salads & sides: wilted rainbow chard with red wine vinegar

Christmas break is finally over - the grands headed back to school today.  It's been a noisy, happy vacation with the three of them around, but hard to find time to experiment in the kitchen without interruptions.  We got five inches of snow and plunging temperatures, but they are hardy little souls, enjoying cross-country skiing and sledding even with the chilly air.  The kitchen got a good workout, especially when my daughter got a hankering for Indian food :  she cooked up a dizzying array of unfamiliar dishes;  some I liked, some not as much, but always interesting, and the scent of curry and cumin and Indian bay was far more exotic than my usual thyme and garlic.

But my heart is really happy with simple dishes, so when I found the gorgeous but small bunch of rainbow chard in the vegetable drawer ( bought on the spur of the moment simply because it was so pretty and fresh) I was delighted.  Checking on Pinterest, I found this terrific simple chard recipe that was perfect for a late lunch.  And best of all, it took maybe 20 minutes from start to finish!  

Wilted Rainbow Chard with red wine vinegar

6 leaves fresh rainbow chard

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, peeled and cut into slivers

1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into slivers

1/2 yellow pepper, cut into strips or dice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

a little water - about 2 tablespoons

kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

Cut the stems off the chard , gather them together, and slice across no more than 1 inch.

Slice the leaves lengthwise, then across into 2 inch wide pieces.

Place olive oil in saucepan or skillet and add the sliced stems, garlic, onions, and pepper cooking for about 5 minutes, then add the red wine vinegar and water, then finally, the chopped leaves.  Keep the heat on medium, and gently toss the mixture until the leaves are wilted.  Add the salt and pepper and serve while hot.

This made 2 small servings - next time I'll buy twice as much chard because it was SO good!     Happy January!

waiting for snow (and chunky apples and oats)

I have no idea where the time has gone, but keeping up with three small (grand) children on their Christmas breaks might have a little something to do with it.  And the scourge of strep, which my daughter has had five times now, the children several times .  I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be to have most of the family in bed, with the covers over their heads.

One thing 9 year old Isadora wanted asap was the chunky apples and oats for breakfast, as soon as her appetite came back.   I've now made it almost every morning for someone, but mostly for me.  And I've clarified a few directions from the original recipe ages ago, so that soon Izzie can make it herself, with adult supervision.  You will have to copy and paste, but I hope soon to have a clickable print and pin button from some talented blogger person:  that is NOT me, alas.

This oatmeal is so far from instant or gloppy oatmeal they are just barely related:  I simmer it for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, cover it, and let it slowly plump up the oats and gently cook the apple chunks.  It has definition and is delicious to savor with drizzles of honey or maple syrup, then topped with cream.  If you don't have fresh apples, you can use raisins or dried cranberries, which will plump up as the oats cook. SO good.

Chunky apples and oatmeal:

Makes about 4 servings.

2 medium apples, peeled and cut into dice or chunks
2  1/2 cups water 
1  1/2 cups rolled oats ( I use Quaker oats)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsalted butter

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, place the apples, oats, water, cinnamon, and butter.

Bring the water to a simmer and let cook on medium low for 10 minutes, uncovered.

Remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for at least another 10 minutes, stirring gently once or twice, before serving with cream, syrup, or honey.  The oats will be delightfully chunky, not sticky.

Snow expected here tonight - up to 9 inches!  It's been comfortable weather, a little cold, a dusting of snow, so this is my very first storm in Minnesota.  Below is the street our 5th floor apartment looks down on, with the trolley/train tracks in the middle, and the little hobbit houses looking over the green where my friend Mark plays bocce in the summer - so different a view from the forests and mountains of New Hampshire I was used to.  Be well, and onward to the New Year!

winter detox soup

Colds and strep have been cycling around the family for weeks, and today when my daughter asked for a spicy green soup for her third bout with strep, I reached for all those familiar herbs and spices we use so often in winter:  fresh ginger root, garlic, thyme (but then, I put thyme in EVERYTHING), sea salt, and dill.  Sometimes a few splashes of hot sauce find their way into a soup, but not today.

We always have bags and bunches of kale and arugula, scallions and potatoes, onions and frozen stocks, but lacking a vegetarian stock, I used the seasoned vegetable base she had from Better than Bouillon, then added a little chicken stock after I ladled out her portion.

SO good!  On my second cup as I look out the window at the freezing sleet blanketing the sidewalk, happy to be warm and inside today, then a smile as I see Stuart Little at the top of the Christmas tree in his wee little canoe - and far from the reaches of two year old Noah.  



winter detox soup

2 heaping cups of russet or red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 large peeled garlic clove, cut in half
several sliced scallions, greens included
a small chunk (about an inch) of fresh ginger, unpeeled

Place the potatoes, onion, thyme, garlic, scallions, and ginger in a pot and cover with water.  Bring to a low boil and cook until the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork.

When potatoes are soft, remove pot from heat and add:

a large tablespoon Better than Bouillon vegetable paste or chicken base
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
kosher salt to taste- I added two little pinches
2 handfuls of arugula.  If they have stiff stems, remove them before tossing into the pot.
2 large handfuls of packaged kale - mine was already de-stemmed and torn
1 teaspoon dried dill

Cook until the greens are soft, then puree in a blender, adding more stock or water if it seems too thick.  Taste carefully before serving.  
Enjoy - and stay healthy!

Thanksgiving - and welcome, December!

My first Thanksgiving in Minnesota was a joyously delicious one : I used Ina's recipe for her make-ahead turkey (don't ask why, because it was completely spontaneous) - it was perfectly cooked, tender, and moist , though my daughter missed the traditional stuffed turkey.  My daughter made those beautiful apple flowers, which I would love to learn how to make, AND a cranberry pie.  Mashed potatoes, and I'm quite sure we had salad and a green vegetable, but I've forgotten.   Almost as soon as we had cleaned up after Thanksgiving, we woke up to five inches of beautiful fluffy snow - the first snow I've seen out here.  I hope your Thanksgiving was delicious and warming, with friends and family, or thoughts of family.  And now - onto getting supplies to make these reindeer cookies with the grandchildren- and looking for a few sleds and a hill to race down!  Happy December 1st!

Chopped kale salad with cranberries, breadcrumbs, and clementine juice

Busy, busy!  Several windy days in Minneapolis which found me curled up with several Brian Jacques books discovered while unpacking the last few boxes, though I did make that glorious Tuscan Tomato soup on an especially chilly day.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I tinkered with that kale salad recipe I made in July today - making it with dried cranberries, no garlic or parmesan, and freshly squeezed clementine juice, but keeping the toasted breadcrumbs and olive oil.  It's such a pretty, unmessy side, and a nice addition to the table.  Instead of mincing it by hand, I used the Cusinart for chopping very, very carefully - just a few pulses.  The kale needs to be completely dry, if it isn't you may end up with kale pesto:)


 Chopped kale salad with cranberries, breadcrumbs, and clementine juice


1 large bunch dinosaur kale, very dry
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed clementine or orange juice
  (you can also substitute lemon juice - just use a little less)
3 slices bread, toasted, cooled, then pulsed in a Cusinart to make bread crumbs (you can use gluten-free bread for this if needed)
2 cups dried cranberries
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Tear the kale leaves off the stems.
Working in batches ( I did three batches), add the kale to a very dry food processor, keeping it loose and not packed down, and pulse three times until kale is finally chopped.  Remove to a bowl and continue in batches until all the kale is shopped.

Using the same food processor bowl to pulse the bread until it makes medium-fine crumbs.

Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan, heat, then add the breadcrumbs.  With heat on medium, stir the crumbs until toasted, then scrape into the bowl with the kale.  Toss gently, then add the cranberries , salt, and lemon or clementine juice, and toss again.
Taste and correct seasonings before serving.

Looking back at my posts, they all seem to be about kale, don't they?  I do love kale, and the kale around here is fabulous, whether big or small leafed, or dinosaur kale - it's all fresh and delicious.  I did make TWO carrot cakes for Anni's birthday, two days apart because the first went so quickly - (ahem, I might have had something to do with that:)

A Happy, wonderful Thanksgiving to you all!

my secret indulgence (sweet pastry cream)

A sunny, beautiful day again after a few very chilly mornings and finally, a freeze.  The household has been battling revolving strep for the last week or so;  today Anni, my daughter in law, has it for the second time, my daughter just succumbed, and Isadora is miserably sick.  The boys were sick last week with it - I hope lots of fresh air and keeping my bedroom door shut will keep me healthy and strep-free.

In between illnesses, they all went on a hike on Saturday, while I stayed home to cry over my computer and try to figure out how to fix the iPhoto problem - as in, finding a way to download my pictures from the camera into the second iPhoto page my daughter set up for me.  Total flop.  I went for a walk, came home, and whisked together my favorite sweet dessert - creme patissiere, straight.  No tart shell, no chocolate, no strawberries, just warm sweet pastry cream in my new little Weck pot, with my tiny spoon from Paris. 

Heavenly.

And this morning I figured out how to find the new pictures, wonder of wonders!  

creme patissiere (sweet pastry cream)


You will need a heavy-bottomed pot to make this, and a wooden spoon and a whisk.

1 cup milk
1 teaspoon good vanilla, or a scraped vanilla bean
1/4 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat the milk in the saucepan on medium heat, adding the vanilla and the sugar and stirring constantly.  When sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from heat and set aside.

In a bowl or mixer bowl, place egg yolks and sugar and whip until the mixture is thick and a pale, pale yellow, then add the flour and whip a little longer.

Add half the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisk or stir quickly, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking all the while, and set the pan back on the heat. The mixture will become thick very quickly - make sure you continue to whisk or stir.  When it's thickened, take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and eat immediately:)

This recipe can be doubled with no problems.

friday serendipity

Another week, another glitch in my posting format - once again iPhoto is not working, which may be the internet provider -  or gremlins cavorting around Blogger.  Many apologies and hopes it gets worked out.

In the meantime:

Today re-reading the book I gave to Isadora in 2012 about Julia Child, full of charming drawings and stories that make me chuckle all over again:  It's called Bon Appetit:  the delicious life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland, and it is grand and funny, and perfect for pretty much anyone on your Christmas list.  You can find it here.

Half the time I can't remember who I'm following anywhere, so it was a delightful surprise to start reading a blog called Dash and Bella, a vibrant, tumbling food/life/children blog with gorgeous pictures and a rollicking writing style.

And it being November, I'm fired up to start making all my favorite foods, from turkey to cranberries - you can find some drool-worthy recipes right here from Damn Delicious.

And cranberries from my home state of Massachusetts are showing up in the Minneapolis stores, leading to a flurry of baking these muffins.

I had a version of this butternut pasta dish a few weeks ago:  SO good, warming and filling and utterly delicious.




Have a wonderful weekend - and hope my glitches get fixed soonest!




Katrina