Blog Archives
Winter Wonderland Arrives!
Winter has set in. The solstice was this week, so I shouldn’t be surprised. We had our first snowfall on Monday night and another last night (Wednesday); a few inches dusted my world. I always say, if it’s going to be cold, it might as well be pretty, and it is.
On Saturday, we picked up our second and final share of the Shared Harvest CSA. The pantry and extra refrigerator are now packed with bountiful vegetables, mostly ones that will store for a while. Our share included potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, celery root, butternut squash, cabbage, parsnips, leeks, winter radishes, lettuce and kale. The share also included some popcorn (on the cob) and two pounds of locally grown beans: kidney beans and one other. I picked some crazy-looking brown and black marbled beans called Peregion. We had ordered an additional 10 pounds of carrots, 5 pounds of parsnips, and 10 pounds of beets. I suspect there is a least one pot of borscht in our future.
Cold weather calls for hearty meals. We had some people coming over for dinner, and I was in the mood for roasted vegetables, so I made a winter vegetable and chicken paella. The original recipe called for butternut squash and Swiss chard. I added extra squash plus a couple of turnips and parsnips. I also substituted the kale from the CSA share for the chard.
I am fortunate to have an actual paella pan that I brought back from a visit to Spain when my mother was living there (a couple decades ago). You can use a very large ovenproof skillet or sauté pan, but the paella pan makes for a gorgeous presentation. (Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the paella in the pan, just some of the leftovers.)
Paella is a very flexible dish. I once borrowed an entire cookbook of paella recipes from the library and spent several nights browsing through. Each part of Spain has their own version which features local ingredients. The common element is the short-grain rice.
Here’s the version I made this weekend from my CSA share vegetables:
Winter Vegetable-Chicken Paella
Serves 6 – 8
Adapted from this recipe from Food and Wine magazine, December 2002
1 large leek, white and tender green parts only, halved lengthwise
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small butternut squash, about 2 pounds, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
2 turnips, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 lbs chicken thighs, with skin
1 large onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cups Arborio rice
3½ cups hot chicken stock
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 bunch of kale, stems discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large bowl, toss the diced squash, turnip, and parsnips with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Spread onto one or two baking sheets in one layer. Brush the leek with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and arrange on a portion of one of the baking sheets, cut side down. Cut the leek into 1-inch lengths. Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, or until golden and just tender.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 14- to 16-inch paella pan or skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; cook over moderate heat until golden, 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, carefully pour off all but 2 tablespoons. Add the onion to the pan; cook over low heat until softened. Add the saffron and smoked paprika; cook over moderately high heat, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the rice and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, tomatoes, kale, and roasted leek, squash, turnips and parsnips.
Nestle the chicken into the rice, skin side up. Simmer the paella over low heat for 5 minutes. Transfer to a 350° oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the stock is absorbed, the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and cover with a towel; let stand for 10 minutes. Serve at once.
French Fridays with Dorie: Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux
It’s Friday again. Time to report on this week’s installment in my “French cooking project”. I’m participating in an online cook-a-long, making a recipe each week from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. It’s week 9, and so far, so good. I’ve managed to participate each week. The hits have outnumbered the misses, which is a good thing, of course. You can see what other online cooks taking part in this kitchen adventure think of each week’s recipe at French Fridays with Dorie.
For November, the recipes for the month were announced, but because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, each person picks the order that works for them. This week, I made Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux. Les Paresseux means “lazy people” in French. This was one of my favorite recipes to date.
The starting point is that I love roast chicken. My usual preparation comes from The New Basics by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, stuffing the chicken with lemon halves and herbs and roasting it on a bed of vegetables that turns into a luscious pan sauce. You also have to baste it periodically.
Dorie’s recipe is so much easier. You stuff the chicken with garlic and herbs. The chicken gets propped up off the bottom of the pan by some bread slices. Accompanying vegetables, and more garlic, roast along with the chicken in a Dutch oven, keeping most of the splatter in the pot.
This recipe was mostly sourced locally. I used a free-range chicken from our meat CSA, Chestnut Farms. The herbs were from my herb garden (which is close enough to the kitchen door that it hasn’t yet succumbed to a hard frost). The potatoes, carrots, and onions were grown at the farms where I bought them. It was comfort food for both body and soul.
I doubled the vegetables, though my Dutch oven was a little too small for what I put into it. The chicken’s skin was burnished and crispy. The roasted potatoes were crusty. The other vegetables were tender, especially the roasted garlic, which melted under the fork.
Now, about the bread. There’s been a lot of discussion about the bread that holds up the chicken. Dorie described it as treat for the cook. Some loved it, and others found it disgusting. I fall in the “loved it” camp. I might not have oiled the pot enough because the bread stuck to the pot, so I didn’t get to eat the crusty parts. The mushy part of the bread was truly decadent. It reminded me of the stuffing inside the Thanksgiving turkey, the heart-attack variety. The two baguette slices weren’t enough for me. Next time, and there will be a next time, I’m thinking of covering the entire bottom of the Dutch oven with baguette slices.
For the two of us, the vegetables lasted only two meals. The chicken lasted four. We had the last of the leftover Potato Gratin with the chicken one night. To supplement the accompaniments, I made roasted squash. The squash has a slight Mexican flair, a little spicy, but not too hot. I’ll share my recipe as a bonus.
Roasted Squash with Chili and Sage
Serves 6 – 8
2 small or 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (8 – 10 cups in total)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp ancho chile powder
8 sage leaves, sliced thin
Salt & pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450F. Toss the squash with the oil. Sprinkle with sugar, chile and sage leaves and toss to distribute throughout. Arrange the squash on a large baking sheet, in a single layer. Roast, turning once, until tender and lightly browned, 20 – 25 minutes.
A Plateful of Happiness 