In The Box 9 – Local
This week, we’re enjoying the hastily collected bounty of tender crops we harvested in a panic just before the frost. Many, like the cucumbers, celery and tomatoes, need to be eaten in haste as well, but the winter squash should keep just wonderfully on your kitchen counter or under the table for a few weeks. We’re also just beginning to harvest the cool-weather root crops. It’s a good time to be eating.
Cucumbers – Such troopers, these little lemon cukes. They got more prolific as the season went on until the frost did them in. Thanks for a great year!
Green Tomatoes – Either keep these on your counter to ripen up, or use in Fried Green Tomatoes. This was my first year enjoying this southern treat, but I had a guest here in the spring – a ten-year-old! – who insisted we try it. Yum! Simply dip slices in beaten egg, coat in a cornmeal/flour/salt and pepper breading, and fry in olive oil. My guest preferred them dipped in Ranch dressing, but I like them just plain.
Delicata Squash – Also called Sweet Potato, Peanut squash, and Bohemian squash, this is one of the tastier winter squashes, with creamy pulp that tastes a bit like sweet potatoes. The squash can be baked or steamed and the skin is actually edible. You can feel how delicate the skin is just by touching it, nothing like the tougher Butternut or acorn varieties. This heirloom was popular through the 1920s, then fell into obscurity for about seventy-five years, possibly because its tender skin isn’t suited to transportation over thousands of miles and storage over months. Eat it up now!
Carnival Squash – This colorful, acorn-shaped squash is sweet and sturdy. Use it like the Delicata, halved in our recipe included below, or peel and dice to put in soup or curry.
Red Okra – We’d hoped for a bigger crop out of this African vegetable that is so popular in the Southern US. But, alas, the plants have been turned into scary drippy skeletons by the few nights of frost. We pulled these pods of the plants just in time. Cut the stem end off of these, then slice into two-inch pieces and add to your next saute or soup. They add a terrific taste and a nice thickening.
Chocolate Mint – The final harvest of this sweet and prolific mint.
Polish Sage – These great big leaves should stand up nicely to being dried and will be perfect for your Thanksgiving stuffing!
Multi-Colored Peppers – We rescued these from the frost by putting sheets and tarps and blankets over them for three nights. It looked pretty goofy out there, but these sweet peppers have been just too good to let go! Now we’ve got some nice days of warm weather to keep on ripening the young ones still hanging.
Mild Serranos – These are nice to add just a little bit of heat to a dish. This is our third picking of serranos and they haven’t really had a chance to get very hot yet.
Salad Mix – Such strong pretty colors come out in the lettuce of the fall garden.
Rutabaga – Yum! Rutabaga is my favorite winter vegetable. The flavor is a wonderful cross between potato and cabbage and is sweeter (thanks to the frost) than both. I make a traditional dish for our church’s annual Norwegian Supper that is simply peeled, boiled and mashed rutabaga served with a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper – I eat a ton of it before it ever leaves my house! But for our family Thanksgiving this year, I’ll be making the casserole recipe we’ve included below. Don’t wash the root until your ready to use it, handle it carefully, and keep in a cool dark place.
Celery – Delicious!
Celeriac – I LOVE this crazy root vegetable! I think it looks like a mandrake plant from the Harry Potter movies. (If it starts screaming, you’ll have to put some sort of spell on it.) To use it, just wash and peel it like a potato, then chop into stews and soups. The tops taste strongly of celery, but won’t cook down to be tender, so they are best used in soup stocks, where you’ll be straining off the stalks once the flavor is extracted.
Caribe Potatoes – These heirloom potatoes, a shocking shade of bright purple, were pure joy to dig out of the dark dirt of the garden. They will make wonderful mashed potatoes, or are good to fry and bake, but are not waxy enough to eat boiled or use for salad. Enjoy!
Delicata Squash Stuffed with Curried Couscous
2 Delicata (or similar) squash, halved and seeded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced onion
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and minced
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped cashews
1 cup cooked couscous
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup mango chutney
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place squash halves, cut sides down, on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or just until the squash is not quite cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and add the onions. Sauté onions for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add the curry, cinnamon, pepper and cayenne, and toss well. Add the apples, raisins and cashews, and continue cooking until the apples are soft. Add the rice, yogurt and chutney, and toss well. Divide the curried mixture equally between the squash halves. Bake the squash for 25 minutes, or until they are tender and the stuffing is heated through.
Rutabaga Puff
4 cups cooked, mashed rutabaga, about 1 large (2 1/2 to 3 pounds) rutabaga
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon fresh chopped dill weed or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon salt, dash pepper and dash paprika
4 eggs, separated
Combine mashed rutabaga, butter, dill, salt, pepper, and paprika. Blend in egg yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into the rutabaga mixture. Lightly pile into a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until set and top is golden brown. Spoon into a serving dish and serve. Serves 4 to 6.
