Getting My Ducks in a Row

Well, my spices, actually.

It only took four months, but I finally managed to turn the binful of spicy chaos that followed my last binge at Penzey’s into something orderly, useful, and even a little bit elegant.

After much research, deliberation, and boggling at what people have the nerve to charge for spice storage solutions, what I ended up doing was shifting the whole lot out of the myriad zip bags and little jars into wide-mouthed magnetic tins with laser-printed labels. The tins were then put in orderly, alphabetized rows on a dry erase board, mounted vertically on my kitchen wall. After just one rainy afternoon’s worth of work, everything is now right at my fingertips and ready to be used at will. Every time I flip the light switch, which is right beside my fantastic new spice rack, I am filled anew with a smug sense of accomplishment.

It would have gone faster if I’d bought tins with magnets already on them, like the handful I already had, but I seriously balked at paying three bucks a pop. Instead, I bought three dozen non-magnetic ones for seventy cents apiece, plus two rolls of magnetic tape. A little more work and delay, yes, but when you consider that magnetic spice rack kits with 20 tins are currently going for $120 and up, it was totally worth it.

To celebrate the fact that all my spices are now out where they can be easily used, I improvised a dish of cauliflower, potatoes and peas that called for eight of my freshly-filled, readily-accessible tins to come off the rack. I’m not claiming it’s authentically Indian, but it does combine whole and ground spices common to Indian cuisine and stew and went smashingly with the batch of naan my pride-flushed ego also prompted me to bake. I especially love the crunch of the tiny brown mustard seeds and the lemony zing of the whole coriander.

As impressive as I think my new rack is, I will tease you just a bit by saying this is an intermediate step. I have even bigger plans for spice storage, but it’s going to take considerably more work than this did. You’ll just have to wait and see what I mean.

Cauliflower, Potatoes and Peas with Whole Spices
Serves 4-6

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon Rogan Josh seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas
Salt to taste

Parboil the potatoes in lightly salted water until just starting to soften. Drain.

In a large pot, heat the mustard seeds, coriander seeds and fenugreek in the oil over medium-high heat just until the mustard seeds start popping. Standing back to avoid the sputtering, stir in the tomatoes and the remaining spices, and cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the stock, cauliflower and potatoes, cover the pot, and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the peas and continue cooking just until they have warmed through.

Serve over basmati rice, or in shallow bowls with naan.

Notes:

You can vary the whole spices and the vegetables depending on what you have. For example, if I’d had whole cumin seeds, I would have used a teaspoon of them and lowered the ground cumin by the same amount. Similarly, if I’d been out of potatoes, I would have used a can of chickpeas instead.

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A Sheep-Friendly Shepherd’s Pie

Those of you in the southern latitudes might be sick of wintry food and have probably already moved on to mircrogreens and asparagus, but up here it’s still freezing and miserable and there’s still need for comfort. I can think of few dishes more comforting when the weather’s horrid than shepherd’s pie, and this one has the additional benefit of being kind to the sheep.

Yes, once again, it’s a recipe based on lentils. Don’t knock them. Lentils are cheap, delicious, nutritious, and cook quickly. Here they make a perfect stand-in for the usual beef or lamb, since they have a similar texture and a deep and substantial savoriness that’s perfect against the fluffy starchiness of the potatoes.

If it’s more than nominally spring where you are, you can tuck this away for six or seven months. Otherwise, please give this one a try now, especially if you’re having a bunch of guests over, since it can be assembled well ahead and baked when they arrive in need of warmth and welcome.

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
Serves 6-8

1 cup lentils
1 large bay leaf
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups each finely diced onion, celery and carrots
2 cups diced cremini or white button mushrooms
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 large sprig fresh sage
1 large handful fresh parsley
1/2 bag frozen peas
Salt, pepper, and splashes of soy sauce to taste
5-6 medium Russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons butter, plus additional for dotting the top

In a medium pot, boil the lentils with the bay leaf in just enough liquid to keep them covered until just tender, adding more boiling water if necessary. Be sure not to drain the lentils once they’re cooked.

Saute the onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the vegetables just begin to caramelize. Add the tomato sauce, the lentils with their liquid, and the fresh herbs, leaves torn roughly by hand. Simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated, then season with salt, pepper, and soy. Stir in the frozen peas and turn off the heat.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and salt well. Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain and mash or put through a ricer. Stir in the butter.

Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Decant the lentil filling into the dish, then spread the mashed potatoes over the top evenly. Create ridges or swirls in the mashed potatoes and dot the top with tiny bits of butter to promote browning.

Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake the pie at 375 F until the potatoes are browning nicely and the filling is just starting to bubble, 20-30 minutes.

Let sit for a couple of minutes, then serve.

Notes:

You can cut the recipe back at will, by half or even thirds. This just happens to be the amount that fits in my baking dish, and I like the leftovers so much that I don’t mind eating this for several days, which is contrary to my usual low tolerance.

The lentil variety doesn’t matter as much as in some other recipes. You can use whatever you have and prefer. In fact, I often mix brown lentils with French green or black beluga, since the brown ones will break down more and stick the filling together, while the firmer lentils will provide extra texture.

This recipe is easy to make vegan, since the only dairy is the butter in the mashed potato topping, which could be replaced with olive oil.

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Cooler Weather Fare: Lima Bean and Corn Chowder

As the weather turns inexorably cooler and wetter, I begin to crave soup. Later in the year, this will mean heavier soups made primarily from pantry staples, but fortunately, in the transition between summer and true autumn there’s a merciful period during which there is still a good variety of end-of-summer produce, like the wonderful fresh limas I got from the farmer’s market yesterday. I was originally planning on using them for a salad, but as it was a horrible rainy day, I threw together this pretty chowder on a whim instead.

It’s a satisfying blend of fresh and rich, with the sweetness of the corn and the bite of the chile flakes and black pepper cutting through the creaminess of the broth, and the potatoes and limas providing a smooth and substantial mouthfeel. It’s also a snap to put together, but tastes like you went to a considerable amount of trouble.

Lima Bean and Corn Chowder
Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons each butter and olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 large onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 orange (or red) pepper, diced
6 cups vegetable stock
4 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 dry quart fresh lima beans
16 oz frozen corn kernels
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream

Heat butter and oil in a heavy pot. Add chile flakes, onions, celery and pepper and sweat until softened. Add stock, potatoes, lima beans, corn and seasonings.

Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until potatoes and lima beans are tender, approximately 20 minutes.

Take off heat and stir in as much cream as desired. Taste and correct salt and pepper, if necessary.

Notes: You could use frozen limas if fresh aren’t available, which would make it a great dinner option in the middle of winter, when your vegetable drawer is pathetically bare.

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Impromptu Autumnal Celebration Feast

I really do love fall produce. Yesterday, I snatched up two pounds of quinces, two pints of fresh chestnuts, a large knobby celery root (celeriac) and a half-dozen Yukon Gold potatoes. Today I added one of my favorite varieties of apples, the newly-available Honeycrisp hybrid. I may use the quinces to make jam, since I’m getting perilously close to the end of last year’s batch, but I’ll probably keep them around for a while to perfume the house and look festive.The rest of my haul got used in tonight’s dinner. All I had planned to make was a simple and comforting dinner of soup and bread, but I found aged Mahon cheese on sale when I bought the apples, which added a first course. The chestnuts I had roasted and peeled last night had to get used for something pretty quickly, and I remembered that the chestnut paste I had made for the chestnut risotto in The Olives Table had been much tastier on its own than in the risotto, so I thought I’d experiment with making it into a spread to have with the soup. I also remembered while roasting the chestnuts that I had two unused roasted sweet potatoes in the fridge, and, having been tempted by a pumpkin pie while buying bread, I decided to throw together a brulee-like sweet potato custard baked in ramekins (because I was too lazy to bother with pastry).

Bit by bit, without even intending to, I managed to put together a meal so full of fall flavors and so unpretentiously grand that it could easily count as a feast. I’ve spent three times as long on Thanksgiving menus less well-rounded than this. As a matter of fact, I may use some of these elements for Thanksgiving this year. This dinner was a lovely way to wind down the weekend and ring in the season, and I didn’t even break a sweat. Don’t you just love it when things work out this well?

A Celebration of Autumn

First Course
Honeycrisp Apples and Aged Mahon Cheese

Main Course
Celeriac and Yukon Gold Potato Soup
Thyme-scented Chestnut Pate on Toasts

Dessert
Sweet Potato Brulees

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Celeriac and Yukon Gold Potato Soup
Serves 6-8

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 large shallots, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, roughly chopped
1 large celery root, peeled and diced
4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste (depending on saltiness of stock)
Half a dozen grinds black pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground celery seed
1/2 cup to 1 cup half & half

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot until the butter is melted. Add the onions and shallots, and saute until softened. Add the celery and continue cooking for two minutes. Add the celery root, potatoes, stock, salt, pepper, and celery seed, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to maintain a simmer until the celery root and potatoes are soft, approximately 30-40 minutes.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender or food mill until smooth. Stir in enough half & half to thin to desired consistency, correct the seasonings, and serve.

Notes: Leeks would certainly work well here, but I only had onions and shallots on hand.

Thyme-Scented Chestnut Pate
Makes 2 cups

1 1/2 cups chestnuts, roasted and peeled
1 onion, minced
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the above in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer gently until the chestnuts are tender, approximately 20 minutes. Puree in a food processor until smooth, adding additional cream if necessary. Season to taste and serve with good bread, preferably toasted.

Notes: Since this made way more than the Lord and I can reasonably finish in the next few days, I’m thinking of freezing it and using it later as a filling for ravioli, as suggested in the recipe notes.

Sweet Potato Brulees
Makes 4 large brulees or 6-8 in ramekins

2 large sweet potatoes, baked and mashed (approx. 14 oz)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 cup plus two tablespoons half & half
2 tablespoons rum
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Coarse sugar for bruleeing

Preheat oven to 375F.

Whisk together the sweet potatoes, sugar, and dry ingredients until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, half & half, rum and vanilla, then pour into brulee molds or ramekins. Place on a baking sheet lined with a towel, and pour in enough hot water to thoroughly soak the towel, being careful not to splash into the custards.

Bake the custards until no longer jiggly in the center when shaken gently, approximately 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Just before serving, sprinkle the tops of the custards with a thin, even layer of sugar, and brulee with a kitchen torch or under the broiler until bubbling and caramelized. Once the sugar hardens, serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Notes: The spices were a tiny bit heavy in this recipe, which I modified from last year’s pumpkin pie. While you don’t really expect to taste much pumpkin flavor in pumpkin pie, I do like the taste of sweet potatoes and I would have preferred that their flavor had been a little more prominent here. Next time, I’ll probably cut the spices by at least a third, and use bourbon instead of rum for a more Southern note.

I didn’t actually brulee them, since my torch is out of butane, but I definitely would have if I’d had the gas. Besides the fact that I just love playing with the torch, I think the crunch of the sugar would make a nice contrast with the smoothness of the custard.

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