Good Grub from the maker of Butterfly Bakery of Vermont

Ramplicious Goodness

Claire — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:42:53 GMT

I love the excitement that comes with springtime foods and I find myself looking forward to things like sugarsnap peas and asparagus. But those things aren't available in Vermont yet and ramps are, so I've got ramps on the brain. I know I can get ramps at a few stands at the Montpelier Farmers Market this weekend, but I just didn't want to wait that long. So I decided to see if I could find any on my own. A few weeks back my boyfriend and I were tromping through Hubbard Park and saw some plants that we thought might possibly, maybe, could be ramps. We didn't investigate then, but I decided to make yesterday's exercise into a foraging trip. Armed with a bag, some gloves and a picture of a growing ramp cluster (it's surprising how different things look on your cutting board than in the dirt), I soldiered into the woods.

Turns out they are really easy to find. And once you find one cluster, there will surely be a couple thousand more plants within about 100 ft. So I had me some easy pickings. And I picked a lot. But I doubt I even got 1% of what was on that hillside. I cleaned and pureed the whole lot, so I could freeze it and use it for later. But 1/2 lb was saved from the freezer and used for this delicious (and potent) ramp pesto. I've got me some ramplicious breath now!

Ramp Pesto

1/2 lb cleaned whole ramps
3 oz feta cheese
1 tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt plus more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts
spinach to taste

1) Rough chop the ramps and add everything except the spinach to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Add the spinach to taste and puree until smooth.

Note: As ramps can be as spicy as raw garlic, if you’re using the pesto as a main component (as in pasta), I recommend adding 2-4 oz of raw spinach to cut the burn. If you’re using the pesto as a dip or spread, I recommend enjoying full rampiness and leaving the spinach out!

Wild Leeks

Claire — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:42:26 GMT

Wild leeks are back! And for the uninitiated, they are oh so tasty. Culinarily wild leeks are really less like leeks and more like onions. The tops can be used like scallions, although they look more flat and leaf-like and the bulbs are like, well, mini onion bulbs (I bet you didn't see that one coming). This recipe is from a couple years ago, but it's still as good as ever (but that does mean no photo for those who have been enjoying my fine, fine photography). And since I wrote this recipe I've discovered that you can make a fabulous wholeish grain risotto out of pearled barley (I say wholeish because pearled barley is kind of in between a whole grain and a white grain, nutritionally. But in my opinion it makes a good high-fiber risotto). To modify this recipe for pearled barley, just add an extra cup of broth (and choose a larger pearl for better nutrition and less refinement). Oh yum.

Wild Leek & Bacon Risotto

15 wild leeks, leaves and bulbs sliced and separated
6 pieces of bacon
1 cup white wine
1 cup Arborio rice
3 cups vegetable broth, warmed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1) Cook bacon over medium high heat to taste in a large high-sided frying pan or sauce pan. Remove the cooked bacon from the pan and set aside.
2) Cook the chopped wild leek bulbs in the bacon fat for about 1 minute. Add the white wine and scrape the yummy bits from bottom of the pan.
3) Add the rice and stir until almost all the liquid is absorbed by the rice. Add one cup of warmed broth and stir the mixture often until most of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat for the rest of the broth.
4) Remove the risotto from the heat and mix in the cheese and black pepper. Enjoy!

Cabbage Mac & Cheese

Claire — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:28:26 GMT

I originally came up with this recipe because I had extra cabbage and cheese and just thought that this sounded good. At the time I still had it in my head that most people didn't like cabbage, so when I made this for a potluck and folks started clamoring for the recipe, I was pleasantly surprised. It did seem to take 2 years for me to get around to writing this recipe down, but let me tell you that this is a tasty one. It's dangerous for me to have a whole pan of mac & cheese in my house, so I made it for a potluck again. The folks at this potluck (an entirely different crowd) had equally excited admiration for the dish. So, this is officially two-potluck approved!

Cabbage Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz pasta (elbow or penne recommended), cooked, drained and set aside
1/2 medium cabbage (about 2.5 lbs of cabbage), chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
3 tbs all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs mustard
4 cups milk
1 1/4 lb semisoft cheese (Monterey Jack or a favorite local cheese), shredded
1/4 lb blue cheese, crumbled
9 oz crushed potato chips (thick cut recommended)

1) Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish

2) In a large sauté pan, over medium high heat, sauté the cabbage, onion, olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt until the cabbage has softened. Remove from heat and set aside

3) In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, make a roux by melting the butter and then adding the flour (make sure to sift out any lumps first). With a fork, vigorously stir the flour and butter for several minutes until the flour just starts to brown. Add several tablespoons of milk and incorporate the milk into the flour with the fork. Add several more tablespoons and fully incorporate again. Repeat until all the milk has been added (once the mixture is more liquid than solid you can add more milk with each addition). Add the cloves, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt and mustard to the milk mixture and cook, continuing to stir regularly with the fork, until mixture has thickened. Remove the sauce from the heat and mix in 1/2 the semisoft cheese.

4) In a large bowl, mix together the cooked pasta, cabbage mixture and cheese sauce. Pour into the prepared casserole dish and top with the other half of the semisoft cheese, crumbled blue cheese and finally the crushed potato chips. Bake at 350° F for about 1/2 hour or until the cheese on top is cooked to your desired level of doneness.

Fennel, Fennel, Fennel

Claire — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:12:07 GMT

I wrote an article about fennel for the latest issue of Local Banquet and you can see it here:
http://www.localbanquet.com/issues/years/2012/spring12/fennel_sp12.html or read the whole magazine digitally here (which I highly recommend):
http://issuu.com/localbanquet/docs/spring12?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage
I've got some cools things coming down the writing pipeline too, so be sure to keep an eye out!

Maple Creme Brulee

Claire — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:08:38 GMT

I'm always excited when there's a dish in my head that I've been wanting to do for a while and then someone comes along and asks me to write a recipe that fits perfectly with the recipe in my head. This is just one of those recipes!

As someone who doesn't eat refined sugar, I've always been excited by the common inclusion (in Vermont at least) of maple creme brulee on fancy restaurant menus. And then I've always been sad that the sugar they "brulee" (i.e. burn) is the regular table sugar that my insides don't agree with. And they already added the sugar to the top of every prepared custard, so I can't even just get maple custard.

Prior to developing this recipe, I had never had creme brulee. It always enticed and intrigued me, but I could never eat the sugar on top. I always felt like it could be made with maple sugar, but that was never offered in restaurants and pre-weight loss me really shouldn't have eaten the maple sugar anyway (even though I occasionally came up with some really valid sounding excuses for why I could, just this one time). But maple sugar is one of the many delicious things my post-weight loss pancreas can handle, so a maple sugar maple creme brulee has gotten back on my radar screen in recent months.

So, when the manager of the Montpelier Farmers Market emailed me to ask if I had a good maple recipe for this week's market newsletter, I jumped on the chance. And oh my, did I just fall down a high calorie rabbit hole of deliciousness (and if you don't mind, I might just hang out down here for a while).

Creme brulee is way easier than many restaurants make it seem. My experience in the food world has taught me that most savory chefs are terrified of the sweet kitchen, so if you see a dessert that even a chef will make, you'll probably be able to handle it just fine. Creme brulee does take a little time, but it's largely unattended time. So you can be doing other stuff at the same time, or make the custard ahead and burn the sugar under the broiler in about 5 minutes right before you're ready to serve.

So, have fun with this one. And I won't even tell you what my new calorie counting app says is in this little indulgence...

Maple Crème Brulee

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup maple syrup
4 tsp maple sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 325° F

2) Put the cream and vanilla into a small pan and, stirring occasionally, cook over medium high heat until the cream just starts to bubble.

3) In a medium bowl, beat the egg, egg yolks and maple syrup with a whisk until even. While whisking, slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture. Strain the egg and cream mixture into a large measuring cup with a spout (at least four cups).

4) Place the ramekins into a casserole dish and place the whole dish on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Pour the cream and egg mixture into each ramekin (it should just fill the ramekin). Then pour enough hot tap water into the casserole dish, so that the water reaches halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake the custards in the water bath for about 40 minutes or until the custards still quivers when shaken, but has no liquid beneath the skin. Cool the custards in the fridge for 1 hour to three days.

6) When the custards are cool, turn on your oven broiler and evenly spread 1 tsp of maple sugar over each custard and place the custards on a cookie sheet. Move the oven rack to the highest location in the oven and put the sheet of custards under the broiler. The sugar will take about 5 minutes to burn, although broilers vary widely in intensity, so keep a careful eye on the crème brulees. The crème brulee is done when the maple sugar is a mix of light brown and black. Quick cool the crème brulees in the fridge for about one minute and then serve immediately.

Roasted Horseradish Potatoes

Claire — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:58:55 GMT

This recipe came to mind originally as a parsnip dish. The sweetness of the parsnip plus the bite of the horseradish just sounded right to me. So, on batch one I peeled and sliced the parsnips into french fry sized pieces, and tossed them all in olive oil, spices and horseradish. While I like the sinus crushing power of fresh horseradish, I know most people prefer a slightly mellower flavor, so I kept the horseradish to just a mere tablespoon. Because I usually put horseradish in dips and spreads (or pair it with something sharp like vinegar or mustard), I hadn't realized how much horseradish mellows in the oven. So, while batch one made some tasty parsnips, the horseradish wasn't even noticeable.

While I still think that this dish would taste great with parsnips (or sweet potatoes), I used up all my parsnips on batch one and was obliged to move on to potatoes. It was a good move, because batch two was mighty tasty (even the leftovers taste good with ketchup and mustard, as the empty bowl next to my computer can attest to). The horseradish definitely comes through in this variation, but could even stand to take more horseradish, if you are inclined toward mighty flavors.

Roasted Horseradish Potatoes

6 large red potatoes (about 3 lbs)
4 tbs jarred horseradish
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme

1) Preheat your oven to 450° F. Oil a large baking sheet pan.

2) Chop the potatoes (skin on) into roughly equal bite sized pieces. Mix in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients

3) Spread potatoes out on the prepared pan and roast for 20-30 minutes, until fork tender. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Garlic Soup

Claire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:36:35 GMT

I have spent far more Valentine’s Days on the single front than I have entwined in a couple, so when I was tasked with creating a Valentine’s Day themed recipe for the Montpelier Farmers Market newsletter, I had to spend a little time thinking about what this holiday meant to me. I never been much of a subscriber to the belief that you have to celebrate Valentine’s Day with pink hearts and squishy-wishy tweddy bwears. To me Valentine’s Day is about celebrating all the good stuff about the relationship you are in. Kind of like Mother’s Day for love. I also think that V-Day should be about you and your better half, so folks outside of the pair shouldn’t get a say (kind of like gay marriage, really).

We’re often taught what are appropriate date foods and what aren’t. Foods that are messy, need your hands, make your breath smell or make you fart are all out. But, to me, Valentine’s Day isn’t about dating, it’s about your coupledom, so if you and your partner like to get messy with your hands or don’t mind life’s odors, you should do what makes your pair happy. I love garlic, my man loves garlic, and when I suggested this dish to my man he quickly texted back “Yes please.” Since ours were the only opinions that mattered, I decided to give us mutually sweet breath with this sublime soup. One of my favorite parts about this soup (besides its taste) is the one cup of wine. The two of you can finish off the rest of the bottle together to get a head start on this holiday that’s as lovely as the one you love.

Valentine’s Day Garlic Soup

3 small yellow onions
3 medium heads of garlic (about 3.5 oz, unpeeled)
1 tbs fresh rosemary (or dried, if preferred)
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 oz chevre (optional)

1) Peel, halve and then slice the onions (slicing from pole to pole, rather than across the center produces onion slices that hold their structure better in a soup). Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Finely chop the rosemary.

2) Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt to a large saucepan and sauté over medium high heat, stirring often, until the onion has started to brown. Add the wine to the pot, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion and garlic have softened. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and portion into bowl. Add a 1/2 oz dollop of chevre to each bowl of soup, if you’d like. Enjoy!

Thinking Outside the Bordeaux

Claire — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:55:52 GMT

Another article I wrote for Local Banquet. Aiming to aggregate my articles all in one place!

http://www.localbanquet.com/issues/years/2011/Fall11/fruitwines_f11.html

Set the Table with Hot Sauce

Claire — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:53:14 GMT

This is an article that I wrote last summer for Local Banquet, but might prove interesting to all involved. Especially to those folks who are missing the Butterfly Bakery hot sauce until peppers pop out of the ground next summer.

http://www.localbanquet.com/issues/years/2011/Summer11/hotSauce_s11.html

Bacon Leek Creton

Claire — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:30:20 GMT

Are you familiar with creton? If not, you should be. (It’s pronounced cre-toungh or something like that. It’s got that French nasally “oungh” sound at the end). Creton is this fabulously delicious pork spread from Quebec. My French-Canadian boyfriend introduced me to the stuff, but he had no idea the flurry of pork deliciousness he was about to unleash in my kitchen. Creton is almost exclusively available north of the border, so if a roadtrip wasn’t in order, the kitchen was to become my pork-spread haven. Now this might be the point you might be thinking “pork SPREAD?” I understand the hesitance, but I assure it’s delicious with many uses. A common one is my house is on toast or bread. It also makes a great sandwich (think BLT, but with spreadable bacon). Like so many delicious things, it also tastes good on a spoon. Or fingers. Or other people’s fingers (just keep in mind where the creton ends and other people’s fingers begin – a common mistake).

Since I don’t see the point in making delicious foods with un-delicious ingredients, I sourced my pork from local farmers. Traditionally creton is made with ground pork, pork fat, breadcrumbs, milk and added spices (actually, most creton in Canada – especially that from old Canadian grandmothers – is made with MSG. While that’s some tasty stuff, I figured that that wasn’t the health profile I was aiming for. And really, I don’t want to know what health food black-ops reign of terror I was going to bring upon myself if I attempted to buy MSG in Vermont). I read a whole bunch of recipes online and planned my attack. My first few attempts weren’t what I was aiming for (but still well consumed by all involved). Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend said that my creton tasted more like tourtiere (a Quebecois pork and beef pie, that, while delicious, was not creton, and not something I was going to attempt, since Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend’s mother regularly makes him one that he likes very much). I finally decided to stop trying to recreate creton that tastes exactly what I had had in Canada (after all, no MSG on hand) and just aim for making some darn tasty pork spread. And let me tell you, this is some darn tasty pork spread. Instead of mixing ground pork and pork fat, I let someone else take that step and just used raw sausage. You can add more pork fat if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Interestingly, Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend thinks that this tastes more like “authentic” creton than any of the stuff I made before I stopped trying to recreate “authentic” creton. And how fast it disappeared in both our houses might just be testament to how much no one cares about authenticity and how much everyone does care about yummy, yummy piggies on our toast.

Bacon Leek Creton

1 bulb garlic
1/2 of the white of a medium-large leek
2 strips bacon
1 tbs butter (or pork fat)
1 lb raw pork sausage (casing removed)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup bread crumbs

1) Mince the garlic, leek and bacon and cook with the butter over medium heat in a medium sauce pan until vegetables are softened.

2) Add the sausage and smash/stir the mixture with the back of a wooden spoon until the sausage is well broken up and cooked.

3) Stir in the milk and breadcrumbs and spread out in the pan. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has cooked out (about 15 minutes). Transfer the creton to a storage container and chill. Serve cold and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza

Claire — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:59:00 GMT

Ok, I totally realize that Thanksgiving is a few months past and if you still have Thanksgiving leftovers in your fridge, you probably don’t want to be eating them. But this pizza is the reason you should celebrate Thanksgiving all over again.

Right after Thanksgiving, I was telling a friend of mine about all the super tasty leftovers I had from celebrating Thanksgiving with my dad, and he was telling me about the super tasty pizza he was making. All of a sudden we had a collaborative brainstorm and the idea for the Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza was born! It took us a little while to actually make this pizza happen, but finally the goodness has been created. If you don’t have your own Thanksgiving leftovers to work from, take a gander at the plethora of recipes below and make all or some of these things from scratch. We made a whole grain crust and whole grain gravy, but either of those things can be made with white wheat or whole spelt flour. We also used my friend’s well seasoned pizza stone, but if you don’t have one, just use a perforated pizza pan or a sheet pan. Also, this Maple Cranberry Sauce that we made is absolutely fantastic. The leftovers make an amazing jam and it’s hands down the easiest jam I have ever made. I spread it on some french toast in the morning. Yum!

Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza

1 batch pizza dough (or a premade ball of dough)
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped herbs (rosemary and thyme, or whatever is in season and your favorite)
1 batch or 1-1/2 cup gravy
1/2 lb semisoft cheese, grated (like mozzarella, gouda or Monterey Jack)
2 oz hard cheese, grated (like parmesan or romano)
1/2 can or 1/2 batch cranberry sauce
1 small raw sweet potato, sliced very thin
1/3 lb cooked turkey, shredded or chopped

1) Preheat your oven to 450° F

2) Lightly flour your counter and roll or push your pizza dough out into a 16-inch circle (or into the size/shape appropriate for your pan). Flour your pan or oil your stone (depending on your implement). Place the dough on your pan and lightly brush the dough with olive oil. Sprinkle the crust with the herbs.

3) Spread the gravy generously over the crust. Sprinkle 3/4 of the combined cheeses over the gravy. Scatter dollops of cranberry sauce over the cheese. Spread the potato slices and turkey pieces over the gravy as well, and then top with the last of the cheese.

4) Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown and the crust is baked through. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

Whole Spelt Pizza Dough

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbs yeast (or 1 package)
1 tbs natural sweetener at room temperature (sugar/agave/maple syrup/honey)
3 cups whole spelt flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
additional water

1) Using water just hot enough that your finger can stand being in it for 10 seconds, mix together the sweetener, water and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast becomes foamy

2) Add the flour, salt and olive oil to the bowl. Bring together all the ingredients with your fingers and start forming the dough into a ball. Add more water as needed, 1/4-3/4 cups more. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes, folding the dough into itself repeatedly.

3) Form the dough into a ball and place it into your bowl, seam side down. Lightly cover the surface of the dough with oil, so it doesn’t dry out and let it sit in a warm location for about an hour, until it has doubled in size and doesn’t readily spring back when poked. Punch it down and then push or roll it out into your pizza crust.

Basic Gravy

3 tbs butter
1/4 cup all purpose or whole spelt flour
1 cup broth
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, chili flakes, etc.)

1) Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir constantly with a fork until the flour is cooked, and no longer has a “raw” smell, about 2-3 minutes.

2) Add the broth, milk, salt, pepper and spices. Keep stirring constantly with a fork as the gravy thickens. Cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency, about 5 minutes.

Smoky Turkey Pieces

1 lb turkey cutlets (or slice turkey breast)
1 qt water mixed with 2 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs plus 10 drops liquid smoke

1) Place the raw turkey in a bowl and cover with water/salt mixture. Add 1 tbs liquid smoke to the water and mix with a spoon. Let the turkey sit in this brine, refrigerated, for about an hour.

2) Drain the water from the bowl and lay the turkey pieces flat in a preheated pan. Sprinkle with a scattering of liquid smoke drops. Cook at medium high heat until the turkey is cooked through, turning over once, to cook evenly. Cook the turkey in batches if necessary.

Maple Cranberry Sauce

8 oz cranberries
2 cups Vermont maple syrup

1) Add the cranberries and maple syrup to a medium saucepan and cook over medium low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Let cool.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Claire — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 04:18:00 GMT

Slippery roads, grey skies, and nary a growing plant to be found. Winter in Vermont can be awfully dreary and rarely makes folks think of the bounty of our soil. Thank goodness for farmers with fabulous means of storing vegetables for us poor root-cellarless folk! Most stored veggies are some shade of brown, beige, or brownish beige. But carrots are bright orange! Ok, I realize that I might be winning some obvious-points there, but carrots bring a brightness and sweetness that truly makes me happy to be eating locally.

Carrots are my go-to lunch snack in the winter. They go great with roasts, they go even better in cakes (go to my blog for a great Carrot Cake recipe), carrots with dip is always a winner, but when I really want a winter punch, I have to make a Carrot Ginger Soup. It’s warm, spicy, a little sweet and just right for the season. Feta might seem like an odd touch for a soup like this, but trust me, it’s delicious. Feta cheese was a staple in my house growing up, so I know my feta, and the goat feta from Sage Farm Goat Dairy available at the winter farmers market is just spectacular. It adds a nice little salty tang that rounds out the bite of the ginger. Enjoy!

Carrot Ginger Soup

1 large yellow onion
1 lb carrots (about 5 medium)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs grated ginger
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup whole milk
salt & pepper to taste
feta cheese (optional)

1) Slice the onion and carrots and add them to a medium size saucepan with the olive oil and 1 tsp salt. Cook at medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft (about 10 minutes).

2) Add the ginger and broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and let cook until the carrots are soft (about 10 minutes).

3) Remove the pot from the heat and, with an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return the pot to the heat and let the soup come back up to a boil. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the milk plus salt and pepper to taste. After portioning the soup into bowl, sprinkle each serving with crumbled feta cheese.

Sweet Potato Scones

Claire — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:39:00 GMT

Did you know that a sweet potato isn’t a potato? Nor is it a yam. Seems that we really have no proper name for these starchy, sweet and super nutritious orange tubers. But somehow we will have to muddle our way through.

Blackwell Roots (vendor at the Montpelier winter farmers market), decided to try growing sweet potatoes this year and was horribly disappointed when the veggie they pulled from ground was starchy and bland. But before calling it quits they decided to try curing it. After a stretch at 75 degrees or so (much warmer than onion curing temps), the bland sweet potatoes turn into delicious sweet potatoes! I don’t know the science behind this miraculous transformation, but I roasted off one of these new treats and was in heaven.

I love sweet potatoes. They were a staple in my mom’s house when I was growing up and sweet potatoes still hold a warm place in my heart. My favorite way to eat them is still to poke a few holes in the skin and then roast them at 350° F for 30-40 minutes, or until the insides are going mushy. The skin has all sorts of nutrients, so don’t forget to eat that part too! For a more interesting recipe for today, so I came up with Sweet Potato Scones. These are super tasty, and something I’m definitely going to experiment with making in my bakery. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Scones

1 very large or 2 medium sweet potatoes
2/3 cup rolled oats
1-1/3 cup all purpose flour + 1 cup more for dredging
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cold or frozen butter, chopped
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

1) Heat your oven to 350° F. Cut a couple slits in the skin of the sweet potatoes and roast them on a pan until a fork slides easily into the flesh of the sweet potato. About 30-40 minutes. (Or microwave for about 5 minutes). Remove the sweet potato from the oven and let cool. Remove the skin and puree the flesh of the sweet potato until smooth.

2) Add the dry ingredients to a food processor and run until the oats are broken down into a coarse flour. Add the chopped butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the butter is cut into pea-sized chunks.

3) Bring your oven back to 350° F. In a medium bowl, fold together the flour mixture, 1 cup pureed sweet potato, sour cream, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

4) Drop rounded scoops into the extra 1 cup flour. Roll the scones in the flour to coat and then set 2 inches apart on a foil or parchment lined ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the scones are turning golden. Remove to a cooling rack promptly.

Eggs, Pumpkin Pie & Pumpkin Bread

Claire — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:19:00 GMT

Eggs are a wondrous food. On a near daily basis, our short female feathered friends push forth delicious orbs of protein that serve little purpose other than to nourish our beings. Yum. But unfortunately this wonderful thing is often mired in truly horrible animal cruelty practices. Clipped beaks, miniature cages, and horrible environmental effects can really put a damper on one’s egg-citement (sorry, couldn’t help myself). Fortunately Vermont has a plethora of small scale farmers that let their laying hens run, scratch and do what hens do. The diets of these birds are often far better than that of a concentrated laying facility and that improved diet translates directly into nutrients in the eggs we serve at our table. That diet can also make the eggs from different farms taste different. Try one farm this week and another next week. Find out what breed of hens are laying your eggs and scope out your favorite.

In honor of the culinary overabundance of Thanksgiving, I have two recipes for your enjoyment, both of which make delicious use of Vermont’s local eggs. The pumpkin pie is a reprint from last year. Too many people have asked me for this recipe for me to not run it again. The second is another slice of pumpkin heaven. I love this pumpkin bread but if you would rather not break out the oven mitts yourself, you can buy some pumpkin breads from the Butterfly Bakery of Vermont table at the Thanksgiving Farmers Market at Montpelier High School, this Saturday, November 20, 10-2. Don’t miss it!

Pumpkin Pie

1 3- to 4 lb pie pumpkin
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 unbaked 9” pie shell

1) Preheat oven to 450° F
2) Slice the pumpkin in half from pole to pole. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Place the pumpkin, open side down, on a greased cookie sheet. Roast until a fork easily slides through the skin or the pumpkin, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3) Scoop the flesh of the pumpkin into a medium bowl and puree with an immersion blender (or food processor).
4) In a large bowl, beat the eggs until uniformly yellow. Add 1-1/2 c pureed pumpkin, maple syrup and vanilla. Whisk until smooth
5) Whisk in the cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
6) Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes at 450°, lower the temperature to 350° and bake for another 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 8

Pumpkin Bread

1 pie pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 3/4 cup whole spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1) Heat your oven to 350° F. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Place the pumpkin flat side down on a greased baking pan and roast until a fork easily slides through the skin, about 45 minutes - 1 hour, rotating the pan about 25 minutes in. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool.

2) If your oven has cooled, reheat it to 350° F. Scoop the pumpkin flesh into a bowl or food processor. Using an immersion blender or food processor, puree the pumpkin. Measure out 1 cup of pureed pumpkin and set aside the rest for later use (soup, more pumpkin bread or the recipe below are recommended).

3) Combine the 1 cup pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and maple syrup in a large bowl and whisk together. In a small bowl whisk together the spelt flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. And the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until fully combined.

4) Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool and enjoy!

Smoky Tomato Soup

Claire — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:50:00 GMT

For some people it’s the smell of baking cookies, or a simmering curry, but the scent that always brings me back home is the delicious aroma of sautéing onions and peppers. That was the start to almost every meal in my dad’s house when I was little and I always feel warm and happy whenever I start a meal that way myself.

“Peppers” almost always meant pablanos in my house. A pablano is a slightly hot pepper that is perfect for a little kick of heat where you might otherwise put a bell pepper. Pablanos are called anchos here in Vermont and pasillas in California. An ancho might be called an anaheim, or visa versa. The many names for one kind of pepper have to do with the state the pepper is in (dried, smoked, old, young, etc.), but over time different regions have mixed up those names and just chosen one to represent all the states of the pepper. It can be confusing if you’re traveling and trying to find the pepper that you’re used to. Fortunately, here in Vermont, we have farmers! Spicy foods are relatively new to this New England state, so your farmer might not know the proper name for the peppers they’re growing, but your farmer can tell you what your pepper is going to taste like and give you an idea of what dishes it might go well with.

A grilled pablano or ahaheim, with it’s skin slipped off, stuffed with herbed goat cheese and baked for 10 or so minutes, is one of the best ways to enjoy a pepper. Another is this soup that I’ve given the recipe for here. My dad called this one “Grilled Soup” which always required explanation when I was serving it. But, I, as an adult, don’t own a grill (don’t tell my dad), so I needed to modify this recipe for the stove. If you own a grill, I highly recommend grilling the onions (quartered), peppers (whole) and tomatoes (whole). You get that nice char flavor and you get a chance to remove the skins. But if you’re looking for something a little simpler, sautéing plus liquid smoke (available at the co-op) is a delicious way to go.

Smoked Tomato Soup

3 anaheim/ancho/bell peppers, cored and sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp salt plus more to taste
1 tbs olive oil
liquid smoke (optional)
6 medium tomatoes, rough chopped
1 tsp red pepper or chipotle pepper flakes (optional)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1) Sauté the peppers, onions, salt, olive oil and 10 drops of liquid smoke over medium high heat until the vegetables start to soften. Add the tomatoes and pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have released their juices and cooked through.
2) Add the broth to the pot, remove the pot from the heat and puree everything together with an immersion blender (or transfer to a regular blender). Return the soup to the heat and add more salt and liquid smoke to taste.

Wild Leeks

Claire — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:50:00 GMT

I have always loved wild foraged foods. There is something so delicious about eating food that you didn’t have to pay for or nurture into existence. But I’ve always been a little dubious of digging up the food myself. I’ve heard too many horror stories of a fun day gone awry by someone choosing the wrong plant to pop in their mouth. So I’ve always satisfied my wild leek needs by letting someone else do the scouting for me and I just have bought them at the farmers market. Well, that is, until now. I have a slightly more adventurous housemate that loves nothing more that digging things out of the ground and letting her body tell her if they’re toxic or not. Fortunately for both of us, wild leeks are pretty easy to identify. She’s been digging up wild leeks beside Berlin Pond (in a patch I have yet to see in my many walks right past it). And my neighbor’s little boy told me about a patch in the woods behind our houses that I plan on investigating this weekend. Wild leeks are deliciously oniony and go well into anything you would put onions in. Substitute the bulbs for onions and the greens for scallions.
Last week’s crazy springtime snowfall put me back in the mood for soups and last weekend’s beautiful warm weather did nothing to quell the urge. So I thought that a Wild Leek and Potato Soup would be just the ticket to using the limited produce we have available this season. Enjoy!

Wild Leek & Potato Soup

3.5 oz wild leeks (a small handful), washed
2 oz olive oil
4 medium cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white wine
6 small red or purple potatoes (1.5 lbs), halved and sliced
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cans white beans
2 oz spinach (a couple of large handfuls of leaves)

1) Dice the wild leek bulbs, and rough chop the wild leek leaves. Add to a large saucepan with the olive oil, garlic and salt. Cook on medium for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

2) Add the white wine and scrape up and browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 5 more minutes.

3) Add the potatoes and broth and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

4) Add the white beans, bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and add the spinach, stirring until the spinach is wilted.

Bridging the Seasonal Gap

Claire — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:39:00 GMT

As someone who eats mostly local food in Vermont, I'm often asked, "What do you eat in the middle of winter?" The middle of winter has never been my problem. We have some great small farmers in central Vermont that are making great strides in wintering over their storage crops. So in the middle of winter I'm loving on my potatoes, cabbage, parsnips and celeriac. My tough time is right about now. The cabbage has all been munched up, the remaining onions are getting smaller and I've eaten so many potatoes, even the Irish in me is getting sick of them. As the weather warms I start to itch for fresh things. I want springy, juicy, light and delicious things. And although I dream of strawberries, I have to stay modest and enjoy the bounty of the season I'm in. This time in between the rich, weighty, fulfilling foods of winter and the exciting, luscious overabundance of summer presents some unique challenges and delicious surprises.

Spinach
Spinach is the one of the first greens to appear at markets. It's so hearty that it can stand our cold Vermont springtime nights. It's such a wonderful departure from the earthy storage vegetables I've been eating all winter. And I love its versatility. At my childhood dinner table we regularly ate a salad of baby spinach with feta cheese and kalamata olives. If you're still in the mood for heartier fare, sautéed spinach makes a wonderful addition to lasagna. I've included a delicious panini recipe today that perfectly bridges this seasonal gap with spring spinach, winter onions and pure Vermont maple syrup.

Parsnips
Just a few weeks ago I discovered the secret to springtime parsnips. Farmers leave them in the ground! They harvest part of their crop in the fall, but leave the rest until spring. Once the snow melts, they break through the earth's frozen crust and bring up the springtime harvest. So you get to enjoy the sweet deliciousness of an absolutely fresh parsnip in April because of the earth's perfect storage system. Parsnip puree is a favorite food of mine. They also go great into stir-fries and roasted root dishes.

Beets
Beets are sweet, juicy, firm and delicious. Yet I almost never eat them. I hate a stained cutting board and there is just about nothing that beets are known better for than staining things. But I finally broke down and bought some wonderfully succulent beets. If you quarter them, boil them, and then skin them under cool water, they leave very little mess. I added them to my risotto recipe below and they made a beautifully pink dish. However, if you’re not a pink sort of fella, you could always use yellow beets. All the same flavor and none of the mess!

Sprouts
Yes, I know that sprouts are available year-round. But I find them especially satisfying this time of year. They are about the freshest, juiciest things that you get your hands on in early April and make great additions to stir-fries or salads. And there are so many types of sprouts available out there (lentils, alfalfa, mung bean, sunflower, clover, radish, broccoli, pea and corn to name a few) that if you don’t like one, you have an endless supply of new options to choose from!

Fiddleheads
Oh fiddleheads, oh fiddleheads, how cool dost I think thou are? For a girl who thinks that farmers rock, I probably love wild-foraged foods just a little too much. There is something so special about going out into the wilderness and eating the foods that mother nature prepared for us. Fiddleheads are the essence of spring itself. They are little baby ferns, struggling forth into this world in order to be sautéed in butter and served for our dinner. Ok, perhaps, that’s not why they exist in this world, but I like to pretend it is. Go to my blog at GoodGrub.ButterflyBakeryVT.com to check out the delicious recipe for Fiddlehead, Wild Leek and Bacon Risotto that I wrote last spring.

Green Garlic
This is another favorite new discovery of mine. There are two forms of green garlic, they stiffneck and the softneck varieties. The softneck types are similar to green onions in their leafy appearance and can be used anywhere you would use green onion and want a mild garlic flavor. Stiffneck green garlic is, well, stiff. You can slice it up and add it anywhere you would add garlic. It needs more time to cook than softneck green garlic, but has a similar mild flavor. It’s a wonderful way to get some fresh garlic if your stock of last year’s garlic in no longer so edible.

Developing recipes for this article has been lots of fun. It’s woken me up from my late-winter food doldrums and forced me to come up with something new and delicious. The first recipe is a fun appetizer panini. I was lucky enough to have this turn out perfect the first time I made (and every other time I made it too!). The second recipe, however took me a little longer.

I love risotto. I haven’t had it in a long time, however, because I am trying to stay away from “white” grains and risotto is made pretty much exclusively with white Arborio rice. So I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try to create a whole grain risotto.

Short grain brown rice is pretty starchy and I figured that stirring it up would help it make that signature risotto creaminess. But, as I am often remiss to admit, I was wrong. While the resulting dish was fabulously delicious, it was not a risotto. The rice grains stayed too separate. So I went online and found out that barley is supposed to make good whole grained risotto, so I headed off to the co-op. They had “hulled barley,” “hulled barley groats” and “pearl barley.” According to the nutrition facts, the hulled barley groats had almost no fiber, so that didn’t sound very whole grain to me. So I bought the pearl barley and hulled barley, which had comparable amounts of fiber. A little more online research told me that pearl barley is not in fact whole grain, but if you get a minimally pearled barley (as opposed to a more heavily pearled barley, like baby pearl barley), many of the nutrients and fiber remain. I decided to try making risotto with both and I’m glad that I did.

The hulled barley took way too much broth, so the flavor in the resulting dish was too concentrated. That could have been corrected with using some water instead of broth, but the grains in this dish, like the short grain brown rice dish, were very separate and not at all creamy. But the clincher that makes me not love the hulled barley was the fact that it took two hours of frequent stirring. I don’t know who has two hours to devote to standing over the stove, but it’s not me. So, the winner in my book was the pearl barley. The risotto made with it was creamy, nutty, delicious and took less than half the time of the hulled barley. While it’s true that pearl barley is not truly a whole grain, the high fiber content makes up for that fact in my book and I love the dish. And while I used beets and spinach for this risotto recipe, there are and endless number of things that can be added to a risotto. Have fun and experiment!

Caramelized Onion Sandwich with Blue Cheese, Spinach and Prosciutto

2 medium yellow onions, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons VT maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 oz) baguette
1/8 lb prosciutto
30 leaves of baby spinach
1/8 lb blue cheese

1) In a small pan, sauté the onions, olive oil, maple syrup and salt over high heat. Stir often, scraping up any maple syrup that is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions are medium brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

2) Cut the baguette into 6 equal sized pieces and cut each piece in half through the middle to make the sandwich bread.

3) Fill each sandwich with the cheese, prosciutto, spinach and the maple caramelized onions. Enjoy!

Makes 6 Sandwiches

Beet & Spinach Barley Risotto

1 tbs butter
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
2 cups pearl barley
1/2 cup white wine
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 oz parmesan cheese, grated
1 large beet, cooked, peeled and cut into1/4 inch cubes
3 oz spinach (a couple of handfuls)

1) In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, cook the butter, onion and salt for 2-3 minutes or until onion has started to soften.

2) Add the pearl barley and cook for an additional minute, stirring constantly, until the barley has absorbed all the liquid in the pan.

3) Add the wine and 1 cup of broth to the barley. Cook, stirring often until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of broth and repeat until all the broth is used and the barley is firm, but creamy, about 1 hour.

4) Add the parmesan, spinach and beets and cook for 1 minute more, until the spinach is wilted and the cheese is incorporated. Enjoy!

Root Veggies & Beans

Claire — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:54:00 GMT

When I'm not trying to develop a recipe for this blog or another publication, I usually just throw things together with mixed success. Sometimes it's tried and true, but basic (like whole wheat pasta with a red sauce) and sometimes it's just a random cooking of what I've got in the fridge. I often try to track these recipes, in case they turn out tasty, but usually the recipe ends up in some random pile for later recycling. But I stumbled upon something darn tasty this week. And I didn't write down the exact measurements, but fortunately it's all pretty simple.

I've been gathering a lot of root vegetables and needed to put them to good use. I had cabbage (which I love), parsnips (which I love), and sweet potatoes (which, surprise, I love). I had planned on combining these fine winter veggies with the potatoes, celeriac, and turnips I also have, but I ran out of room in the bowl. I chopped a whole medium green cabbage, three large sweet potatoes, and three medium parsnips into similar bite sized pieces. Then I tossed it all (in two large bowls) with a dollop of sunflower oil, and dashes of salt and pepper. You can also add red pepper flakes, if you want a little heat in your winter bounty. I spread it all out on two baking sheets with high sides and roasted them for about 20-30 minutes at 405° F (it was supposed to be 400°, but I accidentally hit the button one extra time and decided to leave it and just live life dangerously). After it was all good and roasted and I was portioning it out for later consumption, I was thinking that I would like to have some protein with the dish. Meat didn't fit quite right, so I thought of my favorite legume, black beans!

This is where I usually go astray when making food meant only for my own consumption. I make something perfectly pleasing and then I think, "Oo, I should add this weird random other thing!" and then things fail miserably. But fortunately for my taste buds, this combo was uber-tasty. I just popped open a couple cans of black beans and poured them in (if you like things piping hot, you can heat up the beans first). It was sweet and spicy (I added the red pepper flakes) and wonderfully satisfying. It has occurred to me since I made this delectable dish that Kismet (the yummy restaurant on Barre St in Montpelier) often serves dishes with roots and beans. But I swear that I thought this up all on my own!

Anyway, do with this what you wish. I'm just excited to still be excited about winter vegetables this late in the season. But I would be lying if I said that I don't regularly find myself lost in thoughts of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. Ah, a girl can dream...

Cabbage

Claire — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:15:00 GMT

Cabbage is one of those foods with a less than stellar reputation. At least spinach has Popeye to advocate, but cabbage is alone in it's cruciferousy stinkiness. One of my earliest memories of the public opinion of cabbage was something I heard on the local news. A young man called the police because there was a horrible smell coming from his elderly neighbor's house. He was concerned that she had passed away without notice. But it turned out that the smell was just her dinner of cabbage soup simmering on the stove.

But I say all this to simply preface the fact that I absolutely love cabbage in its flavor, it’s versatility and it’s wintertime abundance. I rarely eat it the way my mom used to feed it to me (raw, with mustard as an after school snack), but cabbage is a must in soup these days (and as far as I know, no one has assumed me dead because of it). Cabbage adds a rich heartiness to a soup that satisfies without making you feel like you're adding to your "winter weight."

The other day I made a roasted cabbage, sausage and potato soup that I relished for days (boil the potato in broth, roast the cabbage (see below), cook the sausage in a separate pan and toss them all together for supreme yumminess). Cabbage is also great for stir fries or kimchee, but I recently discovered the joys of roasted cabbage. After roasting the cabbage, just toss it in your favorite sauce. You can use salad dressings, stir fry sauces, hot sauce, or just soy sauce. My favorite is this maple mustard dressing recipe below. Enjoy!

Roast Cabbage

1 medium cabbage
2 tbs olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2) Chop the cabbage into bite sized pieces. Toss the cabbage in a large bowl with the olive oil. Spread the cabbage mixture thinly onto one or two baking sheets and bake at 400° F for 30 minutes, or until the tips of the cabbage start to brown.
3) Toss the cabbage in a large bowl with your favorite dressing and serve hot or cold.

Maple Mustard Dressing

2 tbs Dijon or old fashioned mustard
2 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs tamari
1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1) Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and toss over roasted cabbage.

Croutons!

Claire — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:44:00 GMT

Baguette was a staple on my family table when I was growing up. My hometown has some pretty amazing bakeries and I admit that it made me a bit of a bread snob. I like to tell people that my bakery doesn't make bread because I'm know good bread well enough to know that mine isn't. But all that tasty artisan bread inevitably leads to one thing: not so tasty rock hard day old loaves. But when life gives you old bread, you should make croutons! (I know, that doesn't quite have the same ring as that whole lemon saying, but you get the picture).

Cement-like loaves can often be quite hard to cut. I used to get blisters from slicing up multiple loaves of day old Red Hen bread into croutons back when I worked as a baker at Hunger Mountain Co-op. So, if you are able to plan ahead (like when you're cleaning up from dinner), stick the old bread in a plastic bag. It will make it immensely easier to cut up when you are able to get around to it. You can keep it for about a week that way -- for croutons, not for eating. Week old, plastic bagged bread straight up is just not an amazing taste sensation.

While this recipe works great just as it is, I invite you to play around with it. There are all sorts of exciting herb combos that make for excellent croutons. Really, just toss in what you have and see how it comes out! This is a great low risk way to test out different herb combinations and find what you like.

Croutons

16 oz fresh or old bread (not moldy!) cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp garlic flakes
2 tsp dried basil
3 tbs olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2) Toss the bread, salt and herbs in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and toss everything until the bread is well coated with the herbs and oil

3) Spread the croutons out on two cookie sheet. Make sure all pieces lie flat on the pan and are not piled on each other. Bake at 350° F for about 20 minutes, or until the croutons are golden. Rotate the pan after 10 minutes to ensure even baking.

4) Allow the croutons to cool completely and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!