As our journey takes us from sunny Portugal to the brisk Baltic, we'll find our pantry is also changing. More grains, more fermented vegetables, more Scandinavian influence.
I'm finding that the transition is less dramatic than one might expect. Soups and simple hearty fare continue to be on the menu. This makes me happy we are working from these books during the cold gray winter months. I feel comforted and nourished by these foods.
My red pepper paste is giving way to dill and horseradish. My beans are being replaced by earthy grains.
The first recipe I made from this book was hemp butter. I have a new addiction!! I altered the recipe slightly... I didn't have hemp seed oil so I used hazelnut oil (if you bought some to cook from Plat du Jour, now's the time to bring it back out). I also added a pinch of salt and a drizzle of honey to the final processing.
Hemp seeds with the hull are available at Kalustyan's in NYC. I ordered them online along with a few other specialty items that I was somehow missing from my ever-growing pantry!
Happy Cooking!
Some photos that were shared with me:
Grace made the cranberry meringue roulade and did a beautiful job of it!
Nancy Levitt did a bunch of cooking from this book so far. I'm looking forward to this discussion!
1 comment
I have one bit of advice on the Baked Trout with Roasted Buckwheat recipe. It’s delicious, however watch the instructions for cooking the kasha in the first paragraph. Covering the grains by 1/2" is just too vague for me and my kasha ended up mushy and gummy.
Look at the kasha package which advises 1 c. kasha to 2 c. of boiling water and make the adjustment.
I also think the rest of the paragraph about wrapping everything in a towel and tucking it under the bed is a load of nonsense. Just put the pan in an unheated oven or warm place to sit until you are ready.