Leftovers Bibimbap

This year, my solution for using up Easter eggs was bibimbap. This dish also served the purpose of using up leftover Easter ham, leftover roasted asparagus, and leftover collard greens, and made a dent in my latest batch of kimchi.

I took inspiration from the bibimbap sauce here and the miso lentils here. Once we got over the pain of peeling favorite eggs, this meal was a hit with enough different toppings to please everyone, including sesame carrots for bunnies.

Bibimbap from Easter leftovers

bibimbap sauce
1/2 cup gochujang
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Mix together all of the ingredients and thin with 1-2 tsp water if it seems too thick.

eggs
hard boiled if you have ones to use up, or cooked for 6 minutes in boiling water.

ham
1 cup diced ham, sautéd in a hot skillet in 1 Tbsp canola oil and 1/2 tsp soy sauce until brown on edges. Add 1 tsp miring, cook down, and remove from heat.

cooked greens
1 bunch greens blanched and quickly sautéed in a little sesame oil, or use pot roasted collards, sauté with a chopped onion in olive oil and then roasted in a closed Dutch oven for one hour at 325 degrees.

roasted broccoli or asparagus
1 small broccoli head cut into spears, tossed with oil and salt, and roasted on a preheated baking sheet at 475 degrees for about 12 minutes. Alternatively roast trimmed asparagus similarly but for about 7 minutes.

sesame carrots
1 carrot julienned and sautéed in a hot skillet in 1 Tbsp canola oil with 1/2 tsp sugar until soften. Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp mirin, cook down, remove from heat and toss with 1 tsp sesame seeds.

miso lentils
3/4 cup puy lentils cooked in boiling water until soft (~18 minutes) and drained. Transfer to a bowl and mix in 2 tsp miso paste, 1 tsp sesame oil, a small pinch of sugar and black pepper.

toasted sesame rice
Coat the bottom of a large skillet with 1 Tbsp sesame oil and heat over medium low. Add 4 cups of cooked rice (I like to use a mixture of brown and white rice) and pack down. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the bottom has developed a toasted crust (peek with a spatula).   

kimchi and sesame seeds to garnish

To serve, scoop out a serving of toasted rice, layer on all desired toppings, and drizzle with bibimbap sauce.

Rice Hot Pot

We've been eating a lot of rice hot pots lately, which are perfect for a drizzly midweek meal. Dolsot bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes to order in Korean restaurants, and I always feel so grateful to the chefs who prepare the selection of delectable toppings that are arranged so beautifully in the sizzling bowl of rice. Then I started playing around with heating up rice on the stovetop in stone bowls we'd bought for soup, and I realized that a rice hot pot can be infinitely flexible and an ingenious way to make the most of midweek leftovers and the bounty of our weekly Good Food Easy CSA share. 

The strategy is to cook up a big pot of brown rice or other grain over the weekend, or if you are really planning ahead, freeze meal-sized portions. Then search your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and assemble a selection of topping ingredients loosely around the five elements below (realizing of course, that every formula was meant to be broken, and many ingredients fit into more than one category). The bowl above, for example, contained Sweetwater Farm kale, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, and leftover Fair Valley Farm ham, with a side of kimchi. This is a short order chef type of meal with multiple burners going, but it can come together quickly. First rub a little sesame oil in individual stone bowls or a cast iron skillet, pack down a cup of rice for each serving, and start warming the bowls or skillet over low heat. Then prepare your toppings and pile them into the bowls or skillet as you go, ending with an egg on top.  

Some greens: quickly blanched, steamed, or sautéed, then tossed with a splash of sesame oil, and perhaps some sesame seeds.

Some protein: leftover ham, steak, chicken, quickly sautéed and finished with a splash of soy sauce and rice wine; baked or caramelized tofu; edamame beans; fried or poached egg.

Something umami: mushrooms, such as rehydrated shiitakes, quickly sautéed with a splash of soy.

Fresh and crunchy vegetables: shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, sliced radish.

Pickled vegetables: homemade kimchi, pickled chard stems, fermented green beans, refrigerator pickles. 

Rice Hot Pots

serves four

4 cups cooked brown rice
sesame oil
1 bunch kale (or chard or spinach)
1 cup cubed ham (or other meat or tofu or edamame beans)
canola oil
8 large dried shiitake mushrooms
1-2 carrots shredded (or 1 cucumber cut lengthwise into quarters and thinly sliced)
4 eggs
for garnish: kimchi, pickled vegetables, dried seaweed, sesame seeds, gochujang or sriracha sauce 

1. For 4 cups of cooked rice, use 2 cup dried rice. Rinse in a small mesh sieve, then place in a pot with 3 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered for about 30 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. You can cook this ahead of time.

2. Boil 1/2 cup water and pour over the dried shiitake mushrooms to rehydrate them.

3. I prepare a meal for four in two individual stone bowls (for the adults) and a cast iron skillet of toasted rice for the kids, who prefer their toppings separate, which leaves one burner for preparing the toppings. Rub about 1 tsp of sesame oil into each stone bowl or 2 tsp into the cast iron skillet. Start to warm the bowls and skillet over medium low flames. Pack one cup of rice per person into each bowl (two in the skillet). Keep them warming over low heat for about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the toppings, and a delicious toasted rice coating will form on the bottom. You should hear the rice sizzling and should smell it toasting. If you are nervous that it is burning, use a spatula to pry underneath and take a peak, and you can always turn it off, but not before you have a good layer of toasted rice.

4. Rinse and chop your greens. You could blanch them quickly in boiling water, steam them in the microwave with a splash of water, or quickly sauté them in another skillet. When they are tender, but not wilted, toss them with a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and layer them into one quadrant of the rice bowls or two opposite quadrants of the skillet. 

5. Cube the meat or tofu. In your working skillet, sauté the cubes over medium high heat in a little canola oil , and when they are hot, add 1 tsp each of soy sauce and rice wine. Cook until these evaporate and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

6. Slice the rehydrated mushroom. In your working skillet, sauté the mushroom slices over medium high heat, allowing the moisture to cook off, add 1 tsp soy sauce, cook down, and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

7. Turn the heat under your working skillet to low and crack in four eggs. While these are frying, prepare the crunchy fresh vegetable toppings and gather your pickled toppings. When the egg are cooked to the desired stage, transfer them to the top of each hot pot or skillet half and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

8. Carefully transfer the hot pots or skillet onto coasters on the table. Have people add desired crunchy fresh and pickled toppings and hot sauce. Enjoy.

Arikara Beans with Greens, Egg, and Ham

I realize that there's been a steady egg theme here recently, but I wanted to share this delicious amalgam of greens and beans with eggs I made recently with the-all important ingredient of a ham hock from Fair Valley Farm. Dr. Seuss was on to something pairing green eggs and ham. And although this dish may seem as elaborate as a fox in a box in a car in a tree, it actually came together in several easy steps. One afternoon I simmered the beans and ham hock in a slow cooker. That evening I let the kids shuck the tomatillos, which I halved and seared to make Rick Bayless' pan-roasted tomatillo salasa. The next day, I shredded the ham into the bean pot, sauteed greens in a big pan and then warmed the beans with the greens (reserving some for green-averse children). Then it was just a matter of heating the griddle for toasting tortillas with a sprinkle of cheese and a fried egg on top. Say, I like these huevos verdes y jamón. 

Arikara Beans with Greens, Egg, and Ham

Beans
2 cups Arikara beans (heirloom variety from Lonesome Whistle), or substitute navy beans
1 ham hock
~5 cups water

Pick over the beans to remove any pebbles. Rinse, and if you have time, soak for several hours to overnight. Drain, and combine the beans, ham hock, and water in a slow cooker or a large pot. Cook on high in the slow cooker for about 4 hours or on a low simmer on the stovetop for about 3 hours until the beans are soft. Remove the ham hock, shred the ham from the bone, and add this back to the pot. 

Greens
Bunch of greens such as chard
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp canola oil
salt to taste

Rinse and chop the greens. Mince the garlic. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil and saute the garlic until soft but not browned. Add the greens and saute until partially wilted. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beans with shredded ham to the pan with the greens (use as many beans to achieve your desired beans to greens ratio. Reserve the bean liquid for soup stock). Warm the beans through.

Smoky Chipotle Salsa with Pan-Roasted Tomatillos 
from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday

1 pound tomatillos

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 chipotle chili in adobe sauce

salt to taste

Remove the husks from the tomatillos, rinse and halve. Heat a large skillet, add a thin layer of canola oil, and place the tomatillos cut side down along with the garlic cloves. Cook until the tomatillos are charred, then flip and cook a few more minutes until they are soft throughout. Cook the garlic cloves until they are soft and slightly charred. Scoop everything into a blender jar and add a chipotle pepper and generous pinch of salt. Blend into a smooth salsa.

Eggs on Tortillas
tortillas
eggs
salt and pepper
grated cheddar cheese
beans with greens (recipe above)
Tamatillo salsa (recipe above)

Heat a griddle. Place on two tortillas, cook until lightly toasted, flip and turn the heat to low. Sprinkle a handful of grated cheese on each tortilla, making an indentation in the center to trap the egg. Crack an egg into each cheese nest. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes until the white starts to harden and the cheese melts. Flip each tortilla and cook on the second side until the yoke just starts to set. Serve the tortilla and eggs with the beans and greens and a generous drizzle of tomatillo  salsa. Enjoy.

Pasta Primavera for the Fall

This Sunday's Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

• variety of sweet and spicy peppers (try in the pasta sauce below)
• variety of tomatoes including bargains on flats of San Marzano romas
• Akane apples and Asian pears from SLO Farm (time for roasted apple sauce)
• Italian prune plums (make a galette)
• cantaloupe and honeydew mellons
• kohlrabi, baby carrots, cabbage, and celery (make some kimchi)
• kale and collards (try as a kale salad)
• broccoli and eggplants (try a roasted salad)
• lettuces and baby lettuce salad mix
• zucchini and summer squash
• variety of potatoes including bargain bags of red potatoes
• sweet onions, garlic, leeks, and fennel
• fresh herbs, including basil, cilantro, dill, thyme, oregano, and sage
• tomato sauce and pesto
• naturally fermented pickles, dilly beans, and sauerkraut
• homemade jams (delicious in crepes)
• Scottish oats (make this teff oatmeal)
• a selection of dried beans and grains from Camas Country Mill
• pastured chicken (try spatchcocked)
• pastured pork: pork chops, shoulder roasts, and ham roasts
• pastured lamb: ground, rib chops, and leg roasts (grill some burgers)

Last week we used our left over Fair Valley Farm ham in pasta primavera, which was my family's extra special meal when I was growing up, reserved for birthdays and other celebrations. The funny thing about pasta primavera is that it's not really a springtime dish; it really makes more sense at the height of summer or during the warm fall days we've been so lucky to have. The classic Le Cirque recipe calls for asparagus and tomatoes, which are never going to be at their peek at the same time. Instead, I recommend pairing summer's sweet cherry tomatoes with the best produce of the season. I used leeks, sweet peppers, zucchini, and summer squash, all fresh from Sweetwater Farm.

Le Cirque's recipe uses a cream sauce, which my family's version omitted. Instead, the core flavor I remember from my childhood recipe was cubed ham and walnuts. Here I experimented with turning the walnuts into a very loose pesto for the kids, and the adults got the added layer of sauteed goodies (while the kids ate their veggies raw on the side). And because this was an extra special dish, we made fresh pasta to soak up all the flavors of the end of summer's harvest.

Pasta Primavera for the Fall

for the pasta
4 eggs
3 cups flour

Combine the eggs and flour in a food processor and mix until the dough starts to come together in a ball. Add a dribble of water if you need to. On a clean work surface, combine the dough into a log and cut it into about 12 pieces. Roll them out with a pasta maker (a fun task for kids) and cut them into fettucini. Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling, salted water for just a couple of minutes. Reserve a half cup of the pasta water if you need to moisten the sauce at the end. Drain the pasta and toss in a large bowl with the walnut sauce and toppings.

for the sauce
2 small or 1 large leek
2 medium bell peppers
2 small or 1 medium zucchini or summer squash
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup cubed ham
1/4 cup white vermouth
1 cup walnut pieces
1 large garlic clove
1 cup basil leaves
~3/4 cup olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and more for passing around the table

1. Prepare all of the vegetables, rinsing them and cutting them into small bite-sized pieces, except for the cherry tomatoes which you will keep whole.

2. Peel and mince the garlic. Chop the walnut pieces into small pieces (I did this with a meat pounder). Alternatively, you could combine the garlic clove and walnuts in a food processor and pulse a few times.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add about a 1/4 cup of olive and when it is warm, add the garlic and walnuts to the oil and saute for a couple of minutes until they are fragrant, but before they start to burn. Transfer the walnut mixture to a large serving bowl that will hold all of the pasta. Add a 1/2 cup of grated Tear the basil leaves and toss into the bowl.

4. Wipe out the skillet and return to medium high heat. Add another 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the chopped leaks and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped peppers and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped zucchini and summer squash with a generous pinch of salt and saute for a couple of minutes. Now add the ham for a minute, and then the cherry tomatoes. When the cherry tomatoes have just started to collapse under the heat, add the vermouth. Cook for another minute and then turn off the heat. Season with a generous amount of fresh pepper and salt to taste.

5. When the pasta is cooked, toss it in the bowl with the walnuts, parmesan cheese, and basil leaves and drizzle on about 1/4 cup olive oil. This is the point at which I removed some pasta for picky eaters/pesto purists/raw foodists. Then toss in all of the sauteed vegetables and ham. If the pasta seems dry, add a splash of reserved pasta water. Serve at once, with special occasion napkins and dishes.

Kohlrabi, Lemon, Caper Salad and Roast Ham

This Sunday's Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

• variety of tomatoes including 10 lb flats of San Marzano romas for $15
• Akane apples and Asian pears from SLO Farm (time for roasted apple sauce)
• Italian prune plums (try some pickled)
• cantaloupe and honeydew mellons
• kohlrabi, baby carrots, cabbage, and celery (great in Pad Thai)
• kale and collards (try as a kale version of saag paneer)
• globe and Japanese eggplants
• bargain bags of broccoli and red bell peppers
• lettuces and baby lettuce salad mix
• cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash
• a variety of potatoes including bargain bags of red potatoes (try fried wedges)
• sweet onions, garlic, leeks, and fennel
• fresh herbs, including basil, cilantro, dill, thyme, oregano, and sage
• tomato sauce and pesto
• naturally fermented pickles, dilly beans, and sauerkraut
• homemade jams (delicious in crepes)
• Scottish oats (make this teff oatmeal)
• a selection of dried beans and grains from Camas Country Mill
• pastured chicken (try roasted with five spices)
• pastured pork: pork chops, shoulder roasts, and 10% discount on ham roasts
• pastured lamb: ground, rib chops, and 10% discount on leg roasts

There's a definite chill in the air these mornings and it's time to start turning our attention to some of the heftier fall vegetables. I want to make a plug for the kohlrabi, which can make a nice transition from summer to fall in this tangy salad. Kohlrabi are knobby and awkward-looking, but once you slice off their outsides (and do so generously to remove any woody parts), then they have a deliciously crunchy white interior with just a hint of sharpness to them. I found that they pair beautifully with a briny lemon and caper dressing.

This salad would make a perfect first course for a hearty meal of baked beans and roast ham, which we enjoyed recently with Farimount Neighborhood Farmers Market-sourced heirloom dried beans (King of the Early Beans variety) and Fair Valley Farm's pastured ham. You'll want to stock up on these ham roasts this Sunday, on sale at a 10% discount. Not only do they make a delicious meal, but the leftovers have infinite uses in stir fries, salads, crepes, stuffings, and soups.

Kohlrabi and Caper Salad

makes four small dinner salads

1 small kohlrabi
~16 tender lettuce leaves 

lemon caper dressing
1 Tbsp capers
zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1 heaping tsp mustard
1/4 cup olive oil

1. You can prepare the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a miniprocessor, or chop the capers by hand and whisk in the other ingredients. I like to zest the lemon with a microplane grater.

2. Cut the kohlrabi in half and peel very generously with a paring knife to remove any woody parts. Cut the peeled kohlrabi halves into very thin slices (or use a mandoline).

3. Wash the lettuce leaves and arrange on four salad plates. Spread over the kohlrabi slices. Pour a generous amount of the lemon caper dressing over the sliced kohlrabi. Enjoy.

Ham Roast

One ham roast (about 5 lb)
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix together the mustard and brown sugar and slather it over the ham. Stud the ham with whole cloves. Place in a baking pan and roast at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes per pound of ham. At the same time you can cook these baked beans.

Lentils with Butter and Parsley

Not unlike the trajectory of an obstinate, dawdling toddler who needs to be coaxed out of every puddle on the endless walk home, springtime's arrival seems to be stalled by intermittent stormy tantrums. Still there are signs of progress, such as the longer evenings and the increasing diversity of fresh green offerings through Eugene Local Foods. These signs inspired me to turn to the Spring section of Elin England's treasure trove of seasonal recipes in Eating Close to Home: A Guide to Local Seasonal Sustenance in the Pacific Northwest. Here I discovered her lentils with butter and parsley, which make an especially bright and refreshing springtime dish.

The recipe has you simmer lentils with garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and parsley stems, reserving the leaves for a parsley butter to mix in at the end, along with a dash of lemon juice. As opposed to deliciously enveloping lentils in rendered bacon fat, this gentle tossing with uncooked butter lets the legumes' distinctive flavor shine. I first made this dish with red chief lentils from Camas Country Mill, which made a soft and tangy accompaniment to seared salmon.

The next time I used Camas Country Mill's small brown lentils, similar to French or puy lentils. They gave a nice texture and heft to an after-Easter salad with hard boiled eggs and strips of ham on top and a bed of garlicy sauteed mixed greens from Sweetwater Farm below. These little legumes provide the heart of a satisfying meal and the satisfaction of supporting a local solution to feeding our community through partnerships between local growers and Food for Lane County. 

Lentils with Butter and Parsley

slightly adapted from Eating Close to Home by Elin England

1 cup (~1/2 lb) lentils rinsed and drained
1 large bay leaf
1 small bunch of parsley stems, tied together
3 large garlic cloves, pealed and cut in half
2 Tbsp butter, softened
juice and zest from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon 
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste


1. Place the lentils in a pan with with 4 cups water, the bay leaf, parsley stems, garlic, and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium low heat until the lentils are tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, parsley stem bunch, and garlic, and drain the lentils or transfer them to a bowl with a slotted spoon.


2. Meanwhile, prepare the parsley butter. You could use a small food processor to mix together the parsley leaves, lemon zest and juice, and butter, or do this by hand in a bowl, first snipping the parsley finely with kitchen shears.


3. When the lentils are done, mix in the parsley butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Barley Stuffed Cabbage

We received this dramatically variegated January King Cabbage from our Open Oak Farm CSA that seemed too beautiful to shred. The broad leaves inspired me to try making stuffed cabbage and the purple hue seemed to call out for our purple barley from Lonesome Whistle Farm. Many of the stuffed cabbage recipes I looked at simmered the bundles in tomato sauce, but instead I let the tomatoes creep into the filling and simmer with the barley and some end pieces of Christmas ham. For a vegetarian version, one could include pungent dried mushrooms instead.

A cup of barley made enough filling for about eight cabbage leaves, although my cabbage head yielded only four leaves that were wrapping-sized. I'm sure the filling would have frozen well if we hadn't polished it off as a tasty risotto lunch. I softened the cabbage leaves by steaming them on top of the barley and then filled them with the cooked barley and crumbled feta cheese. After wrapping up these charming parcels, I simmered them (same pot, fewer dishes) in some red wine to infuse the cabbage, melt the cheese, and produce a tasty reduced wine sauce accompaniment.

Barley Stuffed Cabbage

1 cup hulled barley
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek, white and pale green part washed and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 anchovy fillets
1 cup red wine (divided use)
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 small chunk of ham or ham hock
1 cup boiling water
salt to taste
8 large cabbage leaves
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1. If you get a chance, soak the barley overnight and the next morning, remove any loose hulls that floated to the surface and drain. If you don't get a chance to presoak the barley, rinse well and drain. 

2. Warm a Dutch oven over medium low heat, add the butter and olive oil, and saute the chopped leeks until very soft and caramelized, but avoid browning them. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Now add the anchovy fillets, mashing them and cook another minute. Then add 1/4 cup red wine and cook until it simmers down. Finally, add the diced tomatoes, ham, a generous pinch of salt, about a cup of boiling water, and the drained barley. Turn the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the barley is soft, about 90 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water if it looks too dry. You could also cook this in a slow cooker on low for about 3 hours.

3. Once the barley is soft and the consistency of a thick porridge, lightly steam the cabbage leaves  for about five minutes by layering them gently on top of the barley and recovering the pot. When they feel pliable, remove the cabbage leaves to a plate. Shred the ham and stir back into the barley. Taste and adjust seasoning. 

4. Spread out a cabbage leaf on a plate and spoon in about four soup spoons of the barley mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Now fold the edges of the cabbage leaf up into a parcel. Repeat with the remaining cabbage leaves, until you have used up the barley filling (or transfer the remaining filling to a storage container to use another day). 

5. Add the remaining red wine to the Dutch oven and gently transfer the cabbage parcels into the pot. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the cabbage is very soft and the feta cheese inside has melted. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes to allow the red wine to reduce. Serve hot with a drizzle of the reduced red wine sauce.


Other cabbage recipes
Pad Thai with Arrowhead Cabbage
Crunchy Carrot, Jicama, and Radish Slaw
Jacob's Cattle Bean and Ham Stew with Roasted Vegetable Garnish
Braised Red Cabbage

Buckwheat Crepes

We are in countdown mode, counting down the days left in the school year, the hours left of grading exams, and the minutes until the sun will finally come out and start to ripen our summer fruit. Although the last of these is hard to pin down, one date you can count on is June 19 as the start of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market. Come down to the corner of Agate and 19th between 10 and 2:30 to hear some laid back Gypsy jazz from Manouche Noir, and pick up some farm fresh produce from SLO Farm. Also this year there will be locally grown beans and grains (garbanzos, lentils, wheat berry, and flour) from Hunton Family Farm and Camas Country Mill, as part of the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain project. Here's a great video about this project.

One locally grown grain is buckwheat, which makes a great cover crop, but apparently has a limited market. My favorite use for buckwheat is in savory crepes. The buckwheat gives a heft to the crepes which makes them entirely different from dessert crepes and allows them to stand up to any number of filling one can scrounge from the fridge and pantry. Their versatility makes them a great weeknight dinner, and they are almost as quick to whip up as an omelette, especially if you make the batter in advance. We eat them in shift: whoever finishes the first round gets up to make the next. This time I used a buckwheat crepe batter recipe from thirschfeld at food52.

Prep your fillings before you start making the crepes. Here we sauteed apple slices in butter with some pieces of prosciutto, and grated some aged cheddar.

Pour the crepe batter into a well-heated, buttered pan, and swirl to coat.
 

When the batter has cooked so that it loses its pale color and develops permanent bubbles, flip the crepe and add the fillings. To accompany the crepes, I prepared a variant of another food52 recipe, this one from Amanda Hesser, of green beans with apricots and serrano ham. Because there was ham and apples in the crepes, I left these out of the bean dish and added some toasted almonds. I'm especially pleased to feature these food52 recipes because this week the site highlighted my recipes in their cooks spotlight. And I'm pleased to promote a local grain that deserves more followers.

Buckwheat Crepes with Apple, Prosciutto, and Cheddar

for the batter
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
a pinch of salt

for the filling

I apple, sliced

a few slices of prosciutto

several handfuls of grated cheese such as aged cheddar or gruyere.

butter

1. Prepare the batter. Combine the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. The batter should have the consistency of thick cream. It's best to let the batter rest for an hour or so before you use it. You can make it in the morning or even the night before your crepe dinner and if the butter separates out, just give it a quick mix.


2. Prepare the apple filling. In a crepe pan or skillet, saute the apple slices in ~1 Tbsp butter until they start to brown. Tear the prosciutto slices and saute with the apple for a couple more minutes and transfer to a bowl.

3. Wipe out the pan, melt a thin slice of butter and swirl to coat the pan. Pour in the crepe batter slowly while you swirl the pan so that it is just coated with batter. Cook until the batter loses its pale color and develops permanent bubbles. Secure a spatula under the crepe and flip with confidence. As the second side cooks, sprinkle a thin layer of cheese and apple and prosciutto toppings on one half of the crepe. Flip the naked half over the filling half and slide onto a plate. Eat while hot.

Jacob's Cattle Bean and Ham Stew

These beautiful red and white speckled Jacob's cattle beans from Lonesome Whistle Farm are an heirloom variety from Prince Edward Island, which, according to legend, were a gift from Maine's Passamaquoddy Native Americans to Joseph Clark, the first child of European decent born in Lubec, Maine. They're described as holding their shape well during cooking, so they seemed like a good choice for a hearty bean stew. 

I had been saving the bone from a bone-in-ham we'd baked for just such a stew. Then this week's New York Times Dining section had a recipe by Melissa Clark about ham bone soup, with shredded cabbage cooked into a silky broth. Returning from the Hideaway Farmers Market, where I'd picked up a lovely little cabbage and some parsnips and yellow beets from Cinco Estrella Farms, I realized that I had all the ingredients in the house to make a similar dish.

First I got the frozen ham bone simmering in some water, while I chopped the cabbage, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and a serrano pepper for a little heat. 

Then I combined all these with the Jacob's cattle beans, ham bone, and water in a slow cooker to cook on low for 4 hours, until the beans were tender and the cabbage had dissolved into the broth. Even though we'd carved our ham conscientiously, after simmering the bone released an amazing amount of meat that I shred and added back to the pot, turning the dish into a substantial stew.

I still had those beets and parsnips, which I'd been planning to roast, and it occurred to me that they might make a nice garnish for the stew, as a sort of riff on a tarka.

They were gorgeous when peeled, and delicious when chopped and roasted in olive oil. The final dish was a real one pot meal with the hearty beans and ham in their silky broth contrasting nicely with the sweet roasted vegetables.

Jacob's Cattle Bean and Ham Stew with Roasted Vegetable Garnish

For the stew

1 ham bone or ham hock

2 cups (1 lb) Jacob's cattle beans, rinsed, or substitute kidney beans

1 small or 1/2 regular cabbage, chopped well

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

4 celery stocks, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 bay leaves

7 cups water

For the garnish

6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks

6 small beets, peeled and chopped into chunks

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a slow cooker or soup pot, combine all of the stew ingredients. Cook on low for about 4 hours until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally. If cooking on the stovetop you may need less time and more water to maintain a thick stew consistency. Remove the ham bone or hock from the pot, shred the ham from the bone, and return the meat to the pot. Adjust seasonings to taste.

2. About 45 minutes before you plan to serve the soup, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel and chop the parsnips and beets. In an oven safe dish, toss the vegetables in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and browned. Serve the stew with a spoonful of roasted vegetables on top.

Other heirloom bean recipes:

Calypso beans with ginger and black mustard seeds

Ireland Creek Annie Bean Bruschetta

Lemon and herb Dutch bullet beans

Minty green flageolet beans

Dutch bullet beans and roasted squash soup

Rio Zape beans with toasted chile sauce

Arikara bean gratin
Calypso bean and leek soup