dill

Market Matters: Creamy Salsify Soup with Salmon

12 Dec 2011
creamy salsify soup

This week at the Hollywood Farmers Market I was on my weekly crawl to find something interesting. But I had a secret; I actually had a plan this time. I had my sites set on salsify.

What is salsify you ask? Maybe you know it better as oyster plant or goatsbeard. No?

It’s an ancient plant, long utilized as food. It is related to the sunflower and is in the family Asteraceae, which makes it, basically, a wildflower. But this information probably does not help you identify it because we don’t eat the flowers. Or at least I don’t eat the flowers…they’re just too darn pretty!

As a food, salsify is primarily a root vegetable. But the green grass-like leaves and stems are edible and often sold still attached to the root.

The root looks a lot like a big, skinny, hairy, parsnip. It is between six and twelve inches long. It is a cream colored with lots of little rootlets sprouting out of it in all directions. There is a black version, but botanically they are not closely related. Personally I have never seen the black type.

But why salsify...and more particularly why salsify now? Shouldn’t I be on the look out for mandarins or walnuts?  These are typically the prizes of the December harvest in Southern California.

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Creamy Salsify Soup with Salmon

salsify soup with salmon
By jgreghenry Published December 12, 2011
Prep time: 45
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 4 T unsalted butter
  • 3 (1 oz) chunks, pancetta or slab bacon
  • 1 large onion peeled, trimmed, and thinly sliced
  • 1 fennel bulb, trimmed peeled, trimmed, and thinly sliced
  • 1 celery stalk, peeled, trimmed, and thinly sliced
  • 3 clv garlic
  • 1 pn each salt and white pepper, as needed
  • 1 oz bouquet garni made with 3 large basil leaves, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 thyme sprig and 1 bay leaf
  • 1 lb salsify root
  • 1 q chicken stock
  • 1 potato
  • 0.5 c heavy cream
  • 6 oz roasted salmon, torn into shards
  • 1 T dill leaves, chopped

Directions

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large casserole over medium heat. Add the pancetta or bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it renders its fat, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the onion, fennel, leeks, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the bouquet garni and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 mins

Right before ready to use, run the salsify under cool water and scrub clean. Do not peel entirely, but you may break off some of the small rootlets if you like. Cut the salsify into one-inch chunks and add them to the pan. Cook them all together about 10 minutes more.

Pour in the stock, add the potatoes and a pinch of salt, and bring the mixture to the low boil. Lower the heat and simmer, about 30 mins. Skim off any scummy bubbles as you go. Remove all three pieces of pancetta or bacon, save them for another use. Discard the bouquet garni.

Add the cream. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is creamy. Strain the soup through a mesh sieve into a large saucepan and taste for salt and pepper. Adding as needed. Add the cream to the soup and bring to a low boil. Lower heat and serve warm, ganished with salmon shards and dill.

Savory Pies- Sweet Sausage Cabbage Pie with Dill & Feta

08 Nov 2011
Cabbage pie with sausge, feta and dill

So here we are at Day Five in my week long Savory Pie Marathon and my pastry's getting pooped. My pie is on the fly. And my tart won't start! In other words I am running out of ways to talk about pie.

There are "pie hole" jokes yet to mine... I suppose. But I am not feeling clever this morning. I can't seem to muster the bluster to master even a few belly laughs. Though that was a pretty fun sentence.

You see, my belly is full and I am feeling all warm and comfortable because I have been eating a super savory Sweet Sausage Cabbage Pie with Dill & Feta. I know you can imagine these flavors together– the sweet fennel with the sharp cheese. And nothing says comfort like cabbage baked in the oven. Especially when that cabbage is wrapped in a flaky crust.

This is the most casual of pies you can imagine. The pastry comes together effortlessly. It rolls our beautifully. No crimping or fussy lattice-work involved. Because, like I said, I am feeling a bit pie passive. So I simply lined a gratin dish for the most unconstrained presentation possible. Not all pies are round you know.

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Sweet Sausage Cabbage Pie with Dill & Feta

cabbage pie
By jgreghenry Published October 26, 2011
Prep time: 120
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 c all purpose flour, plus more for rolling surface
  • 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
  • 0.75 t kosher salt, divided plus more to taste
  • 0.25 c ice water
  • 1 lb sweet sausages
  • 1 cabbage, shredded slaw style
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 large onion, halved and sliced into slivers
  • 2 clv garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 pn freshly cracked black pepper
  • 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
  • 0.25 c dill, chopped
  • 0.25 c flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
  • 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Make the crust: Pulse 2 1/2 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until dough just comes together (no longer than 30 seconds). Divide dough in half, shape each into a disc, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days), or freeze for up to 1 month.

Remove the sausages from their casings. Discard casings and crumble the meat. Add the crumbled meat to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook completely, stirring often. Drain off excess fat and set aside.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Meanwhile fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the cabbage to the boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Transfer to the ice water, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then drain, and spin dry.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir together and stir in the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the reserved cooked meat, stir to combine, then stir in the blanched cabbage. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is very tender and the cabbage is beginning to color, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool somewhat. Stir in the feta, dill and parsley, and set aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll one of the chilled dough discs out to about a 12-inch round (depending on pan). Save the other disc for another use. Line a 10 to 12 by 2 inch deep oblong baking dish with the rolled out dough, allowing it to evenly drape over both long sides. Fill with the cabbage mixture. Fold the draped edges in over the filling. It need not meet in the center. Brush with egg wash, drizzling any extra over the cabbage mixture.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until the crust is crisp and dark golden brown. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

FoodBuzz Challenge #2: Turkish Mussels-Taking it to the Streets

26 Sep 2010
Stuffed Mussels, Midye Dolmas

Stuffed Mussels Istanbul Street Style- Midye Dolmas VOTE for me here! 

Street food. You love it or you hate it. There’s rarely a middle ground. For some travelers, seeking out street food is the ultimate exploration of authentic local cuisine and is a particularly exciting way to experience a vibrant part of a region’s food culture. Others worry that they might ingest a particularly vibrant culture of bacteria, so they avoid street food altogether.

I understand the trepidation. Nothing spoils a trip more than the tummy woes, but I am a rather adventurous eater and traveler. So I take my chances with the revenge and have only been inflicted a couple of times in my life. Which is a good thing because eating is often the point of a particular destination for me, so I don’t shy away from sampling the local fare in the same manner as many locals– on the street and on the go.

In Eastern Europe they love street food. It's portable and easy to eat. There’s no need for a table or even utensils– perfect for strolling through the large market squares arm-in-arm with a friend, or as a late night snack after the movies or before the dance club.

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