by GardenLover | Mar 17, 2014 | Good eats, Spring countdown
By Debra Knapke
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here is a recipe that I’ve made many times. This is comfort food!
Creamy Potato Cabbage Soup
From Moosewood Daily Special with a few changes…
2 TBL olive oil
2 c. chopped onions*
1 tsp ground caraway seeds (fennel is another option)
½ tsp salt
4-5 c. coarsely chopped green cabbage
2 c. sliced potatoes
3 c. water or vegetable stock
2 tsp dried dill**
4 oz. chevre
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the onions, caraway and half the salt until the onions are translucent; about 7-10 minutes. Add the cabbage and remaining salt and cook until the cabbage is beginning to wilt. Add the potatoes and water and bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are tender. Turn off the heat. Add the dill and chevre, and stir to combine. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Simmer the soup if it has cooled too much, add salt and pepper to taste and add water if the blended soup is too thick.
* When in season, I use leeks instead.
** If you have fresh dill, use at least 2 tablespoons; other herbs to use: thyme or sage; both are especially tasty with fennel instead of caraway.
by GardenLover | Nov 25, 2013 | Good eats
By Debra Knapke
I wasn’t looking for a new apple; it found me.
On a chilly morning at the end of October I picked my last two pecks of apples, Goldrush and Staymen Winesap at Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Pataskala, Ohio. At the checkout, Andy Lynd offered me an apple that hasn’t been named yet.
Imagine a glowing, golden, perfectly formed apple accented with a red flush. My first bite was apricots and summer wine with a hint of mango and kiwi. The texture was crystally, crunchy… there are no other words to describe its texture. And, like a fine wine, the best flavor notes lingered; reminding me of the perfume of apple flowers.
It is dangerous to be driving and eating an apple that is this good.
Even though the apple picking season has ended, there are plenty of other apple-based pleasures to anticipate. While Michael is looking forward to the lull in the garden tending, I haven’t left fall – yet. I am thinking of what all my apples will turn into: muffins, apple pie, applesauce, baked apples, dried apples and more.
And, I am dreaming of that golden Atalanta* apple that I hope to pick soon at Lynd’s. Next year?
If you would like to explore more apple offerings, check out Debra’s article, “The Apple ”, beautifully illustrated by Brooke Albrecht, in the Fall Issue of EdibleColumbus.
* For those who may not remember the myth… Atalanta was a fierce huntress devoted to Diana. She avoided marriage by setting up a challenge: she would only marry the man who could best her in a foot race. Any suitor who could not outrun her would forfeit his life. Hippomenes (or Melanion, in some renditions) fell in love with Atalanta and appealed to Aphrodite for help. Aphrodite gave Hippomenes three golden apples along with the instruction to throw one out each time Atalanta started to pass him. These enticing apples slowed Atalanta enough to allow Hippomenes to finish first and end Atalanta’s unmarried state.
by GardenLover | Jun 27, 2013 | Good eats
By Teresa Woodard
I was delighted to return home from a visit to my sister’s in Alabama to find ripe cherries and black raspberries in our backyard. Yes, the bluejays beat me to several of the cherries, and I always forget the chore of pitting the fruits, but I gathered enough to try in a new recipe. It’s one I flagged in the recent issue of Southern Living which I fittingly read on the porch of my southern sister’s lake house. While the recipe called for blackberries and peaches, I swapped those fruits for cherries and black raspberries. The bars were a fun alternative to a traditional cobbler recipe. Plus, pre-cutting the bars helped with portion control and made them easily portability. They were so simple to grab and go for a breakfast treat on the way to our son’s baseball game. Click here for the Southern Living recipe.
by GardenLover | Jan 18, 2013 | Good eats
Watch an Oscar Nominee and Peel a Pomegranate
By Debra Knapke
Not a recipe this time, but a delicious fruit that is available in the winter and is fun to eat. Some may consider it a pain to peel; for you, pomegranate arils (seeds) are now available in most supermarkets, already separated from the fruit. For me, this is a jigsaw puzzle. While watching an old movie or listening to music, I sit and peel. The arils then show up as additions to salads, hot rice dishes – so good in wild rice recipes – and anything else that seems to need a burst of flavor.
by GardenLover | Aug 3, 2012 | Good eats
By Debra Knapke
We are into the luscious time of summer when the tomatoes are coming on, zucchini is bountiful, and local blueberries, blackberries and peaches are waiting to be picked or bought from nearby growers. All are tasty in their raw state, but the fruits beg to be used in muffins, pies, tarts and cobblers. To beat the summer heat, I have been baking early in the morning or late at night and then use our attic fan to pull cooler air into the house.
I’ve never been a fan of two-crusted pies. The fruit should take center-stage, not the crust. A rustic tart is a fun way to create a tasty, quick one-crust dessert. I decided to play with a filling recipe that I have been using for years and below is the result. Also included is a butter-based, food processor crust. The original pie crust recipe calls for 8 tablespoons of butter (one stick), but I have reduced that to 6 tablespoons. You may have to add another tablespoon of water on low humidity days, but otherwise, the crust has a good, crisp texture. One caution: do not over-process, which is easy to do. As with all recipes, experience will make you a master.
Preheat the oven to 425°
Pie Crust – Food Processor technique for one 9” crust
1 ⅓ c flour (for a richer flavor split the flour: ½ white & ½ whole wheat)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon or ¼ tsp nutmeg (optional)
6 TBL very cold, unsalted butter
¼ c ice water
Chef Deb’s granddaughter, Analise, obviously enjoys her job as pie taster.
In a food processor, mix the flour, salt and spice of choice. Cut the butter into 6 pieces and add to bowl. Process with the pulse speed until the mixture is the texture of coarse cornmeal. It is OK if you can see pieces of butter. With the processor running, add the water in a thin stream pulsing towards the end so you don’t over process the dough. The dough is done when you see clumps forming. Remove the dough from the work bowl and press it together and pat into a flattened round. Roll on a lightly floured surface to a 9-10” circle.
Lay the crust out in a shallow bowl or pie pan. Pour the fruit into the crust. “Hug” the crust around the fruit by gathering up the crust to form a shell. This is a rustic presentation, so perfection is not the goal. Drizzle the filling over the fruit evenly. Put into oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The filling should be bubbling evenly across the top.
Filling:
1 TBL butter, melted
1 c sugar – scant if the fruit is sweet
2-3 TBL flour – more for juicier fruit
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 egg
4 c. blueberries
Combine first four ingredients. Just before you pour the filling over the fruit, beat in the egg. This is to avoid curdling of the egg.
by GardenLover | Jun 8, 2012 | Good eats
By Teresa Woodard
Cherries and berries make a great combination. I prefer sour cherries from our backyard and wild black raspberries from the preserve near our house, but this week I used store-bought raspberries since the black raspberries aren’t ripe yet. The recipe also works well with frozen fruit. In fact, we freeze some cherries and berries for a pie for Christmas Eve dinner.
Cherry Berry Pie
Based on a recipe from Williams Sonoma
Basic pie pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie
2 TBS quick-cooking tapioca
1 c sugar
¼ TSP salt
3 c pitted sour cherries
3 c raspberries or blackberries
2 TBS unsalted butter
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, stir the tapioca, sugar and salt. Add the cherries and berries and toss to mix well. Pile the fruit mixture into an uncooked pastry-lined pan and dot with bits of the butter. Cover with the top crust, trim, flute the edges and cut vents. For another option, try a lattice top. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees, cover edges of crust with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.
By Debra Knapke
