Thanksgiving comes with a conflict for foodies- the menu is characterized by traditionality, simplicity, and by its unchallenging appeal. Cooking magazines and Food Network shows have been showing reinventions of Thanksgiving and I really can't get behind it. Roasting a whole bird is a pretty wonderful thing, almost impossible to mess up unless you are actually retarded, and you can't beat the visual appeal.
That being said, I had a lot of fun putting together a Thanksgiving menu. (all recipes from or inspired by Fine Cooking)
Champagne-Rosemary Cocktails
Stuffed Mushrooms
Turkey Pate Crostini with Fried Sage
Smoked Trout
Local Farm Raised Roast Turkey
Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Gratin
Maple-Glazed Carrots and Shallots
Roasted Brussels Sprouts in Brown Butter-Dijon Dressing
Homemade Dinner Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Friday night, I wanted to make Turkey Shepard's Pie. I'd been looking forward to it all day, especially after running around in the cold. I heated up some of the turkey stock with some flour to thicken it and threw in a pile of shredded dark meat, the leftover carrots and shallots, and some chopped up green beans and cooked it on the stove till it looked thick and yummy. I moved it to two large ramekins and spread mashed potatoes on top and baked it for 20 minutes, till the stew was bubbling and the potatoes were starting to turn golden brown at the edges. It was kind of amazing.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Root Vegetables
I am a big believer in the "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants" approach. (Believer, not always a practitioner) It's not exactly hard in the summer, when farmer's markets and roadside stands are piled with vegetables that actually look more appealing than anything you see in a fast food commercial.
Winter is a little different. Not that I can't find tomatoes and eggplant and corn. And they're good. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them. They're probably 90% as good as the real thing, but the lacking 10% is noticeable. People got through winters before they had fresh spinach and tomatoes from Costa Rica, and they didn't do it eating starch and meat. What were they eating?
I had forgot about root vegetables! Yup, the botanical underground nutrient storage bin, the un-glamorous peasant fare unnoticed in the grocery store, rarely seen in a cookbook and never rearing its head on the restaurant menu.
Potatoes get such a bad rap. Yeah, carbs, glycemic index, whatever. It's almost miraculous, that you can dig this lump out of the ground and it's such an accessible source of nutrition ( alittle too accessible as for as blood sugar is concerned, but, you know, moderation....). Cool story- potatoes are indigenous to Urugay and Chile, close enough to the equator that there are basically no seasons, but mountainous (cold). Their indifference to the lengths of days, hours of sunlight, dramatic temperatures is unique- they grow anywhere, any time. Potatoes are a genetic rockstar. I think I've rhapsodized about my love of sweet potatoes before. It's like if you took a potato, carefully seasoned it, and added a multivitamin.
Carrots are the first thing you think of when you think of root vegetables. They're tasty, versatile, and full of vitamins. But there are these things, that look like carrots, except they're white, a fat.... Parsnips sound pretty lame and they looks like they couldn't possibly taste good.
I had dinner at a friend's house, and she made coq au vin with a parsnip purre. What a lovely healthy alternative to mashed potatoes! I thought. Jumping in to help peel, I realized that I haven't ever cooked and probably never eaten parsnips. Just peeling them, I couldn't beleive how aromatic they were- they smell like thyme, and fenel, and gin, and some kind of flower... How could some knoby sad looking root that grows deep underground taste so fresh and bright?
The puree was so much better than mashed potatoes. I had to investigate this. I had a recipe for a chicken braise with Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips. I meant to try it leaving out the parsnips (oh no!) but instead I doubled it up. It was great. I saw a few recipes for roasting parsnips. (I think all winter vegetables are better roasted, especially brusselss sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash...) I liked the idea of cutting it into matchsticks and eating them like fries. I cut the core out of a few parsnips, cut them into sticks about 2 inches long, 1/2 inch thick, and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne. Roasted at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, the sitcks got a little brown and caramelized around the edges. I curled up in an armchair with a plate of parsnip fries, a bit of balsamic vineagar to dip them in, and an episode of Mad Men. Best snack food ever.
Winter is a little different. Not that I can't find tomatoes and eggplant and corn. And they're good. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them. They're probably 90% as good as the real thing, but the lacking 10% is noticeable. People got through winters before they had fresh spinach and tomatoes from Costa Rica, and they didn't do it eating starch and meat. What were they eating?
I had forgot about root vegetables! Yup, the botanical underground nutrient storage bin, the un-glamorous peasant fare unnoticed in the grocery store, rarely seen in a cookbook and never rearing its head on the restaurant menu.
Potatoes get such a bad rap. Yeah, carbs, glycemic index, whatever. It's almost miraculous, that you can dig this lump out of the ground and it's such an accessible source of nutrition ( alittle too accessible as for as blood sugar is concerned, but, you know, moderation....). Cool story- potatoes are indigenous to Urugay and Chile, close enough to the equator that there are basically no seasons, but mountainous (cold). Their indifference to the lengths of days, hours of sunlight, dramatic temperatures is unique- they grow anywhere, any time. Potatoes are a genetic rockstar. I think I've rhapsodized about my love of sweet potatoes before. It's like if you took a potato, carefully seasoned it, and added a multivitamin.
Carrots are the first thing you think of when you think of root vegetables. They're tasty, versatile, and full of vitamins. But there are these things, that look like carrots, except they're white, a fat.... Parsnips sound pretty lame and they looks like they couldn't possibly taste good.
I had dinner at a friend's house, and she made coq au vin with a parsnip purre. What a lovely healthy alternative to mashed potatoes! I thought. Jumping in to help peel, I realized that I haven't ever cooked and probably never eaten parsnips. Just peeling them, I couldn't beleive how aromatic they were- they smell like thyme, and fenel, and gin, and some kind of flower... How could some knoby sad looking root that grows deep underground taste so fresh and bright?
The puree was so much better than mashed potatoes. I had to investigate this. I had a recipe for a chicken braise with Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips. I meant to try it leaving out the parsnips (oh no!) but instead I doubled it up. It was great. I saw a few recipes for roasting parsnips. (I think all winter vegetables are better roasted, especially brusselss sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash...) I liked the idea of cutting it into matchsticks and eating them like fries. I cut the core out of a few parsnips, cut them into sticks about 2 inches long, 1/2 inch thick, and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne. Roasted at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, the sitcks got a little brown and caramelized around the edges. I curled up in an armchair with a plate of parsnip fries, a bit of balsamic vineagar to dip them in, and an episode of Mad Men. Best snack food ever.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Whole Grain Goodness
Cooking with whole grains seems to be increasingly popular. They have the reputation of being the stuff of vegan health nuts with eating habits that border on self-punishing. But whole grains seem more like an indulgence, like an elevated complex version of the same old starches.
But first- eating whole grains is so healthy! It doesn't seem to have picked up the popularity I think it deserves, maybe the low carb focus is to blame. But for glycemic index based diets like South Beach, the Mediterranean Diet, whole grains are perfect. Brown rice, quinoa, barley and bulgur all have glycemic indexes in the range of 40-50, while white rice and pasta are around 80, and a baked potato is 150. But more importantly, that whole-grainy-ness is loaded with vitamins and minerals and fiber. Diets high in whole grains were shown to reduce BMI, prevent heart attacks, prevent strokes, improve skin, pretty much everything you could want.
The best thing is that whole grains taste better than refined carbs. They have this robust chewey nuttiness, which makes every dish they're a part of more well rounded, with a more complex flavor profile.
Brown rice is the most familliar whole grain. It has the reputation of being hard to cook because it has to cook for much longer. It takes longer but no more effort. You can put a pot of brown rice on the stove and go take a shower, watch your tv show or whatever, and get together whatever else you're going to eat. I've recently realized that brown rice actually works quite well for a pilaf- just needs a longer cooking time. I also like to increase the rice:liquid ratio- I d0 1:2 1/2. I've been enamored of middle eastern/mediteranean flavors in rice pilafs. Two recipes from Fine Cooking are competing for the Pilaf Prize- one has saffron, roasted red peppers (from a jar is the way to go for this), fresh parsley and slivered almonds. The other has caramelized onions, allspice and cinnamon, dried cherries, orange zest and pistachios- it's not too sweet but it feels like a dessert. Brown rice works well for a pilaf because the grain holds together instead of getting soft and mushy, giving you that nice fluffiness.
Quinoa is my big indulgence- at $6 for a little box, I can't use it as a substitute for rice like I'd like to. Quinoa is mind blowingly healthy- not actually a grain, but a seed, quinoa is 20% protein by mass, making it nutritionally more like a bean, or maybe flaxseed. But quinoa has the taste and texture of couscous (couscous has the nutritional value of pasta). For no paticular reason, I love quinoa with Indian food, to soak up the great sauces. And quinoa cooks in less than 10 minutes, faster than white rice and pasta. I mean, it's a miracle food. And that's probably why it's $6.50 for 12 oz.
Barley is a winner. Again, cooks up fast (10 minutes), has that sweet, nutty flavor and just the right chewiness. It's great in any soup in place of pasta or rice. But barley risotto is a discovery that has improved my quality of life. I will probably make this like twice a month. I saute some mushrooms (I use cremini and shitakes), while I'm cooking some barley in chicken broth (1:2 ratio). I tear up a big pile of kale and mix that in with the barley just before it's done, before all the broth is totally absorbed. I pile that in a big bowl and top it with the mushrooms. Parsley or parmasean would be great additions. Barley cooked this way, with baby spinach and lemon juice would be really nice with a piece of fish.
But first- eating whole grains is so healthy! It doesn't seem to have picked up the popularity I think it deserves, maybe the low carb focus is to blame. But for glycemic index based diets like South Beach, the Mediterranean Diet, whole grains are perfect. Brown rice, quinoa, barley and bulgur all have glycemic indexes in the range of 40-50, while white rice and pasta are around 80, and a baked potato is 150. But more importantly, that whole-grainy-ness is loaded with vitamins and minerals and fiber. Diets high in whole grains were shown to reduce BMI, prevent heart attacks, prevent strokes, improve skin, pretty much everything you could want.
The best thing is that whole grains taste better than refined carbs. They have this robust chewey nuttiness, which makes every dish they're a part of more well rounded, with a more complex flavor profile.
Brown rice is the most familliar whole grain. It has the reputation of being hard to cook because it has to cook for much longer. It takes longer but no more effort. You can put a pot of brown rice on the stove and go take a shower, watch your tv show or whatever, and get together whatever else you're going to eat. I've recently realized that brown rice actually works quite well for a pilaf- just needs a longer cooking time. I also like to increase the rice:liquid ratio- I d0 1:2 1/2. I've been enamored of middle eastern/mediteranean flavors in rice pilafs. Two recipes from Fine Cooking are competing for the Pilaf Prize- one has saffron, roasted red peppers (from a jar is the way to go for this), fresh parsley and slivered almonds. The other has caramelized onions, allspice and cinnamon, dried cherries, orange zest and pistachios- it's not too sweet but it feels like a dessert. Brown rice works well for a pilaf because the grain holds together instead of getting soft and mushy, giving you that nice fluffiness.
Quinoa is my big indulgence- at $6 for a little box, I can't use it as a substitute for rice like I'd like to. Quinoa is mind blowingly healthy- not actually a grain, but a seed, quinoa is 20% protein by mass, making it nutritionally more like a bean, or maybe flaxseed. But quinoa has the taste and texture of couscous (couscous has the nutritional value of pasta). For no paticular reason, I love quinoa with Indian food, to soak up the great sauces. And quinoa cooks in less than 10 minutes, faster than white rice and pasta. I mean, it's a miracle food. And that's probably why it's $6.50 for 12 oz.
Barley is a winner. Again, cooks up fast (10 minutes), has that sweet, nutty flavor and just the right chewiness. It's great in any soup in place of pasta or rice. But barley risotto is a discovery that has improved my quality of life. I will probably make this like twice a month. I saute some mushrooms (I use cremini and shitakes), while I'm cooking some barley in chicken broth (1:2 ratio). I tear up a big pile of kale and mix that in with the barley just before it's done, before all the broth is totally absorbed. I pile that in a big bowl and top it with the mushrooms. Parsley or parmasean would be great additions. Barley cooked this way, with baby spinach and lemon juice would be really nice with a piece of fish.
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