Thursday, November 27, 2008

Celery Root & Apple Purée

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Cooking! If you have room to squeeze one more dish on the table, make it this one. Celery Root (aka Celeriac) & Apple Purée tastes like a cross between creamy, buttery mashed potatoes and sweet baked apples with an underlying hint of celery. And if you don’t get around to making it today, the purée would pair wonderfully with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Celery Root & Apple Purée

Saturday, November 22, 2008

2008 | box no. 23 | contents

Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.

cooking greens
Spinach, Collard Tops, Winterbor Kale Tops

fruiting crops
Popcorn
roots
Potatoes, Rutabaga, Celeriac, Carrots
brassicas
Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli Florets, Purple Kohrabi, Cabbage
alliums
Garlic, Onions

Week 23 newsletter

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Sliced Brussels Sprouts with Brown Butter

I always struggle with Brussels sprouts. I’ve tried all different ways of cooking them – roasting, pan searing, even braising them with bacon. None of them did it for me. They always had that “funky” taste and sometimes came out mushy. I’ve heard different theories on causes of the funky taste. Number one reason could be overcooking (admittedly, that blame lies with the cook). Another theory proposed that the tiny core of each sprout was to blame. One recommended solution was to pull off all the outer leaves, one by one, and discard the core. I actually tried it – and it did work – but boy was it a pain in the you-know-what. Then I tried a new approach: slicing the sprouts very thin. The resulting pieces cooked up very quickly, thus solving the overcooking, mushy problem (and it’s a lot faster than pulling off the leaves one at a time). And because you have to grip on to the stem of each sprout in order to slice it, you end up discarding the core. When all is said and done, you’re left with crisp, buttery Brussels sprouts without a lot of prep time in the kitchen.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Sliced Brussels Sprouts with Brown Butter

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday, November 08, 2008

2008 | box no. 21 | contents

Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.

cooking greens
Spinach,
Red Russian Kale, Winterbor Kale
fruiting crops
Popcorn
roots
Potatoes, Rutabaga, Beets, Celeriac
brassicas
Brussels Sprouts, Kohlrabi
alliums
Garlic, Onion

Week 21 newsletter

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Sweet Potato Salad with Caramelized Red Onions

When I hear “salad”, it usually conjures images of lazy summer dinners or outdoor picnics – days when you yearn for something cool and crisp. But this salad is all about Fall. The roasted sweet potatoes and caramelized red onions are enveloped in a sweet, piquant dressing and served with the peppery bite of arugula. The big kick of flavor comes from the toasted guajillo chile dressing. Don’t be scared – it’s not spicy. Guajillos are rich, smoky and only register at 6,000 heat units on the Scoville scale (the spiciest of chiles and peppers can clock in at 855,000 units or more!). My favorite source for dried chiles is Penzey’s. They have a huge selection of quality herbs, spices and dried chiles.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Sweet Potato Salad with Caramelized Red Onions

Saturday, November 01, 2008

2008 | box no. 20 | contents

Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.

salad greens
Lettuce
cooking greens

Swiss Chard,
Pac Choi
alliums

Onions

fruiting crops
Popcorn, Butternut
roots
Potatoes, Radishes, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes
brassicas
Broccoli Florettes, Cabbage

Week 20 newsletter