Blog – Page 52 – Nicole Peyrafitte

Purple Dragon Carrots

Purple dragon carrots from Nesenkeag Farm

Mange des carottes, ça rend aimable! Eat carrots and you will be kind! or, eat carrots and they’ll make you a pleasant person!

How many times did I, like any French person, hear that saying? Countless times. As a kid, I can’t say I disliked carrots, but the moral value that supposedly came with them infuriated me. What did that imply? Was I not a sweet little girl? I do, and still do, take sayings (too) seriously!
At the family restaurant carrotes rapées were always on the crudités cart, dressed with vinaigrette and garnished with parsley. Another carrot dish that appeared regularly on the menu, and that I liked very much, is carrotes Vichy. These sweet glazed carrots would be flanked by a slice of beautiful veal loin roast drenched in flavorsome intense jus. My grand father’s recipe was simple and looks like the same recorded on his (now mine!) Escoffier cookbook:

Carottes à la Vichy:

Place the (sliced) carrots in a skillet with enough water to almost cover them, add 30 grammes of salt, 30 grammes of sugar and 60 grammes of butter per 1/2 litre of water. Set up “en timbale” (in this case it means to fill up a greased individual ramekins with the cooked carrots and turn them out on the serving dish or plate).

The carrots I took pictures of are Purple Dragon carrots. They were the last veggies left over from my wonderful trip to Nesenkeag Farm a few weeks ago. I never had these carrots before, I usually stay away from “trendy” foods, but Liana & Eero generously send me home with 2 lbs of them and I got curious.
One anecdote before I get into carrot history:
I brought a few to Alime at Aunt Halime’s Halal Meat, as she always shares Turkish delicacies. I though it was going to be a hit, but Alime looked at the purple carrots made a very disapproving face and said something like “beurk! chemicals, you can’t trust supermarket!”. I am not sure she trusted me about the carrots exquisite provenance, but it got me even more curious and I decided to look closer at the history of the carrot. Have carrots always been orange?

This summer I got a French book (thank you Pierre!) called “La Fabuleuse Histoire des Légumes” or “The Fabulous History of Vegetables” by Evelyne Bloch-Dano. Yes, I have translated “légumes” by “vegetables” because that is what the word means in the French sense of it. The book tells stories about leguminous plants, such as beans and peas, but also artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke and others. About carrots she writes:

In the 1930’s Vavilov, the Russian biologist and his team were doing research in the context of the improvement of cultivated plants in the service of Soviet Agriculture. They discovered spieces of volunteer and hybrid carrots in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Their appearance differs from wild carrots under our climate : their roots are meatier, bear little ramifications and most of all their colour ranges from purple and pink to orangy yellow…

Then Evelyne Bloch-Dano mentions Ibn al-‘Awwam, the 12th century agriculturist from Seville, who in turns reports on a 4th century book on Nabatean Agriculture and the fact thatred and yellow carrots were known to Palestinians. Ibn al-‘Awwam also speaks of red carrots in Spain at that time. In Spanish carrot is Zanahoria, and the origin of the word is quite controversial and interesting.
It is common to find entries giving an Arabic origin: safunariyat, isfranija. But the word may also possibly have a Berber origin, asfenaria . Mais encore, a Basque origin is not excluded: zain and horia which means “yellow root”, and carrots where more often red and yellow than orange. Others again posit as Aramean origin…Well, I am letting you sort it out and if you are germanophiles look at the entry below by the distinguished German linguist Hugo Schuchart:

Bloch-Dano reports that Apicius mentions a white “carota”, eaten fried or en salade, and that white carrots were mistaken for parsnips. But when did the carrot became orange? She notes that we can follow the appearance of orange carrots through Dutch paintings like Pieter Aertsen’s (1508–1575) ” Market Woman with Vegetable Stall “. She argues that Dutch painters recorded orange carrots about 200 years before any agriculture treatise; 1721 would be the first mention of the orange carrots from Holland. We don’t find any record in France until 1770.

Market Woman with Vegetable Stall 1567
Oil on wood, 11 x 110 cm – Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Voilà! I was just going spend a couple hours writing a quick blog about carrots; and here I am, eight hours later and sore from kneeling on my computer chair (told you I was brought up catholic!). After traveling virtually through continents, countries, languages I can now answer confidently:
No! carrots have not always been orange! Looks like they are a Dutch invention to celebrate the Orangist movement.
Yes! I ate my Purple Dragon carrots. I sautéed them with cabbage, ginger and garlic topped this with a steak haché (hamburger, with no bun, I don’t do sandwiches for dinner). Purple Dragon carrots are good, though I must say they have a far more interesting look that taste. The juxtaposition of purple and orange is stunning. For taste I prefer the orange ones. I ate some of the Purple Dragon carrots raw tand they do taste nuttier and stronger it is no doubt a hardier vegetable.

One more thing before I go stretch and breathe some fresh air: there is a great article and photo montage on the Christian Monitor website about Nesenkeag Farm: An organic farm grows all the peas and pods

Nicole’s Thursday night quick dinner:
Simple pan fried Hamburger with
Sautéed Purple Dragon carrots & Nappa cabbage with garlic & fresh ginger

Quick Sujuk Black Bean Soup with Homemade Quesadillas

Tomorrow is Election Day and I am restless. I will get up really early to go out to vote. I come from a political family, my father was a French senator for 18 years, so voting was never something I thought was optional. I became a American Citizen to be able to vote. My theory was that if I was paying taxes I needed to vote. In the USA since 1987, a citizen since 1995, this is the fourth presidential election I am able to participate in and by far the most exciting!

As we are hopefully heading to a new era I decided that it was appropriate to clean up my freezer of a few things that had been in there for too long. I found a container of plain cooked back beans and four pieces of Sujuk, a fragrant Turkish sausage. In the back of the fridge there was a bag of Masa Harina that I have been ignoring for to long, a piece of mozzarella that needed to be eaten and a simple salad. Voilà! my menu tonight:

Quick Sujuk Black Bean Soup
All Home Made Cheese Quesadillas
Simple Salad

Quick Sujuk Black Bean Soup
(for 2)
1 small onion diced
5 thick slices of Sujuk sausage
2 cups of cooked beans
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
salt, pepper or hot sauce to taste.

In a skillet sauté the onion and the Sujuk. Add the cooked beans & the cumin.
Add 1 1/2 cup of water -more or less depending how thick you like your soup
Stir well, taste and spice to taste.

All Home Made Cheese Quesadillas

Making your own tortillas is very satisfying and easy. Something really fun to make with your kids or grand kids. Usually the instructions on the package are pretty good, but see pictures above for the process without tortilla maker or comal.

For 8 tortillas
1 cup of instant yellow corn masa flour
3/4 cup of water
a pinch of salt
a few slices of mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, except the cheese, for about 2 minutes to form a soft dough. If dough is too dry add a little water , if too soft a little flour.
Divide dough into 8 pieces and form balls. Place dough between two sheets of plastic and flatten it with a spatula if like me you don’t have a tortilla maker. Carefully peel off from plastic. I actually use only one sheet of plastic on top and let the bottom be on the (clean) kitchen counter. I prefer to keep my tortillas at about 2/8 of an inch, which is thicker than the commercial one, but more hearty and rustic.
Warm up a cast iron skillet to medium heat cook tortilla about 50 seconds, turn and cook the other side.
Save the cooked tortillas in a cloth napkin to keep them soft and warm. You can eat them that way or make quesadillas to accompany your soup.
Return tortilla to the skillet place mozzarella in the center cover with another tortilla until the cheese is melted.

Serve the tortillas with the Sujuk black bean soup. Optional garnish of thinly cut scallions or a few leaves of cilantro can go on top of your soup. Serve with my simple salad!
Please Vote & Bon Appetit!

Obama reads Pollan!

This is so exciting:
Voilà the article, that was forwarded to me via my son Joseph Mastantuono, where Obama says that he read the Michael Pollan article I referred two blogs posts ago. No election had me so excited since the 1981 French presidential election.
But Before we all go out to vote on Tuesday please consider checking out this performance where I will one the featured artists at the Bowery Poetry Club this Saturday in New York:

MANHATTAN, NEW-YORK
Saturday November 1 2008
4 MOVTEXT

An international
and
Atypical Meeting
of
Practical Performances
by
4 Practitioners

(in order of apperance:)
Nicole Peyrafitte
Pierre Joris
Michel Collet
Valentine Verhaeghe

6PM $10
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery Street
New York, NY
(Between Houston and Bleecker)
F train to 2nd Ave, 6 to Bleecker
212-614-0505

Hope to see you there!

Cooking Demo @ Bay Ridge Farmers Market

Since October 5th we have a farmers market in Brooklyn Bay Ridge. It is held every Saturday from 8am-5pm at the corner of Third Ave and 95th Street, in parking lot of the defunct Key Food. This location is temporary, a Walgreen pharmacy (another pharmacy?!) is schedule to open in the Spring 2009.

Merci à Marie Dudoy pour la photo!

So, yesterday at 8:30am I strolled down windy Third Avenue carrying a light folding table and pushing my red rolling cart filled with pans, plates, bowls, portable stove, knives and a few groceries that were not going to be available at the southernmost New York Greenmarket. I decided to make omelets because they are very versatile and I could filled them with most of any produce the market manager would like to promote. For the first course Stacey, the market director, and I gathered swiss chards, buffalo salami, buffalo cheese, garlic, scallions from the vendors and this collectage became:

The Bay Ridge Omelet
(for 2)
4 eggs
2 Tbsp of Milk
2 cups of Swiss Chards
10 slices of Buffalo Salami (or 4 slices of bacon)
1 small Garlic clove
1/4 cup of Buffalo Cheese (can be substitute for any cheese you like)
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Rince the chards and remove the toughest part of the stalk. Chop it small.
Meanwhile heat a skillet with 1 Tbsp of oil and sauté the salami or the bacon.
If you used bacon chances are that you have more fat in the pan that you begin with, that’s ok, just use it to cook the chards, if you use the buffalo salami (which is very lean) add enough oil or butter to have about 2 Tbsp of fat in the pan and then add your Swiss chards.
Add finely chopped Garlic clove and cook until chards are soft. Reserve them.

Warm a skillet (non stick is easier if you are a beginner) with 2 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of Oil.
Meanwhile beat the eggs, milk, salt & pepper in a bowl with a fork (do not use a wisk) until foamy.
Add the cheese.

Pour into the very hot skillet (but don’t let the butter take color or burn). Move it around with a wooden spoon or much better by jerking the pan very quickly with a good wrist action. Once you have a very loose scramble egg consistency add your veggies in the middle. Move it around, flip it once, let it set, and flip it onto the plate.

My grand father use to say: “Before hiring a cook ask him (at that time there was no her in the kitchen!) to make an omelet”. He would not tolerate the use of any utensil once the egg mixture was poured into the pan; it had all to be done by wrist action. The omelet had to remain soft in the middle and just coagulated in the outside, never golden, always pale. Yes! a serious “tour de main” or know how is required! The picture of my omelet above is golden, it would approve of it, but that is the way like it!

For the second demo Suzan, who works with Glenn Vickelman of American Seafood, brought me a dozen of plum & shiny “dry packed” sea scallops. Scallops that are without any additives are called “dry packed” while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) are called “wet packed”. I personally never eat “wet packed” scallops; I’m not a big fan of STP, I don’t eat stuff that also goes into cleaning product! Do you?

The Bay Ridge Scallop Tapas:
6 Fresh “dry packed” Scallops
Dice one small onion
Dice one red pepper very small
Dice some fresh tomatoes (yeaah, it is end of the season.)
Finely chopped garlic & fresh basil( that too!)

Heat some oil, with or w/o butter in a skillet.
Sauté onions until translucent, add red pepper. When they are soft add the tomatoes and let stew until most of the moisture is gone, add basil + garlic + salt & pepper, let is stew for a few more minutes.
Meanwhile toast slices of country or sourdough bread.

Heat another pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter. When medium hot place delicately your scallops in the pan and sear them for about 3 minutes or so per side -it will depend how thick they are. Do not overcook them.

Spread some of the veggies on the bread and place your scallops on top. You can cut the scallop an a half, if you have more people that scallops! garnish with a few of thin sliced scallions or chives.

I have purchased clams, muscles, scallops and haddock from Glenn Vickelman of American Seafood and so far it was all outstanding. A real pleasure to eat seafood again.

Bon, voilà for today! For a complete list of the Bay Ridge GreenMarket vendors click here and for a list of New York City GreenMarkets click here.

The Farmers in Chief + Turnip & Potato Gratin

I am nominating Eero Ruuttila and Liana Eastman (from Nesenkeag Farm, Litchfield NH) as Farmers in Chief!
If you wonder what I am talking about you must read Michael Pollan excellent article published in the New York Times Magazine : Farmer in Chief and/or listen to Michael Pollan interview on Fresh Air.
Pollan article is an open letter addressed to: Dear Mr. President-Elect
“As most of us already know the next president’s food policies, will have a large impact on a wide range of issues, including national security, climate change, energy independence and health care”.
Indeedy! If you follow my blog you know that I was at Nesenkeag Farm Day last week end.
I will try to keep the account of the event concise, but the colors, tastes, warmth, inspirations are still so vivid that I am having a hard time sorting out what to write.

The trip started by collecting a few things to bring to the farm:
Spicy olives from Aunt Alime’s Halal meat market in Bay Ridge & a big Balthazar Pain de Seigle.
Then I met Simon Pettet at the Fung Wha bus terminal and we hopped on the bus to Boston. The conversations and the gorgeous colors of nature made the 4:30 hours ride go like a flash. Once in Boston we transfered to North Station via subway where we caught (almost didn’t) the train to Lowell. It was my idea to have cocktails to make good use of the 20 minute wait… we barely made it to the train but broke a big sweat and had great laughs. Pierre (Joris) was waiting for us at the Lowell station and we drove to our destination: Nesenkeag Farm in Litchfield NH.

We were greeted by Erick Ruutilla, the bright and handsom younger son of Eero and Liana; the farmers still had many errands to run to get ready for the next day. We settled ourselves in the house, opened wine, beer, bread, olive, cheese, did a little cooking prep until the farmers arrived for a splendid dinner of -never so fresh- stir fry greens, bacon & potatoes. After dinner we took a walk on the farm grounds. The night was bright & cold under an 89% Full Hunter’s Moon. While Lydia the dog takes a swim in the Merrimack river -Thoreau stopped here in September 1839, see One week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers- we watch the reflections and Eero tells us about the three “one hundred years floods” he experienced in the last eighteen months, the damages he had to face and how red clover is a better green manure/cover crop for climate change. I was fast asleep when I hit the sack, the warm wooden fire took me away in minutes.

When I got up Saturday morning everybody was buzzing around getting things in motion for the visitors. My assignment was to make a Turnip and Potato Gratin. Liana and Karen -the catering coordinator for the event- provided me with a recipe that I loosely followed because I had to make it for a bigger crowd. Pierre assisted in the cooking and Simon peeled potatoes.

Nesenkeag Turnip and Potato au Gratin:
5 medium Yellow Finn or Russet potatoes
10 medium turnips
Butter/Salt/Pepper
2 cups of grated Dubliner cheddar or Swiss
2 cups of Heavy Cream.

Preheat oven to 375ºF
Peel & slice potatoes & turnips (only if skin is tough) 1/4 inch thick.
Butter the sides & bottom of dish.
Layer potatoes and turnips seasoning each layer and dividing the cheese.
Pour cream, cover with the rest of the cheese, disperse small nuggets of butter on top. Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes & rotate the dish if your oven cooks unevenly.

The gratin was for the evening gathering so we headed back to the event location for the -daylight- farm tour and delicious food cooked by the Cambodian farm workers that have their imprint all over the farm. I particularly liked the sour chicken soup. Then came poetry & music. The readers were Nancy Henry and Joseph Torra. Nancy read funny personal poems and Joe, after treating us with a few Chinese farm/food related poems, lifted us off to Boston; the intensity of his performance was a true act of deterritorialization. Then Vincente Lebron, Russ Gershon and their friends accompanied the sunset to Latin rhythm. The next day was Chef’s Day. Nesenkeag Farm delivers their gorgeous veggies to the best Boston & New Hampshire restaurants (click here for list). One of the chef brought a 150 lbs pig that he smoked all night long. Another restaurant owner barbecued Lamb Kofte that he served in warm pita bread with stewed shredded tomatoes, yogurt sauce and a dash of mint oil on top. That was so tasty! Then there were salads, soups, wines, cider, pies, apples to die for…and the company. Poets, farmers, musicians, chefs, young people, older people all mingled and feast. Eero’s older son Jesse brought a horde of young brooklinites that were a lot of fun to hang out with

Thank you so much Eero and Liana for the splendid and inspiring weekend.
View all pictures and video at :
https://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com/nesenkeagfarm/farm.html

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