fresh oregano

salt and pepper

Put your water on to boil and shred your carrots and tomatoes. Heat butter over medium heat in a large skillet. When water is ready, pour in pasta, stirring to avoid starchy stickiness. Add garlic to butter, sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add shredded vegetables. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes, then add tomato paste. Stir and reduce heat to avoid overcooking. When pasta is al dente, drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water, then add noodles and water to vegetables. Stir together, cook 1-2 minutes, and season to taste. I added about a 1/2 tsp of leftover lemon zest, some chopped oregano, and salt and pepper. Delicious and quick!

Quick curried noodles

Wednesday night was one of those "eat what you have" kind of nights as we stretched our remaining food just a few more days. This one involves just a few ingredients: dried pasta, frozen chicken thighs, coconut milk, garlic, and curry powder. That's it! I must say the result was delightful, but next time I'd probably use low-fat coconut milk to cut a few calories. It would also be great with whole thighs, chopped chicken breast, beef stew meat, or shrimp. It's easy and yummy; what else could you want?

Chicken Noodle Curry

serves 4

8 oz dried pasta [I used fettucine]

1 Tbsp olive oil

4-6 chicken thighs, boned and diced [more chicken=more meaty]

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp curry powder, more or less to taste

1 can coconut milk

Bring a pot of water to a boil for your pasta. While water is heating, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add garlic and chicken and sauté until chicken is browned. [You could do whole thighs here as well to save a little trouble; just brown well.] Sprinkle curry powder over chicken, mix well, and cook 1-2 minutes. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer on low.

When your savory yellowness enters simmer stage, your water should be ready for pasta. Add pasta and salt, and stir to keep starches from sticking. Cook pasta until just barely al dente, then drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Add nearly cooked pasta and reserved water to curry mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles soak up some of that coconut milk, about 5-8 minutes. I didn't add it, but I suggest a cilantro garnish. Eat yellow noodles, be happy.

Julia Child omelets

I've fallen in love with these, although I generally use a spray of olive oil instead of the tablespoon of butter and I often only use one egg. I'll tell you, the key is the hot pan. Oh, and her chopstick tip? Perfect. Eggs in 20 seconds? Yes, please.

Jalapeño Jelly

I have a new bane. Of my existence. The people who previously occupied my increasingly fabulous home not only painted it all beige, which is not the focus of this post, but let the backyard apple tree grow to epic proportions without regard to health, safety, or how many freakin' apples would end up on the ground feeding our now pestilent insect population. It's so large that my apple picker won't reach the top boughs. When I'm standing on the deck.

Right.

All fragments aside, I do loathe this tree, and I had every intention of either carefully molding it down to manageable size, or chopping it down entirely. It is a nuisance, and I've no time for nuisances.

Now that I've ranted a diva's portion, let me show you what I did decide to do with the apples my boys and I could gather.

Don't you just imagine that this is what jelly in heaven looks like? I, of course, agree wholeheartedly. Rather than peel, core, slice, mash, or otherwise push myself to the brink of insanity by dissecting and cooking down my smaller than the grocery store sized apples, I opted to chop them up, combine them intelligently with other bounties of our garden, and create my first jalapeño jelly. Oh, and it's divine, made completely with organic ingredients from our garden, excepting the two things I can't grow here: cranberries and sugar. No added pectin, colors, or flavours, just delicious freshness, sweetness, and a kick that reminds you that this pairs as well with peanut butter as it does with smooth cream cheese.

Jalapeño Jelly

adapted from Simply Recipes

yield 4-6 cups jelly

I doubled this, but it proved a massive challenge to my cookware restraints, especially during boiling. It did, however, set up just fine, since it used natural pectin and sugar to do sorather than store bought stuff.

4 lbs of tart apples (e.g. Granny Smith), unpeeled, chopped into big pieces, including the cores

5 jalapeño chili peppers, chopped (remove the ribs and seeds to make it mild)

1 serrano pepper, chopped (you could replace this with another jalapeño if you want)

1 bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped

1 cup cranberries (optional but recommended, will help with color and with setting)

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

3 1/2 cups sugar (7/8 cup for each cup of juice)

Combine the apple pieces, apple cores (needed for their pectin content), jalapenos, bell pepper, cranberries (if using), water and vinegar in a large pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low, simmering for about 20 minutes, or until the apples, cranberries, and peppers are soft. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan where it might burn. When apples are soft, use a potato masher or stick blender to mash up the apple pieces to the consistency of slightly runny apple sauce.

Spoon the mash into a douple layer of cheesecloth set inside a colander and set over a large bowl. Leave to strain for several hours or overnight—the longer it sits, the more juice and flavour you'll get. If your pulp is too thick, and nothing is coming out, you can add an extra 1/2 cup or cup of water to it. You want to end up with about 4 cups of juice, although I came up with 6-7 cups because I let it drain almost 24 hours.

Measure the juice, then pour into a large, wide, thick-bottomed pot. Add the sugar (7/8 a cup for each cup of juice—3 1/2 cups is a guide, use the 7/8 rule to get it just right.) Heat gently, stirring to make sure the sugar gets dissolved and doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Bring to a boil and cook forEVER. The original recipe said 10-15 minutes, but I sat there for almost two hours last night carefully making sure it didn't boil over in my unacceptably-sized pot. Use a spoon to skim off the surface scum. Continue to boil until a candy thermometer shows that the temperature has reached 220-222°F (8-10°F above the boiling point at your altitude). Additional time needed for cooking can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on the amount of water, sugar, and apple pectin in the mix. Candy thermometers aren't always the most reliable indicators of whether or not a jelly is done. Another way to test is put a half teaspoonful of the jelly on a chilled (in the freezer) plate. Allow the jelly to cool a few seconds, then push it with your fingertip. If it wrinkles up, it's ready. That's how I did it, and I'm happy with the results; for those checking, it was at 225˚ when it wrinkled on the plate.

Pour jelly into sterilized jars to within 1/4" of the top and seal in a hot water bath following good health guidelines.