In-Season Recipes

Hopefully, you had a great holiday season and are ready to cook something new! Here are three recipes to try in 2023! — Our Favorite Salad Dressing This is a favorite salad dressing adapted from a recipe by our good local friend Emmi Haddock. It's also an excellent sauce for a rice bowl. Yields 1 cup 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 cup peeled carrot, sliced thin 2 tablespoon onion, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon minced ginger 1 tablespoon white miso 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon honey ½ teaspoon Chinese mustard ¼ teaspoon salt Good grinding of pepper Heat vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrot and cook, occasionally stirring, until lightly browned. Add two cups of water, lower heat and cook until carrots are tender. Cool slightly. Immersions blend carrots, onion, ginger, miso, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon or so of water as needed to smooth out the dressing. Adjust seasoning. Local ingredients: carrot, onion, ginger, honey. — Marcella's Elegant Meatloaf This is a cozy, popular and more elegant meatloaf recipe adapted from Marcella Hazan. She's just Marcella to us; she is our authority on regional Italian cuisine, and her recipes are easy to follow and delicious. Serve with mashed potatoes. Serves: six to eight people 2 slices white bread, crusts removed 1/4 cup milk 2 pounds ground beef 1 egg 1 ⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese ¼ cup finely chopped prosciutto, pancetta or ham 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 teaspoon salt Good grinding ground black pepper Dry unflavored bread crumbs, approximately 1 cup 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1.5 tablespoon butter ½ cup dry white wine 1.5 ounces dried porcini mushrooms 1 ⅓ cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or canned 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 teaspoon sugar In a small skillet, mash bread and milk together over low heat. Cool and combine with beef, eggs, cheese, prosciutto, pancetta or ham, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook a small amount in a skillet to taste for salt. Adjust seasoning. Shape meat into two cylinders, each about 3 1/2" in diameter, tapping on the counter to pack them firm. Flatten ends. Roll cylinders in dry bread crumbs. Let stand while you soak porcini in 4 cups of hot water for 30 minutes. Lift porcini from the soaking liquid and chop coarsely. Filter soaking liquid through a paper towel-lined strainer and reserve. In a large heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Put meat loaves in a pan and brown all over, turning the meat gently. Discard fat from the pan and stir in wine, filtered soaking liquid, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and porcini. Cover pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, turning loaves in sauce several times and stirring sauce well each time. Remove loaves to a platter and reduce sauce on the stove until desired thickness. Adjust salt. Cut meat into 1/2" thick slices and spoon sauce over meat. Local ingredients: beef, ham, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk. — Jewish Apple Cake My daughter Fiona was excited to bake this for her school's holiday play. My son has always been a big cook and baker, and it is really exciting that at age 11, Fiona has become a much bigger participant in the kitchen! She made a small mistake leading to a much better apple cake. So you could use vanilla extract, but we loved this with (the mistaken) almond extract instead. Serves: 12 to 16 people 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 large eggs 1/4 cups vegetable oil 2 1/2 teaspoons natural almond extract (or half if using artificial extract) 1/4 cup orange juice 3 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices Confectioners' sugar for dusting Preheat to 350 degrees F. Coat a large (10- to 15-cup) Bundt pan with baking spray or butter. In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of the granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat 2 cups sugar, eggs and oil on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add almond extract and mix. Add ½ the flour mixture and then half the orange juice. Repeat with remaining flour and juice. Pour half the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth. Layout half the apples in a slightly overlapping pattern and sprinkle with half the sugar and cinnamon. Pour in the remaining batter and repeat with the leftover apples and cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 60 minutes until the cake tests clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan. Serve with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Local ingredients: eggs, apples