Marianne's Apple Pie

I am NOT a fan of anything that involves flour. I tremble at the idea of making a decent pie crust and for that reason have avoided making pies all my life. But every time I invite my friend Marianne to dinner she brings THE most perfect apple pie. So when Marianne offered a "pie workshop" one rainy morning earlier this month, I decided I needed to attend.

Marianne's Deep Dish Apple Pie
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Filling:
8 Cortland or Macs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
sprinkling of cinnamon
3 Tbs butter cut into dots
Peel, core and quarter apples. Slice quarters into four equal slices. Sprinkle, sugar, flour and cinnamon over apples and shake the bowl (Do NOT mix it up, just SHAKE the bowl). Set aside.

Pie Crust:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup Canola Oil
8 Tbsp COLD water

Place flour and salt in a bowl stir with a fork. TO the oil add the cold water and whisk until mixed. Add to the flour and stir with a fork. Do not over mix. It should look like this:Divide in half and place between two sheets of wax paper. Roll out until it is larger than the pie plate you are using. Keep the dough round by using the rolling pin as a radius to the circle of the pie and roll in a rounded fashion out from the center like this:After you have placed the first crust in the pie plate, add the filling, and dot with butter. Then roll out the second crust. Remove excess dough and pinch lower and upper crusts together. Then crimp with thumb and index finger around the edge of the plate:Slice openings in the crustSprinkle with sugar and place in a 350 degree oven. Check after 50 minutes. Filling should be bubbling and crust golden but not brown.May I recommend a a godsend that I have acquired recently. It is called a pie crust bag and it make rolling out the dough much easier for a beginner.

First Frost

Why does it always catch me by surprise? I should know by now that still, clear nights in October are potentials. So gone is the lingering basil ... the dozen or so tomatoes ... the dahlias. And like someone who was standing partly on shore and partly still in the water of a summer garden, I am now firmly on shore. Any reluctance to put the garden to bed, has vanished and I am now in earnest on the other side of summer. *sigh*

Russian Olive vs. Autumn Olive: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

I am no expert here, but yes there is a difference between the two . They are both from the Oleaster Family and both are listed as invasive. Russian Olive's scientific name is Elaeagnus angustifolia and the Autumn Olive's is Elaeagnus umbellata. Here in New England, at least, it is the Autumn Olive that is our invasive nemesis.
Perhaps the best way to tell them apart is that Russian Olive has stiff thorns, and the silvery scales that adorn only the bottom side of an Autumn Olive leaf, are on both sides of a Russian Olive leaf. And this time of year, one would see on the Russian Olive a more yellow to orange colored fruit, instead of the bright red of the Autumn Olive.

While I am no fan of this invasive, I must say that I have grown to love the fragrance of their flowers in the air in late May. The first whiff just stops me in my tracks. And their high density of the antioxident, lycopene, has SOME looking to make a cash crop out of the pest. Check this out.

Autumn Olive Recipe Time

I have a confession to make. If it weren't for my Autumn Olive Jam Recipe, I would have lots fewer readers. It seems that all over the country people are wondering what they can do with the fruit of these invasives.

I still have jars of jam from last year, so this year I thought I would make fruit leather. All summer I had been meaning to buy a dehydrator, and here I am a the end of the season without one, so this recipe will be for the oven dried variety of fruit leather.

My objective in making the fruit leather was to use it cut up in small chunks the size of dried cranberries to use in salads. I didn't want too sweet a flavor.

Why eat Autumn Olive berries?

I like the berries because they have that cranberry flavor that we associate with eating game in the fall months. But the best reason is that it is an unexpectedly rich source of lycopene ... nearly 15 times that of raw tomatoes.
Picking the berries

Not all Autumn Olive bushes are equal. Before you start loading your buckets, roam your picking area and taste them. I find that bushes that get morning sun, but shade from 11:00 AM on yield the sweetest berries. The sweeter the berry, the less sugar you will need. Although sweet is a relative term here ... these berries are a might tart. I look for plump bright red berrries. I use a shopping bag as my bucket and place the fruit laden branch inside the bag and strip them from the branch. For rthis recipe you will need 4 cups of pulp. I had to pick about 7 cups of berries.

Autumn Olive Fruit Leather
4 cups of Autumn Olive Berry pulp
1 Tbsp Lemon juice (optional)
2 Tablespoons local honey (helps make the leather more pliable)
10 drops of liquid Stevia

To make the berry pulp, add one half cup of water to every 4 cups of berries and boil on the stove until the seeds have separated from the berry. (I actually added sprigs of mint to the berries at this stage. It is also where you would add the lemon juice if using.) Run through a food mill or a sieve and return pulp to a saucepan on the stove. Add the honey and Stevia. If you want a sweeter fruit leather, then add sugar one tablespoon at a time to the simmering pulp, tasting for desired sweetness. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread the pulp on the parchment to a 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. Place in a 140 degree oven (mine doesn't stay that low so I did mine at 170 degrees) for 10-12 hours. You can tell if it is ready by peeling it from the parchment and by touching it in the center of the tray. When it is done it will be tacky but not sticky. Also when it has cooled it is more likely to be less sticky than when you test it when it is warm.

Storing the fruit leather

I decided to cut mine in half lengthwise. I stored one half by rolling it in plastic wrap and putting it in the freezer. The second half I halved again and put a plastic wrapped roll in the fridge and the other half I cut up into little pieces to use in salads where I would normally use dried cranberries. These I stored in a glass jar.

Distractions from the garden

There is not much happening in the garden. I have little to show for a fall crop save a few undiscovered potatoes, some Brussels sprouts the size of my baby fingernail and some scrawny kale and Swiss chard. The next real task is to prepare the second of two garlic beds for planting mid-month.

So I have been amusing myself building garden structures. Last year when Janice Shields came to the arboretum, I made a pea trellis which has served me well this season. Yesterday Janice returned, and I spent 5 hours with her and other neighbors as we each built our own rustic garden bench. Pretty spiffy, huh?

Personal Stonehenge

It is equinox and I know because the sun rises over my birdbath to mark the day when I stand in my bedroom door and look out onto the field. My own personal Stonehenge

Heirloom Tomato Tart

I've been so busy COOKing from the garden there has been little time left to WRITE about it. Before all your tomatoes disappear, consider making this tomato tart suggested to me by my friend with the night blooming Cereus.

Heirloom Tomato Tart

3 lbs ripe firm tomatoes
pate brise (I just use one pkg of Pillsbury roll out pie crust)
2 heads garlic

3/4 c cheese (fontina, cheddar, aged gouda,etc.)

olive oil

salt, pepper
handful fresh basil

Preheat oven to 350. Cut off top of garlic head, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in tin foil, place on a cookie sheet, and roast until soft. Cool. Squeeze out cloves into a small bowl, mash with a fork and reserve.

Press pie dough into a thin tart pan with a removable bottom, Extend crust up around edges about 1 inch, fold and crimp. Refrigerate about 30 min. Remove from fridge, spread roasted garlic evenly on crust, and sprinkle about 1/2 cheese on.

Preheat oven to 450. Slice tomatoes and "pave" them on the crust, overlapping as you go. (if using heirlooms, here's your chance to alternate colors...a great effect) Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 min. Reduce oven temp to 425, sprinkle with remaining cheese, (I add more if I feel like it, because I'm a cheese girl) and bake for 20 to 30 more minutes or until brown on edges . My recipe says if the crust gets too brown too fast to cover it with foil, but I've never had that problem. Remove from oven , sprinkle with about a handful of chopped or shredded fresh basil and cool on a wire rack for about 20 min. CAREFULLY push out of outer edges of tart pan, holding onto the bottom, and slide onto a big plate. Yum
A warning ... this requires time, so it is best made in the mid afternoon and served at room temperature. The roasting of the garlic and the making and the chilling of the crust is 40 minutes. The assembly is 10 minutes. The cooking is 60 minutes and the cooling time is 20. Two hours and 10 minutes before you can slice into it. BUT IT IS WORTH IT !!! I've made it three times already this summer.

Night Blooming Cereus

Well the local night blooming Cereus named "Audrey" may have just made a a new North American record for number of blooms in a single night. We counted 23 on Friday night. Unfortunately my flash was not cooperating for the entire event, but here are a few of the scenes from the festivities.


Look at that delicate reproductive apparatus Audrey sports ... eerily hermaphroditic. The last time I posted bout Audrey, I received a comment from a reader in Hawaii who shared with me a link to a plant that grows on a wall surrounding her church in Hawaii.

A Moment of Gratitude

I have started to take it all for granted ... the garden and its bounty. It seems a natural act to wander to the garden gate at the dinner hour and forage for green beans, a perfectly ripe tomato, some fresh basil, and a zucchini to put on the grill. What a privilege to have this bounty a few steps away from my kitchen. When you start finding tomato seeds in your hair, you know you have been a little TOO caught up in harvest management, and it is easy to forget how you waited and waited for that first asparagus spear in the spring, the first handful of green beans you could bring to the table, and oh yes a time when all tomatoes in your garden were in a perpetual state of green.

And yet, in the yin and yang that is so present when you are close to the earth, amid this bounty are the signs of its demise ... the sounds of geese in the sky in the early morning, the shortening of the days, the search for the evening sweatshirt. These harbingers of winter, however faint, seem to carry much more weight than do my little seedlings pushing through the earth in spring.

One Local Summer: Week #13

I decided on a real local feast for the grand finale. Early in the season I had purchased a leg of lamb from Mermaid Farm about a half mile away. Alan and Caitlin's sheep graze in various sites in my neighborhood in the spring so I feel like I really know this flock. I boned the lamb, trimmed it of fat and marinated it in some olive oil garlic and rosemary. As I was working with the meat, I thought about how much fuel it takes to move most of the lamb I eat from New Zealand to here, and I was left with the question of WHY a leg of lamb from a half mile away costs twice as much as one from New Zealand. I know some of the answers ... economy of scale, etc. but I decided that the more we invest in these local producers and give them a market they can rely on, the closer they will come to being able to pass savings back to us. Despite these misgivings, I have to say this was one FABULOUS tasting leg of lamb. Must be terroir. TO this I added my own additions. Each August I make a sage potato dish that is just great. I have a little Creuset terrine that is just big enought to make a scant portion ofr two, but any cast iron casserole with a top will do. I drizzle some olive oil on the bottom, sprinkle some sea salt and then press fresh sage leaves into the salt and oil mixture to cover the bottom of the pan. I cut the potatoes in half and press them into the sage and salt and cook at 400 for maybe 35 minutes. Soooooo good.

To the roasted potatoes I added some green beans and grilled zucchini. And VOILA, Week #13.Many thanks to Kim who has been there every week encouraging us along with her wonderful reports of our attempts. I feel like I know more "fellow travelers" here in New England and have a new set of wonderful blogs to follow both nearby and around the country.

The Fair Results

Well the Agricultural Fair was last week, and with it comes both the pinnacle of a season's work and the realization that it is time to start planning for next year. This garden brought home five (count them 5!) blue ribbons. The two of which I am most proud are the ones in garlic, I entered two heads of Montana Giant, and in biggest tomato. At 1 pound 10.3 ounces, Big Zac came through again as the winner.

On the third day of the Fair I went to check on Zac and he was GONE!!! Apparently he had started to pass from ripening to the next stage, and when I inquired as to his whereabouts, I was told he had been fed to the pigs. It somehow seems like just the right thing to have done. And the fate of Big Zac reinforced my decision to slice and enjoy my ripe Cavillion melons rather than enter them in the Fair. The melons have been breakfast fare all week. A sweet reward.

OLS Week#12 - A Vegetable Soup with a Touch of Provence

This week I made a vegetable soup. the leeks and carrots were from Morning Glory Farm and the rest was from my own garden. I have put an asterisk next to the non local ingredients in case you want to add them. It is an adaptation of a recipe in Martha Rose Schulman's Provencal Light.

Vegetable Soup with Pistou

2 cups of greens beans broken into 1 inch pieces
2 medium sized zucchini diced
1 large onion chopped
6 large cloves of garlic minced
2 large carrots chopped
*1 celery ribs chopped
2 leeks, white part only, washed and sliced
*2 medium sized turnips peeled and diced
1 pound (450 gr) medium sized new potatoes diced
1 pound tomatoes ( 450 gr) skinned seeded and chopped
3 quarts (3 liters) water
A bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, bay leaf and a parmesean rind*
Salt and pepper to taste.

¼ pound ( 115 gr) macaroni, fusilli, vermicelli or broken spaghetti*

1 recipe low fat pistou (recipe follows)

Set aside ½ of the green beans and ½ of the zucchini. Combine all the ingredients (except the pistou) in a soup pot, bring to a boil and simmer covered for 1 ½ hours. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Add the reserved green beans and zucchini and the pasta. Cook 10 minutes more or until pasta is al dente.

Serve in wide soup bowls and top each with a serving of the pistou to be stirred into the soup.

You CAN make the soup in advance up to adding the beans, zucchini and pasta.

Low Fat Pistou

2 cups freshly packed basil leaves (75 gr)
¼ tsp salt
2 large garlic cloves
1 medium tomato peeled and seeded
*1 Tbsp olive oil
1 oz (30 gr) grated Parmesan

Place the basil and salt in the bowl of a food processor fixed with the steel blade and turn it on. Drop in garlic cloves and run until all is finely chopped.

Turn off the machine and scrape the leaves down the sides of the bowl. Turn on again and add the tomato and the oil. Puree until smooth. Removes and stir in Parmesan. Transfer to a covered jar and refrigerate until serving.

The Ag Fair

The Class of 2008

In the end I entered ten different items in the Fair this morning. Now it is in the hands of the judges

All the

a slice of honey

Of all of my achievements in the garden this summer, I am most proud of these two melons. I brought the seed back from a melon I had in Paris two summers ago called "tranche de miel." Yesterday I picked the two largest and have been agonizing over whether to enter them in the Fair or just eat them. They smelled perfectly ripe, and I was afraid that 5 days in the exhibit hall and I would have 2 over ripe melons. So I opted for flavor instead of glory and had half of the smaller one for breakfast this morningOMG !!!!!!!

The flavor simply explodes inside your mouth. It is almost like drinking a fine wine at the peak of its storage. There is subtlety and after taste and resolved and unresolved sugars. It is pure ambrosia.

Meanwhile, Big Zac continues to ripen on the vine. The countdown to glory continues.

Tomato Bliss - The Italian Sweet

The Italian Sweet is a bear to grow, but the reward in flavor is indescribable. They are prone to blossom end rot. I have probably heaved 8 of them into the compost pile already. So when I found a ripe one this morning, I could not resist eating it for breakfast. OMG !!! How do I describe the flavor ? "What a tomato ought to taste like?"

OLS Week #11

While I probably ate more local food for the week as a total last week, I never did get around to posting a fully local meal. THIS week I am relying on a Greek dish made with zucchini, local eggs and onions from the garden. We are all looking for good zucchini solutions this time of year. In addition to this weeks Greek offering and the ones I have listed from past years, here is a new recipe that I served last week that was well received as a backyard appetizer when sliced into bite size pieces.

Zucchini Appetizer

4 C grated zucchini

1 C Bisquick

4 eggs

1/2 C parmesan ( or more)

1/4 C oil

*1/2 t oregano or Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C finely chopped onion

2 T parsley

Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and parsley. Add at the end mixing thoroughly.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes minimum in a 9x12 lasagna pan.

Establishing territory

I need to be away from the garden this weekend, and the tomatoes are of course FINALLY ripening. So I decided I could not leave my garden unprotected. Two years ago Kate and Jonah helped me make a scarecrow, and I still have the parts we used. All it takes is a little straw and duct tape, and soon you have a scarecrow.

Be sure to put the shirt on the cross piece BEFORE you tape the crosspiece together

When to pick

Yesterday I picked one of my "tranche de miel" Charentais melons. It was too soon. The advice I have been picking up is to wait for a bit of a golden hue to the skin ... or to wait for the leaf next to the melon to turn yellow. I did neither of these. But I have four left on the vine and I shall wait patiently.

Taylor-Bray Farm

I took a delightful side trip on my excursion to Cape Cod this weekend for a wedding. I visited the Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouth Port. It sits on the edge of a salt marsh and dates back to 1639. There are community vegetable gardens on the property, and I couldn't keep from taking some pictures.