Spiced pork belly with apple cider glaze

I finally got organized enough to enter a Food52 contest! One of the themes this week was pork with apple cider. I probably could have made this with hard apple cider instead of fresh apple cider with vermouth. Anyway, I'm just proud I managed to create a recipe, write it up, and photograph it in time for the deadline. (At least I think I met the deadline.) Have a look-see.

Slaughterhouse blues

The problem of finding quality, USDA-approved independent slaughterhouses here in the northeast is a reoccuring problem small farms face, according to this Edible Manhattan article by Ann Monroe. Veritcal integration--when the same company that owns the animals and the land also owns the slaughtering and butchering facilities--makes slaughtering expensive and difficult for smaller operations. And demand for good slaughterhouse workers is high--but it's a tough job that requires talent and passion. What to do?

Birthday vanilla scallops

Don't you hate it when you order the scallops at a restaurant and you get just three little ones atop some pile of starch? And they're so good and you wish you could have more? Well since Lane did not want to go out for his birthday ("I see no reason to celebrate turning 42...") I used that as an excuse to buy lots and lots of scallops at the greenmarket for dinner. Oh, they are so sweet and tender.

I discovered a recipe for scallops in vanilla sauce years ago but have since lost it. But it's not that hard to replicate. First I seared the scallops in butter (in batches). Then I set them aside and deglazed the pan with about 1/3 cup vermouth. Once I'd cooked out enough of the alcohol I added a cup or so cream, a few more pats of butter, salt, and 1/2 tablespoon vanilla. At this point I would have added saffron as well but I was out. Shoot.

I simmered that on low while the linguini cooked, then I tossed the noddles in the sauce with the scallops. And we ate so many, many scallops!

While I was having fun with the butter I also made purple carrots with tarragon. I steamed the carrots and then put them in a covered pan with butter and fresh tarragon over low heat.

Unfortunately Jasper threw a magnet at the window of my oven Friday night and shattered the glass. This was partly my fault as I had left the oven on at 400 degrees after roasting a chicken (cringe). Still, that meant I couldn't bake Lane a birthday cake. Instead I bought cupcakes from the Treats Truck. And then the three of us danced the night away.

November garden

Just because I'm so proud and can't believe I pulled it off I'm showing you more pictures of my tiny rooftop garden greens. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so I can harvest the spotted lettuce in early December. By the way, I got the seeds for these greens and carrots from the Hudson Valley Seed Library.

Some kind of squash inflicted with fungus

Two gingerbread-pumpkin recipes

Last week I caught VerySmallAnna musing about gingerbread with pumpkin on Twitter--it sounded so appealing I ran with the idea and made gingerbread pumpkin cake and gingerbread pumpkin muffins.

Please note that both below recipes are so highly derivative of the originals that I cannot consider them my own--I haven't even really changed much of the wording. These are Laurie and Luisa's recipes with a few tweaks. And you should buy their cookbooks. 

For the cake I used a recipe from Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking. Have I mentioned this book, and its predecessor Home Cooking lately? Because I love, love, love these. They're a combination of personal essays on food and recipes--they read like a food blog, actually. Unfortunately Colwin passed away several years ago.

Anyway, this is one of her gingerbread cake recipes. It calls for Lyle's golden syrup (found at Blue Apron, Brooklynites), which gives the cake a lighter flavor than the usual molasses but imparts a luscious moistness as well. I added some fresh pureed and strained pumpkin but the flavor is pretty subtle. I feared adding more would make the cake too damp. This recipe actually originates from Delia Smith's Book of Cakes.

Damp Gingerbread Pumpkin Cake

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) Lyle's Golden Syrup
• 2 cups plus 2 tblespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons strained, pureed pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Melt the butter in the syrup in a heavy-bottomed pot. Meanwhile, sift together the dry ingredients. Mix syrup mixture and dry ingredients together well. Add egg, milk, and pumpkin and beat the batter for a couple minutes. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before turning out.

Colwin says "The middle should be just set, with the edge pulling away from the pan, and a tester will bring out a few crumbs."

For the gingerbread pumpkin muffins I used Luisa's excellent Mother of Invention Muffins recipe, substituting molasses for the brown sugar. This made a rather dark and intense (dare I say, brooding) muffin Jasper rejected, but Lane and I love it. It gives you a nice jolt of flavor first thing in the morning. Some of us need this.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk 
• 3 cups whole wheat flour 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup dried currants

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, molasses, pumpkin, eggs, melted butter, and buttermilk. Sift together flour and other dry ingredients; add to first bowl and mix well. Fold in dried currants. Scoop into buttered muffin tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen. OR pour batter into buttered loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and dry.