What's in the Box?

1 Kabocha Squash
2 Yellow Onions
1 Bunch Orange Carrots
.75 pound Farmer's Choice Of Sweet Peppers
4 Russet Potatoes
1 bunch Red Beets
1 Rosa Bianca Eggplant
1 Fennel
1.25 pounds Garnet Yams
1 Parsnip
3 D'anjou Pears
3 Gala Apples

Bierocks

A look through the crisper drawer yesterday revealed very little. Beets, cabbage and little else. So then, what to do with these meager supplies? I thought first about making cabbage rolls but as I checked out my cabbage I realized that its time in the back of the crisper drawer had left it frozen just a bit on the bottom. So then I thought, maybe soup, the frozen cabbage might work out in there. Then, it hit me, Bierocks. Bierocks are a German dish consisting of slightly sweet dough stuffed with a mixture of cabbage, onion and ground beef.

I'm of German descent and much of my family is from the Midwest. I spent a lot of time at my Grandparent's house and if there was one thing you could count on, it was the fact that there would be at least one potluck at the Lutheran church while I was there. My Grandmother and other ladies of the church would make hundreds (if not thousands) of these every year.

My uncle, who is a professor, writes articles, books and keeps a Web site dedicated to life on the plains. He keeps several family recipes on the site so I went there to find a recipe to start with.

Here's the ingredients for the dough:

2 packs yeast
1 Tablespoon + 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon salt
2 cups warm milk
8-10 cups flour, divided (but you might need more)
2/3 cup butter (the original recipe calls for lard, but I didn't have any of that laying around)
2 eggs

I pretty much followed my uncle's (somewhat confusing) instructions for the dough.

In each of two small bowls, I stirred together 1 packet of yeast, 1/2 Tbls. sugar and 1/2 cup warm water to proof the yeast. I proofed each packet separately because I was a little worried that one or both of the packets wouldn't be good because of their age (the one on the left was a little iffy, but I decided to go with it).

In a small saucepan, I warmed the milk along with 3/4 cup sugar and the salt.

In the bowl of my stand mixer I combined 4 cups (20 ounces) of the flour ...

... along with the butter ...

... and the eggs. Then mixed to combine.

To this I added the proofed yeast and warm milk and mixed a bit more to create a batter. I set this aside to rise. We keep our house pretty cold, so I set the "warm and ready zone" on our stove to high ...

... then set a pan over it straddling the burners, then put my covered bowl of batter above this where it's nice and toasty.

Two hours later, it had risen quite a bit (and was nicely bubbly and yeasty, more signs my yeast was good, phew).

I put this on the stand mixer and added 4 more cups of flour.

I mixed it to combine, but I could tell that there was not nearly enough flour in the mix (it was soooo sticky). So, I added flour 1/2 cup at a time until it was just a little bit sticky. In all I ended up adding about 2 cups more of flour. Then I used the mixer to knead the dough for about 3 minutes (until it had developed a nice stretch). I returned this to the warm area to rise again.

While the dough was rising I set to making the filling. My uncle says he seasons the filling heavily with garlic salt, pepper, caraway, a Bavarian herb mix and soy but provides no idea about measurements (and what the heck is in a Bavarian herb mix). With a little research I came up with what seemed like it would be a tasty, German-type combination.

Here's the ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped (my uncle calls for 2 onions, but I only had one in the pantry so I also added...)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs or so of fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped
16 or so fresh sage leaves, chopped
2ish Tablespoons mustard seed
1ish Tablespoon dry mustard
1/4 cup or so soy sauce
1 head cabbage, chopped
lots of salt and pepper (I used a red wine infused salt that a friend gave me)

Okay fine, my measurements aren't great either, but it should end up very heavily seasoned because it needs to stand up to the bread that it will be wrapped in.

I browned the ground beef then added the onion, garlic, seasonings and cabbage and cooked it until the onions and cabbage were soft.

I set this mix aside to cool while I waited for the bread to rise.

One hour later ...

The bread has risen alright.

I punched down the dough and turned it out onto my board (I put a couple of silpats down so sticking could be avoided). Using my hands I spread the dough to about a 1-inch thickness then used a 2-inch biscuit cutter to portion the dough.

I flattened each piece of dough a bit.

Spooned on about a tablespoon of filling.

Then folded the dough around the filling.

And pinched the edges together.

Then laid them out on a baking sheet.

I made an egg wash by beating together an egg with about a tablespoon of water and then brushed each of the bierocks with it. I don't think this step is traditional, but I figured this would help the outsides of the bread to get GBD (golden brown and delicious)

This made 42 bierocks total and as my husband and I are obviously not up to eating that many in one sitting I stuck the majority of then in the freezer (once frozen, I'll be able to take them off the baking sheet and stash them in a Ziploc to eat later).

I set the oven to 350 degrees and baked the ones meant for dinner for 15 minutes.

My uncle recommends eating bierocks with"pickled stuff" in the winter. So I made quick-pickled beets and served them along with cornichon pickles to complement the rolls.

Mmmm, perfect fall dinner (and especially fitting for October, you know with Oktoberfest and all). I was a little worried that I had gotten too crazy with the seasonings, but once it was eaten all together it seemed just fine.

These may have taken a while to put together (this was a nice rainy day, all-day project) but I'm looking forward to eating these warm, toasty buns in the weeks to come.

Fennel and Asian Pear Salad

Okay, I know that in my last recipe post I went on about fall and the slow, complex food that comes along with it. But just because it's fall, that doesn't mean I'm done grilling.

Earlier in the day I had bought some chicken thighs with no real plan of what to do with them. A quick search of the fridge revealed barbecue sauce and corn. So I settled on grilling both the corn and the chicken (brushing on the barbecue sauce as the chicken finished cooking).

I wanted to make a quick salad to go with the meal, but I wasn't in the mood for a green salad. I settled on a lovely little raw fennel salad.

Here's the ingredients:

2 teaspoon sherry vinegar (cider vinegar would be good here too)
2 Tablespoon mayonnaise
2 big pinches sugar (not in the picture because I added it after tasting the dressing)
1 small head fennel, core removed, sliced thin
1 Asian pear, core removed, sliced thin
1/4 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
1/4 cup dried cherries

I started by combining the vinegar and the mayonnaise, along with a little salt and pepper in a small bowl. I tested for seasoning and decided to add a little sugar to cut the tanginess of the vinegar a bit.

Next I brought out my mandolin slicer, set it very thin, then sliced the fennel and the pear.

I added the sliced fennel and pear, along with the cherries and pecans, to the dressing and stirred to combine. That's it, super easy.

This turned out really good. Kind of Waldorf Salad like, but more complex. Crunchy, tangy, sweet, and did I mention really easy to make. This paired nicely with the barbecue chicken. If you are a late fall griller like me, I would definitely recommend this as a side dish.

What's in the Box?

1 Bunch Orange Carrots
.4 pound Cremini Mushrooms
.75 pound Parsnips
1.5 pounds Freshly Dug Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 head Fennel
1 bunch Red Beets
.33 pound Braising Mix
1 Napa Cabbage
4 ear Sweet Corn
4 Flavor Queen Pluots
3 Nectarines
3 Asian Pears

Mmmm, root veggies. Looks like there is a roast in my future.

Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs

Okay, let's get one thing straight, I love summer. Warm weather (as long as it's not too hot), sunny skies, gardening, swimming in the lake, Caprese salads.

But as temperatures get colder, food gets slower, more complex. There is something magical about a meal that cooks for hours. The transformation of the meat and the broth. The smell wafting from the kitchen. It's reason to be thankful for fall.

Here's the ingredients:

4 meaty beef short ribs
3 Tablespoon flour seasoned with salt and pepper
4 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
6 clove garlic, minced
2 cups red wine
4 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh sage

To start, I turned the oven on to 350 degrees, then set out to find my dutch oven (I haven't used it in months, what with it being summer and all, and I couldn't remember where I had put it). Once I found it, I set it on the stove top added about a tablespoon of oil and set the burner to high. Meanwhile, I dusted the short ribs on all sides with 2 tablespoons of the seasoned flour then added them to the now warm pan.

I cooked them until they were nicely browned on both sides.

And the edges.

Then I removed the short ribs from the pan and added the carrots and onions (p.s. the oil is really hot at this point, so be careful adding the veggies because it might splash up and hit your arm, and that will hurt) sprinkling them with just a little salt.

After the veggies had softened a little, I added the garlic and tomatoes.

Then after 30 seconds or so, I sprinkled on the remaining Tablespoon of seasoned flour.

Then let that cook, stirring the whole time, for another minute.

Then I added the red wine (stirring to make sure to get all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan), the herbs ...

... and the browned short ribs.

I brought this to a boil then put the lid on the pan.

And put the pan in the oven.

I let this cook for two hours, then took it out of the oven to rest. While the meat rested, I made some garlic mashed potatoes and red cabbage braised in apple juice and balsamic vinegar. Then it was time to eat.

Yum! The meat was literally falling off the bones, tender and succulent. The gravy was so good, just lightly herbaceous. Carrots were a little soft, but not enough to be a deal breaker (and really what can you expect from carrots that have been cooking for two hours).

Welcome fall, I look forward to many more slow-cooked Sunday meals.

Suckling Pig

A few months ago, sometime in late June, my friend Irene called me one evening. She had this wacky idea to cook a suckling pig. Her original thought was to cook it for the 4th of July party that she and her husband throw each year. Just two problems, one, we have too many vegetarian friends that attend their 4th of July Party (we thought they might take offense to dinner having a face). Secondly, she thought their house might be a little small to accommodate that kind of meal.

We both whipped out our calendars to find a date that would work for both of us. With our travel and some of our intended guests travel, the first date that we could come up with was Sept. 26. So we set that as our date and set to planning.

The first order of business was finding our suckling pig. This turned out to be more difficult than I imagined. After asking the butchers at the grocery stores I frequent, and making calls to a couple of butcher shops that I have used in the past, I ended up finding a source on the Internet that would ship it frozen overnight. Meet Stanley.

The next order of business was menu planning. We wanted to keep our side dishes fairly simple so that the suckling pig would be the star of the show. We had quite a bit of discussion about what to fill our piggy with. We thought bread stuffing would be too heavy (and unnecessary given the rest of the menu), then we considered simply filling the cavity with aromatics (apples, onions and herbs). Then I stumbled on a recipe for stuffing that used a heavy dose of caramelized onion along with bread. We decided to use this idea (just without the bread).


Here's the menu we came up with:

Appetizers:
Cherry Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Skewers
Salami Toscano, Soppressetta, Olives and Grilled Vegetables
Italian Plums, Melon and Dried Apricots

Main Course:
Suckling Pig with Caramelized Onion, Figs and Sage
Smoke Roasted Potatoes (from Steven Raichlen's "How to Grill")
Grilled Corn
Greens and Herbs with Peaches, Fresh Mozzarella, Prosciutto and Honey-Lime Vinaigrette

Dessert:
Well, we didn't really come up with dessert and one of our friends volunteered to bring peach cobbler, so we said yes, please.


We started cooking on Friday (well actually, Irene started on Thursday by making a brine). We put piggy in the brine in a cooler outside and then started on the filling.

Here's the ingredients for the filling:
6 or so tablespoons bacon fat (butter would have been good here too, but since we were rendering bacon to top the potatoes, we decided to use the fat for the filling)
9 red onions, sliced
5 clove garlic, minced
2 cups white wine (my wine guy recommended a Riesling that worked very well)
1/4 cup fresh sage, minced
1 pint fresh figs, chopped

We started by cooking the bacon over medium heat. Once it was nice and crispy we took it out of the pan (leaving the fat) and then added all of the onion and a heavy sprinkle of kosher salt. Once the onions were soft, we added the garlic, letting it cook for about 30 seconds, then added the wine. We left this to simmer for a couple of hours (which smelled divine). Once the wine had all cooked away, we stirred in the sage and figs and let it cook for just a few minutes more.

Now this was good. I could have eaten an entire bowl of this filling all by itself. We left it to sit until it was cool and then stuck it in the fridge overnight. Then Irene went home and we both went to bed.

Irene came back the next day in the afternoon. We took Stanley out of the brine, patted him dry, then stuffed him, trussed him and rubbed him with olive oil. Then we covered his ears with foil (so they wouldn't burn) and propped open his mouth with foil (so we could put a fig in there later).

We followed the cooking instructions from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. They said to start cooking with 30 minutes at 450 degrees, then to reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for 2 to 2 1/2 hours more, basting every 20 minutes. We basted with a combination of butter, some more of the Riesling that we used in the filling and maple syrup.

So, you saw that part where it should have taken 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 350 degrees, well Stanley was done a full hour before he should have been. Of course nothing else was ready, so we decided the best course of action was to just turn off the oven and let him rest in there.

Finally, it was time. We took Stanley out of the oven, gingerly lifted him to the platter, them sliced him up. I love this picture above on the right with our boy Jones staring down Stanley.

We drank a toast to Stanley then dug in. So good. As Irene said "Stanley was tender and O so delicious." As the chefs, Irene and I decided that we deserved the tasty bits. As we had consumed plenty of Manhattans, we were adventurous enough to each try an eyeball (which I liked) and then the husband dared me to try brains. Well, now I can say I've tried brains and I never have to do it again. We saved the best for last, one cheek for me and one for Irene. Yum, yum, YUM!

I can say, with Irene's prompting I may have gone my entire life without making this meal. So for that I must thank her. This was truly a night and a meal to remember.


Special thanks to Ken Broman, the husband, and whoever picked up my camera and used it on Saturday. This post would have been lacking without you.

What's in the Box?

1 bunch Red Beets
1 bunch Orange Carrots
.75 pound Fresh Coco Rubico Snap Beans
1 pound Red Bell Peppers
3 Tomatoes
.4 pound Button Mushrooms
4 White Sweet Corn
3 Mixed Baby Lettuce Heads
2 White Flesh Peaches
4 Nectarines
1 Farmer's Choice Of Melons
.85 pound Italian Prunes

The lettuce, peaches and a couple of the nectarines as well as the melon, some of the prunes and maybe the corn are all being used for a feast my friend and I are making this weekend. Lots of pictures will be coming.