Recipe: Rutabaga Mash

This is our final recipe for the 2014 CSA season. It's been an exciting and exhausting 22 weeks and we couldn't be prouder of how things have gone. We hope our members ate well this season and felt a closer connection to where their food came from. Thanks for supporting the farm!

For more information about our program, check out our CSA page.

Rutabaga Mash:

Pure comfort food. Sweet and earthy rutabaga is cooked in milk and flavoured with cardamom before being served up like mashed potatoes. The simplest form of this dish is just rutabaga alone, but feel free to mix in other hearty fall veggies like carrots, parsnips, potatoes or butternut squash. Any or all of them can be cooked in the same way before pureeing.

Ingredients:

- 1 large rutabaga
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cup milk

Steps:

1. To peel rutabagas, first slice in half. Then slice off top and roots. Place each half cut side down and slice peel off from the top downwards.

2. Chop rutabaga in roughly 1 inch cubes.

3. Melt butter on medium heat and add rutabagas. Stir until coated.

4. Add milk, salt and cardamom and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until rutabagas are soft.

5. Take off the heat. Drain off the little bit of liquid at the bottom of the pot.

6. Puree with an immersion blender, a standard counter-top blender or a stand mixer. The mash can be served immediately or made in advance and reheated.

Thanks for checking out our recipes! Each of the recipes I've posted over the past 22 weeks highlights one or more of the delicious and seasonal veggies found in our CSA boxes. Look for weekly recipes to return in late spring 2015 when our next CSA season kicks off!

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Recipe: Beet and Feta Salad

Roasted beets are paired with feta and their rich flavours contrast nicely with the tartness of lemon vinaigrette. This salad makes for a delicious accompaniment to the heavier meals of the fall. The oven roasting technique used here is a great all-purpose way to prepare beets for a wide array of dishes.

Ingredients:

Salad:
- 6 beets
- 6-8 large lettuce leaves
- 3 oz feta, crumbled

Vinaigrette dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- juice and grated peel of 1 medium lemon (about 2 tbsp of peel and 3 tbsp of juice)
- 2 tsp Dijon
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt

Steps:

1. Trim beet stems but leave peels on for now. Drizzle olive oil over beets and then wrap individually in aluminum foil.

2. Roast beets at 400F for 45-60 minutes or until soft.

3. While beets are cooking, whisk vinaigrette ingredients together. Leftover vinaigrette will keep for several days in the fridge.

4. Remove beets from the oven and unwrap. Allow to cool 10-20 minutes.

5. If beets are sufficiently cooked and cool enough to handle, you should be able to slide their peels off without much effort. Coarsely chop peeled beets.

6. Lay chopped beets over a bed of lettuce and then sprinkle with feta. Serve with vinaigrette dressing.

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Recipe: Rainbow Coleslaw

When cabbage starts coming in from the garden I always make coleslaw. This recipe throws in some other seasonal veggies for a deliciously colourful result. You can use regular store bought mayo but I promise that when you try homemade mayo - easier to make than it might seem - you'll never want to buy it premade again. Once you get the hang of the basic mix of egg, vinegar, salt and oil you can experiment with different vegetable oils (try
swapping half of the oil for something more strong tasting like olive, avocado or walnut oil), different acids (ie, lemon juice in place of vinegar), and different flavourings to add in. Garlic is perhaps my favorite but I've had yummy results with additions like saffron, tarragon and rosemary.

Ingredients:

Garlic Mayo:
- 1 egg
- 2 cups mild flavoured vegetable oil (such as grapeseed oil)
- 4 tsp white vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic - 1/2 tsp salt

Coleslaw:
- 1 beet
- 1 small green cabbage
- 1 turnip
- 2 large carrots
- 1 large apple
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice

Steps:

1. Place the egg, vinegar and salt in a stand mixer or food processor. Set to medium speed and run for 1 minute.

2. Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture as your mixer or processor is running. This should take several minutes. It's helpful to pause every half cup or so and wait 30-60 seconds before starting to pour oil again (while letting the machine continue running). You should see the mayo start to thicken by the time half of the oil is in and continue thickening as you add more oil.

3. Add minced garlic and run for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Finely slice or grate the veggies and mix together into a large bowl. I used a mandoline for all but the cabbage but that's up to you.

5. Add the mayo, Dijon mustard and lemon juice to the veggies and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately or refrigerate. As is typical with coleslaw the flavour will improve after 24 hrs of resting in the fridge.

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Recipe: Squash-Poached Eggs

This twist on a basic baked squash adds an egg, poached in the cavity of the squash near the end of cooking. The gentle, moist heat from the squash cooks the egg to a perfect texture (while picking up some flavour from the squash and butter) and having an egg makes the dish heartier for the fall. It's a perfect recipe for our Mini Hubbard squashes.

Ingredients:

- 3 Mini Hubbard squash

- 6 eggs

- 3 tsp butter

- olive oil

- salt to taste

- maple syrup for drizzling

Steps:

1. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.

2. Place squash cut side down in a lightly oiled roasting pan. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes or until squash is thoroughly softened.

3. Remove from oven and flip squash halves over so that the cut side faces up.

4. Drop 1/2 tsp of butter into the centre well of each squash. Add a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of maple syrup.

5. When butter is melted completely crack an egg into each squash. Be careful not to break the yolks.

6. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until eggs are cooked but yolks remain soft (or cook longer for a harder yolk).

7. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. You can add an additional drizzle of maple syrup over the squash or on the plate itself.

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First Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

Carving pumpkins are here! We've been growing decorative pumpkins for a couple of years now (see the photo below for our first Halloween with our own pumpkins), and we think they're great.

With Halloween coming up we're excited to announce the inaugural Eva Mae Farm Pumpkin Carving Contest. This week and next week we'll be sending out beautiful carving pumpkins with the share boxes. Carve your scariest or funniest design and post a photo of it on our Facebook page (or email it to Eric and we'll post if for you).

Each photo will be entered into a draw for a brand new Eva Mae Farm T-shirt!

Halloween 2012 with a white pumpkin and a 3 year old Rose.

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Giving Thanks

Today we have much to be thankful for. We are thankful first for family and friends who have supported and encouraged us in our mildly crazy plan to leave the city and start a farm, we are thankful for this stunning piece of Southern Ontario we live on that gives us food and amazes us every day with its beauty, and we are thankful to our CSA members for going on this adventure with us in our first year of operation.

We hope all of you have a great day filled with loved ones and delicious food. Is there any better combination of things?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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