Category — recipes

Jaime and I got back from an awesome awesome fourth of July weekend down in the OC. There was football on the beach and family pool time and cherry brown butter bars and fresh peaches and fireworks with the cousins and lots of huge beef ribs. All in all, an awesome time.

Upon returning to our fridge after a full day of work, I found the tofu had gone “off.” It was pink and green and blue and smelled a lot like the fermented bean curd that my Cambodian friends used to make various dipping sauces… but not enough like that smell to convince me that it was edible. So that went in the garbage. But thankfully, the bravas sauce I prepared on Thursday night before our trip didn’t succumb to a similar fate, so I was able to throw some patatas in the oven to brown while Jaime whipped up some Asian-style pink salmon cabbage cakes. Not the same as the popiah and Hainanese chicken rice feast we had this weekend, but really not too bad.

Patatas Bravas, or “brave potatoes,” are a traditional Spanish tapa — golden fried garlicky potatoes either topped with, or dipped into, a spicy, garlicky aoili. Tapas are Spain’s snacks or appetizers, often taken with a drink in the afternoon, or late in the evening.

This version, which I made with new potatoes, is roasted in olive oil instead of fried, but the Bravas sauce is the same tangy, hot delicious mix you can find in many bars and restaurants in Madrid.

Roasted Patatas Bravas
Reposted from the Synergy Farm Recipe Blog

1 lb potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced finely
paprika and salt, to coat

Bravas Sauce:
1/2 medium onion
4 Synergy garlic cloves (6 if you use regular garlic, which is smaller)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup mustard aioli
1 tsp paprika (pimentón dulce)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop potatoes into 1/2” cubes. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, paprika and salt until evenly coated, then transfer to a baking sheet. Cook for about 1 hour or until brown and crispy, but not burnt. Take the pan out of the oven and stir every 20 minutes or so to prevent sticking and make sure potatoes brown evenly.

In the meantime, prepare the bravas sauce. In a blender, mix together all the sauce ingredients until well-incorporated.

Serve potatoes hot, with sauce on the side for dipping or with 2-3 tbsp mixed in.

This recipe was inspired by the gorgeous Chinese cabbage I picked up from Joel and Margaret of Thousand Flower Farm last Saturday at the Farmers’ Market. Joel wasn’t sure how versatile this veggie could be, so I promised to make something and come back with a report on the results.

This gorgeous, slightly peppery, big-leafed cabbage is often used in soups and added to light broths in Chinese cooking, but it is also wonderful in stir fries, braised, like in this recipe, and chopped up raw for salad. The dark green leaves are soft and have a slight horseradish flavor, while the white stems are crunchy, tender, and super-sweet.

This recipe originally called for bacon, and that’s how I made it the first time around, but all the tasters agreed that the marinated pork was more flavorful, had better texture, and was probably a little healthier to boot. You could also use thinly-sliced pork loin for an even lighter version of the dish.

Ginger Braised Pork with Chinese Cabbage

Adapted from The Bacon Cookbook by James Villas

1 pound pork butt partially frozen and sliced as thinly as possible
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 lb Thousand Flower Farm Chinese cabbage leaves
4 medium sized carrots, peeled
1 1/2 cups chicken broth and 1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp white pepper

Marinade:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Marinate your sliced pork for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight in the refrigerator. The longer you marinate, the more tender and flavorful the dish will be.

Separate and wash your cabbage leaves. If you have an extra large cabbage (like Joel and Margaret’s!) use the larger leaves on the outside. Chop large leaves in half horizontally to fit the pot you’ll be using, separating the dark green tops from the white bottoms.

Chop your carrots into 2” portions, then slice the 2” portions thinly.

To make sure your layers end up even, divide the cabbage leaves and carrot strips into 4 parts and divide the pork, bacon, and chopped ginger into 3 parts. Try to use the white stems on the lower levels, rather than in the top layers as they will cook better closer to the source of heat and to the liquid. Arrange cabbage leaves and carrots on the bottom of a large (3 qt) pot; cover with a portion of the meats and chopped ginger. Continue layering. On the last layer, put the carrot strips under the cabbage instead of on top; and if possible, save the prettiest, biggest leaves for the top — this just makes for a prettier presentation.

Add your chicken broth and soy sauce, bring to a low boil, reduce the heat to medium so that the chicken broth is only simmering. Cover the pot and cook until the top layer of cabbage is cooked, about 30 minutes.

At this point, remove the pan from heat and carefully lift the mass from the pot using two spatulas (you may want to employ some help, though it is possible with just one person!), leaving the juices behind. Return the pot with juice to low heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and pepper and stir gently for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Pour the sauce over the mound of cabbage. Cut the layers into slices (like lasagna) and serve with generous amounts of sauce over hot jasmine rice.

Separating the ingredients into portions helps to make sure the layers are even

Layering in the pot — notice the top half of the cabbage leaf fills the entire pot!

Braised cabbage, ready for eating!

What fun to cook for a crowd. There’s gathering inspiration, making a plan, working out the details, prepping a few days in advance, tasting, tweaking, more prep the day-of, throwing things together, and voila! If you’ve put in the time, it’s then time to reap the satisfaction of watching the slurps and murmurs of happiness from your table.

Last Sunday, Synergy hosted a farm tour and luncheon to raise money for a local school. Lucy and I conjured the menu (mostly Lucy, really), Susan took care of the logistics and the table and the tour, and Peter was in charge of giving the farm background and history and an overview of our techniques and vision.

The food prep started on Wednesday afternoon when Lucy and I made the borscht, the homemade mayo, and basil dressing.

Borscht

Creamy Basil Dressing

Then, on Saturday, we made cupcakes and frosting and carrot curls for topping.

And finally, on Sunday, came the last burst of activity: picking fresh snap peas and peeling the chicken and frosting the cakes. Then prepping our mini serving stations, and finally, plating and serving the guests.

Soup prep station

Susan and Lucy in the kitchen

The menu and place settings

A history lesson

It was an intimate group: only 7. A family of three, and 4 other local women, all with gardens of their own. Everyone was engaged and asking questions and it felt good to share our stories and our farm experiences with people who were so interested and so well-informed.

Explaining our crop rotation strategy

Checking out the washing station

One day, maybe 5 or 10 years into my farm operation, I’d like to have a cafe. Or at least regular farm banquets like this to share the bounty. Or maybe a side operation in prepared foods for parties. Mmm… I know half the things I dream are unrealistic, but as they say “reach for the moon and if you miss, at least you’ll land in the stars.” Maybe not so true astronomically? But still a nice thought. I’ve found so far in my life, there’s something about saying things out loud to people that seems to make them come true.

Evidence of a great afternoon

First Course
Red Ace and Cabbage Borscht
A ruby red vegetable soup adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook, starring beautiful Red Ace beets; slightly tangy and wholly delicious, lightly spiced with caraway and dill, served with Cafe Demeter walnut bread.


Main Course
Pastured Chicken on Fresh Greens with Creamy Basil Dressing
Flavorful and moist pasture-raised chicken tops a bed of crisp flavorful greens tossed in farm-made dressing featuring fresh basil and homemade mayonnaise from Synergy eggs.

Dessert
Napoli Carrot Spice Cakes
Tender, wholesome cupcakes from super sweet Napoli carrots, topped with freshly made cream cheese frosting and a flavorful carrot curl.

served with:
Freshly squeezed lemonade or home-brewed ice tea

For more recipes from that afternoon, check out the Synergy Recipe Blog.

Late June Russian Borscht

adapted by Lucy from The Moosewood Cookbook

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potato
1 cup thinly sliced beets
4 cups chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 scant teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/2 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
1 medium sized carrot, sliced
3 to 4 cups shredded cabbage
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Bill’s honey
1 cup crushed tomatoes
fresh dill and sour cream for garnish

Place potatoes, beets, and stock in a medium-sized pot. Cover and cook over medium heat till tender (20 to 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Add onion, caraway seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent (8 to 10 minutes).

Add carrots, cabbage, and 2 cups of the cooking liquid from the potatoes and beets. Cover and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender (another 8 to 10 minutes).

Add remaining ingredients, including all the potato and beet liquid, cover, and simmer for at least 15 minutes. Taste to correct seasonings, and serve hot, topped with sour cream and a pinch of fresh dill.

The past two Thursday mornings, I’ve woken up at 4:30 a.m. to take Lucy to her early shift at the bakery. We’ve had some hot afternoons, and despite growing up in California, I don’t always cherish the sweat that comes with composting and digging in the heat; plus, I tend to really like mornings, so getting to work early is actually something of a treat.

So on these early mornings, I’ve started off double digging beds. The lovely Lucy says more about that here, but basically it involves clearing a bed of old plants and weeds, moving around the topsoil and forking the subsoil to aerate things and make them nice and fluffy to accommodate new plants.

Anyway, this past Thursday, my bed just happened to be full of bunches of volunteer potato plants, which I had to pull up as weeds. Happy surprise, when I forked up the roots and pulled up the poisonous green leaves, I was rewarded with bunches of new potatoes!

New potatoes are just as they sound: the little new potatoes that form first on potato plants. They don’t store too well because their skins haven’t yet hardened, so you don’t always find them in supermarkets, but their thin skins and buttery soft texture makes them absolutely delicious and perfect for potato salads and all kinds of yummy dishes that call for minimal prep and potatoes at their most potatoey.

Brand Spankin’ New Potatoes with Dill

1 pound new Yukon Gold potatoes, washed well
1 tbsp dill
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste

Cut bigger potatoes into manageable chunks (or not, if you don’t mind cooking a little longer). Steam potatoes in a steaming basket for 15-20 minutes, or until done (you can check by poking one gently with a fork).

Throw into a bowl, and toss with butter and dill while still hot. Add salt to taste (more if you’re using unsalted butter)

The simple bowl of potatoes goes quickly in a crowd.

The potatoes are the perfect topping on a bed of greens. We also added some blackened pink salmon chunks, roasted pumpkin seeds, and black olives for our own Northwest version of salad nicoise.

Lucy and I do insane amounts of cooking here on the farm. When you’re subscribed to multiple-score food blogs and you’re constantly checking out cookbooks from the library, your list of recipes -to-try tends to grow more quickly than sugar snap vines in the height of the season (i.e. fast)

Anyway, many of these things end up being pretty yummy and many of them end up using lots of farm produce, so we decided to start a farm recipe blog to share some of our cooking successes with CSA customers and other Synergy Farm enthusiasts.

The beginnings of the blog are here with 8 recipes posted as of today, June 15th, and many more in the works. We’re hoping it’ll help inspire some folks to use things like garlic scapes that they might otherwise just skip at the farm store.

Maybe we’ll print out little cards advertising the recipe blog for the farmers market this Saturday.

Last weekend was the Singapore feast, and this past Saturday we hosted another big dinner in honor of Jaime’s arrival — this time, representation from the (arguably) best known of the Southeast Asian cuisines: Thai.

The cooking only took a day this time (not counting some minor prep the day prior) but I had a lot of help from Jaime who can fry Pad See Ew like nobody’s business, among his other many talents.

We ended up with a crowd of a little over 20, and we estimate we fed everyone for a little under $3 a head — not bad, given the variety and the fact that we made two meat dishes, and fresh rolls with shrimp. Yum.

Prep work took most of Saturday morning and early afternoon

Mise en place — almost all the ingredients, ready for cooking

The chef snacking on a mango pit

The feast!

Jean serving up some noodly goodness

Patio arrangement courtesy of Lucy and Colin. Flower arrangements by Jaime.

Green Papaya Salad (The papaya was verging on not-green, but it still turned out dee-licious)

Tom Kha Gai, Galangal & lime chicken soup (This soup was a major triumph, just the right amount of coconut, and the dried galangal and leftover kaffir lime leaves from last week infused the soup with a fantastic flavor)


Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps (Simple stir-fried crowd-pleaser)

Pad See Ew (Very similar in style to the Char Kway Teow from last week, but Jaime’s mad frying skillz made it so that the noodles stayed beautifully intact during the frying process)


Basil Tofu (Simple, quick and tasty vegetarian dish)

Fresh Rolls with Shrimp (Made with fresh local spotted prawns bought at the farmer’s market that very morning!)

Dessert
Black sticky rice with mango and toasted coconut

Synergy Farm Thai-style Lettuce Wraps

1 red bell pepper, diced finely
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced into 1/4” cubes
6-8 brown crimini mushrooms, diced into 1/4” cubes
1 cup snow peas, cut horizontally into 1/4” strips
3 garlic scapes diced into circles 1/4” thick
1 small onion minced
1 large shallot minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb ground pork

2 tbsp oil for frying
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or mint or basil

2 lettuce heads (preferably a butter lettuce variety or trouthead for perfect lettuce-wrapping cups)

optional: 1 tbsp oyster sauce, two green thai chilis, minced finely, other vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, sugar snap peas, green beans, etc.

Heat 2 tbsp oil on high heat in your pan or wok. Add in shallot and onion and fry for 10 seconds until fragrant, then add in garlic and fry another 20 seconds. Add ground pork, breaking it up with your spatula or wooden spoon. Fry for 2 minutes, or until browning, but not yet cooked.

Add in carrots and snow peas and scapes and fry another 2 minutes, stirring well. Add in mushrooms and bell pepper and fry another 2 minutes. The meat should be cooked, and everything should be well mixed.

Add in sauce and chilis, if using. Stir well to coat all ingredients. Add in chopped herbs (cilantro, mint or basil) and stir until wilted.

Serve at room temperature with washed lettuce leaves.

Tonight, I put together a Singapore-styled feast for a dozen friends over at Sweet Earth Farm. Elaine, one of the farmers, grew up in Singapore back in the days when the Satay man came calling down the street. We found this random connection while chatting at the farmer’s market a couple of weeks back, and jokingly talked about having a “Singapore Night” to reminisce about the place and share good food.

In the end, Amanda, Elaine’s daughter, suggested we throw the big party in honor of Elaine’s birthday, so that’s how we ended up out on the lawn tonight with full bellies and fire in our mouths, talking about Thieves’ Alley and the Singaporean National Anthem.

The birthday girl and the chef share a celebratory satay skewer

Happy people stuffing faces

Happy faces feeling stuffed

A dinner 2 and a half days in the making, with ingredients all the way from Bukit Batok (thanks to Soy-lau-ko for sending them to Jilly and Jilly for sending them to me in a big care package!). All in all, a HUGE success.

Whole Wheat Paratha
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup ghee/butter
around 1 cup water oil

If using butter, bring to room temperature. Mix flour and salt, and water slowly and stir until it comes together into a dough. Turn it out onto a table and knead 6-7 minutes, until well mixed. Cover with oil and let it rest 30 minutes in a plastic bag or under a wet towel. Cut the dough into 8 even sized pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Cover with oil and let rest 10 minutes under the towel or in the bag — this gives the dough a chance to rest and makes the parathas much easier to roll!

Take a ball and push it flat with your palm. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to 9-10” in diameter. Rub a 1/2 to 1 tsp of butter/ghee on the round. With a sharp knife, cut a radius of the circle, then starting from one side, take the edge of the dough and roll it round the circle, until it meets itself in a cone. Place the cone upright and smush down onto the table. Repeat this with all 8 pieces.

Starting with the first paratha you rolled out roll out the smushed spirals again into flat rounds about 8” in diameter. You can fry these right away, or keep overnight — just be sure to wrap them well in plastic.

Heat a flat pan. When it gets hot, add the paratha and let it cook about a minute. When it begins to get small bubbles, flip over and add a small teaspoon of oil around the paratha. When brown spots appear, take it out of the pan. Serve warm with curry or for dessert with sweetened condensed milk.

Today was ridiculously warm and gorgeous, but clear days seem to portend chilly chilly nights in these parts so it’s not surprising that I’m shivering in my kitchen, waiting for my bread to rise.

I’ve been craving Asian food something fierce, so tonight, after making a ridiculously delicious pot of Soto Ayam (Malaysian chicken soup) from one of our old, tough stewing hens (more on this later!), I had some old tough ginger skins leftover and decided to make myself a nice frothy cup of Teh Halia.

Teh Halia is ginger tea, “Halia” being the word for ginger in Malay, and Teh being a cognate or stolen word… I guess I actually made Teh Susu Halia since I added milk for some sweetness.

One of the coolest parts about Teh Halia, like it’s cousin Teh Tarik, is that it’s traditionally “pulled” from one pitcher or glass to another until it cools off enough to drink and gets all frothy up top (Teh Tarik literally means “pulled tea”). It’s an art of sorts. Here’s a pretty good example posted by the awesome blogger from Rasa Malaysia:

and with that as inspiration, here’s the recipe:

Teh Susu Halia (Ginger tea with condensed milk)
serves 1

2 cups water
2 inches ginger, chopped roughly or smashed
1 plain black tea bag
2 tbsp condensed milk
sugar to taste
2 big cups

Put your ginger and water into a small pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes to let ginger infuse.

Turn off heat and add tea bag, steep for 3-5 minutes or according to instructions.

Add 2 tbsp condensed milk and sugar to taste, stir.

Pour the drink into one of the two cups. “Pull” the tea back and forth (basically pour from one cup to the other, the higher you can go, the better, until it’s nice and frothy on top and a good drinking temperature.

My amateur attempt

So delicious and so relaxing. I can’t wait to shape my boules for overnight proofing, and get into my bed.

One of the very first things I learned to make for myself was fried rice. Growing up, there was almost always a container of leftover white rice in the fridge, just screaming with potential.

To that dried out rice, add some garlic and onion, eggs, random leftovers and a dash of soy sauce, and you had yourself a delicious (and sometimes nutritious) afterschool snack.

The amazing thing about fried rice is that you can put almost anything in it and it will be delicious. There are just a few rules:

• Use old, cold rice – Rice that’s been sitting in the refrigerator for a day or more will be drier, and will separate into grains when cooked instead of clumping together. This is the texture you want in your fried rice, not mush. Save wet rice for delicious porridge!

• Don’t let it get too wet – Same idea as above, but this time pertaining to your ingredients… if you add in too many wet ingredients (like old curry or extra sauce) you’ll get soggy rice

• Use a big pan or wok and make sure it’s HOT — You want to be able to stir without getting rice everywhere. You’ll be adding ingredients as you go, so don’t start out with a small pan and then try to cram in that last cup of rice on the very top (yes, i’ve done it). Help yourself out. Also, make sure your pan’s smoking hot, this will help keep your ingredients from getting mushy too.

I had some leftover white rice staring me down in my fridge today along with some old frittata, carrots, and bunches of greens. So I decided to go for a twist on an old standby. The cheesy frittata with rosemary and thyme wasn’t a traditional ingredient, but the flavors went together perfectly and I scarfed the whole plate in under 10 flat.

Now it’s your turn. Here’s a basic template to paint with your personal palette of leftovers (I’m so so sorry for the terrible metaphor)

Very Basic Fried Rice with Variations
serves 1-2

3 cups white rice, cooked and cold, even better if it’s at least a day old
2 eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced (or more, to taste)
2 tbsp light soy sauce (or more, to taste)
2 tbsp oil
black pepper, to taste

for my frittata rice, I also added:
1 cup shredded carrot
2 cups spinach
3 pieces of leftover frittata
1 tbsp rice vinegar
chives, as garnish

and for more exciting and delicious combinations, try:

1. Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Style): omit garlic, substitute dark soy sauce for light, add 1 cup diced chicken, 1/4 cup diced pineapple, 1/2 cup raisins, 2 tbsp tomato paste, and one tsp curry powder
2. Hawaiian Style: add 1/2 can spam cubed, 1/2 cup carrots cubed, 1/2 cup green peas
3. Nuoc Cham rice: substitute 3 shallots for onions, reduce soy sauce by 1/2 tbsp, add extra clove garlic, 1 cup deveined shrimp, 1 cup long beans chopped, 2 tbsp Vietnamese sweet chili sauce (Nuoc Cham), and 1/4 cup mint leaves
   
4. Yangchow (Traditional style): substitute white part of spring onions for onions, add 1 cup Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheung) or BBQ Pork (Char Siew), 1 cup Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan) stems chopped or peas, 1 tbsp minced ginger, sprinke of white pepper, green part of spring onions chopped for garnish
5. Thai Basil rice: substitute fish sauce for soy sauce, add fried tofu, 1 Thai bird chili minced, 1 red capsicum minced, 2 tbsp crushed peanuts and 1/4 cup thai basil
6. Cheeky Leeks: reduce frying oil, add 1 cup bacon diced and 1/2 lb washed and chopped leeks
7. Spicy rice: add 1 cup beef strips, 1/4 lb, 1 green capsicum minced, 1 1/2 tbsp sriracha chili or chili paste (Sambal Oelek)
8. Tex-mex: omit soy sauce and scrambled eggs, add 1 cup corn, 1 cup black beans, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp crushed cumin seeds, 1 tsp chicken bouillon OR 2 tbsp chicken stock, serve topped with two eggs over-easy
   
9. Moroccan: omit soy sauce and eggs, add 1 tbsp butter, 1 cup cubed carrots, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne or paprika, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/4 cup sliced almonds, sprinkle white pepper and salt to taste
   
10. Kimchi rice: add 1/2 cup kimchi, 1/2 cup minced pork, serve topped with two fried eggs over-easy
    

So it’s not quite 100, but you see how you could make up your own. Go forth, eat rice!

Spinach, Black Beans and Sriracha

Saute a big bunch of spinach in a pan (4-5 cups). Season with black pepper. When almost done, add a cup or two of leftover black beans, boiled the night before. Squirt liberally with Sriracha Rooster Chili. Make a hole in the middle, fry an egg, over-easy so the yolk runs out all over your beans… Scarf.