Recipes
Big packet today, including a link for Escabeche, or a pickled jalapeno condiment. You can easily cut the recipe in half and skip the cauliflower to suit your share contents this week. You’re also getting two different savory pancake/latke-like recipes today but they’re different enough to both merit inclusion this week. If you have a little bit of time on your hands by all means make the shepherd’s pie. It’s fun and hearty and perfect for this weather.
Parsnip Notes
Mizuna Notes
Escabeche (Pickled Jalapenos – link)
Chicken Broth, Noodles and Greens
Carrot Sesame “Halloween” Pancakes
Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
Carrot, Turnip and Jalapeno Patties
Roasted Acorn Squash
Mizuna Salad
Parsnip Notes
Parsnips are sweet, starchy, quick cooking and fabulous. They are so fresh that you can use the whole root, including the core that you sometimes have to cut out when you buy them at the store.
I love to just slice them thinly (after you scrub them well but no need to peel unless they seem really fibrous) and sauté them in a heavy skillet in olive oil until caramelized around the edges and tender. Finish with a drizzle of good olive oil and a little sea salt. You can also substitute them for the carrots in the below “latke” recipe; add them to soups, gratins or any mix of roasted veggies. Or cook them with a handful of potatoes and make a chunky mash with some butter and milk (or cream) and a touch of nutmeg and black pepper or lots of herbs or hot pepper and cumin.
Mizuna Notes
I love spicy, cooler weather greens. The Mizuna is tender and delicious raw though you can quickly sauté it as well. In the cooler months I like to make strongly flavored, finely chopped mini salads of sorts that I use to top soups and stews with or bowls of warm rice and beans.
Experiment with flavor combinations but a good way to start is simply finely chopped mizuna (stems and all), some minced garlic, you could certainly add minced jalapeno this week, some lemon zest and olive oil and a little vinegar or lemon juice and salt. You could add some ground cumin or other herbs or spices too.
Pickled Jalapenos (Escabeche)
Chicken Broth, Noodles and Greens
–from Nigel Slater from The Observer 10/27/2012
Lightly brown four large chicken drumsticks in a deep pan with a little oil. Add 1 ½ cups, sliced mushrooms (shitake, oyster or regular button mushrooms) and let them brown a little, then add two roughly chopped, large spring onions or some thinly sliced regular onion. Pour in a 4 cups of chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down so the mixture simmers. Leave for 25 minutes, then lift out the chicken pieces and remove the flesh from the bones. Add 4 ounces (1/4 lb) of thin, dried egg noodles to the broth and cook for two minutes, then add 4 cups or more well-washed, roughly chopped bok choi or joi choi. Continue cooking for a minute or two, then add the chicken you have removed from the bones, and leave to heat through for a couple of minutes before checking the seasoning and adding a splash of sesame oil and serving.
** Note – Use drumsticks or thighs rather than chicken breasts. Bones from free-range birds are generally thicker and will give a better flavor to the broth. Don’t be tempted to simmer the broth for much longer than 40 minutes – nothing good will come of it. Use rice noodles if you prefer. If you use thick noodles, then cook them first, before adding to the broth.
Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
This is a savory, hearty and beautiful dish that just begs for CSA adaptations all fall/winter long.
1 1/2 cup French green lentils
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced (seeds and all if you want more heat)
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
1/4 cup red wine or port
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium to large carrots well scrubbed and cut into 1/4 inch dice
3 small turnips, scrubbed but not peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 sweet red pepper, cleaned and fairly finely chopped
1 tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup veggie bouillon broth (recipe here) or veg or chicken stock
4-5 medium waxy potatoes (or half potatoes and half turnips)
½ cup hot milk
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
Salt
Cook lentils in water with the garlic and bay leaf. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, 30-45 minutes. Set aside. Discard garlic clove and bay leaf.
Sauté onion with the thyme in the olive oil and then de-glaze the pan with wine or port (or water or stock if you don’t want to use alcohol) after about 8 minutes. Add carrots, turnips and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add the butter, flour and stock and whisk well to create a smooth sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add the lentils to the pan and take off the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Cook potatoes (or half potatoes/half turnips—see above) until very tender. Mash the potatoes with the butter and hot milk until fairly smooth.
Butter a baking dish (at least 2 inches deep) and spread the vegetable mix evenly over the bottom. Spoon, pipe or add anyway you like the mashed potatoes on top of the vegetables.
Bake in a 375-degree oven until the potatoes begin to brown and the vegetables are bubbling. Remove from oven and serve hot.
Carrot Sesame “Halloween” Pancakes
My husband adapted the Japanese cabbage pancakes I’ve written about here before, swapping steamed carrots for the cabbage. I was away for 8 days and he certainly cooked-with-what-he-had and I got to come home to these lovely creations. And they would be a perfect, portable Halloween dinner for the kiddos who can’t sit still but whom you want to feed something nutritious before the sucrose onslaught hits!
This recipe makes a lot of pancakes. Feel free to fry half of them and keep the rest of the batter for the next day or two. I like these for breakfast but I tend to eat savory food for breakfast anyway.
Makes about 14 pancakes.
Sauce:
Scant ½ cup mayonnaise
Scant 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha
Pancakes:
4 eggs
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 – 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 cups carrots, scrubbed and cut into medium chunks
4 scallions (green onions), trimmed and finely chopped or about 3 tablespoons chopped regular onion finely chopped
Sunflower, coconut or peanut oil for frying
1-2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Whisk the first set of ingredients together for your sauce. Set aside while you make the pancakes.
Steam or cook the carrots in a little water for about 8 minutes until almost tender. Pulse the carrots in the food processor until well chopped but leaving some irregular pieces.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt. Gradually add the flour and whisk until smooth. Fold in the carrots and scallions.
Warm a tablespoon or two of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until glistening. Spoon the batter into the skillet as you would for regular pancakes. I usually make them about the size of saucer. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Keep pancakes covered in a warm oven as you make the rest. Scatter sesame seeds on top of pancakes and serve with dipping sauce.
Carrot, Turnip and Jalapeno Patties
–inspired by Tender by Nigel Slater
Jalapenos add a lovely heat and depth of flavor to these treats.
Carrots, well scrubbed and grated on the large holes of a box grater to make about 2 cups of grated carrots
Turnips, same as above to make about 1 ½ cups
1/2 small onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, minced (seeded or not depending on comfort with heat)
½ cup heavy cream
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup grated sharp cheddar
1 heaping tablespoon of flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil for frying
Mix everything except the oil in a large bowl. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning. Then fry large dollops in a large, heavy bottomed skillet lightly coated with oil until crispy and brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes on the first side and a bit less on the second. Enjoy, you guessed it (!) with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Baked Acorn Squash
This is the simplest preparation for this kind of squash. It’s a tough one to peel raw because of its deep ridges so baking it, halved and cleaned out is the easiest way to go.
I sometimes like the classic butter and brown sugar or maple syrup version of this dish but often I like to make a quick salsa verde with parsley, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and drizzle that on the baked squash for a different flavor. And considering the mizuna in this week’s share I think a wonderful combination would be a peppery salad of mizuna served with the sweet, roasted squash.
You can also bake the halves for about 20 minutes and then fill them with a combination of grains and veggies and/or meet (sausage, bacon) and return to the oven to finish baking and heat through the filling and melt any cheese you might have topped it with!
1 Acorn Squash
Salt
Butter
Brown sugar
or:
Olive oil
Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the squash lengthwise in half. Scoop out the strings and seeds. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and either brush with olive oil or rub with a bit of softened butter. Put the cut sides down on a baking sheet and bake for about 30-50 minutes or until tender when pierced. If doing the sweet version, turn over the halves, add more butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and roast for a few more minutes.
Mizuna Salad
The combination of very thinly sliced sweet red peppers, apple and the peppery greens is delicious and beautiful.
1 large sweet red pepper, thoroughly washed and seeds and membranes removed
1 scallion or small piece of onion, very thinly sliced
4 cups of washed, roughly torn mizuna
1 apple, washed, cored and very thinly sliced
2 or more tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons rice or 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh goat cheese or feta (optional)
Toss everything but the cheese, if using, in a salad bowl. Taste, adjust seasoning. Crumble on the cheese if using and toss again gently.