Farmers' Market and Comfort Food

I am in serious need of comfort food.  October is one of the busiest months for me at the restaurant.  Everyone who was away for the summer, relaxing on their decks or patios with friends, are now booking dinner at the restaurant.  Companies that had vacated DC for the summer are back at work and throwing cocktail parties and business dinners.  It's as if Washingtonians feel bad for deserted us during July and August and feel like they need to make it up to us.  Great for business but utterly exhausting.  After an unavoidably hard week I needed comfort food and fast - something warm and satisfying. -something that reflects the season.  I headed out to the farmers' market to get inspired.

Grape kiwis? Never heard of them.  They kind of smelled like kiwis.  So cute!  You apparently eat them whole, no peeling necessary.

I buy my eggs from this woman every Sunday.  I'm not sure if I can really taste the difference between these and the ones you would get at the store but appart from it being more fun I just like thinking that my eggs came from happy chickens on her farm.  She reuses the egg cartons too.

Twin Springs is my go-to fruits and vegetable stand.  I used to go to their Bethesda location on Saturdays when I lived there.  I feel a sense of loyalty to them and their prices are very reasonable.

I guess other people like them too!

It's dahlia season!

How beautiful are these variegated beans and eggplant

I didn't know you could grow ginger this far north.  I assumed it was a tropical plant.  Wrong again!

OK these aren't from the farmers' market.  They were hanging off the plant growing in front of my building but it was so colorful I thought I'd take a picture!  When did we decide that fall colors were represented by fall foliage?  The farmers market is bursting with pinks and purples and bright greens!

I ended up coming home with butternut squash, a LOT of apples, a few pairs, apple cider and some brussels sprouts.  Now what to make.....?

When it comes to comfort I think is stews and soups.  Since it was in the 70s this week (the last warm spell of the year I'm sure) I wasn't quite ready for a stew so I went with soup.  Butternut squash and apples are a pretty classic combination for soup.  I've been craving pizza from Delancey ever since I had it Seattle this summer.  The owner of the restaurant started out writing a food blog so I thought I'd check it out for a recipe.  Success!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

adapted from Orangette

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil ( I used just a couple tablespoons)

1 2-lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2 flavorful apples, preferably Gala, peeled, cored, and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)- ( used 3 apples.  They just looked so good.)
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 1 cup) ( I'm sure she was calling for a white onion but I used a red onion for its sweetness and color)
¾ tsp curry powder ( I didn't have curry powder so I used some cumin and paprika instead)
¾ tsp ground mace ( I used nutmeg which is pretty close)
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 cup good-quality apple cider (I had some from the farmers' market)
1 quart chicken stock (vegetable works fine as well) ( I used vegetable bouillon cubes. I know I should have my own stock... if I just had the time to make it)

I wanted to add a little spice so a I added a few pinches of Espelette pepper.  It's a mild chili pepper flake cultivated in France.  It adds just enough spice to give the soup a little kick without making it really spicy.

Directions:

Peel and cut the butternut squash and apples (that I both bought at the farmers' market!  Market use #1!!) into cubes and add them to a large pot along with the onion. "Saute" them, more like steam them, until the onion starts to turn translucent.  Add the spices, the cider  (that I bought at the market!  Use #2!!!) and the vegetable stock and cook away, about 40 minutes, until the squash is nice and tender.  Honestly that's about it.  That's what's great about soups.  Once you do all the chopping it's really up to the pot and heat to do their job and meld all the ingredients.

Carefully ladle the cooked vegetables and broth into a food processor or blender and pulse it until it becomes smooth.  Remember to do this in small batches because hot liquids will create pressure in the blender and rise to the top quickly.

When you are ready to eat it you could put a little dollop of creme fraiche or fromage blanc in the middle or eat it as it is. Yum.

Food, for me, can really wipe away whatever it was that I was thinking about or worrying about.  The act of chopping and cutting and measuring and stirring relaxes me and eating the final product is so satisfying.  This easy soup was just what I needed after my long week.  One day off and on to the next one!

***

Last Sunday I tried to make chocolate caramels from a cookbook my Italian chef friends gave me...and failed miserably.  It was probably because the instructions were in Italian.  I can understand a good 50% of what I hear and read but 50% just doesn't cut it when it comes to baking and confectionaries.  Out of failure comes success though.  I had a lot of leftover cream so I made butter!

I started out by shaking the cream in an empty 1/2 gallon milk jug.  By the time it got to whipped cream consistency it really got too hard for me to shake.  I must be seriously lacking in upper body muscle.  I transferred my whipped cream to the mixer and let it finish the job.

Butter in my butter bell for my morning toast this week

Autumn Plums

Summer is unfortunately over.  It's a fact.  It has only been over for 4 days, but to me, it ended the day I came back from vacation about two weeks ago.  As much as I love the cooler fall days, it's always hard to say goodbye to warm nights- the perfect excuse to go out for drinks and sit outside, farmers markets FULL of fruits and vegetables, and my favorite "it's a Friday in August so I'm leaving work early" excuse.  Fall means back to school, back to work and the start of the root vegetable season at the farmers' market.  Before all brightly colored fruits hibernate for the winter, fall gives us a few last bursts of color, like the pomegranate, the plum and figs (OK I know some figs are black but there are some pretty lime green ones too!)

I've discovered a new interest in cocktails.  I never really enjoyed sweet cocktails like the Cosmopolitan but I thought those sugary/sour/fruity drinks were my only option if I wanted something other than a beer or a glass of wine while sitting at a bar.  This isn't the first time that it turns out that's I'm wrong..  Over the summer I found several bars, in DC and other cities, that are "re-creating" the cocktail, using creative new combinations of flavors and ingredients.  Fruits, herbs, bitters, infusions- the possibilities are endless.  I've made Limoncello before and I just infused vodka with lemon verbena but those both have vodka.  I wanted to try a new liquor.  To go along with my "fall" mood, I thought I would try a recipe for plum brandy my sister found for me in the New York Times. She sent me two recipes: "Brandied Plums with Cinnamon and Vanilla" and "Pomegranate Gin Preserve". Brandied plums it is! The pomegranates will have to wait.

Brandied Plums with Cinnamon and Vanilla

Adapted from The New York Times - published on September 21, 2010

Ingredients:

2 lb of plums

1/2 cup sugar

1 liter of brandy

one cinnamon stick

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

Directions:

This really could not be easier.  I changed the original proportions a little but nothing really changed all that much.  The recipe is put together in under 10 minutes and then you just have to wait.

Wash the plums and prick them all over with the tip of a sharp knife.  Put them in a large jar (the kind with a top that clamps shut).  I used  3 liter jar and it was not full.

Pour the sugar over the plums and then add the brandy.  Plop in the cinnamon stick and the vanilla bean and voila!

Let the jar sit in a cool dark place (not the fridge) for at least 6 weeks, and up to 3-4 months.  Gently "shake" the jar from time to time, by turning the jar over.  Who knows.  This is an experiment.  The ingredients sound like they would go together and it if works, I'll have a delicious drink to sip when it's cold this winter (or give away as Christmas gifts because let's be honest, that's a lot of brandy).  I'll keep you updated on the brandy's status!

 

***

I had some plums leftover so I thought I would make a cake.  Last week I made a delicious peach upside down cake with the last of my summer peaches.  I've learned that most stone fruit desserts work with just about any type of stone fruit (or any sort of fruit in general really because a tart tatin is the apple version of this cake.)

Plum and Rum Raisin Upside Down Cake

Adapted from the Honey Peach Upside Down Cake from Hotpolkadot

Ingredients:

About 8-10 plums depending on the kind you use and how big they are- quartered

1/4 cup of maple syrup

1/4 cup of golden raisins soaked in about 1/4 cup of rum - drained.

1 cup of flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter - room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.  Butter a 9 inch round cake pan (sides and bottom).  Cup out a round piece of parchment paper and put it on the buttered bottom of the pan.  Butter the parchment round.  (I know it sounds like a lot of butter but this is an upside down cake.  You really don't want it to stick when it comes time to flip).

Pour the maple syrup on top of the buttered parchment paper.  The original recipe called for honey but I thought the deeper flavor of maple syrup would taste really nice with plums.  Take your plum quarters and arrange them, cut side down, in a nice circular pattern.  Take your rum raisin and sprinkle them evenly over the plums.  Set this aside and now.  It's time to work on the cake batter.

In a small bowl, mix together your dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder).

In your mixer's bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the honey and then the eggs.  I added a little nutmeg because I think nutmeg tastes like fall.  You can omit it, of course, or add your spice of choice.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and you're done!  The batter will not soupy.  In fact, you probably won't be able to pour it out of the bowl.  Use a spatula to scoup and plop it into the pan (kind of like mashed potatoes).  Don't be afraid to use your fingers to gently convince the batter to fill in the little holes between the plums.  Work the batter into the pan and put it in the middle of the oven.

The recipe calls for baking the cake for 30-35 minutes.  Both times I made this it took me more like 40-43.  See what works for you.

When the cake is done (clean toothpick test), let it cool until you can pick up the pan with your fingers without burning them (idiot test).  Put a large plate over the pan and quickly flip it and put the plate down on the table.  If all the buttering did its job the cake should easily slip out of the pan.  If the parchment paper came out of the pan with the cake, just carefully peel it off.

Serve it warm or refrigerate it for the next day.

Happy fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A cool summer drink and a weekend in NY

Three years after making Limoncello as Christmas gifts I have decided to give infused liquors another try.  The family lemon verbena plants are growing out of control this summer and I was trying to figure out what I could make with the sweet and lemony smelling leaves.  If vodka infused with lemons makes a good drink vodka infused with lemon verbena should too right?  Only one way to find out! After consulting with my friend at the restaurant about proportions, I set off last week to buy some vodka! The guy at the store was skeptical when I brought several liters of vodka to the counter but he wished me luck and I was on my way to making lemon verbena vodka! 

Lemon Verbena Vodka

Ingredients:

4 cups of lemon verbena leaves (taken off their stems and washed)

2 liters of good vodka (I used grey goose but I’m sure anything not in a plastic handle would do just fine!)

Directions:

Put the lemon verbena leaves in a 2-3 liter jar.  Pour in vodka and stir!  Complicated right?  Let “steep” for as long as you want.  I thought it would take a lot longer for the verbena leaves to infuse the vodka but after two days the vodka smelled like lemon and looked as green as grass -nothing like the limoncello I made that needed to sit for at least a month to fully infuse. I’m sure I could have let it steep for a few more days but the leaves were starting to turn light yellow which to me meant their had given all they could.   Time to take the leaves out! I mixed the infusion with soda water and ice and it made the perfect summer drink.  Cool and refreshing and satisfyingly home made.

*** 

I took a last minute trip this past weekend and escaped to Brooklyn for a great weekend of family, food and cocktails!  We had a fantastic dinner at James and fun cocktails at the Clover Club.  I don’t have any recipe posts but I have a little photographic tour of the details I saw around Brooklyn instead.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens A little friend hanging out in the herb garden at the BBG My aunt’s kitchen

A Peachy Summer Weekend

Growing up, summer days meant going to camp.  We would bring our own brown bag lunches and toss them in a big rubber bin along with all the other lunches, hoping the bag on top of yours wouldn’t leak and rip your lunch bag.  I can still picture all of us sitting outside on the designated “lunch hill” eating our sandwiches and drinking the box of “fruit punch” provided by the camp.  While other kids ate their Twinkies and cupcakes, I usually sank my teeth into a sweet juicy summer peach.  I distinctly remember always having sticky fingers after lunch. Juice would dribble from the peach down my chin and onto my hands.   Ah, summer.

While I no longer have the luxury of going to summer camp, thankfully peaches are still part of my summer!  My eyes tend to be bigger than the number of recipes I have when I am at the farmers’ market.  I bought a LOT of peaches.  Thankfully they keep pretty well if you put them in the refrigerator.  I put some away and kept a few out and went on a peach recipe hunt.  After looking at recipes for cobblers, tarts, pies, and a cakes I figured peach ice cream would be the best way to honor the summer staple.

Ice cream recipes, as I learned when I made my favorite, mint chocolate chip, are VERY simple.  Häagen-Dazs isn’t kidding with it’s new ad campaign highlight how pure and simple the product it.  It’s not just Häagen-Dazs but all ice cream really.  All the recipes I looked at had the same cream/milk/egg combination.  The only thing that really changed was the sweet component.  I decided to go with honey.

In the spirit of intellectual honesty, I read the following blogs as inspiration and basic ratios. www.eatatblurp.com, www.peterandrewryan.com, www.dessertfirst.typepad.com.

Summer Peach Ice Cream

Ingredients:

4 large ripe peaches for the puree and 1 for to put in the ice cream later

1/8 of a cup of honey (the recipes I read called for a 1/4 cup.  I thought this would make the ice cream too sweet.  Depending on the ripeness of the peaches you can decide for yourself.  I went for less.  I also don’t like my desserts to be too too sweet.  I get honey from a family friend and try and use my local honey as much as I can!)

1 cup of whole milk

1 cup of heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla (I used the 2 tsps and I also split a vanilla bean in half, used the seeds and simmered the bean in the milk/cream pan for added flavor. )

Directions:

Peach Puree:  Peel and cut up the 4 peaches and simmer them in a saucepan with the honey until the peaches become very soft and are cooked through (about 15 minutes).  Let the mixture cool a bit and then puree it in a food processor until it looks smooth.  Easy! (Note: you could probably do this with just about any fruit.  You could make a berry puree, a plum puree…. experiment!)

 

Custard for the ice cream: Pour milk and cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, separate your eggs and mix the sugar with the egg yolks with a whisk until they are a light yellow color.  When the milk and cream are nice and hot, take about a 1/4 cup and pour it slowly into the yolks, whisking all the while, to temper the eggs.  Make sure not to curdle them!  Now that the eggs have warmed up a bit, slowly pour the rest of the milk mixture into the eggs in a slow trickle. 

Split your vanilla beans and scrape the seeds out.  Instead of throwing away the vanilla pod you can either put it in a sugar canister and make vanilla sugar, or do what I did and just add it to the custard to give it even more vanilla flavor.  I had been saving my vanilla beans for something special.  My brother in law got them for me during a trip to Madagascar.  Peach ice cream sounds special enough to me!

Pour the egg, milk and peach puree and cream mixture back into your saucepan and stir on medium heat until it thickens into a nice custard that covers your spoon. Add the vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and plop in the vanilla pod to infuse the mixture.

Refrigerate the custard for a few hours or over night to completely chill it.

The next day: (Don’t you hate it when you start making a recipe without reading the whole way though and you get to the part that says “the next day” and kick yourself?…. It happens to me… a lot.)

Take the chilled custard out of the refrigerator.  Dice the remaining peach into small cubes.  Pour the custard into the ice cream maker.  When it is about the consistency of frozen yogurt, add the peaches. 

Put it back in the freezer for a few hours for the whole thing to firm up and enjoy!

This ice cream has such an intense peach flavor.  I couldn’t have been more pleased with it.  Delicious.