Pears Glorious Pears!!!

I noticed that although we love pears at our house, and have been eatting them, I have many many pears left, and don't want them to spoil. I've searched for a good pear muffin recipe for years, and today I believe I have found the ultimate Pear Muffin Recipe. I made it this morning - it was fast, easy and quite delicious. It comes from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express cookbook.

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.


2. Measure into a bowl: 1 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp. ground ginger


3. In a different bowl/measuring cup mix: 2/3 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 tbsp honey, 2 eggs.


4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Then gently mix in 1 1/4 cups diced pears (I prefer skin off, but it is up to you).


5. Spoon into muffin tin, and top with a sprinkle of brown sugar.


6. Bake for 20 min. Eat while still warm.

ENJOY!!!

Delicata Squash, Japanese Turnips and Kohlrabi...

The Saturday folks got a few "different" veggies this week, so here are some ideas for how to use them (in fact this is what I did with mine)....

ARMENIAN RAGOUT Delicata Squash as a main dish
Slice squash half long wise and scoop out seeds and insides. Place face down on a pan or in a flat casserole, and bake at 350 until a knife will easily pierce (about 35-40 min). I used 2 delicata squash for this recipe.

While the squash is cooking...Put 3/4 cups of dried lentls into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook until done (not quite as done as for Dal -which is smooshy). When done, remove from heat.

Chop 1/2 cup dried apricots. Pour 1 cup boiling water over and let them sit.

Once the squash is tender, remove from oven and cool. Cut into cubes (I took the peel off first, it was easier to peel cooked, than raw).

In a pot, saute 1 small diced onion and 2 diced cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp. olive oil. You want to cook them until they are transparent. Add 1 tsp. ground cumin, and 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon. Add the lentls, squash and apricots (and liquid). Stir. Then add 1 can (15 oz) of diced tomatoes. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon (2 tbsp. if you are using from a bottle). Salt and Pepper to taste. Let cook down until thick.

Serve over Basmati Rice and put a little chopped parsley on top. YUM!


Squash Rings Delicata Squash as a side dish

Peel squash and slice off ends. Scoop out the seeds, etc. Cut the squash into rings about 1/3 inch thick. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. Olive oil in skillet, add squash and fry over medium heat until reachly colored on bottom. TUrn and cook on second side. Remove to serving dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and freshly chopped parsley.

JAPANESE TURNIPS
Those lovely turnips you received this morning can be chopped and added to a stir fry, cooked and mashed, or grated into a salad.

KOHLRABI
Cut off the long leafy stalks, and thinly peel the bulb. Grate the Kohlrabi into a bowl and top with mustard vinegrette:
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 shallots, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp. sour cream
1/3 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
1 tbsp. chopped parsley

Fall Foods and Fried Green Tomatoes

This week we received tomatoes that were green to pink and a huge pile of collard greens. Definitely these are signs of fall.

Tomatoes picked before the first frost are often hard, even when you let them ripen in your kitchen window (place them on the ledge, stem side down to ripen). SO....why not make fried green tomatoes? Here is what I do....

Slice the tomatoes (about 1/4 inch thick). Set up two bowls to dredge them - first in a bowl of beatten egg, then in a bowl of corn meal. You can even pat the corn meal into the beatten egg coating if it is not sticking well.

In a skillet heat some oil (in the south we would use either corn oil, or bacon fat - I find that Olive Oil is too strong a flavor - you might try Canola oil or Grape Seed Oil because both of them have a high heat index).

When the oil is hot, place the tomato slices in the oil, and cook until brown, turn over and cook the other side. These are best when hot, but a cold slice on a biscuit is pretty good too.

Collard Greens are a puzzle to my northern friends. In the south they are a constant, since they grow nearly year round (3 growing seasons in most places). Here is what I do....

Remove the stem from the collard with a pairing knife. This will leave you with a large leaf. After you have a stack of stemless leaves, use a large knife to cut into smaller pieces. Like spinach this is going to cook down some.

Par-boil the leaves. This means heat a large pot salted water and once it is boiling, put the leaves in. I use a slotted spoon to put the leaves down into the water. Let them cook for a few minutes (3-5) and then drain them.

While they are draining, heat some fat in a skillet (I use bacon fat, but Olive oil works well here). Add 2 cloves of minced or pressed garlic to the oil, followed by the greens. Stir them around and let them absorb the flavors and continue to cook (2-3 min more).

If you like them a little bit hot, add 1/4 tsp. crushed pepper flakes when you add the garlic. Even my kids will eat this!!!

Fruit - the Bounty of Summer

I don't know about you, but I'm up to my ears in lucious fruit! It's so sweet, tasty and inexpensive right now. I don't want it to spoil, but I can only eat so many cobblers and muffins. Knowing that I am going to crave fruit during the winter months, I have been freezing some of my fruit. SO....here are some of my favorite recipes, and freezing tips for the summer's fruit crop.

BANANAS - cut ripe bananas into 5-6 chunks eat, spread on a tray or baking sheet and freeze. Once they are frozen, you can put 1 bananas worth into a small ziplock bag (sandwich size) and then collect all the bags into one large ziplock. The double bag will help prevent freezer burn, and now you have them in the right amounts for smoothies. Since they will be going into your blended frozen - you won't need many (any) ice cubes, and they will contribute smoothness to the drink. Here are two of my favorites:

• Banana Choco-Coffee - 1 frozen banana, 1 cup milk (any kind), 1 tsp. espresso powder, 4 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp honey - blend and drink.
• Banana Orange - 1 frozen banana, 1 cup yogurt (any kind - I like vanilla) - 1 cup orange juice. blend and drink.

BLUEBERRIES - In addition to making a terrific cobbler, they make wonderful syrup - that you can use chilled as a jam/spread. They also freeze well for smoothies, or winter cobblers - spread them out on a tray to freeze, then pop into a ziplock bag. I usually pre-measure, and mark the bag with the amounts - it makes cooking easier.

• 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff) and 1 1/2 cups blueberries. Cook in a medium saucepan over medium heat until some of the berries burst, and the whole thing is a lovely dark purple. Cool and refrigerate, or pour immediately on hot pancakes!
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup yogurt, 1 tbsp. honey, 1/2 banana. Blend and drink up!
• Cobbler - 6 cups fruit - add 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, zest of 1 lemon, and juice of same lemon. Put into the bottom of your dish. I make the topping in the food processor - 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 6 tbsp cold butter. Mix. Then pour in while running 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1 tsp vanilla. This is make a loose flakey looking dough (it will not turn into a ball). Sprinkle bits over the top of fruit and bake at 375 for 25-30 min. until topping is done, and bottom is bubbly.

MANGOS - OK they used to sit and rot at my house, no one would eat them. Now, I whip them into a mango chutney, and it gets eatten very quickly. Take 3 mangos and 3 avacados - chop into cubes. Add a diced red onion, some chopped clinatro and the juice of a lime. Mix and put into the fridge overnight. It is great with everything - from hamburgers, to curry.

ENJOY!
paula

Snow Day Cooking

After 8 inches of snow since last night, we are now moving into the blizzard part of our day....and I was feeling like a hardy soup. But I did not have any rolls/bread to go with it. For lunch I made a pot of Potato and Kale Soup and set up chips, Salsa and Queso on the side.

The soup is very easy. I take 8 sausages (we prefer 1/2 sweet italian and 1/2 hot italian - but you can use any kind you like - including vegetarian sausage), and saute them in olive oil over low to medium heat. Once they are cooked through, take them out of the pot and slice them.

Then saute 2-3 onions (I cut them in slices today, but have also used wedges). When they begin to become translucent, add potatoes cut into chunks. Again - use potatoes you have on hand, or whatever you like. I had yukon gold - I used 8 small ones cut into quarters. Stir the pot so that the potatoes pick up some of the juices from the onion and sausage, and olive oil. Just before adding a quart of vegetable stock (yes - you can use chicken or beef), I add a couple cloved of chopped garlic as well as salt and pepper.

Let this cook on medium heat until bubbly, and the potatoes are starting to cook. Then I add chopped kale to the top of the pot, and cover with a lid. The steam from the stock will wilt the kale, so in about 15-20 min. it will need a stir.

Let cook on low for about another 30 minutes....and it is ready to serve.

Works great with a salad, hard rolls, or chips and dips!

Purple Dragon Wed. Delivery Dates

Remaining Wed Deliveries in 2009:
Nov. 24 (Tuesday)
Dec. 9 & 23
2010 Deliveries:
Jan 6 & 20
Feb 3 & 24 (closed week of 14-20)
March 10 & 24
April 7 & 21
May 5 & 19
June 2 & 16 (closed June 27 - July 4)
July 7 & 21
Aug 4 & 18 (closed Aug 29 - Sept 6)
Sept 8 & 22
Oct 6 & 20
Nov 3 & 17
Dec 1, 15 & 29

What's Coming on Saturday 10/17/09

We expect organic PA red thumb fingerling potatoes, acorn squash, NY Swiss Chard, cilantro, red leaf lettuce, yellow onions, poblano peppers, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, ecologically grown Devoe pears, Empire apples, a Floria Booth Avacado, California carrots, plums, peruvian bananas.

Fruit share: red grapes, a pomegranate, a pineapple, and spartan apples