Tuesday, April 5, 2016
I cracked open my well-loved Joy of Cooking and flipped to the page about hams. "Eternity," it began, "is two people and a ham." My husband and I had a good chuckle. Then, as the book foretold, we ate ham for weeks — with eggs and in soups, in burritos and tacos and casseroles and plain, with potatoes or pasta or whatever else.
Over the years, our memories buffed that newlywed ham to a mythic sheen. We still laugh about it, and I still over-portion at holidays, particularly at Easter, with the ham. The thing with ham is that it's cured, so it keeps well. And it's good with just about everything.
This Easter, I had a picnic-size leg (my mom and I split a whole ham, so I had two smaller roasts, rather than one huge one), but we're still working on finishing it. (See last week's post, with the baked eggs and ham.)
Today, that meant ham-and-potato tostadas, made with beautiful Vermont corn tortillas from All Souls Tortilleria in Waitsfield, ham from last fall's pig, waning potatoes from 4 Corners Farm in Newbury, blue cheese from Boucher Family Farm in Highgate, and honey from Heavenly Honey Apiaries in Monkton. And an egg from my egg lady at the Miller farm, which is a few miles from my house at the top of South Road in Bradford.
Breakfast doesn't get more local — or more delicious — than that.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup ham, in half-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup boiled potatoes, in half-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 corn tortilla
- 3 tablespoons honey
- One egg (optional)
- Melt a thin pat of butter in a large skillet over medium flame. Add ham and brown, stirring occasionally, 7-10 minutes. If a caramelized film forms on the pan, add 1/4 cup of water to deglaze, and stir ham around to coat. Repeat as necessary. When ham begins to crisp, move it to the periphery of the pan and turn as needed so it gets toasty but doesn't burn.
- If you're adding the egg, boil a pot of water. When it's rolling, drop in an egg. After exactly six minutes, remove the egg and plunge into cool water for a very soft yolk. If you prefer a firmer yolk, leave in open air until the other ingredients are ready.*
- While the egg is cooking, add the potatoes (and more butter) to the skillet. Fry until crisp, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Move to the edge of the pan with the ham.
- If the pan is dry, add another pat of butter, then the tortilla. Heat 2-3 minutes, until the corn begins to firm up, then flip and repeat. Turn once more and pile the potatoes and ham in the middle. Crumble blue cheese over top, cover and heat another 2-3 minutes until the tortilla gets nice and crunchy and the cheese softens.
- Drizzle with honey. If using egg, peel it carefully, place on top and break the yolk for a rich and oozy delight!
Tags: Ham , Tostada , Potatoes , Blue Cheese , Soft-Boiled Egg , Six-Minute Egg , Recipes , recipe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Tags: Eggs , Flexitarian , Ham , Breakfast , Vegetarian , recipe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
At this time of year, I inevitably turn to Vermont cheeses and meats for inspiration. Farmstands and markets in my area are all summer affairs, and I rarely make it to Burlington or Montpelier on Saturdays — when I do get early spring crops, it's from one of the co-ops.
But here's a fun little snack — and super, super easy, doable in just a few minutes — made with half a block of smoked maple cheddar from Grafton Village Cheese, and a few drops of maple syrup.
Tags: Maple Syrup , Cheddar , Recipes , Snacks , recipe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
I've been on a milkshake kick lately, as we have lots of last summer's frozen fruit in our freezer, and ice cream for dinner is one of those amazing grown-up luxuries I like to indulge in from time to time.
This week in Seven Days, I wrote about cocktails — specifically, about "modifier" or "secondary" spirits including liqueurs, brandies and fortified wines. These alcoholic mixers layer additional aromatics and flavors into a drink — herb notes, fruity notes, sweetness, bittering, sours — and open up new sensory dimensions with minimal effort.
So, here's a spirited locavore milkshake, made with ice cream from Strafford Organic Creamery; vodka from Vermont Spirits Distilling Co.; blueberries from Super Acres in Orford, N.H., and Chartreuse, one of the mixers I featured in my cocktail piece. It's almost savory on the nose, with notes of lovage or celery, sweet on the tongue and loaded with herbal goodness. And it's lovely with blueberries and cream.
Tags: Milkshake , Chartreuse , Vodka , recipe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
And I'm willing to argue that one of the great Roman inventions (when we're talking broth-based meals) is meatball soup. Last weekend, I pulled a packet of ground venison from the freezer and rolled it into meatballs. (Beef, pork or poultry would also work, if you don't have a dead deer standing by.) Then, I dropped those meatballs into steaming stock (frozen turkey stock leftover from Thanksgiving) with all the sad veggies that had been slowly dying in my crisper.
Tags: Meatballs , Minestrone , Soup , recipe , Venison , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
So, here's another recipe using the same ingredients. It has a similar flavor profile to the soup but a totally different format. Together, I like to think of them as a diptych: Squash Two Ways.
Besides, when was the last time you made blini? Never? Well, they're basically just adorable little pancakes — and perfect party finger snacks. These have a lot of squash in them, so they're almost creamy on the inside. And since everyone loves dipping bready things into cheesy things, you may as well chop some herbs and blend them into sour cream and serve that alongside.
Fun, fun.
Tags: Blini , Squash , Pancakes , recipe , Appetizers , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Last week, the squash started to nose dive, so I brought it in and roasted it on Sunday, when it was below zero all day. Because why wouldn't you light the oven when it's that cold out?
Earlier today, I threw some of the squash (which I left in a roasting pan in the mudroom, aka walk-in refrigerator, for two days) in a blender with some stock, then warmed it with a splash of buttermilk. Voilà! Soup in five minutes. And bonus: It's a gorgeous carnelian color.
As always, soup is only as good as the stock you put into it, so homemade is best. But if you don't have stock at the ready, something store-bought will do just fine. As will jarred roasted red peppers, if you're not able to make your own.
This recipe can be made vegan if you skip the buttermilk (and feta garnish), or sub cashew or almond milk with a tiny squeeze of lemon. It's also gluten free.
Tags: Squash , Soup , recipe , Vegan , Gluten-Free , Buttermilk , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Between soaking the liver, braising the tongue and shank and letting the assembled terrine rest a few days after baking, it took most of a week to make. It's a project dish, but it's not horribly labor intensive — it just takes time, and the rewards are quite lovely. After making this, you'll feel a keen sense of accomplishment.
This recipe isn't perfect, but it works very well. It's also fundamental enough to be flexible, so you can use whatever random organ meats you prefer. Because everyone has organ meats just kicking around, right? If not, use whatever is available at the store. Healthy Living Market & Café in South Burlington is my go-to shop for local organ meats, but your town butcher (or often farmers) should be able to provide liver or brains or bones or tongue with a little notice.
Tags: pâté , beef tongue , liver , bone stock , meat terrines , recipe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Made with heirloom apples from local orchards, it's a fruit-forward, seriously strong sipper (100 proof) that's not to be taken lightly. It also won honors in the 2016 Good Food Awards.
People with more hair on their chests than I might sip Malvados neat in a snifter before or after dinner, but I like to dilute and darken it just a touch — like, say, with Bonal, the barely bitter, grape-based French aperitif that rounds out the brandy's boozy kick.
In the cocktail below, OJ adds a touch of tart, while elder rum from St. Johnsbury's Dunc's Mill enhances the Bonal's florals and subtle sweetness.
Ingredients:
2 ounces Mad River Distillers Malvados
1 ounce Bonal Gentiane Quina
2 ounces orange juice
1/2 ounce Dunc's Mill Elderflower rum
Scant splash maple syrup
2 drops Angostura bitters
Blood orange or lemon peel, for garnish
Preparation:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients (except garnish) and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a coupe or other cocktail glass, garnish with citrus peel or wheel, and serve.
Tags: Malvados , Bonal , Cocktails , Recipe , apples , apple brandy , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Judgy? Of course. Ugly? Definitely. Then I returned to Vermont and haven't noticed burrata on a menu since. But yesterday I noticed little pint-size tubs of the stuff — from Bennington's Maplebrook Farm Cheese — at City Market/Onion River Co-op in Burlington. A funny thing happened: I felt an unfamiliar affection for the stuff, then bought a pint and brought it home, my mind swirling with ideas of how I'd dress it up and slap it on toast.
Now. There is something tantalizing about the combination of dairy and citrus — it's not supposed to work (add lemon to milk and you'll have nasty, stringy curdles in no time flat), but when it does, it's this gorgeous, beautiful thing. So, this morning, breakfast was a small globe of burrata with just a squeeze of blood orange and herb-scented bergamot orange, gifted to me by a new friend. A splash of buttermilk from Mountain Home Farm provided common ground between citrus and dairy, while just a touch of tarragon and buttered maple-ginger added barely there layers of cool licorice, warm spice, herbs and sweet crackle.
If it sounds complicated, it isn't. Fifteen minutes to make, and the hardest part is getting to the store to buy the cheese.
Tags: burrata , dairy , blood orange , bergamot orange , recipe , tarragon , ginger , vegetarian , Image , Web Only