Pumpkin Cornmeal Biscuits

1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups Nash’s white flour
1/2 cup Nash’s cornmeal (either coarse or medium grind)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple cider or apple juice

Preheat the oven to 425 and oil a baking sheet. Cut the butter into small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Sift in the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the brown sugar and mix until lump-free.

In a blender or food processor, combine the pumpkin puree and the cider or juice. Pour into the flour mixture and stir briefly, just until well blended. Drop the biscuits by 1/4 cups onto the baking sheet 1-2 inches apart.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed and very slightly brown around the edges and a toothpick tests clean. Serve immediately.

This seasonal recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook.

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Pumpkin Pie Using a Fresh Pumpkin

sugar pie pumpkins

Pumpkin pie from real organic pumpkins is easier than you think!

Best served barely warm, with freshly whipped cream kissed with maple syrup and vanilla.

1 medium sugar pumpkin
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie (see below)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup honey, warmed slightly for easy pouring and mixing
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

To Roast/Prepare the Pumpkin:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut-side down on a glass baking dish or baking sheet with four rimmed sides. Bake until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork (usually about one-half hour to 45 minutes). Cool until just warm. Scoop out the cooked flesh from the skin and puree.

For the Pie:
Increase oven preheat temperature to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Beat in eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes at the new temperature, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Options:
Reducing the amount of honey to 3/4 allows the pumpkin flavor to come out more in this recipe, and also makes it less sweet.

Instead of baking in a pie crust, bake it in greased custard cups or pie dish. The result will be gluten-free pumpkin custard!

If you want to make the pie or custard extravagant, mince up candied ginger and spread a layer on the bottom of the crust, or bottom of the dish, before filling.

Exclude milk as desired, and substitute soy, rice or almond milk.

Pie Crust
2/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into half-inch pieces
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
6-7 tablespoons cold water

In the bowl of an electric mixer or food processor, pulse the butter, flour, salt, and sugar until the butter is the size of peas. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, while mixing on low. When the dough just barely starts to come together, turn off the mixer and stop adding water. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly until the dough is cohesive. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.

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What’s the difference between hard wheat and soft wheat?

Hard red wheat flour and soft white wheat flour packages

Find both hard and soft wheat flours at Nash’s, in two-pound and four-pound bags.

Hard wheat is a bronze-colored wheat and has a higher gluten content. It is typically used to make breads. The gluten is found in the starchy center—the endosperm—of the grain (the only component that remains after the refining process). The bran of the whole wheat flour cuts those gluten strands and creates a denser and heartier bread product. Soft wheat is a light golden color and is often called “white wheat.” It has more starch and less gluten than hard wheat, and it is a good choice for cakes, pastries, desserts, and sauces. Both hard and soft wheats can be either a winter or spring variety, depending on when they are planted. Winter varieties are normally higher in minerals because of the longer growing season and more extensive root systems that have developed. You can find both wheats (locally grown and locally stone-ground) at Nash’s.

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Extra-Special Pancakes

This recipe is one of our favorites. It makes a fluffy, moist and nourishing pancake—a lovely holiday brunch item and perfect for a cold winter morning. Plan on preparing them a day ahead.

Nash's flour in two-pound bags

What extra-special morning will you make these extra-special pancakes on?

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons melted butter

Soak flour in the buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt in a warm place for 12-24 hours. Stir in other ingredients and thin to desired consistency with water. Cook on a hot, oiled griddle or on a cast-iron skillet.

These pancakes take longer to cook than pancakes made with unsoaked flour. The acids in the cultured dairy activate the enzyme phytase which begins to break down phytic acid found in the grains, making the grains and the nutrients they provide easier for us to digest and absorb. The lactic acid and lactobacilli found in the cultured dairy help to break down complex starches and proteins that can be difficult to digest.

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Green Timbale

collard greens

Green fans of delicious nutrition!

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely shopped
1 pound collard greens, stems and leaves shopped separately
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Jarlsberg cheese
5 eggs, lightly beaten

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until transparent. Stir in the collards and cook, covered, until tender, about 3 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and remove the cover. Cook tossing constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated. Cool in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt the remaining butter and add it, plus all the remaining ingredients, to the greens mixture. Mix well and pour into a buttered soufflé dish. Place the dish in a roasting pan and pour boiling water in the pan to half the depth of the dish. Bake until a knife comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the dish from the pan and let stand 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully invert onto a shallow serving platter.

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Easy Peasey Roasted Sunchokes

sunchokes handful

Consider a handful of sunchokes for a tasty, nutritious dinner.

1 pound sunchokes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse the sunchokes under cold water, scrubbing lightly to remove any dirt. Cut into quarters and place onto a baking sheet. Don’t over-crowd them though, they need their space.

Drizzle the sunchokes with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook for 35-45 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Add your own flair to this recipe with herbs and spices. Might I suggest garlic (stir in for the last 20 minutes of baking), paprika, rosemary, thyme? Or, sprinkle the dish with fresh herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro) after baking, or parmesan cheese. The options are limitless. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Tablespoon.

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About Nash’s Best Carrots

CarrotsThe carrot’s ancestors came from the area around Iran and Afghanistan. They were domesticated and grown more for their aromatic leaves and seeds, not the roots. They are related to dill, coriander, fennel and parsley, other plants noted for their leaves and seeds in cooking.

Carrot roots have almost no starch, but they do have sugars and some varieties can be quite sweet. The bright orange comes from beta-carotene, an important precursor to vitamin A. Carrots are also rich in antioxidants and minerals, and aid digestion and elimination.

Carrots, especially Nash’s Best, are delicious raw, but studies show you get more beta-carotene if the carrots are cooked lightly. They are one of the primary vegetables used in mirepoix, the basis of many sauces in French cuisine. You can steam, mash, sauté, roast, and even grill carrots. They can be candied, grated into salads, added to cookies, cakes, soups, stews and quiches. They are one of the most versatile of vegetables!

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About Lemon Cucumbers

basket of lemon cucumbers

They don’t taste like lemons, but they are as bright and happy-looking as lemons!

Like any cucumber, lemon cukes have a lot of water in them (96%), but that can be refreshing on warm summer days when they are plentiful. They contain potassium and vitamin C, both important for healthy cells, and being alkaline they help to balance the pH of the body.

Wash these beautiful yellow cukes thoroughly. The little hairs on the outside will easily come off, leaving a smooth skin that is completely edible. They do not taste like lemons, but the color can fool your eyes and your eyes can fool your taste buds!

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Holiday Kale Salad

green curly kale

Kale only gets sweeter during the winter. Kale plants produce sugars as antifreeze, making this salad sweet as well as colorful and nutritious.

1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bunch kale, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 large or 4 small tomato(s), diced
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Whisk lemon juice, oils, sugar, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Add kale, tomato, sunflower seeds, and cranberries; toss to combine.

Prefer a wilted kale salad? Bring the dressing ingredients to just shy of boiling in a sauce pan. Remove from heat. Stir in the kale bits and let cool. Add the other ingredients, toss, and serve.

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Squash Apple Soup

squash at the farm store

Warm up with this seasonal soup!

1 medium-sized squash, any kind
1 large onion
4-6 large apples
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
2 quarts chicken stock, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Bake squash until soft. Chop onion and apples until you have a good onion-to-apple ratio. Heat a large soup pot on medium, melt butter and saute the onions/apples, plus rosemary until soft.

Blend squash and about 1 cup chicken stock until smooth. Blend the onions and apples with about 2 cups chicken stock until smooth. Combine and add about a quart more of chicken stock, and salt and pepper to taste.

Options: Add fennel, sage or ginger. The rosemary is a MUST.

We thank farm-friend Ellen Russell for this simple but fabulous recipe.

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