Veggie Challenge #6: Golden Beets

Beets are not something I eat.  Ever.  To be honest, I didn't know they weren't always purple and pickled naturally.  [Can you tell we ate a lot of pickled beets growing up?]  I credit my semi-recent rediscovery to the 'seasonal vegetables' side that Skipjack's Restaurant serves with their catch of the day lunch special.

Back in the day (a whole 4 months ago...) when I worked in Copley Square I used to get Skipjack's take out every once and a while for lunch.  On one particular instance my salmon came with some unidentified orange vegetables next to it.  Now, I have to say I think of myself as somewhat of a know-it-all when it comes to vegetables.  I may not like it or know how to cook it, but chances are I at least know what it is.  I picked this unidentified vegetable up, smelled it, licked it, (ask my dad, this is my process for tasting new foods and has been for a long time) and then proceeded to take a bite.  It was buttery and amazing and delicious - the stuff dreams are made of.  Probably because they were roasted in butter, but we aren't going to focus on that.  Bottom line?  Golden beets are awesome. 

"They look like little beet astronauts." - Boy

 There are a couple ways to cook beets - boiling and roasting.  Boiling immediately reduces the beets to flavorless, nutrient-less gold blobs while roasting is super-easy and leaves them chock full of all flavor and juice.  No-brainer.  I chose to wrap them individually in foil and toss them right on the oven rack to roast for 90 minutes at 400F.  You will know they are fully roasted when they are fork tender. [Oh, and put a tray under those suckers or you will be scouring hardened sugary beet juice pucks from the bottom of your oven.]


I decided to do a cold beet salad with oranges and sweet onions to play of the sweetness of the beets.  [Great decision, Alex.]  I roughly chopped the beets as well as some oranges and onions.  Tossed them with a red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Very simple and very amazing.

Salad aside, I must recommend oven roasting your beets as the way to go.  Discovering beets after not being a beet fan for years means I have some serious catching up to do.  Good thing the beet season runs through the winter, eh?

Freggie Challenge #2: Tomatillo (Toe.Mah.Tee.Yoooo)

Tomatillos are funky little buggers.  Common in both Latin American and Mexican cuisines as green sauces, they are not something I think to use very often.  Well, ok, ever.  They are part of the tomato family and are basically smaller, greener, more tart versions of their big red brother.  [Think of it like a Corona and a Coronita.  Smaller bottle, cuter name.] As I mentioned before, they are normally used in green salsas and such, but I like their taste so much in the natural state that I decided to add them to my Saturday morning frittata.

Frittata is an amazing thing to have in your arsenal of recipes.  It requires minimal effort, you can't really screw it up, and guests will absolutely gush over it.  Minimal effort, maximum return.  What chef doesn't love that?  Score!

For this particular frittata, I used a whole slew of veggies that were both hiding in the drawers of my fridge and that I bought that morning: tomatillos, an onion, a yellow pepper, a tomato, spinach, potatoes, and garlic. 

So get this.  I am going to teach you to make a flawless frittata in four steps.

1.  Chop up whatever veggies you are in the mood for that day.
2.  Sauté said veggies (and garlic, it's all about the garlic) in a pan that is oven safe.  Personally, I use my cast iron skillet.

2.5  Add any cooked meat that you might want - snausage, bacon, ham, etc. - and stir to evenly distribute.  I forgot this one, so I guess it is 5 easy steps.  Whatever.
3. Pour 10-12 beaten, seasoned eggs over top everything and continue to cook - without stirring - until eggs start to solidify.  [This is where I have to shamelessly plug Penzey's Fox Point seasoning that I put on EVERYTHING.  It's like crack, but better because it doesn't carry a minimum mandatory sentence.  Hopelessly obsessed.]

4.  Toss the whole thing in the oven on a low broil for 10 minutes or until the eggs finish cooking.

You can tell it is done when you grab the handle, shake it, and the eggs don't jiggle.  Voila.  You have an amazing breakfast fit for kings.  For all you non-lactards out there, I usually top it with a piece of whatever cheese (usually goat...) I am into that week before serving. 

Try making one.  You will be pleasantly surprised, I promise.  And if it seems overwhelming, invite me over and I will make one for you.

Veggie Challenge #5: Lentils

I have a dirty little secret that I would like to share with you all.  I don't really like summer.  I know, I know, but hear me out.  I really only have three uses for it - clambakes, outdoor showers, and consuming copious amounts of cold ones while playing Bocce on the beach - and how often do you really get to do those things?  I'll tell you.  Two out of the seven days of the week.  Those other five days are spent wearing your hair wet to work because it is far too sweltering outside to even think about turning on the hair dryer, eating salad every night because you'd melt if you turned on your stove or oven, and being confined to your bedroom (the one A/C'd room in the house) with your mixer if you want to beat heavy cream to stiff peaks.  You describe summer to an Eskimo like that and he would agree that he is living the life.  But I digress.

Today (Sunday) was a glorious glimpse into the months to come.  Fall.  My absolute favorite season of all.  Why Alex, what does fall mean to you?  Football, spiced cider, world famous New England foliage, corn mazes, turtlenecks, local Pumpkin brews, sleeping under the blankets instead of on them, apple picking, the resulting apple pies, cider donuts, home made chili, and... well, I could go on.  I am grinning ear to ear just writing this list.  Anyway.  It was cold today so I jumped at the opportunity to make Lentil Soup - another one of my favorite things.

First, let's take a moment to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the beautiful soup pot boy got me as an early birthday gift.  (Those are obvi his arms and not mine.)

Ooh.

Ahh. 




My recipe involves chorizo sausage, a few choice vegetables, lentils, white wine, and parsley.  [It is a bit long to write out in this post, but I am happy to email it to anyone that would like it.  Please just ask me for it.]

One thing I did learn as a result of doing this post is that soup does not photograph well.  Especially in a shiny new pan.  Regardless, here are some shots of the steps we (me and my sous chef, Boy) took.

Sauteing the veggies with the already cooked sausage:

Adding the lentils to that mix with the diced tomatoes and white wine and letting it cook until the lentils darken:

And finally, with the broth, ready to simmer for 35 minutes to fully cook the lentils:

Once the lentils are fully cooked I used my immersion blender to thicken it up a bit.

Like I said, doesn't photograph well, but hopefully it looks somewhat appetizing to you because it was delicious!

I would like to, some day, learn to cook lentils like you get them - perfectly spiced - in Indian restaurants, but in the meantime this spicy, hearty lentil soup will have to do.

Bring on the fall!

Settling Delicious Bets

Completely random, but for any of you that have ever wondered about the tenderness of those goliath lobsters you see in the tank...  They are just as tender and amazing as those 1.25lb chicks you eat normally.  (The monster above was 8lbs and happily fed 6 of us.  Yumm.) 

Don't worry, boy kept the finger.

Fruit Challenge #4: JAM?

If you recall, in my very first post on this blog I mentioned the raspberry jam my mom regularly made when I was growing up.  Boy and I woke up this morning and I promptly announced that I needed a dose of country - what can I say, sometimes the fish needs a quick dip back in the water.  What do you do in the country in mid-August?  Why, you pick-your-own raspberries, of course!  And off to Sunshine Farms we went!

Outings like this make me think of a book I read as a child... The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.  Actually, it is a pretty accurate depiction of boy's and my relationship.  I dragged boy to the raspberry patch, iced coffee in hand, and gave him a lesson on berry pickin'.  It started out a little slow, but he got the hang of it and was rocking after a while.  We quickly filled the two containers we ventured out with and I went back up to the shop to grab two more.

It wasn't long before we were waltzing out of there 5.5 pounds of raspberries richer and each probably about a pound heavier.

I hadn't told my mom that I was going to attempt her jam, but let me tell you, that woman has a 6th sense.  We hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot to head home when her ears must have started burning because she called and asked what we were up to.  "Oh, funny you should call mom, I was just going to call you and ask you what I needed to buy to make jam." (Mom is used to these I-am-panicking-in-the-supermarket-again-what-goes-in-this-recipe-of-yours phone calls by now as she gets them fairly frequently.)  My mom made "freezer jam" instead of the normal, more labor intensive kind.  Turns out freezer jam is pretty easy.  Requires three ingredients - berries, sugar, and pectin - some fierce stirring, and about 25 minutes of your day.

First step: Use a potato masher to mash 4 cups of berries and set aside in a large bowl.

Step 2: Mix sugar, pectin, and water in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook for one minute.

Step 3: Pour sugar over berry mash and mix thoroughly.

Step 4: Once mixed, pour into jars and leave 1/2 inch of space to the top to allow for expansion during freezing.

Step 6: Let these little buggers sit for 24 hours to set up.  Put in freezer for up to a year, or refrigerate for 4 weeks (to eat, obvi).

I don't think I had store-bought jam until I was about 16 years old and, after boy and I tried this jam, I might not have it for another 16 years.  As you can see, we ended up with about 14 jars of jam, but I have to say we are undecided on whether or not we are going to share.  :)

Bribes welcome.