Simply Organic (27 page)

KITCHEN TIP

If you can’t find blood oranges, use ½ cup orange juice instead.

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

The aroma and flavor of these carrots are enticing. I like them with roasted lamb, served along with saffron-scented rice or couscous.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 leek (white part only), halved lengthwise, sliced, and washed thoroughly

1 pound carrots, sliced

1 cup apple juice

¼ cup honey

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

¼ teaspoon salt

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the leek and cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the apple juice, honey, cinnamon stick, cumin, mint, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick before serving.

VARIATION

This honey sauce is terrific with frozen vegetables, too. Replace the carrots with a bag of frozen peas and carrots, but add the frozen vegetables after cooking the sauce for 10 minutes.

MAKES
4
SERVINGS

This recipe was inspired by one of my favorite farmers and dearest friends, Stuart Dickson. He is an amazing cook and farmer and has taught me much about cooking. Did I mention that my farmer friends are the ones who have taught me to cook? They know so much about the food they grow and put in our hands. Often, I find inspiration in their simple descriptions of how they like to eat what they have grown. Stuart loves kale, and this is one of his favorite ways to eat it.

1 large bunch kale, thinly sliced

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 hot chile pepper, such as jalapeño, serrano, or habanero, seeded and minced

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the kale in a large serving bowl; set aside at room temperature.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 6 minutes, or until very soft. Add the vinegar and chile pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the kale and toss well. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS

I love this salad with bits of soft goat cheese crumbled over the top.

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

This is one of my favorite salads. It was inspired by my grandfather, who used to pick wild dandelions from our neighbors’ yards. A bold, fruity olive oil and good-quality red wine vinegar are key to the success of this robust salad.

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 to 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound bitter greens, such as frisée, radicchio, endive, or dandelion, torn into bite-size pieces

2 green onions, thinly sliced

3 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon capers

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the greens and green onions and toss to coat well. Top with the eggs and capers and serve.

KITCHEN TIP

This is one salad that is still good the next day. I like it tucked into sandwiches, along with salty meats or pungent cheeses.

MAKES
12
SERVINGS

You either love fruitcake or you don’t. I find that it is the candied fruit that turns people away. In this recipe, dried organic fruit is used instead of the usual sugary, artificially colored fruit. The gingery cake celebrates the holiday season and is almost too good to call fruitcake.

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup packed brown sugar or honey

½ cup molasses

1 large egg, beaten

¾ cup buttermilk (see Organic Tip on
page 38
)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups dried fruit, such as apricots, peaches, cherries, cranberries, figs, dates, and/or apples, finely chopped

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 10-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar or honey until creamy. Beat in the molasses, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.

On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture just until blended. Stir in the dried fruit and nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan. Transfer the cake to a serving plate and serve warm, or cool completely and serve.

KITCHEN TIPS

This cake screams for ice cream. At this time of the year, you might find pumpkin ice cream, which would be wonderful. Otherwise, go with pure vanilla or honey-vanilla.

Make individual fruitcakes in muffin tins (bake for 15 to 20 minutes) and serve with warm homemade custard for a spectacular holiday treat.

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

This light and pleasant dessert is wonderful with ginger cookies or over vanilla ice cream.
Shiso
is an herb that is used frequently in Japanese cooking, but rarely for dessert. It adds a subtle, minty interest to the poached pears. If you can’t find it, use fresh mint.

6 small pears, peeled, cored, and halved

2 cups mirin cooking wine

½ cup sugar

6 whole cloves

2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh
shiso
or mint

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Place the pears, cut side down, in a 9-inch square baking dish.

In a large measuring cup, combine the mirin, sugar, cloves, and ginger. Pour over the pears.

Bake, basting every 10 minutes, for 45 minutes, or until the pears are tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the
shiso
or mint. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

This simple frozen dessert is quite refreshing, and it can also be served between courses. If you can find them, use blood oranges for the orange juice. They’ll give the sorbet extraordinary color.

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

3 cups cold freshly squeezed orange juice

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

Place a 9-inch square metal baking pan in the freezer.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the sugar and water to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cool completely.

When cooled, add the orange juice and mint. Pour into the frozen baking pan, cover with foil, and return to the freezer. Freeze, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours, or until partially frozen.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth, but still frozen. Return the mixture to the pan, cover, and freeze for 3 hours longer, or until completely frozen.

Remove the sorbet from the freezer 15 minutes before serving and scoop into dessert bowls.

KITCHEN TIP

Granitas are smoothest when prepared in an icecream maker. If you have one, pour the orange mixture into the container of your icecream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer’s directions.

pioneer profile
SMALL PLANET FOODS

Small Planet Foods, the parent company for Cascadian and Muir Glen, was started by one of my heroes, Gene Kahn. Gene has gone from hippie organic farmer to showing large companies the many ways to approach sustainability. In our restaurants and when catering during the cold months, we use anything that is fresh and local. We also believe that preserved local organic ingredients are better than anything shipped from afar. Frozen vegetables and fruits from Cascadian, and Muir Glen’s tomatoes, have long been mainstays in our winter organic pantry. We used them before they were available in grocery stores. In fact, in the late ’70s, we actually had cans of Muir Glen tomatoes sent to us by UPS. Need I say more?

In 1972, Gene traveled west from Chicago in hope of a better life. He found a small farm in the shadow of the breathtaking North Cascade Mountains in northwest Washington state and began to follow his dream of organic farming. Today, Cascadian Farm is one of the top producers of organic food in the nation. Cascadian joined with Muir Glen in 1998 to create Small Planet Foods. The company’s mission is to “provide great-tasting organic food that contributes to better health for our consumers and the planet.”

Although there are many farms growing organic produce for the Cascadian Farm brand, there remains only one Cascadian home farm, where Gene Kahn started out decades ago. It is now a twenty-acre berry farm. The berries are cultivated with sustainable organic methods that protect the local ecosystem. Berries are harvested by hand, at the peak of ripeness and flavor. Then a small processing line sorts and packs them for the farm’s roadside stand.

Muir Glen, Cascadian’s sister company, is named after the legendary naturalist John Muir. The company was founded in 1991 by a group of entrepreneurs in the agricultural industry who were committed to encouraging farmers to grow tomatoes organically. All of Muir Glen’s tomatoes are field-grown and vine-ripened under certified Organic practices—no synthetic pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, just gorgeous tomato taste, true to nature. From California’s San Joaquin Valley, the heart of the country’s prime tomato-growing region, Muir Glen produces its premium-quality organic tomato products, including canned tomatoes, salsa, ketchup, and soups.

The heart of winter finds me in the kitchen wearing an oversized sweatshirt, baggy pants, and wool socks as I happily hum in front of my workhorse of a commercial gas stove. Strange as it sounds, this is my favorite time of the year to cook. It seems easier to plan when you have limited choices. I savor the challenge of working with a smaller variety of fresh foods and finding ways to prepare meals that keep warmth, comfort, and heartiness simmering on the front burner. I Of course, attempting to prepare Mediterranean foods during deep winter can be an undertaking. I remember a very cold, very stormy February when the farmers couldn’t even get into their fields to harvest. The chef at my restaurant looked up at me and declared, “Jesse, there is simply nothing growing, and most of the produce kept in storage is downright gone.” Somehow, we managed to produce wonderful braised, stewed, and roasted dishes that kept our customers’ bellies full, warm, and happy. I Anyone can prepare for winter, even those who live in the coldest of climates. Think of deep winter as payoff time. I do. The Indian-summer nights I spent stacking fresh produce in my two food dryers are now reaping me rewards. Dried organic mushrooms, berries, figs, and tomatoes captured during their prime are ready for hearty dishes. I Enjoy these days. Spring is on its way.