Category Archives: Recipes

Collards with Cornmeal Dumplings

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Smoky Soul Stock

2 smoked ham hocks or smoked turkey wings (see Note)

2 medium onions, quartered

4 celery stalks, including leaves, halved

2 carrots, trimmed and quartered

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

Greens and dumplings

1 1/2 quarts Smoky Soul Stock (above)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound collard greens

2 small dried red chile peppers or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste (used 2t diamond in greens)

Black pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt, to taste

In a large heavy stockpot, bring 3 quarts water, the smoked meat, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, partially covered, until the flavors are well-blended, about 2 hours. The broth develops a stronger flavor the longer you let it simmer. Remove the meat from the broth. When cool enough to handle, pull it off the bones (discard the skin, fat, and bones). Chop the meat and reserve for another use. Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the stock. Refrigerate the stock until the fat floats to the top. Use a slotted spoon to skim off the fat and discard. Store the stock tightly covered in the fridge or freezer.

Make the Collard Greens with Cornmeal Dumplings: In a saucepan, bring the stock, onion, and garlic to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer while preparing the greens.  Thoroughly wash the greens and trim away the stems, if desired. Discard the stems or chop small. Stack 2 or 3 leaves on a cutting board and roll tightly into a log. Slice the greens crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide ribbons. Place the greens and the chiles in the broth and return to a simmer. Cook, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours for very tender greens; you may cook them for less if you have young greens or prefer greens with more chew. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Spoon out about 1 cup of the potlikker (the cooking broth) and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the reserved potlikker, and heat to just below boiling. Remove the potlikker mixture from the heat and whisk half of it (1/2 cup) it into the dry ingredients, and more if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time (I needed almost the full cup to reach a thick batter consistency). Let stand 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, use wet fingertips (or in my case, a big scoop) to shape the dough into 6 dumplings.

During the last 15 minutes of the collards’ cooking time, carefully drop the cornmeal dumplings into the pot with the greens, making sure the dumplings rest in the potlikker. Cover the pot and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Vegetarian Okonomiyaki

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VEGETARIAN OKONOMIYAKI

4 eggs

80 g plain flour (~ 1/2 cup)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp pureed ginger

Black pepper

120 g finely shredded green cabbage (~ 2 cups)

1 small carrot, grated

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp oil

To serve:

Mayonnaise or salad cream

Sriracha

Chopped spring onions

Sesame seeds

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl, and add the plain flour. Whisk together to form the pancake batter. Add the soy sauce, pureed ginger, and plenty of black pepper, then add the finely shredded cabbage, carrot and spring onions. Mix well to combine. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, and spoon in 1/4 of the pancake mixture. Cook over a medium-low heat for a few minutes, until the underside is golden brown, then carefully flip the pancake with a spatula, and cook for another couple of minutes, until fully cooked. Repeat with the remaining pancake mixture, to create four pancakes in total. Serve the vegetarian okonomiyaki with with salad cream (or mayonnaise), sriracha, sliced spring onions and sesame seeds.  From EasyCheesyVegetarian.com

Fragrant Celeriac Rice

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1 large celeriac

1 tbsp. Olive oil

1.5 tsp Herbes de Provence

½ tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Peel and chop the celeriac into chunks. Place the celeriac chunks in the food processor and process or “rice” using the S-blade. This should take about 30 seconds. Don’t over process and pulse a few times to get consistency in riced texture.  Transfer the riced celeriac to a medium bowl. Mix in the olive oil, herbes de provence, and sea salt.  Pour onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring at the half-way point.  Remove from the oven and serve. Serves: 4

Vegan Celeriac Soup with Tahini

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2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

6-7 cups celeriac, diced

4 cups broth

1 cup canned white beans

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup tahini

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 cup crushed pita chips

In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook, stirring, for an additional 30 seconds. Add the celery root, broth, beans and the salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, covered, until the celery root is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the tahini and the lemon juice and, using an immersion (stick) blender, puree until smooth. (Alternatively, allow the soup to cool, then puree in batches in a blender, then reheat.) Add water or additional broth as needed to achieve desired thickness. Taste and season with more salt and/or lemon juice, if desired. Garnish with the parsley and pita chips and serve hot.

CREAMY CELERIAC SOUP WITH PANCETTA & TOASTED WALNUTS

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2 tsp olive oil & addition for serving

4 oz. sliced pancetta or bacon

1 Tbsp. butter

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 celeriac cut into chunks

4 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup chopped parsley Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom pan over medium high heat and add the chopped pancetta. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side until crisp. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.  Melt the ghee in the same pot and add the chopped onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf and celeriac chunks. Cook for about 2 minutes longer. Pour in the stock and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender. About 25 minutes. Fish out the bay leaf, stir in the heavy cream, and then transfer the soup to a high speed blender and whirl away on high until completely smooth and creamy. Depending on the size of your blender you may need to do this in batches. Alternately, you can use an immersion blender but the soup won’t be as smooth and creamy. Return the soup to the pot and keep on low. Give it a taste test and season it with addition salt and pepper if needed. If the soup seems too thick add a touch more stock or water.  Meanwhile heat a small dry skillet over medium high heat. Add the walnuts and cook until lightly toasted on all sides. About 5 minutes. Shake the pan often to ensure the nuts cook evenly. Remove from the pan and when cool enough to handle, roughly chop the nuts.  Ladle the soup into bowls and top each portion with the cooked pancetta, walnuts and parsley. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper

Celeriac and Potato Roesti

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5 Tbsp. butter

1 Lb potatoes

1 Lb celeriac

2 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbs minced celery leaves

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Melt butter in 10-inch nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  Shred & pat dry potatoes and celeriac.  Mix shredded potatoes and celeriac with salt and pepper. Mix in lemon zest and celery leaves. Spread vegetable mixture evenly in skillet; press with spatula to form compact cake. Cook until bottom crust is golden brown, pressing on potatoes occasionally with spatula, about 15 minutes.  Shake skillet or use spatula to loosen roesti. Place large plate or platter over skillet and carefully invert. Slide roesti back into skillet and cook until bottom is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Serve immediately.  From Cook’s Illustrated.

All in the Family Celeriac and Fennel Soup

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3 Tbs. butter

2 leeks

2 fennel bulbs thinly sliced

2 celeriac chopped

1 cup dry white wine

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh thyme

6 cups water

½ cup heavy cream

For the smoky Ghee:

4 Tbs. ghee

1 tsp. caraway seed

1 tsp. smoked paprika

For the Gremolata:

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

2 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbs. finely diced celery

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.  Add leeks and cook until beginning to soften (2-3 min.).  Add fennel and cook until softened (8-10 minutes). Add celeriac along with salt, bay leaves and thyme, stirring to combine.  Add wine and simmer until mostly evaporated.  Add water and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until all vegetables are soft enough to puree (10-12-min.).  Puree until smooth either in a blender or with an immersion blender.  Re-heat over medium heat and add cream.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

For Ghee:  Melt ghee in saucepan over low heat.  Add caraway seeds and paprika and cook stirring occasionally being careful not to scorch spices (about 4 minutes).  Remove from heat, allow to cool and strain to remove solids.

For Gremolata:  Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix.

Serve soup swirled with ghee and sprinkled with gremolata.

From Mona & Jaret at tournantpdx.com

Cauliflower Rice

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1 cauliflower

1Tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Process cauliflower in a Cuisinart fitted with the grating blade.  Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet and add the grated cauliflower.  Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to brown.  Add salt to taste.  Serve as you would rice.

Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Salsa Verde

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For the Roasted Carrots

5-10 new summer carrots with tops attached

1 tbsp olive oil

1 pinch sea salt

For the Salsa Verde

1 bunch carrot tops; wash carefully to remove grit

1 handful fresh mint

1 Tbsp capers

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

¼ cup pine nuts or cashews

4 Tbsp olive oil

For the Carrots

Chop the tops off the carrots & set aside

Heat the oven to 4250.  Arrange the carrots on an oven tray & sprinkle over the olive oil & salt (add a little smoked paprika if you feel like it).  Roast for approx 20 minutes until softened and slightly scorched on the pointy ends. Make the Salsa Verde while the carrots are roasting.

For the Salsa Verde

Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor & whiz until combined.

Taste & add extra olive oil or a little bit of the caper juice if needed.

Serve the roasted carrots dotted with salsa verde & any extra herbs you have. Serve extra salsa verde in a little ramekin for people to help themselves to more.

Adapted from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden

Spring Cabbage Soup

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3½ Tbs. salted butter

1 onion, chopped

4½ oz potatoes, diced

3½ cups chicken stock, boiling

9 oz. cabbage leaves, chopped 

¼ to ½ cup light cream 

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

crumbled chorizo or gremolata (optional)

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter. When it foams, add the onions and potatoes and toss them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover with a wax paper lid and the lid of the pan and let sweat over gentle heat until soft but not colored, about 10 minutes.  Add the boiling stock and boil until the potatoes are tender.  Add the cabbage and cook, uncovered, until the cabbage is just cooked, 4 to 5 minutes. Keep the lid off to preserve the bright green color. Do not overcook or the vegetables will lose both their fresh flavor and color. Using a blender or food processor, blend the soup until smooth. Season to taste.  Add the cream or creamy milk before serving. Serve on its own or with a sprinkling of crumbled cured Spanish chorizo or gremolata over the top, if desired.