Apple Crisp

Sometimes, I just want an easy, tasty dessert! And the last two weekends, when it is cold and snowy, this one is just right!!

4-6 medium size apples, cut into slices any kind good for baking
1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Layer the sliced apple into a baking dish. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and half of the butter. Sprinkle the crumble on top. Cut up the rest of the butter and put on top. Bake for about 50 minutes, until topping browns and crisps!

Stuffed Mushrooms

I love this appetizer! Ryan and I made this as our first course for our Christmas Eve Dinner. It goes great with champagne!

Ingredients:
24 White stuffer mushrooms
1 large bag Spinach
1 medium-size block Gruyere cheese, cut into small, thin pieces
1 Shallot
3 cloves garlic
Bread crumbs
Olive oil
1 tblsp Butter
Stock
Lemon
Chive
Salt and pepper
White wine

1. Clean the mushrooms, removing the stem, and carefully preserving the shape of the cap. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large saute pan, melt the butter and olive oil together over low heat. Add in shallots and garlic, and cook until translucent and aromatic. Add in a splash of chicken or vegetable stock and white wine, and allow to cook off.

3. Add in the spinach and stir to wilt. Add in salt, pepper, and lemon.

4. Add in cheese and herbs and melt together.

5. Place mushroom caps on baking sheets. Spoon the spinach and cheese mixture into the caps and sprinkle some bread crumbs on top.

6. Bake 10 minutes, allowing the cheese and bread crumbs to brown on top!

Dumpling Soup

The Mr. Dever made this happen, and wow! Delicious. I craved it for days. Winter Classic!

For Soup:

3 cups Chicken or Veggie Stock
3 Cups Water
Carrots, sliced
Celery, sliced
Red Skin potatoes (cut into small pieces)
1-2 shallots
poultry seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
butter

For dumplings:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
chives
parsley and other fresh herbs, as desired

1. Combine stock and water in large pot. Add potatoes and bring to rolling boil.

2. In separate small saute pan, sweat the shallot in butter, cooking until transparent and aromatic over low heat. Add in the celery and carrot, salt and pepper and poultry seasoning and cook until soft.

3. Once potatoes are tender, add in vegetable mix to stock and cook 12-20 minutes on a simmer.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. In a measuring cup, crack the egg and add enough water to equal 1 cup. whisk.

6. Gradually combine the egg and water mixture into the flour, mixing the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky. Fold in the chives. Add additional flour or water as needed to adjust the consistency.

7. When the soup is ready, make sure it stays at a simmer, and spread the dumpling batter out on a cutting board. Hold the board over the water, and using a pizza dough scraper or knife, cut in strips of the dough. Use a slotted spoon to float them toward the top of the soup. Cover the pot and cook, about 8-10 minutes. Test for doneness by bringing to side of the pot and using a fork to see if the dumpling is firm.

Deglaze the veggie pan with a little water and mix into the soup right before serving.

Sweet Potato and Turnip Mash

Some recipes are just so gloriously simple and quick, and this is one of them! Ryan creates this one whenever we have turnips- it's really the only way I like them. They have a subtle broccoli-like flavor to me when mixed with the sweetness of the sweet potato!

Peel 2-3 small/medium turnips and 2 large sweet potatoes. (You definitely want a ratio of more sweet potato to less turnip.)

Cut into medium sized chunks and boil until tender with a fork. Add about 1/2 stick of butter, salt and milk to taste and desired creaminess. Mash and whip with a wooden spoon.

Voila!

Carrot Bisque

Another fabulous recipe that we found in the vegetarian time's- and put a Lora & Ryan spin on.

Olive oil
2 tbs grated ginger
2 leeks
1 yellow onion
garlic
1 tbs curry powder
salt to taste
pinch cayenne pepper
4 cups carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 tbs lime juice
2 cups water
2 cups stock

Heat oil in bottom of deep pot. Add onion, leeks, and garlic and saute about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and cook until fragrant. Add curry powder, cayenne, and 1/4 cup stock. Cook a few more minutes, stirring to coat onions with mixture.

Add in carrots, the remaining 1 and 3/4 cups stock and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until carrots are soft enough to pierce with a fork.

Puree soup in a blender in batches. Return soup to pot and stir in 1 cup of coconut milk and lime.

Simmer remaining coconut milk in small saucepan about 10 minutes, until reduced by about half.

Serve in bowls, swirling coconut milk into soup and topping with homemade croutons, if desired.

Chicken/Veggie Pot Pie

This is one of my all-time favorite middle of winter dishes! And given the sub-zero weather... it seemed perfect for tonight.
HOWEVER... as I started making this masterpiece of a food, it dawned on me about an hour in why I only make it ONCE each winter. So reader, be warned: it's a bit of a beast to make, involving several steps and a lot of dirty dishes, but the payoff is a homemade comfort classic that is amazing!!


Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
5-6 tablespoons ice water

Combine flour & salt with a whisk. Add in butter and combine with a fork until crumbly. Drizzle water and shape into a ball. Refrigerate in Saran wrap for 30 minutes.


Ingredients for Filling:

3-4 carrots
3 stalks of celery
2-3 red potatoes
1/2 can of peas
1/2 can of corn
1/2 large white onion
2 cloves garlic
mushrooms- we had white button on hand, I'd use baby bella too
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can milk
1/2 can chicken stock
dill, thyme, rosemary, parsley, poultry seasoning
salt and pepper
1/2 stick of butter

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes and boil until tender
3. While potatoes are boiling, cut the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and mushroom into small pieces.
4. In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add in the veggies. Saute until soft and onions are translucent, careful to not brown.
5. Once veggies soften, add in the can of cream of chicken, the milk, and stock. Season with the herbs and salt and pepper. Be generous with the herbs and pepper (except the rosemary, use that sparingly). Allow to cook over medium heat.
6. In a casserole dish, layer the veggie mix, the potato, the peas and corn. If needed, add in more stock. Top with additional seasonings and then roll out and cover with the crust.
7. Bake in oven for about 40 minutes.

If using chicken:
Cut the chicken into cubes and cook in butter. Shred and mix in with veggie mixture and filling.

Ryan's 30th Birthday Feast: Wild Mushroom Shepard's Pie

In honor of Ryan's birthday, we put together a midwinter's night feast. Wild mushroom shepard's pie with a pinot noir sauce, roast winter vegetables, and a mixed green salad. I hadn't intentionally designed a vegetarian menu for Ryan and our friends, but I was excited to pull it off. Again, this recipe was adapted from Vegetarian Times, with help from our CSA box, the mushroom seller at the local farmer's market, and my own kick-ass techniques for carmelizing onions (courtesy of my class with Purple Kale Kitchen Works).

Wild Mushroom Shepard's Pie
Makes about 8 servings

For potatoes:
-3 lb (about 6) yukon gold potatoes- peeled & quartered
-1/2 stick- 1 stick butter
-1/4 cup heavy cream
-fresh chives
-6 tablespoons grated parmesan and pecorino cheese

For the filling:
-1/2- 1 lb wild mushrooms *
-3 portobello mushroom caps
- 3 white onions- halved and sliced
-balsamic vinegar
-salt and pepper
-pecorino and parmesan cheese
-fresh parsley
-2 cloves garlic

*"wild mushrooms"- this can mean so many things. I originally planned to use a blend of dried porcini and cepe mushrooms, but the mushroom stand at our farmer's market had so many awesome fresh mushrooms to offer, I changed plans. I ended up using piopinni and shiitake mushrooms, which were recommended for their hearty flavors that would stand up nicely to the mashed potato.


1. Boil the potatoes. Drain and return to pot. Add in butter and heavy cream and mash. Season with salt and pepper, chives, and handfuls of pecorino and parmesan cheese.

2. While the potatoes boil, clean the mushrooms with a quick rinse of water (yes, I rinse them with water, no, I do not think this ruins them in any way). Toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Place on a baking sheet, portobellos gill side up. Roast them at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until tender. Take out and cool.

3. While potatoes boil and mushrooms roast, heat olive oil in a pan for the onions. Saute over medium-low heat, sweating and not allowing to brown. Salt and pepper, splash with chicken stock, and then cover and cook. After about 40 minutes, once onions become sticky, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.

4. Slice the portobello thinly. Chop the wild mushrooms and toss with remaining cheese.

5. In casserole dish, create a bottom layer of portobello mushrooms. Add a layer of carmelized onions, then a layer of mashed potatoes. Put wild mushrooms in next layer, the rest of the carmelized onions, the fresh parsley, and top with remaining mashed potato. Grate additional cheese on top layer of potatoes.

6. Bake 40 minutes or until golden. Let cool before serving.


Pinot Noir Sauce:

For a little finishing touch, make this delicious sauce:

1/4 cup pinot noir
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
splash tamari/soy sauce

1. In pan, reduce wine and chicken stock over medium heat. Pour liquid back into measuring cup, melt butter and whisk in flour. Slowly pour back in wine/stock liquid. Add salt and pepper, and tamari, and reduce, about 10 minutes.

Serve sauce over shepard's pie!!

Krispy Kale

I have no love for kale. Well, let me rephrase that. I HAD no love for kale. Bitter and chewy, the first time I cooked it at home, it tasted like rubbery, scratchy seaweed. (Yuck!!) However, I have recently learned to turn this hardy green from yuck to yum- and even Ryan likes it! I wouldn't bother so hard, but in winter, it is in all of our CSA boxes, and one of the few greens at the markets, so Kale, we're all yours.

Cut the leaves from the stems and discard the stems.
Rinse well under water to get rid of any sand, and do NOT dry. Let the water drops stay- this will help with the cooking and the krisping.
In a pan, pour in a bit of olive oil, and dice up a clove of garlic. Once the garlic sweats into the oil, add in the kale, sprinkle with sea salt, and cook down. Once Kale begins to wilt, splash with a capful or two of vinegar- red wine, cider, or balsamic will all work well- and season with pepper. Turn up the heat, and take another, smaller pan, and use it to crush the leaves. Gather them all under the bottom of the pan, and press down so leaves start to crisp. Do this until leaves brown a bit on end and reach desired "krispy" consistency!!

Tea @ the Plaza

What better way to celebrate the holidays than with the perfect NYC afternoon? And what better way to start off a holiday tour than with tea at the historic Plaza Hotel?

It might sound like a silly excuse to overpay for finger food- but Ryan and I- about once a year- really enjoy it. Not to mention how beautiful the classic tea rooms look!!
We started off with teas and champagnes. The tea- we sampled afternoon blends, and even some decaff- and everybody really enjoyed it. I didn't even bother with cream and sugar!



Our plates arrived, and between all of us, we tried three different menus: The classic, The New York, and a special Vegetarian tower for me.

Ryan's classic included a smoked salmon on wheat toast, which he liked, a cold lobster salad with caviar, which was "great- very delicate and yet decadent at the same time". The roast beef was his least favorite, not rare enough for his taste.

The New York plates included several similar sandwiches, but also had a roquefort cheese and grape, and a prosciutto, mozzarella and pesto.

My vegetarian tower had an amazing cucumber sandwich- a tea time classic, but here, more delicate, with extremely thin slices of cucumber and just a bit of cream cheese. A mozzarella and pesto sandwich was light and delicious, and a truffled egg salad was to die for. (Is there anything with truffle that is not??!)

The scones were lemony and raisiny and warm and soft.


But the best part, of course, is the desserts- mini black and white cookies, cheese cake, fruit tarts, hazlenut napoleons- every last one delicious!



After our tea, we headed to Radio City to see the Rockettes, and then to the Tree at Rock Center.