Minimal Monday: Roasted Beet and Orange Salad

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Sometimes it's fun just to see how many colors you can get onto a plate.  Especially in mid-winter.  And the pigments in richly colored foods also function as anti-oxidants in humans, so it's not only visually pleasing, it's healthy.  It's not bad advice to buy the most vividly colored fruits and vegetables you can find; they almost always have a nutritional edge over paler choices.  

My palette: roasted beets, two kinds of oranges, micro-greens, some thinly sliced red onion and creamy goat cheese.  Salt, pepper, olive oil and any kind of vinegar you like, I finished off a bottle of sherry vinegar, my favorite.
I used leftover beets that I roasted for about an hour in a 400 degree oven the day before.  After they've cooled down the skins should slip off easily.   I picked up some Cara Cara oranges out of curiosity, you can see they have a rosy pink flesh next to the regular navels. 

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Blondies

We'll be briefly seeing our daughter at college this weekend and I want to bring her a homemade treat.  Her town is small enough that there is no Starbucks, so an amazing local bakery/coffee shop has been able to thrive there.  They make a to-die-for macaroon the size of a golf ball that is dipped in dark chocolate.  It costs a small fortune, and after you eat one you don't need to eat for the rest of the day.  She and I are both hooked on them, so I know she'll love these blondies.  

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Blondies
oven to 350

10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown, you can use any kind)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cups coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
generous 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used dark, use any kind you want, including white!)
generous 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

• Line your 8x8 or 9x9 pan with foil to make it easy to remove and cut your blondies.  
• Measure out the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Mix to combine.  
• Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy, then add the eggs and extracts and mix well.  
• Add the flour mixture, coconut and chocolate.  Mix until just well combined.  
• Spread evenly in your pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes (check at 30) until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out moist with a few crumbs and the blondies are looking light golden.  
• Cool before cutting.

Notes: You can find coconut flour in specialty stores, online, and often in the large supermarket chains. 

Slow-Cooked Maple Cider Brisket, Gourmet's 50 Women Game Changers Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian

This week we're up to #32 on Gourmet's list of the 50 Women Game Changers in the world of food: Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian, co-creators of the popular Edible magazine network. Thanks to Mary from One Perfect Bite for organizing a group of us cooking and blogging our way through this list, one dish at a time.  Check back every Friday for another story and recipe from the list, and e-mail Mary if you'd like to join the group.
 

It's common wisdom that print publications are dinosaurs in the virtual world of media today, but Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian are proving to be the exception with their successful quarterly magazines devoted to the principles of local eating.  What started with the 2002 publication of the 16 page Edible Ojai has blossomed into a chain of 70 magazines dotting the country and inspiring communities to eat fresh and eat local.  Their first cookbook, Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods was published in 2010.

All the talk about the local food movement being elitist is damaging because it's not true. While we still need to do a much better job at getting fresh foods into inner cities, food that is at its peak of ripeness is most abundant, and therefore at its lowest price.
Foods like tomatoes, strawberries and corn — when they are at the height of their season, they cost a lot less than they would if they had been shipped across the country in the middle of winter.

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/edible-communities-interview

I chose this recipe because I was intrigued by the unusual flavors in the sauce.  And since I don't often cook large cuts of meat, this gave me the excuse to try a brisket.  It turned out to be very easy to assemble and the oven did most of the work.  I halved the recipe and used a 3 lb brisket.  I omitted the bacon and used fresh oregano.

Thin slivers of garlic get pressed into small slits in the meat, infusing it with flavor.  The long slow cooking mellows and blends the flavors of the sauce, which at first glace can seem a little strange~~maple syrup, cider vinegar, strong coffee, cayenne, mustard and tomato paste don't seem like obvious partners, but somehow it all seems to work in the end. The sauce is rich and complex, and is a nice change from the tomato-heavy sauces you often get with brisket.


Maple Cider Brisket        ~~~from Edible Green Mountains
Makes 6 servings
1 4 to 5 pound beef brisket
2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
1/2 pound maple-smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled, optional
3 tbsp bacon drippings or grapeseed oil
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup strong brewed coffee
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Using a paring knife, cut small slits all over the brisket, inserting a sliver of garlic into each slit as you cut it. Place the brisket into a large Dutch oven or roasting pan fitted with a lid.
• In a large sauté pan or saucepan, heat the bacon drippings over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until golden, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, oregano, pepper, and cayenne and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring continuously, for 1 minute. Stir in the coffee, vinegar, maple syrup, broth and mustard. Bring the ingredients to a boil.
• Pour the contents of the sauté pan over the brisket in the Dutch oven. Cover the pan with the lid and place it into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Decrease the heat to 300° F and bake, basting the meat with the pan sauce once or twice, until the brisket is fork tender, about 3 hours. Allow the meat to rest for about 15 minutes. Slice the meat across the grain using an electric knife or sharp carving knife. Place the sliced meat into a large ovenproof serving container with lid. Remove the fat from the surface of the sauce. Pour the sauce over and around the meat. Cover the container with the lid.
• Place the container with the brisket back into the oven for 30 minutes. Garnish with the crumbled bacon (if using). Serve immediately.

Note: You can refrigerate the brisket overnight after slicing it, if desired. Reheat the brisket in a preheated 350° F oven until the sauce is bubbling, about 30 to 45 minutes.

We had this as the authors advised, with mashed rutabaga and Brussels sprouts.  It was really delicious and the quintessential mid-winter meal.  I think I'll serve the leftovers over noodles tomorrow night.  To find out if there is an Edible magazine for your area, go to the Edible Communities website and check the list at the bottom of the home page.

Check out these other bloggers who are exploring Gourmet's 50 Women Game Changers along with me---
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef
Miranda of Mangoes and Chutney
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits,
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Annie - Lovely Things
Nancy - Picadillo
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook
Kathy- Bake Away With Me 
Alyce - More Time at the Table
Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades 

Homemade Greek Style Yogurt with blood oranges and Almond Granola

I'm continuing my theme of restocking the kitchen after a trip; it's so much easier to contemplate making large batches of basics when the fridge is relatively empty.  What could be better than opening the door and finding a big bowl of homemade yogurt and some fresh nutty granola.  Both are so easy to make and so rewarding.
 

The Yogurt is as simple as setting a half gallon of whole milk on the stove in a heavy bottomed pan and bringing it slowly up to temperature: 170-180 degrees.  This takes about 1/2 an hour, and it's best if you use a clip on thermometer to get an accurate reading. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool to 110 degrees; this takes about another half hour.  Then add in a cup of store bought yogurt which will act as your starter to introduce the good bacteria that will turn the milk into yogurt.  The pot needs to be kept warm at 110 degrees for about 6 to 8 hours while the yogurt cultures develop.  My unorthodox method involves wrapping it in an electric blanket set on medium.  A heating pad and towel can do the trick as well.  If you have a gas oven your pilot light may give off enough heat (check it with a thermometer) or, as a last resort, you can invest in an inexpensive yogurt maker.
  

To get thick Greek style yogurt you can let it drain through cheesecloth set in a strainer over a bowl.  (Put it in the refrigerator.) The whey will drain out in about an hour and you'll be left with thick creamy yogurt that doesn't have the unpleasantly sharp tang of commercial kinds.

My favorite fruit to have with yogurt is oranges...and since it's high citrus season right now there are all kinds of varieties in the stores.  I sectioned a blood orange and added a dusting of wheat germ and a drizzle of orange blossom honey on top.  It really doesn't get any better than this.

But if you really want to set yourself up for a week of great eating, make a batch of fresh granola to go along with your yogurt. 

I call this Almond Granola but it has hazelnuts in it as well.  You can add any kind of nut or seed you like.  I usually use vanilla flavoring in granola but here I substituted almond extract.  I omitted dried fruit in this version so that the oranges and nuts could take center stage.

 Almond Granola
oven to 350
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp almond extract

• Toss all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Mix the oil, honey and almond extract in a measuring cup and pour over the oat mixture, tossing as you drizzle to get the granola evenly coated and thoroughly mixed.
• Spread the granola evenly onto a baking sheet with sides.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring and redistributing every 5 minutes until everything is golden brown.
• Cool completely on the pan before storing in an airtight jar.

Cherry Almond Bran Muffins

Re-stocking the kitchen after being away can be a chore or a joy, depending on your attitude.  It also depends on whether you had the foresight to clear out those already-past-their-prime scallions and their other dubious bin mates before you left.  Liquefied veggies are not conducive to fresh starts. 

A fresh batch of muffins is the first order of business when it comes to getting my kitchen back to normalcy.   I'll leave a few out and freeze the rest in packs of 2.  I can pull them out as we need them and give them 20 seconds in the microwave.  If you haven't made these yet this season you really should.  They'll change your mind about bran muffins, unless you already thought they were sweet, fluffy and satisfying. This cherry almond muffin is just one of the endless variations you can make with the basic recipe.

Basic Bran Muffins
oven to 365
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
add ins:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dried cherries

• Spray a muffin tin with non stick spray or use muffins liners.
• Mix the brans together with the buttermilk and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Whisk the egg, oil, sugar and vanilla together and add it to the buttermilk mixture.
• Stir together the flour, baking soda, powder and salt.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
• Fold in the almonds and cherries and spoon into 10 muffin cups.
• Bake for about 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

These freeze very well, just wrap the cooled muffins in foil and then plastic, or a double layer of plastic.  Take them out as needed; they'll defrost quickly.

Going Home

Technically I guess I came home yesterday on Jet Blue.  But this past week in Los Angeles has been a homecoming of its own. Revisiting a city that you no longer live in kind of feels like an out of body experience, like being a spirit wafting through a world you’re no longer a part of.  The first thing I did after picking up my rental car was drive by our old house. The new owners have painted, and generally spruced it up.  They took out the two massive elms that defined and shaded the front yard, but they left my roses and my picket fence alone. 

Ironically it wasn’t sitting in front of my old house that stirred my emotions, it was the time I spent on the familiar roads and freeways of Los Angeles and 'the valley', shuttling between family and friends.  I found myself associating memories with each and every block I passed, and I spent the week re-tracing the skeleton of 25 years of family life played out on the grid of city streets, the curves of hilly canyon roads, the blocks, parks, buildings and mini-malls of what had been home.  

What started as a little game turned into an obsession.  There was a person, place, event or emotion embedded in every street corner, every exit on the freeway, from momentous occasions all the way down to the minutia of everyday life. The memories came fast and furious and in jumbled order---a pre-school graduation, a daughter's early boyfriend, the place we got our first dog groomed.  The orthodontist, the good friends that moved away, one of the many bar mitzvah drop offs where I watched a thirteen-year-old through the rear view mirror wobbling in her first high heels.  The drive to the high school bus stop, an ill-fated taekwando class, an anniversary dinner, a flat tire.  

After a few days of this the sheer number of memories became overwhelming, especially when traffic slowed me down and I had time to dwell on them.  It was somewhere along the 101 West that it all caught up with me and my little game dissolved into tears. 

The next time I take a trip down memory lane, I'm going to have to stick to the passenger seat.

Bread!

My sister and I spent a fascinating afternoon at our friend's house learning all about sourdough artisan bread making.

I learned about wild yeasts and how to grow them.  Each one, grown in different parts of the country, had a distinctly different odor and flavor depending on the kind of yeast naturally occurring in the air of that region.

We didn't knead the dough, we gently folded it at regular intervals to slowly develop the gluten.

We shaped it into rice flour lined baskets.

We slashed the loaves with surgical precision, and then partially baked them under a dome to keep the steam in to allow the bread to rise before the crust hardened.

Our bread came out of the oven with gorgeous deep brown crusts etched with the lines from the baskets.

I came away with a huge respect for breadmaking, there is quite a science to it, especially with sourdoughs.   Our afternoon session involved chemistry, history, geography and aesthetics along with the baking.  All this from a simple mixture of flour, salt, and water.

Apparently there are very specific goals as far as the shaping of the slash marks on the crust, the distribution and size of air pockets, etc, but those nuances were a little lost on me, I thought it all looked and tasted amazing.

I'm going to be taking home my very own TSA friendly 3 oz jar of wild yeast starter, and I'm excited to  see what kind of yeasts are floating around the Great Island.

Visit my friend's blog to see more of her bread recipes...

Artichoke Lemon Pesto

I'm so excited.  On Monday I'm leaving for a week in Los Angeles.  I will get to see family and friends who (I know it's supposed to be whom, but who says that?) I've missed so much.  I'm going to bring my camera and my laptop, but I'm not sure I'll be posting.  A good friend will be treating me to a bread making lesson so hopefully I will share that.

This pesto just happens to use up some of the luscious Meyer lemons and nubs of hard Italian cheese that I have lying around.  A good thing when you're going away for a week.

Making this pesto yourself with high quality cheese and olive oil really elevates a simple thing to something special. Trader Joe's sells a version of this but I've always found it too bland.  Commercial pestos just aren't worth the money, you can always do a better job at home.

Roasting the garlic mellows out its bite and allows you to use more than you would otherwise. Taste it as you go and you'll get the flavor just the way you like it.

If you've heeded my advice and bought yourself a small food processor, you'll find this pesto is quick and easy.  The small machines are really necessary whenever you are doing salsas or pestos where the amounts are too small for a regular sized processor to chop evenly...most of it ends up against the side of the big bowls.

Artichoke Lemon Pesto       ~~~adapted from Donna Hay

oven to 400
3 or 4 cloves garlic, skin on
a handful of baby arugula
a 12 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained
juice of 1or 2 lemons
1 cup finely grated hard Italian cheese
1/2 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper
at least 1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil

• Wrap the garlic cloves loosely in foil and roast for about 20 minutes in the oven.
• Carefully squeeze out the pulp and put into a small food processor.
• Add in the arugula and pulse a few times to reduce the bulk of the arugula.
• Add in the artichoke hearts, the juice of one lemon, cheese, and nuts, pulsing in between if necessary to reduce the bulk and fit everything in to the bowl.
• Drizzle in the olive oil while the machine is running.  It will take quite a lot to get a nice loose pesto consistency.  At least 1/2 cup, probably more.
• Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lemon juice if necessary.  
• Store in a clean jar and refrigerate until needed.  You can also freeze it, just put it in an airtight plastic container.

To serve with pasta:

• Cook your pasta, drain and return to the pan.  Reserve a cup of the cooking liquid.
• Toss it with a couple of big handfulls of the baby arugula.  The arugula will wilt from the heat of the pasta.
• Add in some more grated cheese while tossing.
• Spoon dollops of pesto onto the pasta and toss again.  Add in some of the cooking liquid to help distribute the pesto and make a light sauce.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve with extra cheese.

Any leftover pesto is great spread on bruschetta or served with cheese and crackers.

Meyer Lemon and Dark Chocolate Shortbread

I've been reading a lot about flavor combinations lately. I found the Flavor Map the other day and I'm still trying to figure it out.  Then I read the McCormick Flavor Forecast for 2012 over at One Perfect Bite.  They're forecasting Grapefruit with Red Pepper, and Blueberry with Cardamom as some of the trends going into 2012.  The theme of intense flavors in unusual pairings is such a defining theme in the food of our era.  Have you seen the ads for 'water enhancers'?  Those little pouches of artificial dye and flavor that you carry in your pocket to pump up your water wherever you go? 

It seems to me that while all of us have our favorite flavors, it's when different tastes combine that they really become the stuff of obsession.  Like silky dark chocolate and tangy lemon.  That combo's been haunting me for years.  

The traditional pleasure of plain shortbread is in its unusually subtle flavor---you can actually taste the flour!  But that means it's also the perfect canvas for showcasing other flavors.  It can be amped up in countless ways.

Today, I'm going for the puckeringly sweet/tang of Meyer lemon with the silky richness of deep dark chocolate.   I could have rolled this dough into a log and sliced it into cookies, but I'm craving the squares.  Maybe it's because you get a little more with a square.

 Are you feeling it yet?

My only dilemma was whether to glaze or not to glaze.  I really wanted to taste the lemon, so I took a whiff of the cooling shortbread after it came out of the oven and decided to go for the glaze.  To get the full effect of the dark chocolate and lemon combo you need to get that pucker at the back of your mouth.


Meyer Lemon and Dark Chocolate Shortbread
oven to 325
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut in pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
juice (3 Tbsp) and zest of 1 Meyer lemon 
1 cup dark chocolate chips
for the glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar
lemon juice to thin (I used 1 1/2 lemons)

• Line an 8x8 square baking pan with foil for easy removal and slicing.
• Put the flour and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and drop in the butter.
• Mix just until the butter has incorportated into the flour and sugar and the mixture has a coarse crumb texture.
• While mixing, add the lemon juice and zest and mix until the dough just comes together.  
• Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon or your hands.
• Press the dough into your pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until slightly puffed and slightly golden (not brown!)  The edges will look a little more cooked than the center and the top will be just firm when lightly touched.
• Cool for 10 minutes before removing the foil lining.  
• Mix together the confectioner's sugar with enough lemon juice to thin it to a glaze consistency. Drizzle or spread over the cooled shortbread. 
• When the glaze has firmed up, slice into squares.

DIY Tarragon Vinegar

Living in California for so many years I got used to stepping out my back door and snipping whatever fresh herbs I needed from one of the long planter boxes that lined our screened porch.  Those planters got lots of morning sun and then dappled shade as the day wore on, and by the time the heat was blistering the bricks on the rest of the patio they were protected in shade.  There was no such thing as a growing season, they flourished all year long.  

It was quite a luxury that I took for granted.  Here in New England our local nursery closes the day after Christmas.  It will open again next spring, but in the meantime I'll be getting my herbs out of the little clear plastic boxes that hang in the produce section of my market.  That's ok, they're pretty cheap and they usually have a good selection. The only problem is I'm often left with handfuls of leftover herbs.

If you have leftover tarragon like I did after yesterday's Roast Chicken, why not use some of it to make homemade Tarragon Vinegar.  You can use almost any empty glass jar or bottle you have.  

DIY Tarragon Vinegar

• Sterilize a glass bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid.  I filled mine with water and heated it in the microwave until it boiled. 
• Rinse the tarragon and put several sprigs into the jar.  You can break up or bruise the herbs if you want to in order to bring out more of the flavor, but I just left mine as is.  
• Fill the jar with any plain vinegar you like.  I used cider vinegar because I love the flavor.  Make sure you completely submerse the herbs.
• Cap or cork your bottle and set in a cool dry place for a couple of weeks.  The flavor will get stronger the longer it sits. When the flavor is as you like it, pull out the tarragon.