Melissa's Produce, "Dirt Candy," And Rookie Mistakes

I was watching a cooking show a while ago and someone referred to vegetables as "dirt candy." I love this analogy. In my everyday life, there isn't enough dirt candy. Fruits and vegetables are the healthiest things we can put in our bodies. Plus they taste amazing (when prepared correctly). 

I'd like to start by quoting my mother about this dish I made last Sunday afternoon: "It was good, but if it was on a buffet, I wouldn't go back and get seconds." 

When I heard this, I realized that I'd have to change the content of this post from "here is what I made and the recipe for it," to something else. 

I guess I'll just start from the beginning...

When I was at the IACP Annual Conference in New York a few weeks ago, I attended the Culinary Expo. One of my favorite areas of the expo was the part where Melissa's Produce was displaying their products:

The bold and beautiful produce, the prepackaged items, they all called to me, saying "cook me Diana!" I had to oblige. When I got home from the conference I contacted the man I'd met there, Robert Schueller. I told him I wanted to use Melissa's product to create a recipe and write a post on my blog. Last Thursday I received a nice little treat, a box of Melissa's goodies:

My box of Melissa's Goodies- The address label said "Diana Ash, My Foody Future"

Mini sweet peppers, two kinds of potatoes, dried cranberries, pine nuts, lentils, beets, shallots, and more. I was so overwhelmed with excitement, I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen. My chef instructor, Susan Callahan, told me it may be a good idea to put as many things as possible into the same dish. My mind raced as I tried to figure out the best combination of items. I decided on the following:

Creamer Ruby Gold potatoes

Creamer Yellow Dutch potatoes

Pearl Onions

Pine Nuts

Lentils

Dried Cranberries

These items, it seemed to me, would go well together. 

I was right, but boy did I go about it the wrong way!

Melissa's Gardern Herb Sea Salt

So like I said, I'm not here to give you a recipe. 

What came out of this was not something I'm particularly proud of. 

In a nutshell, I cooked the potatoes and mashed them with the lentils. I added whole caramelized pearl onions and toasted pine nuts. I seasoned it with Melissa's "My Grinder" Garden Herb Sea Salt and garnished with dried cranberries.

Instead, I'll tell you what I've learned. 

When I was at the conference, talking to Robert Schueller, he told me he liked my enthusiasm. 

He reached under one of the tables and handed me this book:

Melissa's Great Book of Produce
Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

This. Book. Rocks.

It has a section on almost every fruit or vegetable imaginable. From the common watermelon to the lesser known limequat. From traditional broccoli to the under-used malanga. Different varieties of potatoes, beans, apples, pumpkins, etc. How to store, handle, purchase, and cook each item. 

I highly recommend this book to everyone who like fruit or vegetables (and I hope theres a lot of you). 

Enough preaching; time to talk about what I learned. 

I'd always heard the pearl onions are a pain in the butt to deal with. The paper-thin skin is tedious and the eventual outcome is underwhelming. I want to challenge that with some stuff I learned from this book. 

“Peeling pearl onions can be a chore. To make it easier, make a shallow X in stem ends. Boil 5 minutes and drain. Refresh with cold water. When cool enough to handle, pinch at root ends and onions will pop out of skins.”

So that is what I did. 

And it worked like a charm. Never again will I listen to the whining and complaints of those who don't know the "trucs" of the trade. 

My next step was figuring out what to do with the onions. I have read that they have a sweet flavor, and I love me some caramelized onions, so I decided to play on one of the recipes in Melissa's book. Here is my take on it:

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a medium skillet.

Add peeled pearl onions and, if desired, Melissa’s “My Grinder” Organic Garden Herb Sea Salt (or similar seasoning). 

Toss to coat.

Cook 7-9 minutes, stirring infrequently until onions start to soften.

Place on tray in oven heated to 350 degrees.

Cook until nicely browned. 

Depending on amount of onions used, this could take 20-30 minutes.

Season to taste.

While the onions were in the oven, I decided to deal with the potatoes. I read up on the varieties sent to me by Melissa's. 

Creamer Yellow Dutch; Waxy texture with buttery flavor.

Creamer Ruby Gold; Very waxy texture, buttery flavor.

Both are domestic and should be available year-round.

I placed 8-10 Creamer Yellow Dutch ad 8-10 Creamer Ruby Gold potatoes in a large pot filled with cold water to cover.

Then I sprinkled a pinch of salt in the water, and boiled them until fork tender.

I think this is where things started to go wrong....

I wanted to use as many items as possible. 

I love mashed potatoes, and I love lentils. 

I decided to "smash" the two together.

The result was a combination of too many mushy ingredients with the same texture. 

Adding the caramelized pearl onions and toasted pine nuts certainly helped balance the taste and texture, but the fact remained that the dish was simply unappealing to the eye. 

I attempted to add some depth of flavor and some color by garnishing with the dried cranberries, but there was no hope. I'd smashed everything to the point where you couldn't tell one ingredient from another. 

The final dish looked like this: 

While it wasn't disgusting or anything, I just think that there may have been better ways to use the ingredients.
But that is exactly what this time in my life is for- experimenting, taking chances, and making mistakes!
Maybe next time I get sent something to experiment with, I won't try to use it all in one place!
How's that for learning from mistakes?!