'BRIGHTEN UP' FOR SPRING

‘Brighten-up’ for Spring

            How disappointing can it get when you are reduced to looking for a dripping roof as a sign of spring? My usual harbinger of spring, a clump of snowdrops by the front step, was unfortunately still buried in a snowdrift from our ‘Ides of March’ blizzard at the time of the official arrival of spring on Monday.

            Fortunately there are already daffodils and tulips in the store to cheer us up for the seasonal change. Our pair of blue and yellow primroses from Green Thumb, has graced our dining table now for a couple of weeks, brightening mealtimes in their blue and white dish. Somehow we feel a need for color after the stark black and white landscape of winter. It may be a bit unseasonal yet to switch to bright salads, but even relatively hearty mealtimes can be brightened by the addition of some colorful ingredients or decorative touches.

            Home cooks have re-discovered a battered breakfast dish that is easy, fast and has a number of colorful toppings, depending whether you favor a sweet or savory breakfast. This dish is the traditional Dutch Baby, which can be made with a variety of colorful toppings.

                        Fruit Topped Dutch Baby

            Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet in the oven and set to 450 degrees. In the meantime in a medium bowl beat 2 eggs until foamy and blend in ½ cup milk, 1 Tblsp. melted butter, 1 tsp. lemon rind, ½ tsp. salt, ½ cup flour mixed with ½ Tblsp. cornstarch. Carefully remove pan from oven, coat with buttery cooking spray and 1 Tblsp. butter. Pour in the egg batter and bake 18-20 minutes, or until puffy and brown. Cut up 1 pint of fresh strawberries, toss with 2 tsp. powdered sugar and ¼ cup slivered almonds. Remove baked Dutch Baby from oven, top with strawberry mixture and serve warm. Instead of strawberries, use blueberries or some other colorful berries or cut up fruit.

                        Asparagus and Bacon Dutch Baby

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Trim fresh asparagus and cut in ½ inch pieces to make 1 cup. In a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet crisp 6 slices of bacon and drain on paper towels. Drain most of the fat and cook the asparagus in a hot pan for 1 minute and set aside. In a large bowl beat 3 eggs with 2/3 cup milk, 1 Tblsp. olive oil, ½ cup flour, ¾ tsp. salt, dash of cayenne. Grate ½ cup fresh Parmesan cheese and toss with bacon and asparagus. Preheat cast iron skillet in oven 3 minutes, melt 1 Tblsp. butter, pour in egg mixture and cover with asparagus-bacon mix. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes and serve hot. Variations of the recipe can be made with only bacon or substituting broccoli florets for asparagus.

            Cauliflower and Stilton Bisque

In a 3 quart pot combine: 1 small onion chopped, 2 minced garlic cloves, 3 cups chicken broth, 2 small potatoes cubed, 3 cups cauliflower florets, 1 stalk celery chopped, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. When slightly cooled, puree with 1 cup half and half, return to the stove to heat before serving. Serve garnished with 2 oz. Stilton crumbles, chopped chives and pomegranate seeds for a colorful and appetizing soup.

For an easy and colorful Friday night supper- skip the pizza and serve a pan of colorful hearty nachos.    

            Hearty Sausage Nachos

Brown ¾ lb. hot Italian sausage without casing for 6-8 minutes, breaking the meat in small pieces. Add 1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped.  Stir in 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed, 1 tsp. oregano and cook until warm for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tsp. finely chopped picked jalapeňo and 3 chopped scallions. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread with 8 oz. tortilla chips. Spoon sausage mix over the chips and sprinkle with 2 ½ cups grated pepper Jack cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Top with ¾ cup each fresh salsa and sour cream.

Keeping your meals bright may not make the snow melt any faster, but it may convince us that genuine real spring can’t be too far ahead.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

FAREWELL WINTER?

Farewell winter!

            The musings of Candide about “The best of possible worlds” and “The worst of possible worlds” certainly fit our weather pattern these last couple of weeks. There was the Valentine’s day blizzard, then a few spring like days coaxing intrepid clammers out in the estuary, followed immediately with bone chilling days and nights. March has come, but winter seems to refuse it’s hold.

            An impromptu dinner with friends therefore still needed to focus on cold weather fare. With short advance planning and a quick trip to the store, an afternoon with relatively little hands-on time yielded a hearty and satisfying dinner. The centerpiece of which was a pork-butt roast with carmelized onion gravy. With roasted vegetables, red cabbage and baby kale salad we tried to say farewell to winter and anticipate the coming spring.

                                                Pork roast with carmelized onions

            Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice 2 large onions and spread in the middle of a 13x9 inch metal roasting pan. Rub salt on all sides of a 4 – 4 ½ lb. butt pork roast and place on top of the onions. Thinly slice 1 large garlic clove and insert in small slits in the fatty part of the roast. Generously pepper the top of the roast and place in the preheated oven. After 10 minutes, turn oven heat to 350 degrees and continue to roast for 2 ½  hours. Remove pan from oven. Set the meat aside to keep warm and place the pan with onions and drippings on a burner on the stove set on low heat to prepare the gravy.

                                                Carmelized onion gravy

            Sprinkle and blend ¼ cup flour with the drippings and blackened onions in the bottom of the pan, then add ½ cup water and scrape up the brown bits and onion-flour mix to make a smooth paste. While stirring add 1 cup additional water and 2 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar and bring to simmer. Correct seasoning and any additional water to the desired consistency of the gravy. Serve hot on slices of the roast pork.

                                                Oven roasted vegetables

            If you are fortunate to have 2 ovens, roast the vegetables near the end of the meat cooking time. If not, roast them before the pork roast, keep covered on the pan while the meat cooks and then reheat at 350  degrees for 10 minutes while making the gravy.

            Peel 4 medium potatoes, 4 carrots and 2 parsnips and cut up in 1 inch pieces. In a small bowl mix together ¼ cup olive oil, 2 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. thyme leaves and 1 large minced garlic clove. Toss the cut up vegetables in batches in the oil mixture and spread in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. coarse salt. Roast in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until tender and browned.

                                                Wine braised red cabbage

            Red cabbage with it’s texture and color is a wonderful winter vegetable, but cooked in water it turns an unappetizing bleached purple color. However, cooked in wine with some vinegar, the rich red color retains it’s appetizing hue. Thinly slice ½ of large red onion and about ¾ lb red cabbage (6 cups). In a large heavy skillet heat 2 Tblsp. vegetable oil and cook the cabbage and onions for 10 minutes, while stirring on moderately high heat. Stir in ½ cup red wine, ½ cup balsamic vinegar, 1 Tblsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. ground cloves, 1 chopped apple and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer with occasional stirring  for about 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Can be made ahead and reheated.

            Our nod to the coming spring was in the form of baby kale salad with sliced water chestnuts and dried cranberries dressed with a lemony vinaigrette. Desert was easily assembled from last summers canned-spiced-peaches, a scoop of ice cream topped with a couple of preserved cherries.

            Our relaxed after dinner conversation was a glad farewell to winter and my husband’s noodling of “Danny Boy” on the home organ had us not only looking forward to St. Patrick’s day but also the coming spring.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)