Surprise Hit

Deborah
Racing through the supermarket yesterday looking for food to feed my family I plopped a big bag of green beans onto the check-out counter. When I got home and unpacked the food I had to ask myself what was I thinking? Green beans are no good this time of year. And with no exception, this batch was lumpy and somewhat limp, a sure sign of age. As Billie Holiday sings in the opening refrain to A Foggy Day- "I had a feeling of self pity. What to do, what to do, what to do?" The only appealing choice was to deep fry the beans to bring out their flavor and try to compensate for their texture. Blanching or steaming would only accentuate the flaws, creating a rubbery, bland and very uninteresting bean.

With careful sorting and trimming I managed to rescue a reasonable pile of beans. Next, I set up my wok for deep frying. Woks are a great tool for this. Their wide shape and deep sloping sides make manipulating frying foods easy. I wanted to use only a cup of canola oil so I had to fry in small batches.

It took no more than three minutes of frying each batch and the beans came out great! The color perked up and the natural nutty flavor became pronounced. I would happily eat them this way with a little salt, but I wanted to take it a little further.

Chopped ginger, sliced scallions and some dried chilies become the aromatics for this dish.

After pouring the hot oil out of the wok I briefly sauteed some aromatics and tossed the beans back in. I had some homemade sesame paste on hand so I tossed a spoonful on top of the beans, added a splash of rice vinegar and heated everything through.

Pity no more! Did this taste good! The aromatics delivered some punch and the sesame paste created depth. I would consider this a hit and even allow another out-of-season bag of beans to find their way home with me again.

Sesame Paste

-I came across this recipe recently published in the NY Times as part of a larger recipe.  The paste is  really versatile and can be added to many dishes adding a nutty sweet/salty flavor.

Toast 6 Tbs. sesame seeds in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes till they slightly change color. Put in a spice grinder and grind into a  powder. Put this powder into a food processor and add 1/2 cup more sesame seeds, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 Tbs. sugar. Process into a paste. The paste will store well in the fridge for several weeks.


Amanda
Wow! This looks so awesome and pretty straightfoward! And green beans are one of the few vegetables my husband will eat! Perfect! As is the case in pairing veggies with wine, always remember to pair the wine to the sauce or seasonings, not the veggie itself. Certain wines just work so unbelievably well with Asian flavors - Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc. But at the wine shop, we've been promoting one Pinot Gris in particular, and it therefore is jumping out at me as the perfect wine for this dish.

It is the Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyards Pinot Gris 2007. For those of you unfamiliar with this varietal, it is the same as Pinot Grigio - just goes by a different name in this part of the world. And, it is stylistically very different depending upon it's homeland. In Italy, Pinot Grigio is leaner and crisper. In places like Oregon, California and Germany, the wine is typically fuller bodied with a wonderful oily, creamy texture - exactly what I look for in a white. It is delicious - rich with flavors of peach, fig and elements of spice.


Pinot Gris is also incredibly versatile when it comes to food. It is marvelous when paired with highly spiced foods, but will also be fine next to more delicate flavors. It has a great deal of fruit and the pairings are endless! When dining on Thai, Mexican, or Asian cuisine, be sure to consider this fun, affordable varietal.
Domaine Alfred is located in the Edna Valley in California. They also make terrific Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well. The Pinot Gris can be found for $11.99. A true bargain!

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.

Hurrah for the CSA

Deborah

My sister Denise and her husband are traveling in VietNam for three weeks. Denise is a great cook and a very adventurous eater. I cannot wait to hear about her travels when she gets home. Hopefully she will bring back some culinary tidbits and techniques from afar.  Graciously, while she is away I was given one week of produce from her CSA farm share. What a treat for me! I do not belong to a CSA which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where you buy shares in a local farm and receive a percentage of their produce every week during their growing season. This arrangement provides cash to the small farmers up-front, a pre-sold market as it were, and gives the shareholders wonderfully fresh produce and direct access to their grower.

The Roxbury Farm delivers on Thursdays to the Upper West Side and I was told to bring my own bags. The fruits and vegetables were laid out in a small courtyard and each variety was labelled with how much you could take as part of your share. How fun!

As I expected for this time of year, there was kale and butternut squash, broccoli, onions, potatoes, loose lettuce and arugula and some beautiful pears. I thought I would try to come up with a recipe that used these ingredients and have a real farm fresh meal. My idea ran towards a gratin; layering the kale and the butternut squash and baking it in white wine and butter.

Filling my bag with goodies.

The Roxbury's kale was crazy fresh. It was so stiff and full and bushy I could have swept the floor with it! I knew I would have to cook it down somewhat before adding it to the gratin or it would be too tough. I did my usual saute with garlic and oil to add flavor and wilt it down a bit.

I wanted thin slices of the squash, so after peeling it I cut it into manageable chunks and pushed it through my mandoline . I have to admit this was a bit hair-raising as the squash is so firm you really have to push hard to get it through the blade. Here I was risking my fingers when I was really not sure how the dish would turn out.
My main concern was that the squash would be too sweet and over power the kale, so when I began to layer everything I decided to go light on the squash.
The results were good. As it turned out, it was the kale that really dominated with a very meaty, chewy texture. The butternut squash was quite mild but held its own. The kids ate a few bites and didn't hate it. I had leftovers today for lunch and actually liked it all the more the next day. As so often happens overnight, the flavors mellowed out and blended a bit. This dish became a really satisfying meal that was filling and very tasty. I would definitely make this for my vegetarian clients. What would you suggest for a wine pairing Amanda?

Kale and Butternut Squash Gratin
1 Tbs. Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
I bunch of kale trimmed of stems and roughly chopped
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. butter
1 small butternut squash peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
s & p

preheat oven to 350F

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic, cooking till golden, about five minutes. Add the kale and cook down for at least ten minutes till the kale begins to wilt and turn bright green. Add 1/2 cup of water to the kale and cover the pan and cook another 10 minutes till kale is tender.

First layer

Next time I will add add more squash to the top layer.

Butter a baking dish with 1 Tbs. of butter and layer in half of the butternut squash slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with a teaspoon of butter. Make a layer of cooked kale on top of the squash. Then add the top layer of squash, s & p and dot with the remaining butter. Pour in the white wine and bake uncover for 1 hour until the squash is tender when you pierce it with a knife.

I took a bite before I took a photo! Really tastes good.

serves 4

Amanda
Sounds like the perfect Fall dish! Kale, when very fresh, can have such big, savory flavors. I really wanted to come up with a wine that would result in an interesting flavor combination. The sweet and spicy flavors that kale can deliver immediately made me think of Gewurztraminer. One of my favorite varietals, it is often associated with flavors and aromas of lychee fruit. It is extremely aromatic and really thrives best in cooler climates. The wines are usually dry, or off-dry (meaning there is a slight touch of sweetness to the wine). Gewurztraminer is commonly paired with Asian cuisine. I absolutely adore the perfumed, flowery bouquet this delicious varietal gives off. It's wonderful! The wine can be lush and rich, which is exactly how I like it.


Gewurztraminer is certainly not a subtle wine, which is why I think it is a good match for the kale and butternut squash combination. It can be decadent and exotic as well - be sure to consider it for hard-to-match recipes. My favorite Gewurztraminer hales from Alsace, France. Favorite producers are Trimbach and Zind Humbrecht. Typically $15 and up,  (into the $50-$60 range for late harvest, sweeter versions) this is a wine that is absolutely worth the splurge! If you haven't yet tried this decadent white, I hope you will soon! I'd love to hear if you love it as much as I!