Amelia prepared these cupcakes for our Veggie Passport Party last Saturday. She adapted it from the Veggie Desserts blog from the UK. Amelia recommends using the original measurements and not the weird and inaccurate Americanized options. (You should really just buy a digital kitchen scale and your life will be all the more glorious for it, she editorializes.) Also, she switched up the ingredients some and swapped the wheaty-glutinous flour with equal parts millet, rice, and tapioca.
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Lisa Gagnon made this soup a couple of weeks ago for the musicians performing at Fiddleheads Saturday Market. It’s dairy-free, possibly vegan and gluten-free depending on what brand of bullion cubes you use; it gets it’s incredibly rich and creamy texture from pureeing most of the cooked mixture before serving. She doesn’t measure out the herbs so add to taste as she does.The ingredient amounts here are halved from the original recipe, which filled a very large soup pot. If you prefer, substitute the water and boullion cubes for store-bought or homemade organic vegetable broth. You could also use more mushrooms than called for, and/or substitute another variety: shiitake, oyster, etc. (Don’t use portobello as they would most likely lend an unpleasant color.) LISA GAGNON’S BROCCOLI & MUSHROOM SOUP (NON-DAIRY) 2 medium-large onions, chopped 1/2 head garlic, coarsely minced or crushed Olive or Safflower Oil, enough to coat bottom of pan 1 bunch broccoli, stems chopped 6 ounces white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced or chopped Fresh or dried herbs to taste: rosemary, thyme, oregano 2 Veggie Gourmet (or your favorite brand) boullion cubes Water In a saucepan or soup pot sautee the onions and garlic with olive oil over low-medium heat, stirring frequently, until soft. Add sliced mushrooms to pan and lightly sautee until tender, about five minutes or less. Add the broccoli, stems and flowerets, to the pan and just enough water to cover broccoli; do not use more than that or your final product will be too thin. Stir in boullion cubes and herbs to taste, and simmer until broccoli stems are tender, stirring occasionally. Adjust herbs as necessary. When the broccoli is tender, hold some of the flowerets and chunks aside; if you use more mushroom than the recipe calls for, hold some of the slices aside as well. Puree in the remainder in a blender or food processor, in batches if necessary. Add the reserved vegetables back in the mixture. Can be served hot or cold. Fiddleheads employee and holistic health coach Amelia Lord shared this recipe for an easy kale salad that she made for a recent workshop at the co-op. This is a great way to enjoy curly green kale if, like me, you're not exactly in love with the stuff (chard is the leafy love of my life) otherwise; one taste of it had me practically licking the bowl. It's a perfect spring or summer recipe.
I used a red onion rather than the white onion the original recipe called for; the slightly sweet bite went well with the mild avocado and tart lemon flavors. Amelia's recipe didn't suggest emulsifying the lemon juice and olive oil before adding to the kale but I found it easier to deal with the liquids by combining them first. The recipe is intended to make 2-4 entree servings, or is the perfect size for a party/potluck, etc. If you intend it as a side-dish, especially for 1-2 people, I suggest halving the recipe or adjusting as needed. You can contact Amelia for more recipes, and holistic nutritional information and health coaching services at [email protected] or via her website. RAW GREEN KALE SALAD WITH APPLES & AVOCADOS 1 bunch organic curly green kale 1 large organic apple, chopped 1/2 medium white or red onion, finely chopped 1 ripe avocado, chopped 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for garnish Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or kelp/sea salt blend 1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts Strip kale leaves from stems; discard stems and tear kale into bite-size pieces. In a large mixing bowl sprinkle kale with salt and massage well with hands (as you would when making kale chips). Add chopped apple, avocado and onion to kale. Emulsify or blend lemon juice and olive oil, then pour over kale, massage all ingredients again with hands. (This gets messy but is a lot of fun.) Mush and squish around until well-combined and much of the avocado is incorporated as part of the dressing. Top with almonds or walnuts and serve immediately, and/or store in the fridge in an airtight container; it's great the next day. ETA: Try substituting fresh sliced strawberries for the apples, as FH customer Pat Flynn Brune did. Time: 20 Minutes Yield: 2-4 entree-sized servings Sheila Herbert sent me a request to repost the brussels sprouts recipes I put up on the blog last year, and I'm happy to oblige. Both variations are below, the simpler, more savory version with cumin first, then the "candied" sprouts with maple-mustard glaze. (Both recipes can also be found in printable pdf format at our Recipe Archive.) Enjoy, and happy holidays! 1 lb (approx.) fresh organic brussels sprouts, stem ends pared and halved or quartered, smallest ones left whole) 4 T olive oil sea salt and black pepper (pref. freshly cracked) to taste generous sprinkling of cumin to taste (did I measure how much? Of course not.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F); lightly oil a baking tray. Trim and half or quarter, depending on size, the brussels sprouts; leave smallest ones whole. Toss in a bowl with olive oil to coat, then sprinkle with the salt pepper and cayenne. If any leaves came off the sprouts during the trimming process, add them to the bowl. Spread sprouts on tray, place on rack in center of over and bake for 15-25 minutes or until fork-tender and slightly crisp on the outer leaves; use your own personal preference of what crispy/tender balance you prefer to guide you. (These can cook in the oven a bit longer than their glazed cousins because there is no sugar on the surface.) Serves four as a side dish. This dish is best served hot, right out of the oven, as the sprouts loose their crispness as they cool. Note: Instead of ground cumin, try dry-roasting whole cumin seeds in a hot skillet until they begin to "pop", let cool slightly then add to the sprouts, oil and other spices at the beginning. Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple-Mustard-Cayenne Glaze 1 lb (approx.) fresh organic brussels sprouts, stem ends pared and halved or quartered, smallest ones left whole) 4 T olive oil sea salt and black pepper (pref. freshly cracked) to taste 1/4 tea or generous dash of cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional) 1/4 Grade B maple syrup organic stoneground mustard (coarsely-ground) to taste (about 1 T) 1 T extra-virgin olive oil juice of 1/4 freshly squeezed lemon 1/4 medium-sized yellow or white onion, chopped Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F); lightly oil a baking tray. Trim and half or quarter, depending on size, the brussels sprouts; leave smallest ones whole. Toss in a bowl with olive oil to coat, then sprinkle with the salt pepper and cayenne. If any leaves came off the sprouts during the trimming process, add them to the bowl. Spread sprouts on tray, place on rack in center of over and bake for 10-15 minutes or until fork-tender and slightly crisp on the outer leaves; turn 2-3 times during cooking process to bake evenly. (Any loose leaves tend to cook quickest and become tasty little miniature chips.) In the meantime combine remaining ingredients for the glaze, emulsify until thoroughly blended and opaque. When sprouts are tender, remove from oven and turn temperature down to 375 degrees. Pour enough glaze over the sprouts to coat thoroughly when tossed on tray, but do not "drown" them; store any remaining glaze in the fridge for future use. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serves four. Note: Replace cayenne with fresh hot red pepper, finely chopped, or dried pepper flakes if desired. So there I was at the co-op the other day and there they were: two bunches of lacinato kale, a couple of days old, leaves drooping like the willow does; sitting in a dim corner as a divorcee waiting for the final judgement might; ignored as elderly women at the bus stops often are, their wisdom and years of experience sought by no one. Aside from cosmetics, however, there wasn't anything really wrong with them; the stems were firm, the bunches generously sized, and there was no mush or rot whatsoever. The fact remained however that they were no longer as young and attractive as the new batch that was being put out, and therefore no longer desirable. I actually felt sorry for them, if it's possible to feel sorry for kale, of all things, and took them home with me; it didn't seem right for them not to fulfill their intended purpose. The philosophical question, "If the kale had a choice in it's own fate, would it rather have been composted and returned to the earth whence it came, than ending up in my hungry maw?" is one I'll leave for another time. Less unselfishly I also wondered, would slightly past-it's-prime kale be just as good as kale chips as a very fresh and sprightly bunch? Happily for me at least, and everyone else who snacked on them, the answer was "yes"; which means from now on I won't be so prone to shove aside yesterday's kale in a mad dash for today's pretty young things. Kale chips have been a party and snack staple in my house since I first saw Cathy Elton's recipe back in September 2010. Now they've gone mainstream (sort of ); you can find them packaged, as you would potato chips, at Fiddleheads and other "health food" grocery stores. I admit I haven't tried the store-bought version and I ought to just for comparison's sake, but I don't feel compelled to do so either because the homemade version is so good. Like potato chips, they are ridiculously addictive; but unlike potato chips, they are easy to make in an "if I can do it, you can too" sort of way. They do however require a little time and attention on your part to keep them from burning, as they crisp within minutes. Most recipes use the oven, as I prefer; but they can be just as easily done on your outdoor grill, (which I claim as my invention until your attorney tells me otherwise); or even in a dehydrator. Of the two varieties of kale that we carry regularly at the co-op, I prefer lacinato to curly kale (red, green or purple); the broad and relatively flat leaves of lacinato are much easier to work with and provide a perfect platform for the seasonings, whereas I find that curly kale tends to fall to pieces at the ruffled edges. Spicy Kale Chips 1 bunch lacinato or russian kale 2-4 T extra-virgin olive oil or good-quality vegetable oil, plus extra to coat baking sheets sea salt, finely ground, and black pepper, to taste 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder, or a few drops of tabasco sauce/ hot pepper sauce to taste Preheat oven to 325 degree (F); arrange 2 oven racks in the center of the oven, but allow some air space between for proper heat distribution and circulation. Lightly coat 2-3 large baking sheets with oil (omit this step if using nonstick sheets) and set aside. If the kale has been rinsed, shake well and allow to air-dry, until it's at least dry to the touch. (A slight amount of moisture as it adds a bit of chewiness to the finished chips, which I like; but other folks I've spoken with prefer to their kale to be bone-dry at the start.) Tear the leaves in large pieces from the stems, and put in a generously-sized bowl, such as an enlarged "salad" bowl. Coat with the olive oil by turning with a spoon and/or with your hands, "massaging" individual pieces* until all are well coated. It's not necessary to be 100% coated, however; driving yourself crazy is not the goal here. Sprinkle the seasonings over the leaves and give another few turns to distribute evenly. Place the kale pieces on the baking sheets in batches; if necessary, uncurl the pieces so they lay flat on the pan. Load up your trays as long as the leaves don't overlap; place the baking sheets on the racks in the oven, and bake for approximately 7-10 minutes, checking frequently at that point. To determine doneness, push individual pieces of kale across the tray; if a piece slides easily on the tray and is stiff rather than soft or limp, it's done. If the leaves crumble to pieces at the first touch or are mostly brown in color they are overbaked; check a minute or two earlier next time. Remove individual chips from the baking sheet to a plate, bowl or airtight container as they are ready; return the rest to the oven as necessary. Continue as above with the rest of the kale in batches. You can pile the just-baked chips as high as you like; they cool so quickly that new layers don't cause the earlier ones to loose their crispness (as happens when you layer your waffles just off the iron.) Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for at least a week - assuming they last that long. They do store successfully and retain their crispness, although when I've made them they are usually gobbled up on the spot. *Some amount of rubbing with your hands is necessary IMO to thoroughly coat the leaves, so obviously this is not the recipe for those of you who don't like to get your hands dirty. If that sort of thing does bother you, however, you might want to consider leaving the kitchen to someone else and pursue less messy hobbies, such as knitting. Or nuclear fusion. Just a thought. (Photo and text courtesy of Sue Guida)
This is a recipe I adapted from a magazine LONG ago, probably Woman’s Day or the like. I generally use a 10-inch pie dish in case I get carried away with the vegetable amounts. This recipe is VERY adaptable; you can use spinach or braising greens instead of the kale; and it's fine with "elderly" kale that's begun to wilt and is just past it's prime. You can also add any fresh or dried herbs you like, other veggies, etc. It really doesn’t matter, IMHO, what kind of cheese you use; I use whatever’s on hand. For this recipe I do prefer the earthy flavor of the crimini to white button mushrooms. -Sue Guida- Sue Guida’s Onion, Crimini & Kale Quiche One baked, 9-inch pie shell with high fluted rim 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup) 1 Tbsp butter or margarine 3 eggs 1 and 1/2 cups milk (I used fat free) 1 Tbsp. flour 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1-1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese Coarsely chop kale leaves and steam until just limp. In a separate skillet saute onions and crimini slices in the butter or margarine till tender; if you wish to add any additional veggies, do so here. Stir in the steamed kale, turn off heat and set pan aside to cool a bit. Beat the eggs, milk flour, salt & pepper till smooth. Stir in cheese and the onion/vegetable mixture. Turn into pre-baked pie shell. Bake in preheated 325F oven 40 min or till knife inserted in center comes out clean – or till nothing jiggles. Cool at least 10 min. Cut and serve 6 Did you know that January is National Hot Tea Month? Lindsey Goodwin suggests 31 ways to celebrate the month and expand your beverage repertoire. (And of course, you can get everything she mentions - black, green and white teas, herbal tisanes, etc - at Fiddleheads.)
Grow and Behold, a kosher meat website on our links page, has an intriguing recipe on their blog for beef flanken with...blueberries. The recipe calls for fresh or frozen berries, both available at the co-op right now. FYI - "flanken" refers to the first five short ribs of the beef rib cage, cut across rather than parallel to the bones. I'd try this recipe with regular short ribs and I suspect it would be awesome with pork ribs or chops. (Thanks for this find to Allen Longendyke, our fresh foods buyer, a.k.a. "the man who brings us turkey at Thanksgiving, hams at Christmas; and wonderful cheeses and soymilk, etc, all the year round.") On our Facebook page, Ellen Anthony shared a link to a myriad of egg recipes on The Incredible Edible Egg.org. (Anyone else remember those commercials?) The global climate change we're experiencing means the hen's bodily rhythms are confused* and they are laying when they normally wouldn't. Ergo, we have eggs at co-op. Now's the time to try those recipes for chocolate souffle, snow eggs with pistachio custard or poached eggs with tomato-cilantro sauce that you've been meaning to get around to. Cathy Elton's onion tart with greens and cashew cream is perfect for those of you who 1) are looking for new ways to use the chard or kale you bought from the co-op; 2) are wanting a simple gluten-free crust recipe (this one uses chickpea flour); 3) want to eat healthier without sacrificing flavor, or 4) don't give a flying fig about any of the above, you only know that tart looks crazy-delicious. Dry skin? Try this salve you can make at home with melted beeswax and coconut oil from Cara at Health, Home & Beauty. The beeswax keeps the coconut oil from solidifying, as it does at room temperature. Thanks to member Loretta McElwee for the find! Sheila Herbert signed this petition to support the authentic fair trade movement, and kindly brought it to our attention on Facebook. 243 people have signed it thus far from across the US and Costa Rica, as well as Canada, Italy and the UK. Fair trade - paying farmers a living wage for their labor and their products - is one of the central tenants of our philosophy at Fiddleheads, and to the co-operative movement in general. (I've just added my name to the petition. Will your's be next?) And in economic news: Hostess (maker of Twinkie and Ho-Ho's) is filing for Chapter 11 protection. I know that the employees (blue and white collar) never end up the winners in this sort of thing, so I feel for anyone who is going to lose a job, no matter where they are on the corporate ladder. On the other hand, I think back to all those yellow sugar-and-lard filled sponge tubes that our moms put in our lunch boxes back in the day, with the noblest intentions to give their kids a healthy lunch with a treat - because they knew we were just going to pitch the apples they gave us anyway. And I can't help but think "They had it coming. People eat differently nowadays than 40 years ago; did they not see the writing on the wall?" (Full disclosure: it's not that I was an ultra health-conscious kid who rejected Twinkies in favor of the apples and such. It's just that I wanted the sugar-and-lard filled chocolate cupcakes instead.) *Of course the poor hens are confused. I can't even figure out from day to day if I can lower my storm windows or if I need to wear a turtleneck when I go out. On Saturday I had accompanied the bulgogi (see previous post) I sampled at Fiddleheads with strips of daikon radish that I seasoned and stir-fried or sauteed in the electric skillet along with the beef. I had meant to include the recipe in yesterday's write-up at this blog but forgot to include it.
I hadn't decided on the daikon until after I'd gotten to the co-op and was heating up the electric skillet, but it seemed a natural fit with the Korean beef recipe. The marinade was something I threw together on the spot entirely from ingredients available to me right there in the bulk section: rice vinegar, sesame oil, five spice powder and curry powder. Carol Booth, our bulk spice buyer, suggested the five-spice powder; the one she purchased for the co-op is redolent of cinnamon and milder in flavor than previous versions of the seasoning I've encountered, which were robust and rather awful. The curry powder I used is the one that is simply labeled "curry powder", is a brighter yellow-orange than the other jar of "machi" curry, and has a subtler fragrance with an almost floral quality. The other powder is a dull yellow and smells like the kitchen of an Indian restaurant. I used coconut sugar from bulk because I didn't have honey or agave available; for the same reason I used kosher salt instead of soy sauce. As I was throwing things together right there at the co-op into my bowl, I was unable to measure anything and so went by taste. In other words, this is (per usual) more of a suggestion than a set-in-stone recipe - and all brickbats should therefore be slung my way. Briefly, daikon is a radish of Asian origin that is milder than the familiar red radish; it's crisp texture and mild taste are actually closer to a turnip once cooked, although it still has a mild "bite" when raw. When you go to the co-op's produce section, you'll see it near the carrots; it's a thick and elongated white "club" (at least it looks to me like you could whack someone with it in a desperate emergency, although I doubt it would inflict lasting damage.) You can use it any way you would use any other root veggie: shredded raw on salads, stir-fried (my favorite way to cook it), oven-roasted, pickled; it can even be boiled, pureed and served as you would mashed potatoes. In fact, one young customer at the co-op Saturday, barely taller than the FMRF table, said that his sample "tastes just like potato!" And as he finished it off with a grin on his face, I took that as a seal of approval. Seasoned Daikon "Fries" (Skillet Version) (with thanks to Carol Booth for her advice and assistance) 1 daikon radish, cut into strips about the size and shape of a standard french fry Marinade the strips in a combination of the following: brown rice vinegar toasted sesame oil curry powder five-spice powder salt (kosher, sea salt, or soy sauce) sugar (coconut, raw, honey or agave) Adjust seasonings to taste, pour over daikon strips, and set aside while your lightly-oiled skillet or wok is heating up. When the pan is just hot (don't let the oil smoke or burn) toss the strips in, and turn every so often with your spatula until brown on all sides and the strips are as crisp or as tender as you like. The longer the strips sit in the marinade the more quickly they cook and the more tender they become, so time accordingly. If you want them to have some crispness, let marinade a few minutes to an hour; longer if you want them more tender. Serve alongside bulgogi (Korean marinaded beef), perhaps wrapped up in lettuce leaves, or drain on paper towels and serve as a snack or appetizer. (Photograph by Laura Phillips and used with permission.)
Linda Phillips was inspired by my portabello stack recipe from 12/26 to come up with her own version, this one incorporating Four Mile River Farm's pork breakfast sausage, pre-seasoned with red pepper and sage. with wilted spinach leaves and feta cheese. Use portabellos if you want to make this a main dish, or crimini mushrooms ("baby bellas", the "junior" versions of portabello) to serve this as an appetizer. If you are a Fiddleheads customer and the FMRF pork breakfast sausage unavailable at the co-op, try their pork sweet italian sausage, which has subtle flavor notes of black pepper and fennel; or use their plain ground pork and add your own seasonings. Of course if you are far beyond the Fiddleheads universe, then use whatever pork sausage is available to you, preferably locally-sourced, hormone and steroid-free, preservative-free, and so forth. Whatever you use, give it a whiff before you cook it; fresh (or newly-thawed) meat should have little if any odor, or should smell mild and sweet. If it smells "like meat", it is starting to turn rancid. (The same applies to fish; ask to smell it at the fish counter and if it smells "fishy", don't buy it.) Laura Phillip's Stuffed Mushroom Caps with Pork Breakfast Sausage, Spinach and Feta Cheese small to medium-size portabello mushroom caps, OR large crimini (baby bellas), cleaned and de-stemmed pork breakfast sausage, crumbled (Laura used Four Mile River Farm's) fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped feta cheese Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange prepared mushroom caps, gills-side up, on lightly oiled nonstick baking tray or dish. Cook sausage in skillet over medium heat until browned; remove from pan with slotted spoon onto plate or bowl lined with paper towels to drain. Reduce heat to low and stir spinach into the sausage drippings, stirring occasionally; cook 1-2 minutes or until wilted. Turn off heat, and add feta to pan. Mix spinach and feta with the pork sausage, then spoon evenly into prepared mushroom caps. Bake 12-18 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender but not mushy in the centers. (Photo courtesy of Loretta McElwee and used by permission.)
When my friend and fellow co-op member Loretta McElwee passed along her friend Nat Hale's recipe to me a couple of weeks ago, I admit I wasn't particularly open-minded about it: "Cheese, butter and rum with chard? Delicate, perfect-just-as-it-is-the-way-the-Universe-intended-it chard? Sacrilege, that's what it is." Then she then made it herself and sent me the photos, such as the one above, and I decided that perhaps I could be seduced, after all. (Apparently I am easy, if not necessarily cheap. Or am I cheap but not easy? Just ask my friend Miss B.) Loretta wrote in her email to me: "I made this twice - once with goat cheese, which I didn't care for, and once with Havarti which I loved!" Nat's recipe simply calls for "soft cheese" and he suggests a few options; so follow Loretta's lead in choosing one that you prefer. When I asked her about the butter, she thought that it could be omitted and olive oil used by itself without affecting the recipe. (I had no problem with the cheese and rum, but freaked over the butter? No, I don't understand it, either.) Nat Hale's Swiss Chard with Soft Cheese, Balsamic and Rum 1 bunch swiss chard, any variety 2 tbsp. olive oil 3 cloves of garlic diced 1 cup white wine 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp. spiced rum 2 tbsp. of soft cheese, such as goat cheese, or havarti Wash the chard and separate the leaves from the stems. Tear the leaves into bit sized pieces and cut up the stems. In a deep skillet, heat the butter and olive oil. When butter melts, add garlic. Add wine and chard stems. Cover and cook on medium until stems are soft. Add chard leaves. Cover and cook until the leaves have reduced in size and most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir occasionally; reduce the heat if you plan to leave unattended. Add balsamic vinegar, spiced rum, and cheese. Cover until cheese melts. Serve. |
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