Roasted Pepper, Eggplant and Feta Scramble with Sausage Patties

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you'll find pastured meats from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including celery, greens, peppers, and winter squash.

Having weathered our first full week back at school, and with the fall chill in the air, this morning felt like the time to have a hearty, celebratory breakfast. I made a batch of these buttermilk biscuits, fried up some Fair Valley Farm sausage meat into patties with caramelized onions, and whipped up some scrambled eggs with feta cheese and left over roasted eggplants and peppers from Camas Swale Farm. A leisurely weekend breakfast was just the right prescription to offset the weekday mornings' increased hecticness and dwindling summer sunlight.

Roasted Pepper, Eggplant, and Feta Scramble (for two)

I cup roasted vegetables, such as peppers and eggplant, chopped
1/4 cup cubed feta cheese
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
butter for the pan

Heat a skillet over medium low heat. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper. Prepare the roasted vegetables and feta cheese. Melt a pad of butter in the skillet and swirl to coat. Pour in the egg mixture and then sprinkle over the cheese cubes and chopped vegetables. Use a fork to pull the cooked edges of the eggs to the center and tip the pan to distribute the liquid eggs outward. Repeat until all of the eggs are cooked. Immediately transfer the scrambled eggs to two warm plates. 

Sausage Patties with Caramelized Onions

1 lb ground sausage meat
1 large or two small onions, peeled, halved, and sliced into half moons
slick of vegetable oil

Shape the sausage meat into 8 to 10 small patties, 1 inch thick. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Coat with a slick of neutral vegetable oil. Add the sliced onions to the pan and toss to coat in the oil and to break up the onion layers into strands a bit. Move the onion to the center of the pan and add the sausage patties. Allow to cook until well browned on one side, then flip and cook on the other side until the meat is completely cooked through. Meanwhile stir the onion strands occasionally so that brown nicely but do not burn. Serve warm.

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Sausage Meatballs

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you'll find pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, cut flowers from Tiger Lily Art Company, and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including potatoes, snap peas, and heirloom tomatoes.

I love Camas Swale's torpedo onions, which are delicious roasted with other vegetables like cauliflower. I wanted to incorporate these into a pasta dinner, but lately we've been at a family pasta impasse between my pesto-loving daughter and my son and advocate for tomato sauce and meatballs. 

I decided to place peacemaker by roasting a sheet pan of meatballs along with the vegetables, using Fair Valley Farm pork sausage, and serving these on pesto pasta. Everyone was happy with dinner.

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Sausage Meatballs

roasted vegetables
1 head cauliflower
2 small onions
olive oil
salt

meat balls
1 lb ground pork sausage meat
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
fresh ground pepper

3/4 cup pesto sauce (such as this recipe)
1 lb pasta
cherry tomatoes for garnish
parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and put in one sheet pan. 

2. Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Cut the onions into sixths. In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with a pinch of salt and olive oil to coat.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground pork sausage meat, bread crumbs, egg, and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Coat a second sheet pan with a thin coat of olive oil. Form small one inch meat balls and arrange on the sheet pan (you should have about 40 meatballs). 

4. Toss the vegetables onto the preheated sheet pan and put the sheet pan of meatballs into the oven. Bake both for about 35 minutes, turning over about halfway through, until vegetables are well caramelized and brown on the edges and the meatballs are cooked through. 

5. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta. Drain and toss the pasta with the pesto. Serve topped with vegetables and meatballs (or serve them on the side). Garnish with cherry tomatoes and grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy.

Chicken in Milk

With a steady supply of pastured chickens from our Fair Valley Farm CSA, I'm always on the look out for easy whole chicken recipes. Today I tried a one pot Jamie Oliver recipe, classified as genius by food52, with a surprising ingredient list: cinnamon stick, lemon peel, garlic cloves, sage leaves, and milk. The end result was fragrant and succulent, and will definitely be staying on our dinner rotation. You start by browning your chicken in a snug pot, then after decanting the browned butter (which I used in our mashed potatoes), you toss in the remaining ingredients and shove it into the oven for 90 minutes, occasionally basting the chicken with the sauce. The chicken browns but stays wonderfully moist (I positioned the breast side down to keep it submerged), the milk solids separate out, leaving a flavorful sauce, and best of all are the whole roasted garlic cloves to squeeze into your mashed potatoes. This is a perfect weekend afternoon dish because it requires little attention, while infusing the house with delicious smells, and leaving time for other kitchen puttering. As the chicken cooked, I prepared the mashed potatoes and used the lower rack of the oven to rotate through several baking sheets to roast: broccoli for a couple dinners, and cumin carrots and chickpeas for a salad later in the week. It's nice to start the week with a chicken in one's pot and several dinners already in the bag.

Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk

One 3-pound (1 1/2-kilogram) organic chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces (1 stick or 115 grams) butter or olive oil
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 good handful fresh sage, leaves picked
Zest of 2 lemons, peeled in thick strips with a peeler
10 garlic cloves, skins left on
1 pint (565 milliliters) whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season the chicken generously all over with salt and pepper and fry it in the butter or olive oil, turning the chicken to get an even color all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the butter left in the pot (or save for another use). This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan, which will give you a lovely caramel flavor later on. 

2. Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, then cook it in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. (Oliver leaves the pot uncovered, but you can leave it partially covered if you'd like it to retain more moisture and make more sauce.) The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce, which is absolutely fantastic. 

3. To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Serve with wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato.

Toad-in-the-Hole and Minty Peas

Getting back into our regimented school routine has been a bit rough after a couple of weeks of winter holidays with lazy mornings spent curl up together reading. Over the break, I read my kids one of my favorite childhood books, Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World (above is an illustration by Jill Bennett from the original edition). We were all especially captivated by Danny's father's description of his favorite childhood meal: "My mum could make toad-in-the-hole like nobody else in the world. She did it in an enormous pan with the Yorkshire pudding very brown and crisp on top and raised up in huge bubbly mountains. In between the mountains you could see the sausages half buried in the batter. Fantastic it was." We tried recreating the dish, based on this recipe from Five and Spice and it was a big hit. For a thoroughly British accompaniment, I made these minty peas from Nigel Slater. Although the dinner didn't involve any pheasant poaching, my son and I did venture down the dark and drizzly alleyway with a feeble flashlight to filch some unsuspecting mint.

Toad-in-the-Hole

adapted from Five and Spice

1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 lb breakfast sausages

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, flour, and salt and blend until smooth. You could also whisk these together in a bowl. Allow the batter to rest while you heat the oven and cook the sausages (ideally 30 minutes).

3. In a ovenproof pot, such as a cast iron Dutch oven, cook the sausages until they are browned on all sides. If there is a lot of fat release, pour some off, but you want about 2-4 Tbsp coating the pan. While the pot is still very hot, pour the batter over the sausages and immediately transfer the pot to the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes (meanwhile, make some minty peas). The toad-in-the-hole is done when it is puffy and golden and crisp around the edges. Do not open the oven before 20 minutes or the popover might deflate. Serve right away with mustard on the side and minty peas.

Minty Peas

adapted from Nigel Slater

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 package frozen peas
2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint
salt to taste
1 Tbsp water

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add the olive oil, then the shallots and stir for 30 seconds, then the peas, mint, salt, and water. Cover and cook for four minutes. Remove the top and simmer another 2 or 3 minutes, allowing the liquid to evaporate. Serve warm.

Sausage and Potato Hash

Last week we escaped for a short vacation to the coast (here's a peek of the beach at Cape Perpetua), but we made sure to return in time for the Sunday Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market and to catch farmer John Karlik talking about the market on KLCC's Food for Thought. At this upcoming Sunday's market you can expect to find the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

• blueberries and plums (bake a buckle)
• many potato varieties including new potatoes, yellow yukon gold, red norland, all blue, and french fingerlings (make some hash, see below)
• plenty of tomatoes (try a savory cherry tomato clafouti)
• cucumbers, zucchini and peppers (pickle some tsukemono)
• fennel and fresh herbs, including basil and parsley (make some herb infused beans)
• many varieties of greens and cabbage
• carrots, turnips, radishes, and beets (try this kale, beet and quinoa salad)
• broccoli and cauliflower
• onions and garlic
• tomato sauce and pesto
• pickles and sauerkraut
• homemade jams
• fresh eggs (make some huevos rancheros)
• Scottish oats
• a selection of dried beans and grains from Camas Country Mill
• pastured chicken
• pastured pork: bacon, ground pork, pork chops, shoulder roasts, ham roasts, spare ribs, and the best sausage for hash
• pastured lamb: ground, stew meat, leg roast, rib chops, loin chops

One of the great indulgences of vacations are leisurely breakfasts without any pressing school bells, work meetings, or soccer games. In anticipation of lazy mornings, I packed some pre-measured Scottish oats with teff and flaxseeds for oatmeal and some Scottish oats granola to sprinkle on yogurt and berries. 

Most importantly, I packed a pound of Fair Valley Farm's pork sausage meat, which my husband cooked up one morning into a delicious potato hash with onions and cherry tomatoes. The sausage was deliciously flavored and not at all greasy. His brother made eggs to order to drape over the hash, which we all savored next to a wood burning stove, while watching the morning fog fade away.

Sausage and Potato Hash

1 lb ground pork sausage meat

2 lb potatoes

1 onion

2 Tbsp butter

half a pint of cherry tomatoes

salt to taste

1. Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Peel and dice the onion. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is warm, melt the butter and then add the diced potatoes with a generous pinch of salt. Allow the potato cubes to brown, turning now and then. After the potatoes have started to crisp up, add the onions. Continue cooking until the potatoes are nicely browned and the onion has caramelized. Transfer the potato mixture to a plate.

2. Return the skillet to the burner. Add the sausage meat and saute, stirring, until cooked through. Return the potatoes and onions to the pan and stir together. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes until they start to collapse. Taste and add a pinch more salt if necessary. Serve warm with eggs cooked to your liking.