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.

Honey Vanilla Apple Compote

I was planning a pear compote but none were to be had at the farmers market, but that's why seasonal cooking is so fun; it's like your own personal iron chef ("and the secret ingredient is...")

4 apples (a variety that bakes well, such as granny smith), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
juice of 1/2 meyer lemon from the Schaners
1 tablespoon Spring Hill butter
1/2 vanilla bean, cut length-wise in half
1/2-2/3 cup local honey

In a bowl, toss the apple slices with the lemon juice and set aside.  In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat.  Scape the vanilla seeds into the butter and add the pod, too.  Add the lemoned apples and stir to coat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened but still keep their shape, about 10 minutes.  Add the honey and cook a few more minutes.  Remove the vanilla bean (give it a gentle rinse, allow it to dry, and add to your vanilla). Voila!

Serve warm over ginger spice cake with whipped cream or creme fraiche.  Have any left over?  Save it for the morning and stir it into oatmeal.

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

Tomato Soup

Based on a recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (which is like my bible)...

2 tablespoons Spring Hill butter or olive oil
3/4 cup onion from Schaner Farm, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, celery, or fennel chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
pinch of ground clove
a 28 ounce glass jar of tomatoes (strained, crushed, diced, whole or stew your own!)
3 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 cup of milk of your choice, optional (cream, goat, soy, nut...)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat and saute onion, celery, basil and clove until the vegetables are soft and start to brown.  Add the tomato and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with lid askew.  Puree until smooth, stir in milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches, or garnish with your favorite crackers and/or grated cheese (mozzarella, jack, smoked cheddar from Spring Hill...)

4-6 servings (yields 7 cups of soup)

Sugarsnap Pea Soup

This was a what-do-I-have-to-make-soup-right-now recipe and it turned out awesome...

1&1/2 tablespoons Spring Hill butter or oil
1/4 of an onion from Schaner Farm
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon rosemary from Suzie's (dried up from Thanksgiving)
1 potato from Sage Mountain Farm, quartered and sliced thin
1/2 cup white wine leftover from Thanksgiving
5 cups fresh sugarsnap peas from Suzie's, tough ends removed, chopped
sea salt
4 cups vegetable stock
freshly ground pepper

In a large pot, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter on medium high heat and saute 1 cup of chopped pea pods, just for just a couple minutes and set aside.  Melt the rest of the butter in the pot and saute the onion and herbs until soft.  Add the potatoes and wine, bring to a boil and simmer until most of the liquid have evaporated.  Add 4 cups of peas, hot stock and a bit of sea salt, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes.  Puree until smooth, season to taste, add that 1st cup of sauteed peas and garnish with buttered croutons.

Serves 4