Farm Home Cooking
Tomato Soup
We eat from Fern Creek year around. Summer and fall meals are obvious; in the winter we eat from our root cellar, pantry, and freezer, making soups, roasted vegetables, stews, stir-fries and pastas, as well as cobblers from the berries in our freezer and apples in the root cellar. Some recipes are original, and when they are not, I'll let you know where they came from. Mostly they are from locally sourced products, though occasionally, like the cranberry sauce, from products we don't grow in Oregon. Enjoy--and comment freely!
Butternut, Sweet Potato Soup
About this time of year I look in the root cellar and have two emotions: The strongest one is feeling good about still having a lot of food to eat given that we're just at the beginning of winter. The other one is a question: "What am I going to do with all those winter squash and beets?" We also still have leeks in the ground and storage onions, potatoes and parsnips.
For this soup I harvested several leeks because they have a milder flavor which I prefer with butternut squash and sweet potatoes. This is a great winter soup, very simple and adaptable to your own seasoning tastes.
Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup (Serves 8)
After trimming the roots and ends off 3-4 leeks, cut them in half lengthwise, wash out any residual garden dirt, and slice. Saute in 1-2 Tbsp. oil (e.g. canola).
Peel and cube 2 sweet potatoes and 1 butternut squash (remove seeds) and add to the leeks. Add 2-4 c. water and about a quart of good vegetable broth (or more water). Cook until the squash and potatoes are soft. Puree to desired consistency with an emersion wand. If too thick, add more water, broth, or milk (I like my soups thick). Grate a dash of fresh nutmeg into the pot, and salt and pepper to taste.
When serving: add a dollop of sour cream and stir in slightly (opt). Garnish with parsley (which in our case is also still growing in the herb garden as we've not had enough hard freezes to keel it over yet…).
You could season this with oregano, thyme and basil, and/or add milk to make it more creamy.
Cranberry Sauce
For Thanksgiving I finally made cranberry sauce from scratch. I'll never to back to the canned goods… The leftover sauce makes a moist and festive cranberry quick bread.
Cranberry Sauce (adapted from Epicurious.com)
Rinse and cook 1 12 ounce package of cranberries with 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 c. water, approx. 2 Tbsp. brown sugar (sweeten to taste), 6-8 whole cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks and nutmeg (preferably grated, but ground will do) for about 10 minutes, until the berries begin to pop.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Mash slightly with a potato masher. As an option add zest of orange.
Can make up to two days ahead and store in the refrigerator although serve it at room temperature.
Left-over cranberry sauce makes a great holiday cranberry quick bread.
Garden Tomato Soup
This simple soup-from-the garden requires that you had the forethought to put up some tomato sauce in August or September when the tomatoes were abundant… If you didn't, you can use any good can or jar of tomato sauce. (I'll offer my tomatoe sauce receipe this summer).
Pour a jar of homemade tomato sauce (mine is made with onions, garlic, sweet and hot peppers) into a saucepan. Add a can of evaporated milk (or 2% or skim milk). Warm on medium heat until heated through. Use a blending wand to puree. Top with whatever greens you have on hand or can scrounge from the herb garden. The greens pictured above are trimmings off our onion seed starts that are shooting up under their grow lights. They needed a trimming anyway and the fresh onion flavor offered a burst of spring to come on a winter night. Serve with warm bread or toast.
Hazelnut Blueberry Pancakes
Combine 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1 T. brown sugar in bowl.
In separate bowl wisk together 1 3/4 c. milk, 2 small eggs or 1 large one, and 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Add 1/2-3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries, 1/3 c. toasted and chopped hazelnuts and 1 Tbsp. flax seed (optional).
Heat a griddle on moderately high until it sizzles when you drop a couple drops of water on it. Grease with a small amount of butter and bake pancakes until golden. Serve with maple syrup.
This makes enough for 2 hungry or 3 ordinary appetites.
Hazelnut Cranberry Maple Granola
Sarah, my daughter, inspired this granola recipe. Check out Sarah's blog, linedrawings, for more of her recipes and reflections on life as a creative new mother.
Preheat oven to 300.
Mix together: 4 c. Old Fashioned Oats, 2 c. chopped hazelnuts, 1 c. sunflower seeds, 1/4 c. flax seeds, 1 tsp. salt, and 2 tsp. cinnamon.
In a separate small bowl whisk together: 6 Tbsp. maple syrup, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. honey, 4 Tbsp. canola oil, and 2 tsp. vanilla.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients, spread on a baking sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring half-way through. Remove from oven and stir in 1 c. dried cranberries, raisins, or chopped dates. Let sit until cool and then store in jars.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread (Vegan)
I adapted this melt-in-your-mouth-perfect-for-a-hoiday-brunch bread from Fancy House Road, substituting as necessary to make it vegan. We enjoyed it for our Christmas brunch, along with a French baguette egg, mushroom, spinach casserole, the last of Fern Creek's Brussles sprouts, a fruit platter, and quinoa/hummus patties.
Pull-apart bread dough: In a microwavable bowl melt 2 tablespoons margarine. Separately heat 1/2 c. coconut milk and add to the margarine. Cool to about 100-110 degrees. Stir in 1/4 c. sugar and 1 scant Tbsp. yeast and let sit approx. 10 minutes until foamy.
Stir in 3/4 c. cooked, mashed butternut squash (or 3/4 c. canned pumpkin), 1 tsp. salt, and 1 cup flour (I used half whole wheat and added a Tbsp. of gluten). Mix in approximately another 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 c. at a time. Knead for 6-8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and slightly sticky. If the dough is too sticky, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let dough rise in a warm place for about 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
The filling: While dough is rising, melt another 2 tablespoons of margarine. Add 3/4 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.
Grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan.
Punch down dough and let rest 10 pinutes. Dust a work area with flour and roll the dough out to a 20x12 inch rectangle, adding flour beneath the sheet of dough if it sticks. Sprinkle and then press (or roll) cinnamon sugar mix into dough.
With the long edge of the dough rectangle toward you, cut dough into 6 strips (a pizza cutter works great). Stack strips on top of one another and cut the stack into 6 even portions. Place these portions one at a time into your greased loaf pan, pressing them up against each other to fit them in. Cover the pan with your damp cloth and place it in a warm place for 30-45 minutes to double in size, (or cover with wax paper and wrap loosely in a dish towel and refrigerate if you want to bake them the next day--which is what I did for our Christmas brunch).
While dough rises (or in the morning--remove from fridge and let sit out about 1 hour in a warm place), preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the loaf in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until dark golden brown on top (if you take it out at light golden brown, it’s liable to be raw in the middle, so let it get good and dark--I made this mistake the first time). Cool for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack in the pan while you make the glaze.
The glaze: This bread is plenty sweet without the glaze, so I serve the glaze on the side (as seen in my photo above), rather than drizzling it over the top, or over each individual piece). In your saucepan, bring 1 Tbsp. margarine, 3 Tbsp. coconut milk, 1/4 c. dark brown sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and add approximately 1/4-1/3 c. powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (or rum), and whisk it to a smooth consistency.
Use a knife or spatula to loosen all sides of the bread from the loaf pan and turn it out onto a plate. (Opt: place another plate on top and flip it to turn it right side up). Best served slightly warm.
Savory Sage & Thyme Ham
This year we split 1/2 pig share with Rae and Aubry. The pig was pasture-raised here in Yamhill County, and while Mark and I don't eat much meat, we've enjoyed the occasional use of pork in our cooking this winter. We roasted the ham for Easter and served it with asparagus, a fruit salad, roasted sweet potatoe fries, and hot cross buns (all contributions from various family members.) Sarah brought dessert, a wonderful fruit tart she highlights on her blog.
Our ham was partly smoked and came with skin, which made for a deliciously tender, juicy flavor. I wish I had thought to take a picture of our ham after cooking. The skin browned beautifully and so did the ham. It smelled and tasted better than any ham I've ever had. I used a savory rub from Shannon Hayes cookbook, The Grassfed Gourmet. To prepare the ham and use the rub:
Cut about 30-40 1 inch gashes all over the skin, trying to cut down to the meat without piercing it. Stuff the savory rub into the gashes, and then rub the remainder on any other exposed meat. (If there is no skin rub the mixture over the meat.) For a partially smoked ham roast about about 350 for 13 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of 165. Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil, and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes before slicing.
Sage and Thyme Pork Rub
1/4 c. dried sage 2 Tbsp. coarse salt
2 Tbsp. dried thyme 1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. dried oregano 4 cloves garlic
Chop in a food processor and use as directed above.
Spinach & Mushroom Tofu Scramble (Vegan)
This is supposed to be a Frittata, but it serves up more like a scramble--so I'm calling it as it is. Very tasty. I served it as the vegan alternative to our New Year's Eve brunch with family. Serves 4-5.
1 pkg. extra firm tofu 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes
1 Tbsp. soy sauce 1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. olive oil 1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 c. chopped mushrooms 1-2 Tbsp. pesto (I used 1 frozen cube. I freeze pesto when the summer basil grows abundantly)
1 chopped red onion 1/4 c. nutritional yeast
juice from 1/2 lemon pepper to taste
2 handfuls fresh spinach or 1 c. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Preheat over to 400. Crumble tofu until mostly smooth. Mix in soy sauce, mustard, thyme, turmeric, pepper to taste, pesto and nutritional yeast. Combine well.
Saute onions, mushrooms and spinach in oil in oven-proof skillet. Add tomatoes, garlic and lemon juice. Transfer to tofu mixture and combine well. Place back in skillet and bake for 20 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes to brown the top. Let sit for 10 minutes and then serve. Garnish with chopped green onions or chives (opt.).
Whole Wheat Honey Seed Bread
Our last trip to Bob's Food Mill we purchased a wheat grinder. We'll be experimenting with growing grain and I reasoned grinding grain from Bob's got us one step closer. So this bread is made with 100% freshly ground (which makes it warm) whole wheat flour, but you can certainly make great bread without grinding your wheat fresh! This morning I added some flax seed to the hens' food since this time of year there isn't much of anything green left in the garden to eat. It will boost the Omega-3 naturally found in their diet, which enriches the eggs we eat. Since I had the flax seed out I decided to add a variety of good-for-you seeds to this bread. Feel free to experiment with your own seed choices. For other breads I've added hazelnuts, poppy seeds, and seseme seeds.
Whole Wheat Honey Seed Bread
Proof 2 scant Tbsp. yeast in 1/2 c. warm water in a large bowl. Meanwhile grind up about 6 cups worth of wheat if you are grinding your own, otherwise, plan to use approximately 6-7 c. whole wheat flour. In a separate bowl combine 1 3/4 warm water, 1 scant Tbsp. salt, 1/2 c. honey and 1/4 c. shortening (oil or butter).
Once the yeast is bubbly add the water/honey mix and 2 cups of flour. Mix/blend (I use a Kichen Aid mixer for this). If you have it, add 2 Tbsp. gluten (which helps whole wheat breads rise better, but this is optional.) Blend well adding 1/2 cup flour at a time until you have a sticky dough that holds together. At this point add 1/3 c. flax seeds, 1/2 c. sunflower seeds, and 2 Tbsp. Amaranth (a relatively high protein seed). Turn out on a well floured surface and knead in more flour as needed until you have a stiff dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover bowl with a hot damp cloth and then cover that with a tea-towel and let rise until double (approx. 1 1/2 hours).
Punch down dough, divide in half and let rest about 10 minutes while you grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle corn meal on the bottom of the pan. Hand pat each half into a rectangle and then roll up into a log. Pinch the seam shut, fold the ends under and place in the loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until double (approx. 45 minutes).
Once the loaves have doubled, preheat the oven to 375 and bake for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil for the last 20 minutes. Cool slightly in the pan before removing to cool on racks. Best served warm with real butter…
