Harvest Festival Today!! 2-6 pm
- Lettuce
- Spinach or arugula
- Tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes or pineapple tomatillos
- Peppers
- Hot peppers
- Potatoes
- Onions
- Winter Squash
- Leeks
- Celeriac
- Parsley or cilantro or dill
- Brussels sprouts tops (use like kale! finally)
- Apples
The Harvest Festival is today! We have ordered up the best weather of the fall, although right now we are bathed in fog, it promises to burn off by the afternoon, just in time for the farm party to begin. I have made Birria, Stout spice cake, goat cheese cake and will make the winter squash racion from Toro Bravo. The pizza sauce is done, the dough has yet to be made and it is crunch time! Hope to see you all at the farm this afternoon.
Please bring: your favorite pizza topping, a dish to pass, a mason jar for cider, plates, cups and silverware for your family, a check book or cash to purchase items and contribute to the performers
Here are some recipes to make with your celeriac, leeks, green onions (if I get them harvested )
Celeriac and Tomato Soup
4 tomatoes 2 cups water
2 # celeriac ¼ cup lovage chopped (optional)
3 leeks 1 onion
1 clove garlic 1 large carrot
1 tablespoon olive oil 2 T butter
3 sprigs parsley 6 cups chicken broth
salt and freshly ground pepper
Peel, seed, and roughly chop tomatoes. Peel sufficient celeriac to make 1 ½ pounds trimmed flesh, then cut into ½ inch cubes and drop into acidulated water. Wash and trim leeks and, using only the white and light green parts, thinly slice. You should have 1 ½ cups. Chop onion and combine with leeks. Chop garlic. Thinly slice carrot. Heat together oil and butter and sauté leeks and onion until wilted. Add garlic and carrot, and cook for 5 minutes longer, Add one third of the tomatoes and cook until they are lightly browned on the edges and the juice is evaporated.
Curried Winter Squash Soup
Farmer John’s Cookbook, John Peterson
Serves 6-8
3 T unsalted butter
1 cup chopped scallions (about 6)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 jalapeno, seeded, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds butternut squash, about ½ a large squash, peeled, seeded, cubed
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 14 ounce can whole tomatoes or 2 cups peeled, chopped fresh tomatoes
12 whole curry leaves (optional)
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground mace (I skipped this)
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons of curry powder
salt
freshly ground pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the scallions; sauté until soft and wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley, jalapeno, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Add squash and toss to coat it with the scallion mixture. Add the stock, tomatoes, curry leaves, all spice, mace and nutmeg. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the squash is very tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Transfer the soup in batches to a blender or food processor; puree.
- Transfer the soup back to the pot. Stir in the curry powder and add salt, pepper to taste. Return the soup to a simmer to heat through. Garnish with the parsley just before serving.
a drained celeriac, the rest to the tomatoes and parsley sprig. Cook together for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, water and lovage (if using). Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Puree, season with salt and pepper, and serve with croutons on the side. (serves 8) For thinner soup only use 1 pound celeriac and 3 tomatoes.
Celery-Root and Potato Latkes
1 large celery root (celeriac; 1 1/2 lb), peeled with a knife
1 1/2 lb large russet (baking) potatoes (about 3 large)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 lb onions, quartered
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground celery seeds
About 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
Special equipment: a kitchen towel (not terry cloth)
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 250°F.
Coarsely grate celery root into a bowl using the 1/3-inch-wide holes of a box grater.
Peel potatoes and coarsely grate into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss. Coarsely grate onions into same bowl.
Transfer to towel, then gather up corners to form a sack and twist tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible.
Return potatoes and onions to cleaned bowl and stir in celery root, flour, eggs, salt, pepper, and celery seeds until combined well.
Heat 1/3 inch oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Fill a 1/4-cup measure (not tightly packed) with latke mixture and carefully spoon it into skillet, then flatten to 3 inches in diameter with a slotted spatula. Form 3 more latkes in skillet, then fry until undersides are deep golden, 1 1/2 to 3 minutes. Turn over using 2 spatulas and fry until deep golden all over, 1 1/2 to 3 minutes more. (If latkes brown too quickly, lower heat to moderate.) Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly. Keep warm in 1 layer on a metal rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven. Make more latkes in same manner. Use a second rack and baking pan to keep last batches warm.
Cooks’ note:
Latkes can be fried 1 hour ahead.
Gourmet
December 2004
Celeriac Slaw
From Carried Away (a great place to eat in Aptos, CA…if you ever need a caterer, we highly recommend them)
1 celery root, peeled and cut into julienne (or grated if you don’t have a mandolin, some of you may be able to julienne with a sharp knife)
1 egg
1 cup oil
1 Tablespoon capers, chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 Tablespoons chopped parsley (or cilantro, or other fresh herb)
Boil a pot of water. Add the thin slices of celeriac for one minute, just to blanch them. Drain and set aside. In a blender mix the egg, lemon juice, salt & pepper. While that is mixing, slowly add in the oil. Spoon the sauce over the celery root, add the capers and the parsley, then toss. (Julia’s note: I’ve successfully skipped the blanching part)
Potato-Celery Root Cakes
from Deborah Madison
1 pound potatoes, peeled
1 pound celery root, peeled
3-4 Tablespoons oil
Salt & Pepper
Grate the potatoes and celeriac, mix together. In a heavy skillet heat half the oil over med. heat. Add half the potatoes-celery root mixture, making a layer about 1/2 inch thick. Season, then cover with the other half of the mixture. Press down on the cake and neaten the edges. Reduce heat to low and cook until the bottom is golden, about 10-15 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a plate, add the remaining oil, slide the cake back into the pan and cook the other side until golden.
Storage: Wrap celery root in plastic and refrigerate for up to one week.
Spices that go nicely with celery root:
Nutmeg, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, allspice.
measuring:
1 small celery root, sliced = 2 cups
Nutritional Value: Celery Root is Rich in phosphorous and potassium; 40 calories per cup
A very basic cooking method:
Peel and cube celery root and cook in boiling salted water about 10 minutes. Serve with butter or lemon juice.
A Celery Root Idea from Chef Andrew Cohen:
Fine dice celeriac, carrots, onions, shallot, garlic, button mushrooms, yukon gold or yellow finn potatoes, and a little prosciutto.
Cook some French lentils (the small green ones) until done with some thyme and garlic. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.
Saute the vegetables in the prosciutto renderings and, if you’ve got it- duck fat, otherwise use a neutral oil. Start with the alliums, add the mushrooms, then the carrots and celeriac. If they seem to be taking too long, add a splash of sherry or stock and cover for a couple minutes. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, adding liquid and covering if necessary as well. Fold in the lentils and cook to warm through, using the reserved lentil cooking liquid if needed to lubricate the lentils. Season with S&P and a splash of sherry. I served this with salmon with a chanterelle crust, celeriac mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a red wine mushroom stock reduction. The mushrooms were dried chanterelles as were the mushrooms in the crust on the salmon.
Celery Root and Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts
serves 4 to 6
2 medium celery roots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium red delicious apples, cored and cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch watercress leaves
dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 cup walnut halves, toasted
Combine the celery root and apple in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss with the green onion and watercress. Whisk the vinegar, mustard seed, mustard, honey and oil until well combined. Toss with the celery root mixture. Taste for salt and pepper and garnish with walnuts.