Tag Archives: dill

Scandinavian Dauphinoise

Every morning during coffee, Val asks me the same question, “What’s for dinner today?” We go over the fresh vegetables we still have in our larder. When we created our larder for self-sheltering this winter, we chose vegetables with a long shelf-life such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, cabbage, winter squash and celeriac or celery root. I try to combine fresh with anything that was ‘put up’ during our farm year. Some items are frozen, some canned, others dried, so you can find all sorts of creative ways to make dishes that are unique and delicious. Simple ingredients combined together can yield unexpected results.

Whenever I am looking for inspiration, I will flip through cookbooks, take a look at what we have on hand, and try to create something that often crosses different cultures. The term dauphinoise (do-fin-WAHZ) is French for scalloped potatoes. Smoked salmon is found throughout Scandinavia. I find that certain combinations repeat themselves regardless of where they originated. In this case, cream with potatoes, onion, and dill with smoked salmon. This gratin, rather than being a side dish for a protein, is totally appropriate as a complete meal. Although you can make this with either cold or hot cured smoked salmon, I like using the cold cured so I can layer it between the potatoes and celeriac. If you choose hot cured, you will have to crumble it. But no worries they both taste delicious. If you have never tried celeriac before, you are in for a treat. It blends beautifully with the other ingredients, with its mild taste of celery, along with providing a nice texture difference. The finished product was surprisingly rich, and flavorful.

SCANDINAVIAN DAUPHINOISE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lemon, juiced, mixed with 1/4 cup water
  • 1 medium celeriac, peeled and quartered vertically
  • 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled (I use Yukon Golds or Russets)
  • 2 x 125g packs of cold cured smoked salmon
  • 1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 onion, halved and finely sliced vertically
  • 2 cups heavy cream (1 pint)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the lemon juice and water in a large bowl. On a mandolin, slice each quarter of celeriac 1/4 inch thick. Place in bowl and toss with lemon water. This will prevent it from browning.
  2. Do the same with the potatoes; slicing them 1/4 inch thick horizontally, placing them in the lemon water as well. Toss. In a 9×9 square ceramic baking dish, place slices of potatoes overlapping across the bottom; then layer with slices of celeriac on top of potatoes. Place slices of smoked salmon over celeriac; then slices of onion, followed by dill. Spoon 1/2 cup of heavy cream over the layers, and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Repeat. You should be able to have 3 layers, ending with a layer of potatoes, cream and dill.
  3. Cover the dish with foil and place on a tray. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until bubbling and the top is crispy and golden. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Don’t forget a glass of crisp white wine.

Serves 4-6

“Food, like a loving touch, or a glimpse of divine power, has the ability to comfort.” –Norman Kolpas

Sweet and Sour

There’s a reason fall is called a transitional season. The wind is howling here today with 50 mph gusts, sending our bird feeders crashing against our deck. It’s in the 30’s with periods of snow, mixing in with the falling leaves, sending everything on a Twister ride. No worries, the forecast for next Sunday is 70 degrees!

We are fortunate that our larder is full. Comfort food means different things to each of us. I love it when we turn the corner from summer vegetables to fall. I enjoy pairing vegetables with whole roasted chickens or roasting them for sheet-pan dinners. I’m a visual person, after all, we eat with our eyes, and I love to have bright colors and contrasts in food. This dish is perfect when red cabbage and apples are at Market. It combines the best of color and contrast; as it’s both sweet and sour. It comes together in under an hour and pairs well with chicken, pork or duck.

Sautéing the onions and cabbage

SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 medium red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced (about 6-8 cups)
  • 3/4 cups apple cider or fresh apple juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped, plus more to garnish
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seed
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 3-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon local honey

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a large pot sauté the onions in butter until lightly browned. Add the cabbage and sauté for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage will reduce in volume quite a bit.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients except the honey. Cover, cook on low heat for about 25-30 minutes.
  3. Add honey and adjust with more vinegar or honey if needed.

Serves 4

Colorful and delicious!

“Vegetables to me are….I don’t want to say the most exciting part of cooking, but certainly a very exciting part of cooking, because they continue to change. They come into season and they go through different phases.”

–Thomas Keller

Peas, Peas Me

Now that we have moved from spring to summer the fresh food possibilities have exploded.  Strawberries, sugar snap peas, fresh shelling peas, leeks, herbs, beets, garlic scapes and greens, show us how wonderful fresh food can be. Local farmers markets are teaming with everything, and it will only get better. Although we are still challenged with world events and the Covid-19 pandemic, seasonal produce helps to alleviate feeling glum, (at least it helps me to live in the moment).

I’m one of those people whose addiction to crunch surfaces in many ways; this salad for instance. It’s the best in early summer when fresh sugar snap peas, shelling peas and herbs are plentiful. I blanch ever so slightly the fresh snap peas and shelling peas to bring out the vibrancy of their color. This salad works well for a picnic, pot luck or in your screened in porch.

SUGAR SNAP PEA SALAD WITH CIDER VINAIGRETTE

INGREDIENTS  FOR SALAD:

  • 2 pints sugar snap peas, stemmed
  • 1 cup shelled or frozen peas
  • 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced or 2 spring leeks thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons fresh dill, coarsely chopped
  • 8 fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
  • Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste

FOR VINAIGRETTE:

  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I use Braggs)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons filtered water
  • 1/2 teaspoon tamari sauce (I use Braggs Liquid Aminos)
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 3/4 cup cold pressed sunflower oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a medium pot of salted water, blanch the sugar snap peas for 2 minutes, drain, then place in bowl of ice water. Drain and cut in half on a diagonal. If using fresh peas, blanch for 2 minutes, drain and place in bowl of ice water. Spin both vegetables in a salad spinner, or drain on paper towels.
  2. Slice spring leeks in small rounds, using white and light green parts only.
  3. Chop dill and mint. Place all ingredients in large bowl and toss gently with your hands.
  4. Combine all ingredients for vinaigrette in a pint Mason jar. Shake vigorously. Dress salad with about 1/4 cup dressing (you will have left over dressing) and toss gently.
  5. Serve immediately

Serves 4-6

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“Ahhh 2020 is challenging us; but this too will pass.”

 

 

Earthly Delights

It feels like fall today.  Our weather and climate is unpredictable.  This has been our most unusual farm year.  Vegetables that normally grow without issue have struggled or been unable to grow at all.  This has not been a singular issue.  Many of our customers that have small gardens are wondering why they can’t grow certain vegetable this year.  Although there is no definite answer, as Dylan said, “The times they are a changing.”

Although change is definite, it instructs us to be fully present each day to the small miracles that surround us.  Comfort comes in many forms and simple pleasures can sometimes bring the most well-being.  Today it came in the form of warmth.   Our Katadin potatoes are the old Irish famine potato; earthy, creamy, with thin skins, they are exceptional in taste and texture.  When I first came to the farm I thought that a potato was a potato; until I tasted these remarkable spuds.  If you don’t have access to this particular variety, you can use russets.  It’s important to use a variety that breaks down slightly when cooked.  The advantage is a creamy soup without the use of heavy cream.  Make sure you use fresh dill.  It elevates this soup to something distinctive. Although the ingredients are simple, the soup is heavenly.

POTATO LEEK SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 pounds of Katadin (or russet) potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
  • 3 medium leeks, using white and pale green parts, scrubbed and sliced thinly
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (I use Kerrygold)
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt, (I use Maldon)
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a large pot, over medium-high heat, melt the butter then add the leeks and saute until soft, about 4-6 minutes.  Add the potatoes and salt; then water to cover the potatoes by about an inch.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and cook until the potatoes are soft. (When using fresh potatoes, be aware that these cook much faster than other potatoes that have been cured, or harvested many months earlier).  Taste for salt, add more if needed.
  2. With an immersion blender, blend the soup to thicken, leaving a far amount of chunks.  Add half of the fresh dill.
  3. Ladle into bowls and top with additional dill.

Serves 4-6

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“There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can.” — Laurie Colwin

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