Braising...Vegetables

Here I am in my yard with nothing much to do... we are having a yard sale, I kinda just have to sit here and wait. We don't live on a busy street and I only started advertising the day before, sadly for my things anticipating new homes this combination does not make for a swift sale. It does however give me time to catch up on my blogs, this moving thing has totally killed my momentum.

I originally wanted to  post a recipe for corn muffins from the last issue of Gourmet Magazine (RIP), but where that magazine has gone I don't know (my only hope is that it found its way into a book box and it is safely and securely stored). So instead this is a garlic Scape recipe... What? Yes I know Scape season is long gone, but here is the good news, this is actually a braising recipe and you can use leeks, carrots, turnips, onions, and more instead- MB suggest endive and romain lettuce.

Earlier this June we went to an outlaying farm and came home with all sorts of goodies. Baby Bok Choy, little golden nuggety potatoes, various fresh herbs, strawberries and garlic Scapes. Neither my husband nor I had ever cooked with Scape, thinking that was weird we then thought "have we ever actually eaten a Scape?" It seems like we should have, we are both big food people and will try *just* about anything, but to our best recollection our answer was a resounding no. So what the hell, we'd give it a go.

Bombing around the internet led us to several Scape pesto recipes that sounded very good but my husband and I did not want to eat a whole bunch of raw garlic no matter what the consensus was.  So we turned to our friend Mark Bittman (OK in my head he is our friend) for a solution. We have always had good luck with his braising recipes and in particular leeks so why not apply that to the scape?

Braised Vegetables (Scape)

adapted from The Best Recipes in the World

Mark Bittman

• 2 tbsp butter or extra virgin Olive Oil
• 8-10 Garlic Scapes, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces.
• handful of cherry tomatoes, leave whole
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 3/4 cups of stock, vegetable, chicken or water (if I am using water I like to use 1/4 cup of vermouth)
• Fresh Lemon juice, to taste.

Melt the butter or oil over medium heat in a (oven proof) sauce pan that has a lid.  Add Scapes, cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper,  and stock to cover, bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat until  very tender about 30- 40 minutes. Checking the liquid occasionally.  Each combination of vegetables will have slightly different cooking times. And if stove top space is an issue,  the whole thing can be transferred and cooked in a 350F oven  after it is brought to the boil. 

Serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The end results were deeply rich brown caramelized stalks that melted in the mouth and tomatoes that popped as you bit into them. The Scapes had a mellow garlicky taste without the bite and tomatoes gave a nice splash of acidity. Come Scape season next year, I will re-visit this recipe.

photos by me.

A Day of Green. Pt 1: the healthy part.

Yesterday was all about the Leprechaun, the naughty little trickster character who is rumoured to keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. First he destroyed my living room by flinging blankets and pillows everywhere, then my kitchen by smearing green icing from wall to floor to ceiling and then by hiding the tots' numerous toys causing mayhem and panic through out the entire house! Tried as we might, we could not catch him. We even made a meal in his honor but he only teased us with a glimpse... Ahh... maybe next year.

Truth be told I think our meal was not glutenous enough for the little fellow. Instead it reflected the amazingly beautiful day we had, starting our feast with a sweet salad.

Green & Orange Fruity Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

• head of curly lettuce, washed & torn up into small bite sized pieces 
• 1/2 of peas in the pods, cleaned and cut into on the diagonal in 1in pieces
• 1 each apple & pear, sliced thinly
• royal* one orange

Dressing

• 1tbsp minced shallot
• 1tbsp dijon mustard
• three to one olive oil and sherry vinegar
• pinch of salt and pepper

Combine lettuce, peas, apple, pear and orange in a serving bowl. For dressing, combine, shallot, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a blender and blend. 

Serve dressing on the side in cute kid friendly vessels or dress at the table for the adult crowd.

* To royal an orange cut top and bottom off, remove outer skin and pith and slice wedges out between the ribs. This gets easier with practice, but make sure you use a sharp paring knife.

And then a veggie rich soup.

Mr Potatohead Leek soup

• 1/2 cup peeled & chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 half diced medium onion
• 3 cloves lightly mashed garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter*, divided
• 1 tsp dried thyme, less if you use fresh.
• salt and pepper to taste (I very rarely give quantities for S&P unless it is for baking) 
• 1/4 cup vermouth
• 4 cups leeks, cleaned diced, light green and white parts only.
• 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes** cleaned & peeled (optional) and chopped into cubes.
• water or stock to cover, about 6 cups.

Sweat chopped vegetables thyme, salt and pepper, minus the potato,  in a large sauce pan on medium low heat with 2 tbsp of butter and olive oil until soft with lid on.

After about 15 minutes and vegetables are soft add 1/4 cup vermouth, stir and add potatoes. Cover with water (or stock) bring to a boil and then turn down to a low. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are completely soft and falling apart on their own. Blend with an immersion blender or in batches using blender or food processor, remembering to cool first. If using a blender or processor return to pot, reheat and check for seasoning. 

To serve add a knob of *butter to each bowl of soup if not using a fatty stock.

** I used starchy gnarly potatoes and had to remove the skins due to dirt and scars! Mr Potatohead was spared.

photos by me.... next up green bread and minty chocolate cupcakes!

'ad hoc' Cream of Cauliflower Soup & Crispy Chanterelles

• 2 heads cauliflower
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup coarsley chopped onion
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped leeks- white and light green parts only
• 1/4 teaspoon your favourite curry powder (Keller has a recipe for one in his book, but we used our own)
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavey cream
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup coarsely chopped chanterelles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• splash (1 teaspoon) white vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• additional butter
• neutral oil
• fresh ground black pepper

Clean cauliflower and discard leaves, reserve about 2 cups of neatly trimmed florets about the size of large marbles. Chop remaining cauliflower and stems into 1 inch pieces so that they will cook at approximately the same time (about 8 cups).

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large saucepan, add onions, leeks, curry, and cauliflower, season with salt, cover with parchment paper lid* and cook, stirring occasionally until almost tender.

After about 20 mins, discard lid, add milk, cream, and water, increase heat to med-high and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 mins, skimming off foam from time to to time.

Working in batches transfer to a Vita-Mix (which Keller uses) or a high powered blender or use an immersion blender and puree until smooth (what I used). If using a blender remember to cool and be wary of the steam. Check seasoning and add more slat salt if needed. Transfer back to large sauce pan and keep warm if eating right away- soup will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.


For reserved florets, bring medium sauce pan of salted water and vinegar to boil. Cook florets until tender, 4-6 mins. Drain. Melt remaining butter in a frying pan and sauté florets until they are speckled with rich browns and golds.


For the Chanterelles. Re-use frying pan that you used for florets, add more butter and a bit of neutral oil to prevent butter from burning, saute chopped chanterelles until crispy, not blackened.


* parchment paper lid, prepare a square of parchment paper by folding into a triangle with tip being the centre of your paper like you are making a snowflake design. Cut the tip so that when you open it up there will be a hole the size of about  a quarter. With paper still folded cut rounded corners on the edge of your 'lid' . Use your sauce pan as a guide for size. Apparently the lid slows evaporation, prevents caramelization and the small hole releases excess steam.
I found the lid really did help, none of my onion, leek mixture stuck the bottom and everything got soft with out getting over cooked.

When all is said and done put soup into bowls, top with cauliflower florets and crispy chanterelles and freshly ground pepper. I wrote the recipe as I cooked it and found that mine was under-seasoned, so check salt each step! I will make this again and again and maybe even try the beet chips. 


**cream of cauliflower soup with red beet chips can be found in 'ad hoc at home' page 127


photo by me.