Fresh

By Rachel Sutherland

Don’t be gloomy just because the weather is. There are so many delicious things available that have been sitting quietly, waiting for all their delicate warm-weather cousins to throw in the towel. Now you can pay attention to tangerines and blood oranges, relax with winter squash, and turnips, and beets, fortify yourself with collard greens and kale, and generally reacquaint yourself with all those friends that really hit their stride at this time of year.

PARSNIP

A few weeks of frost bring out the fabulous sweetness of these roots, so now is the perfect time to indulge in parsnip mash or parsnip soup. I always add a bit of apple to either of these, as it does something wonderful to the flavor. And if you like roast parsnips, try dressing them first with a little orange juice, olive oil and ground cumin, then place in a small baking dish, cover with foil, and roast in a 350°F oven for about 40 minutes, until tender.

PERSIMMON

Missing tomatoes? Want a bright winter salad? Toss big slices of ripe persimmon with a balsamic or pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. Both astringent (heart-shaped) and non-astringent (rounded) varieties are available through February, and can be held unripe in the fridge for up to a month. To ripen, keep them out at room temperature for 5 to 7 days, until you feel an almost too soft “squish” when you squeeze them gently. Then eat them within a couple of days, in salads or scooped out with a spoon. Or try the steamed persimmon pudding recipe below with a dollop of creme fraiche for a lovely winter treat.

WINTER RADISHES

Different from their pink cheeked summer siblings, winter radishes are typically characterized by white or black skins, a larger size, and stronger flavor. They too can add some zing to salads at this time of year. They are deliciously crisp; I love to serve them grated as a vividly contrasting accompaniment to fish and pork dishes.

HORSERADISH

Fresh horseradish is to the stuff in jars what Gordon Ramsay is to Sandra Lee. If you have any leftovers from a roast, eat them cold with this weird but delicious sauce: mix 2 tablespoons fresh grated horseradish with 5 ounces unsweetened applesauce, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of sour cream and a little lemon juice. This is especially good with cold duck meat. Otherwise, use fresh horseradish everywhere you would the prepared version, but remember that it is twice as strong when figuring out how much you need.

VENISON

As a Scot, I’m admittedly biased, but well-aged venison is so delicious that I’ve been amazed by the glee with which American hunters turn even the loin into jerky and ground meat. It’s lower in cholesterol and fat than beef, and, especially if you choose wild or free range meat over farmed, the flavor is extraordinary — a subtle mix of sweetness and nuttiness with (especially earlier in the winter) a gentle hint of “wild game” that really sets it apart from other red meats. Don’t bother with a friend’s offer of the prize buck shot for sport unless they got a clean shot from distance; nothing could taste worse than the over-adrenalized meat of an animal that has died in pain and panic while weekend warriors use it for target practice. Ottomanelli’s Meat Market on Bleecker Street has really good New Zealand pasture-raised venison, and among several good on-line sources, Broken Arrow Ranch (www.broken arrowranch.com) is worth a look. Cook the loin meat in steaks like filet mignon, or roast the leg and serve with redcurrant jelly for a really proper winter meal.

And finally, when it seems that you will never again wear less than six layers of clothes, and you’ve long since forgotten what your ears feel like, along comes the first real moment of spring:

MAPLE SYRUP

Grab a shallow baking dish. If there’s no snow left, get some shaved ice from Uncle Louie G’s on Union, because if this winter is anything like last winter they’ll be open in February. Fill your baking dish. Heat maple syrup (very carefully) in a heavy iron pot to 238°F and then drizzle in crazy patterns over the snow. Repeat ad nauseam. Or until your snow melts.

Once it’s cooled, sit back, eat, and remind yourself that you’ll be complaining about the heat soon enough.

RECIPES

PERSIMMON PUDDINGS (serves 6)

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup superfine sugar
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
2 persimmons, peeled and chopped
1½ oz walnut halves,roughly chopped
3 tablespoon maple syrup
a knob of unsalted butter for greasing the molds

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Generously butter the inside of 6 individual pudding molds. (If you don’t have these, ramekins or small bowls will work well too as long as they are oven proof.)

Mix together the walnut pieces and the maple syrup and spoon a little into the base of each mold.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then beat the eggs in a little at a time until well incorporated.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, and then fold into the butter mixture with a large metal spoon.

Now fold in the crumbs and chopped persimmon.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared molds and cover each with a disc of wax paper.
Place the individual dishes in to a large roasting pan, and carefully pour boiling water into the pan until it comes half way up the sides of the molds.

Cover the whole pan with aluminum foil, and place (carefully!) in the oven.

Bake until the puddings are firm to the touch: turn them out and serve immediately with heavy cream, or creme fraiche.

GLAZED RADISHES

This also works really well with turnips. Serve as a side for braised dishes.

1 pound winter radishes
1 orange
½ oz unsalted butter
salt
pepper

Trim the radish tops and cut them into wedges.

Steam the radish pieces over boiling water for about 15 minutes, until they are just tender, and set aside somewhere not too cool while you prepare the glaze.

Taking care not to take the pith, grate or scrape some of the zest from the orange, and chop very fine.

Squeeze the juice from the orange, and put in a pan with the butter. Simmer until this liquid is reduced to a fairly thick consistency, then add the steamed radishes and stir for 2-3 minutes to coat them with the glaze. Add the zest, and salt and pepper to taste.

POMEGRANATE TABBOULEH (serves 6-8)

This recipe is adapted from Sam and Sam Clark’s “The Moro Cookbook”. Although a little involved to make, it keeps so well that it’s worth it: in fact, it’s ideal if prepared the day before it’s needed.

1¼ cups coarse bulgur
1 large Belgian endive, coarsely chopped
1 large fennel bulb
2 cups cauliflower florets
1½ cups pomegranate seeds
6 tablespoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley
4 tablespoons chopped mint
5 oz walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
chicken or vegetable stock
extra virgin olive oil
rice wine vinegar

Put the bulgur in a large bowl. Pour the hot (but not boiling) chicken or vegetable stock over the grains until they are covered to a depth of 2 inches, and stir thoroughly with a fork to separate the grains.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until the grains are cooked, which can be 10 minutes or 40 (depending on whether or not it has been parboiled or cracked), so keep tasting it until it has that moist chewy texture.

When the bulgur is done, let it sit in a sieve to drain off all the excess stock and cool. Once drained, toss it with extra virgin olive oil — just enough to very lightly coat the grains — and fluff it with a fork.

Slice the fennel thinly, and soak the slices in cold water with 4 or 5 fluid ounces of rice wine vinegar (or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar) for at least an hour.

In a large frying pan, melt a generous dollop of butter over high heat until it is just starting to smoke. Toss in the cauliflower florets and a fat pinch of salt, and sauté quickly, just enough to roast the florets a little while leaving them still a bit crunchy. Lay them on paper towel to cool and blot off any excess butter. If you only have a small pan, it is best to do this in several batches; if you overload the pan the heat will drop too much and the cauliflower will become mushy.

Mix the bulgur, fennel, cauliflower, walnuts, chopped endive in a large bowl, and add salt and black pepper to taste, then set aside while you make the dressing:

POMEGRANATE MOLASSES DRESSING

2 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon hot water
3 fl oz rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
olive oil

Put all these ingredients in a blender (or if you have a hand blender, this is the perfect job for it) and blend until well-mixed. With the motor still running, drizzle in the oil until the mixture is the right consistency to dress the salad. Because of the molasses, this dressing is quite gloopy. Check the seasonings, and add more salt, pepper or sugar to taste.

Add the dressing about an hour before you want to eat, and leave the salad at room temperature to let the flavors expand.

Illustration by Leah Lin

Rachel is the chief cook and bottle washer at Particular Events, a bespoke catering company based in Park Slope. If you have any questions or comments about something you read in the column, please feel free to email her at: particularevents@gmail.com