Recipe: Fennel Risotto

I love risotto. I would happily make it for dinner every night. To me it's totally worth all the "hassle" of stirring and slowly adding liquid. I always make it with stock, though, because it adds so much flavor. I picked up a bulb of fennel a couple weeks ago and realized I had no idea what to do with it... but then I thought risotto would be good. The internet provided plenty of inspiration, as usual, and I ended up with a pretty tasty dish!

Chop chop chop!

Caramelized Fennel Risotto (adapted from The Corner Kitchen)
Notes: Don't worry about the licorice/anise smell of the fennel. You barely notice it in the final dish. I panicked briefly when I was prepping because Dan hates licorice (to the point where he won't even kiss me if I've eaten black licorice jelly beans!) - but most recipes assured me that it wouldn't be an issue.

1 bulb fennel, cored and diced, fronds reserved
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 T cooking oil
1-2 T butter
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock or water, kept warm on the side
1 c Parmesan cheese (we have pecorino Romano at the house)

Heat the butter and oil in a medium-size, deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the fennel and cook slowly until caramelized, about 30 or so minutes. I was very impatient so I didn't cook as long as I could have.

Cook faster!

When nice and caramelized, add the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Cook a few minutes until the grains turn translucent, then add about 3/4 cup stock. It will sizzle, so make sure to stir up the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir until the liquid is almost fully incorporated, then add another 3/4 cup stock. Continue stirring and adding stock until the rice is tender and creamy. Taste to make sure it's done enough for you, adding more stock or water if needed.

Almost done.

Stir in the cheese, remove from the heat, and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with additional cheese and finely chopped fennel fronds to garnish.

Finished product. It was great!

Week Eighteen: Hearty Veggies

This weekend was a success for my cooking and baking adventures. I had a couple interesting mishaps at my class (like adding about 3 tablespoons of pepper to a dish that was supposed to have a spice mix added), but my home attempts were well-received. I made gingerbread cookies, Dan’s favorite, and some rolled cookies with chocolate and plain sugar cookie dough. I’d actually meant to make those last weekend, but I forgot about the dough while it was chilling in the freezer.

Apparently I didn't take pictures of my cookie masterpieces?!
I also went to Harpoon Brewery's Octoberfest.

I also made my first successful Alfredo sauce. Just about every other time I’ve made it, I’ve ended up with a thin, weak, garlic-flavored milk sauce… but not this time! I’m not sure what I did better this time (maybe follow the recipe?), but it wasn’t too bad. I boiled up some pasta and chicken pieces, and then threw in some farm broccoli in the last minute or so of cooking, and boom. Broccoli chicken Alfredo.

Again, no pictures. I don't know what's wrong with me.

It’s a little weird to go to the farm when it’s nearly dark – and it was strangely empty last night. Maybe everyone would rather go during the daylight hours. We had a few yummy surprises this week to shake things up. We got the usual potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, and peppers. I was thrilled to find fennel – YUM – and we also got a cabbage for our friend. There were also some sweet potatoes available, so we grabbed some of those as well. Perfectly timed, too, since I just saw a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi the other day. Weekend project!

Sweet potatoes... I'm going to make pasta (ish) out of you!

Lovely peppers on top of the fennel fronds.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (sauce adapted from AllRecipes)
This fed four of us with leftovers, but I would have liked some more broccoli and chicken. And more sauce; this wasn't quite enough to give a nice thick coating.

2 chicken breasts, cut into ¾” or 1” pieces
1 lb pasta (I used mini wheels since that's what we had)
2-3 small heads broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces (stems optional, but peel them before cutting into pieces if you use them)

3 T butter
3 T flour
2 c milk
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or mashed
½ - ¾ c Parmesan cheese, grated (I used the Romano we have in the fridge)
Salt and pepper to taste
Grate or two of nutmeg (optional)

Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil. Once boiling, add the chicken and cook for a minute or two. Add the pasta and stir to keep everything from sticking. (Add a drizzle of olive oil if you want.) When the pasta is almost done, add the broccoli to the pot. Drain and return everything to the hot pan, off the heat.

For the sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then slowly whisk in the flour. Whisk over medium heat to make a roux. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Mine took about 8 minutes, I think. Add the cheese and keep whisking until the sauce is the right consistency for you. Taste, and if the sauce is bland, add salt until it tastes like cheese. (And/or add more cheese!) Pour the sauce over everything in the pasta pot and stir to combine.

Serve with additional cheese on the side.

Week Fourteen: Mixed Bag of Weather

Over the past few years, I’ve been finding September to be a very strange month. The days leading up to Labor Day are hot and sticky, and then on that darned Tuesday everything gets all confused about what season it’s supposed to be. Do the leaves start to fall now? Do I need to keep blooming? Should it get cold at night? How hot are the days, again? Does it rain, or should it hail instead?

Seriously. Please explain.

We had beautiful days and cool nights this weekend. Friday I had to dress for two seasons: fall on top (sweater and fall-colored nails) and summer on bottom (skinny jeans, sandals, and pink toenails). I can’t say I minded; it really was a beautiful day. I unfortunately wasn't able to post last week, but don’t worry, nothing exciting happened. We got more of our usual: carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, lettuce, and so on.

More tomatoes, including a few "orange blossom", this week.

This week we got a bunch of good stuff: peppers (two kinds), broccoli, collards, a melon, tomatoes, beets, radishes, onions, and carrots. I pickled the radishes, half an onion, and a couple of the peppers... can't wait to try those! Unfortunately it does seem that most of the “delicate” summer veggies are going away for the season since the weather’s turned cooler… thanks for everything, cucumbers! It was great while it lasted

Collards and broccoli (!)

I signed up for some “techniques of cooking” classes over in Cambridge, and the first class this past weekend was knife skills – so I’ve been practicing the proper grip and slicing technique. I’ll try to play with (and document!) my newfound skills and cuts as I get more stuff to slice up. My immediate takeaway from the class was that I have a weird mental block about using the “claw” grip… I totally get that it’s supposed to protect you from slicing off your fingertips, since you have your knuckles out in front, but then I worry about slicing my knuckles off. Even though that’s not supposed to happen at all!

Frying peppers, bell peppers, and onions.

Little radishes and another melon.

I got an “all vegetables all the time” cookbook from my aunt for my birthday (wohoo!), so I’d been eager to try out one of the beet recipes in there. I got a chance to try it tonight – it’s sort of a beet and potato latke thing. I’ve also kept up (of course) with my regular pickled things… the frying peppers I got a couple weeks ago were great, and last week’s tiny bell peppers were, too. 

Golden beets this week

Crisp Beet and Potato Cake (from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop)
We halved this recipe since I was making something else alongside... and I'm very glad! I'm sure we would have had too much for the pan if we'd used the full amounts. I think next time we'll try draining the beets a little bit; the outside seemed to be overly crisp and the inside a little mushy, although it still tasted great! It had the potato-y goodness of a latke and the "red" taste of the beets, which I thought made a great combination. Confession: Most of (okay, all) the hard work of washing, grating, and mixing was done by Dan, so thanks, honey!

1 lb russet potatoes (we used farm potatoes, no idea what kind)
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 medium beets (we used one red and one golden in the halved version)
1/4 c fresh snipped chives (subbed in leeks instead)
2 T butter

Peel the potatoes and grate with a box grater (don't forget your safety glove!) or a food processor. Toss with the salt. Peel and grate the beets, then mix with the potatoes. Throw in the chives and mix well.

Melt 1T butter in a wide (10-inch) nonstick skillet. Once the butter stops foaming, add the beet-potato mixture to the pan and press down to spread in an even layer. Cook over medium heat about 10-12 minutes until the bottom is nice and crispy. Press down with a spatula every now and then.

This is the tricky part: getting the cake out of the pan, onto a plate, and flipping it back into the pan so you can cook the top. Once the bottom is cooked, carefully slide the cake onto a big plate (ours wasn't quite done so it didn't slide very nicely). Melt the last tablespoon of butter in the pan until it stops foaming. As I'm re-reading the recipe now, I realize there is a much easier way to have done this: flip the cake onto another plate and then slide back into the skillet. (In the heat of the moment I just asked Dan for help, since I was stirring risotto and he happened to be there. He saved the day.) Cook the second side another 8-10 minutes until crisp on the bottom.

Slide onto a plate and serve in wedges.

Recipe: Beef Stew for Steak & Ale Pie

Beef stew is one of my favorite things, especially in the winter. And so easy. I mean, browning the beef is technically optional, but I like the extra flavor, so once you get past that all you have to do is throw chopped veggies in a slow cooker, add liquid, and wait 4 to 8 hours. And then the house smells like comfort food goodness and I know what we're having for at least one meal a day for the next two to three days.

Cutting up the beef

I think the best part is that it's so flexible. The recipe I use make my estimates from is for a 3.5 - 4 quart cooker (mine is 6), so I just ramp up the amounts of stuff I like and reduce what I'm less fond of. I use beer instead of water, and no green beans, handfuls and eyeballed amounts instead of cups. And it turns out great every time.

So many little potatoes!

Potato peelings, thanks to my crank peeler.
I normally don't peel the potatoes, but they were really dirty, despite my best efforts!

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (from Better Homes and Gardens' Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, Volume 2)
These are the amounts given in the cookbook, but I've added my notes, because like I said, I increase and decrease due to my tastes and the volume of my cooker.

2 T all-purpose flour (this has never been even close to enough for me)
12 oz beef stew meat, cut into 3/4" cubes (I usually end up using close to 2 lbs)
2 T cooking oil (again, never enough)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 c cubed potatoes (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 c frozen cut green beans (I skip these)
1 c frozen whole kernel corn (I use more)
2 medium carrots, sliced (more! more!)
2 c vegetable juice
1 c water (I use beer - something not too bitter - a 12-oz bottle/can)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t beef bouillon (instant)
1 t dried oregano (I skip this)
1/2 t dried marjoram (and this)
1/2 t black pepper (more of this)
1 bay leaf

Dredge meat in flour. Shake off excess and brown meat in hot oil in a big saucepan (not nonstick) - work in batches so you have space to turn the pieces. Put the meat on the bottom of the slow cooker and layer the vegetables on top. If you'd like you can deglaze the saucepan with some of the beer. It will sizzle like crazy, but let it calm down and stir up all the yummy browned bits from the bottom. When the liquid has reduced a little, add it to the slow cooker with the rest of the beer. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours (our cooker is still pretty young, so I can usually get away with 8 to 8.5 hours).

Carrot peelings!

For the pie, I skipped the onions - since we had the jam - and poured everything from the slow cooker into a big Dutch oven. Dan rolled out the crust onto the top, and we baked the whole thing for about 30 minutes at 350* - just so the crust was done. If we do this again I'd like to see if we can make individual pies - we've done apple pies like that with pretty good success, so I imagine we could have good results with the stew.

Week Ten: Holy Tomatoes + Bonus Fruit

My friend recently tweeted a complaint that I’ve never been able to articulate very well myself, wondering if it was a “New England thing to only enjoy the beginning of summer and spend the rest dreading the coming of winter.” I’ve also wondered the same thing – we still have beautiful long evenings, after all, and oh right, six more weeks of summer, according to the calendar! Even the farm newsletter referenced the dreaded onset of autumn – so the weather’s been a little chilly (75º instead of 95º), fine, but jeez, people! It’s bad enough we’re putting out fall scents at the store... I'm even drinking a pumpkin beer as I write this.

Carrots, white peppers, and dill, cilantro, and jalapenos.

Anyway. Despite the farm’s concerns over tomato blight lately, we were allowed to take five pounds (!) of tomatoes this week – in addition to 2 pints of cherry tomatoes from the picking fields. Matt, Aly, and Dan are in heaven – me, I’m indifferent. I tried my first cherry tomato last night, after admitting that “I don’t like tomatoes” actually meant “I’ve never really eaten a tomato”… not sure I’m impressed. But now I know!

Tomato-y glory. I think there are only three pounds left.

In addition to tomatoes, Aly got some cucumbers (none for me – I've still got three in the fridge!), lettuce, onions, and corn (which was grilled to have with dinner). I got more carrots and potatoes for our rescheduled fancy dinner party, and some celery and white peppers. I’m excited to try the celery – the newsletter hinted that it’s really different from the grocery store stuff, so hopefully it’ll make a good stock addition! I’ve been saving vegetable peelings for a while (carrots, onion skins, etc.) with a master plan of making vegetable stock sometime in the future… yum.

Lettuce and onions

Skinny celery

We also got a “bonus melon”. Jury’s out on whether it’s a cantaloupe or honeydew.

Yeah bonus!

We had to reschedule dinner with our parents for this week, but since I’d prepped a bunch of the food earlier in the week, we had some friends over instead… and I’m glad I had a test run! Turns out that you need to keep an eye on cheeses while they’re baking in the oven, otherwise their containers might lose the ability to contain the melty goodness, and then you have melted Camembert all over the floor of your oven. It missed the electric heating coil… Barely.

I tried a recipe for an onion jam to have with the cheese, which turned out pretty well – although I wasn’t really thinking about the recipe’s intended purpose/volume versus mine when I was shopping… so I ended up with way more than we could eat on Friday. Noted for this week! I did have a chance to bake those beet cupcakes as well, which I brought to a party on Saturday night. They were a hit, happily, and it’s always fun to let people in on the secret ingredient!

Onion Jam (from Weber) (This week I will likely halve this recipe)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 large sweet yellow onions, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup balsamic vinegar (not aged)

½ cup packed golden brown sugar

¼ cup dried currants or raisins

Warm the butter and oil over medium-high heat in a big (really big) skillet. I used my mandoline slicer with the "thin" blade option to slice the onions - add these and the salt to the skillet.

Lots of onions!

Cook about ten minutes until the onions are tender and they've reduced in volume by about half. I always have to guess at what that might look like, so I generally go by time here. Stir frequently so they don't burn. 

A half cup of sugar makes the vinegar and onions go down...

Add the vinegar, sugar, and raisins to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 35 minutes until the onions become "jam-like" (again, not positive what that means!) and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat; serve at room temperature. I reheated it for dinner on Friday:

Fairly certain I made gillyweed?

I'm going to change up with way I pre-cut the onions before I mandoline-d them; I found the slices of onion halves ended up being too big and stringy. I think I'll quarter along the stem next time.

Golden Beet Cupcakes (from The Ivory Pomegranate)

I doubled this recipe and got exactly 18 cupcakes, so I think a safe assumption is that the amounts in this list makes nine cupcakes.

1 medium-sized golden beet

2 eggs

1 cup and 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 

Wrap the beet in foil and roast at 350º for about an hour until tender. When it's cool enough to handle, peel and chop. (Mom and I steamed our beets.)

They're striped! How pretty?

Blend the beet pieces and eggs in a food process or blender until smooth. Whisk together dry ingredients, then use an electric (handheld or stand) mixer to incorporate the butter. Fold in the beet/eggs mixture until just combined - don't overdo this, otherwise the cupcakes will get tough. Line cupcake pans with papers and spoon batter in. Bake at 350º 18-22 minutes, rotating back to front and switching racks if needed halfway through. Let cool before frosting.

I have to admit, I was a little wary of these instructions while I was putting everything together, but they seem to have turned out ok. Next time I think I'll try the standard "cream butter and sugar, add eggs, then add dry stuff" method and see if that turns out any different.

Buttercream Frosting (roughly adapted from FoodNetwork.com)

Head over to the site if you need lots of frosting - theirs makes enough to fill and frost a  9"x13" sheet cake or two 9" layers. I didn't need nearly that much, so I used roughly the following amounts:

12 ounces powdered sugar 

1/2 stick ish of room-temperature butter

1/4 cup milk, barely

1 capful vanilla extract (you could also use mint or almond flavoring, whatever floats your boat)

Food coloring if desired

Combine everything in a big mixing bowl and combine at low speed until well incorporated and no butter lumps remain. Add food coloring, if using, and frost away. If it's too runny, add more sugar/too thick, add milk a spoonful at a time. 

Week Six: Roots and Ears

I can’t believe we’re on week six already! I guess that’s what happens when you go on vacation. Dan and I just spent ten days in the UK for our honeymoon, and we’re already thinking about our trip back. I can’t say I missed the heat back here, having spent so long in the apparent “heat wave” of 75 to 80-degree heat with a breeze J

Things at the farm really picked up while we were gone. Matt and Aly got a huge harvest of “actual” vegetables like onions, leeks, and squash the past couple weeks (maybe Aly will post her recipe for the dinner they had at our house while we were gone?). This week we got cucumbers, carrots, corn, new potatoes (so cute), lettuce, fresh garlic, onions, yellow squash, and zucchini. The pick-your-own options were great, too: each share was allowed to take four basil plants (yes, whole plants!), Thai or purple basil, a single jalapeño, 5 serrano chiles (I skipped those), dill, cilantro, a bunch of flowers, Mason jars, and green beans. 

Jalapeno and the cilantro.

Just one of my basil plants!

This week I had found a recipe for fridge-pickled vegetables, so when I got back on Tuesday I immediately set about slicing and chopping some crunchy stuff from the farm and the grocery store to soak. I ended up with dill-pickled veggies… yum!

Fridge Pickled Vegetables (based on SK’s pickled veggie slaw)

1 cup white vinegar
4 heaping teaspoons sugar
4 heaping teaspoons salt (I used Morton’s Sea Salt)
Fresh dill to taste (I used about 3 3-inch fronds of fresh), chopped
1 cup cold water

Crunchy vegetables of your choice

Put everything but the water and veggies in a small pot over medium-high heat. Still until sugar and salt are dissolved, then remove from heat. Add the cold water and let cool.

Meanwhile, julienne (using a mandoline with a julienne blade or a really sharp knife), about 4 or so cups of your favorite crunchy vegetables. I used our CSA carrots (scrubbed), a CSA cucumber, and two grocery store red bell peppers. Put the sliced veg in a large bowl with a leakproof lid and mix everything up with your hands. Pour water/vinegar mixture over everything, put the lid on, and shake a little bit to distribute the liquid. Put the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour – I left mine overnight and think it was a great idea. Eat straight up, on a burger, with a salad...

Mmmm. Pickly!

 Next time, I’ll be more careful about keeping my veggies all the same size and shape – my pepper slices are a lot bigger than my cukes, and my carrots are just chunked instead of sliced (I wasn’t thinking too much about this, apparently). The taste wasn’t really affected, though! Also, I forgot, after such a long time eating cucumbers from the grocery store, that farm- and garden-fresh cucumbers have pricklies on them! Make sure you rub these off when you wash the cucumbers.

Last night we had a grilling fest with some friends, so I sliced up the enormous zucchini for kebabs, and made a potato and corn salad to go with.

Potato, Corn, and Basil Salad (based on David Lieberman's)

1 lb new or baby potatoes (I had about 1/5 pounds), scrubbed clean and quartered

5 ears corn

1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large bunch basil leaves, rinsed and dried

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons, juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes in salted water and bring to boil. Cook  until fork-tender, 15 minutes or so. Remove and dunk into ice water to stop the cooking process (don't toss the water if you can avoid it). Shuck the corn, and if needed, break each ear in two. Put the corn into the same water you used for the potatoes and cook 6-7 minutes until tender. Stop the cooking process by dunking the corn into an ice bath. Cut the kernels off the corn and add to large bowl with the potatoes.

Add the onion and basil and mix everything together, then toss with the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve right away.

Week Two: Actual Cooking!

Last night I made garlic scape pizza and a cabbage Caesar salad - delicious! I was really impressed with the salad, actually. Caesar dressing is one of those things I sort of assumed you could make, but I'd never actually taken the time to, you know, look up how to do it. The pizza served four people, and so far the salad has only served "one"... but that's because I'm the only one eating it. I'd say it could serve 4 to 6 as a side at dinner.

Cabbage Caesar Salad (via the New York Times)
- 1 head cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 egg yolk*
- 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
- juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup (freshly) grated Parmesan cheese (I used Romano)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, or enough to thin out the yolk/cheese mixture
- chopped anchovies (I didn't use these)
- salt and pepper to taste

Peel the garlic and rub the inside of the bowl with it. I also minced mine and added it to the dressing, because I love garlic. Whisk together everything but the cabbage, then  toss the sliced cabbage into the dressing. Serve immediately or store in the fridge to let the flavors get friendly.

Coring and slicing the cabbage: I think I saw on a cooking show once that you're supposed to slam the cabbage on the counter in order to break up the tough bit in the middle. I tried this, but I don't think I was angry enough because it didn't seem to do anything useful. I found it easiest to stand the cabbage up on the stem end and slice down, then lay the cut sides down to quarter it. It took some creativity to slice through the core, but I managed to get all the potentially tough, connect-y bits out. Once all the tough stuff is out of the way, slice away and add to the dressing. I wasn't sure how much washing it needed, since everything's pretty much protected by the outer leaves (which I peeled off and tossed), but I gave everything a rinse anyway.

* Yes, this has a raw egg yolk in it. If you don't feel OK eating raw egg, I have no idea what your options are. I'm still alive and well :) But make sure, if you do use it, that you either eat it immediately, or keep it refrigerated. The rule of thumb for foods is that they should only be in the "danger zone" (between 40 F and 120 F, I think is the high end) for two hours for maximum safety.

Garlic Scape and Chicken Pizza (inspired by the smitten kitchen)
- 1 package pizza/bread dough, thawed if frozen (if you can make bread dough that actually turns into bread, do that, and then bring it on over to my house!)
- 10 garlic scapes, cut in half at the loop-de-loop (not sure if you can see this in the picture)
- 5-6 chicken breast tenderloins (probably 1 to 1.5 chicken breasts), cooked & diced or shredded
- 1/2 cup or so tomato sauce
- pizza cheese (I used provolone)

Pat the dough lightly with flour, and stretch/toss/roll out onto your baking sheet or pizza stone. Add tomato sauce to your preference, sprinkle with chicken, and top with cheese. Add the scapes last. Bake in a 425 F oven for about 20 minutes. Transfer to cutting board, if needed, slice and serve.

I tend to have difficulties with bread dough, so my crust felt a little tough. I tried to mess with it as little as possible, but that may still have been too much. I think next time I'll saute scapes, like SK did with the ramps, and probably chop them as well. They sort of dried out and lost their yummy garlic taste.