Holiday Loaf

A new favorite!  

Based on a recipe from The Greens Cook Book (a long-time favorite), how have I never made this before?  I didn't know it's what was missing on our holiday table.  It took Tribute Pizza (another favorite) sharing how it's their favorite on the holiday table for me to seek the recipe out and adapt it:

3/4 c brown basmati rice, cooked
3/4 c walnuts or pecans, toasted
1/4 cup cashews, toasted
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 T butter
sea salt
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water
1 T fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
1 t fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 T fresh marjoram or rosemary leaves, chopped
1/2 t fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 c cottage cheese
6 oz grated cheese (gruyere, asiago, jarlsberg or your favorite cheese blend)

2 backyard chicken eggs, beaten

freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice (or reuse leftovers).  Finely chop the nuts.  Chop the soaked mushrooms and reserve the liquid for a later use.

Saute the onions in butter until translucent, season with salt and add the garlic, mushrooms, and herbs. Cook until any liquid released from the mushrooms is reduced.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.  Add nuts, rice, cheeses, egg, and pepper and mix to combine.  Pack into a small, buttered loaf pan and bake uncovered for about an hour at 375 degrees, until crusty and golden.  Allow to cool slightly to set before serving.

Serve with mushroom gravy or onion sauce.  It would also make a great neatloaf or veggie patty!

Double the recipe to bake in a standard loaf pan.

4-6 servings

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

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.

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

Not-Mooncakes, Not-Pumpkin Buttercup Pie

Okay, so originally this was an attempt to make super-blood-harvest-eclipsed mooncakes, but that turned out to be too ambitious for that already busy weekend.  So then I had copious amounts of filling sitting in the fridge for over a week, which turned out to be great, cuz some of the liquid evaporated out leaving a very thick puree.  Also, buttercups tend to be dense and more dry, and this one was a bit sweet. As for the rest of the puree, I'm freezing it for Thanksgiving.  Forever searching for the best pumpkin pie recipe, here's my latest:

Make the pie crust.  This would also be good with a graham cracker or ginger cookie pie crust.

1 & 1/4 lbs Buttercup squash from Solidarity Farm (will make about 1&1/2 cups roasted puree)

2/3 cups evaporated cane sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream

Make the filling:
Cut the squash in half, remove seeds and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees until they are tender and can be easily pierced with knife, about an hour. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin.  Add butter, sugar, spices & salt and puree. Cook to thicken or keep in your fridge for a few days with a slightly askew lids for the liquid to evaporate.

Stir in the eggs and sour cream.  Pour into a partially baked pie crust.

In an oven pre-heated to 350, bake until the center is not wobbly, about 45 minutes.

Of course, I'm serving it with heavy cream whipped up with a bit of maple syrup.

Winter Squash Stuffing

This year I plan to substitute the bread cubes with roasted winter squash cubes, to decrease the breads and increase the veggies and nutrient density on the table (and it just so happens this is gluten-free and dairy-free)...

about 1/4 cup olive oil
12 cups butternut/tahitian/acorn/your favorite winter squash, peeled and seeded, cut into ¾” cubes, from Suzie's, JR Organics, the Schaner's or Sage Mountain Farm
1 yellow onion, diced, from Schaner Farms
1 cup celery, diced
6 large garlic cloves, minced from the Schaner's
1 cup pecans, chopped from a friend of a friend's farm
1 cup fresh cranberries (or ½ cup dried)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 large green apple, diced, from Smit Farms
fresh chopped herbs (from Suzie's, the Schaner, or JR Organics):

1/4 cup parsley

2 tablespoons sage

1 tablespoon rosemary

2 tablespoons thyme
1 cup apple juice from Smit Farms
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

If you want to prep ahead of time, this much can be done the day before serving:

• On a baking pan, drizzle the cubed squash lightly with olive oil, season with sea salt, and toss to coat. Roast at 400° until they start to soften (not totally mushy)  and are golden, stirring occasionally, for about 30-45 minutes.  Set aside.
• In a large skillet, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, sage, thyme, rosemary and a sprinkle of sea salt and cook until the onions begin to soften. Add garlic and celery and cook a couple more minutes.
• Combine all ingredients - and place the mixture in a large baking dish rubbed with olive oil. 

On the day to be served:

• Cover and bake at 350° for about 30-45 minutes

Serves 12

Re-Planning Thanksgiving

I love cooking this meal that affords us the opportunity to spend time together in gratitude with family and dear friends. But I find that sometimes I miss out on some of that time because I'm very busy in the kitchen, while others might be playing games or enjoying conversations. Each year I vow to make next years' meal more simple, so I can have more time to relax with loved ones. And each year, I can't help myself but to cook all the elaborate favorites that keep me in the kitchen.

Last year I spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with my siblings in a cabin in the woods, celebrating a little early so we could be together (because as we grow older, our family expands, and Thanksgiving is spent at the homes of our respective in-laws). On Thanksgiving day I had a revelation as I watched my spouse's brother, a professional chef, leisurely put together a meal that he mostly prepped and cooked the day before.

Duh! Why haven't I thought of this? Why have I been so rigid in my plans to do almost everything the day of?

So now I'm re-thinking my recipes and re-planning my cooking schedule for the next time this (or any other elaborate meal I make for many others) gets cooked, which will allow me to actually enjoy the present moment, and be more relaxed and engaged with my family. Isn’t that the whole point?

If you have friends and family that enjoy working in the kitchen, make use of them! If someone asks, “Can I help?” say “Yes!” and find a task so they can share with the loving preparations for the meal. Or why not have a Thanksgiving potluck? Encourage folks to come whenever they like, bring an appetizer or their favorite holiday dish if they offer to bring something.

Another way to cut back on prep time? Make half the amount of food that you think you need. But what if we don't have enough? There will be enough. And if folks eat smaller portions, it is so much the healthier for them and the planet. Still, I'm terribly guilty of this, even after years of menu planning, so I always buy half of what I think I need and I continue to end up with plenty leftovers (which we love and eat the rest of the week).

So here's my game plan - 

A Week or More Ahead of Time:

• create a menu, assemble recipes and make a food shopping list
• gather or borrow any needed kitchen equipment, silverware, plates, and glasses
• purchase all non-perishables
• make cranberry sauce or compote (you could also freeze or can it)

The Weekend Before:

• buy perishable ingredients
• prepare the serving pieces, plates, flatware, glasses, etc
• iron cloth napkins and tablecloths, if you're into that sort of thing

2 Days Before:

• make salad dressings, sauces, gravy and marinades
• bake pies and desserts
• wash all vegetables
• most vegetables can be prepped and chopped
• caramelize onions

The Day Before:

• arrange furniture and set the tables
• assemble the stuffing and keep covered in fridge. And this year I plan to substitute the bread cubes with roasted winter squash cubes, to decrease the carbs and increase the veggies and nutrient density on the table
• Chop potatoes for the mashed potatoes (you could make them entirely but they come together really fast on the day of) and store in water
• whip up cream for desserts
• sweet potato dishes can be made up to the point of final baking
• breads and rolls could be made and par-baked, but I still think they are so wonderful made the day of.

Thanksgiving Day:

9am   Start the rolls.

11am  Prep fresh salad ingredients.

12pm  Form the rolls.

1pm  Bake the stuffing; make the salad.

2pm  As room in your stove top and oven permits: cook the mashed potatoes (for something extra special - yes, let's guild the lily - stir in grated cheese and 1 beaten egg per cup of potatoes, whip briefly and bake into a souffle until golden brown on top); roast or steam up pre-prepped vegetables; heat sauces and gravy; bake pre-prepped sweet potatoes. Finish and garnish all dishes except the rolls

3pm   Serve dinner and put the rolls in oven to be served hot. Give thanks & enjoy the bounty!

5pm  Make coffee and serve dessert. Make music & have fun!

Dia de los Muertos Lunch

After building an ofrenda for loved ones who have passed on, my family and I enjoyed a lunch honoring my great-great grandma Narcissa, grandpa, uncles and other family members who continue on in other forms and in us.

Tamales with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Black Beans

Romaine Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing, tomatoes, and toasted pepitas

Pomegranate Lemonade with Chia Seeds
I have pomegranates and lemons from friends.  Stir in 1-3 teaspoons or so of chia per cup of liquid and allow seeds to hydrate for at least ten minutes (but I prefer to let them fully hydrate overnight).

Cinnamon Apple Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting
I recently made goat cheese from fresh goat milk from another friend of mine.

Tamales
This recipe makes about 50 tamales so get together with friends or family and have a tamalada! We used my large canning pot with the canning rack flipped upside down at the bottom as a steamer.

corn husks (next summer I'm saving my corn husks cuz I can't find these organic):
Soak the corn husks in hot water for a couple hours.  Make sure they are completely submerged.

For the batter:
7 cups masa harina (you can find organic masa in the bulk section at OB People's)
4 1/2 cups hot filtered water
1 pound and 4 oz Spring Hill salted butter, softened
4 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups vegetable broth

Stir together the masa and hot water and allow to hydrate and cool.  Set aside.

I had to make this to two batches, half of the ingredients in each batch, in my stand up mixer but if you have an electric beater, you can do it all at once. On medium high speed, beat the salt and baking powder into the butter until well combined.  Beat in the masa for about 1 minute until light and fluffy.  On medium low speed, add 2 cups of the broth until well combined.  Test 1/2 a teaspoon of masa to see if it will float in cold water.  If not, beat until it does.  Then beat in the final cup of broth.

For the filling, whatever you like or have on hand (roasted anaheim chiles and cheddar, mushroom and goat cheese...):
4 large summer squash, quartered and sliced thin
4 large red bell peppers, sliced thin
2 medium red onion, sliced thin
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Saute the veggies a couple cups at a time in a tablespoon or two of olive oil until they start to soften.  Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

For each tamale, spread about 1/4 cup masa in a 4-inch square on a corn husk (or two overlapping if they're small), leaving about an inch and half uncovered on the top and bottom, and 3/4 inch on each side. In the center, spoon a couple tablespoons of filling down the middle of the masa.  Pull each side together, joining the masa with the filling in the center. 

There are many ways to tie tamales.  If I'm making a few different kinds of tamales, I'll fold each one a different way. Here's a few examples:

1. Fold the bottom and top corn husk towards the center, forming a small rectangular package.
2. Fold bottom up and leave the top open.
3. Tie each end.

Use strips of corn husk or string to bind your tamales so they don't come undone.  Add 2 inches of water to your pot, boil and reduce to a simmer. Line the bottom and sides of your steaming pot with extra corn husks and fill with your tamales standing upright. Steam for about an hour and a half.

Delicioso!

DIY Figgy Newtons & Preserved Figs

These will not mesh with the luau theme of my aunt's party this weekend,  but 'tis the season.  And if we can control ourselves from eating them all, here's what we'll bring:

Figgy Newtons
1 stick cold butter, cubed
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups fig preserves (recipe follows)

Drain figs from their syrup (I'm reducing the syrup to save for another recipe). Puree figs into a thick paste.  Return figs to stove and simmer, stirring, to a thick jam consistency.

In a large bowl, cream butter & sugar together.  Add egg, vanilla, and zest and combine.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until well combined.

Using lots of flour for dusting, roll out dough into long stripes about 3-4 inches wide, 1/4 inch thick.  Spread fig paste and fold dough in half lengthwise and seal dough by pressing together along the edges.  Cut into squares and bake on parchment on cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until cookies begin to brown.

Fig Preserves
2 cups filtered water
6 cups evaporated cane sugar
9 inches of cinnamon stick
a lemon, seeded, quartered, sliced thin
1/4 orange, seeded, sliced thin

8 cups (36 ounces) fresh figs from my mom's neighbor's tree, washed & destemmed

Combine water, sugar and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and add figs and citrus slices.  Cover and cook 45 minutes.

If not using right away, can by filling sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, add lids and rings (not too tight).  Boil jars for 15 minutes on a canning rack.  Remove from water bath and let sit, undisturbed overnight.

(adapted from HGTV recipes)

Khorasan Wheat Assignment: Part 1 - Grain Salad

A friend of mine gave me some khorasan wheat (an ancient large wheat variety, less tampered with by society than traditional wheat; so much so that they say some people with a wheat allergy might be able to eat this grain; you may know it by the brand name Kamut) and tasked me with cooking with it and coming up with some recipes.  The ultimate goal is dish (probably a grain salad) to be served to the masses at Cultivating Food Justice 2012 (a week of events April 28-May 5; more details coming soon).  No problem!  Sounds like fun!  I love being exposed to new whole, healthy foods.

This requires overnight soaking before cooking and a higher water to grain ratio (3-4:1) and longer cook time (like 40-60 minutes) so it needs some planning ahead.

I just made my first batch (I soaked about 1/3 cup of grains in about 1 cup water over night, brought it to a boil this morning and cooked it on a simmer with a pinch of sea salt for about 45 minutes. My intention was to make oatmeal-type hot breakfast cereal.

After cooking, the grains were still quite firm and chewy, which I liked but not for breakfast cereal. So I let them cool and turned them into a grain salad for lunch instead.  They cooked up to about a cup.  To this I added:

1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley from Suzie's Farm
1/3 cup chopped tomato (tomatoes are just starting to show up at the farmers markets and I actually have some ripe on a volunteer plant that I've mostly ignored)
1 tablespoon thinly sliced red onion from Schaner Farm
1 garlic clove, minced, also from the Schaner's
drizzled with Balsamic vinegar & Ensenada olive oil
a few pinches of sea salt
a crank of freshly ground pepper

...and tossed the ingredients together
...and enjoyed it quite a lot.

This grain is nutty and chewy, similar to a wheat berry.  Others might prefer it cooked with more water for a little longer so it is softer and less toothsome.  (I tend to like my food more al dente, less cooked, than others)

Stay tuned for more adventures in cooking with khorasan wheat...

Variations
Mix the cooked grain with your favorite salad ingredient combos.
Instead of tomato, try roasted winter squash.
Use the cooked grain instead of pasta in pasta salad or other grain salad recipes.

Or instead of khorasan wheat, try another cooked grain (wheat berries, bulgur, quinoa, millet, cous cous, rice...), chopped kale or lettuce for a green salad, pasta for a pasta salad, or croutons for a panzanella salad.

San Diego has Seasons? YES, We Do

Spring is my favorite season; it is a time of awakening, rebirth, renewal, and while the crocuses do not emerge from the snowy ground in San Diego (they did when I lived in Pennsylvania), we still have seasonality of the foods we grow.  San Diego berries are mostly absent for a few months in fall/winter, San Diego heirloom tomatoes are at their glorious peak in the end of summer, beautiful ranunculus and anemones have recently bloomed, and good San Diego corn, especially organic, is a rarity, even when it's "in season."  But we are very fortunate: our local farmers manage to grow an abundance of beautiful, flavorful fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers year round.  If you want to learn about San Diego's seasons, the farmers markets offer an excellent education.

Why Bother Eating Local and with the Season?

I buy foods locally and in season because I want to support the people that are tirelessly building a sustainable local food shed in San Diego with their blood, sweat and tears, often without much financial profit.  These folks are my champions, heroes and rock stars.

And yes, of course, there are some challenges to supporting our local seasons:

Everything is not always available (many things cannot be grown year-round, crops fail, weather effects how fast things grow, some items are more popular than anticipated and sell out, etc) – but this can be a beautiful thing!  We can anticipate and appreciate the beautiful foods that are in season!  We increase our creativity in kitchen.  We increase our health by increasing the diversity of foods we include in our diet, instead of sticking to the same routine of meals regardless of the season.

Also, small scale, locally grown produce may look less uniform, less consistent, or less “perfect” (but, to quote Joni Mitchell, give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, please!).  This is not to say they are less beautiful, by no means, usually quite the opposite (think purple carrots & romanesco cauliflower).  But each carrot is going to have a more unique size and shape, which makes them harder to transport and neatly stack in vast quantity on a grocery store shelf...And it may be a less familiar type of carrot.   
I relish and celebrate the diversity! But this is also a challenge for large scale prepped food operations (real world example: school cafeteria staff needed to be trained on how to prep a locally grown variety of broccoli).

Sometimes the locally grown is more expensive because small scale farming has higher labor costs (they use less mechanized harvesting, pay their workers a decent wage, less mono crops, use practices that are better for the land in the long run instead of making it easier to make a quick buck, grow varieties chosen for flavor instead of for ease of harvest, etc.).  I find it helpful to think that this is what good food SHOULD cost; think about why other food is so "cheap" (for starters - tax subsides and at the expense of our environmental and personal health).  And our country has, like, the cheapest food supply in the world (as a nation, we spend less than 10% of our disposable income on food).  Our bodies are literally made out of the food we eat.  Shouldn't it be a financial priority to build our bodies out of the best materials we can afford? (At the risk of sounding radical:) Maybe skip the cable tv and daily Starbucks?  I don't mean that as a criticism of those with cable and coffee (but you bought fair trade, right?), just to illustrate that we have a choice of where to spend our hard earned dollars.

Think of all the good we do when we spend our dollars supporting local organic produce: we help our environment by decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels and preserving our natural resources; we help create jobs for others; we keep our dollars circulating in our local community; we support a sustainable food system; we cultivate personal relationships with the people that grow our food – all while we eat the freshest, most beautiful foods available!

Think of the alternative: we buy a cheaper product that decreases our physical and spiritual health; we support businesses that poison our environment with toxic byproducts; we encourage businesses that consolidate wealth and power, pay their workers less than livable wages, use slaves, and have dangerous and toxic working conditions – we financially profit from the misery and suffering of others.

In this society we vote with every dollar we earn and every dollar we spend.  What world will you vote for?

(Or grow your own)

Arugula Salad with Seasonal Fruit & Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad has very similar ingredients to very popular farmers market Roots wraps...

Arrange on a plate:
a handful of arugula from Suzie's Farm (or spinach or spring mix or mizuna...)
a few pieces of thinly sliced red onion from Schaner Farm
in spring or summer: a couple of strawberries from Suzie's or JR Organics Farm, sliced
in fall or winter: several slices of apple from Smit Orchards
a tablespoon of walnut from Terra Bella Farm, halves or pieces, toasted
a tablespoon of Point Reyes blue cheese (or feta), crumbled
drizzle with...

Balsamic Vinaigrette
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (try Ensenada olive oil for something very special!)
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon or whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Wisk or blend ingredients together with an immersion blender.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Build Your Own Cheese Platter

Easy, fast, delicious and beautiful! Choose your favorite combinations from any of the following catagories:

Cheeses
Go with what you love, or ask your local cheese monger (Mary from Taste) to help you with your selections (which is always fun and you get to taste a bunch of lovely cheese). I like to choose 3 that go together somehow (maybe all from the same region) or I choose 3 that are completely different. My favorite is to have one soft, one hard, and one blue.

Breads & Crackers
Bake your own or buy local. Choose an assortment or just one type. I almost always choose a fresh crusty baguette to slice up, maybe a seeded baguette to pair with a mild cheese. 

Fruit
Fresh, dried, jammed or compoted, pick fruit that pairs well.  I tend toward fresh, so right now that's dates, apples and persimmons.  I would avoid citrus, but maybe that's just me.

Nuts
My favorites are walnuts from Terra Bella Farm or almonds from Smit Orchards.

Honey
If you like, drizzle over cheeses, nuts, or fruit. Or put it in a little bowl for dipping. I love local honey and there is a lot to choose from.  Right now, I'm loving the buckwheat honey in People's Co-op bulk section.

Roasted Garlic
Lovely to include if it goes with the cheeses.  Lately, I get my garlic from Schaner Farm.  I especially love roasted garlic with soft cheese such as brie or Nicolau goat cheese (a recent favorite).

A Few Examples

• triple cream brie & cranberry compote wrapped and baked in a pie crust
• goat chevre rolled in chopped parsley and chives with roasted garlic
• english stilton, cotswold & derby cheeses, with toasted walnuts, fresh figs (quartered) and local wildflower honey
• saint-andré, winchester gouda & point reyes blue cheeses with pear, raspberries, cashews and local orange blossom honey

Arrange your selections on a pretty platter or a wood or stone serving board. I start with the cheeses arranged toward the middle, I slice thin and fan out hard fruit or pile berries in between the cheese, place the nuts so they might cascade down the cheese or fruit, then lightly drizzle honey over a bit of the fruit and nuts. Finally, I fan out sliced baguette or crackers in a circle around or alternatively, serve in a basket lined with a cloth napkin. Don’t forget to include a cheese knife, preferably one for each cheese.

Not my Grandmother's Trifle

My take on trifle this winter is not so traditional but it was delicious.  I spooned persimmon pudding into the bottom, added a few chunks of ginger spice cake, topped with a few spoonfuls of honey vanilla apple compote, then whipped up some Strauss heavy cream sweetened with maple syrup, and topped with a few pieces of toasted pecans.  It was well received and can be made well in advance of serving.  The cake and compote can be made a few days ahead of time, the pudding, whip cream and assembly up to 24 hours before serving.  You can assemble it in a large container for multiple servings, but a big spoonful of glop isn't very pretty on the plate, so I choose to layer mine in small clear glass cups or jars for individual servings.

Winter Fruit Salad

I'll be having brunch tomorrow with my mom, siblings, and extended family.  After wishing a happy holidays to my farmers today, here's what I'll bring to share:

a few tangerines from the Schaners, peeled and segments pulled apart
a few fuyu persimmons from Heritage Farm, cut in half and sliced thin
a fuji apple, a pink lady apple, a century apple pear, all from Smit Orchards, all cored and sliced thin
1/2 pound of medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
seeds of a pomegranate from the Schaners (here's a kitchen tip on removing the seeds)
local honey, optional

Toss the fruit pieces together and serve drizzled lightly with local honey.

Persimmon Pudding

A highly experimental recipe but it worked!  This was part of my take on trifle for my winter solstice menu, which turned out beautifully (I need to get better about taking pictures). You generally find 2 varieties of persimmon at the markets: fuyu (short, squatty shape) and hachiya (more oblong, teardropish shape). 

fuyu

The fuyu you can eat firm and are a bit sweeter when they are just a bit soft).  I do not recommend eating hachiya unless it is very, very ripe, super soft, and jelly-like, almost translucent.  If it's not, the hachiya is very astringent, which I find extremely unpleasant (but if you don't know what I'm talking about you may want to try it just for the experience). 

hachiya

3 hachiya persimmons
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups half & half (or milk and cream)
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar

Scrape the soft flesh out of the persimmons and puree until smooth, yielding about 1 1/2 cups, and set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat milk/cream/half & half and sugar on low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and milk is steaming (do not boil).

While the milk is heating, in a separate boil, briefly beat the egg yolks with a whisk.  After the milk is steaming, very slowly whisk half of the milk into the yolks, then whisk the mixture all together in the saucepan.  Add the persimmon puree and cook, stirring occasionally for another 10 minutes to thicken.  If you like a very smooth texture, pour through a fine strainer.

Serve warm or cool with ginger spice cake, maybe with some whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup and toasted pecans.

Variations
Add 1/2 a vanilla bean to the milk or cream while heating, then remove pod and scrape seeds into the milk.
Add a pinch of cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg with the persimmon.
Use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar.

Seasonal Fruit Crisp

One of my very favorite desserts.  Easy enough for any day, delicious enough for fancy events.  Or maybe even a special breakfast.

Crisp Topping
6 tablespoons butter or nut oil (or a mix of the 2)
¾ cup rapadura sugar
2/3 cup flour
½ cup rolled oats and/or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans...)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon chia seed, optional
1 tablespoon ground flax seed, optional

Fruit Filling
5 cups of seasonal fruit (today I'm using granny smith apples from Smit Orchards, halved, cored, and sliced)
½ tablespoon rapadura or evaporated cane sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, lemon zest, other other citrus or spices of your choice

Mix crisp topping ingredients together until crumbly and set aside.  Cut fruit (if needed) about ¼ inch thick.  Toss with sugar and spices of your choice.  Arrange in a buttered or oiled loaf pan or casserole dish and cover with topping.  Bake at 375º until golden and bubbly about 60 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream!  Can be baked in small ramekins for individual servings.

Variations
Awesome with stone fruit, berries, rhubarb...
Toss fruit with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of juice

Tuscan Winter Vegetable Soup

This recipe is based on my take on minestrone, winterized (by what is available at the farmers market in general and Suzie's farm stand particularly) for these chilly days. Leave the skin on if you use kabocha or delicata squash. 

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
½ cup diced fennel
½ cup diced carrot, beet, or turnip
1 cup winter squash, chopped into ½" cubes
¾ cup (cooked, canned or fresh) cannellini beans
¾ cup any type of bush beans with an edible pod (green bean, yellow wax, dragon's tongue...), remove tough end, chopped on a diagonal in 1" pieces
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup kale, dandelion or mustard greens, chopped
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
red pepper flakes

Sauté the onion, fennel, garlic, herbs and in oil in a large pot on medium heat until they start to soften. Add carrots, squash and bit of salt and cook until they start to soften. Add beans, greens, and stock, bring to a boil, and simmer with lid askew until the squash is soft, about 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Garnish with fresh parsley and/or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Carrot Ginger Soup

It took me forever to come up with a carrot soup recipe that suited my tastes - the surprising addition of salsa is what finally did it for me.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, coarsely chopped (from Schaner Farm)
2½ teaspoon ginger, fresh, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced (from Schaner Farm)
2 cups carrots, chopped (from J.R. Organics Farm or Suzie's Farm)
¼ cup salsa
3 cups vegetable stock
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Sauté the onion in the oil in a pan on medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger; cook another 2 minutes. Add carrots and salsa; cook for 1 minute. Add broth, bring to a boil, and simmer covered until carrots are soft, about 20 minutes. Puree and season to taste.

Garnish with crema, sour cream, cilantro, onions sprouts or microgreens

Serves 4-6

Pumpkin Praline Pie with a Ginger Cookie Crust

I'm still searching for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe.  Last year, I used the recipe from Chez Panisse Desserts, which was quite good but not perfect.  Here's my attempt this year (very unconventional and a bit more complex):

Crust
about 9 ginger molasses crisps
5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons rapadura sugar

Grind the cookies in a food processor to a fine crumb and measure 1&1/2 cups.  Melt the butter and stir in the crumbs and sugar.  Press firmly in the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.

Filling
2-3 small pie pumpkins
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean
3 eggs, beaten

Cut pumpkins in half, deseed, and bake, cut side down, for minutes at 400, until soft when pierced. When cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh and add 2 cups to a food processor.  Puree with rapadura, spices and salt.  In a small pot, cook puree at low heat to evaporate off some moisture, stirring in the cream.  Remove from heat, allow to cool a bit and whisk in the vanilla and eggs quickly.

Pour the hot filling into the crust and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the top of the pie just starts to crack.

Topping
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
pinch sea salt
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

While the pie is baking, mix together the topping ingredients (except for the sugar). When the pie just starts to crack, top with the topping mixture, sprinkle the sugar over the top, and bake for another 10 minutes.