Sautéed Orange Chard

This healthy treat went with our Sunday Sunchoke soup.

SAUTEED ORANGE CHARD

Coarsely chop the chard leaves and stalks. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the the chard stalks and leaves and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and mix together. Season well and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes until the leaves have wilted. Stir in the vinegar juice and serve.

Sunday SUNCHOKE Soup

As the story goes, I was doing a little Sunday shopping with Kelly at the Ballard market a year or so ago and came across a vendor selling some spindly little roots called Jerusalem artichokes.  I asked the farmer why they had this name, he explained that their flavor was exactly that of an artichoke heart and if I'd never tried one before I was surely missing out.  During this conversation with the farmer, a stranger appeared and proceeded to explain how these little roots would blow my [expletive] mind.  Strangers feeling the need to express how something will "blow your mind" can either be an indicator of sheer crazy or an indicator of how spectacular something is.  I chose to believe that, although both factors were likely at play, this was mostly an expression of the latter, and bought a few pounds to roast for dinner that night.  Much credit to the stranger, as they really did blow my mind.  They were simple to prepare and tasted exactly like artichoke hearts only bigger and meatier, all I did was roast them in olive oil with a little sea salt and and served them with lemon butter.

All that to say, when I came upon this recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Bacon, I began preparing to have my mind blown yet again.  I made it last Sunday and served it alongside sautéed orange chard with garlic that Allison made (recipe for the Orange Chard to follow). 

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP WITH BACON

2 1/2 pounds Jerusalem artichokes
3 1/2 ounces bacon, diced or cut into matchsticks
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 cups chicken stock
freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
1/2 tsp. rosemary, fresh or dried
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
sour cream for serving


Serves 4 to 6.
Peel the Jerusalem artichokes with a vegetable peeler, to the best of your abilities. I wasn't able to peel mine, so I boiled with peels still on and it worked fine.

Rinse the Jerusalem artichokes in one or two changes of water, cut them into 1 inch chunks and place them in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water, add salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until vegetables are soft, but not falling apart. 

In a separate soup pot add the bacon and cook until browned. A minute before the bacon is entirely browned, add the garlic and cook for a minute until softened, stirring frequently to avoid coloring.

Drain the vegetables and place in a bowl, blending with either an immersion blender or hand mixer. Add blended vegetable to the soup pot with hot stock and bacon, stir, and bring to a simmer on medium heat.

If soup still has large chunks, blend again.  Strain through a large-holed strainer and place drained soup liquid back into soup pot, bring to a boil again. Divide among soup bowls, top with a dallop of sour cream and serve.

a few highlights from dee cee, washington

one of many delightful row houses.

what a thoughtful boy. Andrew's apartment.

In DC, even the construction sites are beautiful.

fall at the mall.

 

 turns out this statue is NOT to scale.

 

 

 hanging at the mall.

 

 examining the ceiling on our capitol tour.

 

 capitol ceiling. 

 

 some French lady's pots and pans.

 

 meet Virginia. srsly guys, we walked there.

banana & chocolate chip bundt

BANANA & CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNDT
2 1/4 c. flour
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves or nutmeg
2/3 c. skim milk
1/2 c. vanilla or plain nonfat yogurt
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 4 bananas, depending on size)
2/3 c. chopped nuts or chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan. Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl and blend 1/2 minutes on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes on high and pour into pan. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Savory Scones: Take 2

This is take two on savory scones. Not because the first batch didn't work, but because they are delicious and after reading another savory scone recipe, I decided you can pretty much use any combination of herbs and cheese that you like. So here it is, a random mishmash of the herbs from my mom's kitchen and chives from the yard, plus cheeses from the fridge.

Parmesan and Herb Scones 
Adapted from The Cheese Board: Collective Works

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely ground yellow cornmeal
½ stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
½ cup parmesan and cheddar, grated
½ cup chopped herbs (I used dried thyme, parsley, dill and oregano with chopped fresh chives)
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.

Beat together the milk and the egg and then set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, soda, cayenne pepper, cornmeal and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, working until you have no lumps bigger than a pea. Add herbs and cheese and stir or toss to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dries, reserving just a little of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring dough together gently with a wooden spoon.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it a few times. Pat dough into a round approximately ½-inch thick, and cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment. Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges with any remaining milk/egg mixture.


Place scones onto prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes or until scones are light brown on top.Yields about 8-12 scones.
 
Enjoy! 

makin' a ragù, real quick like.

Here's a new, cool thing that I learned: ragù can be abbreviated. Ragù can take all day to cook, reduce and transform into something worthy of bearing the "sauce" name OR it can be a speedy dish, something you whip up in 30 minutes or less. You choose. It's hard to beat all day slow-cooked flavors, but on weeknights, making a five hour sauce is too much. It crosses the line between dedication and madness.

Hot Italian links from Uli's in the market.

Ragù (Quick Style)
Adapted from Bitten

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp.  olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. spicy italian sausage removed from casing
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup milk
1/4 cup tomato paste
salt and pepper

1 lb. of pasta
parmesan for serving

Boil salted water for the pasta. Put the oil in a skillet or sauce pan over medium heat add the onion and garlic. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until it softens. Add the sausage in bits, and turn the heat to medium high; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is nicely browned, add wine and cook until the liquid reduces.


Add milk and tomato paste, season to taste with salt and pepper; stir to blend, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until thickened. If sauce it becomes too thick or dry, add a little more milk or water.

Once the sauce is done and the water is bioling, cook the pasta. When pasta is al dente, drain and toss with sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and adjust seasonings to your liking.

zucchini bread

when a zucchini is staring you straight in the eyes, it's best to make a bread, you will not win that stare down. Dan's mom gave me two HUGE zucchinis from her neighbor's yard.  I used one to make these two loafs of bread.  I shredded the other one and froze the shreddings, I am hoping to break it out of the freezer at a later date, probably for a special occasion and bake something else.  Zucchini bread is really a lot like carrot cake, only we don't call it cake, even though it has all the same ingredients. Because it is a BREAD and not a CAKE it means you are allowed to eat it for breakfast.

This trial run, I did half whole wheat flour and half regular.  Although it makes for a healthier final product, it also made it slightly dry and a little more dense.  I'd recommend either doing one cup of whole wheat and two cups of regular or, better yet, use all white flour. 

ZUCCHINI BREAD  
Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil (or a mix of the two, I used 3/4 veg and 1/4 olive)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the eggs. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon,cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit) in a separate bowl.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.