Recipes
Roasted beets recipe
This is the technique Scottie and I learned at Higgins restaurant in Portland, Ore. It’s a great basic method for cooking beets, though it doesn’t, on its own, give you the caramelized flavors one often expects from “roasting.” Because beets are so hard and dense, it’s best to cook them with a little steam to keep them from burning. If you want that caramelization, follow the steps below. The spices, too, add a wonderful, subtle background note to the beets but are not strictly necessary.
Ingredients
- Beets, preferably all the same size (if not, you’ll just have to pull the smaller ones out when they’re done first)
- Toasted, whole sweet spices – 1 cinnamon stick, 5 allspice berries, 3 cloves per pound of beets, or to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- If the tops are on, cut them off, leaving about 1 inch of their stems. Gently wash the beets of any obvious dirt or mud under cold running water. If the thin root coming off the beet is very long, trim it to an inch or so, but this isn’t strictly necessary.
- Place the beets in a pan big enough to fit them all with a little room between them. If using, scatter the spices around the beets. Add a little water, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan by 1/8 to 1/4 inch. This creates steam and helps to keep the beet juices from burning.
- Wrap the pan tightly in foil and place in the oven. Depending on the size of your beets, this can take from 45 minutes to well past an hour. If your beets are 1½ to 2 inches wide, check on them at 45 minutes, being very careful of the hot steam that will come billowing out when you unwrap the foil. They are done when a skewer or paring knife can slip though them easily. If they’re not, re-cover tightly and keep cooking. When they’re ready, take them out and uncover to cool.
- When the beets are cool enough to handle, the skins should slip and peel off rather easily; just rub them a bit to get them going. You can wear gloves for this to not stain your hands, but I like using paper towel, which gets a nice grip on the skins.
- You can cut the beets now, season them with salt and pepper, dress them however you like, and serve. Or, if you want to put the roastiness back into roasted beets, fire up a big, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add a little vegetable oil, and when it is shimmering, add the peeled cut beets in one layer and sear them until you get some nice caramelization. Flip to color the other side. Or, if you have a large quantity of cooked beets to caramelize, toss them with some oil, lay them on a sheet tray, and roast them in the oven at 425 until they’ve taken on some color. Love them.
Flavors to pair with beets
Beets, walnuts, goat cheese and a light vinaigrette are a classic for a reason, and while I may tire of seeing them on restaurant menus, I won’t tire of eating them together. But beets are surprisingly versatile; I find that if I add something acidic to heighten their sweetness and something rich to round it out, lots of flavors from lots of culinary traditions work wonderfully — from the Mediterranean to northern and eastern Europe and beyond. Here are some of my (current) favorite combinations; of course, all of these can be adjusted to your personal taste:
- Mint, olive oil, sherry vinegar or another aged-wine vinegar
- Melted butter and ginger
- Lime, honey, dill
- Oranges and olives
- Yogurt and parsley
- Pine nuts, raisins and vinegar
Francis Lam is Features Editor at Gilt Taste, provides color commentary for the Cooking Channel show Food(ography), and tweets at @francis_lam. More Francis Lam.
Kale-filled crepes recipe
Ingredients
Kale filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ red onion (chopped)
- ⅔ cup stock
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 cup kale (chopped)
- 1 cup turnip greens (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
- 2 petite summer squash (chopped)
- Salt to taste
- 8-10 nasturtium blossoms
Salal Raspberry Syrup
- ½ cup wild black raspberries
- ½ cup salal berries
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 tablespoons raw sugar
Crepes
- 1 cup sifted white flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons butter (melted)
- Bacon grease
Felisa Rogers studied history and nonfiction writing at the Evergreen State College and went on to teach writing to kids for five years. She lives in Oregon’s coast range, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. More Felisa Rogers.
Thimbleberry rosemary simple syrup
Ingredients
- ½ cup of honey
- ½ cup of water
- 1 cup of thimbleberries
- 1 lime
- Three sprigs of fresh rosemary (chopped)
Directions
- In a small saucepan, heat honey and water. When liquid comes to a boil, add berries. Stir. Remove from heat.
- Add lime juice and rosemary. Leave to steep for 3-4 hours.
- Strain. If necessary, press berry mash against strainer to release liquid.
- Chill and serve.
Felisa Rogers studied history and nonfiction writing at the Evergreen State College and went on to teach writing to kids for five years. She lives in Oregon’s coast range, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. More Felisa Rogers.
Wild berry champagne barbecue sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
- 1 cup fresh huckleberries
- 1 cup fresh salmonberries (thimbleberries or raspberries also work)
- ¼ cup spumante champagne
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 2 tablespoons of ketchup
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- dash of Worcestershire
Directions
- In a saucepan, sauté garlic in olive oil.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until slightly thick.
- Remove from heat; cool.
- Place mixture in a blender; process until smooth.
- Use as sauce over pork, steaks or poultry.
Felisa Rogers studied history and nonfiction writing at the Evergreen State College and went on to teach writing to kids for five years. She lives in Oregon’s coast range, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. More Felisa Rogers.
Pasta with mussels and cream sauce recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. fettuccini (cooked al dente)
- Parmesan cheese and pepper
-
Group 1
- 30-40 mussels
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup white wine
Group 2
- 1 cup oyster mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 green onions
- 3 tablespoon white wine
- Mussels (sans shell)
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
Group 3
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1½ tablespoons flour
- ½ cup half and half
- ¼ cup stock
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ lemon
Felisa Rogers studied history and nonfiction writing at the Evergreen State College and went on to teach writing to kids for five years. She lives in Oregon’s coast range, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. More Felisa Rogers.
Dolmas with tzatziki sauce recipe
Michelle’s Dolmas
Ingredients
- Cooked rice
- Olive oil
- Garlic (minced)
- Carrot (grated)
- Zucchini (diced)
- Fresh dill or fennel (diced)
- Salt
- Feta cheese (optional)
- Water
- Lemon juice
Directions
- Cook rice.
- Sauté onion, garlic, grated carrot, little pieces of zucchini and little pieces of fresh fennel. Add dill or fennel, more olive oil, and feta cheese. Turn off heat.
- Remove a grape leaf from your jar and spread it flat on a cutting board. Take a spoonful of the rice and vegetables and plop it in the center of the grape leaf. Fold up the bottom of the leaf first, then fold the sides in and roll.
- Put the dolmas in a big saucepan. (You want to fill up the bottom of the saucepan with dolmas.) Add water until the water level is about halfway up the dolmas. Add lemon juice.
- Set a kitchen plate on top of the dolmas to hold them down during the steaming process. Put a lid on the pot and bring the water to a boil.
- Minimize heat, and steam the dolmas for 30 minutes on the stove top. Keep an eye — the dolmas should be ready when the liquid is gone.
- Drizzle with olive oil and serve with tzatziki sauce.
Felisa Rogers studied history and nonfiction writing at the Evergreen State College and went on to teach writing to kids for five years. She lives in Oregon’s coast range, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. More Felisa Rogers.
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