Time to get serious folks: Passover is coming. I wanted to give you a minute to either let you totally freak out because you haven’t really started thinking about it yet or else be really confused about why this would … Continue reading
Sometimes I have no idea what to make for dinner. Sometimes when I’m planning the menu for the week (Yes, I plan a menu. Or else I would go insane.) I just put “veggies” “salad” “pasta” and then make up the rest later.
This past week I put something like “roasted squash” which could actually just be that. Roasted squash. But we were eating it with pasta so I wanted to jazz it up a bit. (Joe was cooking the pasta, so I figured the other half should be a shining star…no offense Joe.)
I looked around.
I saw a huge basket of apples and ginger, and thought of the plans for pickling said ginger and making apple pie filling for the freezer.
I saw a bag of walnuts that I pulled out of the freezer with the intention of using them in rugelach for a cookie exchange that I ended up not making it to.
I saw a glass with a few little branches of rosemary taking a drink, which reminded me to go pick sage out of the garden for the brown butter sauce.
Then, I saw a huge bag of persimmons that I bought that day at Uwajimaya. Unsuspecting persimmons, just hanging out all by themselves in a little persimmon clique over there by the blender.
And I realized, why couldn’t I just roast persimmons instead? They have a similar texture to raw squash, firm and crunchy. They’re sweet but not too sweet. They’re orange. Heck, they’re practically a squash camouflaging as a fruit!
I decided it might be a little bit much to just roast persimmons and nothing else. After all, the squash might feel left out. So I cut up a little baby butternut that had been loitering on the front porch since I harvested it back in October, and while I was out getting the sage I also nabbed a few little branches of thyme. And I threw in a half dozen or so little shallots that have just been begging to get used up. And I tossed in a big handful of those walnuts, with plenty to spare for rugelach, should I ever get around to it.
A little drizzle of maple syrup, another of olive oil. A pinch of salt, a grate of nutmeg. Into the oven it went.
I have to say, I was a little bit skeptical, even though it smelled good. There aren’t too many original savory persimmon recipes out there (not that roasting fruit is original, or all that savory) but I figured it would at least be unique so I went ahead and stole a bite while no one was looking.
No need to worry! It was delicious through and through, and even Joe liked it. Though he did claim that I had “tricked him” into eating persimmons, which are not his favorite thing. I think this might be my new favorite thing though. Next to everything else new I made this week…
I’m thinking this dish might be the perfect thing to cook to go along a roasted chicken (or turkey, or any other type of meat). I’m also thinking it could easily contain sausage of either the meaty or veggie variety and make for a more hearty dish in and of itself. These thoughts lead me to believe that if you are in charge of a holiday meal coming up, or in charge of bringing some sort of delicious and show stopping side dish that will upstage all the other foods on the table…I mean, a humble side dish to delight the senses without overwhelming the other dishes being served, then this might be the one. It practically cooks itself so you will have plenty of time to make rugelach!
Roasted Butternut and Persimmon Medley
serves about 4 as a side
One small Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
2 medium sized Fuyu persimmons, peeled and cut into 8ths
5-6 small shallots, cut in halves or quarters
2 small branches fresh thyme, leaves removed
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinch salt
few scrapes of freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat oven to 400ºF
Toss everything together in a small roasting pan, making sure everything is evenly coated. Place dish in oven, closer to the bottom is better. Bake about 40 minutes, stirring every now to get even caramelization. Serve piping hot.
Last Wednesday I had a few glasses of wine with some friends I don’t see enough of. We decided that no matter the weather on Saturday, we were going to BBQ. I promptly forgot all about it, especially that I had offered to host.
Joe kindly took Lilli with him and the boys to the park down the street so I could focus on making dinner without having to stop every 5 minutes and play a game. In the hour until he brought her home, I was able to defrost 1 1/2 lbs of leftover salmon and then make the cakes, and put together a lemon mayo sauce to go with; roast 3 lbs. of small delicious potatoes and some garlic for the potato salad; slice a loaf of bread to grill; rinse and trim a bunch of asparagus; and probably something else that I am forgetting, like do the dishes. This is about when I realized that not only did the salmon have créme fraîche, but also the potato salad was going to be dressed with the stuff. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to make it from scratch and it has yet to turn out as thick as it should be but it still tastes good. I plan on getting it right, but for now I’m content with trying.
This potato salad recipe is very simple. It’s plain but in a good way. Sprinkling the vinegar on the potatoes while they are still hot allows them to really absorb that flavor. The tang from the créme fraîche really works well with the rich flavor of a well roasted potato. It doesn’t keep as well as mayonaise based salads, but you won’t have to worry about that because there won’t be any left. I wasn’t even able to take a picture because it was gone too fast!
2 lbs potatoes (I used a mix of yukon, red and purple)
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra
salt and fresh ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic, peel on
2 Tbsp champagne vinegar
3/4 cup créme fraîche
2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
Preheat oven to 450ºF. The original recipe calls for you to peel the potatoes, but I prefer to leave the skin on. Cut the potatoes into spears and let dry a bit. Toss in the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet or onto a baking sheet. Salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the garlic in foil with a little drizzle of olive oil and put them in with the potatoes. Roast for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the potatoes have gotten nice and golden and crusty. The garlic will be done also.
While the potatoes are still hot, cut them into smaller, bite sized pieces. Jeremy Jackson recommends a serrated knife. In a good sized bowl, toss the potatoes with the vinegar. Press the softened garlic out of the skins and mush it into a paste. Add it to the potatoes and toss the whole thing again. Taste for salt and pepper.
Let the whole thing cool a bit, and then spread the créme fraîche on top, sprinkling the pine nuts over last.
