white bean salad/mustard maple carrots

Like my most recent entry (which was a while ago, sorry), this post doesn't feature the best looking photograph, but it does have one new take on a Cascone classic, as well as two brand new side dishes, so I hope that will help to make up for the poorly lit picture.

everyone loves a waffle iron

Maybe it's just me, but I think of waffle irons as one of those kitchen devices that everyone thinks that they will use, but inevitably ends up collecting dust in the basement with the deep fryer and other cool but non-everyday kitchen devices. I mean, I can think of probably two times in my life that my mom has used hers, so I was hesitant to buy one of my own, considering the limited storage space in my NYC apartment. Clearly, no matter how many delicious waffle recipes are out there to tantalize me, this was not something that I needed..... but alas, good sense and practicality lost out to the sheer force of desire and a tiny $10 waffle iron on sale at Target.

butter-fried potato and apple slices with porcini mushrooms, shallots, parsley and sage

Man, I can't believe how January is already flying by! And here I am, still blogging about something I made back in October. Luckily, this meal was mainly root vegetables and apples, which store pretty well throughout the winter, so this is still fairly seasonal. As you'll see in the photo above, there were three components of this meal: maple carrot turnips, garlicky turnip tops and, for the main event, potato and apple slices fried in butter with shallots, porcini mushrooms, sage and parsley.

maple black pepper pork chop

So a nice fat pork chop is always pretty good... on this blog alone I've covered quite a number of delicious preparations: breaded and baked, pan seared, coffee marinated, braised pizzaiole and agrodolce.

snow ice cream

Random fun thing that I "cooked" this winter that I should tell you about while there is still a chance of further winter weather this year: snow ice cream! Freshly fallen snow + maple syrup = natural winter deliciousness.


snow and syrup, premixing

Mix it up and scoop it into a bowl for a fun wintertime treat! Of course, here's hoping to no more winter. I say, bring on the sunshine and spring leaves!

kabocha squash with ricotta cheese/maple lemon brussels sprouts with bacon

Today I have some delicious kabocha squash and ricotta cheese toasts and brussels sprouts with bacon, lemon, maple syrup. These two dishes have "famous chef" pedigrees, and they do not disappoint. I highly recommend both of them.




First is Jean-Georges Vongerichten's kabocha squash and ricotta cheese toasts. New York Magazine will use any excuse to include this little number in a list of must eat restaurant menu items. Seriously, they've probably mentioned this dish like three or four times in recent months. (OK, maybe just twice...) They have never given the actual recipe, but I had a big old kabocha squash that only made so much bread pudding, so I decided to try my hand at recreating the described dish.

Simply put, I roasted the kabocha squash until it was nice and soft. Then I pureed the squash flesh, poured in a little apple cider vinegar, a healthy grind of pepper and sprinkling of salt, and mixed it all around. To put it together, I toasted some bread and then topped it with a layer of ricotta cheese and my vinegared squash.

It was a very nice combination, which I will definitely try to make again. You could tell that the squash and ricotta really complemented one another, and the apple cider vinegar added an unusual depth of flavor. Next time I'll spring for some better ricotta, (I got some cheap off brand that was on sale– probably since it was not very good!), and use some nice thin slices of Italian bread. The basil garnish would also probably be great, but I didn't have any of that at the time.




The other dish pictured is this amazing recipe for maple syrup lemon brussels sprouts with bacon. Also featured in New York magazine, this recipe comes from chef Zak Pelaccio. I don't actually know who that is, but since the recipe was included in feature on famous chef's holiday meals, I think he must be a fairly big deal. Also, if this dish is any indication, he's a culinary genius. I never would have thought that bacon, brussels sprouts, lemon, cream and maple syrup would be a good combination, but somehow they come together beautifully. If I had had chestnuts, I'm sure they would have fit in perfectly, but this dish is so orgasmically good even without them, that I feel that they are unnecessary.

In addition to being super awesomely yummy, these sprout are also really easy. Basically, you fry up bacon, and then you cook the brussels sprouts in the bacon grease with garlic for like five minutes. The recipe also called for fresh thyme, but it was plenty flavorful without it. Then you pour in the cream, and after that's reduced by half, you mix the bacon back in, and add the maple syrup and lemon, letting it cook a little bit longer to let it all meld together. The cream cooks off more than you would expect, and the dish is remarkably light tasting considering the rich and hearty ingredients. The maple syrup is muted by the sprouts themselves, and the lemon gives it a nice brightness and acidity. Quite a remarkable and unexpectedly successful combination of ingredients. It is, in a word, amazing. Seriously. If you don't like brussels sprouts, this is the dish to convert you.

If that wasn't enough to convince you, I'll leave with another shot of this delicious meal:

maple carrots and turnips

maple syrup glazed carrots and turnips

Last summer, my very first food co-op share included turnips. I had never ever cooked a turnip in my life, and thus had no idea what to do with them. My friend Megan lives and runs an organic farm, (and earlier this year was blogging about it), so I asked her how she liked to cook them. The resulting recipe, rich with butter and maple syrup, was so delicious I immediately submitted it to the CSA newsletter. I admit that the combination might sound strange, but it highlights the veggie's natural sweetness and gives it a beautiful sticky sweet glaze and is just off the hook good every time I make it, which is every time I have turnips. Megan also gave me a nice method for cooking turnip tops, which I haven't made recently, but will include nonetheless. Here is my submission, first composed on 6/17/09:

A newcomer to community sponsored agriculture, I was excited to receive my first share of vegetables from Norwood. However, I have to admit I was intimidated by the selection, as I had never cooked a turnip in my life! I put out a cry for help on facebook, and a very good friend of mine, who lives on an organic farm, responded with a pair of recipes which she dubbed "the best way to eat turnips." I am not too sure on the measurements, so this is the closest approximation I can come up with.

Caramelized Maple Turnips and Carrots
6 small white turnips
2 carrots
3 or 4 tbsp real maple syrup
quarter stick of butter
1 cup stock (or enough to cover the carrots and turnips in the pan)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash turnips and remove the greens, which can be cooked separately. Chop into small slices. Peel carrots, and slice into thin disks. Place carrots and turnips in a pot, and pour in enough stock to more or less cover them. Cook on medium high heat until carrots and turnips are almost cooked all the way through and the stock has mostly boiled off. Then add butter and syrup, and let that cook down until it gets nice and caramelized. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve to guests who won't mind if you lick the plate.

Braised Turnip Greens
6 turnip tops
1-2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 tbsp bacon grease
red wine or apple cider vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash and chop turnip greens. Peel and mince garlic. Heat bacon grease in pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and turnip greens and cook until tender. Serve with a drizzle of vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper. Enjoy!