Thanks to those who decided to get the last two Winter Shares! We all hope that you are enjoying your delicious storage vegetables, and that they are storing to your satisfaction.
Aaron and I promised to share some good recipes for these veggies, particularly the Celeriac, so here goes:
Celeriac Recipes
Roast Chicken and Vegetables.
I just made this one-dish meal for the crew’s lunch the other day: simple, hearty, tasty.
Peel and cube 1 butternut squash into ½ inch cubes. Chop onions roughly – I had small onions, so I halved or quartered them. Peel a whole head’s worth of garlic, leaving the cloves whole or cutting them in half. Wash and roughly chop 4 or 5 carrots. Peel and chop 2 celeriac into ½ inch cubes. Put all the cut veggies on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle generously with oil (I use sunflower, because I can get NY-raised sunflower oil at the co-op!), and sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon salt and a generous dose of black pepper. If you have it, you can mince about 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary or thyme. Mix until homogeneous, and then spread the veggies into a single layer – for me, this took two baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut a thoroughly-thawed chicken into parts – drumsticks, thighs, wings, and breasts, with the breasts cut into halves or thirds so they are about the same size as the other pieces. Spread the chicken pieces on top of the veggies, skin side up. Put the trays in the oven. Let bake for about 15 minutes, then pull them out and stir the veggies around as best you can, to unstick any that are getting caramelized onto the pan. I always switch the two trays top to bottom at this point, to assist even baking. Bake for another 15 minutes, then stir again. I would expect all to be done after a third 15 minute stint, for a total of 45. This was enough to feed five farmers.
Celeriac Latkes with Apple Creme Fraiche
1 small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil +2 tbsp 1 celeriac, trimmed, peeled, qtr
4 potatoes, peeled, halved 2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 egg salt and pepper
for the creme fraiche:
1 cup creme fraiche 1 apple, peeled, grated
juice of 1/4 lemon 12 chives, snipped
Saute onion in 1 tbsp oil with salt and pepper for 2 minutes. Add garlic. Saute 5 minutes until soft.
Use a food processor to grate potatoes and celeriac. Wring out as much liquid as possible using a kitchen towel. Tip into a bowl, season and add onion, garlic, and parsley. Add egg and mix well.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and press half of the mixture into the pan, spreading it out. Cook on medium heat 15 minutes. Place a plate on the pancake and flip, then slide pancake back into pan cooked side up. Cook another 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining pancake mixture.
To make apple creme fraiche, toss apple with lemon immediately to prevent browning. Chop as fine as you can. Mix into creme fraiche and season with salt, pepper, and chives. seriouseats.com
Celery Root & Potato Soup
3 large or 6 medium leeks (or 1 large onion), finely chopped
3/4 lb potatoes, well scrubbed, quartered and sliced
3/4 lb celeriac, trimmed and peeled, quartered and sliced
2 tbsp butter
salt and freshly milled pepper
milk, or water to thin the soup
Melt butter in a large soup pot, add leeks, potatoes, and celeriac and cook over low heat, covered, 10 minutes. Add 7 cups water, 1 1/2 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes and celeriac are soft and falling apart, about 35 minutes. Crush some to give the soup body. Thin with milk if needed. Season with salt and pepper. To add richness, use cream instead of milk.
Vegetarian cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison
ALSO:
here is my favorite celeriac recipe I have made this year. Time consuming, and not the most visually stunning meal you will serve, but VERY worthy of company.
Butternut Squash "Lasagna"
https://www.mynewroots.org/site/2012/12/butternut-squash-lasagna/
As I type this in the darkness of the longest night of the year, I have no fear or sadness in the darkness, because I am warmed and my heart lighted by the friendship of our FarmShare family, of our upstate NY family, of our blood family, no matter how far away. We lighted candles this evening, as the last rays of sun melted away, and my little light felt a bit like a self-portrait. Thank you all for feeding my flame, for supporting me and Zack and Willa and Aaron and all of the more ephemeral but just as essential creatures - human and otherwise - that spend time with us on this farm to help us learn to better care for this land. May our hands feed this land that it may feed you, our community, in turn. May our love for you help us to better love this land, and make us more able to say thank you to it in tangible ways. Happy Solstice, and happy cooking.