Happy Summer Solstice to all my readers in the Northern Hemisphere!

The Summer Solstice marks the beginning of summer and is the longest day of the year! Here in Northern Vermont, it began getting dark around 9:30 PM. Sitting out on our side deck enjoying the mountain views and listening to all the sounds – barnyard animals, birds, frogs, insects made me think about past Solstices, and I recalled my time living in Norway when it was still bright as day at 2 AM! Very different but both great experiences!

I like to celebrate my Northern European roots on the Solstices and usually we toast with a local sparkling mead. Unfortunately we were not able to find the mead yesterday, so we settled on Sah’tea by Dogfish Head Ales. I was drawn to the graphics on the label – as it features my favorite animal, the Reindeer. Sah’tea is based on a 9th century Finnish recipe, Sahti. It is brewed with rye and juniper berries. They break with tradition by adding chai tea at the end of the boil. The flavor of the ale was intense with the chai spices tickling the palette. The color was a darker amber than we are used to seeing in an ale. It is a very unique brew, not something I would want every day, but it was definitely a good choice for a celebratory meal!

As for the nibbles, we decided on an antipasti of sorts. For proteins we had prosciutto, fresh marinated anchovies, duck rilettes and 2 types of cheese – a raw cow’s raclette and a sheep’s milk Lancashire. We also had assorted olives, peppadew peppers (which were delicious stuffed with rilletes), artichoke hearts homemade pickles – daikon radish and carrots. For dessert we had fresh, local, organic strawberries with fresh whipped cream!

We had a great evening, enjoying our al fresco meal and ending the night by “tucking in” all the animals. It is quiet moments like this that make everything feel right in the world. Hope you enjoyed yours too!

I am going to start off by stating clearly, that I  make no claims to the authenticity of this recipe.  I got it from one of my very first cookbooks, ever, when I was still in high school. “Greek Green Beans” is just what we have been calling it for years. The book is called A Little Greek Cookbook (See all Cooking, Food & Wine References) and it was given to me by my mom as a gift when I discovered my love for Mediterranean cuisine. There are some great tasting recipes in there and I have been using it ever since.

I have been making this dish for about 20 years now! I have only eaten something similar in one Greek restaurant that was near my house growing up –Athens Grill, so maybe it is a regional dish? The restaurant was a family restaurant, owned by Greek immigrants from Athens. I loved their food so much and begged my mom to take me there often! We used to get gyro platters, or souvlaki served with Greek salad, pita bread and the best French fries ever. Sometimes we would eat at the restaurant, al fresco, on little wrought iron tables right off the parking lot. Other times, we would take it home to eat while watching a movie. I thought it was the best food ever. What I wouldn’t give to pop over there for lunch today!

In the cookbook, the name they give this recipe is Fasolakia Freska or Green Bean Casserole, in English. It is a simple recipe with a lot of flavor. I am making it tonight to accompany some pan seared fish. But it also goes well with chicken or beef dishes, and of course lamb. Sometimes I like to sprinkle feta cheese on it, and eat a large bowl full for lunch. This is a great recipe to double – and it is also one of those recipes that tastes all the better a day or two later. It has a large amount of olive oil in it – but don’t skimp on it – that is what makes this dish so rich and flavorful.

Normally I follow the recipe as is, but sometimes I might add Kalamata olives for bite, or pearl onions instead of the sliced onions, for pretty. You can also omit the potatoes, but that would be silly.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb of fresh green beans, topped and tailed (I have also used frozen with great success)
1 large onion, finely sliced – or half a bag of pearl onions
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 cup olive oil
14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
This is not part of the recipe, but I usually add some oregano as well.

METHOD:
Slice beans in half, rinse and drain. Sauté onion and garlic in hot oil until pale golden. Add beans and potatoes and sauté together until well coated in the oil. Add the tomatoes and seasoning. Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes or until beans and potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. If needed, add a little hot water to keep from burning. This can be served hot, or at room temperature.

Isn’t it fun trying something from one of your favorite restaurants? I thought so too.

I intend most of my Thursday, Let’s Get Cultured posts, to be about cultured dairy products. However, from time to time I might feature non-dairy cultured items on Thursdays. Today I am going to talk about curing olives at home.

I learned about home curing olives from Jenny’s blog, Nourished Kitchen. She has an awesome and easy to follow step-by-step guide on how to crack, cure and season olives. She also has one of the best blogs out there, so I suggest once you are over there, to check out her fabulous recipes. I am not re-inventing the wheel on olive curing, so I will refer you to her fantastic blog where you too can see the process for olive curing at home. I do however, have some notes, and then I would like to share with you the various flavors I added to my olives.

But first I will share with you my source for the olives. Chaffin Family Orchards is a diversified farm in the Sacramento Valley of California. Their farm has been in the hands of the Chaffin family for 5 generations. Most of their olive trees are over 100 years old. The farm has been harvesting and producing olives and olive oil for over 75 years. Their olives are farmed without using chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. They use cover crops and rotations of cattle, goats, sheep and chickens to control vegetation and fertilize the orchards. The goats are also used to prune the trees!

Most of the research I did on olive curing suggests that you should soak your olives in water (changing twice daily) for 2-4 weeks. This is the process whereby the raw olives lose their bitterness. If you have ever tried eating a raw olive, you will see why this step is of utmost importance.

Olive Curing Notes:

I found that even 4 weeks was not enough time – I think we soaked our olives for close to two months, and they were still a bit bitter after all that time. I am not sure if it is because I cured them during winter, and it was just too cold in the house, or what. So after about 2 months, we decided to decant the olives, and flavor them but we added about ¼ cup of raw apple cider vinegar to the individually flavored jars. This seemed to take care of most of the rest of the bitterness – but it is not consistent from olive to olive. Some olives still are bitter. We have only started eating one jar, so we will see how the other jars are as we get to them. Maybe they just need a little more time.

Curing olives is really quite easy and straightforward. It is a fun project, especially if you have children and would make great presents to give to family and friends! It is a great traditional skill to add to any homesteader’s repertoire.

My Flavors:

*Lemon, Bay Leaf, Saffron
*Lemon, Bay Leaf, Herbs de Provence
*Lemon, Bay Leaf and De Arbol Chili
*Juniper, Mustard, Lemon and Black Pepper
*Lemon, Bay Leaf, Habanero Pepper
*Lemon, Bay Leaf, Coriander Seed, Cumin Seed, Sumac, Ras el Hanout

This year we joined a CSA – a meat CSA. Most people are familiar with vegetable CSAs but this was the first time I had heard of a meat CSA. We are very fortunate here in our little piece of heaven called Vermont, to have many amazing diversified farms, including one in our town, Applecheek Farm. For us, Applecheek is not just a place to get raw milk, free-range chicken eggs, delicious grassfed beef, or pastured pork. It is also a community hub. Since we have moved here we have been to numerous “Localvore Dinners” catered by and served at the farm, a pig roast, as well as several farm tours.

Applecheek has become a destination for our out of town guests that come to visit us and want to see and experience a real farm, where many animals co-exist together, grazing on green grass, as opposed to a feedlot where there are thousands of one type of animal grazing in, well, their own excrement.

(My step-daughter Gwen having fun with chickens, Jenn at the Welcome sign, Rocio w/ pigs and llamas, a real tractor, Jenn with a goat and the happiest cows you will ever meet).

At Applecheek people can get up close and personal with happy cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys guinea fowl as well as non-food animals like emus, llamas, draft horses and retired pet goats. It is also a place where the local community gathers to eat good food, learn about sustainable farms and spend time with each other.

Rocio and John who have recently taken over the farm operations from John’s parents John and Judy, and Jason and Sarah, who run the catering operation and the Localvore dinners became the first friends we made when we moved here. They have helped us immensely by providing tips for where to get various things locally and of course where the good eats are. We all share a love for good, nutrient dense foods as well as home-brewing, lacto-fermentation and food preservation.

Here is the Applecheek Farm philosophy:

“We strive to produce food that encompasses dignity for our animals, stimulates local economy, provides optimal nutrition for our customers and restores the ecological capital within our soils. Our priorities here on the farm begin with the soil and the nutrients that develop within our land and ultimately passed on to those who eat our food. From our perspective, this is a grass farm that converts grasses into meat, milk and eggs. While many people refer to our farm as a sustainable farm, we feel it is simply not enough to sustain. We are committed to a restorative approach to farming our land and animals in an effort to increase the quality of our soils.”

A dream come true. It is the kind of farm that all of us dream we had in our town after watching Food Inc. or reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Our dream was realized when we moved to this part of Vermont, and we are grateful for it daily, as inevitably some food item from Applecheek graces our table at least during one of our daily meals, be it fried eggs and sausages for breakfast, a delicious burger, or in this case a whole roasted duck.

I am getting really familiar with duck in this household since joining the CSA, which invariably make the fire department really familiar with us because no matter what, I cannot stop myself from frying potatoes in the fat from the duck – which always makes the house a smoky mess, and sets off our alarm! But look at this beautiful dish – it is totally worth it!

Besides that, I am always trying a new recipe with the duck, this time, I decided to make something simple, a classic French dish – roasted duck with olives, or Canard aux Olives. I pretty much followed this recipe, except that I used white wine instead of broth, added some lemons (also stuffed the bird with lemon wedges), skipped the vermouth and used all green olives. I also cooked it in a 350 F oven, instead of on the stove top. I served them with those delicious duck fat fried potatoes. The result was an incredibly good roasted duck that was unanimously declared to be the best duck I have prepared to date. The bones and leftover meat I used to make a delicious stock and soup. Nothing went to waste.

For dessert I made individual preserved plum tarts. I made a crust using almond flour and butter, vaguely fashioned after this recipe pressed it into my individual baking dishes, and baked for about 20 minutes at 350F. Then I placed some of my plum preserved in brandy-vanilla-cardamom syrup and topped with fresh maple whipped cream.

Now since Applecheek really is a special place, I don’t expect that all of you, my dear readers have access to such a farm. But I am sure that you do have farms in your area where you can buy free-range, organic eggs, or humanely raised meat, or if you are lucky raw milk. So support them, learn from them, ask questions and help to make the food on your table a little bit better for you and your family. The more we support these farms, the more farms like this will be available to us! To find farms in your area, check out LocalHarvest.

(Gal, Liz and Jenn making Pizza)

Pizza night is a weekly tradition in this house, and something we love to share with friends and family when they come to visit the homestead. Two weeks ago, I had a reunion with my best friend from high school, Liz, or as she is affectionately known to me, Lizard. We fell out of touch, like many of us do, over some boys…and we hadn’t been in touch for nearly 10 years. BAD BOYS. I thought about her often over the years, and we were so happy to be reunited on Facebook! She lives in Brooklyn, with her beautiful family, and she and her awesome husband came to visit us.

Pizza is the perfect food for entertaining. It is also a great way to feed a crowd when you are not sure what kinds of dietary restrictions people might have. Toppings can range from all veggies, to anchovies, some sausages, or whatever. You can even use pesto or barbecue sauce in place of traditional tomato sauce. You can even forego the cheese, if someone in your group is lactose intolerant. Making pizza together is a great way to spend time with friends – rolling out the dough, making personal pizzas, and then enjoying it together, with a nice glass of red, maybe a beer, and a lot of laughs! See how much fun we are having?

We are really passionate about our pizza here. Roberto grew up eating pizza in Italy, and I grew up thinking I didn’t like pizza (don’t blame me, blame “cheesefood”). This all changed when I discovered thin, crunchy, crust, fresh mozzarella cheese and the amazing array of fresh toppings that one can come up with when you make pizza at home! So you could say that we are both very picky pizza eaters. We might even be pizza snobs. So, in order to do justice to homemade pizza, we have been experimenting and creating for the past two years to come up with THE PERFECT PIZZA (TM).

We used to use the Olive Oil bread dough from Artisan Bread in 5, religiously. However, during that time, we had a bit of a wrench thrown into the works, when I discovered that I was having trouble with wheat. So we experimented with gluten free flours, and pizza dough recipes, and all of them really left a lot to be desired. So we had some sad and disappointing Friday nights. I was determined to find a pizza dough that was up to par taste and texture wise, and at the same time didn’t make me wake up with a hangover feeling the next day. This is where the sourdough comes in. I had heard through the blogosphere that people with wheat intolerance (NOT Celiac) were able to tolerate sourdough bread products. It has to do with neutralizing enzyme inhibitors, which interfere with digestion and breaking down phytic acid, which generally blocks mineral absorption. Sourdough cultures also predigest or completely break down the gluten during the fermentation process. Creating a bread that is more digestable. I also used spelt flour, because I have found that it is not as “heavy” as whole wheat, and closer to the feeling of a traditional pizza crust, like you would find in Italy.

For us, one of our secrets to making a super flavorful pizza is to use tomato paste in place of tomato sauce. This is a family secret, that one of my great aunts came up with. Roberto feels that this “proprietary” information should not be shared with the public. But like I told him, now maybe if we have homemade pizza at someone else’s house, maybe they read my post, and we will like it all the better! That punch of tomato paste flavor really comes through in all its sweetness once it is baked in the oven. Also, the cheese matters. Get the best quality mozzarella that you can, not the shredded stuff. Nice slices of fresh mozzarella add something wonderfully light to the pizza – and go easy on it. It is OK to have some bare spots, where you can actually see only sauce. Trust us…

Some of our favorite toppings are: fresh tomato slices, fresh mushrooms, prosciutto, arugula, anchovies, olives (capers if we are too lazy to pit olives) peperoncini peppers, and sun dried tomatoes. And you must remember to salt and pepper your pizza, and a nice drizzle of olive oil over top doesn’t hurt either!  We mix and match the toppings on different pizzas. Usually we make 2 pizzas, and then have leftover for lunches. Another favorite is using pesto as the sauce, and then adding thinly sliced potatoes, that you have baked slightly beforehand.

Perhaps the most important aspect  to the perfect pizza is a HOT oven. We preheat our oven 20 minutes ahead to 500 F. We bake our pizzas on cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper. This makes the crust super crisp and delicious! I have heard all the rage about pizza stones, and one day I might add one to my kitchen tools. But I use my Italian husband as a barometer for a good pizza, and so far, we have done well without the need for a pizza stone.

So we suggest you get your crust ready tonight to have pizza tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup sourdough starter

5 cups spelt flour

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS salt

2 cups water

3 cups sprouted spelt flour (or you can use regular, if you prefer)

1 tsp olive oil

METHOD:

Combine starter, 5 cups spelt flour, olive oil, salt and water in a large bowl. Cover loosely with a towel or lid and allow to stand in a warm place for 5-10 hours, or overnight is best. Next add 3 cups of sprouted spelt flour and work it into the dough, enough so you can handle it without it being too sticky. Form the dough into a ball, and rub 1 tsp of olive oil all over it. Place it back in the bowl and let it stand 20 minutes. Then knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth and elastic, then place it back in the bowl, and allow it to double in bulk – about 1 hour. At this point you can use it to make pizza. This recipe makes about 4 large cookie sheet rectangular pizzas. If you are not going to use it all, you can rip off 4 grapefruit sized balls and store each one in a freezer bag, until you want to use it. When you want to use it, take it out to defrost, and then roll out, and put your favorite toppings on.

]]> http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2010/08/06/sourdough-spelt-pizza-dough/feed 25 http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2010/01/21/brunello-aperitivo http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2010/01/21/brunello-aperitivo#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:25:38 +0000 The Leftover Queen http://www.leftoverqueen.com/?p=2730 Pin it

Brunello di Montalcino is a very special wine variety made in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is known the world over as being a very good wine. Our friends Erin and Chris, who lived for a year in Florence, had a bottle that they wanted to share with us. They had fond memories of a night in Florence that they spent with friends savoring a bottle of this wine, and wanted to spend another evening like that with us! So of course we were game and very excited to taste wine from a very different bracket than what we are used to.

Since they were bringing such a nice bottle, I offered to find some tasty morsels to go along with the wine, so we could have a proper Aperitivo – or the Italian version of Happy Hour! If you would like to learn more about Aperitivo, please check out Ms. Adventures in Italy. Sarah has a great passion for Aperitivo and has great tips on how you can have your own – or where to go for the best ones in her hometown of Milano!

I knew this was a special wine, so I enlisted the help of a professional to come up with food ideas to compliment it. With the help of my buddy, Vince DiPiazza (no known relation – though I am sure there is one somehow, not many of us DiPiazza’s in the world) from D’Italia – an online specialty store of food products from Italy, we came up with a menu of aperitivi, or small plates:

Variety of cheeses of different flavor profiles served with Rosemary Grissini and Garbanzo Crackers

Parmigiano-Reggiano is Italy’s most famous cheese, known as Parmesan in the English language. We know it well as a cheese for grating on top of pasta. However, if you eat it in cubes, it is a whole other experience. The cheese is made from raw cow’s milk, it is then put into a brine bath for 20-25 days to absorb salt, and then aged for 12 months. My favorite part (and Erin’s too) are the little crunchies you get in a good Parmigiano – the crunchies are bits of crystallized salt.

Morbier is a raw cow’s milk cheese from France. It is a Gruyère-like cheese with a vein of ash running through its middle. The two layers of the cheese originally came from two milkings, one in the morning and one in the evening, over it with a protective thin layer of tasteless ash, both to prevent it from both drying out and to keep away the flies. The next day, they would add the leftover curd from the morning milking and production. The result was a two-layered cheese.

Goat Fromage Blanc is from a batch of the pasteurized goat milk cheese that I made recently. I added some basil and a little dried dill – as well as a few sun-dried tomatoes (Vince said they pair well with Brunello) stirred in.

Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar is one of our favorite cheeses, and we decided to add it at the last minute. It never tastes the same from one batch to the next. It is the cheese variety that Cabot used to sell to hunters and truckers…on their way out of town. Chris said it tasted like ham to him, which as a vegetarian, was a weird experience. This cheese is amazing paired with a sweet bread and butter style pickle.

Miscellaneous Treats

Sautéed Mushrooms
Hummus
Assorted Nuts
Assorted Olives
Pickles

Dessert

French Truffles
Chocolate covered mint cremes

*********************************

The Tasting :

When Erin and Chris arrived we opened the bottle to give it about 20 minutes to breathe. We decided to do the tasting in two stages, the first without food, and then one with food. We each had a piece of paper and a pen. We spent about 5-10 minutes sniffing and tasting the wine, and individually writing our impressions of both the nose and the taste without sharing.

NOSE:

Erin: cheese – brie, sweet chocolate, metal
Chris: robust, dank – wet wood or earth, finishes smoky
Roberto: cherries
Jenn: woody, tannins, blackberry/cherry

TASTE:

Erin: milk chocolate, cheddar, old smoke – like what your clothes smell like after a BBQ or fire
Chris: pungent, truffles, finishes with citrus (mild burn, fruity end) and something like ginger, but not quite ginger
Roberto: old fermenting cherries, blueberry and ends with citrus
Jenn: black pepper, herbal/smoky, cherry

After we shared our observations, we found it interesting that both the guys had noticed a citrus end, while the ladies had both noticed a smoky taste. Is it coincidence, or do males and females taste wine differently?

Once we headed over to the food, and had a second glass with food, we all agreed that the wine tasted much sweeter, and it was at that point that Erin and I noticed a bit of a citrus taste.

It was a really fun night. I can’t say that I have ever really enjoyed wine in this way, and I think it is a really great way to spend the evening with friends. We decided we had so much fun, that we definitely need to do it again, with different wines and food pairings.

I am lucky enough to be part of a great little local ladies supper club. I was introduced to this club, and great group of women by my friend Erin (that’s her there in the front, striking a pose in the little dress) of The Olive Notes. I met Erin through the world of blogging, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that she and her husband Chris live about 10 minutes away from us. They have a great group of friends here in Saint Augustine, that have really welcomed Roberto and I since we moved here.

Well the ladies in this circle of friends started an awesome supper club. There are eight of us currently, and we all get together each month. It is kind of a dress up event. Sometimes people just show up in jeans and a nice shirt, which is totally allowed, but there are also party dresses and high heels. It is a very girly event – and no boys allowed!

We all take turns hosting, and each month, the hostess gets to pick the theme, then everyone brings a dish to add to the dinner. We always have a welcome cocktail and appetizer to start, which usually finds us all in the kitchen chatting, laughing and catching up with each other. Then we move on to the table and have soup or salad, and then the main course with a vegetable side and a starch side. There is always wine to accompany the meal, and of course we end with something sweet. It is always a great night and something we all really look forward to each month.

Well this past Friday, it was my turn to host – and so I chose a Moroccan theme. For one, a lot of my table decor has a North African/ Middle Eastern flair to it, and the cuisine is one of my favorites….plus, did you know I recently got a Tagine!?? LOL!

This supper club was a huge success – the food was delicious and we ended the night by working off some of that food with a little belly dancing! I have a lot of music from this region of the world, and all of the ladies know I used to belly dance, so they asked for me to bring out all my gear and show them some moves. We all got down, and it was a wonderful time! Good music, good friends, good times.

But I know that you are all here for the food, so here we go – We started with Moroccan Pomegranate Martinis – fresh lemon and lime juice mixed with vodka, POM Wonderful and simple syrup.

The appetizer was a Spiced Moroccan Carrot Dip – with fresh cilantro, and green olives, served with pita bread.

We started at the table with a wonderfully spiced Harira (traditional soup of Morocco. It is usually eaten during dinner in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to break the fasting day ).

For the main dish, I did a Vegetable Tagine overloaded with fresh acorn squash, chick peas, onions and kale, dotted with prunes and topped with sliced almonds. There was fresh flat bread and a delicious vegetable curry to go with it, and for dessert,

the Moroccan pièce de la résistance – M’hanncha -”The Snake” (although it kind of broke in the revelry!) – which was very reminiscent of baklava.

Everything was wonderful and I had a great time hosting these lovely ladies!
Click through for the Vegetable Tagine recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 acorn squash
olive oil
cider vinegar
salt & pepper

2 1/2 cups of chickpeas that have been soaked over night.
1 large bell pepper – any color, sliced
1 large onion, sliced

1 TBS of sambal belacan (Malaysian version of harissa given to me by my good friend Dharm)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

about 1/2 to 1 tsp of each:
tumeric
coriander
cumin
smoked paprika
saffron
cinnamon

salt & pepper
clove of garlic, sliced very thin
splash of red wine

4 cups of greens – I used kale

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut acorn squash in half and place in a baking dish filled with an inch of water. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Peel and slice. Place in a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, splash of vinegar and salt and pepper and let marinate for about an hour.

Slice, the pepper and onion and place in another large bowl with the soaked chick peas.

In a small bowl mix together the sambal belacan, cider vinegar, olive oil, and spices, garlic and red wine. Mix together and pour over the chick pea mixture. Let marinate for one and a half hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Pour chickpea mixture into tagine, and then pour the acorn squash over top. Let cook for one hour. After an hour, remove tagine lid, stir contents and add half of the greens. Cover again and cook another 40 minutes. Lift lid and add the rest of the greens, cook for another 20 minutes. Serve with couscous.

This is another recipe inspired by my new favorite cookbook,
Dishing Up Vermont.

This particular tagine recipe is perfect for the winter bounty of vegetables that we are experiencing right now. I would not call this a “tagine”, technically, but more of a stew, as that is the way it is prepared, as opposed to the traditional slow roasting method in clay that tagine in known for. However, the flavors are very much reflective of this well known Moroccan dish.

I did not have all of the ingredients in the original recipe, so I filled in the gaps with things that I had on hand, and I must say it was delicious and certainly very easy to make. I would encourage anyone to try this dish with whatever seasonal veggies you have on hand, while keeping the spices the same, and you are in for a real hearty treat. Topped with a nice dollop of strained Greek yogurt and you have a wonderful healthy meal, perfect for staving off the colder weather. It is definitely a dish that I will be making again.

INGREDIENTS:

(see my substitutions and additions in parenthesis)

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, sliced
(1 clove garlic, minced)
1 1/2 TBS ground cumin
3 cinnamon sticks
(1 TBS ground coriander and 1 tsp smoked paprika)
4 cups peeled and diced organic butternut squash, preferably locally grown (I used i small acorn squash, 1 gigantic carrot and 1 sweet potato)
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed (I used dried chickpeas that I had cooked ahead)
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup orange or grapefruit juice (I omitted)
2 TBS honey
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives (I used green Sicilian)
1/2 cup pitted prunes (I used raisins)
4 cups kale (I used kale and turnip greens)
kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1 cup almonds, toasted and crushed (I forgot about them, but I bet it would be great)

METHOD:

Although this is not in the recipe, I started by roasting the squash, carrots and sweet potato in a 400 F oven for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions (and garlic) and cook, until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon sticks (coriander and paprika) and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the squash (carrots and sweet potato) chickpeas, tomatoes, juice and honey and bring to a boil. I also added the raisins at this point so they would plump up! Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered for about 20 minutes. Add olives and kale and stir to combine.
Cover and continue cooking until the kale is wilted and the olives and prunes soft, about 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with almonds.

Today, I am dedicating this post and recipe to Bri, a fellow food blogger from Figs with Bri, and a woman fighting the long and difficult battle against breast cancer. This month’s CLICK event , hosted by Jugalbandi has a theme of Yellow, based on the Livestrong model. This month we, who are participating in this event, are dedicating our YELLOW posts to Bri, a strong woman with the heart and spirit of an Amazon! There is also a fundraiser going on for Bri – a way to help her seek the best medical care, in all areas, including holistic and experimental treatments some of which are not covered by her medical insurance. So please go here to check out the information and learn more about Bri’s cause – a little goes a very long way. The Foodblogger Blogosphere is a global village. we may not personally know everyone we interact with on a regular basis, but their stories and lives do touch us. I feel it is so important to support our fellow bloggers in good times and when they need us the most, during their trials.

(CLICK event photo)

Everyone here knows about my love for Moroccan foods. One of my favorite restaurants when I lived in the DC area was Marrakesh. This is how their website describes an evening there “course after course of Moroccan cuisine featuring succulent meats, vegetables, and salads served against the backdrop of Middle Eastern music and decor will both excite and lull you into one of the most special evenings of your life”. No truer words have ever been spoken.

Then at the other end of the spectrum, there was another great Moroccan restaurant where I used to live in Northampton, MA called Amanouz Cafe an unassuming place, yet serving up fresh and delicious food at very affordable prices. Both of the restaurants rate highly on my list of favorite restaurants of all time because of the education they afforded me for Moroccan food.

For one, the first time I went to Marrakesh, when I was a pre-teen, for my mom’s birthday, was the first time I had ever tasted Moroccan food – the spices, the hints of cinnamon, the smokiness of cumin, the meat falling off the bone, mint tea poured artistically into small decorated glasses. That coupled with the backdrop and splendor of the restaurant itself was a truly magical experience I have never forgotten. Then Amanouz, which is run by two brothers, whom I got to know while I lived in Northampton, taught me even more about Morocco and its food, making Morocco one of the premier vacation destinations of my soul.

However, even though I haven’t gotten there yet, some of my closest friends have, my dear friends Tony and Jonathan who gifted Roberto and I with a beautiful handmade Tagine (name for the cooking vessel and a meal), bought in a Moroccan market and hand carried back to Massachusetts and then down to Florida for our wedding. I cannot tell you how much this gift meant to me. Not only is it beautiful, but it was thoughtful and deliberate. So thank you Tony and Jonathan – I love you both and you are welcome to come to our house for Tagine anytime!

For me, the combination of chicken rubbed with aforementioned spices and slow cooked with tart green olives, lemon and raisins is quintessential of Moroccan cuisine – the sweet and the tangy in perfect harmony. So of course the first thing I wanted to make with my new Tagine was Chicken and Olive Tagine with Preserved Lemons (minus the preserved lemons).
Um, yeah, I am not a big fan of preserved lemons, however the nice olive lady at our farmers market solved this problem for me, by selling me beautiful green olives stuffed with lemon peels. This gave me the taste I was after without having to deal with preserved lemons.

Then to the issue of the Tagine. Handmade Moroccan Tagines from a Moroccan market do not come with directions – they come as they are. So research online taught me that hand painted, glazed (tagines are clay) Tagines are not to be used for cooking. They are for serving only. This actually suited me just fine, because even though I was dying to cook with a tagine, I was not dying to break this beautiful and sentimental gift from my friends and I know how tricky cooking with clay can be and I was leery to experiment with this piece. So out came my cast iron skillet – the only pan I use anymore, and it worked just as well! Served up in the beautiful Tagine, along with couscous, salad and pita and it was like being at the Marrakesh…well…almost.

Chicken and Lemon Peel Olive Tagine

INGREDIENTS:

coarse sea salt
one small chicken cut into 8 pieces
(or if you are the leftover queen like me, 8 large chicken tenders that are in your freezer)
1 TBS white vinegar (I used apple cider as this is what I had)
2 cups water
5 TBS olive oil
1 large bunch of fresh cilantro finely minced
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp real saffron
salt to taste
1/2 lb chopped onions
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
2 TBS olive oil
a good amount of green olives stuffed with lemon peels
a good amount of raisins

METHOD:

Rub coarse sea salt on the chicken pieces and wash chicken in a bowl with vinegar and 2 cups of water.
Leave the chicken in the bowl for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the spice rub. In a large shallow bowl mix olive oil, cilantro, cinnamon, saffron, salt, half of the onions, garlic, cumin, ginger, paprika and turmeric. Mix together and add a little water if necessary to make a paste.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Then rinse and dry chicken and place in bowl with the spices. Roll chicken in spices making sure to cover them really well. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes.

Heat cast iron skillet, or tagine or dutch oven on the stove top and add 2 TBS olive oil. Place the chicken in the pan, and then pour the rest of the marinade over top. Add the rest of the onions, olives and raisins and cook in the oven, covered, for about 45-50 minutes. Serve with couscous, salad and pita bread.

I really thought twice about posting this recipe. It is so simple, but isn’t that what The Leftover Queen is all about? Simple, yet delicious meals using leftovers and ingredients you already have at home? I also decided to post this, because it is the first thing I actually “cooked” in my kitchen when we came back from our Honeymoon, and therefore it is sentimental, as am I.

We stopped at my mom’s house on the way back from the airport to say hi and pick up our kitty. She had a nice chicken dinner ready for us. I was so food-ed out from the trip and the chicken breast was so big, that when I was full, it looked like I had barely touched it! So she wrapped it up to go – just like a good mamma!

The next day, I was faced with a kitchen that was mine but unfamiliar after almost 2 weeks without really cooking. The fridge was empty, but luckily the pantry was still full of canned and jarred goods, including artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes. I love chicken with either of these, so I figured, why not both!? Now I only had 3/4 of a large chicken breast to work with, so I knew I needed to stretch it, so immediately my mind went to pasta. We had some nice whole wheat spaghetti in the pantry as well, so into a boiling pot of water it went. Roberto went to work cutting up the chicken into chunks and grating the very high quality parmesan cheese, while I opened the jars (what a slacker!).

In a big mixing bowl we mixed the chicken, drained jar of artichoke hearts, some Kalamata olives and about 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes with some of the oil from the jar (i love that stuff!). We added the hot pasta stirred it all together with about 1/2 cup of grated parm. Opened up a nice glass of chardonnay, left over from the wedding reception, and dinner was on the table, in minutes.

We both really loved it. I think the main reason why is because the pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and we used a super good quality parmesan. Without these, this dish would have been just okay, but because these were perfect, this dish was heavenly and has me craving pasta again! Time to make pesto!

I am all about tradition. Even as a young child, I always enjoyed re-occuring events based on a date, an event, or time. I don’t know what it is about me that just loves a good ritualistic event. Maybe it’s the food. Most likely…Now that I am an adult and getting older and recently married, I have started thinking more about traditions, what they mean to me and what kinds of traditions I want to start for my own family.

When we lived in Vermont, we used to have Roberto’s girls with us every other weekend, and I loved cooking special things when they were there. Especially in anticipation of Movie Night. We would rent a movie and then make fun food, perfect for watching and eating at the same time. Recently Roberto and I decided that we really need to bring back Movie Night – even if only for us. A time to get our jammies on and eat fun foods. We have done this three times so far and it seems to be sticking. We have prepared some really fun finger foods and menus that I want to share in case anyone else has Movie Night and is looking for recipes, or wants to start a Movie Night tradition of their own.

So for our first official movie night, a few months ago, we watched Simply Irresistible. I made Lisa’s Olive Stuffed Cheese Ballsand Curried Deviled Eggs. We also mixed Greek Yogurt with Sumac, Za’atar, Sesame Seeds and Olive Oil and scooped it all up with warm whole wheat pita bread. For dessert we had leftover Key lime pie with strawberries that my mom had sent home with us after a visit. It was a great time. The movie, Simply Irresistible is with Sarah Michelle Gellar. A cooking movie where the emotions she puts in her food while she is cooking, affects those who eat it! Really cute film, especially if you are a die-hard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan like we are, and therefore are bound to watch anything that has any of the stars from that show in it for all eternity.

The next movie night we had was kind of themed without meaning to be. I had Lentil Koftas with cucumber salad on the menu with a side of Greek style green beans. As we were frying the koftas, I was looking for a plate to put them on, so they would stay warm. Our good friend, Tony had given us a Tagine for a wedding present that he and his partner, Jonathan had carried back with them from a recent trip to Morocco. It had a lid and looked nice, so I decided to use it as a serving platter. Plus I have really been dying to use the Tagine! Don’t worry, I just made Chicken Tagine this weekend – so you will be seeing it in its primary use in a little while!

We ended up getting The Kite Runner as a movie and the theme of the movie really fit well with our menu. The koftas were really great, and I plan on making them again.

I have made the green beans for ages and they were a perfect accompaniment. Recipes to follow. The movie was excellent. It is one of those films that you can’t shrug off for several days. I had read the book and felt the adaptation was perfect.

For our third movie night we really wanted to try Elle’s Mango Buffalo Wings from last month’s Royal Foodie Joust.
I love the spicy and vinegar combination of buffalo wings, but I have never made them at home. When Elle entered the contest last month with a mango buffalo wing, I knew I would love it, so I got the ingredients to make them. They were wonderful, the perfect combination of spice and sweet that I adore with that vinegar hot sauce note. However, the movie, I Am Legend was not a big hit. There is a very bad scene in the movie involving an animal and I just couldn’t take it…I am a big wuss when it comes to these kinds of movies.

However, this one bad movie has not deterred us from continuing the tradition of movie night! Join us for movie night and let us know your best creations!

Lentil Koftas

1 cup brown lentils
1.5 cup bulgur
1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Frieda’s Garlic Delight paste
2 eggs
2 TBS Shawarma Seasoning (cumin, coriander, curry, sumac, saffron, black pepper)
1 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste
ground black pepper to taste
Flour for dusting koftas
lemon slices, for serving

Cucumber Salad

1 medium cucumber, seeded and sliced very thinly
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
juice from one lemon

Put the lentils with 1.5 cups of water in a medium (4 qt) pan. Cover pan and cook on low heat until water is absorbed and lentils are cooked, 15-20 minutes.
Put the bulgur in a large bowl, and add the cooked lentils. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and cover the bowl.
While the bulgur is absorbing the liquid of the lentils, cook the chopped onion in the olive oil until soft. Add the tomato and garlic pastes, and cook until the onions are very soft.

Check the lentil mixture for doneness. If the bulgur is too dry, add some more boiling water slowly, then cover for another 10-15 minutes. I had to add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water – you don’t want it to be too dry, but you also don’t want it wet.

In a bowl, mix the thinly sliced cucumber, parsley, sumac, lemon juice and salt. Mix thoroughly. Place in fridge until serving time.

When the lentil/bulgur mixture is at the right consistency, add the cooked onion mixture, the parsley, cilantro, Shawarma Seasoning, salt and pepper and 2 eggs. Mix throughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Now form the koftas: take a chunk about the size of a fig, and roll in your palm and fingers to give it an oblong shape. Shape all of the mixture in this way and then dust them with flour. Heat a large pan with olive oil and add the koftas to the pan – be sure not to crowd then. Fry lightly on each side about 3 minutes until they are golden.

Arrange decoratively on a plate with lemon slices. Serve with cucumber salad.

Greek Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans, washed and cleaned with ends snipped off.
1/4 cup olive oil
one large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 14. oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste
feta cheese as garnish

Sautee onions garlic in hot oil until pale golden in color and aromatic. Add the beans and sautee together until well coated in the oil. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano and cook covered for about 30-40 minutes or until beans are tender. It is even better if you cook it for an hour, and best the next day. Serve hot, garnished with feta cheese crumble.

I love polenta – it is total comfort food and a great base for a variety of vegetables and great with tomato sauce and cheese. My favorite way to make polenta is with sundried tomatoes, olives, cheese and spinach-  put it in the fridge until it gets hard, dust it with flour and pan fry in olive oil. Served with a hearty tomato sauce it is really one of the best things to eat. This time though, I didn’t feel like frying the polenta. I wanted something lighter but still comforting and flavorful, so I decided to use the polenta rectangles as a base for lasagna. It was really good and something I will certainly make again.

This is also my contribution to Marie of Proud Italian Cook and Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita ‘s Event: Festa Italiana. All Entries due March 22nd. Please click on either of their links for participation guidelines!

INGREDIENTS:

for the polenta:

4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup polenta
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
½ cup extra sharp cheddar, shredded
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
¼ cup capers, drained
½ cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and julienned
2 cups fresh baby spinach

for the sauce:

1 large can of san marzano plum tomatoes
4 TBS olive oil
½ yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS tomato paste
dash of each: oregano, basil, thyme
salt & pepper to taste
splash of balsamic vinegar

METHOD:

Grease a square cake pan. Bring veggie broth to a boil and add polenta. Turn heat down to low and gently simmer for about 12-15 minutes or until polenta is thick and and sticks to your spoon. Add half the cheese, herbs, capers and tomatoes. Pour mixture into cake pan and put in the fridge for about 3 hours.

After about 2 hours, make the tomato sauce. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Remove tomatoes from can using a spoon – reserve the liquid. Place them on a foil lined cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Place in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

In a large saucepan. Heat up the olive oil, add the onions and saute until transparent and soft then add the garlic, keep cooking until garlic becomes aromatic. Then add the reserved tomato sauce and the tomato paste, then the spices. Then add the tomatoes from the oven, break them apart with your spoon and cook down for about 30 minutes. Add a splash of balsamic.

Take your polenta out of the fridge. Cut it in half, horizontally, then cut it into 18 rectangles. Line the bottom of a large baking dish with 6 rectangles. Place sauce, a sprinkle of cheese and some spinach on top, then another layer of polenta. Keep doing this until all your ingredients are used up. Then shred a little more Parmesan on top. Place in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes or until heated through. Serves 6.