I was brainstorming things to have around as snacks in the stomach-gurgling hours before Thanksgiving dinner (oh yes, I am hosting a family Thanksgiving again). I came up with a lot of cheese. And bread and crackers. And spiced nuts. But I needed something to provide a little relief from such things. Something… pickled, it turns out. So I went on a long stroll through the Union Square greenmarket and picked up a few things that caught my eye: carrots of all colors, green cauliflower, a bulb of fennel, a small orb of kohlrabi, and celery that I need for other stuff anyway. The carrots and cauliflower were lightly blanched before going in the jars with everything else. The brine consists of apple cider vinegar, water, salt, sugar, garlic, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and black peppercorns. They will hang out in the fridge until Turkey Day (which will be celebrated with pork chez Mitch and John, actually). As long as these taste okay and don’t contain botulinum toxin (don’t worry family, they don’t), I think Thanksgiving will start out quite nicely.
Here’s another way to not waste leaves (previously: carrot top pesto), one of many many great ideas I’ve picked up from 101 Cookbooks. A tiny bit of effort for a whole lot of seasoned salt that you can sprinkle on almost anything to give it a bit of toasty celery flavor.
Ah, my first real snow day here in New York. I narrowly missed previous two major storms of the season by escaping to the warmer climes. Classes have been canceled today, and the exam I was ready to take this morning has been postponed until next week. It’s too bad I have an assload of studying left to do for another exam next week, because this is a perfect day to curl up on the couch with a big pint of chocolate stout and burn through my dusty batch of Netflix DVDs.
I have also resisted the urge to make a batch of cookies and/or (most likely would’ve been “and”) a huge pan of something else baked and gooey but cheesy (like macaroni and cheese, or lasagna, or a deep-dish pizza). Instead, I had a sandwich and a light and crunchy celery salad. There is still one more meal left in the day though…
5 celery stalks, thinly sliced crosswise
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 very small shallot bulb, finely minced
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper (optional)
water (just enough to thin the peanut butter out a tiny bit)
raisins
Combine everything except the celery and raisins to make the dressing. Then toss with the celery and raisins.
