Archive for the ‘Real Food’ Category
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Cosmic Gazpacho
Some might call it a gastronomic convergence. All week long we can expect an exceptional alignment of vegetables at produce stands across northern New England.
Uber-ripe tomatoes, heavenly melons, red-as-Mars peppers, onions so sweet they don’t bring tears to your eyes . . . they’re all piled high and waiting for the right person to unlock their true potential. Starry-eyed cooks will seize this rare opportunity to make an out-of-this-world gazpacho.On a more down-to-earth level, a big batch of cold, refreshing gazpacho is the perfect food to have on hand with the long weekend coming up. You can pack it into a thermos for a picnic lunch by the lake or float a few Maine pink shrimp on top for an elegant dinner starter.
The almost sweet, thirst-quenching watermelon gazpacho often served at Mirabelles in Burlington, Vermont, inspires our recipe below. Red tomatoes and red watermelon give it a fabulous nearly infrared hue. For a lovely lutescent variation, substitute yellow heirloom tomatoes, yellow ‘Baby Doll’ watermelon or a Charentais cantaloupe, and a yellow bell pepper.
WATERMELON GAZPACHO
from the FarmPlate KitchenAbout 6 pounds ripe red tomatoes
1 small watermelon, such as ‘Moon & Stars’ or ‘Sugar Baby’
2 cucumbers
2 small onions, minced
1 red bell pepper, trimmed, seeded and cut into small dice
½ cup minced fresh parsley
¼ cup rice vinegar or other mild vinegar
¼ cup good olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Absolut Citron, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 or 2 dashes Spanish smoked paprika1. Peel and seed the tomatoes. When tomatoes are truly ripe, they’re easy to peel with a sharp paring knife. Or, cut an X on the bottom of the tomatoes, drop into boiling water for no more than 30 seconds. Rinse with cold water, then peel and seed. Put half of the tomatoes into the bowl of a large food processor; slice the other half into tiny dice and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Slice the watermelon in half. Scoop half of the flesh into a food processor. Cut enough of the remaining watermelon into small dice to give you two cups worth. Add the diced watermelon to the bowl with the tomatoes. (You can blend any remaining watermelon with juice or rum for a refreshing cocktail.)
3. Peel, slice and seed the cucumbers. Chop one cucumber and add to the food processor. Cut the other into tiny dice and add to the bowl with the diced tomatoes and watermelon.
4. Process the vegetables in the food processor until smooth. Pour into the mixing bowl. Stir in the onions, bell peppers, parsley, vinegar, oil, lemon juice and vodka, if desired, salt, pepper and paprika. Chill for at least two hours. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
Serves 10 to 12 (makes about 2½ quarts)
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Convenience the Slow Way
They’re starting to pile up everywhere. Tomatoes on the counter, tomatoes on the kitchen table, tomatoes lined up on the windowsill, tomatoes on the vine waiting to be picked. It’s a wonderful problem.
If I were a better person, I’d be canning tomatoes all night long but I’d rather be outside watching the Perseid meteor shower for the next few nights. Plus I could never beat the intense flavor of Muir Glen’s organic fire-roasted tomatoes, so I don’t even try.To concentrate and preserve all that August tomato goodness, I turn my oven to 250ºF and start lining baking sheets (with sides) with parchment paper to get ready to slow-bake my tomato harvest. The smallest cherry tomatoes require just a quick poke with the tip of a skewer or sharp knife. Crowd them cheek-by-jowl onto a lined baking sheet: they’ll shrink and collapse as they slowly cook in the oven. Slice slightly larger tomatoes, say the size of shooter marbles to ping pong balls, in half and lay them cut-side up on a separate lined sheet. Sauce or Roma tomatoes should be sliced lengthwise and placed cut-side up on yet another lined sheet. Larger round tomatoes can be cut into wedges or thick slices and placed on one more sheet.
Seasoning is the next step. First, very, very lightly drizzle or mist the tomatoes with olive oil. Olive oil cooking spray is perfect for this. Next, sprinkle your tomatoes very lightly with sea salt, such as Maldon’s Crystal Sea Salt (you can find it in King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue).
If you’re looking for a hint of smokiness, sprinkle with Maldon Smoked Sea Salt. If it’s a subtle element of heat you’re after, prudently sprinkle with some Aleppo pepper as well. It’s available from Penzeys Spices.
Slide all your prepared tomato pans into the oven. Set the timer for an hour, which will give you plenty of time for tomato picking or stargazing. After one hour, give each pan a good shake. The smallest tomatoes may be done to your liking. Taste one. If the flavor is sweet and concentrated and the flesh is still a little juicy, they’re ready. Larger tomatoes will take longer to reach that stage. Keep checking them every 20 minutes or so.
Let your tomatoes cool slightly, then pack into clean plastic containers. Slow-baked tomatoes will keep in the fridge for a week or more and for several months in the freezer. Use the tomatoes on bruschetta, in pilafs, soups, stews and simple pasta dishes like the one below.
Rotini with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Spinach & Feta
from the FarmPlate Kitchen1 pound rotini or other sturdy pasta shape
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted pistachios
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced
12 ounces Crossroad Farm baby spinach leaves
About 1 cup slow-roasted cherry tomatoes
Salt and black pepper
4 ounces Vermont Butter & Cheese feta, crumbled
A handful of Italian parsley leaves, choppedCook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Toast the pistachios in the hot dry skillet for a minute or two—no longer. Remove from the pan. Heat the oil in the skillet and cook the scallions until soft, about two minutes. Add the spinach and cook just to wilt. Add the tomatoes and heat through. Season with salt and pepper
When the pasta is al dente, drain it then toss with the spinach mixture. Add the feta, parsley and toasted nuts then toss gently.
Serves 4 to 6
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Pesto – A Rite of Summer
When pesto first showed up on the American foodie scene in the late ’70s, everybody started growing basil and making pesto. It became a rite of summer, up there with ballpark hot dogs, campfire s’mores and lemonade stands. Pesto’s popularity soon rivaled that of tabbouleh at potluck buffets nationwide. Everyone had the recipe, it was right there on page 80 of the Silver Palate Cookbook. Best of all, pasta with pesto was a great, cheap way to feed a lot of people.
True pesto cognoscenti have always made their pesto with pignoli aka pine nuts, not the walnuts suggested by the Rosso/Lukins duo. But the price of a pound of pine nuts has recently rocketed past $23. Ouch. I’d always found walnuts to be too strong flavored for pesto but the thought of pouring $8 to $10 worth of nuts onto a spinning food processor blade made me cringe. Hell, that’s the price of a movie ticket or a six-pack of Harpoon’s UFO Hefeweizen (with a twist of lemon, a favorite summer brew).What to do?
Unsalted pistachios came to my rescue. They’re buttery like pine nuts and a 7-ounce bag at Gagan Indian Grocery on Williston Road in South Burlington costs just $5.69. Ounce per ounce, that’s a savings of almost half. And their lovely green tint makes my homemade pesto even greener. Bring your friends and come on over for dinner.
Pistachio Pesto
from the FarmPlate KitchenOur hot summer days have made the flavor of local basil a bit assertive. Soaking the leaves in ice-cold water for about 20 minutes will sweeten them right up.
2 big handfuls of fresh-picked basil, stemmed and soaked in cold water
1 cup (4 ounces) unsalted pistachio kernels
4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled
A pinch of grated lemon zest
About 1 cup good olive oil (save your best extra-virgin for the salad!)
2 cups grated Parmesan and/or other hard salty cheese
Salt and black pepper to tasteShake the water off the basil leaves as best you can. Put them in the bowl of a food processor. Add the pistachios, garlic and lemon zest. Pulse a few times to chop.
With the motor running, pour in the oil in a stream. Turn off the motor and add the cheese, a little salt and a generous grinding of pepper. Process briefly to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add more olive oil if the pesto seems too thick.
Makes about 2 cups, enough to sauce at least 2 pounds of pasta. Pesto freezes well.
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Gads of Zukes and Cukes!
It’s that time of year. It’s hot and humid and gardens are going bonkers. All across the country, men and women are walking into offices with armloads of cucumbers and zucchini cheerily telling their co-workers to help themselves to their backyard harvest.
This is one gift horse you really need to examine carefully. Push aside the three-pound cucumbers and the zucchinis as big as biceps. These cucurbits on steroids are often watery, spongy and bordering on flavorless. Try to select compact specimens that feel heavy for their size and have dark green skins.Zucchini enthusiasts love to grate the maxi-zukes for making zucchini bread. In fact, a quick Google search for a z-bread recipe produced more than seven million hits. While I’m sure there’s a winner among them somewhere, I’m not much of a zucchini bread fan. They’re always described as “moist” but to me it’s more like “damp.” In my opinion, zucchini is a vegetable and should be treated like a vegetable. The thin slices of garlic-basil scented zucchini topping Pizza on Earth’s “Garden” special or the exquisitely grilled zucchini ribbons on the “Feast of the Fields” platter at the Inn at Shelburne Farms—now that’s how to treat a zucchini!
A zucchini omelet makes a lovely treat on a summer evening too. Be sure to pick small, dark zucchinis. You can save the giants for a game of vegan touch football.
Zucchini Omelet
from the FarmPlate Kitchen1 pound zucchini, cut into ½-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of fresh parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
A big pinch of chopped fresh thyme
4 large Vermont eggs (try farm-fresh eggs from Berway Farm and Creamery)
1 tablespoon unsalted butterSpread out the cubed zucchini, sprinkle with salt and set aside. Chop the parsley and garlic together until it almost forms a paste: set this “persillade” aside as well.
Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly until meltingly soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. Stir in the thyme and remove from the heat.
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, season with a generous grinding of pepper and a pinch of salt and whisk to blend.
The zucchini cubes will have given off some moisture by this time, pat them dry. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring often, until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Add the persillade and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the cooked onions. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the bowl with the eggs.
Return the skillet to the heat and warm the butter and the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil over high heat. Quickly pour in the egg mixture and swirl the pan a little to distribute the eggs. Lower the heat to medium, cover the pan and cook for one minute. Nudge the omelet gently with a spatula to make sure it’s not sticking. Fold the omelet over and cook another minute or so to cook the eggs through.
Slide the omelet onto a serving plate. Serve with sliced tomatoes tossed with basil leaves and a favorite Vermont cheese.
Serves 2 to 3
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Peaches – Fuzzy Memories
I heard the new cover by the Avett Brothers of the old John Prine song ‘Spanish Pipedream’ on the radio yesterday. It’s the one where “a level-headed dancer” counsels a soldier on his way to Montreal to “blow up your TV, plant a little garden and
eat a lot of peaches.” I’ve always loved that line about the peaches.The song was originally released on Prine’s first and self-titled album in 1971, back when most peach varieties, even the peaches sold by the crate at the supermarket, had serious peach fuzz. The fuzz was thick, like close-cropped velveteen. Today’s commercial varieties are practically fuzz-free and have more of a matte finish.
Scent memories remain the sharpest, and I can still remember the heady aroma coming off the crate of peaches as my dad toted it into the kitchen. My mom, like most Minnesota moms, canned peaches every summer. To peel the fuzzy peaches before canning, she would gently lower them into a pot of boiling water to cook for no more than a minute before plunging them into a bowlful of ice cold water. The peels would then slip off easily. She’d put up a dozen or more quarts of sweet, fragrant peaches that we’d enjoy through the winter.
Now in Vermont, I anxiously anticipate the arrival of Amish peaches at my local market. They’re a little fuzzy and intensely fragrant. Their season is about finished, so now I’m scouting out local peaches, which can be hard to come by. Most peach trees aren’t terrifically cold hardy, although some growers have had success with the McKay peach tree. Nick Cowles at Shelburne Orchards has some peach trees that will be ready for U-pickers soon.
Two-Sues Peach Custard Pie
I use the same peach-skinning technique described above when baking my favorite peach pie recipe, which is actually my ‘cover’ of a recipe made every summer by Suzanne Weil, a food mentor of mine, who learned it from her mother.
6 to 8 just-ripe peaches from Shelburne Orchards
1½ cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1¼ cups sugar, divided
1 stick Cabot unsalted butter
A few drops pure almond extract or Amaretto di Saronno
1 cup Vermont heavy cream (try Strafford Dairy or Butterworks Farm)
4 egg yolks (try the free range eggs at Fair Winds Farm)Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the peaches and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of ice water.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, blend together the flour and ¼ cup of the sugar. Work in the butter with a pastry knife or your fingertips until the mixture almost sticks together. Add a few drops of almond flavoring—be prudent, a little goes a long way. Transfer the mixture to a deep-dish pie pan or quiche pan. Press the dough into the pan and up the sides.
Peel and slice the peaches and place in the pie pan.
In a bowl, whisk together the cream, egg yolks and the remaining 1 cup sugar. Pour over the peaches.
Bake the pie until the custard has set and the top is golden, about 50 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.
Serves 8
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Buckle Up for Blueberry Season!
It’s been a scorcher of a summer. The roads may be buckling in the heat, but blueberries don’t seem to care. They’re big, ripe and ready to bake into blueberry buckle. What’s a buckle, you might ask.
Neither Sarah Palin nor Shakespeare can take credit for coining the term “buckle” to describe the wonderful, fruity coffeecake with its crumble topping
that “buckles” while it bakes. Nope. The peculiar usage showed up in the 1950s, about the same time “Baked Alaska” and “Beef Wellington” were added to America’s culinary melting pot.Blueberry buckle is the favorite blueberry confection of Lower Notch Berry Farmers Al and Linda Lunna. They’re this week’s featured producers at Middlebury Coop and their farm in Bristol, Vermont, is one of scores of U-pick establishments around the state that are welcoming blueberry lovers from now into early August.
Compared to strawberries and raspberries, blueberry picking is a breeze. No brambles, no bending over, and the just-picked berries aren’t quite as fragile or mold-prone. You wouldn’t want to leave your boxes of berries in a hot car for hours, but you can certainly stop to enjoy a creemee or a pulled pork sandwich at Village Creeme in Bristol before heading home.
Perhaps you’ve been inspired to plant a few blueberry bushes in your own garden. While you won’t be harvesting many berries from your just-planted bushes, you’ll still be able to enjoy their striking red leaves in the fall. Elmore Roots Nursery in Lamoille County, Vermont has 15 high-bush and native low-bush varieties to choose from. Don’t forget to pick up a bag of their Bountiful Blueberry Mix to keep your plants healthy and producing for seasons to come.
Happy picking, planting, baking and eating!
Blueberry Buckle
from the FarmPlate Kitchen
Delicious warm or cold. Perfect for breakfast or dessert.
For the Blueberry Cake Layer
4 tablespoons unsalted Cabot butter, at room temperature
½ cup white sugar
1 large egg (try the eggs at Applecheek Farm)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk (from McNamara Dairy)
3 cups fresh-picked blueberries plus more for serving (pick your own at Wildwood Farm)
For the Buckle Layer
½ cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
½ cup Demerara sugar
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
4 tablespoons cold unsalted Cabot butter, cut into pieces
Whipped cream for servingPreheat the oven to 375ºF. Butter a 9×9-inch glass baking dish.
To make the cake layer, in a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and sift onto a piece of wax paper. Add half of the flour mixture to the creamed butter and beat to combine. Add half of the milk and beat well. Add the remaining flour followed by the remaining milk and beat well again. Gently stir in the blueberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish.
To make the buckle layer, combine the flour, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl. Using a fork or your fingers, work in the butter until you have a crumb-like texture. Sprinkle over the cake.
Bake the buckle for 35 minutes. The top will be golden. Cool for about 15 minutes. Cut into large pieces and serve with additional fresh blueberries and some whipped cream.
Serves 9 to 12
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Love That Taste of Buttermilk
Do you ever wonder about buttermilk? Most people know that buttermilk is–at least it used to be–the liquid leftover from churning butter. The solid butter got all the fat, leaving the liquid buttermilk nearly fat-free. But what’s the story behind buttermilk’s sour tang?
In the early 1930s, American farmers were literally in the dark. Nine out of ten farms had no electricity. By the time fresh
cream arrived at the dairy for processing, it had fermented or soured, giving the buttermilk and the butter a distinctive tang. The Rural Electricity Administration brought power to the countryside and by the time of WWII, nine out of ten American farms were electrified. The cream could be quickly chilled so it didn’t sour before being churned into butter. “Sweet cream” butter rapidly became the preferred butter style. But the taste for tangy, sour buttermilk lived on.The buttermilk we use and love today is a cultured product, made by fermenting milk so that the milk sugars turn into lactic acid, causing the milk proteins to become solid, as they are no longer soluble in more acidic conditions. Buttermilk can last longer than regular milk because the acidic conditions keep harmful bacteria from thriving, which means it’s easy to keep a quart on hand in the fridge for baking and cooking needs.
Buttermilk has lots of applications in today’s kitchens. It’s the base of lovely, low-fat salad dressings. It adds tang and purpose to pancake batter. Most cornbread recipes are better for it. The acid in buttermilk makes it an effective and flavorful marinade especially for chicken. Frying fish? Dip the fillets in buttermilk before coating in breadcrumbs or cornmeal. The list goes on and on.
We have two summer favorites for you today. We’d love to hear your favorite things to do with buttermilk.
Corn-off-the-Cob Salad with Buttermilk-Herb Dressing
from the FarmPlate KitchenMazza’s in Colchester (both Sam and Paul) have fresh Vermont sweet corn this week.
4 ears fresh-picked sweet corn, shucked
½ cup Monument Farms buttermilk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
2 tablespoons sliced fresh basil
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 red or green bell pepper, dicedCut the kernels from the corncobs with a serrated knife. Bring a pan of water to a full boil, add the kernels and immediately pour into a strainer set in the sink. Rinse with cold water.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the blanched corn and diced pepper. Stir to blend. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Serves 4
Lemon Buttermilk Pie
from the FarmPlate Kitchen
This old-fashioned southern dessert is ever-so-good on its own and even better when served with fresh-picked raspberries or blueberries.
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (try a frozen one from Vermont Mystic Pie Company)
4 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1½ cups Monument Farms buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, preferably Vermont Creamery cultured butter, melted
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon vodka such as Green Mountain Organic Lemon Vodka or Absolut Citron, or pure vanilla extractPreheat the oven to 375ºF. Line the pie shell with a piece of parchment paper and add a handful of dried beans. Blind bake the pie shell for 10 minutes only. Remove from the oven and let cool while you mix the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk or beat the eggs and sugar until light and lemon-colored. Beat in the flour, followed by the buttermilk, melted butter, lemon zest and juice, and vodka or vanilla. Pour into the half-baked pie shell.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes then chill before serving.
Serves 6 to 8
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Raspberries! Now!
It’s brutally hot all over the Northeast from now to the weekend. How are area raspberry lovers dealing with the heat? Berry fanatics are simply setting the alarm a little earlier so
they can get up and pick a flat or two of perfect, juicy red berries before the sun gets too high in the sky. Luckily there’s no rain in the forecast since wet weather wreaks havoc on raspberries, causing an icky white fungus to spread through the thicket.Fresh raspberries are very, very perishable. When picking in hot weather, you need to cool berries as quickly as possible. Drive straight home from the farm: Fragile berries are like pets—you should never leave them in a hot car. Once you’re home:
• Spread out unwashed berries in a single layer on a tray lined with paper towels and store uncovered in the refrigerator
• Raspberries are best eaten within a day or two of picking
• Let berries warm to room temperature for best flavor
• Rinse berries quickly just before serving
• Whole raspberries freeze well and can be frozen for up to a year. To freeze, place the berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet and set in the freezer. Once they are frozen, place them in an airtight freezer-proof container.
Raspberry purists like their raspberries pretty plain, maybe with a drizzle of lemon juice or a spoonful of Vermont Butter & Cheese mascarpone. An English friend likes to swirl jarred lemon curd and spoonfuls of Greek yogurt in a shallow bowl and top it off with a small mountain of raspberries. We like to bake a dozen little raspberry cupcakes and serve them with fresh raspberries (of course).
The Vermont Agency of Ag’s Buy Local, Buy Vermont site makes it easy to find U-pick berry farms close to home. Remember to wear a broad-brimmed hat, apply some sunscreen and bring water to drink. Happy picking!
Pretty in Pink Raspberry Cupcakes
from the FarmPlate KitchenBack in 1986, Pretty in Pink star Molly Ringwald revealed to fans that her favorite pig-out food was raspberries. We hope that hasn’t changed—and these easy cupcakes are the perfect nosh to enjoy while watching the John Hughes’ film classic.
We use Charlotte’s Nitty Gritty cornmeal here. It’s well worth making the effort to seek it out. The corn is grown and ground in the Champlain Valley, and the flavor is round and almost sweet. You can buy cornmeal and cornbread mix directly from the producer online or at the Waitsfield Farmers Market on Saturdays. You can also find it at select area food stores.
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
Grated zest of ½ lemon
¾ cup cornmeal, preferably from Nitty Gritty Grain Company
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk or cream
1 cup red raspberries (blueberries or blackberries work well too)Icing
Several imperfect raspberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon unsalted butterPreheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat in the cornmeal, followed by the eggs.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat this into butter mixture, followed by the milk or cream. Very gently fold in the raspberries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool.
To ice the cooled cupcakes, place a few raspberries in a bowl and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Mash the berries with a fork to tint the juice pinkish. In a separate small mixing bowl, work together the confectioners’ sugar and butter with a fork. Strain enough of the raspberry-lemon liquid into the bowl to make a thick but fluid icing.
Peel the paper liners from the cupcakes. Dunk the top of each cupcake into the icing then quickly invert and place on a serving platter. Set aside for a few minutes before serving.
Makes 12 cupcakes
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Summer Fountain Line-Up
Summer’s here and everybody’s thirsty. We’ve pulled together our favorite thirst-quenching quaffs to have on hand for the 4th’s young parade-goers and seasoned revelers. Pick and choose a couple favorites so you can stock up on the ingredients before the long weekend is here.
Strawberryade
Pack 1 quart hulled strawberries, 1 cup orange juice, the grated zest and juice of 2 lemons and 2 tablespoons honey or sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into a pitcher filled with ice.The Patty Sheehan
Mix 2 parts unsweetened green tea (Citrus Blossom from Vermont Artisan Coffee & Teas is ideal) with 1 part lemonade (try Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade). Pour over cracked ice and raise your glass to Vermont’s most celebrated golfer!Root Beer Floats
You can buy fresh-brewed root beer by the gallon at the A&W on Route 7 in Middlebury, or order up a pony keg of craft beer from Rookie’s Root Beer in Burlington. There are two distinct schools of float assembly. Some scoop the ice cream into the glass first and slowly pour in the root beer. Others swear by filling the glass three-quarters full first and then adding a big scoop of ice cream. Either way, Mountain Creamery’s vanilla ice cream is a must.Hibiscus Sangría
Make a large pitcher of VT Artisan Organic Hibiscus Blossom Tea; add lemon, orange and watermelon slices. Stir in 3 to 4 tablespoons of superfine sugar. Chill to blend the flavors. Pour into a pitcher filled with ice.Cherry Fizz
In a large pitcher, stir together 2 quarts chilled seltzer with one 12-ounce can frozen cherry juice concentrate. Serve over ice. Garnish with pitted organic cherries. A cherry pitter makes quick work of this task. Pick up an OXO cherry pitter at Board & Basket in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and other fine retailers nationwide.Jamaica Ginger Juice
Cut the flesh of 1 ripe pineapple into chunks. In a blender, puree the pineapple, ¼ cup crystallized ginger pieces, the juice of 3 or 4 limes and about 1 cup cold water. Transfer to a large pitcher and stir in 1 quart of chilled ginger ale and lots of ice.Nojitos
In the bottom of a wide-mouth pitcher, bruise with a large wooden spoon or long cocktail muddler: 2 handfuls fresh mint leaves, 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and 1 teaspoon grated lime zest. Add the juice of 4 limes and 1 quart chilled soda or seltzer. Pour into tall glasses full of crushed ice. Garnish with a small sprig of mint. (This alcohol-free version of a mojito cocktail saves 70 calories per serving.)Cran-blue-berry Sparkle
Pour Vermont Cranberry Company Cranberry Sparkling Water over frozen blueberries in a glass and serve.Peachy White Wine Sangría
Thinly slice 3 or 4 peaches and put in a large pitcher. Add Shelburne Vineyard’s Côte de Champlain (it’s on sale this week at the Middlebury Co-op), 2 shots (¼ cup) Grand Marnier and ¼ cup superfine sugar. Chill at least 2 hours to blend flavors. Top off with lemon seltzer and serve.Shandy
This is by far the best whistle-wetter after mowing the lawn on a hot afternoon. Pour an ice-cold bottle of Long Trail ale into a pint glass and top it off with Fentimans Ginger Beer and some cracked ice. You can find the Fentimans and, of course, the Long Trail at the Old Brick Store in Charlotte, Vermont.Woody Goes to the Circus
Combine one part ice-cold Woodchuck Pear Draft Cider and one part ice-cold Magic Hat Circus Boy American-style Hefeweizen. -
Chard Times
There’s Swiss cheese, Swiss chocolate, Swiss Army knives. But what’s so “Swiss” about chard? It’s a mystery. That’s not the only curious aspect of chard. Why does chard, especially the ruby-red variety, taste a lot like beets? And, most
importantly, are Swiss CSA-members as inundated with Swiss chard at this time of year as their Vermont CSA counterparts?Renowned produce expert Elizabeth Schneider is even mystified by the “Swiss” in chard. In her Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide (William Morrow, 1990) she speculates that “Swiss” could be a long-forgotten seed variety name that stuck to chard, aka Beta vulgaris, subspecies cicla. Which leads us to the next conclusion: Chard and beets (aka Beta vulgaris, subspecies vulgaris) aren’t just cousins, they’re practically clones. Somewhere along the way, plant breeders encouraged one plant to put out fleshy leaves and thick stalks, while other breeders encouraged a second plant to develop roots the size of tennis balls.
While we don’t know of any Swiss CSA-members or FarmPlate followers in Switzerland, we can imagine that a number of Swiss-French vegetable lovers are buying chard at this time of year for a lovely gratin de blettes topped with Gruyère or a tourte aux blettes, a rough pie filled with chard and currants.
We find that a lot of chard preparations benefit from a hint of sweetness to counteract the dominant flavor of the vegetable. When you’re stir-frying chard, for instance, add a teaspoonful of balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses (available at City Market and Middlebury Co-op) to balance the flavors in the dish. Slow-cooked Vidalia onions or a handful of dried currants do the job as well.
Check out a farmstand or farmers’ market near you for fresh Swiss chard. Or, you can always beg a bunch or two from a friend whose CSA share has had a lot of chard in it lately.
Swiss Chard Stuffed with Spicy-Sweet Rice
from the FarmPlate Kitchen
Larger chard leaves are good for stuffing like the grape leaves in Greek dolmades. Plan ahead for this recipe—the peas need to soak overnight.
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
¾ cup white rice (Texmati or basmati)
1½ cups water
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
A big pinch ground cardamom (optional)
¼ cup yellow split peas or chana dal (split chickpeas), soaked overnight in water
About 20 stalks of white Swiss chard with large leaves
1/3 cup dried currants
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Greek yogurt for serving
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook a minute or two until the rice grains are slightly translucent. Add the water, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Bring to a boil. Drain the split peas or chana dal and add to the pan as well. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Cut 15 to 18 leaves from the chard stems. Stack the leaves in a colander. Pour the water from the kettle over the leaves followed by running cold water. Spread the leaves on paper towels.
Chop the stems and the remaining leaves. Set aside a couple handfuls of chopped chard. Sauté the remainder in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until it wilts. Add the currants and cook for a minute or two. Add the chard mixture to the cooked rice/split pea mixture. Stir in the mint, parsley and a generous grinding of pepper.
Drop about 2 tablespoons of stuffing onto the center of one leaf. Fold the wider end up over the stuffing. Fold in the sides, and then roll into a tight cylinder. Repeat with the remaining filling and leaves.
Spread the reserved chopped chard in the bottom of a deep (not cast iron) skillet. Set the chard packages on the chopped chard, seam-side down. Combine the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons of water in a small cup. Drizzle over the chard packages. Cover the pan tightly and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes. Transfer the packages to a serving dish and chill.
Serve chilled or a room temperature with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Serves 6 to 8 as a first course or 4 as a main course
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