In Season

There is no better season for eating than late fall and early winter. With the early harvests of asparagus, radishes, and heads of romaine lettuce, spring has its pleasures, but they have a fleeting nature, disappearing as quickly as they come, often consumed between one bit of busy-ness and the next. Summer’s culinary delights often get lost in the gluttony of the moment—does any vegetable more embody the concept of gluttony than a vine ripe tomato? But fall’s foods settle in, with staying power, for the long haul of winter.

Winter provides time to get to know the food, rather than taste it and move on. A recipe that works well can be enjoyed again and again, fine-tuned and re-tuned. Shorter days necessarily lighten the workload, or at least change its pace since we no longer rush to beat an eight o’clock dusk to mow the lawn or weed the carrots; supper arrives in a proper veil of darkness.

It begins with the first harvest of storage onions in August, when the days have already begun to shorten. In a few short weeks, a change to cool nights signals that squash is ready to harvest. First frost sends us rushing to check the Brussels sprouts, which taste lousy without a good frost (our sprout crop is running very late this year, and should be ready for the next box—they taste good, but aren’t sized up yet). When the kale has frozen solid in early December, the cold-weather eating season has not quite reached its midpoint. And even as the earliest spring harvests begin, we still (we hope!) reach into the root cellar for the last of the storage crops harvested months before.

Spring and summer’s delights are not passively awaited, they are rushed along with row covers and transplanting and raised beds and anything else we can do. We await fall’s crops more passively; the short days that signal crops to slow down or stop growing, the cool nights and fall frosts that deepen and enrich the flavors cannot be rushed—we can only wait. Like a Minnesota winter, they arrive when they are ready, not necessarily when we are.

Farm Happenings

What We Did: We finished up the last of the rutabaga harvest on Tuesday afternoon, just as the sun was going down, putting about 5,000 pounds into the cooler, which is now officially full. On Wednesday, we’ll start to harvest the last of the beets, with an eye towards finishing by early next week. On Tuesday, we also planted the garlic crop that we will harvest next summer, placing each of the cloves of garlic root-end down in the cool soil. They’ll have plenty of time now to put on some good root growth for winter, which helps keep them from heaving out of the soil, and gets them a head start on spring.

Weather: Can’t complain about the weather, really. Most days have been pretty nice, although the drizzly aspect of the last two weeks has made some of our harvest work a little bit challenging. Most days we start off now by cleaning squash and onions in the greenhouse, then moving outside to harvest once the frost has gone off of the crops.

In Kim's Kitchen

I am just tickled with the quality of our fall spinach this year, with thick, succulent leaves and sweet stems. It makes a great salad all by itself with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and cooks up very nicely, as well.

Spinach Pesto

Great served over steak or tossed with roasted root vegetables.

8 oz Spinach
2 cloves garlic
some salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil

In a food processor pulse the Spinach and garlic together until finely chopped. With processor running slowly add the olive oil, adding enough oil to make a paste. Stir in salt to taste.

The earthy flavor of beets comes from the same chemical compound that soil organisms secrete to make the characteristic smell of freshly-tilled soil, and always reminds me that spring will come, even if it’s only the end of October now. If you are reluctant to try beets because of some leftover trepidation resulting from canned and boiled conventional beets from you childhood, then please try our beets. The best simple preparation is to bake them in a covered baking dish at 425 for about an hour.

Beet Walnut Salad

2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
4 Tbsp olive oil
6 medium baked beets, cooled and peeled
1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, and serve with wedges of blue cheese.

With their green shoulders and white bottoms, round Beauty Heart winter radishes look pretty plain until you notice the light pink blush on their tails, which belies their bright pink interior, which has a crisp, sweet flavor. Most of the heat of Beauty Heart radishes seems to be stored in the peel, so you can readily adjust their spiciness by leaving it on or taking it off. Although we heat most of ours raw – sliced and served, or grated into a salad – Beauty Heart radishes also work well roasted or in soups, where we use them in the same way we would turnips.

For this Halloween newsletter, it is appropriate to include some words about the now-humble rutabaga, a large root with purple shoulders and yellow flesh. Not only has the Advanced Rutabaga Studies Institute declared October to be National Rutabaga Month, the rutabaga was also a central fixture of the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was subsequently replaced by Halloween. Legend has it that Jack, a blacksmith who had mortgaged his soul to the demons of the underworld, found his way through the netherworld by hoisting a large hollowed rutabaga containing a glowing coal to light his way, the tenacious rutabaga defying the sense of growing darkness, loss, and emptiness associated with the season. Rutabagas have a firmer flesh and more sugars and vitamin C than the turnip, which it superficially resembles. It generally requires a longer cooking time, although this will vary with the length of time the rutabaga has been stored. Use it in soups and stews, sautés, and roasted vegetables. Rutabagas also make a great addition to hot dish.

Rutabaga Gratin

1-1/2 lbs rutabaga, sliced very thin
2 tbsp flour
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup grated parmesan
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
2 cloves minced garlic

Preheat oven to 375. Steam rutabaga slices for about three minutes, until crisp tender. Butter a 5 x 9 baking dish. Arrange 1/3 of the rutabaga slices evenly over the bottom and sprinkle with 1/2 of the rosemary, 1/2 of the flour, 1/3 of the parmesan, and black pepper. Add a second layer, and sprinkle with the remaining rosemary and flour, another 1/3 of the parmesan, and black pepper. Add a third layer, and sprinkle with parmesan and black pepper. Combine the cream, stock, and garlic and bring the mixture just to a boil. Pour over the rutabagas. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes or so, until browned.

Carnival Winter Squash is a new addition for us this year, and we are pleased with its mild flavor. Use it anywhere you would use a regular acorn squash.

Sage may be the most characteristically autumnal of all the herbs, providing much of the traditional flavor of the Thanksgiving feast. A member of the mint family, it is well-known for its healing and general tonic effect, and makes a great complement to all kinds of meat and poultry, as well as winter squash.

Baked Sage Squash

2 lbs winter squash (approximately)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 sprig sage
1/4 cup apple cider or juice
pepper to taste

Halve squash and remove seeds. Brush each half with melted butter. Place each half cut side down on top of a portion of the sage. Pour cider into pan, add enough water to reach 1/4 inch up the sides. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Turn squash over and bake for additional 15 minutes, or until tender. Scoop out squash flesh, pile lightly in serving dish, and grind pepper over the top.

Curly green kale only tastes better the colder it gets, and it is loaded with good nutrition for staying healthy in the fall. We frequently simply sauté it and serve with a little tamari soy sauce, but the kids especially like this crunchy variation:

Crispy Kale

1 bunch kale
salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Stem and chop a bunch of kale. Put the kale on an oiled cookie tray, spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes, tossing once or twice during that time. If you wish, top with parmesan, then bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer, tossing occasionally, until it is crisp. The kale will shrink and soften then it will begin to turn crisp. Remove from oven and let cool on the tray.