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.

Yorkshire Pudding

This is an English classic also known as popovers and usually cooked around a roast or in beef fat.  But after I became a vegetarian at 12 years old, my English grandmother, while she was concerned I wouldn't get enough protein, would always cook a few in muffin tins in oil for me.

3 tablespoon butter or oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon flour
½ tsp sea salt

Cut each tablespoon of butter into 4 equal pieces. Place each piece of butter in the 12 cups of a muffin tin. Place the muffin tin in a 450º preheating oven to melt butter (do not brown or burn!).

Whisk together eggs and milk. Whisk in flour and salt until well combined. Pour batter evenly into the hot muffin tin, each cup about half full.

Bake for 15 minutes (10 with convection). Lower heat to 350º and bake another 5-10 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12 popovers

Ginger Spice Cake

This wonderfully moist cake happens to be low-fat.  Applesauce makes a great fat replacer in many cakes or quick breads (such as carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin cake). Try making your own applesauce; I see local apple trees ripe for harvest.

1 cup applesauce (or persimmon or pumpkin)
½ cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs from your backyard or favorite farmer
2/3 cup rapadura sugar
1/3 cup oil
1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Mix together applesauce, molasses and baking powder. Add eggs and sugar and beat 3-4 minutes. Gradually beat in oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until combined.

Bake in greased and floured 9x9 pan at 325º for 40-45 minutes until it starts to pull away from the sides and a knife comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm with fresh seasonal fruit (I like persimmons or blackberries) or cranberry compote and whipped creme fraiche sweetened to taste with maple syrup.

Honey-Glazed Carrots with Thyme

I saw some beautiful carrots this week from Suzie's Farm and J.R. Organics Farm.  In general, the orange ones are a bit sweeter but the purple and red ones are just so beautiful.  I love purple vegetables but the color usually fades when cooking or pickling.  And the honey-glaze will make the orange color a little more brilliant (plus they taste really good!).

1½ pounds carrots, scrubbed well
1 tablespoon Spring Hill butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, destemmed, minced from Suzie's or the Schaners
2 tablespoons local honey (try a citrus variety)
sea salt from Salt Farm

Remove carrot tops and any scraggly tips. Cut on a diagonal about ½ inch thick (or leave tiny carrots whole). In a large skillet on high heat, boil a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) of water and add carrots. Cook until water has evaporated and carrots are slightly soft, about 5 minutes.

Add butter and melt; toss to combine. Add thyme and toss to combine. Add honey and toss to combine; cook until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Season with salt.

Makes about 8 servings

Winter Solstice Menu

trees release their leaves to prepare for new growth

The Winter Solstice is December 22nd this year.  I don't celebrate Christmas (way too commercial and material for me) but I'm happy for the opportunities to spend time with my family and friends.  Growing up, the English side of my family always had a large Christmas Eve celebration, which is the inspiration for much of this menu.

X-mas Eve when I was very young

The spread back then

Wassail
Honey Thyme Carrots
Sugarsnap Peas sauteed in Butter with Fresh Mint
Roasted Winter Vegetables
Yorkshire Pudding with Onion Sauce
Sauteed Mushrooms with garlic
Trifle of Ginger Spice Cake, Honey Vanilla Apple Compote, Persimmon Pudding & Maple Whipped Creme Fraiche topped with toasted pecans

Muffins for Breakfast

This morning we're making blueberry muffins with lemon zest (we like it real lemony so we use the zest of 2 good-sized lemons, which we have a ton of from my mom's friend).  Served with Schaner Farm pomegranate orange juice and scrambled eggs with chives from Suzie's Farm and a beautiful, flaky Murray River salt from Salt Farm that we picked up at the Little Italy farmers market yesterday.

Here's a basic muffin recipe (based on a Joy of Cooking recipe) that you can change seasonally...

1 cup buttermilk (or other dairy - see variations)
2 eggs
2/3 cup rapadura or evaporated cane sugar
3 oz melted butter or oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (we make our own)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1¾ cup fruit (we like to go pretty heavy on the fruit - fresh, frozen, or dried fruit of your choice
zest of 2 lemons (or lime, Buddha hand, orange, tangerine...), optional
2 teaspoons chia seed, optional
1 rounded tablespoon wheat germ, optional

1 rounded tablespoon ground flax seed, optional
sugar in the raw, optional

Whisk wet ingredients (buttermilk, eggs, sugar, butter & vanilla) together.  In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder & soda, salt).  Mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, then briefly stir in fruit or any other ingredients that suit your fancy.  If you like, sprinkle with big crystals of sugar.  Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before popping them out of the pan.

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins.

Variations

• Instead of buttermilk, use yogurt or sour cream (or use milk or cream and eliminate the baking soda)
• Try fresh shredded zucchini, carrot, or winter squash such as pumpkin; fresh chopped apple or persimmon; dried fruit, such as coconut, cherries, figs; or frozen berries.
• Decrease butter or oil to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of apple sauce or pumpkin puree
• Add a handful or 2 of chopped nuts (almonds, Chandler or red walnuts from Terra Bella Farm, pecans, macadamia - they grow locally)
• Add a teaspoon or so of your favorite spice with the dry ingredients (cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg...)
• Substitute some of another grain, such as cornmeal
• Add a handful of oats, hemp seed, chia seed, ground flax seed, and/or toasted wheat bran with the dry ingredients

Mushroom Soup

¼ cup olive oil or butter
½ ounce dried wild mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups hot water (save the mushroom liquid)
1 pound fresh white, cremini, or portobello mushrooms, chopped (save stems for stock)
2 medium onions or leeks, white & pale green parts, chopped (save dark green parts for stock)
1 large bulb fennel, chopped (leaves and stalks reserved for stock)
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, destemmed, chopped (save stems for stock)
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped (save stems for stock)
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup almond milk
seasalt
freshly ground black pepper
fresh parsley, chopped (save stems for stock)

Prep all your ingredients and then use scraps to make your own stock.

Sauté 2 tablespoons butter or oil & mushrooms in a wide pot on medium-high heat until the mushrooms releash their liquid and then start to brown, sticking to the pot.  Add the onion, fennel, 2 tablespoons of oil and cook, stirring until lightly caramelized. Add garlic, thyme & sage and cook a few more minutes. Add the mushroom liquid and stock; bring to a boil and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add the almond milk; puree (if you want it to be smooth) and season to taste. Garnish each serving with parsley.

Makes about 4 quart

Variations
Use celery instead of fennel.
Use cream or milk instead of almond milk.
Add 2 more cups of stock and 1 cup of wild rice, barley, or wheat berries while simmering.
Add a cup of wine after cooking garlic & herbs; simmer until most of the liquid evaporates before adding the rest of the ingredients.