Monday, November 15, 2010

Another Thanksgiving recipe

Sweet Potato Biscuits, adapted from several recipes I found online

Because you can eat these with butter, straight out of the oven. Or you can dip them in your first-course soup. Or you can slice and slip in a bit of cheese. Or save for the next day, with all of the turkey leftovers. Because they are addictively delicious.

3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
10 Tbs. butter
2 c. mashed sweet potato (about two large potatoes roasted and mashed, with peels discarded)
1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients and sift together. Cut in butter to make a coarse meal. Stir in sweet potatoes. Add milk and stir until sticky. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll to one-half inch thick. Cut with a small cookie cutter or a round glass and put on a greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart (or: drop by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet if you’re pressed for time, like me).

Bake 12-15 minutes until very lightly browned.


Sunday, November 14, 2010

Fall, Spice and all Things Nice

This was a lazy cloudy, gray Sunday in Seattle. From 8 this morning until 4:30 this afternoon, the sky was the same color, same hue, same temperature, same .... gray. Monotonous clouds. It can be a cozy blanket for a lazy Sunday, no high noon sun calling, or falling dusk to make you fell anxious for the coming Monday.
Around 11, I stepped off the porch for a run, with gloves and a head warmer. Preparing for the cold. It ended up being a comfortable 50 degrees once I got my body temperature up. Down the Burke Gillman, the Montlake Cut was shrouded in gray fog, as I ran across sidewalks covered in fallen orange, yellow and red leaves. Ravenna bungalows have lingering halloween decorations, with eclectic pumpkins sitting on front porches. I am getting ready for a half marathon in February in SF and trying to fit in two of these longer runs a week. Something has morphed about my running patterns, and I find it hard to cut a run shorter than 45 min. I'm afraid my loping, comfortable pace has set in for sure. I need to work in some shorter, faster tempo runs to keep the energy up. After running through campus, past the College Inn, Allen Library, HUB remodel Thomson Hall (the old international studies stomping grounds), past McMahon Hall and the old house on 20th, I crossed the bridge at Ravenna, peering down from the upper branches of the green bridge across Ravenna park. Few bright yellow leaves clung to their perch among gray spindly branches.

An hour and a half run, a warm shower, and the couch welcomed me back.

A steaming, fall supper was in order. And I created a beautiful, petite fall package with a
Stuffed Kabocha Squash with Arabic Lamb Stew
Stuffed Squash with Spiced Brown Rice Stuffing


Brown basmati rice steamed with plenty of sea salt and a splash of turkey broth after all the water cooked off.

A stuffed kabucha squash, hollowed of seeds and goup, brushed with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, holes pricked in the top for steam, and put in the oven (350 degrees) with a large splash of turkey broth to soften the center with steam.

In a sturdy saute pan, three cloves of garlic in olive oil, with half a yellow onion and three stalks of celery. Sautéed and then one large turnip added. Cook down with lid on for 3-5 min. Add turkey broth, black pepper, salt, tumeric, coriander, and cumin. More black pepper (for me :) ) Add chopped Italian parsley (lots). Simmer for 15 min.

Remove squash from oven (should have been in oven for ~ 30 - 40 min). Fill center with brown rice and celery/turnip mixture. Return to oven for another twenty minutes or until squash is soft and easily pierced with a fork.

Removed from the oven, this little package was a steaming, warm salty, spiced with the vibrant sweet orange of the squash. I plan to make this for Thanksgiving weekend for the family, perhaps in place of the acorn squash. I will definitely add mushrooms for the next one. I'm thinking of creating a sweet version (brown rice, or maybe bread crumbs, brown sugar, cranberries, cardamom, cinnamon)


Other things I like recently:

Junip (@ Nuemos on Wednesday!!)
Over the Rhine @ The Triple Door
Looking forward to Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown and Christmas movies
Nordstroms Men's Shoes Department on a busy Sunday afternoon
This group of pictures: figs and cute, homey bakeries.



These designers for clothes to come (x-mas list??!) EMERSON MADE!



side

A Le Creuset miniature cast iron (.. like a dutch oven)
on sale:
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=502862&CategoryID=7552&LinkType=#fn=BRAND%3DMartha%20Stewart%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D65


The book I'm reading: Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee (perfect for reconsidering Thanksgiving tradition.. Howard Zin's American History is next!)
Toasted Pecans and Maple Syrup
Mulled Wine cut with Apple Cider
Impromptu Apple Crisp for one
Cheese Balls and Four Loco ;)
Pumpkin Donuts and Americano with cinnamon @ Top Pot