Rhubarb is plentiful this time of year. The tangy, tart stalks taste good with sugar or fruit usually in a dessert type dish. We like Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. The Farmer has also started adding a bit here and there to his veggie stirfries. It adds a little tang and softness. And I want to try to make some jam with it this year.
Rhubarb stalks
Just a note – .6 lb. is about 2 cups, which is usually what a recipe calls for. Rhubarb freezes easily. Cut it into 1/2 in. slices, put it in a freezing container, and put in the freezer. Voila! Then you have it to use later in the year. We like the coffee cake as part of our Easter breakfast, so each year I try to make sure I save some frozen rhubarb for that.
On Wednesdays from 2-6 p.m. we will be at the Syracuse Eastside Neighborhood Farmers Market which is held at the Westcott Community Center on the corner of Euclid and Westcott in the university area. We are usually on the Euclid side of the building. I refer to this market at the Westcott market.
On Thursdays from 12-6 p.m. we will be at the Fayetteville Market which is held in the Town Center in the parking lot.
On any day we are available at the farm in Nedrow by appointment.
Want to get weekly updates about what we have available? Sign up below! Then stop by a market and say hi! See you soon!
Mix oil and water until frothy. 2 cup liquid measuring cup is a good place to mix it.
Put frothy oil and water into bowl and add flour. Stir with fork or spoon until it sticks together. Try to touch as little as possible.
Separate into 2 lumps. Put one lump between wax paper and roll out to size of pie pan. Put in pie pan and proceed according to pie recipe. Do the same with 2nd lump of dough.
Notes
You can divide the recipe in half for 1 pie crust - 1/3 cup oil, 3 tbsp water, 1 cup + 2 Tbsp flour. Follow the directions above.I like this with a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour. You can also do just one or the other.
Here is my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. It came from the back of a no-name brand of canned pumpkin. I cook down my pumpkin and use that in place of the canned pumpkin.
Pumpkin Pie - Makes 2 pies
This pumpkin pie uses milk, eggs, pumpkin, sugar and spices, nice and straightforward.
Wash the outside of the pumpkin, poke it with a fork 3-4 times, put in a pan with sides, like a 13x9 pan, cover the bottom with water, put in the oven, bake at 400F.
Cook until it is soft. This could take 2 hours. I check it at 1 hour and every 15-20 minutes after that. It will feel soft and it could shrink and sort of fall in on itself.
Once it is soft, remove from the oven and let it cool at least 10-15 minutes. Cut it open. If it is still hot inside, let it cool some more.
Once it is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the seeds. Pull off the skin or scoop out the meat of the pumpkin.
Put about 4 cups of pumpkin in the blender. Add water to the top of the pumpkin. Blend until smooth. Add water if all of it can't rotate through the blending.
Empty the blender and do another batch, repeating until it is completed. Refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to use it.
Shave steaks are thinly sliced steaks, cut from sirlion tips. If used for sandwiches, 2 steaks take about 5 minutes or less to cook. This batch of shave steaks has 8 steaks in a package and the package weighs about 1 lb. We eat the steaks on rolls with lettuce, cheese, tomato, and condiments.
Here is how I cook them: I put 2 shave steaks on a skillet over medium heat. They will start cooking and will visibly shrink. They will also turn gray/brown and will have red liquid sort of pool on top. At that point I flip them over and cook the other side. If red liquid comes up again, then I flip them one more time. And usually then they are done. I remove them to a plate and do 2 more.
This is the meat that you would make a Philly Sandwich with. You can also cut the uncooked meat into small squares and use as the meat of a stir fry. Enjoy!
We are using paper egg cartons to hold the dirt and we set these on trays to protect the shelf or table surface.
In addition to sprouting peas, we are sprouting other seeds, including beets/Swiss chard and beans. Peas are still our preferred sprout, but the others give a variety of flavors.
Top to bottom: Peas, beans, beets
We have a multishelf in a sunny window.
After our first harvest, we let the sprouts grow a 2nd time. Some resprout. Others weren’t harvested the first time and are the 2nd time. After the 2nd harvest, the whole container is composted.
The Farmer plans his summer pea bed for at least 2 fifty-foot rows. One row will be for us to eat as a raw or cooked veggie. The other will go to seed. He will save some of the seed to plant the next summer and will save most of it for us to sprout in the winter. Gray Dwarf is the current variety we are sprouting.
3-4poundbeef chuck roast or arm roast - whatever will fit in the crockpot
2tbspoil, butter or available fat
3largeonions, peeled and sliced into half moons
Or other veggies to equal about 3 cups - could include onions, mushrooms, celery, garlic
2cupschicken broth or available broth
1tbspmustard - whichever variety is available
1tbspmaple syrup
1tbspvinegar - whichever variety is available
1tsppaprika
Salt and/or pepper, opt.
Method
Set a large Dutch oven or heavy skillet over medium-high to high heat. Sear both sides of roast until golden-brown, about 10 minutes per side. Transfer the roast to a 6-quart crockpot.
Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and/or other vegetables and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Pour in a few tablespoons of chicken broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the onions and pan juices into the bowl of the slow cooker.
In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining chicken broth, mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper until combined. Pour the liquid mixture over the roast. Cover and cook on the LOW setting until the meat falls apart and is meltingly tender, about 8 hours. If you only have 6 hours, you can do this 3 hours on high and 3 hours on low and it will still turn out fine. If you only have 2 hours, see Dutch oven directions below.
Transfer the roast to a serving bowl or platter and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut the roast into chunks or shred the meat and add back to the liquid. Serve over rice, potatoes, or bread.
Notes
Other variations:
Bacon - Before searing the meat, replace the fat with 4-5 slices of diced bacon. Cook it until some fat starts rendering and it begins to turn golden-brown. Push the bacon to the sides and add the beef and sear it.
Gravy - Pour the cooking liquid into large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the gravy is reduced to desired thickness. OR Once the sauce boils add flour dissolved in water (1/2 cup water with 1/4 flour dissolved in it) and stir until it is thickened. Return gravy to crockpot and add chopped meat.
Dutch oven - (Not tested yet, but I like the idea!) Prepare the meat for the pot roast in the bottom of a Dutch oven, then place all the ingredients on top of the seared roast. Cover and bring to boil. Then either simmer over very low heat OR cook in a 325°F oven until the pot roast is tender. Cooking time will be reduced, so begin checking the roast after about 2 hours.
3-4lb.chicken, or one that will fit in the closed pot.
Olive oil, butter or other fat
2 cupsmilk
½a stick of cinnamon
1tbspdried sage or a good handful of fresh sage
2tsplemon juice
10clovesof garlic, unpeeled
1/2 cupwater
1/4 cupflour
Method
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Fry the chicken in a snug-fitting pot with a little oil, butter, or fat until golden, turning the chicken as best you can to get an even color all over.
Remove from the heat and put the chicken on a plate. You'll be left with fryings at the bottom of the pan which may give you a lovely caramel flavor later on.
Put the milk in the pan and mix with the fryings on the bottom of the pan. Add the cinnamon stick, sage leaves, lemon juice, unpeeled garlic cloves and stir. Put your chicken breast-side down back in the pot.
Cover and cook in the hot oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until cooked through. The lemon juice will sort of curdle the milk, making a tasty sauce.
Take the chicken out of the pan and put on a plate. Let it rest.
To thicken the sauce in the pan, put the pan on the stove top and bring the sauce to a boil. Meanwhile, take 1/2 cup water and add 1/4 cup flour. Stir until it is mostly smooth. Once the sauce is (close to) boiling, add the flour and water mixture, stirring all the time. When it thickens, turn off the heat.
Divide the chicken as you normally would. Put it on the plates. Spoon the white gravy over the meat. Serve with rice or potatoes and put the gravy over them as well.
