Intimations of Spring Abound

 

With the crocuses emerging, the camellia in full bloom, some of the rhododendrons opening buds, and garlic and other bulbs shooting the green fuse through the stem, an older woman’s mind turns lightly to thoughts of fruit and vegetables….

I hauled home a lot of the stuff from the store the other day. Winter veggies like hard-shell squash, rutabegas (once every six or seven years), baby red potatoes, a bag of yellow onions (I use lots of onions) plus greens and sweets, arugula, kale, mushrooms, lettuce….nice spring asparagus, plus a big ripe pineapple, tangelos, blueberries, pears….well, yum.

Last night we had bacon-wrapped mushrooms stuffed with bay shrimp, tiny bits of chopped roast red pepper and green onion, bound with Philadelphia cream cheese salmon spread. Sprinkled powdered lemon peel and parsley on top. I pre-cooked the bacon a bit because it was thick, then wrapped it around the stuffed mushrooms and tooth-picked it in place. Put under the broiler until done. (If I had thought, I’d have chopped some of that preserved lemon I made for Christmas into the filling. My bad.)

Also pear-gorganzola-walnut salad. Need I say more?

Thick slice of ham round and pineapple went on the grill pan (nice heavy …oomph!...cast iron ribbed pan), a great boon in bad weather. You still get those lovely grill marks, and food doesn’t sit in grease. Peeled and cored the bottom half of the pineapple and cut into vertical wedges. Sprayed olive oil on one side, put on the grill pan oil-side down. When the pieces got nice deep grill marks I sprayed the tops, turned them over, and sprinkled the cooked side with fresh-ground cinnamon and a little raw sugar. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Speaking of the preserved lemons, I made just about the best coleslaw dressing ever the other day….an adequate blob of mayonnaise, a healthy splash of apple cider vinegar, just enough raw sugar to balance the vinegar, a small sprinkle of 5-spice (don’t want to color the mayo) and finely chopped preserved lemon. That lemon gave it a zing-bang-whop you wouldn’t believe! Mixed with finely chopped green cabbage and a healthy handful of Craisins and some chopped apple (honey crisp of course) this received rave reviews.

About rutabegas: I have no aversion to them…I just forget that they are there. They weren’t a part of my family culture.  Also called Swedes, they are, believe it or not, originally a cross between cabbage and turnips. The word “rutabaga” comes from the Swedish word Rotabagge, meaning "root ram."  I’m not sure where the ram comes in! These are also called “yellow turnips” in some areas. They’re pretty hard and take a while to cook – I’m thinking I might try parboiling some (peeled and chopped) for a while, then oven-roasting with some other veggies.

I think we tend to overlook the nice variety of veggies available in winter…but of course nothing beats the stuff you can get at the farmer’s market in spring. Greens! Leaves! Tiny baby carrots and French Breakfast radishes. (What’s with the supermarkets these days? No white globe, icicle, French breakfast, watermelon, or other interesting radishes…just the unremarkable red globes. Borrrring.
 

Time to start thinking about planting.

 

 

Fusion or Confusion?

Fusion or Confusion?

A purist would never be happy at my table! I combine ethnic recipes and ingredients and condiments indiscriminately. I figure if it looks good together and it tastes good together, why not? 

I recall a song my mother used to sing: 

“You’d never think they’d go together

 but they certainly do:

 the combination of English muffins

 and Irish stew. 

“The Mexican army is eating salami

 and onions from Peru…etc.” 

That may not be the exact lyrics, but it’s how she sang it.  

For example, last night I prepared a “new” version of sautéed gnocci using green onions, butter, Greek seasoning, and kale, and served that with Polish sausage and green beans from the Asian market, finished with extra virgin olive oil and California powdered lemon peel, with a little Himalayan pink salt! 

Delicious combo. The gnocci goes like this: 

Heat a pan of lightly salted water to boiling – enough to boil the gnocci in. (Storebought gnocci is fine.) Cook gnocci until it foats.  

Meanwhile, chop the green onions, including green tops. The amount of onions depends on the amount of gnocci, put don’t stint.  

Chop some mild curly-leafed kale pretty fine.  

Put a couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan and heat just until it melts. Add chopped green onions, and sauté for a couple of minutes, stirring, until a bit soft, then add the drained gnocci. Sprinkle them with Greek seasoning (or any of your choice) and stir and sauté until the gnocci turns slightly golden-brown, then add kale and put a lid on the pan. Turn it down and cook over low heat for a few minutes until the kale is soft but not mushy. Remove lid and stir it all together, add a little salt and pepper if needed and stir again, then serve.  

While this was cooking I prepared the Polish sausages. I had some nice skinless critters that I put in a skillet with some water, covered, and cooked until they were heated through. Remove lid, drain, add some oil – I like olive oil for this – and brown the sausages over medium heat, turning frequently to brown all sides.  

For the green beans: snap or cut off the tough stem ends. If they are nice long thin Green Lake type beans, I like to leave them long. Put them in a skillet with water to cover, salt them a bit, and put on a lid. Let them cook until just tender. Drain the beans and dry the skillet. Then add some flavorful olive oil to the skillet, add the beans when the oil is heated. Sprinkle the beans with powdered lemon peel (or lemon seasoning) or fresh-squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of dried dill leaf, a few grinds of sea salt, and toss until the beans are tender.  Bon apetite! Mucho Gusto! Mange!