Fresh Tart

Given that everything is better fried - everything - it will come as no surpirse that root vegetables make utterly dreamy latkes. I like celery root in particular for its slightly sweet flavor.

These latkes are delicious as is, fresh out of the fat with a dab of sour cream, but my favorite way to eat them is topped with a poached egg. I know: Everything is Better Fried and Just Put an Egg On It, two of my favorite food credos, together in the same post? Out of control.

This same technique works nicely with zucchini as well. I particularly like a mix of zucchini and green pepper, in the summer when both are abundant, topped with Greek yogurt and scallions. Or a fresh tomato sauce. Or ooh, with Molly Herrmann's tomato jam! So lovely. We'll have to wait a few more months to play around with all that fun, however.

For now, fry your root vegetables and be very happy.

And then join the Minnesota Food Bloggers for a Saturday, January 21, viewing of TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat webcast, 9:00 am, at the Minnesota History Center. The webcast will be followed by a discussion and reception sponsored by Minnesota Monthly Magazine. The event is free of charge.

And join Jason DeRusha and me next Monday evening, January 23, as we assist Chef Scott Pampuch for Chef's Night Off cooking class at Kitchen in the Market. I hope that you can be there with us for food, hands-on cooking, wine, and FUN!

Recipe for Celery Root Latkes at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

These may look like ordinary white beans but they're actually the cool-girl beans in town, swooned over on Twitter, gossiped about on Facebook, photographed and copied and seriously in demand. I'd love to take credit for the fabulous recipe but no, these are via Chef Adam Vickerman of Cafe Levain, who now has the lady food bloggers in town batting their eyelashes over beans.

The flirtation began last spring, at a California Olive Ranch-sponsored dinner at Levain. As the beans were served, an audible murmur went through the room as the ladies realized that the delicious dish was not only vegetarian but vegan. I myself was inspired and without asking Adam for his recipe, made my own version of braised beans with rosemary and arugula when I wrote about the event.

When word got around that Adam was cooking for our lady food blogger gathering in December, requests showered in for the beans! And so he obliged, and then shared the recipe, which is beautifully simple and a perfect example of how coaxing maximum flavor from a few good ingredients is how we should all be cooking.

Adam Vickerman's recipe for Braised White Beans at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Note: The lovely bowl in the photo was made by Fred Yerich of Frogtown Pottery. The fork I snagged - with permission, of course! - from Corner Table.

How do you like your gazpacho? Smooth or chunky? Spicy or sweet? I'm such a gazpacho lover that I like it any way, honestly, and mix it up every time that I make it, depending on my mood and what I have on hand.

This version is a combination of elements from two friends' recipes: Artist Maud Bryt, and co-Minnesota Food Blogger Laurie Jesch-Kulseth, who writes the lovely blog Relishing It. I love the tomato juice that Laurie uses, and so enjoy the hearty dash of paprika and fresh herbs that Maud calls for - together they make a particularly delicious gazpacho, as spicy or smooth as you want it to be, rich and tomato-y. If it's a really hot day, Maud adds more cucumbers. Laurie makes her own garden-fresh tomato juice. It's fun to experiment with adding watermelon, your favorite herbs, or hot chiles.

The key to a really tasty gazpacho is to taste and adjust and make it your own. Recipe for Gazpacho at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Sweet is good, but salty-sweet is better.

As Minnesota State Fair goers know, grilling makes corn even cornier, drying the kernels a bit and concentrating their flavor to sweet, chewy heaven. Sliced off the cob, tossed with crunchy onion, fresh cilantro, a squirt of lime - and salt of course! - this salsa is just lovely summer food. I thought I'd be tempted to add fresh chiles to the mix but you know what? I think the salsa is better without the heat.

The corn is the salty-sweet star here, just the way it should be.

Recipe for Grilled Corn Salsa, via fellow Minnesota Food Blogger Angharad Guy/Eating for England, on Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Sweaty, delicious partying is in full swing in Minnesota, whee! Given our short al fresco season, we are maniacal about eating outside, mosquitoes be damned. From food trucks to farmers markets, patios to farm dinners, food just tastes better in the hot sun.

I'm personally full to bursting with beautifully prepared local food, courtesy of a flurry of lovely, farmy events. I was even at the same farm - Riverbend Farm in Delano - twice in the last week. Yah. Too fab, truly.

Yesterday's food fun was via the Tour de Farm Chicknic Breakfast at Riverbend, featuring four lady chefs - Molly Herrman, Sheela Namakkal, Michelle Gayer, and Solveig Tofte. Oh my god, all four are the coolest girls on the planet, cranking out ridiculous food all over the Twin Cities while keeping everyone around them laughing.

When Stephanie March, Katie Hoffman, and I arrived, there they were, glistening in the beating sun while pulling together a local feast for the crowd's breakfast.

Molly's Kitchen in the Market partner Tracy Morgan was pouring icy cocktails (each chef created a signature mix). Loads of volunteers were running-while-melting. King and queen de Tour de Farm Scott Pampuch and Kris Hase played hosts and runners and photographer and...everything.

Steph, Katie, and I - city girls that we are - set out our blanket in shade-that-was-sun in less than an hour. Ah well. We were happy to sweat it out with the rest of the crew, inhaling heaping plates of chilequiles, poached eggs, braised pork, cheesy polenta, BLT waffle cones, empanadas, salads, pancakes with berries, and a healthy sample of each cocktail.

I was personally quite taken with Molly's pretty tomato jam (up top), a bright-and-tangy foil for the porky, cheesy heaven that I slathered it on. I asked her for the recipe last night and she graciously obliged.

Recipe for Tomato Jam at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

If you love cookbooks, and don't own Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin, add it to your list.  Everything in it is delicious, fresh, approachable.  Some of the recipes are longish, but not terribly complicated, and hey, sometimes greatness takes a little effort.  I'm down with that.

Like this bean gratin.  It's quite simple, really, it just requires a bit of forethought.

The recipe is written for flageolet beans, the traditional cassoulet bean.  If you're organized, and planning ahead, put your hands on flageolets because I've made this gratin with them, and by substituting navy beans, and honestly, the flageolets have it.  Their texture is firmer, their flavor more pronounced.  That said, the gratin is awfully delicious made with navy beans as well.

This gratin is meatless, and could be easily made vegan (use olive oil for the breadcrumbs), but is so loaded with flavor that you'll wonder...hmmm...are you sure there's not a spot of duck fat in there somewhere?  A smidge of lamb?  Baaaaa?  The crusty top is the perfect foil for creamy beans, and the caramelized onions scattered on the bottom are as delightful to discover as your high school crush on Facebook.

Bonus.

I apologize for the rather lame pics - I made this dish for a group of lady food blogger friends, and was chatting and sipping bubbles and not very focused (pun!) on my camera.  In addition to the beans, I made a mess of pork ribs - pork-n-beans! - but the rest of the meal was gorgeously filled out by my guests.

Here's a tip: Invite food bloggers to your next potluck dinner.  Wow the deliciousness.

Kale Salad with Apples, Pecans & Smoked Cheese from Kelli Abrahamian of I Had a Delicious Time.

Homemade baguette from Shaina Olmanson of Food for My Family.

Sweet-and-Salty Honey-Cheese Spread from Brenda Score of A Farm Girl's Dabbles.

I did not photograph (insert head slap, then see above chatting and sipping) the bounty of olives, almonds, and cheeses brought by Kate Selner of Kate In the Kitchen.  I also forgot to snap pics of the Cheesecake in a Jar brought by Amanda Rettke of I Am Baker, gorgeously labeled and filled with creamy-dreamy heaven (check out the pics on her site - swoon).  Amanda also shared her darling new Baby Eddie!  Seriously yum, both the cheesecake and Eddie.

Thanks ladies!

White Bean Gratin
From Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin
Serves 6

7 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small sprig rosemary
1 chile de arbol, crumbled (substitute a pinch of cayenne)
1/2 c. diced onion, plus 5 c. thinly sliced onions
1/2 c. diced fennel
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. thyme leaves, divided
1 1/2 c. dried flageolets (or navy beans)
5 Tbsp. butter
2 c. fresh breadcrumbs (I used gluten-free bread)
2 tsp. chopped parsley
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

Heat a medium pot over high heat for 2 minutes.  Pour in 4 Tbsp. of the olive oil, and add the rosemary sprig and crumbled chile.  Let them sizzle in the oil a minute.  Add the diced onion, fennel, garlic, 1 Tbsp. thyme, and the bay leaf, sitrring a minute or two, until the onion is wilted.  Add the flageolets, and cook a few more minutes, stirring to coat the beans with the oil.

Cover the beans with water by 3 inches and bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn the heat down to low, and place a paper towel over the beans to keep them under the surface.  Simmer for 30 minutes, then add 3 tsp. of (Kosher) salt to the beans.  Continue cooking on a low simmer about 1 hour, until the beans are tender.  As the beans cook, add water as necessary (but don't add too much - you want these juices to be rich and a little starchy, since they will be an important part of the finished gratin).  Remove the beans from the heat, discard the paper towel, and let them cool in their juices.  Taste for seasoning.

While the beans cook, caramelize the sliced onions.  Heat a large saute pan or Dutch oven over high heat for a minute.  Swirl in the remaining 3 Tbsp. olive oil, and add the sliced onions, 2 tsp.thyme, 1 tsp. salt, and some freshly ground black pepper.  Cook 6 minutes, stirring often.  Turn the heat down to medium, and stir in 1 Tbsp. butter.  Cook 15 minutes, stirring often and scraping with a wooden spoon, until the onions start to caramelize.  Turn the heat down to low, and continue to cook about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are a deep golden brown.  Spread the onions on the bottom of a 9x9-inch (or equivalent) gratin dish.  Spoon the flageolets into the grain dish with a good amount of their cooking juices.  The beans will expand a little as they bake, so fill the gratin dish only three-quarters full (reserve any extra beans for use in another dish).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss the breadcrumbs in a medium bowl with the remaining tsp. of thyme and the chopped parsley.  Melt the remaining 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook about 3 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter browns and smells nutty.  Pour the brown butter over the breadcrumbs, let cool a minute or two, and toss to combine.

Sprinkle the brown butter breadcrumbs over the beans, and bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the gratin is bubbling, nicely browned, and crispy on top.

Are you still with me?  It's been a lot of beans this last week, I know, but keep in mind that any of these dishes can be frozen for a future warm dinner.

This version is sort of dal meets chana masala - two of my two favorite bean dishes.  I've had the chana masala recipe - via the always awesome Smitten Kitchen - on my mind for quite awhile.  I substituted my black lentils for the garbanzos for a ridiculously delicious result.

Just try to save yourself enough for lunch the next day (when it will taste even better).  I predict failure.

The whole comes together quickly (most of the ingredients are easily measured out spices) and delivers Indian take-out heaven without the take-out hassle.  When it's 5 degrees outside, that's worth something.  Pair with basmati rice or warm naan and finish with a dollop of thick yogurt.

(Also see Using a Pot of Beans Part I: Poached Egg Over Lentils, Bacon & Cabbage; Using a Pot of Beans Part II: Almost-Instant Vegetable Bean Soup; and Using a Pot of Beans Part III: Lentil Hummus.  Click here for the whole series.)

Curried Lentils (or Any Beans!)
Adapted from Chana Masala recipe by Smitten Kitchen
Serves 2

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
pinch ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1 c. tomatoes, chopped small (fresh or canned)
1/3 c. water
2 c. cooked beans (lentils or chickpeas)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 lemon (juiced)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, paprika, and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Eat up or put a lid on it and reheat it when needed. Curries such as this reheat very well, later or or in the days that follow, should it last that long.

This is the same Creamy, Fluffy Hummus - The Way It's Supposed To Be recipe I posted a few months ago, except substituting black lentils for the garbanzos.  That's the thing with hummus - you can make it with whatever bean you have on hand and it will always be lovely.

As true as it was when I first posted it, the secret to fluffy hummus is to emulsify the tahini with the lemon juice before you start whipping in the beans.  I give a basic outline for the seasoning, but you can adjust it to you suit your own favorite flavors.

Make a meal of it by serving with warm pita bread and a big salad.  Spread the hummus on the pita, pile some salad on top of that, take huge bites - serious yum.  For those of you avoiding grains, the creamy garlicky goodness that is a properly prepared hummus makes a delicious dip for radishes, cauliflower, and peppers.

You could even saute the vegetables in a bit of olive oil first until tender-crisp, pile the warm vegetables on top of a simple green salad, finish with hummus.  You'll get an incredibly satisfying warm/cool, crunchy/creamy, sweet/salty thing going on.

(Also see Using a Pot of Beans Part I: Poached Egg Over Lentils, Bacon & Cabbage and Using a Pot of Beans Part II: Almost-Instant Vegetable Bean Soup.)

Creamy, Fluffy Lentil (or Any Bean!) Hummus
Makes about 2 cups

1/4 c. tahini
juice of one lemon, about 1/4 c.
1/4 c. water or more
1/2 of a whole preserved lemon, seeds discarded (I find jars of whole preserved lemons at Whole Foods), minced (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2/3 c. cooked lentils (or other beans)
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chili powder (optional, if you like spiciness; if not, skip it)
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Add tahini, lemon juice, and water to the bowl of a blender.  Blend on high until the tahini becomes very fluffy and pale colored.  Add the minced preserved lemon (if using) and garlic and blend until pureed.  Add some of the the olive oil and lentils, a little bit at a time of each, blending until completely pureed before adding more.  Add a little bit more water at any point if hummus seems too thick.  You want it to be creamy and the consistency of mayonnaise.

Heat a small skillet over medium heat.  Add cumin and toast for a minute or two, just until fragrant and toasty smelling.  Do not burn it.  Remove from heat and immediately scrape it into the hummus.  Add smoked paprika and chili powder (if using).  Blend to incorporate.  Taste and adjust seasonings and salt (you'll need less salt if you used the preserved lemon).  Grind in some pepper.  Blend again.

Scrape hummus into a serving bowl.  Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  (Can be made ahead; cover and chill, bring to room temperature before serving.)

These homemade crackers couldn't be easier or faster to make.  Who knew that nothing but seeds, water, and salt could make such a lovely, crisp cracker?  These have an intense and rich sesame taste, which I love, and which is particularly delicious with savory and cheese spreads.

I'm particularly enjoying them with cottage cheese for a late-afternoon snack.

I found the recipe on Mark's Daily Apple via Girl Gone Primal, who also provides a recipe for shrimp pâté to serve with the crackers, mmm.  I'll be bringing these around for various upcoming holiday parties, oh yes.

Sunflower Sesame Crackers
From Mark's Daily Apple via Girl Gone Primal

Note: Girl Gone Primal provides directions for soaking the seeds first if you're so inclined.

1 c. raw sunflower seeds
1 c. raw sesame seeds
1 tsp. coarse salt plus more for sprinkling
3-4 Tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a food processor, process the sunflower seeds for 2-4 minutes or until very finely ground and flour-like.

Add the sesame seeds and pulse a few times, then slowly add the water (note: start with 3 Tbsp. of water, add more if necessary) until seed flour comes together in a thick dough.

Between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the dough to 1/8" thick (cracker thickness).  Remove the upper piece of parchment.  Lightly score the dough into desired cracker shapes.  Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt (and/or other herbs/seasonings).

Bake until golden and crisp, about 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool thoroughly before gently breaking into pieces along score lines.  Store in an air-tight container.

I posted this recipe a few weeks ago at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.  It's hard to say much more about Sweet Potato Fries than: They are easy.  They are delicious.

I spotted sweet potatoes at the farmers market the other day and immediately imagined sweet potato "fries," roasted in the oven until tender and just-browned, served with plenty of crunchy salt, mmmm...  While I enjoyed the image, I also pictured my husband and teens turning up their noses at the sight of them (sigh), so I only bought a few, just enough to make a pretty photo to share with you.

As I peeled the potatoes, both kids asked what I was making.  I know how this goes - I say tomato salad, or green beans, or roasted cauliflower, and they at best say no thanks.  But tonight, they both said, "Great, I love sweet potato fries."  Huh?  While it was tempting to remind them that no, they don't like sweet potato fries (I enjoy being right more than I enjoy most things), not even I am that thick.  So I raised only one eyebrow, not two, and smiled to myself as they cheerfully split the last fry.

It was...awesomely weird.

So if you're in the mood for odd teenage behavior, as well as easy, delicious sweet potato fries, this recipe is for you.  The crispy sage only takes a minute to prepare and makes the potatoes particularly addictive (and in fact will have you fantasizing about other dishes to crumble it on).

Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic & Fried Sage
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, November 2008
Serves 4

1/4 c. olive oil
12 fresh sage leaves
2 large garlic cloves, minced to a paste
1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/2"-thick pieces
coarse salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with rack in upper third of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Heat oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then fry sage leaves in 2 batches, stirring, until crisp, 30 seconds to 1 minute per batch.  Transfer with a slotted spoon or tongs to paper towels to drain.  Remove pan from heat, reserving oil.

Put potatoes and garlic in a large bowl. Toss with reserved oil, sprinkle generously with coarse salt, then toss again.  Spread potatoes evenly on the lined baking sheet and place in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes, turn potatoes over, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and browning and spots.

Roughly crumble fried sage over the potatoes, add more coarse salt to taste, and serve immediately.