#simple fare

Last night’s dinner - fresh picked green beans and carrots from the garden, with rice and homemade cheese sauce.

RECIPE: Roasted Beetroot Ice Cream (from Simple Fare: Spring/Summer by Karen Mordechai)

This colorful ice cream bring forth an unexpected flavor profile to traditional ice cream. Be assured, the classic sweetness and creaminess are still apparent, but here they are combined with a subtle earthiness and unexpected charm. Served with a crunchy- sweet seed crumble, each bite is divine.

Makes 1 quart (960 ml)

For the beet ice cream: 

3 medium beets, about 1 pound (455 g) total 

4 egg yolks

4 cups (960 ml) heavy cream

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar 

2 tablespoons honey

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod reserved

For the pistachio sunflower seed crumble:  

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

½ cup (110 g) packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup (65 g) unsalted raw pistachios

1 cup (140 g) hulled unsalted sunflower seeds

Peruvian pink salt, to garnish

For the ice cream:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).

Wash and dry the beets and cut off and discard their greens. Set them in a deep baking dish or pie plate in a single layer. Add enough water so that the beets are half covered, but not fully submerged. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Roast the beets for 1 hour, or until fork-tender. Remove them from the oven and let cool. Peel the beets with a paring knife or by rubbing the skin off with a paper towel. Quarter the beets and transfer them to a food processor. Process into a smooth puree. Measure 1¼ cups (300 ml) of the puree and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Set aside.

In a 3-quart (2.8-L) saucepan, combine 3 cups (720 ml) of the cream, the sugar, honey, and vanilla bean pod and seeds. Whisk in the reserved 1¼ cups (300 ml) of beet puree until completely incorporated. Attach a candy thermometer to the pot and heat the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until it reaches about 130°F (55°C). Remove the pan from the heat and, while whisking, slowly drizzle about one-quarter of the cream mixture into the egg yolks. Pour the egg yolks and cream back into the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Return to the heat and continue to cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture reaches between 170°F (75°C) and 175°F (80°C). Do not go above this range or the egg yolks may scramble. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup (240 ml) cream. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Churn the chilled ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Scrape the ice cream into a jar or pan, cover with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper pressed directly to the surface of the ice cream, and freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

For the crumble:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, combine both sugars, the butter, and ½ cup (120 ml) water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the sugars have completely dissolved. Stir in the nuts and sunflower seeds, remove from the heat, and pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread the nuts and seeds into an even layer. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the syrup has set and is lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, break the brittle into pieces and transfer to a food processor. Process until finely ground.

To serve, scoop the ice cream into bowls and top with a sprinkling of the crumble and pink salt.  

Storage – The ice cream will keep for 1 to 2 months in the freezer and the crumbles will keep for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container.

Simple Fare: Spring/Summer is a beautifully illustrated cookbook featuring seasonal, market-driven fare that encourages readers to cook simply and intuitively.

Karen Mordechai of the acclaimed Brooklyn-based food community Sunday Suppers shares her meals for cooking at home and her studio. The recipes are designed to excite and inspire, each offering 3 to 5 alternate ingredients that can be used in the same preparation. A smoked beet panzanella with purple kale, radicchio and ricotta, for example, suggests a carrot, mizuna, watercress, and yogurt adaptation or tomato, arugula, purple basil, and burrata, allowing the reader flexibility depending on what is fresh at the market. The food is approachable but decidedly nuanced, balancing unexpected flavor profiles with beautiful presentations. With 68 recipes and 97 variations, Simple Fare is an oversize, distinctively designed kitchen essential of more than 165 seasonal recipes. This book is a valuable resource for avid cooks and beginners alike.

Volume two of the series, Simple Fare: Fall/Winter will be available in September 2017.

SKILLET CHARRED GREENS RECIPE

Active Cook:  25 M, Cook Time: 30 Min, Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 bunches wild greens, collards, kale, escarole, or even fiddlehead ferns (about 500 g)

2 tablespoons Garlic Confit oil (30 ml)

3 or 4 Garlic Confit cloves

1/4 cup water (60 ml)

1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)

Coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese (13 g)

1/2 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the greens and shake them off but let a little water cling to the leaves.

RECIPE: Roasted Pears (from Simple Fare: Fall and Winter by Karen Mordechai)

This warm and comforting dessert is perfect for guests. It can be made in advance and reheated when they arrive. Plus, as a bonus, your home will smell like all the goodness of simmered wine and aromatics.

Serves 6

6 stem-on Anjou pears, peeled

1 (750-ml) bottle Malbec wine

¾ cup (150 g) sugar

1 lemon, peeled with a vegetable peeler

1 orange, peeled with a vegetable peeler

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup (240 ml) Mascarpone cheese, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Using a knife, trim the very bottom off each pear to create a flat surface. Stand the pears upright in a shallow roasting pan and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, lemon and orange peels, and cinnamon stick. Bring them to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the hot liquid over the pears in the roasting pan (they will not be submerged).

Bake the pears until soft when pierced with a knife, 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, basting them with the liquid in the pan every 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the Mascarpone until fluffy.

To serve, place each pear in a bowl and pour over some of the liquid from the pan. Serve each with a spoonful of whipped Mascarpone.

The second book in the seasonal cooking series by Karen Mordechai of Sunday Suppers, Simple Fare: Fall and Winter is a richly illustrated resource, focused on market-driven cooking. It consists of 65 elegant, streamlined recipes for classic dishes, including Roasted Carrots over Smoked Ricotta Toast; Turkish Poached Eggs and Yogurt; Black Rice Bowl with Hummus, Shishito Peppers, and Buttermilk Meyer Lemon Dressing; Braised Beef Ribs and Beetroot; and more. Detailed instructions for preparing alternative flavor profiles are included for most recipes, allowing readers to easily adapt based on the ingredients at hand. Accented by unforgettable photography that showcases Mordechai’s minimalist style, Simple Fare is an oversize, distinc­tively designed kitchen essential.

RECIPE: Buttered Eggs (from Simple Fare: Spring/Summer by Karen Mordechai)

This dish, passed down from a friend, is a simple, quick take on a warm egg salad. Look to make your eggs soft and a tad runny—soft enough to mash perfectly. You can also add the same amount of olive oil in place of the butter, if preferred. As with all our recipes, choosing the best-quality ingredients is imperative; we highly recommend a grass-fed butter and farm-fresh eggs. The result is a preparation that you will make over and over.

Serves 1

2 eggs

1 tablespoon salted butter

Cyprus flake salt

2 slices black rye bread* 

1 teaspoon olive oil

Grated Pecorino cheese*

Zest of ½ lemon

Bring a small saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Gently remove the eggs and run under cold water to peel.

Transfer peeled eggs to a small, shallow bowl and add the butter. Mash with a fork and season with flaky salt.

Meanwhile, heat a grill to high or a grill pan over high heat. Lightly brush the bread with the olive oil and grill for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.

Spread the mashed eggs on the bread and top evenly with the Pecorino and lemon zest. Sprinkle with flaky salt before serving.

Market Variations

To make the market variations, replace the ingredients marked with a * above with the items listed below.

Variation 1: sourdough / manchego

Variation 2: buckwheat / parmesan

Simple Fare: Spring/Summer is a beautifully illustrated cookbook featuring seasonal, market-driven fare that encourages readers to cook simply and intuitively.

Karen Mordechai of the acclaimed Brooklyn-based food community Sunday Suppers shares her meals for cooking at home and her studio. The recipes are designed to excite and inspire, each offering 3 to 5 alternate ingredients that can be used in the same preparation. A smoked beet panzanella with purple kale, radicchio and ricotta, for example, suggests a carrot, mizuna, watercress, and yogurt adaptation or tomato, arugula, purple basil, and burrata, allowing the reader flexibility depending on what is fresh at the market. The food is approachable but decidedly nuanced, balancing unexpected flavor profiles with beautiful presentations. With 68 recipes and 97 variations, Simple Fare is an oversize, distinctively designed kitchen essential of more than 165 seasonal recipes. This book is a valuable resource for avid cooks and beginners alike.

Courses in a meal

How many courses do you serve with your dinner? I find that today most people only eat one course when they cook at home. The exception seems to be a holiday meal. I know that I fall into that category. Usually something along the lines of a protein, vegetables and maybe a starch is my typical fare for dinner. Has American society lost the art of fine cooking? We seem to love to eat out but even…