Closing of the Farm Markets

 October marks the closing down of most of the farm markets across the country. If you are lucky enough to be in warmer climates you may enjoy them for a longer period and for that I am envious.  Here in the north east we are bringing out the cauldrons and filling them with sweet and tart apples, cinnamon and brown sugar, boiling it all down to make apple sauce and apple butter.

Everywhere the fields are dotted with orange balls of varying sizes filled with sweet orange flesh that we turn into pumpkin pies for the holidays. Some really really large ones make it into the local contests for the largest pumpkin grown each year.  Interesting to note is that the largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds. I know some farmers around here that would love to beat that record.  Recently I heard of people partaking in a recreation called “punkin chunkin”. Our ancestors would roll over in their graves if they knew about this wasteful activity.

As “Gus Portokalos” from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” would say the name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon”. (And they probably washed them with Windex)J.   The name pepon was eventually changed to pumpkin by the English colonists.

During Colonial times pumpkin was a staple in the Native Americans diet and when the white settlers came to America they saw how the Indians used pumpkin and it soon became a staple in their diets as well. There are many uses for pumpkin;   unfortunately today we do not generally use pumpkin except for our traditional pumpkin pie.  This is too bad because it is one of the most nutrient rich squashes containing natural vitamin A and potassium.  An interesting fact about pumpkin is that in Colonial times it was an ingredient in the crust not the filling.

There are many traditional and nontraditional recipes for using pumpkin available today. One tweak on the traditional pumpkin pie that I like is to take your pie out after 15 minutes of baking then make a mixture of 2Tb organic flour, 4Tb organic cane sugar, 1tsp cinnamon, 2Tb earth balance. Blend this all together in a food processor or cut it in with a pastry blender. Then blend in 2/3 cup chopped pecans and 2/3 cup chopped walnuts.  Sprinkle this over the top of the pie and place back into a 350’ oven for 35 minutes.

A more non-traditional but really delicious recipe that my whole family enjoys is for Leek and Pumpkin Casserole. It also uses seasonally available ingredients like cider and leeks. The recipe follows:

Leek and Pumpkin Casserole

1 lg sweet onion, sliced

2 leeks, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 3/4 cups diced pumpkin

1 cup diced sweet potato

2/3 cup diced rutabaga or turnips

14 oz can of chopped tomatoes or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

2/3 cup – 1 cup hard cider

2 tsp herbs de Provence

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 350’F. Put all of the fresh vegetables into a casserole dish and mix them up well. Add the tomatoes, 2/3 cup of the cider, the herbs and salt and pepper mixing everything all up together.

Cover and bake in the center of the over for 1 ½ hours, stirring once or twice and adding a little more cider if needed. You want the vegetables to be tender when done. Garnish with parsley and serve warm with crusty bread.

Fall is in the Air

With the weather cooling down in many parts of the country we begin to think of fall and all of the things that go with it. Harvest time is a big deal in our area. Soon there will be apple festivals, with the many different flavors of cider being pressed in old wooden cider presses at local cider mills. Flavors such as raspberry, cherry and good old fashioned apple.  The warm smell of cider doughnuts filling the air, wine tours winding down and wineries snuggling in for the long winter months ahead.  Make sure to pick up some of your favorite local wine or cider to store away to be used in soul warming mulled wine and cider drinks throughout winter.

In New England the foliage is already nearing peak in many areas. And soon we will hear the laughter of small children running through the corn field mazes that will begin to crop up all around the north east and heartland. 

Making good use of what we find at our local farmers market is probably at the top of many of your to do lists. Every week the colors of fall show themselves more and more and with them come the rich ambers, mustards and warm reds and green colors of winter vegetables.

With most area farmers markets soon coming to an end now is the time to prepare an area in your basement, garage or porch for storing those delicious beauties so that you can make them part of your winter meals on a regular basis. But once you’ve stored those beauties away don’t forget about them, it is easy for us to succumb to the old saying “out of site out of mind”.  Make sure you have chosen your storage area wisely preferably one that you walk by or go near on a regular basis and be sure to check your stock regularly making sure to look for soft or moldy pieces that may need to be used first.

One of my family’s favorite winter squashes is acorn. I have several ways to prepare this delicately flavored beauty but the recipe below is my favorite.

Coconut Scented Acorn Squash Puree

2 Acorn Squash cut in half and seeded

1 ½ cups organic coconut sugar

2 TB organic raw virgin coconut oil

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 cup water

Method

Preheat the oven to 350’

Cut the tip off of each half of the squash so that it will sit level. Place all 4 halves in a large casserole dish with a lid and pour the water into the bottom of the dish. Divide the coconut sugar evenly between all four halves place the cover on top place in the oven and bake at 350’ for 1 hour.

When the squash is done carefully  (they will be very hot!) scrape down all of the meat into the center pool of melted sugar, do this for each half.  Now scoop this mixture out and into a bowel. Add the coconut oil and salt, mash up and mix until the oil is melted.  Serve warm.

Servings 4-6