You don't have to come in first to be a winner

I tend to be an experimental cook. Like Thomas Edison, I have not failed; I've just found may ways that won't work. My family gamely chows down on some of those less successful efforts, but in other cases we just switch to hot dogs.


I am using my enameled cast iron dutch oven to make soups and stews in the oven instead of stovetop. It takes a little longer, but nothing gets scorched and the flavor is more subtle and complex.


My husband has a "Top Five" list of meals I've made, which includes a fish stick & mashed potato meal that just hit the spot one winter night about 20 years ago.A couple of months ago, this soup made its way onto the list. It has a rich, intense flavor, with the individual vegetables still retaining their texture and taste. It was even better re-heated. I highly recommend using the oven to make soup.

Top Five Vegetable Soup

4 carrots, cut in slices
2 large stalks celery, cut in chunks

1 medium onion cut in small pieces

1/2 chinese cabbage cut in small slices

1 clove garlic, sliced thinly

1 pound ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can great northern beans, drained & rinsed

Herbs: epazote, coriander, white peppercorns, oregano, sea salt
4 cups stock (I used homemade turkey stock)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat olive oil in enamel cast iron dutch oven, saute vegetables for a couple of minutes. Place pot, covered, in 325 degree oven for about an hour.

Meanwhile, cook ground beef until brown. (I cooked it in a cast iron skillet with some leftover sausage grease. Try butter or another oil for flavor).

Take vegetables from oven. Stir in tomatoes, beans and herbs. Add cooked beef and any fat.

Return to oven for 30 minutes.

Add stock, return to oven with lid slightly open for 30 minutes.

On Flip-Flopping and Root Vegetables

I always thought John Kerry got a raw deal. It wasn’t just because I was supporting him in the 2004 Presidential race. It was because when he was accused of “flip-flopping,” he really wasn’t, and because flip-flopping is not necessarily a bad thing.

As CNN reported at the time: Sen. John Kerry…gave an explanation for his comment that he “actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," calling it "one of those inarticulate moments." Kerry made the comment … in response to a question about his vote against an $87 billion supplemental appropriation for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He tried to explain that he had voted for an earlier version of the bill before opposing final passage.

His explanation was too nuanced for the political atmosphere of the time. He was branded, and the rest, sadly, is history.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that for flip-flopping, IOKIYAR (It’s OK if you’re a Republican). Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts has been all over the map about his support, or not, of the House budget which includes dismantling Medicare. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt – we all have “inarticulate moments.”

I won’t do the same for Newt Gingrich, who has demonstrated the CLASSIC flip-flop. First, he calls the House budget “right-wing social engineering” in a rare bout of truth-telling. Then he gets reamed by the party for stepping out of line and makes all kinds of lame excuses. Finally, he commands everyone not to look at the man behind the curtain: “I want to make sure every House Republican is protected from some kind of dishonest Democratic ad. So let me say on the record, any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.” Best line since Nixon’s press secretary called his previous statements “inoperative.”

Flip flopping really isn’t a bad thing, anyway. If you change your opinion when you get new data, then you’re being smart and savvy. Kind of like my opinion of beets.

All my life I just KNEW I hated beets. I wouldn’t even try them. Then about a year ago I got some beautiful organic beets in my selection from Manna Market. I was really into roasting at the time so into the oven they went. Peel, slice, put a little olive oil and wow! They were really good. Earthy and sweet and all of a sudden I was hooked on beets. If I ever run for office, I hope they don’t use that flip-flop against me.

This last selection included variegated beets, which have a lighter flavor. I used my Eat Your Books account to find a recipe, and settled on a salad from Bon Appétit, Y’all. I adapted it ever so slightly, using brown mustard instead of Dijon and using dried shallots from Penzey’s. It turned out beautifully. I used baby lettuce from my garden, and I felt like I was eating at Bottega Café instead of a suburban kitchen.

Roasted Beet Salad with Walnuts and Walnut Oil

Adapted from Bon Appétit, Y’all by Virginia Willis

4 medium fresh beets

¼ c walnuts for garnish

1 T freeze-dried shallots

1 T brown mustard

2 T sherry vinegar

3 T olive oil

2 T walnut oil

Baby lettuce

Prepare the shallots for the dressing by putting them in the sherry vinegar and letting them sit.

Preheat oven to 375^◦. Wrap beets individually in aluminum foil and bake until tender, about an hour. Remove from oven and cool. Slip off the skins, cut beets in half and then in slices for a half-moon shape.

While the beets are cooking, toast the walnuts in the oven, using a baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment to avoid burning. Chop coarsely and set aside.

Make the dressing. Whisk the vinegar, shallots and mustard in a small bowl. Add the olive and walnut oils in a slow stream, whisking constantly until creamy and emulsified.

Arrange beets and greens on a small plate. Drizzle the dressing over them, then sprinkle with toasted walnuts.

Waste Not, or why you should never freeze pumpkin

I hate to waste food. I don’t remember being told to clean my plate because people were starving in India. But I do remember food drives, UNICEF collections at Halloween, and in college, amazement at what you could find in a dumpster behind a grocery store.

Now, I compost everything I can, including paper napkins and plates. I got a vermiculture setup for Christmas and just ordered my red wigglers. I am more adept than ever at casseroles and stews. My freezer is full of little bits of things that I am going to make something out of.

Except pumpkin. Never again shall I try to freeze pumpkin.

I got a centerpiece pumpkin at the Food Summit in November. I didn’t have time to prepare it at the time. I baked it, peeled and cut it into chunks, vacuum sealed and tossed it into the freezer. I had no qualms. After all, acorn squash and butternut squash freeze beautifully, so why not pumpkin?

Fast forward to March. I have GOT to cook some of that stuff in the freezer, including the pumpkin. I used Foodily and found a recipe on the Martha Stewart site for a pasta dish with pumpkin, bacon and cheese. I happened to have a couple of slices of high-priced organic bacon on hand. Even had some delicious homemade chicken stock. The rest of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen. (Bacon and cheese? How could it not be good?)

This is what the dish is supposed to look like. Thanks to a bad memory card, you will not be subjected to photos of my attempt. Bottom line: Frozen pumpkin is a mushy, flavorless, colorless mess. The bacon and cheese made it edible, but the pumpkin was watery and a nasty pale yellow.

I did, however, still eat all of the pasta over the next several days, liberally sprinkled with Parmesan. Because I hate to waste food.

The recipe, in case you want to try it out when pumpkin is in season:

Rigatoni with Pumpkin and Bacon

Martha Stewart Living, Volume 155 October 2006

• Yield Serves 4

Ingredients

• Coarse salt
• 8 slices bacon coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion halved and thinly sliced
• 1 sugar pumpkin (about 3 pounds) peeled and halved, seeds removed, and flesh cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 1/2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons hulled raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds) toasted, for garnish

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Put bacon into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until bacon is almost crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels; let drain.
2. Add onion to skillet with bacon grease. Cook, stirring, until soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Add pumpkin, sage, 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the allspice. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add stock and cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to mediumlow, and simmer until pumpkin is soft and sauce has thickened slightly, about 25 minutes. Season with pepper.
3. Meanwhile, add pasta to boiling water, and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, and add to skillet. Add the bacon and Parmesan, and toss to combine. Divide among bowls. Serve with Parmesan on the side, and garnish with pepitas.

Jambalaya

When I lost my job in January and had to cut back on expenses, our food budget went on the chopping block. I had to get creative, if I was going to keep buying organic produce, beef from a small sustainable farm, and local free-range chickens. 

I quickly realized:

1. I have a lot more food than I thought.
2. I prepare a lot more food than we can eat.
3. We probably eat more than we should anyway.

Today’s story has to do with Item 1. We have Costco quantities of canned green beans. A dozen cans of low-cal soup left over from two diets ago. Chicken broth by the gallon because if I’m going to pay for free-range chickens, I am using every single part of those expensive birds.

Last week I found rice in the freezer where I had stored it after some long-ago sale. I also had a couple of cans of Healthy Request Soup “Maryland Crab” which I really didn’t care for. I had refrigerator leftovers: some roasted chicken, a couple of green peppers I had roasted because they were about to go bad. I was inspired to make Jambalaya.

When I told my husband what I was making, he dashed to the bookshelf and pulled down Charles Kuralt’s “ America.” In the New Orleans chapter, he learns about Jambalaya - rice, trinity, and "whatever you've got!.” I rustled up some celery and onions and was on my way.

Here are the ingredients:

Uncle Ben’s boil-in-bag Brown Rice
Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice
2 cans Special Harvest Maryland Crab soup
About a cup of roasted chicken, cut into cubes
2 roasted peppers
Onion
Celery

I prepared the Red Beans & Rice according to the package directions. Did the same with the Brown Rice, and then mixed them together.

I cooked the celery and onion in a little olive oil, then added the chopped roasted pepper. I used a small enamel cast iron pot and let everything simmer while I prepared the soup.

I made a roux with butter and flour in a soup pot, then added the chicken and the two cans of soup. Tossed in the cooked vegetables and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

The crab soup gave the dish a good seafood flavor, and with the added chicken, it was quite hearty. I planned to mix the rice into the stew, but decided to serve it separately and I think that turned out better.

I heated up some French bread that went stale over Christmas and I had put in the freezer. Ran a little water over it, wrapped in foil and baked. It went well with the Jambalaya and was a great snowy day meal.

We still had lots of leftovers, which I have squirreled away in serving-size containers in the freezer. Item 2 still needs some work.

The good kind of pork

Pork-barrel spending was in the news today, as the U.S. House cut a budget item for a military airplane project the Defense Department didn’t want, but Speaker John Boehner did. Coincidentally, his state is where the manufacturer is located. I guess it’s right what they say – it’s only pork if it’s in someone else’s district.

Pork is political. Not just in the metaphorical pork-barrel spending kind of way, but in how pigs are raised, what they eat, how they’re processed, and what kinds of destructive environmental impacts are wreaked by factory farms. (In 1999, Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina and caused massive manure lagoon flooding and overflows. Millions of gallons of raw manure polluted the rivers.)

The new wave of small livestock farms means most of us can get good quality pork. It’s not cheap like the <name brand redacted to avoid lawsuits> industrial chops and ribs you get in the supermarket. It is flavorful and nutritious, and for me, it makes a difference knowing I am eating a happy pig.

I get my pork from Sequatchie Cove Farms, which delivers to Birmingham about once a month. There are several Alabama producers including Goose Pond Farm. If you are a meat eater, you should support these small-scale pork producers, for your health and for the environment. If cost is a factor, just eat a little less of it- that’s better for you anyway.

This is what I made from my most recent pork roast. It was quick and delicious, and a little bit of pork went a long way. I used a leftover baked acorn squash and pork roast I made the day before.

Happy Pig and Squash

Acorn squash, cooked, cut in cubes

Roast pork, cut in cubes

Olive oil

Garlic

White wine

Orzo pasta, cooked

Acorn Squash

Put the olive oil in the pan then press two cloves of garlic into it. Cook a little, and then add the acorn squash. I cooked it for about five minutes until it was soft. Then add the pork, stir it up and listen to the sizzle. It looked like it needed something else, so I grabbed the bottle of white wine in the cupboard and splashed about an ounce into the dish. (And yes, I used the measuring cup as a shot glass and had a little bit myself!). Cooked it for a few more minutes – probably 15 minutes cooking time total.

I used orzo because I had a little bit of it in a big jar and it was taking up a lot of room in my cabinet. It turned out to be an inspired choice, because the small noodles were a similar size to the other ingredients and we could get all the flavors in one spoonful.

 

Pork & Squash

Orzo

The pork and squash worked well together – I think winter squashes can handle the fattier meat without being greasy. The wine mellowed the flavors together nicely. I’ve tried pork and sweet potatoes, but I prefer squash for a firmer texture and a lighter flavor.

What happens in Book Club...

...gets shared and enjoyed! This month’s Foodie Book Club reading was Cherries in Winter: My Family’s Recipe for Hope in Hard times, by Suzan Colón.  

Our author’s family faced tough times by putting up soup. Me, I fix pasta. Her mother and grandmother share expensive cherries in winter: “the snap of the skin, the tart juice tasting of summers past and the summer to come.” For my part, it’s capers and good olive oil.

In keeping with the theme of the book, we brought “comfort food” to our gathering: something that got us through hard times or was a family favorite. My offering hearkened back not to the Depression or to a deprived childhood (mine wasn’t) but to my days as a college student.

I ate a lot of pasta. (For you young people, pasta was my generation’s Ramen.) But since I have an Italian mother, you know I wouldn’t settle for spaghetti and Ragú. It didn’t cost any more to buy capellini or mostaccioli or my favorite, farfalle. I could toss it with some tuna, sprinkle a little cheese, or add some of those cheap onions. I would indulge in a little jar of capers, because they added a lot of flavor and always seemed so elegant.

 

Book Club Pasta

1 box Farfalle (Bow Tie Pasta)

2 cans diced tomatoes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Italian Herbs

Capers

Cook the pasta, drain. Pour in the tomatoes including liquid. Add olive oil, salt and herbs to taste. Add capers, heat until warmed through.

Cover with foil, put in a box or bag and head to Book Club. Eat leftovers for lunch the next day.