Friday, November 24, 2017

Embracing the Casserole: Sweet Potato Gratin

I'm not usually one for casseroles, but I wanted to try an alternative to my usual twice-baked sweet potatoes.

Not everyone wants a whole half of a sweet potato, so this version allows folks to take the portion that they want and hopefully will decrease food waste.  It's also less labor intensive and takes up less space in the oven.

3 pounds sweet potatoes (I like garnet), peeled and sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter from Spring Hill
2 cup shallots, thinly sliced from Schaner Farm
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced, from Schaner Farm
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cream
1 cup whole milk
8 ounces gruyere cheese, grated

Melt butter in small skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and stir frequently until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add rosemary and cook 1 minute more. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Layer the sweet potato with the shallots in a 9x12-inch buttered pan, seasoning with salt & pepper as you go. Add cream & milk. Cover and bake until they soften, about 30 minutes. Top with cheese and bake uncovered a golden crust has formed, about 20 minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Goat cheese Cheesecake with Apple compote & Cajeta

I'm lucky enough to have friend that raises goats who will trade fresh goat milk for my backyard chicken eggs. I use the milk to make my own chevre (very easy - I just follow the instructions on the culture package I get here), cajeta, ricotta...

This Thanksgiving dessert is rich, not too sweet, and oh so wonderful.

Crust:
9 whole graham crackers
1 cup pecans
2 rounded tablespoons rapadura sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the graham crackers, pecans and sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. With the motor running, add the butter through the feed tube and process until the mixture just comes together. Butter the bottom and side of the pan. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, and bake until lightly golden brown and just set, about 8 minutes.

Filling:
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
15 oz chevre, at room temperature
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 large vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place the cheeses in the bowl of a stand fixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix until just incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Add the vanilla seeds, vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream and mix until just combined.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan.  Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake.  Bake until the sides of the cake are slightly puffed and set and the center still jiggles, about 55 minutes (40 for convection).

Turn the heat off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon and allow the cake to cook in the water bath for 1 hour.  Remove the cake to a baking rack and allow to cool to room temperature for 2 hours.  Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours until chilled through.

Serve with apple compote, drizzle with the cajeta and sprinkle with the remaining toasted pecans.

Apple Compote:
1 cup apple cider from Smit Farms
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
1 tablespoon butter from Spring Hill
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Smit Farms apples (granny smith, pink lady & fuji), peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced

Bring cider and sugar to a boil in a large saute pan over high heat and cook until slightly thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup. Stir in the butter until melted. Add the apples, vanilla, and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized and just soft.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

November in my garden

In San Diego, November is really my month to transition the garden from summer to fall. My tomatoes and passion fruit are still flowering and fruiting.


The chickens are molting and haven't been laying for weeks. Fire season is over (hopefully) and so far it's getting cooler. Will this month be hot or will it start raining? While we don't know yet, here are my gardening plans for this month:

Plan
Visit botanical gardens for ideas and research before planting.

Prep
Sharpen & oil tools.
Compost fallen fruit (or better yet, preserve it before it feeds the rats).
Rake out old mulch & dead leaves around non-native bushes and shrubs. Spread compost, keeping it away from the trunks.

Plant (as long as it's cooled down)
My hugelkultur beds are spent from tomatoes so I'll be sure to rotate in some nitrogen fixers and leafy crops:
artichokes (already came back from last year's plant), asparagus (maybe next year), beets, broccoli (definitely - I had broccoli for 6 months last year), brussels, cabbage, carrots, celery, cilantro, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radish, parsnips, garlic, wildflower seeds, natives, perennial herbs

Fertilize
Feed roses low-nitrogen fertilizer. (I've got a climber here I've been trying to rehab since roses are edible)

Water
Make sure garden receives an inch of rain (or make up the difference – water in morning). I'll also blast my fruit trees with water a couple times this month to help control ants, aphids, white fly & scale.

Prune
Lightly prune rose. Cut back blackberries. Trim back mulberry, guava and pepper tree. Now is the time before the birdies start to build their nests.

Harvest
guavas, passion fruit, pomegranates, calamondins, tomatoes, winter squash, basil, parsley, thyme, chives, lavender, lemon grass, rose geranium leaves