Cauliflower

ALERT:  COLOSSUS CAULIFLOWER ON THE LOOSE.

FIVE-POUND, THIRTEEN-OUNCE MONSTROSITY MAY BE SEEN AT A FARM STAND NEAR YOU.

ARMED WITH VITAMINS B6, C, K; FOLATE AND FIBER.

WARNING:  MAY INDUCE FLATULENCE.

This BEAST was found at our favorite local dairy:  Baily's of Pocopson Meadow Farm.  Isn't it just shockingly immense??  Amazing!!

Cauliflower was one of our favorite, most tolerable of vegetables as kids; probably because it is not green and can slide incognito onto the plate, posing as a starch.  It looks like it belongs to the same family as potatoes or rice.  AND a lot of moms prepare it wonderfully laden with cheddar cheese sauce.  Holy moly, what could taste better on a chilly fall day than a steaming pile of cauliflower, oozing with cheese?

Yes, it is the season (late summer/autumn) for this delicious, cruciferous vegetable delight.

Pictured behind the Beast in this photo is one of our most favoritest cookbooks.  Simply in Season is a Mennonite philosophy-based collection of recipes by season, not by category (ie. "Beef, Poultry, Fish, Pork and... oh yea, some Vegetables").  Authors (and recipe editors) Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert encourage cooks to peruse farmers' markets or grow produce at home and eat seasonally.  There's a spiritual connection between an eater and the earth; which is broken apart by grocery stores, whose shelves are filled with produce from far away, separating us mentally and spiritually from the climate where we live.  One cannot consider with gratefulness, or with words thank a farmer on the opposite side of the globe.  If one visits an orchard or a farm, the farm workers are seen and can be thanked when buying food and thought of at meal times.

We can also connect ourselves with seasons' changes as we enjoy different foods at different times of year.  If it's spring, we should eat asparagus.  Apples should fill our lunch-sacks in September.  Isn't that why we always enjoy apple and pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving?  We just love the tradition this book inspires (cellaring your root vegetables over the winter - who does that anymore?) and how its many recipes are wholesome and mostly plant-based, using meat sparingly as a flavoring instead of the main source of calories.

Here's a great recipe that includes cauliflower!  It's absolutely flavorful and healthful and we think you'll love it.  It's totally delicious, even without cheese.  Hey, it's even vegan!

Autumn Tagine

(submitted by Bethany J. Osborne, Toronto, Ontario)

Tagine (tah-ZHEEN) is a Moroccan stew named after the traditional heavy clay pot in which it is cooked... Serves 6-8

2 cups onion (diced) - In a large soup pot, saute in 1-2 tbsp oil until soft, 4-5 minutes.

6 cloves garlic (minced)

1 teaspoon ginger root (peeled and minced)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon crushed hot chilies (optional)

Add and stir for 1 minute.

3 cups sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

Add and bring to a boil.  Cover; reduce heat.  Simmer 5 minutes.

1/2 medium head cauliflower (cut into 1-inch florets)

2 cups peas

Stir in cauliflower, cover and simmer until vegetables are nearly tender, about 12 minutes.  Add peas, cover and simmer until hot, 2 minutes.  Serve over steamed couscous or rice, garnished with chopped fresh cilantro.

Raw Milk

Jenna at Cold Antler Farm recently wrote a great post about why a lot of folks are interested in raw milk these days.  We love drinking raw milk when we can find it; it's super delicious, natural, healthful and much gentler on the tummy than pasteurized (read: scorched) milk in which helpful enzymes are destroyed.  Jenna also discusses how lobbyists are waging a political war against organic dairies who naturally raise happy, "pasture-ized" cows.

Check it out!

http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-raw-milk-debate.html

Also, if you're in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Baily's Dairy is a great place to do your body good.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bailys-Dairy-of-Pocopson-Meadow-Farm/109844495718927?fref=ts

Nasturtiums

From the garden: Nasturtiums.

 

Nasturtiums, reaching out, to the left of the mint.

We discovered nasturtiums at a family meal where one of our cousins brought them to the table, literally. She's a professional landscape-artist-awesome-gardener; and her backyard is a mini-farm with just about every produce item you could imagine. The typical tomatoes, zucchini, peppers; but also blackberries, hops, asparagus, raspberries, radishes - anything that could possibly grow on her hillside in central Vermont! At this particular dinner, she presented a gorgeous salad of homegrown greens, freshly made vinaigrette dressing and these little, sweet-looking orange blossoms scattered on top.

For garnish?

Also for eating.

Yes, the blossoms and leaves are a nice, tasty touch to a salad. They are spicy! Not loaded with many Scoville units of heat; but they do offer a delicious, peppery touch to the dish. And they look wonderful!

When in the ground, they tend to spread out, so if you have a garden bed in your yard, they could fill it well. The lily-pad-round leaves present a beautiful appearance as ground cover. We've just been growing them in containers on our porch, so they kind of spilled out the front and created this wonderful cascading "waterfall" of bright orange blossoms. They blossom in shades from white to butter-yellow to fluorescent orange and hot red.

Nasturtiums are also super-easy to care for, so if you have a spare spot in your garden next summer, try them! You'll be able to create the most impressive salads, garnished with Nasturtiums; and bring them to all your picnics and pot-lucks.  Your friends will love it - ours do!

PA Taxes

...just discovered a secret reason why PA's state-controlled wine prices aren't so desirable.  Yes, if you live in Pennsylvania (Commonwealth residents know and disdain this), you have to purchase any wine or liquor at the Liquor Control Board's stores.  Yet, beer is sold separately at distributors; six-packs are available for take-out at some restaurants.  It is difficult trying to explain this system to out-of-staters, because - yes! - it is ridiculous, out-dated and seems to just be in place for the Commonwealth to make money off its resident-consumers.

H'okay, here's what we learned last night:  there is a "Johnstown Flood Tax" that has been present since the flood happened in 1936.  What was meant to be a temporary tax to raise funds to rebuild Johnstown was never repealed.  Suppose the Capitol still wants that money coming in, eh?





Here is an information site about the JFT:

http://www.johnstownfloodtax.com/

If you're a PA resident who purchases wine, consider what's going on here.  The personal is political.  Maybe we can vote to repeal this; in the mean-time, Delaware is a short drive away (for some of us).  *sigh*

Coastal White

Bartlett Maine Estate Winery is absolutely at the top of our list of favorite wineries.

Now, keep in mind that we've never been to France, Italy, Oregon, California...

...but that's irrelevant!

We have been to Maine and have visited the gorgeous grounds of the Bartlett Winery and have tasted almost all they have to offer and it's WONDERFUL.  Kathe Bartlett is one of the most gracious and witty women we've had the pleasure of meeting.  All we've gotten from Bob B. is a wave from the back room, as he's always busy working, working; but Kathe has taken us on tasting journeys through the fruits of their labor.

Bartlett Winery became Maine's very first winery ever in the 80s; since New England's climate happens to be super-hostile to grapes (not so much with the sunny, bucolic hillsides).  Thus, Bob & Kathe decided to pioneer Maine fermentation with what was growing in abundance:  blueberries.  Basically, we're drawn to their kick-startin', diligent, energetic attitude toward the craft they love.

Also, they've won like a bazillion awards for their many wines and their new distillery products, Pear Eau de Vie and Fine Apple Brandy (very fancy).

Seriously, though, their dry blueberry wines surpass a lot of red grape wines (that we've experienced) in deep flavor, sensuousness, color; but we'll get to those later.

Now presenting:

Coastal White

Apple & Pear Wine

 Bartlett Maine Estate Winery

Gouldsboro, Maine, USA

"Fresh and fruity, this medium-dry wine is popular served with Maine seafoods, poultry, pasta or picnic by the sea."

It's good.  It's so flippin' good.  You could drink it with every meal.  Even breakfast (though we don't encourage this).  Even a sumptuous roast-turkey-dinner.  Even ice cream at 11:00 PM.  Coastal White is sweet on the tongue, but leaves no syrupy film in your mouth.  It's fruity and pleasantly tangy; yet, being a semi-dry wine, holds up to meals of fish or pork excellently.  We had some tonight and it made our grilled chicken come alive.  There are very faint notes of clove at the end of each sip - perhaps derived from the apple half of the blend.

If you ever end up in the easternmost state, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle (or a case!) of Coastal White or any of the other Bartlett wines.  And if you're way Down East, be sure to stop in to the winery in Gouldsboro for a sweet visit - you'll love the tasting room, set behind fragrant Maine spruce & pine.  It seems like every time we go for a tasting, we end up taking home a variety case - because they're all so delicious.  With a great story and absolutely splendid, award-winning wines; visit, and you'll find out why Bartlett Estate is one of our most favoritest wineries.

Anyways, the Bartletts' Coastal White is a great choice for pairing with lighter meals - or just as a refresher in the afternoon.  Try some!

Roast Chicken

  

Step one on how to roast a chicken: 

Own a Crock Pot.

CROCK POT CROCK POT CROCK POT!!!

This is crucial if you want a great and easy and efficient way to cook.  You can stick stuff in it; and as long as there's sufficient liquid, you can let it cook all day, while you're at work; and it's so easy it is even fun.  Also, there is no need to heat up the whole house with the oven on or spend your time inhaling hot steam from a pot on the stove-top; all just for a simple batch of chili.

So far, we've had great success in cooking meats and poultry in our Crock Pot.  The best thing to do is to grease the inside of the pot-insert (butter/oil/lard - your preference), plop down a hunk o' meat (a small bird, a pork butt, a slice of beef) and top it off with your favorite herbs, spices, onions; and add some liquid.  About a half-cup of water or stock will moisten your bit of meat and keep the edges from drying out to burntness.

Today's bird is covered with wedges of onion, copious amounts of whole garlic cloves; and the time-honored "Scarborough Fair" blend of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  All herbs in this recipe were home-grown, of course!  We hope that we can someday say the same for our chicken.

Step two in roasting a chicken:  grease the inside of the pot.

Step three:  fill with a chicken, fresh herbs, onion & garlic, salt & pep and chicken stock.

Step four:  set on "low" to cook all day

Step five:  pull it out, slice and enjoy!

It is possible for us to elaborate all day about the endless potential and advantages of crockery cookery, but we will save that for another time.

Thanks for joining us!

G & K

Pasta Salad

Something easy for dinner (or picnics; or pot-lucks), here we go:

1.  Pick stuff from your garden.
    Wash it, chop it up into bite-sized bits (our medley includes cukes, zucs, peps, basil, tomatoes).

2.  Cook one pound of your preferred shape of pasta (bow-ties, elbow mac, wagon-wheels).
    Drain, rinse with cold water.

3.  Open one or two cans of black olives.  Drain & dump into a bowl.
    Add cold pasta & pile of chopped vegetables.
    Toss with your fave vinegar-based salad dressing.  Newman's Own Greek or Oil & Vinegar are tasty.

4.  Add shredded cheese if you want.

5.  Go on, eat it!