Watermelon Radish

I got a curious looking vegetable in my CSA boxshare today.

No, it's not a watermelon, though it looked so much like one I couldn't resist throwing some sesame seeds on it.

Hello watermelon radish!

The watermelon radish is a winter radish that grows particularly well when the weather gets cooler. It's got a ton of alternate names, such as Beauty Heart, Rose Heart, Shinrimei, Misato, Asian Red Meat, or Xin Li Mei radish. It's an heirloom variety of the Chinese daikon.

From the outside it looks just like an ordinary turnip or radish. I thought nothing of it, until I cut it open.

I was totally blown away by the gorgeous pink hues inside.

It's crunchy, sweet, with just a hint of spice. One person described it tasting like jicama. It's a lot milder than a normal radish, and is surprisingly sweeter than you might expect. Frankly, I like it so much better than a normal radish. It tastes fantastic raw.

Size-wise, it's slightly bigger than a normal radish. I think it would look absolutely gorgeous on top of salads, or even on its own, layered with other ingredients. You can pretty much cook it as you would a daikon, but keep in mind that heat will destroy some of the radish's vibrant colors.

Me, I'd much rather preserve that gorgeous pink interior and serve it raw. It's so nutritious this way, and I think it already tastes pretty good as is.

Maple Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is part of a larger meal "A Taste of Autumn" where every single dish was made using "edible" or natural "bowls." That post is my entry for Project Food Blog Round 6. You can check out the post and vote for me here.

Can you believe it was 70° F in Boston yesterday? I feel almost funny posting about a warm, autumn soup. Perhaps it's time to go back and have a duck confit salad or gnocchi with summer tomatoes.

Dream on. This warm weather is only temporary, and by the time the weekend rolls around, we will be back to having our cool and dry fall weather again.

Slightly nippy fall weather is perfect for autumn squash soups. In general, I love blended fall soups. They are easy to make, present beautifully, super healthy, and  soooo satisfying on a chilly fall evening. For all these soups, the basic technique is the same, yet the variations and possibilities are endless, giving you the freedom to be as creative as you want.


In this case, my twist was the addition of maple syrup, which added a nice, caramel sweetness that I think deepened the flavors of the soup. I also added a bit of salt, and that's it! Of course, you can add whatever flavors you like in your soup. Maybe some cinnamon or nutmeg in a pumpkin soup?

Here's the general technique for the "base soup."

Key Ingredients
1. Squash - cut up into manageable chunks (about 1-2 inches)
    Examples: butternut, pumpkin, kabocha
2. Aromatics, chopped
     Examples: onions, leeks, shallots
3. Broth
     Examples: chicken broth, vegetable broth
4. Oil or Butter
5. Flavoring Ingredients (your choice!)
     Examples: salt, pepper, maple syrup, cinnamon, cumin

That's it! Saute aromatics in oil or butter until soft. Add squash and broth and cook until the squash is soft. Blend and add flavoring ingredients to taste. So easy!

You can serve the soup in its own shell. This is not only economical and environmentally friendly, it's also beautiful and totally fits the season!

I don't really use a recipe, but for those of you who like having a real recipe, I've included below a short write up of what I usually do.

Maple Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, cut up into 1-2 inch chunks

1 onion, sliced

1 T butter or olive oil

2 cups chicken broth

Saute onions in about 1 T of butter over medium heat until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5-8 minutes. Add squash and broth and bring to a boil. Cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until squash is soft. If you have a hand blender, use the hand blender to puree the soup. Otherwise, in small portions, blend in a traditional blender. Add maple syrup and salt to taste. Serve hot.

All gone!!!


Other related posts:
Rainbow Carrot Ginger Soup
Celeriac Apple Potato Soup
Inside Out Apple Pies
Fall Foliage: A Taste of Autumn

Inside Out Apple Pies

This dessert is part of a larger meal "A Taste of Autumn" where every single dish was made using "edible" or natural "bowls." That post is my entry for Project Food Blog Round 6. You can check out the post and vote for me here.

I'm not a baker.

Bakers are precise, careful, planned, and detail-oriented people. They have to be this way, for baking is such a precise art. Change the ratios of something, and the whole thing could totally fail.

I'm more of a throw-it-all-together-without-measuring type cook, which can often lead to failures if you're trying to get cake to be a certain texture, a crust to be flaky, or dough to rise properly.

This was my first time ever making any pie from scratch. As a non-exact imprecise sort of cook, you would naturally assume the odds would be stacked against me. Thankfully, the pie turned out great, mostly due to some interesting techniques and also flexibility in the recipe (and maybe beginner's luck!).

This recipe is a twist on the traditional apple pie because it's sort of an inverted apple pie. For starters, there's apple on the outside and crust on the inside. There's ALSO more apples and cinnamon on the inside too, so it's more than just inverted. It's really really confused.

The Crust

Your goal in a pie crust is to make a flaky crust. This is achieved by making pie dough that still has visible bits of butter spread throughout. When this butter melts, it creates all those lovely layers in the pastry!

The key is to use really cold butter - like frozen butter. I used this great recipe from Simply Recipes. What I like about Elise's technique is that you pre-cut the butter into 1/2 inch chunks and freeze them  (I think I had it in the freezer for close to an hour). You then pulse the cold butter with flour, salt, and sugar just enough for the butter to be reasonably cut up.  Start adding ice cold water, 1 T at a time until the mixture is just sticky enough that the clumps will hold together when you pinch it (about 7-8 T).

At this point you use your hands and try to form a ball with the mixture. Knead just a few times before dividing the dough in two and rolling out two pretty thick disc (about 3/4 inch thick). Wrap in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least an hour but up to two days (I waited overnight).

The next day (or, an hour later), roll out the dough until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out little circles about 4 inches in diameter. [of course, I didn't measure - I just sort of guessed]. Stick them in a muffin tin to make little crusts (bottom right photo).


The Apples
Meanwhile, slice up apples. I love sour apples, so I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Cortland apples. Thinly slice the apples and toss them in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and lemon/lime juice. I really don't like my apple pies very sweet, so I only added a little more than 1/8 cup sugar for 2 apples, which I think is on the low side.

Fill up your muffin tin, and you're ready to bake!

Bake at 400 °F for about 25-30 minutes.

The Outer Apple

Meanwhile, prepare your apple outsides. I scored the apple first and then used a spoon to sort of "flick" out the pieces. I ended up using the spoon to scoop out the remaining apple as well. It's possible that a melon baller would have been useful here, but I had no such gadgets in my tiny little kitchen.

Putting It All Together

Finally, when the pie is done baking, let it cool a little before placing inside the cored out apple. And that's it! If you plan on transporting it, I would recommend packing the two pieces separately and then assemble it at the final location.

If you want, you can use the "cap" as a base, making a goblet of sorts.

Serve and enjoy!

I can't really take credit for this ingeniously creative little thing. My husband, who can be oh-so-creative when you least expect it, came up with this cute apple pie idea. 

Voting for Project Food Blog Round 6 is open!

Voting is open for Round 6!

Thanks so much for your all your support up to this point in the competition. I am honored and humbled by all of your kind, generous, and constructive comments. I know it's not trivial to sign up for another account just to vote, so thanks again for your willingness to do so.

This round we had to take a road trip and prepare a meal that would "travel well and still look great." The entire meal had to fit inside this insulated cooler bag that they sent us.

As you can see, fall foliage in New England is gorgeous this time of year. Bryan and I had a mini getaway picnic at Walden Pond where we enjoyed an autumn-themed meal, complete with a full array of nature's own "bowls"!

Come check out my entry and vote here.

Fall Foliage: A Taste of Autumn

The last time I took a dedicated road trip with just one other person to look at fall foliage, I ended up getting engaged to him.

Yes I know, it's been that long.

It's not like I haven't seen foliage every autumn. The leaves in Boston alone are absolutely stunning. Cambridge, especially around Harvard University, is aglow in fiery hues this time of year.

Nevertheless, whatever the reason, Bryan and I have not taken a dedicated leaf-peeping road trip together ever since our engagement.

That is, until this past Saturday.

For Round 6 of Project Food Blog, I had to design a meal and take it "on the road." The goal? To prepare a meal that carries well and tastes great. We decided that Walden Pond would be the perfect place to enjoy a picnic while taking in Boston's amazing fall foliage.

Walden Pond was made famous by Henry David Thoreau, who lived there for two years between 1845 and 1847. Tired of the busy world, he sought out refuge in this quiet and tranquil place.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."     - Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau's stay at the pond inspired the book Walden, which some say brought awareness and respect for the natural environment.

In the spirit of Thoreau's ideas regarding our respect for nature, I decided to create an autumn-themed meal where all the dishes would be served in natural "bowls." Minimal trash would be created from this picnic. Instead, all the "bowls" would either be eaten or composted.

Each course would be inspired by autumn, yet would be modified appropriately so that it would travel well and still taste delicious after reaching the final destination.

After shopping and cooking for several hours on Friday evening and partially on Saturday, I finally had everything ready to pack up for our special picnic. Foodbuzz had sent us an insulated cooler a few days earlier. One of the rules of this challenge? Your entire meal has to fit inside the bag.

Phew! Everything fit!

We hopped in the car (with all our cameras in tow) and drove to Walden Pond.

After wandering down the trail for a bit ( bags were getting heavy!) we finally settled upon this fantastic location right next to the lake.

The fall foliage was absolutely beautiful, with red, orange, and golden hues everywhere.

I unpacked and set up the meal.

Of course, can't forget the pictures!

First Course: Maple Butternut Squash Soup

This velvety-smooth soup is pretty easy to make. Simply saute onions in olive oil or butter, add cut up butternut squash and broth, and then cook until the squash is soft. Blend the soup (most easily done with a hand blender), and that's it! Add maple syrup and salt to taste.

The key to packing this is to have a very good vacuum bottle (such as Thermos).  The bottle will keep soup very hot for hours (!) which is so satisfying to drink on a chilly fall afternoon. Once you arrive at the location and right before eating, pour out the soup into hollowed out butternut squash "shells." Serve!

Main Course: Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie

This dish is a twist on the traditional Shepherd's pie because it replaces mashed potatoes with a trio of mashed pumpkin, sweet potato, and red potatoes. The mashed mixture is layered with ground beef sauteed with carrots and onions. You should ideally pack the filling (potatoes + beef) separately in insulated containers and then plate it right before serving so that the dish stays warm.

Side dish: Stuffed Peppers

As a twist on the traditional stuffed pepper, I made a healthy version that would taste good either warm or cold. Mix together chopped bell peppers, onions, and wild rice. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, feta cheese, olives, and (optionally) chopped up cured meat, such as ham. Fill each pepper up with the mixture and serve. Since this side can be eaten cold, you can pack this side dish beforehand and serve as is. I rubberbanded my peppers shut to ensure none of the filling came out!


Drink: Mulled Cider
I made mulled apple cider at home by cooking apple cider with cinnamon chips, allspice, sweet orange peel, anise, clove, and nutmeg. After filtering the liquid, I packed it in another insulated vacuum bottle, which kept the cider nice and hot. I cored out apples which served as cups and poured the cider into the apples right before drinking.



Dessert: Inside Out Apple Pie

Keeping with the theme of having fruits and gourds as my "containers," I made mini-apple pies which fit perfectly within a hollowed-out granny smith apple.

Homemade pastry dough is surprisingly easy to make (yes, this was my first time). I found this great recipe which involves using a food processor and frozen cubes of butter. I used a muffin tin to bake mini apple pies and then placed these pies into my hollowed out apples. I packed the pies and the hollowed out apples separately, combining then right before serving.


Food, Nature, and Simplicity

We enjoyed a fantastic, relaxing picnic - just the two of us - while staring out at Walden Pond, savoring the simplicity of nature.

Although it was slightly chilly, we were blessed with sunshine and a beautiful backdrop.

After lunch, we hiked around the lake and enjoyed our own Thoreau moments.

And finally, a toast to a successful meal and a wonderful afternoon.

Cheers!

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I can't believe I'm still in this competition! Thank you so much for those of you who voted for me the last several rounds. This blog entry is my submission for The Next Food Blog Star’s sixth challenge: Road Trip! If you are so inclined, please vote for this entry (voting begins Monday, October 25). Thanks so much for your support!