I won’t go into the multitude of things that have been keeping me away from this blog, but I did want to stop in and let you know that despite the lack of posts here and my nearly four day twitter blackout (what on earth did we do before twitter? thank goodness my account came back last night), I haven’t actually dropped off the face of the planet. However, life has gotten even crazier than it was a week ago, and it likely won’t slow down any time soon.

On top of all that, we have a dear friend coming to visit for a few days and we’re looking forward to eating and drinking our way around town, but with my usual great timing, I seem to be coming down with a cold. I made this soup a few nights ago, and Mike packed some for my lunch today. I used fresh cranberry beans instead of cooked dried beans, and since we were fresh out of potatoes I added a little extra pasta to the mix. I’m hoping the one-two punch of the leeks and garlic confit will chase any bugs away.

You can get my recipe at food52.

When things get quiet around here, it’s a pretty safe bet that things have been crazy at my day job. I’ve been doing what I do for a long time, and I learned early on how to juggle, but these last few weeks I feel like the minute I turn my attention to one task, three more things pop up that require my immediate attention. Couple that with the usual change-of-seasons sluggishness I tend to experience, and you have one tired dame who has struggled to find suppertime inspiration when I get home in the evening.

I had a gorgeous head of otherworldly-looking romanesco cauliflower that I turned into soup last night, starting with a base of chopped leeks softened in butter, then adding romanesco florets and some homemade stock, but when the florets had softened and I pureed the soup, I was less than thrilled with the texture. It was just too thin, and my fiddling with it to achieve something close to the result I wanted meant the soup cooked too long, going from a lovely pale green to an unappetizing greyish hue. I couldn’t even bring myself to take a photo. The flavors, however, were there, the delicate soup getting a nice burst of freshness from a celery leaf and preserved lemon gremolata stirred in at the end, so I think I’ll give this soup another go-round soon.

I’m in commuter hell this week – I’ve had a succession of early or late buses in the morning, consistently late trains, and unplanned cab rides home from the train station which, in addition to being annoyingly expensive and sometimes terrifying, have put me in a big ole cranky mood in the evening, and craving exactly what we’ve been trying to get away from – comfort food.

I sat on the train in my work clothes drenched to the bone after a rain-soaked spin through the Boston Public Market on Tuesday, with tomatoes and fennel and green beans and squash globes and all sorts of other goodies in my totes, and decided a big veg-laden soup was in order. After I got home, I peeled off my damp clothes and changed into something warm and dry, and then I got to chopping: slender leeks, carrots, fresh celery, beautifully ripe plum tomatoes, sweet red peppers, globe zucchini, fresh thyme branches and green beans all went into my pot at various stages, sprinkled with salt and bathed in dribbles of olive oil and a judicious amount of red wine as they cooked down. I added a little bit of orzo to the mix, and when it was tender, added a good amount of freshly grated parm to the soup off the heat. I blitzed up a fresh parsley and fennel frond pistou in the mini chopper to spoon on top, and served up our soup with a few thick slices of Olga’s Pane Francese and some gooey, runny cheese from Farmstead.

As antidotes go, this was just about perfect.

A creamy leek soup, and Phoebe‘s (CONTEST WINNING!) Prosciutto and Fontina Panini with Arugula Pesto – simple, satisfying, and absolutely delicious.

I arrived home last night with no game plan as far as dinner was concerned. I’m still in a bit of a rut, and the fact that darkness falls shortly after I get home in the evening isn’t helping. Summer’s over, and another long, cold New England winter isn’t far away. It’s soup season again.

We had potatoes on the counter and leeks in the crisper, so a potato-leek soup was my first thought. Our default is usually Julia’s Potage Parmentier, but I wanted to switch things up a bit. We had a batch of freshly made chicken stock in the fridge, plus a couple of hunks of Cheddar and the last of a bunch of fresh dill, so all of those made their way into the pot. I added a couple of blobs of Dijon mustard for tang, pureed the soup with a stick blender once the potatoes were tender, and served it up with crusty bread on the side and a little more fresh dill on top. This soup was quick, comforting, and bowl-licking good – a definite keeper. I’ve posted my recipe here.

Mike asked to take on dinner last night, and since my allergies had gotten the best of me, I didn’t argue. Besides, pizza was on the menu, and as you regular readers should know, he turns out some mighty fine ones.

This, however, might have been his best work yet.

The base was a combination of little yellow grape tomatoes from Wishing Stone Farm, plus some diced red tomato and green garlic, all melted down in olive oil and spiked with ribbons of basil to form a light, fresh-tasting sauce. In addition to our favorite local mozzarella, there were soft leeks and freshly grated, super-aged gouda, both of which got beautifully golden in the oven.

And the crust on which this wonderful pie was built was SO good that it merits it’s own post… stay tuned.

Who needs delivery when you can get pizza this good at home?

I’m a big fan of soup any time of year, but there’s nothing like a light, brothy bowl of springtime veggies to take the chill off an early May evening. I tossed this together mostly from odds and ends: first, a lone leek which had been lingering in the crisper drawer, then some thinly sliced fennel stalks, both cooked with a sprinkling of salt and a knob of butter until soft. Next I added some cooked flageolet beans and their cooking liquid, plus a few additional cups of water, some sweet young carrots, and a half cup or so of carnaroli rice. While the broth bubbled and the rice plumped, I thawed some leftover cooked asparagus and peas from the freezer, adding them to the pot to just warm through. I tasted the soup for seasoning and added a few finishing touches, in the form of fresh spinach, chopped fresh tarragon, and shards of Pecorino Romano. A little toasted bread on the side (with more of that Pecorino), and we were good to go.

I’ve had some version of a mushroom ragu in my repertoire for years now. It’s something that developed during my vegetarian years, and over time it has evolved with my tastes. At it’s most basic, it’s a combination of fresh and reconstituted dried mushrooms, sautéed with onion or shallot in olive oil, with herbs and a little blob of tomato paste added.

A splash of Sherry vinegar goes in for brightness, the strained liquid from soaking the dried mushrooms is added back, and the whole mixture is then cooked down to a saucy consistency – just how much is dependent on how I’m going to use it, because this is one dish that is very versatile.

A soupier version makes a great sauce for pasta, gnocchi or polenta; a slightly drier version is great stuffed into crepes; cook it down even more, so the mushrooms are just coated with a rich glaze, and you can mound it on slices of toasted or grilled bread for a snack or canapé – this is a standard at our parties, and it’s always a crowd pleaser.

It also lends itself well to variation – add a little butter to the olive oil for a richer flavor; swap in leeks, shallots, green garlic or scapes as the onion-y component. Change up the herbs depending on the season and what you have on hand – thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, flat-leaf parsley or summer savory all work well. Cepes or dried shiitake mushrooms are lower-priced alternatives to dried porcini, and they still provide a nice depth of flavor; likewise, plain white button mushrooms will serve just as well as fresh shiitake, oyster or wild mushrooms. Fresh or dried morels send it over the top, as does a judicious amount of cream cooked in at the end.

Last night’s version was largely shaped by things we brought home from the farmers’ market – a base of wild baby leeks, sautéed in olive oil until soft and aromatic, a generous amount of julienned purple sage added to season the mushrooms, and a big handful of chopped dulse stirred in and lightly toasted before the liquid was added. The dulse eventually melted into the sauce, imparting a lovely savoriness and velvety texture.

I used the sauce to dress farro spaghetti, which made for a dish that was very brown, but was earthy, hearty and delicious. Mike has tried many versions of this ragu over the years, and he said this was my best yet.

I’m still struggling to find a favorite preparation for Bomster scallops – nearly every preparation I’ve tried since we moved up here has been less than satisfactory, and a real disservice to these super-fresh beauties. What I did last night hit closest to the mark, though it still needs some tweaking. The chowder-like base was a hit and the texture of the scallops was perfect, but I would have liked the scallops themselves to have a bit more oomph in the flavor department.

This is one of those rare occasions when I actually measured and took notes while I prepped and cooked. Here’s what I did – maybe one of you has a suggestion about how to tweak this?

Caramelized Bomster scallops with corn and potato chowder

1/2 lb. Scallops
2 T butter
1 fat leek, white + pale to medium green parts only, finely chopped
2 strips bacon, cut into julienne
1 medium stalk celery, finely chopped, leaves reserved
1 medium waxy potato, peeled and diced
salt + marjoram + pepper
½ cup dry white wine
1 T AP flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen (ours were stripped and frozen last summer)

Place the bacon in a small, dry saute pan. Cook over medium heat until crisp, set the bits on a paper towel to drain and set aside. Remove most of the fat from the pan, but leave a film in the pan to sear the scallops.

Melt butter in a wide saucepan. Add the leeks and celery, season with salt, and cook until softened. Add the potato, a pinch more salt, freshly ground pepper, and marjoram, and stir until the vegetables are coated with the butter and seasonings. Sprinkle the flour over and stir until vegetables are coated; allow to cook for a few minutes until you no longer have a raw flour smell. Add the white wine and stir well, cooking until reduced and thickened. Add the milk and stir through. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender and the liquid is thick and creamy. Add the corn a few minutes before serving, just to warm it through.

When the chowder is almost finished, sear the scallops in batches in the reserved bacon fat, a couple of minutes per side, until they get lightly caramelized and they are just cooked through.

To plate, ladle the chowder mixture into wide, shallow bowls, top with a few cooked scallops, and garnish with crispy bacon and finely chopped celery leaves.

This has turned out to be an odd week for us, schedule-wise. For the sake of record-keeping, here are our last couple of dinners, with minimal comment.

I had planned something different for Tuesday night, but I ended up working late, which got me back home even later, and a risotto was what I wanted. I decided to make a leek and parsley “stock” for the cooking liquid, which is a fancy way of saying I cooked chopped leeks and parsley in water until tender, whizzed them with the stick blender and seasoned with salt until it tasted right to me. This liquid went into my standard risotto base, in which I had also sauteed some diced Meyer lemon. I loved the bright flavors here, but I was reminded that I much prefer the texture of Carnaroli rice to Arborio for risottos. Your mileage may vary.

Mike has still been eager to take a meal or two during the week, and he did so again last night, turning out his latest version of Mario Batali’s bucatini all’amatriciana, featuring luscious chunks of guanciale from Pat’s Pastured. I think this was his best yet.

Posting may be sporadic as we finish out this week and head into the next one, but hopefully I’ll have time to share what we’re up to in the kitchen. See you soon.