A fall repast


Clementine, Apple and Spinach Salad, and Pumpkin Bisque

I normally do not even read the weekly Food section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, much less cut out the recipes. But I did both the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (23 Nov. 2005). It's amazing what you'll read when stuck in the car for 8 hours.

Hubby was gone tonight and most of my standard menus are based on feeding five, so I decided to try a couple of things out of that issue. Frankly, this meal would have fed all five of us no problem. I put crescent rolls in to bake while the soup cooked down ("Me 'n' the Dough Boy, we got us an understandin',") but for all five of us I would have cranked up the bread machine this afternoon. Daughter and I were both kept busy a full 45 minutes turning these three things out simultaneously, because "stirring frequently" for the soup turned out to be "stirring constantly unless you plan to redecorate your kitchen in pumpkin polka-dots."

#1-Son did not care for the soup. I think he expected it to taste exactly like pumpkin pie, and it does have some savory undertones. #2-Son sucked down two bowls of it, though. #1-Son had a second helping of salad instead, and then refused dessert. Daughter was so full she didn't realize she hadn't had a roll until I went to put the leftovers away. Pretty much a success, I think.

Ok, original recipe as printed, then comments and changes. I made some ugly changes, so strict epicureans, prepare to be offended.

Clementine, Apple, and Spinach Salad
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

For salad:
2 medium green apples
Lemon juice
1 pound spinach, well washed and trimmed of heavy stems
4 clementines, peeled, white pith removed, sectioned
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

For dressing:
1/3 c. heavy cream (see note)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. white-wine vinegar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

To prepare salad: Core and slice apples. Dip into lemon juice to prevent browning.
Combine spinach, apples, clementines, and onions in a large salad bowl; toss to combine. Cover the bowl with a clean towel; refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to use.
To prepare dressing: Combine cream, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste in a blender; whirl until smooth. When ready to serve, pour over salad and toss to coat.
Note: for vinaigrette dressing, omit cream.
Adapted from "Twelve Months of Monastery Salads," by Br. Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette (Harvard Common Press, 2004)

The Camera notes:

I used an 8-oz. bag of mixed romaine, bibb, and butter lettuce because while my mouth likes spinach, neither my GI tract nor my kids do. This meant we cut the rest of the ingredients in half, too. Quite fun when we got to the dressing. I didn't have a green apple, but a Braeburn worked nicely. Onion? See remark about spinach. Oh, and cut the apple slices and the clementine sections into bite-sized pieces, please. My "half-recipe" made five large salads, so unless this is your main course, I think a full size would serve 8 - 10.

I used half-and-half instead of heavy cream, because I was making that substitution in the soup, too. All I had was apple-cider vinegar, but it is apple salad, right? We use spicy brown instead of Dijon mustard in the Obscura household. Because halving the recipe meant we had to eyeball the measurements for the cream and oil, the dressing seemed to turn out a little tart. Of course, Daughter may have just overdone the lemon juice or vinegar... And anybody who dirties a blender for that little dressing should come over to my house and wash dishes for me too, 'cause obviously they like to.

Pumpkin Bisque
Yield: 8 servings (about 9 cups)

1 tbsp. butter
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbsp. dark rum
2 2/3 c. vegetable stock
2 (15-16 oz.) cans pumpkin
2 2/3 c. heavy (40% gourmet) whipping cream
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 tbsp. kosher salt

In a large heavy stock pot, melt butter over low heat; add the whole garlic clove and cook, turning occasionally, until carmelized, about 4 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Mash garlic with the back of a spoon (or use a press). Add rum; simmer for a minute. Add stock and bring to a low boil; whisk in pumpkin. Add cream, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Bring to a moderate boil; cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

The Camera notes:

I don't keep whole garlic, I keep chopped in a jar. I browned 1/2 tsp. slowly in the butter. I only had white rum. I'm sure both substitutions mean I was missing out on some of the taste, but oh well. If you make your own vegetable stock then great, but the canned stuff has a nasty aftertaste, so I used chicken broth. Whipping cream!?! This was very filling just made with half-and-half. And with a calorie count of 432 / serving (66% from fat) it didn't hurt my arteries to use half-and-half, either.

This about half-filled my Dutch oven before it cooked down, so a huge stockpot is not necessary. Have your cream or half-and-half measured and ready to go before you add the pumpkin, because once you get the pumpkin whisked in, it pops. Ow, and eww. And don't expect to do much else for the 20 minutes it cooks down, because of the problem with stirring mentioned in the second paragraph at the top.

Posted: Wed - November 30, 2005 at 07:35 PM   Home         | | View Technorati reactions

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