Leeky Mashed Potatoes

In this experiment I was trying to recreate a dish my aunt brought to our Thanksgiving feast. Mashed potatoes with leeks or as I fondly call them Leeky Mashed Potatoes. I peeled and chopped the potatoes and boiled them as I normally would for mashers. I sliced, rinsed, and diced the leeks. I then sauteed the leeks in bacon grease (there was a pan on the stove from breakfast and I couldn't resist!) although obviously butter or oil would too!

Now is the part that needs further refinement.

I wanted to puree the leeks but I didn't think that would work well with just them in the processor. So I warmed my milk and butter as I usually would and poured that into the processor too. Well, that created a bit of an explosion as the warmed milk seemed to seal the processor and then when I pulsed the milk came frothing out the top. I recommend adding something to ease the pureeing part but maybe some potatoes would work better!

Finally, I mashed together the cooked potatoes, pureed leeks, warm milk, and butter. In total, I believe I had about 2.5 lbs. of potatoes, two leeks, 1/3C milk, and 2-3T butter.

Curried Lentils

I love curried lentils. It is a filling dish and is quick and easy. It also is forgiving and can easily incorporate as few or as many add-ins as you'd like. I love it with a side of rice and topped with chutney and yogurt.

Depending on how many you want to serve this recipe can easily be scaled up or down. This will serve about 4 (or more as a side dish). I saute 1/2 an onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a green pepper, and 1-2 carrots in 2T oil or butter or a mix. I add in 1C lentils, coat them in the grease, and toast them slightly. I then add 2C water or broth, depending on what I have available. My goal is to only add enough liquid for the lentils to cook and absorb it all in order to avoid ending up with soup.

Add more liquid as needed during the cooking process.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat. Lentils can overcook so it is important to check them as they cook. I usually cook them for about 10 minutes and then add potatoes.

Cook about 10 more minutes and add greens like spinach, chard, or kale. Continue to simmer until lentils are soft but not mushy and the potatoes are cooked to your liking. Add more liquid as needed. And serve with rice, plain yogurt, and chutney. I am a fan of mango chutney. With this dish I ate a homemade apricot chutney that I made over the summer. Yum!

Roasted Squash Medley

The summer farm share is over now, but in the last few weeks we were starting to get winter squash. This was good preparation for the weeks and weeks of squash and root vegetables in the winter farm share that starts the week after Thanksgiving. The other night I combined 1 small butternut squash, 1 delicata squash, 1 celeriac, and about 1/2 the cloves of a head of garlic. I peeled the squash and celeriac and cut everything into about 1x1 inch cubes. I left the garlic skin on the individual cloves. I drizzled olive oil over everything and added salt, pepper, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Our oven has been acting up lately and so we have to set it about 25 degrees higher than what we want. Luckily we have an over thermometer! I roasted these at about 400 for 20-30 minutes. Since they are in such small cubes they may cook faster than you are expecting and you probably want to avoid overcooking them and having a medley of mush!

East Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I just plugged my camera into my computer and there are photos from at least five different recipes. I've been taking the pictures and slacking on the posting, I guess!

I'll begin with East Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ, which we had a few weeks ago on a Sunday. It's a recipe that cooks all day in the Crock Pot so it's perfect for a football-filled Sunday. For anyone not familiar with Southern BBQ, let me explain that regional allegiances to particular types of BBQ are quite strong. You are probably familiar with the idea that there are Texas styles of BBQ and a Memphis style, but you many not know that the eastern and western parts of NC have very different BBQ. In East Carolina you find a smoked, pulled pork BBQ that is cooked with a dry rub and served with a spicy vinegar-based sauce.

There are no tomatoes in this recipe. I love this BBQ and I eat way too much during our annual family beach trip to NC because I have to fill up for the year. This recipe doesn't fill the void, I'll still need to travel to NC, but it is a good proxy. The main difference is the smoke but the sauce is super! I'd make twice as much sauce next time.

I asked the butcher to cut down a large piece of pork shoulder so I could use about 3 lbs. of meat. I used this recipe, which calls for 5 lbs. of meat, and the only other ingredient I cut back on was the onions. On Saturday night, I mixed up the dry rub: 3T brown sugar, 2T paprika, 2t sea salt, and 1t black pepper. I rubbed this all over the meat and wrapped it up in plastic wrap and put it in a bowl and into the fridge. I left it overnight.

The next day I quartered 2 red onions (I didn't have any yellow ones but the recipe calls for two each kind). I placed those in the bottom of the Crock Pot. I put the meat on top and then I drizzled about 3/4 of the sauce over it. The sauce is a mix of 1C red wine vinegar, 2T Worcestershire sauce, 2T crushed red pepper flakes, 2t sugar, 1T spicy brown mustard, 1T garlic powder (I am not sure I would double the garlic powder), and 1/2t cayenne powder. The recipe says to cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. I didn't have 8 hours so I opted for the high heat method. I would aim for enough time to use the low heat method next time. I think the flavors may soak in to the meat more thoroughly. I cooked it for 5 hours but I think it was finished at about 4 or 4 1/2. Believe your eyes when the juices are running clear. I let it go a little too long and it had started to dry out. When it is finished it is starting to fall apart. Pull the meat and onions out. Chop the onions and pull the pork. It is easiest to use a couple forks and place them face down in the meat and pull them in opposite directions. Mix the meat and onions together and serve with the remaining sauce, this is why I wished I had more sauce! We ate this on rolls with cole slaw. Yum!!

Grape Juice

For the past few weeks we've gotten concord grapes in our farm share. While I love the flavor, they aren't the most pleasant grapes to just munch on due to the seeds. With only a pound or so a week, I decided to go all out and get an additional 10 lbs. so I could make some juice. Using advice from Simply Recipes, I picked through the grapes and washed them. Then I mashed them a bit, simmered them for 10 minutes over medium high heat, and mashed them some more. I then let them sit in a strainer for a few hours. What a thick and tasty grape juice! It is delicious with sparkling water.

Meatloaf

I am a big fan of meatloaf. With snow flurries falling today it seemed like a great day to have the oven on for hours and to make a hearty meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My husband's cousin is visiting and both he and my husband worked outside all day today in the cold and flurries doing tree work and stone work, respectively. So as I stood at the butcher's counter today, 1 1/2 lbs of meat didn't look like enough. I went for 1 3/4 lbs of meatloaf mix (beef, pork, and veal). I am hoping we'll have some leftovers because there is nothing like a meatloaf sandwich in my mind. I love 'em with mayo, BBQ sauce and lettuce. And cold.

I preheated the oven to 350 (Joy of Cooking advice) and I anticipate it'll take 1 1/2 hours to bake for that much meat. I always use a meat thermometer when pork is involved.

The recommended temperature is around 160 for pork.

I start out with one slice of sandwich bread (this is a good use for the heel!) and I soak it in about 2-3T milk and 1 egg (although I have used either one or the other before, so if you don't have an egg, don't worry about it).

Once it is soggy, I use my hands to mush up that mixture and then I add the meat and mix it all together.

You must use your hands! I then add in the extras.

This time I used about 1/2 an onion and 1 small green pepper.

I often add mushrooms too, but I didn't have any.

I added about 2T ketchup, 1T chili sauce, 1T worcestershire sauce, 1t garlic powder, 1t black pepper, and 1T oregano. I know I have also tossed in dry mustard, basil, salt, and other spices in the past. I mix all this together and put it in a loaf pan. I cover the top with ketchup and stick it in the oven.

Deep frying (everything) and Mushroom Casserole

I misplaced my camera for a few days, which means I have been delinquent with my blogging. It just doesn't seem right to post without tempting photos. But it is all for the best that there is no evidence of the deep frying extravaganza from Sunday night. It started out quite innocently...

There was a frost warning on the horizon and so we decided to pick all the ripe chili peppers on our 31 plants. With colanders full of cayennes, jalapenos, poblanos, green chiles and more, my husband got the charcoal grilled fired up to do some roasting. We have a great little rack for easy roasting of stuffed jalapenos. So I cored and stuffed those with a mix of cheddar and cream cheese and we roasted those for an appetizer.

Apparently that wasn't enough chili stuffed with cheese for us for the evening because next came the chile rellenos. After roasting, steaming, and peeling the poblanos (and a couple Anaheims) my husband stuffed them with cheese and dipped them in batter. I am not sure of his batter recipe but I know it involves separating the eggs, beating the whites, and stirring them back in for amazing fluff and rising action. He heated the oil and started deep-frying away. We didn't even get out plates. We just started eating the rellenos as soon as they were cool enough to manage.

Now that would have been enough. And I wish I could tell you that that was the end. But there was leftover batter and the oil was still hot and I just couldn't resist. First it was dill pickle slices. I love deep fried pickles. I have had the slices in North Carolina BBQ joints served with Ranch dressing on the side. And more recently I have had lightly battered and fried dill spears at the state fair. Also quite delicious. So in went the dill pickles. Let me tell you there weren't any left on the plate at the end of the evening. And then, here's the embarrassing part, in went dessert.

Now, as an aside, I must share two pieces of information with you. First, is that I lived in Edinburgh for a year. The Scots are happy to deep fry anything and everything. They start with the fish and boy is it good. But then they move on to the sausages, burger patties, and pizzas. And boy are those good too. And then they dive right in and deep fry Mars bars. And those are good too. I waited until about 2/3 through my year there to even try one for fear that I would like them too much. And indeed, they are devilishly delicious. The second relevant detail is that just a few weeks ago there was a local Apple Harvest Festival and among the many fair food options, there were deep-fried Oreos. I was party to the purchase of half a dozen of these beauties. I had half of one and was pleasantly surprised to find that the oil creeps its way into the cookie layers and creates a texture unlike any Oreo bite you've encountered. They are good. And so without any Oreos in the house, you'll understand that I had to toss a few Milanos in for good measure. The oil seeped right into those cookie layers too and just enough heat reached the chocolate for a little bit of melting action and yum..yum...well, need I say more. It was a deep-frying Party!!

And on a slightly healthier side note, last night I tried this recipe for a mushroom casserole that was delicious. I followed the recipe pretty closely and it worked out to be a great little side dish.

Apples, apples, apples...in muffins and hot cereal!

It is fall and that means lots and lots of delicious apples. I love 'em. Especially the Honey Crisp ones! I thought I'd share two quick apple ideas.

Last week I made some apple muffins that were delicious. I was sad to eat the last one this morning. Bye bye tasty muffin breakfasts. I used this recipe from the blog eat make read. I didn't make the drizzle for the top and I didn't have any pecans so they didn't look as cute with the nut on top. But they were tasty nonetheless!

I also have been enjoying a new hot breakfast cereal.

I love the concept of hot cereal but I just can't get into oatmeal. I grew up eating cream of wheat, which I love, but which is just too much like baby food sometimes. This cereal from Hodgson Mill is a nice balance for me with a slightly more complex texture than cream of wheat but not as much as typical oatmeal. And boy is it tasty when you mix in apples, brown sugar, and buttermilk! Did I mention that I love buttermilk on hot cereals? I do!

Barley Bake

Last winter I became a little obsessed with whole grains, including barley. I found a recipe for a barley bake, which I have made and adapted several times since then. This is rich, hearty, and tasty side dish that can be made with a wide variety of vegetables, broths, and/or nuts. I was tempted to add parmesan cheese the first time I made it, but I took a bite and realized the butter and broth added plenty of richness: No Cheese Needed!

I use the barley available in the bulk section of the grocery store, which I believe is pearl barley. I have only recently learned (see this link) that hulled barley is the whole grain and is more nutritious, but also takes even longer to cook than the pearl barley.

Preheat the oven to 350.

If you have a Dutch oven or a similar container that can go from the stovetop to the oven, use it for this recipe to make fewer dishes to clean up. In the pan melt 2-3T butter over med heat and add 1C barley, 1/3C nuts (the original recipe called for pine nuts but I use walnuts), and 1/2 onion, diced. When the barley begins to brown add other vegetables to sautee.

I used 4 crimini mushrooms, chopped, and 1 leek, sliced and rinsed well.

I also added 2-3T parsley, chopped. Finally, I added kale. We had purple kale from our farm share and I used about 4 large leaves, trimmed off the stems, and sliced the kale into strips. I added the kale to the pot and covered to allow it to steam for 1-2 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, and chicken (or vegetable) broth and stir the whole mixture well. The recipe calls for two 14.5 oz. cans of broth, but I used 1 32 oz. container and it worked just fine. Cover the pot and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check at about 1 hour to see if the moisture has been absorbed. The dish is finished when the broth has been absorbed and the barley is tender, chewy, and cooked. This makes enough for a side dish for about 6 people, or plenty for dinner for 2 with leftovers for a couple days.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade chicken noodle soup. Cold weather and sniffly noses inspire it. Grandmothers make it. Or at least my grandmothers both did. Eight years ago or so, I realized it was time I learned how to make it myself and so I called my grandmother. She explained the following method to me, which I have yet to perfect. But it's a good start!

The basic method is to use the vegetables and chicken to make the broth and then add new vegetables for the soup. The first round of vegetables turn over all their flavor to the broth and so it is necessary to add more that can retain their flavor for the soup.

Use a whole chicken. Rinse the chicken in cold water and place it in a stock pot. Cover the chicken with cold water. Add any combination of the following: celery, carrots, onions, parsnips, parsley, thyme. Any other root vegetables and fresh herbs are good too. My grandmother never roasted the vegetables first, and I haven't tried it yet, but roasted vegetables make a more intense broth. Bring the broth to a boil and then allow it to simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

When the chicken looks done pull it out. You can let the broth continue to simmer with the vegetables, but you don't want the chicken to completely boil away. Allow the chicken to cool so it is comfortable to touch. Pull all the meat off the bones. Throw away the bones and the skin.

If the broth isn't to your taste yet, raise the heat and let it cook down and the flavor will intensify (you can do this for as little as 15 minutes and as long as half a day). When it is to your liking, strain the vegetables out. If the broth is too fatty looking to you, allow it to cool and you can easily skim the fat off the top.

Return the broth to the stock pot and add new vegetables (celery, carrots, parsnips) and herbs (parsley, thyme) and salt and pepper to taste. Allow these vegetables to simmer to a level of doneness you like. I like the vegetables to retain enough texture to be chewed rather than mushed in the mouth.

Meanwhile, boil water to cook your pasta or rice. You can cook the grain in the soup; however, you'll lose some broth. I prefer to cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup. This time I used orzo, but I also like to use egg noodles.

When the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the chicken meat (shredded or diced to sizes appealing to you) and the pasta. Allow the chicken meat to warm all the way through. Eat with fresh rolls and butter.

Corn Chowder and Plum Crisp

We roasted corn recently and had a couple of ears left over. They have been sitting in the fridge asking me to make them into chowder. I love corn chowder, maybe it's the bacon we always crumbled on top when I was a kid. What's not to like when you crumble bacon on top of it?I started out using this recipe from Simply Recipes; however, I can't picture carrot or red pepper in my corn chowder, so I left them out. It seems to me that the corn takes care of the sweetness and other sweet items like carrots and red peppers aren't necessary.

And I have to have mushrooms in my chowder, they offer the nice earthy contrast to the sweetness for my taste buds.

I started out by frying 3 strips of bacon in a small fry pan.

When they were finished, or more than finished because I forgot about them, I set the bacon aside and poured the grease into a pot large enough for the chowder.

In the hot grease, I sauteed 1 diced small onion and 1 diced jalapeno for about 5 minutes. I added 6 sliced crimini mushrooms. I cooked this another 3 minutes or so. If I had had celery I would have added it too.

I shaved the kernels off the two left over cobs. I broke the cobs in halve and added them to the pot. The cobs are supposed to give off more corn flavor and help thicken the broth, I believe; however, I don't know if using the roasted corn reduces this effect.

With the cobs in the pot, I added 3 1/2C milk (I used the 2% I had left, about 3C, and whole milk). I also added a bay leaf and brought all of this to a gentle boil. I reduced the heat to warm to maintain a very light simmer and covered the pot. The recipe suggests cooking it for 30 minutes at this point. I was stalling at this point so I let it simmer very gently for nearly an hour.

Then I removed the cobs and the bay leaf and added 1 diced large red potato, 1t kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. I increased the heat and let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

(Then I had to turn off the heat and go rescue a friend whose truck broke down.) I added the corn (corn shaved off 2 cobs + 1C frozen corn) and 1/2t fresh thyme. I cooked this just long enough to warm the corn through. We ate the chowder with crumbled bacon on top!

For dessert we had this plum crumble, which was delicious. In fact, it sounds like breakfast this morning!

Snickerdoodles

I have always loved snickerdoodles. I mean they are cookies after all, what's not to like?! There was a recipe for them in my Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook. I don't have that cookbook anymore so I had to do a little searching for a recipe. I used this one at smitten kitchen, which does have cream of tartar in it. I have come to learn that cream of tartar is from grapes and made from a sediment produced in the wine making process. And it essentially makes baking soda into a single action baking powder, rather than the double acting that has a second rising phase once exposed to heat. Although I haven't tried it yet, I did find a snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar at Simply Recipes.

Macaroni and Cheese

Mac and Cheese! So many options: Kraft with powdery cheese, Velveeta with squeeze cheese, Annie's, and homemade, to name a few! This recipe comes from one of my college roommates and was part of our usual dinner rotation. There are three things to be done simultaneously: cook the pasta, make the sauce, and grate the cheese.

1. Cook 1 lb. of pasta. And it is best if it is al dente, as it will cook a bit more as it bakes.

2. Make a bechamel sauce (see below).

3. Grate about 3/4 lb. of asiago cheese and mix in 4 oz. of parmesan cheese.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. In a buttered casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the pasta, 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the sauce. Add a few grinds of pepper. Repeat. Top with buttered bread crumbs. The recipe calls for 1C of buttered bread crumbs but depending on the surface area in your casserole this can be quite a thick layer of crumbs. I would start with about 1/2C and see if it looks appealing. The more butter you melt and mix with the crumbs the more browning will result, which is the delicious part.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350. If you want to make this in advance and refrigerate it, you can bake it for 20 minutes covered and then 20 minutes uncovered.

To make the sauce: Melt 4T butter over medium heat. Cook about 1/2 an onion, diced, until soft. Add 4T flour. Stir this frequently and cook 3-5 minutes. Add 3C hot milk, slowly, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add 1 bay leaf, 1/4t thyme, 1/8t nutmeg, and black pepper. Over medium-high heat bring the sauce to a gentle boil, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. You can strain out the onions, but I never bother, I just remove the bay leaf.

Pasta Puttanesca

This is a nice quick pasta dish for any time of year as the only fresh ingredients are garlic and parsley. As long as the prep work is complete, the sauce can be cooked in the time it takes to cook the pasta (as long as you aren't using super fresh quick cooking pasta!). And you can try and time the steamed broccoli and the garlic to be finished at the same time too, which I accomplished tonight! I made a green salad ahead of time with a beautiful watermelon radish from our farm share. Check out the picture!

This recipe is based on a Cooks Illustrated recipe from 2002.

While cooking 1 lb. spaghetti, heat 2T olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic minced, 1t hot pepper flakes, and 1 tin of anchovies minced over medium heat until fragrant but not browning. Drain 1 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes, but keep the liquid.

Add the tomatoes and simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add about 1/2C of the tomato liquid and toss to fully coat the pasta.

Add 1/3C minced fresh parsley, 3/4C black olives (like Kalamata or oil cured) pitted and chopped, and 3T capers to the sauce. Pour this over the pasta and add more tomato liquid as necessary.

Serve with parmesan cheese.

Sides dishes for steak!

I love steak but I don't think I had ever bought myself a steak at the grocery store to cook at home. It just seems decadent, I guess. But yesterday was the day. Steaks on the grill for dinner and they were yummy. Plus, our dinner guest made a darn good imitation of A-1 sauce by combining ketchup, worcestershire sauce, and Heinz 57 chili sauce. However, I thought it would be more interesting to post about our sides. I opted for potatoes and spinach, which seemed like the classics.

I was tempted to make creamed spinach but it seemed way too rich.

We often saute spinach with feta cheese and pine nuts, but with no feta I used goat cheese instead.

First, I toasted about 1/4C of pine nuts in a dry pan over med-high heat. I am really good at forgetting about toasting nuts and letting them go too far. It is very easy because they go quickly from perfect to burnt.

This time I stayed close to the stove, shook the pan often, and turned off the heat when they started to smell toasty and delicious. The smell even rivaled the grill just outside on the deck.

Next I cooked 2 cloves of minced garlic in about 1T olive oil.

Once fragrant but not browned, I added the spinach. I covered it for a few minutes and then stirred it to combine the oil, garlic, and spinach.

Once it was all wilted, I added the pine nuts and about 2 ounces of goat cheese. I drained a little of the water out of the pan because I was worried that the cheese would mix with the water and lose its richness. It did melt all over the spinach but did not lose the creaminess.

For our potato side dish, we grilled tiny red potatoes in foil. I wrapped up the spuds in three layers of foil with 1T olive oil, salt, pepper, and several sprigs of fresh rosemary.

We wrapped up the package and let it cook on the edge of the grill. It is good to rotate the foil package around from side to side and to flip it over from top to bottom. The potatoes were on the grill for about 30-35 minutes total. Yum!

Carrot Cake

Yummy carrot cake! (I promise we didn't already polish off the zucchini bread on our own. We froze half of each loaf and now we are in desperate need of cake!) The recipe I love for carrot cake is from the March/April 2003 issue of Cook's Illustrated. They recommend adding nuts (walnuts or pecans) and raisins. I only had walnuts, so I added about 1C of chopped nuts when I added the carrots.

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a 13 by 9 inch pan.

Butter or spray the pan and then put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan and spray the paper.

In a bowl mix together 2 1/2C flour, 1 1/4t baking powder, 1t baking soda, 1 1/4t cinnamon, 1/2t ground nutmeg, 1/8t ground cloves, and 1/2t salt.

Meanwhile, grate 1 lb. carrots (about 6-7 large carrots). (Go

ahead and use a food processor because you are going to keep using it for the batter and the frosting.)

In a food processor, mix 1 1/2C sugar, 1/2C brown sugar, and 4 eggs. Process this for about 20 seconds until frothy and completely combined. With the machine running, add 1 1/2C oil (safflower, canola, or vegetable) in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light and the oil is fully emulsified. Pour this batter into a large bowl. Mix in carrots and nuts and raisins (if you want).

Mix in dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time and stir until fully combined. Pour this into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (longer if you add nuts and/or raisins). Rotate the cake half-way through.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 2 hours. Remove cake from pan and frost when fully cooled.

For the frosting, allow 8 0z. of cream cheese and 5T of butter to soften but not fully warm to room temperature. Process the cheese and butter with 1T sour cream and 1/2t vanilla for about 5 seconds. Add 1 1/4C powdered sugar (I only used 1C) to the frosting mix and process for an additional 10 seconds. Spread this evenly across the cake! I like to the chill the cake before eating.