Variations on a wild ramp

The season for ramps started early this year after the March warm up. While walking our yard to see what little flowering bulbs were up, I noticed that all the ramps I had planted in earlier years were already green. Since I am still trying to cultivate my ramp patches and I wasn’t prepare to harvest any at home, I grabbed David for his one trek of the year to the woods along the Cambridge Battenkill road to dig ramps.

The earliest ramps are milder in flavor than the later harvest, but still rich in aroma (ok – they stink). The first batch had a tender white base, slimmer than a pencil; they cooked up in a minute. I slivered the first greens into ribbons and stirred into omelets. Others were coarsely chopped and tossed into olive oil and sliced potatoes for a variation on potato Lyonnaise.

Next weekend with guests arriving we’ll dig a fresh supply and work on a few more new recipes, starting with some from this year’s list.

A couple notes of caution. The first is that ramps truly do stink. After giving them a good cleaning in the kitchen sink, be sure to move all the waste to your compost or outdoor trash. Dropping any leavings in your kitchen trash will swiftly yield a house ripe with ramp. When storing ramps in the fridge, double bag them and make sure any delicate food items that pick up flavors (like cream or butter) are thoroughly sealed. The same goes for ramps in the freezer.

The second warning, and I always forget this with the first ramp meal – some people are more sensitive to gastric upset than others. The quantity eaten can have a direct impact on your feeling of unwellness. Don’t start the season with a plate full of sautéed ramps. Stir a handful into a recipe and enjoy them. There are 6 weeks of fresh ramp harvesting – which can easily be extended into summer after the greens whither by digging the bulbs before flowering, and with freezing and preserving methods.

I have two recipes in the new Ramp cookbook pictured here – available at Amazon.

Ramp recipes for 2012

Ramp and fingerling Lyonnaise

Braised Belgian Endive and ramps

Gruyere gougeres with smoky bacon and chopped ramps

Cream of baby portobello mushrooms with drizzled with emulsified ramps

Slow cooked rapini and ramps (with spicy Italian sausage)

Dry-cooked curried ramps bulbs and cauliflower

Ramp rub for grilled pork

Ramp butters: compound, white, and green

Pickled ramps: sweet and sour, sweet and spicy, and chutney-style

Tapenade of ramps with green olives and capers

Relish of oil-cured ramp whites and roasted red peppers

Peppered and ramp-wrapped and roasted sustainable catfish or artic char or cod

recipes to come….

And please always harvest sustainably. Read more about it here before you go foraging:

http://www.uvm.edu/~bbeckage/Manuscripts/Rock.BiologicalConservation.2004.pdf

Raspberry Oscar Cake

Go Hugo!

Sunday night of a cold weekend, having stayed in both days doing the usual winter weekend activities, which, despite my promise to myself to take weekends off, turned out to be late breakfasts, David drawing and me working on editing projects at the computer.  Here it is after 8 pm, the Oscars are starting shortly and we want something sweet. The fridge and pantry options are slim as, having stayed in all weekend, I skipped the food shopping, too.

Cakes are chemistry – you need the right balance of leavening, fats, proteins, sugar and flour to succeed, so it’s not a good idea to casually mess with substitutions. And yet I can seldom resist the impulse to do so.  Short on key ingredients I came up with the following:

• ¾ c light whole-wheat flour combined with ¾ semolina flour.
• 3 tablespoons of butter plus 3 tablespoons of homemade lard
• ½ c plain yogurt with 2 T water instead of milk.
• 2.5 c frozen raspberries instead of strawberries.

Come June when I start freezing strawberries I’ll be careful to grade them into large and small, and then cut all the large ones in half. It won’t make any difference for the berries that make it into batches of jam but it will be a huge help when I want to make crisps or cakes, and the smaller berries work better in pancakes. Fortunately, I have a bag of flash frozen raspberries (thanks to Ed the Mailman) ready to go.

This single layer cake recipe works well just as written below  – but it also worked beautifully with the substitutions. It is similar to my cornmeal lemon cake, but with a softer crumb.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for cake pan

1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup less 2 tablespoons granulated sugar – (set aside the 2T for sprinkling)
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved or 2.5 cups of raspberries or black berries

Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9- or 10-inch spring form or cake pan. The 10-inch will make a cake of lower height (which reminds me that Randy Newman is missing in action this year.)

Whisk flour or flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

In a larger bowl using  an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry ingredients gradually, mixing until just smooth, but not longer.

Pour into prepared cake pan. Arrange berries on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F (to avoid drying out the berries) and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (The extra moisture from the berries accounts for a longer baking time but the cake should be fully set). Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with or without lightly whipped cream (but with cream is always preferred!) in time for the best supporting actor award.

And the leftovers make a great coffee cake for the morning after.

Cornmeal Lemon Cake

 

Warm cornmeal cake with caramelized almond topping. without a fire place, we share dessert with tea by the glow of the TV

An upside down skillet cake made with yogurt

This upside down cake combines the sticky, crunchiness of a sugar-glaze with  cornmeal and lemon made extra moist with yogurt.  The intensity of citrus can be enhanced with lemon extract. Without it, add the zest of a second lemon. In any case, layering the flavors makes a difference, combining juice, zest and either lemon extract or oil. However, don’t bother buying imitation lemon extract – it will never taste right.

The recipe is very flexible: using light whole-wheat flour will yield a slightly heavier and dryer texture. However, a good cake flour or a gluten-free AP-blend triple-sifted with a tablespoon of cornstarch, results in a perfectly textured cake. Substitute a half cup of almond flour for the cornmeal to bring the almond notes forward. Reduce the sugar by ¼c for a breakfast cake to be served with fresh fruit.

Furthermore, because this is a classic upside down cake, you could layer the buttered and sugared pan (without the nuts) with plums pitted and cut into 1/8ths, or peeled and sliced peaches (other stone fruit will work as well) and bake until the cake sets and the fruit is soft and bubbling. Using fresh cranberries will result in a perfect alternative dessert for Thanksgiving.

In its simplest form – skip entirely the almond/brown sugar topping. Just butter the pan, and bake the cake. Serve it warm all by itself, with a dollop of honey sweetened whipped cream, a spoonful of good jam or with a compote of warm berries, peaches or caramelized apples.

When using whole wheat or a gluten free flour this cake is at its best served warm or on the day it is baked.

The cake

¾ cup cake flour (sift before measuring)

1 cup cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, warmed in shell in hot water 5 minutes

1 1/3 cups low-fat plain yogurt

Juice of ½ lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

½ t pure lemon extract (only use pure lemon – not artificial)

1/2 t vanilla extract

The topping

2 to 3 T butter

¼ c light brown sugar

1 c sliced or slivered almonds or 2 c sliced fruit

Prepare the pan

Set oven to 350, baking rack set in the middle of the oven. Melt 2-3 T unsalted butter in 10” cake pan or cast iron skillet. The extra 1T of butter will ensure that the topping doesn’t stick as the pan cools. Brush the butter up the sides. Sprinkle pan with ¼ c brown sugar and the sliced or slivered almonds. (Skip this step if you want to make a plain cake, just generously butter the pan.)

Make the cake: Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt. In a separate bowl beat butter, sugar, and eggs with an electric mix on medium speed until pale and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, zest, and the lemon and vanilla extract.

Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the yogurt, just until blended, scraping down side of bowl as needed. Do not over mix. Spread batter evenly over nuts/fruit.

Bake until cake is golden, and tests dry when a wooden pick is inserted into center, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate and serve warm.

If, after turning the warm cake out, some of the sugar sticks to the pan, simply place the pan on a warm stove burner for a few seconds until the butter and sugar soften, then use an angled spatula to carefully spread the hot mixture on top of the cake.

If served right out of the oven, the topping with be soft. As the cake cools the caramelized almond topping becomes crunchy.

Grits and Greens: Holiday breakfast for overnight guests

New Year’s day breakfast

After holiday nights indulging in sweets and alcohol, breakfast needs to be an antidote: hearty and umume, but also nourishing and comforting. Hot cereals like oatmeal or grits are warming to the core and carry us through the afternoon until we return tot he kitchen to prepare early festive suppers. On these days of celebrating two meals are enough – leaving a little room for nibbles from the many trays of cookies and candies both home-baked and gifted.

Christmas morning breakfast we made this breakfast, one of our favorite menus, a sort of rustic elegance (inspired by Susan Quillio of Spoonful Catering), flexible to the ingredients readily available to you, and can be made with animal products or vegan. It makes us so happy we repeated it a second morning, without guests.

About the hot cereal:

I don’t like to take too long getting breakfast ready while everyone drinks the first pot of coffee or tea. Grits are fast cooking, made savory with whatever flavors appeal to you – herbs, sharp or creamy cheeses (even blue cheese), chicken stock or other broths. Polenta is another luscious option, but it takes longer to simmer and open up, the slow stirring dissipates an initial bitterness. Make a batch the night before or set up a crock-pot to cook overnight. Consider making risotto for dinner the night before, then reheat with extra stock and stir in a sharp cheese to serve in place of grits.

Breakfast for 4 to 6

Pumpkin hummus with chickpea crackers

pumpkin hummus with two versions of chickpea crackers

Old friends have moved to Greenwich and we are delighted to have them here. They now live at the far end of the village, a perfect walking distance with just enough of a hill to make a visit to them an aerobic exercise. Their plans for the 3-acre plot include planting a small orchard and developing of both parterre and potage gardens.  Come spring we’ll go for some wild walks on the property to see how good the foraging is.

Both are eating very low fat diets, emphasizing whole grains while deemphasizing animal products. As a host I love the challenge to design a menu that meets the needs of my guests of honor, while being completely (and surprisingly) satisfying to the rest of the guests. It tests my creativity and gets me to try some recipes I might not otherwise explore.

I just had an amazing tapas platter at New World Bistro Bar that featured their pumpkin hummus. It was a eureka moment – I came home and tried to duplicate it.  Hummus is versatile; you can make it garlicky and bright with lemon, or make it sweet with the addition of honey or maple syrup. Mine had both one clove of garlic plus the maple. All my guests loved it as it was – I would prefer to go all-sweet or add extra garlic – not both.
Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of olive oil.

Blue-ribbon cherry almond biscotti

biscotti in gift packages, ready for giving

Biscotti have become ubiquitous. They are easy to make, store well and lend themselves to dipping in both coffee and chocolate. I don’t know why I started baking biscotti. Had you asked me back then I would have said I don’t like them – too hard, too bland. Cherry almond biscotti is the first of the recipes I developed almost 20 years ago. I had a vague idea about a baking business that swiftly blossomed into a small home industry and then slowly tapered off until I returned to just baking for friends and for pleasure.

Biscotti, (the plural of biscotto) is also a generic word for cookies made with the twice-baked technique.  When in Italy, if you want one of the long dry cookies we call biscotti you would ask for cantuccini. In any case, they are frequently presented traditionally flavored with anise, often containing almonds or filberts.

For the first time this year, I entered the county fair with two cookie recipes (biscotti and a chocolate fleur de sel) and one toffee. I won ribbons for each, the blue ribbon for my cherry almond biscotti.

My recipe has a little butter that makes them less hard and easier on the teeth, and I add layers of flavors so they are a more complex cookie than traditional recipes. I have tried cutting the sugar back on all my recipes. But I added a little back to the batch I sent to the fair, and I have to admit, I like them better a little sweeter.

Usually I slice the logs after they have partly cooled. Using a serrated knife, I cut ½” wide slices. This week as I am finally starting my Christmas gift baking, I baked a batch that I didn’t have time to cut until hours later. Allowing the logs to cool completely permitted me to slice ¼” cookies without crushing or crumbling. I love these extra thin versions! I’ll still be cutting the thicker version, but I think every batch will now have a portion of each size.

Holiday dinner for old friends/new neighbors

Old friends have moved to Greenwich and we are delighted. They now live at the far end of the village, a perfect walking distance with just enough of a hill to make a visit to them an aerobic exercise. Their plans for their plot of land include the planting of a small orchard and developing of both parterre and potage gardens. They are stimulating conversationalists- based on their wide-ranging interests (plein air painting, fishing, dressage, gardening, cooking, artists books and urban planning (for big and small towns) and old time ways for the 21^st century.) Come spring we’ll go for some wild walks on the property to see how good the foraging is.

Both are eating a low fat diet, emphasizing whole grains while deemphasizing animal products. As a host I love the challenge to design a menu that meets the needs of my guests of honor, while being completely (and surprisingly) satisfying to the rest of the guests. It tests my creativity and gets me to try some foods I might not otherwise explore. Most items are fine for vegans and the gluten intolerant. Recipes with photos will follow in the week ahead.

The menu:

To start

–Pumpkin Hummus with peppered chickpea crackers

–Sweet potato latke with quince apple sauce

–Spiced crab cakes with harrissa

At the table:

– A red salad of roasted beets, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, cranberries and berry balsamic vinaigrette

The main:

– Farro and roasted butternut squash with caramelized onions  fresh chevre

– A warm slaw of three cabbages, carrots, Brussels sprouts, green apple and pumpkin seeds

and dessert:

Raspberry granita, vanilla coconut milk ice cream, and my blue ribbon cherry almond biscotti

Fast pork tenderloin stir-fry

I’m trying to shift gears to lower fats and less sugar – an urgency that seems to reassert itself every spring, before vacations, and just as the holidays begin.

For years I’ve been focusing on whole grains and fresh local vegetables, olive oil, and what are now called MUFAs – the monounsaturated fatty acids, plant-based fats found in avocados, some oils, olives, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate. But I also have a lifetime love of sweets to overcome. As South Beach proponents can affirm – getting refined sugars (and refined flour) out of the diet for two weeks can break the cycle of craving.

I’d also like to say I’m going to be eating less animal product however, I have a freezer full of meat to use up.

Tonight’s dinner is a restorative after a week with a ferocious cold: lean and intensely flavorful, this is a quick peppery pork tenderloin with just 4 oz of meat per person. Asian sauces like oyster, fish and soy can be salty but the mildness of rice and vegetables offsets the brine. Serve this stir fry over a simple mound of brown basmati, with steamed broccoli and carrots to fill out the plates.

Quince Curd for Thanksgiving Tarts

The illustration of the quince (cydonia oblonga) was archived by Oldbookillustrations.com, taken from Dictionnaire encyclopédique Trousset, also known as the Trousset encyclopedia, Paris, 1886 – 1891.

As quince ripen in the autumn, filling out like mishapen apples; they go from apple-green to pear-yellow. The perfume of quince cooking reminds me of roses, the flavor bright, sharp and floral. They are very tart and firm. The quince I use are all from ornamantal shurbs – the fruit is harder and smaller than the cultivated friut producing stock, but just as wonderful to discover and to cook.

High in pectin, they are great for jam, jelly. The English make quince pudding. They can be peeled, then roasted, baked or stewed, added to apple pies, and applesauces. The flesh of the fruit turns deep pink to red after a long cooking time.

Because my quince are so firm, I prefer to juice them whole. Using a steam juicer means I don’t grind up the seeds. A little research yields the warning that the seeds have a degree of toxicity. The seeds contain nitriles (RCN), common to the rose family. But the seeds are only likely to be toxic if you consume a large quantity.

You can cook the quince down in just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, stirring, then simmer till the mixture takes on the characteristic quince golden-pink hue. By this time the pieces of fruit should be soft. Mash them as they soften, then strain, pushing the fruit pulp through.

Positano dreaming – a Campania menu

A year ago this week we were in Positano, Italy with a group of friends with whom we love to travel, celebrating the 50^th birthday of our friend Jane. We ten (David, Paul and Jane, Kate and Jay, Kevin and Maureen, Robert, and Bill) were staying in a villa high above the beaches, inaccessible to motor vehicles (not even a scooter) without a winding walk down long, uneven steps to a narrow drive in order to reach the main thoroughfare that winds around the coast and hills, through Positano and on south. Kate had seriously injured her foot prior to the trip and was not able to walk much. Paul, our host, had arranged for an air-conditioned van to be at our disposal when needed. Still, some measure of walking up and down the steep roads was unavoidable.

Eight years prior, on an earlier group trip to Rome to celebrate Paul’s birthday, I severely sprained my ankle a few days before flying. Contrary to my usual caution, I wouldn’t get it x-rayed for fear they’d put me in a cast. So like Kate last year, I hobbled, iced and elevated through two weeks of vacationing.

So it strikes me as absurdly appropriate that with Kevin and Maureen due tomorrow for their first visit to our home, and me planning a Campania-style feast, that I should clumsily smash my 5^th metatarsel and break two bones in my right foot. As a result of this break, for the next two or three weeks I will have to curtail gardening, skip berry picking, and avoid the Y and long walks.  Of course David says we should go out to dinner, that no guest would expect a home cooked meal – and I should not expect of myself. But planning and cooking is a great pleasure to me. Having to sacrifice all these summer delights for two weeks is asking too much.