Banana Squash Salad

Among the impressive array of winter squash on display at Sweetwater Farm's pumpkin day a couple of weeks ago were the hefty, peach colored banana squash pictured on the lower right above. Erica explained that while these massive specimens don't make good supplies for the Good Food Easy CSA, they are cherished by Creswell's chef Heidi Tunnell of Heidi Tunnell Catering Company. Apparently she shaves them raw on salads and uses them to make ice cream.

So at this time of year, when standard school children are replaces with Jedi knights and Hogwarts witches, try transforming your standard salad with shaved winter squash. It looks deceptively like mango and tastes like the sweetest of carrots. Happy Halloween!

Banana Squash Salad

4 handful mixed salad greens

a small fraction of a banana squash (use the rest for soup, curry, or pie)

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp honey

fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste

Wash and dry your greens and put them in a salad bowl. Cut off a small part of your squash. Cut away the skin and use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to cut thin strips. Whist together the remaining ingredients into a dressing. Pour the dressing over the greens and squash and toss to dress. Enjoy.

Ginger Squash Scones

This Sunday will be the last regularly scheduled Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market of the season, but stay tuned for some additional markets around the beginning of November and just before Thanksgiving, to coincide with Fair Valley Farm CSA pick ups. On October 6th, you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm, Fair Valley Farm, and Tiger Lily Art Company:

tomatillos (make some smokey tomatillo salsa to last you through the winter)

heirloom tomatoes, romas, and tomato deals: 10 lbs/$18, $20 lbs/$30 (makes some sauce)

watermelon, honeydew melons, cantaloupes, and other heirloom melons

Bartlett pears (delicious on pizza or in pancakes)

Akane apples and Asian pears from SLO Farm (make apple sauce)

A wide selection of winter squash (make these ginger squash scones)

corn, green beans and yellow wax beans (make a savory corn pudding)

pepperoncini, poblanos, red hot cherries, anaheim chiles, and assorted pepper bargain bags

eggplants, fresh spring garlic, and onions (make baba ganoush)

cucumbers and zucchini (make some tsukemono pickles)

carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, and celery (preserve some kimichi)

French sorrel and cutting celery (great as a pesto for soup)

new potatoes and beets (make some mashed potatoes)

fresh herbs including dill, parsley, basil, and cilantro 

bietola, kale, chard, and a variety of lettuces (make lettuce wraps)

dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill (make teff grain muffins)

jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

pastured chickens from Fair Valley Farm (cook up a pot of Pueblan chicken tinga)

floral arrangements from Tiger Lily Art Company

If, in a couple of weeks, you are missing the market, you can see more of your favorite farmers at Sweetwater's Pumpkin Day on Saturday Oct. 19, 10 am-2 pm at the farm (83036 Weiss Rd. Creswell, OR 97426). There will be farm tours and pumpkins for sale, but don't be fooled by these orange gourds that Erica gave our kids. Despite their pumpkin-like appearance, these imposters are actually crazy giant overgrown summer squash! 

On this last market of the season, be sure to pick up a selection of real winter squash (pie pumpkins, butternut, acorn, delicata) to store in you cellar for future winter soups, curries, and pies. With my latest batch of roasted squash, I made these delectable scones, studded with candied ginger. Sized as mini-scones, and they were the perfect midday snacks for the whole family to keep us going through the greying days.

Ginger Squash Scones

adapted from food52 mrslarkin's Butternut Sage Scones

makes 8 regular or 16 mini-scones

1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat flour such as Red Fife from Lonesome Whistle Farm
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup roasted squash puree
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon candied ginger, chopped into small pieces

1. To prepare the roasted squash, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds (save them for roasting, if you feel industrious).  Place the squash cut side up on a baking sheet and roast until soft, about 30 minutes. Scoop out the squash from the skin and mash with a potato masher. Use 1/2 cup for this recipe and save the rest for soup or more scones (it freezes well).

2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade, place the dry ingredients and the chopped sage, and pulse to combine.

3. Add the butter, and pulse about 10 or so times. You want to retain some small pieces of butter. Transfer the flour mixture to a large mixing bowl.

4. In a large measuring cup, place the squash, egg and buttermilk. Mix well. Pour into flour mixture. With a dinner fork, fold the wet into the dry as you gradually turn the bowl. When dough begins to gather, use a plastic bowl scraper to gently knead the dough into a ball shape.

5. Transfer the dough ball to a floured board. Gently pat into a 6” circle, or for mini-scones, make two smaller circles of dough. Sprinkle with the chopped candied ginger. If the dough feels sticky, chill it for about 15 minutes in the freezer or longer in the refrigerator. With a pastry scraper or large chef’s knife, cut each disc into 8 triangles.

6. Optional (but recommended by mrslarkin): place the scones on a wax paper-lined sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once they are frozen, you can store them in a plastic freezer bag for several weeks.

7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place frozen scones on a parchment-lined sheet pan, about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 18 minutes for mini-scones or 20 - 25 minutes for regular sized scones, turning the pan halfway through. They are done when a wooden skewer comes out clean. Enjoy.

Parsnip and Riesling Beef Stew

The past week's chilly weather was a good motivation to turn on the oven for a slow-simmered stew filled with the latest offerings from our Open Oak Farm's Winter Vegetable CSA. For inspiration I started with Jool's Favorite Beef Stew from Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Dinners, which uses chunks of winter squash that bake into a rich, sweet broth.

Instead of carrots and onions, I used our supply of parsnips and leeks from Open Oak Farm. With this combination of pale tubers and alliums I decided to experiment with a lighter sauce than Oliver's red wine and tomato paste one, substituting instead a dry Riesling.  

Three hours in the oven produced a fragrant, flavorful stew, delicious with Open Oak Farm's fresh fingerling potatoes, that helped take the chill out of the air.

Parsnip and Riesling Beef Stew

3 leeks, cleaned, sliced lengthwise, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
6 parsnips, peeled and chopped roughly into 1 inch chunks
1 small delicata squash, peeled, deseeded, and chopped into 1 inch cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 anchovies
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 sages leaves, finely chopped
1 lb cubed beef stew meat
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup broth
1/2 bottle dry Riesling
salt and pepper
lemon zest
chopped parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Prep all the vegetables. Toss the meat in the flour and plenty of salt and pepper.

2. Heat a large oven-save Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil and anchovies and simmer for a minute, mashing up the anchovies. Add the garlic and sage leaves and stir another minute. Add the leaks and saute for about five minutes, until softened. Add the meat and saute for a minute (Oliver says you don't need to brown the meat for this stew), then add the remaining vegetables, the broth and the white wine. Bring the pot to a simmer. Then cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 3 hours, until the meat is very tender and falls apart when you poke it with a fork. You can keep the stew warm in a 150 degree oven for another hour or so.

3. Serve warm, garnished with fresh chopped parsley leaves and lemon zest, accompanied by fresh potatoes, egg noodles, orzo, or soft polenta.

Thai Sweet Meat Winter Squash Curry

In our last share from our Open Oak Farm summer CSA, we received an Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat winter squash that was about the size of my son when he was born. It felt like a big responsibility to process it. I roasted and froze some for my favorite Thanksgiving pumpkin praline pie, a second aliquot went into a spicy bean and pumpkin soup with stock made from the pulp, and the final third I used in a rendition of my favorite Thai dish: pumpkin curry. I was lucky enough to have some especially fresh and fragrant ginger and lemon grass that I picked up at last week's Saturday Market, which I blended into an approximation of a red curry paste.

A heaping tablespoon of this wonderfully fragrant, if not terribly red paste, combined with coconut milk and the cubed squash, cooked up a delicious pot of rich, thick curry. Because I had fuyu persimmon salad on my mind, we had an extra orange meal with sliced persimmons on salad greens with lime juice dressing and peanuts. And now I have a good half cup of curry paste remaining. When I'm all cooked out after Thanksgiving, and we've had our fill of cranberry turkey sandwiches, I plan to whip up another pot of Thai winter squash curry as a perfect vehicle for leftover turkey.

Thai Sweet Meat Winter Squash Curry

~6 cups sweet meat winter squash or pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1 to 2 Tbsp red curry paste (recipe below)
1 red or yellow sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 scant tsp sugar
thai basil leaves or cilantro leaves

1. Heat a large Dutch oven or cooking pot over medium heat. Open the coconut milk can and scoop out the thick coconut cream. Melt this in the pot until it sizzles and then add the curry paste. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until it is very fragrant. 

2. Add the chicken pieces and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to coat in the curry paste. If using cooked turkey pieces, omit this step and add the turkey once the squash is cooked.

3. Mix together the remaining coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Add this to the pot, along with the cubed squash, peppers, and onions. Bring the stew to a simmer, turn the heat to medium low, cover, and cook until the squash is tender, about 30 or 40 minutes. Uncover, taste and adjust seasonings, (add cooked turkey at this point, if using) and simmer for another 10 minutes or so until the sauce is desired consistency. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil or cilantro leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Red Curry Paste

1 Tbsp coriander seeds
6 small dried chile peppers (such as de arbol)
1 tsp black pepper corns
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 shallot
2 large cloves garlic
2 Tbsp cilantro stems
1 lemon grass, coarse outer leaves removed
2 inches ginger root

1. Toast the coriander seeds for a minute in a dry skillet until fragrant. Then toast the chile peppers until the puff up, but do not burn. Remove the seeds from the peppers. Using a mortar and pestle or electric spice grinder, grind the coriander seeds, chile peppers, pepper corns, and coarse salt into a powder.

2. If you want a good work out, you can process the rest of the ingredients in a large mortar and pestle, or combine them all in food processor and process together into a smooth paste. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator or freeze single portions in an ice cube tray. This makes enough for multiple pots of curry.

Salmon on the Rocks

If you are wondering what to serve at your next dinner party, I have a recommendation: salmon roasted on a bed of rock salt. This recipe, which I adapted from Corey Schreiber's Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest, is a surefire way to prepare a succulent, crowd-pleasing fillet of fish. The salt magically distributes the heat so that the fish is moist and evenly cooked, with a pleasant but not aggressive saltiness infused through the skin. Here was the menu for a successful Friday night dinner party, much of which I cooked ahead on Thursday evening:

first course
Red lentil soup (this recipe, made the day before)

main course

Herbed salmon roasted on rock salt (below)

Golden hulless barley risotto with fennel, leeks, and celeriac (similar to this, partially cooked the day before, then finished with more broth and grated parmasan)

Kale salad with roasted squash, almonds, and cheddar (similar to this and this, all the components prepped the day before)

dessert

Chocolate espresso cheesecake from Eugene City Bakery

Herbed Salmon Roasted on Rock Salt

adapted from Corey Schreiber

1 or several large salmon fillet(s) (calculate about 6 ounces per person)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

rock salt (also sold as ice cream salt) for baking

for each salmon fillet, prepare an herb mixture with:
zest from 1 large lemon (use a microplane grater to zest)
1 handful fennel fronds
1 handful Italian parsley leaves

Before your guests arrive, take your salmon out of the refrigerator. Find a baking dish large enough to hold the salmon and cover the bottom of the dish completely with rock salt. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the bed of rock salt. Lightly salt and generously pepper the flesh side of the salmon fillet. Chop the fennel fronts and parsley leaves and combine with the lemon zest. Spread the herb mixture over the fish, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and set aside.

When your guests have all arrived, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Just before you serve the first course, put the salmon in the oven. Bake for about 35 minutes until the fish is opaque on the top, but still slightly translucent inside. Remove the fish from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes or so (it will continue cooking). Bring the whole fish on the rock salt bed to the table and serve.

Paprika Chickpea, Delicata and Kale Salad

This week from our Open Oak Farm CSA we received a bonanza of delicata squash. In the past I've roasted these squash with spices and scooped them into soup. But recently I learned from Heidi Swanson's blog 101 Cookbooks that you can eat the delicatas' thin skin, eliminating the need for scooping or peeling. Inspired by this recipe, I roasted up a dish of delicata pieces, tossed with sweet smoked paprika and fennel seeds, which my daughter found so tasty that she dubbed them "squash candy".  

Another new smoked paprika recipe in my repertoire is this one for Smoky Fried Chickpeas by Aliwaks of food52, flavored with lemon peel, thyme, and garlic.

It occurred to me that the paprika-spiced meaty chickpeas and soft sweet squash would pair nicely in a winter salad. I had some remaining Open Oak Farm kale leaves, which I chopped and tossed with lemon juice and olive oil. For an extra kick of heat, saltiness, and crunch, I topped the salad with a dollop of my new favorite condiment, harissa, and some roasted delicata seeds. It proved to be a delicious combination, and I looked forward to packing some for lunch, but my daughter had polished off the supply of squash candy.

Paprkia Chickpea, Delicata and Kale Salad

Roasted Delicata Squash Pieces
1 delicata squash
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Trim off the stem and blossom ends of the squash and halve lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds (an ice cream scoop works well for this), reserving the seed for toasting. Cut lengthwise again and then cut the quarters into 3/4 inch wide pieces. Transfer to a baking dish and toss with the olive oil and spices. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. 

Toasted Delicata Squash Seeds
Separate the seeds from the pulp, but don't be too careful about it because the toasted seeds taste best with a little sweet, caramelized squash goop. On a baking sheet, toss the seeds with a tablespoon of olive oil and generous sprinkle of salt. Toast them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until they start to brown, but be careful not to let them burn. You can also toast them in a toaster oven.

Smoky Fried Chickpeas, adapted closely from Aliwaks from food52
1 cup dried chickpeas (or two cans of cooked chickpeas)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp smoked paprika (sweet, or a combination of sweet and spicy to taste)
peel from 1 lemon, cut into thin slivers
4 sprigs thyme
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
salt to taste

1. If using dried chickpeas, rinse and add them to a pot with a couple of thyme sprigs and enough water to cover them by an inch. Simmer on very low heat until they are soft, 1-3 hours depending on the dehydration of the beans. Remove the thyme sprigs and salt to taste. Drain and dry on a kitchen towel spread out in a baking dish.

2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. The oil is hot enough if a tester chickpea sizzles when it is added to the pan. Add enough chickpeas such that the bottom of the pan is just covered and they are not crowded. Add a similar proportion of lemon slivers and thyme leaves to portion of chickpeas being fried at the time. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas have crisped up and turned a toasty color, and transfer to a bowl. Cook the remaining batches of chickpeas as you did the first. Finally, fry the garlic slices until crisp and toasty brown.

3. When all the chickpeas and garlic have been fried, toss them with the smoked paprika and salt to taste.

This recipe makes more than enough chickpeas for the salad below, but these are also a great snack on their own.

Kale Salad (2 main meal salads or 4 sides)
~4 kale leaves
juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup roasted delicata squash pieces (above)
1/2 cup smoky fried chickpeas (above)
1/4 cup toasted delicata squash seeds (above)
harissa to taste

Cut the green parts of the kale from the stem running through the leaves and slice into thin slices. Toss the kale leaves with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Layer on the chickpeas, delicata squash pieces, and a sprinkle of toasted squash seeds. Serve with harissa.

Other salad variants:
Top kale or other greens with the chickpeas and cubed avocado
Top kale or other greens with roasted squash pieces and fresh pomegranate seeds
Top kale or other greens with roasted squash pieces and crumbled stilton cheese

Dutch Bullet Bean and Roasted Squash Soup

Enough testosterone-driven, world domination food fare. Let's talk about what to cook when it's cold and drizzly outside and everyone in the house has the sniffles. The answer of course is soup. And if you have approximately 23 pounds of heirloom beans in the cellar, the answer of course is bean soup. We also had a nice selection of winter vegetables from the farmers market at the Eugene Holiday Market, including a delicata squash and a kohlrabi. I usually think of a bean and vegetable soup as some variant of a minestrone, but I was inspired by a pumpkin and white bean soup from the Green's Cookbook that incorporated beans into a creamy squash soup. I thought the Lonesome Whistle Farm Dutch bullet beans, a small golden variety, might go well with the delicata squash roasted with herbs (similar to a preparation by Jamie Oliver). 

My son helped me brush the squash quarters with olive oil and sprinkle on fennel seeds, herbs de Provence, and red pepper flakes, and we roasted these for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, we simmered the squash seeds and pulp in 4 cups of chicken broth to make a quick stock.

I chopped onion, carrots, and kohlrabi and sauteed these in some olive oil until soft. Then I added the squash stock and the roasted squash, scooped from the peel, and simmered these until the vegetables were very soft.

I'd soaked 1 cup of the Dutch bullet beans during the morning, and now I simmered them on very gentle heat with a couple sprigs of thyme and 2 cups of water for about an hour until they were tender. Then I pureed the squash and vegetables with an immersion blender, and mixed in the beans with their liquid. To finish the soup, I added a drizzle of balsamic vinegar for sharpness to balance the sweetness of the squash. The creamy texture of the pureed vegetables with the roasted squash and herb flavors and a slight bitterness from the kohlrabi, contrasted nicely with the small, round, meaty beans.

I'd prepared a swiss chard and mushroom quiche for brunch (also adapted from a Green's Cookbook recipe, but with added leftover mushrooms from Eric's shooter sandwich and almonds instead of pine nuts because of the latter's short supply). This was the perfect accompaniment to a restorative soup.

Dutch bullet bean and roasted squash soup

1 cup (1/2 lb) Dutch bullet beans (could substitute small white kidney beans)

1 delicata squash

1 onion

1 kohlrabi

3 small or 2 medium carrots

3 cloves garlic

4 cups chicken stock

olive oil

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp herbs de Provence

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

a few sprigs of thyme

salt and pepper to taste

drizzle of balsamic vinegar

1. Soak the beans for 4-8 hours until the plump up. Then change the water and simmer them with a few springs of thyme and 2 cups of water until soft, about 1 hour. Discard the thyme stems.

2. Halve squash and scoop out seeds and pulp into a sauce pan with 4 cups of chicken stock. Simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Brush squash quarters with olive oil and sprinkle over fennel seeds, herbs de Provence, and red pepper flakes. Roast in an oven or toaster over at 450 degrees until they start to brown a little and are soft through, about 25 minutes. When cool enough to handle, scoop the roasted squash from the skin.

3. Meanwhile peel and chop the onion, carrots, kohlrabi, and garlic. Saute in olive oil in a dutch oven until soft. Strain the squash stock into the pot and add the roasted squash. Simmer on low heat until the vegetables are very soft. Puree with an immersion blender, and add the cooked beans with their liquid. Drizzle in a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and adjust seasonings. 

Here's the recipe for the Green's Swiss chard tart.


And here are some other recipes for heirloom beans:
Rio Zape Beans with Toasted Chile Sauce
Arikara bean gratin 
Calypso bean and leek soup