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.

Thanksgiving kicked off when my dad pulled up to the house last Tuesday afternoon, fresh from a quail hunt in Tennessee. My stepmom Susanna flew in a few hours later from Sheridan, Wyoming, their now home.

My house and kitchen were immediately improved. Dad sharpened my knives and starting halving and marinating quail in buttermilk and hot sauce. Susanna started washing dishes, straightening the house, and running loads of laundry. I felt a huge weight lift from my over-scheduled shoulders that can only come from guests who don't ask what needs to be done, but just find things and jump in. Usually those guests are family members, but not always.

Whoever the hell they are, they are always welcome in my home.

Sasha came by for dinner Wednesday night, just home from her freshman year at Wellesley. It was so good to see her! While we all chatted, Dad fried the quail: After their buttermilk soak, he dredged them in flour (gluten-free AP for me, which worked like a charm), let them rest on a rack for 15 minutes or so, then fried them in a couple of inches of hot oil.

My god. Tender-crispy-sublime. We devoured them.

Later that night David, Etta, and my cousin Craig arrived in various shifts from NYC and DC. I had big plans to stay awake to feed them late dinners. I even went for an almost-midnight walk, giddy in the balmy air, but upon return...I totally fell asleep.

Which was probably for the best, given my early-Thursday-morning playdate with butter and herbs and the big ol' turkey that I had brined overnight Tuesday, then let dry out in the fridge overnight Wednesday. That one-two punch always yields ridiculously crispy skin, lightly salty, perfectly buttery. I hit it pretty hard while Dad carved the bird.

In fact, if I could eat just crispy turkey skin and a pile of stuffing and call it Thanksgiving dinner I'd be so happy.

Which is why I am in fact I am happy, because that's exactly what I did.

OK, I - as well as my uncles Bruce and Jim, aunts Mary and Marge, cousin Craig, brother David, sisters Stacey and Etta, John, Mom, Dad, and Susanna - also inhaled these amazing Melissa Clark sour cream mashed potatoes, prepared by Stacey & Susanna. They have earned a do-ahead spot on my Thanksgiving table, for sure. The chives are a particularly lovely addition, as is Parmesan cheese on top. We skipped the called-for breadcrumbs and didn't miss them.

My aunt Mary brought green beans - no, not those green beans. Her version was fresh and simple - fresh beans tossed in an anchovy vinaigrette. Delicious.

I was thrilled with the way the (gluten-free) cornbread stuffing turned out. I added both spicy and sweet sausage, mushrooms, plenty of fresh sage, and Parmesan cheese. We've been frying the leftovers for the last few days, to top with poached eggs... Goodness do that.

My stepmom Susanna was the first to bring this gorgeous wild rice salad to the Thanksgiving table, sometime in the mid-90s, and one of us makes it every year, this year my aunt Mary. The citrus dressing is a welcome sweet-tangy palate cleanser in the midst of lots of buttery sausagey richness.

My mom made a cranberry-orange sauce and The Curry Diva herself, lovely Heather Jansz, gifted me a jar of her precious chutney. Both were stunning with the turkey, at the dinner table and on many sandwiches afterward.

I got too busy eating, talking, and drinking wine to snap a pic of my aunt Marge's perfect pumpkin chiffon and pecan pies! No! Needless to say, they were attacked as usual. Gone baby gone. She is a master.

I made this Michael Ruhlman oven stock from the carcass. It's the best stock I've made and so easy! With the stock, turkey, and leftover mashed potatoes I made a shepherd's pie, which we dug into last night. And turkey wild rice soup and latkes, which we ate Saturday night. And I'll be making this Mark Bittman turkey & spinach coconut curry for tomorrow. (I'm taking a break from turkey today...I need a little breathing space. Uff.)

Mom's cranberry sauce has appeared in three batches of muffins, one of which I brought with me to AM950 on Saturday morning, when I was on the Fresh & Local Show with Mike Madison of Unknown Prophets. We talked leftovers for an hour with host Susan Berkson and barely scratched the surface! The whole conversatoin left me starving so I came home and made myself a big batch of turkey nachos. I do so love turkey with chiles.

What fun have you been having with leftovers? I hope you all had a terrific holiday!

This dish is inspired by a roasted squash dish I had at 112 Eatery a few years back.

If you love butternut squash as much as I do, I suggest planning to have this as an entree, perhaps with a salad. It is not a light dish, although it doesn't have to be heavy if you go easy on the duck fat and blue cheese. Ha! I loved writing that sentence.

Or go for broke and serve it alongside a braised roast for a cold night's hearty fare. It definitely works both ways.

Recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash with Blue Cheese & Sage at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I've had my eye on this recipe ever since I acquired the lovely cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. If you're looking for mouth-watering ways to add vegetables to your life, this is your book. Not only are the recipes clever and inspired, the photography is simply stunning. Earlier this summer I took a cup of coffee out on the deck, into the morning sun, and decided to affix post-it notes to the dishes I wanted to try. My husband watched me from the kitchen window for a bit, then popped his head out to say that perhaps I should mark the recipes I wasn't interested in.

Truly, I was tagging the entire book.

This rustic dish is basically a ready-to-eat spread: Melting eggplant, creamy yogurt, zippy za'atar spices, and tangy-crunchy pomegranate seeds. Nothing less than a flavor-texture explosion, it's also is a breeze to make and eat, just simply roasted eggplant drizzled with a little of this and that.

Serve with a pile of grilled bread and attack right off the baking sheet. Recipe for Eggplant with Yogurt Sauce 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.

Make this. You will not be able to stop eating it.

Add cayenne pepper and the perfect amount of salt and you REALLY will not be able to stop eating it. Spoon it over polenta...and forget it. Gone.

Recipe for Saute of Tomatoes & Okra with Bacon at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Naturally gluten-free, bánh xèo are simple, savory crepes made from rice flour and coconut milk. Served warm and filled with cool, crisp vegetables, herbs, and drizzled with a spicy-salty sauce, they will blow your mind with flavor and texture achieved with very little effort.

Recipe for bánh xèo, adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

The play of hot against cold, tender against crunchy, preferably with a salty-sweet vinaigrette, hits enough texture and flavor notes to transform a simple salad into a meal. Use this recipe as a formula to play with all summer long, as other vegetables come into the market.

My recipe for Grilled Asparagus Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Thanks to a conversation with my friends Chef Ian Pierce of 128 Cafe and Joy Summers of Eating the Minneaple and CityPages, witness my latest food obsession. Recipe for addictively crunchy-spicy-sweet Pickled Carrots, at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.