Yum! Winter Soup and Butternut Squash Dinner

In an effort to add more recipes to the RFC archives, as well as to inspire you to do lots of exciting winter cooking, here are some tips and instructions on cooking a hearty soup with cold-season flair. My tips for cooking a great side of butternut squash are also included.

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Fennel, White Bean and Olive Soup

This soup is based on a recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook, called 'White Bean and Olive Soup.' That recipe calls for celery and zucchini, but I've changed mine into a delicious December version. I admit my 'locavore' factor is a bit low in this recipe, but I believe January through April is the time to allow yourself some wiggle room. It's still necessary to eat, and I think we should eat well, even if it means using a couple things from elsewhere while simultaneously maintaining the goal of doing better next year. For example, I'm ordering fennel seeds. We'll see how it goes...

Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb, chopped. Preserve foliage for use as a garnish.
2-3 medium carrots or 6 small carrots, chopped
2 smaller onions
Salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Pepper
1 cup halved and pitted kalamata olives
1 can cannellini beans
1 6oz can tomato paste (you could probably substitute canned or frozen tomatoes, maybe 2-3 chopped)
4 cups water
4-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used pre-chopped frozen sweet peppers for this that I preserved this summer-- yay for reaping the benefits of seasonal labors!)

Pour olive oil into a big soup pot. On medium high heat, cook onions, fennel and carrots with roughly a teaspoon of salt in olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Add pepper, garlic and bell pepper, and saute for about 5 more minutes. Mix the tomato paste with 4 cups of water and add to the saute along with the rest of the ingredients, including spices. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Serve hot and garnish with fennel foliage.

Butternut Squash Side

Easy if you're an experienced cook, but I wanted to pass along my favorite way to cook butternut squash, since I only discovered it in the last couple of months. Take a standard cookie sheet that has sides, and fill it with about 1/4 inch of water. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds, then place each half face down in the water. Bake on 400 for 30-50 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. Just check periodically for softness. When ready, remove from oven and cut into chunks. Apply a small pat of butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar to the top.

Bread

A slice of your favorite hearty bread finishes off this meal. Ours was the French white bread from Ellwood Thompson's (a leftover from bread and cheese offerings to relatives on Christmas afternoon), but I really am partial to some of the darker breads they offer there. I will mention that the No Wonder bread guy is still selling at Byrd House market, and Montana Gold also bakes their bread in-house.

Tricycle Gardens -- Gardening Classes in 2009!

Is your New Year's resolution to start a garden in 2009? Get a head start by taking classes with Tricycle Gardens, your local community gardening nonprofit.

Listed courses include:

JANUARY, Saturday 24th, 12-3pm
Creative Coldframes and Cloches
Jump start your spring by integrating creative cold frames and cloches into your home garden. We will demonstrate how to build 3 simple types of cold frames, and a variety of cloches. Tapping into our resourceful & inventive minds, and by using new, used and found objects, we will find new & beneficial tools for successful gardens.
Please dress warmly, as we will be outside.
INSTRUCTORS: Danny Finney, Allison Mesnard, Stacey Moulds
LOCATION: Jefferson Avenue Garden (at 24th Street in Church Hill/Union Hill)
COST: $50, 20 spaces available


FEBRUARY, Saturday 14th, 11am-2pm
Seed Swap & Potluck
Start your Valentines Day with a seed swap! Bring some seeds / perennials to trade, and a dish to share. Go home with new varieties, tips and stories.
LOCATION: Tricycle Garden's Office, 211 West 7th Street (in Old Manchester)
FREE!

MARCH Sunday 8th, 1-4pm
DIY Sub-Irrigated Planter Workshop.
We will discuss a variety of designs for making your own sub-irrigated planter as well as the plethora of garden crops and flowers that can be grown successfully in this type of unique and water saving planter.
Container garden enthusiasts who haven't yet tried using SIP's are highly encouraged to sign up for this workshop. We will also discuss many different "soil-less" growing mediums you can make yourself. Everyone will go home with a fully functional water efficient SIP that they have made themselves ready for planting.
INSTRUCTORS: Danny Finney, Allison Mesnard
LOCATION: Tricycle Garden's Office, 211 West 7th Street (in Old Manchester)
COST: $65, 30 spaces available

MARCH, Thursday 12th, 7-9pm?
The Nitty-Gritty on Community Gardens
What is the story about community gardening and the local agriculture movement? Learn about the history of community gardens in America, and the nuts & bolts of what it really takes to create and sustain a garden in your community. Learn about the work of Tricycle Gardens, and what they are doing to make community gardens a part of the story of Richmond. Lively discussion encouraged.
INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Taranto
LOCATION: LGBG
COST: $25

APRIL , Sunday 5th
Build Your Own Rain Barrel
Participants will receive a 55 gallon #2 plastic food grade barrel with all the necessary components to make a usable rain collector. Tools and helpers will be on hand to assist in the assembling. We will discuss and explain set up and maintenance of your rain barrel as well as offering a few suggestions for the more adventurous DIYers for converting heavy duty plastic garbage cans into functional rain collectors. We will discuss how the use of rain barrels can be a component in reducing our negative impact on our local waterways and help foster a stronger connection with the health and well being of our diverse and complex ecology.
INSTRUCTORS: Danny Finney, Allison Mesnard, Stacey Moulds
LOCATION: Tricycle Garden's Office, 211 West 7th Street (in Old Manchester)
COST: $75, 50 spaces available

Turkey Soup From Scratch

Aahhh, the wonderful rewards of homemade chicken or turkey soup... . For those of you who haven't tried making your own stock, or broth from scratch I promise you it is well worth the relatively small amount of time it takes to make. Making soup from scratch stretches your food dollars and is a healthy as well as delicious way to make the most of your leftover Turkey, (or chicken),carcass and all.

Chicken or Turkey Stock
1. Remove any meat from the carcass that you deem good eating meat. If you have a large turkey like ours each leg will offer up enough meat for multiple sandwiches (no lie). If you leave this meat on the bones your stock will just be that much richer, but I believe it is a waste. I pull off all the meat, place in a tight container in the fridge and then "pull it" or shred it at the very end of my soup making process, adding it to the soup after all the vegetables are done cooking.

2. Fill a large stock pot with enough water to cover the entire carcass, legs, wings, neck if you've got it, etc. Set the pot on the burner and turn it on high.

3. Add vegetable bits. I save all my scrapes from garlic and onion skins and ends to carrot and fennel tops just for these stocks. Just remember to cut vegetables into large chunks that will not turn into total mush before the stock is done... Here are some veggies to make a great stock...
Fennel greens from the bulbs you buy for roasting etc.(with out a great deal of the stem)
Carrot greens and Carrots pealed and chopped into 2-4 large pieces. You don't have to peal them, but if you don't the skins make make your stock taste bitter.
Onions, skins and all. Halved or quartered.
Garlic, skins and all. If you grow your own and have a bunch of small heads, just slice the bottom off the whole head, break it up a bit in your hand and through it in.
Celery tops
4-5 whole peppercorns
A nice pinch salt... Alice waters says it is important to add this now to help bring out the flavors and not wait until you make the actual soup.
Sage, Rosemary, marjoram, thyme ( I have all these in the yard, and keep dried bunches of them in the kitchen during the winter.


Again Alice Waters recommends allowing the stock to come to hard boil, then turn it down to a soft simmer right away. As soon as you have turned it down use a large spoon to remove the foam off the top. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, but 2 hours is great too. Just remove and cool a little from time to time to check the taste.

When stock is ready place a large colander over a bowl or stock pot large enough to hold all the stock and strain it off from the bones and veggies. If you are not going to make soup right away, be sure to refrigerate the stock fairly quickly rather than let it cool slowly at room temperature. Once it's cooled a little, you can finish cooling it in the fridge in a large metal pot with some kind of covering and a towel underneath... or after its cooled some you can divide it into smaller containers and freeze or chill those. These are great to have for sauteing, or making various soups etc.

Turkey or Chicken Soup

If you want to make soup right away, just pour the still hot stock into a large stock pot and place it back on the stove maintaining a very soft simmer until you start adding your veggies.
Here is an estimate of what I put in... it varies every time depending on what I have available and what I am in the mood for. These veggie number are for a good gallon of stock...

Throw each group in the stock when your done chopping.
1. 3-4 large carrots, scrubbed or pealed, and sliced 1/4" thick. (pealing is less important here and I usually leave the skins on)
2. 1-1/2 large onions. pealed, and chopped.
3. 4-5 medium potatoes, pealed or scrubbed and cut into about 1" pieces. (To peal or scrub for me depends on if I see green under the skin. The green of the potato is a toxin, and if your potatoes are starting to green just under the skin then they should be pealed)
4. Celery rinsed and chopped into 1/4" pieces. ( I have substituted the thicker fennel stems at times)
5. Salt, pepper and dried herbs to taste.
6. "Pull" or chop up your leftover turkey meat and toss that in once the veggies are almost tender.

7. If I am using potatoes I usually don't use rice or noodles, but you could have chicken or turkey with rice and veggies, or noodles instead. I always make mine with egg noodles and I make the rice or noodles separately and add them into just the amount of soup I plan to serve. I keep the rice or noodles separate in the fridge and add them to each batch I reheat when I put it on the stove. This may not be necessary, but it is the only way I have found to keep the rice or noodles from slowly absorbing more and more liquid until I end up with an extremely thick soup that looks like it's been condensed.

All of this may sound like a lot, but really the amount of actual prep time is probably only about 1/2 hour for both stock and soup combined, especially once you've done it several times, and the warmth and healthful taste of a nice soup that you can have on hand makes it well worth the effort.

Yoder Dairy to close

Thanks to one of our readers for alerting us to this story, which details the closing of the beloved Yoder Dairy in Virginia Beach. Richmonders were able to get delicious Yoder milk and cream at Ellwood Thompson's, in the classic and reusable glass bottles. The closing of this family run business makes the case that it is our support of these industries that keeps them alive. Don't let this happen to something else you love.

Alma's Hearty Health Bread

Here is the a snippet of the e-mail Alma sent to me to provide you with some of the "inside" information and tips she offers. From South Africa, Alma has had to make a good deal of adjustments to her recipes, particularly in measurement conversions in order for us to more easily follow her instructions. This bread recipe is one she has been making for several years and she says that although her family loves it, when she has baked it for some Americans in the past they complained that it was too hearty for their taste. See what you think. I think it sounds great!
When I asked her about Prairie Grain Bread I was surprised to find that she too uses this bread saying ... "I also use the Prairie Grain White because I cannot really bake a better loaf myself, and it toasts and makes toasted cheese beautifully. I have used the 9 grain but I prefer my own brown. "

"This Whole-wheat Bread recipe is my sophisticated version of the original recipe I had from my very first SA cookbook.I used to bake 2 2-lb loaves when my husband was alive but now I do only one, which I divide into two smaller loaves. My bread tins measure 12" by 3 1/2" and are the original ones I brought from SA . There is nothing to be found here that is quite the same size or measurement. However, you can use 1 lb loaf tins.
You will find the recipe seems rather long, but it is because of all the health bits and pieces I add. I would also add cracked wheat but it is a great nuisance because it has to be cooked first and cooled which adds to the preparation time
When I open a new jar of yeast I always proof it first, that is 1 tspn yeast, 1 tbspn water and 1 tspn sugar mixed together in a cup and placed in a warm place. It should rise to at least 3/4 of the cup in about 15 to 20 minutes. Otherwise I just mix the dry yeast straight in with the flour and other ingredients.

Wholewheat Bread
3 cups wholewheat flour
2 cups AP or Bread Flour
2 1/2 tspns Fleischman or Red Star Active Dry yeast
1/2 cup Digestive Bran
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tblspn ground flaxseed
1 tblspn Quinoa flakes
1 tblspn wheat germ (These last five ingredients are optional. Find them at a Health Food shop or the Health Food Section at Krogers,but this is what makes my bread different)
2 cups tap hot water
2 tspns salt
1 tabspn brown sugar
1 tbspn molasses (this gives a good color )
1 tbspn oil
Set the oven to 400.
Mix together all dry ingredients in a basin, including yeast, and stir well to blend
Dissolve the sugar, salt and oil into the hot water. Make well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in 3/4 of the liquid. Blend all together.If you see it is too dry, add the rest of the liquids gradually ( you will most probably find that uses it all) and start to knead.

IF the mixture is too stiff You may have to add some more water but be very careful, you don't want the mixture to be too wet. Knead well until the mixture comes completely away and no longer sticks to the sides or to your hands, Continue to knead for about 10 minutes. If it seems too slack add a sprinkling of white flour, if it seems too dry add water but only 1 tbspn at a time. With practice one gets to judge when its right.
[Coat your palms with a little oil] and pat them over the ball of dough. Place in a clean basin, cover and put to rise for 2 hours. It should double in volume.

Punch down the dough, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This last step is not essential but the dough is easier to mould if you do it. Divide the dough in half, flatten out with the heel of your hand and by flattening, folding, and rolling with your hand you can shape it into two loaves that will fit into your greased bread tins.
Cover and put to rise again in a warm place. You can cover it with a kitchen cloth supported by a couple of tall glasses. See that it is completely covered, otherwise the top will dry out. The second rising should take about 45 minutes and it should rise about 1 1/2" above the level of the tin.
Bake at 400 for 40 minutes, but look at your bread after 30 mins because oven temperatures vary and it could well get too brown. If you think your oven is too hot, then set it to 400 for 20 minutes and then reduce it to 375. "

New "mini" Market this Morning!

I just got notice at 7:15 this morning from CCL that they will be participating in a very small market that is starting up in Powhatan. Here is the e-mail they sent out....

"I know this is late notice , but we have and problems with both the phone and the computer. We are going to be set up today at a new farmers market that is opening up in Powhatan It starts at 9 until 12 today (Saturday). It is at the Collier water garden. It is very small market that just started up. It is located on Route 60 west just past the Chesterfield Powhatan line(about 3 miles west of the 288 overpass)"

More Nice Ideas For The Holidays

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about alternatives to the shopping mall style gift mania that seem to characterize the holidays these days....
Anyway, a few days later I was invited to a Christmas open house where the host asked that their guest bring food items to donate to the local food bank in lieu of bringing the usual hosts gifts. I thought this was a great way to celebrate, and enjoy the company of friends and family while at the same time sharing some of what you have with others . All of the food brought by guest was taken by the hosts to the food bank the following day.

Another great idea involving food and the holidays came from my friend Liz when we were discussing holiday gifts. She said that for Christmas a couple of years ago she sent her grandmother a homemade, baked treat along with a card that promised a different fresh baked goodie would be sent at intervals throughout the year. (She sent something about every 6 weeks). What a great thing to look forward to all year! I loved the idea of her grandmother receiving something Liz had been baking in her own kitchen just a day or two before. It really seems to dissolve the distances.