Cooking with Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden

[Chris Hennes]

3 hours ago, David Ross said:

But I'm especially intrigued by watercress butter, which I think would be very good with seafood and chicken.

Man, that stuff would be good with just about anything.

[David Ross]

31 minutes ago, Chris Hennes said:

Man, that stuff would be good with just about anything.

Yes I'm already thinking of broiling salmon then with the watercress butter on top and maybe mixing some of it into a pasta to go with the salmon.  I saw your photo and then thought, why didn't I think of watercress butter?

[heidih]

I think compound butters are a "new but old" thing  @HungryC as I recall does  ramp butter   As a side note the roasted shallot yogurt from White Mustache intrigues

[Okanagancook]

I love compound butters and have several in the freezer....a quick and easy way to add something special to a dish.

[Chris Hennes]

Pistachio butter (page 37)

 

At first glance this looks like a normal pistachio butter recipe, but delving deeper reveals a much more interesting beast. In addition to pistachios and salt, the recipe calls for a small amount of vinegar and olive oil. I wouldn't put it on a sandwich, but as a topping for roasted vegetables the vinegar in particular adds a terrific, if subtle, acidity. I was surprised when looking the recipe up on Eat Your Books a moment ago to note that this does not seem to be the consensus opinion... a couple people commented that they didn't like the vinegar addition, or that it required agrodolce. I couldn't disagree more.

 

[blue_dolphin]

I'm ready for another round of that pistachio butter so I can make the beet slaw again.  That's one of my favorite combinations of flavors and textures in the book. 

 

3 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

I was surprised when looking the recipe up on Eat Your Books a moment ago to note that this does not seem to be the consensus opinion... a couple people commented that they didn't like the vinegar addition, or that it required agrodolce. I couldn't disagree more.

 

I used a regular vinegar when I made this but I've since purchased the Katz vinegars the author recommends.  Made from late-harvest grapes, they have a bit more sweetness but the level of acidity (5.8% for the zin and 5.5% for the sauv blanc) are on a par with other vinegars. It will likely add a touch of sweetness but I don't think that will detract from the dish.  We'll see.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by blue_dolphin (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

Pistachio butter (page 37)

 

At first glance this looks like a normal pistachio butter recipe, but delving deeper reveals a much more interesting beast. In addition to pistachios and salt, the recipe calls for a small amount of vinegar and olive oil. I wouldn't put it on a sandwich, but as a topping for roasted vegetables the vinegar in particular adds a terrific, if subtle, acidity. I was surprised when looking the recipe up on Eat Your Books a moment ago to note that this does not seem to be the consensus opinion... a couple people commented that they didn't like the vinegar addition, or that it required agrodolce. I couldn't disagree more.

 

 

Reminds me a bit of Georgian walnut sauce.

 

[Duvel]

19 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Reminds me a bit of Georgian walnut sauce.

 

Or the sesame paste / peanut butter & vinegar combinations in Chinese cuisine ...

[Chris Hennes]

Raw Winter Squash with brown Butter, Pecans, and Currants (p. 377)

I'm not sold on the texture of raw winter squash. I used a vegetable peeler to make the ribbons, so I probably couldn't realistically get them much thinner, but I still found them to have a bit too much chew to them. The flavors in this salad are good, but I might be inclined to try to heat up the squash and get it to soften just the tiniest bit.

 

 

[Okanagancook]

I made the mushroom butter yesterday.  Wow, delicious.  

DH had some slathered on toast topped with thinly sliced leftover steak for breakfast.  

I made small portions and put them in the freezer.

[blue_dolphin]

On 10/31/2019 at 11:19 AM, Okanagancook said:

I made the mushroom butter yesterday.  Wow, delicious.  

Indeed it is! I've usually started off with a half recipe of these compound butters but I'm glad I made the full recipe of this one - this is one big umami bomb of a compound butter

 

Double Mushroom Butter from Six Seasons p 35.

When I was roasting mushrooms for a pizza last night, I roasted extra and used the trimmings from all of them to make a batch of this compound butter. Since these were just regular creminis, not the wild mushrooms the recipe recommends, I added a handful of dried porcini to the trimmings which get boiled with garlic and thyme and the broth reduced to a couple of tablespoons.
I followed the Six Season suggestion and used it to scramble eggs and finish them with fresh chives.

Here, I used duck eggs and couldn't resist putting the butter on my toast, too - yum!

[Okanagancook]

I’m plonking a big hunk of mushroom butter on my steak tonight!

[blue_dolphin]

I've made it before and I'll make it again.  First, a new batch of the Cacio e Pepe butter p 34 to use in the Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Sugar Snap Peas p 123. 

Love the way the peas and pasta have a similar shape but separate textures - tender-crisp peas with slightly chewy pasta and crisp little pancetta nuggets to add an extra contrast. 

[blue_dolphin]

My herb guy at the farmers market has been bringing in some nice watercress - very flavorful compared with the stuff at the grocery store.  Given @Chris Hennes's positive comments in this post just upthread, I went ahead and made the Watercress Butter from Six Seasons p 36. 

No rutabagas in sight so I wasn't able to try the recipe that Chris made.  I think I'll try to sub sweet potatoes for the rutabagas but in the meantime, I decided to follow this suggestion from @David Ross
 

On 1/15/2019 at 1:44 PM, David Ross said:

Yes I'm already thinking of broiling salmon then with the watercress butter on top and maybe mixing some of it into a pasta to go with the salmon.  I saw your photo and then thought, why didn't I think of watercress butter?

 

I tossed linguine with some of the watercress butter, a little pasta water and a squeeze of lemon juice.  I seared a few scallops, topped them with melted watercress butter and grated some lemon zest over everything and boom - it's dinner!

There are a few cloves of garlic in the watercress butter so it has plenty of flavor to season the pasta.

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by blue_dolphin
to fix photo (log)

[heidih]

Oh yes watercress can be lovey if fresh and vibrant. I often used it as the green in a lightly dressed salad with something like a more fatty meat like duck. Here Asian markets often are the freshest source. I think my farmers market does not sell enough to make it viable. Pasta dish sounds great.

[blue_dolphin]

As I mentioned above, I tried a sweet potato version of the mashed rutabaga with watercress and watercress butter from Six Seasons p 366

I like the texture that the watercress stems added to the mash and the contrast between the sweet mash and sharply flavored greens.  I'll keep my eye out for an actual rutabaga but this is certainly a recipe that can adapt to most any root vegetable - plain Jane potatoes included.  Add that to McFadden's suggestion that the butter can be made with other herbs or tender greens and the variations are endless. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Okanagancook]

I made the Pancetta Vinaigrette on page 39.  So far I have tossed it with warm blanched green beans from the garden.  Yum.

[blue_dolphin]

Cannolicchi (subbing in for Rigatoni) with Broccoli & Sausage  from Six Seasons p 179

I had milk about to turn so I turned it into ricotta and then the whipped ricotta from this book p 37. 

I've made this pasta a few times and liked it so I figured it was a good way to use the whipped ricotta.

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Little Gems with Lemon Cream, Spring Onion, Radish and Mint p 101

The Lemon Cream p 41 is an interesting dressing, with garlic-infused heavy cream whipped into a light, airy sauce flavored with lemon.   This is the only recipe in the book that calls for it and I rarely have little gem lettuces but figured I should take advantage of the opportunity and mark this one off my list.  I used the torn croutons instead of breadcrumbs and forgot to add the mint.  Ooops.  This one is light, bright and spring-like. 

[Anna N]

11 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Little Gems with Lemon Cream, Spring Onion, Radish and Mint p 101

I keep coming back to this. My online grocery store claims to have some little gem lettuce but I am dubious. I am sure you could sub in another lettuce but I'm thinking I might be better off waiting until we are a little more into the growing season. It certainly looks appetizing. 

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I keep coming back to this. My online grocery store claims to have some little gem lettuce but I am dubious. I am sure you could sub in another lettuce but I'm thinking I might be better off waiting until we are a little more into the growing season. It certainly looks appetizing. 

Per the instructions in the book, you separate the leaves from the lettuce and toss everything together so any lettuce would work. Seems to me the point of little gems is how cute they look when halved or quartered so that’s what I did even though the dressing doesn’t coat every leaf evenly. 

[blue_dolphin]

Fennel Two Ways with Mussels and Couscous p 158

Very nice.  This recipe calls for Israeli couscous but I subbed in TJ's "Harvest Blend" of Israeli couscous, orzo, split baby garbanzos and red quinoa.  I also subbed cured Spanish chorizo for the finocchiona, aka fennel salami, and vermouth for the white wine. Pretty much a one-pot meal, which is nice. The orange zest and juice play nicely with both the fennel and the mussels.