Turkey Soup Keeps the Cold at Bay

Soup.  I am all about soup these days.  It's easy to make and it fills the house with delicious smells. Making soup is a good way to use up slightly wilted vegetables and leftover grains or noodles. You can throw everything together into a big pot, and leave it to simmer for hours while you make a loaf of bread.  What's better than a bowl of hot soup on a cold day?  I can't think of anything better.

YUMBO TURKEY "GUMBO" -- serves 6

1 package turkey legs (3 in a pack)
1 peeled, sliced red or yellow onion
2 peeled, diced sweet potatoes
3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, diced, or 2 TBSP sundried tomatoes, or 1 can diced tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water or apple juice/cider
1 cup dried apple slices, or 1 apple, peeled and sliced
1-2 TBSP salt and pepper
1 TBSP dried marjoram, thyme and oregano, or 4 sprigs of each herb, fresh

1-2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 handful of frozen peas
1 cup precooked rice, barley or noodles, that have been drained and rinsed 

Optional:  1 TBSP miso paste

Directions:

Plop the turkey legs into a roasting pan, and spread the veggies and apple slices around them.  Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and herbs.  Pour the water or apple juice into the pan, and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  

Remove the veggies and apples from the pan with a slotted spoon, and put them in a soup pot.  Dispose of any juices that have accumulated in the pan. 

Pour enough water or vegetable broth over the veggies to cover them, and put the pot on simmer.  

Return the turkey legs to the oven, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.  Remove the legs from the oven, cut the meat off them and add them to the soup pot with the rice, barley or noodles, and the peas and miso paste, if using.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Another way:  My friend taught me this, and it is divine.  Perfect to make on a long, chilly day when all ya wanna do is putter around the kitchen.

Simmer a turkey carcass (leftover from a holiday dinner) in 3 bottles of beer (cheap is fine) and a cup of water, with 2 stalks of mashed, fresh lemongrass  stalks, some oregano and parsley, and salt and pepper for 4 hours.  Stir every now and then.  Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and cook for another 15 minutes.  Oh, it's SO good!

When The Wind Blows

I was a big fan of the Little House on the Prairie series when I was little, and I used to pretend that I was in my log cabin during a blizzard. The other night it was 4 degrees. Four degrees! Not a blizzard, but still freezing cold! I wanted to cook something quickly so that I could spend as much time by the fireplace as possible.  So I put on my "homesteader woman" thinking cap, looked in my larder, and pulled out the ingredients for dinner.  The  vegetables roast up sweet, the bacon adds a smoky flavor. Our family camped out in the living room by the fireplace and shared this meal together. The wind was howling outside, but we didn't care.  We were together and warm, inside and out.

Gnocchi with Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4

3 sweet potatoes, peeled & diced small
1 red onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cauliflower, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup raisins, plumped in hot water, then drained
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 package gnocchi
1/2 pound bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sweet potatoes, red onion, garlic, cauliflower, and water in an oven-proof skillet or roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and stir to coat. Cover and roast until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the lid, add the raisins and almonds and let cook another 10 minutes until the vegetables are slightly browned. Fry the bacon until crispy, then drain and crumble. Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain the gnocchi and mix with the vegetables and bacon.

Fabulous Kale Salad with Garlicky Dressing

JuJu and Morgan Maloney serve up some greens

This past Saturday, I made what's become my signature dish, Kale Salad with Garlicky Dressing.  To promote the produce that was available at the Columbia Heights Farmers' Market, I did a cooking demo and I added roasted butternut squash for a sweet twist.  This is wonderful, quick to make salad, that can be served as a side dish, or as the main course with the addition of beans, cheese and toasted nuts.  Everyone who has tried it, loves it.  It was freezing cold, but the smiles of the markets' customers warmed me up.  Now, if only I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Oh, this tastes so good"....

Kale and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Garlicky Dressing

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into dice

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 ground cinnamon

1/4 olive oil

Dressing:

3 cloves garlic, peeled

Juice of two lemons

 1/4 cup soy sauce

3 inches fresh ginger, peeled

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup olive oil

1 bunch fresh kale, washed, leaves removed from stems, and cut into small pieces

Optional:

1 grated carrot

1 cup grated or shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)

1 cup cooked garbanzo or red beans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the oregano, salt, cinnamon, and olive oil together and spread it over the squash.  On an oiled cookie sheet, spread the squash and cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more, until squash is brown. 

Put all dressing ingredients, except oil, into blender and puree.  Slowly add oil with blender running on low.  Pour dressing over kale (and other optional ingredients if using) and mix thoroughly, adding optional ingredients if desired.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Serve topped with several pieces of roasted squash on top.

Mac and Cheese--comfort food at its best!

The weather has turned cold, so it's time to break out the woolly sweaters, light a fire and eat something that makes you feel like you've been hugged.  For many of us, mac and cheese is THE dish that we turn to when we need a little food love. I made this dish for my family last night to highlight the gorgeous Cheese pumpkins that are available in markets now.  So called because they resemble a wheel of cheese, these squash have orange, sweet flesh. In this recipe, it's simmered in milk and vegetable stock until tender, then baked with pasta and cheddar cheese. Paired with spicy sausage and a kale salad, it's a hearty winter meal.

Macaroni and (Long Island) Cheese (Squash)s

http://www.thenheathersaid.com/2010/10/07/macaroni-long-island-cheese-squash/

Ingredients
1 lb long island cheese squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cups skim milk
1 lb macaroni, or other pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, (I used Cabot reduced fat cheddar)
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta
3 Tablespoons breadcrumbs

Instructions
1. Preheat Oven to 375
2. Heat squash cubes, milk and stock in a medium pan. Bring to a Boil, and reduce head to simmer.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. I like to cook my pasta a bit al dente, as it will be baked in the oven as well.
4. When squash is tender, remove from heat and mash squash.
5. Mix spices into mashed squash.
6. After pasta is done cooking, transfer it to a large bowl. Stir in squash mixture as well as cheddar and ricotta.
7. Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle breadcrumbs over top of dish.
8. Cover with foil & bake for 25 minutes.  Remove Foil and bake for 45 minutes. Dish is finished when the top is browned and crispy, heated well throughout.  Let cool slightly before serving.

Sausage for Dinner or Breakfast

Now that cooler weather has arrived, I want something hearty and spicy for my meals.  I developed these recipes to use the ground pork, from pasture raised pigs, that we carried on Arcadia's Mobile Market this year.  The Pork and Lemongrass Sausage would pair well with a ginger and shitake mushroom based broth, with bokchoy or spinach thrown in.  The second recipe, Breakfast Sausage, is a take on the more traditional herbed English style meat.  This is delicious with buttered grits, fried green tomatoes and biscuits.  Make a pot of tea, cozy up to the fire and feast on goodness.

Pork and Lemongrass Sausage

JuJu Harris

2 pounds ground pork

5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 Tablespoon fresh lemongrass, chopped*

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 to 1 teaspoons salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and knead it together with your hands.  Form into patties and fry over medium heat until done.  Unused sausage can be refrigerated up to one day.  
*To prepare lemongrass, cut off the root end, discard the stiff, outer leaves, and use the tender core. 

Breakfast Sausage

JuJu Harris

2 pounds ground pork

5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 Tablespoon fennel seeds

6 teaspoons fresh oregano

4 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 teaspoon fresh sage, finely chopped

1 to 2 teaspoons salt

1 to 2 teaspoons black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and knead it together with your hands.  Form into patties and fry over medium heat until done.  Unused sausage can be refrigerated up to one day.  

Lessons from the Mobile Market, by Gene Buonaccorsi

In my opinion, one of the most frustrating tendencies of the human mind is to dilute long engagements to a single distinct memory, rather than maintaining a log of different occurrences. Luckily pen and paper allowed me to keep track of some of the more fleeting, but noteworthy experiences that I had working on the Mobile Market this summer. As a farewell, I’d like to share three lessons that I only fully realized upon reading back over my book of notes. 

1. You can always find more space.

For those who have been inside the Mobile Market bus during the day, the chaotic facade is familiar. However, what initially looks like a mess of crates, coolers and tents is in fact the organized contents that become a functioning farm stand. Operations are highlighted by a constant desire to carry more products, provide better service and streamline efficiency. If our customers want more plums, we will find a place to store them. If we need a second table for display, we will figure out a way to bring it along. One of the most satisfying challenges of the summer was loading the bus at the end of each market -- finding just the perfect spot to store a crate, or seeking out the last nook of space for a folded sign. No matter how much the market grew, we always managed to pack it in.

This attitude is key in any progressive organization. At Arcadia, new opportunities to help fix the D.C. food system appear almost daily. I learned very quickly that satisfaction was trumped by ambition. Whether finding space for more local children at farm camp, or seeking new spots to grow on the Woodlawn Estate, Arcadia is constantly moving forward into new avenues. Much like the inside of the bus, the capacity of the organization seemed to grow over the course of the summer. There is always more room to work with for those who are willing to look for it.

2. No problem or opportunity is too small to address.

Working with Mobile Market Director Benjamin Bartley was an exercise in attention to detail. Even after weeks of helping to operate markets, Benjamin was always one step ahead of me, making plans and tweaking things in order to bring optimal service to our customers. I’m reminded of one instance when a customer returned a watermelon, claiming it was sold unripe. Taking the care to listen to the concern, refund the customer, and prepare for the possibility that others might have the same complaint seemed to be second nature for Benjamin. He described to me how customers taught him what to look for in a ripe watermelon, and how he addresses potential issues with quality. A problem others may have brushed off, or solved hastily turned into a thoroughly addressed improvement to operations in this case. The attention that each small piece of the Mobile Market gets was eye-opening for me.

Of course, this translates to a larger scale. Arcadia’s work is holistic as well as thorough. For example, the times that I got to work with Farm Education Director Morgan Maloney, she stressed how important it is to connect each individual child with the origins of healthy food. This is indicative of Arcadia’s overall mentality, and is why the nonprofit produces such successful results. Thorough, attentive work is paramount when making change. No problem can be ignored, because Arcadia’s work affects people on an individual level.

3. People love good food.

For all the attention, money and time that is spent on advertising and marketing practices, nothing I have seen compares to the success rate of someone sampling a slice of a peach at the Mobile Market. The looks on people’s faces were revelatory when they realized that they were spending their money on fresh, delicious locally grown food. While we faced obstacles like exposure, permits and space, there was no question about Arcadia and our partner farms’ quality once the food was in the customers hands. In speaking with customers throughout the summer I found that the Mobile Market is not only an option, it is a solution. One conversation in particular stands out. A customer at our Kenilworth-Parkside stop told me “Good food is enemy number one. You guys are the saviors.”

There were times this summer when I wondered at the number of programs that Arcadia is able to sustain, and the number of people that they are able to touch. Eventually, though, I realized that a small nonprofit can have long arms if the work is as powerful as sustainable food. Having faith in the work you are doing is contagious, and those who have strong connections to their cause accrue help and support from those they encounter. When the work produces something as necessary as healthy food, the converted public can communicate the success of your work. My summer with Arcadia taught me that people know good food when they taste it, and once they have tasted it, they will demand it. The vision of honest work reaching out from dedicated people is a lesson that I will take with me into my future.

An Arcadian Fellowship, by Mae Humiston

Mae doing a dramatic reading of her favorite
kids farm book: Wiggling Worms at Work

Internships have become known for their low pay, long hours, menial tasks, and general exploitation. “They’re great stepping stones!” people tell interns, but when you’re smack in the middle of a four-hour pencil sharpening campaign, it’s hard to believe you’re gaining any significant life experience or making any meaningful connections.

I never thought that during my time at Arcadia. As internships go, working as Arcadia’s Farm-to-School Fellow was different.