Here’s a holiday side dish that we had on Christmas. It has all the things that make a holiday meal great — fatty, delicious, forbidden pork products, heavy cream and cheese. But, you know, it’ll still work after the holidays. It’s just a bit harder to justify…maybe if you only have a small taste. Yeah.

Parsnip and Hazlenut Gratin with Pancetta
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit
2 oz pancetta, chopped
2 pounds parsnips, peeled, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped, toasted, divided
2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp dried, rubbed sage
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese + 2 more tbsp
2 tbsp minced fresh sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sauté the pancetta in a heavy, medium skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl.

Stir in parsnips and 1/4 cup hazelnuts into the bowl with the pancetta. Then, arrange mixture in even layer in 2-quart baking dish. In a small pot, combine the cream, broth, salt, dried sage and pepper and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the 1/4 cup of parmesan and then pour over parsnip mixture in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese and a few grinds more of black pepper.

Bake gratin 30 minutes. Press down on parsnips with spatula to moisten evenly. Continue baking until parsnips are tender and liquid bubbles thickly, about 35 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts and sage.

This was seriously good. You must make it. That is all.

***

Public Service Announcement — Because I am Looking Out for You

On a completely, unrelated note, I bought a frozen Lean Cuisine the other day thinking I could bring it for lunch one day when I was desperate and had nothing else. I try to bring leftovers for lunch but occasionally, we have none or I am too lazy to get everything together.

But, today, I got home from running some errands and I was starving. Reluctantly, I grabbed the frozen ravioli bistro fare :: snort:: out of the freezer and popped it on the microwave. Okay, hmmm, I have to admit it, I was pleasantly surprised — it was actually edible.

Lots of good, non-soggy vegetables and the ravioli were well-flavored and I could even taste the walnuts in the sauce. Sure, homemade ravioli will always be better, and yes, most frozen meals generally kind of suck as a rule, but, if you need a cache of lean cuisine for an emergency…well, get this kind. It actually tastes good. Especially since Fred Meyer and other places seem to put the low fat frozen stuff on sale after the holidays. Oh, I have been burned by that deal before (damn you crappy chicken in gross basil sauce that I brought to work for lunch about two years ago*) but, Lean Cuisine butternut squash ravioli, you are okay in my book.

* I hold a grudge.

My mom came to visit us and we had a very nice holiday. We ate a little fruitcake and a lot of pix and today, I knocked the leftover Shazam! over and broke it. That’s okay — it’s still tasty!

Here’s a picture of the holiday table featuring — Cornish Game Hens, Stuffing, Roasted Vegetables, Cranberry Relish and a Parsnip-Hazelnut-Sage Gratin. I’ll try to post the gratin recipe this weekend as it was so very good.

Let’s see — we also got a futon for my office/the guest room. I like it a lot so far and it looks a lot better than the hairballed, cat-stained, old, cheap couch that was there. Go figure…

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

I recently came across Running with Tweezers call for chili recipes and I remembered that I had the most perfect cookbook for this — Chili Nation by Jane and Michael Stern. This is basically a collection of 50 chili recipes, one from every state. Now normally, when I make chili, it’s veggie chili and I just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot. But, since I had an actual chili cookbook, I decided to follow (well, kind of) an actual recipe.

So, I went with Montana and the “Working Person’s Green Chili Bowl”. Supposedly, it is from a tiny place called El Burrito in Billings, MT. I wussed out on all the peppers, though. The original recipe calls for 6 New Mexico chiles. Intead, I used 2 pasilla chile peppers and 1 poblano chile pepper. Wimpy! I know, but I didn’t want it to be too hot for my delicate lady mouth.

Let’s see, I also added beans. I just really prefer beans in my chili. I used white kidney beans and they worked really well. But, if you don’t like beans, the original recipe did not include them, so don’t feel bad about leaving them out. I also doubled the broth and added the cilantro.

Anyway, this book is awesome. I seriously have, like twenty page corners folded down that I want to try. Why did I pick this one? Well, I was very intrigued by the sage and tarragon in a chili recipe. And, after trying it here, I have to say it works. I’m not sure this is my most favorite chili recipe of all time, but I liked it quite a bit! It was a little spicy but not overwhelming and makes a great meal on a cold night.

Working Person’s Fancy Green Chili Bowl
Adapted from a recipe in Chili Nation (Montana), by the Sterns
1 poblano pepper
2 pasilla peppers
1 big handful of cilantro
2 cups chicken broth (original called for 1 cup chicken stock)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into cubes
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can white beans, drained
1 tsp salt
Some crumbled goat cheese for the top
Optional: 1 tsp jalapeno powder

Prepare the chiles by placing them under a preheated broiler. Turn when the first side is charred and then blacken the other side.

Place in a plastic bag to steam. You can also wrap them in wet paper towels. When cool enough to handle, peel away the blackened skin and seed. Place the chiles in a blender with broth and cilantro. Puree and set aside.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add garlic and onion and saute until soft. Here, I added about half the sage, tarragon and all of the cilantro. Next, add the pork; cook and stir until well browned.

Add chile puree and remaining ingredients (the beans and the remaining spices and the salt) . Stir well. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve alone or over cooked brown rice. Also, this would be great with tortillas for dipping and, if you want to be a fancy working person, I think some crumbled goat cheese would be awesome on the top. Hmmm, I think I will bring it that way to work tomorrow. Because, yes, I am fancy.

Hope this is a good addition to the chili cook-off!

This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is hosted by Mel’s Diner with the aptly chosen, Celebration Dishes as the theme. For this, I chose my newest cookbook, Nigella Express and made a lamb stew from it.

She calls it a tagine, but since I didn’t cook it in an actual tagine and I’m not familiar enough with Moroccan cooking to judge it’s accurateness, I’m certainly not going to call it a tagine. So, uh, no one get their knickers in a twist.

Anywho….I used a mix of olives here, mainly because that’s what I had — nicoise, kalamata and a handful of plain black, pitted olives. But, I’m thinking oil cured might be super tasty here. I also just made my own caramelized onions, rather than hunting down a jar of them (as the recipe calls for). I have never even seen jarred caramelized onions…maybe that’s a British thing? Another thing I changed is that I added carrots. I just felt the need for more vegetables with the big meatiness of the stew.

Let’s celebrate!

Lamb Stew with Olives and Caramelized Onions
Adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson
2 1/4 pounds diced leg of lamb
1 head garlic, separated into cloves
12 ounces pitted black olives in brine, 5 ounces drained weight to give 1 1/4 cups
1 white or yellow onion, diced roughly
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
sprinkle of salt
3 tbsp capers
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground ginger
1 bottle red wine (I meant to use a merlot but I grabbed a cab by mistake — worked just fine!)
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots — about 1-2 inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Preheat a pan over medium heat — preferably a big Dutch oven that you can layer the whole recipe into for its trip into the oven. Add the olive oil and then onions and honey. Give a small sprinkle of salt. Cook until light brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Turn the heat down if need be to keep from burning.

Add the garlic, olives and lamb. Brown the lamb just for a few minutes, maybe 5 total, stirring a bit to get color on as many pieces as possible.

Next, add the wine, the capers, and the ginger and cumin. Increase the heat to high, give it a good stir and bring to a boil.

Put a lid on it and stick it in the oven for two hours total. After the first hour add the carrots and continue to cook until the lamb is super tender.

We had this with some couscous that I cooked with chicken broth, about a handful of shelled pistachios and a handful of golden raisins. What were we celebrating? Ah, a cold December evening!

Thanks again to Mel’s Diner for hosting WCC this month!

We got our tree up this weekend and celebrated in the usual way — lox, bagels, veggies, dip and champagne.

We decorated in between bites of bagels and assorted snacks. A very nice evening!

We also had a really tasty salad recently. It consisted of spinach, halved cherry tomatoes, mint, goat cheese and toasted pine nuts. Just all mixed up and dished out.

The dressing was a simple mix of olive oil and red wine vinegar. When it was tossed together, the goat cheese kind of worked itself into the dressing and it became this creamy mix of flavors and textures. I’m pretty sure we’ll be having this one again.

Okay, I am turning over a new leaf. I am going to try really, really hard to get back into posting at least 3 times per week. Really!

Here’s a super-good pasta recipe. When we were in Ashland last October, I caught some of Lidia’s Family Table on PBS and fell in love with the recipe. I made it almost immediately when we got back. I loved it. jwa thought the flavors were a little strong, but still liked it. So, this is one of those recipes where half the people think it’s the cat’s pajamas and the other half thing it’s good but not pajama-worthy. Of course, this was a sample size of two, so you know…ymmv.

Linguine with Black Olives, Pine Nuts and Raisins
Recipe from From Lidia’s Family Table,’ by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
1 pound uncooked capellini OR other thin dry pasta such as spaghettini or linguine (I used wheat linguine)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 plump garlic cloves, sliced (about 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 cups oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tbsp fine long threads of orange zest
2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan
Hot water from pasta cooking pot
Salt
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
Optional: chopped arugula for a garnish — my addition

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Five minutes before starting sauce, plunge pasta into boiling water. Pour 1/3 cup olive oil into a large skillet, add garlic slices and place over medium-high heat. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan, until garlic starts to color.

Add olives and stir with garlic. Cook another 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, as olives sizzle and caramelize. Add raisins and cook, stirring, 1/2 minute. Stir in orange zest, and cook, stirring, 30 seconds or more, until sizzling.

Carefully pour in orange juice (it will sizzle). Stir to moisten everything. After 20 seconds or so, stir in toasted pine nuts; stir to moisten. When orange juice has nearly evaporated, ladle in 2 cups boiling pasta water. Boil and stir sauce 3 minutes or more (while pasta is cooking). When sauce is reduced by half, stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Taste; add more salt if necessary. Stir in another tablespoon olive oil. Reduce heat to keep sauce hot until pasta is ready.

When the pasta is just shy of done, pull it out and add it to the pan with the sauce. Finish the sauce and pasta together in skillet, adding a little more pasta water or reducing it as necessary. Stir in parsley. Remove from heat; toss in a final tablespoon of olive oil. Makes 3 to 4 servings. Top with a little arugula if desired. I liked the green color on top and thought the greens helped lighten the flavor up a bit.

Okay. Coming up next week: Fruitcake update, December’s WCC post and lima bean-tarragon soup.

Just a bit lazy. Look at my ring!

I need to get some actual food posts up but in the meantime, check out these cute little robots I made for wedding-related-stuff. jwa likes the robots…

groom-robot

bride-robot

Food-wise I am trying to finalize the Christmas Dinner plan. So far it’s —

I made this a few weeks ago when I was trying to figure out how to use some miso that I’ve had in the fridge for a while. And, this recipe did the trick. Very healthy and filling. Next time, I may even add some rice to it.

Miso Soup with Shrimp and Spinach
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit magazine
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 1/2 ounces)
5 tbsp yellow miso (fermented soybean paste) — I used 3 tbsp dark miso paste
1 1/2 pounds uncooked, peeled, deveined small shrimp
2 cups spinach, thick stems removed
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 tsp hot chili oil
Garnish: Sesame seeds

Bring first 4 ingredients to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrots. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until carrots are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.

Place miso in medium bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup hot broth mixture. Return miso-broth mixture to same saucepan. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Bring soup to boil. Turn off heat. Mix in shrimp, spinach, and green onions. Cover and let stand until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in chili oil; divide soup equally among 4 bowls, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

***
In other news, the fruitcake is coming along nicely!

I have always been fruitcake-curious. So, this year, I decided what the hell, I’ll make one. The recipe is Alton Brown’s Free Range Fruitcake. And I made a special trip (to Trader Joe’s) for all the dried fruit and everything. We had the rum and the brandy already. Go figure.

This is a Part I, as I will have to baste the fruitcake(s) with brandy every 2-3 days for the next 2-3 weeks. How fun! It’s like an ongoing project with alcohol.

AB’s Free Range Fruitcake
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped (I used dried peaches)
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum (I used dark rum)
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 sticks (not cups!) unsalted butter (that’s 10 tbsp)
1 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp ground cloves (or 6 whole cloves, ground)
6 allspice berries, ground (I had whole allspice berries but I was too lazy to clean out my coffee grinder,and grind them, so I just skipped them)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup toasted pecans, broken
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit. I went the microwave route — it worked fine!

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. At this point, I must confess, I grabbed a spoon and tasted it. Wow. It was so good! I was on the phone with my mom at the time (who likes fruitcake, btw) and told her how good it was as well. She is looking forward to trying some when she is here for Christmas.

So, remove your pot of fruit, rum and butter from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.) Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Here, I used half toasted hazelnuts and half pecans. About 1/2 cup total.

Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. But here’s the thing — I had enough batter for 2 loaf pans! They each got filled up about 2/3’s of the way but it would have been way too much for one pan. If you’ve got a huge loaf pan, you might be fine with just one. Since my loaf pans were of the slightly smaller variety and not filled all the way up, mine were done in about 42-45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

If the toothpick (or knife) does not com out clean, bake another 5-10 minutes, and check again. Remove cake(s) from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan. My cakes came out pretty easily. I ran a knife around the edges and the used a metal spatula to start lifting up from the sides and loosening the cakes from the bottom. Then I turned them upside-down and out they came.

When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. I am using freezer bags. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake’s flavor will enhance considerably over the next two - three weeks. Come Christmas time, you will have one tasty, boozey cake! Hooray!

Okay, so I’ll probably do a mini-update each week on my fruitcakes basting until Christmas. Stay tuned…