Roasted Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Onions with Parmesan Breadcrumbs

A while back, our family had a fruit and vegetable CSA allotment. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, which is a program where you purchase the produce directly from a local farm.   The CSA provided me with an opportunity cook more vegetables.  I created a "CSA Challenge," which pushed my culinary abilities by cooking dishes that included beets, turnips and sweet potatoes.

For this challenge, I had green beans.  My typical side dish for green beans is to blanche them for a couple of minutes to preserve their color, and then saute them with a little butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Occasionally, I add some slivered almonds.  While this side dish does the trick, especially when you do not have a lot of time to cook a meal, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to prepare the beans with ingredients that I would not typically think of when I am pondering green bean recipes.

I came across a recipe that included, among other things, mushrooms and "parmesan breadcrumbs."  Neither ingredient is one that, at least for me, I would generally associate with green beans.  So, I decided to make this recipe.  The result is a rather colorful dish, with the different colored green beans, the red onions and the brownish mushrooms.  The parmesan breadcrumbs add a "crunchy-ish" kind of texture that gives a hint of parmesan cheese, which helps to make this dish work.  

ROASTED GREEN BEANS, MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS

WITH PARMESAN BREADCRUMBS

Recipe adapted from Delish

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of green beans, trimmed

1 medium red or yellow onion, sliced into rings

8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, sliced

8 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Juice from 1 lemon.

Directions:

1. Prepare the vegetables and mushrooms.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  On two rimmed baked sheets, arrange green beans, onions and mushrooms.  Toss each with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until deeply browned, about 30 to 35 minutes.  

2.  Toast the breadcrumbs.  In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add breadcrumbs and oregano and cook, stirring constantly until breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan.

3.  Finish the dish.  Squeeze lemon juice over roasted vegetables and top with Parmesan breadcrumbs.

ENJOY!

Curried Coconut Borscht

I have previously professed my hatred for broccoli.  However, there is something that I hate much more than broccoli ... beets.  Writing that last sentence, especially those five letters, b-e-e-t-s, just gave me the shivers.  My extreme dislike for beets is principally because of the taste.  I have just never been able to bring myself around to even accepting the flavor of beets.

It is not like I haven't tried.  Back in college, I studied abroad for a semester in Prague.  During our break, the class went to Moscow for the week.  We stayed at a college dormitory that had a cafeteria, where we had breakfast, lunch and dinner. Despite the passage of time, there is one thing that I clearly remember.  Every dinner began with with a bowl of borscht.  A bowl of thin, Communist-red broth.  That broth had the strong taste of beets.  It did not have any actual beets in it.  The absence of visible beets was a relief for me, as I grabbed the shaker filled with generic black pepper.  I would add a thin layer of the black and white pepper on the top of the red sheen of a soup.  It was the only way that I could eat borscht.

While it is not on my list of favorite dishes, borscht is a popular dish in Eastern European countries, including Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia.  The dish originated with a sour soup made with pickled stems, leaves and umbels of the hogweed plant.  Over time, the recipe evolved from the hogweed to beet roots.  Other ingredients, such as cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes were added to the dish.  The various ingredients could be chopped and added to the dish for presentation.  Alternatively, they could be pureed into the relatively thin soup that I ate day after day during my stay in Moscow.

By now, you may be asking yourself, why I am droning on about beets and borscht.  As it turns out, it is the Community Supported Agriculture or CSA time of year.  One of our weekly CSA shipments included a couple red beets.  Given my beet repertoire is as thin as the soup I know, I decided that I would try my hand at making the soup that I can barely eat.  I found a recipe for a curried coconut borscht, which made the beet soup seem more palatable.  I thought that the coconut milk could round out the tartness of the beets, while the curry powder could help to offset that taste that is so off-putting to me. The recipe also allowed me to use some other ingredients from my CSA, such as a sweet potato (in place of the potatoes called for in the recipe) and a few carrots.

I will be honest, I ate the broth.  It was good.  I also ate the carrots and the sweet potatoes.  But, I could not bring myself to eat the diced beets.  I tried, but I could not eat the beets.  Don't let my distaste for beets stop you from making this recipe, because, if you like beets, this soup is definitely worth a try. 

CURRIED COCONUT BORSCHT

Recipe adapted from Fresh and Natural Foods

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

1 bunch of scallions

1 shallot or 1/2 onion, sliced

1 cup of red beets, cut into large dice

1 cup of carrots, sliced on the diagonal

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4  jalapeno pepper, minced

3/4 tablespoon of mild curry powder or garam masala

1 tablespoon of dried ginger or 1 teaspon of fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1 cup of potatoes, diced

1/2 can of light coconut milk

1 cup of vegetable stock or water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 lime juiced

1 tablespoon of arrowroot (dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water)

Directions:

1. Saute the vegetables.  Add the oil to a large saucepan over medium heat  Add scallions, beets shallot (or onion), carrots and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, jalapeno, ginger, curry powder (or garam masalam), turmeric, and saute until the spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the potatoes, coconut milk, stock (or water) and brnig to a boil

2.  Boil the borscht.  Lower to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add lime juice, cilantro and arrowroot and cook until soup thickens slightly.  Serve hot.

ENJOY!

Turkey with Turnip and Pear

My CSA challenge has really been a challenge.  I have to say that the true challenge came when I was confronted with turnips ... and turnips ... and turnips.  They came with every shipment.  I had more turnips than I knew what to do with.  The reason for my situation came not only due to the number of turnips, but also from the fact that I have rarely cooked with the root vegetable.  

Sure, I could have boiled them, pureed them into a smooth nothingness, and, voila, an alternative to mashed potatoes or with mashed potatoes.  And only that.  I have never cooked with turnips.  So I needed to come up with another use for them.   So, I did what I often do and that is to consult the Internet.  I searched for various recipes for turnips. There a lot of recipes, as there are for pretty much any ingredient.  However, there was one recipe that caught my eye, because it called for a combination of ingredients which appealed to my stomach ... turnips and pears.  The recipe was from Bon Appetit, but I decided to give it my own twist.

The twist involved combining the turnips and pears with turkey, which works on so many levels. Turkey is a very good protein to work with because its its flavor is complementary to so many fruits, vegetables and starches.  This goes well beyond cranberries and potatoes.  Both the turnips and the pears paired very well with the turkey.  For this dish, I used a turkey thigh, rather than the breast or cutlets.  The reason is the preparation.  Given the top of the stove treatment, which involves higher heat over a shorter period of time, the added fat content in the turkey thighs helped to keep the meat moist.

This was a very good dish for turnips, and a great alternative to simply mashing them like potatoes.  While my plating still needs some work, this is the type of dish that I think could look fancy enough to appear on restaurant menus.  

TURKEY WITH TURNIP AND PEAR

Adapted from recipe by Bon Appetit

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 turkey thigh, about 1 1/2 pounds, cut into

     four even sized pieces

Kosher Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 medium pear, peeled, cored and chopped

1 medium turnip, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspooin fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving

1/2 cup salted, roasted macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:

1.  Brown the chicken.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.   Season turkey with salt and pepper and cook, skin side down, until skin is browned and crisp 10-12 minutes.  Transfer turkey to a plate.

2. Prepare the sauce.  Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in same skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion, pear, turnip and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring ocassionally until pear and turnip are soft and starting to turn golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Carefully add wine and thyme, then return chicken to skillet, skin side up.  Cook until wine is almost completely evaporated and turkey is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

3.  Complete the dish.  Plate the dish and serve topped with macadamia nuts.

ENJOY!

Classic Gremolata

It has been said that, "you can't have a fancy food blog without a recipe that has something topped with gremolata."   While I don't have a fancy food blog, I still felt it was necessary to include a recipe with something with this flavorful topping.  A classic gremolata consists of three ingredients: flat leaf parsley, garlic and lemon zest.  There are other optional ingredients, such as salt and pepper.

The origin of gremolata is lost to history, although it is suggested that the term originates from the French word, gremolade.  Notwithstanding its obscure history, the gremolata has a key place in Italian cuisine.  It is the key accompaniment to Osso Bucco alla Milanese, where it tops a braised veal shank.  Gremolata has also found its way onto other Italian dishes.  Indeed, over time, it seems that Gremolata has become to Italian cuisine what Chimichurri is to Argentine cuisine or a Persillade is to French cuisine.  

The key to a Gremolata, as it is to a Chimichurri or Persillade is to use  the freshest ingredients available.  If that flat leaf parsley looks a little limp, set it aside for another use. If the garlic has been sitting around a little too long, turn it into roast garlic for a different dish.  If you lemons have been sitting in the basket for too long, make lemonade, not gremolata.  

Once you have the freshest ingredients, make the topping right before you plan on serving it.  It only takes about 5 minutes to make and then use it right away.  I used it on a steak that I cooked under a broiler.  The steak was rubbed with complimentary flavors (ground onion, ground garlic, kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper).  If you don't have a steak, you can still use this topping on any number of dishes, from grilled or braised meats such chicken, lamb or pork to grilled fish.  The simplicity of this recipe translates into a flexible condiment that can add a lot of flavor to a wide range of dishes.

If you happen to have left over gremolata, you can use it within a day.   That should be enough inspiration to cook something else.  If you don't use it within a day, the topping will start to go bad because of the wilting of the parsley.

CLASSIC GREMOLATA

Recipe from The Kitchn

Makes 1/3 cup

Ingredients:
1 small bunch of parsley, washed and dried (1 cup loosely packed)
1 clove of garlic, skin removed
2 organic lemons, washed and dried

Directions:
1.  Prepare the parsley.  Remove the leaves from the parsley until you have enough to make 1 cup when loosely packed.  Chop the parsley until it is nearly finely chopped.  The parsley should be less than 1/2 cup.

2.  Add the garlic.    Use a microplane or fine toothed grater to grate the garlic clove over the parsley.

3.  Add the lemon.  Usingthe same microplane or grater, zest two lemons on top of the garlic.

4.  Finish the chopping.  Continue to chop the parsley, mixing in the garlic and lemon until the parsley is chopped very fine.

5.  Use the gremolata.  Use the gremolata right away.   Serve it on Ossobucco alla Milanese, or any grilled or braised meat dish.   You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one day.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger, Cardamom and Honey

If one were collecting cardinal rules of cooking, my suggestion would be that "cardamom makes just about everything better."  Not butter.  Not bacon.  But cardamom.  Any type of cardamom: black, green or Madagascar.  If anyone were to question this cardinal rule, then my response would be to direct him or her to this recipe: Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger, Cardamom and Honey.

Before this recipe, I did not like sweet potatoes.  If given the option between regular fries and sweet potato fries, I would choose the former over the latter.  If my only option was sweet potato fries, I would grimace and look for the nearest bottle of hot sauce to mask the taste of the sweet potatoes.  If presented with the choice of mashed sweet potatoes, that would a choice I would avoid.  The bottom line: I would rather have an empty space on my plate.  

All of that changed with this one recipe.  We had a couple of large sweet potatoes, which were given to us as part of our CSA share.  The sweet potatoes sat on our counter, and in our refrigerator, for a while as I pondered what I would do with them.  Eventually, I had to confront them and prepare them in some manner.  I once again went to the Internet to find some recipe that would intrigue me.  It did not take long before a recipe caught my eye.  The eye-catching feature of this recipe was the word "cardamom."  

I am no stranger to cardamom.  There are over a dozen recipes on this blog that feature the spice, but I used the spice to cook dishes with ingredients that I loved to eat.  The problem with using cardamom is its price.  It is very expensive, second only to saffron.  The price is worth it, because the warm, pungent aromas of the cardamom pod and the unique flavors that it contributes to the dish are without measure.

This recipe marks the first time that I used cardamom to prepare a dish with an ingredient that, as I mentioned above, I did not like to eat.   Now, I love sweet potatoes ... at least with cardamom.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH GINGER, CARDAMOM AND HONEY

Recipe from Chowhound

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds of sweet potatoes

8 ounces of russet potatoes

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/4 cup peeled, finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons of honey

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the steamer.  Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Set a steamer basket inside and set to low so the water is simmering.

2.  Prepare the potatoes.  Peel and cut the sweet potatoes and russet potatoes into large dice.  Place them into a steamer and cover with a tight lid.   Steam until fork tender, about 20 minutes.    Meanwhile, place the remaining measured ingredients into a small saucepan over low heat, season with pepper and stir until the butter and honey have melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

3.  Finish the dish.  When the potatoes are ready, transfer them to a large bowl and drizzle with the butter mixture.  Mash with a potato masher until you get the desired consistency.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  

ENJOY!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom, Garlic & Sage

Ever since we joined a local community supported agriculture program, or CSA, I have been challenged by a variety of vegetables that I never cooked with before.  I previously posted my challenge with acorn squash, which resulted in a very delicious soup.  Ever since that time, I have decided to challenge myself with the other vegetables that come with each shipment.

We had other squash in our shipment, including a spaghetti squash.  The concept of spaghetti + squash seemed a little ridiculous.  Pasta comes from flour, water and eggs, like my most favorite dishes, Maccheroni alla Chitarra and Paglia e Fieno.  Pasta does not come from something associated with gourds and pumpkins.  Needless to say, I have always been skeptical of spaghetti squash.  The skepticism kept me from cooking with the ingredient.  Why cook with a spaghetti squash when I could make or have real spaghetti. 

I have to admit that kind of thinking creates limitations, which, in turn, inhibit creativity.  So I set aside my skepticism and sought out a recipe that I could use to make spaghetti squash.  I found a recipe on a blog called Feasting at Home that incorporated some traditional Italian flavors, such as garlic, sage and mushrooms.  With that recipe, I set out to make my first dish using spaghetti squash.

The recipe was definitely a good entry into cooking with this squash.  If there was any issue with the recipe, it was the cooking times.  The recipe calls for cooking the squash 40 to 50 minutes.  I would definitely go with the 50 minutes, to ensure the whole squash is cooked.  

This recipe is categorized as a side dish, but add a few meatballs and you can have a main course.  I just made some simple turkey meatballs because my beautiful wife, Clare, loves turkey.  

ROASTED SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH MUSHROOMS, GARLIC AND SAGE

Recipe by Feasting at Home
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 small spaghetti squash

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

12-16 ounces of mushrooms, sliced

4-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Generous pinch of nutmeg

1/4 cup grated cheese (pecorino or parmesan)

Drizzle truffle oil, optional

Directions:

1.  Prepare the spaghetti squash.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half (either way) and place open side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

2.  Saute the onion, mushroom, garlic and sage.  While the squash is baking, heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Saute the onions until just tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms, turn heat to medium and saute until they begin to release their liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Add garlic and sage and continue cooking until mushrooms brown, about 4 minutes.  Season generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg. 

3.  Finish the dish.  Check squash by piercing with the tip of a sharp knife to see if it is done.  When tender, take out of the oven, turn over and let it cool slightly until cook enough to handle.  Then scoop out seeds and scoop out the spaghetti squash into the saute pan with the mushrooms and stir to incorporate.  Taste for salt and add more if necessary.  Stir in most of the grated cheese, saving some for garnish.  Place in serving bowl, top with the remaining cheese and a drizzle of truffle oil. 

ENJOY!

Acorn Squash Soup

Recently, we joined a community supported agriculture program, also known as a CSA.  We get a box of fruit and vegetables every week.   This box presents a lot of challenges for me, given that my cooking tends to be more meat-centric than vegetable centric.  Therefore, I am using this CSA as a cooking challenge for me -- a CSA challenge -- to make dishes based on the fruits and vegetables that we get each week in our box.

Given the time of year, the box contains a lot of winter vegetables, such as potatoes, squash, and yams.  Over the past couple of weeks, the box has contained acorn squash.  That is one ingredient that, until recently, I had never prepared before. 

As I always do, I looked for a recipe.  I am quite familiar with butternut squash soup, because Clare has made that before and it was very tasty.  So, a soup seemed like a good start.  I reviewed a handful of acorn squash recipes before I came across one from Mario Batali.  The most appealing thing about this recipe is its simplicity.  A handful of ingredients, boiled together, blended together.  The result is a creamy, earthy soup with a lot of flavor from the nutmeg and a little kick from some crushed red pepper.

Not only have I not cooked with acorn squash, I don't believe that I had ever tasted it before.  However, I think I can say that I am very impressed with the taste of this soup.  Given how easy it is to make, and the availability of acorn squash during this time of year, I have a feeling that we will be eating a lot more of this soup over the coming weeks and months.

ACORN SQUASH SOUP

Recipe by Mario Batali

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 acorn squash (peeled, seeded and cut into large cubes)

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

Chile flakes, to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups of water

Chives, minced

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Creme Fraiche 

Directions:

1.  Saute the squash, onions and carrots.  In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat, add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the squash, onions, carrots, chile flakes, nutmeg and season with a generous pinch of salt.  Cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and have broken down a bit and are soft. 

2.  Continue cooking.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer.  Add the water and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes more.  

3.  Blend the soup.  Use a hand blender to blend the soup until smooth and creamy.  Adjust the seasoning.  

4.  Finish the dish.  Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, a dollop of Creme Fraiche, and a sprinkle of chives. 

ENJOY!