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[Posted by Ruth]
With all the squashes and carrots in the winter share, there's a pronounced orange hue to the food around here lately. Still, I want to use it all and find a way to make things taste different, even it they are all starting to to look the same. The large bag or carrots we got in the January winter share have retained their sweetness and crispness so it seemed like it was time to feature them in a dish. I wanted to make a savory carrot souffle; I saw a lot of recipes for sweet ones on the internet but wanted to make one that felt more substantial to go with the cold, nasty, snowy, kill me is it Spring yet? weather we've been having lately.
This may initially sound like a lot of steps, but it actually went together without too much trouble. Because of the weight of the carrots and grits, this will not puff way up as some souffles, but it will still be light and airy inside.
Savory Carrot Souffle
2 lbs carrots, scrubbed, trimmed and cut into 1/2" rounds
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 T olive oil
3 T Grits
1 cup milk
1 1/3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp finely chopped dill, optional
4 eggs separated
2 T butter, plus a bit more for greasing the souffle dish
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a souffle dish or other deep, straight sided casserole dish. Cook carrots in a small amount of salted water, either on the stove top or in a microwave until tender. Drain and set aside to cool a bit. Heat the milk in a heavy bottomed sauce pan to simmering, add a pinch of salt, whisk in the grits and cook covered over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the grits are cooked. See your package directions for time as it will vary depending on whether you are using quick grits or old fashioned grits. Leave covered and set aside to cool a bit. While the grits and the carrots are cooling, cook the chopped onion in olive oil until soft and translucent.
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, add the carrots, grits and onion and buzz until the carrots are pureed and all is well mixed. Add in the cheddar cheese, dill, butter and egg yolks and process until fully incorporated. Buzz in salt and pepper to taste. Move this mixture to a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Whisk about 1/4 of the egg whites into the the carrot mixture until fully blended to lighten it.
With a large spatula, gently fold the remaining egg whites in, incorporating them in pretty well, without over mixing. It's O.K. to see a few small stray bits of egg white. Fold into the greased dish and bake at 375 for about 1/2 hour without opening the oven door. It will probably still seem jiggly in the middle at the point, turn oven down to 350 and bake for approx another 10-15 minutes, until it seems firmer but not dried out. Remove from oven and serve.
[Posted by Ruth]
We're big fans of pies and tarts, both sweet and savory, around here. The problem is that, while I'm very happy with my standard butter pastry crust, it calls for a lot of butter; making it seem better suited for special occasions than for weeknight dinners. It really is kind of pointless to feel proud of eating all these vegetables if I surround them with sticks of butter.
So, I did some looking around and found a savory olive oil tart crust that's quick and easy and almost guilt-free. I'll never replace my flaky crust completely, but this will mean more tarts around here. This week's tart is a mix of escarole, leeks and goat cheese. It made both a good dinner and a tasty brown bag lunch cold the next day.
Savory Olive Oil Tart Crust.
(makes enough to line one 10-11" tart pan)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil, optional (or herb of your choice)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
Whisk flours, salt and herbs together to blend. Use a fork to mix in the olive oil and water. When the dough comes together, give it a few quick kneads right in the bowl. Add a few more drops of oil and water, if necessary, to bring the dough together. At this point, you can roll it out immediately and line the tart pan. It takes a little work to roll it out, but you will be able to get it quite thin. Line the tart pan, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1/2 hour. During this time you can preheat the oven and make your tart filling.
Escarole and Goat Cheese Tart
Preheat oven to 400.
1 bunch escarole, roughly chopped, thicker parts of stems removed
2 small leeks or a small onion, finely chopped
5 pieces of bacon, excess fat removed and chopped
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. fresh goat cheese.
Cook bacon over medium heat until cooked through and beginning to crisp. Do not over-brown. Add leeks or onions to pan and continue to cook until they are soft but not brown. Stir in the escarole and cook, stirring, until it begins to wilt but is not fully broken down.
In the meantime, whisk the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper.
Distribute the escarole, bacon mixture in the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the egg mixture over the top and dot all over with the goat cheese. Bake at 400 for 25-35 minutes, until the custard feels firm in the middle and the top of the goat cheese is beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack at least 10 minutes before serving. Can be served hot, room temperature or cold.
Drunken Carrots...
I also had some fun with the carrots this week. My company imported a new Limoncello that I've been working with. It was still out on the counter the other night, so it wound up in our carrots. It turned out to be a great combination. If you have any Limoncello in the house, give it a try. No real recipe here, just slice carrots and cook, covered, in a saute pan with a small amount of water until almost tender. Take the lid off and add a bit of butter, 2 or 3 tablespoons of Limoncello, salt and a generous amount of pepper. Cook stirring, until most of liquid evaporates and forms a glossy coating on the carrots.
[Posted by Ruth]
It's been a classic Fall in New England kind of weekend; crisp air, patches of dark clouds scudding across bright blue sky, leaves swirling on the deck. It gave me the urge to put things by, to clean out drawers, to make soup, to capture this short season before the next one closes in. First, there was a lot of blanching and freezing to do.
Corn, green beans and pureed eggplant all packaged and frozen. Then, a roasted fall vegetable soup.
Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup
For the roasted Vegetables:
3 Turnips - peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 Small butternut squash - peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 Bunch baby carrots - washed, scraped and the larger ones cut into 1/2 or 1/3s
1 T Olive oil
1 T Maple syrup - grade B for best flavor
Salt
Preheat oven to 350. Toss vegetables with salt, olive oil and maple syrup in a shallow baking dish and bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours, turning occasionally, until vegetables are quite soft and a bit caramelized.
Remove from oven and set aside.
For the soup:
Roasted vegetables from above
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 T butter
5 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
2-4 cups water (add more or less, depending on desired consistency)
Salt, Pepper to taste
1 T Maple syrup
4-6 dashes Tabasco Sauce
In heavy soup pot over low/medium heat, cook onion and thyme leaves in melted butter until onions are translucent and quite soft and thyme is fragrant. Don't brown. Turn off heat. Add vegetables and 1 cup or more of the water and begin to puree with an immersion blender. ( place in food processor or blender at this point) Blend, adding water as needed until you have a smooth, thick soup. Add maple syrup, Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper to taste and heat over low/medium heat until heated through, taking care to not let it stick. Serve with more fresh thyme, kale chips, croutons or crusty bread. Makes about 8 cups.
[Posted by Ruth]
Since we've been away for much of the last two weeks it was inevitable that some of the vegetables would languish in the fridge longer than they should. Sunday, I returned from a terrific weekend away with friends to find some very sad, limp baby carrots and wrinkly beets reproaching me from the vegetable drawer. Pity there isn't Botox for vegetables. I really didn't want to put the formerly darling baby carrots in the compost so I used them with the beets in a chilled soup. With some added spice for interest and a bit of honey to make up for some of the lost sweetness, it was quite good. Youth isn't everything you know.
Chilled Curried Carrot Beet Soup
3 small bunches baby carrots (or one small bunch carrots)
4 small beets
1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tsp curry powder (you can use more of less of the curry and curry paste depending on your taste)
1 tsp curry paste (I use a Biryani paste)
1 T honey
water
1 T peanut butter (don't overdo the peanut butter)
salt, pepper to taste
Peel and slice the beets and either peel or scrub the carrots. Put in a small, heavy saucepan with the ginger, curry powder, curry paste and honey. Add water to cover and simmer, covered, until the carrots and beets are very tender. Add the peanut butter and blend with an immersion blender until smooth (or place in a blender and puree). At this point you will want to add more water, a bit at a time, and blend until it is the consistency you want. It should be about the thickness of a vichyssoise. Add salt and pepper to taste and chill. To chill quickly, pour soup into a bowl and place the bowl inside a much larger bowl filled with ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled. This will chill it down in just a few minutes.
