Autumn Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Nerds with Knives

Roasted Sunchokes with Garlic and Herbs (Jerusalem Artichokes)

June 12, 2024March 14, 2014 by Emily

Roasted sunchokes (also called Jerusalem Artichokes) make a fantastic side dish. They’re creamy on the inside with crispy edges and a mild, nutty flavor. They also happen to be packed with vitamins.

A couple of weeks ago, Matt’s sister Hayli got us tickets to see Asaf Avidan at Irving Plaza (quick aside: along with The Ritz and CBGB, Irving Plaza was the place to see hardcore, punk and ska bands when I was in high school. To this day, it still feels wrong to be in there without a mohawk and zebra-print creepers on.)

Anyhoozle, the show was great fun (thanks Hayli!) and since we stayed around Union Square, we got to walk around the Greenmarket before we headed back on the train. (I love living in Beacon, but I do miss that damn market. Seriously, there is nothing else like it). Since we were wandering, we didn’t really want to carry loads of stuff but I just couldn’t resist picking up some sunchokes, which are in season right now.

Now you may be saying to yourself “Hmm, that looks suspiciously like the grizzled, terrifying hunk of old ginger I found hiding behind my refrigerator when I moved last year.” And it’s true that these aren’t the most attractive vegetable in Earth’s garden of delights but we wouldn’t let a trivial thing like that stop us from enjoying something so delicious, would we? Good answer.

Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem Artichokes for some reason (they are neither from Jerusalem, nor are they related to artichokes. Go figure, but they are part of the sunflower family so that at least makes some sort of sense.) Whatever you like to call them, they have a lovely nutty flavor which some people say reminds them of water chestnuts.

Classic Tomato Soup

January 19, 2021February 27, 2014 by Emily

Classic Tomato Soup — Easy, Delicious Homemade Tomato Soup

Recently I had one of those nights when I came home late and exhausted and all I wanted to do was flop down on the couch and watch something fun on TV (current obsessions: House of Cards, True Detective, Ripper Street, The Americans and don’t even call me on Sunday nights once Game of Thrones is back BECAUSE I WILL NOT ANSWER THE PHONE).

Those are the nights when I want to cook something fast and easy, and I don’t want to have to make a special trip to the store to get ingredients. I looked in the pantry and thought “Yes! You can do this, Clifton. Find something in there to make that doesn’t suck!” Well, I’ll tell you this. A warm bowl of homemade classic tomato soup does not suck.

Until tomato season comes round again (it’s hard to remember a time when the yard wasn’t basically permafrost), big cans of good tomatoes are a perfect pantry standby. You can make this classic tomato soup with either crushed or whole plum tomatoes, if you don’t mind crushing them with your hands. Some of you might quite enjoy doing that, I don’t know, that’s your business. Either way, you will want a stick blender to finish the job.

NOTE: If you’re feeling extra-fancy, make a little grilled cheese sandwich to go alongside your masterpiece. I, of course, was far too lazy even for that and just spread some goat cheese on a cracker and sprinkled some black pepper and scallions over it. Oh, and some chopped radishes on the side because they’re also red.

Easy, Delicious Tomato Soup — Goat cheese, cracked pepper and scallions

Pasta With Butternut Squash and Bacon

June 12, 2024February 7, 2014 by Emily

Down side: Polar Vortex Episode 2 (The Revenge of Polar Vortex) will not go away and this latest storm dumped another FOOT of snow on us. We had a burst pipe, a flooded (frozen) basement and our street looks like a luge track from Sochi.

Up side: Pasta with a creamy, bacony sauce and lots of butternut squash!

Okay, down-side wins but since winter refuses to behave, at least make some yummy, cozy dishes while it’s still frigging freezing out.

I’ve mentioned before how much I adore butternut squash so when I saw Melissa Clark’s recipe for pasta with parsnips, I decided to adapt it. I’ve made a few changes (other than substituting the main vegetable, obviously). I used shallots instead of leeks because I just like them and always have them on hand. I also added a little bit of garlic and chili flakes.

The result is delicious. A little smoky from the bacon, sweet from the butternut squash. Yum.

Nerd Tips:

This recipe gives you tips on peeling and seeding a butternut squash.
Bacon is better for this because it’s smoked but pancetta will work as well.
Don’t stir the squash too much or it will turn to mush (I resisted a “squashed” joke here. You’re welcome)
Any short-cut pasta will work well here.

Caramelized Onion, Olive and Goat Cheese Tart

June 12, 2024January 21, 2014 by Emily

This tart is the delightful bastard child of the classic french Pissaladière which is a deceptively simple combination of sweet onions, briny olives and salty anchovies. Now, most people would scoff at the hubris required to take an elegant, timeless recipe and besmirch it with additions like goat cheese, sherry and thyme but, like a certain movie villain Matt is getting very tired of me mentioning, I regret nothing. It’s possible that you’re thinking “Hey wait just a minute here! Didn’t Emily already blog a very similar, though delicious, recipe for a tart a few months ago? She hasn’t even been doing NwK for a full year and she’s already recycling ideas!” To which I would reply, “Mean!” and also “While there are certainly similarities between the two tarts, this one is more intensely flavored, with the addition of cured black olives and anchovies, and also has a few advanced techniques in working with puff pastry. So neeeeh!”

Our winter warmer — Maple-syrup Old Fashioned

July 5, 2024January 10, 2014 by Matt

When it’s dark at 4.30pm, your drafty home refuses to get above 55F, and there’s ice on the INSIDE of the windows, what do you do to warm up in the evening?

You could make a big fort in the middle of your living room with every blanket you have in the house. You could rub two kittens together and bathe in the glow of their static electricity (DISCLAIMER: DOES NOT WORK WITH CHICKENS).

Or you could make these Old Fashioneds with maple syrup.

Mixologists will tell you that these are not real Old Fashioned cocktails, since they aren’t strictly made with plain sugar or simple syrup. While they’re explaining that to you, nod sagely and drink up and then demand another glass of “whatever the hell you want to call it, Poindexter”.

Emily bought me the PDT Cocktail Book and a fine Boston cocktail shaker set for Christmas (do you think she was trying to tell me something? Should I be making more cocktails? Is the answer to that question ever “no”?) which I needed to test out, and their “Benton’s Old Fashioned” was a great starting point. Now they use bacon-infused bourbon, which, delicious as it sounds, I just couldn’t put my hand on.

So use whatever whisky or bourbon you have – we’ve tried both Jack Daniels and the local Hudson Whiskey pictured in these shots. Feel free to adjust the amount of maple syrup or bitters; these are just general suggestions that work for us.

Hazelnut Praline Cheesecake

June 12, 2024December 4, 2013 by Emily

Hazelnut cheesecake with praline crust is a crowd-pleasing dessert that will make your dinner guests love you until the end of time, or until the end of the cheesecake, whichever comes first.

I’m pretty sure Matt moved from London to New York mostly for the cheesecake. It is by far his favorite dessert so of course, good wife that I am, I’ve learned to make them.

Actually, funny story, ahem … many years ago, when we were first living together, we tried to make a cheesecake and we totally mis-read the recipe. Instead of 3/4 of a cup of sugar we used 3 cups. 3 friggin’ cups of sugar in one cheesecake. Neither of us had done a lot of baking yet so we didn’t immediately realize how insane that amount is. Needless to say, it was disgustingly sweet and even worse, never even set, remaining a thick, sweet soup that seeped all over our refrigerator. It was truly disgusting (though Matt gave it a go anyway, being a trooper).