In response to our inquiry, the stall attendant stated, “Jujube. Is Chinese Apple,” adding that we should select brown ones, as opposed to green ones, and that hard is preferable to soft fruit.

According to Wikipedia’s article, the fruit (not to be confused with the candy of the same name) is:

“…an edible oval drupe 1.5-3 cm long; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an apple, maturing dark red to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled, looking like a small date.”

So we bought two from the nice lady at the Studio City Farmer’s Market. Allowing them to further ripen, we finally ate them tonight.

We both found them peculiar. Not unpleasant, but dry and airy. Perhaps they are better compared to DRIED apple rings. The truth is, we ended up having only a few bites each, giving the remainders to our Labradors (NB: Dogs like ‘em!).

I think Jujube is an interesting fruit, but I have no idea what I could do with them insofar as cooking (beyond simply eating them). At $3.00/lb., however, it’s safe to say I doubt I’ll be buying the Jujube fruit any time soon. But hey: I’ll try anything once.

PHOTO GALLERY

Jujube stand at the Studio City (CA) Farmer's Market.

Fresh From The Farmer's Market by Janet Fletcher

This was the very first dish I prepared for Chelsea, after committing myself to becoming a decent cook for the both of us. It comes from an AMAZING book Chelsea got for me (which I highly recommend):  Fresh From The Farmer’s Market by Janet Fletcher (pictured at left).

Chelsea got my copy at her favorite store, Anthropologie, but if you click the link, you’ll find it’s available from Amazon, too.

This is a fabulous and — more importantly — SIMPLE soup to prepare. As a Kitchen Novice, I was terrified to cook a soup; it just seems so… professional. To my great pleasure, this recipe is a snap, and the resulting fare is fantastic.

I should add, at the outset, that the original recipe calls for Chicken Broth. I substituted a Vegetarian Broth, and I don’t believe the recipe suffered as a result. Here’s my version of this soup:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• ¼ cup Chopped Cilantro
• 1 lb. Cauliflower Florets
• 1 Baking Potato (8 to 10 ounces), peeled, in ½-inch cubes
• 2 cups homemade or canned Chicken Broth*
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup Milk

*You may substitute Vegetarian boullion or broth

SERVES 6

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in a large pot over moderate heat. Add onion and saute until soft and sweet, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cilantro and saute 1 minute to release garlic fragrance.

Add cauliflower, potato, broth, 3 cups water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then cover, adjust heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Puree in a food processor or pass through a food mill. Return to a clean pot and stir in milk. Reheat to serving temperature. Taste and adjust seasoning.

PHOTO GALLERY

Simple, Fresh Ingredients = Good Food!

SUMMARY & REVIEW

It’s “Thumbs Up” for this super-simple soup. Prep time was minimal; it should take about 5 minutes to prep the ingredients (it took me slightly longer as I prepared a Vegetarian broth using Vegan Bouillon). Overall, it still took less than one hour from Start to Plating. That’s not bad for a dish I was afraid to even try!

My only complaint is that the soup lacks the texture I expected. I would encourage you to puree the ingredients cautiously… make sure you leave some good, hearty bits of Cauliflower!

Also, it could have been a bit saltier, but that’s my own damned fault. That pesky “Salt to taste” thing always throws me off.

That said, I LOVE the ingredients in this recipe. Even this Kitchen Novice (i.e. ME) already had the ingredients, save the fresh bits (Cauliflower and Cilantro), which I don’t expect I’ll ever have ‘on hand’ on any given day. Bravo to the simplicity!

I served it up (see photo above right) with a few slices off the freshly baked Kalamata Olive loaf from our local Farmer’s Market, adding a simple garnish and a pad of butter to make it look cool. I do that last bit for Chelsea.

A REASON TO RATE!

Prep Time: 8.75
Simplicity: 8.5
Ingredients: 9
Taste: 7.75
__________

Average Score: 8.5

(1=Poor; 10=Excellent)

I had never heard of a “Cassoulet,” so I looked it up: A white-bean stew of French origin, often containing pork, mutton, garlic sausage, and preserved goose or duck.

So this is a Vegetarian (Vegan, in fact) version of a traditional French Meat Stew.

I’m going to strictly prepare Lysa’s version, which is as follows:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Medium Onion, diced (white or yellow)
• 1 Tbs. of Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. Herbes de Provence (Substitute Thyme, if necessary)
• 8 oz. T.V.P. (Textured Veg Protein) Lysa sez, “This is like vegan ground beef – you can also use ground beef but obviously that makes it much less healthy”).
• 15 oz. can of Cannelini Beans
• ½ cup Tomato Sauce
• Smoked Paprika, Salt and Pepper to taste (Lysa sez, “MUST stress that the Hungarian or Smoked Paprika is key – do NOT use regular Paprika. You can usually find the Smoked kind pretty easily in the spice aisle.”)

DIRECTIONS

In a saute pan over medium heat, add 1 tbs. olive oil and the diced onion. cook until translucent and just starting to show some color, 4-6 minutes. Add the garlic and herbes de provence and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a plate.

Add 1 tbs. of olive oil and add the TVP (follow directions on the TVP to make it separately beforehand) and saute, scraping the pan occasionally until starting to show signs of carmelization, 4-6 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic back to the pan along with the cannellini beans (and their liquid), tomato sauce and smoked paprika (to taste). Stir to combine, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so it won’t stick to the bottom as it will get quite thick near the end of cooking. Check for seasoning as the beans will probably need some salt at this point.

I had to go out to get some of the ingredients before I could start (Herbes de Provence, Smoked Paprika and T.V.P.), since my kitchen is a bit anemic right now. I was unable to find the dry-goods T.V.P. at my local store, so I used Yves… If You Please! brand “Meatless Ground,” which is an acceptable substitute. If you are a carnivore, you might simply use Ground Beef.

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SUMMARY & REVIEW

I absolutely love this dish. While my “serving suggestion” (pictured, above right) is that of an appetizer — a small portion of Cassoulet served with Tostitos® “SCOOPS” chips, this is clearly a MAIN COURSE. I presented the finished dish to my paramour (Chelsea), who exclaimed, “You could make yummy tacos or nachos with this,” adding, “I really expected a spicy dish, but I like that it’s not actually spicy!”

I am most impressed with the versatility of the dish. It’s super-healthy, and if I can’t finish it, I know I could easily throw it in the fridge for several days.  My only “problem” (for lack of a better word) with the recipe is the ingredients… but that’s only because I am such a novice. I had to go to the store to get five of the seven ingredients: 1) Herbs de Provence; 2) Smoked Paprika; 3) T.V.P.;  4) Canellini Beans and; 5) Tomato Sauce.

I really shouldn’t punish this amazing recipe as a result of my anemic pantry, but that’s how it goes. I must say: Even if you have to go to the store to fulfill this food fantasy, you really should; Every ingredient in this recipe is something you will use over and over again. Furthermore, you won’t be disappointed.

Preparation was fast and easy. I spent just 9 minutes prepping the ingredients, and 18 minutes actually cooking (not including the requisite 10 minutes of simmering).

A REASON TO RATE!

Prep Time: 8.5
Simplicity: 9.5
Ingredients: 7.5
Taste: 9.5
__________

Average Score: 8.75

(1=Poor; 10=Excellent)