SPINACH, PENNE & CHEESE “SPOUFFLÉ” from, River Cottqge Veg cookbook – Sounds funny. Tastes yummy.
“We need the moisture.”
Our springtime weather, disconcerting as it may be, translates into lessened fire danger and a healthier forest. That’s why, here in the mountains, this is our weary mantra. It’s been a soggy, snowy, chilly April/May in the Rockies. Think mud. Memo to Denver, Las Vegas and L.A.: As agreed, we’re shipping you our precious water but could you use a little restraint, please?
This tiny White-Breasted Nuthatch and it’s mate are year-round residents in the old-growth cottonwood tree standing next to my balcony. Although nuthatches do know up from down, their preferred direction is climbing head-down.
This weather has dovetailed nicely into what I’ve chosen to make for this month’s Cottage Cooking Club. My food-blogging colleagues and I share inspired veggie dishes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cook book. My choices, Spinach, Penne and Cheese “Spoufflé” and Pearled Barley Broth, will tickle a bud or two. Guaranteed.
PEARLED BARLEY BROTH, really a substantial soup, is a winner from River Cottage Veg cookbook.
I’m also sharing with you a glimpse of this resort community as you’ve probably never seen it. This is always a time when tourists are few, Aspen is under construction and flora and fauna begin to whisper, “Hey, remember us? ”
You thought the view from my balcony was Aspen Mountain? Not.
When I hear the first wing buzz and sharp chirp of the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, I hang up my feeders. This astounding creature, weighing about 13 oz., can enter a protective torpor, by slowing its heart rate and dropping its body temperature, if our weather is abnormally cold.
The beautiful Pasqueflower is a welcomed harbinger of spring.
The Downy woodpecker is our smallest, has a very short bill and was too busy to be bothered by yours truly.
The painters arrived at The Gant in early April and are still here because the weather has not cooperated with their time schedule. At one point, while painting my D-Building, they needed to cover my windows/doors and tape me into my condo. Let me just say, Man Caves are overrated.
Here’s a view down valley of Sopris Mountain from the top of Smuggler Mountain, a typical Aspen day this spring.
Our mule deer are molting and look a little scruffy right now.
Remember those baby goslings from a few posts ago? They are growing up.
Elk migration is taken very seriously in these mountains. Their pathways are protected by numerous signage and limited speeds. When I first returned here two years ago I payed a hefty fine for speeding during the migration season. Learned my lesson.
On Memorial Day the local military association remembered to also honor the 38 Civil War veterans laid to rest in the historic Ute Cemetery located in The Gant’s backyard.
A well-recognized rite of springtime is graduation. Having never attended an Aspen High School graduation, tomorrow I’ll be sitting front and center at the Aspen Music tent to watch young Cav O’Leary receive his diploma. It was a wonderful day for Michael and me when the Texas O’Leary family moved to Aspen and our neighborhood. Then I will be deadheading to Bishop, California, where, next week, Emma will be graduating from 8th grade. Her Mother and I, always quick with the tears, will be shedding a few. Emma will be mortified.
Cav O’Leary, Aspen High Graduation Class 2015
Emma, 8 years old, Black Mountain, Henderson, Nevada. (When Emma once visited me in Henderson, I “made her” hike up Black Mountain. It was high noon and in the 90s. I know, what was I thinking? Emma has never forgiven me, her parents were not happy and she has never visited me “alone” again. Lesson learned.)
Ahhh, Springtime.
Spinach, Penne & Cheese Spoufflé by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg cookbook
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 onion finely cut
3 1/2 oz. penne or similar shaped pasta
A little canola or olive oil
9 oz. spinach
3 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
6 1/2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
3 oz. mature Cheddar, finely grated
A little freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, separated, plus 1 extra egg white
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and put a baking sheet in to heat up. Liberally butter a 6-cup soufflé dish. TIP: I halved the recipe and used a smaller dish.
2. Put the milk, bay leaf, onion and peppercorns into a small saucepan, bring to just below a simmer, turn off the heat and leave to infuse.
3. Bring a pan of well-salted water to boil. Add the penne to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain well and add a bit of oil to stop sticking together.
4. Cook the spinach, with just the water clinging to it after washing, in a large covered pan over a medium heat until wilted – just a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the liquid with your hands, then roughly chop the spinach. TIP: I used chopped, frozen spinach.
5. Re-heat the infused milk, then strain. Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, stir in the flour to form a roux (paste) and cook for a few minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the milk slowly to the roux and keep stirring until you have a thick béchamel sauce.
6. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese, nutmeg, chopped spinach, and some salt and pepper. Beat in the egg yolks, then fold in the cooked penne.
7. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks. Stir a spoonful into the Bechamél Sauce mixture to loosen it and then fold in the rest. Fold into the buttered dish and place on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until well risen and golden. TIP: Top with sour cream, yogurt or crème fraîche sprinkled with nutmeg and serve immediately.
If you wish the recipe for Pearled Barley Broth (really a substantial soup), just ask. The Cottage Cooking Club is an international online cooking group cooking and learning our way through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “River Cottage Veg“ cookbook. The Club, led by The Kitchen Lioness, is ‘meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes into our everyday cooking, learning about less known, forgotten or heritage vegetables,trying out new ways to prepare tasty and healthy dishes, and sharing them with family and friends.’
Great menagerie of pictures and truth in advertising
Surprised to learn about your previous child abuse to Emma!!
Enjoy your graduations!! That pic of Emma is funny–the whole story in one photo!
Always a joy to read your blog. I haven’t watered my front or backyard in 6 months:) If we could just get some of that water from Texas. Enjoy all your upcoming celebrations. Spring has sprung and summer will be here before we know it. Thanks for willing to help me out. I am going to see if I can post while on vacation. If not I will have you link up for me. I will be in touch. Thanks!
I must say, Diane, most of my friends in LA and LV are very water-conscious and take care. It is surprising how well LV does with water conservation and the casinos on The Strip do recycle and reuse their water for a number of purposes. In the West, which was always and still is a desert, we just all need to do more. Not fun but reality.
I’m glad you enjoyed your recipe choices; it seems to have been a delicious month for everyone. I really enjoyed your photo essay….I’ve been enlightened.
Hello Mary, thank you for the spectacular photos giving us great insight into the natural beauty found in Colorado. Love your Spouffle and Pearled Barley Broth, both look delicious, and I plan to give the Spouffle a go as everyone seemed to enjoy it! Love your story and travels as always, including the graduations. I must share that I’ve a sister that lives in Henderson Nevada, who also took me hiking on a very,very long trail in the heat, though we left earlier in the morning, it was spectacular. Just before the trail end was in sight I became a bit nervous though wondering just how much longer we were going to go on- as we had drank all of our water. Next time I shall bring more! Enjoy your fun events and I look forward to reading your whereabouts over the month.
Hi Mary, thank you for the beautiful comments you left for me regarding my mom. Also Colorado looks like a wonderful place to live with all the mountains and wildlife. I will be preparing the barley soup myself this week as it looks like everyone was very pleased with the outcome. Thanks again.
Both your souffle and soup look terrific—I know Bill would happily eat the souffle—and maybe, just maybe the soup. We’re getting some of your moisture (along with a cool down) andthe rich barley broth might just hit the spot. Loving all the area photos as always—so many fun memories come rushing back with each of them! Congrats to your dear Emma!!! xo
Love the post Mary! Its always wonderful when spring arrives and the birds are active and seeking mates but then the leafing out of the trees obscures them from our view. Right now I’m sitting in my kitchen watching the doves DEVOUR the seed in our feeder. We went through a lot trying to feed the birds over the winter and now that the Mockingbird is gone and Gary has his system down pat and is no longer breaking feeders, the doves are claiming the feeder, almost to the exclusion of all others! They are on the dole now and its hard to get them off:) We have cardinals that live in our back yard and they sneak in for a quick seed between dove encampments! Little 8 year old Emma is adorable. They grow up so quickly, don’t they? Our little grandson is 4 now. That’s pretty unacceptable to me. We are about to head out to meet them half way and bring the kiddos to our house for the week. We have, indeed, been through it with the Oklahoma weather! I think Mother Nature got sick of our whining about the drought. Last weekend, Gary was gone and we had a torrential rain at my house, a micro burst evidently, and I had water in my den and kitchen, up to my ankles! What would we do without the help of good neighbors? I’ve rambled enough but also want to say your food looks good:) Take care Mary. Guyla
Dear Mary, first off congratulations to beautiful Emma! You and your daughter must be so proud of her! Have fun at the graduation ceremony! And safe travels – I shall await news and pictures!!!
Onto the food, the soup looks wonderfully comforting, just the perfect food to enjoy when I take a look at that wonderful picture of the mountain and all that snow – I cannot believe you still have got snow! And the Spoufflé is certainly a great recipe to have on hand for leftover pasta and spinach – I was not that thrilled with it but the kiddos loved it. So, I am sure that I will make it again.
All the pictures that you posted look amazing – I love nature and all that it has to offer! Great idea to combine those lovely pictures with your foodie pictures!
Glad you enjoyed the recipes dear friend !
The weather forecast here is calling for really warm weather to start mid-week – we will see.
Hugs from all of us and all the very best for darling Emma´s graduation!
Andrea & Co.
“We need the moisture”, has been a mantra here in Reno lately too. We had an unseasonably wet stretch of weather for a few weeks, and it really was nice to see the rain. I have made and enjoyed the spouffle. I will have to try the pearled barley broth; yours looks delicious!
Lovely post, Mary! My grandson Cole is also moving into 9th grade. His school does not do graduations. Time certainly does pass by quickly! Congrats to Emma! She is a beautiful girl! I love the photo from your hike, her cheeks are so rosy…or should I say flushed from her long walk…lol!
Both of your dishes look wonderful…the pasta soufflé makes my mouth water, and the soup looks delicious, too.
We have been having unseasonably warm weather, but then over the weekend we started to receive the rain that has hit the mid section…with much cooler temps. We were in the 80’s Friday and this morning the temps were in the 40’s. Have a great week ,and enjoy the graduation!
I always love your photos, Mary. What an absolutely gorgeous place you live. Did you think the pearled broth was substantial? We enjoyed it, but I found I could eat quite a lot of it. (Although maybe that’s the pregnancy speaking.)
Love all your photos, especially the nature ones, and of course the one of Emma – been there!. 🙂
I really do need to make the spoufflé! Sounds like it was a hit with all who made it. I made the soup as well, enjoyed it very much. I love how you topped it with one large “crouton” – beautiful presentation. Enjoy your time in Bishop! I know you will. Congrats to Emma!
P.S.:
Thanks for signing on to followi my hiking blog. 🙂
I love your nature photos. Hope the painting is done by now. That spouffle looks amazing. I will add that to my list. And the pearled barley broth. It’s summer, but it’s still a little chilly, so they fit right in to what I crave. I hope you had a safe trip. Best wishes to Emma! High school, here she comes!