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Fantastic Fall Food


Heather

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I woke up early this past Sunday with all my windows open. While warming up on the porch with a cup of coffee, I considered my cooking options for the day. The chilly air inspired me to riff on some choucroute garnie, so I hit the market for some braisable meats, sauerkraut (sorry, didn't make my own but settled for a bottle of Bubbies), some root veggies and a bottle of white. I just went with what looked good, so I picked up some keilbasa, lamb shanks, and a small uncured Niman ham. I also grabbed some celery root, parsnips, shallots, and some sweet onions. After browning it all up, I dumped in the wine and put it in the oven at 250 for the entire afternoon, then added the kraut, and served. Even though the weather warmed to 80+, it turned out great and made good leftovers for the week too.

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Sauerbraten next Friday, accompanied by spaetzle & my great-grandma's recipe for Rotkohl Mit Apfel. I'll have to buy the meat as soon as we get home from Austin on Tuesday and get it in the marinade. That's only three days soaking - I prefer five but it should still be darn tasty.

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Sauerbraten next Friday, accompanied by spaetzle & my great-grandma's recipe for Rotkohl Mit Apfel. I'll have to buy the meat as soon as we get home from Austin on Tuesday and get it in the marinade. That's only three days soaking - I prefer five but it should still be darn tasty.

If you don't mind sharing your Rotkohl mit Apfel, ich werde es gern lesen und probieren!

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I have been waiting for the weather to become more Fall-ish, but my yen for braised meat won out. I bought buffalo short ribs at Cibola last weekend, and had them in a cooked wine marinade for four days. In order not to heat up the house too much, I cooked them in a 200 degree oven for eight hours and left them in the shut-off oven overnight. They are in the fridge now, separated from the strained braising liquid, which I will reduce some after I have removed the fat. I hope they'll be good.

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I have been waiting for the weather to become more Fall-ish, but my yen for braised meat won out. I bought buffalo short ribs at Cibola last weekend, and had them in a cooked wine marinade for four days. In order not to heat up the house too much, I cooked them in a 200 degree oven for eight hours and left them in the shut-off oven overnight. They are in the fridge now, separated from the strained braising liquid, which I will reduce some after I have removed the fat. I hope they'll be good.
Sounds similar to the Alton Brown method of Goulashing I tried a few days ago. Seared the shortribs (and nearly caused my whole apartment to be evacuated from the ensuing smoke) tossed them in a tomato paste/paprika/worchest. gloop, wrapped them in foil and put them in a 250 degree oven for 5 hours. Drained off the liquid when it came out, and fridged them overnight. Separated them from the bone in the morning and put them on top of the rest of the stew (which I made earlier) to reheat. Good stew but the meat itself wasn't that great. A lot of bad gristle. Which brings me to another problem, has anyone had issues with Wegman's beef? Everytime I have gotten steaks or beef cuts there they have been very stringy and gristly. Maybe living next to Whole Foods for so long spoiled me forever, who knows...
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Used some of the stock I made last weekend to make squash soup tonight. I used acorn and butternut squashes that I got at the farmer's market. I roasted one of each scooped out the contents and cooked with 2 cups of the chicken stock, nutmeg, cinnamon, a little mapple syrup, orange zest, fresh parsley and a bit of pureed chipotle. Finished it off with some skim milk (GASP!) let it simmer awhile and then blended.

I KNOW it is better with cream but it was really quite tasty if not a BIT too spicy for Beth (due to a heavy hand with the chipotle). It doesn't have quite the same body as with cream but the health benefits are huge. I figure it drops probably at LEAST 8-10 grams of saturated fat per bowl. I think next time I might try it using non/low fat sour cream. I think it would add a nice tang and better body than the milk. Anyway the soup and my warm - grilled chicken/spinach/arugula salad with roasted peppers made a very nice light (but autumnal) dinner.

I also bought some wonton wrappers today with the intention of making some butternut squash ravioli sometime this weekend. Thinking of a sage/walnut/cream sauce type of thing. Not sure how I am going to get around the cream on that one... I will post with the results.

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Anyone know the secret to making big fat noodles in chicken noodle soup? The kind they have at Panera. My attempts with regular egg noodle recipes don't work for that. They end up a big gummy mess with an uncooked inside. Is it just a matter of letting them simmer long enough to break down a little? Or do I need to change recipes? I have tried less egg, more egg and less flour none of which really work.

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Anyone know the secret to making big fat noodles in chicken noodle soup? The kind they have at Panera. My attempts with regular egg noodle recipes don't work for that. They end up a big gummy mess with an uncooked inside. Is it just a matter of letting them simmer long enough to break down a little? Or do I need to change recipes? I have tried less egg, more egg and less flour none of which really work.

Are they noodles or dumplings? Dumpling dough has some baking powder in it, which makes the dumplings puff up in boiling liquid. I haven't had the dish at Panera that you are trying to replicate, but I have been served chicken and dumplings where the dumplings are sort of like fat noodles. I don't particularly care for it, but to each his own...

You don't say what your recipe is, but based on your description of how your noodles turn out, it sounds like your dough may need to be kneaded more and perhaps rolled out thinner than you are doing. I always add a bit of olive oil to homemade pasta dough to improve the elasticity. Also, try cooking them in boiling salted water, instead of cooking them in the soup. Take them out of the water when they are cooked to your taste, and then add the soup to them when you serve.

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Are they noodles or dumplings? Dumpling dough has some baking powder in it, which makes the dumplings puff up in boiling liquid. I haven't had the dish at Panera that you are trying to replicate, but I have been served chicken and dumplings where the dumplings are sort of like fat noodles. I don't particularly care for it, but to each his own...

You don't say what your recipe is, but based on your description of how your noodles turn out, it sounds like your dough may need to be kneaded more and perhaps rolled out thinner than you are doing. I always add a bit of olive oil to homemade pasta dough to improve the elasticity. Also, try cooking them in boiling salted water, instead of cooking them in the soup. Take them out of the water when they are cooked to yourt taste, and then add the soup to them when you serve.

I don't think they are dumplings just real fat, soft noodles. The dough I am making works great if rolled out thin. It is what I typically use for ravioli or other pasta applications. My problem is that I want the big fat noodle. I love the noodles at Panera. They aren't gummy or rubbery at all. Which make sense because if they were gummy at that size the inside would just be raw as a protective layer of rubbery noodle would form around the outside keeping any liquid from penetrating the noodle. Just like lumps in gravy or big lumps in pancake batter. I can't figure out how they do it! I was thinking of next time just leaving them in the simmering soup for a long period of time. To the point were they start to break down and try to pull it before it goes from rubbery to mushy.
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Does anyone have a good recipe for Pumpkin Spring Rolls? I had some at a brewpub in Pennsylvania. They were really creamy and fantastic. I have not found a recipe for them.

You can put pretty much anything in a wrapper, fry it and call it a spring roll. What else is in them besides pumpkin puree? Were they rice paper wrappers or wheatflour (ie. Vietnamese style or Chinese style spring rolls)?

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Lentil soup with pork sausages, from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells
Finally!

I also recommend lentil soup from Lulu's Provencal Table, if adapted to accommodate pork, too.

L insists on soaking the lentils and cooking them in bottled water in an otherwise unfussy book. What I like about her recipe is that she calls for an entire head of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and that's it. Second, the rather thinnish purée is served w croutons.

Mix together brown, green & tiny black lentils. Stew the crushed garlic a little to soften a bit and add the rind from Parmesan or Romano and a couple of raw rashers of smoked slab bacon. After 45 minutes, fish out rind, bacon and two large scoops of lentils. Purée the rest. Season. Return the rind, intact lentils and crispy lardons made from the bacon. A few sprigs of parsley. Simmer until thick enough. (Fish out rind & sprigs.) Cool. Forget about for a couple of days since it tends to be blah right away but wonderful later in the week w a dash of red wine vinegar added before serving. Also very good reheated w leftover diced, roasted winter squash instead of croutons. Or steamed broccoli, but not as much.

Red wine. Crusty bread. Good cheese. Green salad. Fruit. Perfect thing to look forward to when there's still time to begin a long walk before the sun goes down.

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I don't think they are dumplings just real fat, soft noodles. The dough I am making works great if rolled out thin. It is what I typically use for ravioli or other pasta applications. My problem is that I want the big fat noodle. I love the noodles at Panera. They aren't gummy or rubbery at all. Which make sense because if they were gummy at that size the inside would just be raw as a protective layer of rubbery noodle would form around the outside keeping any liquid from penetrating the noodle. Just like lumps in gravy or big lumps in pancake batter. I can't figure out how they do it! I was thinking of next time just leaving them in the simmering soup for a long period of time. To the point were they start to break down and try to pull it before it goes from rubbery to mushy.
GOT IT! I used half a beaten egg, one egg white, a sliver of shortening, a dash of baking soda (the noodles had little bubbles in them at the beginning but after they simmerred in the soup for 10 minutes they were fine) splash of olive oil, salt and poured in flour and milk until it looked right. I kneaded for 5 minutes, rolled them out and cut them on a piece of parchment (very important because if they are as moist as they need to be they will stick to anything else!). I let them sith for 10 minutes or so to dry out and then dropped them in boiling water until al dente. I put them into the soup with about 10 minutes of simmer left. They were perfect. Soft but not mushy, body without being chewy. Loved it. I also made some bread to go with the soup and took pictures. I will post a few tomorrow.
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I'll put the rotkohl recipe up later - gotta find it first.
My index card is missing, so I had to call my mom. :blink: This is from my great-grandmother, Sylvia Gonia, who emigrated from Chemnitz, Germany to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the beginning of the 20th century. She was a very talented seamstress, and I am lucky enough to have some of the towels and pillowcases she embroidered for my grandmother's trousseau. We have only two recipes from her, this one, and her recipe for potato salad.

Put in a large pot and cook, covered, for 10 minutes:

2 1/2 lbs, red cabbage, shredded

3/4 c. boiling water

Add:

3 pared, cored, and sliced apples

1 small onion, sliced thin (optional)

Cook another 10 minutes with the lid on.

Add:

3 T. melted butter

1 1/2 t. flour

1/4 c. vinegar

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Stir over the heat just long enough to cook the flour.

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Tonight, we're having a butter lettuce salad with pickled onions and blue cheese dressing, followed by a baked country ham with biscuits, creamed corn and haricots verts. For dessert, something apple (I have a peck from the farm down the road owned by some friends), with butterscotch-calvados ice cream on top.

Ahh, fall.

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That sounds delicious.Recipe please?

It's the butterscotch-almond ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, only no nuts and I added a bunch of calvados instead of scotch to the base. I'll let you know how it turned out--I churned it the other day and haven't tasted it since it ripened in the freezer. (It tasted frickin awesome straight out of the ice-cream maker, though.)

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It's the butterscotch-almond ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, only no nuts and I added a bunch of calvados instead of scotch to the base. I'll let you know how it turned out--I churned it the other day and haven't tasted it since it ripened in the freezer. (It tasted frickin awesome straight out of the ice-cream maker, though.)
Excellent. I just got that book, and happen to have a bottle of calvados.
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Picked up some amazingly good looking short ribs at Safeway yesterday. Braised them with a can of san marzanos, sweet onions, kalamatas, thyme and red pepper flakes. Served 'em up over parmesan polenta. I love that kind of cooking. How often does one get to do something totally easy yet the results make it look like rocket surgery?

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Chicken fricassee had to wait, because Waitman and Mrs. B gifted us with four huge pork hocks, two pounds of fatback, and four pounds of the delightfully euphemistic pork "rind." We made the trotters recipe from Bouchon, packing the results in to a terrine, and used the hock broth and fatback for Fergus Henderson's Beans with Bacon. No real clue what to do with the rind yet. Our whole corner smells like cooked pork.

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My dad just got out of the hospital and needs meals for the week. I'm cooking these and will be packing them in dinner sized portions for his freezer:

pot roast with red wine & mushroom gravy

pork & white bean stew with tomatillos & green chilis

spaghetti & meatballs

lentil soup with kielbasa

And I'm making celeriac/apple/leek soup with homemade chicken stock.

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