The skinny on season's eatings

(Six more fabulous, worldly chickpea recipes coming soon!)

The days are shorter, the air is cooler and the food should be heavier. Mother Nature's hints are everywhere. Gone are water-filled berries, melons, tomatoes and cucumbers--mainstays of a proper summer diet when a sweating body needs all the moisture it can get. They've been replaced from the ground up with roots like potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, celeriac and sun chokes plus all the mushrooms sprouting in tree shaded soil. Slowly but relentlessly, these foods have been absorbing all the minerals earth can offer, all the vitamins solar energy sends to their green shoots. They're here now to fortify us for the winter to come. Ditto slow growing cabbages, leeks and parsnips which slowly release their treasury of nutrients in our bodies. Times have changed but not excitement, flavor and color from farm to table.

Say goodbye to tomatoes by slicing them, brushing the slices lightly with olive oil, sprinkling with salt and a bit of garlic and roasting them at 350º until they start to turn golden and caramelize. Enjoy them straightaway on goat cheese, a pizza, polenta, grilled fish, with farro olives and scallions as a salad or in an omelet. Or store them in the freezer for a hit of Vitamin C in mid winter.
Or turn to green tomatoes:
Green Tomato Curry

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 heaped tsp small black mustard seeds

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

1 medium onion

1 clove garlic

1 1/4 lbs green tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander 

1 tsp ground cumin

1-2 tsp red chilli powder – more as you wish

Handful fresh cilantro – chopped

Thinly slice the onion and garlic. Chop the tomatoes into 1" chunks.

Heat the oil in a wok or large saute pan that you might stir fry in.

When the oil is hot add the mustard and cumin seeds, Stir for a minute with a fork (not wooden spoon as this will absorb the spices you are about to add.) Add the tomatoes and the rest of the spices, Stir until all the spices are well combined.  Keep tossing the onions and tomatoes with the fork a few minutes, If anything sticks, add a little more oil or water. Do not overcook.  The onions should not go totally limp but have a bite and the tomatoes should keep their shape.

Pour into a bowl, top with the chopped cilantro and serve immediately.  This dish does not keep well so try not to have leftovers.

Make salads sturdier:

Fennel Orzo Salad
This is an oldie that's always in style this time of year.

Serves 4-6 depending on how much you like it.

2 fennel bulbs, cleaned and chopped, greens too

1 2/3 cups orzo (about ½ lb)

3 seedless mandarins, or clementines, peeled and pulled apart

1 lemon

½ lime

16-20 pitted prunes, coarsely chopped

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

salt to your taste

Put a few of the fennel fronts aside to chop for garnish.

 Cook the orzo according to package instructions, until just al dente.

 Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small skillet and sauté the chopped fennel 4-5 minutes. Midway, add the garlic and blend.  Pour the contents of the skillet into a salad bowl.

Add the mandarins and prunes and blend.

Remove the zest from half the lemon and dice it. Add to the salad.

Juice the lemon and lime, mix and add to the salad.

 Drain the orzo. Salt them to your taste. Add to the salad

Stir to blend everything. Chop the reserved fennel fronds and top the salad.

Refrigerate an hour before serving.

Kale Celeriac Salad with Walnuts
This recipe from Ottolenghi with candied walnuts serves up to 6.

½ or less lb Tuscan kale, thick stalks removed and discarded, leaves cut into thick slices
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly crushed with the flat of a knife
Finely shaved peel of 1 lemon, plus 2½ tbsp lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
½ large celeriac, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4c pomegranate seeds (about ½ from a medium pomegranate)
1/4 c maple syrup
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 c walnut halves, lightly toasted

Start with the walnuts. Put the syrup and sugar in a small, heavy saucepan on a medium heat. Stir in a tablespoon of water, then leave to bubble gently 5 minutes, not stirring, until the mixture is golden brown, foamy and bubbly-- the hard ball sugar stage. Quickly stir in the nuts, then pour everything onto a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment paper and let it harden into brittle. When it has, roughly chop and set aside. 

Mix the kale, garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice and ¼ tsp salt in a medium bowl, massaging it all together until the kale turns a bright, dark green and begins to soften and look cooked rather than raw. Set aside for 10 minutes, for the flavors to meld.

Pick out and discard the garlic and lemon peel from the salad mix, then add the celeriac, parsley, vinegar, oil, 1/8 tsp salt and a generous grind of pepper. Mix to combine, then transfer to a platter or individual plates. Scatter with the pomegranate seeds and the walnut brittle to serve.

Turn up the heat with slow cooking.

Tashkent Beef and Cabbage Soup 
serves 8-10 (half it if you prefer)

2 lbs beef brisket
9 cups water (2 qts plus 1 cup) or half beef broth/half water
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lg onion, peeled and diced
1/2 med green head cabbage, shredded
1 can/box (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes with juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
10 prunes (dried plums), pitted
1/4 c golden raisins
salt to your taste but you may need a lot
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
To serve: sour cream

Remove excess fat from the brisket and put it in a large cast iron pot of Dutch oven. Add the water/broth, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and cook 30 minutes. Skim off foam and impurities.

In a med/lg sauté pan melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté over medium/low heat until it's soft, 3-5 min. Add the cabbage and continue to sauté another 5 min. Add half the tomatoes with their juice. Continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour the cabbage mixture into the beef pot and add the remaining tomatoes. Stir in the tomato paste, prunes, raisins, salt, lemon juice, brown sugar, honey and 1 tbsp of the dill. Bring the soup to a boil, drop heat to low, cover the pot partially and simmer 60-90 minutes until the meat is very tender and ready to fall apart. Remove the brisket from the pot and cut it into small cubes or shred it, whichever is easier. Put it back into the pot and heat the soup through.

To serve: add the remaining tbsp of dill and put a bowl of sour cream on the table for people to dab on top.

Go back to your roots. Every year this time I post great simple recipes that make them tastier than you imagine so scroll down to find root vegetable stew or potpie, potato-rutabage gratin, rutabaga timbales, potato tart, carrot soup and more.  For now here's Ottolenghi on parsnips:
Parsnip Gratin with Apples

1½-3/4 lb parsnips, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
1 tbsp butter
125ml double cream
125ml creme fraiche
200ml whole milk
6 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
75g ground almonds
1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive (or rapeseed) oil, to drizzle

For the aioli
2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 c mild olive oil

Heat the oven 400º. Thinly as possible slice 2/3 of the peeled parsnip (use a mandoline, if you have one) and coarsely grate the rest. Rub both cut sides of the garlic around a medium-sized baking dish, then smear it all over with the butter. Arrange the parsnip slices in rows over the base of the dish, overlapping slightly. Once you’ve used up all the slices, scatter the grated parsnip on top.

In a bowl, whisk the heavy cream, creme fraiche, milk and thyme leaves, then season with 1 tsp salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Pour this over the parsnips, making sure they’re just submerged. Sprinkle the ground almonds over the top. Drizzle with oil, cover the dish with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, lower the oven to 350º and bake another 30 minutes until the cream has been absorbed, the top is golden and the parsnips are tender.

While the parsnips are roasting, put the apple chunks in a small pan, cover with water and cook on a medium heat 8 minutes, until they are soft. Drain and transfer to a food processor with the garlic and vinegar, and puree. With the motor still running, add the oil a drop at a time, until you’ve added about 1/3, then increase pouring speed to a trickle, then a slow, steady stream, until all the oil is in the mix. Season generously to taste and serve in a bowl alongside the gratin.

Next time: Get out the grains! Way to go barley, farro, freekah, short grain rice and more.