Blossom end times

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.

This salad plays beautifully to spring's first ingredients, with sweet caramelized shallots and roasted red onions and broccoli, all tossed with a light hong kong weather, lemony aioli dressing. (less) - Elizabeth Stark

Serves 4

For the aioli:

1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced shallot
sea salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
ground black pepper

In the bowl of a stand mixer or working with a handheld electric mixer, beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, garlic, shallot , and a generous pinch sea salt on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. When mixture is pale and opaque, add a splash of olive oil and beat until fully incorporated. Continue beating on medium speed while adding the olive oil a little at a time.

Once you've added two-thirds of the oil, you can add it in bigger splashes. After adding all of the olive oil and the consistency is thick like mayonnaise, add sea salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in enough lemon juice so that the aioli is a bit thinner and forms soft peaks. Keep leftover aioli sealed in the fridge up to 3 days.

For the salad:

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 large shallots, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
Sea salt
1 pound young broccoli, stems trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch floret
2 red onions, quartered with core intact
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, then add shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Turn heat to low and sprinkle on sea salt. Cook shallots, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 30 minutes , or until they're golden brown and sweet.

Meanwhile, toss broccoli with 2 more tablespoons olive oil and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss the red onions with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir them into the broccoli. Sprinkle with sea salt, paprika, and black pepper. Roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until broccoli has started to brown on the edges and the onions are tender.

Toss the broccoli and onions with 1/4 cup aioli. Fold in the caramelized shallots. Finish with sea salt and pepper to taste, then serve warm.

Though best warm, this salad keeps well in the fridge for a day or two.

Are you the person that forgets about Thanksgiving until the week of? Do you wait until two days before to scramble together a semi-appropriate menu? Or are you the obsessive planner who already knows her entire menu plus selected table linens by Labor Day. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of Thanksgiving preparedness, we can all agree that minimal work on Thanksgiving Day is preferred Business Centre in Hong Kong.

This is where the freezer comes in.

Aside from your turkey, you can make the majority of your entire menu ahead of time and freeze it. Everything from the bread rolls to pie dough to gravy can be prepped ahead of time, stashed in the icebox, and reheated on Thanksgiving Day.

1. Cranberry Sauce
 
Cranberry sauce freezes beautifully 19 LED Light Bulb. The mustard seeds and ginger in this recipe add a kick that lingers even after the sauce has been reheated on the stove.

Get the recipe: Cranberry Sauce with Mustard Seeds and Orange

2. Pie dough
 
Pie dough can last in the freezer for up to 3 months, so we suggest making a few disks ahead of time to make your Thanksgiving dessert prep a breeze.Just thaw the dough on the counter until it's ready to roll out.

Get the recipe: Flaky Pie Crust Dough

3. Bread Rolls
 
The bread basket may not seem like a crucial component to Thanksgiving dinner, but your guests will notice if you don't have one. Freeze un-baked assembled bread rolls, then pop them into the oven just before your dinner.

Get the recipe: Parker House Rolls

4. Stock/Gravy
 
While many of you might use the roast turkey pan drippings to make your gravy, it can cause a lot of last minute stressors. Making stock and gravy ahead of time means all you have to do is reheat it before you serve the turkey, so no last minute lumpy gravy disasters will come you way. You don't have to wait until your roast your turkey to make stock either. You can buy the neck and wings by themselves to roast off for the stock Cloud Video Conferencing.

Get the recipe: Rich and Silky Turkey Gravy

5. Soups
 
A simple puréed soup is an easy starter dish that won't fill up your guests too much for the main event. Luckily, they also freeze well so all you have to do is heat it up and garnish before serving.

Get the recipe: Chestnut Soup with Bacon and Chives

6. Pie fillings
 
If you're making a pie that involves a puree, you can make this ahead of time as well and store it in the freezer. This is especially handy when making your squash and pumpkin purees from scratch, since it's easy to forget the extra hour needed to roast the vegetables before you can make a filling from them.

Get the recipe: Spiced Kabocha Squash Pie with Pumpkin-Seed Crumble

7. Stuffing
 
If you're serving a cornbread or bread-based stuffing, tear or cube the bread ahead of time before freezing. Then just whip them out of the freezer, assemble your stuffing, and pop the whole dish into the oven.

Get the recipe: Cornbread, Sausage, and Pecan Stuffing

8. Gratins

Casseroles and creamy gratins can actually be baked ahead of time, frozen whole, and reheated in the oven on the day of the feast. Just wrap the whole thing with plastic wrap then aluminum foil to protect the dish from freezer burn.

Puff pastry sounds fancy, right? That's why it's perfect for the holidays, when you want to put out a killer spread but somehow have to manage it between everyone else's Christmas parties, your holiday baking, and your plans to get the hell out of town EGF.

See, puff pastry is shockingly good when storebought, and exactly the kind of buttery, rich, snackable food you want to put in front of people when they're holding a glass of something boozy or bubbly. So why not make things easy on yourself and bake up one of these sweet or savory bites a couple hours before the doorbell rings.

Flaky pastry, spinach, and cheese is a sacred trio well known to all fans of Greek cooking. So why not make these spanikopita-like treats easy and bite-sized? Just use puff pastry instead of phyllo, and fold them into muffin cups with a savory cheese filling. Or go super-small and bake them in mini-muffin tins instead reenex.

Get the recipe: Spinach Puffs
 
Tarts are endlessly versatile for entertaining, and all you need to do to prep the puff is roll it out for a minute or two. Roasted mushrooms pair perfectly with all that buttery richness, and you can top the tart with the herb salad and cut it into small squares, or serve them in larger pieces with the salad alongside as a sit-down dinner course omnivores and vegetarians will love.

Get the recipe: Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Tart with Fresh Herb Salad
 
Yep, puff can go savory or sweet reenex. That means that all you need to do to make an elegant winter fruit dessert is arrange sliced pears on the pastry, brush on some maple syrup, and throw the whole thing in the oven. Or go rogue and combine savory and sweet by topping the tart with crumbled blue cheese. Apple and cheddar is a pretty genius combo, too.

Get the recipe: Maple-Pear Sheet Tart
 
Speaking of apples, these turnovers are as delicious as apple hand pies, but far easier and less messy to make. Bring them warm from the oven as a special dessert, complete with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream.

Get the recipe: French Apple Turnovers

Get the recipe: Raspberry Creme Fraiche

If there is a theme for this blog after the arrival of my husband on the scene, it would be that he is quite the eater. "He seems to travel with his stomach," my uncle once observed. I know, I can't imagine why he would have married me ? He's a gourmand and I love to cook. So you won't be surprised when the other day when we were walking to the vegetable stand, I was describing a classic winter dish from Beirut called kibbeh arnabiya, and I was saying how incredibly complicated and hard it was to make, and then Paul's eyes lit up and before I knew it we were in the butcher shop buying all the ingredients.
 
Kibbeh arnabiya, a dish of meatballs in a tahini-citrus sauce, is always made in the winter time because it relies on a special bitter citrus that is only in season during the cold months. Though historically it was made with bitter Seville oranges (naranj), these days it is often made with a variety of both sweet and sour citrus fruits.

Like many classic dishes of Lebanese cuisine, kibbeh arnabiya is all about seasonality and using what you've preserved and saved for the winter. The citrus fruits would be harvested from the trees in your yard, and the tahini, beef, pine nuts, pomegranate molasses, and chickpeas are all things that would have been available in winter. I can't get bitter oranges locally, so I really like a heavy dose of grapefruit to bring bitterness and complexity to the sauce.
 
Paul, of course, suggested that we go all out for this version, and as a result this is an incredibly complicated dish as I've made it. I made the lamb stock from scratch, cooked the chickpeas from dried, harvested citrus from the yard, and made the kibbeh meatballs by hand. (Hey, there's not a lot going on in Algeria!) However you should know that it is very easy to make several shortcuts, described below, and have this on the table for a relatively easy (easier?) dinner. Homemade lamb stock is great, but the dish will still be good if you don't have it. There is something amazing about the tahini-citrus sauce that is warm and comforting and reminds me of really good gravy but without the heaviness.

You might read the recipe below and blanch at the length. I understand. But while I may jokingly (okay, fine, sometimes less jokingly) complain about both my husband's voracious appetite and some long hours in the kitchen, there are few things better than doing something you love and feeding those that you love food that they enjoy Vitamin. Sahtein!

P.S. Housekeeping - Some of you told me that you use BlogLovin' to follow along with this blog, so I've added a link in the right-hand column there. You can also subscribe via email, and if there's anything else you want me to add to make it easier to follow along, just ask! Of course if you follow on Instagram, you already knew this post was coming :)

Kibbeh Arnabiya
(Kibbeh Arnabiyah, Kebbeh Arnabiyeh.) A traditional Lebanese cook would already have kibbeh in her freezer and spices at the ready, and would be able to very quickly whip up the sauce and add in the kibbeh. I am not a traditional Lebanese cook and thus have to start from scratch, but the end result was worth it. You want to use a deep pot (not the shallow one pictured ehre) because it makes it easier to puree the sauce. Adapted from Taste of Beirut and here and plenty of kibbeh experience of my own.

for the lamb stock:
1 kilo (2 lbs) of chopped lamb shoulder or 2 lamb shanks
3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1/2 an onion, chopped
water to cover

for the kibbeh spice mix:
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon salt

for the kibbeh shell:
1 lb (1/2 kilo) extra lean ground beef (or lamb or veal)
1 onion
2/3 cup fine bulgur
2 teaspoons spice mix
1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional, not traditional)
salt to taste
for the kibbeh stuffing:
shredded lamb from the lamb stock
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon spice mix

for the tahini sauce:
1 onion, diced
2 cups tahini
1 cup grapefruit juice
2/3 cup orange juice
the juice from 4 manadarins or clementines
the juice of 2 lemons
1 cup lamb stock

for serving:
1 cup cooked chickpeas
pomegranate molasses
chopped parsley

1. Make the lamb stock: Place all the ingredients for the stock in a pot, with several pinches of salt and water to cover. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and simmer until the lamb is cooked through and falling off the bone, about 2-3 hours. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, mix together your spice mix and squeeze your citrus juices. Set aside.
3. For the kibbeh: Preheat oven to 350F. Soak the bulgur in hot water for 3 minutes and then drain it. Place the onion in a food processor with the 2 teaspoons of spice mix and pulse until the onion is finely ground. Add the meat and 1-2 teaspoons of salt and pulse the mixture in the food processor several times to bring it all together. Add the bulgur and pulse again to incorporate the bulgur. (You can also do this with your hands culturelle kids, kneading everything together.) Scoop your meat mixture into a bowl and transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
4. Meanwhile, back to the lamb: Strain the lamb stock and set aside in the refrigerator. Shred any of the lamb meat from the bones and place in a small bowl. Add the pine nts and seasoning to the shredded lamb meat and set aside.
5. Finish the kibbeh: Line two baking sheets with foil. Get a bowl of ice water ready. Take the chilled kibbeh meat from the fridge, dip your fingers into the ice water, and start to form the kibbeh into balls. Using your index finger, carve a hole into the kibbeh ball, rolling it around to create a thin outer wall of the kibbeh ball. Take a little bit of the lamb/pine-nut mixture and place it inside the kibbeh ball. Pinch the kibbeh ball closed, sealing the filling inside and forming it into a torpedo/football shape. Place the kibbeh on the baking sheet as you work.
6. Bake the kibbeh: Bake the kibbeh in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until just cooked. Set aside.
7. Make the sauce: In a large deep saucepan, heat a little olive oil in the pan. Cook the diced onion over medium heat until it is brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Stir the tahini into the pan and add the citrus juices. The mixture will immediately curdle, but just continue to stir over medium-low heat and it will come together. Once it has come back together, add in the lamb stock and season with salt. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for just 2-3 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree the sauce to be smooth.
8. Finish the dish: Add in the kibbeh meatballs and the chickpeas to the sauce. Stir in 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses to the sauce and taste for seasoning. Let kibbeh and chickpeas warm up in the sauce. When everything is warm and combined, ladle the dish into serving bowls. Garnish with some more pomegranate molasses and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Shortcuts: Skip making the lambstock. Make the kibbeh meatballs, but don't make the stuffing for them, just form them into regular (unstuffed) meatballs and bake them. Use purchased instead of fresh juice. Use 1 cup purchased beef stock instead of the lamb stock. You don't have to puree the sauce if you want a more rustic presentation (personally, I think the pureeing makes the dish better).

To reheat: This dish will thicken as it cools. To reheat, whisk in enough water to get the sauce to be liquid again. Add in some more lemon juice because the citrus flavor dissipates the longer the dish sits.