Cooking with "Deep Run Roots" by Vivian Howard

[blue_dolphin]

I and others have already posted a number of dishes in the Deep Run Roots thread in the cookbook forum but I suppose we should follow convention and have a proper thread here in the cooking forum so here goes.  Everyone cooking from this book is more than welcome to join in!

 

Playing catch-up, in the other thread, I posted about cooking:

Roasted and Fresh Tomato Pie

Jalapeño Peach Chicken

Pork and Red Curry-Braised Watermelon

Elbow Lick Tomato Sandwich with smoked corn mayo as did @Steve Irby in this post

Watermelon Rind Pickles

Party Magnet Cheeseball

The vanilla pecan butter from Breakfast in the Car

The Kitchen Sink Mayo from the Fried Popcorn Oysters and Kitchen-Sink Mayo recipe

Fried Chicken Livers with Balsamic-Marinated Figs

Marinated turnips with orange and pumpkin seeds

 

 

@gfweb posted about making Roasted Grapes, Brussels Sprouts and Sausage

 

@Shelby posted about the Creamed Collards with Pickled Collard Stems, as did @Anna N in this post.

 

@Okanagancook posted about the Gumbo Sauce with shrimp and grits

 

@Anna N posted about the Every Day Cucumbers

 

@Steve Irby posted about the Grits, Green and Pork Rinds

 

If I missed any cooking efforts from that cookbook thread, it was unintentional.  I aim to be inclusive!  

[blue_dolphin]

Here we have the Stuffed Butternut Bottoms.  I decided half a bottom was sufficient for my lunch, so I cut it in half.

The fat, round end of the squash gets de-seeded and baked while you prepare a filling of spicy sausage, leeks, garlic, turnip greens or  kale, fontina cheese (I subbed Comté) and some of the squash neck.  The stuffed bottoms get topped with panko and parm and go back in the oven.  I should have lowered the shelf of my CSO or paid more attention (or both) as the topping got a bit too brown.   Good stuff though.

I only used cooked one squash but made up the full recipe of stuffing so I have that to play with....pasta?  risotto?  something to sit under a poached egg?  Hmmmm.....

 

[Smithy]

That is beautiful, @blue_dolphin.  I love stuffed squash, but this filling is more intricate than I usually make. I'll be sure to try it.

[blue_dolphin]

43 minutes ago, Smithy said:

That is beautiful, @blue_dolphin.  I love stuffed squash, but this filling is more intricate than I usually make. I'll be sure to try it.

It's a really nice combination with the spicy, slightly fatty sausage, sweet, caramelized squash, bitter greens and crisp cheesy topping. I will certainly make it again.

[scubadoo97]

May not be a recipe of Deep Run Roots but Vivian's butter bean burgers were what's for dinner tonight.  I used a pinch of Spanish smoked paprika in the mix which gave the burgers a smoky quality.  

[Smokeydoke]

Interesting thread, just ordered this book from my local library.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Slightly bastardized version of the Butternut Bottoms - very satisfactory - easy with the steam oven.

[blue_dolphin]

Bastardized Butternut Bottoms!  Oh my! 

[AnneN]

I made quite a few of the Party Magnet Cheeseballs for Thanksgiving. They were very well received; I definitely will make them again. I made one large and about 5 smaller ones. I quadrupled the recipe.

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, AnneN said:

I made quite a few of the Party Magnet Cheeseballs for Thanksgiving. They were very well received; I definitely will make them again. I made one large and about 5 smaller ones. I quadrupled the recipe.

 

Nice!  

I was pleased with how they well they handled being frozen and thawed.  I should make another one or two to keep on hand.

Edited to add that today's NYT on-line food section has an article on cheese balls that mentions this recipe and includes one that is rather similar. 

Edited December 5, 2016 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Okanagancook]

I made the shrimp and grits with Gumbo sauce on page 412.  I made just the sauce and froze it in four batches.  Tonight I pulled out a batch, added some shrimp and cooked the shrimp in the sauce.  I made grits in the IP, which didn't work this time around for some reason....hum, maybe because I omitted the cheddar cheese that I usually added.  Anyways, the gumbo was really lovely.  I liked the okra slices throughout.  It could do with more heat for our tastes.  The recipe calls for only 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon cayenne/chili flakes.  I'll make this again.  I didn't add a lot of the additional butter called for seeing I have been over eating and under exercising lately

[blue_dolphin]

Blueberries are abundant and inexpensive in the local stores so I turned to the Blueberry chapter in Deep Run Roots and made the Blueberry Chutney. 

I may have used a bit more ginger than called for and I microplaned it instead of mincing.  I tried it on some sous vide salmon and it's got a nice gingery-citrus zing. It's a keeper.

[blue_dolphin]

Cumin-Crusted Pork Belly with Sweet and Sour Beet Bottoms and Tops:

Great combination of flavors here with the cumin-cardamon-mustard seasoning on the pork, garlicky, slightly bitter and astringent greens and sweet/sour orange-glazed beet roots.

At first bite, I thought the beet roots were awfully sweet but they grew on me over the course of the meal.  Still, when I make it again (and I will) I'll probably use 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of honey specified, depending on the sweetness of the oranges.  Today, I used some very sweet cara cara oranges.

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pomegranate Salad with Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette

I put a little more blue cheese on a slice of toasted ciabatta to go along with.

[blue_dolphin]

I reported over here in the preserving thread about my fail in attempting the recipe for Apple Chips, a sort of apple preserve.  The book photo shows beautiful transparent apple slices in a pretty amber glaze.  I got a mix of transparent and opaque apple slices in a dark brown syrup.  

 

Food52 started a cookbook club last month and Deep Run Roots is this month's book. It's that activity that got me re-reading the apple chapter, among others.   I must say I am appreciating the nudge to delve into some of the chapters I hadn't paid much attention to thus far.

 

And the Apple Chips?  Ah well.  I tried something new and made my house smell very apple-y!

[blue_dolphin]

I set out to make the Hot Apple Jelly Thumbprints, a savory cookie that uses a cheese straw-type dough and fills the depressions with a hot apple jelly.  Vivian describes the origin of the recipe as coming from an occasion when she was charged with developing a creative, portable, Tabasco-containing snack.  For my test batch, using sharp cheddar cheese,  I tried the hot apple jelly, made per the recipe, as well as some filled with Jalapeño-Peach Glaze and Blueberry Chutney which are also in the book.  All of them were very tasty with a glass of wine.  I gobbled up the hot apple jelly ones first so I give you Jalapeño-Peach Thumbprints:

[blue_dolphin]

Today's lunch was the Lentil Apple Soup with Bacon

Per the recipe, this was to be served with a dollop of buttermilk.  The contents of my carton was unpleasantly curdled.  I tried a spoonful of yogurt instead and it added a nice tang.

Not sure how the apple texture will stand up to a freeze-thaw cycle, but I'll see.

 

[blue_dolphin]

I wanted to make the Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Beet Tzatziki (p. 517) but all the lamb leg I could find was in larger packages than I wanted so I bought a pound of ground lamb and made little meat balls, using the same seasonings (lemon zest, oregano, rosemary) that Vivian puts in the lamb marinade plus some Aleppo pepper, garlic, panko, milk and egg. They got baked in the oven.  I also prepared the Everyday Cucumbers (p. 246) to go along with.

The beet tzatziki is rather violently colored and I wish I had some nice fluffy pita bread to go with this but everything was good.

[barolo]

This book just won a number of IACP awards, including cook book of the year, so thanks for illuminating these recipes. 

[blue_dolphin]

A salad from Deep Run Roots.  Blueberries and Cucumbers with Pistachios and Yogurt

[blue_dolphin]

Another salad.  This one is called My Favorite Beet Salad.  I wasn't sure about this as I've got my own favorite beet salad but I have to admit this one is pretty dang special.

Here, the beets are marinated with orange zest and juice, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and a dab of honey.  They sit on an airy pillow of dressing (blue cheese and buttermilk, blended together and then folded into whipped cream) with orange segments and butter roasted pecans.  My beet salad has all those same ingredients tossed together with some baby greens or spinach and I like it very much but this is so, so luxurious! 

[scubadoo97]

That looks delicious.  I do have some unused roasted and peeled beets that didn't get used from the other night that need attention.  At least one is sliced really thin 'roll eyes' 

[Shelby]

11 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Another salad.  This one is called My Favorite Beet Salad.  I wasn't sure about this as I've got my own favorite beet salad but I have to admit this one is pretty dang special.

Here, the beets are marinated with orange zest and juice, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and a dab of honey.  They sit on an airy pillow of dressing (blue cheese and buttermilk, blended together and then folded into whipped cream) with orange segments and butter roasted pecans.  My beet salad has all those same ingredients tossed together with some baby greens or spinach and I like it very much but this is so, so luxurious! 

I've been wanting to make this since I got the book.  Now I really really want to make it.  

[MelissaH]

That beet salad looks amazing.

[blue_dolphin]

The beet salad is really something different with that whipped blue cheese dressing.  The texture of it surprised me at every bite!  

It's rich, with a full ounce of blue cheese per serving yet so light due to the whipped cream.  It's not something I'll be making every day but it's not that much trouble either.  Everything can be done ahead except for whipping the cream, folding it into the dressing and plating.  I'll be interested to hear what you guys think when you try it.

 

Today's adventure is the Blueberry-Rosemary Breakfast Pudding.  A lot of people in the Food52 cookbook club were posting pictures of this last weekend.  Bread puddings are not usually my thing - too much mush, not enough crunch but this looked like it had a good amount of crunch in the top layer so I gave it a try.  I barbered the recipe down and made 1/4 the amount, baked in a Pyrex loaf pan.  I'd say this makes 2 very generous servings and it gave a good ratio of crispy top to softer bottom layers.   I used Rancho Gordo's nice granulated piloncillo for the topping sugar that gets mixed with nutmeg to make that browned crunchy top.

This stuff is sweet enough that it could be dessert, maybe with a scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream, but the rosemary and lemon zest (and the use of sourdough bread) save it from being cloying.

 

That's a little less than half on my plate with fresh grapefruit and blueberries

 

Yum!