Braising Season Opens - Braised Red Cabbage, Apples and Smoked Sausage

Forget Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. For me, the most lyrical of the seasons is the braising season.

Each year, I can’t wait to start using the Dutch oven. From the first hint of a chill in the air, until the summer temperature is absolutely unbearable, the fire engine red pot holds an honored place on top of my stove.

This year, the opening of braising season is marked with brilliant color and subtle hints of smoke, sweet and sour. I start with a basic braising recipe for cabbage from the book Martha Stewart’s Cooking School. Two Granny Smith apples (peeled and cored) and one large onion are sliced into one inch chunks and combined with 6 tablespoons of melted butter, ½ cup of sugar and 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of coarse salt. The mixture caramelizes for about 10 minutes.

Then, the last red cabbage from Restoration Farm is cut into wedges and added along with ¾ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¾ cup of water. I add two inch chunks of smoked sausage to the top, bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer on low for a mere 30 minutes. The apples melt into a sweet caramelized sauce of rich purple, and the cabbage is still crisp, but meltingly tender.

Like the scent of autumn leaves, the tangy aroma and the bright magenta color signal that indeed braising season has arrived. I welcome and relish the season of foods cooked low and slow.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Giving Thanks …

…for “Great Pumpkins” from Restoration Farm …

… that roast into deep orange pulp …

… and transform into Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping for Thanksgiving breakfast.

Giving Thanks for an extra, Thanksgiving CSA share distribution from Restoration Farm for members who’ve already signed up for next year …

There is red and green cabbage, onions, potatoes, beautiful carrots, sweet potatoes, still more Swiss Chard and kale, garlic and butternut squash. The excitement at the distribution tent is palpable as members gather their vegetables and marvel at the bounty. Head Growers Caroline and Dan promise that this is really it, until next season!

Giving Thanks for two kinds of pie for the Thanksgiving feast, because two pies are always better than one. The Pecan Pie is sweetened with dark maple syrup from Vermont and dark brown sugar, and the Sweet Potato Pie is made with sweet potatoes harvested at Restoration Farm. There is something to be said for enjoying a dessert on Thanksgiving Day that comes from that extraordinary place.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Garlic Planting at Restoration Farm and a Roasted Garlic Spread

No sooner have I pronounced “twilight” at Restoration Farm when I am reminded by Head Grower Caroline Fanning that there is plenty of activity still to come at the CSA. “With the exception of December and January, when we’re mostly hibernating, there is always something happening at the farm,” says Caroline.

Indeed, for everything there is a season. While the harvest has concluded, planting has quickly begun again, which means that on a crisp and clear autumn morning, some thirty members stream onto the farm to prepare the soil and sow the infamous “stinking rose.”

A few culinary and historical notes about garlic – the bulbous plant is known for its restorative powers, and has been cultivated since ancient times. Garlic likely originated in central Asia, but its fame spread to Europe during the Crusades. It was thought to be so powerful that it could ward off the plague and evil spirits. Raw garlic has a pungent aroma that becomes sweeter when cooked.

The garlic field is tucked between the red Dutch farmhouse and an apple orchard at the northern end of Old Bethpage Village restoration. A table is covered with flats of garlic bulbs, and we sit in a large circle wrapped in coats and wearing wool caps, and learn to divide the bulbs into individual cloves and discard the center. There are children, seniors and singles all pitching in to help, but not a single vampire in sight.

Dan and Caroline are working with a group in the field to rake the soil and they roll a cylindrical device over the soil that creates perfect rows of dimples.

Groups of people follow behind with baskets full of pearly-white cloves. Each clove is tucked into a dimple, about as deep as the knuckle on your hand. The root of the clove goes in first, and the tip of the clove points towards the sky. With so many pitching in, eight beds of garlic are planted in three hours.

Multiple cloves will cluster around that single clove when the bulb matures. Each row is neatly labeled for harvest sometime during the 2010 season.

Somehow, all that garlic leaves one craving more. I roast two Restoration garlic bulbs in the oven for a simple golden roasted garlic spread of rich and buttery consistency.

Roasted Garlic

1. Place two bulbs of garlic in a small crock.
2. Add about ¼ inch of vegetable stock.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Cover tightly and roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes
5. Uncover, drizzle with additional oil and roast about 7 minutes more.
6. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the bulb and spread on toasted bread rounds.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Twilight at Restoration Farm

The sun sets low in the sky on the 2009 growing season at Restoration Farm. The final distribution of shares has been harvested. It is Halloween morning, yet beneath the distribution tent, it looks like a Thanksgiving table.

There is lots of talk about sustainable agriculture, but relatively few people get to experience its full rewards. It is really no surprise that tucked inside the word sustainable is the word sustenance.

Sustenance came with every visit to Restoration Farm. It came in the beautiful and seemingly endless bounty of vegetables. Even today, there is chard and kale, golden beets, cabbage, peppers, seven pounds of sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, turnip, daikon, garlic, butternut squash and even pie pumpkins in honor of Halloween …

If, as head grower Dan Holmes has said, their goal is to delight and surprise the CSA member, they have not failed to please, even on this, the very last day of the season.

Sustenance came from the sense of community at Restoration Farm. The winter will seem a little colder without the friendly conversations shared with Caroline, Dan and Susan at the distribution tent – conversations that taught me so much about the farmer’s perspective.

Sustenance came from working in the fields when time permitted, digging my hands into the soil to retrieve potatoes, picking berries in the midday sun, and walking through the fields. As has been my practice, I set out on foot again, not sure when I will next return. Taupe leaves dance through the air on whirlwinds. Emerald green cover crop has sprouted in the fields that will provide protection and nourishment to the soil throughout the winter.

George’s Pole Bean Kingdom, alas, has withered away.

And by the historic red barn, the trees appear to be on fire.

Sustenance prevailed in my kitchen. For months now, most of my lunches and dinners, and even some sweets contained ingredients from Restoration Farm. I couldn’t begin to write about all the things I actually cooked from the produce grown there. There were so many dishes you didn’t get to see - lasagna with Swiss chard, raspberry buttermilk ice cream, cinnamon zucchini bread, acorn squash with mushroom cranberry stuffing, roasted sweet potato soup with jalapeños and red bell pepper, creamy potato leek soup and lentil soup with kale. I became quite skilled at finding ways to incorporate those ubiquitous leafy greens into all sorts of recipes.

I also got better at wasting less and learned how to blanch and freeze greens for use in weeknight recipes. Although, some weeks, there was so much that it could be challenging to cook it all quickly enough. Next year, I’m going to try and overcome my fear of canning, to see if I can preserve more.

Still, for now, my freezer is well-stocked. Memories of Restoration Farm, the vegetables that sprang from the soil nurtured by Dan, Caroline and others, and the sustenance of the food and the place will carry me well into the winter.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Potatoes! Sweet!

The harvest at Restoration Farm has taken on an autumnal hue. Heaps of sweet potatoes shine like burnished copper nuggets in the mid-morning sun.

How to prepare? Savory or sweet?

Sweet Potato Walnut Bread is a hearty autumn treat, scented with whole wheat, cinnamon and earthy walnuts. The sugars in the grated sweet potato caramelize as the bread bakes, creating a luscious sticky-toffee quality.

Sweet Potato Walnut Bread

(Adapted from “From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce” by the Madison Area CSA Coalition)

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups grated sweet potato
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Sift flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl and mix well. Stir grated sweet potatoes into wet mixture. Combine wet ingredients with flour mixture. Stir in walnuts until just combined. Spread batter in loaf pan. Bake until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out dry, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let stand on a rack for 15 minutes. Use a sharp knife along the edges of the pan to release the bread and continue to cool.

In the fields, there are signs that the growing season at Restoration Farm is drawing to a close …

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Strange Visitors

Halloween is approaching and it’s time to revisit those spine-chilling horror film classics like War of the Worlds and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. At Restoration Farm, there has been an invasion of extraterrestrial produce. Are you ready for Attack of the Kohlrabi?

Invasion of the Daikon Radish?

Night of the Chinese Cabbage?

We have two options, Earthlings. Run for our lives … or make slaw!

Kohlrabi is a relative of broccoli, and is thought by some to be a hybrid of cabbage and turnip. The globe is actually a swollen stem. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and is similar to a crisp Granny Smith apple, although not as sweet.

The Daikon radish resembles a giant ghostly carrot. The white flesh can be eaten raw or cooked, and has the sharp, slightly pungent taste of turnip.

Chinese Cabbage invaded planet Earth in Asia in 500 A.D. While not offering much in terms of nutritional value, the lacy leaves are great in stir fries and soups, delivering lots of fiber and few calories.

The best thing about slaw is you really don’t need a recipe. The food processor is your best weapon against attack. Mine contains a full head of cabbage, one large radish, one head of kohlrabi and some sliced peppers. The dressing is 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 4 tablespoons sesame oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey and 1 teaspoon dry mustard whisked together. Toss with chopped peanuts and black sesame seeds.

So, if you happen to hear something go bump in the night, or come face-to-face with an alien at the farm stand, make peace with a big bowl of slaw.

May the Fork be with you.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Berry Finale

As the curtain comes down on Berry Season 2009 at Restoration Farm, we present “berries baked two ways” for our final number.

On stage right, is the beautiful blackberry and raspberry buckle, inspired by my friend Miss Tera who believes that the true mark of someone who appreciates food is that they go out of their way to share the experience. So she shared this recipe for her grandmother’s blueberry buckle.

I guess I’m not a stickler for tradition, since I used a combination of raspberries and blackberries, which melted into a rich, deep red sauce, but Miss Tera assures me that there were, in fact, raspberries growing in her grandmother’s garden, and she was known to toss a few blackberries into her buckle.

I’ll leave it to Miss Tera to explain the different between a buckle, a grunt, a crumble, and all those other baked berry deserts. She’s the expert.

I have some experience with cobblers. My great great grandfather was a shoemaker in London. On stage left is the blushing berry cobbler. I tucked the final pint of raspberries under a mosaic of cornmeal batter. The tart, tangy berries are a tasty contrast to the nutty cornmeal crunch.

Adorn with your choice of toppings for a standing ovation.

Until next season!

© 2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Bean Stalking

Jack – of Fairy Tale fame - would have been intrigued, and would likely be lacing up his boots for a good climb.

It is the last weekend of the summer at Restoration Farm - crisp, but stunningly beautiful. Some leaves are already tinged with gold, but there are hoards of vegetables still to be picked.

“Go over to where the pole beans are planted and look for George,” says Head Grower Dan Holmes. He points towards a jungle of green vines. “George is Caroline’s grandfather. He’s the King of Beans.”

I peek tentatively into the tangled maze. Deep at its core, I can see a kindly older gentleman wearing a baseball cap. “These beans are like Ole Man River,” says George. “They just keep rolling along.” George is the keeper of the pole beans. Periodically, a volunteer will wander by and call “George?” to see if he answers from deep within the Pole Bean kingdom.

I grab a basket and forge in. It is like a topiary gone awry. There are clusters of beans everywhere and at each interval where a pole has been planted, the vines reach into the sky. Perhaps calling them “magic beans” would be an exaggeration, but they are indeed “magical beans.” Each beautiful pod is flecked with purple and some measure six-inches in length.

I pluck the pods by the handful and drop them into the basket. In little time, I have filled more than two baskets, and there are still more beans to pick. Have you ever eaten a bean, fresh off the vine? The snap is startlingly crisp and the taste refreshingly clean and sweet. I must confess that I sneak a quick nibble. No Giant sightings, though.

Members of Restoration Farm each get an allocation of three pounds of beans at the distribution tent. That’s a hill of beans by any measurement. I can think of no better way to celebrate the magic of the Restoration Farm bean harvest than with a sharp and sassy Three-Bean Salad:

Three-Bean Salad (Adapted from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles)

1 cup cooked cut green beans
¾ cup cooked chickpeas
¾ cup cooked kidney beans
1 purple bell pepper, diced
¼ cup diced red onion
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Toss cut vegetables together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients for dressing, and pour over salad. Toss to combine.

©2009 T.W. Barritt all Rights Reserved