Peasant Cooking
Like your grandmother's cooking. Simple, cheap, rustic, and tasty.
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Tilapia with Butter and Sage
The boyfriend and I are rediscovering the Asian market in our hometown. Fresh fish, cheap. And when I say “fresh,” I mean really—this fish was swimming less than an hour before our meal. The boyfriend said this was the best fish he’s ever had.
Ingredients
A couple filets of tilapia
Fresh sage
Butter
Salt
Black pepper
Lemon, optional
Directions
Melt butter in large pan. Add sage. When the butter is hot, add the tilapia filets, turning part way through cooking. The filets should be lightly browned on each side. Serve with salt, pepper, and lemon.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
My Italian-American boyfriend’s recipe. This is the real stuff.
Ingredients
2 cans Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
A couple cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon baking soda
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Directions
Saute garlic and onions in olive oil in a large pot until soft. Add tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the sauce is thick. Add teaspoon of baking soda (this cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and evens out the taste). Add salt and pepper to taste.
If you’re using this for a meat sauce, brown the meat first and then set aside. Use that same pot (containing all the tasty oils from the meat) to cook the onions and garlic.
Butternut Squash Gnocchi
Ingredients
Large butternut squash, peeled and halved, seeds removed
2-3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup (or more, if you want) finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
Couple pinches of salt
2+ cups all purpose flour (just get the whole bag ready, you’ll need a lot)
Directions
Roast butternut squash, cut side down, in oven at 400 degrees until very tender. Let cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh into a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until the juices evaporate and the puree thickens. Cool, then measure one cup packed squash puree.
Meanwhile, boil potatoes until very tender. Puree them in a blender until smooth. Cool completely. Measure 2 cups loosely packed potato.
Mix squash, potato, Parmesan, egg, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually add flour and knead until the dough holds together and is almost smooth. If the dough is still sticky, keep adding flour.
Working with a handful of dough at a time, roll dough out on a floured surface to about a half-inch-think rope. Cut the rope crosswise into 1-inch pieces, and roll the back of a fork over each piece. Transfer gnocchi to baking sheets and repeat with remaining dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. If you have extra gnocchi, freeze the uncook dough in a freezer bag until ready to serve.
Cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until very tender. For me, it took only five minutes, but it might take you more. Serve with brown butter sage sauce, or red sauce. We ate ours with sausage and a homemade red sauce.
Baked Apples with Caramel Sauce
I like to tell myself this is a “healthy” dessert. Because there are apples involved, you see.
Ingredients
Two apples, halved and cored
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
Bake apples on a foil-lined baking sheet at 400 degrees, cut side down, until very soft.
To make the caramel, melt sugar in a pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it turns light brown. Add butter and stir. Remove from heat, wait a few seconds for it to cool, and pour in heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up, but keep stirring until smooth.
Pour the caramel over the apples, with a side of vanilla ice cream. Serves two.
Butternut Squash Soup with Kale Chips, Chopped Prosciutto, and Blue Cheese
You can skip the prosciutto and blue cheese to make a cheaper version of this.
Ingredients
One large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 bunch of kale
A couple slices of prosciutto
Some crumbles of blue cheese
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
Directions
Chop the prosciutto into thin slices in a large pot. Fry in some olive oil until crispy, then put aside. In the same pot, add the squash and fry until partly browned. Add enough broth to cover the squash, then cover the pot and cook until squash is soft. Transfer to a blender to puree, then add cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.
To make the kale chips, wash the kale and tear apart into bite-sized pieces. Arrange in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Put in a 500 degree oven for a few minutes, until you can hear it crackling through the oven door, then flip the kale pieces and bake for a few minutes on the other side until crispy.
Serve soup in a bowl topped with kale chips, sliced prosciutto, blue cheese, and a hearty sprinkle of freshly-cracked black pepper.
Kale, Sausage, and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
One bunch of kale
2 links of sausage
Can of white beans
Half an onion
Garlic
6-8 cups chicken broth (preferably home made)
Directions
Cut up sausage into bite-sized pieces and fry in a large pot. When mostly cooked, remove and set aside. In that same pot, fry the onions and garlic. When the onions are translucent, add the chicken broth, fresh kale, beans, and sausage. Cover and let simmer until kale is wilted and flavors have melded together.
A good autumn dish. Serve with a couple thick slices of crusty bread.
Maple Granola with Candied Apple Pieces
Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey (the more honey you add, the clumpier the granola will be)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or walnut oil, if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon, if you want
1/2 cup dried apples
Nuts, your choice, optional
Directions
Mix everything but the oats in a big bowl, until the consistency is thick. Pour most (but not all) of the mixture over the oats and stir to coat evenly. Spread the oats on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 250 degrees, stirring occasionally, until evenly toasted—about an hour.
To make the candied apples, first cut up your apples into bite-sized pieces. Toss in syrup and bake until toasted. Let cool, then toss in with granola. If you have nuts, add them here.
Let cool and store in an airtight container. Or eat it fresh out of the oven with yogurt, milk, ice cream, or whatever you like. I ate mine for breakfast with milk.
