Yummy Roots and Greens

I thought I would post a few recipes for some of our abundance.  Right now the cabbage, beets, and kale are amazing.  I never would have thought that fresh beets would be so popular in Richmond. I need to pickle some soon, as the season gets busy, and I often run out of time. We have a customer picking up two dozen bunches from us tomorrow, and I have a feeling that is what she will be doing! I hope to try at least one new recipe every week this summer, and post my results. This week I am going to make the creamy coleslaw, and try the salting method. I am even going to make fresh mayonnaise from our eggs. Can't wait!

Creamy Cole Slaw Adapted from "The Best Recipe" by Cook's Illustrated

1/2 head cabbage, shredded

2-3 carrots, grated

2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1 walla walla onion, chopped, or more to taste

1/2 cup mayo or sour cream, or a mixture

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Black Pepper

Toss cabbage and carrots with salt in colander set over medium bowl. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Rinse the cabbage/carrots. Drain and dry with towels. Add other ingredients.

If you try this salting method, you won't get runny coleslaw! They took 8 paragraphs explaining why, I'll spare you the science behind it all.

 
Balsamic-Dressed Roasted Beets Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005

A simple sweet-and-sour dressing complements earthy roasted beets. Its bright flavors make this dish a fitting accompaniment for roasted meats.

6 medium beets (about 2 1/2 pounds)

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar1 tablespoon sugar

1 star anise

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.

Leave root and 1 inch of stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Wrap beets in foil. Bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool beets to room temperature. Peel and cut each beet into 8 wedges.

Combine juice, vinegar, sugar, and star anise in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 10 minutes). Discard star anise. Combine beets, vinegar mixture, salt, and pepper; toss well.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)


Creamy White Beans with Greens Adapted from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson

½ pound medium or large dried white beans, cooked

3 tablespoons olive oil or clarified butter

Fine grained sea salt

1 onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ baby chard, washed and roughly chopped, or 1 bunch kale, cut into wide ribbons

Fresh ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Freshly grated Parmesan for topping


Drain the beans, then heat the oil or butter over med-high heat in the widest skillet available. Add the beans to the hot pan in a single layer. If you don’t have a big enough skillet, just do the sauté stop in two batches or save the extra beans for another use. Stir to coat the beans with the oil/butter, then let them sit long enough to brown on one side, about 3 or 4 minutes, before turning to brown the other side, also about 3 or 4 minutes.

The beans should be golden and a bit crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Salt to taste, then add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until the onion softens.

 Stir in the greens and cook until just beginning to wilt. Remove from the heat and season to taste with a generous dose of salt and pepper.

 Drizzle with a bit of top-quality extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

So....How long do you think it will take a 30lb turkey to cook? FOREVER. Chris traded a deer for a turkey. This came from Empress Farm, who vends with us at one of our markets. They raise poultry. I think this big guy was destined for Thanksgiving, and got a few more months of life. It has been washed, seasoned, and stuffed. It would not fit in my oven on the roasting rack, so it is just sitting down in the pan. I have my oven on the bottom rack, and it only had about 1 inch clearance.

One of my goals for 2010 is to eat more locally and help support some of the local businesses. I know how important that is now. Funny how things become ever so clear when your own livelihood depends on it. I also liked that we could trade. We have so much venison, and I am ready for turkey again. I will post how the final product comes out, but it may be tomorrow (before its ready).

I hope I can also spend more time in my kitchen this year. My 8 year old is showing a real interest in cooking. She even chopped the onion and carrots used in the bird. It was nice to use carrots fresh out of our ground.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all our friends, families, and customers. What an interesting year 2009 was, and what plans we have for 2010. We are excited with some of the challenges and changes for the upcoming year. Mostly with vending under our new farm name "Deer Run Farm", and bringing new and interesting things to our customers. It is seed ordering time, and we have enjoyed sitting down with all our new catalogs, and will hopefully talk to our big seed rep soon.

I get so excited over new seed catalogs. Some of the additions we will have this year are garlic, asparagus, and hopefully figs! I also want to try to pasture some chickens this year for our own consumption. This will be a trial for us. We have wonderful pasture land here, and need to put a little of it to work for something other than hay. I also hope to document the "goings on" of the farm here on the Blog a little better this year. I'm slightly IT challenged, but am learning as I go. Once again Happy New Year to all, and we wish a healthy and prosperous 2010 to all.