Colorful Spuds That Taste Terrific

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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One Potato, Two Potato

Recently, Peruvian purple sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) have hit the marketplace hard. It’s kind of amazing to notice that even big chain stores now carry these heritage tubers. Admittedly homely, purple sweet potatoes at their best look like they’ve been sitting around for a while and maybe dropped a few times. When aging, they look like something the cat dragged in. However, they taste fabulous, especially when roasted, when they become crispy and caramelized on the outside and meltingly sweet on the inside. The mesh of starchy-sticky-mealy-sweet reminds me of old fashioned dried dates, with their slightly crusty skins and soft, almost spreadable innerds.

Sweet potatoes and “plain” potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) have been farmed in some manner or other for around 8,000 years in Peru, so it’s not too surprising that Peru should be the birthplace of many of the colorful, and flavorful potatoes we enjoy today. Most of the 180+ wild potato species are found in Peru and Brazil, and Peru is home to several thousand potato varieties, both sweet and starchy. I look forward to seeing more of them, now that the purple pair have been so warmly received by American cooks.

A Pleasing Partnership

Over the holidays, I’ve been roasting sweet potatoes with raw cranberries. It’s a very happy combination, as the roasting mellows the cranberries without removing their tangy bite entirely.

Roasted Purple Peruvian Sweet Potatoes
With Fresh Cranberries

1 tablespoon fruity olive oil
2 medium purple sweet potatoes,
peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 cups fresh, firm cranberries, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour oil into a rimmed baking sheet, then add sliced sweet potatoes and cranberries and gently coat with oil (I use my hands, but a spatula works too). Sprinkle with salt and roast at 350 F for 30 minutes. Flip potato slices with tongs or a spatula and roast for another 20-30 minutes, until well caramelized. Serve warm. Serves 4 (maybe).

Another Amazing Heritage Potato

One of my favorite heritage potatoes, now called Ozette, is a fingerling that was grown by roving Spanish conquistadores in what is currently Washington state. When the Spaniards left, several hundred years ago, the Makah Nation First People harvested the abandoned crop and have grown it ever since.

It has a rich, nutty flavor that needs almost nothing in the way of seasoning; don’t add butter, just a tad of sea salt and prepare to be amazed. I first tasted potatoes this rich  in Costa Rica, where many varieties are grown because they taste great, not because they look uniform and store and ship well. It was a revelation, and I’m delighted that more innately delicious potatoes are finally reaching our markets and kitchens.

Ozette Potato Salad

2 pounds Ozette fingerling potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup fruity olive oil
1 organic lemon, juiced, rind grated
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup parsley, stemmed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a rimmed baking sheet, combine 1 tablespoon oil with the potatoes and bake at 350 until tender (20-30 minutes). Meanwhile, combine remaining oil with lemon zest, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and half the salt and pepper, set aside. When tender, chop potatoes and toss with dressing and parsley, and sprinkle with remaining seasonings to taste. Serve warm. Serves 4-6.

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Celebrating the Solstice As If In Japan

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Bathing With Citrus

I was recently sent a link to an utterly lovely set of pictures taken by a Japanese photographer, who did studies of her grandmother and her odd-eyed cat over the course of a dozen years. One of them shows granny in a tub full of fruit, with the cat batting gently at one of them. After a bit of searching, I realized that the floating fruits were yuzu, a kind of Asian citrus with fragrant skin. Evidently taking a hot bath with yuzu fruit is traditional on the night of the winter solstice. Here’s the link:

http://www.demilked.com/grandma-and-odd-eyed-cat-miyoko-ihara/

I found this idea utterly delightful, so much so that I decided to remove all the cat clutter that currently fills my huge tub and take a solstice soak myself. I am quite sure that my cat will find this amusing, if not amazing, since the tub usually holds her extra litter and huge jars of cat food. (Unless cat food is immediately put into big jars, she will chew and claw through any kind of bag to get at it. Even if her food dish is full. Or perhaps especially if her dish is full…

Short on Yuzu

Sadly, yuzu is not in great supply at my local stores. However, I will make do with lemons and oranges, which will be colorful and fun, plus I can eat them if I get bored. For scent, I’ll buy a little citrus called Buddha’s Hand, which has thick, leathery yellow skin with an engagingly lovely fragrance. A citron, this multi-fingered fruit is traditionally used in China and Japan to scent homes, and indeed, a single fruit will fill a room, especially if the air is warm. My local grocery store has them in right now, perhaps to serve our many islanders of Asian descent.

Solstice Thoughts

A recent hard freeze, prolonged and deeply dry, has left gardens all over the region looking hammered. I’ve heard from many gardeners who fear that their gardens will never recover, and even a few who are planning to rip out everything and start again. I’m interested to notice that at this point in my life, drastic weather events leave me feeling more interested in change than in the past.

Happily for those of us who can’t not garden, garden making allows plenty of room for change; indeed, it may be the most forgiving art form (or hobby, if you prefer to think of it that way) we can practice. When we make mistakes–as all of us do, time after time–our plants are very apt to recover without much harm. If they do die, as some inevitably do, they can nearly always be replaced, and the golden few that can’t never wither in our imaginations but bloom on, perfect and immortal, in the ghostly gardens of Tir-nan-og.

Make Room For The New

Even total disasters have their compensations, for the list of plants we want to grow is always larger than the available space, no matter how big the garden. The initial pang may be severe when great trees fall in wind storms or whole sections of border are flooded by torrential rains, but familiarity with natural cycles makes gardeners amazingly resilient. We may curse and rant and swear that never again will we lavish so much love on anything ephemeral, yet every spring sees us back in business, up to our knees in manure, our heads full of seductive dreams.

I’ve kept garden journals for many years, finding them heartening and often humorous reading. My favorite time for journal review is between the dark end of the old year and the bright beginning of the new, the traditional time in which to examine the past and plan for the future. As the great seasonal tide of the year turns, plants and people alike feel the change. From now on, every day will be a few minutes longer. After the long Solstice night passes, buds begin to swell on shrub and tree, while underground, root and bulb start to stir.

Looking With A Kindly Eye

The return of the light brings a renewal of spirit to the gardener as well, reawakening our desire to create, to make, to achieve. Leaving the garden in slumberous peace, we can retire to a comfortable, well-lighted place to review our garden journal notes, old plans and planting diagrams. We are looking not for shortcomings (many though there may be), nor for failures of accomplishment or intent, but for progress, however modest.

Garden making is a lengthy process, one which lasts the lucky a lifetime, and there is no hurry about it but the natural impatience of the smitten to see plants bloom before they are even bought, let alone planted. Take this time not to criticize but to congratulate yourself for what ever good your garden has brought you this year.

Garden Love

Many of the gifts of the garden are easily listed; the long awaited peony that finally bloomed its heart out, the roses that showered the grass with pastel petals, the lilies that spilled haunting perfume on the night air, the triumphant blaze of autumn color, the understated delights of lacy branch tracery against the pale winter sky. Other of its gifts are less obvious, but even longer lasting–the glow of health that accompanies modest, pleasurable exercise, the lifting of the heart when a beloved blossom blooms just for us, the raising of our spirits when we lose our troubles in the garden’s simple chores.

Amen, I think.

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Vegan Winter Soups & Supreme Beans

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Still More Beloved Beans

A few weeks ago, an extremely kind and generous reader sent me a birthday gift. When I got home, there on my doorstep was a box of glorious heritage beans from Rancho Gordo in Napa, California. What a treat! I’ve been exploring the marvelous array of beans, from heirloom strains of white runner beans and pinquitos to classic cranberry beans and bold Sangre de Toro red beans. My new favorites are the chunky, maroon-and-white Christmas limas, which cook up buttery soft and meltingly rich. Whee!

I’ve always been fond of beans, especially when I’ve been growing a lot of my own food.  Few crops are as versatile and nutritious as beans, whether eaten fresh or dried. For culinary variety, it’s fun to grow as varied a mixture of fillet and shell beans as you have room for, as well as dried varieties that store well. If your bean repertoire needs expanding, grow a few great-tasting heritage beans next year.

Like What?

Well, how about some rose-and-white speckled Ayers Cranberry dry bush beans? Black and white Calypso beans cook up creamy and are traditional favorites for cooking with ham hocks (or not). Scarlet Runners have edible, fragrant flowers and are delicious fresh or dried. Black Basque and Black Turtle dry bush beans are very old varieties still widely grown today for their sumptuous flavor and fine texture. Italian cooks cherish Borloto Lamon, White Runner, and Cannellini beans, with the rich, buttery flavor that makes them favorites for rustic bean spreads.

More Marvelous Croutons, Please

This is certainly soup season, and though my summer soups tend to be garnished with chopped herbs and fruit or vegetables, my winter soups are most often crowned with crispy croutons. Before Thanksgiving, I usually make some cornbread so I can use some of the stale bits in stuffing. As it happens, slightly stale cornbread also makes fabulous croutons. A local restaurant serves deep-fried polenta croutons, which are totally delicious, and these are equally yummy and a lot less trouble.

I’ve been especially enjoying them with one of our current favorite soups, which is an enticing cross between black bean soup and roasted tomato and pepper soup. Instead of using cream, this vegan version is thickened with mashed beans and garnished with crisp chopped apple. For a soul satisfying experience, serve this delectable soup with crispy cornbread croutons as well.

Black Bean, Tomato & Roasted Pepper Soup

1 tablespoon fruity olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
6 cups diced fire-roasted tomatoes, with juice
1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
3 cups cooked black beans
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon rice syrup or pomegranate molasses
1 Honeycrisp apple, diced
1 cup Crispy Cornbread Croutons (see below)

In a soup pot, combine oil, garlic, onion and salt over medium high heat and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, roasted peppers, black beans, ground pepper and syrup or molasses, bring to a simmer, cover pan and heat through (about 10 minutes). Puree with an immersion blender or in small batches and serve, garnished with diced apple and croutons. Serves 4-6.

Crispy Cornbread Croutons

1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups cubed cornbread (stale is best)

In a frying pan, combine oil, butter, garlic and salt over medium high heat and cook for 2 minutes. Add cornbread cubes, gently tossing to coat, and cook, stirring often, until crisp and lightly browned (5-7 minutes). Makes about 2 cups.

Crazy Good Cranberry Beans

This hearty Italian salad makes a pleasant and satisfying vegetarian/vegan main dish when served with hot soup and warm bread or muffins.

Italian Cranberry Bean Salad

4 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup radicchio, shredded
2 tablespoons fruity olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon stemmed thyme
1 organic lemon, juiced, zest grated
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon honey or pomegranate molasses
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups cooked cranberry beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Arrange greens in a serving bowl. Combine oil, garlic, thyme, and lemon zest in a wide, shallow pan over medium high heat and cook to the fragrance point (1-2 minutes). Add onion, celery and salt and cook, stirring, until soft (3-5 minutes). Add beans, honey or molasses, pepper and lemon juice to taste, stir to coat and heat through. Spoon over greens, toss gently and serve, garnished with nuts. Serves 4.

Tuscan White Bean Spread

1-3/4 cups cooked Cannellini or any white beans, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 organic lemon, juiced, rind grated
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fruity olive oil

In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, lemon rind, salt and pepper and puree to a fairly smooth paste. Open feed tube and add oil while processor is running. Add lemon juice to taste, starting with 1 tablespoon. Makes about 2 cups. Refrigerate leftovers, but serve at room temperature.

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Pioneer Pie & Apples Pure And Simple

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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A Happy Day

Thanksgiving was delightful here, with a cheerful group of family and friends enjoying each other and the food and my darling grandbaby, Oliver, who was the effortless star of the day. Since his daddy is experiencing some food issues, I made several things he could eat, among them an outstandingly delicious pumpkin pie that was wheat-, dairy-, soy-, and sugar-free. It came out a deep, golden brown, smelled amazing, and tasted terrific. I imagine it was a lot like what our pioneer ancestors ate (OK, except for the coconut milk), so I’m calling it;

Pioneer Pie

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups cooked pumpkin pulp
1 can (15 oz) coconut milk
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger, & coriander
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 pie crust

Mix together all ingredients (except crust) well, pour into a pie dish lined with crust and bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and bake until set (45-50 minutes more). Cool for 30 minutes before slicing. The flavors meld even more nicely overnight.

Sugar-, Wheat-, Dairy-free Pie Crust

2 cups almonds or hazelnuts
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2-3 teaspoons safflower oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

In a food processor, grind nuts coarsely. Add coconut oil and process for a few seconds. Add safflower oil and salt and process until mixture begins to clump (5-8 seconds). Pat into a pie dish, firming up the sides and bottom with your fingers. Prebake at 350 until crisp (20-30 minutes) for uncooked fillings, or fill and bake as usual for cooked fillings.

About Those Apples

Apples have tempted humans since time began, and rightfully so. Unlike many sugary treats, apples balance their crunchy, juicy sweetness with an outstanding array of health benefits. Apples, blueberries, and grapes rank among the most beneficial of all fresh fruit, and eating just 5 servings a week offers significant health protection. However, replacing whole fruit with fruit juices actually increases the risk of disease, so Mom is still right about that apple a day.

So we can safely and happily offer apples to our kids, right? Well, as long as they are organically grown, yes. Otherwise, not so much. Year ago, Meryl Streep’s influence led apple growers to abandon the use of alar, a carcinogenic pesticide growers used on apples to keep them unblemished by bug bites. However, unless we buy organically grown apples, we’ll still get more of a mouthful than we want, since USDA studies show that 98% of conventionally grown apples still retain pesticides. The levels are within the range deemed acceptable by the FDA, but is that really low enough?

Pesticide Check, Please

A few years ago, Richard Wiles, senior vice president for policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, said; “The mix of pesticides today is less toxic than it was 20 years ago, but we still have a lot of pesticides left over. I think we’re due for another look at whether we’re doing the best we can to protect the public from pesticides in food.”

Today, we have new concerns to add to our longstanding ones. Traditional apple breeders hand-cross pollen from fruit with valuable characteristics in hopes of getting even better offspring. New apples like Honeycrisp, SweeTango, and Pink Lady were developed by patient hybridizers who grow thousands of seedlings and wait, sometimes for years, to taste the results. Each autumn, breeders taste test up to 500 apples a day, looking for that special something that indicates an outstanding new fruit. (Apparently, French grad school students are much sought-after as taste testers, thanks to their experienced and subtle palates.)

GE Apples On The Way

Two new apples, Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny, were recently developed in Canada using genetic engineering (biotechnology that creates plant hybrids that could not occur in nature). The idea behind these new apples is that they won’t turn brown when sliced, as normal apples do. This involved creating a reversed version of the gene that makes apples produce polyphenol oxidase (PPO) when cut or bitten or damaged. These bio-tampered apples been working their way through the FDA evaluation process and are approaching consumer availability, about which the tamperers are very excited, since they’ve worked so hard to bring this achievement to market.

Really? How pathetically sad that all this energy has been expended on solving an absurd problem. Obviously, it’s not an issue for anybody except perhaps caterers, and those who package pre-sliced apples (labeled and marketed as ‘fresh’, amazingly enough). Organic growers reject all genetically engineered foods, as do the countries of the European Economic community, and it remains to be seen whether these biotech apples will gain consumer approval or not.

A Happy Apple Story

For now, let’s delight in fresh organically grown apples, which are abundant and delectable just now. My newest favorite are called Opal, a cross between Golden Delicious (which I think is anything but) and Topaz, a Czech Republican apple with a complex parentage. Opal is notably crisp, with a bright and slightly spicy flavor that has a distinct floral finish (kind of like apricots). In the US, it’s grown by Washington State’s Broetje Orchards, partly as a First Fruits fundraiser for projects that serve the young in terms of education, nutrition, and food politics.

That’s totally lovely, of course, but it helps that the apple itself is just a knockout, gorgeous inside and out. The skin is a glowing golden yellow blushed with apricot and peach, the flesh is creamy white, crunchy, and utterly delectable. Organic Opals have been on sale at my local Town & Country Market, and after trying one, I loaded up my cart with them. What are they good for? Pretty near anything, as far as I can tell. For fresh eating, they are amazing. Sliced and drizzled with pomegranate molasses, they are insanely snackable. Sauted with garlic and sea salt, they taste gorgeous with Brussels sprouts and kale. They make lovely sauce, light, bright, and needing no added anything to taste like pure autumnal treasure. Baked, they remain tender yet firm. Here are some fine ways to eat them:

Baked Opal Apples

This scrumptious, savory side also makes a pleasant light entree.

Savory Baked Apples

4 Opal or Fuji apples
2 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dried cherries or apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons hazelnuts or walnuts, chopped

Core each apple, leaving skin intact. In a bowl, combine goat cheese, garlic and vinegar, stir in dried fruit and nuts and gently stuff apples. Bake at 350 degrees F until soft (30-40 minutes). Serves 4.

Apple & Turnip Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 large turnips, peeled and diced
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1 cup unfiltered apple cider
1 quart vegetable broth
2 Opal, Gala, or any tart apples, cored and diced
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup cilantro, stemmed

In a soup pot, combine oil, onion, salt and paprika over medium high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add turnips, potatoes, and apples, cover pan and sweat for 5 minutes. Add cider and broth, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and simmer until tender. Puree with an immersion blender and serve, garnished with yogurt and cilantro. Serves 4.

If you have some fine local cider on hand, try this:

Apple Cider Shrub

1 cup unfiltered organic apple cider, chilled
1/4 cup unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar
1 quart sparkling water (sodium free), chilled

Combine all ingredients and serve. Makes 4 servings.

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