Thanksgiving Leftovers

One thing they don't tell you about hosting Thanksgiving is that you're going to have a house full of leftovers. So this weekend, it is our mission to use them up without recreating the same old dinner for every meal.

This morning, we started with pumpkin pancakes, using up some of the leftover puree from my pumpkin cheesecake bars. Sorry, everyone was too hungry to take any pictures. Dinner at 3pm the day before will do that to you.

And tonight, we put together our version of a Shepherd's Pie. Here's the approximate recipe we used:

Saute chopped carrots and celery in oil about 5 minutes until starting to soften. Add 1/2 chopped onion and cook over medium until everything is soft. Add 1-2 cups of chopped turkey and stir until warmed through. Toss in fresh minced parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Add 2-3 tablespoons flour, stir to coat and add 1 cup turkey (or chicken) stock or other liquid. Cook, stirring until thickened. Pour into baking dish, top with a layer of reheated mashed potatoes and shredded gruyere. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until topping is browned.

yum!

Here are some ways to use leftover cranberry sauce:

• stirred into plain yogurt, oatmeal, or yogurt with oatmeal - this is so good, I might just make more cranberry sauce as an excuse
• breakfast muffins
• cranberry cocktails

Pretty sure that tomorrow we'll be having fried eggs on leftover turkey hash. Still need ways to use up these mashed potatoes!

Thanksgiving Menu

This marked our first year since moving to Ohio that we were responsible for hosting Thanksgiving. It was a low-pressure, low-key affair with only our household and three guests. We started prep on Tuesday night, making the cranberry sauce and pumpkin puree for cheesecake. Wednesday we made the bread and dip, brined and dried the turkey overnight, and picked up dinner rolls and pie from AJ at Sassafras Bakery. Everything else was done at a leisurely pace Thursday morning. Our 12-lb turkey actually took less than three hours to cook. Wherever possible, we used local ingredients, many from our Wayward Farms CSA.

Considering the alternative was hours of driving on I-71 in traffic and bad weather, hosting Thanksgiving dinner is a no-brainer. The hardest part on Thursday was resisting the urge to concoct more dishes to fill the time. I look forward to doing it again.

The Menu:

Mark Bittman's feta cheese dip from How to Cook Everything and no-knead bread

Roast Turkey and Gravy (using Mark Bittman's method from How to Cook Everything)

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Not Pictured:

• Mark Bittman's basic stuffing from How to Cook Everything, with pork sausage in place of some butter
• Mashed Root Vegatables (potatoes, turnips and daikon radish)
• Turnip Gratin
• Green Beans in Vinaigrette
• dinner rolls and dutch apple pie from Sassafras Bakery

Tomorrow I'll post about some of our experiments in using up leftovers.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

I always hated that jelly in a can that people serve for Thanksgiving and was pretty turned off to the taste of "cranberry sauce" until I learned how super easy it  is to make your own. Here goes - probably the shortest recipe I will ever write:

1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and any bad-looking ones removed
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 cup sugar
water as needed

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, orange zest and sugar. Measure the orange juice and add water to bring it to 3/4 cup. Heat on medium-high to boil, then reduce to medium-low, cooking approximately 10-12 minutes until all the cranberries pop open and the liquid starts to thicken a bit. Remove from heat and refrigerate for at least an hour. The natural pectin in the fruit will help to "set" it into a gel, but it will ultimately be more like a jam, not jell-o.

Serve with thanksgiving dinner and stir leftovers into yogurt or use in a cocktail. Yeah, that's right, there's a cocktail that uses cranberry sauce. People are so clever.

Pasta with Lentils and Arugula

Never used arugula in a hot dish? Find some and don't know what to do with it? Or just looking for an awesome new dinner idea? Read on - I promise, this is the best thing I've made (or eaten) in weeks.

Excited to see local arugula still at the markets (Honey Run at Pearl Alley, Tuesdays and Fridays), I bought a ton, sure I would use it all for a few quick salads with beets and goat cheese. Then beets became scarce and I didn't know what to do. Fortunately I remembered one of my cookbooks has a pasta recipe using arugula that I'd wanted to try for a while.

The recipe is Pasta with Lentils and Arugula from Everyday Food. Rather than violate copyright and reproduce it here, you can find the instructions at this link. Through some magic involving excess cooking water and Parmesan, this veggie-heavy pasta dish is creamy and incredibly well balanced, despite the potentially strong flavor of arugula. It uses up those last few tomatoes in the garden, and adds a healthy dose of lentils, because you know you feel guilty you have them in the pantry and never use them. I substituted gemelli for the orichette, but any non-tubular short pasta would work well.

Make this!

potato leek soup

This is the easiest, most satisfying thing you can make in 20 minutes. I don't know why I don't make it more often, it's quick, and with a hunk of crusty bread, it's the ultimate comfort food. And if you are a beginner in the kitchen, this is a great one to learn. It requires no more complicated cooking skills than cutting, stirring, and if you get really fancy, using a blender.

1 tbsp butter or oil
4 medium potatoes
2 medium leeks, halved, washed thoroughly and chopped
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream or milk (optional)

Peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes. If you intend to puree them, it doesn't really matter, but if you want a soup with chunky bits, take care to make them halfway uniform in size. Halve the leeks and wash thoroughly between all the layers under running water. Chop into 1/2-in pieces.

Melt the butter (or heat the oil) in a saucepan over medium heat. Add potatoes and leeks, season liberally with salt and pepper, and cook while stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Add stock and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft. If you want a chunky soup, scoop out about half the potatoes and set aside. Stir in milk or cream, then blend until smooth. Add back vegetables if you reserved them and serve.

Easy tweaks:
This can be totally vegan (and lowfat!) if you skip the cream and the butter and use a vegetable stock. Or. you could go the other way and cook some bacon (set aside and added back at the end), using the grease instead of butter to saute the vegetables. Try incorporating chopped chives or thyme.

Favorite corn recipes - part 1

Corn season came early this year. Today I bought my fourth half-dozen ears of Ohio sweet corn at the Pearl Market. I have three go-to recipes using corn that we've been making for a few years, so I thought I'd share them. The first is a spicy mexican corn soup. It's got some heat, so adjust the amount of poblano and cayenne if you can't do spicy. I haven't made it yet this year, so I don't have a picture yet. I'll get around to it soon, I'm sure.

Sopa Elota (Mexican corn soup)

2 leeks (white parts only), cleaned & chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
4 ears fresh corn, cut from ear (or 16 oz bag frozen)
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1 tsp cayenne
3 c vegetable stock
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sour cream (or if you can get it, Mexican crema)

Saute leeks and garlic in the oil and butter over medium heat until leeks are softened but not colored.

Add poblano, corn, and onion. Cook for a minute or two. Add stock and cayenne. Bring just to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes.

Take off the heat. Add cilantro and crema. Blend the soup with an immersion blender (or in a blender or food processor) until smooth. Serve with a tortilla chip and cilantro garnish.

summer picnic favorites

Over the period of two weeks, we are going to five potlucks or cookouts. So I've been pulling out my old favorite recipes and trying out some new things. Here are some of my favorites in case you get stuck.

Summery Mediterranean Pasta Salad

I stumbled on this one a few summers ago and have been going back to it ever since. Its basic ingredients are tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and a balsamic vinaigrette. The other items are purely optional - use whatever's in the garden.

Cook 12 ounces short pasta according to package directions. Do not rinse.

While the pasta is cooking, whisk together 1/4 c. olive oil, 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and 1 finely minced clove of fresh garlic. If you like things spicy, you can add a few teaspoons of crushed red pepper.

Toss hot pasta with dressing until well coated.

Add 1 cup each of finely shredded red-leaf lettuce, diced tomato and fresh mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup of fresh basil, sliced thin, and about 2-3 Tbsp. grated parmesan.


Variation - Orzo salad with summer vegetables

Cook 2 cups orzo in salted water, according to package directions. Drain but do not rinse.

While pasta is cooking, mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 finely minced clove garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile, saute 1 small diced zucchini in oil until lightly golden on all sides.

Toss hot pasta with dressing until well coated. Add zucchini, 1 large diced tomato and refrigerate. When cool, stir in 1 cup crumbled feta.


Corn Tomato Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing

I originally saw this on the North Market blog, but they credit Edible Columbus and it's a bit easier to find from the Worthington Farmers Market facebook page. It's a nice, refreshing salad, though with the yogurt and  citrus, I find that the dressing separates as it sits around. I recommend taking it to the party with the dressing in a separate container and mixing at the last minute.

Ingredients:
10 ears sweet corn
2 lbs tomatoes, chopped into 1/2″ cube
3/4 cup chopped red onion
3/4 cup whole milk yogurt
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
juice of one lime
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Bring large stock pot of generously salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, shuck corn to remove husks and silks.
2. When water is just at the boil, add corn and cook until just tender, about five minutes. Drain; cool cobs to room temperature.
3. When cool enough to handle, cut corn from the cob with a sharp knife.
4. Combine in a large bowl: corn, tomatoes, and onion. Season with salt and pepper.
5. In blender or food processor, combine all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Toss dressing with vegetables. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature to combine the flavors. This salad can be held longer covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature to serve. Makes 8-10 servings.


Pickled Red Onions

This is great on grilled brats or hot dogs with some spicy mustard. I started by making Mark Bittman's pickled beets and discovering the onions in the mix were delicious on their own.

Slice 2 red onions into thin rings (a mandoline is your best bet)

Put 1/2 tsp allspice berries, 1/8 tsp whole cloves and 1/4 cinnamon stick in a piece of cheesecloth and tie into a knot so they won't float away. Or, it may be easier to use ground spices.

Bring 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp kosher salt and your spice packet (or ground spices) to boil in a small saucepan. Add onions and stir to cover, cooking for a minute or two until slightly soft. Remove spice packet, pour the mixture into a storage container and cool in fridge.

zucchini and pea risotto

Stumbled on this recipe at the absolute perfect time - I had just purchased zucchini and peas at the Pearl Alley Farmers' market earlier in the week. Risotto is such a great dish - rice is always in the pantry and it is a great way to use whatever leftover veggies are on hand, maybe with a little bacon or mushroom to punch it up.

This is from Great Food Fast, a publication of Everyday Food. I picked up this book for around $12 at Costco and have been truly surprised. It's organized by season (though this was in the spring section which is a tad early for zucchini around here, but thanks to the weather this year, we speaked it in just under the wire). It was a hit with our whole family, including the husband - despite the lack of any meat - and our twin toddlers, who can be very fickle eaters, rejecting one day what they happily ate the day before.

4-4/12 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or stock + water, depending on what you have)
3 tbsp butter
1 lb zucchini (about 1 1/2 large) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 c dry white wine
1 cup peas (they call for frozen, but I shelled them myself)
1/2 c grated parmesan

Chop all the veggies and put broth (or broth/water mixture) in a saucepan over medium heat to warm.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in large saute pan over medium. Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until golden brown - about 8 to 10 min. Remove zucchini to a plate (reserving as much melted butter as you can. If pan is not well coated, you can swirl in a tbsp or so of olive or vegetable oil.

Reduce heat to medium low and cook onion until soft - about 5 min. Season with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Raise heat to medium, add rice and cook, stirring until translucent at the edges - about 3 min.Add the win and cook until absorbed - about 2 min.

Add 1 cup hot broth at a time, stirring until almost completely absorbed and repeat until rice is just tender. If you're using fresh peas, add them with the last addition of broth so they will cook (frozen can be stirred in after the broth is almost all absorbed and rice is tender, just to warm them up). Add zucchini when liquid all absorbed, remove from heat and stir in last tbsp butter and parmesan.

One last comment. This recipe didn't include any fresh herbs and I'm an idiot for not trying it, but I think it would be really good with some chopped mint or parsley stirred in at the very end. I'll try it next time.

Storing Fruit

Fruit is here and it's hard keeping up with it all. Rhubarb is long gone and strawberries are getting harder to find. Here are some strategies I've used to keep some of it around a little longer. In some cases, these methods will keep for up to a year, long enough to last you until the next crop is available.

Cherries
frozen pie filling
individually frozen

Strawberries
simple syrup (previous post)
fruit leather
preserves
frozen yogurt

Black Raspberries
infused vodka

Apricots
dried
fruit leather

For strawberry preserves, I used the heirloom preserves recipe in the Ball Blue Book of Canning. Processed in a boiling water bath in 1/2 pint jars, this will keep all year. It is basically whole fruit suspended in a fruity syrup, so it's a great sweetener. I love it stirred into yogurt muesli (I make mine by combining 1/3 cup oatmeal and 2/3 cup plain yogurt the night before) with dried fruit and nuts.

The technique for fruit leather is really the same no matter the fruit. Wash (and pit, if necessary, though I don't bother to peel) and puree in the blender. Then bubble in a sauce pan, adding just enough sugar to round out the flavor if it's a bit tart. Simmer until it thickens a bit, then spread 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick onto a fruit leather tray of your food dehydrator, or you can also line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and spread it here and leave it in the sun on a hot day covered with cheesecloth to keep the bugs out. Dry until the surface is no longer sticky. Roll up and put in airtight container.

Infusing vodka is also really easy. Clean your fruit and pour vodka over it. Close the container and leave on the counter, shaking it a bit every day for a week. Then strain through a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Use with sparkling water to make a really simple cocktail, or get creative.

Again, I used the Ball Book of Canning recipe for cherry pie filling - basically fruit, sugar and cornstarch, and simmering until thick. Freeze in airtight container (I use a ziplock, pushing out all excess air before sealing). You can put in jars for canning, but I have never made a fruit pie and only made enough for one, so it wasn't worth the trouble. I'll get around to making the pie within the month, I'm sure.

English Peas are here

english peas, purchased at the Pearl Market on my way to work today

When I was five, we lived in a very small town on a quarter acre and my parents had a very large garden. It's my only childhood memory of gardening, unfortunately, since that was fairly quickly followed by divorce and duplex living in a larger city. But my mom grew peas - proper little round peas that grow inside of a pod. And we would pop open the pods and scoop out the peas into a bowl for cooking (many never made it that far, since they taste yummy enough to eat straight from the pod).

Somehow I completely lost this memory and it took me until last year to try english peas again.Shelling them by hand is a labor of love, considering most pods contain 4-6 little peas. But now that I have little almost-two-year-olds whose only beloved green vegetable are (frozen) peas, I had to buy them as soon as they showed up in the market (2 pints for $5 at Pearl Market).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, I'll post again once I figure that out. But knowing that this is a very fleeting moment (seems like last year english peas were only in the market for a couple of weeks), I'm already thinking of how to preserve them to hang onto this moment a bit longer. Thankfully Google, and a blogger named Shaw Girl, provide the answer. She put together a lovely and well documented post on exactly how you can save your english peas by freezing for use all year long. Really, it's better than anything I could do, so I present to you, Shaw Girl's "Preserving Summer's Bounty - English Peas." And, thanks to one of her commenters, I am now putting a vacuum sealer on my Amazon wish list. I hate freezer burn!

Rhubarb Simple Syrup w/ Canning 101

Because what makes more sense on a hot & humid day than boiling a huge pot of hot water? These two lovelies are two pints of rhubarb simple syrup cooked up this afternoon with one of my weekend market purchases.

Don't stop reading if you've never canned anything. You can always make the syrup and store it in the fridge. And if you're brave enough to buy some jars at a hardware store, it's way easier than you probably think. Let's start with the syrup:

Rhubarb Simple Syrup
3 parts rhubarb, cleaned and chopped
3 parts water
2 parts sugar

Cut off the ends of the rhubarb (but do not "string it", you want the red outer layer to make it pretty and pink), clean off any visible dirt and chop into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Measure. Use the ratio above to figure out how much water and sugar you need by volume. I had about 3.5 cups rhubarb, which once processed, made enough syrup for these two pint jars and enough left over for me to have a cocktail or two tonight. yay me!

Throw everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. The rhubarb will be super mushy and the water should be pinkish. Don't mash up the rhubarb more than necessary, as you don't want a cloudy syrup. Let drain into a bowl through a fine-mesh strainer, but let it drip on its own, don't press. You can stop here, or if you want to can it, set the bowl contents aside while you get your jars ready.

Canning 101

Bring a big pot of water to a low boil. Make sure before you start that the height of the water is taller than your jars! Gently lower your clean jars into the water and throw in the lids. Sterilize jars for 10 minutes (you can do this while the syrup's cooking if you were smart and read ahead).

While your jars are heating, warm up your syrup (transfer it back from the bowl to the original pan and heat it up). After 10 minutes, remove the jars using tongs, carefully tipping upside down to get the water out. Use the tongs or one of those fun magnet things that come with a canning kit to retrieve the lids. 

Carefully pour hot syrup into hot jars and fill to 1/2" from the top. Wipe any stray syrup from the lip of the jar with a clean towel and put lid on top. Screw on canning rings and twist until snug (do not force). If you have extra syrup that won't fill a jar, store it in a container in the fridge and use it up over the next couple weeks. All that sugar should preserve it pretty well.

Gently lower your jars back into the boiling water. You might want to use the handy jar lifter tool that comes with a canning kit. Once water returns to a boil, turn down the heat a bit so that it isn't boiling too hard but is still boiling, and set timer for 10 minutes. Make sure the jars don't touch each other and that the bubbles don't make them bounce around (you don't want them to break). I don't use a rack, but a real canning set up will include one to hold your jars and make getting them in and out of the water a lot easier.

After 10 minutes, lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter, and let cool on the counter for 12-24 hours. In the next few minutes you will probably hear a "pop" as the lid forms a seal. Check the lids after they're cool by removing the ring, lift up on the lid to see if it will come off. If not, it's sealed. Store in pantry until your next party or summer cocktail craving.

What do I do with Rhubarb Syrup?

You can make a refreshing summer drink by putting an ounce or two into a glass of cold seltzer. 

Or, to make a basic fizzy cocktail, add a shot of rum or vodka.

Or, skip the seltzer, shake 2 ounces syrup with 1 ounce vodka/rum/tequila and juice of one lime, strain and you've got a cosmopolitan/daiquiri/margarita.

Pickled Asparagus

Inspired by both this month's can jam challenge (featured ingredients: rhubarb and asparagus) and by the Wild Goose asparagus fest cooking competition, I decided to try pickling asparagus. I pretty much like anything pickled. Last year I pickled my Wayward Seed Farm CSA wax beans. Sour? Check. Salty? Check. Damn, I wish I'd known how to do this when I was pregnant!

Here is the recipe I used, from the book Putting Up. To be honest, I didn't love the book, and returned it to Amazon after jotting down one or two things in it I wanted to try. Just being honest in case you're looking for book ideas.

Prepare jar(s) or other quart-sized container(s). If you use a container you want it to be long and skinny so you don't have to cut your asparagus too short to fit. I went with a quart canning jar.

To each jar, add:
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 tsp celery seed
1 slice lemon, peel on
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic

Trim asparagus and insert one stalk into the jar/container you plan to use, cutting it about 1/2 inch shorter to fit. Using that as a template, and cut all your asparagus to the same length. Here is where the right container might come in handy - a tall, skinny jar would be great, because there is less asparagus wasted. However you can use the trimmed ends to use soup, so all's not lost!

Blanch asparagus in boiling water for 10 seconds, then transfer to cold water bath or rinse in a colander under cold water to stop cooking. Load as much asparagus into the jar as will fit.

Meanwhile, bring pickling solution to a boil (amounts are per quart of pickles you will make):
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 tbsp salt

Fill jars with the hot liquid and cool on counter, then store in fridge. If you are a canning type, you can do a big batch and at this point, process jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes (I think. this is one of the reasons I didn't keep this book - it leaves out important instructions like that).

I really liked these pickles. They are crisp and tangy and great as a snack with a sliced, hard cheese. Jenny didn't like them. She thought they were too pickly. So, your mileage may vary.

Asparagus Relish

I had intended to keep playing around with this idea until I landed on a recipe I really liked, but some twitter friends (you know who you are) outed me. The idea is to come up with something new and unique for the Asparagus festival at Wild Goose next weekend. I tried cream of asparagus soup, asparagus risotto, but for whatever reason I could not amplify the flavor of the asparagus. It tended to get lost in whatever I made. So I headed in another direction and decided to try something suitable for canning. I love relish, mostly on hot dogs and sausages in the summer, so I leafed through my Blue Book Guide to Preserving and landed on a recipe for zucchini relish I thought might be easily adapted.

Sorry I have no photo, but imagine relish and you've got it!

Somewhat prematurely, here is the first draft of a recipe for asparagus relish:

1 cup asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1 tbsp salt
1/3 cup sugar (* I'll come back to this)
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 cup cider vinegar

Combine asparagus, onions and peppers, sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain, rinse and drain again.

Combine salt, sugar, celery seed and vinegar in saucepan and bring to a boil. Add drained vegetables and simmer 10 min.

* I halved the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. I'm still new to canning, but I used to believe that sugar had something to do with preserving and so followed the recipes precisely. I've seen heard that it's more about acid levels that matter, and either way, I had no intention of canning this very small batch (it's half a recipe from the book), I cut it way down. It's still on the sweet side, a bit like a sweet pickle relish.

We ate it on water crackers on top of a thin layer of goat cheese. Not sure I recommend the combination but other people seemed to like it. I might try a more neutral cheese the next time, or just eat the relish plain.

If I keep at this, I'm going to do the full recipe and split it in half - one with no sugar and one with half again as much as I used here and see which I prefer. I'm also going to try adding a little lemon zest since it's complimentary to asparagus, and maybe throw in spices other than celery seed.

Since this was derived from a Ball's recipe, it is suitable for canning. Double up the amounts shown above and you should get 2 pints.

Is anyone interested in a recipe for pickled asparagus? I made this too, and thought it turned out really tasty. Crispy, tart and great for munching. If I find more asparagus in the markets this weekend, I am going to make up a big batch for canning.

Strawberry Jam Bars

Around here, the first fruit that shows up at markets in the spring are strawberries. I can't help buying them, even though I still have some in the freezer from last year. I used a quart to make freezer jam from the Ball's canning recipe, with no intention of trying to can the stuff. I froze a couple cups and still had about three cups left. One went into thumbprint cookies, another I've been using as a waffle topping for breakfast, but I still had  too much jam! Then I remembered a recipe for Raspberry Squares from the Cooks Illustrated people (in "The New Best Recipe"). Here is my adaptation:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats *
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool, cut into 12 pieces
1 cup strawberry jam
* NOTE: you could use 1/2 cup chopped nuts in place of 1/4 cup of the oats. I have a kid with a peanut allergy and avoid nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x9 pan with oil, line with foil and spray again

In an electric mixer, combine flour, oats, sugars, soda, salt (and nuts) at low speed until combined. With mixer on low, add butter pieces and beat until well blended and resembling coarse sand or little pebbles.

Move 2/3 of the mixture to the pan and press evenly to form the base. Bake until the edges start to brown - about 25 minutes for me. Remove and spread the jam evenly over the top of the bottom layer. Sprinkle the rest of the topping on the jam and bake until the top is starting to brown and jam is bubbling out the sides - about 35 minutes.

Cool completely (1-2 hours) and remove from pan. You may have to trim off the very edges if any of the foil sticks, but it's OK, it makes it look prettier to have a square edge anyway, and you can eat most of the trimmings! Cut into squares and enjoy.

Strawberry Rhubarb Margaritas

Another great May treat is rhubarb, which is highly seasonal and only available for about a month each year. It looks like celery and has a tart flavor, which is great on its own, but pairs extremely well with strawberries. One of my earliest food memories is strawberry rhubarb pie.

So I grabbed a couple pounds of rhubarb and a quart of strawberries at the Worthington Farmers' Market the other day and made a batch of syrup (recipe below) to enjoy in various cocktails this week. It should be a nice change from beer, which is my go-to drink in fall/winter. The first thing I made was a margarita, but I plan to try it in a daquiri and cosmo later in the week (the only real variation here is the liquor used). Here's the approximate recipe I used, and it came out great! You could go heavier on the tequila if you like your drinks strong (I'm a huge lightweight so i need to water down my drinks or pass out at 8 p.m.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita
(makes 1 drink. scale up for pitchers)
1/4 cup strawberry rhubarb simple syrup
1 oz tequila
juice of one lime
splash of Grand Marnier or Cointreau

Shake well with ice, strain, enjoy!


Strawberry Rhubarb Simple Syrup

1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
6-8 sliced strawberries (enough with the rhubarb to bring it to around 2 cups)
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups water

Heat in a saucepan to boil, then reduce and simmer until the liquid is flavorful and rhubarb is mushy beyond recognition - about 15 minutes. Strain out the solids in a fine mesh strainer (don't press or it will be cloudy) and return the liquids to the pan, returning to boil. Boil over medium about 5-10 minutes. I didn't boil hard enough or long enough to reduce into a true syrup, I just wanted some intensely flavorful liquid to use in making cocktails.

When life gives you lemons, save them!

Simple tip. When you buy lemons (technically NEVER seasonal in Ohio, so you've got serious food miles invested) and it seems you might not use them, don't let them get moldy or dry out. Instead, juice them and freeze it in small portions using an ice cube tray. I picked up this cute pink silicon one at Ikea for about a dollar. Each cube is a tablespoon. Once frozen, I save them in freezer bags for future use. This works for other citrus fruit (and also a way to freeze unused pesto, tomato paste and chipotle in adobo).

I'm not sure about freezing the zest, but I'm thinking of throwing a teaspoon in with one of the cubes next time for use in recipes that call for both. 

Creamed Orzo with Baby Leeks and Parmesan

I had always envisioned starting this project with ramps, since they are pretty much the first vegetable to come into season. So when I heard on twitter that some of the farmers were already appearing on Saturday mornings at North Market, I headed down there to see what I could find. No dice for ramps - guess you have to come really early.

What I did find were some cute little baby leeks. The woman selling them wasn't particularly helpful. When I asked her if they could be substituted for scallions, she didn't have much to suggest other than to say that even the green part could be eaten.

So, with that guidance, I set out to find a a leek recipe and substitute. I randomly found this recipe thanks to google, so given that, the results were far better than they had any right to be. The effect of reducing the stock and adding the parmesan resulted in a creamy texture, very similar to risotto, but taking about a quarter of the time to cook.

I highly recommend this recipe, and if you don't have baby leeks, use a couple full size leeks in their place, sliced thin.

Creamed Orzo with Leeks and Parmesan
Based on Zola Gorgon’s recipe at http://www.arcamax.com/recipes/s-119362-487215

1 bunch baby leeks, cleaned and cut into ½ inch lengths
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup orzo pasta
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock*

1/4 cup grated parmesan

½ tsp salt
pinch pepper (or to taste)
pinch nutmeg (or more to taste)

Clean leeks – slicing stems lengthwise and separating layers – rinse in multiple changes of cold water.

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions, but stopping 1 minute early.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in oil in large sauté pan. Add leeks and cook over medium until soft. Add chicken stock and simmer until stock is almost completely reduced. Whisk in flour and add milk. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Cook 1-2 minutes until thickened. Turn off heat and stir in parmesan and serve.

*note: we make our own chicken stock and always have some in the fridge or freezer. that is the husband's department, and hopefully will be the subject of a post very soon.

Blog Origins

[July 2014 ed note: my focus has rather drifted since starting this blog in 2010. One of these days I'll try to say something more definitive about what I'm trying to do, but in short, we've gone beyond eating seasonally and are seeking ways to live more sustainably and appreciate the world around us]

Inspired by books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and desiring to reduce footprint, our family have become very engaged in the Central Ohio food culture. We visit farmers' markets every week during the summer, and whenever they happen in winter. We have a small garden at home, and subscribe to a fruit and vegetable CSA 25 weeks of the year. Even in winter, eat all local meat and as much local produce we can get our hands on. Some of this is straight from our pantry, thanks to freezing, drying and canning last year's harvest.

The purpose of this blog is to focus us on what's available at different times of the year, and provide an excuse to try lots of new ways to use it or preserve it for future use.

We'll post pictures, recipes, experiments, and ask for your ideas. I say we because I'm trying to convince my husband to contribute (he really handles everything meat related, including grilling, smoking, making stock and sausage). We'll see...