To take advantage of the last farmer markets, I pick Brussel sprouts as greens and a very tasty root, celery, and compose my meal around the delicate crisp flavor of this wonderful tuber. Pairing it with chestnuts and mushroom gives it a meaty and woody taste.The balance of the main dish is built around a similar variation with a twist. The addition of orange and cinnamon sweetens the combination.
The dessert is both tart and sweet and takes advantage of the still bountiful crop of apples.
Chestnut and Mushrooms “cappuccino”
Ingredients:
12 chestnuts (from a preserve) cut in pieces. 4 reserved
1 lbs ½ porcini, chanterelle etc…mushrooms cleaned and picked through to remove any branches
1 small onion peeled and diced
3 large garlic cloves, crushed with the side of a knife and peeled
2 oz Prosciutto cubes or pancetta
¼ cup diced celery root
1 bouquet garni
5 cups beef stock
2 cups Brussels sprouts leaves, shredded fine
1 cup carrot peeled and cut very fine
Material:
1 3-quart pot and cover
1 saucepan
1 slotted spoon
Put the Prosciutto bits and a tablespoon of oil in a large pot and cook until browned about 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel.
Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pot and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Add the cut chestnuts, the bouquet garni, and the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes.
Bring a pot of water to boil, dip the Brussels sprouts leaves for a minute. Remove them and cool them in iced water. Repeat the process with the carrots.
Puree the soup very fine. Heat it up with the reserved chestnut, bacon bits, Brussels sprouts and carrots.
Divide the soup in 6 bowls.
Celery root purée
Ingredients:
1 celery root
3 Yukon potatoes
1 tablespoon of butter
¼ cup of milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Material:
1 peeler
1 paring knife
1 cutting board
1 saucepan
1 strainer
1 food processor
1 electric rice cooker
Cut the top off the celery root. Peel the root and slice it in ½ inch slices. Peel the potatoes and cube them in 2-inch pieces. Place the peeled tubers in the saucepan. Cover with cold water and set on the medium setting of the gas stove. Cook for 20 minutes or until the celery and potato pieces can be easily pierced with a knife. Strain and place in the bowl of the food processor. Add the tablespoon of butter and pulse until well mixed. If the consistency is too thick add the milk little by little. Salt and pepper to taste and pulse one last time.
You can start the purée one hour before serving dinner. If you want to prepare it longer in advance, place the finished purée in the bowl of a rice cooker and set the machine on warm.
Daube or Mediterranean beef stew
Ingredients:
For the marinade, the day before cooking:
4 lbs of beef shanks or any beef for stew
½ bottle of full bodied red wine such as Côte du Rhône or a Pinot noir
½ yellow onion peeled and sliced
2 large carrots peeled and sliced
The juice of an orange and its peel
1 stick of cinnamon
10 black peppercorns whole
1 laurel leaf
For the dish, the day of the meal:
½ cup flour
½ tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup beef stock
Material:
1 colander
1 large salad bowl
1 cutting board
1 large frying pan
1 6-quart slow cooker or a 6-quart saucepan
The day before the party, place the beef shanks or beef stew cut in two-inch pieces in the large salad bowl. Add the onion and carrot slices, the orange peel, the cinnamon stick, black peppercorns and the laurel leave. Pour the wine and orange juice in the bowl. Cover with a plastic film and refrigerate until the next day.
Six hours before the party, remove the meat from the marinade. Dust the cutting board with flour and salt, and roll each piece of meat in it.
Place the frying pan over the medium setting of the gas. Pour the olive oil and sauté the meat in batches. Place the browned pieces of meat in the slow cooker. Cover with the marinade. Add the beef stock. Set the slow cooker on the lowest setting for 6 hours. After 5 hours, check the consistency of the sauce. To thicken it, remove the cover and bring the settings to high.
To keep the dish very warm, place the slow cooker on a serving table and set it on warm.
Serve 6.
Note: if using a conventional pan, cook for 2 hours and 1/2. Remove the meat on a cutting board and check the thickness of the sauce. Leave the sauce on the gas until you reach the desired consistency. The sauce should evaporate till you have 1/3 remaining.
Meatloaf Gratin
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A smudge of butter
Meat leftovers from beef stew (or roast…)
2 Yukon potatoes
½ cup of Gruyere cheese freshly grated
½ onion
Material:
Saucepan
Frying pan
Peeler
Paring knife and cutting board
Ricer or electric masher
Ovenproof baking dish
Food processor fitted with a blade
Peel the onion and slice it fine. Pour the olive oil in the frying pan and on medium setting of the gas range for 1 minute. Lower the fire and add the onions, stirring constantly until soft. Remove from the fire and pour into the food processor bowl. Add the meat leftovers and pulse until just ground.
Butter lightly the baking dish and cover it with the content of the food processor.
Turn the oven on at 350.
Peel and cube the potatoes. Pace them into the saucepan and cover with cold water. Set the saucepan on the medium setting of the gas stove. After it boils, cook for 20 minutes, until the potato pieces can easily be pierced with the paring knife. Using the ricer or the electric masher, purée the potatoes. Layer the purée on top of the ground meat. Finish up with a layer of Gruyere.
Place the dish in the oven. Add the grill function of the
Oven. Cook for 20 minutes, until the top is golden.
Serve two with a green salad for lunch.
Autumn Compote
Ingredients:
5 Fuji apples
Quince jam (recipe follows)
Material:
Cutting board
Peeler
Paring knife
Strainer
Saucepan
Filter the syrup of the quince jam over the saucepan, reserving the quince cubes. Set the saucepan on the low setting of the gas stove.
Peel quarter, core and cube the apples. Add the apple pieces and cook for ten minutes or until just soft. Check for doneness by piercing easily the fruit with a sharp knife. Remove from the stove and cool.
To serve, place in individual bowl and sprinkle the quince cubes on top. The glimmering orange quince cubes over the yellow apple pieces form a festive and slightly tart dessert.
Quince jam
Ingredients:
2 or 3 quinces
1-inch piece of ginger
¾ of the weight of the fruit in crystallized sugar
1 lemon per 2 lbs of fruit
Material:
Salad bowl
Juicer
Peeler
Strainer
6-quart heavy-bottom pan
Wooden spoon
Glass Jars
Juice the lemon and pour half of it in a large salad bowl. Add cold water and mix. Reserve the rest of the juice.
Weigh the fruit. Whatever number you obtain, measure ¾ of the weight in sugar.
Peel the quinces. Use some lemon to prevent the quinces from darkening. Remove the hearts of the quinces and put them along with the ginger in a little cloth purse tied with the kitchen tie. Cut the quinces in 1inch cubes, dumping them in the lemon water as you proceed.
Pour the same weight of water than sugar in the heavy-bottomed pan. Add the sugar. Mix well. Place the pan on the medium range of the stove and bring to a boil stirring constantly. When the surface of the water is bubbling all over,
add the fruit to the boiling syrup. Place the purse in the middle. Let it boil again and cook for another 45-50 minutes, stirring episodically. If impurities or moss come to the surface remove them with a slotted spoon.
Sterilize the glass jars and their cover by boiling them for 5 minutes. Remove them with a set of tongues and let them dry over a rack.
When the fruit turn orange rose, remove from the fire. The jam should still be slightly liquid. Remove the cloth purse.
Pour the jam in the clean pots. Close the pots and turn them over until they are totally cool.
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