November and Orange

 Before we move on to Christmas and all of the red and green I wanted to review my month of orange:  Orange pumpkins, orange persimmons, orange kittens, big bros and Mama cats, Orange apricots from the freezer, orange linens.  Fall has been gorgeous here in Southern California.  I still have  shorts on today.  Honestly I'll have to put on a sweater this evening but I can't remember when the last time I still had tomatoes on the vine and sleeveless shirts on my body on November 29.  Certainly not in Denver.  BRR

The fall sunsets set the color palette:

Even in California we get beautiful sunsets

Lots of purples, a little yellow but mostly orange.

Let me tell you about my orange:

Most of my extra energy was spent discovering and caring for a litter of kittens that was birthed in the back yard of an unoccupied home.  The Mama brought them over the fence to hide them in my orchard.  The Mama is not new to my orchard.  She naps there often and feels pretty safe.  My dog, Charlotte,  has an ongoing conversation with Mama "Ollie" about her hanging around so much.  So I knew that Ollie had brought her kittens to the orchard and where they were hidden.  Ollie is feral but trusts me a bit.  She trusted me enough to transplant her babes from the soggy place in an old trunk to the breezeway of the workshop:

Here's the whole family. Mama Ollie and her 4 three week old kittens - yes three of them are orange just like her.  The visitor to the side is Rodney who is from Ollie's last litter in March.  He's orange too

Rodney is a great babysitter and plays with his half bros quite often ( The white specks in the grass are the remnants of  avian hunting)  Feral cats know how to feed themselves

Lots of orange kittens

The kittens felt adventurous and safe enough to become part of the barnyard,  Axel sneaks in to have a morning conversation with Bullet

Well, Axel is the last kitten to be adopted.  He is finally big enough ( 2 pounds) to be neutered.  Here lies the biggest challenge:  There are many wonderful organizations who offer low or no cost neutering to feral cats but the demand is much higher  than the supply so I have been waiting months on many lists to have these little guys  and their Mama and brother neutered.  It's a real problem.  But guess what, Axel ? We are taking a road trip to Simi Valley and you are returning without the ability to ever be a daddy.  Yay!  

All kittens have been adopted by loving humans now so I'm just waiting for the teenager and Ollie to have an appointment

This has been a big focus of mine this Fall.  I'm not even a cat person.  Lots of orange!!!

Of course there are lots of orange pumpkins that color up the kitchen and good cuisine;

Jarrahdale pumpkins

pumpkin cut up and ready to roast

chunky pumpkin soup

Lots of orange.  Doesn't this table setting mimic all of the colors of the sunset?

Golden beets ready to roast

and a lobster salad- orange

Persimmons are orange too.  I love Fuju persimmons.  Raw they are kind of like an apple...crisp and slightly sweet with lots of fiber.  But they are pricy at about $3 each so a delicacy.  One of my neighbors has a tree and we will swap our harvests.  OMG he brought over nearly 50 pieces of fruit.

What to do now?

So knowing I had a lot of apricots in the freezer from my own bounty in June I decided to make jam

Butternut squash is orange as well.  The persimmon and apricot jam came out delicious...and not too sweet.  I used not only lemon juice but also lime which I will repeat very low sugar and a vanilla bean.

French onion soup is kind of orange.  I had a bounty of onions and some gruyere cheese.  Maybe it's the cheese that's orange.

Nasturtiums are orange among many other colors.  I just sneaked out to take this picture and the following:

My blood orange tree is bearing fruit for the first time since I planted it in 2018.  I just about gave up on it but patience won out.  These beauties will color up and be ready to pick in about January or February.  The tree is planted outside my bedroom window.  It's such a joyful view in the morning and reminds me of hope and anticipation for my next crop of fruit.

I could add some purple but I think this is enough of my sunset colors for my Autumn on the farm.  I am grateful tfor my lifestyle with fresh homegrown food to prepare into fabulous healthy dishes.  I am surrounded by loving animals who bring me great joy and this year a huge challenge.  Spending over an hour each day walking my dog is good for both of us and I get to visit with my neighbors.  Spending time around my goats makes me laugh and calm down with their amazing therapeutic energy.  The chickens are taking a few months off from laying eggs but they love taking dirt baths on these warm sunny days. 

LIFE IS GOOD ON THE FARM

AND VERY ORANGE

OK  time to get in the Christmas spirit

Time to make some stock

The weather is changing and our appetite is craving something warm and comforting.  Yes..  Soup!  Last time I looked for stock in the market to restock my pantry I just reached for good bone chicken stock and then checked the price!!!!! More than $9  Yikes.  So I decided to take the time I had and the love I have for the kitchen and creating delicious  nutritious meals and make some of my own.  I pulled my go to book on stocks:  John Ash  From the Earth to the Table

John Ash was brought on staff by Fetzer Vineyards in Napa to create a menu for their restaurant.  Naturally there would be companionship with the local wines.  

While you can always make good stock without wine the addition of a little acidic taste is so delicious.  Feel free to leave out the wine in these recipes if you like but if you do add as an ingredient make sure you choose a quality of wine that you would drink.

I refused to pay $10 for a quart of stock but I had no problem spending $40 on gorgous organic vegetables and a few bottles of wine.  So here we go.  I made three different kinds of stock that yielded 13 quarts.  

Generally speaking if you add 6 cups of water ( and wine) you will end up with about 1 gallon of stock.

Rich Vegetable Stock

Ingredients:

8 cups sliced onions

4 cups diced carrots

2 cups sliced celery- including tops

4 cups sliced leeks, both white and tender green parts

3 cups sliced parsnips

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

6 quarts water

2 cups white wine

1/2 ounce dried porcini or other dried mushrooms

5 cups chopped canned or fresh tomatoes

2 tsps whole black peppercorns

6 bay leaves

1 Tbs thyme

2 tsps fennel seed

2 cups chopped parsley, leaves and stems

Method:

In a large pot put the onions, carrots, celery, leeks, parsnips, garlic and olive oil and very lightly brown over moderate heat

• Add the remaining ingredients bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for 2-2 1/2 hours.  
• Remove from the heat, cool slightly and strain carefully, pressing on solids to extract all the juices.
• Chill the sock and remove any fat.  Store in fridge for up to 7 days or freeze

made 4 quarts

Tomato Stock

I am lucky enough to still have tomatoes so these ingredients were easy to assemble

Ingredients:

7-8 pounds of ripe tomatoes

olive oil

4 cups red onions

2 cups chopped mushrooms

2 Tbs slivered garlic

1 cup chopped carrots

3 cups dry white wine

3 large bay leaves

2 tsps fresh thyme, chopped

2 tsp whole black peppercorns

1/2 tsp fennel seed

6 quarts of water

Method:

Place the tomatoes in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking pan.  Place in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes and roast until the tomatoes are lightly browned.  Set them aside

Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a stockpot along with the vegetables and sauce over moderate heat until just beginning to color.

Add the wine, herbs, peppercorns, fennel seeds roasted tomatoes and water and bring to a boil.  

Reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.  

Remove from the heat, cool slightly and strain pressing on the solids.

Chill the stock and remove any fat.  

Store in fridge for 7 days or freeze

This is really a vegetable stock but ends up being almost tomato soup...Great soup base

Made 5 quarts

Corn Stock

Corn is still available fresh right now in Southern California but if it's not in your area wait until next summer and come back

Ingredients:

 

16 large ears fresh corn, shucked

2 Tbs olive oil

6 cups chopped onions

4 cups chopped carrots

2 cups chopped celery

2 Tbs chopped garlic

2 cups dry white wine

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp white peppercorns ( black will do too)

Method:

I grilled my corn first

Remove the kernels from the cobs and reserve both:

I love this corn peeler.  A must if you want fresh corn kernels  Go to Williams-Sonoma with this link to learn more.  

Put the olive oil into a stockpot along with the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and cook over moderate heat until the vegetables are just beginning to brown.  

Break the corn cobs into 2 or 3 pieces each and add to the pot along with the wine bay leaves, peppercorns, and enough water to cover all by at least 3 inches. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours 

Strain the stock, pressing on the vegetables and cobs to extract all liquid, return to the stockpot, and add the reserved corn kernels.

Simmer for an additional 30 minutes

Strain, cool and store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze

Made 3 1/2 quarts

Chicken Stock (basically chicken bone broth/stock)

Ingredients: 

• 5-6 pounds meaty chicken parts, such as wings, backs, necks or a large hen quartered  sometimes I will use the carcus of a rotisserie chicken with still some meat on it
• 2 Tbs oil, avocado or olive
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms ( optional)
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
• water

Method

Rinse the chicken and set aside.

Add the oil and vegetables to a stockpot and cook over moderately hight heat until the vegetables are lightly browned. 

Add the chicken, wine, herbs, cloves, peppercorns and enough water to cover the chicken by at least 3 inches.

Bring to a boil

Reduce the heat and simmer slowly partially covered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, carefully skimming off any scum or froth that rises to the surface.

Remove from the heat, cool slightly, and strain carefully

Cool the stock and remove the fat layer

Store in fridge for up to 7 days or freeze

There is a nutritional advantage of making stock with bones.  The minerals - especially calcium and glucosamine.

OK this should get you off to a good start.

Next post:  soups

"......Give us this day our daily bread...."

an excerpt from The Lord's Prayer meaning please give us our basics ....bread used to be a basic.

My grandmother grew up on a farm in Missouri.  She must have learned how to make bread from her mother but I never heard her say when she started,  I lived with my MiMi in the summers between college and she taught me how to make bread. She would get up at 5 am and get the yeast started.  She would have 4 loaves by about 9 am ---ready for her customers.  She sold each loaf for 25cents.  Yikes   Can you even imagine,

So I absolutely love love making bread,  I often take photos of what I create in the kitchen but I guess I make so much bread I just forget this subject matter but I did find some I could pull from my photo album.

 This loaf is squash bread.  It's not a sweetened bread like you usually think of as pumpkin bread but I did make it from pumpkin (or maybe butternut squash)  Here is the recipe  Winter squash bread

Use any of the above winter squash.  This pic was taken from one of my harvests whenI lived in Denver

But there are all sorts of breads to try

English muffins

Bread ready for the oven

I am extremely grateful for "my daily bread"  I have gone my entire life without being hungry and having nothing to eat.  

Bread is a basic,.  I no longer eat very much of it since my body does better without gluten but I absolutely love making bread and grabbing delicious quality butter when I do indulge.

What kind of bread do you love?

Summer in a soup bowl Gazpacho

A couple of weeks ago my friends came over for a farm visit and we all pitched in with lunch.

Linda, myself and her 4 Colorado granddaughters

 Sometime during the sit-down Michele remarked Gazpacho is "summer in a soup bowl."  Precisely.  I thought I would share our luncheon menu since a lot of it came right from the garden/farm

Menu:

Gazpacho ( yes- even the 3 year old loved it)

Egg salad sandwiches

Watermelon pizza

Palmiers

Jun tea

Mis en place

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers, chopped into 1" square pieces

4 plum tomatoes, also 1" pieces

1 cucumber seeded but not peeled, 1 " pieces

1 red onion - 1 " pieces

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

3 cups tomato juice or enough tomatoes to make your own

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

pepper

avocado and or cilantro to garnish

Ina Garten's recipe on Food Network

Yes use a food processor but chop each vegetable up separately

Mix all veggies and tomato juice with olive oil and vinegar and store in the fridge for at least a day or two before serving

I have made this soup 3 times now and love each serving.  I will be sad when the tomatoes are gone.

Next up EGG SALAD sandwiches

Mis en place

EGG SALAD SANDWICHES

Ingredients

farm fresh or store bought pasture raised chicken eggs, hard cooked - I prefer to steam

mayonnaise

dijon mustard

red onions chopped fine

I dill pickle slice, chopped fine

fresh dill

salt and pepper

How to hard cook super fresh eggs:

When I first tried to hard boil my fresh eggs I found that the shells would not release from the white when I tried to peel them..  It happened the second, third and fourth times as well ????? So I did some research and found that super fresh eggs just don't do well boiled.  So I steam.  12 minutes in a steamer.  I could give you all of the chemistry behind this....Ask if you really want to know  otherwise just steam your eggs.  You will be glad you did.

Steam for 12 minutes.  Then cool in an ice water bath

Mix about 2 TBs of dijon mustard with about 1/2 cup mayonnaise to start then adjust as needed.  I used 6 eggs and this worked out well.  

Then add the red onion, dill pickle and fresh dill to the sauce.

Mix into the eggs

I use a box grater to cut up the egg but you can hand cut it as well

Assemble between two pieces of bread after piling on some condiments :  how about pickled onions?

I'll add the recipe to the end of the post

Add lettuce and as we did one nasturtium leaf.  The nasturtium leaves and blossoms are edible and add a bit of spice - kind of like arugula.

Egg salad sandwich with pickled onions, lettuce and nastursium leaves

Next up WATERMELON PIZZA

So much fun.  You can see that it is made up of a wedge of watermelon topped with blueberries and reap berries,  The "Cheese" is cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar and pushed through a pastry bag.  Linda's previous performance was with a little smaller hole in her bag thus a narrower stream of cream sheese/sugar

And for dessert:  PALMIERS - Gluten Free!!

Palmiers are a classic French pastry made from the pastry dough mille feuilles  (puff pastry)  This recipe is absolutely easy to make from Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry found in the freezer section of the grocery store and just follow Ina Gartens's recipe   But I decided to make it from scratch since I was really rusty from my school days at The Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Did you know that there are 739 layers of dough/butter/dough in the finished pate ?  You start out with a pie crust round then add a butter layer, wrap the edges of the pie pastry up and over the butter layer.  Now you have 3 layers.  With a sequence of rolling out and folding into thirds six times you end up with a beautiful uncooked dough

Roll the dough in sugar and cinnamon and then roll into a log by folding the outside edges two times each and meeting in the center,  Chill the dough again. 

Classic palmiers do not have cinnamon adulterating the flavor but what American does not like cinnamon sugar?

Then cut the chilled dough into slices

Put them one more time back into the fridge or freezer for a final chill then pop them into a preheated oven

450 degrees for just 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar. 

These will go fast - especially with 9 people for lunch

I made this dough gluten free because my sweet Kate cannot have gluten.  But like any normal teenager she love loves pastries and bread.  Since she was coming for a visit I wanted to make these G-F palmiers for and with her,   She loved it 

We made this batch into twisted sticks.  Kate loves churros so this was our version of a G-F churro/palmier.  You can buy G-F frozen puff pastry in some markets @ $9/box l Yikes.  On the other hand the ingredients for making it at home was not much less.  Good news is I'm not rusty at the technique any more!

And that was our summer lunch!  

Hurricane Hilary has just past through here leaving a mess for all of us to clean up but not any damage here,  I think I have some time to make the pickled red onions 

I have an entire post dedicated to this condiment   Please click on this link to go to that post 

I use Marisa McClellan"s  Food in Jars book many times every summer and throughout the year.  You can also follow her website https://foodinjars.com for many additional ideas 

3 pounds of red onions, thinly sliced

2 cups apple cider vinegar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBs Kosher or pickling salt

2 tsp whole mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pot over high heat and bring the brine to a boil

Add sliced onions to brine and stir to combine,  Reduce heat to medium and simmer briefly to soften onions.

Combine the spices to blend and then divide among 3 pint size jars

Evenly divide the onions among the jars.  Use tongs to transfer.

Pour brine over onions.

Pickles need to cure 48 hours before eating.

I used to water bath preserve these but I find they last in the fridge just fine.....they never last too long.  If you make 3 jars - give one jar to a friend,