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The little kitchen here just got its first delivery and I am so excited!
My aunt and uncle have a chestnut farm in California (The Chestnut Farm in Modesto – Jenni, if you are reading this, if you had a website, I would link here – hint, hint) and they sent us a beautiful box of chestunuts. I know that I will roast a bunch up and eat them plain, right out of the oven, burning my fingers until I get a stomach-ache, but I need to try out some recipes for them too.
I am thinking maybe these Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts with in Brown Butter or this Pear, Stilton and Chicory Salad with Crispy Chestnuts or maybe Chestnut Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce or even Striped Bass with Swiss Chard, Chestnuts and Pomegranate Vinaigrette and of course all kinds of soups and stuffings…
What do you think? Should I try any of these in particular? Just wing it? Any suggestions?
Is it cold where you are? Fall is most definitely in effect here – and to be honest, for what I am used to, it’s down right winter.
It’s cold, and so all I want are warm, comforting, homey things, like that roasted chicken. I also want soup, and lots of it. And I will likely be eating soup every week until the last snow melts. I have a feeling that comes from my mom. She often had soup on the stove, and in fact her french onion soup and clam chowder where so legendary that the neighbor’s would specially request them.
Having my mom’s recipes and techniques definitely help my soups, but the real secret – the fail-safe thing to have on hand – the only way to make soup restaurant quality - is homemade stock. Think about it, it’s the only way to have complete control. Can you imagine The French Laundry using Swanson’s?
I know the world does not need another way to roast a chicken, so I won’t give you one. And you definitely don’t need me to say that something from Thomas Keller is good – EVERYTHING from him is practically perfect! However, considering there are numerous “famous” roast chicken recipes and techniques, I will elaborate on why his is my favorite – hands down.
Can you see it? As if the perfectly crispy, crackled brown skin isn’t enough of a reason itself. This is the kind of chicken that everyone eats the skin, picking and gnawing with their hands to get every little bit, leaving those little morsels stuck to your fingers where there is no escaping the fact that you must simply lick your fingers. Its okay – in fact, you have to here. And you have to because it is so good, you have abandoned any pretense of politeness after the first two bites.
I know, I know it is still October and not even Halloween and people are starting talk about the holidays. Not just “the holidays” which nicely lumps Thanksgiving and Christmas together, but Christmas. I have seen the commercials already and decorations are starting to come out in NYC. As a Thanksgiving baby, I usually take personal offense to this, as if by getting started on Christmas too soon, everyone is skipping right over me. No, not at all self-indulgent!
However, this year, I am going to use this time to get ready. Not ready for presents and decorations, but for the real meaning of the season. The parties!! What? You thought I meant something a bit more precious and sentimental? Well parties are time together with family and friends, just with food and lots of toddies!
Here is the question, when you are invited to a party, what do you normally bring: —–A) Nothing —–B) Flowers —–C) Wine
While there is absolutely nothing wrong with options B and C (they are tried-and-true for a reason), its time to step away from your comfort zone a bit.
One of my favorite hostess gifts is the bedside water carafe. They are the perfect addition to bedrooms, guest rooms in particular. And knowing that people often have visitors over the holidays, something like this unexpected thank-you can really be put to use.
There are as many options of these now as there are hosts to give them to – clean or engraved, modern or old fashioned, inexpensive or “many, many thanks”, clear or colored, etc. etc. etc.
What are your favorite hostess gifts? We will be back with more as the holidays approach…
For resources:
So not quite a real Oktoberfest, but I think this would make for a great fall get together with friends. A pumpkin carving – fall beer tasting – sausage eating party.
And to keep it easy, don’t be afraid to ask friends to bring a little something – either a pumpkin to carve or a good fall beer. Have some sausages grilled up with bunch of accompaniments and keep everyone’s hands free for knives and steins!
For a get together this casual, mailed invitations are not necessary, feel free to jazz up an e-mail version. But steer clear of evites and don’t forget to bcc: not everyone wants their info out there!
What you’ll need:
For quinoa cakes
3 scant cups water*
1 1/2 cup quinoa
1 clove garlic, peeled but still whole
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. salt
zest of 1 lemon (depending on your zester, chop the zest so its finely minced)
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
For topping
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/4 t. salt, divided
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 carrot, peeled and finely grated
1/4 t. dried chili flakes
2 T. olive oil
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Make quinoa cakes:
Rinse the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. Note – I find this to be the biggest pain that no one mentions!! The quinoa grains are so tiny they either slip through or stay behind in the strainer. My fix is to line the strainer with a paper towel, and then once rinsed, I transfer the quinoa with the paper towel to the saucepan with water, and then just toss the paper towel. Its not perfect, but better than nothing. DOUBLE NOTE – I think Viva paper towels are the best, so i can’t promise this would work with ones not so sturdy…
In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa and water until boiling (I throw in the garlic clove too for a hint of flavor. *If you want a richer base, you can substitute the water for chicken or veggie stock). Cover, reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the spiral germ in each grain, and it is tender but still with a bit of bite. Drain any extra water and transfer to a bowl to cool, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Stir in egg, oregano, salt, pepper and the zest of lemon to combine.
Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and brush with oil (or a quick spritz of cooking spray). Using your hands, make quinoa balls, packing together firmly – about the size of large meatballs or a tennis ball?? – and then place on the backing sheet. (If you read the original recipe – the technique for this was so complicated I could hardly read it, let alone do it!) Chill the cakes, uncovered, in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, up to 1 hour.
Make Ragu while quinoa cooks and chills:
Toss eggplant cubes with 1 teaspoon salt in a colander and drain 30 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of eggplant to extract liquid, then pat dry.
Heat a heavy bottomed pot or skillet to medium with oil. Add eggplant and onion, cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally as onions and eggplant begin to soften. Add garlic, carrots, chili flakes and oregano and continue cooking about 2 minutes (I don’t add these right away as they have a tendency to burn.) Also, the addition of the carrot is a trick from the other orange inspiration, America’s favorite Italian chef. The carrots adds a bit of sweetness, which is a nice balance to the acid in tomatoes and the slight bitterness that eggplant can have.
Add the tomatoes with juice and the additional water, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until the ragu thickens nicely.
Cook quinoa cakes:
Preheat oven to 200 .
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Carefully add quinoa balls (I was able to fit 4) to the oil, gently flattening out with a spatula. Cook for about 5 minutes on the first side until golden. DO NOT turn them too early, and let them cook a minute longer than you think. It will help develop an even tastier crust and keep them together for the flip. Carefully turn the cakes and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until crisp and golden, adding a touch more oil if you think necessary.
Transfer cooked cakes to baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining cakes.
To serve:
Plate two cakes per person, with a spooning the ragu over the top. Sprinkle with pecorino or parmigano and parsley. Spoon over quinoa cakes, then sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
Serves 4.
Additional notes:
** The original recipe included smoked mozzarella in the ragu. I think that would be awesome (or a good feta), but I wasn’t going to the store. This was simply going to be a “work with what you have” type dinner.
** The cakes were also excellent on day 2 – I didn’t cook them all up at night, since there are only 2 of us, and quickly fried a cake for lunch the next day, served with cold ragu and garlic-yogurt-garlic sauce.
** How great would these quinoa cakes be with eggs? Poached or fried – what a great substitution for hash-browns or even and english muffin for a healthier eggs benedict.
I had every intention to make these. Don’t they look amazing? I even bought the eggplants. Granted, I was going to change the recipe a bit (not because one should do that with anything Smitten Kitchen, but because I like to do dinner a few nights a week meat free, and thought this could be a good one). Switch out the meat for quinoa and mushrooms. But then a few days passed and the mushrooms went into an impromptu chicken dinner and the eggplants needed to be cooked.
Thank goodness for the internet! Seriously – how many cookbook indexes did one have to claw through before when looking for inspiration for a particular ingredient? No thank you!
How often do you cook with new ingredients? Do you try something new all the time or stay with your tried-and-true standbys? I know I regularly go back to the same things – I think I have mastered just about everything you can do with a tomato or zucchini. I switch it up here and there, but it is often because I want to try and recreate something yummy from a restaurant, or try to duplicate a spread in Bon Appétit or Gourmet (sad).
However, farmer’s markets change that.
When perusing the stalls, I am often inspired to try something I have never cooked with before – sometimes things I have never seen or even heard of.
Like this one, that grows almost like a flower…
What do you do with the end of the coffee in the pot? Toss it? Reheat it later (yuck!)? May I suggest ice cubes.
If you are anything like me (and everyone else I know), you likely need a 4:00 p.m. pick-me-up. But for some reason hot beverages don’t offer the same pep as their cool counterparts. Traditional iced coffees are usually great, but the melting ice causes a watery mess. Ice-coffee-cubes are the perfect solution.
It is no surprise that flowers can really liven a home or office. That’s why you send them for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, promotions, and all those other reasons you call your local florist. But what is really great is how they can be done regularly at home and on the CHEAP!
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These above were picked up at Trader Joe’s for $3.99 – seriously!
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For all you lovelies in San Francisco, I highly suggest heading to CARROTS tomorrow to check out their Farmer’s Market, along with all the other goodies they have in the store.
I so wish I could be there!
