Calling up Thanks

Gatherings nourish ...
... comfort for the body and soul
Attended by all






Roasted Beets and Fennel with Mint – yields 6 servings

2 pounds beets
2-fennel bulbs – thinly sliced
1/4-cup mint leaves – roughly chopped
1/2-cup white wine vinegar
1-teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash the beets to remove any excess dirt and then place them on a baking tray. Wrap the tray with aluminum foil and cook the beets in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes to fork tender. Let the beets cool for 10 to 15 minutes and then rub off their skin. Slice the beets into 1/4-inch rounds.



In a wide mouth jar place two stems with a sprinkle of mint down and place in half the beets and fennel. Then place another sprinkling of mint and the remaining beets and fennel and salt. Top with the remaining mint and pour over the vinegar. If the vinegar does not completely cover the beets top with some extra vinegar. Secure with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days before serving.

Setting Table

We are a nation queued-up on the starting line of the holiday season. This coming Thursday kicks off that 6-week period when most of us will host the largest number of guests at a single time. The easiest part of having company seems to be cleaning the house. But the menu and its management are where so many of us get in trouble. The hardest thing to teach people is food and time management.

The first thing I think is making a menu plan then the shopping list at least one week in advance. In putting together a menu it is advisable to consider that 2/3’s of the dishes be presentable at room temperature or cold. This automatically gives at least 24-hours to prep those items. The remaining 1/3 should involve both stovetop and oven in order to avoid a major bottleneck at that crucial 30-hour prior to calling them to the table.

At a minimum of a week before I am baking and freezing all possible items – breads, cake bases, pie crusts, cookies – this allows me an easy counter defrost on most of those dishes. I love making turnovers, both savory and sweet, for I can bake them off and then freeze them. A quick re-warm in the oven and I am in business.

The most important thing to remember it is not worth stressing out and you got to keep a sense a humor about it– if it is not fun then it should not be done.

So, start rinsing out all the wine glasses and looking for the your platters and enjoy.







Potatoes with Almond Sauce – yields 6 servings

1-1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

Bring the potatoes to a boil in salted water. Cook the potatoes until fork tender, and then drain. Peel the potatoes, if desired, while they are still warm, and then allow them to cool. Slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch rounds and arrange them a plate in a slightly overlapping fashion.

Drizzle with the almond sauce, and garnish with paprika.


Almond Sauce – yields approx. 3 cups
1/4-cup sherry vinegar
1/2-cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup blanched almonds
1 garlic clove - peeled
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1-teaspoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon Italian Parsley leaves
1 yellow pepper – seeds and inner membrane removed
1/8-teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a blender place all ingredients, and process to smooth. Use some water to thin out the sauce as necessary.

a ready pot

The full arrival of autumn, the layering, the twisting of a scarf, the gloves shoved in your pockets has had me planning a stew. I know it has been more than a half of a year since I took my large casserole pot from the shelf, and allowed it to sit defusing heat rather than collecting dust. So, right into the sink it went in anticipation of something slow, and warm.

I have many soups, stews and braises in my bag of tricks but what was I really in the mood for. I have been thinking of my Mom lately, and I kept thinking of the cabbage, potato and pork stew she would make. I always loved the combination of potato and cabbage after they sent some considerable time in the pot. The pork was always overcooked because she would use a boneless chop, which I would have advised should be replace with a shoulder or loin cut. But that was never a matter for me for thankfully copious moisture naturally contained within the bulging head help to offset any dissatisfaction with her meat choice.

Walking through my Saturday market answered my question as to what stew make, and simultaneously let me send time with my Mom. Cabbages abounded, as did potatoes, however, being her son I needed to twist it somewhat. My local game farmer produces the must addictive smoked pheasant sausage that I know was finding its way into the first simmering pot of the season.


Cabbage and Potato Stew – yields 6 to 8 servings
1-large head cabbage
3-tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 pounds smoked sausage – cut into 1-inch rounds
1-pound Cippolini onions – peeled and quartered
1/2-pound parsnip – peeled and julienne
8-garlic cloves – roughly chopped
1/2-teaspoon cumin seed
1-teaspoon caraway seed
1/8-teaspoon ground mace
1-1/2 pounds potato – cut into 1-inch chunks
1-tablespoon fresh thyme leaves – roughly chopped
1/2-cup red wine vinegar
2-teaspoons salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Then cut each quarter into thick slices, about 1 to 2 inches thick. Hold to the side.

Heat a 10-quart casserole pan over a high heat. Add one-tablespoon of the olive oil, and the sausage. Brown the sausage and then remove from the pan.

Add the remaining two-tablespoon of oil and the onions. Brown the onions and then mix in the parsnip and garlic as well the browned sausage. Cooking for a few minutes. Sprinkle in the cumin, caraway and mace. Stir in the spices. Then mix the potatoes, and pour over the vinegar. Put the cut cabbage over the vegetables, and distribute the salt over the cabbage.

Cover the pot, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for an hour. Season with black pepper and salt if needed.

Time to nest

Leaves turning…..falling
The love of another… welcomed
A warming hearth ….shared

























Creamed Celery Root and Potato Soup - yields approx.5-qurts.
2-pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1-1/2 pounds celery root – peeled and chopped
2 large onions (approximately 2-pounds)
2 heads of garlic
2-tablespoons sage leaves
1/2-cup raw cashew nuts
3-quarts chicken stock
1-tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Wash the potatoes well to remove any dirt and debris. Then slice the potatoes thinly and place them in at least a 6-quart soup pot along with the celery root.

Peel and roughly chop the onions, and peel the garlic. Place them in the pot along with the potatoes, celery root and cashews. Pour over chicken stock, and sprinkle with the sage, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the flame to a simmer.

Cook the soup for 1 hour. Puree the soup, and then return to the pot. Simmer the soup for an additional 15 minutes, and correct the seasoning.

tough skins

As the night for ghouls and goblins approaches carved orange squashes sit guarding the entrance to many a festivity. Unlike a Christmas tree ornaments these decorations are undertaken annually only to be discarded once their rooting craved teeth have shriveled up. I can only hope that the seeds got harvested and toasted as a great snack.

Personally, I have no desire to crave these hard-skins and waste the potential of its meat. Unless, I am making a soup it is rare that I will be able to utilize the entire presentation of autumn’s giants. I will carefully cleave the pumpkin is half remove its seeds, and then break the pumpkin down into smaller more manageable pieces that I will then peel. Whatever excess pumpkin I find myself with gets frozen. It is best if you can freeze them on a tray in a single layer, and then transfer into a freezer bag. Come later in the year I will defrost them for pies, custards and breads, or thrown them directly in stews and soups to thaw and cook. I am not opposed to canned pumpkin but why bother when I was get more than I need.



Spiced Pumpkin Bread with Orange Chutney
2-cups (or 15-ounce canned) pumpkin puree
4-eggs
1-cup canola oil
2/3-cup warm water
1-1/2 cups sugar
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2-teaspoon ground ginger
1/2-teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2-cup almond meal

Pre-heat the oven to 350-degrees.

Grease and flour two 7x3-inch bread pans.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil water and sugar until well blended.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, fennel seed and almond meal.

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin/egg mix until just combined.

Pour into prepared bread pans, and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center. Cool for 10 minutes before releasing from the pan.







Orange Chutney
1/4-cup sugar
1/4-cup honey
1/4-cup fresh lemon juice (from approx 1 lemon)
1/2-sliced dried apricots
1/4-teaspoon salt
5 oranges – peeled, seeds discarded and cut into chunks

Add the sugar, honey, lemon juice, apricots and salt in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Then mix in the orange chunks a simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Cool completely.

transition

Yesterday, sleeveless
Surviving a transition
Time for a warm bowl














Pumpkin Soup – yields approx. 4 quarts
7-pound pumpkin
2-large onions – diced
6-carrots – peeled and diced
1 jalapeno pepper - diced
1/2-pound parsnip – peeled and diced
2-tablespoon olive oil
1-teaspoon fresh thyme leaves - chopped
2-teaspoons fresh sage leaves – chopped
2-teaspoons orange zest
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds. Reserve the seeds to the side.

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

Peel the pumpkin, and cut the meat of the pumpkin into 1-inch pieces. Spread the cut pumpkin on a baking tray, and place in the oven. Cook the pumpkin for 15 minutes to lightly brown.

Transfer the pumpkin to an eight-quart soup pot, along with the onion, carrots, jalapeno and parsnip. Cook with four-quarts of water. Bring to the boil, and them reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot, and cook the soup for an hour.

After an hour puree the pumpkin mixture until smooth. Return to the pot, and season with salt and pepper.

While the soup is simmering free the pumpkin seeds from the fibrous meat it clings to. Wash the seeds clean. Spread the seeds onto a baking tray, and dry in the oven for five minutes.

Heat an eight-inch sauté pan over a medium heat, and add the olive oil and pumpkin seeds. Cook the pumpkin seeds until golden brown. Remove from the heat, and immediately toss in the thyme, sage, orange zest, salt and pepper.

Serve the soup garnished with the seasoned pumpkin seeds and a dollop of crème fraiche or a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese.

choices

Back in the 90’s we were fat phobic. Resulting in the new millennium’s 180-degree turn and the rise of the Two Fat Ladies signaled the repeal of the lipid’s prohibition. Over the past ten years I have had overwrought workings of anything bacon from bacon brittle to pork belly truffles. Denial of anything will result in a zealot’s crusade once unshackled.

Lately, it is sugar. That quick, rush of calories that most of us take in too much of. It is interesting to me that we are addicted to two of the elements in contained in are first meal – milk. I will confess to enjoying a bowl of ice cream, a slab of white cake with rose scented creambutter or white chocolate bark studded with dried cherries. I will even a drink Coca-Cola, but only when it is the holiday of Passover and I find the one sweetened with cane sugar, which fulfills the Jewish dietary restrictions of that 8-day period.

My position with sweet that I like it – but it is more important that I get my sweetening from sugar-in-th-raw, local, unprocessed honey, agave and fruits. I am firm in my rejection of corn syrup, or corn sugar whatever they plan to call it. I did not need it my loaf of bread or in cans of tomatoes or salad dressing. It is a likely element in almost every prepared product put out of the market. It requires us to read every food label and once you do it will be shocking how often you come across the addictive. I am okay that the professional association that markets corn syrup thinks it is okay for little Johnny to consume this unnaturally occurring sweeter – I do not. Nature in her wonder gives us sweet notes throughout every season, and I for one find these sweet notes more than satisfactory. Give me foods that I can easily recognize and trace to their origins without needing a science food degree. We may possess the intellectual ability to isolate chemical compounds, but I fear our metabolic system is still attached to our origin of development and ability to derive nutrition and energy from naturally available food sources.

So, perhaps this time instead of a radical rejection we should take a cleanse and reset our palates then start afresh by going back to the old, tried the true – the natural.





Cucumber Soup - yields approx. 4-cups
2-1/2 pounds cucumber
2-inch piece of ginger - peeled and diced
1/4-cup fresh lemon juice
2-tablespoons mint leaves
1/8-teaspoon black pepper
1/4-teaspoon salt
3/4-cup iced water
Peel the cucumbers, and then cut in half lengthwise. Remove the seed pocket, and roughly chopped the cucumbers.




Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Chill and serve cold.