Acorn Squash Spanikopita & Rigatoni with Chevre

The Food Nanny
December 22 & 23, 2009
Meal 1: Acorn Squash Apanikopita, Sweet Bulghur Salad, Roasted Hakuri Turnips and Sweet Potato
• Preheat the oven to 350. Unwrap the ‘kopita and transfer then to a baking tray. Bake at 350 until golden brown –about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they round the doneness corner quickly.
• If there is room on the tray warm the roasted veg near the ‘kopita or warm it in the oven in a different vessel.
• Serve the bulghur at room temp.

Meal 2: Rigatoni w/ Chevre and Collards in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, Whole Wheat Baguette, Spinach Salad
• Either: spread the cheese out over the top and warm the whole dish at 325 for 20+ minutes, or remove the cheese to another dish, and warm the pasta in a sauté pan with a little water. Stir to heat through and thicken the sauce. Serve and top with crumbles of the cheese (this is the better method).
• Warm the baguette.
• Dress and toss the salad.

Stir Fried Bok Choi & Black Bean Chile

The Food Nanny

December 15&16, 2009

Meal 1: Stir Fried Bok Choi, Fried Rice with Red Cabbage, BBQ Tofu

· Heat a sauté pan with a little oil and quickly heat the rice. Add a little water if necessary. Next heat the vegetables in the same manner.

· Heat the tofu in the oven until hot and a little crisp, but be careful to not burn it.

Meal 2: Black Bean Chili con Carne or Maize, Broa Rolls, Spinach Salad

· Heat the roll in the oven.

· Warm the chili in a sauce pot. You will need to add some water. Adjust the seasoning and the veg. chili is ready when hot. Allow the beef chili to simmer for 10 minutes or so.`

· Dress and toss the salad.The Food Nanny

Upon the cusp of seasons.
And, our cuisine can reflect it. Who wants ratatoiulle now? Roast up some pumpkin, bake some beans, pluck some frost sweetened spinach and kale from the cold frame and tuck into the best tucker of the year. As grateful as Washington was for the springtime arrival of our founding fish Alosa sapidissima at Valley Forge, and as important as the descent of the first fruits upon our palates at the summertime festival of Shavuot there is a reason that the great feastivals arrive in the late autumn. The rich, nourishing, savory harvests of meats, dairy, grain, fruits, and roots are in and we need to buffer ourselves with their nutrient gifts from the assails of the dark months to come. So gather round the hearth with wine, bread, and friends...food's roasting anyway.

The Food Nanny
December 8&9, 2009

Meal One: White Bean Florentine with Roasted Carrots, Pumpkin Seed Rolls and Fusilli with Roasted Red Pepper

• Warm the soup on the stovetop being careful to not let it sit hot for too long or the spinach with brown. Thin it with a little water if necessary.
• Serve the pasta at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a little oil and a splash of water.
• Warm the roll in the oven.
• 
  Meal 2: Big Fat Burrito of Brown Rice, Red Beans, Chiles, Sweet Corn & Winter Squash with a Roasted KAle Salad
  Heat the burrito in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes until hot and tortilla is a little crisp.
  Dress and toss the salad.

I told you I wanted to get that kale out front, and a salad of sauteed leaves in a base of Blue Moon's frost kissed spinach seemed perfect. Some hard boiled eggs as a rich foil, and carrots for color.

In your quest to get good dinners on the table fast do not over look the salad/dinner. I was always disappointed as a youth when dinner was cottage cheese with mandarin oranges. "This is a salad, not a dinner!" I lamented to myself. Nonetheless combining the right types of items can help you whip together a greatmeal in no time from whatever you already have. Generally you need:

1. A base: fresh greens, shredded cabbage, noodles - whatever you have.

2. A key player of conrasting texture: kale, apples, cooked beets, roasted radishes, etc.

3. Something rich: egg, bacon or other meat, beans ( rinsed) -French lentils are one of the best- or all of the above. Hey even cottage cheese is good here!

4.Garnish: something bright, also herbs are welcome, so are crutons.

Remember, good cooking is like jazz: know the fundamentals and then improvise.

We're growing!

Yes, big can be be beautiful, and in the kitchen I have an acquired affinity for big. Big slabs of meat, big quantities of onions and potatoes, big honkin' squash that call for serious strength and care to butcher safely, and yes big cookwear that lets us ensure that your ingredients are prepared in the technique that best suits their flavor, nutrition and exceptional initial quality.

I thought that the piece de resistance of the stew was the kale. Sauteed and added at the end it was positively sugary. Just great great food here. I hope to really feature it next week.

Oh, and those carrots from Blue Moon... I think they are my fall favorite. Taste them and remember what carrots can be. Buy as many as you can and keep them in a spare fridge if you have one. A big tupperware works great. They will last months. I got 200#.

Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales & Black Eyed Pea Stew

The Food Nanny
December 1&2, 2009

Meal 1: Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales, Brown Rice & Sunflower Seed Salad, Baked Red Beans

• Warm the beans stovetop, oven or microwave.
• Serve the rice at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a littl oil and splash of water.
• Place the tamales in a steamer insert for a sauce pan and steam for 5 minutes. They also reheat well in a microwave. Also, if need be place some water, and a bowl in a sauce pot. Place a dish atop the bowl. Allow the water to boil and place the tamales on teh dish in the pan. Cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. All the imporve steamer to cool before disassembling it to clean.

Meal 2: Black Eyed Pea Stew with Sauteed Kale, Buttermilk Cornbread and Braised Turnips

• Heat the turnips of the stovetop. Add a little water if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and heat the stew in teh same pot if you like fewer dishes to wash.
• Warm the cornbread in teh oven 5-10 minutes.

Glass Noodles & Mini Meat or Sweet Potato Loaves

• The Food Nanny
  November 17 & 18

Meal 1: Glass Noodles with Bok Choi and Egg, Tofu-Wakame Miso Soup, Fresh Kimchi Salad
Heat the soup on the stove top but do not allow it to boil.

Serve the kimchi cold.

Serve the noodles at room temperature or warm them gently in a saute pan with a splash of water, or try the microwave. Only just to warm them.

Meal 2: Mini Meat or Sweet Potato Loaves, Roasted Fall Vegetable Melange, Pumkin Custard
Heat loaves and veggies in the oven at 350 until hot and just sizzling- about 15 minutes or use a microwave.

Serve the custard chilled or warm very gently in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Spoil yourself with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Local Notes:

Bok Choi is just a gorgeous, supple, sexy, food. All curves and succulence. Hunnerwasser said that the straight line is death and the choi certainly epitomized nature's propensity to avoid the straight line. I apologise for not using more of it this autumn. Bok choi and other brassicas can be grown in the spring, but they really come into their own during the fall months. They are best cooked quickly as they were cultured to fit into the fuel deficient wok cuisines of their native lands.

The pumpkin custard was made from a variety call Jarredale and I think it is a new favorite. It is wider at the top than bottom, has a blue smooth skin, and thick, bright yellow/orange flesh that roasts down sweet and very fine in texture. It purees into silk making it ideal for pie use. Their yield is good in relation to their size unlike blue hubbards which are hazardous to butcher ( yes I would describe cutting and cleaning squash as butchering) because otheir density size and shape, ungainly in the roasting dish, and relatively thin walled with a large seed cavity.

To make your own own pumpkin pie this holiday season just split, seed, and roast a pie type pumpkin or even a butternut squash. Roast it by placing it cut face down on a sheet tray with a little water in it and placing in a +400 degree oven until the squash meat is tender ( poke the skin with your finger, its Ok to get burned a little as this will make you a tougher cook.) The skin and flesh undeneath should yield easily to the touch. This takes 1-2 hours.

Cool the squash a little and then scrape the meat out and puree it. 1.5 c squash puree + 1c half and half + 3 eggs & 1 yolk =one 9"pumpkin pie. Season the pumpkin puree as you like before adding the custard ingredients. I use just enough sugar to bring the pumpkin flavor out, plus a little nutmeg, cinnamon, white pepper, and some booze like vanilla bean infused bourbon. Do this all to taste but be sparing. Taste the pumpkin, not the addatives. Taste often and adjust as you make this. Yur pie will taste just like your final version of the custard mix.