Food Archives - Page 18 of 19

Persimmon Pulp

Now that the frost has sweetened the persimmons and seeds have been cut for winter forecasting, it is time to make pulp.

Pulping is a problem. Wild persimmons are small and full of seeds. I have tried several methods none of which are satisfactory. The Juice Mate clogs, a colander smears the pulp around inside and not through the holes. I usually resort to using my hands. This is a messy proposition at best.

A neighbor reports using a food mill finding this a reasonably efficient way to extract pulp from the skin and seeds. I am going to try this method for the ones stored in the refrigerator. I would be willing to collect more and develop more recipes if the pulp was easier to obtain.

Persimmon and black walnut would be a great, timely pairing for fall foods at Five Feline Farm.

What methods do you use to extract persimmon pulp? Do you have a favorite persimmon recipe?

Please share in the comments section.

Making Herb Butter

Five Feline Farm produces not only vegetables and fruit but an array of herbs to complement any dish. Unfortunately, the growing season is coming to a close in Central Illinois, so it is time to pick some herbs to be held over for winter use.

Herbs can be dried and stored in glass jars or chopped and frozen in ice cube trays. Both of these methods provide a warmth of flavor to winter meals enhanced by knowing there are no fertilizers or pesticides. The down side to dried herbs is a bit of a change in the flavor. Fresh flavor is diminished and although superior to herbs bought in plastic shaker, it is still a dried herb.

Herbs frozen in ice cube trays offer an advantage of holding onto some of the fresh flavor, but the cubes tend to frost over and stick together in time. Plus the added bit of water can be undesirable.

Both of these methods have a place, but recently I started making herb butters to preserve and utilize fresh herbs. Wrapped in waxed paper and sealed in freezer bags these have kept for several weeks. Since butter freezes well, it seems that herb butters should also freeze well.

To start, wash and air dry the herbs. Select a handful of herbs to snip into tiny pieces. Judge both the size of the pieces and the amount of herb by what you would want to find in your finished dish.

Mix the herb thoroughly in one stick of softened butter.

Spread the butter into a rough log about 2 inches from the edge of the waxed paper.

Fold the waxed paper over the log and lightly squeeze into a log.

Roll up the log in the paper and twist the ends.

Label and store in a freezer bag.

To use, unwrap and slice off the amount desired.

The freezer now contains butters with chives, basil, oregano, thyme, curry and rosemary. The options for using these butters is only limited by the cook’s imagination. A slice of chive butter on a baked potato or a bit of basil butter melting over sautéed chicken breast will warm the winter months with a reminder of summer.

What would you put herb butter on? Drop us a comment with your ideas.

Beneficial Weeds

A new look at weeds
A weed is a weed is a weed. Except when it is a useful tool around the Farm. We look at weeds differently now that we are living in the country and striving to be more sustainable.

Weeds as food
Certain weeds with attractive flowers are visited by bees collecting nectar. They also collect the pollen. Some people will tell you the honey made from classic allergen weeds such as ragweed and goldenrod helps reduce allergy symptoms. We have sold some honey to individuals using it specifically for this purpose. (Disclaimer: we are not purporting that our honey is an allergy treatment.) There was a time that we would have tried to eradicate all ragweed and goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace and others to allow for more purposeful plants. Now we encourage these to be part of the landscape.

The same is true for some of the invasive shrubs. We do work to keep these under control but the wild olive, wild cherry and false honeysuckle are also beneficial to the bees.

Plants as decoys
We have learned through experience and observation that Japanese beetles prefer some weeds, e.g. pigweed to the vegetable plants. We reduce the weed level in the garden but do not eliminate entirely. This balance helps both the garden and the gardener. Chemicals are not needed to control Japanese beetles when they have a weed to eat.

Eat Your Landscape

At Five Feline Farm we eat our landscape.

It’s not what you think. We are not grazing on grass or nibbling the bark off trees. But there are a lot of things we do eat from the land.

Wild Things

Black raspberries and blackberries are abundant. In fact these are so plentiful, we have had to take some out to create pathways. The heavy rains this spring and summer produced plump berries. Most of the raspberries are now in the form of glistening jars of jelly. Blackberries are still on the cane but starting to ripen.

Not So Wild Things

The gardens are on display in the front of the property. These contain all of the typical garden fare for our consumption. Green beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, kale, potatoes, limas, beets and cowpeas fill one garden. The second garden has asparagus, pumpkins, sunflowers, tobacco and gourds. Some of these are ornamentals and yes, you read correctly…tobacco. More about non-smoking and non-chewing uses for tobacco in a later post.

Borders and Such
Around the edges of the driveway and back porch are the herb beds. Herbs are also in random landscaping across the farm. Basil, thyme and oregano are blooming now. The bees love the nectar and we use the leaves to season a variety of dishes. Other herbs include savory, lavender, mint, chives and curry. Herbs can serve an ornamental function as well as a culinary one.

What kinds of plants in your landscape provide food?