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Spring and Summer Beet--Not your greatgrandmother's type

Beet Gnocchi--from chef Mario

Early this summer (2009), I was invited to do a chef demonstration at a CSA in Concord, NH.

On the harvest list were early beets.  So, I came up with this beet gnocchi recipe, and wrap it into a nice spring salad. 

I had the same set of reactions:  “Oh, no.  I never eat beets.  Don’t like ‘em.”  And, “OK, I’ll try them, even though I’m not a beet fan.”  And lastly, “I just love beets—can never get enough of them.”

After tasting this dish, I had 300 folks loving the fresh, earthy, and sweet taste of beets—with a new texture.  Beets are versatile, nutritious, and colorful—and can be made to taste sweet, sour, salty, umami, toasty, light, heavy, creamy, etc.  Just play around with them!

I'll mention up front that all ingredients are locally-sourced. By that, I mean New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, upstate New York, and western Massachusetts. I believe that this fertile northeastern region provides us with excellent fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, liquid dairy, and other sustainables. Also, every ingredient is organic or sustainably grown, with organic being my first choice. Lastly, my recipes take into account seasonality, and in the case of early tomatoes, I use my own canned organic tomato sauce, as an example.

Chef Mario's Beet Gnocchi Salad

Gnocchi is a classic Italian dumpling, but while their eastern European cousins are usually made with white flour and water (and perhaps some kind of fat), Italy's gnocchi may be made a number of different starches and assorted flavors. Gnocchi di Patate is the most popular. It is made with potatoes. My favorite uses a floury, not waxy potato. And the classic green gnocchi is Gnocchi Verde or spinach gnocchi.

I created my recipe with slow roasted beets that were pulsed in the food processor. This recipe will make enough for four people for a main entree.

Start with four large or five medium beets, either red or golden or orange. The chiogia (candy cane) beet does not work well, I've discovered. Wash them and coat them in olive oil and roast them until fork tender. You can peel them afterward, when the skin is ready to come off easily under cold water.

Chop them and process them in your food processor until they form tiny little squares, almost like caviar. Since we roasted the beets, they are a bit drier than boiling them. At this point, I place the mashed beets into a large work bowl and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a few pinches of kosher salt. If you like a mild garlic undertone, then you can roast a couple cloves of garlic and include them when you process the beets. But please don't add raw garlic, as the taste will overwhelm the dish.

 

As the beets cool, add a cup of ricotta (I like to use organic whole milk ricotta or make my own), three large eggs, and two large egg yolks. Whip nicely to incorporate air, then add a 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a couple pinches of ground black pepper.

Next, you need to incorporate the flour. Most folks will use a nice King Arthur all purpose flour, which makes the most fluffy gnocchis. I used a combination of Teff and other non-wheat flour to accomodate a wide-array of potentially gluten-sensitive guests. But I would not normally do that. I'd use plain old bench flour, as we called it in culinary school.

Sift in a half cup at a time and fold gently, not to over-work the mixture--which would start to really stretch the gluten and make a hard, heavy dough. Keep adding the flour a half cup at a time, letting it rest a minute between additions, so that you let the flour absorb into the dough.

When you get to the point where the dough is mid-way between the consistency of thick frosting and the consistency of a firm bread dough, you have the right consistency. At this point, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour, and overnight if you wish. (To freeze these, cut them as noted below and coat them in fine cornmeal, wrapping tightly before you freeze. Do not freeze cooked gnocchi!)

When you are ready for the final step, bring a large pot of sea water (that's good old fashioned pasta water that tastes like ocean water) to a rapid boil. As you wait for the water to boil, take a large chunk of the dough (it may still be sticky) and with some bench flour, roll it into long "bread sticks". Then, make small cuts, maybe 1/3" in length. Drop into the boiling water and then (in about 45 seconds), fish out the floaters with a kitchen spider (those nifty Asian webbed nets on the end of a bamboo stick!). At this time you can adjust your cut sizes.

Place in a clean bowl with ample olive oil and a bit of red wine vinegar, if you are using these in a salad. If you wish to dress the gnocchi with a warm sauce, for a main entree, then skip the vinegar. When cooled, I like to add sliced sweet red onions, all types of greens, slices of beets for the beet lover, goat cheese, and sliced raw aspargus. Right before serving, dress with your favorite homemade oil and vinegar dressing and lightly fold in chopped herbs. Mint and chives work well. So do basil and chives. I also enjoy fresh dill and parsley.

On the warm side, you can re-heat the gnocchi and serve with a fried beet green and scallion mix with some dry Italian cheese, or a creamy garlic and herb sauce with a touch of butter and cream.

Seasonal Spring Vegetable Risotto from King's Grant Farm

My favorite dish this week was the fresh pea risotto, vegan style. No cream, butter, or cheese.

Now, I would never make a risotto that way at home, but my creamy version at Opening Day just proved that with the right vegetable stock, some hearty extra virgin olive oil, and fresh peas, you can easily make a mouthwatering, creamy dish. Just use some fresh Arborial rice and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Be prepared to stand watch, as you slowly stir the pot. If you wish to add a bit more depth, now is the time to add a minced shallot--that ethereal combination of mild garlic and onion. Go ahead and add a quarter cup of dry white wine if you wish. The alcohol will burn off and the fresh, tangy taste will infuse into the rice and leave a mellow fruity glow on your tongue.

I have walked away many times in my professional kitchen career, and each time I have scortched or burned the risotto.

Prepare your stock so that it has lots of flavor. I prefer chicken stock, but you can use a bold and deeply-flavored mushroom stock, a light and fragrant vegetable stock (with lemons, parlsey, and dill), or a richly-flavored vegetable stock like I used, which included onion (and the skins), lots of fresh herb stems (where all the flavor is), carrots, celery, and sweet red peppers. You want to avoid harsh or acidic vegetables like green bells, hot peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, etc. in your stock.

Add a good amount of olive oil to your stock to mimick the mouth-feel of butter or other fat. Heat it to a simmer and follow the risotto recipe, adding the hot liquid when needed.

Just before the dish is completed (and this is a highly personal call as to how al dente one likes his/her risotto), add the fresh peas. The warmth of the rice will heat the peas enough to blend the taste and still keep them a bit crunchy. The starch from the rice will make the dish creamy, but if you wish, you can add some cold chunks of butter at the end to emulsify the dish.

If you cannot find Arborio rice, I would suggest you use Carnaroli rice. In fact, you may prefer the texture of Carnaroli even more than Arborio. For a super creamy version, use Vialone Nano rice, if you can get your hands on it.

My favorite rendition of this classic dish to prepare a full dairy version (adding a bit of butter and dry Italian cheese at the end--or even better, some Gorgonzola) and then serving it with a kabob of grilled fish, onion, and sweet red bellpeppers on top.

If you have leftover risotto, you can make arancini or "little oranges" in Italian. I make mine with day old, stiff rice. I make rice balls the size of a golf ball, fill them with a nice local cheese (that will melt nicely, like a local mozzarella), dip them in a whipped egg batte, and then finish them by dustin them with fine dried bread crumbs. I then fry them until golden brown, for 3-4 minutes in an inch of hot oil. The make great appetizers! Dunk them in your favorite sauce, too!

 

Zesty Organic Yogurt Dip

The fabulous stuff I used this week was organic yogurt from New Hampshire's Brookford Farms! What a pleasure it is to use their ingredients. I get it from the Concord CoOp. I took a whole glass jar full, added a 1/4 cup of organic cultured buttermilk from Vermont's Butterwork's Farms (widely available), a teaspoon of seasalt, and chopped herbs--whatever was growing in my potager.

I think I used chopped parsley, thyme, chives, and dill. But you can dress it up to match whatever type of main meal you are serving. Someone suggested mint, which I think is a great idea.

Please don't throw away the leftovers! Re-jar it, add some local apple cider vinegar, some grated Parm cheese, and some coarse ground pepper...and you have an instant buttermilk dressing for your salads that's better than any ranch-style dressing you have ever eaten.

Also remember that cultured foods like yogurts and buttermilks are loaded with beneficial probiotics--stuff that is great for our guts. I read the other day from a reputable source that if our guts were really healthy (loaded with probiotics that help our bodies kill free radicals), then we'd only absorb one percent of the toxins we ingested. But a normal, unheathly gut will digest almost 95% of the toxins we ingest.

Lamb Stuffed Green Leaves

This dish is super easy! I took local, free range ground lamb--only a pound of it--and seasoned it with my favorite Italian-style seasoning. I happen to use Sunapee Seasonings' Capo Caponata. (I own Sunapee Seasonings, so I am partial.) I fry the lamb with some olive oil (it has very little fat) and a chopped sweet onion.

When the lamb mixture is cooled, I add small cubes of smoked cheese. You can use smoked mozz or gouda. In this case, I used a local smoked jack cheese. Mix well and add a cup of minced parsley and some lemon juice to taste. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Add a three cups of your favorite cooked rice to make a stuffing mix.

Then, wash and rinse your leftover BIG beet greens, chard leaves, or kale leaves. Steam them to make them pliable and then stuff them like you would a cabbage leaf. Top with your favorite tomato sauce and slowly bake in the oven at 375 F. for 40 minutes.

This is a great way to use those often hard-to-employ leaves that suddenly pop from our gardens. They are loaded with nutrition and steaming them keeps most of the nutrients in place. For your vegetablarian friends, skip the lamb and substitute chopped vegetables that have already been cooked down (to remove moisture).

If you have any culinary questions, please email me at editor@greatgrandmother.org