Category: Food

Black Raspberries Always Trigger Good Memories

 A black raspberry pie always makes me think of my grandma.

Usually I don’t make a whole pie, just one crust. A pile of berries, sugar, and flour dumped into the middle, and the edges folded up over the top.

Something on the order of a galette.

I love black raspberries. 

When I was a child, I thought these were the only berries worth eating. We didn’t have the red variety. Warm, sweet, seedy berries picked from the edge of Grandma’s garden.

As a snack, Grandma would allow me to add equal amounts of berries and sugar in a jar to eat with a grapefruit spoon.

Why a jar?

Because that was a convenient vessel to take to the field when they were cutting, raking, and baling hay. My job was to sit in the truck and eat berries.

Why a serrated spoon?

Because it was different, therefore my favorite. Plus, Grandma allowed it.

What is so special about Rubus Occidentalis, the black raspberries of my childhood?

Rubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name black raspberry is shared with other closely related species. Other names occasionally used include bear’s eye blackberry, black cap, black cap raspberry,[3][4] and scotch cap.[5] ~Wikipedia

Unlike blackberries, black raspberries do not have a stem that grows through the middle of the berry. Shaped more like a tiny stocking cap, it plucks off the stem completely. The stem in the middle of blackberries kind of freaks me out. (Don’t try to make sense of why. You have your idiosyncrasies too.)

Both blackberries and black raspberries grow wild here. It felt like a bonus to discover these that first spring. Like a little confirmation that this property was the place to be.

Picking them can be a challenge. Both types of berries grow on thorny canes that will grab your skin if you aren’t careful. Blackberry thorns are the most ferocious, with an extra hook on the barb. 

These glistening black raspberries grow in clusters of five, with the middle one usually ripening first. The season is from about the second week of June until the first of July. 

Each year, I make seedless black raspberry jam, home canned pie filling and at least one fresh pie. 

Delicious.

While I savor the rich color and flavor, I think of my grandma all those years ago, occupying her grandchild with berries and sugar so she could get some work done.

Processing Sweet Corn Efficiently

Ah, sweet corn season in Illinois.

Delicious ears of corn, bred to be tender and sugar sweet. This is one of my favorite summer vegetables.

Since it takes a lot of space to grow enough sweet corn to make it worthwhile, we purchase from local farmers at markets or roadside stands. One such stand near us, pile stacks of corn, still in the husk, high on a flatbed wagon. The method is to bring your own bag, load it up with ears and leave cash in the box on the stand. It’s an honor system that works.

Sometimes in the season’s height, a summer meal may consist of three or four ears of corn, a plate of fresh tomato slices and a mound of cottage cheese. Naturally, I want sweet corn year round, so to make that happen, I buy extra to preserve.

Putting up, sometimes called putting by sweet corn, is a time-honored ritual in my family. By putting up, we mean processing the corn and preparing it for storage. Then, in the dark days of winter, we will have a taste of summer in our pantry or freezer.

My Grandma used to pressure can most of the sweet corn she stored. It was shelf stable and not dependent on electricity to keep the food safe. While that is a great method, and I pressure can many foods, I freeze sweet corn. I like the flavor better and it is much faster to process.

Here’s my step-by-step method, developed through many hours of experience with an eye to efficiency.

First remove leaves or husks, or as we call it shucks and silk. This is best done outside and with helpers if you are going to process a lot of corn.

When shucking corn, have a line of buckets to work with and get a comfortable chair. I am right-handed, so I tend to work this chore from left to right. The corn to be shucked is in a basket on my left, a bucket to catch the shucks positioned in front of me, and a large pan or dish on my right for the bare ears. I pull down the top of the shuck from two sides at once, somewhat like peeling a banana. I try to get all the silks off, but this is not always easy. My trick is to keep my hands as dry as possible and use a twisting motion to loosen the silks, picking off as many as I can.

Next into the kitchen. For corn to stay fresh in the freezer, it must be blanched to stop the enzymatic actions that lead to spoilage. Blanching is a process of heating, then rapidly cooling. This year, I used my corn scientist friend’s method. Drop the ears into boiling water for three minutes, transfer to an ice bath, then cut the kernels from the cob.

Again seeking efficiency, I put the raw corn next to the pan of boiling water with the ice bath bowl next to the boiling water. I can do ten ears at a time in the boiling pot and also in the ice bath.

After the ice bath, I moved that bowl to a place on my left, my work bowl, more about this later, in front of me and a cob bucket on the floor on my left.

My work bowl is a bundt cake pan set on a rimmed baking sheet. A bundt pan may seem like an odd work bowl for this task, but it is actually perfect. Each ear of corn is placed on its narrow end in the middle of the cake pan and, using an electric carving knife, I cut rows from the cob. The kernels fall into the well of the pan. After all kernels are removed, I can drop the cob into the bucket on the floor in the same motion as I am reaching for the next cob from the ice bath. After cutting the kernels from each ear, I start the next batch of ten in the boiling water bath. I leave the water boiling the entire time I am working and refresh the ice in the ice bath as necessary.

While the next batch is boiling, I have just enough time to label four freezer bags and load each with 2 cups of corn. I use this amount as most of my recipes or serving needs can adapt to this amount of corn. To fill the bags, first label while the bag is flat, then open it up in a tall plastic cup and fold the edge down around the rim of the cup. This allows me to easily fill the bag with minimal mess. Press out as much air as possible, seal and toss on a cookie sheet for transport to the freezer when all is done.

Even with this efficient method and trying to keep the mess contained, processing corn is a messy job. But in only one morning of work, I have all I need for the winter ahead. Meals of soups and chowders, fried corn and simply buttered corn as a side dish will be welcomed throughout the cold weather. And on Super Bowl Sunday we will have sweet tamale corn cakes like the appetizer at Cheesecake Factory.

Delicious.

You Can Make Restaurant Quality Mellow Roasted Garlic at Home

My first experience with roasted garlic was at an Italian restaurant in Destin, FL. The restaurant’s name is lost to history, but I can tell you everything about that first smear of roasted garlic blended with grated parmesan and olive oil with just a twist of cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt. 

The waiter offered bread service along with a whole head of garlic. The look on my face must have prompted his quick explanation: the garlic mellows when roasted. He deftly squeezed the entire, warm head of garlic into the bowl, adding the cheese, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Next to the bowl rested slices of warm baguette. 

Before this, I was familiar with garlic in spaghetti sauce, garlic bread, and even sauteed mushrooms. I love the flavor, but to eat an entire head at once?

Summoning my courage, I smeared a dollop on my slice of bread. I was hooked. Mellow and rich, the flavors complemented each other perfectly. 

Since then, I have seen this presentation in other restaurants, which never fails to delight me. Of course, I wanted to do this at home. I tried to recreate it from observation of the restaurant technique. Slice the top off a whole head of garlic about a quarter of the way from the top. Drizzle with olive oil and bake wrapped tightly in a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil or a cast iron garlic baker shaped like a bulb of garlic. 

To effect this technique, you need soft neck garlic. The hard neck varieties’ hard inner stalk prevents a clean slice through the bulb.  At Five Feline Farm, we plant hard-neck garlic in the fall for mid-summer harvest.

Our typical varieties are Music, German Extra Hardy, and Chesnok Red. All are organic seed, and although we are not certified organic, we follow organic practices, which means we do not use chemical fertilizers or pest control. 

Back to the garlic.

Hard neck garlic is best for long-term storage. We dry the garlic bulbs and then store them in a nylon hose; cheap knee highs work perfectly. However, these are getting a bit hard to find since they are no longer fashionable. Each knee-high will hold about a dozen heads of garlic. Drop one into the toe, tie a knot and drop in the next one. Do this until there is enough at the top to loop around a hook. This method allows air to circulate each bulb, keeping dampness out.

Estimating how many garlic bulbs a household will use in one year is hard. We usually save about 60 heads of garlic for the two of us. Some years, we still have several in storage when it is time to harvest. The old ones need to be used to make room for the new ones in storage. Time to roast, but that hard center stalk prevents the restaurant-style of roasting. Here’s our hack to roast and preserve garlic.

Last year’s heads and any small ones from this year that will not do well in long-term storage are separated into cloves. The innermost layer of papery covering is left on. Dump all these into a cast-iron skillet and add a good quantity of olive oil. In the 12” skillet pictured, I added about 1/2 cup olive oil. There is no need to be concerned about a precise quantity. Add enough to keep the cloves from burning and to have extra to blend in with the roasted garlic. Cover and roast at 375º for 30-45 minutes until the cloves are soft. 

Remove from the oven and cool until the cloves can be handled. The next step is best accomplished by wearing a pair of food-safe gloves like powder-free exam gloves. It will get messy. Squeeze each roasted garlic clove from the papery covering into a bowl.  Strain the remaining olive oil into the bowl with the garlic and mash together with a fork.

You can now season and use the roasted garlic as a spread, on potatoes, in tomato sauce, or anywhere you want to have a mellow garlic flavor. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. You can also portion and freeze. It will not freeze solid because of the oil but will keep it for six months to a year. To use frozen roasted garlic, thaw in the refrigerator or microwave and refrigerate any leftovers. 

The last time we went to Destin, the Italian restaurant was gone, replaced by a chain eatery that was not nearly so good. I am grateful to have learned about roasted garlic and to continue the tradition in my kitchen.

Delicious Flavored Vinegar

Gourmet potatoes dressed with chive blossom vinegar.

Here at Five Feline Farm, we have started experimenting with infusing vinegar. We start with either white or apple cider vinegar, then add ingredients from our gardens to steep. We started with chive blossom and garlic scape infusions. The chive blossoms turned the vinegar a beautiful pink color. Garlic scapes keep the original color of the vinegar. But the flavors are phenomenal!

Now we are trying other fruits and herbs.

Small batch with farm-fresh flavors beats those fancy specialty oil and vinegar shops any day.

The next question is always, “How do you use these delicious vinegar infusions?”

The first obvious choice is on a salad.

Pile your favorite greens and salad toppings into a bowl. Drizzle a good quality, flavorful olive oil across the top. Then splash with an infused vinegar. Add some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt to taste.

This simple dressing allows the flavors of your salad ingredients to shine.

You can also make a quick vinaigrette dressing. Start with blending dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and infused vinegar in a bowl. Blend in olive oil with a whisk drop by drop, then in a thin stream to create an emulsion. You can adapt the proportions to taste.

But you do not have to limit yourself to only topping a traditional green salad. Here are some more ideas:

—Scrub new or small heirloom potatoes and cut them into bite-size cubes. Boil in salted water or steam until tender. While still warm, toss with olive oil, infused vinegar, and salt to taste. The potatoes will pick up the gentle underlying notes from the infused vinegar.

—Or slice colorful raw beets very thin. Use the same dressing ingredients plus some freshly ground pepper.

—Splash infused vinegar over grilled chicken breast.

—Make a pan sauce after roasting chicken or fish. After cooking, remove the meat from the pan and return the pan to medium-high heat. Deglaze the pan with infused vinegar, then add butter to thicken the sauce. Serve over the meat.

As you can tell, infused vinegar is delicious any time you need a bit of acidic tang to your meal.