Eton Mess

This Sunday come to the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market between 10 am - 2 pm at the corner of Agate and 19th Ave for all your summer produce from Camas Swale Farm, pastured meat and poultry from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, and wine from Summerfield Vineyards. 

Camas Swale Farm has lovely strawberries, which we used in our family's traditional Fourth of July dessert, Eton mess. I will admit that it is a bit incongruous to celebrate our country's independence from England with a thoroughly British pudding, first served at a cricket match in 1893, but this tradition dates back to a very patriotic Fourth of July we celebrated with ex-pat friends in Oxford. And it certainly looks patriotic.

It's also dead easy to make, consisting of just meringues, whipped cream, and berries. You can preassemble the parts in parfait glasses, but we like to serve the components separately so that everyone can create their ideal dessert with desired ratios and messiness.

Eton mess (deconstructed)

Fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or a mixture
Whipped cream, very lightly sweetened
meringues (recipe below)

Assembly as desired. For soggier meringues, crumble them and mix them into the whipped cream, or alternatively leave them whole on top.

Meringues (adapted from sugarspunrun.com)
4 large egg whites room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 225F (105C) and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large, completely clean, completely grease-free bowl.

3. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer (with either the whisk), stir on low speed until mixture becomes foamy. Increase speed to high.

4. With mixer on high, gradually add sugar, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until sugar is dissolved (about 15-20 seconds between each addition).

5. Beat until mixture is thick, shiny, and has increased in volume. Mixture should have stiff peaks and sugar should be completely dissolved (you can test this by rubbing a small bit of the mixture between your fingers, if it feels gritty, the sugar isn't dissolved).

6. Stir in vanilla extract and any other extract you may like to use.  If using food coloring, add the food coloring at this stage, too.

7. Fit a large disposable piping bag with a large tip and transfer meringue to prepared piping bag and pipe onto prepared cookie sheet. The meringue cookies can be pretty close to each other as they won’t spread, and you will want to bake all of the cookies at the same time, so make sure you make enough space.

8. Bake on 225F (105C) for 1 hour. Turn off the oven once the baking time has passed, and do not open the oven. Leave the oven door closed and allow cookies to cool completely in the oven (1-2 hours) before removing. Meringue cookies should be crisp and can be stored in an airtight container. Keep away from heat and moisture as it can soften your meringues.

Hazelnut Biscotti

This Sunday at the Fairmount Farmers Market, you'll find pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm including:
berries (serve with biscotti, recipe below)
greens
radishes (make some smashed radishes in chili oil)
salad 
snap peas (try some springtime spaghetti carbonara)

The first of the spring strawberries are such a treat, that I prefer to savor them plain rather than hiding them in pillows of sweet toppings. A refined hazelnut biscotti makes the perfect accompaniment to naturally sweet berries. My daughter made biscotti for my husband's birthday and we've been nibbling them with fresh strawberries all week.

Hazelnut Biscotti

adapted from Patricia Wells Tratoria

2 cups (265 g) unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (135 g) vanilla sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (125 g) hazelnuts, toasted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

3. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, slowly add the liquids, and mix well with you hands or a dough whisk. If necessary, add additional flour to form a firm and workable dough. Add the hazelnuts and work them evenly into the dough.

4. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Flour your hands and carefully roll each piece into and oval cylinder about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Carefully transfer each cylinder to the parchment-lined baking sheet. 

5. Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake until the dough is slightly risen and an even golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and transfer the cylinders to a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

6. Transfer each cylinder to a cutting board and slice the biscotti on a sharp diagonal (45-degree angle) at 1/2 inch intervals. Stand the biscotti upright on the baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Return the baking sheet to the center of the oven and bake until the biscotti are a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool thoroughly. The cookies should be dry and crisp. Once cooled they can be store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Strawberry Pancakes

Orders were placed last night for heart shaped pancakes for Valentine's Day breakfast. I added a handful of frozen strawberries from this week's Good Food Easy CSA share, which gave the resulting cakes a faint pink hue and a pleasant berry flavor.

Freeform hearts didn't work so well (I am not a pancake art master), but an aluminum foil mold managed to produce a few passable hearts. While I wrestled with the pancakes, my husband prepared fruit toppings: sautéed cinnamon apples shaped in an onigiri mold and banana hearts. Breakfast served with love.

Strawberry Pancakes

makes about 20 small pancakes

2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 handful strawberries, thawed if frozen, and mashed
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups flour (I used Lonesome Whistle Farm's soft white wheat)
1 tsp baking powered
1/4 tsp baking soda
butter for greasing the pan

1. Make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just to combine.

2. Heat a large griddle on medium low until the temperature is stable. Grease with a pad of butter. Spoon on the batter with a soup spoon to make silver dollar sized pancakes. To make heart shaped pancakes, you can form a mold out of aluminum foil folded several times into a strip and formed into a heart. Cook the pancakes until stable bubbles form in the batter and the edges take on a more yellowish hue. Flip and cook briefly on the second side. If using the aluminum mold, peal it away from the pancake after flipping. When both sides are nicely browned, transfer to a warm plate. Grease the pan again and cook the next round of pancakes. Serve with fruit and maple syrup.

Strawberries and Chocolate Fondue with Homemade Creme Fraiche

This Sunday at at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a selection of pastured chicken and grass-fed lamb cuts from Fair Valley Farm and beautiful fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company. Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm will have the following offerings: 

Fresh
Strawberries, available by the flat for $32 (dip in chocolate fondue)
Leeks, scallions, baby stalks of garlic and garlic whistles, also called scapes (try in pesto)
Anaheim and poblano chile peppers and some early tomatoes (try this fresh pasta dish)
Artichokes, baby beets, and kohlrabi (try this carrot and kohlrabi salad with harissa)
New potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli (roasted cauliflower is delicious)
Carrots, summer squash, and cucumbers
Chard, collard greens, and kale (use those stems for pickles)
Fresh herbs (basil, oregano, sage, thyme) plus home-grown lemon grass!!
Lettuce, including ready-to-eat bagged mix
Cherries & Blenheim apricots (from Washington)

Preserves
From Sweet Creek Foods:
Dill Pickles, Chili Dill Pickles, Bread 'N Butter Pickles, Pickle Relish
Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, & Raspberry Fruit Spreads
Enchilada Sauce and Salsa
From SLO Farm: Applesauce

Bean and Grains
Sweetwater Farm's polenta and cornmeal!
Assorted beans and grains from Camas Country Mill

This will likely be the last week of a spectacular strawberry season. Do not let the opportunity pass to indulge in some chocolate dipped strawberries. For a recent birthday celebration I wanted to make this ultimate chocolate fondue recipe, but it required creme fraiche, and rather than making yet another trip to the store, I tried my hand at making my own. 

The amazing activities of microbes never cease to inspire me, and now that I have witnessed how easily a spoonful of buttermilk bacteria can transform a jar of liquid cream into a lovely, tangy custard, I'm kicking myself for not having made creme fraiche every week of my adult life.

The tanginess of the creme fraiche made for the best chocolate fondue I've ever had. And just as the lactobacilli devoured the carbohydrates in the cream, so the pack of eleven year old girls devoured the strawberries and fondue with gusto.

Chocolate Fondue

adapted from Scharffen Berger

makes 2 cups, serves 8 to 12

6 ounces dark chocolate chips (60% or more cacao)
1/2 cup creme fraiche (recipe below)
3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberries and other fruits, small pieces of cake and butter cookies (for dipping)

In a small fondue pot, combine the chocolate, crème frâiche, butter and extract. Place over the fondue burner using either a votive candle or low sterno heat and allow the chocolate to melt. Stir until fondue is smooth.

To serve, keep warm while guests dip fruit, cookies, or pieces of cake in the fondue.

Your chocolate fondue keeps up to a week in the refrigerator. Reheat over very low heat before serving.

Homemade Creme Fraiche (from food52)

makes 1/2 cup

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoons buttermilk

Seek out a good quality heavy cream that is pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized. If you can only find ultra-pasteurzed, it will work, but will take longer to thicken. To start, pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream into a non-reactionary container such as a glass Mason jar. Next, add one tablespoon of buttermilk to the heavy cream. Cover the jar with a lid and shake until everything is thoroughly combined. Loosely cover the heavy cream mixture with a tea towel or moist paper towel and allow it to sit out on your kitchen counter for 12-24 hours. Ideally the temperature in your kitchen will be from 72 to 78 degrees. Mine took a full 24 hours to thicken. After it's at the preferred consistency, transfer it to your fridge. The creme fraiche will be good for up to 2 weeks.

Bread Starter Waffles

Like a microbial cultural anthropologist, I've continued to try to study the habits of my bread starter. And like my co-instructors, I've been wondering what to do with all the leftover starter generated by a regular regimen of diluting my culture into fresh flour paste. Great minds think alike and so, like them, I resorted to breakfast fare; in their cases pancakes of one kind and another, in my case waffles. I started with a sourdough waffles recipe from King Arthur Flour, which I melded with these yeasted buckwheat waffles from Deborah Madison. The dough made with the starter had significantly more integrity than those I had made with an overnight sponge from commercial yeast, and the waffles had a more complex, tangy taste that paired nicely with tart, stewed rhubarb and fresh strawberries. I'm thinking that it might work well to keep my culture growing slowly in the refrigerator during the week and revive it on the weekends for bouts of bread baking and breakfasts. The microbes in my culture are likely studying me as well and learning to understand the habits of their human cohabitants who dash out of the house five mornings a week and lounge around the other two.

Bread Starter Buckwheat Waffles

(makes about 6 waffles in a Belgian waffle iron)

overnight sponge
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups buttermilk

waffle or pancake batter
all of the overnight sponge
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. To make the overnight sponge, stir down your refrigerated starter, and remove 1 cup. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the 1 cup starter, flour, honey, and buttermilk. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight.

2. The next morning, finish the bater. In a small bowl or mixing cup, beat together the eggs, and oil or butter. Add to the overnight sponge. Add the salt and baking soda, stirring to combine. The batter will bubble.

3. Pour batter onto your preheated, greased waffle iron, and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Serving suggestion: a dollop of plain yogurt, a drizzle of stewed rhubarb, fresh strawberries, and maple syrup.

Strawberry and Buttermilk Tapioca Flamingo

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to fresh produce from Sweetwater Farm and pasture-raised poultry from Fair Valley Farm including:

strawberries (try this tapioca flamingo)

fava beans and sugar snap peas (delicious in wheat berry salad)

pattypan squash and zucchini (nice shredded with shallots and herbs)

spring onions, fresh spring garlic, and garlic scapes (make garlic scape pesto pizza)

kale, chard, collards, braising greens mix, lettuce, and salad mix 

potatoes, beets, broccoli, and Italian green cauliflower (nice in packets on the grill)

salsa and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods
pastured chicken (try this recipe with Chinese five spices)

So plan to make a stop at the market part of your Farther's Day festivities, and be sure to pick up a pint of strawberries to celebrate.

Strawberries always strike me as an old fashioned fruit, which inspired me to try this charming 1949 recipe entitled "Tapioca Flamingo" anthologized in Amanda Hesser's tome of New York Times recipes. When I mentioned tapioca to my children, their only association was with bubble tea, a situation I felt needed immediate remedying, because tapioca pudding is really a lovely comfort food, even if you'd never find it on a restaurant dessert menu between chocolate mousse and creme brulee. The original flamingo recipe called for pineapple juice to be gelled with the extracted juices of sugared and macerated strawberries, but flipping ahead half a century I came across a 1996 Molly O'Neil recipe for panna cotta that used buttermilk, which appealed to me more as a tart backdrop for the berries. The flamingos were a big hit with the whole family, light and refreshing, with their lovely pink color and kitschy retro feel.

Strawberry and Buttermilk Tapioca Flamingo

adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook

1/2 lb strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
3 scant Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

1. Hull and half the strawberries and combine them in a bowl with the sugar. Crush with a fork or potato masher and let stand for about 30 minutes.

2. Set a strainer over a bowl, drain the strawberries, and set aside. You should have about 1/2 cup juice. 

3. In a small saucepan, combine the strawberry juice, a pinch of salt, and the tapioca. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk. Then fold in the drained strawberries well.  

4. Let the pudding cool in a bowl or transfer into 4 parfait glasses or bowls. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Once it reaches room temperature, transfer to the refrigerator to chill. When ready to serve, whip the cream (add a pinch of sugar if you like). Top the pudding with a dollop of whipped cream and serve chilled.

Strawberry Pinwheels

If you are tired of the cloyingly sweet Halloween candy kicking around your house, a good antidote is some fresh baked treats, such as these strawberry pinwheels from Liana Krissoff's Canning for a New Generation. The dough is flavored with ground cardamom and just a hint of sugar and is the perfect vessel for homemade strawberry preserves or some of Sweetwater Farm's strawberry spread, if you are lucky enough to have any left from the summer.

The assembly of these pinwheels may look a bit fussy, but it's actually quite simple and forgiving and a fun activity for kids who need some distractions now that the excitement of Halloween preparations is over. I let some rye flour slip into the dough (because it had proved so tasty in these cookies) and rather than chopped nuts as a topping I used this streusel, which meant these cookies could be packed for a snack at my daughter's nut-free school. These treats will fill your house with the delicious smell of baked yeast dough, and when everyone is sated, you can surreptitiously tossed out the rest of the Halloween candy.

Cardamom Pinwheel Danishes

adapted from Liana Krissoff's Canning for a New Generation

for about 24 pinwheels
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp instant yeast
1 cup rye flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp pure kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus about 2 Tbsp softened butter for the filling
About 1/3 cup strawberry jam

for the streusel

2 Tbsp cup flour

1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp butter

1. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, yeast, and 3/4 cup warm water until smooth. 

2. In a large bowl, sift the flours. Stir in the salt, sugar, and cardamom. Then cut in the butter until the pieces of butter are about the size of peas. Now make a well in the center and pour in the egg mixture. Gradually incorporate the dry into the wet ingredients. You could also form this dough in a food processor.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and soft but not sticky. Clean the bowl, return the dough, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

4. To make the streusel, combine the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix. Then add the vanilla and butter and pulse until it is a coarse crumb. Reserve.

5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

6. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll one out into and approximately 9 inch long and 6 inch wide rectangle and cut it into half lengthwise and thirds widthwise to produce six 3 x 3 inch squares. Take one square and cut a slit from each corner diagonal toward the center, stopping about 1/2 inch before the center. Spread a bit of softened butter in the center of each square and spoon 1 scant tsp jam on top of the butter. Bring every other point (four total) to the center of the pastry and pinch them together tightly over the jam. Transfer to a parchment paper-covered baking sheet and sprinkle with streusel. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Let cool on wire racks. Enjoy.

End of the Season Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Frosty nights have set in and the longterm forecast predicts rain for next weekend, so today is likely to have been the last Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market of the season. Many thanks to Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm for bringing us their delicious foods all summer long and ensuring a successful third season for the market. If you were lucky enough to pick up some of Sweetwater Farm's jam (or better yet, earn a jar through their punchcard system), here is a recipe for cottage cheese pancakes onto which you can slather their fine preserves.

These pancakes are an old family specialty. They are not just regular pancakes with a dollop of cottage cheese, but rather a heaping amount of cottage cheese with a sprinkle of flour. The recipe comes from Michael Fields, a chef my mother admired in the 1970's, but who died early in life, likely from the quantity of butter and eggs he consumed while testing his recipes. These pancakes, for example, called for a dozen eggs and a stick and a half of butter. Our family's version scaled these back, but we kept Fields' recommended toppings of jam and powdered sugar. Sweetwater Farm's strawberry preserves made these an extra treat.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

makes about 24 pancakes

16 oz. cottage cheese
3 eggs
2 Tbsp butter for the batter and more for cooking the pancakes
1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
jam and powdered sugar for topping

1. Melt the butter in a large batter bowl. Mix in the cottage cheese and then the eggs. Lightly incorporate the flour and salt.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt a small pad of butter across the surface of the skillet and then spoon out  a tablespoon at a time of batter, evenly spaced. This batter takes a little longer to cook than regular pancakes and it works best if you keep the pancakes on the smallish side (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter). Watch them carefully. When ready to flip, the batter should take on a slightly darker, less shiny sheen, and bubbles at the edges should remain fixed. When you flip the pancakes, they should be nicely browned. Cook them on the second side until they are similarly browned and then transfer to a warm serving plate or a baking sheet in a low oven while you cook the rest.

3. Serve warm with fruit jam (I recommend Sweetwater Farm's strawberry spread) and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Strawberries on Sunday

While the rest of the country is sweltering, we can look forward to a balmy weekend, and a bounty of fresh produce and local grains at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market. SLO Farm will be selling the following items:


green beans
zucchini
fresh garlic
green cabbage
bietola
flat-leaf parsley
lettuce mix
basil
cucumbers
potatoes
(great ingredients for potato and bean salads, green salads, stir fries, and pesto)

strawberries
cherries
eggs
honey
(think waffles, or toss strawberries in a salad with greens, apples, crumbled goat cheese, and a honey vinaigrette).

If you want to enjoy sunshine and local food this weekend, think about visiting the Bite of Eugene at Alton Baker Park on Saturday to support  the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition. And be sure to visit the Fairmount Farmers Market on Sunday.

Gluten-free Waffles

In anticipation of a house guest on a gluten-free diet, I had stocked up on some wheat alternatives from Camas Country Mill: buckwheat and teff flour. It's important to note that because these grains were processed in a mill that also processes wheat, they are not suitable for someone with a severe gluten intolerance. For local grain enthusiasts in need of strict gluten-free grains, the Willamette Seed and Grain Project in Tangent is planning a gluten-free mill. Last weekend I experimented with gluten-free waffles.

Waffles are a favorite weekend breakfast in our household (doesn't everyone have a Belgium waffle maker, since it lies at the perfect sweet spot in the wedding gift spectrum between too stingy and too extravagant?). Lately I've been feeling a little bored with the standard white flour variety. These teff and buckwheat variants are still light and airy, but with a much more distinctive flavor.

With the heft from the teff and hint of sourness from the buckwheat, these waffles are a delicious receptacle for sweet fresh fruit, such as berries and diced peaches. We had recently gone strawberry picking at Evonuk’s on Seavey Loop, but gotten sidetracked with a picnic at Mount Pisgah, and by the time we got home, most of the strawberries were half baked. To salvage the mushiest, we pureed them in the blender and frozen the strawberry sauce in small ziplock bags, which proved to be a perfect aliquot for drizzling on waffles, along with a splash of maple syrup. We'll definitely be making these waffles again, even without the excuse of a gluten-free guest.

Gluten-free Waffles

1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp neutral oil, such as grape seed
1 cup teff flour
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
butter for the waffle iron
Fresh fruit and maple syrup for serving


1. Mix together the buttermilk, egg yokes, and oil.


2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.


3. Beat the egg whites into stiff peeks.


4. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the egg whites.


5. Heat a waffle iron and grease with a little butter. Ladle in batter and cook waffle.  Serve warm with fresh fruit and maple syrup. Makes about 5 waffles.