Brussels Sprouts?

So...just the very thought of 'brussels sprouts' kind of gives me the heebie jeebies - memories of having to try them in my childhood and the nasty taste involved. And here we were, with a bag of them from the farm with our last CSA pickup of the season. I do hate to waste anything and as I've gotten older I'm more willing to give stuff a try. As luck would have it, Chelsea got her latest issue of Cooking Light magazine in the mail and lo and behold - there was a recipe for brussels sprouts. Being that it included bacon, we figured it was worth a try - bacon makes everything good, right? And it WAS good - I actually had seconds. My mom would be so proud. : ) If you'd like to try it out - here's a link to the recipe: Brussels Sprouts Gratin Enjoy!

and...Pumpkin Roll!

Keeping up with family recipes here - I'm posting this for my niece Andrea who wants to make her mom's pumpkin roll recipe. It's pretty yummy too. I can't decide whether I like this to go with Thanksgiving dinner more than pumpkin pie or not. Why not have both? :D

Pumpkin Roll

3/4 Cup sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup canned solid pack pumpkin
1 Cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper. Grease and flour the wax paper. (0r be lazy and just use parchment paper and spray like I do)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice onto a piece of wax paper. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and fluffy; beat in pumpkin. Stir in sifted dry ingredients all at once. Pour into prepared pan - spread evenly with rubber spatula. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until center springs back when touched lightly with fingertip. Loosen cake around edges with a knife. Invert onto clean damp towel dusted with sugar - peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake and towel. Place seam down on wire rack. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Filling

Beat together 1 Cup 10x sugar, 1 80z package of cream cheese (softened), 6 Tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.

Unroll cake, spread with cream cheese filling. Re-roll cake. Refrigerate.

Kale is Good. Really.

Today in our box from the farm we got all sorts of good stuff - and something a bit different - some Lacinato Kale. Otherwise known as Dinosaur Kale it says. This stuff is huge - big long dark green leaves on crunchy stems. And as usual, along with our newsletter in every box there are recipes included. I love how Spiral Path Farm sends these along each week, especially since some of this produce is stuff I've not cooked with before. And in the interest of trying new things - I'm glad there are instructions with these, so to speak. So for dinner we had Lacinato Kale Wraps. Took me a bit to chop everything up (I need a sous chef!) but it didn't really take too long and it was very easy to prepare. And very tasty too - here's the recipe - give it a try, dark leafy greens are good for you and can even taste great!

1 bunch lacinato kale, rinsed as a bunch, slice the whole bunch thin including the stems
1 T. minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
2 C. sliced carrots
1/2 lb. bacon, chopped uncooked into small pieces or 1/2 lb. sausage
1/4 C. olive oil
1/4 C. chicken broth, or potato water, or water
1 t. sale, 1/4 t. black pepper, 1/2 t. crushed red pepper (only if you like lots of heat)
6-8 of your favorite tortilla wraps (flour, cornmeal or seasoned)
1/2 C. fresh grated Asiago cheese (or other hard cheese)

Saute the onions, garlic, carrots and bacon for about 10 minutes on medium high heat. Stir often. Add the sliced kale all at once and stir often for about 10 minutes. Pour in the liquid and seasonings and cover and steam for another 10 minutes. Gently warm the tortilla wraps. Spoon about 1/2 C. kale mix into a wrap, sprinkle with cheese, wrap and enjoy.

I actually used the bacon AND the sausage together...just sounded good to me. And the Asiago cheese is a good choice - just a bit of a tang to it and very flavorful. I ended up with the plain flour tortillas as I couldn't find the tomato ones that I really wanted to try with this. But nonetheless it was a very good meal, mostly thanks to our organic farm bounty.

The growing season is winding down...

We're getting down there on the fresh produce growing season. There are still four or five weeks left though on our deliveries of organic goodies. But some things are going to be gone for the winter and I'm sure we'll miss them. We've been up to our backside in fresh tomatoes - and it's been wonderful. But I'm kind of burnt out on them now. When the middle of winter is here, I shall probably crave a fresh, right off the vine tomato. But as of now we're trying to find new and different ways to use up the ones we've had. This tomato tart recipe came with our newsletter from Spiral Path - they've had some really good recipes every week.
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One 9 inch pie crust - whatever is your favorite
4-6 medium tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch slices
6-8 oz. of Gruyere cheese, cut into thin slices
1 T. fresh minced basil (or 1 t. dried)
1 t. fresh minced oregano (or 1/4 t. dried)
3 T. or more freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper to taste

Cut tomato slices in halves, place on paper towels to drain. Allow tomatoes to drain for about 45 minutes on paper towels, occasionally blot. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake pie crust and let cool. Top cooled crust with cheese slices, then arrange tomatoes on top, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with herbs and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Bake until cheese is bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before cutting into wedges.

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I made this a bit larger, using a 9X13 inch cake pan, then cut into squares. It turned out nicely - something a bit different with the tomatoes. And getting some good Gruyere cheese was a good excuse to run over to Wegmans to shop - I love their cheese department. Especially when they're handing out samples!

And just for fun, here's a lovely little bag for your makeup, eyeglasses and contacts, or whatever....in a lovely cheese print fabric!