Thanksgiving special

Sadly, the 2009 CSA came to an end last week. Our last share included some great fall vegetables including one of my faves - brussel sprouts! We sauteed those up pretty quickly and ate them as a snack, so not going to post any fun recipe there. This is a Thanksgiving post, so I've got 2 recipes for you all - my first stuffing as well as my first pumpkin bread. This stuffing features onions, shallots, and pears - all from the CSA! It is from the NY Times recipes, but I healthified it a little without compromising on the taste (really just reduced salt and butter)...

Mushroom & Pear Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 large loaf firm sourdough bread
1 pound mushrooms, wiped clean and chopped thickly
1/3 pound turkey bacon, diced small
2 tablespoons butter
1 large chopped onion
2 minced shallots
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup white wine
3 1/2 cups diced pears (~4 large ones)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup minced chives
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 cups turkey (or chicken) stock.

--> First thing first, you need to dry out your bread. You can leave it overnight in a bowl with paper towels on top or if you don't have the bread ahead of time, put it in the oven on low heat for ~20 min (keep an eye on it so as not to burn). Set aside to cool when it's done.
--> Cook turkey bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove to a large bowl.
--> Add 1/2 tbsp butter to fat in pan and turn heat up to medium high. Add in the chopped onions and shallots, season with a little salt and pepper and cook until just soft. Remove to bowl with the bacon.
--> Add 1/2 tbsp butter to pan. Saute the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and remove to the bowl when they are starting to brown.
--> Add the wine to the pan and deglaze over med-hi heat, cook until the wine reduces by about half. Pour what's left in the pan over the mushroom/onion/bacon mixture. Clean out the pan, and add the pears and sugar. Saute over med-hi heat until they begin to brown. Then remove to the bowl.
--> Tear up the bread into small pieces and put in the bottom of your roasting pan. Then add your sauteed ingredients to the bread as well as your herbs and mix around to combine. Slowly pour one cup stock over the mixture and mix around. Continue to add more broth to make a very moist stuffing. Taste and adjust for salt & pepper.
--> With oven at 375 degrees, bake the stuffing for about 20-30 min until a golden crust starts to form.

Enjoy! I have to be honest - while this recipe is super easy, it's helpful to have another set of hands to help with the cooking!

What is Celeriac???

For all those first-time CSAers, in the last few weeks of the season, you're bound to get Celeriac (or celery root) in your share. You probably haven't heard of this vegetable before and if your local grocery store even carries it, you would have passed it right by because it's the ugliest vegetable I think I've ever come across. It resembles Cousin It - hairy and mis-shapen, but don't be fooled, it produces delicious flavors when you cook it right! Last year I made a celeriac mash with apples or something, but this year I decided to make a soup with it. I haven't tasted the soup yet because it's still cooking up on my stove, but my apartment smells sweet and delicious.

Celeriac Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
1/2 tbsp butter
1 celery root
1 leek (white part only)
1 small-medium potato, thinly sliced
1-2 carrots
1 celery rib
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
sea salt & pepper for tasting
2 cups veg stock
drizzle of milk or half and half

--> Melt the butter in your soup pot. Add the vegetables, bay leaf, thyme and some salt. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes to get the veggies cooking. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, simmer and cover for 20 minutes or so. Add your milk and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper - and voila!

The beauty of this soup is that you can really use any vegetables that you have in your fridge at the time. I used all my carrots up in the carrot bread last week, but they are generally a staple in my soups, so throw them in if you have them. Same goes for the potatoes and celery. You could use shallots if you have them in your fridge also. Anything goes! A nice finishing touch to the soup is a scoop of rice mixed in or on top also.

Carrot Bread

The common theme with our CSA deliveries lately seems to be "overflowing" - first we were overflowing with greens, then peppers, then carrots, potatoes, apples and now carrots again. We haven't been able to keep up with the carrot deliveries of late, so with today's arrival of another pound of carrots, I decided it was time to bake something carrot-based. Typical of my baking, I decided to try to make a carrot bread. I had all the ingredients (or thought I did - I was actually out of flour and had to run to the supermarket mid-baking to get more!) and was ready to go... carrot bread it is!

Carrot Bread
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg and/or ground cloves
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1.5 cups grated carrots
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans - optional

--> Oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with Pam.

--> Beat sugars and oil in a big bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg/cloves, salt. Sift these dry ingredients into the sugar/oil mixture. Beat the eggs together and then stir into the rest of the batter. Then add carrots, combine and follow with vanilla. Pour batter into loaf pan.

--> Cook at 350 F for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a bit before serving and enjoy!