Dining In: An Après-Ski Feast

What's the best thing about winter -- the skiing, the sledding, the ice-skating?  For this author it's the après-ski, that glorious period following an exhilarating day on the slopes when one can indulge in food and drink guilt-free, knowing you've burned many calories swishing down the trails.  Leave it to the French to actually coin a term for this!

To truly relish après-ski you could brave the crowds at the lodge, or, better yet, head back home with your loved ones to relax by one's own fire, sip a cup of hot cocoa, mulled wine or a hearty ale, knowing you don't have to brave the cold again.  Or try my latest preferred poison – champagne with Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters, available on Stirrings web site -- But what to eat?   And who really wants to cook after all that exercise?

After spending several wintery seasons slope-side with family, I have learned the joy of stews – they can be prepared the day before!  In fact, they prefer the extra day off to mature their flavor depth.  And what sounds better than a rich, savory stew as you warm your icy toes fireside? 

For this menu, I created a gratifying mélange of lentils, Italian sweet sausage and root vegetables.  It gets it's creaminess from buttermilk, a healthier option than heavy cream, thus allowing one to guiltlessly satisfy their sweet tooth afterwards.  Root vegetables are the mid-winter vegetables in season, so the choices are plentiful at this time of year.  I used turnips, carrots and butternut squash, but these could be substituted to fit your own tastes. 

To serve alongside the lentil dish, a green salad is a perfect choice.  Still trying to stay seasonal, I prepared one with the inclusion of oranges, pomegranate seeds, honey-roasted pecans and a champagne vinaigrette.  I also added ricotta salata, an Italian sheep's milk cheese, which is the salty dried variety of ricotta.  This can be grated or crumbled on a salad and makes an interesting switch from the more widely used feta.

And for the grand finale?  A simple apple tart served warm, topped with my decadent salted-caramel gelato.  Or, if you don't have the time or inclination to make gelato, a good-quality vanilla ice cream will more than suffice with this flavorful dessert. 

The tart is prepared with puff pastry which is available fresh at Sgaglios Marketplace in Katonah.  See their listing here. Their version is delicious, and pre-rolled so production is a snap… anyone who can peel and slice an apple can easily make this.  The best part -- these confections can be constructed the day before.

So get out, relax and enjoy the snow with your friends and family, be it skiing at Thunder Ridge resort in Brewster, sledding at The Harvey School in Katonah, or ice skating at a local pond.  Your après-ski fete awaits.

Lentil Stew with Italian Sausage and Root Vegetables
Serves 10

Ingredients:
1 cup French Puy lentils
Salt
1 ½ pounds sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 medium red potato, diced
4 cups diced peeled butternut squash – about 1 small to medium sized squash
4 cups diced turnip – about 1 medium turnip
1 can "no salt added" diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Freshly ground pepper
8 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup of red wine
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, cover the lentils with 1 inch of water and add a large pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
2. In a large saucepan, cook the sausage over moderately low heat, stirring, until most of the fat has been rendered, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, celery, onion, potato, squash, turnip, and bay leaf and cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring to coat with fat. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes longer.
4. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook on medium for 3 minutes.
5. Add the red wine and allow to reduce by half, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and skim any fat which has risen to the top. 
7. Add the buttermilk and thyme.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
8. Stir in the lentils and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer until serving.  This can be made up to 3 days ahead.  Serve the soup piping hot, with warm rolls and a green salad.

Salad of Baby Greens, Oranges, Pecans, and Ricotta Salata with Champagne Vinaigrette
Serves 10

Ingredients:
1 large container baby greens, or 10 cups
½ red onion, sliced thinly in rings
3 naval oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 cup raw pecans
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ pound ricotta salata cheese, crumbled into ½ inch pieces
Champagne Vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F.  Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix the pecans with the honey.  Spread them in one layer on the sheet pan.  Bake for 6 minutes, stir them, then bake another 6 minutes until golden and shiny.
3. Wash the greens, and dry them in a salad spinner.  Place them in a large serving bowl.
4. Layer the onion slices, orange sections, pecans, pomegranate seeds and cheese on top of the greens.
5. Drizzle ½  – ¾ cup of the vinaigrette, depending on your taste, over the top of the salad.  Toss and serve.

Champagne Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼  cup champagne vinegar
½  cup extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, mix the mustard and honey together with a spoon.  Add the vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk it together.  Slowly pour in the oil while whisking until all the oil has been incorporated. Alternatively, puree all the ingredients together in a blender or food processor. 

Apple Tarts
Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 Granny Smith or Fuji apples
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon set aside
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 sheet fresh puff pastry sheet from Scaglios in Katonah (or substitute frozen)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 1 large baking sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Peel apples, reserving skins. Stir together water and ¼ cup sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add pod. Add reserved apple skins and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Pour through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on and then discarding solids.
3. Cut the puff pastry into 8 rectangles.  Place them on the sheet pan.
4. Halve apples lengthwise, then core with a melon-ball cutter or a small spoon and cut crosswise into very thin slices (1/8 inch thick or less), keeping apple halves intact. Fan apple slices slightly, keeping apple shape, then arrange 1 half on each piece of pastry, leaving a border on all sides.
5. Brush border lightly with syrup and fold over  to touch edges of apples. Crimp edges with your finger, then brush apples and edges of pastry with syrup (reserve remaining syrup). Brush apples completely with melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
6. Bake tarts in the middle of  the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake tarts until edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. (If pastry edges aren't browning evenly, rotate tarts 180 degrees on sheets halfway through baking.)
7. While tarts bake, boil remaining syrup over moderate heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
8. Let tarts stand 5 minutes, then brush warm apples with remaining syrup.

Tarts can be assembled (but not sprinkled with sugar or baked) 1 day ahead.

Salted-Caramel Gelato
Makes 1 quart

Ingredients:
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups 1% or 2% milk (I used 1 % and it was still rich and creamy)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg yolks, whisked together in a small bowl (preferably stainless steel)

1. Mix the sugar and water together in a heavy stainless steel saucepan.  Bring it to a boil, whisking frequently until it turns a medium-golden tan color, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove immediately from the heat and continue whisking for 30 seconds to keep it from browning any further.
2. Slowly add the cream to the sugar mixture, whisking to incorporate it.  Return the pan to a burner, and heat it gently over medium-low heat.  Whisk in the milk, and continue whisking until it reaches a simmer.  Whisk in the vanilla and salt and remove from heat. 
3. Pour slowly 1-2 tablespoons of the warm milk mixture to the egg yolks, whisking quickly as you do this to keep the yolks from scrambling.  Continue slowly whisking the milk mixture into the yolks until you have added 1-1 ½  cups.  At this point, the yolk/milk mixture can be returned to the reserved milk/sugar mixture in the saucepan and placed on a burner.
4. Warm the milk/yolk/sugar mixture over medium-low heat, continually whisking until mixture thickens and reaches a simmer.  Do not allow to boil!  Pour the mixture into a bowl, and continue whisking to allow the heat to escape.  Allow it to sit until it reaches room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate or place in freezer until completely cooled.
5. Transfer the mixture to an ice-cream machine and proceed according to the manufacturer's instruction.