Ode to the Crosne

Last week, after hearing too many references to celeriac and not ever having tried it, let alone seen it, I asked my friends at Specialty Produce if they carried the root. Sure enough they did and invited me to come by and pick some up to try. Which I did -- and will write about in another week or so. But, while I was there and reviewing recipes with their Kelly Orange, I noticed a reference to crosnes. Yet another mystery to me. Kelly sent me home with a bag of them as well. And I wrote about them in last week's Local Bounty blog, which I write for San Diego Magazine.

Take a look at these tubers. They're quite small -- perhaps up to three inches long at most. And, they aren't very appetizing looking -- really like little grubs. But don't let their looks put you off. They're crispy and have a lovely, delicate sweet and nutty flavor reminiscent of sunchokes.

Crosnes were introduced in the West in the 1880s by a French farmer and writer, who received them from an important collector of Chinese plants, a Dr. Bretschneider. A Frenchman named Palillieux loved the plant and started producing them. He gave the little tubers (officially Stachys affinis) the name of Crosne—his village. He did such a great job growing and marketing them that they became a hit across Europe. In England, they became known as Chinese artichoke—probably referencing Jerusalem artichokes, although they have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. It's the flavor they were likely capturing.

Locally, they're grown at in California at Weiser Family Farms, which is where Specialty Produce gets theirs.

So, what do you do with these little plants? The easiest preparation, which will also introduce you to their crunchy, slightly nutty flavor, is to saute them in garlic and either butter or a nutty oil, touched with just a little salt and pepper. However, they're irresistible pickled -- as a snack or for cocktails -- or marinated. I marinated mine yesterday and made a light salad, adapting a recipe I found in the wonderful reference book Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider. 










Marinated Crosne, Carrot and Cherry Tomato Salad with Dill
Serves 4

3/4 pound of crosnes and baby carrots, ideally a mix of half and half
2 small scallions
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
3 tablespoons mirin (syrupy Japanese rice wine)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Optional: fine-snipped fresh dill

1. Rinse crosnes, trim loose rootlets. Slice carrots in half.
2. Drop crosnes and carrots in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Return to boil and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and spread on a towel to dry and cool.
3. Cut apart light and dark parts of scallions. Mince the light part and add to a small bowl with rice vinegar, dried dill, and mirin. Blend, then drizzle in oil and whisk to emulsify.
4. Transfer the crosnes and carrots to the bowl and mix with the dressing. Chill for about three hours.
5. To serve, halve the tomatoes and thinly slice the green part of the scallions. You can place the crosnes and carrot mixture on a bed of lettuce or just on the plate. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle with the scallion greens and fresh dill.

Note that you don't need to peel the skin off the crosnes, although Schneider suggests rinsing them, putting them on a towel, sprinkling with coarse salt and rubbing the tubers with the salted towel to get the skin off. Me? I just rinsed them and left the skins on and they were fine.

Currently, the only place I know in San Diego that sells crosnes is Specialty Produce. If you've found them elsewhere, let me know.


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Fall Fest -- Finally -- and It's All About Spinach!

Spinach. You can saute it, turn it into a salad, a quiche, a souffle, or spanakopita. Add it to an omelet or frittata. Use it in lasagna or a pasta sauce or soup. It's one of my favorite greens but it can sometimes seem a little tame these days, compared to the sharp spiciness of arugula or strong stemmed kale. Nevertheless, it's completely utilitarian, delicious, and so ridiculously nutritious (we're talking high levels of vitamins A and C, along with iron and calcium) that it's a frequent player in my kitchen and, no doubt, in yours, too.

I just finished reading the uncorrected proofs of a new cookbook by Terra chef/owner Jeff Rossman. Called From Terra's Table, the book will be out in November and I've already written it up for my Local Bounty column in San Diego Magazine. I don't want to step on that but when I came across Jeff's recipe for Mixed Mushroom Ragout with Herb-Polenta Cake and saw that it includes Swiss chard in the polenta, I thought, "Bingo!" because I knew I could swap out the chard for spinach and have a very cool recipe for this week. And, Jeff gave me his blessing to do it for this. I made it last week, using beautiful crinkled Bloomsdale spinach that I found at Specialty Produce. One of the reasons I really love and recommend this Savoy variety is that it holds up well to cooking instead of immediately collapsing like flat leaf spinach.

Specialty Produce also had several kinds of exotic mushrooms so I pulled out a mix of gorgeous red lobster mushrooms, a very lively looking hand of oyster mushrooms, and little fresh shitakes.*

Between the mushrooms, the spinach, and the polenta, you have an earthy vegetarian dish rich in flavor. And, the recipe is pretty easy for a home cook -- so long as you have everything prepped before you start cooking. It also makes a lot of food. I halved the recipe and still had many portions of the polenta.

Mixed Mushroom Ragout with Herb-Polenta Cake
from From Terra's Table by Jeff Rossman
Serves 4 to 6
Total Time: 4 hours, Active: 1 1/2 hours

Herb-Polenta Cakes
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups yellow onions, diced
2 cups assorted chard, cut into 2-inch pieces (I substituted spinach)
12 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 cups polenta or yellow corn meal
1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup scallions, sliced
1 cup freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Mushroom Ragout
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 pound mixed mushrooms
1/2 pound leeks, washed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine (any non-oaky kind that you would drink)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In a large pot, saute the onions and chard (or spinach) in the oil until tender. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cornmeal slowly to avoid lumps. Stir over medium-high heat. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until thick. You can serve this creamy polenta now or continue to make the cakes. Pour the mixture into a plastic-lined baking dish or loaf pan (Note: I just coated the pan with oil) and chill (at least 2 to 3 hours). When ready to serve, cut the polenta into discs or squares and reheat them on a hot griddle or in a saute pan. (Note: I poured some on a salad plate for dinner and the rest into an 8 X 8-inch pan--remember, I halved this recipe--and by the time I had made the ragout, it was about set).
2. For the ragout: in a saute pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and stir in the mushrooms and leeks. (Note: lobster mushrooms are fairly hard in texture so if you use them, give them a head start in in the saute pan before adding the rest of the softer mushrooms.) Continue cooking until tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the white wine. Cook for another minute, until the wine burns off slightly. To finish the sauce, whisk in the butter and emulsify. Serve over the hot polenta cakes.

So, here's what are my Fall Fest colleagues are up to:

Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Tuna and Spinach Bruschetta
Cate at Sweetnicks: Spinach Egg Breakfast Cup
Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Spanakopita Scones
Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Spicy Indian Lentil Soup with Spinach
Gilded Fork: Spicy Artichoke Spinach Dip, and a Dossier on Spinach
Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spinach and Sausage Soup
Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Spinach Rotolo, a rolled ricotta and pasta extravaganza
Alison at Food2: Spinach Artichoke Dip
Michelle at Cooking Channel: Paneer With Spinach
Kirsten at FN Dish: Everyday Spinach Dishes with Giada
Liz at Healthy Eats: Mini Spinach-Mushroom Quiche
Food Network UK: Eggs florentine, brunch of champions
Margaret at A Way to Garden: Why I plant spinach late, and other tasty tidbits

Now It's Your Turn to Join Fall Fest 2010!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy fall's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? You can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. 
• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas. Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big Fall Fest 2010 pumpkin badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #fallfood as our hashtag. Here's the schedule:

Sept. 1: Sweet and Spicy Peppers
Sept. 8: Garlic
Sept. 15: White (or colorful “white”…but not sweet) Potatoes
Sept. 22: Spinach
Sept. 29: Apples
Oct. 6: Fall Salads
Oct. 13: Pumpkin and Winter Squash
Oct. 20: Pears
Oct. 27: “Mad Stash” (as in what you’re freezing/canning/drying, etc.)
Nov. 3: Root veggies
Nov. 10: Brassicas: incl. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Cabbage or other
Nov. 17: Sweet Potatoes
Nov. 24: Bounty to Be Grateful For

 *full disclosure: I do some research and editing for Specialty Produce

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Spring Greens Novelty: Broccoli Spigarello and Piret Lettuce

Just when you think you've got enough veggies in your rotation you come across wonderful new things to try. This week, it was Piret lettuce and broccoli spigarello.

Piret lettuce is a lovely leafy green that has the shape and texture of butter lettuce but with the vibrant hues of a red leaf lettuce. I grabbed it the moment I saw it at Specialty Produce.


And what better way to show it off than a red salad. I had sweet little strawberries a friend had brought to me last weekend (I love incorporating fruit in green salads), peppadew peppers, red onions and just because I love them, toasted walnuts. A little vinaigrette and voila. Sweet and savory, and oh so pretty.


I also picked up a bunch of broccoli spigarello. Yes, this is in the broccoli family, although it doesn't have the thick stems and florets we associate with broccoli. Instead, think along the lines of kale. It's native to southern Italy, although Specialty Produce gets theirs from Coleman Family Farms in Carpenteria, just north of L.A.

Raw, its greyish tinted leaves are thin and curly, like a mass of unruly hair. And it has a very distinctive tangy flavor. Once you cook it, the leaves turn a crazy bright dark green and the flavors soften to something more like spinach without the edge. It's easy to prepare. Simply cut off the long stems, blanch the leaves in boiling water for about 3 minutes, drain and then saute in olive oil with garlic, onions or shallots. It's wonderful as a side dish or can be incorporated in stuffed pastas or lasagna, tossed with pasta and shell fish or mixed with cheese into a stuffing for fish or even a rolled flank steak.

I had bay scallops on hand so I made baked scallops with preserved lemon and served them on a bed of sauteed broccoli spigarello.

Baked Scallops with Preserved Lemon

8 oz. bay scallops
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tsp. preserved lemon, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. fresh Italian parsley leaves, minced
Olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle olive oil in a gratin or baking dish. Toss scallops with preserved lemon and spread on dish.

In a skillet, heat 2 tsps. of olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic and bread crumbs. Stir until the crumbs are golden and crispy. Remove from the heat and add the herbs. Mix well. Top the scallops with the bread crumb mixture. Bake for five minutes or until the topping begins to brown and the scallops are opaque in the center.

Serves 2.
You can certainly leave out the preserved lemon if you don't have it, but they're very easy to make and wonderful to have on hand. All you need is a large glass jar, about 7 or 8 Meyer lemons and sea salt. Slice the lemons down the long end almost half way, turn it a quarter and do it again. Stuff the inside with salt. Grab that end, turn the lemon upside down and repeat so both ends are stuffed with salt. Place the lemon in the impeccably clean jar and repeat with as many lemons as you can fit into the jar and still screw on the lid. A lot of juice will come out. That's fine. Keep the jar of lemons on the counter for a month, periodically turning it over and back to make sure the juice is covering the top. After a month, you can use the lemons in pasta dishes, with fish or with Moroccan-style dishes. Keep the jar in the refrigerator and the lemons will last for months.

This jar was my inspiration. My friend Anne Otterson introduced me to them in her kitchen.


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Duck Eggs? Anyone for Duck Eggs?

Raise your hand if you've eaten scrambled duck eggs. Until this past weekend, mine would be in my lap. But I've been waiting for the opportunity and it came last week in the form of Specialty Produce, a wonderful warehouse in Middletown that sells farm fresh products, often from the Santa Monica farmers market, to local chefs and caterers. They had invited me to come over and sample some of their farmers market items so I was on the website to see what looked interesting and found they had these hard-to-find gems. The eggs, along with green garlic, were on my list.

Just a note about Specialty Produce: This isn't a place to do your regular marketing, but if you're having a hard time finding a specific ingredient for a recipe you're making, they're happy to help. Just know it's a warehouse, not a store. You're competing for floor space with fork-lifts loaded with pallets. The best advice I have is to scan their website to check what's available and go over in the afternoon when it's usually a little less hectic. Bring your own shopping bags.

Back to the food. Duck eggs are a tad larger than chicken eggs, with more fat in the yolk and more protein in the whites. Because I wanted to get a sense of both their flavor and how they cook, I decided to keep it simple and try them scrambled and incorporated in muffins.


I added a little low-fat milk to the eggs before whisking them for the scramble. That's it. And, I just slightly undercooked them because I'd heard they get firmer than chicken eggs. I sprinkled a little lavender salt to finish with some chopped Italian parsley from my garden. Tasting them, you'd have thought I'd added cheese to the eggs. They were much richer than any scrambled eggs I'd ever had with a denser, thicker consistency. Very flavorful but you'll fill up on them much faster than with chicken eggs.

The duck egg I used in the lemon blueberry muffins worked just fine. There was no discernible difference in the texture or flavor of the muffins. From what I've read, they basically can be interchanged with chicken eggs, even in baking.


The green garlic was a treat. I'm still waiting for spring's garlic scapes, those wondrous green curly cues of garlic magic, but green garlic is a lovely ingredient to work with -- essentially, the garlic plant before the bulb takes shape.


As you can see, they look remarkably like green onions or scallions. But if they were in the ground that white end would begin to swell and form a bulb. I've had them at this stage before and in the very young garlic bulb stage. As the plant matures, the flavors also evolve. Right now, from March to May is when you can enjoy the garlic in this phase of life -- both the white and the stems. Just know that its flavors will be much more delicate than pungent (although you'd never know by the scent).

Again, I like to keep things simple, so one of the first things I did when I got them into my kitchen was make a vinaigrette.

Dijon Green Garlic Vinaigrette

1 stalk of green garlic, mince the white section
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. sugar
2/3 cup olive oil

Whisk together all the ingredients but the olive oil to blend. Then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Let sit for at least an hour to let the flavors come together. Taste and adjust seasonings. Note: For a stronger flavor, use aged Sherry vinegar and Spanish olive oil.

So, that evening I had decided to make lamb chops and thought I'd marinate the chops in some of the vinaigrette. I also had brought home lovely baby Anzious artichokes from Specialty Produce. Those would be quartered, blanched for three minutes and then roasted at 400 degrees with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and both the whites and the greens from the green garlic, chopped.



And, I had this delicious rice mixture I bought at Mitsuwa -- black rice, purple, barley, hulless barley, rye berries, MG red rice and short grain brown rice. It's nutty and tastes like the wilderness.

It was a very easy dinner. After marinating the lamb chops for an hour, I broiled them for about five minutes on each side, roasted the artichokes and the rice went in its little rice cooker. I topped the lamb chops with a couple of dollops of chimichurri I'd had left over from another dinner I'd made. A delicious meal for one.


Also, on my "to try" list were the prettiest little French heirloom potatoes. They're a petite red oblong tuber, about three or four inches long, and when you cut inside, the flesh is a very dainty yellow hue. These were going to be served at brunch with the scrambled duck eggs and muffins. Instead of roasting them, which I love to do, I sliced them and boiled them briefly, then tossed them with the Dijon Green Garlic vinaigrette, sliced kalamata olives and, yes, the greens from the green garlic. The dressing soaked into the potatoes, giving them both a terrific consistency and pronounced flavor from the garlic and mustard.


I served the eggs, muffins and potatoes with something a little different and refreshing, slices of watermelon radishes. I love these; just noshing on them is great. A buff white exterior leads to this springlike surprise inside when you slice them. I'd like to try pickling or sauteeing them.


Next up, a charming head of Piret lettuce -- it has the shape of butter lettuce but in ravishing greens and purples. And broccoli Spigarrello, a wild-looking green with a flavor as dramatic as its looks. Stay tuned!

Specialty Produce is located at 1929 Hancock St. in San Diego.

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June: When Produce is Front and Center

Just outside my office window the big jacaranda tree is pushing out its mass of purple flowers. In my garden, dense clusters of Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are turning a fiery red and the basil leaves are growing almost large enough to consider picking. This is the time of spring in San Diego I love. And, it's when a trip to the farmers market means an explosion of color and, of course, flavor.

Today's La Jolla Farmer's Market was lit up with a rainbow of gorgeous produce defying the morning's June gloom. From baby purple artichokes to sparkling Bing cherries, from my favorite yellow and green squash to luminescent zucchini blossoms, the market stalls were ripe for the picking.

So, this is more of a photo tribute to what I saw this morning. Think of it as a little incentive, even push, to get you out to the markets and enjoy the current bounty.

Suncoast Farms from Lompoc has these wonderfully eccentric-looking baby artichokes. If you're a fan of the packages of baby artichokes from Trader Joe's try these. They're so easy to prepare and really delicious. It's just a matter of stripping the hard leaves from the thistle until you get to the soft ones. You can boil them or--what I like to do--blanch them for a minute or two, then cut in half lengthwise (no need to scoop out the choke since it's so tiny), toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at about 375, covered for about half an hour and then another half hour uncovered (try adding some grated Parmesan cheese during the uncovered phase).


The stand also had some of the most enormous green artichokes I've ever seen, perhaps twice the size of those you see at the supermarket (they're known for these). And absolutely beautiful. Perfect for stuffing.


Peterson Specialty Produce from Fallbrook has its bi-color yellow and green squash at the market now. With conventional zucchini I enjoy cutting them into matchsticks and sauteeing them with garlic and lemon juice or grating them for savory pancakes. But these are so beautiful, I think they should be halved (quartered in the case of the round summer squash), steamed and eaten with a vinaigrette or sliced extremely thin and marinated in a flavored olive oil and garlic and served like carpaccio. Or sliced and baked with herbs, oil and a blend of bread crumbs and grated Romano cheese.


If you love carrots, have some fun with the red carrots from JK Organics in Escondido. They're sweet and such a unique color.


I am a big fan of Smit Orchards and look forward to pluot season from them. It's here and I've got a handful waiting to be bitten into. They also have some stunning cherries--both Bing and Rainer--and bushels of blueberries.



The big deal for me today was that it was the first day of the season for heirloom tomatoes--and I found these at Valdivia Farms. That blushing big one up front? It's mine, along with a couple of others. I'm going to give them a couple more days to fully ripen and then they'll get sliced and eaten with mozzarella, fresh basil and roasted chili-infused avocado oil that I bought from the Peggy's Pasta stand (along with a dozen organic eggs).


They also had boxes of stunningly vibrant zucchini blossoms. Nothing shriveled up--everything full on healthy and beautiful. I bought four, attached to their little fruit, and will probably stuff them with cheese and saute in olive oil.


With some slices, perhaps, of the fresh garlic I found at the Sage Mountain Farm stand. It's not always easy to find fresh garlic at the markets here and I don't know why since they're so easy to grow. But, I saw my opportunity and bought a few. It's a whole different animal than the sad, often yellowing heads you find at the supermarket. And, you can trim the tops, clean them and chop them up to use like chives--garlic chives.


You'll also want to stop by Maciel Farms for their big beautiful greens, fat carrots and these magnificent red onions.


The La Jolla Farmers Market is held on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's located in the La Jolla Elementary School playground on Girard at Genter.


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