Roasted Asparagu

Spring has sprung. How can I tell? Asparagus are in every market, super or open-air. They come in all different sizes and I love cooking with all of them.

Roasted Asparagus: An Elegant First Course or Side Dish

 

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Asparagus are fun to cook. You can steam them, boil them, grill them or roast them. For this recipe I like to roast medium sized asparagus that have been peeled and trimmed. You can’t beat the rich grassy slightly caramelized flavor of roasted asparagus.

Author: Diane Rossen Worthington

Recipe type: First Course

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Hazelnut Vinaigrette

• ½ cup hazelnuts or ½ cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
• 3 tablespoons hazelnut oil
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1½ pounds fresh medium asparagus spears, peeled and trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Red Pepper Vinaigrette

• 2 medium garlic cloves
• 1 medium shallot
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped sweet red pepper, seeded
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped basil leaves
• ½ cup olive oil
• Garnish
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped, seeded, sweet red pepper

Instructions

1. *For Hazelnut Vinaigrette;
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Toast hazelnuts in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and rub off skins with a dish towel and coarsely chop. Reserve.
3. For hazelnut oil vinaigrette: Whisk together ingredients. Reserve.
4. Increase oven temperature to 450F. Place the asparagus spears on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and salt and pepper so they are evenly coated.
5. Roast for about 12 minutes or until tender, very slightly browned. The time will depend upon how thick the asparagus are.
6. Using tongs, place the asparagus on a platter and spoon vinaigrette over. Sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts; serve warm.
7. *For Red Pepper Vinaigrette
8. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the garlic, shallot, and red pepper until minced. Add the vine¬gars, lemon juice, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and basil. Process until combined. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
9. Preheat the oven to 350F. Toast the pine nuts until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
10. When ready to serve, pour the vinaigrette evenly over the asparagus. Sprinkle the diced red pepper and toasted pine nuts on top and serve immediately.

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Asparagus are fun to cook. You can steam them, boil them, grill them or roast them. For this recipe I like to roast medium sized asparagus that have been peeled and trimmed. You can’t beat the rich grassy slightly caramelized flavor of roasted asparagus.

For a French accent, these bright green stalks are dressed with a hazelnut oil vinaigrette and garnished with toasted hazelnuts. Sweet and buttery hazelnuts, also known as filberts, are popular in French cooking. The rich flavored hazelnut oil has a distinctive flavor. It is used mainly as a condiment or in salad dressing since it has a very strong flavor. I pair it with a lighter olive or vegetable oil to mellow the taste. Remember to store the hazelnut oil in the refrigerator and use within 4 months.

If you can’t find hazelnuts or the oil, try the Red Pepper Vinagrette instead (see below). The sweet pepper dressing is a colorful and tasty alternative. This is also much more economical since you can use what oil you have on hand.

I often serve this warm as a first course or as a side dish with a simple grilled entrée. I have also doubled the recipe and served it chilled or at room temperature with either vinaigrette.  Try these either way when you feel like a fresh take on asparagus.

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A Hearty Bowl of Comfort

There are many varieties of borscht which is a standard dish in Eastern European countries. I have tasted this soup in Vienna, Paris, New York and Los Angeles, each having its own personality. The one common ingredient in borscht recipes is beets.

Some soups are lighter versions, made without meat, and have additional vegetables like chard and potatoes; other versions are loaded with sausages or beef along with the classic cabbage and beet combination. There is even a chilled vegetarian borscht reserved for hot days.

When it’s cold outside this is one dish I never tire of serving. A classic Russian peasant soup, this borscht, replete with beets, cabbage and beef, is wonderful as a main dish soup for company. Vinegar and brown sugar bring the sweet and sour flavors to life. An added bonus it that the soup improves if made a day ahead. Serve it with big chunks of warm country bread and soft butter.  You can also steam little potatoes and add them to the soup at the last minute.

To avoid red hands and stained cutting boards, use kitchen gloves and place a piece of plastic wrap or foil on the cutting  board. If you find beet stains on your cutting board, use a little bleach cleanser and the stains will come out.

Cabbage Beef Borscht

 

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Author: Diane Rossen Worthington

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients

• 6 medium beets, cleaned and trimmed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds stewing beef, cut into bite-size pieces, about 1½-inches
• 2 medium leeks, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes, well drained
• 1 medium head green cabbage, coarsely shredded
• 10 cups water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6 sprigs fresh dill weed
• 5 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar
• ⅓ cup brown sugar +1 tablespoon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup sour cream, for garnish
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill weed, for garnish

Instructions

1. Place the beets in a large saucepan and cover with an inch of water. Place over medium heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until fork tender. Remove the beets from the pan, reserving 2 cups of the beet juice and place them in a colander. Run under cold running water and peel. Cut the beets into ¾ inch pieces and reserve.
2. In a large soup pot heat 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches, making sure not to crowd the meat, for about 5-7 minutes for each batch. Reserve the beef.
3. Add the remaining oil and saute the leeks and carrots for about 5-7 minutes or until nicely softened and lightly browned.
4. Add the 2 cups of the beet juice, reserved beef, tomatoes, cabbage, water, tomato paste and dill weed to the vegetables making sure to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, partially covered, over medium heat and cook for 1½ hours or until the meat is tender when pierced with a fork.
5. Add the reserved beets, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper and simmer 5 more minutes. Taste for seasoning. You may need to adjust the sweet and sour flavoring to your taste.
6. To serve: Ladle borscht into deep soup bowls and garnish with sour cream and a sprig of dill weed.

3.1.09

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Healthy and Delicious

Shredded Kale and Romaine Salad with Quinoa, Currants and Almonds is the perfect answer to longing for delicious dishes that pack plenty of flavor with a light touch. After weeks of holiday eating I go back to this salad for comfort with no guilt attached.

Kale, that curly dark green leaf, is ubiquitous. I even saw it in Whole Foods today in the chip section… as in kale chips in savory flavors. I’ve baked and roasted it and added it to soups and sauces. But I hadn’t prepared it raw. How happy I am to report that it is delicious as a salad and is now a family favorite.

I tasted this at The Napa Valley Grill in Los Angeles and thought it would be even better with a few changes. I used currants instead of raisins and Spanish Marcona almonds instead of California almonds. I also like the idea of combining crispy sweet romaine lettuce with the slightly bitter kale. It is a happy combination of flavors.

The lemony whole-grain mustard dressing is just the ticket to dress these mixed greens. Remember that you can use this vinaigrette with any other green salad with equally satisfying results. If you can find Meyer lemons use them for an even richer citrus flavor. And tiny diced pears, peaches, nectarines, plums or even dried apricots make a colorful substitute for the currants. Serve this salad as a side dish with grilled fish or poultry or as a main course for lunch.

Cook’s Notes;

• To cook the quinoa, rinse ¾ cup quinoa, combine quinoa with 1 ½ cups water or chicken stock and boil it for 10 minutes. Let cool.

• To shred the kale and lettuce, stack leaves on top of each other, roll up tightly and then thinly slice through the leaves until you have shredded greens.

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This home-spun dish made from dried bread and rich custard has come a long way. Today’s restaurant menus feature myriad adaptations such as gingerbread, white chocolate, and lemon, to name just a few.. Served in soufflé dishes, in individual ramekins, or in a shallow baking dish, bread puddings are difficult to resist because of their old-fashioned quality.

Simple to put together this dessert  can be as versatile as your imagination. I like to serve it during the holiday season because it seems to satisfy all the generations. This particular version is based on an idea of a sticky toffee pudding. Cut-up fresh and dried dates are combined with toasted egg bread and then the mixture is bathed in a vanilla-scented custard. I have served this at casual family gatherings and major holiday parties with great success. If you want a wonderful ice cream sauce, defrost a pint of dulce de leche ice cream and whisk it in a bowl. Spoon it over the warm pudding for an wonderful taste sensation.

Keep these tips in mind when making this dessert:

• Use a good-quality bread like Challah or brioche.
• Make sure to dry it out so that the bread can absorb the custard.  You can do this by putting it out on the counter overnight or in a 250F oven for half an hour.
• Allow time for the custard to absorb into the bread before it goes into the oven. It is also important to let the bread absorb the custard fully by allowing it to sit until you can feel that a cube is soaked through to the center.
• Advance Preparation: This can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead, covered and left at room temperature.  It can also be made a day ahead and served chilled. It can also be reheated.

Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding

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Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding

 

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Author: Diane Rossen Worthington

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 8 cups (1-inch cubes) of challah, day-old
• 1 cup chopped dried dates
• 1½ cups chopped fresh Majool dates
• 6 large eggs +2 large egg yolks
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 3½ cups half and half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Powdered sugar, for decoration
• 1 cup Creme Fraiche or 1 defrosted pint Dule de Leche ice cream, for serving

Instructions

1. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread and the dates in the dish, making sure that they are evenly distributed.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and egg yolks on medium speed until they are frothy. Add the sugar and beat the mixture until thick and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Add the half and half, reducing the speed to low, and mix to combine. Add the vanilla and nutmeg and mix to combine.
3. Preheat the oven to 375F. Ladle the custard over the bread. Let the pudding sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour to help the bread absorb the custard, occasionally pushing the bread down with a wooden spoon.
4. Place the pudding in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Open the oven, using heavy oven mitts and with a large spoon, push the bread down. The remaining liquid custard will rise. Spoon the custard evenly over the bread slices. Bake for about 15-20 more minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Remove the pudding from the oven, sprinkle it with powdered sugar and let rest about 10 minutes. Spoon onto dessert plates and serve with creme fraiche or softened Dulce de Leche ice cream on the side. It is also excellent served cold the next day.

3.1.09

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Every year as Thanksgiving rolls around, I begin to think about how I will cook my turkey. Once I make that decision, it’s on to my favorite part of planning our Thanksgiving meal: the sides.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the same thing on Thanksgiving: “I love the turkey but it’s really all about the side dishes.” So in the spirit of trying something new this year, here are there of my favorite side dishes. Feel free to double any of these recipes.

First, consider these Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes and Carrots. Roasted vegetables are one of the signatures of cold weather cooking. And you can vary this recipe with other root vegetables. Jerusalem artichokes, when eaten raw, taste a bit like sweet, crisp jicama; when roasted they taste like a sweet root vegetable somewhere between a parsnip, turnip and potato.

Root vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, carrots and turnips become especially delicious as the sugars caramelize and bring out their inherent sweetness. Be sure to use a large, shallow roasting pan to give the vegetables plenty of room for even roasting. Cooking times may vary slightly, depending on the type of vegetable, its freshness and thickness, so watch closely toward the end of the cooking time to make sure they’re done.

Parsnip and Turnip Puree will offer creaminess of mashed potatoes but without all of the added calories. Try this incredibly tasty tribute to the unappreciated root vegetable on your holiday table. Your guests will wonder how anything this rich tasting can still be good for you. The vegetables turn a beige color so be sure to garnish with plenty of chopped parsley.

And, finally, Chicken Apple Sausage, Chestnut, Dried Fruit and Nut Dressing is my most requested dressing recipe. You can serve this in a casserole or stuff it into a 16- pound turkey. Either way it is a holiday hit with its sweet crispy, nutty, fruity flavors. Using trail mix makes putting this together Seriously Simple. If you want a pretty presentation, try baking it in a greased loaf pan and then, once it’s cooked, unmold it onto a rectangular platter and garnish with parsley.

You can find all of these recipes in the recipe section. Hope you try at least one of these for your holiday meal.

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