Posts by: Andrew Cohen
A simple salad of fresh and bracing flavors. Just right to cut through heavier cold weather fare. The light orange dressing adds sweetness that complements the flavors. A mandolin is best for making this salad, especially the Japanese Ben-Riner type with the fine comb for the carrots.
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We have four varieties of blueberries in our blueberry patch, Southmoon, O’Neal, Misty, and Jewel–which are supposed to ripen sequentially so that we could stagger our harvest over a longer season than if we just had one variety.
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Celery Root, The Ugly Duckling
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone pick up a celery root and say something like, “What is this, it’s so ugly!” I think I’d be quite well off. It’s funny, because in France the word “céléri” refers to the celery root (a.k.a. “céléri-rave”), whereas it is always “céléri branche” for the stalks Americans know and crunch for everything from dips to diets. Celery root is also known as celeriac, and is one of three forms of celery; root, branch (or stalk), and leaf, but they are all variants of the same plant.
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Great for cold weather. This makes a fair amount, but is great as leftovers for lunch the next day, or even breakfast with a fried egg on top. If you like the idea of smoky, but not the ham hock, you can skip it and use some Pimenton de la Vera (Smoked Spanish paprika) to add the smokiness.
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This is an all-in-one dish with eggs, vegetables, and grains. It works without the grains, too, but if you make them the night before or have leftovers, it is even easier. Carrots add a sweetness that counters the sometimes almost tannic mineral quality of chard. The eggs are baked “whole”, not mixed in as a batter like a quiche, so the yolks act as a sauce and make for a pretty dish.
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This is a quick and easy sauce that is popular, even with those who do not usually care for sauces with tomatoes. The tomato and cream reduction give the sauce a sweetness, and the cream, butter, and garlic give it a nutty quality. I like this sauce for gnocchi, especially for those made with winter squash. For gnocchi, use the option where you add in some of the water from cooking the gnocchi. The starch in the water will add some viscosity, but it will thin out the cream enough so it will lightly nap the gnocchi and not mask the flavor of the squash.
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These gnocchi are great with the “standard” brown butter with sage, but adding hazelnuts for depth and a little crunch make these memorable. A light tomato sauce with garlic would also be a good pairing.
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Kohlrabi is an odd vegetable that I think is often bought more for appearance than for the desire to eat it. Looking like something from a science-fiction movie, they come in lovely deep purple or jade green, and the leaves come up from all over what seems to be the root. 
radishes
Walk into many a taqueria and there they are. Sitting next to the pickled jalapenos and the lime chunks, there is usually a bowl of radishes. I asked a friend of mine, who is of Mexican descent, about why this is, and she did not have a concrete answer. Her surmise is about the same as mine-they are cheerful looking and look nice on a plate, and the cool crunch and hint of heat are welcome foils for the sometimes oily meats and density of refried beans.
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Kind of like mac ‘n’ cheese, but with cauliflower instead of noodles. This would be a good dish to make after entertaining and finding you have a bunch of small bits of cheese. Cheddar and Gruyere are used here for depth of flavor, but other Swiss and Cheddar types would work as well.
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This dressing is for a beet and kale salad with apples added to it. The cream is to add body and some richness to offset the earthy and tart elements of the dressing.
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Here’s a riff on a favorite from the 2012 Harvest Fair. Here I use Chioggia beets, but golden beets would work as well. The red beet beets would do okay, but are “earthier” tasting. The dressing has a very little cream in it to offset the acid of the apple and the tannins of the greens.
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Although Frizzled Leeks sounds like a silly name, it is one that is actually used in restaurant kitchens and elsewhere. This is usually used in restaurants as a garnish for soups, salads, and things like a chop or chicken breast, but I have cooked these up for wait staff who ate them like potato chips after shift with beer or glasses of white wine and in one case, oysters. They keep well in a box with a tight fitting lid for several days, and they are great for making things look fancy. Very easy.
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A variation of Sautéed Celery, this adds silky ribbons of leeks and a little white wine for depth and contrast to the crunch of the celery. Use scissors when trimming the celery leaves for ease. You have to use good butter for this dish as that is really all there is for the sauce.
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The trick to this dish is to simmer it gently so the cauliflower and potatoes don’t overcook. The cauliflower should be cooked through, but still retain some toothsome texture. Reducing the stock with the fennel and leeks adds flavor. Use a waxy potato rather than something like a Russet so the potato does not disintegrate and turn to mush.
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A variation on a Quickle, this uses a hot brine to soften up the carrots a little. I enjoy using lavender in savory dishes, and find lavender and fennel go well together.
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This is a substantial salad that is good when it is hot. It is composed of recipes that are already on the website except for the lavender quickled carrots. Lavender is fun to use in savory dishes and goes well with fennel. The meaty blandness of the beans and the vinegar of the dressings keep the lavender from being too much. The lavender should come across as a piece of pleasing music heard from the next room, not like someone wearing too much scent sitting down next to you.
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Peeling the squash before cutting makes it easier. Don’t worry about getting all the peel off; a little left on is fine and looks nice. Save the seeds to roast; just wash well and dry, then oil and sprinkle with salt and bake 10-15 minutes at 350°F or until done. Eat as is or save and use as garnish for this dish.
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This is a basic for any Japanese kitchen. In fact, dashi plus miso and some shreds of vegetable equals “miso-shiru”, or miso soup. There are various styles of hana-katsuo (dried bonito flakes)-some are smoked or dried over wood fires, others are not. I especially like using the smokey ones for miso soup as the year turns cool. Look for these flakes in Japanese or oriental markets, some “health-food” stores, and better groceries. In Watsonville, look for them at Yamashita Market. You can find them online as well.
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This is the recipe for traditional miso soup. It includes the recipe for “dashi” (which is the starting point of many Japanese recipes), which is the base of miso soup. There are instant dashi packets out there, but they never taste as good as home made, and are frequently laden with additives such as MSG. Dashi may be frozen for “instant” soup, so do not be put off by the idea of having more than enough dashi if you only want a bowl or two.
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This dish would be served as a separate course, or in a bowl of it’s own with the main course. The rounds of carrot look like little islands in their broth. Chantenay carrots really show their flavor when cooked slowly, as the are here. Dashi is the basic broth used in Japanese cooking, and is the base of miso soup, among many other things.
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