Sunday Supper: Tasty Dribs and Drabs

I noticed this morning that a number of the small red onions I’d bought from Patti, a certified organic grower at our farmers market, were starting to sprout.

That was my fault for leaving them upstairs where they got some light, but I wouldn’t have given up having them there after H’s granddaughter found them one night and commenced carrying handsful of them to everyone in the room while giggling tremendously.

So, I decided to roast all of them that were sprouting (about two or three pounds) using the method in Fields of Greens: rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper, roasted until soft, then dressed in a balsamic vinegar reduction.

And then it turned out to be about dinnertime, and I hadn’t thought of anything else to eat.  Balsamic onions are very good, but they don’t make a supper in themselves.  I still had half a bowl of leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, so I decided to have another go at the potato pancakes.

What I learned from my first successful batch two nights ago is that in order for them to be flavorful, you have to really spice them up.  I went for a fairly mild batch last time to appease my son (please let’s not talk about what happened with that), and they were much, much too bland.

This time, I added (to the three cups of leftover potatoes) a couple of the largest of the roasted red onions chopped, some roasted red peppers I had stored in some EVOO in the fridge, plus sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and some grated asiago cheese.

Then the two eggs and flour (some white, some whole wheat) got mixed in until the batter was still tacky, but a little easier to hold together.  They went into the hot fat (butter and EVOO mix) on the stove until browned on both sides.

These tasted a lot better than the first batch with the added heavy dose of herbs and other flavorful ingredients.  Also on the menu: a couple stubs of bread–some salted Mr. Smith’s baguette and some Red Wagon sourdough along with the mustard green salad leftover from Thanksgiving.

The greens are from the gardens (they’re still growing out there under the row cover, albeit slowly), and there’s some chopped tamari almonds and plums I canned from the neighbor’s tree.  A few bacon bits made their way into the salad as well–the dressing has some of the bacon fat as well as EVOO, ginger paste, plum juice, and white balsamic vinegar.

Altogether, it was a pretty fantastic meal for a last-minute Sunday supper!

Local ingredients: potatoes, red onions, red peppers, mustard greens, plums, eggs, bacon, herbs.

 

Big Decisions

It’s the time of the season for seed inventory; the time when I bring up all my collective tins of garden seed–the nightshades and the kohl crops and the melons, cukes, and squashes, the corn, beans, and peas, and the herbs and flowers and make a list of everything I have so as to determine what I’ll need to order for the 2010 season.

But this year there will be some decisions to make–bigger decisions than usual–before placing those orders.

You see, I am attempting to assume primary custody of my son, and the court’s decision in late January on that matter will determine a lot of other things in my life, including the scale and shape of my farm business in the coming year.

Of all the parts of my working life, the farm will be the most affected by a change in custody if there is one.  My teaching gig affords me retirement and health insurance benefits plus a reasonable paycheck pretty much every month of the year.  That’s probably not going to change anytime in the near future–at least by my own doings.

I’ll still take on my responsibilities as Farmers Market Board president if they’ll still have me–I should probably get on canvassing for our next meeting to talk about this season and next.

The question is what elements of the CSA and market gardens I’d keep and what parts I might suspend or eliminate should my time be more involved in taking care of my son on a daily basis.

On the one hand, the CSA can be a bit of a grind what with weekly deliveries of a set amount of produce to a set number of people, but the time involved with actually harvesting and getting that produce to the members is less demanding than a four-hour stint at the market every week (with accompanying several-hour stint in harvest and prep).

On the other hand, the market gardening and sales at the farmers market allows me a bit more flexibility with what and how much I grow, and whether or not, in a pinch, I go to market at all (though missing a market also cuts down on the farm income and can also mean produce ending up in the compost rather than on someone’s table).

With the CSA, the deliveries have to be made no matter what–but in a pinch I could call on H or another friend to help with childcare if my son was under the weather or otherwise indisposed to go out on the delivery run.  Generally speaking, during the school year I make deliveries before school is out anyhow to cut down on traffic issues.

[Those readers in urban areas are now laughing their heads off at the idea of traffic in small-town South Dakota.  Yeah, I know.  But it can tack 5-10 minutes onto the round trip!]

While Thursdays selling at the market is probably my favorite time of the week during the regular season despite the work involved in preparation (a farmer needs her social time!), that seems to me the best place to make a cut if one is needed.

The overall time involved with harvesting, setting up, standing and selling extends beyond the end of the school day and into the dinner hour as well, making it a tricky proposition.  It’s possible I could ask one of my friends/market regulars to pick him up and bring him down to the market, but that seems like a lot to ask.

At this point, it’s impossible to know what will happen or what shape things will take for the coming year, but I’m trying to plan for several possible outcomes and situations.

In the end, I may make a “regular” seed order anyhow and try to use what I can and give away what I can’t use in a reasonable length of time should the situation warrant a cutback.

After all, the biggest reason for starting this business to begin with was to feed my own family the best food money can’t really buy in this area–and that remains a primary goal.  No matter what happens with the custody decision, at the very least I’ll be growing for us.

 

Leftovers

Thanksgiving is over, and we’ve been noshing on the leftovers for a couple of days now–the turkey and roasted veggies, the cranberry sauce, the stuffing, and the mashed potatoes redone as potato pancakes (my first successful batch! it helps to have a recipe and a lot of fat to fry in…).

Yesterday, M and I went out to Manning’s Tree Farm and picked out a six foot Scotch Pine as bouffant as an old lady’s beehive.  They have a handy-dandy tree stand there with a spike in the middle that you simply set the tree on after they’ve drilled a hole in the bottom.

I probably should’ve gone for it, but budgetary concerns coupled with the amount of time I spent with WD40 and vise grips getting the old stand ready for action made me think twice. That, and when someone tries to sell me something handy-dandy that I haven’t tried before, I always step back.

I might’ve thought a third time and avoided the hassle of trying to get this tree straight in the old stand, but H helped and we got the thing mostly straight in the front window and decorated it last night.

It has been a long time since I’ve had a real tree–it’s been a long time since I had a tree at all.  A lot of years I simply decorate my tropical hibiscus bush–though it’s kind of hard to give a decorated shrub a shower, which is my normal way of watering “Biscuit.”

Now it’s time to start thinking of holiday gifts for family and friends.  For me, that’s usually a matter of looking in the pantry and putting together boxes of all the special and delicious goodies I’ve canned and put by during the season.  This year I’ve got some corn relish and pickles, chutney and jam.

I also dried some leeks this year, along with the little tomatoes I always do.  Those always make a good insert to keep the canning jars from clinking.  Once I’ve selected a nice assortment for each recipient, I’ll sometimes scout the thrift shops for something pretty or functional to put them in, then scout the basement for the right-sized box.

It’s not that I avoid spending any money on gifts–I do generally buy a couple new things, but I also know that to keep within my holiday budget of about two hundred dollars, I need to think about the shipping costs of packages to other parts of the country, which can take up 1/4 to 1/3 of that total budget (canned goods are heavy, after all).

To me, consumables make some of the best presents–especially for people who already have a lot of “stuff” or don’t want a lot of stuff.  Something made by hand that can be enjoyed in that festive time of year seems like a better bet than something that’ll just take up more space and may or may not be used.

And it’s fun to put together the little packages of goodness–spicy for those who like it, sweet and mild for those whose tastes go that way, and little extras that further reflect the recipient’s taste based on raves from previous seasons.

It’s also great to get the season’s gifts put together and shipped off early instead of wandering the aisles looking for the “perfect gift” and never finding it because it’s not there.

It gives me a little more time to relax and enjoy what I really like about the holiday season (and it’s not final grading): food, friends, family, potluck parties and cheery lights, and curling up with a good book in the cozy house.

 

Thanksgiving Plans

Yes, it’s very nearly Thanksgiving, and I’ve been working out the menu with H’s daughter K, who has agreed to do the bird (a locally-raised beauty) roasted with some whole small local onions and chunks of apple and the gravy and cranberry sauce and host the thing at her place.

That leaves me with a few different dishes that I’m throwing together in my mind and trying to collect the ingredients for on a more physical plane.  Mashed potatoes are easy enough–I’ve got a fifty pound bag of Gary Bye’s red ones in the basement as well as a few left in the upstairs pantry.

Stuffing is going to be fabulous made from a loaf of Red Wagon’s sourdough (the other loaf will be for eating with the meal), and I’ve decided to make pumpkin custard instead of pie to lighten the workload.  There’s also the fact that my little guy, who is the pumpkin fiend, won’t eat the crust anyhow.

Last but not least I’ve decided to make a warm salad of greens from the garden.  That’s right, I said it–from the garden!  I haven’t harvested the mustard greens for a month, and I pulled two bags of tender young greens out of the row that’s been growing ever-so-slowly in the waning light of the year.

I also pulled a third bag of dino kale (that’s in tonight’s dinner), and a few mature leaves of arugula that’ll go in the Thanksgiving salad as well.  There’s still some leaf fennel growing in the window box outside–that be good in there along with some chopped tamari almonds and some of the neighbor’s plums I canned last season.

For the dressing I’m thinking a warm (to wilt the spicy greens and take the edge off) one with a little fat rendered from some locally-sourced bacon, plus some white balsamic and a little of the canned plum juice for sweetness. Maybe a tiny dab of ginger spread mixed in?

I might even try to get some goat cheese in there, but that seems like it might be a little over the top what with everything else we’ll be gnoshing on that day.  Maybe some of that mild white Mexican crumbling cheese they have at Jones?  It’s exciting to consider the possibilities…

Local foods likely to be involved: turkey, apples, onions, herbs, pumpkin, greens, plums, potatoes, milk, bacon.

How about you?  What’s the most exciting dish you’ll be serving up (or you’re still in the process of imagining) this Thanksgiving?

 

Whole Wheat Penne with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce

Sometimes I cheat.

What I mean is, we’re not all Martha Stewart around here, and when the days are filled with errands and dishes and visits to the library and impromptu soccer matches and dog park excursions, dinner is sometimes a matter of figuring out how most gracefully to use whatever’s on hand, even if it’s pre-made soup from a box.

Last night’s dinner was an example of this–a dish I made up out of bits and pieces–not a lot local this time, and even some pre-processed elements.  But it was hearty, filling, and really, really good.

I started with a slice off a smoked ham I have sitting in my fridge–you could omit this meaty part if you’re a vegetarian.  I peppered it heavily and browned it on both sides in a big skillet with butter and olive oil.  Around the sides of the good-sized ham slice, I threw in a thinly-sliced yellow onion.

When the ham was browned, I removed it to the cutting board and sauteed the onions a little more ’til they were starting to brown a little, then dumped in about half a cup of white wine I had left over from a chicken braising project.

I scraped the browned bits of ham-and-onion goodness off the bottom to incorporate with the wine, and tossed in about 1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley.  I’ve been using the Prezzemolo Gigante parsley I grew this year–which is bar none the best-tasting parsley I’ve ever had anywhere.

Also into the pan went about half a can of diced organic tomatoes that I chopped a bit more finely.  And then, the processed bit: about a half box (that’d be 16 oz.) of Pacific Natural Foods Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup I had in the fridge.

That soup is really tasty on its own, and it doesn’t have creepy additives like the big name canned soups.  So, I feel comfortable eating it and adding it to my recipes in a pinch.  I’m looking forward to trying some of their other varieties and seeing how I can use them in my cooking. (And no, they’re not paying me to say that.)

I let the soup/sauce simmer a bit, and sliced the ham into matchstick-sized pieces and added that back into the pan.  Then I whisked in about half a cup of plain whole milk yogurt.

When the pasta was cooked according to the package directions (a full 16 oz. box of whole wheat penne), I tossed it with a nubbin of butter and then mixed the pasta into the sauce in the pan.

If I made this again, I think I would add a little sage (and maybe a pinch of dried thyme) along with the parsley, and maybe even a little more black pepper at the end.  You definitely should not add salt to this dish–there’s plenty in the soup and the ham.

It’s also nice to grate a little Parmesan on the portions as you’re serving them–it adds a little more depth to the creaminess.  If you use a sweet and flavorful parsley like I did, that really makes the dish in terms of flavor and a hint of green in the pinkish sauce.

Local ingredients: onion, parsley.

 

Home Remedies: Horseradish

I’m not a doctor, but I play one at home.  The following is not medical advice, but my own experience.  Consult your doctor with serious medical issues.

That said, I employ a variety of home remedies that have been pretty effective for me and my family for various non-serious maladies.  In a lot of cases, I believe doing this has led to less frequent doctor visits–certainly for me.  But then, I’m willing to use myself as a guinea pig.

One of the remedies I grew up with was using horseradish to clear out minor sinus problems accompanying colds and flu and hay fever. You’d take a spoonful (as much as you could stand) and stomp your foot as the vapors burned through the mucus in your head. (The stomping wasn’t necessary for the “cure,” I don’t think.)

My mom bought pre-prepared horseradish, which at that time seemed pretty effective and HOT (that’s the medicinal part–the same chemical component as in mustard oil).  But I haven’t found a commercially-prepared horseradish that is what I would call medicinal-grade in a long time.

A lot of the commercial brands have artifical additives and soybean oil–something I can’t understand at all (horseradish should taste like horseradish–nothing else) and wouldn’t use as a home rememdy if I was sick.  Of course I wouldn’t use the creamy horseradish sauces, either.

Good horseradish is made with nothing but fine-grated horseradish root, vinegar, and usually a little salt, and it’s really easy to make at home if you can get your hands on a section of horseradish root.  Of course, the best way to get your hands on some horseradish root is to grow it yourself, and it’s very easy to grow.

In fact, my only failed attempt at growing horseradish was due to (as a friend explained to me) not being mean enough to the root as I planted it.  I was told it might help to beat the thing against a fence post and swear at it a few times, then stick it in the ground.

I didn’t do that, but I did dig the patch deep and added some manure and sand so the roots would have fertile and loose soil to grow deep and straight.  And boy, did they.  I’m glad I planted it where I can occasionally dig out the patch and mow the leaves–it can be very invasive, and it’s hard to get all of it out.

It’s so vigorous and invasive, I won’t put any part of the root in my compost pile–any little nubbin I have left from preparing grated horseradish goes in the trash.  But, as I said, it’s easy to grow, and it’s handy to have on hand for medicinal and condiment use.

If you live in the northern tier, ask around and see if someone will give you a section of root.  You can also order the roots from many seed companies, but if your neighbors who already have it find out, they’ll laugh at you for paying money for it.

In order to preserve the heat of fresh horseradish, I’ve found the best preparation method is to use a fine grater, only do a little at a time (this also helps to preserve the preparer’s sanity–the fumes can be intense!), and grate the root directly into a bowl that has a little puddle of cider vinegar in it.

If you grate fresh horseradish coarsely (like in a food processor), it won’t be as hot.  It will taste good (freshly-prepped horseradish is sweet as well as hot), but it won’t have the “oomph” you’re going for if you need a good sinus-clearing.

I stop every few moments to scrape the gratings off the back of the grater and to mix the shavings into the vinegar.  Once I have a little mound, I scrape all of the gratings into a little jar with a tight-fitting lid and add a smidgeon of salt.

The volatile compounds that make horseradish hot dissipate fast–get a lid on it as soon as possible.  Once you have your grated, prepared root, you can take a spoonful every few hours to help clear out your sinuses.  A word of warning–try a SMALL spoonful at first–don’t hurt yourself!

 

Wouldn’t it be cool if…

So this morning I took off my farming and food hats to put on my rural booster beanie under my techno-geek helmet and did a little research into a new social media craze that I’ve seen showing up via Twitter in the last few months.

The social media tool that is heading toward this year’s crown as coolest new service is Foursquare, and while it’s only being used in major cities around the globe right now, I can see great possibilities for its use right here in good ol’ SoDak.

The idea behind Foursquare is that it allows users to “check in” at various locations in their city.  The game aspect of it involves getting “points” for number of check-ins, allowing the user to move up through the ranks from “newbie” to “mayor” of a particular location, and sometimes those ranks come with deals from participating businesses.

Foursquare is useful for city residents and travelers alike in that it allows users to share information about hotspots, little-known destinations, great menu items at restaurants and cafes–you get the picture.  A user who checks in at a new eatery can then get tips about the venue’s specialities, perks, and quirks from others who’ve come before.

Now, I know that South Dakota isn’t the place that pops in mind when free associating on the term “early adopters.”  But have you ever been traveling in a rural state (even your own) and wondered what that small town off the highway (or off the beaten path) has to offer in terms of services, eateries, etc.?

Sure, you can surf the web from your iPhone or Blackberry (if you have one) for these attractions in larger towns and cities, but wouldn’t it be cool if you could get a tip about a little-known cafe with the best burgers ever in, say, Elkton?

Wouldn’t it be nice if travelers who’d come before you (and residents, too) could build and use an app that could spur business for somebody besides the Golden Arches, which uses its enormous roadside signs as a way to lure in hungry travelers who’ve no idea what other options a community holds?

A social media tool that could build an archive of hints and tips like this for rural communities across a rural state could be invaluable for spurring tourism and building local economies.

Right now, Foursquare is only centered in larger cities (yes, larger than Sioux Falls or Rapid).  But I can’t help dreaming and scheming about what this kind of social media could do on a more rural scale for keeping small businesses and rural communities humming.

 

Critters in my Care

So, I may have mentioned that we took on a cat.

Little Girl

We took on this cat, which belongs to H’s daughter, because his daughter went traveling for some indeterminate length of time.  The cat, who is named Little Girl, is staying at my house for an also indeterminate length of time because I felt strongly that she wouldn’t get enough care and company living at the farm during the winter months.

She’s also living here because she and the dog need to get used to each other even if she is going to eventually live out at the farm, so the dog doesn’t see her at the farm and attempt to chase her off, as she does any other cat she sees in any of the territories she deems her own (and even those she doesn’t deem her own, as some of my friends can attest).

Vega

It’s not (I think) that Vega hates cats so much as she believes they exist to be chased and harrassed–something that most cats just don’t appreciate very much.  Vega did at one time bond with another cat (my ex-husband’s), and she was quite protective of said feline.  But that was a long time ago, and that cat was a kitten.

The relationship between Vega and Little Girl is going to take a bit more time because Little Girl is a mature cat and has not had much exposure to dogs.

She doesn’t much like Vega, and though Vega has attempted to show her friendly inclinations by attempting to stick her nose directly in the cat’s soft underbelly and roll her around (that’s what I assume she’d do if she could), Little Girl is having none of it.

I should say at this point that I’m not a cat person.  I see the value in having a cat around if you have rodent problems, but I don’t.  I see the point in having a cat if you like to sit around and stroke something warm and fuzzy on your lap, but I’m not much for that, either.

I do appreciate a cat’s ability to make its needs known because I’m actually quite horrible at feeding or taking care of anything that doesn’t.  You might think that conflicts with my ability to take care of garden plants, but it doesn’t.  Garden plants aren’t pets, and my feeding and care of them is directly related to my own ability to eat good food.

Maybe it’s more basically that I’m not a “pet” person.  I don’t think of Vega as a pet; I think of her as my companion and my friend, and a supplement to my eyes and ears.  So, she pulls some weight around the house that I think more than compensates for the food, care, and love she requires.

The cat?  Hmm.  I made the decision a few days ago to allow the cat access to the basement, so she’d have a place to explore and even hide out if the dog became a pest to her.  Her response was to spend several days hanging out in the very darkest corner of the bunker room in the basement under a pile of boxes.

She only came out at night to explore (and hop on the bed to be stroked) and to be fed.  This actually added to the tension between her and the dog because the dog doesn’t much care for another animal begging for food at the same time and in the same space as she.

So, she’d try to chase the cat out of the kitchen, and the cat would hiss, and they’d dislike each other even more.  And then the cat would eat her dinner and then go hang out in the basement or at her very most social (when she couldn’t sneak into the bedroom while I was reading), on the top two or three basement stairs.

I put an end to the basement access today.  I had to fish the cat out from under the boxes in the bunker room and bring her up.  She didn’t struggle or try to fight it; she just decided that her new quarters was going to be my bed.

I’ve decided that the cat on the (made) bed is OK if it means I don’t have this little anti-social critter hiding out in my basement.  If I’m going to feed and care for and clean up after (yeah, a couple hairballs so far) an animal in my home, I want to at least see the animal on occasion, and not just when I’m in the act of taking care of its basic needs.

So, I’m coming to the realization that it’s not just the dog and the cat who have to get along and get used to a new household dynamic–we all have to give a little.  And that includes me.

 

Goosemobile in Vermillion

Mark your calendars for December 12 from 1-2pm, as Tom and Ruth Neuberger’s famed Goosemobile will be swinging through Vermillion on their holiday route.  They’ll be setting up in the (old) Pamida parking lot.

The Goosemobile carries all kinds of naturally raised and organic South Dakota meats–goose, sure, but also beef, chicken, pork, goat, and lamb.  If you want to make sure they have what you want when you get there, click on the link above and call or e-mail them with your order.

 

A Chicken in Every Pot

…or what to do when swiney’s got you down.

I’ve been on a mostly liquid diet for the past several days–chicken soup, lentil-garlic soup, split pea soup, curried squash soup–plus broth and tea and juice and water (and a few honey-whiskey-lemon toddies before bed).  Frankly, I’m a bit tired of it.  The body aches are gone, but the aftermath of the flu lingers.

So, going off some inspiration from yesterday’s Splendid Table, I decided to take one of Nate’s hens out of the freezer and do some braising.  Hens that are layed out may be too tough for quick cooking methods, but they are incredibly flavorful if you cook them slowly and gently.

If you know someone who raises a fair number of chickens, you might be able to get a “stewing hen” for a better price per pound than a young broiler because most people are looking for young and tender chickens.  The old gal can be very tender, too, if you treat her right.

I thawed my chicken in cold water in the sink, patted her dry, then browned her in my big Dutch oven with some EVOO.  Once she was browned, I took her out and plated her, and poured a couple cups of a not-too-spendy white white in the bottom of the pot.

Then I halved some leeks and laid them in the bottom with the wine and fat, and I chopped some parsnips and celeriac to throw in as well, and a couple smashed cloves of garlic.  I threw a couple half-slices of bacon on top for the bird to sit on, and I rubbed the chicken all over with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and celery seed.

A couple more half-slices of bacon went in the cavity and on top of the bird, and then I placed her on top of the veggies and put the top on the Dutch oven with a crack open to expel steam.  She went in a very low oven (I did 250, but I should have gone down to 200) for a few hours with a few bastings, until she started to come all apart.

For a side dish, I boiled some Yukon Golds (about 4 medium), and then I mashed them with some of the roasted parnsips and celeriac scooped from the pot.  Since there was plenty of fat clinging to the pot veggies, I didn’t add any butter–just a little milk and a grating of nutmeg.

The breast was a little dry still–I think it would have been better cooked just a little lower or with the bacon slipped under the skin–but the bulk of the bird was juicy and incredibly flavorful.  If you don’t have a big enough Dutch oven, you could tent a pot (leave a little steam vent, so the bird doesn’t boil) or cut the bird in pieces.

H is a big fan of these kinds of traditional dinners–roast bird and the like with some fixin’s.  I made a gravy with some of the fat from the pot and a little more wine and broth–that always makes it special.

Now that dinner is over and the bird is taken apart, you can probably guess what I’m back to.  I scraped all the good stuff out of the Dutch oven, threw all the bones and leftover veggies in a new pot with a smidgen of vinegar (to draw the minerals out) and covered it all with water.

By tomorrow, I should have a great stock for yet another soup.  I’m not out of the swine flu woods yet, after all.

Local ingredients: chicken, bacon, leeks, parsnips, celeriac, potatoes, garlic, milk.