2 lb sweet potatoes/yams
1 qt vegetable or chicken stock
1 qt milk (not skim; or more stock and some heavy cream)
1 small onion
1 large orange
1 stick cinnamon
1 T fresh grated or  1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (preferably fresh)
1/2 stick butter
salt & pepper

You will need a food processor.

In a large soup or stock pot, melt the butter and add the onion diced finely. When near translucent, add the peeled & chopped (coursely, about the size of brussel sprouts) potatoes, add salt & pepper. Allow to brighten in the butter; when begins to be dry, add enough stock to almost cover, and add the spices. Add lid and reduce heat to just above low. Let them simmer and steam for about 20 minutes, checking to make sure they have enough liquid and adding some water or stock in the process. Halfway through, add the zest and juice of the orange.

Once brightened and easy to smash with a wooden spoon, turn off heat, remove cinnamon stick, and add to food processor, pureeing. Add back to the pan and begin adjusting consistency and strongness of flavor with the milk and stock. The bisque should be lighter and runny but retain its color. If it’s too thick you’ll be way too full and it will seem too sweet. If it’s too sweet and you’re using fresh ginger, feel free to add a bit more as well as more milk (NOT stock as milk will mellow the flavor better than the stock).

Will store well in the freezer or fridge for some time. Serve with Creme Fraiche and chives or a slice of fresh or candied orange & a crack of pepper.

Good on a variety of meats and dishes, this relish gave purpose to the fresh cranberries I received in my produce shipment. This recipe requires a food processor.

2-3 C fresh washed cranberries
1 large orange with good skin
1/4 C candied ginger
Sugar to taste

Wash and chop the orange into small segments as if to garnish a drink. Remove any obvious pith (white membrane) without separating the fruit from the peel. Combine in a food processor and chop until reached the consistency of relish.

Sliver or mince the ginger and mix it in. Add sugar to taste.

Can be preserved for some time in a sterilized container in the refrigerator.

I drove my Capay Farm Leeks back up the coast to Mendocino for Thanksgiving and found myself cleaning & chopping them to make a leek & potato soup to feed all of us cooks before the main event–kind of like the “family meal” in a restaurant.

On cleaning leeks & picking leeks: A good leak is not slimy, is firm, and has healthy, firm looking leaves. They will have minimal wear and tear at the tips of the greens but will not be cut excessively short already.

Leeks are particularly sandy because of the way in which they grow. The best way to clean them is to cut the tattered or overly wilted greens off the top, slice them in half lengthwise so all the layers are accessible, and put them in a large bowl of water. Go through the outer layers with particular care and use your fingers to brush away or agitate any dirt/sand. Give them a good wiggle in the water and be sure to change the water frequently especially if your bowl is smaller.

Leek & Potato Soup Recipe

3-4 medium leeks or equivalent
1 small yellow onion or half a large one
1 stick butter
1 qt chicken or vegetable stock (organic box of it or your own)
1 qt 2% or 1% milk
2 russet or red skin potatoes
salt & pepper

In a large sautee pan or cast iron skillet add half the butter at medium high heat.

Chop your leeks in half circles as thin as is reasonable to be consistent. Use the firmer part of the greens as well if in good condition. Add to the warmed butter once it has stopped bubbling. Add salt & pepper. After a few minutes, reduce heat to medium or medium low. Stir occasionally the whole time to prevent too much coloring or carmelization in one place.

While the leeks are cooking, peel your potatoes and chop them into cubes; perhaps a bit smaller than a lego. Dice the onion finely.

To a large soup pot, add the other stick of butter.  Add the onion to the butter at medium heat. Once mostly translucent, add the potatoes. Let the potatoes gain some color with minimal sticking to the bottom of the pan and without smashing them into mashed potatoes. Add more butter if necessary to accomplish this. Reduce to medium low heat once colored a bit, let cook mostly through. Add the leeks to the soup pan, and add half the milk or enough to cover the leeks & potatoes.

Bring to a simmer and let soften some more. Add most of the stock, reserving some in order to adjust the consistency. Add most of the rest of the milk, also reserving some. Check the salt & pepper, adjust and check and adjust consistency. Once ready, serve or turn off heat and reheat later–do not leave simmering or you’ll have mashed potatoes with leeks.

So as you know from my last entry, Thanksgiving this year was a big, cooperative event. What follows is a photo entry of the action and dishes. I don’t have all of the recipes, but will follow this post with 2-3 of them. If there’s a specific recipe you’d like, please post a comment and I’ll be sure to acquire it for you.

“Mommies 2″ – my host had invited me to join her mother, her mother’s best friend, her daughter, and others. The two daughters–one of them being my friend and host–call their mothers who are best friends “mommies squared” to indicate the amplification when they’re around each other.

Potato-Leek Soup

Home-made Chicken Liver Pate

Pepper & Onion Cornbread Stuffing

Oyster Stuffing

Roast Turkey Carving

Cranberry Orange Ginger Relish

Sticky Toffee Pudding, before topping

Sticky Toffee Apricot Pudding

Pumpkin Cheesecake layered on Pecan Pie

We made our way up to Mendocino to meet a friend of mine and her extended family for Thanksgiving. The occasion called for some serious brevity as our setting was as such: two nights and one and a half days of smart, sharp, opinionated women (ages 13-60 something) and the sole male representative I brought with me (who held up handsomely, I might add, and who definitely deserves some kind of serious achievement award).

Our setting was a mish-mashed home of happiness in the woods with one of the most practical and welcoming kitchens I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating in. We made turkey, we made ham. We made oyster stuffing, pepper stuffing, broccoli, green beans, yams, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, gravy, salsa, mixed squash, apple crisp, pumpkin-pecan pie cheesecake, and apricot sticky-toffee pudding. I made potato-leek soup and everyone ate it as a snack before the real feast began.

We torched a ham, and several hours later felt compelled to torch “one of the desserts.” There was a disproportionate interest in pyrotecnics when compared to the level of estrogen in the household.

A sampling of recipes and photos will follow this post as soon as I recover fully from my food coma.

For some time, I’ve been considering a home produce delivery, as the Bay Area has a large selection of vendors for this purpose–from private farms to co-op vendors who source several farms and deliver, there’s a wealth of good, organic produce in these parts. I had put off starting the shipments because I was torn between several vendors, but as an impulse buy a few days ago I signed up with Farm Fresh To You. (Ok, so really, I haddn’t been thinking about the produce deliveries since October and I was reading an article in the Chronicle about Tyler Florence in which he mentions HIS delivery of Farm Fresh To You…) Today, I received my first shipment.

I was pleased. The box sat in the shade on our stoop and I grabbed it on my way in the door, eager to dig in and see what goodies I had from the sesasonal selection. Almost everything in my box bore the Capay farms seal even though I’d opted to receive mixed produce, not only from their own farm. I received many beautiful things–including the largest and most symmetrical butternut squash that has quite possibly ever existed–but will today talk about the beautiful rainbow chard. I’ve never cooked rainbow chard.

1 bundle rainbow chard
1/4 yellow onion
4 garlic cloves
zest of 1 orange
olive oil
salt & pepper

Wash your chard and seperate the leaves from the stalks. Remove the very bottom part of the stalks if they’re especially brittle or large, then chop the stalks in 1/2-1 inch peices (smaller at the thick end larger at the thin.)

Heat a skillet or large pan to high heat and add some olive oil–don’t reach the smoking point.

Chop your onion finely and add it to the hot oil. Chop your garlic and add it a little later, reducing the heat to medium. Add salt & pepper. Once the onions are colored and translucent or soft but not shriveled (that’s too much), add your chard stalks. Let them soften for 10-15 minutes on medium heat, tossing occasionally. Add the zest of 1/2 the orange. Once softened, chop your chard leaves in 1 1/2-2 inch ribbons and add them to the pan, reducing the heat to medium low. Add the rest of the orange zest.

Let the mixture soften and reduce and once the leaves are fully cooked but not BROWN, you’re done! Serve it up. I served it with quinoa, which you can find instructions for on this site.

Wine: You can pair this with a meaty or smoky red, perhaps a Spanish one.

1/3lb (or more) dover sole filets (from morro bay)
flour
butter
juice of one orange
salt & pepper

They’ve been carrying Morro Bay Dover Sole at Andronico’s for a great price lately, and since it is a little heartier than other types of sole I’ve been digging in. Heartier=more versatile, less breakable.

Heat a non stick skillet to medium high heat. Add the butter and let heat until it stops bubbling (water evaporates). Give the fish a light touch of salt, then dredge the filets in flour and shake excess off. Place into pan and turn when 2/3rds done and the edges have curled up a bit. Use a fish turner to flip the fish and finish it. Place on a warm platter.

With the heat lowered to low, add the juice of one orange directly into the pan. let the drippings and orange juice reduce. When slightly thickened but still moist, add a small amount of the leftover flour, whisky vigorously with your fish turner until smooth. Add a bit of salt & pepper. Pour over the fish, and viola!

Watercress salad

Pick good greens, wash them thoroughly by “floating” them in water, dry well. Make a dressing of high quality, light & fruity olive oil, quality salt, a small bit of fresh ground pepper, and a bit of concentrated orange juice or a squirt of lemon. Add a bit of minced shallot or garlic as well. Whisk together, dress the watercress, and serve.

Wine: Would be great with a tropical sauvingon blanc (like one from New Zealand full of passionfruit and papaya), or with a full bodied Chardonnay like a Mersault.

History has it that Pasta (in this case, Rigatoni) puttanesca had something to do with prostituites in Naples, but all I can tell you is it’s great in winter and terribly typically Mediterranean.

180g rigatoni (pasta for 2-3), dry
80g (several T) good quality tomato paste
1 yellow bell pepper
1/3 red bell pepper
2 T capers (packed in salt if possible)
2 T diced black, kalamata, or other full flavored pitted olive
2 Heaping spoonfuls of creme fraiche
1/4 C stock (vegetable or chicken or water if you must)
chili flakes
salt & pepper
olive oil

Boil the pasta in well salted water until al dente. While cooking, sautee 1 inch chunks of yellow bell pepper & diced chunks of red bell pepper in hot olive oil, medium high heat. Add salt & pepper. If you want, you can start with a bit of finely chopped onion. Add 2 tsp red pepper flakes or less/more to taste.

Once a bit softened, add tomato paste and a splash of vegetable or chicken stock (water if you have to). Let paste incorporate and sauce simmer until reduced. Add capers and olives, let warm. Turn off heat and add creme fraiche (I used the ultra full flavored and delicious local SF Cowgirl Creamery variety), stir in. Toss pasta and serve.

Wine: It’d be nice with a nice spicy red wine like sangiovese (chianti, chianti classico, rosso di montalcino, etc) or a lighter zinfandel, or a well balanced merlot to soften it up and take away the spice a bit

Very close to my place of work in downtown San Francisco is a popular gourmet take-out staged in a former cigar/tobacco stand, aptly named The Sentinel (you can read people’s thoughts on the place here). They serve a rotating, limited menu daily which is updated every morning on their website. Almost every day, they offer their signature chocolate-walnut cookies.

They are amazing. I flatter myself by attempting to re-create this cookie when the chef is so famous in our area…Mine came out almost equally tasty, but a little more chewy and a bit darker in color. A few mornings ago, I asked the Chef when I swung by to get myself a pear muffin at 7:30am, what I might have done wrong. He is pretty short with people, but he told me not to cook them so long. I’ll update this post next time I make these cookies.

3/4 C raw, fresh walnuts (I picked mine up at the Bernal Heights Farmer’s Market in SF)
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 stick butter
3/4 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325.

In a food processor, grind walnuts until the texture of fine breadcrumbs or panko. When almost there, add the chocolate chips, and blend so they’re smaller than chocolate chips overall and mixed with the walnuts. Reserve.

Melt the butter, mix with sugar and vanilla. Add the egg & blend. Add walnut mixture, blend. Add flour & other dry ingredients until blended. Add additional flour if necessary to have a solid but not stiff mixture.

Cook several inches apart on parchment/baking paper or on greased pan; I put 6 cookies on a standard sheet and gently press them flat into discs rather than balls, this ensures even spreading so the edges don’t burn.

Bake 6-9 minutes until spread evenly. Allow to cool a few minutes before moving to retain flat, even shape. Makes 8-10 cookies.

I’ve been making a lot of salads lately in an attempt to incorporate both more greens and more fiber into my evening diet. One way that I trick myself into eating an item I’m generally not too crazy about is by adding what should have been really obvious: fried potatoes. This has been the basis of many a salad lately, often incorporating minced red bell pepper, Brianna’s cheddar-chipotle dressing (the ONLY dressing I have ever used and been satisfied with or tolerant of), hangar steak, etc.

I prefer to use pre-washed, organic mixed greens because they’re not only versatile but the cost is completely worth the work that’s already been done, and I find in general they’re better or equal quality to what I can find pre-mixed in bulk, and last longer in the right quantities than what I can cut & mix on my own.

1 large pack “organic girl” pre washed mixed greens
3 T olive oil
1 T good balsamic vinegar (I like Bariani, for those of us in central & northern California)
salt & pepper
1 medium red potato, peeled & cubed
1 T butter
4-6 T soy nuts
1/4 C raw pistachios
1 slice dried pineapple, diced small
1/2 ripe fuyu persimmon, diced

In a saute pan on high heat, melt the butter. Add the cut potato, topping with plenty of salt & pepper. Toss, and let cook. Toss occasionally, once colored, reduce heat to medium low to cook through.

Meanwhile, Whisk together briskly the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. Mix the greens to evenly coat, and add the soy nuts, pistachios, pineapple, and persimmon. Toss. If possible, let the potatoes cool a bit, and then toss them in as well. Serve immediately.

Wine: A light sauvingnon blanc from just about anywhere would be nice with this. A Chilean Chardonnay would also work.