pear soup with blue cheese and bacon

it seems that one of the first things i get excited about when fall rolls around are savory fruit soups. i like the flavors, i like the blended texture, and soup feels so nourishing, especially when it's full of yummy fruit. this one is a pear soup with bacon and blue cheese. (the original recipe called for pancetta, to which i tend to say to-may-to, to-mah-to, primarily because i love the bacon of skagit river ranch so much.) 

the soup alone is delicious, but the bacon and blue cheese elevate it to a richer level. rich enough, really, that it's probably better off as a start to a meal than a main course. i'll type out the recipe as i made it, though should note that next time i'll probably add a little more stock to thin it out just a tad. 

pear soup with bacon and blue cheese

adapted from fiveandspice on food52.com

4 slices bacon, chopped into pieces

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1/4 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 small carrot, chopped

1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

2 bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1 inch chunks

1/4 tsp chopped fresh thyme

pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

1 1/2 + cups vegetable or chicken stock (i'd be hesitant to use store-bought chicken stock here--the salt level would probably overwhelm the pear)

couple of tablespoons of greek yogurt (original recipe calls for creme fraiche)

salt and pepper to taste

crumbled blue cheese

in a large soup pot, cook the bacon until crispy. remove with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. 

pour off all but about a tablespoon of the bacon fat and add a little olive oil to the pot and heat to medium/medium low. add the onion and cook until softened but not browned. stir in the garlic, potato, and carrot and cook, covered, about 10 minutes. add pear, syrup, thyme, and nutmeg and cook a few minutes, stirring, to coat the vegetables in the syrup mixture. 

add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, until potatoes, carrots and pears are soft, about 15 minutes. 

blend until smooth. you can blend in batches in the blender, but this is where an immersion blender comes in really handy. 

sources:
bacon from skagit river ranch
pears from...um...crap, i can't remember! someone at the u district farmers market!
potatoes from olsen farms
onion and garlic from willie green's organics
chicken stock made from stokesberry chicken

herbed potato salad with lemon and olive oil dressing

every summer requires a reliable potato salad, and this summer mine was the herbed potato salad with lemon-olive oil dressing from bon appetit. some batches turned out better than others, but having an in-a-pinch recipe to turn to for dinner or last-minute barbecues has simplified several evenings over the course of the season. 

the recipe caught my eye because it calls for fresh herbs that happen to be growing in my herb pots. i've also never been in to mayo-based potato salads and appreciated that this one has a light and tart dressing of olive oil and lemon juice (which i spiced up with a little whole grain mustard and sugar). it comes together super fast, but the salad needs to sit for an hour or so before serving in order for the potatoes to take on the flavor of the dressing-- otherwise, it can seem like a flavorless bowl of steamed potatoes.

use super-waxy potatoes-- in the batch in the photo above i used yukon golds, red lasodas, and viking purples for a colorful mix. they held up beautifully, even though i over-steamed them! (i also forgot the red peppers in the batch pictured, and really missed them. won't make that mistake again.)

herbed potato salad with lemon-olive oil dressing
adapted from bob appetit, june 2000

2 lbs waxy potatoes
1/2 cup rough chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup (or more) extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp (or more) whole grain or dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet or red onion
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt

fresh cracked pepper

3 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp chopped parsley

scrub potatoes and cut into bite-sized pieces, about 1". steam in a basket steamer until tender, about 10 minutes. put potatoes in bowl and add red peppers. in a separate bowl, add lemon juice, mustard, onions, sugar, and salt and pepper. whisk in olive oil, taste, and adjust seasonings. pour dressing over potatoes, add chopped herbs, and mix thoroughly. cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to 4 hours for dressing to flavor the potatoes. serve at room temperature. 

sources:
potatoes: olsen farms

potato gratin with summer savory

right after we moved into our place in seattle i took a careful tour of the yard, looking for any perennial herbs left behind by previous residents. i found only 7 small plants growing along the front of the house that looked like a less woody rosemary, but the taste indicated they were definitely not rosemary. the flavor was a little like thyme, but with the bitterness and pungency of oregano. i snipped a piece to take with me to the seattle tilth edible plant sale a few weeks later, and compared my sample to their herb starts. that's how i discovered we had 7 small summer savory plants in our yard.

once i'd learned what it was, i had a new critical question-- what the heck do you do with it? all of the online information i could find talked about its use in flavoring beans. it wasn't seeming like a terribly versatile herb, and i had 7 of them. (now we're down to 3, since i ripped out 4 to make the tomato bed.)

a couple of months ago i bought a new cookbook, the herbal kitchen by jerry traunfeld. jerry was executive chef at the way celebrated restaurant/inn, the herbfarm in woodinville, washington, before opening his new restaurant here in seattle, poppy. (maybe you saw him on top chef masters this past season! he didn't make it to the end, but we remain darn proud, just the same.) the bottom line is, jerry is a chef known for his knowledge of herbs, and his cookbook offered a great recipe-- a summer savory potato gratin. we're entering a potato drought for several weeks until the new season crops are ready at olsen farms, and the gratin was a perfect use for my final 2 pounds of yukon golds until later in the summer.

summer savory potato gratin

adapted from the herbal kitchen by jerry traunfeld

2 lbs organic waxy or russet potatoes, like yukon golds or rio grande

1+ Tbsp butter cut into dices, plus some softened for preparing the pan

1/4 cup chopped shallot

1/4 cup chopped summer savory (substitutions: 2 Tbps chopped winter savory or chopped thyme)

1 cup (or more) grated good quality gruyere cheese

3/4 cup milk (we used organic 2%)

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

heat oven to 400 degrees. peel potatoes and slice them as close to 1/16" as you can. (remember when i said you have to get a mandoline if you don't have one? i'm serious. go get one now. you can slice 2 lbs of potatoes in, like, 4 minutes.)

butter a gratin dish (glass or ceramic) and arrange 1/3 of the potato slices around the bottom. top with 1/2 shallots, 1/3 savory, and 1/3 cheese. sprinkle with salt and pepper. repeat twice more, topping with savory and cheese. (season each layer with salt and pepper!) dot top with the diced butter and pour milk over top.

bake 40-45 minutes until browned and bubbly.

sources:

yukon gold potatoes-- olsen farms

shallots-- pipitone farm

beef stew over mashed potatoes-- a staple

as it happens, it can be 55 degrees and raining well into may here in seattle. thus, beef stew season lingers. i make this all the time (really-- all.the.time.), but i'm just now getting around to posting about it.

i first tried this recipe in 2002 when i was taking an evening course in landscape design at the local college. i came into class one day and a friendly classmate asked, "hey, how are you?" i responded, like a complete dork, "I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH I LIKE THE STEW I MADE TONIGHT!" she smiled and shifted away from the crazy stew lady and i spent the rest of class daydreaming about my new creation.

i've tried several other beef stew recipes, but i keep coming back to this one. the original came from epicurious.com. 

by the way, this takes 3+ hours, so start early!

beef stew with mashed potatoes
from hearty beef stew with green peas and carrots, epicurious 2001 
serves 4

1 lb organic, grass-fed stew beef
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbps flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1  bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme (more if using fresh)
2 large carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 cup frozen peas

in large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. sprinkle beef with salt and freshly cracked pepper. add beef, in batches if necessary, to the pot and brown on all sides, adding more oil if need be. (color equals flavor, so resist the urge to stir the meat. let the sides get a good sear on them before you turn them over.) remove meat from pot and set aside.

reduce heat to medium. add chopped onion to pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. add garlic and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and the liquid has been reduced. (mushrooms let off a ton of liquid when they hit heat, so cook until that has been reduced. if using dried, reconstitute by soaking in hot water for about 20 minutes and add to the stew when you add the beef.) stir in flour and cook, stirring, about one minute. add wine and deglaze pan, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom. add broth, bay leaves, thyme, and beef. bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. cook at a low simmer for about 2 1/2 hours until beef is tender. (ideally it will be very soft and pull apart easily.)

add carrots and peas to pot and cook another 30 minutes until carrots are cooked through. (carrots can also go in earlier.) taste and season with salt and pepper. 

serve over mashed potatoes. (my "recipe" below.)

mashed potatoes

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes

2 and/or 3 of the following:
milk
butter
sour cream
buttermilk 
salt and pepper

peel potatoes and chop into large chunks. add to a pot and cover with cold water. (cold water important for even cooking.) add about a 1/2 tsp or so salt to cooking water. bring to a boil and cook until you can get a fork through them easily. 

drain and return to pot with some of the cook water still on them. mash. stir in milk, butter, buttermilk, sour cream (some combination, depending on what you have on hand) and salt and pepper until they taste the way you want. i like to overseason slightly just to make sure they stand up under the stew.

sources: 

grass-fed beef and cal white potatoes from olsen farms 
mushrooms, dried porcinis, from foraged and found edibles 
chicken stock made from stokesberry sustainable farm chicken
frozen peas from our freezer, last fall's preservation

slow-cooked beef short rib ragu with homemade pasta

okay, so it's not exactly a springy meal, but the weather was fairly wintry last week, and the short ribs in the freezer needed to be cooked. i read countless short rib recipes last week, but ultimately decided to try a short rib ragu from bobby flay. (i may have mentioned, we really really like a good ragu.)

i stewed the ribs in vegetables, wine, and stock for about 3 hours on the stove, as i don't yet own a good ovenproof braising pot (sorry, le creuset, the hundreds of dollars it will take to make you mine continue to evade me!), and served over homemade pappardelle pasta with a generous amount of chopped parsley and grated cheese. bobby's recipe called for tomato paste, which i substituted with some garden tomatoes from the freezer. i figured the stovetop preparation would benefit from a little more liquid in the pot. it was totally delicious, and made for some amazing leftovers!

short rib ragu
from bobby flay's short rib ragu with pappardelle and pecorino romano 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds short ribs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 dried bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 small carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 medium shallots, diced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups diced tomatoes (or 1 15-oz can)
1/4 cup tawny port
1 cup red wine, such as cabernet
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 cups homemade beef stock
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 pound pappardelle or other long, flat pasta
chopped parsley
grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese

tie bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme together in a pouch made of cheesecloth.

heat oil in a large, heavy bottom pot over medium heat. season short ribs with salt and fresh cracked pepper. working in batches if necessary, brown the ribs on all sides. (one thing i've learned from watching tyler florence on the food network is "color equals flavor," so let them sear long enough that they develop some good golden brown color, 5 or so minutes each side.) remove from pot and set aside. 

add carrots, celery, onion, and shallots to pot and cook over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. add flour and cook, stirring, about one minute. add port and wine and deglaze, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. simmer until wine is reduced by about half. add pouch with herbs (bouquet garni), garlic, and beef and chicken stocks. 

return ribs to the pot and bring to a simmer. cover and lower heat to low and cook until very tender, stirring occasionally, 3 hours. (the mixture should cook at a low, easy simmer-- if it gets too rowdy, turn down the heat. when done, the meat should be almost falling off the bone.)

remove and discard the herb pouch (bouquet garni). remove the ribs from the pot and shred the beef from the bones. meanwhile, with the ribs out of the pot, use an immersion blender in the sauce to blend the solid vegetables and to thicken it. (optional.) add shredded beef to pot, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered to reduce and thicken the sauce, about 20 minutes or more. (cook to desired thickness.)

serve over hot pasta with chopped parsley and grated cheese. 

sources:

delicious, grass- and potato-fed beef short ribs from olsen farms 

bacon-wrapped vegetable gratins. not a diet food.

heh. i thought i was getting tired of root vegetables until i wrapped them in bacon. edible seattle's recipe maven jess thompson presented a recipe last january for winter root vegetable gratins as an idea for a super bowl snack. this past sunday, i took her up on it. uh, can i just say, YUM?

recipe here: bacon root vegetable gratins 

the recipe says to use a mini-muffin tin, but my vegetables were big, so i used the regular muffin tin. also, i trimmed the bacon to wrap around, which ended up being 6" or so lengths, rather than the 3" pieces the recipe calls for. i used an uber sharp cheddar-style cheese, and just sprinkled a little on each layer. the 2 Tbsp of cheese in each layer called for in the recipe has to be a misprint! toothpicks were to secure the bacon as i put the gratins together, but were removed before cooking.

baked 30 minutes, et voila...

... an incredibly decadent way to experience winter veggies! 

speaking of winter, rob and i are heading to sunny hawaii tomorrow for what is a well-earned vacation on his part, and an aren't-i-lucky-he-wants-me-to-come-too trip for yours truly. know what i'm looking forward to as much as anything else? FRUIT, that's what. juicy, drippy, tangy, sticky, tart, sweet, fruit. i'll be sure and get some pics. 

catch y'all a little later!

roasted celeriac soup

roots and greens, roots and greens... seems like it's the same ol' song at the farmers market these winter days. but, spring is on its way, and in the meantime, i'm really getting to know some roots and greens. 

this is celeriac, or celery root, a type of celery grown for it's root rather than the stalks and leaves. the flavor is very similar to stalk celery, though milder, sweeter, and not nearly as bitter or salty. i've been using it as a celery substitute in some of the stocks and soups i'm making this winter, since celery isn't available. i've also mashed it with potatoes as a side dish and roasted it with other roots. 

it may look like a baseball-sized wart, but it is fresh, earthy, and delicious.

i've found it's easiest to slice off the thick, knobby skin rather than try to peel. at this stage, the celery aroma really comes through. 

once inside, its pretty little tortoiseshell pattern is revealed. 

this time, the celeriac became a smooth and creamy soup that looked a lot like cream of wheat, but tasted fantastic. the little bit of sweetness in the celeriac is intensified by roasting it, and a thorough spin in the blender creates a silky texture. this is a wonderful soup, but i think it would be best served as a small starter to a meal. a big bowl of it got to be a little bit intense for me, as is the case with most blended soups, i've found. 

roasted celeriac soup

from planet green*

(serves 2-4)

2 cups celeriac, peeled and cubed

olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced 

1 potato, peeled and cubed

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 tsp fresh thyme

1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper

toss cubed celeriac with a little olive oil and roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

heat 1 Tbps olive oil in soup pot over to medium. add onion and saute until softened, then stir in garlic and cook for about a minute, careful not to burn the garlic.

add potato, stock, and thyme. bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 20 minutes. add roasted celeriac and simmer another 10 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. remove from heat and cool slightly.

add soup (in batches, if necessary) to blender and blend until very smooth. (can also use an immersion blender, but i've found the countertop blender most effective when i'm after a smooth texture.)

return to pot, stir in milk, and season with salt and pepper.

*the original recipe called for celery, leeks, fresh tarragon and parsley. as i had none of these on hand, they didn't go in the pot. however, i suspect these would all be wonderful additions, and would add a little more green to the color. 

sources:

celeriac-- full circle farm 

onion-- willie green's organics 

potato-- olsen farms 

not ruining the corn chowder

last week, i ruined the soup. it was a corn and potato chowder from edible seattle, fall 2008 that i'd been looking forward to all week. i made it to the final step, congratulated myself on how quickly it came together, and then i ruined it-- i forgot to remove the bay leaf before i went at it with the immersion blender. there are conflicting reports on the danger level of ingesting bay leaves-- some say "OMG you will DIE," and others say that while some laurels are toxic, culinary bay laurel is harmful only because it can cause scratching in the digestive tract. even if i had been willing to risk death or a punctured intestine, the soup tasted of nothing but BAY. well, bay and all the salt i added to try to mask it. so, into the disposal it went, while i battled the heartache of all that waste.
last night, i tried again. seeing no need to risk repeating my mistake, i let the bay leaves remain cozily in their jar. 

while onions and potatoes are still available at the farmers markets, i had to (or, was lucky enough to) pull some ingredients out of storage. sweet corn and red peppers in january-- hoorah for summer preservation! 

i substituted fresh thyme from the garden for the rosemary (i found the rosemary a little aggressive in the first batch), and used organic 1% milk to keep it light. the soup was deee-licious, and even though we went a little bacon-crazy on the accompanying salad, it turned out to be a good let's-not-undo-all-the-progress-made-on-the-exercise-bike meal.

corn and potato chowder 
adapted from edible seattle, fall 2008 

1 cup corn
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3/4" cubes
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp butter or oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup lowfat milk

heat butter in soup pot over medium heat. cook onion, pepper, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. add potato, corn, thyme, and stock, and simmer partially covered until potatoes are tender and beginning to break down (this will thicken the soup), about 20-30 minutes. or, cook just until potatoes are tender and partially blend to thicken.

stir in milk, and season well with salt and pepper.




sources:
corn and red peppers from alvarez farms 
potatoes from olsen farms 

beef burgundy and three root-vegetable mash-- amongst the top 10 things i've ever cooked. maybe top 5...

me: i need to come up with an angle for my beefy post.
rob: what kind of angle?
me: you know, an intro or an anecdote-- something besides 'i made this and it was good.'
rob: 'i made this and it was REALLY good?'

that's as good a place to start as any. i made this. and it was really. REALLY. good. it was so delicious and satisfying, in fact, that when rob forgot to take the leftovers for his lunch the next day, he came home to retrieve them. unprecedented! if i had nothing to do but cook and eat and get really fat, this would be my daily meal.

we are big fans of slow-braised meats of all kinds-- wild boar ragout, lamb bolognese, elk with pappardelle-- big fans. my list of "things to learn to cook" has included a rich braised meat since the fall, and i finally took the plunge last week. i didn't suspect it would be a difficult preparation, but was concerned that there may be a trick to getting really great flavors. if there is a trick, gourmet's boeuf bourguignon from march 2001 has it.

i followed the recipe almost to the letter, even the first step of boiling the bacon. i'm still not sure what this step accomplishes, but it did appear to boil out some of the fat, which is just fine with me. the boiled bacon goes into the stew as whole strips, which i found unusual, but worry not-- the strips melt away into pure flavoring during the 4 hour cook time.

recipe link again: boeuf bourguignon, gourmet march 2001

(forgive me for not typing it out? it's kinda long, and i've got to wrap this up so i can prep the pork chops and watch michael pollan on oprah... you understand, yes?)

a few notes:

• don't skip the deglaze with brandy-- it makes the house smell of a bacon and waffle breakfast for a few minutes.
• i didn't have celery or parsley, so simply left them out.
• i used baby shallots instead of pearl onions and didn't bother to blanch or boil first-- just gave them 30 minutes to an hour to cook in the stew.
• i used dried porcinis instead of fresh mushrooms, and since i didn't reconstitute them first, i ended up having to add about 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup homemade beef stock towards the end of the cooking time. watch it, and if it starts to get dry, add a little water or stock.
• one more thing, and this may be a controversial thing to say. i may need to eat my words one day, but... i've decided the missive "don't cook with what you wouldn't drink" is horse pucky. without hesitation i poured a $7 bottle of wine that had been open since mid-december into the pot (and not open with a wine-saver top, either!), and came back to one of the best meals i've ever made. (that said, before the bottle sat open for a month, it was something i would drink! there's still plenty of stuff i wouldn't even allow into my home, for cooking or otherwise.)

super-rich beef not your thing? maybe you'll like what i served it with, a mash of 3 winter root vegetables-- potato, carrot, and nutty sunchokes.

sunchokes, also called jerusalem artichokes , are nothing like globe artichokes that top your pizza and go into cheesy spinach dip at the bar n' grill. they look like ginger root, or extraterrestrial larvae, and are the tuber of a kind of sunflower. their texture is much like a water chestnut or crisp apple, and they have a fresh, earthy, and incredibly nutty flavor. i've read several accounts of them causing intestinal distress for certain people, but so far i've not noticed any side effects, though we are eating them in small quantities, and almost always mixed with other roots.

this mash was a flavorful alternative to pure mashed potatoes, and probably a little healthier, too.

puree of three root vegetables

from gourmet, december 1993
(serves 2)

1 carrot, peeled
1 russet potato, peeled
1/2 lb sunchokes, scrubbed clean and peeled (peeling optional-- but if you try it, just scrape off as much as you can. no need to be thorough.)
butter
salt and pepper

chop vegetables into uniform chunks. cover with cold water and cook 20-30 minutes over medium heat, covered, until they are all tender. drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid.

transfer to bowl and mash together, or use mixer or food processor and mix to desired smoothness. add reserved cooking water to thin, if it's too thick. season to taste with butter, salt, and pepper.


sources:
stew beef and potatoes from olsen farms
most delicious bacon ever from skagit river ranch
onions from willie green's organic farm
dried porcinis from foraged and found edibles
carrots from nash's organic produce
sunchokes from stoney plains organic farm
baby shallots from pipitone farm

gnocchi success! but a different sauce next time.

i've wanted to try tyler florence's potato gnocchi recipe for a while now, but haven't been prepared for the mess it was sure to make. but really, what else is a partly-cloudy sunday afternoon for if not plastering your countertops with gooey potato dough and throwing flour all over yourself?

tyler's recipe calls for russets, but after consulting with the knowledgeable gents from olsen farms at the saturday farmer's market, i went with a variety called cal white. it has a bright white flesh and a light and fluffy texture. i'll definitely do more with these potatoes.

tyler's recipe is here. i followed the gnocchi recipe exactly, but after reading some reviews decided to take a slight detour on the sauce.

gnocchi with peas and prosciutto cream sauce

1lb or so prepared gnocchi, drained

1tbsp butter

1/2 shallot, chopped

1 c green peas

1/2 c chicken stock

1/4 c white wine

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

4 slices prosciutto

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

bake prosciutto in 350 degree oven, 10 minutes or until crispy.

after boiling and draining gnocchi, pan fry in batches in butter over medium heat to a golden brown.

in a separate pan, saute shallots in olive oil until softened. add chicken stock, white wine, and heavy cream and cook until slightly thickened. add peas and cook until heated through. adjust seasonings. taste and adjust for cream/stock ratio as well.

serve gnocchi with sauce, crumbled prosciutto, and grated parmesan cheese.

i have to admit, i did not love the sauce. primarily, i did not think the peas did much for the dish. maybe a simple cream sauce next time, and the peas as a side? but at least i got the hard part down! searching for a great sauce will be a welcomed task.