Autumn Chili - A Salute to the Autumn New England Harvest

Looking into my refrigerator last week, I was faced with beautiful, seasonal, fresh and seemingly unrelated items from our local Heirloom Harvest farm share. I met the meal challenge with a chili that far exceeded my expectations! This dish is sweet, savory, and spicy. This convenient crock pot meal is guaranteed to warm you on a brisk autumn day while getting you out of a flavor rut. Vegan, gluten free, nut free and soy free, this was approved by my 5-year old picky eater, my easily-pleased 16-month old and my foodie and former sous chef husband. The entire crock pot of chili was gone in less than 24 hours!

The rest of this blog and recipe is up over at MassMoms. Top with Cashew Cream (recipe posted on my blog as well.) Enjoy and let me know what you think! I'm on my second batch. Blessings!

Raw Carrot Curry Kraut

Inspired by a recipe from Conscious Eating, by Gabriel Cousens.

1 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 small head green cabbage, shredded
1 medium head green cabbage, juiced
3 cups carrot, shredded
3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
2 Tbsp Curry powder

Try to use organic produce if possible. Always rinse thoroughly. reserve the large cabbage leaves. red the green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots. Mix in curry powder and garlic. Press mixture down into the bottom of a large glass mason jar or pickling jar until juices begin to release.

Juice 1 medium green cabbage on coarse setting. Collect all juice and pour into the jar with the vegetable mixture. Discard the fibrous pulp. The mixture should be completely covered with the juice, with about 1/8" of liquid on top.

Cover the mixture with the cabbage leaves. Cover the cabbage leaves with plastic wrap and then place a large bowl on top the plastic wrap in order to keep the mixture submerged. Cover with glass cover. Place the jar in a room temperature area and cover with a towel. Allow to ferment between 4 and 7 days. The warmer ambient temperature is, the more rapidly the fermentation will occur.

Once complete, you can scoop the Curry Kraut into glass jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. The Curry Kraut will continue to ferment, albeit slowly, so the flavor will continue to mature over time.

Discard if there is any visible microbial growth, any off odor, or if the Curry Kraut fizzes or gives off a lot of gas upon opening the lid of the storage jar.

CSA share week 10/4 - Season is ending with a punctuation of squash and greens.

Sad the season is ending. However it will be nice to step away from food processing and preservation for a while and focus on my newest interest - vegan and raw food preparation - inspired by this season's fresh and delicious harvest! The lack of recent blogs is indicative of the massive amounts of food gleaned the last few weeks from the farm share and other local picking excursions.

This week:

• 2 pie pumpkins
• 4 lbs eggplant
• 1 lb carrots
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 bunch collard greens
• 1 LARGE bunch kale
• Unlimited peppers
• Take some tomatillos
• Unlimited PYO raspberries
• Unlimited PYO husk cherries

We also picked up our apple share and purchased 1 lb of hen-of-the-woods foraged mushrooms from a gentleman selling them at the barn.

More processing. On the agenda is baba ghanoush, salsa, vegetable soup, pumpkin bread and roasted seeds, veggie korma.

CSA share weeks 9/6 -The Harvest Doesn't Wait and Raspberry Repulsion

Last week two events coincided to reinforce that nature waits for no man or woman. We received a wondrous bounty in our farm share and I became ill that night. I rarely get headaches. Unfortunately I developed a sinus headache Tuesday night that lasted until Sunday. This severely impacted my ability to process our share. To further complicate matters, prior to taking ill I purchased 20 pounds of "seconds tomatoes" from a local farm that also required processing. I really had to pull myself together to get any food processed and called upon my husband to help out more than usual. The major casualty were about five pounds of pickling cucumbers, about two heads of lettuce, and a few quarts of cherry tomatoes. All in all, I can live with that.

Unlimited Raspberries. It was like hitting an organic lottery. Given the abundance of ripe berries and limited number of pickers due to the rain falling, Farmer John declared "unlimited pick-your-own raspberries" for all while we were in the field. My son gorged on them while I picked as fast as I could. My daughter, however, was not into berry picking. Not one bit. She screamed almost the whole time. Putting a damper on the already wet experience, we gave up once we had about 1 quart picked. I had to put them into a plastic bag as I had forgotten to bring a box with me. The berries, crushing under their own weight, were destined to be preserves.

The following night I took the bag out of the refrigerator to make my first batch of raspberry preserves and to my dismay saw several little worms on the berries. Yuck. I didn't worry, however, and threw those berries away. I picked through the remaining berries, poured out the juice that had collected in the bottom of the bag, and set about making my preserves. I elected to go with a freezer method rather than the more time consuming cooked version. Shorter shelf-life but just as tasty. I carefully poured the preserves into the freezer jars. Admiring my work, to my horror I noticed something white and moving in the jar. Insect larvae. In my preserves. Not just one. Many. Almost as many as there were seeds. Resisting the gag reflex, I dumped out all the preserves in the trash. Oh, how sad. I don't know if there was contamination on the bag I used to collect the berries or if the berries were hosting eggs that hatched upon harvest. What I do know is that in the future I will always make my preserves the same day I pick the berries. I will always use a relatively sterile berry box to collect the berries. And I will choose the boil method of making the preserves. It may be a while before can enjoy raspberries again.

Share on week of 9/6:

• 2 eggplant
• 1 Asian eggplant
• 1 head cabbage
• 11 pounds heirloom tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 8 sweet "ethnic" peppers
• 2 white peppers
• 4 green/yellow peppers
• hot peppers
• 12 stems kale
• unlimited bush beans
• unlimited raspberries
• 1 pint husk cherries
• unlimited basil'
• 2 quarts cherry tomatoes
• flowers

We canned  all the tomatoes. The yield was 10 quarts of diced tomatoes. We also made tomatillo salsa, roasted all the ethnic peppers and enjoyed kabobs with the Asian eggplant and the bell peppers.

CSA share week 8/27 - Bountiful - Post Hurricane Harvest Spared and a Busy Week of Cooking Ahead!

With Hurricane Irene passing over the region last weekend there was a great deal of concern about crop failure at our CSA farm. Thank goodness most of the crops were spared. We enjoyed the beautiful weather while picking beans, hush cherries, cherry tomatoes, and raspberries. It seemed hard to believe that only a few days ago we were having torrential rainfall and 70 mph wind gusts. The crickets and birds were chattering away and my son was running through the tall grass trying to catch a glimpse of the chorus. I wish I'd had my camera with me to capture my daughter sitting in the husk cherries carefully harvesting her own shack with a big juicy grin. Some moments truly are priceless.

Today's share was huge and there were "leftovers" from the pick up held in the pre-hurricane rains!

• 1 cantaloupe
• 1 black eggplant
• 1 summer squash
• 4 lbs heirloom tomatoes
• 2.5 lbs modern tomatoes
• 1/2 lb tomatillos
• 1 cucumber
• 2 yellow peppers
• 4 green peppers
• 6 ethnic sweet peppers
• hot peppers
• okra
• 3.5 lbs Macintosh apples (fruit share was purchased separately)
• 2 quarts cherry tomatoes
• 2 quarts yellow beans
• 1 pint husk (aka ground) cherries
• 1/2 pint raspberries

Last week I made hush cherry preserves. I followed a recipe for gooseberry preserves, to which they are often compared. It is pretty tasty!  I think I may do the same this week, along with some pepper jelly and some roasted peppers.

I also made four loaves of gluten free vegan zucchini chocolate chip bread. This is the BEST recipe for gluten free and vegan bread I have ever made. There is something magical about the combination of coconut oil and applesauce as a replacement for eggs in baking. It acts as a binder as well imparting moisture that withstands the freezing process. I simply replaced the banana with shredded zucchini and it worked beautifully. This has been a hit with the entire family. I still have some zucchini left, so I'll be making more bread tomorrow.

I'm planning on making more roasted tomatillo salsa and a huge batch of marinara for canning. (I purchased 20 pounds of "seconds" tomatoes from the local farm stand. They are not organic but I do know that the family practices integrated pest management. I feel confident in adding them to the mix and supporting a very local farm. Their beautiful farm is less than three miles from my home!) I volunteered my husband to make another big batch of eggplant "Farmer John" with the two eggplants we now have. Last but not least, a batch of applesauce with the apples! A busy week of cooking ahead. Busy, but delicious and well-worth the effort.

Vegan and Gluten Free Southern-Style Fried Okra

I arrived home last week with about a pound of fresh organic okra and one idea on my mind: fried okra. My Grandma Mina made some amazing Southern food. One time I was blessed with her deep fried okra. I still dream about it. Since she has passed and I'm sure that her version was not vegan or gluten free, I set about seeking guidance on the matter.

I referenced this recipe for fried okra and read through the comments, many of which were very helpful.

The recipe calls for the use of eggs in order to bind the corn meal coating. Knowing the properties of okra, namely that it generates a slime when left to sit for a few minutes after cutting, I decided to rely on this to bind the coating. Additionally, it is well known that the secret to fried chicken is the soaking of it in buttermilk. I improvised by soaking the okra in coconut kefir for about 15 minutes. (NOTE: You can purchase coconut kefir at Whole Foods and many health food stores. You can also make your own using a kefir starter or milk kefir crystals. I've linked to the two with which I have experienced success.)

I chose to go half and half gluten free all-purpose flour and corn meal to reduce the grittiness of the coating.

I ended up not deep frying them. I tried one batch in coconut oil and one in grapeseed oil. The coconut oil imparted a rich flavor, but it was difficult to fry as it has a lower smoking point. I ended up with a lot of smoke! The grapeseed oil was better fro frying but didn't have as rich flavor.

These were delicious! I saved the leftovers and put it under the broiler the next morning and it reheated wonderfully. It was a tasty compliment to our breakfast tacos.

Enjoy! Let me know what you do with the recipe!

CSA share 8/23 - Holy Tomatoes!

Last week the share expanded and it did again this week.

• 1 black beauty eggplant
• 2 zucchini
• 5 lbs Heirloom tomatoes
• 5.5 lbs Modern tomatoes
• 1 Napa cabbage
• 1 lb tomatillos
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 green peppers
• 1 white pepper
• 3 sweet ethnic peppers
• 1 large bunch basil
• salad greens
• okra
• 2 quarts cherry tomatoes
• 1 pint ground cherries
• 1/2 pint raspberries

So far - 1.5 gallons salsa, fries okra, and luscious sliced tomatoes with olive oil, pepper, and salt.  Mmmmmmm.......... Coming up is more marinara sauce, zucchini bread, leafy salads, and more salsa! I have now established success with my pressure canner so let the fun begin!

New to Tomatillos? Easy Roasted Salsa!

At the CSA farm share pick up yesterday there was a bin of tomatillos "for the taking." I was intrigued. They were a beautiful shade of green. I'd seen them in the grocery store on occasion but had never prepared them myself. I took one pound home with me and set out to find an easy recipe for tomatillo preparation initiation.

I found one called Tomatillo Salsa Verde. I thought this one would be a good one to try as I have delighted in this style of salsa in the past, so I'd know by taste if I was off the mark. This recipe was simple, easy to prepare, and delicious. The key was roasting the tomatillos first, getting the skins to be brown. The carmelization imparted a mellow tone to the salsa, which I have experienced at times as being too acidic. A tasty experiment I look forward to duplicating. I thought I'd have some of this salsa to freeze, but given it's popularity in our family at lunchtime, we will be lucky to have any left tomorrow!

Enjoy!

CSA share week 8/9/11 - The Motherload and recovering from last week

Last week, coming off of four days with my husband away while in the midst of my son's week-long creative arts day camp, I was ill prepared to take on food preparation. A rookie mistake. I will remember next year that once August has arrived, all focus and time must be made available for two or three days of food processing.

Nonetheless, once my husband arrived home he was a wonderful help to get things taken care of. We got 12 servings of lentil curry (using the summer squash, zucchini, Asian eggplant) and no less than 20 servings of eggplant "Farmer John" (breaded eggplant without the Parmesan cheese and named in honor of our CSA's intrepid agrarian) prepped and into the freezer. We also experimented with making zucchini-sweet potato fritters. A yummy success made yummier with maple syrup in which to dip them.

This week, the tomatoes have arrived. I don't know if this is the peak. Judging by the number of green cherry tomatoes still on the plants, I think the peak will be next week or the week afterward. I did make the season's first batch of gazpacho. A bit too spicy to eat with ease for me. But tasty and enjoyable with a large glass on limeade on hand.

This week's share includes the following:

• 1 large black eggplant
• 4 summer squash
• 1 zucchini
• 1.5 lbs heirloom tomatoes
• 2.5 lbs "modern" tomatoes
• 1/2 lb arugula
• 1/2 lb mixed salad greens
• 1 Asian eggplant
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 cucumber
• 1 bunch basil
• 2 heads lettuce
• tomatillos
• PYO 1 quart cherry tomatoes
• PYO unlimited flowers

The food processing plan for this week includes baba ghanooj, tomatillo salsa, banana zucchini bread with chocolate chips, masaman curry, and lots of green smoothies. We plan to enjoy this week's arugula wilted as a bed for this week's fish share catch-of-the-day fillets and short grain brown rice. Bon appetit!

Are You Eating Peanut Butter or Imitation Peanut Butter Spread?

Just in case you were wondering... side-by-side comparison of Skippy (or as I call it imitation peanut butter spread) and Peanut Butter (in this case, the Organic Creamy Peanut Butter from Trader Joe's.)

SKIPPY
190 calories (140 calories from fat), 16 grams fat, 150 milligrams sodium, 7grams carbohydrate, 7 grams protein.
Ingredients: Rosted Peanuts, Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Cottonseed, Soybean, and Rapeseed), Salt.

PEANUT BUTTER
200 calories (140 calories from fat), 15 grams fat, 45 mg sodium, 7 grams carbohydrate, 9 grams protein.
Ingredients: Organic Peanuts, Salt.

Let's just say all calories aren't created equal. Neither are peanut butters. But you already knew that.

The global organic food and beverages market is expected to grow from $57.2 billion in 2010 to $104.5 billion in 2015 at an estimated CAGR of 12.8%.

Worlwide sales of orgnaic foods and beverages - from all categories - will increase in next 5 years.

Demand for organic food and beverages is increasing in conventional food supply stores because of development of private labels and increasing interest of large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Safeway to sell organic products. The organic food and beverages market is also expected to benefit from subsidies, financial aids, and R&D programs conducted by different government and non-government organizations such as FiBL (Switzerland), APEDA (India) and USDA (U.S.) to support conventional farmers to switch to organic farming.

Two things caught my eye. First, the verification that the orgnaic food movement is more than just a flashy trend. It is an economic vote on a global scale that is changing the way farmers produce food and how governments promote agricultural production worlwide.

The second thing that caught my eye was the assumption at the end of the paragraph - that the USDA would continue programs to support conventional farmers converting to organic. In light of recent proposed budget cuts in the 2011 federal budget to programs in the USDA that support organic farming as well as the recent deregulation of several GMO crops, will these predictions materialize? Will our US farmers be able to keep pace with the growing global demand, especially those in Europe and Asia, for organically produced food? At a time when Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack claims to be putting the foot on the gas to grow and promote our agricultural products in the global market place (see remarks made at the Agricultural Outlook Forum 2011) are the USDA's own policies placing an obstacle in the threshold?

We are going to continue to strike down barriers, continue to work hard in international forums to make sure that we support a science-based effort. So we're not going to take the foot off the gas in terms of trade and exports. We're going to focus on making sure that there's a greater acceptance and appreciation of some of the science that will allow not just American farmers to be more productive but the world's farmers to be more productive. There has to be an embracing in all parts of the globe of the opportunities that science presents to increase productivity worldwide.  - Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack

In the recent decision in favor of deregulating GMO alfalpha, for example, Vilsack weighed in against scientific evidence demonstrating inevitable cross-contamination of GMO alfalpha with non-GMO, putting at risk one of the key crops for all of organic animal and dairy production in the US. Or is this a red flag that sustainable and organic food production is not seen as "science-based", a signal to large agribusiness that we will be moving increasingly down the road of genetic modification and chemical treatment of our food system in the name of feeding the world?

For full report on economic trends go to MarketsandMarkets: Global Organic Food And Beverages Market Worth $ 104.50 Billion By 2015