Winter Cooking: OUTRAGEOUS Red Lentil Soup

Inspired by an article on Egyptian food in this month’s Food & Wine magazine, and by the fortuitous discovery of a bag of red lentils in my pantry, I made this OUTRAGEOUS lentil soup in my slow cooker.  Forgive the all caps, but my house has smelled so wonderful all day.  I can hardly wait for my husband to get home so we can eat dinner!!!

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup (photo from Food & Wine magazine)

Mise en place:

• 1 lb dried red lentils (soak overnight in cold water, or use the hot soak method – boil for 2 minutes, then soak for an hour in the boiling liquid).
• 4-5 large carrots, coarsely chopped
• 4-5 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 t minced garlic (ugh!  my brand new jar of garlic was bad, so I had to toss it and resort to garlic powder….)
• 1 t smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 t chile powder
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground turmeric
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 carton broth – vegetable, chicken or beef (I used Wegman’s beef broth, because that’s what I had on hand)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (I used Hunt’s Fire Roasted tomatoes; they complement the dish nicely!)

Optional:

• 2 T soup base
• 2 T Moroccan Harissa or hot sauce

Soffritto:  Saute the vegetables in olive oil until slightly tender; add the garlic and saute one minute more.  Drain the lentils; add to pot.  Add broth and seasonings.  Stir and bring to boil.  Transfer to slow cooker.

Cook:  In slow cooker, on high, for 3 hours.  Remove from heat; puree lightly with a stick blender.  At this point the soup tasted a bit bland to me, so I added the soup base and harissa.  Now, it’s OUTRAGEOUS!

Winter Cooking: Fragrant White Chili

I’m loving my new All-Clad slow cooker.  Unlike others I’ve had, this one is programmable and immediately launches into ‘keep warm’ mode at the end of the cooking cycle.  I also like the cast aluminum insert, since I can brown the ingredients on the stovetop directly in the insert, and then place the entire insert into the base for cooking.

 All Clad slow cooker with cast aluminum insert (photo from www.williamssonoma.com)

Here’s a recipe for a quick and tasty white chili.  It’s fragrant but not overly spicy –  the perfect dish for the end of football season!

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1 can small white beans or cannellini beans, drained
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth (or 1/2 broth and 1/2 white wine)
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t smoked Spanish paprika
• 1 t ground cumin (or more, to taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 t turmeric

Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened, 3 mins.  Turn heat to medium-high; add turkey and brown.  Lower head to medium again and add garlic; saute another minute.  Add broth, beans and seasonings.  Stir to combine.  Transfer to slow cooker ; cook on low for one hour.  Top with shredded cheese and sour cream or yogurt.

Now I get to spend my favorite Sunday with my honey, eating chili and watching the playoffs.  And if I say, ‘Go Birds,’ well, I’m not really cheating – since this week I’m cheering for the Ravens!

Reflections on Chauncey Gardner and the Winter Garden

During my vacation this week, I got to watch ‘Being There,’ the classic film about a mentally-challenged man who, by mere chance, becomes an advisor to Washington’s political elite.  Certainly one of Peter Sellers’ finest performances, and meaningful on so many levels.  I’ve seen it several times over the years, each time discovering fresh nuances that add to the story’s timeless appeal.

This time around, I considered  the implications of Chauncey’s brief pronouncement: “There is much to do in the garden in winter.”   It’s a curious statement, untrue on the surface, and yet absolutely essential just beneath it.  Because really, what could we possibly do in the garden in winter?  Read the seed catalogues as they arrive in the mail?  Draw our planting designs for next year?  Wipe down the tools that we left to rust in the garage?  It’s too darned cold out – I don’t want to do anything!

That’s when it hit me.  For gardeners, winter is the time to rest after the frantic rush of autumn harvest.  And it is not just inevitable – it’s essential.  We need to restore the energy that has been completely spent – by work, by Christmas shopping, by  preparing and serving a fabulous feast to our families and beloved friends.  All the wonderful rituals of the holidays need to close with a period of quiet.  We need the balance of activity and stillness.  Without rest, we simply can’t grow again.

I had been planning a very active holiday break – family visits, a trip to Center City, projects at home. And indeed, I got to do some of those things, and enjoyed them tremendously.  But for once, I stopped short of pushing myself beyond all limits.  I embraced the need for quiet by spending time at home – reading, playing with the new kitten, and, luxury of all luxuries:  napping.  And it felt great!  For once, I feel ready to return to work, revitalized instead of exhausted.

Piet Oudolf  shared his perspective in a recent NYT article: “The garden in winter is an emotional experience,” he said. “You think in terms of decay and disappearing and coming back. You feel the life cycle of nature.”  Oudolf has  probably done more than any contemporary designer to show us the beauty of the winter garden.  See his proof in the lovely photo below:

Piet Oudolf's Winter Garden, from the New York Times

I’m very thankful for the long holiday break, the gift of rest, and the lessons of the winter garden.

 

Holiday Flowers

The Winter Container Garden Design class inspired my holiday floral arrangements.  And at an economical price too – I bought only the cut flowers at the grocery store.  The greens were all freebies.  I clipped the holly from my sister-in-law’s yard, the Leyland cypress from my own hedgerow, and the blue spruce from cut branches that were lying on the side of the road.  (Who knew that my trash picking habit would come in handy for flower arranging!)  There were even enough evergreen clippings left over to fill a large basket on the hearth – looked pretty and smelled wonderful.

Anyway, the results were quite lovely:

Holiday centerpiece

 

White and green reindeer basket

 

 

Winter tulip basket

Winter Cooking: Pata e Fagioli

There’s something especially satisfying about winter cooking: soups, stews, braises. They seem perfectly suited to Sunday afternoons: cooked slowly, enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Today, in the middle of the ‘hurry’ season, I enjoyed an unhurried afternoon in the kitchen, attempting to perfect the simple yet delicious pasta e fagioli. Since pasta e fagioli (unlike so many other Italian dishes),was never a staple in my family, I don’t have a recipe. I’ve tinkered with a few cookbook recipes, but never found just the right one. So this time, I composed my own, pretty much by feel. I’m quite happy with the results

Pasta e Fagioli - Mise en Place

Mise en place:

A handful of carrots, a handful of celery stalks, a small onion – coarsely chopped
A teaspoon of minced garlic
A 4 ounce package of Cittero diced pancetta (available at Wegmans and so much easier than chopping your own!)
Two cans of beans. I used Goya ‘small white beans’ but Navy beans, ceci beans, cannellini or any other similar variety would also work.
A carton of low-salt broth
A 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
2 T chicken soup base
1/4 cup or so white wine
1/2 lb small macaroni. I like ditalini for this soup, but elbow macaroni or any other small pasta shape would also work.

Soffrito - onions, carrots, celery, minced pancetta

Soffrito: Saute the pancetta in olive oil until browned. Add the chopped vegetables, sprinkle lightly with salt, and continue sauteing until slightly softened. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.

Soup:  Add the beans, drained. Add the tomatoes. Rinse the can with the wine and add it to the pot. Dissolve the soup base in a cup of hot water and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil; then lower to a simmer.

Seasoning: Season with salt, pepper, parsley, bay leaf and lots and lots of chopped fresh rosemary. Simmer 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables are slightly tender.  Remove the bay leaf.

The soup improves overnight and also freezes well. Cook and add the pasta (al dente) just before serving. Serve with pecorino romano cheese, crusty bread and salad for the perfect wintertime Sunday early supper.

Pasta e Fagioli, ready to enjoy!

Winter Garden Design in a Container

Winter container with arbor vitae, nandina, kale and holly

We celebrated my friend Mia’s birthday with a trip to Longwood for the ‘Winter Garden Design in a Container’ class.  One of the best classes that I’ve taken there so far!  The instructor, Karl, (http://www.KarlGercens.com), shared a number of key tips that have kept my winter garden containers healthy and beautiful in the weeks since these photos were taken:

• Choose a large, lightweight container – plastic is a great option since you can move it around easily and it won’t crack from the cold.
• Use a soil-free potting mix – these are lighter and help maintain the plants through the winter.  Top them up with fertilizer or compost if you replant the container later on.
• Select plans that are two zones hardier than your location.  I’m in Zone 7, so I need zone 5 plants.  Pick some for height and some for horizontal interest.  Then add the decorative accents like pine branches and holly sprigs.
• Make the containers in late fall when nursery plants are on sale.
• Keep the containers in a semi-shaded spot.  The plants will lose too much moisture in full sun, especially when the root ball freezes.  Water them with cold water once a week, or simply cover the tops with ice cubes.

I did a native plant container with a blueberry shrub and Christmas fern, accented with a low evergreen juniper, deciduous holly and gorgeous magnolia leaves.   It was so much fun that I bought more plants on the way home and made a second container – this one with an arborvitae, winter-hardy kale and nandina – plus some orange-berried holly from Mia’s yard, and yew and rhododendron clippings from my neighborhood.  I also dug in some tulip and daffodil bulbs.  In the spring, I’m going to pull out the greens, let the bulbs bloom, and then see if I can keep these containers going with summer annuals.  Otherwise, the shrubs can go into various spots in my garden.

All in all, a wonderful learning experience.  I’ve got a new appreciation for container gardening, and looking forward to making more of these next year.

Winter container featuring native plants

A new project: from bare border to everblooming garden, with help from Lee Schneller and Bluestone Perennials

About two years ago, I created a new shrub border along the stream at the edge of my yard.  Together with my landscaper, Kerry, I designed the border to feature many of the shrubs I studied at Longwood:  fothergilla, viburnum nudum Winterthur, witchazel and more.  It is quite a long border that incorporates the existing trees and shrubs.  Over time, I added spring flowering bulbs for color, and sun perennials in the front section that is hot and dry.  It looks pretty, but has never developed the full, lush look I was hoping for.  Here are some pictures of the border in early spring, 2011:

Now, I’m hoping to really take it up a notch.  I’m applying the formula from Lee Schneller’s “The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden,” to create a richer look and continual pattern of interest in the border.  I came up with a color scheme of purple, silver, soft yellow and white, that will tie in with the existing shrubs and blend the sunny and shady areas of the border.   Today, I received the order from Bluestone Perennials:

• 2 Amsonia Hubrichtii
• 5 Amsonia tabernae Montana
• 3 Artemesia Silver Mound
• 5 Heuchera Plum Pudding
• 5 Penstemon Navigator
• 3 Thalictrum Glaucum
• 5 Tiarella Elizabeth Oliver
• 5 Tradescantia Bluestone
• 7 Digitalis Ambigua

Tomorrow is planting day.  Can’t wait to see the result!

Book review: Edible Estates by Fritz Haeg

I wish I’d read Fritz Haeg’s ‘Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, 2nd Revised Edition‘ before I planted my first vegetable garden. Then, I might have been brave enough to locate the garden on my front lawn (the only spot that gets full-day sun), instead of the less-ideal side yard. I was worried that a front yard garden might look too weird to the neighbors. Not any more! The essays, case studies and beautiful photographs have inspired me to begin planning a new vegetable garden smack in the center of my front yard. Not only will my new garden be beautiful and tasty, but it will also help build community in my suburban NJ neighborhood.

I highly recommend this book if:

* You’re considering a new vegetable garden or any front yard garden; and
* You’re already an experienced gardener

It’s not a a basic ‘how to garden’ primer, but there are plenty of other books on that topic.

Now, I’m in the ‘design’ phase. But I’m eagerly anticipating spring to break ground and start planting!

Life after Winter

What a thrill to see signs of life in the garden after a long, snowy winter!  Most of the white stuff has finally melted, so I’m able to view the beginnings of growth – daffodils and tulips braving their new stems, tiny buds on the sedum, lots of arum italicum shoots, and even a few new green ferns fronds.  The witch hazel has dazzled with weeks with its beautiful purple flowers.  If the weather holds till the weekend, I can prune the roses to get them ready for spring. Aaaaahhhhhh……

Meyer lemons, the scent of heaven!

A friend of mine just sent me a dozen beautiful Meyer lemons from his garden in California.  They smell like heaven!  I have always wanted to make Morrocan style preserved lemons.  Now, I get to try this fabulous recipe!

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/