beth.bader's blog

Another recipe for your farm newsletter. This is the last one for the season; hopefully Beth will contribute to the Small Farm Central blog in other ways throughout the winter.

In review, here are a few of her recipes from the season:
Summer Tomato Recipes
Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce
Salad with Cantaloupe, Pecans and Honey Viniagrette
Apple-sage Roasted Chickenzilla & Honey-Sage Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
Sweet Potato, Gouda and Herb Gratin
The Versatile Mashed Sweet Potato
Fall Harvest Soup
Red, Gold and Orange Festive Salad
Coconut-Curry Pumpkin Soup
Weekend Recipe - Honey-Glazed Turnips with Shallots
Vanilla-Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan-Brown Sugar Crust

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A few beets are all that's left of my most recent CSA bag, but for those who are just ahead of the last frost, here's a great fall-into-winter recipe for the final cruciferous bounty of the season.

Cauliflower, Chard and Leek Gratin
1 medium head of cauliflower, florets only
1 bunch of chard, cleaned, stem removed and chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts only, washed well and chopped
1/4 cup chopped shallot
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
1/4 cup cream
1-3/4 cup 2 percent milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup grated Grana Padano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower until tender crisp, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, saute the leek and shallot for a few minutes until just starting to turn golden. Add the chard and saute until just wilted. Mix with the cauliflower in a roasting pan.

Make the bechamel. Start by melting the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and whisk until it begins to turn golden and smells "nutty" and no longer like raw flour. Add the cream and milk slowly, whisking as you go to keep it smooth. Add the nutmeg. Whisk over low heat until it thickens. Add the Grana Padano cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce evenly over the cauliflower mixture. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until the top turns golden and it is heated through. You can also do this with broccoli.

http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com
http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Another seasonal recipe for your weekly farm newsletter!

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For Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup pecans
3 tbs. Brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 tsp. Salt
4-5 tbs. Ice water

For Filling:
1 and 3/4 lbs. Sweet potatoes (2 large, red-skinned with dark orange flesh)
1 cup whipping cream
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. Ceylon cinnamon (Ceylon has a softer, fruitier flavor without harsh bite)
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out with back of knife
1/4 tsp. Salt
Plus:
1 egg white beaten for crust

For the crust, put the pecans in food processor and pulse to chop fine. Add the flours, salt and sugar to the food processor next and pulse to combine. Add cold butter one tablespoon at a time and pulse a few times until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time and pulse just until dough starts to come together. You may not need all the ice water. Less water is best. Try not to overmix. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a flat disk. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour and up to a day.

Roll the dough out between sheets of plastic wrap to about a 14-inch round. Peel off top layer of wrap and then invert dough into pie dish, remove wrap. Trim the edges to 3/4 inch overhang and crimp. Cover crust with plastic wrap. Place dish with crust in the refrigerator to chill while you make filling.

Place rack in bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Steam potatoes for about 20-30 minutes until fork tender. Allow to cool a bit and mash with potato masher until smooth. (You can also use a food processor and pulse a few times). Measure one and one-half cups of puree for the pie, placing this into the food processor. Add brown sugar and pulse to combine. Add three eggs pulsing to combine, drizzle in cream while blade is running to mix in. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and the seeds from the half of vanilla bean, reserving the pod for other use. Pulse to combine well.

Remove crust from fridge, remove wrap and brush with beaten egg white. Add filling. Cover crust edges with foil to prevent over-browning for the first 30 minutes of baking. Bake until the center is set and the edges puff up, about 40-45 minutes. Remove the foil from the crust halfway through baking so the crust will brown.

Recipe ©Beth Bader, The Expatriate's Kitchen. Have a Wonderful and Safe Holiday!

http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com
http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Another seasonal "weekend recipe" from Beth Bader for your weekly newsletter needs.

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I know, many people are not beet fans. But this dish is different. These are not canned pickled beets. In fact, this might be the dish that makes you wonder why you haven't been eating them all these years.

Red, Gold and Orange Festive Salad
2 large (3-inch-diameter) red beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large (3-inch-diameter) golden beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, cut into eighths
2 shallots cut into quarters
Coarse kosher salt
Fresh black pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled feta cheese
1 small can mandarin orange sections, or 4 clementines peeled and pulled into sections.
¼ cup chopped mint leaves, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place beets, fennel and shallot in 9x9x2-inch baking dish. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic over; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Toss beets with orange sections. Sprinkle on feta and garnish with mint, if desired.

http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com
http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com

The third installment in our "Weekend Recipe" series. Beth Bader provides the recipes for you to use in your weekend newsletters for your customers. Use the subscribe form in the left column of the website to get email updates.

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Ah, September. Possibly, it’s my favorite month because of the weather. It's one of those times of the year where being outside is far more comfortable than being indoors. You get up early, head out, eat outdoors, play outdoors, and, as the sun fades, seriously consider a hammock because you just don’t want to go in.

September is also the best of summer's bounty fading into autumn's rich, earthy harvest. Fresh corn and tomatoes can be found alongside the first pumpkins and butternuts. A second small harvest of lettuces. And the last of those sweet, delicious melons from late summer. It is the best time to be a locavore.

Recently, I attended the Sustainable Table's Eat Well Guided Tour lunch here in my home town. The menu featured a selection of dishes nearly all made with local ingredients. I loved the salad; made with peppery greens, fresh cantaloupe, pecans and a honey viniagrette. I did not get the actual recipe from the chef, but I took a shot at reproducing the salad here at home.

Salad with Cantaloupe, Pecans and Honey Viniagrette

4 cups fresh mixed greens or arugula
1-1/3 cup diced cantaloupe
1 cup pecan halves
Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (fig or pear infused is lovely)
1/4 cup honey
salt and pepper to taste
optional: bleu cheese crumbles

Whisk the dressing together and serve over salad. It's fantastic with a sprinkle of blue cheese and a nice white wine. I had the Kiddo mix the dressing for me. I turned for a moment and when I looked back, she had the bowl up and was drinking out of it. The dressing is pretty good.

Please stop by “The Kitchen” for more recipes and local food articles.

http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com
http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Join us each week for Beth Bader's weekend recipe; just in time for your weekly newsletter. Feel free to use this recipe in your farm newsletter! If you want to receive this each week, subscribe to email updates in the left-hand column of the site.

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We were hit with a frost near Easter this spring, after a warm few weeks all of the fruit trees had started to bloom early. Ninety-five percent of the peach crop in our area was decimated. Things were not promising for fall’s apple harvest either.

So, you can imagine my surprise and delight to find tiny, but tasty apples at the market. I think they were as much a surprise to the grower as they were for me. I celebrated by buying a ton of them. After you have eaten a few, you set to work figuring out how to make the most of this sweet surprise. For me, that is Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce. It’s an easy, low-sugar recipe. Once you make this home made, you’ll never go back to a jar. I like my applesauce “rustic” style, so I don’t use a food mill, just a potato masher. Leave the lid off the pot for a while at the end of cooking to make your kitchen smell like fall.

Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce

12 gala apples, or enough to get 5 cups of peeled, cored slices
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out with the back of a knife
2 Ceylon Cinnamon sticks (or use regular cinnamon sticks)
3/4 cup 100% apple juice or no-sugar added cider
1 tbs. Lemon juice

Put all of this in a pot, especially all the vanilla seeds and the pods. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Remove vanilla pod and cinnamon sticks. Mash with a potato masher to desired consistency. Tastes best cool the next day. Freezes well.

You can find more seasonal, straight-from-the-farm recipes at The Expatriate’s Kitchen, http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com

Last week: The Best of the Season: Summer Tomato Recipes