Sweet Potato Pie

Seventh grader Winter made our recipe of the week on Monday.  This pie was truly delicious.  Even the folks who don't usually like sweet potatoes really liked it.  The original recipe came from allrecipes.com.

Makes one 9 inch pie

• 1 pound sweet potato
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

Yogurt Cheese with Garlic and Herbs

This week Natty brought in this delicious spread for crackers or whatever else you might want to put it on. The garlic was extra seed garlic sent by Meadowlark Hearth so that our students could taste what they were planting.

Drain one quart of yogurt overnight in the refrigerator by pouring it into a cheesecloth lined sieve over a bowl to catch the drippings.

Divide the yogurt cheese into 4 flattened rounds. Place in a wide, shallow bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley, 1 clove of garlic, minced. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the rounds. Let marinate at least 30 minutes before serving. The longer you marinate, the yummier it gets.

This will keep covered in the fridge for 2 days.

Shiitake and Basil Pizza

Pascal was our chef just before school got out for fall break.  He tells us he got up at 5 AM to make this wonderful pizza.

1 cake yeast
1 1/3 c warm water

• Dissolve yeast in water for 5 minutes.

4 C sifted flour
1 t salt

• Mix together in large bowl.

2 T olive oil
yeast and water mixture you made earlier

• Add to the flour and salt mixture, stirring until you can't stir any more.  
• Turn out onto counter and knead for 10 minutes.
• Cover with damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.
• Pat and stretch dough onto two oiled pizza pans or (unoiled) pizza stones, pinching up a collar around the edges to hold the filling.
• Prick dough in about 6 places.
• Spread each pizza with:

pizza sauce
mozzerella cheese
sliced shiitake
basil leaves

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Let pizza rest for 10 minutes while the oven is preheating.
• Bake for about 25 minutes, until light brown.

Panzanella Salad Recipe

Brave MacKenzie made the very first cooking attempt for 7th grade and it was a huge success.  Here at last is the recipe for the wonderful salad she made. 

6 cups day old Italian bread, torn into bite-size pieces

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges

3/4 cup sliced red onion

10 basil leaves, shredded

1/2 cup pitted and halved green olives

1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, toss bread with 1/3 cup olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Lay bread on a baking sheet, and toast in the preheated oven until golden, about 5 to 10 minutes; allow to cool slightly.
3. While the bread is in the oven, whisk together 1/4 cup of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss together the bread, tomatoes, onion, basil, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Toss with the vinaigrette and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Instead of following the recipe exactly, MacKenzie chose to slice the bread thinly and serve it bruschetta style so that it would be more of a finger food.  It worked out very well. 

Garlic Herb Butter

Our seventh grade chef this week was Leland.  Leland baked delicious home made bread for us and made garlic, herb butter to go on top.

To make the garlic herb butter, he peeled a bulb of garlic, washed and chopped some basil, threw it all in the blender with some butter and voila!

Pungent and delicious, a little goes a long way!

Foccaccia Bread

This week Daniel used fresh basil from the garden to make this amazing foccaccia.  Everyone had thirds and wished there was more.

Mix together and let sit for 30 minutes while the yeast activates:
2 1/4 t yeast
1 T sugar
1 C warm water

In a separate bowl mix:
a slosh of olive oil
1 t salt
chopped up fresh basil
4 C flour

Add the yeast mixture and enough water to make dough.  Knead for about 10 minutes.

Cover and let rise for 4 hours.

Punch down, then cover and let it rise again for 30 minutes.  While you are letting the dough rise for the second time, mix:
 more chopped fresh basil
chopped fresh rosemary
minced garlic
salt
parmesan

(amounts can be variable)

Divide the dough between 2 greased 9X13 pans and sprinkle with the herb/salt/cheese mix you made during the second rise.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Optional: mix together olive oil, basil and rosemary for a lovely dipping sauce.

Sorrel Pesto

This recipe was made by Denis for our 7th grade class.  It was truly delicious.

2 C coarsely chopped fresh sorrel, ribs removed
2/3 C packed fresh parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 C freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 C pine nuts
1/2 t salt
1/4 C olive oil

Put everything into a food processor or blender and puree.  Refrigerate in a jar with a tight fitting lid for up to two weeks.  Denis served his pesto over gluten free pasta with cherry tomatoes and olives.

Pumpkin Pie recipe

If you are a winter squash lover, I highly recommend the lacto-vegetarian version of this pie introduced to me by Jay Dunbar, one of the teachers at Magic Tortoise Taijiquan School.  It is delicious!  The original version is probably good as well, but may not be as pumpkiny.

Margaret Dunbar's Pumpkin Pie

4-5 cups of dense well-drained pumpkin pulp (NOT from can... must be fresh or frozen pulp!!)

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

a little salt (<1/2 tsp)

I substitute a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk for the milk and sugar, and for a lacto-vegetarian pie, I substitute 7 tsp of Ener-G Egg Replacer for the eggs.

If using eggs, beat first, then add pumpkin and the rest of the ingredients. I use a food processor, as it de-strings the pulp, and makes the filling smooth and "fluffier." Pour in pre-baked* pie crust (see below), grate fresh nutmeg over the top, and bake at 325° for 35 minutes or so (my mother says, "till a silver knife comes out clean).

Simple Pie Crust

2 cups White Pastry Flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup safflower oil

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp ice water

Sift or whisk salt into flour. Add water to the oil and beat with a fork till smooth and creamy. Dump liquid into flour and mix with fork. Form into a ball. Roll between 4 sheets of wax paper (two above, two below). (My mother used to make two crusts out of this... must have been for a small pie dish. For my larger pie dish I use the whole recipe for one bottom crust.)

Turn pastry into pie dish, form edge by folding excess into a rim and pinching between fingers. Puncture across bottom and around sides with a fork and *bake in 325° oven for 10 minutes.

And there you have it!

Jay

Green Pancakes

Ever wonder what to do with all those greens in spring and fall?  Here is a most excellent use for them that I was treated to over the Thanksgiving weekend.  It originally called for Swiss Chard, but Therisa, the cook, substituted the greens she had on hand for the chard, chives and parsley and they came out beautifully.  They are beautiful to look at too, the brightest, prettiest shade of green you can imagine!

Green Pancakes:

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
2½ cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, coarsely chopped, rinsed, and patted dry
2 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
Leaves from 10 parsley sprigs
10 fresh chives, snipped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
5 large or 10 small leaves of any green (chard, spinach, mustard, kale, etc.), center ribs removed, washed, and
dried
About ½ cup grapeseed, peanut, or vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and
line a plate with paper towels.
2. Put everything except the greens and oil in a blender or food
processor, making sure you season the mix generously with salt and pepper,
and whir until the batter is smooth. (If your machine won't handle this
quantity, work in batches.) Little by little, add the greens to the mix and
whir to incorporate it. There's no need to pulverize the greens — having some
strands is nice.
3. Pour ¼ to ½ inch of oil into a large skillet and place the skillet over
medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (a drop of batter should seize
immediately), spoon in a scant ¼ cup batter for each pancake — don't crowd
the pan: depending on the size of the pan, 4 pancakes is probably max per
batch. Cook the pancakes for about 3 minutes, until the underside is nicely
browned and the edges are browned and curled. Flip the pancakes over and
cook for another 2 minutes or so. Transfer the pancakes to the
paper-towel-lined plate, cover with more towels, and pat off the excess oil.
Place them on the foil-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while
you continue to make pancakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Sorrel Soup Recipes

Several people have asked about what to do with the sorrel that our market offers in such abundance in spring and fall.  Sorrel has a lemony flavor that goes nicely mixed in with salads or with anything that benefits from a touch of lemon.  It also makes a wonderful soup.  Here are two recipes:

Creamy Sorrel Soup
1lge potato
3 T butter
1 lge shallot or 1 med. onion, finely diced
about 4 C sorrel
4 C stock or water (stock is tastier)
1 t salt
pepper
1 C cream or milk

Cut potato into 1/2" pieces and boil in 1 C water with 1 t salt until it is cooked through but still holds its shape.  Drain, save cooking water and set potato aside.
Melt 3 T butter in a soup pot and cook shallot or onion until translucent.
Chop sorrel and add to shallot/onion.
Cook briefly just until sorrel changes to drab green.
Add stock, potato water, pepper and salt to taste.
Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
Add milk or cream.
Blend in batches until silky smooth.
Return soup to pot and add cooked potatoes.
Reheat gently and serve.

Chunky Sorrel Soup
1 C chopped onion
1 C chopped carrot
2 T flour
1/4 C chopped garlic chive or 2 cloves minced garlic
3 T butter
3-4 C sorrel, coarsely chopped
4 C hot stock or water (stock is tastier)
grated parmesan for garnish (optional)

Saute onions and carrots in butter until soft.
Add flour and saute about 2 minutes.
Add sorrel and chives or minced garlic and saute another minute or two.
Slowly add hot stock while stirring, then simmer 3 to 4 minutes.
Serve in bowls and sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired.

You can also serve this soup pureed if you don't like chunky soups.

If you have any other recipes for sorrel, send them in an email and I will post them.

Bon Appetit!

Cooking Blog

Interested in using fresh foods from the garden to cook up healthy meals from scratch?  You might check out the From Processed to Pure food blog by Donna Bauman.

Here is her self description in case you need a little information before you go and check out her blog:

I consider myself first generation holistic when it comes to food. I have no familial road map to guide me in my fascination with things fermented. For most of my life I ate without really paying attention to what was IN my food. In early adulthood I outsourced much of my nutrition to supermarket packaged goods and restaurants. The transformation back to the kitchen has many chapters. When I became a mother to four children I started to see how food choices could have a big impact on our quality of life. This motivated me to challenge everything and I started reading food labels. And along the way, when I least expected it, I fell in love. With real food. So much that the girl who took shop class instead of home economics in junior high as an act of civil disobedience became the woman who has now donned her apron not out of obligation but with pride and boundless enthusiasm. If we change our kitchens, we can change our world. I am honored to share some of this journey back to the kitchen with you!


Bon Appetit!

Winter garden, holidays, and recipes!

We are working hard to prepare the garden for the winter and the upcoming Spring growing season!  Several of the beds have been turned over and feather meal was added to help balance the soil in preparation for Spring planting.  Vetch seeds have been spread as a cover crop for the winter.

The weather has been beautiful and the garden is so peaceful.  If you get a chance during the next few weeks while the weather is still mild, be sure to stop by and take in the beauty of the gardens and all nature has to offer this time of year!

The leaves are in full Fall colors and you know what that means...the Holidays are right around the corner!  Do you have any favorite holiday recipes?  We would like to give our readers and members of the Emerson Farm community the opportunity to share your favorite holiday traditions and recipes!  If you would like to share a recipe, send it in an email to emersonfarm@yahoo.com (see link to the right)  Be sure to tell us any background stories about your recipe...is it a family recipe?  one from a dear friend?  one you made yourself?  You can also send a picture of your favorite foods too!  (Be sure to send pictures as an email attachment in jpeg format).

When we get your recipes we will post them to share with all of our readers!  To get us started, here is a great recipe for peanut butter cookies!

This recipe comes from the King Arthur Book of Whole Grain Baking...

Peanut Chews
Yield: 28 cookies
Baking temp: 350
Baking time: 11-12 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup smooth all-natural peanut butter
1/2 packed brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 water
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 lightly salted, dry roasted peanuts, finely ground in the food processor

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the peanut butter, sugars, egg, water, honey, vanilla, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, beating until smooth.  Add the flour and ground peanuts, beating until the mixture is well combined.  The dough will be very stiff.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.  Press the top of each cookie with a fork to make a crisscross design, flattening cookies to about 1/2 inch thick.  Dip the fork in water if it starts to stick.

Bake the cookies until lightly browned 11-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and transfer them to a cooling rack!  Enjoy!

picture from King Arthur Flour

Basil Cheese Spread

If you missed the Music in the Garden on Oct. 6, or you were there and you really wanted the recipe for basil cheese spread, here it is at last.  Basil is on sale at reduced prices at the Friday Market until cold weather takes it out.  Enjoy!

·        6 fresh basil leaves

·        3 medium cloves garlic

·        1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

·        1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

·        1 cup chopped walnuts

·        1/2 cup olive oil

·        fresh basil leaves for garnish

Preparation:

In food processor, process basil and garlic until finely chopped. Add cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, walnuts, and olive oil; process until smooth. Transfer spread mixture to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh basil leaves. 

From southernfood.about.com