BREAKFAST KALE, SWEDISH MEATBALLS AND STRUDEL

                    Breakfast kale, Swedish meatballs and Strudel

 

          If you are not exhilarated playing in the fresh snow or careening down ski slopes, the week between Christmas and New Years is a time of relative quiet after joyous excitement of holidays. For the home cook it is a time to resurrect favorite dishes from the past or envision a new one from ingredients on hand. 

                                  Breakfast kale with eggs and pancetta

          Unusual and healthy gluten free breakfasts are a challenge. Eggs are a mainstay for those and this version with kale is both satisfying and filling.

          Wash and de-rib 1 bunch of Lacinato or other kale and roughly slice the leaves into bitesize shreds. Sauté 2 oz. pancetta on medium heat for 5 minutes and drain on paper towel. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to the pan and stir fry the kale with 1 medium thinly sliced onion, 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes until wilted. Stir in ¼ cup apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup water and pancetta. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup heavy cream and with a spoon make 4 depressions in the kale, break an egg in each depression and cook until the eggs are set. To set the top of the eggs cover the pan briefly. Sprinkle the cooked dish with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and serve hot.

          For many years our traditional Christmas eve dinner was Swedish meatballs until other tempting dishes replaced it. Swedish meatballs is a lovely comfort food that needed to be resurrected in the current cold snap in Maine.

                                              Swedish meatballs

          Soak ¼ cup dry unseasoned breadcrumbs with ½ cup half-and-half.  Stir in 1 beaten egg, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. pepper, ½ tsp. cardamom, ½ tsp. nutmeg, ¼ tsp. allspice. Finely chop 1 medium onion, sauté onion in 1 tbsp. butter 3-4 minutes, cool slightly and stir in the bread mixture. Add 1 lb. meatloaf type beef, pork and veal mix blending ingredients thoroughly with your hands. Chill for 20 minutes. Form small meatballs by rolling the mixture in your hands and fry in batches in 3 tbsp. butter to brown. Keep the fried meatballs warm. Wipe out the pan. Melt 3 tbsp. butter, stir in 3 tbsp. flour to make a roux and cook for 2 minutes to incorporate all the flour, then slowly stir in 2 cups chicken broth to make the gravy. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and return the meatballs to the pan. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes, stir in ¼ cup sour cream and serve hot on boiled potatoes or pasta.

          Strudel is one of those quintessential German and Austrian foods that one associates with cold winters, warm fires and general contentment. The rest of fresh pumpkin from my pumpkin gratin served to make pumpkin strudel. Since at the time I also made an apple strudel, here is my combined apple and pumpkin strudel recipe. Both are delicious.

                                              Apple or pumpkin strudel

          Thaw a package of phyllo dough according to package instructions. Assemble all ingredients beforehand since phyllo dough dries rapidly and needs rapid handling. Peel, core and slice both apple and pumpkin in ¼ inch thick pieces about ½ inch in diameter to make 1 ½ cups each. Toss both pumpkin and apples with 1 tbsp. lemon juice. For each strudel set aside ¾ cup raisins and ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans. For each strudel mix together: ¾ cups sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, 1/3 tsp. cloves and ½ tsp. lemon peel. Open a container of unseasoned fine breadcrumbs. Melt 8 tbsp. unsalted butter for 2 strudel.

          Assemble on a damp kitchen towel, keeping the unused phyllo lightly covered with another damp towel. Spread 3 sheets of the phyllo dough on the damp towel, brush the entire surface lightly with butter, sprinkle with 1 tbsp. breadcrumbs, spread out 1/3 of the apple or pumpkin, 1/3 raisins and nuts and sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mix. Layer with 3 sheets more phyllo and repeat the process twice. Fold back an inch of the short end of the dough. Using the towel, wrap the whole package lengthwise in a jelly roll form. Transfer to a baking sheet and brush the entire strudel with lots of melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool before slicing. Will keep carefully wrapped in aluminum foil and frozen.

Happy New Year!

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

 

HOLIDAY SISDES: ROASTED BEETS, PUMPKIN GRATIN AND LATKES

 

            Holiday sides: roasted beets, pumpkin gratin and latkes

          It is that time of the year when CC Moore’s poem Visit from St. Nicholas paints the relaxed scene of children asleep with ‘visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads’. In reality it is the time when the home cook is desperately racking his or her brain about which recipes to feature at the variety of celebrations starting with Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza as well as many friendly parties, all squeezed in the busiest month of the year – December!

          Most large dinners are likely to feature roast beef, turkey or ham, but smaller families or dietary preferences have come up with ingenious variations from roast chicken to a vegetarian feast featuring squash, beans, tofu, nuts and a myriad of spices. There are family traditions that require a corn pudding for great-aunt Tilda and blackened onions for Uncle Horace, but a good cook will always try to come up with something a bit different to surprise and add color to the table.

                                       Latkes/potato pancakes

          Potato pancakes come in slightly different variations from Northern Europe but is a traditional food for Hanukkah and are served with sour cream or applesauce. Their crisp texture makes them a wonderful accompaniment to meat or any vegetarian dish.

          Shred in a food processor or on a box grater 2 large, peeled russet potatoes and 1 small onion. Squeeze as much moisture as possible, using cheesecloth or double paper towels, from the shredded vegetables. In a bowl beat 1 large egg with 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper and 2-3 tbsp. flour or unseasoned breadcrumbs. Thoroughly mix in the drained potatoes in the egg mix and fry small 4-inch pancakes in vegetable oil 3-4 minutes on each side. Sprinkle sour cream with chopped chives or scallions for garnish.

                                                  Pumpkin Gratin

          This unusual and delicious gratin recipe was adapted from Marlena Spieler’s Vegetarian Bistro, authentic French regional recipes and is worth the amount of chopping to please not only you vegetarian friends but will please and surprise everyone else.

          Seed and peel a small 1 ½ lb. fresh pie pumpkin and cut it in ½ inch dice. Clean and slice 1 leek, white and light green parts. Dice ½ of seeded and deribbed red pepper and 3-4 Roma tomatoes. Mince 3 large garlic cloves and julienne 6-7 sundried tomatoes.

          Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large pan and sauté the pumpkin and leek on medium heat for 15 minutes with occasional stirring to golden. Stir in tomatoes, red pepper and sundried tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes become saucy. Add ½ cup dry white wine and cook to reduce to ½. Stir in ½ cup heavy cream, 2 tbs. tomato paste, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. lemon pepper, half of the chopped garlic and 1 generous teaspoon herbes de Provence. Pour the mixture in a shallow baking or gratin dish.

          In a small bowl mix 3 tbsp. unseasoned breadcrumbs, 3 tbsp. each grated Parmesan and Gruyêre cheese, rest of the garlic and toss with 2 tsp. olive oil. Spread crumbs over the pumpkin mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm. 

                                       Roasted beets with onions and pinenuts

          Roast in oven 4-5 medium sized beets wrapped in aluminum for 1 hour at 400 degrees. Peel when slightly cooled and slice or cut in thin wedges. While beets are roasting, cook 3 medium onions peeled and thickly sliced in 2 tbsp. olive oil, stirring occasionally for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

          In a medium bowl stir together 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. chopped capers, ¾ tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 2 tbsp. cider vinegar and 3 tbsp. olive oil. Toss beets and onion in the dressing and garnish with pine nuts. Serve warm or at room temperature.

          December also entertains Boxing Day, the day after Christmas which is celebrated in the UK as well as Canada and Australia. It was originally the day with cold leftovers after Christmas, since it was the day off for servants.  Gifts were distributed to them and other unfortunates in the community as vividly described by Dickens at the end of “Christmas Carol”.  Boxing Day unfortunately has become the great shopping day not only in UK but elsewhere as well in modern times.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

APPETIZERS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

 

                        Appetizers for the holiday season

 

          Each year we find the days after Thanksgiving until the New Year filled with anticipation and joy of seeing family, friends, coworkers and neighbors in friendly gatherings with good cheer. Tradition and good taste demands that they include good food and libations of choice. Catering services flourish in December but the thrifty home cook can come up with delicious home alternatives that don’t break the bank and are relatively easy to prepare.

A vegetable tray with dip, cheese and crackers or a shrimp ring with cocktail sauce immediately come to mind. Equally easy are open-faced mini sandwich treats with smoked salmon or shrimp. 

                                               Smoked salmon on cocktail rye

Spread cocktail rye (or crostini, or thin slices of a French baguette) with cream cheese. Arrange on top a thin piece of smoked salmon, small red onion rings and capers. Decorate with small segments of a dill pickle. For shrimp mini sandwiches omit the onion and top with slivers of pimento and capers.

 

                                       Magical garlic-herb Boursin

Herbed Boursin, originally developed by François Boursin, a Normandy cheesemaker in 1957, is the miracle ingredient that makes a variety of delectable appetizers for any time of the year, and is especially useful because of its versatility during the holidays. Cows milk Boursin is a fresh cheese blended with cream, herbs and garlic, slightly crumbly in texture and still spreadable on crackers, vegetables or even grapes with tasty results. The assortment in the picture shows mini-pepper halves stuffed with Boursin and crackers topped with Boursin and a dab of tomato jam. My old Craig Clairborne cookbook had appetizers made of grapes stuffed with cream cheese. Updating the recipe with Boursin and very large green grapes yielded a tasty bite with complex flavors that sent everyone for seconds.

There are of course many other intricate baked appetizers. Recently I noticed that many food magazines have re-discovered Gougère. They are French Choux pastry or French cheese puffs that make wonderful light appetizers. They are relatively easy to make with crusty outside and a bit hollow and soft on the inside. This is my recipe from Craig Clairborne, NY Times Cookbook that I have made for many years.

                                                                   Gougère

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line your pans with parchment. Finely grate 1 and ½ cup Gruyère cheese (do not use pre-grated cheese because of coarseness and additives).  Pour 1 cup water in a medium saucepan, add 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, 1 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. peeper. Bring to boil and add 1 cup of sifted flour all at once with stirring. Set heat to medium and continue stirring until the dough forms a ball and leaves sides of the saucepan. Set aside from stove for 2 minutes and then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time and ¼ tsp. nutmeg. Set aside 2 tbsp. of the cheese and stir the rest into the dough mixing thoroughly.

Place rounded tablespoons of the dough on prepared pans, sprinkle with the reserved cheese and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm. Gougère can be reheated at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. 

These would be wonderful for New Years Eve served with Kir Royale (chilled champagne with a dash of crème de cassis).                           

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)