Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

I know, I know, I know. Sun-dried tomatoes are a un peu 1992, but I guess I’m a child of the 90’s. For years I really didn’t care for sun-dried tomatoes, so I missed out on it the first time around. They say your taste can change over time and in this case it certainly has. It’s hard to imagine not liking them now.

Goat cheese has a lovely tang and provides the perfect foil for the sweet sun-dried tomatoes. Olive oil lends a grassy flavor and creates a vehicle for cracker dippage.

This is a good spread to throw together for impromptu visitors, provided that you keep a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil on your refrigerator door and, like me, have a good goat cheese on hand at most times.

Sun-dried Tomato Spread – serves 4

4 oz. fresh goat cheese
5 – 7 pieces sun-dried tomato in olive oil, diced (about 4 T), + 1 T oil
2 – 3 T olive oil
a dash of finely ground sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Mash together using a fork.

Transfer to a pretty, pretty dish (as my mother says), using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and get all the goodness.

Serve with a sliced baguette or crackers.

Ingredient origins: Goat cheese – Vermont; Sun-dried tomatoes – Turkey; Olive oil – Italy; Sea salt – Maine

Corsican-Style Braised Goat

We drove out to the fair hamlet of Rollinsford, New Hampshire on Saturday to hit up the Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers Market. It was a blast and a half. There were winter vegetables, apples, cheeses and meats, along with baked goods, handmade crafts and live music. As tempted as I was to buy a string of sleigh bells for the front door, we stuck to food stuffs: duck eggs from Yellow House Farm in Barrington, Camembert from Brookford Farm in Rollinsford, veal from Kelly Brook Farm in Greenland, a top round roast from the General Butler Farm in Nottingham, pork loin from Lasting Legacy Farm in Barrington and goat from Riverslea Farm in Epping.

Whenever I see goat meat I think of our trip to Corsica, which is known for charcuterie, goat cheeses, and meats raised naturally on wild grass and the fresh mountain air of the island’s interior. This recipe is based on the types of dishes we enjoyed so much on our trip to Corsica. I used herbes du maquis – a combination of herbs commonly found in the Corsican Maquis – myrtle, thyme, rosemary and bay. If you can’t find a jar of herbs du maquis, you can go ahead and make your own from those ingredients.

Goat meat is leaner than other meats, so it’s best braised low and slow. The result is a tender texture and flavor that’s somehow sharp and mellow at the same time. A common side dish for this would be chestnut flour polenta, but if you can’t find chestnut flour (which I couldn’t) corn-based polenta is fine too.

Corsican-Style Braised Goat – serves 2

1 T olive oil
1/4 – 1/2 t salt
1 T herbes du maquis (or a combination of myrtle, thyme, rosemary and bay)
1 lb boneless goat leg meat, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes
1 onion cut into wedges
1 clove garlic, peeled and diced
1 C red wine

Be sure the goat meat is not wet or it will not brown – dry with paper towel if necessary. Toss with salt and herbs.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and meat and sear all sides – this should take less than 5 minutes.

Pour wine into the hot dutch oven to deglaze, scraping up any bits from the bottom. Add garlic. Place in oven and braise, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook another 30 minutes.

Serve meat and onions over polenta or rice and drizzle with the liquid.

Ingredient origins: Olive oil – Italy; Sea salt – Maine; Herbes du Maquis – Corsica; Onion – California; Garlic – New Jersey; Wine – Spain

New England Boiled Dinner

There’s always all kinds of hubbub over corned beef and cabbage this time of year. My grandmother used to make New England Boiled Dinner, which is similar. Made with more winter vegetables, it’s a whole meal in itself, including potatoes, parsnips and carrots.

The cabbage and potatoes take on the corned beef’s brininess, which is complemented by the sweetness of the carrots and parsnips, making this one-pot meal a perfect spectrum of flavor.

New England Boiled Dinner – serves 4 – 6

4 medium boiling potatoes
2.5 lb gray (nitrate free) corned beef brisket
1 small head cabbage
4 carrots
water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place the corned beef brisket in a large oven safe dutch oven and just cover with water. Place on a burner and bring to a simmer over high heat.

Meanwhile peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Cut the cabbage into eight wedges and remove the core.

Cover the beef with the cabbage and potatoes. Transfer the dutch oven to the oven and cook, covered for 1 hour.

Using tongs, gently lift the potatoes out of the liquid and submerge the carrots and parsnips. Cover again with the potatoes, being careful not to crush them. Return to the oven and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the corned beef and transfer to a cutting board. Allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing. Plate with cabbage, potato, parsnip, carrot, and little bit of broth. Serve hot.

Ingredient origins: Nitrate free corned beef – Massachusetts; Parsnips – Massachusetts; Potatoes – California; Organic Cabbage – Mexico, Carrots – California

Pan-Fried Rosemary Cod

This was the final week of our fish share until the next season which starts in the spring. We got a lovely cod. Fresh cod is so delicate, it deserves to not have its flavor masked by other things. In this case, lemon adds a bit of zing and fresh rosemary lends its mellow flavor without taking over the dish.

While we’re on the topic of fresh herbs vs. dried, I find fresh rosemary to be far less intrusive than dried rosemary, which seems to walk right into a dish and act like it owns the place. Other herbs seem less concentrated when dried, like parsley and basil, but not so with rosemary. Use fresh rosemary for subtle flavor in this dish.

Since we got our fish whole, I left the skin on, but you can do it either way. I find that leaving the skin on helps the fillets stay together when they’re flipped, but if you only have access to skinned fillets of cod, you’re still good. Also, for pan-frying, I like to cut fish fillets into relatively small pieces so that they are easier to flip. Just a personal preference, you can do it either way. It’s your kitchen.

Pan-Fried Rosemary Cod - serves 2 – 4

2 T butter
1/3 C flour
Juice from 1 lemon
1 sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 t)
1 -1 lb fillet of cod

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When it begins to bubble, add the chopped rosemary, reduce heat to low, and allow infuse gradually, 5 – 7 minutes, being careful not to burn the rosemary.

Meanwhile, squeeze lemon juice into a shallow bowl. Pour flour into a separate shallow bowl. Cut to fillet into two to four pieces. Dredge in lemon juice and shake off excess. Dredge in flour and shake off excess.

Raise heat to medium-high. When the butter begins to bubble again, add the fish presentation-side down, or skin-side up. Lower heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes.

Gently shake the pan to loosen the fish from the pan. Using a metal spatula or fish turner, gently flip the fish to cook the other side, being careful to keep the golden crust that’s formed intact. Cook for another 4 minutes.

Serve hot with a wedge of lemon.

Ingredient origins: Butter – Maine; Flour – Vermont; Lemon – California; Rosemary – Massachusetts; Cod – Massachusetts

Sautéed Broccoli

When I was in school and living on my own for the first time, for some reason I was really concerned about scurvy. While all the other students lived happily on ramen and frozen pizza, I’d come home and steam broccoli as a snack between classes. Unfortunately, I overdid it on the steamed broccoli, and by senior year, I’d pretty much had it with broccoli in any form.

Now I’m in grad school and on a recent trip to the dining hall with my classmates, I was reminded of how fantastic raw broccoli can be with ranch dressing – though you don’t get much more processed than dining hall ranch dressing.

Since becoming reacquainted with my old green friend, I decided to try the simplest approach of sauteing with butter, salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. It’s so simple, I wasn’t sure if it would really be necessary to post, but it was so enjoyable and for some reason, I hadn’t thought of this method until about three weeks ago. So, I decided to go for it and share with everyone, because that’s the whole point here.

Allowing the broccoli to brown a bit in the butter adds a rich layer and a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper lends a nice robust bite.

Sautéed Broccoli (sometimes the name says it all) - serves 2

2 large heads of broccoli (about 1 lb), chopped
3 T butter
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in frying pan over medium high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the broccoli and lower heat to medium.

Cook, tossing occasionally to brown evenly, about 10 minutes.

Add the third tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper and cook an additional 5 – 10 minutes until the broccoli is tender-crisp and partly browned.

Serve hot.