Bulls-eye beets

It's getting cold (yet again - aren't we in South Texas?) and I wanted something warm and satisfying. Something a little healthier than my usual go-to winter food, mac and cheese. With extra cheese. And a little more cheese on top of that.

On a drizzly Saturday morning, I spied some beets that were a lighter color than I'm used to. When I asked about them, the farmer told me that they were chioggia beets, an Italian heirloom variety known for its concentric red and white circles. Roomie roasts beets all the time and they're always excellent. It's easy: heat the oven to 375, wrap the (washed and trimmed) beets in foil, and roast away. The larger the beets, the longer the cooking time. Because mine were so small, it only took about 30 minutes. Once they cool, you can remove the skin, slice them, and toss them with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. (Note: do NOT wear anything white while doing this. Beet juice stains like nothing else.) The greens taste great wilted in walnut oil with a little garlic.

I also have yet to blog about last week's farmer's market dinner. For those of you who don't know, I lost my beautiful, lovable cat Ozzie last week, which is why there was no blog post. Ozzie loved figs, pesto sauce, and honey, just like his momma. He will be missed very, very much.

But, on a more cheerful note, here's what I made last week:
I tried mustard greens for the first time, and it will certainly not be the last! When I looked them up online, I saw them described as "feisty." Ok, sure. I braised them and served them as the bed of a warm salad with balsamic-glazed chickpeas. The greens had an assertive, spicy flavor, which would go great with (you guessed it) mac and cheese. On the side is a dish that has been known to convert brussels sprout haters: maple roasted sprouts with toasted pecan and just a hint of dijon mustard.

Gno-gno-gnocchi

My bounty from last week's farmers market included lots and lots of sweet potatoes. Although sweet potatoes are simply delightful with brown sugar and pecans (or baked with marshmallows a la Mom for Thanksgiving), I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to try my hand at making my own sweet potato-cinnamon gnocchi in a maple brown butter sauce for a dinner party.

Mmmm.... I used Giada De Laurentiis's recipe. A couple words of advice: she doesn't tell you this, but you need to drain your ricotta for at least 3 hours before you mix it in with the mashed sweet potatoes. Otherwise your dough will be goopy. I read the reviews first, so I fortunately did not have goopy dough, and I wouldn't want you to either! Don't have cheesecloth? Me neither. Use some good old paper towel.

Gnocchi making requires some serious advance planning, which is usually not a strength of mine. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten all my ingredients together an hour before people are coming over, only to read the words "soak overnight" or "let chill for at least six hours." Sigh. But this time, I roasted the sweet potatoes for an hour the night before and drained the ricotta overnight. The afternoon of the party, I made my dough, rolled it out, and cut it into pretty little gnocchi. See? I was so hard at work my hands are a BLUR.The maple brown butter sauce was absolutely divine. I make brown butter sauce with fried sage fairly often, but the maple was a nice touch. I was worried that between the sweet potato, the cinnamon, and the maple syrup, the dish would be too sweet, but the fried sage was a great counterpoint.I wasn't so sure what to pair with this dish. I knew I wanted to drink a red, because guess what, it was COLD again. So I thought about what sorts of tastes, food-wise, go well with sweet potatoes. Cranberry, nuts, etc. This Bear Boat Pinot Noir from California's Russian River Valleyfit the bill perfectly. At $22, it was a little more expensive than I usually go for, but it had great flavor. Dried fruits, a little spice, a little smoke.For dessert, some whipped ricotta with honey and vanilla and mixed berries.
Whew! Roomie and I just took a two hour backbending workshop at my yoga studio. I've got to rest a bit before I decide what to do with the brussels sprouts (told you I like maligned vegetables) and mustard greens I got this morning!

I went a little overboard at the farmer's market on Saturday morning, but isn't it all beautiful?
It was terribly, terribly cold, and I suppose I ran about haphazardly, teeth chattering, just grabbing whatever looked good. Word to the wise: GLOVES. I never seem to remember.

I had never used escarole before, though I'd seen it on Italian menus. It's a slightly bitter leafy green in the chicory family, which includes the more common radicchio. The charming older British man standing next to me at the booth said that he likes to cook it in butter with ham (sounds good minus the ham) and the farmer herself uses it in salads. I made it two ways. But first, salad!

On Saturday night, after Le Garage sale, I made a light dinner for a couple of friends before we headed to the Beauty Bar clothing swap (it was a long, arduous day of shopping.) First, I served an arugula salad with arugula from the market and candied walnuts. The arugula had small, delicate leaves that taste sweet at first but have quite the peppery kick! I made a simple walnut vinaigrette to accompany it, and it was heavenly:
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tsp minced shallot

I used the escarole to top bruschetta with onion jam and tallegio. Bruschetta is pretty easy to do: just brush slices of baguette (or halved French rolls, for bigger pieces) with olive oil and bake facedown at 450 for 10 minutes or so. I had never made onion jam before, but this recipe taught me how. I had to simmer it much longer than the recipe called for, but it turned out great. Tallegio is a soft Italian cheese that smells stronger than it tastes. Its flavor is very mild and almost fruity.
I had plenty of leftover escarole, so I steamed the rest for about 6 minutes, then sauteed it with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and red pepper and ate it over pasta for Monday's lunch at work. I have the reputation, apparently, as the healthiest eater in the office. Ha. I finished my meal with one of Jesse's yummy mocha/bourbon mousses.So there's been some talk of including a bit of fashion on this blog in addition to food, since one of my favorites, Cupcakes and Cashmere, does both. So, in that vein, here are the super-cute blue leather shoes I found at Le Garage Sale. I've been wanting to get in on the ankle boots trend, but they tend to make my legs look shorter - kind of the opposite of what I'm going for. These are angled down somewhat in the front, which makes them more flattering. I also love that they match almost anything, and would work for both summer and winter.
Here's what I wore with them to the Beauty Bar swap:Next time, I'm making gnocchi with local sweet potatoes, browned butter, and local pecans. Stay tuned!