Sauteed Pea Shoots with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

With frost warnings in full swing, I headed to the garden to harvest those who may not make it through. Though peas hold up well in light frosts, I couldn't resist the tender shoots for this evening's supper. Sauteed in butter, drizzled with a tangy mustard vinaigrette and topped with toasted walnuts; for those of you with fall peas, this recipe is right on time.

Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette:

*1/4 cup high quality white vinegar

*1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

*1 garlic clove

*1 heaping Tbsp honey

*1 Tbsp high quality grainy mustard (I used locally crafted Lusty Monk Mustard)

*sea salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together in a blender. Adjust seasonings to taste. Set aside.

Sauteed Pea Shoots:

*1/4 cup walnut pieces

*4-5 cups loosely packed pea shoots (harvest the top 3-4 inches of vine)

*2 garlic cloves, sliced very thin

*1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Toast walnut pieces in toaster oven or in a pan placed over medium heat, stirring often. Set aside.

Place butter in a cast iron pan over medium low heat. Add garlic and saute until aromatic and golden. Add pea shoots. Gently stir to coat in the butter. Allow to wilt before removing from heat, about 1-2 minutes.

Transfer to a serving plate. Drizzle with vinaigrette and toasted walnut pieces. Serve warm.

*Pea shoots are a very high source of plant based vitamin A, vitamin C (an important antioxidant protecting the body from free radicals, great for the immune system this time of year), and folic acid. Eat up!

Local Bison Hump Roast Stew

As the leaves here in Western North Carolina turn from electric green to various shades of gold, plum, peach, auburn and lemon, nothing is more comforting than a hearty stew. Unique only to bison is the special hump roast, beautifully marbled and full of robust flavor. Slow simmered with the bounty of the fleeting season in a traditional clay pot, this dish is best enjoyed nestled in your favorite chair by a window with a view.

Local Bison Hump Roast Stew:

*1 bison hump roast

*sea salt

*cracked black pepper

*1 medium onion, chopped

*2 stalks celery, chopped

*2 cloves garlic, minced

*1 1/2 cup tiny garden potatoes, or larger potatoes cut into cubes

*3 garden carrots, chopped

*1 handful flat leaf Italian parsley

*2 bay leaves, fresh or dried

*1 bottle dry red wine

*1 Tbsp arrowroot powder

Preheat oven to 250.

Rinse hump roast and pat dry with paper towels. Liberally coat in sea salt and pepper.

Place a cast iron skillet over medium heat coated with coconut oil. Sear all sides of roast, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place in a clay pot, crock pot, or any roasting pan with a fitted lid.

Surround roast with onion, celery, garlic, potatoes, carrots and parsley. Pour wine over contents. Add bay leaves. Season with additional sea salt and pepper.

Fit dish with a lid and place on center rack of preheated oven. Bake for 6-8 hours or until roast is tender.

If using a crock pot, fit with lit and turn setting to low. Simmer for same amount of time or longer.

Allow contents to cool before skimming excess fat from top of cooking liquid.

Remove roast from pot. Trim away fat. Shred meat into generous pieces with a fork.

Place pot over medium heat. Dissolve arrowroot powder in 1/4 cup cool water. Whisk into roast liquid and vegetables, and heat until thickened. Return shredded roast pieces to pot. Stir.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, ladle into bowls, settle in and enjoy.

Fresh Cheese

My friend Donna has been making fresh cheese for ages. This go-round I asked to join in. Like so many things which previously seemed complicated, I was surprised at how simple the process is. Separate the curd from the whey, strain, compress or age, and you've got a perfect example of the subtle beauty of mild cheese.

Donna most often makes hers into paneer for Indian inspired dishes. After allowing the excess whey to drain overnight, she slices the disk and fries the pieces in coconut oil before adding them to masterfully spiced spinach for Palak paneer.

Here are simple instructions on making your own. All you need are a few simple kitchen supplies, fresh raw milk, lemon juice and sea salt.

Fresh Cheese:

*1 gallon fresh raw milk

*4 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

*sea salt to taste

Line a colander with cheesecloth. Set aside. Pour the milk into a large soup pot and place over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer and immediately remove from heat.

Slowly add the lemon juice, and gently stir. Allow the curds to separate from the whey. This will take about 2 minutes.

Once fully separated, pour contents through cheesecloth. Add sea salt, or any additional flavorings to the curds, such as red pepper flakes, rosemary, cracked pepper or sage.

Twist cheesecloth around the curds (to resemble a package reminiscent of one delivered by a stork), and begin squeezing the curds to remove excess whey.

Flatten the curds within the cheesecloth forming a disk. Wrap disk with edges of the cloth and place on a dinner plate. Place a larger plate underneath, and tip plate with cheese to one side using a small dish cloth, so excess whey may drain onto the larger plate. Weight with an additional plate on top of the cheese to compress.

Place in fridge overnight and enjoy the following day how ever you may please. Excellent for nibbling, melted over sourdough, or used as a star in your favorite Indian dish.

*Whey may be reserved for future recipes, drinking, or if you have pigs, they will welcome it wholeheartedly as a decadent treat.

Sweet Sorghum Syrup

Part of the big bluestem and sugar cane tribe, sorghum is known throughout much of the world for its use as an edible grain, in making alcohol (such as the well known maotai of China), and fermented into ethanol for bio-fuel. Here in the WNC region, the old-timey traditional art of making sorghum syrup (or sorghum molasses), is still practiced in some circles. Doubletree Farm of Marshall NC, uses draft horses to operate the farm. Sustainable timber management, artisan wood products, vegetables and sorghum syrup are their specialty.

Only this time of year does the lovely, deeply hued syrup show up at market. Tended over a continuous wood burning fire, the final product is rich, highly sweet and special. Though I often prefer savory over sweet, when the craving strikes, a drizzle of sorghum does the trick.

This evening it landed atop hot skillet cornbread with sweet cream butter. You hear that? It's me, licking every single one of my fingers.

Clue. . .

Miss Bartlett, in the dining room, with the dagger.

Kneading

As I mess around with the idea of video blogging, I have unearthed a bit of my long lost childhood shyness. So here I am (most of me), in my comfort zone (the kitchen), involved in an activity I am also quite comfortable with, kneading bread dough. I think of this as the ultimate stress relief. In Indian tradition, an individual is not allowed in the kitchen when angry or ill tempered. This stems from the concept of food absorbing energy while being prepared by the cook, and is something I have payed close attention to.

In contrast, I have also found that an ill temper or should I say, "modern crazy mind", can also be righted by being in the kitchen. Working with food, like weeding the garden, gives the brain much needed space to lightly meander and unwind.

In my Health Coaching practice, I often hear the same question: "What can I make that is good for me and takes very little time to prepare?" This one always stumps me, because in essence, what's best for us is taking the time to prioritize preparation and cooking of the food that feeds us. And it would be unwise to think that we are not being fed in another sense during the process.

Bread is this way. I start off thinking, "15 minutes of kneading, humm." But 5 minutes in, I can feel myself decompress. It is during these moments when I realize, we have traded traditional food preparation for empty convenience food items so we can hurry up and sit in the waiting rooms of our doctor's office.

If we can make time to prepare meals thoughtfully, think of all the hours upon hours saved on not visiting our physicians, while we are at home, enjoying gorgeous food.

Gaining Ground

Appropriately, the first morning of October was spent stockpiling food. This has been the trend throughout the growing season, (we have had the best "putting up" year yet), though not everything we need can be raised on our acre. One of my favorite vendors from farmer's market recently harvested two of their Devons. So my friend Heidi and I arranged a drive out to Gaining Ground Farm to pick up 100 pounds.

It was a gorgeous morning, brisk and dewy with classic Carolina blue skies stretching in every direction. After being greeted by the chickens, we found that only so many of us could gather around the freezers, so as Aaron and Heidi sorted through the meat, I walked down to the fields where Anne was gathering crops for market.

Cover crops were already in full swing in the fallow fields. The perimeter of heady goldenrod, cornflower and purple aster framed in rows of healthy daikon, bush beans, carrots and flowers, slowly drying their dewdrops in the warming morning sun.

Thanks to Anne and Aaron and their admirable hard work, my freezer is filled to the very brim with the highest quality, pastured beef. It's like being a kid again on Christmas morning, rejoicing in a new exciting stash.

It is a blessed feeling to have so much pure food standing by for months ahead.

Burgers were enjoyed last night with a toast to gaining ground.

Images from the Farm

Assorted peppers

Scale

Garlic braids

One of the freezers of beef

Anne harvesting

Daikon

Produce boxes

Disc plough

My very grateful dog