Dark Days: ham and bean soup

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The dried beans I purchased from Margerum’s last month have been hibernating in my kitchen.  In truth, I’ve been a little hesitant to use them.  It’s sort of like that whole thing with Elaine and her “spongeworthy” dilemma from Seinfeld - those dried beans are such a great (and not widely available) commodity that I start to second guess myself when I have a recipe idea.  Is that soup recipe spongeworthy?  Well, you know what I mean.  I just don’t want to waste locally grown dried beans on just any old recipe.

Finally, I got over myself.  I mean, they’re beans and they’re meant to be eaten.  And if I run out of beans and can’t find any more this Winter, I’ll just have to live with it and resolve to stock up for next year.  And then I grabbed up a slab of ham from Country Time Farm in Hamburg, PA and made ham and bean soup. 

It’s been a little warm this December to be true soup weather, but this really hit the spot!

1/2 lb of white beans (Margerum’s)
1 quarts of water
1.5 lb of smoked ham steak with a small pc. of bone, cubed and bone reserved (Country Time Farm)
1/2 cup of diced onions (alas, not local)
1 cup chopped celery (from my CSA share, frozen)
1/2 cup chopped carrots (Lancaster Farm Fresh)
2 cloves garlic, diced (Landisdale Farm)
Salt and pepper
chopped parsley (my garden, dried)

Soak the beans in cold water for about 2 hrs. Drain.

Place all ingredients in a big old soup pot, cover with water and simmer for about an hour and a half.  If you want a thicker soup, cook the beans for about an hour and then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for another hour.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I must admit, I’m kind of excited about the prospect of a Nor’easter coming through on Sunday.  It’s my fervent wish for us all to get snowed in for a couple of days.  We’ve got wood for the fireplace, and lots of soup!

Fresh Tofu Scrambler

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Every good vegetarian has a recipe for a tofu scramble tucked in her or his apron. It’s probably one of the very first dishes a new vegetarian learns to prepare, and puts to rest any misgivings one has about not liking tofu. My first introduction was about 17 years ago in a dinner lovingly prepared by mom using a Fantastic Foods mix and served on English muffins. A meal that is now one of my all-time comfort foods.

It’s one of those perfect, reliable eats - a dependable friend during meal planning. Always there for you, like lasagna or a stir fry, willing to use up any veggies you need to move out of the crisper; always a complete source of nutrition and whole foods; always willing to be brunch (with toast), dinner (in a tortilla), a snack or anything in between; and, thanks to Fresh Tofu, always ready to show of its local flavor.

One of my favorite discoveries during One Local Summer, Fresh Tofu has been supplying the east coast with organic tofu since 1984 and is distributed throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I purchase mine at a local natural food store (Plumsteadville Natural Foods), though Whole Foods carries it as well. It truly is a superior product, living up to its name and consistently giving great texture and taste to my favorite bean curd recipes. If the gourmet mecca that is Horizon’s uses Fresh Tofu, you can safely bank on it awesomeness. Besides, anyone with a flying block of tofu for a logo has got to pretty much rock, right?

Although creating and perfecting a great tofu scramble recipe is one of those must-experience kitchen intimacies, everyone needs a place to start. Vegan cookbook author extraordinaire, Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s, version is a great place to do so and provides the base for my recipe below. Her spice combination is so colorful and the flavor can’t be beat. If you’re not vegan or vegetarian, that shouldn’t stop you from honing your scramble skills. In fact, one of my favorite versions is a cilantro-heavy one made by an omnivore friend.

Tofu Scrambler
serves 4

1 pound organic Fresh Tofu, drained and pressed well
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped kale (or other dark, leafy green)
1/2 cup chopped peppers, carrots, and/or any other veggie in the fridge
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
hot sauce to taste

spice blend:
3 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions 3 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes more. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more. Add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Crumble in tofu and mix well. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much.

Mix in kale and other vegetables, cover for five minutes, allowing steam to soften them. Stir in hot sauce to taste. Mix in nutritional yeast.

Serve with toast (Bakers on Broad Complet bread was used above) and fruit for breakfast, or in tortillas with guacamole and salsa for dinner.

Although this is my standard recipe, it’s really more of an outline. I can’t say I’ve actually ever made the same scrambler twice. Everyone seems to find their own special ingredient, whether it be a spice or veggie or secret sauce, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Eggs-travagant

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Yesterday during my volunteer shift at the Fair Food Farmstand, I learned a couple of things about chickens - certain breeds are more sensitive than others to temperature.  The lovely blue eggs they sell can only be found in the Spring and Fall, for instance, because the chickens don’t like it when it’s too hot or too cold.  Prima donnas!  The Farmstand won’t be getting any of the great free range Meadow Run Farm eggs for a while, either - in the colder weather, the chickens are kept inside and don’t get to graze and don’t lay many eggs.

I was a little sad to hear it - I just used the last of my Meadow Run eggs a few days ago.  And then I got excited, because I was able to share those eggs with people I really like - members of my dragonboat team!  We had a sort of ancillary event the other day where we all had to bring some food, and my potluck dish was deviled eggs.

Deviled eggs sort of get a bad rap - they’re a little bit kitschy and people make fun of them.  The thing is, though, that I don’t know a single person who dislikes them.  I like to play around with deviled eggs to make them a little less boring, and I really like the recipe for the deviled eggs I took to the event - the yolks were mixed with boiled potato, minced smoked salmon, and green onion.  The potato changed the texture of the yolk quite a bit - the eggs were eggy without being too eggy.

1 dozen eggs
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
8 Tbsp minced smoked salmon
6 Tbsp finely chopped green onions

Boil the potato for about 15 minutes.  And while the potato is boiling, cover the eggs in water, throw in a bit of salt, and tsp. of vegetable oil, and bring to a boil.  Boil for ten minutes.  Immediately remove the eggs for the heat and transfer them to a bowl of cold water.  Peel the eggs, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the yolk.

Combine the yolk and potato with a bit of salt and pepper, the oil, juice, and mustard.  Mash it all together really really well with a fork or a masher.  Throw in half of your minced salmon and green onions and stir to blend.  Load it all in a piping bag and pipe into the egg hollows.

Sprinkle the other half of the salmon and green onions over top.

The eggs, potato, and scallion were locally grown.

I hear the latest fad in deviled eggs is mixing the yolk with avocado.  Avocado can generally not be found locally, but it made me wonder what a deviled egg would taste like with the yolk mixed with butternut squash.  Perhaps one day I’ll spend the day making different deviled egg concoctions.  Let it never be said that eating locally grown food in the Winter is dull!

Keepin’ It Simple

Saturday, December 08, 2007

I guess it’s obvious that the December madness is upon us.  Despite my best efforts to avoid the consumerist frenzy this month, there still seem to be many additional items (fun and otherwise) on my to do list.  A little bit of quiet time in the kitchen is just what I need when I’m feeling overwhelmed.  But if there’s no time for that...well, I’m glad that I have some goodies in the freezer and fridge.  I crave comforting foods that are simple and nourishing.  Bring on the applesauce! I’ve cooked up big batches of applesauce over the past couple of weekends using my Lancaster bounty.  Lots of it went into my freezer. Always a satisfying feeling.

I keep it really simple and throw some diced apples in a heavy pot with a few inches of water and a teaspoon or two of cinnamon.  I used Jonamac apples from my half bushel and they do all the work for you.  With a little time and a couple of stirs of the wooden spoon, they melt into a nice slightly chunky texture.

To one batch, I added a couple of handfuls of the tart local cranberries I had leftover from Thanksgiving.  Somehow adding cranberries makes the applesauce seem less like kids’ food and more like the kind of thing that is just perfect with a maple scone on a weekend morning before the hustle and bustle starts.  Of course, applesauce is also the quintessential kid food.  Even though the Bean eats more like an adult foodie than a toddler, she’s always especially happy to have applesauce served up at any meal.  In fact, I’m about to warm some up to pour over our overnight oatmeal pancakes for breakfast. If I add copious amounts of coffee, I might be able to tackle the tree, some decorating and a little online holiday shopping.

apple-maple jam

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

As I mentioned in my last market report, I bought twenty pounds of apples last month.  I’m still working my way through them as fresh apples or baked in crisps, but part of the reason I got so many was to preserve some of them.  On Sunday, I turned nine of them into apple-maple jam. 

Apple-Maple Jam

9 medium apples, chopped (3-4qts)
2.5 c turbinado sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t nutmeg
1 c maple syrup

This made 4 1/4 pints of very thick jam.

I cooked the apples, sugar, and spices until the apples were soft (adding them gradually, as they squished enough to fit more in the 3qt pot), then pureed them, added the maple syrup, and then canned the result in a boiling water bath.  The sugar, I think, is only important if you want to have chunks of apple suspended in jelly--I didn’t peel the apples, and I wanted a spreadable jam, so I could probably have left it out.  (If you do want apples in jelly, you may well want something closer to the 6 c of sugar called for in the original recipe.) Alas, the only local ingredients in my jam were the apples themselves, but you could easily use local syrup, skip the sugar, and get only your spices from far away.

Even When You Think You Have Nothing, You’ve Got Something

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Some of my favorite recipes aren’t really recipes at all: they are desperate explorations of a seemingly empty refrigerator or pantry.  Determined to make something, we pull out whatever we have and find a way to pull it together.  Sometimes this results in disasters (my sweet-potato gnocchi being the most recent example), but more often it’s a miraculous transformation.  These accomplishments are doubly pleasing: we feel frugal for not wasting food we have nor purchasing anything new, and we feel particularly creative for doing what we wouldn’t have thought possible an hour before.  This morning, determined to make breakfast (my wife loves breakfast), my wife pulled out of our empty fridge an apple, leftover bourbon cranberries, and walnuts.  Using a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Feast as a guide, she created these delicious muffins.  One more thing - my wife loves to make baked goods as guilt-free as possible without sacrificing flavor, so feel free to sweeten or fatten these as you like.

Apple, Cranberry, Walnut Muffins
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups flour (I used a combination of spelt and whole wheat pastry)
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup wheat germ
pinch salt
½ cup yogurt
½ cup honey
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup milk
1 egg
¾ cups whole cranberry dressing
1 apple, finely diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine ¾ cups of the walnuts with the flour, baking powder, wheatgerm and salt in large bowl. 

In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, honey, canola oil, milk, and egg.  Add cranberries and apple. Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine. 

Spoon mixture into prepared large muffin tins. Chop remaining nuts more finely and combine with brown sugar.  Sprinkle onto muffin tops.

Bake for 20 minutes.

No Local Pancetta - Yet

Saturday, December 01, 2007

I think every Italian cookbook published has a version of Carbonara, and at least have of them claim to be “authentic.” Since the recipe has never been codified, I am not sure how that is possible.  This is one I’ve changed over time, adopting various proportions of ingredients and different techniques while dropping others.  One of the most helpful recipes was Nigella Lawson’s.  To get a creaminess, she suggests combining the egg and cheese before adding them to the cooked pasta.  Rather than pancetta in this dish, I have used Meadow Run Farm’s Cottage Bacon.  It’s lower in fat and has a smoky flavor, so I won’t be substituting it for pancetta very often, but here it works.  I can compensate for the loss of fat with olive oil, and the smoky flavor somehow makes it more like the “breakfast” pasta (or hangover pasta, as Mario Batali claims) it is in Italy in my mind.  This is not when we eat Carbonara (mostly a lunch dish here), but I still like the idea.  I also use the bacon sparingly, as the smoky flavor is rather strong.  If you were to go back to using pancetta, you’d probably use quite a bit more. 

Spaghetti Carbonara

1 lb. Severino Spaghetti
1/3 cup Meadow Run Farm Cottage bacon, cut into strips
4 oz. Hendricks’ Dairy Parmesan, grated (or more or less to taste)
4 eggs (preferably Meadow Run Farm), scrambled
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Put a large pot of water on to boil.  Once it boils, salt it aggressively and turn it down to a simmer. (Well-salted pasta water is essential to good pasta.  Also, I like to the sauce or “condiment,” as it is referred to in Italian, almost done before I put the pasta in to cook.) Add the bacon to a cold pan (a wide-bottomed, shallow pan big enough to hold the pasta) with some olive oil (enough to film the bottom of the pan).  Slowly heat the bacon to render the fat.  Once the bacon is crispy, remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon.  Lower the heat (if necessary) to medium-low and add the onions.  Allow them to really cook, to soften, grown golden and sweet.  This will take a good ten minutes if not more.  Once the onion is cooked, reduce the heat again and bring the pasta water back up to a hard boil; the, add the pasta.  While the pasta is cooking, stir together the egg and cheese until they are well incorporated.  Cook the pasta until it is slightly undercooked (this is a matter of taste, as I prefer a firmer pasta) to your judgment.  Remove the pasta from the water, reserving approximately one cup of the pasta water (which should be beautifully clouded and salty), and add the pasta to the pan with the cooked onions and toss to coat with the oil and onions.  Next, add the egg-and-cheese mixture and parsley, tossing the pasta and parsley to coat and slowly cook the eggs.  The eggs should cook and the cheese should melt into a nice sauce, with bits of onion and parsley suspended in it.  If you need additional liquid, add some of the reserved pasta water.  Serve with additional cheese and freshly cracked pepper. 

A Wave of Selfishness

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The hordes left yesterday, and lovely though they all are (T-Day at Mom and Dad’s house was for 16), it is nice to wake up Sunday morning and eat JUST FOR YOU!  M slept while I made myself a quiet, local breakfast.  I had two Morningstar Farm eggs scrambled with a little local thyme, as well as non-local rice milk, salt, and pepper.  I had a couple of tomatoes which we canned from a local pick-your-own farm this summer (the photo above is from when we canned them in late summer).  Finally I threw a few local lima beans and corn from our freezer on to steam, and topped them with non-local salt and balsamic vinegar.  Aaaahhh…

Savory Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Friday, November 23, 2007

Local vegan for Thanksgiving:  so good!  That’s because I’ve been hoarding sweet potatoes and shallots from my CSA share since September. 

I found that the most efficient way to deal with the abundance of produce each week was to preserve whatever preserved easiest, so more often than not, each week’s potatoes and onions were put in the dark.  My stockpile of sweet potatoes and shallots finally met the light of day on Thanksgiving morning as Jason and I created a smash for our vegan dinner with friends later that night.

While pulling the recipe together, my only objective was to stear clear of the traditional sugary and sticky sweet potato recipes.  One of the most valuable lessons eating locally has taught me, is that simply is the very best way to cook and enjoy vegetables.  Local food just tastes better; there’s little reason to doctor it up with loads of other ingredients.  Think I’m overstating?  Do a test of your own.  A bite of local sweet potato vs. a bite of store-bought sweet potato.  No contest.  Be sure to note the incredible color difference while you’re at it, too!

Additionally, always considering a local vegan diet when preparing meals, things like marshmallows and white sugar don’t please either side.  In avoiding a lot of ingredients, shallots and thyme seemed like a great way to impart a bit of simple savory loveliness into our dish.

Savory Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8

4 pounds of sweet potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled and quartered (Blooming Glen Farm CSA crop share - 5 miles)
1/4 pound of shallots, chopped (Blooming Glen)
1 tablespoon dried thyme, crushed (Blooming Glen)
1 tablespoon olive oil (not local)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (not local)
1/2 cup soy milk (from Westsoy - 91 miles)
1/4 cup vegan buttery spread (from Earth Balance - 117 miles)

Add sweet potatoes to boiling stockpot and cook for 15 minutes or until tender.  While the potatoes are cooking, heat oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and thyme to the oil and cook five minutes or until soft and fragrant.  Drain potatoes, score skins (so they don’t get caught in your masher) and smash.  Stir in two-thirds of the shallot mixture, soy milk and Earth Balance.  Serve with shallots and thyme mixture sprinkled on top.

On top of being delicious, the simple ingredients mean super quick preparation.  We had this in a serving dish and packed up in under 30 minutes.  Maybe I should have started this post with “Local vegan for Thanksgiving:  so good, so fast and so easy!”

Thanksgiving Rundown

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew.  (And it was fabulous not having to get my house ready for the meal!) My sister-in-law and I split up the cooking, and our delicious dinner ended up having quite a few local components.  Here’s the rundown of the menu:

· local turkey with stuffing and gravy

· mashed white & sweet potatoes

·

honeyed lime-ginger cranberry sauce (wildflower honey and white & red cranberries were local)

· garden & local vegetable roast:  golden and chiogga beats from our garden, carrots from our garden plus a few red ones from the Fair Food Farmstand, turnips from Livengood’s organic farm, and red onions from the Fair Food Farmstand roasted with garden rosemary, thyme and marjoram, local butter, olive oil and salt & pepper

· salad with local hothouse lettuce, pomegranates, toasted pecans and a creamy dressing with Hendrick’s parmesan

· cabbage casserole – a creamy and rich family favorite

· pumpkin and butternut squash pie

· pecan diamonds

· 2005 Chamboursin from Blue Mountain Vineyards

It was a bountiful meal for just four adults (and four young kidders).  Now onto using the beet greens and leftover cranberries. Does the cooking never end?

Turkey Day Challenge: Pumpkin creme brulee

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The other day at lunch with Lauren, I was lamenting over my inability to get the consistency of some pumpkin creme brulee just right.  It’s something I’ve been borderline obsessive-compulsive over ever since I roasted those pie pumpkins that came in my CSA share last month.  After another test run, I perfected it - the perfect creme brulee for my 100 Mile Thanksgiving.  The bulk of the ingredients are locally grown - eggs, cream, pumpkin, and maple sugar.

So what was the issue that stymied my efforts?  I’m pretty sure it was the fresh pumpkin puree.  If you’ve ever made a pumpkin pie, you’ve probably dealt with canned pumpkin puree.  It’s thick, like a paste.  Fresh puree is far different.  It’s a little watery.  Sure, I could have cooked it down to get a thicker paste, but what’s the point?  I’d rather do a little experimenting!

Here’s the recipe -

2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch ginger
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup fresh pumpkin puree
1/2 c. sugar
maple sugar for topping

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Heat the cream and spices in a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk it every now and then until it boils.  Remove from heat and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Combine the yolks with 1/2 cup sugar. Stir with a fork until light in color and the sugar is mixed in.

Pour a little bit of the cream into the yolk/sugar mixture. Whisk well.  Pour a little more of the cream into the yolk/sugar mix.  Keep whisking.  Continue until all the cream has been incorporated. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla.

Place 4 6-ounce ovenproof ramekins in a large roasting pan. Fill the ramekins with the pumpkin mixture. Place the roasting pan on the center shelf of the oven. Carefully pour water into the roasting pan, being careful not to get any into the ramekins. Add enough water to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 45 minutes until the custard is set but still jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and cool. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Note: the original recipe calls for a baking time of 25 to 35 minutes.  I suspect this would work if you use canned puree or your oven runs much hotter than mine.

Sprinkle a thinnish layer of maple sugar over the tops of the brulees. Use a pastry torch to brown the sugar; or, place the ramekins on a baking sheet under a broiler about 4 inches from the heat until the tops brown and bubble, about 1 to 3 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes and serve.

What an excellent dessert spread we’ll have at Thanksgiving this year - pumpkin creme brulee and apple cake!

Fruit of the Gods

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Persimmons have long been known as the food of the gods.  The fact that the three that I purchased at the Fair Food Farmstand this week came from someone named Giovanni who grows these luscious fruits, along with figs, in his backyard in Philadelphia only makes them seem more magical.  I couldn’t resist the beautiful basket sitting on the counter.  And while I’ve tasted persimmons before, this was my first experience handling the soft fruits them and cooking with them.  Now I can add them to the amazing list of local foods that are in season in autumn.

For three days the persimmons sat lined up on my counter while I tried to decide how best to use them.  This morning I remembered a recipe I saw in the November/December issue of Hobby Farms for persimmon pudding, and I decided to give it a go (with the Bean’s help, of course).

First, you cut the fruits in half, remove the seeds and core and scoop the jelly-like pulp out.  Then you mash it up. This is where the Bean’s expert toddler mashing skills came in handy, all the while saying “P is for Persimmon!” over and over.  After that, it’s basic baking ingredients and an hour in the oven.

Persimmon Pudding/Cake
From Hobby Farms Magazine (Nov/Dec 2007)

1 c. persimmon pulp
1 egg
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar (the recipe called for 1 cup, but I think 1/2 cup was more than enough with the sweet fruit)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 T. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325.  Stir together persimmon pulp, egg, milk, melted butter, vanilla and salt. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon; fold into the persimmon batter.  Pour into a buttered 1/2 quart casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes until set and lightly browned.

The result was actually more cake than pudding.  Name aside, it had the unmistakable yet subtle taste of persimmon and tasted terrific with a cup of coffee.

Three questions occurred to me while baking this:  what’s the best source for local butter that’s reasonably priced for baking?  How can I use the rest of the can of sweetened condensed milk? What else is Giovanni growing in his little garden of paradise?

Turkey Day challenge: roasted potatoes with watercress yogurt sauce

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Every now and then I like to skip mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner and serve potatoes in some other way.  I know it’s practically sacrilege to say that, but it’s true.  A favorite around here are roasted potatoes with yogurt watercress dressing.

If you’re into Green Goddess salad dressing (which I am), you’ll probably like the dressing - it’s very similar.

1.5 c. yogurt
1 c. watercress, stems removed
1/3 c. mayonnaise
6-7 scallions, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Whirl it all together in a blender until smooth and Bob’s yer uncle.  Er...it’s done, is what I mean.  Refrigerate the sauce for 30 minutes, or until your potatoes are roasted.  I like to use the goat yogurt from Shellbark Hollow Farm and the scallions and mint are local.  Alas, it’s a little late in the season to find fresh, local basil and watercress.

Lancaster Farm Fresh provided the small red potatoes I used for roasting.  Just coat them in good olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper, and roast at 450 degrees for 35 minutes.  Drizzle with the watercress sauce (or, if you’re my husband, drown the potatoes in sauce) and eat ‘em up!

Chowdah

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

This corn chowder, made by M, is yet another good recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  It’s intended, I think, to use corn at its summer best, but by November, we’re on to the 14 quarts tucked in our freezer.  Frozen corn in soup always tastes the same to me as fresh (which statement is probably culinary sacrilege).  Thanks to my mother-in-law C for slicing and packing some portion of the corn while I was in the clink (the hospital) this summer. 

I’ve noted when an ingredient was local, and what form we preserved it in (everything is from pick-your-owns, our neighborhood Amish farmstand, or friends).  As usual, the olive oil and spices are not local, and neither is the lime juice.  Sometimes M and I make our own soy milk, but this one was store-bought.  In the photo, the apple juice is from a local farm, and the bread is from Baker Street in Chestnut Hill.

Corn Chowder

1 TB olive oil
1 medium-size onion, cut into ¼ inch pieces (local, frozen)
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) (local, frozen)
1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into half-inch pieces (local, fresh)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (just one if you like less heat) (local, frozen)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (local, dried)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (local, dried)
a few dashes of fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups broth or water (base was pureed local celeriac I made & froze into ice cube trays)
3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about five ears of corn) (local, frozen)
2 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and sliced in two half-inch chunks (local, fresh)
1 bay leaf
Pinch cayenne
juice of one lime
¼ cup plain soy milk
1 tablespoon maple syrup (local)

In stockpot sauté the onions, bell peppers, carrots, and jalapenos in the olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt; sauté 1 minute more.  Add the broth, corn, potatoes, bay leaf, and cayenne.  Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.  Uncover and simmer 10 minutes more or to let the liquid reduce a bit.

Remove the bay leaf and purée half the chowder either using a hand-held blender or by transferring half the chowder to a blender (or food processor), puréeing until smooth, and adding back to soup.  Add the lime juice to taste, and the soymilk and maple syrup, and simmer 5 more minutes.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes and serve.  Tastes even better the next day.

Dark Days: A Fungus Among Us

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Mushroom are plentiful right now.  There are just mounds of gorgeous mushrooms everywhere you look!  Living so close to Kennett Square (practically the Mushroom Capital of the World), we are especially lucky.  Some of the oyster mushrooms I’ve been seeing lately are unbelievable.

With so many mushrooms about, I’ve been feeling compelled to make something mushroomy.  So the other day I picked up two pounds of mixed mushrooms - cremini, shiitake, and white button - from the Fair Food Farmstand (I believe that’s Oley Mushrooms Farm).  Last night I was sitting around thinking about how to use them when it occurred to me that there are still a few servings of the gnocchi I made back in August in the freezer.

A scheme was hatched.  Gnocchi with mixed mushrooms it was!  And aside from the vermouth, olive oil, salt, and pepper, it was all made from local ingredients!

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
2 lbs mixed mushrooms, stemmed and thickly sliced (should be about 10 cups)
1 shallot, minced
1/2 of a white onion, minced
1/4 c. dry vermouth
1/4 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. chopped thyme
salt and pepper
About 2 lbs of gnocchi
3 Tbsp Hendricks Farms parmesan cheese, grated
3 Tbsp Otterbein Acres romano cheese, grated

Preheat the broiler.

Using a large, ovenproof skillet, heat oil and butter over high heat.  Add mushrooms, shallot, and onion.  Cook about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The mushrooms should be cooked down pretty well.

Add vermouth; cook until nearly all evaporated.  Add stock, cream, thyme, salt and pepper; bring to a boil.

While all this is going on, cook the gnocchi.  If you’re using homemade gnocchi, I recommend scooping them out of the boiling water just before they’re completely floating - most homemade gnocchi has a tendency to fall apart if it’s cooked for too long...so you want them just shy of cooked through.

Add drained gnocchi to the skillet, along with cheese.  Give it a good but careful stir and cook just long enough for the cheese to melt.

Put the skillet under the broiler for two or three minutes and serve immediately.

This is a super simple meal, and very homey and comforting.  The sauce is lovely and thick, perfect for sopping up with bread.

On a vaguely related note, I’m really interested in finding a mycologist or mycology club in the area.  I know most mushroom hunters don’t like to share the location of their hunting grounds (lest they give away the location of a stellar patch of morels or something), but I’m very interested in learning how not to die of fungus poisoning while hunting mushrooms.  Anj has also mentioned to me that she would be interested - does anyone know of a naturalist or some other resource that might be contacted for that purpose?

There is a Pennsylvania mushroom field guide available, but I have a deep fear of getting deathly ill if I pick the wrong mushroom.  Yet I am drawn to the idea of foraging and think finding edible mushrooms would be fun and rewarding.  Anyone have some ideas on where to get started?