Viva La Rutabaga!

Thursday, February 02, 2012

February is Rutabaga Challenge Month at Farm to Philly!

Let’s face it: rutabagas are fugly—they sort of look like waxy, oversized turnips…on a good day. Most people don’t know what a rutabaga is or what it’s used for, a theory I put to the test recently when I point-blank asked a handful of people to tell me about the root vegetable.

So what is a rutabaga? It is, indeed, related to turnips—it’s a cross between turnips and cabbage, and it’s an excellent vegetable that’s in season NOW. Sometimes you might seen it sold as a “yellow turnip.” They’re good for you, nutritionally speaking—lots of beta carotene, a good source of fiber, and you even get a nice boost in vitamin C, calcium, and iron. And they’re versatile: you can eat them cooked or raw. You can also eat rutabaga leaves.

No doubt you might be wondering why rutabagas are covered in a wax covering, right? It’s an issue of extending the vegetable’s storage life. Because rutabagas are not the most sought-after vegetable ever, grocery stores need to keep them from going bad. A wax covered rutabaga kept in the refrigerator will keep for up to two months. If you take special care of your rutabagas—stored at 32 to 35 degrees with 90 percent humidity—you can store unwaxed rutabagas for up to six months.

If you’ve always wondered how to cook a rutabaga or just want to prepare them in some different ways, be sure to check back at Farm to Philly throughout the month.

Good Ol’ Apple Pressing

Monday, October 31, 2011

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I know I’m cutting it close to this month’s Apple Challenge, but what better day to post than on Halloween? And what better way to celebrate the fall than by a good ol’ apple pressing. This past weekend, some good friends who caretake at the historic Wyck House in Germantown invited a few friends over to press apples in the mansion’s apple press. Although this isn’t a press that dates as far back as some of the historic pieces in the mansion, it’s modeled after the traditional design used in the 1800’s and even before.

If you look at the picture, the apples are sitting in the grinder. The grinder is a cylinder with jagged edges that is attached to a crank wheel on the side. By spinning the wheel, the apples are processed through into small chunks that fall into the basket below lined with cheese cloth. Once the basket is filled, a lid is placed over the apples that fits inside the basket. The lid has a piece of metal on the top with a groove indented into it that will receive the business end of that long threaded rod coming from the top. The handle on top of the rod allows you to screw down the rod, pushing down the lid, and thus pressing the apples. The juice seeps out of the basket and the cloth, onto a tray with a hole at one end, from which that sweet nectar of the autumnal gods pours out.

The fruits of our labor were enjoyed by all as we drank the fresh cider right out of the press. It was amazing how different blends of different apples made juices with different shades, different thicknesses and different levels of sweet or tartness. This also reaffirmed my desire to buy my own press. Aside from the plenty of apples we get during the Fall in this region, I also have Italian black grapes in my yard and two plum trees across the street from my house. So I will have more than enough reasons to press. But after watching the press in action, my good friend Carl and I mused on the possibilities of building our own. I’ll keep you all up to date on our progress. As for now, I’m thankful for this great resource at the Wyck House. The caretakers also do pressing with school groups. For more info, please consult their website.

As a side note, should some of us have wanted to harden up that cider, the method is to take a small amount of sodium bicarbonate and add it to a five gallon glass carboy (available at most homebrew stores) to start the process. After three days of letting it rest, add champagne yeast and then let the fermentation process to begin. For best results, let the cider ferment for two to three months, reracking the cider into different containers two or three times through out the process.

So once again, here’s to fall and apples. Have a safe and fun halloween.

Dutch Apple Pancake

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

My children tend to suck the fun out of eating, since they summarily reject most fruits and vegetables that aren’t either plain and raw or lightly steamed. I find myself avoiding recipes because I don’t want to deal with the trauma of inflicting something as awful as an apple pie upon them. But every once in a while when the kids are out I make something just for me. This past Sunday I tried a Dutch Apple Pancake, also called a German Apple or Puffed Apple pancake.The recipe suggests Granny Smith or Braeburn apples, depending on if you like your pancakes sweet or tart. Since I’d never had one before I used a variety of different apples from my CSA to see which I preferred.

Dutch Apple Pancake
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 apples, sweet or tart, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat an oven to 425ºF.
Melt 2 Tbs. of butter in a 10 inch ovenproof fry pan. Add the apple, cinnamon and granulated sugar and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the apple begins to soften and brown, 5 to 6 minutes. .
Whisk eggs, half and half and vanilla until blended. Sift the flour and salt into the egg mixture and whisk until just blended.

Pour the batter over the apple slices. Bake until the pancake is browned and puffed up, about 20-25 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

Delicata Squash and Apple Bisque

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Appropriately enough for the October apple challenge, my Thanksgiving stuffing recipe features apples, along with a lot of onions and celery, walnuts or pecans, and fresh sage and thyme.  Since it’s not quite time for stuffing yet, I turned that basic inspiration into a smooth, warming soup that also made great use out of the handful of Delicata squash that came out of my garden before all the rain softened up the rest.

There are three apple elements in this soup: a large tart apple, cider mixed into the stock, and a shot of Calvados at the end. If you can’t find Delicata squash in the markets, this soup can be made just as well with any other winter squash, although I think butternut or Kabocha would give the best results. If you prefer to leave out the alcohol, the soup can be finished with a drizzle of cider vinegar instead.

Delicata Squash and Apple Bisque
Serves 6-8

4 small Delicata squash, cut in half and seeded
3 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large or 2 small Honeycrisp, Fuji, or other tart-crisp apple, peeled and diced
2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves julienned
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped off the stems
3 cups vegetable stock
1 ½ cups apple cider
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Calvados, applejack, or brandy

Preheat oven to 400 F. Rub the cut surfaces of the squash with 2 tablespoons of the oil and set rind-up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Roast squash until tender all the way through and yielding to the point of a sharp knife.  Once cooked, scrape the flesh out of the squash and discard the rinds.

Heat the butter and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat until the butter has melted. Saute the onion until wilted, then add the celery and apple and continue cooking until soft. 

Add the stock, cider, herbs and roasted squash to the pot.  Salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil.  Cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer 20 minutes, until the squash has completely broken down into the soup.

Using an immersion blender or food processor, puree the soup until smooth.  Stir in the Calvados or brandy, taste, and add more salt and pepper as necessary.

Apple Hand Pies

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Autumn to me means apple pie. I’m really a sucker for a good pie… but apple pie is by far the quintessential fall treat for me. It’s totally cliche.

Lately, in an effort to have on hand a healthy after-school snack for my kids and still fill a craving for apple pies I’ve been baking little apple hand pies. Who can resist?!? Portable, tasty, cute… YUM. These are labour intensive ... but I imagine if you make a big batch you can freeze them to have on hand (no pun intended!) as a quick snack.

The recipe below is a somewhat cobbled-together version of various apple pie recipes. If you have a favourite recipe then go ahead and use that.

Also, I’m not going to go into pastry recipes—just use a pastry recipe that you like and go from there, rolling the pastry out and cutting into rounds. Try and use a pastry that is not too flaky, or your little hand pies won’t hold together too well.

Recipe
2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. lemon zest

Start with about two pounds of baking apples (I used the Galas from my CSA). You can use a mix of apples for a mix of textures if you want.

Peel, core, and dice them. The smaller you dice the apples the easier it will be to fill your hand pies.

Mix the apples with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest (this is the secret ingredient!) and cook gently for about 10-15 min., or until the apples are just a little soft. Doing this step will keep your handpies from getting soggy!

Spoon out the apple mixture onto your pastry rounds—leave the juice produced from the cooking process behind. It’s sad, I know… but if you don’t want soggy pies then you have to say goodbye to the juice.

Fold your pastry rounds in half, wet the edges, and press together. I used the tines of a fork to do this.

Bake in a 350F oven for about 20min. If you wanted to, you could brush your handpies with a little egg to make the crust shiny, but this is purely aesthetic.

Enjoy!

Local Apples: Perfect With Curry

The fall season calls out for curry dishes, but curry powder—which is usually a mix of coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper as well as ginger, garlic, asafoetida, fennel seed, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, nutmeg, and black pepper—is not exactly local. You can easily grow fennel seed, mustard seed, coriander, and garlic in Pennsylvania, but many of the other spices require humidity and long growing seasons. More tropical climes. Of course, there’s a way around nearly every problem, so perhaps some adventurous soul will start a curry garden in a greenhouse.

Curry dishes, whether you use local ingredients or not, are often spicy, but they don’t have to be. Take, for instance, today’s Apple a Day challenge dish, curry and apple couscous. Yes, it calls for curry powder, but you can use mild or hot curry. Many of the ingredients can be locally sourced, including the apples. Now is the time of year to scrounge all you can out of your garden, so those scallions and mint lingering in your garden go to good use here, and it’s not hard at all to find locally produced butter (or make your own).

For this simple dish, the star is the apples. Use an apple variety that’s going to hold up under cooking—look for Fujis, Mutus, Granny Smith, or Rome Beauty apples. You can find almost all of these varieties at local orchards in October; the apples used for this recipe are Mutsu apples picked at Linvilla Orchards.

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 tablespoon hot curry powder
1/2 a Mutsu apple, cored and chopped
2 scallions, washed, trimmed, and sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup pearled couscous
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup chopped mint

Heat 3/4 of the butter and all the curry powder in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add a few pinches of salt and heat until the curry gives off a fragrant aroma. Add the apples, and cook down for two or three minutes (until apples have softened somewhat). Remove the apples to a bowl. Add the remaining butter to the pan with the curry and add scallions; stirring, allow to cook for approximately one minute. Add water and salt, bring to a boil, and add couscous. Cover the pan with a lid and remove from the burner. Allow the couscous to steam for five to minutes. Return the apples to the pan, along with pine nuts and mint.

This makes enough for two side dish servings or one main dish serving.

The result: a filling meal with a spicy sweetness. Perfect for fall, and a great way to use local apples.

The Sweet Spot: Apple Cheddar Sandwich

Monday, October 10, 2011

For FTP’s Apple Challenge Month, I give you the apple cheddar sandwich—

I’m a big fan of grilled cheese sandwiches in general (House in Media, PA is one of my faves for this reason—six types of grilled cheese? Oh, yeah), but I tend to keep it simple. A little bread, some decent cheese, and I’m a happy girl. So I forget sometimes that adding apple to a cheese toasty is a gorgeous thing. It’s especially good when the apples and the cheese are local.

For this sandwich I combined thin slices of a freshly picked Fuji apple from Linvilla Orchards in Media with shavings of a local cheddar picked up at 320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore. Even the butter is stuff I made myself from locally produced milk. Sadly, the bread is not local.

The heat of the pan heats the apple, but doesn’t make it mushy, and the whole thing becomes this gooey, warm, and sweet treat. Just talking about it makes me want to go make another one.

While any melty cheese will do when making apple grilled cheese, cheddar and brie are my favorites.

An Apple a Day Challenge

Sunday, October 02, 2011

It’s October, and here at Farm to Philly, that means one thing: challenge month!

All month long, please join Farm to Philly writers for the An Apple a Day challenge. If it involves locally grown apples—and this area has some of the tastiest apple varieties imaginable—you’ll see it here. We welcome you to join in the apple challenge!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I love acorn squash. It’s so cute and hardy and can be cooked in so many ways! Growing up, my parents used to make stuffed squash at least twice a month. While many people stuff squash with sausage, you’ll be happy to know that you can stuff squash with just about anything! You just need to decide if you’re looking for a savory or a sweet dish.

savory
1. A grain. Think brown rice, couscous, bulgar, barley, quinoa, even a firm polenta.
2. A crunch. Nuts or seeds, to taste!
3. Herbs and spices. For savory, think thyme, sage, oregano, hot pepper.
4. Vegetables. For savory, think peppers, garlic, tomatoes (or sauce) hot peppers, etc.

sweet
1. A grain. See above.
2. A crunch. A crunch. Nuts or seeds, or both!
3. Herbs and spices. For sweet, think cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, ginger, cardomom,, brown sugar, honey.
4. Fruit. For sweet, think dried fruits and berries (cranberries, apricots, raisin etc.) and fresh chopped apples, celery etc.

For a recipe for the stuffed squash pictured above, go HERE.

Challenge: Awash in Squash

Monday, November 16, 2009

If your pantry is anything like mine, it’s filled with squash. I’ve extended my CSA for the next two months, and am expecting many greens, roots, and even more squash! I love squash, and my classic squash recipes, but when you’re faced with so much, it’s nice to have some new recipes to try. This month send us your favorite winter squash recipes and photos - creative, tasty and classic. We’ll all benefit from the bounty of the season!

Week 13: Western Region

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

All good things must come to an end, and that is especially true with One Local Summer. I can’t believe that there’s already a chill in the air, with autumn just around the corner. It makes me wish that there was a “One Local Fall”, because the best of local eating is yet to come. Either way, I’ve come to enjoy the posts of the Western participants, and am so glad I got introduced to their blogs through this event. Thanks, everyone, for the amazing dishes we’ve seen over the course of the summer.

Joan of Old Dog…New Tricks ate a wonderful gratin of zucchini and tomatoes, and then finished her meal with a raspberry and peach crisp. Like me, she plans on continuing to eat local as long as produce is available. I applaud her dedication.

Laura of (not so) Urban Hennery was proud of the fact that except for the condiments, her meal this week was 100% homegrown, and consisted of grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. How awesome it must be to have your foodshed be your own backyard!

Kathleen of Our Life in the Country made not one, but two local meals this past week, and had a feast of riches - a pot roast that was cooked low and slow in the oven. Later in the week, she had company over and had barbecued tri-tip, mushroom risotto, and spinach. Wow, impressive spread she’s got there. 

And that’s it - the end. And hopefully also the beginning of a renewed commitment to eating local. Hope I see you all back here next year!

One Local Summer: Southern, week 12 & 13

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Wrapping up the summer here in the Southern region with a 2-week double-header report. It’s hard to believe fall is already here but I think I speak for the group when I say we’ll be continuing to celebrate our local food sources well beyond the end of the challenge.

Tennessee

Kristina the Tennessee Locavore reflects on “a world where we don’t have to see the consequences of our actions, at least when it comes to the meal on the kitchen table.” She describes her guilt at catching fish for dinner, and the need to treat our food and farmers with respect and reverence. She cooked the trout with brown butter sauce and capers and served it with roasted Dragon Langerie, Masai and Purple Trionfo Violetto beans from her garden; for dessert, a blueberry cornmeal cake made with local blueberries and local cornmeal.

Melissa of Bridgman Pottery is also in a contemplative mood, reflecting on making more with less, and shares a meal of corn grits topped with sausage, roasted eggplant, garden tomatoes and basil.

Sarah of A Girl Named Go finds room in her produce-crowded kitchen to make homemade roasted red pepper hummus. Is there any better party appetizer?

District of Columbia

Erin of New at the Market prepares a simple meal of Russian banana peppers, a hard boiled egg, tomato slices and berries, just like in France but without that gorgeous scenery (or obnoxious tourists).

Virginia

Nancy of Summer Sky: Learning As I Go made Julia Child’s mayonnaise for local BLTs, that quintessential sandwich of summer, along with cold corn chowder last week; she went all out for the final meal of the challenge and made all-local, totally-from-scratch vegetable lasagna. Even the noodles! Go check it out.

Jasmine of Knitting 40 Shades of Green attended the 7th annual Slow Food dinner at Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm, and documents the local feast for the rest of us to experience vicariously. Personally, I’m drooling over the crab cake atop fresh sweet corn.

Nana Sadie of Nana Sadie’s Place found all the ingredients for ratatouille in her CSA bag last week, another perfect end-of-summer dish.

Here at FoodieTots, we round-tripped north in pursuit of artisan, farmstead local cheese (including a visit to the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival), preserved a small batch of tomatoes, made cold plum soup, and plotted to keep the “eat local” love alive into the fall harvest. Please stop by and share what you’re cooking or preserving for winter.

Thanks to Farm to Philly for hosting another great OLS year. See you next summer!
- Colleen

Week 12: Western Region

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The signs are all there that summer is winding down, and with summer, we’re close to the end of One Local Summer. With only one more week to go, it saddens me that summer is over almost as soon as it started.

Joan of Old Dog…New Tricks used local fish and veggies to prepare a Jamie Oliver recipe of Pan-Baked Lemon Sole with Spinach, Olives and Tomatoes which she served with roasted potatoes and steamed green beans. What a great combination of flavors and an excellent way to use late summer produce.

Anita of Married…With Dinner combines my favorite summer flavors of tomatoes,. mozzarella and basil in a lovely pasta dish that highlights them all.

Kathleen of Our Life in the Country talks about the side she made to go with her weekly dose of flank steak - a Tomato, Potato, Onion and Zucchini Gratin. With summer winding down, she’s preserving some of the harvest for later on, and learning as she goes.

Can’t wait until next week - I’m hoping my west coasters will end the event with a bang!

One Local Summer: Southern, week 11

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

It’s another light week, and behind schedule to boot, here in the Southern region. Hard to believe that September is just around the corner!

Tennessee

Kristina the Tennessee Locavore comes clean about her tomato addiction, with several of her favorite recipes for these juicy fruits of summer.

Melissa of Bridgman Pottery prepared a local meal of stewed okra, tomatoes, peppers and Arkansas rice, but spent most of her week putting up a great deal of food for winter.

Sarah of A Girl Named Go struggled with a lack of abundant local seafood at the shore, but found a new way to use up squash as lasagna noodles.

District of Columbia

Erin of New at the Market shared a healthy salad of baby greens topped with cherry tomatoes, apricots and sunflower seeds.

Virginia

Nancy of Learning As I Go spent a week in Michigan where they enjoyed roasted green beans, beets, and onions, plus steak marinated with local cherry wine and garlic. For dessert, fresh-picked red raspberries.

Jasmine of Knitting 40 Shades of Green made eggplant with peppers and cheese and a sweet corn and squash soup.

Nana Sadie of Nana Sadie’s Place returned from vacation to a bumper crop of yellow pear tomatoes, which found their way into a fresh bruschetta for dinner.

Here at FoodieTots, eating local became a family affair with extended family in town and a whole lot of family gatherings. Menu items included black & blueberry muffins, peach gelato, peach cobbler, tomato-cheddar salad and more.

- Colleen

Week 11: Western Region

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

This year has truly been a “blink and you’ve missed it” summer. Can you believe we only have two weeks of One Local Summer left? I feel as we’ve only just begun…

Joan of Old Dog…New Tricks made great use of late summer veggies (like eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and onions) by making a flavorful Roasted Ratatouille. It seems as though it was the perfect pairing for grilled London Broil.

Anita of Married…with Dinner enjoyed nature’s bounty in the form of a local pasta dish in which the first of her tomatoes was definitely a centerpiece. When paired with local garlic, olive oil, cheese, and herbs from her garden, it was truly summer on a plate.

Laura of (not so) Urban Hennery put together an amazing looking dish of julienned zucchini topped with a red sauce made with homegrown tomatoes. What a nice light way to celebrate the end of summer!

Last but not least, Kathleen of Our Life in the Country broke out the grill again. She barbecued some flank steak and topped it with BBQ sauce she made earlier this summer. This fabulous local meal was rounded out with a yummilicious salad.

With the harvest in high gear and no shortage of veggies available, my West Coasters truly inspire. Can’t wait to see what they come up with in the final couple of weeks.