Thanksgiving Newsletter 11/20/07

Pete’s Greens Good Eats Newsletter Nov. 20, 2007

VERY IMPORTANT: VEGETABLE/LOCALVORE SHARES ARE IN THE PURPLE BAG THIS WEEK. ROOT SHARES IN BEIGE BAGS.

This week’s vegetable/localvore share contains: cutting celery, big bu. of salad turnips, big bu. of collards, potatoes, parsnips, pie pumpkin, festival squash, red torpedo and walla walla onions, red beets, french chantenay carrots, cranberries, chevre, eggs, apples, and pastry flour

This week’s root share contains: big bu. of sweet salad turnips, chantenay carrots, yellow potatoes, beets, parsnips, and sweet potatoes

We think these are a couple of pretty sweet shares! It is so much fun to have all this great localvore food flowing through the farm and getting a chance to sample it all. Many of the localvore providers have been self delivering food to the farm and it is a great bunch of folks to be in contact with.

Monday morning we broke ground on our new greenhouse project. The past 4 days have been a whirlwind of planning and brainstorming and while some plans are still in development we think most of it is nailed down. I have the pleasure of working with 2 incredible builders, Chris and Isaac Jacobs. They are a father/son team, very creative, very thorough, and they get a lot done in a day. Isaac is married to Melissa who is our washhouse manager and has taken on more tasks recently such as helping design Good Eats shares. She is doing a great job running the show in the washhouse and we will miss she and Isaac dearly when they leave for the Peace Corps spring of ’08.

Thanks for all the positive feedback about Good Eats. Our anecdotal impression is that our members are happier than ever in the year and a half history of Good Eats and that we are gradually improving our program in ways that you like. That’s great, but I know we still have a ways to go and as always appreciate constructive criticism.

Look for our bulk order form in your e-mail. It’s a great way to stock up on items you’d like more of.

This week we have some fabulous localvore items. The beautiful cranberries are from Bob at the Vermont Cranberry Co in Fletcher, VT . The flour is soft whole wheat pastry flour from Ben Gleason in Bridport, VT. The chevre is from Greg & Hannah Bernhardt of Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, VT. The apples are Cortland from Bill Suhr's Champlain Orchards in Shoreham, VT. And of course, eggs from here at Pete's Greens.

Next week the share will include an Apple Pie from Champlain Orchards, Cream from Butterworks Farm, and smoked Mozzarella from Maplebrook Farm. I haven't heard yet from Pete what the vegetable share will include.

Get Ready For The Pantry Stock Up!

In a couple weeks we will be distributing a whole lot of dry goods to stock your pantry. We'll have rolled oats, flax seed, oat flour, pearled barley, yellow peas, all from Quebec, and WW bread flour from Ben Gleason. I'll probably get it all packed to include in the first two weeks of December.


I'm really excited about the pastry flour this week. I have been bagging it up for you and decided to try it out in a couple of my favorite recipes. I know for Thanksgiving many of you have your traditional family recipes, so I'm not going to try to tell you how to cook the sweet potatoes, etc! These muffins might be just the thing to snack on Wednesday while you are preparing the big dinner, or to bring along if you are visiting.

CRANBERRY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS

1/3 C OIL
1/2 C SUGAR
2 EGGS
1 C BUTTERMILK
3 C WW PASTRY FLOUR
1 TBSP BAKING POWDER
1/2 TSP SALT
1 C FRESH CRANBERRIES, WHOLE OR CHOPPED UP A BIT
ZEST OF 1/2 ORANGE
1/4 TSP NUTMEG

PREHEAT OVEN 400

IN A BOWL BEAT TOGETHER THE SUGAR AND OIL. BEAT IN EGGS ONE AT A TIME, UNTIL LIGHT & FOAMY. SLOWLY POUR IN BUTTERMILK AND MIX UNTIL WELL COMBINED. ADD THE REST OF THE INGREDIENTS AND STIR TOGETHER BY HAND UNTIL JUST BARELY COMBINED. DO NOT OVER MIX SO THE MUFFINS WILL BE TENDER. FILL 12 GREASED OR PAPER LINED MUFFIN CUPS EVENLY. BAKE AT 400 FOR 15 - 20 MINUTES.

OPTIONAL GLAZE: COMBINE 1 C CONFECTIONERS SUGAR WITH A BIT OF ORANGE JUICE TO MAKE A SMOOTH GLAZE. SPOON OVER COOL MUFFINS.

THIS IS THE MOST FLEXIBLE MUFFING I HAVE EVER TRIED. YOU CAN ADD 1 CUP OF ANY FRUIT, EVEN BANANA OR PUMPKIN, OR 1/2 CUP OF NUTS, OR CHOCOLATE CHIPS. ADD A 1/2 TSP OF CINNAMON, NUTMEG, OR VANILLA OR ALMOND FLAVORING. ADD LEMON OR ORANGE ZEST. ONE IDEA I HAVE NOT TRIED IS USING ONLY MAPLE TO SWEETEN, BUT THAT MIGHT BE NEXT.


PUMPKIN BREAD

3 1/2 C WW PASTRY FLOUR
1/2 TSP BAKING SODA
2 TSP BAKING POWDER
1/2 TSP SALT
1 TSP CINNAMON
1/2 TSP GINGER
1/2 TSP ALLSPICE

2 EGGS
1/3 C VEGETABLE OIL
1/2 C BROWN SUGAR
1/2 C MAPLE SYRUP
1 C PUMPKIN PUREE
3/4 C MILK

GREASE 2 LOAF PANS OR ONE MEDIUM BUNDT PAN. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350

IN A LARGE BOWL COMBINE THE DRY INGREDIENTS. IN ANOTHER SMALLER BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER THE WET INGREDIENTS. POUR INTO THE DRY INGREDIENTS AND COMBINE QUICKLY JUST TO BLEND. POUR EVENLY INTO PAN(S), BAKE ABOUT 45-60 MINUTES, UNTIL A TOOTHPICK IN CENTER COMES OUT CLEAN.

Now for another greens idea.

SWEET POTATO AND GREENS GRATIN

2 # SWEET POTATOES
1 BU COLLARDS, CHARD OR KALE
1 ONION
2 CLOVES GARLIC
SALT, RED PEPPER FLAKES, CUMIN OR OLD BAY SEASONING TO TASTE
1/3/ C FLOUR
2 C MILK
1/4 C FRESH GRATED PARMESAN OR OTHER SALTY CHEESE

I think sweet potatoes and collards are an ideal pair. If you manage to have extra sweet potatoes around, scrub & cut into 1/4" slices. Place in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook a few minutes, until barely tender, drain into a colander and set aside.

Combine flour and spices to taste in a little bowl.

Meanwhile, wash, remove middle stem, & chop the collards. Dice an onion and mince a couple garlic cloves. Saute the onion & garlic with olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir in the collards and sprinkle with salt. Saute until just tender & still bright green, a couple minutes.

In a buttered baking dish, layer the sweet potatoes and the collards. First 1/3 sweet potatoes, 1/2 collards, sprinkling the layers with the seasoned flour. Continue layering, ending with the sweet potatoes. Pour over the milk, sprinkle with the cheese. Bake @400 for about 30 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

And that's what I'm going to make for supper right now!

Happy Thanksgiving all

Heather