I have a list about five miles long of recipes I have marked as ‘to-make’.  It’s not a strict and systematic first-in-first-out queue, but more or less I try to start at the beginning and end at the end.  I add to it fairly often, and try to consult it at least every month or so to remind myself of all the recipes that at one point or another inspired me enough to add it to my list.  I’ll admit that I am better at adding things than I am at checking them off, but I do fully intend to make my way through each and every recipe on my ‘to-make’ list at some point in my life.

The list resides in an elastic bound moleskine that dates back to when I first got interested in cooking in 2006.  It’s a collection of recipes from cookbooks, food blogs, newspapers, and friends.  If it’s from a cookbook I note the title and the page number;  if it’s from a blog or a newspaper I note the url; if it’s a recipe from a friend I either attach the recipe itself or make a note of the title of the email in which I received it.  I like to think of it as my modern equivalent of the wooden recipe box that many of our grandmothers used to keep.

This is one of the recipes on my ‘to-make’ list, and comes from the lovely and very approachable cookbook “Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly” by Joan E. Aller, which is all about cooking in southern Appalachia, focusing especially on B&Bs.  Though the recipe seems lovely on its own, once I started making it, I couldn’t help but add a little this and that, especially to the beans since I love the humble pinto and wanted them to shine.

Whether you make this now or add it to your own ‘to-make’ list, I hope you enjoy it!

Cornbread Smothered Pinto Beans
Inspired by “Tennessee Style Corn Pone” in “Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly” by Joan E. Aller

Pinto Beans
2 1/2 c. cooked pinto beans (homemade, from about 1 c. dried beans, or store bought)
2 T. rendered bacon fat, butter, or oil
1 small (fist-sized or smaller) onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 T. molasses
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 -1/2 c. bean cooking liquid or water
1 1/2 t. red wine vinegar

Cornbread Topping
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
2 c. buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T. butter, melted.

Special Equipment: 9 inch cast iron skillet

Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt the bacon fat, butter, or oil in the cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the tomato paste, molasses, cayenne, chili powder, salt, and pepper and mix well.  Add enough bean cooking liquid or water so that the mixture is slightly soupy.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer mixture for about 8-10 minutes.  Add the red wine vinegar, and adjust seasonings.  Remove from heat and spread the beans into an even layer in the skillet.

Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.  The batter will be soupy.  Pour batter over the beans in the skillet and smooth the top.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden, the cornbread starts to pull away from the skillet at the sides, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then slice into wedges and serve.  Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans

- Spicy Slivered Green Beans with Lime and Cilantro

- Dilly Wax Beans

“Potsticker” Radishes

1 bunch Watermelon radishes, peeled, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 – 1 1/2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
water
1 T. maple syrup (optional)

Mix radish chunks with olive oil in a bowl and toss to coat.  The radishes should be generously coated in oil.  Season well with salt and pepper.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the radishes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring once or twice.  Add enough water to come up about two thirds the height of the radishes, and add the maple syrup if using.  Cover and simmer until the water is mostly absorbed, about 7-10 minutes.  Uncover and boil off the rest of the water.  Fry the radishes in the remaining oil until the edges become crisp.  Turn once or twice after one side is crisp to allow the other sides of the radish chunks to develop a crisp crust.  Remove from pan and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

My favorite type of radish is — hands-down — the french breakfast radish.  Oblong, fading from white to pink, mostly mild with a slight peppery bite, I can eat pounds of them if they are slathered with high-quality butter and garnished with flakey sea salt…  They are one of life’s small pleasures.

But life doesn’t always give you french breakfast radishes.  In fact, sometimes it gives you watermelon radishes when you are expecting beets.  This afternoon I pulled out a bag of white-ish root vegetables from my refrigerator thinking it was a bag of white beets from a recent Mariquita Farms Mystery Box.  I cut the inch or so of stem from the ‘beets’, then proceeded to cut off the tail in preparation for roasting, only to discover a bright magenta center — not exactly the white beets I was expecting!  Slightly perplexed, I cut into one and discovered it was not a white beet at all, but rather a watermelon radish!  Que sera, sera…  The two are almost identical on the exterior when the greens aren’t attached, so I can forgive myself for confusing the two…

But although I could forgive my vegetable confusion, it really threw my lunch plans for a loop.  I was planning roasted white beets with sauteed spinach atop quinoa.  What could I do with watermelon radishes instead?

Though I typically eat watermelon radishes raw (julienned with soy, mirin, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and rice vinegar), today I wanted something hot.  Roasted radishes seemed… not so appetizing… so I decided to experiment.  I decided to cook these radishes how I typically cook potstickers — a quick saute in oil, a medium-length steam, and finally another fry to crisp the edges.

Wary, I flipped on the burner and started cooking. Worse comes to worst I could always scrap my lunch and visit the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen… oh the joys of working from home on Tuesdays.

After about 15 minutes the “potsticker” radishes were done, and I spooned them atop my quinoa and spinach.  I took one bite, then another, and deemed the grilled cheese kitchen completely unnecessary.  The radishes were DELICIOUS!  Who’d have thought?  I guess, when life gives you radishes………

On a different note, things have been pretty quiet around Modern Beet as of late.  I haven’t been cooking much, or at least not things that are really worth sharing.  But something else exciting is going on — my big news is that I got an awesome new job!  You might have heard of the company…  they do awesome things, have lots of awesome people, and generally just exude awesomeness…  Wish me luck!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Ever-So-Slightly-Sweet Mashed Turnips

- Absolute Simplicity: Cucumber and Cantaloupe

I love chard but often find myself at a dead end when trying to come up with new ways to prepare the humble green after weeks, months, years of getting it my CSA boxes.  How many different ways are there to saute, braise, broil, bake, or cream a leafy green?  Sure, I’ll add a little spice, perhaps some candied ginger, an extra dollop of butter, but at the end of the day, I feel like I have exhausted all the possibilities.

This chard preparation, however, is REALLY different.  It’s not that often that I find a vegetable dish that tastes nothing like anything I’ve ever made before, and it’s even less frequent that I actually like (let alone love) that vegetable dish!  With the first bite of this, I knew I had stumbled on something different, and more importantly, something remarkably delicious.  Who’d have thought it would all be thanks to lime pickle?

Indian lime pickle is a very pungent, salty, mildly spicy, incredibly unique condiment made with mustard oil.  I first tasted it back in 2001 when I spent a few months living in Jaipur, India.  The first time I put Indian pickle in my mouth, I’m pretty sure I spit it out and puckered my face with disgust.  Ewww!  But somehow I’ve come to love the pungent condiment, and it’s my favorite part of any Indian dining experience (and the fennel/sugar palate cleanser at the end).

Since lime pickle is decidedly an acquired taste, I don’t really recommend you try this recipe unless you know you like Indian pickles.  The taste of the pickle in this dish is assertive and unmistakable.  Never tried lime pickle or can’t remember if you have?  Pick up a jar at an Indian grocery store, or ask for a side dish of pickle the next time you eat at an Indian restaurant.  If you get it in a restaurant, it’ll probably be mixed pickle (with mango, lime, carrots, and other vegetables), but the taste is 95% the same.  If it turns out you like pungent pickles as much as I do, then by all means, make this easy, unique chard dish and be excited that the world of leafy green vegetables is wider than you might have thought. :)

Swiss Chard with Indian Lime Pickle
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Serves 2

1 1/2 T. Indian Lime Pickle
1-2T. olive oil
juice from half a lemon
1 t. salt
1 T. butter
1 shallot, minced
2 T. water
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed and reserved for another use, chopped into bite size pieces

Finely mince the lime pickle.  Combine with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl and mix.  Set aside. Heat butter in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add shallot and saute until translucent.  Add chard and toss to coat with butter.  Add water, then cover pan to steam the chard, lifting the lid and stirring occasionally until the chard is wilted, about 3-4 minutes total.  Add the lime pickle mixture and stir to combine.  Cook an addition 30-40 seconds.  Serve atop brown rice or as a side dish for an Indian meal.  Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Creamed Swiss Chard with Bacon

- Spicy Slivered Green Beans with Lime and Cilantro

- Crispy Okra Raita with Indian Spiced Tofu

There is only one vendor that sells cardoon at my farmer’s market, and they display the stalks in a gigantic flower vase.   Every time I walk past this stand, I think of Tim Burton movies and imagine this vase full of tall, naked, stringy cardoon stalks as a macabre bouquet of flowers…  Even with the eerie association, I gravitate towards this unusual vegetable, and nearly always buy some whenever I come across it.

Similar to an artichoke in taste, and slightly resembling celery in appearance, cardoon is a wonderful, unusual vegetable that is worth seeking out.  Most people have never tried it, and so it makes a great dish to bring to a dinner gathering.  I have never seen cardoon at a grocery store, only at farmer’s markets or through a CSA I used to subscribe to.  It’s pretty ugly as far as vegetables go (pale milky green, jagged edges), and can be daunting if you haven’t come across these stems before.  Though the stalks do require a fair bit of prep work before they are ready to be used, the flavor is lovely, and in my opinion, worth the effort (and it’s certainly no worse than preparing artichokes!)

When considering what flavors marry well with cardoon, think of artichokes and go from there.  To me this means cream, mayonnaise, lemon, vinaigrette, etc.  Here I combined parboiled sliced cardoon with potato, cream, and robust cheese This (very simple) gratin is quite rich and can certainly hold its own as a main dish.  Serve with a green salad, some crusty bread, and perhaps some roasted beets along side for a lovely uncomplicated meal.  Enjoy!

Cardoon and Potato Gratin

3-4 cardoon stalks, each about 24 inches long
2 medium-large (a little larger than fist size) yellow potatoes
1 c. loosely packed grated hard, salty cheese, divided (I used a mixture of Pecorino Romano and Spanish Manchego;  gruyere, parmesan, or comte would also be nice)
about 1 1/2 c. half and half
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Prepare the Cardoon:
Cut off any leaves that are still attached to the cardoon stalks and discard.  Cut the stalks into thirds, about 8 inches long, so they are easier to work with.  Using a paring knife or vegetable peeler, peel the convex side of the cardoons which is stringy and slightly bitter.

Blanch the cardoon stalks in a pot of boiling water with about 1 T. of either lemon juice or vinegar.  Cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Remove cardoons from water, drain, then slice across the grain into 1/4 inch pieces.

Assemble the gratin:
Peel the potatoes and cut into batons, about 1x 1/4 x1/4 inches (no need to be too exact).  Combine the potatoes, cardoon, and the cheese (leaving behind about a handful to top the gratin) in a medium sized casserole dish.  Mix with your hands to combine.  Season with salt (scant) and pepper (generous), then pour the half and half over the top until it comes a little over halfway up the sides of the vegetables.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over top, then bake for about 40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through and the top is nicely browned.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then serve.  Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Potato Gratin with Caramelized Fennel and Leek

- Savoy Cabbage Gratin with Saint-Marcellin

- Chard Stem Gratin

For a blog named after beets, it’s been far too long since I featured a recipe based on my favorite root vegetable.

The occasion for these beets was a vegetarian dinner we hosted last weekend.  Oddly, I find it easier to plan and prepare a menu with constraints such as no meat or no dairy than one in which the whole food palette is available.  Perhaps it’s the same reason I love CSAs… when dealing with a limited set of ingredients, I tend to be more creative and adventurous with the foods I prepare.  There is a similar practice for musicians.  Musicians will deliberately put themselves in situations where making music is really the only thing to do, with few distractions and where supreme boredom is a looming possibility, i.e. move to a mountain cabin for 3-4 months.  The only thing to do is to make music.  Period.  Some of the best music in history is a result of people enforcing constraints on themselves.

Anyhow, when I made these beets last weekend they were but one component of three in a salad from David Tanis’ book A Platter of Figs.  I first saw the cookbook back in 2008 when I went to Chez Panisse for the first time (Thank You Alisha!).  The cookbook had just been released, and Tanis, a chef for half of the year at Chez Panisse, was preparing menus in the vein of his new book.  The meal was simply amazing, and is something I will remember for many, many years to come.  I had been meaning to pick up the cookbook ever since, but this Christmas I received it as a very thoughtful gift, and since then have read it cover to cover.  It is simply lovely.  It is menu based, and embodies so many wonderful ideas about entertaining.  Each menu is a collection of 3-7 recipes (or non-recipes, depending on who you ask… is a platter of figs a recipe?).  Each is designed to be served at a dinner among friends, 8-10 people or so.  Tanis presents a few simple but compelling ideas related to entertaining:

• – A gathering flows similarly to how a menu flows — plan it thoughtfully
• – When serving food, serve it on family style platters rather than individually plating everything.  It makes the experience more intimate.
• – When hosting a dinner party, the focus is people and friendship.  Food may compliment this, but it shouldn’t be the absolute focus.  With this in mind, favor simplicity, seasonality, and quality ingredients to make simple, delicious food

When the party was over and I was cleaning up, I separated the prepared salad into its’ components — beets, eggs, and watercress — since I figured they would keep better separately than in one big massive container.  Then next morning I tasted the beets on their own and thought to myself, these are so delicious!  Slightly pickled, sweet, earthy, and just a hint of mustard… since then I have been eating them on their own and loving it… on top of ricotta spread over rye, mixed with chopped egg as a pink take on egg salad, and plain spoonfuls straight out of the refrigerator whenever I feel the urge.

Whether on their own or atop a watercress salad as David Tanis originally envisioned it, these beets are superbly delicious and quite simple to prepare.  A beet lover will fall more deeply in love, and the beet averse will perhaps give the underrated vegetable a second thought.  Enjoy them thoroughly, and keep in mind David Tanis’ idea that entertaining is a joy to be shared and celebrated.

Enjoy!

David Tanis’ Beets
Adapted from A Platter of Figs

6 medium beets, greens removed, scrubbed clean
2 large shallots, finely diced
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 T. dijon mustard
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 t. grated orange zest
a squeeze of orange juice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Place the beets in a roasting pan with about an inch of water.  Bake, covered, for an hour, or until the beets are easily pierced with a fork.  Slip off the skins while the beets are still warm.  Roasted beets will keep for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator.To make the vinaigrette, macerate the diced shallots in a bowl with the vinegars and a good pinch of salt for 10 minutes.  Stir in the mustard until dissolved.  Whisk in the olive oil, add the orange zest, and grind in some pepper.  Squeeze in some orange juice if desired.  Taste and adjust for acid and salt.  The dressing should be somewhat tart so add more red wine vinegar if necessary.

Dice the beets into roughly 1/2 inch cubes.  Place the beets in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk the vinaigrette and pour it over the beets.  Toss the beets in the dressing.  Enjoy!

Note:  David Tanis’ original recipe is Watercress, Beet, and Egg Salad.  To make this, simply spread about three bunches of cleaned, trimmed watercress over a platter.  Scatter the beets over the watercress, then garnish the salad with 6 hard-boiled eggs that have been cut into quarters.  This is also supremely delicious!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Beet Towers with Farmers Cheese and Oranges

- 48 Hours in New York, 3 recipes: Nora’s Beets with Ricotta; Roasted five-spice Squash, Caramelized Onion, and Chevre Bites; The MB Hangover Cure and General Wellness Drink

One of the best parts of my recent move has been unpacking the multiple boxes of cookbooks that I sealed up and put into storage before leaving for Germany.  At the time I thought I was putting my “second tier” books into storage — my favorite 15 or so I shipped to Germany — but much to my delight, in every box I have found at least 2 or 3 that I have pulled out and thought, “what a great cookbook!  I really missed having this!”

All About Braising by Molly Stevens certainly falls into this category.  I can’t remember why I didn’t take it with me in the first place, but I’m guessing it has to do with the fact that I had never made anything from it before moving day.  I am quite glad I didn’t take it though, because it means I have it to read now!  And what a read it is — in the past week I’ve made two dishes from it (<– I rarely cook from the same cookbook twice in such a short period), and both have been fantastic (the recipe above and Red Pine Chicken if you happen to have your own copy).  I also have plans for about 15 more recipes, including Spicy Broccoli Rabe with Arugula, Turkey Thighs with Onions and Buttercup Squash, Sweet Braised Scallions, and Chengdu Pork to name a few.

About this specific recipe, it is really wonderful — not too heavy, rich, earthy, and the oh the cheese!  Ms. Stevens suggests using a specific triple-cream cheese, Saint-Marcellin, which I had never heard of before making this.  Luckily for me, Whole Foods carries it, and I was able to pick up a perfectly ripe specimen ($7.99 for a 3 oz round).  After tasting it, I can see why she recommends it — Saint-Marcellin has a wonderful pungency not typical of the triple-cream cheeses I’ve had in the past. You can’t really smell it, but when you taste it it has a distinct, wonderful stinkiness.  It is really worth seeking out, but if you can’t find it any robust triple cream cheese will be fine (though you should avoid the more mild cheeses like Brie — it doesn’t have enough body to stand up to the cabbage).

So, what is the lesson of this post?  Revisit some of your old cookbooks!  I bet you will be surprised and delighted with what you find!

Savoy Cabbage Gratin with Saint-Marcellin
From All About Braising by Molly Stevens

3 T. butter
1 head savoy cabbage (about 1 1/2 lbs), quartered, cored, and sliced into 1/2 inch wide shreds
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, sliced into 1/2 inch-wide pieces
salt and pepper
1 1/4 c. chicken stock
1 ripe Saint-Marcellin cheese (about 3 oz) (substitute a good triple-cream cheese such as Brillat-Savarin, Saint Andre, Explorateur, etc)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a large gratin dish.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the cabbage and scallions, season with salt and pepper, and saute, stirring ofen until the cabbage is just beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes.  Pour in the stock, bring to a steady simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan, and cook for about 2 mintues.

Scrape the cabbage mixture and all its juices into the gratin dish.  Cover tightly with foil then place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and contine to cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated, another 20 minutes or so.

Cut or tear the cheese into small lumps and scatter across the gratin.  Increase oven temperature to 375 and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted, about 10 minutes.  Serve hot or warm as a first course, side dish, or on its own as a light supper.  Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Potato Gratin with Caramelized Fennel and Leek

- Chard Stem Gratin

- Chicken and Dandelion Green Gratin