Blossom end times

Last weekend we took our little shop project, QUITOKEETO, to the Remodelista Holiday Market. It took place at the Heath Ceramics factory, and it was the first time we've done anything "out in the wild" related to the shop. So exciting! We brought a small assortment of items, had amazing neighbors on either side (hi Adele! hi Tracy!), and spent the day on the south side of Heath's incredible production floor, directly across from the massive tile kilns. A big thank you to Sarah, Julie, Alexa, and the rest of the Remodelista crew for having us, and to Heath for hosting. It was much fun meeting readers, customers, and all the artisans & designers at the market - heartfelt thanks to all of you who turned out. Needless to say, we prepped for the market the preceding day, and Tina made this beauty of a soup for lunch (a lot of times we take turns cooking lunch, or all cook together)...I suspect you'll love it as much as I did. It's simple, hearty, and restorative with brown rice, winter squash, and a miso-tahini broth. Then there's avocado, lemon zest, toasted nori, and chives to kept things lively and beautiful up top.

Miso Tahini Soup Recipe

Before I move on to a few shots from this weekend, I'll say a few more things about the soup. The broth is a lovely, creamy quick broth - its rich nuttiness is thanks to the inclusion of tahini. We served the vegetables and broth over brown rice, but you can certainly take it in other directions. You could serve it over soba, or with tofu, or take your bowl in a different direction entirely - with cooked beans or chickpeas, or(!) farro with a poached egg....

Miso Tahini Soup Recipe

The night before the market I blocked out what our table might look like on my kitchen island (above) - books, honey, perfume, knives, chocolate, etc....And you can see how it look at the actual market (below)...
Miso Tahini Soup RecipeMiso Tahini Soup RecipeMiso Tahini Soup Recipe

This was the view from our neighborhood as people were starting to set up in the morning. It was fascinating to watch the production floor transform into an fantastic market bustling with people. Already looking forward to next year. In the meantime, enjoy the soup (thank you T!) and have a wonderful holiday everyone. xo -h

Miso Tahini Soup

Kabocha squash is an alternative to delicata squash here. Or any winter squash, really. And the recipe calls for white miso here, but you can certainly experiment with another type of miso, or a blend. Just keep in mind some are much saltier (and stronger) than others, so add gradually if you're unsure.

1 small-medium delicata squash, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch crescents
1 medium white turnip, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
4 cups water
4 tablespoons white miso, or to taste
1/4 cup tahini
zest of one lemon

~3 cups of cooked brown rice
1 avocado, sliced
1 bunch of chives, minced
toasted nori (or kale), crumbled, for serving
toasted sesame seeds

Add the squash and turnips to a large pot, cover with the water, and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool just slightly. Pour a few tablespoons of the hot water into a small bowl and whisk in the miso (to thin it out a bit--this step is to avoid clumping). Stir the thinned miso back into the pot along with the tahini, and lemon zest. At this point, taste, and adjust the broth to your liking, it might need a bit more miso (for saltiness)...or more tahini.

To serve, place a generous scoop of rice in each bowl along with some of the squash and turnips. Ladle broth over the vegetables, and finish with a few slices of avocado, a sprinkling of chives, toasted nori, and sesame seeds.

If you have leftovers and need to reheat the soup, you'll want to do so gently, over low heat, to preserve the qualities of the miso.

Once, I spent a couple of hours watching Marcella Hazan fix an artichoke dish from her newest cookbook (at that time) An entire room full of students hyptnotically watched her peel the leaves off an artichoke one by one until she had a pile next to her. We were all wondering the same thing. Finally 迪士尼美語 好唔好, someone asked "What are you going to do with those?" She looked puzzled for a few seconds and then announced that she was going to throw them away..."What would I do with them?" Now I understand that the artichoke heart was all she needed. If you have a fresh, just picked artichoke , the heart is pure gold!

This is a simple recipe that really showcases the best part of the artichoke: the heart. As dymnyno notes, the fresher the artichoke the better. You get rid of all of the leaves (don't despair, it's worth it!), gently steam the artichoke hearts until just tender and then coat them in egg and panko before crisping them in a shallow pool of olive oil. The richness of the crust and the slight bitterness of the artichoke are offset by the bright, aromatic lime and cumin dipping sauce. Make sure to serve these warm, while they're still nice and crisp hk hotel.

Serves 4 artichoke halves

Artichoke Hearts

2 globe artichokes, preferable with some stalk.
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs

Prepare the artichokes: Peel all the leaves off the choke. Peel the stalk and with a paring knife neatly trim the bottom where you removed the leaves.
Cut the trimmed artichokes in half vertically and with a spoon remove the hairy choke. Be careful when cutting in half to evenly cut the stem, too.
Rub immediately with lemon juice so the artichoke doesn't get brown (which happens very quickly!). Steam the hearts until tender. Time will vary depending on the size of the hearts (about 15 minutes).
Dip each artichoke half into the egg and then into the bread crumbs.
Fry in the olive oil over medium heat until golden.
Set on paper towels to absorb the oil .

Creamy Cumin-Lime Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
finely grated zest of a lime
juice of a lime
Salt

Mix all the ingredients together, adding salt to taste.
Serve the golden hearts warm with the creamy dipping sauce.

Once, I spent a couple of hours watching Marcella Hazan fix an artichoke dish from her newest cookbook (at that time) An entire room full of students hyptnotically watched her peel the leaves off an artichoke one by one until she had a pile next to her. We were all wondering the same thing. Finally, someone asked "What are you going to do with those?" She looked puzzled for a few seconds and then announced that she was going to throw them away..."What would I do with them?" Now I understand that the artichoke heart was all she needed. If you have a fresh, just picked artichoke , the heart is pure gold!

This is a simple recipe that really showcases the best part of the artichoke: the heart. As dymnyno notes, the fresher the artichoke the better. You get rid of all of the leaves (don't despair, it's worth it!), gently steam the artichoke hearts until just tender and then coat them in egg and panko before crisping them in a shallow pool of olive oil. The richness of the crust and the slight bitterness of the artichoke are offset by the bright, aromatic lime and cumin dipping sauce. Make sure to serve these warm, while they're still nice and crisp.

Serves 4 artichoke halves

Artichoke Hearts

2 globe artichokes, preferable with some stalk.
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs

Prepare the artichokes: Peel all the leaves off the choke. Peel the stalk and with a paring knife neatly trim the bottom where you removed the leaves.
Cut the trimmed artichokes in half vertically and with a spoon remove the hairy choke. Be careful when cutting in half to evenly cut the stem, too.
Rub immediately with lemon juice so the artichoke doesn't get brown (which happens very quickly!). Steam the hearts until tender. Time will vary depending on the size of the hearts (about 15 minutes).
Dip each artichoke half into the egg and then into the bread crumbs.
Fry in the olive oil over medium heat until golden.
Set on paper towels to absorb the oil.

Creamy Cumin-Lime Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
finely grated zest of a lime
juice of a lime
Salt

Mix all the ingredients together, adding salt to taste.
Serve the golden hearts warm with the creamy dipping sauce.

Author Notes: Just playing around in the kitchen when a relative brought me back hot paprika from their trip to Spain



Serves 2

2 bone-in center cut pork chops DR Max electronic English, each about 1 inch think
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sweet or hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, sliced thin

Mix all dry spices together, and rub on to pork chops on both sides. Rub in well using your hands. Let the pork chops sit for 10 minutes at room temperature.

In a large saute pan, heat oil for a minute on medium heat. Add sliced onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add wine DR Max electronic English, and cook one more minute.

Move onions over to the side of the pan, and place pork chops in the pan, cooking 5 minutes, then turning, and cooking 5 minutes on the second side.

Remove from heat, then cover the pan DR Max electronic English, as is, tightly with foil, and let sit for 5 minutes. Plate the pork chops, topping them with the onions, and serve.

Author Notes: After seeing a recipe for beet and farro burgers that called for puréeing the roots raw in a food processor, I tried the same method with my C.S.A. turnips. It worked beautifully. Everything—root and greens—goes into the food processor together with herbs and rice, which allows the patties to come together in a snap. Fresh breadcrumbs hold the patties together, and a mix of seeds gives the burgers a crunchy texture.

A few tips:

Turnips: I have been using hakurei turnips from my C.S.A. and the farmers market. As an experiment, I made a batch using purple top turnips from the grocery store—and woah! Big difference. The taste was so turnipy that I had to add a carrot and zucchini for sweetness. So, just taste your mixture before cooking—if it tastes super turnipy, which it shouldn't if you are using C.S.A. or farmers market turnips, maybe add a carrot or zucchini to cut the bite.

Seeds: I have been obsessed with this simple seed mix since reading about it the Prune cookbook: equal parts sesame seeds, poppy seeds, millet, and flax. It is so good sprinkled over buttered toast or thrown into any homemade bread or added to things like this veggie burger for texture—the millet especially adds such a nice crunch. Feel free to use any mix of seeds, however.

Use this recipe as a guide. I use it to clean out the fridge of tired herbs, carrots, zucchini, etc. I have only used sushi rice, but I imagine other grains would work well, too.

Finally, I have been serving them with hummus and these zucchini pickles. I think a homemade tahini sauce would be nice here, too.

Makes 5 patties

3 to 4 small turnips with greens (12 to 14 ounces)
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 scallion
1 to 2 cloves garlic
Herbs, whatever you have
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 cup cooked rice
1/3 cup seeds, such as a mix of millet, sesame, poppy, and flax
Freshly cracked pepper
Grapeseed or canola oil for frying
Buns or naan, hummus or tahini sauce, and/or pickles for serving

Remove greens from turnips and set aside. Cut remaining stem end off root and discard. If turnips or greens are dirty, wash or soak briefly to remove dirt, then pat dry.

If you haven't made your fresh breadcrumbs yet, pulse some bread in the food processor before it gets dirtied by everything else. Set crumbs aside.

Roughly chop turnip roots, then pulse in food processor until finely ground. Add scallion, garlic, herbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and turnip greens and pulse until combined, scraping down the sides of the processor as needed.

Add the rice and pulse briefly to combine—you want the rice to have some texture. Transfer contents to a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs and seeds and mix to combine. Taste. Add more salt if necessary. Add more breadcrumbs if mixture seems too wet. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, portion out 5 patties. Chill until ready to cook.
Place two large sauté pans over high heat. Add a thin layer of oil to each pan. Season patties with salt and pepper on each side. Make sure oil is hot before adding patties. Patties should sizzle when they hit the oil. Immediately turn heat down to medium or medium low and cook for 5 minutes a side. Try hard not to disturb the patties as they cook — if you let them brown over medium low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, they will not stick, and they will brown beautifully. Depending on your pan, cook two to three patties at a time.

Serve with buns or naan, hummus or tahini sauce, and/or pickles if you have them.