2012 Christmas Meal Memories

As the activities of January have taken over, I am fondly remembering the time during our winter vacation to plan and savor family meals together.  Before the holiday is too distant of a memory, I want to post about all the yummy food and new recipes using as many ingredients as possible from our Open Oak CSA we tried for our family Christmas meals.

Christmas Eve Dinner--We were joined by my husband's family for Vegetable Chowder from the Moosewood Cookbook, Butternut Squash Risotto from The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, and bread from Noisette.  I don't know if I can gush enough about what a delicious meal this was!

The chowder was a perfect soup for a dark winter evening especially topped with a little parmesan cheese.  My husband found the risotto recipe and took on the challenge to make it.  It was good to eat the first day and for leftovers for several more days.

Vegetable Chowder (adapted from Moosewood Cookbook)

1 T olive oil

1 onion chopped (Open Oak CSA)

6 cloves garlic minced (Open Oak CSA)

1 t salt

1/2 t thyme

2 t basil

1 medium potato diced  (Open Oak CSA)

2 medium carrots, diced  

2 c chopped broccoli  

2 c chopped cauliflower  (Open Oak CSA)

2 c corn

2 c chicken broth

1 c milk (I think I even added heavy cream to the recipe!)

pepper

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil with salt, thyme, and basil until soft.  Add vegetables and saute for a few more minutes.  Add broth and cook until all vegetables are tender.  Add milk and puree part of the soup with an immersion blender.

The delicious food did not stop on Christmas Day either when we had my mom's Poppyseed Roll (it over rose, but still tasted great), a Paula Dean Pumpkin Cheesecake (made with delicata squash--I could live in this), Cornish Game Hens with wild rice dressing (my husband also took on this challenge and created an amazing main course dish for our holiday dinner, and Roasted Vegetables with Green Parsley Dressing (yumm! from my new favorite cookbook--thanks, Jessi!).  

Roasted Vegetables with Green Parsley Dressing (from Eating Close to Home)

The green parsley dressing is from my new favorite cookbook about eating locally grown foods seasonally in the Willamette Valley.  The color was fantastic on a bed of roasted beets, parsnips, garlic, and fennel from Open Oak CSA.

2 clove garlic Open Oak CSA

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/2 t whole fennel seeds

1/2 t dried taragon

1 c parsley Open Oak CSA

2T lemon juice

1 c olive oil

Blend everything together and serve over salad or roasted vegetables.

Delicata Squash Cheesecake from the Food Network
Graham Cracker Crust
1 3/4 c graham cracker crumbs (I was even able to find a brand without high fructose corn syrup!)
3 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and press into the bottom a springform pan (in this case a brand new pan I purchased on Christmas Eve, just so I could make this dessert).

Filling
 3 8-oz package of cream cheese
2 c cooked and squashed delicata squashed (from Open Oak CSA)
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 c sour cream
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
2 T flour
1 t vanilla

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Then add additional ingredients until well combined.  Carefully pour into crust.  Bake 350F for 1 hour.  Remove from and set sit at room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for 4 hours.

Rich Swedish cream dough with Poppyseeds From Amy Vandegrift collection- a holiday favorite!  Nothing from our CSA here, ties with the Christmas Blueberry Roll for my favorite Christmas treats.

You can make this dough in advance and keep it for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. It works best when thoroughly chilled

1 envelope active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup heavy cream (have been known to use regular milk)
¼ c evaporated milk
3 eggs yolks, slightly beaten
3 1/3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine at room temperature (although mine always comes right out of the refrig)

In a small bowl, stir yeast into warm water to dissolve. Allow to grow about 10-15 minutes.
Add and mix well the dissolved yeast cream, milk and egg yolks, and set aside
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt.
Into the flour mixture, cut in ½ cup butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir yeast mixture into flour just to moisten. (a light hand so as not to break down the butter too much)
Spread dough with a light film of butter to prevent drying, place into a buttered bowl. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days.

Poppy seed braid roll
One 12.5 oz can of Solo poppy seed cake and pastry filling
In a bowl, stir one egg white into the poppy seed mixture

Roll out dough into a rectangle
Cut on dough the long way in three even parts. I find a pizza cutter works best
Working with one strip at a time
Put 1/3 of the filling down the center
Draw the edges of the dough together over the filling and pinch to seal seam. Sometimes some seeds
escape
Repeat for the other two strips

On a greased cookie sheet carefully place each strip side by side so that you can braid them. I do find
that the dough is long enough to do this on a diagonal of the cookie sheet. Fold under at the top, braid
the strips and fold and pinch the bottom.

Beat the remaining egg white slightly and gently rub a thin layer of egg white over the top of the
roll, (discard the rest). Let the braid rise in a warm place free from drafts until double in bulk ( 50–60
minutes)

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 25 minutes.

Squash Gratin

Thank you Ellen for making this recipe for Nicole. Thank you Nicole for making it for us. And thank you Ellen for emailing me a scan of an evidently well loved copy of the recipe so we could adapt and enjoy it with our sweet meat winter squash. It is wonderful to eat fresh out of the oven and as leftovers.

Squash Gratin adapted from Provence the Beautiful Cookbook

4 T olive oil

1 onion (from CSA)

1/4 sweet meat winter squash roasted, peeled, and diced (from CSA)

salt

2 T water

½ c half and half

2 eggs

½ c Parmesan, Asiago, Romano cheese blend

Pepper

Nutmeg

Place sweet meat squash on a baking dish "flesh" side down. Poke holes in skin with a knife. Bake at 300F for 30 min. Remove from oven. Let squash cool and then peel. Cut squash flesh into 1 inch chunks.

Heat 2 T olive oil. Add onion and cook until transparent. Add squash, salt, and water cover and stir often until squash has reduced almost to a puree about 30 min (I still had lots of squash chunks in the final product and liked the texture). Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F. Spray baking pan with oil.

In a small bowl, whisk together half and half, eggs, 1/4 c of the cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir the egg mixture into the squash. Then pour into gratin dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 c cheese. Dribble 2 T olive oil over the surface in a criss cross pattern. Bake 375F 30 min.

Quinoa Casserole

This is a dinner that happens when the work week starts without a plan, and I try to make dinner while also trying to entertain a hungry four year old who wants to help.

I had two bags of quinoa that have been in the cabinet for six months, which I used as a starting pont to find something in my recipe books. I also had some sour cream (original calls for cottage cheese, jack cheese or tofu) and parsley left from holiday meals, and lots of spices. The original recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is officially for Spicy Quinoa and Potato Croquettes. I didn't have the time for monitoring anything on the stove top and was more in the mood for a casserole dish. I'm calling this Quinoa Casserole. It worked well, and everyone said it was good. I think we'll keep this recipe around.

Quinoa Casserole

3 potatoes peeled and chopped (from CSA)

1 /3 c dry quinoa

2/3 c water

1/2 onion chopped (from CSA)

olive oil

2 t paprika

1 t coriander

1 t cumin

1/2 t oregano

3 cloves garlic minced (from CSA)

1/4 c chopped parsley

1 egg

1/3 c sour cream

salt

1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook quinoa in water simmering until all water is absorbed (12-15 minutes). Boil potatoes in water until soft. Mash potatoes into the cooked quinoa.

Meanwhile, saute onion for a couple of minutes and then add in spices and salt. Once onions are cooked through, add in garlic. Add to quinoa/potato mix. Add in parsley, egg, and sour cream. Mix well. Place in casserole dish and cover with shredded cheese. Bake 300F for 20-25 minutes.

Sweet Meat Squash and Escarole Pizza (aka Rose Bowl Pizza)

Our last CSA bag of 2011 included half of an Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat Winter Squash. It's huge! We have already had too many sweets in our family recently so I didn't want to make a pie. I've already made a couple of different types of pasta with butternut squash this fall so I rejected the pasta ideas. There are many squash soup recipes available, but I recently made butternut squash chowder. I wanted to try something different with this squash. With a quick search, I found a recipe for caramelized butternut squash pizza. Homemade pizza with whatever seasonal toppings are in our refrigerator is a favorite in our family, and we always had pizza on Saturday nights when I was little. Here's a new combination for us with sweet meat and escarole. I realized as I was cooking the ingredients that the squash and greens are yellow and green. So this turned into Rose Bowl Pizza to celebrate the Ducks win today (which we ate during the last exciting quarter of the game)!

My husband declared of the pizza, "This is good! Really, really good!" It's a winner!

Pizza Dough

2 1/4 t yeast

1 T sugar

1 c warm water

3 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

2 3/4 c wheat flour (can use white flour and only 2 T oil)

Mix yeast, sugar and water together in a bowl (I use my mixer for everything); proof yeast for 15 minutes. Add in oil, salt, and wheat flour. Mix thoroughly. Let dough rise for 1 hour. Turn out onto floured board and roll into pizza pan shape. Add toppings. Bake 400F for 18-20 minutes.

Squash-Escarole Topping

1/4 sweet meat squash (from CSA)

1 bunch escarole chopped (from CSA)

1/2 onion chopped (from CSA)

3 cloves garlic (from CSA)

Olive oil

4 T Butter

1/2 t dried sage

black pepper

salt

Parmesan cheese

Sharp Tillamook Cheese

Place sweet meat squash on a baking dish "flesh" side down. Poke holes in skin with a knife. Bake at 300F for 30 min. Remove from oven. Let squash cool and then peel. Cut squash flesh into 1 inch chunks.

Melt butter in big sauce pan. Add in squash chunks and onions. Let cook until onions are soft. Add in sage, salt, and pepper and stir. Add in escarole and garlic.

Cook just a few minutes until greens are wilted.

Cover pizza dough with olive oil. Add cooked toppings (and make 4 year old approved corner with turkey pepperoni).

Top with cheese. Bake 400F for 18 minutes.

Mushroom Bisque Soup

A shitake mushroom block that I purchased at the 2010 Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Festival from Rain Forest Mushroom Company has sat in the bottom of my refrigerator for the past 14 months. I had already grown the oyster mushroom block, but just hadn't found the perfect time for the shitake block. Last week when I checked on it, the mushrooms were already starting to sprout! So I set up the mushroom block in an old fish tank, and in less than a week we had a full crop of mushrooms. My son thought it was great fun to harvest the mushrooms.

I have two favorite mushroom soup recipes in the Moosewood Cookbook. One is a Hungarian Mushroom Soup and the other Mushroom Bisque soup. Today was a Mushroom Bisque soup day! This the first time that I have made this recipe with anything other than button mushrooms. And I normally use plain old milk, but today used up some half-and-half in the refrigerator. We served ours with additional garlic toast for mopping up the soup and Ninkasi Sleigh'r Ale. Yum.

Mushroom Bisque Soup
2 fist sized potatoes chopped (from CSA)

1 1/2 c water
1 onion chopped (from CSA)

2 T olive oil

several cups of mushrooms chopped (grown at home)

1 t salt

2 cloves garlic (from CSA)

1/4 t thyme

3 T dry white wine

2 T soy sauce

fresh black pepper

1 1/2 c half and half (milk is fine too)

homemade croutons

green onions chopped(from CSA)

spinach chopped (from CSA)

Place chopped potatoes in a pan of water and boil until potatoes are soft.

Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add in mushrooms and salt and cover until mushrooms are cooked through. Add in garlic and thyme. When soft, drain water from potatoes and add to mushroom mixture. Stir in wine, soy sauce, pepper, and half and half. Reserve part of soup mixture. Blend the rest of the soup with a hand blender or food processor), and then mix again with chunky soup.

Serve with garnish of croutons, green onions, and spinach.

Croutons and Spinach

1 slice of bread per person cut into croutons sized pieces

Garlic

Olive oil

Butter

Spinach

Melt butter and add garlic. Add bread pieces and coat in butter/garlic mixture. Add olive oil and cook until browned. The croutons can be browned more in the oven (we didn't have time to do that and they were just as yummy).

After the croutons have cooked, add more olive oil and garlic and saute spinach until just wilted and bright green.

Happy New Year!

Okonomiyaki

Several years ago, my husband and I spent a wonderful December vacation in Japan with our friend Ben. He took us to an okonomiyaki restaurant in his hometown where we cooked our own vegetable and meat filled pancakes on a griddle at our table. The resulting okonomiyaki were very flavorful, and it was great fun to sit around the table and make our giant pancake dinner. We haven't had okonomiyaki in the United States, but a friend of a friend posted this version online recently. I thought it would be nice to try since I still had cabbage left from an earlier CSA bag, and everyone in my family likes bacon.

They were very similar to the Cabbage Fritters that I have made in the past. While we enjoyed having bacon for dinner, I'm not sure what was missing, but these did not taste like the ones we had in Japan. I do like the idea of a cabbage fritter with more vegetables in the batter.

Okonomiyaki
3 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 c water
1/2 t salt
2 T freshly grated ginger
1/2 head cabbage shredded (from CSA)
1 onion (from CSA)
6 mushrooms sliced (or chopped and added to batter)
1/2 lb bacon strips cut in half

Beat eggs and stir in water, flour, salt and ginger. Add scallions and cabbage. Heat a stove top skillet or griddle. Cook one piece of bacon in the pan and remove. Scoop some batter and make a pancake. Place mushrooms and bacon on top of the uncooked pancake. Cook until the bottom of the pancake is browned (3-4 minutes). Flip and cook the second (aka bacon side) until the bacon is browned.

First CSA Bag of the Season

Over the last decade, my husband and I have tried to eat more locally. We have frequented farmers' markets in Portland, Beaverton, Corvallis, and Eugene. We've grown vegetables in two different community gardens and at each of our homes. We've also joined four different Community Support Agriculture (CSA) farms.

We were fortunate to find and join the Open Oak Farm's winter 2010 CSA. It had the perfect mixture of staple vegetables and grains and new foods for us to try (and the best carrots I've ever eaten). We loved it so much that we joined again for Summer 2011 and are delighted that the Winter 2011 farm share has begun. This season we are splitting the vegetable share with our friends, who write a blog about the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market. We are also splitting a winter grain and bean CSA from Lonesome Whistle Farm.

I've been having a great time exploring new recipes each week to use the items from my vegetable share, and am looking forward to writing about them here.

Our first CSA bag of the season arrived last week. I spent several days looking through recipes in my newest cookbook Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen to find the perfect inaugural recipe for both a new slow cooker and for the winter CSA season. It was a winner! This recipe is designed to serve 6-8 people. We had enough for two adults for several meals and froze the rest for another day.

Super-Veggie Beef Stew

3 T oil

3 onions chopped (from CSA)

1/4 c tomato paste

6 garlic cloves minced (from CSA)

1 T thyme

1/3 c flour

1 1/2-2 c chicken broth

1 1/2 c beef broth

8 oz mushrooms (recommends portobello caps, I used regular buttons) chopped

1/3 c soy sauce

2 bay leaves

4 lb cubed beef (We only had 1lb and it was perfectly fine)

2-3 medium potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks

4 carrots cut into 1-inch pieces

3 parsnips cut into 1-inch pieces (from CSA)

8 oz kale cut (from CSA)

Heat 2 T of oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, tomato paste, thyme and garlic and cook until onions are softened. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out lumps. Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir in beef broth, mushrooms, soy sauce, and bay leaves. Season beef with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker. Toss potatoes, carrots, and parsnips with oil, salt, and pepper and place into foil packet. Lay foil packet on top of stew (keeps vegetables from getting too mushy).

Cover and cook 9-11 hours on low or 5-7 hours on high.

Remove foil packet. Let stew settle for 5 minutes and remove fat. Discard bay leaves. Place kale into slow cooker and cook 20-30 minutes. (However, we just cooked it a bit with olive oil on the stove top and then added it to our individual bowls before eating.)

Carefully open foil packet (watch for steam) and pour vegetables and juices into the stew. Let it heat through and mix about 5 minutes before serving.