one potato, two potato

Deborah
A crowd-pleasing recipe is always something good to have in your back pocket. When catering large buffet parties I always like to include a dish that will knock everybody's socks off. I look to classic comfort foods for this, something that will resonate with most guests and ensure that people feel pampered and spoiled.

It is hard to go wrong with the fresh potatoes coming into the farm stands these days.

French chef and cookbook writer Madeleine Kamman's potato gratin suits the bill completely. This recipe is uncomplicated to make and deeply satisfying to eat. I always include it in my annual family Christmas dinner. It a great compliment for large spreads and goes especially well with roasts and braises of any kind.

These two well thumbed copies of her books have served me well. I had the pleasure of taking a cooking class with Ms. Kamman several years ago and my copy of her The New Making of a Cook is signed!


Last weekend I made this gratin for a party I catered for 30 guests. There was a lot of peeling, I went through ten pounds of potatoes and more than 1 quart of cream, but the beauty of the recipe is that it can easily be scaled up or down. The potatoes can be peeled and sliced the day before cooking and stored in the fridge completely covered in water. Once baked it can be kept warm in an oven for an hour or two before serving. Very forgiving, this recipe won't fail you. It is rich and decadent and perfect for a dinner party.

Potato Gratin
-based on a recipe by Madeleine Kamman
1 garlic clove
2 Tbs. butter
4 large potatoes, thinly sliced
pinch of ground nutmeg
s &p to taste
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Rub garlic onto the bottom amd sides of an oven proof cassarole dish. I use a paper towl to hold the garlic and really crush it down as I rub. Discard the remains of the garlic and rub the dish with the butter. Layer the potato slices in  the dish, adding salt and pepper and nutmeg to each layer as you go. Pour the cream into the pan and shake a bit to distribute around the potatoes. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, using a spatula every now and then during baking to push the potatoes down and allow the cream to rise up. There will be a golden brown crust when the dish is finished baking.
Will keep for at least two hours in a warm oven before serving if needed.

serves four.

Amanda
MMMMMM. How can this recipe not be delicious? As this would be a side dish, and not a main meal, you would pair a wine with the main course. However, the simplicity of this dish, and the "basic" flavor profile of really allows it to be quite wine-friendly.

I have a few thoughts in mind regarding wine choice. For a white, you could go in one of two directions - complement, or contrast. Both these schools of thought work quite well when it comes to pairing wine with food. A rich, buttery Chardonnay would be a great match if you are looking to "complement" the potatoes. The similar qualities in the wine and food are perfect together. If you are looking for a contrast, I would look towards something with crisp acidity to "cut through" the rich, buttery flavors of the potatoes, perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc. A "contrasting" wine will help cleanse the palate as well. Why not choose one of each and see for yourself?

For reds - though many would work, I am thinking specifically of Beaujolais. How could I not? Fall and the holiday season makes this delightful red a real treat.  Most of you are probably familiar with Beaujolais Nouveau, and Beaujolais Villages. What I'm thinking of are the Cru Beaujolais - these are site specific, made from the top Villages. The wine takes the name of the village from which it came. There are 10 different "crus", all producing wines with different characteristics. The wines are food friendly, and are a must-have at Thanksgiving. And, even the Cru Beaujolais are not too expensive. Most can be found for between $10 and $20.

The grape used for the production of Beaujolais is Gamay. For Deb's Gratin, I would choose a Beaujolais that is a little fuller bodied. A Morgon would be nice, with its earthy undertones.  A Moulin-a-Vent also would work well. A little oak aging gives this wine nice structure and roundness, perfect for standing up to the richness of Deb's dish. Sometimes, you might see the words "futs de chene" (oak casks) on the label which will indicate the wine has seen some oak.  These wines will typically be the more full-bodied of the Beaujolais. These reds have great depth, and are very fruit-forward. If you are not familiar with these wines, definitely check them out! For consistenly good wines, look for Georges Duboeuf. 

The store wine store I work for just got in several different DuBoeuf Cru Beaujolais at the shop. If you are interested in reading more about them, please check out Carlo Russo's Wine and Spirit World on line.

Southern Comfort

Deborah

All dressed up and ready for the game. Waddya mean, the Jets are out?

It's game time! The Super Bowl. All I can say is THANK YOU to the powers that be that the Jets did not make it this year. Otherwise my home would be in an INSANE frenzy of excitement and expectation. I really could not manage that. Instead we will watch the game in a civilized manner with minimal name calling, cursing and crying. No one's voice will be hoarse the next day from hysterical screaming and cheering at the television screen. My husband and children roll their eyes at me because I don't GET the concept of wearing the exact same clothes and sitting in the exact same position as you did when the last crucial game was won. All I can say is THANK YOU Jets for not quite making it this year and I wish you all the best next year.

Super bowl parties are a great excuse to get together on a cold day and eat junk food. Where does a wine drinking vegetarian fit into all this you may ask? Well, they are invited to the party too. Who says vegetarians don't have gross, unhealthy foods of their own to contribute to the pot luck?

Everything you need to get the party started.

A few years ago I catered a party where I was specifically asked to make pimento cheese for the Southern birthday boy. What the heck is that? It was explained as a mushy mess of cheese and pimentos that means the absolute universe to anyone who grew up on the stuff. Oh, ok. I made a batch and was horrified, but served it anyway.

The finished product. Not so pretty.

The leftovers ended up in my fridge and a few weeks later I pulled it out and tasted it. Boy was that stuff GOOD!! It had improved with age and I couldn't get enough of it. Ah HA!! Perfect yucky party food! I have made a batch for Sunday and I thought I would try it as a canape, putting a dollop on cut-out rounds of toast and sticking it in the toaster oven for a minute. Doesn't a toaster oven seem like the perfect Super Bowl party cooking tool?
Yeah team!

Pimento Cheese Canapes
2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup of Mayo
8oz. *Pimentos, minced
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. Bourbon

8 slices of bread cut into rounds or quarters
1 Tbs. canola oil

for the cheese: Mix the first five ingredients and store in fridge for up to six weeks. serve as a dip or spread

for the canapes: brush the bread with the oil and toast till crispy and golden. Add a dollop of the pimento cheese on top and put in the toaster oven till cheese begins to melt and bubble.
Serves 8

*Full disclosure: When I first made pimento cheese I said "what's up with PIMENTO"?  I mean, does it have to be pimento? Why not some other kind of pepper? I was told that PIMENTO IS ESSENTIAL! Well ok, but, I made mine with hot pickled peppers called Piri Piri. And I liked it! The peppers give some heat and the pickling provides the tang. I'm just saying. Experiment.

Amanda
Hmmmm. Sounds Interesting. Perhaps I should give it a try. My initial reaction is probably what Deb's was at first - call it "skepticism". But Deb, if you sing its praises, then it can't be bad! What attracts me to this recipe is that you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy it! Seems like a crowd-pleaser to me! Sounds like something you could even heat up in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips (what Super Bowl Party would be complete without tortilla chips?)


I personally will be watching the game at a friend's house with several other couples. I figure that the women will be drinking wine and the men will be gulping down beer and eating wings. Of course, there will be a lot of different things to eat, so I wouldn't pair a wine with any single item. And, on Game Day, I definitely don't want anything too "serious" or complex. I just want a simple, fun, easy drinking wine, a wine that I would enjoy at a barbeque perhaps. I will probably bring a nice jammy Zinfandel for all to enjoy. (Seghesio, Ravenswood, Rosenblum). If you are planning to drink white, again, just a simple wine - Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay perhaps. When I choose wines for a large, informal gathering like a Super Bowl party, I want to make sure the wines are not too "out there", and that my choices are ones that will appeal to everyone. I save my "off the beaten path" wines for smaller gatherings where the attendees really appreciate, or want to experiment and learn about wine.


But, after all, it is the Super Bowl. There's always beer as an option...

a new "thing"

Deborah
Part of my job as a personal chef is to keep an eye on healthy eating trends for my clients. This can entail taking someone's beloved family recipes that may no longer reflect the way the family eats  and tweaking those recipes to make them more healthy, something I really love to do. I find this process challenging, fun and exciting, especially when I find solutions that become the new family classic.

One recipe my own family adores is my mother-in law's scrumptious spinach noodle casserole recipe known to the family as "Spinach Noodle Thing".  My daughter has been begging me to make it for her and when I actually looked at the recipe I saw why it tastes so great and why we only eat it at holiday dinners a few times a year. A stick of butter, a cup of heavy cream, 2 envelopes of onion soup mix and 3 eggs give this dish all its popular appeal. Oh yeah, and there is spinach in it. Pretty yummy, but not something I would make for a week day dinner.

Before hitting the oven I sprinkled breadcrumbs on top and a bit more grated cheese.

I decided to tackle this recipe and see if I could shave off a few calories and lose the onion soup mix which has more sodium than we need. To add flavor I sauteed the spinach with chopped garlic and then added 1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill. I think the addition of fresh herbs adds lots of flavor and keeps calories and additives under control.  Instead of using all the butter I cut it down to one tablespoon and combined it with one tablespoon of olive oil. I only used one egg instead of three. I substituted orzo for the noodles to give the dish a bit more body as the orzo can be cooked al dente and retain a little texture. I also decreased the proportion of noodles to spinach and reduced the cream to barely a quarter cup while adding grated Romano cheese.

Fresh herbs add so much flavor and keep the calorie count down.

The results? Delighted with my first bite I excitedly called my daughter in to taste it. Miss El Exigente pronounced that it was SO NOT as good as Nanas (natch), but it wasn't bad. She then proceeded to scarf down a huge helping. Her one complaint was the dill which is not her favorite herb. Next time I make it for her I will use parsley which has a less pronounced presence but will add the freshness I am looking for.
We will continue to feast on Nana's original Spinach Noodle Thing on those wonderful occasions when she serves it and we now have a lighter version to enjoy on less grand occasions.

The finished result was hard to resist.

Nana's Everyday Spinach Noodle Thing
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lb. fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped (or use frozen- defrosted and squeezed dry)
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs- dill or parsley or a mix of the two
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. Orzo
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Romano Cheese
3 Tbs. bread crumbs tossed with 1 teaspoon olive oil

Heat butter and oil in a saute pan. Add the garlic and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the spinach and cook till wilted. Add the fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste and cook another minute to combine flavors. Remove from heat and scoop into a mixing bowl. Cook the orzo according to package directions and drain. Beat the egg, the grated cheese and the cream in a small bowl with more s & p and then fold it into the spinach mixture. Add the orzo and mix well to combine. Scoop into a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs and a little extra cheese if you like. Bake in oven for 25 minutes until bread crumbs are golden.

Amanda
I'm thinking Chardonnay with this. Something with a creamy mouthfeel to coincide with the creaminess of this dish, resulting from the cheese and cream. By the way, I am a HUGE dill fan. Love it. My favorite cream cheese spread at my local bagel shop is the cucumber dill. SOOOO refreshing and wonderful. Nana's original recipe for the "Spinach Noodle Thing" does sound quite good, but I think I would prefer your version. My belly isn't accustomed to eating heavier and richer dishes these days. Lighter fare seems to appeal to me more. This seems like it would be great as a main course, but also as a side. It is possible, if only slightly, that my kids might even try something like this! I'll have to give it a shot. Looks and sounds yummy!


For Chardonnay, I am thinking of the Landmark Overlook Chardonnay 2007. This is a creamy, rich, fleshy Chardonnay from California. It's got beautiful aromas of tropical fruit and a touch of oak on the palate. It is medium to full-bodied, and certainly has the qualities rendering it a perfect match for a creamy pasta dish. This bottle can be found anywhere from $20-$29. I think this would be a spectacular match!

old becomes new

Deborah
The best part about Thanksgiving?  Leftovers! Really good leftovers and LOTS of them! I have two soup recipes to share that are perfect for the day (or two) after Thanksgiving. The first soup I actually call Leftover soup. It is adapted from a recipe I found in Saveur magazine several years ago where you take ALL your leftovers and dump them in a pot with water and simmer for an hour. If you are eating turkey, add leftover turkey too. It may be hard to believe, but this soup really tastes good and I am not kidding when I say ALL the leftovers, including stuffing! I described this soup to my sister this morning and she said, um, yuck. Well, fine, don't try it. It is good and you will never know.

These are some of the things I put in my Leftover soup this year from L to R: butternut squash braised in apple cider, swiss chard gratin, leeks baked in mustard cream.

Adding some fresh ingredients like chopped parsley will help bring the soup to life.

This is what the soup looks like while it is cooking. See, not so strange. Hey, my kids ate it and LOVED it.  THAT is the true test!

The other soup has two inspirations, the first being a cup of leftover pumpkin puree that didn't make it into a pie. The other piece is some fiery chili peppers that my sister (yes the same skeptical one) brought home from her recent trip to Vietnam.

My sister brought me some spices from a market in Vietnam, packed in these sweet little baskets. I can't wait to try them all. The chili peppers are insanely good, really fiery and fresh with an indescribable fragrance.

The ensuing soup is a cream of pumpkin with ginger/garlic/chili paste. It is sweetened with leftover applesauce and in this case heavy cream (leftover from the creamed onions) where I might otherwise use coconut milk. This soup's distinctive flavor is a blend of creamy sweet and spicy and it is delicious. It is perfect in small portions as an appetizer because it is so rich.

Making a paste with a mortar and pestle is really fun. You get to POUND your food. Very satisfying.

So look around your kitchen and don't be afraid to put those Thanksgiving day leftovers to good use. These soups will bring yesterday's mashed potatoes to today's new heights.

Leftover Soup
1 onion chopped
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup of stuffing
1 cup of mashed potatoes
1 cup of baked squash
1 cup of gravy (optional for vegetarians)
1 cup of cooked turkey meat (optional for vegetarians)
1 cup of any cooked vegetable
6 cups of water or stock
1/2 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste


Saute chopped onion in olive oil in a large soup pot. When onion is softened and golden add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for one hour. Taste to adjust seasoning. Serve over cooked macaroni or noodles if you like!

Pumpkin Ginger Soup
1 inch of peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves
2 dried chili peppers
1 Tbs canola oil
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup applesauce
4 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
With a mortar and pestle pound ginger, chili and garlic into a paste (or use a blender, adding a Tbs of water to make the paste). Heat oil in soup pot and saute ginger paste for five minutes till it starts to turn golden. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and simmer for 15 minutes till the flavors are blended. Taste to see if the flavors are balanced. Add salt or a teaspoon of sugar to get the right blend. Put the soup in a food processor or food mill to puree. Put pureed soup back into the pot and add the heavy cream or coconut milk and bring soup up to a simmer. Serve hot!

Amanda
Well, the first one does sound "different", but I could definitely see why it would be delicious. On Thanksgiving, I like to make a "mish-mosh" of all the different flavors on my plate, letting every dish blend into the other. I scoop up a little of everything in each bite. So, why wouldn't this soup taste good? That's exactly what it is. And, it makes my job of wine pairing very easy! I would enjoy the same wines I would have with my Thanksgiving feast! Deb - there was no cranberry sauce in your soup. What are your thoughts on adding it? Just curious! So, getting back to the wines - I would choose a buttery, rich Chardonnay and/or a fruit forward, soft and elegant Pinot Noir.


The pumpkin ginger soup sounds outrageous! I definitely will give that a try. To pair a wine with anything, again, you must look to the seasonings, spices, herbs, and sauces. Pair the wine with those elements. The ginger, chile and coconut milk ingredients are reminscent of Thai cuisine. Certain wines have an afinity with Asian flavors. Look to a Gewurtztraminer, with wonderful flavors and aromas of lychee fruit and spice. I think this combination would be absolutely fabulous! Hugel makes outstanding Gewurtztraminer as does Schaetzel. As I often mention, always ask your local wine shop for recommendations.  But my advice would be to look to Alsace, France for a spectacular example of this incredibly aromatic, wonderful varietal.

I'll Drink To That

Amanda
Every holiday and family get-together, I am assigned the task of creating the wine list. It is not a job I take lightly, for I love being afforded this honor! While I would not label my relatives "aficionados", they certainly enjoy wine. They are quite savvy when it comes to the usual varietals like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc. But I take the holidays as opportunities to introduce them to something they would not have chosen on their own.


But Thanksgiving is different. Most often, I do not choose something aside from the usual varietals. This is simply because I know what works best with the traditional Thanksgiving fare. In response to Deb's last post, I received a question regarding Beajolais Nouveau, so I thought I would address this first. Like Champagne is to New Year's; Beaujolais Nouveau is to Thanksgiving. The annual release of this holiday staple occurs on the third Thursday in November, every year. The vintage typically does not matter - the release of this wine is preceded by enormous marketing campaigns. However, the 2009 vintage is different - it produced better-than-average Beaujolais, and the Beaujolais Nouveau is just a preview of the great quality of this vintage in France. I tasted it last week upon its arrival - and it is indeed very nice. Beaujolais is fresh, and bright, but not always very complex. It is a simple, easy-drinking wine which is always fun to include at Thanksgiving. To read more about this vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the article in The Wine Spectator.

This year, I will bring my favorite choices of Prosecco or other sparklers for starters; Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the meal. My usual Prosecco is the La Marca from the Veneto region in Italy. Prosecco is perfect for sipping alongside cheese and crackers, dips and crudite. For Chardonnay, I will be bringing the Morgan Santa Lucia Highland Chard from California. It is delicious, rich and intense with a wonderful, buttery mouthfeel. The subtle oak flavors are not too overpowering for traditional Thanksgiving dishes.


The Stephen Ross Central Coast Pinot Noir will be my choice of red for this year's feast. It combines wonderful red fruit flavors, spice, and earth. The palate is rich and creamy with soft tannins. This delightful Pinot Noir is a huge crowd-pleaser to boot!


For Thanksgiving, I like to keep it simple. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are my sure-fire "go-to" wines for this festive get-together where wine typically takes a back seat to food. At least at my house. It's usually all about the food.


To everyone and their families, have a wonderful holiday!

lucky me

Deborah
Being a good cook has its drawbacks. The best meals to be had are generally the ones cooked at home. Which means a night out on the town at a swanky restaurant becomes a rare treat. Especially when my husband, who does not cook except tuna salad and is not an adventurous eater to boot, questions the need to go out at all when, heck, we can have a perfectly delicious dinner at home.

Sometimes its nice to get out of the kitchen and let someone else do the cooking (and cleaning and shopping and menu planning). With this aim in mind I called upon my dear friend Ilene to join me as we treated ourselves to "a nice dinner out." Ilene suggested Locanda Verde, a restaurant located in Tribeca that she had read rave reviews about. Sounded good to me!

The evening started out a bit rocky. The restaurant would not let us expand our 6pm on-a-Tuesday night reservation that was made a month in advance, to include ONE extra person (our friend Olga who wanted to join the fun) even when Ilene called every other day for two weeks prior to see if they would accommodate us. Ok, fine, whatever.
When I arrived at the appointed time the place was PACKED and NOISY!  The restaurant is gorgeous, lots of dark wood and sparkly lighting, but the ceilings are very high and the acoustics are cavernous, which is to say, not conducive to easy conversation.  Alas.
AND there was a single table sitting empty next to us for at least half our meal!! (the maitre d' explained they save tables for walk-ins, so clearly Olga should have walked in).
That all being said, the service was EXCELLENT. Truly excellent. Our server was an attentive mind-reader who always knew exactly when to appear at our table AND laughed at our jokes (yes, we told jokes).

Taken from Ilene's cell phone: Blue Crab Crostino, AMAZING!

Ok let's get to the food. GOOD!!! Really great. As good as Mama makes, with top notch ingredients and no TOP CHEF weirdo flourishes. The cuisine is Northern Italian. Sophisticated, simple, and PERFECT. I can't complain about anything and I really like to complain. Constructive criticism I call it. So, I have none for Locanda Verde's food. They got it all right. The menu offered lots of tempting small plates, pastas and entrees.

The wine was really good too and here is the point I have been trying to make. We shared an ANTIPASTI called Burrata with peperonata, escarole and fried Rosemary ($14). I have never tried burrata before and I was very curious about this trendy soft cream-filled mozzarella cheese. Sublime!! So light and creamy and fresh tasting. The peperonata had a nice vinegary bite to it. I was drinking a white wine I had never tried before either, a Ronchi di Cialla Ribolla Gialla 2008 that our server recommended to me when I told her I liked a well rounded white wine. It was DELICIOUS - kind of an apricot-orange flavor with a scent of tulips (?). All I know is that it was great alone and tasted great with the cheese. Ilene was drinking a glass of Grifalco Aglianico del Vulture, a really assertive, sophisticated red with lots of mineral flavor. She was quite happy!

Rosemary plants are easy to grow in small pots and can last outside during the winter

We ate a whole lot of other things including a dessert that a gentleman sitting at a table next to us bought for us (for details on that you have to read a DIFFERENT kind of blog! I told you, we told jokes). The dessert was OUTRAGEOUS, a maple pudding that was so light and airy and full of flavor we could have eaten an entire gallon of it. They paired it with a super tart and beautiful red cranberry sorbet. It was divine and I generally don't order desserts.


SO, back to the point here, I was going to try to come up with a recipe using my new friend burrata, but hey, where the heck am I going to get it? I looked on-line at Fairways, Dean and Deluca, Zabars and Citarella and none of these stores feature it on their web sites. Which is not to say they don't carry it, but I guess it is not one of the more frequent on-line purchase requests. So I will keep my eye out for it when I make my routine rounds to every supermarket in NYC and keep you posted.

I don't suppose I will find burrata in this Indian market in Jackson Heights

Amanda, what do you think of our wine pairings with the amazing burrata?

Amanda
Your night sounds amazing and Locanda Verde definitely sounds like a place my husband and I would enjoy. Hey - maybe we can double date there sometime! I have to be honest and say that initially I was a little put off by the fact they would not expand your reservation to include one more. Having been in the NYC restaurant business for 12 years, my experience was to always try to bend over backwards for the customer. I totally understand the concept of leaving room open for walk-ins - but for 1 more? My school of thought would have had me accepting the extra reservation had I been the receptionist/manager/hostess or whoever answered the phone.


That being said - everything else sounds amazing. I'm glad the excellent service and the food made up for it. I have to admit - I am not familiar with the white wine you enjoyed. So, I did a little research. The grape, Ribolla, is a white Italian wine grape grown mostly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. Your description sounds wonderful. I learned that this varietal typically produces light wines with floral notes. Based on your description, it may have had some oak aging, which would attribute some roundness and structure to the wine. Soft-cream filled mozzarella would definitely require a wine with a little more body, if it is going to be a white. A rich, round, buttery Chardonnay would also work wonders.  But again, as is always my caveat when it comes to Chards - watch out for those with too much oak!


Though I absolutely love Aglianico del Vulturo, I do think it is a bit overpowering for this dish. BUT - more and more I learn that the most important thing in food and wine pairing is that the match work for the indulger. If your friend liked the pairing, then it was perfect. Personally, if I were going to pair a red with a young, fresh, creamy mozzarella, I would pick one that was lighter in style. A Sangiovese from Tuscany would work, or even a Barbera. Today, there are many California wineries that are producing fruity, delicious Barberas. One of my favorites is from Steve Clifton, of Brewer-Clifton fame. He and his wife, Chrystal, began their own line called Palmina, which focuses on Italian varietals grown in California. They produce a delightful Barbera. It is fresh, bright, and full of fruit - and is incredibly food-friendly! Now that I think about it - this is the wine would make an exceptional match for the Burrata!


Deb, please keep us posted as you try to track down this interesting cheese!

Not Your Grandmother's Rosh Hashanah

Deborah
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year being celebrated this weekend, has been explained to me as an occasion to consume things sweet and round to represent good luck and sweetness in the coming year. Two recipes come to mind that suit this criteria perfectly. One is a roasted acorn squash where thick slices of squash are roasted in a balsamic honey glaze. The naturally scalloped edges of the squash are so pretty and the golden amber color of the squash-flesh screams Autumn. I don't peel the squash which adds more color and simplifies preparation. The glaze is super easy and the dish is prepared in a flash. I will bring this dish to my dearest Mother-in-law's house for Rosh Hashanah dinner. Her name is Honey so I think this is the perfect homage to her wonderful cooking!

The other dish I am thinking of is a brown rice pilaf with toasted nuts, sauteed nectarines and dried cranberries. There are so many enticing new brown rice blends on the market these days, featuring different types of rice; red, black, brown, short grain, basmati. In addition to brown rice this blend contains black rice, buckwheat, millet, barley and oat.

This is a great way to move into the fall season, sampling some of these nutty, earthy flavors as pilaf dishes. The nectarines and dried cranberries bring some tartness along with their sweet fruitiness and will create the balance of flavors I am looking for. Firm, unripened nectarines will hold their shape and add color and flavor to the dish

This dish is a little more time consuming. I cook the rice separately from the other ingredients and mix it all together at the end. That way I can control the texture of the dish. I think a good kosher wine (Amanda?) is all that is needed to toast the New Year.

Happy New Year!

Acorn Squash in Balsamic Honey Glaze
2 acorn squashes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 Tbs. Honey
1 Tbs. vegetable oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut the squash in half and with a large spoon carve out the seeds. Slice each half into 1 1/2 inch slices. Mix the vinegar and honey together in a small bowl. Grease a baking sheet large enough to hold all the squash in a single layer. Dip each slice of squash in the glaze to cover on all sides (don't worry about the skin side). Arrange squash on baking sheet and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Turn squash over and bake another 10- 15 minutes until squash is tender.

serves 8 as a side dish

Brown Rice Pilaf with Nectarines and Dried Cranberries
1 cup of brown rice or a brown rice blend cooked according to package directions
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 shallot finely minced
2 firm nectarines unpeeled, cut into 1 " cubes(use fruit that is still a little firm so that it will hold up to a saute)
1 celery stalk chopped
1/4 cup of *nuts (cashews, pecans walnuts)
1/3 cup of dried cranberries, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
3 Tbs. chopped parsley

*I have read that some families avoid nuts at this holiday, so feel free to leave them out or add sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds as a substitute

Heat oil in a small pan. Add shallots and cook until they begin to brown and get a bit crispy. Add the nectarines and the celery and toss in pan till they begin to brown and soften at the edges about 10 minutes.

In a separate pan, toast the nuts on medium heat for a few minutes till you start to smell them and the color just barley begins to darken, then remove from heat. Add the nuts, the fruit mixture, the parsley and the drained cranberries to the cooked rice and toss well to combine. Serve immediately or transfer to a baking dish and heat in a hot oven for 15 minutes before serving.

Amanda
There are so many wonderful Kosher wines in today's marketplace that would beautifully complement these dishes. Kosher wine, in the past, has had a not-so-great reputation. Today you can find very impressive Kosher wines from all over the world, made from all different varietals. At the wine shop, we even have a Kosher Pinotage from South Africa, made by Backsberg Vineyards. There are some wonderful Riojas available as well, and a wide variety of delicious Kosher Italian wines too.
For these recipes, I would go with some straightforward, always reliable wine from Baron Herzog. Herzog makes a very approachable Cabernet Sauvignon from California's Central Coast. The wine is light to medium bodied, with lots of berry and plum flavors - ideal for the pilaf. Herzog also makes a Chardonnay, made with grapes from the Central Coast as well as the Russian River Valley. The Russian River fruit is barrel fermented, which gives the wine its roundness. With tropical fruit flavors on the palate, the wine is a good match for the squash, and will also complement the pilaf. Herzog wines should be available in most shops that carry Kosher wines. So, these wines should not be hard to find. To those who will be celebrating this weekend, Happy New Year!