Quinoa Salad with Radicchio, Rutabaga and Hazelnuts

A while ago, a friend pointed me towards a recipe in the New York Times that used farro and rutabaga.  I'm a huge fan of farro, I like to mix it in with rice to add texture, and love it in salads.  This was the perfect recipe for me to try since it incorporates a lot of flavors I already like, and a big new one, rutabagas.  I had been wary of them because I don't love sweet starchy vegetables; I am very particular about squashes and sweet potatoes.  But there are so many rutabaga enthusiasts out there!  Have you noticed this too, readers?

I decided it was time to try the rutabaga when last week, they were the answer to a question on Jeopardy! (a question to the answer?), and I found them at the farmer's market.  For a gathering of ladies to taste wines from Chile, I adapted the salad to use quinoa, a grain from the Andes, and added radicchio as a complement to the sweetness of the rutabaga.   This salad was really delicious and felt healthy and had a good variety of flavors and textures.

I recommend having a large sieve to make handling the quinoa infinitely easier.  If you don't have one, do not fret.  You will probably lose lots of grains in the rinsing, and hopefully you have a large metal bowl and very big pot for the steaming.  In the end it's worth it as the quinoa has a great fluffy yet crunchy texture.

Quinoa Salad with Radicchio, Rutabaga and Hazelnuts

Adapted from the New York Times

Takes 1 hour

Makes 8 servings

1 medium to large rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (not too large, as the farmer told me they get hard and fibrous)
extra virgin olive oil
fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups red quinoa
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (1/2 of a large shallot)
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1 head of radicchio, sliced thinly
1/2 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Toss rutabaga with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once or twice, until rutabaga is very tender and browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring salted water to boil in a large pot.  Rinse quinoa in 5 washes of water, each time shaking it around in the bowl, letting it settle, and then cupping the quinoa while you let the water pour out.  The quinoa is often dusty (not usual dust, but its own powdery residue), and can sometimes have small stones in it.  This is a step which is very helpful with a a sieve.  When the water is boiling add quinoa and cook for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the shallot, vinegar, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil and some pepper.

Drain the quinoa in a large seive (or very very carefully with the help of a large spoon.  Rinse with cold water.  Return the pot to the stove and fill with an inch of water, bring to a simmer, and balance the sieve of quinoa in the pot (so it isn't touching the bottom), cover with a kitchen towl and a lid, and steam for 10 minutes.  If you do not have a sieve, place the quinoa in a metal bowl in the simmering pot, cover with the towel and the pot with the lid, and steam for 10 minutes.  I had to use a roasting pan to fit our smallest metal mixing bowl!

Add the quinoa to the bowl with the salad dressing, and once it has cooled a little, add the radicchio, the rutabaga and the hazelnuts.  Mix together.  Taste and add vinegar, salt and pepper to your liking.

This salad keeps really well, the quinoa grains hold their texture and nothing gets too soggy.  But don't wait too long to eat it!

experimental vegan ginger pistachio pear blondies

I've been trying to become a vegan baker since the betrothed is lactose-intolerant and is allergic to eggs.  He however loves baked treats and eats the conventional ones and gets some mild gastric distress!  Since he isn't vegan, I often use lactose-free milk and substitute almond oil or nut butters for eggs in recipes to make cookies.  This website is a very helpful guide to substitutions.

I thought the blondies I made for the Sugar-fest would be a perfect subject for vegan experimentation since they are dense, and already have fruit and nut flavors, which are key to flavorful substitutions.  I made poached pears the other night, and I thought the leftover poaching liquid* would be smart to use since it would bring additional flavor and be a good liquid replacement for the eggs.  These blondies were delicious, more moist and cake-y than the other ones, but still dense and toothsome.  Like the conventional blondies, we forgot to take a pictures before they were all gone!  Here they are, still in the pan, just out of the oven.  I'm thinking of making a version next week with chocolate chips, dried cherries and almonds.  I like leaving the betrothed with something in the cookie jar when I have to leave town.

Vegan pear pistachio ginger blondies
adapted from the martha stewart recipe
Takes 1 hour
Makes 16 blondie squares

9 tablespoons (1 1/8 sticks) Earth Balance, softened, plus more for pan

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar syrup / pear poaching liquid

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup brunoised pear, 1 ripe but not very soft bosc pear

3/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Butter an 8-inch square pan.  Line with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides.  Butter parchment.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Mix in pears, ginger and nuts so that they are just coated.

In a separate bowl, beat together Earth Balance and sugar until sort of fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add vanilla and sugar syrup, and mix until combined.  Mix in flour-fruit-nut mixture until combined.

Dump dough into pan and spread evenly.  Bake in the center of the oven for 50 minutes.  It's done when a fork inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.  Let cool for about 15 minutes.  Lift the blondies out of the pan onto a cutting board and let cool completely.  Cut into squares.  They are best within three days.

*  The liquid was made by simmering 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 4 cups water, 4 pears (halved and cored), 4 crushed cardamom pods, 10 peppercorns, an inch of ginger, sliced, for about 30 minutes.  I can never bring myself to throw such deliciousness away, so I substituted 1/4 cup of poaching liquid for 1/4 cup of the light brown sugar.  Poached pears are one of my favorite winter desserts.  Use those pears that never seem to get soft enough to eat plain, or the ones that are grainy and mealy.

Sweets for the new year

Over the holidays, I stopped in New York to see friends and hosted a party that was an annual tradition my former roommates and I liked to call Sugarfest.  When I lived in New York, we would invite friends over in December, before everyone left town for their families, and make a variety of cookies, cakes and other snacks.  One roommate liked to make her grandmother's pink cake, flavored and colored with maraschino cherries and their juice! Very few people were brave enough to try it, but we always had it.  Like most holiday traditions, our sugar fest was about memories and personal connections to food.  We made lots of familiar treats: peanut butter hershey kiss cookies, seven layer bars, gingerbread men, and all sorts of sugar cookie recipes.

This year, we had a sugar fest in January on my return to New York, and there were new babies, new partners, old friends, and plenty of sweets!  I made the hershey kiss cookies and these delicious pear ginger blondies that I adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.  They are the third plate back on the right.  I also tried to make a chocolate caramel shortbread cookie, but the caramel didn't set, and I will have to try again before I post a recipe.  It was a delicious mistake, however.  I am also going to try to make a egg-free, lactose free version of these blondies for the betrothed.  Stay tuned!

Pear, Pistachio and Ginger Blondies 

Adapted from Martha Stewart, Holiday Cookies 2005

Makes 25 blondie bites

Takes 1 hour

9 tablespoons (1 1/8 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Pear Eau-de-Vie (Martha called for vanilla, and I didn't have it, but I did have F.E. Trimbach & Ribeauville Poire William!)

1 cup brunoised pear (Martha called for dried pears, but I didn't have them, and pears are still in season, so I went with fresh bartletts, about 1.  Bruinoise is just a fancy word for chopped into small cubes)

3/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Butter a 9-inch square pan.  Line with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides.  Butter parchment.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Mix in pears, ginger and nuts so that they are just coated.

In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add eggs and poire william (or whatever you are using), and mix until combined.  Mix in flour-fruit-nut mixture until combined.

Pour batter into your pan and bake in the center of the oven for 50 minutes.  It's done when a fork inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.  Let cool for about 15 minutes.  Lift the blondies out of the pan onto a cutting board and let cool completely.  Cut into bite-size squares.

These blondies were so ginger-y and delicious!  They didn't have a lot of pear flavor, but some tasters were certain they contained cardamom.  There was something intoxicating and fragrant about them.

busy busy bean soup

This was the perfect soup to have simmering away on the stove while I was working.  Wednesdays are our busy nights with yoga and basketball, so this soup was ready for the boyfriend before he headed off to basketball, and I ate this when I came home from yoga.  If I had some thyme or rosemary I would have put that in too, with the tomatoes I think.  But, the soup was pretty good just as it is.  If I had thought it out better, I would have made the focaccia I baked on Thursday on Wednesday to eat with the soup.  Together, they are making a pretty good lunch today!

I did very little to change the focaccia recipe.  I let the dough rise for 1 and half hours for its first rise, and probably an hour and a half for it's second rise.  I got caught up running some errands!  It's a beautiful dough that was very forgiving, and the focaccia is dense and yummy.  We didn't have rosemary so we topped ours with olives throughout, and some crushed red pepper on one quarter, some oregano on another quarter, and some onions on a little strip.  All variations were delicious!

Bean Soup (Basically Minestrone)

Makes 6 servings

Takes 3 hours

1 cup dried white beans

4 cups water

1 onion, sliced

4 small cloves of garlic, sliced

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

10 peppercorns

1 16 oz. jar of tomatoes

2 carrots, diced

1 package frozen spinach, thawed

1 cup orzo

If you remember, or are good at planning ahead, put the beans and four cups of water in a bowl, cover, and let sit overnight.  Otherwise, in a bowl, cover white beans with 4 cups of boiling water and let sit for 1 hour.

In a large pot over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in some olive oil (enough to cover bottom of pot).  When they begin to soften, add the smoked paprika and cook until the oil turns red and the onions are completely translucent.  Add the bay leaf and peppercorns and cook a bit more.

Drain the beans and add to the pot, stirring well.  Let cook for a minute or two.  Add the jar of tomatoes, salt (1 tsp. for now*) and then 2 jars of water.  Raise heat so that it boils, and then reduce heat back to medium and let simmer, covered, for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Check for salt and doneness of beans, and when you are satisfied with the beans being cooked, add carrots.  Start water for pasta and cook a few minutes shorter than package directions.  Add pasta and spinach to soup and cook for a few more minutes.  If you are going to serve it later, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit until you are ready to reheat.

* I ended up using 2 and a half spoons of salt in the soup (plus more in the water for cooking pasta).  It was a little on the salty side...

Focaccia with Olives

from Bon Appetit, May 1995

Makes 8 very big servings

Takes 4 hours total rising and baking time

2 cups warm water (105°F  to 115°F - it is very important that your water is not too hot.  too cold is fine)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (not instant)

4 1/2 cups (about) all purpose flour (I used bread flour)

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

24 black or green brine-cured olives (such as Kalamata or Greek), pitted, halved
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried

Place 2 cups warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over; stir with fork. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.

Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball. Oil large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  There is nowhere in my house that is warm right now, so I put it in the oven with the light on.

Punch down dough; knead into ball and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes or less.

Coat a large, lipped baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Punch down dough.  At this stage, mine was so beautiful!  With all those long gluten strings that you are supposed to swoon over in your bread dough.  And readers, I did swoon, but I forgot to take a photograph.  Next time...

Transfer to prepared sheet. Using fingertips, press out dough to edges of the sheet, this will be difficult because the dough will want to contract.  Persevere.  Let dough rest 10 minutes.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until puffy, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Bake bread until brown and crusty, about 20 minutes. Serve bread warm or at room temperature.

We couldn't stop ourselves from eating before the picture was taken!

Oh go a'wassailing

Over the holidays I made wassail, not once, but twice!  You may remember wassail from the Christmas carol, but you may be confused as to what a wassail or to wassail is.  You are not alone.

The OED lets me know that wassail is a greeting and a wish for good health and also the drink proffered to wish good health and cheer at holiday times.  I love these connections between food and feeling!  Not everyone does, for instance that party pooper Milton: "That men should bee..push't forward to gaming, jigging, wassailing, and mixt dancing is a horror to think."

300 years later in our puritan country, wassail was considered too debauched for children's music: both the Chipmunk and Muppet versions of the song are called "Here we come a'caroling!"

Horrors!  My holiday was filled with games, jigs and wassails, I hope yours was too!

Inspired by a Martha Stewart recipe, I had to improvise when on Christmas I didn't have the magazine and the website did not have the recipe.  All I knew was the recipe called for roasted apple slices, apple brandy, apple cider, and 2 bottles of brown ale.  At another holiday party, I made the wassail again, this time sticking to Martha's recipe, which has a larger beer to cider ratio.  It was also well-received, but on comparison, I like my improvised recipe better.  This wassail was so delicious, warm, not too sweet, but still very apple-y and spicy.

Wassail

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Takes 30 minutes

1 apple, sliced

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 quart apple cider

3 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 bottles Anchor Christmas Ale, room temperature (Martha suggests a brown ale, like Newcastle)

1 cup Apple Brandy (I used Clear Creek once and Laird's Apple Jack once, both are delicious)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place apple slices on a buttered baking tray and drizzle maple syrup over them, tossing to coat.

Roast for 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, simmer cider with spices on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Lower heat and add ale.  Be careful!  It will foam up.  When it is heated, add the brandy and warm until it is steaming.

Place 2 apple slices in each heatproof glass.  Cover with wassail and love and joy come to you!

Some Experiments

Happy New Year everyone!  I feel so excited about 2010 already.  Hope it's a good one for you all.  In the next few days I'll try to post some recipes from over the holidays, once I get some pictures together.  There was so much cooking.

Yesterday was my first night cooking in Halifax, and I decided to experiment a little.  I made my dal, but towards the end, I added some defrosted frozen whole spinach.  I only made 1/2 cup of dal and added 2 cups of water.  It was really good.

We ate the dal spinach with some chapatis I made with cracked wheat, and an experimental potato curry.  I've been meaning to use the cracked wheat since I had so much leftover from the amazing cracked wheat top knots from October.  I wanted to make a massaman-ish curry with potatoes and peanuts.  My betrothed was not so happy about this curry.  In his words, "it's not that I don't like it, I just don't like it." 

I actually really liked it.  It was spicy and peanuty.  You have to like peanuts to like this curry.  Try it and tell me what you think.

Cracked Wheat Chapatis

Makes 8 chapatis

Takes 2 hours (but only 30 active minutes)

1/4 cup cracked wheat

1/2 cup water

1 cup chapati flour (wheat flour)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup water

Place the cracked wheat in a heatproof bowl.  Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil and pour over the wheat.  Cover and let sit for 1 hour.  (While waiting you can make whatever you want to eat with the chapatis.)

Drain the wheat of any excess water and place in a large bowl with the flour, salt and water.  Oil your hands with ghee or canola oil and mix together to form a dough ball, adding more water or flour as necessary.  Place on a flour surface and knead until it is smooth and tight.  Let rest for 30 minutes while you are making other things.

Pre-heat a griddle on high.  Divide the dough evenly into 8 balls.  I divide the dough into halves, the halves into halves, etc to form evenly sized balls.  Using plenty of flour, roll into thin circles.  I recommend watching Manjula making her chapatis.  She's a pro!

Cook the chapatis until they are brown on each side, (they won't puff) and rub both sides with ghee when you take them off the griddle.  To keep them warm, place between two plates with paper towels on the bottom and top of the stack.

This is a hearty chapati that I really enjoyed.  I think this would also make a delicious cracker, and I am planning on making the dough again and baking it.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Peanut Potato Curry

Makes 4 servings

Takes 30 minutes

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1/2 inch piece of ginger, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

4 potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1/2 green chili

1 teaspoon sambhar powder, or other curry powder

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 inch piece of dried tamarind, available in Indian grocery stores

1/2 cup water

Boil the water and pour over the piece of tamarind to soften it.

Heat oil in a large saute pan on medium-high.  Add peanuts, and when they are lightly brown, add the ginger and garlic.  When they are beginning to brown (make sure your stove is not too hot), add the potatoes.  Saute for a minute and add the sambhar powder, green chili and cinnamon.  Squeeze the tamarind, mashing all the pulp loose with your fingers.  Pour the water only into the pan, saving the tamarind pulp in case you later decide the curry needs more sour taste.

Add salt (a half teaspoon for now), lower the heat to simmer, and cover for 10 minutes.

Check the potaotes for doneness (it will probably need 5 more minutes) and the sauce for yumminess.  It should be spicy, if it is not, add more sambhar powder or chili powder.  It should be salty, if it is not, add more salt.  It should have a little tang, if not, pour more hot water over the tamarind, let soak for 2 minutes, and add the juice back to the potatoes.  Add more water if it's a little too dry.  You want the curry to be saucy so you can scoop it up with your chapatis.

It was soo good!  The betrothed is not much of a food experimenter, so maybe after he eats it a couple of times, he'll like it better...