Fall Fest: Clay Pot Winter Squash

Winter squash are a marvelously deceptive vegetable. They look so hard and tough and impenetrable, but cook up to some of the sweetest and tenderest of edibles. I love the variety of clothing they wear--soothing cream, sexy blue, bright orange, rocking stripes, dappled sprays of color. But it's only skin deep. Peel any of these hard squash and you get a glorious orange flesh that surrounds what may be the best part of all--the seeds.

The flavors of a freshly cooked pumpkin are so beyond what you get with the canned version that it's worth the effort to peel and clean them for everything from pies and muffins to stews and soups. I love roasting pumpkin with other vegetables for a thick mellow soup. And, I enjoy chopping them up and adding the pieces to sweet and savory ingredients for a one-dish baked meal.

Sweet Dumpling and Tiger Stripe squash from Suzie's Farm

Last week I was over at Specialty Produce and came across these enormous and striking pumpkins: Blue, an Australian heirloom (which looked green to me, but whatever); Fairytale, an old variety native to France and known there as Musque de Provence; and Cinderella, a flat French heirloom. I just saw the latter in a big box at Trader Joe's in Hillcrest, by the way.

Blue pumpkin

Fairytale pumpkin

Cinderella pumpkin

I was particularly drawn to the Blue, but they all were more pumpkin than I could manage on my own. So, here and there, I've picked up a collection of small hard squashes--an acorn, a tiny butternut, a couple of cute Lil' Tigers, a Sweet Dumpling, and Tiger Stripe. I figured that together they'd make for a great stew-like dish baked in a clay pot with sausages, golden raisins, and giant Cuzco corn.

Ever since I was introduced to clay pot cooking by Paula Wolfert and her terrific book Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, I've been collecting pots and experimenting. Winter squash is the perfect ingredient for this style of cooking. All you need is a stoneware pot. I used this gorgeous silky brown 2 1/2-quart casserole made by my favorite local potter, Roberta Klein. Don't worry about it cracking. As long as you don't preheat the oven, but instead let the pot warm with the rising temperature, it should be fine. And, of course, make sure that the glaze is lead free.

The ingredients here are basically what I happened to have in my kitchen, other than the squash. I'd bought a package of frozen giant Cuzco corn awhile back and was waiting for an opportunity to use it. Native to Peru, they're filled with protein, and have a dense chewy texture, making them perfect for stews and soups because they keep their shape. But if you can't find them, just add something else like garbanzo beans. Same with the sausage. I wanted a one-dish meal so I added a couple of lovely apricot chipotle pork sausages I bought at the UTC farmers market from Sonrise Ranch. Its juices and meat added a lot of flavor and some nice heat. But, this dish would work just as well without meat for a vegetarian meal.

Serve this with a hearty grain. I chose quinoa, but it would be great with wild rice, barley, farro, or kasha (buckwheat groats).

Clay Pot Winter Squash
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 pounds winter squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1-inch pieces (save the squash seeds)
1/2 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups giant Cuzco corn (you can find frozen in Hispanic markets)
1 cup golden raisins or other dried fruit
2 large fresh sausages, sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup olive oil or 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup pumpkin or butternut squash oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar, plus more to sprinkle on toward end of baking
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients except the squash seeds and extra brown sugar and mix well. Add to 2 1/2-quart or larger stoneware pot and cover. Place the pot in the middle rack of the oven. Heat oven to 375. Bake.

2. Put squash seeds in a colander and rinse, separating the seeds from one another and the squash fibers. Let dry. Then toss with olive oil and salt. Spread on a baking sheet or aluminum foil. Toast in the oven with the squash for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

3. Check the squash at about an hour and 15 minutes. If the squash isn't completely cooked through, cover and cook another 15 minutes. When it is cooked through, sprinkle the mixture with brown sugar and let cook another 15 minutes uncovered. Remove from the oven and serve, sprinkling with toasted squash seeds to garnish.

Winter squash with quinoa

Let's see what my Fall Fest colleagues are doing with winter squash:

Gilded Fork: Butternut Squash Bisque with Nutmeg Crème Fraîch
Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Roasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash with Labneh and Skhug
Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Fall Vegetable Chicken Pot Pie
Alison at Food2: Pumpkin Donuts
Toby at Healthy Eats: Pumpkin 5 Ways (Including Seed-Studded Pumpkin Bread)
Kirsten at Food Network: Best Pumpkin Recipes
Cate at Sweetnicks: Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Butter
Paige at the Sister Project: Pumpkin, Roasted, Stuffed and All Grown Up
Michelle at Cooking Channel: Pumpkin and Squash Recipes
Food Network UK: Praise the Gourd

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

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Knight Salumi: The Best Cure for Meat

As an unapologetic carnivore, I've had some of the most pleasurable moments of my life occur while tasting all the innovative ways great chefs and cooks prepare meat. So, when I first came across Rey Knight and his salumis--the spicy sopressata with its big coarse nodes of fat, the garlicky cacciatori, and the buttery coppa molina--I knew I was in trouble with the cholesterol gods. If salumi is irresistible temptation, Rey Knight is surely the devil. But, what a wonderful hell it is!

Then Rey invited me to hang out with him and one of his partners Albert Juarez at Knight Salumi. The two work side by side creating stunningly delicious cured, fresh, and aged meats. Rey's developed some 22 recipes drawn from regional Italian traditions but with his own twist. At any given time he has six or so types of salumi in production to produce 500 pounds of packaged product weekly. They're sold at 16 local farmers markets, at shops including Venissimo and Taste Artisan Cheese, and online on a wonderful website called Foodzie. Plus, Knight Salumi is served at a dozen local restaurants, from Cafe Chloe and Urban Solace to Starlite, Cucina Urbana, and Farm House Cafe.


Knight Salumi now seems inevitable. Rey grew up in rural Montana, where he made elk proscuitto and moose ham from animals his dad hunted. He attended the Culinary Institute of America, earning a BA in restaurant management while taking the school's charcuterie program. For 15 years, he was in restaurant kitchens as a chef, including at The Linkery in North Park, where he developed the charcuterie program.

But two years ago he decided to follow his passion and devote his energies to salumi. Fortunately, his brother-in-law Matt Gordon had his own kitchen at Urban Solace. So Knight started developing his business in the Urban Solace kitchen before moving to his own place in an industrial park in Kearny Mesa. Now he's expanded that kitchen to meet the growing demand, and may be expanding again, even including a 500-pound smoke oven so he can make mortadella and pates.

It's a cliche to say that you shouldn't watch sausages being made, but I have to tell you that in Knight Salumi's case, it's a wonderful thing. The pork is ground, as is the fat, to varying particle sizes depending on the product being made. Sopressata, for instance, gets a coarse grind of fat because Rey's looking for particle definition. As the particles of meat lose water and shrink--sometimes by 70 percent, the fat takes center stage. "It's like dough, but we're elongating proteins not gluten," Rey explains. "This way the meat encases the fat for a nice presentation in each slice."


When I was visiting, Albert was doing the grinding for a batch of sopressata while Rey was wrestling with a 55-gallon barrel of beef intestines that were to be used as the casings. Each drum holds 200 sets of beef intestines that can be 50 yards long each (The barrels don't go to waste; Rey saves them to make beer.). Rey uses the beef intestines for cured meats and hog casings for fresh products and his coppa molina. I watched him pull the intestines into a large sink and untangle them one by one, rinsing each to get rid of the salt they're packed in.


Once the chitlins were rinsed and ready, the men began the process of stuffing, tying off each sausage with a clipper, pricking them with holes to release air, and then hanging them on racks which are then lined up in an odiferous aging chamber to dry. Initially the salamis expand in the fermentation process, then, as water evaporates, they shrivel up and grow a lovely coat of mold.



Some 6,000 pounds of salamis at different stages of curing make for an amazing aroma. I saw newly aging salumis, still plump but embraced in a bold sweater of puffy white mold above me. Nearby were racks with older salumis, a little wrinkled now with the mold more of a gauzy white. If you love salami, this is really a beautiful sight. If you love nature, you can appreciate microbiology doing its thing in front of you.



Knight Salumi uses a variety of suppliers, including Niman Ranch, Eden Natural, and Cargill's Good Nature Line. He also buys from local producer, Dave Heafner of Da-Le Ranch. You won't find any nitrates in Knight Salumi products. And, while most of the attention he gets is for his salumi, he makes an outrageous pancetta, as well as hams and speck--a lovely smoky product infused with juniper and coriander that takes up to 90 days to cure.


So, let's say you buy a Knight salumi; how do you store it? Well, if it's a dry salami, wrap it in paper an keep it in the refrigerator. If you like it firmer, keep it on a shelf instead. It'll last from four months to a year. If it's a cured product or fresh sausage, keep it refrigerated at under 40 degrees.



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Continent European Deli: Gastronomic Glasnost in La Jolla

Sometimes, usually when a holiday comes, I get so nostalgic for the large family gatherings of my childhood I feel I can almost will myself back in time. It’s a visceral longing for big boisterous gatherings around food so plentiful it could practically collapse a table. And, not just any food, but traditional Eastern European dishes.

I was a lucky kid growing up with two sets of grandparents close by. My grandmothers were excellent home cooks and my grandfathers loved to eat. Actually, we all did and we ate very well. Big bowls of steaming chicken soup with won-ton-like kreplach or golf-ball sized matzoh balls; platters of stuffed cabbage, sweet and juicy with a ground beef and prunes; crispy roasted chicken; tender brisket; kasha varnishkes (bow tie pasta); chopped liver or pickled herring on slices of mini rye or pumpernickel bread; utterly sinful sweet noodle kugel (pudding) made with cream cheese and sour cream. The list goes on and on. The recipes were passed down, but it’s rare that my mother, sister or I make any of them today You need to have a large clan to feed to justify that and they just aren’t around anymore.

Walking into the Continent European Deli brought a lot of those remembrances of things past back in a rush. Behind the counter is an assortment of foods I don’t often encounter anymore: smoked fish, a line up of gorgeous sausages, stuffed cabbages, sour pickled tomatoes, a variety of salads, dark rye breads, sweet and savory piroghkis, even homemade gefilte fish. Plus, shelves filled with products that anyone from Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, you name it in Eastern Europe, would find familiar and comforting.

Russian chocolates, cookies and candies in festive packaging filled one wall.

On the opposite wall were items ranging from deep red sour cherry preserves, perfect for topping French vanilla ice cream, to various vegetable spreads, sauces, Russian teas and canned fish.

Even cans of German cod liver that sent shivers down my spine, but which is apparently eaten as a spread on bread.

All this is the doing of owners Irina Kanevsky and Edward Serper. They opened their first shop in 1995 on University Ave. near San Diego State University. The following year, they opened a second one in La Jolla in a strip mall off Regents Rd., just north of La Jolla Village Dr. This one, larger and with a kitchen in the back, offers homemade prepared foods and pastries. That’s where I was on Friday afternoon with Irina as my culinary tour guide.

Irina, who is from an industrial town in Ukraine, came to the U.S. shortly after the Soviet Union fell. She recognizes that many of her customers are émigrés who long for the comfort of food from home, but also encourages people who may not be familiar with the cuisine to come in and try it. “I like when people are open to tasting something new,” she says.

Irina prepared a couple plates for me filled with little tastes of different salads and foodstuff. First I tried a slice of suluguni, or village cheese, a whole milk cheese (above left). It reminded me of mozzarella but saltier. Alongside the suluguni were thin slices of sausage (above right). On the top was a Moscow Servelat, a tasty mildly-seasoned, semi-smoked pork sausage. A servelat is a German or Swiss sausage, originally made with pork and brain (brain is no longer used). In the middle was a New Moscow cured salami, also pork, but with a slightly smoky flavor. Below that was something I knew well but hadn’t tasted in years, a Jewish-style beef salami, perfectly dried and wonderfully chewy. The Continent European Deli has 90 varieties of sausages at any given time.

I also sampled a little tongue sausage, ideal for a sandwich on corn rye with deli mustard, and a handsome Canadian sausage. Officially called Old Forest Salami, it’s commonly called “flower salami” because of its shape.

Continent European Deli’s salads are a delight and perfect if you’re entertaining and want prepared appetizers. I was shocked that I enjoyed the beet salad (I’ve never managed to like beets) but it was a perfect blend of beets, walnuts, prunes, garlic and mayonnaise. I also got a kick out of the beet vinaigrette salad made with beets, potatoes, pickles, carrots and sauerkraut. This unusual combination of ingredients produces what Irina says is one of her most popular dishes. It’s simultaneously sweet, salty, crunchy and chewy. Taste buds work overtime to take it all in at once and its worth it. Equally delicious are the eggplant salads. One is like an eggplant caviar; in this salad the eggplant is baked and the result is a creamy concoction perfect for spreading on crackers. The other eggplant salad is made up of pieces of sautéed eggplant that can stand on its own with a fork.

A Russian potato salad with chicken, called Olyvie, was next. Very nice flavors and also very popular in the store. The Israeli salad—eggplant, garlic and mayonnaise—is another winner. The flavors come together to create a smooth, mild taste. The mushroom salad, however, packs a garlicky punch. If you love garlic, you’ll love this. I found the beef salad—marinated, shredded and blended with garlic and other spices—unusual and delicious, maybe something I’d use in a sandwich with lettuce and thin sliced red onion. Finally came the crab salad, similar to the Olyvie but with crab instead of chicken. It was good, but I preferred the Olyvie.

Irina also heated up an oblong piroghki topped with sesame and poppy seeds and stuffed with a magnificent combination of chicken, prunes and mushrooms. These little appetizers are made with an easy to work sour cream-based dough, filled with either savory or sweet ingredients and then baked to crispy, golden flakiness.

There’s no one shape—the piroghkis at Continent European Deli come in small squares, triangles and rectangles—and here they are filled with potato (like a knish filling, but lighter), cabbage (with its grated carrots, it’s a little sweet but oddly reminiscent of sauerkraut), egg and onion or even apple (kind of like a turnover in this case, but the filling is made of just slightly crunchy slivered apples—not lumpy chunks—happily not overly sweet).

While sitting and chatting at a table with Irina, I noticed a rack next to me filled with bags with confusing contents. Since the print was in Cyrillic, I couldn’t make out what they were. Sunflower seeds, she said, laughing. Next to them were bags of buckwheat from different countries, used to make kasha, a common sidedish literally meaning “porridge.”

Looking around, I found a number of other unfamiliar products. I could happily eat any kind of smoked fish, even smoked eel (something I first discovered decades ago in Amsterdam). The deli has a wide selection, including mackerel, salmon and sturgeon. But what were those little fish in the container? Dry moiva, I was told. These are apparently a great accompaniment to beer.

And, those browned, sausage-like items on the red platter? Homemade gefilte fish. Hmmm. I’ll save that for my next trip, but I did buy one of the cheese and raisin pancakes on the platter next to the gefilte fish. Tasting it at home, I found it to be in the same family as a cheese blintz (like a crepe) and imagined combining the ricotta cheese filling of a blintz with the blintz batter to get a pancake like this.

I’m a sucker for fun packaging. I have no idea what baby bologna tastes like, but the cherubs won me over. I’ll try it soon.

Below the baby bologna and the rows of cheese above were stacks of bread.

Since I adore a good, dense black bread I selected a loaf of organic Latvian rye. Slice this very thin and toast it to get the most of its dark, nutty flavor. It’s great with a little butter and honey or sliced cheese.

So, what’s for desert? Continent European Deli has freshly made baklava and a variety of cakes and other pastries. On the candy wall, my eye caught sight of packages of chocolate-covered something, which I discovered were chocolate-covered marshmallows. I had to try one, although Irina advised me that it would be different from what I expected. Sure enough, this was not like eating the top of a Mallomar. The ingredients list “fruit sauce” along with egg whites and agar-agar chocolate. The fruit flavor is nonspecific but it’s there and very enjoyable.

I also took home what I thought was a bar of chocolate. The elegant packaging, showing two ballet dancers in front of the Bolshoi Theater, actually contains slim, individually wrapped pieces of semi-sweet chocolate with crushed hazelnuts and French brandy. These will be parceled out slowly over the weeks.

You could get lost in all the different products sold here and if you’re not from Eastern Europe, the offerings can be confusing. Don’t be put off. I found the women behind the counter to be very helpful, so ask questions and ask for tastes. The La Jolla deli has seating inside and out, so you can also sit down and enjoy a meal.

Continent European Deli is located at 4150 Regents Park Row in La Jolla and 5961 University Ave.

Have some thoughts about Continent European Deli or other ethnic markets in San Diego? Do you have a favorite neighborhood market or shop that carries unique or unusual foodstuff? Let me know or add to the conversation by clicking on comments below:

Balboa International Market & Deli: Globetrotting in Clairemont

We all know what armchair travelers are. Well, I think I’m turning into a grocery store traveler. In just the last couple of months I’ve traveled to Japan, China, India and Israel without having left San Diego. This week, in just one stop, I was able to globe trot once again, journeying through the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Balboa International Market & Deli is one of those places someone has to tell you about because its location, in a row of storefronts behind another row of storefronts on Balboa in Clairemont, is not something you’ll just happen upon serendipitously. But, it’s worth the minor effort to find it. My friends Paula and Armando, who introduced me the market, are regulars here, even bringing a large cooler to fill up with perishables for the trip back down to their home in Rosarito.

Owned by the Javdani family, Balboa International Market & Deli is in its third year of business. Manager Elie Raad emphasizes that it is truly international; indeed, a look at the labels on cans, jars and packages whisks you from Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey east to Iran, Israel and India.

Before getting to the business of shopping, the best start is with lunch at their deli. With half a dozen tables set up inside and nine outside, diners can enjoy a variety of Middle Eastern dishes, like chicken and beef kabobs or tender lamb shanks, accompanied by a salad, rice fragrant with saffron and dill and a traditional grilled whole tomato. They also have tabbouleh, spanikopita, tomato and cucumber salad, hummus and falafel. Just put in your order at the deli in the back of the store, take a number, pay for your meal at the register and then find a table. Someone from the deli will bring your lunch to you when it’s ready.

Once fortified, make your way past the pastries and refrigerated section behind the check out lines to the produce. The selection isn’t large, but the quality is good, with gorgeous smooth Persian cucumbers, robust fava beans and a variety of herbs a stand out. Most intriguing were the fuzzy young green almonds. These are a traditional Middle Eastern snack with a very limited period of availability during the year, perhaps three weeks. Perfect with a beer, they need only a quick rinse. Then dip them in salt (or not) and pop them in your mouth. They’re crunchy on the outside with a slightly bitter, herb taste. Inside, the seed is a translucent jelly, kind of like a lychee. Green almonds are not only eaten raw; they are frequently brined or pickled.

You should also check the front of the store to see if bread making is in progress. The store produces fresh Barbari bread, a Persian flat loaf topped with sesame and caraway seeds. It’s very similar to Italian foccacia—crusty on the outside and soft inside. I watched as one of their employees worked the giant dough mixer before shaping the loaves into large flat ovals about an inch and a half high and, after letting them rest, put them in the oven.In the two hours I spent poking around, fresh loaves were regularly brought out in stacks to be placed next to a big basket of plump green raisins. These loaves are best enjoyed hot out of the oven, but can be frozen and reheated. Top a slice with fresh feta cheese or perhaps fig jam.

The market also sells baklava, walnut cookies, Afghani sweet bread and other pastries, as well as chocolates from Russia, Halvah from Israel, real licorice and Turkish Delight. I bought a small package of pistachio nougat. It’s not as sweet a candy as Hershey's would make—probably a good thing—but it's compelling, with a distinctive rose water flavor.

Balboa International Market & Deli is a wonderful place to stock up on herbs and spices. They have a vast selection and very good prices. And, if you’ve found recipes calling for unusual ingredients like dried lime, lemon omani, fenugreek leaves or rose buds, you can pick them up here.

Also in amazing abundance are the oils. Most of one aisle is filled with huge cans of olive,
grapeseed and other oils from different parts of the world, all sporting
delightful labels. I particularly enjoyed the Socrates oil from Greece. You’ll also find both bottled and canned ghee and a good choice of vinegars.

Condiments and relishes are big here. Pickled turnips, both yellow and bright fushia from an infusion of raw beets, are in ample supply, as are pickled mango, lemon, eggplant and cauliflower. There are jars of ajvar (a puree of peppers, eggplant, garlic and hot peppers) and lutenica (a puree of red peppers, tomatoes, carrots and hot peppers). There’s zuccini spread, marinated garlic and shallots and jams in flavors I didn’t know existed—slivered Pergamot, barberry, rose, cedrate, carrot, watermelon peel and pumpkin.

Then there are the cans of stuffed grape leaves, stuffed eggplant and stuffed cabbage leaves, some as large as four pounds. They’re worth picking up to serve at parties, when unexpected guests drop by or as easy appetizers for a dinner party. Or, in the case of the jams, a delightful addition to brunch or tea.

The selection of flavored waters on the shelves was baffling, to be honest. I could understand peppermint water and certainly rose blossom, but oregano leaves, borage, cumin seeds, sweet briar and hedysarum threw me until I learned that they are traditional waters used for medicinal purposes.

Finally, there’s the deli. I love the smooth creaminess of French feta, which they have, along with five other types of feta. You can pick up sausages and olives, prepared foods, fresh beef and chicken, and almost every part of the lamb—from the tongue to the kidney, the heart, shank and feet.

There’s plenty more to explore—like the Turkish and Armenian coffees and wide choice of teas, the rows and rows of dried beans and grains. And, if you’re looking for a movie to watch, there’s a video rental corner up front.

Balboa International Market & Deli is located at 5907 Balboa Ave. across the street from the mall with Target, Ralphs and The Home Depot in Clairemont. Look for the strip mall with See’s Candies and pull into the driveway between the two banks. The market is straight ahead.

Have some thoughts about Balboa International Market & Deli or other ethnic markets in San Diego? Add to the conversation by clicking on comments below: