Recipe Maven Musings

Another Season!

2008-05-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

We're fast approaching the new season at Salt Creek Farm!

If you are looking for recipes, head on over to my new blog.

There, you will find a recipe index with all of the recipes on this blog and also a whole lot of new recipes. Every Friday I'll be posting a new recipe that features vegetables in that week's farm share! Now, head on over and check it out!

Moving Day

2008-01-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

Nope, we're not leaving Port Angeles or anything.
I'm just combining my blogs and making one mega-blog. Like a superband, only with blogs.

I'll still do recipes, especially through the CSA season. You'll still be able to search by categories and find old recipes. All of the posts that are here have been copied and moved, so they are all in one cool little spot.

GO HERE to find me:
www.rhubarbsky.com
bookmark it, love it, comment on it and enjoy.
See you there!
Carrie

Mulligitawny

2008-01-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

There just isn't a good way to take a picture of a lentil stew. I can't imagine it would ever look very tasty, but it is. So, here's just a random picture from 2003 in our dining room. I like this meal in the winter because it's hearty and is easy to whip up from what's on hand in the pantry.

Mulligatawny from The Six O'Clock Scramble

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 tsp. minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 Tbsp. minced ginger (or 1 tsp. ginger powder)
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. garam masala
3/4 cup dried yellow or green lentils
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes with liquid
1 box (32 oz.) chicken or vegetable broth (we used chicken broth)
1/2 cup coconut milk

serve over basmati rice or by itself

(If you have soaked the lentils for faster cooking, drain them before proceeding with the recipe.) Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, curry powder and garam masala and sauté it, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes.

Stir in the lentils to coat them and add the tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer it, stirring it occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 25-30 minutes (or 10-15 minutes for presoaked lentils). Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package directions.

Puree the soup to desired thickness in a blender or using an immersion blender right in the pot—it can be smooth or chunky, depending on your preference. (A WARNING - do NOT ever blend more than a cup of hot soup in a regular blender at one time - the steam escapes rather dramatically, and you could find yourself covered in boiling hot soup!) Stir in the coconut milk until it is heated through, and serve it over the rice.

Rolo Cookies and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

2007-12-23T09:17:00.001-08:00

Rolo Cookies and Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods for the Cookie Plates this year.

For those of you interested in some healthy recipes: I promise I'll be back to soups and stews and hearty meals soon. This time of year gets me. Sweets. And, this recipe has ingredients that I don't, as a general rule, eat. The rolos have all manner of high fructose corn syrup-y things that I abhor. This time of year, well, I let it slide a tiny bit. We'll survive!

I've just barely made it happen. 4 kinds of treats this year. All wrapped up and pretty. I wanted to do gingerbread people and sugar cookies with Abby, but we'll just have to do it after Christmas and make it a New Year's tradition!
The rolo cookies should really be classified as a candy since that's what's inside. Our friend Anne makes these by the seeming hundreds. She commented on my last post with this advice to keep me from eating them all: "I have a trick for making rolo cookies less dangerous (tempting). Make them your signature cookie. Bake them all the time. This works especially well if you have a bunch of college kids to bake for."
Unfortunately, I don't have a bunch of college kids to bake for and if I baked them all the time, I'd eat them all the time! HA! Thanks for letting me take over this tradition Anne, we miss you out here.
I baked them in tiny muffin cups because I didn't have parchment paper on hand. It makes them look festive and less like a cookie that you could eat 25 of and more like a candy that you can eat 25 of. . .normal people only eat a couple. I guess I'm not normal. They are so tasty, I can't stop! I made another batch for gifts and wrapped them up in cellophane as soon as they were done cooling to keep myself from eating them. That worked.

So, the recipe:

Rolo Chocolate Cookies

4 packages rolo chocolates (about 8 pieces in each roll)
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar (optional) I don't think this is optional

Steps:

Place ROLOS in freezer for at least 6 hours. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa and baking powder until combined and no lumps remain. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in brown sugar and vanilla, then egg, until smooth. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined. Let dough stand for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180oC). With hands, roll 1 tbsp (15 ml) of dough for each cookie into balls and place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. If using, place granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Bake no more than 15 cookies at a time and remove 1 package of ROLOS at a time from the freezer. Press each ball of dough into about a 2-inch (5 cm) circle. Place a ROLO in centre; wrap dough around ROLO so it is evenly covered. Seal well so there are no cracks. Roll into a ball. Roll in sugar, if desired. Place about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in centre of oven for about 8 minutes or until dry to the touch. Cool on sheet on rack.

Makes about 40 cookies. (I only get about 32 cookies. . . no matter how I try to get 40!).

Nutrients per cookie:

About 95 Calories, 1 g Protein, 4 g Fat, 14 g Carbohydrates.

Ginger Brandy Cookies

2007-12-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Day 3 of the one batch a day plan. Day 2 was Rolo Chocolate cookies. We ate them all. ALL of THEM. There were 40! Oh my. I can't even admit to how many people have been through my house to help Tom and I. It was a VERY small number of people. And, add the fact that Tom was gone through most of the time they were here and add too that I didn't let Abby have any. That means that I am about 25 rolo cookies bigger. I'll make another batch and take photos and then post the recipe.

So, Ginger Brandy Cookies from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts.
My only note: don't roll the cookies in the sugar. . . just use a sifter or a small tea ball to sprinkle the sugar on. It's easier and makes for less pasty powdered sugar on the cookies.

Ginger Brandy Cookies
(yields 48)

Dough:
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsulphured molasses
1 egg
2 c. unbleached white flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tblsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 Tblsp. brandy

Topping:
3 Tblsp. confectioners' sugar

With an electric mixer or food processor, cream the butter and
2/3 c. of the sugar until light and well blended. Add molasses
and egg and beat well. In separate bowl sift flour, salt, baking
soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Alternate adding the dry
ingredients and brandy to the wet ingredients, stirring well after
each addition. Form dough into a ball and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or oil baking sheets.

Spread the topping sugar on a plate. Shape dough into
1-inch balls, roll each ball in sugar, and place on
baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, until just
firm and a bit crisp around the edges. Remove cookies to
a rack and let cool.

Cranberry Cornmeal Biscotti

2007-12-18T10:18:00.001-08:00

I make holiday cookies for a very small handful of people. I don't have a great system down that has me making dough in October, freezing it until November, baking and freezing the cookies before Thanksgiving and then plating them in December. Someone, somewhere on the blogs does something like that. It sounds like a great plan, but I'm just not interested in making shit-tons of cookies, or spending months doing it. Also, I would eat them all. So, the week before Christmas, it is a frenzy of baking around here. I'd like to be one of those people who has plates of cookies for the neighbors, or even my good friends. No. I just make a few kinds and give them to my mom's 4 best friends. All women who have been so good to me throughout my life. I usually do a little something knitted or crafted for them too. You can see that part of the gift over here.
Anywhoo, since I was off gallivanting in the North Cascades last weekend and have been nursing a very sore back from the fender bender last week, well, I've only made one kind and they are slowly being eaten.
I found this recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates. I like the slightly nutty crunch of the cornmeal and that they are sweet, but not so sweet that I couldn't eat a dozen of them for breakfast. Not that I've done that. . . yet. Don't be put off by having to bake them twice. That effort is easily made up for by how quickly the rest of it comes together. I might dip these in chocolate when I do my chocolate dipped pretzels later in the week.

Cranberry Cornmeal Biscotti
(notes by me in parenthesis)

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped (a food processor does this quickly and easily)
2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (I use stone-ground cornmeal not the really gritty stuff in the box)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer or a wire whisk. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in the cranberries and set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. Dust your hands lightly with flour and shape the dough into a ball. (Don't skip the flour on the hands, the dough is very sticky).

Use a spatula and your floured hands to scoop the dough onto the oiled baking sheet. Form the dough into a 12x3 inch-diameter log shape; then press down on the log, flattening it to a thickness of about an inch. The length and width of the flattened log should be about 14x4 inches. (try and make it rectangular and evenly thick, that way you don't have whimpy edge biscotti or raw middle pieces).

Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the dough is firm and just slightly brown. Remove from the oven and transfer the log to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, slice crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces (using a bread knife makes this easier and less messy). Lay each biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes on each side, using tongs to gently flip them. (If you like your biscotti hard, bake a little longer, otherwise, they end up a little chewy and soft, but in a good way. Just make sure they don't burn.) Cool on a rack.

When completely cooled, store in an airtight container. Biscotti will easily keep for a couple of weeks.
Makes 14 biscotti.

Brad's Kick *ss Chili

2007-12-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, before we had kids, my dear friends Kate and Jamie had us join them on an amazing sail boat in the Virgin Islands for almost 2 weeks. We sailed, we ate, we drank, we had no idea how lucky we were. Now that I have a child, I sometimes LONG for those moments with the wind in my hair and the blue-green water. I'd even take the seasickness on some days. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a parent, but oh, the sea. The sun. The alone time. The chili.

Now, I might be wrong, but I do believe it was on this trip that I first had this chili. I know it was Kate and Jamie who gave me the recipe because they got the recipe from Kate's brother Brad. Jamie likes it so much he calls it "Brad's Kick Ass Chili". I never found out where the recipe actually came from, so, here, the Kick ass chili.

Brad's "Kick Ass" Chili

1 large red onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Red pepper chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
2 large carrots chopped
1 14.5 ounce can Italian stewed tomatoes (I just use diced tomatoes, fresh or canned)
2 Tbl. chili powder (less if you want kids to eat it)
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp basil
2 med. zucchini chopped
16 oz. frozen corn ( or corn off the cob)
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
cayenne to taste (omit for kids)
sour cream or plain yogurt and cheddar to garnish

Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add pepper, carrot, celery and cook 5 min.
Add tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Cook and reduce for about 25 min.
Add the rest and cook covered for 10 minutes more.
Serve over rice pilaf with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Oh, and the cornbread!
Buttermilk Skillet Corn Bread
from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

1 tbs. butter
1 cup flour
1 cup stone-ground white or yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbls. sugar or honey
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Put the butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet and place in the oven while you get everything else together. Sift the dry ingredients in one bowl and mix the eggs, sugar, and buttermilk in another. Remove the ban from the oven, brush the butter over the sides, then pour the rest into the wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and stir long enough to make a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the hot pan and bake until lightly browned and springy to the touch. 25-30 min.

Not white flour thanks.

2007-12-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you hoping to avoid the hydrogenated fats, High fructose corn syrup and lard in your pie this holiday season! A pie crust for you!

Whole-Wheat Pie Crust: the new Whole grains cookbook
makes 1 pie crust for 9-inch pan

1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. ice water

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. using large holes on a box grater, grate butter into flour mixture. With your fingertips, work butter into smaller pieces for about one minute.

Mix vinegar with ice water, and sprinkle over flour mixture while tossing it with a fork. Try to press mixture together and if it's too dry, sprinkle in more water, a teaspoon at a time.

When it just comes together, form dough into a ball and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for 20 min. to 1 hour. Don't chill longer than an hour and be careful not to overwork the dough. Recipe can be doubled to make a 2 crust pie.

Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas

2007-11-30T16:13:00.001-08:00

I don't have a photo of the enchiladas. We ate them too fast. Instead, a little pic of Abby holding hands with daddy while we sing our pre-dinner gratitude song. I tried doing little readings before dinner, but Abby being the musical sort wanted to sing. So, I dug deep into the recesses of my mind and pulled up the old grace songs we sang at camp. Songs like: "In back of the bread is the flour. . . ", "Johnny Appleseed", "Thank you earth." She really likes doing it and I like pausing before we eat.So, even though this is not a picture of the enchiladas, the scene before we ate them was similar.
I love these enchiladas. I don't bother doing two pans and just throw them all into one pan. Sometimes I'll halve the recipe and put it in a brownie pan if it's just the 3 of us. Yum!

Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas
6 Servings
Beans
Mexican
Vegetarian Meatless Bake Main Dish

-- THE FILLING --
1 Chipotle chile in adobo sauce minced
1 tablespoon Olive oil plus extra for greasing
1 medium Onion minced
3 cans (14.5 oz) Black beans drained and rinsed
3/4 cup Orange juice

-- THE SAUCE --
1 cup Salsa (mild or medium)
1 cup Tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Dried oregano
1 teaspoon Ground cumin
12 Corn tortillas
6 ounces Neufchatel (or other light cream cheese) cut into 12 slices
2 cups Monterey jack cheese grated

1. Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and chipotle pepper until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and orange juice, and simmer 10 minutes. Using the back of a large spoon, mash half the beans by pressing them against the sides of the pan. Cook the beans a few more minutes, or until the texture of mashed potatoes. Let the beans cool.

2. To make the sauce, combine the salsa, tomato sauce, oregano, and cumin in a bowl.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Wrap the tortillas in foil and bake 10 minutes. This will soften them and prevent them from splitting when rolled. Let cool slightly. Keep the oven on.

5. To assemble the enchiladas, lightly oil 2 shallow 2-quart baking dishes, such as 12x2x7-inch Pyrex dishes (you don't want to crowd the enchiladas). Pour a thin film of sauce on the bottom of each dish. Divide the filling in half. Lay six tortillas on a work surface and place 6 spoonfuls of the filling on half of each tortilla. Top with a slice of cream cheese. Roll the enchiladas and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining 6 tortillas and remaining half of the filling. Pour the sauce all over the enchiladas and sprinkle on the grated cheese. Cover the dishes with foil (the enchiladas can be prepared to this point and refrigerated up to 4 hours in advance; bring to room temperature before baking).

6. Bake, covered, for 25 minutes, or just until hot throughout. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Tip: Because the tortillas will absorb a lot of the sauce and become very soft, it's best not to assemble the enchiladas more than 4 hours in advance. If you want to do more advance preparation, prepare all the components separately (up to 2 days in advance) and put the enchiladas together a few hours before cooking.

From Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin

It's winter. . . I'm allowed to eat take-out and not take pictures of it

2007-11-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

A few items:
1. The newest Barbara Kingsolver book is phenomenal. It will make you want to go out and make cheese. I do. There is a website with all of the recipes from the book and other inspirational bits of info. Check it out here.

2. Comments were left many weeks ago and I wanted to get back to them.
Jess B. said:

Yum, we will try the filling but not the crust -- any ideas about substitutes for all the butter? We haven't made pie crusts or pastry for a long time because of the white flour-butter issue. But we do have two tips for helping kids embrace "grow" food (our version of strong food): #1) we grow kale and peas in the yard and tell the kids the dinosaurs ate similar food. It worked on them as toddlers, and it works now. They eat it like animals. #2) once our kids found out that beets turn your pee pink, they started eating grated beets and/or steamed beets in quantity. #3) "harvest muffins" made with carrots, zucchini, raisins, etc. Love, Jess B.

Jess is referring to the Pot Pie recipe in the post that she commented on. I have to say that I've heard that Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a great substitute for white flour. My friend Shannon, over at Pietown has had really great luck just substituting it in cookies and other pastries. I just got some and will experiment with it too. And, well, butter. I suppose it depends on why you want to keep it out of your food and what you are using it for. If it's a dairy thing: you could use a vegan margarine or vegetable shortening. . .the good, non-hydrogenated kind. You might get away with using olive oil in some things. If it's a fat issue, you could try using applesauce to substitute for the fat in cookies and brownies. In the case of the pot pie, I'd offer up the idea of topping it with mashed potatoes and turn it into a shepard's pie of sorts.

And, as soon as Abby heard that kale is "dinosaur food", she ate it all up! Great tips Jess, thanks!

Last minute Thanksgiving ideas!

2007-11-16T14:39:00.001-08:00

Here are some great links for good recipes.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving ideas.
More Thanksgiving Ideas
And, the root/squash recipe I'll be making for our family.
Harvest Vegetable Medley

Serving Size : 8

1 pound small brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 butternut squash -- halved, cut into chunks
1 head cauliflower -- separated into 2-inch florets
1 pound fingerling potatoes -- halved
4 medium leeks -- whites only, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
1/2 pound baby carrots -- trimmed
1/2 pound baby parsnips -- peeled and trimmed
24 cloves garlic -- peeled and halved
3 cloves garlic -- minced and divided
4 Tablespoons olive oil -- divided
1 tablespoon fresh sage -- chopped
24 whole sage leaves
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 small red bell peppers -- quartered

Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bring saucepan of water to a boil. Add Brusseles sprouts and cook 3 minutes, or until bright green. Drain, rinse under cold water, then pat dry.

Toss squash, cauliflower, potatoes, leeks, carrots, parsnips, garlic cloves, 3 TBS olive oil, chopped sage, sage leaves, and rosemary in a large roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper, and spread into a single layer. Roast 25 minutes, tossing vegetables twice.

Add bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, minced garlic, and remaining 1 TBS oil. Roast 15 minutes more, or until vegetables are browned on edges and tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve over Chestnut-and-Apple Stuffing. Vegetarian Times Nov./Dec. 2007

Next year when I host, I'll most likely make this:

Chestnut and Apple Stuffing

Serving Size : 12

10 slices whole wheat bread -- cubed
10 slices hearty white bread -- cubed
1 14 oz tube soy "sausage" -- crumbled
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large white onion -- chopped
5 ribs celery -- sliced (1 1/2 cups)
4 cloves garlic -- minced
2 tart apples -- peeled and diced
1 cup peeled and ready to eat roasted shestnuts -- halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 cups no-chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Spread bread cubes in roasting pan, and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until toasted.

Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add soy sausage, and cook 5 minutes, or until browned. Toss sausage with bread cubes in bowl.

Heat oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 7 minutes more. Stir in apples, chestnuts, and sage. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until apples are crisp-tender. Add to bread mixture. Stuffing can be prepared up to this point , sealed in a food storage bag, and refrigerated up to 2 days.

Increase oven heat to 350ºF. Coat 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Toss stuffing mixture with broth, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more, or until top is browned and crisp.

Pumpkin inspiration and a cranberry crumble

2007-11-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Edit: I'm adding a picture and putting in my 2 cents worth about a stuffed winter squash. I didn't have the stuff to make Shannon's stuffed pumpkin. Instead, I cut off the top of the squash, smooshed some butter and salt and pepper around in the cavity and chucked a little bit of broth inside, covered it and baked it at 400degrees until it started to get soft-ish. I threw in a mixture of cooked brown rice, raisins and chopped cashews and baked it until the squash was done and the stuffing warm. . ooo my tasty! And it looks so pretty to serve!
No pictures from me today. Shannon over at Pietown made this amazing stuffed pumpkin. I can't wait to try it out, as we have some winter squash sitting around that I can't bring myself to chop and peel to make soup out of. I'm excited.

And, last night, I took a kick butt apple cranberry crumble to our local soup night. A quick word about soup night. Here in a small town, us hippie eater have got to stick together. We're a tight knit, yet very welcoming group. My dear friend Suzanne makes huge vats of soup once a month and everyone gathers there with bread or salad or wine in hand to make a great feast. Last night, I was inspired by another blogger and took over a tree of gratitude. We all made leaves and wrote what we're thankful for on them and decorated the tree until it was full and bright and made me feel good.

So, the cranberry crumble. Abby ate cranberries raw, puckered up her lips and ate another, and another and another until her whole face was red and her fingers stained!
I didn't bother to peel the apples, put it in a pretty pie plate, omitted the nuts and lowered the sugar significantly in both the fruit and the crumble. It was beautiful and I'm sad I didn't get a picture.

Apple Cranberry Crumble Recipe

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Holidays & Celebrations Cookbook.

servings

1¼ hours 15 min prep

3	cups chopped peeled apples
2	cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3/4	cup sugar
1	cup oats (old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
3/4	cup packed brown sugar
1/3	cup all-purpose flour
1/2	cup butter, melted
1/2	cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a greased 8-in. square baking dish, combine apples and cranberries; sprinkle with sugar.
In another bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter; sprinkle over cranberry mixture. (Top with pecans if desired.).
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
Best served warm.

Oh the humanity!

2007-11-03T16:57:00.001-07:00

I took the last of the apples from our tree and made one glorious quart of apple sauce. I took it outside to photograph it and :
Oh no! Luckily, the farmer's market has apples, so I can buy them up and make more.
This meal doesn't look nearly as good as it was. I'm putting it here so I remember later.
Put some chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet, cook them with some oil for a while.
Add a whole mess (like 1/3 cup) of grated ginger, a few cloves of sliced garlic, a bunch of soy sauce and water and poach until the chicken is mostly done. Add carrot slices, cooked brown rice and chopped greens. Keep cooking until everything comes together nicely, the carrots are tender and the greens have shrunk down to size. Serve with soy sauce at the table. Even Abby ate it.
And, this is a winter cobbler. All manner of roots and tomatoes and lentils in the bottom and biscuits on top. I cut them out with a star cookie cutter hoping that Abby would be excited to eat it with the stars. This picture makes it look like some sort of sea star mass murder. . . it was tasty. I put two recipes together-ish, substituted 1 cup whole wheat flour in the biscuits and used all of the roots I had on hand: potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, onion, garlic. You could put celery root or rutabaga in here. . .yum.
Martha Stewart's recipe is here.

Winter Vegetable Cobbler

From: Classic Vegetarian Recipes

Serves 4

1 T. olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

8 small onions, halved

2 celery stalks, sliced

9 ounces rutabaga, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

½ small cauliflower, broken into florets

9 ounces mushrooms, sliced

14 ounce can chopped tomatoes

¼ cup red lentils

2 T cornstarch

3-4 T water

1 ¼ cups vegetable stock

2 t Tabasco

2 t chopped fresh oregano or parsley

Sprigs of oregano to garnish

Cobbler Topping:

2 cups self-rising flour

¼ cup butter

1 cup grated cheddar

2 t chopped fresh oregano or parsley

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup skimmed milk

Salt

fry onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add celery, rutabaga, carrots and cauliflower and fry 2-3 more min.
Remove pan from heat and add, mushrooms, tomatoes and lentils. Mix the cornstarch with water and add to the pan with stock, Tabasco, oregano. Bring to a boil stirring until thickened. Transfer to a casserole pan and bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes.
To make topping, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter, then stir in most of the cheese and herbs. Beat the egg and mix and add enough to the dry ingredients to make a dough. Knead and roll to ½ inch thick. Cut into 2 inch rounds. Remove casserole from oven and increase the temp to 400 degrees. Arrange the rounds around the edge of the dish, brush with the egg and milk and sprinkle with cheese. Cook 10-12 min. Garnish and serve.

Turn, Turn, Turn

2007-11-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

"To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose. . . "
And so, another season is over. Daylight savings ends this weekend. It's time to warm up some of those soups that you all froze earlier in the season and enjoy our last share from our wonderful community sponsored agriculture farm! A big thanks to Farmers Doug, Lee and Hannah and all of the great farm members, interns and volunteers for our wonderful food.
There were some great comments on the blog on last week's entry. Thanks to all who spent the time to share your thoughts. I did a very random drawing and pulled Jess B's name out of the hat. So, Jess. . .you won the big fat vegetarian cookbook. I'll leave it at the drop site for you!

And now, how will we fare over the winter without our beloved farm shares? Remember to go to the farmer's market on Saturdays, clean out your freezers and check back here to find yummy recipes.
Winter Squash ideas: If you're like me, you have a stash of winter squash and roots around. Winter squash are great for roasting with your roots. There's a great roasted root soup recipe here. You can make soups by following this recipe and substituting other winter squashes for the butternut or maybe pear for the apple. This is a favorite soup in our house that marks autumn for us. I cut it out of a neighborhood newspaper in Seattle years ago, so I don't have the author to credit.
Have a wonderful winter!

Butternut Squash and Curried Apple Soup

4 Tbl. Butter
2 cups chopped sweet onion
1 Tbl. curry
1 butternut squash (~ 1.5 lbs or more for a thicker soup) peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tart green apples, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1.5 tsp. hot pepper sauce (tabasco)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. each marjoram, rosemary
1 cup apple juice (or to taste)
salt and pepper

sour cream and apple slices for garnish

1 Melt butter in stockpot, add onions and curry. Cover and cook over low until onions are tender, about 20 min.

2 Add squash, apples, broth, hot pepper sauce, salt, marjoram, and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until squash and apple are tender, about 25 min.

3 Using a potato masher, mash soup to the consistency that you’d like. Alternatively, blend soup in batches in a food processor or blender and return soup to stock pot.

4 Add apple juice and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and apple slices if desired.

Makes about 6 servings

All American Pot Pie

2007-10-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I just plain cut and pasted this recipe, including the pictures, from a different blog. I wanted to use this recipe for this week's post, but didn't want to type it all out. A wee google search led me to this fabulous entry. However, the other blog didn't credit the author of the recipe. I will. I will also include my notes in italics. It's a mighty tasty way to use a ton 'o veggies and have a really filling meal. There's no reason why this has to stay vegetarian, cooked chicken chunks would be a wonderful addition. I like to make the dough ahead of time so it can chill while I'm making the filling.

All American Pot Pie from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons.

Filling:
1/2 T butter
4 C total of any of the following veggies: corn, carrot, red bell pepper, zucchini, spinach leaves (firmly packed), sliced onions, potato...(left over roasted winter squash chunks, mushrooms, summer squash, parsnips from last week's share, even beets would be tasty).
1 small garlic clove, minced
3 T flour
1 C warm milk
1 pinch fresh or dried thyme
3/4 t salt
black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a skillet. Saute the vegetables for five minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic, saute for five minutes more. Sprinkle three tablespoons flour over the veggies and stir over the heat for two more minutes. Add the warm milk slowly, stirring all the while to avoid lumps. Stir in the thyme. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook it until the it thickens. Continue to cook until the vegetables are tender. Add one-fourth teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper. Put into a 9 or 10 inch casserole or deep pie dish. (At this point you can cover the dish and chill it for up to 2 days, if you'd like to bake it later).

The Dough:

(the recipe originally calls for twice as much dough as is written here. I have to agree that it was too much, so I'll leave the modified amounts here).
1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) cold butter
3/4 cups flour
1/4 t salt

Cut a half-stick of cold butter into three-fourths cups of flour and one-fourth teaspoon of salt (cut the butter until the pieces are no larger than a pea). Add two tablespoons of ice water and stir to incorporate all the flour. Add more water or flour as necessary to make a soft moist dough. Work it in the palm of your hand on a hard surface. Form it into a flattened ball. Chill the dough for thirty minutes.

Roll the dough into a circle slightly larger than the diameter of the casserole dish. Place it on top and pinch the rim so it clings to the dish. Cut four one-inch long slits in the dough.

Bake at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the crust golden. (I like to bake it on top of a cookie sheet to catch any spills. ..and there will be spills). Serve and enjoy!

For those of you who are members of the Salt Creek Farm CSA: Don't forget to comment to this entry so I can do a drawing for an end of the season gift. Sorry to all of you who aren't here in Port Angeles, the prize is a huge book and I can't mail it. . . so just locals this time!

Food ingredients to avoid

2007-10-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

I've wanted a little pocket guide for food ingredients to avoid for a long time. I finally made one and decided to put it here for you to enjoy too. Print it out and fold it in half long ways (hot dog way . . . you'll know what I mean if you have kids) and put it in your wallet, purse or pocket. Most of these are "no-brainers", but the list of other things MSG is listed as is handy. Of course, the best way to avoid all of this crap is to buy whole foods (no, not the grocery store, I mean actual foods that are whole) and make your own snacks etc. But, I know that it's a busy world and we can't always avoid EVERY processed food out there. It's also a great list to use as a starting point when working with the schools to change their lunch program.
You can either copy and print the picture file above or click on the PDF file below to download it. This method will make a more clear image for you.

Enjoy!

Delicata

2007-10-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

Delicata squash is an unsung hero. People think that all winter squashes are the same: stringy, messy, hard to peel. I had no idea what to do with delicata when I first saw it, but it's easy: cut off the ends, cut in half long ways, scoop out the seeds, cut half moons with the skin on, fry in olive oil and dip in some yogurt sauce. . . sweet goodness.

Deceptively Delicious

2007-10-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Scott Robinson via Flickr)

This fabulous recipe is a go to favorite for crazy week nights. I use flat breads or whole wheat pita bread to make these. You can substitute beet greens or kale or steamed chard for the spinach. It is from the book Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons. I found the recipe all typed up and pretty on-line at this great CSA website that has lots of other things to check out too.

Spinach and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Chile Dipping Sauce

Sandwiches:

6 ounces fresh spinach (large stems removed)
2 fresh pieces of lavash bread, or 1 large split pita pocket
2 plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwse, then sliced crosswise
2 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (or sliced, if it's fresh mozzarella)

Chili Dipping Sauce:

1 teaspoon hot chili sauce
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain whole, low-fat, or nonfat yogurt, or nonfat sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Make the dipping sauce: in small bowl, combine the chili sauce with the mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, cider vinegar and garlic. Stir well.

Steam the spinach over high heat for 2 minutes. Let the spinach cool.

Lay one of the pieces of lavash or pita on your work surface, with a short side of the bread directly in front of you if you are using lavash. Lay half the tomatoes across the bread, about 3 inches from the side closest to you. Squeeze any excess water from the spinach, then lay half of it on the tomatoes. Sprinkle or lay half the mozzarella on top of the tomatoes and spinach. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Then roll the bread, starting with the side closest to you, as tightly as possible. Follow the same procedure for the second sandwich. (For pita pocket, fill in same order.)

Heat the olive oil in a large (preferably non-stick) skillet over medium heat. Place the two rolled sandwiches (or pita pocket) in the skillet, and place another skillet on top to weigh the sandwiches down. Cook the sandwiches for about 4 minutes or until they are golden brown, then turn them and cook the other side for 4 more minutes, checking the undersides frequently. Cut in half and serve with a small bowl of the dipping sauce.

(edited to add Lee's Kohlrabi recipe from the paper crop sheet!).

Soy Sauce Vegetables

(This resembles the little pickled side dishes served at Japanese cafes)

2 cups any firm vegetables-turnip, daikon, kohlrabi, carrots, beets and so on

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

mild soy sauce

Cut vegetables along the grain into julienne strips. Put them in a large jar with a lid. Add salt and sugar and shake well so that vegetables are coated. Let stand at room temperature for at least an hour or up to overnight.

Pour in enough soy sauce to cover vegetables. Press down to get rid of air pockets and let stand at room temperature for a day. Drain off soy sauce. (it can be reused for pickling or cooking). The vegetables will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.

MAKES 2 CUPS

Recipe Maven Musings

Well, you all had great responses to my ravings, I mean musings last time. Thanks so much for your comments. Barbara Blackie sent me this link to a really great New York Times article that addresses almost the exact issue I was talking about last time: picky kid eaters. The highlight of the article, to me, was the point that little kids between ages 2-5 are prone to picky eating and that it's okay. From the article: "It’s an evolutionary response, researchers believe. Toddlers’ taste buds shut down at about the time they start walking, giving them more control over what they eat. “If we just went running out of the cave as little cave babies and stuck anything in our mouths, that would have been potentially very dangerous,” Dr. Cooke said." This makes a whole lot of sense to me and gives me hope that Abby will someday take a bite of chard and dig it. The article also does a mini-review of Deceptively Delicious written by Jerry Seinfeld's wife. This is another book that has mom's grinding up the good stuff to hide it from their kids. This method gets the "strong food" into the kids, but it doesn't teach them to like it or understand it.
Interestingly, the day after sending out the last cropsheet, I caught wind of the 2 Angry Moms movement. This is a documentary that follows two mothers as they attempt to change what's in their children's school lunches. The movie is wonderful and the idea of trying to change things here is even more wonderful. Even if you don't have children, your tax dollars pay for the crud that gets served to the children of our community. And, eventually, we'll all have to pay for the health care costs of the next generation from eating High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Fats and MSG (among other nasties). The sound bite that struck me the most from this movie is that the current generation of children are the first ever to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Shocking. Now, if that isn't reason enough to start fighting for change locally, I don't know what is. To get involved and see the film, go to the Port Angeles Public Library Saturday October 27th at 3pm or Monday Oct. 29th at 6:30pm.

Whirled Peas Cookies

2007-10-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, my propensity to making food that looks a little like piles of pooh is getting out of hand. But these World Peace Cookies are so tasty it hurts a little bit. I found them by way of pietown (Hi Shannon!) and enjoyed them oh so much. I couldn't find "fleur de sel" here in this little town, so "flower of bali salt" did just fine as a replacement. As long as you don't use a smoky or spicy salt, I imagine it would be alright. This recipe made about 2 dozen and, as you can see, two days later, there's only 4 left.

World Peace Cookies, or Korovas, from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 11 Tbsp butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp fleur de sel
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used really dark chocolate)

Mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda.

Beat butter until soft, then add sugars, salt and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix slowly until just combined; mix in chocolate. Do not overmix this dough. Divide dough into two portions, and form into logs of 1 1/2 inch diameter. Chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment. Slice dough into 1/2" thick cookies, squishing back on any bits of dough that fall off (the dough is crumbly). Bake for exactly 12 minutes even though cookies will look underdone, and cool on baking sheet on wire rack.

No Knead Bread

2007-10-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've been making the infamous no knead bread for a long while, but haven't posted the recipe. I LOVE this bread. It is infinitely satisfying. It is tasty and chewy and crunchy on the outside. It is better than most breads I've ever eaten and I made it. It's that good, and that easy.
Over the year that I've been making this bread, I've made a few tweaks:
I like replacing a cup of the flour with whole wheat.
I add dried or fresh rosemary at the beginning.
I like to use wheat bran.
I bake it in the ceramic insert from my big crock pot. Other people have gone crazy buying up fancy $100 le creuset pots, but I think it's just not necessary.
I've heard of great success adding cheeses and olives and other stuff after the first, long rising.
This bakes up great even after rising in our cold drafty old house. I thought it wouldn't be warm enough here, and it does just fine.
Here then, the recipe:

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Sneaky Food

2007-10-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

So, it's a month or so into school. I imagine that some of you are starting to lose that feeling of excitement and new-ness in packing lunch every day. Last fall, I did a little musing about how to pack more healthy lunches. You can find it here. This fall, I'm thinking a few words on getting kids to eat the good stuff are in order. A farm member family I know talks about "strong food" to their son. I thought this was a good description of all the stuff I'm trying to get my kiddo to eat and started using this term too. It didn't take long before Abby started saying, "no strong food mama, I want snack food." So, we struggle along, trying to get the kid to eat something other than cheese, whole wheat tortillas and peanut butter (not necessarily together).
There's a new-ish book on the market called The Sneaky Chef. The basic premise of the book is to sneak "strong food" into foods your kids will eat. There's a lot of puree-ing involved and making sure you don't put green food in something that's not green (like, no spinach in macaroni and cheese, they'll find it and refuse to eat it) and the like. I'm torn about this idea. I want Abby to know what spinach is, what it looks like, how and where it's grown. I also want her to eat it. Right now, unless it's drown in ranch dressing or hidden in a smoothie, she's just not that into spinach. . .or lots of other strong foods. So, I'm sneaking it into the raviolis that she likes or dicing it into meatballs.
Abby's much more likely to eat something if she helped prepare it or helped put the vegetable into the bag at the farm share drop site. She's learning what kale is and that cauliflower and potatoes can come in a purple variety. Someday we'll get her to appreciate eating the good stuff on it's own, but in the mean time, a little sneaky food will get us through! If you have hot tips on getting kids to eat "strong food" drop me a line and I'll include it in next week's cropsheet.
Here's a not so sneaky food recipe that Abby digs. As always, I threw in some extra veggies and reduced the spice by about half so Abby would eat it. Corn, zucchini, fresh tomatoes and homemade broth made the refrigerator emptier and me happier. I didn't bother blending this one and it made a hearty stew that's good with quesadillas or plain tortillas. Warning: this is one of those soup recipes that takes half a day to make. Don't start it at 4pm hoping to eat by 5:30. . . not that I have any personal experience in this or anything. . .
Smokey Black Bean and Vegetable Soup
1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (you only use part of this can and you can freeze the rest to use later)
Cooking spray (or some olive oil)
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
3/4/ cup thinly sliced celery
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 cups water
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans vegetable broth
2 (14.5 ounce) cans no-salt added plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 lime wedges

1. Remove 2 chiles from can; reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use. Finely chop chiles. Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; saute 8 minutes or until onion and carrot are tender. Stir in chiles, cumin, basil, oregano, chili powder, and bay leaves; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in water, beans, broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat; discard bay leaves. Place 3 cups of soup mixture in a blender. Let stand 5 minutes; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan, stirring to combine. Ladle 1 1/4 cups soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon yogurt and 1 1/2 teaspoons cilantro. Serve with lime wedges. Yield: 8 servings

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 162(6% from fat); FAT 1g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 10.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 145mg; SODIUM 740mg; FIBER 10.9g; IRON 3.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 36.9g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2003

Zucchini Pie

2007-09-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

(Image courtesy of: Scripps Howard News Service).

I do my best to try all of the recipes before I post them here, and I try to offer recipes that are a little more "fresh" than this one. This week, I'm just plain slammed. So, here then, a zucchini recipe I have not tried. It's a very popular American way to use up a lot of Zucchini. If you're interested in how to make your own "bisquick", check out the recipe below. Some time, I'll experiment with making a baking mix that does not have hydrogenated fats in it. If anyone makes "bisquick" using a shortening that is non-hydrogenated, I'd be curious how it goes.
Happy Zucchini!
Edited to include Lee's comments from the paper cropsheet:
(Lee's two cents: I have made biscuit mix by following a baking powder biscuit recipe and just leaving out the eggs and milk. I used canola oil, which I crumbled into the dry ingredients using my hands. It worked fine, but the refrigerator might be the best bet for long term storage. Be aware that you can chop almost any of the veggies in your crate, especially the greens, into the biscuit dough and a simple biscuit can seem like a gourmet treat! Grate some cheese in, and it almost becomes a meal in itself. ) Lee
Zucchini Pie Recipe

Ingredients

3 medium zucchini, diced
1 onion, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1/2 cup + 1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup mozarella cheese, grated
1 tsp marjoram (1/3 tsp dried marjoram)
1 tsp basil (1/3 tsp dried basil)
black pepper, freshly ground

Directions

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil over medium high heat in a medium size skillet.
Cook the onion until it just turns gold.
In a bowl combine the zucchini, onion, eggs, baking mix, olive oil, cheese, marjoram, basil, and pepper.
Coat a 10x6" pan or a 12" pie pan with oil.
Spread the zucchini mixture into the baking dish.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until lightly brown.

Make your Own "Bisquick"

4 ½ c sifted flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp + 1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 c shortening

½ tsp salt

2/3 c powdered milk

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Sift together 2-3 times in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is similar to cornmeal. Add dry milk. Use in recipes that call for Bisquick or all-purpose mix.

Apple Phyllo Tart

2007-09-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

This picture makes it look like a pile of pooh. I assure you, it's not. It's quite tasty. I just can't take pictures of food to save my life. I promise, I won't put anything on this blog that is not tasty. You might have to squint a little to imagine how tasty it would be from my pictures. . . that's just how it will have to be until I find time to use my camera better or get a better camera.
I like to make a dessert with phyllo when I make my greek greens pie. This one fit the bill. Tasty, sweet, but not overly sickeningly sweet. A keeper. . . the recipe, not the tart. Eat the tart. Right now! Go!

Apple Phyllo (Filo) Tart Recipe
By Sarah Phillips
Serves 12

2 large golden delicious apples, peeled and cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices

2 TBSP dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Canola Oil spray or 3 TBSP melted butter, cooled to tepid

Eight 12x17 inch sheets phyllo (filo) dough thawed overnight (available from the grocery store)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a nonstick baking sheet with canola oil or cover with parchment paper.
To make the filling, in a medium bowl, toss the apple slices, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Set aside.
Place 1 sheet of filo dough on a prepared baking sheet and very lightly spray it with canola oil (or you can brush with melted butter). Top with the other filo sheets, lightly spraying each sheet with oil (or brush with melted butter), and progressively arranging the sheets across each other at angles to form a sunburst pattern. Mound the apple filling in the center. Bring up the filo sheets to completely cover the filling. Spray the top of the filo with oil (or brush with butter).
Bake until the filo is deep golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet on a wire cake rack for 10 minutes. Slide the tart on a serving platter. Serve warm.

The Healthy Oven Baking Book, by Sarah Phillips, Doubleday, 1999

Summer Minestrone Soup

2007-09-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

I love this soup. It's a great way to empty the refrigerator at this time of year and it's super tasty too. I used this recipe as a starting point, but added lots more stock and veggies. I put in a can of organic garbanzos and a can of kidney beans for some added protein. It made about 5 quarts, plus a bit. Give some to your neighbors.

Summer Minestrone – Recipe Page 123

Adapted from The Tomato Festival Cookbook, by Lawrence Davis-Hollander (Storey Books, 2004).

Simple Solution
Ah, the bounty of summer! Gardens overflow with tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, and dark leafy greens. Who can resist them? But sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to do with all of them! Well, this lovely soup is a perfect way to use those lively colors, flavors, and textures.

Fragrant with herbs and bursting with nourishment from the good earth, you can make this one-pot meal in advance (during those cooler morning hours) or even freeze it. Either way, Summer Minestrone is a favorite with both kids and adults, a key player in the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
1 10-inch stalk celery, coarsely chopped
4 cups (about 12 to 15 large) chopped ripe plum tomatoes
4 to 6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 stem basil, plus extra sprigs for garnish
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) penne, elbow macaroni, small shells, or other medium-sized pasta
12 green beans, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2-inch by 1/4-inch strips
1 medium leek, washed, white and tender green parts cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 stems Swiss chard, stalks and leaves cut into 1-inch strips
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil and stir in the garlic. Let it soften for a couple of minutes, then stir in the carrot and celery. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 4 cups of the broth, oregano, thyme, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Cover the pan, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Increase the heat and bring the soup to a brisk boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta, followed by the green beans, bell pepper, and leek. Cook briskly, stirring often, for 3 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat so the soup is simmering and add the chard, zucchini, and summer squash. If the mixture is very thick, or if you would simply like it thinner, add some or all of the remaining broth. Return to a simmer and cover the pan. Continue cooking the soup for 5 minutes, or until the pasta and the vegetables are tender. Serve immediately, or cool and reheat as needed. Garnish with basil leaves. Check for seasoning before serving and add more salt and pepper to taste if necessary.
Serves 4 to 8.

Musings:
The fullness of my fridge at this time of year makes me both wonder and panic. How amazing to have such great bounty right here in our little town. How the heck do I use it all up!? Right now, my family is not eating a ton of food, so trying to figure out how to make it through the share each week has sent me whirling. I stumbled upon this great article in the Oregonian online that got me working on small batch preserving. I get overwhelmed when I think about doing a big canning day. It's a lot to manage by yourself. Especially with a little one running around. So, one option is to can with friends, or you can take on a couple of different tactics.

Freeze stuff. Right now, I have a ton of summer squash that I plan to grate and freeze. Later in the winter, I can add it to soups or thaw it, squeeze it dry and make bread with it. I also make a lot of soups and freeze them too.
Pickle stuff. I do refrigerator pickles, because we eat them fast enough that I can keep adding cucumbers to the brine for a month or so (recipe follows).
Small batch canning. Put a pot of water on while you're cooking dinner and can a couple of jars of jam or tomatoes while the stove top's on and you're in the kitchen anyway.
Dehydrate. I love to do apples this way and then we can crunch our way through the crop from our apple tree all year! Abby loves to crank the apple machine (it peels, cores and slices as you turn the crank). We found ours at goodwill for $4 and it's been worth it, plus it's fun.

Last year, I did an entry about canning here on the blog. You can check it out here. It has more information on how to be safe with your canning.
Lee's resource for canning from last week's farm news is great too. You can get to it here.

I love the idea of doing a dinner or soup swap. Maybe someone will organize one for us here (not it!). The jist is this: A bunch of people gather and bring 6 or so quarts of frozen soup or frozen containers of dinner or whatever. Then, you all draw numbers and pick items so that you go home with 6 items. That way you can make a whole lot of one thing and then not have to eat it for 2 weeks

Mom's Fridge Pickles
Makes about 1 quart

1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dill seed
4 to 5 small kirby cucumbers, peeled in stripes and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices
1 small white onion, thinly sliced into rounds

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper flakes, and dill seed in a quart jar. Place the lid on the jar and shake until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Layer the cucumbers and the onions in the jar using a wooden spoon to press them tightly into the jar, shake it well, and refrigerate it at least 4 hours, shaking the jar occasionally to keep the ingredients mixed. These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.
From Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster

Simple Late Summer Meal

2007-09-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Cook some pasta.
Melt some butter in a pan.
Add chopped garlic, leek and bell pepper.
Add a chopped tomato once the other stuff is a bit soft.
Add chopped summer squash.
Salt and pepper the bad boy.
Once it's all juicy and squishy.
Pour it over some pasta.
Top with parm.
Yum.

I've been thinking a whole lot about local food lately. There are lots of books out these days about the idea of eating food grown right close to where you live. I just read the book Plenty.

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon
It was a great read about a couple who live off of food grown and processed within 100 miles of their Vancouver B.C. home. They did it for a year. It was hard. They didn't find wheat until the very end. They lost weight. They are idealistic way beyond anything I am capable of. I applaud their effort. They have a cool website about the 100 mile diet. It's definitely gotten me thinking about eating locally. I've always bristled at eating an organic apple from New Zealand, when we have such fine apples right here in our own state. Heck, right in my own back yard. I've tried to buy produce that was locally grown, but haven't worked very hard with the other stuff. It's a complex issue, because even if you do find local items, who knows how far it's been shipped for processing and packaging. In Plenty, they state that Dungeness Crab is routinely sent to China to be picked apart and processed and then sent back here to sell. That is staggering to me. . . though not entirely surprising. All the more reason to support our local farms and feel darn good about it.
A few other books about local eats to ponder:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets by Deborah Madison

Fruit Stickers

2007-06-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm eating an organic apple the other day and end up chewing up one of the little stickers they put on EACH AND EVERY PIECE of fruit. I fished it out of my mouth, but in the process, started wondering about those stickers. I spent extra money on an organic apple. I expect that it's going to be good for me. I wonder what those stickers are made of, I wonder what the adhesive is made of, I wonder if I just chewed on something really bad for me.
As most people these days, I turned to the internet and though I didn't track most of my research (read: take what I say with the understanding that it could be wrong), I discovered a few things about those little stickers. From what I can tell, the stickers use FDA approved food grade adhesive. I could not find out if EVERY sticker is made of this stuff (I wonder about fruit imported from other countries) or what exactly "food grade adhesive" is (I wonder what the FDA thinks is "food grade" and if I'd agree). I found one company that makes stickers for fruit and on that site, they assured me that the stickers are "lead free." This made me wonder if some stickers are not "lead free."
Here is something that I found all over the web and I find most interesting. By looking at the number on the sticker, you can tell if a piece of fruit is organically grown, conventionally grown, or genetically engineered. Each piece of produce has a universal PLU code that is 4 digits. If it is organic, there is a 9 put in front of the code, if it is genetically engineered, there is an 8 put in front of the code. For example, a conventionally grown banana has a PLU code of 4011. An organic banana would read: 94011. A genetically engineered banana would read: 84011. Now, that is a handy little thing to know. I have to say, I'd really rather eat locally grown fruit that I picked myself, but as that is not always an option, I'm glad to have more tools to understand what I'm buying.
By the way, I don't recommend chewing on an apple sticker, they are not tasty!

So, here's a tasty way to eat up your yummy veggies! I like to serve this over brown rice. You could easily substitute leeks for the onions, garlic tops for the garlic and use any of your greens instead of the spinach. The key to the taste is the homemade curry powder. If this is your main course, it really only serves 2 people. Enjoy!
Indian Chickpeas over Garlic Spinach

This recipe relies on several spices, such as fennel seeds, cumin seeds, coriander, and red pepper, for a simple, homemade curry powder. Measuring out the separate spices is worth the extra effort; it has a brighter flavor than packaged curry powder. The fennel and cumin seeds add a pleasing crunch and pungency.

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups sliced onion
1 1/2 cups canned vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and divided
2 garlic cloves, chopped
16 cups chopped spinach (about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth and next 5 ingredients (broth through red pepper), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 1/2 cup chickpeas in a food processor; process until minced. Add minced chickpeas and remaining chickpeas to onion mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and sauté 30 seconds. Add spinach; sauté 3 minutes or until spinach is just wilted.

Spoon 1/2 cup spinach mixture onto each of 4 plates. Top each serving with 3/4 cup chickpea mixture; dollop each serving with 2 tablespoons yogurt.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 247 (26% from fat); FAT 7.4g (sat 0.8g,mono 3.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 13.8g; CHOLESTEROL 1mg; CALCIUM 251mg; SODIUM 882mg; FIBER 11.3g; IRON 5.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.1g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2004

Greens Pie

2007-06-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

I know, that doesn't sound appetizing, but the recipe to follow kicks some serious butt. It's pretty simple to prepare too. My notes tell me that last time I made this, I wanted more dill and more feta than what's called for in the recipe. You can use any greens for this, including your salad mix. I used some of the leeks from our farm share in addition to the onions. Phyllo dough is often found in the freezer section of the grocery store. At Safeway, it’s with the pre-made crusts and frozen pies. Use your leftover phyllo to make a berry tart. There's a recipe down there. Yum!
Greek Greens and Sweet Onion Pie

Fresh dill and feta cheese flavor this double phyllo-crusted pie. Serve with vegetable soup and crusty bread. Cutting slits into the top phyllo layer allows steam to escape so the crust will be crisp. To serve a larger crowd, double the recipe, and bake the pies side by side in the oven.

Ingredients
2 quarts water
12 cups torn Swiss chard (about 3/4 pound)
8 cups torn spinach (about 1/2 pound)
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed

Preparation
Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add the chard and spinach; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Place chard mixture on several layers of paper towels; squeeze until barely moist.
Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add chard mixture, dill, and parsley, stirring well to combine. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Combine chard mixture, cheese, eggs, and egg whites, tossing well to combine. Stir in pepper and salt.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board or work surface (cover remaining dough to prevent drying); lightly coat phyllo sheet with cooking spray. Place phyllo sheet in a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing edges to overlap plate rim. Repeat the procedure with 6 additional phyllo sheets, placing sheets in a crisscross design. Spoon the spinach mixture over phyllo. Lightly coat each of remaining 3 phyllo sheets with cooking spray, and place sheets over spinach mixture in a crisscross design. Roll excess phyllo into the dish to create a decorative edge; press lightly to hold. Cut 4 (2-inch) slits in top of pie; cover with foil. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cut pie into 8 wedges.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 wedges)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 312(30% from fat); FAT 10.5g (sat 4.8g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 16.1g; CHOLESTEROL 125mg; CALCIUM 264mg; SODIUM 955mg; FIBER 5.9g; IRON 6.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.3g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2004

We had a lot of salmon berries around here last night and a couple of pears. I used the following recipe as a starting point for a yummy dessert. I used salmon berries, a few pears, lime juice and added some raspberry jam to the filling to help sweeten those perky salmon berries. The end result was very tasty. Especially with ice cream!

Low Fat Blackberry and Apple Tart

This blackberry and apple tart is the result of a morning's apple and blackberry picking at a local farm. Phyllo dough is a great substitute for regular pastry.

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 dry pint of blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
8 sheets phyllo dough

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss apples slices and blackberries in a medium bowl with sugar and lemon juice. Meanwhile, remove eight sheets of phyllo dough from the pack. I use 14-inch by 9-inch sheets.

If yours are 14 by 18, then cut them in half. Lay the phyllo sheets on a clean work surface or cutting board.

To prevent the sheets from drying out, cover with plastic or wax wrap and then with a damp cloth. Removing one sheet at a time and covering the remainder, spray each sheet with butter-flavored cooking spray, then lay sheet in a 9-inch pie dish, with the sides hanging over the edge. Repeat with remaining sheets, forming a circular pattern.

Fill the center with the apple and blackberries, then bring up the sides of the dough and fold in, leaving a gap in the center. Spray with butter-flavored spray or brush with egg white.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Serves 6.

Per Serving: Calories 170, Calories from Fat 16, total Fat 1.7g (sat 0.3g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 114mg, Carbohydrate 36.4g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 2g

Indian Greens

2007-06-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oh No! I had this all ready to go last week, but totally failed to send it off or post this entry! Oops. Sorry. Here's the post as it was written last week!
People often ask me where I find recipes. Here's a list of my favorite cookbooks. Please note that all of these books except From Asparagus to Zucchini and the Complete Vegetarian Kitchen are available to check out at our library. You might have to put it on hold or request it from another library, but they are easily obtainable. I encourage you to purchase books from our local booksellers. Port Book and News will order anything for you. I've only linked these books to Amazon.com because it's an easy way for you to look at the covers and get the full title and author. If you must buy online, buy from Powells or another independent bookseller.
So, here are my favorites!
Anything by Deborah Madison, including:

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen; Local Flavors ; Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Lorna Sass: Whole Grains Every day Every Way, Recipes from an ecological kitchen ( Now available in paperback by this title: Complete Vegetarian Kitchen)
Feeding the Whole Family, Cynthia Lair
From Asparagus to Zucchini
Victory Garden Cookbook
I also really like the following websites for recipes:
epicurious it's searchable by ingredient
Live Earth Farm CSA: recipes by key farm share ingredient
Green Living
This week's recipe comes from members Hazel and Mike Levine. They've included their notes right in with the recipe. We tried it out too and enjoyed it (see the picture at the top of this post. . . really, it's hard to photograph Indian foods to make it look as yummy as it is!). It would be tasty with cooked chicken or paneer (if you can find that!) instead of the tofu. If you're industrious you can make your own Naan (indian flat bread) to go with it. I like to get a couple of orders of garlic naan to go from India Oven in Port Angeles to go with Indian inspired meals I make at home. Yum!

Spinach Saag (serves 4-6 people as a side dish or 2-3 people as the main event)

Ingredients:
1 chopped onion
6 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp coriander seed
0.5 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp oil or ghee
1 lb chopped spinach (we added all our farm share greens including most of our salad mix)
1/3 cup chopped coriander
1 cup water
2 tsp salt
0.5-1 cup plain yogurt
1 block firm tofu cut in 0.5" pieces

Method:
1. Saute onions in oil till translucent. Add garlic, ginger and spices and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Add greens, water and salt and simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.
3. Remove to a blender and puree in batches.
4. Return puree to the pan and add a little water if necessary. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. Add chopped coriander.
5. Stir in yogurt and tofu and return to brief simmer. Do not boil. Season to tasted and serve.

Variations:
- You can use frozen or fresh greens
- A squeeze of lemon at the end will brighten the flavor of the dish
- Nice when served with naan (located in freezer section of the health food store in PA and at Sunny Farms)

Greens, Glorious Greens!

2007-06-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven Musings:

I found kale in the “leave one, take one” box at the drop site in town last week. I greedily took it all! This time of year, our crop shares are full of greens. When we first became members, I struggled with the amount of greens in our share. I couldn’t figure out how to use them all up. It seemed a bit overwhelming. Over the years, I’ve come to love the greens and have found lots of ways to prepare them and include them in our meals. Last week, I made a huge salad one night, the marinated kale salad from last week’s crop sheet, a bok choi stirfry and threw the spinach into some enchiladas we were making. The greens are all gone.

Most of the greens we get in our shares can be used interchangeably. If a recipe calls for chard, but you have spinach or bok choi greens on hand, use the latter. The only caveat I’d throw in there is that kale generally takes a bit longer to cook/soften. Some people steam it a bit before adding it into recipes. Don’t be afraid to throw extra greens into any stir fry or casserole (enchiladas and lasagna are particularly greens friendly). Step out and try this recipe that lets the greens take center-stage! It has a fancy name, but we just called it “Greens and Beans on Toast” at my house. We mix it up a lot and use kale with pinto beans or spinach or broccoli rabe and Romano beans. The garlic on the toast really is key! Also, check out the recipe for “Green Soup”. It’s a tried and true favorite!

Carrie Sanford

Recipe:

Braised Mixed Greens and garlicky beans on toast
Serves 3 to 4

Any mixture of greens can be spooned over garlic-rubbed toast, as it is here, pasta, or polenta. For wine, try a Spanish red, such as a Grenache-based Priorat wine or a Spanish white Alberinio.
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for finishing
1 small onion, finely diced
2 plump garlic cloves, 1 slivered, 1 halved
1-pound greens, such as chard mixed with the tips and leaves of broccoli rabe, or a mix of small braising greens, washed and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
if available, a few leaves to a few handfuls sorrel, 5 or 6 lovage leaves, or a handful each of chopped cilantro and parsley
1 1/2 cups cooked beans (borlotti, cannellini, etc.), made from scratch or canned
3 to 4 slices chewy country bread
shaved Parmesan cheese or crumbled Gorgonzola

Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the starts to soften a bit, after 3 to 4 minutes, add the slivered garlic. Cook a minute more, and then add the greens and any herbs. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
As the greens cook down, turn them in the pan to bring the ones on top closer to the heat. Once they’ve all collapsed, add 1/2 cup water or bean broth, lower the heat, and cook, partially covered, until tender. Depending on the greens you’ve chosen, this could take as little as a few minutes or as long as twenty. Just make sure there’s some liquid in the pan, for in the end you’ll want a little sauce. When the greens are done, add the beans, heat them through, then taste for salt, and season with pepper.
Toast the bread and rub it with halved garlic. Arrange on plates and spoon the greens and beans over the top. Drizzle extra olive oil on top. Garnish with the cheese and serve.

From: Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen (This is a great book for quick, healthy meals made from whole foods.)

Eat More Kale!

2007-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yay! We’ve made it through another long winter and though spring’s only just arrived with the sunshine yesterday, we’re back into the time of receiving our farm shares! Rumor has it that there’s a large quantity of kale out at Salt Creek, so I’m including kale recipes this week. Kale is such a powerhouse food. Chock full of vitamins A and C and has lots of calcium. It is a VERY nutrient rich food and it tastes great too! So, I say to you, “Eat more Kale!" Farm member and former intern, Suzanne Gray passed these recipes on for us to try. She says the salad is the best and though she’s not tried the soup recipe, it looks pretty yummy.

I did a little organizing of the recipe blog over the winter and you can now comment on entries to leave recipe notes, variations, comments or questions for all to see. You can reach me by e-mail there too. Also, you can search for recipes by clicking on an ingredient or type of dish you’d like to find, either at the bottom of each entry or in the sidebar to the right.

I look forward to sharing lots of tasty recipes this season! I big hooray to Farmers Lee, Doug and Hannah, the interns and working members!

Recipes:

from Sally Eaton (Stonewall Farm CSA, Keene, NH)
Amazing Kale Salad

Mix together:
1 tsp dried mustard (I have used Dijon)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TB balsamic vinegar
3 TB maple syrup
1 TB lemon juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil (or 1 cup for a more Midwestern oily/sweet taste)
1 tsp salt

Pour over 1 bunch of kale torn up for salad and let sit 6 hours of so. Overnight it can make fresh summer kale soggy but is good for tougher late season kale. Essentially the kale needs some time to absorb the dressing a little to both soften and sweeten the kale.

Portuguese Kale Soup
1 lb. kale
1 lb. potatoes
1 lb. (linguisa) sausage (or Kielbasa)
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs butter
2 qt. chicken broth (or beef/chicken combo)
2 tsp chopped garlic
3 lb. peeled tomatoes

Strip the leaves from kale, and cut diagonally into wide slices. Should end up with 6-8 cups of lightly packed kale. Wash, peel, and chop potatoes, and keep in cold water. Prick sausages, blanch in boiling water for 5-10 minutes to release fat. Drain, cut into 1/2" slices and set aside. In a large saucepan, saute onions, carrots, and garlic in oil and butter, cooking until softened; about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, broth and simmer partially covered for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Mash potatoes against the side of the pot (or puree with some broth and return to pot). Stir in tomatoes and kidney beans and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer. Season to taste. Add kale and sausage, cook 5-10 minutes longer. Serves 6-8.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

2007-02-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a little embarrassed by our winter-time eating. Local food is a little thin here this time of year. We are eating local eggs, winter greens, potatoes, carrots and onions at very the least. But, since it's not been the vision of organic, local really really good for you food around here, I've been slacking on posting recipes. I finally figured that we all need to get through the winter, so I might as well plunge on in with the greasy food too!
I'm adding another winter comfort food because, really, we can't live on kale alone (well, maybe, but I like a little fat now and then too!). I'll put the recipe in the way I found it, but here's what I did differently: I couldn't bear the idea of deep frying these things, so I left the sandwiches whole and fried them like a grilled cheese in some olive oil. We used whole grain bread, turkey and mozzarella cheese (it's what we had around) and added avocado. Tom had fake mozz as he's trying to cut out dairy. Yum. I served it with low-sugar raspberry jam for dipping. Oh, and my little brainstorm for sprinkling powdered sugar on top was to fill up a little loose tea infuser like this and use that! Smart huh?

Sinfully delicious. Now, if I'd added a side of kale? Would that unclog my arteries a bit?
Monte Cristo Sandwich
1 quart of oil for frying, or as needed
2/3 cup water
1 egg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 slices white bread
4 slices swiss cheese
4 slices turkey
4 slices ham
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 T confectioners' sugar for dusting
Heat 5 inches of oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C). While oil is heating, make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Assemble sandwiches by placing one slice of turkey on one slice of bread, a slice of ham on another, then sandwich them with the Swiss cheese in the middle. Cut sandwiches into quarters, and secure with toothpicks.

Dip each sandwich quarter in the batter so that all sides are coated. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Remove toothpicks and arrange on a serving tray. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes
Ready In: 15 Minutes
Yields: 8 servings

Chicken Green Chile Enchilada Casserole

2007-02-18T10:09:00.001-08:00

So, if you're feeling cheesy. .. . here's some solid comfort food.

Chicken Green Chile Enchilada Casserole (Vegetarian) Recipe

This was in the "Inspired Vegetarian" section of Cooking Light Magazine. Satisfies both the vegetarian and meat-eater. For non-veggie households, could very easily substitute chicken breast for the meatless chicken.

8 servings
Time to Make: 50 min; 15 min. prep

1 t vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can green chilies, undrained
2 (6 ounce) packages vegetarian chicken strips, chopped (or 2 real chicken breasts, cooked, then chopped)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 (10 ounce) cans green enchilada sauce
cooking spray
8 (4 inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters
1 1/2 cups preshredded low-fat mexican cheese
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, saute 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
Add Chilies, cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, stir in chopped chicken strips.
Combine cumin, chili powder and enchilada sauce. Pour 1/3 of sauce mixture into an 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Arrange 1/2 of tortilla quarters over sauce mixture, top with onion mixture.
Sprinkle with 3/4 cup Mexican blend cheese, top with 1/3 of sauce mixture.
Top with remaining tortillas and sauce mixture.
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup of cheese, bake an additional 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

Another Soup?!

2007-01-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

I seem to be on a soup kick. I enjoy a hearty soup this time of year. I suppose my "soups" are really stews, as I put so much stuff in, there's hardly any broth. This one is simple, yummy and filling. I used penne pasta and kale that I had on hand. I think the smaller pasta is a bit more esthetically pleasing, but as my grandfather used to say, "It all goes to the same place anyway!"
Enjoy!

TUSCAN PASTA AND CHICKPEA SOUP
A bowlful of this hearty soup evokes the flavors of a Tuscan farmhouse
kitchen. The fragrant drizzle of herbed olive oil is so comforting, you may
want to make extra for dipping crusty bread.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons marjoram leaves
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans (16 ounces each) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1 cup ditalini pasta
1 package (6 ounces) baby spinach or 6 cups sliced spinach leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil with marjoram, rosemary and garlic in large saucepot
on medium-low heat until fragrant (do not allow garlic to brown). Stir in
chickpeas, broth, tomatoes and water. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce
heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling salted water as directed on package.
Drain well and rinse under cold water.
Spoon 1/2 of the chickpea mixture into blender container; cover. With
center part of cover removed to let steam escape, blend until smooth. Return
puree to saucepot. Stir pasta and spinach into soup.
Cook on medium heat until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Ladle
soup into serving bowls.
Drizzle with Herb-Infused Olive Oil (recipe
follows) just before serving.
Makes 8 (1-cup) servings.

Herb-Infused Olive Oil: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon each
basil and marjoram leaves and a pinch ground red pepper in a small saucepan
on low heat for 5 minutes. Strain through small sieve into serving
bowl or cup. Makes about 5 teaspoons.

New Year's Hoppin' John

2007-01-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a little late posting this, as it's a new year's day recipe, but it's yummy for any time of year! Here's Abby enjoying her share!

Hoppin' John (vegetarian)
This is a mish-mash of a recipe in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook and a recipe by James McNair in the book Beans and Grains that I found on the internet somewhere. Make it your own by adding or taking out what you’d like from this.
Categories: Entree Vegetable
Yield: 6 Servings
3 cup Blackeyed peas; frozen, I used 1, 20 oz. bag frozen
1tablespoon Peanut oil; plus
Vegetable cooking spray; as needed
1 ½cup Chopped yellow onion
1cup Chopped celery
1cup Red and green bell peppers; chopped
1 tablespoon Minced garlic
1 tablespoon Fresh thyme leaves (I omitted)
1 Bay leaf
1 Pinch Ground allspice
1 Pinch cayenne
1 1/2 Tablespoon Tamari soy sauce
1 cup Long-grain white rice (I used 3 cups cooked, brown rice)
2 cup Chopped tomato; peeled and seeded or one can fire roasted tomatoes, chopped
Salt and black pepper
Bottled Louisiana-style hot sauce (I used Tabasco)
¾ cup Chopped green onions; including tops
½ cup Italian parsley; chopped
Sour cream and grated smoked cheddar cheese to taste

Traditional New Year's good luck dish of the American Southern States has 4 ounces of sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2 wide pieces. (1/4" dice if using slab bacon with its rind removed). Brown, crisp, drain on paper toweling. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat and use it to sauté onion etc. McNair's touch: white rice cooked in broth; diced red and/or green peppers. The crisp bacon would be crumbled and used as a garnish. You could always use veggie bacon or soy bacon bits, but I just omitted this part and used roasted tomatoes with the hope of adding in some sort of smoky flavor.

In a heavy saucepan over medium-high, add oil and onion. Stir to coat onion.
When hot enough to saute, add celery and bell peppers. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 mins.
Add cooking spray or a little water if necessary to prevent browning.
Stir in the peas, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and just enough water (broth) to cover barely. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, until the peas are tender but still hold their shape, 15 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the rice (white or brown).TIP: Brown rice may be cooked in water with a piece of lemon peel (dime-sized).
Stir tomato into peas and simmer uncovered, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the rice, season to taste with salt and generous amount of ground pepper and hot sauce, and heat through, about 2 minutes.
Stir in most of the green onion and chopped parsley. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with parsley sprigs and serve hot.

You can also just serve the pea mixture over rice and put the green onion, parsley, sour cream and cheese at the table for people to serve themselves. Yummy.

I served this with a side of local kale. Collards would be more authentically southern, but any greens go very well with this dish.

Mac and Cheese with Squash yum!

2006-12-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese Serves 6 Ricotta and pureed squash give this slimmed-down but familiar dish its creaminess.

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound) peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 cup homemade chicken stock, or low sodium canned, skimmed of fat
1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon course salt plus more for water
freshly ground pepper
1 lb. of elbow pasta
4 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese (1 oz.)
1 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine squash, stock, and milk in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Mash contents of saucepan; stir in nutmeg, cayenne, and salt, and season with black pepper. Stir to combine.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add noodles; cook until al dente, according to package instructions, about 8 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl; stir in squash mixture, cheddar, ricotta, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
Lightly coat a 9-inch-square baking dish (4 inches deep) with cooking spray. Transfer noodle mixture to dish. In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle evenly over noodle mixture.
Cover with aluminum foil, and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking until lightly browned and crisp on top, 30 to 40 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Note: 350 calories, 6 g fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 57 g carbohydrate, 505 mg sodium, 16 g protein, 2 g fiber.

From Martha Stewart's Website. Yummy.

Green Soup

2006-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

This is a soup that I put in the crop sheet before I started typing it, so this is it's debut on the blog. It was originally called "Lettuce Soup" but that's not very appetizing! I've often just used a salad mix and added any extra winter greens I have around. It's also a great base for adding cooked chicken or beans. Also, I use a hand blender right in the pot instead of getting a whole blender messy. Enjoy

Green Soup

This soup is a great way to use lettuce's outer leaves and ribs, which usually go to waste. Any kind of potato and any salad greens, including lettuce, arugula, spinach, and watercress, will work fine.

1 cup chopped onions, scallions, and/or shallots
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup diced (1/3 inch) peeled potato
8 cups coarsely chopped lettuce leaves including ribs (3/4 lb)
3 cups water

Cook onion mixture and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add coriander, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in potato, lettuce, and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potato is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Purée soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Bring soup to a simmer, then whisk in remaining tablespoon butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet
May 2005

You're gonna put BEETS in CAKE?!!!

2006-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yup. And it's really freakin' good too!
Here's the recipe:

Beet-Chocolate Cake
10 Servings

Ingredients:
2 cups Sugar
4 free range organic eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
3-4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I only had powdered cocoa, so I followed the substitution guidelines on the package: 3 T cocoa and 1 T oil for each oz. unsweetened choc.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups shredded beets

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients.
Sift or mix well together.
Melt chocolate very slowly in a double boiler.
Allow chocolate to cool, then blend thoroughly with eggs and oil.
Combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture, alternating with beets.
Pour into 2 greased 9 inch cake pans.
Bake at 325 for 40-50 minutes, or until a fork can be removed from the center cleanly.

Recipe from Zephyr Community Farm
I found it in this book
And then I put this yummy frosting on it. Sorry, I lost the link

1 cube butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup good quality cocoa

Mix it up and spread it on. It doesn't look like it'll get to frosting consistency, but it does. This one really does need an electric mixer. It's the best (and easiest) frosting I've ever made.

This is all that's left of the cake:

We pretty much killed it last night. Oh, there were at least 10 people, not just me and Tom.

Stew is Yummy

2006-11-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a recipe I'm trying today. I'll post pics if it looks good.
update: This is amazing! I might not put quite as much cayenne in next time so Abby can eat it, but it is VERY good. I didn't have parsnip, so I increased the carrots and added them when the parsnips would have gone in and I used a whole smaller pumpkin instead of two kinds of squash. Yup. . .yummy.

FALL VEGETABLE STEW

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
½ onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 leek, cleaned and sliced
1 cup of pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup parsnip, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups of potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup dark leafy greens, washed and sliced
½ cup chopped Italian parsley
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz)
2-3 tbsp Moroccan spice
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Saute the carrots, onions, leek and celery over medium heat until the vegetables turn a caramel brown
Add the spices and cook for 30 seconds
Add 5 cups of water, the tomatoes, and the garlic
Bring the stew to a boil for 15 minutes
Lower the heat and add the remaining vegetables (except for the greens and herbs)
Cover the pot and gently cook for another 30 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
Add the greens and herbs right before serving
Garnish with olive oil and toasted pumpkin seeds

Make your own Moroccan spice!

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Blend together and store in an airtight container.

It's already over?!?!

2006-11-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe the season is already over. A big round of applause and appreciation to our fabulous farmers Doug, Lee, Hannah, the interns and all of the working members who put in their time, sweat and love to providing all of us such wonderful local food!

Here’s a fun recipe that uses it’s leftovers for an imaginative soup! It’s from the Every Day Food section on the Martha Stewart website.

Roasted Fall Vegetables
Serves 8; Makes about 12 cups; Prep time: 20 minutes; Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
2 pounds butternut squash (about 1 medium), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 pounds red new potatoes (12 to 14), well scrubbed and quartered
1 pound medium red onions (about 2 to 3), peeled and quartered
1 pound carrots (6 to 8 medium), halved lengthwise, if thick, and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1. Preheat oven to 450°. Divide vegetables and garlic between two rimmed baking sheets (or line with parchment paper, if desired, for easy cleanup); dividing evenly, toss with oil, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
2. Roast until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, 40 to 50 minutes, tossing them and rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Serve hot or at room temperature. (To store: Let cool, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate up to 3 days. Pour off any accumulated liquid before using.)

Here’s the other recipe to take your roasted vegetables and make soup! When I made this, I used pumpkin and all of the random roots I had around: carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, beets, turnip etc. The beets turned the soup a beautiful red/pink color. I used stock instead of water and didn’t bother running the veggies through a sieve. I just used my handy dandy hand blender right in the pot (but not while the pot is over the heat. . . you’ll get a melted little blender).

Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup Serves 4; Prep time: 15 minutes; Total time: 15 minutes
6 cups (about 1/2 recipe) Roasted Fall Vegetables, recipe above
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Bread or crackers, for serving (optional)
1. Working in batches, purée vegetables in blender with a total of 4 to 5 cups water. Pour each batch through a fine-mesh sieve into a large saucepan, pressing purée through with a spoon or rubber spatula.
2. Thin purée with additional water, if necessary; heat soup over medium. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve with bread or crackers, if desired.

Have a fabulous winter everyone! Keep checking back here because I'll keep posting winter recipes!

Kohlrabi Kicks Butt

2006-10-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, here’s a great website to check out for ideas about those wacky vegetables you don’t know what to do with. . . like Kohlrabi!

This is the recipe catalog from the Live Earth Farm CSA in California. This is what they have to say about kohlrabi. Honestly. . . it’s still in your fridge. . .right? So eat it up!

“A favorite way to eat truly fresh kohlrabi is to peel (like a potato; Andy doesn't peel his but I like to) the kohlrabi, slice it like you would jicama or carrots for a dip tray, and then eat the raw pieces plain or with lemon juice. “
Cooking tips:
• Kohlrabi doesn't have to be peeled after cooking.
• It's excellent cooked or raw. Try it both ways.
• Grate kohlrabi into salads, or make a non-traditional coleslaw with grated kohlrabi and radish, chopped parsley, green onion, and dressing of your choice.
• Try raw kohlrabi, thinly sliced, alone or with a dip. Peel and eat raw like an apple.
• Steam kohlrabi whole, 25-30 minutes, or thinly sliced, 5-10 minutes. Dress slices simply with oil, lemon juice and a fresh herb, or dip in flour and briefly fry.
• Sauté grated kohlrabi in butter, add herbs or curry.
• Add sliced or cubed kohlrabi to heart soups, stews or a mixed vegetable stir-fry.
• Chill and marinate cooked kohlrabi for a summer salad. Add fresh herbs.
• Kohlrabi leaves can be used like other cooking greens. Store the leaves and bulbs separately. The globe will last for a few weeks in plastic in the fridge.

Recipe Corner
Fall Stew with Kohlrabi
from The Rolling Prairie Cookbook, a book put out by an alliance of CSA farmers and families in Kansas.
serves 6
2-3 medium kohlrabi, bulbs & greens
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, cut in slivers
3 medium carrots, cut in 3/4" chunks
2 medium potatoes, cut in 3/4" chunks
1 C peeled chopped tomatoes
4 C vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp. molasses

Separate leaves from kohlrabi bulbs. Peel bulbs & cut into large chunks. Derib leaves & cut into thin strips. Set aside. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions & saute for several minutes. Add kohlrabi bulb chunks, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, oregano, salt, pepper, molasses & mustard. Turn up heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover & simmer for about 15 minutes, or until veggies are not quite tender. Add kohlrabi leaves & simmer, uncovered, for another 10 minutes, or until veggies are just cooked.

Sheperd's Pie is Yummy

2006-10-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Recipe Corner:
I love sheperd's pie because it can include any veggies you might have on hand. I use this recipe as a launching point and every time I make it, it's a little different. This page in my cookbook is riddled with notes and splatters from some good cooking. As a fairly staunch eggplant non-eater (I know, it's blasphemy. . . but I can't stand the stuff), I leave it out and add all kinds of other stuff. Included in my list of extras are: summer squash, roasted winter squash, corn, carrots, broccoli, extra celery, tofu crumbles (the frozen fake ground beef stuff), crumbled veggie burgers, bok choi, kale or other greens or anything else that's on hand. Yum! This recipe is really kid-friendly without the sauce. However, I think the Dilled Horseradish Sauce is what makes this really stand out as a favorite. Put the straight horseradish on the table for those who really want to clear their noses!

SHEPHERD'S PIE
Adapted from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen
Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes to bake.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

A deep-dish casserole with vegetable hash on the bottom and garlicky mashed potatoes on top.

Mashed Potato Topping
(Make this first):

2 large potatoes.
1 tablespoon butter.
1/2 cup milk.
3 large cloves garlic, minced.
Salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Peel or scrub the potatoes, and cut them into 1-inch chunks. Cook in plenty of boiling water until soft. Drain and transfer to a medium-large bowl. Add the butter, garlic, and milk and mash well. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the parsley. Set aside.

Vegetable Hash:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced onion
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk celery, minced
1 pound mushrooms, chopped
1-pound eggplant, diced
1 medium bell pepper, minced
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup (packed) grated sharp cheddar
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
Cayenne to taste
Paprika for the top
Dilled Horseradish Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ºF. Lightly spray a 2-quart casserole or its equivalent with nonstick spray. (You can also use a 9 x 13-inch baking pan).

2. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the onion andsautetÃ© over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to soften.

3. Add garlic, salt, pepper, celery, mushrooms, eggplant, and bell pepper. Stir until well combined, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the herbs, stir, and cover again. Cook for about 5 more minutes, or until the eggplant is perfectly tender. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in the peas, 1/2 cup of the cheddar, the bread crumbs, and the vinegar. Add cayenne to taste. Spread this mixture into the prepared casserole or baking pan.

5. Spoon and/or spread the mashed potatoes over the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar on top, and dust with paprika.

6. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and bubbly around the edges. Make the sauce while the casserole bakes. To serve, spoon a little sauce onto each plate. Add a chunk of "pie" potato side-up, and spoon extra sauce over the top. Serve hot.

Dilled Horseradish Sauce
2 Tbs. Butter or Canola oil
1-2 Tbs. unbleached while flour (depending on desired thickness)
1 1/4 cups warmed milk
1 TBS prepared horseradish
a scant 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs minced fresh dill
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt butter or heat oil in a medium-small saucepan. Whisk in the flour, and cook over low heat, whisking often, for about a minute.

Whisk in the milk, and continue to cook over low heat, whisking frequently for another 5 minutes. Stir in horseradish and salt, and remove from heat. Stir in the dill and black pepper just before serving.

I'm in Delicata Heaven!

2006-10-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

I love winter squash. Here are a few hints and tips from The Victory Garden Cookbook:

Small chunks of squash are a good addition to soups and stews
Squash cooked with pot roast or a braised dish of any kind will thicken the sauce nicely when mashed.
Raw squash is a delightful snack or addition to a crudités platter
Squash is low in sodium, so it’s a good choice for restricted-salt diets.
Use the flesh as well as the blossoms for squash tempura. Just cut into thin, flat strips, dip in batter, and deep-fry.
Freeze leftover squash—it’s delicious reheated.
Use small amounts of cooked squash added to yeast breads or pancake batters to give color and moisture.
Use pureed in soups.
Store squash at 50-55 degrees in a dry spot with low humidity. (If stored below 50 degrees, squash will suffer chilling injuries and start to deteriorate.) Don’t put squashes in your basement—it’s probably too moist and they will be more likely to rot; an attic or any other cool, dry spot is your best choice.
Winter squash stores so well that there’s no need to can or freeze it. However, cooked squash freezes nicely, and it’s a convenience to have it ready to eat.

So, don’t just use your winter squash as autumn decorations. .. eat it up!

Recipe Corner
It’s winter squash time! Yay! Our first year or two getting farm shares, we didn’t really know about delicata squash. In case you don’t know yet, delicata are long skinny winter squash. The look a bit like a more yellow and hardier cucumber. The skin is thin enough to leave on so you don’t have to peel it before cooking or eating. My favorite way to serve delicate is to cut it up into rings, scoop out the seeds and fry it up in some olive oil and salt and pepper and serve it like onion rings. . .yummy.
Here’s a recipe that I found at our farmer’s market a few years back. I think it might have been from Nash’s farm stand, but I’m not sure. I sometimes cook the delicata with the leeks and set aside while cooking the rest. Also good with baked tofu thrown in and served over rice.

Steamed Delicata with Tomato-Leek-Cilantro Dressing
2 lbs delicata
pinch of salt
½ cup cilantro
olive oil
1 cup diced leek
1 ¼ tsp. ground cumin
flaked hot pepper
pinch of cloves
2 tbs. cider vinegar
½ tsp. honey
2 med. Tomatoes

1. Cut squash lengthwise. Remove seeds. Cut into ½ “ slices
2. Set squash in steamer basket over boiling water. Sprinkle with salt and let steam until tender, but not falling apart
3. Chop Cilantro, warm oil in skillet over moderate heat. Add leek. Sauté until just brown, add cumin, hot pepper flakes and cloves. Toss a quick minute.
4. Reduce heat. Add vinegar, honey and tomatoes and toss a few minutes until juicy.
5. Remove from heat, stir in more olive oil and ½ of the cilantro.
6. Spoon over squash, top with remaining cilantro.

Lunch Time Yummies

2006-10-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven Musings:

I've been thinking a lot about school lunches. I imagine folks have gotten a bit bored of the usual lunch fixings and are looking for a few good ideas.
I recently was in Portland and went to one of their fancy upscale natural food markets called New Seasons. They had a handout on healthy school lunches that had some great ideas. I don't neccessarily believe all of what they have to say, but I'll quote it here the way they wrote it. Here's what it had to say:

Build a Better Lunch Box
A healthy lunch box will have 5 main components:
1. A whole grain food
2. A lean protein
3. A whole fruit (not juice, fruit snacks, or fruit rolls)
4. A vegetable
5. A low-sugar beverage such as water, plain cow's milk, rice milk, almond milk or soy milk. Be sure that non-dairy milks are calcium fortified.

Nutrient Dense Lunch Ingredients:
Whole Grain Foods: whole wheat or sprouted grain bread, whole grain crackers, whole wheat or sprouted grain tortillas, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa, rolled oats, low sugar granola

Lean Proteins: hummus, bean dip, deli turkey, fruit juice sweetened yogurt, string cheese, cottage cheese, cheese cubes, peanut butter, almond butter, beans and rice, leftover roast chicken or meat loaf, chunk lite tuna, egg salad or a hard cooked egg

Fruit: Orange slices, mango chunks, grapes, frozen blueberries (a good stir-in for plain yogurt), apples, pears, cherries, melon, peaches, nectarines, plums, small bananas, pineapple chunks, kiwi slices

Vegetables: snap peas, bell pepper strips, fennel chips, carrot sticks, yam or sweet potato oven fries, broccoli trees (steam, then chill), cauliflower (steam then chill), celery, cherry or grape tomatoes, radishes, corn onthe cob, lightly salted edamame (soy beans, find them in the freezer) in the pod.

Healthy Fats: walnuts, mixed nuts (raw, not "roasted" from a can- these are usually fried in oil), almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.

Lunch Time Favorites

Jicama, Carrot and Cucumber Sticks with Lime and Chili Powder
Slice jicama, carrots and cucumber into sticks, sprinkle lightly with chili powder and throw it all in a baggie with a wedge of lime to squeeze on later.

Whole Wheat Pita Wedges with Hummus
Slice one whole wheat pita round into 4 to 8 wedges and store in a baggie. Spoon about 1/3 cup of your child's favorite hummus into a small portable container for dipping in the lunch room.

Fruit Kabobs: spear cubes of cheese, rolled up deli turkey, grapes, strawberries, melon chunks, or apple and pear chunks (soak for a minute in a little lemon water to prevent browning) on bamboo skewers.

Hummus Dippers: Send hummus with carrots chips, fennel chips, and bell pepper strips for a fun way to get some vegetables.

Cinn-nutty Apple Dippers: Mix peanut butter with a little plain low-fat yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon served with apple or pear slices to dip.

Ants on a log: smear celery sticks with natural peanut butter or almond butter and put raisin ants on top.

Crunch-factor Yogurt Send an 8 ounce cup of low sugar, fruit juice sweetened, or plain low fat yogurt in the lunch box. In a zip-top bag, combine some low sugar granola, nuts and sunflower seeds to stir into the yogurt at lunch time. Add some frozen, organic blueberries for a boost of antioxidants.

Just in Quesadillas: Make this ahead of time. Warm a whole wheat or sprouted grain tortilla with cheese and low fat refried black beans in the middle. Wrap with foil and refrigerate until lunch time.

Recipes:

We had a whole lot of summer squash at our house last week. Here are a few ideas for eating it up. I made up a random saute with summer squash, tomatoes, garlic and butter all cut up and sauted together. I added the juice of one lime, some salt and pepper and served it over gnocci that we had around. You could use lemon juice or change the flavor by adding some balsamic vinegar and serve it over pasta or rice and add tofu to round it out. Yummy.

Zucchini chocolate bread

Makes 2 loaves

1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, and oil. Beat until well blended. Stir in the zucchini and vanilla.

3. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture. Stir just until blended.

4. Stir in the chips and nuts and divide the batter between the pans.

5. Bake the loaves for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Turn them out onto wire racks and set them right side up to cool.

from ''The Classic Zucchini Cookbook''

In Defense of Daikon

2006-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven Musings:
That long skinny albino carrot looking thing from last week’s share that is most likely still lurking in your crisper drawer or more likely ditched in the “take one, leave one” crate (there were a whole lot there on Friday!) is a daikon radish. Daikons seem to get a bit of a bad rap. They really are just long radishes and are quite good. I thought I’d give a few ideas as to how to use them so we won’t be as quick to give them to the people we split our shares with (uh, sorry Darek and Allison!).

Lorna J. Sass, author of Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen (which was later published in paperback as this) has this to say about daikon:

“Long prized in Japan. . . .raw daikon is said to aid in the digestions of oils. I prefer to eat it raw and enjoy to the fullest its radishlike bite. Just before serving, scrub daikon gently and then grate it. Toss it into a salad or serve it by itself in mounds, lightly sprinkled with umeboshi vinegar, lemon juice, or soy sauce. Alternatively, slice the daikon into ½-inch rounds and use as a “cracker” base for an interesting spread. Daikon cubes cook quickly and lose their bite: Add them to a stir-fry for the last 1 to 2 minutes of cooking.”
Recipe:
Former Port Angeles resident and farm member, Jen Zawacki was visiting last week and suggested using up the daikon in some fresh spring rolls.

Using the beet and daikon slaw (recipe below) as a starting point, some pretty yummy stuff happened!

Add some grated carrots (the beets and daikon could be grated too), some julienned cucumber and bell pepper to the slaw. Wrap in a spring roll skin (those almost clear, round wrappers. I’ve only found them at McPhee’s on 8^th and Race here in Port Angeles. Don’t use the kind of wrappers that are meant to be deep fried) with a few leaves of basil or mint or cilantro and some soaked bean threads. Roll them up and serve with your favorite peanut sauce or a thai sweet chili sauce (also found at McPhee’s and oh so tasty!). You could put baked tofu slices in there or cooked shrimp or chicken, mung bean sprouts and a squeeze or two of lime would be yummy too.
This is really a very easy meal to slap together and is a great way to use lots of veggies from the share.
If you’d like a good tutorial on how to put a Vietnamese Spring Roll together, this is a great website with pictures and everything:

Beet and Daikon Slaw -from Bill Maddex, member of Drumlin Community Farm (from Asparagus to Zucchini)

2 beets, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch julienne (matchsticks)

1 six-inch daikon radish, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch julienne

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 teaspoon unsalted rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl, cover and let stand at least 1/2 hour, season to taste and serve. Makes two servings.

Summer Minestrone and Spinach ravings!

2006-09-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven's Musings

Okay, I’ve done a little reading on the e coli outbreak, but I’m definitely not an expert. I am, however, opinionated. Just in case you haven’t heard, here’s a little review. Some spinach distributed by Natural Selection Foods in California has been contaminated with e coli. At this point, They, can’t figure out exactly where the contaminated spinach is coming from because it’s grown in such high quantity and is also bought from lots of smaller farms in California. Once they get all of the greens, it’s mixed together, triple washed, cut up and packaged in bags or plastic boxes and sent out all over the country for consumption. They package for Trader Joe’s, Safeway organics, Costco and under other names too. They also haven’t determined if it’s the organic or conventionally grown spinach that’s the culprit. The best guess at this point is that the e coli came from cow manure used for fertilizing, but it will be very difficult to determine exactly where it came from, given that it’s such a huge industry. 100 people have contracted e coli and 1 person has died. Spinach farmers all over the country are destroying their crops. So, I guess there’s another really good reason to buy your food locally. Organic is great, but huge corporate organic? I’m not so sure. Read the article I read here.

Recipe:

I used beet greens and collards instead of chard. Yummy comfort food for the colder weather!

Summer Minestrone
Adapted from The Tomato Festival Cookbook, by Lawrence Davis-Hollander (Storey Books, 2004).

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
1 10-inch stalk celery, coarsely chopped
4 cups (about 12 to 15 large) chopped ripe plum tomatoes
4 to 6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 stem basil, plus extra sprigs for garnish
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) penne, elbow macaroni, small shells,

12 green beans, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into bite-size strips
1 leek, washed, white and tender green parts cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 stems Swiss chard, stalks and leaves cut into 1-inch strips
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil and stir in the garlic. Let it soften for a couple of minutes, then stir in the carrot and celery. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 4 cups of the broth, oregano, thyme, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Cover the pan, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Increase the heat and bring the soup to a brisk boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta, followed by the green beans, bell pepper, and leek. Cook briskly, stirring often, for 3 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat so the soup is simmering and add the chard, zucchini, and summer squash. If the mixture is very thick, or if you would simply like it thinner, add some or all of the remaining broth. Return to a simmer and cover the pan. Continue cooking the soup for 5 minutes, or until the pasta and the vegetables are tender. Serve immediately, or cool and reheat as needed. Garnish with basil leaves

Tomato and Zucchini Tart

2006-09-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven's Musings:

I’ve stumbled upon a few facts as I learn to can that I think would be good to share. Of course, it might just be a reminder to those veteran home preservers out there!

In 1989, the USDA revamped it’s safety regulations regarding home preserving, as too many people were getting sick from home canned goods.

Low acid foods (red meats, seafood, poultry, milk and all fresh vegetables except for most tomatoes) need to be processed in a pressure canner.

Acid foods (fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalades, and fruit butters) can be processed in a boiling-water canner.

Steam canners (the ones where you put the jars upside down in the water bath and then steam circulates around them) are NOT safe.

Don’t use any recipes published before 1989, as some of them don’t follow the newer processing times and guidelines. Also, the USDA recommends never to revise or improvise recipes because it’s easy to throw the pH level off.

The library has several good, up to date books: The USDA’s Complete Guide to Canning (also available online), The Ball Blue Book, Preserving the Harvest (also has great info on freezing, drying and cold storage).

Happy Canning!

This Week's Recipe:
I’ve never tried the canned pizza dough. I make my own, but you could also try a boboli. This is a favorite for us this time of year.

Fresh Tomato and Zucchini Tart with Mozzarella and Basil
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (can sprinkle with Italian seasoning if desired)
1 cup (1/8-inch-thick) diagonally sliced zucchini
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1/2 pound)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Unroll dough onto lightly sprayed baking pan; let stand 5 minutes. Pat dough into a 12-inch square. Arrange zucchini and tomato over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper and Ital. seasoning (if desired). Fold edges of dough over zucchini and tomato (dough won't completely cover the zucchini and tomato).

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until the dough is lightly browned. Top with cheese; bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with basil. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Yield: 4 servings CALORIES 304(30% from fat); FAT 10.1g (sat 4.3g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 12.9g; CHOLESTEROL 22mg; CALCIUM 164mg; SODIUM 702mg; FIBER 2.5g; IRON 2.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.1g Cooking Light Magazine, MAY 2003

Rosemary Red Soup

2006-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Recipe Maven's Musings:

You may have noticed a new look to the printed crop sheet this week. That’s because I (Carrie Sanford) have finally figured out a good way to put in my working member hours for the farm. I’ve been a member for four years and have always done my work at the end of the season and all on one day. I always felt like I wanted to contribute more, but couldn’t schedule the time to get out there! With a little (18 mo.) daughter, being in the fields is even harder now. I wouldn’t be much help if I’m chasing her all over the farm.

So, I asked if we could get creative and Lee suggested I try doing the crop sheets for a while. I’m a bit of recipe maven and am SO glad to have my addiction put to good use.

If you have great recipes to share, by all means, send them to me or if you need help figuring out what to do with all of that . . (fill in the blank), I’ll do my best to find a healthy, relatively easy answer. I hope this space will be used to give you fun farm facts, for the kids corner (should it come out of retirement) and other random information we (me, Lee and Doug, or any of you) find useful!

This week's Recipe:

Farm member Brianna Noach passed this recipe on to share. I LOVE the book it’s from. Our library system has a copy (it’s currently at my house) and I recommend you check it out (when I’m done!).

Rosemary Red Soup

(Recipe from Feeding the Whole Family by Bastyr University faculty member Cynthia Lair)

This soup is a gorgeous red color with a deep, satisfying taste to match. Because of the combination of legumes and vegetables, all you need is some whole-grain bread and salad to make this into a beautifully balanced meal. Try it with Sweet Squash Corn Muffins and Dark Greens Salad (found in Feeding the Whole Family).

3 medium carrots
2 beets
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1 cup dried red lentils
2 bay leaves
6 cups water or stock
2-3 tablespoons light miso

Scrub and chop carrots and beets. Heat oil in a soup pot; add onion and sauté until soft. Add carrots and beets; sauté a few minutes more. Finely chop rosemary and oregano leaves, if using fresh herbs. Wash and drain lentils. Add herbs, lentils, bay leaves, and water or stock to onion mix; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 40 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Puree soup in blender or processor. Dissolve miso in ½ cup water and add to soup. Gently reheat before serving.

Preparation time: 50 minutes
Makes 6-8 servings

For babies 6 months & older:
Steam a few extra carrot slices and puree with water.

For babies 10 months & older:
Reserve some pureed soup before adding the miso and serve.

About this Blog!

2006-09-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

I love food and I love to share recipes and ideas. In this blog, you'll find my favorite recipes and random food-related thoughts. I am a member of a local CSA (community supported agriculture) and write the crop sheet every week. This is a way for me to organize the crop sheets during veggie season and also to continue to find yummy healthy recipes to feed my family. Thanks for checking this out!