This roasted butternut squash soup is probably my favorite fall soup of all time, which is why I’m so shocked we haven’t posted a video for it before. It’s cheap, easy, nutritious, and absolutely delicious; and should probably go into the once-a-week rotation for a few months at least.
As I mention in the video, there’s really no great reason to simmer this for an hour like I did, but I think it does help harmonize the flavors, not to mention humidify your home. A cold, rainy day just looks better through steamed-up windows.
If you’re feeling like something a bit more substantial, try this topped with a handful of crispy bacon. Of course, I wouldn’t say no to some diced ham either. Add a hard roll, and you can’t get a better autumn meal. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 6 portions:
For the sage brown butter:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6-8 large sage leaves (or a lot of tiny leaves like I used in the video)
For the soup:
3 1/2 pound butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
6 garlic cloves, peeled sage-infused brown butter
2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
6 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
Even though I often joke about naming dishes a certain way to help with the search engines, I rarely actually do. Mostly because I don’t get a bonus for extra traffic, but with this borscht-braised beef short ribs, I fully admit to intentionally not using the “B” word.
I would hate for someone who thinks they hate beets to not even watch the video. I figured if we could trick them into at least seeing the dish in all its colorful glory, they’d simply have to give it a try. Unless they don't like beets, and gorgeous things.
By the way, I can totally relate to the “I don’t eat beets” people, as I am one. I’ve never been a big fan, but in certain things, like borscht, I love them. With that simple soup as an inspiration, I thought the flavors would work nicely with the rich, fatty short ribs, and they sure did.
Will this be enough to change your mind about beets? There’s only one way to find out. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 pounds beef short ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces, seasoned generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth 1 bay leaf
1 cup cubed carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 pound beets, cut in large pieces (about two large ball sized beets, cut in eighths)
2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- Optional step: when you taste your finished sauce, if you want to add some acidity to balance the sweetness, adjust with a splash of white vinegar.
Based on the YouTube comments appearing under the newly posted spring rolls video, lots of people missed the part about this not trying to be a specific recipe, but simply a demo featuring the magic that is damp, rice paper wrappers.
Don’t get me wrong; I love the “authentic” spring rolls I so often order at my friendly, neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant. Loaded with sweet shrimp, and bursting with vermicelli noodles, they are among the most delicious things ever invented.
However, I do reserve the right to soak rice paper wrappers in water, and… (I hope you’re sitting down for this) ...not make those! What you see here is just what I had on hand that day, and the next time I do a batch of these, who the heck knows what they’ll encase. If I have a point, that’s it.
Speaking of soaking in water, many commenters suggested that I dunk these in warm water for just a few seconds to hydrate, instead of the longer dip in cold water. I’ve tried both methods, and had more issues with the warmer/faster approach. They seemed to get too rubbery, too fast, which I found made the rolling harder.
Anyway, to each his own, and that goes for water temperature, filling ingredients, and dipping sauce. By the way, there are no ingredient amounts below, since that’s up to you entirely. You should be able to get “rice paper wrappers” at any large grocery store with an Asian food section, but if not, they’re easily found online. I hope you give these, or something similar, a try soon. Enjoy!
This is going to be an easy post, in that I know virtually nothing about fermenting pickles. The only thing I know for sure is how to make them, and for me, that’s enough. If you make a simple salt brine, add some spices, and submerge Kirby cucumbers in it for about a week, you get some fairly delicious pickles.
Maybe it’s dumb luck, or just overwhelmingly good karma, but fortunately I’ve not experienced any of the problems I’ve seen others lament; such as mushy texture, scary molds, or exploding jars. Apparently, cucumbers are one of the more finicky things to pickle, but that hasn’t been my experience.
Like I said in the video, I’ve only made these a handful of times, so maybe my time is coming, but I’m pretty sure if you measure your salt right, and store the fermenting pickles at an appropriate temperature, you should get something close to what you see here.
Having said that, I will refer any and all of your questions having to do with variations, troubleshooting, probiotics, and/or best practices, to the Internet. The purpose of this video is to simply show the process, and how ridiculously easy it is. If this seems like something you want to try, and it should, I recommend doing lots of research before starting, so at least you’ll have someone else to blame if things go horribly wrong.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that you have to use pure salt for this. Table salt can contain additives like iodine, which inhibits the bacterial growth necessary for this to work. I’m also giving you weight measurements for the salt, since the size of the salt crystal can really effect measuring by volume.
Other than getting your brine right, just be sure to get very fresh, very firm pickling cucumbers to make this with. If your cucumbers start off soft and mushy, your pickles will be terrible, and not have that loud crunch associated with the finest examples. I really do hope you give this a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 pounds very fresh Kirby cucumbers, washed thoroughly
Handful of fresh, flowering dillweed
For the brine:
8 cups cold fresh water
8 tablespoons Kosher salt (By weight, you wants exactly 80 grams. The brand of kosher salt I use weighs about 10 gram per tablespoon, but yours may not, so it’s best to use a scale if possible.)
4 cloves peeled garlic
2 teaspoons whole coriander seed
2 teaspoon black peppercorn
3 or 4 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
- Ferment at room temperature (I hear that between 70-75 F. is ideal) for about a week. Check every day as these can ferment fast. They are done when you like the taste. If you go too far, they start to get soft, and the inside gets hollow. Keep the brine level topped off.
- This makes extra brine for topping off.
Pickling Spice Note: I tend not to like a lot of spices in my pickles, so I believe the amounts listed here are fairly puny compared to most recipes. Feel free to find one of the many pickling spices recipes online, and use that instead.
Michele does a fantastic, sausage-stuffed pattypan squash, which was actually how these were supposed to be prepared, but someone, and we won’t name names, didn’t pay attention to buying ones of a uniform size, which is kind of a big deal if you want them to bake evenly. Okay, it was me.
In an attempt to redeem myself, I decided to grill them instead – a cooking method where any size will work – and top them with a hot chorizo vinaigrette. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a while, and it really turned out to be a wonderful combination.
The ingredients below are just a rough guide, and you’ll have to figure out your own amounts, depending on how much squash you grill, but I do recommend a 1-to-1 ratio of sherry vinegar to olive oil/rendered chorizo fat.
I used a veal chorizo, which was very lean, so I had to add a good amount of olive oil. If you use pork chorizo, you’ll have a lot of rendered fat, so you may want to drain off most of it, keeping a few tablespoons, before adding your oil and vinegar.
Speaking of oil, don’t put any on your squash before you toss it on the grill. I used to do this myself, because it seemed logical, but it’s a bad idea. The dripping oil causes flare-ups that can make your veggies taste like gasoline, which is not good eats. Other than that, not much can go wrong with this simple summer dish. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions
8 pattypan squash
kosher salt to taste
6-8 ounces fresh, raw chorizo sausage (crumbled fine, and browned well in olive oil)
*you want to leave about 2 tablespoons rendered chorizo fat in the pan
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup sherry vinegar (or, use any vinegar you like)
splash of water to maintain moisture level if needed
There’s a restaurant near us that features a burrata-filled tortellini, served in a cream sauce fortified with fresh, sweet corn. It’s a wonderful dish, and was the inspiration for this simple, summer vegetable cavatelli.
I was going to use reduced cream, with fresh, pureed corn stirred in at the end, but then I had a thought. What if skipped the dairy altogether, and made the sauce 100% cob-based? I was also out of cream.
So, I blended the fresh corn with some chicken broth, and ended up with what looked like corn milk. At first, I thought I’d made it too thin, but after a few tests reducing some in a pan, I realized it was thickening up beautifully.
While I was very happy with this, in hindsight, I’d do a few things differently next time. I went with pancetta, but I think the smokiness of bacon would have made this even more delicious. I also think you should probably add the corn cream to the vegetables, and bring it to a simmer before the pasta is added.
Of course, this recipe will work with whatever fresh seasonal vegetables you happen to find at the market, as long as its something that tastes good with sweet corn. In related news, everything tastes good with sweet corn. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
For the corn “cream” (will make more than needed for the recipe)
2 ears fresh white corn, or other sweet corn
2 cups chicken broth or water
For the pasta:
2 cups cavatelli
1 tbsp olive oil
4 ounces diced bacon or pancetta (sausage would also work nicely)
I had a fantastic appetizer recently featuring lamb belly, radishes, anchovies, and mint, which inspired today’s post. It sounded amazing, but I’d only glanced at the description, so when it came, I was more than a little surprised to see the radishes were fully cooked.
This was a new one for me, and I absolutely loved it. Like most root vegetables, radishes don’t have a ton of flavor, but I found them slightly sweet, earthy (duh), and aromatic. Plus, they seemed to have effectively absorbed all the other flavors in the dish.
One thing led to another, and I adapted the approach to create one of the more interesting and delicious things I’ve had in a while. I called it a “flavor bomb” in the video, but “umami bomb” would be more accurate. This was as savory, as savory gets.
Because of all the sweet flavors going on, I decided not to add any sauteed onions or garlic, which is contrary to most braised meat recipes. It probably wouldn’t have hurt anything, and I might try it next time, but to be honest, this came out so perfectly balanced, that I’m a little scared to change anything.
And no, you can't taste the anchovies. That doesn't mean you should tell anyone they're in there, but I did want to mention, in case you're scared. I would like to thank Aatxe for the inspiration, and I really hope you give this strange, but exciting braised lamb dish and try soon. Enjoy!
Makes 4 Portions:
4lamb shoulder chops (10-12 ounces each)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (or about 2 tsp of table salt)
1 teaspoon blackpepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
1 1/2 cups low-sodium or no sodium chicken broth (the anchovies and spice rub on the lamb usually provide enough salt, plus you can add at the end after sauce is reduced)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 bunches breakfast radishes, trimmed
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves finely sliced
1 tbsp cold butter
- Braise at 275 F. for about 3 hour , or until meat is just barely tender, then finish at 425 F. to brown. Serve with de-fatted and reduced sauce.
It always feels a little wrong making a frittata with freshly cooked vegetables, since the whole point of the dish is to use up leftovers, but seeing as we’re branding this as a Mother’s Day brunch special, we’ll make an exception.
If you want to play it safe, you can cook each vegetable separately, but that takes longer than the one-after-the-other method shown here. Like I said in the video, this is a great practice recipe for new cooks, since you really have to pay attention to what’s happening in the pan. I said to use medium heat, but you may want to adjust that up and down, depending on what you see happening.
Make sure all your vegetables are tender, hot, and well seasoned before adding your eggs, and not a lot can go wrong. Once those, and hopefully some cheese, get stirred in, turn off the heat, and pop the pan into the oven until the eggs are set. If your mom likes golden-brown, you can use the optional broiling step seen herein.
If you decide to garnish with edible flowers, make sure you’re actually using edible flowers. Nothing puts a damper on a Mother’s Day brunch like a trip to the emergency room. If you use nasturtium you’ll be safe, otherwise, do some research. I really hope you give this delicious vegetable frittata a try soon. Enjoy!
Makes 6 large portions: 2 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded, diced
1 1/2 cups sliced asparagus
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
handful baby spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced cooked potatoes
12 large eggs
1 tsp salt, plus more as needed to taste while cooking veggies
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch cayenne
4 ounces goat milk feta, or your favorite cheese
350 F. for about 15 minutes, or until just set, then broil on high for 1-2 minutes for some color
I’ve always loved green curries, but until a recent visit to Al’s Place, I’d never thought of using fresh, sweet peas as the base. It was amazing, and after only a few bites I knew I'd steal this idea and make it my own. Sorry, Al.
Their version featured pickled strawberries, but I decided to try a different approach, and used diced, fresh berries instead. I didn’t use any palm sugar or coconut milk, so the sweetness they provided paired perfectly with the brightly seasoned sauce.
As I mentioned in the video, I used a jarred curry paste, Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste, to be exact, and it works just fine. It contains green chili, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, salt, shallot, pepper, coriander, cumin, and kaffir lime, which is pretty much what you’d grind up to make a fresh green curry.
Next time I’ll make the paste from scratch just to see how much better it is, but I have to admit, the trade-off in time and effort is pretty attractive. Speaking of attractive, this lovely bowl of spring goodness sure would look good on your table, so I hope you give this spring pea green curry a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 appetizer-sized portions:
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
3 tablespoons green curry paste, plus more to taste
2 cups chicken broth
1 pound trimmed sugar snap peas, snow peas, or English peas
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 pound boneless black cod (aka butterfish or sablefish), but into eight 2-oz pieces, skin scored 1/8th inch deep
In case you’re wondering if I thought of the name first, and then developed the recipe, I think we both know the answer to that question.That said, I really thought I could pull it off. The old cliché when it comes escargot is that it’s really just an excuse to eat garlic butter, and that the snail is just some sort of flavorless delivery system. Turns out that’s not the case. This suffered from a lack of meaty earthiness the escargot provides. Like I said in video, if I make this again, I will caramelize the mushrooms in a pan, which I’m sure would help.Or, maybe I’ll just use snails. Speaking of which, feel free to use this exact technique with actual escargot, as everything other than the mushroom was spot on. You can find those online, along with the other special items you’ll need, such as the shells, the pan, the tongs, and the forks.
So, whether you use mushrooms or snails, and please don’t use mushrooms,I really hope you give this classic French appetizer a try soon. No joke. Enjoy!
Tomorrow is National Meatball Day, and to commemorate I wanted to post something really delicious, and incredibly ironic. These meatless meatballs are both. That's right, we're going to celebrate National Meatball Day with a meat-free version that will have your guests wondering if they heard you correctly. Thanks to the magic of mushrooms, these really are amazing, and garner rave reviews from our vegetarian friends...okay, friend, but still. You can follow this link to read the original post and get the ingredient amounts. Enjoy!
I’m more of a shower guy, but Bagna Cauda is one “hot bath” I’ll take any time. While this qualifies as a warm dip, it has nothing in common with the typical versions that will grace snack tables across America this Sunday.
It doesn’t contain pounds of melted cheese, or come in a bread bowl, but what it does have going for it, is simple, rustic goodness, and proven crowd appeal. Besides, unlike those other "hot dips," this one actually stays hot.
If there were ever a recipe to tweak to your own tastes, it’s this one. You can adjust the amounts of garlic and anchovy, as well as the proportion of olive oil to butter. You can also control how long you cook the mixture before it’s presented.
I think about five minutes is perfect, but many people cook it much longer. Other than that, the hardest part of this recipe is deciding on what to drunk in this ancient dip. Anything goes, but as I mentioned in the video, some chunks of crusty bread are highly recommended. I hope you give this bagna cauda a try soon. Enjoy!
UPDATE: I'm hearing from my friends in Northern Italy that they use TWICE as much anchovy and garlic as I did. So, be advised. Ingredients for 1 1/4 cup Bagna Cauda
