15. July 2010 by admin.

Here’s two new CSA-inspired blogs from members of the House in the Woods CSA community!

http://csagourmet.blogspot.com/

Check out CSA Gourmet blog, the creation of House in the Woods CSA member, Elizabeth DeRose! Its a great new resource for local, seasonal, fresh from the CSA share recipes and ideas. And she’ll answer all your cooking questions, so comment on her blog and ask away.

A Simple Thought

And another CSA-inspired blog, A Simple Thought, by our summer intern, Lisa Curcuruto. Check it out, ask her questions about her experiences on the farm, and enjoy the good read. I really want to try out her kale recipe. And I like that new members can relate to her entries, because this summer is a first-time farm experience for Lisa.

Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »

21. February 2010 by ilene.

Sunday pancakes are a special treat at our house. Join us for this morning’s virtual pancakes. It might take a little longer than most households’ pancake breakfast, but we enjoy it. It starts with grinding two grains–rice and buckwheat. These are gluten-free pancakes, so we start with brown rice and grind it into a nice fresh brown rice flour. I first became interested in grinding my own grain for two reasons. One was inspirational–I read in Michael Abelman’s book Fields of Plenty: A Farmer’s Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It which includes a farmer who grows her own grain, works her land with draft horses, and made Michael fresh multi-grain pancakes by going into her pantry and grabbing handfuls of grains to start. In America, we have forgotten the art of fresh flour. Every town used to have a grain mill, and every household used fresh flour. Flour in its original form goes rancid quickly. But at some point with stripping the grain of its fiber to make white flours, it was possible to store grain longer and mass produce flour. Now we have forgotten how wonderful fresh flour is, and how varied the grain possibilities are. So, my second reason for grinding my own grain is that I was buying rice flour often, and storing it in the frig or freezer. It is more convenient to buy a grinder and a 25 pound bag of brown rice. But wow, I discovered what a treat fresh flour sure is! Most evident in these lofty wonderful pancakes.

Here is Jonah grinding the grain with the handcrank:

He’s cracking the rice grains. It could be set to a finer setting, but for a five year old on a handcrank, cracking the grain is work enough.

When he is done with his hard work, and his brother gets his turn, then I hook up the motor base, set it on fine, and it grinds in a flurry (fury? flurry is more appropriate here).

I grind buckwheat groats too, and mix that into my recipe. Today we are using the last bag of frozen blueberries picked and frozen last June.

And here is the best part…enjoying!

Here is my recipe. The source is Bette Hagman’s book The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy: Wheat-Free and Gluten-Free with Less Fuss and Less Fat . But note that I have made several changes to the grains of this recipe, and I’ll note those as changes.

Gluten-free Pancake Mix (I’ve made it into Buckwheat Pancakes)

2 cups of Gluten-Free Flour Mix*

2 cups of Buckwheat Flour (my addition, the original recipe uses 4 cups of GF Flour Mix)

(1 cup buttermilk powder, but I skip this and add a dairy liquid to the batch)

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder (did you know you can make your own?? another post coming soon!)

2 tsp baking soda

—————

Beat together 2 eggs, 1 cup water (or milk), 2 tblspoons oil. Add 1 1/3 cups mix. Beat until smooth.

* Gluten-Free Flour Mix:

6 cups rice flour (I grind my own from brown rice, so its brown rice flour)

2 cups potato starch flour

1 cup tapioca flour

These starches are available at natural food stores. This makes a big batch of flour mix. You can cut this in half and I believe it will be enough for a double batch of pancake mix.

Posted in Family, Recipes | 1 Comment »

25. July 2009 by ilene.

Here’s something easy for the new summer crops coming in, I had it for dinner tonight–

Summer Saute Pasta Topping

Sautee onions and garlic until soft
Add sliced eggplant (I used the small rounds of sliced Japanese Eggplant)
Add basil, fresh herbs, chopped fresh tomato. Maybe a dollop of fresh pesto. Or add the pesto to the pasta later.
Cook until soft
Add blanched, chopped greens or zucchini too. Or chopped fresh green beans. I like to keep these veggies especially  zucchini a little crunchy, so I don’t cook that very long.

Add this on top of pasta, with shredded romano or parmesan cheese. A little chevre goat cheese would be wonderful too. More chopped tomatoes.

My family added sausage to this meal, but its enough as is for me. Steak, grilled chicken, any meat would be a good side dish for it. Try to put more veggie saute and less pasta, if you want.

I will have this for dinner so many times this summer, I might get tired of it. We shall see if that is possible!

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22. July 2009 by ilene.

It was the last week our CSA members are receiving turnips for this season, but I had forgotten to include a recipe by CSA member, Tracy. So if you still have some in your frig, here’s something to do with them (even if they are getting a little soft in the frig, because, face it, turnips are not likely the first vegetable we gobble up). Maybe you will this way though–

Turnip Browns recipe:

1. Cut it into small pieces and place in cold water and bring to the boil (just like boiling potatoes). When tender (stabs easily with fork), remove from heat and drain well.

2. Meanwhile, chop finely 2 cloves garlic. Combine with 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, pinch of dried chili flakes, and 1/5 teaspoon ground ginger (or freshly grated) (or just salt and pepper; or, cumin and dried chili flakes).

3. After turnips are cooked, heat non-stick skillet on medium-high. Add oil-garlic mixture and a pat of butter to hot pan. Cook until garlic aroma begins. Add turnips and cook until browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spices can be adjusted to fit you preferences. These are good for breakfast, lunch (leftovers), and dinner.

We’ll see you later today,

Tracey

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

26. June 2009 by ilene.

CSA members received purple top turnips today in their CSA share. I'll get you a photo soon.

Here is a popular recipe that a dear CSA member named Mareena contributed years ago, and its

still a favorite. Mareena moved south but the turnip fritters recipe continues to stay close

to the farm. By popular demand:

Turnip Fritters

2-1/2 cups shredded turnip (peel it first)

1 onion, chopped finely (the recipe called for scallions which I didn't

have)

2 c. flour

1 c. chicken broth (I also didnt' have this so I used water)

1 t. salt

Mix it all up.  Drop by tablespoonful into hot oil--we have a FryDaddy, but

if you did it in a wok the recipe calls for about a cup of oil--and cook

until golden brown.

Dipping sauce--3 T. light soy sauce and 3 T. sweet wine vinegar or cider

vinegar.

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