BGF Wild Escape Dip

After talking to a restaurant owner about what we have coming this week, I started brainstorming new recipes. This is what happens when I get "bored." A new jam flavor (Strawberry Lemonade) and a made up recipe for ripe-and-ready crops on the farm. This is my new favorite tasty treat, which I am eating for supper as I prep for market tomorrow.

BGF Wild E'scape Dip

1 bunch garlic scapes, chopped

1 bunch Wild Things Greens, chopped

drizzle olive oil

6oz cream cheese

1/4c sour cream

1/4c mayo

1/3c parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°

Saute greens in olive oil until soft & reduced. Cool.

Place scapes in a food processor & pulse until minced.

Add greens, cream cheese, mayo, cheese, pepper flakes and salt & pulse until combined.

Put mixture into an oven safe dish.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until top turns golden and starts to bubble.

Serve with a baguette or crackers.

Napa Navidad!

There is a bounty of big beautiful Napa cabbages coming out of our high tunnels right now. So this year we will definitely be celebrating Napa Navidad!


We also have them available during our bi-weekly, winter VegEmail sales. We will be doing these sales every two weeks (with a couple exceptions) until next spring.

This round is for pick up on Tuesday, December 19th, from 5:00 – 6:00 pm in Des Moines, Knoxville or on the farm.

Available products include:

Eggs, Arugula, Napa Cabbage, Carrots, Chard, Daikon, Garlic, Kale, Lettuce Bouquets, Red Onions, Tapestry Popcorn, Turnips, Butternut Squash & Stewing Hens

 
Just click the link below and order away! If you have any questions or issues with the order form, just let us know.
https://goo.gl/forms/QjuDMjC0zQshd3Vi2

Please submit your order form by 10pm on Sunday, December 17^th.
Payment by cash, check or credit card to be made at time of delivery.

Just a reminder we are at Peace Tree Brewing Company-Des Moines Branch near the back door and at the Grand Theater in Knoxville.
At both locations, look for Sean or Jill inside.

Don’t need anything this round? Our next delivery is planned for Tuesday, January 2nd.



There are lots of easy ways to use Napa. It is a traditional ingredient in kimchi, which I love, but I also use it as a mild-flavored salad green, in soups, to add some crunch and vitamins to beans and rice and as an alternative to european cabbage in nearly any recipe. Need some specific inspiration? Here is one of my favorite quick, easy and perfect-on-a-cold-night, comfort foods.

Sausage Egg Roll in a Bowl

Social Treats

This past weekend we hosted our annual Ice Cream Social for the CSA members. It was a great afternoon with agreeable weather, fun visitors and plenty of good food. We also had lots of requests for recipes so here are the most requested of the foods served at the event:

Chocolate Zucchini Birthday Cake

2-3c. grated zucchini

2 c. flour

1 ½ c. sugar

1 tsp salt

½ c. oil

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1/3 c. cocoa

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, pour into greased & floured 9 x 13” pan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.

When cool, frost with Hershey’s Cocoa Frosting

1 stick butter

2/3 c. cocoa

3 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium mixer bowl melt butter, add cocoa and stir until combined. Alternating between powdered sugar and milk, add to cocoa and butter, mixing between. When thoroughly combined, beat in vanilla.

Makes +/- 2 cups.

BGF Chocolate Ice Cream

5 (1 oz) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 (14oz ) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee granules
2 c. half and half
2 c. whipping cream


In a large mixer bowl, beat chocolate, condensed milk, vanilla and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved. Stir in half and half and whipping cream.
Pour into ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.
Recipe adapted from : Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook

BGF Zucchini Bread

3 eggs                                         1 tsp soda
3 c. sugar                                    1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla                                 1 tsp salt
3 c. flour                                     3 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 c. grated zucchini                1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c. oil                                         1/2 c. dried cranberries (optional)
                                                    1 tbs fresh grated ginger (optional)


Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to egg mixture. Then add zucchini, oil, cranberries and ginger. Mix well. Put into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.


Rosemary Butter Cookies


1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary (for more herb flavor, grind rosemary with some of the sugar)


Beat butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, beating until blended.
Combine flour, cream of tartar and salt, gradually add to butter mixture. Beat at low speed until blended.
Stir in rosemary (or rosemary sugar mixture).
Shape dough into 2 (10-inch) logs; wrap each log in wax paper & chill at least 2 hrs.
Unwrap dough, cut each log into 1/2" slices and place on lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool. Yield 3 1/2 dozen.


Recipe source: Gloria Beebout (BlueMom)

Pinched Hummus

No, I didn't steal hummus from Gateway Market or anything. Though I've recently been craving it just about enough to do so.

Sometime during our "All-Out-Bash-Opening-Farmers-Market" on Saturday, Sean stepped out of the booth for 2 minutes and grabbed a couple loaves of bread from our favorite bakery at the market...ah sweet mystery of life, I do love that bread! I know, I know, I can make my own bread, only theirs is so damn good and I don't have to bake it. And at this time of the year that is critical.

So I had good bread, I wanted hummus...good hummus.

Then today I was pinching back trays and trays of basil starts and it hit me...hummus with basil. Oh yeah, that's exactly what I want!
I grabbed a few different recipes from the internet, plugged in my food processor and away we went.
Needless to say, tonight's supper was bread and hummus...period. Sometimes life is very, very good!

BGF Hummus

5 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed
1 cup basil trimmings (or leaves)
2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, drained
2/3 cup of tahini
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil, plus a bit more
1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, basil and a shot of olive oil.
Process until it looks like a loose pesto.
Add garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, water and remaining olive oil.
Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.

Delicious with good bread, fresh veggies or chips.
Freezes well.
Makes about 3 cups.

Rice Cooker Magic

I love my rice cooker. Period.
The rice cooker that we have is a basic PHD (push here dummy) version, just an on/off switch. No fuzzy logic, bells or whistles.

In the past we used it about once a month whenever we made rice, but since last year we use it nearly daily, especially in the winter. That was when I discovered that I could use it to make our breakfast oatmeal. I dump steel cut oats, water, salt and dried cranberries in the night before and when I wake up in the morning I hit the switch and walk away. About 20-30 minutes later we have perfectly cooked oatmeal, ready to dress with maple syrup and eat! Love it!

Then this winter my insightful friend Maggie sent me a recipe for using the rice cooker for making polenta. Ohhhhhh...

I keep medium grind cornmeal for my bread baking, so I tossed it into the cooker and gave it a try. Cornmeal, water and salt, cooked for a little more than a full cycle, dressed with butter and BGF honey, be still my heart! It is my new favorite breakfast. If you have a rice cooker, give it a try!


Edited to add:
Should have included this to start with...

Polenta
4 cups water
1 cup coarse grain yellow polenta
1/2 tsp salt

Place water in rice cooker bowl, add polenta and salt.
Stir 15 seconds with a wooden spoon or plastic rice paddle. cover and set for porridge or regular cycle. A few times (or once!) during cooking, open the cover, stir 15 seconds, then close cover. At the end of the regular cycle , taste the polenta and make sure the desired consistency has been reached. If not, push the button and let it go a little longer.

For breakfast I just dress with butter and honey. If serving at another meal, you can add in 2/3 c. shredded Parmesan at the end.

Crack Pretzels - The Recipe

When I created this recipe, I called it Toffee Pretzels, but friends Maggie & John got a taste and promptly renamed them Crack Pretzels, because they are just that addictive.

It's one of my favorite holiday recipes, ok honestly, I make it whenever I have an excuse during the winter. And unless you live in an arid location, I recommend that it remain a winter tradition as humidity turns it into a sticky mess. I based the recipe on my Grandma Henderson's Butter Toffee recipe and just went from there. I don't think she'd mind, though I wish I could have shared them with her.

Its a simple recipe, but you do want to have your ingredients measured ahead of time and ready to go. Also, a reliable candy thermometer is a must.

Crack Pretzels
1/2 bag small pretzel twists (traditional pretzel shape, the small ones) (2010 update, use the square ones!)
1 cup butter (use the real stuff)
1 cup sugar
3 TBS water
1 TBS corn syrup
6 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli for this)

Place pretzels in a single, solid layer on a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides), put aside.


Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan.
Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
Add water and corn syrup, stirring to combine.


Heat to 290°, stirring frequently. Watch closely after 280°, it goes fast.
As soon as temperature reaches 290°, remove from heat and pour quickly over pretzels, covering as many pretzels as possible.

Allow toffee to cool slightly (a couple of minutes), then sprinkle surface with chocolate chips. Allow chocolate to heat through (it will become glossy) then spread over surface of toffee.


Allow to cool completely, then break into bite sized (pretzel-sized) pieces.
Store in a cool location and try not to eat them all at once!

Hint: Don't discard the little bits that remain in the pan after removing the toffee pretzels, those bits make a killer salty/sweet ice cream topping!
12/21/09 Update: I tried the recipe with Butter Twist pretzels today and they are very tasty. More density of pretzel flavor and saltiness (but also more expensive). Either way, its a decadent recipe that makes a great little gift, stocking stuffer or bribe : )

Sowing with Abandon

It was a busy spring weekend on the farm, and one that was sorely needed. The conditions were just perfect for getting a number of crops into the ground. Probably the most important of these was the potatoes, which had arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We had 100 pounds of seed potatoes and thanks to a significant family effort we got about 80 pounds into the ground in the South and East gardens before rushing off to a big family gathering Saturday evening. The remainder of the potatoes will go into the Center garden, which is still too wet to till. Huge thanks to my family for their help!

Sunday was a bit of a blur as more beds were prepped and spring crops sown, before the forecast rain. Luckily the weather held until we had everything sown that was possible for the time and the conditions. So far we have the following crops in the ground:
Beets, Broccoli Raab, Carrots, Green onions, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mustard, Peas, Potatoes, Radishes, Spinach, and Turnips. Plus the crops that are growing in the high tunnel which include: salad greens, choi, spinach, radishes and chard.

And today it is a cool and rainy day, so I stoked up the wood-fired boiler and made my favorite cinnamon biscuits to celebrate the accomplishments of the weekend and the miserable weather outside. The recipe follows, and don't be too alarmed by what appears to be a ridiculous amount of sugar for the filling, it really needs all of it, since there is no sweetner in the dough itself.

Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits


2 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
3/4 cup Buttermilk
4 tablespoon Butter softened
3/4 cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ tsp ground Cardamom (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a 9 in round baking pan lightly.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir just until blended. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into a 15x8 in rectangle. Spread butter over the dough. Combine sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle over butter. Roll up rectangle, jelly roll fashion, starting from one long side. Pinch seam to seal. Cut the roll into 1 1/2 in slices. Arrange the slices, cut side up, in prepared baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15-20 mins. Remove from oven. Serve hot.

Hmmm, quiche

I recently ran into a crustless quiche recipe on the Farm-Raised blog that looked so simple and quick that I had to give it a try. I like quiche, but its one of those foods that is just never on my "make it" radar. So this morning it was on the schedule.
Here is the recipe as given:

Crustless "Quiche"

1 cup cream, half-and-half, milk or a combination, gently heated just until warm
3 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup grated Emmenthal, Gruyère, Cantal or a combination
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or hard pecorino
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
Butter as needed.
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees and set rack in middle of it. Combine all ingredients except butter and beat until well blended.

2. Pour into 4 to 6 buttered ramekins (or a buttered gratin or pie plate) and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until almost firm; it should still jiggle just a little in middle. Cool on a rack, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Yep, that's all well and good but as Sean often complains, I rarely follow a recipe word for word. So here's the Blue Gate Farm version:
1/2 c. Half and Half
1/2 c. 2% milk
5 little pullet eggs courtesy of our friends at Coyote Run Farm
3/4 c. Dubliner Cheese
1/4 c. Feta cheese from our friends at Reichert's Dairy Air
1/4 c. ham, finely chopped
1/4 c. Chickweed, finely chopped (could use spinach or other greens), from our high tunnel
1 small leaf sour dock, finely chopped, from our high tunnel (aka weed!)
1 TBS fresh chives, chopped, from our herb garden
1 shallot, finely chopped, from last year's garden
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne

Throw it all together, pour into buttered pie plate and bake for 40 minutes. Wow, was it good! Though because of the ham and my choice of cheese I could have lowered the amount of added salt a bit.
Oh, and the "Cool on a rack" part...yeah, right! I let it cool for the time it took me to make toast, then served it up and dug in!

Think I'll try it cold for lunch later.