Cranberry Chutney

When it comes to prepared sandwich and burger spreads, I'm a mustard girl, but when I have the time, I definitely like to kick it up a notch with some homemade aioli or chutney. I've had some Wisconsin cranberries hanging out in the freezer that I bought at the farmer's market last year, and after rediscovering them during a recent cleaning out and reorganization of the freezer, I was inspired to make some cranberry chutney. I thoroughly enjoyed Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish and Ginger Cranberry Sauce in the past, but I'm always on the search for something new and this recipe is definitely one to file away for future use.

This sweet, sour, and savory condiment is the perfect spread for a smoked turkey and swiss sandwich (as I happened to enjoy for lunch today), but would also be welcome on pork tenderloin, chicken, any many other proteins. It takes little effort to make this flavorful spread and a slathering of this on a sandwich in lieu of mayonnaise or mustard elevates the sandwich to a whole new level. This chutney will keep for around a week in the refrigerator, but leftovers freeze well so you can easily inject a little gourmet flavor into your sandwiches for weeks to come.

Cranberry Chutney
from Gourmet, via Epicurious
makes about 2 cups

5 shallots (6 oz), coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (12-oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Cook shallots in oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries just pop, 10 to 12 minutes, then cool.

Spaghetti with Lemon, Chile and Creamy Spinach

Like a lot of people, my diet isn't nearly as good on the weekend as it is during the week, so I usually try to make a healthy, vegetarian, relatively light dinner on Monday night (and it's a bonus when it's quick to prepare). I came across this recipe from one of my favorite sources, Food and Wine, which was especially fortuitious since I already had everything I need on hand. Since spinach is available nearly year-round at the farmer's market (many farmers grow it in unheated hoophouses in Wisconsin), I eat quite a bit of it, usually in salad, so it was nice to enjoy spinach cooked for a change instead.

Although this sauce for this dish is undeniably creamy, using yogurt in place of heavy cream or milk makes this much tangier than your average cream sauce, which is quite refreshing and perfect for summer. This pasta would also work well with a variety of other greens, like arugula, or perhaps even broccoli rabe, and vary from extremely mild to scorchingly hot, depending on what type and amount of pepper you choose to use. I suspect I'll be adapting this dish to the bounty of the farmer's market at least a few times this summer for quick and healthy dinner.

Spaghetti with Lemon, Chile, and Creamy Spinach
from Food and Wine
serves 4

1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red Thai chile, minced
10 ounces baby spinach
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
 

1. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the yogurt with the flour until smooth. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and chile and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the yogurt and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring. Add the spinach by the handful and cook until wilted, stirring. When all of the spinach has been added, stir in the lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the sauce to the spaghetti and toss well to coat. Mound in bowls, sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve right away.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble

Strawberry is definitely my favorite fruit to pair with rhubarb. Raspberries, peaches, and even apples all can make fantastic dishes in combination with rhubarb, but there's something about strawberries that complements the rhubarb particularly well, especially in that fleeting time when both are in season (which has yet to come in this area). My favorite fruit desserts are usually the simplest, using just a few ingredients to accentuate all the best characteristics of the ingredients without taking over the flavor of the dish. With sweet strawberries, tart rhubarb, and a crumbly streusel topping, how can you go wrong? Swirl a bit of rich, vanilla ice cream into warm crisp for a sweet, tart, rich, and crunchy dessert packed with the flavor of early summer.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble
adapted from Tamasin Day-Lewis in Bon Appetit, via Epicurious

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
Large pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup husked hazelnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved (about 4 cups)
12 ounces rhubarb (preferably bright red), ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
Vanilla ice cream

1. Combine flour, turbinado sugar, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. Mix in oats and nuts. DO AHEAD: Topping can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 11 x 7 x 2- inch glass baking dish. Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; whisk to blend well. Add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar in bowl; toss to coat well. Scrape fruit filling into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

3.Bake crumble until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp, about 45 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Spoon warm crumble into bowls. Serve with ice cream.

Adobo Marinade

Even though I'm an adventurous and ambitious cook most of the time, I tend to fall into a burgers and brats rut when it comes to grilling. I do make all kinds of different creative burgers, but I thought it was time to tackle another protein for my traditional Sunday grilling. I settled on chicken tacos to satisfy my craving for Mexican food and desire to eat a little lighter after a day of heavy indulgence at a Brewer game, and went my favorite source for Mexican cuisine, Rick Bayless, for this simple and delicious adobo marinade recipe. This marinade gets a tremendous depth of flavor from the ancho chile but isn't too hot to enjoy the flavor of the chiles. It may be a little bit much for those who don't like spicy food, but I think most people will happily enjoy proteins marinaded in this delicious mixture.

To make the tacos pictured above, I marinated 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts with about 1/4 cup of the marinade for a few hours, then grilled them over charcoal along with three bell peppers and one white onion. I sliced up the chicken, peppers, and onion, and served them in fresh, warm, corn tortillas, topped with salsa for a satisfying and healthy lunch with a side of refried beans.

Adobo Marinade 
from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless
makes about 3/4 cup

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped or pressed through a garlic press
1/3 cup ground ancho chile powderr
2 tablespoons (apple cider vinegar is common in Mexico)
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt

1. In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, but not browned, about 1 minute, then add the ancho powder, vinegar, oregano, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 cup water, whisking to combine thoroughly. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors and eliminate the raw ancho taste. Allow to cool to room temperature, then scrape into a jar and cover. Refrigerate for up to a month or more.

Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Pesto

Ramps are one of the culinary delicacies of spring, and I've tried to make the most of this fleeting wild vegetable this year. Recipes for ramps are certainly not as numerous as many other vegetables and I've mostly made pasta dishes using ramps, since that is the most plentiful category of recipes. For what may be my final ramp dish of the year, I adapted a pesto recipe from Bon Appetit for this decadent pizza, although it would also be spectacular on pasta or a panini. The fresh, green flavor of the ramps works perfectly with hearty, earthy mushrooms and rich and salty cheese, all of which I found at my local farmer's market. Although pizza is often a kid-friendly food, this is a quite strongly flavored pesto, and probably not suitable for the pint-size set, or anyone who likes their food mildly-flavored. But for all of you with an adventurous palate, I strongly recommend whipping up a batch of this supremely savory pesto before ramps completely disappear for the season for this unique pizza.

Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Pesto

serves 4

1/2 cup olive oil, divided  
2/3 cup thinly sliced trimmed ramp bulbs and slender stems plus 3 cups thinly sliced green tops (from about 8 ounces ramps)  
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese  
1/3 cup toasted almonds   
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12-inch whole wheat pizza crust
8 ounces sliced mushrooms (I like shiitake or cremini)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2/3 cup ramp bulbs and stems to skillet and sauté just until soft but not browned, reducing heat if necessary to prevent browning, about 5 minutes. Transfer sautéed ramps to processor. Add green tops, cheese, and almonds to processor; process until finely chopped. With machine running, gradually add remaining oil and puree until almost smooth. Transfer pesto to bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

2. Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Spread 3/4 to 1 cup of the ramp pesto even over the pizza crust, reserving the rest for later use (you'll have about 1 1/2 cups total). Spread mushrooms evenly over crust and top with mozzarella cheese.

3. Bake until cheese is melted and just starting to brown 8 to 12 minutes. Let stand for a couple of minutes, then slices and serve hot.

Rhubarb Cake

Yes, it's another rhubarb dessert. With rhubarb everywhere I turn at the farmer's market, I can't resist expanding my repertoire of rhubarb dishes (though they tend mostly towards the sweet instead of savory). Since my last rhubarb dessert was a crisp, which is mostly fruit with a little bit of topping (okay, a pretty healthy amount of streusel), I thought I'd try making a cake, where the rhubarb is the primarily flavor, but isn't actually the bulk of the dessert. If you love rhubarb, you'll love this light, delicate, but moist cake. The tart rhubarb is wonderful foil against the nutty whole wheat flour and mild tang from the buttermilk, showcasing the rhubarb flavor instead of masking it with another fruit or burying it in sugar. Serve warm with scoop of vanilla ice cream and relish in the flavor of late spring/early summer.


Rhubarb Cake
makes one 9- by 13-inch cake; serves 8
adapted from Martha Stewart

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, combine buttermilk and vanilla; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a handheld mixer, beat butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, and starting and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in rhubarb.

3. Spread batter evenly into prepared baking dish. In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Bake until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes.

4. Let cool on a wire rack in pan for 30 minutes before serving.

Sunchoke and Cauliflower Soup

I am always game to try new foods, be it offal or just a vegetable I've never tried. Sadly, at the age of 25, I had never had a sunchoke, so when I saw them at the farmer's market I felt it was imperative that pick some up. There isn't the plethora of recipes out there for sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), but I was pleased to come across a wonderful soup recipe in Food and Wine, which I tweaked just a little bit. Although the sunchoke isn't the dominant ingredient in this recipe, its presence gives the soup of depth of flavor that it wouldn't have if made with cauliflower alone. This soup is luxuriously creamy with a bit of zestiness from the artichokes and the perfect introduction to this ingredient, inspiring me to try out even more sunchoke recipes.

Sunchoke and Cauliflower Soup
adapted from Food and Wine
serves 4

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small celery rib, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 cup whole milk
1 pound cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
6 ounces sunchokes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 thyme sprig or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1. In a large saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the celery and onion and cook over low heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the stock and milk and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the cauliflower, sunchokes and thyme and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the sunchokes are very tender, about 30 minutes; discard the thyme sprig, if using.

2. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth and slightly frothy. (Alternatively, working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth and return the soup to the saucepan). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Ladle into bowls.