This past weekend I was in Highlands, North Carolina, a charming mountain community that is home to a number of high-end restaurants. I was there in an unusual capacity—dispatched, you might say, to be one of three judges for their first-ever Iron Chef style culinary competition.

Who would be “King of the Mountain?” Four area chefs faced off, armed with kitchen staples, a box of Secret Ingredients, their sharpened French knives and wits, trying to execute as many daring dishes possible within a 40 minute time period. Yikes, 40 minutes!

And then, we judges got to sample, and score, on the basis of Taste, Presentation, and Creativity….in what seemed seconds.

Indeed, these chefs came up with some exceptional delectables. For one heat, the secret ingredient was sushi-grade Red Grouper. Witness: a gorgeous Grouper Carpaccio, translucent fillet dressed with peppery olive oil, basil and fennel. Grouper and crawfish in a spicy African Peanut Stew, presented in the hollow of a halved coconut. Grilled baby eggplant, mango, and grouper salad in a gingery-caramel-tamari-based dressing that was ultimate Umami.

Inspiring!

It wasn’t until the morning after the competition, while driving the winding way down the mountain, that I started to wonder, what would I have made in 40 minutes…

I didn’t arrive at any great answers. And when I arrived home, I made this Polenta Torta.

Now, even though it is not King of the Mountain caliber, it would score very high points for taste. Mushroom ragu can be as rich and complex as a meat bolognese, and in much less time.

Presentation and creativity score well in the acceptable range.

And, it can be made and assembled in that 40 minute time period…if you’ve got your sharp knife and wits about you.

Polenta Torta layered with Spinach and Mushroom Ragu

For the Polenta:

4 cups Water
1 cup Polenta
1 t. Sea Salt
1 t. good Olive Oil

Bring water a boil and stir in polenta and salt. Stir continuously until polenta incorporates into the liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally.

Polenta is very forgiving. If it gets too thick, thin with more water. If it’s too thin, just simmer along and it will thicken up. When it is a good, almost pourable consistency, remove from heat and stir in the olive oil.

Mushroom Ragu:
1 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Butter
1 medium Onion, small dice
½ Yellow or Red Bell Pepper, small dice
2 cloves minced Garlic
12 oz. coarsely chopped assorted Mushrooms: portabellos, shiitakes, oyster, cremini…you don’t have to get all of these, 2 or 3 varieties are nice
4-6 sprigs fresh Thyme
Salt
Black Pepper
¼ cup Red Wine
1 cup diced Tomatoes and juice
½ cup low fat Milk

In a skillet under medium heat, melt butter and olive together. Saute onions and peppers until softened; stir in garlic, mushrooms, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms brown. Add red wine, tomatoes and juice. Stir well, scraping up any browned bits in the skillet. Simmer and stir. Mushrooms will release their liquid and sauce will acquire a pretty reddish-brown hue. Stir in milk; taste for seasonings and adjust.

Spinach Sauté
½ lb. fresh Spinach
2 cloves minced Garlic
Olive Oil
shredded Pecorino Romano

Simple: Heat the oil, toss in the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the spinach leaves. Toss around in the pot until the leaves are coated and collapse. (another minute or two) Remove from heat and dust with a little romano cheese.

Assembly

In a 9×13 casserole dish coated with olive oil, spread a layer of polenta. Follow that with a layer of spinach, then a layer of mushroom ragu. Sprinkle some shredded pecorino romano at this point, if you like.

Repeat the process—all layers again.

At this point, if you are making things ahead of time, you can refrigerate the casserole. It will be ready to bake when you are.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes–until browned and bubbly.

For my Vegan Friends:
Polenta Torta lends itself to numerous variations.
Simply delete the butter and romano; no milk in the mushroom sauce.
It won’t be quite as Lush—but still very good.
Layers of swiss chard and marinara sauce would be Delish.
And, Pesto layers? Absolutely.

That’s Kara, intent on carefully stirring this big batch of Italian meatballs in hearty red sauce, the centerpiece of a meal made by her and fellow Brentwood Academy students attending our cooking seminar at Second Harvest.
For Winterim, she and eight others chose to come to our Culinary Arts Center to learn some kitchen skills and tasty recipes.

We are fortunate at our food bank to have a teaching kitchen. Each week, volunteers get hands-on experience in a commercial setting, preparing our Friday First Harvest Cafe buffet lunch.

Mark and I also feel strongly about teaching youth to cook—informing the palate and developing skills in the kitchen are as critical as reading, math and science (all of which come into play with understanding recipes, measurements, temperatures….)

We have designed a series of classes specific to teens. Periodically during the school year, we host these three-day seminars. On the first day, the kids make a big lunch for themselves. The next day, they cook a full course dinner to bring home to their families. The final day, they assist with our First Harvest Cafe: cooking and serving for the hundred-plus guests who attend.

In the summer, we offer COOKS RULE, week-long cooking camps that expand on some of the skills and recipes touched on in the smaller seminars. We have sophisticated menus exploring cuisines from around world and incorporating fresh local products from our farmers.

For this class, our students learned some Italian-American basics:
meatballs, tomato sauce, pasta, salad and red wine herb vinaigrette
The morning was spent preparing our lunch.

I developed these recipes to be straightforward and simple, without sacrificing flavor, and have found them to be well received by just about anyone interested in learning to cook. I’ve taught them to teens and to formerly homeless. Mindful of what people have access to, the meatball and sauce recipes indicate options for fresh or dried herbs.

We always emphasize that recipes are starting points, guideposts: free to adapt as you choose. It’s all about creativity. Cooking is foremost an art. Happily, there are myriad variations of meatballs and sauce out in the world, and there’s always another tasty take on a known dish.

Our students work in teams. We strive to have a good balance of lecture and demonstration with mainly hands-on work. And, really, that’s why they are there. Everyone wants to get her hands in the action. Mixing and rolling meatballs is a perfect means…..

Plus, it is a WHOLE lot of fun. We strive to have joy in our kitchen.
But, truly, that’s something we don’t have to work hard to achieve!

The meatballs are oven roasted. It’s an easy way to cook them, and drain off any excess grease before they are plunged into the pot of red sauce to simmer. (Of course, big batches of meatballs can made, roasted, and frozen—ready to use at a later point in time.)

While the sauce simmers, the students clean, spin, and toss greens with a vinaigrette they whipped up themselves. We prepare the pasta (linguine in this case) and set up our buffet…dine on our reward, a delicious lunch. Good work!

Italian Meatballs
1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
¼ lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, casing removed
2 -3 slices of French or Italian bread, torn into small pieces
2 teaspoons minced Garlic
1 small Onion, chopped very finely
2 Tablespoons dried Italian herbs (or finely chopped 2 T. fresh basil, 1 T. fresh oregano, 2 t. fresh thyme, 1 t. flat leaf parsley)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
6 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten

Break up the ground beef and sausage into a large mixing bowl.
Add the bread pieces, garlic, onions, herbs, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese and the beaten egg.
Vigorously mix all the ingredients together by hand-almost like kneading bread dough-until all the herbs and bread pieces are well mixed throughout the meat.
The mixture will get a little fluffy and shiny when it is mixed well.
Shape into balls-about the size of a golf ball, (or smaller, if desired). Place the meatballs on a baking sheetpan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until done.
Drain any excess grease and place the cooked meatballs into your thick Italian Tomato Sauce.

Hearty Italian Tomato Sauce
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 small Onions, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 large (28 oz.)Can Tomatoes in juice-coarsely chopped, save the juice!
1 small can (6 oz) Tomato paste
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black pepper
1 Tablespoon Basil
2 teaspoons Oregano

In a large saucepan (3-4 quart size) heat olive oil.
Add the chopped onions first and sauté until soft and translucent-about 7 minutes.
Then add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly.
Add the coarsely chopped tomatoes and their juice, the tomato paste, all the herbs and spices and stir well until it begins to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked meatballs and continue simmering. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Tick Tick Tick Tick… Counting down to Christmas and Year End…..
Time has accelerated, don’t you think? It always does, this time of year. There’s an energy, positively frenetic, that builds on itself, days spinning out ad delirium as we dart and dash about wrapping up loose ends, wrapping up presents,

wrapping up brie.

What, No Brie Wrapping, you say? And, why not?

It’s so very festive, and much more fun than trying to fit shiny paper in tidy corners around a big box, and tape without tearing, and not misplace the scissors under the mounds of wadded gift wrap, tissue paper, bows, ribbons, and the odd pieces of plastic holly that surround you on the floor. Promise.

Step away from all the trappings of gift wrapping. Consider stashing that book/scarf/bracelet/salad bowl/teddy bear into a shiny bag and mosey on into the kitchen.

Simple elements are involved: a round of brie, a package of puff pastry, some chutney. Any chutney will do, really.
My Of-The-Moment one is Apricot-Cranberry.

Oh, and a sharp knife, and a little confidence in your creativity. You can do this. Free-form works. Abstract works. Childlike wonder works.

(In the days when we were both impoverished hippie artists doing bits of catering-for-cash , my friend Teresa, now a food stylist, and I, now a recovered caterer, decided that bad fine art often made respectable food art. There’s a world of possibilities…)

Meanwhile, here’s a presentation that everyone will tear into—oh melty cheese and chutney—you’ll find yourself surrounded by love and gratitude. And no rumpled gift wrap.

Promise.

Cut the brie across the center

Spread a generous layer of chutney onto the brie

The big brie burger…..

Cutting the corners at an angle will give you pieces to wrap around the middle. The main idea is to secure the brie in the pastry, giving yourself a nice canvas for your design. I made a wreath, but you could make a sunburst, snowflakes, trees, ornaments, leaves, anything you fancy. Work with pastry that is cold; it cuts better. As it warms, it stretches more readily, and can be twisted, or rolled into balls. You can move the pastry in and out of the refrigerator as you work. It is very forgiving.

Piercing the contours of all your shapes will add dimension while keeping the brie from exploding (!)

Chutney-stuffed Brie in Puff Pastry
1 Box Puff Pastry
cracked black pepper
your favorite chutney (recipe below)
1 round of Brie

parchment
cookie/baking sheet pan

Allow puff pastry to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Split brie in half and spread one side with chutney. Close up like a sandwich. Place, centered, onto a sheet of puff pastry and sprinkle with pepper. Cut a square of puff pastry and place on top.
Cut the corners of the bottom piece at a diagonal, and wrap around the sides of the brie. Seal edges by gently pinching the dough together. If it won’t stick, moist with a little water.
Flip the brie over so that the bottom is now the top.
Decorate, by cutting or carving shapes with a paring knife and place on the brie.
When your design is set, gently pierce around the shapes with the tip of your knife. This enhances the design AND prevents the brie from popping and oozing when it bakes and puffs up.

You can wrap and decorate your brie ahead of time–a day or so before serving (I have even frozen them at this point.) Cover in plastic wrap.

Ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes, until pastry is puffed up and golden brown.

Remove and cool slightly. You can dust the top of the pastry with a little paprika or chives. Place on serving tray, decorate with fresh fruits. Enjoy with wine.

Apricot-Cranberry Chutney

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons peeled fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
½ cup dried cranberries
1 cup water
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic and ginger together, stirring over moderate heat for about two minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Turn the heat to low and allow the mixture to cook for another 15-20 minutes as the dried fruits absorb the liquid and thicken. Stir occasionally. Allow to cool to room temperature. Makes 1 ½ cups.

Yellow Dinner
(with optional bright green chives, for contrast!)

There are times, like this rainy-gray fall day, when the simplicity of a monochromatic one-plate meal is just right.

Consider a poached farm egg–so pure–
nestled a top a mound of creamy polenta.
Now, spoon on some roasted yellow pepper sauce
for sweetness.
Then, sprinkle shreds of parmesan
for bite.

Grab your spoon, to scoop up all the comfort.
Get a blanket and huddle on the couch with your dinner bowl,
grateful that you are warm inside.

It’s the sauce that unifies this dish, bringing that caramel-vegetal
balance to the protein and the carb.

I roasted the sweet bell peppers in much the same way that I roast
tomatoes—brushed with olive oil, dusted with sea salt. I used yellow bell peppers—that’s what I grew—but you can use sweet red or orange bell peppers too.

Here, I included hunks of onion, a few garlic cloves, a handful of sungold cherry tomatoes, and one overripe “Mr. Stripey” yellow tomato–all which caramelized in harmony with the peppers.

Post-peeling, all the mixture needs is a puree in the food processor.
If you want to make it super-rich, puree this with heavy cream.
Whoa!
That added dairy is unnecessary, however.

While this dish has full flavors and richness, it does not have a lot of fat.

The polenta, seasoned simply with salt and black pepper, is boiled in water to desired thickness. (follow the directions on the bag or box–typically it’s a ratio of 1 to 3, corn meal to water.

The peppers are roasted in olive oil. The eggs are soft-poached. (so that the runny yolk will get sopped up by the polenta.)

A few nut-like shards of parmegiano-regianno are the only dairy.

The whole ensemble is divine.

Roasted Sweet Yellow Pepper Sauce
2 large ripe Yellow Bell Peppers
1 ripe Yellow Tomato
1/2 large Yellow Onion
2-3 cloves of Garlic
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and pod. Place onto baking sheetpan, top up.
Core tomato, cut in half. Place on baking sheetpan.
Cut onion into medium sized hunks. Place among, and underneath the peppers. Place garlic cloves under the peppers as well.
Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place in oven to roast for 20-25 minutes: skins will blacken and blister.
Allow to cool, and remove peels. (they should slip right off.)
Puree in a food processor fitted with the swivel blade.

I wanted to share this ensemble recipe with you, made recently for another of our community pot luck dinners, because its elements lend themselves to so many tasty variations.

Here we’ve got smoked pork loin, peach chutney, sauteed arugula layered on one of the South’s best culinary contributions: the corncake. I made these “pick-up” size, so that you can enjoy bitter, sweet, smoky, and savory pretty much in two bites. This particular combination was based on ingredients I had on hand. It’s got a nice season-transition feel. And, color!

But, using the corncake as the base, you should feel free to improvise. Sauteed kale, chard, or collards would work equally well. Try ham or smoked turkey for the meat.

And, the beauty of chutneys is that it’s really hard to make a bad one, provided you have good ingredients used in a good ratio. The chutney recipe below is a guideline, ready for substitutions. With pears and apples coming onto the seasonal market, I’m sure I’ll be making chutney with those, paired with cranberries. Different chili peppers and sweet peppers are welcome additions. Have fun with it.

And, if nothing else, enjoy this corncake recipe. Make ‘em BIG for dinner. They are delicious, too, with bits of corn, chilis, or cheese mixed in….

Happy Fall to all!

Baby Corncakes
1 ½ cups Cornmeal (can be yellow or white corn meal)
1 cup All Purpose Flour (make sure it is All Purpose, NOT Self-Rising)
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) melted Butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups lowfat milk

skillet

In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients (the first 5 ingredients) and whisk them together.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, butter, and milk.
Add to the bowl of dry ingredients.
Stir until well blended and smooth, but do not overbeat.
Heat skillet and ladle out batter–about 1 Tablespoon size per corncake–and cook as you would pancakes–flipping after the edges brown.

Makes about 4 dozen baby corncakes.

Add-ins: kernel corn, or minced jalapeno peppers, or green onions, or shredded cheddar cheese folded into the batter before baking!

White Peach-Blueberry Chutney
3 fresh white peaches
1 fresh Serrano chili pepper
2 T. grated fresh ginger root
3 T. brown sugar
1 T. cider vinegar
1/3 cup blueberries

Place sliced peaches, peppers into a saucepan and slowly cook these down together for about 15-20 minutes on low heat, breaking up the peaches as you stir. Stir in ginger root, brown sugar, cider vinegar and blueberries. Continue to cook until the mixture has a coarse but glazed appearance.

Cooks Notes:

The white peaches were a novelty–a pleasant surprise at our farmers market. Use whatever good peaches are available.

The arugula was especially pungent–mature—and I sauteed it in a little olive oil, with minced garlic and onion, and a little salt. I didn’t add any red pepper flakes, which I often do with cooked greens, as the arugula was already peppery.

Sometime in the mid ’90’s, in what now seems like the way-back machine in terms of the life and times of our Nashville Farmers Market, it wasn’t so easy to find the best homegrown tomatoes. The plethora of vibrant heirlooms had not arrived on our agri-scene. You could count on Smileys’ Farm for Bradleys. The Howells had Beefsteaks. From time to time, smaller vendors would show up with their garden varieties and set up stands in the back market shed.

There, we discovered that the tastiest tomatoes also happened to be the ugliest. This we gleaned from one vendor–a gentleman with a shock of white hair and twinkly blue eyes who hawked his malformed “maters” along with his chow-chow and pepper sauces.

“Over here we got the best for the best price,” you’d hear his voice carry across the market shed. “Not a pretty face, but got a pretty taste. Come get your Catface tomatoes.”

Who could resist that call? You’d have to check it out…

He had quite the homely collection of reds: gnarled, scarred, with strange protuberances, overall resembling more the other end of the cat. But, the price was right; our man was convincing. We took a chance on a box of catface tomatoes.

Our white-haired friend explained that the “catfacing” happened early on in the development of the fruit—something about cooler temperature and watering issues—and that the later fruits of the plant “grew proper.”

“Even if they don’t look it, they still have the flavor.”

Oh yes. Those wonky catface tomatoes had an intense acid-candy sweetness. For catering purposes, we couldn’t use them on trays of caprese, for instance. But brushed with olive oil, roasted with onion, garlic, and a few sprigs of thyme, they made a chunky sauce that was moanin’-good.

These days, I don’t hear about the catfaces. All the odd-formed tomatoes are lumped together and sold under that all-encompassing term “culls.” Tally and John of Fresh Harvest Co-op have a considerable number of these less than perfect appearing fruits, offered for half the price of their primos. Such a deal!

Throughout the season, I ‘ll buy a lot of these culls, roast them, and freeze the sauce in tupperware containers. The roasted tomatoes freeze beautifully. They keep that taste of summer and will provide real solace during the winter drear. Tally asked me to post my recipe and remind us all that it’s a good idea to get our favorite tomatoes now and throughout the season to put up–one way or another—-while they are available. Who knows what twists and turns the summer weather will take?

Another reminder: Roasting is easy, but this year I will learn to can. I’m told it’s easy too. There’s only just so much freezer space….
More on that later!

These are ready to oven roast.

Post-roasting, the skins practically come off by themselves.

Keep some sauce in jars to refrigerate and use within a few days. Freeze the remainder.

Chunky Roasted Tomato Sauce
5 lbs. Tomatoes
1 medium Onion
4-6 cloves Garlic
Olive Oil
a few sprigs of fresh Thyme
Sea Salt
Coarse Ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Core tomatoes and cut in half, placing the flat surface down onto a roasting pan. Cut an onion into sixths or eighths and place around the tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves and sprigs of thyme. Drizzle or brush the vegetables with olive oil, then salt and pepper them. Roast for about 25 minutes, until tomatoes skins wrinkle and blister.
Cool, and then remove the tomato skins. (They slip off easily.) Chop large pieces and pack into containers to freeze. Or toss over some capellini and dust with a little parmesan! Makes 2 qts.

In the summer, basil tends to be my preferred herb pairing with tomatoes; there’s nothing like a quick, raw sauce of the two, coarsely chopped, drenched in olive oil and tossed over some capellini to make me happy. But, on this gray January day, the containers of once-lush basil abandoned on my backyard wall hold bare stalks: my stark zen reminder to practice patience. It will be a good six months before I can get my fresh basil-homegrown tomato fix.

Thank goodness that off-season, there are alternatives: thicker, winter red sauces, and the heartier fare they help create. For that reason, canned tomato products prove indispensable. And, they’re good; I try to keep a few cans handy in my pantry. Something about having a pot of this sauce on the stove to fiddle with helps to ease my wait, banish any winter blues.

There are countless variations of red sauce theme and everybody has her tried-and-true methods and ingredients: Whole or diced tomatoes; crushed, paste, or puree; red wine, white wine, dried herbs or fresh. My sister swears by a scoop of sugar in her sauce—which I resist. I like the sweetness that a little balsamic vinegar adds.

Recently I’ve taken to adding fresh rosemary; it’s got a rustic, woody element that melds well in the sauce and seems right for this time of year. I have a large bush that has long thrived through winters in its front porch spot, so I enjoy snipping a sprig to plunge into the sauce as it simmers. Once the rosemary has done its job, just pluck it out, like you would with bay leaf.

Winter Red Sauce
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium onion, small diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
½ cup red wine
a couple of glugs of balsamic vinegar
1 sprig fresh rosemary
salt and black pepper to taste

In a 3 qt. saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, then add garlic. Stir and cook another minute.
Open can of whole tomatoes, pour off juice and reserve. Chop tomatoes and add to saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
Add reserved tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, red wine, and balsamic. Stir well.
Add fresh rosemary sprig and simmer for an hour. Stir occasionally.
Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove rosemary and use.

Hearty, but not over-the-top heavy, these shells are stuffed with a blend of lowfat cheeses and fresh spinach and baked in a blanket of Winter Red.

Stuffed Shells Florentine
1 box Jumbo Shells (there are about 42 shells in a box)
8 oz. fresh young spinach (sometimes called “baby spoon”)
2 lb.tub part-skim ricotta
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
2 eggs
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
1 ½ cups shredded parmesan
1 batch “Winter Red Sauce”

Cook shells according to box directions; drain and set aside to cool.
Coat 2 9×13 (or size thereabouts) casserole dishes with a little olive oil.
In a food processor outfitted with the swivel blade, pulse the spinach until it’s chopped. Scrape into a mixing bowl and return the work bowl to the processor. Refit with swivel blade.
Add ricotta, eggs, salt, black pepper, and garlic and processor until well blended.
Stir the ricotta mixture into the spinach. Fold in 1 ¼ cup each mozzarella and parmesan.
Cover the bottom of the casserole dishes with a few ladles of Winter Red Sauce.
Fill each shell with spinach-ricotta mixture and place in the pool of sauce
Spoon some more sauce over the shells and top with remaining shredded cheeses.
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes in a 325 degree preheated oven. Serves 8-10