More warming up to winter recipes for late October

As chill creeps in and summer veggies fade from the market, here are a few more nourishing and easy recipe suggestions to fire up your soul and kitchen. They feature vegetables at high tide and lowest of the season prices at your farmers' market right now         

Potato pumpkin frittata

This one's for vegetarians and everyone who needs a good brunch, lunchbox, potluck or buffet recipe right now.  Easy on the budget, easy on time, easy to please.

Serves 4
 

1 white onion, peeled and sliced into thin rings
1 large potato (just under 1 lb)
1¼ lb sugar (pie) pumpkin or butternut squash
¼ c olive oil
1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 extra large eggs

unsalted butter

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

Peel the pumpkin or squash and cut it into thin rings or half rings or failing that, strips.This is the hardest part.  Peel then slice the potato into thin disks.          

        

In a medium frying pan with a lid, heat olive oil and sauté onion for 2 minutes. Add the potato and pumpkin, stirring until each slice is glistening with oil. 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 very soft.  Add sage, salt and pepper and cook uncovered another minute. Scrape the pan contents into a bowl.

Heat oven to 375º.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with salt and pepper. Melt enough butter to fully cover the bottom of the pan you cooked the potatoes in. Pour the vegetables pack into the pan and pour the eggs in with them. Stir until the eggs begin to coagulate. 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 into the frittata. Once the frittata is almost entirely set and still has a wobbly top, toss on the grated cheese. Remove from stove top and plunge into the oven for 3-5 minutes, until cheese melts and egg top is firm.  

Cut in wedges to serve, warm or at room temperature.

Pork fillets with creamy leek sauce

This British recipe is from Nigel Slater who many people admire for  fast, easy finesse with getting food on the table. You can also do this with chicken breasts. 
serves 4

4  3 oz pork fillets           

1 egg 

 ½ c breadcrumbs or panko    

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 med leeks, split lengthwise, cleaned, then cut in half again then diced   

4   tbsp butter

5 tbsp olive oil                                   

3-4 gherkins, chopped into thick disks   

½ c heavy cream

2 tsp capers plus 1 tsp  brine

Using a rolling pin or a cutlet bat, thin the pork fillets to 1/4" or less.

Break an egg into a shallow bowl, scatter the breadcrumbs thickly on a plate at least as large as the pork fillets and season them with salt and pepper to your taste.

In a small or medium frying pan, melt the butter with 2 tbsp olive oil  on low heat. Add the diced leeks and sauté on low heat 5 minutes, stirring regularly until they're soft. Do not try to brown or color them. 

Stir in the chopped gherkins, then slowly add the cream, capers and brine.   

 

Dip each flattened pork fillet first into the egg, then

into the seasoned bread crumbs, pressing firmly so the crumbs stick to them. In a large shallow frying pan, melt 2 tbsp butter with 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Then arrange the coated pork in a single layer in the hot pan. Let the meat cook 3-4 minutes until the crumbs below are golden, then using tongs turn each one over and cook the other side 3-4 minutes. Arrange them on a serving platter and top with the leek sauce.

 

Tuscan kale chickpea soup

not my photo

This is from my 100 ways to use a can of chickpeas collection. It's a beloved chilly weather favorite in Italy, perfect for vegetarians.. 

Serves 4-6

 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp fennel seeds

1-2 tsp chili flakes

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 c chopped tomatoes (fresh or boxed)

Zest of ½ lemon

2 c cooked/canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

1 1/4 lbs kale, shredded

1/4 c orzo pasta (or other small pasta shape)

4 c vegetable/chicken broth

Salt and black pepper

 To serve

Extra lemon zest

Extra virgin olive oil

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add fennel seeds, chili flakes, garlic and ginger. Cook gently a few minutes until fragrant. Add chopped tomatoes and lemon zest and continue to cook until tomatoes have softened, about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, kale and orzo, stirring to blend. Pour in the broth. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to simmer. Cover and cook until the kale and orzo are soft, 8-10 minutes. Check for seasoning, adding salt and black pepper to taste.

Saffron chicken with carrots 

Here's Halloween black and orange of Halloween on a plate. This Persian recipe is visually stunning, hearty and nourishing  .
serves 4 

8 chicken thighs, bone in skin on
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
6 tbsp unsalted butter
 1 1/2 c hot chicken broth  
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 lbs orange carrots, sliced into thin disks or matchsticks
3 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp saffron threads,crushed and steeped in 2 tbsp hot water 
 1/4 c orange juice
12 pitted prunes

Rinse and dry the chicken.  Sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. This will take about 25 minutes to do it right. Don't wash the skillet.
   Transfer the chicken to a med/lg lidded pot and pour the hot broth over it. Cover the pot and cook on med/low heat 10 minutes.     
   Add remaining 2 tbsp butter to the skillet you browned the chicken in. Sauté the onion over med heat until soft and translucent, 5-6 minutes. Add carrots  and honey and stir to coat the carrots in it. Cook stirring frequently 5 minutes.  Transfer the  skillet contents to the chicken pot.  Pour in the saffron. Cover the pot, reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Add orange juice and prunes  and cook another 15 minutes until prunes are plump. Taste for salt and adjust.         
Autumn greens pie

This is my recent company's coming for lunch invention based on decades of making Greek spinach pie.  I like to make jellyrolls out of the phyllo/fillo and filling because the final product is prettier and easier to handle. Now that you can buy "country fillo" which is to say thicker sheets than the very fragile and frustrating traditional ones, it's a cinch. You can use any greens you get (spinach, mustard, dandelion, radish, turnip and cauliflower leaves) and vary the cheeses as well to still get the same final effect, but I confess someone who ate this version said three times: "Did I tell you it was very very delicious."  
 serves 8 

1 bunch Tuscan/lacinto/dark kale (this is the deep dark thin green leaf with no curls)   
1 bunch chard (any version), minus stems
1 bunch beet greens (i made borscht out of the beets)
1 lg handful arugula
1 bunch fresh dill, stems removed
1 med/lg yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled 
 handful fresh mint leaves, chopped or 1 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
6 oz cheeses (I used about 4 oz ricotta salata and 2 parmesan; you can use feta, asiago, pecorino) 
2 tbsp good quality olive oil (plus more later)
3 eggs  (you can lightly beat them in a small bowl)
Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
5 sheets thick fillo (packaged as "country fillo")
1/2 c olive oil  
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 
1/2 tsp paprika  

 Heat oven to 350º.
Wash and carefully dry the greens. Remove stems. (It will be hard with the kale so just try to strip the green off the stem.) Using a food processor or large chopper (which will make this whole thing very very easy), in batches, finely chop the greens, onion, garlic, dill, mint, oregano and cheeses (mix up the ingredients in each batch).  Put everything into a large bowl as you go. When everything's in it, stir in the olive oil, then the eggs (I sometimes do not bother pre-beating them and just crack them in and beat away.)                    Blend everything well. Season with salt and pepper. The mixture should not be runny but seemingly dry.

Get out a baking sheet, lightly brush the bottom with olive oil. Lay one fillo sheet on the oiled pan. Brush the entire sheet with olive oil. Lay the second sheet on top of the first as exactly as you can and brush it with olive oil. Repeat this two more times. Now evenly spread the greens mixture over the sheets leaving just under a 1" border on each side. Top this with the last sheet of fillo and brush it with olive oil. 

To make the jellyroll, fold in the long sides over the top fillo sheet and brush with with oil so they stick down. Now  go to one of the shorter ends. Making sure you keep the sides tucked in, slowly roll as tightly as you can, stopping after each turn to oil the fillo on top. When you're finished be sure the open end is well sealed with olive oil and faced down on the baking sheet. Brush the top with olive oil, then sprinkle the nutmeg and paprika on top.  Bake at 375º  35- 40 minutes until the fillo is golden and the filling starts to bubble out. Cool at least five minutes before slicing to serve.