Our area’s rich in rhubarb this time of year. I adore the tang, the zip, the color, and how perfectly it goes with a crispy topping and a scoop of vanilla, or a dollop of whipped cream or yogurt. It’s dessert, it’s a snack, it’s breakfast (all three, if you’re lucky and don’t have to share). Wait though – sharing is the best way to eat, and this is ideal potluck fare.

Rhubarb is the first “fruit” (though it’s technically a vegetable) of spring, the rite of passage to summer. It’s worth celebrating.

If it’s not in your back yard, we have it locally grown at New Pi. Here’s another gorgeous way to use it: Rhubarb Custard Pie.

Crisps are one of my favorite things. Sweet but not overpowering, easy but satisfying, perfectly country-casual Betty Crocker. I don’t mind too much topping to fruit ratio, nor too much fruit to topping ratio – in whatever proportions, I still find they suit one another. This is low-stress baking.

The recipe below is a dressed up rhubarb crisp, with the addition of ginger and orange. If you don’t want the ginger or orange to dominate, go a little light with them. Their flavors strengthen after a day.

Rhubarb, Orange, and Ginger Crisp

Adapted  from Jamie Oliver

2 ¼ lbs. rhubarb, trimmed and chopped (small pieces for a smooth consistency, long pieces for more texture)
1 c. brown sugar, divided
1 orange, juiced, and ¼ of its zest (or more for a stronger orange flavor)
1 ½ c. flour
1 ¼ c. rolled oats
thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger (more if desired), peeled with the edge of a spoon and minced
7 T. cold butter, chopped into cubes

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Simmer rhubarb, ½ c. brown sugar, orange juice, and zest a few minutes, until rhubarb softens somewhat. Transfer to an ungreased ovenproof dish.

Mix ½ c. brown sugar, flour, oats, and ginger together.

Pinch in butter with fingers until pieces start to form. Sprinkle over rhubarb.

Bake 40-45 min., until golden and rhubarb bubbles up.

Yum! But how does it all work?

Tin foil packages, which we’ll call “foilies” – it rolls off your tongue better, and sounds incredibly kid-friendly, which it is. Sadly, this was new to me – I know, I’ve gone through my whole life without foilies! Thanks to my coworkers Jen & Genie, however, foilies have come into my life and campfire cooking will forever be more exciting.

Genie’s a recipe whiz and deserves all the credit for how divine this one is! She invented more great recipes for foilies and pudgie pies (sweet or savory sandwiches cooked in a pie iron over the fire) that’ll all be in our upcoming Summer Catalyst, out late next month – can’t wait!

If you are camping, this is the ideal food to prep in advance if you’re taking cold packs along. Build a fire and it’s instant, and wayyy better – incomparable, really –  than a can of beans or a variety pack of granola bars. Sheesh, incomparable isn’t a strong enough word!

This is really fabulous – make it.

Scallops or White Fish with Cranberry Almond Couscous

Genie Maybanks 

4 large sheets heavy-duty foil

1 T. smoked paprika
1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (reduce if desired)
1 c. uncooked Middle Eastern (large) couscous
¼ c. sliced green onion
½ c. sliced almonds
½ c. dried cranberries
salt & pepper
2 T. chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) chicken broth or 1 T. bullion plus 1 1/2 c. water
1 lb. scallops or 4 white fish fillets
4 T. melted butter, margarine, olive oil, or walnut oil
1 lemon, peel sliced off, thinly sliced, seeds removed

(For simpler version, simply use fish, couscous, bullion, 3 T. dried dill or 2-3 T. dried chives, dried cranberries, oil, and lemon slices) 

COMBINE first 8 ingredients. Stir in half of the chicken broth.

CENTER ¼ of the mixture on each sheet of foil, with the dull side toward food. Top with scallops or fish, butter or oil, and lemon slices.

FOLD up foil sides partway, add remaining chicken broth to each, and seal the packets, leaving room for heat circulation inside.

GRILL 8 to 10 minutes in covered grill or on campfire until fish is cooked through.

There’s another answer out there though, provided by our Irish friends: baking soda! I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!, and if you’d like the right treat, try this rich Guinness Chocolate Mousse on for size.

Back to bread. Irish Soda Bread allowed people without ovens (many people, back in the day) to make bread in a cast iron vessel in a fire, though now that most people have ovens we like to use them for this as well. Read more about the traditional Irish Soda Bread here, on Epicurious.

Nowadays, it’s just plain simple and easy! The payoff is great, particularly slathered with some high-quality butter. MmmmMmm.

If you don’t have buttermilk around and aren’t in the mood for buttermilk pancakes this weekend (though really now, how often is that the case?), sub in ‘sour milk,’ milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar per cup mixed in and set aside for five or ten minutes. It’ll do the trick.

Brown Soda Bread

from Epicurious

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3 T. toasted wheat bran
3 T. toasted wheat germ
2 T. old-fashioned oats
2 T. (packed) dark brown sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 T. (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 c. (approximately) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Butter 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.
Stir in enough buttermilk to form a soft dough. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal.

Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan. Bake until bread is dark brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Turn bread out onto rack. Turn right side up and cool on rack.

Check the ingredients: chocolate and… water?!? Wow, this is a new way of thinking. Let me know if you try it!

The Best Chocolate Mousse of Your Life Under 5 Minutes : Cafe Fernando – Food Blog – best chocolate mousse – best chocolate mousse recipe – chocolate chantilly – chocolate mousse recipe – herve this – Chocolate.

The thing about simplicity is, if it’s not appreciated for its beauty,
it’s called ‘boring.’

I would say that cauliflower is under-appreciated.

It’s white – the color of simplicity, if a non-color word can be assigned a color. Its flavor is delicate. Like simple, ‘delicate,’ when not appreciated for its beauty, can also be called ‘boring.’

I’m sure you’re following. Here’s a recipe to appreciate the delicacy of cauliflower’s flavor, and how naturally gorgeous it is. (When I worked on the farm and walked the fields, I was eternally amazed by the beautiful, lush, cabbage-family plants, leaves curling up to hide the small, growing heads, only one apiece. To boot, it can be hard to grow – it needs a long growing season, so if fall comes too soon, no cauliflower – just a big leafy plant).

As for simplicity, this recipe has under five ingredients to keep that flavor clear.

If you’d like to explore the simplicity of cauliflower in a soup form that I’m curious about (also in about five ingredients), try this one  - and let me know how it turns out!

Cauliflower Steaks + Puree

Adapted from Epicurious

2 servings

a 1 1/2-lb. head of cauliflower
1 1/2 c.water
1 c. whole milk
2 T. vegetable oil plus additional for brushing
parsley to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 250°F. With a heavy, sharp knife, cut two 1-inch-thick slices of cauliflower, starting at top center of cauliflower head and cutting through stem end. Set cauliflower steaks aside.

Cut up remaining cauliflower into florets and medium pieces, to measure 3 cups. Combine with water and milk in a medium saucepan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to boil and cook until cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Strain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Spread florets on large rimmed baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, until slightly dry.

Transfer florets to blender and add reserved 1 cup cooking liquid. Puree until smooth and return to saucepan. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.

Heat vegetable oil in large, heavy, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.

Brush cauliflower steaks with additional oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cauliflower steaks to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until tender, about 10 minutes.

Rewarm cauliflower puree over medium heat, then divide between 2 plates and top each with a cauliflower steak.

Do you like bacon?

I thought so – and if you don’t, my apologies – try this one instead.

But if you do, I should stop keeping them for myself, and tell you about the bacon I stock my freezer with – the ends and pieces bacon packages. They don’t sound very glamorous – and they aren’t. But for me, they’re perfect.

Why? Well, it’s great for cooking. I love cooking just a bit of bacon with kale, or with roasted vegetables like my fiance did last night, or as a base for soups – and finally we’re getting to the point. This soup makes the most of the extra smokiness you might find in the ends and pieces packages (more surface area for the smoke), not that it would be bad at all with prettier bacon! – and it’s downright delicious.

Farmhouse Butternut Squash & Bacon Soup

Adapted from Epicurious

4 bacon slices or equivalent
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 t. caraway seeds
2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 lbs. carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 thyme sprigs
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
3 1/2 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
salt & pepper
1 to 1 1/2 t. cider vinegar

Cook bacon in a 4-to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and leave fat in pot.

Add garlic and caraway seeds to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is pale golden, about 1 minute. Add squash, carrots, apple, thyme, bay leaves, broth, water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and boil, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard thyme and bay leaves.

Purée about 4 cups soup in a blender (or just use an immersion/stick blender, if you have one), in batches if necessary, until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Return to pot and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar (don’t go overboard with the latter until you taste it). Serve topped with crumbled bacon.

I don’t think I need to hide it – these ones in particular are grown at one of my favorite places on earth, Grinnell Heritage Farm. Good people, good place… and good turnips too! This recipe will give you something to think about – and possibly re-think whether or not you “like” turnips. I’m guessing that most people wouldn’t say they “like turnips.”

But now…

I do.

These braised turnips are sweet and tasty. I liked them simply with a little parsley and an extra squeeze of lemon – just the top half of the recipe below. If you’d like to dress them up, add these fancy poppy seed bread crumbs to make them complex and interesting. These are very tasty bread crumbs, and pretty too. I think I’ll need to put these on lots of things…

I also like to pair turnips with potatoes (like on top of a fabulous Shepherd’s Pie), or in place of potatoes in soups. I’m sure there are more good ways to prepare turnips though – how do you like them?

A co-worker, Jen S., just had a fabulous idea – how about mashed turnips and beets? Sounds gorgeous to me.

Braised Turnips with Poppy Seed Bread Crumbs

from my favorite, Epicurious

Braised Turnips

3 T. butter
2 lbs. medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
1 1/2 c. water
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. salt

Bread Crumbs

2 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 c. fine fresh bread crumbs from a baguette
1 T. poppy seeds
1 T. flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus garnish if desired
lemon wedge

Braise turnips:

Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat. Add turnips, water, lemon juice, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Increase heat to medium and stir, then briskly simmer, uncovered, until liquid has evaporated and turnips are glazed and just tender, 20 to 35 minutes (they should be cooked through but still retain their shape).

Make bread crumbs while turnips cook:

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then saute garlic, stirring, until just pale golden, about 1 minute. Add bread crumbs and poppy seeds and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir in parsley and salt to taste. Just before serving, sprinkle bread crumbs and a good squeeze of lemon juice over the turnips.

• Turnips can be braised 1 day ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat with a little water before serving.

•Bread-crumb mixture, without parsley, can be made 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Stir in parsley before using.

I’ll find a spot on here to link you up with our events calendar so that missing them doesn’t have to happen again.

Alright, shifting gears here. So you want a recipe? Is that what you say?

I was searching for something autumnal, with apples and spice, and ideally suited with brunch or afternoon tea. I found just what I was looking for on a beautiful blog here.

As I do, I tweaked it slightly, as I made it a couple times (regrettably because I made mistakes, all of which were avoidable and not the recipe’s fault – timing on my part and oven malfunction on… the oven’s part. Or the operator’s, but that’s a different story).

I made this cake into individual tea cakes by pressing compostable parchment paper into large muffin tins, pressing the folds to crease them to hold their shapes.

One important word to the wise: this cake is baked in two steps – the cake base bakes for 10 minutes, and then a topping is added and it finishes baking. I endorse completing the topping before putting it in the oven, otherwise you may have a partially baked cake waiting unhappily for you to hurry up and possibly sinking in the process. Don’t make the cake wait – do your prep work in advance.

With that advice, enjoy this cake! It’s a beauty, and tasty to boot.

(Gluten Free option) French Cardamom Apple Cake

Adapted from tarteletteblog.com

Butter a 9-inch round baking pan (or several 3 to 4-inch baking pans on a baking sheet, or lined large muffin tins for smaller cakes).

Prepare the topping:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy (the quantity is too small for a stand mixer). Add egg and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Separately, whisk together the milk, oil, and egg until just blended.

Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure that everything is well incorporated, about 40 to 50 strokes. Pour into prepared pan(s) and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular pattern.

Bake the cake(s) in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread topping over. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I’m not sure about you, but I always want something celebratory for the first and last of each season, and by season, I mean food season. So the first zucchini is exciting, and the last batch of basil pesto as well.

Right now I’m mentally preparing for the departure of summer tomatoes, though – fingers crossed – maybe that frost’ll hold off a little bit longer.

I’ve been diligently freezing my tomatoes to use this winter, so really I shouldn’t be hung up on this “last of” thing – thanks to my deep freeze, I can have summer tomatoes in January!

I don’t think I’ve told you how I process tomatoes, and for that I apologize! I love my method because, well, it’s easy. Summertime is a busybusy time for me, and I personally am not keen on the idea of feeling slavish in a hot kitchen over a steaming vat of canning jars. Others may be more Rosie-the-Riveter-canners than I, but I – at the moment – am pleased as punch with my freezer.

Here’s my method:

get tomatoes

wash them

chop them up

put them in freezer bags

put them in the freezer

Put my feet up. Okay, so I didn’t actually do a lot of that, but I really should. Next year.

Frozen in bags, they’re ready to be defrosted and made into tomato sauce, soup, chili, what have you. Obviously you don’t want to put frozen tomatoes in your salad or straight on your sandwich, but you wouldn’t want to do that with a canned one either. Frozen tomatoes are more nutritious than either canned (since canning involves cooking) or those scary anemic winter “fresh” tomatoes. Rest assured, they’re delicious in January.

Allie’s Lasagna

I like to make it with a very loose tomato sauce (water-heavy, i.e. from fresh tomatoes) and raw lasagna noodles. A loose sauce will serve to cook the noodles, so you don’t have to. This is a point of contention for some, and I used to be in the I-must-cook-my-noodles-first camp, but I’ve since come to the other side. It’s all about the thickness of the sauce, and it’s so much easier you’ll want to make lasagna more often. Oh, and you don’t need “no cook” lasagna noodles for this method; I always like the normal Bionaturae organic lasagna.

Make the tomato sauce first and let it simmer while you make everything else:

Heat olive oil over medium heat, saute onion until just softening, add garlic and a sprig of basil to flavor the oil and stir until fragrant and onions are soft. If anything’s stuck at this point, adding the juicy tomatoes will de-glaze the pan, so add those tomatoes, stir, scraping the pan, and bring to a simmer, adding another couple chopped up sprigs of basil and seasoning with salt and pepper.

I like to finish tomato sauce with a drizzle of olive oil as well, for its fresh taste. Let it simmer while preparing the rest, but before assembling the lasagna, season to taste and err on the salty side, as you’re seasoning the lasagna noodles with this sauce and pasta absorbs salt when cooking and tastes better for it.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Remove sausages from their casings and break them up in a cold saute pan. Turn the heat onto medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until mostly but not entirely cooked. Push the sausage to the edges of the pan, but don’t drain it unless there’s really a lot of fat. Add the mushrooms to the middle of the pan and saute for several minutes. No other fat’s necessary and now those will be some truly delicious mushrooms.

Assemble the lasagna – usually I do about three layers of noodles, making sure they have lots of contact with the sauce:

Sauce the bottom of a 9×12 pan, then lay out a layer of lasagna noodles, and space around them is just fine.

Put a bit more sauce on top of the noodles. Dot/spread with ricotta and sprinkle with sausage/mushrooms, then top with another layer of noodles. Put a layer of sauce on top of the noodles, dot with ricotta, then put your handfuls of spinach right on top. Again, noodles, sauce, ricotta, and more sausage/mushrooms if there’s more of them.

Repeat until the pan is full to about the top, making sure there’s plenty extra sauce around the noodles to cook them. Sprinkle with mozzarella and a bit more Parmesan.

Cover with foil. Unfortunately it will stick to the top – I don’t know a solution for this. If you do, please leave me a comment!

…

Bake for about an hour, until sauce is bubbling to the top and a knife inserted into it tells you that the noodles are cooked. Remove the foil, scraping the cheese off it with a spatula, and turn the broiler onto low. Broil until browning and it looks DELICIOUS.

Remove from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes, if you can wait. As it cools, it’ll set up more. Enjoy!

We hosted local kale celebrity Dr. Terry Wahls to judge our kale recipe contest – I think we might need to have another one of these in the future and poll all you out there as well.

Dr. Terry Wahls and the three winners - Roxane Mitten, Miss Nik, and Jennifer Burstain

Our recipe cards went like hot potatoes and, by popular request, we’re happy to share the three delicious winning recipes right here with you: Kale Rolls (a new take on nori rolls), Miss Nik’s Kale Fest Soup, and Kale Hummus. Enjoy!

Kale Rolls

Contributed by Roxane Mitten

This recipe is inspired by the desire to modify recipes that require imported ingredients to local food-based ingredients, or ones that ‘could’ be developed as a local niche. These rolls are a take-off of Nori rolls, substituting the imported Nori with a fermented kale leaf. The saltiness of seaweed is created by modeling the classic preservation of grape leaves. These ingredients also intend to meld with The Wahls’ Way nutritional approach.

1 red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings cut in half

Prepare lightly fermented kale (3 days prior)

Cut off major portion of stem of kale leaves. Sprinkle with salt and let stand about 30 minutes to soften. (Note: one can use ½ the salt by spiking the culture with an earlier ferment.) Layer 4 kale leaves together. Roll from leaf tip to stem, cigar-like. Repeat with remaining 8 leaves so that there are 3 bundles. Pack them into a 1 pint wide mouth jar. Fill with fresh water. (NOTE: do NOT use tap water; chlorination will retard microorganisms. Alternatively, boil the water to remove chlorine.) Let stand at room temp or cooler for 3 days. Refrigerate. Use as desired.

Prepare beet noodles (1-8 hours prior)

Cut beet into very thin ‘noodles.’ I use a spiralizer, which creates long noodles. Add ume plum vinegar and honey. Let marinate for at least 1 hour, massaging occasionally with a clean hand.

Remove one bundle of kale leaves. Rinse.

Lay out kale leaf flat with point towards oneself. You may need to trim a little bit of hard stem from the base of the leaf, leaving leaf intact.

Lay golden beet noodles over about ½ of the leaf. In the middle, from edge-to-edge, layer single slices of bacon, cucumber, carrot, red onion, hazelnuts, and red serrano.

Lightly roll kale leaf sushi-roll-fashion from the leaf tip end so that the beet surrounds the internal ingredients.

Slice rolled kale into ½ – ¾-inch slices. Place decoratively on a plate and serve.

Miss Nik’s Kale Fest Soup

Contributed by Miss Nik, New Pi Mistress of Cheese

AKA: Caldo Verde, Portuguese Green Soup the way she likes to make it.

Serves 8-10 generously – maybe even some left for the freezer!

salt and black pepper to taste

*If using New Pi Hot Italian pork sausage, start with 1 1/2 T. olive oil, then drain all but a few tablespoons of the fat off after you’ve browned it.

In sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add sausage, breaking up with wooden spoon to ensure even browning. Stir occasionally until it’s cooked almost all the way through and has a rich brown color.

While the sausage is browning, pour the chicken stock into a Dutch oven or deep stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the piece of Reggiano rind, which will add a whole other dimension of flavor – umami, the fifth taste. Bring almost to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low and let it simmer. Stir occasionally to prevent the cheese from sticking to the bottom.

Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, fennel, and red pepper flakes to the browned sausage. Stir occasionally over medium heat, until the veggies soften and begin to take on a little color. You can add a pinch of sugar to speed along the carmelization, if you’d like. Add the wine, stirring occasionally until liquid is almost cooked off. Turn off heat.

Remove Reggiano rind from stockpot with tongs and discard. Add the kale to the stock, then the contents of the sauté pan, making sure to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom. Add the potatoes, and continue to stir occasionally until kale and potatoes are just tender. Add beans and their liquid and reduce heat to low, bringing it to a bare simmer. Taste a spoonful of stock. If it is a bit too salty, add extra chicken stock or water. Add black pepper or salt if desired. Turn off heat.

Add butter, for a richer taste and glossy appearance. Stir until thoroughly incorporated, and serve with your favorite homemade or Bakehouse bread.

It freezes beautifully, so I usually make as much as my big stockpot can handle!

Kale Hummus

Contributed by Jennifer Burstain

1/2 t. salt

Put all ingredients except kale in a Vitamixer. Blend until smooth, using plunger, on high for 1 minute.  Add kale and blend on low (speed 5) for 20-30 seconds. Place on serving dish and spread a little extra olive oil on top.