A new year to try some new ingredients
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I
made some and one of them is to try five new ingredients in recipes
I cook. I tend to be a picky eater and I often go for all the same
old ingredients, just cooked in different ways. But last year I
tried fennel and leeks, which have become two of my favorite
vegetables. So this year I thought I would continue on the path of
trying some new things.
A new year to try some new ingredients
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I made some and one of them is to try five new ingredients in recipes I cook. I tend to be a picky eater and I often go for all the same old ingredients, just cooked in different ways. But last year I tried fennel and leeks, which have become two of my favorite vegetables. So this year I thought I would continue on the path of trying some new things.
A friend of mine who is something of a foodie, and an adventurous eater suggested a few exotic things such as black squid ink – he says it tastes like concentrated squid flavor. No thanks to that, but I had a few ingredients in mind of my own.
I decided to start out with an ingredient that would be easy to work with and that would mix in well with things I’d already tried. I picked kohlrabi, a type of root vegetables, as my first new ingredient. The recipe I selected for roasted root vegetables is easy to prepare, and perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons when it is cold out and having the heater on for a few hours will warm things up. The recipe included plenty of other root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, celery root, which I also had never used, onions, fingerling potatoes and beets. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find kohlrabi at Nob Hill.
I looked by the other root vegetables, and up and down the produce aisle. I looked in the organic produce section. But there was no kohlrabi to be found. I settled for the vegetables I did find, content that I would be cooking celery root, golden beets and red beets for the first time. I’ve eaten red beets before, out of a can, but never cooked them from scratch.
The prep for the roasted veggies just required some peeling, slicing and tossing of the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. The slow roasting made the vegetables soft and brought out the sweetness in most of them. We served it with a pot roast that paired well for a hot winter meal.
Roasted root vegetables
Recipe courtesy of Wolfgang Puck
8 to 12 slender carrots, peeled and trimmed
8 to 12 baby turnips, peeled
6 to 8 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise in halves
1 or 2 large parsnips, peeled, trimmed, and cut diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices
1 or 2 medium onions, trimmed, peeled and halved, each 1/2 cut into quarters
1 or 2 large beets, peeled and cut into thick wedges
1 or 2 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cut into thick wedges
1 celery root, trimmed and halved, halves cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
1 whole head garlic, separated into cloves, unpeeled
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, or thyme
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Put all the vegetables and the herb sprigs in a large baking dish. Season well with salt and black pepper, drizzle generously with olive oil, and toss them with your hands to coat them evenly.
Put the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook, stirring the vegetables occasionally, until they are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve the vegetables from their baking dish or transfer them to a platter to accompany a roasted main course.
Momma Neely’s pot roast
Recipe courtesy of the Neelys
1 (3 to 4-pound) boneless bottom round roast
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. red wine
2 c. beef stock
2 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
Freshly chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper.
In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil and sear the roast on all sides. Add the onions, garlic and tomato paste and cook until slightly colored. Add the wine, stock, thyme and bay leaves. Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover, and place in the oven.
Roast for 1 1/2 hours and then add the carrots. Continue to cook for 1 more hour. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Slice and place on a serving platter. Skim the fat off the braising liquid and serve with the roast. Garnish with parsley.
