Another Way to Cook Turnips

When I got inundated with turnips from my winter produce CSA last week (after trading my beets for more turnips), I started thinking of how to get creative with recipes. The first attempt was Bill’s spontaneous root vegetable melange. The next attempt was something you may have had with Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes and turnip puree.

I had one very large purple turnip and only two Yukon potatoes. Ideally, I would have added a couple more potatoes, but it still turned out pretty tasty. All I did was peel and dice both vegetables, making them uniform size. Then I put them in a big pot of water and cooked the vegetables until tender (about 15-20 minutes). This also turned into a science lesson: I learned that turnips are less dense than potatoes and float to the top!

When they were done I simply mashed them and added a little buttermilk leftover from making butter, along with salt and pepper.

It was a delicious side dish to accompany roast chicken with gravy and oven-roasted carrots.

One Way to Cook Turnips

Remember all the turnips Bill and I got in our CSA share this week? Here’s the first dish we used them in. Bill cooked last night and created a melange of sliced carrots and diced turnips, plus last fall’s chopped leeks from our freezer—all sautéed in olive oil with salt and pepper. Simple and delicious. I like how the leeks balance with the flavor of the turnips.

My Winter CSA: Lakeshore Family Farm

For a few years now, Bill and I have been getting greens from a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Mud Lake Farm. I love having fresh greens in the dead of winter, grown in the farm’s greenhouse. But this is the first time we’ve tried a more traditional CSA program–the kind where you sign up and pay for a share or half-share of produce and get a “grab bag” of vegetables for the  week.

One reason we haven’t tried it before is because just two of us live in our household. Even a half share seemed like a lot. Another reason is because I stock up on produce at the Holland Farmers Market straight through December, squirreling away squash and onions and carrots and apples in the fridge or coolers in the garage. We also have a variety of frozen veggies and berries in our freezer from last summer. The third reason is because, frankly, I wanted more control over what veggies I got. (I really hate beets.)

But I kept seeing Lakeshore Family Farm’s posts on Facebook about what was in the CSA share for the week and, even with beets as a potential vegetable, we decided to try it out. I think the clincher was the “trade table.” I’ll explain.

If you haven’t participated in a CSA program before, here’s how it works with Lakeshore Family Farm: You sign up and pay in advance for an eight-week program. For their Winter CSA Program (half-share of produce) it’s $120. That comes out to $15 per week for fresh, local veggies. And all I have to do is drive across town to pick them up at a community location on my pick-up day (Wednesday).

Today was the first day, and what did I find in my share? Beets. Why aren’t there any in the photo? Because there was a bag of turnips on the trade table and you’re allowed to swap one item. I gladly left my bag of beets and took someone else’s turnips. Check out the photo above to see everything we got: apples, onions, celery root, acorn squash, turnips, sweet potatoes, more turnips, and carrots. (Can you buy all that for $15 or less at the grocery store?)

Yes, we have a lot of turnips. So watch my blog to see what we do with them. But, really, isn’t this the way we’re supposed to be eating anyway, in season? It’s like strawberries: When they’re ripe in Michigan I eat them almost everyday. Their season lasts about a month, and then I don’t eat them anymore except for what’s stored in our freezer. But it’s better than consuming produce from thousands of miles away. And what I like about Lakeshore Family Farm is they post produce recipes on their website so you can get inspiration for what to do with all those turnips (or beets!).

Grassfed Beef Tenderloin

Since Bill and I have been buying our own local grassfed meat, I’m appalled–even disturbed–by the sizes of meat cuts served in mainstream restaurants. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to see our tenderloin portion we received in our mixed quarter of beef from Lubbers Farm this year. The filet mignon (French for “cute filet”) is from the smaller end of the tenderloin, which runs along the spine of the cow.

Known as the most tender cut of meat in beef (as well as pork and venison), it’s also the most expensive part. An “average” steer or heifer (probably the feedlot variety) produces just 4 to 6 pounds of tenderloin, which is why our piece from a mixed quarter yielded just .63 pounds.

One saves a special occasion for preparing such a prime piece of meat. For Bill and me, it was New Year’s Eve. I chose an easy recipe but was very vigilant to make sure the meat wasn’t overcooked, especially since grassfed beef takes less time than feedlot meat. It was called Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce.

What I didn’t expect was for the meat to be cut into two pieces when I opened the package. So I had to be even more watchful since the surface area in the oven was nearly twice as much.

For a recipe like this, it helps to prepare the side dishes in advance as much as possible because the roasting time is fast. After rubbing with fresh garlic and sprinkling the meat with salt and pepper, I preheated the oven and got busy on the sauce. (You’re supposed to do this with the pan drippings after the meat is roasted but I wasn’t anticipating much in the way of drippings so I thought I’d start it and add whatever I could salvage later.)

First I sautéed green onions and garlic in olive oil.

Then I added rice flour instead of wheat flour to accommodate Bill’s allergies, and made a roux.

I added the red wine and some beef stock, omitting the mushrooms because I detest them.

The meat was done in about 25 minutes. I poured the drippings into the sauce and covered the meat with foil to let it rest while we finished the rest of the preparations.

Alongside our tenderloin we had mashed Yukon potatoes with raw milk buttermilk, braised carrots with carmelized onions in balsamic vinegar, and a Caesar salad (plus a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon and a little bubbly Prosecco to ring in the new year!).

It’s Winter, and It’s Farmers Market Season!

Graphic via Grist.org

Great news for locavores and anyone else who is trying to buy more fresh, local produce where you live: The number of winter farmers markets–those operating at least once between November and March–has risen by 52% this year!

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number has increased from 1,225 in 2011 to 1,864 in 2012.

Graphic via Grist.org

The graphic shows California, New York, and Florida topping the list, but here are the 2012 top 10 states for winter farmers markets:

1. California with 284

2. New York with 196

3. Florida with 105

4. Maryland with 70

5. Texas with 63

6. North Carolina with 62

7. Massachusetts with 59

8. Pennsylvania with 58

9. Georgia with 55

10. Virginia with 53

It’s great to see a few states in the snowy North making the list!

Flageolet Beans: A Little Bit of French in West Michigan

Flageolet beans are often cited as “the caviar of beans.” One of my favorite recipes for Lamb Shoulder from Chocolate & Zucchini calls for this pretty, pale green, kidney-shaped legume and, since I’d never seen them in West Michigan grocery stores, I have always substituted white canellini beans. Until I spotted them on the shopping list at West Michigan Co-op.

Turns out, there’s a farm in Holland, Michigan, called Shady Side Farm that grows flageolet beans, in addition to a variety of heirloom beans. (Up until a year or two ago, I didn’t even know Michigan is one of the top producers of dry beans!) It was nice to see that Shady Side Farm had recently set up a booth at the Kerstmarkt, a Dutch-style open-air holiday market in Holland, Michigan.

I was so excited to make the lamb shoulder recipe again–this time with the flageolet beans. The recipe is easy but it does require planning ahead, as do most recipes that use dry beans, because they need to soak in twice their volume of water overnight.

In the morning, rinse and drain the beans. For about a half pound, I sliced one large onion and sautéed it with the beans in olive oil, cooking for 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions were soft.

Then you pour in cold chicken stock (or cold water plus one bouillon cube) to cover the beans, bring them to a simmer, and cook for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the beans are tender but still holding their shape.

Season with salt 30 minutes into the cooking, and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper just before serving.

Pork and Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Every two weeks Bill and I get lettuce greens from our local CSA—all year ’round. Usually the day before delivery our farmer emails our CSA group about any extra produce she has, and we often take her up on it. When bok choy was on the list recently, I knew I had to make a stir-fry. We used the entire head in one meal, and it was so tasty—especially knowing it was freshly grown and harvested about ten miles from where we live.

To make this recipe, I browned a half pound of ground pork in a wok. (I also put some white rice on the stove to cook so it would be ready when the stir-fry was done.)

I removed the meat, then threw some sliced garlic and a 1/2-inch slice of fresh ginger (peeled) into the wok with safflower oil on medium-high heat until fragrant.

Meanwhile, I chopped a bunch of green onions and the bok choy so they were ready to throw in, separating the thicker pieces from the stem of the bok choy.

I removed the garlic and ginger and added a pinch of red pepper seeds, then quickly sautéed the bok choy stem pieces for a minute or two.

Then I added the green onions and the leafy parts of the bok choy, stir-frying for another minute. I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken stock mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of arrowroot to thicken it. (Arrowroot is a good substitute for cornstarch if you’re allergic to corn.)

At the end, I mixed in the pork, then served it over rice. Filling, delicious, and healthy.

For a vegetarian option, omit the pork and add cashews or peanuts at the end and substitute vegetable broth or water for the chicken stock.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

I am fascinated by the variety of Thanksgiving traditions people bring to their table. I love how we are influenced by our families, our heritage, and our experiences. But I have to say I can’t think of a single thing that I must have for Thanksgiving every year. As long as I get to cook—using local, organic, and seasonal ingredients as much as possible—I’m happy.

Most of the fun is the creative process in cooking but it’s also about trying new things. So when Bill and I had guests with vegetarian preferences this year, I was excited to look for recipes. I was also challenged to find ones that would accommodate both a vegetarian diet and Bill’s allergy restrictions: wheat, corn, and pasteurized cow dairy. Thankfully, the world is at my fingertips through the internet!

After a light appetizer–and a favorite at our house–of Warm Goat Cheese Toasts with Rosemary, Walnuts, and Honey (substituting Manchego cheese for goat cheese), we started with a bowl of Winter Squash Soup.

The rest of the meal was a selection of sides and two vegetarian main dishes: Veggie Balls and Potato Leek Quiche, but this time with a Greek twist on the quiche since I used sheep’s feta cheese and added spinach.

For sides, we had one of my favorites from Epicurious.com: Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks and Corn (sans corn). Also, instead of just wild rice, this time I used Lundberg’s Wild Blend.

We also had Mark Bittman’s Mashed Cauliflower from his book How to Cook Everything. It’s a great substitute for mashed potatoes if you want to take advantage of a seasonal vegetable that’s difficult to store, or if you’re looking to lower carbs!

Finally, for a little greenery, I made a simple Raw Tuscan Kale Salad recipe from one of my fellow foodies over at 101Cookbooks.

And for dessert? Two choices: my first ever Pumpkin Pie, plus Gourmet magazine’s Flourless Chocolate Cake (made with raw milk butter!).

Can You Source Your Thanksgiving Dinner from within 100 Miles?

From GOOD, comes this challenge: Use only ingredients sourced from within 100 miles of your dinner table this Thanksgiving. Think of it as an opportunity to celebrate local food, rather than an obligation. Every region has fabulous specialties to please your palate.

Check out this long infographic to get some ideas! And check back with Life Is Fare to see what’s on the menu Chez Marcita later this week!

Sirloin Tip Roast with Red Wine

So the last time I made Sirloin Tip Roast I let myself be inspired by dry-heat cooking methods, even though my heroine, Irma Rombauer of The Joy of Cooking, literally shows us in black and white that this meat cut deserves moist heat.

When Bill and I ate it, the meat did seem a bit dry, but I figured at the time that the lean-ness of grassfed meat had a lot to do with the end result.

This time I decided to stick with Irma’s suggestion. I found a recipe on Food.com that called for a dry heat method, i.e., roasted uncovered in the oven, but you also add water and wine to the pot. I loved the idea of rubbing the roast with Dijon mustard—which is really yummy on prime rib—but I decided not to add it because I was going to put a lid on my Dutch oven and that wouldn’t make the mustard nice and crispy like on prime rib. It turned out to be the right approach.

The recipe is simply called Sirloin Tip Roast. As the diagram above shows, this cut is either adjacent to the rump, the flank, or the shank of the cow. And for grassfed beef, it’s extremely lean so cooking time must be reduced.

I followed the beginning of the recipe by taking the roast out of the fridge an hour ahead of time, then sprinkling it with salt and pepper.

Then I poured olive oil in the bottom of my Dutch oven and browned the meat on all sides.

Afterwards, I cut slits in the meat and added sliced garlic cloves, then poured 1/2 a cup of water and 1/4 cup of dry red wine into the pan. Like I said, I skipped the mustard. And, I basically skipped the rest of the ingredients except for some fresh chopped rosemary.

Even when a recipe calls for a rack, I never use one because I don’t own one. Sure, it might be a good idea sometimes, but I don’t want to wreck my pans and I seemed to have done just fine so far without one.

I put the 3-lb. roast in a 325-degree oven with the lid on for just 1  1/2 hours.

I believe it was more moist than last year’s recipe. Served au jus alongside roasted root vegetables, it made a delicious autumn meal—and great leftovers during the week!