The local Farmer’s Markets are closed for a few months, but we can still use food from the markets and local farms that we preserved for our winter meals. Did you freeze local berries? Do you have apples, pears, cabbages, squashes, onions, garlic or potatoes in cold storage? Here are some great recipes using these foods. You will recognize some of them from our Holiday Recipes posts in November and December.
Fruity Crepes – a beautiful breakfast to start the day.
Mix 1 teaspoon flour to 1 egg (locally grown flour can be found at Finn River Grainery)
Pour some of the mixture into a heated, oiled or buttered skillet and let it spread out into a circle. Just takes a couple of minutes and you can flip the crepe using a large spatula. *The 2nd side will cook even faster.
Place the cooked crepe on a plate and fill with local berries or jam that you preserved during the summer mixed with a touch of honey. Roll up and eat! Optional – top with some fresh whipped cream.
Spicy Pear Chutney
The Chutney:
Slice white or yellow onions into very thin slivers (amount depends on how much chutney you want to make). Cook onion slices in butter or oil until soft.
Add chunks of peeled local pears to the onions, some salt, cinnamon, and some honey (according to how sweet you want it to be).
Let cook over low heat until it begins to thicken – mashing the chunks of pear as you go and stirring often to keep it from burning.
Use immediately or keep covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Rutabaga and Pear Mash – Serves 2 or 3
1 medium-sized rutabaga (peeled and cut into small chunks. An equal amount of ripe pear (peeled and sliced into small chunks.
Boil the rutabaga until very soft. Drain, add some butter and mash (make it as smooth or chunky as you want). Add chucks of ripe, peeled pear, a bit of brown sugar, and a bit of cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and serve as a side dish for your meal.
Waldorf Salad (Serves 2)
Cut 2 sweet apples into chunks. Sprinkle with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Mix with 1 cup seedless grapes (halved) or 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery, small handful or slightly toasted walnuts. Mix with mayonnaise and serve over a bed of lettuce.Goat Cheese on Crackers Topped With a Sweet Jam
Use any type of crackers for this recipe. I like Akmaks because their flavor doesn’t distract from the toppings. You can also mix cream cheese with the goat cheese to make a milder spread (but cream cheese isn’t local – well, we do the best we can). Then choose a nice sweet jam such as strawberry to spread on top of the cheese.
Butternut or Delicata Apple Soup
Cut open your squash (either Butternut or Delicata) with a good knife and remove the seeds inside with a strong spoon. Cut squash into smaller pieces and prick the squash in several places, Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and bake the squash in a 350 degree oven until soft – around 30 to 45 minutes. Cool the squash.
Now, peel the squash away from the skin. Cut the squash into small chunks. Peel a few sweet-tasting apples (about 1/2 the amount of squash used) and cut into chunks. Boil the two until very soft. When soft, mash the squash and apples, add some sweetener and any herbs or spices you like (a bit a cinnamon is nice). To thin this mixture, add some broth (your choice). Heat everything through until warm and ready to serve.
Honey Poached Pears
Peel 6 ripe pears, leaving the stems attached, Place the pears in a deep casserole dish standing up Honey Syrup – 3 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, and the juice of 1 lemon. Bake at 350 degrees, basting with honey syrup – until pears are soft.
Potatoe/Onion Gratin
1/2 pounds russet or similar potatoes, sliced medium thin. Parboil the potatoes until almost done.
1 large Wala Wala or other sweet onioin, sliced into thin stips and cooked in butter until soft. Add salt and herbs of your choosing to the onions (dried thyme or marjoram or a mix of your own Herbes de Provence. 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. 1 Cup grated white cheese (Swiss or White Cheddar).Plus a little Parmesean cheese.
Layer the potatoes, the onions and the cheese in an oiled casserole dish.
Pour 2/3 cup cream or Half and Half over everything. (I often replace the dairy with Coconut Cream ( thicker than coconut milk and not as sweet, so I add some sweetener to the cream). Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the top.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees until cream thickens and the potatoes are nicely browned.
Apple Crisp
Do you sliced apples in your freezer or fresh apples in your cold storage? A nice Apple Crisp is so quick and easy to make.
Put 4 cups of your fresh or thawed apples in a medium bowl. Squeeze some lemon juice over them to keep them from turning brown – or, if they are already somewhat brown from storage, just use them as they are. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it) and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to the apples and let sit while you make a crumb topping.
Topping: Mix 2 cups flour with 5 tablespoons melted butter, some brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon – 1/4 teaspoon. Mix it all together and cover your apples with it. Use a small baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees until apples are soft and topping is browned. Yum!
Adding Cabbage to Homemade Soup
I love to add thin strips of cabbage to my homemade soups. Cabbage is considered a super food, so might as well add it to the mix. Works well with any other ingredients. Cabbage does have a strong flavor so don’t add too much.
