Date: October 26th 2009

 
In Your Share
Winter Squashes and Pumpkins
Sweet Potatoes (a little big bigger than last time – don’t be afraid to try the white ones—they’re just as good as the others)
Sunchokes
Parsnips
Garlic
Tatsoi and Mei Qing Choi (small heads)
Scallions
 
*
I misspoke in last week’s email – there are actually only three (count ‘em, 3!) more weeks of CSA veggies after this week. Three Tuesdays in November doesn’t take us up to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day as usual, so the last CSA is actually the Tuesday before the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. In other words, the last CSA is Nov. 17.
 
Henry will start handing out sign-up sheets for CSA 2010 next week (Nov. 3), and will start taking checks, which confirm your spot in next year’s CSA. Remember, he doesn’t cash your check until Feb. 2010, so you can still do as much holiday spending as you like.
 
Of course spending money is not the secret to happiness . . . at least that’s not what Henry and Hiroko’s daughter Zoe wrote in her essay for school . . . reprinted with her permission at the end of this email.
 
*
FOOD NOTES – Sunchokes, Parsnips, Winter Squash/Pumpkin
 
You’ll see a few of the Asian greens this week – smaller than usual because of the late planting in this wet summer, but still very tasty.
 
 I wrote a little bit about SUNCHOKES (Jerusalem Artichokes) last week . . . here are a few more recipe ideas:  
 
Easy Sunchoke Gratin from Marcella Hazan
1 pound sunchokes
Salt
Butter for smearing and dotting the baking dish
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drop the sunchokes into salted, boiling water. Cook them until they feel tender, but not mushy when prodded with a fork. Ten minutes after the water returns to a boil, check them frequently because they tend to quickly go from very firm to very soft. Drain, and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1/2-inch slices.

Smear the bottom of a baking dish with butter, then place the sunchoke slices in it, arranging them so they overlap slightly. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the grated Parmesan. Dot with butter and place the dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Bake until a light golden crust begins to form on top. Allow to settle for a few minutes out of the oven before serving.

Puree of Sunchoke Soup
  • 1 lb. sunchokes
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper
Scrub sunchokes and slice into 1 inch pieces.
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add scallion and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add sunchokes and stir. Add thyme, a pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir frequently.
Add chicken stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, until sunchokes are easily pierced with a fork.
Remove bay leaf. Puree mixture in batches using a blender, or in the pot using a stick blender. Blend until smooth. Return soup to pot and add cream. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
 
The Parsnips are large and spicy/sweet – perfect roasted with other root vegetables, made into a soup, or sautéed as in this recipe.  (They are also great instead of carrots in your favorite carrot cake recipe.)
 
Sauteed Parsnips
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound large parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into 3x1/4x1/4-inch sticks
  • Coarse kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (such as heather, chestnut, or wildflower)
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add parsnips. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté about 12 minutes. Add butter, rosemary, and honey. Toss over medium heat until heated through and vegetables are glazed, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired.
 
The Winter Squashes and Pumpkins have been stellar this year--See them at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=162455&id=124373620464&ref=nf
I remember when I was a kid acorn squash was bland and watery, sometimes stringy, and butternut wasn’t much better.  (This may be why we always slathered them with butter and brown sugar at the table.)  But Henry’s squashes and pumpkins are rich, earthy, sweet and smooth, almost custardy. The butternut, kabocha, delicata, and all the rest each have their own characteristic tastes, but all are amazingly flavorful this year.  
 
The easiest thing to do is just cut them in half, and place them cut side down on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Put them in a medium oven until a fork pierces the skin and flesh easily. Some people like to scoop the seeds out before putting them in the oven, but I think they come out easier after the squash is cooked. Either way is fine.   Once cooked, I think they are perfect as-is. But I know other people who say a little butter or olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper brings the flavors out even more.
 
If you have kids (or a sweet tooth yourself), any dessert recipe calling for pumpkin will be even better made with squash – from pie to cake to muffins to cookies. 
 
I’ve been making this pumpkin bread from The Joy of Cooking about three times a week lately – with everything from Delicata to Kabocha to Pumpkin to Butternut to a mix of whatever’s leftover from the night before.
PUMPKIN BREAD
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Mix together:
  1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  1 teaspoon ground ginger
  1⁄2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
  1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine in a small bowl:
  1⁄3 cup water or milk
  1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
  6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) butter, softened, or 1⁄3 cup vegetable shortening
  1 1⁄3 cups sugar or 1 cup sugar plus 1⁄ 3 cup packed brown sugar
Beat in one at a time:
  2 large eggs
Add and beat on low speed just until blended:
  1 cup cooked squash or pumpkin
Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold in extras as you like:
  1⁄2 cup chocolate chips and/or coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans and/or  1⁄3 cup raisins
Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.
 
 
And here’s a festive Pumpkin Layer Cake recipe from Epicurious.com.  
 
Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Butter for coating cake pans, at room temperature
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups pumpkin or squash flesh
  • 1 cup lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut
  • 3/4 cup canned crushed pineapple (do not drain)
  • 1/3 cup dried currants

Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons cooked squash or pumpkin
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
  Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch sides.   Sprinkle the pans with flour, tap the pans to evenly distribute the flour, and then shake off the excess flour. Set aside.
To make the cake, in a large bowl, sift together the 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla. In another medium bowl, combine the pumpkin or squash, coconut, crushed pineapple, and currants.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add the pumpkin mixture and stir just until combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading it evenly. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around the edge of the pans to loosen the cakes. Invert the cakes onto the racks. Let cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth. Add the butter and beat for about 2 minutes until combined. Add the pumpkin or squash and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy.
Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or platter. Spread half of the frosting over the top of the first cake layer. Spread the frosting right to the edge of the top without frosting the sides of the cake. Carefully place the second cake on top, lining up the edges. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake without frosting the sides. Refrigerate the cake to set the frosting. Remove from the refrigerator 30 to 40 minutes before serving.
*
And now, as promised . . .
The Secret to Happiness
By Aozora Brockman
I used to think that my father was crazy. Every night, he would come home completely and utterly dirty--proof of his exhausting work tending to the Earth. His hands would be the color of a cloudless night, the stars being bits of perlite--the sparkly white mineral used in the greenhouse potting mix--stuck here and there in the creases of his palm and fingers.  Brown stains remained even after he had washed up for dinner. I thought he was crazy because, covered in sweat and mud and dirt, he was the happiest man on Earth.
I didn’t always think he was crazy. When I was little, I used to throw dirt into the air to feel it rain down on me, run around with bare feet just to feel the soft ground below me, and make black gloves out of mud and show them off to my brothers. Then I started to go to school. It was a shock to know that now, dirt was a bad thing. No one wanted to get dirty for fear of germs. Gradually, I began to stop touching the Earth with my hands unless it was absolutely necessary. After a long harvest at the farm, I would try to clean the dirt from under my fingernails, afraid of what would get said at school. Yet I can truly say that those were the most depressing years of my life. 
After years of not being happy but not quite knowing why, I had an epiphany. Naturally, this occurred while I was pulling stubborn weeds out of the ground with only my thoughts to listen to one scalding, humid day.  Such revelations often happened when I was weeding.  So far I had figured out how I could help struggling people in Africa, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and now . . . the secret to happiness.  Right then, feeling the cool, moist soil underneath my hot, sweaty hands, I felt some of the happiness from my toddler years come rushing back.   And I knew that dirt is the secret to happiness.
There is a liberating, freeing feeling when you bury your hands in dirt. It is difficult to explain, but the musky, fruity smell of the soil combined with the unique texture of the Earth makes you feel connected to Nature. When you close your eyes and feel the dirt teeming with life, it makes you feel alive too.
But not all dirt is created equal. The fertile, black soil of my father’s Central Illinois farm is one that not many people have experienced. I believe that dirt that has been repeatedly damaged by poisonous chemicals or has been compacted and over-farmed will not give one the same exhilarating happiness.
Now, I am truly content. Some days I come to school with dirt under my fingernails, proud to display my closeness to the Earth. Some people send weird glances at my hands, probably thinking that I am crazy.  Just like I used to think my father was crazy.  I do not know why, but this thought makes me laugh.
 
 

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