Unstuffed
Did you drown your sorrows in giblet gravy over waffles after Thanksgiving? Or make potato cakes with the leftover mashed potatoes topped with cranberry sauce? Turkey sandwiches? Turkey Tetrazzini? And all that pie! In my family, we always called it turkey dope, but the lethargic, bloated aftermath was really just an overload of carbohydrates and sugar. The crash left us beached on the couch for days.
With the unique circumstances of 2020’s socially distanced holiday, for many of us the reality of a massive family feast or Freindsgiving was out of reach. A video chat with my sister revealed she had opted for a rack of lamb instead of a bird. Other friends toned it down by doing duck. With only one or two diners, others splurged on luxurious treats such as lobsters, king crab legs, caviar, and foie gras. One friend admitted to forgoing any sort of cooking and ordered a huge platter of their favorite sushi and a cheesecake from Zabar’s. “I went all out for our comfort food. We couldn’t have our kids and grandchildren here.”
But now that Thanksgiving has passed and the leftovers are on the verge of going bad, it’s time to take a break from heavy holiday food for a few weeks until the next round of social disappointment….er, I mean distancing at the holidays arrives.
No where is there a better place to lighten the plate than by shopping at the farmers market. With the first hard freezes arriving—heck, it even snowed here yesterday—many of the tender field crops such as peppers and tomatoes will be gone leaving only the cold-hardy roster of winter vegetables.
Leafy greens are all over the place with lettuces and spinach snug under floating row covers and in green houses. Think of all those tasty salads. When a cold meal won’t do, the heavier greens such as collards, kales and chards step up to the plate. These can be sauteed, boiled, baked, and steamed. Ribbons sliced thin and added to a hot broth make for a quick and healthy meal that is both filling and lite. If you find greens a little on the boring side, check out the mustard greens. They’ll spice up your life.
My favorite set of greens showing up at market right now are the cabbages. The kingpins of fermented foods, homemade sauerkraut and kimchee deliver a powerhouse of probiotics to get your guts back in good working order after being overloaded with too much holiday cheer.
Fermenting vegetables is one of my favorite ways to preserve seasonal fresh vegetables for weeks, even months at a time. According to food writer fermentation guru, Sandor Katz, cabbage can be used alone in or combination with radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, shallots, leeks, garlic, greens, peppers, and other vegetables. With nothing more than vegetables, salt, and a glass jar, Katz walks readers through the basic steps of natural fermentation that have been used for thousands of years by cultures around the world. His book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods was an eye-opener for me. A sample taste of fermented carrots and brussels sprouts hooked me for good.
So here’s the routine for this year. For the next few weeks we’re going to stuff ourselves with vegetables to counteract any damage we may have inflicted on ourselves as we tried to cope through Corona Thanksgiving. At the same time while the early winter vegetables are coming into the prime of their season we’ll stock up and stuff our jars and crocks to get fizzing. While the Lactobacilli work their magic over a few weeks, we can finish out the year with cookies, candies, confections, booze, breads, and whatever Saturnalian delights we may encounter, before unstuffing ourselves once again. My Pennsylvania Dutch descent requires that I eat sauerkraut on New Year’s Day for health and good luck and after this last year I can’t shred cabbage fast enough.