Mushroom Ragoût with Soft Polenta from River Cottage Veg Cookbook
The Good News: For the first time in my Adult Life I have no one to care for.
The Bad News: For the first time in my Adult Life I have no one to care for.
White Beans with Grilled Artichokes Salad from River Cottage Veg cookbook
One of my dearest friends recently lost her husband. In our frequent conversations she once lamented that she has ‘so much time on her hands,’ to which I replied, “Can you lend me some of that time?”
We laughed. I love to hear her laughter but she certainly understood that I ‘got it.’
For many, the past thirty, forty-some years have been about mates, partners, children and family, never mind work, careers, bringing home the bacon thing. Until one day, it isn’t. At first I was amazed, well, okay, angry, when some would say regarding losing Michael, “It’s easier for you because you had so much time to prepare for it.”
My yard is a flower shop but no container in sight around here. So I retrieved my cannellini can from the bin and made my own vessel for my bouquet.
Another check in that Mary-Was-Wrong column because it’s true. Thanks to our medical community, both his and mine, I was counseled and badgered eventually into ‘making a life.’ When Michael died, although rattled, exhausted and unbelievably sad, I had a wobbly framework to, as the Brits say, Keep Calm and Carry On.
Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk cookies by Ina Garten, Make It Ahead cookbook
That’s what this week’s post represents, that carrying-on thing. (I’ll never nail down calm.) Although I have no one to love and care for, I have a huge family and friendship circle to love and feed and care about. Luckily my food world collides into my friendship circle. Here’s what I mean……
It’s a lucky day when one can spot this little guy, a Burrowing Owl. He’s guarding the burrow and searching for food while Mama is minding the nest.
COOKIES for CAV, POLENTA & ROASTED ARTICHOKES
Cal Poly Care Package
This week-end I have a dinner date with a handsome young man. Cav O’Leary, a freshman at nearby Cal Poly, was our Aspen neighbor. We helped raise him, bought his fundraising offerings and loaded his Halloween sack with sugar stuff. Last May I attended his high school graduation. To say I love and care about this kid is an understatement.
The Cookie Dough
After dinner he’ll, of course, be returning to Cal Poly with a Care Package which includes Ina Garten’s favorite cookie, Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunks. Although I’ve made some adaptions and substituted ingredients, this is Ida’s cookie (recipe below). It’s terrific.
If you bake cookies often, please try a cookie scoop. It makes baking so much easier.
I’m excited about my recipes for Cottage Cooking Club this month. For a recent birthday my friends, the Grauers, hosted a Polenta-on-a-Plank party. So Much Fun. Donna made three delicious ragus, beef, kale, and mushroom. After that wonderful evening we all vowed to introduce more polenta into our menus. I failed with that until this week when I put together Hugh Whittingstall’s Mushroom Ragoût with Soft Polenta from his River Cottage Veg cookbook.
Polenta on a Plank
Why Hugh calls this a ragoût instead of ragu, I don’t understand. A ragu is a sauce while a ragoût is a thick, highly-seasoned stew of meat, poultry or fish made with/without veggies. Since it’s his cookbook, he can call it what he wishes but I call it a thumbs-up dish and guest worthy. However, it’s decadently rich. Go easy on that “large knob of butter.”
Polenta with 3 different ragus
After returning from hiking with a friend last week, I had Hugh’s White Beans with Roasted Artichokes on the table within 15 minutes. This is a hot salad with creamy beans and cheese, grilled artichokes and tangy lemon dressing which, by adding crusty bread and a beer, made us a great lunch.
RECIPES
Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies Make It Ahead cookbook by Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter/Publishers
Makes 48 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1¼ cups old-fashioned oats, such as Quaker
¾ pound bittersweet chocolate, such as Lindt, chopped in chunks (Tip: I used Ghirardelli Chocolate 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips, available in your grocery store.)
¾ cup dried cranberries
Fleur de sel (I used Maldon sea salt flakes)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl again.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Mix in the oats. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Don’t overbeat it! With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate and cranberries until the dough is well mixed.
4. With a 1¾-inch ice cream scoop (or two spoons), scoop round balls of dough onto the prepared sheet pans. Sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel. (In my opinion, this is optional.) Put the cookie sheet into the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.
TIP: If you make cookies often and don’t own a cookie scoop, buy one. If you don’t have the salt, the cookie is still fabulous. I did a taste test, over and over again.
Mushroom Ragoût with Soft Polenta by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg cookbook
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
For the Polenta
1 2/3 C milk
1 bay leaf
A sprig of thyme
A few peppercorns
½ onion and/or 2 garlic cloves, bashed
1 1/4 C quick-cook polenta
4 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
3/4 Parmesan other well-flavoured hard cheese, finely grated
For the Ragoût
2 tablespoons olive oil
A large knob of butter
1 1/2 well-flavored mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves only, chopped
2/3 C red wine
2/3 vegetable, mushroom or chicken (non-vegetarian) stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To Serve (optional)
A trickle of top-notch olive oil
Extra Parmesan or other hard cheese, shaved
DIRECTIONS:
1. For the polenta, put the milk and water into a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and onion/garlic. Bring to just below the boil, then set aside to infuse for 20 minutes.
2.Make the ragout. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and half the butter in a large, wide frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and salt and pepper and turn the heat up high. Cook, stirring often, to encourage the mushrooms to release their juices. Continue to cook until most of the juices have evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to concentrate and caramelise. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute more.
3. Add the wine and stock, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half. Check the seasoning.
4. To cook the polenta, strain the infused milk and water into a clean pan (or just scoop out the flavorings with a slotted spoon). Bring to a simmer, then pour in the polenta in a thin stream, stirring as you do so. Stir until the mix is smooth and then it let it return to a simmer. Cook for just 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, rosemary and cheese, then season generously with salt and pepper (adding at least ¼ teaspoon salt).
5.Immediately scoop the polenta into warmed dishes, top with the juicy mushroom ragout and serve, with an extra trickle of best olive oil and a few slivers of shaved cheese, if you like.
WHITE BEANS with ROASTED/GRILLED ARTICHOKES by by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg cookbook
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
5 ounces grilled/roasted artichoke hearts in oil, cut into wedges, plus 1 tablespoon of the oil
1 garlic clove, slivered
1 14 oz. can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of ½ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A good handful of salad leaves
Crumbled or shaved Parmesan CHUNKS, to finish
DIRECTIONS
Heat 1 tablespoon oil from the artichokes in a small frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and fry gently for a minute or two. Add the artichokes and heat for a minute or so, then stir in the beans. Heat, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, until everything is hot.
Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste (the artichokes may already have contributed some salt).
3 Arrange the salad leaves on two plates and top with the hot beans and artichokes. Finish with the Parmesan chunks and serve warm.
Tip: Oil-preserved, char-grilled or roasted artichoke hearts are available from delis and some supermarkets like Trader Joe’s.
Cottage Cooking Club is an international on-line group. led by Andrea Mohr of The Kitchen Lioness, which is cooking through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg. If you’d like to join us as we explore more of Hugh’s cookbooks, go here.
Oh, my gosh, I love all these recipes! You have such a fabulous group of friends—I always enjoy the photos of you gatherings. I’d go to a polenta on a plank party ANYTIME. You’ve done a superb job “making a life.”
Mary…..I am going to share this with my sister Stephanie also a recent widow. She is also lucky to have a huge support group but I am sure she will find some inspiration with your narrative.
So delightful to see the reminders of our polenta party. What a novel dinner idea you discovered and we executed.
Miss you
Rocks
Mary, I love the way you write.
This is my kind of menu! Love it all, Mary.
LOVE it when you have veggie recipes. Thanks, Mary!
Happy (OSCAR) weekend all.
I love reading about the life you’ve built for yourself – as rich and lovely as that incredible polenta dish you made. I’m going to have to “vegan it up” for Kevin some time. I really want to make the artichoke version of that salad, but the tomato variation was pretty incredible, too.
What a fabulous party with polenta-on-a-plank! How much fun was that?!? Also, those cookies look quite delicious and I’m glad I hadn’t seen the recipe already when, last night, noodles asked if I’d make dessert (after she announced she was only going to eat dessert for dinner). Mary, I also enjoyed reading about the self-care you did toward the end of Michael’s life and that you had people looking out for you to make sure you had your own thing going on. I imagine that as a care-giver for some time, it’s easy to let that self go and have a hard time finding it again. I suppose some simply don’t have the energy, but that definitely doesn’t sound like you! 🙂 Cheers to a great February and I’ll see you virtually and in person soon!
Hi Mary,
Thanks for sharing the polenta-on-a-plank meal, look amazing, and fun! Your two CCC dishes and the cookies look wonderful, I enjoyed the polenta with mushrooms too. I am glad you are living well in whichever situation and location you are at right now, you are doing amazingly great. I love your beautiful photos about the events in your live and your neck of the woods. Chin-chin!
I love the polenta on a plank idea. Thank you for sharing the photos. The mushroom ragout was my favourite this month – quite rich and flavourful even without butter. And I love the bean and artichoke salad – so easy and delicious. Great job this month with Hugh’s dishes (and Ina’s cookies too!)
Mary…you’ve been busy in the kitchen this month! This is my first month with The Cottage and I really enjoyed cooking from the book. The one thing I’ve been ooogling over is the Mushroom Polenta recipe. How I wish I had made that! It really looks so good, as does all of the polenta on your plank. What a fun gathering that must have been. Looking forward to seeing your goodies next month! : )
Though I’m sad when I think about the loss that led to it, I am happy that you jumped into blogging and we became friends. You have become someone that I care about. I’m envying Cav his take-home cookies. I’m going to try making my own. Are they crispy or chewy? The mushroom ragout looks fabulous too. So many of the CCC-ers made it (not me), but I’m inspired. What I’m really to do is to have a polenta on a plank party (though our next dinner party will be for St Patrick’s Day — the full corned beef spread — Howard does it sous vide style, as you might expect). And I remember making the bean and artichoke salad before. I agree that that one’s a winner. You’ve made me hungry…
Hi Mary, did not know that owls even burrowed, how cool. Love the polenta on a plank, looks like my kind of party. I love that you made the white bean salad with artichokes and served it warm, very clever. And you can never go wrong with one of Ina’s recipes,.
What a great collection of delicious “eats”. I bet everyone feels loved, welcome and cared for at your house Mary!
Hi Mary, I never wonder why your posts inspire me, I simply ‘carry on’ reading them always eager to see what I shall glean next. The polenta on a plank looks like such a grand theme for a group and happy you enjoyed Hugh’s mushroom version. The Ina Garten cookies look delish, as most everything among her offerings. Bean salad looks good too, one of my favorites for antipasti, and in an extended version, a constant add in over my twice weekly tailgate years. Life is funny. But for certain it seems always important to treasure the moments and live them to the fullest in the days we are meant too which you always do so well. Big Hugs to you and see you soon.
Dear Mary, all of this looks wonderful, the cookies shall be put on my “must make list” – I have developed somewhat of an addiction lately to evertyhing salty and sweet – we got this German chocolate company and their milk chocolate with salted almonds is to die for…I should send you some…love sending my favorite things…The polenta on a plank party sounds like a fabulous idea, I have seen that in Italy, what great fun. I love polenta and every once in a while I like to indulge, maybe I should hold a party like this some day. An dI do appreciate the ease of Hugh´s white bean salads, so flavorful ad real crowd pleasers.
I was thinking of you last night, a professor from Johns-Hopkins University was commenting on TV on the present political climate in the US, Trump and Clinton and all…I was impressed not only by all his arguments but also by his faultless German, very interesting. Let´s just hope that everything wiill turn out for the best.
Thomas got fed up with my wavering about wether I should join you for CookthebookFridays or not – he ordered the book and it arrived today…now all I need is time…
Lots of hugs and kisses from us,
Andrea & Co.
Polenta on a plank. I need to think about that…
Loss is not easy no matter what form or timeline it takes. Like Betsy, I am glad it drove you to this space. Our lives are richer (and more amusing) for it. XO
I have been eyeing that polenta and mushroom recipe; it sounds like I need to try it now. It all looks wonderful!
How did I not manage to comment before? I’m glad I’m back to catching up on posts. I remember reading this one – I will certainly echo Cher and Betsy – I’m so happy that you joined us cooking together for these many years! You have done a terrific job of modeling making a new life – even if it’s a different one, and not one you chose to have to start.
Oh, and the cookies!! Those look so delicious!! I haven’t made cookies for a while – that looks like an amazing recipe. Loved the polenta plank too. I like polenta a ton (it’s corn. and mom doesn’t), but I was happy to have a recipe with the mushrooms – ragu/ragout… Lovely, lovey writing and photos – as always!