Not long after we met, I invited the Midwestern Gentleman over for dinner and served a classic Italian risotto rich with mushrooms and onions.  He fell in love — with me, naturally, but also with the flavorful versatility of risotto.  Ever since, he has been mentally collecting different flavor combinations for us to try.  Our latest creation was a celebration of the deep, comforting flavors of winter: pumpkin spiked with gorgonzola. Madeira wine’s particular sweetness pairs beautifully with the pumpkin, while the topping of toasted pumpkin seeds adds a pleasing crunch.  Using canned pumpkin and frozen peas makes this an easy wintertime recipe; the ingredients can be kept on hand and pulled out at a moment’s notice.

Pumpkin & Pea Risotto with Gorgonzola

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 large, sweet onion, chopped

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup Madeira wine

2 1/2 cups chicken broth, heated

1/2 tsp dried sage

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup peas, fresh or frozen

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Topping: gorgonzola crumbles & toasted pumpkin seeds

Heat the olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften and turn translucent (about 3 minutes).  Add the rice, and stir well to coat.  Stir in the Madeira wine and cook, continuing to stir, until the wine has almost completely evaporated.  Stir in 1/2 cup of the hot broth and cook, stirring, until most of the broth has evaporated.  Continue to add the hot broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until the rice is cooked al dente.  When you add the last 1/2 cup of broth, also add the sage, black pepper, and peas.  When the last of the broth has evaporated, stir in the pumpkin, heat thoroughly, and then remove from heat.  Stir in the parmesan cheese.  Garnish individual servings with gorgonzola crumbles and toasted pumpkin seeds.

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Seriously, who wouldn’t want to wake up to these on a snowy Sunday morning?  Well, someone who doesn’t like biscuits or pumpkin, I suppose.  But the rest of you?  You love these.  So do I.  These biscuits manage to be flaky and moist at the same time, with a pleasant if non-assertive pumpkin flavor and just a hint of cinnamon.  I think they taste especially scrumptious with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa.  The Midwestern Gentleman agrees.

Pumpkin Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup shortening, frozen

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup buttermilk plus more for glaze

1/2 cup confectioners sugar or 2 Tbsp vanilla sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Sift the first 5 ingredients together into a medium-sized bowl.  Whisk together the buttermilk and the pumpkin puree in a small bowl or 2-cup measuring cup.

Cut the frozen shortening into the flour mixture until the shortening resembles tiny pebbles.  Add the pumpkin/buttermilk mixture all at once, and toss with a wooden spoon just until the dough comes together.  Do not overmix or gluten will form, turning the biscuits into tough little hockey pucks instead of flaky bits of goodness.  Gather the dough into a rough ball, knead for about 30 seconds to even out the dough, and then roll out the dough to between 1/4″ and 1/2″ thick.  Cut into biscuits.

Lay the biscuits on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet and brush their tops with buttermilk.  (Optional: sprinkle with vanilla sugar before baking, or wait to glaze them with icing afterwards.)

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tops are golden brown and edges look flaky.  Remove from oven and cool on wire rack so the biscuits don’t turn soggy.  Let cool slightly.

For Glaze: whisk buttermilk into confectioners sugar one teaspoon at a time, until glaze reaches desired consistency (pourable, but not runny).  Drizzle over warm biscuits and serve.

For our first dinner of the new year, the Midwestern Gentleman and I picked a recipe from my new treasure-trove of culinary goodness (a gift from the Minnesota Mom), The Northern Heartland Kitchen.  One of the reasons I love this cookbook is that the recipes are based on fresh ingredients that are available in this part of the country, so I know I will easily find whatever I need in our local market.  The introduction to each recipe offers suggestions for other recipes in the book which would pair well.  My favorite attribute of this book, however, is the way the recipes are divided seasonally.  Instead of pining for fresh asparagus in the deep of January, I turn to the “Winter” section of the cookbook, and recipe after recipe based on locally available wintertime produce tempts my tastebuds. The Potato, Prosciutto & Rosemary Pizza did not disappoint.  I used my own recipe for pizza dough (although the cookbook offered a basic one that looked good, too), and then topped the pizza as directed.  You can mix up the dough about a half an hour before you want to use it, but to let it develop a more complex flavor, I recommend mixing it up the night before and refrigerating it (take the dough out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before you plan to use it) or mixing it up earlier in the day, and letting it “proof” at room temperature for at least 4-6 hours.

As we sat down to our meal and dug into the hot pizza, its chewy crust piled high with savory toppings, the Midwestern Gentleman turned to me and said, “wow, when can we make this again?”  In my world, there is no higher praise for a new recipe!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp active dry yeast

2 tsp olive oil

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

Dissolve the honey in the warm water.  Add the yeast and let bloom for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the olive oil followed by the flour and salt.  Knead for 5 – 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.  If refrigerating, shape dough into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.  Remove from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before using.  If proofing at room temperature, shape the dough into a ball, place it on a board covered in cornmeal, flatten dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rest at room temperature for 4-6 hours.  Roll out the dough to a 12″ – 16″ circle (depending on how thin or thick you like your pizza crust).  Let dough rest for 20 minutes, then top it with your desired toppings, and bake in a preheated 425 F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

For the Potato, Prosciutto & Rosemary pizza, the first layer was a thinly sliced ball of fresh mozzarella:

On top of the mozzarella, I layered about a pound of Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced.  I used a chef’s knife, but I recommend using a mandoline slicer for the thinnest, most even slices.

I then layered prosciutto on top of the potatoes.  I left a quarter of the pizza without meat, since the Midwestern Gentleman wasn’t certain he would like prosciutto (as it turns out, he does).

Over the prosciutto, I sprinkled a layer of finely minced fresh garlic (about 3 cloves).

The next layer was thinly sliced red onion.  Again, I used a chef’s knife, but would try a mandoline slicer next time.

At this point, I brushed a light coating of fruity, extra virgin olive oil all over the pizza toppings and exposed crust.

Finally, I topped the pizza off with about a half a cup of grated parmesan cheese, a few tablespoons of minced, fresh rosemary, a few tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, and a dusting of freshly cracked black pepper.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled a delicious, homey, winter meal out of the oven.

This will definitely not be the last recipe we try from The Northern Heartland Kitchen!

Recently, I found myself with just over a half-gallon of clear, unsweetened apple cider on the verge of expiring, so I decided to boil it down into a syrup to give it a second life.  I considered adding some apple-friendly spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg, but ultimately decided to stick with just the straight apple flavor, because I intended to debut the syrup over spiced apple pancakes.  Upon tasting the results, I’m so glad I did.  This simple apple syrup has a surprising complexity and intensity.  In fact, it reminded me a lot of a commercially available, bottled “apple glaze” which we had tasted at Spencer and Adam’s house last summer. I cooked the syrup down on the stove, but in future I will use the slow-cooker so I don’t have to monitor the simmering process so frequently.

Perhaps you are thinking that making your own apple syrup requires too much effort just for dressing pancakes, french toast, and waffles?  You may be right, so here are a few suggestions for other ways to enjoy this richly flavorful condiment to make it worth your while:

• Drizzle over brie, camembert, or blue cheese.
• Add to homemade salad dressings.
• Stir into pumpkin or other squash soups.
• Glaze chicken, turkey, or pork.
• Drizzle over roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, or turnips.
• Flavor plain yogurt or cottage cheese.
• Lightly sweeten tea or coffee.
• Mix into cocktails.

If you come up with other ways to enjoy this apple syrup, please let me know in the comments section!

Apple Syrup

8 cups (half a gallon) unsweetened, clear apple cider

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup vanilla sugar or cane sugar

Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a large pot, stirring to dissolve the sugars.  Lower heat to medium-low or transfer to a slow-cooker.  Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened and reduced to about 2 to 2 1/2 cups (about 3 hours).  Let cool, then pour through a funnel into a clean bottle, cap, and store in the refrigerator.

]]> http://midwesternexposure.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/a-drizzle-of-liquid-gold-homemade-apple-syrup/feed/ 0 midwesternexposure AppleSyrup-01 AppleSyrup-02 http://midwesternexposure.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/christmas-morning-breakfast-sweet-potato-monkey-bread-with-apples-cranberries/ http://midwesternexposure.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/christmas-morning-breakfast-sweet-potato-monkey-bread-with-apples-cranberries/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:17:45 +0000 Yankee http://midwesternexposure.wordpress.com/?p=3126 ]]>

I’m flying across the country to my native New England as the Midwestern Gentleman drives to his native Minnesota to spend time with family and old friends this Christmas, so the Gent and I celebrated our own holiday a few days early.  Our “Christmas” agenda was blissfully relaxed: sleeping in; a late, lazy brunch; exchanging gifts; snuggling with the critters while reading some new books; a low-key run in the winter sunshine; and finally, a delicious Christmas dinner of swordfish with squash and mushroom risotto.  But this post is about Christmas breakfast.

In an effort to boost both the sophistication and the nutritional profile of that quintessential childhood favorite, Monkey Bread, I modified a recipe for soft, chewy sweet potato rolls as the dough, and then dressed up the brown-sugar caramel sauce that the dough bakes in with diced apples, fresh cranberries, and warm spices.  These are holiday flavors we both love, and they paired beautifully with our now-traditional Christmas morning mimosas.  Apples and caramel are a time-tested winning combination, but we both agreed our favorite part of this pastry was the tart, juicy burst of cranberry contrasting with the rich caramel flavor.  Yum!

You can microwave or boil the sweet potato to cook it quickly, but for a special holiday breakfast it’s worth baking the sweet potato in the oven, so it cooks slowly and caramelizes.  Prick a medium-sized sweet potato a few time with a fork, and place it directly on the rack in the oven at 350 F.  Place a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack below the sweet potato to catch any sugary drips.  Bake for 1 hour, or until the sweet potato is soft.  I mixed up the dough the night before, so it could rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator (and I could sleep in late in the morning, knowing most of the work was done!)

Sweet Potato Monkey Bread with Apples & Cranberries

For the Dough:

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 Tbsp agave syrup (or honey)

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup sweet potato, cooked, cooled, and mashed

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 egg yolk

3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Mix the buttermilk with the agave syrup, and then stir in the active dry yeast.  Let bloom for 5 minutes.  Whisk in the mashed sweet potato, butter, and egg yolk, and beat until smooth.  Stir in about 2 cups of flour and the salt.  Gradually add more flour until the dough is soft but not sticky.  Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.  Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a large, clean bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Put the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature as you assemble the other ingredients.

For the Monkey Bread:

1 apple (I used a Braeburn)

2/3 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Lightly grease an 8-cup bundt pan.  Peel and dice the apple into 1/4″ cubes.  Mix the granulated sugar with the spices in a small bowl.

Shape the dough into a log on a cutting board and divide in half.  Continue to cut or pinch each piece of dough in half, and in half again, and so on, until you have a pile of bite-sized chunks of roughly equal size.  (I ended up with well over 30 pieces).

Drop each chunk of dough into the bowl of granulated sugar and spices and coat evenly on all sides.  Place in the bundt pan.  Repeat until the bottom of the bundt pan is covered in dough balls.  Sprinkle half of the apples and cranberries over the dough.

Cover with another layer of sugar-and-spice coated dough balls.  Sprinkle the second half of the apples and cranberries over the dough.  Cover the fruit layer with another layer of dough balls.  Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough and fruit in the bundt pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the monkey bread has risen to the top of the pan and turned a deep, golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate.  Serve warm, and enjoy!

Most of the time, I discard the fruit I’ve used to flavor an infusion.  That’s because most fruit is stripped of both flavor and color after a week soaking in a potent solvent like 80-proof alcohol.  However, cranberries have proven to be every bit the antioxidant powerhouse they’re touted as — even after producing an intensely colored and flavored vodka, the soaked cranberries were still going strong on both color and flavor.  The cranberry-loving Midwestern Gentleman requested that we repurpose them somehow, so I decided to candy them.  Cranberries undergo a gorgeous transformation after a few minutes of simmering in sugar syrup; they turn into shimmery, translucent jewels of an impossibly brilliant hue.

I covered some of the candied vodka cranberries with dark chocolate (delicious — scroll down to the end of this post to see the photo) but most of them I jarred in their own syrup, simply because they were too pretty to cover up.

Cranberry Vodka

2 to 3 cups fresh cranberries, halved

1 liter triple-distilled vodka

As you slice the cranberries in half, pay attention to what they look like on the inside.

Fresh cranberry on the left; rotting cranberry on the right.

A fresh cranberry is white and spongy-looking on the inside.  If the interior of the berry is red, then the fruit has already started to rot.  Discard these overripe berries, or they will impart a rotting-fruit sort of flavor to the vodka infusion.

Put the berries in a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Pour the vodka over the berries.  Tighten on the lid of the jar, give the mixture a good swirl, and set it in a cool, dark place to infuse.

Shake the jar daily for about a week, or until the infusion has reached the desired strength.  Then, strain the infusion back into the original vodka bottle through a funnel lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Save the strained fruit to make candied vodka cranberries (recipe below).

On the left: Day 1. On the right: Day 7.

This vodka will have a thick, silky mouthfeel as a result of the pectin that cranberries contain.  Store this infusion in the refrigerator; if you keep it in the freezer, it will freeze solid because of the pectin.

Candied Vodka Cranberries

2 to 3 cups vodka-soaked cranberries, strained

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

Optional: 3-4 drops of orange extract

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a heavy, medium saucepan.  Add the cranberries, lower heat to medium-low, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until cranberries turn translucent.  Remove from heat and stir in the orange extract, if using.

Let the cranberry mixture cool to room temperature, then pour into a glass bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Scoop into sterilized jars, pour any remaining cooking syrup over them to cover, and store in the refrigerator.

Optional: (1) Drain the candied cranberries and roll them in granulated sugar.  Serve immediately.  Sugared cranberries are sensitive to humidity, so the sugar coating will melt into syrup if not eaten right away.  (2) Alternatively, drain the candied cranberries and dip into melted dark or bittersweet chocolate.  Lift with a fork and gently place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the chocolate cool and harden.

Addendum: I used the candied vodka cranberries in a brie en croute last night in place of jam, and it was awesome.  The flavor of the cranberries really stood up to the assertiveness of the goat’s milk brie I used.  Mmm.

The fall weather in Iowa this year has been defined by dramatic fluctuations, with temperatures reaching into the 40s and 50s (and even the 60s on Thanksgiving!) during the day, and then plummeting into the 20s at night.  Perhaps these temperature changes are part of the reason that so many of my friends and coworkers have already been battling nasty colds and flu, before winter even makes a real appearance.  The Midwestern Gentleman and I both succumbed to a virus about a week before Thanksgiving, and this soup helped soothe our sniffley, congested discomfort.

I love this soup’s creamy texture, which comes from Vitamin C-rich potatoes instead of milk or cream. Use a waxy potato like Yukon Gold (not a starchy potato like a Russet) to ensure a smooth, velvety texture.  I like to use 3/4 lb of potatoes, but if you prefer a really thick soup, you could use a full pound of potatoes.  This recipe is slightly modified from one in the November 2011 issue of Whole Living magazine.  We enjoyed our soup with with thick, buttered slices of pumpernickel bread.

Garlic Soup

2 heads garlic

olive oil

3/4 to 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 to 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Cut the garlic heads in half crosswise, rub with olive oil all over, and wrap in foil.

Roast garlic for about 35 to 40 minutes, until soft and sweet.  Let the garlic cool until it’s comfortable to handle.

While the garlic is roasting, peel and dice the potatoes.  Grate the parmesan cheese.  When the roasted garlic has cooled enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their papery peels into a medium-sized pan.  Add the potatoes and the chicken broth.  Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.  Remove the pan from the heat, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup.  (You can also puree the soup in a regular blender, just be careful not to overfill because the soup will be hot and create a lot of steam inside the blender.)  Add the parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and well blended into the soup.  Salt and pepper to taste, and serve topped with some extra parmesan and freshly cracked black pepper, if desired.  Makes 4 servings.

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The Midwestern Gentleman and I hosted our first holiday in our new home this Thanksgiving.  The six of us made for a cozy gathering in our small but accommodating dining room.  Since the majority of the group are not fans of turkey, I tried my hand at roast goose.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to cook, and Thanksgiving gave me the proper motivation.  The problem with goose is its thick layer of fat (shared by most water fowl); if the fat is not rendered properly, you end up with a greasy, rubbery mess.  Happily, we had no such problem.  Julia Child’s technique for steam-roasting a goose (from The Way to Cook) worked perfectly.  After an hour steaming on the stove-top, most of the fat had drained away into the roasting pan.  A few hours braising in wine in the oven followed by a half-hour of browning produced a gorgeous, golden-brown, juicy goose.  I’m still kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture of it.  Instead of Julia’s recipe for sauce, I used this delicious recipe for gravy with Madeira wine.

There was not much goose left over, but when I noticed we had one pie-crust’s worth of homemade dough left in the refrigerator, I decided to use what little goose meat remained — along with other Thanksgiving leftovers — to make individual pot pies.  I imagine this would work with many different combinations, depending on what you served for Thanksgiving.  I’ve transcribed the recipe below as I made my pies, but you could make any number of substitutions to create your own original Thanksgiving-leftovers pot pie. The Midwestern Gentleman and I both agreed we loved these tasty little pies even better than our original Thanksgiving feast!

Thanksgiving-Leftovers Pot Pie

1 tsp goose fat

1 large clove garlic

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1/2 cup chopped celery (about 1 stalk)

1/3 cup fresh cranberries, quartered

1/2 cup Madeira wine

1 cup roasted goose, cubed

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 1/2 cups roasted root vegetables
(I used sweet potatoes, parsnips, red-skinned potatoes, and Yukon Gold potatoes)

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

1 sprig fresh sage, chopped

1 cup or more leftover gravy (or 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup)

dough for 1 pie crust, separated into 4 equal portions

Recipe makes four individual-serving pot pies.  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Heat the goose fat in a medium-sized pan over medium heat.  Cook the onion, garlic, and celery, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened.  Add the cranberries and Madeira and simmer until the wine has mostly evaporated.  Add the goose meat, peas, root vegetables, herbs, and gravy (or cream of mushroom soup).  Stir well until heated through, and then divide the mixture evenly among four 1-cup ramekins.

Roll each of the four portions of dough into a ball and then roll out flat about an inch in diameter wider than the mouth of the ramekins.  Lay the dough over the filling in the ramekins and tuck under the edges of the dough.

Pinch the edges, and then cut vents in the dough to allow steam to escape.  Place the ramekins on a baking sheet.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.

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