Colorful, classy, nutritious winter eating in a snap

Those of us living in the land of snows or far from the joy of California's year round farmers' vegetable laden markets need not despair. Winter brings some of the most colorful and heartwarming dishes to our lives. There's absolutely no need to encourage agribusiness by rushing after imported tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and other watery joys of summer. Now is the time, the perfect time, for braised red cabbage, orange winter squash, bright green broccolini/ rapini with pine nuts and pasta, gorgeous ocher rutabagas mashed, crispy sautéed potatoes with onions and dill, delicately pink cooked quince and a multicolored slaw of red/green cabbages, white daikon, purple and orange carrots, with pale green fennel. All those colors and tastes make a table as festive as the season.

Pumpkin Potato Fritatta

This burst of yellow sunshine is perfect for a brunch with the leftover holiday ham or for a vegetarian potluck and it won't crimp your holiday spending.
Cuts into 8-10 wedges

1 white onion, peeled and sliced into thin rings
1 large potato (just under 1 lb)
1¼ lb sugar pumpkin or butternut squash
¼ c olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped, or 2 tsp dried

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper
8 eggs

1/2 c milk (skim is fine)

Butter

¼ c grated cheese (Parmesan, Asiago, Gruyere, Jack—your choice)

pinch of nutmeg

fresh parsley for garnish

Peel the pumpkin or squash and cut it into thin rings or half rings or failing that, strips.

In a medium frying pan with a lid, heat olive oil with 1 tbsp butter and sauté onion for 2 minutes. Add the potato and pumpkin, stirring until each slice is glistening. Cover the pan, lower the heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally-- if sticking occurs, add a little water, until the vegetables are soft.  Add all but a pinch of the sage, rosemary, allspice, salt and pepper and cook uncovered another minute. Scrape the pan contents into a bowl.

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. Melt enough butter to fully and thickly cover the bottom of the pan you cooked the potatoes in. Pour the vegetables back into the pan, try to level them evenly, then pour the eggs over them. Cook the frittata over low heat about 10 minutes. As the edges start to set, use a spatula to ease them away from the pan sides back toward the center. Once the frittata is almost entirely set but still has a wobbly top, toss on the grated cheese. Remove from stove top and stick into the oven for 3-5 minutes, until cheese melts and egg top is firm. 

Remove from oven. Sprinkle the top with the remaining sage, a pinch of nutmeg and some chopped fresh parsley.  Cut in wedges to serve warm or at room temperature.

Broccolini/Rapini aka Broccoli Raab

Forget about those giant stalks of broccoli and think small: tasty and small-- the joy of broccolini (the youthful broccoli before it thickens with age) and rapini/broccoli raab (the original leafy form from which those gigantic florets were later developed). See that picture on the lower left and go get some. Bring home the vitamins--especially A, the estrogen, the iron and calcium, folate, potassium--it's got the whole shebang.
Think garlic, lots of it, toasted pine nuts and pasta, small like orechiette, farfalle and cavatelli. If you're not vegetarian, think a teeny taste of pepperoni, hot sausage or chorizo. Any which way, think delicious and super nutritious: a treat that doesn't pack calories or cholesterol.
What to do?
Chop it into bite sized pieces. Drop the rapini into rapidly boiling, heavily salted water for 1 minute to remove its bitterness, then drain well. Drop the broccolini into rapidly boiling salted water for 5-8 minutes until it's soft. Remove it with a slotted spoon or spatula to drain in a colander so you can save the water for cooking the pasta.
Cook the pasta according to the package just past al dente: softness is critical here.
Dice a small red onion and 1 large garlic clove for every person you are feeding. Garlic is the taste here--ideal for winter because garlic goes straight to the lungs and works like a janitor clearing them. If you are adding pepperoni or chorizon, one thin slice chorizo or two pepperoni per person cut into bits will do it.

Get out a sauté pan and heavily coat the bottom with olive oil. Get it warm over medium heat and stir in a few twists of freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of red pepper flakes, the meat and 1 tbsp pine nuts (use 2 if you're doing this for more than 4). Lower heat so nothing burns and stir in the diced onion. Cook until the onion softens and starts to look translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the drained broccolini or rapini along with 2 tbsp your best olive oil, the garlic and a good pinch of sea salt. Stir to blend, raise heat to medium and sauté, adding olive oil if the broccoli isn't glistening, until everything is soft. Reduce heat to simmer and wait for the pasta.

Before you drain the pasta, take 1 tbsp of the cooking water per person, up to 4, and stir it into the broccoli. Drain the pasta, add it to the pan and before you stir it in, salt it, drizzle 2-3 tbsp best olive oil and add a twist from the black pepper grinder. Optionally now you can add 1 tbsp coarse bread crumbs per person. Stir it all up over medium heat for a minute. The broccoli and pasta should be equally soft and merge nicely. Serve with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and satisfaction.

Quick Choucroute (Sauerkraut, aka fermented cabbage)
This is not going to have the total heft and subtlety of the magnificent slow braised dish from Alsace but it's hearty, heartwarming, nutritious (all that ferment, protein and vitamins) and traditional for the holiday season in northern France.
For 4
2 med white onions, peeled and cut into thin rings
2 garlic cloves, peeled, mashed and minced
2 sm tart crisp apples, diced
4 tennis ball size potatoes, cut into quarters
sm piece slab bacon or salt pork
1/4 lb pancetta or pork belly or smoked bacon, sliced
2 hot dogs (they can be beef if you like)
2 hot sausages
1/2 lb pork loin, cut into strips or chunks
1/2 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp celery seed
2 1/2 lbs fresh sauerkraut
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c fresh apple cider

Mustard for serving

Put the salt pork/slab bacon bit a large heavy gauge lidded casserole over medium heat and cook until it releases fat to cover the bottom of the pot. Add the pancetta/pork belly, bacon and cook until it starts to crisp, then flip it. Add the onions and cook until they are soft and translucent, 5 -8 minutes. Add the pork loin and brown it on both sides. Add the potatoes, some freshly ground black pepper and garlic. Cook another 2-3 minutes to flavor the potatoes. Add the hot dogs and sausages to the pot. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the sauerkraut, apples, juniper berries, celery seed and another twist of the pepper mill. Pour in the cider. Cook 2 -3 minutes until the sauerkraut gets warm, then cover the pan, reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes or until everything is cooked through. Check from time to time that it isn't drying out and add cider or water if it is. The sauerkraut should be juicy.

Serve with mustard for the meats.

Winter Vegetable Timbale 

From Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, a glamorous "cake" of winter vegetables certain to be a conversation piece on any table. You can serve it atop steamed kale leaves for drama.

serves 8

1 parsnip, peeled and grated

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1 small rutabaga, peeled and grated

1 small winter squash (e.g. red kuri, sugar pumpkin or butternut), peeled and grated

1 red onion, peeled and diced

4 tbsp butter

6 eggs

¾ cup breadcrumbs, matzo meal or panko

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1cup heavy cream

Optional: ¼ tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and butter a Bundt pan, ring mold, or medium sized tube pan—any baking pan with a hole in the center.

Mix the grated vegetables. You will need 5 cups.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat melt butter. Add onion and sauté until slightly soft. Add 5 cups of the mixed grated vegetables and blend.  Sauté over medium heat until the vegetables are soft and start to cling together, 10-12 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.

In a large bowl whip eggs. Add cooked vegetables, stirring well to coat. Add salt, then cheeses, breadcrumbs, chives and parsley. Stir in cream, add optional smoked paprika and nutmeg and blend everything well.

Pour the mixture into the buttered pan or mold. Bake until a tester (a skewer, strand of spaghetti or cake tester) comes out clean. The ring mold will cook faster than pans with higher sides, so the cooking time will be between 35 and 45 minutes, faster in convection ovens. Let it cool at least 5 minutes before unmolding. 

Red Cabbage with potatoes, prunes and caraway
That bowl on the right in the photo at the top has red cabbage braised without the potatoes. The chopped prunes made it marvelously sweet, which played well against the hints of balsamic vinegar. For the holiday red and green, top it with a sprinkle of fresh dill.

 Serves 4-6
1 med red (aka purple) cabbage, cored and shredded
1 med/lg yellow onion, sliced in thin rings that are halved
1 tsp caraway seed
2 sm/med potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size chunks
6 pitted prunes, chopped (if you prefer you can use 1/4 c dark raisins)
2 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c fresh apple cider
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1 tbsp freshly chopped dill or 1 tsp smashed dill seed.

In a med/lg lidded pot, heat the ghee/butter and olive oil over medium. Add the onions, stir to coat them and sauté lowering heat if necessary so they don't burn until soft and translucent, maybe 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, caraway seed and prunes/raisins. Stir to blend and coat. If it looks dry add 1 tbsp butter/ghee. Sauté  3-5 minutes. Add the potatoes, garlic, balsamic vinegar and cider, salt and pepper. Continue to cook until everything in the pot is hot, then cover, lower heat to low/simmer and cook 30 minutes,  stirring from time to time and checking that it isn't drying out. Add cider or water if it is. Add the dill. Put the lid back on and simmer another 15 minutes. Everything should now be soft. Taste for seasonings and adjust.

Winter Squash stuffed with Red Beans, and Coconut Rice

Another recipe from Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, modified here by the addition of meat if you want it. It cries out for jerk flavored chicken because the red beans and coconut rice is Jamaican. You can substitute small orange or buttercup squashes for the acorn.

serves 8

 NOTE: If you want to put in the chicken, get one boneless thigh per person, marinate it for at least 30 minutes in lime juice with jerk spices. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with 1/4" corn oil, get it hot and carefully put the chicken in skin side down. Fry 10 minutes, then flip and fry 5 minutes. Cut up the meat and put it in with the rice before stuffing the squash. Or just serve it along side.

8 small acorn or dumpling winter squash

2 tbsp unsalted butter, in bits

1 tbsp olive or corn oil

1 cup long grain rice

1 15 oz can pinto or red kidney beans, drained

1 cup coconut milk (lite is okay)

1 small hot red pepper, seeded and minced

1 med/lg onion, peeled and finely diced

½ tsp dried thyme

1 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp fresh or coarse ground black pepper

¼ cup (4 tbsp apple cider or pure apple juice)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

pinches of salt

½ bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped for garnish

Slice the point off the bottom of each squash to flatten it so it sits steady on its own. Put the squashes in a microwave on medium for 1 min 30 seconds to slightly soften. (Microwave times vary with the machine’s strength so the goal is to produce squash that isn’t rock hard.) Let sit 5 minutes. Neatly cut about ¼” off the top. Scoop out any remaining pulp at the top to get to the cavity. Clean out the seeds and strings.  Preheat the oven to 350º.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan that has a cover. Add the onion and sauté on med heat until soft and golden.  Add the thyme, hot red pepper, allspice, black pepper and rice and stir to blend.

Add the coconut milk. Now add enough water to cover the rice by 1 inch. Add the salt and beans. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 20 minutes, checking that it doesn’t burn and adding ¼ cup of water at a time to prevent that.

Put a bit of butter and 1/2 tbsp apple cider/juice in the bottom of each hollowed out squash. Add a pinch of ground cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Swirl the seasoned liquid around so it reaches all the squash. Fill the squash to the top with the rice and beans--and optional chicken, heaping it no more than ¼-½ inch from the top.

Fill a half-sheet baking pan with ½ inch water and arrange the squash in it.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until squash is tender, 40-50 minutes. Garnish the top of each squash with a few chopped cilantro leaves to serve.

And finally, a recipe I hope to try this week--my version of someone's else's. I will confirm results next post.
Moroccan Chicken with Quince

Serves 6

¼ c vegetable oil
2 lbs chicken thighs
2 onions, finely diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

 ½ tsp paprika

 ¼ tsp chili, Aleppo or cayenne pepper

1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
a pinch of saffron
½ tsp ground ginger 

sm stick of cinnamon

 2 tbsp raisins or 8 pitted fresh dates
1 lb quince, cut in half and cored, then the pieces cut in half again

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

butter or ghee 60g

Season the chicken with the paprika, chili and black pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the seasoned chicken, skin side down, and brown it. Flip it and sauté another 5 minutes. Remove from the pot, add the onions and soften them in the oil. Do not burn or brown them.

Put the chicken and onions in a large casserole pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add 3 cups chicken stock to the pot—or enough to cover the chicken. Add the saffron, ginger, cinnamon stick and fresh cilantro. Add the raisins or dates. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Cover the pot and simmer 30-40 minutes. The chicken should be falling off its bones.

While that’s happening, melt the butter or ghee on low heat in a small sauté or frying pan. Add the quince and sauté five minutes.  Once the chicken has been in the pot ½ hour, add the quince and lemon juice. Cook until the quince is tender.

Serve with couscous or fregola.