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When my daughter was very small, she showed an interest in all kitchen activities. Whether I was giving a cooking class or doing dishes, she wanted to take part. One night long after her bedtime, she tiptoed into the kitchen.
“Mom,” she said, “why do you wait until I go to bed to have all the fun?”
“Fun? I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re cleaning the refrigerator without me!” was her indignant reply.
I recall that night wistfully as I wipe down refrigerator shelves these days. And often, I get a call from my daughter that starts, ” Hey Mom, guess what I’m doing without you?”
Today, I impatiently pulled out the vegetable bin and upturned the whole thing into a clean-scrubbed sink. I found: a dozen Brussels sprouts; 3 bunches of scallions; 2 pounds California white potatoes; 6 broccoli spears; a cucumber; and a pint of fresh figs. All would be past their prime in another day, so I decided on a tapas-style meal.
I had a stick of butter, some homemade chicken stock I’d forgotten about in the freezer, and a half pound of bacon in reserve as well as my dry store.
I started with one lone scallion, slicing it into thin rounds. I peeled and seeded and chopped the cuke, then tossed it with olive oil, red wine vinegar and put it in the fridge to be salted later.
I took the rest of the scallions, trimmed and chopped them. I sauteed them in canola oil and just a dab of butter, peeled and cubed the potatoes and added them to the pot. After stirring the whole batch for about 3 minutes, I splashed in a little white wine, let it come to a bubble, then added the chicken stock (4 cups). I brought the whole thing back to a simmer until the potatoes were very soft. Then I pureed the whole batch with milk using my stick blender. I put this in the fridge to cool, making a mental note to snip some chives and dill from my herb garden for the top. Vichysoisse!
While these cooled down, I cut the figs in half, wrapped each half in a strip of bacon and put them on a baking sheet, set it aside. I parcooked both broccoli and Brussels sprout, stopping the cooking in ice water. I covered the broccoli with a few slices of American cheese in a baking dish, set it aside.
I pulled the leaves off the Brussels sprouts, chopped up 3 more strips bacon. The figs and broccoli went into the oven. Meanwhile I pulled out a skillet, sauteed the chopped bacon, added the sprout leaves, sprinkled them with chile flakes and finished it off with a bit of cider vinegar. I took the broccoli from the oven; turned up the broiler on the figs. Dinner was ready.
Menu: Vichyssoise — Cucumber Salad – Bacon-wrapped Figs — Broccoli Spears with Fake Cheese Sauce — Spicy Sauteed Brussels Sprouts — no room for dessert
Author and culinary school teacher Linda Bassett provides recipes for and tips on the season’s freshest ingredients. She is the author of "From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston." Reach her by email at KitchenCall@aol.com.
