Joe Tomatoes

Summer 2007

         I used to live next door to an Italian gentleman named Joe, who had a magnificent small garden in his backyard.  The summer after we moved in, Joe would appear at my door with eggplants, peppers, beans, and even plates of succulent figs that he grew on two enormous, bush-like trees that he wrapped in burlap every winter.  The only thing that surpassed those figs were his tomatoes: great, lobed, deep red globes, heavy with juice, and infused with flavor that can only come from sun and earth.  My children are now avid tomato eaters solely because of Joe, although in their opinion no tomatoes since have compared to his.

          Since we no longer have Joe next door, we search for “Joe tomatoes” at farmers markets and farm stands in the late summer when they’re at their peak.  We also seek out heirloom tomatoes, older varieties that, while not as durable and perfect looking as typical supermarket tomatoes, are more full-flavored and come in a rainbow of shapes and colors, from red and orange to green, yellow, and purple. 

          When you go looking for tomatoes, choose those that are firm, richly colored, fragrant, free from blemishes, and heavy for their size.  If they are not yet ripe, place them in a paper bag, preferably with an apple, and store at room temperature for a few days to ripen.  Always store tomatoes at room temperature and NEVER refrigerate them—refrigeration makes their flesh pulpy and kills their flavor.

          Here are a few favorite ways to use this late summer treat:

    Tomato Sandwich: Spread a thin layer of mayo on a slice of whole grain bread, top with thinly sliced tomatoes, 2-3 basil leaves, and another slice of bread spread with some Dijon mustard.  

    Sliced Tomatoes with . . . a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper and fleur de sel (sea salt), maybe a splash of balsamic vinegar . . . or slices of fresh mozzarella and a dollop of basil pesto . . . or minced shallots, chopped parsley or oregano, a splash of red wine vinegar, and some crumbled blue cheese . . . or minced red onion, finely chopped cucumber, chopped Greek olives, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some kosher salt.

     Champagne Tomato Salad: From Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Vegetables.  “Macerate finely diced shallot in Champagne.  Slice tomatoes, arrange them on a platter, sprinkle with the shallot, season with salt and pepper, and pour a little Champagne over all.”  How could this not be good?

    Gazpacho Your Way: Combine minced garlic, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, diced cucumber, and diced red and green bell pepper in a large bowl.  Add tomato or V8 juice until the soup reaches the consistency you like.  You can puree some of the vegetable mixture and add it back in to thicken the soup.  Season with a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of red wine or balsamic vinegar, a handful of chopped herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil, oregano)  and salt and pepper to taste.

     Roasted Tomatoes with Feta Cheese: This works best with Roma, cherry, or grape tomatoes.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet (if using Romas, halve them and place them cut side down), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and softened.  Serve warm topped with crumbled feta cheese.

      “It is difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a home-grown tomato.”

--Lewis Grizzard

Pasta!

Fall 2006

        From the fall luxury of Sarah Leah Chase’s lasagna, layered with sage-scented pumpkin, creamy Parmesan béchamel sauce, prosciutto, and strips of tender pasta, to a simple bowl of buttered noodles,  I love pasta.   I see it most often in its simple, everyday guise—a convenient, easy-to-prepare meal for weeknight dinners, or  good leftovers for a quick lunch.  James Beard, a famous and well-loved chef, said in his great little cookbook, Beard on Pasta, that “you never need be at a loss for something good to eat if you have some pasta and the resources of an ordinary kitchen.”  Here are some ideas for quick and delicious pasta dishes to savor at the end of a busy day:

1. ❖Sauté a crushed clove of garlic briefly in olive oil or butter.  Remove the garlic and toss the cooked pasta with the oil or butter.  If you like, throw in some chopped fresh herbs like parsley or basil.  Add a grind of pepper and some grated Parmesan or Fontina cheese.
   

2. ❖Start with the steps above and add some cooked veggies; try varying the cheese if you like.  Some of my favorite combinations are broccoli and feta cheese, and spinach with goat cheese.
   

3. ❖Add some leftover cooked bacon, sausage, chicken, seafood, turkey, beef, pork, or ham to either of the steps above.  Try some shrimp with asparagus and Parmesan cheese.
   

4. ❖You can also add some quickly sautéed veggies like red peppers or mushrooms.  Think mushrooms and blue cheese with bacon and a sprinkle of parsley, or red peppers and Fontina with leftover grilled chicken and a little chopped rosemary.
   

5. ❖Check out your pantry and your frig and see what’s there that you might be able to use.  Lemon or orange zest, artichoke hearts, olives, salsa, salad dressings, spreads or dips, nuts, bread crumbs, cream or half and half—all can be used with pasta.  Have fun and improvise—have a glass of wine, too.
   

6. ❖Almost any of these ideas would work with a good commercially prepared tomato sauce instead of the butter or olive oil.  Beard recommends adding the juice of ½ orange, a dash of Tabasco, and ¼ cup cream to improve even the most “undistinguished” can of tomato sauce.  Sautéed garlic and onion and some herbs also help.
   

     A few tips on buying and preparing dried pasta:  Look for pasta that has a pure golden color and is made with durum wheat or pure semolina.  I’m also partial to whole wheat pasta for its flavor and nutrition value.  Cook the pasta in LOTS of water (6-7 quarts for 1 pound of pasta); this allows the pasta to absorb some of the water and still have plenty of room to move around while it cooks so it doesn’t stick.  Before adding the pasta to the water, add 1-2 tablespoons of sea salt to flavor the pasta..  Stir the pasta frequently for the first few minutes of cooking, and occasionally after that to keep it from sticking and promote even cooking.  Taste the pasta to check for doneness (the package directions are not always reliable).  Drain and toss the pasta as soon as possible with warm sauce.  Eat!  Enjoy!

Taking the Confusion Out of Seafood

   Winter 2007

    I remember the rush of adrenaline when I hooked a bluefish many years ago in Nantucket Sound—the yank on my fishing rod, the dark silver body gradually appearing in the blue-green water as I reeled it in, avoiding its fierce teeth as we landed it in the boat. 

     A few hours after watching the first mate clean the fish at the dock, I grilled it over charcoal and ate it with a just a squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt and pepper.  The flavor was rich and delicate at the same time, as though the sea had been concentrated and served up on my plate.

     I haven’t had any bluefish in a long time. It’s not safe to eat anymore due to the mercury, PCBs, and pesticides in the ocean that are literally concentrated in bluefish tissues. 

     Even though I miss bluefish, there are still, to be a little corny, many fish in the sea.  We can all still indulge our taste for seafood and enjoy its many health benefits (lean protein, omega-3 fatty acids) if we become informed consumers. The basic issues we need to understand are two:

     First are food safety concerns arising from ocean pollutants in some wild fish and from PCBs, antibiotics, hormones and other substances found in some farm-raised fish.

     Second are environmental problems arising from overfishing of some wild fish and damage to the environment caused by some fish farming practices.

     In addition, as regulations and environmental conditions continually change, advice about what varieties of fish we should consume changes, as well. 

     One resource I have found very helpful is the Eat Smart section of the Oceans Alive Web site, which you can find at http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm.  It offers information on seafood and health and buying and storing fish, and it includes recipes. Best of all is the site’s Pocket Seafood Selector, a printable card to take with you to the store—it lists the best and worst seafood choices, taking both food safety and environmental issues into account. There is also a Seafood Selector, which allows you to check the status of any species of fish.  The site is updated regularly.

     With information in hand, proceed to the fish market or grocery store.  You can continue to learn more about seafood by becoming a regular customer, asking lots of questions, and being willing to try something new. Your fishmonger should be knowledgeable and willing to answer your questions and make suggestions.  If not, it’s time to look for a new place to buy fish.

     Your seafood education will be completed in your kitchen as you try out new fish and new ways of cooking it.  Find a good cookbook (I like James Peterson’s Fish & Shellfish or “The Fish Market” section of Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins’ The New Basics) and experiment a little—find out what you and your family like.  If you’d like to explore further, check out my March 3 Seafood Workshop. 

The Amazing Egg

Spring 2008

If you search for “egg” at epicurious.com, you get 5,000 egg recipes, from “Egg Roulade Stuffed with Turkey Sausage, Mushrooms, and Spinach” to “Mocha Layer Cake with Chocolate-Rum Filling.”  Eggs are among the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen.  They are used in literally everything from soup (Greek avgolemono soup, for instance) to nuts (my cinnamon-glazed pecans).  According to the New York Times, eggs have even become the hot “new” ingredient in cocktails, the whites—shaken, not stirred—adding a foamy, smooth texture to innovative drinks like the “Agrumi Fizz.”

At the same time, simply prepared eggs, all by themselves, are one of our favorite comfort foods—soft boiled with butter and salt, scrambled with a touch of cream, or gently fried the Italian way in good olive oil.  One of the most popular holiday breakfasts my mom made when I was growing up was creamed eggs: sliced hard boiled eggs in warm white sauce, poured over crisp toast and topped with a pat of melting, golden butter, bacon on the side, of course.

At one time, eggs had a bad reputation because of their high cholesterol content, but further research showed that cholesterol in food is not the culprit causing the high blood cholesterol associated with heart disease.  The real villain is saturated fat, of which eggs contain very little (only 1.5 milligrams).  Eggs are high in protein, relatively low in calories, and high in variety of nutrients, including iron, zinc, folic acid, choline, which nourishes our brain development and memory, and lutein and zeaxanthin, which can help protect our eyesight from disease.

Another concern about eggs is consuming raw eggs contaminated with salmonella bacteria.  According to the American Egg Board, only 1 in 20,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella.  If you buy eggs before their expiration date, discard ones with cracked or broken shells, and keep eggs properly refrigerated in the carton on a middle or lower shelf of the refrigerator, the risk of consuming a contaminated egg is very minimal.  (I still don’t serve food containing raw eggs to young children, pregnant women, the elderly, or anyone with a compromised immune system.) 

By the way, the little red spot you sometimes see in eggs does NOT mean there’s anything wrong with the egg—it’s caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the surface of the yolk when it’s being formed.  No big deal.  And those little twisted, ropey strands in the egg white you may have wondered about: they are called “chalazae” and are a natural part of the egg.  They anchor the yolk in the center of the thick white.  In fact, the more prominent they are, the fresher the egg.

A good, fresh egg will also have a firm, high-standing yolk that looks round and compact, and a thick, cloudy white.  A less fresh egg will appear flatter, spread out more, and look more liquid than gel-like.  If the egg is the main ingredient of a dish, you want to use the freshest eggs you can.  Older eggs can be used in baking and are best for making hard-boiled eggs, because they are easier to peel. 

        Lately I have been buying eggs laid by organically fed, free-range chickens—they have more deeply colored yolks, thicker shells, and a delicious, more “egg-y” taste that comes from all the good food, fresh air, sunshine, and exercise the laying hens get.  If you are an egg lover, you might want to try spending a little extra on these great eggs.  They are available at most grocery stores and can also often be found at farmers markets or at local CSA’s.

Egg Cooking Tips

Easy on the heat: no matter whether you’re frying eggs, cooking eggs in a custard or making an omelet, eggs need gentle heat.  High or prolonged heat causes the proteins in eggs to coagulate, squeezing out the moisture and creating a dry, rubbery texture. When scrambling eggs, remove them from the heat before they’re completely done because the retained heat from the pan will continue cooking the eggs.

Separate them cold: If you need to separate the yolks from the whites, it’s much easier when they’re cold.   Even a trace of yolk (or any fat) will keep the whites from holding air as they’re beaten.  After separating, let the whites come to room temperature before beating them in order to get the greatest volume.

Perfect hard-boiled eggs: Place eggs in a saucepan in one layer and cover with cold water by 1 ½ inches.  Bring the water to a full boil, cover the pan, turn off the heat, and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes.  Rinse under cold running water for 5 minutes. (When the yolks of hard-boiled eggs turn green, it’s from overcooking.)

Warm that pan: Whether you’re frying, scrambling, or making an omelet, warm the empty pan first, then spray with non-stick cooking spray, then add butter or oil if you’re using it—then add the eggs.  Heating the pan first and using cooking spray helps prevent the eggs from sticking, and adding the fat right before you add the eggs keeps the fat from burning.

Honey in the Kitchen

Winter 2009

“The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey . . . and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.”                     -- A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

    Wandering through the Countryside Holiday Farmers Market in November, I spied a table impressively arrayed with jars of golden and amber honey, and behind the table was the familiar face of a woman from whom I had bought beautiful produce and herbs last summer.  I asked some questions about her honeys and came away with a two-pound jar of raw wildflower honey that she produces (with the help of her bees) at Schmidt Family Farms in Medina.  The honey was a lush, reddish amber color, thick and translucent, with a rich and intense flavor of warm caramel and flowers.

    The Schmidts’ bees may have travelled about 110,000 miles and visited more than 4 million flowers to make the honey in my jar, according to data from the National Honey Board.  The flavor and color of honeys differ according to what type of blossoms the bees visit to collect nectar.  There are more than 300 different varieties of honey produced in the United States, coming from such diverse sources as the flowers of sage, mesquite, pumpkins, buckwheat, and blueberries, each with its own distinct aroma and flavor profile.    

    More and more honey is made by small farms with great care and attention to quality, and it is often referred to as artisanal honey.   These small producers are the most likely to offer interesting varietal honeys.  In addition, raw honey is also becoming easier to find.  Most large, commercial honey producers heat, filter, and blend honey to produce a clear, reliable product with a long shelf life.  However, heat can destroy the volatile compounds that give a honey exceptional taste.  Raw honey is minimally processed, usually strained and bottled by hand, and retains its complex, individual flavor, texture, and color.

      In addition to its distinctive flavor, honey has a number of unique qualities.  The primary components of honey are fructose (38%), glucose (32%), and water (17%).  The fructose in honey is more hygroscopic, or water attracting, than table sugar (sucrose), so honey takes in and retains moisture from the atmosphere.   Using honey in baked goods like cakes, breads, and muffins will keep them moister than using sugar because they lose moisture to the air more slowly, and, on humid days, actually absorb moisture from the air. 

  The high concentration of glucose in honey eventually causes it to crystallize, especially at low temperatures, changing the thick, translucent liquid to a grainy, solid mass.  Some honeys crystallize quickly, while others may remain liquid for months.  Raw honeys are more prone to crystallization than commercially processed honeys. Crystallization can be reversed simply by gently warming the jar of honey in a pan of simmering water.

       The ways to enjoy honey are many, and here are a few:

--Warmed and poured over fresh pineapple, apples, bananas, berries, melon, or pears (maybe with a dollop of yogurt, sour cream, or mascarpone).

--Drizzled over shards of white Cheddar or Manchego cheese and served with toasted almonds or hazelnuts.

--Simmered in a compote with dried apricots, prunes, raisins, dried cherries, a vanilla bean, citrus peel, port wine, and water.

--Combined with lemon pepper and chopped fresh rosemary to make a glaze for ham or roast chicken.

       Because the flavors of honeys vary widely, it is fun to try different uses for them.  Buckwheat honey, for instance, is dark and rich, with molasses and malt flavors.  It’s a great addition to barbecue sauce or poured over pancakes. Orange blossom honey is light and floral, with citrus overtones.  Use it in a citrus vinaigrette or drizzle it over a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream.  (For additional honey recipes, see the pages of this newsletter.)

  Where can you buy artisan honeys?  The National Honey Board sponsors a web site, www.honeylocator.com, which will help you find suppliers of just about any honey or honey product you can imagine.  To find Ohio-produced honeys, go to www.ourohio.org and click on “find local foods” in the upper right hand corner of the page or go to www.localharvest.org, and use the search option.  Locally, specialty food markets, health food stores, and farmers markets (in season, obviously) are the best sources for honeys from near and far.

     Right now you can find a variety of interesting honeys at  the Mustard Seed Markets in Solon and Fairlawn and West Point Market in Akron. The Raisin Rack in Canton carries red clover honey and buckwheat honey, along with a selection of raw, unfiltered honeys.  Maize Valley Market in Hartville offers several honeys processed by Tonn’s of Walnut Creek, Ohio, an Amish company specializing in natural honey products.  Canton Importing carries Attiki honey from Greece. (Honey has been an integral part of Greek cuisine since ancient times, and Greek honey is among some of the very best there is--Zack Bruell serves this particular one with Greek yogurt and berries at Parallax Restaurant in Cleveland.)

       To learn more about honey, you can find a wealth of information, including a large collection of recipes, at the web site for the National Honey Board, www.honey.com.  A number of cookbooks devoted to honey are available, and I am particularly fond of one I found at the library: Honey from Flower to Table, by Stephanie Rosenbaum.  The best way to learn more about honey is to try a new type or two and experiment--maybe tupelo or lavender or cranberry or sunflower?  Pooh would approve.

Ice Cream Your Way

Summer 2009

      It was blackberry: smooth, rich, and sweet, tasting like a handful of those succulent, juicy, purple berries smashed together with sugar and cream, a gorgeous, uneven, lavender-colored globe perched on top of a crisp, homemade cone. My first ice cream love.  Nantucket Island, summer of 1983. 

    I always liked ice cream as a kid, but I didn’t fall head over heels for it until I was a grownup.  That blackberry ice cream cone started me off on a long romance that is still going on, especially in the summers.  My favorite ice creams now are homemade.  They have a wonderful freshness and flavor that can’t be beat by even the best store-bought brands (sorry Ben and Jerry’s, but it’s true), they’re pretty easy to make, and you can make almost any flavor your heart desires.  To learn how you can make some fantastic ice creams, read on.

    The first key is the best ingredients you can find and afford--fresh, seasonal fruits, good cream, premium chocolate, and so forth.  I’ve heard stories from two friends this summer about a batch of blueberry ice cream they shared decades ago. It was made with just-picked wild blueberries and fresh cream brought directly from a local farm, and those lucky enough to get some are still talking about it.

    The ice cream legends you can create come in basically two types: French-style, which has an egg-custard base, and Philadelphia-style, which is made with just milk or cream, sugar, and flavorings.  To make a Philadelphia-style ice cream, you combine the ingredients, chill the mixture, and churn it in your ice cream maker.  The French style requires that you make the custard base, combine it with flavorings, then chill and churn.  Philadelphia-style ice creams tend to be more delicate, and they showcase the flavoring ingredients (often fruit).  French-style ice creams are more rich and often more complex, and the custard itself is a key flavor.

    Making the custard base for French-style ice creams sounds complicated when you read the recipes, but it’s actually just three main steps.  To get ready, place near the stove a large bowl filled about 1/3 full with ice water, and a medium bowl with a strainer sitting on top of it. 

    The first step is to heat the milk or cream with the sugar, and, while the mixture heats, whisk together the eggs in a mixing bowl.  The second step is to “temper” the eggs, warming them up gradually with the heated cream mixture by drizzling it slowly into the eggs, whisking constantly.  (Wrapping a damp dish towel around the base of the mixing bowl will help to keep it from moving around.)

    For the third step, return the egg-cream mixture to the pan you used to heat the cream.  Cook it over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a silicon spatula), until it just starts to steam and has thickened slightly.  (Do not bring the mixture to a boil--it will curdle.)  Cooking time is usually between 5 and 10 minutes.  You can check for doneness by drawing a finger across the spatula--it should leave a clean path with no liquid dripping down.

    To finish, pour the custard mixture through the strainer into the bowl below, and place the bowl in the larger bowl with ice water in it.  Stir the custard frequently as it cools; often you’ll be adding additional cream or milk, and maybe flavoring ingredients at this point. 

    Regardless of whether you’re making French- or Philadelphia-style ice cream, the mixture needs to be completely chilled before you churn it in your ice cream maker.  Get the mixture into the frig ASAP and chill it for at least 4 hours, but preferably for 8 hours or overnight.

    Follow the instructions from the manufacturer of your ice cream maker for churning the ice cream.  Yes, you really should read them.  I discovered when I finally read mine that if I started the machine before adding the ice cream mixture, the mixture wouldn’t freeze onto the bottom and sides of the ice cream maker and prevent the dasher (the stirring paddle) from turning.  Geez--what a great idea!

    After the ice cream maker has done its job, transfer the ice cream to a container with a lid.  If you want to add some goodies to your ice cream (like crushed candy bars, chunks of pound cake or gingerbread, nuts, crumbled cookies, or chocolate-covered coffee beans), fold them into the ice cream just after you transfer it to the container.  Have the goodies ready to go and work quickly (because your ice cream will want to start melting immediately), then stow your creation in the freezer.

    I have a hard time not eating the newly churned ice cream before I even get it into the container, but if you want fairly solid ice cream, it should be in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving. Because homemade ice cream doesn’t contain additives or stabilizers like commercially prepared ice cream, it is best eaten within 12 hours, or at most a day or two, after you’ve frozen it.  If you can’t eat your ice cream the day you make it, press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface of the ice cream to keep ice crystals from forming. 

    Homemade ice cream also has less air churned into it than commercial ice cream, so it will be more solid and more difficult to scoop when it’s completely frozen (if it has been in the freezer for more than a day).  Let it sit out of the freezer 5-10 minutes before you want to serve it.

    Although I love homemade ice cream all by itself, it also makes wonderful sundaes, sodas, floats, and milkshakes.  Let your imagination be your guide.  All baked goods are improved magically by the addition of a scoop of ice cream, and you can also make custom ice cream sandwiches with your ice cream and your favorite cookies (freeze the cookies before making the sandwiches, then wrap the sandwiches individually in plastic wrap and freeze until serving time).

    For ice cream recipes to try, see the pages of this newsletter.  You can also find my recipes for Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream, Coffee Gelato, and Lemon Ice Cream with Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce at my web site (www.jwwordofmouth.com, click on “Recipes,” then on “Desserts.”)  If you want to indulge in an entire cookbook devoted to homemade ice cream, I would recommend The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz, a reliable and imaginative book from which I have adapted some recipes for this issue.  

    I hope you fall in ice cream love again at least once this summer. 

The Great Pumpkin

Fall 2009

    Pumpkin lasagna with prosciutto, Parmesan, and sage; pumpkin praline bread pudding with bourbon cream sauce; pumpkin shrimp bisque; pumpkin soufflé with apple cider sauce; pumpkin and mascarpone ravioli with rosemary and bacon brown butter sauce; pumpkin waffles with toasted hazelnut butter and spiced maple syrup--who knew you could make all these things with pumpkin?!? 

    I have made all of them, though, and many more, mainly for the “Everything Pumpkin” classes I’ve been teaching at the Western Reserve School of Cooking for the last few years.  I have become the great pumpkin explorer, moving beyond my liking for good pumpkin bread to finding all sorts of delicious pumpkin creations to make in those classes.  Overall, it’s been a very tasty adventure, and I’ve learned many interesting things about pumpkins in the process.

    In season in Ohio from mid-September to early November, pumpkin is a quintessential fall vegetable (although it is technically, botanically speaking, a fruit).  It belongs to a plant family that includes, melons, cucumbers, gourds, and all the squashes, summer and winter.  In fact, all pumpkins are squash: we just call the round, orange ones pumpkins and the other ones winter squash. 

    The “pumpkin” the Libby company uses for their canned purée is actually something called a “Dickinson  field squash.”  It looks like a butternut squash and is not round and orange, although the Libby people call it a “Dickinson pumpkin.”  That’s OK.    Libby’s canned “pumpkin” is almost as good as real homemade pumpkin purée and it’s a nice convenience item. 

    Making your own pumpkin purée is pretty simple, however, and the pure pumpkin flavor makes it worth the effort.  First, you have to start with the right pumpkin.  The best are the smaller pumpkins, known as  “sugar,” “sweet,” or “pie” pumpkins, which weigh 2 to 3 pounds.  They have dense, smooth, flavorful flesh with relatively low moisture content.  Save the large, Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins for carving at Halloween: they are pulpy, stringy, and very watery when cooked. 

    You can find sugar pumpkins now at farmers’ markets and grocery stores.  Look for pumpkins that seem heavy for their size, are free of blemishes or bruises, and have an intact stem (they keep longer).  Store your pumpkins in a cool, dry place for up to a month, or in a refrigerator for up to 3 months. 

    Once you have the right pumpkin, the next step is to roast it.  Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out all the seeds, and place the halves cut-side down on a baking sheet  with sides. Pour in about 1/4 inch of water and roast the pumpkin in a 400-degree oven for 60 to 90 minutes, until the flesh can be pierced easily with a fork.  After the pumpkin cools a bit, peel the skin off with your fingers or trim it off with a paring knife.

    To make purée, break the peeled, cooked pumpkin into chunks, add them to a food processor (or in batches to blender), and purée until smooth.  Transfer the purée to a large sieve lined with paper towels or cheesecloth, place the sieve over a large bowl, and let the purée drain for a few hours, or overnight in the refrigerator, to get rid of excess moisture.  You now have great-tasting pumpkin to use in sweet or savory recipes.

    One pumpkin usually yields 3-4 cups of purée.  It will keep 4-5 days in the refrigerator and up to 8 months in the freezer.  Just let the purée thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and if it seems watery, drain it again as you did after puréeing it.

    Cooking pumpkin is not just about making purée.  Just like other squash, it’s great roasted or steamed, left in chunks or mashed with butter and spices, or butter and a little orange zest or sherry.  I like pumpkin with the flavors of ginger, bay leaves, sage, rosemary, and even molasses.  Consider chunks of roasted pumpkin drizzled with a little honey and balsamic vinegar, or tossed with some minced chipotle pepper and roasted garlic, or combined with apples and chicken in a curry. (You can substitute pumpkin for winter squash in many recipes, and visa versa.)

    And don’t forget the seeds!  Pumpkins were originally cultivated more than 6,000 years ago in Mexico not for their flesh, but for their seeds.  When a recipe calls for seeds, usually they’re hulled seeds, which are green and often referred to by their Mexican name, “pepitas.”  They can be used in many ways, in baked goods, granolas, or ground in pestos or sauces, for instance. 

    Pumpkin seed hulls are edible, too, and the white, unhulled pumpkin seeds that you scrape out of your pumpkin (even the Jack-O-Lantern kind) make a great snack.  Just soak them in water for an hour to loosen the pulp fibers, rinse them, drain them and spread them out on a baking sheet.  Toast the seeds at 300 degrees for about 40  minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.  Sprinkle them with salt before serving.

    Finally, what wine to drink with your pumpkin creations?  (I know you were wondering.) With savory dishes I like a Viognier best, but a buttery California chardonnay works well, as does a slightly sweet Riesling.  With pumpkin desserts, try a glass of tawny port or sweet sherry, and even those who say they are not pumpkin fans may be persuaded to try a little.  If not . . . more pumpkin for you!

Growing & Cooking with Herbs

Summer 2010

     A few years ago I moved to a home nestled among a mob of huge trees, and I became . . . a Shade Gardener.  Gone were the sun-loving roses and cutting flowers and vegetables I grew in the sunny backyard of my former home.  Now I have perennial beds filled with “shade plants” and I buy beautiful summer tomatoes at the farmers’ market.  I’m OK with it.  Really.  It’s been interesting.

     I do have one precious little sunny spot of ground (about 2 by 3 feet), though, and guess what I grow there: no rose bush, no zinnias, no tomato plants.  I grow herbs.  As many as I can cram into that little space.  To me, herbs are an essential ingredient for good cooking and good eating: fresh basil for pesto, some minced chives to sprinkle on scrambled eggs, sage leaves to tuck under the skin of braised chicken, rosemary leaves to scatter over potatoes before roasting them, chopped cilantro to finish my favorite guacamole. Nothing beats herbs for adding aroma and flavor to food.

     You can find fresh herbs now at farmers’ markets and grocery stores, but one of the best ways to make sure you have a good supply of fresh herbs is to grow them  yourself.  It’s not too late to put a few herb plants in your garden now if you’ve got the space (or put herbs on your list for next year).  They are pretty easy to grow.  Herbs don’t mind mediocre soil, as long as it drains pretty well, and they will withstand varying amounts of moisture (a.k.a. Ohio weather) once they’ve gotten a good start.  All most herbs really ask of you is lots of sunshine. 

     What herbs should you grow?  Whatever you like and think you’d use.  In my little herb garden I grow basil, sage, thyme, chives, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, and tarragon.  If I had more space, I’d add dill, oregano, lemon thyme, lavender, flavored sages like pineapple, and different basils like opal basil with its purple leaves or cinnamon basil, and whatever caught my interest at the plant nursery.  I’ve also started plenty of mints in different spots in our shady woods.

     To thrive, herbs need to be used--harvested, that is--regularly.  Always cut sprigs from the plants instead of just stripping leaves from the stems.  Cutting the stem just above a set of leaves will encourage new growth, while removing only leaves weakens the plant.  As a general rule, don’t cut off more than about one-third of the plant at a time to keep your herb plants growing and healthy.  (Herb plants with different configurations, such as chives, are obviously an exception here--cut chives to about an inch above the ground.)

     The best time to harvest herbs is just before you’re going to use them.  Their flavors are most intense then because the essential oils that give herbs their flavor gradually deteriorate after the sprigs have been cut from the plant.  If you can’t use the herbs right after you cut them (or buy them), store them dry in the refrigerator in a sealed zipper-lock bag with as much air as possible pressed out of it. I think this technique preserves those essential oils better than leaving the herbs out with their stems in a container of water as is often recommended.  I do keep basil and lemon verbena on the counter in a container of water because their leaves will blacken from the cold in the refrigerator. 

     When I have a bumper crop of herbs at the end of the season, I preserve them by puréeing them with a little canola oil in the food processor and then freezing the purée in ice cube trays.  This method retains the flavor and color of the herbs better than freezing or drying (not all herbs freeze or dry well, while nearly all of them can be puréed this way).  It’s great to have those herb cubes on hand to make a quick pesto or toss into a soup or add to a sauce.

    If you haven’t cooked with herbs much before, or if you want to add some new herbs to your repertoire, the best way to get started is to taste an herb the same way you would a fine wine or a good chocolate.  First take a look at the herb’s color, feel its texture between your fingers, then crush the leaf slightly and inhale its fragrance.  Finally, chew a small leaf and taste it thoughtfully, noticing its complex flavors.  This will give you an idea of how you might like to use the herb in your cooking.

     Next, try adding some fresh chopped herbs (one kind at a time) to a bland, everyday food like scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, rice, or corn.  This will give you a sense for another dimension of the herb’s flavor, as well as an idea of how much of a given herb you want to use in a dish. Continue learning by just experimenting when you cook: add some herb leaves to a salad, sprinkle some fresh chopped oregano or basil on a pizza--even a take-out pizza--just as it comes out of the oven (or the box), add some chopped herbs to melted butter or olive oil to drizzle over veggies or pasta.  You’ll make some delicious discoveries.

     Here are a few of my favorite herb resources: 

--The Herbfarm Cookbook and The Herbal Kitchen cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld for great classic and unusual recipes using herbs.

--Lilly of the Valley Herb Farm in Minerva, Ohio (330-862-3920, www.lovherbsnflowers.com).   The owners, Melinda and Paul Carmichael, are very knowledgeable and happy to share their expertise. (It’s also a beautiful drive on a spring or summer day.) 

--If you enter the name of an herb in the search box at the Fine Cooking web site, www.finecooking.com, then click on the “Ingredient” button at the top of the search results, you’ll be taken to a link to a page (usually titled “Recipes using . . .”) that provides a well written description of the herb, suggestions for how to select and store it, and links to recipes.  Good information and inspiration worth all the clicks required.