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Roasted fingerling potatoes with gremolata recipe

I hope you all had a merry Christmas! We’ve had such an amazing few days with my family in New York. Christmas Eve is always such a special night and this year was no exception, with 94 of us at my aunt’s house for dinner. NINETY-FOUR. And four ladies announcing they are expecting so we’ll be 98 next year? My aunt is an absolute genius to be able to orchestrate a sit-down pot-luck for so many. I swear she could run a small country. Heck, she could probably run THIS country! We were in four different rooms eating 7 or 8 different types of fish (and a few veggies for good measure.) Although it’s really not about the food for me, instead my favorite moment of the evening is listening to all the little ones sing around the Christmas tree watching the staircase in hopes that Santa makes an appearance, which he always does. Then everyone screams and the flash bulbs go off as if there were paparazzi in the house. It never gets old for me.

Christmas Day is always the perfect balance to the evening before. It’s quieter, just 17 of us at my parents’ house and my mom is in charge. We always start the meal with tortellini in chicken broth, which my kids love. Then she makes a beef tenderloin with a red wine sauce, stuffed mushrooms, green beans with shallots and a green salad. This year I was hoping to add these amazing potatoes to the menu. I made them for Jenni Kayne’s holiday cooking class a few weeks ago and I knew they would be perfect with my mom’s menu. They would actually be perfect with almost any menu! But I’ll admit, I bailed at the last minute, thinking we had plenty of food already, I was a little tired from having gone to bed at 2:00 in the morning, and no one would care if we had or didn’t have potatoes on Christmas. Really, everyone looks forward to all the cookies after dinner anyway.

Alas, I still would love to share this recipe with you because I know you will love it and I know you will find a place for it in one of your upcoming weeknight dinners or even for something as special as New Year’s Eve. I love crispy, roasted potatoes plain and simple, but these have an extra umph from the gremolata. Gremolata is an Italian garnish traditionally made with finely chopped fresh parsley, raw garlic and grated lemon zest. I’ve had it before on osso buco, roasted vegetables and even pasta. It’s just bursting with flavor and freshness and makes ordinary potatoes out of this world. I love it! For this version of gremolata, I added a little orange zest, crushed red peppers, and fresh mint and thyme, all of which I adore with potatoes. I also made the gremolata once with a little fresh rosemary instead of the thyme and dropped the chili flakes just because — also delicious!

Try and find these teeny fingerling potatoes if you can. They are so creamy and super easy to use since you just just have to wash and dry them, no peeling, no chopping. BUT, if your market only offers Yukon Gold or red skinned potatoes, go for it. They’ll still be delicious.

I am hoping you are finding time to rest and restore your energy this week. Acting like a superhero is totally overrated and people who look like they do it all don’t, and if they do, they’re exhausted. Being a good parent or a good host/hostess or a good cook is good enough. Sounds like a good new year’s resolution for me for 2014!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Gremolata

Pamela

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Servings

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest about 2 lemons
1 teaspoon grated orange zest about half an orange
1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems finely chopped
2 heaping Tablespoons fresh mint leaves finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic minced or grated
a pinch of red pepper flakes
2 pounds small fingerling potatoes washed, dried and halved (leave whole if they are only an inch or so long)
3 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil divided
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
Make the gremolata: in a small bowl mix together the zests, herbs, garlic and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread the potatoes in an even layer and sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon of sea salt and black pepper to taste. Place in the oven for 35 minutes.
After 35 minutes, remove the potatoes from the oven and add another tablespoon of olive oil and half the gremolata. Toss until well combined. Place back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Toss with the remaining gremolata and taste for seasoning. Sprinkle with an extra pinch of salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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How to Cook and Debone a Whole Fish

You can totally do this. The idea of roasting and deboning a whole fish sounded incredibly intimidating to me when one of my students asked me to prepare it in a class for her husband’s birthday. She said, “the only dish I must request is whole roasted branzino — it’s my husband’s absolute favorite and I would love to know how to make it.” “So would I!” I thought to myself. But instead I offered with confidence, “Absolutely! I will show you how to make the best branzino.” My family ate branzino once a week for a month until I had it just right.

I have taught whole roasted branzino in a few classes now, and most recently at Jenni Kayne’s house for her Holiday Class with The Chalkboard. I wanted to post this recipe now, because Christmas Eve is around the corner and whenever I think of Christmas Eve, I think of fish. It is traditional in Italian homes to eat seven or more different types of fish on that night. I don’t know what we’ll have this year, but typically we start off the evening with spaghetti with clam sauce. Then a few people in my family will make the most classic Italian Christmas Eve fish, baccalà, a dried and salted cod. There are also usually eel, mussels, salmon, stuffed clams, shrimp and crab. However, I will most likely never see branzino at our Christmas Eve table because it’s not something you make for a crowd, and we are a CROWD, anywhere from 60-80 people.

Believe me, it’s not that roasting a whole fish is difficult. In fact, it is just as easy, if not easier, than roasting a whole chicken. If you can find really fresh branzino, aka Mediterranean snapper, there is very little you need to do to it for it to taste good. Isn’t that always the way when you start with good ingredients? But I usually make one whole fish per person and that would need to be a ginormous oven to cook 60 of these. Besides that, most people don’t know how to debone a fish and I wouldn’t want to sit there fileting dozens of these beauties. And therein lies the tricky part about roasting a whole fish — getting to the actual meat when there’s still a head and a tail and loads of bones in the way. Of course, I am going to show you right here how to do this so you’ll be able to have your way with a whole fish when you go out to eat or if you have a dinner party, you can do this for your guests.

I found these beauties at my local Whole Foods for $12.49 per pound. Look for clear, shiny eyes and glossy, not slimy skin. It should also smell fresh like the ocean and not “fishy.” You have every right to ask the fishmonger if you can take a sniff of the fish. People do it all the time, and the fishmongers are used to it. I do, however, consider this a special occasion fish, not because of the price, but because it flew first class from Greece to get to my market. Normally I try to limit (not necessarily eliminate) imported fish given the heavier environmental impact versus those locally caught. If you can’t find branzino in your area, walleye or another small whole fish in the 1 to 1 1/2 pound range will do.

A whole roasted fish stays nice and moist because of the bones and the skin, which I think also give it great flavor. All you need is a healthy sprinkling of salt inside the cavity along with lemon slices and some fresh parsley or fennel fronds. After you take the bones out, you can choose to leave the skin or or remove it. A final drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and a quick squeeze of lemon is all you need to have an amazing piece of fish.

Whole Roasted Branzino

Pamela

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Ingredients

6 1 to 1 ¼ pound whole sea bass or striped bass scaled and gutted (you ask the fishmonger to do this for you)
Sea salt
2 lemons sliced into thin rounds
6 sprigs of parsley or some fennel fronds + extra fennel fronds for the pan
Unrefined cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse each piece of fish and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange some fennel fronds on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place the fish on top of the fronds. You don’t have to use fennel fronds, but I like the flavor they infuse.
Season the cavity of the fish with a healthy pinch of sea salt. Fill each cavity with some parsley or fennel fronds and 2 slices of lemon.
Drizzle the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Roast the fish for 20 minutes. Take a peek under the skin along the backbone. The flesh should be opaque and not translucent.
To filet the fish, use two large spoons or a large spoon and a fork and start by removing the head and the tail. They should break off easily from the rest of the body. Remove lemon and parsley from the cavity. Scrape all the flabby pieces off the bottom of the fish. Turn the fish around and run the spoon along the backbone of the fish to remove the small bones at the top. Wedge your spoon into the middle of the fish to open up the fish so you can remove the spine. Lift the spine from the flesh. Take the meat off the skin, if desired, and transfer to a warmed plate. Sometimes I run my finger across the flesh to make sure I got all the bones. Don’t worry if you missed a few, just warn your dinner companions ahead of time that you’re not an expert and that there may be a pin bone or two.
Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil and a little more lemon if you wish.

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lemon olive oil parsley whole fish

Hen of the Woods Mushroom Toast Recipe

I don’t eat out that much, but one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles is Gjelina in Venice. I would probably go there more often, but getting a table at a reasonable hour is impossible! Before my first visit a few years ago, a friend strongly suggested I order the Mushroom Toast. Let me just say that when I saw items on the menu like “Crispy Purple Peruvian Potatoes!” and “Moroccan Chickpea and Black Kale Stew!,” (I used the exclamation points, Gjelina did not) I wasn’t overly excited about “Mushroom Toast.” But I trust my friend and ordered the mushroom toast and it was ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I HAVE EVER EATEN. Delicate, earthy mushrooms in a light, creamy white wine-infused sauce, all poured over grilled bread and drizzled with truffle oil, the nooks and crannies of the toast catching every bit of mushroom juiciness. It was so delicious, I actually had dreams about it that night. True story!

The problem is that Gjelina doesn’t share their recipes, at least not with little old me. So after a game of 20 questions with my waiter, I had a game plan for attempting to recreate this dish at home. The ingredients are ones I never would have thought to put together on my own: Hen of the Woods mushrooms (what??), creme fraiche and truffle oil. Now I may not have gotten the recipe exactly right, and in fact I do believe my version is less rich and creamy, but I am so obsessed with the way this turned out, that I don’t care how different mine is. First of all, even though I don’t eat too much bread, I think anything on grilled bread is DE-licious! And grilled bread rubbed with garlic is SUPER DE-licious!

But mushrooms are the star of this show and Hen of the Woods mushrooms are so meaty and earthy with the most delicate texture. They also go by the name “Maitake” mushrooms. I found them easily at Whole Foods and I have seen them at several local farmers markets. I will warn you, they are pricey, so if you can’t find them or you don’t want to spend the money, you can use oyster or chanterelle mushrooms. You really can’t use button mushrooms or Portobellos in this recipe. I tried them here, and they’re too firm. You really need something light and delicate. Japanese mushrooms, including Maitake, are really good for you and contain loads of immune-boosting compounds and have even been shown to have anti-cancer and anti-tumor compounds. They also have less water than traditional mushrooms, so they actually have a more mushroom-y flavor. Yum!

I really went for it and bought truffle oil at Sur La Table to finish off the dish the way they do at Gjelina. Yes, this mushroom mixture is already rich enough with the creme fraiche and the butter and the olive oil, but good gracious, a drizzle of truffle oil takes this over the top. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find truffle oil locally that was totally pure, without “truffle flavoring.” But a quick search on amazon.com provided a few choices for all-natural truffle oils (like this one from JR Mushrooms & Specialties.)

I taught this recipe in my class this month and more than one person asked, “why is this so good?” It’s really everything, and not just one thing. The grilled bread, the garlic rubbed on the grilled bread, the meaty, delicate mushrooms, the tangy creme fraiche (which is really just French sour cream), and the truffle oil all make this something so special. The way I made it in these pictures would be amazing as an appetizer on a plate with or without a fresh green salad. Or you can opt for a smaller piece of toast and serve this as an hors d’oeuvre, although it can be a tad messy. I think even for brunch with a fried egg on top would be amazing. Hoping you try this and love it as much as I do!

Hen of the Woods Mushroom Toast

Pamela, inspired by Gjelina Restaurant

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

3 large slices of crusty peasant bread about ½-inch thick
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil + additional for brushing bread
1 whole garlic clove + 2 cloves minced
10 ounces Hen of the Woods mushrooms aka Maitake, chopped or broken apart with your hands
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper or to taste
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken vegetable or mushroom stock
6 Tablespoons crème fraiche
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Truffle oil to drizzle
Chopped fresh chives for garnish optional

Instructions

Preheat a grill over medium heat.
Brush both sides of bread with olive oil. Grill bread on both sides until toasted and slightly charred. Thinly slice the end off of the whole garlic clove and rub one side of each piece of bread with the cut side of the garlic. Cut the bread in half crosswise and arrange on a platter.
In a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and sauté until softened.
Add wine and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed.
Stir in chicken stock and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Whisk in crème fraiche and butter and cook until slightly thickened, but still saucy.
Spoon mushroom mixture with sauce over toasts. Drizzle with truffle oil and a sprinkle of chopped fresh chives, if desired, and serve immediately.

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bread creme fraiche mushrooms truffle oil white wine

Gingerbread biscotti recipe (gluten-free version, too!)

I have been offered A LOT of biscotti in my life. When everyone you are related to is Italian, biscotti appear more often than Oreos. They’re called “biscotti” because they literally translate to “twice baked.” You bake them in logs first, then you slice up the logs and bake them again. They have this tell-tale shape you see here and they are a bit dry and crunchy and not overly sweet. There are infinite flavor combinations ranging from lemon to almond to chocolate chip to raisin to you name it. I remember my parents and all the other grown-ups dunking them in espresso or, if they were really feeling festive, dipping the cookies in a sweet Italian liqueur called Vin Santo.

Now that sounds dreamy to me for sure, but when I was a kid, all I wanted was a normal chocolate chip cookie for goodness sake! Or one with M&M’s or some other junk. I’m all grown-up now and I much prefer homemade cookies, especially ones that don’t contain M&M’s and lots of sugar. Even though I try not to indulge in sweets very often, I do like to bake cookies for the holidays. My favorite holiday “flavor” is gingerbread. Every year in my December classes I teach some sort of gingerbread dessert, two of which have been posted on my site. These gingerbread biscotti might very well be my favorite so far! One of my complaints about the biscotti of my youth is that they were B-O-R-I-N-G. What kid gets excited about orange zest in a cookie or fennel seed? Yaaaaawwwwnnnn. That’s not a dessert. But gingerbread biscotti are something else. These pack a spicy punch from both crystallized ginger and powered ginger and a double crunch from the whole almonds. Even Mr. Picky loves these. He just walked by the computer and said, “isn’t it about time we make those gingerbread biscotti again?” I absolutely swear he just said that!

Biscotti are fantastic to make for the holidays because they last a good long time (a week or more?) without getting stale, so they’re perfect for gift-giving! If you need to accommodate gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan folks, read through both recipes because there are options. If you’re not sure how to do this, please leave me a comment below and I will help you out. I’ll tell you the truth — I like the gluten-free biscotti better than the wheat flour ones. I think they’re lighter and crispier, although both have that great gingerbread flavor. I love the extra boost from crystallized ginger, but if you can’t find it, don’t worry about it. And if you’re feeling extra naughty, you can go right ahead and dip these cuties in some melted white chocolate and let them harden before you store them or wrap them up. Are you feeling the holiday spirit now??

Gingerbread Biscotti

Pamela

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

3 Tablespoons coconut oil or room temperature unsalted butter
½ cup cane sugar
½ cup muscovado or firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs or ½ cup unsweetened smooth applesauce
2 cups whole wheat pastry or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup whole raw almonds or chopped if desired
½ cup crystallized ginger chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat coconut oil and sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and creamy. Beat in eggs, combine well.
Combine flour and next 5 ingredients; add to sugar mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in almonds and crystallized ginger.
Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each portion into a log 3-inches wide and 1-inch high. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet; remove to a wire rack, and set aside until cool to the touch. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Cut each log crosswise into ½-inch slices with a serrated knife. Place slices on the same parchment-lined cookie sheet. If you want long cookies, cut on the diagonal.
Bake 7-8 minutes; turn cookies over, and bake 7-8 more minutes. If you cut them thick, you will probably have to bake them a little longer. Cool completely on wire racks.

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gluten-free gingerbread biscotti

makes about 24

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup cane sugar

½ cup muscovado or firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs or ½ cup unsweetened smooth applesauce

½ cup almond flour

¼ cup sorghum flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

¼ cup potato starch

¼ cup sweet rice flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 cup whole raw almonds or chopped, if desired

½ cup crystallized ginger, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and creamy. Beat in eggs, combine well.
Sift all dry ingredients together and add to sugar mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in almonds and crystallized ginger.
Dough will be very sticky so you can refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes and/or flour your hands while you split the dough into two logs, about 1 inch high and 2 inches wide. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on the edges and just slightly soft in the middle. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet and remove to a wire rack. Set aside until cool to the touch, about 30 minutes.
Cut each log crosswise into half-inch slices with a serrated knife. Place slices on the same parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden. Cool completely on wire racks.

brown sugar butter cinnamon coconut oil ginger whole wheat pastry flour

Cranberry-orange almond flour muffin recipe

Even though Thanksgiving is passed, I am not letting go of cranberries just yet. I’m not letting go of winter squashes, pears or apples either for that matter. And I might just make some pumpkin pancakes tomorrow morning if I feel like it. I am not yet tired of all those fall flavors, nevermind that winter is knocking at the door.

I made these cranberry-orange muffins on a whim the other day and just had to share. Even though my family and I are not technically gluten-intolerant, gluten is something I mindful about limiting because it is quite pro-inflammatory and hard to digest and something that can be overeaten very easily. So every now and again when I want to bake something, I play around with gluten-free flours based on grains like rice or millet (if you haven’t tried these Millet Blondies, you must!), or to go grain-free I love using almond flour and coconut flour. There’s not one flour that mimics wheat perfectly, but there are ways to achieve a similar result. One of my kids’ favorite muffins is this recipe for Chocolate-Banana-Almond Muffins with Chia Seeds. That recipe uses all almond flour and has a very nice light, moist interior and such a yummy flavor. I otherwise don’t love using all almond flour in baking since things can get a little heavy. And you have to be sure to use almond flour and not almond meal. Almond flour is very fine and almost powdery. Almond meal is a little coarser which isn’t as desirable when you’re baking a muffin.

One of my new favorite combinations is using almond flour with a little coconut flour mixed in. The result is just a little lighter and chewier than with all almond flour. It’s still not exactly like wheat or spelt flour, but it’s close enough and my kids love muffins I make this way, including these cranberry-orange beauties. These muffins are just sweet enough, in my opinion, with a hint of orange. My family doesn’t love an overwhelming orange flavor, so the zest of 1 orange was perfect for us. But my favorite part is biting into a tart cranberry. I love contrasts in textures and flavors, so the tart and sweet always gets me! I remember making cranberry-orange quick bread when I was little girl. One of the reasons I’ll never forget it is because I completely screwed up the recipe the first time by mistaking baking powder for baking soda and things didn’t rise the way they were supposed to. Live and learn. Even though it was as dense as a brick, the flavors were still so good and we ate the whole thing anyway!

You can still find fresh cranberries in the markets and they also freeze beautifully if you would like to stock up and make cranberry-based recipes in the future. I think these are great for lunch boxes or for a chilly afternoon with a cup of tea, but I also would love them on Christmas morning, which is two and a half weeks away!! Loved being with you today, but it’s time for me to make like an elf and get back to business. Until next time!

Cranberry-Orange Almond Flour Muffins

Pamela

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

2 cups blanched almond flour I use Honeyville
¼ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
grated zest of 1 orange
6 large eggs or 4 eggs and 2 “flax eggs”*
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
a heaping cup of fresh cranberries
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter or unrefined coconut oil melted
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with 9 unbleached parchment liners.
Place the 2 cups of almond flour in a large mixing bowl. Remove 2 Tablespoons and transfer it to a small bowl and set aside. Add the coconut flour, baking soda, salt and orange zest to the large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
In a blender, add the eggs, honey, vanilla and vinegar. Blend until well combined.
Pour the egg mixture into the large bowl and combine well. Fold in the cranberries.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup to the top. I use an ice cream scooper to do this. Lightly brush the tops of each muffin with butter and sprinkle with the reserved almond flour and (optional) sliced almonds.
Bake until lightly golden and when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Notes

*1 flax egg = 1 Tablespoon ground flax meal + 3 Tablespoons warm water. Stir together and allow to gel, about 15 minutes.

You don't have to do the almond flour and sliced almonds on top, but it makes a pretty finish!

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almond flour coconut flour cranberries eggs orange

Baked parsnip fries recipe

I really, really ate too much the tail end of last week. And it wasn’t lettuce I was overeating, in case you’re wondering. The whole Thanksgiving-Hanukkah collision really did me in. If all the pies and butter last Thursday weren’t enough, the potato pancakes fried in an inch of oil followed by more sugar over the weekend put me over the edge for sure. In between all of that, my sister-in-law forced me, yes forced me, to try a s’mores cupcake at her son’s birthday party. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! It happens to the best of us. It starts off with a weekend of over-indulgence which is followed by two weekends of holiday parties followed by Christmas and New Year’s and there’s the 8 pounds that “snuck up on ya.” You have been warned.

Ok, let’s make some parsnip fries! Not to worry, parsnips are one of the few good white foods! And these are baked, not fried. Trust me, I’m on your side! I don’t think I ever tasted a parsnip until 10 years ago, and I think it was in a soup mixed in with a bunch of other things. But let me tell you, I have made up for lost time and I am now crazy for these little roots. They’re kind of like intense carrots, really fresh, sweet and grassy. My favorite way to eat them is chopped up, plain roasted with some salt (mmmmm……salty-sweet!) But then my friend Avigail made me some baked parsnip fries and they were so super addictive, I went bonkers. They aren’t crispy like regular fries, but they aren’t soggy either. It’s really the caramelized sweet flavor mixed with the salt that I love. I also think there’s something fun about eating with your hands, which makes these a little dangerous because I can eat an entire sheet pan all by myself in not a lot of time. Sure, parsnips are a whole food, but they do have more carbs than a lot of other vegetables, so you don’t really want to eat a whole sheet pan of them.

The trick with making parsnip fries is cutting them the right way. Because they’re a bit skinny on the bottom and fat on top, I like to cut them in half crosswise first and then cut each half into sticks. You have a much better chance of getting uniform pieces, which we all know is the key to making sure vegetables roast evenly. Try not to allow the ends to be too skinny, otherwise they’ll burn before the rest of the parsnip is tender. Some people like to cut the core out of the middle because it is supposedly tough, but I just slice the whole thing.

I really don’t know what you couldn’t serve these with. Parsnip fries re a perfect alternative to French fries, so these are great with burgers, veggie or otherwise. Parsnips are fantastic with poultry. I think Avigail served them to me with salmon. Really, cooked this way they are so neutral you can’t go wrong. Unless you do eat an entire sheet pan of them. You have been warned…

Baked Parsnip Fries

Pamela

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Servings or just you and me

Ingredients

3 pounds of parsnips peeled
3 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.
Cut the parsnips in half crosswise. Then cut each half into ½ inch sticks.
Place parsnips on the prepared baking sheets and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat with your hands and spread the pieces in one layer.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. (I like ½ teaspoon salt per pan.) Bake until tender and golden, about 35-45 minutes, tossing once about halfway through roasting. Sprinkle with additional salt, if desired (I always do.)

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parsnips

Cranberry-granola-yogurt parfait recipe

Sometimes I think of Thanksgiving as the culinary Olympics since there is major cooking and intense prep involved. And today I have the sore legs to show for it! But it is all worth it especially when I get to cook with my kids and spend a nice long day with my loved ones. I had the extra-special treat of having my mom visit this year for which I was so grateful. She was an amazing sous chef and always has such an easy going attitude. I am hoping (hint, hint) that she makes this a regular trip and brings my dad next time.

Today is not a cooking day for me. It might be a reheating leftovers day. It might be a juicing and smoothie day. But I have turned off the creative area of my brain and I am giving my feet a much-needed rest and that’s that. My main focus today is getting out of the house after lunch so that when that craving for pie hits, I’m less likely to succumb to temptation. This is when poor eating habits take hold and before you know it, it’s January 5th and there are a few extra pounds that came out of nowhere. Except I’m telling you, they start today!

If you want something sweet, but a little more natural, I have always loved this parfait, which also does double duty by using up leftover cranberry sauce. There’s really no recipe here, just layers of cranberry sauce, unsweetened yogurt, and granola. And sometimes I swirl the cranberry sauce into the yogurt. If you don’t have any granola in the house, just mix together what I call “faux granola” — a few nuts and seeds, dried fruit and toasted (or raw) coconut. You still get the crunch that balances out the creamy from the yogurt. I’m not over thinking this one and I don’t think I have it in me to do so if I tried! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Cranberry-Yogurt-Granola Parfait

Pamela

4 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

plain unsweetened yogurt, regular or Greek-style (I like whole yogurt)
leftover cranberry sauce
granola

Instructions

Take a glass and layer the ingredients however you want. There is no right or wrong way to do this. You can do one layer or each, or two layers of yogurt and granola and one dollop of cranberry sauce. Just make sure you have enough yogurt so the parfait doesn't get too sweet!

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Roasted delicata squash and apple salad recipe

Oh, I know your Thanksgiving menu is probably planned and I think that is great! I actually had no intention of trying to convince you today, this late in the game, that you absolutely must include such and such recipe on your holiday table. I know you’re committed and that’s that. But for the rest of you slackers, it’s your lucky day! This is your Thanksgiving salad. Period. I have taught it umpteen times already this month, with another class to go and I am more obsessed with it than ever. I think this salad actually makes turkey taste better!! Make some room on that menu!

Delicata squash should be nicknamed “THE Thanksgiving squash” because it’s seasonal, adorable, and minimal work. You don’t peel it! You eat the skin! It tastes amazing! How much do you love me right now? Forget butternut squash this year. Give yourself a break and go with delicata. I have no idea if you can find it where you live, but in Southern California it’s all over the place at every supermarket, farmers market and Trader Joe’s. Sometimes it’s off-white with yellow stripes, sometimes pale yellow with orange and lots of in-betweens.

As much as I love delicata squash, my favorite part of this salad just might be the big wedges of roasted apples. Pink Ladies are my favorite and I think are perfect here, but Honeycrisp, Fuji, Jonagold are all great, too. Granny Smith is a little too tart in my opinion. Leave the peel on to not only make your life easier, but I think the apples look prettier that way and hold their shape better.

Here’s your game plan for this salad:

make the dressing this weekend and store in a glass jar with a lid in the refrigerator
wash and dry your salad greens on Tuesday and store in the refrigerator
if you are using nuts or pumpkin seeds, toast them Tuesday and store at room temperature
wash, seed and cut delicata squash into slices on Wednesday and store in a container or ziploc in the refrigerator
shave Manchego cheese with a vegetable peeler and store in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container
Thursday morning you can roast the delicate squash and apples and take the dressing out of the refrigerator to bring to room temp; store cooked squash and apples at room temp until dinnertime
right before carving the turkey, assemble and dress the salad!

Have an amazing Thanksgiving!!!

Roasted Delicata Squash and Apple Salad

Pamela

5 from 2 votes

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Servings

Ingredients

2 delicata squash washed but not peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed, and cut into ½-inch slices
2 large apples cored, sliced into ½-inch slices (I cut them crosswise)
3 Tablespoons olive oil or unrefined coconut oil melted
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary optional, but I think it’s delicious
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
10 cups mixed greens including some bitter varieties such as radicchio and/or arugula
Dressing:
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar preferably raw
5 Tablespoons unrefined cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
Toppings: shaved manchego cheese ½ cup buttered and salted toasted pecans or toasted, salted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the squash and apples in a large bowl and add the melted coconut oil and 1 Tablespoon maple syrup. Toss to coat. (You can also add the apples to the salad raw instead of roasted.)
Place the apples and squash in one layer on the baking sheets and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast until tender, approximately 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the dressing: in a small bowl or screw top jar combine apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon, salt, pepper and maple syrup and whisk or shake to combine. You may have more dressing than you need for this recipe.
Place salad greens on a platter and toss with enough dressing to coat lightly. Separately drizzle the squash and apples with some dressing and add to the greens. Sprinkle with any desired toppings. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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