Ahhh Spring…it’s right around the corner and DC has gotten a preview of it these last few days.  People have shed their many layers of coats, sweaters, long johns and snow boots in favor of more Spring like fare.  And I have looked down at my thighs and discovered all of my Winter indulgences have given way to, shall we say, squishiness?  With thoughts of shorts, skirts and capris dancing in my head, I realized I had to finally take some serious steps to get my weight back under control.  I joined a gym near my office, hired a personal trainer and have started trying to incorporate healthier whole grains into my diet.  Sure I want to eat healthier, but I don’t want to sacrifice taste! Life isn’t worth living if I’m forced to eat rice cakes (which I actually like, so maybe that’s not a great example).  So it was with delight that I received a recipe for Farro Risotto via my Twitter pal Nicole.

The recipe intrigued me because I had just recently fallen in love with farro.  While there may be some disagreement about what exactly constitutes farro, everyone can agree that it is the whole grain of certain types of wheat.  Because of its hearty texture, Italians use it frequently in soups and as a substitute for arborio rice in risottos.  I had already tried using farro in a salad and knew it paired well with vegetables, so Nicole’s recipe sounded perfect.  Only problem?  I’ve never made risotto before and have actively been avoiding doing so for years.  Stories of being chained to a stove for 40 minutes, stirring constantly, have put risotto on my “no-fly” list.  But after reading the recipe, I decided to give it a try one night after work (while I was yelling at Glenn Beck on the television…I blame my friend Mazzie for that).  Turns out risotto is nothing to fear and using farro made it that much healthier.  We’ll ignore the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese I added to the risotto…it’s for the best really.

Ahhh Thanksgiving…it’s like the Super Bowl for foodies.  And it can also bring about hours of undue stress on those brave enough to host Thanksgiving dinner.  This year, we’re having friends over for the big day…some of whom are serious foodies.  No pressure there at all.  I’ve already ordered the turkey (from Groff’s Content Farm) and have opted to use the Barefoot Contessa’s Roast Turkey with Truffle Butter recipe to fancy it up.  With the bird squared away, I decided to turn my attention to side dishes.  I loved the brussels sprouts, bacon and fig dish I made a few months ago, so it was a no brainer to add it to the menu.  Not only is it an easy dish to whip up, it has a sophisticated look and taste that will wow any dinner guest.  But what else was I going to bring to the table?  I searched the web and became overwhelmed with all the options.  There I was, rocking back and forth and chanting “too many dishes…too many dishes”.  And then I received the November issue of Food and Wine in the mail (otherwise known as my salvation).  Hello, nurse!

The magazine was bursting at the seams with Thanksgiving suggestions, emphasizing a “back to the classics” approach to turkey day.  Although the ingredients were typical Thanksgiving fare (mashed potatoes, green beans and sweet potatoes, to name a few), the recipes elevated them above the scary casseroles one remembers from their youth.  One such dish was their Five Spice Glazed Sweet Potatoes topped with Walnut Toffee.  No odd conglomerations of raisins and marshmallows for these sweet potatoes (sorry Mom…I still love your sweet potato souffle).  Adding the aromatic pungency of Chinese Five Spice powder (a combination of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and Szechuan peppercorns) to a traditionally (and sometimes overly) sweet dish brings a completely different feel to these potatoes.

I decided to make a test batch of the recipe to make sure it was worthy enough to end up on the plates of my foodie friends.  And instead of using regular sweet potatoes, I decided to work with some white sweet potatoes I got from Garner’s Produce.  Also called Cuban sweet potatoes, white sweet potatoes aren’t as sweet as the more familiar orange sweet potatoes.  For this recipe, using the white sweet potatoes turned out to be an asset.  The sugar and spice combination of the glaze didn’t overpower the potato, bringing out an almost smoky flavor.  Instead of using the walnut toffee, I used some of the excess glaze to create a candy coating for the walnuts.  I knew instantly this dish would stand up well against a (fingers crossed) deliciously herbed bird.

Sure it’s not yet November, but my mind has already turned to Thanksgiving. Although I don’t get to head down to Georgia this year for Turkey Day, I still have every intention of whipping up a nice dinner come November 26th.  With that in mind, I’ve been trying different recipes in an attempt to create a Thanksgiving menu that will knock my friend’s socks off (or at least leave them speechlessly happy in a food coma).  When I stumbled upon this recipe for Maple-Ginger Roasted Vegetables with Pecans, I knew I wanted to try it out for a spot on the Big Menu (as my Thanksgiving menu will be called from henceforth).

What I loved about this dish was how much it celebrates the bounty of Fall.  I picked up all the produce (brussels sprouts, parsnips, cauliflower, butternut squash and even fresh GINGER from Next Step Produce) during a trip to the Dupont Circle Farmers Market and was pleasantly surprised at how well their flavors worked together.  Although the recipe called for pecans, I didn’t have any on hand.  And it turned out that I didn’t miss the bite of the pecans at all.

I loved the flavors of this dish, but even better, I loved how easy it was to make.  Sure there was the prep work of chopping up the vegetables, but with The Boy’s help, that didn’t take long.  Once all the veggies were diced, the rest of the dish didn’t take long to throw together.  And for Thanksgiving, that’s a distinct advantage.

While I was on the hunt for figs, it was The Boy’s job to get a hold of some of the season’s first brussels sprouts.  He returned with this:

 And I looked at him like he was insane. 

“What the hell is that?” I asked, looking at the big ass jingle bell stick jutting from his shopping bag.

“It’s the brussels sprouts you wanted,” he responded, looking quite pleased with himself.

“Those aren’t brussels sprouts.  You’ve stolen the Jolly Green Giant’s walking stick,” I said, staring at the green appendage with confusion.

“I asked for brussels sprouts and they pointed at this.  So I got two!”

“Two what? That’s not brussels sprouts.  What am I supposed to do with a green stick.  And why does the stalk smell like broccoli?” I said as I sniffed the log…right there at the farmers market. 

Let’s just say the conversation kind of went on from there and involved me mostly repeating the Jolly Green Giant comment several times.  When I got home, I looked up brussels sprouts and discovered they were in the same family as broccoli and did grow on the sides of long stalks.  I didn’t read anything about the stalks themselves being edible, so I removed the buds from it.  Since I had both figs and brussels sprouts, I decided to combine the two into a sautee with bacon serving as the binder.  It was simple, it was quick and it was fan-fucking-tastic.  I ate it as a light lunch but it would also work very well as a side dish, especially for Thanksgiving (which according to Wal-Mart’s aisle, is next week).

Recipe: Brussels Sprout, Bacon & Figs

Ingredients

• 2 pounds brussels sprouts
• 6 strips of bacon, diced
• 4 fresh figs, cut into small pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Wash the brussels sprouts and drain them. Carefully slice the sprouts lenghthwise into thin strips (it will resemble confetti).
2. In a skillet over medium high heat, add the diced bacon and cook thoroughly. Remove the bacon bits from the skillet but leave the bacon grease. If the bacon produces an excessive amount of grease, remove some of it. You want enough to coat the pan and add flavor, but you don’t want the end result to be greasy.
3. Add the brussels sprouts to the pan and then season with the salt and pepper. Add the fig pieces and stir to coat everything. Cook for about four minutes and then add the bacon. Once the sprouts become a vibrant green and begin to wilt slightly, the dish is done. Remove it from the heat and serve.

Cooking time (duration): 15

Want to make a stuffing that will stop Thanksgiving dinner in its tracks? Head on over to DCFoodies.com for my Apple, Sausage and Mushroom stuffing, completely made from local produce and foods. Now take that and stuff it (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

I’ll admit it…this recipe was created out of desperation. I had a lot of potatoes sitting in my refrigerator that were going to go bad if I didn’t use them and I had no idea what to do with them. And to make matters worse, they weren’t even all the same kinds of potatoes. I had two pounds of fingerling potatoes, a pound of small white potatoes and a pound of red potatoes. What the hell was I going to do with this hodge podge of tubers? As I dug deeper into my refrigerator, I found some rosemary and Asiago cheese AND milk and heavy cream that hadn’t expired. Sweet! Au gratin potatoes, here I come!

Let’s face it, in my world cheese makes everything better. So it was a no brainer for me to toss cheese in with my odd assortment of potatoes. I also had an onion that was on it’s last leg, so I decided to add them into the mix. It was a refrigerator cleaning bonanza…all produce must go! And trust me when I say no clearance sale tasted quite as good as this one. I also decided to play up the different sizes and shapes in the three varieties of potatoes by slicing them differently. Fingerling potatoes became cute coins and the small round red and white potatoes were halved and cut into little moons. Some would call this playing with my food…and I’d tell said people to shut the fuck up. That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it? Perhaps I’ve eaten too many carbs this week…

Asiago Rosemary Au Gratin Potatoes

3 pounds potatoes, various varieties encouraged!

1 medium onion, sliced

3 stems fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups Asiago cheese, grated

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease a rectangular baking dish and set it aside. Slice the potatoes in various shapes, depending on the types of potatoes you are using, and place them in the baking dish. Slice the onion and add to the potatoes. Chop the rosemary and toss the potato/onion mixture with the fresh rosemary. Salt and pepper the potatoes and onions and set the dish aside.

Using a box grater, grate the Asiago cheese until you have one and a half cups. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Have the milk, heavy cream and cheese waiting beside the stove before adding the flour to the butter. Slowly add said flour to the melted butter while whisking the mixture. Whisking while slowly adding the flour will help to prevent lumps from forming in the cheese mixture. Once all the flour is added, slowly add the milk, continuing to whisk. Add the heavy cream and stir until all the ingredients are combined. Reduce the heat slightly and continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Add the cheese and stir until it has melted. Once melted, remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the cheese sauce over the potato mixture and place aluminum foil over the pan. Bake the potatoes for 2 hours or until the top is golden brown.