Phoo-d » Fall

Lentils with Broiled Eggplant

Annie — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:48:12 +0000

I have a new cookbook crush. In fact it may even be an infatuation. It started innocently enough, with a link from Heidi to a video interview with Yottam Ottolenghi. Now I had heard the name Ottolenghi mentioned before in vegetarian circles- always with proclamations of incredible food and concepts. Yet watching the video brought the passion and love embodied in Ottolenghi’s food to life. An Israeli born restauranteur who runs several eponymous restaurants in London with a Palestinian head chef, I immediately jumped over to Amazon and bought his new vegetarian cookbook, Plenty.

(...)
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© Annie for Phoo-d, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beans and Legumes, Eggplant, Fall, Gluten Free, Main Dish, Vegan

Split Pea Soup with Eggplant Bacon

Annie — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:29:56 +0000

I know what you are saying. Eggplant bacon? Seriously? My thoughts exactly.

The world of vegetarian and vegan cuisine can have a lot of strange faux meat products. Everything from mock chicken nuggets to frozen veggie burgers with a disturbing brown color and ‘grill marks’. I have largely avoided these products since: 1.) most contain gluten to hold the veggie ingredients together 2.) processed food just really isn’t our thing and 3.) I’ve found the best way to enjoy a vegan diet is to stop focusing on meat replacement. However when I saw recipes for eggplant bacon on respected vegan food blogs curiosity got the better of me.(...)
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© Annie for Phoo-d, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beans and Legumes, Comfort Food, Fall, Gluten Free, Healthy, Soup, Vegan

Green Salad with Persimmons, Candied Pecans, & a Lemon Vinaigrette

Annie — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:54:41 +0000

I have a tortured relationship with persimmons. Only a few short years after discovering their intoxicating sweetness, the joy of eating a warm hachiya plucked from a tree, and the sensual texture of ripe persimmon sliding down my throat- I up and moved to the Midwest. Pure torture I tell you! Persimmon trees, laden with orange orbs begging to be picked and eaten on the spot are nowhere to be found. (...)
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How to Make Pumpkin Pie from a Whole Pumpkin

Annie — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:53:29 +0000

I first attempted to make a pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin when I was in high school. Thanks to my Dad, I had conquered my fear of pie crusts and thus happily volunteered to make the pumpkin pie for our neighborhood Thanksgiving potluck. I don’t remember where I found the recipe, but when I read the words “pumpkin puree” I thought I could just use a pumpkin from our garden to make the puree instead of using canned pumpkin. What I failed to realize was that it is necessary to cook a pumpkin before pureeing the flesh. (...)
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Post tags: Dessert, Fall, Pie, Pumpkin, Thanksgiving

Green Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

Annie — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:02:42 +0000

Are you ready to talk about Thanksgiving? Now that November has arrived it seems that everywhere I look there are images, recipes, and ideas for the upcoming holiday. Usually I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon, but Thanksgiving just happens to be my #1 favorite day of the year. Why, you ask? Because it is all about the food, of course! No gifts to give, no fireworks to dodge, and no romantic moods to create- simply a giant feast where everyone can eat, drink, and be merry. This year, for the first time, I managed to get ahead of the game and pull together an entire menu of Thanksgiving classics for you to enjoy.(...)
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© Annie for Phoo-d, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apples, Fall, Holiday Food, Soup, Thanksgiving

Raclette Party

Annie — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:20:18 +0000

Have you ever been to a raclette party? A fun cheese-centered meal (similar to fondue), raclette is the perfect way to spend a leisurely winter evening with friends and family. Originating over 700 years ago* in the Swiss Alps, raclette is the name of both the meal and the cheese. Traditionally the cheese is a semi-hard Swiss cow’s cheese called “raclette” (named for the French verb, to scrape) however if you have trouble finding true raclette cheese Emmentaler or Jarlsberg cheeses can be used instead. Originally, sheepherders in the Swiss Alps would sit alongside a campfire with a hunk of raclette cheese and small potatoes wrapped and nestled among the coals. Once the cheese was warm they would scrape the cheese onto the potatoes and enjoy a warm lunch in the field. (...)
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Fennel Braised Pork Chops with an Apple Cider Demi Glace

Annie — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:41:34 +0000

The weather is at it again- seesawing between warm days and crisp nights. I love fall. My flip flops can still make an appearance but the flannel sheets and cold air from open windows mean summer has packed its bags until next year. In the kitchen I am ready to say farewell to gazpacho and to welcome autumn flavors with open arms. A recent weekend trip to Minneapolis (to find clothes that fit an expanding belly!) took us past several apple orchards. Never one to pass up fall apples, I arrived home with several bags of apples and a jug of freshly squeezed apple cider. (...)
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How to Make Apple Butter

Annie — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:36:31 +0000

After a summer hiatus it is time to get back into the swing of The Daring Kitchen challenges. The official line for this month is: The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Apple Butter. Two little words that invoke vivid memories of the first month of school and a kitchen filled with the scent of warm apples and cinnamon. Each fall when the apple trees near my childhood home filled with ripe fruit, my mom would quickly follow her famous apple cake with a big batch of apple butter. I never understood that apple butter didn’t actually contain real butter. The smooth decadent texture will have any kid convinced that mom has temporarily forgotten her judicious butter rules and is allowing a free for all in which you can slather apple butter on anything you like. I would beg for apple butter on my peanut butter and honey sandwiches and would take nothing else to school for lunch until it was gone. (...)
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How to make a Pumpkin Tureen

Annie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:38:00 +0000

The summer I turned 12, we took a big family trip to visit relatives in Washington D.C. It was a big trip both in the distance traveled- we lived on the West Coast and typically didn’t travel out of the region, and in the duration- we stayed for two weeks. My memories of the time spent in D.C. are surprisingly vivid, and are not surprisingly filled with lots of food.

One of my favorite stops on the trip was in the historical town of Williamsburg. I watched with fascination as a blacksmith pounded horse shoes with sparks flying and a cooper shaped long boards into barrels. Walking around a costumed historical village was almost like living in a novel- I loved it! While in Williamsburg, I purchased two books- Entertaining Ideas from Williamsburg and Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg. Filled with pictures of the decorated houses and traditional recipes, they added illustration to my fanciful day dreams of living in a historical village. (And yes, at 12 years old I was already a total cooking and decorating geek!)

Now many, many years later I still enjoy looking through these books and satisfying my inner Martha Stewart tendencies while reminiscing about our trip. One photo that has always enticed my creative side is a beautiful pumpkin encircled by fall flowers and filled with a savory squash soup. This fall I decided that I needed to stop day dreaming and just get in there and do it! So I tracked down the supplies and ingredients, set aside a few hours, and got busy.

The process is simple, requiring only a knife, bowl, scissors, and a metal skewer. First you wash the pumpkin’s exterior and cut a large opening in the top. Next you clean out the inside of the pumpkin using a spoon to scrape out the seeds and membrane.

Finally, you poke holes into the edge of the pumpkin using the skewer and stick the stems of flowers and leaves into the holes to create a floral wreath around the outside of the pumpkin.

Once the pumpkin is finished, you can fill it with hot soup and serve the soup directly from the tureen. This would make a lovely centerpiece for a fall buffet, or could even be adapted using small pumpkins to create personal ‘bowls’.

I wasn’t crazy about the flavor of the squash soup recipe which accompanied the tureen instructions, and instead would recommend making my favorite butternut squash and parmesan soup to fill the tureen. The flowers will start to look droopy after about 4-5 hours, so be sure to assemble the tureen shortly before filling it with the soup and serving the meal.

Oh and a final note- It can be rather difficult to estimate the right size pumpkin for the quantity of soup. I’d recommend erring on the smaller side, knowing that you can always add more soup if needed.

How to Make a Pumpkin Tureen (Printable Instructions)
Adapted from Entertaining Ideas from Williamsburg

Supplies:

1 medium pumpkin, rinsed and dried

1 large assortment of flowers, leaves, and berries

Sharp knife

Large metal spoon

Large bowl

Newspaper

Scissors

Metal skewer (or another sharp, pointy metal object)

Instructions:

Spread newspaper on the floor to make cleanup easier. Using the sharp knife, carefully cut a big circle around the top of the pumpkin. Remove the circle, creating an opening. Use the metal spoon to scoop out all seeds and scrape out any membrane inside the pumpkin, placing them into the large bowl. Discard or reserve seeds for another use.

Next use the skewer to poke a hole into the side of the pumpkin. You will want to stay about 1/2″ below the opening, which will help keep the foliage from falling into the soup if bumped. Cut the stem of a flower to equal the depth of your skewered hole (about 1/2″) and carefully push the stem into the hole. Repeat this process around the edge of the pumpkin, creating a pleasing pattern with the foliage.

Once finished, set the pumpkin on a plate or flat surface that can be cleaned in case the soup leaks a little bit (this happened with mine). Fill the pumpkin tureen with a piping hot soup and serve.

Autumn Panzanella

Annie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:02:00 +0000

As fresh loaves of bread now emerge from my oven on a weekly basis, it has become necessary to get creative and ensure that it does not got to waste. Besides enjoying lots of toast and jam for breakfast, I have also started to work bread into our dinners. In moderation, I’ve found that bread is a great meal extender- allowing small quantities of other ingredients to shine while ensuring we are still full and satisfied. (It is also is very budget friendly- which is always appreciated!)

A big loaf of leftover sourdough inspired me to create an Autumn riff on a traditional panzanella (Italian bread salad). I cubed the loaf of bread and then toasted it with a red onion and sweet potato to create the base of the salad. Toasted pepitas added a flavorful nutty crunch, while a big pile of grated Parmesan cheese melted around the warm bread cubes nicely.

To create the dressing, I played around with a combination of sage, garlic, olive oil, cider vinegar, and thyme until it had just the right balance of savory herb flavor, pungent garlic, and bright acidity. Once mixed together, the flavors melded beautifully and created a savory alternative to traditional panzanella.

This would be a delicious salad to take to a potluck and would shine as a side dish alongside my favorite roast chicken with meyer lemon and sage. Or if it is a Tuesday night and you just want something simple, dish up a bowl for dinner and call it a day!

Autumn Panzanella (Printable Recipe)
Serves 4 as a main course or 8-10 as a side salad

Be sure to allow the finished dish to sit for an hour before serving. This is necessary for the flavors to fully develop, otherwise the bread will not have time to absorb the dressing and may taste rather bland.

Ingredients:

Salad
10 cups cubed Sourdough bread (cut into 1″ pieces)
1 cup diced sweet potato (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2″ wedges
2 cups diced fresh tomato (or a 14oz high quality can, drained)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pepitas, toasted (pumpkin seeds)

Dressing
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh sage, minced
1 teaspoon, fresh thyme
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon herbes de provenence

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the middle. Line a large rimmed baking pan with foil, and evenly spread the bread, sweet potato, and onion across the sheet. Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil over the baking pan, and then toss all ingredients so they are evenly coated with oil. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring the contents occasionally, until they are evenly toasted and the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, assemble the dressing. Place olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sage, thyme, vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbes de provenence in a blender. Blend in quick five second bursts, until the garlic is emulsified and the ingredients are well combined.

Once the bread and vegetables are toasted, place them in a large bowl along with the diced tomatoes, grated Parmesan, pepitas, and dressing. Gently toss all ingredients until they are well combined and the bread is evenly coated with dressing.

Cover the salad, and let it sit at room temperature for an hour, which will give the bread time to absorb the flavors of the salad. Once the flavors have melded together nicely, taste the salad to see if it needs any additional salt, pepper, or apple cider vinegar. Adjust seasonings to your taste, and serve.

© Annie for Phoo-d, 2009. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bread, Fall, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian