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SAFE HOME FARM
Robin Timm
Winter Fun
Here it is, New Year’
Eve, time for our seed search and Scrabble marathon. That is one answer
to the often asked question “what do you do in the winter?”
Actually we have many
chores that get neglected during the gardening season. And, as our
climate seems to warm, we seem to stay outside longer into winter,
tearing out old fences, mulching garlic and flower beds, and enjoying
the fresh air.
We always have something
that needs tending in the house too. In preparation for our holiday
company, we started the 2006 painting project right after Thanksgiving.
I am happy to report our kitchen, laundry and bath rooms are all freshly
painted. In addition, the storage room that holds seeds, onions and
potatoes, along with a lot of junk, has been cleaned up, painted and
reorganized.
We are a bit surprised
that our house chores are pretty well done. Jayne and I always talk
about visiting different farms and gardening ventures. As a member of
the Main Street Board I am also curious about other downtown projects.
This year we plan to
visit some of the new restaurants that are dishing up local foods and
serving interesting dishes. We have already started and hope to do more
exploring of some of these establishments.
Yesterday Jayne and I
and another friend traveled to Spring Green to visit the Local Choice
Farm Market and the General Store Café. The Local Choice Farm Market,
www.localchoicefarmmarket.com is selling locally produced meats,
cheeses, milk and more. Even though the store is small, there is a wide
variety of products to choose from.
We then walked over to
the Spring Green General Store
www.springgreengeneralstore.com. This café and store has an
eclectic collection of food, toys, clothing, jewelry, kitchen supplies
and more.
Jayne and I were
delighted to find more than one vegetarian selection on the menu. Jayne
had a humus sandwich and I had the special of the day, the Mediterranean
Platter with baba ganoush, spinach and artichoke dip and pita breads.
Our friend had the chili platter and salad.
On the way out we picked
up some fair trade chocolate bars and some locally made cheese. What a
treat!
In mid-November, Jayne
had a work trip in Chippewa Falls. I tagged along for a little
holiday. We stayed in Pleasant View B & B
www.pleasantview.com right on Lake Wissota. Our hosts served up an
amazing breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt and French toast covered
with homemade syrup.
Just around the corner
and still on Lake Wissota sat Native Bay restaurant
www.nativebay.com Here is a clip from their website :
Our name
stems from the desire to promote a style of cuisine that is local and
native to the Upper Midwest. Chef/owner Nathan Berg (left in photo)
procures the overwhelming majority of his ingredients from local farmers
and artisans to give a sense of place to his menus, support the local
economy and, most importantly, ensure that his food is as fresh and ripe
as possible.
Chef Berg
has a rotating menu, following the seasons and varieties of available
foods. We enjoyed celeriac soup, roasted vegetables topping polenta
cakes and a decadent chocolate dessert.
Served in
the Slow Food tradition, we had time between courses to chat and
digest. The food was elegantly prepared and the portions were plenty to
fill us yet not feel overfed. It was a delightful evening of food and
conversation.
Recently a friend sent
us a rave review of the Hilltop Deli in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Fairly
new, the master chef serves up over 20 salad selections, a variety of
seafood options and more. This is on the list for a January adventure.
In between
our excursions, I am splitting wood and walking the dogs, to keep up my
strength and build up an appetite for more lunch adventures. I am also
experimenting with our frozen produce, adding recipes to our list for
next season’s CSA newsletters.
Here are a
few new recipes for you to try. If you have any favorite recipes using
garden vegetables, send them in. We love to try new recipes.
Anatolian Red Lentil Stew with
Wheat Berries and Chickpeas
(Turkey)
1/4 cup wheat berries
1/2 cup dried chickpeas or 1-1/2 cups
drained, cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 small eggplants, peeled and diced into 1/4
–inch pieces (about 1 cup)
2-1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup dried red lentils
5 cups vegetable stock or water
2 Tbsp dried mint or 6 Tbsp chopped fresh
mint
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Put the wheat berries in
a bowl with 4 cups of water and leave to soak in a cool spot for 12
hours.
Put the chickpeas in a
bowl with 4 cups of water and leave to soak in a cool spot for 12 hours.
Drain the wheat
berries. Put in a pot with 2-1/4 cups water and bring to a boil.
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook very gently for 1-1/2 hours. Most
of the water should be absorbed.
Drain the chickpeas.
Put in a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the
heat to low and cook gently for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are
tender. Drain and reserve the liquid. Put the chickpeas in a bowl of
cold water and gently rub off the skins. Discard the skins and the
water.
(If you are using canned
chickpeas, add them when you would add the boiled chickpeas)
Put the oil in a large,
heavy pot and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onion.
Stir and fry for 4 minutes. Add the eggplants and stir and fry for 2
minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir in the tomato paste,
cooking for 30 seconds, then add the lentils. Stir and fry for 30
seconds, then add 4 cups of the stock or water (you may use the cooking
liquid from the chickpeas as part of the stock) and mint. Stir and
bring to a boil. Cover partially, turn the heat down to low and simmer
for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Empty the contents of
the pot into and electric blender or food processor and blend. You may
need to do this in more than one batch. Pour the puree back into the
pot. Pour the remaining cup of stock or water into the blender
container, swish it around and pour that into the pot as well. Taste
and add as much salt as you please. Stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer
very gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Check for salt, add
lemon juice and stir to mix. Sprinkle the parsley over the top.
Serve with bread and a
yogurt salad.
Serves 4 to 6
Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
Braised Brussels Sprouts
Serves 6-8
It's important
to have a pan large enough to cook the sprouts in a single layer. You
can blanch the sprouts up to one day ahead: Wrap in a clean kitchen
towel or paper towels and place in a plastic bag. Frozen sprouts work
well too.
INGREDIENTS:
1 & 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, stem ends
trimmed, halved through the core
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 cup hard cider or beer
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt + salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Instructions:
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Prepare an ice
bath. Blanch the sprouts until crisp-tender but no longer crunchy, 5-7
minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into the ice water. When cool,
drain well.
Meanwhile, heat
a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the pan.
When it's hot, add the sprouts and sauté for about 5 minutes, shaking
the pan gently from time to time rather than stirring. Stir in the
shallots and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, until all of the
vegetables are lightly browned, stirring often.
Add the cider,
1 teaspoon kosher salt and lots of black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce
heat to a lively simmer and cover. Cook until the sprouts are cooked
through at the core, 3-5 minutes.
Uncover,
increase heat to high and cook until the liquid is almost completely
evaporated, about 2 minutes. If the sprouts are done to your liking
before that, it's OK to have a little extra liquid.
Beet Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3-4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3 cups shredded beets
Heat oven to 325°.
Grease two 9-inch pans. Whisk dry ingredients together. Melt chocolate
very slowly over low heat or in double boiler. Cool chocolate; blend
thoroughly with eggs and oil. Combine flour mixture with chocolate
mixture, alternating with the beets. Pour into pans. Bake until fork
can be removed from center cleanly, 40-50 minutes. Makes 10 servings.
From Asparagus to Zucchinin: A guide to
cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce
Contact Robin at JDRT@mhtc.net
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