Fall Events...Chilly Weather...and Comfort Food

I'm in the thick of preparations for next weekend.  I don't believe I've mentioned it yet, but on Friday, Oct. 1, I am preparing "A Soulful Meal with Anna Lappe" to kick off the weekend's Nourishing Community, Creating Sustainability event at the Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield.  Then Saturday afternoon, Oct. 2, I've been asked to set up a booth in the Homegrown Village at Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America, where I will focus on food preservation within a display of our urban homestead.  I'm very excited to share a booth with my friends from the Victory Garden Initiative!

"Combing the berries"

Aside from event preparations, I've finished planting the fall garden--lots of lettuce, mesclun, mustard greens, cilantro, spinach, and more beets.  Some of the mustards are already popping up.  I've also finished processing all the elderberries we picked last weekend.  I laid them out in the basement on Tues. so they could get a little air circulation before I had time to pick through them.  Then I used a wide-toothed comb (purchased just for this purpose) to pick the berries off the stems.  Not only does this expedite the process, but it keeps your hands from getting so stained from the juice (though lemon or lime juice is good for removal.)  Earlier this week I made three quarts of elderberry syrup, which we'll take daily as a supplement to chase away winter colds and flu.  Tonight I finished bottling the elderberry cordial--using random glass bottles I'd saved, I have 1 gallon (two empty growler jugs) and another liter (the empty brandy bottle after using it to make the liqueur).  These will all store well at room temperature in the basement and can, in fact, improve with age.  Good thing, b/c we'll be drinking it through the next decade there's so much (actually, I see this as a strong bartering tool for the future.)  I can already picture us sipping a little of this liqueur on a cold winter night, to celebrate the holidays, or as an ingredient in a new cocktail on which I'll have to start working.  

Bubbling and gurgling elderberries

This week was also about comfort food--maybe because the weather started getting quite chilly.  Last weekend's ham turned into this week's ham loaf.  I haven't always been a fan of ground ham.  In fact, even when I worked at Sanford and Sandy D'Amato's dad, Sam, would fix his famous ham salad and share with the whole staff, I just couldn't stomach it.  But I've turned a corner and now I quite enjoy this sweet-salty comfort food.  

Ham Loaf

Serves 8

Adapted from Like Grandma Used to Make

1 1/2 lbs. ground cooked ham (I chop it in the food processor)

1 lb. lean ground prok

3/4 c. crushed graham crackers (I like to use half breadcrumbs so it's not quite so sweet)

1/2 c. whole milk

1/4 c. shredded carrot (you can easily shred/chop both carrots and onion in the food processor)

1/4 c. finely chopped onion 

1/4 t. black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c. ketchup

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2 T. vinegar

1/2 t. onion powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, mix the ground ham, ground pork, crackers, milk, carrot, onion, pepper, eggs.  In a shallow baking pan, shape the meat mixture into a 9x5-inch loaf.  Smooth the top.  Bake for 1 hour.  Drain off any fat.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and onion powder.  Spoon half of the mixture over the meat loaf.  Bake for 15 to 30 min. more or until center registers at 170 degrees F on a meat thermometer.  Serve with remaining ketchup mixture.  

Green veggies for mac 'n cheese

I also made macaroni and cheese and snuck some extra veggies in there for Vera's sake.  I'm always feeling like she gets (and enjoys) more fruits than vegetables so sometimes I try disguising the veggies because anything green remains a challenge for her to eat.  This macaroni, even when reheated as leftovers, was nice and creamy.  

"Green" Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 12 (great as leftovers for the week)

Adapted from a recipe from Martha Stewart Living magazine.  I made it gluten-free and have made those notes at the end of the recipe.  Use the food processor to easily grate whole blocks of cheese.

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing dish

*6 slices bread, pulsed into crumbs in the food processor

1 small zucchini, ends trimmed

3-4 kale leaves, torn apart (middle vein left in)

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into quarters

5 1/2 c. whole milk

*1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 t. salt

1/4 t. freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/4 t. cayenne pepper, or to taste

4 1/2 c. (about 18 oz.) cheese--I recommend mixture of blue, cheddar, and muenster; grated

1 1/4 c. (about 5 oz.) freshly grated parmesan cheese
*1 lb. pasta (shells, elbow macaroni, penne, etc.), cooked 2-3 min. less than directions, drained and rinsed under cold water

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside.  Place bread crumbs in bowl, melt 2 T. butter and pour over bread crumbs, toss; set aside.  In the food processor, fitted with the blade attachment, pulse the vegetables until well chopped; set aside.  In medium saucepan over medium heat, warm milk.  Melt remaining 6 T. butter in small stock pot over medium heat.  When butter bubbles, add flour.  Cook, stirring, 30 sec. Add chopped vegetables and cook 1 min.  While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles and becomes thick.  Remove pan from heat.  Stir in salt, spices, 3 c. cheese mixture, and 1 c. parmesan cheese; set cheese sauce aside. Stir pasta into reserved cheese sauce.  Pour into prepared dish.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 c. cheese mixture, 1/4 c. parmesan, and bread crumbs over top.  Bake until browned on top, about 30 min.  Transfer dish to wire rack to cool 5 min.; serve.

*For gluten-free option:  
For bread crumbs, substitute dehydrated vegetables (pre-made mixtures are sold in natural food stores) and pulse until finely ground in a food processor.  For all-purpose flour, sub. some type of gluten-free flour (sorghum, garbanzo, brown rice, etc.)  For pasta, sub. gluten-free pasta.  I was very impressed with how it held up in the leftovers; there was no texture difference.

More Wild Foraging and Preserving

Wild Rose Hips

Vera and I went out this morning in search of more wild black raspberries.  The canes are mostly done bearing for the season; we came home with just a scant half cup.  In the process I found a trove of wild rose bushes that have finished blooming.  I collected just a handful of rose hips, but will likely go back soon.  When I told Ben about this find, he looked panicked.  On his (fortunately) short list of things I should never make again is Rose Hip Pie.  As an intern in East Troy in 2003, my host family gave me a bag of hand-picked, dried rose hips; I couldn't wait to use them.  I found a recipe for this unique dessert and got to work, but had no idea that rose hips had so many seeds.  We'd waited all evening to enjoy this sweet, but the first bite nearly ruined the night; it was completely inedible.  Straight into the garbage and onto the do-not-make list it went.  I used the rest of those rose hips for a winter tea because they have 200% of one's daily needs for Vitamin C; I'll likely do the same with this batch.

Queen Anne's Lace flowers

The rest of our foraging walk was pleasant--what a gorgeous Sunday by the lake!  'Tis the season for mullein, wild bergamot, jewelweed, and Queen Anne's Lace, which I've always wanted to use for jelly.  This wildflower, along with purple chicory, always reminds me of my childhood.  My mom gave me a recipe for these preserves years ago--long before I had any interest in wild foods--but it took me until today to make them.  QAL is a member of the umbelliferae family (think umbrella shaped flowers) along with carrots, parsnips, cilantro, dill, and the like so the steeped "tea" had a slight carrot-y undertone and was a yellowish color like most herbal tea.  Once I added the pectin, it turned more pinkish, a hue I found delicately attractive in the final product.


Queen Anne's Lace Jelly 
Makes 6 8-oz. jars

The original recipe says you can add pink coloring if desired, but I found that Pomona Universal Pectin naturally gave it that color.  Making herbal jellies is much simpler than fruit jellies because there's no jelly bag for straining.  You basically just pour the juice through a sieve.  

An antiquated pink Queen Anne's Lace jelly

18 large Queen Anne's Lace heads
4 c. water
1/4 c. bottled lemon juice
1 pkg. powdered pectin
3 1/2 c. + 2 T. granulated sugar (can sub. xylitol)


Bring water to boil.  Remove from heat.  Add flower heads (push them down into the water.)  Cover and steep 30 min.  Strain.  Put liquid into a 4-6 qt. pan.  Add lemon juice and pectin, stirring immediately.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Cook and stir until mixture comes to a rolling boil.  Boil one minute longer, then remove from heat.  Skim. Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles and wipe rim of jar.  Put treated lids in place and secure to finger-tightness.  Process in hot water bath for 5 min.  Let cool at room temp., label, date, and store in a cool, dark place.

Black currants

Summer Squash Pickles

This past week also found me preserving summer squash pickles in a curry ginger brine and black currant juice concentrate to dilute as juice this winter.  One of my major preserving goals this year is making more juice, something on which we tend to spend a lot at the co-op.  I bought the black currants from my friends Sandy and David at Pinehold Gardens and made a gorgeous deep dark syrupy juice.  Making homemade juice is nothing more than cooking the fruit in a little bit of water to prevent burning then extracting the juice like you would to make jelly.  You add your sweetener, fill jars, and process.

Filling the jars with juice

Jars of black currant juice concentrate

Veggies for Lottie's Birthday Box

I pulled the first carrots from our garden this weekend to add to a gift box we made for Vera's little girlfriend Lottie's first birthday party.  We knew she didn't need any new toys so I thought a box of fresh garden vegetables would be fun for the whole family.  Also took more garden photos this weekend.  It's a jungle out there!

Melon Trellis--it makes a beautiful garden arch

A baby watermelon

Trellis w/ Rattlesnake Beans (to be dried)

Ants of a Luffa Squash flower

  

Baby Eggplant

Pineapple Sage and Thyme