The Seasonal Food Guide - Summer

Originally posted on shespeaks.com July 31, 2009

Summer, more than any other season, offers a variety of fresh produce options. I would argue that summer is as much about eating as the holiday season. The only difference is the type of eating we are doing.

Summer is filled with picnics, barbeques and outdoor events. Sure we might eat hot dogs and hamburgers galore, but our side dishes include green salads, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Okay then, hurray for summer and all its abundance! Remember eating seasonally not only ensures optimal flavor and ripeness, but prices also drop when there is plenty. Some items that will be easy on your waistline as well as your pocketbook this season include: apricots, beans, berries, cherries, corn, cucumbers, melons, peaches, peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Here are a few of my favorite summer-inspired dishes:

Grilled Peaches With A Drizzle Of Aged Balsamic Vinegar And Crumbled Blue Cheese Or Feta
Cut peaches in half and remove the pit. Then, brush them with a tiny bit of olive oil just before grilling to keep them from sticking to your grill. You’ll be surprised how delicious this combination is. (If you don’t have aged balsamic vinegar, simmer any balsamic vinegar for about 10 minutes to create a thicker “balsamic syrup” for your drizzle.)

Lasagna With Shredded Zucchini Instead Of Pasta
Shred zucchini on a box grater/cheese grater and drain on paper towels for a half an hour. Assemble the lasagna as you normally would except instead of using pasta, layer shredded zucchini. By substituting the zucchini, you’ll decrease the overall calories and increase the fiber.

Shortbread Crostini
For a quick and delicious summertime dessert, combine mascarpone cheese or cream cheese with sugar and lemon zest to taste. Spread the cheese mixture on shortbread cookies and top with fresh blueberries or homemade blueberry jam. Top with extra lemon zest if you want to be fancy.

Watermelon with Mint and Feta
Here’s a new way for us to increase watermelon consumption! Cube watermelon as you would for a fruit salad. Add a handful of torn or chopped mint leaves, and crumble in a good amount of feta cheese. The mint is refreshing while the saltiness of the feta compliments the sweetness of the watermelon.

And here’s a fun watermelon fact: according to the USDA, the United States consumes about 3.9 billion pound of watermelon each year. That’s almost 13 pounds per person! If you’re filling up on watermelon, that ought to reduce your calorie intake overall.

What are some of your favorite summer recipes?

The Seasonal Food Guide - Spring

Originally posted on shespeaks.com June 11, 2009

Summer might be right around the corner, but it’s prime time to take advantage of Spring’s ripest offerings. There is a great emphasis on returning to seasonal eating these days. However, as you peruse the produce section of your local grocery store, it may be difficult to tell the difference between November and April. Tomatoes, oranges, peppers and cauliflower are available year-round so determining seasonality may be confusing.

Why concern yourself with seasonality when a world of food options is at your fingertips? Three reasons: taste, nutrition and cost. Sure you can get tomatoes in January. They might be anemic looking, tasteless, gas-ripened orbs running upwards of $4.99 or more a pound but you can get them. Let’s face it, what we are really craving is the sun-ripened tomatoes of our childhood. Plus, a sun-ripened tomato is higher in lycopene (an antioxidant associated with lower risk of prostate cancer and heart disease) than its gas-ripened counterpart. And the cost, well, if you are like me you are thinking twice about your monthly food budget these days; seasonal produce is typically less expensive than its off-season counterpart.

I challenge you to plan a menu not by flipping through your cookbooks or your old reliable standards, but by seeking what is fresh and economical for inspiration. So, let’s explore seasonal eating in spring.

Spring is transitional, maybe more so than other seasons. We are coming off the hearty vegetables of winter and not quite experiencing the bounty of summer. If you are lucky enough to have a farmer’s market close by, choosing seasonal produce is much easier. If you shop at a big box grocery store, here are a few examples of spring fruits and vegetables to look for: artichokes, arugula, asparagus, beets, berries, butter lettuce, cucumbers, mangoes, morel mushrooms, pea shoots, radishes, spinach, sugar snap peas and summer squashes (including pattypan, yellow crookneck and zucchini varieties).

The beauty of seasonal eating is that you don’t have to over-do preparation. The food you choose is at its peak. Here are a few of my favorite simple spring dishes:

Steamed asparagus, tossed with a little butter, salt and pepper and topped with lightly scrambled eggs with fresh tarragon – delicious for brunch or an appetizer.

Simple grilled steak on a bed of arugula with a wedge of lemon – the peppery arugula is a delightful compliment to steak.

Grilled artichokes with curry mayonnaise – simply mix curry powder into mayonnaise to taste.

Butter lettuce with baby beets and spring goat’s milk cheese – a delicate vinaigrette is perfect with this salad.

Where can you find seasonal produce where you live? What are some of your favorite springtime dishes?

Cookbook Review - Chefs on the Farm

A friend of mine gave me this cookbook for Christmas last year. I thought I'd share my thoughts about it and share a recipe I tested.

Chefs on the Farm
Recipes and Inspiration from Quillisascut Farm School for Domestic Arts
By Shannon Borg & Lora Lea Misterly

The Overview
Seasonable, Sustainable and Local
Chefs on the Farm follows a year of seasons at Quillisascut Farm in northeastern Washington.

The Recipe
I chose a recipe from the Winter Recipes section to test (as I began this review in late March), Anise Seed Roast Pork with Celeriac Mash by Chef Kären Jurgensen*. I had never cooked celeriac and was intrigued by trying something new.

Roast pork:
2 pounds pork loin
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon anise seed, crushed lightly with mortar and pestle
½ tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Celeriac mash:
1 pound celeriac, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream or sour cream
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim the pork loin of any silver skin but leave fat intact. With a sharp knife tip, shallowly score the loin on all sides. Slip the garlic into the scores. In a small bowl, combine the anise seed, salt, and pepper and rub the surface of the loin with the mixture.

Put the loin in a heavy cast iron skillet or roasting pan and cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for 25 more minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Let the loin rest for about 7 minutes before slicing. Reserve pan juices to pour over when serving.

To prepare the celeriac mash, put the celeriac and potatoes into separate saucepan and cover with water. Bring each to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and run both vegetables through a food mill into a large bowl. Stir in the butter, heavy cream, and nutmeg. Season with salt to taste.

*Recipe reprinted with the consent of Chef Kären Jurgensen.

Recipe Test Notes
The recipe is simple, relying more on quality products than the complication of multiple ingredients. I purchased a pork roast from a local ranch (Skagit River Ranch) in keeping with the book’s themes of organic, local and sustainable food.

I found the crust mixture a bit scant so I mixed half again as much to coat the roast.

The recipe simply suggested peeling it and cutting it into 2” pieces. Chef Jurgensen included a brief note regarding cooking dense root vegetables in cold water to prevent the outside from going mushy before the inside cooked. This suggestion worked well for the celeriac but the potatoes did disintegrate a bit before they cooked fully. (A few years ago, I started slicing potatoes in ¾ inch slices when boiling them. I found that they cooked quicker and more evenly that way. I’d suggest the same when boiling potatoes for this recipe.) The celeriac took about 5 minutes longer to cook than the potatoes but remained more solid.

The smell of the anise seeds roasting in the oven coupled with the succulent smell of roast pork made my mouth water before I even got the roast out of the oven. The combination was remarkable. The anise and garlic enhanced the pork. I loved the celeriac / potato combination. The celeriac added a subtle parsley and celery flavor to the mash without being overpowering. The consistency of the combination was lighter than standard mashed potatoes. The suggested amounts of butter and cream were perfect. The result was a rounded, rich mash with piquant notes.

My Overall Impressions
The book is filled with beautiful photographs of seasonal life on Quillisascut Farm, visiting chefs, and delicious food. The introduction is a bit wordy; once the general setting is established it does have a tendency to drone on a bit. I get it though, the farm is inspiring and Borg and Misterly want to convey that.

For city dwellers, or anyone who isn’t familiar with the cyclic nature of farming, the book sets the scene for each season – the hibernation and planning of winter, the rebirth of spring, the abundance of summer, and the harvest and storage of fall. Recipes are interwoven in text, and feature enticing descriptions or explanations of key ingredients.

Sidebars offer insight from culinary professionals regarding the benefits and challenges of seasonal, sustainable, and local foods. Other vignettes profile small producers, discuss biodiversity, and feature seasonal harvest lists.

As for the recipes, Jurgensen does a wonderful job of letting the food speak for itself. Her recipes finesse flavor without feeling heavy-handed. She often includes suggestions and variations for ingredients that are less common. You get a sense of the chef’s creativity; the ingenuity that happens when you work with what’s ripe vs. following a recipe verbatim.

The final section offers guidelines for incorporating local, sustainable and organic foodstuffs into our own kitchens and lives. The information is practical and plentiful – providing resources for everything from books to producers and suppliers to sustainability organizations.

In summary, though Chefs on the Farm has its verbose moments, it’s a delightful cookbook and respectable reference for those interested in the sustainability and local food movements.

I would give it 4 out of 5 ladles.

Buy It If:

You are interested in the local food movement

You enjoy cooking seasonally

You live in the Pacific Northwest