Braised baby carrots and leeks

I was inspired by the baby leeks and amazing baby carrots in our market this spring. No need to peel the tiny carrots, I use new clean scrubby pad to remove the hairy exterior. This past week farmer Becky Terry brought in colorful varieties of French baby carrots, (mais oui, elles sonts rouge et jaune), in shades of orange, yellow and even red! They were all sweet and petite! If possible use small and tender leeks, all about the same size in this dish because they will cook more evenly along with the baby carrots. If you aren't able to find small leeks, cut the large ones into quarters. This was delicious served with clay pot baked lemon roasted chicken, which I will post soon.

INGREDIENTS:
12 small leeks

6-8 small (or more baby carrots), with green tops, about ½ lb

3 cups chicken broth

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trim the leeks of all of the dark green stem; trim the root end, and remove and discard the outer leaves with a sharp knife, Split the light green part lengthwise and rinse well under running cold water.
   
2. Trim the carrots and peel if using larger ones; or scrub the smallest baby carrots. Trim the tops leaving about 1"
   
3. In a large skillet add the broth and leeks and carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook partial covered for 10-20 minutes or until tender. Remove the vegetable to a side dish, cove and keep warm.
   
4. With the remaining braising liquid in the pan, bring heat up high and reduce to about 1 cup. Whisk in the butter and taste adding salt and pepper as need.
   
5. Cut the larger carrots and the leeks in half lengthwise. Serve, spooning some of the butter braising sauce on each serving.
   

Lemon Upside-Down Cake

My spring seasonal table class made the upside down lemon cake pictured here. We used a cast iron pan and the last of this season's Meyer Lemons which are sweeter than other varieties of lemons. You can use any oven proof 10-12" pan with a metal handle. This cake is going to be a favorite because its not too sweet, doesn't require frosting and its lemon, one of my favorite flavors! Make one 10" cake, to serves 8+

Ingredients:

2 lemons

¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel

2 large eggs, separated

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup milk

¼ tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

Place the oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 350°F

Trim the ends off the lemons and cut the fruit into 1/8" to ¼" slices with a very sharp knife or mandoline. Discard the seeds.

Melt ¼ cup of the butter with the brown sugar in an ovenproof non-stick 10in skillet (or well seasoned cast iron pan) over medium heat.

Add the lemon slices, increase the heat to high and boil stirring for 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and arrange the slice in an orderly pattern in the bottom of the skillet.

Sift the flour baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

Beat the remaining ½ cup butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and zest, beat scrapping down the sides of the bowl until the batter is light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks and vanilla; beat just until blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition and beat just until blended.

Beat the egg whites with clean beaters on medium speed in a large clean bowl until just foamy. Increase the speed to medium high, add the cream of tartar and beat just until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

Add one quarter 1/4^th, of the whites to the batter and fold in using a rubber spatula. Continue to gently fold in the whites, 1/4^th at a time. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter over the lemon slices and gently smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Loosen the edges of the cake with a rubber spatula all around, invert onto a heat proof serving platter and leave the pan over the cake for 5 minutes. Remove the pan, cut into wedges and serve the cake warm.

Easter cookies with a twist

Use a basic sugar cookie recipe, see Alton Brown's recipe below. (Or in a pinch use a refrigerator package of sugar cookie dough, like the one by Tollhouse.)
Using your un-Christmas cookie cutters like a bunny, chicken, etc cut out the shaped dough. You can make an egg shape out of cardboard and using a paring knife cut out egg shapes to decorate. Use powdered sugar instead of flour as you roll out the dough to keep them from sticking and to keep the flavor crisp.

Healthy trick: Instead of using frosting after the cookies are baked and cooked, try an egg white wash on the unbaked cookies and decorating with colored sugar and sprinkles, then baking. This makes the cookies less of a sugar bomb but you will still have fun decorating and they look pretty too.
The busy bee cookies were decorated with this frosting less technique and they were yummy and cute too!

Happy Easter gardening, cooking and baking!

Sugar Cookies
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Makes about 3 dozen-2 1/2 inch
Ingredients
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.
Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar.
Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill.
Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or decorated as described above.
Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Candied Orange, Lemon and Grapefruit Peel

I think it must be my English heritage, because I love candied citrus peel. When I eat this sweet old fashioned winter treat, I feel like the spring sunshine is already here. Or maybe it's the Scot in me that just likes the concept of making a sweet treat out of something most people throw out. It citrus time here in central California, so my naval orange tree, and my parent's lemon and grapefruit trees are bearing lovely fruit. I save the peels during the week and then do a batch of mixed citrus peel on the weekend.

There are 3 keys to making a good batch of candied peel. First it's important to remove as much of the bitter white pith from the peel as possible. Secondly, blanch the peel using fresh cool water each time, three times before cooking the peel in simple syrup. And lastly, add about ¼ cup of triple sec to the simple syrup and let the peel soak overnight, before draining and drying. I prefer the peel to be semi dry not brittle, so I slowly dry in the oven rather than in a dehydrator. If you want to give the peel a glamorous touch, you can dip one end in dark chocolate.

Candied Citrus Peel

3-5 orange peels, from peeling them into 8 sections.

2 lemons

3 cups of water

2 cups sugar

¼ cup Triple Sec liqueur

½ + cup sugar for coating

1. Cut the pith, the white part between the fruit and the peel, away from each peel section, using a paring knife or grapefruit knife. Cut these thin peels into strips.
   
2. Place the peel strips in a large sauce pan with a lemon half. Add water to cover blanch; bring to a boil and boil for 15 seconds, then drain and rinse under cold water, drain again and discard the lemon.
   
3. Repeat the blanching process 2 more times, covering the peels with fresh water and adding another lemon half.
   
4. Combine the 3 cups of water and the sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the peels and remaining half lemon. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 15 mins.
   
5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Triple Sec liqueur. Leave the peel in the liquid loosely covered for at least 12 hours.
   
6. Remove the peel from the liquid and set on a rack to drain. Place in a warm oven, with the heat off. When semi –dry toss with granulated sugar to coat. Return to warm oven to continue drying. Store in an aire tight container.
   
7. Optional: dip one end in dark chocolate

Seasonal sweet treats: February means chocolate!

In the first Seasonal Table class of the year and spring semester, we made several citrus curds. Curds are old fashion pudding type spreads, made with juice and zest of lemon, tangerine or orange, and several egg yolks as well butter. (I will post that recipe soon) This meant a big jar with a dozen leftover egg whites. Although the heavy rain was great for the crops, it wasn't ideal weather for making meringue. I was asked to bring a chocolate treat to an art reception so I forged ahead despite the humidity, and made Chocolate Pistachio Meringue Kisses. They came out perfectly and I only increased the bake time by about ½ hour to compensate for the rain. They are also non-fat which makes them a sweet guilt free treat. The local pistachios are from Ornadi Farms and added a touch of color and crunch. Make a batch to share with your Valentine !

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

6 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1 /2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate cocoa
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp finely chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup cocoa and sugar together; set aside.

In a large bowl using your electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy/frothy

While beating to the frothy stage, add salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract. After reaching the frothy stage, add the cocoa/sugar mixture (1 tablespoons at a time) while continuing beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.

Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets (1-inch apart).

Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the non-baked cookies.

Bake 90 minutes; turn off the oven, open the door slightly (secure with a wooden spoon), and allow cookies to cool in the oven.

Remove from oven and store in a tightly covered (airtight) container.

Yields 50 cookies.

Turnip and Potato Soup

This warm creamy soup is prefect for the cold wet weather. It’s nice to have the rain for the farmers and their future spring crops. In the meantime, I wanted to make good use of the lovely turnips and leeks I found on the KMK Farms table in Visalia last Saturday. This soup tastes like the classic French leek soup but with a bit more structure and earthiness with the addition of turnips. If you don’t have a parsnip, you can replace it with a couple more stakes of chopped celery. I served it with some of the no-knead bread, served open face with melted cheddar chive cheese and a kumquat topped green salad. I served a French wine Les Arpents Chenin Blanc, 2007, from the Loire Valley. It’s light, crisp and very food friendly, with low 11.5% alcohol, and a great bargain at $3.00 from my local Grocery Outlet.

Turnip & Potato Winter Soup

serves 6

INGREDIENTS

2-3 large leeks, cleaned and trimmed to 2 inches off greens above the white, to make about ½ cup

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)

4 large celery stalks, trimmed and finely diced

1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 med potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3 med turnips, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes

7 cups chicken broth

salt & pepper to taste

¾ cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Finely slice the leeks and rinse under water, drain and set aside.
2. In a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the leeks and celery and cook until soft but NOT brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the potato, parsnip, turnips and broth and season with salt and pepper. Simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft.
4. With a slotted spoon remove 1 ½ cups of the vegetables to a side dish and reserve. Transfer the remaining vegetables and broth to a food processor and process until smooth.
5. Return the soup to the casserole together with the reserved vegetables, add the heavy cream, and just hear through.
6. DO NOT Bring to a boil, or the cream will separate. Taste and correct the seasoning and serve hot with crusty French bread and a salad J

Liquid sunshine-Limoncello

It’s citrus season in the San Joaquin Valley and at Visalia Farmer’s market. That means its time to make my favorite liquor, Limoncello. This is a lovely sweet lemon-flavored Italian liquor and reminds me of delicious multiple course midday meals in the summer of 2002 in Umbria and Tuscany. And it’s very easy to make.

If available you can use citron instead of lemons. Visalia has a great source of unique of citrus with farmer Greg Kirkpatrick. He has Bhudda's hand, citron, kiffer lime leaves and other exotic citrus. He also sells his citron to Hanger One for their citron vodka. Everclear, 151 proof, 75.5% alcohol, is usually found in 'real liquor ' stores, not grocery or big box stores. Don’t worry about the high proof, because you will be cutting the alcohol with a simple syrup. In a pinch you can use vodka instead of Everclear. If you store it in the freezer and you’ll have cool refreshing homemade limoncello for toasting at the end of your summer meals. I try to make it before the winter holidays, to give as gifts in small decorative bottles.

Saluti per tutti!

Limoncello, or Liquore di Limoni

INGREDIENTS

10 washed lemons, preferably hand picked, home grown organic

1 liter of Everclear Grain alcohol

2 ½ cups sugar

6 cups of water

DIRECTIONS

1. Zest the lemons, removing only the peel and avoiding the white pith which is bitter.
2. Put the zest and the alcohol in a large glass jar with a tight fitting lid. It should cover the lemon zest.
3. Set aside for 4 days. Once a day, gently shake the jar to agitate the mixture.
4. When the zest is pale and the liquid is a deep yellow color, strain it through a sieve and store in another container. Discard the zest.
5. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, but do not boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear, about 5 minutes. Cool.
6. When cool, pour the syrup in the lemon infused alcohol. It will turn cloudy and opaque. Sample it and add more sugar of water as desired.
7. Using a funnel pour into clean dry 750 ml bottles. Set aside to mellow for a week or more.
8. This is excellent over fresh fruit, over ice cream or as sparking aperitif added to Prosecco.