Healthy Holiday Salad with Broccoli, Cauliflower & Dried Cranberries ♥ Recipe

A "healthy holiday makeover" of that broccoli salad we all know and love, you know the one from church potlucks, right? the broccoli salad with bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese? My recipe uses tiny florets of fresh broccoli and fresh cauliflower for a little green and white holiday color, then substitutes dried cranberries for raisins. And the dressing? It's my favorite light mayo dressing, thinned with a little buttermilk and brightened with lemon zest. (Weight Watchers, just one point for those still counting points in the "old way" and 2 points for those who count with PointsPlus.)

So the first year that all you vegetable lovers abandoned A Veggie Venture in December, my feelings were a little hurt. What vegetable recipe, I wondered, could compete with fancy appetizers and platters of oh-so-pretty Christmas cookies? Last year, I even implored, Let's Give Salads with Abandon!

But the thing is, even during the holidays -- maybe especially during the holidays -- nothing hits the spot like a plateful, even a spoonful, of healthy vegetables. Here's a salad that takes the summer classic, that broccoli salad with bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese, and gives it a healthy makeover with colors and flavors suitable for a casual holiday supper. (Side Note: How in the world does something with piles of calorie-dense bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese ever get to be called "salad"?! Jeepers!)
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Roasted Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Candied Ginger

 I'm kind of a cranberry sauce freak. I really like it. I like a healthy serving on my Thanksgiving Day plate and it's an important component of the day-after lunch sandwich.

Roasted

Cape Blanco Cranberries
I'm such a cranberry nerd, I found a farm in Oregon that sells late-harvest, vine-ripened cranberries. They pick into December and the color of their cranberries is much darker - some are a deep burgundy and almost purple. The taste is more intense, riper-tasting and awesome!  The smallest order you can make is 5lbs so it helps to have a few other uses (as I do) other than as a Thanksgiving condiment.

Ginger candied in brown sugar

Are you ready to get roasted?

RECIPE: ROASTED CRANBERRY SAUCE with ORANGE AND CANDIED GINGER

I have been making this version (with some variations) for years. I learned the roasting method from a recipe in Saveur, but the combination of other ingredients is my own. This is a very intense and concentrated sauce. The recipe calls for 1 pound of cranberries but if you buy them in the bag, the standard is 12 ounces per bag. I've included the amounts for 12 ounces of cranberries in brackets [...] at the end of each ingredient line.

Makes: 2 cups (1 lb of cranberries) or 1 1/2 cups (12 oz of cranberries)

Ingredients:

• 1 orange
• 1 lb fresh or thawed frozen cranberries  [12 oz]
• 1 (6.8 ounces) cup sugar [3/4 cup or 5.1 ounces]
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil [1 1/2 tablespoons]
• 1 teaspoon salt [3/4 teaspoon]
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper [3/4 teaspoon]
• 2 tablespoons candied ginger (if the ginger is in chunks or
  cubes, give it a chop - about 1/8" to 3/16") [1 1/2 tablespoons]

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 450F, rack in the lower third
Prepare a baking sheet, lining with parchment paper or foil.
With a sharp peeler, remove the peel of the orange in long strips taking as little pith as possible. Slice these into very thin strips, about 1 1/2" long. Juice the orange, reserving 2 tablespoons.

Combine the orange peel strips, the thawed or fresh cranberries, sugar, olive oil, salt and ground black pepper and toss to combine. Transfer this mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Roast until the cranberries begin to burst and release their juice - about 15 minutes.

Transfer the roasted cranberry mixture to a bowl. Stir in the reserved orange juice and the chopped candied ginger. Allow the sauce to stand for at least one hour before serving. This may be made two days ahead and refrigerated. Press some plastic wrap on the top of the sauce and store in an airtight container.

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Friday Dinner: Chicken Piccata, Fettucine con Burro e Formaggio and the Ham Sandwich Salad

...okay, we didn't serve a ham sandwich as a salad, but the inspiration for the salad started out as a ham sandwich, according to Nancy Silverton, in her book "A Twist of the Wrist". It's also not called "The Ham Sandwich Salad", but "Crispy Hearts of Romaine with Ham, Pickled Jalapeno Peppers and Creamy Avocado Dressing". My older sister served the salad to me the last time I was visiting and I knew I had to make it for Lynn at one of our Friday dinners. The dressing alone just makes me want to weep with happiness. Everything in this salad goes together beautifully.

I've eaten Lynn's Chicken Piccata, and pasta with butter and cheese (closer to the original Fettuccine Alfredo than what you eat in restaurants) for years and Friday's incarnation was delicious.  We were talking about when she first made the pasta dish (and whatever pasta you have on hand will work - she most often uses linguine or fettuccine) and she pulled out one of her favorite Italian cookbooks to show me some recipes, "Adventures in Italian Cooking", © 1980, published by Ortho Publishing - a subsidiary of Chevron Chemical at that time. Seriously? Why yes, Chevron had a publishing arm and its subsidiary, Ortho, put out cookbooks. In a way, it's kind of creepy if you think about it too much, but don't. It's a strange source, but one with really good, solid recipes. 

Many recipes call for pounding out the whole half-breast but if your half-breasts are large, making a scalloppine (thin slice of meat) by butterflying the half-breast and just slicing it into two pieces makes a more manageable piece of chicken and takes less pounding time. I've embedded a video that shows how to butterfly a chicken breast. It also helps if your chicken isn't straight out of the refrigerator when you pound it.

Many recipes also call for egg dips and breading which, after sauteing, makes more of a "chicken-fried steak chicken breast",  but Lynn just dusts the pieces with seasoned flour and lets them air dry on a rack before cooking them and I'm in favor of this method, too.

Many moons ago, Lynn lived in the Outer Richmond and her favorite restaurant was Ernesto's (on Clement St.) - back when Ernesto was in the kitchen. Lynn was delighted to be able to recreate many of her favorite dishes from Ernesto's using, amongst other sources, this book. 

Alfredo di Lelio.is credited with the dish "Fettuccine Alfredo" but you know that some form of pasta dressed with creamed butter and cheese has been served since somebody in Italy had water, fire and those three ingredients, but Alfredo has the official credit. Lynn's version includes a healthy dose of fresh ground black pepper and minced parsley. Parmigiana Regiana - at least two years old, is traditional but we used a pecorino romano (sheep's milk) cheese. Don't sweat over the fine details, this remains: pasta dressed with butter and cheese. The only thing about which you must be precise is to wait to dress the pasta until right  before you're ready to serve it. Too soon and the sauce will break (separate). That fact is why the Fettuccine Alfredo we know from most Italian restaurants - at least in the U.S., is a sauce that includes cream as it helps 'hold' the sauce during the restaurant's service period.

Harold McGee has successfully de-bunked the common practice that you need a bunch of water to cook pasta but make no mistake - you need salt. Two tablespoons in the water to cook a pound of pasta in 4-6 quarts of water and if you use the less-water method, two teaspoons to two quarts water.

RECIPES:
 - Chicken Piccata;
 - Fettucine con Burro e Formaggio; and
 - Crispy Hearts of Romaine with Ham, Pickled Jalapenos and Creamy Avocado Dressing


CHICKEN PICCATA
Serves 6-8 as a as a main dish.

Lynn doesn't pound out the entire half breast, she butterflies it, separating it at the 'hinge'  and pounds those out to 1/4".  I think the smaller pieces are easier to handle, take less pounding and look really nice. There will be splatter when you cook this. Use a splatter screen if you have one and are so inclined, or just be ready to clean-up after you cook the chicken pieces.

Ingredients:

• 5 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup flour seasoned with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil (canola or refined grape seed oil) (plus more if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more if necessary)
• 2/3 cup white wine
• 2/3 cup chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons cold butter sliced into 3 pats
• Fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/3 cup capers (the small, non-pareil) drained (if in brined) or rinsed and drained (if in salt)
• 3-4 tablespoons finely minced flat-leaf parsley
• Additional lemon wedges to squeeze over the chicken (optional)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Preparation

• Pre
• While you're flouring the chicken, heat a 12" heavy skillet (not non-stick - you want the fond from cooking the chicken when you make the sauce) on medium for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons neutral oil (canola or refined grape seed) plus two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Add 2 chicken pieces to the pan (gently - you don't want a hot oil incident!) and fry for approximately 3 minutes per side and the chicken is golden brown. Remove to the baking sheet and cooling rack you have in the oven and cook the next pair. 
• When you are done cooking the chicken pieces and they are warming in the oven, pour out the oil and return the pan to the heat, adjusting it down to medium and add the white wine, deglazing the pan by scraping up the fond (brown bits) with a wooden spoon or spatula while the wine is reducing by about half. Whisk in the chicken stock and simmer for a minute. Whisk in the three pats of cold butter, one at a time until the butter is incorporated. Add the capers and simmer for a minute. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Stir in the parsley and turn the heat to low, to keep the sauce warm while you are plating.
• Place 1 or 2 of the chicken pieces on a plate and spoon some sauce over top - don't forget to make sure there are capers with each serving. Add a lemon wedge to each plate and serve.

FETTUCINE con BURRO e FORMAGGIO
(Fettuccine with butter and cheese)
Serves 6-8 as a side
Make sure you don't dress the pasta until you're ready to serve the dish. For this dish, we used the "more water" method to cook the pasta.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry fettucine noodles
• 2/3 stick butter, softened
• 4 - 6 oz grated pecorino romano (or parmigiana), grated on a fine grater
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• Parsley, finely minced to taste, start with 2 tablespoons 

Preparation:

• Fill a large pot (8 quarts) with 4-6 quarts of cold water. Turn the heat up to medium high and cover. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and partially uncover the pot so that it remains at a fast simmer while you prepare the rest of the dish.
• Cream the butter and cheese together thoroughly until the mixture is entirely homogeneous and set aside.
• Bring the pasta water to a full boil and add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. stir the water and salt. Add the pasta all at once, moving it around gently with a wooden spoon until it all fits in the pan. Cook at a boil until al dente - taste it at about 9 minutes and again at 10. When it is done to your satisfaction, drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup and return that to the pan with the pasta.
• Add the creamed butter and cheese to the pan in 3 additions and working very quickly with each addition, thoroughly dress the pasta. Add the minced parsley and fresh ground pepper to taste and serve immediately. Pass additional grated cheese at the table.

CRISPY HEARTS of ROMAIN with HAM, PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS and CREAMY AVOCADO DRESSING
Adapted from Nancy Silverton's recipe in the book, "A Twist of the Wrist".
Serves: 6


We used 1 head of romaine and included some of the smaller outside leaves in addition to the leaves in the heart. I also used less than 1 of the 2 additional avocados called for in the salad because it seemed like overkill along with everything else and a few cubes strewn on each leaf was perfect. The salad is best eaten by picking up a leaf at the core end. This dressing is so good, you will want to marry it.


Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, including the tender stems
• 1 large ripe Hass or Gwen avocado - should be 7 ounces, cut in half, pit removed and scooped out of the shell
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 small garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 small shallots, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup neutral oil (grape seed or canola)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 romaine hearts, washed, thoroughly dried with the leaves removed from the core. Wrap these loosely in barely damp paper towels, place in a plastic produce bag and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the salad.
• kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ripe Hass or Gwen avocado
• 6-8 pickled jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, stemmed, seeded and juilienned
• 7 ounces thinly sliced cured ham
• 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (leaves only)

Preparation

• To make the dressing: Puree the cilantro, avocado, elmon juice, garlic, shallots and kosher salt with a small food processor (or in the blender). With the processor running, add the canola and olive oil in a thin and steady stream through the feed tube until the dressing is emulsified and thoroughly homogeneous in appearance. It should look kind of fluffy. You can store this in the refrigerator by placing it in a bowl of an airtight container (one with a lid), pressing plastic wrap over the entire surface of the dressing and covering it tightly. It held beautifully for about 45 minute for us. (*Update* My sister told me that it held for her for three days)
• To assemble and dress the salad: Remove the prepared romaine heart leaves from the refrigerator and place them in a large bowl. Lightly season the leaves with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle the leaves with 1 cup of the dressing and massage the dressing into the leaves with your (impeccably clean) hands. 
• Halve the avocado, remove the pit and cut through the flesh with a knife, down to but not through the skin in a crosshatch pattern - about 1/3" x 1/3" inch. Use a soup spoon to carefully scoop out the avocado flesh - it will be diced.. Season the diced avocado with a little sea or kosher salt and pepper.
• Divide the lettuce leaves evenly among the 6 plates. Top the leaves with a few cubes of avocado, a few strips of jalapeno peppers, a few strips of ham and a sprinkling of cilantro. Repeat this, building one more layer in the same way.

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Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Top Twelve Favorite Vegetables

Welcome to A Veggie Venture's collection of
Thanksgiving vegetable recipes!

Since 2006, it's tradition at A Veggie Venture to feature Thanksgiving vegetable recipes throughout November. This collection features recipes for your favorite Thanksgiving vegetables, the ones long-time readers and frequent visitors themselves voted for! The collection holds more than three dozen featured Thanksgiving recipes, all:

perfect for special dinners but not over the top
fresh fall vegetables prepped mostly or entirely in advance
easily multiplied for large gatherings and divided for small ones
and a little different for A Veggie Venture, no skimping on butter, cream and cheese!
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Greek Lentil Soup ♥

Hey Vegetable Lovers, this is my annual "public service announcement" -- the reminder to "make soup first" before starting to cook for Thanksgiving. That way, after a big day of cooking, there will be something in the fridge to actually eat, not just food for Thanksgiving Day. Naturally, I have a recipe to share too ...

A simple lentil soup, cooked in a broth scented with bay leaf, garlic, rosemary and a surprise ingredient, cinnamon. Vegan.

I've been mesmerized by the photographs from a new-ish cookbook by Tessa Kiros. I loved an earlier cookbook, Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes, mostly because it's an unlikely combination of Finnish, Greek and South African recipes, cuisines I've been lucky to know, in person, right in situ. (And long-time readers have seen two recipes from Falling Cloudberries, Lamb Roast with Lemon & Oregano and Homemade Finnish Mustard which is always -- always -- in my fridge.)

The new cookbook focuses on just one of those food traditions, Food From Many Greek Kitchens. The photos are only occasionally of food, mostly of home life, perhaps, I suspect, of a romantic notion of a home life that comes from another era. Rustic. Colorful. Everyday. Like photographs so old the faces are rubbed away. Church doors emblazoned with Greek crosses. Old flags and bottles and postcards and chairs. Shop windows with sausages and crusty loaves of bread. Greek Orthodox clerical robes. Well-worn kitchen bowls and cutting boards.
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Sweet, Sour and a Little Bit Hot: Stir-Fry Cabbage and Greens with Sesame Seeds

In an attempt to get my refrigerator cleared out, in preparation for stuff I'm acquiring, cooking or baking for Thanksgiving, I considered the head of red cabbage and a bag of pea greens in my crisper. Generally, I use cabbage in the fall and winter versions of Spoon Salad and I like to finely chop up pea greens as an add-in, but I knew I was not going to get to that in the next few days.

I also had some, garlic and ginger. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, agave nectar (alternately use honey), chili garlic sauce, sesame seeds and a little sesame oil and you can make a slightly sweet, sour and a little bit hot stir-fry. I also had some previously baked, marinated tofu cubes that I sliced up to add as a protein. For a prep-junkie like me, all the slicing, dicing and mincing is a rush but for those of you who don't get happy goosebumps at the thought of that, your pay-off is that the dish cooks in about 15 minutes.

This isn't so much a recipe as an example of really using the pantry, the spice cupboard and the crisper and winding up with something good. All sorts of substitutions can be made - from the type of cabbage or greens to the basic seasoning and liquids to the nuts. I really wish I'd had some cilantro, or chives and green onions, and I absolutely recommend those additions.

Pea greens, not to be confused with pea shoots which are more like micro-greens

I used pea greens - because that's what I had - but would recommend using another type of greens in this dish. When you quick cook pea greens, the vertical fibers of the (essentially hollow) stems, while pretty tender raw, do not break down. I occasionally buy pea greens and have always used them raw in salad, removing the tendrils and then chopping them up. If I did use them again in a dish like this, I'd pre-steam them in the microwave (sprinkled with a little water in the covered bowl) until they were wilted, but not completely cooked, and then chop them up very fine. De-stemming pea greens is kind of a pain and unlike chard or kale, the stem is not less fibrous as you move up to the top of the stalk.

Fortunately there are pages and pages of types of greens you can use, or you can leave them out. For the greens that have a slightly longer cooking time, you may wish to steam them in the microwave so that they are half-cooked and ready to finish off in the stir-fry.

If you're working by hand, it's easiest to thinly shred cabbage by separating some of the outer leaves
from the inner fold-y leaves. Flattening the outer leaves, placing them curved-side up
makes them easier to cut in long, crosswise strips.

I'm not including the recipe for the baked, marinated tofu (yet) but just about any protein would do whether vegan or omnivore: left-overs from your home-cooked, or a good purchased roast chicken, or pork, thin-sliced steak, etc - you get the message, yes? After the high-heat stir-fry and short braise in the liquids, the cabbage doesn't taste at all cabbage-y. It's tender but with a little residual crunch. It could be served on its own, or over rice or noodles.

Sesame seeds: from raw and white to toasted and caramel-colored, in the microwave. If you want to burn sesame seeds, it's dead easy to do so cooking them on the stove-top. You have to work harder to ruin them in the oven, but it can be done. I found that toasting them in the microwave removes the agony of defeat and acrid smell of burned seeds when cooked on the stove-top, but is the easiest (for me) if I actually want a tasty batch of toasted sesame seeds. You still have to pay attention to them but the whole process takes 5 or less minutes, depending on your  microwave's power and the transition from "almost toasted" to "perfect" is a little easier to control. On the other hand, if you've never had a problem toasting them in the oven or on the stove-top, I salute you!

RECIPE: HOT AND SOUR STIR-FRY CABBAGE and GREENS with SESAME SEEDS

Serves: 4 (generously) as part of a main dish or 6-8 as a side.
Accompaniments: If desired: rice or grains or noodles, previously prepared protein (tofu, chicken, pork, beef, etc.) if you wish to make it a main dish.
Equipment: 1 heavy 12" skillet with a lid (or a wok, or dutch oven with a heavy bottom), preferably without a non-stick coating. I like to preheat the pan without any oil in it. 1 microwave-safe glass or stoneware bowl (like a cereal bowl) to toast the sesame seeds in the microwave. The glass bowl in which you toast the seeds ends up getting pretty hot and I do not recommend using plastic - even BPA-free plastic - in any cooking situation where heat is applied.  

Sauce Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar or 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons chile paste (as hot as you want it) or a sauce like Sriracha
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or apple cider vinegar

Garnish Ingredients

• 1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro (recommended)

Stir-fry Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided. I used refined grape seed oil. Canola oil is another choice.
• 4 garlic cloves sliced very thin
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes or small, sliced fresh or dried red peppers
• 6 cups cored and quartered red cabbage, outer leaves separated from inner leaves and each slices thinly crosswise (1/8" to 1/4")
• 4 cups greens (like kale or chard), stems removed and sliced crosswise (1/8" to 1/4") or baby spinach leaves (whole)

Preparation (Sauce):

1. Combine all ingredients  in a bowl, whisk together and set aside.

Preparation (Garnish):

1. Place 1/4 cup raw sesame seeds in a microwave-safe glass or stoneware bowl (like a cereal bowl). Do not use plastic.
2. Place in the microwave and cook on full power for 2 minutes.
3. Open the door and using a spoon, stir the seeds for about 10 seconds, making sure to bring up the seeds from the bottom.
4. Continue to cook in increments of 20 or 30 seconds, including stirring each time, until the seeds are just short of a medium caramel brown color.
5. Using oven mitts or a folded kitchen towel, remove the bowl and stir the seeds then pour them into another bowl or on to a plate to bring down the heat as they will continue to cook a little.
6. Set aside.

Preparation: Stir Fry, Assembly and Serving

1. Gather all of your prepared stir-fry ingredients, the sauce and the previously toasted sesame seeds as well as anything else - like prepared noodles, rice or proteins as close to the stove as possible. This dish cooks fast.
2. Pre-heat your skillet on medium heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan, swirling the pan so that the oil covers the entire pan surface and when it shimmers, add the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add 2 additional tablespoons of oil to the pan and turn the heat up to medium high. After about 30 seconds, add half of the thin-sliced cabbage to the pan, tossing it to coat. Stir-fry for about a minute, move the first batch to the outside of the pan and add the remainder of the cabbage. Stir-fry this batch for about a minute and then combine all of the cabbage. The cabbage should be just a little wilted looking.
5. Add the sauce mixture to the pan and combine with the cabbage. Cover and cook over high heat for one minute.
6. Add the greens and any protein to the pan and toss with the cabbage mixture. Cover and cook on high for two minutes or until the greens are just tender.. Remove the lid and if the mixture is too saucy, cook on high, uncovered for about 30 seconds to a minute.
7. Add all but 2 teaspoons of the toasted sesame seeds and, if using, the chopped cilantro and combine with the cabbage-greens mixture thoroughly.
8. Serve immediately over rice or noodles (optional) and sprinkle the remainder of the sesame seeds over top.

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Sweet Sunday: Roasted Pear Tart

Once you've roasted pears that make their own caramel sauce (see: Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios), it's a short, easy ride to make this roasted pear tart.

I used a sweet tart dough (from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" I highly recommend his cookbooks), 4 ounces each crème fraîche and fromage frais as the filling, drizzled the caramel sauce from the roasted pears over the fruit and garnished with toasted ground pistachios. All-in-all pretty simple. You can roast the pears the day before as well as make the tart dough and refrigerate that until the next day.

The assembled tart needs to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before you serve it; the extra sliver I stashed in the refrigerator tasted great the next day, too. After chilling the tart, take it out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving.

Crème fraîche and fromage blanc, combined.

What is this "fromage blanc", you may ask? Fromage blanc is a creamy soft cheese made with cows milk. and not cream (like crème fraîche) and as Cowgirl Creamery makes it, it is what American grocery store cream cheese can only dream it could be but never will be. It has about 30% less fat than regular U.S. cream cheese and I think it's exponentially better. I wanted the tartness and rich, creamy taste of the crème fraîche to be there but not so forward. The fromage blanc was the perfect pairing. Look for it in your neighborhood from a good purveyor, buy and taste some and I'll bet you like it. A lot.

RECIPE: ROASTED CARAMEL PEAR TART

Serves: 8
Sweet Tart Shell recipe from: "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian", by Mark Bittman


CARAMEL ROASTED PEARS-------------------------------------------------------
Equipment: Refer to: Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
  
• 4 medium bosc pears, just ripe - at room temperature
• 3/4 cups apple cider, or water (may not be necessary)

Preparation:

• Follow STEPS 1 and 2 for roasting the pears in this recipe: Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios
• After the pears halves have cooled, remove them;  drain off and reserve the caramel sauce. Store the pears and sauce in separate covered bowls or containers. If you are making the pears the day ahead, store the pears and sauce covered, separately in the refrigerator in air-tight containers.
  
• When you assemble the tart, the caramel sauce should be the consistency of warmed honey - viscous, yet free-flowing. If your sauce is too thin or thick, follow the recommendations in STEP 3 of  Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios to make any necessary adjustments.

SWEET TART SHELL---------------------------------------------------------------
Equipment:  1 - 9" or 10" tart pan, a little flour in order to roll-out the dough, foil, a little butter to grease the foil  and 2 cups of raw rice, dried beans or pie weights and a pastry scraper to lift the dough. If you don't have a pastry scraper, you can use a length of dental floss and slide it under the dough to loosen it from your board.

Ingredients: Sweet Tart Shell

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ground almond meal (or other ground nuts)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 10 tablespoons frozen or very cold butter, cut into 1/3" chunks
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons ice water (more or less may be required)

Preparation: Sweet Tart Shell

1. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, salt and sugar. Pulse once or twice to combine. Add the chilled or frozen butter all at once and process until the mixture is uniform (no more than 10 seconds). Add the egg yolk and process for 4 more seconds.
2. Remove this mixture to a bowl and add the ice water until you can form the dough into a ball. If it's too dry (the dough ball cracks or doesn't hold together), add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Form the dough into a ball, slightly flattened, wrap tightly in plastic and chile in the refrigerator for  at least 1 hour. You can refrigerate up to a couple of days, or freeze for up to a couple of weeks.

Rolling-Out and Pre-baking the Tart Shell

1. If the dough was frozen, remove the dough - the day or night before you plan to assemble the tart - to the refrigerator. When you remove the dough from the refrigerator bash it gently just enough (not like you're swinging hammer!) 4 to 6 times in order to be able to roll it out.
2. Lightly dust your surface with flour place the dough on the surface and roll in one direction, making a 1/4 turn after each roll until the dough is 2" in diameter larger than your tart pan. If your dough is sticking to the rolling surface, pick up the dough (this is where the pastry (or bench) scraper or length of dental floss may comes in handy) on each side and dust your surface with a little flour.
   
3. Drape 1/2 of the dough over the rolling pin (again, have the pastry or bench scraper or dental floss nearby) and place it on top of the tart pan, centering it.
4. Press the dough into the pan gently, including all of the nooks and crannies. If there is some cracking, or thin parts, patch with dough scraps being careful not to make your patched areas thicker than the rest of the the dough.
5. When you are done, use a knife to cut-off the excess. 
6. Wrap the tart pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. I have tried freezing the tart dough for 30 minutes, but my tart shells tend to shrink when I use that method, but not when I refrigerate the dough for an entire hour - or up to two hours. If you're in a rush and cannot wait for an hour, wrap and freeze the dough for 30 minute and accept the shrinkage.
7. While the dough is chilling down, pre-heat the oven to 425F, rack in the middle. When the oven has pre-heated, remove the tart pan with the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Prick (dock) the dough all over with a fork, evenly spaced (10 to 15 times). .Butter a length of foil and place it into the pan butter side down on top of the dough pressing very gently to get it into the shape of the dough in the pan. Place the pie weights (raw rice, dried beans or pie weights) on top of the foil.
8. Place the prepared tart shell on the middle rack and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the tart pan from the oven and remove the foil and the weights. Return the tart shell to the oven, reduce the temperature to 350F and continue to back until the crust is entirely golden brown as this tart recipe requires no additional baking.
9. Cool the tart shell  completely on a wire rack (in the tart pan) before assembling the tart.

TART FILLING--------------------------------------------------------------- 
Ingredients:

• 4 oz crème fraîche
• 4 oz fromage blanc (substitute: whole milk ricotta, beaten smooth or cream cheese)

Preparation:
Combine crème fraîche and fromage blanc until smooth and homogenous

GROUND OR CHOPPED PISTACHIO GARNISH-------------------
Ingredients: Pistachio Garnish

• 1/3 cup shelled, toasted pistachios coarsely ground or chopped (See the method for toasting at the end of the recipe:  Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios)

ASSEMBLING THE TART---------------------------------------------------------------
Have ready:

• Pre-baked and cooled tart shell
• Crème fraîche and fromage blanc filling
• Roasted pears and caramel sauce
• Ground or chopped pistachio garnish

1. Spread the filling in the tart shell
2. Slice the roasted pears into 1/4" vertical slices and arrange, starting at the outside, in circles on top of the filling.
3. Drizzle around 1/3 cup of the caramel syrup evenly over top of the roasted pear slices
4. Garnish with the toasted, ground or finely chopped pistachios
5. Wrap the tart with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Remove 1 hour before serving to come up to room temperature.

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New Page - Cooking & Food-Related Sites

My other two pages (in addition to the blog posts on the "Home" tab) are woefully bereft of content, but I have added a third additional page, Cooking & Food-Related Sites. I have regularly accessed all of these sites, but if one 'goes dark', leave a comment and I'll make the correction.

Suggestions and additions are welcome, too.

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Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry & Orange ♥

Today's Thanksgiving side dish recipe: Chunks of sweet potato cooked in a slow cooker in a sauce that's sweet with orange and tart with cranberry. Delicious!

Okay, so granted, pretty, these sweet potatoes are not, especially on the second day when the edges soften and the chunks begin to merge. But I'm willing to bet, take one bite and you'll be as smitten as I. Delicious? You bet. They're just slightly sweet, more fruity really, nothing like a traditional sweet Sweet Potato Casserole but considerably sweeter than last year's favorite new Thanksgiving recipe, the Savory Sweet Potato Casserole.

Even a picky eater, ahem, let's instead call him a young man whose palate is still developing liked them. At first, he eyed his very first sweet potatoes with suspicion but after taking a bite or two, was surprised to admit, "These aren't half bad." And then he cleaned his plate. (Hi, Benito!)

Plus, they're a great choice for Thanksgiving when oven space can be an issue, or even just for a weeknight meal, a quick vegetable to have waiting once supper's on the table.

SPEAKING OF THANKSGIVING Who else is beginning to think about menus and the annual tug between favorite old family recipes and tempting new recipes? This is my sixth year to add to a collection of vegetables recipes especially for Thanksgiving, see Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Top Twelve Favorite Vegetables. If there will be vegetarians at the table, you'll definitely want to check out Vegetarian Entrées for Thanksgiving. And yes -- more recipes to come now through Thanksgiving!
Keep Reading ->>>

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Roasted Caramel Pears with Crème Fraîche and Toasted Pistachios

Want to make a dessert that's dead easy and delicious, where the main part of the dish is comprised of two ingredients (pears and brown sugar) and makes it own sauce? Well, this just might be the one.

Lynn and I saw this on one of Joanne Weir's cooking shows and looked up the recipe on her site. We made it for my birthday dinner and periodically rave about it. We're making it as a Thanksgiving dessert, in lieu of pie, because we never seem to get to the pie on Thanksgiving.

For this recipe, I used crème fraîche instead of the called-for Marscapone, omitted the honey and used toasted, ground pistachios instead of pecans. I like the slight sour-ness to the crème fraîche, I think adding honey to it is overkill and toasted pistachios give a little crunch, texture and nutty flavor to the dish.

This is not a regular "Sweet Sunday" recipe, but I used the pears for a "Sweet Sunday" tart recipe that will be posted very soon.

Selecting Pears & Pear Care

The original post from which I adapted this recipe calls for Bartlett pears. For my version, I chose Bosc pears. Bartlett pears will release more liquid and be much softer when completely cooked. Just make sure they are barely ripe when you're ready to prepare your dish or your roasted Bartlett pears will be mushy.

Bosc pears have a golden brown, matte and somewhat rough-feeling peel.

 I know there are other baking-appropriate pears out there, but I chose Bosc pears. They don't have the gold-and-rosy sexy blush of Bartlett and other pears but they are a workhorse when it comes to baking. When ripe, they are firmer than most other eating pears. To test for ripeness, press gently near the stem and if it gives to that gentle pressure, it's ready to use. Ripen pears in a warm, room temperature place outside of the refrigerator and test daily for ripeness. Once ripe, store in the coldest spot in the refrigerator, uncrowded and in a single layer - but not in the crisper, they are too easily bruised.

Because pears ripen from the inside out, ripe fruit will give gently to gentle pressure near the stem. Waiting until pears are soft around the middle may indicate over ripeness.

Toasting Pistachios

I read about a technique to toast pine nuts on Alton Brown's blog using the microwave and a paper bag. Although it worked - and I have ruined many a batch of pine nuts by being distracted for just a few seconds too many - the pine nuts were too uniform in color for me (yeah, I'm weird) and I think too much salt clung to them for my taste. I'm going to try it again with a shorter time in the microwave and less salt.

Raw, shelled pistachios, pre-toasting.

However, I love it for toasting pistachios and I used less salt than when I used this method for pine nuts and I was very happy with the results. The pistachios are just lightly toasted (retaining their beautiful color) and lightly salty. This method can be found below the main recipe for the roasted pears.

RECIPES:
 - ROASTED CARAMEL PEARS with CRÈME FRAÎCHE and PISTACHIOS and
 - MICROWAVE TOASTED PISTACHIOS

Serves 6 (smaller pears, 2 per person)
Adapted from Joanne Weir

Equipment 13" x 9" baking dish, 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon (for coring the pears), peeler or sharp paring knife. If your pears are big enough that they will crowd a large baking dish, a roasting pan or a rimmed (jelly roll) baking pan will work. If you use a jelly roll pan, you will need to take more care when pouring out the sauce - grab somebody to help you if necessary.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 6 medium pears, just ripe - at room temperature (Bartlett - red or gold, or Bosc. See notes above on ripeness and storage)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups apple cider, or water (may not be necessary)
• 8 oz crème fraîche
• 1/2 cup whole, raw pistachios, toasted, lightly salted and chopped (see toasting method, below)

Preparation
Pre-heat oven to 350° F, rack in the middle

1. Spread the brown sugar in an even layer in the baking dish. Peel, halve and core the pears (use the 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to remove the seed core and the flower end on the bottom of the pears). Lay the pears cut-side down on top of the brown sugar layer in the baking dish. It should be a tight-fit with all the pears.
2. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes. The pear juices and the brown sugar will form a light caramel syrup. A paring knife should slide easily in and out of the pears. Check the pan every 5-10 minutes and if the pan is dry, add 1/4 cup apple cider or water to dissolve the sugar. Turn the pears over and roast an additional 5-10 minutes. When they are done, remove the baking dish from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. 
3.  If the sauce is too thin, remove the pears to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan. Adjust the heat to medium or medium high, bring the sauce to a simmer and adjust the heat to keep it at a simmer while it reduces. Make sure your sauce pan is at least 2 quarts, as the sauce may bubble. When the sauce is the consistency of warmed honey (viscous but free-flowing), remove from the heat an allow to cool while you plate the pears. (Note: if the sauce is too thick, add 1/4 cup -or more if necessary - of warmed cider or water to the baking dish and stir to incorporate all of the caramel sauce. Reheat in a sauce pan over medium-low heat if desired)
4. Place 2 pear halves in each of 6 bowls with one pear half cut-side up. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the sauce around the outside of the pears. Top each serving with a dollop of crème fraîche and sprinkle each serving with some of the toasted and chopped pistachios.

RECIPE: MICROWAVE TOASTED PISTACHIOS
Adapted from Alton Brown's "Pine Nut Primer"


Remember -- your microwave may differ in power settings from mine so check for doneness often and remember that even when you're done, the nuts will continue cooking for a minute or so.


Equipment: microwave oven, a small paper lunch bag, water, small strainer.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup shelled, raw pistachios
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation
Soak the pistachios in water for about 10 seconds. Strain off the water. In a bowl, toss the pistachios with 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt and place them in the bottom of the small paper lunch bag. Fold over the top of the bag a couple of times.

Microwave on high for one minute. Shake the bag a once or twice and test a nut for doneness. If necessary, microwave in 10 second increments (my 1/2 cup took 1 minute, 20 seconds in total). Pour the nuts on a plate or into a bowl to cool down a few minutes. Use as indicated.

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It's Fall! Squash, Beans, Chard and Bacon with Cinnamon

Happy post-Hallowe'en! Does anybody spell it that way any more? "Een" at the end of "Hallow" without the apostrophe means nothing. Yes, I know that Hallowe'en is (in turn) a contraction of "All Hallows’ Evening"

Man, I sound like an old grump. Hang on - I have to yell at some kids to get off the lawn. Or, rather, my sister's lawn. I am spending the week surrounding Hallowe'en visiting family in and around Tacoma/Puyallup, WA.

Even though it was a school night, the All Hallows Evening weather was fine and there was a constant stream of kids for a good 2 1/2 hours. My nephew parked himself, and his video game equipment next to the front door. I've had to fight him for the last couple of years to hand out candy. He's just likely saving himself the embarrassment of having his aunt answer the door wearing a t-shirt of zombies riding Segways ("We've Upgradead!).

This dish was so good, I made it two nights in a row on request. It tastes great warmed up for breakfast, with an egg on top. There's quite a bit of cinnamon, but it balances with the bacon and beans in a way that it's just savory and aromatic and not at all sweet, even with the roasted and caramelized butternut squash.

This isn't an original recipe but I cannot remember where I saw it. If I can locate the source, I'll come back and update the post.

Everybody, okay everybody who likes squash (good - more for the squash lovers!), loved this dish.
You can easily substitute smoked paprika for the bacon, or just leave it out. The dish won't suffer.

The first night I just used butternut squash, The second night, I combined the extra butternut squash
from the previous night with a large sweet potato.

Sun - the natural frost defroster, in the backyard.

RECIPE: SQUASH, BEANS, CHARD and BACON with CINNAMON

Serves: 4-6 as a side
This dish can be modified to be vegan by omitting the bacon, and the rendered bacon fat.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb thick cut bacon cut crosswise into 1" lardons
• 1 medium onion (red, yellow or white), medium dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 cups black beans, cooked, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water or 1 can (approximately 1 1/2 cups), drained.
• 4 - 5 cups butternut squash (or other squash, or sweet potatoes), 1/3" dice (2 1/2 - 3 lbs)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 - 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 4-6 cups of chard or kale, washed stemmed and cut into 1" pieces, loosely packed. If you're using chard, chop the stems (above the woody part) into small dice and use that as well.
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400F, rack 1 position below the middle. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Toss the diced butternut squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and the ground cinnamon. Toss so that the seasoning is evenly distributed.

Pour the seasoned squash dice onto the baking sheet and roast in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking time. You want the squash dice to have some browned edges and be tender, but not overly squishy. When it is cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you're preparing the remainder of the dish.

Cook the bacon lardons until crispy in a large saute pan or a dutch oven (at least 3 quarts or larger). Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Reserve the leftover rendered bacon fat to cook the onions and garlic.Wipe any left over bacon bitlets out of the pan with a paper towel - you don't want them to burn while you're preparing the remainder of the dish.

In a large saute pan, heat it up for a 6 minutes on medium.  Add in 2 tablespoons of the reserved, rendered bacon fat making sure to pour off the top, leaving any solids behind. Add the onion, plus a pinch of salt and saute, adjusting the heat, until the onion dice is golden and some of the edges are golden brown. Add the garlic and saute until it is the color of straw.

Add the drained beans and about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid, or 1/4 cup water and another pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Go easy on the salt if your beans are canned and taste after a few minutes of cooking. Simmer the beans for 5-10 minutes on medium low.

Add the prepared chard to your pan and toss with tongs to combine it with the beans, onions and garlic. Do not cover the pan. Alternately, you can microwave the chard in a microwave-safe bowl for about 2-3 minutes and then add it to the pan and cook on medium for a few minutes. If the pan is too dry, add 1/4 cup of the reserved bean cooking water or plain water.

Add the roasted squash dice that you've set aside to the pan and use a large perforated spoon to combine all of the ingredients. Adjust the heat to medium low and heat. Right before serving, add-in the bacon and combine.

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DIY Dried Herbs ♥ (How to Dry Fresh Herbs in the Microwave)

Fresh Dried Herbs (Except Far Right)

Today's DIY Kitchen Tip: How to Turn Fresh Herbs into Dried Herbs. Does that make them Fresh-Dried Herbs? I think so! It takes just a minute or two in the microwave and once dried, the fresh herbs (wait, now they are dried herbs) are still bright green in color, still fragrant, and somehow, still alive.

Your 'veggie evangelist' is no DIY Diva. The rare project I tackle turns out silly junk, not shabby chic. But watching all the clever pins and repins on Pinterest, it's hard not to think, "I could do that! I could. I really could." (Pinterest is my latest online obsession, Yours too? Follow me on Pinterest, I'll follow you back! It's a fun way to share stuff we find online.)

But Kitchen DIY comes naturally -- and so does turning the last of the season's fresh green herbs into fresh dried herbs. I take no credit for the idea, it came from PJ Hamel who writes the blog for King Arthur Flour and shared Dry Fresh Herbs in 30 Seconds Flat - Really. I read PJ's post and thought, "I could do that. Heck, I could do that NOW." And so I did, heading to the herb pots on the patio, scissors in hand.
Keep Reading ->>>

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