It is that time of the year again… the shrouded lower garden with greens still holding on under their protective cover after a cold spell with temperatures down to 11 F (-12C).
06
Jan 2012
The Eleventh Day Of Christmas
sylvie |
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06
Jan 2012
The Tenth Day of Christmas
Pitting cherries!
2011 was an outstanding cherry year here in Rappahannock, the kind we get every five years or so. Back in June, I made both sweet and sour cherry liqueur. They need to age with the fruit for 6 months or so. At bottling time, I was loath to just throw out the cherries that had been macerating. They still had a good color, firm texture, a decent cherry taste… although a little too boozy to just eat, and a distracting pit. The solution: pit them, cook them gently and briefly in a simple sugar syrup, and now I have a great dessert topping. Lets’ call them Tipsy Cherries!
In the process I confirmed that the cherry pitter I bought after the season was over last year, is indeed a great purchase because it pits not only fresh cherries, but also canned cherries, boozy cherries, and thawed cherries! I generally dislike single purpose gadget, but this was was worth the $20 I paid for it!
Tpisy Cherries
Eating local in winter! What a gift!
sylvie |
One comment
05
Jan 2012
The Eighth & Ninth Days of Christmas (Meyer Lemon Marmalade)
Still working through my citrus boxes.
On the Eight Day, the Meyer lemons poached the previous night got squeezed, sliced, briefly simmered with sugar, and rested overnight again. It’s important that the rind softens as much as possible or the marmalade will have an unpleasant texture..
Marmalade before its rest
On the Ninth Day, it get boiled, jarred and processed in a water bath for long-term shelf life. Voila, beautiful marmalade fit to rival traditional Seville orange marmalade (which I could not find.) Particularly good with Butter Cookies from Brittany. You know, if we are going to go sweet, we are going to go sweet! (but a little bit goes a long way – this is a potent marmalade)
- Meyer Lemons, Meyer Lemon Marmalade & Brittany Butter Cookies
This recipe illustrates that you may can all year long, and in small quantities too!
Meyer Lemon Marmalade Read more
03
Jan 2012
The Sixth and Seventh Days Of Christmas (more lemon recipes)
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, with still over 7 pounds of Meyer lemons left from my citrus order orgy, I made Réunion Island Lemon and Onion Salad.
Lemon and Onion Salad (Reunion Island Style)
In winter, I often hunger for bright spicy flavors to liven up the stews and braised dishes that are characteristics of this time of the year. Which is often when I return to my roots of Reunion Island, when I particularly reach into the spice cabinet for pungent curcuma, floral vanilla beans, fresh ginger and other flavors reminiscent of Reunion Island. Truth be told, I use those flavors all year long, but I crave them in winter. Read more
30
Dec 2011
The Fourth and Fifth Days of Christmas (of Breads and Limes)
The Fourth Day of Christmas was mostly spent cooking dinner for a group of hungry hunters, out for a pheasant shoot. It is the second time I have cooked for that group. It’s always a good thing when a client wants you back!
On the menu:
Alsatian Tarte Flambée and hot gulf shrimps with a spicy sun-dry tomato sauce. I love making that Alsatian Tarte Flambée – it’s easy and it’s always a winner! How can it not be? Slow cooked onions; bacon; crème fraiche. For informal groups like this one, I make a big rectangular tart on a large rimmed cookie sheet or a large free-form pizza. For smaller plated dinner, I make small individual perfectly round tartelettes served with a mache or frisée salad.
Free-Form Alsatian Tarte Flambee
28
Dec 2011
The Third Day of Christmas
We make Meyer Lemon curd. Lots of it.
It takes less than 30 minutes to make a quart of it, and since it freezes beautifully, you may as well make a few quarts… provided you have eggs and lemons. And we do.
Jars of Meyer lemon curd for the fridge and the freezer
27
Dec 2011
The First Two Days of Christmas
Christmas Day - dinner for 9.
Locally smoked salmon with creme fraiche tartines (homemade baguette)
Cream of butternut squash & parsnips with truffle oil (butternut squash from guest Wendy ‘s garden. This is Wendy’ second year of gardening only and she – unlike me – had a very nice winter squash harvest. Thanks for sharing, Wendy!)
Green garden salad (mache, lettuces, chicories, chickweed & arugula) with fresh persimmon slices, dry cranberries & toasted pecans. Blackberry vinaigrette.
Roasted leg of Piedmont lamb with garlic, rosemary & ginger. Fennel carrots, mashed potatoes & sautéed oyster mushrooms
Cheese platter (Virginia and other American cheeses), homemade quince paste
A fabulous chocolate torte AND profiteroles made by guest and professional baker Brooke Parkhurst of Triple Oak Bakery (amazingly delicious and gluten-free!)
Dainties, locally roasted coffee and homemade cordials.
Served with Virginia Wines: Barboursville Brut, RdV Friends & Family 2008, and dessert Chateau O’Brien Virginia Apple Wine.
The First Day of Christmas – walk it off
The Second Day of Christmas – make limoncello
15
Nov 2011
Mushroom and Spinach Soup
This recipe was originally published in the Seasonal Table Column that I write for Flavor Magazine (Oct-Nov 2011 issue).
As the weather cools off, spinach is happily growing for us again, a versatile green delicious raw or cooked. I love the earthy combination of spinach and mushrooms, in salads, stews or soups. And since cultivated mushrooms are available year long in the Mid-Atlantic, some foraged, some grown outdoors like shiitake on logs and others in mushroom houses, local mushrooms are fairly easy to find. You can use any mushroom for this soup, including white mushrooms or a combination of mushrooms. And for a splurge, go for shiitakes or oyster mushrooms or any other that strike your fancy.
Mushroom and Spinach Soup Read more
10
Nov 2011
For Everything There Is A Season
A local Thanksgiving with roasted duck. Photo by Molly Peterson, mJm Photography, Sperryville, VA
This is the introduction to the current Seasonal Table, a column – with recipes - that I write for Flavor Magazine. The recipes are appropriate for any autumnal meal, and certainly, together, would make a local Thanksgiving feast in many parts of the US.
Harvest Festivals have all but vanished, at least in our society. Thanksgiving Day is sometimes derisively nicknamed “Turkey Day”. For too many people the event means wolfing down a huge plate of indifferent food prepared hurriedly and harriedly. And then go do something else, away from the table, and away from others.
Thanksgiving Day is not about turkeys. Not… really. Read more
30
Oct 2011
October 29 And It’s Snowing
October 29 and it is snowing – wet heavy snow. Plenty of leaves yet on many trees — although the birches are denuded by now. Still, some under story trees or ornamental ones like crape myrtle sport lots of green. It’s an unusual sight, snow on leafy trees. Will winter be short? Or will it be a long one?
The next few days promise to be mild, and with ground still warm from summer, there will be no lasting accumulation; yet, the falling snow and the frost predicted for tomorrow morning are firmly ending the summer garden. I hurried on Thursday and Friday to pick up all of the remaining peppers and green beans, cut up big bunches of basil and chayote squash vine, and dug up the last few sweet potatoes that I had planted in my tropical bed. Also dug up, potted and dragged those same perennial tropicals or Mediterranean plants to the greenhouse. Barely in time. But in time. They will survive winter – just, sometimes – in the minimally heated greenhouse to be planted out again next spring. What can I say? I love ferns, lantanas, daturas, citruses, jasmines, geraniums, agapanthus, gingers and bananas. I do! Read more
