We also discovered sage leaf tempura.  Oh dear.  It’s so good.  I have a ridiculous amount of gorgeous sage right now and found this recipe in my cookbook In Season by Sarah Raven.

Sage Leaf Tempura

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Plenty of sea salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups iced sparkling water or cold beer
Peanut oil for frying
30 to 40 sage leaves, depending on size and variety

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt and pepper and make a well in the center.  Add the eggs and, with a balloon whisk, mix in the beer to make a not too smooth batter.  Keep the batter in the fridge until you need it.  Heat up your oil to about 350, dip your sage leaves in your batter and start frying!  Cook until golden and fish them out with tongs, dry them on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.  Oh, and eat them!!

And, of course we had to grill garden burgers.  Because getting the grill out for the first time just calls for it.

Then some ball throwing and a nice, long neighborhood walk topped off the day.  Pretty perfect.

Oh, the colors in Seattle in the Spring!  Pretty incredible.  Today is another beauty, but it’s back to the studio for me.

Now, you know me and recipes.  My changes from the original are a guess, but I think it’s pretty dang close.

Winter Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Orzo and Brown Butter

Serves 4 as an entree

Preparation time: 45 minutes

- 2 delicata squash or 1 big winter squash (which is what we used)
- 8 T. unsalted butter
- 12 leaves fresh sage
- 4 oz. orzo pasta
- 4 oz. wild rice
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1/2 c. dried cranberries
- 1/2 c. pepitas (green, hulled pumpkin seeds – or substitute chopped almonds)
- handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
- italian parsley
- salt
- pepper

Cook the wild rice according to the package.

Meanwhile, carefully halve the squash, remove the seeds (a tablespoon or ice cream scoop works well), rub with oil and roast in the oven at 375 degrees until thoroughly tender. When they come out, rub the inside with any leftover brown butter – see below).

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 8 T butter and allow it to keep cooking until it develops a nutty / caramel aroma and light brown color, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

While the butter is still hot, tear the sage leaves and add them in, allowing them to steep for awhile.

Boil the orzo according to package directions, being sure to leave it al dente.

Drain the orzo.  Add the brown butter and crispy sage leaves, lemon juice, and toss with the orzo and wild rice. You may not need all of the butter. Put some on the inside of the squash.

Toast the pepitas in a skillet, toaster oven, or oven until slightly browned and smelling good.

Add the cranberries to the orzo.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mound the orzo into the squash.

At this point you can refrigerate them for later use, or serve immediately.

To serve, garnish with the parsley, pepitas and pomegranate seeds, a good finishing salt, and a grind of black pepper.

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2 lb.), leaves discarded
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
Kosher salt
1 large onion, minced
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 bunch of chives
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Place whole cauliflower head in a large baking dish, rub with 4 Tbsp. butter, and season with salt. Add 1/2 cup water to dish. Bake uncovered, tenting with foil if cauliflower begins to brown, until a knife inserted into the core meets no resistance, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove cauliflower from oven; let cool. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Add cauliflower and 4 cups water. Simmer until cauliflower is very soft, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Working in batches, purée in a blender (or using an immersion blender) until smooth.  I like to leave a few chunks – but blend it until the texture suits you. Add more water if it’s too thick. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and whisk in yogurt. Serve warm in shallow bowls.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with chives.  Yums.

I have about 2 lbs right now and I think I may have to try a strawberry buckle.  What the hell is a buckle?  I’ve been asked that so many times.  I’m originally a midwest girl and my west coast friends just don’t understand.  But, once I feed it to them, there’s no going back.  A buckle is basically coffee cake with fruit.  Here’s my FAVORITE recipe.  It’s for Rhubarb Buckle, but I think I will try to sub the rhubarb for strawberries.  How can you go wrong?  Seriously, try this.  It’s soooo good.  Skip the buttermilk and just use a mix of yogurt and milk if you are like me and don’t keep buttermilk around.  And, because I’m naughty, I make extra streusel and skip the oats.

After recovering, I spent all day Sunday in the kitchen.  I love days like that.  I don’t have photos of everything, because we were too busy stuffing our faces!  But here’s what I made:

first….

Baked King Oyster Calamari from Chow Vegan – I made a Lemon Garlic Aioli for dipping.  We were in heaven eating these.  I will make these again and again.  So. Fricking. Good.

then….

Vegetarian French Onion Soup – adapted from several recipes, but here’s what I finally came up with…

3 Tbsp butter
4 large onions, thinly-sliced (I used 3 white and 1 yellow, but any mix would work, I think)
1 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp of dry thyme (use 2x if you are using fresh)
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp dijon mustard
5 cups vegetable stock and/or water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup dry sherry
Stale French bread (in about 3/4” slices)
Gruyère cheese

Melt the butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and salt, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn heat down a tad and add bay leaves and thyme and continue cooking for 35 minutes.

Add garlic and cook for a minute or 2.

Add flour and mustard and stir well and cook for a minute or 2.

Add stock or water, soy sauce and sherry. Add salt to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes and remove the bay leaves.

Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls and top with french bread and cheese. Place the bowls under the broiler for a minute or two to melt and brown the cheese.

Serves 4-6.

and…

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Mashed Potatoes – I’ve been making these for so long, I really don’t know if this recipe is very accurate – I just taste and taste until it’s right.  Sooo yummy.

2 lbs of small red potatoes, clean and skins ON : )
1 head of roasted garlic (chop the top off and roast in the oven in some aluminum foil with a little olive oil for 45 minutes)
2-3 Tbsp of fresh, chopped Rosemary
1 to 1 1/2 cups of plain, lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup of milk
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil your potatoes for 20 minutes or, until tender.  I get the really little ones so you don’t even need to cut them up.  Drain the potatoes and put them back in the pot and add the butter, yogurt and milk and mash.  Then add your garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper until you are happy.

lastly, there was dessert…

Upside Down Cranberry Cake from Smitten Kitchen – instead of sour cream I used a mix of plain yogurt, applesauce and some half and half – sounds weird, but it’s all I had in the fridge!  And, it turned out great.

I can’t wait for leftovers!  Hope you had a yummy weekend too!

xo,
Erin

So, on to my fingerling potatoes.  I harvested some absolutely adorable little fingerlings a while back and decided to roast them up and make a yummy yogurt sauce – I love potatoes with yogurt!  Such a tangy and light alternative to sour cream.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Tarragon Yogurt

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs of fingerling potatoes (or something like that)
several fresh Tarragon sprigs
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Tarragon Yogurt Sauce:

1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
2 heaping Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp Mayonaise (don’t judge me : ))
2 Tbsp fresh, chopped tarragon leaves
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 450.  Cut your potatoes in half, lengthwise.  Toss them in a bowl or right on a sheet pan with the olive oil, tarragon sprigs and salt and pepper.  Roast for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.  Remove the tarragon sprigs when you’re done.

For the sauce – just mix everything up and pour or dip your potatoes in it.  Delicious.

I have lots of absolutely beautiful beets and my favorite way to eat them is roasted with goat cheese in some way, shape or form.  Here’s a recipe for the Roasted Beet and Beet Green Salad I made the other day:

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch of beets
2 Tbsp fresh oregano (any herb would work)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Greens from the beets
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Arugula
1/2 log of chevre goat cheese
2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts

Preheat your oven to 425.  Use a vegetable peeler to peel the beets and then cut them into about 1″ pieces.  I find it much easier to peel them before roasting them – and a lot less messy!  Toss those beets in a bowl or right on your sheet pan with the olive oil, oregano and some salt and pepper.  Roast for about 45 minutes or until fork tender.

Once your beets are done, heat a large saute pan over medium heat with 1 Tbsp or so of olive oil.  Add your greens and saute until wilted.  Add a bit of salt and pepper and a squirt of lemon juice.

Lay down your arugula in bowls or plates and add just a squirt of lemon, a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper to season your greens.  Top the arugula with a scoop of the wilted greens, a scoop of those gorgeous beets, crumble on some goat cheese and top with pine nuts.  Super yummy.  Should serve 2.

See those beautiful potatoes in the background?!  Next up is my Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Tarragon Yogurt…YUM!